thither yet let our hearts ascend up if our soule be as yet bound and fastned within this mortall prison at the least let our faith flie up to those delicious places and there rest and stay untill our soules be perfectly pure cleane and white that one day both in body and soule wee may contemplate Gods divine Majestie and sing eternally with the holy Angels Holy holy is the Lord God of hosts for evermore AMEN O Most bountifull God and most mercifull King wee thy servants and children here prostrate and humbled before the high and holy tribunall of thy sacred and soveraigne Majestie doe ingenuously confesse that we are not worthy to lift up our eyes or our hands towards heaven to call upon thee in our necessities for our sinnes are raised over our heads like terrible mountaines which seeme to threaten and defie thy judgements from the top of their presumptuous impudencie Iniquity hath made our soules as black as firebrands and the transgression of thy divine commaundements hath made our consciences more red then scarlet in a word forgetting thee we haue forgotten our selues and remember but as a dreame our beginning derived from heaven Wherefore O good Iesus O sweet Saviour of our bodies and soules kindle in our hearts the fire of thy divine love and let it be a candle to our feete and a light unto our pathes that wee may safely escape out of these terrible downefalls which threaten unto us death and condemnation wash our soules in the precious blood issuing from thy wounds make them by thy favour whiter then snow and then washed wooll we cannot enter into thy Tabernacle before wee be cleansed of our faults graunt then unto us by thy mercy one onely drop of this large and vast ocean of thy great compassions wash our roabes in the blood of the Lambe that wee may be made worthy to follow him whither soever he goeth Change our eyes into two lively fountaines of penitent teares which may become a Iordane of griefe and displeasure for having beene so wicked before thy face within the which wee may dip our selues seaven times yea seaventy times seaven times that we may be delivered of the spirituall leprosie of sinne which makes us so foule and ugly in thy sight and presence And after thou hast pulled off from us the old man and cloathed us with the new which is with justice and holinesse when thou hast given us the wedding garment then we shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob at the delicate feast which thou hast prepared for us and the which must be kept upon the mountaine of the heavenly Sion where wee shall see thee face to face where we shall be ravished in this contemplation and shall bee quite exchanged and transformed into the extasie of this ravishment Amen The third way to Sion THE CROVVNE OF PEACE AND CONCORD MATH 5.9 Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God WHen two Kings to decide some quarrell are ready to take Armes they first of all enkindle the fire of warre in their subjects hearts through all their Dominions then all is in trouble combustion and disorder and all newes are sorrowfull and lamentable on the one side you may see desolate Parents poore olde men leaning on the brim of their graves considering with eyes overflowing with teares their deare children whom for the greatnes and multiplicity of their cruell wounds they can scarcely know On the other side you are frighted by the lamentable complaints by the loude cries and pitifull lamentations of the bewayling widowes over the dead bodies of their dearely beloved husbands In a word there is nothing but fire blood and slaughter to be seene so that one may properly say That Warre the mother of all mischiefe is as it were a feast celebrated to the honour of death to whom are continually offered up many pitifull and bloody sacrifices which she exactly keepes in the grave But when some great Prince of earthly Monarch undertaketh to agree them his Embassadors are every where received with open armes bone fires and triumphall arches erected in token of that joy and contentment which they receive by their mediation for peace according to that saying of the Lord Blessed are the feete of those that bring tidings of peace Rom. 10.16 Iesus Christ here continueth his Sermon to his Disciples where in a continued order hee sheweth them the perfection of blessednesse he maketh them scale the heavens by eight degrees which they must ascend here on earth And having spoken formerly of six hee commeth now to the seaventh saying Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God Which words by Gods assistance wee will divide into two principall parts 1. the proposition 2. the reason of it the proposition concerneth the Peacemakers and their felicity the reason of this beatitude is to be called the children of God Now for our better understanding of these words let us handle them all severally and let us for a while leave this concrete word Peace-maker and so come to his abstract to wit peace the which is diversly defined according to the severall sorts and degrees of it For there is the peace of the body which