and Vice because as they reign by him so they should reign for him too God puts the Crown upon their Heads and Scepter into their Hands for other purposes than to suffer (i) 1 Kings 12 28. Micah 6.16 Jeroboams Calves Omri's Statutes and the Works of the House of Ahab He exalts them to Soveraign Dignity for more excellent Ends They should always have his Glory in their Eye and postpone all other Ends to that Herein we have an Example of a King the most illustrious Scripture History affords and who hath left a Copy of Extraordinary Zeal for God to all succeeding Kings to write after 't is Josiah King of Judah And like unto him was there no King before him that turn'd to the Lord with all his heart c. The Text contains the Character and Commendation of Josiah with the Work and Duty of his Day and in him presents us with a Looking-Glass for Christian Princes Or 't is a compleat Idea and exact Description of a truly Religious King He turned to the Lord with all his heart When Josiah came to the Crown he found the Kingdom universally polluted with Idolatry both Priests and People were infected and every Age and Sex a Remnant excepted had corrupted their ways His Great Grandfather Hezekiah was a very good King and had destroyed all publick Idolatry in the Land * 2 Kings 18.4 5. He removed the high places and brake the Images and cut down the Groves and brake in pieces the brazen Serpent that Moses had made because it was abused to Idolatry for unto those days the Children of Israel burnt Incense to it He trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him was none like him among all the Kings of Judah nor any that were before him But in the Reigns of his Grandfather Manasseh and Father Amon whose History is set down 2 Kings 21. and 2 Chron. 33. Idolatry increased like Hydra's heads and the worship of Baalim or Idols of the Sun prevailed over the Worship of the True God For (i) 2 King 21.3 Manasseh built up again the High Places which his Father Hezekiah had destroyed and he reared up Altars for Baal and made a Grove as did Ahab and worshipped all the Host of Heaven and served them And if we look into the (k) Regnavit Annis 2. short Reign of his Son Amon we shall find he was no better than his Father but succeeded him in his Throne and Impieties together For (l) 2 Kings 21 20. he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord as his Father Manasseh did 'T is true Manasseh as wicked a King as he had been after his Repentance (n) 2 Chron. 33.12 16.6 v. 17. did pretty considerably toward a Reformation (o) 2 Chron. 29.3 Nevertheless the People did sacrifice still in the High Places But in Amons time the Reformation was utterly quasht till the Reign of Josiah in whose time it was carried on with wonderfull zeal and success For like unto him was there no King before him neither after him arose any like him But how can this be when the same Character is given of Hezekiah For 't is said 2 Kings 18.5 After him was none like him among all the Kings of Judah nor any that were before him For resolution of this Question several things may be offered in Answer First It must be understood with Exception of Hezekiah because this Commendation is likewise given to him Secondly The Phrase denotes them both to have been eminently Religious Thirdly They had their particular Excellencies wherein they both outstript Hezekiah shew'd his zeal for the true Religion at his very Accession to the Throne (p) 2 Chron. 29 3. In the first year of his Reign in the first Month he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them For his Father Ahaz being distressed by Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria sacrificed to the Gods of Damascus in expectation of help from them and shut up the doors of the Temple 2 Chron. 28.22 23 24. Josiah being a Minor of eight years old when he came to the Crown had no sooner attained to the sixteenth year of his age most commonly the time of Sport and Dalliance to many other Princes but while he was yet thus young he began to seek after the God of David his Father Fourthly The Expression is Hyperbolical and qualified thus Vix eis par c. they scarcely have been or shall be parall'd Fifthly Their Zeal was equally fervent in restoring the pure Worship of God but Josiah's Reformation was more extensive than Hezekiah's for Josiah reformed (q) Non in suo solum sed etiam in alieno regno Sanctius sup 2 Reg. 23.25 not in the Kingdom of Judah only but in Israel too When therefore we read that Hezekiah threw down the High places and the Altars not only out of all (r) 2 Chr. 31.1 Judah and Benjamin but in Ephraim also and Manasseh which two Tribes were part of the Kingdom of Israel It is to be understood with restriction to that (s) Jun. sup loc Grot. ibid. part of those Tribes which was subject to the Kings of Judah either by Conquest or a voluntary submission by reason of the present troubles of that Kingdom But Josiah's Reformation extended to the Altar at (t) 2 Reg. 23.15 Bethel and all the (u) v. 19. houses also of the high Places that were in the Cities of Samaria which the Kings of Israel made to provoke the Lord to anger Sixthly There are two things peculiar in Josiah's Case in regard of which the precedency may well be given him First He was prophesied of above (w) Post annos circiter trecentos Jun. sup 1 Reg. 13.2 three hundred years before he was born and mention'd expressly by name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Josiah and which is very remarkable it was presently after Jeroboam had devised his Calf worship in Dan and Bethel for as he stood by his new Altar in Bethel to burn Incense behold there came a man of God out of Judah by the Word of the Lord and cry'd against the Altar in the Word of the Lord and said O Altar Altar thus saith the Lord Behold (x) Heb Son a Child shall be born unto the house of David Josiah by Name and upon thee shall he offer the Priests of the High Places that burn Incense upon thee and mens bones shall be burnt upon thee 1 Kings 13.1 2. Where Observe that God's jealoulousie of his own Honour and Love to his own Worship is such that he cannot endure to be rival'd by Man but immediately protests against False Worship and False Worshippers by his Servants and thô he bears with them both for a Season yet there is a Time secret to us but fixt in God's Eternal Decree wherein both shall be destroyed Thus he dealt with Jeroboam's Altar and the Priests of the High Places and the
