the fear of God and love of his children but the manner of putting them in execution is neither approoved in holie Scripture nor was in it selfe justifiable nor is to bee imitated of us it beeing no more lawfull to save a mans life by a lie than by theft both which without repentance in themselves deserve death eternall Et quomodo non perversissimè dicitur saith S. Augustine ut alter corporaliter vivat debere alterum spiritualiter mori How can it be but a perverse assertion to say That one should incur the death of the soule to free another from that of the body And not farre off in another place Quanto fortius quaÌ„to excellentius dices Nec prodam nec mentiar ut Firmus Episcopus Tagastensis How much more courage and constancy doth it shew for a man to say I will neither betray the truth nor my friend as did Firmus Bishoppe of Tagastum Firmus nomine firmior autem re Firm in name but more firm indeed The truth heerof will the better appear if we consider the greatnes of the offense the second thing which I proposed in as much as it is first directly against God himselfe secondly against the Scriptures the Oracles of GOD thirdly against nature the workmanship of God and fourthly against civill society the ordinance of God Against God it is both essentially and personally taken Against God the Father This is eternall life that they knowe thee to bee the onely true God Iohn 17. 3 Against God the Sonne I am the way the truth and the life Iohn 14. 6 Against God the holy Ghost When hee is comne who is the Spirit of truth he will lead you into all truth Iohn 16. 13. And as God is the Father of truth so is the Divell the father of Lies when hee speaketh a Lie then hee speaketh of his owne for hee is a lier and the father thereof Ioh. 8. 44. No marvell then that one of those seven things which the Lord hates and his soule abhorres is a lying tongue Pro. 6. 17. Secondly it is against the Scriptures the Oracles of God And therefore are they truely called Verbum veritatis the word of truth Eph. 1. 13 not onely because they were indited by the Author of all truth or because they contain so much supernaturall truth as is requisite for our salvation but withall because they excite us to the imbracing practising of truth Cast off lying and speake every man truth unto his neighbour Ephes. 4. 25. Ly not one to another Col. 3. 9. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle saith our Prophet Even he that speaketh the truth from his heart Psal. 15. Thirdly it is against nature the workmanship of God It is the priviledge of Mankinde above all Creatures that hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a creature capable both of reason and speech and as reason was ordained to bee the guide and directer of our speech so was our speech to be the expounder and interpreter of reason And therefore the Grammarians make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth speech to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which gives light to the notions of the understanding If then wee speak one thing and think another if wee expresse one thing with our lips and conceive another thing in our hearts it is against the end for which God created speech Fourthly and lastly it is against Civill society the ordinance of God a maine part wherof consisting in Conference in Consultation in Contracts Fractavel leviter imminuta authoritate veritatis omnia dubia remanebunt saith Saint Augustine The credit and soverainty of truth being never so little crackt or the practice of lying never so little couÌ„tenanced a man can build upon nothing but all things will bee full of doubt and distrust Rightly then saith the same good Father Nunquam errare tutius existimo quam cum in amore nimio veritatis reiectione nimia falsitatis erratur A man cannot lightly erre more safely then in too much love of truth hatred of lies Truth is a salt which serveth for the seasoning of every action and maketh it favorie both to God and man and in the 6. to the Ephes. it is compared to a girdle or a Souldiers belt whereby they knit together and close vnto their middle the upper and lower peeces of their armour And these belts as they were strong so were they set with studs being faire large There is then a double use of them one to keepe the severall peeces of armour fast and close together to hold the loynes of a man firm steddy that hee may be able to stand the surer and holde out the longer the other to cover the ioynts of the armour that they might not be seene The first use was for strength the second for ornament and thus truth is both an ornament to a Christian souldier and also an excellent meanes for strength to uphold and assure him in the day of trial Therfore wisely doth Solomon advise us To buy the truth but in no case to sell it Pro. 23. 