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MILITARY DVTIES, RECOMMENDED to an ARTILLERY COMPANY; At their ELECTION of OFFICERS, In CHARLS-TOWN, 13. d. 7. m. 1686.

By COTTON MATHER, Pastor of a Church in BOSTON.

Vbi nullus est Militarium Virorum ordo et cura, ibi nulli sunt R. P. Nervi.

Herodot.

Plus Togae lascre Rem-Publicam quam Loricae

Tertullian.

BOSTON in NEW-ENGLAND, Printed by Richard Pierce: And are to be sold by Joseph Brunning, at his Shop at the Corner of Prison Lane near the Exhange. 1687.

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The preface.

IT was the Observation which judic [...]ous Ca­pel began a Preface to a good Book with the mention of, Books are more neces­sary in a State than Arms. Let it pass for a Conveniency among us in this Scythian Desart, That the Gentlemen who handle Arms may be also presented with Books accommoda­ted unto their Instruction and Encouragement. It is reported of an unparallel'd Souldier, no less an Hero than Julius Caesar, that being forc'd to swim for his life in an extremity, he employ'd one hand to preserve from the damage of the wa­ter, certain Books which he had a special value for. Nor is it any Disparagement unto men of a military Disposition or Improvement, that in all ages the most accomplisht of them, have been willing sometimes to make Books the entertain­ment of their vacant hours: Even a mighty Alexander must have a Book under his pillow, or he cannot sleep. Perhaps it is from some­something [Page] of this Bookish Temper that this poor Sermon preached unto the Artillery of Middlesex, is by some Members of that wor­thy Company now desired to be printed; that their eyes may dwell upon those things which He who gives favour to them that are not men of Skill made not altogether unaccepta­ble unto their ears. It was a Souldier that found out the happy art of Printing at first; and it seems that Souldiers will now and then press the Press into their Service still.

My Education among Libraries, my Con­cernment only in such a Warfare as Timothy had recommended unto him, and my impatient Longings for the Revolution of a Golden Age wherein there shall be (as about the Time of our Lords first coming it is noted by the Roman Hist­orian that there was) Totius Orbis aut pax, aut pactio, a general Peace or Truce through­out the whole world, have made me the unfittest of all men to read Military Lectures▪ Aelian's Tacticks shall stand in the Rore of my Authors, and will perhaps be left unstudied by me, till I have nothing else to do. That military mis­chievous Invention of Guns, and the Nitrous, Sulphureous, Charcoal'd matter which they vo­mit was indeed first hit upon by a Clergy-man, [Page] yet one that I never would care to be akin unto. But a Request from the Honoured Persons, at whose Invitation the ensuing Thoughts have been Spoken and Written, was a strong Sum­mons not to be gainsaid by me, who ought to count Opportunities of doing Good among the best of all my Treasures. They asked me to lay before them their Dutyes, as farr as my Armory, the Bible, would inform me what they are: and I have with brief Hints attempted to let them know what those Words of Command are which come unto them back'd with a, Thus saith the LORD. They have also asked me to give them a Copy of those Words for the Publica­tion of them; and I consider'd that this being all, my case was not so hard as that of the Expedition against Sisera, wherein out of Ze­bulon were engaged they that handled the pen of the Writer, Gow [...]-men became Sword­men, and Pen-knives (as one saith on it) were turned into Swords. But in this thing they had not found me ready to gratify them, if it had not been for the sake of Communicating those Me­ditations in the Close of the Discourse, which render every man a Souldier, and call upon all to encounter the invisible Enemies of their own souls. This part of the Discourse is no [Page] Diversion from the work which my Hand finds to do, however the other may: of this, if I had a voice as loud as the last Trumpet I must say, Let him that hath ears to hear, hear.

Thousands of Praises, whole Ages of praises be given unto a good God, for the Abundance of peace wherein we in this Wilderness do delight our selves. 'Twere well if the blessed leisure which Deus fecit, is given by God unto us, were employ'd unto spiritual Advantages by us all; and particularly by them that have a kindness for the affairs of Souldiery. It would be an incredible benefit to the Church of God, for men to have their houses furnished with Treatises which shall teach them how to Spirituallize the outward occurrents of their Occupations, and set Pulpits, and faithful Preachers for them in every Business that they have to meddle with. I find that the Husband-man, and the Shepherd, and the Mariner, yea, and the Weaver too, are thus provided for, by the ingenious Labours of some heavenly-minded men. A Reverend Person a­mong our selves, has in this way been an Obliging Friend unto the Souldier also; His, Souldiery Spirituallized, well deserves the Perusal of them to whom it is directed, and hath given a just Super-Sedeas unto those Enlargements [Page] of that kind here which else might have been endeavoured. That they who will be Souldiers may likewise be serious; That there may be Glory to GOD in the highest, and that there may be Peace on earth, and Good Will among men, is the grand Scope of this little Essay.

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MILITARY DUTIES Laid before A TRAINED BAND 13. d. 7. m. 1686.
It is written in PSAL. CXLIV. I. Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my Hands to war, and my Fingers to fight.

THat elegant Resemblance of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the close of His last Letter from Heaven to the Church on Earth, Rev. 22.2. A tree of Life which bears twelve manner (a blessed variety) of Fruits, the leaves whereof also are for the heal­ing of the Nations, hath been sometimes not unfitly apply'd unto the Scriptures, those pre­cious Leaves of the Bible, which testify of Him. [Page 2] There is in these Oracles of God, a delicious Entertainment for the innumerable sorts of Readers to whom these presents come; and the Benefit of the Souldier particularly is not left unconsulted in them. The blessed Suitableness of this miraculous Book unto the Affayrs and Concerns of all men, is, to be found (as the Philosopher saith, of the Soul in the Body) in every part thereof; but the Book of Psalms (a Little Bible, as Luther styl'd it) in pecu­liarwise, is so remarkable on this score, that it was no imprudence in old Jerom to bid his Friend make This his Vade mecum, his constant Companion, it was no folly in the holy Mi­nister of Constantinople being driven out of that City, to take no part of his Treasures but This, which was unto him pro et prae Divitiis, instead of and better than all the Riches of the World; the renouned Basil therefore very rightly recommended it as A Divine Treasure, and the eloquent Chrysostom no less appositely reputed it as, a Panoply for the Christian. From this Panoply, from this well-furnished Armory, give me leave to offer something for the Use of this Armed, and much honoured Auditory. For this cause the name which the Holy Spi­rit in a certain place (in Col 3.16.) putteth upon these Psalms is that of spiritual Songs; [Page 3] partly because the Spirits of men are most sin­gularly suited therein: every man may con­ceive, as Athanasius long ago observed, That they speak de se, in re sua, to his own case directly. Tis to be hoped that the Spirit of the Souldier especially will anon herein meet with what shall not be impertinent unto him.

That inspired person, whoever he were, that marshalled the Psalms into the Method wherein we now enjoy them, seems to have had some respect unto the Affinity of Subjects therein handled, in his doing of it. Hence this Hundred-and-forty-fourth Psalm, with the rest unto the end of our Psalter, is employ'd in that business which we expect at the end of our pilgrimage to be put upon; even The magnify­ing of the LORD JEHOVAH. The Penman of this Composure, is by the Title of it, deter­mined to be David, the sweet singer of Israel. Indeed some passages of it are by Him again repeated in both h [...]s first and his second Edi­tion of the Eightee [...] Psalm; and if the Pri­mitive Christians in th [...]ir Pub [...]ique Worship, are reported to have had no [...]ommon satis­faction when they heard A [...]quid [...]vidi [...]um, any thing of David, sounded among them, tis [Page 4] to be suppos'd, that we shall not therein come behind them. But the Occasion of the Composure is to be variously guessed at, as an unwritten thing. Those whom we (upon un­certain grounds) reckon the Seventy Greek Translators, or rather Interpreters of the Old Testament, have so inscribed it, A Psalm of David against Goliah; so the Ethiopi [...] like­wise, and so the Vulgar Latin. And perhaps David's victory over Goliah, may be one thing referr'd unto in this Song of Zion. I find a Jewish Commentary particularly favouring such a Sentiment. But good old Hilary for one, justly and honestly declames against the foist­ing in of this clause, where it should not be. Thus much then is all the Conjecture for which we have room left unto us: We may ap­prehend that the amiable David was now ar­rived thro an Iliad of Mischiefs and whole Seas of Difficulties, unto a Settlement in his Kingdom over Israel; and that hereupon he now presents unto the Lord, both his Praises for the Vanquishent of the Enemies who had hitherto disquieted him, and his Prayers for the Continuance of his Tranquillity, maugre all future Opposition.

The Rapturous Thanksgivings of the Psal­Psalmist [Page 5] begin as soon as was possible; even at the verse now before us. The gracious Saint is here uttering of his Wishes that the great GOD may forever be well-spoken of by all the world, and this on a double account. Something God hath been to him, and some­thing God had done for him.

Firstly, For Something that God was to him. He ascribes to the Lord that Title, my Strength, or (Heb. Tzuri) my Rock. q. d. ‘Th [...] Almighty God has afforded a better Defence to me in all dangers than the ragged Rocks and Caves and Thickets did unto my poor Countrey men, before I by slaying the tall Pagan occasion'd the Routing of the Phi­listines, who had driven them thereinto.’

Nextly, For something that God did for him. He celebrates this Kindness of God un­to him, He [...]eaches my hands to war and my fingers to Fight. i. e. ‘The good God en­ables me to go through the Military Perfor­mances which I am put upon. These Hands of mine that were once wont to hold the Shepherds Crook, and these Fingerr of mine which were wont to solace me with their soft Notes upon my Harp, are now expert in [Page 6] those Martial [...] which God hath bin my Teacher in.’ There is a divine Teach­ing herein acknowledged, and the Twofold Subject of it is taken notice of. The Good man first declares the Subject which received this Teaching: This was his Hands & his Fingers. These are by a Synecdoche put for not only all the Members of his body, but also all the Pow­ers of his mind. These may be singled out, because there is a special Vse of these parts in all warly Encounters. There was so parti­cularly, first in Choosing and then in Casting the Stone which laid the Philistean Champi­on sprawling on the ground. In the Hands also Strength is seated, and Skill is shewed by the Fingers. So both of those Qualifications may herein be glanced at. The good Soul next declares the Subject which this Teaching was Occupy'd about: This was Warring and Fighting. The former Expression [ Lakrob] comes from a Root that signifies to Draw near; the Latter [ Lammilchama] comes from a Root that signifies to Eat up; because in War­ly Engagements, persons first Approach and then Devour one another.

From hence then the Doctrine which Sum­mons our present Attention is

[Page 7] DOCT.

That The Almighty GOD is to be ac­knowledg'd as the Author of whatsoever Military SKILL or STRENGTH any Children of men do excel in.

THAT the Worthy Company who call'd me to this place and work, may not be too long detained from the Field, where no doubt, they love to be, all due Brevity shall be en­deavoured, in our present Discourse.

Only two Propositions shall be call'd upon, to ripen this Doctrine for it's Application.

PROPOSITION I.

It is the Priviledge of some Persons to ex­cel in a Military Skill or Strength.

