quo minus imperio deposito privatus tutò vivere possit That he did nothing during his Government but his power being laid aside he could live safely a private life It is well for men in power so to act as that they may freely look man in the face but it is a great deal better so to act as that they may be able with cheerfulnesse to look God in the face The Jewes have a Saying Quem admodum judicasti ad lancem Innocentiae imaginetur sibi judex acsi gladius inter faemora ei gehenna aperta fuisset As thou hast judged by the ballance of Innocency so the Supreme Judge shall judge thee Therefore let the Judge upon the Bench imagine to himself as if he had a Sword between his thighs and as if Hell was open before him So judge us here whil'st we stand before you that when you come to stand before God you may change your Judgement Seat for Thrones there to sit and judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel Lastly one word of application general to us all and I have done Magistrates are Gods as representing him and doing his work in judgement Then God is Iudge himself and he will judge the World and there is a Iudgement to come and these are but the Prologues to that dreadful Solemnity And it cannot well be that we being helped on by such Monitors should be unmindful of that day these being so lively representatives of it and least we should these are our Annual Remembrancers all we who are but Spectators of others Iudgement must be persons concerned in that upon our own accompts where we all shall have our Last Trial not for Temporal Inheritances but for Eternity The true Notion of Iudgement to come well considered made Felix tremble when he sate upon the Iudgement Seat much more will it have that effect upon us when we come to stand before it Can we hear of the coming of the Iudge and not think of that wherein it is said He cometh to judge the World in Righteousnesse riding his last Circuit upon his Cloudy Chariot Psal xcvi 13. Can you behold the great Conflux of people from every Quarter to this Solemnity and not think of that day wherein he shall call to the heavens from above and the earth beneath to his judgement Psal l. 1 4. Can yee behold the person of the Judge and not think of that man by whom God hath appointed to judge the World Acts xvii 31. Can ye hear the Trumpet sound before the Judge and not think of those formidable Heralds of that Day when he shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and the Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised 1 Thess iv Latter End Can ye behold these as the Poet calls it Ignita purpurea so here upon better reason these flaming Scarlet Robes with which the Iudge sits vested and not think of those flaming Robes which that Iudge shall come cloathed with when he shall come in flames to render vengeance upon all ungodlinesse 2 Thess i. 8. Can ye behold the Iudge sit down upon his Seat to take cognisance of all Causes Criminal and Civil and not behold as in a Vision Christ sitting down upon his Seat to take cognisance of all things done in the body whether good or evil 2 Cor. v. 10. Can ye behold the Iustices of the Peace upon the Bench as Iudicis Coassessores Coassessors with the Iudge by joynt suffrage ratifying the sense and proceedings at Law And not think of those Coassessors with the Great Iudge who shall judge the World and sit upon Thrones by joynt suffrage and assent ratifying the proceedings of that Iudge 1 Cor. vi 2. Can ye behold the Gaol delivery the prisoners conducted to the Bar by the Iaylor and surrendred up to Iustice and not think of that great Gaol Delivery wherein Earth and Sea shall give up their dead and small and great shall stand before God Rev. xx 12 13. Can you see the Books opened every mans Case stated Inditements read Witnesses produced and circumstances proved and all fit for Sentence and not think of those Books which shall be opened wherein all our actions are registred and we all shall be judged out of those books Rev. xx at which time there will be imprisonment without Bail Indictment without Ignoramus Conviction without Plea Sentence without Writ of Error Execution without Reprieve and Judgement without Mercy for all Sinners all which though it be the least in mens thoughts yet it shall certainly come and its prudence before-hand to set our selves before that Tribunal And when we behold the guilty felons at the Bar with pale face and akeing hearts let us think every one of us Iam mea res agitur our part is now acting And thus reason Seeing we look for such things what manner of persons ought we to be in all holinesse of conversation and knowing the terrour of the Lord let me persade you to passe the time of our sojourning here in fear Homo timet Regem qui forte cras morietur ne puniat eum non timet à Rege vero in cujus potestate est anima nostra in hoc faeculo in venturo Aben Ezra in Exod. xx 3. We fear the Magistrate who may die too morrow least he should punish us but fear not the great King in whose hand our souls are in this life and that which is to come The Iews have left a good caution behind them Haec tria consideres non incides in manus transgressionis Vnde venis quo tendis coram quo tibi ratio reddenda sit Consider these these three things and thou shalt not fall into hands of transgression Whence thou comest whither thou goest and before whom thou must give an accompt So speak and so do as those that must be judged by the Royal Law the strictest Rule and stand at his Tribunal who is the severest Iudge that we may with freedome go to meet him in the air not having the black stone of condemnation and so to fall but the white stone of Absolution and so to stand in Judgement and be for ever with the Lord. And thou O Father who hast appointed to judge the World by that Man Iesus Christ and wilst convince the World of sin by thy Holy Spirit Send down thy Spirit into our hearts and so blesse these thy servants who are now to judge in endowing them with a Spirit of Iudgement that they may so execute the Iustice of the Lord in this their day that they may not fear to stand before that Great Tribunal in the Day of the Lord. And so blesse and direct us all in our passage through this Valley of Tears that we living in thy fear not to the will of the flesh but to the will of God we may all when we come to meet at that Great Assize be found blamelesse and without spot at his appearing And this we beg for the Sake and in the Name of Iesus Christ our dear Redeemer to whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Glory and Honour now and ever Amen â—INIS