23. The last thing which I promised is the punishment and that surely cannot but much aggravate the grievousnesse of the sinne It is both the punishment of other sinnes and other sinnes the punishment of it When God would punish Ahab for his wickedness presently the Divell offers himselfe for the execution of the service I will goe and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets 1. King 22. And those that would not beleeve and love the truth he punisheth with strong delusions that they should beleeue lies 2. Thess. 2. And as it is the punishment of other sinnes so did hee punish it with other sinnes in those Philosophers of the Gentiles who because they turned the truth of God into a lie therefore God gaue them up unto vile affections Rom. 1. 25. And the rule is general The mouth that lieth slayeth the soule Wis. 1. 11. Thou shalt destroy them that speake lies Psal. 5. 6. And Revel 22. 15 Without shall bee dogs and enchanters and whoremongers and murtherers and Idolaters and whosoever loveth or maketh lies And if God thus shutte them out of his presence not without cause doth our Prophet promise They shall not tarry in his sight It is the prayer of Salomon Prov. 30. Remoue from mee vanity and lies and his position in the 29. of the same book veâ—s 12 Of a Prince that hearkeneth to lies all his servants are wicked And if wee are to shun the practice of lies much more the doctrine of lies Teaching lies through hypocrisie 1. Tim. 4. 2. One effect whereof is the confident relation of their lying miracles and that Golden Legend compiled by a leaden braine and published by a brazen forehead I will conclude with Saint Augustines conclusion of his two Treatises de mendacio ad Consentium Aut cavenda sunt mendacia recte agendo aut confitenda sunt poenitendo non
but patiently waited upon God doing his will yea when God two severall times had put Saul into his hands once in the Cave where David and his men were hidden another time in Sauls owne Tent where with such courage hee had adventured hee was so farre off from taking away his life which easily hee might have donne that his heart checked him for cutting off the lap of the Kings garment at the one time he sharply rebuked Abner for guarding the Kings person so weakly at the other Thus did this holy man wisely carry himselfe in the perfect way of patience and loyalty to his cruell Prince and persecuting father in law till God himselfe by the way that he appointed had set him in the Kings seat The contrary is reported of Don Carlo Infant of Spaine if the relation bee true that hee through impatience and ambition practiced against his Father and for that cause suffered in the yeare of the Lord made up in the numerall letters of this old verse Filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos Once we are sure that our late neighbour King the sooner to get the quiet possession of that Crowne to which hee had unquestionable right if their Salique lawe be in force forsooke that religion in which hee was brought up and such as were disposed to play with his name found in it while he stood out Bonus Orbi but afterward Orbus boni but God dallied not with him suffering him to be dangerously stricken in the mouth upon the first abjuring of his religion and afterwards in or neer the heart in the midst of his Triumphes Nobility and imperiall Citie to the great astonishment of the Christian world Indeed it was a speech borrowed frow Euripides and often repeated by Caesar Si violandum est ius Violandum est propter imperium But rather befitting the mouth of a Heathen then a Christian yet are our owne Chronicles but too plentifull in Examples in this kinde of such as being heirs apparant to the Crowne rather snatcht it before their due time then received it when it fell Among others we read that Richard eldest sonne then living to King Henry the second approaching the corps of his Father as it was carrying to bee interred adorned according to the manner of Kings with all royall ornaments open faced the blood gushed out at the nostrils of the dead a signe usually noted of guiltiness as if nature yet after death retained some intelligence in the veines to give notice of wrong and check the malice of an unnaturall offender at which sight Richard surprised with horror is saide to have burst ouâ— into extreame lamentations Neither was Edward the fourth free from this imputation who when his father and himselfe had voluntarily and solemnly sworne to suffer Henry the sixt quietly to enioy the Crowne during his life yet did hee as thinking the time long till hee had it on his owne head set his brother of Glocester to dispatch King Henry teaching him by the same Art to kill his owne sonnes and successors Edward and Richard For those Kings that sell the blood of others at a lowe prize doe but make the market for their enemies to buy theirs at the same rate On the other side it is recorded in the French History to the eternal commendation of Robert eldest sonne to Hugh Capet the first King of their last race that being by his fathers consent and desire crowned King and proclaimed his LieutenaÌ„t General in the kingdome hee notwithstanding still continued a sonne without waywardness a companion without iealousie a King without ambition And