is a just temperature of the parts There is a peace of the irreasonable soule which is an inordinate rest of the appetite The is a peace of the reasonable soule which is a moderated consent of the action and understanding There is a peace of the soule and body which is a well governed life and the health of the living creature There is a peace of mortall man which is a well ordered obedience in faith under the government of the eternall and divine law There is a peace of the house which consisteth in a just concord of the domesticall both in commanding and obeying There is a peace of the Cite which is a concord among the Citizens There is a peace of the heavenly Citie which is a well governed Societie wholly and eternally to enjoy God There is a peace of men which is a mutuall concord And againe there is a peace of all things which is a perfect tranquillity of order now order is nothing else but a true disposition giving to every thing his true ranke and place The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shalom representeth unto us exceeding well her Essence for it signifieth a happy successe of all things in God Where we may note that every word hath his weight and inestimable value For first it is a successe and not a hazard which is happy and not unlucky of all and not of something onely in God and not in the world The Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quiet sweet gracious as deserving that name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by excellencie because there is nothing in the world to bee compared to the excellencie of a publick and particular rest and tranquillity The Latines call it Pax quasi pacata because
And after we have quenched and put out the trouble of our hearts vexation of our soules caused by the fire of sinne when wee shall have scattered those flames that destroy and devoure that union and concord which God hath so strictly commanded us to keepe then shall wee be called to that heavenly Ierusalem which is the Citie of peace and there shall wee enter into the possession of the inheritance promised to adopted children in Iesus Christ our Lord wee shall partake with him eternall blessednesse hee shall be our head in those divine sessions and we shall be his members wee shall shine as the Sun the holy Ghost shall enlighten us and the God of peace shall be for ever with us Amen O Soveraigne Monarch of heaven and earth that governest all things by thy providence which to us is altogether incomprehensible we thy most humble Subjects calling unto thee from the bottome of our soules beseech thee by the greatnesse of thy compassions that it may please thee to plant in our hearts a holy and perfect justice which taking deepe rootes therein may bring forth fruites of peace and concord which thou straightly recommendest unto us in thy holy word Make us perfectly just that we may love peace perfectly as being the daughter of justice enkindle O good God the fire of thy love in our hearts and soules that we may love our brethren even as thou hast loved us give us a spirit of gentlenes meekenes that we may fly eschew quarrels contentions not only in our selues but also when we shal see them kindled among our brethren make us knowe O good Saviour that those enmities and dissentions are the devils daughters who loves nothing but noyse and disorder and that peace and mildnesse are the daughters of divine justice which thou lovest dearely which wee must embrace and practise if we will be honoured with the title of thy children and not onely be called so but also to be indeed children of God and heires of eternall and blessed life to the which the Father Sonne and holy Ghost bring us Amen The fourth way to Sion 1. PETER 2. 17. Feare God and honour the King AS rayes or Sunne-beames follow and beare observance to the Sunne As all rivers runne to the Sea and as many lines end and terminate in their center so there are many wayes to bring us to the Paradise of God to Ierusalem above which is our heavenly and happy Country Neverthelesse wee must herein use the Maxime of the Mathematicians who hold that the shortest line â—s still the rightest also in all these different wayes of new Sion the shortest is the best and surest When God gave his Law to Moses upon the Mountaine of Sinay he divided it into ten commandements which are so many perfect wayes to conduct and bring us to heaven for IESVS CHRIST the sweet Saviour of our soules being himselfe descended from Heaven to shew and point us out this way hee drew a short Compendium and Abridgement of all these Ten Commandements of the Law and reduced them to two as wee shall finde it written in the 22. Chapter of St. Mathew where wee see him disputing against a Doctor of the Law who demanded of him which was the first and greatest Commaundement and Iesus answered him Thou shalt love God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde which is the first and greatest commandement and the second is like unto it which is Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe and of these two Commaundements depend