reward his vnconceiueable kindnesse in such sort as to suffer any that you can hinder to be sworne seruants of his professed enimies Sworn seruants I say for whosoeuer serueth not the Lorde Christ in e Rom. 6.16 7.5 2. Pet. 2.20 newnesse of life and holinesse of conuersation hath taken the oth of a souldier to serue sinne vnder Sathans banner Why should the sonne of God be bereaued of the title that he hath in his people conueiance thereof made vnto a damnable crature Consider I pray you the weight of the cause in this one point it is concerning no lesse matter thā a kingodme yea the kingdome of the God of al kings Iesus Christ the contention is betweene the most glorious in heauen earth and his own slaue where the indignity of the vsurper ought to moue you We are wearie of the heauy bonuie bondage of the one and desire the easie yoke of the other In the absence as it were of our Lord and king wee haue none to runne vnto for helpe but you whom he hath placed aboue vs. Pitie our condition naie rather let it bee seene that you reioice to haue such oportunitie to enlarge and make conspicuous the glorie of your redeemer that it may bee a witnesse vnto your soules whensoeuer you depart this life that indeede you haue quited your selues like men in the places whereunto he hath enioined you by defacing the kingdome of Sathan You are nowe to declare vnto which of the two you would haue vs subiectes who shal be king Sathan or the Lord Christ and therfore whether of the two can preuaile more with you Not that the diuel is able or dareth withstand his maker or that the Lord needeth the helpe of mā to ouerthrow his forces as not being of power to rule vnlesse man set the crowne vpon his head but because hee hath taken this course in the gouernment of his Church here vpon earth that vnlesse the Magistrate doe vphold his honour against Sathan it will fall to the ground for ought men can see and hee hauing commaunded men of authority to be zealous in his cause wil reward them according vnto their loue towardes him in this point For hereby hee doth trie their good wils in that he declareth his honour to be vsually measured in the hart of the people according vnto the proportion of the magistrates loue towards him reseruing alwaies vnto him neuerthelesse the power to beget his loue in the subiectes whose prince may be an Idolater and to bridle the furie of his enemies when hee will without the assistance of man and to reedifie his Church though al the kings vnder heauen gainesaie the same But this not proceeding frō them wil be to their greater condemnation because they chose rather to haue their people in the slauery of Sathan than in the liberty of Christ For one of them will yea must needes beare rule in the hearts of all men either the Lord by his spirit conueyed vnto them through the ministery of his word or the old serpent by his diuelish illusions That both cannot rule togither a Mat. 12.25.29 it is apparant because they are so contrarie the one to the other the subiectes of both kingdomes disagree the lawes be diuerse If you chuse the sonne of God and place him in his throne among vs by the preaching of his Gospell for otherwise you cannot be said to make choise of him then assure your selues that the Lord will b 1. Sam. 2.30 honour you because you honour him and not forget the vpholding of his kingdome by you especially in such an age as wherein most of the estates in the earth haue bereaued him of his right and giuen their crowns vnto the beast Then happy be your names and memories and the memories of your posterities for euer And happy be the daies that euer we were borne to be gouerned by such a godly Prince and godly counsellers But if you make worse than Claucus his chaunge and as much as in you lieth robbe Christ Iesus of his kingly dignity what are you to looke for at his handes but the cruel destruction that is prepared for those who will not suffer the sonne of God to rule ouer them or theirs Consider and consider againe that they deny Iesus Christ a kingdome ouer theirs and consequently prefer Sathan before him which deny the ministery of the Gospell vnto the people vnder their gouernment The reason of which assertion appeareth not onely by some places of Scripture before quoted but also in that the woorde preached is called the a Matt 13.19 Luke 8.11 woord of the kingdome by our Sauiour himselfe and the glad tidings of the Gospell called the b Luke 8.4 Matth. 3.1 kingdome of heauen By the parable of the vineyard which is said to be the inheritance of the sonne of God Matth. 