Great Britains RESURRECTION. OR, ENGLAND's complacency IN Her Royal sovereign King Charles The Second. A SERMON PREACHED In the LECTURE at Gloucester, June 5. 1660. By RICHARD EEDES Minister of the Gospel at Bps Cleeve. LONDON, Printed by Ja. Cottrel, for Henry Fletcher, at the sign of the three gilded Cups in S. Pauls Church-yard. 1660. TO The WORSHIPFUL THE Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens OF The Ancient and Famous city OF GLOUCESTER. Worshipful and welbeloved, I Cannot say of these indigested Meditations as the Apostle St. Paul said of himself, That he was one that was born out of due time; for your importunity to print them, was a good argument of hope, that they took some considerable impression upon your hearts when they dropped from me, and that they were words spoken in due season; which Solomon compares to apple of Gold in Pictures of Silver. Did not the love of Christ constrain me, yet loyalty to our sovereign, and love unto your City, and your souls, are like so many goads to prompt me to this publication; and I should appear to be too head-strong, to draw back, with so many spurs in my sides to prick me forward. Had I a mind to apologize, the most I have to say, would be this; Its pity but so sublime a theme had met with a more sublimated orator: but naked loyalty in plain English, looks more lovely then a painted strumpet in the fairest dress. The inward comfort, and consciousness of loyalty to God and man, are to be preferred far before the external reputation of Wit and Eloquence; this hath the head for its subject, which is subject to the Vertigo, and many other Capital distempers; but that, the heart, which is primum Vivens, & Ultimum moriens; the first noble part that lives, and the last that dies. This is but aerial, and may extinguish like a Meteor with a falling blaze; the other is like a Star of the highest altitude, and greatect Magnitude, fixed in its sphere: till Heaven and Earth pass away, the least iota of it falls not to the ground. Yet having now to do with men whose hearts must be lead by their ears, I could now wish that I had the tongue of the learned, that I could speak like Steven, with such a Spirit, and so much authority, that no adversary should be able to resist. It's fabulously storied of Amphion, that he played so melodiously upon a Lute that Mercury gave him, that the stones followed him to the building of Thebes, into the places where they should be laid. The moral is, That he was King of Thebes, and by his wonderful and rhetorical Suada, he brought a people of rude and stony hearts, to live together peaceably and lovingly in that place, under his dominion. Our gracious sovereign hath a most notable faculty in that Art of winning men over to themselves, to one another, and to him; and in this Treatise I have touched a few strings of his own tuning: it's to be doubted, I have sounded a charm to many a deaf Adder, to many a heart of ston, and heart of oak; of which I must be constrained to say in the end of a Labour in vain, I have piped unto you, but you have not danced: and indeed, in most places there are so many knotty and cross-grayn'd blocks, that they are not worth the labour of cleaving; of whom it may be said, as it was said of Pharaoh, that proverb of obstinacy and obduration, That neither Ministry, nor Misery, nor Miracles, nor Mercy, could work upon him so as to mollify his heart. And indeed, if you look well about you, we have had all these means in the bundle, and there are yet too many in this Land of vision( which is like Goshen, where the children of Israel had light in all their dwellings, when the Plague of darkness covered all the rest of the Land of Egypt) that have frustrated fair means, and foul means, and all means which have been spent upon them, & are still settled upon their lees, frozen in their dregs, and lye soaking in their lusts, as if God had punished their sinful blindness and hardness with penal blinding and hardening. And yet it's reasonably and charitably to be hoped, that God hath his thousands in England that have not bowed the knee to Baal, nor worshipped Jeroboam, nor his Calves; and that we may meet with many choice, and smother pieces, from which Gods workmen may get credit and comfort, by their planting and watering labours, by their preparing and polishing; & God may have the glory, by giving an increase. However, duty is our part, and we must commit the success to God. I appeared to your summons with the more confidence when I came to deliver it viva voice, considering that as I spake to a single Congregation, so I spake it in the house of friends: but now being to speak unto the multitude of friends and foes, and in such a censorious age, I should writ Manu tremula, with a shaking hand, had I not in some measure learned to pass through thick and thin, through evil report and good. Suspecting that these inconsiderable lines will be sent from critic to critic, as a poor vagrant from Constable to Constable, I have taken the boldness to give it a Pass under the name of your City, that such malcontents as will not afford it house-room and lodging, may sand it to the place where it was born; beseeching you to entertain it for the Lords sake, and to think favourably of the Author for the works fake; who desires, while he lives, to serve his Generation, and to live no longer then he may approve himself to be thankful unto God, loyal to the King, faithful to the Church, and A Servant to you for Christs sake, Richard Eedes. THE Introduction. WE have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us Gods Works of Wonder in Times of old. But we have seen with our eyes, and are concerned to declare unto Posterity, those wonderful Works that the Lord hath done, or rather is now a doing in our dayes. To see such strange Wheels of Providence turned, and such Overturnings as we have done; to see a People even wasted with misery, going out of Bondage sine pulvere & tumultu, as the Israelites out of egypt, and not so much as a Dog to bark at it; we must conclude the Omnipotent and onely wise God to be the first Mover in such a motion. To see a Nation as it were born at once, and, sine sudore & sanguine, without any throws of labour, or pangs of travail: All that see it must say, This hath God done: for they cannot but perceive that it is his Work. In short, God hath given us a KING as the matter of our Mercy, and given out much of himself in the manner of doing it: What should ingenious Souls study more then a Retribution? and what can we think of less, then what God requires at our hands; That we should give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's? I shall observe the order of Nature, and ascend a Minori ad Majus, by treading the lowest step first; and behold, I show you a most excellent way, in laying before you the pattern of Davids Subjects, as your Copy to writ after, which you shall find upon Record. 2 SAM. 3.36. As whatsoever the King did, pleased all the People. THe Text divides itself betwixt a King and his Subjects: such a King, and such Subjects as could not be divided. The King so good, that no Subjects could desire a better; for he was a man after Gods own heart: And the Subjects so good, that no King could desire better; for they were a people after his own heart. The King so Royal, that he gave unto God that which was Gods; and the People so Loyal, that they gave unto Caesar that which was Caesars. The King did fulfil 〈◇〉, Act. 13.22. all the wills of God: and the People did fulfil all the wills of the King. In short, we need not doubt but he had a full Tribute paid him, since they gave him their hearts for an Earnest; and of that my Text is a clear Testimony: for, whatsoever the King did, pleased all the people. The connective Particle [ As] refers us to the Context, and that relates to a particular act of King Davids: Joab his Captain General had slain Abner upon a private grudge, because he had slain Hasael his brother; and David was much displeased at the fact, and testifies his abhorrencie accordingly; though he were not able to bring him back to life, yet what he could do, he did; he lays the sin at Joabs door, he takes care that Abner be honourably interred, he graces him with a Funeral-Oration, and he himself becomes the chief Mourner at his Funeral: and as it is expressed immediately before my Text, The people took notice of it, and it pleased them: and this particular act ushers in that universal Complacency in my Text: As whatsoever the King did, pleased all the people. The Doctrine that naturally results from the words, may be laid before you, thus: That, To be so spirited, as to take an Universal Complacency in a King that God hath set over us, and his Actions, is most agreeable to true Religious Principles, and an excellent Character of true Israelites indeed. I shall lay and leave before you six Considerations of no small consequence, to prepare a way for your smother receiving of this Momentous Truth. And then endeavour to fasten it upon your Hearts with three Nails. And afterwards, give you in four Pregnant and Ponderous Reasons for the confirmation of it. And lastly, make some Profitable Uses of it, by way of Application. The first Consideration is this, That our jealous God that will not give his glory to another, hath notwithstanding put so much of it upon earthly Potentates, that he hath dignified them with his own Name. It's no Hyperbole to call them Dii terrestres, Terrestrial Deities, because his word prompts us to it: consult Psal. 82. vers. 6. I have said, Ye are gods, &c. and vers. 1. of that Psal. God standeth in the Congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among gods. They are called by his Name, because they are his Representatives; they are Emblems of his sovereignty, clothed with Majesty and Greatness, crwoned with Mercy and Kindness: We may suppose God speaking unto them, as Pharaoh to Joseph; Onely in the Throne I will be above thee: they are Kings, but he is King of kings: they are Gods, but he is God of gods: they have power, but he hath a power of might, Ephes. 