of the King of Babel the same nation will I visite saith the Lord with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence therefore heare not your Prophets nor your Southsayers nor your dreamers nor your inchanters nor your Sorcerers which say unto you thus Ye shall not serue the King of Babel for they prophesie a lye unto you to cause you to goe farre from your land and that I should cast you out and you should perish but the nation that put their necks under the yoake of the King of Babel an serue him those will I let remaine still in their owne land saith the Lord and they shall occupie it and dwell therein Words worthy of a great and profound consideration and which totally desides and cuts off that question which we now have in hand for it is God himselfe that speaketh to his people that strictly chargeth them to obey the King of Babylon into whose hands he had delivered them and although hee was an Idolatrous and unfaithfull King yet they will obey him on paine of his curse and malediction what judgements what punishments should we much more cause to fall upon us if the least thought of rebellion or disobedience to the Lords anointed should enter into our mindes if we were not perfectly obedient to Kings who are good faithfull and zealous to further the glory of God if our hearts and our mouthes be not alwayes filled with prayers and vowes dedicated to their service But to the end that imitating Hercules wee may clense sweepe cleane this Augean stable wee will answere to that objection propounded touching Nimrod who hath been the first King of the earth who say they hath attained to the crowne by force and by violence words which we finde not in the Scripture but contrarily we read Genes 10.8 that Cush begat Nimrod who began to be mighty in the earth hee was a mighty Hunter before the Lord. These words will never oblige us to conclude that hee hath raised himselfe violently but wee may more truely expound the wordes Hee was mighty before the Lord that is he was lifted up to greatnesse by the most High hee walked in his wayes and followed his ordinances and when Moses saith that he began to be mighty in the earth he meaneth that hee was more feared then his predecessours who were also Kings Priests and soveraigne Princes of their families For after the generall deluge which overflowed the whole earth men lived commonly five or sixe hundred yeares and so one of his posterity might see aboue a hundred thousand persons over whom he was Prince and soveraigne Monarch because there was then no other forme of government in the earth so we reade Genes 23. Chap. that the Hittites of whom Abraham asked a Sepulchre to bury Sara these I say called him a Prince of God or a most excellent Prince which hee clearely manifested at the overthrow of the five Kings which had beaten the King of Sodome had pillaged the Towne and carried away his Nephew Lot prisoner for at the rumour of these sorrowfull newes hearmed three hundred and eighteene of his servants borne in his house and yet had no children Gen. 14. It is then in vaine to alledge that violence craft and hereditary succession are the onely meanes to attaine to Crowes for although some attaine to it by humane meanes and sometimes by dangerous wayes as Absalom who caused himselfe to be anointed King by expelling his Father as Abimelech by the death of 70 of his brethren upon the same stone yet for all these wayes to come to raigne are never brought to passe without a manifest fore-sight and providence of God permitting it sometimes to punish those peoples and sometimes for a punishment to the Kings that raigne over them yet whatsoever they be God commandeth us to obey and perfectly to honour them now cursed cursed be he that shall resist the will of God and that shall not obey his commaundements After we haue heard both Scripture and reason manifestly evincing the truth Let us now heare Saint Augustines opinion in this matter in his booke De civit Dei The cause saith he of the greatnesse of Empires is neither casuall nor fatall it commeth neither by chance nor by destinie By chance I understand saith he the things that happen we not being able to know the causes of them or that happen without any premeditated order of reason assisting their conception and birth By fatall things I understand as Pagans esteeme what happeneth without the will of God and men by the necessity of some particular order which opinion is greatly injurious to Gods divine providence but rather wee must certainely beleeve that Kingdomes are constituted and established simply and absolutely by the divine providence of God And in another place Let us not attribute the power of giving or disposing of an Empire but onely to the true God that giveth eternall happinesse in heaven to his children onely but for earthly Kingdomes he giveth them to good and bad as it seemeth good to him as it pleaseth him who is delighted in no unjust thing therefore this true and onely God that alwayes provideth mankinde both with ayde and counsell when he would and as long as he pleased hath given the governement and Empire to the people of Rome hee is the giver of all felicity that giveth earthly Kingdomes to whom hee pleaseth and yet alwayes with justice and reason though the meanes seeme to us oftentimes manifestly contrary to both I thinke we have employed too much time and too many good weapons to fight against this horrible monster and monstrous Hydra and therefore the shortest and surest way is to follow the example of that valiant Hercules and so to cut off this monster for hee that will not heare the Scripture so manifestly shewing unto us our duty to our Kings that so expresly commandeth us to yeeld unto them all obedience hee that stoppeth his eares to those sweet and most gracious invitations of reason and naturall inclination to honour and serue him whom the bounty and will of GOD hath established over us He who watcheth in labour to make us sleepe in rest Hee who sits on the throne to doe us right that to ease us beareth the burthen of all our affaires and in a word Hee whose minde is alwayes in trouble and anxiety to preserve the quietnesse of his people and to keepe off the invasion and tyrannie of Strangers those Subjects I say are worthy of all the misfortunes disasters and calamities which can happen through the privation of so good things But wee who by the grace of GOD are brought up in his Schoole that together with our mothers milke have sucked the honour service and obedience which wee owe to our Kings and Princes Let us not suffer those wicked and dangerous plagues to infect the purity of our hearts and let not the whitenesse of our soules be spotted and defiled by so blacke and
