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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32832	A sermon preach'd upon the first Sunday after the proclamation of the High and Mighty Prince, James the II, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, &c., which was made at Leicester, February the 10th, 1684/5 by Benj. Camfield ...	Camfield, Benjamin, 1638-1693.	1685 (1685)	Wing C386; ESTC R5823	16,477	30

circumstances and we have found the whole Speech proper and apposite as Grotius notes to terrifie his Enemies and hearten his own Subjects wherein he alledgeth principally for himself the Right of a Legitimate Succession and that the True Religion and Regular Clergy were on his side You have prevented me I suppose for the main of the Application to be made of it so far as we are concern'd for we are not God be thanked in any such state of war and I hope through his Blessing not like to be nor is there any case so exactly parallel but will admit of some dissimilitude 't is enough if certain general proportions and analogies reach us You all know or ought to know I am sure That this Kingdom of ours is an undoubted Monarchy under an Imperial Head as Supreme Governour to whom next unto God all sorts of men of whatever Rank or Quality Degree or Condition are bound to pay all Homage Fealty and Obedience And it hath been Declared by all the Authority of the Land That by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom neither the Peers of the Realm nor the Commons nor both together in Parliament nor the People collectively or representatively nor any other person or persons whatsoever ever had hath or ought to have any coercive Power over the persons of the Kings of this Realm And That it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King or those commissionated by him And That this Imperial Monarchy is Hereditary also such as defcends by a line of Succession from one to another And accordingly we are obliged by Oath to the King 's Sacred Majesty for the time being and to His Heirs and Lawful Successors And This if not by so immediate a Covenant from God as the Israelites yet by as unviolable Ties as the Constitution of the Government or our own Consciences can bring us under Now since it hath pleased Almighty God to call to himself our late most Gracious Sovereign of Blessed Memory King CHARLES II. under whose mild and merciful Reign we have enjoy'd for many years together infinite Benefits and Blessings had we but had more thankful hearts to acknowledg the same Since I say it hath pleased Him whom all must obey to remand this eminent Servant and Deputy of His and advance him to a more Glorious Kingdom as we have reason to judge from his exemplary and Christian Death as well as Good and Religious Government over us the Imperial Crown and Scepter forthwith are devolved beyond all dispute or question upon the High and Mighty Prince JAMES II. as our only Lawful Lineal and Rightful Leige Lord and King as you have heard by public Proclamation received with the universal joy contentment and applause of all good people And we shall not need to fear I presume any ambitious or treacherous Jeroboam nor any number of vain men Children of Belial to gather themselves in Tumults under any such Head to oppose his just Rights and therein their own as well as the common Duty and Happiness O what a wretched and disconsolate Estate had we now been in if we had been left upon this sad Providence as our sins deserved like Sheep without a Shepherd having none to go in and out before us In what a divided and bleeding condition had we been if the blind and furious Zeal of some men had prevailed to have cast out the undoubted Heir of the Crown from his Birthright and Inheritance How much have we to bless God for that we have yet a King of our own and not a Stranger One that is well acquainted with and reconciled to our Laws and Customs * Ad concilium de Repub. dandum caput est nosse Rempublicam Cicero 2. 4e Orat. One that hath often ventured his dearest Life and Blood in the Quarrels of his Countrey and testified his readiness on all occasions to do us good A Prince of no less Heroical Virtues than Noble Extraction * Eccles 10.17 Fortes creantur Fortibus b●nis c. Horat. From the first British Kings the CXL Monarch from the Scottish CX from the Saxon XLVII from the Norman Line XXVII The Dutiful Son of our Martyr'd Sovereign King CHARLES I. The Loving and Faithful Brother of our Indulgent Sovereign King CHARLES II. Wonderfully preserved together with them during our unnatural Wars and abroad in Exile and as wonderfully Return'd together with them into these Kingdoms and kept alive to this day amidst many perils and dangers for our defence and comfort A KING whom the Church and State of Scotland found great reason to praise God for when our peevish discontents jealousies forc'd him out from hence by the Providence of God to settle affairs there to a general satisfaction * See a Letter subscribed by seven Bishops there to the Archbishop of Cant. from Edinburgh March 9. 