trembling but as we have out-passed those ten Lepers in our uncleanness so we may not come short of them in their holy fear and faith for as their fear made them stand afar off so their faith made them lift up their voices and say Jesus Master have mercy on us S. Luc. 17. 12 13. then will he give us such a purity as will not onely make us shew our selves to the Priest but also to our God such a purity as will wash our eyes to see him and much more our hearts to love him for so saith S. Peter Act. 15. 9. purisying their hearts by faith not a faith which costs the purse no alms the body no fasting the soul no praying for no true Israelite will ever offer that unto the Lord which cost him nothing 2 Sam. 24. 24. but a faith which so purifies the soul by knowing the truth as much more by obeying it for so saith the same Apostle Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently 1 S. Pet. 1. 22. this is the purity of the true Religion it purifies the soul not onely by faith but also by obedience and by love which yet are now generally farthest from many men who would fain be thought to come nearest Purity Thus we have seen Gods truth in his understanding his goodness in his will and his purity in his action it still remains that we consider his Liberty as belonging to them all for Liberty being nothing else but the dominion and power of action must needs be originally in the understanding which alone is able to judge and deliberate of what is to be done what not formally in the will which resolves to do or not to do but effectually 't is onely in the action which is the product of the said deliberate resolution this liberty is now briefly to be handled First as it is in God and then as it is in Religion for being the service of God Gods Liberty is seen in five respects in that he is free from sin free from misery free from obligation free from servitude and free from coaction which is the reason that he can both will and do what and when and where himself pleaseth I need not insist on the proof of these for to name them is to prove them nor can any man deny Gods Liberty in any of these respects but he must deny him to be God and in all these same respects we may see and must acknowlege the Liberty of Religion and to deny it to be free in any of these is to deny it to be Religion that is to say the service of God and to make it to be state policy that is to say the service of men First Religion is free from sin for the superstition and faction and profaneness and other sins that are so rife among Christians to the dishonour of Christ and the reproach of Christendome is a rust that cleaves to the men who are little better then iron not to the Religion which is as pure as the Refiners fire and therefore it is not safe nor fit to say of any order or kinde of Christians that their Religion is rebellion and their faith is faction though we cannot deny of too too many orders and kindes of men who profess Religion that they are both rebellious and factious Secondly Religion is free from misery ask the three children in the fiery furnace they will say their Religion had made them persecuted they will not say that it had made them miserable they profess that they were delivered into the hands of lawless enemies most hatefull apostates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meaning sure those of their own brethren which had renounced the Law of Moses and their Religion and helped the Babylonians to persecute and infest Jerusalem and to an unjust King and the most wicked in all the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus those blessed Martyrs will tell you they were in persecution the greatest that ever was but they will not tell you they were in misery nay it seems they told the quite contrary for none else could have told it but from their mouths that the angel of the Lord came down into the oven and smote the flame of fire and made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind but you will say these men were partial witnesses in their own cause therefore ask their persecutors they will tell you the same for the Princes Governours and Captains and the Kings Counsellours being gathered together saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power nor was an hair of their head singed neither were their coats changed nor the smell of fire had passed on them nay ask Nebuchadnezzar himself who was the authour of the persecution and he will tell you that though he had caused these holy men to be so much afflicted yet he could not cause them to be miserable for at that instant when he had thought they had been burnt to ashes he heard them sing in the flames as saith the Greek Translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that probably made him look about to see whence that melody proceeded and finding so sweet a breath to come from the blast of his fire he was astonied and rose up in haste and went to the mouth of the furnace which before bade him keep his distance in that it consumed his officers and called forth the holy and blessed Martyrs who having been delivered from a present death could not be looked on but as men newly risen from the dead Thirdly Religion is free from obligation there is no greater humane obligation then that of nature and there is no greater natural obligation then that which we owe to our Parents yet that may not be alledged to keep us from serving God so Aquinas determines the case Si ergo cultus parentum abstrahat nos a cultu Dei non jam esset pietatis parentum insistere cultui contra Deum ideo in tali casu dimittinda sunt officia pietatis in parentes propter divinum Religionis cultum 22 ae qu. 101. art 4. If our duty to our Parents take us away from our duty to our God as if the Father should command his son to turn rebel or Idolater or the like we must forsake our parents and cleave to God and shew the prevalency of that duty we owe to God by being undutifull to our parents in such a case again there is no civil obligation greater then that we owe to our Governours yet if they command us to sin against God by not speaking nor teaching by not praying nor preaching in the Name of Iesus we have our answer put into our mouths and God put it into our hearts lest atheism get possession there in stead of Christ whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken
and in the hand as Truth is opposed to Dissimulation or Hypocrisie Thirdly in its certainty or perseverance And of thy great mercy keep us in the same as Truth is opposed to uncertainty or to levity and inconstancy Religion then hath and must have a two-fold truth the first consists in a right apprehension whereby we believe the thing as it is the second in a right affection profession and action whereby we love and profess and do the thing as we beleeve and there cannot be a more religious prayer invented by the wit of Piety nor a more affectionate prayer practised by the zeal of Charity then that which is so remarkable both for its Piety and for its Charity in our own Church Collect 3. Sunday after Easter Almlghty God which shewest to all men that be in errour the light of thy Truth to the intent that they may return into the way of Righteousness there 's its piety towards God rightly descanting upon Gods intent in shewing the light of his truth to make men righteous not to make them inexcusable These things I say that ye might be saved S. Joh. 5. 