A SERMON Preached on the 29 th of May 1661. THE DAY OF His MAIESTIE'S BIRTH AND HAPPY RESTAVRATION After along Exile to His CROWN and KINGDOME Before His EXCELLENCY VVILLIAM L d MARQVIS of NEWCASTLE at his House of WELBECK By CLEMENT ELLIS M. A. Houshold Chaplain to his EXCELLENCY OXFORD Printed by Henery Hall Printer to the University for Edward and Iohn Forrest 1661. TO HIS EXCELLENCY VVILLIAM L d MARQVIS OF NEW-CASTLE PRIVY COUNCELLOUR TO HIS MAIESTY c. My most Noble Lord and Patron May it please your EXCELLENCY THe Duty which I owe first unto GOD as his Minister then to my SOVERAIGN as his Subject and in the next place to Your EXCELLENCY as Your Domestick Chaplain made the threefold cord whereby I found my self indispensibly obliged to contribute that little I was able towards the Solemnity of that memorable and happyest Day which this poor Kingdome hath in many yeares beheld And having after my weak manner preach'd this plain and short Sermon which had then Your Excellency's approbation and I hope since GOD's pardon for my failings therein I had very well satisfied my self as I shall alwayes have great reason to doe when by serving GOD I can please Your EXCELLENCY I confesse I then understood no obligation that lay upon me to doe what now I am commanded to doe to preach it over again this Second time to the VVorld beeing I blesse GOD for it yet uninfected with that ambitious itch of making my self known abroad and loving to be gazed upon as some-body by the Multitude 'T is very fitt that they and onely they should wear great names who have great meritts to support them and that they alone should be permitted to praesent their labours to the publike eye whose great abilities by being so made manifest may become more instrumentall to the publike Good But My LORD Your HONOUR seem'd very well to understand the' extent of that Talent wherewith GOD hath intrusted mee when You presented mee to the charge of my little Flock in the Country but too much to value it when You committed to mee that other of Your Family being thus entertain'd and employ'd I need not seek abroad for more worke or more honour and therefore My LORD that I now expose this rude piece my selfe with it to the forward censures of all that see it it is a piece of meer Obedience to Your EXCELLENCYS expresse and indeed importunate Commands I alwayes resolving soe farre as they are Iust and I know they will ever be most exactly so rather to suffer by them then to disobey them I have often heard Your EXCELLENCY and My Lord would it signifie any thing to say what pleased mee I would say with much pleasure I have hearken'd to You discoursing of that satisfaction You reap'd from that sweet privacy and retirement his MAIESTY is pleased to grant Your LORD-SHIP here in the Country where You live free from the Noise and Cumbrance of Court and Citty Indeed the greatest reward his MAIESTY can possibly recompense Your matchlesse services withall is thus to bestow YOUR-SELF upon YOUR-SELF and I know You think it greater happinesse to enjoy My LORD MARQVIS of NEW CASTLE at WELBECK then all the Offices and Honours which your exemplary Loyalty has meritted And there 's all the reason in the VVorld for it that Hee who hath so Nobly sacrificed the Fairest of his Yeares and the Amplest of his Revenues to the service of his King and Country should now have leave to Consecrate the remainder to his Health and Quiet My LORD could I ever hope to merit of Your EXCELLENCY I would not yet leave begging a Favour of the same kind that as I have an Honourable place in Your Family so I might live retiredly from all the world besides But seeing My LORD Your commands lye so heavy upon me I will endeavour to bear them with the best strength I have and still incourage my selfe with this confidence that it is all one with Your EXCELLENCY to Command and Patronize And therefore after others have served in their solemne joyes with all becoming State and Magnificence I hope I may atleast obtaine a pardon If I make bold to drop in in the Rear and offer too my poor dish of cold water in the name of a Disciple Many 't is true goe before mee and it is very fit they should Others come with richer cloathing and finer language and why not They that weare soft rayment and they that speak soft words too are in Kings houses It is the great freedome Your EXCELLENCY is pleas'd to indulge me to speak mine owne sense in mine own words fully and freely and I am so much the servant of my greatest Master that I greedily embrace all the Liberty can be granted mee in this kind If there be any thing in this short Discourse disrelishing to the palates of those that read it it will be enough for mee to tel them it is a Sermon and therefore not purposely suited to any man's humour and yet I will adde it hath passed Your EXCELLENCY'S approbation and that will be enough to answer whatever may be objected against it Let men say what they will I have abundantly satisfied