A Discovery of the Rebels

A DISCOVERY OF THE REBELS.

P Arabolicall Divinity, as the school saith, is not argumentative, yet from the scope of the parable, and from collation of other places, are deduced forcible arguments, and in an explicate similitude, there is a verity both in the proposition and reddition, though it be a feigned similitude, and because parables leave a greater impression, therefore our Savior opens his mouth in parables, in Matth. 13. 1. &c. are seven parables touching the Kingdom of God, and this parable wherein my Text falls concerns a King and his Subjects, which is the great business now in hand; and therefore this Text is a word in season; for the understanding whereof, I shall consider, First his birth, he was of a noble Family, as a King should be, so saith Ecclesiastes, Blessed art thou O Land, when thy King is the Son of Nobles, by a lineal long succession, for he is a Father of the Country, and his Subjects are to him as Children: The mystical sense is touching Christ, who is King of kings, who thought it no robbery to be equal to God, yet took upon him the form of a Servant, even of the worst of servants, for he was sold as a slave, he emptied all the Noble blood out of his veins, to teach the Nobles humility, and that the same mind should be in us, as was in the Lord Jesus, that nothing be done out of vain glory or contention, but in lowliness of mind, to esteem others better then ourselves. Secondly, the Voyage of this King into a far Country: Kings have occasions urgent to withdraw them from their Royal Cities of residence, and so Christ; the King of Zion is gone to Heaven, from whence we expect our Savior Christ. Thirdly, the end of his Voyage, to take to himself a Kingdom, and to return; to turn about his Kingdom to himself, it seems his Subjects had rebelled, and he takes his journey to reduce his straggling sheep to the fold, his Subjects to their due obedience, so Christ sits on God's right hand, and he must reign, till he have put down all his enemies, and by him Kings reign; and as Christ is gone to lead captive the rebellious, so it is warrantable for Kings to subdue the proud, and then to return to the royal City again; and so Christ the great Potentate, shall return at the day of Judgment; the signs whereof in Heaven are, the darkening of Sun, Moon and Starrs; and on Earth, affliction by sword and famine; perplexity of the people, raging like the waves of the Sea; and desperation of men, their hearts failing them for fear of ensuing troubles: and are not these signs in our days to teach us to watch and pray, that we may be counted worthy to escape, and to stand before the Son of man? Fourthly, the Kings royal bounty to his domestic servants and officers, he gives among them ten pounds, or ten Talents, and 'tis the manner of Kings to recompense the service of his domestic Servants above others, witness Sejanus the favorite; and in Israel, divers Princes saw the Kings face, and found favor above others; so Christ our sovereign lord, disperseth his gifts liberally; and these are the Talents to his servants: Let us then be wise and faithful stewards of the manifold grace of God, especially his Ministers, to give the portion of food in due season to the household of God; Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing, he shall make him ruler of all his substance. Sixthly, the employment of the Kings bounty, some of them were faithful to their Lord and Master, and steadfast to him, to engage their estates in the maintenance of his cause and one, that is, few of them were covetous and Neutralists, that hid his money in a napkin, laid it up in treasures, and would afford no help to His Majesty; so Christ hath many idle servants, that hide the gifts that he hath given them. Seventhly, the rebellion of the Citizens of the Metropolitan City against the King; first, they hated him, there is the root; secondly, they sent Messages of contempt after he was gone from the City, as Rebells usually do; thirdly, they protested against him, that they would not have this man reign over them, and they say This man, or this fellow, in disgrace, as if he were no King of a long royal descent: The causes seem to be three; first, the Kings absence, and far distance from his royal City, whereby the Citizens were impoverished, by the decay of their Trades; secondly, envy, because of his bounty to his Courtiers and daily Ministers; thirdly, jealousy, or distrust in the King, because he preferred not them, as well as others, less deserving in their opinion: so the City Jerusalem hated Christ without a cause, and would not have him reign over them, out of envy and causeless jealousies. Eighthly, an exaction of account of his domestic Servants and Officers, and as the manner of Kings is, rewards the faithful and industrious in his service, and punisheth the disloyal; after the subduing of the Rebells, he makes one governor of ten fortified Cities, another over five, who had no rule at all before, a great encouragement to his faithful servants, (in what low degree soever) that fear God, and honor his sacred Majesty; so Christ the great King, at the great day, will call every man to give an account of the gifts bestowed on him, how they are improved. Ninthly, the legal process against his daily Servants and Citizens; and this is contained in my Text, wherein first, I shall speak of their persons, secondly their crimes, thirdly their doom, bring them and slay them before me, amplified by modus patiendi, manner of suffering, before me. 1. The Delinquents are of two sorts, Domestic Servants, or Great Officers, that deny to assist their Master against the Rebellion of the Citizens, but out of avarice, hide their money gotten in his service, these like the wicked and slothful servants, lose their places and goods, which are given to more deserving men; If a King have but one of these evil Ministers, it were sufferable; but when many of these shall appear and complain, that the King is a hard master, an oppressor, and exact our, to reap where he had not sown, and to take more then his due; what King can bear it? If they durst not appear in the Kings cause, for fear of the rebellious Citizens, why did they not give his money to the Exchangers? Why did they not give the Kings due to others for his advantage? Let such temporizing servants know, that the King in his return, after he hath recovered and settled his Kingdom, will judge them out of their own mouth; for if he were a hard master in the beginning of the Rebellion, much more will he be to them of his own house, when he hath chastised the Rebells: the wrath of a King is as the roaring of a Lyon; Be afraid then evil servant, and by seasonable submission seek his grace and favor. David the King was more grieved with Ahithophel's Rebellion, then all the rest▪ insomuch as he cries out, Fearfulness and trembling hath taken hold upon me, and horror hath covered me; the horror of sackcloth, instead of princely robes; He said, Oh that I had the wing of a Dove to fly away; he had the quill of a Dove, wherewith he wrote this book, and he wisheth but one wing: for they that observe experiments, write, that a Dove wearied, will fly with one wing: and he adds, I would remove far away, wandering, not knowing whither; what is the cause of all this? the conspiracy of Achitophel, It was thou, O Achitophel, a man of my rank; he was a privy Counselor, the Kings Cousin, and so in the Kings rank, he was a guide to the King, and of the same Religion, for they took sweet council together, and went into the house of God with a pompous trayne. This was so heinous a crime, that the spirit of God, by the pen of David, pronounceth this fearful imprecation against him, Let death seize upon him, and let him go down quick into Hell, for he hath profaned his covenant, and oath of Allegiance to his sacred Majesty, not that any private man may use such direful imprecations; yet it shows how worthy of such punishment, is a servant of the King that becomes a Traitor: so likewise in Psal. 41. David speaks against this Achitophel, who insulted over the King in his affliction, saying, A thing of Belial, that is, a devouring mischief cleaveth to him; and now that he is fallen from his honor, he shall never rise again: The man of his peace, who did eat of his bread; for Achitophel was a Courtier, and had a table in Court, and yet lift up his heel against his master, to affront him to his face, and lay in wait for him to take and destroy him; But his sacred Majesty gives himself to prayer, saying, O Lord have mercy on me, raise me up, and I shall recompense him; for though a private person may not avenge himself, yet a King for the honor of God (whose anointed he is, whose Vicegerent he is on earth, and his image representing the one celestial Monarch) ought to be avenged on Rebells, especially his domestic servants and officers, that deal treacherously as Achitophel did, to apply it mystically to Christ our King, he had also one domestic servant, that was a Traitor and a Devil, who did eat of his bread, and lift up his heel against him, who was of the same rank and profession, and the steward of his house, and this Traitor drew away many others of Christ's Disciples after him, so that they were scandalized, and walked no more with him; Let us beware of such treacherous Hypocrisy, considering the woeful end of Judas.

