And so I shut vp this point in a few words and make an end THE THIRD SERMON vpon the second Psalme PSAL. 2. VER 2. 3. The Kings of the earth band themselues and the Princes are assembled together against the Lord and against his Christ Let vs breake their bands and cast their cords from vs. HAuing spoken in the first verse of the Commons and the meaner people of the world he comes now in these two verses to speake of the Nobles and the great States of the world Though the former did rebell against Christ and his kingdome yet haply these as a man might thinke will not For these are wise and religious and see what is good for themselues But out alas they do it as well as the former they haue the like treacherous and rebellious hearts within them For they band themselues together with all their power and strength But yet there is some difference betwixt them For these go as it were warily to worke and are very circumspect in their wayes they take deliberation and time they haue their meetings and consultations they lay their heads together and take aduice what is best to be done But in the end they conclude vpon this That they will be subiect no longer to Christ and his kingdome nor suffer themselues to be bridled any more by his lawes which they accounted to be an intollerable burthen and such bands and cords as were not in any case to be endured but to be broken asunder and to be cast behind their backes like dung and filthinesse which they could not abide to looke on And whereas good subiects should prouoke one the other vnto all dutifull obedience and loyall subiection vnto their dread Soueraigne they as apert and open enimies do encourage one the other vnto plaine and manifest treason and rebellion saying Come let vs breake their bands and cast their cords behind vs. In summe then you haue nothing else to remember Summe here in these two verses but the rebellion or conspiracie which the great men of the world do make against Christ Iesus our Lord King Wherein note first what they do then secondly what they say Their deedes are set out in the second verse and that two wayes first by the thing it selfe which they-do then by the persons against whom they do the same Their words in the third verse containing an exhortation in them and the matter whereunto they do exhort Of these we will speake in order and say somewhat of each of them by Gods good grace Touching the first of them which doth concerne their deeds we will obserue this methode in handling the same that first we will see the meaning of the words then the truth of the storie and lastly the vse and benefit that we may make thereof The meaning of the words standeth thus By Kings are vnderstood such as were in highest place and authoritie amongst men and by Princes such as were next them for rule and gouernment ouer the people but by them both are vnderstood all persons whatsoeuer of chiefe place and state for this world by the figure called Synecdoche when some sorts or kinds are put for all Howsoeuer these are here sayd to band themselues and to be assembled together but in Acts chap. 4. vers 26. they are sayd to assemble and to come together the reading is somewhat diuerse but yet it is all one in sence For the meaning is nothing else but this that they ioyned hand and head together in power and counsell against the Lord and his Christ Where by the name of the Lord you must vnderstand the Almightie euen the first person in the Trinitie God the Father and by the name of his Christ first Dauid whom God did annoint king of Israel Then secondly Iesus the sonne of the Virgin Mary whom the same God did annoint king ouer his Church For against both of them was this conspiracie made The word in the Hebrew tongue called Meshihho coming of Mashahh to annoint and the word in the Greeke tongue called tou Christou autou coming of chriô to annoint do signifie his Annointed And seeing that both Dauid and Iesus were annointed by God the Father either of them may be noted out by this word and be called His Annointed or his Christ which is all one For annointed or Christ is all one in sence though not in sound of words in our English tongue Thus you see in few words the meaning of the place how that the great states or chiefe men of the world bid band themselues wholy against Dauid whom the Lord had chosen to be the King of Israel and against our Sauiour Iesus Christ whom he had chosen to be the gouernour of his Church and the only ruler thereof But yet before we come to see the veritie of this matter which is to be touched in the next place a question here may be moued and a man may aske how these men did ioyne hand and head together against the Lord himselfe For can any like the Giants make warre against the Almightie Yes Many haue done it and do daily still do it For all those are sayd to warre against the Lord himselfe who do oppose themselues against his will and pleasure and withstand such matters as do tend to his glorie and the good of his Saints but chiefly those that do resist the higher powers and rebell against such as the Almightie hath set ouer them to be their rulers and gouernors either in the Church or Common-wealth As we may se by the words of the Lord to Samuel when Israel would haue a king in 1. Sam. 8.7 where the Lord doth say vnto him Heare the voyce of the people in all that they shall say vnto thee for they haue not cast thee away but they haue cast me away that I should not reigne ouer them As we may see by the words of our Sauiour to his Apostles in Luke 10.16 when he saith vnto them He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that hath sent me As lastly we may see by Pauls words to the Romanes in Rom. 13.2 when he saith Whosoeuer therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receiue to themselues iudgement Wherefore in that they did resist Dauid and Christ whom the Lord had set vp it is apparant that they did resist the Lord himselfe Oh that all traytors and rebels did well consider of this point and lay it neare vnto their soules For our owne parts let vs looke vnto it alwayes remembring what the Lord doth say Touch not mine annointed and do my Prophets no harme But to passe this matter and to come to the truth of the story that we may see how true euery thing is which is here reported and not to stand vpon Dauid the figure whose storie you may reade at large in the first booke of Samuel where you