Tribunal of God but also further by that Text Deut. xix 17. where he thinks there is the like expression and it s said there they shall stand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before the Lord which he takes to be the same as if it had been said before the Elohim and he argues as he thinks very strongly thus Num enim hie quoque dicemus quod Sacerdotes Indices Scriptura vocet Nomine Dei proprio tetragrammato Shall we think that the Scripture calls the Priests and Judges by that proper Name of God Iehovah and if not by that when they are said to stand before Iehovah why in the other when they are said to be brought before Elohim And if this be truth the Judges Commission may be laid aside and we to seek in our Work as to the Elohim in the Text. Therefore I think I may answer that learned Jew thus granting him his main end that Elohim is not attributed to man properly Yet all that he saith doth not refel this truth that it is attributed to man improperly and by a metaphor as for that Text Deut. xix 17. where they are said to stand before Jehovah it excludes not the Magistrate that Text includes them They are said to stand before the Lord and before the Judge and when before the Judge then before the Lord also because the Judgement is his Deu. i. 17. he is with them in Judgement 2 Ch. xix 6. So that though God be Jehovah yet the Magistrate may be Elohim and though Jehovah cannot be given to man yet Elohim may let God have his Jehovah to himself and man the Elohim Or further Psal lxxxii 1. where the Text saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Elohim judicabit in medio Elohim So that here is an Elohim for God and yet an Elohim for the Judges God he is and yet Gods they are So we read it in our Translation God judgeth among the gods so that God may have his proper and connate and the Magistrate his derived and borrowed Elohim And for his Ellipsis that our Authour would have in those Texts Exod. xxi 6. Exod. xxii 8. it is neither necessary nor convenient not necessary because the Chaldee Paraphrast the Interlineary the Haebreo-Samaritan the Arabick the Syriack Versions all of them have coram Judicibus ad Judicem or ad Judices as we read it before the Judges Besides it s not convenient for though it may be admitted in those two Texts before quoted yet it will make us fall foul upon other Texts where the Magistrates are called Gods and where that supposed Ellipsis cannot be reduced to constructive sense as in Exod. xxii 28. Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people where there is a a manifest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one tearm to explain the other Revile and speak evil one and the same so the Gods and the Ruler of thy people both one and there it is Elohim as in the Text. So in Psal xxxii 1. God judgeth among the gods The later Elohim must be taken for the Magistrate 1 Cor. viii 4 5 6. Gods many and Lords many and that on the Earth which must be the Magistrate and Ioh. x. 34. if he called them Gods to whom the Word of the Lord came where there is a manifest distinction betwixt the Lord who sent his Word and the Gods to whom that Word of the Lord came So that I think we shall force this truth against all Cavil that Magistrates are called Elohim or Gods in Scripture according to that in the Apostle There be many that are called Gods which being thus cleared will give life and add much clearness to the Judges Commission Yet one thing more is here considerable that when it s spoken of and to Magistrates it is as here in the Plural number Elohim Gods Some would have it because of the greatness of their office and place and so according to the use and custome amongst us who speak to Kings and Princes and Magistrates and as they write Nos in the Plural number it s not onely as matter of State but upon good ground datur id honori ejus qui ita appellatur quasi ob dignitatem instar multorum eâ—â—et saith Crellins as the people said unto David Thou art worth ten thousand of us 2 Sam. xviii 3. or as others would It is in the Plural number because the Magistrate is not single and alone in Judgement It s the sword of the Lord and the sword of Gideon Judgement is his and he is with you in Judgement 2 Chr. xix 6. And we stand before the Lord and the Judge and therefore it must be Elohim but there is something more in it And I am of Mollerus his mind who saith Nunquam tribuitur uni absolutè Elohim Mollerus in Psa 45. qui simul addatur restrictio sive nota The name Elohim is never attributed to one single person but there is some note of restriction as Exod. iv 16. God told Moses he should be to Aaron in stead of God not Elohim absolutely and simply as in the Text but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for or instead of a God But when he speaks it as here absolutely that they are Gods he means it not of any one singly but of the whole body of Magistracy And Magistrates teaching us