of the first Chapter The Syriack reads this Text thus Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts He is our peace saith the Prophet Micah 5. 5. and this man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall tread in our land The Prophet Isaiah calls him the Prince of peace Isa 9. 6. as typified by Melchisedeck King of Shalem the true King of peace as the Apostle renders his Royal Titles first beng by interpretation King of righteousness and after that also King of Salem which is King of peace Heb. 7. 2. and well may he deserve that honourable Title For he is our peace saith the Apostle to the Ephesians Ephes 2. 14. Who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us between Jews and Gentiles and between our God and us having made peace through the blood of his Cross saith he in the First Chapter of his Epistle and 20th verse He is our Peace-maker with God Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 5. 1. At his Birth all the Militia of Heaven sang this joyful Ditty in a Proclamation of Peace Glory to God in the highest peace on earth good will towards men Luke 2 14. At his Death he left us a Legacy of peace My peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth I give unto you John 14. 27. 4. God the Holy Ghost the third Person of the glorious Trinity is the God of peace the Spirit of peace and love And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly the conclusion of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians ch 5. ver 23. He is the Sanctifier of all the Elect people of God The excellent fruits of this God of peace are set down by the Apostle to the Galatians But the fruits of the Spirit are love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no law Gal. 5. 22. And because the God head and Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father is by all this discourse approved and that also of the Holy Ghost I will conclude this Point after the phrase of the Athanasian Creed The Father is the God of peace the Son is the God of peace and the Holy Ghost is the God of peace and yet they are not three Gods of peace but one God of peace And with that Prayer wherewith the Apostle concludes his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians which includes all this Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means the Lord be with you all 2 Thess 3. v. 16. Observ 4. In the brief Application of this Point before I proceed any further let us observe for our Instruction That this is a close Argument to perswade the more to permit this Peace to hold the Mastery in us because it is God's and so indeed God shall rule in our hearts by his peace The name of the King's Peace is of no small weight as to repress the Outrage of the Unruly It ought to be at least when the Officer cries I charge you in the King's Name to keep the King's Peace God's Sacred Name is greater that is King of Kings and Lord of Lords the greater their Sin that break his Peace at once offending God and the King Exhort Let us not say then we will not have his Peace rule in our hearts as those Ill-bred Citizens that hated their Noble Lord and sent a Message after him saying We will not have this man to rule over us Luke 19. 14. but rather as the men of Israel said to Gideon Rule thou over us both thou and thy son and thy son's son also for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian Judg. 8. 22. And hath made peace in our borders as the Psalmist sings Psalm 147. 14. Let every one of us say with him again and again I will hearken what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people c. Psal 85. 8. To the which also ye are called in one body Now to the Apostle's Reasons why this Peace of God should rule in our hearts which are two First God's calling Ye are called to peace For the meaning whereof it is as much as to say As God when he severe you from the World would lay this task upon you to have peace rule in you for this was the Prophecy of Isaiah concerning the times of the Gospel that cruel and savage Beasts should lay down their fierceness Lions Wolves Serpents learn other manners and become at unity with Lambs Oxen Children c. This purpose of God you must become Instruments to bring to pass The Wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard shall lye down with the Kid the Calf and the young Lion and the Fatling together and a little Child shall lead them and the Cow and the Bear shall feed their young ones shall lye down together and the Lion shall eat Straw like the Ox and the sucking Child shall play on the hole of the Asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the Cookatrice den they shall not hunt nor destroy in all my holy mountain For the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea Isa 11. 6 7 8. A great shame for a Minister of outward peace to break the peace A Justice who is the Conservator of the Peace or a Constable who is sworn to see the Peace kent to be a Fighter or maker of Frays Penal it is in a high degree when a man is bound to the Peace to be a Striker So it is surely a shame and a just cause of shame when a Christian who by his Calling is bound to the Peace to be a Quarreller Make-bate Ranter c. Christianus contentiosus was one of the greatest Paradoxes and Scandals in the Primitive Church The Apostle Paul in the Sixth Chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinths reproves the Corinthians for their breach of God's Peace that ought to rule in their hearts for Lawing one with another before Heathen Judges when there was not so much as a Christian Constable in the World which Fault having very sharply reproved and told them of another course by Arbitrement even of the meanest of the Church if there were no other wise or able man amongthem He presseth so far as to say They ought rather to suffer wrong whereas they wronged their Brethren whereupon endeavouring to remedy this matter in the root he appeals to their knowledge if Injustice as many other Sins did not exclude from the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven yes he avouches it and so falling off into a more gentle manner he tells them roundly what they were sometimes but now by the Grace of God otherwise he leaves it to be esteemed then that to those things they ought not to return again that are inconsistent with this Evangelical
