and in the unity of the souls substance there is a trinity of faculties the reason the will and the memory which being created in holiness fell away from the uncreated goodness of God And in the unity of Christian Religion there is a trinity of invaluable grace Faith Hope and Love whereby the relapsed trinity of mans soul is reunited unto the blessed favour of the Eternal Trinity of Gods Essence And these three graces I find most excellently delivered and explained by three of the chiefest Apostles the three worthiest Pillars of Gods Church S. The three chiefest graces exprest by the three chiefest Apostles 1. Faith expressed by S. Peter Peter S. Paul and S. John for as Faith is radix omnium virtutum the root of all virtues as S. Ambrose saith and prima quae subjugat animam Deo and as S. Hierome saith the first grace that bends and brings our souls to God and the foundation of all other graces from whence as from the root of a tree those fair and fruitful branches of hope and love do spring So S. Peter was the first of all the Apostles and his confession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou art Christ the Son of the living God was the Rock whereupon the whole frame of Christian Religion was established as both S. Ambr. and S. Aug. testifie And as hope is quasi columna quae totum spirituale aedificium sustentat 2 Hope explained by S. Paul as Laurentius Justinianus saith like the Pillar that beareth and upholdeth faith and love or the Anchor that preserveth the little ship of Gods Church in all storms as the Apostle calleth it and is indeed the only Nurse that feedeth inlargeth and maintaineth the very life of these graces So the blessed Apostle S. Paul was the greatest Inlarger and Cherisher of the Doctrine of Christ that we can read of for he caused the same by his own indefatigable pains to be planted and watered preached and published in abundance of places as you may see in the Table of his Peregrination collected out of his own writings and the Acts of the blessed Apostles and as love is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the perfection and complement of all virtues indeficiens thesaurus gratiarum an unexhaustible treasure of graces unguentum suave quo pestes animi sanantur oculi cordis illuminantur and that sweet precious oyntment which healeth all the sores of our souls enlighteneth the eyes of our understanding and sweetneth all those fruits that proceed from Faith and Hope 3 Love amplified by S. John Iohn 3. as S. Basil saith So that heavenly Evangelist and best beloved Apostle S. John is the best and chiefest expressor of Gods love to man and the most careful exacter and requirer of mans love to God again for what else doth he chiefly aim at in all his Gospel but to shew how God loved the world that he gave his only begotten and his dearly beloved Son coequal and coessential unto himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this Son was the Word and that Word was God saith S. Basil that whosoever believed in him John 3. should not perish but should have everlasting life And what else doth he in all his Epistles in every Chapter and almost in every verse but as the Prophet David in the 119. Psalm doth continually touch upon the strings of Gods Law so doth he as sweetly play upon the strings of Gods Love his love to us and that love which we owe and are so many wayes bound to render unto him And to his dying day when he could not go he would be carried to the Church in a Chair and when he was able to say no more his whole Sermon was ut diligatis invicem that they would love one another And no marvel for he was indeed the Disciple which our Saviour loved above the rest and before all the rest of the Apostles he was the chiefest child of Love as S. Aug. calleth S. Paul the best Child of Grace And therefore as S. Paul gave himself principally to magnifie the free grace of God so doth S. John wholly dedicate himself to amplifie the great love of God and as he doth the same in all his works so he doth it especially in this my Text which I may well call the Epitome of all his writings and it containeth these two things which contain the sum of all Divinity 1. Gods love to Man The sum of all Divinity two-fold 2. Mans love to God For what Is the end of the Law and the substance of the Gospel but to shew how God loved us and to teach us why and how we should love God again and manifest this our love to God by loving one another For to love God with all our hearts is the great command of the Law and to love one another as Christ hath loved us is the new Command of the Gospel In these two hang all the Law and the Prophets and in these are comprehended all our duties and all this is contained in these few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quia causae precedit effectum Wherein the Apostle doth principally aim at the main ground and chiefest cause why we do and should love our God This is the sum of the whole expressed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore must be first treated of Indeed if we do contemplate of those infinitely amiable excellencies and transcendent beauties that are so accumulated and resplendent in the Essence of God which is that light in whom is no darkness at all We shall find that as Nazian saith of Christ he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wholly desiderable and wholly delectable so fully invested with such attractive excellencies as are easily able to confound the senses and to ravish the desires of all that truly consider them Worthy men worthily loved for when we hear Abraham so highly commended for his Faith David for his Valour Solomon for his Wisdome Hercules Achilles Alexander Hannibal Caesar and the like such glorious Heroes celebrated and admired for their eminencies above other men we cannot chuse but deem them worthy of love when so many wise men as have written of them thought them worthy of admiration and reputed them the Worthies of the world So when we consider the glory of nature and the beauty of bodies which is nothing else but an apt proportion and a just correspondence of the parts and colours of these visible creatures they do so intice our senses captivate our affections and ravish our minds that our hearts are more present in their desires with such bodies that they like and love then with our own wherein they sojourn and live But what are all the Mights and Monarchs of the World compared unto God No excellency any wayes comparable to the excellencies of God but as Lambs among Lyons or as the leaves that are driven away with the wind blown down from their Regal Thrones
saith Lex non justior ulla est Quam necis Artifices arte perire sua There cannot be a juster Law 2 In retaliation of good for good then for him that diggeth a Pit to fall into it himself or that he that loveth War should perish in the War and he that sheddeth mans Blood should have his Blood shed by man so in the retaliation of good for good the same Law holdeth most just and more especially 1. In Giving 2. In Suffering 3. In Loving For For 1. 1 In giving Is it not just that we should give to him that hath given all to us And what have we that we have not received from God Why then should we think much either to give the Tenth to God or our Almes unto the Poor when the Lord himself professeth he that giveth unto the poor lendeth unto the Lord and whatsoever you do to these you do to Him 2. 2 In suffering Is it not as just that we should be ready to suffer for him that hath suffered so much for us The Apostle saith that Christ exinanivit seipsum though he thought it no Robbery to be equal with God Phil. 2.6 yet he emptied himself of all his Royal Dignities and suffered all the Indignities that could be laid upon him for our sake and shall we grudge to suffer the Losse of a little Worldly Trash or the bearing of some Light Affliction for him and for the Defence of his Truth and True Service that hath suffered all Sufferings for us No no when we suffer any thing for the Faith of Christ or our Loyalty to our King let us but consider what Christ hath suffered for us and what our good King hath suffered for the Defence of our Faith because he will not yield to deface the Church of Christ and to destroy the True Service of God and this will support us in all our Sufferings we suffer a little for him that suffered much for us 3. Because all men have not wealth to give 3 In loving and all men have not the patience to suffer yet all men have hearts to love God and they can have no excuse if they love him not because he hath so dearly loved them for if you consider all the Motives and procurements of Love which are very many as Beauty Benignity Bounty Wisdom Valour and the like yet there is none of these nor all these nor any other thing in the world so powerful to beget Love as Love it self neither is there any thing so available to encrease or to continue Love as Love