upon some other accompt then they apprehend be a Benefit to the publick Trust the Modelling of the Government to your Superiors whose Business it is to govern and trust the Events of the Government to God Almighty who turns the Hearts of Kings as he pleases and observe your own Duty to your Country which is to obey and though you are not always in a condition of giving a helping hand to the Welfare of Jerusalem your King and Country yet your Prayers for Peace will be always acceptable to God who is the God of Peace So much for the second General in my Text. 3. The third thing to be observed is the Encouragement we have to be well affected to the Church and State in these words they shall prosper that love thee Jerusalem in this Psalm is said to be the place of Worship thither the Tribes go up to testifie unto Israel and to call upon the Name of the Lord. From which it is plain that by Jerusalem is meant the Church They shall prosper that love thee i. e. happy are they that live quietly and do not disturb the Peace of the Church And because Jerusalem was the Seat of Judgment it may also signifie the supream Power of a Nation and then the meaning of it will be Happy are they that live peaceably under the Government of their Superiors both in Church and State whilst all they are miserable that bear Evil Will at Sion That this is a sufficient Encouragement to be well affected to the Government will appear if you consider these two things 1. The great Happiness of Peace 2. The Miseries of a Rebellion or a Civil War 1. For the first as Health is to the Body so Peace is to the Mind it is the Foundation of all Enjoyments how insignificant are the best Meats to one whose Palate has no Taste and whose Body is disturbed by a raging Feaver and how insignificant is even Plenty it self in a Common-Wealth that is sick of Rebellion which is the Feaver of a Kingdom and is commonly occasion'd by too high Feeding the sick mans Head is full of Whimsies which make him rave and speak of things which neither he nor any else can understand he seldom sleeps or if he does he is presently awaken'd with scaring Dreams and his very Bedcloaths which in time of Health were a Blessing and preserved his Body are a Grievance to him So 't is in the State the Body Politick when disaffected people which are the jarring Humours disturb its Peace They perplex themselves with strange Fancies of imaginary evils which no man else can understand nor they themselves they throw off those Laws that should protect them and run into greater Miseries than could have befallen them had they really suffered those evils they were afraid of Happy is the man that bears a loyal Heart to his Prince and is obedient to the Laws that is orthodox and peaceable in the Church and endeavours to preserve Unity in the State he is every mans Friend and every man is a Friend to him he honours the Magistrate and Laws but is afraid of neither because he is innocent he has the free use of his Religion and the enjoyment of his Estate he eats his Meat with Pleasure and Contentedness the night is pleasant to him he does not dream of ill got Lands that are in his possession he is not scar'd with the Cries of Widows or the Groans of Orphans he is not haunted with the Guile of innocent Blood nor is he frighten'd with the Ghost of a murder'd King This is the condition of the peaceful man and if a whole Kingdom were made up of men of this temper how happy should we be there would be no decay no leading into captivity and no complaining in our streets There could not be a greater Emblem of Heaven than such a Nation where the only strife would be who should be most charitable and who should be most loyal to their King and serviceable to their Country This is the first Reason to shew the Happiness of those that love the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee for they shall have the Blessings of Peace 2. Secondly they shall be free from the miseries of Rebellion or a Civil War The Miseries of a Rebellion are twofold First either such as befall a Kingdom in general or secondly such as befall every Rebel in particular 1. First the publick Calamities of a Rebellion are innumerable I shall only instance in some of them that are most obvious When people are disaffected to the Government of Church or State and thence take an occasion to break out into Civil Wars the Subject can neither enjoy the Benefit of the Laws which are our Protection in Peace nor the Use of Religion not the Profits of his Estate with out fear and danger there is no Administration of Justice there is no difference between Right and Wrong Strength is the Lawgiver and the longest Sword the measure of Justice the Corn-fields are destroyed the stately Buildings are either void of Inhabitants or are made a Garrison and those that are strongest the Houses of God are profun'd and demolish'd and are made a Receptacle for Birds and Beasts and the whole Land lies desolate Grass