That this spirit may make them all like Jethro's Magistrate men of courage fearing God and dealing truly so shall all their deliberations and determinations tend to the glory of God the reall honour and happinesse of His sacred Majesty and the peace and prosperity both of Church and Common-wealth To which I doubt not but all true Protestants will say Amen And thus having shewed first what you are here exhorted to do viz. to Pray and next for what you are exhorted to pray viz. for Peace It now onely remains that I acquaint you for whose peace it is that you are exhorted thus to pray viz. for the peace of Jerusalem for so stands the Text O pray for the peace of Jerusalem Jerusalem signifies the vision of peace It was the Metropolis of Palestina and it was so denominated from two parts in it one of which was call'd Jebus the Mount on which God commanded Abraham to offer up his son Isaac otherwise call'd Mount Moriah or Sion on which afterwards the Temple was built and Davids tower The other part was call'd Shalom and it was erected at first by Melchisedech King of Righteousnesse as Lyra notes in his Glosse on the 28 Chapter of Genesis And now if you put the two words expressing the two parts together it makes Jebushalom and for Euphonies sake Jerusalem And by this very name the holy Catholike Church is often set forth in Scripture as in the 41 Chapter of Isaiah Isa 4â— 27 where God promiseth by his Prophet that he will give to Jerusalem one that brings good tidings that is a Saviour to the Church as Oleaster and others expound it And in the 4 Chapter to the Galathians Galat. 14.26 the Apostle saith that Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all Upon which words Hugo Cardinalis glosseth thus In hoc quod dicitur sursum notatur altitudo quod Jerusalem pacis multitudo quod libera libertatis amplitudo quod mater omnium charitas foecunditas that is In this that the Church is call'd Jerusalem is intimated multitude of peace that she 's said to be above denotes altitude of place that she is free shews her ample liberty and that she is the Mother of us all sets forth her charity and foecundity Jerusalem then is here a type of Christs Church for whose peace and prosperity we are bound in duty to pray continually Now the reasons why the Church of God is stil'd Jerusalem are many give me leave onely with a light pensil to touch some few of the chief For First as Jerusalem was the Metropolis of Palestina and all the Jews esteem'd it as their Mother so the Church is Mater credentium The Mother of all true beleevers as Saint Cyprian speaks Illius foetu nascimur saith he illius lacte nutrimur spiritu ejus animamur c. And so truly is she our Mother in a qualified sense that the same Saint Cyprian and after him Saint Augustine affirm peremptorily Non potest habere Deum patrem qui non habet ecclesiam matrem He cannot possibly have God to his Father who hath not the Church to his Mother And therefore no marvell though our present Sectaries which renouncing the Communion of the Church will have none of her to their Mother cannot endure to use the Lords prayer in which they must say Our Father Secondly as the Israelites were enjoyn'd by God at least three times every yeer to come Exod. 23.4 and appear before him in Jerusalem Even so are we all bound to meet in the Church which is the Congregation of all Christians and herein all true Christians do meet together in the unity of judgement and affection When God in the first Chapter of Genesis had gather'd together the waters unto one place Gen. 1.10 it is said that he saw that it was good And thereupon Saint Basil excellently notes that if the gathering together of the elementary waters was good then the gathering together of Gods people Apo. 17 15. who are the mysticall waters spoken of in the 17 of the Apocalypse must needs be very good yea if the one was good the other must needs be better And therefore I may truly say to such Sectaries as out of an affectation of singular holinesse separate themselves from the Church as sometimes Mr. Calvin himself did to the Anabaptists When under colour of perfection you can endure no imperfection neither in the body nor yet in the cloaths of the Church you must be admonish'd that this your seperation is caus'd by the devil who puffs you up with pride and seduceth you with hypocrisie Thirdly as Ierusalem was the chief seat both of the priesthood 1 King 9.10 and Kingdom for Salomon built the Temple and the Pallace together So in the Church there is both the Kingdom and Priesthood of Christ whereby both as a King he raigns over and as a Priest he instructs all the true Subjects and Citizens of the same Yea in the first Chapter of the Apocalyps Apoc. 16 he makes all the living members of his Church Kings and Priests in a qualified fence Or as St. Peter calls them 1. Pet. 2.9 a Royall priesthood Quid enim tam regium saith Leo quam subditum Deo animum corporis sui esse rectorem Quid tam sacerdotalâ— quam immaculaâ—as piotaris â—astias de altari cordis offerne Psal 76.2 Fourthly Jerusalem was the onely place in which God was known and worshipped His Temple