in their hearts And he dwelleth in their hearts by faith not a faith that commeth from their own Spirits but a faith that commeth from Gods Spirit A faith that cometh from our own spirits strengthneth only the outer man but a faith that cometh from Gods spirit strengthneth the inner man That faith is strong only in perswasion but this faith is strong in affection That faith is strong in phansie but this faith is strong in love even in that love which is the fulfilling of the Law loving the body for the heads sake loving the head for his own sake loving the Church for Christ and loving Christ for himself such a faith as this proceeding from the Spirit of God cannot but afford us a real communion with the Son of God and having a real communion with Christ as with our head we shall never delight in separations and divisions from the Church which is his body SECT IV. Christian communion beginneth with the Church but endeth with Christ both in the word and Sacraments and Prayers and that the Church is bound in all these to advance not to hinder our Communion with Christ either by denying the people the use of the Scriptures or by teaching them superstitious prayers as to Saints and Angels wherein Christ neither can nor will communicate with men The ready way to have communion with Christ is by peace and holiness and wherein that communion chiefly consisteth TRue Christian communion beginneth with the Church as with the body of Christ but endeth with Christ himself as with the head God hath joyned those two together let not man put them asunder Nor is it the intent of this discourse to divide this Christian communion into two several communions by reason determining or defining ratione ratiocinata because the body cannot subsist without the head but only by reason discussing or debating ratione ratiocinante because the head is different from the body And every good Christian is to take notice that though he may consider this communion severally yet he may not persue and embrace it so For he cannot have actual communion with Christ unless he have actual communion with his Church no more then he can have communion with the head unless he have also communion with the body yet may he not rest satisfied in his communion with the body the Church of Christ till they come thereby to have communion with the head even with Christ himself For our Christian communion is much like Jacobs ladder the lower part whereof was set upon the earth but the top of it reached up to heaven And behold the Lord stood above at the top of it Gen. 28. 12 13. So is our Christian communion The lower part of it is with the Church the body of Christ here on earth but the upper part or top of it is with Christ in heaven And we cannot say that our Christian communion is a true communion unless Christ be at the end of it as for example in hearing the word read and preached we at first communicate with the Church which speaketh to the outward man but we hear it not profitably to our salvation unless we at last communicate also with Christ speaking by his Spirit unto our souls or to the inward man Paedogogus est Jesus Our teacher is Jesus was thought by Clemens of Alexandria a fit subject both to fill and to name his books of Christian Institutions v. lib. 1. Paedag. cap. 9. For as the Church teacheth the people so also Christ teacheth them much more and the Churches paedagogy iâ— or should be to bring them unto Christ not to make them rest only upon their own teaching for soul-saving truths nor is this Doctrine any disparagement to the Church no more then Saint Pauls was to the Law when he said The Law was our School-Master to bring us unto Christ Gal. 3. 24. Nay indeed it is the greatest honour of the Church as it was of the Law that God is pleased to use her teaching as a means or instrument to bring us unto Christ That as the Church teacheth us by explaining saving truths to our understandings so Christ may teach us by imprinting the same truths in our wills and affections therefore the Church should above all things take heed of offering those truths in her explanations which she cannot believe nor wish that Christ should ratifie by his impressions such as are all those Doctrines which are the inventions of men and not the institutions of Christ And forasmuch as it cannot be denied that Christ teacheth more powerfully by his own word then by ours it is evident that the Holy Scriptures may not be denied to the people in their own tongue by that Church which will labour to advance their communion with Christ and as evident that the people are not bound to communicate with that Church which will not labour to advance this the highest and greatest part of their Christian communion Again in receiving the holy Eucharist we must not only communicate with the Priest exhibiting unto us the bread and wine but also and much rather with Christ himself exhibiting unto us his most precious body blood or we shall receive but half a Sacrament and enjoy but a half communion This is Saint Pauls Divinity The cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ 1 Co. 10. 16. We bless the Cup and we break the bread therefore you must communicate with us which we could not say if we did refuse to do either for we could not desire you to relinquish your communion with Christs institution to follow ours But the Cup which we bless and the bread which we break is the communion of the blood and body of Christ therefore you must not communicate chiefly and much less only with us but also and much rather with Christ himself Lastly Thus is it also in our prayers we are bound in our praying to communicate not only with the Church as the body but also with Christ as the head and consequently the Church is bound to use no other prayers then such as may be agreeable with Christs communion and available by Christs intercession For if we pray out of his communion we cannot hope to obtain what we pray for by virtue of his intercession And this I conceive was one main reason why publick Liturgies were at first established in the Church that Christians might know before hand the terms of their communion and be assured in their own hearts that no other prayers should be offered unto them then such wherein Christ himself would joyn with them in intercession which assurance during the extraordinary effusions of the Spirit was grounded upon the infallibility of their persons who prayed but when it could no longer be grounded upon the infallibility of the persons that prayed then it was thought fit it should be
a true and lively faith it will make the man revive and stand again upon his feet And those men who are so ready to depart from our Jerusalem for every petty dislike of the high Priests and Elders in it though the dislikes be rather phansied then found do shew that they are not so well instructed in the faith as to know the promise of the Father or not so well grounded in hope and rooted in charity as to wait for that promise according to the appointment of the Son He bids all tarry in Jerusalem that look after his promises and therefore doth not allow any to call Jerusalem Babel much less to make it so that either themselves or others may have a pretence to go out of it But what was this particular promise of the Father to the Apostles it was the promise of sending the Holy-Ghost to enable them to be his wtnesses unto the uttermost parts of the Earth A promise which much concerns carnal men to look after that they may have the spirit of God A promise which much concerns spiritual men that they may have him more Both must tarry in Jerusalem in the unity of the Church for the mercy is not without the promise and the promise is not without Jerusalem Depart not from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the father till therefore the carnal man shall need no spirit who hath none at all and till the spiritual man shall need no more spirit who cannot have too much both must pray for the peace of Jerusalem labour for the peace of the Church in their prayers and in their practises neither may recede from the Apostles nor from their Successors to whom was made the promise of the Holy-Ghost And it is worth our notice that though the Apostles had fourty dayes conversation with Christ and were fully instructed in the knowledge of Christianity yet they did not presently go and preach the Gospel Nay Christ himself bad them not go till they had received Commission from the Holy Ghost So that there are two things required to constitute a true Preacher of the Gospel Ability and Authority or Mission and Commission He must first be enabled to preach by conversing with Christ in his holy Word Then besides his Ability he must also have Authority or Commission from the Holy Ghost though not immediately by an extraordinary yet mediately by an ordinary calling or he hath not leave from Christ to preach the Gospel For so it is said Acts 1. 8. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me Without this coming of the Holy Ghost men may be witnesses to themselves but they cannot be witnesses unto Christ because he hath not enabled or not authorized them For which cause it is that in the Ordination of a Minister the Bishop pronounceth those words of our Saviour the first Bishop that ever pronounced them Receive ye the Holy Ghost thereby giving him a Commission to be one of Christs witnesses unto the people For this promise of being baptized with the holy Ghost to be Christs witnesses did certainly belong to the Apostles not as members but only as ministers of Christs Church those words he spake to them only as his Ministers though other words he spake to them as his Members Receive ye the Holy Ghost are words both of consecration and of benediction words of consecration as they set a man apart for Gods service words of benediction as they enable and authorize a man to serve him if not as a member yet doubtless as a minister if not by Gratia gratum faciens yet by Gratia gratis data as the School distinguisheth if not by gifts and graces that tend to his own regeneration yet surely by gifts and graces that tend to others edification And as it is said The Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it so we may say The Lord blessed his Apostles and hallowed them for his hallowing was and is a blessing And as our Saviour Christ is said to have blessed the bread and the wine when he consecrated them to be his own body and blood So he also blessed the Apostles when he consecrated them to be his own peculiar servants thereby shewing That there cannot be a greater blessing then to serve him And accordingly we must look on those words whereby he consecrated his Apostles as words of his Episcopal benediction no less then of his Episcopal consecration Wherefore the Ministers of the Gospel rightly ordained are no less blessed then they are hallowed in their callings whatever they may be or may be thought in their persons and may comfortably make this answer to their Revilers and Persecutors Though they curse yet bless thou and let thy servants rejoyce Psal 109. 27. or rather Thou hast blessed and therefore we must and will rejoice though they curse us For he that loved the wages of unrighâ—â—ousness could not with-hold from the world this word of truth and righteousness He hath blessed and I cannot reverse it Numb 23. 20. so that unconscionable men by reviling their Ministers whom God hath blessed do in effect revile though they cannot reverse Gods undoubted blessing and though by so doing they may hinder themselves yet surely they cannot hinder their Ministers from being the blessed of the Lord For Saul in the midst of his Apostacie and falling from God when he was even now ready to butcher Abimelech and all the Priests yet gave his Testimony to this Truth saying unto Samuel Blessed art thou of the Lord for so it is in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Benedictus 〈…〉 Domino Blsseed art thou of or to the Lord or as Targumâ—enders â—enders it Blessed art thou before the Lord Though they be as a cursed thing in the eyes of men yet they are Blessed before the Lord Let the world vilifie them as it pleaseth yet doubtless God hath magnified them in that he hath blessed them and commanded them to bless in his name And bless they must though they be more and more cursed of those whom they bless for being Gods Ministers they must speak no other but Gods word and his words are the words of blessing The words of God in themselves are the words of Majesty and Verity calling for our fear and reverence because words of Majesty for our attention and diligence because words of Verity and consequently calling for some of our reverence and attention to those who are entrusted with them and licensed to say Harken to the word of God The Prophet Isaiah said Hear O Heavens and give ear O earth for the Lord hath spoken Isa 1. 2. Where we find an undenyable connexion in the position Gods speaking and our hearing but a more undenyable confutation in the supposition if he should speak and we not hear For his words are words of Majesty able to bow down the highest heavens and words of Verity able to quicken the dullest
