Truth temporal Deliverances in those times were but as Types and Shadows figuring out the spiritual Salvation of the Church of the Gospel when being delivered from the hands of all spiritual Enemies they might serve God with Holiness and Righteousness all their dayes even in those times when the Church of the Faithful was visited with the Day-spring from on high and made to see this Salvation of God in the full accomplishment of it as to this life Many are the afflictions of the Righteous saith David of old but God delivereth you out of all Psal 34.19 David himself was a long time exercised with troubles and trials but by Faith and Patience he lived to see the Salvation which God had promised to come out of Sion This was but a type of that general Salvation of the World through Christ by the preaching of the Gospel which was to begin at Jerusalem The Writings of Moses are as full of Promises and Threatnings as they are of Precepts and Exhortations to keep the way of the Lord and to do justice and judgment The 26th Chapt. of Levit. and the 28th of Deut. are wholly taken up that way Dwell in the Land and do good so verily thou shalt be fed and see good Behold the upright and perfect man Psal 37.37 the end of that man shall be peace whatever are the various changes God leads them through by his unsearcheable dispensations so t is said Isai 1.19 If ye be obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land so long as they were obedient they did so both in the former and following times All the dayes of Joshuah and the Elders that over-lived Joshuah they saw the Salvation of God in all their enterprizes because all their time they ordered their way aright to keep the Commandments of the Lord and to do judgment and justice but when they of the next Generation fell from God and turned into other wayes what miserable calamities befell them in the time of the Judges and their Idolatrous Kings there was no peace to them that went out and to them that came in for God vexed them with all adversity and they could never come to see the salvation of God Gods providences ordinarily have been like Weather-glasses the waters thereof as to their peace and prosperity might have been discerned to rise and fall according as his people did ebb or flow in the course of their obedience They say the Egyptians use to presage of the health or fertility of every year by the rising of the River Nilus higher or lower so might any one who lived in the time of any of their Judges or Kings have foretold the prosperity or misery of the people according to the measure of their obedience When they did evil it went ill with them and when they did well in the lowest degree and that which was right in the sight of the Lord though not in that perfect manner as they should yet ordinarily they were made to see the salvation of God As in the first years of Rehoboam Abijah Joash Amazias and Vzzias Thus did God ordinarily proportion the wayes of his providence to his peoples obedience When of old the whole World degenerated from the true Religion and worship none was found Righteous but Noah and a few in his Family God makes him and them only see the Salvation of God So afterwards 2 Sam. 8. t is said David prospered whither soever he went even against five several Nations at once because his heart was right and he ordered his way aright before God he was made a lasting monument of Gods deliverance as he had been a standing pattern of obedience Thus we may say with the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews time would fail to speak of other Instances upon whom this promise was made good both before and after the captivity who ever walked with God and ordered their way aright before him they were made to see the salvation of God in the midst of Armies Lions Dens Fiery Furnaces and amongst multitudes of Enemies who were all armed with envy and malice against them as well as with force and power Afterward as Ezrah ordered his way aright in bringing up as many as he could perswade to attend thereunto out of the Captivity and in seeking the face of God by solemn Fasting and Prayer so God caused him to see his Salvation more immediately then if he had obtained a band of Horse-men from an Heathen And Nehemiah at another time obtains favour in the sight of the man as he desired who had then all power under God in his hands concerning the poor captive Jews because he ordered his way aright first to seek God by solemn Prayer and then to go on couragiously without fearing the face of Man especially such Sons of malice and wickedness as were Sanballat and Tobiah who though they pretended a desire to help build the Temple of God at Jerusalem yet in their hearts were filled with rancour and enmity and ready to gnash their teeth that any came thither that sought the welfare of the people of God As for the state of the Christian Church since Christs time for this first three hundred years how mightily did the Word of God increase and prevail The savour of the knowledge of Jesus Christ even triumphed in every place the three measures of meal i. e. the three parts of the World then known were levened with the Doctrine of the Christian Religion the whole World was in a manner overspread therewith notwithstanding all the fury rage and malice of their persecuting Enemies he that sate upon the white Horse with his Bow and his Crown went on conquering to conquer and did prevail All this while they ordered their way aright they set themselves by faith and patience to wait upon God and were made to see his Salvation When Israel came first out of Egypt if God had led them presently into the possession of the land of Canaan before they had been inured to the difficulties of a War God must miraculously have cut off all their Enemies to have put them in possession of Canaan and then they would have been in danger to have been overcome with luxury sensuality and security as too soon came to pass afterwards therefore God in his infinite wisdom did train them up to encounter with Marches and Journyings in the Wilderness and then acquainted them with the difficulties of along War that they might learn Obedience by what they underwent so in a manner were Gods dispensations toward the Christian World God would not miraculously subdue them to the obedience of Faith but by the labour and travel of the Ministry in holding forth the Doctrine of the Gospel the word of Christs patience least if it had been otherwise they should have grown secure and carnal and turned the Grace of God into lasciviousness as many were too apt unto but presently after the winter of Adversity and Persecution was over and past and
