the glory in the destruction of their enemies So as God was glorified in raising vp their Lownesse so is hee also glorified while by their Lownesse hee takes downe the Height and Pride of the enemie For the weakness of those who ouercome giues away the glory of ouercomming from themselues vnto God who by weaknesse ouercometh power This God plainely sheweth to bee a way by which hee workes out his glory in that storie of Gideon For as long as Gideons armie had in it the strength of a multitude the multitude was a hinderance to this glorie For so the victorie might haue been taken from God and giuen to men because they were many Therfore he findes fault with his armie as being vnfit for his glorie while there was any such number in it as might possibly take away the glorie of the victorie from God to it selfe Therfore he saith The people that are with thee are too many for me to giue the Midianites into their hands Iudg. 7. lest Israel vaunt themselues against me saying Mine own hand hath saued me Wherefore God pares his armie and makes it fit for his glory by many diminutions neuer leauing vntill hee brought it to so few hundreds that there was left no ground of glorying in it self but that hee who glorieth must needes glorie in the Lord. The Israelites were kept downe by the Egyptians in most cruell slauery and bondage for they made the Israelites to serue with rigour Exod. 7. 13. 2. 23. so that they sighed and cried by reason of their bondage And when they did but speake for libertie their burdens were encreased and that so heauily that they were in meere despaire and deadnesse of heart so that when Moses told them of freedome they hearkned not vnto Moses for Exod. 6. 9. anguish of Spirit and for cruell bondage But for this hopelesse and distressed Nation which had no helpe nor hope in it selfe did God glorifie his power vpon the pride of Pharaoh and the strength of Egypt So that for the victorie which God alone gaineth vpon the Egyptians for Israel but without out Israel Iethro duely glorifies him Exod. 18. 11. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods for in the thing wherein they delt proudly he was aboue them God that taketh down the proude when there is no helpe in man to bring them downe getteth to himselfe the glorie of their abasing It were infinite and endlesse to produce the patternes and presidents of this kinde of working by which God workes out his glory When Kingdomes and Empires are at the greatest then GOD takes them downe commonly by low and contemptible meanes And so euen at the height of the Romane Empire that Empire was taken down by the Northren people whom they in contempt did account and call Barbarians And if it please him so can he take down the present pride of the Romane Empire which I especially place in that man of sinne who is the veriest Emperour of Rome surmounting the other in his owne opinion and in the opinion of his Disciples as much as the Sun excelleth the Moone in glorie And therefore most blasphemously this title is ascribed to him The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords But let vs remember that God himselfe saith All the Tyees of the Forrest shal know Ezek. 17. 24. that I the Lord haue brought downe the high Tree haue exalted the low Tree haue dryed vp the greene Tree and haue made the dry Tree to flourish I the Lord haue spoken and haue done it Wherfore let Israel trust and hope in the Lord euen hope against hope that though they bee humbled euen to the earth and Pharaoh mount vp with his pride to heauen and against heauen saying who is the Lord yet the Lord will bring Israel out of Egypt and will triumph ouer Egypt and Pharaoh with a mightie power and out-stretched arme So shall Israel say Thy right hand O Lord is become glorious in power thy right hand O Lord Exod. 15. 6. â— hath dashed in pieces the Enemy And in the greatnesse of thine excellency thou hast ouerthrowne them that rose vp against thee Yea much people in Heauen shall say Alleluia Saluation and Glory and Honour and Power Reu. 19. 1. 2. vnto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his iudgements for he hath iudged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath auenged the blood of his seruants at her hand And surely great glory must needs arise vnto God both from heauen earth when God by his Church being low and little iudgeth the great Whore Little and weake things when they produce great effects it plainely appeares that they haue borrowed power from elsewhere and from whom can the creature borrow power but of the Creator the fountain of power whose weakness that is whose least power being added to the creature 1. Cor. 1. 25 is stronger than men euen than all the strength of men God and three hundred are able to ouercome an Host Iudg. 6. 