wee may speake it without flattery that his Maiesty now living and long to live hath left to posterity a worthy paterne in this kinde by receiving this crown of England even from the hand of God having patiently waited the due time of putting it on howsoever hee were provoked to hasten it refusing the assistance of her enemies that wore it as long with as great glory as ever Princesse did not entring by a breach or by blood but by the ordinary gate which his owne right and divine providence set open Neither would hee for the settling of his right admit the toleration of any other religion then that which hee heer found and himselfe professed protesting openly that hee would chuse rather if hee were forced to it to spend the last drop of his blood than to enter upon such conditions But God would not suffer one drop of that sacred blood to be spilt which was so ready to be poured out for his sake Now those who thinke this Psalme was penned by David after his coming to the Crown conceive that at his entrance thereunto hee thus prayed for the speciall assistance of Gods Spirit aswell in the private carriage of his owne Affairs and Person as in governing the people committed to his charge well knowing that without it hee could not observe this Vow to which hee had bound himself nor administer Mercy and Iustice nor behave himselfe wisely in a perfect way nor performe any duty belonging to the office of a King or a good man as he ought Hee therefore desires of God that as hee had set him in the Kings Throne so hee would indue him with all maner of graces and royall vertues fit for so high a place and not onely so but to assist and direct him in the exercise of those graces and vertues The Heart of the King is in the hand of God hee turneth it as the rivers of waters Pro. 21. 1 hee turneth it to his good if hee flee to him for assistance but to his confusion if he stand upon his own strength It behooves all men to implore the aid of G O D but specially Kings and Princes as in all their actions so principally in negotiations and treaties of greatest Consequence That of King Salomon then chiefly concerns them Trust in the Lord with all thine hart and leane not to thine owne wisdom in all thy waies acknowledge him and hee shall direct thy waies Pro. 3. 5. 6. Princes have fewer then private men that dare freely tel them the truth which is indeed one of the great mischiefes of great places whereas on the other side their temptations are many and strong and their actions of weight importance drawing after them either much good or much evill It behooveth them then above all not to presume too much upon themselves upon their owne policy and forecast but rather upon the providence and assistance of him whose substitutes they are Thâ—ir Vice-Roys dare doo nothing of moment without consulting with them so neither ought they enterprise any thing of importance without consulting with the Oracle of God by religious invocation of him for the illuminating of their understaÌ„dings guiding of their wils following therein the example of the Wise man who treating of the excelleÌ„cy of true wisdom acknowledging it to be the special gift of God
is the salt that maketh all our actions relish to our selves beneficiall to others and acceptable to God without which businesse is rather burthensome then profitable and exercise rather a toyle than recreation As a man may eate too much honey so pleasure it selfe growes loathsome and distastefull by immoderate vse Nempe voluptatem commendat râ—riâ—r vsus Besides moderation is the mother of duration it is like the steddy burning of a taper or the fire upon the Altar which never went our whereas head-strong violence like a squib or flash of lightning dazles the eyes for a moment but is instantly extinct The great Maister of morality held it a great indecency in a Magistrate to be seene running in the market place because he who is to moderate others should himselfe observe a stayed moderation and gravity even in his pase and gesture and countenance much more in his actions The Lyon they say is seldome or never seene to runne yet is he for courage and wisedome the King of beasts and the higher the Celestiall Spheres are in situation the slower they are in their proper motion It is commonly the fault of youth by reason of their strong passion and little experience to make more haste than good speed and therfore it was good counsell of a Father to his Sonne Parce puer stimulis fortius uâ—ere loris to bee sparing of the spur and to make use of the bridle Generally it is better to halâ— in the right way than to ride a-gallop out of it And howbeit in the way of godliness a man cannot make too much haste nor come too soone to heaven yet it were fit to remember that of our Prophet I will runne the way of thy commandements when thou shalt have enlarged my heart Psal. 119. 