Heaven The words do not speak the indefectibility of that Church but the present state only This Pillar began to decay in Domitián's time Rev. 2.5 and is at this day utterly demolished If it be granted That the words under consideration have an aspect upon the Universal Church no advantage will from thence accrue to the plea for Infallibility She is not represented as the ground and pillar of all Truth but of Truth in general which may be limited to that which is fundamental Tho' she cannot fail in this particular for then she will lose her essence and cease to be yet she may in other points very useful to be known If by Truth we understand all Truth the words may set forth the duty of the Church what she ought to do and not the actual performance what she always does When the Disciples are stiled the salt of the earth this doth not argue an invincible quality in them whereby they are secured against the danger of losing their savour but a constant obligation upon them to retain it and season others with it 7. When it is said Dent. 17.12 That man that will not hearken to the Priest shall die no advantage will from thence redound to the Bishop of Rome except he can make it appear That He is Successour to the High Priest under the Law and vested in the same priviledges which he will never be able to do If this was so it would not amount to prove him infallible The high Priest with the whole Sanhedrim was liable to mistake as appears by the Sacrifice appointed for the expiation of their errour Lev 4.13 He that would not hearken was to die not because he was of a different opinion from the Priest but by reason of his Pride and contempt of the Supreme Authority which is plainly intimated in those words That Man which will do presumptuously c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a common case in all Communities In superbia where there is no such thing pretended to as Infallibility When a cause is under debate and the Law requires the last appeal to be made to the Supreme Authority and the person concerned so to do turns his back upon it arrogantly refuses a submission and by consequence evidently endangers the Peace and Security of the whole Community this is a fault of the first magnitude and justly deserves the most severe animadversion If it could be proved That the Bishop of Rome with a Council called by him has as good Authority over All the Churches of the World as the high Priest with the Sanhedrim had over the National Church of the Jews Tho' from thence it would not follow That he is exempt from errour yet none would doubt to assert That his power is not to be treated with contempt 8. That Text Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it is no more propitious to the Infallibility contended for than those which have been already considered It is not agreed Whether by the Rock is to be understood Peter himself or Jesus Christ who is stiled a Rock or the confession which Peter made The ancient Fathers incline to the two last If they be preferred the Church of Rome can from thence reap no advantage If we should grant That S. Peter is the Rock spoken of it will not argue any Infallibility promised to him but the declaration of a Divine purpose to make him a firm and successful instrument in the propagation of the Gospel as the rest of the Apostles were and many of their Successours Here is nothing peculiar to S. Peter The other Apostles are represented to be as intimately concerned in the foundation of the Church as he Eph. 2.20 Rev. 21.14 The following words the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it rather prove That the Church shall never cease to be than any universal indefectibility It is certain That there shall be a Church upon the Earth teaching all truth of peremptory necessity to Salvation until the coming of our blessed Lord But that it shall be exempt from errour in all matters of Faith is contrary to experience It was once received as a truth That Infants ought to have the Eucharist administred to them and now it as unanimously exploded for a grand mistake 9. The Prayer of Christ That the faith of Peter might not fail argues rather his not finally falling away than a total exemption from errour He was under great misapprehensions after these words had been spoken to him He believed That Christ would continue upon the Earth and in those dayes restore the Kingdom to Israel That the Gentiles were not to be called in and made partakers of the like priviledges with the Jews If it should be granted That the Petition of our Lord did secure an Infallibility to Peter this would be of no advantage to our adversaries in the present controversie It cannot be made to appear That the Bishop of Rome is concerned in all the Prayers which were made for S. Peter There is in them no mention of any Successour If there had it would be difficult to prove That the Pope is the person Some doubt whether S. Peter was ever at Rome The Scripture is silent in this matter The first Asserters were but of a mean reputation Many figments were devised to support the credit of their relation The common fame which by degrees did grow out of these beginnings cannot be accounted a demonstration so long as there are Catalogues of errours which not only the Vulgar but Persons of Learning have been surprised with To erect Infallibility upon such a fluid foundation is as if an attempt should be made to build a Castle in the Air. If S. Peter was at Rome and left the Bishop of that place to succeed him this might be only in his ordinary power and not in his extraordinary qualifications as personal Infallibility a power of doing Miracles There is as much reason for the Pope to challenge to himself the last as the first and yet I cannot understand that he pretends to it The Miracles in the Church of Rome are usually attributed to some persons that cannot easily be spoken with in order to the knowing the truth If this power had been ascribed to the Pope daily experience would have given the Asserters a flat contradiction 10. Those words Feed my sheep c. do not import the conferring upon Peter any priviledge above the rest of the Apostles but only the insuring to him his interest in the general Commission given to them They were commanded to teach all nations It might lie as an objection against him That he was not included in the number of those who were thus commissioned By his denial of Christ he had in appearance forfeited his right to the Apostleship as Judas by betraying him fell really from it To give him and others assurance That he was one
