us out of darknesse into his marvellous light Aristotle notes of the Eagle whether truly or no I will not dispute that when her Birds are pen-feathered in a hot sun-shining day shee holds their eyes directly towards the beames of the Sun those that cannot endure that intensive light she casts out of her nest as degenerous such as directly eye the Sun she loves and feeds as her owne Hereby it will appeare whether we be Jovis aquila Gods birds or no if we look upward upon the Son of righteousnesse and have our eyes the eyes of our soules fixed on Heaven and heavenly things then are we of this Feather if downwards and have our cogitations Swine-like rooting in the earth and wallowing in the filthy puddle of worldly vanities then are we a degenerous of-spring not worthy to be called Sonnes of such a Father What an absurd and indecent thing were it if a Gally-slave or a Kitchin-boy should have that honour as to be made the adopted Son and Heire of some great Prince and he not considering his high advancement should continue in his former sordidnesse and basenesse of condition Much more undecent it is that a man when he is advanced from a child of wrath and a bondslave of the Devill to that transcendency of honour as to be made a Son of the King of Kings should continue as before in his blindnesse of heart crookednesse of will uncleannesse of affection and perversness of action Shall such a man as I flee said Nehemiah to Shemaiah and shall such a man as hath God for his Father debase himselfe like the Cat in the Fable who being turned into a Gentlewoman kept her old nature and leapt at a Mouse Or like the Popes Asse who adorned with golden Furniture as soon as he came to a Carriars Inne began to smell at a Pack-saddle Cyrus when of a Shepheards Son for so he was then supposed to be he was made a King in a Play began to shew himselfe like a King and Saul when he was annoynted by Samuel to be King had his heart changed He had another heart 1 Sam. 10. 9. Honours change manners if then we be advanced to this high dignity let us be ashamed of our natural basenesse let us have our hearts changed and walke worthy so high a calling not doing our owne will but his who when we were of no strength Rom. 5. nay when we were worse then nothing sent his own naturall Sonne to dye for us that we might be his Sonnes by grace of adoption I urge this point the rather because it is not onely a necessary duty which God requires at our hands but also the most certaine and infallible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Gods child and consequently a matter of the greatest moment in the World upon which depends the everlasting salvation or damnation of our soules If at these Assâ—ses a man shall in a case criminall be convict of Felony perhaps his Book may save him suppose not he at the worst but looses his life for it his soule if he repent is in no danger If in a civill controversie a Verdict shall go against him he looseth but the thing in question but he that hath not God for his Father and none have him but such as work righteousnesse and in holinesse of life endeavour to resemble him looseth all his title and claime to the Kingdome of Heaven and is for evermore in body and soule a Bond slave to the worst Master that ever man shall â—erve unlesse God in mercy shall effectually call him and ingraft him into the body of his onely Son by faith And it is lamentable to see so many Marthaes and so few Maries in the World so many that drowne themselves in worldly imployments and doubt where there is cause and use meanes to clear their doubts and neglect this Vnum necessarium as if it were a matter not worthy the regarding If a mans body be ill affected he will send to the Physician if he doubt of the weight of his Gold he will seek to the Ballance if of the goodnesse of the mettall he will try it by the Touchstone if the title of his Lands be questionable he will have the opinion of a Lawyer but whether he be a Son of God and consequently whether he shall be saved or no he never doubts but whatsoever he doe or thinkes or speaks hee takes it as granted The most wicked and hellish liver who serves no Master but the Devill will as I have â—ayd direct his prayers to God as to his Father others we have whoâ—e practice is farr better being kept from grosse sins by Gods restraining grace our careles and carnall Goâ—pellers our sleepy and drowâ—e Protestants who content themselves with the shadow and let fall the substance of Religion these if they be Baptized and can say that in their Baptisme they were made children of God if they come once or twice in a week to hear Prayers or Sermons if at usual times they receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper if they give their assent to the Law and the Gospel that they are both true and with a generall faith believe all the Articles of the Creed and withal have a care to lead a civill life amongst men then they perswade themselves their case is good they are sound Christians children of God and sheep of that little flock to whom our heavenly Father will of his good pleasure give a Kingdome But alas a man may doe all these and more then these and be a sonne of the Devill He may do all these 1. He may be baptized so was Simon Magus 2. He may heare the word preâ—ched so did Pharaoh 3. He may receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper so did Judas 4. He may believe the Law and the Gospel and all the Articles of the Creed to be true so doth the Devil 5. He may lead an honest and civill life amongst men so Socrates and divers Pagans if ye look to the matter of good works have out-stripped many Christians in the practise of sundry morall duties He may do more then all this and be a reprobate and child of the Devill 1. He may be sorry for his sinnes and make satisfaction both these we see in Judas 2. He may confesse them even in particular and desire good men to pray for him both these we see in Pharaoh He may have a delight in the Word and love the Preacher both these did Herod He may for a time be zealous of Gods glory so was Jehu He may be humbled for his sinnes and declare his humiliation by fasting and weeping so did Ahab and the Ninivites Hee may have a certaine tast of faith which much resembleth a justifying faith so had Simon Magus Hee may in many things reforme his life so did Herod and Maxentius Hee may tremble at the threatnings of Gods judgment so did Falix and so doth the Devill Now then how can such drowsie
Philosophie Lecture when they were come into his Schoole and heard him make a large discourse about the Subject of the Metaphysicks Ens and Vnum and speak never a word how a man might augment his Goods and inlarge his Possessions they altered their Judgments and for all his wisdome counted him but a fool to leave that by which a man may become great in the World and discourse about such abstruse and abstract notions as they could not understand This is the Worlds judgement still to count light of all that savours not of some present profit or pleasure he declines his felicity no further then the present Tens a Lease for life in this World is of more worth with him then the Reversion of a Kingdome in another and therefore the Childe of God that looks not on the things that are seen but on the things that are not seen and first seeks and then sets his affections on the things that are above and makes more reckoning of a peaceable conscience then a worldly Kingdome is by him contemned and reputed a foole by troubling himselfe with such metaphysicall notions as he the worldling cannot understand A Jueller makes reckoning of a Pearl but Aesops Cock that knowes not the use of it counts it but a Bable When Protogenes the Painter did earnestly eye a Picture made by Apelles admiring the curiousnesse of the workmanship an ignorant man comes to him and tells him that he wonders why a Painter should admire that Picture for I have seen said he a hundred better Oh said Protogenes if thou hadst mine eyes thou wouldst never aske me that question but wouldst judge as I judge The childe of God looking upon heavenly