their Authority and Government And therefore when they are taken away by Sickness or other accidents they have great reason to mourn and be in heaviness especially when there is but little hopes that when these are removed few others are raised up like to succeed in their places with the same spirit and power As where Cedars are fallen and none but Sycamores are left for future service As to the first part of this Tragedy we may say it is at this day fulfilling amongst us in New-England As for the latter which is one of the saddest changes that can befall a People let them look to it who are not yet imposed upon by Babes and Children or at least need not so be seeing they have power to chuse such as are here described if they know where to find them Now our old Pillars are removing let us take heed what new ones we put into the Building An Emperour once said Inveni Romans lateritiam reliqui marmoream which should be the ambition of every good Ruler to mend not mar the State From the premises this Conclusion may be taken up DOCT. That it is a sad presage of evil times ensuing when men of worth are removed out of any Church or State and none to be found fit to supply their places The Children of Israel had been in a very sad plight when the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof were dissolved under Sauls Government if there had not been one found to be succentriated after him who was able to bear up the Pillars of it It is observable that in all the Governments upon the Earth since the sad fall of the first Monarch of the World vanity hath been written upon all their habitations upon the Royal Palaces of Princes as well as the meanest Cottages of Peasants greater and lesser Societies have their Fates and Destinies attending them as well as particular Persons and Families It is a long time before some of them attain unto their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after which they are continually upon the declining hand The glorious Fabrick in Nebuchadnezar's Image soon degenerates from an head of Gold to feet and toes of Iron and Clay It was a long time before the Assyrian Provinces did culminate in that Head of Gold amongst the Chaldeans who were but one Branch of the Royal Stem which came by a lineal descent from Sem the Son of Noah The Government of the Assyrians passed through various changes before it arose to that Grandeur among the Babilonians but after that time in every Generation they became more base and vile till they fell as low as the Earth it self at last The Roman Monarchy if it be no part of the former Image as many learned Interpreters think it was not that will afford another pregnant instance of the foresaid Maxime for after it had once arrived at its highest pitch of Glory and Renown in the dayes of Augustus Cesar it continually declined till it quite expired in Augustulus as Mr. Mede observes For in all the succeeding Emperors times whatsoever Glory was gained by the Masculine Prowess and Wisdom of their first Founders or chief Leaders in any age was basely lost and wasted by the effeminate excess of Luxury of their degenerate followers in the next But there is no need to repair to Heathen Kingdoms or States for the evidence of this Truth For in the Family of Jacob under the Rule and Reign of their former Judges and succeeding Kings each Generation brought in fresh Examples of Sin and Judgment their glory and lustre was never permanent and lasting above an Age. And as in Solomon's time they obtained their greatest glory so in his time was laid the first Foundation of their following Ruine And the mighty men of valour in David's time were laid aside under Solomon which gave an occasion to the Rebellion of the Edomites in the latter end of his Reign so the Honourable Counsellers and Eloquent Orators that attended his Court were either over-looked or neglected in the very beginning of his Successors Reign And thus it far'd with them ever since the first planting of the Seed of Israel in that good Land Flowing with Milk and Honey Soon after the death of Joshua and the Elders that for a little while survived arose up another Generation that knew not the Lord nor his great works and then presently we read of another sort of men that came in place neither honourable for wisdom or valour unless now and then when God raised up some extraordinary person enabling him by extraordinary assistance to work their deliverance in a kind of miraculous manner As it is expressed in the Triumphant Song of Deborah there was scarce a Shield or Spear found amongst forty thousand men of Israel And possibly Shamgar and Samson obtained those signal victories over their Enemies with such unusual Weapon as Oxe-goods and Asses Jaw-bones because by the slothfulness and Luxury of those degenerate times other Weapons were laid aside as needless and useless Might it not easily have been presaged from such a Generation of men as either did discountenance or discourage the cunning