the Temple of God 1 Cor. 3.16 He is Eternal Heb. 9.7 Omniscient 1 Cor. 2.10 Omnipresent Psal 139.7 The whole Creation is represented as the effect of his power The host of Heaven Psal 33.6 Man the principal Work of God upon the Earth Job 33.4 The Fish in the Sea Psal 104.3 are all of his formation Before there was any Wind Immeasusque Deus super aequora vasia meabat which is peculiar to the Firmament a work of the second day the Spirit of the Lord is said to move upon the Waters The Chaos by his incubation was digested into Order and brought to a state of Maturation Certainly God who composed the Scripture and declares in it that he will not give his Glory to another would never have assigned his name nature and peculiar operations to the Spirit had he not been of the same Essence with himself To assert that all this is attributed to the Spirit because God makes use of him as an instrument to effect his Work will not remove the difficulty For there is some work attributed to the Spirit to which no instrument can concur as Creation There are other operations in doing of which God cannot be said to use the Spirit according to the sentiments of the Socinians as to know and search his deep things For the Spirit in their apprehensions signifies a Divine Power and it is very incongruous to say that God knows and searches things by his Power This Truth concerning the Trinity in Unity hath been so fully discovered that all sorts of men have taken notice of it The Mind of the Christians before Constantine may be very well known by Athanasuis Orat. 1.121 Ad Serapio tom 1. p. 366. de Spi. Sanâ—â—o Apol. 2. who wanted no opportunity to be acquainted with their Writings He expresly asserts that there was nothing established by the Nicene Synod but what was agreeable to them S. Basil cites several Authorities of the first Centuries for the same purpose In those Writings which are come to our hands there are many evident expressions of this doctrin Justin Martyr speaking of the Father of righteousness saies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. him and the Son coming from him and the prophetick Spirit we receive and adore Athenagoras in vindication of the Christians whom the Heathens accounted Atheists saies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. who would not admire to hear them called Atheists who own God the Father God the Son God the Holy Ghost Clemens Alexandrinus ends his Paedagogus with very lively expressions of this Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. to the only Father Son c. with the Holy Ghost all in one c. There are Testimonies of the same importance in Tertullian Cyprian Lactantius All these with many others agree that there is but one God and that there are Three which participate of the Deity and that one of them is the fountain of the rest from whence it inevitably follows that they must be personally distinct The fountain and the streams are always different one from the other Indeed there are some things spoken in the explication of this Mystery which are liable to an ambiguous construction as is manifest in the discourse of Justin Martyr with the Jew Tâ—â—â—h and the Treatise of Tertullian against Praxeas This Truth being not then encountred with so direct an opposition as it was in the time of Arrius some degrees of caution in point of expression are wanting and too great a condescension made to the Sentiments of the Philosophers by blending their notions with the ineffable Mystery that it might gain a more ready entertainment among them Such prudential accommodations must not be construed in such a sence as to prejudice the Truth which in other places of the same Authors is clearly acknowledged The clear must not be expounded by that which is obscure but the obscure by that which is clear The Jews have not been without some knowledge of this Mystery Pugio fidei p. 397. Raimundus Martini says that he scarcely ever conferred with any of them who were in any estimation for Wisdom who would not grant that God was Trinus Vnus They have a Tradition that when the Benediction Num. 6.26 was pronounced by the Priest he used when he came to the word Jehova to lift three fingers higher than the rest to denote the Trinity It was their manner to call the Father Son Voisin in Pug. fidei p. 400. and Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subsistences and to assert the unity of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the infinite God Those words The Lord our God is one God are in Zohar applied to the Trinity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is interpreted the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added with a great letter in the Hebrew Text to denote their Unity The Hebrew Scholiast says that the repetition of the name of God three times Psal 50.1 2. is to denote the three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which created the World These are stiled inward persons It is observed that all the names of God have a plural termination Voisin p. 406. p. 400. except Jehova his essential name to import the plurality of Persons and unity of Essence It is a saying among the Cabalists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Father is God the Son is God the Holy Ghost is God Three in One and One in Three By the Abbreviature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Father and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son They say they are put together to express their Unity and that the three Letters do signifie the three Hypostases in one Essence Tho' this Doctrine is very much disguised in the Writings of the Heathens yet there is so much of it left unmask'd as it may be plainly discerned they were not totally strangers to it The chief God among the Persians was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 threefold with relation to this Sacred Mystery The first Hypostasis they called Oramasâ—les the second Mithras the third Arimanes Plato likewise mentions Three 〈◊〉 5. l. 1. l. 3. c. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These by Plotinus are represented as the three Hypostases which are Principles or first causes in the Universe When Thulis King of Aegypt went to the Oracle of Serapis to inquire Saidas in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who before him could do such exploits as he had done and who would be after him The Answer was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First God after him the Word and then the Spirit concurring with both Bâ—rnier's Mâ—moirs â—â—m 3. p. 130. The Indians own Three in the Deity known by the names of Brahma Bischen and Mehaâ—denâ— Dervis â—rsielebi a Mahometan acknowledged to a Christian who was disputing with him about Religion that at the commencement of all their Negotiations Epito
is essential made the faculty He formed it with a design to find out Truth He requires no other condition in any object to qualifie it for assent but clearness We have as much clearness in all points necessary to Salvation as the nature of the thing will bear So that in this case we have a security from the divine Veracity and Goodness with which it is no reconcileable That our faculty should be so formed as to be deceived when the Proposition we assent unto is manifest and perspicuous So that the ultimate resolution of our Faith is not made into the fallible testimony of a private Spirit but a testimony given by an infallible attribute of the immutable nature of the Deity which assures us not only That what God has revealed is true but that those things are revealed by him in the Bible which are plain and manifest to a duely qualified mind Errour proceeds from the giving too hasty an assent to propositions upon such grounds as are irrelative to their Nature as Education Interest c. He who will devest himself of his prejudices which way soever contracted and sincerely apply himself to the use of such means as are of Divine designation as Praying Reading Hearing Meditating consulting the living Guides which God has set up in his Church will certainly arrive at the perception of that which is necessary to his Salvation He has the highest degree of assurance that this sublunary 〈…〉 â—â—pable of Nothing can be thought 〈…〉 an addition to it but a new revelation and if this was granted as many difficulties would emerge about the meaning of it as there are about the true importance of the old No acquiescence in it could be obtained but upon such considerations as now induce us to believe the Bible and the clear sence of it to be the Word and mind of God All this will evidence That there is not a peremptory necessity for such a Guide as the Church of Rome contends for 2. It is not true That the Church of Rome has all the evidence that can be reasonably desired that she is such a one Three Topicks are commonly made use of in this case Scripture-promises Universal Tradition Motives of Credibility As for the first Let the Text be cited where any such promise is made to the Church of Rome S. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans is so far from insinuating any thing of this nature that he gives them advice which evidently imports the possibility of their fall He acquaints them if they boast against the branches as it is manifest they have done and grow insolent that they shall be cut off To mention those promises which respect the Universal Church is wholly irrelative The Church of Rome is so far from being the Universal that she is but a part exceedingly degenerated Pessimum acetum ex optimo Vino She hath obtained the title Catholick by the same method which Abimelech used to make himself King and Phocas Emperour She attempts to murder the right Heirs and true Sons of the Church with the unjust imputation of Heresie that she may enjoy the inheritance alone Her deportment has been as if one member of the body which has a distemper in it should value if self upon that account and pronounce all the other parts to have no interest in the whole because they are not infected with it Indeed it is said That the Catholick Church is One and always visible which can be applied to none but the Church of Rome But this may as easily be denied as affirmed She has not been in any age the One only Church The Eastern Churches have had always an existence as well as the Western in which from the first age there has been the Baptism of Christ the Creed of the Apostles an uninterrupted succession of Bishops In the Western when abuses began to insinuate themselves there was always a number not only of private but publick persons which gave their testimony against them as will be manifest to any who have leisure to peruse the History of the Ages betwixt Boniface the third and Luther These persons we have more reason to account the Church which God has promised always to preserve than those who were willing without any reluctancy to submit to the grossest innovations Tho' they were not equal in number yet there were enough of them to make the little flock to which a Kingdom is promised The Church of Rome as it is now has not been always visible There was no such thing in the three first Centuries Where was then the doctrin of Supremacy Infallibility Transubstantiation worshipping of Images Invocation of Saints Praying in an unknown Language keeping the Scripture from the People mutilating the Sacrament making the Apocryphal Books equal to the Bible These are some of the Characteristical notes of the present Church whereby she stands distinguish'd from others Those Ages were utterly unacquainted with these Tenents We dare appeal from the Church of Rome as it is now to the Church of Rome as it was then and stand to her arbitration In the following Ages errours began more to shew themselves yet they did not grow to such a height as to be received for the Faith of the Church The infernal Spirit has been always busie to sow his tares yet those Ages were not so blind as to take them for wheat Insomuch that we lawfully say That there was not a man in those days which may be properly called a Papist As for the Promises which respect the Universal Church the utmost that can be made of them is That there shall always be upon the Earth a people owning the fundamentals of Religion together with Teachers which shall have a sufficient assistance in order to the directing and inabling them to discharge their duty But there is no assurance given that this aid shall be so efficacious as to furnish them with such an universal Infallibility as the Church of Rome pretends to Such help is promised as is sutable to the exigencies of every Age. In the Primitive it was necessary That it should be so powerful as to secure the first Proponents of our Religion from errour But in after ages this necessity did not continue Greater skill is required to make an exact rule than when it is made to draw a line exactly conformable to it The foundation of Religion being completely laid and the rule of Faith and Worship given out by an unerring hand such aid only is ordinarily to be expected as if we be not wanting to our selves and prevent the effects of it by a voluntary neglect will lead us into the sence of what is revealed God has endued us with a faculty whereby we are in a capacity to make a free choice of that which is propounded unto us He helps us to do it by such means as are agreeable to an intellectual nature He does always enough to enable us to make an advantagious election and therefore
redounds upon the Prince whose character he bears provided that it keeps its proper bounds and has none of those peculiarities blended with it which are peculiar to the Sovereignty If Subjects should put a Crown upon the head of a Commissioner and instal him in the Throne with all the rites and ceremonies which are annexed to the Supremacy and call it not terminative but relative Honour the Prince would have more cause to suspect Treason was designed against him than believe any honour accrues to him by such actions The Gods on Earth are so far like him who is higher than the highest that they have their Regalia which are incommunicable If they should so far forget themselves as to be willing to part with them yet God cannot with his not because his Power is less but his Sovereignty greater They are Sovereigns by positive institution only His Sovereignty is essential and immutable He can no more allow the derivation of his peculiar Honour to another than he can deny himself The holiness of his essence will not permit him to do that which is intrinsecally evil So long as the honour done to a creature which is appointed to represent him has no mixture of the peculiarities which belong to the Celestial Crown it doth redound upon him it being an act of obedience to his Will but in case it has it degenerates into a palpable injury to the rights of Heaven Upon this account relative Worship is represented in the Scripture under the notion of Idolatry Three sorts of Idolaters it acquaints us with Either such as totally renounce the True God and his Law and go after other Gods to serve them Deut. 13.1 5. Or else such as retain the fear and worship of the True God and joyn strange Gods with him 2 King 17.33 Or lastly those who profess to Worship only the True God but do it by external Symbols and representations This is nothing but relative Worship and yet by the Penmen of the Sacred Oracles it is accounted Idolatry as is manifest in the Calf which Aaron made which was designed for a Symbol of the presence of the True God Whether it was erected in imitation of the Cherub which Aaron a little before had seen in the Mount or of the golden Bulls the Symbols of Osyris is not much material So much is certain That whatsoever was the reason of forming of it into this shape none but the True God was intended to be represented by it This will be evident if we consider the ground of the peoples desire They were under an expectation that in their travel in the Wilderness they should have a vilible Symbol of the presence of Jehova framed by