34. not onely convinced saith our blessed Saviour and yet he spake to those who had not the love of God v. 42. Grant unto all them that be admitted into the fellowship of Christ Religion that they may eschew those things that be contrary to their profession and follow all such things as be agreeable to the same there 's its charity towards men affectionately desiring that as they have a Christian Communion so they may also have a Christian conversation lest their unchristian conversation destroy and disanull their Christian Communion which without doubt it hath done already in many ages of the Church and will do still to the worlds end unless God in his mercy fill our hearts more and more with this true piety towards himself and with this true charity one towards another And for this cause the Commandments are in the judgement of some Divines accounted practical Articles of the Christian Faith because if these be left out in our conversation what is true in it self of our Creed is as it were false to us since either our profession gives the lye to our apprehension and affection or our action to our profession for this is the difference betwixt speculative and practical truths speculativè practicè credibilia those things that we must believe speculatively and those that we must believe practically the first which are summed up in the Creed are truly believed if there be a conformity of the thing with the Understanding but the second which are summed up in the Decalogue are then onely truly believed when there is a conformity of the affection and of the profession and of the action with the belief thus they that worship Images do expunge the second and they that resist Magistrates do expunge the fifth Commandment if not out of their books yet at least out of their Faith in their Books they may be true believers but in their Lives they are in these particulars little less then Infidels Now see in what a miserable condition is the irreligious miscreant who so beleeves as to make void his own faith and so receives the truth as to make the truth it self a lie to him either for want of a sanctified affection in not loving it or for want of a sanctified action in not practising it and hence we may likewise see and must confess that not he who knows most of the doctrine of Faith is the best Beleever but he that most loves what he knows in speculatives and he that most practises what he knows in practicks so that a great Scholar may fully know the truth and yet to him it may be as a lye because he loves it not for to him it is what he desires it should be contrariwise an ignorant peasant may not fully know the truth and yet to him it may be the saving truth because he loves it for what is wanting in his head is made up by his heart O my soul glory not in the knowledge of Christ but in the love of that knowledge glory not in thy learning if thou art Mistress of any but in thy Religion to which thou oughtest to be a servant learning may make a man wise to ostentation but 't is onely Religion can make him wise to salvation Do not then with Pilate ask thy Saviour what is truth and then go away without his answer much less mayest thou turn to those Jews that help to crucifie him for if thou know these things happy art thou not because thou knowest them but if thou do them thy happiness consists not in knowing Christ but in practising him nor is it possible for a man to be long defective in his practise and not to be defective also in his knowledge since what is sinfull in the deliberate action is sinfull in the will and what is sinfull in the will is erroneous in the judgement or understanding and this is the reason that a man may be a heretick not onely in credendis but also in agendis not onely in Articles of Faith but also in Duties of Life nay indeed he cannot easily be a heretick in the Duties of Life and still remain truly Orthodox in the Articles of Faith as for example he that prays to a Saint or Angel in stead of God directly overthrows the first Commandment but indirectly also the first Article of his Creed I believe in one God for Prayer is a Sacrifice that may be offered onely unto God again he that wilfully dishonours his Governours whom God hath set over him directly overthrows the fifth Commandment but indirectly also the ninth Article of his Creed I beleeve the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints for being a Lover of division he is not a true beleever of that Communion and this we may take for a general doctrine fitter to be received then opposed First that any practical errour which is against our duty towards God doth tend to a speculative errour against some part of the Creed which concerneth God as he that doth not honour God as God doth in effect deny him to be maker of heaven and earth therefore saith the Psalmist O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker as if we could not truly beleeve him to be our maker if we will not worship him with all possible reverence and fear Secondly that any practical errour which is against our duty towards our neighbour doth tend against some Article of the Creed that hath relation to men as he that will not be subject to the authority of his lawfull governours Civil or Ecclesiastical doth in effect deny The Catholick Church and the Communion of Saints Thirdly and lastly that any practical errour against the duty which a man oweth unto himself doth tend against some Article of Faith that concerns himself as he that is a common
all even as the first cause hath a stronger influence then the second and all that come after it Will you then ask me why God rewards the best of men the righteous far above their deserts 't is because his mercy first made them men to be capable of righteousness and made them righteous to be capable of reward and that being the first cause must needs have the strongest influence Will you ask me again why God doth not reward the worst of men impenitent sinners according to their ill deservings I must answer again 't is the same mercy because that was the first cause of the creation and therefore cannot but have the strongest influence upon the creature and consequently though his justice do as it were force him to punish for his law must be satisfied either by our active or by our passive obedience yet his mercy will not let him punish to the utmost and hence comes in the citra condignum in the Schools that even the damned in hell shall be punished much less then they have deserved If you ask me in the third place why God forgives so much sin in the best of sinners the true penitents that he may discharge them from all punishment you must still be contented with the same answer for 't is nothing but mercy which having been the first cause of his working will have the greatest preeminence and the strongest influence amongst all his works nay over them all as saith the Psalmist his mercy is over all his works Ps. 145. 9. Deusnon miseretur nisi propter amorem in quantum amat nos tanquam aliquid sui saith the same angelical Doctour Gods mercy is from his love and his love is from himself he sheweth us mercy because he loveth us and he loveth us because he seeth something of himself in us nothing else being truly good and lovely in us but what the fountain of goodness and love hath made so and hence it comes to pass that where is the most of God there is also the most of mercy where is most of his image either by the first righteousness that of innocency or by the second righteousness that of repentance there also is most of his love there is some of his love towards the worst men because there is some of his image in them which they had by their creation but there is very much of his love towards the best men because there is very much of his image in them which they have from their sanctification We are all dull of our apprehensions and cannot easily discern Gods mercies by a right valuation but more dull of our affections and will not easily profess and acknowledge them by our thankfulness but the Apostle whose eyes were opened to discover whose heart was opened to perceive whose mouth was opened to express the goodness of God towards men breaketh forth into this great exclamation but greater admiration for us all O altitudo divitiarum O the depth of the riches who hath first given unto him and it shall be recompenced again Rom. 11. 33 35. here in the words is mentioned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in the thing is made good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sigure notorious in Rhetorick for want of words and so called because the latter clause of the sentence doth not contribute or give its part to make up the full sense as Exo. 32. 31. If thou wilt forgive their sin S. Luk. 13. 