betwixt man and beastes as betwixt the serpent and man the like disagreement and farre greater is betwixt the righteous and the wicked man for p Pro. 29.27 an uniust man is an abomination to the iust and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked These contrary inclinations had their beginning with the world and shall not have an end untill the worlds end God is justice and righteousnesse it selfe and the divell professed enmity against him from the beginning What wonder then if he bee an enemy to the righteous man who is but Gods creature As soone as man was created he seduced and supplanted him Then God proclaimed unreconcileable warre betweene them saying to the divell who was shrowded under the shape of a serpent q Gen 3.15 I will put enmity betweene thee and the woman and betweene thy seede and her seed It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heele The serpents seed is the brood of wicked men which have beene from the beginning namely those which persecute the Gospell The seede of the woman is our Lord Iesus Christ with the whole band of righteous men Iohn saw a battel in heaven r Rev. 12.17 Michael and his Angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his Angells Iesus Christ who onely is this Michael because he onely is like unto God and his Angels and Saints fought against the divell and all the hellish rabble of wicked men and of divells like unto himselfe There is no manifest cause knowne of the Antipathies and contrarietie of dispositions which are in nature but the causes of disagreement betweene the righteous and unrighteous man are knowne They flow from contrary springs and therefore their affections their actions their effects their ends are contrary Are not God and the divell enemies The wicked man Å¿ 1. Ioh. 3.8 is of the divell the righteous man t Ver 9. is borne of God Hence it is that the children beare out their fathers quarrell the wicked is hud-winked with ignorance v Ioh. 16.3 He knoweth no the Father nor the Sonne neither will hee know them x Psal 36.3 he will not learne to be wise that he may doe good y Ioh. 17.8 The righteous man knoweth surely that Christ is come out from the Father and beleeveth that the Father hath sent him a Rom 8 5 The wicked is after the flesh and therefore he minds the things of the flesh The righteous being after the spirit minds the things of the spirit The wicked mans workes are b Gal. 5.19 20 21. the workes of the flesh which are these Adultery fornication uncleannesse lasciviousnesse idolatry witcheraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murthers drunkennesse reuilings and such like The righteous mans works are c Ve. 22 23 the fruits of the spirit that is to wit Love ioy peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance Where there is so great a contrarietie and repugnancie of affections of actions of workes what wonder if there be great enmitie The righteous man is light in the Lord and d Ioh. 3.20 every man that doth evill hateth the light neither commeth to the light lest his deedes should bee discovered for that cause hee hateth the righteous man as the Pharisees hated Iesus Christ because hee reprooved them of their vices The righteous man likewise hateth the wicked e Psal 139.21 22. Doe I not hate them O Lord saith David that hate thee and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee I hate them with perfect hatred I count them mine enemies When heat and cold moisture and drought hardnesse and softnesse light and darknesse shall leaue off to bee at variance then then shall the righteous and wicked man ioyne hands and enter into confederacy one with another f 2. Cor. 6.14 15 16. for what fellowship hath righteousnesse with unrighteousnesse and what communion hath light with darknesse and what concord hath Christ with Beliall and what part hath he that beleeveth with an Infidell and what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idolls In this discord there is this notable difference that the righteous man hateth rather the vice than the person of the wicked and seeketh by prayers to God by exhortations admonitions good examples to convert him whereas the wicked hateth both the vertues and the person of the righteous and seeketh to destroy him III. From thence it is that assoone as a man begins to apply his mind and heart unto righteousnesse Satan and the wicked world conspire to undoe him for like as g Dan. 3.16 17 18. Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and the forme of his visage was changed against Shadrac Meshac and Habednego when to his face they refused to fall downe and worship the image which he had made and commanded that the furnace wherein they were to bee cast should bee kindled seuen times more than it was wont to be heat even so assoon as a man begins to draw his neck out of Satans coller to shunne the company of wicked men to draw neere unto God by repentance and newnesse of life and to register his name in the Church booke that he may be saved in the communion of the Saints Satan sets all his malice on a flame to devoure him and the wicked rush upon him with bill and claw to teare him in peeces For as theeves breake not into an house where there is nothing but straw hay stubble but onely into such places where there is gold silver precious stones and rich furniture so the divell and his limbes heede not rascals and scurvie fellowes but if any man bee a worshipper of God and doth his will they lye in waite secretly as a Lyon in his denne they hide the snare in his way they crouch they stoope to catch him into their net As soone as Christ was borne h Mat. 2.16 Herod became out of his wits seeking to slay him to teach us that as soon as we become Christians by a spirituall birth wee shall not have want of Herods to seeke our lives As soone as the i Rev. 12.3 c. red dragon saw rhe woman with child travelling in her birth and ready to be delivered hee stood before her that he might devoure her childe as soon as it was borne but her child being caught up unto God and she taking her selfe to her wings to save her life by flying into the wildernes he cast out of his mouth a floud of water to drowne her What was this vision but a type of the Church against whom the divell stirreth up a world of wicked men as so many waves of an overflowing river to swallow her up when after a long barrennesse she conceiveth againe and brings foorth children to God Then ye heare nothing amongst those blood thirstie butchers but crying k Ier. 11 19 Let us destroy the tree with the
his great strength Yet God imployeth often men horses hosts for the safety of the king deliverie of his people opposing men to men flesh to flesh vanitie to vanitie Thus he introduced his people into the land of Canaan by Ioshua delivered them often by the Iudges by David and other good Kings Thus after he had tryed the faith patience and constancie of the christian Church for the space of 3. hundred years by x. most heavy persecutions he stird up Constantine the Great to deliver them by the sword from their enemies In these skirmishes and combats men fight but k 1. Sam. 17.17 the battell is the LORDS It is he which giveth the victorie to them on whose side he is as the scales of a ballance hang upon that side where there is most weight This was that which Moses prophecied to his people l Deut. 33.27 The eternall God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting armes and he shall thrust out thy enemies from before thee and shall say Destroy them This was the confession of the Church of Israel with prayer and thanksgiving m Psal 44.3 4 5 6 7 8. Our Fathers got not the land in possession by their owne sword neither did their owne arme save them but thy right hand and thine arm and the light of thy countenance because thou hadst a favour unto them Thou art my King O God command deliverances for Iacob Through thee will wee push downe our enemies Through thy Name will wee tread them under that rise up against us for I will not trust in my bow neither shall my sword save mee But thou hast saved us from our enemies and hast put them to shame that bated us In God wee boast all the day long and praise thy Name for ever Selah Looke on what side God is there few are enow there two are enow there one is enough Few are enow Gedeon and three hundred men were sufficient against the Midianites because n Iudg. 6.16 the LORD said unto him Surely I will be with thee and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man Therefore when hee was going to fight hee cōmanded his souldiers to cry o Iudg. 7.18 The sword of the LORD and of Gedeon First the sword of the LORD as being the principall combatant Next of Gedeon as of a weak instrument in Gods hands and as the Midianite dreamed p Vers 23. a cake