The second sort of delinquents are his Citizens, his enemies that would not have him to reign over them: But who are these?

First, such as will not give him the honor of a King, to be supreme over all in all; for they say the King is an ordinance of man, and therefore may by man be removed, their Sermons, Pamphlets, and Speeches are full of such and worse invectives against supremacy. In 1 Pet. 2. 13. it is written, Be subject to every human Creature, in the Syrian, be subject to all the sons of men, and who are these sons of men? not all in general, but in particular; The King as supreme: Therefore the King is the highest of men, and yet but a human creature, as it is in the Greek, not a God, nor a creature Angelical; Then he next commands to be subject to Judges that are sent by him, for the Senators of the Grand Sanhedrim are called by him to consult of difficult matters, and the King as supreme, reserves to himself a further advise; so the Emperor, of whom Saint Peter speaks, was supreme above the Senate, and Moses (who was king in Jesurun) was above all the Captains of thousands, of hundreds, of fiftyes, of tens; though the Captains had a thousand Ministers under him, as Abben Ezra expounds the place in Exod. 18. 25. and in all hard matters there was an appeal to Moses the King; and Saint Paul's appeal to Caesar was justified by Festus and Agrippa. And in Deut. 17. he saith, If the matter be too hard for thee, thou shalt go to the place which the Lord shall choose, (where the high council sat) and whosoever shall not hearken to the Priest, or Judge, shall die, If they say, that Moses was a Prophet, and the Priest had an infallible Urim: I answer, The Judge is also named, who was no Prophet, but the King, for the Kings of Judah judged the people, as David and Solomon. And Hezekiah, who was no Prophet, but a King, not annointed, but by succession, was above the Grand Council of Elders, 2 Chron. 19. 6, 7. he set Judges, he appointed the heads of the Fathers of the high Sanhedrin, wherein the high Priest was for the matters of God and the Church, and the ruler of the house of Judah, the Lord Chancellor was the mouth of the King, touching the kings, and for the Law and Liberty of the Subject, the Judges and heads of the Fathers, Loe here the three Estates in the Grand Sanhedrin, The King, the Priests, the Elders which were the Heads and the Commons. And is there not a kind of Monarchy in households from the very beginning? was not Adam the greatest Monarch made in God's Image to rule the whole World? Genes. 1. And therefore successively are called the sons of God, Genes. 6. 1. as ruling under God, and kings are called God's,

Indeed, Nimrod began to be a mighty hunter upon earth, that is, a Tyrant, to kill men like beasts, but Monarchy was from the beginning, and Lycurgus the Lawgiver of the Lacedaemonians saw this, therefore he set up a Monarchy; for about five hundred years, and touching that time Lacedaemon was the Queen of Greece, but after they forsook his Government became a handmayd to all; and when one asked Lycurgus why he did not erect a Democracy or popular State, he answered, do thou first set up a popular Government in thine own house.

Before the Flood and after, in the purest times, was but one Ruler in a house, who was also for the most part a Prophet (not always) as Abraham was a Prince of God; so that he who doth not honor the king as supreme over all, would have no king reign over him; for Monarchy is of the law of nature: and he that made him a man, made him a king.

Secondly, such as will not pay custom and tribute royal, would have no king, Rom. 13. for this cause you pay tribute, for they are the ministers of God, that subsist by these very things, they are the royal revenue and livelihood, how shall he live as a king, if he be robbed of his tribute? We read the manner, or right of the kingdom, 1 Sam. 8. 11. and this was written in a book, that the people might read the kings rights, 1. Sam. 10. and it was in the kings power to make any man free from that tribute, &c. they were obliged, so Saul promised to make his Fathers house free in Israel, that should kill Goliath, 1 Sam. 17. and David and Solomon took that as their right, in 1. Sam. 8. 11. Absalom had fifty men to run before him, David made of Israel Captains of thousands and of fifties, and Princes of his husbandry of his Vines, &c. 1 Chr. 27. 25. & 28. 1. It is true, a king could not take away the body or ground of fields and vineyards, but, in flagranti bello, in time of sudden and violent War, for the food of his servants that went to battle, he might take the fruits for that time; so he might in that extreme necessity take the Tenth of their fruits and cattle, not the Tenth of men's estates, when nothing is to be found, nor to maintain a civil but foreign War; for there is in most places neither earing nor harvest, during an intestine War, witness the desolations of Germany: Therefore they assume more then regal power that will exact the Tenth part, or half so much to maintain an unnatural War, and of those that have no profit by their Trades, nor increase of the Fields, so much as to maintain their own Families with food and raiment. Besides this Tenth part was according to the Laws of the kingdom, and with the people's consent, for the book was written for them by Samuel, to which they consented when the first king was set over them, and said God save the King, so described to them; but what shall we say when inferior to kings shall usurp above kings by force to take away the tenth part of their estates, is not this extortion and robbery?

