compleating of his most glorious design in this day of his power he will most certainly get himself a name in casting it down and having commanded his Light to shine out of Darkness Joh. 1.5 though the darkness of mens hearts will not receive it yet his Commandment still continueth in force and his word runneth very swiftly In a word true and great and marvellous and invincible is the light of this day concerning which much might be spoken from the predictions of the Prophets who prophecyed of this day and much might be added from the triumphant exultations of the Apostles whose eyes were first opened to see the light of this day but there is no need to undertake any further the clearing of the truth of this point for the day it self doth declare it the Sun which is the light and life of this day being not onely risen but ascended and not onely risen and ascended but fixed in his Meridian never more to descend till time be no more Nescit occasum Let us therefore now come to improve it by some close Applications unto us all whose lot it is to live under this Light First Seeing that this time of the Gospel is such a Lightsome day we then that are the Children of the day are to take notice of those Duties which the day requireth of us First whereof is that we rejoyce and be glad in it Truely Light is sweet saith Solomon and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun Eccles 11.7 1. Duty Ec. 11.7 How sweet then and pleasant a thing is it to behold the light of this day wherein the Glory of the Lord is risen upon the Church Es 60.1 as the Prophet foretold it should Es 60.1 That glory which since the beginning of the world was out of the reach and apprehension of any Creature which yet notwithstanding was earnestly longed for by the Holy and faithful Servants of God of old How happy would Abraham Isaac Jacob Moses David Hezekiah Josiah Esaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel c. have accounted themselves to have seen that Glory which is now revealed How full of joy would they have been in the light of this day wherein with open face we behold as in a Mirroir the Glory of the Lord saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 3. 2 Cor. 3.18 Nay wherein all flesh seeth the Salvation of God wherein the Word of God comes with power and evidence and Demonstration wherein the Spirit is shed forth abundantly in the hearts of Believers wherein knowledg covereth the earth even as the waters covers the seas so that God's people now need teach no more every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother the sense and meaning of the Shadows and Ceremonies of old saying Jer. 31.34 Know the Lord the Lord whom these things do typifie and so far as such carnal Ordinances are able make known unto you for now is fulfilled that which then the Lord promised saying they shall all know me from the least of them to the Greatest of them The whole Mystery of Godliness is now clearly revealed in so much that they who are endued with the Spirit of God know all things yea 1 Job 2.20 Act. 2.17 even Children and Handmaidens people of all sorts and Sexes understand more fully the Doctrine of Salvation then the Prophets and great Rabbies of old could be able to reach into And therefore it is worth our considering how emphatically the Spirit of God in scripture doth found out this word now in reference to the great glory of this day of the Gospel to that very end that all who are I say Children of the Day may see the Light and rejoyce in it Observe some instances Behold now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 Now is manifested the Righteousness of God Rom. 3.22 2 Cor. 6 2. Rom. 3.22 Eph 3.10 Eph. 3.5 Col. 1.26 1 Joh. 2.8 Now is made known the manifold Wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 The Mystery which was hidden from Ages and Generations is now revealed Eph. 3.5 Col. 1.26 The Darkness is past the true Light now shineth 1 Joh. 2.8 Now Now Now implying that now and never before the dawning of this day there was a light in the world to be reckoned of the highest value O blessed and happy Day And for ever and ever blessed be that good Providence of Heaven that hath brought us to see the Light of this Day making it unto us a good Day A Day of good tidings A day of Reconciliation with the God of Heaven A Day of joy and gladness Let us therefore I say again and again rejoyce and be glad in it Let the Children of the World glory some in their carnal wisdom some in their strength some in their riches But let us glory in this that we underl and and know the Lord. Now in this serene and joyful day of his gracious visitation did Abraham with great pleasure and rapture of spirit rejoyce to see this day afar off and shall not we now rejoyce when it is at hand yea when it comes upon us and the Light of it shineth round about us Surely we are not Abrahams Children unless we do the works of Abraham and if herein we do not rejoyce we are not of the Faith of Abraham and consequently shall not be blessed with him Objection But alas you 'll say this day is a day of trouble of rebuke and blasphemy of trouble to the Churches of Christ throughout the world of rebuke for God is angry with the world for sin of Blasphemy the Provocations wherewith God is provoked every day being very great reaching up into Heaven And should we now rejoyce Answer I Answer It is indeed a day of trouble to the people of God and possibly if they had rejoyced more for the consolation which their eyes have seen they had not seen so much trouble upon them as they do this day But nevertheless albeit there be so great and sore afflictions lying upon the Churches which all the Children of the Day must be sensible of yet in the midst of all this sorrow there is cause of rejoycing for why it is not a Night of trouble wherein no succour or comfort can be found but the Light of the Lord so shineth out before his people that they may plainly see his good works which with an out-stretched arme he hath wrought and still doth for their deliverance Ps 112.4 Vnto the Righteous saith the Psalmist Ps 112.4 Ariseth Light in Darkness that is in the darkest times of trouble then hath their light of comfort been wont to arise most And therefore though in some respect the day be somewhat cloudy yet it is not a Dismal Day though the Affliction be great yet the consolations of God are not so small with us but we may glorifie God in this day and rejoyce before him True you 'll say But alas we remember
make known our requests unto him and to receive instruction and benedictions from him what a priviledge is it peculiar to this day to finde the Lord Jesus Christ in his Regal and Pontifical attire walking in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks that is in the assemblies of his people breathing upon them with his spirit and insinuating himself kindly into their hearts by his word and Sacraments Are not the goings of the Lord the Lord I say our God and our King in his Sanctuary worthy to be traced by us especially when the savour of his Oyntments doth so spread it self that it is sensibly to be discerned What do not the words of God do good to those that walk uprightly Shall God all the day long from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same stretch out his hands unto us filled with the choicest of his blessings that ever he did hold out to the Children of men And shall not we put forth our hands to receive them Is it nothing to have Satan fall down like Lightning before us in the powerful dispensations of Gospel-Ordinances O how happy were we if we knew our Happiness But since I am fallen upon a serious expostulation in this case suffer me I beseech you good brethren that belong unto this Congregation to bring it home to your Consciences by a particular application and without offense bee that speech which is intended not to offend but onely to affect with a clear Truth Yesterday it is like if there had been a Sermon in this place here would have been a full Congregation To day also it appeareth our Assembly is greater then it was wont to be upon these dayes yet yesterday and to day and all our dayes what do we that are your Ministers but work the work of him that sent us preaching peace by Jesus Christ he is Lord of all Whence is it then that our Message is despised That the holy and divine Ordinance of preaching is so much sleighted by your absenting your selves upon such dayes of the week wherein Ministers come freely to impart unto you some spiritual gift such as they have received from the Lord If indeed we did preach any other Gospel then that which the Church of God hath received from the beginning or any other Jesus then him who is the same yesterday to day and for ever ye might have just cause to despise our ministery and to hold us accursed But when we bring unto you no other doctrine of salvation then that which hath been professed and maintained by the Church of God in all Ages sealed and confirmed by the bloud of Martyres yea by the bloud of God himself accompanied also with the mighty operations of the spirit of God to the conversion and salvation of multitudes that hear it how can you without contracting unto your selves an extraordinary guilt in the sight of God refuse as you do to resort to this place at such times when this word is faithfully preached having no lawful lett to hinder you and to keep you from it Do you not hereby openly proclaim unto the world that you have no care of your souls what becomes of them whether they sink or swim whether they saved or damned Pro. 15.32 He that refuseth instruction saith Solomon despiseth his own soul Nay is it not a plain demonstration of too great an impiety as that you care not for God himself that you regard him not fear him not nourishing in your hearts a secret atheism and enmity against him Where there is not a desire of the knowledge of Gods waies there is questionless a slender account made of the majesty of God and a secret if not an open separation from him To this purpose saith Job They that desire not the knowledge of his waies say unto him in their hearts depart from us Nay more Job 21.14 To refuse to hear the word preached when we may and God offereth it unto us at such a time I say to have no minde to it no love to it but disdainfully to turn our backs upon it is a greater sin according to the judgment of Christ himself then the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah Hear what he saith Matth. 