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
command yet allowed by God and accepted and therefore not to be accounted as superstitious So those Ceremonies c. which have been and are again in use amongst us I mean such as are established by law may indeed be said to be a Will-worship wherein we in this time of the Gospel should rather excell those before us under the Law then to come short of them But to say that they are therefore Superstitious that is Anti-Christian and Idolatrous as some are apt most profanely to traduce them is a Soloecisme proper for those that are enemies unto reason Nevertheless though our Form of Divine Service and Ceremonies be a Will-worship yet we shall ever deny that they sprung out of Babylon that is according to the sense of these quarrelsome people that we received them from Rome It is the Lot it seemes of this poor Church of Christ to have this Cross laid upon her viz. to be on all sides upbraided still with Rome Papists on the one hand checking us that the first Plantation of the Gospel here came from thence and that therefore we are unnatural Children to separate our selves as we do from our Mother that gave us our being Schismaticks on the other hand charging us that we have not as we pretend separated from that Idolatrous Church but to this very day do hold too servile a compliancy with it crying out against us with open mouth as is the Mother so is the Daughter Rome like a false Strumpet hath devised a Superstitious Form of Religious Worship and England like a true Chip of the old Block doth follow her example therein But as Venerable Bede once gave the sense of those four famous and solemne Letters S. P. Q. R. So may we in this case Stultus Populus Quaerit Romam Senatus populusque Romanus foolish people cry out Rome not understanding what they say nor whereof they affirm As to the first of these reproaches if it were not out of our way we might reply that supposing not granting it to be true The people of this Nation received the Christian Faith from Rome We hold not our selves obliged thereby to follow Rome any otherwise then she followeth Christ for we have learned it from the mouth of our Lord himself that who so loveth Father or Mother more then him is not worthy of him But what Logick is this The Planters of the Faith here came from Rome Ergo the people of this Nation were ever after in the worshipping of God to keep the Order of Rome If this argument would hold saith Bishop Jewel then would I reason thus The Church of Rome was first planted by them that came from Graecia or from Jerusalem Ergo Rome is to keep the Order of Graecia or of Jerusalem which consequence I dare say will not down with her that takes upon her to be perpetual Dictatrix to all the Churches of the world But we shall let this pass as impertinent to our purpose neither is there need at any time to insist much upon it for it is sufficiently witnessed saith Bishop Godwin by many Histories without exception that our Island of Britain received the Faith of Christ even in the first infancy of the Church from Jerusalem That which is now before us is to make manifest the folly of these Schismatical Objectours who accuse us of Superstition in our Church-Service because as they say we received it from Rome It would be too large a digression here to undertake a Vindication of our Church in every particular that concerns this matter enough hath been written thereof already by sundry persons both Learned and Godly whose works praise them in the gates yet requisite it is that somewhat be here added to wipe off that aspersion before premised which may be reduced to this Argument Whatsoever Church hath received her forme of Divine-Service from Rome is therein guilty of gross Superistition But the Church of England hath received her form of Divine-Service from Rome therefore is the Church of England in the form of Divine-Service guilty of gross Superstition We will not meddle with the proposition of this argument Let Rome plead for her self against it But as for the assumption we shall by clear and plain demonstration prove that to be utterly false both in respect of the times of old as also of the later since the Protestant Reformation And first We may here by the way upon very good warrant affirm that Non fuit sic ab initio It was not wont to be thus with England in the times of old viz. To follow Rome in the forme of Divine Service The reason of our confidence herein we have from that venerable Authour our Country-man before mentioned who is by all parties acknowledged to be a faithful Witness worthy of an high esteem in the Church Hee I say in his Ecclesiastical History informes us Beda lib. 3 cap. 25. that the Church of this Island of Britain well near until seven hundred years after Christ in the keeping of Easter-day and manner of Baptising followed the order of the Greek Church without any regard therein had to the Church of Rome And when Austin that imperious Monk was sent hither from Rome And when Austin that imperious Monk was sent hither from Rome here were saith Bede at that time one Arch-Bishop seven Bishops Lib. 2. cap. 2. and one and twenty hundred holy and religious Monks about Bangor who lived by the labour of their own hands the Countrey being for the most part Heathenish and as he further avoucheth plures viri doctissimi many moe great learned men that utterly refused to receive any Roman orders or customes from the said Austin in the Service of God though he urged them thereunto by many terrible threats Again Sain Gregory being then Bishop of Rome of whom it is said none of all his successours were for Holiness and Learning worthy to be compared with him when he had sent this Austin hither to preach the Gospel he gave him his instructions in this manner Where you finde any thing that seemeth ☞ better to the Service of God then is in the Church of Rome Choose you the same and do your endeavour to bring into the English Church the best and choicest things Choose out of many Churches for things are not to be loved for the place sake but the place is to be loved for the things that are good By these instances it may appear that this Church in those dayes did not in their publick service of God conform to the order of the Church of Rome neither did that Church impose any such order upon us In process of time indeed it came to pass that there were sundry Orders came here into use especially that of Sarum compiled by Osmund Earl of Dorset and Bishop of Salisbury which continued for above five hundred years till the reign of Edward the sixth In all which time the Romish Superstitions in Divine worship were too
