of heaven Psa 78.23 Secondly the celestial orbes and spheres are heaven the Sun Moon and Starrs are called Exercitus coeli the host of heaven Dent. 4.19 Thirdly and lastly the place of bliffe is heaven the Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven Psal 103.19 which distinction of heaven St. Paul seemes to allude unto when he saith that he was caught up into the third heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 Now where the Apostle saith that Christ ascended far above all heavens we are to understand it of the Orbes Celestial he ascended above the Orbes Celestial above all visible and materiall heavens But here then perhaps that of the Philosopher may be objected in the first book De coelo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without or above heaven there is no place now it is essential to every body to be in some place or other quod nusquam est non omnino est if Christs body therefore be in no place it will be so far from being every where as Lutherans would have it that it will cease to be at all To which I answer that to speak physically and strictly there is indeed no place above the visible heavens But though there be not Locus yet there is Ubi though there be no place yet there is a certaine space as I may so speak and it is sufficient for a body glorified to be in such a space which our Saviour notwithstanding calleth a place I go to prepare a place for you Ioh 14.2 And this was indeed the chief reason why he ascended into heaven Adam's sin shut him out both of the earthly and the heavenly Paradise there was no place for him in Eden nor for his posterity in heaven But the doores of heaven were opened upon Holy-Thursday when Christ had overcome and trampled upon death by his resurrection he did open the kingdome of heaven by his ascension Not as if heaven were so fast shut before that none could enter in no not in soul till Christ ascended thither in body the Papists might have some kind of ground for their Limbus Patrum if this were so That cannot therefore be the meaning of it there were glorious mansions prepared for us from the foundation of the world as it is Math. 25.34 But though places of glory were from the beginning prepared for us yet the plenary and the perfect preparation was made by Christs ascension And seeing our Saviour Christ is ascended corporally into heaven this earnest may ascertaine us of our ascension our Head being ascended we shall also ascend that are his Members It may be objected perhaps that flesh and blood cannot inherit incorruption I answer it is true that our bodies as they are now are not capable of going to heaven they must therefore be crumbled to very dust and ashes and new moulded by him that made them at the first before ever they can be admited into that holy place And as our bodies must be refined so likewise must our souls Heaven is a City of pure Gold no unclean thing must come into it We must therefore lay aside every weight and the sinnes that do so easily depresse us David could not go with Saul's armour nor can we ascend to heaven with the weapons of unrighteousnesse If then we will ascend thither at our death we must begin our ascension in this life if we hope to go to heaven when we take our farewell of the earth then while we are here on earth our conversation must be in heaven For anima magis est ubi amat quà m ubi animat saith St. Bernard the Soul is rather where it loveth than where it liveth If therefore we love the Lord Jesus let our affection be with him where our heavenly treasure is there let our hearts be also where the Load-stone is that way let the Iron tend where the carcase is thither let the Eagles resort by religious meditations and by assiduous supplications let us ascend unto that place whither our blessed Lord and Master is gone before St. Austin would rather have been in hell with Christ than be in heaven without him How then should our hearts be inflamed with love of heaven now we are sure that our Saviour is ascended thither How should we contemn though not abdicate the world use it I mean as though we used it not Seing Christ hath left it we should strive to leave it too dying daily as St. Paul did though not in deed yet in desire having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ our soules must be athirst for him our flesh also must long after him with an How long Lord Jesu◠when shall we come unto thee And so I passe from the fourth part of the Text the Place whither Christ ascended to the fifth Quomodo the Manner of his ascension set down here two wayes I begin with the Positive part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was taken up Taken up why so Did he not go up of himself Lazarus was taken up carried by Angels into heaven And these carried up Elijah too the charet and horses of fire were holy Angels the Charets of God saith David are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels Psal 68.17 But though they were carried up yet Christ went up of himself in his ascension of all circumstances Quibus auxiliis came not in Christ went up of himself he ascended by his own power Why then doth our Text say that he was taken up as if he had been some way assisted in his ascnesion up to heaven I answer the Text saith that he was taken up for this reason to signifie and shew his obedience to his Fathers Will for otherwise he might have ascended upon the very day of his resurrection every glorified body being of that agility and lightnesse ut ubicunque volet esse anima ibi statim erit corpus wheresoever the soul would be there is the body straight But though Christ might have ascended sooner yet he would not till his heavenly Father saw good for which reason the Text saith that he was taken up And this may teach us not to lay violent hands upon our selves thinking to get so much the sooner into heaven If we be in poverty or sicknesse in imprisonment or banishment yet we must not make away with our selves nor must we repine or be impatient that we are let into heaven no sooner that we have so long sought for death and cannot find it but we must tarry the Lords leisure we must not be our own carvers all the dayes of our appointed time we must wait till our change come following the example of our blessed Lord and Master who submitted himself in all things to the Will of his heavenly Father and therefore he ascended not when first he might but when his Father would have him taken up And so ye have the manner of his ascension positively set down I now proceed to the Expositive part of it in these words A cloud received him out
Adam cut of Paradise Moses is often stiled the servant of God but indeed he seemeth to have been more with reverence be it spoken to have been Gods familiar acquaintance for Exod. 33.11 The Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend Yet as great and gracious and familiar as Moses was with God for one sin of infidelity God fell out with him as we read Num. 20. Where when the people murmured for water God bid Moses but only speak to the rock and it should give forth water but Moses thought that speaking would not do it not a word therefore but a blow two of them for failing he smote the Rock twice and for â—â—is he had his doom immediately that he should not enter into the Land of Promise He that prophesied against the Altar at Bethel was Gods favourite a man of God yet forasmuch as he disobeyed the mouth of the Lord in going back to eat and drink with the old Prophet his carcase must not come to the sepulcher of his Fathers I shall give one signal example our Saviour himself that Lamb without spot the only righteous person that ever lived upon the earth though he were Gods bosome son and had not the least sin of his own only took ours by imputation yet how harshly did his Father handle him Never was there any sorrow like unto his sorrow wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his fierce anger And if these things be done in a green tree what shall be done in the dry Luke 23.31 The righteous shall be recompenced in the earth much more the wicked and the sinner Prov. 11. ult If Judgement begin at the house of God what shall the end be of those men that obey not the Gospel of God And if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear 1 Pet. 4 17 18. If an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guil if this man shall be recompenced shall be punished in the earth with whom shall Hypocrites have their portion that are full of deceit and fraud and under whose tongue is ungodliness and vanity If a perfect and upright man one that feareth God and striveth to eschew evil if this shall be recompenced shall be punished in the earth what will become of him that hath no fear of God before his eyes but liveth as if there were no God committing all uncleanness even with greediness If a man of a strict life and tender conscience must be punished what will become of those rebellious Reformers of our age whose consciences seem to be seared with an hot iron If Jerusalem the holy City must be punished Lord what will become of London and Westminster places every what as sinfull as Sodome or Gomorrah If God go so roughly to work with them he knoweth oh how will he handle strangers without mittons If he execute his Judgements upon Iury where he was known oh what fiery indignation will he pour upon the heathen that have not known him and upon the Kingdomes that have not called upon his Nâ—me This teacheth us to flee from sin as from the face of a Serpent considering how odious and abominable it is in the sight of God Though Coniah the son of Iehoiakim King of Iudah were the signet upon his right hand yet for sin God threatneth to pluck him thence Ier. 22.24 The King of England will not pardon wilfull murder though his chiefest Favourites should commit it The King of heaven and earth will let no sin go unpunished no not in his Favourites in his own people And he will never connive at sin in us that threatneth here to punish it so severely in Israel You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities And so I have gone thorow the several parts of the Text. A few words now of application and I have done Truly God saith the Psalmist is loving unto Israel and truly he hath been as loving unto us he hath bestowed many Privative and many Positive blessings on us First Privative many deliverances I will instance but in three The first was from Popish Tyranny and superstition a Tyranny more than Egyptian an Antichristian Tyranny The damned glutton Luke 16. desired only a little water for his thirst but water will not quench the thirst of Babylon the whore must have blood till she make her self stark drunk with it no blood of beasts it must be of men no blood of sinners it must be the blood of Saints no blood of Malefactors it must be the blood of Martyrs and these Martyrs none of Mahomets they must be Martyrs of Jesus Rev. 17.6 Sad experience of this Tyranny we had in Queen Maries dayes Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo the Romish horsleach would not give us over till she had full gorged her self with our blood Or indeed it is a question whether she would ever have been satisfi'd had we not been strangely delivered from her Tyranny by the Queen of all Queens or rather by the King of all Kings You only have I known of all the families of the earth A second deliverance was from the Spanish Armado in the year 1588. which Fleet had it prevailed our Thames had been turned into Tyber Romish superstition had invaded us once more and then by the waters of Babylon we might have set down and wept as often as we remembred this our Sion But God brake the ships of the sea through the East wind You only have known of all the families of the earth A third deliverance was from that horrid Powder-Treason November 5. 1605. which was carried on with so great secrecy that it made the man of sin insult Teque his ait eripe flammis who is that God that shall deliver them out of my hands But he that dwelleth in heaven laughed the Bishop of Rome to scorn and plucked us as it had been fire-brands out of the burning You only have I known of all the families of the earth And as God hath befriended us by his Privative so by his Positive blessings answerable to those which be bestowed upon his vineyard And first we may compare with Israel for a fruitfull situation being neither under the torrid nor the frozen zone neither burned alway with parching heat nor benummed alway with pinching cold but seated in a temperate Climate and fertile soil our folds are full of sheep our valleys stand so thick with corn that we may laugh and sing God hath also fenced us about like the Israelites in the red Sea with a wall of water the waters are a wall unto us on our right hand and on our left But especially God hath fenced us by his providence and protection salvation hath the Lord appointed for walls and bulwarks He hath likewise gathered the Stones out from us he hath cast out the Romish Rabble and hath planted our Land
