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earth_n	body_n	moon_n	sun_n	6,017	5	7.8244	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87808	The life-guard of a loyall Christian, described in a sermon, preached at St Peters Corn-hill, upon Sunday in the afternoone, May 7. 1648. / By Paul Knell, Master in Arts of Clare-Hall in Cambridge: sometimes chaplaine to a regiment of curiasiers in his Majesties Army.	Knell, Paul, 1615?-1664.	1648 (1648)	Wing K682; Thomason E444_10; ESTC R204196	15,800	23

on them But to come nearer to the Text. We propounded some examples out of Scripture of men that passed safely through fire literally taken The first may be Lot God usually proportioneth the punishment to the sin Sodome burned in lust and was therefore burnt with fire but though brimstone and fire were rained upon the Sodomites yet God delivered Lot out of the midst of the overthrow non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The second example may be Isaac who came very neare the fire Behold the fire and wood nay behold he is laid on the Altar upon the wood yet for all this God suffered not Abraham to doe him any hurt he made an offer to offer up Isaac and the will went for the deed non combureris thou shalt no be burnt The third example may be the Israelites in whose company the fire was kindled there went out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense Num. 16.35 But though the flame burnt up the ungodly mutiniers yet every obedient Israelite escaped non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The fourth example may be the three Salamanders in the furnace Dan. 3. who though they walked through the fire yet their coats were not changed nor so much as the smell of fire had passed on them And this last example is without example I never heard of any fire-proof before for fire is of a most devouring and consuming nature turning all into its own substance that commeth neer it yet the children of the fire the sparks hurt not these three children with the shields of their faith they quenched the violence of fire when they walked through the fire they were not burnt neither did the flame kindle upon them And to these I might adde though somewhat out of order the example of Abram whom God brought out of Vr of the Caldees Gen. 15.7 Now Vr as Hugo observeth signifieth fire the Greek word from which our English word seemeth to come hath but one letter more and therefore the Hebrews had a tradition that because Abram would not worship the fire as the Caldeans did he should have been cast into the fire had not God given him notice of it But though Vr signifie fire yet the ordinary glosse taketh it not for a common but for a proper name for the name of the Towne or Village where Abram dwelt This example therefore cannot claime kindred of the Text. I might more properly bring in our preservation from the Powder-treason but this is so beaten a path that I will not tread it at this time I will rather here answer a question that may rise from our Text for is this promise alway performed Thou shalt not be burnt the flame shall not kindle on thee what shall we say then to that fiery persecution in Queen Marys daies when there were so many Bethels in this Kingdome so many Cities wherein mens bones were burnt I answer it is true that the Church of Christ this Church in particular hath endured the fiery triall but as Rex non moritur so * Regina Psal 45. Ecclesia non comburitur as the King is never buried so the Church is never burnt James may die and so may Charles yet God maintain his life but the King let Levellers do what they can never dieth So Latimer may be burnt and Cranmer may be burnt but the Church ●s never burnt If Pagans should prevaile so far which God forbid as to burn up all the Christians or if Puritans should prevaile so far which heavens hinder as to burne up all the Protestants yet I verily believe that out of their very ashes God would raise up a new Phoenix cinis martyrū should be femen Ecclesiae the ashes of an old should be the seed of a new Church she shall not be so burnt as to be quite extinct neither shall the flame so kindle upon her And the application here of now may be briefly this Seeing God wil not suffer his Church to be finally burnt up by others this may teach us as it were to set on fire our selves not with the fire of lust it is better to marry then so to burn nor with the fire of wrath rather heap coales of fire upon the head of enemies but let it be with the vestall fire of devotion and affection let our hearts burne within us with love to God and men So shall neither the Sun burn us by day nor the Moon by night the Lord will preserve us from all evill it is even he that will keep both our bodies and our souls when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat when the Earth and the works therein shall be burnt up he will preserve and keep us from everlasting fire and exalt us to his coelum empyreum his fiery heaven there forever to behold him whose eyes are as a flame of fire and his feet like unto fine brasse as if they burned in a furnace And so ye have the safety of the Church in her passage through fire literally taken A word or two of her safety as she passeth through the fire of affliction and persecution when thou walkest through this fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee The nature of fire is congregare homogenea and segregare heterogenea a Refiner therefore is wont to bring his mine to the fire and by this means he severeth the silver from the drsse which is likewise the very practice of Almighty God it is the Prophet Malachy's similitude word for word Malac. 