The Way to the Highest Honor

ORdered by the Lord's assembled in Parliament, That Mr. Strong, one of the Assembly of Divines, is hereby thanked for his great pains taken in his Sermon Preached yesterday before their Lordships, in the Abbey Church Westminster, it being the Monethly Fast Day: And he is hereby desired to cause the same to be Printed and published: And that no person whatsoever, do presume to Print or reprint the same, but by warrant under his own hand.

I appoint John Saywell to Print my Sermon.

A SERMON PREACHED in the Abbey Church of Westminster before the House of Peers, on the 24. day of February, 1646.

G OD hath made of one blood, all Nations, that dwell upon the face of the whole earth: All men are equal in their original, in their creation, Adam, and in their fall Enoch: there was in neither, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the great, eminent, and honorable man. Only God makes the difference, and appoints one vessest to honor, and another to dishonor, here as well as hereafter. Promotion cometh neither from the East, nor from the West, nor from the South, he pulleth down one, and setteth up another. It is because he hath said, Ye are God's, and his word of Command and Commission comes to you. To set the value upon Coine is reckoned inter Regalia, to cause money to rise or fall at pleasure: it is God's prerogative royal to exalt the value of one man above another: to honor some, as gold amongst the dust of the earth: or as diamonds amongst the stones of the field: not for anything in themselves, but through the excellency that he puts upon them: the rainebow for the matter of it is but a common vapor, an ordinary cloud, only it hath its excellency from the Sun which enamels it.

This difference put by God between man and man, is but for the time of this life at farthest: at death all these relations shall cease, Death levels all: the small and the great are there, and the servan • is free from his master: There the scepter and the spade are equal: the nobles robes, and the beggars rags, are laid down together. This life is fitly compared to a Play, a well acted fable, where one acts the part of a Prince, another of a peasant. Or to Counters, where while the account lasts, one stands for a pound, another for a penny: but the Play ended, and the account past, there remains no difference nor impression of any of their former honors.

This honor is conferred upon some by providence, and some by promise; all have a Commission from God, but some an approbation: some are exalted in mercy, some in wrath: some in mercy to themselves and the Kingdom where they live: so was Joseph advanced in Egypt, and David to rule over the Common wealth of Israel, when Saul had almost ruined the Kingdom: for David after he came to the Crown saith; The land is weak, and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved, I bear up the pillars thereof. Some in wrath, to themselves and the Nation: so God raised up Pharaoh in Egypt, that he might show his power in him, and his honor proved a plague to himself, and a scourge to the Kingdom: so God also advanced Saul in Israel, gave them a King in his wrath, and took him away in his anger.

But when men are thus advanced by God, he hath in this life reserved to himself a power of degradation; that no man can say he shall die in honor: Quod illo dante fit nostrum nobis superbientibus fit alienum. He changeth times and seasons: he removeth Kings, and setteth up Kings. Remove the Diademe and take away the Crown, this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low and abase him that is high, Ezech. 21.26. Magnus est Caesar sed Deo minor. To the intent that the living may know, that the most high rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men, and gives them to whomsoever he will.

Now that your Honors may know the way to attain true honor, (which is a great part of the study of those that live in the upper end of the world) and that you may know how to preserve it without blemish; for honor above all things is quickly tainted, (as dead flies make the Apothecaries ointment to send forth a stinking savor, so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor: ) And that ye may know whether God hath exalted you in mercy or in wrath to yourselves and the Nation, the Text gives you a sure rule and direction in them all; They that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed: for men can no more keep their names, then they can keep their souls.

In this whole verse there are three things.

• 1. The Repetition of an ancient promise.
• 2. The Revocation of this promise.
• 3. The Reason thereof.

1. The promise (which God is never unmindful of) I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy Father should walk before me forever. This Interpreters conceive to refer to that ancient promise made unto the house of Aaron; upon whom the Lord did settle the Office of the Priesthood, by a perpetual Statute, Exod. 29.9. for we read of no particular promise made unto the Family of Eli. This promise of God was after this manner administered and dispensed. Aaron had four sons, two of them Nadab and Abihu died before their Father, by an immediate stroke of God's hand. Lev 10.2.3. So when Aaron died, the Priesthood descended upon Eleazar the first borne, 1 Chron. 24.2. in his Family it continued for five successions, 1 Chron. 6.4.5. and though it be not set down in Scripture; yet doubtless not without great and weighty cause the Lord did for a time lay this Family aside. And he translated the Priesthood to the Family of Ithamar the younger son; Eli was the first of that Family that did wear the Ephod before the Lord, 1 Chron. 24.3. in this Family it continued also for five successions; till Abiathar, the last of that House; Whom Solomon thrust out from being a Priest unto the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord, which he spake concerning the House of Eli in Shiloh. 1 Kin. 2.27. And Zadok was put into the Priesthood in his room, and so the honor returned again to the Family of Eleazar. 1 Chro. 6.8. Thus when the Priesthood had continued in the Family of Eli, (as is conceived) 120 years; it was afterwards removed in judgment, because his sons made themselves vile; and he restrained them not.

2. The Revocation of this promise; But now the Lord saith be it far from me; and this he doth with detestation and abhorring, as the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth signify. But doth the Lord call back his words? Is there with the Holy One of Israel yea and nay? No surely, his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure; nothing can add either Wisdom or Power unto him, and therefore nothing can arise de novo to make him at different terms with himself, he is without variableness, and shadow of turning.

We are to consider that the promises of God are of two sorts, some absolute, others conditional: Absolute promises are those that the Lord hath undertaken to perform of his own free grace, not only citra meritum, but also citra conditionem, without allsupposed or prerequired conditions in us; of this kind are all those great promises of the new Covenant; I will be thy God, I will give my Son, I will pour out my spirit. I, even I am he, who blotteth out your iniquities for my name sake; I will take away the heart of stone and I will give a heart of flesh; I will put my Law in your inward parts, and write it in your hearts; I will heal your backslidings, and love you freely, for mine anger is turned away &c. Conditional promises, only show what God will do upon the performance of such duties and conditions by the creature, which conditions without God's grace he is never able to perform. And these are made for the encouragement of the creature in the ways of obedience, and to show a man's inability that he may fly to Christ for strength; but they do not always show the purpose of God to give the condition or the reward. As in judgments there are conditional threatenings, which upon a change in the creature never come to pass: So are there conditional promises, which through the sin of the creature may never be accomplished. Jer. 18.7.8.9.10. At what instant I speak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it: If that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I speak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom to build and to plant it: If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then will I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. So that the change is in the thing, and not in the Lord; and if he make a promise upon the performance of such a condition, and a man walk contrary thereunto, he may reap a curse instead of a blessing. Novit Deus mutare promissum, si tu non noveris emendare delictum.

3. The reason given of the revocation is in the words of the Text; for they that honor me, I will honor, and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed. This is after the manner of the Hebrews propounded both affirmatively and negatively, and when they will express anything to the full, they do it by a pleonasme in this manner: Exod. 12.20. Ye shall eat nothing leavened: In all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. Jo. 1.3. All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made that was made. Jo. 1.20. He confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ.

And quià aeque confusa est, divisio & nimia & nulla; my purpose is to consider the reason only affirmative and negative as it lies in the Text, and so it affords us these two Points.

• 1. They that honor God shall be honored by him.
• 2. They that dishonor and despise God, shall be lightly esteemed.

Here are two things to be opened and explained. 1. What it is to honor God, and how the creature may be said to honor him. 2. How God doth honor those that honor him.

1 What it is to honor God. Honor is nothing else but the reflection of an excellency. And to make it up, three things must concur.