shall receiue them and such large ones too as none can be larger For as God is greater then all so are his gifes larger then all Thinke on these things for your good and so let vs passe from this first point whereby Christs kingdome is set out and come to the second which is the inuincible power thereof For as his kingdome is large reaching ouer all the world so it is powerfull being able to beate downe all opposition that is made against it This is set downe in the 9. verse in these words Thou shalt crush them with a scepter of iron and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell The speech is allegoricall being drawne part of it from kings as mention is made here of a king who are armed with authoritie and power to punish those that do offend or rise vp in rebellion against them in regard whereof some scepter noting out the same is wont to be carried before them and here this scepter is sayd to be of iron rather then of gold siluer brasse wood or the like because iron is the strongest and fittest to beate downe all things before it And part of it also from potters who do many times so breake their earthen vessels into peeces which they do dislike withall that they can neuer be soudred fast together againe By this then is meant that the enimies must be destroyed and that in such a fearefull manner as that they may neuer be able to recouer their former estate againe or haue any the least hope left vnto them for the same And marke you here how God doth enioyne this duty vpon Christ his sonne and command him for to do it There are other vses of the power of Christ For this inuincible power is granted vnto him as well for the defence and good of his subiects who are loyall and faithfull vnto him as for the destruction and ouerthrow of his aduersaries But yet this latter is onely touched here because mention was made before onely of his aduersaries and nothing was spoken of his friends So that when the Lord doth command him to crush and breake them in peeces he doth not vnderstand by the word or name of them all the heathen whatsoeuer which he gaue vnto him for his inheritance nor all the ends of the earth which he bestowed vpon him for his possession but he meanes onely such rebels as did rise vp against him which were touched in the three first verses those he must destroy and bring to nothing but the rest he was to fauour and to do good vnto Looke then how Dauid gaue his sonne Salomon a charge when he lay as we say vpon his death-bed and was ready to depart out of this world touching Ioab that slue Abner and Amasa and touching Shimei that cursed him and threw stones at him when he fled from Absolom his sonne conspiring against him that he should not suffer their hoare heads to come to the graue in peace as it is in the beginning of the second chapter of the first booke of the Kings So doth the Lord here giue his sonne Christ Iesus a charge touching those as did rebell against him that he should not suffer them to liue but vtterly to destroy them for euermore accordingly as they had deserued But here two questions may be moued the one is whether Christ did it the other is the manner how he did it For the first it is answered in a word that He did it as was shewed before and therefore not now againe to be stood vpon And as for the second the manner was manifold For some of his enimies he doth destroy with some sudden and extraordinary death Others he doth torment with griefes and wounds of soule which are almost intollerable and by the meanes whereof they haue no peace within themselues but do lie in continuall despaire of their owne saluation Not a few of them are tortured in their bodies by horrible diseases and made also desolate and poore for wealth hauing no maintenance to relieue them Thousands and ten thousands he giues ouer to hardnesse of heart that they commit sinne with all greedinesse and make themselues fat against the day of slaughter But to passe all other wayes whether of infamie or the like which happen vnto them here in this world that is the wofullest way of all when he throwes them downe into hell and there doth keepe them in flames of fire that cannot be quenched boyling and rosting for euermore And this all of them shall be sure of as we may see in Math. 25.41 when he saith vnto them Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the Diuell and his angels For as his kingdome is not of this world so commonly are not his punishments in this world but in the world to come in that hideous and euer-tormenting place As we stood not vpon the vniuersality and largenesse of Christs kingdome in the former verse so will not we stand now vpon the inuincible power and might of his kingdome in this verse neither yet presse any further the destroying of his enimies spoken of therein First because mention was made of them before and secondly because occasion will be offered to speake somewhat of them againe hereafter in the end of this Psalme Here at this time Doct. in that God the Father doth commaund his Sonne to destroy his enimies we may obserue this doctrine that malefactors and euill persons that do offend must not be spared but must be punished according to their deserts and wretched wayes Betimes saith Dauid will I destroy all the wicked of the land that I may cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord as it is in Psal 101.8 so that he would spare none that were wicked and licentious and did rebell with an high hand against the Lord. Phineas the sonne of Eleazar the sonne of Aaron was greatly commended for his zeale towards the Lord when he executed death vpon the adulterer Zimri the Israelite and the adulteresse Cozbi the Midianite and did runne them both through with a speare euen through their belly as they were in the tent committing the act of their filthinesse together as it is in Numb 25.7 c. The law of the Lord was amongst the Israelites and in the policy of their gouernment the equity whereof doth belong to all common wealth and states of gouernement whatsoeuer though the bodie of that people be dissolued and their policie came to an end that idolaters blasphemers disobedient children to their parents murtherers adulterers witches and other notorious sinners should be put to death and be cut off from amongst men as we may see at large in the booke of Moses Exodus Leuiticus Numbers and Deuteronomie and as for other faults there were other punishments appointed according to the qualitie of the offence and the trespasse therein committed By all which we may see that God had a speciall care from time