6.10. which is as much as to say, A power of power: they have Kingdom, Power and Glory for a time; but his is the Kingdom, Power and Glory for ever and ever. The second Consideration: That God gives unto Kings their Office, Power and Dignity: see Prov. 8.15, 16. By me Kings reign, &c. They bear rule in subordination to himself: observe how vehemently the Apostle presses subjection to them upon that account, Rom. 13.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers: for there is no Power but of God; the Powers that be, are ordained of God, &c. Magistracy is Gods Ministry, and he hath impropriated them unto himself; his Image and Superscription is stamped upon them, as theirs upon their Coin. He is the begetting Father, that by the immortal seed of the Word and Spirit, begets many children to grace, and sets them out unto them to nurse, that they may be trained up in godliness and honesty, to be carried on under their Dominion, and the Instruction of his Church-guides, from grace to grace, until they shall be translated from grace to glory. The third Consideration: That God hath made a Hedge about them, to secure unto them their Crowns and Dignities; that the wild Boar of Usurpation do not break in upon them, nor the wild Beasts of Sedition and Rebellion devour their privileges. Touch not mine Anointed, is Gods Royal Mandate, that covers them like a Buckler from the harmful touch of all the sons of violence: and those that violate it, do it at their uttermost peril, Rom. 13.2. Whosoever resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of God, and shall receive unto themselves damnation. The fourth Consideration: That God wraps up their interests with his own; espousing their honour, and securing them under his own wings, 1 Pet. 2.17. Fear God, honour the King: God hath made them Twins, and what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Nay, as if God thought the Kings Honour stood at too great a distance from his own, in that distinction of terms, Fear and Honour, he wraps them both up under that one Expression of Fear, which before he had singled out for his own self, Prov. 24.21, 22. My son, fear thou the Lord and the King, &c. where he reads us a full Lecture of double Loyalty, Supreme and Subordinate: as he that abuses the Kings ambassador, dishonours the King; so he that offers any indignity to Gods Vicegerent, doth it to himself. Those Offences that we give to the least little ones, or the greatest great ones, we do it unto him. The fifth Consideration: As God hath dignified them with his Name, and made them Plenipotentiaries in their Dominions, to act within their Sphere, in Domino, sub Domino, & pro Domino; in the Lord, under the Lord, and for the Lord: and by making an hedge about them, to secure their immunities: and involving their interest with his own: So doth he in the fifth place oblige, and conjure all that are in subjection under them, by their allegiance to him, that they be loyal to them, 1 Pet. 2.13. Submit yourselves to every Ordinance of man, for the Lords sake; whether it be to the King as Supreme, or unto Governours, as unto them that are sent by him, for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. The sixth and last Consideration: That God hath not onely wrapped up the interest of Christian Kings with his own, but with the interests of our nearest and dearest Relations upon earth; that whether we look up to Heaven, or down to Earth, we may run and red this Duty of Loyalty. The fifth Commandment contains our Allegiance to the Father of our Country, our Civil Father; to the Father of our Souls, our Ecclesiastical Fathers; and the Fathers of our Flesh, our Natural Fathers: all are comprehended under this short Precept, Honour thy Father and Mother, &c. It contains the Duties of all Sorts, superiors, Equals, and inferiors. And some have contended by this Argument, that this Commandment should belong to the First Table: because as the First relates to the internal Worship of God, the Second to his external Worship, the Third to his Name, the Fourth to his Day; so this Fifth to his Representatives; the Fathers of our Flesh representing his Providence, the Fathers of our Souls his Wisdom, and the Fathers of our Country, his Power. These Considerations are agreeable to the Principles of Christian Religion; and to have them influential upon our practise, shows that we are true Israelites indeed, and spirited as it becometh the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These Considerations premised, the three Nails that I desire to fasten, are these that follow. The first Nail is this: That no Kingdom can stand without a Principality. It hath been a Question discussed in the Schools, An Dominium temporale, fundetur in gratia? and it hath been held Negative, and affirmed that it is founded in nature; and it's so natural a Principle, that our Saviour told the Jews that blasphemously traduced him to cast out devils through Beelzebub the Prince of Devils, that the principality of Hell could not stand, if Satan were divided against Satan; and from thence argues to earthly principalities, that a Kingdom divided( i.e.) disowning principality, cannot stand, but must come to ruin. We red that when there was no King in Israel, but every one did as it seemed good in his own eyes, all suddenly degenerated into Conscisions and Confusion. And since there hath been no King in England, I need not tell you how we have rung the Changes; Men changing their God as well as their King, till our Church was almost turned to a Synagogue of Satan; and our Common-wealth into a Common-woe. Since Monarchy hath been eaten up of Anarchy, and the fat kine by the lean, which were still as ill-favoured as before; how have men given to change, by avoiding Charybdis, fallen into Scylla; going about to escape one gulf, fell into another? We were so afraid of Uniformity, that we have run into Multiformity; and to shun Conformity, have rushed upon Deformity. Surely Arbitrariness in State-Government, and Independency in the Church, are pretty Fancies for wanton Statesmen and Church-men to play withal; but reduce them once to practise, and you make the State and Church to be like Alcibiades his Army, that consisted of none but Commanders; when they came to fight, there were none under Discipline. The second Nail is: That our Government hath been voted to be the best of Governments. Those that have been eminently learned, both in Ecclesiastical and State-Policy, have not only commended, but admired the exactness of its constitution. Some are Advocates for Monarchy, some for Aristocracy, some for Democracy; outs is a quintessential extract of them all: Ours is that Trinity in Unity, all three in one, if I may borrow that illustration with this excuse, Sic parvis, &c. Or rather — Sic magnis componere magna— to compare the great things of Earth with the great things of Heaven. The third Nail is: That well grounded Politians say it's better to tolerate a well-grounded government though circumstantiated with some evil, then to innovate, and be given to change. Have we not sufficiently tasted the bitter fruits of innovation and changableness, since our Land hath swarmed with lunatics and fanatics, and become the Cage of every unclean bide; since we may almost say, Quot Capita tot sententiae; so many men, so many minds? Many have been of an Ephemerian religion, their dreams like Jonas gourd coming up in a night, and withered the next day; and their fancies like bubbles, the fittest emblem of them, no sooner swelled, but broken; or if their Lunacies have lived to be a month old, they appear like that changeable Planet with another face, as if they had devoted themselves to Proteus the fictitious God of shapes, that was said never to appear twice in one form. What do we begin now think of a State-Government and a Church-Government? is not an indifferent one, better then none? but ours is more, a most singular and exact government in reference to the Sate; and some think, if a gracious indulgence may be obtained from our sovereign as to the regulation of some circumstances in Ecclesiastical policy, that we may press after Purity with Verity and Unity, it may then be said of the Discipline both of Church and Sate, as David once said of Golia's sword, Give me that, there's none comparable to it. To give in now my Reasons, which are pregnant, and stand as impregnable bull-works for the securing of this Truth. The first Reason is: Because such a spirit and behaviour savours most sweetly of our submission to Gods will. Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt Offerings, as when the Voice of the Lord is obeied? Behold, Obedience is better then Sacrifice; and to harken, better then the fat of Rams. But rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry, 1 Sam. 15.22, 23. It's the will of God that we should yield willing subjection unto our Governors. Sic vult, sic jubeat, stet pro ratione Voluntas. Voluntas Domini est suprema lex: The will of the King of kings is the highest Law: it ought to be a petition of our daily prayer, Thy will be done; and shall we not live according as we pray? What a sweet lecture of submission doth our blessed Saviour red us, when he was drinking for us that bitter Cup of his Fathers wrath? Father, if it be possible; let this Cup pass: nevertheless not my will, but thine be fulfilled. It is the will of God, that by our Christian carriage and Gospel-becoming conversation, we should put to silence evil men, 1 Pet. 2.15. that wait for an opportunity to brand with obloquy our Christian profession. It's the will of God that Christians should obey Magistrates, though heathenish or tyrannical, as is rightly gathered from the Circumstance of time wherein the Apostles wrote their Epistles of that tendency. If their Commands shall contradict the Commands of God, then the Apostles have laid our Rule before us, Acts 5.29. We ought to obey God rather then men. If conscience will not give us leave to obey them actively; yet must we then suffer according to the will of God, and not only for wrath, but for conscience sake. The Apostle presses believing servants to be obedient unto unblieving Masters, not only to the good and courteous, but to the evil and froward. And the argument holds good from subjects to Magistrates, as well as from servants to Masters: our great King and Master having wrapped them all up together in the fifth Command. David had a clear title to succeed Saul in his Kingdom; and he was so persecuted by Saul, that he went every day in danger of his life; and he might have presumed that providence had given his enemy into his hand, when he was brought into the Cave where David was, and when he was in a dead sleep, that David unseen, and unheard, took the Pot of water and Spear from his bolster: Yet he was so much a Believer, that he would not make hast; as God had given him the Kingdom, so he resolved he should bring him in, he would enter at no door but of Gods opening; He resolved that either a natural or a violent death, should put a period unto Sauls life, and he would not lay violent hands upon the Lords anointed, 1 Sam. 24.6. But why do I waste time on so needless a theme? It concerns not us at present( further then to prevent a future rebellion) to inquire how we ought to demean ourselves towards a Prince that shall be Heathenish or Tyrannical. Though we have deserved such a National scourge for our Heathenish, unchristian, and antichristian miscarriages towards his Royal Father; Yet God hath given us a King so approvedly Christian, and so eminently gracious, so full of Royal greatness twined with real goodness, that so much as to start such an unhandsome supposition, would be a most ungrateful imposition. Only this inoffensive Use may well be made of it: If passive obedience be a Tribute due to the worst of Kings, then the best of our active must be paid to the best: For this is the will of God, and we must submit at our peril: If we give not to caesar that which is Caesars, we do not give unto God that which is Gods. The second Reason is: Because such a spirit and behaviour in Subjects, cheers and lifts up the heart of their King: If we would now give him but such a Cordial mornings draft next his heart, in the dawning of his Reign, It would please him far better then all the healths that we could drink to him. They are much mistaken, that think nothing but Majesty and ease do sit upon Kings Thrones: There is onus as well as honos; a burden as well as honour. Jethro told Moses, the burden of Government was too big for him: and Solomon was so sensible of its weight, that he prayed for a back, or rather a strong heart proportionable to its weight: discouragements will make them despond, and sink under their heavy load. We have asked us a King, and have great reason to be confident that we have not sinned in so doing: Though it may probably; nay, too truly be said, We have added this unto all our other sins, in putting away the last from us:( The good Lord lay not that royal blood unto our charge;) and though we have been too guilty in putting away this too, when he came formerly to demand his legal regal right; and some said with those Rebels in the Gospel, We will not have this man to reign over us; and others said with those barbarous Husbandmen, This is the Heir, come, let us kill him, and the Inheritance shall be ours: Yet in asking this, we have done but our duty; and in coming to ourselves, & returning to our Father whenour patrimony was spent, and we were ready to eat Husks with Swine; we have but acted the part of the penitent returning Prodigal, & have found the like candid and fatherly reception: We have acted but the part of Loyal Subjects in rejoicing at his Proclamations, and adding to them our loud and solemn Acclamations: And I shall not digress to say of this Ancient City,( where I was both an eye and ear-witness of that Solemnity:) Your zeal hath provoked many, and was eminently exemplary: Many have done worthily in England, but you have out-done the most. The Lord hath answered us, and given us a King, and we hope, in tender mercy to this sinking, gasping Church and State: He hath given him to us as Isaac was given to Abraham, as from the dead: though he were not dead, he was barbarously buried alive, in exile and oblivion, like a dead man out of sight, and with too many out of mind too. The Lord hath given him unto us in the fittest time, in our greatest extremity. When the deep of our misery called, the deep of his mercy answered. Let's pause a little, and take the dimensions of this mercy; Look upon the mercy both for the matter and the manner, and take a full prospect of the substance and circumstances; and we shall find it to be a real mercy, a mercy indeed, not in show and apparition. When the Disciples saw Christ, and thought they had seen a Spirit, he invites them to Come near, and touch, and handle him, and be convinced by their senses, that it was even he himself, and no other; for saith he, a Spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me to have: So may I say, Come near unto this mercy: Consider it, study it, turn it upside down, view it within and without; and by so touching and handling it, you will find that it is no shadow, no airy apparition; here is the flesh and bones of a mercy, the joints and marrow of a mercy, the head & heart, the body and soul of a complete mercy, such as deserves to be written in marble Rocks, to be recorded with a pen of diamond, or rather to be written with the finger of God upon the fairest Tables of our thankful hearts for ever. I say, God having given us a King, such a King; at this time, such a time; our own King, in his own time; Let us not line his Crown of Gold with a Crown of thorns; Let us not deal Jewishly with him, as the Jews dealt with Christ, when God gave them his own Son to be their King, Cry him up with Hosanna one day, and cry him down with Crucifige another. In short, let's not use the Son as the Father was used; so as never any King was used by his own subjects, so barbarously as no Chronicle affords its parallel. But let us all be touched with true remorse for that. Those that had a hand or an heart in it, with sorrow of compunction; and those that had not, with sorrow of compassion, mourning for them that mourn not for themselves. Let all righteous souls be vexed from day to day, for that unrighteous fact; and let us bequeath it as a Legacy to Posterity to make it their Lamemation: If the old liturgy be revived, let after-Generations remember this, when they are concerned to say, Remember not Lord our iniquities, nor the iniquities of our fore-fathers, neither take thou vengeance of our sins; spare us good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever. And let us endeavour to redeem our barbarity to the Father ( if it be not inexpiable) with our loyalty to the Son: Let us endeavour by a true filial( and not servile) subjection, to strengthen his hands and lengthen his dayes, by accounting him as Israel did Josiah, The breath of our Nostrils, and the joy of our hearts. The third Reason is: Because such a spirit suits best with the performance of all relative duties which Subjects owe to their sovereign: Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, is Gods command; and God loveth a cheerful giver. 1. Tribute is due to Kings, and we must pay unto them; and when we do it unwillingly, it comes like verjuice out of Crabs, with much crushing and squeezing. As in almsgiving, so in paying Tribute, Bis si cito; That is double done, that is done speedily and cheerfully. Dat benè, dat multum, qui dat cum munere vultum. Good deeds must be done with good looks, or else we may give with the hand, and pull back with our looks. 