dealings with us specially of this Kingdom of late as that we may say that they are at least seem to be sweet intimations of a gracious purpose and intention towards us Onely in this will the Lord be sought And for this let every of us seek him that it may not repent him of the good which he hath seemed to intend towards us but that he would returne and come unto us with healing in his wings coming unto us as the Spouse desireth that her Beloved might come unto her Like a Roe or a yong Hart upon the mountains of Bether the mountains of division as the word signifieth In his own time which let not us prescribe healing and making up all our breaches This is Davids Prayer for Israel in the text And for this Let us pray ISRAELS CURE The second SERMON March 2o PSAL. 60. Vers 2. Heale the Breaches thereof for it is shaken UPon this Text I made an entrance the last day being then led unto it by that Solemn occasion We brake it into two parts Davids Request Reason In the former of these we tooke notice of three particulars Israels Disease Cure Phisitian Upon the first of these we then insisted Come we now to the second viz. Israels Cure which is the healing of her Breaches Heale the Breaches thereof To Heale properly you know what it is viz. do a Cure upon the Body in healing the sicknesses or sores thereof whether in an ordinary way by naturall means Medicines or Salves as the Phisitian or Chirurgion doth or in an extraordinary and miraculous way without means as our Saviour and his Apostles did who cured all manner of diseases only by their a word b touch c garments d shadow From the naturall body it is transferred to the Politicall or Ecclesiasticall Bodie in a Kingdome the Common-wealth the Church The remedying of the evills whereof is sometime in phrase of Scripture called an Healing If my people shall humble themselves and pray saith the Lord I will heale their Land i. e. Redresse and remedy the evills which lye upon it Heale the breaches thereof saith the Text i. e. Repaire them make them up This it is that David here prayeth for and This should every true Israelite desire and seek after The healing repayring making up of Israels breaches It was the first work that Nehemiah and the rest of the Jewes did after their returne from Captivity they set upon the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem which they began as you may see in the 3. chap. of Nehem. and finished chap. 6. not giving over till there was no breach found therein as you have it vers 1. of that 6. chap. What they did for the Typicall this ought all true Israelites do for the Spiritual Mysticall Jerusalem the Church of God upon earth viz. seeke and endeavour what they can the building up the Walls the repairing the breaches thereof This is Davids prayer elsewhere Lord build up the walls of Jerusalem Jerusalem the Metropolis both Civill and Ecclesiasticall of that Kingdome the Head Citie of Israel a Type of the Church visible For this David prayeth that God would build up the walls thereof repayre the breaches thereof restoring to it and establishing in it Peace and Prosperitie And what himselfe doth he stirreth up others to do the like Pray for the peace of Jerusalem i. e. for the publicke tranquility and happinesse of the Church for the continuance of it if enjoyed for the restoring of it if wanted that it may not be troubled whether without by persecuting Tyrants putting it into bloud or within by Schismes and Heresies rending and tearing of it These are the breaches of the Church as I have shewed you in the former Point and both these every true Israelite should defire to have healed repaired made up that so there may be Peace within her Walls and Prosperity or quietnesse within her Pallaces as it followeth vers. 7. of that 122. Psalm And great reason for it why Christians should thus desire and endeavour the healing of Israels breaches they being all members of that mystical body ye are the body of Christ and members in particular saith the Apostle to his Corinthians The Church the body all true Christians Members of that Bodie and being so they should have a simpathie with the whole So is it in the naturall body If the body be wounded or hurt in any part of it there is never a part but is sensible of it If the foot be wounded the eye seeth it the heart feeleth it the tongue complains of it the hand is ready to apply salves and Plaisters to it for the healing of it So should it be in the Mysticall bodie and so it will be If the Church be wounded rent torn the eye of a true Israelite being a living member of that body seeing it his heart cannot but be affected with it his tongue will be ready to complain of it unto God his hand will be readie to apply such healing remedies as God shall put into it Christian affection in the hearts of Christians it both should and will encline them to seek the Cure of Israels breaches Take a second Reason and that fetcht from the Nature of these breaches which are 1. Vnseemly 2. Dangerous 1. Vnseemly not unlike a rent or breach in a Garment which because uncomely we will therefore get drawn sowne up Or like a Harelip in a good face which though it be not a sore yet because it is an eye-sore a blemish we will therfore if possible get healed Upon this ground should Christians seek the healing of