Well of Living Waters Dilherus renders it Puteus aquae viventis a deep Well non collectitiae clausae atque stagnantis sed ultrò scaturientis that by its copious frequent and uninterrupted ebullitions waters all the neighbouring Regions they are the only Waters can quench the Thirst of reasonable Souls this is the Well after which they pant and breath As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks Psal 42. HERE Interpreters take care to distinguish betwixt a Fountain and a Well Every Well is a Fountain but every Fountain is not a Well So the Well implies great depth and profundity and this Phrase added to the former does insinuate that the Waters of the Sanctuary are not only pure clear and serene but very deep they are not a puddle nor a standing Lake not like the Waters of Gomorrha where Fishes cannot live but the smooth and deep Rivers of Paradise THIS Metaphor then duly considered does imply the Purity Profundity and free Communication of these Oracles First I SAY the Purity of these Waters The Church of Christ is not to be fed with Dreams and Fancies and corrupt Doctrines not with noise ostentation and popular tricks but with Words of Eternal Life 2 Tim. 1.13 Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus We are to take heed 1 Tim. 4.16 to our selves and to our doctrine for this is the way to save our selves and them which hear us THE Hereticks of all Ages have been proud and subtile and indefatigable and there is no Antidote against their Poyson but to adhere to the Simplicity of the Gospel the pure Canon of the Scriptures the antient Creeds and Liturgies of the Church the faith which was delivered to the Saints the Doctrines that have been received uno ore apud omnes Christianos the Golden Rule of Vincentius Lirenensis quod apud omnes quod ubique quod semper This is certainly the Rule of Faith and by this Standard were the antient Heresies examined baffled and confounded Reason Scripture and Universal Tradition were the Weapons by which they defended the Truth For the Apostle foretells 2 Cor. 4.2 3. That the time would quickly come when men could not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts they should heap teachers to themselves and turn their ears from the truth and follow after fables They did so in a little time and the offspring of Simon Magus covered the Church as the Frogs did Egypt This occasioned the Heresiologies of Irenaeus Epiphanius S. Augustine Many forsook the Simplicity of Faith and mixt the Waters of Life with the putrid Streams that they drew from their own Cisterns THE Credenda of our Religion are but very few and the Constitution of Human Nature did require that they should be few For since our Saviour did calculate his Religion not for any particular Sect or Party but for the whole Body of Mankind it cannot be thought that he design'd that it should be spun out into Nice Decisions Metaphysical Distinctions odd and Barbarous Words When the School Divinity began to be the Learning of the Western Church and Aristotle's Philosophy gave Laws to their Theology how miserably was the Christian Religion mangled and broken into airy Questions uncertain Conclusions and idle Problems that eat out the Life of true Learning and Devotion And Articles imposed on the Belief of the Church neither necessary in their Nature nor revealed by Christ nor taught by the Apostles nor founded in Reason nor consisting with the Analogy of Faith The Christian Religion thus ratified unto nothing became feeble and dry lost its force and primitive vigour And the truth is since the Thirteenth Century in which that kind of Learning domineered in all Schools Colleges and Monasteries all Discourses even the Homilies that exhort the People to Repentance and a Holy Life were all blended with that bombast Jargon But our Religion was first plainly delivered and loves perspicuity and fixes its residence in the most ingenuous Souls and if it be covered and mantled in darkness who can distinguish it from Nonsense and Vanity AND therefore since Christ by us conveys these Waters to his Church let us not sully them with Chimerical Guesses and Uncertainties but let us pour them out in their original Purity and Simplicity without alteration corruption or addition How often doth the Apostle exhort to this 2 Tim. 7.8 In doctrine shewing uncorruptedness gravity sincerity sound speech that cannot be condemned And Titus 1.9 holding fast the faithful word as thou hast been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince gainsavers AND this is not done by Passion or reviling Language for where did you ever hear that a man was recovered from Heresie or Schism by heaping reproaches upon him Our Arguments may be intrinsecally strong but if they are set off with venom rancour and personal aspersions they may well irritate the Disease but they shall never reclaim the Erroneous and therefore when we deal with any such either on the right or left hand let us state the Controversies fairly else we but beat the Air neither must we multiply them needlesly nor are we to toss and bandy those Questions to serve the designs of Fame Ostentation of Learning or Popularity but with a sincere resolution to edifie the Church to fight under the Royal Standard of Christ to preserve his Church his chast and dearly beloved Spouse Secondly THIS Metaphor implies the profound Nature of Gospel Mysteries 't is puteus profundus aquae viventis The Woman of Samaria said to our Saviour of Jacobs Well that it was very deep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how much more profound are the Wells of Salvation The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven the deep things of God the Mysteries kept hid from Ages and Generations Great is the Mysterie of Godliness God manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels believed on in the the World received up into Glory We are taught by the Gospel to speak the Wisdom of God in a Mysterie The illuminated Apostle of the Gentiles in contemplation of these Mysteries fell in a transport of admiration O the depth of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God how unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out THOUGH there be nothing in the Gospel that overthrows Reason or subverts its Principles yet its Mysteries and Revelations are beyond it The whole Contrivance of our Redemption is a Mysterie and then certainly we ought to approach the administrations of his House with pure hearts and clean hands Let us wash our hands in innocence when we compass his Altar They were to look to their feet that came to the Temple of Jerusalem much more should the Sons of Aaron the immedidiate Servants of the Sanctuary prove the keenest enemies to all prophanation of holy things I am no friend to Superstition and as little to Giddiness and
acknowledgment of that particular Deity to whom they were offered 1. I SAY they were separate from common Use And this is the true Notion of all Relative Holiness It is in Allusion to this that we are exhorted by St. Paul to be separate and not to touch the unclean thing for the Temple of God hath no agreement with Idols Ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my People Let us call to mind our New and heavenly Relation by the solemnity of our Baptism We are built up a spiritual House an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Let us remember that we are bought with a price we are not our own therefore ought we to glorifie God in our bodies and in our spirits which are Gods The Prophanation of things Holy and dedicated was looked upon as an extraordinary Crime We must not take the Vessels of the Sanctuary and profane them to common Use This is the Argument that St. Paul made use of to the Corinthians against Fornication Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an Harlot And this Reason may be extended without any violence against all sin and impurity we are confederate with Jesus Christ we are listed under his Banners we are separated from the World therefore all compliance with it as far as it is opposed to the Kingdom of Christ is utterly unlawful therefore Love not the World neither the things that are in the World if any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him We are sacred Persons we are dedicated to his service in our Baptism we must not run into the same excess of Riot with others a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that we should shew forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light 2. SACRIFICES were not only separated from common use but were also the badge and Tessera of the Votaries and the peculiar Worship of that Deity to whom they were offered This made it so highly criminal for the first Christians to be present at the Sacrifices of their Pagan Relations they were frequently invited to these Idolatrous Ceremonies And though they might pretend that they came to gratifie their Friends without any further design of Religion yet their very presence at those Solemnities of the Pagans did confute this Pretext For the Sacrifices were the peculiarties and Bonds that did oblige to the Worship of that Deity to whom they were offered and both among the Jews and the Pagans there was some one Ceremony or other that pointed to that Deity that was worshipped and acknowledged The Sacrifices of the Jewish Religion and religious Ceremonies were most of them diametrically opposite to the customs of the neighbour Nations that they might remain marks of distinction between the Idolatrous Nations and the Jews who worshipped the Creator of Heaven and Earth It is most certain that the Sacrifices in all Religions have this in them that they unite the Votary and the Deity to whom they are offered And therefore the Ancient Church was so severe not only against the Thurificati and such as did sacrifice in the time of Persecution but also against such as were present at these Sacrifices So much we gather from St. Pauls reasonings The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ i. e. Is it not the Characteristick of the Christian Worship Compare this with the 20 th verse following the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to Devils and not to God I would not that ye should have fellowship with Devils Ye cannot be partakers of the Lords Table and of the Table of Devils therefore you ought with all care to flee those Idolatrous meetings NOW when we sacrifice our selves with allusion to this Practice we must remember the peculiar Laws of our Religion the Laws that erect a Wall of Partition between the Christians and the rest of Mankind where then are our peculiar Obligations We are told of them in the fifth of St. Matth. Gospel Those graces of Humility Calmness Goodness and Charity that are levell'd against the prevailing Vices of Mankind This is our Religion in its heighth in its Flower in its mark of Excellency and distinction This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Christianity by which we know our selves to be the Disciples of the Crucified Jesus There was always in all Religions some proportion or analogy between the Sacrifice and the Deity Let our Sacrifices therefore prove that we are the Children of the most High God and his Son Jesus Christ whom to know is life eternal And because we have the best Religion we must do more than others that they seeing our good works may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven 3. THE third Epithet that St. Paul mentions is that the Sacrifice must be Acceptable And this