Die Veneris 19. Iulij 1644. ORdered by the Lords in PARLIAMENT Assembled That Mr. Vines hath hereby thanks given him by this House for the great pains he hath tooke in his Sermon preached before the Lords and Commons on Thursday the Eighteenth of this instant Iuly in Margarets Church Westminster it being the day of Thanksgiving for the great Mercie of God in the happy successe of the Forces of both Kingdomes against the Enemies of King and Parliament neere Yorke And that the said Mr. Vines be intreated to Print and publish his said Sermon which no man is to presume to Print or reprint without his authoritie under his hand as he will answer the contrary to this House Jo. Browne Cler. Parliamentorum Die Veneris 19. Iulij 1644. IT is this day Ordered by the Commons assembled in PARLIAMENT That Sir Robert Harley doe give the thanks of this House to Mr. Vines for the great paines he tooke in the Sermon he preached at the intreaty of both Houses at S. Margarets Westminster upon the day of publike Thanksgiving for the great Victory obtained against Prince Rupert and the Earle of Newcastles Forces and he is desired to publish it in Print H. Elsynge Cler. Parl. D. Com. I appoint Abel Roper to print my Sermon RI VINES A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE the Right Honorable the LORDS And COMMONS Assembled in PARLIAMENT At Margarets Church in Westminster upon Thursday the 18. day of Iuly 1644. It being the day of Publick Thanksgiving for the great mercie of God in the happie Successe of the Forces of both Kingdoms neer York against the Enemies of King and Parliament By Alexander Henderson Minister at Edinburgh Job 34. 29. When he giveth quietnesse who then can make trouble And when he hideth his face who then can behold him whether it be done against a Nation or against a man onely Published by Order of both Houses LONDON Printed for Robert Bostock dwelling in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Kings Head 1644. Die Veneris 19. Iulii 1644. ORdered by the Lords in Parliament assembled That Mr. Henderson hath hereby thanks given him by this House for the great pains he took in his Sermon preached before the Lords and Commons on Thursday the eighteenth of this instant Iuly in Margarets Church Westminster it being the day of Thanksgiving for the great Mercie of God in the happie successe of the Forces of both Kingdoms against the Enemies of King and Parliament neer York And that the said Mr. Henderson be entreated to Print and publish his said Sermon which no man is to presume to Print or Re-print without his Authoritie under his hand as he will answer the contrary to this House Io. Brown Cler. Parliament Die Veneris 19. Iulii 1644. IT is this day Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament That Sir Robert Harley do give the thanks of this House to Mr. Henderson for the great pains he took in the Sermon he preached at the intreatie of both Houses at St. Margarets Westminster upon the day of publique Thanksgiving for the great Victory obtained against Prince Rupert and the Earl of Newcastles Forces and he is desired to publish it in Print H. Elsyng Cler. Parl. D. Com. I appoint Robert Bostock to Print this Sermon Alex. Henderson A Catalogue of the Names of those Divines who have Preached before the Parliament beginning Ian. 18. 1644. to Iuly 18. 1644. At a Thanksgiving before the Parliament and City of London Jan. 18. Mr. Marshall 1 Chron. 12. 38 39 40. Jan. 31. Mr. Cawdrey Prov. 29. 8. Mr. Rutherfurd Dan. 6. 26. Febr. 28. Mr. Bâ—ylie Zach. 3. 1 2. Mr. Young Psal. 31. 24. Mar. 27. Mr. Gillespie Ezek. 43. 11. Mr. Bond Isa. 45. 15. At a Thanksgiving for the Victory over Sir R. Hâ—ptons Army Apr. 9. Mr. Ob. Sedgwick Psal. 3. 8. Mr. Case Dan. 11. 32. At the Thanksgiving for the Victory at Selby in Yorkeshire Apr. 23. Mr. Perne Exod. 34. 6. not printed Mr. Carryl Rev. 11. 16 17. Apr. 24. Dr. Staunton Deut. 32. 31. Mr. Green Neh. 1. 3 4. May 29. Dr. Smith Psal. 107. 6. Mr. Henry Hall Matth. 11. 12. June 26. Mr. Hardwick Psal. 126. 5 6 Mr. Hickes Isa. 28. 5 6. At the Thanksgiving for the Victorie over Prince Rupert and the surrender of York July 18. Mr. Vines Isa. 63. 8. Mr. Henderson Matth. 14. 