2. We must not only pay to them, but also pray for them: There's a Spiritual Tribute due from subjects, as well as temporal. See 1 Tim. 2.1, &c. I exhort that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. For Kings, and all that are in authority, that we may led a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty: for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. 3. When the King is angry, we must disarm him: But how? not by wresting his sword out of his hand, nor by taking up Arms against him, no not defensive; but precibus & lachrymis. We may not lift up a hand, except it be to Heaven; and thither we may lift up both, that God would turn his heart to him, if he be in an error; or to us, if we be in one. Though Solomon tells us the wrath of a King is like the roaring of a lion, yet he prescribes an healing plaster, an Anodyne at least for such a sore, where he saith, A soft answer pacifies wrath: and if a soft answer, how much more a soft, and meek, and submissive behaviour? As the mercy of a King will melt rebels into loyalty; so the lowliness and loyalness of subjects will dissolve a Tyrant into mercy: and if the meek and winning conversation of subjects may be influential to the making of a bad King good; we need not doubt but it will contribute much to the making of a good King better. Saul we all know was none of the best or smoothest pieces to make a King or a friend of, yet David did so overcome him with kindness, by his Christian behaviour in rendering good for evil, that it extorted from him those satisfactory confessions, What, my Son David? thou art more righteous then I, 1 Sam. 24.17. and I have played the fool, I have erred exceedingly. 1 Sam. 26.21. 4. It's the duty of loyal subjects to hid and conceal their Princes failings; we must do as Shem and Japhet did when their Father Noah was discovered in his nakedness, get the mantle of Charity upon our shoulders, and go backward and cover it, and this mantle of love will hid a multitude of sins: and let us but observe how the Apostle hath trimmed it, and it renders this cloak of love very lovely, and such a livery that both Kings and Subjects may count it an ornament to wear it, 1 Cor. 13.4, 5, 6, 7. Charity suffereth long, and is kind, charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. We must remember that the best of King are but men, made of the same mould, and subject to the like infirmities with ourselves; as Moses saith, they must die like men, so I may say they must live like men, and they Princes may fall like others. Humanum est errare, is so received a maxim, that the Scripture puts it to the question, What man is he that liveth and sineth not? though a sect of senseless Perfectists have lately dreamed of a sinless perfection, yet Kings and subjects must all pled guilty to such a Question. David, though one of the best men upon the earth, a very holy man, and from Gods own mouth a man after Gods own heart; yet the matters of Uriah and Bathsheba are sins that were as scarlet as his robes; of which one said wittily, David had but two eyes, and both were blemished; for one had a beam in it, and the other was bloudshot. As a Kings gold may be light, and must have grayns of allowance, so must Kings themselves; we never red but of one King of an unstained perfection, and that was the King of Saints, the Royal King Jesus: and to note that he was a Capital King, his Name above all Names was written in Capital Characters, Revel. 19.16. He hath on his Vesture and on his Thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. The fourth and last Reason, is, Because such a frame of spirit and behaviour conduces most towards our leading a quiet and peaceable life under the government we live. The Apostle directs us to pray for Magistrates Supreme and Subordinate, to that end amongst others, that we may led a quiet and peaceable life under them, in all godliness and honesty, 1 Tim. 2.2. Our Proverb saith, Any thing for a quiet life; the meaning is, any thing but sin: for we may not rush upon sinning, to avoid suffering; that were to purchase outward quiet, with the loss of inward; and it will prove but an ill Bargain, to gain a trifle, yea, a world, and to lose a Soul. Let us make and keep peace with God, and walk according to his will, though it be in costly and self-denying Duties, and let God alone to order all with Men: Duty is our part, whatever the Success be. 'Twas a good Resolution of Joab,( though otherwise a Man of War and Blood) Let us be courageous, and play the men, for the people and cities of our God; and let the Lord do what seemeth him good, 2 Sam. 10.12. So let us say, Come, let us be obedient and loyal to our King, and let God work his will. I will go in to the King( said Hester) and if I perish, I perish: but as one well observes, Such a Resolution can never perish: If even Offenders and Malefactors would but now do as Benhadad's servants did, put ropes about their necks, and take sin and shane unto themselves, and go to our gracious sovereign, and tell him, they have heard by his own Letters, Declarations, and Proclamations, that the King of England is like the Kings of Israel, a merciful King; doubtless they would find as amicable a reception as they did; he would own them as bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh: for what may not Native Subjects expect from a Native sovereign? though pardon be too much for some to hope for, yet( as Alexander once told a poor widow, that was modest in receiving a great gift at his hand) it is not too great for him to give. When the Kingdom of God and his righteousness is first sought, God hath promised that other things shall be given in for vantage. And Solomon tells us, When a mans ways do please the Lord, he makes his very enemies to be at peace with him. God is said in Scripture to create peace; and every Creation is ex nihilo: and doth not this of ours look like a created peace? since we have been wandring in by-ways, we have been strangers to the ways of peace: and no wonder; for Righteousness and Peace do kiss: it's but labour in vain to be seekers of Peace, out of the ways of Grace: We might well complain, We look for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness; whiles God looked for judgement, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. Now he that at the first Creation brought light out of darkness, hath created us a peace out of our Chaos of Confusion: all that see it must say, This is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. The Lord hath done great things for us, yea, more abundantly then we were able to ask or think, our enemies themselves being judges: Yea, the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we rejoice. The Doctrinal Part being now dispatched, the Uses that offer themselves in Application, are two: I. Of Inquiry. II. Of Exhortation. I. Use of Inquiry: Wherein we shall ask and answer these four Queries: 1. What manner of King David was? 2. What manner of People his Subjects were? 3. What manner of King ours is? 4. What manner of Persons we ought to be? 1 Quer. What manner of King David was? I might now run out of breath, and out of compass too, in expatiating on Davids praises: As David said of Jerusalem, so may I of David, Many excellent things are spoken of thee, thou Metropolis and King of Israel. But quis post Apellem? who shall commend after the King? who shall commend after the King of kings? David shines most gloriously in the Church Militant, in that elegy out of Gods own Mouth, That he was a man after Gods own heart. Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Job, and David, were men famous in their Generations, the very None-such of the Times they lived in. I'll make a brief Collection of some few of those many praises of this holy Man, which lye scattered in the Book of God, which shine more radiantly then the brightest Jewels in his Crown. 1. He was of Gods own designation to the Crown: I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: and when Samuel looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lords Anointed is before him; the Lord said, Look not on his countenance, nor on the talness of his stature, because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart, 1 Sam. 16.6, 7. 2. He was often insidiated for his life, and many difficulties lay betwixt him and his Kingdom: as the word saith, Through many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; so did David into his Kingdom of Israel. 3. It was Gods good pleasure to give him the Kingdom at last, though he exercised his patience in waiting long for it: and notwithstanding all his enemies, and that he was hunted like a Partridge upon the Mountains, God set the Crown upon his Head. 4. God prepared David for his Kingdom, before he gave it him: Lord, I am not high-minded, I have no proud looks, I behaved myself as a child that is newly weaned from his mother; yea, my soul is like to a weaned child: When Sin was cast down from its Regency, and thrown off its Throne, then was David fit to sit upon the Throne of Israel. 5. God owned him in his Kingdom, and took him to himself in close Covenant: I have sworn once by my Holiness, that I will not fail David; and therefore Davids mercies are called sure mercies. Isay, 55.3. 