their Slaves and Vassals as if they believed none I have said what I intended concerning Israel's Treachery with the Remarks thereon I thought necessary to the present Subject we are on III. How her Sister Judah exceeded her in her Guilt comes now to be spoken to Which I pretend not to apply to the same Guilt in Specie for Judah had not revolted from their Allegiance to their Prince but what was of a much higher nature from their Faith and Allegiance to their God and on that account their sin was the greater as 't would have been had their Crimes been otherwise the same the Guilt of Judah would have been the more notorious of the two because as I before touched it heighten'd by these following Aggravations viz. 1. That what Judah did was under the Covert of the true Religion 'T was against the clearest Revelation of their Duty the most sensible Demonstrations of the Divine Power and Goodness the Presence of God himself with and his peculiar Providence still presiding over them in a word against those great and distinguishing Priviledges which no other part of Mankind could pretend to 2. That what Judah did was not only against so great Mercies but against as great Judgments too those manifest Warnings of that good Providence I mean which had so tenderly dealt with her as to make her Sister Israel the sad Example of that Vengeance he would thereby have deterred her from 't is the Argument of the Context and the Emphasis of the Text yet her treacherous Sister Judah feared not And for the true Religion to prostitute it self to that Sin it so expresly prohibits for those who could not be ignorant of their Duty to make their extraordinary Knowledge only serve to instruct them in greater Impiety those who could not but be sensible of the singular Favours of Heaven towards them to improve all to the dishonour of their great Benefactor and turn his Grace into Wantonness For those who had before their Eyes such a Spectacle of what their Sin must end in if not forsaken and amended as that of forlorn rejected Israel for them to make the Law to administer to their Guilt the Promises or Threats therein contain'd to promote their Impiety such signal and miraculous whether Mercies or Judgments only drudge to Sin and Hell that 's the Aggravation that 's the Horror And now I come with reference to what is the Subject of this Days Lamentation IV. To draw the Parallel in our own Case for we have our Israel and Judah too give me leave so to express it those on the one hand of a corrupt and superstitious and on the other as they give themselves the Stile of the true Protestant and best reformed Religion both deeply concern'd in the heinous Guilt of Treachery and that as I shewed it in the Case of Jeroboam and his Complotters as it extends to a joint Revolt from God and the King to the undermining the Government in Church and State both highly guilty in this matter but the latter the more inexcusable of the two As to the Guilt of the former i. e. of the Church of Rome whom in the Parallel I here call Israel will not their usurped Primacy so contrary to the Doctrine of Christ Matth. 20. 25. and afterwards their pretended Infallibility the only Prerogative of Heaven's Crown taken in to justifie that and every other Usurpation whatever too nearly resemble the Apostacy of Israel And what have these Calves of Dan and Bethel to follow the Allusion ever since bleated out but the Excommunicating Deposing and Extirpating of Princes and Hell and Damnation to all who would not joyn with them in the Holy Cheat. The ill Consequences whereof have been felt no where more than in these Kingdoms whereof we are witness the Slavery in which Prince and People for so many Ages together were held by it and when the Yoke was cast off What Plots Conspiracies and Treasons were still hatching by those of that Communion So notorious so hateful were their Practices till at length whatever Mischief befell the Nation was suspected to arise from thence So general was the Odium of that Name that like a common Thief every Felony by whomsoever committed is charged upon them and it hath been the common Craft of every Party almost to raise the Suspicion upon the Papist and send the Hue and Cry after them that so themselves might pass unapprehended and wholly fly from Justice How far they had a share in contriving or acting the Tragedy of this Day for that too hath been charged upon them God who knows the Secrets of all Hearts can best tell and there will be a day of Revelation of all things How far in l ae r Conspiracies they would do well to look to who pretend so much to abhor and detest their Corruptions For this I cannot but on this Occasion take notice of That 1. The Jesuits those great Plotters of that Religion and private Presbyteries came first into England about the same time 2. That they both behaved themselves in their several if several Designs by the same Model the one in indicting Councils summoning Synods enacting and reversing