or Christ many of them yet what should that do here in the midst of other Duties pertaining to Man Christ being not named Therefore I will speak of it in that sense which in my Conscience I take it was ment m. Be ye thankful Be not unkind and ungrateful to those that have deserved well at your hands Q. What is the thankfulness that is here required R. It may be described a willing acknowledging and readiness to requite Benefits and good Turns received I did not say a Requital for many times there is no Power or Means so to do but at least there is Readiness to do it and Mind of the good Turn if either of these fail there is a Defect in Thankfulness The occasion of Thankfulness is a Benefit received the greater Benefit calls more Thanks which hath diversity from the Person 1. Sometimes we are wholly prevented in receiving before we have shewed any occasion 2. Sometimes again we are first in some Office but are exceeded in the answering the same 3. Sometimes the Persons are Superiors or Equals of such quality I mean as there is no great odds between the Donor and Receiver To the First and Second of each Thankfulness is the more to be shewed I mean we are more beholding inasmuch as there is less desert on our part and in the one nothing at all I would speak plainly 1. To our Parents Ministers and Masters in Learning there is no Office we could shew to deserve Kindness therefore to them we must be more bound to be thankful So to a Stranger that shall first upon some acquaintance no expectation of Requital bestow only upon us in the same measure of Beneficence our Debt is more than to one that we have or may be helpful or shew duty to again 2. To our Superiour being kind we owe more gratitude than to our Equal as Ishbosheth David 2 Sam. 19. 30. 28. 3. Even the Value of the Benefit adds some degree unto our Debt of Thankfulness most our selves as Paul writes to Philemon v. 19. Albeit I do not say unto thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides 4. And the Speediness sometimes adds to our Debt especially if it be at the first knowledge of our Want or Desire and perhaps expects not our moving the Matter or if at our Suit be given undelaiedly Beneficium qui cito dat bis dat He gives twice that gives speedily 5. But most of our debt of Thankfulness comes from the Mind of the Donor as proceeding from greater Love though there be by reason of want of power less worth in the good Turn We are then to be taught here Doctr. That to all those that have been Instruments of God's Providence to procure good unto us we are to owe Thankfulness they are so many Blessings of God to us That which the Queen of Sheba once affirmed before Solomon is very true The Instruments of God's Blessings are the Arguments of his Love to us Because the Lord loved Israel for War therefore made he the King to do Judgment and Justice 1 Kings 10. 9. 1. The first duty of Thankfulness that under God we owe is to our Parents which is so necessary that the Apostle would not have the Widows to be chosen to the service of the Church that had Children to maintain them and perform duty to them Let them saith he recompence their Ancestors So the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies For that is good and acceptable before God 1 Tim. 5. 4. The Greek Elegantly expresseth this by a Metaphor taken from the Stock 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ‑ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which feedeth her aged Parents and carries them upon her shoulders and in that regard in the Hebrew Tongue is called Chasida that is pious and merciful Let all Children hear this and as they will have the blessing of their Parents and of God that is tender of their honour learn it and fail not to praise it as Joseph did Gen. 45. 10. There will I nourish thee when he sent for his aged Father from the famished Land of Canaan to come into Goshen the most fertile Soil in all the Land of Egypt 2. So we are to be thankful to the Ministers of the Gospel to whom God hath committed the word of reconciliation that break the bread of life unto us that have the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven committed to their trust that administer unto us the Seals of the Covenant of Grace according to Christ's Institution that watch over our Souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief as the Apostle speaks Heb. 13. 17. 3. To our Teachers and Masters as Philemon owned himself to Paul v. 19. To our Benefactors to our Friends to all that are loving and kind to us David sent a Present of Thankfulness of the Spoyl of the Enemies of the Lord to all those places where David himself and his men were wont to lament in his Exile 1 Sam 30. 26. 3. He makes diligent inquiry Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may shew him kindness for Jonathon's sake whose love to him was wonderful passing the love of women to their Husbands or Children 2 Sam. 9. 1. His thankfulness to the Living for the Dead's sake to the Child for his Fathers sake is again recorded Then said David I will shew kindness to Hanun the son of Nachash as his father shewed kindness unto me and David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father 2 Sam. 10. 2. What this kindness was the Scripture mentions not nor when it was shewed for David in his flight from Saul fled first to Achish King of Gath then to the King of Moab And he said unto the King of Moab Let my father and mother I pray thee come forth and be with you till I know what God will do for me and he brought them before the King of Moab and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold He durst not trust them to Saul's mercy in Bethlehem that had exercised such barbarous cruelty upon the Priests of the Lord and to the City of No◠without any just cause 1 Sam. 22. 17. 20. Possibly the King of Moab might shew some such kindness to David out of his hatred of Saul that had given him a great Overthrow 1 Sam. 11. 11. But whatsoever the matter was that had obliged David he was not unmindful of it but studied to requite it to his Son Hanun though ill entertained and misinterpreted to his destruction and his Countries The first Ambassadors that David sent after the Solemnity of his Coronation was over is thus recorded And David sent Messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead and said unto them Blessed be ye of the Lord that you have shewed the kindness to your Lord even unto Saul and have buried him and now the Lord shew
