destruction cometh upon them when God divideth their lives in his wrath Job 21.17 When their day cometh as a destroyer from the Almightie When they least expect it feare and a snare is upon them with desolation and destruction yea usually it marcheth so furiculsly that when it cometh they sue and seek for peace but cannot finde it Ezek. 7.25 And this leads us to the fourth Observation Fourthly Suddenly Sudden death never passes without observation it is at least a mercy to be sorewarned of our misery and not to stand upon such slippery places as suddenly to goe downe into hell It is a sad condition to be surrounded with snares to be suddenly troubled with â—eares and yet such is the condition of those that cast out Widdows emptie and that have broken the armes of the fatherlesse Job 22.9 10. What greater calamitie then for destruction to come speedily and suddenly to be destroyed without recovery yet this is the portion of him that deviseth lewd things and that stirreth up contentions Prov. 6.15 Would a man paint out misery to the life What can be more sayd to lay out the lines of it then Evill shall come upon thee and thou shalt not know the morning thereof destruction shall fall upon thee which thou shalt not be able to put away destruction shall come upon thee suddenly or ever thou be aware and yet this is the lot of them who trust in their wickednesse and say None seeth it whose wisdome and knowledge have caused them to rebell who have said in their hearts I am and none else vid. Esa 47.10 11. It is the Lords Threatning against those that have increased that which is not theirs that they shall rise up suddenly that shall bite them and awake that shall stirre them up and make them their prey Hab. 2.7 8. But to add the Expostulation Who knowes the ruine of them both Who knowes how sudden or in what manner The Scripture compares it to the pangs of a woman When they say peace and safety sudden destruction shall come c. 1 Thess 5.3 The Prophet Esa 29.6 Sets it out by thunder shaking a terrible noyse a whirlwind tempest and a flame of devouring fire Who can comment upon these comparisons without amazement or think of them without terror The danger is past before the report come in thunders earth-quakes and lightnings Tempests are ushered in by Halcion dayes or fairer weather and sire though moderated the best of servants yet if become devouring the worst of masters It is also compar'd to a breach in a high wall whose breaking â—ut comes suddenly even in a moment Isa 30.13 Which puts me in mind of the house built upon sand which when the storms beat upon it it fell and the fall of it was great But the Genius of the time admits not of long discourses This concerns the wise and great men whose office it is not only to stand in but to make up the breach and a word to the wise is sufficient I shall therefore briefly from Scripture lay down the sudden and observable destructions of the seditious and then apply it that others may hear and fear In as much as we spoke of two sorts of seditious persons and that distinctly in the doctrinall part I shall follow the like method in the Rationall and speak first to the advancers of Tyranny either by evill counsell or wicked practises Such hath ever been fatall both to Prince and people and have in some sutable and remarkable way found this true That their destruction came suddenly I shall begin with the mother of a King Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah 2 Chron. 22.3 She counselled him to do wickedly in so much as he did evill in the sight of the Lord to his destruction And observable it is That it is said v. 7. The destruction of Amaziah came of God i.e. was in a singular manner appointed and ordered of God For his perishing together with the house of Ahab was the reward of his unhappy compliance And for Athaliah she was slain at the command of Jehoiada the Priest a strange and severe example the mother and grand-mother of a King slain at the appointment of the high Priest She had broke up the house of the Lord and bestowed upon Baalim whatsoever was dedicated to the house of the Lord. When wicked counsellers violate Gods glory Priests have somtimes the honour to execute upon them the judgements that are written Though this we may admire not imitate The next we shall take notice of is a Treasurer Adoram the receiver of the tribute 1 Kings 12.18 Near in name and perhaps in relation to Adoniram who in Solomons time was over the tribute he is sent by Rehoboam to pacisie and loe he perisheth by the tumult they stone him to death well may their hands be ready to break him whose faces he had before ground to powder by needlesse and unnaturall taxes it may be he was such a one as made himself rich and his master poore and therefore judg'd a fit treasurer for the devill in the meantime know this that as cruell tax-masdters are unwarrantable so the punishing of them by popular tumults is unsufferable God is just