things with a spirituall eye prizeth them at a dearer rate then ten thousand Worlds all of Gold and Pearle But an unwise man that doth not consider these things and a foole that doth not understand them because he wants a spirituall eye doth farr undervalue them as he that measuring the Sun by his eye conjectures it to be but a foot and a halfe broad as Tully notes which Mathematicians know to be farr bigger then the whole Globe of the Earth and Water When the Romanes for the good service performed by the Cappadocian Slaves offered them liberty which all creatures naturally desire they not knowing the benefit thereof because they had ever lived in bondage refused it The worldling scornes and contemnes that liberty which the Sons of God have in Christ because having ever been bound with the evill Angels in chaines of darknesse he knowes not what that means If the Son make you free you shall be free indeed This is the first cause of contempt of Gods Children with the worldling he understands not the things of the Spirit of God he counts them foolishnesse and him that studieth them no better then a fool in respect of himself The second is the antipathy between the Womans Seed and the Serpents I will put enmity betweene thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed said God to the Serpent Gen. 3. 15. Hic incipit liber bellorum Domini saith Rupertus true for the whole Scripture is a Book describing the Warrs between the Serpents Seed and the Womans which shall be continued untill the consummation of the World Basil writes of the Panther that he hath such a mortall hatred against man that he cannot indure his picture insomuch that if he see it but drawne in Paper he will presently pull it in peices The Serpent that Hellish Panther beares such an inveterate hatred against God that he cannot indure his Picture and therefore when he saw Gods Image drawne in a peice of earth I mean in Adam at the creation he was never at rest till he had pulled it in peices and in whomsoever he shall finde it drawne anew as it is in all beleevers though not so perfectly as was the first draught against them he and his Imps bear an implacable hatred and labours with tooth and naile to tear in peices this Image if they cannot this then at least to keep them under that weare it or as the Garderens dealt with Christ to keep such out of their coasts By a Law of Ostracisme they will banish such out of their company as the Athenians did themselves and the Spartans Demaritus and as the Ephesians used Hermodorus who cast him out of the City because he was a trusty and an honest man adding this sentence Let none of us be over good for ought if hee be let him seeke another place and get him other companions Here then beloved Christian learn not to be discouraged for this that thou art not respected nor had in account with many worldlings as thou deservest the more the men of this World shall hate the more strive thou to be unlike them that they may hate thee the more Invidiâ rumpantur ut ilia Codri They contemne thee because they do not know thee thou art not of the World what marvell if the World hate thee thou art a stranger care not if the Doggs bark at thee The Philosopher in Laertius said of a Dancer Quo melius feceris eo deterius facias and Quo deterius eo melius The better thou dancest the worse thou art and the worse the better So the better thou art in the Worlds judgment the worse thou art and the lesse thou art in the Worlds account the greater art thou in Gods As Tacitus speaks of the Images of Brutus and Cassius which were not shewed amongst the rest in Tiberius his time Eo honoratiores quòd non ostendebantur So the more thou art despised the more honourable art thou if thou canst injoy riches and honours and favour with the men of this World as Joseph under Pharaoh and Obediah under Ahab thou mayst so that it be without the losse of Gods favour if thou canst not count not of the losse The woman cloathed with the Sun treads the Moon under her feet Revel 12. If thou be cloathed with the wedding Garment of the Sun of righteousnesse and the bright beames of the Gospell inlighten thy dark and cloudy heart all worldly honours riches pleasures which are as mutable as the Moon tread them under foot and set them at naught requite the worldlings with a like kindnesse have the most precious things on earth in as base esteeme as they have thee This is a lesson I confess hard to be learned and practised by very few No marvell Christs Flock as it is little in estimation and account of the World so is it also little in comparison with the World which is the second proposition observed from the quantity It is true which the essentiall truth hath told us That many are called yet not so many as the upholders of universall Grace would have us to beleeve for he that shewed his Lawes unto Jacob his Statutes and Ordinances unto Israel and dealt not so with any Nation nor gave the
commanded from heaven to heare saith That without him we can do nothing That those to whom Power is given to be the sonnes of God are not borne of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God 1. They are not borne of blood that is they come not by naturall propagation for by this nativity wee are children of wrath 2. They are not of the will of the flesh This may be referred to them which are borne of faithful Parents yet begotten carnally For as the wheat is sown without chaffe but when it grows the chaffe comes up with it Or as the Hebrew Males which were circumcised begat children which were uncircumcised so the most holy and spiritual man begets a carnal sonne the reason is Quia ex hoc gignit quod adhuc vetustum tenet inter filios seculi non ex hoc quod in novitatem promovit inter filios dei as Austin He begets according to that corruption which hee retains amongst the sonnes of men not according to that perfection which he hath attained unto amongst the sons of God 3. They are not borne of the will of man That is the will of man doth not co-work with God at his regeneration to receive grace and convert himselfe Let the Papists and Pelagians and Semi-pelagians busie their braines and confederate themselves and joyne their forces against Christ and his Apostles maugre their beards it shall stand which is confessed by an honest Frier that there is not in the whole world of natural men vel mica virium so much as a dram or crum of power whereby he may convert himselfe and become a sonne of God Thus then first he is our Father not only by grace of adoption but by grace of regeneration he regenerates and begets us a new by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost 2. To his children thus begotten and born anew he gives new names Thou shalt be called by a new name Isa 62. 2. To him that overcometh I will give a white stone and in the stone a new name Rev. 2. 13. I will write in it my new name Rev. 3. 12. Old things when they are renewed have new names given them So old Byzantiū renewed by Constantine was called after his name So a son of the old Adam who of himself Is a child of wrath a firebrand of hell Gods enemy and an alien from the common-wealth of Israel being renewed and regenerate and having given his name to Christ is called a Christian This is a new name received from him who after he had spoyled Principalities and Powers and like a triumphant Conqueror shewed them openly in his Chariot of triumph so Origen calls it the Crosse hath received a name above all names that are named not in this world only but also in that which is to come The name also we receive in our Baptisme when we are admitted into Christs Church is a new name and may put us in mind of our new and spirituall estate as the other which we receive from our Parents and Ancestors is a mark of our natural state we received from them So that whensoever we think of our names given us in our baptisme we should think of our new birth and be more and more renewed according to that of the Apostle Old things are past behold all things are become new Therefore as many as are in Christ let them be new creatures New names and old natures