of their Calamities which really are not Thus wicked Ahab charged the Prophet Elijah with being the cause of the sore Famine in Samaria Luke 4.25 1 Kings 18.17 when the Heaven was shut up three years and six months saying Art thou he that troubleth Israel Thus the innocent Apostles were accused for being Disturbers of the Publick Peace Acts 17.6 and Turners of the World upside down Paul was impleaded by Tertullus for a pestilent fellow Ch. 24.5 and a mover of Sedition And the Primitive Christians were traduced by the Heathen Persecutors Tertul. Apol. c. 37. p. 30. as the Pests and Enemies of Mankind and that they and their Doctrine procured all the Evils that so frequently befell the Roman Empire Hence arose that general outcry against the Christians in those days Cypr. Ep. ad Demetr p. 197. Arnob. adv gen l. 1. p. 1. when any misfortune happened Christianos ad Leones Away with the Christians to the Lions For 't was the Common Objection upon every occasion that they were the Authors of all publick Calamities But as then they who were born after the Flesh persecuted them who were born after the Spirit even so it has been of late among us and would 't is to be fear'd be so now had some Men the Power they formerly had Do not they object the distresses of the present Age to the Pious and Sober People of the Nation as if they were the Procurers of their Misfortunes and the Troublers of their Israel How often do we hear it urg'd That Dissenters are worse than Papists that 't will never be well in England so long as the Act of Indulgence stands and that Liberty of Conscience is Omnium malorum Fons the Fountain of all Mischiefs But alas poor Envious and mistaken Wretches Whom do they reproach and blaspheme and against whom do they exalt their voice and lift up their eyes on high Isa 37.23 even against the Holy One of Israel In compassion to their Souls I could wish they knew what spirit they were of and were convinced how contrary a Persecuting Temper is to the Example and Precepts of our Saviour and his Apostles and to the whole Genius Scope and Design of the Gospel Let them read the Scripture and shew me where Persecution is taught in Terms or Consequence and I will believe it then to be lawful to Plunder and Imprison my Neighbour yea to execute the Writ de Haeretico comburendo But till it be proved from Scripture that I may lawfully persecute my Neighbour purely for Religion and because he judges of Spiritual things otherwise than I do I will always believe a Persecuting Spirit to be Antichristian and as opposite to the Gospel as Darkness is to Light and Papal Cruelty to Apostolical Meekness To correct these Mens Mistakes is to shew them the true Cause of all their Troubles by resolving them into their proper Originals their Sins and Apostacies from God Thus Elijah told Ahab I have not troubled Israel 1 Kings 18.18 but thou and thy Fathers House in that ye have forsaken the Commandments of the Lord and thou hast followed Baalim And the ancient Apologists Tertullian Cyprian Arnobius and others took this as the most successful course to stop the slanderous mouths of their Adversaries The Heathen charg'd the Christians with their publick Misfortunes the Christians cleared themselves from those Aspersions and shew'd their Adversaries how to resolve their Evils into their true Causes such as Idolatry Debauchery and Ingratitude the crimes not only of the ancient Pagans but of too many Modern Professors of Christianity But some will ask perhaps Is it not a contradiction to say Christian Idolaters I answer No because there are a great many such in the World The Papists are gross Idolaters for to worship God by in or thrô any Image or Similitude of Saint or Angel as they do is gross Idolatry A late Popish Author endeavours to excuse this practice * A Papist misrepr and Represented p. 2. All the Veneration says he that the Papist expresses before Images whether by kneeling praying lifting up the eyes burning Candles Incense c. 't is not at all done for the Image but is wholly reserv'd to the thing represented which he intends to honour by these actions But this will not do unless he could perswade us the Religious use of Images were enjoyned in the Second Commandment and all his superstitious Customs allow'd by it which will never be so long as we have our Bibles and see all Image-worship expresly forbidden therein There is also another sort of Idolaters who are more refined than the bigotted Romanists and yet are no less guilty in the sight of God than they Now the Idolatry of these men consists in Performing that unto the True God which hath a Similitue Show and Resemblance of his Service but is not so indeed because he (a) Deut. 12.32 requireth it not at our hands and therefore is but a (b) Col. 2.23 Will-worship or voluntary Religion a thing devised and done (c) Hos 13.2 according to our own understanding See Ainsworth's Arrow against Idolatry c. 1. p. 3 4. It were well if the Church of England could clear her self of this kind of Idolatry she knows the Dissenters charge has been often drawn up against her and proved by a Cloud of Witnesses And if she can make no better defence than hitherto she hath made it will be both her Wisdom and Honour to acknowledge her Guilt and return unto God by Repentance and Reformation The second Commandment saith the (d) Arrow against Idol c. 1. p. 4 5. Joh. 4.20 24. excellent Ainsworth (e) Deu. 12.32 4.1 2 5 6 c. bindeth to the true worship of the true God which is only (f) Psal 119.113 Isa 29.13 Col 2.23 22. as himself commandeth and by the Means Rites and Services that he ordaineth and it forbiddeth 1. All Inventions of our own to worship God by voluntary Religion Opinions and Doctrines of men 2. All Imitations of (g) Lev. 18.2 3. Deut. 12.30.31 Rev. 17.2 Heathens or Antichristians in their God services to do the like unto the Lord our God 3. All Imitation or Counterfeiting (h) 1 Kings 12.28.32 Amos 4.4 5. 