3.3 He shall sit as a Refiner and purifier of silver and he shall purifie the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver And the sweet Singer of Israel harpeth upon the same string Psal 66.10 Thou O God hast proved us thou also hast tried us like as silver is tried Non sicut foenum sed sicut argentum non in cineres convertisti sed sordes abluisti saith Saint Austin God trieth us not with a consuming but with a clensing fire turneth us not into ashes only taketh away our sullage and our ashes from us purely purgeth away our drosse and taketh away all our tin God purgeth men by affliction as the Israelites were to purge the spoile of the Midianites Num. 31.23 Every thing that may abide the fire ye shall make it go through the fire and it shall be clean God trieth men by affliction what mettle they are made of they that endure this fiery triall they are good gold they are Gods children they that endure it not they are but drosse they are but cast-awaies Good men are like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego though they walk through the fiery furnace of affliction yet they are not burnt up no not so much as singed but wicked men are like the Souldiers that bound and cast them in when they are yet but at the mouth of the fiery furnace when the fire of affliction but beginneth to seize upon them it prevaileth against them and consumeth them in a moment Good men are in this like clay the fire of affliction strengtheneth and confirmeth them but wicked men are like wax as wax melteth at the fire so doe the ungodly perish in the fiery triall affliction to them is like the fire that burneth up the wood and like the flame that consumeth the mountaines God maketh them like a fiery oven in time of his wrath the Lord destroyeth them in his displeasure and the fire consumeth them Affliction maketh wicked men a great deale worse as water becommeth much colder after heating then ever it would have been if it had never been heated As for the righteous it is not so with them God burneth them indeed throughly as the bricks of Babel were but this is onely as a Potter frameth his vessels in the fire that so they may be vessels unto honour and for the masters use though they walk through the fire yet they are not burnt neither doth the flame kindle upon them When Job's Wife heard of all the evill that God had brought upon her Husband she grew so mad so outragious and impatient that she would faine have perswaded him to make away with himselfe What saith she all that ever thou hadst taken away from thee is this the reward thou hast for thine integrity well serve God who will I would serve him no longer make good the Devils words if thou wilt be ruled by me doe as he said thou wouldest in such a case Curse God and die Job 2.9 But ye have heard of the patience of Job saith Saint James let his Wife therefore say what what she will he will have none of her counsell thou talkest like an asse saith he thou speakest like one of the foolish women And indeed as he goeth on and as our Soveraigne by his most exemplary patience seemeth to say shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evill also shall we receive health and not sicknesse wealth and not poverty peace and not war honour and not dishonour liberty and not restraint yes my brethren if we be Christians we must endure all And if we do this then we may assure our selves that although we sow in tears yet we shall reap in joy though God have suffered Rebels to ride over our heads though we have gone through fire and water yet ere it be long he will bring us and our Soveraigne out into a wealthy place our light affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory Which God of his infinite mercy vouchsafe to grant us for the merits of his Christ our Jesus To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost Three Persons one Immortall Invisible Indivisible onely wise God be rendred and ascribed as most due is All Honour Glory Power Praise Might Majesty Wisdome and Dominion the residue of this blessed day present and for evermore world without end Amen FINIS

are at home in the body we are not properly at home we are but in viâ in the way that leadeth us to it we are born from above and therefore there is our native countrey all the while we are on earth we are as it were going a pilgrimage to heaven And the application of this now may be twofold First seeing we are but passengers here and pilgrims this may serve to set spurs to us and hasten us toward our countrey For no passenger would willingly tarry long upon the way but maketh all the haste he can to get him home So let us think it our greatest punishment next to this Rebellious Reformation that we are constrained to dwell with Mesech to have our habitation among the tents of Kedar and therefore wish with holy David To have the wings of a Dove that so wee might flie home to heaven and be at rest Secondly though here we are but passengers yet seeing heaven is our home this may comfort us amidst all our plunderings and persecutions all our necessities and distresses For let a passenger meet with never so bad entertainment by the way yet hee will not greatly murmure at it I have