of barley bread which tumbling into the host of Midian smote it and put it to flight Three hundred Albigenses of Angrogne defended themselves in a medow against seven thousand Papists and having no other armour but slings gave them the chase Two are enow as q 1. Sam. 14.6 Ionathan and the young man that bare his armour against the garrison of the Philistins For as hee faid there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few When it is Gods pleasure to deliver by one one is enough r Iudg. 15.15 Samson with the jaw-bone of an Asse slew a thousand Philistins and ſ Iudg. 16.27 30. pulling down the house upon three thousand of them slew them all Wonderfull were the exploits of Davids Worthies but principally of t 2. Sam. 23.8 the first three for each of them being aloue slew many hundred of Gods enemies because God was with them But where God is not with men there a great host is as weake as one man And therefore when God drew himselfe back from the Iewes by reason of their sinnes they made their moan and said v Psal 44.9 10. Thou hast cast us off and put us to shame and goest not foorth with our armies Thou makest us to turn backe from the enemie and they which hate us spoile for themselves VII Sometimes God armeth his creatures and they fight against the enemies of his people either alone or jointly with them He fought against Pharao by turning of the river into blood by Frogs by Lice by swarmes of Flies by the murraine of Beasts by the plague of Boyles and Blanes of Haile Thunder and Lightning of Locusts and Darknesse at last by his Angell which smote all the first-borne of Aegypt from men unto the cattell Hezekiah being inclosed in Ierusalem and not able to resist against Senacherib his army x 2. Kin. 19.35 the Angell of the LORD went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred foure score and five thousand When of these champions of the heavēly host one alone doth so great deeds what would not doe all Psal 68.17 the Chivalrie of God which is of twenty thousands even of thousands of Angells z Psal 34.7 which encampe round about them that feare God Wherefore David prayed the Lord a Psal 35.5 to send his Angell to chase his enemies b t. 12.7 One Angell delivered Peter a multitude of Angels delivered c 2. King 6.17 Elisha and carryed d Luk. 16.22 Lazarus into Abrahams bosome When Ioshua was fighting against five kings of Canaan e Iosh 10.11 the LORD cast downe great stones from heaven upon them and they were moe which dyed with haile stones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the swords When in the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart and sundry other tribes through lazinesse followed not Deborah and Barak in the warre against Iabin and Sisera the heavens and the starres fought with them against those puissant enemies IIX Often God worketh besides all meanes yea and against the nature of meanes Ioseph is sold by his brethren and cast into a loathsome prison that he may be exalted to the highest glory that is in Kings Courts The sea was a safegard to the people of Israel even then when the Egyptians were overthrowne in the middest of it The blowing of trumpets and the burning lamps were fitter to discover Gedeon with his three hundred disarmed men to the hoste of the Midianites than to discomfit it The f Iosh 6.4 blowing of rammes hornes was not so fit to cast downe the walles of Iericho as to advertise the Citizens to be upon their guard and to watch to hold them up What could Davids sling serve against Goliaths speare and who would not have mocked the three hundred Albigenses fighting with slings against seven thousand men well armed as if they had beene as many birds in a hemp-yard It pleaseth God to deliver so that his Church vaunt not against him saying g Iudg. 7.2 Mine owne hand hath saved med and so relye upon the meanes and make him a co-partner onely of the deliverie and not author thereof When the Lyons spare Daniel when the fire beareth respect to the three Confessors when the Whale swalloweth up Ionah and three dayes and three nights after vomiteth him out of her belly upon the dry land without any harme who can deny but that such deliveries were against the nature of meanes and cannot
cast it in the fire and it shall cast a more glistering brightnesse than it did before The righteous man is Gods gold and a precious jewell in his Treasure In all states his innoceny integritie meekenesse is knowne to some men but specially his faith is made manifest when he is in the fierie furnace of tribulation then his drosse and tinne is evaporated and vanisheth away like smoake then the goodly metall of Gods graces holds firme then they give more light and shew more grace than all the gold of Ophir As it is written in the eleventh chapter of the Prophecy of Daniel v. 35. That some of them of understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and make them white even to the time of the end and as it is said in the third chapter of Malachy v. 2 3. That the Lord is like a Resiners fire and like Fullers soape and he shall sit as a Refiner and purifier of silver and he shall purifie the sonnes of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousnesse Therefore Saint Peter calleth our crosses m 1. Pet. 1.7 tryalls of our faith much more precious than of gold that perisheth though it bee tryed with fire And Saint Paul calleth them n Rom. 5.3 Tribulations or Pressings because that whatsoever persecuters intend they are the Lords wine-presse whereby the heavenly liquor of spirituall graces lurking in righteous men which are the sweete grapes of Christs Vineyard planted with his owne hand are expressed and imparted to others who find it to be of a sweet and most excellent rellish XII Let us bring two or three examples to illustrate the truth of this doctrine Can we seeke or if we seeke shall we finde any more fit and convenient to our purpose than the example of Iob he shineth like gold even in the eyes of God in his greatest prosperitie and God himselfe is his witnesse before the Angels of heaven and Satan who had thrust himselfe among them that then even then o Iob 1. â— there was none like him in the earth a perfect and an upright man one that feared God and eschewed evill The truth spake but Satan beleeved him not what God witnessed of Iob that hee was before men and Satan could not deny but he seemed so what then could he say against him Nothing which was true yet which he knew to be and shall ever bee too true of many men in the world and which he suspected might be true in him also p Iob 1.9 10 11. Doth Iob saith he feare God for nought hast thou not made a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side thou hast blessed the worke of his hands and his cattell is increased in the land but put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee to thy face The summe of the accusation is this Iob is an Hypocrite he serveth thee because thou blessest him take thy blessings from him and he will curse thee Therfore God to shew that his Saints are not slaves or hirelings serving him for the reward but loving and respectuous children walking before him with an upright heart for conscience sake giveth all that Iob had into Satans hands When Champions and Master-wrestlers walke abroad arrayed in soft and precious cloathing it is hard to judge of the health integritie and dispositions of their bodies and of the ability and strength of their limbes but when they come naked from the girdle upward to the lists or wrestling place all the beholders see the proportion of their members and as they perceive them to bee bigge-membred and their limbs well set judge of their vigour and might So when Iob was cloathed with Gods goods as with a garment his patience his faith his constancy was knowne of few but when the divell stript him of all when he came naked to the theatre to wrestle with the foyler and overthrower of mankind when then hee cryed aloud q Iob 1.21 2.2 Naked came I out of my mothers wombe and naked shall I returne thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord when speaking so he sinned not and attributed nothing undecent to God his prowesse and valour was made manifest to Angels and men who rejoyced for his victorie and God himselfe as it were clapping his hands and applauding him upbraided his enemy saying with a nipping scoffe r Iob 2.3 Hast thou considered my servant Iob how still he holdeth fast his integritie The craftie and cunning fox is not discountenanced for this first foyle and bitter jeast but replying Å¿ V. 4 5 6. Skinne for skinne yea all that a man hath will he give for his life but put foorth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh and hee will curse thee to thy face he checked God as beeing the cause