my selfe by praying that all even they that dispise it if it be possible may be better'd by it and in taking this opportunity of expressing my selfe by this as by all honest meanes I shall alwayes labour to doe My LORD Your EXCELLENCY'S most obedient Servant and Chaplain CLEM. ELLIS Psal CXVIII v 22 23 24. v 22. The stone which the builders refused is become the Head-stone of the Corner 23. This is the LORD 's doing and it is marveilous in our Eyes 24. This is the day which the LORD hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it SHould the great GOD forbear to expresse his Goodnes towards the sinfull sons of men 'till man begin to understand what is best for himself we should soon become all as miserable as at present we are ignorant we should die in our sins and drop into Hell ere we would understand the happynes of an Heaven or the lovelinesse of that way which leads unto it And yet doth our grossest Ignorance fall much short of our perversenes what now aggravates our guilt and without a timely repentance will adde to our torments hereafter is this that we so often know what we ought to doe when we yet stubbornly refuse to doe what we know to be our duty So that if our good GOD did delight only there to shew Mercy where he meets with meritt did he not on the contrary love to magnifie his Goodnes by pittying even those whose dayly busines it has been to provoke his Iustice Blessings would soone be as rare as Sins are rife and Heaven would at last be as empty of men as Hell is of Saints But Blessed be our Good GOD his mercy endureth for ever The unnaturall sinner ever Kicks and spurns at the yerning bowells
of a tenderly compassionate Father and they onely swell the more and extend the wider towards the miserable wretch even so wide till they reach a Miracle such a miracle as forceth Stupidity it self into wonder and Admiration yea such a wonder as cannot contain it self but suddenly breaks forth into a signall joy and a solemne thanks-giving This and more then all this we read in the Text. 1. A blessing proffer'd no sooner proffer'd but rejected and though rejected yet sent againe and that with advantage The stone which the builders refused is become the Head stone of the Corner 2. This great mercy thus rejected and thus returning is as it ought to bee humbly acknowledged highly admired This is the LORD 's doing and it is marvailous in our Eyes 3. This great wonder and Humility are seasonably seconded with an Hearty Joy and Solemne Thangs-giving This is the day which the LORD hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it Thus the Text wants nothing that 's fit for the day presenting us with a Wonderfull Blessing an Humble Reception and a Ioyfull Thanks-giving In all which we shall briefly consider first the History and the Doctrine next the Parallel and the Use. 1. We begin with the great Blessing concerning which let us enquire 1. What it was 2. To whom it was proffer'd 3. What welcome it found 1. This Blessing in the Metaphor is a Stone in the History David in the Prophecy Christ and whether David the Type of Christ or Christ the Seed of David still wee shall find it a Precious Stone and a great Blessing 1. The Stone in the History is David thatholy King in whose Royall Person most of the Happinesse of the Old in whose Heavenly Seed all the Happinesse of the New Israel of GOD did consist David the Author and the Subject of this Gratulatory hymne an Hymne composed and set for the Solemne Quire of Israel to be sung by them in their joyfull commemoration of the happy return of God's Anointed and their long exiled King He is the stone A stone hewen out of the rock by God's own hand consecrated with the Holy Oyle by God's own Prophet set apart by God's appointment to smite down the great Goliah of the Philistines to dash in pieces the Tyranny of a wicked Saul to crush to nothing the Enemies of God and of his chosen Israel A stone fitted and squared to be the foundation and pillar of his Hierusalem his Sion solid and firme such as the hottest fires of Persecution could not crack nor all the stormes and tempests of Affliction impaire of that weight and so well fixable that all the strength and art of Sathan and his Instruments could not remove or shake it but still he stood fast the Foundation the Pillar the sure stay and support of God's Church and People committed to his Charge Hee is the stone in the History which in the Prophecy is 2. Christ IESVS our Lord the everlasting seed of David The sure rock of our Salvation So He himself applies the text to himselfe Math 21. and after him his Apostle S t Peter 1 Pet 2. He who was a stone of stumbling and a Rock of Offence to the Iew first and then to the Gentile is a most sure hold and a strong Tower of defence to all those that stedfastly believe in him the firme and everlasting Foundation of the New Hierusalem the chief corner-stone In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an Holy Temple in the Lord. Ephes 2. 