and Weeds grow in the Sreets of our great Cities the Walls are beaten down the Houses burnt and the Inhabitants fled or murdered the Universities are emptied the Liberal Arts Sciences must give place to the violence of the Sword and so Learning is nipp'd in the very bud Pride and Robbery Ambition and Sacriledge Oppression and Murder Covetousness and Profaneness or else Hypocrisie are the usual attendants of Rebellion He that is in love with Famine Plague and Desolation let him murmur and rebel for they are the effects of a Civil War If there were no other Punishment for resisting the supream Power after this Life yet the Calamities I have mention'd may be sufficient to terrifie any one from it that is not altogether void of Sense and Honesty Rebellion is punishment enough for it self These are the publick Miseries of Rebellion 2. Secondly there are Miseries that befall private persons in Rebellion The several publick Calamities that I have now reckon'd though they are not all yet they are sufficient to shew that whilst any Kingdom is in that condition no particular person can be happy But besides all this there is another reason to terrifie particular persons from it and that is the Execution of the Laws when the Rebellion is ended for it cannot last always what a Disgrace as well as Misery is it for one to be mark'd for a Rebel to be proclaim'd a Traytor to lose an Estate or an Imployment for Villany to be hang'd for Treason and to have his Head fix'd upon a pole as a spectacle of Shame and Infamy he is not only unhappy himself but he intails Misery and Poverty on his Family and his Posterity shall blush to hear
him nam'd but suppose Success crown'd his Endeavours and that Rebellion had got the upper hand he may be great but he cannot be happy Fear and Guilt shall never let him enjoy himself nor what he has unjustly gotten and besides the Hand of Providence which is ready to smite and pull him down there is a natural desire in men to destroy such a Monster as being as dangerous as a wild beast and if no body else will God himself usually makes such persons fall out among themselves in dividing the Spoil and so destroy one anothers designs as it happen'd not long since in these Kingdoms and to compleat the Rebels Miseries when his unhappy Life here is ended he shall be thrown headlong into Hell to keep company with the first Rebel Lucifer And so I have dispatch'd the third General i. e. the Encouragement we have to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee In the last place I will reduce what I have said to practice You see the necessity of the Duty of Prayer enjoyn'd in my Text from our Wants and Necessities and from the Mercy of God who is ready to hear us You see the thing we ought to pray for i.e. the Peace of Jerusalem the good of Church and State a publick Blessing and the Encouragement to this Duty from the third General they shall prosper that love thee You see the Happiness of those that live in peace and obedience to the Laws and the Miseries of Rebellion both in this life and that which is to come Consider the Folly as well as Misery of those that disturb the Peace of a Kingdom and the Disgrace that attends such resisting the lawful Magistrate There is no pretence whatsoever whether of Liberty Property c. that can make Rebellion not to be a damning Sin There is not any one Duty more plainly commanded throughout the whole Scripture than Obedience to Magistrates There is nothing contributes so much to the Peace of Jerusalem to the publick good of a Nation and the particular good of every person in it There are many examples in the Old Testament of Gods Judgments against Rebels and the end of our Saviours coming into the world was to plant a Gospel of Peace among men and if the preaching of Peace was ever a Duty it is now by reason of the Divisions among us The great and general cause of Rebellion is Ambition though Religion is often pretended and therefore the best way to prevent a publick Disturbance of the Peace is not to be ambitious of any thing that cannot be attain'd to without an Alteration in the Government Let us not speak evil of the Ruler of the people nor murmur at our Superiours because their Actions do not please our Humours and when we find our selves oppressed let us examine our own Lives and try whether our own Wickedness is not the Cause of Gods punishing us with such Rulers Honour thy Father and Mother which is the first Commandment with promise is not only to be understood of our Natural Parents but of the Magistrate who is our Civil Parent and length of Days is the Promise annex'd to this Commandment Saint Paul exhorts us in his first Epistle to Tymothy to make Supplications and Prayer for all men and in the first place mentions Kings and all that are in Authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty There is more Weight than Honour in Government and therefore we ought to be so much concern'd for the publick