of his overthrow and of Iobs victory as if he had said What wonder if Iob have not cursed thee for thou hast spared him but now touch him in his health which is most sensible unto him let me racke his sinewes bruise his bones teare his flesh in pieces and I undertake he shall curse thee by and by See againe these two champions in the place of battell in the presence of God of his holy Angels and of men Satan smote him with sore biles from the sole of his foot unto his crowne hee stirred up his wife his speciall friends his servants little children all that knew him against him to tempt him to mocke him to reuile him When they slept and he hoped that the night should ease his complaint his adversary scared him with dreames and terrified him through visions yee see with what sleight and might his enemy struggleth with him how hee endeavoureth to supplant him to wring out of him some uncomely word against God But hee remaining immooveable in his integritie t Iob 2.10 What saith he Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evill v Iob 13.15 16. though he slay me yet will I trust in him I will maintaine mine owne wayes before him he also shall bee my salvation In all this did he not sinne with his lippes and spake nothing unbeseeming a Saint unworthie of the Lord his God Then was fulfilled that which he said x Iob 23.10 When hee hath tryed me I shall come forth as gold Then Satan overcome sheweth a faire paire of heeles and putting his finger on his mouth appeared no more before God to craake Satan why hast thou remooved thy foote why hast thou made head to thy adversary with thy heeles hast thou not done against him all that thou couldst thou hast blasted with lightening and thunder or carryed away by the violent hands of robbers all his goods thou hast made him desolate and without
of that same town any word but this Blandina I am a Christian and we do no evill When Decius persecuted the Church Babylas Bishop of Antioch Babylas led to the place of execution with his three sonnes desired that they should be first put to death to the end that he might exhort and confirme them which when hee had done his wife comforted him and after she had seen her husband and three children suffer death for Christs sake buried them together Much otherwise the Father and the Sonne with whom I was familiar The Father beseeched that he should die first that his Sonne who was a godly and learned Preacher might comfort him Then it was a wonderfull spectacle to Papists to see the Sonne at the foote of the gallowes preaching to his Father the merits of the death of Christ the vertue of his resurrection the vanitie of the world the unspeakable joyes of Paradise to heare him crying alowd Father ye cannot so soone knocke at the gate of heaven but Christ will open ye cannot so soone enter but I shall follow to hear and behold the old and venerable Father answering with a cheerefull countenance Sonne I see the heavens open and Iesus Christ at the right hand of God Then they were amazed to marke againe the young Minister forgetting himselfe and with a constant face preaching to other two which were also in the executioners hands the forgivenesse of sins the resurrection of the flesh and life everlasting To consider how constantly the foure died with what fervencie of celestial prayers they commended their spirits into Gods hands Then the chiefe of the Capuchin Monkes said to his companions Si coelum Huguenotis datur istis debetur If heaven bee given to Huguenots it is due to these men Then some Gentlemen cryed O happie religion which breeds in men a contempt of death which we dread most and a most sure hope of salvation who would not who should not fight manfully for the defence and suffer constantly for the confession of such a religion This day onely have we begun to know Christ Condemned men have been our Preachers We shall never hate Huguenotes any more XVIII Learne of all this discourse what difference there is betwixt the upright man and the hypocrite Iohn the Baptist calleth afflictions f Mat. 3.12 Gods fanne wherewith when he hath throughly purged his floore the chaffe flyeth away into the ayre and finally is burnt up with unquenchable fire but the wheate is gathered into the garner Hypocrites are chaffe lying in time of peace intermixt with the faithfull which are Gods wheat but g Psal 1.4 5. the wind of persecution driveth them away neyther can they stand in the congregation of the righteous for then there is nothing to be seene but Apostasies defections abjuring of the truth renouncing of the Gospell forsaking of all Communion with the Church Iesus Christ compareth tribulation and persecution h Mat 13.5 6 8 20 21 23. to the burning Sunne scorching the seede which hath no deepnesse of earth so that it withereth away but warming the seede which falls into good ground and making it to bring foorth fruite some an hundred fold some sixtie fold some thirtie fold The Hypocrite receiveth the word with joy but because hee hath not in himselfe the roote of an upright conscience when persecution ariseth because of word he is offended and starteth backe The righteous man is the good ground the sunne of persecution may blacken him but it cannot burne him In the most hot dayes of tribulation he is most plentious in good workes therefore the whole Church cryeth in the Canticles i Cant. 1.5 6. O ye daughters of Ierusalem I am blacke but comely k Bernar. in Cant. ser 25. Blacke in your judgement Comely in the judgement of God and Angels Blacke without l Vestro maleficio by your mischiefe for the Sunne of persecution hath looked upon me my mothers children were angry with me these good Catholikes have persecuted me Comely within m Dei beneficio through Gods benefit for n Psal 45.13 the Kings daughter is all glorious within As the tents of of Kedar as the curtaines of Salomon which are all blacke and dustie without but within are decked with most precious implements To conclude cast gold in water it keepeth its owne yellow shining cast it in the fire and melt it it becommeth brighter Cast earth in water it is by and by changed into mud cast hay in water it will suddenly rot cast earth in the fire it is instantly turned into dust and made a sport to the wind cast hay into the fire with a blaze it is made smoake and ashes So befalls it to the righteous man the hypocrite The hypocrit when he thriveth most and full-gorgeth himself with pleasures is like hay and a lumpe of earth in the water he is nothing but rottennesse and putrefaction when Gods hand is upon him he howles he despites God hee curseth him to his face and in the stirring of an eye is consumed he perisheth he vanisheth like earth and straw in the fire But the righteous man in his greatest prosperitie shineth in all godlinesse before men as gold in water and when hee is cast in the fierie furnace of tribulation he is like gold in the fire his workes then yeeld a more radiant lustre than before XIX The Lord in his mercy sanctifie us and make us throughly righteous that when the day of our tryall shall come we may be found to be fine metall and abiding the hammer the scissers and the fire may through faith and patience inherite the promises of grace peace and eternall life through the merits of our Lord Iesus Christ who o 1. Ioh. 5.20 is the true God and eternall life to whom is due and to whom let us render now and for evermore all praise honour and glory Amen SERMON V. Of the causes of the righteous mans Evills PSALM XXXIV XIX Many are the Evills of the Righteous 1. THe righteous man when hee suffereth for righteousnesse sake is honoured 2. It is a great glory to suffer for a good cause 3. Namely for God as many have done 4. To suffer for the Gospell is most glorious of all 5. Of those which suffer for the Gospell some are Confessors some Martyrs 6. What it is to be a Martyr 7. Three conditions required in a Martyr 8. The great glory of Martyrdome in that it makes the Martyrs resemble the Prophets Apostles and other Saints 9. Yea and Iesus Christ himselfe yet with foure differences 10. God afflicteth righteous men for other mens sake 1. That they may be converted 11.2 That they may bee instructed not to worship righteous men 12.3 That they may bee spurred to imitate their Christian vertues 13.4 That they may consider Gods wrath against sinne and feare 14. Finally God afflicteth the righteous man for his owne glory whereof there are many