5.21.22 23. Hos 8.14 of Gods own Ordinances and Institutions as to make Temples like his Temple Feasts like his Feasts Altars like his Ministers like his which was the Sin of Israel 4. All neglect of Gods Services or of the Means and Instruments by him ordained all irreligious profaneness or hypocrisie together with all communion with such kind of Idolatry all causes occasions and provocation thereunto Now when a Nation is overrun with Idolatry and other sorts of Wickedness to the great Dishonour of God and scandal of good Men it is the Business of Religious Princes to endeavour to retrieve the Honour of God and satisfie pious Minds by a general Suppression of Idolatry
like dealing may all others dread who are involved in the like guilt To ballance this Instance 't is urg'd Isaiah Prophesied of Cyrus an Heathen Monarch by Name long before his Nativity for according to Junius from the time of the Prophecy to the fulfilling of it were 170 Years or after Grotius 210 and therefore the Prediction of Josiah is not singular I Answer their Case was very different Cyrus was foretold as a Passive Instrument to bring about the design of God's Providence in the Restauration of the Jews from their Babylonish Captivity and giving them Liberty to Re-edisie the Temple Josiah as an Active Instrument to accomplish God's Pleasure in the Extirpation of Idolatry in Judah and Israel Cyrus did the Will of God but 't was without any sincere Affection to or Religious Knowledge of God for God says twice to him Isa 45.4 5. Thou hast not known me Josiah perform'd the Will of God in Faith Love and Obedience to him He turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might Secondly Another thing extraordinary in Josiah was his most exact Conformity to the Divine Law in purging his Kingdom of Idolatry 2 Chron. 31.20 21. Hezekiah wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God and in every work that he began in the service of the house of God and in the Law and in the Commandments to seek his God he did it with all his heart This is an ample Character but Josiah's is somewhat fuller For he turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the Law of Moses His Conversion was Universal for he did all according to all the Law of Moses His Father and his Grandfather turn'd from the Lord and his Law but he made the Law of God his Counsellor He sought to the God of David his Father and declined neither to the right hand nor the left 2 Chron. 34.2 3. He Consulted not with a Carnal Priesthood and a sensual Sanhedrim but he sent to Huldah the Prophetess for Direction Many Princes will Reform a Little as Afa Jehosaphat Joash Amaziah who were good Kings so far as they did Reform but the Blot that is upon their Names is the High Places were not taken away 1 Kings 15.14 22.43 2 Kings 12.3 14.4 Now Josiah pull'd down these High Places he left not one of them remaining Indeed notwithstanding all he did or could do Idolatry was so riveted in many of the Princes Priests and People that Baal had a remnant among them Jeph 1.4 for he had his Chemarims his profess'd Priests and he had others too who pretended to be Priests of the True God but would be now and then tampering with Baal's Idolatrous Rites They durst not exercise their Idolatry publickly for sear of the King but they Worship'd the Host of Heaven on the house tops and swore by the Lord and Malchom V. 5. they mingled true and false Worship together And because there is often mention in Scripture of these High Places and the pulling of them down is recorded as an High Act of Reformation we will enquire what they were and this will not be loss of time because the Heathen had their High Places as well as the Jews The High Places then Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were Altars erected upon Hills upon which they offered Sacrifices the Heathen to their Idols and the Jews to the True God For after the Tabernacle and Ark were removed from Shiloh which was in the dayes of Eli when the Ark was taken and his two Sons Hophni and Phinehas were slain by the Philistines 1 Sam 4.3 4 11. The Jews used the High Places as most proper and convenient for their Worship thus Samuel and the People sacrificed in the High Place 1 Sam. 9.12.19 and so it continued 'till David brought the Ark to †2 Chron. 