21. Errata Page 1. line 3 for of r. in p. 6 l. 8 for in r for p. 7 l. 27 r. a time p. 11 marg. â—â—â— p. 15 l. 12 for he r. it p. 21 l. 4. for thus r. the To the KIRKE and KINGDOME of SCOTLAND Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Iesus Christ THree reasons have prevailed with me to set your Honourable and Reverend name before this Sermon One is That having Preached it before the Honourable Houses of the Parliament of England I conceived it more convenient to send it to you in Print then to direct it to them the second time and in so doing I cannot apprehend any danger of censure Because the ground of my Calling to joyne in so solemne an action was rather a Nationall concernment then any personall respect to me or expectation of any thing that could proceed from my weaknesse worthy of such an Auditory as is one of the greatest and gravest on earth In this therefore if I mistake not I doe comply with their intentions and still follow their respects Another Reason is that after so long absence not onely from my personall charge but from you my mother Church and Native Countrey I doe willingly take hold of this opportunity to tâ—stifie that we your servants for Christ who have the honour to be in this imployment doe bow our knees to the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ of whom the whole family of heaven and earth is named that hee would grant unto you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith a And that wee cannot enough render thanks to God for you for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face and according to our calling and measure might perfect that which is lacking in your faith b The opinion of the merit of prayer is abomination but the principall Theam and matter of the solemnitie of the day wee take for an answer of the prayers of the godly in the three Kingdomes and in all the Reformed Kirks And the desire we have to see you is not onely that naturall instinct which is to be found in all of our Nation whom the cause of God hath brought from their owne homes and habitations but our longing to come unto you with rejoycing bringing our sheaves with us c and to find you such as we would for now we live if yee stand fast in the Lord d
but also have enjoyed all the Peace and plenty that the world could promise This I speak as a naturall man and this indeed is the iudgement of the naturall man looking no higher then this world and the second causes But as the Messenger of God I may say had yee dealt wickedly against his Covenant and blest your selves in your owne heart saying I shall have peace though I walke in the imagination of mine heart the Lord would not have spared you but the anger of the Lord and his Iealousie would have smoaked against you q The other thing that I would to this purpose commend is that ye would remember that besides Haeresie which opposeth the truth professed by the Kirk and beside Schisme which destroyeth the Unity of the Kirk Profanenesse of heart and life which is a third pâ—st hath ever spoiled the holinesse of the Kirk and is a most high provocation against the most holy Lord God which we are all to strive against as vvell as against Haeresie and Schisme by joyning the povver of Godlinesse with the Profession and forme thereof r and by holding the mystery of the Faith in a pure Conscience s which some sometime amongst you having put away and that with violence done to their conscience as the Word dimporteth concerning Faith have made shipwrack t and have endeavoured to bring others upon the Rocks that they might perish with them Spirituall judgements are to be observed no lesse then temporall both because there is more wrath in them and they are more hardly discerned Pelagianisme of old and Arminianisme of late is the just punishment of a formall Profession Socinianisme of the neglect of the Sonne of God Antinomianisme of turning the grace of God into wantonnesse Anabaptisme of Baptizing of Infants in private and of the slighting of the Baptisme in publick as if it did not concerne the whole Congregation and Separation of the despising of the true Government of the Kirk so doth the Lord send strong delusions upon them that receive not the love of the truth and take pleasure in unrighteousnesse u I will not excuse the length of this Epistle because I intended it I am not bounded to a time in writing as I behoved to be in Preaching I am bold with you because I know you To save you from spirituall judgements to deliver you comfortably from your present troubles and to make you walke worthy of the grace wherein the Lord hath abourded toward you that you fall not and that you may be presented faultlesse before Christ with joy is and shall be the humble and earnest desire and prayer of Your humble Servant and obedient Son in and for the Gospel of CHRIST A SERMON PREACHED Before the Lords and Commons at Margarets Church in Westminster upon Thursday the 18. of Iuly 1644. MATTH. 14. 21. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him O thou of little faith wherefore didest thou doubt MUch is this day required of Your Honours much of You very Honourable and much of us all beloved of the Lord Iesus Christ In the times of the old Testament the Sacrifices of one Solemnity were much the same with the Sacrifices of another Yet when more feasts did meet together in one day as the Sabbath the first day of the moneth and the feast of Trumpets a all the Sacrifices of the severall dayes were offered in that one day which made the greater celebrity The Lord hath this day multiplyed his benefits upon us as the Loaves and Fishes were multiplyed in the hands of the Apostles in the time of the distribution b for no sooner is the day indicted to give thanks for one favour but we heare the newes of another that we may adde more fire and multiply our Sacrifices ALthough these words of our Lord at the first hearing may seem not to be much important to the solemnity of the day yet a twofold consideration hath led me to this choice One is because for some time past where I had occasion to speak in publike I have been expounding and applying to our present Troubles this part of the holy History expressing the dangerous tempest which tossed the Disciples of Christ at Sea as an Embleme and representation of the condition of the Church of Christ on earth especially in the time of great trouble herein following the example beside many other interpreters of a worthy instrument of Reformation who in the Idolatrous and bloody times of Queen Mary did upon this Text in the evidence and power of the Spirit write a large Admonition to the Professors of the trueth in England c And now being by Providence brought on to these words expressing the deliverance of Peter out of his speciall tentation and leading us toward the ceasing of the winde and calming of the tempest I judged them not unfit for the present condition which God by his mercifull Providence hath brought our affaires into at this time The Lord who stretched forth his hand and caught Peter when he was beginning to sinke and soon after made the winde to cease which moved them that were in the Ship to come and worship him saying Thou art the Sonne of God the same Lord even the Lord of Armies and the God of battells hath stretched forth his hand for our deliverance and when he will he can rebuke the windes and by his Word make a comfortable calme that all the three Kingdomes may fall downe and worship him saying with one minde and one mouth to the hearing of all the Christian world Of a truth thou art the Sonne of God which would prove a ground of reforming the House of God according to his own will For if they had knowne the Son of God the King of glory they would not have crucified but submitted unto him and done his will Another consideration also made me to fix upon this Text although it doth not hold forth a formall thanksgiving which is so ordinary in other places of Scripture that nothing more and that which followeth here afterward is liker unto it yet it containeth the materialls and layeth a foundation of the duty for it is a notable and seasonable deliverance out of a great distresse together with a most powerfull argument to enforce the duty of Thankesgiving taken from the unworthinesse of the party on whom it is bestowed Why diddest thou doubt O thou of little Faith The depth of our distresse the greatnesse of our Deliverance and the weaknesse of our Faith which hath made a great deale of doubting are fuell to enflame our hearts and to make the fire of the Sacrifice to ascend In the words going before Peter had not so much Faith as that when the winde became boysterous he was able any more to walke on the water for through the weaknesse of his faith he beginneth to sinke yet he hath so much faith that when he beginneth to sinke he
heads there is one kind of it like unto that in Ioshua Numb. 11. 27 28. and in the Disciples of Christ Mark 9. 38 and in the Disciples of Iohn Ioh. 3. 26. We are not free of this kind of envy There is another kind of it like that of the Philistims Gen. 26. 14 15. which is most diabolicall But besides these there be other two sorts of it set on worke by Satan at this time and which all good men would beware of One is of those that cannot admit an equall that would engrosse all alone Mat. 20. 11. Acts 13. 44. Another of those that cannot permit any to be preferred unto them as in Cain Gen. 4. 3. 4. In the brethren of Ioseph Acts 7. 9. In Miriam Num. 12. 2. In Saul 1 Sam. 18. It was foolishnesse in the women and people yet it was truth in the Nobles of the Medes and Persians Daniel 6. 4. 5. The Scribes Pharises Sadduces and people of the Jews Matth. 23. 13. Acts 5. 17. Acts 13. 44. 45. We have an example of both sorts in the Courtiers of Saul against David and in Pompey the great and Iulius Caesar f As it is one of the most common so it is one of the greatest evils in the world it being not only most opposite unto Charitie but the cause of Contention Mutinies Lies Slanders Sedition and bringeth a world of miseries from the justice of God No sort of persons have more need to be upon their guard against this Enemy then brethren amongst whom if once Emulations Hatred and Envy find place to worke division they become irreconciliable Like unto fragments of Crystall glasse which after breaking cannot be demented againe Because the smallest injurie where kindnes is deserved and expected and much more envie is judged to be ingratitude which is acknowledged