throne of grace do yeeld our selues body and soule vnto thee for all thy benefits which thou from our birth hast heaped vpon vs as though we had alwayes done thy will although wee occupied about vaine things neuer marked neuer loued neuer serued neuer thanked thee so heartelie for them as we esteeme a mortall friende for the least courtesie Therefore we come with shame and sorrowe to confesse our sinnes not smal but grieuous not a few but infinite not past but present not secret but presumptuous against thy expresse word and will against our owne conscience knowledge and liking if any had done thē but our selues O Lord if thou shouldest require but the least of them at our hands Sathā would chalenge vs for his and we should neuer see thy face againe nor the Heauens nor the Earth nor all the goodnes which thou hast prepared for mā What shall we do then but appeale vnto thy mercie and humblie desire thy fatherly goodnes to extend that compassiō toward vs which thy beloued sonne our louing sauiour hath purchased so mightely so gratiously and so dearely for vs we beleeue and know that one drop of his bloud is sufficient to heale our infirmities pardon our iniquities and supplie our necessities but without thy grace our light our strength our guide we are able to do nothing but sinne as wofull experience hath taught vs too long and the example of them which are void therof whose life is nothing else but the seruice of the world the flesh and the diuel Therefore good father as thou in speciall fauour hast appointed vs to serue thee like as thou hast ordained all other creatures to serue vs so may it please thee to send downe thy heauenly spirite into this earthly mansion to illuminate our minds mollifie our hearts change our affections subdue our reason regenerate our wils and purifie our nature to this duetie so shall not thy benefites nor thy chastismentes nor thy word returne void but accomplish that for the which they were sent vutill we be renued to the image of thy sonne Good Lord we beseech thee looke downe in the multitude of thy compassions vpon thy millitant Church this sinful Realme thy gracious handmaid our dread soueraigne her honourable Counsell the ciuill Magistrates the painfull Ministers the two Vniuersities the people that sit in darknes and all that beare thy crosse Gather vs into one cōmunion of thy truth and giue vnto euerie man a spirite to his calling that we being mindfull of the accompt and that we are called Christians may firmely resolue speedely begin continually perseuer in doing suffering thy holy will Good Lord blesse and sanctifie our meeting that no temptation hinder me in speaking nor them in hearing but that thy word may be heard and spoken as the word of 2. King 2. 9. 1. Sam. 16. 5. 1. Sam. 10. 20. Exod. 18. 21. Matth. 23. 2. 1. Sam. 9. 2. 1. Sam. 16. 13. 1. Sam. 28. 26. 2. Chron. 9. 6. Psal. 2. 6. Matth. 14. 19. 2. Chron. 9. 8. Matth. 11. 29. Deut. 17. 19. Psal. 139. 21. Exod. 32. 27. Num. 16. 15. 1. Sam. 10. 9. 1. King 3. 9. 1. King 4. 30. 1. Sam. 25. 25. 2. Thess. 2. 4. 2. Cor. 4. 4. Dan. 4. Nehem. 6. 1◠2. King 15. 30. 1. Sam. 22. 7. 1. Sam. 19. 4. 17. 1. Sam. 21. 17. 1. Sam. 14. 45. 2. Sam. 5. 10. 1. Sam. 10. 26. 1. Sam. 3. 26. Prou. 14. 21. Rom. 13. 5. Iohn 19. 11. Heb. 5. 4. Acts. 8. 9. Rom. 13. 7. 1. Pet. 2. 23. Iere. 27. 12. 2. Chron. 9. 8. Gen. 1. 1. Sam. 17. 39. Zach. 13. 4. Gen. 11. Ruth 1. 20. Exod. 20. 23. Exod. 9. 16. Gen. 11. 4. Gen. 5. 27.