Israels breaches They are an eye-sore a blemish in this mysticall body It was the outward Beauty of the Typicall Jerusalem that the buildings thereof were contiguous and uniforme Jerusalem is builded as a Citie that is compact together Juâ—cta sibi simul as Montanus renders the Originall the Houses not scattered but joyning together Even as it was with the Curtains of the Tabernacle which were of one measure saith the Text and coupled together Surely it is a peece of the visible Churches visible beautie her unitie her breaches her divisions make the least of them make the best of them they are a blemish an eye-sore I such an eye-sore as friends cannot behold without grief enemies with triumph Neuters with scandall And being so were there no other reason Christians should seek the Healing of them But besides this 2. In the second place these Breaches are dangerous Dangerous to the Church and that two wayes being 1. Disadvantagious to her 2. Advantagious to her enemies 1. To her disadvantagious In that like Domesticall Breaches in a Family which are great hinderances to all the businesse in it whether Civill or Religious for the most part hindring the groweth both of Grace and Estate So prejudiciall and detrimentall are these Breaches to the State of the Church
hindering the groweth of it the increase of it This Mysticall bodie being joyned compacted and knit together it increaseth with the increase of God saith Saint Paul to his Colossians It maketh increase to the edifying of it selfe in love saith the same Apostle to his Ephesians On the other hand being divided rent and torne it withereth wanzeth it groweth not Not but that God can and sometimes doth bring good out of this evill light our of this darkenesse making the truth which is but one a gainer by division improving distractions to the Churches benefit But this is by accident no thanks to these divisions distractions for this gain which being enemies to Vnitie they are in their own nature no friends to the Truth no friends to the Church but enemies to it Enemies hindering the growth of it nay threatning the ruine of it Our Saviour hath sayd it of a Kingdome an House if divided against themselves they cannotstand These Breaches in the Church are like wounds in the bodie though not all mortall yet in their own nature destructive as I shall shew you God willing in the latter part of the Text shaking the Church as well as hindering it And in this respect Christians who bear good will to Israel wish well to the Church should seeke the Cure the Healing of them they are disadvantagious to the Church And Secondly Advantagious to her enemies In this like Breaches made in the walls of a Citie which are an In-let to the Enemie giving him the advantage of entring and taking possession if they be not either repaired or looked to Of such dangerous consequence are these Breaches in the Church they are In-lets to the Adversary In-lets in the first place to Sathan that comon Adversarie who by these breaches breaks in upon the Church as by domesticall breaches he breaks in upon a Family hindering the affaires of it In-lets in the second place to the Instruments of Sathan False-Teachers Seducers who make great advantage of these Breaches to let in their owne pernicious errors by them Even as by the Graecian Horse that fatall Engine was let and drawn in by that Breach which the Trojans themselves had made in their owne Walls to the overthrow of their Citie So dangerous are these breaches disadvantagious to the Church advatagious to her Enemies Great cause why Christians should desire and endeavour our the Cure the Healing of them Dwell we no longer upon Confirmation or Illustration It is a truth I suppose which in Thesi in the generall will easily be granted and yeelded at all hands That which I principally ayme at is the practicall part the bringing it home the setting it on by way of Application which I shall direct these two ways By way of Reprehension Exhortation By way Reprehension is this The duty and practise of every true Israelite to seeke the Healing of Israels breaches What then In the first place shall we say to them who instead of Healing make them Breach-makers whether in the Church or State To let passe the latter of these State-Incendiaries such as have troubled and distracted the Politicke State of this Kingdome for their own private ends and advantages that they might have the better fishing in these troubled waters Them I referre together with the Cure of those breaches by them made to that wise and venerable Colledge of State Phisitians at the present assembled to that purpose The Breaches which my eye is principally upon are Israels breaches Breaches in the Church specially those wherewith the Church in this Kingdome is distracted and torne And here give me leave briefly to tax and censure those which have been or are either the makers or maintainers of them whether Principalls or Accessaries Q But who are they A. For Answer I shall have recourse to the Type who were they which made these breaches in Israel which the Psalmist here complains of I have showen you it already They were either strangers or Israelites Strangers Enemies to their Kingdom and Religion Moabites Edomites Philistines or else Israelites that factious seditious party which