is our Native countrey all the while we are on earth we are as it were going a pilgrimage to heaven And the application of this now may be two-fold First Seeing we are but Passengers here and Pilgrims this may serve to set spurs to us and hasten us towards our Countrey For no Passenger would willingly tarry long upon the way but maketh all the haste he can to get him home So let us think it our greatest punishment next to this rebellious reformation that we are constrained to dwell with Mesech to have our habitation among the Tents of Kedar and therefore let us wish with holy David to have the wings of a Dove that so we might flie home to Heaven and be at rest Secondly Though here we are but Passengers yet seeing heaven is our home this may comfort us amidst all our plunderings and persecutions all our necessities and distresses For let a passenger meet with never so bad entertainment by the way yet he will not greatly murmure at it I have better at home he will say and it will not be long I hope e're I get thither So as long Brethren as there are Quarters taken up for us in Heaven if we have any Christian Courage let us not faint by the way be our usage never so course be our passage never so perilous which leadeth me from the first part of the Text the Passenger the Church to the second which is her Passage and this I find to be two-fold per aquas per ignes thorow waters and thorow fire When thou passest thorow the waters when thou walkest thorow the fire Her first passage is per aquas when thou passest thorow the waters Which waters have sundry acceptions in holy Scripture the literal is first in nature and must be so in order And Hugo Cardinalis will have an Alleotheta here one tense put for another Transieris for Transibas when thou passest or shalt pass instead of when thou passedst or didst pass alluding to the passage of Noah in the Deluge or rather to that of Israel thorow the red-sea But whether these or no be the meaning these examples suit well with the Text and of the same nature we have some other in holy Writ the example of Moses of Elijah and Elisha of the Disciples and of St. Paul I shall anon touch upon these in their proper place I shall here only shew you the several acceptions of these Waters The literal I have briefly pointed at already Secondly By Waters we may understand the Enemies of the Church so they are expressed by holy David Psalm 88.17 They came round about me daily like water and compassed me together on every side And Psalm 144.7 He prayeth after this manner Send down thine hand from above deliver me and take me out of the great Waters from the hand of strange children And Rev. 17.15 The Angel expounding the vision of the great Whore which sat upon many waters telleth St. John in express words The waters which thou sawest where the Whore sitteth they are people and multitudes and nations and tongues Thirdly by waters we may understand Heresies and doctrines of Devils So Aretius and others expound that Rev. 12.15 Where we read that the Serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood Fourthly and lastly by waters we may understand the Abyss of desperation So we may construe that of the Psalmist Psalm 69. The waters are come in even unto my soul verse 1. I am come into deep waters ver 2. Let not the water-flood drown me verse 16. The Churches second passage is per ignes when thou walkest thorow the fire which fire is first literally to be taken and we have examples of some in Scripture that found a safe passage thorow this fire as Lot and Isaac and the Israelites and the three Children Secondly by Fire we are to understand persecution and affliction according to that of the Psalmist Psalm 66. Thou laydst trouble upon our loynes Ingressi sumus per ignem we went thorow the fire And St. Peter useth the same Metaphor Think it not strange concerning the fiery tryal which is to trie you 1 Pet. 4.12 The result then of all is briefly this That it is the portion of the Church to pass thorow fire and water it is her destiny to suffer persecution and affliction Noah's Ark was a notable representation of the Church that was tossed upon the waves in the general inundation so is this in the worlds troubled sea which cannot rest The Disciples Ship in the Gospel was another figure of the Church that was covered with waves almost overwhelmed with a raging Tempest so this is filled with the scornfull reproof of the wealthy the deep waters of the proud are ready to run even over her soul The Church is a Ship the world is the Sea a Sea of glass mingled with fire Rev. 15.2 Of glass there is the brittle and inconstant condition of the world mingled with fire here are the troubles of the Church St. Peter's fiery Tryal Troubled alas she is and so hath ever been Look upon Jacob look upon Joseph look upon David look upon the Son of David the time would fail me to tell you of the Prophets and Apostles of the Martyrs Confessours and other holy men of God how they passed thorow the waters how they walked thorow the fire how they had Trial of cruel Mockings and Scourgings yea moreover also of bonds and imprisonment how they were stoned as Saint Stephen how they were sawn asunder as the Prophet Isaiah how they were slain with the sword as the Apostle St. Paul how they were beneaded as St. John Baptist how they were hanged as Tomkins and Chaloner Yeomans and Bourchier how they wandred about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth in sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented Thus we see that all which will be loyal to God and the King all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution Till our Saviour came into the ship the Sea was calm and quiet but when he was once aboard there straightway arose a mighty Tempest So long then as thou art without Christ or without God in this world the Devil will make fair weather round about thee but when once Christ Jesus is as it were come aboard thy soul then will Satan raise a storm to try if he can make shipwrack of thy faith when thou hast listed thy self a souldier to fight under thy Saviours and thy Soveraigns banner then look for a whole shewer of fiery arrows from the wicked one for the Messenger of Satan to buffet thee with St. Paul both by inward temptations and outward tribulations by private suggestions and publick persecutions the Devil will strive to split thee against the rock of desperation But take this for thy comfort that although thou art dangerously tossed
if any man teach you otherwise let him be accursed O that ye would know therefore in this your day the things that belong unto your peace lest otherwise they be hid for ever from your eyes Consider what Almighty God faith to the Jewes Isa 1.19 20. For the very same he saith now to you If ye be willing and obedient willing to have your King restored and will henceforth be obedient to him Ye shall eat the good of the Land but if ye refuse his gracious pardon and resolve still to rebel against him Ye shall be devoured with the suord for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it If ye still keep up the sword ye will in the end perish by it your sword will certainly penetrate your own heart Obey not them therefore that think they can kill the body and that would have you make a trade of killing but obey him that can kill body and soul whose express Command is that ye shall not kill If ye will not follow peace ye shall never see the Lord if here ye banish that from you he will hereafter banish you from him he will renounce you with those words of David Psalm 139.19 Depart from me ye bloody ye blood-thirsty men And as God abhorreth the blood-thirsty so doth he the covetous man Psalm 10. He that said Do not kill said also Do not covet as therefore ye must abstain from blood so must ye from covetousness let not this be once named amongst you as becometh Saints but learn of the Apostle in whatsoeuer state ye are therewith to be content see that ye covet no mans silver or gold or apparel but having food and rayment be therewith content Ye know whose Law it is Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house