21.38 and whereof he accounteth himselfe robbed when he hath not fruit yeelded vnto him Matt. 21.38 which only is done where the Gospell florisheth In that the Ghospell is called the Ghospell of the c Mat. 24 14. kingdom Wherein politik Gamaliel also d Act. 5.39 gessed aright that the High-priests and Sadduces should be found to do nothing lesse than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is fight against God if they withstoode the course of the Gospel To be short e verse 31. Peter in the very same chapter a little before maketh it a part of Christs prerogatiue roial to work repentance in the hart of man and assurance of remission of sins which no Christian wil saie to be otherwise effected than by preaching In so much as they must needes be conuinced to eneruate and weaken the same soueraignety of the Lord of life who any way refuse to haue them for whose wealth they are to prouide good lawes instructed by the Gospel If this conclusion be true as in very deed it is most true oh how ought you of this honourable assemblie to labour for the erecting of the ministery of the word in Wales seeing they that wil be slack in the same detract from the honour they owe vnto Iesus Christ and plainly shewe how little they care whether his kingdome sincketh or swimmeth As for these that withstand this I dare boldly affirme them to conspire with Sathan about the inuading of Christs kingdome and most contumeliously to tread his crowne vnder foote Where by the waie they are intreated with al reuerence to looke better vnto their dealinges who vnder the name of conformity and obedience stay the course of the ministery in any place desired to acknowledge this vnity to bee nothing else but a consent with Satan to wrest the scepter out of Christ his hand and vndermine his chaire of estate if they haue done heretofore foolishly let them now following the counsel of the wiseman lay their hands on their mouthes and take heede least by defending former practises they ad drunckennes vnto thirst It may be
the Lorde Iesus who had it powred vppon him without measure seeing wee that haue but a dramme thereof and that in a body of sinne are not without some reioicing effects by the power of Gods mightie spirite Herein and in such actions the power of God to a beleeuing heart sheweth it selfe to be ten thowsand times greater than in creating a thousand worlds Can the Parliament of England be desirous to glorify their God and not decree that this power of his be manifested vnto vs by deliuering euery of vs out of the tyranny of that mighty potentate who is euen the God of this world Our sauior Christ euen in respect of his manhood is so glorified of his father that man cannot augment the same yet the Apostle is plain that his honor consisteth in no other point than that euerie tongue should confesse a Phil. 2.11 him to be the Lord to the glory of God the father And least carnall men should thinke the Lord smally to esteem the glory hee gaineth by these that are called vnto the knowledge of his trueth the regard he hath hereunto is two maner of waies shewed First in that hee which was the substance and essence of the Lords owne glorious Maiesty b Phil. 2.6 equall with God c Ier. 2.3 I saie 44.26 1 Iohn 1. Rom 9.5 God himselfe made himselfe of no reputation taking vpon him the forme of a seruaunt became vile bale as we read Esai the 52 14.15.3 Phil. 2.7.8 onely to the end hee might reserue from hell some of the lost sonnes of Adam by whose saluation he should be glorified Secondly for asmuch as the chiefe end of his comming to iudgement 2 Thess 1.9 in that great and glorious daie wherin the secrets of all hearts shal appeare is to bee made glorious in his Saintes and marueilous in them that beleeue It is out of controuersie that on this daie the Lord will make the maiestie of his sonne Christ so glorious and of such rare excellencie as the verie Aungels themselues shall wonder and be astonied thereat and yet there be none others set downe in whom he shal be glorified but only those that beleeue Shal we say then the training vp of such is of smal acceptaunce in his sight God forbid Shall we think that their estate wil be any thing tolerable who in this life though they doe not further the Gospel yet will not hinder the same No truly For here be onely two estates of men spoken of either those in whom Christ Iesus shall bee glorified in euery of whose harts the Lord hath so wrought by his spirit that they desire nothing more than that he maie rule the soules of men by his woord or the other whose portion shall bee woe of soule And who are they only turks infidels papists traitors adulterers theeues murderers and such like workers of iniquity These I graunt indeed but not these alone For the Apostle giueth no such mark vnto al but he comprehendeth both the one and the other in this that they obey not the Gospell Be a man therefore accounted neuer so ciuilly honest talk he neuer so well of the Church and the dignity of the Gospel be he in shewe neuer so good a subiect vnto his prince for the diuell is not so vnwise as he wil haue al his limmes manifest breakers of the commandements but he will vse some visured oppugners of Gods glorie yet if in any sort you can perceaue that he vseth any other behauiour towardes Gods trueth than he ought to shew there whereunto greatest obedience and duety is to be yeelded take him by and by for one whom Paul meaneth Because he obeieth not but vndutifully handleth the gospel Slips I grant the children of God may haue and that very foul ones but few of them so fal as they must needs haue that to accompany them whervnto the honour of God is tied We may see then what reckoning our sauiour Christ maketh of the fruit he reapeth by the ministers labour And he wil maintaine his honour in this point by the vtter ruine of al the clippers thereof and be smally beholding as wee heare in heauen vnto them that negligently