we shall see that which St. Austin so much wished to see Christum in carne Christ in the flesh and that which many Prophets and Kings desired to see and could not see it They saw this sight indeed afar off which did not a little chear their hearts Abraham rejoyced saith our Saviour to see my day and he saw it and was glad John 8.56 But when Simeon saw him in the Temple his eyes were satisfied with seeing close them now Lord said he let me die in peace For mine eyes have seen thy salvation And we may observe here by the way that if ever we will see Christ in Heaven we must first see him upon earth for though we cannot see him as Simeon and these chief Priests did with the eyes of our body yet we may see him as Abraham did with the perspective of our faith we may and we must see him thorow this glass darkly before ever we can see him face to face A Christian must not be like a Cyclop with one eye the Spouse of Christ as Peraldus observeth must have two Oculum fidei and Oculum gloriae the eye of Faith and the eye of Fruition We must walk by Faith before we can walk by sight We must like Jacob be first married to blear-eyed Leah before we can obtain beautifull Rachel we must first see our Saviour with the tender eye of faith before ever we can behold him with the brighter eye of glory Now though our Saviour pronounce them blessed that have not seen and yet have believed and though Faith be defined by the Apostle the evidence of things not seen yet Segnius irritant animos c. as the Poet speaketh a man will give more credit to his eyes than to his ears Saint Thomas would not go by hear-say except he might see he resolved not to believe But the chief Priests were so perverse thâ—t they would not believe their own eyes for they conspired against our Saviour though they saw him though they knew him though they knew him to be the Messiah and could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is the Heir From whence we may observe that as there is a zeal without knowledge so there is a knowledge without faith The very Devils knew our Saviour they knew him to be the Son of God Mat. 8.29 Jesus I know said the evil spirit to those Exorcists Act 19.15 But their knowledge was meerly hystorical like their faith And just after this manner did the chief Priests know Christ There are indeed some places of Scripture that seem to contradict our Text and to say that the chief Priests knew not Jesus to be Christ knew not that he was the Heir For St. John saith plainly That the world knew him not John 1.10 And St. Peter upbraiding the Jewes for killing the Prince of life useth these very words I wote that through ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers Act. 317. And St. Paul speaking of the Wisdome of God which I take to be his Son telleth us in express words That none of the Princes of this world knew it for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 But I answer First To that of St. John the world knew not Christ that is the greatest part of it To that of St. Paul None of the Princes of this world knew him that is few of them To that of St. Peter the Jewes and their Rulers slew him ignorantly that is some of them did so thus the ordinary gloss would have those places construed Secondly I answer That the Ignorance of the Chief Priests was not Purae negationis but Pravae dispositionis if they were ignorant of Christ it was because they would be ignorant as the people used to say to their Seers See not so these Seers themselves seem to have stopped their ears and shut their eyes for otherwise they could not chuse but acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah because all the prophesies of his coming were fulfilled First That prophecy Gen. 49.10 pointing at the time of his birth The Scepter was then departed from Judah the Jewes paid contribution they were Tributaries to the Romans Secondly that prophecy Mic. 5.2 pointing out the place of his Nativity he was born in Bethleem of Judea which was the place assigned for Christ's birth as these chief Priests or their predecessours told King Herod But if neither the time nor place of his birth yet his miracles might perfectly assure them that he was the Messiah And therefore when St. John Baptist sent two of his Disciples to ask him if he were Christ all the answer he would return by them was this Go and shew John again those things ye do hear and see the blind receive their sight the deaf hear the lame walk the Lepers are cleansed the dead are raised up c. Mat. 11.4 5. And when Christ cometh some asked the question shall he do more miracles than these which this man doth John 7.31 Though the chief Priests then would not believe his words yet they might have believed him for his works sake But neither of these would prevail with them they had ears yet would not hear they had eyes yet would not see which was a most notorious aggravation of their Treason for had they been stark blind their sin haply might have been remitted but because seeing they would not see therefore their sin remaineth And this sin of theirs seemeth to be no better than the very sin against the Holy Ghost for against conscience out of meer malice they conspired to put this Heir to death And I pray God the Ring-leaders of our rebellious Reformation be not guilty of the self-same sin for it seemeth to be out of a despetate inveterate malice that they persist in their conspiracy against the best of Kings But these Traitours shall bring up the rear of my Discourse I pass therefore from the second part of the Text the person that the chief Priests conspired against which was the Heir to the third which is the Formal cause or Manner of their conspiracy They reasoned among themselves saying Come let us kill him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they reasoned Treason is a sin of deliberation a studied sin These chief Priests reasoned they argued the case All sins are not Cognita known sins there are sins of ignorance as well as sins of knowledge But there is neither Ignorartia facti nor Ignorantia juris in Treason it is wilfully contrived and complotted it is a premeditated sin To sin out of infirmity or ignorance to be overtaken in a fault this is but as it were Chance-medly pardonable by the Law of God and man But to sin with a full career of set purpose to consult about it this is no lesse than wilful murder a sin that never must goe unpardoned and yet this was the sin of these chief Priests in our Text They reasoned among themselves saying Come let us kill
yet thou shalt not be cast away for even He that upholdeth the Heavens is thine upholder Which leadeth me from the second part of the Text the Churches Passage thorow fire and water to the third which is the Concomitant or Convoy Almighty God I am or I will be with thee I that am the great Creator of Heaven and Earth I that fill all places and am contained in none I that am about thy path and about thy bed and spie out all thy wayes I will be with thee But what need then is there of this promise For we may say it without Blasphemy that God must still be with us it being as impossible for him to deny his Omnipresence as to deny himself he can sooner separate heat from fire he did that in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace he can sooner separate light from the Sun He did this at our Saviours expiration The Creator can better do any thing than divorce or divide his presence from his Creatures for herein not only our well-being but our very being doth consist should he substract his presence from us we must return into our first nothing He is not far therefore from every one of us as St. Paul told the Athenians nay he is neerer to us than we are unto our selves I will be with thee But ye know there is a twofold presence of Almighty God First His general presence which is his universall power and providence whereby he governeth and disposeth all things both in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth according to that of the Psalmist Psalm 139. If I climb up into heaven thou art there if I go down to hell thou art there also If I take the wings of the morning and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea even there also shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me Secondly There is Gods special presence whereby he is present with his Elect only either to prevent their Troubles or else to comfort and support them And chiefly is he with his servants in his Temple at his publick Worship which may easily be explained by an example The King is or ought to be by his Power in all parts of his Dominion yet he is said to be there especially where his Courtiers where his Retinue is In like manner the King of Kings by his unbounded Power and Providence is at all times in all places yet we may know him to be with us after an especial manner in the Temple from the Retinue of heavenly Courtiers that are there attending on him For it was not for Ornament only that the Walls of Solomon's Temple were carved round about with Cherubims but also to signifie that the holy Angels are ever about us at our publick services And if Angels be there much more is the King of Saints Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee There are three things especially that will continually be with us The Air our Conscience and Almighty God We may as well be without our being as without our breath take but away this from us and take away us too The Air leaveth us not till death Our Conscience this goeth further with us it remaineth with us after death to all Eternity Do not therefore the least sin though none be with thee but thine own conscience for this will accompany thee to thy death-bed nay this worm will live for ever And thy conscience is not more inseparable from thee then thy Creatour whisper never so softly he will hear thee hide thy self never so closely he will see thee run away never so swiftly he will still be at thine elbow Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee But I should not speak so much of Gods general presence his special presence is that which I must here insist upon That presence which he promised his Patriarchs and Prophets that presence which our Saviour promised his Apostles Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world Mat. 28. ult Alway there is no Intermission To the end of the world that is world without end here is no Termination We may have men for our companions that will forsake us in distress or if they stick to us all our life they must leave us in our death But if God be our Companion if God be present with us it is not distress it is not death shall ever part us nay death shall unite us more neerly than ever we were before we shall alway be with him he will alway be with us Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee But if God be thus alway present with his Church we may then expostulate here as Gideon once did with the Angel Judg. 6.13 Oh my Lord if the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us Why is the blood of his dear servants shed like water on every side Why suffereth he the Turk Turk and Pope to drink themselves drunk with the blood of Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus I answer though seemingly God absent himself from his Church for a season yet never will he finally forsake her Seemingly I say for indeed he absenteth not himself at all it is but in our apprehension that he is ever from us if we can but believe it he is present with us alway Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee And the Application of this now may be twofold First Here is comfort for all that mourn in Sion and with good Hezekiah turn their face to the Wall Let them be cast into prison as Joseph was Let them be cast into a dungeon as Jeremy was let them be cast into a den as Daniel was let them be cast into the water as Moses was let them be cast into the fire as the three Children were let them go thorow fire and water famine and sword never so many dangers never so great disasters yet so long as they have God with them this will sweeten all their pills in the multitude of the sorrows which they have in their hearts his comfortable presence will refresh their souls Secondly Seeing God is still with us this should teach us likewise to be still with him seeing he vouchsafeth to keep company with us on earth therefore our conversation should be with him in Heaven When we are lying down to sleep to him we should commit our spirits when we wake up likewise we should be present with him It was Jacob's vow Gen. 28. That if God would be with him then the Lord should be his God We need not speak so doubtfully for God is certainly with those that fear him not only by his general but also by his special presence to direct and protect them to deliver and to defend them which leadeth me from the third part of the Text the Concomitant Almighty God to the fourth and last which is the Consequent the Churches safety Flumina non operient flamma non incendet