take heed then brethren of coveting Bishops houses or any thing else that is anothers and not yours All covet all lose ye have good Scripture for it Jer. 8.10 I will give their wives unto others and their fields to them that shall inherit them for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness from the Prophet even unto the Priest They that greedily get away other mens beget a gangrene in their own Estates De malè quaesitis vix gaudet tertius Haeres Take heed therefore as our Saviour exhorteth and beware of covetousness the caution is ingeminated and therefore the more emphatical Luke 12.15 Consider also what St. Paul saith Eph. 5.5 No covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God And consider what the same Apostle saith 1 Tim. 6 9. They that will be rich as it were whether God will or no fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtfull lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition Covetousness tempteth men to murder this i◠that which maketh Rebels so bloody as they are From whence come Wars and fightings among you Surely Covetousness hath been the Original of them all the lower sort of people strive to be in an higher room the poor would fain turn Tables with the Rich they would thus have every valley to be filled and every mountain and hill to be laid low as if in this sense every man were bound to seek anothers wealth they that were born to nothing strive to get others birth-rights calling themselves forsooth the Saints who say they must inherit the earth they would make themselves rich that have nothing and others poor that have great riches But to conclude this brethren is not the office of Saints but of the King of Saints it is the Lord that maketh poor and maketh rich 1 Sam. 2.7 Presume not then to take God's office out of his hand strive not per fas nefas to make your selves rich if God have made you poor but be content with that portion of outward things that he hath given you The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts Hag. 2.8 Deny him not therefore that priviledge which your own selves chalenge give him leave to do what he pleaseth with his own Let not the least root of covetousness remain in you remember that godliness with contentment is great gain if the riches of others increase set not your hearts upon them seek not these things below but those above strive not for an inheritance on earth but to have one in heaven that ye may banish cruelty let covetousness be banished first that ye may not thirst after other mens blood covet not their goods Hast thou killed said God to Ahab and also taken possession Well ye know what became of him and Jezebel for this Stifle therefore not only your murtherous but also your covetous thoughts If you must needs be killing mortifie your earthly members if ye must needs be coveting covet earnestly the best gifts God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith to be heirs of his Kingdom labour therefore to get the gold of faith whereby ye may be rich towards God and then though here ye have no temporal Inheritance yet hereafter ye shall have one far better ye shall be Heirs apparent unto Heaven ye shall inherit glory God will give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified Though now you are in your nonnage yet at the last day ye shall be perfect men ye shall attain to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ who shall then invite you to enter upon your Inheritance in these words Come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world FINIS A SEVERE Sentence AGAINST SECVRE CITIZENS A Sermon PREACHED At ST. Maries in Oxford Upon Sunday March 17. 1644. LONDON Printed in the year 1660. A SEVERE SENTENCE AGAINST SECVRE CITIZENS JONAH 3.4 And he cryed and said yet fourty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown HEre are two of the divine Attributes which are Gods Mercy and his Justice so that I may say with the Apostle St. Paul Rom. 11.22 Behold here the goodness and the severity of God for the words of our Text are both a Premonition and a Commination as they give warning so there is Mercy in them Adhuc quadraginta dies yet fourty dayes as they threaten so there is judgement in them Subvertetur Nineveh Nineveh shall be overthrown This might be the general division of these words But if we examine them more particularly they will afford us these five parts Here is first the Preacher He the Prophet Jonah Secondly The Manner of his preaching He cryed Thirdly The Matter of his preaching he threatned an overthrow Fourthly The place of his preaching the City Nineveh Fifthly The Time when his Preaching or Prophecy was to be accomplished and fulfilled and that was within fourty dayes And he cryed and said yet fourty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown And of these in order I begin with the first part the Preacher He the Prophet Jonah
of heaven Psa 78.23 Secondly the celestial orbes and spheres are heaven the Sun Moon and Starrs are called Exercitus coeli the host of heaven Dent. 4.19 Thirdly and lastly the place of bliffe is heaven the Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven Psal 103.19 which distinction of heaven St. Paul seemes to allude unto when he saith that he was caught up into the third heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 Now where the Apostle saith that Christ ascended far above all heavens we are to understand it of the Orbes Celestial he ascended above the Orbes Celestial above all visible and materiall heavens But here then perhaps that of the Philosopher may be objected in the first book De coelo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without or above heaven there is no place now it is essential to every body to be in some place or other quod nusquam est non omnino est if Christs body therefore be in no place it will be so far from being every where as Lutherans would have it that it will cease to be at all To which I answer that to speak physically and strictly there is indeed no place above the visible heavens But though there be not Locus yet there is Ubi though there be no place yet there is a certaine space as I may so speak and it is sufficient for a body glorified to be in such a space which our Saviour notwithstanding calleth a place I go to prepare a place for you Ioh 14.2 And this was indeed the chief reason why he ascended into heaven Adam's sin shut him out both of the earthly and the heavenly Paradise there was no place for him in Eden nor for his posterity in heaven But the doores of heaven were opened upon Holy-Thursday when Christ had overcome and trampled upon death by his resurrection he did open the kingdome of heaven by his ascension Not as if heaven were so fast shut before that none could enter in no not in soul till Christ ascended thither in body the Papists might have some kind of ground for their Limbus Patrum if this were so That cannot therefore be the meaning of it there were glorious mansions prepared for us from the foundation of the world as it is Math. 25.34 But though places of glory were from the beginning prepared for us yet the plenary and the perfect preparation was made by Christs ascension And seeing our Saviour Christ is ascended corporally into heaven this earnest may ascertaine us of our ascension our Head being ascended we shall also ascend that are his Members It may be objected perhaps that flesh and blood cannot inherit incorruption I answer it is true that our bodies as they are now are not capable of going to heaven they must therefore be crumbled to very dust and ashes and new moulded by him that made them at the first before ever they can be admited into that holy place And as our bodies must be refined so likewise must our souls Heaven is a City of pure Gold no unclean thing must come into it We must therefore lay aside every weight and the sinnes that do so easily depresse us David could not go with Saul's armour nor can we ascend to heaven with the weapons of unrighteousnesse If then we will ascend thither at our death we must begin our ascension in this life if we