also in allusion to what made the Sacrifices acceptable according to the letter of the Law and to make it acceptable thus it ought 1. to be offered at Gods own Altar at Jerusalem The Solemnities of publick Worship were always ordered by God himself immediately or by them to whom he did intrust by regular conveyance the management of Sacred things LET us not then as the Author to the Hebrews exhorts forsake the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is who forsake the Communion of the Catholick Church and erect Altar against Altar and to justifie their prophane Schism must pretend the very forms of the Church that distinguish us and our Religion from Pagans Infidels and Hereticks Why should I be says the Spouse as one that turneth aside by the Flocks of thy Companions Tell me where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon There is no shelter against the heat of Gods indignation to be had but in the Society of the Church When we are dazled with Singularities and Novelties and forsake the Communion of the Church we venture without the Line of his Covenant and Promise and 't is needless to aggravate the danger of so doing HOW joyfully does the Psamist tune his Harp when they spake to him of the meetings at Jerusalem I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy gates O Jerusalem Let us say with the mournful Captives in Babylon If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mâ—uth if I prefer not Jerusalem to my chiefest joy With what impatience did the Psalmist sigh for the Sanctuary As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God
SERMONS Preached upon Several Occasions Most of them Before the MAGISTRATES and JUDGES in the North-East-Auditory of S. Gile's Church EDINBURGH BY AL. MONRO D.D. Then PRINCIPAL of the COLLEGE of EDINBURGH LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh at the Golden Ball over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil M DC XCIII Imprimatur May 3. 1693. Guil. Lancaster To my Friends and Acquaintances in the North-East Parish of S. Giles in Edinburgh Much Honoured and Well Beloved IF I had any other design to serve by this Address than what was in my view when I preached the following Sermons I would perhaps recommend them to the favour of some particular Patron but I rather lay hold of this opportunity that I may acknowedge in as publick a manner as is possible for me the many kindnesses that I received amongst you when I was allowed to preach the Gospel in my Native Country I was unanimously and cheerfully nam'd to the Government of the College of Edinburgh without my knowledge or interposal by the Lord Provost and Town Council I retain a grateful sense of it And this is the principal reason why these Discourses do now appear I am not so extravagantly foolish as to think that the present Age needs any of my Composures if they are innocent and well meant though attended with many other imperfections they may promote good thoughts in some who heard them with Piety and Attention They are only calculated for their Meridian Most men have different Tasts for Books as well as for other things and what is sincerely intended may sometimes be read with greater success than more accurate Treatises The World is very vain and changes its Faces and Figures every moment yet true Religion is invariable as the Author of it and therefore we are to steer our course towards Heaven by those great Truths that are uniformly received amongst all Christians and to take heed that we do not separate from the Catholick Church of Christ her antient Rules and Constitutions by which she was preserved in the Primitive Ages For it is certain that God did not suffer the Universal Church to deviate from the Apostolical Discipline when as yet she was furnished with no other Weapons to pull down Idolatry and Superstition than her Unity Prayers and Universal Charity There is nothing more opposite to Piety and Devotion than Pride and Vanity and to despise the Wisdom of all our Predecessors is not only arrogant but impious The multitude and variety of later Sectaries especially in the Isle of Britain have advanced Atheism to a prodigious Impudence and it is impossible to recover the World now sunk in Folly and Irreligion but by the extraordinary Zeal of good Men. The decays of Piety in our days appear openly amongst all Ranks and Orders and this must be imputed in a great part to that Itch after Novelties which hath so fatally overrun these Nations Ambition and Faction hath almost remov'd the distinction between things Sacred and Prophane yet it is certain that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God and those pretended Reformations that are managed with Noise and Tumult have ordinarily no other effects than Sacrilege and Confusion We are very apt to have other thoughts of God and of our selves when we approach the Gates of Death from those which we have entertained in the days of health and prosperity and if then we have the least sense of the World to come we cannot but distinguish true Zeal to advance the Power of Godliness from the insidious arts of grasping Earthly Dominion the first is pure calm and humble merciful and compassionate the other being from the Earth is agreeable to that Spirit that prevails in the World OUR Saviour founded the Church a distinct Society from the World and therefore armed it with Spiritual Laws and Censures that she might be preserved by those Divine Helps though all Earthly Powers should endeavour to crush her and experience witnesses that she hath been more Victorious over Lewdness and Infidelity by her Patience and Sufferings than by all her Secular Intrigues and Political Methods When she stands upon the immoveable Pillars of her first foundation her