impouerish his subiects by exacting of them grieuous subsidies and taxes but he doth greatly enrich them by bestowing large giftes and benefites vpon them Ephe. 4.7.8 c. The last is loue or mercy for he doth beare that kind affection towards his people that all their miseries doe touch him Heb. 4.15 and for to do thē good he was content to die for them Ephe. 5.2.25 Where all these things do concurre meet together there is a party well qualified for gouernement A man may be couragious yet not fearing God if fearing God yet not dealing truely if dealing truely yet not hating couetousnesse if hating couetousnesse yet not wise if wise yet not diligent if diligent yet not bountifull if bountifull yet not louing if louing yet not couragious But where shall all these be found together Surely in none but in Christ Iesus for in him they are in the highest degree of perfection and therefore did the Lord make choice of him before all others to goe in and out before his people and to be the Head or gouernour of his Church Here we must take heed of some abuses Vse we must not collect from hence either that Christ is inferiour to his Father or that he was made King as he was God for he is equall with his Father in glory Maiesty touching his diuine nature or God-head as the Apostle doth shew in the beginning of his 2. chap. to the Philippians True it is that he is inferiour to his Father in respect of his humane nature and as he is man but not otherwise as he is God of the same substance or being which he hath together with the Father frō all eternity Againe whereas he is made King this is done in respect of both his natures together as he is God-man and Man-God and not simply in respect of one of them alone for so to affirme of either of them were absurd if not blasphemous But leauing the abuses the true vses are these First hereby we may learne to reuerence Christ the more because he is established in his throne by his Father For if Dauid were pricked in heart onely for cutting of Sauls garment who was a wicked man and his deadly enimy too because he was the Lords annoynted with what reuerence and care should we carry our selues towards Christ Iesus our Sauiour who is holinesse and righteousnesse it selfe and one that loues vs well seeing the Lord hath annoynted him and made him to be our King But alas our carriage is such towards him as if he had vsurped this place vnto himselfe by tyranny or were set vp in his throne by some created authority but let vs looke to ourselues and amend this our fault In the second place here we may learne that seeing God hath set vp his Sonne in his kingdome he will still defend him and aide him in the same as also bring fearefull iudgments vpon all such as shal go about to resist him And this is the chiefest end wherefore this sentence is here alleadged and therefore let all men take heed what they do and let all those know also who are in lawfull authority that so long as they carry themselues worthy of their places the Lord will alwaies stand about them for their defence and protection as here he did about his Sonne Christ and blessed Dauid the King Lastly here we may learne by the example of Christ that it is not good to run into a calling but to stay vntill the Lord doth place vs in the same A great complaint is made in Ieremy by the Lord against men in this respect that they did run before that he did send them as we may see at large in the 23. chapter of Ieremy But beware we that we doe not the like For shall Christ that had the Spirit of God without all measure stay and waite his Fathers leasure and shall we mortall and sinnefull creatures who haue not the Spirit almost in any measure yet runne and goe before our commission is drawne out and sealed by the Almighty More things might be spoken vpon these matters but let these short obseruations minister an occasion vnto you to contemplate more at large vpon these points The end of the fourth Sermon THE FIFTH SERMON vpon the second Psalme PSAL. 2. VER 7.8 9. I will declare the decree that is the Lord hath said vnto me Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee Aske of me and I shall giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the ends of the earth for thy possession Thou shalt crush them with a scepter of yron and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell IN the former verses mention was made of God the Father whose maiestie and power was excellently set out for the confounding of such wicked aduersaries as did rise vp against him But now these verses do intreate of God the Sonne who is also most liuely described in the same by a certaine inuincible power and maiestie as being one sufficient to ouerthrow all such resistance as is made against him And that his enimies might be daunted the more as his friends receiue the greater ioy and consolation he comes in himselfe speaking and vttering his voyce vnto them declaring plainely amongst them all what is the very decree and ordinance of God his Father concerning him and his kingdome the summe and substance whereof he tels them is this The Lord the great God of heauen who hath created all things and who doth continually preserue the same he euen he sayd to me Thou art my sonne yea my naturall and onely sonne most deare and precious vnto me Thy workes which thou doest continually in working strange and admirable miracles do shew that I haue begotten thee but chiefly that day is an argument thereof vnto all the world wherein thou didst arise from the graue and returne againe from death vnto life And because thou art so neare vnto me and one on whom I haue set my whole delight and pleasure aske of me what thou wilt and thou shalt haue it I will not say to the halfe of my kingdome but to all my kingdome if thou shalt aske the whole I will bestow it vpon thee yea I will giue thee all power both in heauen and in earth and thou shalt reigne not in a small compasse alone but in a most spacious and large circuite euen throughout all the world from the one end thereof vnto the other And whereas there are many rebels and traytors that do daily rise vp against thee thou shalt not take pity and compassion vpon them to forgiue them but thou shalt punish them throughly according to their deserts with thy scepter or mace of iron wherewith thou art armed thou shalt destroy them And herein deale thou with them as the potter doth with his vessell as he doth dash that all to peeces when it is once broken and seruiceable for no vse so do thou so confound them that they may