1. An excellency, the word in the original doth signify something that is heavy and ponderous, and a thing of weight and worth, according to that Hebraism used by the Apostle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a weight of glory, and it stands in opposition unto another word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifies a light thing, nullius ponderis: And if honor be given where there is not an excellency answerable, it is but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 an empty and vain glory because there is nothing within, that answers the Title without: Hence it is that all honor amongst men is in a great measure but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , an outside only, a fancy and no more: For men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie, and lest it may be thought there is no such worth in them apart indeed: yet if ye put them together they weigh much: he adds, put them altogether into the balance and weigh them, and they will appear to be lighter then vanity it self. But in the Lord, there is all manner of excellency, and therefore as he is the Father of Lights, so is he also the Lord of Glory.

2. A manifestation of this excellency, or else we can never honor him, never ascribe glory to him; If he will hide his face, who can behold him? There is not only in God, gloria essentialis, but also manifestativa. The great ground of the dishonor of God in the world is because men know him not; they that know his name will trust in him, fear him, love him, have high thoughts of him &c: The low and base apprehensions that men have of God, (wherein the main of a man's ungodliness lies, as Rom. 1.23. They changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an Image made like to corruptible man. Rom. 3.5. Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? I speak as a man. Psal. 51.21. Thou thoughtest wickedly that I was altogether such an one as thyself, Ezek. 18.25. Ye say the way of the Lord is not equal &c. ) they all proceed from their ignorance of him, want of the manifestation of his excellency to them.

3. A reflection of this excellency, when we behold it in him, be wrapped up into admiration of him, and ascribe all unto him; when his glory shines upon us as the Sun shines upon the Moon, and we reflect it, casting down our crowns and saying, thou art worthy to receive glory, and honor, and power, all greatness and excellency is thine, and to thee only it doth belong. In these apprehensions and reflections of the excellencies that be in God, doth our honoring of God properly consist.

Before we come to the particulars wherein this honoring of God consists, I desire to premise this General.

There is no way of honoring God, but in his Son; he that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father, Jo. 5.23. And this cannot be without a new Creation, a mighty work of regeneration passing upon a man; a people created for his praise. God receives no honor by any of the most curious works of unregenerate men; They are all turned into sin, they are to him as smoke in his nose, and he abhors them, because though they seem to honor God in his Law; yet they honor him not in his Son, and he will be honored no other way, and these works he sets a very high price upon. Luther propounds this query why the Lord in Scripture hath recorded so many ordinary and common things of the Saints, and yet the Virtues of Socrates, and the famous acts of Hannibal, Caesar, Alexander and Scipio, which to human view were greater then any in the Church ever performed, of whom it is hard to find a parallel even in David himself or any of the Christian Worthies? He answers, the first thing to be looked unto, is, whether the person be accepted, or else the works cannot please God; si vel Cicero vel Socrates sanguinem sudasset, tamen propterea non placeret Deo. And therefore he professeth, that if God would grant him his desire, he should choose rather to be the Author of the meanest work of the lowest of the Saints, then of all the Victories of Alexander, or the Triumphs of Caesar, because God is honored in his Son in the one, and not in the other. God may use Cyrus to deliver his people; to say to Jerusalem thou shalt be built, and to the Temple thy Foundations shall be laid. God may make the King of Tyre as a covering Cherub unto the Ark, he may cause the earth to succor the woman, and appoint Badgers skins and Rams skins for to cover the Tabernacle. And he may get himself honor by them, but they do not honor him, because all they do is not in his Son, which is the high and only way in which he will be glorified.

There is a double Principle from whence all the actions of unregenerate men towards God do flow, either a principle of open enmity or of secret flattery; all their gross sins proceed from the first, and all their religious duties from the latter, Psal. 78.36. they did but flatter him with their lips, and lied to him with their tongues, for their heart was not right with him, &c. And the latter in some respect is most abhominable, as Judas his betraying Christ with a kiss, is more hateful then that of the Soldiers who came with swords and staves to take him. Mark. 1.24.34. Christ suffered not the Devils to speak because they knew him. He will not suffer Satan to give a testimony of him, to be the Son of God, (though it were truth, and the same testimony that he commends in Peter, Math. 16.16.) from an inward detestation, that any truth of him should be witnessed by the Father of lies. If our persons do not please God, our works cannot honor God.

This being laid for a ground, we now come to show how God is said to be honored by us, and that is principally in these six particulars.

1. When the thoughts of God are sweet to a man, and he hath high and ravishing apprehensions of him from day today, Math. 15.8. there is a distinction made by Christ himself, this people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; there is therefore an honoring God with the heart, as well as with the mouth, and if ever our Odors be sweet to God, they must proceed out of Golden Vials, Rev. 5.8. In opposition hereunto we have cursing God in the heart, Job 1.5. which is not to be understood of violent and malicious blaspheming of God; but a forgetfulness of God, or any irreverent and unholy thought of God, unbecoming his Ma ^tie and glory. And this is I conceive, to sanctify the Lord in our hearts, Isaiah 8.13. noting that immediate duty which we owe to him, in acknowledging and meditating of that peerless excellency that is in him, as the highest, the most delightsome and satisfactory object of the soul. Thus do the Angels honor him, when they always say in their hearts, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of Hosts, the whole earth is full of thy glory. So doth Solomon teach us, by considering the Lord is in heaven, and we are upon earth. So doth Moses, when he is wrapped into admiration of him, who is like unto thee Oh Lord, who is like unto thee? Glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. So Hannah, there is none holy as the Lord for there is none besides thee, neither is there any rock like unto our God. And David, how precious are thy thoughts unto me Oh God, how great is the sum of them? If I should count them they are more in number then the sand, when I awake I am still with thee, &c. And thus Micayah honored God: when he saw two Kings sit upon Thrones, and yet the apprehension of the Glory and Majesty of God did swallow up all the thoughts of the glory of the creature, and it becomes as nothing before him. But when we forget God's days without number, he is not in all our thoughts, and when the glory of other things, darkens the glory of God in our hearts, and thoughts of other things doth drown the thoughts of God in us; as those things, that are to us more excellent and more delightsome, this is to dishonor God in a man's heart, and to live without God in the world.

2. We then honor God, when the honor of God is precious in our eyes, when whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do else, we do all to the glory of God. When a man's own honor is not deer to him in comparison of God's; but he casts down his crown and falls upon his face, and he that so doth, abaseth his glory, that the Lord alone may be exalted. When a man can venture great things in himself, rather then dishonor God in the smallest; Daniel will put his life in his hands rather then omit one duty. And Mordecai would venture his own life, and hazard the safety of the whole nation, rather then give the glory of God unto any other, for it was divine honor Human expected of him. The Christian Soldier in Tertullian would venture his life, liberty and all, rather then he would wear his Laurel upon his head as the Heathen Soldiers did, and being demanded the reason, why he did differ in habit from the rest, he answered, Christianus sum, &c. He would lay down his life rather then in habit come near unto the customs of Idolaters. Anselm judged hell for sin to be a good exchange. Moses in a thing that concerned God's glory, desired that God would blot his name out of his book. And Paul that he might be accursed from Christ, which is not to be understood of a separation from Christ in grace, for so he loved Christ doubtless above his Brethren, and such a wish had been sinful, but of a separation from Christ in respect of his own glory and happiness, if God may have glory, and the souls of men advantage. And it is to be understood as spoken, not deliberative, but hyperbolice, &c. they well knew it could not be; But as Luther hath excellently hinted, Affectus amantium cum inardescit, procedit etiam ad impossibilia. Love to the glory of God, and the good of his people, puts the soul into such an ecstacy, that it is carried out even to known impossibilities for God. Nay Austin in his Resolution riseth unto this height in reference to the glory of God, that if the salvation of all mankind were to be accomplished by one officiously; yet the glory of God should be so precious, that he should let all mankind to perish, rather then their salvation should be procured by his dishonor. He that doth in this manner honor God, can never plead a necessity of sinning in any kind, whether to obtain the greatest good, or to avoid the greatest evil, because he saith there is but one thing necessary, that God only be exalted. Non admittit status fidei allegationem necessitatis. Nulla est necessitas delinquendi, quibus una tantum est necessitas non delinquendi.