though the instruments be unjust and perhaps ordered in the providence of God to deter men from such cruel practises when they see revenge taken without yea against Law by them upon whom usually the law gets little satisfaction But to come from Counsellers to Kings themselves Adonibezek Judg. 1.8 Though he had his toes and his singers cut off yet could point at his own cruelty in Gods severity as I have done so the Lord hath rewarded me And Agag the King of the Amalekites happy in nothing but that he dyed by the hand of Samuel had not only the execution but the sentence of justice pass'd upon him As thy sword hath made women childlesse so shall thy mother be childlesse amongst women 1 Sam. 15.33 Pharoah who had ordered the male children of Israel to be drowned did in the sight of Israel sink like a stone to the bottom of the Sea Exod. 15.5 He whose hand had been so heavy upon the poor Israelites in the house of bondage he with his instruments of tyranny sanke as led in the mighty waters He who shewed no mercy to men when they laboured in the very fire found no compassion from God when he tumbled in the mighty waters Jehoiakim who had slaine Vriah the Prophet with the sword and with contempt had cast out his dead body Jer. 26.23 was himself buried with the buriall of an asse drawn and cast forth out of the gates of Jerusalem Chap. 22.19 Thus those that walk in the counsels of the ungodly and stand in the way of sinners are never able to appear in judgment or stand in the congregation of the righteous This place would be convenient to handle the question whether it be lawfull to kill a tyrant or no of all that I have seene
A CHANGLING NO COMPANY FOR Lovers of Loyaltie OR The Subjects Lesson in Poynt of Sacred Submission to and humble Complyance with God and the KING Wherein Confusion is reduced to Order misery to Mercy Reproach and shame to Freedom and Honour Returne return O Shulamite Returne returne Cant. 6. ult In those dayes when there was no King in Israel every man did that which was good in his own eyes Judg. 17.6 LONDON Printed by M. Simmons for Thomas Parkhurst and are to be sold at the three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside 1660. To the Clergy of England Beloved THe last and great temptation is over You have been set in a late Declaration I will not say like our great Master upon a pinacle of the temple but like the Swine-herd of Stow upon Lincoln minster and all the remaining husks for the mast is gone long since you shall have and injoy if c. Is it not sad to consider that you are not only a covering to their eyes that are filled with robbery but that they should by the tender of toyes and tristes which yet are not theirs to give allure you into that confederacy which may not only wound your consciences but stain your profession with such a blot and dishonour as shall never be washed out Honest Mephibosheths resignation is a much better resolution Let them take all so that my Lord the King may but return in peace How neer have you been to suffer by divers factions and yet your lives and interests are maintained perhaps that you might live to vindicate that which you helpt to destroy Remember O remember Curse ye Meroz yea curse bitterly c. Now consider how are the mighty fallen Your words were more powerfull then the Souldiers swords you foresaw not the event it seems you were no true prophets and are now sorrowfull Oh if you had known God grant your ignorance may excuse you would never have cried down the King as a Tyrant to the ruine of him his family and kingly government Well you have still the same weapons and the good old cause the King and the Parliament laid before you pray for it plead for it but curse no body no not your enemies persecuters and slanderers that if it be the will of God there may be a returning of our wandrings and a healing of our errors in the procuring of which you may assure your selves of the constant and fervent desires and prayers of A true friend to truth and Peace W. H. TO THE READER GOod thoughts are the best company in bad times and holy meditations are not only a cure but a cordiall for a fainting soul under heavy destractions Sacred writ in the perusal of which we ought with care and reverence to be conversant as it is of divine inspiration so is it also of infallible consolation direction In the which you may be pleased to observe it is pleasant in the observation That the most horrid confusions have produced happy conclusions the most distracted Queries have return'd satisfied with most gracious Answers The Jewes being told plainly by Peter that they denyed the holy one and the just and desired a murtherer to be given to them were pricked in their hearts wounded with the sense and covered with the shame of their bloody act amazed cry out Men and brethren what shall we doe Their extremitie is Gods opportunity his mercy prevents the excesse of their misery their fainting question hath a soul