that it is not a personal but official Dignity it s their Title not ex dignitate humana sed ex dignatione divina Not of Mans desert but the Divine favour to conferre it And Gods they are Non natura sed participatione Not by nature but by participation borrowing their borrowed Deity from a higher person after this long and narrow discovery That the Magistrates are called Gods The next thing that deserves our consideration is Why they are called Gods the resolution of which will help us yet farther in the reading the Judges Commission and will be as the salt to the whole discourse without which the ambitious nature of man would tumify in the fond dreams of a Deity the mistake is too easy to mans swelling apprehensions This itch after a Deity above us lost us and exposed us to the Divine but tart Irony The man is become like one of us Gen. iii. 22. Tyrus arrogantly assumed it and Herod ambitiously accepted it But to both their Ruines if we may believe the Learned this was the first piece of Idolatry which crept into the world So some read the Text Gen. iv last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus then did they begin to call men by the name of the Lord. And very great if not more then probabilities that from the first men did either assume a Deity to themselves or others did as impiously yield it This deifying the Creature was the unhappy original of that sacrilegious practice of swearing by their Princes and Rulers as by so many real Deities as Horace of Augustus tibi maturos largimur honores Jurandasque
the sense of the divine obligation and what 's the English of all this but this That the Commands of Magistrates that are lawful by virtue of Gods power with which the powers on Earth are vested do bind the Conscience for Gods sake Thus they are Gods as acting by his Power 2. Identitate tituli They are dignified with the same Titles as the result of an onenesse of Power except before excepted We must give God leave to say to them as Pharaoh to Ioseph Onely in the Throne I will be greater then thou Gen. xli 40. He hath a Name and a Glory which he gives to none other But it 's worth our observation that all along in the Holy Writ the same Titles that are given to God are also given to the Magistrate whereby they may be called Gods to give you a taste of some of many 1. To begin with that which is magnale Dei that uncontrollable power that absoluta potestas by which he acteth and is by reason of it said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 9.21 as the potter hath power over the clay And his Sovereignty is such that he hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Times and Seasons in his own power Acts i. 7. And David saith Psa lxii 2. Twice have I heard that power belongs to God The Aethiopick Version and Vulgar Latine hath it Potestas Dei est insomuch That God in Scripture is called Power Mat. xxvi 64. that voice that came from God in one Text is said to come from the right hand of power If God be called power the Magistrate is no less They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too all powers that be are of God Rom. xiii 1. Be subject to powers and obey Magistrates Tit. iii. 1. God in respect of absolute Dominion is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that men may know the heavens rule and Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prime of the Kings of the earth And Magistrates are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 principalities Tit. iii. 1. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. xiii 3. Rulers God by reason of his strength is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magistrates are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus we find it Acts xxiii 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Claudius to Felix God is called in holy Writ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only Potentate the Magistrates no less they are Potentates also He hath put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Potentates from their seats Luke i. 52. God in Scripture is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the glory not onely God of glory but glory it self as the Prophet Jer. ii 11. The nations change their God but Israel change their glory And that voice which came from God is said to come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pef. i. 17. from the excellent glory And Magistrates are so also ◠Pet. 2.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blaspheming the glories God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Primas one who hath the primacy not onely in time but order and is as much as preheminence as Christ is said to have Col. i. 18. Magistrates so also they are Primates and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief of the people Luke xix 47. God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord it s his frequent Title as supreme Moderatour and they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. viii 5. Lords many God is called Psal xcii 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the High One they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the High Ones of the earth Isa x. 33. God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Great One and they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Great Ones Jer. v. 5. God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Medicus a Physitian to bind up wounds and to give health and cure Psal cxlvii 3. and the Magistrate is so called Isa iii. 7. a Healer binding up the wounds of the body politick as we see they come in their annual Circuits Spring and Fall to give us physick God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Saviour all the Scripture over