6. David was as good a subject as he was a King: for as God had sworn unto David, so David had taken the Oath of Allegiance to God: I have sworn, and am steadfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgments, Psal. 119.106. 7. David was pitiful to his people, even so far as to be pitiless to himself: when he saw the destroying Angel making havoc, he made this confession and petition to God that sent him, 2 Sam. 24.17. Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand I pray thee be against me and against my Fathers house. 8. David did vie kindnesses with his people: See 2 Sam. 18.3, 4. Thou art worth ten thousand of us, said they unto David, thou shalt not go forth to battle. And the King said unto them, What seemeth best unto you, that I will do. And when David was so thirsty that he must either drink or die, and said, Oh that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem; and when three of his worthies broke through the host of the philistines, and brought him water, he choose rather to die then drink; he poured it out unto the Lord, and his pitiful heart turned it into blood: Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? 2 Sam. 23.15, 16, 17. 9. David rejoiced in Jerusalems prosperity, but more especially in Zions; he delighted in the flourishing state of Israel, but especially in the Churches; and in this he appeared to be a man after Gods own heart indeed, who loved the Gates of Zion more then all the dwellings of Jacob. 10. David divided himself betwixt the economical, Political and Ecclesiastical Estates, and endeavoured like a true public person to be faithful in all these relations. 1. For his economical faithfulness, or care of his family, see Psal. 101. I will walk in my house with a perfect heart. v. 2. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me, v. 6. He that worketh deceit, shall not dwell in my house; he that telleth lies, shall not tarry in my sight, vers. 7. 2. For his Political faithfulness, as a Ruler, red his own Rule to rule by, 2 Sam. 23.1, 2, 3. These be the last words of David: David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, and appointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel said; the Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue; the God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 3. For his Ecclesiastical faithfulness, or love to the Church-state, and to serve God in the Assembly of his Saints, see Psal. 122.1. I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord. And vers. 6, 7, 8, 9. O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee: Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces: for my brethren and companions sake, I will now say, Peace be within thee: because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good. And Psal. 84.3. he complained when he was banished from Gods House, the Sparrows and Swallows had a merrier life then he. He divided himself so exactly betwixt God, himself, and his neighbour, that he was rightly said to fulfil all the wills of God, Act. 13.22. and that was a right Character that the Spirit of God gives him, Act. 13.36. That he served his generation: God made the most of him, and he the most of his Opportunities. 11. David did depend wholly upon God: By thee have I been holden up ever since I was born; thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mothers breasts: and this prompts him to pray that God would not forsake him, when he was gray-headed. He tells God, that his times are in Gods hands, and takes him to be the God of his Mountains and of his Valleys, the God of his Prosperity and Adversity. When he was thirteen hundred thousand strong, he resolved that he would not make that his Trust, which he had made his Sin: I will not trust in my bow; it is not my sword that shall help me, but it is thy right hand and thine arm. And when he was in deep distress, at the proposal of three judgements, seven years Famine, three months War, or three days Pestilence, he casts himself down at the feet of an offended God, 2 Sam. 24.14. David said unto God, I am in a great streight; Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord( for his mercies are great) and let me not fall into the hand of man. 12. David and God did vie one with another, whether God should be more merciful, or David more thank-ful: God was infinite in Mercy; and in that, Davids Thankfulness could bear no proportion with Gods Mercy: but my meaning is, That David did keep touch with God in his returns of praise, and singing New Songs for New Mercies: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise his holy Name: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: O sing praises, sing praises unto our God, O sing praises, sing praises unto our King. Doth God bless David to a quid amplius? what could I have done more? David puts himself upon a Quid retribua? What shall I give back unto the Lord for all his benefits that he hath done unto me? 13. David made Gods Law his Study and Meditation: just as Moses said a King should do, Deut. 17.18, 19. And it shall be, that when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall writ him a Copy of this Law in a book, and it shall be with him, and he shall red therein all the dayes of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this Law, and these Statutes, to do them. And Davids practise was a true Transcript of this Precept: for he said, Lord, what love have I unto thy Law! all the day long is my study in it, Psal. 119.97. and in the three following verses said he had more understanding then his Enemies, then his Teachers, then his Elders, by making Gods Testimonies his delight, and his counsellors; and lays it down as a character of a blessed man, that he exercises himself in Gods Law day and night, Psal. 1.2. 14. David was patient in tribulation; when the ark was removing, he sent it back with this patient resolution, 2 Sam. 15.25. If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation: but if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here I am, let him do to me as seemeth good to him. 15. David was very humble and self-denying: when Shimei cursed him, and Abishai would have taken off the head of that dead dog, 2 Sam. 16.9. David checked him, and said, Let Shimei curse, for the Lord hath bidden him; it may be that the Lord will look upon mine affliction, and that the Lord will requited good for his cursing this day. Abishai called Shimei dead dog, but David called himself so; After whom is the King of Israel come? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flay? 1 Sam. 24.14. 16. David looked upon this especially as the very Cream and Flower of Gods Favours; that he had known his soul in adversity, that when all his false friends failed him, his God never failed: David did not only live upon this comfort, as we may see in the business at Ziklag, 1 Sam. 30.6. David was greatly distressed, for the people spake of stoning him; but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God: But he also died upon it; for near his end he made this asseveration, 1 Kings 1.29. As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all distress. And in that remarkable doxology or Psalm of praise, where he repeats this expression no less then 26 times in so many verses, this is one, Psal. 136. v. 23. Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever. After all these particulars, I might give you in a whole huddle of Davids praises; for it were easy to be endless in the enumeration of his Excellencies. 1. He was as bold as a lion in Gods Cause, as is to be seen in the matter of goliath, 1 Sam. 17.37. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the Bear; he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine: and v. 45. Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the Armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 2. Though he was as bold as a lion in Gods cause, yet he was as meek as a Lamb in his own, Psal. 131.1, 2. Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, nor in things too high for me: Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother; my soul is even as a weaned child. 3. He was wise as a Serpent to do good, Psal. 119.98, 99, 100. Thou through thy Commandments hast made me wiser then mine enemies: I have more understanding then my Teachers; for thy Testimonies are my meditations: I understand more then the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. 4. And yet as harmless as a dove not to do evil, Psal. 7.3, 4, 5. O Lord my God, if I have done this; if there be any iniquity in my hands: if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me( yea I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy) Let the enemy persecute my soul and take it, yea let them tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. 5. He was glad of any opportunity to show favour to friends: He makes inquiry, 2 Sam. 9.1. Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathans sake? and ver. 3. he further inquires of Ziba, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him? and when he heard of lame Mephibosheth, he gave Sauls Land unto him, and adopted him into his own Family, and fed him at his own Table. 