3. We then honor God, when we think ourselves honored by the service of God: So did the Apostle honor God, Rom. 15.20. 2 Cor. 5.9. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the word signifies, to labor with ambition; so to look upon a duty as matter of Labor, as to esteem it also matter of Honor. Thus we do in services that belong to the Kings of the earth, even the meanest, to be Steward of the house, Master of the horse: or Groome of the stool, we account great honor. And should we not esteem it much more so, in the service that is done to God, cui servire, regnare est? To be a door keeper in the house of the Lord, is a greater honor then to be a Prince in the Tents of wickedness: to be the servant of Christ, is Paul's Title of Honor, which in all his Epistles he holds forth, and to be the servant of God, is the honor of the Saints, which is far greater then to be the Prince of the Air, or this God of the World. Ignatius professeth he had rather be a Martyr then a Monarch. The Saints find their wages in their work, it is their meat and drink to do the will of God, and to finish his work; nay, they prize their work above their wages, their duties above their comforts, as one of the Martyrs said when he was dying, that he was even sorry that he was now going to a place, where he should forever receive wages and never do anymore work, his duty seemed more to him then his glory. Indeed the highest honor of the creature is to be used, and to be a vessel of honor fitted for the Masters use, and the greatest reproach to a man that can be, is to be laid aside, as a vessel wherein there is no pleasure.

4. A man then honors God, when he lays out himself in his service to the uttermost, and yet acknowledgeth when he hath done all, he is an unprofitable servant, and whatsoever he hath done is unworthy of God. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thy increase, Prov. 3.9. Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with all thy might, Eccles. 9.10. So do the Angels the living creatures mentioned Ezech. 1.14. (expounded to be the Cherubims, Ezech. 10.20.) they ran and returned in all their services as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Thus doth Christ himself lay out himself to the utmost in the service of God and of the Church, Isaiah 9.6. The government is upon his shoulders; the Princes of the earth take the honor to themselves, but the burden they cast upon others, withdraw the shoulder, and will not put their necks to the work of the Lord, Neh. 3.5. But Christ doth not so, as he expects all the honor, so he takes upon him all the work and lays out himself to the utmost therein, Isaiah. 49.4. Christ's labor in the Lord's work is expressed by three words, which are very significant: The first is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifies, cum anhelatione & defatigatione laborare, rendered by the Sept. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifies, wearisome, wasting, and even fainting labor, Math. 11.28. The next word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 it signifies humidum radicale (Ps. 22.16. my strength is dried up like a potsherd, Psal. 71.9.) a labor even to the wasting and drying up of a man's natural strength and radical moister &c. And the other word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifies, not a small and a moderate wasting, but a total, a perfect and an utter consuming; thus did the Lord Christ, (to us a pattern as well as a principle of holiness) lay out himself in the service of God and his Church.

And that wherein the main honor lies, is this, they are humbled for what ever they do and acknowledge it to be a thing wholly unworthy of God: David did prepare with all his might for the building of the Temple, and that even to the wealth of a Kingdom, and yet he saith of it, 1 Chron. 22.14. he had done this, in or according to his poverty, as a thing every way unworthy of so glorious a Majesty, & so great a work. Especially to be observed to this purpose is that acknowledgement of Christ himself, Psal. 16.2.3. Oh my soul thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, my goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. This some learned Interpreters take to be the speech of Christ, as that is, which follows in the Psalm, wherein speaking as Mediator, as the Fathers servant, of all the great things that he both did and suffered in our nature, he acknowledgeth that God is not profited by them they add no perfection to him, it was merely his free will to appoint them, and merely his free grace to accept them; the Saints they had indeed much benefit by them, have redemption and adoption; but it was no advantage to God at all, added nothing unto him, he could have gotten glory out of the destruction of the creatures, if they had perished in their sins, as well as in their salvation by a Savior; nothing of the happiness or glory of God had been diminished by it, it was not for God's need that Christ died and suffered, but for ours, and therefore the Sept. renders the words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Of my goodness thou hast no need. Thus Christ glorifies his Father upon earth, he lays out himself to the utmost in service, and when he hath done all, he acknowledgeth, he had not profited God by anything; my goodness extends unto thee.

5. A man honors God by ascribing all unto him, when he hath labored in his service with all his might. We are to attribute to God the work and the fruit or success of the work. Though the service be great, yet not done of ourselves, we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God: Ye are the Epistle of Christ ministered by us, we had no other influence into the work, but as the pen, in the hand of Christ a ready writer: I labored more abundantly then they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me: Who am I, and what is this people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all-things are of thee, and of thine own hand have we given thee. And as the work so the success of it, not unto us Oh Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. Paul is nothing, Apollo nothing, but Ministers by whom ye believed, even as God gave unto every man. We have wrought no deliverance in the earth, neither have the Inhabitants of the earth fallen, from him is our fruit found. Our happiness & honor is to be Workers with God in the work; but our sin & snare is to be sharers with God in the honor. Luther saith, no man can truly say sanctificetur nomen tuum, but he must also say, profanetur nomen meum. The Civil Law saith of a servant, that as he is not his own, nor in his own power, so all the fruits of his labor is not to turn to his own, but his Masters advantage. Men employed in the highest works upon earth, are but instruments and weapons in the Lord's hand; he bends Judah for him, and fills the bow with Ephraim, and makes them as his goodly horse in the battle: And as to be used in service is a man's highest honor, so to take to himself the glory, will be a man's shame and dishonor forever.

6. A man honors God when he seeks the honor that comes from God only in all his service, and from him alone expects his reward. Thus did Christ honor the Father: Though Israel be not gathered, surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my reward with my God. So do the Saints, while they look not at things that are seen, but at things that are not seen, and make these their aim in whatsoever they do. We know what rewards men use to give for services: If a man serve a King, and that in the highest kind, even in the preservation of his life, as Mordecai did Ahasuerus, if the question be, what honor and dignity hath been done to him, for this? the same answer may be returned, there is nothing done for him. It may be he may be rewarded as Justinian the Emperor did his victorious General Bellizarius, who after all his great services, paid him his arreares with putting out of his eyes, and turning him to beg by the ways side, date obulum Bellizario. If he serve a City, we see their pay also, Eccles. 9.15. There was a little City, and few men within it, and there came a great King against it, and besieged it, and built great bulworkes against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered that City; yet no man remembered that same poor man. But if a man serve a State, surely they give better pay. See it in Moses, as faithful a servant to the State of Israel as ever any people had: Who carried them in his bosom, as a nursing father doth a sucking child, for forty years. Yet what murmurings at him? What jealousies of him? What parties made against him upon every sleight occasion? And if any cross accident fell out, as a punishment of their own sin; yet by & by they must stone Moses, he had undone them, & had a plot upō them in their deliverance out of Egypt, to destroy them in the Wildernes.