Thirdly, such as will not yield obedience Active and Passive to a King would have no King; The Active is plainly enjoined in the fifth Commandment, Honor thy Father, but the King is the Father of the Country, as Augustus was styled by the Senate: And for Passive obedience, we have the general consent of scripture and all sound antiquity till Knox his days, who in resisting the regal power simbolizeth with the Jesuitical faction, preces & lachrymae, prayers and tears saith Ambrose were the Christians weapons against the Barbarous Goths, whereby many of them were converted. Chrysostom writes to Cyriacus, if the Empresse scourge, imprison, saw me in sunder, slay me with the sword, or drown me, I shall patiently suffer it. Ambrose saith, Rulers are no terror to good works; for good men suffer cheerfully. Tertullian saith, by human fire the divine sect is not maintained: By suffering, Christ and his Apostles published the Gospel; not by force of Arms, as earthly Rulers Matth. 12. He shall make no proclamation in the streets to compel, the bruised reed shall he not break, so far is he from force, and yet shall he bring victory to his truth. St. Peter saith, Servants be obedient to the perverse masters, yea to Idolaters, for this Passive obedience is thank-worthy, when for conscience to God, ye suffer, as Christ left you an example; if Servants, then Subjects much more ought to suffer and not resist Princes, though Tyrants and Idolaters; for the fury of Julian was repressed by the tears of Christians, therefore in Deut. 13. it is said, If thy brother, and son of thy mother, thy son or daughter, the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend whom thou lovest as thy own soul, shall secretly entice thee, saying, Come let us serve other gods, Thou shalt not pity him, Thou shalt stone him with stones; he speaks here of inferiors, not of superiors, much less of Kings, that war should be levied against them, if they be Idolaters.

Fourthly, They that war or fight against the Lord's Anointed, would have no King reign over them, as Jeroboam servant of Solomon, who lift up his hand against the King, pretending the liberty of the subject was infringed by the King, because he had built Millo, which was a public place for the high Council to convene therein, and the King had turned it to his own use, and had made up the breaches of the city of David, as if he meant to tyrannize, and imprison them therein; but for all his pretences, he was a Rebell, and Israel rebelled with him, and all his successors were sons of Belial, in Ralbages judgment. In Psal. 105. it is said, Touch not mine anointed, that is, my magnified, exalted servants, It is meant of Abraham, who was a mighty Prince, Gen. 23. and of Isaac, who was more mighty then King Abimelech, Gen. 26. It cannot be meant of a real nation, which none of the Kings of the house of David had but the first, (except in case of division.) Besides, Cyrus is called God's anointed, and the King of Tyre is the anointed Cherub, by reason of their exaltation, and no otherwise. But there are that fight against the King by words as well as deeds, so Balal son of Zippor sought with Israel by the hiring of Balaam to curse them, for otherwise he fought not at all against them, as Jepthah saith: But let those blasphemous tongues know, A bird of the Air shall tell the matter, and that which hath wings shall carry the voice. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn the glory of the King into shame! Is it fit to say to Kings, Ye are wicked, or to Princes, ye are ungodly?

Fifthly, Neutralists would have no King reign over them: first, because they that are not with Christ are against him, so they that are not with the King are against him, they that are neither hot nor cold, God will spew out of his mouth. Secondly, Neutralists are in Scripture termed sons of Belial, that is, unprofitable servants, that desert the cause of their King, 1 Sam. 10. There followed Saul (the first King, though a Tyrant) a Band of men of valor, unity and wealth, whose heart God had smitten and humbled to yield obedience, but the sons of Belial were Neuters, and despised him, saying, How shall this man save us? and brought him no present, to aid him in the stablishment of his Kingdom: What shall we then think of these that are so far from giving him of their own, that they rob the King of his due, their conscience is feared with a hot iron, & harder then the rock which Moses smote, and rivers ran in dry places. Thirdly, All Israel and Judah with a perfect heart helped David to the Kingdom, there were no Neutralists, 1 Chron. 12. • . There came to David when he was shut up for fear of Saul, twenty three men of valor, Commanders. Then of Gad eleven men, whose faces were as the faces of Lions, and they were swifter then the Roes upon the mountains, the least of them was captain of a hundred, and the greatest over a thousand, and in 1 Chron. 12. 20. Multitudes came daily to the King, till it was a great host, as the host of God. 1. Of the Tribe of Judah, the Royal Tribe were Nobles, and Courtiers, 2. Of the Levites, Jehoiada was ruler of the Aronits, all the Aronits, the true seed of Aaron, were for the King, not the Ieroboamits, that is, the spurious Priests of the lowest of the people. Thirdly, Counselors of War and of State, of the Tribe of Issachar, that had understanding in the times, to know what Israel ought to do. Fourthly, Merchant adventurers of the Tribe of Zebulon. Fifthly, Lesser Merchants of oil and wine of the Tribe of Asher. Sixthly, Artificers and Husband-men of the Tribe of Kuben, &c. All these came to the King, not to betrary him, but to help him, these suffered in the maintenance of his Royal rights.