that saves his people by the greatness of his power and the Judges and Rulers were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saviours Neh. ix 27. God is the breath of our nostrils because in him we live and move and he gives life and breath And as Job xxxiii 4. The breath of the Almighty gives us life and the Magistrate comes herein near God himself in preserving a politick life He is called the breath of our nostrils Lam. iv 20. The breath of our nostrils was taken in their pit God in Scripture is called a Shield Psal lxxxiv and Magistrates no less Psal xlvii last The shields of the earth belong unto God God is called the Father and Christ is called the everlasting Father Isa ix 6. the Magistrate is no less amongst men they are called nursing Fathers Isa xlix 23. I will make Kings thy nursing Fathers God is called a Shepherd Psal xxiii 1. and Christ is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief Shepherd the Magistrates are called Shepherds also Isa xliv 28. Ezek. xxxiv 23. David and Cyrus as Princes and Rulers are called Gods and the peoples Shepherds Gods as instituted by him and the people as set over them by their tutelage to defend them as a flock God is called in Scripture the Foundation that bears up the world and the pillars of it and Christ is called a Foundation and a Corner-stone and Magistrates are called Foundations also Mie vi 2. Hear the Lords controversie ye strong Foundations of the earth and in the Text All the Foundations of the earth are out of course Psal lxxxii 5. And needs must they be Foundations when in the next world he saith They are Gods But of this no more But that received rule of Mollerus upon the Text Wollerus Hos vobis attribui titulos ut propter muneris societatem nominis mecum gereretis communitatem bringing in God himself speaking to the Magistrates In this wise I have dignified you with all titles of Honour that it may appear because of the association of Office and Power you bold a community of names and titles with my self and so ye are Gods 3. Identitate Operis an oneness of work and imployment The Magistrate here may say as Christ Hitherto my Father worketh and I work They are Children of the most High in the Text and they do their Fathers work God doth his own work where he undertaketh to judge for Judgement is his and the Magistrate doth Gods work in executing Judgement Accursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently Jer. xlviii 10. Propriè de Magistratibus Judicibus dicitur saith à Lapid Cornel. à Lapid in loc upon that Text. It is meant properly of Judges and Magistrates The work of a Magistrate is Judgement and Justice Ier. xxiii 5. it s spoken of Christ its true but as sitting upon the Throne of David as a Prince he shall execute
Judgement and Justice And this is Gods work also not onely in his own hands but in theirs The work in his own hands we find Deut. x. 18. He executeth Judgement And this work in their hands we find Deut. xxxiii 21. He executeth the justice of the Lord. When God by the Apostle saith Rom. xii 19. Avenge not he meaneth Non de Judiciis publicis sed de Praejudiciis privatis And when he saith Vengeance is mine and I will repay it he means either by his own hand immediately or by his Vice-gerents for Vltio Magistratus est Dei ultio quum rependit Magistratus rependit ipse Deus Spanheus in Rom. 12.19 saith Spanhemius The revenge of a Judge is Gods revenge and when the Magistrate repayeth it is God that repayeth by him So saith the Apostle Rom. xiii 4. The Minister of God a revenger to execute wrath Jehoshaphat set Judges over the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Judgement of the Lord. God as the Judge of the world hath his sword in his hand and Christ as that man by whom God shall judge the world hath his sword by his thigh Psal xlv and the Magistrate because he bears a share in the works of Judgement also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he beareth the sword And it s the sword of the Lord and the sword of Gideon Whatever acts of Judgement are mentioned in Scripture as to deliver the poor and him that hath no help to make the Widows heart to sing to be eyes to the blind and feet to the lame to be a Father to the poor to break the jawes of the wicked to maintain right to relieve the oppressed to be encouragement to the good and terrour to the bad and to give every man according to his deeds are mutually spoken of God and a Magistrate in Scripture A Magistrates seat is the habitation of Justice Ier. xxxi 23. and Judgement the habitation of his Throne Psal lxxxix 14. Hence the Magistrate is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. xiii 5. Minister of God a servant employed about his Masters Work Are ye not afraid to speak against my servant against Moses The work is the same and hence they are Gods 4. Identitate finis both directed to the same end God is his own Center and God is or should be a Magistrates Center Gods actions are all for himself and all the actions of a Magistrates should be for God Ye judge not for man but for the Lord is the Problem of Iehoshaphat to his Judges 2 Chron. xix 6. The Queen of Sheba could tell Solomon that God had set him up King for the Lord his God 2 Chron. ix 8. And God saith to David as a Magistrate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord hath sought a man for himself after his own heart And David saith concerning Solomon in Type pointing at the end of all Government That his glorious Name may be magnified and the Earth may be filled with his glory Psal lxxii 19. that Solomon might be to Christ as Christ to God so a Magistrate to both be their lively Effigies to perpetuate the memory of a God of Judgement That in Solomon as a righteous Magistrate his Name