were the Royall Pallaces and honourable company which hee had in heaven among the Angels He was swadled in clowts and laid in a Manger for want of a Cradle to keepe him from the injuries of the weather were those the delights of his Paradise He was fugitive here and there to shunne the envie and furious rage of Herod who sought to kill him In a word considering diligently all the course of his life from the moment of his birth to the last period of his death wee shall finde all his actions framed in humility and guided by meekenesse and simplicity This example and no more he did not goe chuse within the Pallaces of Kings the goodliest and gallantest Courtiers hee did not elect the sonnes of Princes to be his Apostles but went to the receipt of custome to the Cottages and Boats of Fishermen to call that honourable company of his twelue Apostles who like well instructed Disciples followed the steps of their loving Lord and Master so well did they imitate and follow his examples and especially that of his simplicity that they may be patterns of it themselues as the History of their life sufficiently sheweth and as the duty of their place required for men being deepely plunged in malice presumption and arrogancie there was no way to vanquish them but wholy by contrary weapons to them unknowne that they might the more easily be subdued and vanquished To their arrogancie they opposed meekenesse to their pompe and vaine glory humility and simplicity ever remembring the command of their good Master Be ye simple as Doves Now it is remarkable that the faithfull and such as walke uprightly before God are called by the wicked and by the children of the God of this world Poore and simple people because they addict not themselves to fraud and deceit so spake Iobs wife to her husband being yet in affliction upon his dunghill Doest thou still retaine thine integrity But Iesus Christ to shew us that hee approoveth those whom the world rejecteth speakes as if he had said See you those simple and base people they shall see God So Christ gives them hopes of the blessed vision of God as if hee had promised light to the blinde knowledge to the ignorant and wisedome to fooles for so this wicked world calleth those that will not drinke the cop of his malice nor tread in his pathes full of sinne and iniquity Blessed then are the pure in heart c. He doeth not onely say they shall be blessed but he speaketh in the present tense saying they are already blessed for God having given them that holinesse which they possesse and upon all occasions practise hath also given them two strong and well feathered wings to soare and flie aloft to heaven whereof the one is faith by the which the just trusting and reposing himselfe wholy in the promises of Christ takes his flight towards Paradise to have a tast of them for it is the nature of faith as appeareth by her definition to know how to assure it selfe how to aske the grace of God promised in his word how to embrace salvation offered by Iesus Christ and during this life how to possesse in part that eternall and blessed life And because faith beginneth here to tast the delights of the vision of God she is yet upheld and fortified by Hope which is the second wing that makes her expect heaven and promiseth her absolutely to fill her abundantly with those sweet pleasures whereof she hath shee yet had but a tast and to make her perfectly know that which now she seeth but obscurely and like a shadow Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see GOD. Vpon these words there is an objection to be resolved why Christ saith here the pure in heart seeing the Scripture in many places is directly opposite to this justice to this purity to this cleanenesse as we read Prou. 20.9 Who can say I have made my heart cleane I am pure from my sinne And in the first booke of Kings the 8. Chap. There is no man that sinneth not And in the 1. Epist of Saint Iohn 1. Chap. If we say that we have no sinne we deceive our selues and the truth is not in us And in the 25. Chap. of Iob How can man be justified with God or how can he be cleane that is borne of a woman Although these places and many more that we purposely leave to avoyd prolixity seeme to be opposite to our Text notwithstanding we will reconcile them together For when the Spirit of God calleth heere those that live justly and holily pure in heart we must not understand it so as if they were totally and absolutely cleane from the filthinesse of sinne for in that sence the royall Prophet David saith There is none just no not one But we must understand here those that strive to walke in the sacred pathes of Gods commandements that live holily before God and without reproach before men that have beene purified like gold tried seaven times in the fire and that fire is the word of God that enters and penetrates to the most secret thoughts there to consume the wood and chaffe of our wicked inclinations This cleansing and purification is clearely set forth unto us in the 15. Chap. of Saint Iohn in these words of Christ Now ye are cleane through the word which I have spoken And in the 13. Chap. ver 10. of the same Gospell Hee that is washed needeth not save to wash his feete but is cleane every whit and ye are cleave but not all In a word the faithfull that live holily may be called just and pure in heart Secundum quid non simpliciter Iust in that degree of Iustice that may fall on man whilest he is here below fighting against flesh and blood his domesticall enemies that often overcome him and would quite keepe him downe if hee were not upheld and fortified by the spirit of grace and by the Almighty hand of God that raiseth and delivereth him The faithfull servant of the Lord is againe called pure in heart because hee is such in part already and that besides the great disposition that is in him to tend to his perfection hee already here begins to tast the excellent sweetnes of that delicate fruit whereof he shall hereafter be fully and perfectly satisfied and satiated in Gods Paradise Blessed then are the pure in heart for they shall see God Wee have another circumstance here very pregnant and remarkable to wit that Christ exhorteth us here to be pure in heart and not of our head or hands because that the heart being the seate of the soule sinne is most busie to vitiate and infect it with his foule and filthy corruption which it doth not in the other parts of the body and therefore you see that God doth so strictly command us to keepe our hearts for his part and behoofe saying My sonne give mee thy heart Now to omit or let passe nothing
thither yet let our hearts ascend up if our soule be as yet bound and fastned within this mortall prison at the least let our faith flie up to those delicious places and there rest and stay untill our soules be perfectly pure cleane and white that one day both in body and soule wee may contemplate Gods divine Majestie and sing eternally with the holy Angels Holy holy is the Lord God of hosts for evermore AMEN O Most bountifull God and most mercifull King wee thy servants and children here prostrate and humbled before the high and holy tribunall of thy sacred and soveraigne Majestie doe ingenuously confesse that we are not worthy to lift up our eyes or our hands towards heaven to call upon thee in our necessities for our sinnes are raised over our heads like terrible mountaines which seeme to threaten and defie thy judgements from the top of their presumptuous impudencie Iniquity hath made our soules as black as firebrands and the transgression of thy divine commaundements hath made our consciences more red then scarlet in a word forgetting thee we haue forgotten our selues and remember but as a dreame our beginning derived from heaven Wherefore O good Iesus O sweet Saviour of our bodies and soules kindle in our hearts the fire of thy divine love and let it be a candle to our feete and a light unto our pathes that wee may safely escape out of these terrible downefalls which threaten unto us death and condemnation wash our soules in the precious blood issuing from thy wounds make them by thy favour whiter then snow and then washed wooll we cannot enter into thy Tabernacle before wee be cleansed of our faults graunt then unto us by thy mercy one onely drop of this large and vast ocean of thy great compassions wash our roabes