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
of Christ's Resurrection but also for God's Eternity so may the word Heri Yesterday when it is spoken of God in this manner be taken in the same sense likewise for the eternal God is not to be conceived by us in any thing that concerns his Essence or Relation under any Notion of time properly as some have impiously conceived It is said Es 30 33. Es 30.33 That Tophet is ordained of old that is from Yesterday so the Marginal Note also renders it Now consider if Tophet be there to be understood of Hell as it is usually taken and as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often mentioned in the New Testament doth imply though the place hath had a Being in time yet surely God ordained it in his eternal Decree before ever Time was And that I take to be the meaning of the Prophet's word Yesterday viz. That God had ordained Hell for his enemies from all eternity So here in the Text may the word be taken in the same sense But that it may not at all seem strange unto any that Eternity be spoken of with terms appropriated unto Time we do finde frequent expressions of Scripture in a tendency hereunto and that in this very particular concerning the eternal Being of the Son of God The Lord saith Wisdom i. e. Jesus Christ who is the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 possessed me in the Beginning of his Way Prov. 8.22 Pro. 8.22 A Beginning of a far more ancient date then Moses his Beginning mentioned Gen. 1.1 For it is interpreted V. 23. to be from everlasting It is said also of Christ Mich. 5.2 Mich. 5.2 That his out-goings have been of old as Initio saith S. Hierom from the Beginning i. e. from everlasting as it is there added by the Prophet which signifies the Daies of Eternity as the Marginal Note there likewise renders it So that to ascribe Daies unto Eternity even as unto Time though not in such a propriety of speech is no novelty Rev. 1.8 Again Christ saith of himself Rev. 1.8 that He is the Beginning and the Ending which is and which was and which is to come A place not much differing from our present Text describing the Eternity of Jesus Christ even in the same manner as 't were in a Parallel under the same notions of Time And the words there as here signifie that Christ is was and ever shall be a most perfect simple and absolute substance and Essence being all one with our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He who is yesterday to day and for ever We must howsoever confess that these words Erat Est Erit was is and shall be and so also yesterday to day c. are but discriminating terms and as I may say several feathers springing forth from the wing of that voluble and mutable Time which hovereth upon the Creation and therefore utterly incompatible with the most perfect Eternity of the Creatour whose whole Being is entire and compleat in it self without any the least vicissitude or variation whatsoever yet notwithstanding such is the gracious condescention of the most High they are commonly by the Holy Ghost in Scripture attributed unto Eternity As humane Actions are unto God of Descending and Ascending c. and humane passions of Grief Anger c. together with the parts and lineaments of a humane body to the end that poor mortal creatures might have some Illapses of that great Glory slide into their minds according to their narrow capacities which otherwise they could never be able to discover no nor endure Hence it is that Christ calls himself Rev. 1.11 Rev. 1.11 The Alpha and Omega the first and the last whereby I conceive is meant that he is the only begotten Son of the Father and before him there was none and after him there should not arise any that should be so begotten Lastly the Apostle calls him The first born of every creature signifying thereby saith Bishop Davenant Quod genitus fuit ante ullam rem creatam That is that he was begotten of the Father before any thing was created Col. 1.15 So that still we see Prius Posterius that is these terms former and latter which have reference unto Time used by the Holy Ghost in this high point of the eternal Generation of the Son of God from whence it appeareth clearly that the word Yesterday here in the Text may be taken not only for all time past but even for Eternity in a reference to the said Divine Generation other places of Scripture where the same Doctrine is asserted speaking it out in the same language too We may therefore I believe proceed on without any Hesitancy in grounding it upon this Text which I acknowledge hath not been in this sense commonly understood and therefore have I been the larger in laying the foundation in regard also of the great usefulness of it amongst us in these times I shall endeavour to speak the more freely of it A Doctrine it is which the Churches of Christ have constantly maintained in the vindication whereof the Saints have not counted their lives dear unto them A Doctrine not to come under the scrutiny