the Word of God by the Author to the Hebrews Chap. 4.12 That it is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit joynts and marrow may very properly represent the power which she has upon the souls of men all which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laid open and naked before her When St. Paul had established Order in the Church of Corinth he prophesieth of the converting and convincing power that it would have upon the Conscience 1 Cor. 14.24 He is convinced of all he is judged of all and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest c. At least it has a convincing power and he that is the most debauched upon the face of the earth is forced to shut his eyes as not able to behold the lustre and beauty of true Religion Thus have we taken a short view of the Nature of Religion it will now be time to review it in the special influence it has upon the persons mentioned in the Text God the King and the People First then Kings are God's Representatives upon Earth they bear his Image in a peculiar manner The worst and most wicked of them declare his severity in the punishments which they inflict upon offenders with a liberal hand their Crowns and Scepters show the absolute Dominion and Rule which he exerciseth over all the Thrones which they sit upon his Glory and Majesty their vast attendance Officers and Servitors signifie an innumerable company of Angels which as winged Messingers attend the first notice of his Will But alas this representation of God is but imperfect we see indeed part of his Glory but no part of his Beauty rather his back parts than his face Men care not much to see Jehovah cloathed in the Robes of his strength and power in the Altitudes of his Majesty and Greatness the sight of him in this manner seems terrible like his appearance upon Mount Sinai when he gave forth his Law in lightning and thunder But the beauties of God's face which render him most acceptable to the sons and daughters of Adam are conveyed to us only by a Religious Prince where Justice and Mercy Greatness and Goodness Glory and Grace are so sweetly commixed and attempered that both Original and Copy Substance and Shadow God and the King are honoured and adored by all Such a Prince as this St. Cyprian calls Animatam Dei imaginem the Picture of God drawn out to the life and though there were no other reason yet upon this account he must be conjunctissimus Deo For as it is but just and equal that God should love himself first and best because there can be no object so perfect as himself so is it but rational to believe that next to himself he will love those best who come nearest his Image and represent him most amiable to the World Nor is it improbable that this is one choice reason why David is called a Man after God's own heart viz. because he did not only as a Prophet declare the Glory and Excellency of the divine Majesty but as a King in his Religious and Holy Conversation publish the same Secondly Princes are Sacred Persons uncti Domini the Lord 's anointed the worst as well as the best as well Nero as David as well Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin as Solomon for there is no power saith the Apostle but of God he is the Fountain and Original of all But Religious Kings are Sacro-sancti as they have devoted themselves to the Honour of their great Lord and Master This maketh the Almighty so careful and tender of their welfare that not the weight of a finger must lye upon them without a curse saying Touch not mine anointed And it seems by the custom of Heathens to be a principle in Nature for it was usual with them to make Virtuous and Renowned Princes the companions of the Gods Referre eos in numerum Deorum to reckon them amongst the Gods Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet The Greeks and especially their Poets had as Phantastical opinions of their Hero's and Demons they phancied their departure out of this world to be a Translation only for presently you find them amongst the Gods of near relation to Jupiter Jove Satus Jove Ortus Homer abounds in such instances The Church of Rome though she has no great respect for Emperors and Kings yet the homage which old Rome paid to their Princes she offers to her Saints whom though she denieth to Deifie yet at least she Divifies and too liberally gives them Divine Worship By all these instances you may see as in a glass how wonderfully Religion does exalt a person especially a Prince in the love of the Almighty placing him under the direct beams of his Power and Goodness Thirdly Religious Princes are ex naturâ Dei partakers of the divine Nature I said ye are Gods I confess all Princes are so virtute officii but Religious Princes ex naturâ rei as they are in an extraordinary manner spirited and furnished by God for Government their Souls usually are larger by far than other mens their hearts are deeper Saul the first King of Israel is sent to the School of the Prophets and there taught to prophecy before he wears the Crown or sways the Scepter His Successor David was also a Prophet indued with a noble and divine Spirit The Wise man tells us Prov. 25.3 That the hearts of Kings are unsearchable not to be fathom'd Moses was possess'd of this glorious Spirit it had been otherwise impossible to have govern'd that stubborn and