32 there beeing not a few who will undertake to runne and flee too before they are well able to go or stand Lastly the ordinary effects of bodily walking are the quickning of the appetite the refreshing of the spirits the warming of the blood and the exercising of the body In like manner by this spirituall walking in the paths of Gods commandements is the appetite of our soul quickned to spiritual things the spirit comforted and refreshed our zeal warmed and our benummed affections made more nimble and pliant Now followes the Rule of his walking which is the integrity of his hart So Tremelius renders it Ambulabo in integritate animi mei our last Translation reads it with a perfect heart That same which hee heere promiseth for himself he elsewhere enjoins his Son And thou Salomon my Son knowe thou the God of thy Fathers and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing minde 1. Chr. 28. 9. First then hee voweth that the Rule of his actions should bee the Dictate of his owne heart not the fancy of other mens brains nor the example of other mens lives nor the report of other mens tongues which is as uncertain and variable as are the passions of their mindes some speaking out of fear some of â—lattery som of malice and some of faction The best way then for a man to examine his actions is To examine his heart there beeing no man living that knowes or possibly can knowe thee so well as thou doost thine owne self For what man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man that is within him 1. Cor. 2. 11. Though all the world acquitte thee if thine owne heart condemne thee in that thou dost thou art guilty before God though the whole world condemn thee if thy owne heart acquit thee thou art either guiltless or therby less guilty For as whatsâ—ever is not of faith is sin Rom. 14. 23 that is whatsoever is don against conscience though good in it selfe yet to mee is made sin so on the other side if our heart condemn us not then have wee confidence towards God 1. Iohâ— 3. 21. In a doubtfull cause then howbeeit perchance the applause of all men the reasons of Statists together with the opinion of great Clerks should give thee allowance yet if thou canst not resolve thy self of the lawfulnesse thereof attempt it not For as it is good for a man to begin with his owne heart for consultation so is it also to conclude with it for resolution yet so as other good meanes ordained to informe the conscience as advice with discreet friends and conference with the Learned if the matter bee of moment and the cause difficult bee not neglected Let thine heart then be the Line of thy walking and the perfection of thine heart the Levell of that Line I will walk with a perfect heart Perfection implies two things Inâ—egrity and Sincerâ—ty Integrity that it bee whole and sound Sincerity that it bee single and upright Sincerity is opposed to that double heart mentioned by our Prophet Psal. 12. 2 With flattering lips and with a double heart doo they speak the Original is with a hart and a hart Integrity to that divided heart whereof the Prophet Hosea Their heart is divided cap. 10. 2 when a part is bestowed on God and a part on our owne profit or pleasure First then hee promiseth to walk with a perfect heart that is in the singlenesse and simplicity the uprightnes and sincerity of his heart as God commanded Abraham Gen. 17. 1 Walk before mee and bee thou perfect or as the Margent reads it upright and sincere a word borrowed from hony as the Grammarians will have it which the purer it is sine cerâ without wax the more pleasant and wholesome it is as they likewise draw simplicity which signifies the same from a garment sine plicis without pleats or foulds Now this sincerity or simplicity is therfore called perfection because it is the greatest perfection wee can possibly arrive unto in this world For absolute perfection in fulfilling every point of the Law in that exact manner and degree as is required neither doth our Prophet undertake neither could he by any means perform He wel knew all that God expected and himselfe could safely promise was but sincerity without which many good services are not accepted and with which many great imperfections and infirmities are covered as with a mantle How many infirmities escaped from our Prophet himselfe his numbring the people his counterfeiting madness his collusion with Achish his rash anger and furious swearing and vowing the death of Nabal and his unjust dealing with good poore Mephibosheth these things were sinnes yet sincerity was a vaile unto them because it was not so shaken in these as in his murther and adultery God that tooke some speciall notice of this last would take none at all of the other The heart of David saith the Scripture vvas upright in all things save in the matter of Vriah 1. King 15. 5. In like manner some of Asaes infirmities having been mentioned by the holy Ghost as that the high places were not taken away yet the Conclusion is Nevertheless