outward Splendor may be eclipsed but her inward strength is made more firm and lasting by the Counterbatteries that are raised against her Peace and Prosperity Truth is not ashamed and therefore it is Weakness and Pusillanimity to deny it in the face of Danger and Persecution especially when the most Sacred Foundations are daringly invaded and trampled upon and though Ecclesiastical Politie be thought now a-days as mutable as are the inclinations of the people yet they who consider things more maturely must see that the antient Faith cannot be preserved amongst men but in its Original Vehicles of Primitive Order and Constitution and when the Apostolical Government of the Church is overthrown a multitude of Errors and Delusions creep into the World that destroy the inward Power of Godliness as well as the outward Beauty of Publick Worship I AM heartily sorry that our Country should be the Theatre of so many Complaints and Disorders and that the immediate Servants of the Sanctuary both Bishops and Presbyters should be run down with Clamour and Violence for no other reason that I know but because they are separated from the World to the peculiar Services of the Living God notwithstanding of all this we ought to possess our Souls in Patience and to believe that not a hair of our head falls to the ground without our heavenly Father And this one Truth may compose our Spirits against all Storms and Disasters and teach us to resign our selves without struggling to the disposal of Heaven When we are sincerely humbled for our Sins both National and Personal he will visit us again in the multitude of his tender Mercies and therefore it is more our duty to look unto him that smites us than complain of our Oppressors It may be that they themselves who have been most active in our Calamities are somewhat sensible of their Cruelty and if not we heartily pray that God would bring into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived The present Desolations of our Church may be palliated with many little Excuses but all the Rhetorical Colours imaginable can never hide the Consequences of so monstrous a Change WHEN we are surrounded with Difficulties on the right and left hand we must make our requests known unto God by Prayer for he is a present help in time of trouble We may meet with Crosses from the smallest things and occurrences and perhaps our Afflictions are frequently multiplied that we may be taught to run unto God who can either mitigate or remove them or by them exercise our Patience and Magnanimity God knows all things but he seems to take notice more particularly of such things as we feel and recommend to his Infinite Goodness and Compassion so willing He is to have us depend on Him
learn That there is nothing so amiable as true Religion Nothing else resembles the Divine Nature He that is born of God committeth no sin he that committeth sin is of the Devil and the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil The Text that I have hitherto discours'd of is the abridgement of the Gospel Let us remember our miserable condition by Nature and enquire what effectual remedies there may be to knock off our fetters to procure unto us the Liberty of the Sons of God to restore us to his Image and how glorious our Victory must make us when we are made partakers of the Divine Nature when we live in a purer Air and feed our Souls with the prospect of Immortality when we are got above the Enchantments of Sense when by our comfortable experience we taste and see that God is good and in the meditation of such things let us commit our souls unto him as into the hands of a faithful Creator To God the Father Son and Holy Ghost be all Glory Power and Dominion for ever Amen A SERMON Preach'd before the Bishop and Synod April 1687. in S. Giles's Church Edinburgh ON CANTICLES iv V. 15. A Fountain of Gardens a Well of Living Waters and Streams from Lebanon THE Song of Solomon that is the most Elegant and Divine Composure of all his Poems the Song of Songs by an usual Hebraism the most Excellent and Seraphick Poem of all that Solomon ever wrote and deserves to be so called as Grotius hath it ob multas elegantias quae in alium sermonem translatae non idem sapiunt they are like Aromatick Spirits that cannot so easily be conveyed from one vessel to another 'T IS in its kind a Dramatic Poem full of art and delicious harmony that under the Chast and Sacred Metaphor of Marriage sets off the Love of Christ to his Church in the most ravishing strains and flourishes And this is laid down as the first foundation of expounding this Book by the best Interpreters both Antient and Modern and the Jews themselves most unanimously conclude that it hath an immediate reference to the glories and felicities of the Messias and this Metaphor of Marriage to express the Mystical Vnion of Christ to his Church is frequent in the Writings of the Prophets Hosea 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment And it is no less usual to the Apostles when we look into the New Testament Ephes 5. and 32. This is a great Mysterie but I speak concerning Christ and his Church 2 Cor. 11 and 2. I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chast Virgin to Christ Revel 19.7 and 9. For the marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linnen clean and white for the fine linnen is the righteousness of the Saints NOW when we apply to the Church the Characters of Beauty and the Passions of Sacred Love that are scattered up and down through this Book we but follow and trace the footsteps of the Prophets and the Apostles S. Bernard in his first Sermon on the Canticles gives this Epitome of the Works of Solomon that are extant In the Book of the Proverbs superfluous self love is banished in the