hope to go to heaven when we take our farewell of the earth then while we are here on earth our conversation must be in heaven For anima magis est ubi amat quà m ubi animat saith St. Bernard the Soul is rather where it loveth than where it liveth If therefore we love the Lord Jesus let our affection be with him where our heavenly treasure is there let our hearts be also where the Load-stone is that way let the Iron tend where the carcase is thither let the Eagles resort by religious meditations and by assiduous supplications let us ascend unto that place whither our blessed Lord and Master is gone before St. Austin would rather have been in hell with Christ than be in heaven without him How then should our hearts be inflamed with love of heaven now we are sure that our Saviour is ascended thither How should we contemn though not abdicate the world use it I mean as though we used it not Seing Christ hath left it we should strive to leave it too dying daily as St. Paul did though not in deed yet in desire having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ our soules must be athirst for him our flesh also must long after him with an How long Lord Jesu◠when shall we come unto thee And so I passe from the fourth part of the Text the Place whither Christ ascended to the fifth Quomodo the Manner of his ascension set down here two wayes I begin with the Positive part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was taken up Taken up why so Did he not go up of himself Lazarus was taken up carried by Angels into heaven And these carried up Elijah too the charet and horses of fire were holy Angels the Charets of God saith David are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels Psal 68.17 But though they were carried up yet Christ went up of himself in his ascension of all circumstances Quibus auxiliis came not in Christ went up of himself he ascended by his own power Why then doth our Text say that he was taken up as if he had been some way assisted in his ascnesion up to heaven I answer the Text saith that he was taken up for this reason to signifie and shew his obedience to his Fathers Will for otherwise he might have ascended upon the very day of his resurrection every glorified body being of that agility and lightnesse ut ubicunque volet esse anima ibi statim erit corpus wheresoever the soul would be there is the body straight But though Christ might have ascended sooner yet he would not till his heavenly Father saw good for which reason the Text saith that he was taken up And this may teach us not to lay violent hands upon our selves thinking to get so much the sooner into heaven If we be in poverty or sicknesse in imprisonment or banishment yet we must not make away with our selves nor must we repine or be impatient that we are let into heaven no sooner that we have so long sought for death and cannot find it but we must tarry the Lords leisure we must not be our own carvers all the dayes of our appointed time we must wait till our change come following the example of our blessed Lord and Master who submitted himself in all things to the Will of his heavenly Father and therefore he ascended not when first he might but when his Father would have him taken up And so ye have the manner of his ascension positively set down I now proceed to the Expositive part of it in these words A cloud received him out
of their sight He maketh the clouds his charet Psal 104.3 Not that this cloud did any way help to lift him up but he used the Ministery of a cloud chiefly for two reasons First to declare and manifest his Divinity Angels minister to men but clouds after this manner minister to God only And the clouds were servants to our Saviour more than once At his transfiguration when he gave his Disciples a glimpse of his Divinity a bright cloud overshaddowed him Mat. 17.5 So likewise at the day of Judgement clouds shall minister unto him He shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory Mat. 24.30 As therefore in Herauldry it argueth a good familie when a man hath clouds in his Coat of Arms so in this place it is an argument of Christs divinity that he hath a cloud to serve him his bearing is all Nebuly a cloud received him out of their sight A cloud I say received him His body then is not every where as Lutherans would perswade us that which is contained in any thing must needs be less than the thing which doth contain it The body of Christ was once contained in a virgins womb and here a cloud received him And it received him out of sight which maketh good that saying of our Saviour to his Disciples A little while and ye shall not see me Joh. 16.16 And that was indeed a second use of this cloud namely to take off the Apostles from curiosity Had it been necessary for them to know any further what became of their departing Saviour this cloud that received him out of sight had not been thus interposed But to shew them that they had corporally seen him long enough and that hereafter they were not to see but to believe to exercise their faith and to abate their curiosity a cloud received him out of their sight God alloweth us not to pry inquisitively into hidden mysteries When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai there was a thick cloud upon the mountain to keep the people from gazing lest they perished Exod. 19. which was also one main use of this Cloud at Christ's ascension that his Apostles namely might not gaze after him as he ascended into heaven We must walk by faith now and not by sight For the Spouse of Christ hath a two-fold eye the eye of faith and the eye of glory As Jacob therefore married first of all blear-eyed Leah before he could obtain beautifull Rachel so we must fee Christ on earth with the tender eye of faith before we can in Heaven have the fruition of his glorious God-head For he is not so gone up into heaven but that we may see him still on earth We may see him in his Word we do not only hear of him there but we even see him When we stedfastly believe what we hear out of Gods Word we fare not only as if it were related in our ears but indeed verily acted before our eyes And as we may see Christ in his Word so we may also see him in his Sacraments especially in the blessed Sacrament of his holy Supper and yet even in that Sacrament he is under a Cloud too The Papists indeed would fain dispel and dissipate this cloud telling us that he is corporally and visibly there present handle and see they bid us that it is even he himself But this Herefie is confuted so at large that a bare denial of it might now suffice yet let me me urge against it one Text of Scripture which is Mark 7.19 Where our Saviour saith that Whatsoever entreth into the belly goeth out into the draught And what horrid blasphemy were it to say thus of Christs blessed body We can eat Christ with no other mouth but that of our faith not can we see him here with the eye of our flesh but of our faith And faith indeed is the most perfect perspective when all is done As Abraham therefore said to the damned rich glutton in another case If they believe not Moses and the Prophets neither would they believe though one should come unto them from the dead So he that believeth not the New Testament the History of our Saviour Christ would not believe that he were the Messiah though he should see him face to face he that believeth not St. Luke relating the manner of Christ's ascension would not have believed his own eyes though they had been witnesses of his Assumption though he had been present upon Mount Olivet when Christ was taken up into heaven When a cloud received him out of the Apostles sight We must endeavour therefore by faith to see Christ in his Word and Sacraments the exercising of this faith was one principal reason Why a cloud received him out of their sight And as our Saviour so our martyred Soveraign was taken up in a cloud too Never was Royal Majesty so disguised or under so thick a cloud but that cloud was a triumphant Charet wherein he was carried up into heaven the rebellious fools that murthered him accounted his life madness and his end to be without