upon their Consciences by Jotham to the mutual destruction of them and Abimelech whom they had advanced over them upon thâ— ruins of the 70 Sons of Jerubbâ—al For saith Jotham My Father fought for you and adventured his Life for you and delivered you out of the hand of Midian and ye are risen up against my Father's House this day and have slain his Sons threescore and ten persons upon one Stone and have made Abimelech the Son of his Maid-Servant King over the Men of Sechem because he is your brother c. Judg. 9. 17. Then God sent an evil Spirit between the men of Sechem and Abimelech to punish their cruel ingratitude v. 23. Which is the Substance of that whole Chapter of Judges 9. And after they had destroyed one another that sad History as any in the Book of God is concluded thus Thus God rendred the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his Father in staying his seventy brethren and all the evil of the men of Sechem did God render upon their heads and upon them came the curse of Jotham the Son of Jerubbaal v. 56 57. So that now you see this horrible sin of Ingratitude that is punished by God in so high a degree must needs be an accursed and destructive thing Another said instance of the like sin and punishment we have recorded concerning Joash King of Judah who was marvelously preserved in the Massacre of the Royal Family from Athaliah's bloody Fingers by Jehoiada the High Priest and his Wife Jehoshabea and kept safe in the House of the Lord six Years under the tyrannous Usurpation of that wicked Idolatress 2 Chron. 22. 10 11 12. Jehoiada set the Crown on his head put down the Usurper restored the Kingdom to their former freedom and raised the Royal Family to their former Splendor and Dignity and left it flourishing in Peace and Plenty But after the death of his 〈◊〉 Tutor Governour Gua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Protector 't is recorded Thâ—â— this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and turned 〈◊〉 and Murderer two iâ—separable Companions and commanded Zachariah the Priest the Son of Jehoâ—aâ—a to be stoned even in the Court of the House of the Lord for reproving his Idolatry and saying Because ye have forsaken the Lord He also hath forsaken you Thus Joash the King remembred not the kindness which Jehoiada his Father had done unto him but flew his Son and when he died he said The Lord look upon it and require it Which Prayer of this dying Martyr the Lord heard and recompensed this cruel ingratitude of Joash towards God and Man speedily upon his own head to the ruine of himself and of all his Princes that seduced him and of all his Armies in which he trusted by an inconsiderable party For the Army of the Syrians came with a small company of Men and the Lord delivered a very great Host into their hand because they had forsaken the Lord God of their Fathers so they executed Judgment against Joash And besides all this The Lord smote him with grievous torments in his body by incurable diseases as in the case of Jehoram that murdered his Brothers 2 Chron. 21. 18. And at last to put an end to the miserable life of this godless Wretch his own Servants conspired against him for the Blood of the Sons of Jehoiada the Priest and flew him on his Bed and he died But they buried him not in the Sepulchres of the Kings 2 Chron. 24. 18 20 21 22. an honour that was bestowed upon Jehoiada the High Priest his Preserver and Restorer v. 16. though out of indignation denied him as to Jehoram before him that lived undesired and died unlamented 2 Chron. 21. 20. Thus did God plentifully reward this proud Doer as the Psalmist speaks Measuring to him again with the same measure that he had meted withal a just measure of Wrath pressed down and shaken together and running over into his Bosome as our Lord speaks Luke 6. v. 38. Obj. Some will say My Will is good but I want means and abilitiy to requite any henefit received hy me Answ 1. Profess and acknowledge always the good Turn it is a part of an ingenuous Disposition to profess who hath done thee any pleasure yea half a requital Eph. 5. 20. Secondly Use Prayer to God for their good Estate if thou be poor he is rich to requite and doubtless as the cry of the poor can awake His Justice as Himself speaks For the oppression of the poor for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him Psal 12. 5. So can the joyful Thanksgiving by the mouth of them that are partakers of the benefit and withal their Prayers for the means of it awake His Liberality as Paul undertakes My God shall supply all your necessities according to his Riches in glory by Christ Jesus Phil. 4. 19. Here I cannot but put the Poor in mind of their duty which receiving good at the hands of them that relieve them are very unjust if they give not again this Duty back to them to Pray for them So Ministers which in that very Name as one part of their Ministerial Duty for the whole is the Word and Prayer as the Apostles speak But we will give our selves continually to Prayer and to the Ministry of the Word Acts 6. 4. receive temporal things Lastly Before I close up this place of Thankfulness to Men we must not pass by our Thankfulness to God For if to Men we must be Thankful How much more to GOD And the ground of Unthankfulness to Men is from their Unthankfulness to GOD. There is not any other fault more generally blamed even by those that have but the Light of Nature than ingratitude as I have largely shewed nor any Ingratitude greater than towards God because of none we receive more or greater Benefits than from him to say nothing that it being impossible that we should attain to that degree of Thankfulness which should be in requiting the Benefits we daily and hourly receive of him he is contented to take the Acknowledgement of them for Payment so as it must be the effect of a most Villaâ—nous Injustice to deny him that For which cause in the Scriptures we have the Invitations of Holy Men to Thankfulness the praise of this Duty and the Precedents of good Men performing it In special the Book of the Psalms hath his name in the Hebrew Tongue as ye would say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Book of Praises not as if the whole Book had nothing else but because it is the chief part and most principally intended And for this cause doth the Church use in the beginning of her solemn Service the 95 Psalm as a means to invite us to that Duty so good and comeâ—â— yea so just and necessary as the Psalm for the Sabbath Day begins 'T is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises to thy