in the blood of the Lambe that wee may be made worthy to follow him whither soever he goeth Change our eyes into two lively fountaines of penitent teares which may become a Iordane of griefe and displeasure for having beene so wicked before thy face within the which wee may dip our selues seaven times yea seaventy times seaven times that we may be delivered of the spirituall leprosie of sinne which makes us so foule and ugly in thy sight and presence And after thou hast pulled off from us the old man and cloathed us with the new which is with justice and holinesse when thou hast given us the wedding garment then we shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob at the delicate feast which thou hast prepared for us and the which must be kept upon the mountaine of the heavenly Sion where wee shall see thee face to face where we shall be ravished in this contemplation and shall bee quite exchanged and transformed into the extasie of this ravishment Amen The third way to Sion THE CROVVNE OF PEACE AND CONCORD MATH 5.9 Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God WHen two Kings to decide some quarrell are ready to take Armes they first of all enkindle the fire of warre in their subjects hearts through all their Dominions then all is in trouble combustion and disorder and all newes are sorrowfull and lamentable on the one side you may see desolate Parents poore olde men leaning on the brim of their graves considering with eyes overflowing with teares their deare children whom for the greatnes and multiplicity of their cruell wounds they can scarcely know On the other side you are frighted by the lamentable complaints by the loude cries and pitifull lamentations of the bewayling widowes over the dead bodies of their dearely beloved husbands In a word there is nothing but fire blood and slaughter to be seene so that one may properly say That Warre the mother of all mischiefe is as it were a feast celebrated to the honour of death to whom are continually offered up many pitifull and bloody sacrifices which she exactly keepes in the grave But when some great Prince of earthly Monarch undertaketh to agree them his Embassadors are every where received with open armes bone fires and triumphall arches erected in token of that joy and contentment which they receive by their mediation for peace according to that saying of the Lord Blessed are the feete of those that bring tidings of peace Rom. 10.16 Iesus Christ here continueth his Sermon to his Disciples where in a continued order hee sheweth them the perfection of blessednesse he maketh them scale the heavens by eight degrees which they must ascend here on earth And having spoken formerly of six hee commeth now to the seaventh saying Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God Which words by Gods assistance wee will divide into two principall parts 1. the proposition 2. the reason of it the proposition concerneth the Peacemakers and their felicity the reason of this beatitude is to be called the children of God Now for our better understanding of these words let us handle them all severally and let us for a while leave this concrete word Peace-maker and so come to his abstract to wit peace the which is diversly defined according to the severall sorts and degrees of it For there is the peace of the body which is a just temperature of the parts There is a peace of the irreasonable soule which is an inordinate rest of the appetite The is a peace of the reasonable soule which is a moderated consent of the action and understanding There is a peace of the soule and body which is a well governed life and the health of the living creature There is a peace of mortall man which is a well ordered obedience in faith under the government of the eternall and divine law There is a peace of the house which consisteth in a just concord of the domesticall both in commanding and obeying There is a peace of the Cite which is a concord among the Citizens There is a peace of the heavenly Citie which is a well governed Societie wholly and eternally to enjoy God There is a peace of men which is a mutuall concord And againe there is a peace of all things which is a perfect tranquillity of order now order is nothing else but a true disposition giving to every thing his true ranke and place The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shalom representeth unto us exceeding well her Essence for it signifieth a happy successe of all things in God Where we may note that every word hath his weight and inestimable value For first it is a successe and not a hazard which is happy and not unlucky of all and not of something onely in God and not in the world The Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quiet sweet gracious as deserving that name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by excellencie because there is nothing in the world to bee compared to the excellencie of a publick and particular rest and tranquillity The Latines call it Pax quasi pacata because
to this commandement are common both to the rebellious to their Prince and to the disobedient to their Father as on the contrary those that are obedient to both shall bee equally rewarded with the same blessing and the promise made to them by God who doe honour their parents is also to be extended to those who honour their Kings and Princes which promise is happinesse and length of dayes upon the land Which promise though it often seeme otherwise is alwayes fulfilled for when an obedient sonne to his father or a faithfull subject to his Prince dieth young and in the flower of his age God neverthelesse accomplisheth his word and fulfilleth truely his promise for if it bee good for the faithfull to remaine in the land GOD will make him abundantly to prosper therein but if his admirable and incomprehensible providence see that hee should be sundry wayes grievously afflicted he often times putteth him in safety and calleth him unto him in his mercy and yet hee is still as good as his word as if a man pomised mee a hundred pounds and should give me three hundred hee thereby breakes not his promise so God having promised us here belowe the possession of this world and seeing that our dwelling in it is not for our profit bereaving us of this hee admitteth us into the incorruptible Kingdome of glory more excellent without comparison then the first and so whether hee let us dwell here belowe or whether hee call us above to himselfe we shall alwayes be in a most happy condition if we obey his commandement in Honouring the King This word and dignity of a King is so knowne and familiar to all kinde of nations that we should seeme to light a candle at noone day to see the light of the Sunne if wee should exactly seeke out the definitions and Etymologies of it We will onely say with Saint Augustine in the Citie of God that the name of King is the auncientest title given to the Governours and Rulers of peoples yea when the earth devoyd of all ambition enjoyed the sweetnesse and felicity of an inestimable peace For as Non minor est virtus quà m quaerere parta tucri There is no lesse vertue in conserving then in purchasing so you see that the peaceablest of the Auncients have provided for their conservation in chusing Kings and Princes under whose shadowe they enjoyed quiet rest for the Kingdome being as a body the King must alwayes be the head which being seated on the top and elevated over the rest of the members hee fore-seeth the dangers to avoyd them and considereth the advantages