are like new wine in old vessels or like new cloath in an old garment 3. He feeds us 1. with corporall food for the sustenance of our bodies The greatest Prince of the world hath not so much de proprio as a morsell of bread to put in his mouth but what he receives from him who hath Heaven for his throne and Earth for his foot-stoole who opens his hand and gives to all creatures that wait upon him their meate in due season For which cause Christ sends us to heaven gates to begge our daily bread viz. not only the substance of bread but baculum panis as the Scripture calls it the power and strength to nourish us without whose benediction be our tables furnished with never such variety of dishes wee shall be but like Caligula's guests at his golden banquet we may well feed our eyes but not our stomacks Or like to him that eates in a dreame and when he awakes behold his soule is empty 2. He feeds us with spiritual food that which was figured by the tree of life and the waters that flowed out of the stony rock as some of the Fathers expound it the bodie and blood of Christ unto eternall life 3. He cloatheth us as the Kings daughter with a vesture of gold the robe of Christs righteousnesse which we must put on as a wedding garment that our filthy nakednesse may not appeare in his sight and withall by degrees makes us glorious within with the habite of sanctification and inherent righteousnesse 5. He protects us against all dangers as hath been already shewed 6. He corrects us for our offences as a father doth his child in whom his soule delighteth 7. He provides for us an Inheritance immortall and undefiled in the heavens For it is your fathers good pleasure to give you a kingdome The next thing that comes to be handled But let us first by way of use and inference reflect upon the point we have in hand Is God Almighty a Father of his little flock and such a father as doth not only regenerate but feedeth and cloatheth and protecteth and directeth and hath in a readinesse a Kingdom for the meanest of them that be his Here then let us take notice of the dignity and worth and happinesse of the meanest Christian above all the sonnes of Adam be they never so great swell they never so high with a conceit of their owne worth The greatest of heathen Philosophers tells us that felicity consists in a cumulation of moral vertues Others place it in worldly pleasures The common sort of men in worldly honours and preferments and the higher a man is advanced the more worthy the more happy they repute him But alas what great felicity is it for a base fellow to act a Kings part upon the Stage and when the Play is ended to be contented with a ragged coate far lesse to be a King in this world and then to be cast into Hell fire Here is the state and condition of the greatest Potentates on Earth that have not Christ for their Brother and God for their Father when they have acted their parts upon the stage of this world downe they must goe into the infernall lake The Spider thinks her selfe no base creature when she hath got her selfe into the roofe of a Princely palace and there woven her webbe and rests there secure as shee thinks from all danger but anon when
Protestants such carnal Gospellers prove themselves to be sonnes of God when they are matched and out-stripped by the sonnes of Satan when they are matched with Simon Magus in their baptisme and with Judas in receiving the Lords Supper and Pharaoh in hearing the word preached and with the Devill in believing and with Pagans and Infidels in the practise of civill and morall duties Nay when Judas goes beyond them in repentance and Ahab in sorrow and humiliation and Herod in delight in the Word and reverence of the Preacher and amendment of life and Jehu in zeale of Gods glory and Pharaoh in desiring the prayers of the godly and Foelix and the Devill in trembling at Gods judgements Oh pittiful If you should live I speak to them that are such and I doubt there are too many in this place the hearts of most are like this Country climate where they live cold and their brains more subject to Lethargies then Phrenfies If you should live amongst the Turks or Tartars where the sound of the Gospel is scarce heard if you had lived and dyed in those dayes when God gave his lawes to Jacob his statutes and Ordinances unto Israel and dealt not so with any Nation Or if you should live in Spain or Italie where the heavenly treasure is locked up from ignorant men in the closet of an unknown tongue and where no more is required of a sonne of the Church for that 's a term they are better acquainted with then a sonne of God then to be baptized to say his prayers in Latine to hear and see a Masse to keepe fasting dayes and to believe as the Collier told the Devill as the Church believeth you might have some excuse for your selves But now that you live where the judgments of the Law are denounced and the sweet promises of the Gospel proposed now that the Sun doth shine and no better blossoms of righteousnesse appeare in you how can you escape the hatchet of Gods wrath How can you call God your Father or Christ your Brother Shall Judas be sorrowfull and make confession of his sinnes and will not you Shall Ahab and the Ninivites be humbled and manifest their humiliation by fasting and sacke-cloath and tears and will not you be humbled for your sins Shall Herod amend many faults at the preaching of John Baptist and will not you reform your lives Shall the Devill believe and tremble and will not you believe with him Or if you believe with him will ye noâ— tremble with him Shall all these I have named be damned to hell and look you for the reward promised to Gods children the Kingdome of Heaven No assuredly no. I deliver unto you that which I have received from the Lord Except your righteousnesse shall exceed the righteousnesse of all these you cannot enter into thâ— Kingdome of heaven The spirit of adoption is not severed from the spirit of sanctification it 's one and the same individual spirit Holinesse becometh Gods house for ever It 's written over Heaven gates as it was over Plato's School door Let no man that is not a Geometrician enter this roome Let no man that hath not measured his life by the line of the Law that hath not this Motto written on the Table of his heart Holinesse to the Lord presume to come into Gods Tabernacle or rest upon his holy Hill That for the first duty we owe unto God as he is our Father and we his children The second is to our Neighbour For if God be our Father then all we which make profession of that faith which was once given to the Saints are brethren and should live as brethren and love as brethren And how brethren should be affected one to another we see in the members of our bodies our two feet are as it were two brethren one to support another two armes two eyes two ears one to help another the utmost part of the hand divided into five fingers one for assisting and strengthening another No otherwise even by the judgement of naturall men should one brother be affectioned to another Hence in Poets came the fable of Briareus with one bodie and 100. hands and of Geryon with one bodie and three heads by the first was meant fiftie by the second three brethren so linked together in the bands of brotherly love as if they had all been members of one and the fame individuall bodie And he that for his owne particular benefit seeks the losse and hurt of a brother doth as if one foot should supplant and trip up another or as if the fingers of the hand should fall out and one wrest another out of joynt Nay further a brother that forsakes his brother and joynes himselfe into society with a stranger saith Plutarch doth as if a man should cut off one of his owne legs and take a wooden leg in the room of it As their love is the greatest so their hatred if they fall out is noted to be the greatest so that of all others they are hardest to be reconciled For as those things that are glued together if they goe asunder may easily be reunited but a bodie that is all of one peece if it be broken cannot be so fastned againe but you may discern where