Moses He being so long absent in the Mount that they were at a loss in their thoughts what was become of him they desired Aaron that he would act in his stead and do it for them Here is no intention to change the True God with whom they lately entred into Covenant but only to have a Symbol of his presence in the midst of those difficulties which the Desert might expose them to Their own words demonstrate this to be their meaning When they saw the Calf they said This is the God which brought thee out of Aegypt Neh. 9.18 They could not be so senceless as to think That the Aegyptian Deities had been propitious to them in their deliverance from thence when it was manifest That the True Redeemer had executed his judgments upon them Exo. 12.12 and caused them to fall down as Dagon did before the Ark. How is it possible after Moses had told them the name of him who was their deliverer confirmed his commission by many undoubted signs brought them to the Mount where the Divine Majesty manifested himself in the most awful manner to think that a strange God had set them loose from their servitude The words of Aaron put the matter beyond dispute When he saw the Symbol he made Proclamation and said To morrow is a Feast to Jehova at which time they offered their usual Sacrifices which were so far from importing any honour to an Aegyptian Deity that the Aegyptians accounted them abominations of the first magnitude Those beasts which the Israelites killed were treated by them with Sovereign Veneration The Aegyptian Worship was principally terminated upon the Host of Heaven The Sun was called Osyris and the Moon Isis both Deities of Aegypt But the Worship of the Golden Calf is plainly distinguished from it Diod. Sicul Bibl. Dionys Voss p. 5. Act. 7. v. 12. The Israelites being given up to Worship the Sun Moon and Stars is represented as the effect and punishment of their Worshipping the Calf and the effect is always diverse from the cause Parallel to this are the Calves at Dan and Bethel They were designed only for Symbols of the True God When Jeroboam erected them it was no part of his thoughts to renounce the God of Israel who a little before had acquainted him by his Prophet That he should be vested in the Government over the Ten Tribes His error lay in setting up external Representations and Worshipping the True God by them 2 Kin. 17. v. 28. The Samaritans are said to fear the Lord notwithstanding they Worshipped the Calves 2 Kin. 10.16 29. 1 Kin. 12.28 29. Jehu had a zeal for the Lord altho' he departed not from the sin of Jeroboam Jeroboam at the first erection declares his intention to Worship that God which brought them out of the land of Egypt The Heathen Idolatry 1 Kin. 16.30 32. which Ahab fell into is represented as distinct from the sin of Jeroboam The Israelites are accounted as a Church notwithstanding their gross miscarriage at Dan and Bethel which could not have been in case they had renounced the True God They retained the Law had Prophets to instruct them in it When Elijah contested with the Prophets of Baal he supposes the Israelites to Worship the True God before they fell to the Worship of Baal as is manifest by his words 1 Kin. 18.21 How long will ye halt betwixt two opinions if the Lord be God follow him if Baal follow him To the Calves of Jeroboam we may add Micha's Molten Image which was nothing but a Symbol of the True God Judg. 17.3 The Silver of which it was made was wholly dedicated to the Lord which makes it evident That the Worship given to it was not absolute but relative directed indeed to the Image immediately but with an intention to Worship the True God by it yet notwithstanding this it lies in Scripture under the imputation of Idolatry Bellarmine is so sensible of the inconveniences which attend the doctrin of giving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to an Image that he would have it by no means uttered before the people his reason is very forcible Cap. 22. de Imag. Qui defendunt Imagines adorari latria coguntur uti subtilissimis distinctionibus quas ipsimet vix
lawful to worship brass or any other matter All this if duly pondered will assure us That there is no Commission from God for Image-Worship but on the contrary an explicit prohibition God has made a peremptory declaration that he will make no such grant My Glory will I not give to another nor my Praise to graven Images Isa 42.8.48.11 the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth exclude every thing from having any interest in his Glory which hath an essence distinct from the Divine Nature It is not reconcileable with his immutable Sanctity to condescend to any such Concession To alienate his peculiar Worship and Glory is an act intrinsecally evil Indeed the Romanists say They do no such matter His peculiar Worship is always accompanied with an apprehension of infinite excellency residing in the Object which it is terminated upon and no such thing is believed by them concerning Images To which we reply That peculiar Worship is either internal or external Tho' internal which includes such an apprehension is not given to Images yet external is which consists in outward signs appropriated by Nature or Institution to import and signifie it He is not only injurious to God who alienates the whole but he who exhibits any part of it to a Creature He is accounted a Traitor who pays part of the Tribute to another Prince which is peculiar to his own The Israelites tho' they did not apprehend that Aaron and Jeroboam's Calves were invested with the incommunicable perfections of the Deity yet they are charged with Idolatry upon the account of the external Worship they gave to them The Arrians lie under the same imputation in the Writings of the Fathers because they worshipped Christ whom they believed not to be God The Christians in Julian's time did think they had contracted the same guilt when thro' fraud they were unwittingly induced to give external Honour to those Idols of which they had in their hearts a perfect abhorrence SECT III. Concerning the True Worshippers of God WHat is to be spoken concerning this Head I shall reduce to these Three Particulars I. Who they be that are obliged to Worship II. How they are to perform their duty III. What end they are to propose to themselves in the doing of it I. Who they are that lie under an obligation to Worship Religion being a reasonable Service those who are concerned in it must be endued with Reason and Understanding and these are either Angels or Men. The Angels Enjoying the favour of being admitted to the Beatifical Vision are under a willing necessity of being engaged in the highest acts of Religion The constant disclosures of the Divine Glory do command from them the most reverential regards They are stiled Cherubims to import That they are always upon the Wing prepared to execute the Divine Pleasure and Seraphim to denote their Zeal in the discharge of their obligations Their conformity to the great command of Love we have an Apodictical Evidence of in their rejoycing at the Conversion of a Sinner and the Renovation of the Divine Image in him They are so absolute in the performance of the Duties of Religion that their Practice is propounded as the Pattern of our Obedience Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven When the Second Person in the Sacred Trinity was introduced into the World that the infirmities of humane Nature with which he was cloathed might be no temptation to them to make any abatement in their usuall addresses a special Command