to embrace them Now as in the head is seene the glory and beauty of man according to these auncient verses Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri Iussit erectos ad sydera tollere vultus All living creatures alwayes behold the earth but God hath made and erected mans face that he might behold the heaven and the starres even so must we consider the beauty of the subjects in the Kings face and Majestie as being the head thereof As you see that all the senses both internall and externall are seated and take their beginning from the head so all the counsells all the resolutions justice the lawes in a word all that is necessary for the Kingdomes conservation is all to be found in the King as in his center and in the place whence they take their beginning Let us then examine particularly since wee have a Royall subject in hand all the circumstances by which the King in comparison of his subjects is just as the head is over the rest of the members wherein reason holdeth her Assizes and Sessions the better to governe this Microcosme or little world The two chiefest and noblest faculties of the soule are the Vnderstanding and the Will the same which we note in the soule wee may also marke to be in the King which is as it were the soule of the people for as from the understanding proceede the counsels resolutions and enterprises needfull for the conservation of mans body even so from the King proceedes the meanes and inventions for the right and just government of his Realme As by the Will wee see that man accepteth those things which are good and rejecteth those that are hurtfull even so the King by his wonderfull prudence and wisedome seeketh what is good profitable to his subjects contrarily rejecteth and preventeth whatsoever is hurtfull and dangerous to them In a word as all the parts of the body and all the appetites of the soule stirre according to the motion of the will so the people should never have any other desire thought or intention but the desire thought and designe of their King who is the Lords anointed sent by God to administer Iustice and to governe his people in Equity as the Psalmist speaketh Psalm 46.10 The hands of Kings are like that divine river which compassed about the Garden of Eden and being divided into foure branches communicated to the hearbs and plants of that inclosure a continuall moysture and which was altogether most wonderfull and miraculous in that those foure brookes besides the excellent sweetnesse of their water were well stored some with fine gold and others with precious stones With infinite right and reason may we therefore compare the hands and actions of Kings to this undraynable spring and river of the earthly Paradise since they are imployed about nothing else but lovingly to cherish and tender their Subjects by liberally distributing and communicating to them the meanes of their subsistance and prosperity But least wee should be carried away by the swift streame of the many severall cogitations which arise from so royall a subject let us returne to our former discourse to wit that the King being to his people as the head is to the rest of the body all the rare and admirable parts contayned therein as the internall and externall senses ought justly to bee compared to him And first that Sense by precedencie and excellencie which the Philosophers call Common that is that which receives all the objects of the externall senses to bring the species of them to the phantasie and what is the King else but this common sense since he is profitable to all he receiveth the objects that is the wishes and petitions of all to convay them to the phantasie that is to his imaginative and mature deliberation there to consult and resolve what is good usefull honest needfull and profitable for his suppliants and people Let us now behold that golden head as Daniel expounding Nebuchadnezzars dream calleth him Let us I say see how all the fiue externall senses are very fitly and properly appliable to him First the King the head of the people hath in himselfe the Prince of the senses the sight he possesseth it in the highest degree of perfection he is like the Lyon that never shutteth his eye
their ignorance Let us see if Salomon like them beleeved that Kingdomes fall by chance into the hands of men and that Kings are not expresly called and ordained of God to governe his people Now then saith he O yee Kings hearken learne ye that are Iudges of the earth heare yee that governe the nations for power is given unto you by the Lord and principality by the most high And as we have already observed Rom. 13. the Apostle resolveth so perfectly this question that it is impossible to say or adde any thing after him unlesse one bee resolved to sinne against the holy Ghost in resisting the knowne truth There is saith he no power but from God and those powers that are be ordained of God therefore who so resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God ye must be subject to the Prince not for wrath onely but also for conscience sake Rom. 13.5 And as God sent such blindnesse on the Philistims thinking to overcome and destroy the Armies of Israel that every one turned his sword against his fellow and so slewe one another the people of God being at the most but beholders of their deliverance Even so our adversaries having marshalled a squadron of reasons against us before we thought upon our owne defence to enter into combat with them have cut one anothers throat and have left us their Armes to make trophees for this our victorie for thinking to make a buckler for their defence of that place of S. Peter wher he exhorteth us to beare the yoake and to submit our selves unto all manner of ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King or Supreame 1. Pet. 2.13 This reason killeth them for if it be for the Lords sake that we must be subject it argueth that God liketh it delighteth in it and this order is by his command and speciall ordinance Although Nabuchadnezzer King of Babylon were one of the most wicked and impious men of the earth yet let us heare how the Prophet Daniel speaketh to him in the second Chapter of his Prophesies O King thou art the King of Kings for the God of heaven hath given thee a Kingdome power strength and glory But I would have these disturbers of the publique tranquillity these Adders swelled and suffocated with the venome of sedition and disorder tell me whether Moses the first Prince and Lawgiver of Israel the names change not the things for he was their King and Monarch since hee ruled them with an absolute power depending onely from God whether I say he entered by force by craft or by art into the government of the people and if it was not God himselfe that spake to him out of the middest of the burning bush and commanded him to goe deliver his people from the hands of Pharaoh Exod. 3.2 If Saul thought to adorne his head with a Crowne when hee sought about the fields the Asses of Kis his father if he made suit to Samuel to anoint him King over all Israel If David when he fed his flocke meditated how hee might change his Shepheards crooke into a regall Scepter If Solomon his sonne the King of wise men and the wisest of Kings hath deceived or corrupted the people to enter by the windowes or back gate into the kingly Pallace But rather is it not God himselfe who by his sacred mouth commanded Samuel in the 9. Chapter of his booke as soone as he had seene Saul that went to enquire of him about his Fathers Asses at the same time God said unto