was built there there he spake unto them both with his own mouth and by the mouth of his holy Prophets there was the Oracle between the Cherubins there was the chair of Moses and there the law was both duely propounded and eke truly expounded unto the people 1 Tim 3.15 And in the Church God is known and worship'd aright for this is the Pillar and Ground of Truth saith the Apostle That is The Church serves to the truth for those speciall ends and uses which pillars do to men For One use of pillars is to preserve the remembrance of things past to posterity to which end Absolom rear'd his pillar and thus doth the Church keep the truth of God as it were upon perpetuall record A second use of pillars is to expose to open view such things as are fastned upon them as in our Cathedralls the Arms Scutchions and Epitaphs of worthies deceas'd are hung upon pillars and such a kind of pillar is the Church to the truth for it exposeth all the Canonicall Books to the People of God A third use of pillars is for the supportation of the fabrick which is built upon them and such a pillar is the Church to the truth Gods true Religion and all truth necessary to salvation is to be had in the Church which doth indeed support the Common-wealth and therefore they which with Sampson in the 16th chapter of Judges thrust as this pillar with all their might will ere they be
17.11 though it be but private for as Solomon speaks in the 17 of the Proverbs Better is a dry morsell of bread if peace be with it then a house full of sacrifices with strife and contention But as every good thing the more common it is the better it is Luk. 1 74. so publike peace is a far greater blessing for hereby we enjoy that excellent priviledge which Zachary sings of in the first Chap. of S. Luke viz. That being delivered from the hands of our enemies we may serve God without fear in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our lives And yet if we ascend a degree or two higher viz. to the consideration either of Internall peace of the minde and conscience here Ephes 4 7. or of that Eternall peace which is promised us hereafter we must needs acknowledge each of these to be that Peace of God which passeth all understanding But passing over these two last Branches of good peace as not being aim'd at by the Psalmist in the Text I will keep my self onely to this outward publike peace which we are all here exhorted to pray for And however this outward peace in respect of each mans particular be not so rich a blessing as the inward yet such and so great it is in it self that Artaxerxes by the very light of Nature said Peace is such a good thing as all men desire Pacem te poscimus omnes And S. Paul in the second Chapter of the first Epistle to Timothy proposeth it as the chief Motive why we should pray for Kings 1 Tim 2.2 and all that be in Authority viz. That under them we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godlinesse and honesty As if the Civill Magistrates office had but these two ends viz. To settle Piety in the Church and Peace in the Common-wealth And the truth is That the Church and Common-wealth are so lincked together that the peace of the one doth redound to the other for as the Secretaries of Nature observe that the Marygold opens with the Sun and shuts with the shade even so when the Sun-beams of Peace shine upon the Common-wealth then by the reflection of those beams the Church dilates and spreads it self as in the 9 Chap. of the Acts Acts 9.31 Then had the Churches rest thorowout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the holy Ghost were multiplied Mark there how peace not onely edifies but multiplies the Church And on the other side when the Countries glory is once eclipsed then is the Churches beauty soon dimmed and clouded as all men whom the god of this world hath not blinded will confesse at this day they see plain enough in this languishing State Not without great reason therefore did the Lord command his peculiar people the Jews even in Captivity to pray for the peace and prosperity of the Babylonians in the 29 Chapter of Jeremy and that because 〈…〉 peace thereof they should have peace 〈…〉 Churches peace depends upon the peace of the Kingdom in which it is planted And accordingly it is the Churches prayer in the 144 Psalm that there may be no Invasion Ps 144.13 no leading into Captivity no complaining in our Streets And yet some phanatick Sectaries there be among us who having evill will at the peace and prosperity of this our Sion and being men of desperate opinions and despicable fortunes themselves count it good fishing in troubled waters Iudg. 17.2 not caring with Micah their good master how much they rend and tear the Churches garments so their own may be whole these in the exuberancy of their misgrounded and misguided zeal do both preach and pray against publike Peace Rom. 20.3 as inconsistent with the Independency or rather Anarchy they aim at and therefore even to hoarsenesse they cry down all fair wayes and means of Accommodation And not a few whom the Church and State finde to be a malignant party having little else