Good as never to pray for our selves but at the same time to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour beware of aspersing the Government for there is a particular providence over Kings which will discover thy folly if by murmuring and complaining of the Supream Power thou art an Enemy to the Peace of Jerusalem Curse not the King no not in thine heart for a Bird of the Air shall carry the Voice and that which hath Wings shall tell the matter Is there not more wisdom in busying our selves with our own concerns in submitting to our Superiours and the Laws of the Land that we may enjoy our Religion our Estates and our Liberties which are all the effects of publick Peace than to speak evil of Dignities to promote a Disturbance in Jerusalem which does not only endanger our Happiness and Estates but even our Lives and the Welfare of our Posterity There is not any Church in the world whose Principles are more repugnant to Rebellion than the Church of England If therefore you would shew your selves to be true Sons of that Church you pretend to you must be loyal to the King and submissive to the Government it is a Principle not only honest but generous and agreeable to the meek Spirit of the primitive Christians They may pretend to Religion but they who under that colour can resist the supream Power have no more Religion than Mahometans To contrive the Death of a Prince or the Subversion of a Government for the sake of some Differences in Religion is not only unchristian but inhumane Let this be a general Observation That they who put on a precise Countenance and under the colour of Religion speak evil of Digninities murmur against the Government and when opportunity offers endeavour to disturb its Peace notwithstanding their pretences to Religion and the Good of the Nation cannot be honest men Though the Wounds of our late Civil Wars are heal'd up yet there are Scars enough remaining to frighten any wise man from attempting to disturb the Peace of Jerusalem a second time There are no Subjects under the Heavens that may live more happily than we if we by our Divisions and repinings do not make our selves otherwise have not we a gratious Prince that is so far from oppressing his good Subjects that he is merciful and even indulgent to the worst has any Kingdom in the world better Laws than we have to secure the Prerogative of the Prince and the Liberty of the People and have we not all the benefit of those Laws to protect us is there any one persecuted with Fire and Faggot for Religion is there any one that can complain that his Goods or Estate is wrested from him by Oppression or Tyranny and if we did groan under any such Calamities yet the Laws of God will not allow a Protestant of the Church of England to rebel though both the Papist and Presbyterian can make the Scripture speak treason when they please And if it be a damning Sin as certainly it is to resist the Higher Powers even when they persecute and oppress us it is much more heinous in the sight of God to reproach or rebel against so merciful a Soveraign as we enjoy I pray God remove all our Fears Jealousies and Divisions and make us sensible of the Blessings of Peace which we enjoy and may the Kings Enemies be cover'd with shame but on his Head may the Crown flourish FINIS
are so stupid as not to pray for themselves will never be perswaded to pray for other and he that neglects his own Advantage will never be much concern'd for the publick Good There is nothing in the world more plain than that the publick Peace and Safety of a Nation redounds to the particular Advantage of every person in it and therefore if men are not so publick spirited as to be concern'd for the general Good of the Nation yet methinks each mans private Interest and the Laws of Self-preservation ought to perswade us to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem for the Good of the King and Country He that is not a Friend to the publick Peace of that Kingdom wherein he lives can never be a good Subject and he that is not a good Subject can neither be a good Christian nor an honest Man For the same God that bids us love the Brotherhood commands us also to honour the King 't is natural for every man to wish well to the place of his Nativity or the place of his Residence and how he can do that without desiring the publick Good of such a place I cannot understand every mans particular Advantage and Safety is a branch of the publick There is no person so inconsiderable but may contribute to the general Good of a Nation either by his Endeavours or Prayers nay we commonly find that Insurrections and Civil Wars are often begun but always carried on by the Common people and therefore they may prevent such Disturbances not but they mean as well and oft times better than those that perswade them to disturb the Peace of a Kingdom but they are persons usually of mean understandings and are very often cajol'd and wheedled into Rebellion