the rivers shall not overflow thee the flame shall not kindle on the. I propounded four acceptions of these Waters ye shall see that the Church passeth safely thorow them all First Thorow waters taken in the literal sense as we may see by sundry examples The first may be that of Noah Sin had once so soiled the earth that God was fain to lay it a soak it was so foul that nothing would cleanse it but a flood There were Gyants in sin as well as in Stature the wickedness of man was great in the earth And Abyssus abyssum this depth of sin called for as deep a deluge the flood-gates therefore were pluckt up the windowes from on high were opened And what distress of Nations was there then with perplexity the sea and the waves roaring and mens hearts failing them for fear Methinks I see how abruptly their Marriage-feasts are dissolved what haste they make out adoors that they may get up into trees how some climb the tops of mountains Tamen ultra pergere tendunt But the waters continually following them at heels when all hope that they should escape drowning was taken away methinks I hear them curse the day that ever they were born and wish if it were possible that they might be metamorphosed into fishes But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord when the flood was brought in upon the world of the ungodly For though it rained as if heaven and earth would have come together though the waters were so grown as to over-top the highest mountains yet heavens great Palinurus preserved Noah in this Ocean Elumina non operient the rivers shall not overflow thee The Children of Israel may be a second example whose preservation was indeed far stranger than Noah's for Noah had a ship the Isrealites had none which made them think that there was no way in the world with them but drowning Mars in the rear and Neptune facing of them they thought that one of these must needs devour Israel with open mouth But He that brought light out of darkness brought safety out of their greatest danger what they feared would be their destruction this God made their preservation for rather than Israel should miscarry Jordan shall forget his fluid nature the floods shall stand upright as an heap and the depths shall be congealed in the heart of the Sea Gods people need not fear the waters the waters saw them and were afraid and therefore ran away with might and main to make way for them The waters indeed faced as if they had known the Israelites from the Aegyptians drowning the hoste of Pharaoh but inmmuring the hoste of Israel Flumina non operient the rivers shall not overflow thee Moses may be a third example to this purpose There were never two crueller Tyrants than Pharaoh and Herod one drowned the male Children the other cut their throats But as Christ escaped from Herod so from Pharoah Moses whose Parents durst not long entertain him in their house when he was but a quarter old they shipt him in an Ark of rushes But how properly may that of the Psalmist be applyed to him Psalm 27.10 When my father and my mother forsook we then the Lord taketh me up Or rather indeed the Lady did this even Thermutis the King of Aegypt's daughter Flumina non opertent the rivers shall not overflow thee And to these examples I may add Elijah's and Elisha's passage over Jordan the Disciples with our Saviour in the ship and St. Paul's most dangerous voyage toward Rome all corroborating and confirming this Assertion in our Text Flumina non operient the Rivers shall not overflow thee The Lord sitteth above the water-flood Psal 29.9 I remember a story of one that wondered why any man would go to sea seeing so many die at sea to whom one replyed he might wonder as well why any man will go to bed seeing so many diâ— in their beds Dii maris terrae may be put into Gods royal Title His way is in the sea and his paths in the great waters he that was able without a ship to walk safely on the sea must needs be able to save those that go down to the sea in ships while they are following their honest vocation they may be assured of his protection he shall give his Angels charge over them to keep them in all their wayes the Angel of the water mentioned Rev. 16.5 This Angel shall be their Pilot and conduct them to their wished haven Flumina non operient the Rivers shall not overflow thee Secondly By Waters we understand the Enemies of the Church neither shall these waters be able to overflow her The seed of the Serpent will still be warring with the womans seed the Dragon and his against Michael and his Angels The Church of Christ will ever be maligned by the Synagogue of Satan but though these waters swell yet they shall not prevail against her David's enemies were daily in hand to swallow him up but these waters of the proud had bounds which they could never pass Hezekiah was both Invaded and besieged by the Assyrians but how strangely was he preserved from him that had drunk strange waters and who with the sole of his feet had dried up all the rivers of besieged places I have not time to shew you all the particular preservations of Gods people how he hath saved them still from the reproof of those that would have eaten them up And from this experience of Gods former together with the promises of Gods future favour we may draw this application we may here put on the resolution of holy David not to fear though the earth be moved and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea though the waters thereof rage and swell and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same Let the Heathen never so furiously rage together and let the people imagine a vain thing let the Rulers stand up and take Counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed and against his Church Let Gebal and Ammon and Ameleck the Philistines with them that dwell at Tyre let Gog and Magog Antichrist and Mahomet the Pope and the Turk nay let all the devils in hell be confederate against the Church yet still she shall be safe the son of wickedness shall not hurt her the gates of hell shall not prevail against her Flumina non operient the rivers shall not overflow her Let me apply this more particularly to my Soveraign Lord the King The floods have risen as David speaketh the floods lift up their voice the floods lift up their waves But these floods of ungodly men I trust shall not overflow him though the waves of the sea are mighty and rage horribly yet the Lord that 's one good turn which dwelleth on high is mightier and he will send down from the high to fetch him he will take him out of many waters he will make these Traitors
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 only 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 thorow the fire yet they are not burnt neither doth the flame kindle upon them When Job's wife heard of all the evil that God had brought upon her husband she grew so mad so out-ragious and impatient that she would fain have perswaded him to make away with himself 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 do as he said thou wouldest in such a case even curse God and die Job 2.9 But ye have heard of the patience of Job saith St. James let his wife therefore say what she will he will have none of her counsel thou talkest like an Asse saith he thou speakest like one of the foolish women And indeed as he goeth on shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evil also Shall we receive health and not sickness wealth and not poverty peace and not War honour and not dishonour liberty and not restraint yea my brethren if we be Christians we must resolve to 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 long suffered wicked men to ride over our heads though we have gone thorow fire and water yet God in his good time will bring us and our Soveraign out into a wealthy place he will cast these rods of his anger into the fire and then mercy shall embrace us on every side our light affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which God of his infinite mercy grant c. FINIS THE ASSUMPTION OF THE Messiah A Sermon PREACHED Before His MAJESTY KING CHARLES the IId. AT THE HAGUE in HOLLAND on Sunday May 29. old stile 1649. LONDON Printed in the year 1660. THE ASSUMPTION OF THE Messiah ACTS 1.9 And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight THat which is spoken of the Sun in the firmament Psal 19.6 St. Austin upon that place applieth unto the Son of Righteousness His going forth is from the end of heaven there saith he is Christs descension from the bosome of his Father and his circuit unto the ends of it here saith he is his ascension to the place from whence he came And our Saviour himself hath much such another passage John 16.28 Which place may not unfitly be compared unto a Circle I came forth from the Father and am come into the world there is the semicircle again I leave the world and go to the Father here is the compleat Circle And by this we may see what agreement there is between the material Sun and the Mystical The Sun in the firmament is appointed to light the day so as long as I am in the world saith our Saviour I am the light of the world John 9.5 The Sun though in the firmament stoopeth to lighten us below So though our Saviours dwelling were in heaven yet he humbleth himself to behold us here on earth The Sun ariseth and the Sun goeth down and hasteth to the place where he arose Ecles 1.5 So the Sun of Righteousness came from one hemisphere from light inaccessible from the place of blessed Saints and Angels that he might shine unto the other hemisphere to us their forlorn Antipodes to us mortals that sat in darkness and shadow of death But as the Sun maketh hast to the place where he arose dwelleth not alway with us but returneth again according to his circuits In like manner the Sun of Righteousnesse having lightned his Apostles understanding by his Doctrine and having warmed and cheared their hearts by his promise of sending them the Holy Ghost having given them the word of resolution of instruction and of benediction he took his leave of the earth and returned into heaven And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight This Text then is a description of our Saviour's Ascension wherein there are six particulars to be consider'd four plainly expressed two necessarily implied The first is Quis the Person that ascended which was Christ he that descended was the same also that ascended He was taken up The second is Quando the Time of the ascension which may be considered two wayes