to do make it now their trade to lye both by whole-sale and retayl they invent lyes and vent lyes they tell lyes and write lyes and print lyes and this they do as confidently and impudently as if they were informed by that lying spirit which entered as a Voluntier into Ahabs Prophets ◠Ki 22.22 and by lying and raising false rumours they beget jealousies and fears in the people that so they may foment the difference and enlarge the distance between His sacred Majesty and the Parliament and by blowing the coles which they themselves first kindled may at last set all in combustion and bring all to confusion And which makes the disease more desperate and the cure more doubtfull when any of the sons of peace hath convin'cd these Bountefues of disturbing the publike-weale against both law and conscience yet they palliate all by pretending the spirit as having some extraordinary Inspirations Illuminations Revelations of the spirit for all they do But since it appears by their seditious courses and pernicious practices that the way of peace they have not known Rom. 3.17 let all the world judge whether I may not justly apply unto these that which our Saviour himself said to some others instigating him to call for fire from heaven Luk. 9.55 in the 9 Chapter of Saint Luke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They know not of what manner of spirit they are And all men else do now begin to know them by their fruits Had they bin a while in their forefathers coats Mat. 7.16 or felt they but the pressures of War as our dismayed and dismembered neighbouring Nations do yea but as bleeding Ireland doth at this day then sure they would soon be brought on their very knees to acknowledge That the most glorious Crown of gold in all the world is not worthy to be compared with the now so much contemned Garland of Peace God be thanked ever since the Reformation though our Sectaries will not allow it that Name untill they have throwly reformed both Church and State even to deformity we have lived in peace and plenty God be thanked we never knew what it is to hear the murdering Pieces about our ears or to see our Churches and houses flaming over our heads whilst the flame gave light to the mercilesse souldier to run away with our goods we never yet heard the fearfull cracks of their fals mixed with the confused out-cries of men killing encouraging to kill or resist and the hideous schriking of women children God be thanked we never saw tender babes snatch'd from the Brests of their mothers or ript out of their Wombs and ere they were a span long either panting on the stones of sprawling on the Pikes and the poor pure Virgin ravish'd ere she may have leave to die God be thanked we never saw men and beasts lie together wallowing in their gore and the gastly
aware bring the whole fabrick about their eares to the certain ruine of themselves and others Lastly as Jerusalem was built and compacted together a City at Unity within it self as we finde at the third verse Psal 122 3 Even so all the true Members of the Church do and will endeavour to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Ephes 4 3 as being all washed from their sins in the same Laver of Regeneration all tyed together by the Sinews and Ligaments of the same Christian Profession all fed and nourish'd by the sincere milk of the same Word all feasted at the Table of the same Lord all assumed by the Spirit of Adoption Ephes 4 6. to be Heires of the same Kingdom In a word Since there is but one God and Father of all Gal. 4.26 and but one Church the Mother of all and all are but the Members of one Mysticall Body Rom. 12.4 Gal. 5 12. and there is but one Spirit whereby this one Body is animated and informed and the fruits of this one Spirit are love joy peace c. Oh do but lay it to heart what a foul stain and shame it must needs prove to the Protestant Profession if we should not be like Jerusalem a City at Unity within our selves And thus it appears that Jerusalem here is a Type of the Church for whose peace and prosperity we are all exhorted to pray Now upon what tearms the Peace of Christs Church stands at this day I am not able to declare yet what man of sound judgement and integrity doth not see and grieve to see it so shaken and shatter'd as it is St. Basil in his last Chapter de spiritu sancto taking into serious consideration the state of the Church in his time cries out Cui comparabibus c. To what shall we liken the present state of the Church And he answers Praelio navali quod ex veteri odio conflatum adeo processit ut ira sit immedicabilis utraque pars ruinam meditetur It 's like saith he to a Sea-fight which being caus'd by an old grudge is gone so far that their wrath cannot be appeas'd and either side meditates nothing but ruine Pone simul saith the same Father quod densa caligo turbo vehemens procella immensa hostium amicorum nullam discrimen symbola ignota quam seditionem invidia ambitio fecerunt Adde saith he that there is withall a grosse mist a vehement whirl-winde an huge storm no discerning between friends and foes the Colours cannot be distinguished which