and of all orders Whereas Pennance Matrimony Order Confirmation and Extrâ—am â—unction do not so for they are either not perpetual in their continuance as not belonging to all times or not common in their use as not belonging to all persons though under the same Covenant and of the same faith So that our Church hath not erred in the number of the Sacraments by excluding these from that number because she looks on a Sacrament as a seal of Gods grace equally belonging to all that are under the same Covenant of grace and as a Testimony of mans faithfulness equally belonging to all that are bound to profess the same Christian faith As it is a seal of Gods Covenant so it is perpetual in its continuance and mnst belong to all times for the Covenant doth so As it is a Testimony of mans faithfulness so it is common in its use and must belong to all persons for the profession of faith doth so and we can avow both these only concerning Baptism and the Lords Supper and accordingly dare not avow any but these to be properly called Sacraments Now as concerning the administration of these Sacraments there is little or no contention about Baptism though now it be commonly administred by aspersion whereas heretofore not only in hotter but also in these our colder climates it was administred altogether by immersion For all do allow that Axiome Magis minus non variat speciem so as the element be water t is not material to Baptism whether it be more or less for the least drop of Christs blood signified by the water in Baptism and applied to the soul is able to wash and cleanse it from all sin But there are many and great contentions about the administration of the Holy Eucharist whereby men may have made that a Division which God made a Communion One main reason hath been that some would not regard Christs Command hence the wine came to be left out and yet would observe his practice Hence water came to be taken in and hence also that sharp dispute betwixt the Greek and Latine Church the one rejecting the use of unleavened the other of leavened bread whereas it ought to be without all question That what was of Christs command in this Holy Sacrament is still indispensable not so what was only of his practise or example So saith Saint Paul to the Corinthians I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered to you 1 Cor. 11. 23. bringing them back to Christs command to have the same elements of bread and wine as he appointed and to use them for the same end even for his remembrance But he brings them not back to Christs example to have either unleavened bread or water mixed with their wine and much less to use the same posture he did that they may receive sitting or leaning or to observe the same time he did that they may receive after Supper He leaves all these and the like as things indifferent to the disposal of the Church for they are indifferent in regard of the Sacrament though they may be necessary in regard of us viz. when they are commanded because we are bound to follow the Churches order in things indifferent to preserve the Vnity of Communion as the Church is bound to follow Christs order in things necessary to preserve the Verity of Religion And if we desire to know what is to be judged necessary what indifferent in regard of this Sacrament since both were joyned together in our Saviours practice I answer that must be accounted necessary which was substantial either as belonging to the essence or to the end of the Sacrament That must be accounted indifferent which was circumstantial as belonging to the Sacrament only at that time sc of the Jewish Pass over when the Jews were bound to eat unleavened bread or in that country as the mingling water with wine which was usual in those hotter climates But the not using wine in the holy Communion cannot be accounted Indifferent because wine is one of the material parts belonging to the essence of the holy Communion and there can be no whole Communion without it as there can be no whole being of any thing without one of its essential Parts Besides as The using wine belongs to the essence so likewise it belongs to the end of this holy Sacrament which is the remembrance of Christ For so saith Saint Paul As often as ye eat this bread And he saith not Or drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come 1 Cor. 11. 26. The conjunction copulative And will not allow the proposition being copulative to be true unless both its parts be true and therefore we cannot shew the Lords death only by eating this bread unless we also drink this cup for if we have but a half Sacrament we can have but a half remembrance of Christ In Baptism though our fore-fathers used immersion we now only use aspersion yet both they and we have the same Sacrament because both use water and so have the same essential matter of Baptism as well as the same essential form But in the holy Eucharist it may be doubted whether the present Lay-Romanists have the same Sacrament with their fore-fathers because they now are not permitted to have the wine which their fore-fathers had till full a thousand years after Christ And truly in this respect our common people are much more happy then those of the Papacy That they have the whole Sacrament of the blessed Eucharist and thereby a full remembrance of Christ and a full Communion with him as well as the Priest For if the blood be with the Body by concomitancy why should the Priest have it twice who eats of the bread as well as the Lay-man and yet besides drinks of the cup If the blood be not with the body it is clear the Lay-man hath it not at all and so he is most uncharitably and unjustly defrauded of that spiritual nourishment which Christ hath given him To let alone the Dispute of Sacriledge in the case for a man to rob God of that service which himself hath commanded or rather the Determination of that Dispute for so hath Pope Gelasius determined it in his decretal Epistle recited by Gratian in these words Aut integra Sacramenta percipiant aut ab integris arceantur Quia divisio unius ejusdemque mysterii sine grandi Sacrilegio non potest provenire de consecr dist 2. cap. 12. Either let them take all the Sacrament or let them take none For what mysterie God hath made One man cannot divide or make Two without great Sacriledge I say to let alone the Sacriledge in the case and yet I cannot see how any man can with a good conscience communicate in a Sacriledge This Uncharitableness and Injustice is enough to make any considerate man out of love with that Church which deals with him so uncharitably and so unjustly So unjustly as to deny
him what is undoubtedly his due So uncharitably as to deny him what is immortally his comfort even the conveyance and assurance of blessed Communion in his soul with the eternal Son of God so that if a good conscience move me not for Gods sake yet a good consideration will move me for mine own sake to bless God for placing me in such a Church as gives me a whole a full communion because I can assure my self that receiving a whole communions as my Saviour hath appointed nothing but mine own want of Faith and Repentance can keep me from receiving my Saviour and with him all the blessings and comforts of his Salvation whereas a man that receives but one Part of this blessed Sacrament cannot be assured that he shall receive his Saviour with it for though Christ hath graciously promised that he will be with his own institutions yet he hath absolutely disclaimed that he will be with ours concerning these he hath plainly said In vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men Mat. 15. 8. and much more will it follow from hence In vain do they worship me doing for duties their own commandments instead of mine Bellarmine tells us that Johannes Ragusaeus was eight daies in the Council of Basil making an Oration against the Hussites concerning the Communion under both kinds If he had been eight years it had been to as little purpose for t is not any mans declamation can justifie a willful neglect of Christs institution If Christ hath commanded this thing let his command be shewed if not let not the thing be attempted much less allowed since he only hath the authority of ordering and instituting the signs of Grace who hath the right of promising grace and the power of giving it when these signs be used according to his order and he having instituted two signs of grace in this blessed Sacrament if I receive but one by what Faith can I hope for his grace unless I will hope for it without his Promise without his Power So that upon these grounds a half Sacrament is no Sacrament for Christ having annexed his Promise to his command If I do not what he hath commanded How can I expect what he hath promised Therefore since my Faith depends wholly upon my Saviours promise not at all upon his Churches power I can have no Faith in because he hath made no promise to a half Sacrament and yet withall I cannot see but the Church may as well Baptize without naming the first and third persons of the Trinity from those Texts which speak of Baptizing in the name of the Lord Jesus as administer the holy Communion without the cup from those Texts which speak of breaking bread For sure the Churches power is as great in the one Sacrament as it is in the other and so in a short time we may by the Churches power come to have no Sacrament And it is worth our enquiry whether or no he be not a Sacramentarian who believes the Sacrament to be without the signs as well as he who believes the signs to be without the Grace or the thing signified The last thing I am to consider about the Sacraments as they are in our Church is the manner of Administring And I am not afraid to averr That as she hath outgone the Papâ—sts in the administration it self so she hath outgone other Protestants in the manner of Administring And this is so evident in Baptism that I need not insist upon its proof because our Church therein still retaineth many antient solemnities which have been discountenanced if not disallowed by the Reformed Church in other Countries not to recede from her Sister the Reformed Church but to continue with her Mother The Church Catholick For she looks upon those solemnities she retains as upon so many rites of the Catholick Church and hath sufficiently proved them so to be and therefore cannot look upon the rejection of those rites as a part of her reformation because she desires and professes so to be Reformed as also to be Catholick And it is no less evident in the holy Communion wherein the manner of administring in our Church is much more full of Reverence then in other Protestant Churches For some of them receive the Body and Blood of Christ sitting as if they were Copes-mates with their Saviour so the Dutch Others standing as if they were in haste to be gone from him so the French But only our Church requireth kneeling which as it is the most proper gesture of Piety so is it moreover a gesture of Humility As for sitting it was never accounted a Gesture belonging to Prayer and therefore whereas it is said Then went King David in and sate before the Lord 2 Sam. 7. 18. that is before the Ark 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 liphnei haaron as both Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it Junius thus renders the words Restitit coram Iehova He remained before the Lord and saith concerning the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iesheb consedit He sate it was à Catachresis an abuse of its signification And indeed Rabbi David Kimchi upon the place sheweth he was not willing to believe that sitting was Davids posture when he prayed before the Ark And therefore he slightly passeth by the gloss of those Rabbies who inferred from hence That the Kings of the house of David might set as they prayed in the Sanctuary for saith he it is written of the Seraphims and all the host of heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shehem gnomedim That they were standing before the Lord And he rather adhereth to those who reading the word with a tsâ—re 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vajeshib consedit And he sate before the Lord thus expounded it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 samach gnatsmo He confirmed his strength in praying or who reading the word with a Camets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vaiashab reversus fuit And he returned before the Lord thus expounded it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iashab gnetsmo bithepillah He converted his strength to Prayer but he cares not to say That he sate when he Prayed for that was a gesture not becoming a Supplicant As for standing though it be a gesture belonging to Prayer as well as Kneeling yet is it not a gesture of so much piety and surely it is of far less humility whereas what hath a worthy Receiver else to do but wholly to contemplate his Saviours Goodness and his own unworthiness The first contemplation will make him labour what he can to shew his Piety The second will make him as zealous to shew his Humility We cannot deny but the Christian is best disposed to receive Christ when he is praying and for that reason our Church would have us be Praying when we come to receive him and it is certainly more fitting we should kneel then stand when we are praying It is an express Article of the Protestants Discipline in France That the due reverence
belonging to the holy Communion be carefully maintained cap. 12. art 12. and upon this ground doth our Church think it fit to maintain kneeling rather then standing at the holy Communion the better to maintain and to improve that due reverence In a word we make that profession concerning this blessed Sacrament which the Primitive Christians made as it is recorded by Iustine Martyr towards the end of his second Apologie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For we receive not these elements as common bread or as common wine But as by the Word of God Iesus Christ our Saviour being incarnate had both flesh and blood for our salvation So that food over which the Word that came from God hath prayed and given thanks whence our flesh and blood are nourished after it is changed we are taught in the flesh and blood of that Incarnate Iesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Incarnati illius Iesu carnem sanguinem esse edocti sumus These words have been much urged both for Transubstantiation and for Consubstantiation but since they have been urged to prove both we may safely conclude they can prove neither Two proofs are taken from them The first is That he saith we receive it not as common bread but that proves it is bread though not common bread The second that he saith The bread is the flesh of the incarnate Jesus that is such flesh as Christ took in his incarnation But that proves it is not flesh under the appearance of bread or in conjunction with bread besides he saith Our flesh and blood are nourished by it but sure our flesh is nourished by bread not by the body of Christ that is only the nourishment of our souls And yet still though we embrace neither of these opinions we do most willingly profess with that holy Martyr That we receive these elements not as common bread nor as common wine but as the very flesh and blood of our incarnate Iesus And therefore we desire to use such reverence in receiving this holy Eucharist as may be suitable with this profession For what Saint Paul said would come to pass among the Corinthians upon a right use of Preaching will we hope much more come to pass amongst us upon a right use of Administring If there comes in one that believeth not or one unlearned he is convinced of all he is judged of all And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest and so falling down on his face he will worship God and report That God is in you of a Truth 1 Cor. 14. 