might continue for ever verse 17. but it is in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filiabitur nomen ejus that as the Father liveth in his Son the Son taking both Name and Thing from him so the Magistrate might be to God that God might live in them as in his own Children they receiving both Name and Thing from him which will lead us to the expresse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text which will in few words conclude the Judges Commission and clear it as in the Text I have said Ye are Gods and Children of the Most High Thus My Lords I have been long in reading your Commission because something obscure but I hope I have done it so clearly that no one can scruple one syllable of it where I have discharg'd my second Task There remains a Third which is to give a short Charge from the Lord who saith You are Gods For which I humbly beg your Honourable patience and I shall leave you to God and your Work and this in the Application of the Text. I have said Ye are Gods My Lords This Text tells us so and it tells you so That You are Gods As it tells so it presents us with what we owe to you As it telleth you so it presents you with what you owe both to God and us 1. It telleth us so and herein we are taught what we one the Magistrate viz. To owne his power and to yield obedience for the Lords sake notwithstanding that Inhibition of the Apostle Owe no man any thing Rom. xiii 8. his meaning is owe not so as not to pay he is his own Interpreter Render to every man his dues honour to whom honour Obedience to Magistrates is a debt that we must be always paying and yet always owing Goe unto Caesar the things that are Caesars That dream of the degenerate Aesseans who taught the people to own no Power or Ruler but onely God himself must not passe either for Tradition or Doctrine with Christians because it gives so clear a Check to the Apostle Who saith Let every soul be subject to the higher powers Rom. 13.1 They that cry no King but Caesar denying God his Supremacy over man and they that cry no King but Iesus denying man his Supremacy under God do both erre not knowing the Scriptures and the power of God Unhappy Levellers that would thus make plain those Mountains that should bring forth Righteousness and the Hills that should bring forth peace unto the people Psal lxxii 3. That man that can scruple mans power under God will in time scruple Gods power overman To speak evil of Rulers is bad and forbidden Exod. xxii 28. but to speak evil of Dignities and despise Dominion and so to strike a blow at the root is far worse Iude viii and is that spirit that the Apostle told us should actuate the last and the worst of time Subjection is every where commanded and therein Dominion and Rule is founded It is a weak mistake that because the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 2.13 Obey every Ordinance of man therefore Magistracy must be a humane Ordinance and as it receives it rise so it may be laid aside according to mans pleasure A bad Comment upon so good a Text. The Apostle Paul being witnesse Rom. xiii 2. who saith it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Ordinance of God and he that resists resists the Ordinance of God Particular Ordinances may be humane but the Fundamental Ordinance which gives life to the power must be divine or let Magistracy be Objectively Subjectively and Terminatively Humane yet Originally it must be Divine Dominion and Soveraignty is part of the Image of God whence Man in respect to his power over the Woman is called the
Judicature we must not cut out work for the Judge that needs not much less that which ought not An ancient Complaint or an unjust defence are equally harsh in his eares who is a God of truth and equity Carry therefore all thy Causes to the balance of the Sanctuary and the Bar of thine own Conscience before thou bringest them to Gods Tribunal let them be thy Grand Jury and if they return Ignoramus let them die It is good advice that is given thee by the wisest of men Eccles viii 3. Stand not in an evil matter stir not by complaint stand not in it by defence do but ask thy soul this Question Dare I commence this action before Gods dreadfull Tribunal if not what doth it here If the pretended mother of the Child had thought that she should have had to do with a Solomon a man of a large heart she would have desisted from her querulous falsities But know that a greater then Solomon is here Let a Spirit of Love and Peace compound and take up Let every man be willing to yield to right though against himself Man is not the Creature that God hath made to live in the fire it is true of Humane as it is said of Divine Laws good if used lawfully 1 Tim. i. 8. There is a Curse that attends them that delight in War it 's true of the Wars at the Barre as well as those of the Field These are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle speaks of James iv 1. Wars and Fightings which come of our lusts Turn not our Rephidim into Meribah our pleasant Streams of Justice into the Waters of Strife they will then be both Marah 05 and Massah bitter to us and we shall tempt the Lord and say Is the Lord with us yea or no. We need not doubt it for his is the Judgement and he is with you in Judgement 2. The Witnesses may be directed here and the Text speaks a word to you Set you your selves before the Lord before whom you speak and who weighs both your spirits and your words you stand before the Lord and the Oath of the Lord is upon you your Evidence is Cynosura Causae and directs to Judgement as the Chard doth the Mariners to his Port. Prevaricate not before the Lord who can detect your falsity and will revenge the injury God before whom you speak is a God of Truth and you had need be men