Book of Ecclesiastes the vain love of the World is rejected but in Cantico Canticorum praescribitur castus Amor Dei the whole Book being nothing else but the strongest efforts of the Divine Love to be united in the closest Bonds to Christ our Head AND this Chapter out of which I have read this Verse breaths the same air and is wholly taken up in commending the incomparable Beauty of the Spouse Behold thou art fair my Love behold thou art fair i. e. thou art fair beyond thought or expression And again thou art all fair my Love there is no spot in thee The fifteenth Verse is but the repetition of or a further Paraphrase upon the twelfth A Garden inclosed is my Sister a Spring shut up a Fountain sealed and here a Fountain of Gardens a Well of Living Waters and Streams from Lebanon How fitly this gradation of Epithets becomes the Church I shall endeavour to explain as I go forward Fons Hortorum qui multis hortis rigandis sufficiat And by those Waters we are to understand the pure and heavenly Doctrine of the Church that waters the withered and parch'd Inhabitants of the Earth with its streams without which they had been long e're now burnt up with the fire of Gods wrath and indignation 'T is usual with the Prophets to express the heavenly Oracles under the Notion of Dew and Rain and Living Waters Deut. 32. 2. My Doctrine shall drop as the Rain my speech shall distil as the Dew as the small Rain upon the tender Herb and as the Showers upon the Grass and our Saviour himself in his Conference with the Woman of Samaria tells that the Waters that he shall give shall be in him to whom they are given a Well of Waters springing up unto eternal life The highest pitch of temporal prosperity is expressed in Holy Scriptures by Dew God give thee of the Dew of Heaven and Fatness of the Earth And Psal 133. and 3. David compareth the Unity of Brethren dwelling together in love to the Dew of Hermon and that which descended on the Mountains of Sion as a token that there the Lord commanded his blessing and Prov. 10. 12. the Kings favour is likened to Dew on the Grass SINCE then what is most excellent and desireable is expressed by it and that in the Old and New Testament the Sacred Oracles are particularly signified by Streams and Living Waters we offer no violence to the Jewish Idiom and Prophetical Phrase when we expound this Verse and its parallel places of the Church under the Messias especially diffusing the streams of their heavenly Oracles over the habitable World and converting men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the living God In speaking to these words I shall confine my self to three particulars following the natural order and position of the Words and Metaphors as they lye before us First WE have the use of those Waters a Fountain of Gardens Secondly THE Purity of them a Well of Living Waters Thirdly THE first Rise and Origine of these Waters they are Streams from Lebanon First I SAY We have the use of those Waters Fons hortorum a Fountain of Gardens so conveniently situated in the middle that by its Conduits and Canals it may water and refresh the neighbouring Gardens The Church looks with tenderness and compassion on the right and on the left hand as our Saviour looked upon Jerusalem before her approaching ruine and says in his very words How often would I have gathered you She wisely and
Love in the first Epistle of St. John give us to understand that the Love of God and his Neighbour did actuate and enliven his Soul to the highest warmth and Charity WHEN we look upon the Apostles in this interval between Christs Ascension and the effusion of the Holy Ghost before they proclaim'd boldly and openly the wonderful things of God in the name of Jesus before they came forth with displayed Banners against the Kingdom of darkness then it was that their Unity did miraculously support ' them and what degrees of chearfulness and courage were found in any of them came seasonably to the relief of every one upon all occasions Their Unity first strengthened their Prayers they went up to Heaven as the Evening Sacrifice and with united force prevailed The Prayers of those Souls that are knit in Charity soon fly to the Ears of God they are raised above the Skies on the wings of servent Love the Devotions that are harmoniously poured forth on Earth resound with an Eccho in the Heavens as if the Inhabitants of the upper and the lower World had begun already the most intimate friendship and familiar Converse 2. THEIR Unity among themselves filled their Souls with great Tranquillity and though they were not yet actually inspired as afterwards they were with the gifts of the Holy Ghost yet by their unanimity they were so prepared for them and thirsted after them as the parched and gasping Earth thirsts for the showers of the latter Rain 3. THIS Unity had with it also some foretasts of the joys of Heaven Those triumphant Spirits that are above are twisted together in the mutual Embraces of Love it is their Element where they move it is the life of their Soul they cannot live without it either here or hereafter 4. THIS Unity dispos'd the Apostles and the Disciples to a clearer understanding of the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven Truth is the true nourishment of the Mind and this Truth enters not in its force and influence unless the Soul is first alienated from all harsh rugged and ill-natured Passions Proud and unmortified Men may make a great ostentation of Wisdom and Knowledge but the truth all this time is not successfully united to the essence of the Mind and the retirements of the Conscience though the words that convey it to our Ears may be lodg'd in the memory and imagination when we come to know the Truth in its divine energy and strength then