10.14.15 And what he speaketh there to his Disciples Matth 10.14.15 he speaks to all his servants lawfully called to the work of the ministery into whatsoever City you enter and they receive you not shake off the dust of your feet Verily I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for the Land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment then for that City Weâ—l be assured of it when all 's done and the time of reckoning shall come This will be found to be a very great sin It will not boot thee then poor man to say I have been careful to celebrate the commemoration of my Saviours Nativity at the usual time of the year no no thy observation of this Ecclesiastical Constitution will not by ten thousand talents counterpoize thy great sin in disobeying the commandment of thy God by so frequent refusing to hear him as thou doest at other time of the year when he speaks unto thee in the ministery of his word Whereas therefore you will do this from which I will not disswade you Do not leave the other undone which God hath so expresly commanded should be done but to day hear his voice and harden not your hearts There are sundry other Ordinances which the children of the day might here be exhorted to walk in But it will not be expedient now to insist upon them all severally onely let the Sacraments which are together with the word the prime Ordinances of this day have that regard which is due unto them The Lord we know hath commanded that we should walk in them For as he said of old under the Law Lev. 18.4 So hath he in effect spoken it again and again in the Gospel concerning his Sacraments especially Levit. 18.4 ye shall keep mine Ordinances to walk therein I am the Lord your God Observe It is not said to talk and discourse of them onely as the manner of some is now-a-daies much less to keep them closed up and confined within those narrow limits which our late upstart Anabaptistical Projectors have devised with whom there hath been too much tampering and compliancy even almost to the irrepairable ruine of that whole Evangelical Institute under which we have hitherto prospered but to walk in them that is to use them both for our incorporation into his Church and our corroboration in it Since then the Lord hath commanded us this service we had not best stand arguing still about the administration of it and in the mean time leave it quite undone But let Ministers and People look to it betimes least the anger of the Lord smoke yet more and more against them for their disobedience Thus much for that which concerns the children of the day and what
Church of Rome If then that Cause so much pleaded for had such ill Consequents attending upon it may we not well say Sublatâ Causâ tollitur Effectus When the Cause is taken away the Effect will follow At least as I said before there is great hope it shall follow especially now when God hath in Mercy set over us a Man of Understanding and Knowledge Pro. 28.2 to lengthen out the State and Tranquillity of our Countrey when for the Transgressions of it it was by the Intrusion of Usurpers neer unto utter ruine A Man I say after his own heart Tutour'd and Bred up by him like David in the school of affliction Whose Heart is also fixed upon God to serve him in Righteousness and true Holiness A Prince so pious that he makes it his work and accounts it his glory to have true Religion established amongst his people in the Power and Purity of it See his Majesties Proclamation May 30. 1660. Witness his extreme dislike of Profaness which he hasted to publish the very next day after his happy Return unto us Commanding it to be read in all Churches monethly for six moneths after But well worthy indeed to be set up in them as a perpetual Monument of Piety to all Generations Wherein he declares the Purpose and Resolution of his Religious Heart in these words We will not exercise just Severity against any Malefactours sooner then against men of Dissolute Debauched and Prophane lives with what parts soever they may be otherwise qualified and endowed Requiring all Majors Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace to be very vigilant and strict in the Discovery and Prosecution of all Dissolute and Profane Persons such as blaspheme the Name of God by profane swearing and cursing or revile and disturb Ministers and despise the publick worship of God Witness also the Declaration which his Majesty set forth Octob. 25 immediately following concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs wherein he hath made known to God and the world That his Resolution is and shall be to promote the Power of Godliness to encourage the Exercises of Religion both publick and private and to take care that the Lords Day be applied to Holy Exercises without unnecessary divertisements and that Insufficient Negligent and Scandalous Ministers be not permitted in the Church Which being so What is it but a profane slander of the footsteps of Gods Anointed both of Christ himself and his Vicegerent over us to amuse the world with false reports of a return to profaness as if the Times were now become so loose that Wickedness should be established by a Law Whereas there was never more likelihood then now if the Devil through the turbulent spirits of factious Schismaticks did not hinder it for Religion to prosper and Holiness to flourish Away then with Profaness and let Superstition pack together with it for what entertainment is it like here to finde When King Charls the Sufferer L. Bishop of Winton the sonne of King Charls the Martyr as a Reverend Father of our Church hath worthily proclaimed him is new by the Divine Power and Goodness settled upon his Throne to be the Defender of that Faith for which he suffered That Faith I say which the Church of England professeth in opposition to the Church of Rome From which as it was observed by that Loyal and Peace-making Parliament that first so happily brought the Nation under his Majesties Government neither the Temptation of Allurements Perswasions and Promises from seducing Papists on the one hand nor the Persecution and hard Vsage from some seduced and mis-guided Professours of the Protestant Religion on the other hand could at all prevail upon him to make him swerve in the least Degree But chose rather still to suffer Afflictions though never so grievous as Moses did then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season by so doing For which his Name shall be sweet and his Memorial precious in all the Churches of Christ to the end of the World I say then again Is it like that Superstition in any kinde should be Tolerated much less shall it be Established under the Government of so famous a Sufferer for the Protestant Profession yea and so active a Defender of it who hath made it manifest that his Care and Study is for the propagation thereof And who hath solemnly professed that nothing shall be proposed to testifie his Zeal and Affection for it to which he will not readily consent It will be objected What do we hear Words when we see Deeds Is there not an Actual return to Superstition in this Land now when the Ceremonies which were cast out are brought in again and the Liturgie restored And what are these but either the Issues of Will-worship which the Holy Scripture doth condemn or the Bratts of Babylon which should be taken not to be cherisht but to be dasht against the stones Besides Is not the Government also by Bishops set up again in its former Height which is not warranted by the word of God If we then should consent to these things How shall we like unto Jesus Christ our Pattern in the Text continue faithful with God in our Conformity to his Rule which he hath set us I answer First we may be still the same in a constant Adherency to the Foundation though we may as Divine Providence leads us whether it be in Judgment or in Mercy vary sometimes from that which is Circumstantial of which nature are those things that are here objected unto us and our fidelity to the former wil certainly entitle us to a faithful Imitation of Jesus Christ notwithstanding our change in the latter Nay is it not a great weakning of the Foundation and an injurious imputation put upon the Master-Builder to lay so much weight upon Circumstantials as to make them Unchangeable when they are not of his particular appointment though allowed by him to be annexed to his Building It is Superstition doubtless so to set up External Rites in competition with the Everlasting Rule of the Gospel as if they were not upon any Emergency whatsoever to be altered or removed And it is as ranck Superstition on the other side after they have been removed and restored again Superstitio ex super stando qua significatur nimium ese Sen. Epist 123. pertinaciously to stand in opposition against them especially when Experience hath made it manifest that the removal of them hath introduced much disorder and profaness in the service of God But we may appeal unto Christ himself to Judge in this Case Whether or no when a Christian Magistrate that truly feareth God taking notice of a great decay of Religion which by a wild and lawless Liberty hath been brought amongst his Subjects shall for the improvement of Piety recommend unto them a Form of Divine Service accompanied with such Rites and Ceremonies as are in force by Law and in the observing whereof True Religion hath formerly flourished Whether I say
his own and his own c. John 1.14 The word was made flesh c. Acts 1.6 When they therefore were come together c. Acts 1.7 It is not for you to know the times c. Rom. 8.19 For the earnest expectation of the Creature c. Rom. 8.20 For the creature was made subject to vanity c. Rom. 8.21 Because the creature also it self shall be delivered c. Rom. 8.22 For we know that the whole Creation groaneth c. Rom. 8.29 The first-born among many Brethren c. Rom. 11.25 Blindness in part is hapned to Israel until c. Rom. 11.26 And so all Israel shall be saved c. Rom. 11.27 For this is my Covenant with them when c. Gal. 4.5 To redeem them that were under the Law that we c. Col. 1.15 Who is the Image of the invisible God c. 1 Tim. 2.5 For there is one God and one Mediatour c. Tit. 1.5 For this cause left I thee in Crete c. Tit. 1.7 For a Bishop must be blameless c. 1 Pet. 4.17 For the time is come that judgement must begin c. 1 Pet. 4.18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved c. Rev. 1.11 I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last c. The Interpretation of these Texts of Scripture Gentle Reader as they are rendred in this Treatise I do leave unto thy most serious consideration Not but that there are besides these sundry Expositions of other places of Scripture here also given that are not usual yet nevertheless may well be conceived to be according to truth without condemning those that have been commonly received These likewise you will meet with as you go along in your reading and will require your most ponderous meditations Onely I do desire that when you meet with an interpretation of the Holy Scripture which may seem somewhat strange unto you not to be hasty