the breach was When friends who by affections are joyned together if they dissent may easily be reconciled but brethre who are as it were one by nature can hardly be so united but there will remaine some scarre behind for which cause it concerns them to avoid the least occasions of disagreement Now that I may bring that which I have spoken home to my purpose grace is a stronger bond then nature If then naturall brethren should be thus affected one to another how much more brethren in Christ begotten by one father God bred in one womb the Church fed with one milke the Word animated by the same spirit justified by the same faith And this love must shew it selfe chiefly in two things 1. In pardoning wrongs without private revenge If the injury be little forget it if great yet must thou not be Judge in thine owne cause but as children say when they are wronged I will tell my Father so do thou All malice and private revenge lay aside out of a zeale of justice make thy complaint to those who are the Ministers of God to take vengeance on them that do evill 2. In supporting and relieving such as stand in need of thy help As the great stones that are laid in the bottome of a building beare the weight of the lesse that are laid above them or as a bundle of rods bound together to use Seleucus his comparison do one strengthen another Or as when a faggot of grove sticks is laid on the fire and warms and kindles another and that which he hath be ready to communicate to such as want those that are learned to instruct others that are ignorant those that be strong to support them that are
prepared away for the Lord he comes himselfe in a soft voice the gratious and sweet promises of the Gospell to seale a pardon to such as by the former Judgements are dejected and humbled And this may be termed Gods Ordo compositivus Sometimes and this is more usuall especially when he proceeds against the wicked he taketh a contrary course First he comes in a soft and still voyce to wooe them to himselfe But when they harden their hearts and will not be reclaimed from their evill wayes then at length he will send a fire to devoure them and an Earthquak and mighty strong wind to scatter them away like chaff from the face of the earth and to blow them down even into the bottome of Hell and this I may fitly call Gods ordo resolutivus it is said of Alexander that when he besieged certaine Citie he held out a Lamp proclaiming a pardon to as many as would yeild themselves before the Lamp was burned so the Lord first holdeth out the Lampe of his word whereby he calleth them to submit themselves and gives them a time to deliberate if in the meane time they doe not yeild nothing remaines but death and destruction it is storied of Tamberlain the Scythian that whensoever hee besieged a Citie first he displayed a white flag in token of mercie if they would yeild themselves the second day a red flag threatning blood because they did not in time submit themselves if they continued untill the third day then came out his black flagg menacing utter ruine and desolations this is Gods method First he sets out his white flagg of peace if this be not regarded then comes his red flagge of correction though not of destruction if this will take no place with them then he sets out his black flagge bella horrida bella nothing but death and desolation Downe with it downe with it even to the ground tribulation and anguish fire and brimstone storm and tempest this shall be their portion to drink It s long before he be moved to anger but if the coals of his wrath be kindled O Lord God how terrible will this flame be it will lick up the Sea like dust and melt the mountains like wax and burne to the very bottome of Hell so that nothing in the world will quench it but the blood of the Lambe and the streaming teares of unfeigned repentance cast your eyes to the time of old for wee are but men of yesterday and our dayes on earth are like a shadow as Bildad speaketh in Job and you shall finde my conclusion proved by the occurrents of all ages Sodome that fruitfull and plentifull Citie which was for beautie and pleasure like the garden of God or as the valley of Aegypt as thou goest unto Zoar if the stinke of her sinnes ascend into heaven shall be converted into a stinking Fen for an everlasting remembrance of her iniquity Iericho a goodly place a City of palm-trees a fenced City whose walls reached up to Heaven if she be withall a sinfull and Idolatrous City she and all that is in her both man and woman young and old Oxe and Asse shall be utterly destroyed Babylon which Aristotle for the greatnesse cals rather a region then a City the Empresse of the earth the Princesse of Cities the glory of Kingdomes the beauty and pride of the Caldeans which said I sit as Queene I am no widdow and shall see no mourning If she continue in her sinnes shall bee as the destruction of God in Sodome and Gomorrah it shall not be inhabited for ever neither shall it be dwelled for ever from generation to generation but Zim shall dwell there and their houses shall be full of Ochim Ostriches shall dwell there and the Satyrs shall dance there and Iim shall cry in their Palaces Dragons in their pleasant places so that a man shall be more precious then gold even a man above the wedge of the gold of Ophir It is not her powerfull state nor rich Citizens nor strong wals nor high Towers nor magnificent buildings that shall free her from Gods punishing hand may Ierusalem in my ext the Vine that Gods right hand had planted the Citie of the Grâ—at King the holy place of the Tabernacle of the most high the beauty of Israel the glory of Nations and Princesses of Provinces if shee will not be awaked from her sinnes shall not be much better then the destruction of Sodome and the miserable desolation of dolefull Gomorrah her was shall be turned into heapes of dust her houses consumed her Temple burned her treasurie empty her inhabitants killed Quis cladem illius urbis quis funera fletu Explicet What heart is so flinty which will not melt into teares when it shall thinke of the miserie which did twise befall this one Citie Now all these punishments came upon them for an ensample and and are written to admonish you upon whom the ends of the world are come that you should be armed and warned that you should see and foresee before the time be past ut quorum facta imitamini eorum exitum perhorrescatis that if you tread in their foot-steps you should remember their downfals God is the same God still hee is as strong as ever hee was hee is as just to revenge as ever hee was his Arme is not shortened his strength is not abated his wrath is not turned away from sinne but his hand is stretched out still Sinne may bud in the spring but it withereth before Harvest it may flourish for a time but godlinesse endureth unto the end When the wicked thinketh himselfe the surest when he saith unto his soule Peace Peace and Soule take thy rest Even then there is but one step betweene him and destruction believe the kingly Prophet he speaketh it of his own experience I my selfe have seen the ungodly in great prosperitie and flourishing like a green bay tree what followeth I went by and loe he was gone I sought him and his place could no more be found Behold his covntenance he is but as the grasse upon the house top which withereth before it be pluckt up or as the foame upon the water or as a garment freted with mothes O how suddenly doth he fade perish and come to a fearefull end even as a dreame vanisheth when as one awaketh It is noted of Pyrrhus and Haniball that they could quickly conquer a Citie but they could never keep that which they had once subdued I little marvell that the wicked have great facility in heaping up of riches but I should thinke it strange if they could keep them till the third generation Their wealth is like a snow ball gathered in the fall not without labour and cold fingers and anon after it is melted with the Sunne or washedaway with the raine But alas alas beloved I may here take up the Prophets complaint
