if I Preach not the Gospel I. It is my second Consideration Pars 2. The Duty performer me I wo be to me if I St. Paul personally and every lawfully ordained Minister successively St. Paul was chosen to it St. Paul was separated to it separate me Barnabas and Saul Act. 9.15 Act. 13.2 Rom. 1.1 1 Cor. 1. called them St. Paul was called and appointed to it and in this Epistle is the very same St. Paul called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the Will of God St. Paul himself nor none other of the Apostles durst Preach until they were called and being called they durst not but Preach They the Apostles in their Calling had something conferred upon them personally and peculiar to themselves and some other things which generally concern all their Successors viz. Bishops primarily and other Inferiour Priests and Pastors secondarily They the Apostles had an immediate Calling from Christ in Person Our Calling is though not of men yet by men Theirs neither of men nor by men They had an Universal Mission an unlimitted jurisdiction and an Infallible Assistance of the Spirit the gift of Tongues to speak several Languages and the gift of Miracles to do many supernatural works And all these were Extraordinary Priviledges and did not out-live their Persons were not entailed to their Successors But the Warrant of their Commission and the Work of their Commission generally and equally belongs to us with them None may usurp the charge of a Bishop or Inferiour Minister until a Necessity be laid upon them and when Necessity is laid upon them then wo be to him that lays it by and Preaches not or takes it off and will not suffer him to Preach But of that anone In the mean time I beseech you give me leave to commend unto you two Lessons of some if not great Importance and worthy of your Consideration and mine own First The Authour of all lawful Vocation to the Ministry Nota. is the Lord Christ Onely Christ I say Exclusively to all men not to the two other Persons in the glorious Trinity which all equally concur to this External Work God the Father placed in the Church Apostles Prophets Teachers c. 1 Cor. 12.28 Act. 13.2 Ghost commanded saying Separate me Paul and Barnabas for the Work whereunto I have called them and God the Holy Ghost it was that ordained the Bishop of Ephesus Act. 20.28 Indeed To whom else can it belong The Harvests Gods Mat. 9.38 Mat. 14 48 The Clergy are but Labourers and they may not go before they are called The Church is Gods House The Clergy are but Stewards in that House and no man may dare to take that Office before it be given him Secondly Nota 2. Ministers of the Gospel must have their Power and Placing from Heaven Nor is he now a Lawful Minister or Messenger from Heaven who is not sent and called by God and the Church St. Paul in my Text did not intrude himself into this Commission he did not assume this Holy Office until Christ laid upon him the necessity to Preach and little less than Antichristian is he that forbids such to Preach The Calling necessary to every Lawful Pastor at this day is twofold 1. One Inward from God 2. Another outward from the Church The Inward Calling is that whereby God â—eacheth the Heart of a man with an holy desire to consecrate himself to the Service of his House and enables him by his Grace to edifie his Church by Word and Work The Principal Evidences of this Calling are two 1. The Testimony of a mans own Conscience that he enters not into holy Orders for any Carnal or by-respects but onely or chiefly to honour God by his Labours And secondly a Competent measure of Learning and Piety of Zeal and Discretion of Wisdom and Elocution and such other gifts as are requisite to the discharge of so high an Office The Reason is plain Gods Sending and Gifting go still together He sends not to his People either Headless or Heartless Messengers but men of Science and Conscience and when He calls us he either finds us or makes us fit for his Service A Minister grosly ignorant or Scandalously prophane goes upon his own Errand God never sent him Christ never laid a Necessity upon him to Preach the Gospel How can they Preach except they be sent sayes the Apostle They must have Skill and Power Rom. 10.15 else they may not Preach without Skill cannot without Power they may not If they want these they are of them whom God complains of by his Prophet Jer. 23.21 I have not sent these Prophets and yet they run But God enters not nor entertains any Voluntiers into his Clerical Army and He is so far from accepting or appointing that Voluntary Service which they force upon him that He seldom punishes any sin more Severely or Exemplarily then this saucy if not Sacrilegious Intrusion Uzziah though a King 2 Chron. 26.18 2 Sam. 6.6 for putting hand to the Incense and usurping upon the Priests Office was suddenly smitten with Leprosie Uzzah was struck suddenly dead but for touching the Ark yes but for peeping into it 50000. Bethshemites died of the same disease It is an holy Function The Ministry is and therefore must have a holy Vocation Christ himself submitted to this Rule nor did he Preach until he was very solemnly ordained thereto by a voice from Heaven He took not this Office upon him until his Father called him Mat. 3. nor did the Apostles until Chris called them And this Inward Extraordinary Calling was enough for the Apostles but besides this Inward Calling from God which may settle ones Conscience we must have an External Calling from the Church and be installed or ordained by Publick Solemnity before we may adventure upon the Exercise of this holy Service Our Life and Learning must be gravely and duely examined The Church of God must approve us and the Hands of the Bishop must ordain us and aâ—mit us else we may not enter upon this holy charge If we do we can unlawfully we go unsafely and wo be to them that Preach so No man may take this honour unto himself Hebr. 5.4 but he that is called of God as was Aaron sayes the Apostle whosoever he be that thrusts himself into the Ministry and runs into this Office when the Lord hath not sent him as the Prophet speaks his own Conscience will one day accuse him and God at the last day will condemn him when he shall say to him Friend how camest thou in hither Who called thee into the Ministry He that enters in like a Fox by the Window of Craft and Subtilty as Absalon sought the Kingdom of hâ—s Faâ—her under the pretence of Justice and Humility may wâ—ll fear he shall dye like a Dog because he that câ—mes no◠〈◊〉 the door of lawful Admission is but a Thief and Râ—â—â—â—â— If thou wouldst