to haue aduersaries of all sorts wheresoeuer you shall liue or dwell Either Ismael with his flowting tongue or Esau with his bloudy hand shall wound and persecute you for he that is borne after the flesh will alwaies persecute him that is borne after the Spirit Gal. 4.29 And surely as the life of Christ was a warfare vpon earth so must your liues that are Christians be a warfare vpon earth Here we liue in a sea of troubles the sea is the world the waues are calamities the Church is the ship the anker is hope the sailes are loue the Saints are passengers the hauen is heauen and Christ is our Pilot. Now when the sea can continue without waues the ship without tossings and passengers not be sicke vpon the water then shall the Church of God be without trials but not before And as for this voyage we begin it or at the least should begin it so soone as we are borne and we must saile on till our dying day Therefore I beseech you brethren promise vnto your selues no security in this world but looke still for enimies and when you haue slaine a Beare looke for a Lyon when you haue killed the Lyon looke for a Goliah and when you haue ouercome Goliah looke for a Saul when Saul is wounded to death looke for the Philistines c. that is when you haue ouercome one trouble or vanquished one enimie looke still for an other trouble and for an other enimie and that vntill you die and the spirit doth returne to God that gaue it Thus farre of the first point now followes the second In the fourth verse and so forward vnto the end of the ninth verse is shewed how this opposition which was made against the Lord and his Annoynted came to none effect but was withstood and brought to nothing through the powerfull working of the Almighty the enimies that made the opposition being brought to shame and confusion How true this was in respect of Dauid the figure the 2. booke of Samuel doth declare with the beginning of the first booke of the Kings For in these two bookes we finde these three things First that he did enioy his kingdome vnto his dying day and that he did end his lise quietly and in peace in his bed 1. Kings 2.10 Secondly that the Lord his God who dwelleth in heauen did helpe him from time to time in all his troubles against his enemies 2. Samuel 22.1 c. Thirdly that his enemies who did thus resist him were vanquished and slaine Abner he was slaine by Ioab 2. Sam. 3.27 and Ish-bosheth his maisters Sauls sonne for whom he did sight was murdered by two of his seruants in his own house as he lay vpon his bed in his bed-chamber 2. Sam 4.7 The Iebusites they were punished and smitten by Ioab 2. Sam. 5.8 and 1. Chro. 11.8 The Philistines and other out-landish nations they were many of them put to the sword and the residue were made tributaries to Dauid 2. Sam. 5. 8. Chap. Absalom he was hanged by the haire of the head on an Oake in the wood as he was pursuing after his father and there he was slaine 2. Sam. 18.9.14 And Sheba the sonne of Bichri he was beheaded in Abel by the perswasion of a woman and his head cast ouer the wall vnto Ioab 2. Sam. 20.22 Thus all Dauids enimies ended their daies in deserued punishments But now for Christ there may be some doubt whether all things fell out aright according to the text here concerning him considering that his aduersaries seemed to haue the vpper hand of him in that they put him to death and brought him to a shameful end and that he himselfe did cry out and say My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Math. 27.46 Notwithstanding both these things euery matter is true which is reported here of him For first and foremost it is euident howsoeuer he vttered these words in his agony and bitter passion through the consternation of his minde which was now much disturbed through the intollerable burden which God his Father did lay vpon him for the sinnes of mankind that God had not forsaken him but was alwaies present with him for his good first by the sending of an Angel vnto him in his great heauinesse for his comfort Luk. 22.43 secondly by his hearing of him at all times yea euen in those things which he feared Heb. 5.7 And lastly by his aduancing of him from the graue vnto the highest heauens the vniuersall regiment of all the world Ephes 1.20 c. Secondly it is apparant that howsoeuer they did murder him yet they had not the victory ouer him but he rather the victory ouer them First by his rising againe from the dead Secondly by his sitting at the right hand of his Father Thirdly by his dwelling with his Church vpon the face of the earth vnto the end of the world And lastly by his triumphing ouer his enimies euē while he did hang vpon the crosse as it is well obserued by the Apostle in Col. 2.15 when he saith And hath spoyled the Principallities and Powers and hath made a shew of them openly and hath triumphed oner them in the same crosse But if you will not giue credit to these things and so be perswaded by these reasons marke what he himselfe who is truth it selfe Ioh. 14.6 hath said touching this matter in Ioh. 16.33 Where you shall finde him vttering these words vnto his disciples saying In the world yee shall haue affliction but be of a goodcomfort I haue ouercome the world Then as we are conquerours yea more then conquerours when we do suffer for the name of Christ and do leese our liues for the defence of his truth as it is in Rom. 8.36.37 so was Christ a conquerour yea more then a conquerour when he died for vs and by his death did destroy him that had the power of death Heb. 2.14 and so through his sufferings entred into his glory Luke 24.26 he being for that cause exalted aboue all the creatures and receiuing a name aboue euery name that at his name euery knee should bow both of things in heauen and things inearth and things vnder the earth Phil. 2.9 c. Thirdly and lastly it is manifest that his aduersaries were ouerthrowne and that most of them came to fearefull ends First by the ciuill warre that arose vp amongst themselues which continued a long time and brought many thousands to most desperate ends Secondly by the grieuous famine that was in the midst of them that consumed many of them and caused the parents to eate their owne children and one friend to deuoure another Thirdly by the totall destruction of their glorious Temple famous citty of Ierusalem with all the inhabitants thereof by Vespasian and Titus the Emperours of Rome Fourthly by the lasting infamy of a cursed name vpon their whole nation in that they are reproched throughout all the world and counted the worst