Artificers or men of War as in Elies and the beginning of Saul's time that they were disfurnished either of Smiths to make or valiant men to use Armour and Weapons of War what ruin they were running into as befel them in the latter end of Saul's time The removal of such men of worth must needs be a sad omen if either we consider the necessity and use of such men or the cause of their removal such are neccessarily required both to the being and well-being of any People For they are as eyes to the blind and ignorant as Moses speaks to Jethro when they were to paâ—â— through the Wilderness of Arab And as legs to the lame and hands to thâ— weak If a Nation be either destitutâ— of men of might or those that are justly stiled so cannot find their Hands whaâ— will become of their Followers is not hard to say The lame will take the prey iâ— those that should sway in the Government are not able to strengthen their Mast or keep their Tackling taught as the Prophet speaks and if their Pilots be unskilful how will they save themselves from Ship-wreck If their Prophets and Pastors are become dumb Dogs that can neither bark nor bite the poor Sheep will be in danger of being devoured by the ravening Wolves If Gods Prophets i. e. such by Name and Title prophesie for hire they will surely prophesie Lies If the Preachers at Herod's Court will dawb with untempered Morter and the chief men countenance Adultery and Idolatry Incest and all other vices will be rife there and John the Baptist must not dare to intermeddle without danger of losing his head They must not prophesie in the Kings Chappels or in Bethel that will lift up their voice like a Trumpet to convince the people of their sin and their transgression Such as these are the
from men of sedate composed even tempers who are alwayes the same for their love to piety and holiness and hatred of all sin 6. In the next place Constancy and Perseverance may be added here It is not enough to begin well unless we hold on unless we would fall under the Apostles censure of the Gallathians Ye did run well once who hindred you he that turns aside out of the way or sits down discouraged will no more obtain the desired end than he that never entred thereinto Therefore Christ tells us He that endures to the end only shall be saved Many a Mans obedience is by fits and girds as they are urged and put on by the force of external motives whereas those that act from an inward Principle are ever the same The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that such as his Letters were when he was absent such shall his deeds be when he is present 2 Cor. 10.11 So should a Christian be the same at last which he was at first The Righteous saith Job shall hold on his way and he that hath strong hands shall grow stronger and stronger Job 17.9 Who ever entreth into the way of Gods Precepts with a sincere mind must engage with David to continue in the same to the end and such who do not so do will appear to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self-condemned For if it were not in their judgment and conscience the right way why did they ever walk therein and if it were really so why did they turn aside therefrom And as to Gods Salvation there will no sort of men in the conclusion be found further therefrom than such as are guilty of backsliding from the way of Obedience The back-slider in heart is threatned to be filled with his own wayes One saith well There are none so bad as they that have been good and are not or may be good and will not Under this of constancy may be included universality of Obedience his Conversation cannot be ordered aright that lives in the omission of any of the known duties of Religion or righteousness David accounted it matter of shame to be found not to have respect to any of Gods Commandments How can two be said to walk together that are not agreed upon all the points of love and obedience wherein they are concerned As God was not liable to be taxed for breach of Covenant in any the least particular of his promises so doth he threaten to make the Israelites know to their cost their insinuation of the contrary yea shall know my breach of Covenant Psal 78. In like manner he expects universality and constancy of obedience in his People 7. The last thing here required is discetion and wisdome It was not enough for David to chuse the perfect way of Gods Preceps to walk in but to walk perfectly therein Psal 101.2 There are errors on the right hand as well as on the left he that would approve himself as upright must turn aside to neither for the preventing of which no small Wisdom will be required This our Saviour would have his Disciples aware of when he advises them being sent as sheep among Wolves to be wise as Serpents innocent as Doves There is much of Truth in the old saying Quis que faber fortunoe suoe every one in a great measure is the Author of his own weal or woe We may by this means do much of our selves toward our seeing the Salvation of God David was wise as an Angel of God and by that Wisdom declared much of that evil which otherwise might have overtaken him in Sauls Court so as it is said about five times in one Chapter David behaved himself wisely among Sauls Servants and prospered whithersoever he went And indeed the Hebrews do express Prosperity and Wisdom by one and the same word because Wisdom hath a great influence into the success of our affairs Many Instances may be given hereof Abraham after he had been called out of his own Countrey was cast among several People or Families of another or rather of a false Religion that lived without the fear of God he accounted it his Wisdom not to intermeddle in their quarrels nor yet to enter into too much Familiarity so neither not to decline mutual Duties of Humanities wherein they might be mutually helpful one