Look into Colossians the 3. v. 15 IF a dumb Beast cou'd Naturâ—s Silence break And Balâ—am's Ass at Heaven's Command cou'd speak Let 's wonder less that the same God cou'd reach The Voice of Ravens his great Truth to Preach â—ut 't is his own kind Call no less a Grace Than to invite us his Rich Peace â—'embrace Vâ—ion and Love Oh happy Isâ—ael When in Thy Gates such Heavenly Guests can dwell VOX CORVI OR THE Voice of a Raven That Thrice spoke these Words distinctly Look into Colossians the 3d. and 15th The Text it self look'd into and opened in a Sermon Preached at VVigmore in the County of Hereford To which is added Serious Addresses to the People of this Kingdom shewing the use we ought to make of this Voice from Heaven By Alex. Clogie Minister of Wigmore c. Licensed according to Order Matth. 21. xviii And Jesus saith unto them Yea have ye never read Out of the Mâ—uths of Babes and Sucklings thou hast perfected Praise London Printed by W. B. And are to be sold by R. Baldwin at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane and by most Booksellers in London and Westminster 1694. TO THE Christian Reader THis following Discourse is presented to thy Perusal under a double Recommendation not only as containing so Evangelical a Blessing as the Peace of God in the Text offer'd to thee our heartiest endeavours for the obtaining whereof is so much our highest Christian Importance and Duty but likewise more particularly the Occasion that gave the Reverend Preacher the choice of this Text which first in the plain matter of Fact take as follows On the 3d. of February 1691. about Three in the Afternoon this Reverend Divine a Person of the venerable Age of Eighty Years and Forty of those a Laborious Teacher of God's Word in the Parish of Wigmore in the County of Hereford being in the Hall of his own House being with the Pious Matron his Wife some Neighbours and Relations together with two small Grand-Children of his in all to the number of Eight Persons Thomas Kinnersley one of the said Grand-Children of but Ten Years of Age starting up from the Fire-side went out of the Hall-Door and sate himself down upon a Block by a Wood-pile before the Door employing himself in no other Childish Exercise than cutting of a Stick when in less than half a quarter of an Hour he returned into the Hall in great Amazement his Countenance pale and affrighted and said to his Grand father and Grand mother Look in the Third of the Colossians and the Fifteenth with infinite Passion and Earnestness repeating the Words no less than three times which Depâ—rtment and Speech much surprizing the whole Company they asked him what he meant by those words who answered with great Ardency of Spirit That a Raven had spoken them Three times from the Peak of the Steeple and that it look'd towards W. W.'s House and shook its Head and Wings thitherward directing its Looks and Motions still towards that House All which words he heard the Raven distinctly utter three times and then saw it mount and fly out of sight His Grand father hereupon taking the Bible and turning to the said Text found these words And let the Peace of God rule in your Hearts to the which you are also called in one Body and be ye thankful Upon reading whereof the Child was fully satisfied and his Countenance perfectly composed agen Now as the Voice of a RÃ ven to speak in such a marvellous manner may seem an incredible Relation especially in an Age of such little Faith yet we do here offer these serious Considerations for the Manifestation of this real though amazing Truth First What may stagger some People viz. That the greatest and indeed only Authority in so weighty a Concern is only from the Testimony of a Child of but Ten Years old is upon due and full Examination one of the strongest Arguments of an undoubted Truth For first here were no less than Eight People of honest Credit and Reputation that heard this Declaration of the Child and were all Witnesses and Observers both of the Childs Countenance Gesture and Behaviour in the whole thing Now tho' but a Child of no more than Ten Years to come running from his Play with so alter'd and changed a Countenance and so much Vehemence of Spirit and Earnestness of Expression to press an aged Grand-father and Grandmother to so serious a work as the search of a particular Text of Scripture had something extraordinary in it Now had any Person of riper Years or any other single Authority come in the like manner and with the same Vehemency advised the Inquiry into such a Text and given any such credible Relation of hearing a Raven speak here might have been some Grounds of Suspicion in the Veracity of such a single Testimony for at those elder Years the change of Face and passion of Expression might possibly be Vizor and Artifice and consequently afford matter of Doubt and Scruple Nay possibly a Person of Maturity as knowing the Fewds and Jarrs of the Family towards which the Raven directed this Text might even out of a good and honest design have feigned such a Relation as thinking thereby to have reconciled the long Disunion and Discords of a Neighbour's House by so amazing a warning-piece for Peace and Concord as coming from the Mouth of a Raven tho' in reality a Fictitious story But in the case of a Boy all this shadow of Doubt is utterly removed for both the forementioned change of Countenance and importunate Earnestness together with the Child 's constant Asseveration of the Truth of this astonishing Accidents were all beyond the capacity of a Child to feign or counterfeit as being a Masque morally impossible for his young Face to wear And not only so but the matter and manner of his Delivery were Alien to his Years for a poor Infant then out of doors a whitling of a Stick or some such piece of innocent Childhood to come running home on such an important Errand as indeed no less than a Message from God take it in all the Circumstances was beyond the possibility of Art or Cunning. And moreover as a thing done at Noon-day here was the plain and sensible Conviction both of the Child's Eye and Ear in the case and not as people in the Dark many times frighted and Bug-bear'd into the seeing imaginary Chimeras and Fantoms To sum up the Evidences therefore Here is possibly a full Testimony even to demonstration it self And undoubtedly the Almighty was particularly pleased to deliver this unusual Warning from Heaven only to the Ear of a Child that Innocence and Simplicity might be the greater and stronger Commissioner of his Divine Will and Pleasure on such an occasion Now the Reasons why this Reverend and Pious Divine has appeared thus in publick and so long after now above Two Years since the thing was done are these As a modest sober good Man it