1682. A KING that hath given us visible pledges of his regard to the Christian and Protestant Religion by the education of his Children in it and the bestowing his two eldest Daughters in Marriage unto two Illustrious Princes of that Belief and Denomination A KING who notwithstanding all the Indignities and Affronts which the rudeness ignorance and malice of some men have put upon him and Libellous Defamations wherewith they have sought to blacken him yet begins his Reign with the most obliging and endearing assurances of his hearty affection unto and care and concern for all his People and in particular as of their just Rights Properties and Liberties so of that most excellent pure and Reformed Religion which is by Law Established more dear to pious and devout Souls than their Estates or Lives I cannot do you a more acceptable and beneficial Service than by reading over the Gracious Expressions which dropt from His Royal Mouth at his very first appearing before his Privy-Council and leave you to comfort your selves and one another with them and raise up your hearts by the contemplation of so much and so surprising a Goodness to bless God most affectionately for him and prepare to return at least Love and Good-will for his Grace and Clemency for that is the lowest measure of Gratitude that is no more than what Heathens conclude absolutely just and necessary to love those who love them and to do Good to those from whom they receive Kindness Pass we on therefore from the Speech of one King in the Text to the Speech of another c. Here was inserted The Account of what His Majesty said at his first coming to Council * For the sake of those who have not seen or heard it I have transcribed annex'd it at the end and afterwards order'd to be made public I will end all by putting you in mind of the Prophet Samuel 's Good and Right way to a Nations settlement and happiness 1 Sam 12.23 c. which after all is the only course we can have any security in amidst all the

A SERMON Preach'd upon the First Sunday after the Proclamation OF THE High and Mighty PRINCE Iames the II. By the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland c. Which was made at Leicester February the 10th 1684 5. By Benj. Camfield Rector of Aileston near Leicester Put them in mind to be subject c. Titus 3.1 The Right of the First-born is His Deut. 21.17 LONDON Printed for Charles Brome at the Gun at the West-end of St. Pauls 1685. To the Right Honourable my very good Lord and Patron JOHN Earl of RUTLAND Lord Roos of Hamlake Trusbut and Belvoir Lord Manners of Haddon His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant for the County of Leicester My LORD IT was a Transport of exceeding Joy and comfortable Omen of our future Happiness after that afflictive Sadness which fill'd all Loyal Hearts upon the surprizing News of the Death of our most Gracious Sovereign of Bl. Memory to see and observe with what unanimous and chearful Acclamations and bravery of Resolution Your Honour and others of the Nobility Gentry and Clergy of this County with the Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of Leicester attended the High-Sheriff in Proclaiming the Succession of the High and Mighty King JAMES the Second as the Undoubted and only Lineal Heir of the Imperial Crown And so soon as I had retired from that publick Solemnity my Thoughts resolved themselves into These ensuing Meditations which I here make bold to present Your Lordship with by that means to recommend them farther to a more common acceptance and benefit As containing in them a seasonable Mite or Two of that Religious Loyalty which the Church of England traineth up all her Members to and is in a peculiar manner agreeable to Your Honour 's constant Sentiments and Inclinations In hopes that Your Lordship will not only pardon the presumption but admit of this small Present for an additional Testimony of the most humble Duty of My LORD Your Honour 's Perpetually devoted Chaplain Servant Benj. Camfield A SERMON Upon the Proclamation of King James II. 2 Chronicles 13.5 Septuagesima Feb. 15. 1684. Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the Kingdom over Israel to David for ever even to him and to his Sons by a Covenant of Salt THe words are part of a notable Speech of King Abijah or Abijam as he is elsewhere * 1 Kings 15. ● called the Son of Rehoboam and Grand-child of Solomon And they are directed here to Jeroboam who had headed the ten Tribes in their Revolt and to all Israel with him as you may read in the fore-going verse And Abijah stood up on Mount Ephraim and said Hear me Thou Jeroboam and all Israel Ought ye not to know c. And 't is spoken immediately before a desperate battel between their two Armies now set in array On Jeroboam's side Eight hundred Thousand men and on Abijah's but Four hundred Thousand half the number * impar congressus Only he animates them here with the Goodness of their Cause and alledgeth That in the first place as a terror and discouragement to their enemies Ought ye not to know c. q. d. You cannot be ignorant of This and therefore it is your bounden duty to acknowledge it that my right to the Crown and Kingdom is inviolable founded upon the Grant of God himself from whom my Father received the Kingdom over Israel jure haereditario by an Hereditary Right that ought to abide for ever For so God gave the Kingdom over Israel to David for ever even to him and to his Sons by a Covenant of Salt By a Covenant of Salt That is by a perpetual sacred and inviolable Covenant For Salt drives away corruption and is therefore as Philo somewhere * L. de Victimas offerentib calls it the Emblem of Durability And so it seems explain'd Numb 18.19 It is a Covenant of Salt for ever before the Lord. Or else we may take the account of it from Vatablus Salt according to the Jewish Law was required with all their Sacrifices * Levit. 11.13 and These were wont to accompany solemn Leagues and Covenants * Psal 50.5 Agreeably to which a Covenant of Salt is a sworn and solemn Covenant ratified and confirmed by such Religious Ceremonies Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the Kingdom over Israel unto David for ever even to him and his Sons by a Covenant of Salt that is a sure firm and everlasting Covenant call'd elsewhere The sure mercies of David 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa 55.3 Acts 13.34 For thus Nathan the Prophet address'd himself to him 2 Sam. 7.8 c. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts I took thee from the Sheep-cote from following the Sheep to be Ruler over my people over Israel * Psal 78.72 And when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers I will set up thy Seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels * Vnum è liberis tuis Vatablus And I will establish his Kingdom He shall build an House for my Name and I will establish the Throne of his Kingdom for ever I will be his Father and he shall be my Son If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of a man and with the stripes of the children of men † Humano more poenâ humanâ i. benignâ clementi id but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I took it from Saul whom I put away before thee * Regnum in tam longo tempore illis non auferam ut Saulis posteritati abstuli Haec interpretatio optima Josephi est aliorum Hebraeorum Grotius in Loc. Rejecting him and his posterity from the Kingdom And thy House and thy Kingdom shall be established for ever before thee Thy Throne shall be established for ever And therefore though God in his Justice and displeasure for the sins of King Solomon and Rehoboam's Insolency and Rashness and the provocations under both their Reigns rent away Ten Tribes from the Twelve yet he still reserved the Principality of Judah to the Race of King David on the score of This Oath and Covenant until the coming of Messiah whose Kingdom was to be an Universal and Everlasting Kingdom though of a spiritual nature Thus when he speaks first of this Judgment decreed the Rent I mean of the Kingdom he adds That he will not do it in King Solomon 's Reign because he was the Son of David For David my Servants sake saith he whom I have chosen 1 Kings 11.34 Nay That he will continue a Tribe to his Son after him ver 36. That David my Servant saith he may have a Light * Lucerna pr● Regno ut exponit Chaldaeus Paraph. i. ut semper habeat aliquem ex nepotibus suis qui regnet in Jerusalem me auspiciente Vatablus in Luc always before me in Jerusalem the City which I have