There is a two-fold Military Excellency which some in the world are so priviledg'd as to reach unto.

Firstly, There are some persons excellent for their military SKILL. There is such an happy unhappy Art used among Adam's wrangling Posterity in the world, as that [Page 8] of Tactics, or the Art of Warr; and here and there we may find those who have the honour of being excellently well skill'd therein. The politic and most peaceable Monarch of old, made it one of his Aphorisms in Eccl. 9▪ 18. Wisdome is better than weapons of Warr. But some desireable persons there are, meriting for this to be called Deli [...] hum [...]i generis, or M [...]inds Delight, who at once have Weapons in their hands, and Wisdom in their Heads enabling them to manage the same unto ve­ry good account. There are persons very no­table for Feats of Arms, like David of whom tis reported in 1. Sam. 18.5. He behaved himself wisely and he was set over the men of war: It seems he was so good a Souldier, that he was made Captain of the Artillery at Gibeon. Such brave men were those pious Trans-Jordanites, of whom wee have that De­scription in 1. Chron. 5.18. They were men able to bear Buckler and Sword, and to shoot with B [...]w, and they were skilful in war. And such a Character we also have of several [...] who were mustered at H [...]bron, to solemnize Davids Coronation there, in 1. Chron. 12. At verse 33. it is related of the Z [...]bulonites, that they were [...] in warr, with all Instruments of warr, able to keep Rank; [Page 9] [...]t verse 35. it is related of the Danites, and at verse 36. it is related of the Asherites like­wise that they were expert in war. Some such Beauties is the face of the earth adorn'd with­all; Persons that understand well all the FIGURES or POSTURES which a Souldier is to use in the Handling of his Arms; persons that are well acquainted with all the MOTIONS & ORDERS which a Souldier may be call'd unto, all the various FACINGS, and numerous DOUBLINGS, & intricate COUNTER-MARCHINGS, & comely WHEELINGS which are customary, and all the CHARGINGS which the many sorts & shapes of BATTAILS do admit, with innumerable STRATAGEMS of War; persons, in a word, who can handsomely apply all the INSTRUMENTS of Defence which a Souldier may Cap-a-pe be furnish­ed with, and all the INSTRUMENTS of Offence w [...]ch a Souldiers hand can be put unto, from the Half-pike unto the Gra­nado and the roaring Canon.

Nextly, There are some persons excellent for their Military STRENGTH also. There is a Two-fold Strength which Souldiers are sometimes to be admired for.

[Page 10] Firstly, Some Souldiers have an Admira­ble Strength of BODY. Such a Souldier was that renowned Judge of Israel, Sampson, the Hi­story of whose Activity (as well as the sig­nification of his Name) the Heathen have car­ried into their stories about their Hercules: 'Tis storied of Him, in Judg. 14.6. That when a young Lion roared against him, he rent him as he would have rent a kid; tho the Ora­cles of the Lion's Maker have determined him to be the strongest among Beasts. Tis storied of Him, in Chapt. 16.3. That he took the Gates of a City, Doors, Posts, Barrs and all, and carried 'em away up an high Hill twenty miles off. Tis storied of Him i [...] Chapt. 16.27. that with main force [...]he over-sett the two huge Pillars whereon l [...]y the stress of a vast Temple, containing ma­ny more [...]han three thousand people.

There are Souldiers, that for the Strength of their Lamb [...], deserve the name wich once a King in England had, even that of Ironside; they may almost affirm, what Job deni [...]d, My strength is the strength of stones, and my flesh [...]s brass. We have read of a Scanderbeg who had an Arm that could make his sword strike through thick Iron, and who encountring a [...]igh [...]y wild Bull that had slain many, with [Page 11] one onely Blow of his Cimitar cutt his head clean from his shoulders. We have read of a Milo, of a Maximus, of some others, men made up of Sinewes, that would hold a club, or keep a place in spite of all possible Assaults, that would carry Burdens next to insuppor­table, and in every peece of action scorn a Match.

Nextly, Some Souldiers have an Admira­ble Strength of SPIRIT also; their Cou­rage is marvellous and invincible. Such were those Captains which increased Davids Band, 1. Chron. 12.21. all mighty men of valour ▪ And such were the Simeonites, (ibid. v. 25.) mighty men of Valour, for the war: and such the Ephraimites (ibid. v. 30.) mighty men of Valour, famous throughout the house of their Fa­thers. There are Souldiers that for their Va­lour deserve the name of Caleb, which may signify All-heart, and who, like Caleb are not afraid to look a bigg son of Anak in the face. They are as undaunted as the Levia­than, (the Crocodile) which is made without fear; its a meer sport unto them, to out­brave the King of Terrours, to have Can­non Bullets flying & hissing, and drawn Swords clashing round about them, and discharg­discharged [Page 12] Pistols hurled at their heads; they are like fiery metal-some War-Horses clothed with Thunder, they go on to meet Armed men, they laugh at Fear, and are not affright­ed, neither turn they back from the Swo [...]d, they shout among the loud Drums and the shrill Clangors of the Trumpet Ha, Ha! the Thunder of the Captains and the Shouting only adds Fire to their Magnanimity; and if they are threatned with such clouds of Arrowes as shall darken the very sky, they make no more of it than the Persian, who reply'd to such a Menace, I am glad of that! we shall then fight in the shade. Yea, almost every spot of ground affords a spectacle of more Fortitude than what appears in Fighting stout­ly when Martial Noises do inspirit men. We may see men whose Blood chills not when they are call'd out to dy alone in cold Blood; men that with a steady Countenance can take grim Death arrayd with all its pompous Horrors, by the cold clammy hand, and cheer­fully say, Friend, do thy worst! Such skill! and such Strength many mortals have.

PROPOSITION II·

[Page 13] The Almighty GOD is to be acknowledg [...]ed as the Author of these Excellences.

All that have such Excellencies are behol­den to GOD for them, and ought to own their being so. Among the Romans, there were those Officers who were called Campi Docto­res, the Doctors of the Field. All true Christ­ian Souldiers will acknowledge the Ever-liv­ing GOD for the supreme Teacher in the field unto them; they say, He hath his chain in the Heavens, who is our Teacher. Shall we speak of SKILL? Behold, the Blessed GOD, the Father of Lights is the Bestower of That. The haughty Sennacherib is rebu­ked for saying of his military Exploits, in Isa. 10 13. By my wisdom I have done them. We are informed concerning the Husband-man by the princely Prophet, His God doth instruct him to Discretion, and doth teach him. How fitly may that be said of the Souldier too! There is a GOD that he hath his mili­tary Discretion from. Shall we speak of STRENGTH? Lo, This also is to be ascribed unto God, the Rock of Ages. It was a check given to the Moabites in Jer. 48.14. How say ye, we are mighty and strong men for the war? As for Strength of Body this is from God. The Psalmist does most ingenuously [Page 14] confess, in Psal. 18, 34. It is the Lord th [...] teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. As for STRENGTH of SPIRIT, this too is from God. When Arrowes are to be made Bright, and Shields to be gathered, tis said (in Jer. 51.11.) that The Lord raiseth the spirits of men. That which makes this further evident is, that the Almighty God takes away military Skill and Strength from men, whensoever it pleaseth Him. This the poor Canaanites had experience of: The Hundreds of Thousands of armed men in those mighty Nations, advantaged with Chariots that were plated with sweep­ing slaughtering Hooks of Iron, could not stand — The Lord at once tormented them with great Wasps, hideously stinging of their Bodyes, and with black Fears weakning of their Spirits, they could not stand before an handful of men, to whom the Lord had promis­ed in Exod. 23.27. I will send my Fear be­fore thee, and will make thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. The cruel crafty Indians among our selves, were t' other Day an instance of this too; at a time when we expected ut­most Ruin by their merciless hands, They [...]ll before us like the leaves in Autumn, and [...]hemselves gave this reason of it, laying their [Page 15] hands on their breasts, Oh (said they) the Englisham's God makes us afraid here. This there is no question to be made of; no means or helps will make us succesful Souldiers, if God deny His Smiles: An Host of sorry Mice will render all our Bow-strings utterly unserviceable, if God say unto them, Go do it. We have cause to say after the Psalmist in Psal. 44.6. I will not trust in my Bow, nei­ther shall my Sword save me.

But the Improvement of these things remains.

USE. I.

There is a strong Invitation to an Attend­ance on Military Disciplin [...] hence given unto all that are capable ther [...]

This Truth should be as good as a Thou­sand Drums beating of a Troop in your hear­ing, engageing of you to repair in your Arms unto a peaceable military Rendezvous. It is lamentable to see how Military Discipline has begun to languish among us; to see how few list themselves in military Societies, and how delinquent in military Services they that have listed often are. I would to God the Time were come wherein we might have had a [Page 16] seasonable Sermon on that Text; Isa. 2.4 [...] They shall beat their Swords, into Plow-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks; for they shall learn warr no more. When will men chuse Da­vid's Motto, Anishallom; i. e. I am peace? When will those two make bate Pronouns, Meum and Tuum leave off to set mankind together by the Ears? But surely, till Gog and Magog are burnt up with slashes of hot Lightening, as their predecessors, the Assyrians were of old, a fitter Theme to be preached on will be that in Joel. 3.12. Beat your Plow-shares into Swords, and your Pruning-hooks into Spears, and let all the men of War draw near. Thanks be to the God of peace, for the Peace wherewith we enioy the Gospel of peace. We have no occasion to kindle Becons, or to stick up a Scoth Fire-cross for the Summoning of all between Sixteen and Sixty, to oppose an invading enemy. The thing which our Civil Authority puts us up­on this day, and all that I am concernd to speak a good word for, is, The regard to mi­litary Discipline, which our peace does give us a most happy advantage for. There is this Ar­gument for the abundant use of military Dis­cipline in the midst of us, now giving En­couragement thereunto; The Almighty GOD is the Teacher of it. And what! Will any of you be [Page 17] loth to go-to-School unto the Almighty GOD▪ Will you play the Truant from the School of GOD? Let the able Idle Spectators of mi­litary Exercises for shame count themselves concerned to rank and file with their honest and industrious Neighbours. Tis desireable that all our Trained Bands might flourish, and become Terrible, as an Army of Banners. And it is particularly to be desired that our Ar­tillery Companyes may be unto the utmost countenanced. In Persia once they had an Artillery Company consisting of Ten Thousand, which they called, The Immortal Company, be­cause whenever any one was taken off, an­other was still chosen to supply his place▪

May THAT Artillery Company in special which I am now speaking unto, in this sense become an Immortal Company.

CONSIDER, I.

That Military Discipline is a very lawful thing.