Fourthly, what shall I say more to draw all men from neutrality, I set before you this day cursing and blessing, Judge. 5. Curse ye Meroz, saith the Angel of the Lord, in cursing curse the inhabitants thereof, because they went not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord with the mighty: first, the help of the Lord was the help of Barak and Deborah, who was the Judge or supreme Ruler in Israel; and, as the Hebrews write, Barak was husband of Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, or Barak, for Barak and Lappidoth are the same sense in the Hebrew: Meroz is the Metropolis, the city Jerusalem, for none of Judah (who were near) came to help the King in this battle. Now the Angel of the Lord, that is, Barak God's messenger, or the Angel by the mouth of Deborah the prophetess, three times curseth (in the original) the inhabitants of Meroz for Neutrality, because they came not as volunteers, of themselves without invitation. Secondly, To help the Lord, that is, the Lord's anointed, namely the Judge in those days, he doth not say the Grand Senate. Thirdly, With the mighty, for the King had in his army mighty men of valor; therefore not out of fear, but misprision, they came not forth: Observe here a difference, he curseth Meroz, but not the other Tribes; he wonders at them: The chief city he curseth, but at the country he admireth, Out of Ephraim was the root of them, Joshua and the rich men of Ephraim opposed Amalek, Politicians of Benjamin were for the Judge, Law-givers or Judges came from Machir, and from Zebulun they that handle the pen of the scribe, that is, Merchants or Secretaries, or Clerks in offices. The King himself went before his army on foot, But for the divisions of Reuben were great thoughts of heart, and great impressions and searchings of heart, wise men wondered why Reuben was absent, and did not help the Lord. Reuben was simple, unstable as water, and so his posterity, and such as seek popular applause, or love the world, had rather with Reuben abide among sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks, then the Alarum of war. O Reuben, why hast thou divided thy self from thy brethren, and not assisted the King with the Royal Tribe, the Levites, the Merchants, the Scribes, the Rich? are thy sheep more dear to thee then Christ's flock, and the sheep of the great shepherd? Why did our brother Gilead abide over Jordan, parted by a River easily passable? and why did Dan fly away, and abide in ships of the sea to save himself from civil war by land? Why did Asher abide on the sea shore, and fortify himself against the King in his breaches? Blessed be Zebulun and Naphtali, the people that jeoparded their lives for our Barak in the high places of the field, when the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, and the Angels fought from heaven. Blessed above women shall Jael the wise of Heber the Kenite be. Blessed are all those who by word, or pen, or hand, have helped the King against the Rebels: Nobles that are clothed in white linen, and ride on white asses, Judge. 5. shall celebrate their praises, Judges that sit in judgment shall magnify them, for among weapons of war Laws are silent. All travellers in the high paths shall speak, Glory to God on high, (for in civil war, the high ways ceased, and travellers passed through by paths, Villages cease, and war is in the gates.) Lo the blessing of God and all good men, high and low are upon the helpers of God and the King, therefore ye sons of men, if ye would avoid the curse, and inherit the blessing, leave Neutrality, and show yourselves men for God and the King, especially you the inhabitants of the Metropolitan city Meroz. Thus I have finished the literal sense.

The mystical sense concerneth the King of kings whom we must admit to reign over us, to whom we must pay Tribute, in relieving his members, to give honor to the King of kings Christ Jesus as supreme, to yield obedience to his Commandments, & to abhor Neutrality, to be zealous, and repent of Lukewarmness, to shake off the yoke of sin, and to receive upon us the yoke of Christ. And thus much of the crimes laid to the charge of these servants.

Now I come to their doom, Bring them, and slay them before me. The just reward of a Traitor is death, as appears in the examples of Joab and Shimei, 1 King. 2. Thou knowest what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me. Some say, in revealing his letters about Uriah, or rather in threatening to turn the hearts of his people from him, saying, As the Lord liveth, not one shall stay with thee, yet for this David on his death-bed chargeth his son to bring his hoary head with sorrow to the Grave: So likewise Shimei, who cursed David with a bitter curse. If these were sons of death that threatened, and reviled the King; how much more such as plot mischief against him, and do steal away, like Absalom, the hearts of the kings subjects from him, Bring them and slay them, and the modus patiendi, Before me, for the greater shame, and example to others, that all Israel may hear and fear, and do no more so wickedly: Let us fear the destruction from God and the king, and yield such subjection as belongs unto them both, that we may fly from the wrath of the king here, and the wrath of Jesus Christ (by whom kings reign) hereafter: To whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory for ever and ever. AMEN.

THE GREAT ANTICHRIST.

I N the last days the Scripture foretells the coming & continuance of The Antichrist, the great Antichrist, the man of sin, whose members were many petite Antichrists, that is, the forerunning heretics, for in them the mystery of iniquity wrought in Saint Paul's time, who said, Ye know what withholdeth that he should he revaeled in his time, that is, the Roman Ethnic Empire, which when it was removed, then came in that Antichrist. The Persians succeeded the Chaldeans, the Grecians subdued the Persians, the Romans followed the Grecians, and after the Roman Monarchy ceased in Augustulus, the Hesperian Caesar, the Star Absynthites that fell from Heaven, about the year 666. Constance the Emperor gave the government of the City of Rome to the Pope. Then was Antichrist the bestia bicornis, the beast with two horns, his Ecclesiastical and Temporal power, whereas before he had only the Spiritual power to be Universalis Papa, supreme over all; so then Antichrist hath continued above a thousand years, by consent of the foresaid writers; Yet Andreas and Arethas upon the Apocalypse, with other Fathers, seem to hold that Antichrist shall continue but three years and a half, which is true in a sense, for his three last years shall be most grievous to the persecuted Saints, such tribulation as never was, in mockings scourging, bonds, imprisonments, war, bloodshed, and he shall not suffer their bodies to be buried. These are the perilous times spoken of in this Text, therefore have I made so large a preface to it, wherein observe; first, a precept to get knowledge, know this; secondly, the subject, this in general, but in particular it is a prophecy of the perils of the last times; thirdly, the adjunct, in the last days; fourthly, the causes, 1. Opinions, 2 ^lie . Vices of men here particularized.