promise it is both wonderfull and profitable to consider for when hee will shew his strength that which he doth seemeth contrarie to that which he intendeth to doe When he came to lighten and gladden Abrahams soule by the confirmation of his promises he sent m Gen. 15.12 an horror of great darkenesse upon him n Gen. 32.25 When hee came to blesse Iacob hee wrestled with him and put his thigh out of joynt o 2. Kin. 2.21 Elisha sweetned the unholsome waters with salt p Ioh 9.6 Iesus Christ putting clay on the eyes of a blinde man restored him to his sight q Marc. 7.33 he put his fingers into the eares of a man that was deafe and they were opened Even so he debased and abated Ioseph to the lowest pit of the prison that his power might be marvelled at in advancing of him to the highest dignitie of Pharaos Court. Hee winked at Pharao and his armie when they persecuted and pursued his people into the midst of the red sea that when with the blast of his nostrils the sea came and covered them and they sunke as lead in the mightie waters his people might sing unto him r Exod 15.11 Who is like unto thee O LORD amongst the gods who is like thee glorious in holinesse fearefull in praises doing wonders and his enemies might say of him that Å¿ Iosh 2.11 hee is God of Heaven above and in earth beneath Hee permitted Senacherib King of Assyria to take all the defensed cities of Iuda and to bring Hezakiah to such extremitie that hee had not two thousand men to withstand him then hee sent his Angel from Heaven to deliver him then t Esa 37.20 all the kingdomes of the earth knew that he is the Lord even hee only Consider Nebucadnezzar in his rage fury comanding to heat the burning fierie furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heat and to cast the three Confessors into it saying to them v Dan. 3.15 Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands His mind was to destroy the bodies of these Saints But O miracle of the almightie power and vertue of God! the fire was a rampier and wall to guard them the flame was a garment to clothe them the furnace was a fountaine to refresh them Mortall bodies were cast into the fire they were not hurt thereby as if they had bin immortall the flames received them tyed and untying them were tied themselves They spared the hands and the feet whereof they burned the bands They slew the men that cast these Salamanders into the furnace for the furnace was exceeding hot to teach you that the strength of the fire was neither extinguished nor abated yet they touched not the bodies of the Saints not changing their nature but bearing respect to their godlinesse yea and such respect that there was not an haire of their head singed neither were their coats changed neither had the smell of fire passed on them which goeth beyond all admiration The fire dared not touch but their bands The Tyrant fettered them the fire unfettered them that ye may see the crueltie of the Tyrant and the obedience of the element The Princes and Governours of the kingdome were come thither to see the great solemnitie of the dedication of the golden image but they saw that which they could never have thought of They came to worship the idoll they went home admiring and worshiping the power of God The king himselfe who ere-while had cast in the fire these three Confessors because they would not serve his gods nor worship the golden image which he had set up was constrained to worship their God and to confesse that x Vers â—9 there is none other God that can deliver after this sort So Satan was confounded in his malice seeing his power abated by his owne craft whereby he laboured to overthrow the servants of the living God and Gods Power Wisdome Goodnesse Providence was glorified in their deliverie God y 1. Kin. 17 4. spake to the ravenous Ravens and they fed Elijah He a Ion. 2.10 spake to the Whale and it vomited out Ionas upon the dry land When his people was scattered hither thither among the Chaldeans Assyrians Medes Persians and other Nations b Esa 43.6 bee said to the North Give up and to the South Keep not backe bring my sons from farre and my daughters from the ends of the earth So was fulfilled that which is written in the Psalmes c Ps 76.11 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee XV. Such examples of the glorious power of God in the afflictions of righteous men are most frequent in the New Testament As in the creation he commanded light to shine out of darkenesse So in the redemption of mankind he made our Saviour a curse for us that hee might blesse us and put to death the Prince of life that through his death he might give life to those which were dead His enemies sealed and guarded the Sepulchre where hee was buried and said d Psal 3.2 There is no help for him in God But e Rom. 1.4 hee was declared to be the Sonne of God with power according to the Spirit of holinesse by the resurrection from the dead and was more glorious in his death than he was in his life So his Church is never so wonderfull as in the persecution Then f Exod. 3.2 3 4. ye see the great sight which made Moses amazed The bush burning with fire and yet not consumed What more vile than a bush what more contemp tible in the eyes of men than the Church what more susceptible of burning than a bush what so easie to bee overthrowne as the Church as the little flocke of weak sheepe inclosed with an armie of strong and cruell wolves yet the bush was not burnt because God was in the midst of the bush So the Church cannot be destroied because Christ hath said g Matth. 28 Loe I am with you alway even unto the end of the world Consider h Act. 16.22 Paul and Silas torn with stripes thrust into the inner prison and their feete made fast in the stocks The infidels might have said that the God who suffreth his servants to be thus abused is either weake and impotent or unrighteous and malicious But see behold in this permission a most wonderfull work of his power goodnesse and mercy His Saints had their feete in the stockes their hands in the gyves Their heart was franke their tongue was free The Divell was then a prentise and had not learned to gag Their heart was inditing a good matter Their tongue was the pen of a readie writer At mid-night they were waking What did they while they waked did they howle for griefe and paine complained they of their contumelies accused they the crueltie of the blood-thirstie Governors blamed they the rigor of the pitilesse
the promise which God made to David saying a Psal 89.30 31 32 33 34. If his children forsake my Law and walke not in my iudgements If they breake my statutes and keepe not my commandements Then will I visite their transgression with the rod and their iniquitie with stripes Neverthelessâ— my louing kindnesse will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulnes to fail my covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips Thence it was that Davids children were often chastened ever delivered that good Kings succeeded bad that many afflâ—â—tions were followed with notable deliveries that seventy yeares of captivitie ended in a most glorious and wonderfull libertie that the foure hundred yeares following had sadnesse seasoned with joy teares mingled with laughter speares changed into sithes swords beaten into mattockes prayers in the time of persecution ending in thankesgiving for peace untill the land being destitute and void of righteous men vomited out for ever and ever all her inhabitants for wheresoever are righteous men there Many are the evills of the Righteous But the Lord delivereth him out of them all III. The Christian Church hath succeeded both to the evills and deliveries of the Church of Israel and of Iuda as the Lord himselfe hath experimented in his own person and hath forewarned us b 1. Pet. 3.18 He was put to death in the flesh Many are the evills of the Righteous He was quickned by the Spirit The Lord delivereth him out of them all He saith to us c Ioh. 16.10 Verely verely I say unto you that yee shall weep and lament but the world shall reioice And yee shall bee sorrowfull but your sorrow shall be turned into ioy Ye shall bee sorrowfull because many are the evills of the Righteous your sorrow shall be turned into joy because the Lord delivereth him out of them all I have declared to you how many evils the Christian Church suffred at divers times by ten bloody persecutions by false brethren by the wicked heresie of Arrius But by divers means the Lord delivered her out of them all At last the Antichrist is come according to the Scriptures and the prophecie of the revelation concerning d Rev. 11.7 c. the two witnesses of God hath been fulfilled where it is said that the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomlesse pit shall make warre against them and shall overcome them and kill them that their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great Citie three daies and a half that the people and nations shall see them and shall not suffer them to be put in graves that they that dwell upon the earth shall reioice over them and make merry and shal send gifts one to another because these two Prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth That after three dayes and an halfe the Spirit of life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet and great feare fell upon them which saw them and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them Alas what evils hath not the beast practised against these two witnesses against the little handfull of those which professed the Gospel of Christ How often hath she fought vanquished killed them How often also hath God raised them from the dead in their successors what was this last peace of France but a most wonderfull resurrection The world for the first draught filleth a cup of good wine but after that it giveth nothing to drinke but poison of dragons and the cruell venome of aspes Contrariwise the e Ioh 2.10 Lord Iesus giveth the best wine last Hee f Iob 5.18 maketh sore to bind up he woundeth to make whole g 1. Sam. 2.6 He killeth to make alive Hee bringeth men downe to the grave that hee may bring them up againe Weeping h Psal 30.5 may endure for a night but singing cometh in the morning i Psal 126.6 They that sow in teares shall reap in ioy He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtlesse come againe with reioycing bringing his sheaves with him As in Musicke contrary voices give a pleasant sound by a discordant concord make a most delectable harmonie So these alterations and interchanges of evill good in our lives make the pleasures more acceptable when God sendeth them when after that the righteous man hath beene shaken and tossed with afflictions The Lord delivereth him out of them all IIII. He which doeth this worke is the LORD his worke is deliverance he whom hee delivereth is the righteous man The Evils out of which he delivereth him are all the evils which befall him Adde to these the maner how and the time when he delivereth the righteous man out of all his evils ye shall have six principall heads of doctrine to be handled in the exposition of the second part of this text V. The deliverer of the Church is the LORD The Hebrew word is IEHOVAH which is Gods Name The use of names is to put distinction betweene things that are of one kind and therefore when Iacob asked of God what was his Name he rebuked him saying Wherefore l Gen. 32.29 is it that thou doest aske after my Name The Iews say that he would not tell him his Name because the tongue of a mortall man neither should nor can expresse it For that same cause say they when Manoah Samsons father desired to know his Name he repressed his curiositie with this answer m Iudg. 13.17 18. Why askest thou after my Name seeing it is wonderfull But to speak properly he hath no Name because hee is alone and there are no other gods with him His Name is his owne selfe and therefore wonderfull above all wondering And so he would have Iacob and Manoah who tooke him for one of the Angels to think of him But when Moses asked by what name hee should call him when he should speak of him unto the children of Israel he commanded him to say unto them EHEIE n Exo d. 3 14. hath sent me unto you which word in our Bibles is translated IAM In the greeke of the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that is which Plato learned in Syria called him o Iustin Cohortat ad Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which is It is the first person of the future tense and may be translated He that shall be God spake further unto Moses p Exod. 3.15 Thus shalt thou say un-the Children of Israel IEHOVAH the God of your fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob hath sent me unto you This is my Name for ever and this is my Memoriall unto all ages So God called himselfe and so q Exod. 4.30 Moses named him to the people and to r Exod. 5.1 2. Pharao who hearing the Name which he never heard before answered Who is IEHOVAH I
our enemies our evils b Psal 138.6 Though the LORD be high yet hath he respect unto the Lowly but the proud he knoweth afarre off Almighty without a peere in heaven among the Angels in earth among the most dreadfull creatures as the Church singeth c Psal 89. 6 8 9 11 13 For who in heaven can bee compared unto the LORD Who among the sonnes of the mighty can bee likened unto the LORD OLORD God of Hosts who is a strong LORD like unto thee or to thy faithfulnesse round about thee Thou rulest the raging of the sea when the waves thereof arise thou stillest them The heavens are thine the earth also is thine As for the world and the fulnesse thereof thou hast founded them Thou hast a mighty arme strong is thy hand and high is thy right hand When wee complaine and make our moane to God d Psal 93.3 4. The flouds have lifted up O LORD the flouds have lifted up their voice the flouds lift up their waves we are taught to comfort our selves and to say The LORD who is on high is mightier than many waters yea than the mighty waves of the sea All-righteous for e Psal 103.16 the LORD executeth righteousnesse and iudgement for all that are oppressed All-good and most willing to deliver us for he is the LORD our God f Psal 50.1.7 The mighty God even the LORD hath spoken saying I am God even thy God hee is appeased to wards us he is reconciled with us through the blood of the crosse of his deare Sonne Our cause is his cause We are persecuted for righteousnesse sake Righteousnesse is the daughter of God We are persecuted for the Gospel The Gospel is his word We are persecuted for Christs sake Christ is his Sonne his deare Soone his onely Sonne I say then that he is All-wise and can All-mighty and may All-good and will deliver us Whatsoever he is hee is it to us and for us because hee is the LORD our God Hee hath delivered all our fathers predecessors g Psal 22.4 Our fathers saith David trusted in thee they trusted in thee and thou didst deliver them He will also deliver us And therefore every righteous man prayeth h Psal 106.4 Remember mee OLORD with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people O visit mee with thy salvation that I may see the good of thy chosen that I may reioice in the gladnesse of thy nation that I may glory with thine inheritance IIX Here is the comfort here is the consolation of the Church and of every righteous man in her that God heareth their prayers and delivereth them even then and namely then when they are forsaken of all men Iacob was alone when he fled from his fathers house because his brother Esau had vowed to kill him Then the Lord appeared unto him in a dreame and said unto him i Gen. 28.15 Behold I am with thee and will keepe thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee againe into the land for I will not leave thee untill I have done that which I have spoken to thee of David complaineth that k Psal 25.16 hee was desolate and afflicted yet hee seeketh comfort in the assurance of Gods assistance and saith l Psal 27.10 When my father and my mother forsake me then the LORD will take me up What extremitie was the Church brought into under the persecution of the cruell Tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes m Dan. 11 32 45. who corrupted by flatteries such as did wickedly against the covenant and afflicted those which were upright so cruelly and so puissantly that there was none to help them Then the Church prayed n Psal 74.1 O God why hast thou cast us off for ever why doth thine anger smoake against the sheepe of thy pasture Then Sion said againe o Esa 49. 14 15. The LORD bath forsaken me and my LORD hath forgotten me Then the Lord answered againe Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the sonne of her wombe yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee For then was fulfilled that Prophecy of Daniel p Dan. 12.1 At that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered every one that shall be found written in the booke Who is this Michael who like unto God who but our Lord Iesus Christ the great Prince which standeth and fighteth for his people when they can neither stand nor fight for themselves Was it not hee which cryed from heaven to Saul q Act. 9.4 Saul Saul why persecutest thou me When an hoste came from the King of Syria and compassed the Citie of Dothan where Elisha was to take him his servant was affrighted and said r 2. Kin. 6.15 16. Alas my master how shall we doe But hee answered Feare not for they that be with us are moe than they that be with them After the same manner when the king Hezekiah was brought by Senacheribs army to such a pinch that he was constrained to inclose himselfe within the walls of Ierusalem for the safetie of his life all his kingdome being taken from him and having no power to resist fortified himselfe in the Lord his God and heartned his people saying f 2. Chron. 32.7 8. Be strong and courageous bee not afraid nor dismaid for the King of Assyria nor for all the multitude that is with him for there be moe with us then with him With him is the arme of flesh but with us is the LORD our God to helpe us and to fight our battells Yee see a good and godly king see also a good and godly people And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Iuda i.e. notwithstanding their weakenesse and fewnesse they leaned upon God and were delivered S. Raul with good reason did complaine of all his followers that at his first answer before Nero t 2. Tim. 4.16 No man stood with him but all men forsooke him Was he for that destitute and left alone Notwithstanding saith he the Lord stood with me and strengthened me And therefore when he saw all the powers of hell and all the malice of the earth uncoupled after poore Christians hee defied them saying v Rom. 8.30 If God be for us who can be against us Even as David said x Psal 27.1 3. The LORD is my light and my salvation whom shall I feare The LORD is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid though an hoste should encampe against me my heart shall not feare though warre should rise against me in this will I be confident and as Iesus Christ said to his Disciples y Ioh. 16.32 Ye shall leave