are we made free from sin and hereby we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments Now the Apostles locked themselves up from the noise of the World and felt those invisible supports of Faith and Love when as yet they had not courage enough to venture abroad but Unity cannot long be preserved without uniformity and therefore they are said not only to be of one accord but also in one place THE Order and Discipline of the Catholick Church into which we are received by Baptism oblige not only to inward peace but also to an outward Decorum and visible Uniformity The Church in the language of Solomon is beautiful as Tirzah comely as Jerusalem terrible as an Army with banners The comprehensive Apostolick Canon is that all things be done with decency and in order and therefore are we exhorted by the Author to the Hebrews not to forsake the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is i. e. We are not to erect Altar against Altar but to continue in the Communion of the Christian Church observing those Laws and Rules by which the spiritual Society of Christs Family has been best preserved in the times of greatest danger and persecution If we cut our selves off from Christs mystical Body the consequences are fatal and dreadful THE publick Worship of the Sanctuary is Christs Trophy over his Enemies his Standard erected and set up in those very places where the Devil had his Altars are not his Oracles now silenced and his Sacrifices deserted where our Saviour is acknowledged King and Sovereign Is not the publick Worship the very joy of our hearts as the Prophet foretold Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths See with what fervour the best of Gods Servants pray for it and with what satisfaction they speak of it Pity saith Daniel thy Sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake And the Psalmist Thy servants take pleasure in her very stones and favour the dust thereof And again I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy gate O Jerusalem HOW hateful then are they to God and how contrary to the Spirit and design of the Gospel who destroy the publick Worship and the uniform Meetings of Christs Family upon Earth by Faction Mutiny Tumult Schism or Disobedience Is it not sad to consider how implacably Schismaticks are set to destroy the peace and order of the Sanctuary 'T is true as we shall have occasion to consider within a little the Holy Ghost came upon the Apostles in cloven tongues of fire but all fiery Tongues are not from the Holy Ghost A Sect there is of unquiet and restless Spirits who have no Principles but what tend to destruction and though it be no part of my design or inclination to rake into that Puddle of little Cavils and Exceptions that have been boisterously vented against the beauty and order of our National Church yet I would offer to the consideration of the meanest Hearer these four Particulars and then let them declare their thoughts of the present Schism and Wall of Partition that the Presbyterians have rais'd between themselves and the Catholick Church 1. CONSIDER that they and their Practices are disclaim'd by all Protestant Churches With what face do they alledge that they themselves are the strictest Patrons of the Reformation who have deserted all other Churches and by their Principles now think it unlawful to keep the Communion of any setled Church in Europe 2. ARE they not Nonconformists to themselves Their former Confessions of Faith and their Ringleaders as well as to the present Church the windings and turnings of Errour are infinite it leads them to a thousand absurdities it hath no solid Basis to rest upon but the present crasis of the Imagination and as that changes its Figure the Errour shifts its appearance and comes forth with further improvements And yet such is the unlucky fate of all Schismaticks that after all their refinings and Reformations they still retain some one thing or other that baffles and confounds all their childish and whiffling Objections against the Church I will instance but in one Particular which to this day is practised by the Presbyterians and that is they appoint Adulterers and such as are most eminently scandalous to wear
Scythians fierce Germans the proud Romans and soft Grecians and Persians renounc'd their peculiar Idols and calmly surrender'd their Necks to His easie Yoke according to the Prophecy of Zachary that the names of the Idols should be cut off and were no more to be remembred WE may safely affirm that no Religion did ever spread its Wings so wide as the Christian which made the South and the North East and West meet together in their acknowledgments of the Blessed Jesus When the Languages of the old World were divided Mankind was scattered but the Gift of Tongues poured upon the Apostles united all Nations into the most harmonious Society THE Meditation of this ought to enlarge our Souls with generous inclinations towards the recovery of all Mankind unto the acknowledgment of the Truth How ought we to pray that God would be pleas'd to make his wayes known unto all sorts and conditions of men and his saving health unto all Nations There are no Charities so noble nor so well plac'd as when we convert a sinner from the error of his way The Gospel is a sovereign remedy to remove the blindness and stupidity of the whole World if we were zealous enough to promote it how shameful is it for such as have large Dominions and great Power upon Earth that they are not more busied in contriving Methods how the sound of the Gospel may reach the utmost ends of the Earth How few of them that are born without the inclosure of the Church come over to our Religion now a days And this is not to be imputed to our Religion it self but to our coldness and