to another yet on the other hand was careful not to quarrel with those of his own perswasion for fear of giving offence to the Heathen amongst whom they sojourned he will rather loose of his just right in matter of his Possessions than loose his reputation in point of Religion He wisely foresaw the Perizzite would make an ill use of his quarrelling with his Brother Lot about so inconsiderable a matter as their Sheep-walks In case of contending with our Superiours saith Solomon it is not best alwayes to stand too much upon the defence of our own Right A soft answer pacifieth wrath and a so◠tongue breaketh the bone which the hard teeth sometimes cannot deal with And b◠not hasty to go out of his sight who doth whatsoever pleaseth him and a wise mans heart discerns both time and judgment Eccles 8.3 4 5. So for our Inferiours and Equals Wisdom as we are told in the Proverbs must discover to us when we should make answer to a Fool and when we should leave him to answer himself in his own Folly Nor is it alwayes best to force a matter on with main strength when Wisdom may direct how to overcome the greatest difficulties by forbearing a while David succeeded better against the Philistines by fetching a Compass then by falling directly upon them Josiah one of the best of all the Kings of Judah yet by an error in this kind did not see the salvation of God in that last Trajedy of his life whereby he brought a fatal stroak of death upon his own person which his Holiness and Piety had a great while before kept off from the People and himself and so might still have done if he had not so much failed in point of this Wisdom about medling with a controversie which did little or nothing concern him at that time For he that medleth with a strife that doth not belong unto him as Solomon tells us doth but hold a Dog by the ears whom he can neither detain nor let go without great danger to himself Hezekiah had better success in his contest with the great King of Assyria for as t is said Wisdom and Knowledge were the stability of his times and therefore it is added that the strength of Salvation was his Isai 33.6 If we cast an eye upon all the following Histories of the Church in succeeding Ages we shall find that much of those sufferings which have fallen upon the Generation of the just might either have been prevented or much abated if they had governed their affairs by a suitable measure of Wisdom in their concerns with themselves or others For the confirmation of this
us is able to remove the greatest Mountain of opposition or difficulty that stands in the way of Faith Therefore seeing God hath promised that such shall see his Salvation they may believe it The Church may sing her triumphant Song in all her troubles We have a strong City Salvation will God appoint for Walls and Bulwarks mountains of Brass and Gates of Iron are not so strong as the promise of God In confidence of them The Church of God though in her self but as a poor despised Virgin yet will deride and laugh unto scorn the great and mighty Army of the Assyrians that come up like the swelling of Jordan yet such is the interest of Faith in the promises of God that it can see the salvation of God through all those dark Clouds of Adversity Of a truth Lord said Hezekiah the Kings of Assyria have laid wast all the Nations and their Countries his Faith was almost at a stand his heart was ready to recoyl but the Word of the Lord sent by Isaiah reinforces his confidence and makes him acquiess in that promise of the Lord that the Kings of Assyria should not come into the City nor shoot an Arrow there but that he should be blasted by the breath of the Almighty as indeed it came to pass so as their eyes that waited on the Lord might behold the King in his beauty and see his Jerusalem a quiet habitation True Believers after deliverance from that dangerous assault should see Hezekiah flourish again in power and glory who was a figure of Christ in his heavenly Glory beautifying the meek of the Earth with his eternal Salvation 4. The People of the Lord do believe all this therefore their hearts are not dismayed Therefore have they found in their hearts to pray with the Psalmist Turn us again O God of our Salvation and we shall be saved which is redoubled again in that Psalm in token of their assured expectation thereof Moses believed it at a time of utmost hazard when they were hemmed in with deadly dangers on every side and falling within the very gates of Destruction stand still and see the Salvation of God and they that believed did see Gods Salvation as t is added that day the Lord saved Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians Exod. 14.30 Mordecai believed it with respect to Gods power and faithfulness and not to Esthers interest in the King of Persia who knows but thou mayest be raised to the Kingdom for this very end but if thou refusest Salvation shall come some other way Daniel and his Companions believed it when they were cast into the fiery Furnace and thrown into the Lions Den. Those Examples of seeing Gods Salvation were written for our instruction in these ends of the World that we also believing might speak the same thing and give glory to God 5. God hath saved his People and made them see his Salvation wee have a cloud of witnesses brought to our view in that little Book of Chronicles as one calls it in the eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews Our Fathers trusted in thee and were delivered They looked unto God from the ends of the Earth and were saved Their eyes were enlightned with the joy of Gods Salvation Israel indeed may say if it had not been the Lord who was on our side we had been swallowed up when their wrath was kindled against us the streams had overwhelmed us the proud Waters had gone over our Soul As was said of some of