Orders and exercising of all manner of Papal Jurisdiction the other in appointing Meetings both Classical and Synodical in setting down Decrees in reversing Orders in electing Ministers exacting Subscriptions executing Censures of Suspension and Excommunication where they thought good writing exactly by the same Copy 3. That the Principles on which they proceeded to these Enormities were and are still the same What those of the Romish Communion do by vertue of the Power pretended to be lodged in the Church and absolute Jurisdiction Christ as they would perswade their Disciples hath given to his Vicar over all the World That the Brethren for so they stiled themselves arrogating to their Presbyteries as they are the chief Ministers of the Kingdom of Christ are to uphold his Throne to weild God's Scepter and manage his holy Yoke for so they phrase it which is their Discipline 4. That if the Motto of the one be so some tell us the Jesuits is Woe to Princes the Republican Humour and rebellious Attempts of the other may serve for a Comment on it I shall give but one Instance of this thorough Accord of these Brethren in Iniquity and 't is a very eminent one 'tis what I find in two several Authors about the same time when these Innovations were bringing in among us the one a Calvinist the other a Romanist both publishing their Books 1. Under the same Title De jure Magistratuum in subditos Officio subditorum erga Magistratus 2. Using the same Arguments mutatis mutandis the very same words only such Alterations made as might serve their several Hypotheses and 3. Concluding in the lawfulness of resisting deposing and extirpating Supreme Powers The several Authors are Johannes Baptista Ficklerus of the Romish Perswasion and an Anonymous Disciple of John Calvin and
Jeroboam the Son of Nebat who made Israel to sin This was the pulling up the Sluce that let in all the Inundation that afterwards over-flowed them this so black a Stain that no length of time no possession of the Crown could ever purge it for so the Holy Ghost tells us v. 19. That Israel rebelled against the House of David to this day And the continuing in this Sin and the fatal consequents of it was that which at last made them to be cast off by God deliver'd into the Hands and Power of the Assyrian and as to any Account we have of them ever since lost from being so much as a People in that Captivity for now as 't is Hosea 1. 6. they became Lo-Ruchama and Lo-ammi v. 9. no more either his beloved or his People to shew them their Sin in the Punishment of it they who revolted from their lawful Sovereign and their God were to abide many days without a King without a Prince and without a Sacrifice and without an Image and without an Ephod and without Teraphim Hosea 3. 4. Without any establish'd Government without any the least shew the very counterfeit dress and surface of Religion and when to be restored it will be only by returning to their Allegiance to the Posterity of David as it follows v. 5. and afterward shall the Children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their King But if this be so great a Guilt how comes God to declare he doth it upon the occasion of Rehoboam's taking Arms to reduce the Rebels and bring back the Kingdom again to Judah 1 Kings 12. 21. 24. that the thing was from him I answer 'T is one thing for God to approve another to permit any Action 1. 'T was from him as thereby the House of Solomon was to be punish'd for their own Rebellion against God in forsaking him and worshipping Idols 1 Kings 11. 33. 'T was from him as their not walking in his ways to do that which was right in his eyes had exposed them to his just Judgments 2. 'T was from him as by his Providence as he had purpos'd to over-rule their Sin to his own Glory 3. 'T was from him and therefore not to be punish'd by their Sword as he would take to himself to repay the Vengeance that was due to so notorious a Revolt as he did by those many Severities inflicted on them by those many Changes of the Succession no less than nine or ten times whilst they continued to be a Kingdom and People to see if any pouring them from Vessel to Vessel would cleanse them from their Dregs and when that could not be by giving them up the greatest Judgment that can befall any Nation to that Anarchy and Confusion they so much affected But however 't was just in God thus to treat one and the other to punish Judah by Israel's Rebellion this will in no case excuse the Actors no more than it will acquit the Devil of his implacable Malice that whom he seduces by his Temptations he is likewise appointed to be the unhappy Instrument 't is his Doom as well as his Nature to torment But might not some great Indignity put on Jeroboam some very signal Disobligation stirring up a Man of publick Spirit justifie his utmost Resentments Might there not be some publick Grievances that were necessary to be redressed Or Might not Religion be called in to assist in so good a Cause Let us see then what stands upon Record in these Matters for 't is the common case of most Traitors and was theirs who contrived and acted the black Tragedy of this day 1. As to the great Indignity put on Jeroboam the very signal Disobligations he had from the Government and what moved his publick Spirit you have the History 1 Kings 11. 