1.4 Jerusalem and then it became the People's Duty to Sacrifice where the Ark was And hence we read that Solomon when the * V. 3. Tabernacle was at Gibeon and the Ark at Jerusalem sacrificing in the High Places and especially at the great High Place in Gibeon where thô the Lord appeared to him in a Dream by Night yet hath this Note of Irregularity put upon him Solomon loved the Lord walking in the Statutes of David his Father only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the High Places And the King went to Gibeon to sacrifice there for that was the Great High Place 1 Kings 3.3 4. After the Temple was built and the Ark placed in it the People were to bring their Sacrifices thither according to that in Deut. 12.13 14. Take heed to thy self that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest but in the place which the Lord shall chuse in one of thy Tribes there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings and there thou shalt do all that I command thee It was the People's sin to Sacrifice any where else but at Jerusalem thô they Sacrificed to the True God His positive Command made that to be Sin which was not sin before When he had placed his Name at Jerusalem and pitch'd his Tabernacle there thither the People were bound to bring all their Offerings But alas they soon forsook the Temple at Jerusalem and return'd to their High Places where not content to Worship the True God thô even that Worship perform'd there now was sinful because uncommanded they fell to Worshipping of Baal or the Sun and other Idols of the Nations which Worship notwithstanding they pretended it was for the Honour of the True God is every where condemned for abominable Idolatry Men may not intermeddle in the Worship of God to institute or alter according to their Fancies I know they endeavour to excuse their Innovations as Aaron did his Golden Calf who made proclamation and said To morrow is a Feast to the Lord Exod. 32.5 Not a Feast to the Calf they think Religion too plain of it self and therefore they will set it out in a more pompous Garb of their own devising which is very apt to take with Carnal Worshippers But is not acceptable with God because he approves of none no not that which Men call Divine Service because but of Humane Contrivance and neither in respect of Matter Manner or End such as is prescribed in the Word Jeroboam had invented a notable Semblance of Divine Worship and made it look as like that of God's own appointing at Jerusalem as might be But was God to be found in that Calfish Worship Surely No. And as he was not to be met with there so may we despair to find him in that Theatrical Worship which he hath not Ordained and wherewith the Ignorant World is cajol'd at this day There is a natural Inclination in Men to be mixing something of their own with
the holy Appointments of God it is a Vice as old as the Fall and therefore might plead Prescription were Antiquity in this matter a good Argument Neither is there only a Natural Inclination but some Persons are possessed with such a mighty Fondness for Additions which Custom or Inrerest hath decoy'd them into that they cannot think God well-Worshipt without the sinful Pageantry of their Ceremonious Decency and Order two Words of large Extent which when Witty and Designing Men have the Explication of they will be sure to expound to such a Latitude as shall serve their Ends upon every occasion 'T is not to be question'd but that the Idolatrous Priests had a great deal to say for their Idols and High Places they had the Examples of several Kings the approbation of Princes and People their Idols were only Symbols or Medium's through which their Worship pass'd to the Supream Being and they could tell the People they used them meerly for Decency and Order and their High Places for greater Splendour of Devotion for they look'd upon both Idols and High Places not as having any Divinity or Holiness in themselves but as things in their own Nature indifferent and yet being enjoyn'd as not to be omitted because the Magistrate's Command changes the very Nature of things and makes that which antecedent to his Sanction was indifferent become immediately after to be Necessary that is Necessary because Commanded by the Magistrate This also is the Modern Plea which has been enforc'd with all the Wit and Power of Man to defend his Innovations in the Worship of God But all his Attempts will not do for weak sinful Man is not able to stand out against the Omnipotent and most Holy God who will maintain his Cause against all Opposers and make his Truth to triumph over Errour thô back'd with the utmost Skill and power of Men. But to return to Josiah that most eminent Reformer in his day his Zeal for God manifested it self in sundry particulars First He took care about the Temple at Jerusalem that was much dilapidated through the Neglect of his Idolatrous Predecessors 2 King 22.3.4 5. and gave Hilkiah Orders to repair the Breaches thereof Secondly As soon as the Book of the Law was found and read before him and he heard the Wrath of God denounc'd against Idolatry he was mightily concern'd thereat and rent his Cloaths V. 11. he consider'd himself as obnoxious to the Threatning as his People and therefore commanded Priests and Princes to go and enquire of the Lord for him and his People 12. 13. and for all Judah about it Thirdly He sent and gathered together all the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem 2 Chron. 34.29 30. and the Priests and the Levites and all the People great and small and went up into the House of the Lord and read the Book of the Covenant unto them that they might all be made sensible of the grievous sin of Idolatry and the Wrath of the Lord against it and might be moved thereby to repent of it and renounce it Fourthly He and the People made a Solemn Covenant before the Lord 2 Kings 23.3 to walk after the Lord and to keep his Commandments and his Testimonies and his Statutes with all their heart and all their Soul to perform the words of the Covenant that were written in the Book of the Law Herein the King and his Subjects prov'd themselves to be Religious indeed for all True Religion is an entring into Solemn League and Covenant with God to be true to him and his Appointments The terms League Covenant Association have a brand of Infamy put upon them by some men whose Ears are grated at the sound and their Stomachs raised at the mention of them they are as