it self Therefore the Poets feign that when Venus the Goddess of Love brought forth her first begotten Son she called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Love and when she saw he thrived not but was still lean meager and bloodless How Venus consulted with Themis about her son Eros she consulted with Themis the Goddess of Justice which was Mother to Minerva the Goddess of Wisdom to know the reason of the sad condition of her Son and she told her that she must bring forth another Son which she did and called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. Love for Love and then both her Children prospered and became exceeding beautiful and lovely So among men when we prosecute any one with Love it is impossible that Love should be lasting if at no time in no measure it should be requited with Love again for as the Coales Conjoyned will preserve the heat but when they are scattered will be soon extinguished so debet amor laesus irasci love when it is deserted and forsaken or left alone will be soon lost And therefore if we desire the Love of God to continue towards us we must resolve to shew our Love to God again for I will love them that love me and shew mercy unto Thousands of them that loue me saith the Lord Prov. 8.17 And so the Apostle saith we love him because he loved us first that is seeing he hath loved us therefore we are bound to love him where you may observe 1. The Persons We. We love him 2. The Act Love We love him 3 Parts 3. The Object Him We love him 1. The persons here said to love God are not the Angels 1 The persons that love God We. though they do exceedingly love him when as the Script saith He maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire where you may see three most admirable and transcendent excellencies of the Angels as 1. Purity of substance because they are Spirits 2. Readiness of obedience because they are his Angels and his Ministers Three excellent properties of the Angels and such as for their swift execution of Gods commands are compared to the wings of the wind 3. Ferventness of charity or burning love not only of one towards another but especially towards God because they are flames of fire but the persons here meant are men we love him i.e. we that are the sons of Adam do love him seeing mans love to God is but Radius divini amoris erga homines in deum reflexus a beam of Gods love towards man reflected from man to God again as Zanchius saith and seeing that where so powerfull a cause doth exist the subsequent effect must needs follow Therefore seeing God loveth all men it must needs be that all men How all men do love God Acts 17. in some measure do love God again that is as God is their Creator Preserver and Cause in whom they live and move and have their being and from whom they have and do receive all the good that they have so the Jews Turks and Heathens Worldlings Rebels and Traytors and all the wicked men in the world doe love God But seeing this love is too general and too base for all Christians scarce worthy of the name of love it will not serve the turn to make us happy but will deceive and destroy those lovers that have none other love to God but this poor confused general love Therefore 2. To proceed unto the stricter discussion of the act or the affection of love 2 The act love The Original cause of love twofold 1. General We love him you must note the same to be according to the original cause and ground thereof And that is two-fold 1. General as the many manifold benefits that we continually receive from God as he is the faithful Creator a wise Preserver and a bountiful Bestower of abundance of all good gifts upon his Creatures So the Reprobates love God 2. Special and in this respect the very Reprobates as I told you cannot chuse but love the Lord that is their Creator and Preserver 2. Special as the serious apprehension of our own infinite wants and miseries and of those Miracles of Love and Mercies which God hath performed to cure our souls from those Miseries Thus the Saints only love God by sending his only Son to
her will No force can prevail against the will and actual sins have so much dependency upon the hearts approbation as that the same alone can either vitiate or excuse the action and no outward force hath any power over mine inward mind unless my self do give it him as all the power of the Kingdome cannot force my heart to hate my King or to love his enemies they may tear this poor body all to pieces but they can never force the mind to do but what it will And yet such is the deceit of our own flesh that if the devil should be absent from us our own frailties would be his tempting deputies and when we have none other foe we will become the greatest foes unto our selves as Apollodorus the Tyrant dreamd that he was flead by the Scythians and that his heart thrown into a boyling caldron should say unto him That it was the cause of all his miseries and so every man that is undone hath indeed undone himself for Perditio tua exte thy destruction is from thy self saith the Prophet yea the very best men Hos 13.9 by whomsoever wronged yet wrong themselves as now it is with our gracious King for as Valentine the Emperour when he cut off his best Commander and demanding of his best Counselour what he thought of it had this answer given him That he had cut off his own right arm with his left hand so when the good King seduced and over-perswaded gave way though against his will to make an Everlasting Parliament he then gave away the Sword out his own hand So I could tell you of a very good man that is brought to very great exigency by parting with his owne strength and giving his sword out of his own hand and when he excluded the Bishops out of the House of Peers he parted with so much of his own strength and brought himself thereby to be weaker then he was before and so it will be with every one of us and it may be in a higher misprision then with our King if we look not well unto our selves and take heed lest in seeking to preserve our bodies we destroy our own souls or to save our estates we make shipwrack of our faith or especially to uphold an earthly Rule or Kingdome we expose to ruine the spiritual Kingdome of Christ which is the Church of God as you know how the Parliament do it at this day And therefore the Spaniards prayer is very good Dios mi guarda mi de mi O my God defend me from my self that I do not destroy my self and Saint Augustine upon the words of the Psalmist Deliver me from the wicked man demanding who was that wicked man Answ it was a seipso and so the wisest Philosophers have given us many Precepts to beware of our selves And he that can do so Latius regnat avidum domando Spiritum Horatius quam si lybiam remotis Gadibus jungat uterque paenus Serviat uni doth more and ruleth better then he that reigneth from the Southern Lybia to the Northern Pole so hard it is for man under all the cope of Heaven to find any one that truly loves him But God is Verax veritas true and the truth it self and as Hugo saith Veritas est sine fallacia faelicitas sine miseria he is Truth without Deceit that neither can deceive not be deceived and as this our Apostle saith God is love and the Fountain of all true love and he is sweet he is wise and he is strong 1 John 4.8 How God loveth us and how sweet and gracious his love is therefore S. Bern. saith that he loveth sweetly wisely and strongly Dulciter quia carnem induit sapienter quia culpam cavit fortiter quia mortem sustinuit sweetly because he was made man to have a fellow-feeling of our miseries wisely because he did avoid sin that he might be able to help us and strongly because his love was as strong as death when rather then he would lessen his love unto us he would lose his life for us And therefore of all that pretend to love us God alone is the onely pure and truly perfect lover 2. For the affection it is love for God loved us and love 2 The affection Love comprehendeth three things as it is in the creatures is a passion better perceived by the lover then it can be expressed by any other and it comprehendeth three things 1. A liking to the thing beloved 2. A desire to enjoy it And 3. A contentment in it as when the Father saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as others think of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth to be fully and perfectly satisfied in the thing loved as Phavorinus testifieth And so though the affection of love is not the same in God as it is in us because he is a Spirit most simple without passion and we are often-times transported and swallowed up of this affection yet in the love of God we finde these three things most perfectly contained 3 Things contained in the love of God 1. An Eternal benevolence or purpose to do good unto his creatures 2. An Actual beneficence and performance of that good unto them 3. A Delightful complacency or contented delight in the things