in reference to his Resurrection forty dayes after that or in reference to his last exercise the resolving his Apostles doubts the instructing and the blessing of them immediately after this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he had spoken these things The third is Vnde the Place from whence he ascended which by comparing Acts 1.12 with Luke 24.50 we shall finde to be that part of mount Olivet next to Bethany he was taken up from thence The fourth is Quo the Place whither he ascended which was heaven he was taken up thither The fifth is Quomodo the manner of his ascension set down here two wayes First Positively he was taken up Secondly Expositively a cloud received him out of their sight The sixt and last are Testes the Spectatours or the witnesses of his ascension which were the Eleven Apostles while they beheld he was taken up c. And of these in order I begin with the first particular Quis the Person that ascended Christ He was taken up He that was from the begining nay he that is the beginning Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending He that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imamnuel God with us he that is one in Trinity and Duality he that made on Person of two Natures And which of these natures then was ascended It was his Humane nature as may easily be gathered from those words of the Angels to the Apostles Acts. 1.11 The same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven Now we know that our Saviour shall come to judgement as he is man according to that of St. Paul Acts. 71.31 where he saith that God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousnesse by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Our Saviour therefore ascended according to his humanity The Royal Psalmist seemeth to say indeed that his Divinity ascended Ascendit Deus in Iubilo Dominus in voce tubae God is gone up with a shout and the Lord with the sound of the
trumpet Psal 47.5 As for his Humamity our Saviour seemeth to say that this was in heaven before Ioh. 3.13 No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came downe from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven But to these and all other such objections I answer with Theodoret the Divine and Humane nature of our Saviour being Hypostatically united into one Person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which are proper to either of his Natures are attributed and communicated to his whole Person Thus St. Paul saith that God was manifested in the flesh and that God was received up into glory 1 Tim. 3.16 Notwithstanding therefore these objections the Person that ascended was Christ Iesus according to his Humanity He was taken up He it is not said She was taken up The Papists have Ascension or rather Assumption-day for the blessed Virgin Mary which they annually celebrate upon the fifteenth of August whereon they say She was taken up corporally into heaven But this is as true as that the Disciples stole our Saviour out of his grave I am very sure there is not the least mention of any such thing in Scripture and where the Holy Ghost hath no tongue to speak nor pen to write there must we have no eare to hear nor any heart to believe Not the Woman therefore Christ's mother but the man Christ Jesus himself He was taken up And so I passe from the first part of the Text the Person ascending which was Christ to the second part Quando the Time of his ascension which we are to consider first in reference to his Resurrection forty dayes after that then he was taken up But here two questions may be moved First Why Christ did ascend so soon Secondly seeing so soon why no sooner The first question may be why he ascended so soon after his resurrection why he deferred not his ascension till the last day that we might have been taken up together with him To which I answer two wayes First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of him Secondly That he should ascend so soon was not expedient in respect of us First That he should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of himself And that first in respect of his glorified body Heaven was the most convenient place for his incorruptible and immortall body Earth is a very Golgotha a region of corruption a place of dead mens skuls Though Christ's body therefore could not have seen corruption had it continued still on earth yet the fittest place for such a body were the incorruptible heavens Again it was convenient that Christ should ascend so soon after his resurrection that he might manifest and declare the truth of his Divinity Earth is a region of death Quocunque aspicias nihil est nisi mortis imago All that ever came hither have or must die once and I assure my self that Lazarus and all the rest that were raised either by the Prophets or by our Saviour or by his Apostles died twice should Christ therefore after his resurrection have continued here longer than he did men would scarce have taken him to be God but have mistaken him for a meer Man and they would have thought that Christ like Lazarus had been to die the second time Thus ye see it was convenient in respect of Christ that he should ascend so soon after his resurrection as he did Ye shall now see that this was expedient in respect of us And the expediency of it we have from Christ's own mouth John 16.7 It is expedient for you saith he and what he saith to them we may apply to us that I go away and he giveth his reason in the very next words If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you And John 7.39 we read That the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified Had there been no Holy Thursday had not our Saviour ascended from his Apostles on the fortieth day there had likewise been no Whitsunday the Holy Ghost had not descended upon the Apostles on the fiftieth day Again Had Christ remained still upon earth he had not been so proper an object of our faith which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 Thy Fides will not well stand with thy Vides we do not properly walk by faith when we walk by sight Apparentia non habent fidem sed agnitionem saith St. Gregory fruition putteth a period unto faith and therefore Credimus ut cognoscamus non cognoscimus ut credamus saith St. Austin we come to knowledge by faith and not to faith by knowledge the nature of faith is to be exercised about things absent wherefore though we have known Christ after the flesh saith St. Paul yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The second question may be seing Christ ascended so soon why did he ascend no sooner Why did he not make one ascending for all As soon as he rose out of the grave why did he not ascend immediately into heaven To which I return a threefold answer First This was not convenient in respect of Christ Secondly it was not convenient in respect of his Disciples Thirdly it was not convenient in respect of us First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of Himself for we know what a tradition the Jewes have among them untill this day namely that his Disciples stole him away while the souldiers were asleep Had not Christ therefore shewed himsef alive after his passion though not to all the people yet to certaine selected witnesses the tradition of the Jewes might have passed for currant truth it might have been doubted to this day whether he had been risen from the dead or no. Secondly that Christ should ascend immediately after his Resurrection was not convenient in respect of his Disciples whose faith was almost quite shipwrack'd at his death they little thought he would make his word good to rise again and therefore the relation of the woman seemed to them as an old wives tale they believed it not nay when our Saviour himself appeared unto them they would scarce believe that it was he but were terrified and affrighted supposing that they had seen a spirit It was fit therefore that Christ should be conversant awhile with these raw Schollers both to confirm their faith touching that truth of his resurrection and also to instruct them in those things that were pertaining to Gods Kingdome Thirdly and lastly that Christ should ascend immediately after his resurrection was not convenient in respect of us For his Disciples were not properly Apostles till after his resurrection a good while if they were Apostles their Diocess was very narrow though they were Apostles to the Iews they were no Apostles to the Gentiles Go not into the way of the Gentiles said our Saviour
of their sight He maketh the clouds his charet Psal 104.3 Not that this cloud did any way help to lift him up but he used the Ministery of a cloud chiefly for two reasons First to declare and manifest his Divinity Angels minister to men but clouds after this manner minister to God only And the clouds were servants to our Saviour more than once At his transfiguration when he gave his Disciples a glimpse of his Divinity a bright cloud overshaddowed him Mat. 17.5 So likewise at the day of Judgement clouds shall minister unto him He shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory Mat. 24.30 As therefore in Herauldry it argueth a good familie when a man hath clouds in his Coat of Arms so in this place it is an argument of Christs divinity that he hath a cloud to serve him his bearing is all Nebuly a cloud received him out of their sight A cloud I say received him His body then is not every where as Lutherans would perswade us that which is contained in any thing must needs be less than the thing which doth contain it The body of Christ was once contained in a virgins womb and here a cloud received him And it received him out of sight which maketh good that saying of our Saviour to his Disciples A little while and ye shall not see me Joh. 16.16 And that was indeed a second use of this cloud namely to take off the Apostles from curiosity Had it been necessary for them to know any further what became of their departing Saviour this cloud that received him out of sight had not been thus interposed But to shew them that they had corporally seen him long enough and that hereafter they were not to see but to believe to exercise their faith and to abate their curiosity a cloud received him out of their sight God alloweth us not to pry inquisitively into hidden mysteries When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai there was a thick cloud upon the mountain to keep the people from gazing lest they perished Exod. 19. which was also one main use of this Cloud at Christ's ascension that his Apostles namely might not gaze after him as he ascended into heaven We must walk by faith now and not by sight For the Spouse of Christ hath a two-fold eye the eye of faith and the eye of glory As Jacob therefore married first of all blear-eyed Leah before he could obtain beautifull Rachel so we must fee Christ on earth with the tender eye of faith before we can in Heaven have the fruition of his glorious God-head For he is not so gone up into heaven but that we may see him still on earth We may see him in his Word we do not only hear of him there but we even see him When we stedfastly believe what we hear out of Gods Word we fare not only as if it were related in our ears but indeed verily acted before our eyes And as we may see Christ in his Word so we may also see him in his Sacraments especially in the blessed Sacrament of his holy Supper and yet even in that Sacrament he is under a Cloud too The Papists indeed would fain dispel and dissipate this cloud telling us that he is corporally and visibly there present handle and see they bid us that it is even he himself But this Herefie is confuted so at large that a bare denial of it might now suffice yet let me me urge against it one Text of Scripture which is Mark 7.19 Where our Saviour saith that Whatsoever entreth into the belly goeth out into the draught And what horrid blasphemy were it to say thus of Christs blessed body We can eat Christ with no other mouth but that of our faith not can we see him here with the eye of our flesh but of our faith And faith indeed is the most perfect perspective when all is done As Abraham therefore said to the