of Reason it being infinitely above it Dei Generatio silentio honoretur magnum tibi dedicisse quod genitus sit said one very well The Generation of the Son of God is to be honoured with silence and poor creatures must acknowledge that they have learned much when they know the Son to be begotten If any man yet shall enquire de mode that is concerning the manner of this Generation he should be answered saith reverend Davenant with S. Ambrose Credere tibi jussum est non discutere permissum est Thou art commanded to believe it not allowed to examine or discuss it Es 53.8 for that question of the Prophet Es 53.8 which though it bear other significations we may make use of here will put to silence both Angels and Men Who can declare his Generation If indeed we were able to search the Records of Eternity we might happily find out what was done in Hâ—sterno in those daies of Eternity But such knowledge is too wonderful for us it is high we cannot attain unto it Phil. 4.7 The Apostle tells us Phil. 4.7 That the peace of Christ is above all understanding Surely then his Eternal Generation is above all understanding too let us therefore content our selves with what is revealed not suffering our poor home-spun Reason to lash out into this transcendent Mystery any further then the Spirit of God in Scripture is pleased to lead us This I conceive we may with modesty assert the first Person being Father from Eternity the Son must be co-eternal with him otherwise the Relation falleth And there being nothing in God but Essence and Relation if the Relation be taken away what the Consequence would be is easie to judge But doubtless this Divine Relation between the Father and the Son was from
the Same Yesterday to Day and for ever Fourthly We may upon the Consideration of this Doctrine see how absurd and foolish that Dream is of a certain Vbi a Place of confinement for the Souls of the Faithful who lived and died Yesterday in that long tract of time under the Law and before it which place is by the Papists called Limbus Patrum for in regard the work of Redemption was not fully accomplished by Jesus Christ till he had suffered Death upon the Cross therefore say they all those Patriarchs and Prophets and Holy men of old from the beginning of the World unto that time could not enter into Heaven but were shut up in some lower parts of the Earth bordering upon Purgatory which say they is next door to Hell For saith Bishop Mountague as if some of their Masters had been soon sent thither to take a survey thereof they do quarter out that infernal Clime into four Regions And this place amongst the rest which they have assigned unto the Fathers they determine to be the uppermost Fringe as the Word Limbus signifies or the verge of Hell It is not my purpose to descend so low as to examine the particulars of this their Subterraneous Chorography I believe the Vanity thereof is Visible enough to all that have not their Eyes put out with the smoke of Purgatory Rather let the strength of our present Doctrine be set in opposition to this fond dream of that false and Apostatical Church of Rome which hath obtruded many such like idle Fopperies upon those poor people that are bewitched with her Sorceries and then let all mankinde judge which is the Truth True it is Bishop Mountague of Nor. they make much boast of Antiquity in the upholding of this their fabulous Limbo though as learned an Antiquary as any possiby that ever was in their Conclave affirmeth that Antiquity will not own it Nevertheless if it should it shall be of no Value with us if it clash with the Divine Oracles of the Holy Scriptures They tell us that the Souls of the godly are in the bundle of Life with the Lord their God 1 Sam. 25.29 1 Sam. 25.29 Ec. 12.7 And that the spirit returns unto God that gave it Ec. 12.7 That the Soul of Lazarus was carried by the Angels who always behold the face of God in Heaven Mat. 18.11 into Abrahams Bosome Luk. 16. Luk. 16.22 And therefore it is well observed against the Rhemists upon that place that Limbo being supposed to be under the Earth and Lazarus's Soul from Earth was carried upwards If he went to Limbo the Angels were not well acquainted with the Way in that they carry him above the Earth when they ought to have carried him to a place underneath the Earth Add hereunto what a world of Absurd ities would follow if this Pepish devise should pass for currant Act. 15.11 How could Saint Peter say Act. 15. We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Luk. 20.38 How could the Patriarchs be said to live with God if they were banished out of his Sight Luk. 20. And if this Limbo be the Brim or Hem of the damned places how is it said that the Glutton in Hell saw Abraham afar off with Lazarus in his Bosome and that there was a great Gulfe and Distance between the Damned's place and that wherein Lazarus abode As for Abraham it may be collected clearly from Heb. 11.9.10 that he immediately after Death was received up into Heaven Heb. 11 9.10 according to his expectation Contented he was with his flitting Tabernacles while he continued as a Sojourner here in this Life because there was a City to come after this Life that would be firm and steddy wherein he looked to be admitted and which should make full amends for all his wearisome Peregrinations Where we may see that that City having Foundations which the Holy Patriarch by Faith expected is by an Antithesis set ad oppositum to those Tabernacles which he formerly lived in with Isaac and Jacob whereby is intimated that he was not received into any other building after his death then that which is permanent Into which City he being received it must necessarily follow that all the faithful people of God who were transported by Angels into his Bosome as Lazarus was were there received and entertained