then again the Kings answer which was supposed to be the hastening cause of that murther Let him repent and pray if God may possibly forgive him The fourth is to command sin For by this means they beget it they give it Seed and become the Fathers of it And for this Let the Long Lifed Parliament Lieutenant General Cromwell and others whom it concerns water their Bedds and wash their Couches every night with tears for fear they exchange their Evill Dayes into an Everlasting Night of Evill The fifth is to consent to it For by that means they own it and maintain it and become Adopted Fathers to it And for this Let the High Court of Justice President Bradshaw Whaley Pride and others that sat there and gave Vote to the most unjust sentence that was ever pronounced Pilates only excepted abhorr themselves in dust and ashes least their memories be abhorred by all good men on Earth and their Souls in Fire and Brimstone The sixth is to commend it For by this means they give it suck Dugg and become a Nurse to it And for this Let them who have presented Books to John Bradshaw and given him Eulogies for the greatest Vaelogy was ever spoke in England severing the Head of King Charles I. from his Body The seventh is To entertain and maintain the Actors of it For by this means they give it Shoulders they support it and become Protectors of it And for this Let him who hath made himself Protector with his Stately Counsel consult how they may avoid the curses of so many thousand innocent Widdows and Orphans whom they have made so that they might kill as the Jewes did the King of Life the King of England Charles the I. The Eighth is To keep Silence and to be mute at it when it is done For by that means they become Friends to it and give it Heart and Hand And for this Let him or them or both who have out-stript Dioclesian and Julian by mnzzleing the Mouths of all the Orthodox Clergy of England least they should declaim against it look to it and weep and groan if perhaps they may out-cry that cry which the Blood of CHARLES the I. makes to Heaven for vengeance The ninth and last is to partake of it For by that means they give it Arm and Face and become Benefactors to it And for this Let the present Soldiers whether Voluntiers or other whether before or since consider with themselves whether they be not guilty of the violent painful shameful murther of King Charles I. and presently forsake their Usurper and joyn to bring in the true Heyre of these Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland King Charles II. whom as God hath hitherto miraculously preserved so may he make a Miracle of his mercy in restoring him to a Glorious Crown here and receiving him to a Crown of Glory hereafter thorow Jesus Christ Amen Anno Dom. 1650. PSALM 112.7 He is not afeard of any evil tydings For his heart standeth fast and believeth in the Lord. ANd yet King David was no Stoick For this Psalm is an Exegesis or Exposition of the last verse of the former Psalm And that Psalm ends thus Timor Domini initium sapientiae The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom Ps 111.10 and this Psalm in answer to that begins thus Beatus qui timet Dominum Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. Ps 112.1 Wisdom seeks Blessedness and by the Fear of God finds it and finds it in four degrees 1. In the Happiness of his Posterity His seed shall be mighty upon Earth Ver. 2 2. In the Happinesse of his Prosperity Wealth and Riches shall be in his house Ver. 3 Ver. 6 3. In the Happiness of his Stability He shall never be moved 4. In the Happiness of his Security He shall not he will not be afraid or He is not afraid of any evil tydings And this though the last is not the least degree of his Happiness his good Fear banisht his evil Fear He fears God and therefore he fears not any evil tydings And that he fears God he is assured of it too for his heart standeth fast and believeth in the Lord. In which words you have observable these three Parts 1. Quis non timet Who feareth not Times Dominum He that feareth the Lord feareth not 2. Quid non timet What is it he feareth not Ab auditione malâ He feareth not any evil tydings 3. Quare non timet Why doth he not fear any evil tydings quia paratum est stabilitum est confirmatum est cor ejus confidens in Jehovâ because his heart is prepared because his heart is est ablished because it is confirmed and standeth fast believing in the Lord. I begin with the first He fearet not he shall not be afraid Pars 1. And this at first sight seems a strange commendation or a strange Prohibition Construe it as you please by the Present or Future tense Timor enim Domini est Janitor cordis et virtutis custos saith St. Hierome Fear of the Lord is the Guard Royal of the heart and keeps out forbidden lusts like unbidden Guests Fear is the Treasurer of Vertue keeps it in a close Cabinet like a precious Jewel least it should take Wings like Riches and fly away Fundamentum salutis says Tertullian Fear is the Foundation of Hope and like that house which is built upon a Rock let the Sea roar and the Rain fall and the winds blow It stands fast it is unshaken Tuta Armatura says St. Chrysostome Fear is a safe Armour whosoever puts it on hath such a Coat of Male as is