the whole Law and the Prophets as our Apostle Saint Peter in the imitation of his blessed Master Christ after hee had instructed and admonished his faithfull flocke in all their duties in the precedent verses of our Text hee drawes an abridgement of all which concerned their saluation when he said Feare God and honour the King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In these words we have all the instructions which we must practise in our soules and bodies concerning those divine and humane duties which wee must convert and reduce into practise which wordes naturally divide themselues into two severall branches or heads to wit 1. the feare which wee ought to beare unto God and 2. The honour which wee must obserue and give to the King The sweetest and most pleasingst sacrifice which we can offer up unto the Lord Almighty is a heart replenished and fraughted with the feare of his holy name a minde trembling before his sacred Majestie and a soule terrified with the sublimity and greatnesse of his fearefull judgements as the royall Prophet affirmeth in Psal 2.11 Serue the Lord with feare and reioyce with trembling And againe Psal 2.7 I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy and in thy feare will I worship towards thy holy Temple We can offer up no sacrifice so pleasing nor performe no action or duty so acceptable to God as when wee adore him in all feare and reverence him in all astonishment trembling which lively depaynteth and prefigureth his Greatnesse and Magnificence perfectly demonstrateth us our Duties and witnesseth our humility and obedience which is exceeding delightfull and pleasing to him That Romane Emperour perspicuously expressed and deciphered the excellent power and effects of this feare when he caried for his Motto and Devise Oderint dum metuant Let those hate me that will so they feare me shewing thereby what small account and esteeme hee made of the hatred and how dearely he prised and respected the feare which hee would have given and borne to him Morall Philosophers affirme and say That Love and feare are two fister germanes because the one is conjoyned to the other and both linked together produce one the same effects for still the Lover is in care and feare of the thing beloved whereas wee never feare to lose that which wee hate but that Which wee love dearely and cherish tenderly and both of these together produce the conseruation of their object But this distinction takes no place but here on earth among creatures and doth neither regard nor looke up towards Heaven to God the Creator For God is all Love but he can never be capable of alteration or defect as is that feare which he hath left and given unto man for his portion and inheritance So he which is possessed with a perfect feare to offend his God or to lose his favour he is linked and joyned to God with the Gordian knots of his love which are then wholly made indivisible and inseparable and the Love of God conjoyned with the feare of man cause the conservation of the soule and this it is where the Apostle Saint Peter tells us in our text Feare God By which word feare wee must not understand a cowardize a pusillanimity or any irregular passion which freezeth our blood in our veines which causeth our hearts to pant and beat with an incessant motion which calls and attracts
of the King of Babel the same nation will I visite saith the Lord with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence therefore heare not your Prophets nor your Southsayers nor your dreamers nor your inchanters nor your Sorcerers which say unto you thus Ye shall not serue the King of Babel for they prophesie a lye unto you to cause you to goe farre from your land and that I should cast you out and you should perish but the nation that put their necks under the yoake of the King of Babel an serue him those will I let remaine still in their owne land saith the Lord and they shall occupie it and dwell therein Words worthy of a great and profound consideration and which totally desides and cuts off that question which we now have in hand for it is God himselfe that speaketh to his people that strictly chargeth them to obey the King of Babylon into whose hands he had delivered them and although hee was an Idolatrous and unfaithfull King yet they will obey him on paine of his curse and malediction what judgements what punishments should we much more cause to fall upon us if the least thought of rebellion or disobedience to the Lords anointed should enter into our mindes if we were not perfectly obedient to Kings who are good faithfull and zealous to further the glory of God if our hearts and our mouthes be not alwayes filled with prayers and vowes dedicated to their service But to the end that imitating Hercules wee may clense sweepe cleane this Augean stable wee will answere to that objection propounded touching Nimrod who hath been the first King of the earth who say they hath attained to the crowne by force and by violence words which we finde not in the Scripture but contrarily we read Genes 10.8 that Cush begat Nimrod