likewise Moreover because this Parable is much perverted by the Papists to their sinister sense when Abraham opposeth Lazarus's Comfort to the Glutton's Torment it is evident that he being in infinite Torment the other was in infinite Joy which because it cannot be but in Heaven A term appropriated by the Holy Ghost to the Ages of the Church before Christ But not fit to be used now in the time of the Gospel Gerard. Rom. 5.15 as in the Lord's Presence-Chamber it followeth that the †Bosome of Abraham is the Rest that his faithful and right begotten Children have in Heaven In fine That which chiefly I have to say against this absurd errour is this viz. That it derogateth from the Merits of Jesus Christ making him not to be of yesterday and his death to be effectual onely à parte post to those that come after him An Opinion therefore to be Anathematized by all the Churches of the Saint yea further the Sin of Adam is by this means contrary to the Doctrine of the Apostle Rom. 5.15 made more powerful to Condemnation then Christ's Righteousness can be unto Salvation for the Sin of Adam casteth his Wicked and Unbelieving Posterity into Hell immediately after Death whereas by their Doctrine the Communication of Christ's Righteousness with them that believed in him could not immediately after Death lift them up into the Kingdom of Heaven How this can stand with Christ's honour or how it agreeth with the aforesaid Scripture let the Jesuites themselves tell us if they can Objection Well but yet the Scripture notwithstanding they affirm will bear them out in this their opinion for saith the Apostle Heb. 9.8 The way into the Holiest of all was not made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing Heb. 9.8 Upon which place these Limbonians do much harpe for the maintenance of their foolish errour collecting as they think very strenuously that the way to Heaven was not open before Christ's Passion and therefore the Patriarchs and good men of old must needs have some other place of rest assigned unto them for their abode until that time Solution A short Answer to a vain Cavil may suffice briefly then let it be observed The Apostle saith not the way to Heaven was shut up while the first Tabernacle was standing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was not yet clearly manifested Whereby he gives us to understand that the people of God under the Old Testament knew the way to Heaven but darkly viz. through the vail of Types But withall that they knew there was
God and are troubled for his Anger we see is enkindled it smoketh against the sheep of his Pasture By terrible things in Righteousness doth God answer his People now in this day when they call upon him chiding and chastning them very sore should we then make mirth I Answer far be it from us when the Lord God of Hostes calls to Weeping and Mourning c. that we should be of that cross grain'd disposition as to thwart the sad Dispensations of his Providence by giving up our selves to any vain and carnall Delights and when his hand is lifted up to correct and punish that then we should wilfully shut our eyes refusing to see that I say be far from us But I beseech you though this be a day of rebuke Is it not a time also of Love Nay when with rebukes the Lord doth correct his people is there not both love and faithfulness to be found in the bottom of those rebukes which makes them very sweet unto the soul of a Believer Besides can we not distinguish between the sorrowful dispensations of Providence whensoever they come upon us and the glorious dispensations of grace If the former be matter of sorrow the latter are of joy Rejoyce therefore in the Lord alwayes and again I say rejoyce Oh but it is a day of blasphemy And who that hath a tender regard to God's glory and the Churches Welfare can chuse but sigh and mourn to see and hear the Abominations that are so frequent this day How alas doth errour and heresie justle with divine truth Yea trample it under their feet And that which encreaseth the sorrow people that profess godliness love to have it so Some make a mock at Sin That which should be the terrour and amazement of the soul as being most of all contrary to God and a worse enemie to the whole creation then all the devils in Hell Fooles at this day do play and dally with it Others make a mock at Holiness Pro. 14.9 either by a profane Diabolical derision of it or els by a false Pharisaical Profession of it thereby to palliate their abominable wickedness Here are some jesting pleasantly with their Maker as he did who would needs drink a Health to his Patron blasphemously calling him his Maker There others sporting themselves with the Holy Scriptures exercising their scurrilous Wits upon those sacred Oracles whereat they should rather tremble and which the glorious Angels do stoope down to adore Alas alas is not the Air polluted with most execrable Hell-invented oaths and that Vnmanly vice of Drunkenness as our late King of never-dying Memory according to the excellent Wisdom given unto him in a Speech of his at Oxford most properly termed it grown Impudent notwithstanding all the good laws in force against it And such Brothelry commonly belched out by a Brutish Generation who yet live under the light of this day that the very Heathens would abhor it And is this a time then thinke you to Rejoyce I Answer For these things indeed let us be humbled and walk mournfully before the Lord let horrour feise upon us as it was with the Holy Prophet Ps 119.53 Ps 119.136 because of the wicked that forsake the law of the Lord Yea let us as he did for these things even swim in tears Ps 119 136. But we must know that this kinde of sorrow and humiliation is to be manifested in denying our selves that natural and lawful joy and liberty we may take sometimes in the