1. For the first observe in general, Knowledge is a precious thing, The preacher was wise, and still taught the people Knowledge; all men naturally desire to know, knowledge of the Ancients is commended in Scripture; David cites a Proverb of the Ancients, As saith the Proverb of the Ancient, of the first that made it, Wickedness shall go forth from the wicked; His sin goeth forth from him willingly, and his punishment goes after it, his ruin comes from himself. S: Paul thrice cites the Poets which were Prophets among the Heathen.

First, against Idolatry, Acts 17. We are his offspring, therefore the Godhead is not like the work of man's hand that hath neither reason, sense, or life.

Secondly, against Atheism denying the immorality of the Soul, 1 Cor. 15. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die, be not deceived, evil communication corrupts good manners.

Thirdly, against Lying and Epicureanism, Titus 1. the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies; Three main articles are confirmed by human learning, but there are in those days ignorant sectaries that oppose all learning, pretending inspiration by the Holy Ghost, as the Gnostikes of old, yet it was the commendation of Timothy, that of a child he knew the holy letters, But why should I trouble your ears with invectives against ^r these? I leave them to meditate on three Proverbs, A wise man contending with a fool, whether be rage, or laugh, he hath no rest: A fool is wiser in his own conceit, then seven men that can render a reason: Bray a fool in a mortar, and his foolishness will not depart from him.

2. I proceed to the subject, which is a prophecy of perilous times. This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears, animus meminisse horret, My heart trembleth at this, and is removed out of his place, but you must know it, and therefore I must speak it, these are the perilous times or difficult, all men are in such straits that they know not how to deliver themselves, as Israel between the red Sea and the Egyptians; secondly, hard times, wherein men want food to eat, and raiment to put on, all men cry out, O tempora, O mores, oh hard times, and evil conditions of men! We have heard of Germany and Ireland, and would not believe, now we see and feel; thirdly, cruel times, the Son dishonors his Father, the Father riseth up against his Son to put him to death, Brother robbs and kills his Brother. This Civil War in the judgment of the Heathen is the punishment of rapine and fratricidy; fourthly, inexorable times, they are for War when we petition for Peace: woe to me that I dwell with them that hate peace, and breath out slaughters, whose teeth are as spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword, Lord deliver me from those four generations of the last times, Prov. 30. 11. There is a generation that curseth his Father, and doth not bless his Mother, do not the Martialists of these times think it zeal to kill Father and Mother in this cause? There is a generation pure in their own eyes, and not purged from their filthiness, Who are these but the impure Hypocrites in my Text, There is a generation, How lofty are their eyes, and their eye-lids are lifted up? are not these the proud Pharisees? There is a generation, their teeth are as swords that cry out, War, War, and no Peace, that devour the poor and needy by rapine and imprisonment, against reason and common rights.

I come now to the causes of these evil time, which are two: First, the Opinions. Secondly, the Vices of men, here mentioned, not reduced to the head of profaneness, but Hypocrisy? The Hypocrites reign, and the people are ensnared, Job. 34. Antichrist is the great Hypocrite, Heretics and Sectaries of these times are limbs of Antichrist, and make up Babel the Great, which is the confusion of all sects.

First, for their opinions, it is said in my Text, They are lovers of themselves, of their own wills and opinions, for the time shall come, saith the Apostle, 2 Tim. 4. 3. that men will not endure sound doctrine; inquire out of these two Epistles, and the Epistle to the Romans, and we shall find what sound doctrine is. First, the doctrine of prayer for Kings, 1 Tim. 2. 1. I exhort first of all that prayers be made for Kings, but certain Brownists of these times will not pray for the King, but revile him in their prayers. Secondly, the doctrine against Women Preachers, I suffer not a Woman to teach, nor to usurp authority, but saith Isaiah, Women rule over you. Thirdly, the doctrine of obedience to superiors; but now Servants run away from their Masters without their consent, and rise up against them in the public cause; do these induce sound doctrine? Fourthly, the doctrine of justification by faith, which Pelagians of old, and the Papists now deny. Fifthly, sanctification, Rom. 6. 1. which Gnostikes and Nicolaitans formerly, now Familists and Antinomians deny. Sixthly, the doctrine of predestination without foresight, Rom. 9. 1. which Papists and Arminians oppose. Seventhly, the doctrine of subjection to Kings, though they be Heathens and Tyrants, which Gnostikes of old, and now Anabaptists and Brownists oppose, they can live without a King, though Saint Paul saith, Rom. 13. 1. Let every soul be subject, but these men think they have no souls, because they would have no King in Israel, that they may do that which is right in their own eyes, Judges 21. ult. The Christians of Rome paid tribute and custom to Nero and Trajan Tyrants, but these rob the King of his due, and yet they say pro Rege; they say Kings of old were anointed, therefore the people was subject as to God's ordinance, but now it is not so: To which I answer with the Jew, no King the son of a King was anointed, except in case of division about the right, as Solomon when Adonijah would be King, but the Kingdom came by succession, as every man's inheritance descends from his fathers. Again they say, The Kings of Jury made no such covenant as our Kings do; I answer with the same Jew, the contrary appears in the example of Joash and Jehoiada, who made a covenant between the King and the people, and though Joash were an Apostate and a Tyrant, yet the Traitours and murderers of the King were cut off by his son that reigned after him▪ the King and Kings son will never forget to punish Traitors, as appears in the example of David on his death bed, who forgot not Shimeie's curse.