6. And he was as glad when he was restrained from executing wrath upon enemies: when Abigail met him with a present, and appeased his wrath which was kindled by Nabals churlishness, how glad was he? 1 Sam. 25.32, 33. David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me; and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 7. He was tender-hearted in point of sinning: it cut him to the heart that he had cut off the lap of Sauls garment, 1. Sam. 24.5, 6. And he said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my Master the Lords anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. 8. Yet he was stout-hearted and undaunted at suffering: He would not be afraid of 10000 that had compassed him about: ten to one is great odds; but ten thousand to one, is enough to put a stout heart into a palsy fit: but David was of so fixed a resolution, that it should not dis-spirit him; nay, he resolved though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death,( though he should step from danger to danger, and tread upon a new death at every step) he would fear none evil; and gives in this for his reason, For thou Lord art with me, thy rod and thy staff comfort me, Psal. 23.4. 9. All Creature comforts stood but for ciphers in his account, without God. Lord, whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee. 10. But he could live upon God in the want of all things else, Psal. 4. ult. Thou Lord only makest me dwell in safety. And he valves Gods Countenance as a Catholicon, and instar omnium, such a Cordial as would cure him of all diseases: show me the light of thy countenance, and I shall be whole. 11. He counts sins his greatest blemishes; which makes him befool and bebeast himself: My wounds stink and are corrupt through my foolishness: And in another Psalm, So foolish was I and ignorant, even as a very bruit before thee. 12. And he esteems grace and holiness his Crown Jewels. 'Twas this that made the King as well as the Kings daughter, all glorious within, and his clothing to be of rich gold: grace and holiness is the cloath of gold, the Sun-clothing, that make the Saints shine like gold tried in the fire, in the Church militant; and will make them shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of God their Father, in the Church triumphant. This is the white and soft raiment, that is so becoming unto them that dwell in Kings Houses; yea, best becoming unto Kings themselves; being richer and purer Gold then their very Crowns. I have gathered the more flowers out of Gods garden upon this account, because it was to make a posy for a Prince: If providence shall put it into the hand of our sovereign, it may serve him for a looking-Glass to dress himself by, or rather to show him his own face; not doubting but many of these gracious and Princely qualifications are so eminently in him already, that I may say, Qui jubet ut faciat, quod jam facit, ipse movendo Laudat, & hortatu comprobat acta suo. 2. Quere. What manner of people Davids Subjects were? As he was a man after Gods own heart; so they were a people after his own heart: We may say, Qualis Rex talis Grex; They were Subjects suitable to such a King. Israelites they were, and many of them true Israelites indeed, such in whom there was no guile. Take this brief Character of them. 1. They were men fearing God. 2. They were men loving their King. For the First, Take the Dimensions of their resolution in Joshua's time: ' We will serve the Lord, nay, but we will serve the Lord, we will, we will; For their most masculine, and most resolute resolution doth tant'amount, Josh. 24.18, 21, 22, 24. And as for the Second, the honouring and loving of their King; see how tender they were of his safety, 2 Sam. 21.17. They swore unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel. 3. Quere. What our King is? And here I might run over the Catalogue of Davids excellencies again, and make the parallel in many; and the good Lord give him an heart according to his own heart, that he may come short in none; but may inherit what God gave unto Solomon, 1 King. 3.12. A wise and understanding heart, and all royal accomplishments beyond all his Predecessors & all his Successors. As the spirit of Eliah was desired to be doubled upon Elisha, so let him not only Patrizare, but let his Royal Fathers Kingly endowments( if any flesh upon earth be capable of such a double portion) be doubled upon him. But perhaps I may be thought guilty of flattery; and I hate to be a Parasite to Princes, or to fly-blow sovereignty. I would not break his head with balms, whiles I am persuading my fellow-Subjects not to break his heart with disloyalty. Run over the Catalogue again in your reading or meditations, and compare it with the Kings gracious Letters, Declarations and Proclamations; and let him enjoy the honour of the parallel so far as it runs smooth, and without any rubs: and since we are yet too much strangers to him, as well as he to us; let our Charity help out in any thing we doubt: and if we would not do ourselves wrong, let us do him that right, to believe the best till we find otherwise. But there are a few things which I cannot pass over without an impardonable oversight. Whatever he be as to his personal qualifications, and princely endowments he is now our King, and our Legal as well as Regal sovereign. As he was before Rex natus, born King of England, &c. by descent, being of the uninterrupted line of our ancient and famous Kings, and atavis regibus Editus: so he is now Rex factus, our Created King, A King of Gods own making: shall we not say, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord? Other Lords have had dominion over us; but of whose making they were, let their government decide: though they made a fair flourish, and cried, Come, see my zeal for the Lord; yet the Lord hath told us, and proved it by plain demonstration, both à priori, and à posteriori too, by their entrance, dominion, and end; by their rise, reign and ruin, That they reigned without him: and whether it be not likely to be more true of them which was reported of Boniface the Eighth, time will make appear, That he entred like a fox, ruled like a lion, and dyed like a dog. But it's unquestionable that ours hath received his Throne and dominion( not from the permission, but) from the adoption, and owning of the King of kings, who hath overturned, overturned, overturned, to make way for him whose right it was; and hath raised up a Cyrus to remove the gates of brass, and bars of iron that stood betwixt us and our deliverance. And one thing I may say more, had our government not been hereditary and successive, but arbitary and elective, he is now Rex Electus too If vox populi be vox Dei, the people of the Nation,( I mean the Majority by much) do univocally, and with one consent acquiesce in him, and have with much cheerfulness, and very signally testified their Complacency: As David said, Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, and let the children of Judah be joyful in their King: The well-affected of the Nations, next to their being, do seem to rejoice in their King, as the instrument of their well-being. I might much enlarge upon this point, were it needful; and prove and demonstrate our present National mercy in restoring our King to us, and him to his Rights, to be the Lords doing, by 1. The suddenness of it. 2. The strangeness of it. 3. The seasonableness of it. 4. The suitableness of it. If we further take notice, that it was brought to pass, Much of it 1. Without means. 2. By weak means. 3. By contrary means. Or yet further. When great and strange things are so brought to pass, that 1. God gets most glory, 2. His Church most benefit, 3. His Servants most comfort, 4. His Enemies most shane and confusion; Then the work appears to be wholly of God. Now try our deliverance by this Touchstone, and examaine it by all these remarkable marks, and tell me whose image and superscription it hath: It is so eminently and visibly his, that we may challenge all the dis-satisfyed to tell us, Who but the Lord of Hosts and King of Nations could have wrought such a deliverance, and in such a manner; and count them fanatics in good earnest, that shall go about to gain-say it. egypt was never fuller of Locusts, when that plague was upon the Land, then England was lately full of murmurers and discontented spirits, the worst Non-Conformists of all other; not such as refuse to be comform unto Church-Discipline, but such as refuse to be conformable to Gods will. Is it fitter God should be ruled by us, or we by him? Who hath been his counselor or instructor? Do we thus requited the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Dare we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger or wiser then he? stronger then omnipotency, and wiser then Wisdom itself? Do we pray every day, Thy will be done,( we ought to do so) and shall we grudge and repined when it is done? Do we believe that there is an over-ruling providence, and that God is the most wise and just Disposer of all things? Deny that, and turn Atheists, and can we not acquiesce? David held his peace and said nothing, because the Lord had done it. Eli opened his mouth, and spake submissively with his mouth in the dust, It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good. Job was thankful on both sides, for prosperity and adversity, having on his armor of righteousness, on the right hand and on the left. The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken: blessed be the name of the Lord. Paul had learnt, in whatsoever state he was, to be content: and there was no folly in all this. And will nothing content us? is the Lord only wise, and his foolishness wiser then the wisest of men; and shall our foolishness stand upon contest with his wisdom, who is only wise, and wisdom itself? If no other Argument will work up our spirits into a contented, and calmed frame, let me make use of that called volens nolens for once: the Argument drawn from necessity, which hath served our State-Empyricks at more turns then the occulta qualitas doth the Physitians of the body natural: We must be satisfied whether we will or not: it is the Lords doing; and it is in vain to kick against the pricks. 