9. if it bear fruit where nothing more is said to make up a perfect sense but the rest is left to be understood from the silence of the speaker this figure is notorious in Rhetorick the very art of speaking meerly for want of speech but 't is much more notorious in Divinity the art of doing meerly for want of deeds for if when we have done all we are unprofitable servants what shall we say of our selves that we can do nothing this is indeed a true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for here is nothing to be given back again God hath given us all but we can give him nothing and that he might be sure to leave nothing ungiven he hath given us him who is all in all he hath given us himself in our creation he hath given us his Son in our redemption he hath given us his holy Spirit in our sanctification but who either first or last hath given unto God and it shall be recompenced unto him again If we give any thing to him 't is but what we first received from him and we cannot give that so entirely as we received it it came better to us then it can return from us so that we must needs confess all that is given is given onely on one side without any the least recompence on the other and consequently none of Gods gifts to man can properly come under the consideration much less under the claim of justice but all of them flow from the inexhausted fountain of his free and undeserved mercy by this mercy alone it is that he willeth our salvation and hath given us his oath that he wills it As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33. 11. which made the ancient Father fall into a rapture and break forth into this exclamation O nos soelices quorum causa jurat Deus O miserrimos si ne juranti quidem Deo credimus O happy we for whose sakes God hath been pleased to swear O most unhappy if we do not beleeve him upon his oath by this mercy alone it is that he inviteth us to repentance the onely means of salvation that in his invitation he condescendeth to our infirmities and beareth with our delays by this mercy alone it is that upon our repentance he actually delivereth us from the bondage of sin and Satan working that deliverance by his Son and sealing it by his holy Spirit and that altogether freely that is to say so far without our good deservings as above them so far with our ill deservings as against them so saith the Apostle Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus what did we do for Christ that he hath redeemed us what can we do for God that he should justifie us It is reasonable that we first shew what we have done towards our redemption before we presume to boast what we can do towards our justification Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit saith the Psalmist thereby shewing that the salvation he beseecheth God to restore unto him is as free as the Spirit whereby he restores it Eodem modó retinetur quo acquiritur no more merit is to be pleaded for our retaining of Gods Spirit then was for our first receiving him the Spirit was free when he first laid hold on us and is as free now he still upholds
THE TRUE CATHOLICKS TENURE OR A good Christians certainty which he ought to have of his Religion and may have of his salvation By EDVVARD HYDE D. D. Sometimes Fellow of Trinity Colledge in CAMBRIDGE and late Rector Resident of Brightwell in Berks. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. EPHES. 5. 1. Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ. CAMBRIDGE Printed by John Field Printer to the University 1662. To the Right Honourable EDWARD Earl of Clarendon Viscount Cornbury Baron of Hindon Lord High Chancellour of England and Chancellour of the Universitie of OXFORD My Lord YOu will pardon the boldness of this Dedication from one who is unknown to your Lordship when you have considered the consanguinitie or near relation of the Authour of the ensuing work to your most Noble person If we add to this a forcible tie or obligation of love his Autonomy his bearing the same name with your Lordship both as man and Christian likewise his assimilation or likeness to your Honour in the high accomplishments of Nature and Grace he being for his steadie loyalty to his King his fidelitie to the Church and stupendious science in all kinde of learning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that I may say of him what S. Chrysostome saith of another a prodigie amongst men admired by the most and beloved of all good Christians weighing all these particulars in the balance of my private thoughts I from them drew this conclusive perswasion that if my deceased dear Friend were now living and to put the ensuing Treatise the childe of his brain out to nurse he would have ventured upon your Lordships patronage who may style this learned work your own and it justly own you for its parent as being the copy of your soul and picture of your life what is delineated and set down in it by way of doctrine or precept your Lordship hath drawn out in the lines of your life by practice for it contains a lively pourtraiture of a good Christian and loyal Subject A Separatist may deceive himself by dividing these two and flatter his deluded soul with a perswasion that though he bears not in his heart a respectfull love to his Sovereign he may scale heaven upon the ladder of a bare title or with the outward badge of an empty name in that he is called Christian and challengeth Christ as his with his daring tongue Let such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self-deceivers peruse without partiality or prejudice the following Treatise and they will learn a better lesson it will inform them of this truth that loyaltie and Christianitie like that Eros and Anteros in the Fable are so twisted and linked together that as one cannot live or be without the other so he that is false to his King cannot be true to Christ our Saviour who in his word enjoyns us to be good Subjects in obeying our Kings just commands whom God hath set over us as he requires of us to act the parts of good Christians which is to imitate him in humilitie and charitie in sobrietie and meekness in pietie and Patience in love and obedience in brotherly kindness to all even to those that are under us That this holy frame of spirit may be wrought in the hearts of all his Majesties Subjects as it is in your Lordships it is and ever shall be the hearty prayer of Your Lordships most humble Servant R. Boreman To the Christian Reader GReat is the impietie yet greater if possible is the inconstancy of this our age God justly delivering us over to inconstancy because we have delivered our selves over to impietie The whole book of God tells us but of one Ahab that sold himself to work wickedness but our own sad experience if not our guilty Consciences must needs tell us of many thousands that are now riding Post to that market They chose new gods then was war in the gates Judg. 5. 8. expresseth the least part of our present sin and future punishment for we are daily choosing new gods to increase our sin and there are daily new wars raging amongst us nay within us to increase our punishment wars not onely in our gates to waste our estates but also in our hearts to waste our Consciences we have been a long time forsaking our God and now we are labouring to forsake our selves we would not when we might follow the dictates of Religion and now we cannot if we would follow the dictates of Reason or the directions of common sense we were at first perverse and would not know Gods minde we are now become stupid and do not know our own of this fancie to day of another to morrow and as it was in Jobs messengers The last is the worst or as it is in the outragious billows of the tempestuous waves the first do toss and shake but the last do drown and sink us and all is from fancy in stead of certainty in matters of Religion I say from fancy for the humour that is now most predominant settles not deep enough to be called perswasion stays not long enough to be called a resolution Good Lord is this to be Reformed Christians not to be firm not to be real Christians for they alone are the Real Christians all others are merely fantastical who sanctifie the Lord God in their hearts and are ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them with meekness and fear 1 S. Pet. 3. 