free use of the Creatures not at all in quenching our spiritual joy We rejoyce not in iniquity but we rejoyce in the truth this joy no man nor no Devil should take from us because God hath called us to it and calleth upon us for it All this therefore hindereth not but that we may and ought to rejoyce in the Light of this day though there be much affliction upon the Church rebuke from God iniquity and blasphemy among men to be seen in it Secondly 2 Duty suffer the Light of this day to shine in upon your soules that the beams thereof may have their free and clear penetration into every corner of your inner man If ye be Children of light and Children of the day sprung from the womb of the morning you will be still craving after light ambitious of a Conformity to the nobleness of your extraction yea light is your proper element and the more you are swallowed up in it the more comfortable shall your life be unto you Mis-mean me not I exhort you not now to stand gazing after a Light that is too high for your reach or to break through God's pavilion to that light that is inaccessible There is a knowledge too wonderful for poor man which while he is cloathed with mortality yea and in some respect when his mortality hath put on immortality He shall never be able to attain unto Neither do I call upon you to look after those new lights which the varity and darkness of these times do so much cry up and extol for sure I am that which is new in point of Salvation cannot be true A position though much disliked by some giddy heads may well be maintained against Men and Angels Yea whatsoever may be obtruded upon you as a fundamental Light that shall appear in this Noontide of the Gospel to be of so narrow an extent that it hath not or cannot overspread the whole Hemisphere of the Church is most certainly counterfeit a prodigious comet portending some strong delusions rather then a true fixed light derived from the fountain of light For saith Christ himself Luk. 17.24 As the lightning that lightneth from one part under Heaven shineth to the other part under heaven so also is the Son of man in his day Not onely in the great day of his glorious appearance but even in this his day He is not concluded within the narrow confines of Africa as the Donatists of old would have him Nor in the conclave at Rome as the Papists at this day foolishly imagine Nor in the Desart that is in the separation amongst those that now-a-days forsake the Assemblies Nor in their secret Chambers that is in the Conventicles of Schismaticks But his going forth is from the end of Heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it his Church hath infallibly universally been inlightned by him with that knowledge that is necessary to Salvation unto which whosoever shall add is a Deceiver and to be anathematized by all the Churches of Christ Putting away therefore these vanities Let your soules give entertainment to that Light which this Day presenteth unto you And so much the rather because the Prince of darkness hath raised up many foggie noisome palpable mists to obscure this light with which mists the eyes of a multitude of people pretending to Holiness are miserably blinded And now if it be demanded what this light is I Answer First It is the light of Life not a
inventions worthy of no value We deny not but where Antiquity is found in a way of Righteousness it is indeed a Crown of Glory among the Churches of Christ But being found in a way of Errour wandring from the righteous rule of the written word and laying inconstancy upon Jesus Christ who is this way of Righteousness as if he were not the same still in his Doctrine which he hath delivered to his Church it is fit to be despised We must here now look to be told that the written word is not the onely rule but that there are many other unwritten verities to which we are likewise bound to give heed as well as to that which is written Sess 4. Decreto de Can. Script Yea and the Council of Trent hath thundred out their Anathema against those who refuse Traditions for the rule of faith as well as against those that refuse the written word But may it not then be demanded if it be so where can faith finde a sure foundation to fix upon that which is unwritten being very uncertain whether it be from Heaven or of men If the written word be but a part of Gods revealed will and these unwritten verities as they are called the other part never can there be assurance given to any of the whole Mystery of Salvation neither can the Church know it aright in the whole series of it was God hath revealed it For when some affirm a Tradition to be Apostolical which others of as great account disdainfully reject for a spurious super-inducement and forgery thrust upon the Churches in after-times which dissenting in this case hath frequently come to pass even in the Primitive Dayes of the Gospel what a miserable maze is the faith of a believer brought into Will not our confidences be much weakned in our spiritual conflicts and our hopes of gaining Converts to our Christian Profession from among those that are without if they should make this objection unto us be utterly choaked and our endeavours in that kinde frustrated and come to nothing To let pass the great multitude of these Traditions the number of them being never yet determined whereby they must needs become a great yoke and burthen to the Church of Christ 1 Tim. 3.15 If that which is written be sufficient to make a man wise unto salvation surely that which is unwritten is not absolutely necessary to be heeded by us It is not to be denied but that the Church hath Power to appoint some certain Canons and Rules for the observation of Publick order and decency unto which so long as they are inoffensive in their own nature they that are true Children of the Church