chosen to put my name there So therefore it is recorded of this King Abijah notwithstanding the provocation of his sins whose heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as the heart of David his Great-Grandfather Nevertheless faith the Text for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a Lamp in Jerusalem to set up his Son after him and to establish Jerusalem c. 1 Kings 15.4 5. And so afterwards in the Reign of Jehoram the Son of Jehosaphat notwithstanding his provocations 2 Kings 8.19 Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his Servant's sake as he promised to give to him always a Light Lamp or Candle and to his Children And so it is repeted 2 Chron. 21.7 Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the Covenant which he had made with David and as he promised to give a Light to him and to his Sons for ever And to this you have a reference Psal 132.10 c. For thy Servant David's sake turn not away the face of thine Anointed The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David he will not turn from it Of the Fruit of thy body will I set upon the Throne If thy Children will keep my Covenant and my Testimony that I shall teach them their Children also shall sit upon thy Throne for evermore There should never have been any such thing known as a rent of the Kingdom or state of Captivity and Bondage For the Lord hath chosen Sion he hath desired it for his habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell c. There will I make the Horn of David to bud I have ordained a Lamp Candle or Light as before for mine Anointed His enemies will I cloath with shame but upon himself shall his Crown flourish Whatever Diminutions or Interruptions happen'd in the Succession it was only an Affliction or punishment for the wickedness both of Princes and People * See Eccl●● 47.20 21. But God resolved to continue a Lineal Descent of Kings from David until the coming of Christ the Son of David and of the seed of David as the Scripture speaks And therefore saith he even in the case of the division of the Kingdom upon the transgression of David 's Children I will for this afflict the Seed of David but not for ever 1 Kings 11.39 which seems to refer unto the Messiah who was to be King of all the Tribes of Israel and of the Gentiles too as Grotius notes And this now is the Covenant of Salt or perpetual incorruptible inviolable Covenant which King Abijah in the Text refers to and bottoms his claim upon Ought ye not to know c. In which words he appeals unto them as to Four points especially I. The Supremacy of the King over all his Subjects called therefore here The Kingdom over Israel II. The Divine Right of that Dominion or Supremacy That the Lord God of Israel gave the Kingdom over Israel unto David III. The Claim of Succession to this Hereditary Kingdom Even to him and to his Sons for ever And IV. The Vnalterableness of this Claim grounded upon a particular Covenant of God here in the Case Even to him and his Sons by a Covenant of Salt As to all these points I say he appeals to their own knowledge and conscience Ought ye not to know This I will but briefly run over the particulars First here is couch'd the unquestionable Supremacy of the King over all his Subjects 'T is the Kingdom over Israel The Head of the Tribes of Israel therefore is a phrase equivalent with King over Israel 1 Sam. 15.17 When thou wast little in thine own sight faith he unto Saul wast thou not made the Head of the Tribes of Israel and the Lord anointed thee King over Israel The very anointing typified as much it being the known property of Oil to swim on the top of other Liquors And so of David The Lord said unto thee Feed my people Israel and thou shalt be a Captain over Israel 2 Sam. 5.2 And for such a Pastor and Leader of the people the Elders of Israel acknowledg'd him The several Tribes had their respective Heads and Chieftains but the King was the Head of all those Tribes and their Heads too And therefore saith St. Peter To the King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Supreme 1 Ep. 2.13 And whoever teach otherwise Et Apostolorum doctrinae repugnant Imperia turbant as Grotius well expresseth it do both contradict the Apostles Doctrine and disturb Governments Now 't is the nature of the Supreme to admit of neither Superior nor Equal upon Earth ‡ Ea est summi conditio us nihil aliud adaequet nedum superet Tertull Thus St. Chrysostom speaks of Theodosius the Emperour * Hom. 11. ad pop Antioch Hom. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As having none of like Honour for a King saith he is the very top and head of all men upon Earth He is in the highest place and highest power and consequently all in his Dominions Every soul of them * Rom. 13.1 2 5. are oblig'd to be subject to him None may presume to judge or resist him violently There can be nothing justifiable on the Subjects part but Obedience and Submission ‡ Rogamus Auguste non pugnamus -Aliter nec debeo nec possum resistere Ambros Orat. cont Auxent Epist ad Marcell The rest must be referr'd to God alone the only Ruler of Princes For Secondly It is by him that Kings reign Their Power and Authority is derived from him and his Ministers and Vicegerents they are 'T is he that gives the Kingdom over Israel even the Lord God of Israel There is no Power but of God The Powers that be are ordained or ordered of God Rom. 13. * Nos