unruly people which at last tired our his patience and it is worthy observation when God was pleased to ease him of some part of the burthen Numb 11.17 he spake thus to him I will come down and talk with thee and will take off the Spirit which is upon thee and will put it upon them and they shall be as the burthen of the people with thee In all these respects Religious and Holy Princes as Menander observes are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very Images of God and therefore they must be nigh unto him and he unto them Secondly As true Religion does unite God and the King so also the King and the People First As it maketh the heart of a Prince truly noble and generous for there is no School that can so excellently improve a Prince as true Religion no Precepts so refined to furnish him with Wisdom for all parts of Government no policy so true and successful no learning does so exactly and precisely declare the duties of the one to the other as the Word of God so that what Prince soever he be that takes pleasure to govern according to those Rules must needs be magnified in the eyes of his Subjects These are the men that best deserve the names of Patres Patriae to be reverenced honoured and esteemed of all What a
to swerve a hairs breadth from the same appearing more jealous in the instance of divine Worship and Honour than in any other concern This is one great reason if not the only of the charge given in the Text If ye will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice c. For the Children of Israel were now innovating in State-affairs chopping and changing of Governments Kings are desired in the place of Judges and that which gave the greatest occasion of displeasure to the great King of Heaven was not as I humbly conceive either the change of Government considered in it self or the desire of that change but rather the copy and example which they chuse to follow in this alteration viz. the Canaanites and the Nations round about them which were all of them Idolatrous and cursed of God those must perswade them that it is better to have a King than a Judge although of God's immediate choice to rule over them Now as all changes and innovations are dangerous so here in Special for this reason lest Conformity to them in Civils might by degrees incline them to a Conformity in Spirituals also for it is commonly seen that the Discipline and Government of the Church does follow that of the State and it is apparent that if there be not some harmony and consent between the one and the other there must necessarily ensue Convulsions both of Church and State And it is no ways improbable that Heathens though fond and foolish enough in their conceits about Religion did to avoid these ruptures and storms advise their Disciples not rigorously in strange Countreys to adhere to the Rites and Ceremonies of their own Gods but rather to condescend for the sake of Peace to Worship the Gods of the place according to their own customs This compliance though it might pass well enough in point of Policy in those places where no true God was worshipped yet cannot here be endured to prevent which the holy One of Israel had frequently inculcated this Command Not to follow strange Gods nor to walk in their ways which were called Via Amorrheorum to keep themselves close to the pattern of the Mount and as some conceive those Prohibitions mentioned Levit. 19.19 Thou shalt not let thy cattel gender with divers kinds thou shalt not sow thy fields with divers kinds and a garment of divers kinds of Linsey-woolsey shall not come upon thee are purposely design'd by Almighty God to keep the children of Israel at the vastest distance from some Superstitious and Idolatrous customs then in force with the Heathens near them This must however be the cause of those multiplied phrases and flood of words poured out in the text and other places of the same nature so much signifying one and the same thing that if we had not a reverence for Divine Writ and a through belief that it proceedeth from the God of Truth the imputation of Battology so common amongst Heathens or Tautology so common amongst our selves would not seem injurious The words then under a double Hypothesis contain a strict and severe charge to the Children of Israel to keep close to that form of Religious Worship which the King of kings had Established amongst them For though he had now upon their importunity indulged them in Politicks giving them leave to be like other Nations in Kingly Government yet he expected that he himself as God should be worshipped according to his own Prescriptions To the first Hypothesis for their incouragement is annexed a Promise If ye will fear c. then both ye and the King which reigneth over you shall continue following the Lord. To the latter Hypothesis is added a Threatning to check Disobedience If ye will not obey the voice of the Lord then shall the hand of the Lord c. These two Hypothetical Propositions may be reduced Categorically after this manner That a zealous Observation of true Religion is the most infallible way of securing Peace between the Trinity of Persons mentioned in the Text God the King and the People Secondly The neglect or contempt of Religion does most effectually break Peace between God and a Nation and consequently bring ruine