will give a ready and a chearful obedience yea we do confess that in things indifferent a respect ought to be yielded to Antiquity and to their Traditions But if an Angel from Heaven should come and tell us that all those things which are simply necessary to Salvation are not to be found in the Holy Scriptures we must hold him accursed Yet Bellarmine saith Nos asserimus in Scripturis non contineri expresse totam Doctrinam necessariam sive de fide sive de moribus Lib. 4. de verbo non scripto Ca. 3. Sect. 1. We further do willingly grant that the Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles preached many things that were never written And what they so preached ought to be of equal Authority with us as that which is written Pari veneratione pari pietatis affictu the very words of the Council of Trent not to be disliked with as much Piety and Veneration to be received by us as the Books of Holy Scriptures if they were as certainly known But it is a strange and strong delusion which we hope shall never seise upon us to believe that they preached doctrines which are a directly contrary to what is written in the said Books as light is unto darkness Holy and Faithful Master Deering in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews expostulates this case sadly in these words Is it the word of Christ written that we should not worship Angels And is it his Word unwritten that we should pray unto them Is it his Word written that we should not be bound to our Fore-Fathers Traditions And is it his Word unwritten that our Fathers Traditions should be to us as his Gospel Is it his word written that to forbid marriage which is honourable in all estates is the Doctrine of Devils And is it his Word unwritten that Ministers should be forbidden to marry Is it his Word written that five words in a known Tongue are better in the Congregation then five thousand in a strange Language And is it his Word unwritten that in our Congregations we should pray in a Language which the people understand not Is it his Word written that the dead are blessed which die in the Lord and they rest from their labours And is it his Word unwritten that they are tormented in the fire of Purgatory In short Is it his Word written that his Ministers should be subject to Kings should attend upon their flock and not meddle more then needs must with the affairs of this World And is it his Word unwritten that the Pope shall exercise Authority over Temporal powers depose Kings at his pleasure and that his Inferiours of the Conclave should be secular Princes Hath God written it that Christ sacrificed himself once for all and made a perfect Redemption And hath he left it unwritten that a shaven Priest must sacrifice him every day and say a Mass Propitiatory for the quick and dead What perversness is this of men of Corrupt minds thus to dream of Traditions contrary to the written Word of God And what an intolerable indignity do they put upon Christ to make him thus palpably contradict himself as if he had forgotten to be still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Same But full well did Esaias prophecy of these men Es 29.13 saying This people draweth neare unto me with their mouth and honour me with their lips but their heart is far from me But in vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men Mat. 15.8 But leaving these to their uncertain Traditions and their most certain innovations Let us look home to our selves and hearken to the Apostles advice which he giveth Phil. 2.5 viz. Phil. 2.5 To let the same minde be in us which was in Christ Jesus for he hath set us an example that we should herein also follow his steps even to be constantly the same in those things that belong to the Kingdom of God Not that we should stand at a stay and make no further progress in Knowledge Holiness Zeal for God's glory Brotherly-love self-denial Contempt of the world c. then we have already attained Rather let yesterdayes work in that sence be forgotten by us Phil. 3.13 and let us reach forth as Saint Paul said he himself
are now really and in truth delivered out of Babylon Admit that our Liturgy be found in the manner of some expressions and translation of it fit to be changed for the reasons of expediency and condescension wherein nevertheless we are for the churches sake to submit to the wisdom of those in whose power it is to order that change yet as it is considering the woful effects which the want of it hath produced and in regard of the reasons before specified it will well become all that fear God heartily to rejoyce at its Restauration Admit also which yet without contradicting the Holy Ghost cannot be granted that Episcopacy were as bad in its own nature as Schismaticks would make it yet it must be acknowledged to be far better then that Anarchy in the Church which was projected by the late Sect of Over-turners for their own sinister ends But it is now manifest that this despised persecuted Episcopacy is not an humane Ecclesiastical ordinance but Divine and therefore it is that Government under which we may have the greatest confidence that Religion may flourish and our souls may prosper Especially when we look upon those grave and reverend persons who are preferred to that office and charge and finde them according to his gracious MAJESTIES Declaration Concerning Ecclesiastical affairs men of learning virtue and piety such of whom the world is not worthy if it should still persist in enmity against them I name none for by their works and by their sufferings you may know them Onely let that free and faithful Speech uttered in a Sermon before his Majesty that now is whom God long preserve at the time of his Coronation shew what manner of spirit a Bishop may be of when he is employed in his Masters business in preaching the