Church putteth her own cafe in great affliction, fuppofing the good land flowing with milk and hony, touched and accurfed for their fakes, fo that neither their beft fruit trees, nor their common fields, nor their fruits, nor their flocks,and herds fhal: yield encrease, yet faith fhe: Tet will I rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Teaching us that where there is the true joy of the Holy Doct.2. Ghoft, no temporall affliction whatsoever, though it extend even to deprivation of the neceffaries of life, can either extinguifh or fo much as eclipse that joy, but that as a light it will: Thine in darknesse. The Book of God is thick fown with examples and promifes, with doctrine and ufe, with affertions and experience of this truth, and it is fo fealed to the perpetuall confolation of the Church of God, that when Chrift left his fheep among Wolves, faying: In the world you shall have affliction. He left the Holy Ghoft in his Church in the office, and under the name and title of a comforter: to affure this. David gives a good reafon hereof, for he knoweth whereof Reaf. 1. we be made, he remembreth we are but duft. Indeed we are made of such stuffe, and by our fin, we have fo marred our own first making,that if God did not fupport us in afflictions, with a strong supply of faith, wee fhould foon fink under the burthen of our own infirmities. David confeffeth as much. I had fainted,unlesse I had believed to fee the goodnesse of the Lord Pfal.27.13 in the land of the living. Bleffed be God that miniftreth ever fome comfort to fweeten the calamities of life, and to keep the foul from fainting, to keep the head above water, that the deep waters swallow us not up. The true Church of God, when the ambition of the Bishop of Rome, to be univerfall Bishop began to fway Religion to the fervice of humane policy, then began to lofe of her full numbers, many of them, most of them defecting to popery and fuperftition: the true profeffors of the Gospel were pursued Bbbb 2 with with all kinds of bloudy perfecution, and in many years, the true Church of God lived in concealment, yet God did never fuffer this little remaining fpark to be quite put out, and when the Pope thought himself abfolute Lord of all, then arose Martin Luther, an arrrow out of their own quiver, and in the low ebbe of the true Church, he oppofed the Pope, and put a new life into the true Chriftian Church, which ever fince his time hath grown to a cleerer light, and the man of fin is more and more revealed, and the mystery of ungodlineffe detected, and in many parts of Christendome, the Pope ejected, as an ufurper both in Ecclefiafticall Hierarchy, and temporall Sovereignty. At this time, this poor Church doth suffer persecution in France, and is threatned with utter extirpation. In Bohemia, the Proteftants feel the uttermoft of extremity: the Prince Palatine, and the Kings Children remain under proscription, and in exile from their inheritance, and their country invaded and depopulated doth groan under the fury of Religion is oppreffed: the fig-tree,and the vine, and olive fail, the earth is not husbanded to profit, to feed the inhabitants: In this extremity, what comfort furviveth but this? that our God, the husband of his Church will not chide continually, nor referve his anger from generation to generation, but even in this extremity of diftreffe, we have joy in his favour, and love to his Church. This holy care of Religion now affaulted, and the naturall care that our loyall allegiance to our Sovereign and his children doth lay upon us, inciteth us to joyn, as one man with united strength to work for God and his truth to the uttermoft of our beft abilities, and who knoweth whether God having crowned our land, fo many years with peace and truth, doth now try us what we will do for Religion and peace, and how forward we will be in his caufe, and how charitably compaffi onate of the afflictions of our brethren abroad: wherein, if we fhall acquite our felves like the children of light, and the fons of peace, we may prevent a further tryall of us neerer hand in our own land. Bleffed Bleffed be the God of mercy, and of all confolation, who hath revealed to us this comfort and joy in him in all our affliAtions, that we may be able to comfort the diftreffes of our brethren, as we our felves are comforted of our God. His Majefty by his letters gratiously inviteth all his loyall fubjects to this commiferation of his children, to this religious compaffion of Gods afflicted Church, he requireth us your Minifters, to lay this as neer as we can to your hearts, to ftir up your willing and forward affections to a tenderneffe, and encrease of zealous love of this caufe, and he believeth, that our labour in the Lord will not be in vain. If it be heavy to us to part with fome fmall portion of our eftates to this affiftance, what is it to his children to lofe all, Impius hæc tam culta novalia miles habebit, Barbarus has fegetes? fhall we look on whilft Papifts poffeffe the