upon these who are his. He is a God of wisdom, he loves to fee the fhine of his wifdom upon the fpirits of his Saints; he is an infinite holy God,he delights to fee the luftre of his Holineffe glorious upon them.He is the Lord of Hofts,he loves to fee a spirit of valour, a fpirit of magnanimity in them. What Captain, what Souldier of renown, but delights to see his children and alliance,those who challenge any intereft in him to be valiant? It is reported of Manlius Torquatus his fon,that having by a spirit of valour overthrown the enemies of the Romans, and killed with his own hands a man of note in fingle combat, being full of joy,hee feeks out his father who was the General of the Army,bearing in his hands the fpoiles of his enemies,and faying aloud: Father behold the caufe why I may be efteemed your fon. If we have a fpirit of courage futable to our Father, we may with more comfort and better acceptance come to this Lord of Hofts to be acknowledged for his children, but otherwise we fhall be a difhonour to him. We read of Alexander the Great, who having a Souldier in his Army of his name that was a coward, he comes to him & bad him either change his name or be valiant: If Alexander thought it a dishonour to him to have oneof his name to be a coward,he would have thought the dishonour much more if he had had one of his blood,his own childe a coward. What an unworthy thing were it for the fon of such a brave warrior as the K. of Sweden was to be of a low,mean poor, cowardly fpirit? hee would be a reproach to his Father,and the very mention of his Father would be a reproach to him. Chriftians, do not you profeffe God to be your Father? do you not know your Fa N 2 ther cus,in bel ther is the Lord of Hofts where are your fpirits of magnanimity and fortitude, of courage and valour, befeeming the children of fuch a glorious Father the Lord of Hofts? If you be of the right breed, you muft needes be generous; it is impoffible but you fhould have fomethingof his fpirit inyou; if you be of low,unworthy,fenfuall,cowardly fpirits, you are not begotten of him; God hath no children but they have some beam of every excellencie of his that fuch creatures are capable of. Now this is the queftion, what have you of the fpirit of this great God? The spirit of the Devil, although it be a proud fpirit, yet it is a bafe cowardly fpirit. If you refift the Devill he will fly from you. The truth is, all the men in the world have vile fpirits, Gods children are men of another fpirit. God breeds up all his children to bee Souldiers, there are none in heaven but were bred Souldiers, & as they grew upwere brought up in military discipline. Many Nations bring up their children to be Soldiers, from their teder yeers they difcipline them this way: In pacede- The Parthians bring up their children in teaching lo præfidi them the use of the bow, the Scythians in the use of the dart,the Germans in the use of the speare. All Gods children are here members of the Church militant,it is fit for them to be skilful,not onelyin the ufe of the spirituall Armour,but of bodily alfo. Who fo fit to be used in the battels of the Lord, as they who have most interest in the Lord? who fo fit to venture his body to the sword in time of war, as he that can give his body to the fire in time of peace? Ifay 13.3. Souldiers whom God chooseth for his battails are called his fanctified ones, an honourable title given to fouldiers, Gods fanctified ones, and who fo fit to be Gods fanctified ones, fet apart for fuch services,as those who are fanctified by his Spirit, fet apart for himself eternally? The valour of that peo ple,the Gaules, was admired by the Romans; it proceeded from that inftruction they had from their Druides, of the immortality of the foul. Those are fitteft to venture their lives in fight, who are able to fee beyond life,to fee what is on the other fide of the fhore of this mortality,even eternall life and glory: All the Saints,efpecially in thefe days, fhould be ful of fpirit, ftrong in the might of the Lord,because Jefus Chrift is about to pul down that great enemy of his, That man of fin,and in his conqueft,he is faid to come with his garments dipt in blood, Apoc. 19. Now that true fpirit that befeemes one who hath this Lord of Hofts to be his Father,is 1. A spirit that scornes to be bafe, he wil not be a flave to the Devill, or any luft of his own or other mens, he thinks himself too good for fin. If you fet one that has the spirit of a Soldier in him to drudgery, he fcornes it; he thinks himself above any fuch imployment; he has the true fpirit of a Souldier, that has got the victory over himfelf. In this every fouldier of this Lord of Hofts, hath a spirit above the great renowned Souldiers of the World, Alexander, Pompey,Themistocles,&c.they were all vaffals to their lufts. And although he be willing to ferve men under God, yet he will never be a flave to their lufts, but will maintain the liberty of a man and a Christian to himself and pofterity. Philo fudaus reports of a Heathenish people, who Quest. Ans. 2. in their wars, ufed onely this expreffion to put fpirit But what is this bondage, that the spirit of a Chri- There is a naturall flavery,that as a man,he should not,he wil not be subject to,that is in these 3. things. 1. To give up his own propriety in what he hath, fo as whatsoever God and Nature hath given him should not be his own,but wholly at the will of another. 2. Subjection to that government, that he no way either by himselfe or others hath ever yeelded confent unto, neither is bound to by the Law of God in his word,nor by the Law of Nature. 3. To be in fuch a condition as that whatsoever service he doth, he fhall receive nothing for it by way of justice,but meerly out of favour,this is flavery which an ingenuous spirit cannot beare. And as a Christian, he will not subject his conscience to any, but referves that to doe his homage unto God by it. A spirit of the right breed though it forefees dangers in the cause of God, yet it can and doth refolutely encounter with them. That speech of Esther was a fpeech that came from a brave fpirit, though. a woman, If I perish, I perish; but it was a fruit of fafting and prayer. Ay, that is the way to get a spirit of courage indeed. The like we have of the three Children in Daniel, Chap.3.16. 0 Nebuchadnezar, we are not carefull to anfwer thee in this matter; Behold, our God whom we ferve, is able to deliver us out of thine hand, 0 King: But if not, be シ be it known unto thee,OKing,that we wil not serve thy gods, nor worship thy golden image which thou baft fet up. That famous expreffion of Paul hath the like true Chriftian valour sparkling in it, when it was prophefyed that he should be bound at Ferufalem, at which A&.21.13 many of the Saints with him fel on weeping,why do you weep and break my heart? fayes Paul: I am not onely ready to be bound at Ferufalem, but to dye for the name of Chrift. That expreffion that is recorded of Ignatius is famous likewise in this kind; it is in an Epistle of his to the congregation of Trallis,Let the fire, the gallows, the devouring of wild beasts,the breaking of bones, the pulling aSunder of my members, the bruising or preßing of my whole body, and the torments of the devill or hell it felf come upon me, fo that I may win Chrift Fefus. Here was one that had the Spirit of the Lord of Hofts in him. The like had Luther, when he faid, If all the tyles of the houses of the City of Wormes were devils, he would go thither, knowing he was called by God to witnesse to the truth there. This refoluteneffe of fpirit manifefts it felf in dangerous times, in a readineffe to joyne with our brethren in difficult fervices, wherein there is much hazard and trouble. A man of a true raised fpirit, that hath true courage in it, will not fee his brethren in hot fervices, and let them alone in them to fhift out as well as they can, for his part he is loth to meddle or ftir,he may bring himfelfe into trouble when he needs not, no, he will not, you cannot bring him to it: To fuch men it may well be faid as Mofes to the children of Gad,and the children of Reuben, Numb. 32. 6. Shall your brethren goe to war, and fhall ye fit here? Why fhall they encounter with dangers, and fuffer hard things,and you fit ftill and have your cafe? you may |