labor for the same in earth Here mark I beseech you that for as much as Sathan is permitted among vs not only to lift vp his heel against his Lord but euen to out-face him in his owne inheritance the Lord threatned very lately and doth euerie day to measure our punishment by the same line Howe likely was it had not he in mercy choked with their owne raiging spirits these vnsatiable blood-suckers Babington and his adherentes that we should haue had in this kingdome the hand of the vile against the honorable the base against the noble Isaie 3.4 the indigne against the woorthiest of the land Yea and the Lords anointed the very a Lamen 4 20 breath of our nostrils she vnder whose shadow we haue beene thus long preserued from heathen popish tortors was like to fall into their hands The Lord graunt you of this honorable assembly wise harts before it be to late to examine aright the cause of these vngodly attempts to preuent the issues of them Which shall neuer be done as long as the Parliament wil permitte Non-residences impropriate liuinges swarmes of vngodlie ministers the insolent and tyrannicall proceedinges of some ioined with pomp too too vnreasonable to keep out a learned and godlie ministerie by whose means the Lord Iesus would recouer his owne againe Persuade your selues that the Lord maie iustlie giue our possessions to strangers because an enemie is tolerated in this land quietly to enioie the right of Iesus Christ and by suffering such vngodlie practises countenanced in the action If the Spaniard French or anie the forces of Rhomish Caine haue their desire vpon vs as I hope in God they neuer shall how shall pluralities of impropriations other Church-liuings c. defend vs ours from their furie To shut vp this point all the former thinges confidered is not our petition most reasonable in regard of Gods honour Wel in respect of her Maiestie it hath manie reasons where-vpon it maie be grounded Can we euer hope to haue the tidings of saluation proclaimed in Wales vnlesse this be perfourmed in hir daies And haue we a lease of hir life Would it pleased God we had Rather the door of our hope is euerie day threatned to be shut Now therefore the Lord warneth vs to take the opportunity while it is offered Now hee taketh heauen and earth to witnes that at this instant at this Parliament at this time of her Maiesties prosperous raigne hee laieth before vs life and death good and euil saluation and damnation and that for euer We shal neuer haue the time to choose againe for anie thing we knowe And howe effectuall for the preseruation of her highnes think you would be the praiers of so manie thousand of hir people euen of the
Think not the Lorde to winke al this while at our great sins Nay thinke rather that the Lorde will throwe as with a sting the inhabitantes of our land because our pastors are become beasts haue not sought Iehouah Ier. 10.18.21 There be two Archplagues vndoubtedly to be expected for of vs the inhabitants of Wales if our petition be not graunted The first indeed containing all the exquisite torments that may be inuented yet leauing a place for the latter In a woord it is the putting out of that small light of religion which wee haue the cutting off both of vs and our posterity from belonging vnto the Lord. The reason hereof is this if the knights of our shiers and Bishops c. will not shew themselues desirous to returne vnto the Lord with earnest labour for the word preached then they doe asmuch as if they said the woord spoken vnto vs in the name of the Lord we will not heare but we wil do whatsoeuer goeth out of our owne mouth as did the wicked Iewes Ier. 44. But what was replied vnto them Verily this Vers 26. Behold I haue sworne by my great name saith Iehouah that my name shal be no more called vpon by the mouth of any man of Iuda in the land of Aegypt saying Iehouah liueth Our sinnes being like vnto theirs shall be surely rewarded alike The other punishment is the vtter ruine of our land the rasing of our names frō vnder heauē that we shal be no more a people Ieremy maketh it but a smal matter with the Lord to ouer-throw a kingdome for the sinnes of the people therein Chap. 18.7.8.9 So doth Amos 9.8 We haue not indeed as yet a barren womb giuen vnto vs but I feare me we haue brought forth children for the murtherers Though we bring foorth children yet will the Lorde slay the dearest of our bodies yea wo vnto them saith he when I depart from them Hos 9.21.17 Accoūt not these I pray you whom I haue before named to be the visions of the daies afarre off Ezech. 