inheritance of Protestants, while fuperftition and idolatry ufurpeth the temples, where the holy worship of God, and the gospell of truth and peace, have been fo many years gloriously mainteined? His Majeftie hath well acquited himself to us to be a Prince of peace, who hath with unmeasurable expence affaid, by mediation and treaties, to compose the bloudy wars in Chriftendome, with fair conditions of peace; he hath fhewed himself tender in the cafe of Chriftian bloud, and he would have all the Chriftian world bear him witneffe, that if he could recover the inheritance of his children in peace, he would not draw a fword, nor hazard a life in that cause. He is now put to it, to feek peace by the way of wars, and his children being shut out of their own, in the way of inheritance, must wade in again by way of conqueft, or fitout altogether. If that part of the afflicted Church, have hope in this difconfolate extremity, and trust in God for deliverance and reftitution,they fhal fing, Carmen in nocte: and let God ftrengthen their faith and truft in him, and let them not think it long to await his leasure, till he have mercy upon them. Worfe was the condition of Jerufalem, and the people of Bbbb 3 Judah, Judah, Gods own inheritance, yet when they had fummed up their miferies, and caft them into one totall of full calamity, they have both faith to affure,both deliverance,and reftitution; and hope to expect it,and joy to recreate and refresh their prefent droopings. And truly, to our understanding, it is time for the Lord to put to his hand, for the caufe is his. The ftrife was for a kingdome, but Religion is fuch a party in the quarrell, that it cannot but share in the fufferings of thofe who fare the worse for Religions fake. Be we comforted in the Lord.. Rome and Roman Idolatry can neither spread further,nor gather more strength then her elder fifter Babylon did, her armies are called here the troops of God: God employed them, and God profpered the,& they prevail'd against Gods inheritance. But the fame Prophets who are fent to tell fudab of their deportation into Babylon, do alfo foretell the ruine of Babylon: for this read at your leafure. Ifaiah 46, 47 Chap. ferem. 50, 51. and when you have read them, compare them with Revel. 17. 18 Chap, and you fhall fee that Babylon in Chaldea, was but a type of the prefent Babylon in Rome, a double type of fin and punishment. Therefore comfort your felves in the Lord, God worketh as we fee against the ufurper of Rome by his own domeftiques, and they tell tales of him, and difcover the nakedneffe of that prostitute ftrumpet to the fhame of their Religion, he that hath begun, will, also in time make an end, and he that beginneth to lose estimation at home, will hardly either encrease or maintein it abroad. Who are papifts or affected popishly amongst us for the moft part, but fuch as are ignorant of holy Scriptures, or fuch as corrupt and pervert them, for the revelation doth point out Antichrift, as the finger of John did Chrift, with, This is he: it calleth Rome, Babylon, and fheweth us the fall thereof, and the cheerfull rifing of the true Church to light and glory. In all thofe dangers that the Church of God runneth, the comfort here expreffed in the Lord, ftays the heart thereof with fla flagons, and comfortèth it with apples, for his love is a banner to it. The parts of this text are three. I The hope of the afflicted Church. You know that joy dilateth the heart, and giveth it fearoom in the ftormy and tempeftuous ftate of trouble, joy is a thing that every foul affecteth: we defire many days to see good, we are apt with Solomon to try our hearts with joy. This is welcome to them that live here on earth, which is convallis lachrymarum, a valley of tears, wherein the story of our whole life is written upon a scroul on both sides, filled with lamentations, mourning, and wo, and our Saviour faith: Bleffed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. We have for many caufes of mourning, that whether we look to our felves, the occafions of our own woe, or to our forrows, the fruitfull fpawn of our breeding fins, the naturall and proper effects of our own corruptions,we have from both, matter of grief, and provocation of forrow. I Pro nobis, for our felves, for what we fuffer. 2 In nobis, in our felves, for that we do deserve. Therefore we must not seek joy in our felves, for then we fhall weep, as Rachel for her children, because they are not. The joy of the Church is in the Lord. Plerumque in ipfis piis fletibus gaudii claritas erumpit, and then it is when man forfaketh all comforts, and findeth that, Bonum eft adhærere Deo femper: when a man unmindeth all other comforts. This, as Auguftine faith, eft gaudium, quod non datur impiis, fedeis qui te gratis colunt, quorum gaudium tu ipfe es: & ipfa eft beata vita gaudere de te,propter te, ipfa eft, non eft alia. All you then, who have found forrow and heavineffe, by the due confideration of thofe evils, which you have commit ted. Gregor. |