honour But yet honourable in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints And in spight of all their villany He is among the children of God and his portion is with the Saints And so I pass from the fifth part of the Text the manner of Christ's ascension to the sixth and last which are Testes the Spectators or Witnesses of his ascension which were the eleven Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 while they beheld The ascension of our Saviour was not seen of all the people but of certain Witnesses chosen before of God even of those who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead The adulterous generation of the Jews sought altogether after signes Shew us a sign from heaven come down from the Cross that we may see and believe But our Saviour would be the object of mens faith not of their sense Now saith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God if the Jewes therefore will believe Christ's ascension they have the Apostles let them hear them they were eye-witnesses of his Majesty He was taken up while they beheld While They it is not while He beheld for unus Testis nullus testis one witness is as good as none In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established Mat. 18.16 And yet Pluris est oculatus testis unus quam auriti decem one eye-witness is more worth than ten of those that go by hear-say Had the Apostle told the Jews that they heard Christ say he would ascend at one time or another O how ridiculous had they been who would have given any heed to this report That the Apostles therefore might preach no uncertain Tradition they were made spectators of Christ's ascension he ascended in their presence He was taken up while they beheld Behold him then they did and indeed how could they chuse but
yet thou shalt not be cast away for even He that upholdeth the Heavens is thine upholder Which leadeth me from the second part of the Text the Churches Passage thorow fire and water to the third which is the Concomitant or Convoy Almighty God I am or I will be with thee I that am the great Creator of Heaven and Earth I that fill all places and am contained in none I that am about thy path and about thy bed and spie out all thy wayes I will be with thee But what need then is there of this promise For we may say it without Blasphemy that God must still be with us it being as impossible for him to deny his Omnipresence as to deny himself he can sooner separate heat from fire he did that in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace he can sooner separate light from the Sun He did this at our Saviours expiration The Creator can better do any thing than divorce or divide his presence from his Creatures for herein not only our well-being but our very being doth consist should he substract his presence from us we must return into our first nothing He is not far therefore from every one of us as St. Paul told the Athenians nay he is neerer to us than we are unto our selves I will be with thee But ye know there is a twofold presence of Almighty God First His general presence which is his universall power and providence whereby he governeth and disposeth all things both in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth according to that of the Psalmist Psalm 139. If I climb up into heaven thou art there if I go down to hell thou art there also If I take the wings of the morning and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea even there also shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me Secondly There is Gods special presence whereby he is present with his Elect only either to prevent their Troubles or else to comfort and support them And chiefly is he with his servants in his Temple at his publick Worship which may easily be explained by an example The King is or ought to be by his Power in all parts of his Dominion yet he is said to be there especially where his Courtiers where his Retinue is In like manner the King of Kings by his unbounded Power and Providence is at all times in all places yet we may know him to be with us after an especial manner in the Temple from the Retinue of heavenly Courtiers that are there attending on him For it was not for Ornament only that the Walls of Solomon's Temple were carved round about with Cherubims but also to signifie that the holy Angels are ever about us at our publick services And if Angels be there much more is the King of Saints Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee There are three things especially that will continually be with us The Air our Conscience and Almighty God We may as well be without our being as without our breath take but away this from us and take away us too The Air leaveth us not till death Our Conscience this goeth further with us it remaineth with us after death to all Eternity Do not therefore the least sin though none be with thee but thine own conscience for this will accompany thee to thy death-bed nay this worm will live for ever And thy conscience is not more inseparable from thee then thy Creatour whisper never so softly he will hear thee hide thy self never so closely he will see thee run away never so swiftly he will still be at thine elbow Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee But I should not speak so much of Gods general presence his special presence is that which I must here insist upon That presence which he promised his Patriarchs and Prophets that presence which our Saviour promised his Apostles Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world Mat. 28. ult Alway there is no Intermission To the end of the world that is world without end here is no Termination We may have men for our companions that will forsake us in distress or if they stick to us all our life they must leave us in our death But if God be our Companion if God be present with us it is not distress it is not death shall ever part us nay death shall unite us more neerly than ever we were before we shall alway be with him he will alway be with us Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee But if God be thus alway present with his Church we may then expostulate here as Gideon once did with the Angel Judg. 6.13 Oh my Lord if the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us Why is the blood of his dear servants shed like water on every side Why suffereth he the Turk Turk and Pope to drink themselves drunk with the blood of Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus I answer though seemingly God absent himself from his Church for a season yet never will he finally forsake her Seemingly I say for indeed he absenteth not himself at all it is but in our apprehension that he is ever from us if we can but believe it he is present with us alway Tibi adsum I am or I will be with thee And the Application of this now may be twofold First Here is comfort for all that mourn in Sion and with good Hezekiah turn their face to the Wall Let them be cast into prison as Joseph was Let them be cast into a dungeon as Jeremy was let them be cast into a den as Daniel was let them be cast into the water as Moses was let them be cast into the fire as the three Children were let them go thorow fire and water famine and sword never so many dangers never so great disasters yet so long as they have God with them this will sweeten all their pills in the multitude of the sorrows which they have in their hearts his comfortable presence will refresh their souls Secondly Seeing God is still with us this should teach us likewise to be still with him seeing he vouchsafeth to keep company with us on earth therefore our conversation should be with him in Heaven When we are lying down to sleep to him we should commit our spirits when we wake up likewise we should be present with him It was Jacob's vow Gen. 28. That if God would be with him then the Lord should be his God We need not speak so doubtfully for God is certainly with those that fear him not only by his general but also by his special presence to direct and protect them to deliver and to defend them which leadeth me from the third part of the Text the Concomitant Almighty God to the fourth and last which is the Consequent the Churches safety Flumina non operient flamma non incendet