great pretenders to Knowledge as any men we discourse with and yet as blind and ignorant as the Pharisees their Forefathers for as they boasted of their being the Seed of Abraham Joh. 8.33 9.28 and Disciples of Moses but erred not knowing the Scriptures So our Modern Pharisees talk much of their being the True Sons of the Church and Lovers of the Common-Prayer when they are many of them as ignorant as the Pharisees of old in points of Real saving Knowledge and understand no Covenanting with God but that Popish Childish perfunctory and unwarrantable one of Godfathers and Godmothers for them in their Infancy which when they come to Age they are usually as careless altogether to perform as their Substitutes did at first negligently and superstitiously engage But thus it happens among all Ways of Religion thô never so highly applauded by Traditionary Professors which are destitute of Divine Authority Fifthly He and his People having taken the Covenant to walk after the Lord and to keep his Commandments c. there was no delay no fear of precipitation and waiting for a more convenient Season which are too often suggested to Religious Princes by carnal Counsellors but down went the High places Groves Altars 2 Chron. 34. 2. Kings 23. Priests of Baal immediately And so universal was the Reformation that not one publick Monument of Idolatry was spared throughout Judah and Israel Sixthly He restored the Passeover to its right Observation commanding it to be kept exactly according to what was written in the Book of the Covenant 2 Kings 23.21 v. 22. from which he turned not aside by putting to or taking from Touching the celebration of this Feast it is recorded Surely there was not holden such a Passeover from the days of Samuel the Prophet nor in all the days of the Kings of Israel nor of the Kings of Judah Seventhly He took care that no Publick Idolatry should be practised in his days whatsoever some of the Priests and People did privately for 't is said 2 Chron. 34 33. he made them serve the Lord their God And all his days they departed not from following the Lord the God of their Fathers Upon consideration now of the whole matter it might well be recorded of Josiah Like unto him was there no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the Law of Moses neither after him arose there any like him In the words these three things are presented to our Meditations First Josiah's personal Eminency above all other Kings Like unto him was there no King before him c. Which is to be taken as in the Instances above mentioned and thô it includes his publick and private Deportment yet it seems mostly to relate to his extraordinary Zeal for God in a publick Reformation Secondly The Subject matter of his matchless Glory namely his own Conversion and his Peoples Reformation wherein his Love to God was very conspicuous whether we consider its Integrity or Extent for it was not only sincere but universal also he turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and
with all his might He was not almost but altogether a Convert he had not a double Heart one for God and another for Baal dividing himself between true and Idolatrous Worship No he turned to the Lord with all his heart Thirdly The Rule he walked by in rooting out Idolatry and restoring the pure Worship of God not the High Priests Decretalls or the Canons of the Clergy or the Parliamentary Acts of the Sanhedrin but the Law of Moses according to which he strictly acted in all his Proceedings about the Reformation The Doctrinal Observations from hence are these First Those Princes are only Eminent in the sight of God who are truly Religious and turn to the Lord with all their heart Secondly There is more required of such Princes than their own private Assent and Consent to the true Religion they must promote it in their Dominions by all such ways as are commanded or allow'd of in Scripture Thirdly They cannot be capable of a greater Honour in this World than to be the Instruments of a Godly Reformation among their Subjects Fourthly The Word of God alone is the Rule to which both they and their People must attend in all matters relating to Religion First Those Princes are only Eminent in the sight of God who are truly Religious and turn to the Lord with all their heart For such are Vines of his own planting Kings set up by him to Rule in the fear of God they are his Darlings and Favourites Not that they can do any thing of themselves how Great and Potent soever they be to merit or any way procure the Divine Favour and Protection their very Exaltation to their Thrones being an Act of pure Beneficence But they are eminent in his Estimation upon the account of those Graces which spring from the Righteousness of Christ and do manifest themselves in an affectionate Zeal for God As for those Princes who are profess'd Enemies of God and Religion they may be said to be set up by God too because All Power is of God Rom. 13.1 But then we must remember what God himself says of such He gives them to a People in his Anger Hos 13.11 and consider in what sence they are constituted by him ut flagella Dei as the Scourge to punish the Rebellions of a Nation So that the Powers that be in the World whether Good or Bad are ordained of God that is Rom. 13.