I know men in all their services love something in hand, & cannot be easily drawn to undertake anything which doth not carry its reward with it, and in such things they are very forward. Hose. 3.1. Its noted of the people of Israel, they loved Flagons of Wine. This is spoken of their Idolatrous worship, which was done by feastings in the house of their God's, Judge. 9.27. 1 Cor. 10.21. this service which they thought would bring them in a reward hereafter, and yet suited with the present sensuality of their spirits here, this they loved and much delighted in. Hosc. 8.13. They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifice of mine offerings, and they eat it. The sacrifices of God were of two sorts, expiatory or gratulatory, the one in the burnt offering, and the other in the peace offering, and this last some conceive to be here meant, the burnt offering was wholly to be consumed, except the skin and the entrails; therefore nothing of this did remain to be eaten. But in the peace offering, only the fat was the Lord's, the rest was divided between the Priest and the Sacrificer, and to these sacrifices there was a Feast adjoined of great joy and gladness. Deut. 16.15. 1 Sam. 20.6. Prov. 7.14. In these sacrifices they did seem much to delight; but in burnt offerings in which God must have all, they took no such pleasure. But we then honor God indeed when we shut our eyes against all honor and reward from men, and can be content to plow in hope, knowing that light is sown for the righteous, and they must from God expect the harvest. Thus we see the first branch opened, how we may be said to honor God.

We now come to the second thing propounded in the opening of the point, which is, how God doth honor those, that honor him, which also is seen in these six particulars.

1. God doth honor men, by giving them honorable employments. The Angels have an order among themselves, and some are conceived to be exalted above others in honor; but this is not a dignitate na turali, for so they are all equal, but a diversitate of ficiorum, from the different employments that the Lord is pleased to exercise them in. Even Christ himself, though he be the Churches Lord; yet he is God the Fathers Servant, and his service is his honor; now he is in heaven, for he wears his Priestly garments there, being clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle, Rev. 1.13. Surely they that are most serviceable, are most honorable. Those honorable titles carry in them great services, to be the foundations and the shield of the earth, the hiding places from the wind, and refuge from the storm, the breath of our nostrils, the healers of our breaches, the stay of our Tribes, and whatsoever may set forth a man useful in Church or Commonwealth. That any of you, (right Honorable) should be so far used and honored, as with Moses, to deliver an enslaved people, with Joshah to fight the Lord's battles, and to give them possession of the promised Land, which Elijah to restore the worship of God decayed, and with Zerubbabel to cast out the rubbish, and to build the Temple, these are the greatest and the most honorable services that any men in the world can be employed in.

2 God honors men by keeping them unblemished, that they retain their integrity, and do not warp in the most trying times; whether the trials be by prosperity or adversity. In the time of adversity, the Stars do often fall, there is a Cauda Draconis, which sweeps down the third part of the Stars of Heaven, and casts them unto the earth, Rev. 12.4. And all the world wonders after the beast, and receive his mark in their forehead, a token of their subjection, because they say who is able to make war with the beast? Rev. 13.4. Then shall those that God will honor be preserved as a morning without a cloud: And they shall stand with the Lamb upon Mount Zion, having his Fathers name written in their foreheads. And of them it shall be said, these are they who were not defiled with women, for they are Virgins, these are they, who follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth, these were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God, and to the Lamb. Rev. 14.3. They shall not appear to be chaff in winnowing times, though they be emptied from vessel to vessel, God doth honor them by not suffering their lees to arise: But they are resolute for God, and bear witness to the truth, and do not carry themselves in a reserved middle way, (which is the policy of the world) that they may preserve a favorable esteem with both parties, though they be loved and trusted of neither.

And in trials also in the times of prosperity, which commonly prove the most dangerous snares: Magna est faelicitas, non a faelicitate vinci. Joseph is the same in Prison, as a slave: in Potiphar's house, as a servant, and in Pharaohs Court as a Prince, the second in the Kingdom. A godly man is resembled to a Rock, in a storm the Rock shakes not, shrinks not, and if the Sun shine, the Rock melts not. Prov. 27 21. As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold: So is a man to his praise: There is not a surer and more effectual trial in the fining pot, to discover the dross of silver, and the furnace for gold, then there is in praise, honor and advancement to discover the dross and vanity that is in the spirits of men. And in that particle in the original 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 there is an especial emphases, it signifies, ad modum & mensuram; according to the proportion of the thing; so here it is according to the measure and proportion of a man's praise: a small preferment may draw out but a little, and a great honor will manifest a great deal of dross to be in a man. And many a man observing which way the tide of honor, preferment, and advantage runs, resolves to cast himself into that way, and swim down the stream, how evil soever, & per hoc omnes quodammodo coguntur esse male ne viles habeantur. Now those that God will honor he carries upon Eagles wings in these trials, and they are with Noah kept upright in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation.

3. God honors men by giving them an high esteem in the hearts of the faithful: So God honored David, whatsoever he did pleased all the people. Those that are precious in God's eyes, he will visit the heart of his people for them, and make them honorable in their eyes also. And to have an interest in the hearts of the faithful is more, then to have the favor of all the Princes of the earth. And therefore Theodofius rejoiced more se membrum esse Ecclesiae quam in terris regnare. The special blessing upon every service that a man doth next unto the acceptation of God; is, that it may be accepted of the Saints, that they shall say, our hearts are towards the Governors of Israel, that willingly offered themselves to the work of the Lord. It may be the generality of the world is against them, and they look upon them as vile men, and the of scouring of all things; but honor in the hearts of the excellent ones of the earth, is more then the honor of all the vile men of the world. Ne attendas numerum illorum, melior est unus timens quam mille filii impii. See how highly this was in esteem with the ancient Saints: if Paul go forth to preach, the people of God must strive with him in their prayers: if Joshua go forth to war, unless Moses hold up his hands upon the hill, he can avail little by fighting in the valley; if Peter go to Prison, the prayers of the Saints must release him; its a great matter to go forth either in doing or suffering loaden with prayers, for we know they have power with God, and that the Saints shall judge the world. When therefore God will honor men indeed, as he doth set his own eyes upon them; so the eyes and hearts of God's people shall be towards them.

4. God honors men when he doth appear for them in the dishonors cast upon them: So God honored Moses, Numb. 12.8. Though it be Aaron and Miriam; yet he will not suffer them to pass unpunished, if they dare speak against his servant Moses. Men may fasten reproaches upon the Saints, cast out their names as evil, but their light shall break forth in obscurity, and he that will one day wipe all tears from their eyes, will also wipe away all blots from their names. Therefore whereas other men in slanders commonly justify themselves with boisterousnesse and clamour, he conscious of his own uprightness, and sweetly enjoying inward peace, only saith, My witness is in heaven, and my record is on high, and unto him, I will wholly commit my cause. And surely the less they appear to justify themselves, the more gloriously will the Lord delight to show himself, to plead the causes of their souls. The testimony given to Moses by God himself upon this occasion, was, that the man Moses was the meekest man that was upon the face of the earth: And had he not been thus meek in his own cause, we may question whether God would have so suddenly spoken for Moses his justification: When God's people leave their cause with him; he that hath said he will be a swift witness against his enemies, will also be as swift a witness for his people.

5. After this life God doth honor them with a sweet and a precious name, which shall be as an olutment poured out, and their memory shall be blessed among the posterities to come: So God honored Moses after his death, by giving a testimony to his sincerity, Moses my servant is dead. So God honored Elish 1, that at his death the King wept over him, and said, my father, my father, the Chariot of Israel and the horse men thereof. So Hezekiah, all Judah did him honor at his death. And Jehoiada God honored in his Funeral; they buried him in the City of David among the Kings, because he had done good in Israel both towards God, and towards his house: And God honored Josiah by a public mourning after his death, all Judah and Iersualem mourned for Josiah, and Jeremiah lamented, and all the singing men, and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and they made it an ordinance in Israel: This at last grew into a Proverb among them, for a great lamentation, which I conceive to be meant by that expression, Zach. 12.11. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo. Thus did the Persians honor their Princes at their birth, publica laetitia & anniversariis sacris, with a general rejoicing, so their death, luctu publico, with a public and universal mourning. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rest from their labor, and their works follow them, and as they have been in this life, pedessequi fidei, so after this life they shall be pedessequi gloriae.