hunger and other calamities which fell vpon them they broke out into murmuring and blasphemous speeches against God and into open rebellion and insurrection against Moses and Aaron their gouernours insomuch as they had stoned them to death had not God by an out-stretched arme preserued thē Numb 14.10 The third is their wilfulnesse or obstinacie For they being with Narcissus in loue with themselues and doting vpon their owne waies will not hearken vnto the charmer charme he neuer so sweetly as appeareth by Christs speech in Math. 11.17.18.19 But as Ieremy doth well obserue of them in Chap. 5.3 They make their faces harder then a stone and do refuse to returne In regard whereof the Lord sending foorth his seruant Ezechiel to preach vnto his people he tels him that they will not heare him and that because they are impudent children and stiffe-hearted Ezech. 2.4 The fourth and last is their vnbeliefe or vnfaithfulnesse For as Christ doth well obserue of his owne Disciples that they were dull of heart and slow to beleeue Luke 24.25 So they distrusting God and not relying vpon him with a stedfast faith do depart away from him and commit grieuous abominations against him according to that in Ier. 5.23 But this people hath an vnfaithfull and rebellious heart they are departed and gone So then these foure vices reigning amongst them do like a violent streame carry them to all kind of rebellions The causes of their rebellion being thus touched Vse now let vs come to the vses of the doctrine They are in number foure For first here we may learne in that all do thus rebell that the greatest number in the world is not the best but the worst The flocke of Christ is a little flocke according to his owne words in Luke 12.32 when he saith Feare not little flocke for it is your Fathers pleasure to giue you a kingdome But the flocke of the diuell is a great flocke according to that in Reuel 20.8 Where his armie that he gathered together against the Saints of God out of the foure quarters of the earth euen Gog and Magog is compared to the sands of the sea for number Oh weigh this well and with a religious heart and let neither Popery tell you of multitude which they make to be a marke of Gods Church nor the carnall Gospeller of the generality of the world which they make to be the rule of their liues but euer looke for truth and goodnesse in the smallest number For many according to Christs words do go in at the wide gate and broad way that leadeth to destruction and but few at the straight gate and narrow way that leadeth vnto life Math. 7.13.14 Secondly here we may learne that we must not care for the loue liking of the world nor hang vpon the multitude for their applause fauour for they are against the Lord not for him Surely as they are most vnconstant in their waies turning vpon euery small occasion like the weather-cocke at the blast of the wind this day one being a man with them to morrow a beast this day none better with them to morrow none worse this day a god with them to morrow a diuell as we may see by their dealing towards Christ Paul So their loue and fauour must needes be bent towards the worst seeing they themselues are bad and do oppose thēselues against the Almighty Remember alwaies what Christ said vnto his Disciples about this matter If ye were of the world saith he in Ioh. 15.19 the world would loue his owne but because ye are not of the world but I haue chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you Wherefore as they that runne at tilt looke to the iudges what they say and not what the vulgar people say so I beseech you looke you euer what your iudge in heauen doth allow or approue and care not what the world and the people thereof do thinke or say Thirdly here we may learne that the multitude and the common people will be enimies vnto you and labour to resist you whensoeuer you shall go about to serue the Lord aright If you shall once begin to seeke Christ and to come vnto him they shall stand in your way to hinder you as they did stand in Zacheus way when he went foorth to see Christ Luke 19.3 If you be once in his presence do begin to call vpon him for mercy helpe they wil rebuke you as they did the poore blind man who cryed vnto him saying Iesus the Son of Dauid haue mercy on me Luke 18.39 If you be sicke or dead in your sins trespasses and Christ doth begin to come home to the houses of your soules to heale you and to raise you vp from the death of your sins they will stop his passage and entrance in if they can as they did when Christ came to the Rulers house to heale his daughter that was sicke yea dead when he came Math. 9.23 But as Christ turned them there out of dores saying Get you hence so must you shake them all off and not communicate with flesh bloud in the matters of your God But do as Abraham did when he sacrificed to God the fowles of the heauen fell on the carkeises which he had prepared for the sacrifice but he droue them away Gen. 15.11 So if any do begin to molest you whē you are going about any spirituall sacrifice resist them and driue them away saying with Christ vnto Peter Auoid satan Math. 16.23 Lastly here we may learne to take heede of the people and in any case not to do as they do For seeing that they do rebell against the Lord and the whole world as Iohn doth say 1. Ioh. 5.19 doth lye in wickednesse we must not follow them nor go after their waies to prouoke the holy one of Israel against vs as they do Fashion not your selues saith Paul like vnto this world but bee yee changed by the renewing of your minds that you may proue what is the good will of God and acceptable and perfect Rom. 12.2 The number and multitude must not mooue vs. For what saith the Lord Thou shalt not follow a multitude to doe euill neither agree in a controuersie to decline after many and ouerthrow the truth Exod. 23.2 Wherfore do I beseech you as Wisedome doth counsell vs for to do If sinners do entice vs to go with them let vs not walke in the way with them but refraine our feete from their paths Prou. 1.15 And as Paul doth require of vs let vs not be companions with them nor haue any fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse but let vs rather reprooue them Ephes 5.7.11 Hitherto of the first point Now followes the second In that this their rebellion was wrought by raging and murmuring and these were the chiefe heads thereof Doctr. we are taught this doctrine that raging and murmuring are two great and notorious 〈◊〉 alwaies to bee