judicium Dei suspicimus in Imperatoribus qui gentibus illos praefecit c. Tertull Apologet. He only hath the original power of life and death and no one else can pretend to it but by virtue of his Commission And then again He in his Providence disposeth of Kingdoms both as to good and evil shaking or settling renting or uniting lessening or enlarging the giving and taking away of Kings either in his Wrath or Mercy putting down one and setting up another c. * Ps 105.7 8. And Nebuchadnezzar you read was sent out a grazing among the beasts of the field till he came to know and acknowledge This That the most High ruleth in the Kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will Dan. 4.25 Thus much was owned by Julius Caesar in that excellent saying of his Suetonius Reges plurimùm inter homines pollent Deorum ipsi in potestate sunt Reges Kings have the chiefest power among men but Kings themselves are in the power of God Horace elegantly varies it Regum timendorum in proprios greges Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis Thirdly Of all sorts of Monarchy

and not to meddle with them that are given to change Prov. 24. But I will not lead you at present beyond the circumstances of the Text This knowledge and acknowledgement then King Abijah here suggests for such weighty ends as these ensuing I. To dash and discountenance all Insurrections and Rebellions against the King in succession like That of Jeroboam against his Leige-Lord Rehoboam the Son of Solomon and this King's Father Of which he adds in the following words ver 6. Yet Jeroboam the Son of Nebat the servant of Solomon the Son of David is risen up and hath rebelled against his Lord. * Out of Ephraim ruled a Rebellious Kingdom Ecclus. 47.21 Of him we read 1 Kings 11.26 Jeroboam the Son of Nebat an Ephrathite of Zereda Solomon's servant whose Mother's name was Zeruah a widow-woman even he lift up his hand against the King He was one whom Solomon had advanced to a great place of Trust and Honour making him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph ver 28 c. And though God in his wise and just Providence as I have before in part intimated did over-rule this man's ambition to bring his own designs to pass in the punishing of Israel by the rent of ten Tribes from the rest yet this was no more excuse to his irregular lust after Dominion than the Jews might have alledged for bringing about what God had before decreed in the sufferings of his beloved Son the Saviour of the world They nevertheless by wicked hands did crucifie and slay him * Acts 11.23 And so might Jeroboam nevertheless wickedly follow the temptations of his own ombition or revenge But let us make the best of his case God Almighty the absolutely Supreme the King of Kings and Lord of Lords seems to have commission'd him in extraordinary as an Executioner of his Vengeance and raised him up for a scourge of his wrath and so not only to have given him a bare permission but also a Right and Title to those revolted Tribes had he persevered in obedience to him 1 Kings 11.31 c. And on the same account he forbids Rehoboam and the house of Judah and Benjamin adhering to him to give the men of Israel battel at first for their reduction ch 12.24 But whatever abatements or allowances may be made in this single case of Jeroboam from the Divine Interposure where That is wanting there can be none to be sure to justifie the Insurrection and Rebellion of a Servant against his Master and a leige and obliged Subject as he was against his undoubted Lord and Sovereign As the sacrificing of Children to God is not any whit the less Murther now because Abraham once had a dispensation in the case and a command from God to offer up his Son King Abijah fixeth his charge upon Jeroboam's known obligations as a subject far enough from any ordinary title to the Crown Yet Jeroboam the Son of Nebat the Servant of Solomon the Son of David is risen up and hath rebelled against his Lord. And then II. To deter others from siding with or joyning themselves unto Seditious and Factious Leaders So it follows ver 7. And there are gathered unto him vain men the children of Belial and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the Son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted and could not withstand them Observe I beseech you the Character he gives of those that Associated and combin'd together in this Insurrection and Rebellion the Party that listed themselves under this new Head There are gathered unto him vain men the children of Belial That is foolish and wicked men who are ready upon any pretext to throw off the yoke of lawful Government This is the proper name of Rebels * Scelestarum partium Socii aut plausores Tert. Apolog. And so you find