Sword Pike Pistol and Canon proof Initium sapientiae Pro. says Solomon Fear is the beginning of Wisdom not a Student in the Accademy of Fear but is sure to commence Doctor of Wisdom Vita omnium operum says Melancton Fear is the vivacity of all our Actions whatsoever we do without Fear is dead in the very doing and Solomon gives the reason of it Officium enim est totius hominis Eccles 12. For this is the whole duty of man To fear God and keep his Commandements Religio Majestas Honor metu constant says Lactantius where Religion is neglected confusion enters nor can Religion subsist without Fear For what is not feared is contemned and what is contemned is not worshipped Religion Majesty Honour The Religion of God the Majesty of the King and the Honour of the Nobility are all preserved by Fear Take away Fear and take away all This Age this unhappy miserable Age gives us too sad feeling an example of it The Kingdom of England hath lost Religion The King of England hath lost his Majesty the Majesty of England hath lost his Head the Nobility of England have lost their Honour And all this because the Commons of England have lost their Fear the Fear of God St. Barnard advises most divinely Cúm adest Gratia time
holds right and true That God not the People is the Author and Efficient of Monarchy I descend and shall endeavour to make it good downwards Libr. ad Scupul and I begin with the testimony of Tertullian A Christian is enemy unto no man much lesse to the Emperour for he knows that the Emperiall Majesty is ordained of God He is next to God Soveraign ever all and Subject to God alone Hosius who lived in the time of Constantine the Great Apud Ath. ad sâ—litariam vitam agentes gives in the same evidence saying to the succeeding Emperour Constantius God hath entrusted your Majesty with the Empire and he that with an envious eye maligneth your Majesty and Imperiall Sovereignty contradicteth the Ordinance of God Liberius to the same purpose thus bespake the same Emperour Apud Ath. an Arian Fight not against God we beseech you who hath bestowed the Empire upon you And Athinasius himself confesses as much saying That the Power of Kings is of God God is the King over all the world Ad Antioch 9.55 and the King by God is over all Earthly men Beda tells us That David spared Saul for two Causes Lib. 4. Ex. posit in Sam. 1.21.6 one whereof was because Saul was his Lord and the Lords Annointed Walthramus in the succeeding age Ep. Wald. quae habetur in appendice Marian scot when this truth first began to be call'd in question and a contrary damnable Doctrine to be broached tells us Either that is false which some men prate amongst silly women and the vulger sort viz. That we ought not to be subject to the Kingly power or else that is false which the Apostle teacheth viz. Let every soul be subject to the higher Power because the higher power is the Ordinance of God Aquinas the great Schoolman tells us the same saying De Regiâ—â— Princ. l. 1. c. 6. They who are the Kings by succession are above the reach of all men subject to none but God in whose only power it is to mollifie the heart of a King if he turn Tyrant All Kings are Gods Ordinance wicked Kings are exalted by Gods permission to punish the Peâ—ples sins Aeneas Silvias exhorts all men to acknowledge themselves â—e ortu et author Imperij c. 2 〈◊〉 subject to their Prince and give reverence to him whom God hath made his Vice-gerant on Eaâ—th Luther speaks the same Language saying Ye ought not to reject your Prince whom God hath set over you Hitherto from Adam to Abraham from Abraham to Moses from Moses to Christ from Christ to Luther it hath gone currant That Kings are beholding to God only not to the people for their Crown and Royall Authority It only remains now to enquire Whether the Kings of England receive their Power from God or the People and this I shall dispatch suddainly And here I say first That the people could not give this Power because the People never had this power Nihil dat quod non habet and that the people never had it it is plain because it is against the Nature of Regality to be in more then one Rex unicus esto The Sun in the Firmament cannot be multiplyed the Firmament admits but of one Sun nor England of more then one King It is not with England as it was with Rome Leges a Magistratu proponuntur a populo jubentur The Magistrate proposes the Law and the People ratifie it but the clean contrary Leges a populo proponuntur a Rege jubentur The People propose Laws but the King makes the Laws and the Reason is plain The People of Rome elected the Magistrates of Rome but the God of Heaven hath appointed the King of England And this appears 1. By his Right to the Crown to which he is not elected but Born He hath it not by the Peoples Votes but by Gods blessing Heriditary Succession King Charles II was King of England so soon as ever King Charles I. was beheaded by the Law of Birthright and so is though he never receive the Ceremony of Coronation This is plain in the Case of Henry 6. who was not Crown'd until the 9. year of his Reign Speed l. 2. c. 16. Cook 7. Re. p. 256. 