those worthy Confessors that afterwards laid the Foundation of our New-England Churches when they were driven out of England by the prevailing power of the Hierarchy and made to Fly into the Netherlands they met with such a dreadful stormy passage that the Vessel was even over-raked with the Waves when their mouthes were fill'd with salt-water as they were exercising themselves with fervent Prayer some of them used these words Yet O Lord thou canst save and so he did above and beyond all hope the Sea-men crying out we sink we perish we are going down to the brow of the pit where our heads shall be wrapped about with the weeds yet God made them see his Salvation Look into the History of the Church in all Ages Writings Antient and modern How many wayes hath God made use of to save his People in all their distresses the snare was broken and their soul was made to escape If they have met with sorrow it lasted but a night the joy of Salvation hath risen upon them in the morning The forest of Antichristian Persecutions was or is to last but three dayes and an half Athanasius said of the Arrian Tempest in his time Nubecula hoec cito per transibit The storm may be sharp yet it will be but short If Christ be in the Ship all that are embarqued shall be saved The Ship of Christs Church may be tossed yet it shall be preserved the Angel of the Covenant assures us so that every soul that entred shall be saved In those bloody Marian dayes she that sate at the Helm of the Nation stretched forth her hands with Herod to vex certain of the Church three or four hundred were burned alive and more were imprisoned but it would not do those iron Gates and Barrs were broken open The Snare is broken and we are escaped The chief Instruments of that persecution as well as the Authors thereof to the vexation of their hearts saw that the more they endeavoured to suppress the Protestant Religion the more it increased The blood of the Martyrs proved the seed of the Church which made some of them pine away with rage and madness to see their Endeavours frustrated and that the Word of God was not bound though here and there some of the Ministers thereof were under restraint but that it did more and more prevail God hath many times by unexpected wayes prevented the mischief intended against his People and brought destruction upon their Enemies and made his People see his Salvation It is reported that once a Chancellor of Bohemia having procured a Diploma from the Emperour at Vienna to persecute the Protestants in that Kingdom as he was passing the Bridge over Danubius it brake under him so as himself was drowned but his Box of Writings could never be found again though his dead body was afterwards taken up The Protestants in Germany standing couragiously for the Truth of the Protestant Religion saw the great Emperour Charles the V. driven out of Germany by a small handful of men under Mauritius Duke of Saxony In Queen Mary's time a busie Persecutor that was bound for Ireland out of hatred against the Protestant Religion was befooled by his Host at West-Chester and carried over the Knave of Clubs to the Deputy there instead of his Commission the which he could not get renewed till the Reign of the persecuting Queen was at an end and another advanced that favoured the truth VSe Of Examination This may put the
excellent spirit the Hebrew is of a Cool i. e. Sedate Composed temper not too much over heated with the fire of Anger Be not hasty saith he also to go out of the presence of him who hath power to do what he pleaseth David was too sudden in his determination about Mephibosheth case thou and Zibah divide the Land before he had taken so much time as to hear the allegations on either side Audi alteram partem i. e. hear the other side was a maxime of wisdom in antient time So was that also Secundoe cogitationes sunt meliores or second thoughts are better David had leisure enough afterward to repent of his sudden rash command to Joab to number the people The next or shortest way to the end is not always the best and safest It is better sometimes to march about to gain the wind than to fall directly upon the Enemy as David at Baal-Perazim So 't was said Charles sir-named the wise King of France overcame our Edward the third by Policy and Deliberation which his Father could not do by all his power 8. Wisdom teacheth men to govern their passions our passions both of love and hatred are violent and must be restrained else they may endanger the whole man Solomon calls them Fools who suffer anger to rest in their bosom He that lets the Sun go down upon his wrath may be like to have the Devil for his Bed-fellow saith one Samson's violence in his love makes him lose his life and his liberty in the issue many do by their Souls as the Mariners did by their Ship wherein Paul sailed for so losing Rudder bands of Reason they spread the Sail of all their power and endeavours and to commit themselves to the winds and waves of their passions which violently drive them upon the Rocks or Sands where they suffer Ship-wreck of all that is Embarqued Abigail who had been the prudent Wife of a rich Fool wisely reproves David for his passion who at other times was counted wise as an Angel of God 9. Wisdom makes men humble and lowly of heart in imitation of him in whom are hid all the Treasures of wisdom as well politically as spiritually for so our Saviour convinces the Pharisees of their folly as well as pride in taking the uppermost seats at the first hand as they come into the Feast whereas if they had wisely taken lower Seats at first they might with honour have been advanced whereas afterwards some of them were forced with shame to give place to their betters Wise men cannot but see great reason to be humble because a double promise is annexed thereunto both by being advanced by