damned rich glutton in another case If they believe not Moses and the Prophets neither would they believe though one should come unto them from the dead So he that believeth not the New Testament the History of our Saviour Christ would not believe that he were the Messiah though he should see him face to face he that believeth not St. Luke relating the manner of Christ's ascension would not have believed his own eyes though they had been witnesses of his Assumption though he had been present upon Mount Olivet when Christ was taken up into heaven When a cloud received him out of the Apostles sight We must endeavour therefore by faith to see Christ in his Word and Sacraments the exercising of this faith was one principal reason Why a cloud received him out of their sight And as our Saviour so our martyred Soveraign was taken up in a cloud too Never was Royal Majesty so disguised or under so thick a cloud but that cloud was a triumphant Charet wherein he was carried up into heaven the rebellious fools that murthered him accounted his life madness and his end to be without honour But yet honourable in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints And in spight of all their villany He is among the children of God and his portion is with the Saints And so I pass from the fifth part of the Text the manner of Christ's ascension to the sixth and last which are Testes the Spectators or Witnesses of his ascension which were the eleven Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 while they beheld The ascension of our Saviour was not seen of all the people but of certain Witnesses chosen before of God even of those who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead The adulterous generation of the Jews sought altogether after signes Shew us a sign from heaven come down from the Cross that we may see and believe But our Saviour would be the object of mens faith not of their sense Now saith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God if the Jewes therefore will believe Christ's ascension they have the Apostles let them hear them they were eye-witnesses of his Majesty He was taken up while they beheld While They it is not while He beheld for unus Testis nullus testis one witness is as good as none In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established Mat. 18.16 And yet Pluris est oculatus testis unus quam auriti decem one eye-witness is more worth than ten of those that go by hear-say Had the Apostle told the Jews that they heard Christ say he would ascend at one time or another O how ridiculous had they been who would have given any heed to this report That the Apostles therefore might preach no uncertain Tradition they were made spectators of Christ's ascension he ascended in their presence He was taken up while they beheld Behold him then they did and indeed how could they chuse but
they be 1 Sam. 25.11 No few or none will relieve any but only such as are well known to them And to this custome God seemeth to allude here in our Text You only have I known that is I have blessed you only on you have I multiplied my favours and loving kindnesses on you only or at least chiefly of all the families of the earth And in this sense is the word Known used Psalm 31.7 I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble cognovisti and hast known my soul in adversities Thou hast known that is thou hast pitied thou hast had compassion on my soul cognoscere est miserari so Agellius expoundeth the place And Solomon hath a passage that may be referred to this purpose Prov. 12.10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beasts so we read it Novit justus c. so it is in the Latin version but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so it is in the Septuagint a righteous man hath mercy on the souls of his beasts If now we put the Latin and Greek together we shall find that to Know is to shew mercy to In which sense the word is likewise used here in our Text You only have I known of all the families of the earth But if the Commemoration must be so construed why followeth there a Commination because God hath been so good to Israel is it therefore that he threatneth them This indeed seemeth somewhat strange But if we take middle and both ends these things will soon be reconciled You only have I known of all the families of the earth we must hair here a while Desunt nonnulla there seemeth to be somewhat wanting but it cometh in at the end of the verse we may paraphrase therefore upon the Text after this manner the words are in effect as if Almighty God should have said I have nourished and brought up children and like our pretended Parliament They have rebelled against me destruction and unhappiness is in their way and the way of peace have they not known I have known them but they have not known me The Ox knoweth his owner and the Asse his Masters crib but Israel doth not know my people doth not consider I threaten them not for the good I have done to them but for the notorious evil they have done to me You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities Idcirco therefore Sin is the Causa impulsiva that which moveth and as it were compelleth almighty God to punish The Prophet Jeremy putteth the Question Lam. 3.39 wherefore doth a living man complain and he giveth an answer to it before the verse be out a man for the punishment of his sins that is a man is punished for his sins and therefore one old translation readeth it thus let him murmur at his own sins these these are the only cause of all his sufferings Idcirco Therefore Therefore I. Shall there be evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3.6 Siracides telleth us indeed of Spirits that are created for vengeance and these evil spirits many times lay on sore strokes but they have Gods commission at least permission for what they do they do this to pacifie the wrath of him that made them Eecles 39.28 As all punishment is for sin so it is from God But how can this consist with Gods goodness yes the very next particle will shew us for he speaketh not in the present but in the future tense I will he giveth Israel warning of his intention before he proceedeth to execution that if they had any grace they might repent and so prevent the Judgement threatned And he threatneth them but after a mild and gentle manner he threatneth not to plague and consume them but only to punish and correct them You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities And so much for the connexion and explication of the words It is high time now to come nearer to the parts I begin therefore with the first which is Commemoraâ—io beneficii the rehearsing of a former benefit in these words You only have I known of all the families of the earth And that we may know how well God dealt with the people of Israel we may observe that he bestowed upon them two sorts of blessings Privative and Positive ones I begin with the first Gods Privative blessings The children of Israel were for a long time bound Apprentices in Egypt where they were grievously oppressed by Pharaoh and his Task-masters who compelled them not only to make brick but it should seem by the story they would have them make straw too From which intolerable servitude God set them free at last he eased their shoulders from the burthen and their hands were delivered from making of pots He brought forth his people with joy and his chosen with gladness and gave them the lands of the heathen and they took the labours of the people in possession As for Pharaoh and his Host they were overwhelmed in the red sea they sunk down to the bottom as a stone After this God made good his word to Joshua not suffering a man to stand before him all the dayes of his life And what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barach and of Sampson and of Jephthah and of David what marvellous deliverances God wrought for his people discomfiting their enemies both by these Worthies and by other Champions the Sun Psal 19. is compared to a strong champion and rather than Israel shall be worsted insensible champions shall fight for them the Sun shall stand still in the midst of Heaven the Starrs in their courses shall fight against Sisera so mightily did God deliver his people even the sons of Jacob and Joseph And as God bestowed many Privative blessings upon Israel so many Positive blessings too And these were of two sorts Temporal and Spiritual I begin with the first Gods Temporal blessings which are recorded Isa 5.1 2. My beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill And he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest vine and built a Tower in the midst of it and also made a wine-press therein It will be no digression to touch briefly upon each of these particulars the Situation of the vineyard meeteth us First which was in clivo uberrimo in a very fruitful hill The hill of Sion was a fair place and the joy of the whole earth Israel had a goodly heritage Canaan flowed with milk and honey And the fruitfulnesse of it is described at large Deut. 8 7 8 9. Next to the fruitfull situation Gods Fencing of the vineyard followeth He made a Wall about it saith the Margin and Mat. 21. it is said he hedged it round about Now an hedge serveth for
seed that is in Christ who was the Israelites own Countryman which is their last Prerogative recorded by the Apostle Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came Thus ye have seen how God loaded the Israelites with blessings with Privative and Positive with Temporall and Spirituall you only have I known of all the families of the earth And now Israel as Moses once said Deut. 10.12 What doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his wayes and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul But alas the God of Israel is here forced to complain that notwithstanding all the cost he had bestowed upon his vineyard when he expected grapes from it it brought forth wild grapes notwithstanding those many benefits he had bestowed upon his people they continually rewarded him evill for good they thought not of his hand nor of the day when he had delivered them from the hand of the enemy how he wrought his miracles in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Zoan neither destroyed they the heathen but learned their works for they shed innocent blood even the blood of their sons and of their daughters whom they offered unto the Idols of Canaan and the land was defiled with blood In generall termes their sins are set down Deut. 9.7 But they are more particularly described in the third and fist chaptel of Isaiah In the third chapter ye may see their womens sins the Prophet bringeth you as it were into the Exchange he sheweth you the pride and vanity of their womens dressings he giveth you such an inventory of their toyes as is able to make a very Cato change his countenance In the fist chapter the Prophet sheweth you their Mens sins after the catalogue of Gods benefits he giveth you another catalogue of their sins At the seventh verse he sheweth you their oppression and injustice I looked for judgement but behold oppression for righteousnesse but behold a cry At the eight verse their encroaching coverousnesse in joyning house to house and field to field until there was no place that they might be placed alone in the midst of the earth At the eleventh and twelft verses their drunkenness and riot in rising up early to follow strong drink and continuing untill night till Wine enflame them having the harp and the viol the tabret and pipe and wine in their feasts At the eighteenth and nineteeth verses their contempt and slighting of Gods word in defiance of this drawing iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart-rope as who should say let him do his worst let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it and let the counsel of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it ver 20. Their hypocrisy in calling evil good and good evil in patting darkness for light and light for darkness in putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Ver. 21. Their self-conceit Being wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight verse 22. Their Porvalour in that they were mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink nverse 23. Their bribery and corruptio in justifying the wicked for reward and in taking away the righteousness of the righteous from him And shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this yes the wrath of God was kindr'd against his people insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance for three transgressions of Judah for four he resolveth that he will not turn away the punishment thereof And so I am fallen upon the second part of the Text which is Comminatio supplicii the threatning of a future punishment therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities You only c. Ye have heard that God bestowed upon Israel two sorts of blessings both which he threatneth to withdraw for their unthankfulness First his Privative blessings they must expect no more deliverances from him He brought them forth out of the iron-furnace even out of Egypt but they had so provoked him that he threatneth to bind them Apprentices there the second time Apprentices nay worse he threatneth to make slaves of them so we read Deut. 28. ult The Lord saith Moses shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships by the way whereof I spake unto thee thou shalt see it no more again and there ye shall ye besold offer your selves at least unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen and no man shall buy you God threatneth to sell his people for nought and to take no money for them And whereas the Israelites were wont to have the better of their enemies they had so angred the Lord of hosts that he threatned to give their enemies the victory so we read Deut. 28.25 The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies thou shalt go out one way against them and shalt flee seven wayes before them and shalt be removed into all the Kingdomes of the earth And I am sure they have been thus dispersed for many hundred years they are strangers in all Countries they have lost both their place and Nation Secondly God threatneth to withdraw his positive blessings from them We have a plain Text for this Isa 5.5 6. I will tell you saith God What I will do to my vineyard I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten up and I will break down the wall thereof and it shall be troden down and I will lay it waste it shall not be pruned nor digged but there shall come up briars and thorns I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it So true is that of the Psalmist Psalm 107.34 A fruitfull land maketh he barren for the wickedness of them that dwell therein For though the Land of Canaan were as the garden of Eden yet for the iniquity of the Inhabitants it shall be turned into a wilderness and though the Israelites had the blessings of the right hand and of the left yet for their ingratitude and disobedience God threatneth to withdraw both You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities Therefore I will punish you You that were my darlings mine own peculiar people you that were as dear to me as the apple of mine eye because ye have broken my Commandments and been unmindfull of my loving kindness therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities And the observation from hence for our instruction is most obvious Gods hatred against sin is such that he will not let it go unpunished in his dearest Children Adam was the Master-piece of all Gods workmanship and highly in favour with him at the first and yet as soon as ever he had tasted of the forbidden tree God banished this very
with the choicest Religion that of Orthodox Protestants And he hath built a Tower among us he hath set up Episcopal Authority Some think this Tower too high and would fain have it quite demolished down with it down with it say they even to the ground But these are an Assembly of birds that would fain build in others nests there are Presbyterian Levellers as well as Independent but let them both do what they can I hope I shall never see the day wherein these Towers fall God hath as it were a Wine-press among us too No Nation under heaven hath better Laws than we many of them of late yeers have been cast into a deep sleep but I hope that within short time they will be wakened And that in telling you of one blessing I may tell you of all the rest God hath set over us a gracious and most religious a prudent and most pious Prince a King for his faith and life unspotted from the world a Patron and Pattern of good men and all goodness a Maintainer of his Countries Laws and however Rebellion hath traduced him a zealous Professour and Defender of the Christian faith O fortunatos nimium bona si sua nôrint Angligenas Happy Nation we to be in such a case happy nation we to have the Lord for our God to have him as kind and good to us as ever he was to Israel You onely have I known of all the families of the earth And now England what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to feare the Lord thy God to walk in all his wayes and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul But here God may as justly complain of us as he did of the Israelites that when he looked for grapes from us we have brought forth wild grapes there is not a sin Isa 5. charged upon Israel but we stand guilty of it I have not time to arraign all the sins that raign among us the time would faile me to reckon up the oaths imprecations Our sins therefore being as many nay more I doubt than those of Israel of two things one we must either plead more priviledge to sin than they had which I am sure we cannot or else without great mercy we must look for greater judgments at least to have God so threaten us as here he threatneth the people of Israel You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities I will punish You You that have seven years set in Counsel been in covenant for him but have armed your selves against him and have at last most traiterously imprisoned mine Anointed you that have turned judgement into wormwood you that have turned your still waters into blood you that have turned your Kings house nay your Gods house into a den of thieves you that imagine wickednesse and practise nothing else you that have set your selves in no good way you that dare do any thing but justice you that dare rob your Soveraign nay even your God you that are made up of cousenage and contradictions you that have no religion but rapine and rebellion you that are Papists in practice though ye will not own that name you that neither fear your God nor honour your King You that resolve to beggar all that refuse to be such Rebels as your selves you that with Herod are deeply dyed in blood of Innocents that make no more of cutting a mans than cutting off a dogs neck you that have filled the grave with bodies and hell with soules therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities You likewise of the silly Schismaticall Assembly that out of meer opposition preach in Cloakes you that are no legal Synod but rather the Synagogue of Satan you that for a pious Liturgie would give the Church a pure piece of Non-scence you that would banish the Lords Prayer and the Apostles Creed and the ten Commandments you that call evill good and good evill you that teach for doctrines the commandments of wicked men you that preach up rebellion for four shillings a day you that would be more than Deanes or Bishops though you dislike those Titles you that are greedy dogs never thinking ye have enough you that serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but your own bellies Therefore I will punish You for all your iniquities And You also of the Court for your flattery prodigality You of the cowardly City for your disloyalty You that dare fight gainst none but your King and you of the Country for your stupidity and sottishnesse in sufferring your fellow subjects so long to enslave you You of the Clergy likewise for temporizing for fearing the face of men for not daring to speak truth You of the Laity for tenebrizing for your Conventicles You that are rich for your covetousness You that are poor for your idlenes You that are men for your day-sins gluttony and drunkenness you that are Women for your night-sins chambering wantonnes all you that are against the King for forswearing of your selves some of you that are for the King for your customary swearing you that swear not as Ioseph did by the life of your King but by the life of your God and by the Prince of life whom ye swear over once a day from top to toe as if ye would swear Christ in pieces or God out of heaven Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities Ye have been told of this sin 〈◊〉 and if I now told you of it rightly I should tell you weeping that they who thus mouth their oaths and their God damne them they are no better than the very enemies of the Crosse of Christ. Nor are they enemies to him only but arrant Traitors also to their King and Country as arrant Traitors as those that have imprisoned him let them never tell me they are the Kings friends for they are the worst of enemies because of Swearing the Land mourneth Ier. 23.10 And mourn it will a great deal worse unless this and many other horrid sins be banished We have seen hitherto but as it were the morning of mourning the beginning of sorrows except we repent our land like Rama will be filled with bitter mourning as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo Zech. 12.11 For indeed how can we ever hope to have God blesse us when we are daily at him to damne and confound us how can we hope for peace with men so long as by oaths and other sins we fight against our God No there is no peace to the wicked their portion is desolation which though we hope still to out-run yet in the end it will overtake us Quod differtur non aufertur as God hath leaden heeles so he hath iron hands though he hath spared us therefore a long time yet he will pay us home at last he will bruise us with a
him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Come wicked men use to call and invite one another to commit sin they are a sociable sort of people they are unwilling to go to hell alone they entise and engage as many as they can to be partakers with them they are in league and covenant there is a combination among them especially among Traitors such as these chief Priests were who conspired against Christ just as Iosephs brethren against him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Come let us kill him Ioseph indeed scaped with life thankes to his Eldest brother but Jesus had not one Reuben to speak for him none but a woman she could not prevaile the of Kings the earth standing up and the Rulers taking counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ for against the holy child Iesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of the Iewes were gathered together they gathered them together against the soul of the righteous that they might condemn the innocent blood They reasoned among themselves saying Come let us kill him Kill him As the Devil is a murderer so all those that are of his party thirst after blood Shimei did a great deal of wrong to David in calling him so but otherwise Bloody-man and man of Belial may well go together for there is no man desperately wicked but he is a blood-thirsty man It hath been thus from the beginning of the world and will be so to the end Cain was of that wicked one what is next 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and slew his brother 1. Ioh. 3.12 This was also the resolution of wicked Esau The dayes of mourning for my father are at hand then saith he will I slay my brother Jacob Gen. 27.41 Thus Pharaoh commanded the Egyptian Mid-wives to murder every male-child of the Hebrewes if it be a Son then ye shall kill him Exod. 1.6 And thus Herod slew all the children in Bethleem from two years old and under Math. 2.16 Thus we read of Herodias that nothing would satiate her malice but St. I hn Baptist's blood Math. 14.8 Thus the Iewes cryed out against St. Paul away with such a fellow from the earth for it is not fit that he should live Act. 22.22 and