2. By his Power his Power Military the People cannot the King may Proclaim War and establish Peace His Power Curial No Court not the Court of Parliament can meet Polyd. Virg. Lib. 11. but by the Kings Authority yea the Court of Parliament it self was at first devised framed and instituted by the King and they have fairly rewarded it in the Decollation of one King and Banishment of another His power Official Smiths Com. wealth l. 2. cap. 4. et 5. He chuses and establishes all Officers the Superiour by himself Immediatly the Inferionr by others in Authority under him His power universal in and over all Causes and Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and lastly by his Power Titular and that runs thus Carolus Dei gratiâ and not Carolus electione populi It is not Charles by the election of the people but Fol. 34. a.b. Charles by the grace of God King of England The King says Bracton hath under him Freemen and Slaves but he is under none but God and it is said of our King as it was said of Solomon in his Chair-Royal That he then sits not in Solium populi upon the Peoples Throne as though they made him King but In Solium Domini upon the Throne of the Lord because He is what he is King of England Scotland and Ireland by the grace of God And may Almighty God with that grace by which he design'd him King by his Birth restore him to the possession of his Kingdoms that he may punish all those men of Belial who said They made his Father King and he should no longer Reign over them and therefore murthered him Yea O God let all such men of Belial tast of thy mercy and the Kings Justice who dare say How shall this man save us and so deny his Authority to come from thee and despise him because they esteem him lesse then the whole Body though greater then the particular members Amen It is my second part and to be examined next year Till when and ever Pars. 2. God blesse King Charles II. thorough Jesus Christ Amen Anno Dom. 1652. 1 SAM 10.27 How shall this man save us And they despised him THis day Twelve-moneth you heard from the beginning of this verse The Children of Belial said That God not the People is the Author and efficient of Monarchy you shall God willing from the second part and middle words of this Verse hear That the King is greater then the People not only in piece-meale and particulars but also in grosse and in the whole notwithstanding they say How shall this man save us and they despised him whence they raise this Question Whether the King be lesse then the Representative Body
Misery because commonly Mammon is the Friend of iniquity Happiness because many times it frees a man from the stroak of Justice Misery because many times it lays a man obnoxious to stroak of Injustice For what made Naboth a Delinquent and put him under a Sequestration but onely because he had a Vineyard too near the Kings House and he was a Rich man Benedixit Deo et Regi He blasphemed God and the King was but a Forgery and a meer pretence of Jezabels as you may perceive in the Context Set two wicked men before him and let them Witnesse against Him Ver. 10. saying Thou didst Blaspheme GOD and the KING where you see Wicked men subborn'd to bear false Witnesse and therefore yon know it was a meer Forgery The true Cause you may read in the other Context Then Jesabel said unto Him Ver. 7. to her Husband Achab Doest thou now Governe in Israel Up eat Bread and be of good chear I will give thee the Vineyard of Naboth the Izreelite Naboths Vineyard lay fit for Achabs Pleasure and fit therefore upon refusal to make him a Delinquent And indeed had Naboth abused his Vineyard unto Drunkennesse he had merited the name of a Delinquent For Drunkennesse is one of those Seaven deadly sinnes which brings a Deliquium upon a Man and ranges him under a Delinquency because by the Commission of that sin he does Delinquerâ— Hominem cease to be a Man and becomes a Beast For this sin this very sin of Drunkenness Noah became a Delinquent and so did Lâ—t and one of Noahs Children C ham by name and Lots two incestuous Children Moab and Ammon lay under a Sequestration for many hundred years But alas Naboth had no such fault laid to his charge All the guilt I find him stained with is 1. He was a Rich man and would not part with his Inheritance 2. He was a Good man and would not yield to an Arbitrary Government Secunda Primae Which is my Secunda Primae and my Third Consideration and thus begins That a Rich man should be made a Delinquent is no great wonder no not in a well governed Kingdom for it is possible there may be ill Governours in a well governed Kingdom Justices and such subordinate Magistrates who from some Puny Divines may suck in false Doctrine and believe That Gods temporal Blessings and the Goods of this world belong onely to themselves because Dominium fundatur in Gratiâ non Naturâ none but the Babes of Grace have right to the blessings of the Earth But for a Good man to be made a Delinquent quâ talis because he is a Good man This certainly argues the Kingdom to be very bad the Government to be ill and the Governours to be worst of all which seldom happens in any but an Apostate Kingdom where the Subjects have resisted their true Governours and parted with their Allegiance under the Pretence of Religion but in truth for Rebellion and Licentiousness And such was the state of Israel at this time 1 Reg. 