indifferency about it and that we do not live up to the height and purity of its Rules the mighty success that it had in the Primitive Ages in defiance of all malice and opposition sufficiently proves that it came from Heaven And this leads me to the consideration of the next word that follows 2. IT came from heaven We are told by the Psalmist that God bringeth the wind out of his treasuries but this wind that came from heaven hath a nearer claim to Gods peculiar Treasury than those Winds that are stor'd up in the dark Caverns of the Earth This was the breath of God it did not blow from the Earth nor from Humane Counsels nor from the highest Regions of the Air but from Heaven it self from the Throne of the Most High A Wind it was that blew with Majesty rather than Fury Strength rather than Boisterousness they felt some heavenly Charm in the noise that filled the room it rais'd their attention and their ears to something high and extraordinary and the surprize of its swiftness could not hinder a secret joy a mighty elevation of Spirit which cannot be named and which strongly convinc'd the Apostles that this wind came from heaven and that it was the mighty voice of God And this may appear if we consider 1. THE things that they utter'd when they were filled with it A heavenly Doctrine full of Light and Majesty a Doctrine that not only assured us of Immortality but taught us also the infallible Methods to arrive at it a Doctrine that filled our ears with new sublime unheard of Mysteries God manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory How far were these great Truths beyond the Speculations of Plato and the little Metaphysical Subtilties of the Peripateticks 2. THIS may appear if we consider the Change and Affections that this Doctrine wrought in its Proselytes this wind did not blow them up into airy and fantastick apprehensions into proud and supercilious thoughts it taught no arts of gathering treasures nor of making themselves great in the World but it lifted their Souls above it to the place whence it came and it taught them to trample upon its glories to despise its fears and overlook all its splendor and to set their affections upon the things that are above where Jesus is inthroned in the highest Power and Majesty Now 't is evident that no such change could be wrought by Natural Causes for men acted by Natural Principles can go no higher than such Maxims can carry them but to love God to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof to forgive injuries to despise the World all the things that our appetites formerly did headlong run into must proceed from some Supernatural and Divine force it carries us above our own level and makes us to feel that He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world This Argument is frequently insisted on by first Apologists for our Religion 3. IT appears to have been from Heaven in its Method and Operation and immediate Effects upon the Apostles which exceeded all Art and Nature that men illiterate and without education most of them come to a considerable Age that they should speak the Languages of all Nations who a little before understood but one Language and that the rudest Dialect of their own Nation This wonderful matter must needs be referr'd to some supernatural Cause 3. LET us take notice where this sound was heard and the Text saith that it filled the house where they were The Inspirations of the Holy Ghost are not casual and fortuitous but ordered by Infinite Counsel and Wisdom This is the wind that bloweth where it listeth in the strictest sense it filled that house it blew by discretion and election upon the house where the Apostles resided to let us it may be understand that the Holy Ghost to the end of the World is to be received in the fellowship of the Apostles and their Successors it is the precious Ointment first poured upon their heads and from them to the skirts of the Church in all Ages There are many Spirits gone forth into the World with a boisterous noise and they pretend their descent from Heaven but if they have forsaken the fellowship of the Apostles and broken the ligaments of peace and order by which the Catholick Church as a Spiritual Society is knit together if they run cross to the Spirit of Unity by which we are oblig'd to believe the Communion of Saints in that case we are quickly undeceiv'd they are certainly from below they are not directed by the Wisdom that is from above nor have they their rise from Heaven but from the Earth and are blown up by some subterraneous Vapours that end in nothing but in a little vain glory faction and popular applause THE Holy Ghost in its most plentiful Effusions came down upon the Apostles according to the nature of their high and difficult employment and the circumstances of the Church at that time and it was to fall in lesser drops to the end of the World upon all that are sent by God for the services of the Altar who have their Mission from the Apostles by regular conveyance and succession 2.