him This is the man of whom I spake unto thee he shall rule over my people And in the 16. Chapter of the same booke God commaunded him to goe to Bethlehem to anoint David whom hee chose among all his brethren the Lord saying unto him Arise and anoint him for this is he In the same booke God promiseth Davia to confirme his sonne upon his Throne And in the 1. of Kings Chap. 3. God appeared to Salomon in a dreame in Gabaon presently after his Coronation and said unto him Aske what then wilt that I give thee A sufficient testimonie that God was well pleased with his ascending to the Royall throne and Salomon asking of him onely wisedome to governe his people God said Because thou hast not asked of mee riches glory nor power I will give thee what thou askest me and other things besides Wee reade 2. Kings Chapter 9. that Heliseus sendeth one of the children of the Prophets to Iehu one of Ahabs Captaines to anoint him from the Lord King over Israel And Psal 75.7 To come to preferment is neither from the East nor from the West nor from the South but God is the Iudge he it is that humbleth and exalteth And Psalm 113.7 The Lord raiseth the needie out of the dust and lifteth up the poore out of the dung that hee may set him with the Princes even with the Princes of his people Wee might alledge many other examples and proofes out of Scripture but these are sufficient to proove our assertion It is an erronious and damnable opinion to hold that Kings come to the Crowne by fraud force or succession without the Divine providence and sacred decree for one haire of our head falleth not Luk. 12.74 without the providence of God much more a thing of so great a consequence as the establishing of a King over the Provinces of a Kingdome and over so many millions of men that are bound to sweare obedience to him I say not onely that his comming to the Crowne is ordered by Gods generall providence but moreover that it is his speciall intention and designe that made him ascend the Throne Let vs hearken to the wisedome of GOD Prov. Chapter 8. c. after wee shall see if it be fraud force or succession which are the causes and wayes by the which they ascend unto that dignity By me saith Christ true God coessentiall with his Father under the name of that wisedome Kings raigne and Princes decree justice By me Princes rule and the Nobles and all the Iudges of the earth The Prophet Isaiah speaketh very pertinently and manifestly upon this subject Chap. 45.1 Thus saith the Lord unto Cyrus his anointed whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him therefore will I weaken the loynes of Kings and shut I will goe before thee and make the crooked wayes streight I will breake the brasen doores and burst the iron barres I girded thee though thou hast not knowne me The Prophet Ieremiah Chap. 27. speaketh so openly that hee alone is sufficient to stop those prophane and seditious mouthes Thus saith the Lord of Hostes I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babel my servant and all nations shall serue him and his sonne and his sonnes sonne and the nation and Kingdome which will not serue the same Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel and that put not their necke under the yoake
mercifull for they shall obtaine mercie We reade words like unto these Luke 6.36 Be yee mercifull as your Father is mercifull And againe after forgive and it shall be forgiven unto you give and it shall be given unto you And Eccl. 4. Be mercifull to the Orphans be unto them a father and to their mothers a husband and then yee shall be the obedient sonnes of the most high who will yet more liberally distribute unto you his great mercie And Pro. 11. The soule that doth good shall be exceedingly filled and replenished It is a principle flowing from our nature that we must not doe to another what we would not have done to our selves from which principle is derived that golden sentence of Christ Luk. 6. With what measure you mete it shall be againe measured unto you And Iames 2. Condemnation without mercie shall fall on them that have not used mercie and mercie is glorified against condemnation Blessed then are the mercifull for they shall obtaine mercie In which words by Gods assistance which wee to this end implore wee will consider 1. Who be these mercifull And 2. The reason why they are termed blessed And first let us heare the sacred voyce of the eternall Sonne of God the Redeemer of our soules saying in the first part of our Text Blessed are the mercifull as if he had said O how great and altogether incomparable and incomprehensible are the favours blessings and graces laid up for them that shall practise the works of mercie they shall be Citizens of heaven the Angels companions and shall eternally enjoy and possesse in heaven those beatitudes which eye hath not seene eare hath not heard and that are not entred into the heart of man and this is the recompence that God hath prepared for them which practise mercie Now that we may the better know the definition of this word Mercifull which is the concrete or conjoyned we will first consider it in its abstract as the Philosophers speake to wit Mercie which is commonly defined to be A hearty griefe or a sorrow for anothers miserie whom we assist and helpe with all our power The object of it is the miserie and affliction of other which makes her produce these gracious and pittifull effects because shee is unable to behold the sore without applying the remedie God being one cannot suffer any kinde of division there be no qualities nor accidents in him but all things are essentiall in him the Scripture to represent him unto us doth describe him all justice and all mercie so by reason of the fore-going maxime wee cannot say that mercie is one of his parts seeing that being one hee is indivisible but wee will more properly say that he is Mercie it selfe and therefore the faithfull that shall bee mercifull that shall practise the works of charity of clemencie and meekenesse may undoubtedly beleeve that they are the sonnes of the most high who hath communicated unto them a ray or sparke of his infinite grace and mercie that so they may thereby resplend and shine with the same light with their heavenly Father tread upon his steps and be made like him as much as may be Be mercifull saith Iesus Christ as your heavenly Father is mercifull Luke 6.36 Mercie said an ancient Doctor est fidei ornamentum it is the ornament of faith for faith sheweth her selfe by her fruits which are pious and charitable works and as trees are never so faire to behold as when they are loaden and covered with fruits so faith never appeareth so glorious as when she is adorned and crowned with the sweet and delightfull fruites of mercie Hee called it againe salutis domicilium the retreate and lodging of salvation because that when sinners shall be called to give account of their actions before God when God shall aske them the reason of their administration as that Lord in the Gospell then the shortest and safest remedie is to flye to his mercie and to aske him forgivenesse Salomon that wise King counselleth us to make a carcanet of mercie to put it about our necke and that in this habit and ornament wee shall make the accesse of heaven free to our selves finding grace before God and men and indeed it is one of the most pretious stones and that is fit to beautifie and adorne the crowne of perfection it selfe Wee will therefore compare it to the Oppall stone Irius which represents the same colours that appeare in the