12.20 Jereboam the son of Nebat rebelled against Rehoboam the Son of Solomon and by that Rebellion got ten parts of the twelve 1 Reg. 15.29 and his Race was finished and expired in his son and next Successor Nadab For Baasha smote them all and left none alive to Jeroboam Elah his son Reigned in his stead and Zimri served him with the same sauce and slew all the house of Baasha 1 Reg. 16.6 not leaving one to piss against the Wall Omri succeeded him by a like Legerdemain onely he had the compact of the major part of the people 1 Reg. 9.11 V. 16. and Achab his son succeeded him By the way I beseech you mark The Kingdom thus got by Rebellion first changed their Religion and their Clergy 1 Reg. 12.27 For whereas before the People exercised their Religion in the House of God at Hierusalem now they exercised it to two Golden Calfes in the house of the High Places and the the lowest of the People took upon them the Priests Office and became as a man might say V. 31. Tub-preachers Next This Kingdom thus gotten by Rebellion changed the Peoples Prosperity into Poverty their Liberty into Slavery and dasht out the Magna Charta of Meum Tuum so that no man could say Any thing was his own For Naboth was therefore made a Delinquent because he layd claim to his Vineyard which came to him by the Inheritance of his Fathers and would not part with it at the will of his King i.e. Because he was a Rich man and would not part with his Estate because he was a Good man and would not yield to an Arbitrary Government And good reason for it For in an Arbitrary Government as was singularly well observed in the late long Regnant never to be forgotten Parliament by that man of Noted Mâ—mory Mr. John Pym Lust becomes a Law Covetousness becomes a Law Revenge hecomes a Law and every sin becomes a Law What his Intention was in that Speech I list not to enquire here but sure I am herein he spake truth For when it once comes to this pass stat pro ratione voluntas when one mans will becomes every mans Law why then the Chaste Wife and Pure Virgine are ravisht before the face of the miserable Husband and more miserable Parent Neutroque contradicente neither the Husband able to relieve the Wife nor the Father to rescue his Daughter from that Villany This was rhe case of pittiful Uriah who durst not relieve Bathsheba and of the more pittiful Absolon who could not rescue his Sister Thamar against the wilful lust of David and Ammon When one mans will is every mans Law why then the goodliest Cities are set on flaming fire and turn'd to Dust and Ashes Nemine abstante the Citizens not daring or altogether unable to resist the ambitious Conquerour This was the case of the most pious City Jerusalem and of the most famous City Troy the one rased to the ground by the Romans the other level'd to the earth by the Greecians and the deplorable Motto to this day stands Jam seges est ubi Troja fuitâ— The Corne grows where Troy stood When one mans Will is every mans Law Why then there is no Charter nor Freedom of the People no distinction of the Magistrate and the Plebeian This was Englands case once when Cade Straw and Tyler durst beard the King and give Laws from their wills It was Englands case again when John Hambden John Pym Oliver Crumwel and such other Patriots had a greater Influence upon the People then King Charles I. I pray God it be not Englands case again in King Charles the seconds time least the Nobles and Peers of this Land be perpetually made the scorn of Coblers ' Tinkers and Taylors When one mans will becomes every mans Law Why then All Priviledges All Immunities cease and cease to every man save to him whose
that his little Finger would be heavier in the Levies of Taxes for the payment of Soldiers to maintain his usurped Power and raysing up the basest and lowest of the People to be Priests and become their Teachers The English thought Ship-mony in King Charles his time to be a Tax unsufferable and therefore first set up Essex and found out an easy way of Excise and the First and Twentieth parts and a Bankrupt Publick Faith to maintain a Rebellious Army and when that would not do they then set up a New Modelled Army under the command of Fairfax with a lighter burthen of 60000 li. and 120000 li. the Moneth to reduce the King to obedience and then did Cromwell finely juggle him out and gave himself by deed of Gift the Protaectordom of England which he hath fairly safe-guarded by running it into a vast Debt and silencing the Orthodoxal Clergy for fear by their Preaching the people might be recovered of their madness and cherishes in their room an Anabaptistical Sect to keep them still in Bedlam But in the mean time they forget a Power which is in Heaven that will e're long laugh all these powers of Earth to scorn and establish Him whom by Succession he hath assigned to the Crowns of England Scotland and Ireland King Charles II. But till then Wo be to us if we preach says the Humane power Wo be to us if we preach not says the Divine power and So you see which power both by Reason and Religion we should rather obey And now 2. You may see which wo either Mans wo or Gods wo we should rather Fear 1. The wo which Man threatens us if we preach is the wo of imprisonment and the wo of banishment