these four horns, as it were in the same vision, you may observe, that though God do suffer the enemies of his churches and people to be exceeding strong, many, and most mischievous, yet he will raise up an answerable strength against them; four carpenters against four horns, which shall fray them away, and deal by them as they have done by others.

3. In that the "man with a measuring line," doth immediately follow upon these, you may observe, that when God shall please to raise up special instruments to surprise the church's enemies, then and then especially reformation is to be much endeavoured, which is to be done with exactness, even by line.

1. I begin with the former vision of the four horns, and the first doctrine, namely, that when God intendeth any great good and salvation to his people, he doth first suffer malignant, potent, and many enemies to rise against them. Was it not so with Israel when God intended to bring them out of Egypt? Then their taskmasters arose and doubled their work, and were more inimicitious to them than formerly. Was it not thus with the Jews when God brought them out of Babylon to build the temple? opposition they met withal in their remove, in their journey, and all along in their temple-work. Was it not thus with the Israelites when they went to execute justice upon that malignant tribe of Benjamin for the great sin of Gibeah? If you look into Judges xx., you shall find that before Benjamin was punished they got two great victories upon Israel; Israel, (if you count the number of their soldiers) were twelve to one; Israel had the best cause, and their work was good, they went forth to do justice on that delinquent tribe; yet if you consult the story, the tribe of Benjamain first slew of them down to the ground forty thousand men. This is God's way still; he seldom or never destroyeth his enemies but out of zeal; "The zeal of the Lord of Hosts hath done this," saith the prophet: now zeal is nothing else but angered love; and three things there are in the world that God doth love especially, his people, his truth, and his worship; when the enemies prevail, they spoil his people, they defile his worship, they scorn his truth, so his love is angered, his zeal is stirred, and then his enemies are confounded.

But what reason is there why God should suffer his pre

cious servants and people to be thus handled, oppressed, gored, scattered by cruel enemies?

Good reason for it. Totidem inimici, totidem pædagogi: so many enemies, so many school-masters. "Make plain my way before me (saith the Psalmist) because of mine enemies;" but in the Hebrew it is, "because of mine observers :" our enemies are our observers, and their observation is our preservation.* As a man's best friend sometimes doth him more hurt than his worst enemy, so his worst enemy doth him more good than his best friend. Now suppose, saith Salmeron,† that a man were in great want and need of money, and his friend should throw him a bag of gold, though in his catching of it he might hurt his hands or head, yet when he hath taken out the gold, he loves his friend nevertheless. There is no persecution but brings a bag of gold to God's people; though it may somewhat hurt them in falling upon them, yet when they have picked out the gold thereof, they will love God the more.

Let me instance :

Hereby they are occasioned to honour God, which is the end of their life and the comfort of their soul: for what is honour, but as Aquinas ‡ speaks, a testimony of another's excellency? The more I testify of any excellency in any truth or way of God's, the more I honour him; and in times of persecution the saints of God do thus testify of him.

Hereby the children of God are weaned from the world, and made to hie them home to their Father's house.

Hereby they are made more useful in their places, and beneficial unto their enemies; for therefore our enemies do us so much hurt, because we do them no more good.

Inimicus quasi observator dictus, quod semper observet et contempletur quibus malefaciat.-Buxtorf.

+Magna Dei misericordia in flagello temporali: ut si quis crumenam gravem et auro onustam ex edito loco in caput cujusdam pro debito aliquo in carcerem detenti proficeret et dolorem aliquem ei inferret, et tumorem capitis excitaret, et unam vel alterem guttulam sanguinis eliceret, ille quidem rei ignarus moleste ferret in principio, et vicem suam magnopere doleret quod afflicto afflictio adderetur; verum si paulo post animo jam tranquillo ad jaxum oculos suos convertit, et crumenam multo auro refectam deprehendat, quo possit debita sua persolvere et quod superest ad vitam tranquillies placideque traducendam sufficere, profecto de illato tantillo vulnere nulla esset amplius querimonia vel memoria, imo seria congratulatio: Ad eundem modum de Christi flagellis considerandum.-Salmer. de miracul. in Joan. iii.

Honor est testimonium de alicujus excellentia.-Aquinas.

Hereby they carry the truths of God and Christ into other parts; the enemy intendeth to scatter their persons, but God intendeth to scatter his truths.

Hereby the children of God receive a fuller and clearer testimony of their own graces. When the world frowns most, God smiles most upon them. When the enemy gives the loudest testimony of their hypocrisy, God from heaven doth give the highest testimony of their sincerity to their bosoms.