24 25. He is not like to fall on his face whiles he seeth us either sit or stand Our outward reverence if used may convince and condemn him if not used will convince and condemn our selves For if he seeth us not true worshippers he will not think us true Believers We will therefore kneel that we may worship and we will therefore worship that we may make an Alient a true Believer and much more shew our selves to be true Believers CAP. III. That the Communion of the Church of England is conscionably embraced and retained by All the people of this Nation and not rejected much less renounced by any of them but against the Rules of Conscience SECT I. Every particular man ought to labour to be of such a Communion as he is sure is truly Christian both in Doctrine and in Devotion The Rule whereby to choose such a Christian Communion the Proofs whereby to maintain it THAT man cannot be truly said to believe the Communion of Saints who doth not labour to make himself one of that Communion This he cannot attempt without joyning himself to those who profess to know and to worship God in Christ and this he cannot attain without joyning himself to those who do truly so know and rightly so worship God So that although the Communion of Saints may be sought among all sorts of Christians yet is it not to be found but only among good Christians such as are publickly known to be true believers and right worshippers For Christian Communion is founded both in Doctrine and in Devotion In Doctrine to make men of one mind in Devotion to make men of one mouth And since Doctrine and Devotion are the two integral Parts of Religion the one â—anctifying the understanding the other sanctifying the will that so Religion may fully do its work in knitting or binding the whole soul unto God it is manifest that Christian Communion is founded in Christian Religion and the truest Christian Communion in the truest Christian Religion Accordingly every particular man is bound to joyn himself to that Church which doth profess the truest Christian Religion both in Doctrine and in Devotion that so he may embrace the truest Christian Communion And because all Churches do alike magnifie themselves and vilifie others it is necessary that in the choice of our Christian Communion we observe the Apostles general Axiom Not he that commendeth himself is approved but whom the Lord commendeth 2 Cor. 10. 18. In the business of Religion and of eternal Salvation we may not rely upon our own judgements or the judgements of any other men but only upon the judgement and approbation of God who is the Author of Religion and the Giver of Salvation Therefore it is not for any man to be of this or that Church because it commendeth it self but because God commendeth it And where should we seek where can we find Gods commendation but in his word So it is plain I must choose my Church from Gods word or I can never be sure that God doth commend my choice and this consideration alone must needs make a conscientious man afraid of choosing that Church for the guide of his Communion which refuseth to take Gods word for the guide of her Religion For the Churches power concerning Religion in the Apostles times was but ministerial and how should it come in our times to be magisterial For so it is said Who is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed even as the Lord gave to every man 1 Cor. 3. 5. They are Ministers of your faith not Lords and Masters of it Nay in that they are Ministers it is evident they cannot be Masters of your Faith for there is a direct opposition between a Minister and a Master you are bound to have a special regard to their Ministry that you may believe but not to depend or rely upon their authority in your belief For thus hath Christ our Lord appointed That your Faith should come by the Churches Ministry but from his own Authority 〈…〉 And therefore you must go to his Church for your Communion that you may go to himself for your Religion Christs Church hath not a co-ordinate authority that she may command with Christ in matters of Religion for so she might also command against him but only a subordinace Authority to command in and for him in his name and for his
admired in his Passion I Cannot admire my Saviour in his sufferings unless I admire him in his person which made him liable to suffer and in his propitiation satisfaction application whereby I have the benefit of his sufferings And in all these respects hath the holy Apostle Saint Paul admired my Saviour for me 1 Cor. 5. 7. when he said for Christ our Passeover is sacrificed for us for these few words afford no less then four considerations of our blessed Saviour the first is of Christ in his person for Christ the second is of Christ in his propitiation our Passeover the third is of Christ in his satisfaction is sacrificed the fourth is of Christ in his application for us So that I have a very good precedent for making these four considerations of Christ the four Chapters of my ensuing discourse CAP. I. Christ admired in his Person SECT I. That the eye of man cannot be fixed with comfort upon God in himself but only upon God in Christ THE contemplation of God in himself is not a ground of joy to us on earth though it is to the Saints and Angels in heaven not that the beatifical vision doth not consist in seeing God but that the eye of mortal man must be strengthened before it can see him and the eye of sinful man must be cleansed before it can see him with comfort and without confusion for if Aristotle could alledge his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noctu◠oculus ad solem an Owl or Bat looking upon the Sun to excuse the imperfect contemplation of some inferiour Truths how much more may we plead this excuse for our imperfect contemplation of the first truth since there is much more in this case an Owl or a Bat looking upon the Sun for there is not only a weak but also a sinful eye looking upon God A weak eye because not accustomed to light A sinful eye because not unaccustomed to darkness Such a weak and sinful eye is it wherewith man in this life looketh upon the Sun of righteousness an eye which cannot stedfastly behold him for its weakness an eye which cannot comfortably behold him for its sinfulness Therefore man whiles he is cloathed with sin and mortality must look on God not in God but in man not in the majesty of the Spirit but in the humility of the flesh or else he will be more confounded then comforted with the vision The Apostles saw but a glimps of our Saviours Divinity in the transfiguration and they fell to the ground Mat. 17. 16. and what then do we think they would have done had they seen the full luster and brightness of the Sun of righteousness Jacob tells Laban of the God of Abraham but only of the fear of his Father Isaac Gen. 31. 42. The reason we may conceive to be this because Abraham was dead but Isaac was yet alive for it is impossible but the Divine majesty should strike terrour and consternation to the most upright man that is whiles he is clogged and burdened with flesh and much more with sin And this observation doth Solomon Jarchi intimate in his gloss upon the place saying thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is called the Fear not the God of Isaac because he doth not appropriate his name to just men whiles they are yet alive The reason cannot be That they are less his Favourites but that they are not so much capable of his Favour he is the same God to the living and to the dead but the living have him for their fear because they are in a state of weakness and unworthiness the dead have him for their love and their reward because they are in a state of glory and of blessedness And therefore said God himself to Moses No man shall see me and live Exod. 33. 20. If we see God in himself that sight will destroy our life but if we see him in his Son that will preserve it for as the Chrystal glass may afford much glittering light but not any delightful reflexion to the beholder till it be clouded and darkened with a back of some grosser mettal so the Divinity of Christ may afford many glorious speculations of his Majesty but no one comfortable reflexion of his mercy till it be as it were darkened and shadowed with his humanity Then me thinks I can easily without the help of a Crucifix see in him a head bowed down to hear me an eye carefully looking after me an hand stretched out to defend me a mouth open to call me and a bosom as open to receive me So that I cannot but still desire to see my Saviour in the flesh though not with the eye of my flesh but with the eye of my faith for if I see him in God he is my consternation but if I see him in man he is my salvation SECT II. In what sense Saint Paul cared not to know Christ in the flesh and yet Christ in the flesh only is comfortably known IT is impossible that a good Christian should either desire not to know Christ because he loves him or not to know him in the flesh because so he hath most reason to love him and yet Saint Paul hath said Henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5. 16. But sure the Apostle speaks not positively but comparatively Henceforth know we no man after the flesh not so as to forget the relations and substance of the flesh in others which we carry about our selves for that were to forget the Law of nature But so as not to overprize the seeming pre-eminencies but indeed real vanities of the flesh beauty honour riches and the like when they are destitute of the gifts and graces of the Spirit as if Christian love and conversation more concerned the outward then the inward man for that were to forget the Law of Grace Thus we must know no man after the flesh no not Christ himself that is in the external representation of his flesh or more admiring the image of his person then the power of his Redemption or in the external presence of his flesh as desirous to enter a carnal instead of a spiritual communion with him and bringing rather our mouths then our hearts to feed upon his precious body and blood Thus must we no more know Christ himself after the flesh but yet we may not we must not forget the substance of his flesh in which the Son of God and the Son of man is but one Christ unless we will forget the substance of our own salvation For in that same flesh he was our Redeemer in that same flesh he still is our Mediator and Intercessor In that same flesh was his head crowned with thorns that ours might be crowned with glory in that same flesh be often bowed down his head to look upon us he once suffered his feet to be fastened to stay for
their prayers which they offered to his Divine Majesty But our charity and our devotion are both grown cold and our charity so cold that it hath quite chilled our devotion we are loth to be at the charges to honour Christ with set anniversary Festivals for fear of continuing or reviving the formerly accustomed alms to his poor members for we cannot deny but giving something to the poor is a most fitting Concomitant or proper adjunct of a Festival being so taught John 13. 29. where our Saviours words to Judas That thou dost do quickly being spoken against the feast arâ— thus interpreted that he should give something to the poor And indeed they are so rightly interpreted For since our Saviour hath suffered so much for us we connot do enough for him and our doings for him must needs then be most seasonable when we record his sufferings for us And as he was so willing to suffer for our sakes that he called upon the Traytor to dispatch quickly so we should be as willing to do for his sake and in all matters of charity that may be helpful unto our brethren every man say to himself what thou dost do quickly Wherefore let me seriously and constantly pour out my soul to God in unquestionable devotion meditate on Gods holy word hunger after his body thirst after his blood and willingly and frequently releive and refresh his poor members and though I may be able to keep nothing else yet I shall be sure to keep a good conscience which will be to me a continual Feast yea though all the Holy Dayes that are instituted in the remembrance of Christ should be forbidden and forgotten by others yet the performance of these holy duties will never let me want my Christian Festivals SECT V. The practice of the Primitive Christians in observing the Feast of Easter and that there was no superstition in that practice THE Primitive Christians did exceedingly rejoyce at the Anniversary Feast of our Saviours Resurrection and did long continue that their rejoycing even till the day of his Ascension or rather till the day of his descending again in the gift of the Holy-Ghost so saith Balsamon of some in the Greek Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they accounted the whole time from Easter to Whitsontide but a one continual Lords day And it is evident that the first Council of Nice which hath but twenty Canons in the whole hath bestowed one of them and that is the last meerly upon the manner of celebrating this solemnity requiring all people to say their prayers standing on every day of the week betwixt Easter and Whitsontide no less then on the Lords days all the year after to proclaim their joy for as well as to profess their faith in their Saviours Resurrection Nor were they acquainted with any other salutation at that time of the year but only this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord is risen and the party thus saluted made answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 true he is risen indeed they thought they could not wish one another any joy like the joy of Christ nor any joy of Christ like the joy of his Resurrection The like salutation was in the Latine Church Resurrexit Dominus the Lord is risen said he who saluted his neighbour and the other answered Deo gratias the Lord be thanked or Apparuit Simoni he hath appeared unto Simon This was all their Good morrow Good even one to the other in the more antient and more innocent times of the Church Nay yet more on every Sunday from the Resurrection to the Ascention did the Latine Church repeat the collect for Easter day Deus qui per Vnigenitum tuum aeternitatis nobis aditum reserâsti Almighty God which by thy only begotten Son hast opened unto us the gate of everlasting life leaving out only hodiernâ die on this day because they could not make one day hold out to forty And as they did so long continue the same prayer so did they as long continue the same praise singing three several Alleluiahs on every one of these Sundays for this infinite mercy and eternal consolation in our Saviour Christ for a heavenly comfort expressing a heavenly joy as if they had already passed from the Church militant to be of the Church triumphant would have no more to do with the earth since our Saviour was risen from it and going into Heaven Surely Saint Augustine cals the whole three days of our blessed Saviours passion death and Resurrection sacratissimum triduum the three most holy days in the circle of the whole year and the cheif of the three was that of his Resurrection which was therefore antiently accounted not only the first day of the week for so is any other Sunday but also the first day of the year that is to say the first in dignity as well as in order Veteris anni Ecclesiastici initium à Pascha Pascha dicebatur annus novus saith Scaliger lib. 1. de em tem The beginning of the Ecclesiastical year was antiently at Easter and that was called the new year And in the Greek Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 new years week was the same with Easter week and how this account came afterwards to be altered in the Church and the new year translated from Easter to Christmass the same Scaliger sheweth lib. 6. de emend temp in these words Institutum vetus in Ecclesiâ fuit in natali Domini Pascha proximum ejusque diem indiculis aut breviculis notare Ab hoc more fluxit ut à natali Domini anni passionis ejus numeraâ—entur hoc est ut annum passionis inciperent putare à natali Domini qui tamen putandus erat à sequenti Paschâ— Because at Christmas they did antiently give out the Calender for the ensuing Easter thence it came to pass that some began the account of the year of Christ at Christmas which they should not have begun till the Easter after But for a long time in the account of the Church Easter day was the first day and Easter week was the first week in the whole year which was the occasion that the common dayes of all the other weeks were by the Latine Church called feriae that is holy-dayes as feria secunda tertia quarta the second third and fourth holy-day instead of Munday Tuesday Wednesday because they followed the account of Easter week whereof every day was a holy-day So the same Scaliger lib. 7. de emend temp Quare prima secunda tertia quarta quinta Septimane dictae sunt feriae quum in omnibus hebdomadibus feriandi necessitas nulle incumbat haec ratio est quod annus Ecclesiasticus incipiat à Pascha septimana autem Paschatis erat immunis ab opere faciendo feriata unde quum sex illi dies post Pascha feriati esseâ—… ea esset prima anni hebdomas inde factum ut omnes diâ—s septimanae vocarentur feriae Lex