beloved as the Lord loveth him that followeth after righteousness that is he taketh delight and pleasure in all righteous livers and as he hateth the ungodly so he loveth the righteous and taketh delight in them and in their just and righteous dealing But because love is an inward affection that can hardly be discerned without some outward demonstration of the same and that as S. Gregory saith Probatio dilectionis exhibitio est operis the trial of our love is seen by our actions which testifie our love far better then our words How God imanifesteth his love many wayes when we see too too many that profess to love us when they labour to destroy us as the rebels pray for the King when they fight against him so finely can the Devil deceive us therefore God manifested his love by many manifold arguments As 1. Way 1 By screating things of nothing and making them so perfectly good that when himself had considered them all he saw that they were all exceeding good 2. Way 2 By preserving all things that they return not to nothing Quia fundavit Deus mundum supranihilum ut mundus fundaret se supra Deum because God laid the foundations of the world upon nothing that the world might wholly rely upon God who is the basis that beareth up all things with his mighty word and more particularly in preserving not onely the righteous but even the wicked also from many evils both of Sin and Punishment for did not God withhold and restrain the very reprobates even
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more and above all other his creatures whatsoever And here you must observe also that amongst men as the glory of all Starres or the beauty of all Flowers is not the same when as every Star is not a Phoebus and every Flower is not a Lilly so the love of God doth not appear alike to all men for I love them that love me and I will shew mercy on them that love me and keep my commandements saith the Lord but the ungodly and him that delighteth in wickedness doth his soul abhor And thus not onely the Elect are beloved better then the Reprobates and the Saints better then Sinners but among the very chosen Saints God loveth some better then others for every like loveth his like and therefore God embraceth them with a greater love whom he vouchsafeth to make and findeth them willing and most yielding to be the more like unto himself and so he loveth those that are the better more then those that are less good as the more we excell in Vertue and Goodnesse the more dearly doth God love us so he loved Abraham among the Patriarchs Moses among the Prophets David among the Kings and this beloved Disciple among the Apostles more as it seemeth then any other and so the blessed Virgin whom all generations shall call blessed was highly beloved and loved more then any of all the daughters of men And of this gradation of Gods love S. Aug. saith Omnia diligit Deus quae fecit God loveth all that he made and among them he loveth rather the reasonable creatures and of these he loveth them more which are the members of his Son and most of all his onely begotten Son And this greater love of God to some men more then to others besides those internal graces of Faith Hope Love Patience and the like which he giveth to the Elect Mark 4.11 and not to the Reprobates Quia vobis datum est because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdome of heaven but to others not because they will not accept of them when they are offered God manifesteth the same to all men by two outward infallible demonstrations 1. The donation of his graces 2. The preservation of their persons For 1. There is no man but might consider how God hath bestowed more excellent gifts and graces on himself 1 God giveth his Gifts and Graces severally and differently then he hath done to many others as either Health or Wealth or Honour or some other gift that the meanest man hath which many others have not or if not yet seeing God out of his greater love to some men more then to others bestoweth on some five Talents when he bestoweth on others but two or but one and maketh some men Princes and others Peasants or indueth some men with Learning and Knowledge when he leaveth others ignorant and foolish and so maketh some men rich when as many others are very poor Why should our eyes be evil because he is good For Cum huic fit misericordia tibi non fit injuria when as herein he doth but shew mercy unto one and injury unto none Why should we not rather consider that he may love whom he will and shew mercy on whom he will have mercy and so do what he will with his own especially seeing we know not why he doth what he doth 2. God doth guide some men with his counsel that they run not with the wicked Ps 37.24 Rom. 1. into the same excess of riot as they do for seeing by nature we are all equally indifferent and equally inclined to all sins Repleti omni injustitia saith the Apostle How comes it to pass that some men abstain from odious Rebellions and other impious abominations and abominable impieties that many wicked men do perpetrate Is it from out selves and from the goodness of our Natures or the sweetness of our dispositions No no it is from God that giveth his grace and holy Spirit unto some that are willing and ready to receive it when God offereth it unto them rather then to others that refuse to answer when he calleth and to accept his gifts and graces when he offereth the same unto them so God preserved Noah from partaking with the wickedness of the old world Lot from following after the abominations of the Sodomites Joseph from consenting to the lewd inticements of his Mistress and the like and so he doth preserve them that he loves from imitating the wicked in their odious sins because these men love God again are ready and willing to be preserved by God for did not the blessed God work this happy change in our souls and the Father of Lights illuminate our minds with a more distinct knowledge of his grace we might have groped and flumbled in a thicker mist of stupidity then now befools our unnurtured brethren and whatsoever is either odious or ridiculons in them might have beene farre more prodigious in us And so S. Aug. doth most excellently confess it saying tentator defuit Satan was away and time and place was wanting to do the deed but this was thy doing to preserve me the Tempter came in time and place convenient Aug. Soliloqu L. 16. but then thou withheldest me from consenting So when I had a will I wanted ability and when I had ability I wanted opportunity and all this was from thy blessed Spirit that preserved me And this preservation of us from evil Prov. 1. is offered by the goodness of God unto the wicked but that they refuse it as the wise man sheweth and the Scripture testifieth in many places And as God preserveth those that he loveth from the sins so he delivereth them also from the punishments of sin for though misfortune shall slay the ungodly yet as the Prophet saith God preserveth the righteous And though the plagues of God shall range and rage so far against the wicked that thousands of them shall fall besides the godly and ten thousands on his right hand yet it shall not come nigh him because God giveth his Angels charge over those that he loveth and they do preserve them in all their wayes that they dash not their foot against a stone And here in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the persons on whom God shewed so many testimonies of his abundant love to some more then to others I may and must put our selves before many thousands of others that perhaps deserved the same far better then we do For whereas all other places that had the truth of the Protestant Religion amongst them have now their Candlesticks removed and the true publick service of God metamorphosed and corrupted with lyes heresies and blasphemies we alone of all our Kings Dominion have the true light and the publick service of God shining in the right Candlestick and with Authority maintained And I humbly beseech Almighty God that our sins unthankfulness and unworthiness do not ere long deprive us