7. that are like Grashoppers for multitude yea God and Israel onely by walking about a towne and fighting with no other weapons but Trumpets of Rams hornes can make the strength of Iericho to fall before them God and a woman euen Deborah can iudge Israel and deliuer them from a King that hath nine hundred chariots of Iron But when by weakenesse God ouercommeth strength it cannot bee the strength of weakenesse that ouercommeth but the strength of God Therefore all glorying here also is excluded from man and referred vnto God And accordingly Deborah rightly giues God the glory saying Iudg. 5. 13. The Lord made mee haue dominion ouer the Mighty Secondly God suffers his Church to bee low and weake before hee exalt it in regard of Man And first we may take notice that in the lownesse of the Church God hath an eye and leuells as it were at the very enemies of the Church which are indeed his owne enemies For by the lownesse weaknesse of the Church Iudg. 4. 7. hee drawes out these enemies vnto a full and finall ouerthrow Hee encourageth and hardneth them to a full aduenture in a warre against God that God may fully bee auenged of them and fully triumph ouer them The Lord knoweth that the distressed estate of the Church doth engage their enemies in great and full prosecutions of them that so comming forth with their whole forces to ouerthrow the Church their whole forces may bee ouerthrowne The Lord himselfe sheweth vs this his dispensation For hee professeth that therefore hee brought Israel into straites betweene the Mountaines and the Red Sea because Pharaoh will say Exod. 14. they are intangled in the Land the wildernesse hath shut them in And I will harden Pharaohs heart saith the Lord that hee shall follow after them and I will bee honoured vpon Pharaoh and vpon all his host When the
manifold saluations and deliuerances Yea the deliuerances haue in some sort borne the resemblance and proportion of the meanes A piece of a deliuerance hath followed a piece of repentance and such was that of Rehoboam 2 Chron. 12. 7. 12. 14. whose heart was not perfect with the Lord 1 King 21. 29. and a temporary deliuerance 2 Chron. 15. 8. 15. a temporary repentance and such was that of Ahab and a full deliuerance a sound and full repentance and such was that vnder Asa. 5. Wherefore I said to the foolish For spirituall helps are the true helps yea they are the helpes of the temporall Deale not foolishly and speake not with a stiffe necke Say not Ashur shall saue vs and wee will flie into Egypt Naturall helpes are like the Egyptians who are weake for that very reason for which thou thinkest them strong and the inuisible meanes are strong for that very reason for which thou thinkest them weake And herein let God himselfe bee iudge betweene vs Isa. 31. 3. The Egyptians are men and not God and their horses flesh and not spirit Wherefore behold the issue When the Lord shall stretch out his hand both hee that helpeth shall fall and hee that is holpen shall fall downe and they all shall faile together Men and horses are things visible God and spirits are things inuisible and therefore doe visible men faile to helpe because they are not equall in power to the inuisible God and therefore shall horses faile because they are not equall to spirituall and inuisible strength Wherefore henceforth doe thou especially choose those helps which are spirituall and inuisible because they are strongest and beleeue more strength to bee in the weaknesse of God which therefore only seemes weaknesse because the strength of it is not perceiued by the fleshly eye than in the strength of man 2 King 6. 16. 17. And if thou seest not the spirituall things to bee strongest doe not blame them for weaknesse but thy selfe for blindnesse and pray to God to open thy eyes for then shalt thou see a most mighty power in them and that when spirituall helpes are on our side There are more with vs than there are with them that haue earthly and visible helpes Wherfore henceforth farre be from vs the trust and rest in naturall things which is the common and first refuge of flesh and blood when it is pressed with troubles Ier. 17. 5. And let those thoughts words be loathsome to vs which ordinarily issue from this fleshly blindnesse and error One thinkes that Armies can subdue all enemies and another that Parliaments can cure all politicke diseases a third and I wish it had not beene spoken before the late pestilence in my hearing that the new Riuer had washed away the plague for euer from the City But I thinke I need not to tell them that they are deceaued And no wonder for all outward helpes are but the body of helpe but spirituall helpes are the soule of helpe and as the body without the soule is dead so all bodily helpes without spirituall helpe are without life and power Wherefore wee must striue by putting our selues into a right spirituall estate to get the fauour of the Highest spirit that he may breathe life into these dead helpes and then they shall haue life and strength as well as the dead bones when he said 