The wo of imprisonment for three Moneths the first time we preach The wo of imprisonment for six Moneths the second time we preach and he wo of banishment the third time we preach Now may not these woes be borne by us Certainly they may if we think upon Joseph in his Prison or the Jewes in their Banishment for Gods hand is not shorter now than it was then but He can preserve us as well in and deliver us as well out of prison as he did Joseph Nor is his ear heavier now than it was then but He can as well provide for us in and restore us from Exile as He did the Jewes and bring us back as well as them to re-build our Church and worship him with our former Reveverence Unity and Order 2. But the wo which God threatens us if we preach not is the Wo of the worst Goale Hell the Wo of the Banishment from Heaven and both these Eternal from which their is no Redemption and to bear which there is no Ability For who is able to dwell in those everlasting burnings Isa But then why do we not preach the Gospel Why Beloved It may be we do For the Pulpet doth not make a Sermon or if we do not It proceeds not from fear of either the Humane power or wo but because we believe God will be pleased more with our Obedience than Sacrifice Mistake me not I mean not Obedience to the Power which forbids us to preach but Obedience to the Providence which hath made our silence our punishment and also because we hope and pray that power which hath all things at his dispose to Restore King Charles the Second into the Throne of King Charles the First to Reign as he did Justly and Mercifully not to be Murthered as he was Barberously and Cruelly And then Wo be to us if we preach not the Gospel And as we believe and pray so be it unto us for Jesus Christ his sake Amen Anno Dom. 1656. APOCALYPS 14.13 Blessed are the Dead that dye in the Lord from henceforth even so faith the Spirit They rest from their labours and their workes follow them THis Book is not Apocrypsis a Covering but Apocalipsis a Discovery and therefore may be lookt into Were it Apocrypsis a Concealment It were only for God For secret things belong only to God Deut. But being as it is Apocalypsis A Revealement or a Revelation It is for us and ours For things revealed belong to us and to our Children In this Book I confesse are Multa Mysteria Many Mysteryes and so not fit for vulgar eyes But in it too are Multae Hystoriae Many Historys and so fit for all Eyes The Mysterys indeed are for the Schools but the Histories may be for the Pulpit My Text hath not one jot of Mystery in it It is all an History a plain History for the understanding For who understands not That they which dye in the Lord are blessed It is a sweet History for the Affections For what more desired then Blessednesse And it is a short History for the Memory For it consists but of three parts and who remembers not three Those three parts are these 1. An Affirmation or a Proposition Beati abhoc tempore posthac amodo qui in Domino Domini causâ moriuntur Blessed henceforth are they which dye in the Lord or for the Lords Cause 2. A Witnesse or a Deposition to justifie the Truth of the Proposition Etiam dicit Spiritus Even so saith the Spirit 3. A Comment or Exposition Quoniam requiescunt a laboribus et opera eorum sequntur eos They rest from their labours and their works follow them The Proposition comforts us The Deposition assures us The Exposition enlightens it and us For if any man should say of the Proposition Blessed are the dead which dy in the Lord Durus hic Sermo This is an hard sentence who can understand it why here is a Glosse to expound it and explain it and the Glosse tells you They are doubly blessed 1. In Deliverance and Relaxation They rest from their labour Pars. 1. 2. In Reward and Retribution Their works follow them If the time confines me not I shall D. V. speak of each And 1. of the first Blessed are the dead which dye c. Blessednesse is a large word and comprises all those Mercies and Favours which appertain to this Life or the next so we read in the Psalms Blessed is the man that fears the Lord and that Blessednesse is as well Earthly as Heavenly His Seed shall be mighty upon Earth Wealth and Riches shall be in his house There it is earthly His Righteousnesse endures for ever Here it is Heavenly But the Blessedness in any Text is not of this extent It is not extended to the Living and therefore is not earthly It is restrained to the dead and therefore only Heavenly Blessed are the Dead saith my Text. And here again least any one should quarrel with the Text and say flatly It is false because of all Terribles Death is the most Terribles and therefore said Mecaenas Facito debilem Pede facito debilem manu vita dum superest bene est Lay what Pain you will upon me Sursingle me with