When the Souldiers satt under the Ministry of John Baptist, he said not unto them, Lay down your Arms; but as in [...]. 3.14. B [...] content with your Wages; which was as good as saying▪ Be content to be Souldiers. The believing Cen­Centurion [Page 18] did not look upon himself as obliged to throw up his Commission, tho it had a Roman Original: and yet of him it was said in Matt. 8.10. I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel, as in him. It is recorded of the Patriarch Abraham, (of that Father of the Faithful) in Gen. 14.14. that he had a kind of Artillery Garden at his house; an Artillery Company was under his Conduct, whereto a­bout forty Files belonged. Shall we imagine that GOD will teach any unlawful thing? No; The ever-glorious GOD Himself is called, The God of Armies. But He is never called, The God of Theeves, or The God of Murderers; or the God of any thing that is to be thought sinful. It is indeed said, that They that take the sword, shall perish with the sword. But this refers to taking up the Sword without a right Cause, and without a just Call. When men meddle with Swords without a sufficient Call from both God and man, they are wont to come off like those Ephraimites which the seventy eighth Psalm singeth of, among other ancient things, who would needs break prison out of Egypt and sieze upon Pa­lestina, by Force of Arms, before they had a good Warrant for it, and were slain by the men of Gath, to the great grief of their Fa­Father, [Page 19] and the encrease of their Servitude. It is also said, Whosoever shall smite thee on the right check, turn to him the other also. But private, personal Revenge is the thing forbiden there. Tis to be suspected, that the people who make Out-cries against all Use of carnal Weapons, would (as One ingeniously saith) use the Weapons very carnally, yea, very bloodi­ly, if they had them in their own Hands.

CONSIDER, 2.

That Military Discipline is also a Needful thing.

It was a true Remark of the ancient Grecian, That, A Common-Wealth wherein there is not a plenty of Military men, is as a Body without Sinews. A Wall of Stones about a City or a Countrey is good for little without a Wall of Bones defending of it. — Hi sunt Spartae mae­nia. It is threatned as a very direful Plague unto a Land in Isa. 3.2. The Lord of Hosts doth take away the men of War therefrom. Why should any of us have an hand in bringing such a plague on the Land wherein we live.

¶ Don't plead, Its being a Time of peace may Excuse us from being in Arms while th [...]se [Page 20] Halcyon dayes continue. For a Time of Peace is the time to prepare for a time of Warr. The prudent King Asa thought so of old. And the want of Preparation in us, may shar­pen the Edge of an Enemies Desire to our Land ▪ Some West-Indian might have been upon our skirts before now, if the Military Appearances among us had not dampt them. You are not ig­norant of what befel the Inhabitants of qui­et and secure L [...]ish long ago.

Do not plead, I can't spare the time to Train. What! not spare time to go to School to GOD? Tis observ'd, that the people in this Coun­trey with moderate Diligence make themselves capable of greater Leisures than many in the world. Besides, Would you serve God with that which costs you nothing? Or would you be made Souldiers by a Miracle?

Do not plead, There are enough to train with­out me. How if every one should plead so? Certainly, people did not thus exempt them­selves from the Artillery Company at Jerusa­lem, in the dayes of Jehoshaphat. It is noted (for so I would understand it) in 2. Chron. 17. fin. That while one man was Leader of that Company, they were an Hundred and [Page 21] Eighty Thousand: While another, they were Two hundred Thousand; while another, they were two hundred and eighty Thousand; and while another, they were no less than Three hundred thousand. There were Thousands ex­ceeding the Vnites in our Artillery Companies!

Should I now pretend to give Directions how Military Discipline may best be ordered among us, I might justly be derided no less than he that would read Military Lectures be­fore the Martial Hannibal. Yet there are Two things which I would presume upon a Liberty to say.

ADVICE. I.

It seems good Prudence to be most Attent on and Accurate in that peice of Military Disci­pline which is most Necessary.;

Or most accommodated for the SAFETY of the place which we belong unto. We have such a Parenthesis in the Preface of David's Elegy over Saul and Jonathan, 2. Sam. 1.18. He had them teach the Children of Judah the — Bow. Some take that Word, the Bow, to be only the Title of the e [...]s [...]eing Song. But others thus conceive of it: The Phili­Philistines [Page 22] had made fearful Slaughter among the Israelites by their being curious Archers; and the study of David now was to have the Israelites out-shoot the Philistines in their own Bow. All that you shall now hear of this mat­ter from one whose highest military Attain­ment is that he counts Military Discipline a thing not to be despised, is only This: There is a swarthy Generation of Philistines here, the In­dian Natives, I mean, whom alone we are like to have any Warrs withal. These Salvages have (not long since) butchered several Hundreds in these Plantations; in that bloudy gloomy day, when the Alarm of Warr was heard, and it was said, Sword, go through the Land, the Canibals had many an Hell­ish Feast of English Flesh; and the main thing wherein the wild Creatures out-did us and un-did us was this, They were very yare Marks-men, and every tree was a Fort from whence they took their Aims. If ever those now- wounded Chaldeans should make an At­tempt again upon us, there will be few Words of Command used, unless those two, Make rea­dy, and Give fire. The best Marks-man will then be the best Souldier: The Benjamites that can shoot to an Hairs Breadth will probably carry the day. How comes it then to pass, [Page 23] that in our Trainings there seldome are any Marks and Prizes set up for the promoting of this Accomplishment?

ADVICE. II.

They that give their presence to Military Dis­cipline, should be ashamed if their Proficiency therein be not conspicuous and considerable.

The Counsil which Paul gave to a Spiri­tual Souldier is very Proper here, in 1. Tim. 4.15. Give thy self to these things, that thy profiting may appear unto all. Do not look up­on Training dayes as designed for meer Diver­sion and Recreation; or to do nothing but make Smokes. Be not of them who unless to get off a Fine would never appear at their Colours; Remember that, As you were, is not a fit word of Command for you all the year long. Be­have your selves alwaies in your Trainings, as under the Eye of the Authority whom, under His Majesties favourable Protection, you are therein Obedient unto, yea, and as if you were by them also bid to expect the sight of an Ad­versary. At the End of each day, be able to make a good Reply unto that Question, Quid profeci? or What progress have I ma [...]e [Page 24] this day in military Discipline? Give not you [...] Tutors cause to blame your Non-proficiencies ▪

USE. II.

The Attenders on Military Discipline should hence be careful to Acknowledge God in what they do.

Let them act according to that Acknow­ledgement, The Lord is my teacher.

To particularize:

FIRSTLY.

There are some Acknowledgements due to God from you, WHILE you are using of Military Discipline.

All the Trained Souldiers among you have these things incumbent on them, as so many Ackowledgments unto GOD their Teacher.

In the first place, Souldiers should be Gra­cious men. O get on the Whole Armour of God; Get gracious Principles into your Souls. Never dream That you are in all respects fit to war and to fight with any men, [Page 25] till your peace be made with God. You tha [...] may some time or other carry your Live [...] in your Hands, had need alwaies to carry Grace in your Hearts. A very Heathen hand­ling that Problem, Who is the best Armed Soul­dier? Solved it so, Integer virae sceleris (que) pu­rus: the sincere godly man is the best Armed of any man in the world. You be n't so fit as you should be to handle a Sword; till you come to use a Book as well as a Sword; till you go­vern your lives by the Words of Command in the Book of God; till you can say with that renowned Souldier in Psal. 119.14. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. You are poor Souldiers, till you can with all Hilarity say to your own souls as that dying Ancient Hilary did, Egredere, Anima, egredere, quid times? or Turn out, O my Soul, turn out; Scorn, Scorn to be afraid of Death; which no uncoverted man can duly say. After all the Bravadoes which many Hectoring D [...]m-mee's make while no body is like to hurt them, it is the New-born, heaven-born Christ­ian that will stand the most daringly before the mouthes of Cannons vomiting out Fire & Death; Here, here is the man that is best able to look the most terrible of all terribles in the face & to scoff at the hisses of that Rattle-snake. [Page 26] DEAT [...], saying, Where's thy sting? I have heard that not very long ago, In the Low-Countryes an huffing Captain challenged one reputed a very pious man unto the Fighting of a Duel: the General taking notice of it said, Pray stay till to morrow, such a Town is then to be assaulted, I'll then see which of you two can fight best. The Town was assaulted, and a Breach made in the Wall, Now (said the General to the Challenger) Now do you Enter: To this the couragious Coward re­ply'd with horror, I beseech your Excellency excuse me, I be [...]n't fit to dy. But the man whom the Changes of Regeneration have made fit to live, he is likewise fit to dy. He that hath Christ for his Life, will assuredly have Gain by his Death; and may fall into Trans­ports of Joy, whenever the grim Ferry-man shall call upon him, Come away!

Moreover, Souldiers should be Praying men. The illustrious Gustavus Adelphus was, for a Souldier, the miracle of this last Age; but [...]ar [...]e any thing more contributed to his be­ing so, than the Army of Prayers which were ever in his Service: Hence he would say to his Counsellors, The greater our Army of Prayers, [Page 27] the more assured will be our victory. It is give [...] as the Character of a man worthy to be a Captain, in Act. 10.2. He was a devout man and one that pray'd unto God alway. The Em­peror Aurelius was blessed with a Legion of such Souldiers in his Host: When the Army was like to perish for Thirst, this Christian-Legion with-drew to Prayer, and immediate­ly God sent a plentiful Rain which relieved them, but sent such fearful flashes of Light­ening therewithall as destroyed their Enemies; from whence this was called the Thundering Legion. God grant that every Trained Com­pany among us, may be a Praying Thundering Company! PRAYER, was the great Field-peice of Jehoshaphat; tis said in 2. Chron. 20.3. He set himself to seek the Lord. Yea, the most of the Prayers in the Bible were made by a Souldier; The Psalms of David. Our late Indian-War gave us evidence enough of PRAYER's efficacy and importance, in military Executions. Luther was wont to style Prayer, the Gun-shot of the soul. Certainly, a Souldiers Weal is enwrapped in nothing more than in the well- discharging of it.

Furthermore, Souldiers ought to be well- Aiming [Page 28] men. I would say about your Train­ing, as Paul about Eating and Drinking, in 1. Cor. 10.1. — Do all to the GLORY OF GOD. Let all that you do from the Girding on of your Harness, to the putting of it off, be aimed at the Glory of God, and the Good of His people, to the just Satisfaction of your King and Countrey. Let every one of your Weapons have that Motto which the Lord has provided for the Bells of the Troopers Horses in Jerusalem, Zech 14.12. HOLI­NESS TO THE LORD. Let all inferior Ends be placed by you in a due Sub­ordination hereunto, and not be the main Spring of your Artillery Motions. As a religious man once at work in the Woods, being asked, Who are you at work for? very savourily answered, I am cutting of wood for God. So be you able to say of all your Trainings, That you are there­in Obeying of God, and the Government, which is the minister of God unto you for good: thus preparing to Fight the Battails of the Lord.