Act. 23.12 we find some that bound themselves under a curse they took the Covenant◠saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul And the whore of Babylon is said to be drunk with the blood of Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Iesus Revel 17.6 I might be almost infinite in examples but this in our Text shall be instar omnium we may see the bloody-mindednes of wicked men by these chief Priests who conspired not to banish or imprison but each to murder Gods own Son they reasoned among themselvs saying come let us kill him And the voices of the multitude and of the chief Priests prevailed this treason stood not alway in consultation but went on to action what the common counsell determined wickedly the common people executed greedily they cast the Heir out of the vineyard and slew him with this dreadfull imprecation His blood be on us and on our children And seeing our Master was thus used we must expect no better meature but even to be killed all the day long as the Psalmist speaketh and to be counted as sheep appointed to be slaine the Alpha and the Omega of the Church is writ in blood Sanguine fundata est Ecclesia sanguine crevit Sanguine firmatur sanguine finis erit And we need not wonder at this if we believe our Saviour for it is but that which he told us long agoe that we should be hated and hunted after for his sake yea the time will come saith he that whosoever killeth you will think he doth God service A prophecy that seemeth to point directly at our very dayes when the bloudiest of Souldiers think themselves the best of Saints when murdering of loyal Christians goeth for pure religion But though our blood be shed like water on every side yet our God that is true and holy will in his good time judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth there will on day be a strict inquisition made for blood for the blood of Strafford Canterbury for the blood of Lucas and Lisle for the blood of Tomkins and Chaloner for the blood of Yeomans Bourchier and Burleigh for the blood of Dunkin and others in Kent there will be a time I say if not in this yet in the next world when all the righteous innocent blood that hath of late years been shed in this Kingdome shall be required at the hands of this Tyrannical I will not call it but a Satanical generation And so I passe from the third part of the Text which was the Manner of the chief Priests conspiracy in these words They reasoned among themselves saying Come let us kill him to the fourth and last the End of their conspiracy which was that they might be Lords of the Mannour that the inheritance may be ours But now the Husbandmen c. In every action there is both Opus and Intentio oper antis the doing of the work and the end for which we do it and by an Hysteron Proteron the last of these is first what is last in execution the same is first in our intention the End being alway the beginning of the action Now it is an Axiome in Philosophy Finis bonum convertuntur let the action be what it will good is alway propounded for the End either Honestum or Iucundum or Utile either an honest or a pleasant or a profitable end they that do evill will say they do this that good may come of it good to themselves at least though hurt to others or if it be not good indeed yet it shall seemingly be good and the last of those three ends the chief Priests here propound unto themselves Bonum utile they set up profit for their end Come say they let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours They propound the same end with those sinners that Solomon cautioneth us to take heed of Prov. 1.11 13. Where hope of gain is used as a motive to invite others to joyn with them Come let us lay wait for blood let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause we shall find all pretious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil And at the 19. ver there is just such another passage So are the wayes of every one that is greedy of gain which taketh away the life of the owners thereof Quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra fames There is not any villany but will go down with a man if it have a golden bait The love of money is the root of all evil 1. Tim. 6.10 Balaam will endeavour to curse Israel if he may gain but the rewards of divination Achan will take of the accursed thing if
he may gain a Baylonish garment two hundred shekels of filver and a wedge of gold Saul will spare the spoile of Amalek if he may gain good store of rich plunder Gehazi will tell an arrant lie to Naaman if he may gain two talents and new clothes Iudas will betray his Lord and Master if he may gain thirty pieces of silver The Souldiers will say that Christ was stollen out of the grave if the chief Priests will give them large mony Iezebel will plot Naboths death if she may gain his vineyard she proclaimed a fast yet knew no other godlinesse but gain and this likewise set the chief Priests awork to conspire the death of Christ Come say they let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours That we may be no longer dressers but possessors of the vineyard that there may be no Superiour no Lord over us but that the Church may be ruled and governed as we list that the doctrine and discipline of it may be what we see good nay that we may have dominion as well over mens free-hold as their faith that their consciences and coffers may both be at our command This was the end that the cheif Priests aimed at when they conspired against the Heir come let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours And herein the Bishop of Rome looketh very like them who stileth himself Christs Vicar St. Peters successour he saith that he is the right Heir the Head of Christs whole Church he arrogateth the title of Vniversal Bishop he chalengeth as it were the Wardship nay the Lordship of the Church whatsoever he saith must go for Gospel meerly because he saith it he taketh upon him more than Apostolical authority even that which is Gods peculiar To forgive sins for which cause fall the silly people unto him and thereout he sucketh no small advantage it is a masse of money that his Pardons annually bring in to him And other stratagems he hath but all to enrich himself he will release men out of his pretended Purgatory if they will give him money enough he will warrant they shall be heirs of Heaven though herein he contradict himself for sometimes he telleth them that they can never be sure of heaven til they come thither yet thus he befooleth the people he will warrant them an inheritance in heaven if they will make him their Heir on Earth His whole Religion indeed is nothing else but a politick project to get money he feedeth not the flock of Christ but feedeth upon it he keepeth the people in ignorance seeking not them but theirs He and all his Cardinals Monks and Abbots they seek their own profit and preferment their own gain and greatness like these cheif Priest in our Text whose aim was to get the inheritance Come say they Let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours And so I have gone thorow the several parts of the Text a few words of application and I have done Our Text is a plain conspiracy against our Saviour And the conspiracy of Levellers against our Soveraign will match it right Our Saviour let out his vineyard to Husbandmen so our Soveraign did as it were let out his Kingdome to States-men he gave them power to prune and dresse it to take off superfluities to rectifie enormities he gave them their hearts desire and denied them not the request of their lips he granted that which none but a most indulgent Landlord would ere have granted they asked a lease of him and he gave them a long lease longer than any of their Predecessours ever had he made them no Tenants for yeares much lesse at will but reserving his fee-simple I mean his Negative voice he gave it under his hand that he would not re-enter till they themselves consented to it O fortunatos nimium bona si sua nâ—rint Agricolas What men were ever so happy as these might have been How might the glory of their God of their King of their Country and even of themselves have been advanced by them But neglecting the three first they aimed chiefly at the last at their own glory For assoon as their unlucky lease was sealed they straight way thought themselves free-holders taking Regal power upon them as if the Militia the Kings Inheritance had been theirs they devested their Soveraign of it and invested themselves with it making the Heir of three Kingdomes though no child in any thing but malice to differ nothing from a servant when he was Lord of all For without him they took upon them to un-make and to make Lawes saying we have the Legislative power who is Lord over us And that they might the better enjoy the Crown they entred into Covenant against the Miter resolved to abolish the excellent government of Bishops root and branch And because the King against his oath and conscience would not yeeld to this Come said they let us compell him to it by force of arms they set the people awork first to mutiny then to fight against him as who should say we have no part in Charles neither have we inheritance in the son of James every man to his tents O England they proclaimed open war against Him and his Adherents giving out Commissions to kill and slay all persons that should oppose them their Soveraign Lord the King was not excepted for bullets cannot distinguish between a Scepter and a Shovel the sword as David said devoureth one as well as another But seeing they could not kill him in the field they have since attempted it in prison it is too apparent that the Ring-leaders of this rebellion had an hand in that late conspiracy against him Nor is it only Carolus but even Rex that they strike at going about not only to kill the Person but the very office of the King Come say they Let us break his bands asunder and cast away his cords from us Come let us make no more addresses to him but let us make our selves a Free-State that the name of Monarchy may be no more in remembrance And to effect this they have made the Kingdom not only a field but even a sea of blood breathing out nothing but slaughter against all loyal Subjects killing and slaying butchering and murthering their brethren whose blood they have shed like water on every side like that woman in the Revelation drinking themselves drunk with the blood of Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus It is no marvel if these blood-hounds will not have God's Commandments read in Churches for one of these telleth them expreslly they must do no murther and as almost all the rest so most especially that sixth Commandment they count Apocryphal for murdering of men is their profession and a great part of their Religion as if Mars were their god and Mahomet their Messiah Let them usurp the name of Christians while they will I am sure their bloody practises proclaim them arrant Turks Christianity is for the