I did it to God's Glory that I might express my Thankfulness to him and the joy of my Heart in doing him Service whom since the rest know not they are not to be respected if they scorn nor is it to be wondred if they be strangely affected with it as above the compass of their Conceit Fifthly How without hope of Requital are all yea the least of God's benefits that call for Thankfulness a cup of cold water only given to drink in Christ's name because ye belong to Christ shall not lose a just and superabundant requital saith our Lord Mar. 9. 41. See the full and final requital of all good and charitable Deeds Matth. 25. 34 35 36. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world For I was an hungry and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prinson and ye came unto me The Wicked he requites here sometimes in their own Coin as Adoni bezek acknowledgeth when his thumbs and great toes were cut off As I have done to threescore and ten Kings so hath the Lord requited me Judg. 1. 7. We are all ready enough to requite Evil for Evil to give him quid pro quo as good as he brings as the Proverb rimes as Sampson served the Philistines As they have done unto me so have I done unto them Jud. 15. 11. But it being impossible to requite God in any thing it is a most heinous Provocation of his justice to render Evil for Good Do ye thus provoke the Lord O foolish people and unwise saith Moses with Astonishment and Abhorrency Deut. 32. 6. 'T is left as a sad blot in Hezekiah's Scutcheon tho' otherwise a good Man and a good King by God's own Testimony He trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him there was none like him among all the Kings of Judah nor any that were before him But Hezekiah rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore there was wroth upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem 2 Chr. 32. 25. For after the defeat of Senacherib's Forces by an Angel of God that slew in one night an hundred fourscore and five thousand men of war in the Assyrian Camp and after the recovery of his Health confirmed by a sign from Heaven in the Sun's Retrogradation by ten degrees and the addition by Patent from God of fifteen years to his days with exceeding much Riches and Honour yet for all this he was not so careful to please God in an humble and thankful Acknowledgment of such great Favours as God was to pleasure him in them all Sixthly Consider from what odds the Person giving to our baseness have been all his benefits he being the great Independent Jehovah greatness is stampt upon all his Benefits to us and we a Seed of evil Doers a people laden with Iniquity children that are corrupters our spot is not the spot of his Children we are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and in want of all things as our Lord writes to the Church of Laodicea Rev. 3. v. 17. Lastly Consider with what advantage of time and order in first bestowing have his Benefits been to us No eye pittied thee to have compassion upon thee I said unto thee when thou wast in thy Blood live saith the Lord Ezek. 16. 5 6. we love him because he first loved us saith the Apostle 1 Joh. 4. 19. His love to us is an antecedent love we love him with a consequential love because he hath cast his love upon us first and therefore is no way indebted to us for our love The Apostle asks this question Who hath first given unto him and it shall berecompenced to him again for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for ever Amen Rom. 11. v. 35 36. It is said by some we can never requite our Parents by some also we owe more to our Masters and Teachers than to Parents in as much as one gave being the other well being doubtless in both respects we cannot requite God and Christ First Our Parents begat our Bodies he gave us our senses who is therefore styled by the Apostle The Father of our Spirits Heb. 12. 9. 2. Our Masters and Teachers gave us with God's Blessing Knowledge and Learning Christ teacheth us the way to Heaven who is the Way the Truth and the Life Christ gave himself to us and for us to wash us from our Sins in his own Blood Joh. 14. 6. without which it had been better for us to have been any thing rather than men yea at all not to have been Let us with the Psalmist again and again say What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me Psal 116. 12. all his benefits are above us even the one also of our former means to express Gratitude here fails us what can we wish or desire to the most absolute and perfect Being Only we may acknowledge the Benefits and the Excellency and Liberality of the Giver which further may desire that all others would do the like this is our utmost unless further to endeavour not to be disobedient to this Heavenly Author of much good to us which yet is our duty otherwise the less we have means to the former the more ought we to be in this and say with the Man after God's own Heart I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will sing praises to my God while I have my being my Meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Psal 103. 33 34. and in another At Midnight will I rise to give thanks to thee because of thy righteous Judgments Psal 119. 62. Let us beg of him as another Benefit that he will give us Grace and a mind to do these things who hath given the ground an occasion of them even the same our Lord Jesus Christ Now because the Apostle Peter saith no Prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation 2 Pet. 1. 20. so neither are all of sole private application but some are of a larger Extent and Compass than others if I should have studied long for a fit Text Psal 119. 16. Thy commandment iâ— exceeding broad and turned the whole Scripture I could not have had a fitter passage or greaâ—◠〈◊〉 in all the Book of God he calls more both for private and publick application than this that is in so strange a manner laid open before us to look into it and yet no more strange than true as the truth is in Jesu before whom I stand for this Doctrin of the Peace of God that ought to rule in the Hearts of all Believers gives great help advantage and admonition to Kings Law-makers Rulers to