him in his intercession The first shews us what he was in his humiliation the second what he is in his exaltation and yet the eye of faith will still look further after him not only as a Saviour and as a Mediator but also as a Judge for that 's the third observation concerning Christ what he will be in his retribution Not a severe but a merciful Judge to judge us according to the Gospel which will condemn only the unrepenting and unbelieving sinners not according to the Law which will condemn even the most righteous A merciful Judge to acquit us by the Merits and righteousness of that blood which he himself hath shed for us according to that most comfortable Prayer in the heavenly Hymn of Saint Ambrose which alone was of merit enough to entitle the Ambrosian office so long to keep its station against the Gregorian We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge we therefore pray thee help thy servants when thou hast Redeemed with thy precious blood We are sure thou wilt not lose thine own blood and that makes us hope thou wilt not lose us for whom thou hast been pleased to shed it Thus to draw neer to Christ is to draw neer to him with a true heart as we are commanded Heb. 10. 23. Let us draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of Faith The heart with which we must draw neer to Christ ought to be true to itself by examination contrition conversion for t is a false heart to it self that wants this repentance and it ought to be a heart true to its Saviour by a lively faith in his death and passion by a constant faith in his mediation and intercession by a conquering faith in his aquitment and absolution for the heart is false to its Saviour that wants this faith and being false to its Master cannot enter into his joy O my God make my heart true to it self by repentance that it may be true to its Saviour by faith then though I have sorrow in my self yet I shall have joy in him whose joy alone is an eternal joy SECT X. That the end of this and of all other Christian Festivals is our spiritual communion with Christ and therefore they ought to be celebrated more with spiritual then with carnal joys That though our carnal joyes are greater in their proportion yet our spiritual joyes are greater in their foundation A Carnal heart receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. and much less the joys of that Spirit wherefore we must look for a spiritual Feast that we may have a spiritual joy And accordingly the Church of Christ as it hath not a carnal but a spiritual communion with Christ so it hath not a carnal but a spiritual Feast wherein it doth communicate feeding on him in the heart by faith with thanksgiving for without that we may call the holy Eucharist a Communion but shall not find it so because we do not Communicate with our blessed Saviour and so our souls may starve whilst we are at this Feast if we do not Spiritually eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Suidas diem festum agebant 1. Sacrificium offerebant They kept a Feast that is they offered sacrifice nor can we rightly celebrate this holy Feast unless we offer unto God our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving And what sacrifice is left for Christians but the living sacrifice of their souls and bodies spoken of Rom. 12. 1. For the soul though not named must also be in the sacrifice or else it cannot be a reasonable service 'T is not offering our Saviour but offering our selves to God that makes the accehtable sacrifice not observing the holy institution yet I could heartily wish that were better observed by them who best observe it but observing it with a holy intention that makes a spiritual Feast and therefore our Church at the celebration of the holy Eucharist doth in Gods name invite us not so much to a corporal as to a spiritual feeding on the body and blood of Christ And though some do scruple the offering up of Christs real body in that sacrifice for they had rather say it is commemoratio sacrificii then commemorativum sacrificium yet none scruples the offering up of his mystical body in it never any Christian did think he might leave himself out of the offering though many have thought they might leave their Saviour out of it as to his carnal presence for every man believes he is bound to offer the sacrifice of praise to God and therewith also his own soul so that even this our Feast must likewise be a spiritual Feast or though the outward Elements may nourish our bodies to this natural life yet the inward grace will not nourish our souls to the life eternal We conclude then that no Feast can truly honour God the God of Spirits but a spiritual Feast And that whosoever hath once kept this will endeavoor to turn all others into it or at least to extract this out of them he will feast his soul more then his body as one that cannot well relish the carnal because he hath tasted the spiritual delicacies for most undoubtedly our spiritual joyes though they come short of carnal joys in their measure and proportion yet they far exceeed them in their cause and foundation we are more zealous for our carnal joys because they are connatural to us whiles we are cloathed with our flesh but our spiritual joys which are supernatural do more deserve our zeal I will say to my soul Soul take thine ease eat drink and be merry said the rich glutton Luke 12. 19. What a great preparation is here to carnal joy I will say unto my soul what a great proportion of it take thine ease eat drink and â—e merry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rest that thou maist eat and drink eat and drink that thou mayst delight thy self and be merry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Basil If thou hadst the soul of a swine what couldest thou say or do more so great a proportion is there of joy in the carnal man from carnal delights as if even the spiritual part of him were made carnal as if the soul it self were incorporated into flesh and that flesh incorporated into swine made the most brutish and sensual in the whole world even swines flesh yet so little a foundation is there of this joy that t is grounded only on the mans own fansie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ver 17. He made his reckoning but t was a false reckoning meerly of his own making and not agreeable with the truth of the account For the word is fit to express the condition of worldlings saith Beza quia totam vitam in subducendis rationibus consumunt because they spend all their days in making reckoning they spend all their time in casting up accounts either for their pleasure or for
and necessary in regard of the Jews to keep them in obedience and from idolatry as circumcision sacrificing of beasts the distinction of meats and the rigorous observation of the Sabbath But the Christian Religion requires nothing of us save what is usefull and necessary in it self though it were not commanded as it requires us not to circumcise the foresking of our flesh but of our hearts not to keep a Sabbath by the external rest of the body ceasing from motion but by the internal rest of the soul ceasing from sin and taking its repose in God Not to offer the blood of bullocks but to be ready to offer our own blood for Gods glory not to abstain from certain kinds of meats but to use them all with sobriety for the chastisement of the body and sometimes to use none at all for the advantage of the soul And whereas other Religions have too much of Mammon in them to teach men to forsake their estates ours teacheth us to forsake our selves nor if I had the tongue of men and Angels were I able to express the incomparable purity of that faith whereby we are taught to hope in God not only above hope but also against it in the midst of death to hope for life in the extremity of Justice to hope for mercy and so wholly to trust God with our souls as not to hope for salvation but only to glorifie him thereby desiring his glory equally with our own eternal bliss or rather above it Nor if I had a Seraphins quill were I able to delineate the purity of that worship which teacheth us to pray for nothing but in relation to the honour and with subordination to the will of God and to rest secure in the deniall of temporal blessings whiles we rely upon the promises of those which are eternal This being such a purity as is above our Praise and yet required to come under our Practice plainly sheweth that our Religion is too much above our selves either to proceed from our own understanding or to depend upon our own wills and consequently that God alone was the first founder and is still the Master-builder and defender of it Nor doth our Christian Religion teach us this admirable purity and holiness only in conversing with our God but also in conversing with our selves not only in our duty towards God but also in our duty towards our neighbour Do but consider the ordinary offices of humanity and the Christian Religion will shew you there is some thing of Divinity in those offices for that teacheth you to relieve your brother not only as a member of your own body having the same flesh and blood with your self which is according to the office of humanity but also to relieve him as a member of your Saviours body as a member of God the Son as a temple of God the Holy-Ghost which adds something of divinity to that office Humanitas quà m sit proprium hominis ipsum nomen indicat shew the offices of Humanity to another man for your own sake because you are a man unless you would be accounted a beast was a forcible argument for men to be curteous and friendly one to another before Christ came in the flesh But now that argument must be strained to a higher pitch and we must say shew the offices of humanity to another man for the Son of Gods sake because you are a Christian unless you would be accounted not a beast but a devil So undeniable is the argument of the Christian Religion for the practise of Charity So inexcusable are Christians above other men for the practice of uncharitableness For surely we cannot deny but this doctrine of doing good to all and hurt to none for Christs sake is nowhere to be found but among Christians though their practise in this yron age of the hard-hearted world hath much disagreed from this doctrine As for the Turks religion it was born in the camp smells of the camp lives by the camp it was brought in by the sword savours of the sword is preserved and propagated by the Sword And yet in this respect shame it is to say it but the shame is theirs of whom it may be truly said many Christians are of late turned Turks So that the black-mouthed calumnie of Calvino-Turcismus is in this sense a Truth and the retaliation of that by Papismo-Turcismus is in this sense not to be thought a calumnie for both Protestants and Papists as much as they have of cutting of purses and cutting of throats in their late inhumane rapines and butcheries so much they have of Turcism not of Christianity For that hath said If thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink Rom. 12. 20. That is strive to make thine enemy thy friend by overcoming evil with good but in no case to make thy friend and much less thy God thine enemy by overcoming good with evil And indeed this mild voice is only the voice of the Christian religion For even the Jew who came neerest to God and his goodness did nevertheless say An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and thou shalt love thy neighbour but hate thine enemy T is only the Christians hath learned this lesson from the mouth of their master Love your enemies blâ—ss them that curse you and do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you that ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven Mat. 5. 42. As much then as love is above hatred blessing above cursing forgiving above reviling relieving above revenging and praying above persecuting or in one word heaven above hell so much is the Christians Religion above all other religions in the offices of humanity or in the conversation of man with man Again look upon the conversation of man with woman and you shall find the Christian is taught and the good Christian doth practice a greater chastity in his marriage then other men look after in their virginity He knows he is bound to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God 1 Thes 4. 1. and therefore will take heed of making his remedy his disease of adding oyle to the fire of provoking that lust of concupiscence which he should banish and expel for what he retains of lust that he loses of sanctification and honour in his body and of the knowledge of God in his soul This chast consideration being grounded in the hearts of good Christians will either keep them innocent or make them penitent whereas other men that know not this Doctrine or regard it not do let loose the rains of their concupiscence and are further from chastity in their virginity then these men are in their marriage For the one follow the Apostles advice It remaineth that they who have wives be as though they had none 1 Cor. 7. 29. The other