cleaved to the House of Saul and so were enemies to the House of David Paralell hereunto behold we also in our Israel two forts of Breach-makers Strangers Israelites First Begin with the former Strangers I mean strangers and Enemies to our Religion Such as though they be amongst us yet they are not of us Papists and persons Popishly affected Amongst whom how ever I cannot think but that there are some blindly zealous poor misguided souls who follow after their Ishhosheth Or Adonijah with simplicity of heart and so are both more quiet and innocent Yet others amongst them there are and that many very active and practicall in this worst piece of Arithmatick which they study more than anvother Division Dividing of Houses Cities Parliaments Kingdoms States Churches Setting Subjects against Subjects In this Hellish Art how many famous I should say infamous Practitioners have there been amongst them in all Ages Witnesse the Histories of the late and frequent Irish Rebellions Some of them Masters in that Science Prosessours in it Those devoted and professed Incendiaries the Jesuites and their schollers Hellish Engineers who make it their work to be continually laying of Trains and springing of Mines for the blowing up the gates and wals of our Jerusalem endeavouring to make Breaches therin that themselves and their party may re-enter and take possession It was the speech of the Syrians and others their Confederates Let us go up against Judah and vex it and let us make a breach therein for us What they determined against Judah that do these Romish Consederates practise against our Israel continually vexing us by their wiles as the Midianites did Israel seeking to make a Breach amongst us for themselves their hopes being founded upon our divisions Upon them in the first place do we charge these our Breaches both in this and the neighbour Kingdomes but charging them we cannot discharge our selves 2. A second sort of these Breach-makers are to be found amongst our selves Israelites men professing the same Religion Protestants by name who to approve themselves such can readily pronounce the Protestants Shibboleth willingly submitting to the late Protestation wherin amongst other things they have vowed and promised to praeserve and maintaine the union and peace of the three Kingdoms and yet they either are or have been Breach-makers breaking the peace of the Church Of these we may take notice of two sorts Pardon my plain and home-dealing in prosecuting of this charge The designe which I aym at is the Healing of Israels Breaches Now a wound you know that it may be Cured it must first be searched This I shall do with as tender and gentle and hand as possible I can that whilest I go about to make up Breaches I may not make any Two sorts of persons there are amongst our selves upon whom
seeke and endeavour the healing of the breaches of this our Israel By this time me thinkes I feele your pulses begin to beat and your hearts to worke burning within you so as you are ready to say O but how shall the breaches of this our Israel be healed how shall this Cure be effected the cure of this Nation this State this Church that is the patient I confesse I principally have in hand and that is the Cure which I principally aime at though the other is so twisted in with it as that I cannot speake of the one but I shall touch now and then upon the other How shall the Church amongst us be cured A. A usefull Question Take the resolution of it from the Churches Physitian God himselfe who promising to undertake Israels cure the healing of her breaches those breaches which the Babilonians had made upon her he sets downe the ratio medendi tels her how and in what way that cure should be viz. by revealing upon her abundance of peace and truth So you have it Jer. 33. Behold I will bring it health and cure and I will cure them and will reveale upon them the abundance of peace and truth Behold the way and means whereby a Nation a Church that is broken may be perfectly healed and cured viz. by Revealing upon it and establishing in it abundance of Peace and Truth In which soveraigne Restorative we may take notice of two things The Ingredients Quantities The Ingredients which are but two but two principall ones each of them of great price and value Peace the one Truth the other The Quantitie of each Abundance abundance of Peace and Truth These two together taken in this Quantitie will make a perfect Cure upon any Nation any Church I upon this Church Peace and Truâ—h both together the one without the other will not do it Peace without Truth will make but a slight Cure onely skinning over the wound for a time Such a Cure it was that the false Prophets wrought upon Israel in healing her breaches They have healed the hurt of the Daughter of my people slightly saying Peace peace Nor unlike an unskilfull Chyrurgion who by applying some healing plaister to an ulcerous sore cilatrizeth the wound skinneth it over when it is not sound at the bone On the other hand truth without peace may make the Church sound at the bone but it will not heale the wounds of it both together make a soveraign salve Like that usuall but usefull one of Minium or red-lead and oyle mixed together where the one draweth out corruption and maketh the part sound the other skins and heals