by all who know the nature of it to be a manifest injurie and as intollerable as any other And of all sores of Brethren none have reason to take greater heed unto this evill then such as naturally are strangers one to another and of divers nations but are sworne Brethren if the fire of envie and hatred once begin to burne in their breasts they want the affection of naturall brethren to extinguish it The best remedy for such is the right embracing of one true Religion and religiously to remember their Covenant by which they are joyned to Jesus Christ and amongst themselves which will make them forget that they be of divers Countreys and Kingdoms and timely to resist all divisive motions the mother whereof is Emulation and envie which I heartily wish may be as farre from us all as it was from the Disciples of Christ at this time Setting aside therefore with the Disciples all Emulation and Envie all Admiration and Adoration of men Let us follow the example of the Apostles in that twofold dutie performed by them the one is the Adoration of Christ the other the Confession of Christ They have not spoken amisse who conceave that there be foure parts of the Morall worship of God according to the parts of the first and great Commandment Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and with all thy minde and with all thy strength Mark 12. Luk. 10. The first of them is the attentive consideration of the works of God by the outward and inward senses The second is the right judging of the works of God by the minde and understanding The third is the congruous and sutable affection of the soule by the heart which is the seat of the affections The fourth is the testification of this affection in our whole life by the actions of the will Amongst which for they be many these two in the Text are to be numbred Adoration and Confession which were the thanksgiving of the Disciples at this time and now upon our Deliverance are required of us And who is it that beholding the power of Christ in the greatnes of the Deliverance the wisedome of Christ in the seasonablenesse of the Deliverance the jealousie of Christ who will not give his glory to another in the sensiblenesse of his hand in working it the truth of Christ in hearing prayer according to his promise and the mercy of Christ in passing by so many sins and so much doubting would not adore this mightie wise jealous true and mercifull Lord When the children of Israel had heard that the Lord had visited them and that hee had looked upon their affliction Then they bowed their heads and worshipped Exod. 4. 31. After that the Lord had spoken to Moses of the Religion of the Passeover and the smiting of the first borne of Egypt The people bowed the head and worshipped Exod. 12. 27. When Iehoshaphat upon his Fast and Prayer heard from the Spirit of the Lord which came upon Ichaziel that the Lord was to fight for Iudah and that they were onely to stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord he bowed his head with his face to the ground and all Iudah and the Inhabitants of Ierusalem fell before the Lord worshipping the Lord 2. Chron. 20. 18. At the restoring of Religion and cleansing of the house of God the King and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped 2. Chron. 29. 29. And shall not wee when the Lord hath visited us and looked upon our affliction when he hath foughten for us and slaine the strength and first-born of our enemies when he is about the restoring of Religion and the cleansing and building of his Temple shall not we in all feare and reverence fall downe and adore before him acknowledging his Soveraignitie and our owne basenes and unworthines Let the whole Church Militant and Triumphant the twenty foure Elders and the foure living creatures men and angels fall downe and worship him that liveth for ever and ever saying Blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sits upon the Throne and unto the Lambe for ever and ever The other part of their thanksgiving is their Confession of Christ They give him this testimony of a truth thou art the Sonne of God This they all confesse and were ready to confesse before all the world which they also did afterward Of this testimony Iohn saith Whosoever shall confesse that Iesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God 1 Joh. 4. 15. which is not so to be understood as if no other truth were to be confest of him but because that maine and fundamentall truth was then controverted and denyed by Seducers and Antichrists The Lord requireth of each one of us according to our place and calling that wee confesse and give our testimonie unto such truths as are most called in question At this time it is required of the Honourable Houses of Parliament that they give unto Jesus this testimonie which is a necessary consequent of the testimonie of the Apostles That Iesus Christ is the King of