Simon Magnus to oppose Simon Peter from whom all the Hereticks of later date derive their pedigree He to raze the foundations while the Church was but yet in building contradicts three main points of Christian faith The Trinity of persons Christs passion and Mans future resurrection In Domitians time Elion and Cerinthus broached their pernicious opinions against the Divinity of our blessed Saviour the occasion if good Authors may be credited why St. John then alive published his Gospel The Gnosticks had already got head men of such abominable principles and flagitious practices that a modest tongue and a chast ear cannot with Civility admit the naming them In following ages these Hereticks became more numerous and thereby more mischievous How mightily the Arrian blasphemy prevailed all Church-Histories witness St. Hieromes expression though it savour of Rhetorick may be allowed without any great Hyperbole Ingemuit totus mundus et miratus est se factum esse Arrianum The world groaned under its burden and admired to see it self devoted to Arrius Nay so far were the Doctors of the Church seduced that Athunasius alone stickled considerably for the Orthodox Doctrine there was Vnus Athanasius contra totum mundum et totus contra unum Athanasium It would be tedious to trace the footsteps of these destroyers to our days Were all books burnt were all records of former times lost could we betray our selves into such incredulity that nothing which our Fathers have delivered would gain our belief yet if we will take up short of the madness to distrust our eyes and ears we shall soon perceive a possibility of this mischief Which of us are strangers to the Quakers plea of perfection and preferring Enthustasticall revelations above the Holy Scriptures Who knows not that the Anabaptists to defend their not baptizing infants implead the doctrine of Originall sin Some have taken pains to rob the soul of its happiness immediately after death and to lull it asleep with the body till the general resurrection Others would disprove the sufficiency of Christs sufferings and a third sort would devest both Him and the Holy Ghost of their Godhead These things through the licentiousness of the Press are exposed to publick view and made too manifest to be concealed Pass from the foundations of doctrine to those of Government And have we not seen a possibility of their destruction We have lived in those days when the voice of laws could not be heard for the clashing of armour when men defended their Soveraign by invading his Authority and fought for their King with Swords drawn against him when they put Him in prison to establish Him in his throne and to make Him glorious cut off his head And how came these things to pass Satans agents are subtle they do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in St. Judes phrase v. 4. furtim intrare steal in among well meaning Christians and with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple St. Austin declaring how Hereticks destroy the foundations saith it is done In conventiculis suis ubi parvulos et interioris lucis ignaros non lacte nutriunt Rom. 16.8 Aug. in loc sed venenis necant In their Conventicles and private meerings where these crafty chapmen instead of nourishing their ignorant hearers with the sincere milk of the word poison their souls with erroneous doctrines Whether or no our miseries have happened by the same means let sober men judge and if these courses be continued what the issue will be all lovers of peace and truth tremble to think Certainly the foundations destroyed we can neither hope to be holy nor happy not holy for this very supposition doth imply 2. The iniquity of it It is a wicked thing if the foundations be destroyed Can any thing be more notoriously evill than the destroying that faith which Christ and his Apostles preached to the world the truth whereof those Apostles sealed with their blood and for the defence of which we ought 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 summis viribus certare Jude v. 5. earnestly to contend for the faith which was once delivered to the Saints Besides corruption in Doctrine is usually attended with debauchedness in conversation Truth and Holiness stand or fall together some Arch-Hereticks indeed seemed very pious for a while till their opinions met with considerable entertainment Devotion like a Crutch must support them while weak when their legs are strengthened they throw it away The first and main opposers of truth were known to be men of flagitious lives Witness the laseivious carriage of Simon Magus with his Helena of Montanus with his Prisca and Maximilla the strange uncleaness of the Nicolaitans and the abhominable obscoenity of the Gnosticks particularly recorded by Epiphanius And no marvell if our practices are irregular when our Judgements are perverted if we turn Gods grace into lasciviousness when we come to deny the Lord that bought us Look we upon the foundations of Government and the derstoying them will appear a manifest wickedness God hath implanted in mans nature an inclination to live