Moreover they say, a King is a human creature, and therefore may be removed by man: I answer, He is an ordinance human, that is, taken out of Men, not from Angels, yet by God's appointment he is Supreame, 1 Pet. 2. 13. and all inferiors are appointed by him; but the supreme powers, as Kings and Emperors are appointed of God, Roman. 13. 1. The Jews had a Grand Council of seventy one Elders, Numb. 11. Gather to me seventy men of the Elders, and Moses who was King was above them all, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Talmud Sanhed. Perek. 1. The lesser Sanhedrin was of two hundred and thirty sometimes: they go not forth to war, nor gather the Council of the Tribes, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 but by the Grand Council of seventy one. They judge not the King at all, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 he goeth not forth of his Palace to mourn for the dead, &c. in Deut. 17. thou shalt set a King over thee, the King then is supreme; they ride not on his Horse, nor sit on his Throne to rule, yet the book of the Law is with him when he goes to war, or sits in judgment. There were three companies of Judges in Jerusalem, at the door of the mount of the House, in the Court, and in a paved Chamber, where the Grand Council sat of seventy, and the King, from whence was no appeal, Deut. 17. Talmud Sanhed, Perek. 11. Lastly, the doctrine of indifferent things they cannot endure, no Ceremonies, but their own inventions, yet the primitive Christians, though differing in Ceremonies of meats and days, lived in mutual charity, Rom. 14. 1. 2. The use of this is already made by the blessed Apostle, Rom. 16. 17. I beseech you brethren mark them that cause divisions and scandals (to make many stumble and fall) contrary to the sound doctrine ye have received, and avoid them, for they serve not the Lord Jesus, (as they pretend) but their own bellies▪ what care they if they can eat and drink, and fare deliciously every day, if flocks or herds of poor men's be driven away, and they undone forever? and by fair words, they deceive the hearts of the simple, not of the wise, who see plainly their hypocrisy, but like Absalom, they steal away the hearts of the Kings well-minded Subjects by lies: But I would have you, saith Saint Paul, simple in evil, and wise in that which is good, to hold fast the points of sound doctrine forenamed, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly; who is Satan? but he that will not endure sound doctrine, as is plain by the coherence, who is all for War and blood? but the God of peace shall subdue these Satan's, and bruise them to powder, and that shortly; this God of peace be with you that hold fast the doctrine ye have received, and follow not such as heap to themselves teachers like waves of the Sea, tossed with every wind of doctrine, and they heap up to themselves, they have their peculiar teachers; one of Paul, another of Apollo, of Cephas, &c. a great presumption in these men; David had Ira the Jairite for his Priest, and Kings and Nobles have theirs, and now there must be a parity, all the Vulgar sort must have their teachers, according to their own lusts, and private humors having itching and restless ears, weary of hearing the truth, and therefore they turn to fables, wherein they still itch after novelties. This is the first cause of these perilous times▪ The opinions of men. I come now to their vices.

4. Their selfwill in those ways, they are lovers of their own wills, Gen. 49. 5. like Simeon and Levi, they are brethren in evil, instruments of cruelty are in their habitations, or their Swords are instruments of cruelty to shed blood under the cloak of Religion, as Sectaries do; Into their secret council my soul come thou not, if my body be forced and my goods, yet in their association my heart be thou not united, for in their wrath they killed a man, one man of ten thousand, the Prince of the Land; and however this ONE be yet alive by miracle, yet many noble Lord's & Gentlemen have perished, & been taken, neither have these men rested here, but in their rage have digged down, (not a Wall) but Walls of Cities, and fortified Towns; and not only houghed Oxen, but slain them, and driven away Sheep and Oxen, robbing and spoiling, and all this in their selfwill; these two brethren were dissuaded by the other ten, but they were selfwilled, and would slay without pity; so I am persuaded there are ten for two in this City and Kingdom for Peace, but when they speak thereof the two are for War, for they are selfwilled, and delight in blood, and in their delight dignity down walls, and kill men and beasts, eradicate men, their wives and children, and turn them out of doors, because they are for peace, and these two▪ Simeon and Levi, will have no Accomodation. Cursed (saith the old Father) be their wrath, for it is fierce, and their fury bitter in the end, and in Judge. 21. 3. Israel wept aloud and bitterly, Alas! a Tribe is lost this day, and I am afraid without a speedy peace, not one of ten, but all our twelve Tribes will be lost; I will (saith the old Patriarch) divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel, Simeon had no portion, but Cities scattered here and there throughout the Tribe of Judah, and Levi had forty eight Cities out of the other Tribes, that so they might never associate anymore to shed blood; and what can be expected of a selfwilled association and war, but dispersion; the part that prevails will root out the other with a final extermination of families, and whether will ye fly ye Simeonites? and as for Levi, alas! he is vanished already; thus much for Selfwill, which is the first of the vices that cause such perilous times.

Secondly Covetousness, which is as all the rest here mentioned, a bosom sin of the Hypocrites, when the Pharisees heard that Christ preached against the service of Mammon, and confidence in riches, they derided him, for they were covetous; This love of money is the root of all evil, of the evil of sin, as Apostasy; of the evil of punishment, as perdition, 1 Tim. 6. 10. Love of money makes children fight against parents, subjects against their Sovereign; hope of money brings forth murders, rapine, and extortion, but thou, O man of God, O Christian, fly these things; the Roman Curius refused the Samnites Gold, and was content with a dinner of herbs, an earthen dish, and a wooden stool, If we have food and raiment, let us be therewith content.

The third vice is Pride, whose daughter is vainglorious boasting, for their pride I shall produc but one Parable against those that trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and what pride is like this pride, to magnify themselves, and despise others? they thank God they are not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, nor as the poor Publican, they boast as the Infidels, Jews, and Pharisees; the Publican went home justified to his house rather then they: And Publican's and Harlots shall enter into the Kingdom of God before them.

