and expresse testimonies In the 1 Chron. 25. it is expresly said of Ieduthuâ— and his soâ—â—es that their office was to prophesie with a Harpe to give thanks and to praise the Lord. In the second of Chron. 30. 21. wee read that the Levites and Priests praised the Lord day by day singing with loud Instruments unto the Lord. And as ye heard even now out of 1 Chron. 16. that David at the time when he brought up the Ark unto Jerusalem then first delivered the 105. and 95 Psalms into the hands of Aâ—… and his sonnes to confesse or give thanks unto the Lord. And lastly to leave no place for farther doubt wee read Ezra 3. 11. That the Levites the sonnes of Asaph were set with Cymbals to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David King of Israel And that they sung together by course in praising giving thanks unto the Lord because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever For this reason the foure and twenty Courses or Quires into which the singers of the Temple were divided by King David to serve in their turnes consisted each of them of twelve according to the number of the tribes of Israel that so every Tribe might have a mouth and voyce to praise and to give thanks unto God for him in the Temple Thus we have seene what warrant to pray and call upon God in a set forme hath from the practice of the Church of God in the old Testament And if reason may have place in the publike service of God where one is the mouth of many there is none so proper and convenient For how can the Minister be said properly to be the mouth of the Congregation in prayer unto God when the Congregation is not first made acquainted and privy to what he is to render unto God in their names which in a voluntary and extemporary Prayer they are not nor well can be I am sure neither so properly nor conveniently as in a set forme which both they and the whole Church have agreed upon and offer unto God at the same time though in severall places in the self-same forme and words And this may be a second reason I meane from Vniformity For how can the Church being a mysticall Body better testifie her unity before God then in her uniformity in calling upon him especially our Saviour telling us that if but two or three shall agree together on earth as touching anything that they shall ask it shall be done unto them of his Father which is in heaven So prevailable with Allmighty God is the power of consent in prayer Let us now in the last place see what reasons they bring who contend altogether for voluntary prayer and would have no set formes used First they say it is the ordinance of God that the Church should be edified by the gifts of her Ministers as well in praying as preaching Ergo their prayers should be extemporary or voluntary because in reading a set forme this gift cannot be shewn To this I answer First that there is not in this point the same reason for Prayer and for Preaching for in prayer I meane Publique the Minister is the mouth of the Church unto God and therefore it were convenient they should know what he puts up to God in their names but in preaching he is not so Secondly Why should not the Pastours and Ministers of the Church edify the Church by their gift of prayer as well in composing a set forme of prayer for her use by generall agreement as in uttering a voluntary or extemporary prayer in a particular Congregation Thirdly Are not the members of the Church to be edified as well by the Spirit of the Church as the Church or some part thereof by the Spirit of a member But how can the Church edifie her members by her gift of prayer otherwise then by a set form agreed upon by her consent Fourthly Ostentation of gifts is one thing but edification by them another Ostentation of the gift of prayer is indeed best shewn in a voluntary or extemporary prayer but the Church may be edified as well by a set forme Yea such a forme in the publique service of God is more edificative then a voluntary And that both because the Congregation is first made acquainted therewith and secondly because they are better secured from being ingaged in ought that might be unfit to speak unto God either for matter or manner or such as they would not have given their consent to if they had been aware of it For now that extraordinary assistance of the Holy Ghost which was in the Primitive and Apostolicall times is long since ceased And all men to whom that office belongeth to speake to God for others are not at all times discreet and well advised when they speake to him at will and extempore but subject to miscariage Lastly I answer That the Church is to be edified by the gift of her Ministers in voluntary prayer loco tempore in fit place and upon fit occasions not in all places and upon all occasions And thus much to this objection But they object secondly that the Spirit ought to be free and unlimited and that therefore a Book or set forme of prayer which limits the spirit in praying is not to be tolerated or used To this I answer it is false that the acting of the Spirit in one Christan may not be limited or regulated by the Spirit of another especially the spirit of a particular man in the publike worship by the spirit of the Church whereof he is a member For doth not the Apostle tell us 1 Cor. 14. that even that extraordinary spirit of Prophecy usuall in his time might be limited by the spirit of another Prophet Let the Prophets saith he speak two or three and let the other judg If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by let the first hold his peace Is not this a limiting He gives a reason For the spirits of the Prophets saith he are subject to the Prophets Besides are not the spirits of the people as well limited and determined by a voluntary prayer when they joyne therein with their Minister as they are by a set forme True the spirit of the Minister is then free but theirs is not so but tied and led by the spirit of the Minister as much as if he used a set forme But to elude this they tell us that the Question is not of limiting the spirit of the people but of the Minister onely For as for the people no more is required of them but to join with their Minister and to testifie it by saying Amen but the spirit of the Minister ought to be left free and not to be limited But where is this written that the one may not be limited as well as the other We heard the Apostle say even now The spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets If in prophecying why not in praying And