cut downe he flyeth also as a shadow and continueth not Wherefore a Esa 2.22 cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of that ye should put your trust in him XIIII Must we not trust in men which are living and which are with us to helpe us Much lesse should we trust in them which are dead b cles 9.6 Their love their hatred their envy to mee to thee severally is now perished neither have they any more portion for ever in any thing that is done under the Sunne c Iob 14.21 Their sonnes come to honour and they know it not they are brought low but they perceive it not of them I except not those even those blessed soules which enjoy a perfect felicitie in the vision of God for d Rev. 14.13 they rest from their labours and e Esa 57.1 are taken away from that which is evill their felicitie consisting in this that their minds are filled with the perfect knowledge of God their hearts with his love and all the powers of their soule are ravished with a perpetuall meditation and contemplation of his infinite goodnesse which is never distracted with the disquieting cares of things which goe to and fro in this valley of miseries and world of vanitie XV. In whom then shall we trust In whom but in the Lord f Psal 128.8 9. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in Princes David speaking of the forefathers of Gods people saith of them g Psal 22.4 Our fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them Of himselfe hee saith h Psal 4.9 I will both lay mee downe in peace and sleepe for thou LORD onely makest mee dwell in safety Thou onely not Abraham Isaac Iacob not any Angell any Archangell not any living among men i Psal 18.27 28. Thou wilt save the afflicted people but wilt bring downe high looks Thou wilt light my candle the LORD my God will lighten my darknes And therefore k Psal 25.15 mine eyes are ever towards the LORD not towards the Saints nor the Angels for he shall plucke my feet out of the net l Psal 42.11 he is the health of my countenance the helpe whereunto l Psal 42.11 looke and my God m Psal 73.25 whom have I in heaven and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee And therefore hee saith againe n Psal 121.1 2. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hilles from whence cometh my helpe Say not that these hills are the Angells or Saints for headdeth My helpe cometh from the LORD which made heaven and earth from the LORD alone o Psal 62.11 12. God hath spoken once twice have I heard this that power belongeth unto God also unto thee O LORD belongeth mercy Power and mercy two qualities required in our Redeemer Deliverer and Saviour and belonging to God alone who may deliver us because power is his will deliver us because mercy also is his p Psal 46.1 God is our refuge and strength a very present helpe in trouble Therefore let worldlings q Psal 20.7 trust in their chariots and in their horses let Papists trust in Saints in Angels in Monks cowles in merits we will remember the Name of the LORD our God that we may be blessed For r Ierem. 17.7 blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD and whose hope the LORD is XVI Let us onely take heede that wee bee of those whom the Lord delivereth Å¿ Pro. 13.10 The Name of the LORD is a strong tower The righteous runneth unto it and is safe The righteous man hath many evills but the LORD delivereth HIM I taught you in my first Sermon the characters and true markes of a righteous man If when thou art afflicted thou saiest with David that t Psal 9.9 10. the LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed a refuge in times of trouble consider and marke well how hee describeth these oppressed to whom the Lord is a refuge Read these words following And they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee for thou LORD hast not forsaken them that seeke thee I have seen many in their affliction bragging of Gods predestination and saying that Gods Elect cannot perish That which they say is true for Gods Angell forewarning Daniel of the great troubles wherewith the Church was to be vexed by the Tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes said unto him v Dan. 12.1 At that time thy people shall bee delivered every one that shall be found written in the booke And ye reade in the Revelation that x Rev. 20.15 whosoever was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the lake of fire as also on the other side that those onely enter into the holy City y Rev. 21.27 which are written in the Lambes booke of life But this predestination is hid in the unsearchable secrecy of Gods breast and many bragge of it which have no part in it Therefore David will have us to enter into our owne breasts and to search there the markes of our predestination which God hath shut up in the unmeasurable and infinite depth of his own breast a Rom. 8.30 for whom he did predestinate them he also called giving them an effectuall and sanctifying knowledge of his most blessed and holy Name so that when he saith to them b Zech. 13.9 Thou art my people they answer presently The LORD is my God This is to know God and to seeke God and David saith that the Lord is a refuge to the oppressed which know his Name and seek him This is the knowledge of faith which taketh the blood of the Lambe of God and c Heb. 12.24 1. Pet 1.2 besprinkleth our soules with it that k Exod. 12.13 as when God saw the blood of the Paschall Lambe upon the houses where the IsrAelites were he passed over them and the plague was not upon them when he smote all the first borne in the land of Egypt so hee delivers us from the hands of our enemies and the evils of this life and of the life to come by the vertue of that blood according to the promise l Zec. 9.11 As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water This faith m Act. 15.9 puristeth the hearts it is the mother of uprightnesse and sinceritie before God in the performance of all duties of the first and second Table and therefore if thou lookest for Gods deliverance cleanse thy heart in such sort that thou may bee able to say with David n Psal 7.10 11. My defence is of God which saveth the upright in heart for God iudgeth the righteous and God is angry every day against the wicked o 1. Tim. 1 5. From this knowledge and faith