sedition was raised by envy and ambition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fundamentum doctrinae munimentum disciplinae convulsum est All the bounds of our fore-fathers are transgressed The foundation of Doctrine and fortification of Discipline is plucked up Per excessum aâ—t defectum as he goes on rectum pietatis dogma transiliunt alii ad JudaismuÌ„ alii ad Paganismum Nec divina Scriptura nec Apostolica traditio litem dirimit Unus amicitiae modus ad gratiaÌ„ loqui inimicitiae sufficiens causa opinionibus dissentire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hinc rerum novatoribus multa copia ad seditionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that is By excesse or defect the right determination of Piety is skip'd over by some to Judaism by others to Paganism Neither the Scripture which is Divine nor Apostolicall Tradition can end the strife The onely means of friendship is to speak placentia and it is a sufficient cause of enmity to differ in opinions Every one is a Divine and hence Innovators have matter enough of sedition And they take upon them the over-sight of the Church who never had any other Imposition of hands but what they laid upon themselves c. This is the History which Saint Basil who lived within lesse then 400 yeers after the Incarnation of our Lord writes of the state of the Church in his time and whether it be not a Prophesie and that Prophesie fulfilled in our times I leave it in you to judge And if any man desire to see the Picture of the Church of God drawn to the life at this day let him conceive that he saw a silly poor maiden sitting alone in a Wildernesse and beleaguer'd on all sides with Bulls of Bashan devouring Wolves Herodian Foxes foaming Boars greedy Bears grinning Dogs fiery Serpents corroding Vipers stinging Scorpions I mean such men-beasts as Saint Paul fought with at Ephesus in the 15 Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 15 32. men in shape beasts in condition yea and worse then beasts saith S. Ambrose Nam omni bestia bestialior est homo rationem habens non secundum rationem vivens She is fiercely assaulted on the one side by unbelievers on the other side by mis-believers on the right hand by the contentious oppositions of Schismaticks on the left by the blasphemous propositions of Hereticks openly wrong'd by persecuting Tyrants and secretly wring'd by backbiting Hypocrites So many and many are the enemies of the Churches Peace But though they be never so many and mighty yet there be but two sorts at this day which do especially infect and infest her viz. The Schismatick and the Papist The one doth disrumpere charitatis vincula untying the Bond of Peace the other doth corrumpere fidei dogmata undoing the Unity of the Spirit The Schismatick is different even in things of their own nature indifferent and had rather lose the substance viz. Grace and Peace then yield never so little into Ceremony He is no friend to Charity The Papist is almost indifferent in things of their own nature different not caring what becomes of Truth to compasse his own ends He is no friend to Verity And Both of them spurn at the Peace of the Church as at a common foot-ball Judg. 15.4 being herein like Sampsons Foxes sever'd in their heads but tyed together by the tayls with firebrands between them No marvell then though without the Church the coÌ„mon enemy beards and braves the poor Christian despising our little number and yet in truth much lesse then we seem through so many in-bred Sects and Schisms when as even within the Pale of the Church and among those that professe Christianity we see on the one side our irreconciliable adversaries the Papists still plotting and practising the ruine of the Church Reformed among us And on the other side so many sons of Thunder whetting their tongues in Pulpits with cursed and bitter worâ—s preaching common invectives against the Lawfull Governours and Government both of Church and State and animating the giddy multitude to take up Arms as if the Protestant Faith could not be supported but by their Faction and the power of true Religion could stand with Rebellion So that if ever the Church had cause to pray for peace sure now is the time when the enemy springs out of her own sides and bowells But
pray for the peace of Ierusalem Secondly let us all like so many good children be prodigall not only of our time and estates but even of our dearest blood in our holy Mother the Churches cause for which Christ gave himself both an offering and a Sacrifice As an offering in his life so Ephes 5 2. a sacrifice in his death There was never any Citie on earth more bravely defended against a forraign Enemy then was Ierusalem against Titus and Vespatian and only upon a conceit that this City was eternall and should never be destroyed But they erred not knowing the Scriptures Mat. 23.37 for the truth is that all the promises of Ierusalems perpetuity and continuance were not made to that Ierusalem which was built with materiall walls for that Ierusalem kill'd the Prophets and ston'd the men of God which were sent unto her and so brought the guilt