both together making a perfect Cure of any ordinary wound Oh then in the fear of God following the prescript and direction of this great Chyrurgeon this great Phisician Let all of us seeke and endeavour the furthering and effecting of the Churches Cure in this way by seeking after both these Seeke Peace seeke Truth seeke Peace and Truth Peace Seeke Peace and ensue it saith St. Peter Truth Seeke it and buy it Buy the Truth saith the Wise-man Fundamentall Truths Truths simply necessarie at any rate what ever they cost Other Truths be content to buy them but not over-buy them give not too much for them It is but an ill bargaine which some make to buy some truths with the losse of Peace Seeke the one and seeke the other but seek both together Peace and Truth that they may be both revealed upon us and established amongst us and that in abundance In this abundance there is no danger I meane in the abundance of both these together Of the one without the other there may be Abundance of Peace without Truth will breed a Lethargie abundance of Truth without Peace may breed a Phrensie The one will breed a senslesse securitie the harbenger of Ruine and destruction When they shall say Peace peace then sudden destruction cometh upon them The other by accident may breed a swelling Timpany of Spirituall pride and selfe-conceitednesse then which as hereafter happily I shall shew you there is nothing more opposite to this Cure the healing of the Churches Breaches You see then the way whereby this great and much desired Cure is to be effected But what shall we do for the furthering of this Cure in this way It is a great question and it will aske some time to answer it more then I have to spare at the present In answer to it my design and purpose is to lay downe some rules and directions which may be asefull to you this way for the furthering of this Cure the healing of the breaches in this our Israel to which the good Lord give a blessing that they may conduce to the end for which they are intended These Directions I intend to reduce to two heads laying down two sorts of them Some restorative others preservative The former directing to the curing and healing the Breaches alreadie made The latter to the preventing of the like Breaches for the time to come I should begin with the former Restorative directions which again are of two sorts some of them concerning our selves others of them concerning others viz. those which have been or are the breach-makers amongst us shewing how we are to order our selves towards them and what we are to do to them or for them Of the former sort I should have given you three or foure Take one of them for the present for I will not multiply particulars under any one head which may serve as a fitting Preparative for all the test and therefore I shall put it in the first place Let us have faith to be healed It is said of Paul that Beholding the Criple at Lystra and perceiving that he had faith to be healed he said unto him stand upright This faith in him was a Passive miraculous saith But what have we to do with this faith Surely Beloved if we looke at our Disease the dangerousnesse I had almost said the desperatenesse of it we shall see that we have need of a saith not much inferiour unto this Miraculous Cures call for miraâ—ulous faith Wonderful and extraordinary Cures call for a saith answerable And such is the saith that this Cure to flesh and bloud carnall reason so difficult calls for at our hands a more then ordinary faith which may breake through all those clouds of apparent difficulties and seeming impossibilities laying hold upon the great Phisician GOD himselfe for the healing of these breaches Why but in what have we to support and beare up our faith in apprehending in beleeiving this The hand of faith is like Moses his hands which he held up in Israels cause against Amaleck ready to flag and fall down if it be not supported Now what supporters shall we have for this faith Instead of many make use of two two supporters which may be to our faith in this
Child saith he speaking of Christ is set up for a signe {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a signe an Ensigne a Standard Behold the Standard of the people which all the Lords Commanders should labour to set up for them even the same which Moses typically erected in the Wildernesse the Brazen Serpent lift up on high on a pearch or pole a lively representation of Christ lift up upon the Crosse as our Saviour himselfe for I conceive the words to be his expounds it 3. John This is the Standard which should be set up And how should it be set up Why by the Preaching of the Gospel so the same Expositer prosecutes it Gods Ministers they are the Lords Standard-bearers whose office it is to carry this Standard before the people as the Priests under the Law did the Arke and this they are to do by the preaching of the Gospel Set up Christ by the preaching of Christ Hereby is this Standard set up Christ being in the preaching of the word as it were lift up upon the Crosse before the eys of the people So Paul telleth his Galathians that Christ had been evidently set forth and crucified before their eyes viz. in and by the preaching of the Gospel By this means is this Standard set up and this is the best means for the gathering the