〈◊〉 37. ◠Come from the foure windes O breath and breathe vpon these slaine that they may liue This is the true order to come by the spirituall helpes to the vse of the temporall to begin with God and to end with man In this case wee must proceed Descendendo not Ascendendo wee must get helpe first from the Creator and then wee may descend to the vse of the Creature but wee must not begin to seeke helpe of the Creature and then thinke wee may be either confident or carelesse of the helpe of the Creator It is the maine wisdome and successe of the Creature to goe with the Creator He that goes without him goes without strength and he that goes against him runnes against the rocke of Omnipotence and is sure to make most horrible shipwracke Wherefore Moses saith wisely Exo. 33. 15. If thy presence goe not with mee carry vs not vp hence There is no going nor stirring if God goe not with vs But if God bee with vs who shall bee against vs If God be with vs we may be saued without Meanes for God is able to saue being alone He can also raise vp meanes where are none and hee can blesse the Meanes where are some and he can make the Meanes of our destruction to become the meanes of our preseruation The last seemeth most difficult yet doth hee often doe it The Syrians had brought a most deadly famine vpon Samaria so that the same bowels were fed by that which receiued life from them And by the same Syrians Samaria was so deliuered from the famine and stored with plenty 2 King 6. 7. that a Measure of fine floure was sold for a shekell The same Egyptians which kept Israel in a most cruell bondage were made to bee the men that should bee vrgent vpon Israel to haste away out of bondage Exod. 12. 33. c. yea they suffered them not to goe empty but spoyled themselues to enrich those whom they had spoyled Euen Death it selfe which the Diuell intended to haue made a Gate to eternall destruction the out-stretched arme of God hath made a gate to eternall saluation Reu. 14. 19 So that a voyce is heard from heauen saying Write Blessed are they that dye in the Lord. Now if God be so absolute a Lord of all things that of contraries he can produce contraries we may see that hee hath taken all trust from the creature and reserued it to himselfe and that the power which is in the Creature being giuen it by him can at his pleasure bee taken away from it and a contrary power put into it Theeefore our eyes are to be fixed on God and to looke vp first to him to see whether he will suffer the Creature to retaine the power of Helpe which hee hath giuen it yea and when helpes faile to see whether hee will raise vp helpes yea farther whether he will helpe without helpes and yet farthest of all whether he will turne our hinderances and punishments into helpes And thus depending on God and laying the foundation of our hope help in the name of the Lord we may safely and comfortably vse the meanes which hee giueth vs. And if hee giue meanes with a blessing put vnto them they may be of absolute necessitie when they haue receiued such blessing and power from him Many points of this doctrine are to bee found in the voyage of Paul Act. 27. Naturall helpes can do nothing without God so the Mariners could not saue Pauls company for they are lost in regard of Naturall
with a light diuine and supernaturall they glorifie the Father in Heauen Mat. 5. 16. which is the chiefe and first worker of them But against this glory and against the power by which this glory is attained and against the kingdome which standeth in this power and against the spirit which sets vp this kingdome in the hearts of the Saints doth the euill spirit make warre and as by all other mischieuous meanes so by this malicious word of Puritanisme And no wonder Ambr. in 2 Cor. 13. 14. for it is this spirit of Christ that is the maine destroyer of the kingdome of the euill spirit and therefore against him is his greatest malice and most fierce opposition Hee cares not though there bee thousands in a Nation that abstaine from some particular vices or doe some carnall workes of ciuill Righteousnesse for his kingdome yet may stand and these together But if the Spirit of God come once to set vp a kingdome of grace in mens hearts this kingdome is set vp with power and this powerfull kingdome of the spirit hee cannot endure because he knows that by it the lesser power of his kingdome must needs goe to wracke And then he bestirs himselfe and all his policies to quench the smoaking flaxe of this powerfull Grace which yet shall neuer bee quenched vntill it come vnto victorie * It is not the meaning of the Author to encourage any enthusiast or hypocriticall fanaticke spirits who incur the censure of this name and from whom carnall men take occasion to reuile reproch the saints of God See his Medit 73. 7. 