who began to be mighty in the earth hee was a mighty Hunter before the Lord. These words will never oblige us to conclude that hee hath raised himselfe violently but wee may more truely expound the wordes Hee was mighty before the Lord that is he was lifted up to greatnesse by the most High hee walked in his wayes and followed his ordinances and when Moses saith that he began to be mighty in the earth he meaneth that hee was more feared then his predecessours who were also Kings Priests and soveraigne Princes of their families For after the generall deluge which overflowed the whole earth men lived commonly five or sixe hundred yeares and so one of his posterity might see aboue a hundred thousand persons over whom he was Prince and soveraigne Monarch because there was then no other forme of government in the earth so we reade Genes 23. Chap. that the Hittites of whom Abraham asked a Sepulchre to bury Sara these I say called him a Prince of God or a most excellent Prince which hee clearely manifested at the overthrow of the five Kings which had beaten the King of Sodome had pillaged the Towne and carried away his Nephew Lot prisoner for at the rumour of these sorrowfull newes hearmed three hundred and eighteene of his servants borne in his house and yet had no children Gen. 14. It is then in vaine to alledge that violence craft and hereditary succession are the onely meanes to attaine to Crowes for although some attaine to it by humane meanes and sometimes by dangerous wayes as Absalom who caused himselfe to be anointed King by expelling his Father as Abimelech by the death of 70 of his brethren upon the same stone yet for all these wayes to come to raigne are never brought to passe without a manifest fore-sight and providence of God permitting it sometimes to punish those peoples and sometimes for a punishment to the Kings that raigne over them yet whatsoever they be God commandeth us to obey and perfectly to honour them now cursed cursed be he that shall resist the will of God and that shall not obey his commaundements After we haue heard both Scripture and reason manifestly evincing the truth Let us now heare Saint Augustines opinion in this matter in his booke De civit Dei The cause saith he of the greatnesse of Empires is neither casuall nor fatall it commeth neither by chance nor by destinie By chance I understand saith he the things that happen we not being able to know the causes of them or that happen without any premeditated order of reason assisting their conception and birth By fatall things I understand as Pagans esteeme what happeneth without the will of God and men by the necessity of some particular order which opinion is greatly injurious to Gods divine providence but rather wee must certainely beleeve that Kingdomes are constituted and established simply and absolutely by the divine providence of God And in another place Let us not attribute the power of giving or disposing of an Empire but onely to the true God that giveth eternall happinesse in heaven to his children onely but for earthly Kingdomes he giveth them to good and bad as it seemeth good to him as it pleaseth him who is delighted in no unjust thing therefore this true and onely God that alwayes provideth mankinde both with ayde and counsell when he would and as long as he pleased hath given the governement and Empire to the people of Rome hee is the giver of all felicity that giveth earthly Kingdomes to whom hee pleaseth and yet alwayes with justice and reason though the meanes seeme to us oftentimes manifestly contrary to both I thinke we have employed too much time and too many good weapons to fight against this horrible monster and monstrous Hydra and therefore the shortest and surest way is to follow the example of that valiant Hercules and so to cut off this monster for hee that will not heare the Scripture so manifestly shewing unto us our duty to our Kings that so expresly commandeth us to yeeld unto them all obedience hee that stoppeth his eares to those sweet and most gracious invitations of reason and naturall inclination to honour and serue him whom the bounty and will of GOD hath established over us He who watcheth in labour to make us sleepe in rest Hee who sits on the throne to doe us right that to ease us beareth the burthen of all our affaires and in a word Hee whose minde is alwayes in trouble and anxiety to preserve the quietnesse of his people and to keepe off the invasion and tyrannie of Strangers those Subjects I say are worthy of all the misfortunes disasters and calamities which can happen through the privation of so good things But wee who by the grace of GOD are brought up in his Schoole that together with our mothers milke have sucked the honour service and obedience which wee owe to our Kings and Princes Let us not suffer those wicked and dangerous plagues to infect the purity of our hearts and let not the whitenesse of our soules be spotted and defiled by so blacke and