the rivers shall not overflow thee the flame shall not kindle on the. I propounded four acceptions of these Waters ye shall see that the Church passeth safely thorow them all First Thorow waters taken in the literal sense as we may see by sundry examples The first may be that of Noah Sin had once so soiled the earth that God was fain to lay it a soak it was so foul that nothing would cleanse it but a flood There were Gyants in sin as well as in Stature the wickedness of man was great in the earth And Abyssus abyssum this depth of sin called for as deep a deluge the flood-gates therefore were pluckt up the windowes from on high were opened And what distress of Nations was there then with perplexity the sea and the waves roaring and mens hearts failing them for fear Methinks I see how abruptly their Marriage-feasts are dissolved what haste they make out adoors that they may get up into trees how some climb the tops of mountains Tamen ultra pergere tendunt But the waters continually following them at heels when all hope that they should escape drowning was taken away methinks I hear them curse the day that ever they were born and wish if it were possible that they might be metamorphosed into fishes But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord when the flood was brought in upon the world of the ungodly For though it rained as if heaven and earth would have come together though the waters were so grown as to over-top the highest mountains yet heavens great Palinurus preserved Noah in this Ocean Elumina non operient the rivers shall not overflow thee The Children of Israel may be a second example whose preservation was indeed far stranger than Noah's for Noah had a ship the Isrealites had none which made them think that there was no way in the world with them but drowning Mars in the rear and Neptune facing of them they thought that one of these must needs devour Israel with open mouth But He that brought light out of darkness brought safety out of their greatest danger what they feared would be their destruction this God made their preservation for rather than Israel should miscarry Jordan shall forget his fluid nature the floods shall stand upright as an heap and the depths shall be congealed in the heart of the Sea Gods people need not fear the waters the waters saw them and were afraid and therefore ran away with might and main to make way for them The waters indeed faced as if they had known the Israelites from the Aegyptians drowning the hoste of Pharaoh but inmmuring the hoste of Israel Flumina non operient the rivers shall not overflow thee Moses may be a third example to this purpose There were never two crueller Tyrants than Pharaoh and Herod one drowned the male Children the other cut their throats But as Christ escaped from Herod so from Pharoah Moses whose Parents durst not long entertain him in their house when he was but a quarter old they shipt him in an Ark of rushes But how properly may that of the Psalmist be applyed to him Psalm 27.10 When my father and my mother forsook we then the Lord taketh me up Or rather indeed the Lady did this even Thermutis the King of Aegypt's daughter Flumina non opertent the rivers shall not overflow thee And to these examples I may add Elijah's and Elisha's passage over Jordan the Disciples with our Saviour in the ship and St. Paul's most dangerous voyage toward Rome all corroborating and confirming this Assertion in our Text Flumina non operient the Rivers shall not overflow thee The Lord sitteth above the water-flood Psal 29.9 I remember a story of one that wondered why any man would go to sea seeing so many die at sea to whom one replyed he might wonder as well why any man will go to bed seeing so many diâ— in their beds Dii maris terrae may be put into Gods royal Title His way is in the sea and his paths in the great waters he that was able without a ship to walk safely on the sea must needs be able to save those that go down to the sea in ships while they are following their honest vocation they may be assured of his protection he shall give his Angels charge over them to keep them in all their wayes the Angel of the water mentioned Rev. 16.5 This Angel shall be their Pilot and conduct them to their wished haven Flumina non operient the Rivers shall not overflow thee Secondly By Waters we understand the Enemies of the Church neither shall these waters be able to overflow her The seed of the Serpent will still be warring with the womans seed the Dragon and his against Michael and his Angels The Church of Christ will ever be maligned by the Synagogue of Satan but though these waters swell yet they shall not prevail against her David's enemies were daily in hand to swallow him up but these waters of the proud had bounds which they could never pass Hezekiah was both Invaded and besieged by the Assyrians but how strangely was he preserved from him that had drunk strange waters and who with the sole of his feet had dried up all the rivers of besieged places I have not time to shew you all the particular preservations of Gods people how he hath saved them still from the reproof of those that would have eaten them up And from this experience of Gods former together with the promises of Gods future favour we may draw this application we may here put on the resolution of holy David not to fear though the earth be moved and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea though the waters thereof rage and swell and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same Let the Heathen never so furiously rage together and let the people imagine a vain thing let the Rulers stand up and take Counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed and against his Church Let Gebal and Ammon and Ameleck the Philistines with them that dwell at Tyre let Gog and Magog Antichrist and Mahomet the Pope and the Turk nay let all the devils in hell be confederate against the Church yet still she shall be safe the son of wickedness shall not hurt her the gates of hell shall not prevail against her Flumina non operient the rivers shall not overflow her Let me apply this more particularly to my Soveraign Lord the King The floods have risen as David speaketh the floods lift up their voice the floods lift up their waves But these floods of ungodly men I trust shall not overflow him though the waves of the sea are mighty and rage horribly yet the Lord that 's one good turn which dwelleth on high is mightier and he will send down from the high to fetch him he will take him out of many waters he will make these Traitors
offer to offer up Isaac and the will went for the deed Non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The third example may be the Israelites in whose company the fire was kindled there went out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense Num. 16.35 But though the flame burnt up the ungodly mutiniers yet every obedient Israelite escaped Non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The fourth example may be the three Salamanders in the furnace Dan 3. who though they walked thorow the fire yet their coats were not changed nor so much as the smell of fire had passed on them And this last example is without example I never heard of any fire-proof before for Fire is of a most devouring and consuming nature turning all combustible things into ashes that come neer it yet the children of the fire the sparks hurt not these three children with the shields of their faith they quench'd the violence of fire when they walked thorow the fire they were not burnt neither did the flame kindle upon them And to these I might adde though somewhat out of order the example of Abraham whom God brought out of Ur of the Caldees Gen. 15.7 Now Ur as Huge observeth signifyeth fire the Greek word from which our English word seemeth to come hath but one Letter more and therefore the Hebrews had a tradition that because Abraham would not worship the Fire as the Caldeans