vilifie but to confute their preaching immediatly shew how Christ is more peculiarly communicated by the Spirit of adoption and the rather because his being communicated in Word and Sacraments would not be available to salvation unless he were also communicated to us by the coming of the Holy Ghost Concerning which Alensis hath befriended us with a most comfortable and a most Christian-like position in these words Lâ—quendo proprie de missione non dicitur mitti Filius vel Spiritus Sanctus nisi ratione alicujus effectus pertinentis ad gratiam gratum facientem Nam in missione illorum non solum dona ipsorum sunt nostra sed ipsi quia Inhabitant animum sunt ibi modo specialiori quà m prius Alen. par 1. qu. 73. m. 4. art 2. To speak properly concerning the mission or communication of the Son and Spirit of God neither of them is communicated but only in some effect of saving grace though in general terms either may be said to be communicated in the gift of any grace For when they are communicated unto us not only their gifts are ours but also themselves to inhabit and to dwell in us and to be in us more specially or peculiarly then they were before And why then should not every Christian take up Holy Davids most holy Resolution and say I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep nor mine eye-lids to slumber untill I find out a place even mine own soul for the Temple of the Lord and an Habitation for the mighty God of Jacob Psal 132. 4 5. For indeed the Lord and the mighty God Christ and his Spirit are communicated both together according to that of John 6. 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you As there is a communication and distribution of the nourishment to the body that it may live so is there of Christ to the soul or it cannot live And he is communicated by the Spirit For no man can eat his flesh nor drink his blood who is at the right hand of God by corporal but only by spiritual manducation and there can be no spiritual eating of Christ but by the assistance of his Spirit So that Christ and the Spirit of Christ are communicated to us both together and we have alike need of both For as Christ is our Advocate to bring us to the Father so is the Holy Ghost our Advocate to bring us unto Christ And as Christ revealed to us the will of his Father so doth the holy Spirit reveal to us the will of Christ making us in the right use of his Word and Sacraments to receive instruction from him to enjoy communion with him and to find immortal joy and comfort in him This is that Spirit the Apostle speaketh of when he saith For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. The Apostle would have us Christians see the happiness of our own condition above the Jews that we might accordingly shew our thankfulness above them For they being under the terrours of the Law could not but have the Spirit of bondage because they saw nothing in the Law but what was exceeding formidable the flames of Mount Sinai before it and the flames of Hell fire after it But we Christians being under the promises of the Gospel which discharge all that truly repent and unfeignedly believe from the curse of the Law and from the guilt of their sins have the spirit of liberty whereby we can with great confidence and with greater comfort draw near to the throne of grace The Jews had the Spirit of Adoption as well as Christians though not in the same degree but not from the Law but from so much of the Gospel as was revealed to them And the Christians have also the spirit of bondage as well as the Jews though not in the same degree but not from the Gospel but from so much of the Law as is still in force to scourge them unto Christ The same spirit of Adoption was to them a spirit of bondage yet with some hopes and shew of liberty To us it is a spirit of liberty and yet with some fear and shew of bondage They could say unto God Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not Isa 63. 16. but we can say moreover Abba Father that is we can call upon God as our Father with greater fervency and earnestness with greater assurance and confidence and with greater joy and comfort then they could For this Abba Father is vox clamantis vox exclamantis vox acclamantis The voice of one crying out the voice of one crying out for help the voice of one crying out for joy First The voice of one crying out there 's the greater earnestness they did say to God our Father but we do cry it not coldly and remissely least our prayers should be congealed in the middle Region of the air before they get up to heaven but zealously and earnestly They said it with zeal but we say it with greater zeal Secondly The voice of one crying out for help there 's the greater confidence The Jew could say Father but the Christian saith Abba Father that is Father Father with greater confidence and assurance of Gods paternal affection Lastly The voice of one crying out for joy there 's the greater comfort The Jew could rejoyce in God as his Father by Creation but the Christian rejoyceth in God as his Father by Redemption The joy of the creation had an allay because of the sin and sorrow which we had brought upon our selves but the joy of our Redemption hath no allay because our blessed Saviour hath taken away our sins and with our sins our sorrows CAP. II. Of the coming of the Holy Ghost where Christ is communicated SECT I. That the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Christ that is the Spirit of the Son as well as of the Father And that the Greeks were unjustly and uncharitably rejected by some of the Latines as Hereticks concerning the Procession of the Holy Ghost Of the Addition of Filioque to the Constantinopolitan Creed and that the Pope hath no Authority to change any article of faith The Greek Church agreed with the Latine about this controversie in sense though not in words therefore not anathematized by the Western Churches which use the Athanasian Creed Bellarmines heavy doom concerning the Greek Church fitter for a Souldier then a Divine IT is not the part of any Christian to deny the Holy Ghost to be the Spirit of Christ since that were not only to deny the Word of Christ but also to deny the greatest and chiefest comfort of Christianity It were to deny the Word of Christ for Saint Paul taketh the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ for one and the same saying If so
in with dissemblers I have hated the congregation of evil doers and will not sit with the wicked and he thus makes good that saying For thy loving kindness is ever before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth Psalm 26. His communion with God kept him from the corruptions of those unrighteous men he could not avoid and kept him in the communion of those righteous men he could not enjoy Though his conversation might be in Gath or Ascalon yet his communion was in Jerusalem when the Ark was there as it is said ver 8. Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth Therefore make sure of thy communion with God by faith and repentance and holiness of life and doubt not of thy communion with his Catholick Church though thou live amongst Infidels or amongst such Christians as are fallen into Infidelity and so having denyed the faith are worse then those who never embraced it For no private man is entrusted with the external communion of his own Church nor shall he be called to an account for the sins of it if he partake not in those sins but he is intrusted with the internal communion of his own soul and for that he must look to give a strict account to the maker and lover and Judge of souls But this admonition which only concerns private men may not be extended to whole national Churches which have power given them of God to rectifie what is amiss among themselves either in Doctrine or worship or Sacraments and are accountable to God for not rectifying it so that if there be any notorious defect in either much more in all of these they that are not bound to obey other men have no pretence of excuse if they obey not God in ordering themselves exactly according to his known and undoubted word And this is evident by Saint Pauls Epistles to particular Churches and Saint Johns orders to the seven several Churches of Asia to all which were sent distinct instructions and reproofs which sheweth that every one of them was bound to follow those instructions they had received from God without expecting new orders from some general Superintendent over them all and was justly reproved for not following them And this is the Judgement of the Catholick Church in the first Council of Nice in the sixth Canon which will have the priviledges and dignities and authorities of all Churches inviolably preserved for so much is comprized in these few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same Judgemen is again repeated and reinforced in the first Council of Constantinople Can. 2. which forbids the confounding of Churches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and leaves every several proviâ—ce by a Synod in it self to administer and order its own â—…s The same is again more fully repeated and reinforced in the first Council of Ephesus Can. 8. which will have particular Churches keep their own rights and priviledges lest they should unawares lose the liberty purchased for them by the blood of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Council of Chalcedon Can. 19 enjoyns provincial Synods twice a year to rectifie and dispose all emergencies whatsoever in the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So we find this is the judgement of the Catholick Church in the four first general Councils and therefore all the world is not able to prove this practice of our Church to be Anticatholick For I willingly pass by other Churches in the case with whom I am not bound to keep external communion and plead only for this Church where of God in mercy hath made me a happy member though an unworthy Minister For if Saint Paul would not judge those men that were without much less may any of us judge those Churches that are within And truly it is enough for our satisfaction and too much for our desert that though other Churches pretend more some to the purity others to the practice of Religion yet generally they have performed less Though some rigid Zelots press nothing so much as a circumcision of all rites and ceremonies other Pharisaical professors can boast of the yoke which they have put upon the neck of their Disciples which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear yet we cannot find any sufficient reason why we should not answer them both in Saint Peters words we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Act. 15. 11. For we have this reason of our belief because the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly and clearly set forth in the Doctrine of this our Church t is our shame and sin not our Churches if it be not also in our practice and Saint Paul hath taught us that this is the doctrine which most constituteth and therefore most edifieth a Christian Church For thus much do those words import to the Colossians And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable aâ—d unreproveable in his sight if ye continue in the faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which ye have heard Col. 1. 21 22 2â— T is the Churches part to preach unto us the hope of the Gospel or the Doctrine of our being reconciled to God in Christ where this Doctrine is rightly published accepted and maintained there is without doubt a true Christian Church there is communion with Christ and if he will present us holy unblameable unreproveable in his sight for continuing in this faith grounded and setled we can have little cause but no excuse for leaving that Church whereinis the profession of this faith for as every particular Christian Church may lawfully preserve its own liberty against the incroachment of other Chuuches so it must necessarily preserve its authority against the insolencies of its own people The case is notorious concerning Vzziah when he went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the Altar of incense that Azariah with the Priests withstood him saying it pertaineth not to thee Uzziah to burn incense unto the Lord but to the Priests the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense Go out of the sanctuary for thou hast trespassed neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God 2 Chron. 27. 17 18. And great is the approbation which the Spirit of God giveth to this Azariah for so doing saying He it is that hath executed the Priests office in the Temple 1 Chron. 6. 10. As if none had been high Priest but he who so couragiously maintained the authority of the Priest-hood and this is R. Davids gloss upon the words He was not the first Priest of Solomons Temple for that was Zadok nor was he the only high Priest for there were many others both before and after him but our Rabbies say because