Once more, Souldiers ought to be Sin-ha­ting men. There has been a Scandal raised upon Souldiers, ‘[Nulla fides pietas (que) viris qui Castra sequuntur.]’ [Page 29] that Souldiers are seldom Christians. The slan­der has been most happily confuted by the ver­tuous Lives which many men of a Military Profession have been exemplary for. That I may recite one Instance instead of many, give me leave to inform you of what the Learned Voetius relateth in his Ecclesiastical Poli [...]y, (part. 1. Lib, 2. Tract. 4) concerning a young Scoth Gentleman of his acquaintance, then a Captain in the Low-Countryes. This devout Souldier was (as Voetius testifies to the world in his Immortal Writings) a Mirrour of piety, Gravity, Modesty and extraordina­ry Prudence. He was abundant in Reading the Scriptures, & sundry Treatises both of Divinity and History, and penning down in his pri­vate papers the memorable passages which he found pertinent & profitable to himself therein. Yea, it was common with him to spend whole Days in the Austerities of a Fast. He moreover kept a constant Diary wherein (to use his own Phrase) he had on one Side, a page For the Old man, on the other side, a page For the New man; in these he did every day note down on the one side, How far the Inter­est of Sin decayed in him, on the other s [...]de, How far he grew in his Conformity to Jesus Christ. [Page 30] Doing thus until he dyed. Upon which the Reflection of that great man is to this purpose, ‘It is fit that many Ministers of the Gos­pel should read this, to make them sensible how much a Souldier has gone beyond them in the Exercises of Devotion.’ Now let your Accurate Conversation in like manner promote the Vindication and the Reputation of the blemished Souldier. Beware of those Sins that Souldiers are most addicted unto. John Baptist in his Advice to Souldiers Luc. 3.14. hath enumerated some of those hateful Im­moralities. It was a Proverb of old, Miles Romane, Aegyptum cave; Roman Souldiers must be careful to shun Egyptian vices. Ma­ny a man is no less than a Leader unto a Trained Band, and yet so miserable as to be himself mis-led by a Foolish Lust. O be so valiant as to Fly (here Valour it self turns its back) the Fleshly Lusts whereof the Alarms of God have told you, That they war against the Soul. Abstain especially from the ordinary Epidemical Vices of Training Dayes. It is re­ported of the Carthaginian Souldiers, that they were not to meddle with any Wine all the time of their bearing Arms. Our Trainings are too commonly abused unto the contrary excess­es of Surfeiting and Drunkenness. Let the [Page 31] Vanity, let the Rioting, let the pagan pro­fane Health-Drinkings which are then too usu­al, be abominable unto you, who have not so learned Christ.

SECONDLY.

There are some further Acknowledgements due unto God from you, WHEN you are Thriving in Military Discipline.

If you Thrive under your heavenly Teach­er you are to pay unto Him such Acknow­ledgements as these.

Your humble, your hearty Praises are first to be rendred unto the Most High for all your military Endowments. Among the Anci­ents, when an old Souldier came to have an honest honourable Dismission from the Camp, he dedicated his Arms with his Praises unto his Houshold Gods. Truly there are Praises to be returned unto our God, when we are made Masters in military Practice. O do as the Psalmist in the close of his military Psalm, (in 2. Sam. 22.50.) resolves to do. I will give Thanks to thee, O Lord, I will give Praises to thy [...].

Again, You should now Submit unto any [Page 32] the hardest military Employment that the Most High God shall call you to. Stand l [...]ke the Israelites in the Desart of old, p [...]ching every man by his Standard about the [...] ­nacle of the Lord; and when you have the full Warrant of GOD and His Vic [...]-gerents, don't shrugg or shrink back for any Diffi­culty that you may be put upon. Let me speak unto you in the words which the Lord-General of Israel in his military Oration used, (2. Sam. 10.12.) Be of good Courage, play the men, for your people, and the Cities of your God. Here you are like the valiant of Israel, all h [...]ding of swords, and expert in war, — stand­ing about the Bed of Solomon; and if Solomon say the word, then count that the best way to save your lives will be to lose 'em; and so the holy Angels may at the first Arrival of your disengaged Souls into the spiritual world, wel­come them with the Salutation which an Angel gave to Gideon, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of Valour.

Finally, When you cannot possibly, or may not lawfully serve God as Souldiers, be will­ing to serve God as Sufferers. God knowes whether you may ever be put upon the bear­ing of any Testimonies to the Truths or Wayes [Page 33] of Jesus Christ, which may incurr the Frowns of all Standers-by. Now it will be a greater magnanimity to suffer Disgrace and Poverty and Imprisonment cheerfully, than it is to de­fend a Fe [...]d of Lentiles singly against an whole Army of Philistines, or to slaughter six hun­dred of 'em with an Ox-goad. Be ready with a passive Obedience, to follow Him whom the Apostle styles in Heb. 2.10. The Captain of our Salvation, made perfect through Suffer­ings. Souldiers have sometimes had their Superstitions about Crosses, but most certainly it is the most real Christianity to take a Cross imposed by the Providence of the Lord Jesus on us, and to lay the ragged Tree upon our shoulders until it do there bring forth the peace­able fruits of righteousness. The name that our K. Edward 1. (the comliest of men) had, when called Crouch-back, because of the Cross which he wore on his Back, very well befits a Souldier, when Crosses and Tryals are carved out for him by the God of Heaven. Christ­an Souldiers should be as willing to enter­tain Crosses, I mean Sorrows, and Troubles, for the sake of the Gospel, as the Primitive Christian Souldiers were to throw by the mi­litary Crowns which were profered unto them. The Ancients have with very eloquent [...]nes [Page 34] celebrated those Forty Souldiers, who for the professing themselves Christians, were content to undergo the fiery exquisite Anguish of be­ing Frozen to death. Let every one of us in like sort be content to endure the bleakest▪ the most nipping and peircing winds that can blow upon us for our Faithfulness unto the Son of God. O be among the Armies in Hea­ven [...] the Lamb, and if ever you should (thanks be to God you yet have not) to do with Persecutors, be unto them no otherwise than as Sheep before the Shearers.

USE. III.

Hence, Men expert in Military Discipline are to be had in high Account by us, as the great Blessings of the Great God.

If Acknowledgements are to be made unto God as the Author of Military SKILL or STRENGTH; surely the River of our A [...]knowledgements, running into that infinite Ocean, may do well to call at the Banks of Eart [...], as they glide along, paying [...] kind­ness to the Men that have military Ornaments [...]. He that would say, B [...]ssed be God that [...] my hands to war, and my fingers to [...]ight▪ [Page 35] may also see cause to say, Blessed be God who has made any Hands & Fingers, expert at Mi­litary Discipline in the midst of us. Our Sight of a Trained Company, but especially of an Ar­tillery Company, should not be perhaps with­out some special Expressions of our Value thereof; Since we may say, There march the Scholars of the Almighty GOD.

Persons well-acquainted with Military Dis­cipline, have Honours and Roses cast upon them by the blessed God Himself. The most High and Mighty GOD Himself affects to be called (in Exod. 14.3.) A Man of War. The Lord Jesus Christ also chooses to be re­presented (in Psal. 45.3.) as a Mighty One with a Sword by His side. The glorious An­gels, the bright Inhabitants of the Third Hea­ven, are styl'd in Luc. 2.13. The heavenly Host, or Army. Their Excellent General calls 'em forth by twelve Legions at once, that is, to the number of Seventy two thousand Foot-men, and eighty four hundred Hors-men, the Number which a Roman Army consisted of. O What matchless Fellow-Souldiers all well-qualified Souldiers have! The Scriptures, these in­estimable Treasures of Heaven, are fill [...]d with nothing more than Military [...] and Things And among Men have Souldiers in all ages had [Page 36] most remarkable Reputation. The best Soul­diers were by David in 2. Sam. 23.8. rec­koned, the Worthyes of the Kingdom. In So­lomons time, tis noted in 2. Chron. 8.9. that the Best men in the Land were the men of war. It was made an Act among the war-like Spar­tans that no man should have an Epitaph, or so much as his Name written on his Grave, if he had not been a Souldier. Some of the chief Dignityes now in the world had a Milita­ry Rise: an Esquire, an Earl, a Duke, and some Orders of Knight-wood owe their Titles to the Field. Let us then manifest a spe­cial Esteem unto the Right Souldiers that this Countrey is favoured withal.

But let me bespeak your peculiar Acknow­ledgements for them who Jeoparded their Lives on the high places of the Field, for us in the late Indian-war. My heart is towards those Souldiers, and, under God those Saviour [...] of this people, who then willingly offered them­selves. Tis just that those Lovers of their Countrey, should have extraordinary Marks of Respect from all of us for whom they ex­posed themselves; their very Countenances me­thinks carry Loveliness in them, & their wounds are Beautyes; If ever any of those dear men [Page 37] should be reduced to Penury, let all their Neighbours testify more than common Kindness unto such well-deserving persons. I have the delight of seeing some of them in this Assem­bly; and tho I must own unto them, as Ter­tullian did unto the Christian Souldiers of his time, Non tantus sum ut Vos Alloquar, and say, I am too mean a Person to render you the Thanks of your Countrey; yea tho I must account no Tertullus able to make a due Address unto them; yet by me let it be said, Seeing that by you, we enjoy great Quietness, and very worthy Deeds have been done for this people by your Fortitude, We accept it allwayes, with all Thank­fulness.

Blessed be the Lord for you, Ye blessed of the Lord.

USE. IV.

It is hence the Duty of all men to Acknow­ledge GOD as the Author of All their Mer­cies.

If it becomes the Souldier to say, Blessed be God for my military Skill or Strength; Surely it is fitting that every man should say, Blessed be God for every Mercy. It is a Jewish Cust­om to season all their Solemnities, with a [Page 38] Baruk Adonai, a Blessed be the Lord. And it sufficiently unchristian also to be seldom, or scanty in Blessing of a good GOD. The MERCIES of God are on every side, sur­rounding every one of us: O where are our HALLELUJAHs? Our Antedatings of Heaven's Work? Why do not we call upon our own dull Souls, as He in Psal. 103.2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His Benefits: When Tamerlan the Tartar overcame Bajazet the Turk, He asked his Prisoner, ‘Syr, Did you ever give Thanks to God, for making you such a potent Emperor?’ The Turk answered, No, in Truth, I never thought of That! Whereupon reply'd the Tar­tar, ‘Ah, woful wretch, don't wonder then that God has made thee a Spectacle of the most rueful miseries in the world.’ Should a like Enquiry be made of us; Man, hast thou ever from thy Heart, said Blessed be the Lord, who hath given me a Life full of provisions & preservations? Or Blessed be the Lord, who hath granted me a large Estate? Or Blessed be the Lord, for the Friends that love me? It is to be doubted, many of us must own, No, This hath been quite out of our minds. O shameful Ingratitude! And Ingratitude, That— Ingratum dixeris, [...] omnia dixeris. That is too [Page 39] vile a thing for a Dog to be guilty of. Let this matter sink down into your hearts this day. The Lord could tell Elisha all that his man Gehazi had received (how much above Three hundred & seventy five pound Sterl.) from the Syrian Noble-man. Verily, O Soul, this Lord Jehovah keeps an Exact Account of what all thy Receipts from Himself have been. O be not as a silent and a sensless Grave unto the Mercies of a gracious God. Incur not the Doom fore-told by the Apostle when he link'd those two together, unthankful, unholy. Dread­ful will be the Danger of such [...]! This Non-payment of Rent, will pro­cure your Ejectment from all that yo [...] take pleasure in. Christians, you should receive every mercy (they of old would not speak of their very Affliction [...] without a Deo Gratias) with a Blessed be God. And should it now be a part of your Task every Evening to ne [...]ec [...] and ruminate on the Mercies of the Day fore­going? Yea, And it were most proper, I am sure it were highly profitable, to draw [...] your private Memorials a Bill of the principal Mercies for which you are indebted unto God; to be subscribed with a, Lord, I Thank thee; Often affect your selves by Looking into these Grateful Records, and leave them a [...] [Page 40] [...]n Inheritance with the Children whom you would bequeath your God and Christ and Reli­gion to. It would moreover be far from Improper or Vnprofitable for you sometimes to keep whole dayes of secret THANKS GIV­ING unto your Father who seeth in secret; Spending the dayes in Contemplating the Glo­ries of God & Christ, in enumerating and ad­miring His merciful Dispensations towards your selves, and in contriving, what to render unto the Lord for all His Benefits. One such Day will bring Heaven it Self from on high into your souls; & it will rarely be any other than a Presage or a Fore-runner of a more than ordinary Addition to your Mercies.