did he should have been cast into the fire had not God given him notice of it and so preserved him But though Vr signifie fire yet the ordinary Glosse taketh it not for a common but a proper Name for the Name of the town or village where Abraham dwelt This example therefore cannot claim kindred of the Text I might more properly bring in our preservation from the Powder-treason but I will rather answer a question that may rise from our Text for is this promise alwayes performed Thou shalt not be burnt the flame shall not kindle on thee What shall we say then to that fiery persecution in Queen Maries dayes when there were so many Bethels in this Kingdome so many Cities wherein mens bones were burnt I Answer it is true that the Church of Christ this Church in particular hath endured the fiery triall But as Rex non moritur so Ecclesia non comburitur as the King is never buried so the Church is never burnt James may die and so may Charles yet God maintaine his life but the King let rebels do what they can never dieth So Latimer may be burnt and Cranmer may be burnt but the Church is never burnt If Pagans should prevail so farre which God forbid as to burne up all the Christians or if Puritans should prevaile so far which God forbid too as to burne up all the Protestants yet I verily believe that out of their very ashes God would raise up a new Phoenix Cinis Mariyrum should be Semen Ecclesiae the ashes of an old should be the seed of a new Church she shall not be so burnt as to be quite extinct neither shall the flame so kindle upon her And the Application hereof now may be briefly thus Seeing God will not suffer his Church to be finally burnt up by others this may teach us as it were to set on fire our selves not with the fire of lust it is better to marry than so to burn nor with the fire of wrath rather heap coals of fire upon the head of the enemies but let it be with the vestal fire of devotion and affection let our hearts burn within us with love to God and men So shall neither the sun burn us by day nor the moon by night the Lord shall preserve us form all evil it is even he that will keep both our bodies and our souls when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat when the earth and the Works therein shall be burnt up he will preserve and keep us from everlasting fire and exalt us to his Coelum empyreum his fiery heaven there for ever to behold him whose eyes are as a flame of fire and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace And so ye have the safety of the Church in her passage thorow fire literally taken Ye shall see her safety likewise as she passeth thorow the fire of affliction and persecution When thou walkest thorow this fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee It is the nature of fire Congregare homogenea and Segregare heterogenea to bring together things of the same kind and to separate things of divers kinds A Refiner therefore is wont to bring his Myne to the fire and by this means he severeth the silver from the dross which is likewise wise the very practice of Almighty God it is the Prophet Malachie's similitude word for word Mal. 3.3 He shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of silver and he shall purifie the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver And the sweet Singer of Israel harpeth upon the same string Psa 66.9 Thou O God hast proved us thou also hast tried us like as silver is tried Non sicut foenum sed sicut argentum non in cineres convertisti sed sordes abluisti saith St. Austin God trieth us not with a consuming but with a cleansing fire turneth us not into ashes only taketh away our sullage and our ashes from us purely purgeth away our dross and taketh away all our tinne God purgeth men by affliction as the Israelites were to purge the spoil of the Midianites Numb 31.23 Every thing that may abide the fire ye shall make it go thorow the fire and it shall be clean God trieth men by affliction what metal they are made of they that endure this fiery tryal they are good gold they are Gods Children they that endure it not they are but dross they are but Cast-awayes Good men are like Shadrach Meshack and Abednego though they walk thorow the fiery furnace of Affliction yet they are not burnt up no not so much as singed but wicked men are like the souldiers that bound and cast them in when they are yet but at the mouth of the fiery furnace when the fire of Affliction but beginneth to seize upon them it prevaileth against them and consumeth them in a moment Good men are in this like clay the fire of Affliction strengthneth and confirmeth them but wicked men are like wax as wax melteth at the fire so do the ungodly perish in the fiery tryal Affliction to them is like the fire that burneth up the wood and like the flame that consumeth the mountains God maketh them like a fiery oven in time of his wrath the Lord destroyeth them in his displeasure and the fire consumeth them Affliction maketh wicked men a great deal worse as water becometh much colder after heating than ever it would have been if it had never
been heated As for the Righteous it is not so with them God burneth them indeed throughly as the bricks of Babel were but this is only as a Potter frameth his vessels in the fire that so they may be vessels unto honour and for the Masters use though they walk thorow the fire yet they are not burnt neither doth the flame kindle upon them When Job's wife heard of all the evil that God had brought upon her husband she grew so mad so out-ragious and impatient that she would fain have perswaded him to make away with himself what saith she all that ever thou hadst taken away from thee Is this the reward thou hast for thine integrity Well serve God who will I would serve him no longer make good the devils words if thou wilt be ruled by me do as he said thou wouldest in such a case even curse God and die Job 2.9 But ye have heard of the patience of Job saith St. James let his wife therefore say what she will he will have none of her counsel thou talkest like an Asse saith he thou speakest like one of the foolish women And indeed as he goeth on shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evil also Shall we receive health and not sickness wealth and not poverty peace and not War honour and not dishonour liberty and not restraint yea my brethren if we be Christians we must resolve to endure all And if we do this then we may assure our selves that although we sow in tears yet we shall reap in joy though God have long suffered wicked men to ride over our heads though we have gone thorow fire and water yet God in his good time will bring us and our Soveraign out into a wealthy place he will cast these rods of his anger into the fire and then mercy shall embrace us on every side our light affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which God of his infinite mercy grant c. FINIS THE ASSUMPTION OF THE Messiah A Sermon PREACHED Before His MAJESTY KING CHARLES the IId. AT THE HAGUE in HOLLAND on Sunday May 29. old stile 1649. LONDON Printed in the year 1660. THE ASSUMPTION OF THE Messiah ACTS 1.9 And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight THat which is spoken of the Sun in the firmament Psal 19.6 St. Austin upon that place applieth unto the Son of Righteousness His going forth is from the end of heaven there saith he is Christs descension from the bosome of his Father and his circuit unto the ends of it here saith he is his ascension to the place from whence he came And our Saviour himself hath much such another passage John 16.28 Which place may not unfitly be compared unto a Circle I came forth from the Father and am come into the world there is the semicircle again I leave the world and go to the Father here is the compleat Circle And by this we may see what agreement there is between the material Sun and the Mystical The Sun in the firmament is appointed to light the day so as long as I am in the world saith our Saviour I am the light of the world John 9.5 The Sun though in the firmament stoopeth to lighten us below So though our Saviours dwelling