is given Let all the Angels of God Worship him Heb. 1.6 Men Who are those whom we here inquire after are either Secular or Ecclesiastical Secular are not exempted from Religious Worship It is said That the Earth has a double motion one about its own Axis another about the Sun Secular men must imitate the Earth besides their motion about their Earthly affairs they must have another about their Celestial The Lord who bestows the World upon them has reserved a Rent to himself Religion concerns every man in whatsoever Function he is engaged Particular Vocations like Pharaoh's thin ears of Corn must not devour the General When any enter upon their Civil Imployments they do not cease to be Creatures invested with Reason and so long as they continue in that capacity they ly under an indispensable obligation to pay a Religious Homage to that Eternal Spirit by whose Incubation they were formed Neither do they cease to have a passionate desire for their own happiness and no man can enjoy any measure of this without a union with the Supreme Good the dissatisfactions which often emerge while we are in the embraces of these sublunary fruitions do openly proclaim them not to be the seat of real Beatitude and Union with the Supreme Good cannot be expected except we with all integrity Serve and Worship God Whatsoever our employment is we continue to be Creatures of that Species towards whose redemption an infinite price has been deposited and therefore must remain under the strictest obligations to be Religious This is the Apostles argument Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God It is an hyperbole of ingratitude not to be ingaged in these actions which have the most direct aspect upon his honour from whom so signal a benefit is received No worldly concern can cancel our obligations to him who has parted with his own Son in order to the procurement of our Redemption from the greatest Misery and Vassalage Lastly God is the Fountain of all that Wisdom whereby any are fitted for their Callings All from the Shovel to the Scepter from the lowest to the highest are instructed by him He teacheth Princes to Rule and guides the Husbandman to manage the instruments of Agriculture Those who have this dependence upon God offend against the clearest dictate of Reason if they refuse to intermit their labour that they be employed in the most solemn agnitions of him The noise in this sublunary state about secular matters will make no harmony in the ear of the Supreme Being except such Rests and Pauses be intermingled with it Upon this account the Apostle adviseth That every one abide in his Calling in which he is called with God Let our Function require never so much of our attendance yet God must not be excluded Some time must be spared for the immediate acts of his Solemn Worship As Secular Men are concerned in this Sacred Work So likewise much more those who are Ecclesiastical I mean such Persons as are solemnly Ordained and Consecrated to the performance of some Religious Offices The necessity of them will be manifest if we consider that a part of that Service which the Gospel requires in particular the being an Embassadour to the Son of God is a work of such importance that every capacity is not agreeable to it It doth not become every one to stand in this relation to an Earthly Prince much less to the Heavenly Now men usually are no
Greek Interpreters expound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Confession The Works whereby he is glorified are either his own or ours The Heavens declare his Glory All the productions of his hands set forth his Power Wisdom and Goodness The Ark with a Propitiatory a lively Emblem of reconciling Mercy is stiled the Glory His blessed Son in whom shines forth the whole constellation of divine perfections The Brightness of his Glory We glorifie him in our Works When we are ingaged in such as are Holy and Good Their similitude to the Divine Will and Nature may without any incongruity be called External Glory They set forth what he is and what he is most pleased and delighted with In the number of such actions we cannot deny a place to Religious Worship it being an humble acknowledgment of those boundless perfections which reside in him Praise is an ingredient diffused thro' all the parts of Worship In Prayer Receiving the Sacraments Reading Hearing his Holy Word we set forth his most worthy Praise and Whoso offereth praise glorifieth God Ps 50.23 It likewise has a propitious aspect upon The eternal Salvation of the Soul The enjoyment of this felicity is to be expected only in Heaven and God has appointed That none shall enter into that blessed place but those who Worship him in this present state The way into the Holy of Holiest by his unchangeable appointment lies thro' the Temple where all the parts of Religious Worship are to be performed The gate which opens into the Celestial Mansions is not only strait but so low that none can enter into it but those who stoop and are ingaged here in humble and submissive agnitions of the Divine Excellency The grand work in Heaven being to perform the most signal acts of Adoration He that is not in some measure inur'd to them in this World is destitute of an aptitude and fitness for that blessed imployment It would be as great a surprisal to any who are totally strangers here to the Hallelujahs and Praises which are due to the most high God to be placed in a moment in the midst of the Heavenly Quire as it was to the Syrian host to be unawares in the midst of Samaria Heaven instead of being a place of rest would be a real disquiet to such unqualified persons Lastly Divine Worship has a tendency to promote The Preservation of the Community It excellently disposeth Princes to govern Their honorary addresses to him who is higher than the highest influence them with a due temper of mind towards their Subjects They cannot but desire to comport with the pleasure of him whom they in sincerity adore and they must necessarily know That it is his pleasure that they should imitate him in the acts of his Clemency and Goodness And such acts are the Cement which unites the Hearts of the Prince and People together and secures the most lasting conjunction to all the parts of the Community It likewise disposeth Subjects to obey They who in the integrity of their hearts Worship the Supreme Being can do no less than pay their acknowledgments to his Vice-gerent Infinite Sovereignty being the object of their Veneration wheresoever they meet with the Type and resemblance of it they cannot pass by it without an expression of their due regards for the proto-types sake We may add to all this That Worship rightly performed draws a perpetuating blessing upon the Community Such Princes as have been most careful to advance the due celebration of it have been attended in their Government with signal Felicities David who made it his first and last work to settle Religion did thereby settle his Kingdom His Subjects were united his enemies dissipated his friends increased But Solomon who divided Divine Worship betwixt Jehova and other Gods had his Kingdom divided Then parts were given to his Servant and but Two to his Son These three particulars The Glory of God The Salvation of the Soul The Preservation of the Community Religious Worship having a tendency to promote it must be our duty when we are ingaged in it so to direct our intentions as to cast our eye upon them But that which challengeth the first place in our thoughts is The Glory of God The reason of this