and the beauties and excellencies of the Christian Religion making them to proclaim to all the world these three things concerning that Religion which they taught after this new manner 1. That Christian Religion is not opus naturae proceeding from the principles of nature for then they would have used the Method of nature who first planted it but opus gratiae The work of Grace and therefore they used the Method of grace 2. That Christian Religion must not be made opus artis matter of mans invention or institution for if it would not borrow so much as outward form or Method from the art of man there being no science in the world taught by such a Method as Divinity is in the Scriptures much less any inward matter or substance from it 3. That Christian Religion must be taken in the whole in credendis agendis in belief and practice both together for therefore did the Apostles teach it by praying to shew that we must learn it by practicing prayer it self being the best practice of Christianity Thus it is necessary that Christ should be the Alpha and Omega the first and the last in all our thoughts words and works for this is the end of all the Scripture and they who undervalue the Scripture seem not to know this end or not to regard it as saith Saint John But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name John 20. 31. as if he had said God gave us the Scriptures especially the New Testament for this end that we might glorifie Christ as the eternal Son of God and only Saviour of the world and that by so doing we might through him come to inherit eternal glory SECT 11. The sincerity of Christian communion is the bullwark of its authority and first to be regarded by every Christian Church as being the glory of her prosperity and comfort of her adversity such a sincere communion never to be deserted when once happily attained NO particular Christian Church advanceth our communion with Christ as such but only as Christian and therefore no particular Church can justly require another Church to communicate with it any farther then as t is truly Christian or Catholick for no further doth she her self keep communion with Christ And consequently where any Christian Church leaves Christ there other Churches may and must leave Her that is leave Her as to the communion in Her sin whereby she leaves Christ but not in Her righteousness whereby she still reteineth him for that were little less then in her to leave the communion of Christ For this profession of Saint Paul We are not as many which corrupt the word of God but as of sincerity but as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ 2 Cor. 2. 17. should be the profession of every Christian Church which desires to have other Churches joyn with her in her communion we do not corrupt the word of God and would not willingly pin corruptions upon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non sumus mangones aut caupones Theologiae we play not the prolers or hucksters with our Divinity or with Gods word putting new dresses or false colours upon the Text or truth to make our own erroneous Doctrines the more passable and the less discernable or rather we do not mingle Gods truth with our own errors as false drawers mingle their wines for so saith Hesychius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated which corrupt is a Metaphor taken from those Vintners who corrupt and mingle their wines before they sell them A word that speaks much in little and may serve instead of a whole Sermon to the Preachers themselves For if they preach phansie they mingle water with this wine if they preach faction they mingle blood with it Lord forgive us these horrid mixtures and renew again amongst us thy miracle wrought in Cana of Galilee and once more turn our water into wine and suffer not us any more to turn that wine into blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Chrysostome To corrupt wine is in effect to bastardize it which consideration should terrifie any Church that hath wittingly corrupted the word of truth seeing she hath thereby laboured as it were to bastardize the eternal Son of God Non cauponantur quia meram veritatem praedicant de Filio Dei nec ipsam quasi aqua falsitatis adulterant saith Saint Cyril of Alexandria Thes l. 12. cap. 3. They â—sc that are true and good Church-men do not corrupt the word because they speak nothing but the truth and do abhorr to adulterate Gods pure wine with their impure their puddle water No Church can be two careful about the sincerity of its Doctrine since the Apostle did not think he could be zealous enough about it And therefore he again immediately enforceth this same duty to the same effect though in other words seeing we have received this Ministry as we have received mercy we faint not but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty not walking in crastiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of God 2 Cor. 4. 1 2. His whole intent and purpose is to make them see his sincerity in preaching the Gospel of Christ thereby obliging every Christian Church which is the grand Apostle of its own nation openly to profess and much more conscionably to discharge the same sincerity for which accordingly he alledgeth two reasons First the incomparable worth and value of the Doctrine and therefore he saith this Ministry by way of excellency for that the Gospel was as far above the Law and much more above all other things as liberty and salvation are above thraldom and condemnation Secondly the indispensible obligation of his trust which God had laied upon him and therefore he saith as we have received mercy he calls it a mercy not a trust the more to endeer it to his own soul and to ours yet in that he saith he had received it he acknowledgeth the trust himself as one accountable according to his receipts for as he had received it from God so he was bound to deliver it to them without either alteration or addition or diminution according to his own former profession I delivered unto you that which I also received 1 Cor. 15. 3. q. d. If I could not prove the receipt I could not justifie the delivery Having alledged these two reasons for his sincere preaching of the Gospel he afterwards shews what it was preserved him in this sincerity and that was his magnanimity his innocency and his integrity First the undaunted courage of his heart we faint not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non deficimus we are not defective to our selves for want of perseverance nor to our duty for want of constancy For
have an universal Trust Nay the Text bids us say the quite contrary for Saint Paul thus writeth to Titus For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting or that are yet left undone and ordain Elders in every City as I had appointed thee Tit. 1. 5. He limits Titus his commission and much more the rest of the Ministers that were under him to that people only which was in Crete and leaves him not to take the particular care of any other People or Nation they were to have other Trustees appointed for them Again The same Saint Paul writeth thus to Timothy I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other Doctrine 1 Tim. 1. 3. Where it is as plain that Saint Timothies Trust was confined only to the people of the Church of Ephesus and that he was Gods chiefest Trustee though he was not Gods only Trustee for that people because the same Saint Paul saith to all the Presbyters of the same Church Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishops to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood Acts 20. 28. where it is evident whose Trustees they were for he saith The Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers or Bishops and what was their trust for he saith Take heed to your selves and to all the Flock to feed the Church of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is so to feed as t is also to govern or to guide for so doth a shepheard his sheep Pascere saith Beza to feed Regere saith the Vulgar Latine to govern the word requires both and accordingly their trust is not only to feed their Flocks but also to govern them Here is a commission not only for Doctrine but also for Discipline and this commission is given only to the Presbyters or Doctors of the Church of Ephesus He sent to Ephesus and called the Elders of the Church ver 17. If you ask what Elders T is plain by their office what they were even such as were to answer for the blood of those who perished in their sins if they did not teach repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ For so the Apostle argues for himself I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you ver 20. I testified Repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ver 21. I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God ver 25. Wherefore I take you to record this day That I am pure from the blood of all men ver 26. He alludes without doubt to those words of Ezekiel Because thou hast not given him warning he shall die in his sin but his blood will I require at thine hand Ezek. 3. 20. So that Saint Paul gave this commission only to such Elders as were to succeed him in his office of preaching and governing or in the Ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the grace of God ver 24. Thâ—se Elders he appointed his Successors in the Church of Ephesus when he was now quite to be taken from thence and by the same appointment hath established the succession of the Ministry in all other Churches For as the Apostles observing the first day of the week for the publick worship of Christ hath made it necessary for all Christian Churches to observe the same day for their publick worship to the worlds End so their appointing the Ministers as their Successors for the discharge of that publick worship hath much more laid upon all Churches the necessity of a successive Ministry yet Saint Paul looks upon the succession of Persons without a succession of Doctrine as a poor evidence and a poorer priviledge of a Christian Church because he saith Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them v. 30. In that he saith Of your own selves shall men arise he plainly sheweth they should have a succession of Persons but in that he saith speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them he as plainly sheweth they should in that succession of persons not have a succession of Doctrine T is a miserable condition when men shall put asunder those two which God hath joyned together but if we will needs phansie for God forbid we make or fear much more that we should suffer for the division better it were for the succession to be divided from the Ministry then for the Ministry to be divided from the Doctrine For the Ministry is necessary for the Doctrine but the Doctrine is necessary for it self And those Churches which most pretend an uninterrupted and an undoubted succession in their Ministry yet would be loth to be no surer of their Doctrine then they are of their Ministry For all the world cannot make them have more then a Moral certainty of the succession of their Ministers whereas they cannot be good Christians if they have not a Theological certainty of the succession of their Doctrine for he that believes the truth not knowing it to be true and to have proceeded from the God of truth is not formally but only materially a true Believer and leaves himself in a capacity if he doth not put himself into a disposition to believe a lye For by the same reason that he can bestow his Faith upon an uncertainty He may also bestow it upon a Falsity SECT II. The trust and nature of the Catholick Church best gathered from particular Churches the first part of their Trust is concerning the Word of God HE that would not miss or lose his way to the Sea had best follow the conduct of some particular River and he that would not be mistaken in his judgement concerning the Catholick Church were best guide himself by the consideration and the observation of particular Churches Vniversalia priora sunt particularibus ordine naturae Particularia Vniversalibus â—rdine Doctrinae Universals are before particulars in the order of nature but particulars are before universals in the order of Doctrine wherefore we must first enquire into the nature of particular Churches if we would fully understand the nature of the Catholick or universal Church For as Universals have no subsistence in themselves but only in their Individuals so neither hath the universal Church any actual subsistence but only in particular Churches And as we rightly understand an universal by abstracting it from the conditions and imperfections of the individiuals and taking only the perfections of the same So shall we rightly understand the Catholick Church by abstracting it from the imperfections of particular Churches and imputing to it only their excellencies and perfections Thus though I see lameness in one man blindness in another perversness in a third ignorance in a fourth and falseness in all yet I consider
the Ministery which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the Grace of God v. 24. as if he had said I did not at first either invade or falsifie this Trust that I should now betray it or forsake it for I received it of the Lord Jesus he put me in this course I must follow his Directions He made me his Minister I must obey his commands It is my course I must run it on directly not turning aside either to the right hand or to the left that I may consult with flesh and blood but looking only to my journies end It is my Ministry I must perform it as I am enjoined not seeking to please my self and much less any other but only my Master Nor need we ask the Eunuchs question I pray thee of whom speaketh the Prophet this of himself or of some other man Acts 8. 34. For Saint Paul in the same place gives the answer to this question in that he alledgeth his own example not as Personal but as Doctrinal making this inference upon it Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the flock over the which the Holy-Ghost hath made you oversers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood v. 28. He gives them 4. reasons why they should be as carefull in their Trust as he had been in his 1. That they had the charge of the flock and were to answer for those that should go astray Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock 2. That they have this charge imposed on them by the Spirit of God Over which the Holy-Ghost hath made you Overseers 3. That this charge neerly concerned the Church of God which he owned for his own peculiar To feed the Church of God 4. That this charge neerly concerned the Son of God and might not be neglected without the inexpiable guilt of profaning and contemning his blood which was the only price of our souls and the only expiation of our sins which he hath purchased with his own blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith S. Chrysost see how many necessities are here joyned together you have your Ordination or Commission from the spirit of God there 's one necessity you are entrusted with the Church of God there 's another necessity you are entrusted with the blood of God there 's a third necessity This is the necessity that St. Paul thought was laid upon him of preaching the Gospel when he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Necessitas enim mihi incumbit for necessity is laid upon me 1 Cor. 9. 16. and the same necessity hath he laid upon all his Successors in the Ministry to the worlds end as plainly appears in his charge to Timothy his chiefest Successor in this Trust at Ephesus to whom he saith I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickneth all things and before Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession that thou keep this Commandment without spot unrebukable untill the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ which charge it was impossible for Timothy to perform by himself because he was to die long before the coming of Christ it must therefore be performed by his successors who are to continue till Christs coming that they may perform it as Saint Ambrose glosseth upon the place non solicitus à cura Timothei tam circumspectus est sed propter successores eius This charge was given thus circumspectly in this strict manner to Timothy not that S. Paul doubted of him but that all the world might see it was not given to him alone but also to all his successors And so much concerning the Trust that was given by God to the particular Church of Ephesus whereof Timothy was the Bishop or the chiefest Trustee whence Oecumenius tells us upon those words of S. Paul to him I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus 1 Tim. 