it noted at the very beginning of their Kingly Government upon the promotion of Saul when the people gave their general shout and said God save the King 1 Sam. 10. There went with him saith the Text a band of men whose hearts God had touched ver 26. Where God toucheth mens hearts you see they are inclin'd to Loyalty But then it follows ver 27. But the children of Belial said How shall this man save us and they despised him and brought him no presents So here again There are gathered unto him vain men the Children of Belial And if the Apostle's gloss on the phrase be good these enemies to rightful Powers these Kingdespisers are the Children of the Devil for so he speaks of Belial as the grand enemy in opposition to Christ 2 Cor. 6.15 What concord hath Christ with Belial And then What fellowship or communion between the Disciples of Christ and the Children of Belial The first time I think we meet with the expression is Deut. 13.13 Certain men the children of Belial are gone out from among you and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their City saying Let us go and serve other Gods which we have not known The Margin reads it Naughty men Such they are with a witness in the first place who seduce us from the Lord our God to a False and Idolatrous Religion and Worship and such in the next who draw others aside from their lawful King Where-ever you read of these children of Belial in Scripture you will find they are the very worst of men and so we are to look upon them that revile and oppose Government whatever holy appearances or disguises they come in * Pessimus quisque asperrimè Rectorem patitur Salust Well this is their Character how many and of what name or eminence soever otherwise There are gathered unto him vain men the children of Belial Of whom he adds And have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the Son of Solomon He keeps still the Emphasis on the Succession So before in Jeroboam The servant saith he of Solomon the Son of David And here again Against Rehoboam the Son of Solomon As he himself in like manner was the Son of Rehoboam And observe the juncture of time they laid hold on for their purpose When Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted and could not withstand them They took the opportunity of the King's weakness When he was young and tender-hearted which some with great probability refer to the disposition of his Mind rather than Years juvenis animo non aetate for he was of age considerable enough when he came to the Crown * 41 Years old 1 Kings 14.21 But he was of too easie impression to the counsel of the rash young men against the judgment of his sager Statists in answering of the people roughly and so disobliging them when they came to tender their Loyalty to him And this is that which seems reflected on here by the expression of his being young and tender-hearted a Novice only in the art of Government This teneritudo cordis is elsewhere used for faintness of heart Levit. 26.36

Whatever else there may be included in it I will not stay to examine These children of Belial you see were very watchful to lay hold on the nick of opportunity When their King could not withstand them And that is the only measure of some mens Loyalty quam diu desunt vires until they have power and strength enough to resist and rebell with the hopes of success So they blaspheme the primitive Christians Confessors and Martyrs patience under all their sufferings and persecutions and represent them to the world as Rebels at heart but such as wanted strength for the execution such who submitted only because they could not help it * Bellarmine l 3. de Pontif. c. 7 Buchanan de jure Reg Author of the Life of Julian c. Quia deerant illis vires But the Fathers in their Apologies for them abhor the imputation c. For these ends now we are to know and acknowledge the principles of Loyaliy before-mentioned that we may noither rise up and rebel against our Leige-Lord with Jeroboam nor gather our selves to any such Head with vain men the children of Belial whenever opportunity or the weakness of a Prince may tempt us thereunto And the better to fortifie all this it is to be considered further what he goes on to suggest First That the King in succession was not only their Sovereign Lord but God Almighty's Vicegerent and so in resisting him they did by a just interpretation withstand God himself and seek to cast off the Kingdom of God ver 8. And now ye think to withstand the Kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the Sons of David He owns God for the Fountain of Royalty and the Kings successively only for his Ministers and Deputies * So the Throne of Solomon is said to be the Throne of the Lord 1 Kings 2 12. with 1 Chron. 