in passing censure upon it till you have found the whole discourse about it to be fully finished Again it will perhaps be objected unto me by some that I do here take but a slight occasion to be very large and vehement in maintaining the honour of our Church against her Adversaries by justifying the Order which she observeth in the Publick Worship of God and Ecclesiastical Government Whereto it may well be answered Is there not a cause When not onely the Church which is our Mother the most eminent Pillar and Stay of Divine Truth hath been miserably rent and torn by Schismes and Divisions but our Lord Jesus Christ himself also was very much dishonoured thereby being made by a sort of wretched people the very Authour and Fautor of their Divisions as if he had not been and were not still to be to his poor Church what the Text here insisted upon proclaims him to be viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same Cause enough then there is for every true Son of the Church to spend his Zeal in this Contrast upon all occasions and to marke them as the Apostle adviseth who cause these Divisions and Offences that they may be avoyded It must be confessed the late Schisme while it grew more and more prevalent in this Kingdome till it pleased God to reduce us to our pristine order by a merciful providence never to be forgotten did bring us especially of the Ministery into such a low despondency and pusillanimity of spirit that we had almost lost that Christian Valour yea and English courage pro aris focis for which our Church and Nation have in times before us been so much renowned But since the Lord God hath spoken who can but prophecy when deliverance hath been sent unto us by the out-stretched arm of an Almighty Power who can forbear to rejoyce in it And when God hath shewed us our Errour in suffering our selves to be deluded by a spirit of seduction who can but lament his back-slidings and appeare with his utmost strength in the vindication of that Truth and Church which have been so treacherously forsaken For my own part I do here in the truth and uprightness of my heart solemnly protest before God and men as I have been ashamed of my credulity in giving heed for some time to the cunning insinuations of those who pretended they were for the cause of God but were found Lyars so now though possibly it may be said of me as it was of Saint Paul 2 Cor. 10.10 that my bodyly presence is weak and my speech contemptible and therefore it is but little that can be expected from me that may be for the advantage of the Church in any kinde all which I will not deny yet I do and must account it my duty with that little strength that I have to endeavour what I can by all wayes and means the undeceiving of those poor seduced people who being bewitched with the like sorceries do yet continue in their perverseness against the Lord and against his Anointed What else should I do after so woful a defection that hath been among us when to my apprehension I hear often the word of our Saviour to his Apostle Saint Peter sounding in mine eares Luk. 22.32 tu conversus confirma fratres when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren Let no man therefore blame me for my forwardness and vehemency in this matter upon any occasion for I cannot but speak the things which I have seen and heard as the same Apostle also said yea let my tongue cleave to the roofe of my mouth and my right hand forget her skill how poor and slender soever it be if my tongue and pen both be not now ready for the Churches service to fill up the acclamation at the setting on the Head-stone of this great Work of Omnipotency in the re-establishment of Order among us both in point of Divine Worship and of Civil and Ecclesiastical Government with Grace Grace unto it Lastly I should now also be loth to be so far mistaken as that by giving new experiments of rendring the sense of Scripture otherwise then it hath been generally taken I should thereby incline to favour that upstart Sect of holders-forth of new Lights and new Truths against whom I have alwayes protested my dislike with much loathing and abhorrency and do still account of them no better then the smoke that comes out of the bottomless pit which would in time darken the light of the Gospel as much as the foggy mists of Popery ever did where it prevaileth Deplorable is their estate and accursed be their attempts whosoever they are that set up any of their pretended Lights in competition with the Holy Scripture and are not contented with that truth which hath already been revealed to the Church in those things that are necessary to salvation The bed of divine truth is green all the year long Cant. 1.16 no filthy weeds of spotted Errour so much as once appearing therein nor no room at all to be found
presumptuously into a Christian Oratory and there with a most abominable profanness pissed upon the holy Table Consecrated for the Sacrament of the holy Eucharist But he was suddenly pursued by a just judgment of God and taken with a terrible disease his Bowels rotting within him the Excrements no more went from him by their natural passages but that cursed mouth which had been the Trumpet of blasphemy was the passage of them Arius that arch enemy of Jesus Christ even when by the strength of his Faction he had so far prevailed that he was ready to make his Triumph over the truth of God concerning the Deity of Christ in the publick Court of the Emperour was forced to withdraw himself as some think by reason of a terrible affrightment that then fell upon his Conscience so the Centurists relate it whereby thinking to recollect himself by hardning his heart or as it is generally reported endeavouring to disburthen Nature his inward parts which as I may say were very wickedness and all his Bowels gushed out so fearfully perishing with a kind of death fitting for such a blasphemous and filthy wretch Nestorius his Tongue rotted in his mouth being eaten with worms Cent. 5. cap. 5. wherewith he had blasphemed Christ He held that the honour of Christs Godhead was conferred upon him as a compensation of his Merit Valens also that Neronical Tyrant was exceedingly mad against Jesus Christ of whom Histories record that in favour of Arianism he executed most horrible cruelty upon the Orthodox Christians persecuting them from Country to Country giving liberty to all sorts of people to profess what Religion they pleased excepting such who maintained the Doctrine of the Eternal Deity of the Son of God resolving by all waies and means to root it out of the World and when he could not prevail Cent. 4. cap. 7. he forced a great multitude of those that professed that Doctrine into a Ship causing the Ship to be set on fire in the midst of the Sea Cent. 4. cap. 10. So furiously was he enrag'd in his cruelty towards the faithful Servants of Christ But behold how visibly the just judgment of God did appear against him sundry waies His Son being desperately sick was by the earnest prayer of Basil the Great that faithful Bishop of Caesarea restored to health beyond expectation Valens thereupon being convinced of his impetuous malice against Christ renounced his Heresie and seemed to repent of his cruelty Cent. 4. cap. 4. quietly submitting himself to the truth as it was preached unto him by that good Bishop but within a short time after he returned again to his former Biass endeavouring also to perswade Basil himself to be an Arian whose consent when he saw he could not obtain he commanded an Order to be drawn up for his banishment whereto being about to affix his name suddenly was his Pen in a miraculous manner shivered to pieces yet still persisting in his resolution he called for another and a third to both which happened the like remarkable Accident a fearful horrour at length seizing upon him he was forced against his will to retract that banishment His rage nevertheless encreasing still more and more against the poor Church of Christ upon the account only of Christs eternal Godhead the revenging hand of God in the end overtook him for being engaged in a War against the Gothes and wounded with an Arrow he betook himself into a poor Shepherds Cottage which being set on fire by the Gothes he there miserably perished The like judgment also befel one of his Attendants who threatning a certain holy man called Aphraates for his zeal and faithfulness in advising the Emperour to forsake his Arianism was in a very signal manner pursued by the vengeance of God for the Emperour willing him to go and make ready for him his Bath whilest he was preparing it suddenly being stricken with madness he leap'd into the Caldron of scalding water and with fearful howlings wofully died his former Menaces so falling deservedly upon his own Pate In a word the Persecution that was in those times only for this Cause of Christ raged so much through the whole Eastern parts especially Constantinople that scarce was there any of the Heathens Nero Domitian Decius or others that did or could in their greatest fury shew greater cruelty then the Arians did But the jealous and the righteous God who hath said his Glory he would not give unto another did not then suffer with impunity his Glory to be taken from him by sinful men for a miraculous hail was sent from Heaven upon those parts of an extraordinary bigness like stones in hardness which destroyed multitudes both of men and Cattel overthrew Cities and with a great Famine was Phrygia then utterly ruin'd Thus hath the Lord from Heaven with his out-stretched arm appeared visibly in the vindication of his great and glorious Name and will surely do the like again whensoever it shall seem good unto him for he is the same still without any change at all so that the World may say This hath the Lord done and it is marvellous to behold verily he is a God that judgeth the Earth And now briefly to make some Application of this There hath been and still is a Generation of men in these times of whom it may be said as it was of Belshazzer Though they know all this Dan. 5.22.23 viz. That God hath most remarkably manifested his displeasure from Heaven upon the World for this great rebellion against the Crown and Dignity of Jesus Christ yet do lift up themselves against the Lord of Heaven and the God in whose hand their breath is and whose are all their waies they will not glorifie And oh that England would look about her that this Treason against the Lord Jesus Christ be not sound therein for if this Iniquity should be marked before the Lord as an indeleble blot upon our Church and State it would undoubtedly be the fore-runner of an over-spreading Desolation The time hath been not long since when Socinianism grew to a very great height among us not that it was publickly professed God forbid we should ever be guilty of such a Racevian Impudency but it had taken such degrees that he who was most skilful to maintain it and could propose doubts most Sceptically about the Deity of Christ Satisfaction for sin and Imputation of Righteousness was amongst a sort of unstable Athenian Novelists who were the Ringleaders of the late Sect of Seekers best accounted of for subtlety and acuteness of Learning yea and Books also too many were printed and prepared for the Press containing most damnable blasphemy against the Son of God insomuch that high time it was to put a stop to the current of this pestilent Heresie And therefore was there a Canon expresly set forth against it in the year 1640. confirmed by the Kings Authority But afterwards when a purer Reformation was cried up and great