6. God doth honor men in their posterity, and therefore children are called the parents glory. His name shall endure forever, the word is rendered by Montan: Filiabitur nomen ejus, his name shall be continued in his posterity, by a lineal descent, as long as the Sun and the Moon endureth; and they that come of them shall be called the repairers of the breach, and restorers of Cities to dwell in. Whereas many a man is but exhaled as a Meteour for a time, and he falls down again and none of his posterity remain, but his lamp is put out in obscure darkness, and no more of the name shall be sown. His arm shall be cut off, and none of his house shall remain; but to consume his eyes, and to grieve his heart, and to be the reproach of their fathers house forever.

We come now unto the second part of the Text, they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed; which doth afford us this point.

They that dishonor and despise God, [Doct. 2] shall themselves become vile, and be lightly esteemed.

The word which we render despise, is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which is sometimes referred to the person, and sometimes to the thing, and signifies vileness or meanness, in the esteem of the one, and pride and contempt in the other.

This word is used, 1 Sam. 10.27. some men of Belial, looking upon the meanness of Saul his condition, though God had made him King over Israel, yet they said how can this man save us, and they despised him in their hearts as a man unworthy of such an honor? It signifies all sorts of contempt cast upon one, either in a man's heart or his ways, and is therefore rendered by the Sept. in different words which may fully express the pride of the person, and his low and undervaluing apprehensions of the thing. Thus do wicked men contemn God. And their reward shall be to become vile, and of no esteem. The word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifies alleviari vel ponder vel honor: to make a thing light, either in weight of estimation, and is sometimes translated 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , to be nothing, sometimes it is opposed unto 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and is rendered by 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which signifies to curse and to speak of a thing with execration and detestation: But in this place the Sept. renders it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which is to dishonor or disgrace a man, all may fitly be taken in, he that hath no esteem of God's honor, shall himself (whatsoever his place and parts be, and whatever ornaments and excellencies he hath to set him off before men) be dishonored, accounted a man of no worth; here his name shall be cast out as evil, and be separated with a curse, and unto detestation before all men.

Here we have two things to consider. 1. How men do dishonor God. 2. How God dishonors them.

Men dishonor God in an especial manner these five ways.

1. When they slight the offers of Christ which God makes to them, and thus men that live in the Church, profess to receive the Gospel, and be called by the name of Christ, do despise him, and set him at naught, yea even the builders, those of highest place, and seeming eminency in the Church. Men being invited to the wedding, they make light of it and will not come, every small occasion shall be a diversion: The Gospel of grace is offered to them, and they receive the grace of God in vain; they know that they are without Christ, and know upon what terms God offers ( sc. a consent to the Covenant, the answer of a good conscience, the giving of a man's self unto the Lord, that he may say I am my beloved, and my beloved is mine ) and yet with the young man in the Gospel, they go away from Christ, and resolve not to come up to the terms of God's offer, but out of the profaneness of their hearts, prefer other things to Christ, and with Esau despise their birthright. This is the highest way of dishonoring of God: To honor God in his Law (which was the way of the first Covenant) is very acceptable to him; but to honor God in his Son, is much more, (which is the way of the Gospel) and therefore faith brings more glory to God then works can do to eternity, because it honors God in an higher way. Now if this be the highest way of honoring God, then the contrary must needs be the greatest dishonor that a man can cast upon him.

And this is the highest way of sinning against knowledge. Sins against knowledge are of two sorts. 1. In a particular act, when a man knows a thing to be evil, and his knowledge doth rise against it, and yet he is transported and commits it. 2. In a man's estate, when a man knows that he comes not up unto God's terms, upon which he offers Christ, and that the offers of Christ will not last always, that God makes a quick dispatch with many men in the days of the Gospel; that the day of restraining grace may last, when the day of converting grace is past, and yet puts off Christ from day today, and is content to be without him: This is the highest degree of sinning against knowledge, and therefore the highest way of dishonoring of God, next to the sin against the holy Ghost. There is this difference between temporal and spiritual blessings, no man willingly partswith the one, and no man but he that is willing shall lose the other. I would have gathered you but ye would not. Math. 23.37.

2. When they live without God, and are content so to do. This is the condition of every man by nature, Eph. 2.12. and this is the complaint of God, concerning those that professed themselves to be his people, and made their boast of God, that they forgot him days without number. When men can live without the knowledge of God, without communion with him, without interest in him; take no care to please him, and the comforts of their lives come not in by him: This is to dishonor God in an high degree, and as much as if men did say, we are Lord's, we will come no more at thee. A gracious heart can take contentment in nothing without God, in the midst of all his enjoyments, he saith my soul is a thirst for God: Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee? He discerns his presence, he is affected with his absence, if he withdraw himself, his heart fails, and if he hide his face, and be silent to him, he is like unto one that goes down to the pit. His care is to please him, and to approve himself unto him in all things. The hearts of men commonly are carried after self pleasing, (so it is with many a proud and sullen spirit, self-conceit, and self-will, will carry a man to self-pleasing, though he displease all the world beside) and men pleasing: but grace carries a man's heart to desire to please God in all things, and to walk before him unto all well-pleasing.

3. When men fear not his wrath, tremble not at his presence, have no dread of his great and terrible name, sleight his threatenings, and disregard his alseeing eye, then men are said to despise God, Psal. 10.13. When they do wickedly, and say in their hearts, I shall have peace though I walk after the imaginations of mine own heart, surely God will not require it; when they say, the words of the Prophets are but wind, and the word of the Lord is not in them: (though when they fly, the threatening will certainly overtake thē.) When men fly to the creatures to uphold them against the wrath of God; honor Mahuzim or the God of forces, drink the waters of the river, trust in oppression, and lean upon it, to be protected against the displeasure of God: Send to King Jareb to be healed of wounds from God: And with Saul to comfort himself in any creature-respect in the consideration of the loss of God's everlasting love, it is a despising of God in an high degree.

4. When men set up their wisdoms or wills against the Law of God, and the Ordinances of God. The highest power of a Prince is legislative, and he rules only in his Law; and the highest contempt of him is to despise him in this his highest power. Yet thus men despise God daily: Sometimes they exalt their wisdom against it, by the oppositions of science falsely so called, by the curiosities, contradictions, or the superinducements of fleshly imaginations upon truths of God, and by this means they enervate, unlord and make void the Law of God. And sometimes men set up their wills against the Law, cast it behind their backs, withdraw the shoulder, resolve not to be subject: But what thou speakest to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee: but we will certainly do whatsoever goeth out of our own mouth, &c. Jer. 44.16.17.