is truly said A General Council is above the the Pope so the Kingdom or Peers of the Land are above the King 5. Hunc tollent vel Pacificé vel cum bello qui eá potestate dotati sunt ut Regni Ephori vel omnium ordinum publicus conventus commended by Cartwright the Presbiterian-founder in England The Peers of the Kingdom or the publick Convention of the States ought to destroy a Tyrant Lib. 5. c. 13. pag. 1 85. either by peaceable practises or by open War says Fennerus in his Sacrâ Theolog. 6. Jus humanum Naturale Nationale Positivum Prt. 1. cap. 4. pag. 72. says Doleman All Lawes Humane Natural National Positive do teach That Common-weals which gave Kings ther Authority for the Common-good may take the same from them if they abuse it to the common ill Thus you see the Kings of Christendom crucified as Christ was between two Thieves the Papist and the Puritan All the difference is The Papists give this Power to the Pope The Puritans give it to the People and yet in that rather then fail they do sometimes agree But I pray take notice when this seditious Learning came in It is but of yesterdays standing but 220 years old at most by any Publick Record Then and not till then did Joannis de Parissis bring it in for the Pope and a great while after did John Calvin bring it in for the people and therefore with your favour we will look a little higher And first I will begin with that great School-man of Rome Aquinas by whom I dare encounter with either Papist or Puritan to justifie almost every point of that Religion wherein I have been born and bred and in which God willing I intend to dye For the present This we have now in hand Kings though bad may not be resisted deposed or murthered Esset enim multitudini periculosum et ejus rectoribus For it would be as dangerous to Subjects as to Soveraigns if any man should attempt to take away the life of Princes though Tyrants For commonly not the well-disposed De Regin Princip l. 1. c. 6. but the ill-affected men thrust themselves into that danger the Government of good Kings being as odious to bad men as the Rule of Tyrants is to good People and the Kingdom by this presumption will be rather in danger to forgo a good Prince then a wicked Tyrant and his Answer to that Objection which was even now delivered by the Scottish Eusebius Philadelphus 2 a. 2 ae 4.41 a. 2. ad 3. viz. That it is praise worthy to murther a Tyrant is Sedition is a mortall sin Secondly before him when Pope Paschalis had perswaded Robert the Son Ep. Laodiensium apud simonem scard p. 116. to Rebel against his Father Henry the Emperour and had excommunicated the Bishop of Liege or Lions for his Loyalty All the Church-men of Liege All Nemine contradicente none excepted writ an Apolegy for themselves the sum whereof is this We are excommunicated because we obey our Bishop Our Bishop is excommunicated because he takes part with his Lord the Emperour yet who can justly blame him for taking his Lords part to whom he hath sworn Allegiance Perjury is a great sin whereof they cannot be ignorant who by new Schisme and novel Tradition do promise to absolve Subjects from the guilt of Perjury that forswear themselves to their Lord and King And at last they conclude thus Nihil modo pro Imperatore nostro dicimus At present we say nothing in defence of our Emperour but this we say though Were he as bad as you report him to be we would endure his Government because our sins have deserved such a Governour Be it we must needs grant against our will That the Emperour is an Arch-heretick an Invader of the Kingdom a worshipper of the Symonaical Idol and accursed by the Apostles and Apostolical men as you say of him why yet even such a Prince ought not to be resisted by violence but to be endured by patience Aquinas is against Rebellion for Tyranny and a whole Church is against Rebellion for Heresie Before both these says John Damascene Though wicked Kings and their wicked under-Officers be Thieves Paralel l. 1. cap. 21. though they be unjust or otherways tainted with any other crime yet they must be regarded we may not contemn them for their impiety but we must reverence them for their Authority Rebellion Deposing Murthering of Kings is not allowable in the case of Tyranny by the judgment of Aquinas nor in the case of Heresie by the judgment of the Church-men of Liege nor in the case of Impiety by the judgment of Damascene St. Augustine is as positive against Rebellion in the case of Apostacy Julianus extitit Imperator infidelis Julian was an unbelieving Emperour for he was an Apostate for he was an Oppressor for he was an Idolater and yet Christian Souldiers served this Emperour Indeed when they came to the cause of Christ they would acknowledge no Lord but him that was in Heaven when they were commanded to adore Idolls and to offer Sacrifice In Ps 124. they preferred God before their Prince But when he called upon them to War and bad them invade any Nation they presently as they ought obeyed They distinguished their eternal Lord from their temporal King yet they submitted themselves to their temporal Lord for his sake who was their eternal King What means the Apostle says St. Chrisostome to command us to pray for all men and for Kings by name seeing Kings serve not the living God In ep 1 Tim. cap. 2. ver 1. as they did not in his time but live in infidelity Why surely it is to teach us That Kings though they be never so wicked yet they may not be resisted less may they be deposed least of all may they be Murthered Tyranny cannot justifie Rebellion if Aquinas may be believed Heresie cannot justifie Rebellion if the Church of Liege may be credited Impiety cannot if Damascene gains upon your Faith Apostacy cannot if St Austin speaks truth Obstinacy in all these cannot if St. Chrysostom be a true man I add If Nazianzen have repute with you who for his admirable Learning and Piety was called The Divine and lived under five Emperours four of them bad enough and the fifth no better then he should be viz. Constantius Julianus Valens Valentinianus and Theodosius There is no remedy against the Tyranny Heresie and Apostacy of Princes but Prayers and Tears No though a King be a Persecutor of the Church yet may he not be resisted deposed or killed either by Pope by Peers or People if Hosius who for his Age Experience excellent Learning and holy conversation was admired and esteemed by all men may be believed For thus he stoutly answered the wicked demand of Constantius the Arian Emperour Hosius apud Athan. ad solitarié viventes Ego confessionis munus implevi cùm persecutio
both both Natural fear and Filial fear But when they stand in competition and my obeying the King will dishonour God and my fearing the King will displease God where sin is the subject of a Tyrants command and Gods Law must thereby be transgressed Act. Then I am at the Apostles resolution Whether it be fit to obey God or man judge ye I am then at King Davids blessed man I fear God and therefore I fear not any evil tydings This will appear more evident if we look into the diverse acceptions of Auditus malus Evil tydings and what is the true construction of evill tydings 1. It signifies sometimes Calumnies Contumelies Checks Taunts and Reproaches wherewith they that fear the Lord are slaundered Thus gluttony blasphemy and sedition were objected to Christ And now his Servants and the late present Kings liege people are called I should have said miscalled Malignants Delinquents Papists evil Counsellours enemies of the Church troublers of the State Haec autem perferre difficile and this is a very heavy burthen to bear Generosis enim animis cruciatus corporis Plutarch quám jacturam famae facilius est perferre A noble mind had rather have his Body to be bruised then his credit blasted yet he that is truly noble et sola virtus vera Nobilitas the Noble Christian that feareth God is so far from being afraid at these evil tydings that he neither forsakes the Truth nor