In short, Be ye THANKFUL.

USE. V.

Let every Christian acknowledge GOD for his Teacher in the Spiritual Warfare which he is calld unto.

Among those Monuments of Antiquity, the Works of those gray-headed and Reverend men whom they use to call the Fathers, we may find th [...] Text glossed with a variety of Allegorical Expositions; we have it repre­sented as the Speech both of our Lord Jesus [Page 41] Christ on the cursed Tree, combating the Powe [...]s of Darkness in their own. Territories; and of every Christ ian also engaged in the un­seen Battails of the Lord against the spiritual Wickednesses which do annoy them▪ It is not meet that a Popular Auditory should be amus [...]d w [...]h vain Quotations from them. But this is as certain as what is most so, That every Christian shares with his Leader the Lord Je­sus Christ, in being (as Austin well phrases it) a Praellator in [...]erior, One that hath a spiri­tual Warfare to be sollicitous about. The Souldiers present, have this day had all the three kinds of Calls to regard their military Duties. They have had not only, Verba mu­ta, the military Sights of Ensigns and Wea­pons display'd before them; and not only Ver­ba Sem [...]vocalia, the military Sounds that have been Knocking and Clashing in their Ears; but they have also had Verba Vocalia, the Articulate Commands of Man and of God also, to acquitt themselves as good Souldiers ▪ the Lord open their ears to Discipline!

But having done with Them, for That,

There now remains a very Solemn and Earnest Address to be made unto Them and Every Person in the Congregation, about a Thing of more Concernment farr away. [Page 42] O Congregation, hear the Word of the Lord!

Well sings the Sententious Poet,

Nunquam bella bonis, nunquam certamina desunt▪
Et cum quo certet, mens pia semper habet.
i. e. The Godly man is never free
From Warrs with some Soul-Enemie.

There is an Holy Warr which indeed every Soul in this House (or in this World, is call'd unto.

There is no professor of Christianity among us all, who is not infinitely concern'd to be in Arms perpetually at Warr with the Enemies of his never-dying soul, his everlasting Weal. And how many millions of Woes will over­take the Soul that becomes not a good Soul­dier of Jesus Christ, no Tongue can express, or Heart conceive. Let these Admonitions then excite you and direct you to get the Help of GOD in Teaching your Heart to War and your Spirit to Fight against the Invisible Enemies whose Oppressions make you mourn.

For your Awakening here.

[Page 43]

KNOW, First,

There are innumerable and very formidable Enemies dayly pursuing the Destruction of your Souls.

It was an Out-cry sometimes made for the Rowsing of a sleepy man, in Judg. 16.9. The Philistines are upon thee, man. A more start­ling thing is to be signified unto every one of you, Christian, There are Foes and horrible Fiends all round about besetting of thee. Ever since we were born into the world, we have lived in the Territories of our Enemies; and we can scarce take a step without Annoyances from the bloudy Murderers of our Souls. It is related concerning the Prophet's Servant, in 2, King. 6.17. Elisha prayed, and said, Lord I pray thee open his eyes that he may see; and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and behold, the mountains were full of horses and chariots of Fire. May I now put up such a petition unto the GOD of Heaven in the behalfe of them that I am speaking to▪

O our God, our God, open our eyes we pray thee, that we may see the unseen Enemies which are dayly and hourly assaulting of us. Might the most High GOD pronounce an Ephath [...] [Page 44] over our slumbering eyes, we should soon per­ceive the Ground about us cover'd and the Air about us crouded with Armies of Terri­ble ones whom our Souls are endangered by▪ There is a Sarco-cosmo-pneumato-mac [...] a Warr with the Flesh, the World and the Devil, which you are all prest unto. The Apostle hath in Eph. 2.2, 3. given us the Names and Quali­ties of three Captains which the infernal Ar­my of our Adversaries is under the Conduct of. It makes an hott Battle indeed when our Enemies fire by Salves ▪ pouring in scalding sul­phureous Showres of Lead upon us, by fire­ [...]ng three Ranks together. Behold such is the [...]ierce Combate which every one of you are put upon. Yea there are no less than Three mighty Armyes fireing upon you all at once. There are Three most [...] ▪ most w [...]ly▪ and most malicious Commanders, who with all their Hellish forces are attempting to sieze thy im­mortal Soul, O man; Oh how fain would they make a Prize of it, and keep it in their horrid Clutches for evermore! There is a Black Prince who has an unknown Power of Troops, raging, and ramping and roving, ( [...] wild Arabians) within the Atmosphere ▪ of our Air, [...] which the Vengeance of God [Page 45] hath confined them for their Apostasie ▪ This Gran [...] S [...]ignour of Hell is, as M [...]hom [...] is call'd in the Apocalypse, The Grand Aba [...]don or Appollyon of Souls. This Monarch [...] [...] the Lapsed Angels cannot have his Envy a [...] man, or his Hatred of God satisfyed withou [...] enslaving all the Children of Adam not only: under his Condemnation, but under his Juris­diction also. There are vast, hideous mul­titudes of desolate Spirits alwayes ready at a minutes Warning to serve him in Spoiling the Happiness of men by keeping a Distance between God and them. He [...] and all this his forlorn Crue are more unwilling to let any men please God, than Pharaoh was to Dismiss the Israelites from the Brick-kil [...]s of their Bon­dage. David was not more dogg'd for his Life by Saul than we are by the [...]e [...]o [...]ring Dragons of the Wilderness. Besides these▪ Th [...] Subjects, the devoted Vassals which this [...]ly▪ God hath already gained unto his party, o [...] the Humane Race, do sett themselves with might and main to promote his Interest every where, being led captive by him at his will ▪ and all the Pleasures, all the Profits ▪ all the Preferments of Time, do afford Weapons to be [...] friend this execrable Enterprize. But [...] which compleats our peril is, that we harbou [...] [Page 46] [...] our own Breasts a treacherous Enemy which [...]des with all these; a Cage of unclean Lusts have lodg'd themselves within us [...]hich at the first Summons would presently surrender us in­to the hands of the bitter and hasty Nation that are gaping for us. All the Arrows which the spiritual wickednesses in high places do shoot at us, are headed & feather'd from our selvs, from our own Sensuality, or Covetousness or Ambi­tion, and a certain Old man that sleeps in our own Bosomes. If it were not for this per­fideous Inmate, our Enemies would go grudg­ing about the streets for want of Bread. Alas, we have within our own Bowels, a Sheba tha [...] riseth up in Rebellion against our Eter­nal King. This is our amazing case, and it will be so untill we have fought our way quite through the Field of blood which the Church mili [...]n [...] is groaning in. The Omnipotent GOD hath fired a Becon before our eyes, and given us that faithful Warning in 1. Tim. 6.12. That we must fight a good Fight, or we cannot lay hold on Eternal Life. Such a Voice as that we have from the shrill Trum­pets of God, in Matt. 11.12. That we must like Souldiers, exert an Holy Force and Violence or be shutt out from the Kingdom of heaven in howling Anguishes, until the very Heavens [Page 47] be no more. Thus must we work out our own Salvation; Thus must we strive to enter in a [...] the strait gate. The real Christian is to be pitty'd on the same score that the Bird of prey is hated, namely, quia semper vivit in Armis; as long as he breathes he never has it said un­to him, Lay down your Arms. O the Besot­ment, the Lethal Stupidity of the Soul whom these Intimations will not awaken!

REMEMBER Next

The Engagements which ly upon you to En­counter these Enemies, are many & very mighty Obligations.

There are Obligations hereunto laid upon you by the Vowes of God, which you are un­der. The military Oath was call [...]d a Sacrament of old. Verily you have taken Sacraments upon it, and Oaths of Fidelity unto the Lord Jesus Christ that you will never have any Peace, or so much as any Truce with these Enemies which would not have Him to reign over you. Were you not Baptized into the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ? Then, in that day were you listed under the Banner o [...] that Potentate; You were bound unto a never ceasing Emnity and Watchfullness against the [Page 48] [...]mpters which would with-draw you from your Allegiance unto Him. But, Ah Lord how rarely are any among us duly mindful of our Baptismal Vow! Souls, if ever after this you submit to the Wills of those A [...]ominable things which would build a Partition-wall be­tween God and you, You do then prophane­l [...] play the Trait [...]r towards the great LORD whose Mark you have received in your Fore­heads. Be assured, the Waters of Baptism will one day become like the Water of Jealou­sie, or more direful than a River of burning Brimstone unto the Renegadoes that shall thus procure to themselves a Lott among the Fear­ful & the Vnbelievers. Have not many of you also satt-down at the Table of the Lord? Ve­rily, when the Lord so erected a B [...]nner of Lo [...]e over you in His Banquetting-ho [...]se, there were f [...]esh T [...]es, rendering all Reconciliation or Accommodation between you and these A­ [...]kit [...]s the most Dishonest thing imagina­ble. The Lord Jesus Christ hath there said in plain Visible Words unto you, — Behold, I was thus murdered by those very enemies that are lying in wait for thy precious Life; O never do thou admit any Friendship with them. Then with a p [...]etence of as much Aff [...]ction as the Citizens of Rome discovered when the Shew [Page 49] o [...] stabb'd Caes [...]'s bloody Robes made 'em [...] [...]ury to demolish the Houses of the Assassinate [...] you have openly vow [...] never to have so much as a kind [...]ar [...]y or Treaty with those Destroy­ers; you have most vehemently professed a­gainst them, with the Indignation which Da­vid had against the Injurious man in the pa­rable, As the Lord lives, I'le [...]o what I can that they who have done this thing may dy the Death. And can you find in your hearts after this, thus to break your Everlasting Covenant? Af­ter you have a [...]e and drank with Jesus Christ can you sit and side with the Assaylers of His Throne? Yea, these Vows have you re [...] ­ed as often as you have made any near Ap­proaches unto God in Jesus Christ; this hath been the Language of every good deed which you have applyed your selves unto; I will even Resist unto blood, striving ag [...]nst Sin. More­over both the Precep [...]s of God have enjoyned this upon you in 2. Cor. 16.13. Qui [...] [...] like men, (like Souldiers) and be strong; and all the Providences of God, whether merciful or afflictive have been so many Spurs quickning of you unto these Warrs of the Lord. O let not all these Bonds ▪ of God be upon you▪ like the green Withes on Sampson easily b [...]st a­s [...]nder.

[Page 50]But there are still further Obligations here­unto laid upon you in point of Inter [...]st.