God himself and of being taught by him also Therefore seeing God himself hath made humility the way to honour he is not a wise man that shall refuse to walk therein A poor and wise Child is preferred before an old and foolish King that is too high to receive an Admonition A wise mans head will never be broken by a reproof Out of the Prison the wise Joseph and David cometh to Reign when he that may be is born Heir to a Kingdom becometh poor by his Pride as did Absalom and Amaziah 10 Wisdom makes men confident and bold as well as Righteousness because they trust in the Lord and build upon the sure Foundation of his Word who is the Rock of Ages Hence are they called wise Builders that build on this Foundation as they are also called wise Virgins that lay such foundation of their hopes as will bear them up in times of greatest dismaying for such shall not be afraid of evil tidings because they are fixed in the truth trusting in the Name of the Lord. If these be properties of a prudent Man the greater must their loss needs be who have lost a Commander Counsellor Companion Husband Father Friend or Benefactor so qualified which losses God sometimes brings upon an unthankful World to punish them for ingratitude and upon his people to teach them to live by Faith and not to lean upon broken Reeds of humane wisdom and power God doth not need the wisdom of a Solomon or counsel of an Achitophel or policy of a Machiavel to govern the World by although he doth sometimes diffuse here and there more radiant beams of that excellent quality to make others imitate their Examples and Virtues It still may be an enquiry a virtuous or prudent Man or Woman who shall find their price is about Rubies for wisdom is Gods special gift not an acquirement of our own endeavours therefore we must ask it of God VSE See what cause of lamentation is before us We have been sadly bereaved of Men of such Worth as is expressed in the Text many of excellent endowments in other respects are yet great strangers to Prudence which is a lamentation and should be for a lamentation There are but few men born into the World in any age in whom all these desirable qualities are eminently met together And none in these parts of the World if that be not too great a word to say in whom so many or more of such honourable endowments were joyned together in such a degree The greater is our sorrow who are now met together to solemnize the Funeral of a person of so great worth enriched with so many Excellencies which made him neither live undesired nor die unlamented nor go to his Grave unobserved Former Ages of the World knew not how to bestow Elogies high and large enough upon those whose wisdom transcended the reach of ordinary Mortals or whose Heroick and worthy Acts either in time of War or peace rendred them so useful and beneficial unto others Hence David call'd upon the Daughters of Israel to weep over Saul and Jonathan who clothed you in Scarlet with the like lamentation doth the same David lament over Abner the Captain of the Host Is there not a Prince and a great man faln this day in Israel so in a sense may it be said here A great man is fallen in our little Israel And David himself while he lived was honoured as the Angel of God for his wisdom although his exiquies were attended with a less degree of mourning because of the illustrious Wisdom of his Successour that began so early to appear to the dazling the eyes of all beholders before his Fathers Sun was quite set The Globe of the natural World made up of Heaven and Earth is a fit resemblance of the state of the Moral or Rational World and the transaction of Affairs therein where some men are as far exalted above others as the Heaven is above the Earth for what makes the visible Heavens so conspicuous and glorious above the opake dark body of the Earth beneath but the bright glittering Stars with which it is bespangled some of which are continually setting beneath as others are ascending above the Horizon yet may it safely be said that if all the Stars of the first magnitude were
finishing work about which we are not altogether alike minded yet no need to pull down the building Some scruples and doubts may remain for the resolution of the next Age Cum Elias venerit solvet nodos this having been highly honoured with the discovery or clearer manifestation of many hidden truths should we particularly enquire into notions or things wherein we differ we shall find out discords divisions debates animosities to be causless and unreasonable Sinful and unchristian For Example The one affirmeth no Church Act can pass without the consent of the Elders viz. Ordinarily the other to affirm the major vote of the Brethren is concussiive and makes a Church Act though the Elders consent not I demand what damage hath any Church sustained by any Elderships acting according to the first opinion if it be said some proceeding may have been hindred thereby And may it not be better that proceedings be forborn when the Guides and Rulers dissent with whom doubtless diverse of the fraternity will concur And doth not former and latter experience shew that the dissent of many less considerable persons do much enervate proceedings in Churches where matters should be carried on sweetly by moral suasion not despoticatly by imperious determinations but so we may lose the truth You may preserve it in your own heads but not beat it into others A Pastor who is called to Baptize as well as to Preach believes his office obliges him to Baptize in a Latitude larger than your opinion and may have the judgment of a Synod concurring with his own shall it be a grief to you that he acts according to his own faith What cause have you to be offended He is fully perswaded in his own mind to the Lord he baptizeth and for the Lord he doth it whose Minister he is but