4. Quere is: What manner of persons we ought to be? seeing all these things must be dissolved( said the Apostle, speaking of all the transitory parts of this vanishing world,) What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness? I may say, seeing all things were near a dissolution, and all our curious State-work and Church-work, like curious Watchwork, was taken in pieces, and not an Artist to be found( no not one) that could set it together again; then for the Lord to appear in the Mount, and in a moment to mount us so high above the valley of the shadow of death: and after our tempestuous tossing upon our tumultuous Sea, where we were tossed from cost to cost as if we had lost( as we had indeed) Pilot, Pole-star and Compass; then to be brought not only into the fair Havens, but into the Haven where wise, and loyal and true-hearted subjects would desire to be: Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men! Since it is thus with us, that we may say of England, as was once said of Israel: O England, who is like unto thee? a people protected by the Lord, the shield of thine help, and the sword of thine excellency; thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places, Deut. 33.29. Let us take the 26 and 27 verses along with us( except we will aclowledge the deliverance, and leave out the deliverer, which were an impardonable over-sight,) There is none like unto the God of Jesurun, who rideth upon the Heaven for thine help, and in his excellency on the sky; The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting Arms, and he shall say, Destroy them: I say, since it is thus with us, what manner of persons ought we to be? Since God hath given us a King so like David, a King after our own hearts, yea we hope a man after Gods own heart, shall not we endeavour to imitate Davids subjects, and become a people after his own heart? I shall lay our duty before us in two parts, which shall be a direct answer to the Question, What manner of persons ought we to be? 1. We ought to to be men fearing God. 2. We ought to be such as honour our King. 1. We ought like true Israelites indeed, to give unto God that which is Gods, in thankfulness, and obedience. 2. We ought like true Christians, to give unto Caesar that which is Caesars, in all obedience and loyalty. 1. How thankful and obedient ought we to be to our God, the King of kings? hath he captivated captivity, suppressed the oppressor, and destroyed destructions? let us consider with ourselves, That servati sumus, ut serviamus: We are delivered from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve our God without fear in righteousness and perfect holiness all our daies. Blessings are binders: Hath God given us a King? Let us desire the giver with the gift, that the King of kings would be his defender and ours too: Blessed are the people that have no leading into captivity, and no cause of complaining in their streets: but yea blessed are the people, whose God is the Lord, Psal. 144.15. Let us look upon our temporal mercies with joy and gladness; but let us say with Luther, Valde protestatus sum me noll. sic ab eo satiari; That we are resolved not to be put off with low things. And for a return, let us not only return our thanks but ourselves to the God of all our mercies, as the Apostle exhorts, Rom. 12.1. I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God, that ye present yourselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, &c. 2. How loyal and obedient to our King? Let not Christian States study any other way to secure themselves against Arbitrariness and Tyranny, then by an hedge of Gods own making: When men have run to their wits end, to excuse their putting a kerb upon the irregularities of Rulers; and have gone into far Countries to borrow examples for so doing, from the Spartan Ephori, the Athenian Demarchi, or Roman Tribunes; plain downright subjection and obedience, without welt or gard, without distinction or diminution; active if under a good Prince, passive if under a bad, will prove the most orthodox divinity, when all is done. II. Use. A word of Exhortation, and an end. Let us be exhorted, 1. To a complacency in the person of our King: since it may more truly be said of him, what was said of Titus Vespasian, that he is deliciae humani generis, The darling of mankind; and as one said of Socrates: All that knew him loved him; and if any did not love him, it was because they did not know him. 2. To a complacency in his Government and actions; and to give him an earnest of this, let us testify it by our ready conformity to his first Acts. I'll give you a taste but of two; but they are so gracious, and thoroughly Christian, that by them you may take a measure of the rest. 1. He hath expressly declared his desires, that none of his subjects would dishonour God, whiles they pretend to honour Him: His late Proclamation,( which was his first too, and bears date the very next day after he came to his Royal Palace) is a most remarkable Declamation against all profaneness, and debauchedness: it is not his will that men should drink, and swear, and quarrel, and fight, with those that dare not run to the same excess of riot with themselves, and hazard their souls in the Devils cause, while they seem to cry up his: We serve such a King, that invites us, and will thank us to mind God first: he will take it as the greatest honour we can do to him, to honour God above him; and will take himself to be most dishonoured by those subjects that shall dishonour God for him; knowing that the best Christians are always the best subjects; and to do wickedly with connivance or toleration, is the next way to bring misery both upon King and people, 1 Sam. 12.25. Many an eminent Minister hath been left to scandalous falls, for the anthropolatry of his followers, because his people made an Idol of him; and Kings may be cast down upon the same score: Every Christian Prince will think it his greatest honour to serve God with his might, that he may be like one of those Cherubs upon which the glory sate: he will esteem it no diminution of his dignity, but glory in it rather, as the Baptist did, That Christ may increase in his decreasings; and indeed he deserves not to wear a Crown, that will not lay down Crown & head and all at the feet of God and Christ. 2. Our gracious sovereign hath earnestly invited us to cast away all roproachful terms of diminution and distinction; and that every one of his subjects should pass an Act of oblivion of all animosities and unbrotherly differences. And surely if we could but forget and obliterate what men have done against us, there would be more room in our memory; to record what our God hath done for us: Observe but this, our King is now become our Treacher, and he hath been trained up in scholâ Crucis, which is Schola lucis; and is such a proficient, that he deserves to be graded to the highest degree, and to commence per saltum to that which is counted the top-gallant of Christianity. It was his Royal Fathers dying glory, and that that crowned him, Plusquam victor,( his own Motto) with a Crown of Righteousness, that he forgave his enemies; and let it be our sovereigns never dying glory, that he is so ready to forget enmities. How often hath he pressed the expediting of the Act of Oblivion! and how graciously hath he directed that the plaster be made broader then the sore! how have both Father and Son imitated theirs and our blessed Saviour, that sacrificed his life in such flames of ardent love, that he breathed out his righteous soul with that Ejaculation for his persecutors, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do! Luke 23.34. Our King, I say again ( and I cannot say it, nor you hear too oft) is now become our Teacher, and he teacheth us this Lesson, of forgiving wrongs, as Lessons of music are taught, by practising it before us: and assure yourselves, no Lesson under Heaven would make better melody in the ears of God and good men then this; Davids very heart did dance at the very mention of it, Psalm. 