hath of late been sufficiently cleared by others Mr. Prinn c. Is not the Lord Jesus Christ called the Prince of the Kings of the Earth as being his honour to have those that are of the highest estimation to be Subjects unto him Which being so it should be the desire and ambition of all the people in the world to be ruled by those persons who are entituled to this subjective Regality And when Divine Providence shall with a strong hand and a stretched-out Arm lead them unto it as it hath done us here in this Kingdom and the Nations of our Vicinity for many Generations it will certainly be their sin if they should not submit cheerfully unto it as it was the sin of the people of Israel when they out of a diffidence of Gods care and protection of them and out of an Apish imitation of other Nations would in an unseasonable preposterous and tumultuous manner be catching at it And now all this considered how can a people with any serenity of Conscience profess Godliness and yet speak reproachfully of the Kingly Office yea account it Antichristian as some have done proclaiming open Hostility against it Were it indeed Heterogeneous to the Divine Ordinance of Civil Government or incongruous to the times of the Gospel or prejudicial to the interest of the Saints as it is said to be or an impeachment in the least degree to the Dignity and Prerogative Royal of the Lord Jesus Christ himself either in respect of his Natural or of his Donative Kingdom such persons might proceed upon warrantable grounds to proclaim their dislike in that kind But it may now appear to all the World that the clamour which is raised against Regal Power upon any of these before-named accounts is altogether causeless and of no moment It will not be expedient here to examine them severally for in so doing we should make too large a digression haply we shall meet with them obiter in our way wherein the inadvertency or to say truly the Seditious frowardness rather then the godly zeal of the Authors and Abettors of these Complaints will be made manifest unto all men In the mean time I cannot but protest against that pernicious Paradox which hath been vented by a leading Divine as he was accounted in these late times of Errour and Rebellion amongst us J. O. who in a Sermon preached at S. Margarets Westminster and afterwards Printed saith thus The Lord had of old erected a Kingly Government in the House of David not for any eminency in the Government it self or for the Civil Advantage of that people but that it might be a Type of the Spiritual Dominion of the Messiah and so was a part of their Paedagogy and Bondage as was the residue of their Types every one of them and consequently this form of Government not to be of any use in the time of the Gospel Were this true we then who are now of the Church of God as that people were before us acknowledging this Messiah to be come according to the Promise may indeed have just cause to say of that kind of Government as the Apostle doth of Circumcision If we should allow of it Christ shall profit us nothing the substance being come what should the shadow of a King do unto us But I hope that those who have through the subtlety of Satan been misled into this Opinion will hereafter find cause to retract it when they shall remember that the rule of the Gospel to which they pretend an exact Conformity requires them to pray and to give thanks for Kings which as the Apostle saith is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3. 1 Tim 2.1 2 3. However seeing that Wisdom puts forth her Voice crying at the Gates at the entry of the City at the coming in at the Doors saying By me Kings Reign and Princes decree Justice by me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the eâ—rth Seeing I say this sound is heard from Heaven every day in the Consciences of men Wisdom will herein be justified of all her children And let this serve to terminate the first part of my Proposition viz. Government is an Ordinance of Divine Authorization Secondly It is ordained to be subservient unto Christ in the dispensation of his power and providence towards the preservation of Mankind 2. Branch For though Christ be All in all Col. 3.11 as the Apostle speaks Col. 3. yet to shew himself to be the Lord of all he hath ordained means to be subservient unto him in all the works of his Providence and hath accordingly made use of them To this purpose saith the Son of Sirach very pertinently Ec. 38.2 3 4 5. Of the most High cometh healing yet the Physician must be honoured with that honour that belongeth unto him The Lord also hath created Medicines out of the Earth and he that is wise will not abhor them He hath given skill unto men that he might be honoured in his marvellous works with such doth he heal men and taketh away their pains of such doth the Apothecary make a Confection c. Hence it is as the Prophet Jeremy speaketh Jer. 23.25 That his Covenant with Day and Night and the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth concerning their disposition motion order influences virtues and operations are inviolable They continue this day saith the Psalmist according to thine ordinance Ps 119.91 for all are thy servants not as if his Paramount Authority and power were thereby any whit diminished rather it is advanced nor as if he were necessitated thereunto for want of power in himself for we may see the course of Heaven c. hath sometimes been inverted by him Indulgentiae est non indigentiae non efficaciam quaerit sed congruentiam Ex. 14.16 John 3.16 2 Reg. 10.1 Dan. 3.25 But of his own free will in the abundance of his goodness it is that he governeth and preserveth Creatures by Creatures using the ministery of second Causes for in their present poor estate wherein they are in this world his own immediate hand and power would soon prove intolerable unto them Who alas among us here can dwell with devouring fire Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings Goodness then and mercy it is that is the ground of this Dispensation from Heaven towards poor creatures of all sorts but there is no creature under the Sun unto whom the Lord hath so much respect as he hath to Mankind all other indeed have their being and their well-being whatsoever it is from him as hath been said before But Man is his Favourite the Masterpiece of his wisdom power and goodness the work of his Faciamus not barely of his Fiat as other Creatures were in him he challengeth a special propriety accounting him his own in a peculiar manner for in that sense I conceive that place of the Evangelist John 1.11 He
the Lord Jesus Christ in order to the preservation of his Creatures A Doctrine it is that is profitable for Conviction for Encouragement and Instruction For conviction of many sinful practises too frequently appearing in these times to the great dishonour of Christ and his Government over the World and for the encouragement and instruction of all the faithful people of God who desire to walk worthy of that preservation which they enjoy under his Government First then this plainly layeth open the gross blindness that hath come upon many who notwithstanding think they see clearly When men will freely acknowledge this great Jehovah the Lord of all to be the sole Fountain of Being unto all Creatures both in Heaven and in Earth And yet in the several changes and revolutions that come upon the World have their thoughts fixed upon second Causes or such it may be as they have framed to themselves not at all regarding the work of the Lord nor the operation of his hands as if he were now no more then a mean Spectatour and had nothing to do in the various Transactions of his Creatures about him How impiously do some after the manner of the Heathen ascribe unto Fortune that good or ill success which attends upon their undertakings It was my good fortune saith one Si fortuna volet fies de Rhetore Conful si volet haec eadem fies de Consule Rhetor that brought me to this Honour to this Estate wherein now I am It was my hard hap saith another that I met with such a cross and that I am fallen into this misery even as the Poet once said If Fortune Will thou may'st of Poor be Consul made And if that will thou must unto thy former Trade This you 'l say is not as becometh Christians but behold yet more Abominations some there are yea too many who when they go about a matter of any great Import either to free themselves from some sad disaster as they call it or to enterprize a Design which they conceive may be for their advantage will usually like unto Heathens for the Scripture notes it as a part of their Infidelity consult with Astrologers a sort of people who if they will keep themselves within their own Sphere would have the Approbation of all that are wise but being excentrick they are the very Pest of a Common-wealth and when the success appeareth their Stars forsooth must be Idoliz'd as the cause of that which doth befal them And how unworthy alas is this of that Faith which we do profess But behold yet greater Abominations It is an Abomination souc'd in the very dregs of Heathenism when people will in time of any loss danger or distress of what kind soever it be not look up to him who is and alwaies was the great Preserver of men and upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power but consult with Witches and Conjurers for a supply and preservation And this alas is too commonly found amongst those that call themselves Christians As for the Heathen they were not ordinarily wont unless it were the ruder sort in plain down-right terms Acheronta movere Ab Aves Aspiciendo that is to seek to the Devil for help They had their Auspicium which was by flying of Birds to divine of their successes And they had their Aruspicium by looking into the Entrails of Beasts appointed for Sacrifice Ab Aras Inspiciendo Ezek. 21.21 to the same purpose as it is said of the King of Babylon that he looked into the Liver Ezek. 21.21 when he took up a Divination for Jerusalem They had also their