5. When men set light by the things which tend unto God's dishonor, and do not testify their zeal against them as becomes the Majesty of God: So did Eli here despise God in that he did not show that zeal against his Sons in the cause of God, as he ought to have done, and is therefore charged to honor his sons more then God. Christ was zealous in all things that tended to God's dishonor, Psal. 69.9. thereproaches of them that reproached thee, are fallen upon me: The wrongs done to God did affect him, as if they had been injuries against himself; yea they drowned and swallowed up all personal wrongs whatsoever, and he that is in his own wrong dumb as a Lamb before the sheerer, he is transported exceedingly in the cause of God, with how much zeal did he assert the truth of God against the false Doctrines of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, the Heretics of those times? How sharply did he reprove sin, not only in the Pharisees, a generation of vipers; but also in a Disciple, get thee behind me Satan, thou art an offense to me? And in his mother, woman what have I to do with thee? How much zeal did he manifest for the worship of God, in purging the Temple, and whipping out the buyers and sellers, who turned the house of prayer, into a den of thieves? And so fulfilled that Prophesy of him, the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up, it swallowed up all other affections in him, as if he had been transformed into burning zeal. So it was with the Saints of old, they did contend earnestly for the faith once given to the Churches, they could not bear them that were evil, under what show or pretence soever, though they said they were Jews, yet were found upon trial to be of the Synagogue of Satan. The rule given, 2 Jo. 10. is much to be considered in these days, If any man come unto you, and bring not this Doctrine, receive him not into your house, nor bid him God speed, for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. He speaks it of those Deceivers and false Teachers, which were then entered into the world, and he saith not only that they should not favor them, and plead for them; but also that they should neither out of love to the error, or an affectation of novelty, countenance, entertain them, or converse with them: But in testimony of their zeal for God, and their constancy in the truth, reject them, avoid them, that they be not encouraged in their sin, nor they partakers thereof as abettors of their evil deeds. Irenaeus hath a story of Polycarpus, how when Marcion the Heretic came to see him, and desired him, to know him, he answered him, I know thee to be the first begotten of the Devil: So zealous and fervent in spirit were the Apostles, and their Disciples against those that corrupted the truth or worship of God. This would be accounted bitterness of spirit in our days; that ancient zeal for God, being in a great measure cooled amongst us, and many men who pretend great zeal, who (as its said of the Carbuncle, translucet ad modum ardentis prunae ) if ye look upon them a far off, ye would think them to be all fire; yet if ye touch them, will be found key cold.

The second branch for explication, is, how God dishonors men. And this he can do upon the greatest. Kings are the fountain of honor upon earth, and by them it is dispensed; but yet he pours contempt upon Princes: It notes abundance the highest measure of dishonor: They that convey honor unto others, cannot preserve their own honor. And this the Lord doth ordinarily, these five ways.

1. He will not use them in high and honorable employments, cast them out as an abominable or unfruitful branch. Conia is a despised broken Idol, a vessel wherein there is no pleasure. It is spoken of Jeconiah the King of Judah; the first disgrace that the Lord puts upon him, is by taking away the first letter of his name, per contemptum, as Abraham had a letter added to his name, as a special honor; so from this Prince a letter is detracted as an especial reproach. And he is called an Idol, but despised and broken: he was formerly honored and adored by his Subjects as an Idol; but as his honor before was above a man; so God would pour upon him the greatest contempt, sc. of an Idol which hath been worshipped as a God, and is now discovered not to be so: It is of all things else most unprofitable and most abominable. And he shall be as a vessel, in which there is no pleasure; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 so the Sept. cujus nullus est usus, so the Chaldee Paraph. Its taken ab ollis rimosis, say some, that because they are riven and unfit for service, are cast away, as good for nothing: But others raise the sense higher, and say it is a modest expression, not only of a thing unuseful, but a thing filthy and vile, as a vessel for the most unclean uses; thus God pours the highest contempt upon persons that he hath raised to the highest honor. Yea he doth sometimes raise men up for a particular service (as he did Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab, and the house of Baal) and lay them aside afterward forever, as a vessel in which there is no pleasure, never to employ them in any honorable service more.

2. God will give men up unto base and dishonorable lusts; all sins are abominable before God, and damnable in themselves; but yet all are not alike dishonorable before men: There are some 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 vile affections, which make men hateful amongst all men. By restraining grace lusts may be kept in a long time, and men may have Neronis quinquennium, and yet afterward prove humani generis opprobrium, the shame of mankind, as he did. Men may stand for stars a great while, looked on as lights, and admired by all, yet afterward be swept down by the Dragons tail, and appear to be but Meteors; the matter being spent by which they were fed, they fall down to the earth, and appear no more. Achitophel was faithful to David, it seems in his former time, of whom it is conceived by some, that he speaks when he calls him, his guid and his familiar friend, with whom he took sweet counsel, and yet he was afterward given over to dishonor himself, and his hand was found to be with Absalom in that unnatural rebellion. And Abiathar was faithful to David against Saul (being it may be engaged by a particular displeasure; the cruel murder of his Fathers house, by the hand of Doeg at Saul's command) and yet he afterward proved false to Solomon in the conspiracy of Adonijah. There is unto every false heart a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . an opportunity of temptation, and then he falls at the stumbling block of his iniquity.

3. God will cast them out of the hearts, and out of the prayers of his people. Its threatened against the Idole Shepherd, (the title belongs both to Magistrates and Ministers; though the scope here carries it rather to the former) his arm withering shall wither, and his right eye shall be put out. By the arm is meant that ruling power and authority that he as a Governor had among the people; and all that strength and assistance in government that he received thereby; and this shall utterly decay, his ruling power in the hearts of the people shall utterly perish, and they that did formerly cleave to him, shall fall from him; and his wisdom also shall perish, and he shall be given up to foolish and hurtful lusts, unto his own destruction, and the scourge of the Nation. So the ten Kings that were as it were the right hand unto the beast, giving their power and their Kingdoms to him, for his advancement, this arm of his shall wither, they shall withdraw themselves, hate the whore, make her desolate, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. So Jo. 15.6. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. There are several ejections here intended (as Interpreters observe) but these two are the chief. 1. Ab interiori sanctorum communion per seperationem spiritualem. 2 Ab exteriori communion per publicam Apostasian. A separation in the hearts of God's people, by a secret and spiritual alienation; and then an outward separation by manifest Apostasy; an inward excommunication commonly goes before an outward: Men are first cast out of the hearts and prayers of the Saints: God takes off the edge of their spirits from them in a secret way, and then there is nothing that they do is accepted of the Saints, but a spirit of jealousy and suspicion attends them, and nothing is well taken or well interpreted of them.

4. After this life their names shall rot, they shall go out in a snuff, and their memory shall not be blessed. They shall have a note of infamy mentioned with them, and how ever they have carried it fair here, yet shall be known to be as they are. This is Jeroboam the Son of Nebat that made Israel to sin. This is that Ahaz who sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord. This is Judas Iscariot who also was the traitor. Here fear or flattery may keep men's names from stinking publicly for a while: But after this life, when these shall be removed, a note of disgrace and public infamy shall be spread upon their names forever.

5. God will dishonor them in their seed, and cast them out as evil, that they shall be to the shame of their Fathers house. This was the judgment threatened upon Eli’s family: The man of thine house that shall not be cut off from mine Altar shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: And everyone that is left in thine house shall come and crouch for a piece of silver, and a morsel of bread; and shall say, put me into one of the Priests Offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. For the Lord hath said, the seed of evil doers shall not be renowned, Isaiah. 14.20.

Having thus finished the explication of the Text; only the Application remains, which I shall cast into one use of exhortation, to you Right Honorable, whom God hath exalted in this Nation.

If ye desire to be truly honorable, let God's honor be precious in your eyes: If you fear a blot in your name, a stain in your coat, do not set light by the things of God, for they that despise him shall be lightly esteemed. The Nobility is the glory of a Nation, we desire that no shame may be be cast upon our glory, that our silver become not dross, nor our wine be mixed with water. Herein true honor and greatness lies, when the things of God are great in our esteem, and God's honor is exalted by us, and when a man falls from this he begins to be nothing, though he be the greatest Monarch of the earth.

To enforce this exhortation, I shall only add these considerations, and conclude.

1. A man may have the highest honor upon earth, yet he may be before God, and all the Saints a vile person: So is Antiochus, though a Prince, called Dan. 11.21. Its an especial manifestation of the sovereignty of God, that he rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men & gives them to whomsoever he will, & sets over them the basest of men. If a man exalt not God, he hath nothing in him that is honorable, and all the honor that he hath is but vain glory, a fancy, and no more. It was one of the vanities that Solomon saw under the Sun: Folly is set in great dignity, and servants are on horse-back, when Princes walk as servants on the earth. Men of servile spirits, and servile lusts are advanced, and men of Princely spirits remain in low place: This outward honor will never set a man up with God, and his Saints; they only that are precious in his sight, may be called honorable. And this is a sure rule, Tantus quis{que} est, quantus est apud Deum, all true honor is that which comes from God only.