18 But to come to some Remedies Let the Diuell and his Instruments know Remedies against this roote of wickednesse that in this as in many other things Malice doth out-run their wit and so is not led by it but leads it For if the Diuell could get this spirit of Grace to forsake the earth the fire would soone consume and end it Iud. 6. 7. And when the Elements are melted and consumed with that fire there comes presently another fire vnto which the Deuill is reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darknesse And if the wicked ones his instruments could roote out of a Nation those who are truly spirituall surely they driue thence the very Chariots and Horse-men thereof and they were then fit for nothing but for an vtter destruction It is no other piece of policie than if the Sodomites should make hast to turne out Lot and his Familie that Fire and Brimstone may make haste to destroy them Secondly let them know that they know not that wherof they affirme they censure that which they doe not vnderstand For there may bee a holinesse which themselues know not there may bee a holy Ghost though they see or feele him not and that holy Ghost may reueale that truth giue that power and heate of Holinesse and Deuotion which flesh and blood doth not reueale and giue vnto them And if there may bee such things what folly is this to speake of that which they know not yea what madnesse to condemne it being vnknowne Sure I am they doe not know that there are no such things and therefore they doe not know that they doe wisely in censuring such things which may bee for ought they know and if they be they are certainly excellent and most vnworthy of contempt Wherefore let men take heed that they cast not vpon themselues the title of folly or madnesse when they call a Saint a Puritane Thirdly they giue men occasion to call them Brownists I meane those that thinke them to be of any Religion For these men that thus cast contempt vpon purenesse and holinesse cast contempt on the Liturgy and prayers of our Church For there wee finde these excellent and godly Petitions That our liues hereafter may bee pure and holy Yea for the King himselfe That God-will preserue him in holinese and purenesse of life Now to reuile this which the prayers of our Church pray for is to reuile the prayers of our Church and I thinke hee that doth it hath a fauour if hee bee taken for a Brownist Fourthly to destroy and batter this grace of the Spirit is the only way to leaue no good works among vs and so to bring the very name of Reformed religion into infamy For the workes which were brought forth by the errors and motiues of the flesh in the darknesse of Poperie we haue sought to remoue And now striuing to set a new roote and principle of good workes euen Grace the true roote and fountaine of them this the Diuell by these words of malice and contempt doth seeke to roote vp and destroy So that this is the way to leaue no roote at all of good workes But farre better were it to cherish the true and kindely roote of them that so good trees may plentifully bring forth the fruite of good Works Yea it were to be wished that it might be so watered that it bring forth those great good workes of buying-in Church liuings and building of Churches For the first many hungrie soules doe cry complaining with the Eunuch Act. 8 31. How can I vnderstand except some man guide mee And some that complaine not are in worse case than the other for they lie speechlesse and more than halfe-dead not feeling their owne misery the Leuites passing by them and leauing them in it And indeed there is little outward encouragement to drawe them in or at least to perswade their abiding where there is scarce a little chamber with a bed 2 King 4. a table a stoole a candlestick to receiue them being come And this while the people perish for want of knowledge and being without a teaching Priest 2 Chron. 15. 3. they are not farre from being without God as it seemes by the Prophet For the second I acknowledge that the true religion hath both built and repaired Churches Neither is this chiefe Citie without examples But yet it were good the roote of this fruite were somewhat more watered For if these fruites did abound a Church would not stand open to the raine so long after a fire and perchance those stones would bee put into their right places which now by many no doubt are turned into stones of stumbling and offence For euen to remoue an offence did Christ cause Peter to cast in an Angle and to fetch money from a fish And surely if some would but cast an Angle into their superfluities they might take vp such a piece of money as would saue such an offence If it were to satisfie or serue the flesh and for outward glory we see how easily great summes are expended and huge buildings are raised And I thinke scarce any age of our Ancestors hath equalled ours But when wee doe so much for our selues and so easily so little and so hardly for God doth not this shew that the roote of prophanenesse and contempt of God is too much watered