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here he made him Bishop of the Church of Ephesus He that is Saint Paul but as the instrument of the Holy Ghost for so Saint Paul himself had told us before That the Holy Ghost had made him Bishop of that Church and all his fellow Presbyters in some sort Bishops with him Over which the holy-Ghost hath made you overseers some were overseers of the flock but he also of the shepherds themselves and the commission is accordingly Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock every Presbyter was a Bishop or an overseer in regard of the flock but he was also Bishop or Overseer in regard of the Presbyters in the regard of the Ministery and not only of the People this is Oecumenius his gloss upon the fourth of the Ephesians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those who were entrusted with whole Churches he peculiarly calleth Bishops such as was Timothy and Titus And doubtless such Trustees as these were more especially interested in that admonition concerning the Wolves or the false Pastors v. 30. 31. for therefore said he they shall arise that those to whom he said it should suppress them when they did arise But however they were all in common Gods Trustees for that place and people though not all equally entrusted God the Father entrusted them with his flock God the Son entrusted them with his blood God the Holy-Ghost entrusted them with his Truth Go now you that despise the Ministers whom God hath set over you but take this advice along with you Take heed you despise not at once God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost Goe now you that invade the office of the Ministers whom God hath not made overseers of his flock nor entrusted with his word or with his people yet you will needs be feeding his Church but take this advice before you go take heed he say not to you at the last day Who hath required this at your hands Isai 1. 12. for sure he will charge you with a profanation because he hath not charged you with a Trust look not upon that office as profitable and glorious which God will have looked upon as terrible and dangerous no less dangerous if undertaken without his commission then if forsaken against it The like is to be averred concerning the Trust of the particular Church of Creet The people of which Island Saint Paul plainly commended to Titus and his fellow Presbyters as himself hath professed For this cause left I thee in Creet that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting and ordain Elders in every City Tit. 1. 5. Why was he to ordain more Bishops but because the Trust was too great for one Bishop So saith Oecumenius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For he would not that such a great Island should be committed one Bishop but that every City should have her own Pastor or Bishop For by Elders or Presbyters he meaneth Bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Chrysostome He would that every particular Bishop should have his
not justly be condemned by another Church much less opposed or deserted by her own state For that such a Church is without doubt Gods Trustee and hath not been faulty in the discharge of her Trust and may not be hindred or molested in dischaging it SECT VIII The Trust of particular Churches is immediately from God himself both in regard of the Magistrate and of the Minister That Trust much stood upon in the Primitive times and ought to be so still because it is founded on the holy Scriptures And that this Doctrine concerning the Trust of particular Churches doth not canton or disjoynt the Catholick Church T IS no hard matter to prove That particular Churches are Gods immediate Trustees though they have but a limited Trust For else will follow the greatest absurdity that can be imagined and much greater that may be granted viz. That God hath left the blood of his Son the dictates of his Spirit the honour of his name exposed to all the contempts and prophanations and corruptions of perverse and ignorant and wicked men if he hath not entrusted them all with some such persons who are bound to see them neither prophaned nor contemned nor corrupted And who were those his Trustees at first but only his Apostles and who have they been ever since but their Successors Bishops and Ministers Take heed unto the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers Acts 20. 28. O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy Trust 1 Tim. 6. 20. The Minister whether Bishop or Priest is immediately intrusted with the care of souls and with those truths and administrations which directly concern the soul For the civil Magistrate though he be Christian yet is not capable of discharging the spiritual part of this Trust being not called of God as was Aaron to do the office of a Priest though he be called of God as was Moses to have power and dominion over Priests For in that he is governour of the State he is also governour of the Church which is in and within the State and in that he is governour of the Church he must needs have his share in the Trust of the Church concerning Religion as far as Religion is liable to the government of the State sc to be ordered protected and defended by it For as God at first used the extraordinary power of miracles to maintain his word and Sacraments and to strike the opposers and profaners of them either with death or with other corporal punishments as S. Paul saith of the Corinthians For this cause many are weakly and sick among you and many sleep 1 Cor. 11. 30. sc because of your profaning the blessed Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ So in process of time he was pleased to use the ordinary power of the Civil Magistrate for the same purposes never leaving himself without witness having given a directive and spiritual power to the Ministery a coactive and external power to the Magistracy for the suppressing of wickedness and vice and for the promoting of true Religion and Virtue Therefore both Magistracy and Ministery have the immediate Trust of Religion and God hath commanded both to assist hath allowed neither to oppose the other in the execution of his Trust Both are obliged to see there be a right exercise of Religion the one to perform it the other to countenance and protect it And both have their Trust immediately from God and this is that which I call the Trust of particular Churches nor is it to be imagined That if God had given the Trust of all Churches to some general Vicar of his who derived his power immediately from him and was to derive the same to others but that he would have given some notice of this universal Trustee that others might not invade this Trust without his leave much less manage it without his Authority yet this he was willing to plead for who said Petrus Paulo dedit licentiam praedicandi Gl. in Grat. Dist 11. cap. 11. that Saint Peter gave Saint Paul a licence to preach and that Authoritate Domini by Gods own command who said Acts 13. Sepatate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereto I have called them He will needs bring Saint Peter from Jerusalem to Antioch of purpose to lay his hands on Saint Paul though the Holy-Ghost reckons up these particular men who were bid do that work and reckons not Saint Peter among them nay though Saint Paul himself plainly tels us that he had Preached full three years before he once saw Saint Peter Gal. 1. 17 18. and then was fain to go up to Jerusalem not to Antioch to see him and only to see him not to receive commission or Instruction from him So Saint Chrysostome upon the words Gal. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He wanted Peter for nothing but being equal in honour with him that I may say no more now yet he went up to him as to his Superiour and his Ancient And he tell us this of purpose saith he that we should not think the ensuing reprehension proceeded either out of hatred or envy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is plain he loved the man and respected him more then any other of the Apostles for he saith Other of the Apostles saw I none Yet he did but go to see him not to learn of him much less to receive spiritual power from him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I did but see him I did not learn of him saith the same Saint Chrysostome And indeed it is scarce imaginable that Saint Paul was rapt up into the third Heaven the proper dwelling place of God to hear unspeakable words to be Tongue-tied on earth by any man so as not to be able to preach without his License Nay on the contrary it is clearly evident from the Holy Scriptures and from all Antiquity that not only Saint Paul but also all the other Apostles did Preach the Gospel found Churches ordain Bishops excommunicate offenders without any delegation from Saint Peter only by their own immediate Authority And it is also evident that they all derived their Authority to their several Churches after them and that those several Churches did very much insist upon that authority which they could not lawfully have done had it not been derived to them by the Apostles Thus Saint Cyprian pleads for his Church of Carthage Ne quisquam se Episcopum Episcoporum constituat aut tyrannico terrore ad obsequendi necessitatem collegas suos adigat quando habeat omnis Episcopus pro licentia libertatis potestatis suae arbitrium proprium tanquam judicari ab alio non possit quà m nec ipse possit alterum judicare Neither let any man make himself a Bishop of Bishops nor by his tyrannical threats seek to compell his collegues to be his Vassals since every Bishop hath his own native liberty and power to determine for himself as one that may neither Iudge his fellow-Bishop
the good behaviour and God himself hath in effect told us as much in giving us so many set forms of prayers in the holy Bible SECT XIV The third and last part of the Churches trust concerning Religion is touching the holy Sacraments wherein our Church is not faulty either in the number or in the administration of them as exactly following our Saviours institution nor in the manner of administring as following it with reverence REligion being above the light of nature to understand it must needs be above the power of nature to command it Hence the acts of the Theological vertues are prescribed by the positive Law of God because they belong properly to Religion But the acts of moral vertues are prescribed by the Law of nature because they belong to Reason yet are they in truth injurious to Religion who will allow nothing to be moral but what they can prove to be natural For the positive Law of God doth constitute moralities to the Christian as well as the inbred Law of nature doth constitute moralities to the Man This appears plainly in the Sacraments which are not to be accounted as Ceremonies because they come not under the authority of the Church either for their institution or alteration or abolition and must therefore be accounted as moralities though they are not at all commanded by the Law of nature but only by the Law of God That these Sacraments are a part of the Churches trust is unquestionable because the Gospel is For the vocal word and the visible word Verbum Vocale verbum visibile both alike are duties of the Christian Religion for the glory of God and of the Christian Communion for the edification of man but all the duties both of Religion and Communion are committed to the Churches trust God having appointed his own Ministers as his special Trustees both for preaching his word and for administring his Sacraments So that no man can administer a Sacrament but in the person of God and he hath not licensed every one that will to take upon him his person but only such to whom he hath given his special deputation And this is more peculiarly manifest concerning the two Sacraments properly so called that is Baptism and the Lords holy Supper For our blessed Saviour said only to his Apostles Go ye therefore and baptize in respect of the one and do ye this in remembrance of me in respect of the other As for the five additional Sacraments they were never looked upon as integral parts of Gods ordinary publick worship and therefore though they could be proved Sacraments yet they would not come under our present discourse But in truth they cannot be proved Sacraments according to the proper definition of a Sacrament which is this A Sacrament is an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace given to us and ordained by Christ himself as a means to convey that grace and as a pledge to assure us thereof Let us examine this definition by its causes and we shall easily perceive that it belongs only to Baptism and the Holy Eucharist and therefore they two only are to be called Sacraments First by its efficient cause Given and ordained by Christ himself which is clear of these two for they were instituted by him and have his precept and promise in the very words of their institution which cannot be asserted concerning any of the other Secondly by its material cause outward visible sign inward spiritual Grace which are both manifestly known in Baptism and the Holy Eucharist but neither in any of the rest For Pennance hath no outward visible sign at all and Matrimony Orders Confirmation Extream unction have no outward visible signs of Christs appointing And much less have any of these that inward spiritual Grace which is annexed to Baptism and the Holy Eucharist To wit Christ with all his merits and mercies whereby of God He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1. 30. For we dare not say that any man is by any of these five either born and initiated or nourished and confirmed in Christ Thirdly by its formal cause An outward visible sign of an inward spiritual Grace Whereby it appears that the internal and proper form of a Sacrament is the necessary conjunction or connexion of the sign and the thing signified which conjunction is so undeniable in our two Sacraments that Baptism is called the washing of regeneration Tit. 3. 5. And the holy Eucharist the Communion of the body and blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. For that these two are not only signs and seals but also conveyances of grace unto the soul whereas the other five though they have something of the sign yet they have nothing at all of the seal or of the conveyance of grace Lastly by its final cause As a means to convey Grace and as a pledge to assure us thereof The end of a Sacrament is partly our Communion with Christ and partly our acknowledgement of that Communion This twofold end is very apparent in Baptism and in the holy Eucharist which doth procure our Communion with Christ and also require our acknowledgement of that Communion but in the rest either the one is without the other or there is a want of both For either there is no Communion with Christ or there is no acknowledgement of that Communion whereas a Sacrament is a seal of Gods Covenant and therefore in its own nature is a double pledge to wit of Gods grace and favour to man and of mans duty and thankfulness to God For as it is a sign of Gods grace to us so it should be a sign of Gods grace in us For in the very signification of a Sacrament there is a mutual respect one on Gods part offering grace another on mans part promising obedience If either of these be wanting the holy rite may be a mysterie but it cannot be a Sacrament properly so called since a Sacrament is the seal of a Covenant and a Covenant is a mutual engagement of two parties which in this case are God and Man Therefore a Sacrament is from the very end of its institution perpetual in its continuance and common in its use Perpetual in its continuance because Gods Covenant is not for a day but for ever t is an everlasting Covenant And common in its use because Gods Covenant is not for one but for all t is a general an universal Covenant Non enim propter unius seculi homines venit Christus sed propter omnes qui illius membra futuri sunt saith Irenâ—us lib. 4. adver haereses cap. 39. Christ came not into the world for the men of one age or of one order but for all that should be his true and faithful members in all ages and all orders of men whatsoever And upon this ground we cannot but say that the Sacraments which do exhibit and convey Christ do alike belong to men of all ages