we were thus filled with malice swelled with enmity and opposite to all amity to all verity to all goodness when we lay polluted in our own blood as the Prop. Ezek. saith Ez. 6.6 were enemies unto God and were as the Ap. speaketh dead in trespasses sins having hearts but no hearts to love him having souls Eph. 2.1 but no souls to long for him and having bodies but no bodies to serve him but such as were breathing out slaughters against him as Saul was breathing the like against the Church Acts 9.1 and when we were no more willing to yield him any the least jot of true love or holy affection then dead bodies are able to perform the most honourable action God then pittied our miseries and had compassion of our unworthiness and as S. Aug. saith etiam non dilectus dilexit out of his abundant goodness without any other motive he loved us when we thus hated wronged and abused him continually provoking him to anger with our continual abominations and yet he doth not say with the Poet Odero si potero si non invitus amabo I love them against my will but indignos amavi I have freely loved them that are so worthy of my hate and so unworthy of my love And therefore here is love and the love of loves and the wonder of all wonders to prosecute them with love that persecuted him with hate and so mercifully to give his only Son to save their lives that so causlesly and maliciously put his Son whom he so dearly loved to a most direful and a most shameful death And therefore as David directeth his 45. Psalm which is Epithalamium Christi sponsae or Canticum amicanum a Song of Loves to the chief Musitian upon Shoshannim or to him that excelleth in Musick So must I leave this great love of God to be amplified by him that is vates amorum the Disciple of Love not he that termed himself so but he that was so indeed the Disciple which our Saviour loved And so I will descend unto the second part of this text which is Pars 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nos diligimus eum as Catharinus Calv. Beza Tremel and abundance more do read it or diligamus eum as the Vulg. Lat. Aquinas Justinianus Corn. a Lapide and all those that follow the vulgar translation do expound it which in effect is all one the Holy Ghost purposely using that word which in the original is both the Indicative and the Subjunctive Mood to reach us that what the holy men of God do all men should do the same that is to love him which is the second part of my Text far different from the former that being high and excellent this low and but indifferent that very great and more then can be expressed this very very little and less then should be imagined and therefore I can speak but a little of it and for that little I beseech you to consider these two points The 1. From the consideration of Gods love that he loved us 2. From the consideration of the time that he loved us first The first point teacheth us to love God again Quia amor amoris magnes 1 VVhat the first Point teacheth us i.e. to love God a-again De Lege Talionis Res dare pro rebus pro verbis verba solemus Pro bufis bufas pro trufis reddere trufas Buffets with blowes and mocks with mowes Dalton p. 180. Mat. 7.12 1. In retaliation of evil for evil Exod. 21.22 durus est qui amorem non rependit and Lextalionis The Law of like doth require no less then that we should love him that loveth us for even reason sheweth that Lex non justior ullaest there cannot be a juster Law in the world then the Law of Retaliation and so our Saviour testifieth With the same measure ye meat it shall be measured to you again and Nature it self teacheth us the same Lesson Quod tibi fieri velis aliis hoc fieri videto Quod tibi fieri nolis aliis hoc fieri caveto And the Eternal Verity saith Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets And this Law holdeth good not only in general but also in the particular retribution 1. Of evil for evil 2. Of good for good As 1. Moses that was Faithful in all Gods House saith If men strive and any mischief follow then thou shalt give Life for Life Eye for Eye c. which is to be understood not of private revenge but to be executed by him that is justly deputed to execute vengeance upon the evil doers And so we find it executed both by God and men for the Old world that filled the Earth with a Deluge of all wickedness God brought a Deluge of Water to wash the same clean away and the Sodomites that burned with the fire of unlawful Lusts were consumed with Fire and Brimstone for the same and the Egyptians that drowned all the Male Children of the Israelites were themselves drowned in the Red Sea and the Children of Israel when they took Adonibezek cut off his Thumbes and his Great Toes and he said Judges 1.6 7. Threescore and ten Kings having their Thumbes and their Great Toes out off gâ—thered their meat under my Table and now as I have done so God hath required me So when Perillus made his Brazen Bull to torment others Phalaris thought it just that himself which made it should first tast of his own Invention And when Egypt wanted the wonted Inundation of Nilus and Thracius told Busiris that the Wrath of the gods would be appeased by the Sacrificing of a Strangers Blood and the King understanding by his own Confession that he was an Alien Illi Busiris fies Jovis Hostia primus Inquit Aegypto tu dabis hospes aquam He thought it the justest act to offer him first unto the gods So we read that those Lords which first called the Moores into Spain to suppresse their King Rodericke whom they hated were themselves and their Families destroyed by the means of those Moores and the Britains that rejected their Just and Lawful King Aurel. Ambrosius Speed l. 7. c. 12. and sent for the Saxons Hengist and Horsus to aid Vortigerne and his Associates that were Intruders were driven by the Saxons into the Rocky Mountains where they remain exiled from their own Right to this very day and because the God of Long Patience is a God of Great Justice that will render to every man according to his deeds and holds it very just that those rebellious people which call any other Nation to suppresse their own Lawful King should at one time or other either by that very Nation or some other be subdued and destroyed themselves therefore Subjects ought to think of Gods Justice before they cast off the Yoke of their Allegiance And 2. As the Poet
save us from all our sins And thus the true Saints that do hate their sins and lay hold on Christ do only love the Lord and the wicked that delight in sin and perceive not the sweetness of their Saviour cannot be said to love God for as the whole have no need of the Physitian and give no thanks for his Physick so they that feel not the sense of their own miseries and perceive not their Obligation to their Deliverer can have no love to God their Saviour Therefore seeing as the Poet saith Quod latet ignotum est ignoti nulla cupido And as S. Bern. saith non potes aut amare quem non noveris aut habere quem non amaveris we cannot love whom we know not nor enjoy whom we love not it behoveth us to search into our spirits to look into our own states to consider the multitude of our own sins and to bethink our selves in what need we stand of a Deliverer to see if this will not bring us in love with God our Saviour And then I beseech you Two special Points to be considered let us consider 1. What manner of Love we ought to have 2. How great a love it ought to be towards him And 1. I presume theâ—e is no man in this Assembly but he would think himself much injured 1 What manner of Lovewe ought to have if it were but imagined that he did not love God his Saviour and iâ— is not my desire to dishearten any when I wish from my heart that every the least sparke of your love to God might prove a Glorious Flame Yet I fear there be very many men that come into the world they know not why and live therein they care not how and go out of it again they cannot tell where but do live in it without a God and then die without any hope And others there be that dream of happiness and their hopes being but dreams they do therein but deceive themselves like those that dream they are at a pleasant Banquet yet when they awake their soul is hungry For as the Jews in our Saviours time did indeed persecute him because they were so blinded that they could not apprehend him to be the Son of God but for God himself they made full account that they alone and none but they did love him and for Moses vvhose very Name vvas the Glory of their Nation they professed to love him beyond measure so that vvhosoever spake any blasphemous vvords against Moses vvas thought vvorthy to be stoned to death Acts 6.11 John 5.42 V. 45. And yet our Saviour tels them I know you that you have not the love of God in you and that Moses in vvhom they trusted should accuse them before God So many Christians at the last day shall profess that they have prophesied in Christ's Name cast out Devils done many wonderful works in his Name rebelled against their ovvn King and killed their own Brethren and starved their own Shepherds and hazarded their own Lives for his sake and yet he shall protest unto them I never knew you i. e. to love me or to do these things for my sake but for your own ends and to satisfie your own desires and therefore depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity And the reason is Two sorts of the Lovers of Christ 1. Formal 2. Real that there are two sorts of the lovers of Christ and two kinds of professors of Christianity 1. General 2. Special That formal this real that in shew this in deed that ingendred by Education by Country by Custome by conformity to the Laws and Fashions of them with whom they live and by a common sence of Gods outward favours for Christ his sake unto them and this