Raine-bowe so the mercifull makes all sorts of graces and blessings to shine upon his forehead and to appeare in his actions this Oppall stone Irius is greene red and white the greene colour represents unto us that Hope which we have to finde grace before the soveraigne Iudge of our soules and bodies The red colour represents unto us the pure blood of Christ shed upon the Crosse to obtaine this grace for us she also denoteth unto us the rednesse of our sinnes according to the Prophets phrase Though our sinnes were as red as scarlet they shall be made as white as snowe Isa 1.18 and the white colour figureth unto us the divine justice covered and overcome by the whitenesse of his mercie as it is noted in the Rainebow that his white colour covereth and exceedeth the red if faire weather be to follow They marke besides that this Oppall easeth the paines and labours of women with childe so mercie lighteneth much the miserie and griefe of the afflicted We will here make no difficulty to use in this place the fabulous inventions of the Poets following the example of Salomon who tooke of Hiram though a Pagan all the wood and stones needfull for the building of the temple They usually describe Mercury the messenger of the imaginary Gods with a wand in his hand composed of hornes of plenty wreathed with serpents they also give him wings with which he with incredible celerity flyes whether soever he is sent In this fable wee see a remarkable morall which is that it is a symbole of the Mercifull who quickly and without delay takes pitie of the miserie of others according to this axiome no lesse common then true Bis dat qui cito dat he giveth twice that giveth speedily Secondly he lives in all plenty and abundance because that God blesseth him in all his goods as the Psalmist speaketh Hee hath given largely to the poore his righteousnesse remaineth for ever his horne shall be exalted in glory and he shall have whereof to lend all the dayes of his life Psal 112.9 The serpent useth once a yeare to cast off his skinne to assume another that thereby he may be more healthfull and faire so those who are mercifull leave and cast off their wealth and substance in favour of them that need it that so they may appeare faire in the eye of the most high give your almes and all things shall bee cleane vnto you putting off the old man But that we may walke in the sacred pathes of the holy
our blood from all parts of our bodies to come to assist and succour our heart which shutts and hoodwinkes our eyes against reason and imagineth that all objects whatsoever presented to us have all together conjured and conspired our ruine as those who fly from a battaile feare every bush which they see or meete with to be their enemies who purposely pursue them and runne every where to kill them Or else as those who are led to their executions and deathes whom feare doth so powerfully seize and surprise that by these passions and effects it in a manner deprives them of life before they think thereof the which wee can testifie and approve by many irrevocable precedents and examples No no It is not of this defect of judgement or of this cowardly apprehension and feare which our Apostle tells us of but it a holy just and commendable feare which we ought to have and retaine in bearing an admirable respect and honour to the Creator and conseruer of our bodies and soules As to feare and tremble before the terrible throne of his divine Iustice and by not rashly abusing of his favours and mercies so liberally so bountifully extended to us because his presence is a consuming fire which devoures and consumes to ashes all those who unreverently approach his sacred Throne his most holy hill as heretofore hee forbad the children of Israel not to approach mount Sinay because hee was there purposely to speake with his servant Moses But not to stay any longer on this point let us say with the Philosophers and Theologians that there is generally two sorts of feare that is to say Divine and Humane which againe subdivide themselues every one into three severall parts and branches The Humane feare compriseth and comprehendeth 1. The Naturall which hath wholly buried in her the senses all Philosophy and the strongest and most assured courage cannot hinder him from shutting his eyes at the suddaine surprise of a flash of lightning or at the feignednesse of a hand which unexpectedly approacheth our face or that we withdraw not or turne not our head from the sight of a fearefull precipice or that a suddaine crack or noyse doe not at first hearing terrifie or astonish us Primi illi motus non sunt hominis The first motions or terrours are not in our power 2. Corporall whereby wee naturally abhorre Death and feare to expose and cast our selues into danger 3. Mundane or worldly whereby we feare to lose our wealth honours and dignities but it is of neither of these sorts of feares which our Apostle speakes unto us but ondy of Divine feare which likewise streames foorth in three rivolets 1. Servile whereby we feare God for the apprehension we have of the infernall tortures and torments of Hell and this degree and sort of feare is not good of it selfe because it hath no good object nor is made or formed to a good end neverthelesse it is held and termed good because it conduceth to good 2. Initiant which lookes two wayes 1. towards the torments wee feare 2. towards the glory we desire and it is also termed enterwoven or mixt because it is composed both of a good and bad feare 3. Filiall which is the last and best sort of divine feare whereby we love God not only for our owne glory or for the apprehension of torments but for his goodnes excellency perfection and in a word for and in regard of himselfe Saint Bernard lively describes and pertinently represents those three sorts of feare 1. Ne cruciemur à gehenna 2. Ne exclusi à visione tam inestimabili gloria privemur 3. Replet animum sollicitudine ne deseratur à gratia Which is to say The first feare apprehends torments The second the privation of glory and the third wholly possesseth our hearts and mindes with care and anxiety as fearing not to lose Gods grace and favour The servile feare is attributed to the wicked The filiall to the good I meane to those who are the children of God The Initiant or intermixed is proper as well to the good as the bad and also it is the most frequent and generall Those three sorts of feare are so many wings which conduct elevate soare us up to heaven The Servile begins first which denounceth to sinners eternall death and damnation and that sharpe and sensible apprehension to be devoured with the flames of hell fire It opens him the gate to be sorrowfull for his offences which threaten to precipitate him in that unquenchable fire and afterwards entering into a firme and lively repentance for his former sinnes hee begins to conceive the future felicity and glory of Heaven for the love whereof hee partly resolues to forsake and abandon sinne as Salomon saith By the feare of the Lord men depart from evill Prov 16.6 Although neverthelesse that he doe it partly for feare of punishment which will infallibly follow him and afâ—er that it againe leades him into this perfect filiall feare whereby he so infinitely loves God that hee had rather dye then offend him in the least thing of the world so neerely he loves him so deerely he honoureth and adores him St. Augustine makes onely two sorts of feare to wit Filiall and Servile and makes them different in this That the Servile hath for object malum poenae