sociably Without laws there can be no societies because there can be nothing of order and rule He is the Author of power and dominion By me Kings reign Prov. 18.15 God sets the Crown upon a Princes head and puts the Scepter into his hand to whom thus exalted he hath commanded our subjection and reverence Let every soul be subject to the higher powers Rom. 13.1 and charged upon us a conscientious obedience in all things lawfull ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake v. 5. so that hence it follows They who endeavour the subversion of laws or resist the Authority of their Kings whose the laws are sin expresly against the word of God Which shews the iniquity of destroying the foundations And then no doubt we shall soon find 3. The misery or calamity which attends it implyed also in this supposition if the foundations be destroyed And truly what can we expect from sin but misery Heresies have done the Church more harm than persecutions The one hath scratched her face but the other hath gnawed her bowels The one hath sometimes put her into a feavour the other hath preyed upon her like a Gangreen it is the Apostles word 2 Tim. 2.17 But among those mischiefs which are inseparable attendants upon the prevalency of errors there is none more injures Christs mysticall body than the schismes and factions they directly occasion Truth is the parent of peace and concord while there is one faith there will be one spirit Error is the unhappy Mother of strifes and divisions Experience convinceth that difference in judgement will breed distance in affection and distance in affection will interrupt brotherly Communion As schisme disposeth to Heresie so doth Heresie to schisme nor can we imagine there should be a closuâ—e in devotions where there is not an agreement in opinions What grievous confusions happened in the
t ng up altar against altar barns against Churches new models of worship to cross the presribed form put us in fear that the foundations of Government are in a tottering condition For had these things no relation to Religion yet as thwartings of the Civil power they must needs bode mischief to the King and Kingdom Yet though these Pillars be so shrewdly shaken your seasonable assistance may not only secure them from quite falling but also establish them firm and unmoveable Let but men be throughly discouraged when they offend in this nature let them but a little feel your severity who have thus long contemned your clemency and they will either be reduced into good order or however become less irregular It is possible my words may be accused of cruelty sure there is no reason for it We judge it prudence if a fire happen rather to uncover the roof to throw away the tiles and break down some of the rafiers than suffer the house to be burnt to the ground And certainly it is better that some particular men especially when refractory and contumacious be curbed by those penalties which laws have provided than an whole Kingdom should either become a nest of Heresies or a field of blood But my zeal may perhaps make me presumptuous in offering to prescribe to your Lordships or these Gentlemen It is time to have done and I end all with this prayer God Almighty direct and guide you and all concerned in the publick affairs before you to His own Glory the Kings Honour the Kingdoms happiness the settling us upon those firm foundations of truth and peace Isai 63.7 that we who are members of the English Jerusalem may see it a praise in the whole earth and after we have served our Generations may be admitted into the new Jerusalem Heb. 11.10 that City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God there to reign in everlasting glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Honour Praise Dominion and Power henceforth and for evermore Amen CAESARS DUE Honour A SERMON Preached at St. Martins Church in Leicester May 29. 1669. before the Mayor and Aldermen By Tho. Stanhope A.M. Vicar of St. Margarets in Leicester CAESARS DUE Honour 1 Peter 2.17 Honour the King THese few words conclude the Epistle appointed for this Solemnity and the Church having chosen them for the occasion they cannot but be suitable for a discourse upon it The Day we celebrate in remembrance of those signal blessings it hath brought to us in a King 29. May 1630. as he was natus and renatus upon it born into the World and reborn to his Kingdom 29. May 1660. whereunto though he had a right before yet after a compelled exile now nine years ago he took possession of his Royal Palace And in the midst of our rejoycing for him it is but fit we should learn our duty to him which the Apostle hath shortly summed up in the Word Honour Honour the King At the 13. verse of this Chapter is propounded a due Christian carriage towards Magistrates probably enough there set down for some extraordinary reason It seems those early dayes of Christianity were tainted with the strange error that a dutiful Subjection to Authority could not consist with but was an abridgement of our Gospel liberty This is intimated verse 16. As free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness but as the servants of God A freedome indeed is granted but then that freedom must be rightly used not to encourage sedition or dis-obedience to make it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a cloak of maliciousness to cover faction ambition sinister designs or any thing of that nature but that men should duly and rightly use it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the servants of God Upon the mention of which Word the Apostle as it were recapitulates and drawes the whole service into a narrow compass verse 17. With relation to four Objects thereof 1. Mankind in general Honour all men 2. Christians in particular Love the brotherhood 3. God as the principal Fear God 4. Our Prince as immediately under him Honour the King It may not be amiss to draw some few observations from the placing these two last together which shall onely be done in a few words before I fix upon my main Subject And here let us note Obser 1 That the same infallible Spirit which hath declared a duty to be owing unto God hath likewise declared a duty to be owing to our King That very Scripture nay that very verse which calls upon us to fear God cals upon us also to honour the King It is a gross mistake if we fancy our selves any more at freedome from the one than we are from the other Obser 2 The same infallible Spirit which hath declared the duty owing unto God and the duty owing to the King hath linked these two duties together There is nothing between to part them but as soon as the one is delivered the other follows Fear God Honour the King Nay as if this were not sufficient Solomon connects them together with a copulative Particle Prov. 24.21 My Son fear thou the Lord and the King Now Quae Deus conjunxit c. What God hath joyned together let no man put asunder In vain do we think ever to be truly pious towards God till we be truly loyal to our King Obser 3 The same infallible Spirit which hath in a large comprehensive word declared the duty we ow unto God hath in a like comprehensive word declared the duty we owe unto the King That our returns to neither of them may be narrow and scant Fear hath sometimes that full signification to include all acts of piety This do and live for I fear God Gen. 42.18 Honour so large an acceptation as to comprehend all service and duty Honour thy Father and thy Mother Exod. 20.12 Now as the first of these is used here with respect to the Lord Fear God so the latter with respect to our Soveraign Honour the King In which Words there are two parts 1. The Act Honour 2. The Object the King both which with a consideration of the persons to whom this Epistle was written viz. the believing Jewes converted to Christianity make it plain that the duty hath relation to us as a Christian precept delivered by Christs Apostle to those who were then Christs followers and so we also stand engaged to Honour the King A truth which will appear as if written with a Sun beam when we have enquired into the nature of this Honour and the grounds whereupon it is called for In the dispatch whereof for methods sake because the word Honour is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and admits of several significations under each of them I shall subjoyn the reasons for it warranted by Scripture whence we have the best direction for our duty and confirmed by the testimony of the Primitive
for fear of losing their estates some of their lives notwithstanding the several attempts for his restauration which had proved fruitless and the various projects which had been dis-appointed yet God wrought his own work in his own way at his own time He stirred up a Noble-Hearted Subject our renowned Generall whom God long bless for bringing such a blessing to us directed him in the management of his affairs made him successfull in his enterprizes by whose wisdom courage and faithfulness our King was brought home quietly and peaceably without the shedding one drop of blood 1 Kings 6.7 I was going to say his return was like the building of Solomons Temple without noise but that the Solemnities of this day proved it otherwise when the Canons in the Tower the Bells in the Churches and the acclamations of the people vied one with another which should loudliest proclaim his welcome to London Certainly God did herein out-do our very expectations It is a day we have reason to remember it brought us a mercy we have reason to prize To sum up all Let us be sure to honour that King whom God by such a miraculous preservation hath honoured Psal 118.24 And since this is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoice and be glad in it blessing and praising the great worker of wonders for this his wonderfull mercy vouchsafed unto us For which and all other benefits bestowed upon us To the Eternall and Glorious Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost be continually ascribed Glory Praise Dominion and Thanksgiving now henceforth and for evermore Amen Davids WORK AND REST. A SERMON Preached at St. Martins Church in Leicester September 21. 