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bad Princes are Gods Ordinance of Wrath and Permission Good Princes of special Love Choice and Approbation The first are given in his Displeasure the latter in his Good will to a People There is much Controversie among the Learned about the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power Ham. Annot. ◠loc Chrystost Theophil in lo◠Sherlocks Cas◠of Alleg. Baxters Annot Clarks Annot◠and therefore must not pass without a little Examination Some take it for the person invested with the Power of Government others for the Office of the Prince not his Person some understand all manner of Power right or wrong if it gets the Possession and have the Administration of Affairs Others understand Authority or Right to Govern observing a Criticism between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some think will not bear the Test And others comprehend both lawful Authority and the Persons exercising it But whether we take it for Legal Authority or usurped for the Person or the Office of the Prince or for both the thing is much the same for Authority it self is certainly Gods Ordinance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the persons exercising it are placed so by his permissive or Effective Providence How far the People are interested in placing or displacing of the Supream Magistrate and whether he be not inferiour to the whole Community thô superiour to the Individuals are improper Enquiries when the Government is settled in Excellent hands and Liberty and Property secured I shall only mind you of Gods special Designation upon some Persons and the turning of the Peoples Hearts unto them after a most wonderful manner and his manifest Abdication of others as utterly unfit to Govern sending a Blast upon all their Attempts while the others Enterprizes are blest with an unaccountable Success and again that the people have sometimes a mighty stroke under Providence in the Disposal of Crowns and at other times they stand amazed to behold their Unconcernedness in the Revolutions of the World There is an Objection to one part of this Discourse that if all Power be of God and the Powers that be are of his Ordination how doth he then complain in Hosea They have set up Kings ch 8.4 but not of me they have made Princes and I knew it not To which I answer that All Power is of God notwithstanding and Government is his Ordinance although the people set up Wicked Kings and make Princes such as he knows not that is approves not His permissive Providence tolerates what his Effective Providence allows not We must therefore distinguish between Soveraign Authority and the manner of acquiring and administring of the same John 19.11 Authority it self or Power to Govern is from God but yet the Throne may be ascended by unlawful steps or being lawfully mounted it may be filled with Apostacy Cruelty and Violence and so the Person sitting thereon may be disowned by God as a Tyrant or Usurper Or thus it may be answered this place in Hosea respects the Israelites revolt from Rehoboam to Jeroboam Kings 14.7 8. and if we weigh the thing well the Translation of the Kingdom was from God and so Jeroboam was a King of Gods setting up and the People did their Duty in transferring their Allegiance to him But his falling away immediately after he was made King from the true Worship of God to that of the Golden Calves Kings 12.28 ◠30.14.9 16. which he had set up in Dan and Bethel and causing the People to sin therewith was from the Devil and so God renounces him But thô the Authority of Kings generally speaking be of God and the Bad too often make a greater Figure in the World than the Good yet the Good are his choice his excellent Ones who with Josiah are truly Religious and turn to the Lord with all their heart But how may poor revolted Mortals be said to turn to God have they any Power to turn themselves before they are turned I answer No they have not in their Natural Unrenewed State any more Power to turn themselves spiritually to God than the Ethiopian has to change his skin Jer. 13.23 or the Leopard his spots God must first turn to them before they can turn to him yea he must turn them 31.18 or they can never be turned for no less Power than Omnipotence can convert a Soul But when the Soul is effectually converted then it will turn to and clasp about God The motions
of converted Souls towards God are like the turnings of the Needle touched with a Load-stone to the North for being touched with the Magnet of his Love they draw incessantly towards him In such Souls the Attraction of Free-Grace is so strong that nothing can possibly prevent it The Saints are sensible of great slackness and backwardness in their Spiritual progress of many stops and hinderances in their Christian Race but they are secured against total and final Apostacy by Gods everlasting Covenant of Free-Grace sealed and ratified in the Blood of Christ by many sweet and precious promises to keep them from falling away by vertue of their Mystical Union with Christ and the Prayer and Intercession of Christ for them They meet with many Assaults from Sin Satan and the World but Sin cannot separate them from the Love of God in Christ because that is pardoned in the Blood of Christ Satan cannot vanquish them because Christ hath subdued him and the World cannot overcome them because Christ hath overcome the World But thô the Saints are secured from all danger of final and total Apostacy yet this is no ground of carelesness and carnal Confidence to them the way of their Salvation is of Gods own ordering and appointing and it is this Pet. 1.2 They are Elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ Mark this passage Through Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience they are not Elected to Salvation without the Spirits Sanctification unto Obedience but they are Elected to attain Salvation by Sanctification as the means to the End and being sanctified by the Spirit of God they are thereby enabled to perform Obedience to the Gospel God did not Elect them that they should be careless â—…ph 1.4 but that they should be carefull for they are chosen of him in Christ before the foundation of the World that they should be holy and without blame before him in love They are chosen to the Means