infused by an inward operation of Gods Spirit in the heart in all sincerity and truth and is continually preserved and encreased by a lively sence of Gods special favour unto them through Jesus Christ And you know that S. Paul tells us he is not a Jew which is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that which appeareth outwardly in the flesh i.e. which is but only born and bred a Jew of the seed of Abraham of the visible Synagogue and partaker of all the external Covenants of grace but he only is the right Jew which is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inwardly in the secrets of the heart so he is not a Christian that is but only born a Christian and doth but outwardly profess Christianity to come to the Church to hear Sermons to receive the Sacraments Who is the true Christian and to accustome himself to all the outward formalities of Christianity but he is the true Christian that is so made by his second birth and by that internal grace which is indeed invisible unto others but most sensible unto himself and who as the Evangelist saith John 1.13 is born not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God And therefore seeing God is not mocked and that he requireth truth in the inward parts and the exactest kind of love that can be imagined let us not mock our selves by any presumptuous conceits of our love to God and so deceive our own hearts and betray our own souls which is the usual practice of too too many men for if we love God as we ought then our love must be as the Apostle speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in purity in simplicity or as the word signifieth in incorruption i.e. such as neither the most honourable nor the most profitable nor the most delectable things in this world can ever be able to lessen or diminish the least jot of our love to God when with the Apostle we disesteem our preferments and our honours and whatsoever else the world could confer upon us and account them all but as dung in comparison of our love to God and the discharging of that duty which we owe unto him for so Abraham forsook his Country neglected his honour and was ready to facrifice his only Son in obedience to the commands of God and so will all they do that do truly love the Lord as they out to love him 2. For the extent and quantity of our love to God S. Augustine saith Aug. de moribus Ecclesiae that Modus diligendi Deum est ut diligatur quantum potest diligi quanto plus diligitur tanto est dilectio melior And St. Bernard saith that Modus diligendi Deum est sine modo The measure of our love to God should be beyond measure so much that we should prefer his Love his Honour and his Service before our Father or Mother or Wife or Husband or Children or Pleasure or Profit or any other thing in this World yea before our own life which we should be ready and willing to lay down for the love of him and the defence of his truth and service Qui
begotten of him And therefore it is the duty of all Fathers Filios colere quasiproprie vitae propaginem proprio exemplo optimè regere tanquam membra saith Marcilius Ficinus To love and to delight in his Children as in the issue and the offspring of his own flesh and the Continuance of his life and to guide them and instruct them by his own proper example as he doth guide the members of his own body And the Poet very divinely saith Nil dictu faedum visuque haec limina tangat Marcil Fic l. 3. Epâ—st Intra quae puer est procul hinc prooul ite puellae Lenonum cantus pernoctantis parasiti Maxima debetur puero reverentia si quid Turpe paras nec tu pueri contempseris annos Sed peccature obsistat tibi filius infans Let no unseemly act or unsavory speech be seen or heard where thy Children are and if thou intendest to do any lewd prank or to speak any immodest thing forget not the years of the young Youths but when thou art about to do it let the consideration of thy Children refrain thee that thou mayst not teach them to be evill and wicked by thine example And it is the duty of Children to love and honor their Fathers as those that gave them their very being and all the things wherein they delight that is themselves as Diogenes said to one that he saw despising his Father And they ought to imitate and to follow their Fathers in all the good things that they see they do But who were those Fathers of those Jews that persecuted the Prophets that we may understand whom this Martyr meaneth For they boasted very much that they were the Children of Abraham and very proud they were that they had Abraham to be their Father because as the Poet saith Vera quidem res est patrem sequitur sua proles Et leviter sequitur filia matris iter The Children are like Apes apt to imitate and to follow their Fathers waies whether they be good or bad and to become like their Fathers both in respect of body and mind because as another saith Scilicet est olion vis rerum in semine certa Martil Poet. Et referunt animos singula quaeque patrum Nec leporem canis Aemathius timidámve columbam Children commonly like their Parents Notus hyperboreo falco sub axe creat There is a certain power and strength left by God in the seed of things and each severall thing doth shew the nature of his begetter as the Aemathian Dog begets not a Hare nor the Northen Hawk a fearfull Dove but as Horatius saith Fortes creantur fortibus bonis Est in juvencis est in equis patrum Horat. 4. Carm. 4. Virtus nec imbecillem feroces Progenerant aequilae columbam The strong creatures beget strong breed as we see in Beasts in Bullocks and in Horses the strength and stature of their Sires and the fierce Eagle begeteth not a silly Pigeon So commonly good and godly Fathers have good and gracious Children and for the most part valiant and heroicall men beget valiant sons as Jupiter begat Hercules Aeacus Achilles and Anchises Aeneas Rom. 11 2â— And the Apostle saith that Children are beloved of God for their Fathers sake and therefore questioniesse à Principibus nasci praeclarum est It is a most excellent grace and honor to be born of honorable parents And S. James saith that Abraham was called the friend of God James 2.23 and God himself giveth this testimony of Abraham that he knoweth Abraham would command his Children and his Houshold after him Genes 17.4 that they should keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment And therefore it cannot be otherwise but that this should be a great deale of Honor and Glory unto the Jews that they were of the seed of Abraham and the sons of Israel who wrastled with God and would not let him go untill he blest him But though all good Fathers do take special care to make their Children good and say with the Poet Hen henâ— ut illud dictitant rectè probum Patrem ab improbo non posse nasci filium Euripides Disce puer virtutem exme verumque laborem Learn to be good and to serve God by mine example yet experience sheweth that the best Fathers have not alwaies the best Children for as what Euripides saith is seen commonly true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That a towardly son doth seldom spring from an untoward father because as the Proverb is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An evil Crow brings forth an evil Egg and as Theognis saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The rose riseth not from shrimps nor * Mat. 7.16 thorns of thistles So it is often seen that a good and a godly father hath a very lewd and an ungodly son as faithful Abraham had a persecuting Ismael religious Isaac had a prophane Esau dutiful David had an undutiful Absolom zealous Ezechias had an Idolatrous Manasses Children not alwayes like their Parents and the good Prophet Samuel had very bad sons as were the sons of Eli. And the prophane Stories do record the like Progenies For Caius Caligula the worst of that time was the son of Germanicus the best of that Age and Commodus that became a lascivious sword-player was the son of Mar. Antonius that was a Sage Philosopher So Chrysippus was the son of Gabrias the Athenian Carinus was the son of the Emperour Carus Licinius Galienus was the son of Cornelius Licinius Valerianus very bad sons of very good fathers And I believe you may remember some fathers in your own time that were good men and very loyal subjects and their sons proved to be arrant rebels and some godly Bishops that had sons little better than the Rebels And therefore it is most true which Ovid saith Non census nec clarum nomen avorum Ovid. de ponto l. 1. Sed probitas magnos ingeniumque facit It is not our Progenitors To be vertuous is more noble than to be born of Noble Parents nor the having of Abraham to be our father that adds any thing to our felicity or encreases our glory unlesse we approve our selves faithful in our calling and dutiful to our God as Abraham was and our good fathers were Nam genus proavos quae non fecimus ipsi Vix ea nostra voco The famous deeds and the worthy exploits of our Ancestors are none of ours and as the Poet saith Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus Hae nobilis Hector Alcidesque fuit It is our own vertues and goodness and not the vertues of our Fathers that makes us glorious and acceptable both with God and Men. And therefore seeing it is the imitation of their fathers vertues and religious carriage and not their procreation from their fathers seed that makes the children to be both loved and