26. And Jeroboam the Son of Nebat Solomon's Servant even He that 's the Emphasis the Holy Ghost puts on it He who stood in so near a Relation of personal Duty and stricter Attendance to his Master who was of his constant and daily Guard as every Domestick to a Prince is even he lift up his hand against the King And this was the Cause that he lift up his hand against the King Solomon built Millo and repaired the Breaches of the City of David his Father 't was a Distaste taken at the Strength and Security of his Prince the Envy he had at his Greatness and Power for we find very little Oppression or Injustice charged on Solomon's Reign Indignities and Disobligations he had received none from Solomon till he stood in open Defiance and Rebellion All that Solomon was faulty herein was his advancing Jeroboam to that Dignity whereby he began now to think himself a Match for his Prince v. 28. He had made him Ruler over all the Charge of the House of Joseph so dangerous is it to raise men of turbulent and ambitious Minds that like Lucifer presently Ascendam ero similis altissimo I will ascend and be like the most high is what comes next into their Thoughts Their Heighth makes them giddy and every thing turns round about with them their Glory only fits them 't is the Pattern the Son of the Morning hath left his Followers to be greater Devils 2. As to the publick Grievances necessary to be redressed for 't is pity there should not be some colour for so brave an Attempt what were they We must again consult the History as 't is related 1 Kings 12. 4. and the whole Complaint summ'd up in that grievous Yoke Solomon had put upon them and what that was you have at large 1 Kings 4. 7. c. 'T was only the more regular ordering of his Kingdom and Family 't was his settling his Dominion abroad and securing to them Peace and Plenty at home 't was his making Judah and Israel to dwell safely every man under his Vine and under his Fig-tree from Dan even to Beersheba v. 24. 25. Their great Grievance was That the Wisdom of God was with him ch 3. v. 28. that according to that Wisdom he framed those steddy Rules of Policy which the Sons of Belial who were for casting off every Yoke whose dissolute Lives could bear no Restraint could not withstand And how clamorous and noisy are they presently in their Complaints how diligent to find a fit Person to head the Faction and who so fit as a discontented Courtier a disobliged Favourite Jeroboam must be called home from Egypt 1 Kings 12. v. 3. A Fugitive presently adopted into a Patriot and none so proper to assert the Rights and Liberties of the People as one who by his Rebellion had forfeited all his own These are their intolerable Grievances and not to be redressed but by destroying Root and Branch Rehoboam is the present Oppressor his Father Solomon made the Yoke and David's Name too must be brought in to encrease the Odium v. 16. What Portion have we in David neither have we
the later of the two hath the Honour to be first on the Argument Their Books were publish'd between the Years of 1576 and 1578 both within the time of Buchanan's Writing and Publishing his De jure Regni apud Scotos all which i. e. the first coming of the Jesuits into England the settling of private Presbyteries by the Brethren and the writing of these several Books one in France another in Germany a third in Scotland to which I might add the many most virulent Pamphlets then sent abroad at home such as Goodman True Obedience Martin Mar-prelate the Demonstration of the Discipline set out by Penry and Udal Ministers by Job Throckmorton Knightly Wigston Laicks in 1588. the same Year when the Queen was deposed by Sixtus Quintus his Bull and the King of Spain came with his Armado to seize the forfeited Crown and all this just about the time when Subscription was in England first required to the Book of Articles so much the dread of all Innovators both in Church and State because so much for the Stability of both Ab uno disce omnes But because how near Brethren soever they are in Iniquity yet there is nothing in which they are so uneasie as to be thought such let us a little more distinctly see what the Guilt of the one is in this Affair and how the others is aggravated beyond it 'T is Guilt very enormous Guilt to be those who like Jeroboam the Son of Nebat make Israel to sin who corrupt and adulterate the Principles of Religion This in the first Instance of it certainly is a Guilt of the most heinous Nature and horrid Consequence imaginable But these are not the Circumstances of the present Comparison between Israel and Judah for 't is Israel as I ask'd leave to express those