12.18 but tremble and feare least the Lord say the words in our daies and perform thē Thinke rather the Lord to expostilate with vs as he did sometimes with the people of the Iewes O you inhabitants of Wales why wil you dy saith the Lord Why should I giue you for a terrible plague to al the kingdoms of the earth Ier. 12.7 Why should I forsake mine house leaue mine inheritance giue the dearely beloued of my soul into the hands of her enimies Ier. 3.12.13 c. Thou disobedient saith the Lord return and I wil not let my wrath fall vpon thee for I am merciful Be thou instructed least my soule be dismembred frō thee and I make thee a lande without an inhabitant Ier. 6.8 Think these speeches I say to belong vnto you vs in respect of them be vehement The calamities of vs your kinsmé in the flesh yea your own and your childrens wil force you or els you are vnnaturall to vnfould our griefe vnto hir Maiesty and this assembly Our case is pitiful you know Our life short we know not how soone the Lord wil cal for vs. How soon he wil make an end of al. If we haue not more knowledge than as yet we haue enioied meanes to come by the same we can hope for nothing at his hand but that deadly voice I know you not You haue both a Herod in Vra◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 persuasion and necessity which driue wise men to take great matters in hand to pricke you forwarde Throw downe your selues before hir maiesty and this honourable assembly and plead for your liues and your peoples rise not thence vntill your suite bee yeelded vnto We poore people look for nothing else but destruction except our God graunt you fauour at this verie instant time in their sight I with in the Lord that if wee perish we may perish our selues alone and that Queene Elizabeth and hir counsel with the estate and the whole communalty of England may in a good conscience testifie before the Lord and say b Deut. 21.17 Our hands haue not shed the blood of these men neither haue our eies seene it I do most earnestly beseech the Lord Iehouah for his Christes sake who is great and wise in counsell seuere in punishing sinne yet aboundant in mercy and kindnes towards the brused and humble soule to turne his wrath from vs to giue hir Maiesty and this honourable court his spirit to direct them in euery action according vnto his word to make al the enimies of his truth Queen Elizabeth like c Ier. 29.22 Ahab and Zedechiah whom the king of Babel burned in the fire continue hir raigne ouer vs hasten the comming of his Sonne Christ Iesus Amen Amen Yea come quiokelie Lord Iesus To the reader Some rumor of the speedy dissolution of the Parliament enforced me from the 32 Pag. or there abouts so much being already vnder the presse to cut off more of the booke by two parts than is now in the whole The neerer I came to the ende the more hast I made I regarded not herein Amphora coepit Institui currente rota cur vrceus exit The ouersight I hope hath not been very great if any I hartilie craue pardon How tedious vngainful it was for me to dismēber the whole and sow togither the torne parts let other men iudge Some thing spoken of in the Epistle could not be well perfourmed Pag. 30. l. 22. Read through-out his dominion
night 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You must not sleepe al night in this case but intreat the Lord her maiesty and this honourable court to raise the ministerie of his word in Wales This matter concerneth al verie nearlie The way to procure to your selues fauour with the Lord and credite with her Maiestie is to sollicite our cause and so you shal find it The more earnest you be herein the more honor shal be vnto the Lord and her Maiestie wil be the more beholding vnto you Nebuchad-nezzer an idolater blessed the Lorde because Shadrak Meshak and Abednago the seruants of the liuing God Dan. 3.9 changing the kings decree did yeeld their bodies rather than they would worship anie other God If they had been as backewarde as were other Iewes in this case howe had that notable decree to the honour of God beene promulgated ver 29. Where had been their commendation No other waie conueyeth the true fauour of anie prince vnto the subiect Prou. 10.22 Gods blessing which maketh rich and honourable is ioined hereunto Though it were otherwise yet this thing is laid vpon you be not disobedient And likely it is to be otherwise For I am affraid behold that which the Lord hath built he wil destroie that which he hath planted he will roote vp Ierem. 45.45 And doe you seeke for great things vnto your selues Seeke them not If in the daie of trouble you will be hidden you must be Ieremies you must be Hebedmeleches you must be Barucks In these three men the Lord shewed that euen in this life he maketh great difference betweene the zealous and luke-warme professors Ieremy for his roundnes in his office was beaten and put in the stocks Ier. 35.15.16 Ier. 29.26.27 Iere. 35.15.16 iudged worthy to die Ier. 29.26.27 accounted a rauer and one that made himselfe a prophet Ier. 29.26.27 a man that sought not the wealth of his people but the hurt Iere. 38.4 Hebedmelech was a noble man but some thing ouer zealous and one that would not stick to tel the king himselfe that he had yeelded vnto his noble men in a thing that was euill in all that they had doone to Ieremie the Prophet Ier. 38.5.9 Baruch was out of fauor both with prince and priest Ier. 36.19.26 because he fauoured Ieremie But when the land was made desolate and the wordes of poore Ieremie became true who then went vnto the wal Verily the king and his nobles priests and prophets And Ieremy the true seruant of the Lord must haue a whole senat of noble men sent to take him out of prison and to know his wil Nebuzaradan Nebushasban Raebsaris Neregal Ier. 39.4.13 c. the king of Babeles princes Hebedmelech should not bee giuen into the hands of the men whom he feared but bee surely deliuered because hee put his trust in Iehouah Ierem. 