declines his Loyalty He is not afeard of the evil tydings 2. Sometimes evil tydings signifie Famam sinistram quam improbi culpâ suâ contrahunt that evil report which base people deservedly bring upon themselves Thus Shemei is called a Rayler thus Doeg is called an Accuser thus Absolon is called a Traytor thus Achitophel is called a Conspirator thus Corah Dathan and Abiram and all such as rise against the Lords Annointed their lawful King are called Rebells But they that fear God and such as are Loyal Subjects fear not such aspersions If they are cast upon them by evil Tongues they readily answer as St. Augustine did Petilian upon a like scandal I know no such thing by my self and I think I know my self better then he knows me but believe you which you please and judge as you please whether he that writes and fights against the King or he that writes and fights for the King be a Rebel a Delinquent a Malignant I am not afeard of these evil tydings 3. Sometimes evil tydings signifie dangers and Calamities Jobs messengers One tells us Our Cattel are plundered A second tells us Our houses are fired A third tells us Our Children are murthered A fourth tells us Our Soldiers are mutined Our Garrisons are betrayed Our Armies are disbanded and Free-quarier is denied Why yet Non succumbit justus non deficit He that fears God faints not fails not looses not his courage yea though he knows Death to be the Guerdon of his not yielding to a Conquerors pleasure he looks upon his Saviour and fears not him that kills the Body he looks upon King David and fears not â—ay evil tydings These times offer as fit a case as this Text requires King David pronounces the man blessed that feareth the Lord My fear of God is best evidenced unto me by my Obedience to my Parents for that is Gods Commandement my great Parent is the King He is Pater patriae and the higher power so St. Paul calls him The Supream power so St. Peter calls him Therefore I to be subject to him and not to resist him is St. Pauls inference Therefore I to honour him and to fear him is St. Peters inference But of late there were a pack of men met together against Charles I. the long liv'd Parliament so there are now against Charles II. the too long being Protector with his too long fitting Council of State who did and do call themselves a Power above the King who did command us who do command us to take their part against Charles I. then against Charles II. now who did and do threaten us with Sequestration of our Estates That 's Beggary with Registring our names in the black Book That 's Infamy with bringing us to the Barr of Justice of their Justice or more truly To the Barr of their Court of their high Injustice That 's Death We know If we did forsake Charles I. If we do forsake Charles II. and take part with them against the King we sin we resist If we resist we incur damnation The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mr. Marshall did qualify and linify it by the construction of Judgement and that signifies the destruction of Soul and Body here and for ever Now here is the tryall If we did stand to the late and do to the present King and do our Duties If we were and are resolved as Ittai was 2 Sam. Wheresoever my Lord the King is whether in Life or Death there will thy servant also be Then we fear God and therefore fear no evil tydings But if we did go back to them that opposed and deposed and murthered the Father or if we do go back to them who resist and keep out and calumniate and hunt after the bloud of the Son let it be upon what consideration it may I shall leave my Wife and Children beggars else I shall be a Slave and Prisoner all the dayes of my life else I shall be han'gd else And these pettire thoughts fright me out of my Duty I have then ruined my blessednesse I am not blessed I have lost my Evidence I am witnesse against my self I am afeard of evil tydings basely and slavishly afeard and therefore I fear not God Well fare that Heathen who was resolved for all Fortunes and will rise in Judgement against many very many cowardly Christians in England Non fulminantis magna Jovis manus Terrebit justum And again Etiamsi fractus illibatur Orbis Impavidum ferient ruinae Let the world totter turn round and fall I will not be afraid I will fear God But a Heathen is not fit to be our Schoolmaster look we upon the Primitive Christians and amongst them well fare old Hilarion who being in the hands and power of his Persecutors and by them demanded Antimeret If he were not afeard of those evil tydings they brought him For they came to strip and plunder him To which he returned an Answer as full of gallantry as mirth Nudus latrones non timet An empty Ship fears not a Pyrate A naked man fears not a Theif They then thâ—eaten him with Terribilium terribilissimâ— the Hyperbole of evil tydings sed occidemus te we will put thee to most exquisite torments and in the end will kill thee Non times mortem Art thou not afeard of death and he returns as great a Hyperbole of gallantry Non timeo mortem quia paratus sum mori No I fear not death because I fear God and am therefore prepared to
over them even Saul of whom Samuel here says See ye not him the King 1 Sam. 10. whom the Lord hath chosen It is still to tell us That God is the efficient of Monarchy and not the People And was it not God that afterward appointed David and after him Solomon and so of all the Kings both of the Jewes and of the Nations was God the efficient 2 Sam. 5. Prov. 8.15 if you will believe Solomons Per me for the Kings of the Jewes By me Kings Reign and Isaiahs Unctus Cyrus for the Nations Isa 43.1 where the Lord calls Cyrus his Annointed or that of Daniel for both Dan. 4 25. The most high ruleth in the Kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever he will Mark it The Lord gives it not the people and the Lord gives it to whomsoever he will not to whomsoever the people will But soft I have here committed a great Errour and given an open way to a very fair Objection For some Monarchomachoi Objection some Anti-Royalists and Fighters against the King say People are the Author and efficient of Monarchy and they give Scripture for it 1 Reg. 12.20 The people sent and called Jeroboam unto the Congregation and they the People made him King over all Israel Yet now I think upon it again Resp this Errour of mine was not so great nor the Objection so strong but that I can fairly salve the one and easily solve the other and in Answer I confesse That the People did make Jeroboam King and that by God too But How by God and How by them Not by God Efficiente approving of it but only Permittente permitting of it and By them not Authoritate by any Authority they had acquired but Rebellione by Rebellion they had incurred Jeroboam was King indeed and indeed of the Peoples making but in Fact not in Right because not of Gods appointing further then by way of Permission God blest him not Immediatly by himself No Prophet of God annoinaed him nor was there any Ceremony used for and at his Inauguration more then a Rent Ahijah the Prophet rent a new garment in twelve pieces and bid Jeroboam take ten 1 Reg. 11.31 In all which God only punished Solomons sin but did not make Jeroboam King And what a heavy Judgment God intends that people