scientiam zelati sunt sacriligi extiterunt in filium Dei they perswaded themselves that they had the love and zeal of the honour of God but because their zeal was not according to knowledge they became sacrilegious against the Son of God and their fiery zeal to Gods Worship became as Saint Ambrose saith A bloody Zeal unto Death and like unto a Ship under faile without a Pilate that will dash it self against the Rocks all to pieces so it is when we rob and spoyl and persecute the true Servants of Christ for being as we suppose the limbs of the Antichrist But such and so great is the malice and subtilty of Satan towards mankind that he cares not which wayes he brings man to destruction so he may bring him any way either in being too zealous without knowledge and so persecute the good for bad or too careless with all our knowledge and so bless the bad for the good either by hating the superstitious Papist The continual practice of the Devil beyond all reason or loving the malicious Sectary contrary to all reason either by falling into the fire on the right hand or into the water on the left hand either by making the whole Service of God to consist onely of preaching and hearing Sermons and neglect the Prayers and all other Christian duties or using the Prayers onely with the Service of the Church and omit the preaching of Gods Word for this hath been alwayes the Devils practise To separate those whom God would have joyned together and to joyn those together whom God would have kept asunder And therefore we should be very careful to joyn Knowledge and Discretion with our Zeal and desire to do God service if we desire to follow Christ 2. 2 The matter wherein we are to follow Christ For the Matter Points or wayes wherein the Sheep of Christ are to follow him they are very many but the chiefest of them are reducible into these three principal Heads 1. The works of Piety Joh. 2.17 2. The works of Equity 3. The works of Charity Jam. 2.16 Eph. 5.1 2. In all which we are to do our best endeavour to imitate and to follow Christ Actu ciffectu Bern. in Cant. S. 50. and therein we shall do the things that are most acceptable unto God and most profitable for our selves For the first none doubts of it but that these things are most acceptable in the sight of God And for the second we may be sure of it that it is better for us to build Churches to maintain Preachers and to erect Hospitals then to raise our Families and we shall receive more comfort to do Justice and to protect the Innocent and to relieve the Poor then by gaining Naboths Vineyard or heâ—ping Dives his Treasures unto our selves The time will not give me leave to prosecute these particulars any further but I pray God give us grace to prosecute the performance and doing of them throughout all our lives to the glory of God the discharging of our Duties and the eternall comfort of our own souls through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour To whom with the Father and the holy Spirit be all Glory and Honour for ever and ever Amen Amen Jehovae Liberatori THE SEVENTH TREATISE 1 John 4.19 We love him because he first loved us THis text you see is a text of love a Theam that filleth Sea and Land Heaven and Earth and as the Poets feign Hell it self Claudian de raptu Proserpinae when as the King thereof Tumidas exarsit in iras did swell with rage because he might not enjoy his love in hell as Jupiter did in heaven And yet the scarcity and want of true love causeth such plenty of great evils in every place for we love not God we love not our neighbours we love not our own selves for if we loved God we would keep his Commandments if we loved our neighbours we would neither wrong them nor oppress them and if we loved our selves then we would love God if not for his own sake which is the right love yet for our own good and our neighbours for Gods sake But for Gods Commandements I may truly say it with Nehemiah Nehem. 9.34 Neither have our Kings our Princes our Priests nor our Fathers kept his Laws nor hearkned unto his Commandments but as Ezra saith Ezra 9.7 We have all been in a great trespass unto this day and for our iniquities have we our King our Priests our Bishops our Judges and all of us been delivered to the sword to the spoil to confusion of face and to all these miseries as it is this day And for wronging one another if we consider all the oppressions that are done under the Sun nay that were done in these Kingdomes and the tears of such as were oppressed and had no Comforter when the oppressors had such power that none durst speak against them then as Solomon saith we may most justly praise the dead which are already dead more then the living which are yet alive Eccles 4.1 2 3 and him better then both which hath not yet been to see the great evils that are done amongst us And for our own selves we do just as the wise man saith seek our own death in the errour of our life and Sampson-like pull down the house upon our own heads as you may remember that when we had plenty of peace and prosperity then as the children of Israel murmured against Moses that delivered them out of the Aegyptian bondage and loathed Manna that came down from heaven so were we discontented at every trifle and so weary of peace and such murmurers against our happiness When the Articles of peace were published we were so discontented and murmured so much thereat that the ear of jealousie which heareth all things heard the same and was pleased to satisfie our discontents and to send us our own desires such plenty of wars and fulness of all miseries plagues famines and oppressions as our Fathers never knew the like and are like to continue amongst us until God seeth us more in love with his goodness towards us and our repentings move him to repent him of the evils that he intendeth against us that have so justly deserved them from him Therefore to ingender and beget love where it is not to encrease it where it is but little and to rectifie it where it is amiss either towards God or our neighbours or our selves I will by Gods help and your patience with as much brevity as I can How the created Trinity fell and may be reunited to the uncreated Trinity express the plenty of these few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mellifluous S. Bern. whose laborious work is like a pleasant garden that is replenished with all sorts of the most odoriferous flowers saith that in the Unity of Gods Essence there is a Trinity of persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost
from many sins they would fall into most fearfull abominations and did not he sustain them with his hand they would pull down many mischiefs and kindle many plagues upon their own heads 3. Way 3 By bestowing many gifts and favours upon his creatures as sending them raine and fruitfull seasons Acts 14.17 making the Sun to shine both upon the good and upon the bad and filling our hearts with food and gladness by giving us Health Wealth and Prosperity 4. Way 4 By that which is above all and beyond all the rest in giving his onely Son to redeem us when we were captives and to save us when we were utterly lost Seneca saith we esteem our selves too highly if we suppose our selves worthy that the revolution of Winter and Summer should be done for us But alas good Philosopher if thou thinkest it strange that the world should hold his course for our sake what wouldst thou think if thou knewest as much as we that God for our sake should send his only Son to suffer the most ignominious death of the cross to deliver us from everlasting death The inexpressable greatness of Gods love in sending his Son to redeem us for this love is so full of all bottomlesse Mysteries so transcendently infinite that all the other multitudes of his blessings heaped upon us in our creation and preservation are not worth the talking of or so much as to be once named in comparison of this blessing but as the light of the Sun obscureth all the light of the Starres so the consideration of this benefit swalloweth up all the memory of all other benefits whatsoever And therefore this is ever and anon shewed and urged as the chiefest argument of Gods love and as the most royal Present whereby the King of Heaven did so exemplarily commend his love towards the sons of men 1 Johon 4.9 for as the Apostle saith in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was manifested the love of God towards us that he sent his