and disgrace This very consideration should move us the rather since by it we express the purest love and affection to his immediate Worship and Obedience therefore St. Paul tells us that by this we shew forth the Lords death till he come i. e. we openly display it we are not at all ashamed of it we flee unto it in our greatest difficulties and at the hour of death as to our safest Sanctuary and Refuge This is the strong Tower that defends us from the wrath of God the accusations of Devils and the remorse of our own Consciences We are in this Sacrament to shew forth the Lords death 1. To God as our Atonement 2. To Men as our Profession 3. To Devils as our strongest Refuge and Defiance 1. WE shew it forth unto God as our Atonement We come unto God the Father under the covert of his Mediation Having therefore such a high Priest we may come boldly unto the Throne of Grace a high Priest who is holy harmless and undefiled to whom all power in Heaven and in Earth is given who is now returned from the Grave victorious and by his Blood makes Intercession for us in the Holy of Holies he lives for ever at the right hand of God it is by this Blood and Sacrifice that we plead successfully for mercy and compassion This is the argument that God himself cannot resist if urg'd by Faith and Charity Our Saviour is the great favourite of Heaven and interposes in in all our necessities we lean on the Merit of his Sacrifice as on the surest Pillar of our hope and confidence and therefore we come unto God by him as by our Surety and our Advocate and if he gave us his Son how shall he not with him also give us all things we need 2. WE shew it forth unto Men we openly proclaim that we will not desert his Standard that we are not ashamed of Christ crucified that we are Disciples of the Cross in the strictest sense that we glory in it as our most honourable Character that we are resolved to Let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorifie our Father which is in heaven and not to deny him before Men either in our profession or in our practices for he that nameth the name of Jesus must depart from all iniquity 3. WE shew forth his Death and Sacrifice in open defiance of all the Powers of Hell Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us By the Death of Jesus our mouths are opened unto Songs of Triumph and Defiance and filled with joy and gladness the Devils may tremble unto fear and despair when they see us listed under the Standard of so great a Captain so famous a Warriour so stedfast and resolute a Friend who for us and for our Salvation came down from Heaven All their objections are silenced we have our feet upon a Rock and all the Armies of darkness cannot reach us the Legions of Hell may cloath themselves in their most terrible appearances and tell over all the sad stories of our miscarriages and aggravate them to the highest and declare how often we have sinned and in what instances we have provoked the Majesty of God against what Light what Reproofs what Illuminations and what checks of Conscience we have repelled how long we have neglected our repentance and how much we have abused his Patience against all these formidable accusations the Christian hath one solid answer and that is the Death of Jesus and his triumphant Resurrection from the dead 5. OUR Obligation doth appear from the efficacy and excellency of this very Sacrament It is the great Antidote against the frailties of our Nature the frequent assaults of Temptation and the wiles and stratagems of the Devil There is nothing discourages our Adversaries more than when we resolutely prepare our selves to receive the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper It is the most sovereign Remedy against our most habitual Vices our most inveterate Prejudices our most stubborn evil Habits It is the most significant and sensible representation of the Death and Passion of our Lord and Saviour and therefore all the Graces of the Spirit do meet in their vigour and exaltation at this Sacrament This made some of the Ancients admit such as had fallen in the time of Persecution sooner to the peace and Communion of the Church than their ordinary discipline did allow because there was a Persecution shortly to follow therefore it was not thought fit to leave so many destitute of so strong a Cordial in time of danger but were the rather admitted to this highest act of Communion that they might be strengthened against the next Encounter of the Enemy When we remember how soon our highest zeal grows remiss our Devotion cold and flat our Purposes wavering our evil Habits grow strong and our Enemy gains ground of us and the Spirit of God begins to withdraw from us and we cannot tell how soon we may be judicially hardened against the most effectual Remedies of the Gospel How great need have we then of such a strong Remedy against our faintness and weariness to settle and confirm our resolutions to blow up our zeal into a bright and unquenchable flame to make us one with Christ to make us live no more the life of Nature but the life of the Faith of the Son of God 6. OUR Obligation to frequent this Sacrament doth appear from the nature of the Mystery it self for it resembles in its spiritual tendencies and design the Feast upon the remainders of the Sacrifice by which Feast the Votaries did solemnly resign themselves to the service and worship of that Deity of whose Sacrifices they did eat It is upon this ground that the Apostle proves the unlawfulness of Christians going to the Idol-feasts upon the invitation of their Pagan Friends for by just interpretation suchs as frequented the Idol-feasts were by the solemnities of their Worship oblig'd to adhere to the service of that Idol since they were partakers of the Altar of Idols they had the most solemn fellowship with Devils and therefore the Apostle concludes that they could not be partakers of the Lords table and of the table of Devils When we come to this Sacrament we are in the strictest league and union with Jesus Christ and consequently we proclaim to the World that we are entirely his that we not only renounce all idolatrous Worship but that we adhere to his service and obedience with greater zeal and fidelity 7. And lastly OUR Obligations do appear from the vanity and impertinence of those Excuses that are ordinarily pretended to divert Men from this Ordinance And 1. LET us consider their Excuses from their business and incumbrances as if their worldly Affairs might engross their whole time This