15. There is not one word in all this text but drives at the certainty of Religion 1. It must be fixed in the heart not slaunting in the head 2. It must sanctifie the Lord God who as Lord changeth not and as God loves not those who are given to change especially for the worse 3 It must put us in a readiness to give an answer to every man that shall ask a reason of the hope that is in us which cannot be effected without great judgement and deliberation in the choice of our Religion and greater constancy and resolution in the practice of it for we must not onely answer every man that shall ask us but also answer by giving a reason of our hope that is we must answer by convincing him that asks us if he gainsay our hope or at least by confirming our selves against all his gainsayings for in vain do we talk of an hope of salvation that is in us from the belief and practise of our Religion if our Religion be so unsettled as to be shaken by the storm of a persecution or so uncertain as to be blown away by the breath of an argument the hope of salvation which we have or may have from the true Religion is a hope so fixed as to make us withstand persecutours much more to withstand sophisters for though it fills us with meekness in regard of our own infirmities and with fear in regard of our own impieties yet it fills us with
continuance for herein Gamaliel spake as the oracle of God if this counsel or this work be of men it will come to nought Acts 5. 38. If the counsel be to serve our own ends the work is so to and then both counsel and work are of men of perverse and refractory men and being of men it will come to nought and God forbid but so it should All this while here is a certainty of nothing but onely of the good seed It is most sure the seed which God sowes is good and yet neither hypocrites nor profane nor perverse men are fully assured of its goodness because they have but an assurance of speculation not of affection such an assurance as swims onely in the brain to convince them by way of information not such an assurance as sinks down into the heart to convert them by way of reformation making them out of love with their own errours much less by way of confirmation making them really in love with Gods truth for this latter assurance belongs onely to those who follow St Peters advice laying aside all malice or wickedness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is against the profane persons and all guile and hypocrisies that is against the hypocrites and envies and evil speakings that is against the perverse as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that they may grow thereby 1 S. Pet. 2. 1 2. not grow rich or powerfull or honorable in this world but grow pious and religious and devout prepared for a better world for such men only receive that heavenly seed in good ground which is like to bring forth encrease such men only receive the word in an honest and a good heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a heart that is honest and free from hypocrisie in a heart that is good and free from wickedness that will not let the man be profane in a heart that is good and free from refractoriness that will not let the man be perverse for even Aristotle's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 requires a man to be good in all these three respects without hypocrisie in his intention without profaneness in his action without perverseness in his affection and therefore surely Christs school will not admit of any other scholar and if any other scholar be admitted he will be but little benefitted by his learning for he that doth not thus receive the word of grace hath not yet tasted that the Lord is gracious 1 S. Pet. 2. 3. Nor is it requisite here to insist upon the impediment of ignorance amongst us who say we live in the sun-shine of the Gospel and that our eyes are open to see more then all our fathers before us or all our neighbours about us or all our brethren with us for in truth we cannot justly complain of ignorance whom God hath so effectually called to the knowledge of his truth and faith in him by placing us in a Church which is able to protest with St. Paul and indeed every true Christian Church being the grand Apostle of its nation ought to make good this Apostolical protestation Ye know how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have shewed you and have taught you publickly testifying repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Iesus Christ Acts 20. 21 22. I say we cannot justly complain of ignorance who have our eyes open to see the truth but we may and must complain of our detestable unthankfulness which hath filled us with hypocrisie and profaneness and perversness but especially with perversness for whiles our eyes are open our hearts are shut shut faster then the iron gate that lead unto the city was shut against St Peter because we generally defie those whom God hath called his Angels Apoc. 1. 20. for whiles they did go along with us and we with them the iron gate which leadeth unto the City of God the true Jerusalem did open to us of its own accord like Acts 12. 10. we had no difficulty in Religion which we were not able to conquer But now we have gotten very many difficulties which we shall never be able to subdue till we have conquered that which caused them all our own perversness Indeed we have gotten almost as many Religions as men and yet as many difficulties as Religions for having turned our Jerusalem into Babel God hath justly divided our languages and which yet is far worse hath also divided our minds that since we would not all speak the same thing we should not be perfectly joyned together in the same minde and in the same judgement 1 Cor. 1. 10. so far are we now from enjoying Gods blessing because we have been far from obeying his command for the command hath not the weaker obligation because it is uttered by way of benediction but ought rather to have the stronger influence Rom. 15. 5 6. Now the God of all patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that ye may with one minde and one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We would not glorifie God with one mouth when we were thereunto called and now we cannot glorifie him with one minde that it is more then evident whiles we have pretended to thrust out the Papist we have let in the Atheist and that in the most dangerous kind of Atheism if we be not overcome by it but the most damnable if we be the perverse Atheisme For it is a misery which may be lamented but cannot be denied that though all the world cannot make one and the same person more then one man yet he may make himself no less then three Atheists an Atheist in his Understanding by not knowing God an Atheist in his Will and Affections by not loving and regarding him and an Atheist in his Life and Conversation by not honouring and obeying him The first you may call the ignorant or blind Atheist the second the perverse the third the profane Atheist the heathen had most of the ignorant but the Christian hath most of the perverse and of the profane Atheist and if you will ask which of these two is the worser there is no Divine but must be unwilling to answer you because he cannot be willing to countenance either but yet you may take this observation in part of payment till you have a fuller answer to discharge the reckoning That our blessed Saviour whiles he lived on the earth converted many Publicans and sinners which were in the number of profane but very few Pharisees and hypocrites which were in the number of perverse Atheists CHAP. 3. Of the Substance and the Exercise of Religion and the difference betwixt them in regard of the Authority Certainty and Immutability THere are two substantial parts of the Christian Religion The first is conversant in the knowledge The second in the worship of God in Christ so that the substance of the Christian Religion