onely begotten Son into the world Why this benefit exceedeth all other benefits that we might live through him And the reason why this benefit transcendeth and excelleth all other benefits seemeth to be two-fold 1. Reason 1 Because That before our creation we had done nothing that had displeased God or opposed his purpose to produce us but before our redemption we had every way offended his Majesty rejected his grace and refused his favours towards us nay we had not onely slighted his love but we had also in all hostile manner done as we see others do now unto us rendered to him evil for good and for all his grace and loving favours we offered Wars and all despightful Indignities unto him Reason 2 2. Because in our Creation Dixit facta sunt he spake the world and they were made commanded and they stood fast but in working our redemption Multa dixit magna fecit dira tulit he spake many excellent Sermons he did many admirable Works and he suffered many intolerable Things and yet Solus homo non compatitur pro quo solo Deus patitur of all Gods creatures The exceeding greatness of the Mystery of our Redemption by the Incarnation Passion of Christ Col 1.26 1 Pet. 1.10 12. man alone regards not all this for whom alone God did all this And therefore this work alone was that astonishing project wherewith the invisible God blessed for ever intended in the fullest measure to glorifie all his Attributes even at once and to make himself far more admirably known by this then he was either by the Creation or the preservation of all the things of this world And this was that unsearchable Mystery that was hidden from the Ages and the Generations before in which God would make known the riches of his glory and which the holy men of God for many ages together longed to see and the Angels themselves desired 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most heedfully to pry into it So you see that God by innumerable wayes and specially by this superlative argument of his love to mankind doth sufficiently testifie that he loveth 3. For the extent and object of Gods love the Apostle saith that he loveth us 3 The Parties loved us Love what it is The extent of is The extent of Gods Love 1. Himself 2. All that he made and S. Austin defineth love to be a motion of the heart delighting it self in any thing And the better we conceive the thing to be the more is our heart inflamed to love it and therefore God being the chiefest good he must needs in the first place love himself best as the Father loveth the Son the Son in like manner loveth the Father and both of them equally love the holy Spirit and the Spirit them And besides himself God loveth all things that he made because all that he made were good Sin he made not therefore he loves it not but hateth the same with a perfect hatred But though God loveth every thing which he hath made That of all Creatures God loved Mankind best yet he loveth not all things equally alike for we finde that he shewed more evident testimonies of far greater love to mankind then he did to any other creature whatsoever for though he loveth his Angels with a very great and singular love when he maketh them his Ministers and these Ministers flames of fire that do continually burn with the love of his Sacred Majesty yet we do not read that he stileth himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lover of Angels as he termeth himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lover of men as Zanchy well observeth out of Tit. 3.4 And this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his love to man more then to any other creature appeareth more manifestly by the manifold effects of his love As 1. In creating man alone after his own Image 2. In giving to him alone dominion over the rest of his creatures over all the works of his hands 3. In predestinating his onely begotten Son to take upon him our flesh thereby to exalt the humane nature alone above all other creatures whatsoever for though the Angels were of a pure simple and unspotted being and we of a terrene corrupted substance yet as the Apostle well observeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2.16 he took not upon him the Angels but he took the seed of Abraham And therefore the Prophet David considering these many many testimonies of the divine love to man crieth out with admiration O God what is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the son of man that thou so regardest him thou madest him a little lower then the Angels but it was to crown him with glory and worship Psal 8 5. Gods love to men not equally alike to all men Prov. 8. Exod. 20. Psal 11.6 And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here hath an emphasis that God loved us men or mankind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
he devised the way to depose her and to set the Crown upon the right Heirs Head whose example we ought all to follow when opportunity serveth Or were I not so that we must renounce usurped power how shall we protect and maintain the just and lawful authority 2 Sam. 15 16. surely the people that followed Abso lon when he had the power to trample Justice under foot to possesse the royal City and to drive the lawful King to flie from place to place and the followers of those perfideous Rebels of Killkenney that so barbarously massacred the poor Protestants and so foully so falsely deluded both the good King and all the Kings friends and have now as themselves pretend the great power in this Kingdom may well be justified not to have offended if this doctrine may be defended that usurped authority is not to be resisted but to be obeyed when its power is most prevalent But the Apostle tells us plainly Rom. 14.2 that whatsoever is not of faith is sin and with what faith I pray you can I obey that power and submit my self to that authority which my conscience tells me to be against truth and without Justice But Tertull. ad Scapulam makes this most clear where he sheweth how tender the Christians were to preserve the right to the lawful Emperours and therefore though Albinus was most powerful in the West and Pisen Niger in the East yet the Christians would be nec Albiniani nec Cassiani nec Nigriani Yet this much I must tell you that where the right heir is not apparent as it was not amongst many of the Primitive Emperours who were often lifted up to that royal dignity by none other right than the Sword of the tumultuous Souldiers and unconstant cohorts and were therefore obeyed by the good Christians because they knew not of any other that had any better right unto the Empire the same as yet being unsetled to continue in any hereditary line or when the just Title to the Crown is not cleered as perhaps it was not to all the Subjects in the time of Hen. 4. Edw. 4. and Rich. 3. and the like doubtful claimes then it is not for every private mechanick or ignorant Rustick to determine the right to the Crown and decide the equity or the iniquity of such powers but as the Apostle saith and as it was most learnedly handled by a most Reverend and a most learned Prelate of our Church not long since in this place they ought to study to be quiet to follow their own Trades 1 Thes 4 11. and to do their own business and not to polupragmatize in matters so transcendent and so metaphysical to their Mechanick and Rustick capacities And in this qualified sence you must understand and not mistake the meaning of the same most Reverend Prelate in this place upon our last Kings day that when it is doubtful to whom the right of the Soveraign Power should belong or who hath right unto the Soveraignty then all ignorant and private men are excused though they resist not the Government that hath the present power over them but do obey the same especially by their passive obedience and likewise by their active obedience in all honest and lawful demands All which with all that I said before I say to clear the integrity of the said Reverend Prelates intention from any sinister apprehension of misunderstanding hearers But where the right is indubitable and the soveraignty not to be questioned whose it is as it is with our most gracious King whom all the Irish Rebels of Kilkenny and all the other Rebels of these three Kingdoms deny not to be their lawful Soveraign I say that what Power soever exalteth it self above him or against him which the Parliament of England doth not when it challengeth only a kind of co-ordination with him we are not to yield any obedience unto the same especially if the same command or require any thing contrary to his commands because as the Son of Syrach saith We are to stand with the right and in the truth and as our Saviour saith To continue faithful therein unto death if we desire to enjoy the Crown of life And therefore though the dumb devil may hold my tongue Rev. 2.10 so that I shall be able to say nothing of what truth should be delivered yet all the