Scripture let us compare Mercie to the Serpentine rod of Moses that faithfull servant of God for if this had done many miracles in Egypt that hath done as many wonders in the world If this was called the finger of God that is an excellent vertue that maketh us come neare to God but contrarily if the rod hath turned the waters into blood Mercie turneth the blood of wrath into the water of mildnesse and mansuetude If that hath caused darknesse this bringeth light if that wounds this cures In this they agree that as the one divided the red Sea to deliver the people from Pharaohs slavery so the other maketh us passe the red waters of Gods divine justice to shunne the devils seizing of us and to come to the Sanctuarie of caelestiall goodnesse according to the sense of the beatitude described in our Text Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obtaine mercie O happy and infinitely glorious therefore shall those be that use mercie towards their afflicted brethren who open the bosome of liberality and reach out the hands of goodnesse and compassion to draw them to them there and thereby to shelter them from the miseries and calamities that compasse them about for when the soveraigne Iudge of our soules and bodies shall come to keepe his Assises when hee I say shall come accompanied with thousand millions of Angels who are the Heraulds and great Officers of his divine Iustice when heaven and earth shall shake before his face when all the elements and all the creatures together shall quake for feare in his presence when hee shall judge by an eternall decree the living and the dead among all the most grievous and notable reproaches whereunto the wicked shall be subject that of cruelty shall be the most remarkable he will not then so much taxe them of having beene theeves drunkards murtherers fornicators as of not having beene pittifull to the poore and needie Math. 25.42 Goe will he say ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the deuill and his angels for I was hungry and ye gave me not to eare I was thirstie and ye gave me no drinke I was naked and you cloathed me not I was in prison and ye visited me not But contrariwise hee will alter his voyce when speaking to his Elect with a sweet smiling and gracious countenance hee will pronounce this favourable sentence of congratulation Math. 25.34 Come ye blessed of my Father possesse the inheritance prepared for you before the foundation of the world for I was hungrie and ye gave mee to eate I was thirstie and you gave mee drinke I was naked and you have cloathed mee I was in prison and you have visited mee The end and center of the law of God in the second Table is this Thou shalt love thy neighbours as thy selfe in these few words wee see all the offices all the duties and all the services which we owe to our neighbour to wit to love him as we love our selves for as no man is so unnaturall unlesse hee hath lost the use of reason and be ready to precipitate himselfe into despaire that would in his neede for his good refuse himselfe any thing that should be in his power so likewise let us represent to our selues that our neighbour is our other selfe and that to refuse him any needfull thing yea not to prevent him in his wants and incommodities is a sinne in him that is infected with it which makes him unworthy to be compared or placed among the Pagans and Infidels for they helpe one another with all their might but with a great deale of reason and justice we may say that he is farre worse then a brute beast for we may obserue and marke that those of the same kinde helpe and succour one another As we read in Plinie that when a great and heavie Elephant is fallen being for his heavinesse not able to rise seeing specially they have no joynts in their legges his fellowes doe then assemble and raise him up with their snowts It is noted that when Stagges intend to swimme over some swift River they gather themselues together and because their heads laden with such great hornes would make them sinke they lay them on the hinder parts the one of the other and because the foremost hath no place to leane his upon every one in his turne supplieth that place and what should wee not doe although we had no naturall affection would not the very beasts accuse us of cruelty and barbarousnesse if being all to passe together the vast and deepe Ocean of this tempestuous life in hope once to arrive in the delightfull Haven of salvation If I say feeling our heads laden with so many miseries imperfections and calamities we did not mercifully assist and ease one another and so wee should not accomplish the Apostles command saying Beare ye one anothers burthens that you may fulfill the law of Christ St. Chrysostome with his golden mouth as his name importeth tells us in generall that all men represent unto us but one body whereof the greatest and most honourable are like the braine the eyes the mouth and the eares and that so orderly according to their dignities they possesse and take their place and neverthelesse there is so great an affinity betweene all these different members that they all helpe and succour one another the eye helpeth the foot and the foot serveth the eye the mouth