and destruction upon the same The first of these if duly handled will involve the latter where three things must be inquired after 1. What that Religion is of the Text. Then how it comes by its cementing and uniting Nature Lastly What the Priviledge or Promise signifieth which is annexed Then shall both ye and the King c. First then what is Religion If there were but one or two in the world it might be no hard matter to define them but when every Town and Village almost is full of Faction and every Faction hath a different perswasion and this opinion or perswasion must be cryed up for Religion Who is able to coin Diffinitions fast enough And methinks it should not a little conduce to confirm those in their present Faith who yet retain soundness in their Judgments to take a short view of the phantastical dreams of men about Religion One tells you that the very Genius of it is Separation and pleads Scripture for it Come out from amongst them lest ye partake of her plagues and dar'st with the proud Donastist exclude Heaven and confine to Hell all such as jump not with them in all their blasphemies A second defines his per Illuminationem Revelationem and with the stately Greek supposeth none to see but himself all the world at most have but one eye whilst he sees perfectly with both If you will compare Old and New Rome together you will find them to accord very well in the account of Religion Cicero thus describeth it Religio est quae curam affert caeremoniis divini cultas And who knows not that the Religion of Rome at present consists rather in washing the out-sides of dishes and platters in crossing and cringing and creeping than in the Devotion and Worship of the Soul which cannot be very intent whilst busied in an exact observance of so many External Rites The truth is the multitude of Ceremonies imposed by that Church hath devoured the greatest part of her substantial Religious Worship but because without Religion she cannot pretend to be the Church of God therefore must her Ceremonies stand for her Religion The Atheist defines Religion by fear and tells you That Primus in Orbe Deos fecit Timor And will force himself like Lucian to laugh and scoff at Religion as if it were nothing but the pretty device of Politicians to keep fools in awe Those are some of the dreams and mad conceits of men about Religion which I produce meerly as a taste of those infinite conceptions whereby Satan works cunningly upon the minds of men perswading them either that Religion is not yet defined and so leaves them in the Labyrinths of Sceptism or else that there is no God nor Religion at all and so drowns them in Irreligion and
A SERMON Preach'd in the CATHEDRAL of LINCOLN July XVIII 1681. Being the ASSIZE-MONDAY By DANIEL NICOLS A. M. Rector of Scotton in Lincolnshire and sometimes Fellow of St. John's in Oxon. LONDON Printed by A. G. and J. P. for Joseph Lawson Bookseller at the Bail of Lincoln and Sold by Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard and Thomas Sawbridge at the Three Flower-de-luces in Little-Britain 1681. To the Right Worshipful Sir CHRISTOPHER NEVILE Kt. High-Sheriff of the County of Lincoln SIR IT is very great pity that those who pretend to Religion should be given to Faction as if Religion I mean true which is but one could Patronize Division as gross a mistake as Pope Adrian's Interpretation was of St. Gregory's Liturgy which was preferred to that of St. Ambrose because it was torn into a thousand bits and scraps whereas the other remained whole and therefore by him judg'd unfit to be used Who could believe that a Pope should be guilty of such a construction Sure I am he hath given the same measures to many of his Sons and Daughters who though they pretend Liberty of Conscience yet are very angry that their own small conceits about Religion which are divers and contrary each to other cannot be countenanced by Law and will rather chuse to have a thousand Religious lyes imposed since they cannot have their wills than that Religion to flourish which is at present Established But as God is one and his Name one so is it requisite that the solemn Worship which all pay to him in their publick addresses should be but one that with one heart and lip his praise may be exalted by all This was the ancient and primitive Sacrifice which the Church did acceptably offer up Acts 2.46 47. And they continuing daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God c. And you will easily perceive Sir that Religion in the Fountain where the water is living and pure differs far from what she is called at the foot of the hill after her streams have passed through the corrupt brains of a confused multitude It 's a melancholly doleful sight to observe a vast number of phrantick persons pretending to the height of skill in Religious Chymistry as if their inspired noddles were the only limbecks to extract the spirit and quintessence of Religion as if they only knew the secrets of the Kingdom and have been taken up into the third Heaven ravished with joys unspeakable fed with hidden Manna Some of these are to be pitied such I mean as are humble willing to be informed who have been cheated out of their good designs by the subtilty of wicked men the rest deserve the lash and ought to be scourged into better manners The great design of these Religious Quacks is to set men at an infinite distance from the solemn service of Almighty God and the first lesson they teach their Children and Proselytes is that our Liturgy is Popery that our Ministers are Antichristian that we have all received the mark of the Beast Some of their Novices I have met with who instead of discoursing have turn'd over their Bibles always turned down at certain places amongst the rest to be sure the 13 Revelat. 