2. A man may be honorable in this life, and miserable in the life to come. Prov. 21.16. A man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. The word is rendered by a learned Criticke of our own, in Catu Gigantum, referring us unto, Gen. 6.4. where those ancient Rebells against God are mentioned, whose wickedness was so great upon the earth, that the Lord repented that he had made man, and to take vengeance upon them, he brought the flood upon the world of the ungodly; they perishing in their wickedness, and going down to the place of the damned; Hell received it ancient denomination from these ancient Inhabitants, and it is called the place of the Giants, and all that ever perish since are to go down to them to the same place: Now these were in the earth, men of renown, men of honor, and of name; and yet they are gone unto that place of torment. And of all men in the world, none will perish with so much scorn and derision as they. As mean men may creep out of the world to their graves with less noise; so they go to hell with less observation. Isaiah. 14 9. When the King of Babylon dies, Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to met thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead (or the Giants) for thee even all the chief ones of the earth. And they all say unto him with scorn and derision, How art thou fallen from Heaven, Oh great Lucifer Son of the morning? &c.

3. Lay these conclusions firmly in your spirits. 1. By strength shall no man prevail. 1 Sam. 2.9. The word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which we translate strength, signifies not only strength and vigor of body, but also of mind, in wisdom, learning, policy, or outwardly in honor or estate, and the Lord hath laid down this for a Decree, let a man be never so great in all these, yet he shall not be strong or prevail in any of his enterprises by them. For God hath no pleasure in the legs of a man, Psal. 147.10. where by legs is meant any thing in which a man is strong, and that wherein he may put his trust, whether strength of body or abilities of mind, riches or honors or any outward excellency whatsoever, God hath no pleasure in them, nor in the man because of them.

2 By iniquity shall no man be established. Prov. 12.3. A man may exalt himself, and mount up unto the highest step of all worldly honor and greatness by ways of bribery and blood; he may build his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrongs, enclose himself in Cedar, painted with vermilion, and think his posterity shall endure forever, and call the Land after his own name; but they shall not be established, that is, as the opposition shows, not take root as the righteous do, their root shall be rottenness; a worm and a curse is at the root: God bringeth Princes to nothing, he maketh the Judges of the earth as vanity, they shall not be planted, yea they shall not be sown; yea their stock shall not take root in the earth. As the pleasure of sin is but for a season; so the profit of it is not lasting: A lying tongue is but for a moment. Prov. 12.19.

3. Those that walk in pride he is able to abase, Dan. 4.37. he delights to do it. And we have cause to fear, that the Lord of Hosts hath purposed to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honor able of the earth, Isaiah. 23.8.

4. No man knows how soon ye may lay down your honor. All things here below are compared unto wheels Ezech. 1.16. in perpetuo motu, full of turnings and changes. The story of Sesostris the King of Egypt related by Polanus upon this place is famous, who rode in a triumphant chariot drawn by four captive Kings; of whom one was observed always to look back upon the wheel that followed him, and being asked the reason why he looked behind him? He answered to observe, quam cito summa fiunt ima; how soon that which is highest becomes the lowest: A meditation which would be as fit a corrective to men in great places. We have lived to see great changes; Mountains made Plaines, Towers fall, Princes cut off as the foam upon the waters, many houses made desolate, even great and fair without an Inhabitant. 2. Kings 27.26.27. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. And the Lord said I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel. And I will cut off this City Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house of which I said my name shall be there.

If we look into the Prophesy of Zephaniah (the Title of which refers us unto the days of Josiah) and compare it with this Scripture forementioned, we shall see several causes why notwithstanding the reformation, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his wrath against Judah; but saith I will utterly consume all things from off the Land. I will consume man and beast: I will consume the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord. Here is the greatest desolation threatened after the greatest reformation. 1. It was compulsory, and not voluntary; though the Kings heart was right with God, and some haply of them that acted under him, yet it was forced upon the generality of the people, who hated it, and did in heart cleave to their old way of Idolatry still, a remnant of Baal there was among them, and Chemarims also, them that worshipped the host of heaven, that sware by the Lord, and by Malcham &c. The reformation was such, that openly no remnants of Baal did remain, but the Lord saw them to be in the hearts of the people, they were still carried after that way of worship: And not the ordinary sort of people only, but many of the Ancients (or Senators and Princes) of the house of Israel, and this not openly, but in the dark, in the setret chambers of their imagery, Ezech. 8.11.12. for this cause the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his wrath against Judah.

2. Their reformation was but outward and Ecclesiastical not person all, of the Church in some outward things, not of the State or the men. Their Princes were roaring Lions, and the Judges evening Wolves: Their Prophets light and treacherous persons, that polluted the Sanctuary, and did violence to the Law. The Princes, the Kings children, were clothed in strange apparel: And the servants did leap upon the threshold, filling their Masters house with violence and deceit.

3. Their were old sins that kept the wrath of God on fire against thē, which though now reformed, yet never publicly repented of: the sins of Manassch; sins of Rulers may be pardoned to the men, and yet visited upon the Land, and these old sins past, long ago. For these causes the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his anger against Judah, and all their reformation was but a lightning before their utter destruction. And when we find the same things among us; An outward reformation by the strength of Authority carried on, but hated by the people generally, and their hearts turning back into Egypt: and to this add the fearful and Manassch-like old abominations, that yet remain upon our score, and we have cause to fear that God for all our reformation, (which we bless him for, and acknowledge for the time to be very great) hath a Notwithstanding for England, as he had for Judah.

Which is the more to be considered, if we observe in what juncture of time we live. We read Rev. 11.3. of witnesses, sc. those that have given testimony for Christ against Antichrist ever since that great Apostasy. Called two, partly for their paucity, and partly in allusion unto the Prophesy, Zach. 4.11. from whence the expression is taken; these are the two olive-trees, the two anointed ones standing before the God of the earth. And yet they are two for the sufficiency of their testimony: for by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established. And these are to Prophesy (in their several times and ages successively) in sackcloth a thousand two hundred and threescore days: Which is the same proportion of time that the outward Court 〈◊〉 given to the Gentiles ( sc. these Christians in profession, but Gentiles in religion) to be trodden under foots, ver. 2. and therefore they are made Contemporaryes: For as soon as Antichrist arose, persecution began, and so much of Antichrist as remains among any people, so much persecution there will sutely be; for the woman rides upon a scarlet coloured beast. And after this long and afflicted condition shall be the saddest persecution of the Church, and the highest hopes, and the greatest expectations of the enemy that ever they had: And then cum duplicantur lateres, veniet Moses, then shall the great deliverance be.

And there are four Reasons which cause me to conceive, (yet withal humility and submission) that this time of killing the witnesses is yet to come.

1. They must Prophesy in sackcloth a thousand two hundred and threscore days before they be slain, and I cannot yet be satisfied that this time of their Prophesy is accomplished, and therefore their killing is yet to come. The Rule that we have to guide us herein, is, that Antichrists forty and two months do synchronize with this time of the Prophesy of the witnesses, and therefore when Antichrist began to reign, they began to prophesy. Now the Apostle Paul, 2. Thes. 2.7.8. speaking of the rising of Antichrist, saith, he that now letteth will let till he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked be revealed.