Gospel Apr. 23.1661 which was this Those persons meaning Kings and Princes that can be punished by none but God shall be sure to be most severely punished by God if because they can be punished by none but him they presume the more to sin against him What a thunder clap is this to be rattled in the ears of a King when he is in the height of his temporal glory Let any now or all of that sort of people who are apt to cry out Away with Bishops but try a little their own spirits and see whether at any time they have been or can be more faithful in speaking of Gods testimonies in such an audience and not be dismayed I say therefore again Let not the people of this Nation any more be such enemies to the Gospel of Christ and their own souls as to say Away with Liturgy and Away with Episcopacy rather we should say Away with Schisme and that virulency of spirit which hath too much prevailed upon us in these later times against those things that are so consonant to the holy Scriptures Away with pride which we have experimentally found to be the Mother of contention and the fore-runner of confusion whose swellings of late with scorn and contempt have superabounded Her Children pretending to tread down the pride of others Pro. 13.10 Pro. 16.18 have with the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah done it with a greater pride Away with hypocrisy and dissembling holiness which hath ever been accounted a double iniquity It is the best servant the Devil hath and shall have answerable wages above all the rest Mat. 24.51 This is that Crocodile that could weepe and houle when it had a design to destroy and swallow us up quick That Jezebel that could proclaim a fast when she projected cruelty and oppression That Pharisee that could make long prayers when poor Widows and Orphans houses were at the end of his devotion That Judas that would kiss and betray in the same breath cry All hail and in the very instant smite under the fift rib therefore Away with it Away with self-seeking that hath cramb'd the bags and fill'd the coffers of covetous earth-worms with the ruines of their Country Away with Heresie and Blasphemy The one cuts the throat of truth which should be dearer unto us then our lives And the other flies in the face of God Almighty and bids defiance against Heaven Both which I dare say have a deeper place in Hell then Superstition yet both of them rode circuit about this Nation while it stood un-Churched by our divisions and unkinged by our sins Away with that Image of Jealousie that Anti-Catholick and Anti-Christian Toleration which for politick ends and purposes hath cunningly yet most profanely been cryed up as the common interest of Sion that God takes care of as if an abomination of desolation were now become the Churches glory And the way to preserve truth in its purity were to blend it with Errour Had this cursed project continued as it began well might that Machiavellian principle in time have passed for sound doctrine viz. That all shall be saved in their own Religion though the Church of this Kingdom would as it was once said sooner have become the Devils dancing-schole then Gods Temple In the mean time those poor Superstitious Malignants that durst shew themselves in the behalf of Liturgy and Episcopacy must be sure above others to be exempted from this indulgence and so left to perish without any remedy doubtless this juggling did rouse up the jealousie of the Almighty and therefore it was high time to send it packing Away with Irreverence Profaness Looseness Sordidness in the Service of the Holy and Dreadful God which in the judgement of all that are truely pious is far worse then that other extreme of overmuch Curiosity and Superstition This in some kinde preserving supporting exalting Religion The other desacing suppressing trampling upon it Finally Away with Despising Dominion and speaking evil of Dignities Jud. v. 8. which Saint Jude condemneth v. 8. that is as it is probable by the purport of his Epistle such dominion and such dignities as were then settled in the Church against which Diotrephes and his crew would be still carping or as it is v. 19. Separate themselves Upon which despisers the same Apostle pronounceth Gods vengeance which hath a measure reaching even to all those who are this day guilty of the same sin Jud. v 2. Wo unto them saith he they have gone in the way of Kain persecuting Christs servants because they are preferred and accepted before them even as Cain did his brother Abel And ran greedily after the errour of Balaam for reward pouring out their curses upon the poor Church of God in hope to enrich themselves by the spoils of it And perish in the gain saying of Corah Their contempt of and insurrection against Church Governours Bishop Andrews thus argueth No man could perish in the gain-saying of Korah under the Gospel which St. Jude saith they may if there were not a superiority in the Clergy for Korahs mutiny was because he might not be equal to Aaron appointed his superiour by