16 17. must be one Would to God they were cut off that hunt after souls to destroy them that creep into houses to lead captive silly women No severity can be too great for those who exercise cruelty and tyranny over them for whom Christ has shed his most precious blood I confess Sir that an Address of this nature can no way be suitable to a Dedication nor had either it or the ensuing discourse ever seen the light if the desire of the Right Honourable the Judges with the select and choice company of Knights and Gentlemen of the Grand-Jury had not been as forcible as a Command which I cannot but mention as an excuse to my appearance in Print For how could I deny so general an expectation without Imputations of disrespect To your self Sir give me leave to plead the design of this Preface to be a Chaos to that which followeth hoping that some of those persons who have taken up their Religion upon trust will be perswaded to reflect upon themselves and judge how inconsistent it is with true Piety to absent themselves from the publick Worship of God and be reckoned amongst those who break the peace spoil the beauty discourage the friends incourage the enemies of our Church That the God of Heaven would succeed the good design of this Paper to his own glory the comfort and advantage of our much-despised and neglected Mother That he would pour out of his blessings both Temporal and Spiritual upon you and your truly religious and devout Lady shall be the daily prayer of him who is glad of an opportunity to declare to the World that he is Your very much obliged most thankful and most humble Servant DANIEL NICOLS 1 SAM 12.14 15. If ye will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the Commandment of the Lord then shall both ye and the King that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God But if ye will not obey the Voice of the Lord but rebel against the Commandment of the Lord then shall the hand of the Lord be against you as it was against your Fathers SATAN was always an Enemy to Religion not only true but false and would if it were possible force all pretences to it out of the World for wheresoever that is professed a Deity must be acknowledged and how is it credible that he who affects Supremacy himself should indure a Superior Power if he could help it But because the Character of a God is engraven upon the tables of our hearts therefore does he improve his utmost Policy and Power to spoil the beauty and exact proportion of true Religion representing it to some as harsh and severe that none may dare to take up the profession of it but the Sons of Issachar men composed of slavish dreggy and melancholly humors To others he renders it so facile and easie that it 's impossible for them to keep their Religion and Sacrifice to their lusts Many he benighteth with thick Egyptian-darkness perswading either that there are more Gods than one or no God at all or that which is as bad as the worst that he himself must have divine Worship and Honour But he that loves the Souls of his creatures hath always declared to the world by the most curious and exact Government of the same that he is a holy just and righteous God and expecteth of them that Worship him that they be holy and virtuous in all manner of Conversation and especially to his peculiar people he hath given severe and strict Commands to observe the pattern given them from the Mount and not
tender regard had the children of Israel for David by no means must he endanger his Person in the battel for in their eye he was more worth than ten thousand of them Good Josiah did better deserve the name of Delicium humani generis than Caesar observe how the people lament him by the lips and eyes of the weeping Prophet Lament 4.20 The breath of our nostrils the anointed of the Lord was token in their nets of whom we said Under his shadow we shall be preserved alive among the heathen Secondly There is imprinted upon the Nature of man a special reverence for Holiness and Religion which you may easily perceive in the common people who tho they seldom understand what true Religion is yet how do they hug and embrace the very rumour and report of it Let Religion beat up a drum and you cannot allay the heat of their spirits they must follow the noise of it This makes Satan in our days put on the appearance of an Angel of light and every jugling Enthusiast will pretend Sanctity and Religion when he designeth to obtrude his own blasphemies upon the World How many miserable Souls are trepan'd into the thraldom of the Romish Church by a Religious blush which sits upon the face of her Worship It was no hard matter for the Scribes and Pharisees to swallow down whole houses under the pretence of Devotion Plutarch in his Politicks gives this advice to Trajâ—â—â—â— the Emperor Venerare Deos per pietatem in coâ—â—m honorem opibus tuis utare