whom he permits to chuse and make a King unto themselves the sad progresse of this Story will demonstrate and that was this in a word When they had made a King of their own why then they and their King would have a Religion of their own and to effect this They banish or silence or imprison all their old Priests and Orthodoâ—al Clergy as absolute impediments to their new intended government and by and by they take as much Anthority over God as before they took Liberty over their King and Jeroboam confesses himself to be but an Usurper though a King of the Peoples making 1 Reg. 12.27 saying This People will return unto their Lord if they do sacrifice in Jerusalem And indeed when they had made an Usurper their King their King and they made a Calfâ— their God and this sin of Idolatry stuck so close to their King and that sin of Rebellion stuck so close unto themselves that He is made an example to Sovereignty they to Subjects least if Kings do as he did and become Idolaters and worship another God or Subjects do as they did and set up another King then whom God hath placed over them the Kings become Castaways and the Subjects first Rebels and ever after Slaves You see This Objection hath done the Objector little good All that it says is God may give way to people to make an Usurper King but punishes them soundly for it and is still himself the Author of lawful Kings and the Efficient of true Monarchy And as it was in the daies of Moses so it was in the daies of Christ He would rather be without his own Right then receive it in a wrong way or from a wrong hand and therefore to let the People know That they had no power to conferr Crowns Joh. he would by no means accept of that Dignity when they the People would by no means accept of that Dignity when they the People would have made him King He likewise acknowledged Pilate though he were but a Deputy-King to have received his power De super from above Joh. 18. and St. Paul maintained the same Doctrine saying The Powers that be are ordained of God Rom. 13.1 Not doth the Reply any way foile this truth where St. Peter saith Replic 1. Pet. 2. That that is the Ordinance of man which St. Paul calls the Ordinance of God For the same Act is often times ascribed both as well to the one as the other sometimes to the Mediate Reasons and sometimes to the Immediate Agent so it is said 1 Sam. 11.15 1 Sam. 10.1 All the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul King and yet in the Chapter afore it is said The Lord hath annointed thee to be Captain over his inheritance and the like is said of David They the people annointed David King over Israel and yet it is said again 2 Sam. 5.3 The Lord annointed Dauid King over Israel 2 Sam. 12.7 i. e. God as the Master of the Substance makes Kings and gives them their Regall power the Prophets as Masters of the Ceremonies powred on the Oyle and declared them Kings and the People as under-Officers received them into the Possession of that Right and admitted them to the Exercise of that Authority which God had given them Or you may take the Answer thus whereas St. Peter calls the Supream Power or Monarchy the Ordinance of Man there he speaks of the Final cause of Power q. d. Power the Supream power Kingship and Monarchy it self is ordained for the good peace and welfare of man not but that God is the Efficient Cause of this power as St. Paul speaks And Paraeus himself who was no great Royalist indeed no friend at all to Monarchy In Rom. 13. pag. 1327. tells us That the Authority of Kings is primarily the Ordinance of God and he answers this very Objection thus St. Peter saith he calls the Magistrate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An humane Creation or Ordination not causally as if it were invented by man or brought and begotten by the Will of man or as if man were the Author of it but this he speaks 1. Subjectively because it is executed by man And 2. Objectively because it is used about the Government of humane Society And 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Finally because God ordained it for the good and help of markinde And in the close he adds The wordused by the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Creation ad Deum primum autorem nos rev ocat sheweth plainly That God is the first Author of it Hitherto then it
holds right and true That God not the People is the Author and Efficient of Monarchy I descend and shall endeavour to make it good downwards Libr. ad Scupul and I begin with the testimony of Tertullian A Christian is enemy unto no man much lesse to the Emperour for he knows that the Emperiall Majesty is ordained of God He is next to God Soveraign ever all and Subject to God alone Hosius who lived in the time of Constantine the Great Apud Ath. ad sâ—litariam vitam agentes gives in the same evidence saying to the succeeding Emperour Constantius God hath entrusted your Majesty with the Empire and he that with an envious eye maligneth your Majesty and Imperiall Sovereignty contradicteth the Ordinance of God Liberius to the same purpose thus bespake the same Emperour Apud Ath. an Arian Fight not against God we beseech you who hath bestowed the Empire upon you And Athinasius himself confesses as much saying That the Power of Kings is of God God is the King over all the world Ad Antioch 9.55 and the King by God is over all Earthly men Beda tells us That David spared Saul for two Causes Lib. 4. Ex. posit in Sam. 1.21.6 one whereof was because Saul was his Lord and the Lords Annointed Walthramus in the succeeding age Ep. Wald. quae habetur in appendice Marian scot when this truth first began to be call'd in question and a contrary damnable Doctrine to be broached tells us Either that is false which some men prate amongst silly women and the vulger sort viz. That we ought not to be subject to the Kingly power or else that is false which the Apostle teacheth viz. Let every soul be subject to the higher Power because the higher power is the Ordinance of God Aquinas the great Schoolman tells us the same saying De Regiâ—â— Princ. l. 1. c. 6. They who are the Kings by succession are above the reach of all men subject to none but God in whose only power it is to mollifie the heart of a King if he turn Tyrant All Kings are Gods Ordinance wicked Kings are exalted by Gods permission to punish the Peâ—ples sins Aeneas Silvias exhorts all men to acknowledge themselves â—e ortu et author Imperij c. 2 〈◊〉 subject to their Prince and give reverence to him whom God hath made his Vice-gerant on Eaâ—th Luther speaks the same Language saying Ye ought not to reject your Prince whom God hath set over you Hitherto from Adam to Abraham from Abraham to Moses from Moses to Christ from Christ to Luther it hath gone currant That Kings are beholding to God only not to the people for their Crown and Royall Authority It only remains now to enquire Whether the Kings of England receive their Power from God or the People and this I shall dispatch suddainly And here I say first That the people could not give this Power because the People never had this power Nihil dat quod non habet and that the people never had it it is plain because it is against the Nature of Regality to be in more then one Rex unicus esto The Sun in the Firmament cannot be multiplyed the Firmament admits but of one Sun nor England of more then one King It is not with England as it was with Rome Leges a Magistratu proponuntur a populo jubentur The Magistrate proposes the Law and the People ratifie it but the clean contrary Leges a populo proponuntur a Rege jubentur The People propose Laws but the King makes the Laws and the Reason is plain The People of Rome elected the Magistrates of Rome but the God of Heaven hath appointed the King of England And this appears 1. By his Right to the Crown to which he is not elected but Born He hath it not by the Peoples Votes but by Gods blessing Heriditary Succession King Charles II was King of England so soon as ever King Charles I. was beheaded by the Law of Birthright and so is though he never receive the Ceremony of Coronation This is plain in the Case of Henry 6. who was not Crown'd until the 9. year of his Reign Speed l. 2. c. 16. Cook 7. Re. p. 256. 