were in heaven yet he humbleth himself to behold us here on earth The Sun ariseth and the Sun goeth down and hasteth to the place where he arose Ecles 1.5 So the Sun of Righteousness came from one hemisphere from light inaccessible from the place of blessed Saints and Angels that he might shine unto the other hemisphere to us their forlorn Antipodes to us mortals that sat in darkness and shadow of death But as the Sun maketh hast to the place where he arose dwelleth not alway with us but returneth again according to his circuits In like manner the Sun of Righteousnesse having lightned his Apostles understanding by his Doctrine and having warmed and cheared their hearts by his promise of sending them the Holy Ghost having given them the word of resolution of instruction and of benediction he took his leave of the earth and returned into heaven And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight This Text then is a description of our Saviour's Ascension wherein there are six particulars to be consider'd four plainly expressed two necessarily implied The first is Quis the Person that ascended which was Christ he that descended was the same also that ascended He was taken up The second is Quando the Time of the ascension which may be considered two wayes in reference to his Resurrection forty dayes after that or in reference to his last exercise the resolving his Apostles doubts the instructing and the blessing of them immediately after this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he had spoken these things The third is Vnde the Place from whence he ascended which by comparing Acts 1.12 with Luke 24.50 we shall finde to be that part of mount Olivet next to Bethany he was taken up from thence The fourth is Quo the Place whither he ascended which was heaven he was taken up thither The fifth is Quomodo the manner of his ascension set down here two wayes First Positively he was taken up Secondly Expositively a cloud received him out of their sight The sixt and last are Testes the Spectatours or the witnesses of his ascension which were the Eleven Apostles while they beheld he was taken up c. And of these in order I begin with the first particular Quis the Person that ascended Christ He was taken up He that was from the begining nay he that is the beginning Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending He that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imamnuel God with us he that is one in Trinity and Duality he that made on Person of two Natures And which of these natures then was ascended It was his Humane nature as may easily be gathered from those words of the Angels to the Apostles Acts. 1.11 The same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven Now we know that our Saviour shall come to judgement as he is man according to that of St. Paul Acts. 71.31 where he saith that God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousnesse by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Our Saviour therefore ascended according to his humanity The Royal Psalmist seemeth to say indeed that his Divinity ascended Ascendit Deus in Iubilo Dominus in voce tubae God is gone up with a shout and the Lord with the sound of the
trumpet Psal 47.5 As for his Humamity our Saviour seemeth to say that this was in heaven before Ioh. 3.13 No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came downe from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven But to these and all other such objections I answer with Theodoret the Divine and Humane nature of our Saviour being Hypostatically united into one Person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which are proper to either of his Natures are attributed and communicated to his whole Person Thus St. Paul saith that God was manifested in the flesh and that God was received up into glory 1 Tim. 3.16 Notwithstanding therefore these objections the Person that ascended was Christ Iesus according to his Humanity He was taken up He it is not said She was taken up The Papists have Ascension or rather Assumption-day for the blessed Virgin Mary which they annually celebrate upon the fifteenth of August whereon they say She was taken up corporally into heaven But this is as true as that the Disciples stole our Saviour out of his grave I am very sure there is not the least mention of any such thing in Scripture and where the Holy Ghost hath no tongue to speak nor pen to write there must we have no eare to hear nor any heart to believe Not the Woman therefore Christ's mother but the man Christ Jesus himself He was taken up And so I passe from the first part of the Text the Person ascending which was Christ to the second part Quando the Time of his ascension which we are to consider first in reference to his Resurrection forty dayes after that then he was taken up But here two questions may be moved First Why Christ did ascend so soon Secondly seeing so soon why no sooner The first question may be why he ascended so soon after his resurrection why he deferred not his ascension till the last day that we might have been taken up together with him To which I answer two wayes First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of him Secondly That he should ascend so soon was not expedient in respect of us First That he should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of himself And that first in respect of his glorified body Heaven was the most convenient place for his incorruptible and immortall body Earth is a very Golgotha a region of corruption a place of dead mens skuls Though Christ's body therefore could not have seen corruption had it continued still on earth yet the fittest place for such a body were the incorruptible heavens Again it was convenient that Christ should ascend so soon after his resurrection that he might manifest and declare the truth of his Divinity Earth is a region of death Quocunque aspicias nihil est nisi mortis imago All that ever came hither have or must die once and I assure my self that Lazarus and all the rest that were raised either by the Prophets or by our Saviour or by his Apostles died twice should Christ therefore after his resurrection have continued here longer than he did men would scarce have taken him to be God but have mistaken him for a meer Man and they would have thought that Christ like Lazarus had been to die the second time Thus ye see it was convenient in respect of Christ that he should ascend so soon after his resurrection as he did Ye shall now see that this was expedient in respect of us And the expediency of it we have from Christ's own mouth John 16.7 It is expedient for you saith he and what he saith to them we may apply to us that I go away and he giveth his reason in the very next words If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you And John 7.39 we read That the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified Had there been no Holy Thursday had not our Saviour ascended from his Apostles on the fortieth day there had likewise been no Whitsunday the Holy Ghost had not descended upon the Apostles on the fiftieth day Again Had Christ remained still upon earth he had not been so proper an object of our faith which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 Thy Fides will not well stand with thy Vides we do not properly walk by faith when we walk by sight Apparentia non habent fidem sed agnitionem saith St. Gregory fruition putteth a period unto faith and therefore Credimus ut cognoscamus non cognoscimus ut credamus saith St. Austin we come to knowledge by faith and not to faith by knowledge the nature of faith is to be exercised about things absent wherefore though we have known Christ after the flesh saith St. Paul yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The second question may be seing Christ ascended so soon why did he ascend no sooner Why did he not make one ascending for all As soon as he rose out of the grave why did he not ascend immediately into heaven To which I return a threefold answer First This was not convenient in respect of Christ Secondly it was not