of Christ made holy in some part by the sanctificatiō of Gods spirit wherby you may be able to go boldly vnto the throne of grace to receiue mercy to find grace to helpe in time of need That as Paul did say of the Corinthians when they were changed frō bad to good And such were some of you but ye are washed but yee are sanctified but ye are iustified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the spirit of God as it is in 1. Cor. 6.11 so may you say of your selues And such were we our selues once euen bad and most wicked persons but blessed be God we are now changed and made better our sinnes are washed away by the bloud of Christ and the spirit of God hath begun to renew vs in some good part Leauing these things for the meaning of the words and some short annotations vpon the same let vs now come to the maine doctrine of the place and in few words it is nothing else but this Doct. that Christ our Sauiour did not take this office vpon him to be the King of the Church but was lawfully called thereunto by God his Father and not by any created power whatsoeuer This he confesseth of himselfe in Iohn Chapter 6. verse 27. Where he doth endeauour to draw men from a greedy hunting after the foode of the body vnto a carefull seeking for the foode of their soules saying Labour not for the meate which perisheth but for the meate that endureth vnto euerlasting life which the Sonne of man shall giue you for him hath God the Father sealed He hath chosen him for this purpose and set his marke and seale vpon him as designing him ouer this worke and businesse which is to be performed alone by him and none else And this also he doth proue in the fourth chapter of the Gospell according to Saint Luke by a testimony out of Esay chap. 61.1 c. where the calling of the Messias is excellently and at large set out vnto vs. But the Apostle Saint Paul not to stand vpon other places doth make this point most cleare and euident vnto all persons in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians beginning at the twentieth verse therof and so forward in the second chapter of his Epistle to the Philippians in the ninth verse thereof with others following For in both these places you shall finde that as Christ is exalted aboue all the creatures in the world and made the supreme head of the Church both warring in earth triumphing in heauen so he was raised vp hereunto by God his Father he making him thus the vniuersall gouernour of all the world So that looke what the Author to the Hebrewes said of Christ in regard of his Priest-hood that he tooke not to himselfe that honour to be made the high Priest but he that said vnto him Thou art my Son this day begat I thee gaue it him Heb. 5.5 So may we say here of him in regard of his kingdome that he tooke not this honour to himselfe to be made the supreme King of the Church but God that sitteth in the heauens and hath his enimies in derision gaue it vnto him but somewhat more of this hereafter when we come vnto the 8. verse of this Psalme Reason But why did God may you say set vp Christ and make him thus the King of his Church Wherefore did he not make choise rather of some Angell or Arch-angell or of some Emperour or great state of this world Because none of them were fit for this office As no man was worthy to open the booke and to loose the seales thereof which Iohn saw in the right hand of him that sate vpon the throne but onely the Lyon which is of the tribe of Iudah the roote of Dauid as it is in Reu. 5.1 c. So no creature was found fit for this office whether in the heauen aboue or in the earth beneath saue Iesus Christ our sweete Sauiour and the blessed Sonne of God and therefore God his Father did make choise of him before all others But why was he fittest for this office may you further say For two causes the one is in regard of his Person the other of his qualities belonging vnto his Person For his Person because he is not onely man as many others are but also God as none else besides him is and thereby is made able to weald such a great mighty kingdome as he hath Otherwise it is impossible that he should rule his people according to his will and subdue his enimies to make them his footstoole considering that they are Principallities and powers and the greatest Potentates of this world For what man or Angell is able to ouercome all the diuels in hell rushing vpon him at once together and to withstand the whole army of mankind assaulting him together with them with their whole power and force Surely none he must be a God that must doe it And therefore was Christ chosen for this purpose who is a God as well as man for his qualities belonging vnto his Person because he is indued with most singular giftes and graces fit for gouernement Iethro in his counsell to Moses required but foure things in a Gouernour namely courage the feare of God true dealing and the hating of couetousnesse as we may see in Exod. 1 S 21. But here in Christ the chiefe gouernour of all we shall finde as many more for besides these foure you shall haue in him foure more namely wisedome diligence bounty and loue So that in number there are eight The first is courage for he feares no man as being the Lord of Lords the God of Gods according to his name which is written on his garment and thighs in Reu. 19.16 The second is the feare of God for he reuerenced his Father and was obedient vnto him euen vnto the very death of the crosse Phil. 2.8 The third is iustice or true dealing for the Scepter of his kingdome is a Scepter of righteousnesse and he himselfe is one louing righteousnesse and hating iniquity Heb. 8.1.9 The fourth is hating couetousnesse for he neuer receiued any bribes or recompence for all the cures he did but he became poore that he might make vs rich 2. Cor. 8.9 The fift is wisdome for in him are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Col. 2.3 The sixt is diligence for he was so painefull that he trauelled from place to place to doe good and left his owne foode to go about his Fathers businesse Ioh. 4.34 And he is brought in by Iohn in the Reuelations Chapter 1.13 standing in the midst of the seuen Candlestickes which are the seuen Churches there busily occupied in gouerning them as a man is when his garment is about him and trust vp with some girdle that it may not trouble or hinder him in the execution of his businesse The seuenth is bountifulnesse or liberality for he doth not