2. By his Power his Power Military the People cannot the King may Proclaim War and establish Peace His Power Curial No Court not the Court of Parliament can meet Polyd. Virg. Lib. 11. but by the Kings Authority yea the Court of Parliament it self was at first devised framed and instituted by the King and they have fairly rewarded it in the Decollation of one King and Banishment of another His power Official Smiths Com. wealth l. 2. cap. 4. et 5. He chuses and establishes all Officers the Superiour by himself Immediatly the Inferionr by others in Authority under him His power universal in and over all Causes and Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and lastly by his Power Titular and that runs thus Carolus Dei gratiâ and not Carolus electione populi It is not Charles by the election of the people but Fol. 34. a.b. Charles by the grace of God King of England The King says Bracton hath under him Freemen and Slaves but he is under none but God and it is said of our King as it was said of Solomon in his Chair-Royal That he then sits not in Solium populi upon the Peoples Throne as though they made him King but In Solium Domini upon the Throne of the Lord because He is what he is King of England Scotland and Ireland by the grace of God And may Almighty God with that grace by which he design'd him King by his Birth restore him to the possession of his Kingdoms that he may punish all those men of Belial who said They made his Father King and he should no longer Reign over them and therefore murthered him Yea O God let all such men of Belial tast of thy mercy and the Kings Justice who dare say How shall this man save us and so deny his Authority to come from thee and despise him because they esteem him lesse then the whole Body though greater then the particular members Amen It is my second part and to be examined next year Till when and ever Pars. 2. God blesse King Charles II. thorough Jesus Christ Amen Anno Dom. 1652. 1 SAM 10.27 How shall this man save us And they despised him THis day Twelve-moneth you heard from the beginning of this verse The Children of Belial said That God not the People is the Author and efficient of Monarchy you shall God willing from the second part and middle words of this Verse hear That the King is greater then the People not only in piece-meale and particulars but also in grosse and in the whole notwithstanding they say How shall this man save us and they despised him whence they raise this Question Whether the King be lesse then the Representative Body
the Dead which dye in the Lord. Had it been onely to maintain the publick Service of God established by Law even that alone would have made them Martyrs For not a Tittle of it but it was by the Dictate of the Holy Ghost and I should think my self accursed if I were not able to maintain it and would now if it were not beside my Text and Purpose yet blame not my holy Zeal if I do vindicate that saving-Book against the Schismaticks greatest Exceptions And that is in the Office of Marriage That Office consists of Substance and Ceremony The Substance Prayer The Ceremony a Ring Look you upon both and first the first Prayer in that Office It beseeches Almighty God to bless the Couple to be married As Isaac aâ—d Rebecca whence I aâ—gue thus This Prayer was dictated by the Holy Ghost to the Composers of the Common Prayers or made by those Composers without the Dictate of the Holy Ghost But not by them without his Dictate Therefore by his Dictate to them If by them without him then they would have made it according to Humane Reason and so have said bless them O Lord as thou didst bless Abâ—aham and Sarah or as thou didst bless Jacob and Rachel and they had humane Reason for it for Abraham was Gods fiâ—st Friend Jacob was Gods great Favourite But sayes the Holy Ghost Not so nor so but let it be bless them as Isaac and Rebecca and there is no Humane Reason for this but a Divine Reason there is and that is this Abraham had his Hagar in Sarahs time and this Keturah afterwards Jacob had his Leah his Zilhah and his Bilhah but Isaac had none but his Rebecca and therefore sayes the Holy Ghost let it not be Bless them as Abraham and Sarah Bless them as Jacob and Rachel for then people may be apt to think they may have many Wifes at once if not some Concubines but let it be Bless them as thou didst bless Isaac and Rebecca let them know One man should have but one Wife especially at one time Then secondly look upon the Ring The Ring must be round without end and the Ring must be of Gold without mixture so must the Husbands love be to his Wife perpetual and to be terminated onely by Death and withal his Love must be pure and not given or imparted to any other but to his Wife onely Certainly therefore Blessed they which dye in maintaining that Service-book which can without contradiction father the very Ceremonies of it upon the Holy Ghost But add to this Obedience to the King Unity to the Church Liberty to the Subject and many more commanded by God and deny He that can or dare Blessed is William Laud Archbishop for dying for the Churches Unity Blessed are Cavendish Greenvile c. for dying for Obedience and to keep the Kings Crown upon his Head Blessed is King Charles the first for dying for both and to preserve the Subjects Liberties And if they are Blessed why then do any mourn as if they were lost But alas Nature will have her course and on Gods Name let it but let Nature give you bounds to Natures course stillate volo non currere let your Eyes drop Tears like pretious water out of a Still not run like common water out of a spout So said Seneca from Nature Yes Nature hath taught it not onely by Speech but also by Example what else meant that Heathen Priest who so soon as be heard of his Sons Death presently put off his Crown and vented his Sorrow by his Tears but hearing withal That his Son died Valiantly he assumed his Crown again and finished his Sacrifice So you B. hearing your Friends death lay aside your Crowns and melt your selves into Tears but knowing They died for God for the Church for the King for the Countrey for the glory of God for the Unity of the Church for the Honour of the King for the Lawes of the Countrey and that the King himself was Murthered and Martyred for all these Put on your Crowns again and finish