your Guide Overseer and Ruler and who art thou that judgest another mans servant to his own Master let him stand or fall were the case doubtful which I determine not the rule is favores sunt ampliendoe better two admitted to whom it doth not belong then one denyed whose right it is I cannot imagine the enlargment of the visible kingdom of Christ can be any matter of offence to any Christian especially to those that do pretend to be the sole asserters of his kingly Government For Council None of us say their determinations do bind the particular Churches juridice some say they do oblige directive and for order in foro exteriore all yeilds they are useful for light and help what need we here contend Have they gone beyond their Teachers allowed by all When they do we may dispute the point in the mean time let us not charge them that they take too much upon them nor quarrel and rent and divide and make our selves uncapable of accepting any good counsel upon a conceited possibility that in time we may be damaged by them By the same reason we may decline the most necessary supports of humane society which at some times and in some places have degenerated or have been perverted from their primitive and natural instituon whether Councils be an Ordinance Institution of God as some Reverend learned from Acts 15. conclude or founded upon Reason and other Scriptures in the multitude of Councellours there is safety and from the light of nature which in case allows us to use the best and utmost help we need not contest about seeing we all accord from one or all these grounds they may be very necessary and useful to preserve Truth and Peace in the Churches and for that end I suppose all sober men will in all doctrinal determinations acknowledg in them a greater obliging power than in the judgment of the ablest man and in composing of differences as much as they allow to Arbitrators in civil cases otherwise I see not the necessity nor much usefulness in them For the Association of Churches commended to us by the last Synod not accepted by many for fear of introducing Prelacy or something as bad nor yet practized by any and while the matters do stand why do we contend Let not fear and jealousie precipitate our damage nor debar us from a useful and in case necessary helps and supports we cannot forget what the Holy Ghost saith Wo be to him that is alone I cannot see that a particular Ecclesiastical Body hath less need of combining or associating with other Churches than a civil Society or a natural body I mean a man each of which are fitted and furnished in their several capacities with organs and abilities Ad bene beatque vivendum and Originally and naturally depend upon no other of their kind to exert their faculties and put forth their operations for that end yet necessity hath enforced them to associate with their like for their mutual support Yet it is possible for diverse civil bodies to remain separate and following their Laws and Manners to flourish in wealth and peace And for many sober well meaning men to live in the neighbourhood and observing the dictates of their own reason which God hath given them for their guide to live in peace and freedom without submitting themselves to the common reason of others combined in a body politick this though possible yet we chuse to commend civil Order and Goverment reserving to our selves those natural powers by liberties which God and Nature hath betrusted us with as men And why may not particular Congregations of a vicinity whose concernments are the same associate themselves upon the same grounds reserving themselves what is necessary for a single Congregation The particularities and just boundaries I undertake not to define By this I hope we are on all hands convinced there is no just cause of our distempers and divisions my preparative having wrought so well makes me hopful of the cure I hast to the particular medicins appropriate to the forementioned malady 1. The fear of God a Catholicon for all distempers especially for this it is the beginning of wisdom it hath the promises of protection preservation and deliverance from evil and of all blessing and good no good shall be lacking to them that fear him They that have awful apprehensions of Gods Omnipotency omniscience and soveraignty and acknowledge him as their Father Master and Lord dare not brawle with their Brethren quarrel with their School-fellows beat their fellow-servants in his sight and presence dare not before the eyes of his glorious Majestie who is a jealous God set themselves upon his Judgment Seat and pass their Sentences upon those that must stand and fall to their own Master but would pardon those whom he forgives and embrace those whom he entertains A Stranger observing our actings would conclude as he did there is no fear of God in this place or at least we have not right conceptions of him notwithstanding our pretentions doubtless if the fear of God possess our hearts our divisions will cease our hearts be allayed our actions more