he gave his mind to the holiness of the Temple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and would not let Uzziah offer incense therefore it is said he it is that executed the Priests office because he was most zealous for the glory of the Priest-hood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Kimchi it seems by the Text that officiating in the Priests office without being a Priest was a profanation under the Law and why should we think otherwise under the Gospel since those who now succeed them in the administration of publick worship have obtained a more excellent ministry by how much they are the Mediators of a better Covenant Heb. 8. 6. For those words though spoken directly of Christ yet are proportionably true of the Ministry instituted by him who are surely the Mediators of a better Covenant therefore have obtained a more excellent Ministry consequently to invade their office must needs be a more dangerous profanation and we see those who are guilty of it are commonly even to this day struck as Vzziah was though not with a corporal yet with a spiritual leprosie that infects more dangerously though less discernably And if their office may not be invaded without profanation then much less may it be despised opposed without irreligion For God gave all the authority belonging to the Ministry of the New Testament to our Saviour Christ and he gave the same to his Apostles with power and command of giving it to others after them to the worlds end so saith the Text John 20. 24. As my father hath sent me Therrs the authority of the Ministry given unto Christ even so I send you there 's the same authority given by him to his Apostles not only for themselves but also for others for as Christ was sent that he might send them so were they sent that they might send others after them Thus Saint Paul saith for himself According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust 1 Tim. 1. 11. And he saith no less for Saint Timothy I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other Doctrine And again This charge I commit unto thee 1 Tim 1. 3. 18. Thereby acknowledging that he had received this trust not only to discharge it himself but also to commit it to others that should discharge it after him For this calling of Ministers having been instituted for the perfection of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ Ephes 4. 12. t is evident it must be continued as long as there shall be any Saints to be perfected or the work of the Ministry to be performed or the body of Christ to be edified and as evident that it may not be despised or opposed by any who will not put himself out of the communion of Saints or cut himself off from the body of Christ For the Text is as plain as if it had been written with a Sun beam which saith He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you dispiseth me and he that despiseth me dispiseth him that sent me Luke 10. 16. He that despiseth you that are sent by me despiseth me that sent you and he that despiseth me that am sent of my Father despiseth him that sent me nor may we say that our Ministers are not sent of God for how shall they preach except they be sent doth now infer as well as then that if there be no sending there can be no preaching either we must say that preaching and consequently praying and administring the Sacraments for there is the same reason of all is not Gods work or that those who lawfully do it have Gods authority for what they do And if they have Gods authority how shall they not have my obedience Saint Pauls saith not only for himself and his assistants but also for all that were to succeed him in his Ministry We were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel 1 Thes 2. 4. They have Gods allowance or approbation and may lawfully undertake the Ministry of the Gospel nay more they have Gods command or trust and must necessarily discharge what they have undertaken so the same Saint Paul Necessity is laid upon me yea woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel 1 Cor. 9 16. Not speaking the words occasionally concerning his person we must betray the authority of the Scripture to say so making it an imperfect rule to give us only momentary or occasional directions but doctrinally concerning his calling and therefore this woe lieth upon all those that succeed him in the Ministry binding them to use their utmost endeavours both by their preaching and by their living and by their dying to advance the Gospel of Christ or if they do not their duty this woe lieth upon them and consequently if they do it lâ—eeth upon those that oppose or hinder them For it is a clear case that our Saviour Christ hath in every Nation of Christendom entrusted his worship and Word and Sacraments and what ever else directly concerns the salvation of souls with some peculiar men who must rather forgoe their lives then forsake their trust to whom he still saith as he did to his Apostles when he first gave them his commission Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell Mat. 10. 28. They were not to fear mens killing if they did their duty but Gods killing if they did it not And least the world should think them hated of God because they were by him exposed to all dangers in another place where he still deterreth them from fearfulness in discharging this trust he calleth them his friends And I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will fore-warn you whom you shall fear fear him that after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him Luke 12. 4 5. They are to prefer the discharge of their Trust above their lives and shall not I prefer it above my humour Shall I think that my Saviour who hath bid me take him for an heathen or a publican that neglects to hear the Church will take me for a good Christian if I my self be guilty of that neglect Mat. 18. 17. I will then willingly acknowledge that those only to whom Christ hath given the power of loosing and binding in heaven are in this respect called the Church for so the sequele of the context there requires and that if I hear not these I shall be in his account but as a heathen or a publican For this is the Church which God hath in this Nation entrusted with the blood of his Son with the dictates of his Spirit and with the souls of his
People and I must hear this Church as I would have the benefit of his Sons blood as I would have the instructions of his holy Spirit and as I would not forfeit the salvation of mine own Soul Wherefore though the whole world turn round to a meer spiritual diziness or reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man yet this shall be the sober resolution of my soul I will not sin against that authority which God hath set over me He hath called his Ministers his friends I will not call them mine enemies least I put my self out of his friendship I find that God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost hath set them over me and how shall I answer it to this blessed Trinity if I oppose my self against them or rather set my self over them T is St. Athanasius his observation Ath. lib. de communi essentiâ Patris Filii Sp. S. That the election of Ministers in Gods Church is in the book of God equally attributed to all three persons of the holy and blessed Trinity Saint Paul attributeth it to God the Father 1 Cor. 12. 28. God hath set some in the Church first Apostles Secundarily Prophets Thirdly Teachers c. Again The same S. Paul attributeth this work to God the Son Eph. 4. 11. And he gave some Apostles sc He that had descended into the lower parts of the earth and was now ascended into heaven and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers And lastly the same Saint Paul attributeth the choice of Ministers to God the Holy-Ghost Acts 20. 28. Take heed unto your selves and to all the flock over the which the Holy-Ghost hath made you Overseers God the Father Son and Holy Ghost hath made them my Overseers and shall I strive to make them my Underlings And what shall I answer at the last day to this God whose authority I have contemned and whose power I shall not be able to resist when he will call me to an account and pronounce against my soul and execute upon it the sentence of eternal dammnaton for my contempt He hath said expresly Obedite praepositis vestris subjacete eis Heb. 13. 17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you There are some certain men that have charge of the peoples souls and are accordingly to give an account of that charge Those are here called their Rulers or Leaders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Their Captains to train and lead them under Christs banner A word of great humility in regard of their communion with them in the same Christian duties and combates but a word of great authority in regard of their command over them in so much that Gregor Nazian in the first of his steliteuticks calls the Ministers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The order of those that govern and the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that are under that order of government or those who are to be governed The one are set over the other are set under by the power of God the Father by the wisdom of God the Son and by the goodness of God the Holy-Ghost so that to disturb and to destroy this order is little less then to proclaim enmity against the eternal power and wisdom and goodness of God This is reason enough why we should obey because God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost hath made them our Rulers but yet the words enforce another reason of our obedience because they watch for our souls And are accordingly called watch-men in the Text Son of man I have made thee a watch-man to the house of Israel therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me Ezek. 3. 17. Speculatorem dedi te speculator qui est aliis vice oculorum i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Calvin upon the place A watch-man is one who is to others instead of eyes that is an Overseer or a Bishop we find here God hath divolved to him a double trust here is verbum commissum Animae commissae Gods word is committed to his care and mens souls are committed to his cure He is entrusted with Gods word hear the word at my mouth and he is entrusted with his neighbours Souls Give them warning from me His office was instituted meerly for the glory of God and the salvation of men and I cannot oppose it but I must be an enemy both to God and Man And if I be an enemy to Gods glory here how shall I hope to enjoy it hereafter If I oppose the Salvation of others how shall he that came to be their Saviour take a care to save me For I do what is in me to trample his blood under my feet and how can I hope that he should sprinkle it upon my soul nor may I say that these Texts were only occasional or this trust was only temporal such as concerned the Prophets and Apostles but not others after them unless I will moreover say which in truth I am afraid to think That God hath now a less care then he had then both of his own glory and of our salvation both of his own word and of our souls These spiritual watch-men were as necessary in Saint Pauls time as in Ezekiels and in our times as then And consequently they are to us what the Prophets were to the Jews or the Apostles to the Primitive Christians saving only their extraordinary commission and endowments Ezekiel was to give warning to the Jews and Saint Paul was to give warning to the Gentiles for so himself saith whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus Col. 1. 28. And our watch-men are now to give warning unto us by vertue of the same commissions and therefore Saint Paul speaketh in the plural number saying whom we preach comprizing the whole body of the Ministry wherefore also he saith warning every man and that we may present every man which was impossible for himself alone and indeed for all the Preachers of his time because there were to be infinite sucessions of men which could not be their auditors whereby it is evident that as long as there shall be men to be warned and taught and presented perfect in Christ Jesus so long there must be Preachers to warn and teach and to present them whose duty and office is accordingly here described 1. In the nature of it To warn and to teach not only to deliver sound doctrine which is teaching but also to apply it by particular exhortations according to the capacities or wants of theit auditors which is warning or admonishing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putting your mind to theirs that they may understand what you say not soaring aloft in sublime speculations above their apprehensions or putting