20. 21. This is the living stone of which that former was no more but the bare shadow the stone whereon our Hopes our Comforts our present priviledges and our future Inheritance all are surely founded the Rock on which if we be once well bottomed let the winds blow and the waves beat and all these with all the violence they can yet shall we stand sure and unshaken to all eternity These be the stones here proffer'd in the Text David first and afterwards Christ and what I would desire you to note both these Kings A good King is indeed a most precious stone the most solid foundation of the Church's peace and the Peopl's happynes remove this stone and the whole house comes down upon your head touch but the Lord's anointed and you disjoint all the whole Kingdome shatters into confusion all falls into pieces and all the wit of man is not able to bind it up again Proofs and instances of this sad truth we have too many our own lamentable experience still fresh in our memories renders all citations of them at present needlesse Hereby we have found that whosoever wildly pushes at these sacred stones he onely runs his head against an hard Rock which though he should have the unhappy strength to shake a little yet he shall be sure withall to dash out his own brains at lest he must expect to receive such a wound as cannot easily be healed but he is like to bleed into a too late repentance He that fights against the powers set up by God can onely beat the skin off his own fingers It will be therefore our Prudence as well as our duty not to strike with too much violence upon these holy stones left like men hammering too boldly on a good flint wee thence produce such a fire as will not again be quenched Saint Paul dares not warrant so strange a Confidence when he tels us Rom. 13. They that resist the power shall receive to themselves Damnation Rather pray we that we may never come to want such a Stone as God here profer'd in the Text. but 2. To whom did he proffer it Even to those who wanted not eyes to see it nor experience to understand the worth and value of it nor skill sufficient to make a right use of it David was profer'd not to the poor rude Israelites that could not distinguish their right hand from their left but to the Grandees of Israel to Saul and his Councellours whose businesse and Profession it was to deal in such Stones Our Blessed IESVS was profer'd not onely to a few blind Gentiles who had all their knowledg but at the second hand the wonder had not been great if these had refused what they so little understood but he was proffer'd to the VVise men and Rulers of the Iews to the great Maister-builders of that Church Scribes and Pharisees Lawyers and Doctors those that knew the Law and had read the Prophets and understood what was foretold and prefigured concerning him whose bare acceptance of him had been precedent and warrant enough for the Peoples Faith as appears by that question Iohn 7 48. have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him So would they doubtlesly have said Have any of the Rulers or Pharisees received this stone If they have then so will we This is God's method he so proffers his great Blessings as to leave the refuser without excuse to those who
best could discerne the worth of it and therefore should first in all reason have begun to use it was this Gift proffer'd lest afterwards they should goe about to excuse themselves with a Non novimus we knew is not The fittest Blessing to the fittest persons the stone to the builders 3. Lett 's now see what 's it's welcome Indeed very course and more strange considering the persons to whom it was proffer'd so foolish were they or so selfish or both they refused it 1. David is thrust out from the presence of Saul bannish'd the Land driven into Caves and Dens to lead a sad melancholly life with Bears and Tygres or at best amongst strangers too frequently more inhumane and barbarous then those beasts of prey He is hunted like a silly partridge upon the Mountains and no means that a cruell and jealous Saul could invent left unattempted to rid him of his Kingdome and the world at once 2. And in this particular too was our Blessed JESVS very truly the Son of David He is refused of his own People and Nation rejected by the chief Rulers and High-priests with a No King but Caesar Not this man but Barabbas Any murtherer rather then the Lord of life a bloody Tyrant rather then the God of mercies away to the Crosse with him This is the very voyce of the builders No stone of God's squaring for our building out with it amongst the rubbish Give us rather a Nero any lump of clay kneeded up in Christian blood Give us such stones as will admit of no Cement but what 's made of the blood of us and of our Children that blood which Caesar sheds be it on the heads of us and ours but this stone which God would in mercy bestow upon us be it thrown out into the streets and trampled under our feet forever