as an asse may be known by his long eares and as the bignesse of Hercules might be gathered by the print of his foot And though some of them to make it lesse hainous call it a particular fact of a few and that temerarious too as though forsooth it had been farre from their hearts to have attempted any such cruelty against the Lords anointed yet it may be truly said of them all as Tullie said of the Catilinarians aliis facultas defuit aliis occasio voluntas profectò nemini And he that in outward shew seems most against it would have lent both heart and hand and put to the very match so that he might have effected that matchlesse treason And why should it be otherwise For what I pray you is any Prince in the world if he do not adhere to the Apostatical Sea of Rome shall I define him unto you out of their Logick books A woolf devouring the sheep an Ahab or Jezabel destroying the Lords Prophets an Holofernes a professed enemy to the true Israelite a Goliath reviling the host of the living God a seducer and deceiver of the people as our Saviour was called by their old grandfathers And must not such a one be made away by one means or other by open hostility or secret conspiracy it makes no matter dolus an virtus quis in hoste requirit Shall not the shepheard do well to kill a wolfe shall not Judeth be highly extolled if she can kill Holofernes though sleeping in his bed And if David kill Goliath deserves he not to be met with the two women of Israel with timbrels instruments of joy singing thus Saul hath killed his thousand but David his ten thousand In a word is it not their assertion that Princes must not be suffered to reign when they draw the people into heresie but must be made away yea by all means possible And therefore I lesse marvel why that reviling Rabshakeh that brasen-faced fugitive Parsons who blusht not to say any thing in his younger years in his old age took upon him a kind of modesty and durst promise no more for his fellowes then this that there was no impossibility for Papists to live in subjection and dutiful obedience unto the king of great Britain For possibility it is not the question but for probability it is no more then that the wind and the sea light and darknesse the Arke and Dagon God and Mammon the unbeliever and the infidel shall be together For what I pray you is it which knits men as it were with chains of adamant in love amongst themselves and in loyalty and obedience unto their Prince Is it fear of punishment Oh no for malus est custos diuturnitatis metus He never reignes long whom every man feareth Caveat multos quem timent singuli let him beware of a multitude whom every particular dreadeth Is it hope of reward not that neither For that is often frustrated and then followeth an alteration in the affections It is neither of these It is religion and the true fear of God This this is it which knits the heterogeneal parts of the same kingdome unto the Prince as the several parts of mans body are by arteries knit and united unto the heart and as the lines of a circle though they be farre distant about the circumference yet concurre in one middle point so must it be with them Though they be different about the circumference of worldly affaires yet must they concurre in one common center of religion A good Christian common-wealth is like unto Peters sheet wherein were all manner of four footed beasts and creeping things and fowles of the heaven There are in it all sorts of men There are nobles flying aloft like the fowles of the heaven there are of the baser sort creeping as it were below and there are of a middle sort men of all conditions and callings But this sheet is knit together as that was a the four corners the most distant and remote parts thereof with the unity of religion 22. This is so plain that Aristotle gives it as an especial rule for a Tyrant if he mean to continue his government to make an outward shew of Religion For such kings saith he as seem to be religious are in least danger of treacherous practises by such as are under them Now where this unity of religion is wanting as wanting it is seeing we differ from the Papists not in a few circumstances but in sundry fundamental points of Divinitie how can this knot be made fast Nay seeing they are so far from counting any Protestant Prince religious that they count him an heretick and the more diligent he is in cleansing and refining his kingdom from the dregs of Romish superstition as our Saviour Christ was in purging the law from the absurd glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees the greater persecutor he is holden with them to be of the Catholick faith Verily I see no probability I had almost said no possibility that they will hereafter prove true and dutiful subjects to the King of Great Britain They may well make protestations and outward shewes of love and duty and obedience towards the Prince but Lupus pilum non ingenium mutat a wolfe is a wolfe though he be clothed in a sheep-skin well may he cast his old hair but still he keeps his own nature Shall their fair speeches make us believe them Sic notus Vlysses Is the craft of the Romish foxes no better known unto us Timeo Danaos dona ferentes I fear their fawning far more then their frowning it was but a frivolous tale which the people of Alexandria told Timothy etsi non communicamus tecum tamen aâ—mamus te although we do not communicate with thee yet we love thee For how can a man love him in his heart with whom he cannot finde in his heart to communicate I am in a field in which I might course at large but I am mindful of the time and will not presume too long upon your patience Some of our worthies do stoutly with their pens oppose themselves against these men and I pray God every Magistrate in his place would be as careful in unsheathing the sword of justice against them Habemus in eos Senatusconsultum satis 〈◊〉 grave we have an act and statute strong enough 〈…〉 but daily encreasing makes me almost say as it followeth in the Oratour habemus inclusum in tabulis tanquam gladium in vaginâ reconditum It is closed in the book as a sword in the scabbart or as Goliaths sword was wrapt in a cloth behinde the Ephod The best that I can say in this case is to use the Prophesie of the Crow in Suetonius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all will be well Est benè non potuit dicere dixit erit Pliny writeth that the tricks of an ape will so vex and move a Lion that he will
use the meanes they can to put this evill day from them as being the beginning of their eternall woe and sorrow but let the children of God be no more afraid to dye then they fear a Bee without a sting then they feare a sleep when their eyes are heavie or they feare to be comforted when they are in miserie or to be at home when they are abroad in a strange Country FINIS TO THE READER Reader IF the reverend Author of those Sermons had not been one of those Qui male merentur de viribus suis for so I shall take leave to expostulate with his modesty his more then vulgar Abilities might have added much to the lustre of his Name with which he hath hitherto dealt so unkindly as to detaine it though not in the shade yet at too great a distance from the Sun Whilst he lived in the Vniversitie he was a singular Ornament to the Colledge where Providence had bestowed him and being thence called forth to a Pastorall charge over the place which first welcomed him into the World he was quickly taken notice of as worthy of a more eminent Station in the Church to which he was accordingly preferred with the generall acclamations of all the knowing and pious Divines in the Diocesse with whom to say nothing of others though of greatest note in that Precinct for a comprehensive and orthodox Judgement adorn'd with all variety of learning he hath ever been held in greatest Estimation As for these Sermons some of which saw the light and all have been delivered many yeares ago they are able to speake for themselves Their maine designe is to heale the plague of the Heart not the Itch of the Eare Animis composuit non auribus Here is good wholesome â—iands 〈◊〉 before you and if your Palate be not over 〈◊〉 you will have no cause to quarrell with the Sance What help soever the Booke shall afford you in your spirituall negotiations give God the glory and the Author I doubt not hath his End T. Tully LUKE 12. 