Hereby the enemies themselves are more convinced. Some men snore so loud in their sleep, that they wake themselves with their own snortings; and some men's sins are so loud and unreasonable, that they convince themselves and others by their own unreasonable dealing with the people of God. Master Fox tells of one in queen Mary's time that had so basely and maliciously used that servant of God James Abbes, that when that good man James Abbes was dead, the remembrance of this martyr's patience and his own unreasonableness, made the persecutor cry out and say, James Abbes is saved, and I am damned; and so he went wringing his hands to his grave, crying, James Abbes is saved and I am damned, James Abbes is saved and I am damned. It is recorded also of one Calocerius, that when he saw the malignancy of the enemies, and patience of the martyrs, he cried out and said, Of a truth great is the God of the christians.* And what can a christian desire more? Is not God's truth better than my house?

Hereby also the saints are kept from and cured of divisions among themselves. Cyprian meditating of the several causes that brought those sad and heavy persecutions in the primitive times, reckoneth up this for one, their own divisions, wherefore God was fain to let out the dog upon the sheep, that the sheep might run together. Our punishments oftentimes wear the names of our sins in their foreheads: and if ever, then now; God doth punish our divisions with divisions; but it is to cure our divisions. He points to our sin by our punishment, that in our punishment we may be cured of sin.

Hereby also the servants of God may see and know by experience, that it is better to serve God than men. When * Vere magnus Deus Christianorum.

we worship God after and for the precepts of men, we do rather worship men than God, and serve them than him; and when his servants do so, then God suffers men to rise up against them, that they may learn in a smarting way, as well as they have done in a sinning way, what it is to serve men.* This cause you have expressed, 2 Chron. xii. 7, 8, " And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves, therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out by the hand of Shishak; nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

Hereby again the servants of God learn the right use of the rod, both in church and state: sometimes it so falleth out that justice is not executed in a kingdom, and discipline not exercised in a church; Well then, saith God, seeing that you will not take the rod into your hand, I will take it into mine own, but it shall be in such a manner as shall make all your hearts to ache. In Rev. ii, and iii. you know that there are seven epistles written to the seven churches, and there is none of all the churches but are threatened with one affliction, calamity or another, save only that of Philadelphia, and if you mark it, you shall find that only that church had the keys rightly used and handled. And you shall find this also in all God's dealings both with states and churches: let a state or kingdom be never so wicked, yet if justice be executed there is hope thereof; let a church be never so defiled, yet if discipline be exercised, there is hope of that: but if a kingdom where there is no justice, or a church where there is no discipline, nor in tendentia to it, then the Lord himself ariseth and saith, Well, because you will not take this rod into your hand, I will, and I will raise up enemies against that shall do the same to you, that you should have done to them. Good reason therefore, yea, infinitely good reason, that God should sometimes suffer his own people to be pushed, gored, scattered, by cruel and bloody enemies that are most unreasonable.

you

Wherefore then let no man be stumbled or offended at

* Qui Deum ideo colit ut aliud magis quam ipsum assequatur, non Deum sed illud colit quod assequi concupiscit.-Augustin.

God's present proceedings in the world, or in this kingdom, though very mysterious. Our Saviour says, "These things I tell ye before, that when they come to pass, ye may not be offended;" and whatsoever is now come to pass among us, Christ hath told us of it before; yea, this Scripture. Yet, good Lord, how many are there that are offended! Oh, says one, we looked for reformation, and we meet with confusion; for light, and we meet with darkness; we looked that Jesus Christ should at this time have restored his kingdom to the churches; for friends, and we meet with enemies; can God love us, and suffer such enemies to rise against us? Were there ever any enemies that were like to ours? so potent, so cruel, so many, so blasphemous, so hellish, &c.

But who art thou, O man, that speakest thus long without book under the command of unbelief, and darkenest knowledge? Shouldst thou not rather write so and such over thy sins, than over thine afflictions? You say, had ever any of God's people such enemies as we; so cruel, so many, so vile, &c.? You should rather say, Come, O my soul, did ever any commit such sins as I do; so frequently, so knowingly, so deliberately, so incorrigibly, so scandalously? Why do not rather write the so upon your sins, than upon your sorrows? Thus did Eusebius Nieremburgius, aggravating his own sins, Oh, saith he, never any sinned so as I have done, the devil sinned indeed, but Christ never died for him as he hath done for me; Judas sinned indeed, but he was never pardoned as I have been; Achan sinned indeed and troubled the kingdom, but he had not that light and knowledge as I, nor lived under such means as I have done; oh, never any sinned so as I have done: thus Nierembergius, thus Parisiensis, and thus should you think and say.*

But besides, though your enemies be so great, so many, so cruel, &c., as none of God's people have had before; know you not that this is most agreeable to Scripture? When Satan's time is short, his wrath is great, Rev. xii. The latter times of the world are above all others by the

* Domine Deus meus, quod est malum cujus ego reus non sum, vel perpetrando illud opere, vel volendo illud perpetrare? quod enim est bonum quod in me non extinxi, vel in alio persecutus non sum impediendo ne fieret, vel detrabendo jam facto, vel permittendo extingui, vel gaudendo si extinguebatur in ipso? Domine misericordiæ, quot bona perierunt vel me procurante ut non essent, vel me non juvante ut essent ?-Parisiens.