Eliah saith he was delivered after Eliah was ascended but the meaning is that the thing had been revealed by Eliah to one of the prophets who commanded him to write it in a book and give it to Iehoram tell him that it was a writing sent to him from Eliah that so Iehoram thinking the writing sent to him from heaven might humble his heart So will I here present our back-sliding age with a reproof from S. Paul that hath been so many years dead because I see that back-sliders do not regard the reproofs of their ministers who are now living and I cannot but hope if I have not willingly mistaken the Apostle that no cōsciencious godly man such as we all pretend to be will willingly mistake me We must then look on S. Pauls profession in this place as a true Christians profession because it is a profession of his Christian Religion consisting of two parts of his worship of his faith which are the two essential or substantial parts of Religion sides cultus faith in God and the worship of God though the faith be put last in the order of the words yet is it first in the order of nature for because S. Paul beleeved all things which were written in the law and in the prophets therefore did he worship the God of his fathers But before our Apostle shews the substance of his profession what it is he doth shew the necessity of it why it is for the necessity of his Christian profession is imported in these words But this I confess unto thee that after the way which they call heresie as well as the substance of it in these words so worship I the God of my fathers beleeving all things which are written in the law and in the prophets And indeed as it is the great duty so it should be the great labour of every Christian to keep his heart true unto his Saviour to keep his tongue true unto his heart to keep his heart true to Christ that he may be unmoveable in the love of his Religion and to keep his tongue true unto his heart that he may be unmoveable in the profession of that love and for both these we have here an excellent president So worship I the God of my fathers beleeving all things which are written in the law and in the prophets There his heart is true to his Saviour in the substance of Religion and before that but this I confess unto thee that after the way which they call heresie so worship I There his tongue is true to his heart in the profession of it for he looks upon the profession of his Religion as a necessary duty not to be omitted for fear not to be dissembled for shame I unto thee hints both these I a prisoner at the bar to thee a iudge upon the bench for Saint Paul was here arraigned as a felon for his Religion which hath been allways the portion of the godly for the wicked presidents and princes could not but say we shall not finde any occasion against this Daniel except we finde it against him concerning the law of his God Dan. 6. 5. I say Saint Paul had been indicted and was here arraigned as a felon or a delinquent that in the midst of a general refusal or denial of Christ he durst own to be a Christian and would be constant in the profession of his Christianity and he shews that notwithstanding all the affronts offered him and the aspersions cast upon him yet his profession being truly Christian was such as he might not be afraid would not be ashamed of I unto thee is enough against the fear which they call heresie is enough against the shame Let us put on the armour of proof against the fear and we shall need of no mask or vizard against the shame And surely this Ego in the Text Saint Pauls example is warrant enough not to be afraid for so saith the holy Ghost by his mouth Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ 1 Cor. 11. 1. Every man is bound to follow his Church where that follows his Saviour but because this refractory age thinks it the nearest cut to go to Christ to run away from his Church it will not be amiss to shew how our blessed Saviours example did move Saint Paul that so both examples together may the more forcibly move us not to be afraid to make profession of our Religion For so it is recorded of our blessed Saviour that before Pontius Pilate he witnessed a good confession or a good profession 1 Tim. 6. 13. can we be called before worse tyrants then Felix and Pilate Can we look for better examples then Saint Paul and our blessed Saviour the one the teacher the other the King of Saints lo Saint Paul professed his Religion before Felix our blessed Saviour before Pilate and both them professed it when there was the greatest danger of that profession when they were in danger of their lives not onely of their livelyhoods for professing it if the tyranny cannot be greater why should the profession be less for so Saint Chrysostome sets down the profession of Christ before Pontius Pilate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I came to be a witness to the truth or a martyr for it a witness to the truth in times of peace and prosperity a martyr for the truth in times of opposition and apostasie so should every Christian think and say that he was not born as a man much less new-born as a Christian for himself but for his Saviour to be a witness to he truth For if this principle of Religion were doctrinal in our hearts to beleeve it it would also be practical in our lives to perform it but we beleeve not the doctrine and therefore regard not the practise the faith is first dead then the work so saith the prophet He that beleeveth in him shall not make haste Isa. 28. 16. id est ex impatientiâ infidelitate ad res praesentes non confugiet saith Junius He that beleeveth in him shall not make such haste as out of impatience and infidelity to comply with the present occasions or opportunities more to keep his estate then to keep his conscience as those miscreants did v. 15. who said we have made a covenant with death and with hell are we at agreement when the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not come unto us for we have made lies our refuge and under falshood have we hid our selves Iunius thus rightly explaineth their wicked meaning we are as secure as if we had made a covenant with death we have done as much as wise men can do and more then honest men will do to preserve our selves to make an agreement with those that are too strong for us we have cast up our banks against the overflowing scourge and though you call it lies and falshood which we have done yet we know it
concern the substance of Religion so the fourth wholly concerns the exercise of it and as the first Commandment teacheth us the duties of faith hope and charity towards God to believe in him to fear him and to love him with all our heart with all our minde with all our soul and with all our strength and the second and third to worship him to give him thanks to call upon him to honour his holy name and his word so the fourth commandment setteth us a time and other circumstances for the exercise of these duties teaching us to serve him truly in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life for it is a gross mistake of some who make the fourth commandment a limitation or a restriction of the first as if he that required our love with all our heart to shew that we ought sooner to be without our heart then without his love did require the publick profession of that love onely one day in seven no we must know and profess the contrary for it is impossible that the greater should be limited by the lesser and our Saviour himself hath told us that Thou shalt love the Lord is the first and great commandment Saint Mat. 20. 