32 Feare not little Flock for it is your Fathers pleasure to give you the Kingdome CHRIST the Great Shepheard of our soules being shortly to finish that for which he came into the World the work of our Redemption and to lay downe his life for his Sheep and according to his corporall presence to have them in the wildernesse of this World where they should find Amalekites to encounter them the Sonnes of Anack to impugne them fierce Serpents to sting them Lyons and Beares and Foxes and Wolves to devour them and the very Wildernesse it selfe by its naturall barrennesse ready to starve them doth in the precedents of this Chapter warne and arme them against all humane and mundane fears Humane from Verse 4. till the tenth Mundane from the tenth till this thirty second both which if I be not mistaken are by way of recapitulation wrapped up in the beginning of this Verse Feare not c. And in the later part confirmed by an Argument a majori For it is your Fathers pleasure c. As if he should have sayd My friends which have forsaken all and followed me in the regeneration though ye be as a flock of Sheep subject to wandring unfit to provide fot\r your selves things necessary unable to resist the Wolves amidst whom ye are though ye be little in the opinion and estimation of the World being reputed the scum of the earth the filth of the world the outcast of the people and of-scouring of all things lesse in comparison with the world being in respect of them as the first fruits in respect of the Harvest as the gleanings in comparison of the Vintage yet be not dismayed nor discouraged for any thing that the world wiâ—l or can inflict upon you for loe he that was your enemy is now become your friend he that had a Sword of vengeance drawne against you will now fight for you he that was a just and severe Judge is now become your Father because you are in me and howsoever of your selves you have deserved no better then others whom he hath left in that masse of corruption wherein all Adams Children lay drowned yet his good will and pleasure is such that he will at length freely bestow upon you an inaccessible Inheritance in his Kingdome of glory much more will he watch over you by his heavenly protection provision and direction in this Kingdome of Grace Feare not c. A Doctrine proposed by way of exhortation Which words divide themselves into two branches 1. Feare not little Flock 2. A reason or argument to confirme this For it is your Fathers pleasure c. In the first of these observe 1. The object Flock 2. The quantity of it Little flock 3. An incouragement against feare In the second note these particulars 1. The Grantor Your Father 2. The cause impulsive that makes him respect us and that is his good pleasure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Father is pleased 3. The manner of conveyance by Franck Almaigne to give 4. The quality and quantity of the gift a Kingdome Of each of which particulars because I cannot now particularly discourse for as much as they seem unto me like Elishaes Cloud still bigger and bigger or like the waters of the Sanctuary deeper and deeper I will by your patience make the object of our serious speech the subject of my speech at this time Flock The party to whom this speech is directed are his Disciples Verse 1. and Verse 22. those which he had picked and culled from amongst all the Sons of Adam and effectually called to his grace the Church without that was actually existent at that present so that what is here spoken to them is spoken to the whole Church of God They then were shee still is a Flock of Sheep for that is meant as may appeare by conference with like places John 10. 11. 16. 27. John 21. 15. Matth. 25. 33. Psal 100. 3. Whence observe two things 1. The quality of the members in that they are resembled unto sheep 2. The unity of the whole body in that it makes but one Flock of Sheep Concerning the first The Church of God is called a Flock of Sheep not a Herd of Swine nor a Kennell of Dogâ— nor a Stable of Horses nor a Fold of Goates nor a Mew of Hawks nor a Capine of Foxes nor a Den of Wolves nor a Puddle full of Toades because she must not wallow in the filthy mire of sin like Swine nor bite one another like Dogs nor be proud and stomackfull like Horses nor stink in her corruption like Goates nor be ravenous like Hawks nor fraudulent like Foxes nor cruell like Wovles nor poysonfull like Toades but in patience and sincerity in meeknesse and simplicity in innocensie and humility she must resemble a Flock of Sheep So then the ungodly miscreant that drinks iniquity like water and is frozen in his own Dregs and
which some Schoolmen make a fifth kind of feare which they call naturall which is not evill if it be kept within its bounds For to be touched somewhat with those things which be by nature terribilia and may do evill as Death Famine want of necessaries for this life is not evill Aristotle notes it as a kind of brutishnesse in the Celtae that they feared not Lightnings nor Inundations nor Earth-quakes But now to exceed in this kinde and for avoyding of mundane evills to incurre the displeasure of God with Elisha's servant to see thine Enemies but not thy Friends with Saul to be greatly afraid of Goliah and not to see the power of God in little David It proceeds from an evill root an immoderate love of this world and is joyned with a distrust to his providence who hath said I will not leave thee nor forsake thee and is here forbidden by our Saviour Feare not Janus-like it looks both back-ward and forward Backwards to the precedents of this Chapter so it contains the use which we are to make of that which hitherto hath been delivered concerning Gods providence Forward to the latter part of the verse and so it is a conclusion of an argument a majori thus Gods elect are Kings sonnes States of Paradise and heires apparent to the crown of Heaven Ergo they need not feare but he will watch over them with his fatherly provision protection and direction in his kingdome of grace Take it whether way ye will and it will afford us this proposition Such is Gods fatherly care and providence over his children that they need not be discouraged by humane nor mundane fears As the night Crow sees in the night but is blind in the day So a naturall man is quick-sighted in temporall things but blind in spirituall For as the Sun lighteneth the Earth but darkeneth the Heaven So his understanding giveth him direction about earthly things but for heavenly and spirituall them it darkneth and obscureth This as by many other things it is evident so especially by the worlds rash judgement touching Gods providence over his children while they remaine in these houses of clay for they seeing that the godly are oftentimes hunted as a Partridge upon the mountains or as a Pelican in the Wildernesse and an Owle in the Desart whereas the ungodly as Job speaks have their houses peaceable and without fear and the rod of God is not upon them they rejoyce in the sound of the Organs and spend their dayes in wealth They I say seeing these things not being able to give the true reason of them because God made them neither of his Court nor Privie Counsell and yet storning to be ignorant in any thing though they knew nothing as they ought to have known began to lye and libell against that eternall power in which they live move and have their being Some of them because they would not seem to impute any injustice unto God thought that such as they saw groaning under the heavy burden of affliction howsoever unto the worlds eye they might seem devout and righteous yet in very deed and before God which seeth not as man seeth for man looks on the outward appearance but God beholds the heart they were dissemblers and hypocrites Thus Paul when he had gathered a few sticks for the fire and a Viper came out of the heat and leapt on his hand was by the Barbarians counted a murtherer Job when the heavy hand of God was upon him was by Zophar thought to be a man forgotten of God for his iniquity Nay Christ our Saviour that immaculate Lamb who had done no wickednesse neither was there any guile found in his mouth was judged by the Jewes as a man plagued and smitten of God for his sinnes Isa 53. 