This 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is commonly expounded by Ancient and Moderne Divines to be the Roman Empire, and as soon as that Imperial Sovereignty of Rome was taken out of the way; then that wicked one was revealed. This also is confessed by the Papists themselves, that he that letteth, is the Roman Empire, therefore together with his taking out of the way, then did Antichrist rise, and that lawless person, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (as Justin Martyr calls him) was revealed and did appear to the world, which is fully explained, Rev. 17.12. The ten horns are ten Kings, which have received no Kingdom as yet; but receive power as Kings one hour with the beast. At the same time when the Empire was broken, and those that were only Viceroys under it, did begin to take to themselves the Power and the Title of Kings, and to reign absolutely and independently upon the Empire: Now did the beast receive his power, now he that letted was taken out of the way, and now the wicked one was revealed. If therefore we can learn when the Empire was divided, and the ten Kings arose, from that time we are to begin the forty and two months. There were indeed several degrees of the Empyres downfall: Some refer it to the time when Alaricus the Goth first took Rome, and sacked it, and they created a new Emperor therein, which was about the year 410. or as some 412. This indeed made way for the coming of Antichrist, and therefore Jerome hearing of this taking of Rome, did presently expect that Antichrist should arise. Postquā clarissimū terrarum omnium lumen extinctum est, imo Romani Imperij truncatum caput, & in una urbe totus orbis interiit. But this never came to perfection to take him that letted out of the way till Gensericus the Vandall took Rome the second time and plundered it utterly, and then fired it, this was about the year 455. & then the ten Kings arose. If we add thereunto a thousand two hundred & 60 days, it will appear that the time of the prophesying of the witnesses, in sackcloth is not yet expired, and therefore the time of their killing yet to come.

2. When the witnesses are slain, Antichrists party lie shall come to a great height of security, and they shall glory in their death, rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts one to another, becauve these two Prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth, Rev. 11.10. But since the Angel did fly in the midst of heaven with the everlasting Gospel in his hand, since that glorious departure, and blessed Apostasy (as he himself calls it) that Luther made from the Church of Rome, we read of no such perfect victory that ever they had over the reformed Christians, that they thought all safe, and therefore did send gifts one to another as perfectly secure.

3. When the witnesses shall arise from the dead, then the tenth part of the City shall fall: Which cannot be meant as some have thought, of the fall of the power of Antichrist in someone of the ten Kingdoms: But is spoken of Rome's last and utter destruction speedily to follow, called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the tenth part, because that which now remains, is but decima pars Civitatis antiquae, the tenth part of what the ancient City was. For the fall of Antichrist ends with the sixth Trumpet, or the second woe: And as soon as the tenth part of the City is fallen, it is said the second we is past: And immediately the seventh Trumpet sounded, and then all the enemies being subdued, the Kingdoms of the world become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ's, and then the mystery of God is finished. Now because we see not the City to fall; but yet expect by faith, Babylon to be cast as a Milstone into the sea; therefore the slaying of the witnesses, with their resurrection is not past, but to come.

4. If we look to the Text, it is then to be expected or feared, when the Church of God doth flourish most, and hath gotten the greatest victory over the Antichristian party that ever; that as the destruction of the one is nearest when they are most secure; so is the slaying of the other when they have the greatest expectations of a full deliverance. Therefore 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 when they had finished, is not to be rendered cum finierint, but cum finituri sint, when they were about to finish their testimony: sc. when they had got great ground against Antichrist, and men began to repent of their drinking of the wine of her fornication, and to hate the whore: And the Temple of God was purged, and a great Reformation was begun; now had the witnesses peace and enlargement in some measure, and they began gratulabundi saccum exuere, to cast off their sackcloth, and expect on the enemy an utter ruin; thinking he had received a deadly wound that could never more be healed. Yet at this time shall Antichrist gather all his scattered and broken forces, and shall with greater fury make war upon the Saints and overcome them, and kill them, exercise greater cruelty over them then ever, he did in times past; but it shall be short, though it be sharp.

I could be glad to tell you that this sad calamity is past, that our iniquity is pardoned, and our warfare accomplished, for Lord thou knowest I have not desired the woeful day. But these considerations make me to conclude with that learned Interpreter so often quoted, cladem istam novissimam adhuc metuendam, that we have cause to fear that this last and great affliction of the Church in the killing of the witnesses, is yet to come. And if it be, what a comfort will it be to a man when he shall lay down his honor, and when they that formerly honored him outwardly, shall despise him, then to be able to reflect upon his former ways, and say, Lord I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and I laid out mine honor for thee while I did enjoy it?

5. The last direction that I shall humbly commend to you in the conclusion, is. Take heed of those sins especially, that will set God against you, to cause you to be lightly esteemed, and will surely lay your honor in the dust.

1. Take heed of self exaltation, self adoration, and standing too much upon self Interest; for the hautinesse of man shall be bowed down, and the loftines of man shall be laid low, that God alone may be exalted. This honors Moses to posterity, that though he was a Prince in Israel; yet his Family was laid aside, and Joshua his servant exalted, and yet Moses must put his honor upon him, that all the Congregation of Israel may be obedient to him. Numb. 27.20. And this is recorded to the honor of Araunah, 2. Sam. 24.23. though it is conceived he was anciently King in Jerusalem over the Jebusites, whom David subdued and cast out; yet being now converted, and become a Proselyte to the Jews, he did so far cast away all his former interest, and the thoughts of it, that in the public calamity he received David with a great deal of love and enlargement of spirit, manifesting that though he had lost the title, yet he had received a Princely spirit, and retained that still.

2. Take heed of Oppression, this brought the great dishonor upon the King of Babylon, that he should be cast out of his grave as an abhominable branch, and not be joined with the Kings of the Nations in burial, because he had destroyed his Land, and slain his people. Therefore see that ye break every yoke, and untie every burden, that the Subjects may have no cause to complain that their yokes are only changed. We are told, that in England our Rulers are not above our Laws, but bound to rule by them, as well as the Subject to obey them; and in this their strength, glory, and authority consists.

And we find it taxed as a common evil design, that hath been long on foot in the Government of this Nation, that the Kings did desire to cast off the Rule of Law, and to govern by Prerogative in an Arbitrary way, that in the end their wills might become Laws, and they might command and require what they list. This I say hath been condemned as an evil in former ages, and this will be found as an evil in Government in all those that succeed, under what name or title soever it be; for surely God did not make men to be like the fishes of the Sea that have no King: Let everyone of you (Right Honorable) but upon higher, even Gospel Principles, say as Tiberius did, Aurum illud adulterinum est, quod cum subditorum lachrimis collectum est. That will never prove currant coin to the Ruler, that is gathered with the tears, much less when it is with the blood of the Subjects.

3 Do not set yourselves against the power of godliness, but countenance and advance it. Let not circumstantial differences cause substantial divisions. It was a sinful humor in the Disciples, we saw one casting out Devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because he followed not us. Surely God's people wheresoever they come, they are either as Dew upon the grass, or as a Torch in a sheaf: Either to make them fruitful or consume them. Let nothing be done by you (I beseech you) that may prove a seed of persecution, beyond your intentions in after times. You know not into what hands the actings of those things may come which you shall enact, how far against godliness in the power of it they may be stretched, and what use may be made of them in time to come. We read Rev. 8.11. of a great star that fell from heaven, and the name of that star was called Wormwood. The fall of great persons is in Scripture commonly expressed by the falling of a Star, as Isaiah. 14 12. the fall of the King of Babylon is. And to be called in Scripture is to be, and to be publicly known to be: As they shall call his name Immanuel; This is the name whereby he shall be called Jehovah our righteousness, sc. this he shall be, and this he shall be commonly known to be. This Prince his name shall be called wormwood, Princeps amaritudinum, one bitter in his spirit; unhappy and unsuccesfull in his Government, both to himself and his Subjects. And be sure of this: If any Star be it of never so great a magnitude, and never so high an elevation, if it be called wormwood, it will fall.