of the Romish Perswasion under the unhappiness of their being seduced and led out of the way Revolted Israel Israel under the Prejudice of false and corrupted Principles under a kind of Necessity of being deceived we are speaking of Israel too made the Subject of the greatest judgments For what Hatred what Scorn what Disgrace and Punishment have been thought too much for such Offenders Our Annals are full of their Story our Laws most strict and severe against them And between such and Judah i. e. those who still own the Purity of Religion and the Principles thereof those who have seen what hath been done to such Criminals what they have suffered for their Wickedness and yet make those Principles a Covert for their Falshood those Sufferings an Encouragement for themselves to act greater Villanies between such I say and Judah hangs the Scale and on these Accounts must turn on her Side For what will aggravate Sin if not its being committed against the general Principles as of all Religion so of what Men particularly profess and the highest Professions and Protestations to the contrary What more expose to more dreadful Judgments than the hardening themselves against so manifest and just an hand of God as they have seen upon others in the like Guilt and have felt upon themselves an Example one would think that might work on them in having their own so miraculously detected and in some measure already punish'd I speak it not with Respect to Israel those of a corrupt and adulterated Religion but to give our modern Saints still the Honour of the Comparison with respect to Judah I speak it too in vindication of the reformed Religion the glorious stile whereof they so unjustly usurp and are so great a Scandal to What I say will aggravate Sin if not the continuing in it under such Circumstances 'T was the Horror of their Case in the Text and so God himself enforces it And I saw when for all the Causes whereby back-sliding Israel committed Adultery I had put her away and given her a Bill of Divorce yet her treacherous Sister Judah feared not What remains is that 5. We sum up all by way of Inference Use 1. From hence it appears why in Scripture Treason and Rebellion are represented under so black a Character as being a Sin which equals the worst of Murders supposes the same Rancor of Mind arises from the same Passions of Avarice or Ambition and in the fatal Consequence of it must end in Ruine and that such as carries the immediate marks of Divine Vengeance along with it for with reference to all these St. Jude denounces the Woe v. 11. Woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the Error of Balaam for Reward and perished in the Gainsaying of Core And long before Samuel had told Saul 't was in his particular Case of Disobedience and that upon the most specious Pretence of Piety and high Devotion out of a seeming Zeal for God's Honour that he who gave him the Victory might himself by Sacrifice share in the Spoil 1 Sam. 15. 15. The People spared the best of the Sheep and of the Oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord but applicable to the same Sin wherever 't is found Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft and Stubbornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry and that will carry in it these several Aggravations 1. 'T is a Sin that in its exciting Cause usually springs from Pride and Discontent the very Sin of the Devil in Heaven it self 2. 'T is a Sin that supposes the renouncing of God and his Religion Whatever we may pretend otherwise 't is the very unchristning the Man the drawing him off from his very Vow of Baptism whereby he professes to renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World from the Obedience he then professed to Christ his Lord and General 't is the being ashamed of his Cross and what the sad consequence thereof is 3. 'T is a Sin that puts us out of God's Protection out of the Care of his Wisdom and Providence and no wonder that being abandoned to our selves and the Devil 4. We should be still hurried another fatal Attendant of this Guilt from one degree of Wickedness to another that we should be seduced by its bewitching Charms such as the High Out-cries for Liberty Property or Religion whether there be any reason for it or no led on by Fears and Jealousies the proper Symptoms of those who deal with the Devil to all manner of Impieties And so the latter Clause of that foremention'd 1 Sam. 15. 15. imports which tells us that Stubbornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry Iniquity as it opposes whatsoever is just and equal in the Laws of Men Idolatry as it sets up the Imagination of the Fool the fine Model and Platform he bewitches himself with the Idol of his own creating in the place of God 5. 'T is a Sin Witchcraft is and if Rebellion be such it must take the same Fate that must never hope for Success Witchcraft puts the Wretch out of the Protection of Heaven and cannot expect its Blessing And