better at home hee will say and it will not be long I hope ere I get thither So brethren as long as there are quarters taken up for us in heaven if we have any Christian courage let us not faint by the way be our usage never so course be our passage never so perillous Which leadeth me from the first part of the Text the Passenger the Church to the second which is her Passage and this I finde to be two-fold per aquas per ignes thorow waters and thorow fire Her first passage is per aquas when thou passest thorow the waters Which waters have sundry acceptions in holy Scripture the literall is first in nature and must be so in order And Hugo Cardinalis will have an Alleotheta here one tense put for another transieris for transibas when thou passest or shalt passe instead of when thou passedst or didst passe alluding to the passage of Noah in the deluge or rather to that of Israel thorow the Red Sea But whether this or no be the meaning these examples suite well with the Text and of the same nature we have some other in holy writ the example of Moses of Elijah and Elisha of the Disciples of Saint Paul I shall anon touch upon these in their proper place I shall here only shew you the severall acceptions of these waters the literall I have briefly pointed at already Secondly by waters we may understand the enemies of the Church So they are expressed by holy David Psal 88.17 They came round about me daily like water and compassed me together on every side And Psal 144.7 he prayeth after this manner Send down thine hand from above deliver me and take me out of the great waters from the hand of strange Children And Revel 17.15 the Angel expounding the vision of the great whore which sate upon many waters telleth Saint John in expresse words The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth they are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues Thirdly by waters we may understand heresies and doctrine of devills which are too common since we had neither King nor Bishop So Aretius and others expound that Revel 12.15 where we read that the Serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood Fourthly and lastly by waters we may understand the abysse of desperation So we may construe that of the Psalmist Psal 69. The waters are come in even unto my soul verse 1. I am come into deep waters verse 2. Let not the water-flood drowne me ver 16. The Churches second passage is per ignes when thou walkest thorow the fire Which is first literally to be taken and we have examples of some in Scripture that found a safe passage thorow this fire as Lot and Isaac and the Israelites and the three Children Secondly by fire we are to understand persecution and affliction according to that of the Psalmist Psalme 66. Thou laydest trouble upon our loynes ingressi sumus per ignem we went thorow the sire And St. Peter useth the same Metaphor Think it not strange concerning the fiery triall which is to trie you 1 Pet. 4.12 The result then of all is briefly this That it is the portion of the Church to passe thorow fire and water it is her destiny to suffer persecution and affliction Noahs Ark was a notable representation of the Church that was tossed upon the waves in the generall inundation so is this in the worlds troubled sea which cannot rest The disciples ship in the Gospell was another figure of the Church that was covered with waves almost overwhelmed with a raging tempest so this is filled with the scornful reproof of the wealthy the deep waters of the proud are ready to runne even over her soul The Church is a Ship the World is the Sea a sea of glasse mingled with fire Revel 15.2 Of glasse there is the brittle and inconstant condition of the world mingled with fire here are the troubles of the Church St. Peters fiery triall Troubled alas she is and so hath ever been Look upon Jacob look upon Joseph upon David upon the Son of David The time would fail me to tell you of Prophets and Apostles of the Martyrs Confessours and other holy men of God how they passed thorow the waters how they walked thorow the fire how they had triall of cruell mockings and scourgings yea moreover also of bonds and imprisonment how they were stoned as S. Stephen how they were sawne asunder as the Prophet Isaiah how they were slaine with the sword as the Apostle St. Paul how they were beheaded as St. John Baptist Strafford and Canterbury how they were hanged as Tomkins Chaloner Yeomans Bourchiar Burleigh and others how they wandred about in desarts and mountaines and in dens and caves of the earth in sheep-skins and goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented Thus we see that all which will be Loyall to God and the King all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution Till our Saviour came into the Ship the Sea was calme and quiet but when he was once aboard there straightway arose a mighty tempest So long then as thou art without Christ or without God in this world the devill will make fair weather round about thee but when once Christ Jesus is as it were come aboard thy soul then will Satan raise a storme to try if he can make ship-wrack of thy faith when thou hast listed thy selfe a Souldier to fight under thy Saviours and thy Soveraigns Banner then look for a whole shower of fiery arrowes from the wicked one for the messenger of Satan to buffet thee with St. Paul both by inward temptations and outward tribulations by private