magnopere enim multitudo affici solâ—t dum pietatem coram conspiciunt quos maximi ducunt This got Numa Pompilius such an excellent name Quod plurima fana lucosque Deorum dedicavit Thirdly The great design of Christian Religion especially the publick and solemn Worship of God is to render men alike one to another of one heart mind way and life Our prayers are the same that all of us as one man may consent to say Amen Our Discourses either are or should be the same differing in phrase and manner of utterance yet bearing proportion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the wholesome form of sound words We are initiated after the same manner by Baptism into one and the same Church at the Eucharist fed at the same table with the same bread refreshed with the same wine by all incorporated that being one body all the members may have a mutual respect and care one of another St. Paul upon this consideration magnifieth the Christian Religion Eph. 4.3 as keeping the unity of the spirit and commends it in the next words for the power that it carrieth to secure the common interest of love which he calleth the bond of peace the reasonableness of which he evinceth v. 4. There is one body as there is one spirit as likewise ye are called into one hope of your calling One Lord one faith one baptisme one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in all things The whole body of Religion is comprized in this word Love and we may judge of the sincere professors of it by their conformity to it Thus have I done with the second particular the cementing nature of true Religion The third and last Enquiry is What priviledge the Text alloweth to a Nation or People whilst they are zealous and devout in Religious Worship thus expressed Then shall ye and the King which reigneth over you continue to follow the Lord. In the Original there is nothing at all found for following all that is there expressed is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Translators have rendered as you read the Septuagint does not much differ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 walking behind or after the Lord the meaning of which must be that as God when they had no King was their Captain leading forth their Armies and giving them success and victory for this was the great reason they urged for alteration of Government that they might have a King to go out before them and so fight their battels so also upon due observation of Religious Worship by him appointed he would still be their General and under his Banner they should sight victoriously over their Adversaries Now that this blessing is not meerly temporary belonging only to that people but entailed upon Piety and Religion to all generations is evident from the constant care and tender respect he hath continued to his Church to this day for according to his promise that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against it so it is and so it shall be so long as the world endureth And lest it should be objected that Promises of this nature are peculiar to the Church Universal and have no reference to particular Churches or Nations although true Religion be therein professed and incouraged let it be remembered that what belongs to the whole belongs also to the part and though many particular Churches formerly renowned are now utterly extinct as the seven Churches of Asia and many more yet before their ruine they had a charge of notorious crimes drawn up against them and notice of those exterminating Judgments which without repentance would follow God does very rarely if ever deal with Churches or Societies of men as with Individuals these he oftentimes leaveth under dismal and sore afflictions not so much for the demerit of their Sins as the probation of their Graces This was the case of Abraham of Lot in Sodom of holy Job who had this excellent character from God at the very instant when he sealed a Commission to Satan to afflict him that he was an upright and perfect man But who can tell of a Righteous Nation which hath kept inviolate the Judgments and Statutes of Heaven that was ever forsaken by God If you please to look home you will find the never failing Providences of the Almighty to watch over this Kingdom for good so long as we kept our Garments clean so long as Religion flourished and the Corruptions thereof were discountenanced Prosperity attended the long Reign of Queen Elizabeth although the Enemies of our Church were more numerous then and as busie and active as they are now The peaceable bringing in of King James almost to a Miracle was a demonstration of the kindness which God had for a people unanimous for then neither Popery nor Phanaticism were tolerated All the time he reigned both Church and State were in a prosperous condition but as soon as ever extravagant spirits began to break the unity of the spirit by Faction then did God righteously begin to break the bond of peace And it is farther observable that when the Inhabitants of England waxed wanton in their Religion then also did they become immoral loose and debauched in their lives for Superstition Heresie Schism Factions in the Church and Adulteries Fornication Drunkenness Prophaneness in the State are but gemini fratres which come into the world at one and the same time If we look for a reason