Actuall Transgressions But Originally Corruption He was free from because He was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary and Actuall Transgressions he was cleared of not only by the Verdict of St. Peter who tell us from the Holy Ghost He did not sin neither was any guile found in his lips 1 Peter but also by the sentence of Pilate himself who told the Jews who importuned to have him Crucified I have examined him but can find no faults in him And Charles the first King of England John Scotland France and Ireland for whose Commemoration and his 8 Anniversary I chose this Text though he was conceived in sin and questionless guilty of Actual transgressions yet not such Transgressions as made him worthy to be Killed and murthered by the ancient Laws of this Kingdom And that 's a wonder A wonder that King Charles I. should rather with Constantine cover other mens Errors and discover His own A wonder it is P. 146.4 that Charles I. would continue an Angel of Reformation when the Devil of Rebellion was up in Arms against him A wonder it is p. 207.1 that Charles I. would rather suffer himself and his to be destroyed then give way to alter a settled Orthodox Religion A wonder it is p. 186.3 that Charles I. would rather chuse the woe of Vae soli and Solitude then of Vae vobis Hypocritae and Hypocrisie A wonder it is p. 127.28 that Charles I. should chuse rather to be reckoned among the Misfortunate then in the black List of irre ligious and Sacrilegious Princes A Wonder it is p. 165.20 that Charles I. should seek to set up Christs spiritual Kingdom by pulling down his own Temporal Kingdom A Wonder it is p. 135.4 That Charles I. should rather ascribe the setling of Bishops to the wisdom and piety of the Apostle then to the favour of Princes or Ambition of Presbyters A Wonder it is that Charles I. should be so judicious to determine some mens Zeal for Bishops p. 141.8 Lands Houses Revenues set them on work to eat up Episcopacy Root and Branch A Wonder it is p. 103.10 that Charles I. should esteem it his greatest Title and chiefest Glory to be the Defender of the Church both in the true Faith and its just Fruitions and equally abhorr both Sacriledge and Apostacy A wonder it is p. 103.21 that Charles I. should rather chuse to live on the Churches Alms then violently to take the Bread out of Bishops and Ministers mouths A wonder it is p. 104.17 that Charles I. wounld not repair the Breaches of the State by the Ruins of the Church A wonder it is p. 103.6 that Charles I. should rather chuse Pharaohs Divinity and Joseph's true piety then to sell the Priests Lands A wonder it is that Charles I. should esteem the Church above the State and Gods Glory above his own p. 92.13 and the Salvation of his soul above the preservation of his Body Estate and Posterity And yet a greater woâ—der it is That in none of all these nor any thing else neither Judge nor Jury nor Rable could sind any cause in him King Charles I. But now suppose They had found cause of death in him 2a 1ae yet might they desire to have him killed That my 2a 1ae is to tell you and it tells you No It is not awsul for Subjects to desire to have their King killed though â—hey could find cause of Death in him No God forbid we should desire to have Christ the King killed since he came to he killed for us that we might not be killed A most unthankful part this would be and therefore most abominable to requite so much Mercy with so great Injury Yet so unthankful and so abominable were the Jewes They desired to have Christ killed and I would to God some Christians yes and all Christians were not so abominably unthankful But I must tell you so abominable and unthankful are we all that we daily wound him if we do not kill him yes that we daily wound him and kill him Wound him by our Miseries or kill him with our sins we renue his Agony by our consticts or his Passion by our Guilts We never suffer as Christians but He suffers with us we never sin as Beasts or Epicures but we kill him by those sins We have more need to say Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave his Son to be killed on Earth for a time that we might not be killed in Hell for ever and Blessed be God the Holy-ghost who did annoint Jesus to be our Christ and gave him Inauguration to his Crown of Thorns and Blessed though most bloody Function and blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself up to death that death might not swallow us up yes rather say we Blessed be the Holy Trinity then to desire that Christ should be killed And God forbid again That we should desire to have that King killed whom I in this Text aim at For it is against the Law against the Law of God against the Gospel of Christ and against the Law of men too 1. Against the Law of God Exod. 27.22 Thou shalt not speak evel of the Ruler of thy people says Moses much lesse mayst thou do evil to him Prov. for says Solomon Against the. King there is no rysing up but to desire his death to desire that he may be killed is both to speak evil of him and do evil to him 2. It is against the Gospel of Christ For Christ himself says Give to Caesar the thing that are Caesar and what things are Caesars St. Paul tells you when he says Be subject to him Give him Honour Rom. 13. Tribute Obedience Take not any thing from him and all this for Conscience sake which argues their little or no Conscience which desire to have him killed for in so doing they take all things from him and St. Peter puts it further home when he says next to Fear God Honour the King which shews and it it as if the Apostle had said They have little or no Fear of God that have so little Honour for their King as to dishonour him by desiring to have him killed or as the Royal Expositor hath it They cannot appear good Christians p. 165.20 that approve not themselves good Subjects Nor can it be safe for a King to tarry amongst those men who shake hands with their Allegiance p. 37.15 under pretence of laying faster hold on their Religion and certainly that is no Religion or a very bad one which allows it lawful for Subjects to desire to have their King Killed But I have spoken at full heretofore That no cause whatsoever in the King though Murther Witâ— hâ—raft Idolatry c. can authorise Subjects to Rebellion from the Law of God from the Gospel of Christ from the Judgement of all