reviving answer Repent and be baptised c. and you shall receive the gilt c. for the promise is to you your children c The Gaoler trembling at the earthquake every joynt of him being out of frame to see the foundation of his prison shaken more captivated now at the enlargment of his prisoners then they were when put in the dungeon and their feet made fast in the stocks feeling the terrors and seeing the wonders of the Lord cryes out Sirs what shall I do to be saved He that had kept them sure must now be secured by them or perish yet his doubtfull question had a faithful answer Believe thou shalt be saved c Saul afterwards Paul at first a persecutor at last a Preacher at first a vessel wherein was no pleasure but at last a chosen vessell and a vessell of honour stopt in the hight of his speed disrob'd of his authority dismounted in the heate of his violence confounded with the appearance of Gods glory and his own shame before so impudent that he durst do any thing now so humble that he will learne his duty cryes Lord what wouldst thou have me to doe God who had cast him downe that he might raise him up made him blind for a time that he might see better for ever after leaves him not where he laid him but raising up his soule with a most propitious answer as his body with a powerfull word bids him arise Go into the City and it shall be told him c. It is needlesse to tell you what condition this nation is in we are not distracted but distraction not confounded but confusion it self God and man may justly joyn in that sad complaint and solemn appeale Hear O Heavens and hearken O Earth I have nourished brought up children and they have rebelled against me A sinful nation a nation laden with iniquity a seed of the wicked and corrupt children may be the just and grand character of our nation and as our sin so our shame is increased as our rebellion and impiety so our desolation and miseries are multiplyed Hence it is that the head is sick and the heart is heavy that from the head to the foot there is nothing but swellings and sores full of corruption such as not only have not but seeme as though they cannot be wrapt bound up or mollified with oyl Is not the daughter of Sion like a cottage in a vineyard homely lonesome set up a little for necessity but neither furnisht for delight nor ornament like a lodge in a Garden of Cucumbers solitary whose furniture is scarce so much as a table a stool a bed and a candlestick or like a besieged City never more punctually verified then in our age the Vision is so plaine that he that runs may read it Are not the foundations of our government out of order hath not God overturn'd overturn'd overturn'd it have we not had what nation can say the like in few years a King and no King a Parliament and no Parliament a Protector no Protector a Committee of safety and no Committee of safety an Army and no Army and have we not now a strange kind of Synecdocicall power wherein a part no part challenges the principle and yet are not able to maintain the interest Are we not run into those straits that we cannot march on retreat nor stand stillwith safety are we not if I may intermingle a jest with serious truths in Tarletons
as he that blessed God that he was born a vassall to the Crown of England Barrabas was committed for sedition and murther Those two are not easily seperated Yet oh the misery of popular tumults how easily are they moved to put to death the holy one and the just and to require a murtherer to be given unto them Seditions against Princes and government established are not very many in Scripture yet some we read of as that of insinuating Absalom who saved the executioner a labour and was hang'd in a halter of his own spinning That of Sheba the Son of Bieri whose head soon after ransomed the whole body of his Army both against David The best Princes have many times the worst subjects their pliable natures are easiest abused and turbulent spirits having as the man in the fable by some concessions gain'd a handle for his ax in requitall cut down the Tree But of all seditions in holy writ that which the Apostle calls The gainsaying of Corah seems to be take it in all parts and under all considerations the most dangerous and desperate Numb 16. The Ring-leader is Corah an eminent person in the Tribe of Levi with whom Dathan and Abiram two of the sons of Ruben who gain into their confederacy two hundred and fifty men Captains of the assembly famous men in the congregation and men of renowne these gather together against Moses and Aaron and in plain terms tell them That they take too much upon them all the congregation is holy yea every one of them why then should they seeing the Lord was amongst them lift up themselves above the congregation of the Lord. Was not this recorded in sacred writ I could scarcely receive it for a truth being a faction made up of pretended religion and intended ambition Specious pretences countenanced by men