Tripudium taking a conjecture of what should befall them by the rebounding of Corn thrown upon the ground to Chickens Quasi terripudium seu terripavium from whence the Southsayer was called Pullarius And their Augurium which was a Prediction from the chirping or chattering of Birds as also by the founds and voices which they heard they knew not whence Ab Avium Garritu All which and many more though abominable enough yet were not so bad as knowingly and willingly to seek for a remedy or supply so directly from the Devil which they do that consult with those who they are assured have for such ends and purposes made a compact with him To all whom it may be said is it because there is not a Divine Providence that ordereth and governeth the World nor a power in Heaven to help and to deliver Or rather is it not because you are faithless and have no confidence in this great Preserver of men that you betake your selves to the Devil and his Angels for help A most wicked and Atheistical Generation who deny the Lord that bought them and run a whoring after Satan to worship him with a most execrable Idolatry For it may well be said such persons they revolt from God to the Devil howsoever they plaister up their impiety with untempered Mortar as that they seek Gods help though by the means of the Magician But terrible is that threatning which the Lord hath denounced against these wretched people Lev. 20.6 The Soul that turueth after such as have familiar Spirits and after Wizzards to go a whoring after them I will even set my face against that Soul and will cut him off from among my people Bishop King upon Jonas Add unto this that common foolish Opinion as a reverend Bishop of our times hath well observed and I shall render it in his own words If ever Tempest arise more then common experience hath enured us unto especially with the havock and loss either of life or limb in our Selves our Cattel or Housings forthwith the judgment is given as if the Lord of Heaven and Earth were fallen asleep and minded nothing there is doubtless some Conjuring And what then is Conjuring A pestilent commistion convention stipulation betwixt men and Devils Men and Devils what are they Look upon the Sorcerers of Egypt for the one they cryed in the smallest Plague that was sent and past their cunning to remove this is the finger of God their power is limited therefore Look upon the Martyrings of Job for the other for though the Circuit of Satan be very large even to the compassing of the whole earth to and fro yet he hath his daies assigned him to stand before the presence of God for the renewing of his Commission And besides Oviculam unam auferre non potuit He could not take one poor sheep from Job till the Lord had given him leave saying Put forth thine hand Nor enter into the Herd of Swine Matt. 8. without Christ's permission To conclude therefore with the same learned Writer Whether Men or Devils be ministerial Workers in these Actions all cometh from him who is the Judge of all as from the higher Supreme Cause whose Judgments executed thereby no man can either fully comprehend or reprehend justly He professeth no less of himself Es 45.7 Es
Father making intercession for you Your Prophet who gave unto your Fathers Statutes and Judgements so righteous that there was no Nation how great so ever in this World that had the like and who will now again teach you the good and the right way if you will hearken unto him Awake Awake therefore O Israel awake awake gather your selves together yea gather your selves together O Nation that art to be desired behold and see how tenderly careful the Lord hath been of you ever since he took you to be his peculiar people Time was when he carried you about as upon Eagle's wings and the time is now come that he would take yee into his Bosome wherein alone you shall after all your unkindnesses finde rest for your Souls He remembers the kindness of your Youth O that you would now consider the kindness of his Age Fortie years long did your Fathers greive him in the wilderness and will you go on to vex him fortie times forty more He then swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest and accordingly it came to pass for their Carcasses all fell in the wilderness but their little ones which they said should be a prey them did he bring into that Good Land which he promised to give unto Abraham be warned therefore betimes for if you will not turn you shall certainly fall and perish as they did but your Children shall surely see that Glory that shall be revealed for the Lord hath sworn in his Love that Jacob shall not be forsaken for ever Consider it is no novelty that we perswade you unto but that which was from the the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our Eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life for the Life was manifested and we have seen it and bear Witness and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that yee also may have Fellowship with us and truely our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ Come then I say again and mourn for him whom you have pierced and we also will mourn with you for good cause have we so to do having alas many a time dealt too treacherously with this our great redeemer and put him to an open shame by our frequent swervings and tergiversations from that righteous and holy rule that he hath set us we will abandon this present evil World and all the flattering insinuations thereof our dearest relations shall be of no Value with us in comparison of our fellowship with you and that Brotherly Covenant which shall oblige us both unto our common Lord who hath loved you from the beginning and will love you again more abundantly if you will now turn unto him Return return therefore O Shulamite return return Secondly this may teach us to forbear that Disdain which is commonly found to be in these days against the Ages that have been before us For whatsoever Light hath been in the World at any time it hath been derived from this Father of Lights Jesus Christ And he hath by that tender care which himself had both of the Law and the Fathers who lived under it and before it set us an Example to bear a due respect as becommeth Brethren to that antiquity which hath been enlightned by him in this Day of the Gospel For the Law though it was perverted by such as would not believe in him to a Sinister use even to the utter Abolition of his whole Evangelical institute and was in that respect justly disavowed by his Apostles in their writings yet he professeth the design of his coming was not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it And for the Fathers in their sundry Generations before him who walking in this Light had fellowship with him we have sufficiently seen how he hath owned them Yea and ever since he hath been the leader and supporter of his Church in all the various changes that have come upon it for he is he Everlasting Father of his people Es 9.6 and the Provision whatsoever it was that his family hath hitherto lived upon from the time that he dwelt among us as it hath been as his cost and of his wise and prudent devising so it hath been always ordered and disposed by him How ill then doth it become us in these days to cast forth reproachful speeches against the Light of antiquity or those that walked in it Do we not thereby call into question the Wisdom of Christ himself I speak not here of the unwritten Verities or Traditions of Antiquity as they are called which have neither with them a Catholick Recognition nor any warrant or footstep from the written word That is a Door which hath let in much Corruption into the Church nor of the untrue writings of any Monkish Heterodox Spirits which are the spurious Issue of that man of Sin But that which I do undertake upon this occasion to vindicate is that Holy Venerable Renowned Orthodox Antiquity which hath been alwayes faithful to Jesus Christ and his Gospel which hath borne the burden and heat of the day in maintaining and defending by Writing by Preaching by Living by Dying the Doctrine of Christ crucified against the Prince of Darkness and all his cursed Adherents What though there have been clouds and eclipses of the glorious Light of Truth in former times which notwithstanding have by the brightness of Christs appearance in the Ministery of his old Servants been dispelled scattered and removed What though there have been Differences and Contentions arisen rather about Circumstantials then Fundamentals of the Gospel from which we in this Age are not altogether free Yet since it is so that Jesus Christ hath been the same to them which he is to us we should learn to judge at least more modestly then we do of the dayes that have been before us It is as it hath been observed the common disease of all Ages to applaud themselves above any that have been before them Actions of men being for the most part according to the vogue and sway of times and have onely their upholding by the opinion of the vulgar We deale with Antiquity but as Posterity will with us which ever thinks it self the wiser and that will judge likewise of our errours according to the Cast of their Imaginations Yet I say not but that we have great reason to bless God for those discoveries of his Grace and those Manifestations of his Truth that wee enjoy in these times and I doubt not but God hath some also now that will be valiant for his Truth as there have been ever of old but when we look into the Lives of those who now-a-dayes are most zealous in decrying Antiquity and extolling the present Age and yet finde Spiritual Pride and Censoriousness so common amongst them besides their