sunk by some little insensible leak than by the violent dashingin of the waves unto it Look then as to the sincerity so to the integrity of thy heart in Gods service Hee forbiddes us not to love other things besides himselfe but wee may love nothing but for his sake and so dooing wee can love nothing in that degree wee love him Above all let us beware of the sinnes of our particular vocation and of our naturall constitution and of the times and places in which wee live for These most men make their Idols and are ready to say with Naaman The Lord be mercifull to me in this But this is not to walk with a perfect heart which strives against all knowne sinne because it is sin and endeavours the keeping of all the commandements because they are commanded and if wee so doo for sinnes of pure ignorance and meer infirmity God doth graciously vouchsafe us a daily pardon of Course Who can understand his errours Keep thy servant from presumptuous sinnes then shall I be upright Psal. 19. 12. To conclude how-ever the damnable Politicians of our Age would perswade their Prince that the practice of outward Piety and civill Honâ—sty is sufficient for him yet our Prophet and Prince promiseth to walke with a peâ—fect heart and performed what he promised so as hee dareth for that to appeal to Gods examination and censure Iudge mee O Lord for I have walked in mine integrity Psal. 26. 1. And againe Search mee O God and knowe my heart try mee and knowe my thoughts and see if there bee any wicked way in mee and lead mee in the way everlasting Psal. 139. â—3 And lest wee should think This presumption in him the holy Ghost doth him this honour that those Kings who truly feared God and raigned well are said to have walked in the waies of David their Father 2. Kings 22. 2 but those that raigned ill because they feared not God not to have walked in his waies 1. Kings 15. 3. So that hee is not onely commended for his sound and single heart but is therein proposed as a rule to succeeding Ages for the tryall either of the straightnes or crookednesse of his Successors Now in the last place followes the Place of his Walk which is within his house or as Arias Montanus hath it in interiori domus meae in the inmost part of my house Hee would make a tryall in the very managing of his Family and houshould-affaires of his ability and sufficiency for the government of the Kingdom as the Queen of the South made a ghess of Salomons Wisdome by the government of his house 1. Kin. 10. Every house-houlder is parvus Rex a little King in his owne Family and the greatest Monarch upon the matter is but magnus Pater-familias a great house-houlder or a common Father of the publique Family of the State As then a man may see the coasting of the whole world represented in a little map as well as a grâ—at the degrees of the Sunnes motion as well in a little Diall as a great the figure and colour of a visage as well in a little picture or looking-glass as a great and the convayance of a building as well in a little frame or modell as a great so may a mans desert and sufficiency for the governing of a Kingdome bee seen and made knowne in the wel-ordering and disposing of his private house And as it is a tryall so is it also a preparation to greater matters it beeing not safe committing a vessell of burden to his charge who never guided a bark or pinnace nor to make him Generall of an Army who never had experience of an under-Captains place But hee that first shewes himselfe faithfull in a little is both thereby counted the worthier is indeed the fitter to be made Ruler over much Luke 19. 17. whereas on the other side If a man knowe not how to rule his owne house how shall he take care of the Church of God saith the Apostle 1. Tim. 3. 5. Hee speaks indeed of a Bishop but so as his words are appliable to the civill Magistrate who is charged with the government both of Church and temporall State Quid authoritatis poterit habere in populo quem propria domus reddit contemptibilem How shall the people reverence him whom his owne family respects not and his owne behaviour therein makes him respectless Again In that he promiseth to walk uprightly within his house iâ—â—ra privatos parietes as Iunius doth paraphrase it within his private walls his meaning is that hee would bee no changeling that amongst his houshould-people where few beheld him he would be the same that hee was abroad where many eyes saw him hee would bee as godly in his Chamber as in the Temple in his Closet or Grove or Gallery as in the great Congregation it beeing indeed the truest signe of an ingenuous spirit to practise the same alone which he professeth in company and of a false hart to be devout abroad and profane at home an Angell in the Church and a Divell in the house such as they who in open place where they may have praise of men will doo som good but after they are more private they discover themselves in their kinde and runne freely to their owne race as the horse rusheth into the battell ler. 8. 