29.23 And 1 Kings 10.9 with 2 Chron 9.8 And Secondly What kind of people the multitude of that rebellious Camp was made up of So it follows And ye be a great multitude That is confess'd But of what sort of men That deserves our special notice And there are with you golden Calves which Jeroboam made you for Gods The Revolters from their King became at the same time Apostates from the service of the true God to set up golden Calves in his stead That was Jeroboam's policy He consider'd wifely that had the people kept to their former established Worship at Jerusalem they would soon have return'd to their former Loyalty 1 Kings 12.26 c. And Jeroboam said in his heart Now shall the Kingdom return to the house of David if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem Then shall the heart of this people turn again to their Lord even unto Rehoboam King of Judah and they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam King of Judah Whereupon the King took counsel and made two Calves of Gold pretending for a blind only to ease them of their burthen and to consult their advantage as it follows And said unto them It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem Behold thy Gods O Israel which brought thee up out of the Land of Egypt And he set the one in Bethel and the other put he in Dan And this thing became a sin saith the Text a most provoking sin against God Almighty and turn'd to their ruine and destruction But whatever he pretended to make the people the secret was lest returning to the true Religion they should also return to their true Allegiance to the King of Judah Thus you see in the first place that these revolters from their Sovereing as I said were Apostates from the established Worship of God unto Idolatry the worshipping of Images and Imaginations of their own And then the attendant or consequence of this was the discarding of the legitimate and rightly ordained Priests of God with the solemn Feasts appointed and the setting up of others in their room even of the basest of the people ver 9. Have you not cast out the Priests of the Lord the Sons of Aaron and the Levites and have made you Priests after the manner of the Nations of other Lands c. Of which you may read more at large in the story Of such as these the multitude of the Rebellious Army consisted even such as had forsaken the established worship of the true God and cast off their Obedience and Reverence to his appointed Ministers the Priests and Levites In opposition to whom we may find Thirdly the description and account given of the Loyal Party ver 10. c. But as for us the Lord is our God and we have not forsaken him Namely to reform his Worship by the abolition of it and bow down to golden Calves in his stead And as we have the true God and his appointed Worship and Ceremonies so we have his ordained Priests too officiating And the Priests which minister unto the Lord are the Sons of Aaron and the Levites wait upon their business and they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burn Sacrifices sweet Incense c. For we keep the charge of the Lord our God but ye have sorsaken him Hereupon therefore from all these premises King Abijah takes heart and courage for the animating of his Subjects and the reflecting dread and terror on the multitude of his and their Enemies ver 12. And behold God himself is with us for our Captain and his Priests with sounding Trumpets to cry alarm against you In the name of our God we set up our Standard and on him we build our confidenee we keep fast to him and doubt not but he will keep to us while we so do to protect and defend us we adhere to his Priests and they sound the Trumpets orderly and religiously under the great Lord of Hosts But as for you how many soever you are or how great soever the numbers you glory in take heed lest you be found in the issue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to fight against God who will be too hard for you So he ends O children of Israel fight ye not against the Lord God of your Fathers for you shall not prosper And the success was accordingly if you look on to the close of the chapter for no less than Five hundred thousand of their Eight hundred thousand chosen men were cut off and destroyed And the Text gives us this account of it ver 18. Thus the children of Israel were brought under at this time and the children of Judah prevailed because they relied upon the Lord God of their Fathers Now though the Argument of Providence and Success by it self be weak and fallacious how much use soever some have made of it yet when in conjunction with a good Cause and back'd with a Divine Testimony as here it is it hath weight and moment in it Thus have I hastened through the Text and its appendant