ONE of â—srael Habak 1. 12. Art not thou from everlasting O LORD my God mine HOLY ONE Agreeably whereunto the Lord is said also now and then To swear by his HOLINESS that is by himself as in the Psalm before alledged v. 35. Once have I sworn by my HOLINESS that I will not lie unto David c. Amos 4. 2. The Lord God hath sworn by his HOLINESS that lo the days shall come upon you that he will take you away with â—ooks c. According to this sense I suppose also that of Amos 8. 7. is to be understood The LORD hath sworn by the Excellency of Iacob that is Jacobs most eminent and incommunicable One or by Iacobs HOLY ONE Surely I will never forget any of their works c. For indeed the Gods of the Nations were not properly and truly Holy because but partially and respectively onely Forasmuchas the Divine eminency which they were supposed to have was even in the opinion of those who worshipped them common to others with them and so not discriminated from nor exalted above all But the God of Israel was simply and absolutely such both in himself and to them ward who worshipped him as who might acknowledge no other and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by way of distinction from all other Gods called Sanctus Israelis The Holy One of Israel i. That sole absolute and onely incommunicable One or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Author of the Book of Wisdome cals him chap. 14. v. 21. that God exalted above all and divided from all without pareil there being no other such besides him There is none Holy as the Lord saith Hannah for there is none besides thee The Septuagint none Holy besides thee neither is there any ROCâ— like our God Wherefore it is to be observed that although the Scripture every where vouchsafes the Gentiles Daemons the name of Gods yet it never I think cals them Holy Ones as indeed they were not Thus you see that as Holinesse in generall imports a state of eminency and separation so this of God as I have described it disagrees not from that generall notion when I affirm it to consist in a state of peerlesse or incommunicable Majesty for that which is such includes both the one and the other But would you understand it yet better Apply it then to his attributes whereby he is known unto us and know that The Lord is Holy is as much to say He is a Majesty of peerlesse Power of peerlesse Wisdome of peerlesse Goodnesse and so of the rest Such a one is our God and such is his Holinesse Now then to Sanctifie this peerlesse Name or Majesty of his must be by doing unto him according to that which his Holinesse challengeth in respect of the double importance thereof namely To serve and glorifie him because of his eminency and to doe it with a singular separate and incommunicated worship because He is Holy Not to doe the former is Irreligion and Atheisme as not to acknowledge God to be the chief and Soveraign eminency not to observe the second is Idolatry For as the Lord our God is a singular and peerlesse Majesty distinguished from and exalted above all things and eminencies else whatsoever so must his worship be singular incommunicable and proper to him alone Otherwise saith Ioshuah to the people You cannot serve the Lord. Why For saith he He is an Holy God he is a jealous God that can endure no corrivall he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins if ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods c. Whence in Scripture those who communicate the worship given unto him with any besides him or together with him by way of Object that is whether immediately or but mediately are deemed to deny his incomparable Sanctity and therefore said to prophane his Holy Name See Ezek. 20. 39. 43. 7 8. In a word all that whole immediate Duty and service which we owe unto God whether inward or outward contained under the name of Divine worship when either we confesse praise pray unto call upon or swear by his Name yea all the worship both of men and Angels is nothing else but to acknowledge in thought word and work this peerlesse preheminence of his power of his wisdome of his goodnesse and other attributes that is His Holinesse by ascribing and giving unto him that which we give and ascribe to none besides him that is To sanctifie his most Holy Name This is that the Holy Ghost would teach us when describing how the Seraphims worship and glorifie God â—sa 6. he brings them in crying one unto another Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory that is Sanctifying him From whence is derived that which we repeat every day in the Hymne To thee all Angels cry aloud the heavens and all the powers therein To thee Cherubim and Sâ—raphim continually doe cry Ho ly Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory And because the pattern of Gods holy worship is not to be taken from earth but from heaven the same Spirit therefore in the Apocalypse expresseth the worship of God in the new Testament with the same form of hallowing or holying his Name which the heavenly Hoste useth For so the 4. Animalia representing the Catholique Church of Christ in the four quarters of the world are said when they give glory honour and thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne and liveth for ever and ever to doe it by singing day and night this Trisagium Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come that is the summe of all that they did was but to agnize his Sanctity or Holinesse or which is all one to Sanctifie his holy Name When therefore the same 4. Animalia are afterwards brought in chanting Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power riches wisdome and strength and honour and glory and blessing And again Blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever all is to bee understood as comprehended within this generall Doxologie as being but an exemplification thereof and therefore the Elogies or blazons mentioned therein to be taken according to the style of Holinesse in an exclusive sense of such prerogatives as are peculiar to God alone And according to this notion of sanctifying Gods name which I contend for would the Lord have his Name Sanctified Esa. 8. 