of Truth that you may appeal to God and say as 2 Cor. xi 31. God knoweth I he not he is a Witnesse to thy Testimony It is a dreadful thing to tell a lie at the Barre and call God to be a Witnesse to it The Antient Jewes have a Saying which will sit us here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui vult mentiri amoveat testes suos He that will tell a lie must first remove his Witnesses Tell not therefore a lie at the Barre until thou beest sure thou hast removed God himself from the Barre Look to the form of thy Oath it is very full and pertinent The truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth The truth without equivocation the whole truth without mutilation nothing but the truth without addition For the Jews will tell thee Tres veritatem dixerunt tamen perierunt Serpens Doeg Exploratores Three told truth and yet perished the Serpent Doeg and the Spies that went to search out the Promised Land The Serpent he told Eve that if they eat the fruit God knew they should be as Gods knowing good and evil it was truth but not without equivocation they understood him of notional but the Devil meant it of experimental knowledge and hence he is called a liar from the beginning John viii 44. Doeg told Saul that Ahimelech the Priest inquired of the Lord for David gave him victuals and the sword of Goliah the Philistine 1 Sam. xxii 9. And this was truth but not the whole truth had he told Saul that David told Ahimelech that Saul sent him about some important business he had saved the lives of many of the Priests of the Lord and therefore Doeg is marked with the brand of a lying and deceitfull tongue Psal lii 3 4. The spies told the Israelites there were Gyants in the Land and it was truth but they did it with aggravation and said it was not possible to overcome them and possess the Land and so they told more then the truth They are herein said to bring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lying report or a slander upon the Land and they perished Numb xiv 36 37. What thou speakest before the Judge thou speakest before God Let not this Testimony come out of deceitfull lips lest whilst the Judge cannot detect thee God comes to charge thee as he did by Peter to Ananias Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lye to the Holy Ghost Acts v. Tremble to think that God may by some amazing Judgement tell thee and the world thou lyest The Jewish Adage tells thee Qui loquitur lingua mala perinde est ac si abnegaret Deum peccat in coelum in terram He that speaks with an evil-lying or deceitful Tongue is as if he denied God himself and sins both against Heaven and Earth Remember that command that chargeth thee not to bear false witness against thy neighbour Let not fear malice hope of gain draw a false Testimony from thee to draw thee into a pernitious lye Know that mendacii merces vilis est the wages of a lye is very dishonourable a false witness being one of those six things which God abhors and he that telleth lyes is one of those that shall not escape Prov. vi 19. and xix 5. 3. The Text speaks a word to you Gentlemen that are of the Counsel you that are Magna Legis Oracula the great Oracles of the Law whom we consult as of old with whom when and how we should go to war You are to the Judge in Civils what John Baptist was to Christ in Spirituals his fore-runner to prepare his way and you do it well if you make crooked things straight beforehand You may do it in your Counsel-giving and in your Pleading at the Bar and in both consider that what you speak to man you speak also before that God that knoweth well that the hand of Joab is in the cause and can point out the very men that devise mischiefs and give wicked Counsel in the City Ezek. xi 2. Your work is honourable Christ stiles himself the Counsellour and its the greatest trust that you are capable of for you to give Counsel and we to follow it in our greatest temporal concerns Therefore give it liquidly and faithfully as before the Lord liquidly and clearly not as the Oracles of old of whom it was said Obscuris ambagibus responsa dabant gave their answers aenigmatically and darkly that men knew not how to resolve them give no
uncertain sound to the battel how shall men then prepare themselves to it Give it faithfully also as God himself would let every man see his cause through right perspectives encourage no man to take up a bad cause sound not a March when you should sound a Retreat let not your Counsel be as Zedekiah's to Ahab Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper when its Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and fall Do not as the Oracles of Apollo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaks as Philip would have it let the Counsel of peace come from you and if possible let your advice be the period of every Cause the end of Counsel is not strife but cessation 2 Sam. xx 21. They asked Counsel at Abel and so they ended the matter Let us come to you as to the Oracles of God for truth and faithfulness The Rabbinical Apophthegme is something tart Cave tibi ab co 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui consulit tibi secundum viam suam Beware of him that gives thee Counsel rather for his Commodity then out of Conscience then Absalom his Counsel will be given every mans Cause will be right and his adversaries wrong and so a man shall seem just in his Cause till his neighbour come and search him out Prov. xviii 17. In your pleading at the Bar Consider that the Advocate or Counsel the Jewes called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dulcescere to sweeten then it tells you you are by all your verbal ingredients to sweeten the Law not to turn it into gall and wormwood But if