the evill of punishment and the filiall malum culpae the evill of guiltinesse Illo timetur ne incidatur in tormentum supplicij isto ne amittatur gratia beneficij By the first wee feare the torments of hell fire By the second wee feare to lose the grace and favour of God It is this faire this sweet spirituall vertue which gives us admittance and entrance into the closet of God which openeth unto us the treasures of his favour and mercy and which makes us enter into the possession of life eternall For those who feare the Lord shall behold his face shall have prosperity and see good dayes saith the royall Prophet King David Psalm 34.11 It is this feare of the Lord which makes men prosper on earth as saith Salomon the Prince of wise men and the wisest of Princes The feare of the Lord prolongeth dayes but the yeares of the wicked shall be shortned Prov. 10.27 This wise King in all his afflictions and troubles had still his recourse to the feare of the Lord which was his fortresse his Sanctuary his comfort and consolation as wee shall read in the 14. Chap. of Proverbs In the feare of the Lord is strong confidence and his children shall have a place of refuge The feare of the Lord is a fountaine of life to depart from the snares of death He againe teacheth us that wealth is unprofitable yea prejudiciall to us without this salubrious this sacred feare of God that poverty is to be preferred before fading and perishable riches Better is a little with the feare of the Lord then great treasure and trouble therewith This feare of the Lord
man whom the King would honour Haman thinking the King spake so for him invented all the wayes and meanes hee could to enjoy and encrease this honour therefore he answered the King thus As for the man whom the King will honour let them bring for him royall apparell which the King useth to weare and the horse that the King rideth upon and that the crowne royall may be set upon his head and that one of the greatest Princes should goe before him and proclaime Thus shall it he done unto the man whom the King will honour In this ample description of Honour we note the definition of it to wit to give glory to doe homage to any one to seeke all the meanes that may be to advance his credit and encrease his reputation through all the world and thus that cursed Haman thought to be honoured But this word to Honour the King in that sense that our Apostle takes it is like to that honour mentioned in the first Commandement of the second table Honour thy Father and thy mother which signifieth in generall to serve reverence obey assist those whom wee honour and of that reverence obedience and assistance Saint Paul speaketh expresly 1. Tim. 5.17 The Elders that rule well are worthy of a double honour where observe and note that by the first honour hee understandeth a civill and common honour like that which is due to other honourable men but by the second honour hee understandeth a subvention and reward of his labours as it appeareth by the following words Thou shalt not musle the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the come and the labourer is worthy of his wages Luk. 10.7 And of all these foure duties which wee are to practise to honour the King is spoken at large 1. Sam. Chap. 8. When the Israelites did so earnestly desire him to give them a King hee doth lively set forth unto them how perfectly they must be subject to him how they must reverence him how they must obey him But because commonly among good corne there be tares or some other bad seed we will shew by expresse words of Scripture and by invincible reasons That hee that obeyeth not to the higher powers offendeth directly God himselfe who will destroy him Saint Paul Tit. 3.1 Put them in remembrance that they be subject to principalities and powers and that they be obedient and ready to every good worke And Rom. 13.4 The Prince is the Minister of of God for thy good but if thou doe evill the feare for he beareth not the sword for nought for he is the Minister of God to execute justice on him that doth evill therefore ye must bee subject not for feare onely but also for conscience sake wherefore those that resist the power resist the ordinance of God and those that resist this ordinance drawes on themselues condemnation But if these rules bee not strong enough to convert those preverse men at least let them be frighted by the fearefull judgements which fell on so many wicked men which aunciently rebelled against Moses their Prince Soveraigne who by Gods commaund had deliuered them from the hands of Pharao the cruellest of men and had led and conducted them with a wonderfull wisedome into the wildernesse let them set before their eyes the example of Core Dathan and Abiram who with two hundred and fifty Princes of the Israelites Numb 16.2 rebelled against their Prince but God avenger of their folly caused the earth to open her mouth and to swallow them up alive with their families Nadab and Abihu his owne Nephewes because they had not obeyed him were consumed with their fellowes by fire that went out from the Altar Levit. 10.2 and his owne sister Marie for speaking undiscreetly of him was by the Lord infected with leprosie what shall wee say of Abishai and Absalom against King David the History of whose destruction and confusion is so well knowne that wee neede not insist upon it But here are yet very expresse words Exod. 22.28 Thou shalt not rayle upon the Iudges neither speake evill of the ruler of thy people And Acts 23. Thou shalt not speake ill of thy Prince of him that governeth thee But because these lawes and examples like waves of the Sea follow one another wee will insist on the consideration of the horror of this crime which cannot take place in a soule never so little endued with heavenly graces for that heart must be desperately wicked and that soule possessed with a thousand furies that suffereth the least thought of it to harbour in his will that soule I say must not onely be voyd of reason but worse then bruit beasts who without contradiction follow and obey their Kings The birds yeeld to the Eagle the fishes follow the Dolphin and the beasts are pliant and humble before the Lyon and should man that is made after Gods image be worse then all other living creatures This is to be neither man nor beast but the off-spring of those abominable spirits which rebelled in heaven against God and therefore received the punishment due to their foolish ambition in hell but wee will no longer stay out contemplation about these detestable men hoping that our age is not so unhappy as to be corrupted by them But we will now speake of the reward profit and recompence which those shall certainely receive that obey this commandement of God in honouring the King All the Interpreters of the law of God with one consent agree that the first commandement of the second table to wit Honour thy Father and thy Mother is to be understood of all them that have any power or dominion over us and chiefely of Kings and Princes to whom wee are subject and to whom wee owe both our lives and goods and besides that all the Fathers are of that opinion yet we also see it proved in the 13. Chap. to the Romanes where the Apostle teaching the faithfull all the lawes which they must observe hee runnes over all the Commandements of God and yet speakes not of this word Father because hee comprehendeth it sufficiently under that of King because the Father is King in his Family and the King is the Father of his people As for that objection that there is no mention made of a King in the Decalogue the reason is cleare and manifest first the Israelites had no neede of it because God did every day appeare visibly unto them spake to them at all times and wrought continually so many miracles among them that they could not be doubtfull of his presence secondly there is no mention made neither of Governour nor of Prince and yet it is unlikely that God had forgotten Moses who had delivered them before God wrote the Law with his owne finger on the mountaine of Sinai but the reason is that by the word Father God understandeth as well Kings and Princes as those that have begotten us all the curses made against the rebellious and disobedient