THE MAGISTRATES SCRIPTVRE PSALME 82. 6. 7. I haue said yee are gods and yee all are the children of the most highest but you shal die like men fall like one of the Princes I May call this text the Magistrats scripture considering the state of kings gouernors how much good they might do and how little they performe God becomes a rememberancer vnto them and first shewes what a high calling Princes and rulers haue and then least they should be proud of it make their magistracy a chaire of ease he turnes vpon them againe as though he had another message vnto them tels them that though they be aboue other yet they shall die like other and though they iudge here yet they shall be iudged hereafter and giue account of their stewardship how they haue gouerned as straite as their subiectes how they haue obeyed A good memorandum for all in authoritie so to deale in this kingdome that they lose not the kingdome to come I have said yee are gods c. How can he call them gods which cals himselfe the onely God saith there are no more gods but he Esay 44. 5. 45. 21. I haue made thee Pharao his God saith God to Moses Exod. 7. 1. because he had giuen him power to speake vnto Pharao in his name and to execute his iudgements vpon them Out of this name Rulers may learne how to gouerne subiects how to obey As inferiour Magistrates do nothing but as the superiour Magistrate prescribeth so they which rule vnder God for God must rule by the prescript of God and do nothing but as their conscience tels them that God would doe himselfe Therefore they which vse their power against God which beare the person of God and execute the will of the diuell which make lawes against Gods law and be enimies to his seruants are worse then Balaam which would not curse whom God blessed and so much as in thē lieth make God a lier because they cannot so wel be called gods as diuels such gods go to hell I haue said yee are gods c. First this name enformes vs what kind of rulers magistrates we shold choose Those which excell all other men like gods amongst men for a king should be a man after Gods owne heart like Dauid as all those whom God set ouer his people in his mercie and not in his anger had some note of excellencie aboue the rest which God chose them by as it is the Magistrates marke the mildest man Numb 12. 3. or the wisest man 1. Reg. 4. 31. or the iustest mā Heb. 7. 2. As though if al these had met in one the Inquisition should haue stayed there all giue place to him but our vertues are so singled that he which was called the mildest is not called the wisest and he which was called the wisest is not called the iustest as though God found some defect in his owne election for when he chose one milde another wise and another iust he shewed that hee would haue one which is milde and wise iust like himselfe Elisha thought that the single spirite was not enough but required that the spirite of Eliah might be doubled vpon him because he was a Prophet which should teach other So we should picke out thē which haue a double spirit to be Magistrats because they must gouerne other as God picked forth Iosua in Moses his roome He might haue chosen manie out of all Israel which had the spirite of wisedome but he chose Iosua of whom he saith that he was full of the spirite of wisedome Deut. 24. 9. Shewing that if one be better then another he should be chosen before the rest Therefore Samuel went ouer all the sonnes of Ishai to annoint a successour to Saul and put backe one after another which thought themselues fit yet there was but one amongst them which pleased God the Prophet could scarce discerne him so necessarie it is that this choice be committed to none but the godly because he which would haue chosen the best yet liked another before him Therefore there was such a scrutenie amongst the tribes to finde out the mā whom God had chosen as Iethro taught Moses to cull out of all the people those which had best courage and feared God and dealt truely and hated couetousnes Therefore a wicked man may not supply the place of God as the Scribes Pharisies sate in Moses chaire but as it is said of Iudas let another take his place so let better take their place for they which are called gods must be like God If all should be holy as he is holy how much more should they be pure as he is pure wise as he is wise iust as he is iust which beare his name which supplie his person and guide the world to good or euill If the race should be to the swift and the battell to the strong then as Saul did exceed all the men of Israell from the shoulders vpward so he which commaunds other should exceede other in gifts of grace that they may know him from the rest and say this is hee that excells the rest in vertue as Saul did in stature like the king of Bees which is fairest of all the hiue Therefore if Pharao would let none but Ioseph gouerne Egypt in whom was the spirite of God Gen. 41. 38. much more ought Christian Princes in the choosing of Iosephs in their common wealthes And therefore they ought not to be like Rehoboam which made them his counsellers whom he should haue banished the court 1. Reg. 12. 8. Secondly this extolleth the calling of Magistrates as Iacob honoured Iosephes children whē he said they should be called after his name so God honoureth the Magistrates when he giues them his owne name calling them gods as though there were a kind of godhead in them These things pertaine to the wise and they themselues doe not alwayes see it yet he which hath a spirituall eye and carrieth the paterne of God in his heart may see another likenesse of God in Magistrates then in common persons as the builders of the temple had a speciall wisedome and spirite which God gaue them for that work which they were chosen vnto So when Samuel had annointed Dauid he saith that the spirite of the Lord came vpon Dauid from that day forward as though he had another spirite after then he had before So there is a difference betweene kings and subiects though they be not gods yet they are liker God then other the Prince is like a great image of God the Magistrates are like little images of God appointed to rule for God to make lawes for God to reward for God to punish for God to speake for God to fight for God to reforme for God and therefore their battailes are called the Lords battailes and their iudgements the Lords iudgements and their throne the Lordes throne and