Wills contrary but the one of them wrought for the effecting and bringing about of the other The revealed Will of God his threatning of the Ninevites within fourty dayes to overthrow them this brought them to repentance that so his secret Will might be fulfilled in sparing of them Though Nineveh therefore were not overthrown yet God might safely threaten so to serve it yet fourty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown And so I have gone thorow the parts of the Text severally Let us now put them altogether again and see what general instruction they will afford us The proposition for our instruction may be this That God usually lets off a Warning-piece before a Murdering-piece seldome executing any Judgement either personal or national but he sends some kind of Herald or other to give warning of it And God hath both an extraordinary and ordinary way of threatning and giving warning of Judgement either of which is twofold First his extraordinary way is either immediate or mediate private or publick Private by inspirations Publick by apparitions First God threatneth and giveth warning of Judgement with an Adhuc quaâ—ragintadies as it were Yet fourty days by private inspirations Thus he gave Noah warning of the flood Thus he gave Abraham warning of the destruction of Sodome Thus he gave Samuel warning of the destruction of Elie's house And thus he warned all his Prophets of his approaching Judgements according to that of the Prophet Amos Surely the Lord will do nothing but he revealeth his secret to his servants the Prophets Amos 3.7 Secondly God threatens and giveth warning of Judgement with an Adhuc quadragintadies as is were Yet fourty dayes by publick apparitions Thus he gave the Jewes warning of the destruction of Jerusabem and that by two very prodigious signes the one tendered to their eares the other to their eyes the former was an hideous voice heard often in the siege of Jerusalem Linquamus has sedes or Migremus hiâ—â— Come let us be gone let us leave this cursed place thought by some to have been the voice of the tutelar and protecting Angels thought by others to have been an extraordinary voice of Almighty God himself The other was a prodigious blazing star which Josephus telleth us stood many moneths together right over Jerusalem And thus likewise shall God give warning of the general and last Judgement When there shall be signes in the Sun and in the moon and in the stars Luke 21.25 And as God hath an extraordinary so he hath an ordinary way of giving warning of Judgement And this likewise is two-fold Domestick by the preaching and ministration of his Word Forreign by the executing and administration of his Justice First God threatneth and giveth warning of Judgement with an Adhuc quadraginta dies yet fourty dayes by the ministration of his word Thus he warned the primitive disciples by St. Paul who ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears Acts 20.31 Though we have no Urim and Thummim as they had under the Law though Ministers are not acquainted with Gods purposes by immediate inspiration yet notwithstanding we may in some sort prognosticate a Judgement and may speak in a strict sense as the Oracles of God For if every man can discern the face of the sky as our Saviour speakes why may not Ministers the signes of the times yes without Question we may do it when the heaven is covered with black clouds we may conclude there will be a storm so when the earth is clouded with horrid sins we may conclude there will be a judgement by comparing of spiritual things with spiritual by looking into Gods ancient wayes and considering how God hath dealt with sinners heretofore though we cannot absolutely determine yet we may give a near guess when a storm is impending when Judgement to the uttermost is coming on a Kingdome Secondly God threatneth and giveth warning of Judgement with an Adhuc quadraginta dies as it were yet fourty dayes by the administration of his Justice by the Judgments which he executeth upon others Their harms are our warnings Nam tua res agitur paries cum proximus ardet We have a common saying that the burnt child dreads the fire In malice we should be children but in this we should be men to dread the fire before ever we are burnt the destruction of others should be instruction for us I conclude this point briefly with that in the phecy of Zephaniah c. 3. v. 6 7. Where God telleth Jerusalem That he had cut off the Nations so that their towers were desolate he had made their streets waste that none passed by their Cities were destroyed so that there was no man there was no inhabitant And wherefore was all this done why did God so miserably overthrow those other Nations Why only to give Jerusalem warning lest she were served so too I said Surely thou wilt fear me thou wilt receive instruction And so ye have briefly the several wayes how God giveth warning of and threatneth Judgement With like brevity ye shall have the principal reasons why he doth it And these are of three sorts The first concerneth all men The second concerneth the righteous The third concerneth the wicked The first reason is extended unto all men which is this God letteth off a warning-piece Adhuc quadragintadies yet fourty dayes that hereby he may bring sinners to repentance For Ad poenas tardus Deus est ad praemia velox saith the Poet God is flow to anger and of great goodness saith the Psalmist he desireth not the death of a sinner but rather he should turn from his wickednese and live why will ye die Ohouse of Israel seeing I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord. It was once the policy of the King of Syria suddenly to surprize the King of Israel But the King of all Kings goeth not so covertly to work for being desirous of prevention he usually acquainteth men with his intention hereby if it be possible to bring them to repentance to see if there be any hope of their conversion that so he may never bring them to confusion This was his manner of dealing with the people of the old world He sent not the flood upon them of a sudden but threatned them with it an hundred and twenty years had they repented all that while the flood had been prevented had they wept in so many years the heavens had not wept fourty dayes all those sixscore years the goodness of God waited for their amendment he spake but in the future sense I will destroy man whom I have created But when once he perceived that his warning-peece was slighted then have at them in good earnest a murdering-peece goeth off he proceedeth then to a speedy execution of his Justice and speaketh in the present tense I even I do bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh This was also his manner of dealing
with these Ninevites in our Text he destroyed them not as in a moment but warned and threatned them by his Prophet Jonah here Yet fourty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown The second reason hereof concerneth the righteous only which is this God letteth off a Warning-peece Adhuc quadraginta dies yet fourty dayes that his people may make provision for their own safety and security God many times le ts alone the tares for the wheat-sake he often spareth the wicked for the righteous-sake but he seldome or never slayeth the righteous with the wicked Gen. 18.25 And therefore when he intendeth to bring a Judgement upon any place or nation he useth to threaten and give warning of it before he send it to the intent that such as fear him may provide for their own safety Thus we read Exod. 9. that God threatneth the plague of hail before he sent it on the Egyptians for otherwise that of Solomon even in this sense had been most true there had been but one event to the righteous and to the wicked they had all been in the field and they had perished altogether God therefore gave warning of it a day before hand that such as feared him might as they did make provision for their own safety So likewise we read Exod. 12. that God threatned to slay the first-born in Egypt ere he slew them and therefore commanded the Israelites to keep close that bloody night none of them to go out at the door of his house untill the morning Wicked men have a care of one anothers safety and therefore warn each other of approaching danger as appeareth by that letter which occasioned the discovery of the Powder-Treâ—son And shall not the righteous God much more tender the safety of his secret ones yes he doth And therefore when the destroying Angel when Gods Judgements are abroad God would have his faithful people as it were keep at home We have a pregnant Text to this purpose Isa 26.20 Come my people enter thou into thy Chambers and shut thy doors about thee hide thy self as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpast The third reason hereof concerneth the wicked only which is this God lets off a warning-peece Adhuc quadragintadies yet fourty dayes that the wicked may have no plea against the Justice of his proceedings If God should punish sinners before he warneth or threatneth them his way might seem to be unequal and sinners might begin to plead for themselves after this manner It is very true we have done amiss for who can say my heart is clean But we like all other sinners put far off from us the evil day not thinking thy judgements had been so nigh unto us We never saw it rain when the sky was all over bright and clear black clouds are wont to come before a storm thou threatnedst the old world before thou sentest the flood hadst thou dealt but so with us we would soon have been new men we would have repented of the evil of sin and so have prevented the evil of punishment These and other such like cavils might sinners use if God should execute his Judgements upon them without threatning God therefore to prevent this that he may gag as it were and muzzle the mouth of iniquity that the mouth of all wickedness may be stopped that sinners may have no plea nothing to say for themselves but may be constrained in spight of their hearts to acknowledge the equity of his proceedings saying Righteous art thou O Lord and true are thy judgements to this end he threatneth and giveth warning before he proceedeth to execution Yet fourty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown And so ye have briefly the several ways and the principal reasons how and why God threatneth and giveth warning of his Judgements Let us now for the close of all apply this to our selves examining whether or no as God here threatned Nineveh so he hath not likewise threatned and given us warning of his Judgements And first for Gods extraordinary way of premonition For the former branch of it I will not say that God hath warned us by immediate inspirations No let Enthusiasts say what they will that way of warning is long ceased God revealeth neither himself nor his intentions to us in these dayes any other way than he and they are revealed in his written Word But though he have not warned us by inspirations yet he hath warned us by apparitions by wonders in heaven above and by signes in the earth beneath as in our English Chronicles we have manifold examples Secondly For Gods ordinary way of premonition For the former branch of it God hath warned us of judgement by the Ministration of his Word We may read 1 King 19.17 That Elisha had a sword as well as Hazael or Jehu him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay And when Elisha draweth his sword when Gods Ministers unsheath the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God when they give warning of those Judgments which they see comming on a Kingdome it is a manifest argument that the devouring sword the sword of Hazael and Jehn the sword of War and the enemy is at hand And have not Elisha and Jonah long since drawn their swords Have not Gods Ministers for many years given you warning of his Judgements There is none I hope such a stranger to the Temple as to deny it And yet here we may complaine as Isaiah doth in another case Isaiah 53.1 Quis credidit auditui nostro Who hath believed our report Prophesy of future judgements while we will we were as good say nothing we speak but into the air men give us the hearing but as sure as the Lord liveth they believe us not Most truly therefore may that be applyed unto us Hab. 1.5 Behold and regard and wonder marvelously for I will work a work in your dayes which ye will not believe though it be told you Though we I say be thus threatned yet for all this we regard it not Well the men of Nineveh therefore shall rise up in judgement with the men of this generation and shall condemn them for they we know repented at the preaching of Jonah but we are so far from repenting that we will not believe we sin by infidelity we will not believe God we sin by incredulity we will not believe Gods Ministers but flatter out selves as St. Peter would once have flattered our Saviour Christ with a Nequaquamerit this shall not be unto us And yet the Ninevites could see no such probability of danger as we may see unless we wilfully shut our eyes without are fightings within are fears hostility abroad no great tranquillity at home for all this we stop our ears we think the fourty dayes will never be out God hath warned us of judgement likewise by the administration of his Justice by the judgements he hath inflicted upon other Nations We have heard what a