to account for such For our selues if we flie the corruption which is in the world through lust and giue all diligence thereunto ioyning moreouer vertue with our faith and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance and with temperance patience and with patience godlinesse and with godlinesse brotherly kindnesse and with brotherly kindnesse loue we may assure our owne soules that we are the children of God and that he hath begotten vs vnto life eternall as Peter doth well declare in the first chapter of his second Epistle the 10. and 11. verses thereof For others we are to take them onely for the children of God who walke not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit and do become new creatures performing the same holy duties with vs whereof mention was made out of Peter last of all But if either we our selues or others faile herein leading wicked or loose liues we may tremble and feare but we must not challenge this prerogatiue vnto our selues to be called the sonnes of God nor giue it vnto others that are vnworthy of the same For as God is holy so are all those holy who are borne of him but as for the rest who are wicked and naught they belong to the Diuell who was a sinner from the beginning as Iohn doth teach vs in the place before alleaged Wherefore looke to your selues that you may be boly and righteous rising from the death of sinne vnto the life of righteousnesse that thereby you may be assured that God is your father and that he hath begotten you and beware also what title and appellation you giue vnto others that none may be wronged but euery one may haue that which doth of right belong vnto him Hauing thus spoken of the person of Christ or his sonne-ship now we are to speake of his office or princely kingdome wherein is set downe first the largenesse of it in the 8. verse then secondly the inuincible power of it in the 9. verse In handling these things I will be as briefe as I can In describing the largenesse of it there is included a duty which he must performe namely prayer then the fruit of it which is a great and large gift I will ioyne both these together for breuities sake Aske of me saith the text these are the words of God the Father inuiting Dauid or Christ to aske somewhat of him and enioyning them a certaine duty to performe if they would haue their kingdomes enlarged The words following containe the gift it selfe which God would bestow vpon them vpon their prayer and petition which they should make vnto him And I will giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the ends of the earth for thy possession A worthy reward of such a small duty as prayer is and a gift as we say most worthy of a king Surely as God is such is his gift For as he is great and mighty so is his gift here great and mighty It is obserued of Alexander the Great that he gaue to one Perillus for the marriage of his daughter fiftie talents and when Perillus told him that it was too much by halfe he answered him and sayd If halfe be enough for thee to take yet it is not enough for me to giue And in like manner when he had giuen vnto a poore Aegyptian a rich and populous citie and the Aegyptian stood all astonished at it supposing that he had mocked him Take quoth he to him that which I giue thee for if thou art Bias that demandest I am Alexander that giueth Thus he would giue gifts according to his owne ability and power So euen so doth the Lord our God deale here he doth bestow his gifts according to his owne ability and power Though halfe a kingdome be a great gift yet a whole kingdome is but a small gift with him Dauid and Christ must haue more of him then that For Dauid who was but the figure and type of Christ had of him not onely the whole kingdome of Israel and Iudah but all the heathen also that were round about him as the Ammonites Moabites Aramites Philistims Amalekites and diuerse others all which were in subiection and became tributaries to him as may be seene by the second booke of Samuel and namely by the 8. chapter thereof But as for Christ who was the body and truth he had spacious and large dominions of him indeed For he bestowed vpon him not onely one kingdome or two alone but all the kingdomes of the world from one end thereof vnto the other as the Apostle doth at large declare in his 1. chap. to the Ephe. in his 2. chap. to the Phil. Wherupon Christ himselfe spake vnto his Disciples saying All power is giuen vnto me in heauen earth Go therfore and teach all nations baptizing thē in the name of the Father the Son the holy Ghost teaching them to obserue all things whatsoeuer I haue commanded you as it is in Math 28.18.19.20 Here I might stand vpon the largenesse of Christs kingdome and gather some good obseruations out of the vniuersality thereof as to shew that wheresoeuer we liue or be yet we are vnder his dominion and are there to worship him and that if we do once offend him and play a treacherous part with him there is no place of safetie for vs to flie vnto to escape his power and hand as who doth reigne throughout all the world and not in some places alone as kings here vpon the earth do amongst whom malefactors yea most vile and notorious traytors do escape oftentimes death and other punishments according to their just deserts because they shift out of one mans kingdome into another But I will passe them ouer to your owne considerations come to more neceslary points for our learning A duty you see here is enioyned vpon Christ that he must pray to his Father for his kingdome and aske the same of him Againe a large promise is made vnto him that if he shall so do he shall haue an ample one indeed euen such an one as shall reach from one end of the world vnto the other Vpon both these brances a man might seuerally insist and stand but as I promised before I will conioyne them both together that of two works I may for shortnesse sake make but one Wherefore the doctrine which is to be collected out of them both together is this Doct. that men must pray to God for benefits and that by praying vnto him they shall obtaine them Aske saith our Sauiour Iesus Christ and it shall be giuen you seeke and ye shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you For whosoeuer asketh receiueth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened as it is in Math. 7.7.8 Likewise Iames doth say making instance in one particular which is wisedome If any of you lacke wisedome let him aske of God which giueth vnto all men liberally and reproacheth no man