6. I knowe there is a time even for private men much more for Princes whose buâ— then is greater to unbinde the boaw of their serious thoughts and to give the minde some relaxation and refreshment from publike imploimeÌ„ts that so they may bee the fitter to return to them again but no time or place is there in which they may loose the reins to their unbridled appetite or securely sinne because they are private No Hee that is present with them sitting in their Thrones is likewise present with them lying in their Beds as he is with them in their Chappels so is he in their most secret Cabinets and withdrawing roomes Like a well-drawne picture that eyeth each in the room hee eyeth in that manner each one in the world and all the waies of each one as if his eye were upon him alone Hee seeth all things himself unseen of any beeing so without all things as that hee is not excluded from any and so within all things as that hee is not included in any It is hee of whom our Prophet speaks in another Psalm Thou knowest my down-sitting and my â—p-â—ising thou understandest my thought a-far-off thâ—u compassest my path and my lying downe and art acquainted with all my waies unto whom the day and the darknes the light and the night are both alike 139. In whose sight the very intentions of the heart are naked and open Heb. 4. 13. The Greek word signifieth so opened as the entralls of a man that is anatomized or of a beast that is cut up and quartered Quare sit peccarâ— vis quaâ—re ubi te non videat
the wicked are set up and beare rule as it followes in the same place Thus when Mordecai came out from the King in royall apparell of blew white and with a great Crowne of golde and with a garment of fine linnen purple the whole citie of Susan rejoiced and was glad Ester 8. 15. The counsell therfore of Iethro Exo. 18. 21. was very good and not without just cause approoved of Moses when hee gave advice that not onely his higher Officers Rulers over thousands and hundreds but the inferiours too over fifties and tennes should bee men of courage fearing God dealing truely and hating covâ—tâ—usnesse Their fearing of God was a meanes for them in good causes to put on courage and their hating of couetousness to deale truely which in case they did not the CoÌ„mon-wealth should not onely suffer but Moses should be sure to hear of it For though to private men it bee sufficient if them-selves doe no wrong yet a Prince must provide that none doe it about him or under him the neglect hereof being the chief imputation that was layde to Galbaes charge and tumbled him out of the Empire as being unworthy of government Omnium consensu dignus imperio nisi imperasset Hitherto of the Conditions which our Prophet râ—quires in those whom hee proposed to admit and entertaine as Servants about him as Counsellers to him as Officers under him Now for himselfe he purposes his eyes should bee upon them and that as I take it first for Choyce and secondly for Vse There is an eye of Search and an eye of Favour the one is for the seeking and finding them out that they may serve the other for the countenancing of their persons and rewarding of their service First then for the eye of search and choyce He would not take them up at haphazard nor upon the bare report and commendation of others hee would not presently entertaine them who most importunately sued or made the greatest friends or largest offers these being for the most part sure signes of little desert and lesse conscience in the parties themselves in discharging the duties of those places they sue for Hee that buyeth is thereby shrewdly provoked nay is after a sort openly dispensed withall to sell againe If hee have to doo with the treasure hee will rob and spoyle if with justice he will take bribes if with Church affaires with matter of warre or Civill government it may be hee will goe farther Such will make small account to sell a State or to deliver up a Kingdome Now the King our Prophet speaketh of will for avoyding these mischiefes rather become a suter himselfe to sufficient and able men for the accepting and undergoing of such charges as he knew them fit for neither would hee advance any to the highest roomes of dignity but such as himselfe by experience had found to bee conscionable and faithfull in lower places and if he could not finde such neare him hee would seeke them farther off his eyes should runne through the Land from the one end to the other for the finding of them out Oculi mei ad â—ideles terrae Mine eyes shall bee to the faithfull of the Land Now as his eyes were to them for choyce and entertainement so were they upon them for encouragement reward Lord saith hee who shall dwell in thy tabernacle or who shall rest upon thy holy hill Among other properties this is one Hee that maketh much of them that feare the Lord Psal. 15. 4. And therefore in the very next Psalme vers 3 hee protests that all his delight was upon the Saints that are on the earth and upon such as excell in vertue And againe in the 119. 36 I am a companion of all them that feare thee and keep thy precepts And in speciall of servants of Kings and Princes sayes Salomon in the 14. of Proverbs at the last verse The pleasure of a King is in a wise servant but his wrath shall be toward him that is lewd Neither is it sufficient to make much of them by lookes and countenance and to feed with good words and faire promises but to speake and doe really for them as occasion shall serve they deserve Let thy soule loue a good seruant and defraud him not of his liberty neither leave him a poore man Ecclus. 