133.1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Observe but the force of our Saviours Ipse dixit. Mat. 5.44. I say unto you, Love your Enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven, &c. Mark the emphasis, I say unto you; I that have done so, I that have dealt so by you, I that loved you when you were Enemies, or you must have perish't for ever; I have forgiven hundreds of Talents, will not you forgive a few pence, at my command, and for my sake? So may we suppose our King saying unto us; I say unto you, I that have done so, I that have written you such a Copy, exhort and beseech you to writ after it: I lay upon you no heavier burden then what I bear before you. Oh that I could now say Regis ad exemplum totus componitur or bis: That all within the orb of the Kings dominions would comform themselves to his precept and practise. What shall I say? fain I would leave some impressions of this duty upon your spirits, to persuade you to practise it. The Kings commands it. The King of kings commands it; we are under double bonds: If we either fear God, or reverence man, we must do it: when our King in a most exemplary manner takes up his across to follow Christ, will not we take up ours to follow our King? will not we follow him that is so eminent a follower of Christ? can we desire a shorter or sweeter Epitome of Active and Passive obedience then this? 1. If we will obey him actively, let us honour God in the first place; for the King commands it. 2. if we will obey him passively, let's not think of revenge, nor bear grudges to men, for the King forbids it. This Kingdom is sick of a disease which may in too bad a sense be called the Kings Evil: The Evil will of those that were called subjects to our late King, and a multitude of Evils more contracted by the loss of that King, and our long want of this: So that the Evil is the Kings all along in a passive, not in an active sense; he is the sufferer, others are the sinners in it: His majesty is now become a physician, and the Lord make him a healer of his people. I may say to every one that is sick of this Evil; Tangit te Rex, Sanet te Deus: The King touches you, the Lord cure you. The King touches you, and with so gentle an hand would he set all broken bones in joint again, that it may touch every Ingenuous person to the heart, and every ingenuous heart to the quick that hears it: He glories in the victory of his patience, and endeavours to get a full conquest in the hearts of his people: he makes it his Crown of rejoicing, and invites us to make it ours, that God hath restored him to his Crown and Dignities, without shedding of blood. The Recipes that our Royal physician prescribes, must needs be sovereign: he begins his Cure methodically, by endeavouring to purge out the malignant humours of the body politic, that the temperament thereof may be rendered more peaceable and promising. In this wonderful turn of providence, many do so far forget themselves, as to call to remembrance all the injuties that have been done unto them: at such a time, such a one did me wrong, affronted me, reviled me, plundered, imprisoned me, smote me with the fist of violence, &c. now I'll be revenged on him. If the King would sand you his sword, scorn to draw it in so low a quarrel, as to wrest vengeance out of his hand that saith, Vengeance is mine, and put yourselves by so doing into the hands of a sin-revenging God. Fortior est qui●se quam qui fortissima vincit Moenia, nec virtus altior ire queat. To get the victory over your enemies, is to loose it over yourselves: and no wise man would exchange a greater glory for a less. We have our King, What would we have more? Unde nile majus generatur ipso, Nec viget quicquam simile aut secundum. We have him set upon his Throne by the King of kings: what can our hearts desire more, but that the Ancient of daies would bless him with long life, and a prosperous Reign over us? Serus in Coelum redeas, diuque Lotus intersis populo Britanno: Néve te nostris vitiis iniquum Ocyor aura Tollat: Hic magnos potius triumphos, Hic ames dici pater atque princeps: Neu sinas Gallos equitare multos Te deuce Caesar. What hath been so long, so much the object of our desires, shall it not now be the object of our delight? A longing woman will feed greedily upon what she so earnestly desired, though many times it be of the coursest too; and shall not we feed upon so palatable a Dish, which the Lord himself hath set before us; and on such a Benjamins Mess as our gracious King hath sent us from his own Table: yea and our King is become our taster too; for it's evident that he feeds hearty upon that first and second course of Piety and Charity which he commends unto us. If we cannot have all that we would at an instant, shall we commit such an over-sight as to overlook those mercies( which indeed are Mountains and not Mole-hills) which we have received? If we cannot bring our estates to our minds, if we can but bring our minds to our estates, we are even: The way to have more and all, and both gifts and Giver, is to be content and thankful. It looks so like Hamans dogged churlishness, to fret at former discontents, when we have the Kings presence and countenance, that it deserves to be abhorred. It fretted him to the very gull, that Mordecai would not veil bonnet, and make him a leg: it dissweetned all the curiosities of the Court; the Queens Banquet had no sweet-meats in it, nor had he stomach to that royal Feast, to which he was invited to bear the King company. See that venomous expression that comes out from the abundance of his malicious heart, like smoke from Nebuchadnezzars fiery furnace, when it was heating seven times hotter then before, Esth. 5.13. All this availeth me nothing( having fore-mentioned the very cream of his entertainment both with the King and Queen) so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Kings Gate. But what was the issue of his monstrous envy and ambition? surely he never left climbing till he was preferred to a Gallows of 50 cubits height, which he had provided for innocent Mordecai, in his own house, Esth. 7.9, 10. And soon after, his ten sons were hung upon the same Gibbet, as fearful Spectacles of Gods Justice and Hamans pride. Is not this enough to make pride and envy to look with a very formidable and ugly aspect? I will lay and leave before you one most lovely pattern of loyalty for your imitation, and conclude all. Mephibosheth the relict impotent son of Jonathan, was entertained into Davids family for his fathers sake; and David had given him all Sauls lands, and gave Ziba an old servant of Sauls, a charge to oversee it as his Steward: It so fell out that David was called out to war, and Mephibosheth went not with him; and Ziba, like a base pick-thank, and insinuating cut-throat, traduces his Master to David, and suggests to him that Mephibosheth hoped that David might be slain in the war, and then the Kingdom would return to him; and that was the cause why Mephibosheth went not with David: David thereupon over-hastily gives Ziba the lands that he had before given to Mephibosheth. When David was return'd, and Mephibosheth took the first opportuniy to congratulate his safe return, he excuses himself for not going out with David to the war, by his being lame; and it was no lame excuse, but the naked real truth: But to make short, David cuts him up short, 2 Sam. 19.29. Speak no more of thy matters; I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land. Now mark, and observe loyal Mephibosheths answer, v. 30. and there it's very obvious, that though he were lame on his feet, yet he went upright on his heart: Mark it well, for it expresses as much loyalty, and love, as a faithful heart could hold. Mephibosheth said unto the King, Let Ziba take all, for as much as my Lord the King is come again in peace unto his own house. So may all true-hearted Loyalists, and Royalists say. Those that covet revenge, let them take it with a vengeance. Those that covet money, let their money perish with them. Those that covet the profits, or honours of the world; those that make provisions for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts of it; let them take the world, and take the flesh, yea and( without repentance) the devil to boot, whiles we sit down with contented Jacob when he heard of the life and preferment of his beloved Joseph: Is my Son Joseph yet alive? I have enough, I will go and see him before I die. Is our gracious King charles yet alive, and come to his own house in peace? we have enough, let us covet to see him, and give in our hearty vote for his happy Reign; causing the Land to ring with our loudest acclamations, Vivat, vivat Rex, vivat, vivat. Long may his majesty live and reign over us as the Faiths Defender, and the glory of our English Nation: and let all that wish well to the Churches happiness say Amen, Amen. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. Sic Surgit Gloria Mundi. The Lord hath taken, and The Lord hath given: Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Soli Deo Gloria. FINIS. THere is now in the Press another Sermon of the like nature( preached also in the Cathedral Church of Gloucester the 28th of June, being the day of Thanksgiving for his Majesties Restauration) entitled, The Royal ston at the Head of the Corner, through the wonderful working of Almighty God. By Jo. Nelme, M.A. and Pastor of St. Michaels in the said City.