the kings themselues his kings to shew that they are al to god like hands by some he reacheth mercie by some iustice by some peace by some counsell as Christ distributed the loaues and the fishes by the hands of his disciples this God requires of all when he cals them gods to rule as he would rule iudge as he would iudge correct as he would correct reward as he would reward because it is said that they are in steede of the Lord God to doe as he would doe This is a good studie for Magistrates in all their iudgements to consider what God would doe because they are in steede of God I rule for God I speake for God I iudge for God I reward for God I correct for God how would God doe how would he determine And it shall be my sentence as we should thinke how Christ prayed before we praie and how hee spake before we speake because his actions are our instructions so they should thinke how Christ would iudge before they iudge because Gods law is appointed for their law Such a thought must needs leuell the way before them and put them in minde of a good and iust and holy iudgement because God is good and iust and holie Thirdly they are called gods to teach them how they should gouerne howsoeuer other care for the glorie of God the performance of his wil the reformation of his church Princes and rulers which are gods themselues are to doe the businesse of God as their owne busines because they are gods Gods businesse is their busines Gods law is their law Gods honour is their honour When the king or iudge or magistrate doth seek the kingdome and glorie of God he should thinke that he seekes his own kingdome and glorie and therefore seeke it and further it as earnestly diligently as he would his owne and rule and iudge and speake and punish and consult as he would for himselfe euen as Dauid counted Gods foes his foes and Gods friends his friends and Moses persecuted thē which were Idolaters against God as he did them which were traitors to him Fourthly they are called gods to encourage them in their office and to teach them that they need not feare nor dread the persons of men but as God doth that which is iust and good without the iealosie of men so they should forget themselues to be men which are led by the armes betweene fauour and feare and thinke themselues gods which feare nothing This boldnes is so necessarie in them which shold iudge all alike that in Deut. 3. 28. Moses encourageth Iosua in Iosua 2. 18. the people encourage him in the 9. verse God doth encourage him saying that he wil be with him but here he is with him for hearing God call them gods shewes that God is there nay that they are as God which powres such a princelike spirite vpon them as he did vpon Saul so soone as he was king So hearing that they are gods it should change them and make them excell the order of men vntill they resemble God after whō they are named as Salomon studied and prayed till hee was wiser then al that he gouerned Then they need not blush to read this testimonie I haue said ye are gods c. or else it will seeme a checke vnto them As manie sit in gods place and yet neuer knew that the scripture called them gods nor why they haue this name no more then Naball so many play Nabal in their offices and are readier to aske who is Dauid who is Christ when his cause comes before them then speake or doe any thing for him But the womē go before them like Abigail as though God would shame them with the weaker vessel Doth anie man but they forget his name Princes and rulers haue manie names of honour but this is the honorablest name in their titles that they are called gods other names haue bene giuen them of men for reuerence or flatterie but no mā could giue them this name but God himselfe Therfore their name is a glasse wherin they may see their duetie how God doth honour thē and how they should honour him and think what am I more then he that God should set me in his owne chaire giue me his owne name more then to another he hath not done so to al. They which are called his children are happie they which are called his disciples at happie they which are called his seruants are happie but how happie are they whom he calleth gods It seemes that if he could haue called them by a higher name then his owne he would haue called them by some other name but this word is enough to put them in minde of all that they should do thinke that yee are gods and it wil make you ashamed to obey the diuel or the world or the flesh in any thing Therfore how can that Romish Antichrist which sits in the temple of God with his kings Magistrates and set themselues against God be called gods Are they gods where Gods cause is worst heard are they gods which make lawes against God Are the gods persecuters of Gods childrē Nay doth he notly which cals thē noble or soueraigne or gracious If they deserue not their titles how do they deserue their places Can they thinke of their names and not be abashed Can they sit downe in Gods place and speake against him iudge against him decree against him Doth iniquitie become gods doth partialitie become gods do bribes become gods They are greedie gods Idol gods belly gods and may be termed gods because they are like the God of this world which do but staie like Nebuchadnezar vntill their iniquities be full that they may be cast out like beastes a derision to them whom they gouerne But they which regard this honorable testimony of God as Nehemiah said whē he was tempted to fly should such a mā as I fly So whē they are tēpted with bribes say should such a man as I take bribes Should such a man as I do wrong Should such a man as I be a liar or swearer or a scoffer or a drunkard or a gamester or an vsurer or a prophaner vpō whom all eyes are set to take their example and would harken sooner then vnto God himselfe Thē he resolueth to rule according to his name knowing that all the soules which might be wonne by him shal be required of him as the sins of Israel were imputed to Ieroboam Thus God doth flatter them as it were to profite them and cals them gods to teach them their duetie to God All should be godly but they shold be like gods that is as I may say more thē godly or the next to God in godlines If anie come betweene they loose their honour and should thinke themselues put downe like a guest which is set lower or a Iustice turned out of his office