order will be very conspicuous if we consider 1. The Obligations which we lie under to the Supreme Being His favours are so constant and superlative that they admit of no delay but require in the first place in every address to him something to be returned in point of gratitude It is an undervaluing of the kindness we every moment receive to prefer any other duty before it Now by reason God is infinite in Perfection and by consequence uncapable of receiving any thing from us but a decent and becoming acknowledgment and setting forth of his intrinsick Glory this must necessarily take the upper hand of all other ends in our Intentions 2. The glorifying God is the first of those duties which are morally Good It is the Form which constitutes and makes them to be what they are All Good whatsoever is either such as God Wills because it is so or else so because God Wills it The Essence of the first lies in a similitude to the immutable perfection of the Divine Nature of the Second to the sacred determinations of his Blessed Will This similitude in the Creature to God is that which we mean by his External Glory The whole Creation contributes to this purpose so long as it retains such a composure as lively represents his Goodness Wisdom and Power When any part degenerates into a frame dislike to the Idea in the Supreme Being according to which it was made then his Glory is eclipsed 3. The glorifying God is the primary duty which Christian Religion devolves upon us Whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10.31 Christ the Institutor of our holy Profession was ushered into the World by the Heavenly Host with this Hymn Glory be to God in the highest when he was about to leave it He prayed in these words Father glorifie thy Name The design of his whole Life was to annihilate all these imaginary excellencies which impede the shining of the Divine Glory The People which he has redeemed 1 Pet. 2.9 are said to be A chosen generation That they may shew forth the Praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light His Church is represented with the Moon under her feet to signifie her disgust of all selfish interposals which eclipse the Glory of the Sun of Righteousness He hath made all things for himself Prov. 16.4 that is with a purpose and design to set forth his intrinsick Glory His Glory primarily consists in his peerless and transcendent Goodness He has made his Creatures as so many vessels to entertain the overflowings of it The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Psal 33.5 The brightness and splendour of it is visible
others in dignity there mast be a kind of infinity in that penalty which was laid upon him Now what can be more efficacious than this to remove all contempt from the Laws and put a check upon that aptitude which is in Men to take encouragement from a bad example to violate them Who dare lightly think of that the vindication of which cost no less than the Death of the Lord of Life That Authority will not easily be disvalued when it is manifest That the crime in neglecting of it was expiated upon no easier terms than the Passion of the Son of God Who will not be afraid to affront that Order which the Divine Wisdom has established when he considers the drops of Blood which fell from the face of our Blessed Lord the wounds which were made in the most nervous parts of his Body the greatness of the Agony which he suffered As the damage done by Sin to the Laws is repaired by the Passion of Christ so likewise the mind of the Supreme Rector is fully appeased and reconciled A Reconciliation is attributed to his sufferings in the Holy Scriptures This reconciliation must import a reconciliation of God unto us The Apostle in his Epist to the Romans speaks of our receiving the atonement c. 5. v. 11. We then receive it when we lay aside our enmity and are converted unto God and therefore this atonement must be made before our enmity be deposited The thing received is always antecedent to the act of receiving and by consequence it can import nothing but God's reconciliation to us by the Blood of Christ provided we comply with the terms of that Covenant of which he is the Mediator For this reason mention is made of a reconciliation thro' the blood of the Cross Col. 1.20 And then after follows another reconciliation when we cease to be enemies in our minds to God v. 21. parallel to this is what is expressed 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself And then v. 20. We pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled unto God Here are evidently Two Reconciliations One of God unto us in case we perform the conditions of the New Covenant The Other of us unto God when we are converted Then that Reconciliation which was before conditional becomes absolute and we fully stated in the possession of the Divine favour Now this reconciliation of God unto us can import no less than that his mind is fully satisfied and his displeasure appeased in consideration of the Sufferings of Christ Upon this account our Blessed Lord is stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3. He is a cover to the Law and prevents the Penal part of it from being executed upon us He is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a propitiation for our sins God is made by his precious blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hilaris or chearful in his countenance when he looks upon a sinner He who before was angry is now propitious His righteousness being declared and the authority of his Law as fully vindicated by the Passion of Christ as if we had suffered He is satisfied and contented upon the terms of the Gospel to make us the objects of his favour Crellius in opposition to what has been asserted affirms 1. That the Apostle in his Ep. to the Romans speaks of Conversion and because Conversion expresseth only the amicable temper of our minds towards God he useth the word Reconciliation to import That if there be a friendship wanting on God's part by reason of our hostility to him in an unconverted state it is then when we are converted fully completed 2. The Apostle in his Epistle to the Celossians cannot speak of a reconciliation of God unto us in a proper sence because in the reconciliation there mentioned things in Heaven are concerned namely Good Angels who were never in a state of enmity to God 3. When the Apostle says in his Epistle to the Corinthians That God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself 2 Ep. 5.18 19. the meaning is That God did promote Conversion by the preaching of Jesus Christ as afterwards he did by the Preaching of the Apostles 4. When Christ is said to be a Propitiation the word cannot import any placation of the Divine Anger The love of God in sending Christ evidently demonstrates a reconciliation antecedent to the mission and coming of Christ into the world To all which I reply in order 1. The granting That the word Reconciliation is used with a design to express That if there be any friendship wanting on God's part it is completed at our Conversion is a concession of the whole cause The Spirit of God doth not use to speak conjecturally He has a full comprehension of all the Mystery of Godliness Had he not known That there is a reconciliation of God unto us as well as of us unto God he would not have used a word with a design to express so much Now this reconciliation is not imputed to conversion but the Death of the Son of God as the procuring cause and therefore to receive the atonement can be nothing but to receive the