present Generation of New-England upon the enquiry if they be such as order their way aright It is now a day of rebuke a time of Jacobs troubles he is brought very low by whom shall he arise It is Gods Salvation alone that we must expect and who are they that shall be assured to see that They are only such as order their Conversation aright Our fore-Fathers did approve themselves as such and accordingly they were made to see Gods Salvation they had as many Enemies met with as many dangers encountred with as many difficulties yet God delivered saved them out of all Do we that are yet surviving and coming on so order our way that we may say or hope we shall be made to see the salvation of God We were at the first planted a righteous Generation and noble Vine do we so continue Of all the Reformations that ever yet began in the World there have been but a very few observed to continue above an hundred years in that splendor and brightness with which they were at the first set forward Take for instance those of antient time before or since the Gospel began That of David and Solomon Asa and Jehosaphat Hezekiah and Josiah lasted but their time That of the Maccabees did not out-live their time at least in the beauty of it That of the Primitive Church was not so much a reforming as a new planting of the Church in Gospel Order when the night of Heathenish darkness and Jewish Ceremonies was quite spent and the day of the Gospel was at hand But the Reformation of Constantines time scarce continued in its primitive lustre and glory a full hundred years before a great degree of Apostasie appeared for t is said The Woman fled into the Wilderness after the birth of her Man-child that was to rule the Nations with a rod of Iron She hasted into the Wilderness where she was to continue 1260 dayes prophetical dayes which are so many Julian Political years It is to be supposed that the Church was some considerable time going before she was quite gone into the Wilderness The day of this last Reformation began first to break out in the time of Wickcliffe but it was not perfect day till Luther's time from whose dayes to the present time who ever takes a view may easily determine whether in the Nations that first embraced the Protestant Religion there be the same measure of Piety Zeal Holiness as was at the first In what integrity Geneva hath stood since Calvin's time is not unknown to many of them who are carrying on the Work of the present Generation As for our selves here in New-England we were or might have been set in the right way having no prejudicate Opinion or practice to forestal our Judgments but had the help of all the former ages and other Nations as well as our own Godly and Learned Divines in them to take pattern and example from in the laying our first Foundation both of Religion and Righteousness Doctrine and Discipline Church and Common-wealth Our first Rulers and Leaders in both were careful to order all things according to the pattern in that Mount Children that would not lye so God became their Saviour saving them from forreign and intestine Foes If we that are their posterity be found Children that will lie deny our first principles either in Faith or manners how can we expect that God should be our Saviour Now compare things 1. In the first place They sought first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and waited upon God for addition of such other things as he judged necessary They came not hither for the World or for Land or Traffick but for Religion and for liberty of Conscience in the Worship of God which was their only design and accordingly God blessed them and gave them the desire of their hearts they had the priviledges of God's Kingdom to their great content and satisfaction he added outward things above what was or could be expected in a Wilderness and when the first way of supply began to be stopped up God in his merciful providence opened another by turning us into a way of Trade and Commerce to further our more comfortable subsistence So God was pleased to bless our Issachar in his Tents and our Zebulun in their goings out who still called the People to the mountain and offered Sacrifices of Righteousness while they did thus like Solomon that sent his Ships to Ophir which brought in that which was of necessary and of substantial use God blessed them and made them see his salvation but when men could not content themselves in such a way of dealing but Traded only for Apes and Peacocks as was said by Mr. C. that is brought in nothing but Sack and Sugar Commodities to make fuel for Lust and called young people not to the mountain of the Lords house but to our own private recesses to offer Sacrifice to Bacchus and Venus and burns Incense to the evil Fiend hath not God broken our Ships at Ezion Geber and is he not now laying the Axe to the root of our Religion as well as Civil Rights and Liberties and begins to cut us short every way Hath not God called to contend by Fire and by Water by Famine and by Blasting Mildew Sword and Pestilence and is not his hand stretched out still Our Estates and Persons are spoiled by Murderers and barbarous Mahometans and it is to be feared the Lords controversie is not yet ended The Daughters of our Sion walks with stretched out necks c. And may we not find an Inventory of our Virgins Wardrobes in the third Chapter of Isaiah The Ensignes of Pride are exalted in our high places and all the produce in a manner of the whole Countrey is converted to maintain a commerce of superfluous vanities God threatens not to save but severely punish the Minister and Schollar the Mistriss and her Hand-maid for such thing as these yea to cut off the Tabernacles Jacob for such things as these 2. That Generation were zealous for the Worship of God they would by no means admit of any mixture of humane Inventions with divine Institutions in the matter of Gods Worship When they came over hither they were as Rasa Tabula fit to receive any Impression from the spirit of truth either as to Doctrine or Worship It might have been said of them in way of commendation that they could not bear them which were evil and seducers from the way of truth and that they tried them which said they were Apostles and were not and did find them Liars They also hated the deeds of the Nicholaitans which were also hateful to the spirit of the Lord Jesus They kept the word of Christs patience they were also kept from the hour of Temptation None were suffered among them to wear a rough Garment to deceive but they were ready to shew the wounds which they received in the house of their Friends none were