and the diligent use thereof as well as to the End h. 2.10 For they are Gods Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them This denotes their Course 't is a walking in good works they are Elected to live in the constant exercise of all Graces infused into them and of all Duties required of them They then most horridly abuse the precious Doctrine of the Saints Perseverance who call it a Doctrine of Looseness and Libertinism and pretend it takes away all Watchfulness and Diligence in Duty whereas it requires all possible strictness and exactness from the Saints And certainly no persons in the World can consider themselves under stronger tyes to Obedience than they who believe that 't is Gods method in their Salvation to bring them to it of Free Grace through Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience and Sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ For believing this to be Gods Way of Salvation they will endeavour to be found in it and knowing that God hath chosen them to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit Thes 2.13 15 17. and belief of the Truth they will pray that they may stand fast and have their hearts comforted and established in every good word and work Upon this Score it is namely Election in Christ and Sanctification of the Spirit that Princes become truly Religious and so highly eminent in the sight of God and by vertue thereof their Dominions are founded in Grace and have a Spiritual superadded to their Political Right I do not say that the Godly or Gracious only have a Political Right to Govern but that Gracious Princes have a double one First As Princes and Secondly much more I am sure much better as being gracious Princes By how much the Unction of the Spirit excells that of the Body by so much the Scepter polished with Grace outshines its Native lustre Impious Rulers are compared by Solomon to roaring Lyons and ranging Bears the most savage Beasts of prey Prov. 28.15 to set forth their Violence Cruelty and Oppression Lyons and Bears the Naturalists tell us are naturally crueller than other Wild Creatures but when pinch'd with hunger Sed cum fame premuntur seipsos crudelitate superant they exceed the cruelty of their Natures In those Creatures we have a lively portraicture of Arbitrary and Tyrannical Governours who as cruelly prey upon the poor oppressed People as they do upon the Beasts of the Field 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tenui populo Ar. Mont. Rom. 13.3 4. With a little variation of the Apostles words we may say of them They are a terror to good works and Revengers to execute wrath upon them that do well They are Perverters of publick peace and Order and men have no Security notwithstanding Law of Life or Property under them For they care not what ravage and spoil they make of their Counrrey vainly fancying the people are made for them not they made for the People contrary to what Seneca writes to Nero That the Commonwealth is not theirs to use as they list Non Republicam suam esse sed se Republicae de Clem. l. 1. c. 19. but they are the Commonwealth's Which makes me stand amazed when I read or hear what unsuitable Titles some Parazites give them and how Jeroboam's Herods Maximines Dioclesians and Julians Idolaters Adulterers bloody Persecutors and infamous Apostates are complemented with the glorious Appellations of the Lords Anointed Sen. Epist 5â— Q. Curt. l. â— and Ministers of God as the Heathen Priests flattered Alexander and perswaded him to be Jupiters Son thô King Philip was his Father But as Wicked Rulers are like roaring Lyons and ranging Bears Isai 49.23 so Religious Kings and Queens are compared to Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers The Glory of God and Welfare of their People sway more with such than their own self-Interest or Personal Greatness They always postpone their private Advantages to the publick Good and make less reckoning of their own than their Subjects safety And this is notorious from those many dangers they voluntarily expose themselves to which 't is not imaginable they would ever do if they had not more regard to the Honour of God and the Subjects Weal than to their own Applause and Interests The Greek and Roman Histories inform us of some that sacrificed their Lives upon their Countries score as Codrus Decius and several others but whence sprang this adventurous Love from natural Courage Ambition vain Glory Affectation of a Statue superstitious observation of Oracles or the like But truly Religious Princes act from Nobler Principles and are moved by the mighty impulse of him who sits upon the Circle of the Earth Isa 40.22 23. and the Inhabitants thereof are as Grashoppers that bringeth Wicked Princes to nothing and maketh the Judges of the Earth as Vanity Now who
remembrance of the one shall rot and the other shall be ever fresh and flourishing The remembrance of Josiah is like the perfume that is made by the Art of the Apothecary it is as sweet as Honey in all Mouths and as Musick at a Banquet of Wine He behaved himself uprightly in the Reformation of the People and took away all the abominations of Iniquity He directed his Heart unro the Lord and in the time of the Ungodly he establish'd Religion Jeroboam Omri Ahab and other wicked and irreligious Kings have left a Brand of Ignominy upon their Names that time will never wear out The decree of Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 3.29 Dan. 6.26 Ezra 1.1 2 for speaking honourably of the God of Shadrach Meshech and Abednego of Darius for worshipping the God of Daniel and of Cyrus for building the Temple at Jerusalem more beautified their Diadem's than all their Victories and Empire over Nations Constantine the first Emperour that embraced the Christian Faith was surnamed