reconciliation and friendship of God which is merited by the sufferings of Jesus Christ 2. By Things in Heaven there is no necessity to understand Angels There were Men in Heaven as well as Angels who had been in a state of enmity to God These God was reconciled unto by the Blood of his Son when they were upon the earth and now they were in a state of fruition reaping the advantages of his atonement 3. When the Apostle says God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself something more must be meant than the promoting Conversion by the preaching Christ Our Blessed Lord did not preach unto the World but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel If the reconciling by Christ did import no more than the converting of Men by his Preaching then it might have been as well said That God was in the Apostles reconciling the world unto himself It will be difficult to prevail with any to believe That there is not something peculiar in this expression which cannot with justice to the honour of our Redeemer be attributed to any other 4. The Love of God in sending Christ is no argument of a reconciliation in God antecedent to the sufferings of Christ When so much love was expressed to Eliphaz and his two friends as to appoint Job to be an Intercessour for them and to direct them to offer up Seven Bullocks and Seven Rams at that very time the wrath of God was kindled against them The Plague an undoubted testimony of divine displeasure was at that time upon Israel when God sent his Prophet to instruct David how to stop the spreading of the Contagion All which can be reasonably deduced from the mission of Christ is a design or purpose to be reconciled and not an actual reconciliation And now if we look back
because the Literal is decayed and vanished we say the whole Law is annulled The Law and the Letter of it always fall together Therefore If the Church had not believed every Law in the Decalogue in the Letter to be binding to us she would not have called every one of them a Law in that known form Lord incline our hearts to keep this Law Against all this it is objected Epilog l. 3. c. 21. p. 194. That the first and last Command of the Second Table are by the terms of them appropriated to God's antient People The Land of Promise in the Letter belongs to none but Israelites The Tenth Command forbiddeth to covet another man's wife altho' adultery was forbidden before and therefore to covet onother man's wife is to compass another man's wife which might be done where the Law alloweth divorces as Moses's Law doth To which I reply 1. If these words appropriated to the antient People of God import no more than the being delivered with some accommodation to them it is no good consequence because the first and last Precept in the second Table are thus appropriated That therefore they concern no body else The ritual Law was adapted to the circumstances of those Israelites More Nevochim p. 46. which were in being at the time when it was enacted The Law whereby the eating of blood is interdicted was therefore given because the Zabiists thought blood to be the food of infernal Gods and conceived the way to contract an acquaintance with them was to eat of it The Law which forbiddeth the eating of the fruits of the first three years was occasioned by an Idolatrous custome of the same People who use to offer part of the First-fruits of Trees to their Idol and to eat the other part in their Idol-Temple being possessed with an apprehension That the Trees would wither and die in case this custome was intermitted The preceptive part of the Writings of the Prophets is plainly accommodated to the Nation of the Jews Many parts of the New Testament are adapted to the condition of the Primitive times S. John's Gospel was intended to affront the assertions of Ebion and Cerinthus S. Paul's Epistles are proportioned to those distempers which some particular Churches conflicted with The Sermons of Christ were preached to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Both his Sacraments are not without their peculiar aspects In Baptism there is a special regard to the Jews who were no strangers to the custome of admitting Proselytes by Water Some rites in the Eucharist were derived from their Passeover Because the Law had a particular aspect upon the circumstances of the Israelites then living when it was first enacted it is no good consequence That it was not obliging to future generations which were in a different condition Or Because the Prophets were chiefly sent to the Jews That therefore Christians are not concerned in the mandatory part of their Writings Or Because the New Testament in the doctrinal and sacramental part of it was calculated for a Meridian different from that which the Church is now under That therefore it does not oblige the Church in her present state We see the same art which is used in undermining the perpetuity of the Decalogue should it prevail would be as forcible against the Old and New Testament Dominicus à Soto who maintained the principle did likewise own the consequence so far as it concerns the Old Testament Bellarm. de justif l. 4. c. 6. p. 930. He did assert Nullum testimonium ex libris Veteris Testamenti quoad vim obligandi adduci posse Christianis If those words appropriated to the ancient people of God be taken strictly it does not appear from any thing which has been produced that there is any such appropriation of those two Commands The first runs in these terms Honour thy father and thy mother This is the whole which appertains to the Precept properly taken what is annexed is a Promise and not of the essence of the Mandatory part of the Decalogue Neither is the Promise so peculiar to the Jews but that it may be applied unto others which will be evident if we consider the words That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Long life was not only the reward of obedience amongst the Jews but likewise the Gentiles Iliad 4. Homer says That the life of Simoisius was short because he did not cherish his loving Parents 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a word very general and may import any land where the sons of Adam dwell The Lord did not only give Canaan to the Israelites but Mount Seir to the children of Esau and Ar to the children of Lot The Earth being the Lord's what any Prince or People enjoy it is by his donation This title was so well known that the Heathens used to stand upon it Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy God giveth thee to possess Judg. 9.24 This being manifest there is no Nation in the World but may lay a claim to this promise upon a supposition of obedience to the Precept As for the last Command I cannot find the least appearance of an appropriation in it The sence of what the Epilogue asserts must amount to this Because under the Law Divorce was allowed and for that reason Men might be induced to attempt the getting another man's wife from him by suggesting something against her which might occasion a Bill of Divorce therefore God enjoyned in the Tenth Command That no Man should covet another's Wife If this was so How comes it to pass that S. Paul represents this Command as in force among Christians who are not concerned in the Law of Divorce Why is it said not only that Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife but his maid-servant which was never married and his ox and his ass If the Law of Divorce was the only reason which did induce the supreme Legislator to give out this Law it must necessarily follow That a Man might give a Bill of Divorce not only to his Wife but likewise to his Ox or his Ass which supposeth him to be married to them I cannot see how to covet should signifie to compass For to compass or procure is an external act but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate to covet is an internal and therefore it is interpreted by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to put the mind upon an object The mind being conversant about that which is evil either it passeth thro' it without consent or else it is entertained with some unadvised delight or else it procures not only a sudden delight but a full and perfect consent In the first place the mind doth not sin in the second and third it doth and this is that which is interdicted in the Tenth Command altho' Adultery is prohibited before In the Precept concerning Adultery the outward act is forbidden explicitly the inward implicitely only Now because