people into one bodie Oh then let all in their places specially the Commanders in the Lords Armie amongst us to whom after a speciall manner it belongeth as they desire the reducing of stray wandring souls and the uniting of all into one body let them by all meanes endeavour to set up this Standard providing as much as in them lyeth for the liberty and free passage of the Gospel that this standard may be set up where it hath not yet been seen that it be continued and displaied more and more where it is erected And here let not any think or fear that this will be a means to scatter the people as some no wel-willers to the Gospel are ready enough to do who stick not to charge all our divisions upon the Gospel and the Preaching therof as if the clocking of the Hen were the means to sever and scatter the the Chickins No this is the only means of gathering them Oh Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thy children together saith our Saviour viz. by the sending out of Prophets and Apostels and Ministers to them to set up Christ in the Ministery of the Word as in other of his ordinances to set him up and that not only in his Priestly and Propheticall but also in his Kingly office not only as the Saviour and Teacher but as the King and Ruler and Law-giver of his Church And here let me repaire again to the Type David here projecting and propounding to himself the way and means of reducing his own subjects and bringing them to unitie amongst other he pitcheth up this that Judah should be his Law-giver Judah is or shall be my Law-giver i. e. all his subjects should be brought under one Head one Governour who should give them Lawes according to which they should be ordered and governed which power and authority belonged to the Tribe of Judah according to that Prophecie of Jacob Gen. 49. to which the Psalmist here alludeth No way no means to bring the people unto unitie to bring them into one body but by bringing them under one head one Law-giver by whose Laws they may be regulated and governed Now in the Church and in matters of Religion this one Head is Christ even that Lyon of the Tribe of Judah as he is called Reve. 5. He is the Law-giver of his Church and let him so be This will be found one I and the only means to breed an holy and Religious unitie to reduce and bring home straying wandering sheepe for such and only such they are that I now have to deal with or speak for sheep not wolves such as seek to make a prey of the flock whom I put in the former rank reckoning them as enemies And so consequently for the repairing and healing of these Breaches It was the first thing which David looked at as giving to his Kingdom hopes of a Cure of these breaches but God had given a Banner an Ensigne to his people setting David over them as their head vers. 4. You see what Magistrates and Rulers the Lords Commanders amongst us ought to do or see done and for this they shall have my prayers as well as directions that they may do it But what shall we of the Ministery do This is the next head which I should have now fallen with but time taketh me off for the present This with what remains of this point I see I must yet adjourn till another occasion ISRAELS CURE The fift SERMON April 6. PSAL. 60. Ver. 2. Heale the Breaches thereof c. THe healing of Israels breaches is a Cure which every true Israelite should seriously desire and endeavour Once more this usefull conclusion commeth to hand which I have already prosecuted by way of Doctrine and Application I yet stick in the latter of these the latter part of it wherein my designe was to lay you downe some Rules and directions for the furthering of this desired Cure in the Church of God amongst us These directions we ranked into two sorts some wherof were restorative others preservative Of the former sort we found some concerning our selves others of them concerning others viz. those which have beene and are Breach-makers amongst us teaching us how to order our selves towards them These breach-makers as you have heard are either strangers or Israelites Strangers enemies to our Religion or rather Gods Religion professed amongst us with these we have done Israelites some of our brethren who through infirmitie and weaknes have been seduced and drawn aside either from the wayes of truth or peace Concerning them the question was what shall be done to them or for them This we answered generally let them be reduced and brought home with all tendernesse and gentlenesse More particularly for full satisfaction I entred upon a way of giving to every one his portion Shewing first what publike persons are to do Secondly what private Publike persons are either Magistrates or Ministers The former of these have had their directions which the Lord teach them to make a good use of It remains now that we come to the latter and so proceed to that which remains 2. What shall we of the Ministery do For answer as briefly as I may Gods Ministers they are also by office healers They have healed the hurt of the Daughter of my people slightly so the Lord complains of the false Prophets To heale was their office that they did it slightly was their error And what shall they do that they may be healers in truth furthering this Cure by reducing those which are gone astray which is a part of their