the Great more for his Piety than his Greatness 'T is the protecting favouring and encouraging of Religion that brings in the largest Revenues of Glory to Princes Such shall have the Divine Protection to watch over them for the eye of the Lord is over them that fear him and put their hope in his mercy Psal 33.18 They shall constantly be remembred in the prayers of the Lords People and have a Name more honourable and lasting than one cut in Beams of Cedar or Pillars of Brass Obs 2 Fourthly The Word of God alone is the Rule to which both Princes and People must attend in all matters relating to Religion Whoever shall go about to redress the Corruptions of the English Church will undertake an excellent Work undoubtedly acceptable to God and desired by all good Men and my earnest prayers shall be that he may never fail of success in so brave and Christian an Enterprize The measures that some Princes have observed have been taken from wrong Standards carnal Ends and worldly Counsels and they themselves have been rather governed by Schemes and platforms of designing Men than the unerring Oracles of the Living God which doubtless has been one main Remora to a thorough Reformation It was this which stifled the English Reformation in the Birth and if not removed will render all attempts of this kind abortive For whiles men advise a Reformation suitable to such Models as they themselves contrive and refuse to hearken to the Lord Christ commanding and directing in his Word what ought to be done how can it be expected that ever a good End should be attained when the only adequate means are omitted When the Affairs of Religion are as carnally debated as Temporal matters and the Church is no otherwise considered than as a part of the State nay when things are so jumbled that there is no discerning Church from State but persons are made Members of the former as soon as they are born Subjects of the latter and so come to know hardly any other Regeneration than what they are told they received by Infant-Sprinkling in a word when nothing will content some Men but a Draught of Reformation forg'd in the Shop of their own Brains or when they are so stubborn that they will not submit to the Inclination of an Excellent Prince or so blind that they cannot see the necessity of an Amendment we may as soon hope to see Turk and Pope turn Protestants as some Vizarded Protestants set forward a Reformation For Reformation work is contrary to the sensual Lusts and Interests of worldly men and therefore will meet with constant opposition from them yet notwithstanding all their endeavours to obstruct it nothing shall be able to stand before him whom God hath appointed to the Work All difficulties shall be removed and hinderances immediately vanish in that day that the Lord shall say unto his Zerubbabel Not by might nor by power Zech. 4.6 7. but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts Who art thou O great Mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain and he shall bring forth the Head-stone thereof with shoutings crying Grace Grace unto it Wherefore Be strong O Zerubbabel Hag. 2.4 1 Chron. 12.32 Hag. ibid. and be strong all ye people who have understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do for I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts As for those Dignitaries of the English Church who pretend a willingness to reform Errors and Abuses by Humane Canons and Constitutions I humbly desire them to consider whether mens Traditions are a good Rule to reform by because they are erroneous and whether the Word of God is not a sufficient Rule of it self without their sinful Additions Let the Sacred Book therefore be opened and if upon examination the Building be Babel let it be pull'd down and not one stone left upon another how goodly soever the Structure hath been in the Eyes of the long dazled and deluded Spectators Consult no longer with the base Inclinations and corrupt reasonings of Flesh and Blood but away to the Law and Testimony Covenant with the Lord as Josiah and his People did to keep his Commandments and his Testimonies with all your heart and with all your soul 2 Chron. 34.31 And whereas there are some others that would perswade the People that no Reformation is needful I would entreat them seriously to answer me these following Questions 1. Was a Reformation necessary in Josiah's time and did he well in restoring the true Worship of God Is the Case of England much different from that of Judah's Nay is not our Apostacy as palpable as hers and then are not we in as much need of a Reformation 2. Are the Cathedral and Parochial Churches as they are vulgarly called of England called and constituted according to the Rule and Order of the Gospel or are they not if they are not then they cannot but stand in need of Reformation If they are then these two things among others must be made out 1. That they have the right Matter and 2. The right Form of a Gospel-Church 1. If they have the right Matter of a Gospel Church then the Persons or Members thereof are Visible Saints For by Matter we understand the Persons whereof a Church consists with their Qualifications Now that we may know whether the Members constituting the Cathedral and Parochial Churches of England are Persons fitly qualified and so right Matter of a Gospel Church we will see what the Scripture says in that point for that must be our Rule herein And upon search we shall find the right Matter of a Gospel-Church to be Visible Saints they are called New Creatures 2 Cor. 5.17 Heb. 3.1 1. 1 Pet. 2.5 9. Joh. 15 18 19. Eph. 1.14 2 Cor. 6.18 Holy Brethren Partakers of the Heavenly Calling Living stones a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people chosen out of the World Christs purchased Possession