your own Christian course with Joy Give not back though you are bur few Fall not back though Gods the Churches the Kings and your Enemies have got the Trophees you know not whether God hath chosen for his Gedeon a Reserve that his own Glory may be the greater and your own blessedness as sure by Dying In the Lord as your Friends that have dyed For the Lord. Their blessedness is not doubted They that dye For the Lord They that seal the Truth of Gods VVord and Religion with their blood Nor Catholique nor Papist call their blessedness into question They that were slain in the late quarrel And certainly their blessedness too your own needs as little doubt who are resolved to dye In the Lord you who lead a holy life and believe in the Lord Jesus and will continue therein to the end They are you are blessed For questionless St. John is blessed though he died in his bed and was but banished as you are as well as St. Peter though he died upon the Cross and was put to Torment as our glorious King and many of our Friends were And it is to you as well as to them to you that are but Confessors as well as to them that were Martyrs that Christ speaks Come ye blessed of my Father possess the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning Mat. 25.34 But this for my part shall make no quarrel between Rome and England or Amsterdam If they will yield to us in some Substances we will easily yield to them in this Circumstance Let them decline to the killing of Kings and we will soon yield That Martyrs onely are blessed and so by consequence They onely dye in the Lord But with this Proviso That they take not nor understand this word Martyr in the common use of speech secundum vulgus For so it is one that seals his witness to the Gospel with his blood and suffers death for Christ but in the Grammar sence secundum Cleres For so it means but a Witness One that lives and dies in Faith as the Apostle speaks All these Abraham Isaac Jacob and many more died in the Faith i. e. They were all Martyrs Heb. 11.13 or they were all Witnesses to the truth of Christs Religion both in their Life and Death They died in the Lord. And thus you see what it is to dye in the Lord or who may be said to dye in the Lord Now for Application of this Point How may we dye in the Lord Appl. And that I shall tell you plainly and quickly If you would Dye in the Lord you must Live in the Lord Live in him you must by a Faith that purifies your hearts and then Dye in him you may by a Faith that justifies your Souls Live in him you must by the Faith of water to Sanctification Act. 15.9 and then Dye in him you may by
the Faith of Blood to Justification We may not with Balaam desire to dye the death of the Kighteous and live Covetously Nâ—â—b but we must with David lead the life of the Righteous and dye Comfortably If we would dye in the Lord and receive the end of our Faith which is the Salvation of our Souls we must first Live in the Lord by laying the Foundation of Faith by doing the Act of Faith and by bringing forth the Fruit of Faith 1. Fundamentum autem Fidei quid But what is the Foundation of Faith Why it is Cognitio Dei nostri the Knowledge of God and of our selves The Knowledge of God the Father and our Fall He made us upright and we found out many inventions He made us in his Image and we defaced it The Knowledge of God the Son and our Redemption we were lost and He sought us we were sold and He bought us 1 Cor. were slaves and He enfranchised us The Knowledge of God the Holy Ghost and our Sanctification by Him Such we were Druâ—kards Revilers Fornicators c. But we are sanctified by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. This is the Foundation of Faith and it must be laid by Knowledge 2. The Act of Faith and it must be effected by Applying Actus autem Fidel quid And what is the Act of Faith Why it is Fiducia A perswasion that God the Father so loved me Joh. 3.16 that he gave his onely begotten Son for me A perswasion that God the Son so loved me That he came in the similitude of sinful flesh Rom. 8.3 and for sin condemned sin in the flesh A perswasion that God the Holy God so loved me that he hath baptized me into the death of Christ and hath thereby made me the Temple of Himself a Member of Christ and the Child of God In a word 1 Tim. 1.15 when I believe Though I am the greatest of all sinners yet Jesus Christ came into the world to save me 3. Fructus autem fidei quid And what is the Fruit of Faith Why it is Charitas Charity Charity to God by Prayer Charity to my self by Fasting and keeping my Body under Charity to the Poor by Almes These These are the precious Fruits that grow upon the precious Tree of Faith Faith believing in God thorow Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost to be saved does therefore pray to God against sin and keeps the Body under from sin and gives Almes to the Poor And when we do this why then as Christ saies you shall know the Tree by his fruit we live in the Lord and therefore we shall dye in the Lord. The word of my Text is not Qui vivunt They which live but Qui exeunt They that dye in the Lord Nor did I say this to deviate from my Text but to tell you How you may fulfil the Text and dye in the Lord and no way for this but by living in the Lord for otherwise the Lord may be said to Dye in us we cannot be said to Dye in the Lord. Nor yet did I say this That the man that lives not in the Lord cannot dye in the Lord For God can fetch water out of the flinty Rock but to tell you That ordinarily Few dye in the Lord that do not first live in the Lord They that live in sin may dye in the Lord and such A course may speed But it is a dangerous and indiscreet pare to venture a Soul upon such an hazard This course is sure to speed ' They that live in the Lord do alwayes dye in the Lord. It is storied that the French ad judged certain ground to the Irish against the Scotch because Spyders Toads and such poysonous Creatures did presently dye if they were put there So you may be our own Judges and know to what Master you belong If siâ—ful lusts words and works dye when they come upon the Ground of your Souls you belong to the Lord He lives in you and you shall dye in him Once more Would you dye in the Lord Why then as St. Paul saâ—es Dye daily i. e. Master your Lusts Subdue your Wrath Humble your Pride Resist all Temptations v.g. more plainly Suppose Covetousness were now breeding in my heart and Money perswaded me to become another Judas to betray my Soul my Saviour my King my Countrey Yet remember I it is but a sad bargain I am about No profit to gain the whole world and loose mine own Soul And what I say of this sin I say of all sin Take them while they are but little ones Mat. even but Temptations and dash them against the stones Against the stones of Mortification and Repentance Obey the Precepts of God and resist sin Believe the Promises of God and relye on Christ and so you shall live in the Lord Continue in this Obedience to the Law Persevere in this Belief of the Gospel and though you do sometimes fall and God forgive us all for who falls not often yet Rise again by Repentance and at the Hour of your Death Then six your Faith upon the Mercies of God in the Merits of Jesus Christ and you shall Dye in the Lord And