of innocent blood upon her Gal. â— 25 and is therefore in bondage with her children even unto this day but to the Church of God 1 Pet. 2.4 that Ierusalem which as St. Peter speaks is compacted of living stones cemented with Christs blood built by faith and consisting in the fellowship of the Saints whose maker and builder is God Mat. 16.18 and against this the spirit of truth assures us that neither men nor devills shall ever be able to prevail For as Socrates said of his Accusers Necare possunt nocere non possunt So may I say of the enemies of the Church that they may kill us if God permit but they cannot conquer us Rom. 8 37 For like Sampson we shall be victorious even in death it self at which time Iudges 16.30 with the Proto-martyr St. Steephen we shall see the heavens open Acts 7.56 and the Sonne of man standing at the right hand of God Rom. 8.31 and if we stand for him and he stand for us then who can withstand us And yet as in Ierusalem there were factions by which as Iosephus reports more of the natives and Citizens were slaine within the walls then by the common enemy without so it is most true that there ever have been and that there ever will be factions in the Church though I must tell you that no one age that ever I read of did so abound with them as doth the present Oh what herds swarms and sholes of Sectaries have been seen of late These are dangerous and if not prevented in time they will be deadly enemies to the peace of the Protestant Church established by Law among us And to each of these God our Father and the Church our Mother will say hereafter as the Romane Fulvius did to his revolting son heretofore Non ego te Catilinae genui adversus patriam sed patriae adversus Catilinam Which with some small variation of the words may be rendered thus I begat not thee to assist the Sectaries in their sedition but the true Protestants in their subjection Rom. 13.1 to God for his own sake and to his anointed over us for Gods sake who saith peremptorily in the 13th Chapter to the Romans Let every soule be subject to the higher powers Marke Every one must be subject without excepting or exempting any one Thirdly and lastly let us Oh let us all labour to heal the breaches of the Church as once the Israelites did to build up the wals of their Jerusalem See in the 2d of Nehemiah how carefully he procur'd means from Artaxerxes to reaedify Jerusalem and how couragiously and unanimously the people of God went about it in the midst of so great dangers that they were faign to work with tooles in one hand and swords in the other And thus if we would approve our selves to be true Israelites must we all do our utmost endeavour to build up the Church of God or at least to be repairers of the breaches that are made in the same And this we must do the rather because the Romish Sanballats on the one side and the Rammish Sectaries on the other strive so eagerly at this day to set up their Babell it may be properly so call'd and to pull down our Ierusalem as of old Tertullian complain'd of the Hereticks Nostra suffodiunt ut sua â—dificent Yea the truth is that these our profess'd adversaries on both sides laugh at and jeer us to our faces as Sanballat and Tobiah then did and yet let us be so far from being discourag'd from so religious an enterprize that let us go on in our prayers to God and honest endeavours with men untill we have brought it to perfection Not doubting but what Nehemiah then promis'd Neh 2.20 will in due time be made good unto us The God of heaven will prosper us therefore let us arise and gobnild And that our building in this kinde may go the better forward let us all minde and speak the same things Phil. 2.2 for if in the building of Babell division of tongues hindered the work Gene. 11 8 how much then in that of our Ierusalem Then for conclusion of all let me say unto you with the Apostle in the 13. Chapter of the 2d Epistle to the Corinthians Be ye all of one minde live in peace and the God of peace shall be with you And with you after a speciall manner viz. 2. Cor. 13.11 by blessing your prayers and practise in this kinde with peace all kinds of peace viz. Peace of body in a well-ordered temperature of the severall parts peace of the sensitive soul in a just restraining of the appetite peace of the reasonable soul in the sweet Harmony between action and speculation peace both of body and soul in a sober course of life peace between God and man by faith and obedience peace between man and man by a mutuall entercourse of love politicall peace by the subjection of every soule to the higher powers Ecclesiasticall peace by our joynt prayers for Ierusalem and universall peace by the tending of every creature to that very end for which God made it temporall peace here and eternall peace hereafter And this he grant us who is the God and Father of Peace and that for his dear Son sake who is the Prince of Peace To both whom with the Holy Ghost the blessed spirit of peace three persons and one invisible indivisible and incomprehensibly glorious Lord God be ascribed all Glory Power and Praise now and for evermore Amen FINIS