at all account it lawful and sit to be used in so solemn a matter as the service of God would have been more tolerable at those times when conceived prayer it self was dishonoured by the Plagiary super-inducements of other mens labours surreptitiously taken out of their printed Books and under a pretence of suddenness of Conception frequently and at large thrust into Publick prayers even by those that were the greatest enemies to common and publick forms Sundry other instances might here be reckoned up whereby it would appear that there was not any thing wherein the Beauty of Holiness had shined out in former times that was not wofully polluted in those dayes of Schism by our Changings and Counter-changings which were such that it might well be said of us notwithstanding all our vain-glorious pretensions to a glorious light surpassing all that had been seen in the Ages before that indeed and in truth we feared not God Alas our Glory was our shame and we like a foolish people and unwise loved to have it so accounting that which was indeed our shame to be our greatest glory But non fuit sic ab initio It was not wont to be thus We had left our first love and zeal for the truth of the Gospel and therefore did God in his just judgment give us up to strong delusions to follow after lies High time then was it for us to repent and do our first Works and to say with those in the Prophet we will go and return to our first husband for then was it better with us then now The streets of Romish Askelon possibly may ring of these our mis-doings and the rather because we are not quite gone over unto them when we were brought very near But they may spare their breath to remove their own stench if they can which is so noisome all the world over We will our selves give glory to God in confessing that our transgressions have been many and our back-slidings have encreased Our sinful compliancy with Anabaptisme Brownisme Familisme c. which in former times were judged by us according to their proper nature to be most abominable Errours hath been so notorious that it doth even fill our faces with shame and blushing when we sadly take it into our consideration that we whom God have made a Nation not to be despised but honourable in the eye of the World and a Church adorned with a glorious beauty surmounting other Churches even by their own confession yea terrible as an Army with Banners to Anti-Christ and his Adherents should make our selves thus naked and bare by entertaining such scurfe into our bosome which was fitter rather to be trod under foot Surely very unworthy have we hereby made our selves of that dignity which God hath put upon us True it is this mischeivous project was first hatched and afterwards fomented by some false brethren among us the spurious issue of John a Leyden and Knipperdolling yet because it did prevail and grew to such a height without any the least control from those that had power in their hands to suppress it to whom the Nation did generally in a manner submit the guilt therefore of a most shameful Apostacy might too justly we fear be imputed unto us But rejoyce not against us O our enemy though we have fallen we are through mercy risen again though our backslidings have been strong yet they are not blessed for ever and ever be the Name of our God either like unto those of Jerusalem or those of Rome perpetual If we have through the sly insinuations of Jesuitical Emissaries who have mingled themselves with us in the late Transactions of our nation and the cunning craftiness of Hypocritical self-seekers been too rash and heady in endeavouring to amend what was judged to be amiss in things pertaining to God we will not when God hath shewed us our Errour be pertinacious in it but return rather to our Obedience from which we have swerved and be better advised hereafter waiting upon the Lord in his own way for the propagating of his Gospel as his word and providence shall direct us In the mean time we will not spare to publish our sorrow for those deplorable wastes which our inadvertency hath brought upon this poor yet excellent Church of Christ Too excellent indeed to be the Mother of such unnatural foolish and disobedient Children as we have been unto her Who though she be comely in the eyes of her Beloved and in the eyes of all the daughters of his people in the world about her yet wo unto us we have blackned her with the spots of our Divisions and brought a cloud over all her excellencies Surely this is a Lamentation and must be for a Lamentation But what then would some say would you have us now to relinquish that glorious Cause which with a Solemn League and Covenant we have undertaken to maintain and return again to profaness and superstition what were this but to deal falsely in the Covenant of our God and to draw the guilt of odious inconstancy upon us It will become us rather according to your former admonition herein to be still the Same and to follow the example of those resolute and faithful Martyrs who of late to the very death persisted in the justifying of so good a cause Now unto this Objection it will be requisite to give a full and clear resolution to the end that it may be made evident who those are among us that come neerest to the pattern here presented in the Text in being still the same whether those that object these things accusing their brethren of I know not what sinful temporizing and tergiversation for not joyning with them in endeavouring to root up the foundation of this Change which the Divine Providence hath brought upon this Nation or those that are thus accused who upon convictions of Conscience are necessitated with the whole strength of their souls to promote and give furtherance unto it In the treating of this subject though I question not but some will be apt to quarrel at my plain dealing yet I shall without upbraiding any particular persons labour as in the presence of God to give satisfaction to those Consciences that in truth desire to be resolved concerning the warrantableness of submitting to this Change in returning to our obedience And shall insert nothing but for what I shall be willing to be responsal to any who shall rationally require an account of me To begin then with the Cause as it was called and a Glorious Cause What was it It was pretended at first that great matters should be done for the King People and Religion The King should be made a great and glorious Prince The People should have their just liberties restored unto them Religion should be established and set free from the invasion of all Heresies and Errours wherewith it was before corrupted All which being done we should finde our selves the happiest Nation upon
earth and Glory should dwell in our Land Unto this plausible sound did multitudes of well-meaning people in the simplicity of their hearts give an attentive Ear and were allured to contribute their assistance to the carrying on of so good a work But if this were the Cause that was so much cryed up and extolled for which the Land was filled with violence from one end to the other How came it to pass that it fell so foulely as it did Who was it that hindered the progress of it Was it not they that absurdly pretend stil an adherency unto it when a sword by their means hath passed through the Soul of it Is not their Hypocrisie Double dealing Self-seeking Treachery in the whole managery of this business discovered plainly in the face of all Mankinde Certainly should all Histories be searched there could not be found a more palpable Cheat put upon a Nation since the beginning of the World The publick faith of the Kingdom to assure the Reallity of these pretenses was through the prevalency of a sort of Traitours to God their King and their Countrey frequently turned into publick fraud Yea the faith of the Gospel was made a Cloak to cover the corrupt projects of self-ended Men. Nothing done of all that was promised but rather very much clean contrary Confusion and Disorder brake in upon us like a Deluge and there was no visible remedy in the apprehension of all Unbiassed men but a swift and overspreading desolation must needs have fallen upon the whole Land All which considered To make boast still of a Cause wherewith they dealt so perfidiously and of which God in his just indignation for the Corruptions both in the birth and growth of it hath said it shall not stand making it a Nehushtan doth it not argue a fighting against God and a design to be still the Same rather in a treachery which all the Christian world cryeth shame upon then in any thing wherein the glory of God or the safety of their Countrey might be concern'd As for the League and Covenant called in scorn the Legal Covenant even by those who do now plead it it was indeed brought on to add a seeming strength to the said Cause and the better to draw inconsiderate people to joyn in the pursuance of it But there are many unanswerable reasons to be heeded that do clearly shew the nullity thereof which being exactly related by others we shall not need to insist upon them here Somewhat notwithstanding shall be here added to give satisfaction in this particular It is well known that to incline people to the taking of the Covenant that is to take the Whip with six cords as the six Articles in K. Henry the eights time was called to scourge and torment their Consciences with some use was made of that Restriction in the first Article of it viz. According to the Word of God being interpreted by the politick Conciliatours of those dayes as a Proviso whereby an Out-let was set for any to recede from the Observation of it if afterwards upon better consideration they found it to be otherwise then it was represented unto them But what vile Hypocrisie was this to lead poor people into a snare by such tricks of Legerdemain Nay is it not an impious Mockery of the Holy Ghost thus to make the Word which is the Oracle of the most High God a stale to the politick Interests of wretched men For as it is well observed upon the same account we may subscribe to the Council of Trent yea to the Turkish Alcoran swearing to maintain and defend either of them viz. so far as they are agreeable to the Word of God But much better surely may we now make the said Restriction our Warrant totally to cancel that Covenant by a godly sorrow and serious lamentation for it finding it in sundry respects different from that Righteous Rule according to which all our Actions are to be squared For in such cases that golden Axiom must be our Guide viz. Poenitenda Promissio non perficienda Praesumptio The Covenant must be retracted by Repentance not the Presumption heightened by Continuance As for the Illegality of it throughout from first to last our Famous and Renowned University of Oxford hath with a general Consent in a full Convocation very plainly and faithfully discovered it to the silencing of all Gain-sayers June 1. 1647. and to their everlasting Honour before God and Man Unto whose cleer Argutations I remit all men that are in a capacity to receive satisfaction in this point and to be convinced with Reason Concluding with the Casuist Ne sit Sacramentum pietatis impedimentum pietatis nec vinculum iniquitatis Let not a pious Obligation be a bar to piety nor a bond of iniquity Whereas it is said next that by Deserting the Cause we shall return again to Profaness and Superstition I answer God forbid Rather it is to be hoped that an unanimous Agreement in rooting up the said pretended Cause would be the ready way to remove that Profaness and Superstition which have provoked Gods displeasure against us But let it be considered What returning to profaness can there be now more then the Land was polluted with in the time of the late Schisme when the Name of God was dishonoured by Swearing and Forswearing The Ordinances of Jesus Christ neglected yea despised Gods faithful Ministers cruelly mocked and derided In a word When iniquity did so much abound though it must be confessed it aboundeth still too much amongst us even in these dayes of our Deliverance that scarce any posterity shall be able to add thereunto And as for Superstition which the Holy Scripture calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Fear of false Daemons rather then of the true God What can be greater then that which hath been already set up and spread about the Nation by our Sectarian Seminaries Independents Anabaptists Antinomians Seekers Quakers and the rest of that Rabble who have notwithstanding the struglings of God and Man upon their Consciences been like a company of Superstitious Dotards so mad upon their Idols I mean their Squint eyed Wry-necked Double-tongued Snivelling Daemons of Horrid and Monstrous Opinions and wherein they continue to this very day that it is a manifest token as one said not amiss They are errour-blasted both from Heaven and Hell Nay more Was there ever such a close and cunning Connivence afforded since the Reformation began in this Nation to Romish Superstitions then was under the Regency of the said Cause The great Projectour or at least Protractour thereof himself who made England to sin observing in one of his Proclamations though nevertheless it was after that also Tolerated that Multitudes of Jesuits and Popish Priests did resort unto and remain within this Common-wealth and the Dominions thereunto belonging Apr. 26. 1655. who with great Audacity did exercise all offices of their Profession both saying Masses and seducing the people to the