On the one hand, Be assured, if you do Combate strenuously, you shall Conquer glori­ously. You have a General that never yet was overcome, He is the King of Glory, the Lord mighty in Battail: No enemy can stand before a Look of His. Veni, Vidi, Vici, A Sight of Him, and a Flight by them, is the constant Tenour of His Successes. If you will sincerely but let Him bring you on, He will be sure to bring you off securely. And if you hold on, & hold out, if you continue Faithful unto the death, O the unparallelable Crowns and Kingdomes, and inexhaustible Treasures which you shall become the Possessors of!

Est Deus, est aether, precium certaminis hujus;
Haec faciant pugnam Praemia tanta levem.
[Mantuan.]

The Lord Jesus Christ will publish all your [...]ains in a big Convention of all the World; in the near Day, the Last and Great Day, when every Child of man shall stand before the Tribunal of Jesus Christ: He will then pro­claim what you have been and done, and re­quite it with a Well done, good and faithful servant. Then shall He as the Cheif (the Standard bearer as in Cant. 5.10. He is de­denominated) [Page 51] among many Thousands, marc [...] before you up unto the Mountaines of spices, and you shall in his blessed Army of Chosen and Called and Faithful Ones, with him enter into the coelestial Mansions, where you shall b [...] for ever with the Lord.

On the other hand, Be assured you must either Fight or Dye. This Warr is like that of Death, whereof tis said in Eccl. 8.8. There is no Discharge in that warr. When a per­son once confessed unto one of the Ancients, Nihil Pugnae sentio in corde meo. I don't feel that my soul is put upon Strugglings with any Enemies; the good man made this Answer, Alas, then the City gates of thy soul are open, so that thy enemies d [...] what they will without con­troul. Here indeed the Christian that is not a Souldier, is a perfect Slave, and what a de­plorable thing is that! It was the Speech of a famous Commander unto his Army, when they were penn'd up with the Sea on one side of them, and an huge Host of enemies on the other, Fellow Souldiers, you must now either drink up this Sea, or eat up these men. Thus, there is no escaping here; you must either beat the Eemies of your souls, or burn in a fie­ry Ocean of God's Wrath for ever. If the [Page 52] Cut-throats of our souls are not resisted stedfastly in the Faith, we shall become the Captives of those mighty ones; and if they g [...]t us they will keep us, [...]f they subdue us they will torment us, world without end: There will be no Remedy but we must welter under the Anguishes, the bit­ter Dolours of Everlasting fire with the Divel an his Angels. And which of us all is not now Awakened to ask of God to Teach us to warr and to Fight against those Canaanites which would keep us out of the Land flowing with milk and honey?

But for the Counsilling of you then,

RULE. I.

Let Vnfeigned Repentance put an end unto your Warring and Fighting against the GOD of Heaven.

It is very proper to begin with the Caution which Doctor Gamaliel gave to the Jewish San­hedri [...], (in Act. 5.39.) Be not found to fight against God. Until men are brought unto the Experience of a Conversion to and a Covenant with God in Jesus Christ, all the Affayrs of a Christian Wa [...]fare will be no less unsuitable than unacceptable to them. All Vnregenerate men which [...]ive in KNOWN Sins are so fa [...] [Page 53] from war [...]ing and fighting against the Armies of Hell, that they desperately set themselves in Battle Array against the infinite GOD. The black Description of every Impenitent Transgressor is that in Job. 15.25, 26. He stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengh­ens himself against the Almighty, He runneth up­on Him, even upon his Neck, upon the thick Bosses of his Buckler. O that these foolish & unwise kind of people would now be perswad­ed to bethink themselves! What a prodi­gious Phrensy is this, for them that lately came out of the Creating hands to cast them­selves into the Avenging hands of God! The First and the [...]st Direction that can be given to these Children of Folly, is,

Oh Lay down your Arms, and make your peace with that terrrible God, whom by your sin you have made your provoked Adversary. The secure Sinner perhaps is not aware of his own make­ing these daring Adventures. But this must be plainly told unto every man that main­tains a Trade of wilful Disobedience unto the Commandments of God: Man, thou art Soun­ding a Challenge against GOD Himself, thou art every Day Bidding Defiance to the Eter­nal GOD; Thou art certain of that which which was only a mistake in Jo [...] of old: God [Page 54] counteth me for His Enemy. O that such heed­less men and women would sit down in sober sadness to think on the none-such Madness which hath possessed them. Are you not every day ( Conscience, do thine Office) Are you not daily allowing your selves in those things, for which you are not ignorant that the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience? [...]f you are not such bold Debauchees as to live in Swearing, in Vncleanness, in Drunkenness, in Sabbath-breaking; and to make nothing of a [...]ile Chea [...], or a flatt Lye; yet do you not make Light of a Prayer-less Life? and so, of a Faith­less and a Christ-less Life? Now every such Sin of yours has a Tongue in it, a Blasphemous Tongue, that talks against heaven, and saith, I am for the Waging a Warr & a Fight with God. As they sometimes said in Isa. 5.19. Let the Lord hasten his work that we may see. Such an insolent Bravado do you affront the most High withall. The faithful and holy God has said Cast away from you all your Idols, or I'le break you sore in the place of Dragons: I will burn you in the fiery bottom of Hell for those Re­bellions. But every unreclamed Sinner now, doth as bad as reply Let God do His worst, His Darts are but Stubble and the shaking of his spear is but to be [...]aughed at. Thus [Page 55] the unrepenting and unrelenting Sinner, [...] knowes that he sins, and yet with an high-hand he rushes on, to the doing of those things whereof the Compassionate God saith unto him, O do not those abominable things which my soul hateth. But O venture some unthinking Sinners, consider the doleful plight which you are in, Consider this ye that forget God, lest He tear you in peices and there be none to deliver you. The blessed God hath positively declared unto you, (in Psal. 7.12, 13.) that He has whe [...] His sword and bent His Bow, and ordained the Instruments of Death against the Sinners who Turn not from their evil wayes; He hath de­clared upon the word of a GOD, (in Psal. 68.21.) that He will wound the Head of these His enemies, and the hairy scalp of such [...] one as goeth on still in His Trespasses. It was the short and smart Return which Jehu made un­to Joram in 2. King. 9.22. Joram when he saw Jehu said, is it Peace? and he answered, what Peace, so long as the Whoredomes of thy mother are so many? Thus, if any unrenewed Sinner ask, Is there not a Peace between God and me? It must be said unto him, No, such sins as thine are inconsistent with Peace, thy Sins render God thy dreadful enemy. But O now turn from all [...] unto God in Christ, Lest ye perish, Cry [Page 56] [...] Q [...]arter, yea, cry for Pardon, and Agree quickly with your matchless Adversary. Let that Question be put unto you (1. Cor 10.22.) Do you provoke the LORD to Jealousy? are you stronger than he? Surely you cannot presume that you shall make your party good against God, who can Thunder the whole world into nothing in a moment? It is said in [...]. That one going to warr against another, sitteth down first, and consulteth whether he be able to meet him that cometh against him. Be you entreated to admit so much Conside­ration here as Common Prudence will suggest. I have heard o [...] a man in the West-Indies a lit­tle while ago who being in a Boat with ano­ther when a High Wind made a rough Sea ▪ at his Companion's Expressing some Concern­ment abou [...] the Issue, which he was disturbed a [...], The Wretch slew out into this out-rage of Blasphemy, Let God Almighty blow, let Him blow if He list, I fear Him not; And behold the words were but just out of his mouth, when he was blown over-board and drown'd, while the other gatt safe to shoar. All De­liberate Sinning [...]o [...]meth out such a Contempt of God, and verily the Event is like to be no better: the black dead Sea of God's Wrath will swallow up such Despisers till they [Page 57] perish. It is written concerning Baalam, in Numb. 32.31. that when he saw a Flaming Swo [...]d in the hands of an Angel checking of his motions, it put him to a Stand. Oh how durst you go on in a Course of Sin, when you perceive the great GOD with Flaming Swords and hott Thunder-bolts opposing of you? Let it not be said that your sturdy Obstinacy in Sin out-goes the stout Stomach of the very De­vils themselves, who believe and tremble, while you sin and tremble not. It is no less than an Omnipotent Enemy whom by Unforsaken Sin you incurr the just Revenges of; and wi [...] the sorry Potsherds of the Earth make light of His horrendous Indignation? It is the Ex­clamation of the Psalmist in Psal. 76.7. Who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry O Lord! O No more, No more Harden your selves against this GOD; It is impossible that you should prosper if you do. You have the Lord of Hosts against you; and while you have, all the Hosts of the Lord are up in Arms against you too. While you are thus under the Curse of God, every Creature of God hath been crying unto him against you, as that King unto the Prophet about the hood-wink'd Syrians, Shall I smite them, O Lord▪ shall I smite them? The Earth has cry'd, Lord, shall I swallow them up alive? as I did [Page 58] Corah and his Company? The Sea has roard Lord, shall I run over the heads of 'em, as I did to Pharaoh, and his Followers? The Clouds have rumbled, Lord, shall we showre down fierce Lightenings upon them, as we did upon Sodom & Gomorrah? Thus are even all the Crea­tures of God only staying for that Word Fall on; and upon that Signal given, they would all joyn to Plague you, more than the Sun and Moon did Sisera of Old, when by producing the Inundations of Kishon they did in their courses fight against him. But there is that which is more tremendous yet: You must expect that if Repentance prevent it not, you will at length fall into the Hands of the everliving GOD Himself, whose Hands it is a fearful thing to fall into. And O how can you bear the Gripes of those Iron Arms, or the Immedeate stroaks where-with he will one day dispense his fiery Fury in those Ovens of Hell, the Souls of his Enemies; Can your hands be strong or can your heart endure, in the day that I shall deal with you, saith the Lord? The Hands of God! Alas those Ireful Hands do splitt the Everlasting Rocks, and make the very Pillars of Heaven Tremble. I Knew a very stout man, who in the Anguishes of Death thus express'd himself, I have been [Page 59] said he) among drawn Swords and Armed Soul­diers; I have stood before the mouths of ro [...]ring Canons, from whence the Bullets have flown a­bout my ears, and yet I never knew what it wa [...] to be afraid; but now I am apprhensive of my be­ing exposed to the everlasting Anger of GOD, my heart shivers & fails within me, at the thought of that. Sometimes when my Visits have been call'd for by men on their Death-Beds, per­ceiving themselves on the Borders of Eter­nity, I have found them quaking and there very Beds shaking under them, and their first Speech has been to this purpose, O Sir, the Wrath of a dreadful GOD makes me tremble, I tremble, I tremble at it! How full of Hell­ish Dimness, and Darkness and Bitterness, will Presumpteous Transgressors then be in the Day of God's Vnmixed Wrath, in the Day when He shall fulfil that Threat in Psal. 50.21. I will reprove thee, and set thy sins in Order (in Battle-Array) before thine eyes? Now let every hitherto-unchanged Sinner count himself con­cerned to put a penitent Period unto the dan­gerous deadly Warfare, wherein he is warr­ing and fighting against the Almighty God. In this case the Teaching which you have from God is, Lay down your Arms, O war and fight no more. All the Powers of your souls, all the [Page 60] Member [...] of your Bodies have hitherto been as tis said in Rom. 6.13. The Weapons of un­right [...]ousness. O find out now a better, a fit­ter employment for them; otherwise your on­ly Wages or Stipend will be (as the Apostle [...]ith, alluding to the military Stipends of old) Death, Death, forevermore. Wherefore here make a Pause. O Commune with your selves about what you have been and done. Now Confess, now Bewail before the Most High all your p [...]st miscarriages, entreating that thro' the Prince of Peace they may be all forgiven and the Breach be made up between God and you; promi [...]ng there-withal, that for the fu­ture it shall be your hearty study to have no more to do with Idols. O say, It is enough, Lord, I have done Iniquity, and I will do so no more.