38. Wherefore all the rest which have their greatness from this cannot add any greatness to it much less can they take away any greatness from it and consequently the fourth commandment must needs lose its greatness if it be brought to oppose this that is to say to confine this love of God by restraining the exercise of Religion to the Sabbath as if Religion were made for the Sabbath and not rather the Sabbath made for Religion they who look upon Sunday as the onely Sabbath do in effect say That Religion was made for the Sabbath they who look upon other Festivals as Sabbaths also do in effect say That the Sabbath was made for Religion and without doubt they are of the surer side which is the drift we should aim at in all controverted points who say Days were made for duties and not duties for days for these men do say That the substance of Religion is above the exercise of Religion which God himself hath taught us in the very method of the commandments putting the greatest in the first place and that the exercise of Religion was ordained and appointed to preserve and maintain the substance of Religion but by no means to restrain or hinder the same Therefore it is safest explaining the fourth commandment not by way of limitation or restriction as if it limited and restrained the three former to it self which those men do seem to be guilty of who put down all other Christian Festivals as unlawfull and superstitious but by way of specification or application as shewing the necessity of exercising that Religion which is taught and commanded in the three former and not leaving it in our power to omit or neglect that exercise This being laid for a sure ground that we have Gods absolute command not onely for the substance but also for the exercise of Religion it must needs follow that they who regard not the exercise of Religion cannot regard the substance of it and consequently whosoever is unsetled in the exercise of Religion whether it be in the profession or in the practise thereof cannot be thought well grounded in the knowledge and love of God For Divinity is a science that teacheth man to live to God and therefore he that most lives to God is the best Divine the best scholar may be he that hath best ordered his study but the best Divine is he that best ordereth his life and this Divinity St. Paul requireth alike of all Christians who profess to believe in Christ that they have a life answerable to their faith a conversation answerable to their profession Rom. 6. 9. Knowing this that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more there 's the principle of faith and verse 11. Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord there 's the duty of life He is the best Divine he hath the most Christian Logick that most makes such collections for Divinity treats onely of the spiritual life whereby man lives in to him by whom he lives And as the natural life hath two acts the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby it gives life the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby it gives motion so hath also the spiritual life two acts The first consists in the knowledge and love of God the second in the profession of that knowledge and in the practise of that love Of these two acts consisted Abrahams Religion of these two parts consisted his Divinity even of Faith in God as saith S. Paul and of Works according to that Faith as saith S. Iames and if we hope to get into Abrahams bosome we must first get into his study This was Davids Divinitie Psal. 37. 3. Trust in the Lord there 's the knowledge and love of God for no man will trust him whom he doth not know and much less him whom he doth not love and do good there 's the profession according to that knowledge and practise according to that love and we must be men after Davids heart if we desire to be men after Gods own heart In a word This was the Divinity Christ left unto his Church S. Matth. 28. 19 20. First teaching all nations to know God then teaching them to observe his commands and we cannot be good Christians unless we be members of Christs Church and if we be good Christians our faith will make us live in Christ and our conversation will be according to our faith which was the admirable prayer of the ancient Church upon Ascension-eve and I cannot better conclude this discourse then with a prayer nor have I learned to reject a good prayer because I finde it in the Mass-Book no more then I may learn not to say Eli Eli that is my God my God with my blessed Saviour because some out of ignorance others out of malice will say This man calleth for Elias S. Matth. 27. 46. Praesta quaesumus omnipotens Pater ut nostrae mentis intentio quò Unigenitus Filius tuus Dominus noster ingressus est semper intendat quò side pergit conversatione perveniat Grant Lord we beseech thee that whither our Saviour is ascended we may also with heart and minde thither ascend and whither we ascend by our faith there we mayalso dwell by our conversation even in Heaven Amen CHAP. 5. The assurance we have of the substance of Religion in that it is spiritual and resembles God the authour of it in his incommunicable properties of Simplicitie and Infinitie as also in his Immutabilitie and Eternitie which are the two consectaries of Infinitie also in his Omnipotency All-sufficiencie and Omnisciencie which are the three consectaries of his Eternitie THat Religion is of a divine
labour that they may be strengthened by piety and godliness yet will I not enter upon a particular enumeration of Gods communicable Properties I have been too long already upon this argument much less upon a particular explication of them for it will be sufficient for my purpose which is the advancement of the true Religion in the hearts and lives of men if I briefly insist onely upon these three to which all the rest may be reduced and they are Truth in his Understanding Goodness in his Will and Purity in his Action for we cannot better consider Gods Activity then in the Purity of his Action unto which we must also annex a short discourse of Liberty as belonging to all three that is to say to Understanding and Will and Action And these three Properties of Truth Goodness Purity as they are eminently in God and evidences of his perfection so are they also eminent in Religion the service of God And first of the Truth of God and of Religion God is true by a metaphysical and by a moral Truth First By a metaphysical Truth as having the true knowledge of all things Psa. 139. 2. thou understandest my thoughts long before God understandeth our thoughts before they are the angels not when they are and therefore they are defective in truth because defective in understanding for Truth metaphysically is a conformity of the thing with the understanding and accordingly our blessed Saviour is particularly called the Truth as being the Omniscient Wisdome of God and the eternal Understanding of the Father even as the holy Ghost is the eternal Love both of Father and Son Secondly God is True by a moral Truth as having his Affection Expression Action agreeable to his knowledge and that in three respects 1. As Truth is opposed to Falshood for God neither wills nor speaks an untruth 2. As Truth is opposed to Dissimulation for God neither dissembleth nor deceiveth 3. As Truth is opposed to Inconstancy for God changeth not his judgement in truths declared or determined he changeth not the event in truths foretold or prophesied for in promises he keeps his word and his truth if man perform the conditions in threats he may not keep his word and yet keep his truth because they are but conditional And as for deceiving the Prophets Ezek. 14. 9. and 1 King 22. 23. we generally and truly answer Tradit diabolo decipiendos he delivereth them over to the devil to be deceived by him so saith the Text Because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should beleeve a lie that they all might be damned who beleeved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thes. 2. 10 11 12. a text that gives us a fearful but yet a full account of all those strong delusions among men which led directly to the Father of lies the first step was a voluntary unrighteousness in not loving the truth the second step is a strong delusion in beleeving a lie the third step God keep them from treading in that who have trodden in the two former is a necessary damnation both for not loving the truth and for having pleasure in lies but still God is true though every man be a liar for God deceiveth the Prophet Ez◠14. 9. as he hardeneth the heart Exod. 10. 