needs be nauseous unacceptable and to no purpose let all that are yet unsatisfied in that point read over and peruse his late Majesties Arguing about it with those Ministers that attended the Commissioners of Parl at the Treaty in the Isle of Wight M. Marshall M. Caryll M. Vines M. Scaman and if they be disposed to a temper of accepting Reason they will finde cause enough to alter their judgement Once those very Ministers were so farre convinced thereby that though they were very shy and unwilling to discover their mindes in a matter of so great and necessary consequence as to give his Majesty satisfaction in those three Quaeries which he propounded unto them concerning Church-Government 1 Whether there be a certain Form of Government left by Christ or his Apostles to be observed by all Christian Churches pretending that the whole volume of Ecclesiastical Polity was contained therein yet they could not but acknowledge the remarkable Learning of his Reply which was clothed as they write with a singular elegancy of stile wishing that such a Pen in the hand of such Abilities might ever be employed in a Subject worthy of it Yet because it will be expected that somewhat be here also said in answer to this part of the before-mentioned objection Let us take into consideration the main Argument that is used against Episcopacy and with a refutation of it put an end to this Controversie That which is chiefly insisted upon by our Anti-episcopal men is the Identity of Denomination which they imagine the Scripture giveth to Bishops and Presbyters 2 Whether it bind perpetually or be upon occasion alterable in whole or in part from whence they will inferre the Identity of Office viz. That Bishop and Presbyter are not distinguishable in any part of their Authority which the Lord hath given them for the edification of the Church A principal instance hereof they alledge out of the Text of the Apostle Tit. 1.5.7 upon which for brevities sake we will onely fix and which being cleared will help us to interpret aright other places of Scripture of the like nature The words are these 3 Whether that certain Form of Government be the Episcopal Preâ—byterian or some other differing from them both Tit. 1 5.7 For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting and ordain Elders in every City as I had appointed thee For a Bishop must be blameless c. In which place say they the Apostles reasoning were altogether invalid and inconsequent if Presbyter and Bishop were not the same Office as well as they have the same Name But how justly may it be here said Bernardus non videt omnia These men that pretend to know more of the sense of the holy Ghost in Scripture then others and are apt to censure all that are not of the same judgment with them are not so omniscient but that their brethren who come after them may discern somewhat which they could not see I shall therefore take the boldness to tell them my poor judgment concerning that Scripture hoping that I may make use of my liberty as they do of theirs I know well it is no new Opinion that I am about to encounter with but because our late Writers do with a higher confidence then ordinary seem to abound in their sense concerning this matter I shall endeavour their conviction And first I shall premise a Caution by the way yielding in this Controversie as much as may be consistent with Truth I do not undertake to produce any positive Precept from the holy Ghost in this place for the establishment of Episcopacy in the Church it is enough to shew that a Divine Approbation is given of it in describing the qualification of the persons that are to employed in such an Office distinct from that of a Presbyter together with their superiority over Presbyters and how they are to exercise their power in the several parts thereof viz. Ordination and Jurisdiction Which Divine Approbation if we can here finde as I doubt not we shall I hope it will be acknowledge by all to be Tant-amount to a Divine Institution And though it have not any positive Appointment in Scripture but is onely glanced at in some certain places yet that should not create any scruple in the mindes of any about it no more then some points of Faith which we freely profess are scrupled by us though we finde them not expresly commanded in the written Word Is it meet for any to say unto God What doest thou Who alas among us hath known the minde of the Lord Or who hath been his Counsellour to know fully the reason why he doth in such a manner issue out his Precepts Are not Clouds and thick Darkness set about the Pavilion of God Let not silly man then dare to remove them It would far better become us to keep our distance and to be wise according to sobriety then to arraign the pure word of Truth before the bar of our corrupt reason or to call the holy Spirit of God to account for not giving full satisfaction forsooth to our foolish expectation What if Christ being willing to make his Regal Power the more known to the world would onely give some small intimation of his will concerning this matter as he hath done of sundry other things which we need not here mention to try the spirits of men whether they would thereby be subject unto him or no It is ordinary we know with the Princes of the earth to deal thus with their Subjects by a look or a glance of the eye or by a word of the mouth though uttered in an oblique way to give notice of their further intentions so to search into and finde out the Loyalty and ready affections of those about them And shall Jesus Christ be denyed this liberty This being premised let us now come to inquire out the meaning of the Apostle in the afore-cited place and see whether or no his words will allow of such an Identity between Bishop and Presbyter as hath been commonly conceived or rather try whether by deduction we can prove from thence the Divine Right of Episcopacy which is so much contradicted in these days onely let prejudice be forborn till such time as we have put an end to this controversie First it cannot be denied that the Apostle writeth to Titus as to one with whom he had entrusted the sole inspection of that large and spacious Island an Island containing in it an hundred Cities called therefore Hecatompolis wherein his appointed work was Not to gather a Church by converting the inhabitants thereof from their Paganisme and Judaisme to the faith of the Gospel but the manner of governing a Church which was already gathered was prescribed unto him And this is by the Apostle branched out into two things viz Setting in order things that were amiss or wanting or as it is rendred by
not we also grown wanton with our wealth gadding about after vanities that cannot profit us When they were cast out of favour we were reconciled to God who were before strangers yea enemies unto him But have not we also many a time vexed his holy Spirit by our treacherous Apostacies as much as they And how then shall this be remedied Which way shall we have our wants supplyed Our breaches repaired Our hearts more established in the truth Doth not the Apostle who is of counsel with the Almighty in this case and therefore knew best the way of Divine dispensation of grace toward us doth not he I say tell us here plainly how all this shall be brought about to our exceeding great advantage viz. by the reception of this people into favour restoring them again fully to their dignity and preheminence among the Nations Not indeed as a meritorious cause therof that is far from the Apostles meaning but in a way of subserviency to that providence which ordereth all things for the good of Church And now let it be considered How great is that goodness which God hath laid up for his people even before the Sons of Men in the latter dayes May we not then expect a more plentiful effusion of his Spirit in the powerful operations of it upon the hearts of Believers And that all those pestilent heresies wherewith the Christian Churches among the Gentiles have been miserably infested even almost unto death should be thrown to the Moles and to the Bats The jarring and jangling sound of Schisme no more to be heard in their Assemblies and instead thereof both Jews and Gentiles to be united together in a most entire and indissoluble bond of Brother-hood And when this fulness of happiness shall come upon the Gentiles as it will surely happen unto them upon the fulness of the Jews the Apostle himself being witness may it not be reckoned according to the Apostles word as it were a new life from the dead I demand therefore again Are these things so Hath God determined to advance so much the interest of his Church by the Restauration of the Jews and is it meet that we should stand cavilling at it Shall this our Apostle thus magnifie his office and with a paternal care of our good argue so irrefragably in our behalf and should we like a company of wayward children with unkinde Recalcitrations spurn against his office and our own happiness vilifying the one and as much as lyeth in us nullifying the other How these Quaere's may be answered together with many other that might be gathered from the following branches of the Apostles arguing about the facility of the Jews Restauration shall I say be left to their