is serviceable to the hand and the hand to the mouth and besides that experience teacheth us that if there be the least ach in the head the face becommeth pale the eyes often times flow with teares and all the other members participate of her paines according to the proverb Quando caput dolet caetera membra dolent If the foot chance to tread upon a thorne and to be pricked by it the eye though farre distant seekes presently the place offended the backe stoopes the hands runne to the place and all the members in generall are attentive and carefull of the easing hereof Alas let us remember that wee are members of the same body that wee owe our helpe and assistance one to another when we see any in affliction among us let us not stay so much to know the cause of his griefe but that we may runne to apply the remedy to it and to helpe him out of his wants and incommodities and then by these actions we shall testifie that we are the children of God who saith Math. 10.42 That if we give to the poore a glasse of cold water in his name hee will hold it as done to himselfe so much doth hee delight in the holy and pious workes of mercie Blessed saith hee are the mercifull Mercie is compared to a tree planted in the fruitfull ground of the hearts of the faithfull that is watered by the wholesome waters of blessing and grace which the holy Ghost continually distilleth thereon and upon which the Sunne of righteousnesse continually shineth that
venomous a crime assuring our selves that the least thought of disobedience and rebellion which possesseth the minde besides that it is an evident token of an ungodly minde is worthy of the most severe punishments that can be imagined But let us shew that we are begotten among the children of GOD and regenerated by the Spirit of his grace let our ambition never flye higher then to the execution of his sacred commandements wherein lyeth the fulnesse and centre of all delights and of all felicity both spirituall and temporall and since particularly he desireth that we should feare him and honour the King which he hath established over us seeing that in the accomplished and fulfilling of these two commandements we have as it were the summe of all his law let us be carefull to honour serve him and to yeeld unto him all sorts of duties for he is the Lords anointed assuring our selves that whilest we shall studie to yeeld unto him due obedience whilest we pray fervently for his long life and prosperity as we are in duty bound God for his part will make good unto us his promises to wit to make us enjoy a delightfull rest and an admirable contentment to blesse the land wherein we dwell to multiply our dayes upon it in joy and felicity and after we shall have served obeyed and and honoured the King hee will call us unto eternall felicity to crowne us with the incorruptible Crowne of glory that seated with the 24 Elders in the Revelation we may with them cast downe our crownes before him who is set on the Throne to sing before him altogether O Lord thou art worthy to receive honour blessing and glory to thee therefore O eternall immortall admirable to thee onely wise God Creator of all things be ascribed all honour glory and magnificence now and forevermore Amen Amen O Almighty God and soveraigne Monarch of the whole world who hast by thy incomprehensible vertue created all things both in heaven and earth that by thy fore-sight and wonderfull providence doest conduct and governe with so great wisedome and with so beautifull good and just order all thy creatures that the contemplation thereof ravisheth us in admiration and forceth the wicked and Atheists to confesse that the disposition so admirable of the starres the swift motions of the heavens the constant diversity of the seasons happen not by chance nor hazard but that there must be some first and Soveraigne mover to turne those great Spheres some great Captaine to set in order the whole hoast of heaven and to make the seasons march in their order this order I say so exactly observed openeth thy childrens mouthes and maketh them say with the Royall Prophet David The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy worke O God of peace that hatest confusion and disorder graunt us if such be thy good pleasure the grace to obey thy lawes and to follow in all things thy holy and divine ordinances and since thou shewest here unto us one of the wayes leading to the mountaine of thy holinesse to the spirituall Ierusalem to wit this commandement which thou makest here unto us to Honour our King give us the grace O loving and gracious Father that we may perfectly performe it that our eyes may be alwayes turned towards the Lords anointed that our eares may be alwayes open to receive and obey his commandements that our mouthes may be alwayes filled with his praises that our hearts may be alwayes enflamed with zeale to his service to testifie unto him on all occasions our most humble obedience that after we have here belowe beene faithfull subjects wee may bee crowned above in heaven with the incorruptible crowne of glorie Amen FINIS