5. Others not much unlike the old Thracians who as Herodotus writes when it thundered used to shoot up their arrows towards Heaven and to tell God that he cared for none but himselfe affirmed that though God had made the world yet the government thereof he committed to Fortunes wisdome and direction Others that he ruled Caelestiall bodies and those that are above the Moone but for these base creatures that are below it is against his divine Majestie to respect Scilicet is Superis labor est c. Others that hee was tyed to second causes and could work no otherwise then he found them disposed Hereupon came the fable of the three Fates sitting by Jupiter the one holding a Dâ—staff the second spinning the third cutting the thread whose decrees Jupiter cannot alter nor resist and Homer brings in Jupiter with a chain in his hand to which the whole world is tyed in certaine links of Causes Jupiter hath in his owne power the moving of the first linke but after the first like is moved then hee meddles with no more but one link draws on another The same Poet brings in Jupiter complaining upon the Fates by whose immutable decree he is hindered that hee cannot deliver Sarpedon from death And Neptune desiring to hinder Vlysses from coming into his Countrey for the hurt done to his sonne Polyphemus but cannot because the Fates are against him So Juno in Virgil complaines that she is resisted by the Fates from hindering Aeneas to come into Italie Mene incoeptodesistere victam Nec posse Italia Teucrorum avertere regem Quippe vetor fatis Nay some upon this occasion stickt not to come to that height of impiety that they adventured to deny that which with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond is written in the tables of their hearts that there is a God Marmoreo Licinus tegitur tumulo Cato parvo Pompeiâ—snullo And hereupon to make up the verse came that blasphemous speech Quis putat esse deum Yes blasphemous mouth there is a God and this God is not God of the mountaines only but he is God of the valleys too he looks not only to the things which are in Heaven his Throne but also unto the things that are on Earth his foot-stool the young Ravens are fed by him one Sparrow cannot fall unto the ground without him he numbers the haires of our heads and puts our teares into a bottle and marks our treadings and reckons our steps Hee careth for his chosen as a Shepheard doth for his Flock nay as a Master doth for his houshold nay as a Father for his own Children As a father pittieth his owne children so is the Lord mercifull to them that feare him Nay as a mother loveth the sonne of her wombe which is greater then the fathers love as Aristotle well noteth Can a woman forget the child of her womb Isa 49 Emphatically spoken a woman Women where they love love earnestly David to shew the ardency of Jonathans love towards him hyperbolically extolls it above the love of a woman Can a woman forget her child Her love to children is great not only by reason
reponere A Kingdome Of this as Salust once said of old Carthage its better to say nothing then to say but a little and yet if I should say more then I am able to expresse it were nothing to that which might be said Non mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum ferreae vox Had I a thousand mouthes and a thousand voyces had I a tongue of steele or spoke with the tongues of those thousands of thousands that waite about the Throne of God I were not able to set forth so much as the shadow or back parts nay the shadow of the back parts of those joyes which God hath prepared for them that love him Nature failes me reason failes you the whole Bible failes me in this point Paul was taken up into the third Heaven the Kingdome here meant and what saw he The glory was such that it did not only dazle his eyes but struck him blind that he could see nothing at all Acts 9 8. Well but what heard he Things that cannot be conceived neither is it possible for man to be uttered 2 Cor. 12. Saint Austin when he was young did thus de cant upon it Ibi erit summa certa securitas secura tranquillitas tranquilla jucunditas jucunda faelicitas faelix aeternitas c. There shall be certaine security secure safety safe delightsome happinesse happy eternity c. O gaudium supra gandium O gaudium vincens omne gaudium extrae quod non est gaudium quando intrabo in te ut videam Deum meum qui habitat in te ubi inventus nunquam senescit ubi vita terminuÌ„ nescit ubi dolor nunquam pallescit ubi amor nunquam tepescit ubi sanitas nunquam marcescit ubi gaudium nunquam decrescit ubi dolor nunquam sentitur ubi gemitus nunquam audit ur ubi triste nihil videtur ubi laetitia semper habetur c. Aust. Soliloqui O joy beyond all joy O joy without which there is no joy when shall I enter into thee that I may behold God which is in thee where youth never growes old De verbis Domini in Joh. Serm. 64. where love never grows cold c. After when he was growne somewhat old he takes a pause and demands this of himselfe after a long discourse What shall I say Surely I cannot tell but I know that God hath such things to bestow And facilius invenire possumus quid ibi non sit quam quid sit We may easilier finde what is not there then what is there Non ibi erit lassari dormire non ibi esurire sitire non ibi erit crescere senescere Behold what I have spoken and yet I have not spoken what is there Eccejam vita jam incolumitas est jam nulla fames nulla paena nulla si is nullus defectus tamen nondum dixi and yet I have not told you what is there that which eye hath not seen how can I discerne that which eare hath not heard how can I speak that which never came into the heart of man how can it come into my heart to declare and indeed to make a long discourse about this subject were but with the blinde man to discourse about colours He may talk long about them but with eyes he cannot know them and we may talke much of Heavens joyes but till we come there and see God we cannot see them Our knowledge is no more able to reach to the excellency of them then a new borne childe is to make a demonstration in the Mathematicks or he that is blinde to name every colour that is layd before him Eye hath not seen nor eare heard saith the Apostle Quicquid recipitur recipitur in modum recipientis A Quart will not containe a Gallon nor a Gallon an Hogshead nothing can receive more then its able to containe Our understandings are like Vessels of small capacity and therefore our heavenly Father who in the Scriptures is often pleased Balbutire cum pueris to condescend to the meannesse of his Childrens capacity expresseth these joyes by such things as their understandings are capable of The Jewes report of Manna that it gave a taste to every man according to their severall appetites and desires For the trueth of this Credat Judaeus apella non ego The Scripture tells us that the taste thereof was like Wafers made with Honey â—um 16. 31. But it may be truely sayd of this Kingdome that in the Scriptures its expressed by such names as may give satisfaction to every mans appetite Some are delighted with faire houses it 's therefore called an house 2 Cor. 5. and Solomons house 1 King 7. was a type of it but far short of the antitype Yea and the house of the Sun too Sublimibus alta columnis clara micante auro flammasque imitante pyropo It 's the house that wisdome hath built Prov. 9. a stately house with a witnesse for her stones are Carbunâ—les her foundation Saphirs its windows of Emeralds and all its gates of shining stones Isa 54. In a word It s a house made without hands eternall and that in the heavens 2 Cor. 5. Some it contents not to dwell in a fair house unlesse it be seated in a goodly Citie It 's therefore likened unto a Citie a Citie having a foundation that is a sure foundation all earthly Cities are founded in quag-mires they want a foundation they are like the house builded upon the sand which cannot endure the weather but downe it goes as Athens Lacedemâ—n Niniveh Babylon and others have done a Citie of the best structure Whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11. 