to sit still on the Seventh day There is as much holiness in this as in offering a brute beast unto God being stamped with a divine Command and the Rest of the Body signifying the Rest of the Soul from sin as the Sacrifice did the holiness of Christ This is the substance of what is asserted by the learned Author of the Epilogue To which I reply 1. It is no good consequence because the Precept extends to Cattle which are in no capacity to do any thing appertaining to the Sabbath but only cease from bodily labour That therefore nothing but bodily rest is enjoyned in it The Decree of the King of Niniveh concerning the Fast did reach to Cattle yet it is not true That nothing was commanded the Inhabitants of the City but what might be performed by Cattle We must take notice That a part only of the Command extends to Cattle It is required of the Masters of them That they shall not be imployed in that usual work they are designed for in the week-time but not that they keep holy the Sabbath-day To assert That Cattle are concerned in the whole Precept because they are in one part is as if we should affirm That Jacob's sons Cattle had all Aegypt for their pasture because they had Goshen which was a part of it As for Strangers they were capable both of resting and sanctifying the Sabbath If we suppose they were tyed only to the Seven Precepts of the Sons of Noah how doth it appear That the Sabbath of the Fourth Command was not contained under one of them It is believed to belong to the Second Mede Diat p. 85. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Munster upon Jos 9.7 useth these words nec poterant Israelitae cum Gibeonitis inire foedus nisi hac conditione ut observarent septem praecepta filiis Noae data hoc est Eliminarent Idololatriam observarent Sabbatum abstinerent ab incestu execrarentur homicidium c. The Israelites could not enter in covenant with the Gibeonites but upon this condition That they would observe the Seven Precepts given to the Sons of Noah that is cast out Idolatry observe the Sabbath abstain from Incest execrate Murther c. Here the observation of the Sabbath is reckoned amongst the Seven Precepts of the Sons of Noah If the Sabbath was none of them yet it must be remembred That the Tye was made not by a divine but a humane appointment Tho' the Precepts materially considered are in the Scripture yet they are not in that form and order in which they are delivered by the Talmudists Nor is there any intimation given that it was the Will of God That Proselytes or Converts from Idols should be obliged to these and no other I doubt not but this was a decree of the Jewish Church and that it might have the greater reverence paid to it the Rabbins generally ascribe it to God If Proselytes or strangers were tied only to these Seven Precepts by the will of Men yet they might be obliged to the observation of others in particular the Sabbath of the Fourth Command by the Will of God A Stranger for the sin of ignorance was bound to offer up a she-goat of the first year Num. 15.27 29. which injunction is no part of the Seven Precepts of the Sons of Noah 2. It is not true That to keep holy the Sabbath signifies no more than sitting still upon the Seventh Day Besides the figurative holiness there is something discernable in a Sacrifice which is not to be found in such a slothful posture The earth being the Lord's and he granting the use of it to Men for a supply of their necessities the giving back some part of it by way of oblation was accounted a piece of Homage and an expression of their agnitions of his Soveraignty over the whole Judith c. 2. v. 7. Herodotus To this end the Persians use to present their Kings with Earth and Water to signifie and acknowledge That they were Lords of Land and Sea Aquinas was so well pleased with this reason 22. Q. 55. art 1. That he asserts sacrificing in general to be of the Law of Nature Tho' the determination of it to this or that species of things be variable and grounded only upon positive institution All this cannot be asserted of sitting still which gives nothing to God but implies the withholding and suppression of those actions whereby the Body is in any capacity to honour him If there had been nothing in Sacrifice but a figurative holiness no account can be given why it should meet with so general and ready entertainment among the Heathens who were strangers to the figure Porphyry De Abstin l. 2. p. 70. who applies himself to condemn the Sacrifice of Beasts yet acknowledgeth the universality of the custom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Inhabitants of Lystra are no sooner possessed with a belief of the divinity of S. Paul and Barnabas but they make an attempt to Sacrifice Oxen to them Act. 14.13 Whereas sitting still could never gain the least approbation among them The Jews who were grown into a very superstitious practice in this particular were rather made the object of their derision They represent them as persons who spent the Seventh part of their time in idleness Tho' I am far from believing That the oblation of material things unto God accompanied with a destruction of them is warranted by the Law of Nature as I have expressed in the first Section Yet it is manifest from what has been spoken That more reason may be alledged in savour of it than for sitting still 3. Sitting still on the Seventh day was never stamped with the authority of Heaven If this was the meaning of the Fourth Precept then God repeated it so soon as it was enacted by him in these particular Laws in which he appointed That upon the Sabbath there should be a holy Convocation and the offering up of Sacrifice The People could not convene nor the Priests Sacrifice without bodily motion When it is said Let no man go out of his place on the Seventh day Exod. 16.29 It must be understood with relation to the gathering of Manna and the doing such unnecessary work as might have been dispatched in the week-time 4. It doth not appear That the Rest of the Body enjoyned in the Fourth Command is designed as a figure to signifie the Rest of the Soul from sin There is no Text of Scripture which imports any such matter And if fancy be permitted to make Types and figures as it pleaseth where there is no direction from Heaven to steer our apprehensions by there will be no end of them a figure being the effect of a positive institution cannot be discovered without the knowledge of the cause of it If the Rest of the Body is a Type of the Rest of the Soul from sin then it signifies Rest from some or from all sins Not from some only The Bible gives no