45.45 Baruch should haue his life giuen him for a pray Howesoeuer it goeth therefore your seruice in our cause shall bee recompensed They that know what it is to haue their iniquities forgiuen and their sinnes couered by the sufferings and passions of Iesus Christ will be wounded to see others vnder the curse The Churches of God round about vs goe to wrack in Fraunce Belgia and a great part of high Duch I would Scotland had continued in her first loue and that the hands of the builders were strengthned among you Come what will come stand you manfully in the faith my fathers and brethren and according to the counsel of Iude a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 renew the battle againe with your spiritual enimy Iud. 3. and contend with earnestnes It maie please God though the liuelie branches be cut off to quicken vs dead boughes by the vertue of our head Iesus Christ I doubt not by the Lords goodnes if the truth be established among vs through continual preaching but that al which professe Godlines in Europe shall hartilie thank the Lord for our zeal and courage therein Our nation are ful of drosse I graunt as al the sonnes of Adam are by nature and verie stonie harted But the word of God is a fire for the drosse and an hamber for the stone Ier. 23.29 And the weapons whereby the man of God warreth are not carnal but mightie through God to cast downe houldes and to bring vnder euerie imagination that is against the knowledge of God 2 Cor. 10.5 when al things shall be measured vnto vs by the measure of the sanctuarie as all must bee or else the building proue ruinous our God will be for a diadem of beutie vnto vs and for a spirite of iudgmēt he wil giue vs his spirit to please him I thought it needlesse to put hir Maiestie and the Parliament in mind that euerie thing amongst vs must be ordered according to the word it selfe For otherwise both the word and the Minister shall want a great deale of the dignitie due vnto both Suffer the scepter of the word to rule this will not be derogatorious vnto man much lesse vnto the word It wil be hard to find a yoke fellowe for that which can neither abide superior nor brooke an equal My brethren for the most part know not what preaching meaneth much lesse think the same necessarie to saluation Though they graunt it needeful they think it sufficient to heare one sermon once perhaps in al their life Therefore was is needfull for me to set downe the necessitie of preaching and of continual preaching that if they labor not for the same their bloode maie be vppon their owne heads For they cannot denie themselues to be put in mind hereof If there be anie other point of doctrine touched it tendeth also to this end The diligence beloued which I hope your learned Bishoppes Doctors and other great Diuines men of famous report haue taken in England cannot suffer you to be ignorant in these pointes Therefore take thē not as written vnto you For the case it selfe you know what it is euen that which the Lord of host will haue most seriouslie thought vpon graunted without al naie In respect wherof it commeth with Gods own letters patents wherewith all estates in the worlde naie all the Angels in heauen cannot dispence Concerning the hādling of it by me a wretch I protest my self to haue labored according to the example of the Apostle to speak as I haue beene allowed of my God seeking to win the fauour of none much lesse the disliking of anie least mans vnequall displeasure would bee contented with no lesse satisfaction than the bloode of manie a thousand soules God forbid mans infirmities in mee should bring this effect Naie it must not For be I the sonne of Adam ten thousand times compassed with neuer so manie infirmities neuer so base vile polluted and defiled yet the preaching of the word in Wals is Gods glorie and therfore must stand And yet it maie be the Lord by this supplication doth but trie the good
Kin. 16.29 went through the people from Bersheba to mount Ephraim and brought them againe vnto Iehouah the God of their fathers so litle a thing was it in his eies to haue once verie notablie reformed his people vnlesse he did the same as often as need required Religious Ioshia 2. Chro. 33.29 caried the like heart with him The good king rent his clothes his heart melted within him with weeping and wringing of handes he humbled himselfe before his God and immediatly set vpon the reformation of euery thing amisse as soone as he perceiued the Lord to be dishonored by neglecting the performance of his will in any point But what needed he to haue taken all these paines He had a promise all should go well in his daies and after him his people were sure to smart for their former sinnes He had doone well for his part fals-religion was expelled in the 1. yeare of his raigne this being the 18. Iudah Ierusalem were purged from their high places time would not serue to establish euery thing according vnto the lawe of Moses the people were simple not capeable of the gouernment required by the worde of God his nobility by reason of their long continuance in Idolatry not so well perswaded of the true religion he sought to establish It was very new vnto them their weakenes were to be born-withal