1. permissivè non efficienter permissively no◠efficaciously by not inhibiting or not purging those ill qualities that are already is the heart not by infusing any ill qualities into it and therefore though he saith I have hardened Pharaohs heart yet he saith unto us Harden not your own hearts and accordingly he threatneth in Ezekiel to destroy such a prophet from the midst of his people whose heart was hardned so fa◠as to deceive himself and others whereas he could not in justice destroy him onely for being that which himself had made him nay this permission is most plainly set forth in that parable of 1 Kin. 22. for all that God doth there is onely to let the evil spirit go forth that is not to inhibite him from going and deceiving not to send him down from heaven For it is evident that the evil spirit never did and never can come into heaven again since he was first thrown down from thence And thus briefly God is True Metaphysically and Morally Metaphysical truth consisting in the right apprehension of things as they are in themselves Moral truth in the right affection and profession of things as they are apprehended and this profession is either in word by veracity or in action by sincerity or in continuance of action by constancy so that moral truth is opposed to falshood because 't is the same with reality to dissimulation because 't is the same with sincerity and to wavering and floating because 't is the same with certainty And this same metaphysical and moral truth is also in Religion passing from the Master into his service for the Father seeketh such to worship him who worship him as he is that is who worship him in spirit because he is a Spirit and who worship him in truth because he is the Truth S. John 4. 23 24. The worship in spirit points at the metaphysical truth of Religion which requires a true apprehension of God the worship in truth points at the moral truth of Religion which requires an Affection Profession Action agreeable to that true apprehension and for both these hath our own Church taught us to pray Collect 7th Sunday after Tri. Graff in our hearts the love of thy Name Increase in us true Religion nourish us with all goodness and of thy great mercy keep us in the same Do you look for the metaphysical Truth of Religion 'T is in the knowledge of Gods Name which must be presupposed before the love of it since no man can love what he doth not know that you know God by his true Name such as himself hath proclaimed Exod. 32. 5 6 7. or that you apprehend God as he is not set up to your self an idol in stead of God as do all those who worship not the Father by the Son in the unity of the Spirit Again do you look for the moral truth of Religion 'T is in the love of Gods Name that you love him according to your knowledge or that you have your affection agreeable to your apprehension for to know God and not to love him is in effect to proclaim you do not truly know him since the same God is the first Truth and ground of our knowledge and also the last good and cause of our love and you may here likewise finde this moral truth of Religion in all respects First in its Reality for it is the very true Religion opposed to falshood or superstition 't is indeed Gods Name Secondly in its Sincerity or Fidelity for it is all Goodness not onely in the tongue but also in the heart
by a gracious dependance on Gods truth and faithfulness and expecting in his good time a comfortable issue of his promises Such waiters whose God is the Lord Jehovah in whom they trust on whom they depend and whom they constantly obey not departing from his precepts when he seems to have forsaken them in their greatest distresses such men are the prime the onely Christians who have in their soul the seal of Gods grace to assure them of their future happiness O thou whose Name is the great Jehovah and rulest all things in heaven and earth send down from heaven the habitation of thy glory thine Holy Spirit into our hearts and so possess our souls with an awful fear of thy Majesty and a filial love of thee for thy goodness and mercy that we abhorring all things that may displease thee and obeying thy precepts may in the end of our days obtain the end of our hopes and the fruit of thy promises which is the salvation of our souls and eternal bliss through the merits of our blessed Redeemer our Lord Christ Jesus The tenth and last Name of God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 schaddai by which God often stiled himself when he spake unto the Patriarchs to uphold their spirits and sustain their faith in the midst of their troubles Gen. 17. 1. the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto him I am 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the same words he bespake Jacob Gen. 35.11 hence it was that they also when they were to speak or make mention of God often used that Name or word Thus Isaac when he blessed Jacob Gen. 28.3 said the God whose Name is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bless thee and make thee to encrease and multiply so Jacob said to Joseph the God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appeared to me in Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me As for the notion or meaning of the Name Galatinus l. 2. c. 17. out of R. Moses the Egyptian and Algazel determines it that it is a compounded term and made up of these two parts or particulars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is in composition the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies sufficient and sufficiency so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the whole latitude or acception of it denotes the alsufficiency of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui in se à se sufficientiam abundantiam omnimodam habet it a ut nullius ope indigeat i. e. who in himself and from himself hath a sufficiency and abundance of all good things and needs not the help of any creature There is in God a fallness of power whereby he can do what he will his will being the onely rule and bound of his power therefore the Septuagint do often render this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Job 8.3 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that doth or worketh all things so in our English Translation doth the Almighty pervert justice As there is in many a man an empty fullness when bladder-like his soul is blown up with windy fancies of having what he hath not or of more knowledge then he truly hath so in God there is a fullness without any the least defect or degree of emptiness in God and Christ who is God and man in one person there is as the Schools speak Plenitudo repletiva and diffusiva or plenitudo abundantiae and redundantiae and abounding fullness because no good thing no gift nor grace is wanting in him and a redounding fullness because what gifts or graces soever be in us they are all derived to our souls from him the ever-living and overflowing fountain and spring of them from whom they slow into our souls per Spiritum tanquam per canalem through the spirit as it were a conduit-pipe without any loss of them in him or without any the least diminution and of his fullness have we all received Joh. 1. 16. a fullness without any want argues a great perfection quod plenè habetur perfectè totalitèr habetur Aquin Now if men through the door of faith opened by Gods blessed Spirit did see the fullness the excellency and alsufficiency of God it would so fill them with admiration joy and content that having a communion with God by his sanctifying spirit they would care for nothing else they considering what the Lord is and beholding his glorious face in the glass of his Attributes viz. his Wisedom Power and Justice c. upon this consideration they would say with the Prophet David The Lord is on our side or with us we will not therefore fear what man can do unto us Psa 118. 6. the Lord is ours therefore we can lack nothing that is good for us and if the Lord be thine then his Power is thine to sustain thee under any cross to redeem thee from troubles to help thee in distress to succour thee in the greatest needs and to support thy weakness in the performance of any duties his Wisedom too is thine thou hast an interest in it it is thy portion so that if thou desirest to be instructed in the knowledge of his word to understand those hidden mysteries which are contained in it if thou openest thy mouth to him in prayer he will open thine eyes that thou shalt see mirabilia leg is the wondrous things of his Law Psa. 119. 