lids he seeth all his Kigdome he beholdeth all his subjects in a word hee hath eyes Eagles eyes which though soaring and flying in the highest clouds yet seeth clearely in the lowest places of the earth His eares are alwayes open to heare the cries and complaints of his subjects he delighteth in that pleasant harmony in that sweet consort and in those delightfull tones and Diapasons caused by the sweet union and concord of all his Provinces and Subjects Hee smelleth with an incredible content the delectable the delectable odours which embalme his spirits hee senteth with delight the perfumes proceeding from the vowes prayers and obedience which his faithfull subjects sweare to his service Hee tasteth what is good or evill what is sweet or bitter for the good and case of his people Hee himselfe feeleth hee sets his hand to the worke hee considereth what is hard and offensive to cut it off hee chooseth what is soft and easie to conserue it In a word the time would faile us sooner then our conceptions upon so royall a subject full of admirable considerations notwithstanding we will be contented onely with this As we see that all the members of the body take their nourishment and receive their sustenance by the mouth which sendeth the foode into the stomack as into a common storehouse thence to bee distributed according to every members neede from whence are first sent to the head by a very remarkable gratitude and acknowledgement the best and most subtill for the nourishment of the braine the seate of the understanding the spring of the senses and the cause of his subsistance so must the best and fairest of the Kingdome be reserved and dedicated to the Prince which is the head and first mover thereof The examples of it are yet now a dayes familiar that Kings and Princes give their particular possessions to their Subjects on condition of some yeerely acknowledgement which they are obliged to according to their agreement and conventions Againe there is no Kingdome in the world but hath beene sometimes conquered and consequently all the lands thereof are absolutely in the Conquerours hand to dispose of at his pleasure now it is the custome of a new and victorious Prince to bestowe them on whom he pleaseth alwayes reserving to himselfe some tribute or homage for it that the remembrance of his liberall favour may never be forgotten Againe we reade not that those which went to seeke new habitations did goe confusedly and disorderly and in equall authority but they went all under the colours and conduct of some chiefe which afterwards became the King and Prince of that land the which hee distributed according to the deserts or affection which hee bare to his souldiers So we reade Numb 34. Chapter that Eleazar and Ioshuah divided among the Israelites the land of Canaan which they had conquered by the sword and yet no mention is made that that valiant Captaine Ioshuah which had brought them into that land flowing with milk and honey reserved any portion thereof for his share for the which he had beene questionlesse blamed by the Israelites had they not sufficiently knowne that seeing hee had put them in possession of so large a territory they were at his command The Apostles had nothing and yet possessed all the riches of the faithfull of whom they were as Kings and Princes and therfore in signe of acknowledgement all the new Christians brought their goods to their feet Acts Chap. 5. for who would not despise all his wealth for love If a man should give all the substance of his house for love they would greatly contemne it saith Salomon Cantic 8.7 But what horrible ingratitude would that be in him that should doe otherwise seeing that paines care and unquietnesse follow commonly the Scepter and that there is no burthen so heavie as a Crowne and the reason hereof is manifest to wit that a private and particular man aymeth no further then to his houshold bufinesse but the King must embrace all the affaires of his Kingdome hee must care for all and provide for all which maketh Salust say That a great Empire is alwayes accompanied with great cares and troublesome labours and with much anxiety and vexation of minde Seleucus in Plutarke said That if men knew how troublesom a thing it is to governe a Kingdome they would scorne to reach and take up a Diadem from the ground this was the cause why Numa at the first refused the Kingdome offered unto him by the Romanes but in the end overcome by their importunity he accepted it with griefe saying That to raigne was greatly to serue the gods thinking to deserue much from them by taking upon him so heavie a burthen In a word let us say with Cassiodorus that Sub imperio boni principis omnium fortunae moresque proficiunt Vnder a good Princes government the goods of all encrease and their manners are augmented and enriched in civility Now as in a faire meadowe enamelled and beautified with a thousand different kindes of flowers one may finde Serpents Vipers and Toades which defile and infect by their mortall venome the rich and naturall Tapistry the beauty goodnesse and vertue of an infinite number of Simples and wholesome hearbs wherewith it is richly diapred So wee see to our griefe that in the bosome and middest of the fairest richest and most illustrious Kingdomes the corruption of the age aid the infection of vices are produced and propagated Some Ravens which goe about presaging and fore-telling their sinister and lamentable predictions who by their odious voyce to them at least that have good soules and generous hearts and affections cry out aloud That it is the facility weaknesse of men which hath brought in this ambition of mastering and governing the nations That it is more by usurpation then by election or by divine ordinance that they have taken the rule and Empire over Kingdomes and they alledge for proose of their saying that the first King that ever was in the world to wit Nimrod came to the Crowne by force and violence and not by the ordinance of God That all Empires for the most part were gotten by the sword by force of Armes by deceit by injustice by a foolish and desperate ambition that hath often covered the fields with slaughtered bodies and made them overflowe with blood when one Prince offended and angry with another sought to revenge himselfe with the lives of his miserable subjects That the establishing of Monarchs is simply humane alleging that of Saint Peter 1. Epistle 2. Chap. ver 13. Submit your selues unto all manner of ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be unto the King as unto the Superiour or unto Governours as unto them that are sent of him But these both ignorant malicious Loyolites and Anabaptists stop for the nonce their cares that they may not heare this lowd resounding voyce from heaven which convinceth them of malice and would recall them from