consideration who not onely causlesly call it into question but peremptorily deny that the Nation of the Jews shall ever be reckoned among the Nations of the world any more and so consequently asperse the Lord Jesus Christ with inconstancy towards this his first beloved people as if he would not be ' O' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto them the Same to the end which he hath been from the beginning If any shall say That to put these Quaere's in such a manner is to beg the Question that is To conclude that for a truth which is in controversie whether it be so or no. I must answer If the Apostles arguing hitherto will not satisfie and that neither Possibilities nor Probabilitics heaped together will down with gain-sayers to draw them to a conviction we have a more sure word of Testimony given here in the close whereunto they should do well to take heed least unhappily they be found even to sight against God To the end therefore that no man might in this case plead ignorance which is commonly the mother of arrogance Hear what the Apostle addeth vers 25 26 c. I would not brethren saith he that you should be ignorant of this mysterie lest you should be wise in your own conceits that blindness in part is happened unto Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved c. I know well that these very words of the Apostle are also wrested by some to another sense as there will not want cavils against the clearest demonstrations of Truth to the worlds end And if we should give an ear to whatsoever may be suggested unto us by opposite parties we shall never be free from hesitancies in the interpretation of any Scripture nor in the asserting of any Doctrines though never so fundamental Let this present Scripture be look'd upon but with an unprejudicate eye and be considered in the most plain and grammatical sense of it and then see whether it doth not precisely determine this point viz. That there is a time approaching wherein the Jewish Nation shall be restored and become a glorious converted Nation again which God will own for his Beloved people notwithstanding all their unkinde rebellions against him To afford some help herein observe First the Apostle speaks of this matter as of a mysterie and therefore should the more diligent heed be given unto it A mysterie indeed it is First in regard of the origination of it being sprung out of the profound abyss of Gods infinite wisdom and knowledge Secondly in regard of the progress of it being much opposed by the infidelity of men who are and will be slow of heart to believe it Thirdly in regard of the unsearchable way and manner how it shall be acted when in the fulness of time it shall be brought to pass in the world however therefore men do sleight it the Apostle it seems makes great account of it Secondly He adviseth the Romans to take special notice of it I would not brethren saith he have you ignorant hereof c. As if he should say beware that you do not out of a fond conceit of your priviledges above the Jews cast this mystery out of your thoughts as a thing impertinent to your cognisance for you are concern'd in it and that which is revealed of it will certainly be required of you Thirdly He procedeth to a description of the mystery so far as it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost Non enim est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod significat nâ—â—tilationâ— alic jus partis sic in oculis coecitatem sigâ—isicat Sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quâ—d indâ—atioâ—eâ—n significat a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calluâ— five dâ—â—itâ—es in 〈◊〉 unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. call â—n 〈◊〉 sâ—em 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—ungo Blindness as we read it in part is happened unto Israel untill the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved Where first that we may the better poise this mystery let us a little by the way consider the judgement inflicted upon this people which alas alas we finde to be exceeding great So much doth the word
that should not be wholly spent before this obduration of theirs should be wholly removed from them and when that shall be the Apostle here tells us when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in If any shall demand what this fulness of the Gentiles is I must answer with Origen Quaerit ista plenitudo gentium unus solus not it unigenitus eâ—us c. What this fulness of the Gentiles shall be is known onely unto God and to his onely begotten Son and to those to whom the Son will reveale it Possibly it may be a great multitude of Gentiles such as was not the like in all the generations of old that should flock together to the Church like Doves to their windows by the accession of which multitude to the faith the Jews shall be provoked through a holy emulation to acknowledge Christ to be the true Messiah repenting themselves of their so long estrangement from him or possibly because the Jews shall hereafter have their peculiar fulness according to what is said before of them v. 12. in opposition to their present failing therefore hath God also appointed a certain fulness for the Gentiles unknown as yet what it shall be that when it is come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So rendred 1 Cor. 6.3 neither of them should have cause to despise each other any more In sine this I think we may safely say of it that this word of the Apostle hath some affinity with the word of our Saviour Luk. 21.24 before insisted upon viz. When the times of the Gentiles as they are in the hand of God shall be fulfilled so that when God hath finished all his predeterminate counsel concerning the Gentiles and the depth of his wisdome issued forth such a spiritual and ecclesiastical fulness among them as may be for the advancement of the Gospel and Kingdome of Christ then shall the mystery of God concerning his Israel be finished also 2 Cor. 3.16 The vaile shall be taken off from them their occallation wholly cease and they shall according to the Prophecy of Zachary Look upon him whom they have pierced and mourn for him as one mourneth for his onely Son c. And then saith the Apostle all Israel shall be saved All Israel that is not as it is construed by some the whole Israel of God throughout the world consisting of Jews and Gentiles for that neither was any mystery to those unto whom this Epistle is written who knew full well by dayly experience that multitudes of the Gentiles together with some of the Jewish Nation were converted to the faith and by consequence should undoubtedly be saved yea if this construction should be admitted the Apostle had receded from his scope which he aimed at throughout this whole Chapter which was to suppress the insolency of the Gentiles against the Jews and to quicken the poor Jews with some lively hope of their restauration Laying aside therefore this mistake though it be fathered by many who carry a great name amongst us in the interpretation of Scripture By Israel here is undoubtedly meant Children of the flock of Abraham sprung out of the thigh of Jacob those whom the Apostle calls before v. 14. His own flesh Concerning whom a Question likewise is started by Expositors upon the occasion of this Note of Universality all whether thereby is meant all none excepted or many that is the greatest number of the Jews that shall be saved Which needless Question I shall not stand upon onely deliver in short my poor conceptions concerning the Apostles sense in this particular with submission to the Church By all Israel is meant not Judah alone which then dwelt in the Land of Canaan but all the twelve Tribes of Israel that were scattered abroad in the world all of them saith the Apostle shall be saved that is delivered from their sin and consequently from their captivity and brought again as they were before into a state of salvation wherein they shall abide for ever so long as the world enduâ—eth This in truth is the bottome of the mystery that is here intended and this sense I am prone to give of it being inclined unto it by the word of the Prophet as it is alledged by the Apostle viz. There shall come out of Sion a deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my Covenant with them when I shall take away their sin In which words three things are of special remark First the Apostles varying from the Prophet in the allegation of his testimony for this will be of singular use to our present purpose The Prophet had said a Redeemer shall come the Apostle saith there shall come a Deliverer a Redeemer shall come to Sion saith the Prophet there shall come a Deliverer out of Sion saith the Apostle to those that turn from ungodliness in Jacob saith the Prophet to turn away ungodliness from Jacob saith the Apostle And why is there so much disparity may some say between them Should not the Apostle since he will corroborate his assertion from what is written by the Prophet produce his testimony exactly without any alteration I answer the spirit of truth alwayes One and the Same wherewith these Actuaries and Pen-men of Holy Writ were guided knew best in what termes to express the purpose and counsel of God concerning his people both in the times of the Law and of the Gospel Distingue tempora concordabunt scripturae Hence it is that the Apostle is here made the Prophets interpreter rendring his sense in evangelical termes according to the intent and purpose of the Spirit therein That therefore which the Prophet speaks of the comming of Christ in the flesh is extended by the Apostle to a blessed effect that shall follow thereupon which he might in reason warrantably do for causâ proximâ positâ necesse est poni effectum the effect will undoubtedly follow the cause and that coming of the Messiah was certainly the immediate cause of all the happiness that at any time was to come upon the Church to the end of the World Here is then no contradiction in this disparity but a sweet and melodious harmony rather the eccho whereof to my apprehension soundeth in this manner This Redeemer or redeeming Kinsman of Israel Christ Jesus being come unto Sion shall out of Sion that is from his Church where he hath his dwelling and abode by his spirit cause a deliverance to arise for his kindred Israel in restoring them again to their spiritual estate which being lost by their unbelief he had purchased again for them And because the Redeemer was to slay the murderer of his kindred as well as to re-enfeoffe them in their Land and livelihood therefore shall this deliverer also turn away that is utterly destroy ungodliness their murderous enemy out of Jacob which being his act for them they also by right of propinquity and nearness of kindred may be said themselves to be active