18. and be also wise unto salvation 2 Tim. 3. 15. his Justice likewise is thine to vindicate thee when thou art injured if thou committest thy cause unto him and to clear thine innocency when thou art falsly traduced by the malevolent and to deliver thee out of the hands of the oppressour so for his Truth and Holiness the former is thine to make good his promises of blessings in this life and of happiness in that to come if by faith and full affiance thou dependest on him so the latter i. e. his Holiness is thine to sanctifie thy corrupt nature and to free thee as from the guilt so from the power of sin This is the portion of all the Sons and servants of God who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a God al-sufficient who can and will do for us more then either we desire or deserve if we wholly rest and rely upon his goodness Happy is the man who is in such a case in so blessed a condition as to have a close union and near communion with the great God of heaven or to speak in the Prophet Davids phrase who hath the Lord for his God Psa. 144. 15. whose alsufficiency they atterly deny who worship any other God as did the Gentiles who multiplied Deities and sacrificed to more then one such are Polutheists who divide the glory of Gods excellencies amongst those petty Numens even as they are no other then practical Athiests and truly worship none who through infidelity question Gods alsufficiency for if he be God he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alsufficient who by small or unlikely means can bring great or mighty things to pass they doubt of his being alsufficient who walk in uneven waies and use evil means to work out their ends and to effect their enterprises as did Ahaziah the son of Ahab who in his sickness sent messengers to Baal-zebub the God of Ekron to enquire of him whether he should recover of his disease 2 Kin. 1. the like did the wicked Saul 1 Sam. 28. when being in a great strait by the Philistines that warred against him he went to a woman that had a familiar spirit to know of her whether he should conquer his enemies but this did not holy David he apprehended God to be all-sufficient that having promised him the kingdom would in his good time effect what he promised wherefore he used no sinister or unlawfull means to accomplish his desires but waited on God for the performance of his promise he had many opportunities to have gotten the Crown oftentimes Saul fell into his hands so that he might have destroyed him but he would not do it he would not touch him to his hurt because he was the Lords anointed but committed himself to the will of God waiting his leisure so after a few years his desires were accomplished his grand enemy flain and he setled in the Throne of this holy frame of spirit was that good Jonathan the Son of Saul 1 Sam. 14. 6. when he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non est Jehovae impedimentum there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few so was Asa affected towards God his heart was possessed with high thoughts of his all-sufficiency 2 Chr. 14. 11. when Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with a thousand thousand men and three hundred chariots then saies the Text he cried unto the Lord his Lord and said Lord it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them that have no power help us O Lord our God for we rest on thee the Lord heard his cry and did help him that huge host was overthrown in a moment this Victory he obtained by his faith in the Lord of Hosts who is all-sufficient The thinking of him not so to be is the cause of all those indirect courses which men take to accomplish their worldly designes as when they lie and dissemble swear and forswear to get riches or go to conjurers and witches such men put not their whole trust and assiance in God but rather conceive that God cannot do what they desire by himself or by his own power unless they help him with their crafty wiles and politick devices when Peter denied Christ was it not out of fear and from whence was that fear was it not because he did not apprehend God to be all-sufficient a strong buckler of defence so that without his lying and dissimulation he could have rescued him out of the Jews bloudy hands although he had own'd his Lord and Master Christ Jesus To conclude if this comfortable Name of God were throughly digested by faith in our souls if we did beleeve that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God almighty and all-sufficient we should walk before him or as in his presence as Enoch Abraham and David did with a perfect heart we should fear him for his all-commanding power and love him for his Goodness of which there is in him a transcendent fullness we should be chearfull in adversity being content with God alone and think our selves very rich and happy though we be poor when we have God for our possession we should then see an emptiness in the creatures here below through whom God shines so that whatsoever excellency or beauty whatsoever worth vertue or comfort is in them it is an high degree in God who gave them their being and all things that attend it the consideration of this would make us more to delight in God and not dote on them which are but shadows in respect of that everlasting Sun and all their excellencies or perfections but so many beams descending from the Father of Lights or as so many blossomes of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first Goodness so that if we separate these particularities from that universal good and not admire God in them or be not thankfull to God for them all our affections spent on them would be unchaste and their embraces adulterous hence it is said in the Scriptures that men in regard of their blinde dotage on them are said to go a whoring after vanities or the creatures which are vain and empty if compared with their makers fullness Lastly if God be all-sufficient then let him be our onely stay and comfort Let us trust in him alone being perswaded of this truth that he can help and support us without the assistance of the creatures but not all these without his blessing and providence ever look at God through the creatures who subsist by him who is a present help in trouble and oft sends best success when we are at the lowest or in a sad desperate condition because we usually then relie upon him most and go to him alone by prayer and supplication and then may we expect great mercies when we have a great faith in the great God of Heaven who delights in them who by their affiance or whole dependency on his powerfull Goodness bring much glory to him to this great all-sufficient and Almighty God to the Father Son and holy Ghost be given and ascribed all honour praise dominion and power c. Amen Most gracious God who art all-sufficient in thy self and from the inexhausted Treasury of thy goodness conveyest all things for the use of our bodies and comfort of our souls give us we pray thee largeness of spirits sutable to thy bounty towards us O enlarge our hearts with love and thankfulness to thee and let both display themselves in large expressions of duty that our thankfull lips may ever praise and our holy lives glorifie thee and above all Lord give us thine own self in blessing all thy gifts unto us and give us withall thy Son Christ Jesus that he may be ours in the pardon of all our sins by the merit of his death and passion and in the saving of our poor souls and we his by serving him all our dayes in holiness and righteousness Grant this heavenly Father for his sake who died and now sits in heaven at thy right hand making intercession for us Amen FINIS ALLEGIANCE AND CONSCIENCE Not fled out of England OR THE Doctrine of the Church of England CONCERNING Allegiance and Supremacy As it was delivered by the former Authour upon the Occasion and at the Time of Trying the King by his own Subjects In several Sermons Anno 1649. on the words of Ecclesiastes Eccles 8. 2 3 4. By EDW. HYDE D. of Divinity Tert. ad Scap. c. 2. Colimus Imperatorem ut Hominem à Deo secundum solo Deo minorem