convenient in respect of his Disciples Thirdly it was not convenient in respect of us First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of Himself for we know what a tradition the Jewes have among them untill this day namely that his Disciples stole him away while the souldiers were asleep Had not Christ therefore shewed himsef alive after his passion though not to all the people yet to certaine selected witnesses the tradition of the Jewes might have passed for currant truth it might have been doubted to this day whether he had been risen from the dead or no. Secondly that Christ should ascend immediately after his Resurrection was not convenient in respect of his Disciples whose faith was almost quite shipwrack'd at his death they little thought he would make his word good to rise again and therefore the relation of the woman seemed to them as an old wives tale they believed it not nay when our Saviour himself appeared unto them they would scarce believe that it was he but were terrified and affrighted supposing that they had seen a spirit It was fit therefore that Christ should be conversant awhile with these raw Schollers both to confirm their faith touching that truth of his resurrection and also to instruct them in those things that were pertaining to Gods Kingdome Thirdly and lastly that Christ should ascend immediately after his resurrection was not convenient in respect of us For his Disciples were not properly Apostles till after his resurrection a good while if they were Apostles their Diocess was very narrow though they were Apostles to the Iews they were no Apostles to the Gentiles Go not into the way of the Gentiles said our Saviour
Adam cut of Paradise Moses is often stiled the servant of God but indeed he seemeth to have been more with reverence be it spoken to have been Gods familiar acquaintance for Exod. 33.11 The Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend Yet as great and gracious and familiar as Moses was with God for one sin of infidelity God fell out with him as we read Num. 20. Where when the people murmured for water God bid Moses but only speak to the rock and it should give forth water but Moses thought that speaking would not do it not a word therefore but a blow two of them for failing he smote the Rock twice and for â—â—is he had his doom immediately that he should not enter into the Land of Promise He that prophesied against the Altar at Bethel was Gods favourite a man of God yet forasmuch as he disobeyed the mouth of the Lord in going back to eat and drink with the old Prophet his carcase must not come to the sepulcher of his Fathers I shall give one signal example our Saviour himself that Lamb without spot the only righteous person that ever lived upon the earth though he were Gods bosome son and had not the least sin of his own only took ours by imputation yet how harshly did his Father handle him Never was there any sorrow like unto his sorrow wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his fierce anger And if these things be done in a green tree what shall be done in the dry Luke 23.31 The righteous shall be recompenced in the earth much more the wicked and the sinner Prov. 11. ult If Judgement begin at the house of God what shall the end be of those men that obey not the Gospel of God And if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear 1 Pet. 4 17 18. If an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guil if this man shall be recompenced shall be punished in the earth with whom shall Hypocrites have their portion that are full of deceit and fraud and under whose tongue is ungodliness and vanity If a perfect and upright man one that feareth God and striveth to eschew evil if this shall be recompenced shall be punished in the earth what will become of him that hath no fear of God before his eyes but liveth as if there were no God committing all uncleanness even with greediness If a man of a strict life and tender conscience must be punished what will become of those rebellious Reformers of our age whose consciences seem to be seared with an hot iron If Jerusalem the holy City must be punished Lord what will become of London and Westminster places every what as sinfull as Sodome or Gomorrah If God go so roughly to work with them he knoweth oh how will he handle strangers without mittons If he execute his Judgements upon Iury where he was known oh what fiery indignation will he pour upon the heathen that have not known him and upon the Kingdomes that have not called upon his Nâ—me This teacheth us to flee from sin as from the face of a Serpent considering how odious and abominable it is in the sight of God Though Coniah the son of Iehoiakim King of Iudah were the signet upon his right hand yet for sin God threatneth to pluck him thence Ier. 22.24 The King of England will not pardon wilfull murder though his chiefest Favourites should commit it The King of heaven and earth will let no sin go unpunished no not in his Favourites in his own people And he will never connive at sin in us that threatneth here to punish it so severely in Israel You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities And so I have gone thorow the several parts of the Text. A few words now of application and I have done Truly God saith the Psalmist is loving unto Israel and truly he hath been as loving unto us he hath bestowed many Privative and many Positive blessings on us First Privative many deliverances I will instance but in three The first was from Popish Tyranny and superstition a Tyranny more than Egyptian an Antichristian Tyranny The damned glutton Luke 16. desired only a little water for his thirst but water will not quench the thirst of Babylon the whore must have blood till she make her self stark drunk with it no blood of beasts it must be of men no blood of sinners it must be the blood of Saints no blood of Malefactors it must be the blood of Martyrs and these Martyrs none of Mahomets they must be Martyrs of Jesus Rev. 17.6 Sad experience of this Tyranny we had in Queen Maries dayes Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo the Romish horsleach would not give us over till she had full gorged her self with our blood Or indeed it is a question whether she would ever have been satisfi'd had we not been strangely delivered from her Tyranny by the Queen of all Queens or rather by the King of all Kings You only have I known of all the families of the earth A second deliverance was from the Spanish Armado in the year 1588. which Fleet had it prevailed our Thames had been turned into Tyber Romish superstition had invaded us once more and then by the waters of Babylon we might have set down and wept as often as we remembred this our Sion But God brake the ships of the sea through the East wind You only have known of all the families of the earth A third deliverance was from that horrid Powder-Treason November 5. 1605. which was carried on with so great secrecy that it made the man of sin insult Teque his ait eripe flammis who is that God that shall deliver them out of my hands But he that dwelleth in heaven laughed the Bishop of Rome to scorn and plucked us as it had been fire-brands out of the burning You only have I known of all the families of the earth And as God hath befriended us by his Privative so by his Positive blessings answerable to those which be bestowed upon his vineyard And first we may compare with Israel for a fruitfull situation being neither under the torrid nor the frozen zone neither burned alway with parching heat nor benummed alway with pinching cold but seated in a temperate Climate and fertile soil our folds are full of sheep our valleys stand so thick with corn that we may laugh and sing God hath also fenced us about like the Israelites in the red Sea with a wall of water the waters are a wall unto us on our right hand and on our left But especially God hath fenced us by his providence and protection salvation hath the Lord appointed for walls and bulwarks He hath likewise gathered the Stones out from us he hath cast out the Romish Rabble and hath planted our Land