nor to make him ashamed that he had parted so suddenly from him without his Knowledge and Consent Therefore they entred into Covenant together of perpetual amity and parted in Peace and Love and were never injurious to one another no more than Esau was to Jacob that fled from him for fear of his Life yet was at meeting embraced by him with high Expressions of Love and they buried their aged Father Isaac in Peace Gen. 35. 29. Set your Hearts saith Moses unto all the words which I testifie among you this day and he gives this reason for it in the words following For it is not a vain thing for you because it is your Life and through this thing ye shall prolong your days Deut. 32. 46 47. O that thou hadst hearkned to my Commandments saith the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah then had thy Peace been as a River and thy Righteousness as the Waves of the Sea thy Seed also had been as the Sand and the ofspring of thy Boweâ— like the Gravel thereof his Name shoulâ— not have been cut off nor destroyed from â—â—fore me Isa 48. 18 19. But if we 〈◊〉 go on to make the Precepts of God of none effect by their unlucky Neighbourhood with the Precepts of Men The Book of God will be unawares snatch'd out of your Hands as the Ark of God was from the Shoulders of Hophni and Phinehas by the Philistines 1 Sam. 4. 11. and a black Book put into our Hands written within and without Lamentation and Mourning and Woe Ezek. 2. 10. For thus saith the Lord enter not into the House of Mourning neither go to lament nor bemoan them for I have taken away my Peace from this People saith the Lord even loving kindness and Mercies Jer. 16. 5. from which Judgment the Lord deliver us that we may enter iuto Peace and rest in our Beds every one walking in his Uprightness Isa 57. 2. Now for a particular Application of his Doctrin to all Relations and Orders of Men High and Low Rich and Poor c. 1. To Magistrates and Subjects IF the Peace of God rule in the Hearts of Rulers then they will seek the Glory of God and the Peace and Good of their Subjects above all Earthly things to the fulfilling of that Evangelical Promise of Isaiah And Kings shall be thy Nursing Fathers and their Queens thy Nursing Mothers Isa 49. 23. The God of Israel said the Rock of Israel spake to me He that ruleth over Men must be just ruling in the fear of God is the Instruction that the Man after God's own Heart received immediately from God touching his Ruling and Governing the People of God And an excellent President we have from Theodosius Junior the Emperor recorded by Socrates l. 7. 22 who tells us that when in a severe Winter that did threaten and portend a great scarcity of Victual the Year ensuing it being not very plentiful at that time he gave way to the Peoples desire of the usual Games and Shews that were acted in the Circe which when it was full of People and Spectators there fell suddenly a most vehement Tempest upon them Then the Emperor plainly declared I set it down as Socrates relates it how he was affected towards God his People for by his Heralds he made Proclamation among the People saying Is it not much better for us to leave these vain Shews and Sports and with one Mouth all of us to pray to God to preserve us safe from this horrible Storm that is falling upon us Scarely were these words uttered when all the People with unanimous Consent and Alacrity began to pray to God then the whole City saith he in that respect was turned into a Temple the Emperor himself walking as a private Person began the Psalms of Praise neither indeed did his Hope fail him saith Socrates for immediately there was a great Calm and Screnity and by the Bountifulness of God there was great Plenty of all Provision the next year At another time also as he sate beholding the Shews he received a Message that one John that tyrannously had Invaded the Western Empire was miraculously overthrown and slain by his Forces As soon as he had read the Letter he said go too if ye please let us leave these Toys and go to Church and offer Prayers and Thanks to God who hath slain the Tyrant as it were with his own Hand he and all the People went immediately thro' the middle of the Hippodrome to the Temple of God and spent the whole day in Psalms and Praises to God Socrat. l. 7. 25. Sozomen tells us that the Subjects looking upon the good Examples that Arcadius and Honorius the Emperors and Sons of Theodosius set before them the Pagans were the more easily Converted to Christianity and the Hercticks joyned to the Catholick Church Soz. l. 8. 1. When such Kings come to be sick and dye they may say with Hezekiah Remember Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart and have done that which was good in thy sight Isa 38. 3. and they shall hear Euge. 2. If the Peace of God rule in the Hearts of the Subjects they will not curse the ruler of God's people Exod. 22. 28 they will not curse the King no not in their Thoughts for a Bird of the Air will carry the Voice and that which hath Wings shall utter the Matter saith King Solomon Eccles 10. 20. They will esteem their good King worth Ten Thousand of themselves as the Israelites told David their King when they would not suffer his Royal Person to be hazarded amongst them in the Battle against Absalom 2 Sam. 18. 3. They will esteem it the highest Wickedness to stretch out their Hand against the Lord 's Anointed 1 Sam. 26. 9. as David speaks when he had Saul his greatest Enemy at his Mercy they will account him The Breath of our Nostrils Lam. 4. 20. love honour and obey him in all things just and honest as the Roman Legions said to Jovinian that chose him to succeed Julian the Apostate in the Empire who said unto the Electors I will not rule over you for I am a Christian and you are Pagans and Idolaters the Apostate had corrupted them Do thou rule over us said they and we will be all Christians Regis ad exemplum is an old and true saying There is therefore great necessity to pray for such as be Rulers that they may be Subordinate to God and have Grace to their Power Pity to others that God may cloath their Enemies with shame but on himself shall his Crown flourish as God promised to David Psal 132. 18. that they may give God a fair Account of their Stewardship at the great Day in observing and practising what he hath commanded 2. To Ministers and People IF the Peace of God rule in the Hearts of the Ministers of the Gospel of Peace unless the things that belong to their Peace