from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eludere or deludere then it tells you by an Antiphrasis that you are not per verboruÌ„ aucupia tendiculas as Tully speaks by cunning constructions Artifices to rack the Law wreak the Innocent You speak before that God that gives you in charge Exod. xxiii 1 2. Put not thine hand to the wicked neither shalt thou speak in a Cause to wrest Judgement not a word for a bad Cause not a word against a good one let neither the depth of an Achitophel nor the flourishes of a Tertullus neither Policy nor Oratory be employed against right and equity Let not the Law which is the hedge of common interest appear to be made onely of thorns to prick and wound nor the cloud of Justice which should overshadow and relieve us Be like that which pluit super eos laqueos is dissolved into snares to involve us Raise no dust to darken a clear one nor bring varnish to help the paint of a foul Cause The woman which sits in the midst of the Epha which is wickedness Zach. v. 8 9. having conceived and grown big and now ready to bring forth lend not your hand to deliver the monster where your judgement and consciences conclude the cause bad Let your tongues cleave to the roof of your mouths with St. Pauls resolve 2 Cor. xiii 8. I can do nothing against the truth but for the truth Your Barre contests are Status Causae where as in our bodies the Disease and Nature so here Right and Injustice are striving for predominance do but thus conclude that you are pleading before Gods Tribunal and then you will leave a bad cause to speak for its self 4. The Text directs a word to the â—ury you are vested with a sacred power and your Oath is a sacred Bond. You are Judices facti Judges of the fact and immediately lead ad judicium Causae to the judgement of the Cause You are the persons to whom all persons concerned in judgement look you are to look upon the Prisoner at the Bar to you one directs his Complaint and to you the other his Defence to you the Witness directs his Evidence and the Counsel their Plea and the Judge for his Sentence looks to you and God in judgement looks upon you you had need look to your selves Let God and the Countrey go together in your Verdict in truth righteousness 〈◊〉 your work to prepare an even way 〈…〉 your Sentence of the fact to the Judgâ—… 〈…〉 Law Your Verdict is Crisis Causae 〈…〉 the Cause Let not Justice have a bâ—… indication in that Critical hour when you go from the Bar to consult and return to give your Judgement God is with you in both Be not led aside by fear favour or feud be not perswaded affrighted or bribed into a false Verdict let not God nor the Gods finde from you a lazy or idle Verdict hudled up to save the labour of weighing the evidence and circumstances nor a sordid and covetous Verdict to take the advantage of more Causes Act by Conscience not Contagion by reason not an implicite saith Non quâ itur sed quâ cundum let Conscience speak before your Foreman Let not errour in Judgement lye at your doors The Talmudists have a saying for you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nè Judices proximum tuum donee pertigeris ad locum ipsius Judge not thy Brother until thou hast set thy self in his stead Bring no other Verdict against him then thou wouldst be willing he should bring against â—â—ee or thou bring against thy own soul In a word let all persons concerned in Judgement so speak and so do as they may not through inadvertency have cause to say as Jacob did once God is here and I am not aware of it The Text is your sufficient Caution he stands among the Gods the Judgement is his and therefore they are called Gods Lastly the Text speaks by way of special application my Lords to you the Judge is called by the Ancient Jews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord of Judgement or the Judge of the Law They shall stand before the Lord before the Judge Deut. xix 17. your power is from him your work tends to him your persons represent him you are Gods and your Judgement is his and this the Text tells you and therein what you owe both to God and us in which I shall not be your Magisterial Dictator but your humble remembrancer The Text telleth us 1 Kings x. 19. that Solomon had a Throne that had six steps to it and the Jews tell us further that upon those six steps there were inscriptions and upon every step a remembrancer that he might have his duty both in his eyes and eares That when the King ascended up the first the Officer cried 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wrest not Judgement When he went up the second the Officer cried 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Respect not persons When upon the third he cried 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take no bribes And thus every step until he came to sit down upon his Throne that as in the Temple they had their Canticae graduum Songs of degrees so they had upon the Steps of the Throne Admonitions of degrees also And this is no more then the Persian King was wont to have one to cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The English whereof I cannot