famous both in Church and state so coloured and covered over with dissembled sanctity that even Moses and Aaron the King and the Priest must suffer in their reputation and honour and in the Vulgar account passe for Tyrannicall and Antichristian But true it is for truth it self hath recorded it and in as much as it is written for our learning We may learn from it First That innocence it selfe is no guard against impudent and slanderous tongues Moses though the meekest of men must passe for a Tyrant if seditious souls will dare to say others will be ready to believe it though there be no cause for it Secondly Moses and Aaron the Magistrate and the Minister are equally levelled by factions and as instituted at first by God to comfort and support one another as Saul and Jonathan lovely in their lives so in their deaths they are not seperated Thirdly That blasphemy hypocrisie and counterfeit holinesse ever ushers in sedition and rebellion All the Congregation is holy every one and the Lord is with us c. Fourthly That the grand abetters and maintainers of faction are not only bred but often eminent in Church and State Their enemies being usually those of their own houshold I shall descant no longer on this seditious subject may those that reade it consider what hath been said and the Lord give us grace to prevent that woe which is threatned against them that followed the wayes of Cain who slew righteous Abel and are lead away like Balaam with the wages of deceit ready to doe any thing for money and have perished in the gainsaying of Corah Jude v. 11. And this leads me by the hand from the Doctrine the word of Command My son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with the seditious to the Reason a word of terrour for their destruction shall come suddenly and who knows how speedy may be the ruine of them both What Daniel sayd of the Dreame let me say of this for the certainty of it it is doubled first by way of assertion secondly of expostulation of these in order In the assertion observe first The judgement threatned Destruction When Separation and Confusion is the worke what fitter wages then ruine and destruction Is not destruction to the wicked and strange punishment to the workers of iniquitie Job 31.3 Is it not Gods solemne protestation Ezek. 35.6 As I live saith the Lord I will prepare thee unto blood and blood shall pursue thee except thou hate blood blood shall pursue thee Are not the threatnings of this nature many Is not the vision plaine Though it tarry for an appointed time yet he that shall come will come Have not the children of affliction comforted themselves with these meditations in their worst conditions It is Davids Counsell Psal 55.22 Cast thy burthen upon the Lord and he shall nourish thee and will not suffer the Righteous to fall for ever But for the implacable enemies and treacherous friends of his Church such as maintaine crueltie and strife in the Citie such as lay their hands upon those that be at peace and breake the Covenant Whose words are softer then butter but warre is in their hearts whose expressions are smooth as oyle yet are they swords Such God will bring downe into the pit of destruction bloody and deceitfull men shall not live out halfe their dayes v. 23. But this is not all not onely a destruction but theirs is threatned observe Secondly A destruction appropriated as it were to the nature of the Crime seasonable to the time and sutable to the occasion in the punishment God writes the sin and in the penaltie proclaimes Lo this is the Man and this was his Fault Adonibezecks confession may be their superscription As I have done so God hath rewarded me Judg. 1.7 They either suffer with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we call them either God casts them into the same pit that they have digged for others or into another like it either he hangs them with Hamman upon the same gallowes or makes another very like it There is ever some conformitie either of the subject or some remarkable Circumstance of time or place Their destruction is mighty bitter strange great deadly compar'd to illustrated by and often joyn'd with hell it selfe Briefly it may be said of the seditious what is recorded of Corah his companions The Lord creates a new thing in the earth they are not visited as others are neither doe they die the death of other men God usually pleads the Cause of his servants before the sons of men bringing without any desire or endeavour of theirs the mischievous designs of their enemies upon their own heads and their violent dealings upon their own pates Which leads me to a Third Observation It comes unexpected uncontriv'd No secret plots are needfull to contrive that which God hath design'd publiquely to bring about in the sight of Heaven and before the Sun Mans device cannot further but may at least seemingly obstruct Gods resolution It comes many wayes how often is the Candle of the wicked put out and their