be hid from their Eyes Luk. 19. 42. they will not only follow Peace with one another but with all Men Assenters and Dissenters as much as in them lies and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. 14. That they may see the travel of their Soul and be satisfied that the work of the Lord is carried along prosperously in their hand Is 53. 11. They will be gentle to their People as another Paul we were gentle among you even as a Nurse cherâ—sheth her Children Ye are Witnesses and God also how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved our selves among you that believe And ye know how we exhorted comforted and charged every one of you as a Father doth his Children 1 Thess 2. 10 11. Exhorting them as Fathers Mothers Children Brethren 1 Tim. 5. 1 2. as St. Paul instructs Timothy avoiding Non-residence especially in this State and Time when they are making a Captain to return to Egypt Numb 14. 4. that it may not be said of us That they that lead thy People caused them to err and they that are led by them are destroyed Isa 3. 12. and they that rule over them make them to howl Isa 52. 5. I doubt not but the Prudence and Moderation of the Wise and Learned Men will silence all Controversies Eusebius tells us in the Life of Constantine that he said in the Synod of Nice that the Dissentions of Church-Men among themselves was an Evil beyond all Calamities and any Foreign Wars whatsoever Surely they will not shed the Blood of War in Peace as Joab did that put the Blood of War upon the Girdle that was about his Loins and upon his Shooes that were upon his Feet for which David left him a Bloody Legacy Let not his hoary Head go down to the Grave in Peace 1 Kin. 1. 5. Under Valens the Emperor saith Socrates l. 4. c. 29. by occasion of one Godly Man a grievous and dangerous War that was undertaken against the Roman Empire was extinct The Saracens had made defection from Roman Empire and under the Conduct of their Queen Mavia began an Offensive War and that on a most Advantageous Opportunity when the Goths were wasting all Thracia and therefore all the Roman Provinces towards the East they are the words of Socrates had been over-run and wasted by the Saracens The occasion was this one Moses a Saracen by Nation lived a Solitary Life in a Desert who for his eminent Piety Constancy Faith and Miracles was very famous Mavia the Queen of the Saracens desires the Romans to design this Godly Man for their Bishop and promiseth to lay down her Arms to disband her Forces and to be at Peace with the Romans Dictum factum 't is done immediately and so by the Peace of God ruling in the Heart of this Godly Man and of his Queen a great Fire is suddenly quenched Sozomon tells us l. 7. c. 3. That under Theodosius the Great the People of Antioch had dejected the Statues of the Emperor and Empress and most ignominiously dragg'd them with a Rope through the Streets of the City adding most contumelious and disgraceful words no doubt by the instigation of the Devil Theodosius hearing of this Affront and Disgrace was highly displeased and resolved to be avenged on them for this Insolency whereof the People of Antioch being aware began to relent to leave off their Fury and to repent and to beg with Sighs and Groans Favour of God to turn his Heart that they might not be suddenly destroyed They composed certain mournful Ditties and Funeral Songs which they used in their solemn Prayers at the Throne of Grace and they sent their Bishop Flavianus to the Empâ—ror to appease his Wrath towards them the which that he might effectuate he perswaded and prevailed with the young Men that used to sing at the Emperors Table to sing those mournful Songs by which the Men of Antioch had made their Supplications to God in their fear and dangerous Condition with which the Emperor was so taken and surprized that a Flood of Tears gusht from his Eyes immediately and wet the Cup that was in his Hand and understanding the matter he calls Flavianus and laid aside his Anger and frankly forgave the City Thus ye see how the Peace of God ruled in the Heart of this Prudent and Godly Bishop and his Emperor Theodosius to prevent the Ruin of the great City of Antioch where the Disciples were called Christians first Act. 11. 26. Now If the Son of Peace be in your Houses or Parishes Luk. 10. 6. that is any Men capable of that Blessing and disposed to receive the Doctrin of Peace which you Preach your Peace shall rest upon it then doubtless ye my keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace Eph. 4. 3. you may follow Peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure Heart 2 Tim. 2. 22. tho' dissenting from you in a few small Matters Thus shall we procure the love of our Heavenly Father for if Earthly Parents take Comfort to see their Children kind peaceful and helpful to one another it cannot be but he that hath all perfections that are in us in the highest degree shall likewise both approve in this World and reward in that to come our love to and Peace with one another and say Euge serve bone c. Pâ—ssid in vita August c. 17. and upon their Death-Bed say with Ambrose non sic vixi ut me pudeat inter vos vivere sed non mori timeo quia bonum dominum habemus that I have not so lived as to be ashamed to live any longer among you but neither am I afraid to die because we have a good Lord and that of St. Paul I have fought a good fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but to them also that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. 2. If the Peace of God rule in the Hearts of our Hearers they will account the Elders that rule well worthy of double honour especially they that labour in the Word and Doctrin as the Apostle speaks 1 Tim. 5. 17. They will remember them that hath the rule over them who have spoken unto them the word of God whose Faith they follow considering the end of their Conversation and a little after Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you saith the same Apostle Heb. 13. â—7 17. 1. Let them hold such Dear for their Master's sake Now then saith the Apostle we are Ambassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God 2 Cor.