the Chapter Now comes he vers 11 12 c. with variety of Arguments to shew the Probability Afterwards vers 25 c c. he proveth the Certainty thereof In the end applauding and magnifying the Wisdome and Knowledge of God his stupendious Wisdome in making the Desertion of the Jews and occasion of calling the Gentiles and his profound knowledge farre beyond the reach of all the heavenly Intelligences in knowing how to work upon the most obstinate Jews by bringing them to the obedience of the Gospel through their envy and emulation towards the Gentiles This in short is the summe of the Apostles undertaking And should we now follow his track throughout his whole Discourse upon this Subject though possibly some wou'd account it tedious to afford us their company yet we should not be found guilty of an inexcusable digression from the subject that we have before treated of in so doing For the Text being directed to the Hebrews to assure them of Christs immutability towards them which argues clearly that he would not finally forsake them though for the present they were as strangers scattered about the world 1 Pet. 1.1 The explicating therefore of these parallel Scriptures which the holy Ghost hath recorded for our confirmation therein cannot with any shadow of reason be reckoned as an impertinency especially when a point so material to the honour of the Lord Jesus Christ is called in question as it is this day Neither indeed could that which hath been here done in order thereto have been omitted unless we should have betrayed the Text to the gain-saying of men which God forbid And let this serve for a vindication against all those cavillers who are ready to object impertinencies unto me in the allegation of those Scriptures which have here been made use of to this purpose Nevertheless to avoyd more prolixity we shall not exactly trace the Apostle in the pursuance of this argument concerning the Probability of the reâ—ingrafting of the Jewish Nation into the Church of God onely give leave in the behalf of Gods glory and the special interest of his Church to put a Quaere or two which are the fruit and off-spring of an astonishing admiration The Resolution whereof shall be left unto the adversaries of this poor despised people to be determined by them either with a retractation of their errour here and repentance for it or hereafter before the Tribunal of the righteous Judge when he shall appear in his glory First then I demand 1. Quaere Whether it be not just and meet that God should obtain his end which he hath proposed unto himself concerning both Jews and Gentiles in the dispensation of his mercy He hath saith the Apostle vers 32. concluded them all in unbelief that is in his just Judgement shut them all up together as in the very verge of hell under the dominion of sin which misery nevertheless they had brought upon themselves by their contumacy against him but to what end Was it that he might destroy either one or the other No verily but rather that he might have mercy upon them all both Jews and Gentiles To the Gentiles who were first in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pertinaciously set against the Lord and his Anointed he would make known the riches of his Grace and take them into his Covenant as well as the Jews But because the Jews indignation was so great against the Gentiles that they would not vouchsafe to own them as brethren and co-partners with them in the same grace though they themselves also most unthankfully rejected this grace when it was offered unto them resembling thereby as the proverb is the Dog in the manger who would neither eat of the fodder himself nor suffer the poor hungry Ox standing by to eat of it that would therefore did God leave them to a woful blindness and hardness of heart that through their fall salvation might come to the Gentiles wherein notwithstanding God had a favourable respect unto the Jews likewise viz. That they seeing the Gentiles taken into his bosome enjoying the priviledges of children farre beyond their expectation and themselves despised of God and dispersed over the world might be provoked to emulation that is to an earnest desire of reconciliation with God as disdaining to be a Nation inferiour to any other Nations in his love and willing to be like unto them yea to surpass them in all things that might endear them unto him Now consider when God shall in the depth of his Wisdome contrive a glorious design for the exalting of his grace so glorious that next to the sending of his onely Sonne into the world would be the greatest that ever should be acted upon the Theater of the world and withall give notice of it in his Word to the children of men that they might wait for the accomplishment thereof Is it not an affront offered to the Wisdome of God and a check given unto his Grace for any to doubt whether it should come to pass or no Secondly 2. Quere Since not onely the glory of God but the interest of his Church is herein highly concern'd I demand in the next place Whether it be not very requisite that they who profess themselves children of the Church should rejoyce in those discoveries of Divine Providence that may any way tend to the promoting of that interest Saint Paul here who was called to be an Apostle of the Gentiles accounts it a magnifying of his office to make his boast of the great encrease of those spiritual riches which he fore-saw should be the portion of the Churches of the Gentiles upon the reception of the Jews in the latter dayes Hear how he argues If the fall of them that is the Jews be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulness And again If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life seem the dead Words indeed of an irresistable conviction unless we will say with the Laedicean We are rich and encreased in goods and have need of nothing Alas we have need of more grace because Satan now hath more wrath then ever having but a short time to work for his kingdome we have need of more holiness because the pollutions of the world are grown more filthy we have need of more acquaintance with our God because our hearts are grown more deceitful doubtless we are not so full but we have yet need of more at least we have need of more brotherly love and Christian unanimity then is at this day to be found amongst us and that those schisms and divisions under which the poor Church of Christ lyeth struggling as it were for life should be taken out of the way True it is we Gentiles who were before a beggarly people have upon the Jews falling into poverty been enriched by Divine bounty but have