to be sober in the Horse and drink no more then will do us good being Unchast or Lacivious in the Dove and know no woman but out own Wifes being Cruel or Unnaturall in the Storke and to maintain our Parents Children Freinds that if we do such things we are worthy of death Worthy of death of death temporal so Draco by the light of nature appointed Death for all great Transgressions but that is not all our Apostle here means but worthy of death eternal too and this the very Gentiles knew by assigning their Elisyan fields to some sinners and Hell or their Stygian Lake to other sorts of sinners Take you and I therefore heed of all sorts of sins and do with every sin as David did with his water which his Worthies brought him with hazzard of their lives powre it them on the ground and say God forbid we should commit these sins because if we do we are worthy of Death of Death Temporal and Death Eternal Especially take we heed that we delight not that we take not pleasure in that we applaud not them that do them For this is desperate impiety the hight of and the great aggravation of the Gentiles sin here used by this great Apostle which is my second consideretion They do not only do them Psal 2. Put also take pleasure in others for doing the same Some read it Consent so Lyranus Tolet and others and make the Aggravation lesse But Theophylact Paraeus Piscator and others read it Patrocinantur favour delight take pleasure in yes Applaudunt Applaud and defend them that do such things and so make the Aggravation greater either way It is bad enough Alexanders murthering of Clytus was not the lesse though Anaxarchus the Epicurian Phylosopher told him All was lawful that Princes did though Aristander the Stoical Philosopher told him it was Fate and Destiny Davids murthering Uriah was not the lesse though the Ammonite slew him 2 Sam. 12.9 because he commanded it Achitopels killing of Absolom was not the lesse because his Counsel brought him to his death 2 Sam. 16.21 Saul was not lesse guilty of St. Stephens death Act. 7.59 though the Jews stoned him Act. 22.20 because he consented to it Achab was not lesse guilty of Naboths death though some Sons of Belial bare false witness against him and others condemned him Reg. 21.13 and others stoned him because he authorized and countenanced it with his Seal Esau was not the lesse guilty of Jacobs destruction though Forreigners Obed. 11.12 carried him away captive because he did not rescue him All the Tribe of Benjamin was not guilty of the Concubines Death and Rape in the Act of it Jud. 19.22 Jud. 20.13.14 yet they were guilty of the sin because they sheltered the Actors and Doers of it The Modern or latter Jews were not the less guilty of the old Prophets death Mat. 23.34 though their Fathers and Grand-Fathers slew them because they were Heire as well of the Murthers as of their Fathers Nor were they less guilty of King Charles blessed King Charles the first his death who brought him to the Block though others chopt off his head because they then withstood it not nor ever since called any of them to account for doing of it Nor are you or my self the loss guilty of that sin which another man commits if lying in our power we do not hinder it if we do not reprove it if we counsell'd it if we consented to it if we commanded it if we concealed it if we entertain'd the Actors of it and gave them applause or took pleasure in them for doting of it I end this second part with Prayer O God we have much guilt of our own too much if thy mercy be not the greater suffer us not we beseech thee to partake of other mens sins or communicate in other mens guilt but give us Courage to hinder it Zeal to reprove it Power to forbid it Wisdome to dispraise it Anger to discountenance it Strength to resist it Hearts and Tongues to declaime against it The burthens of others miseries give us Charity to bear but the burthens of other mens sins give us piety to forbear and the burthen of our own sins do thou ease and the guilt of our own sins do thou forgive for his sake who hath borne that burthen and washt away that guilt by his pretious and invaluable blood Jesus Christ Amen And now I come to the last part I proposed That if the Apostle were now living Pars 3. he would certainly further aggravate this sin upon the English Christians then he did upon the Romane Gentiles who have out-stript and exceeded their doing these sins themselves and their delighting in those that do them by commanding all others and compelling many to do the same by 1. An Engagement 2. An Oath of Abjuration 3. A subscription of Opposition