is in our prouerbe now let them bestirre them and with all hast let them runne vnto the Lord for mercie and grace before his wrath breake out and consume them Lastly by this we may learne what counsell and aduice to giue to others when they are in some danger and know not well what course to take to rid themselues there-from If any of them shall come vnto vs as the Iewes did to the Apostles saying Men and brethren what shall we do Acts 2.37 we may easily answer them euen as it is here Be wise and learned c. that is repent you of your sinnes and submit your selues vnto the Lord your God in all dutifull obedience as it doth become you This this is the onely course that you must take Doubtlesse no other course in the world can do you any sound and perfect good but if you shall once performe this all shall be well with you quickly as it was with Nebuchadnezzar who vpon his submission vnto the Lord was restored againe to his kingdome or as it was with Manasses who vpon his prayer vnto the Lord and hearty sorrow for his sinne was deliuered out of his prison at Babylon and reëstablished againe in the throne of his kingdome at Ierusalem or lastly as it was with the Israelites who vpon their crie vnto the Lord and the confession of their sinne were from time to time deliuered from their enimies and blessed with peace and abundance of good things Hitherto for the persons to whom the exhortation is directed now let vs come to the matter whereof it doth consist And that in a word is repentance and amendment of life as I touched before Wherein is conteined first the time when it must be had then secondly the points wherein it doth stand The time is present set downe in this word Now. Because they were in a present danger and were likely euery houre to be destroyed therefore the Prophet would haue them to repent presently and out of hand euen before those iudgements of the Lord did fall vpon them which were mentioned before in the 5. and 9. verses of this Psalme Wherehence we are taught this doctrine that men must out of hand repent and turne to the Lord and not deferre their conuersion from time to time but presently goe about the same Seeke the Lord saith the Prophet Esay in Chap. 55.6.7 while he may be found call ye vpon him while he is neare Let the wicked forsake his wayes and the vurighteous his owne imaginations and returne vnto the Lord and he will haue mercy vpon him and to our God for he is very ready to forgiue While we haue time saith Paule in Gal. 6.10 let vs do good vnto all men but specially vnto them that are of the houshold of faith And to day saith the holy Ghost in Heb. 3.7 if ye shall heare his voyce harden not your hearts as in the prouocation according to the day of the temptation in the wildernesse but exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulnesse of sinne Thus you see shortly the verity of the doctrine and the confirmation thereof Now the reasons of it are many but chiefly these foure First Reasons because it is vncertaine whether we shall liue any longer or no. For the yong do die as well as the aged and men are oftentimes taken away on the sudden Thou foole saith God to the rich man in Luke 12.20 this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast prouided And when men shall say saith Paul in 1. Thes 5.3 peace and safety then shall come vpon them sudden destruction as the trauaile of a woman with child and they shall not escape Many examples we haue hereof in the Scriptures The world thought themselues sure when they were eating and drinking but then came the floud Luke 17.27 The morning was faire when Lot went out of Sodom and yet before night were the Sodomites destroyed Gen. 19.23 Nebuchadnezzar thought himselfe neuer more sure then when he had builded great Babell but yet while the word was in his mouth God humbled him downe vpon his knees Dan. 4.12 And well was Herod when he began his Oration to the people but before the end thereof his departure from them the Angell of the Lord smote him so that he was eaten of wormes and gaue vp the ghost Acts 12.23 So that if we do deferre our repentance but one day yea but one houre death may preuent vs before that we can repent and so we shall be damned Secondly because the longer that a man doth post off his repentance and amendment of life the harder it will be for him to repent and amend at the last Can the blacke Moore saith Ieremy in Chap. 13.23 change his skinne or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do euill As though it were a thing vnpossible for a sinner who hath continued long in his sinne to leaue his sinne and to forsake it and so to become a good man at the last And surely with man it is vnpossible though it be otherwise with God vnto whom all things are possible For if we cannot ouercome a Lyon when it is yong and but a whelpe how shall we be able to ouercome him when he is old and growne to his full power and strength And if we be not able to bow a tree of sixe yeares growth it is in vaine for vs to go about to bow it when it is twentie yeares old or more So euen so it is also with sinne the longer that we shall nourish it in our bosomes the harder it will be for vs to ouer-maister it in the end yea it will be vnpossible for vs to do it For that will grow still stronger and stronger and we our selues shall be weaker and weaker And therefore it is good to go about the cure of it betimes as we do about the cure of such wounds as are made in our bodies knowing that the lōger that they be deferred the harder is their recouery at the last Thirdly because God is to be serued before all things whether the world the flesh or the diuell as Elijah the Prophet would be serued before the widow that fed him 1. Kin. 17.13 Seeke first the kingdome of God saith our Sauiour in Math. 6.33 and his righteousnesse and all these things shall be ministred vnto you So soone as man was created a law was giuen him to shew that he should liue vnder obedience from the day that he was borne in So soone as he is borne he is baptized in the name of God to shew that when we cannot runne to God we should creepe as it were to him So soone as he beginneth to pray he saith Hallowed be thy name thy kingdome come c. before he aske his daily bread to shew that we should seeke the sanctification of