But so much may suffice to be spoken unto them who have not yet known the warrs of Ca­naan.

More Briefly in what remains.

RULE. II.

Become furnished with that Armour for your Warring and Fighting, which God in His bless­ed Word hath provided for you.

[Page 61]There is a Tower of Solomon, wherein God hath hanged up Thousands of Shields & all the Weapons of strong men. See to this, that you do only put on the ARMOUR OF GOD, and that you have all your Armour to be both of God's Institution, and of God's Constitution also. Let GOD be Acknow­ledged as the Appointer of all your Weapons. The Will-Worship, the fond Amulets, and Pe­nances [...] of the Papists, no less than the Phylact­eries of the Jewes, are to be exploded as most trifling Insignificancies, and the Ridicules of those very Enemies whose Terror they are calculated for. A funeral Elegy for those wretched Warriours we have in Ezek. 32.27. They go down to Hell with their Weapons of war; they have laid their Swords under their heads, but their Iniquities shall be upon their bones. You have no need to go down to the Forges of the Philistines for the Weapons of your Souls. Whatever shall be offer'd as a service­able Weapon for you, which you have [...] the Warrant of GOD for the using of [...]row it by, as David rejected Sauls cum [...]rsome useless Armour. Let God also be Accknow­ledged as the Bestower of all your Wea­pons. It is affirmed concerning one eminent peice of your Armour in Eph. [...].8. It is [Page 62] the gift of GOD. Let that be your Sen­timent of every Weapon which you shall have occasion for, It will do me no good unless, God be the Framer and Giver of it. Ever account a Weapon to be of no good Metal, if it come not thro' the hands of that God, without whom you can do nothing at all. Unless we look to this, the great Leviathan of Hell, will esteem our Iron to be but S [...]aw; and our Brass but as Rotten Wood.

Consult the sixth Chapter to the Ephesians, as a gloriou [...] Magazine wherein God hath sett before you all the Accoutrements of a Christ [...]n Souldier from Head [...]o Foot. There is a little Cluster of four or five verses in that Chapter, which are fit to be called Enchi­ridion Militis Christia [...]i. You have no Armor there for the Back, because you must (as the lame Andr [...]id excused his going unto the Warrs) expect to Fight and not to Flee.

You are first to procure a Belt; Now for this get your [...]ns girt with Truth. [...]et your Minds have a due Knowledge of, and yeild a full▪ Assent to the Truths of God: Especially let Four Sorts of Truths be unto you as the [...] of your [...]; Namely,

Fundamental Truths▪ And T [...]th [...] immedi­immediately [Page 63] referring to Jesus Christ, and such Truths as enwrap the Covenant, and lastly, the present Labouring Truths of the Times: un­to an Acquaintance with these Truths, adding all Sincerity Heart, and Integrity of Life. He will be a loose kind of Souldier for God, who is pore-blind in these Truths; all his Notions and Actions must hang in much Disorder; here the obscure Proverb will be too much verify'd, Vn-girt, Vnblest.

You have then a Breast-plate to take care for: For This, (in imitation of your General) put on Righteousnes as a Breastplate. O labour to preserve the Vitals of your Inner-man harm­less, by endeavouring not only to render all men their Dues, but to keep a Conscience void of Offence towards GOD as well as towards man. A work of real thorough Sanctification in the soul of a man, will be as Aes triplex circa Pectus, as Armour of Proof upon the Heart in an evil day.

A Sufficient pair of Shoes are next to be procured. It is a rough cragged thorny way that we have to go. Well, Be shod with the Pr [...] ­paration of tho Gospel of peace: The Gospel of God, which is a Gospel of Peace; Bringing the Intelligence and producing the Settlement o [...] [Page 64] a Peace betwixt God and man; This exhibite unto us those Counsels and those Comforts which will be a good Preparative against the Worst that can befal us: O lay up a store of these; and so say, Tho' Warr should rise a­gainst me, in these will I be confident,

But what shall we do for a Shield? Especi­ally since the Darts to be shott at us, like those among the Scythians, dipt in the Venemous Gall of Vipers, will horribly inflame and torment the Souls which they are smitten with. Broad Shields of Raw Neats-Leather were wont to be held up against the violence of these. But here now above all take the Shield of FAITH. Let your Faith convey unto you the Substance of things hoped for ▪ the Evidence of things not seen. Especially let your Faith put you un­der the Conduct of the Lord Jesus Christ, and call in Him ▪ as an able and a ready Saviour, al­wayes knowing how to succour the tempted. Here will be a Shield which will stand you in stead to keep off more than as many Darts (two hundred and twenty) as were stuck in the Shield of S [...]eva at the Siege of Dyrrachium.

Thus the Body is defended: But what shall be done for the Head? Lo, an Helmet! Take [Page 65] [...]he Helmet of Salvation, That is, as the A­postle else where has it, the Hope of Salvati­on. Let there be in your Souls, a lively Hope that God is your Friend, that Christ is your Re­deemer, that the Promises are your Portion; and live and dy in such a well-grounded Hope; not only say, Dum spiro spero, I will Hope while I Live; but also Dum expiro spero; I will Hope when I Dye. Thus will your Heads be guarded against those hard Thoughts of God and Grace, those Terribilia de Deo, and Hor­ribilia de Fide, which the Tempter would wound you with.

All these Weapons are Def [...]nsive only.

At least we must have One to Offend our Adversary with; Where is our SWORD? This it is, Take the Sword of the Spirit which is the WORD OF GOD. This, our English Josiah, is reported to have call'd for, under the Term of a Third Sword when two Swords were presented him at his Coronati­on. You are blessed wit [...] [...]he free Vse of a Bible, which is a spiritu [...] [...]word word, Shaped by the Inspiration of the [...]ternal SPIRIT. This is a Sword of which I may say, as David of Goliah's, There is none like it. Here is a sort of Sword, whereof it may be [Page 66] said unto every man, He that hath not such [...] Sword, let him sell his Garment & buy one. The pious Husband-man who in a Scarcity of such now-common-sleighted Treasures, gave a Load of Hay for a Leaf of the Bible, for even a few Filings of this Sword, has justified this Ad­vice. Our Lord Jesus Christ hath by his own Example shewed you how to wield this Sword and manage it unto the Vanquishment of all Satanical Invasions: When the principal Tempter tryed His Over-throw by propose­ing to him a Three-fold Bait of the same three Allurements which prov'd mortal to the First Adam, He still came of a Victor, by oppose­ing an, It is WRITTEN, thereunto; and all the Swords or Words of this kind, used by Him, were fetch't out of that one Book of Deuteronomy, from whence we may collect how rich a Supply for our Warr the whole Bi­ble then will afford unto us. Let this be our Method against the joint Fraud and Force of our wily Enemies. Whenever they urge us to any evil thing, still have some pertinent Text of the Bible to reply upon them. All the Commandments, all the Promises, all the Me­naces in the Bible are like so many Swords all-Edge to be-friend you in this Concern. Thus particularly: Are you tempted unto [Page 67] Vncleaness? Then reply, It is Written, That God knowes how to reserve the unjust unto th [...] Day of Judgement to be punished, but chiefly them that walk after the Flesh in the Lust of Vncleanness. Are you Tempted unto Reveng­fulness? Then reply, It is Written, Avenge not your selves, but overcome evil with good. Are you tempted unto Distracting and Corroding Cares about the things of this Life? Then reply, It is written, Cast all your Care upon God, for He careth for you. Thus may you conquer, as he said, sola unius Syllabae pronunciatione, with a words speaking. Verily these Writtens will be more gastly fearful things unto the Enemies of your Souls, than the Hand-Writing upon the Wall was to the Babylonian Monarch. Here are Swords that will be more Fatal to them, than the Sword of Ehud was to the Moabitish Tyrant. The Captain of your Enemies dare not stand, when These, against which he hath a peculiar Antipathy, are Brandished against him: A little Resistance of this Kind will make the Field too hott for him. As the Poet hath it, ‘Est Leo si fugias; si sta [...], quasi musca recedet.’

Or rather as the Apostle has it more cer­tainly, and more divinely, Resist the Divel, and he will flee from you.

[Page 68]Wherefore, Let it be your daily Endeavour, That the Word of Christ may dwell richly in you; and that you may have the Texts of it as ready as the Names of those that dwell in the same Houses with you; or, as ready as that honest man, of whom Alsted, I think, somewhere saith, If all the Bible had been lost, it might have been in a good measure recovered by that good man's Readiness therein. Let not a Day ordi­narily pass you, wherein you will not Read some portion of it, with a due Meditation and Supplication over it. The Ethiopian Noble­man would not omit this Exercise, even when he was on a Journey. And he that shall ac­custom himself while he reads in his Retirements, to fetch at least one Note & one Wish out of every Verse as he goes along, will perhaps take as speedy a course as any man whatever to become a well-armed Christian. He was a Souldier and an Emperour too, that wrote out the New-Testament with his own Hand. And that gracious Man, Mr. Thomas Stough­ton, asserts that he knew a young Gentlewo­man, who before she was Nine years old, could say it All by heart. It will be our shame, if this two-edged Sword be not often in our Hands and Hearts, and become like our Necessary Food unto us. And that Prince of Transilvania who [Page 96] read over the Bible Seven & twenty Times, will condemn us if our Eyes are seldom placed on this Heavenly Sword. It was a dark time with the Church of God, when One was pro­nounced most Sufficient, at his Commencing Doctor of Divinity, tho he had never Read the Bible. Sure I am no man can be a Sufficient Souldier in Christianity, unless This be the man of his Counsil.

These are now your Weapons; O put them on, and go before the Lord Armed for the Bat­tel.

RULE III.

Let the Sufferings of our LORD, teach you how to warr and to fight against that Lust which gives the most advantage unto all the Ene­mies of your Souls

Let the Lord here, have the [...]me Signifi­cation which in the New-Testament it is wont to have, even the Lord JESUS CHRIST; Now let Him be your Teacher in this mat­ter. It hath been said, Crux pendentis est Ca­thedra Docentis, — thus, while you behold Him hanging on the Cross, let Him Teach you how to Warr and to Fight especially a­against [Page 70] the Sin which doth most easily beset you. The Emperour Valentinian when he was dying, had his Friends comforting of him with the Remembrance of his past Victories; he told them that he gloried in one Victory above all the rest, Inimicorum nequissimum vici (said he) Carnem mean [...]. I have had a Victory over my Flesh the enemy in the world. Let this be our High Attainment.