Fourthly, Disobedience to Parents, and Blasphemy, these two I join together; for reviling of superiors is blasphemy, whether you take Parents naturally, (for against such they unnaturally fight) or politically for Masters, against whom Servants rise up at this time to kill them and Subjects against their Sovereign, though like Antichrist, they pretend to be for Christ when they are against him; Augustus Caesar was called Father and Prince, and therefore they that are disobedient to their Kings, are also to their Parents, or superiors, men set over them, Rom. 13. 1. forecited, Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, the supreme powers then were Emperors, not Consuls and Senators, (as the States of Venice, Luca, Holland which were then ceased, for there were seven heads of the Beast, or seven kinds of government, whereof the two last were Emperors and Popes; the five first were fallen, the sixth of Emperors was in Saint Johns time, and in Saint Paul's, and to this Saint Paul commands subjection, tribute, and custom, except they say that Saint Paul prophesies in this chapter of a new government to be erected, which is not yet, and how it shall then concern the Romans let them show: For the last and seventh head or King of the Romans is the Papacy, to which I think they will profess no subjection at all, if they have any conscience of their oath; but it is objected, these Kings were Tyrants, therefore no duty belongs to them; the answer is in Nebuchadnezzar, whom likewise they hold to be a tyrant, yet Israel is commanded to serve him, Jerem. 27. 6. I have given all these Countries to Nebuchadnezzar, and they shall serve him. And Zedekias, because he broke his oath of subjection, was exoculated as a just recompense on his own head. The Galileans stood for liberty with Judas, Acts 5. and denied tribute to Caesar, and therefore Pilate mingled their blood with their sacrifice.

Fifthly, these Hypocrites are unthankful, either they deny kindness which they have received, or will not acknowledge it, or not requite it, they are the worst of all men that have enjoyed the Gospel of peace and plenty above eighty years, as long as ever Israel enjoyed in Moses days, Ehud’s, David's, and Solomon's, and yet are unthankful, murmurers at their portion, complainers of the times, Oh foolish people, and unwise, ask thy Fathers and they shall teach thee; thy Elders, and they shall declare unto thee the wonderful Reformation in this Nation, the slavish Invasion by Water, the Hellish Gunpowdertreason by Fire, and how God hath brought thee through fire and water, (wherein thou couldest not live) into a moist place, wherein thou hast lived so many years in plenty, but Jesurun hath waxed fat and kicked, and for ingratitude is justly with a Civil War consumed.

Sixthly, Unholy, or unquiet, and restless are the Hypocrites, they are all for War, and accuse Petitioners for Peace of a Carilinarian conspiracy; it is God that creates peace, man cannot do it; it is as hard a work as the Creation, Our Land is without form and void, darkness is on the face of the deep, nothing is but confusion in our Church and State, it is the spirit of the Lord that moves on the face of these dark waters, saying, Let there be light, and there was light, this light that God creates is peace; secondly, this peace is a fruit, a fruit of the spirit, Love, Joy, and Peace, but whence comes war and fightings? from the spirit of malice and envy; thirdly, it is said a fruit of the lips of the messengers of peace. How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those into whose lips grace and peace is poured; fourthly, God creates a double peace, Peace, peace national and personal, which cannot be without truth, but there are restless men, whose sins torment their conscience, and love no peace; the Text saith, They are the wicked, emphatically remarkable wicked men, these Hypocrites revile others as wicked, when themselves are by the spirit of God styled the most wicked, that disturb the National peace, and trouble our Israel by killing and stealing; They are like the troubled Sea that cannot rest, Raging waves of the Sea, foaming out their own shame, whose waters rage continually, and cast up mire and dirt into the Royal face, both by word and writing. Woe to these Sectaries of Cain, who loved blood and slew his brother, and was called the first Disciple of the Devil; Abel was a Shepherd and a man of peace, and he slew him, because his works were righteous; These covetous hypocrites run greedily after the error of Balaam, who would have cursed & defied Israel for reward, & they shall perish in the gainsaying of Core, who rose up and rebelled against Moses the King, and against Aaron, who was the Priest of the Lord, so these endure neither God, the King, or any Ministers, but of the lowest of the people. To conclude with Isaiah, There is no peace saith my God with the wicked; these wicked will have no peace; for then all is lost, which they have spent in war; their restless disposition appears in all the ensuing particulars; they are Covenant-breakers, Falseaccusers, Traitors, heady, high minded, &c. of each word, and so an end.

Seventhly, they are Covenant-breakers, they have made a covenant with the King, and taken the oath of Allegiance, but this oath they regard not, they have their Pope to dispense with it: Achitophel made a Covenant with David, but broke his Covenant, and therefore is accursed in Psal. 55. 21. He hath profaned his Covenant▪ Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar the King, (who was a Tyrant also, as they say) when he had made him swear by God, and hardened his neck, so that the wrath of God came upon them, and there was no healing, 2 Chron. 36. 12. King Solomon chargeth all Subjects to obey the Kings commandment, and that in respect of the oath of God, Eccles. 8. 2, 3. but these urge the Kings oath, legibus quas vulgus elegerit, but themselves keep no oath. Besides, these men make Covenants with the Subjects of the King, and the same day like Jesuits break the same, their Jesuitical faction, like Antichristians, dispenseth with the oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance, and their subscription was forced, and therefore they revolt: Deus bone! is there any Religion in these? no Heathen story is able to parallel their sophistication. In 2 Sam. 23. 1. there was a Famine three years for Saul and his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites the reason was, because of the oath of the Rulers (though taken out of error,) to avoid the scandal of the Nations, and the seeming, not real profanation of the name of God; but these Hypocrites are Truce-breakers, and hold it lawful so to do.

Eighthly, they are without natural affection, witness their zeal in killing and spoiling of Fathers, Sons, Brethren, Sisters, Kindred, &c. but of this before.

Ninthly, they are false-accusers, in Greek Devils, in Syrian Hypocriticall mockers at feasts, that like the Devil their father, tell lies for morsels, Psal. 35. 15. In my affliction they rejoiced, the abjects, viler then the earth, they rent me with their teeth, and ceased not, they print, preach, speak lies against the Lord's anointed (as David was) every day. Lord deliver him from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

Tenthly, Incontinent, what shall I say of their incontinency, both in the concupiscible and irascible, no penalty is now inflicted, and it is a shame to speak of the things done of them in secret.