1669. Before the Election of the Mayor By Tho. Stanhope A. M. Vicar of St. Margarets in Leicester TO THE Right VVorshipful The Mayor and Aldermen of the Borough of Leicester Right Worshipful I Here present to your Eyes what formerly was delivered to your Ears God grant it may make a deep impression upon your Hearts It is a Sermon preached by Command and was at the preaching favourably entertained by the persons principally concerned in it To prevent the trouble of giving several Copies desired by some good Friends which I thought might be attended with sundry Inconveniencies I have chosen this way of publishing it in Print that it may be ready at hand to do God his Church and your selves a further service I must ever thankfully remember the kindness received by an unanimous vote in your Hall at my first settlement among you and the continuance of a fair Respect which as I still experience so I desire to declare it to the World My capacity will not reach to a better acknowledgement than the offering this Token of Gratitude into your hands God Almighty bless it to the good end for which it was designed that by following Davids example in serving your Generations His Holy Name may receive due Honour you may be Instrumental to do much good and your Corporation being Governed with Care and Conscience may flourish in Peace and Plenty while the Sun and Moon endure This is and shall be the fervent Prayer of Your Humble Servant in Christ Jesus Tho. Stanhope Leicester Novem. 9. 1669. DAVIDS Work and Rest Acts 13.36 For David after he had served his own Generation by the Will of God fell on sleep IT is no new thing in Scripture to meet with Articles of Faith confirmed by force of Argument Rational proofes make the deepest impression upon rational creatures Thus St. Paul spends a whole Chapter in proving the Resurrection of our bodies 1 Cor 15. And here great part of a Sermon in proving the resurrection of Christs body The medium he useth is a passage of Davids which that Prophetick Psalmist had long before sung in his name upon a foresight of his triumph over death Psal 16.10 Thou wilt not leave my soul in bell neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption Now that these words were a praediction concerning Christ the Apostle makes out Syllogistically one part of the Argument being implied the other part expressed That implied is the ground or foundation of the rest and may thus be formed Either this place must be understood of David or of Christ But it cannot be understood of David Therefore it must be understood of Christ Where the Minor being only lyable to exception is strengthened by that which we find expressed The two propositions are in two verses David after he had served his own generation by the Will of God fell on sleep and saw corruption in this But he whom God raised up meaning Christ saw no corruption in the next Whence the conclusion naturally follows Therefore the Psalmists words of not seeing corruption must be understood not of David but of Christ And thus the Text stands in its relative consideration as it respects the business our Apostle was then managing and the Article of faith he was then confirming But I pass from that to take it absolutely as it neither looks backward nor forward yet contains in it self those truths which may be seasonable for this occasion for this Auditory For David after he had served c. To entertain you with any tedious discourse of Davids person or Criticisones upon his Name would be ill husbandry both of your patience and my time His Character is so exactly given by the Spirit of truth and his life so largely written in the Scriptures of truth that he who runs may read and he who reads may understand them I shall confine my self to what is here mentioned After he had served 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Substantive whence the Verb comes properly signifies an Vnder-rewer ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sub remige qui remum in navi agit he that tugs at the oare in the Ship a Work of constant and extraordinary pains And it is commonly if not alwayes in the New Testament used of serving in Publick Employments a sign that men when called to the Management of great Offices are called to a great deal of trouble The Mace and the Scarlet doe not more naturally bring bonour and respect than care and toile along with them No marvel then that honos and onus sound so like or the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated honour should be derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to be burdensome Men will scarce believe that King spake his thoughts when he told the Woman applauding his happiness Knewest thou what cares are wrapt up in a Crown ne ex luto quidem thou wouldst not take it up out of the dirt but he that wore it felt how heavy it sat upon him and made both his head and shoulders to ake That by the way After he had served his own Generation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To understand this word aright you must know that Generation is especially taken two wayes either for the whole time one lives the duration of a