The Enemies of our Souls would, all of them together, be able to do us little harm, if there were not some peculiar Lust, like Tro­jan Horse, within us, assisting of all their En­terprizes. It was the Priviledge of the Man Christ Jesus alone to say, The Devil finds no­thing in me, when the Legions of Hell made an Attacque upon him. The Father of Lies utter'd a real Truth, when from the Throat of a possessed man, he said unto Mr. Balsome, If God would let me loose upon you I should find enough in the Best of you to make you all mine. And so truly there is in the best of us all, a party of Lusts which would resigne us up un­to the power of all our other Enemies if the Grace of God prevent it not. Let These be well kept under and the Day is yours.

Among the many L [...]ts which are of the De­Devil's [Page 71] Faction in us, every man hath, as a sort of Master-Bee in the Hive, one peculi­ar Lust, which he may call, as David did in Psal. 18.23. My own Iniquity. There is in every one of you, a Lust which above other you are most impatient to have Reproved or Restrained. A Lust which above other doth most Disquiet you and Discompose you in the Service of God; a Lust which gives most fre­quent Eclipses unto the Light of God's Coun­tenance upon your souls. Of This let me say as he about the King of Israel in 1. Reg. 22.31. Fight neither with small nor great in compari­son of This. The Braining of this Giant is of as much Importance perhaps as any one thing in your Warr-fare, as having an Influ­ence upon the Prosperity of it all.

However they that write De re Militari, lay this down as a Maxime, Quicquid tibi prodest, Adversario nocet; Whatever is profi­table for you is pernicious for your Adversa­ry: That This is both, who can make any Doubt?

Now what shall be done in order here­unto? This, Follow the Teachings of the Lord. Let the Death of Him that is Gene­ralissimo of all the Celestial Armyes teach you what to do; He has Dyed in part for this [Page 72] Reason, that he might instruct you in the right way of Warring and Fighting against the Enemies whom His Death hath also been the Price of your Redemption from. This then you have to do. Let your Principal Corrup­tion be put unto such a Death as your Dy­ing Saviour has given a Semplar of. It is said by the Apostle in Rom. 6.4. That we must be dead to Sin, even as Jesus Christ dyed for sin. This is the sanctified Way of Dealing with that Son of Anack which creates the most Warr and Evil for you; Handle it with Severities analogous to those which Jesus Christ was Crucifyed withal. O then Receive this Mystery of Warring and Fighting against your own Iniquity.

Did not the Jews with uninterrupted and unwearied Clamours, urge their Governour, a­gainst our Lord Jesus Christ, never ceasing their Out-cries, Let him be crucified! until they had their Will? Thus do you never leave Seeking and Sighing and Shouting unto God, Lord, this Corruption is worthy to dye; it is a Traiter to thy Kingdom in me; O by no meanes let it Reign and Rave in me as for­ [...]ery: Thus beg until God give Order, The Rebel shall dye.

Furhermore did they dra [...] up many hea­heavy [Page 73] Indictments against our Lord Christ▪ as guilty of Treason and Sedition, and Blas­phemy and Heresy, and the most villainous Impostures in the World? Well, so do you lay unto the Charge of your Lust all the Dis­honour to GOD, and all the Destruction to you and yours, which it has procured, Say, ‘Thou vile Corruption, Thou art it that hast made a Partition-Wall between me and my GOD; Thou art it that hast exposed me unto all the Curses in the Flying Roll; Nothing has done so much wrong to GOD, or to me, or to all Heaven and Earth, as Thou.’

Speak and think the worst of it.

Moreover, Did they offer unto our Lord Jesus Christ all the Indignityes that possibly they could devise; Binding of Him, Spitting on Him, Jeering at Him, preferring a barba­rous High-way man before Him, and at last hanging Him up naked? between the worst of Malefactors. In like manner do you cast heaps of Shame upon your Lust; Upbraid it as the Quintessence of Madness, as the Exaltation of Folly, as a most Loathesome Object, worthy to be Buffetted by all Hands, to be abhorred by God and man for ever; and a Swine, in no [Page 74] wise sit to lodg'd in the Parlour of you [...] Souls.

Once more, Did they with-draw all Refresh­ment from our Lord Jesus Christ in His rue­ful Agonies, and count a Cup of Gall good enough for Him? Just so Do you withhold from your Lust that Sustenance which may enable it to hold out in its Insurrections. Be sure to make no provision ▪ for this Flesh to feed upon. Starve it out, and so Tame it; Keep it under, and keep it bare of those things which you see to be the Support or Fuel of it.

To say no more, Did they Torture our Lord Jesus Christ, until by the Dolours of His Wounds they hunted that Hind of the morn­ing, his precious Soul, out of His Body? Agree­ably to this, Do you make your Lust under­go the Pains of an evil and a bitter thing. Let it Cost you those Prayers and those Tears, and manifold Austerities which may meer­ly tire it out, and Discourage it from haunt­ing of you.

By these means cripple that Delictum dilect­um, which is your most Darling Iniquity. And while you are thus in the Field, derive all the Virtue which may be, from abundant Thoughts on the Death of Jesus Christ. De­Devout [Page 75] Na [...]anzen said, that ‘when hi [...] Lusts gave to [...] busie molestations to him, he would by readi [...]g the Book of Lamenta­tions quickly quell & [...] those troublesome Guests. How much more [...]tifying a Spec­tacle would the Man who is God's Fellow, hanging on a Tree, be unto us!’ Let your Thoughts often carry you to Mount Calvary, and for your War-fare you will soon be a­mong the Worthyes of David.

RULE IV.

Cry mightily to GOD in CHRIST, that by Strength from Him you may be made Conquer­ers and more than Conquerers over the Enemies of your souls.

When the Apostle had Arm'd his Christ­ian Souldier from head to foot, he then con­cluded, Pray alwayes, and watch thereunto (a military Order, take not a wink of [...] sleep) with all Perseverance. O cry mightily to God, for the Weapons of your War-fare are migh­ty thro' God alone. The best posture for you, wherein to War and to Fight against your Soul-Enemies, is (that wherein a wounded thought-dead Souldier once gave a mortal stab unto a proud Conquerer that was pleasing [Page 76] himself with a View of them whom he had slain) upon your Knees: in the midst of your Encounters, use to do as the Emperour Theo­dosius did in the Extremities of a furious du­bious Battel; betake your selves to impor­tunate Prayers for Succour from above; be praying Jacobs, and you shall be prevailing Israels. If any Temptation be more than ordinarily violent in besieging of you, do like [...]hose Warriors in 1. Chron. 5.20. Cry to God in the Battel; and therewithall put your trust in Him: do as Paul saith he did in such a case, (in 2. Cor. 12.8.) I besought the Lord thrice; perhaps he kept three dayes of Prayer. And O let the Spirit of Prayer cause you to fill your lives with frequent a [...]d fervent Prayers unto God that He wou [...]d gird you with Strength unto all your Battels and subdue under you those that rise up against you. I would conclude my Sermon as the Martyr us'd his Letters, O pray, pray, pray. You cannot contrive a more effectual preser­vative from the Hurts of Temptation than Pray­er; daily, wrestling, Restless Prayer. The infamous Day of Origen's soul Apostasy, was a day whereon he had been remiss in his mor­ning Prayers. I will not tell you Nazian­zen's Story of what a Devil was forc'd to own [Page 77] unto Cyprian, about his inability to work up­on a praying Soul, in his dayes: But▪ this I am sure of; The Trumpets of Gideon did not more fright the Midianites, than the Prayers of the Faithful do all the Devils in the dark Re­gions. The Devil roars about the Prayers of the Beleever as the Scotch Queen did about Knox's Prayers; I am more affraid of those Pray­ers, than of the biggest Armyes. Accustom your selves to Every Sort of Prayer; and so keep your Hands lifted up, like Moses in the Mount, until the Lord Deliver you from your strong Enemy, and from your Haters which are to strong for you. Often set apart Whole dayes, for your thus rallying your disordered For­ces against them; and every day let your private and Secret Groans be sent up to your Eternal Helper on this Errand; Yea, let scarce one waking hour in the day pass you with­out Shooting over the Camp of them that are strictly beleaguring of you, Requests ty'd to the Arrows of ejaculatory Prayer, that God would not be farr from you; Happy is the man that has his quiver full of these arrowes. O Pray and plead as he in 2. Chron. 20.12. Lord, I know not what to do, but my eyes are up unto thee. And while you thus pray without ceasing, Exercise a true Faith on the Bloud of Jesus [Page 78] Christ as the, meritorious Cause of all you [...] Successes, which Bloud will more dismay and and confound all the Behemoths of Hell. than the Sight of Bloud could the Elephants in the Maccabees of old. And exercise a strong Faith on the Grace of Jesus Christ, as both enable­ing and enclining of Him to succour them that are Tempted as He once was Himself, which Grace is engaged to be sufficient for you. Thus Pray and Warr and Fight, until you come to shout as dying disconsolate Mr. Welch did, when the Word Victory came from the mouth of the person that pray'd with him, and he catch'd hold on it with over-powering never-ending Joy, Crying, Victory, Victory, Victory now forevermore. Yea, leave not off, till you come to say with Paul. I have fought the good Fight, there is now laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness. Amen.

And now, — Do thou grant unto us, O Lord our God, That we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies, might serve thee in Ho­liness and Righteousness all the dayes of our Lives.

Militat omnis homo qui dat sua nomina Christo,
Qui (que) Deo fidit, Militat omnis hom [...].
[Page]

Books printed for, and sold by Joseph Brunning at his Shop at the Corner of Prison La [...] next the Exchange.

A Discourse Concerning Comets, wherein the Nature of Blazing Stars is enquired into, by Mr. Increase Mather.

— An Essay for the Recording Illustrious Prov­idences

— The Mystery of Christ opened & applyed.

— The greatest sinners exhorted & encourag­ed to come to Christ, and that NOW without delaying. Also the exceeding Danger of men's Deferring their Repentance. Together with a Discourse about the Day of Judgment. And on several other Subjects.

— The Doctrine of Divine Providence opened and applied. To which is annexed

A Sermon wherein is shewed That it is the Duty and should be the Care of Believers on Christ to live in the constant Exercise of Grace ▪ by Mr. Nathaneel Mather, Minister of the Gos­pel at Dublin in Ireland.

[Page]A Practical Discourse Concerning the choice Benefit of Communion with GOD in His HOVSE, witnessed unto, by the Experi­ence of Saints, as the Best Improvement of Time. By Mr. Joshua Moodey Minister of the Gospel.

Self-Employment in Secret, containing Evi­dences upon Self-Examination, Thoughts up­on Painful Afflictions, Memorials for Practice, by Mr. John Corber.

An Arrow against Profane and Promiscuous Dancing. Drawn out of the Quiver of the SCRIPTURES. by the Ministers of Boston.

ERRATA.

PAge 15. line. 2. read, English-man's p. 36. l. 12. r. Knighthood. p. 64. l. 12. r. which are Smitten with them. p. 70. l. 8. r. the worst Enemy. ibid. l. 12. r. a Trojan horse.

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