Eleventhly, these Hypocrites are fierce: Let Jehu speak for them all, Come, see my zeal, saith he to Jonadab, he killed the King and Queen, and seventy sons of the royal Progeny, all his kindred, and Priests, and destroyed Baal out of Israel; he would have no peace, What peace as long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel, and her witchcrafts are so many, his Zeal was all for truth, (as he said) so the Sectaryes and others are all for truth, and no peace while Jezebel lives, their driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for they drivefuriously, or madly, but when by war and blood they have obtained peace, I wish they set not up a worse Idol, then they have put down, as Jehu their father did, Baal was Mars the planet, Ralbag, or Jupiter Belus, which Jehu destroyed, and set up the Calves, a far worse Idol, and made the common people Priests; so I wish that these set not up, as they begin, the meanest of the people, and drive out the sons of Levi as Jehu did.

Twelfthly, they are haters of good, that is, moderate men, who are not carried with their turbulent zeal, by which many a good Jonadab is deceived, and their hatred is irreconciliable to eradication of their families, expulsion of their wives and children, and banishment from Country and friends, because they cannot endure to see them, or hear of them, and this to a political creature is worse then death, in Joel 2. what have you to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon, who have taken my silver and gold, and brought them to your palaces, and the children of Judah ye have sold to the Grecians to remove them far from their border: and do not these haters of good men send their brethren far away from their houses, lands, and friends, that they may seize on their inheritance; But thus saith the Lord to you Cain's, behold I will raise them from the place whither you have sent them, and return your recompense on your own heads, and I will sell your sons and your daughters to the sons of Judah, and they shall send them to the Sabaeans, to a nation afar off, for Jehovah hath spoken it.

Thirteenth, they are Traitors, fathers betraying children, and children betraying fathers to the death, the offspring of the Wolf and Tiger, and the wild beasts their kindred, breaking the bonds of society between man and man, and delivering men up to Magistrates and Rulers, for a word, and that in secret, our Savior prophesied of these Traitors, Luk. 21. 16. Your fathers, and brethren, and kinsmen, and friends, shall betray you to death: do we not see this in these days of Civil war, a father will not spare his child, a child will kill his father in battle, and if he cannot so kill him, he will betray him to death, by discovering his secrets, or by false accusation, under pretence of justice; But the greatest Travtours are such as fight against the King, and they pretend all this is for the King, though his own person have been in imminent danger more then once: these are they that call darkness light, and light darkness, evil good, and good evil, the use of this is made by Isaiah the Prophet, say not a confederacy to whom this people shall say a confederacy, neither fear their fear, but fear God, and meddle not with Traitors that curse their God and their King, and look upward, for as it follows, they are proud and heady, and their councils shall be carried headlong.

Fourteenth, these Hypocrites are hasty in all their consultations, without deliberation they pretended Reformation must be done in a day, not considering the divers gradations of a Reformation; Josiah's wonderful Reformation was of 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 the continuance of three hundred years, the reigns of Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoiada, Jotham, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, and then also was but feinedly, and not with the whole heart, and for punishment of Delinquents they are too hasty; have they never read of David what he said of the sons of Zeruiah, Ye are too hard for me? he would, but could not punish these two great Delinquents, except he had involved his whole Kingdom in a Civil war, as is now done; lastly, they are too hasty in their hostility; have they not read that Israel lost forty thousand in two days in a Civil war through too much hastiness, and precipitancy, not consulting with the Lord? and surely in this respect, these men have cause rather of mourning then rejoicing.

Fifteenth, these are lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God; whence come these wars and fightings, do they not from their lusts and pleasures that war in their members? their pride, ambition, popularity, avarice, for hereby their portion (who were beggarly) is made fat, and their meat pleasant, they live by war, therefore they barn incense to their net, and sacrifice to their drag. They cry nothing but war and blood, dignity they cannot, and to beg they are ashamed, therefore they resolve to kill, steal, rob, rifle, or do any villainy to satisfy their lusts, which they love more then God.

Sixteenth, They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, they have a portraiture, picture or delineation of godliness, but no life at all therein; Consider the particulars, they give alms, but it is to be seen of men, they make long prayers, but to be heard of men, they fast, but disgrace their faces, appearing as sad when they are not: what is this but a picture of godliness without life? it was never known from the beginning of the world, that a dead beast was offered in sacrifice to God, but the Hypocrites present dead sacrifices to God. Again, in their Sabbaths is a show of godliness, but no life, for they say, When will the Sabbaths be gone? and like the Pharisees their viperous progenitors, abuse the letter of the Sabbath against doing good; they sit in Moses chair to teach, and to judge others according to the Law, but do the contrary, and break all Laws; they make long prayers to devour Widows houses, they enlarge their phylacteryes of the hand and head, there's the letter, but no power; their heads are full of mischievous devices, and their hands are full of blood, They are ever hearing and learning, there's the shadow, but are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; there's no power, except it be over silly women, as the Apostle here saith, These Hypocrites intrude into houses, and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, and led about with divers lusts. This time is a plain interpretation of this Prophesy. Another power they have got likewise, by the show of godliness, it is against the King, like Janis and Jambres, the two Sorcerers of Egypt; that resisted Moses who was King in Jesurun: These sorcerers were Hypocrites, for their miracles were but glisterings, and delusions of the eyes; The use of all this is,

First, our Savior saith, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is Hypocrisy. Hereby we are most like the Devil, who transforms himself into an Angel of light, and hereby we become limbs of Antichrist, the first borne of the Devil, who is the great Hypocrite, That hath two horns like a Lamb, but speaks like a Dragon.

The second use, From such Hypocrites turn away, so saith Saint Paul, avoid their society, for they are selfopinionated, selfwilled, greedy of money, proud, unnatural, truce-breakers, falls-accusers, traitors, heady, fierce, unthankful, popular, unquiet, haters of all moderate men, lovers of lusts and pleasures, and deceiving the world by a form of godliness, so that they believe Rebellion to be Zeal, and Treason to be Religion; Depart from me, ye Hypocrites, ye bloudthirsty men. The Lord give us grace to depart from them here, lest we have our part with these Hypocrites hereafter in the lowest Dungeon of Gehenna, from which good Lord deliver us by Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father, and holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.