Yea they must haue the liberty of their consciences Perhaps they who should haue beene most forward as the high priest and others were found very great enimies vnto all good proceedings It may bee they looked that all should bee committed vnto their handes as the pope hath done in times past For what had a ciuil magistrate to doe with setting in order things belonging vnto religion These and many other hinderances hee had I grant 2. Chro. 34.3 But looke when the zeal of the Lords house hath eaten vp any how easily they swallow all occasions that might hinder the true worship of God in any that belongeth vnto them And therfore that very yeare euen then when he was farther instructed by examining the booke of the Lawe of Moses concerning his duty he gathered the people from the greatest vers 30 31 32 to the smallest priest and Leuite read the woord of the couenant in their eares and made a couenant before Iehouah to keepe his commaundements his statutes and his testimonies with all his heart and with all his soule He cause al that were found in Ierusalem and Beniamin to stand vnto it So farre was hee from bearing with any in their Idolatrous perswasions that could not for consciences sake forsooth but turne backe from Iehouah the God of their fathers that as it is recorded of him hee a verse 33. compelled all that were found in Israel to agree vnto the couenant to serue Iehouah their God which they did al his life In which actiō religion being now receiued by publicke consent hee did not only according to the commandement a Deut. 13.69 the example of his pre decessors the b Ius 22.21.19 whole cōgregation in the booke of Ioshua and godly king Asah c Chro. 15.13 who de creed that whosouer would not serue Iehouah should be stoned whether he were small or great but also that which the wonderfull and great woorkes of God wrested from e Dan. 3.29 Neubuchadnezzer and almost nature it selfe shewed vnto king Artashash f Ezra 7. a6 Gods honorbeing precious in the eies of this assembly as I hope it is wil driue them to follow these godly examples and to looke with the eies of an Egle into the estate of our Church in Wales yea compel vs by authority rather than faile to honour sanctifie the Lord by the knowledge of our saluation For then he is said to gaine a name and maiesty to himselfe when he is seene to forgiue sins not for mans desert but for his own g Isai 4.8.9.12 glory sake and he is then knowen to be the Lord when hee is h Ezek. 76.23 sanctified in his people For indeede none is able either to forgiue sinnes or to sanctify the prophane hart of man but the Lord himselfe Therefore the prerogatiue aboue all others giuen to out sauior christ in the reuelation is that when there was none found in heauen or earth or vnder the earth worthy to looke vpon the book sealed with seauen seals muchlesse able to open it he the lyon of the tribe of Iudah performed both But who knoweth this saue they Ephes 2.13 that are redeemed by his blood And his blood clēseth none but these i which heard the worde of trueth euen the gospel of saluation preached vnto them The way then to procure that the people of Wales maie cry with a loude voice Woorthie is the lambe to take the booke open the seales thereof Reuel 5.12 because he was killed and hath redeemed vs to God out of euery kindred and tongues people and nation is to bestow the worde preached vpon them And howe greatlie the calling of men vnto saluation augmenteth both the might and the exceeding riches of Gods strength shal be easily gathered if you doe but consider that the treasury the iewell house and wardrobe as I may say of Gods glorious in heritance in the Saints and the exceeding greatnes of his power towardes them that beleeue is no other way discerned but by the spirite of reuelation through the knowledge of god as the expresse woords of the Apostle do enforce Ephes 1.18.19 All which proceed from hearing the worde of truth verse 13 as he set down before The wordes which the Apostle vseth to expresse the meaning of the holy-ghost doth most euidentlie conuince that they who felt not this power in themselues count the Lord to be but a weakeling For although the contemplation of nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the mouing of the heauens and the creatures therein contained may afforde some glimse of the might that is in the creator yet this is not indeede so much as a shadowe of the other wherein the Lord is said to exercise the power of his own right hand As first in giuing the Lord Iesus a conquest ouer al the k Coloss 15 principalities and powers of his enimies making him to triumph ouer them and that l Heb. 2.10 18.4 5. 5.7 by weakenesse sufferings crosses calamities temptations yea and death it selfe then in raising him from death to giue him a name aboue all names and to make him the head of al. Secondly in vs his poore members sauing our helplesse and damned soules woorking mightily in our sinful stony hearts by the conuersion of vs vnto him giuing vs poore flesh and blood a conquest also ouer our owne fleshe and the rebellious motions thereof and which is more ouer the prince of the world himselfe Assuring our vnbeleeuing hartes of his loue towardes vs shewing how mightie his spirite was in