Dying so you shall be blessed Etiam sic dicit Spirius For so saith the Spirit It is my second General Pars 2. I called it the Witness to assure the Deposition to confirm the truth of the Proposition and I must tell you It is beyond all exception Etiam sic dicit Spiritus For so sayes the Spirit But of this I shall not need to speak much For I hope in Christ There is no Athist here to deny the Truth of God or of his Word No Schismatick or Heretick here I hope to deny this Book of Revelation though penned by St. John to have proceeded from the Spirit Not any Carnal or Private Spirit not any Giddy or worldly spirit but the Holy and Blessed Spirit and therefore I forbear to prosecute this Point and thank your Piety for saving me the pains Nor shall I dare to trespass upon your Patience Pars 3. in speaking much of my Third General This Depositaries Exposition of the Proposition And yet least I should injure your Expectation I shall venture upon a word or two If any one askes wherein are the Dead Blessed They that dye in the Lord wherein are they blessed Loe The Spirit makes answer and sayes They are blessed two wayes 1. In Relaxation They rest from their Labours 2. In Retribution Their Works follow them They are two Blessednesses and two such Blessednesses as this world cannot afford Ease and Glory both In this world If sometimes we have Rest in our Studies by Divine Contemplation yet there we have no Glory we are but poor Schollars still And if sometimes you have Glory in the Court by Royal admission yet there you have no Rest you are but Observing Courtiers still But in Heaven Both you and we shall have
is that Provokes him Part. 3. It is my third Consideration in revealing that Question wherewith or by what did they Provoke God to Anger Operibus suis so Calvine and Molleras by their works wicked works they were facti suis so Amesius by their Deeds Evil Deeds they were Adinventionibus suis so St. Hierome which our Translation followes by their own Inventions What those Inventions were the former verce tells you they joyn'd themselves to Baal Peer and ate the offerings of the Dead But in that verse verse 28. they are but succinctly set down you may read their Inventions more at large in the book of Numbers They committed VVhoredome verse 2.3 with the Daughters of Moab Cap. 25. They ate the Sacrafice of their Gods i. e. the Dead and they joyn'd themselves to Baal Peer of which I shall give a Compendious and short Paraphrase that you may understand what their sins were and would to God we had not found out worse Inventions our selves 1. Fornicatus est populus They committed VVhordome and an Invention this was and an Invention of their own too For it was against Gods Proscription He proscribed it in his 7th Commandement Non Maechaberis Thou shalt not violate that good order which should be between Person and Person by unruly Lusts by unclean Deeds The Consequences of this sin are commonly a Diseased Body an empty Purse a shamefull name and without Gods great mercy a Damned Soul For Harlots are the high way to the Devill when you look upon them with Delight you begin your Voyage when you chat with them you make haste when you lie with them you are at your journies end In this age it is called a trick of youth But I pray God have mercy upon us and forgive us the sins of our youth and encline our hearts to keep this Law Thou shalt not commit VVhordome least we Provoke God to more VVrath by our Invention 2. The second was Commederunt sacrificia they at the sacrifices of the Dead and they were called the Sacrifice of the dead either because the Gods of the Moabites were dead Gods to whom the Sacrifices were offered so Musculus or else because they were offered for dead men so St. Austen or else They were Oblations devoted to Gods service to God-self by men that were Dead whilst they lived And they ate them i. e. They devoured them by sacriledge and robbed God of them Either of these Expositions is an Agravation of their sin For whereas the Israelites were fed with those Sacrifices which were offered to the True God and thereby put in minde that the Covenant betwixt God and them was as firm and familier as betwixt Man and VVife who eat at the same Table They did hereby divorce themselves from the True God and marry themselves to a false and confirm it by eating the Sacrifices of the Dead A meer Invention This The third was Copulati sunt Baal Peer they joyned themselves to Baal Peer and what was Baal Peer Baal Peer was a false God an Idoll not such a God quem Deus fecit nor so good neither which God made of whom He saies himself Dixi Dij estis I have saied yea are God but a God Psal 82. quem fecit homo which man made of whom the man of God saies they are no Gods but the works of mans hands They call'd him Baal for his honour for Baal signifies a Lord Psal and Peer they call'd him for his Residence for his Abode was upon the Hill or Mountain Peer so Lyranus Others and amongst them Justinianus saies that Baal Peer is Idolum Ignominie by way of contempt the blind God he had eyes but he saw not he saw not his Preists launcing themselves he had ears but he heard not he heard not Elias mocking him nor his own false Prophets crying unto him Others says Baael Peer signifies Deum hortorum the Garden God Whatsoever it signifies sure I am it was a meer Invention this For Gods injunction was Thou shalt have no other Gods but me You see what their Inventions were I wish they were not a Map of ours yes I wish we did not outvy them in Inventions So many are our Inventions that I cannot give you the Tythe of them and in that word Tythe there lyes one of our Inventions 1. Come let us make the Lease of this House for 6. l. per annum Rent but let the Income by another Indenture be 16. l. per annum more A meer Invention this for saies God Bring ye all the Tythes into the Store-House Malac. 3.10 that is one Invention 2. Come and let us goe and play the Good Fellowes and drink an Health or two A meer Invention this for saies God VVoe be to him that is strong to power in strong drink and again in the New Testament Isa Be not overcome with VVine wherein is excess That 's a second Invention 3. Come let us goe and play a Trick of Youth and lie with yonder VVench Exod. 20. a meer Invention this For saies God Thou shalt not commit Fornication Mat. 5. 1 Cor. and again Thou shalt not look upon a VVoman to Lust after her and again Thou shalt not touch a Woman that 's a third Invention 4. Look yonder goes a Reprobate a meer Invention this for God made no man on purpose to Damne him because God selfe saies 1 Tim. 2. He hates nothing that he hath made and St. Paul from God saies God would have all men to be saved that is a fourth Invention 5. A Child of God cannot sin a meer invention this Jac. 1 Joh. 1. For saies St. James In many things we sin all For saies St. John If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us That is a fifth Invention 6. Come saies the Merchant let us ingross this Commodity and raise the Rate a meer Invention this For saies God The people shall curse him that with-holds the Corne that 's a sixth Invention 7. Sirrah saies the Shop-keeper to his Apprentice pare that Yard a meer Invention this For saies God Thou shalt not have a short measure Deut. that 's a seventh Invention 8. Christ did not descend into Hell a meer Invention this For saies David of Christ to God Thou shalt not leave my soul in Hell and saies Athanasius VVhosoever beleives not this Psal 16. that Christ went down into Hell without doubt he shall perish everlastingly that 's an eighth Invention 9. No Necessity of Baptizing Infants a Meer Invention this For saies Christ Suffer little Children to come to me Man 10. and saies St. Peter Be Baptised every one of you for the promise is made to you and to our Children Act. 2. and saies the Counsell of Milevitary Placuit ut quicunque parvulos recentes ab ut reteris matrum baptisandos negat Anathemasit whosoever denies Baptisme to Children let him