against the Common Enemy whom they at least some of them I am sure one of them with the Approbation if silence gives consent declared to be Charles Stewart whom we acknowledge to be Charles the second King of England Scotland and Ireland and for whose return we do and will pray with Power from above to recover his own Rights with mercy from above to forgive his Rebellions Subjects and with Wisdome from above to lettle this Church of God and his three Kingdomes in Peace and Truth untill the second comming of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen That Engagement with the Covenant was the first 1. Engagement and either of these bad enough since there is not one Engagement in the whole Book of God save those of the Rebels Corah and his Complices Absolom and his Conspirators Shaba and his Peufellowes nor is there one Covenant in that whole book but they were all given and taken by the Kings Authority not a Covenant amongst them all and they are but six in number imposed without much less against the Kings Authority and besides they were all meerly Religious Covenants not one Politick or state Covenant amongst the whole six Joshua 24.25 The first of which six was made by Joshua with the people The second was made by Jehojada the High Preist in behalf of the young King Joash with the people 2 Reg. 11.4 the sum of which Covenant was that the people should be true to God 2 Cron. 15.12 the King and the Church The third was made by King Asa with the people to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their heart and with all their soul The fourth was made by King Hazechiah with the people when they were in great distress for want of Religion and therefore said the King I have purposed to make a Covenant with the Lord God of Israel that he may turn his feirce wrath from us This was the Kings Covenant and Engagement with God for the people 2 Cron. 29.10 not theirs against him The
fift was made by Josia King of Israel with God that he and his People would walk after the Lord and keep his Commandements and his Testimonies and his Statutes with all his heart and his soul and that he would accomplish the words of the Covenant and he caused all the people to stand to it 2 Cron. 34.30 The sixt and last was requested by the people of the Captivity from Ezra who was then Instar locâ— Râ—gis in these words now therefore let us make a Covenant with our God to put away all our strange Wifes These are all the Covenants I have read of or can remember in the whole Bible and all these were made by and with the severall Kings Ezra 10.3 none without or against them But the English Engagement and Covenant was made without and against the King of England and howsoever those were commendable and extenuated the Israelites sins yet this must needs aggravate the English sins and condemne them who contrived it and took without much Repentance in themselves and more mercy in God and the King to which mercy God incline the heart of the King for Jesus Christ his sake Amen And 〈…〉 â—orse then the former for the former 〈◊〉 only engage against the Kings person 2. â—â—tion and the other part of it promised and pretended to fight for him in order to the preservation of Religion which might and did easily beguile many simple and well minded people but this same Oath of Abjuration was against the Kings Posterity not one of his Race or Name to raign over us any more nay against Lords of both sorts Ecclesiasticall and Temporall yes against the office of Episcopaâ—y so that we should not have had so much as a Skeleton of Monarchy nor a shape of any one of the Royal Tribes none of Benjamin or Nepthali none of Asher or Ephraim not a Duke Marquess Earl Lord or Barron nor any one of an Apostolicall Church not a successor of Aaron not a successor of St. Peterâ— St. Paul or any other of the Apostles some of the Tribe of Levi we might have had in a settell'd Presbytery to the loss of the English and gaine of the Romish Church And had not this been a greater Aggravation of our Countrymens sins in compelling some to be their Prosolites and ten times more the Children of Satan then themselves then a bare knowing and doing those sins with delighting in others that do the same comes short of compelling others to do those things which we know to be sin Delectation comes short of Compulsion and therefore once more I pray O thou Eternall and Mercifull God suffer not againe such Commanders to rule over us or if thou had'st not yet sufficiently punisht us for our former Malignity and Murther yet give us not over to obey such evill Commands that when thou makest Inquisition for blood for common blood for sacred blood or Noble blood for Royall blood our souls may be sprinkled with the saving and all sufficient blood of Jesus Christ 〈…〉 â—â—â—scription which these Master Murtherers required and would have compelled us to do under the specious pretence of against the Common Enemy but in truth with the horrid guilt of shutting out if possible for ever of King Charles the second whom God Almighty preserve to these three Kingdomes England Scotland and Ireland till in a good old age he be received into the Kingdome of Heaven for Jesus for Jesus for Jesus Christ his sake Amen Amen Amen FINIS