by fine Words and guilded Pretences The best way for the ordinary sort of men not to be caught in these snares is to believe and consider that Rebellion is a most grievous Sin 't is as the sin of Witchcraft and you know the Law says Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live And if Rebellion be such a Sin 't is not the pretences of Defending Liberty and Property of Destroying Popery Arbitrary Government that can make it not a Sin for however advantageous these may be to a Common-wealth yet still Rebellion is a damning Sin and we must not do evil that good may come thereof Consider in what horrid Confusion we were not many years since by our Distractions Fears and Jealousies when there was no King in Israel no Church no Law but every one was setting up a Church and a Government for himself and every one did what seemed good in his own eyes Nay many of those persons that were seduced into Rebellion when they saw the Injustice and Hypocrisie of their Ringleaders were asham'd of their proceedings Are not these Miserie 's the greatest that can befall a Nation And if they be is not every particular man oblig'd by the Duty he owes his King the Love he owes his Country and himself to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem He that can prevent a Fire in the heart of a City and will not because he lives in the Suburbs may for his neglect have his own House burned to Ashes and he deserves it and he that will not to the utmost of his power either by his Endeavours or Prayers prevent a publick Disturbance in the Kingdom where he lives because he is not a Statesman does not deserve to enjoy the benefit of publick Peace and Plenty Though we are not all born to be States-men and Privy-Counsellors yet every man in his station ought to contribute what he can to the Peace of a Nation he that is not fit to be a Privy-Counsellor may not withstanding contribute to the publick Peace of a Kingdom by being obedient to his Superiors by speaking well of the Government if it be good by submitting if it be otherwise by studying to be quiet and minding his own business He that is not qualified to sit at the Helm may by sitting still keep the Boat from tossing Let Statesmen whose Business it is concern themselves with the Government but let not every private person though of never so mean Quality and Understanding trouble his head with the Management of a Kingdom Must every private Passenger pretend to steer the Ship that knows not at which end of her the Rudder is Our Superiors may and often do order things for the publick Good which to our apprehensions may seem otherwise must therefore those not be done by our Governors because we cannot apprehend them though the Sails of a Ship may make her lie on one side yet without them she can never reach the Haven if therefore a few timorous Passengers should cry out We are all lost would the Master of the Ship be so great a Fool as to take down the Sails and not only hinder his Voyage but endanger his own and their Safeties and let her be tossed to and fro by the violence of the Waves and all because they that knew not what belong'd to a Ship advised him to it There are Secrets in all Arts which are not to be discovered to every person and so there are Arcana Imperii Secrets in Government which are not to be disclosed but to those that sit at the Helm Some men are made to govern others to obey and we are bound by the Laws of God to be subject to our Superiors not only for Wrath but also for Conscence sake If we look into Church History we shall find that the primitive Christians were so meek and submissive to the Government though they lived under Heathen Emperors that they were the very best Subjects those Emperors had Tertullian in his Apology for the Christians tells us that the Cities Corporations Towns Villages and Castles were filled with Christians yet would they not rebel nor disturb the Government though they were persecuted to death for no other end but because they were Christians Shall then some different Opinions in Religion make Christian Subjects rebel against their Prince and disturb the publick Peace of the Kingdom when the primitive Christians thought themselves bound to obey and live peaceably under Heathen Governours Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake says St. Peter who lived not only under a Heathen Emperor but under Nero the greatest Persecutor of them all If every single person would follow this Advice and imploy his thoughts about his own Concerns and not meddle with State affairs we should be much happier than we are every man might live peaceably under his own Vine and under his own Fig-tree How usual is it for men upon a story in a Gazzet or a News Letter to descant upon the Government and censure if not reproach the Higher Powers when it may be the story is false or if true they are not able to discern so far as to know whether that which seems to them to be a Grievance may not