be accursed and saies Origen propter hoc Ecclesia ab Apostolis Traditionem accepit etiam parvulis dare Baptissimum Rom. 6. Because we are all conceiv'd and born in sin the Church hath received a Tradtion from the Apostles to Baptise Children and saies St. Austin Consuetudo matris Ecclesia c. The Custome of our Mother the Chu ch in Baptizing Infants is not to be slighted because it is an Apostolicall Tradition De Gen. ad li. c. 23. That 's a ninth Invention 10. If we believe and have Faith It is no matter for good VVorks or how we live a meer Invention this For saies St. James faith without work is dead and saies St. Paul Jac. 2. neither Circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing but Faith which worketh by Love That 's a tenth Invention He is gone to Hell For he dyed of the Plague A meer Intention This For many of Gods dear Servants do dye of the Plague 2 Sam. 24. David was desirous to dye of it when he prayed Let thy hand I pray thee be against me and my Fathers house but sure he would not have been so desirous to dy of the Plague if he must have gone to Hell for it That is a 11th Invention Subjects may take up Arms against their King For the King is Universis minor though he â—e singulis major Lesse then the Collective Body though greater then any particular Person If he be a Tyrant If he be Sacrilegious If he be an Idolater He may be Resisted He may be Deposed A meer Invention's this For Saul was greater then all the People because he was their King and Saul was a Tyrant a sacrilegious person an Idolatar a Consulter with Witches and yet David durst not resist him durst not depose him and only for this cause Because he was the Lords Annointed and therefore the Lords Annointed because the King And this hath been the Judgement of all Divines until of late and therefore This is another twelfth Invention Bishops and Presbyters are of equal Authority They are all one For Bishops are called Presbyters in the word of God A meer Invention This and a false Conclusion For Presbyters are never called Bishops either in the Book of God or in any other book unlesse in the Books of Hereticks or Schismaticks And that is a Thirteenth Invention A King may be Deposed by an High Court of Justice and unjustly sentenced to death as a Tyrant Traytor and Murtherer and Publick enemy by severing his Head from his Body A meer Invention This though pronounced by John Bradshaw Lord President so called Oliver Crumwel L. General Henry Ireton Commis General Col. Hardresse Waller Col. Harrison Col. Whaley Col. Pride Col. Ewer Lord Gray of Grooby Sir John D'Anvers with many more who are not worth the remembring unlesse Dr. Dorislaus and Justice Aske Councellours for the Common-wealth Cook Sollicitor General Broughton and Phelps Clarks to the Court Danby Mace-Bearer Humphrey Sword-Bearer and King Cryer And this was an Invention beyond all the Jewes Inventions And a great many more Inventions yet have we found out but I have tyred you and my self already with these and by these though there were no more I am sure we have provoked God to wrath for the Plague is broken in upon us It is my fourth and last consideration in resolving that Question What is the fruit and effect of these Inventions Pars. 4. of these Provocations The Plague brake in upon them Irruit It brake in Magno impetu invasit It came with a mighty violence and could not be resisted Tanquam aqua exundas like a suddain Flood of water Maltiplicata est in eis ruina A multiplyed destruction came upon them Factis est in eis gravis ultio God took an heavy and grievious revenge upon them twenty four thousand of the common people and Princes were slain and this tells you what Plague it was is here meant It was not the Plague of Pustules or the Plague of the Pestilence or as the common people call it the Plague of Gods Tokens or as we of late have had the Plague of the Guts which was never heard of in any Kings Reign but only in the first Reign of a President and in the second Reign of a Protector but it was the Plague of a Civil commotion raised by the Madness of the people for a former madness of their provocation and the small number of the slain then but 24000 shews and proves their provocations to be lesse then ours because the Plague of an Uncivil civil war amongst us hath slain many score of Thousands some Hundreds of thousands and proves our provocations to be greater then theirs However I wish not the rest of the Rebels may either Hoyle or Phane themselves I wish them not confusion here or Damnation hereafter The worse that I wish is That God would be pleased to take them as the Rods of his Justice into the Hands of Mercy and bring in King Charles II. with power to recover his own Dominions and to sit upon the Throne of his Father King Charles Is the Royal Martyr of blessed memory who upon this day January 30. Anno Dom. 1648 was murthered by barbarous hands for seeking to preserve the Churches Rights and the Peoples Liberties and Reign over us and our childrens children in peace and prosperity thorough Jesus Christ Amen GOD Save King CHARLES II. Anno Dom. 1658. ACTS 13.28 And though they found no cause of death in him yet desired Pilate to kill him THere are not many steps betwixt Princes Prisons Graves Mat. 2. Christ was the King of the Jews so confest by the Magi and the People would have proclaimed him so But Pilate the Lord President and Cajaphas the High Preist having Him delivered into their hands by the Treason of Judas for a far less price then 200000 l. even 30. pieces of Silver and though they found no cause of death in him unless it were Negatively because he had not Ahab-like took away Naboths Vineyard or plundered any of his Subjects Illegally nor Jesabel-like took away Naboths life or put to death any of his Subjects Extrajudicially or Affirmatively had healed their sick cured their lame and their blind ear'd their deaf raised their dead delivered them all from the Kings Evil and made them happy to their Enemies Envy and their Friends Admiration yet they desired Pilate to kill him That 's my Text and in it I observe two parts and they are these 1. A VVonder they found no cause of death in him for a VVonder it is that a King who hath so many Prerogatives and Advantages to Blaspheme to Rob to Rabe to Murther to Idolatry and more causes I find not to kill any man should have no cause of death found in him 2. A Murther and a monstrous Murther Yet they desired Pilate to kill him for a monstrous Murther it is that Subjects who have so many tyes of Obedience upon them