7. 21. And the reason is given in the 33. of the same booke vers 29. If thou have a faithfull servant intreate him as thy brother for thou hast need of him as of thy selfe Such a Master it seemes Naaman was to his servants which made them call him father Father if the Prophet had commanded thee a great thing wouldest thou not have done it Such was that Centurion in the Gospell who when his servant was sick intreated our Savior to come to him and heale him calling him by the same name which signifies a sonne thereby shewing that good seruants should be as sonnes to their Masters in dutifull obedience and good Masters againe as kinde fathers in loving affection to their servants as remembring that themselues have a father in heaven to whom they must one day render an account of all their actions and with him there is no respect of persons Verse 7. Hee that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight OVr Prophet in the fift verse had promised to banish Slander and Pride heer hee promiseth to take the like order with Deceit and Lying two vices contrary to those two vertues which before hee had vowed to entertain Deceit beeing opposite to Faithfulness and Lying to Godliness These two vices are so common and generall and yet withall so close and subtile that he could not promise utterly to abolish and extinguish them but to deale with them as Physicians doo with pestilent diseases to expell them from the vitall parts upon discovery they should not lodge in the Court nor remaine in the Presence Hee could not alwaies prevent their entrance and abode there for a while deceitfull men beeing as cunning to cover as to work their deceit yet would hee as narrowly as he could seek them out and when he had found them cast them out too Indeed the saying is Turpius eijcitur quà m non admittitur It is more shamefull to cast out a servant than not to admit him But it is as true Tutius eijcitur like a raw morsell that sitteth ill in the stomach he is more safely cast out than retained or if hee be a Retainer non habitabit hee shall not bee in ordinary or if hee bee hee shall not bee of such as ly under my roof or if hee doo non habitabit in interiori domus meae saith Arias Montanus hee shall have no place in my privy-chamber or bed-chamber And for the Lier hee may chance to come into my sight but non prosperabitur saith Musculus hee shall not build his neast there non firmabitur saith Arias Montanus
his State with purging the head-city of his Kingdome where by reason of the confluence of forren nations all sorts of people vice must needs abound but specially because head-cities for the most part by Monopolies and Companies and Corporations and I knowe noâ—â—hat devices labour to drawe to themselves the whole treasure of the Land and if the blood should all bee drawn from the other members to the head it would both disteÌ„per the head and starve the members The head-city then is so to bee respected that inferiour cities and towns bee not neglected but an indifferent hand to bee extended to them al lest one in time swallow the other as the greater fishes devour the lesser The last thing wee are to observe is that hee would begin his reformation in the City of the Lord. Of the Lord. His meaning is with matter of religion it beeing therefore called the City of the Lord because as hee had chosen the Land of Canaan out of all the world to bee the portion of his people so out of all Canaan hee chose Ierusalem to place his Name and Tabernacle there the Temple beeing not yet built and in the Tabernacle the Arke of the Covenant a speciall sacrament of his presence This our Prophet expresseth yet more cleerely in another Psalm 122. 9 Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seeke to dâ—o thee good Among other main and waighty matters then pertaining to the Princes charge the care of GOD's truth and Church must bee the chiefest For should the bodies goods and credits of men bee preserved and the honour and glory of GOD bee neglected Should earthly ease bee so much in request and heavenly bliss so little in desire Feare wee the ruine of all things where injuries and violences by men are not repressed by the princes sword and doubt wee no danger where idolatry heresie at h eâ—sm and blasphemie against God goe unpunished Is Gods hand shortned that hee cannot strike or his will altered that hee will honour those that dishonour him and blesse them that hate him It is a Romish errour repugnant to the word of God and to the examples of the best Kings and Monarchs before and since Christ to restraine Princes from protecting and promoting the true worship of GOD within their Realms Neither hath the man of sin more grosly betraid his pride and rage in any thing than in abasing the honor