a Saying Qui pervertit judicim perinde est acsi perverteret jus Dei depelleret pedes Majestatis ipsius For a Judge to pervert Judgement is to pervert Gods right and to thrust away the feet of the Almighty who walks in the paths of Judgement hear Davids elegant Anthem 2 Sam. xxiii 1 2 3. David the son of Iesse said the man raised up on high the anointed of God the sweet Psalmist of Israel said the spirit of God spake the God of Israel said the Rock of Israel spake A large Prologue to usher some matter of weight it 's but this He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God And Deut. xvi 20. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow pure justice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as your margents read it Iustice Iustice Shalt thou follow the Ingemination denotes the affection with which God speakes it and the strictnesse with which you should execute it hence Judges are called Dan. iii. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quorum jus purum est whose Judgement is or should be pure and Christ as Judge sets you a pattern Isa xi 5. Righteousnesse shall be the girdle of his loyns and faithfulnesse the girdle of his reins Secondly Do it impartially God doth so and respects no mans person in Judgement The Jews tell us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth both Aures and Bilances the ears and a ballance upon this ground that a Judges ear should be as the tongue of a ballance stand in aequilibrio equal to both parts till the weight in the scale make it incline to either side Causa non persona The Cause not the Person should be a Judges Motto hence the Athenians the Egyptians and the Thebans pictured Justice blind and without hands their Judges being appointed to sit in the dark that they might know no mans face but his cause The Jews say Qui aut amici aut inimici personam induit Iudicis exuit He that acts either as a friend or as an enemy acts not like a Judge He is not for fear as Pilate nor for savour as Herod nor for hatred as Ahab nor for hope as Felix to passe any Sentence Justice must run with an even course without the weight of any ballancing interests thus execute true Judgement in the Gate and do no unrighteousnesse in Judgement and you will prove your selves Gods and Children of the Most High Hear not mine but Davids Suasives to mind you 1. He tells you v. 1. God standeth in the Congregation of the Gods He is Inspector morum your Dreadful Overseer and is privy to your Sentences Let not Judgement in the Prophets phrase be far off when there stands a God of Judgement so near you The Wiseman tells you Eccles 5.8 When there is a violent perverting of Judgement and Justice in a City a higher then the highest regardeth it and Job xxxvi 7. His eyes are with Kings upon the Throne So with you upon the Seat of Judgement 2. He tells you you are foundations v. 5. and upon you the whole fabrick leans it is to you as the people to Moses that we come for Justice If the foundations be out of course the fabrick must fall you will be our happinesse if you execute true Iudgement in the midst of us The Iudges used to sit in the Gate to shew us that Iustice and Iudgement is a stronger Palladium to the City then all the tutelary gods we may take the measure of our peace and happinesse by the line of Iustice which you draw over us Iustice is the pulse of the Body Politick Hab. i. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Translation reads it the Law fails or is slacked and Iudgement goeth not forth but debilitata est lex reads the interlineary and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it relates to the pulse of a natural body Cessabat motus vel pulsus cordis saith Shindler the motion or pulse of the heart is ceased to try the health we feel the pulse of the body a weak or an intermitting pulse is a bad indication of a declining state 3. He telleth you v. 6. you are Gods and Children of the Most Highâ— it is your Honour and brings you the nearer to God if you execute true Iudgement in the Gate You will endear both God and man by it Men you will Absalom by but pretending to it stole away the hearts of the people 2 Sam. xv 6. Job as a Prince and Iudge put on Iudgement as a Robe and a Diadem Iob. xxix and the eye that saw him witnessed his honour and the ear that heard him blessed him and waited for him as the latter rain v. xi 23. He that ruling over men is just is as the morning when the Sun ariseth a morning without clouds as clear Sun shine after rain 2 Sam. xxiii 4. and you will take God being herein as David after his own heart he will delight in you as you delight in Iustice and Iudgement who will be ready to say Ier. xxxi 23. The Lord blesse thee O habitation of Iustice The Rabinical Apothegme is to this purpose Qui judicat veritatis judicium facit Majestatem divinam habitare super Israelem He that executes true Iudgement makes the Divine Majesty to dwel in Israel 4. He telleth you you must die like men As the Magistrate is the breath of our Nostrils so his breath is in his Nostrils As the Apostle telleth us Heb. 7. There are many Priests who are not suffered to continue by reason of death so there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many Lords that are not suffered to continue by reason of death Christ alone is the Prince and Priest after the power of an endlesse life It is an observation of the Learned Verulam That the summe of what may be said to a Magistrate lies in these two Memento te esse hominem and Memento te esse Deum Remember thou art a God and Remember thou art a Man the one as Calcar the other as Fraenum the one a Spur the other a Bridle a Spur to act like God and a Bridle to keep them from acting like Man My Lords this clause of Davids Sermon tells you that there will be a time when you must cease to judge us execute therefore true judgement in the Gate that when you come to lay aside those Scarlet Robes and each of you to receive your Wâ—â—t of Ease from the King of Kings and to lie down in your earthen Beds the fruit of your righteousnesse may be peace 5. He tells you v. 8. God will judge the Earth and be Judge himself Psal l. 6. with a Selah for you and us to mark and after you cease to judge us God must then judge you Passe no Sentence therefore here but what may abide the test when every mans work shall be tried by sire It was said of Nerva that he comforted himself in this Se nihil fecisse