those committed to their Trust at the great Day 2. If the Peace of God rule in the Heart of the Children into which they are called in one Parental and Domestick Body then they will be always ready and careful to honour their Father and Mother according to the tenor of the Fifth Commandment which the Apâ—stâ—e calls the first Commandment with promise Eph. 6. 2 which some expound of the second Table Others take it that that hath a special promise It is absolutely the first hath a Promise for that concerning God's shewing Mercy to Thâ—usands of them that fear him and keep his Commandments is not a promise but a part of the Descâ—iption of God's Nature and Inclination as Exod. 34. 6 7. They will shew love to their Parents and love to one another by which all Men may know that they are Christ's Disciples as our Lord speaks Joh. 13. 35. The Apostle tells us we had Fathers of our Flesh which corrected us and we gave them Reverence Heb. 12. 9. that is their due with Obedience and Thankfulness in nourishing and maintaining them as Joseph did his Father and all his Family in Egypt seventeen Years Gen. 47. 12. David was careful of his aged Parents when he knew not how to secure himself from the Violence of Saul 1 Sam. 22. 3. Children must beg their Parents Blessing at all times as Jacob and Esau Joseph's and Jacob's Children Gen. 27. 4. especially at their departing this Life Children must not be Stubborn and Rebellious or Incorrigible in taking ill Courses there is a very severe punishment appointed for this horrible Sin And they shall say unto the Elders of this City this our Son is Stubborn and Rebellious he will not obey our Voice he is a Glutton and a Drunkard and all the Men of the City shall stone him with stones that he dye so shalt thou put evil away from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear Deut. 21. 20 21. They must nor do as the Prodigal Son that wasted his Substance with riotous Living Luk. 15. 13. and brought himself to want all things They must not hate one another in their Heart Lev. 19. 17. as wicked Cain did his Righteous Brother Abel that never did him wrong Gen. 27. 41. as Esau did his Brother Jacob that resolved to kill him after his Father's Death Gen. 37. 4. or as the Patriarchs did Joseph who moved with Envy sold him into Egypt saith St. Stephen Act. 7. 9. They improve their Union in the Flesh to their Communion in Grace and Glory as Children of their Heavenly Father as the Seed that the Lord hath bless'd 5. Masters and Servants IF the Peace of God rule in the Hearts of Master and Servant into which they are called in Body Domestick and despotical to live under one Roof and eat of the same Family Provision then both Master and Mistress Man-Servant and Maid-Servant will carry themselves towards one another in this Relation as the Servants of Jesus Christ For saith the Apostle He that is called in the Lord being a Servant is the Lord's free-man likewise also he that is called being free is the Lord's Servant 1 Cor. 7. 22. Then Masters will give unto their Servants that which is just and equal as the Apostle exhorts Col. 4. 1. paying their wages when it is due The keeping the Wages of the Hireling is a crying Sin Jam. 5. 4. The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all Night until the Morning saith Moses Lev. 19. 13. At his day thou shalt give him his hire neither shall the Sun go down upon it for he is poor and setteth his Heart upon it lifteth his Soul unto it lest he cry against thee unto the Lord and it be Sin unto thee Deut. 24. 15. Not turning them out of Doors when they are sick without any further regard of them which is a hiding our Eyes from our own Flesh Isa 58. 7. The Centurion did not so that came to our Lord Jesus Christ the great Physitian for cure for his sick Servant that lay at home Matth. 8. 6. Masters must not be extream in the Government and Usage of their Servants knowing that ye also have a Masten in Heaven Col. 4. 1. saith the Apostle The Egyptians were ill Masters that made the Israelites serve with Rigor and Blows when they were Pharoah's Bond-men Exod. 1. 13 14. in so much that when Moses and Aaron were sent unto them to comfort and support them and to preach the Gospel the glad Tydings of their Deliverance from their sad Condition but they hearkned not unto Moses for Anguish of Spirit for straitness or shortness of Breath and for cruel Bondage Exod. 6. 9. Even Mother Sarah is recorded to have dealt hardly with her Handmaid Hagar when she had laid in her Husband's Bosom so as to make her flee from her Face Gen. 16. 6. that was ready to flee in her Face with Threats and Frowardness Correction given in Anger hath usually more of Rigour than of Right Nabal's Servants complain to their Mistress Abigail of their Master's Untowardness and Crossness towards them and of his Incivility towards David's Servants that had been very civil and peaceful towards him That their Master was such a Son of Belial that a Man cannot speak to him 1 Sam. 25. 17. And ye Masters saith St. Paul do the same thing unto them that ye would have done to you if ye were in their stead forbearing Threatnings knowing that your Master also is in Heaven neither is there respect of persons with him Masters are required to deal bountifully with suchas serve them well and long And when thou sendest him out free from thee thou shalt not let him go away empty of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him Deut. 15. 13 14. 2. If the Peace of God rule in the Hearts of Servants into which they are called into one Family or private Corporation Then they will be subject to their ow Masters without fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward as St. Peter exhorts 1 Pet. 2. 18. And St. Paul also Servants obey in all things your Masters according to the Flesh not with eye-service as Men-pleasers but in singleness of Heart fearing God And whatsoever ye do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto Men knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the Inheritance for ye serve the Lord Jesus Christ Col. 3. 22 23 24. To the same effect doth the Apostle direct his Speech to Servants in the sixth Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians almost the same verbatim v. 6 7 8. They must not obey unlawful Commands from whatsoever Master Saul gave a bloody Command to his Life-Guaâ—l that stood about him Turn and slay the Priests of the Lord but the Servants of the King would not put forth their Hand to fall upon the Priests of the Lord 1 Sam. 22. 17. But as our