Com. q. OfPerfons fet apart for Gods Service. Chap: to 3°3 governours that none should perform this office of themfelves , and that they who are ordained beable to undergo fo great a work. For if theythat fight againft us were only bodily enemies as French and Spaniards, there were no fuch great need offuch men :but feeing that(as the Apoftle tellsus)we are to fight a fpiritual combat, Ephe.6.12. we mutt combat with sry uszastxm rornelor; therefore fuch are neceffary ascan oppofe fpiritual wickedneffes.Such are Currusdr4nrigs Jfraelir,the chariotsand horfemen 2 King 4'1x. of Ifrael who muff beat back this fpiritual hoft. The holy Ghoft hath left it upon re- cord ,that the life ofjehoida the Prieff; and his wifdom were themeans tokeep both aChr.a4.17. Kingand people from Idolatry, and confequently the whole Kingdom born deflru- r8- t$ion. And as the Pfalmifl tells us, that in his time, thewant of knowledg brought p 7e4eYS f the foundations of the earth ( both ofChurch and Common- wealth ) out of frame; iVngdoms. a I1 humane laws were defedive:So(as the wife man fpeaketh)it is wifdom and know- Pfa1.82.5. ledg ofGods law which is to be foughtat the Prieffs mouth that doth f rv.rregreggrrm ab interim, preferve thepeople from perifhing. And where, there is no-vifron, Pro.29. the people decay. For if we will look backward into the eflate ofmightyCom- mon-wealths, we (hall find, that( though the wifdom and policy of them have beengreat ) for want of Prophets and Priefts to reclaim the vices of the foul, they have all fallen to decay. As full in the Affyrian Monarchy, what was the ruin of it, but Gluttony and Intemperance which brought difeafed bodies and weaknefs, Era 17.'°. and Adultery, which bred baflardfhip ( as the Prophet fpeaks ) and minglingof kindreds, whereby the Empire was tranflated out of the right line, and fo ruined ? and all this for want of good inflrudion. Again, look into the Perfian Monarchy, and you (hall fee, that Idlenefs, neg- lect ofTillage, mechanick Arts and Merchan'dife( every one thereby becoming Pa- tricius a gentleman) caufed the ruin ofthat Empire. Nor did the Grecian Monarchy come to its period, till Alexander for want of knowingGod, would himfelf be reputed a God,and till his fucceffours fell to covetoufncfs;whereby a needlefs dearth fell upon it, and the greater began to opprefs the inferiour, and the Prince to bur- then his fubjeds. And Lafily, the Roman Monarchy came to that we fee it is at this day,from the molt flourifhingofall the former, by their own pride, envy, emulation, andheart- burning. And theft miferies betel all theft four Monarchies by reafonofthere vices, which the laws of God would not have fuffered, if there had been any to teach them, and the laws of the Heathen could not corrects. If wecome to our own Nation in the time of the Bríttains,the often and frequent wrongs and injuries of great perlons, the perverting of the Laws, which were made robe Cobwebs to catch only the (mall flies,while the great ones break through. The Corruptions of Lawyers maintaining caufes and fuits for their fee, by which the land was overrun with eppreiliion, ( Gods Law being not heard in the mean time ) brought deflrudion upon the land, Nor is it poffible by any at ofParliament, Law or Statute, to provide or take order that a man (hall not be covetous, or that there beno Idlenefs, Riot, Pride, Envy, or the like fins in the foul, though thefe (as is laid) were the chiefcaufes that thefe Monarchies and other Countriescame to deftrudion. For Sobrietyand all Venues muff be begotten in the mind, and that by fetch perfons,as (hall be able to teachand inftrud them out oftheLawofGod,otherwife politick Juliet will never continue among men. Civil as are of no force, except Religion be joyned with them. 'We read, that in the time of the Judges, every man did that whichwas good in Jud.17.1t, his own eyes: Men could allure themfelvesofnothing they pof3effed. Sixhundred men ofDan came into Micab's houle, and took away his graven Image, his Ephod, his molten Image, his Teraphim, and his Prieft. And in the next Chapter, what an unheard-of example of tuft have we ? and all this is attributed to the want of c,t9 knowledgofGodsLaw in thole dayes. And when the Prielthood was fetled,and they had a Judg, yet the Children of Ifael were brought under the yoke of the r Philiflins, becaufe that calling was corrupted by Hophni and Phinees the Ions of In the timeof the Kings of Ifrael, when that Kingdom had been divers years 1Chr rg 3: with-
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