This is the language of these prudent builders Thus even thus doe the builders too often prove the unhappy demolishers and when they should strengthen rase to the ground the walls of Hierusalem whilest they lay their own ambition their Humors and their Interests the onely Foundations of all their actions they are sure to refuse that stone which is sent down from Heaven Here 's the Wisedome of the Wise this is the Counsaile of the Prudent when they have not God before their Eyes The stone is refused which yet in spite of all their little Policies and petty devices shall most certainly return the Head-stone of the building Which brings us from the Folly and Basenesse of the builders to the unerring Wisedome and Constant Goodnesse of God Almighty They cast out the stone God brings it in again They reject it with scorn He sets it in with advantage They refuse it as uselesse and unfit for any thing He restores it the Beuty the strength of the whole Fabrick David after his long and tedious exile is call'd home again even by those same persons who at first were as ready as any to reject him with the shouts and acclamations of Israal he is welcomed and made the Glory of that people and their bulwark by whom he had been so much sleighted And thus was it with the great Rock of our Salvation after his numerous and grievous sufferings hardly ending in a bitter and a shamefull death He rose again and ascended into Heaven in Glory and Triumph and is become the Head of the Universall Church and the onely Sanctuary those very Enemies who refused him can confide in God will have his designe let man do his worst he will make all those in his due time to understand their own folly who would not when they ought embrace his Counsaile The stones which He sends are more precious in his eyes then to lye always unreguarded on a Dunghill David's Palace and Kingdome shall not forever be a Cave and a wildernesse Christ's Crown shall not alwaies be made of Thornes Those Cruell hammerings and rougher usages which the despised stone at present undergoes shall not break and Crush it but on the Contrary Square and smooth and polish it and make it the more serviceable and fitter for the building His Enemies at length shall know that those many torments they barbarously inflicted on him shall reflect with doubled force upon themselves and by a seasonable and unexpected restauration they shall be made to acknowledge that the undeserved exile of their David was not the punishment of his Sins but the greatest curse could be lay'd upon his very Persecutors And here on the one hand we may clearly behold the folly and blindnesse of worldly men even of those who would fain be esteem'd the wisest and skilfull'st builders repairers of a broaken state on the other hand the Infinite Wisedome and Providence of God even in those actions which seem lest considerable to the dim eyes of men Here we see man's Unworthynesse and perversnesse in slighting and refusing the very choisest of God's blessings there God's Infinite mercy and unalterable Goodnesse in redoubling his blessings after they have been refused In short here 's man's impiety in rejecting the stone which God had design'd and by proffering it Commended there 's God's Justice in making that despised stone to become at last all that he intended it for at first even the Head-stone of the Corner 2. Thus are we from the wonderfull mercy come to the cheerfull reception thereof It is received as so great a blessing ought to be with an humble acknowledgement of the Author with an high admiration of the Mercy 1. This is the Lord 's doing There King David acknowledgeth and there he would have all those that joyne with him to acknowledge the Divine Author of this great blessing To the Honour Glory of his gratious GOD to the Comfort and Iustification of the late suffering David to the shame confusion of his once insulting persecutors he utters it aloud It is the Lord 's doing The Restauration of this Royall person and in him of Israel's happines was a work more peculiarly properly the Lord's whereby he was wōderfully pleased to exhibit to the world as it were under his hand and seal a most signall testimoniall of David's Just and Righteous cause Most things He brings to passe by such ordinary common Instruments and after so plain and easie a manner and method that though they be the Lord's doings too yet the homelinesse of the visible Instrument together with the frequency of such operations keep us from taking so much notice of them as we ought to doe But such rare and remarkable passages of providence as this was cannot goe by us without a due observation a seasonable wonder and an humble reflection upon the glorious and Omnipotent agent If David had yet had any visible meanes left him of ridding himselfe out of Danger and attaining unto that Crown which was fitted by God for his head they would have been lesse apt through the multitude of humane means to eye the hand of