be ascribed but to the most wonderfull power of God I put in this ranke the confusion and disorder which God sendeth amongst his enemies when he will deliver his people The Midianites come to fight against Israel but h Ver. 22. the LORD set every mans sword against his fellow even throughout all the host When i 2. Chron. 20.2 22 23 25. the Moabites Ammonites and Idumeans with one consent sought to destroy Iehoshaphat and his people the Lord troubled them with the spirit of division after such a manner that the Moabites and Ammonites slew and destroyed the Idumeans and after that every one helped to destroy another so that Iehoshaphat and his people had no more to doe but to goe and take away the spoyle and give thankes unto the Lord. How often by such divisions God hath saved the reformed Churches in forrein nations and namely in France we all know IX When God delivereth against the nature of meanes he will teach us that he standeth not in any need of meanes when his pleasure is to deliver And therefore now and then he delivereth without meanes k Pro. 16.7 When a mans wayes please the LORD he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him He delivered l Gen. 33.4 Iacob from Esau changing his heart and appeasing his wrath which was suddenly turned into imbracements kissing and weeping He delivered David from Saul by many meanes but when the messengers which were sent by Saul to take him prophecyed and thought no more on him what helpe of man what visible meanes were there When he preferred Ioseph in the Court of Pharao Daniel and his fellowes in the Court of Nebuchadnezzar and of Darius Nehemiah and Mordecai in the Court of Artaxerxes by what means did he it The Psalmist saith that m Psal 106 46. he made them to bee pittyed of all those that carryed them captives Hee converted Saul and of a persecuter made him a Christian of a Captaine an Apostle of a Ring-leader of most cruell and bloody Wolves a most vigilant and faithfull shepheard of Christs flocke David speaking through his owne experience saith to the man which is persecuted wrongfully n Psal 37.5 6. Commit thy way unto the LORD trust also in him and he shall bring it to passe and he shall bring foorth thy righteousnesse as the light and thy iudgements as the noone day Wee may wonder that he doth it but how he doth it who can tell How Saul knew Davids innocency we can tell o 1. Sam. 24.18 1. Sam. 26.21 because when he might he killed him not but it is wonderfull to consider by what unknowne wayes of Gods secret providence Saul fell twice into his hands Henry the third King of France spake of us at Tours as Saul spake of David and said that we were more righteous than hee because we had rewarded him good whereas he had rewarded us evill It was the wonderfull and immediate worke of GOD that hee could not bee saved but by them whose fathers hee had killed and was resolved to bee the protector of those whom he had persecuted if the Monks impoisoned knife had not cut too too soone for us the brittle thread of his mortall life God be praysed that amongst us there are no Clements no Barrauts no Chatels no Ravaillacs for p 2. Sam. 26.9 who can stretch forth his hand against the LORDS anointed and bee guiltlesse X. How often hath the Church beene afflicted stormed forsaken of all creatures destitute of all helpe of all counsell of all comfort and he he alone hath come on a sudden and both comforted and delivered her He prophecied by Daniel that under the persecution of Antiochus his people should be brought to such extremity that q Dan. 11.45 none should helpe them What then shall they perish for want of helpe It followeth in the next chapter r Dan. 12.1 And at that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall bee delivered every one that shall be written in the book Who is this Michael who but our Lord Iesus Christ called elsewhere Å¿ Iosh 5.14 15. the Prince of the host of the LORD If all the Angels of heaven if all the men of the world should stand still with their armes crossed if all the creatures should with hold their helpe from us our Michael saith unto us t Mat. 28.18 20. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth and loe I am with you alway even unto the end of the world Though he be v Phil. 2.9 10. highly exalted though he have a Name which is above every name though he x Psal 47.7 be king of all the earth and that at his Name every knee must bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth yet he is our high Priest and beareth us into the most high and inmost heavens yea weareth us as an ornament upon his shoulders and upon his breast and as the Apostle saith y Heb. 2.11 is not ashamed to call us his brethren When all things seeme to be desperate and past hope of recoverie when the faithfull are nothing but a skeliton but a carcasse a Ezech. 37.2 c. of dry bones as the people of Iuda was in the captivitie of Babylon if it please him to speak the word onely they shall come together againe bone to bone they shall live rise again and be a great Army Hee hath by his word done things greater and more wonderfull By his word he hath made heaven earth by his word he heaped plagues upon plagues while they had destroyed Pharao and his people they that are sicke cry unto him b Psal 107 7. he sendeth his word healeth them c Mat. 9.6 20 22. By his word onely he cured one sicke of the palsie and the woman diseased with an issue of blood By his word onely he quieted the winds calmed the roaring seas rendred sight and light to the blind raised the dead By his word onely he restored his people to the land of Canaan By his word he saveth the Church By his word by his onely power and good will without any visible and knowne meanes he hath given peace to the Churches of France for when we were betrayed and sold by sundry of our brethren forsaken of many pursued by a great armie he was for us and delivered us Then wee sung with thanksgiving the hundreth twenty and fourth Psalme XI There is yet another kind of deliverie which commeth immediately of God and is most wonderfull of all How he delivereth us by the ruine of our enemies how by death he giveeh us life wee shall heare in the next Sermon but that hee delivereth us when
thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with the Angels of his power We must apply this comfort to us for we shall never be without enemies But we have our warranter and protector in heaven who fore warnes us not only of their enterprises but also of their overthrow c Esa 54.15 16 17. Behold saith he they shall surely gather together but not by me whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake Behold I have created the Smith that bloweth the coales in the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his worke And I have created the destroyer to destroy No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against thee in iudgement shou shalt condemne This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousnesse of me saith the Lord. IX The Church is an Anvile which hath broken in peeces many hammers Or as Zechariah saith d Zach. 12.3 it is a burdensome stone for all people all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it Where are now the foure Monarchies which persecuted the Church Hath not e Dan. 2.34 35 44 45. the stone cut out of the mountaine without hands hath not the Church of Christ the Church which is come downe from Gods holy mountaine even from heaven the Church which is not the work of any man but of God the Church which is but like a little stone in the eyes of the world hath not this little stone broken them all to peeces and consumed them like chaffe which the wind carryeth away But it is become a great mountaine which filleth the whole earth It is a spirituall kingdome which the Lord of heaven hath set up and therefore shall never bee destroyed God said to mount Seir to the people of Edom the children of Esau Because thou hast had a perpetuall hatred and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity in the time that their iniquity had an end Therefore as I live saith the Lord God Ezech. 35.5 I will prepare thee unto blood and blood shall pursue thee sith thou hast not hated blood blood shall pursue thee Have any of the Massacrers of our fathers prospered How many wonderfull judgements of God upon them and their children might I relate unto you if time could permit The gaggers have beene gagged and strangled with wormes bursting out of their stinking throates those which imbrued their hands with innocent blood have swumme in their owne blood the children of persecuters were seene begging at the doores of your fathers whom their fathers had spoiled Many pursued by the divell did runne up and downe like mad men crying that they were damned because they had persecuted the Church and shed innocent blood Then the Church sang to God g Psal 92.5 6 7 8 9 10 11. O LORD how great are thy works and thy thoughts are very deepe A brutish man knoweth not neither doth a foole understand this when the wicked springs as the grasse and when all the workers of iniquity doe flourish it is that they shall be destroyed for ever but thou O LORD art most high for evermore for loe thine enemies O LORD for loe thine enemies shall perish All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered but my horne shalt thou exalt like the horne of the Vnicorne c. X. The author of the booke of Wisedome saith that h Sap. 6.5 sharpe iudgement shall be to them that be in high places And experience teacheth that the iudgements of God on them have beene most sharpe conspicuous and wonderfull i 1. King 21.19 22.38 In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth which Achab shed there they licked Achabs blood Proud k 2. King 9.35 36. Iezabel after she had slain the Prophets of the Lord was eaten by dogs Neither was there left in the family of Achab so much as a dogge that pissed against the wall In the beginning of the twenty seaventh chapter following our text the Prophet saith that l Esa 29.1 in that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent even Leviathan that crooked serpent and hee shall slay the dragon that is in the sea He calleth so the Kings of Assyria and of Babylon which were the most cruell subtile and venemous persecuters of his Church Consider and see how he punished them m 2. King 19. Senacharib was slaine by his owne sonnes in the house of Nisroch his God And n Herodot Euterp◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after his death the Egyptians whom he had oppressed erected unto him an image of stone with this inscription Whosoever looketh upon me let him feare God His third son Esar Haddon was slaine by Merodach Baladan who transported the Empire from Nimveh in Assyria to Babylon in Chaldea o Dan 5.1 Belshazzar the first and last of Merodaches race was killed among the goblets and dishes and in the midst of his Courtiers and Concubines whilest he was blaspheming the name of God the Monarchie was by Cyrus and Darius translated to the Medes and Persians p 2. Macc. 9.9 Antiochus Epiphanes famous for his most unnaturall and barbarous cruelty against the Church of the Iewes was smitten with the incurable and remedilesse sicknesse of wormes and lice which rising up out of his bowells and all the parts of his body consumed his flesh with many and strange torments and such a stinking smell that he himselfe could not abide it Thus dying a most miserable death hee left his Realme to his children amongst whom God sent the Spirit of division and discord which left them never in peace till they were consumed one by another XI Herodées q Ioseph Antiquit. Iudaic. lib. 17. cap. 8. Idem de bello Iudaico lib. 1. ca. 21. murtherer of the children of Bethelem through the righteous judgement of God became parricide of his owne children and at last after he had been long tortured with a cholike passion and unspeakeable torments in his entrails and all disfigured with the dropsie and scurfe wherwith his whole body was spread over was gnawen by swarmes of lice and worms which bursting forth out of those parts of his body which naturall shame commanded him to hide and dolefull necessitie constrained him to discover made him a most filthy and stinking spectacle to his Courtiers and a most loathsome guest to himselfe r Ioseph Autiq. lib. 18. cap. 9. Herodés Antypas who beheaded Iohn Baptist was relegated to Lion with his incestuous wife Herodias and ended there his wicked life by a wretched and miserable death Å¿ Euseb hâ—st
shall be saith S. Augustine shut upward and open downeward where the deeper they shall sinke l Rev. 9.2 the more shall it inlargeit selfe that they may never find an end of sinking The divells themselves are afraid to go there how much more men whose bones shall cracke whose teeth shall clatter whose hearts shall quake at the onely naming of it XVI Wo wo be unto them for no heart can imagin no tongue can iutter the tortures and torments which are impossible to be endured which needs they must endure there Alas what ease shall they find where when they shall be banished from the quickening sight of the living God never to see his face againe but inflamed with fury and indignation against them when it shall bee said unto them Depart from me ye cursed when they shall shall cry n Mat. 25.11 12. Lord Lord open to us and he shall answer Verily I say unto you I know you not o Aug. ibid. Vltra nescientur à Deo qui Deum scire noluerunt Yee knew not mee in your life and I know you not in your death If God shall not know them to aide them shall any of his creatures know them If the Sunne of righteousnesse who hath healing in his wings shall refuse to embright them with the least glance of the beames of his glorious face shall he suffer the light of this visible sun moone and starres to shine upon them If he who is called p Rom. 15 5. the God of consolation shall forsake them shall the blessed Angels shall the holy men of God be more mercifull than their maker who is mercy it selfe Shall any of the creatures which are in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth come and comfort them As when the woman in the fearefull famine of Samaria cryed to the King q 2. King 6.26 27. Helpe my Lord O King he answered If the Lord doe not helpe thee whence shall I help thee out of the barne-floore or out of the wine-presse So when these damned wights shall cry to the creatures for helpe grim and froward faces frowning browes an universall refusall shall be their first and last answer Our Creator shall they say is your enemy shall we be your friends As hee hath commanded you to depart from him so get you hence and depart from us Yea the Lord himselfe teacheth us in the parable of r Luk. 16.24 the rich glutton that if they should aske but one drop of water to coole their tongue it shall not be given unto them Å¿ Aug. de Tempore 252. Consider I pray you saith S. Augustine if a man were cast out of the congregation of this Church for some crime with how great forrow with how many agonies would his soule be vexed though out of the Church he may eate drinke converse with men and have some hope to be received into it again Surely this pain seem'd so heavy to Cain the first murtherer of Gods Saints that he cryed through despaire and great griefe of heart t Gen. 4.13 My punishment is greater than I can beare Oh then how many terrours how great anguish of mind shall wring and wrest the spirits of those who for their crimes shall bee excommunicated for ever from the glorious Church which is in heaven from the innumerable company of Angels from the congregation of all the Saints and from all the unspeakeable joyes of the heavenly Ierusalem Divines call this punishment Poena damni The paine of losse or dammage and say that it is but the first part of the unconceiveable torments which are prepared for the divells and for the viperous brood of wicked men XVII It goeth not alone It is ioyned with that which the same Divines call Poena sensus the paine of sense or of feeling Can they lose the favour of God with the comfortable use of all his creatures and not feele the redoubled blowes of the heavy sword of his indignation When v Est er 7.7 8. the king Ahasuerus in his wrath turned his backe to Haman the Kings servants covered Hamans face and heaved him away to the gallowes So when God shall withdraw the light of his face from these thrice unhappy bodies the divells who are the executioners of his high justice shall x Mat. 22.13 bind them hands and feete and take them away and cast them into utter darkenesse that as they delighted in the inward darkenesse of their minds and y Ioh. 3.19 20. hated the light and would not come unto it because their deeds were evill and lest they should bee reprooved so they may be tormented with utter darkenesse more palpable than the fogges of Egypt and so thicke that no sunne-shine of any worldly or heavenly comfort shall be able to sparkle thorow them If ye desire to know how great is the paine of sence or of feeling which is there the Scripture calleth it a Rev. 14.19 the great wine-presse of the wrath of God which shall bee troden till blood come out of it even unto the horse bridles It calleth it also b Esa 66.15 16. a fire and flame of fire whereby the Lord will plead against his enemies fire which c ver 24. shall never be quenched because it shall never lacke either matter to kindle it or a mighty breather to blow it 'T is a d Rev. 21.8 lake which burneth with fire and brimstone 'T is e Esa 30.33 Tophet ordemed of old made deepe and large the pile whereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a streame of brimstone doth kindle it 'T is a f Mat. 5.22 Gehenna of fire What paine so sensible as to be burnt alive and what paine so terrible and pittifull as when the Iewes g Buxtorf ex libro Ialcutam Ieâ—emiam ca. 7. tooke their young children and offering them in sacrifice to Molec gave them to one of the Priests who laid them upon the armes of the brazen Idoll after it was set on fire and glowing red the rest of the Priests in the meane while sounding with Drums Trumpets Timbrels and other loud instruments lest the parents should heare the pittifull cryes of their children and bee touched with compassion by reason of which sounding the place was called Tophet and because it was in a valley belonging to Hinnom it was called Gehinnom or Gehenna i. the valley of Hinnom a name most usuall amongst the Iewes in Christs dayes and long before to signifie the place and the paines of the damned As they were wont to call the divell Principem Gehennae The Prince of Gehenna or of hell where h Rev. 14.9 10 11. If any man worship the beast and his Image and receive his marke in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drinke of the wine of the wrath of God which is powred out without mixture into the cup of his