10. A Citie having the glory of God a Citie of pure gold like unto cleare glasse Revel 21. Oh how excellent things are spoken of thee thou Citie of God But neither faire Houses nor goodly Cities will give contentment to some unlesse they may have wealth at will in which many place their chiefe felicity It 's therefore likened unto a pearle for which the wise Lapidariâ— sells all that hee hath to buy it A treasure which neither rust nor moth can corrupt nor thiefe steale All these will not satisfie the mindes of some unlesse beside them they may have honours and dignities heaped upon them Here is that that may give these contentment too it 's a Kingdome A kingdome that cannot be shaken Hebr. 12. and the greatest Kingdomes of the world have been often shaken and shivered in pieces A kingdome that shall have no end Luk. 1. Or as was foretold by the Prophet A kingdome that shall never be destroyed Dan. 7. 14. Pyrrgus said of Rome when as yet it was not Mistresse of all Italic That it was a Citie of Kings marry one thing was wanting to that Kingly Citie which Hormisda Legate to Constantine did wel observe when he saw the Emperour ravished with the beauty of it as if with Paul he had been wrapt up into the
third heaven and it was this that men died in that Citie of Kings as well as in other places But it may be truly said of this that it is not Vrbs regum but regnum regum a Kingdome of Kings not the meanest doore-keeper there but weares a Crown beset with more precious jewels then the Jaspâ—r and the Onix stone And here is that which makes up their felicity that the Crown shall never â—ade as appears by that which hath been spoken their joy shall never faile their Sunne shall never set their life shall never end Is not here honour enough Indeed neither houses nor Cities nor wealth nor honours will satisfie some unlesse they may fare well and have store of dainties therefore it s elsewhere likened to a wedding feast of a Kings sonne where nothing is wanting which may delight the heart of man 1. Costly apparell 2. Curious and exquisite musick 3. Great provision of all kinds of dishes c. All these which I have named are but spoken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherby the holy Ghost would have us gather the unspeakable joys of this Kingdom as Pythagoras from the print of Hercules his foot in the games of Olympus did gather the bigness of his whole body This is not all faire houses goodly Cities wealth and riches honours and Kingdoms so rich apparell delicate fare c. joyne them all together and without good neighborhood they are like Jericho 2 Kin. 2. whose situation was pleasant but the waters naught When Themistocles was about to sel an house in Athens he made the Cryer proclaim that he that would buy that house should have a good neighbour with it He that gets this House this Citie this Kingdome wee have spoken of shall be sure of a good neighbour he shall have the society of innumerable Angels and the spirits of just and perfect men and of God the Judge of all and Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament who can wish better company An unwise man doth not consider these things and a foole cannot understand them The reason is he wants a spirituall eye and spiritual things must be spiritually discerned and thinks himselfe never rich enough another thinks he hath never preferment enough another is so addicted to the pleasures of this world that he never thinks he hath enough every one is desirous to have his abode here It was Peters errour Bonum est esse hic Let us here build us tabernacles Here will I dwell for I have a delight herein And the holy Ghost saith of Peter That hee wist not what he said Mar. 9. 6. It 's true of us too we wote not what we say we make not that comparison wee should between this present and future life we think of the moment any pleasures of the one which notwithstanding is mingled with much bitternesse we think not upon peradventure we believe not the eternity of the other Like bruit Beasts the most are carried with carnall sensuality and regard the present they consider not that which is to come If a Beast could speak he would say that hee is in a more happy estate then men the reason is because he feeleth his owne pleasures but he hath not the wit to consider the felicity of man Man can speak and he saith at least in his heart he thinketh that he is in a more happy estate then the Angels in heaven he feels his owne felicity which indeed is a misery and no felicity he wants a spiritual understanding to judg of theirs I remember what Aelian reports of Nicostratus an excellent Painter this Nicostratus seeing the picture of Helena which was painted by Zeuxis did very earnestly look upon it being much amazed at the curiousnesse of the work-manship An ignorant man that had no skill in painting and therefore thought that he had seen many pictures as good as that came unto him and asked him the reason why he did so much admire that image Oh quoth Nicostratus if thou hadst mine eyes thou wouldst never ask me that question but be as much astonied with it as I am The faithfull Christian looking with the eyes of faith upon this Kingdom mentioned in my Text Explorimentem nequit ardescitque tuendo and prizeth it above 1000. worlds all of gold and pearl the carnall man seeing him laughs at him and calls him a Gods fool he seeth no reason why he should be so astonied at the contemplation of that which is so high above his reach and so far beyond his horizon as hee by his naturall understanding cannot attaine unto I am better perswaded of you that hear me this day though I speak these things only for conclusion let me exhort you nay with Austin hortor vos omnes clarissimi â—eque ipsum that seeing the riches of this Kingdome is such as cannot be valued the excellency such as cannot be expressed the joyes such as cannot be conceived the durance such as cannot be ended let us not with Aesops Cock prefer a barly-corne the transitory trash of this world before this precious pearle for which the wise Lapidary will part with all he hath that he may purchase it Let us not with Esau preferre a messe of Pottage before our Birth-right nay with the Israelites accompt more of the stinking Garlick and Onions of Aegypt then of the Milke and Honey of this spirituall Canaan but as the Spies which were sent from the Danites to view Laish Judg. 18. said to their brethren at their returne We have seene the land and surely it is very good arise and let us not be sloathfull to goe and enter to possesse it And if the old Gaules adventured their lives over the rocky Alpes and encountered all their cruell Enemies the Italians that they might have their fill of the Hetrurian Wine and Figs of Tuscanie And if the Queen of the South adventured her selfe from Sheba or Meroe in Aethiopia through the vast Wildernesses in Africk and the sandy Desarts of Arabia to Jerusalem to see Solomon and to conferre with him shall not wee with patience swallow up all those calamities which may befall us in the wildernesse of this world And in despight of all opposition by evill or Devill let us boldly hold on our journey to the new and holy Jerusalem which is above where we shall see and conferre with the true Solomon Jesus Christ the righteous the mighty God the everlasting father the King of peace Isa 9. of whom we may more truly say then shee did of that Solomon It was a true word that I heard in mine owne land of thy sayings and of thy wisdome but loâ— the one halfe was not told mee Happy are the men happy are thy servants which stand ever before thee and heare thy wisdome For the better performance of our duties in this journey let us remember that every one hath a double calling one general another particular in both these let us do our utmost endeavor to spend that little time which