power of hell shall never open my mouth and cause me to say that untruth which my conscience telleth me cannot be justified because this love to the truth of Scripture is a singular Testimony of our love to God 3. The next sign of the love of God is to love the honour of God without which we cannot be said to love God 2 To love Gods honour 4. The next sign is to love Gods Image that is Man 5. To observe Gods Precepts 6. To hate Sin 7. A longing desire to be with God to have an Union and Communion with him for it is an impregnable property of a person loving to desire to be united to the person loved and therefore Pyramus loving Thisbe cries out to the wall that hindered them to meet together Invide dicebat paries quid amantibus obstas Many other signs of Gods love I should shew unto you and the impediments that hinders us to love God such as are 1. The ignorance of the incomprehensible sweetness and unspeakable goodness of God 2. The too much love of our selves and of our carnal desires 3. The bewitching allurements of the pleasures profits and other vanities of this present world and the like that do hinder blind and suffocate our love to God And then last of all I should shew unto you the helps and furtherances to beget and to nourish the love of God in us such as are 1. The continual meditation of Gods goodness towards us and his excellencies in himself 2. The daily reading and hearing of Gods Word and the reading of other godly Books that do incite and invite us to love the Lord above all the things of this World 3. Continual Prayers to God for Grace and the assistance of his Holy Spirit to encline our hearts to love him 4. Often discourse and conference with good and holy men about the goodness of God and heavenly things and the like All which I should more fully and amply inlarge unto you but that the time binds me to defer the same to a fitter opportunity and in the interim to pray to God for grace to abandon the love of this World and to love God and to encrease in our love to him more and more through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom be Glory and Honour and Thanks now and for evermore Amen Jehovae Liberatori THE DECLARATION OF THE Just Judgments of GOD. THE Man that was according to God's own heart the best Subject that ever we read of and the greatest Ring that ever Israel saw David the Son of Jesse saith that the LORD is righteous in
righteous and just Secondly I say that there is crudelitas parcens misericordia puniens a sparing which is cruelty and a punishment that is a great mercie and such are the troubles pressures and punishments of God's Children mercies rather then judgments because they proceed not from God's Wrath but as the chastisements of a Father to his Children so do these come from the love of God towards his servants for their good whom he afflicteth here for a moment that they should be bettered and not be condemned with the Wicked hereafter for ever Thirdly I say that the Miseries Crosses and Calamities Reason 1 that the Faithfull suffer in this World are not always so much a punishment for their Sins Reason 2 though their Sins deserve much more Reason 3 and Sin is the root from whence all miseries do spring as trials and probations of their Faith and Constancie in God's love and service for so the Scripture saith that God tempted Abraham not temptatione deceptionis to deceive him as Satan tempteth us but temptatione probationis to try him whether he would obey the Commandment of God or not when he commanded him to offer his Son his onely Son Isaac for a Sacrifice unto God and so he tried the Israelites at the waters of Strife and as Moses saith in their Fourty years wandring through the Wilderness to see whether they would love the Lord their God and cleave unto him and continue faithfull in his service and so he doth plainly tell the Church of Smyrna that the Devil should cast some of them into Prison that they might be tryed and they should have Tribulation ten dayes and that is either ten years as Junius expounds it or else several times as others think yet all to this end that they might be tryed whether they would continue faithfull unto death or not and such were the afflictions of Job and of many other of the Saints of God they were justly deserved by their Sins and God in mercie sent them for their trial What the former Doctrine teaching the us And therefore whatsoever and how great soever a measure of Miseries Crosses and Troubles we have or shall suffer yet let us not faint nor be affraid of them and let not the Children of God be like the Children of Ephraim that being Harnessed and carrying Bows and so well prepared for the fight yet turned themselves back in the day of Battaile when there was most need of their assistance but as we have loved our King and have suffered all the calamities and burthens that are layd upon us for our faithfulness to him and the preservance of a good conscience so let us continue unto the end and never comply with any of the King's Enemies in the abatement of the least jot of our love and good opinion of the deceased King or with the Factious Non-conformists in the dis-service of God and the new invented Religion of our upstart Schismaticks let neither weight of trouble nor length of time change our minds because perseverance in Faith and Virtue is that which crowneth all the other Virtues and if at any time even at the last we forsake our first love and change our Faith we lose all the reward of all the former good that we have done and do by our revolt testifie that we were not good for the love of goodness nor adhered to the truth for righteousness sake but for some other by-respects for our own ends that never brings any to a good end and therefore the primitive Christians could never by any means be drawn to alter the least point of their Faith Prudent De Vincéntio and the right service of God but as Prudentius saith Tormenta carcer ungulae Stridénsque flammis lamina Atque ipsa paenarum ultima Mors Christianis ludus est All the Torments and Terrours of the World could never move them to change their mindes But some man may say Objection Providence hath decided the Controversy the King is dead Victrix causa Dits placuit and the Parliament hath prevailed against him and all his Friends and therefore what should I do now but comply with the stronger side and use that religion which they profess and that form of worship which they prescribe and so redeem the time that I have lost and repair some losses that I have sustained I answer Solution that our Saviour Christ to prevent this very Objection that the Jews might make to terrifie the Christians and to with-hold them from the faith of Christ because they had killed him and he was dead and therefore to what purpose should they adhere to a dead Saviour and hazard their lives and their fortunes to maintain the honour of a dead man that could not preserve his own life because a Living Dog is better then a dead Lion saith unto his Servant John I am he that liveth and was dead and behold or mark it well I am alive for evermore Amen and therefore let not my death deterr any man from following me or believing in me so I say that faith and truth are still alive and though oftentimes suppressed and afflicted yet not killed and therefore the Poet saith Dispaire not yet though truth be hidden oft Because at last she shall be set aloft And as another saith Terra fremat regna alta crepent ruet ortus orcus Si modo firma fides nulla ruina nocet And for King Charles I say though he is dead yet he is still alive many ways and that his blood like Abel's blood being dead yet speaketh and speaks aloud not onely to God These things were written and preached by the Author in the time of Oliver but also to every one of them that loved him that they should not so soon forget their faith and love to him that lost his life for their defence and the defence of the true Catholick Faith and though he be dead he is still alive alive with Christ in Heaven for evermore and alive with us on earth in the good that he did bring to us in the love that he shewed towards us and in the good that he left amongst us and shall we leave him and leave our love to him and our remembrance of him and forsake our faith and prove perfidious both to God and to the honour and to the memory of our deceased King and cleave to them to say and do as they say and do that have bereft us of him and would have destroyed us with him No no let us abhor them and their evil doings detest their false Faith and hate their Wickedness with a perfect hatred And though we have suffered much and may suffer much more at the hands of these Tyrants that are our new Masters yet let us submit our selves unto them but as Daniel and the rest of God's people did unto the Chaldeans full sore against their wills Iames v 11. Job lxii 12. and let us yield none otherwise to this present Government