and abusing the power and impugning this right of Princes by making them his Bailiffs and Sergeants to attend and accomplish his will and not meddle with supporting the truth or reforming the Church farther than hee listeth that whiles they command their subjects bodies hee might command their soules the better half which commanding the body wil quickly upon occasion draw that after it as reason shewes and experience teacheth It is rightly observed that after the Bishop of Rome had once fully engrossed the Imperiall power there was never since Emperour of strength or Pope of vertue so they lost both by it And indeed as the blood if it fall any way out of the veins too much there is some danger but if it fall into the body extra vasa there is more danger for it will corrupt and putresie so was it with the supreme authority of Princes when they suffâ—red it to fall into the Clergy as it were extra vasa but their Scepters and Thrones allowed them by God are sufficient proofs that they may and must make lawes and execute judgement as well for godliness and honesty which by the Apostles rule are within the compass and charge of their Commission as for peace and tranquillity God hath given them two hands to be Custodes utriusque tabulae Vpholders of both the tables from observing this no man may drawe them since for neglecting this no man shall excuse them They must not be careful in humane things and carelâ—sse in divine God ought to be served and honoured by them that is by their Princely power and care as much afore men as his truth and glory excelleth the peace and wâ—lfare of men It wanteth many degrees of a Christian government to look to the keeping of things that must perish and to leave the soules of men as an open prey to impiety and irreligion And if Princes provide not this for their Subjects peace and traffique and such like makes no better provision for them then is made for Oxen in good pasture nay not so good For an Oxe hath therein all hee needeth but a man without this left altogether unprovided in his farre nobler and better part And as Princes without this Care provide not well for their people so they provide but ill for themselves in as much as they can have no certaine assurance of the loyalty and allegeance of their subjects without it since nothing can cast a sure knot on the coÌ„science for the firme binding of it but the true knowledge and feare of God So that where Princes advance the good of Gods house they establish the good of their owne all in one Lastly it is to be observed that in all the Kings of Israel and Iudah their stories beginne with this observation as with a thing worthy to be chronicled in the first place how they dealt in matter of religion Such a King and such a King and what did he Hee did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and such a King hee walked in the wayes of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat I spare to cite places but it is the generall observation of those books of Kings and Chronicles as they that reade them knowe yea farther it may bee marked that God hath alwaies humbled Princes even powred conteÌ„pt upon them when they have contemned the messengers and forsaken or forgotten the house of the Lord. For the preventing whereof it shall not be amisse for them to consult with Church-men specially in Church affairâ—s as the wise the good King David in all his weighty businesses but specially in matters touching religion and the service of God still used the counsell and direction either of Gad or Nathan Prophets or of Abiathar and Hiram chiefe Priests It went wel with Ioash as long as Iehoiada his trusty Counseller lived but when Iehoiadah died the Kings goodnesse dyed with him Then came the Princes of Iudah and made obeisance to the King and the King hearkened unto them and they left the house of the Lord God of their Fathers and served Groves and Idols and wrath came upon Iudah and Ierusalem because of this their trespasse 2. Chron. 24. 17. 18. Give the King thy iudgements O God and thy righteousness unto the Kings Son FINIS * Heb. thing of Belial * Or perfect in the way * Heb. shall noâ— beâ—stablâ—shed 1. Sermon vpon the first vers fol. 1. 2. Vpon the former part of the 2. vers fol. 38 3. Vpon the later part of the 2. vers fol. 72. 4. Vpon the former part of the 3. vers f. 101. 5. Vpon the later part of the 3. vers fol. 120. 6. Vpon the 4. vers fol. 139. 7. Vpon the former part of the 5. vers f. 162. 8. Vpon the later part of the 5. vers fol. 188. 9. Vpon the 6. vers fol. 220. 10. Vpon the 7. vers fol. 250. 11. Vpon the former part of the 8. vers fol. 279. 12. Vpon the later part of the 8. vers fol. 308. Gen. 4. 21. Eph. 5. 19. Col. 3 16. Iames 5. 13. Salust 1 Kings 7. pro. 16. 12. pro. 20. 28. â— psal 85. pro. 21. 21. Cap. 32. 11. * Or doe wisely 156â— Borbonius Hâ—b 6. 1 Phil. 3. 13. Pro. 4. 18. Ezek. 40. 31 Luke 2. 52 Psa. 119. â— Rom. 1. 30 1 King 1 Herodotus Psal. 18. 26 Sueton us of Titus Pro. 25. 4. 5 â—spansâ— Mat. 24â— 45 Compare Mat. 8 with Luke 7.