13. when he saith Fear ye not their Fear that is the Idolaters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gods for so Fear here signifies to wit the thing feared neither dread ye it But Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your Fear and let him be your Dread that is your God Again chap. 29. 23. They shall sanctifie my Name saith he even Sanctifie the holy
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ob tot successus bis quidem sacrificavimus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Xenophon in his Hellanica 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To conclude it is apparent by these examples that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a gift or tribute due for good tidings whether as an offering to the Gods the Authours or as a reward to men the messengers and bringers Now the most blessed happy tidings that ever came to the ears of the sons of men is salvation by Jesus Christ our Lord whereof his Priests and Ministers are the daily messengers Is there not then an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 due for this And is not this that our Apostle meaneth when he says The Lord hath ordained that they who preach the Gospel should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that which of old was required only for acknowledgement of the Divine Dominion under the bondage of the Law is now turned into the nature of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the liberty of the Gospel I mean that which we offer now unto God for the maintenance of the Euangelicall Ministery and other uses of his service The sense is most fit and agreeable and makes the Apostles expression if so understood passing elegant But you will say What probability is there the Apostle should use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this notion For though prophane Authors do so yet the Scriptures meaning both here and elswhere is to be measured by its own Dialect Have therefore the Hebrew the Chaldee the Septuagint any such notion as this I answer Yes all three of them For in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the onely word for good tidings signifies also Praemium boni nuncii Yea being not above five times found in the Old Testament some will have it thrice taken in that signification and twice will be easily yeelded them Likewise in the Chaldee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie as well the one as the other both nuncium and nuncii praemium As for the Septuagint the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is but thrice found with them and once so apparently in this signification as leaves no place for contradiction It is 2 Sam. 4. 10. where they have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cui oportet me dedisse Euangelia They are the words of King David when Rechab and Baanah brought Ishbosheths head unto him When one told me saith he Behold Saul is dead thinking he had brought good tidings I took hold of him and slew him in Ziklag when I should have given a reward for his tidings The Hebrew word rendred here reward for good tidings is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Septuagint as I said before have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Vulgar or S. Hierome mercedem pro nuncio The Chaldee Paraphrast Donum boni nuncii Thus you see this notion was familiar to all the Languages that S. Paul was brought up in Why should it then be improbable he should use it when he had occasion And no marvel it is to be found no oftner For unlesse it be in this Chapter in the whole New Testament the thing it self reward for good tidings is never mentioned intimated or alluded to How then could the word be used But in this Chapter me thinks I hear it used a second time ver 23. I will only propound it to your consideration and so conclude The matter stands thus S. Paul though he received no reward at the hands of the Corinthians for his pains in making known the glad tidings of salvation unto them but did it gratis to them-ward yet he looked for an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from God stored up in the heavens for all his faithfull Messengers and to be received at the great Day In expectation whereof he not only preached the Gospel to them freely but endured all things and made himself a servant to all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this I doe for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that I might be partaker thereof What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should it be that Paul here aimed to be partaker of Surely it should seem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here notes some Proemium even by that which immediately follows Know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the brabeum So run that ye may obtain I leave it to your better meditations and so conclude FINIS DIATRIBAE OR A continuation of certain DISCOVRSES ON SUNDRY TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE Delivered upon severall occasions BY JOSEPH MEDE B. D. late Fellow of Christs Colledge in CAMBRIDGE Never before published being exactly printed according to the Authors own Manuscripts LONDON Printed by M. F. for JOHN CLARK and are to be sold at his Shop under S. Peters Church in Cornhill MDCXLVIII The Texts newly added LUKE 2. 13 14. AND suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory be to God on high or in the highest and on earth peace good-will towards men pag. 241 MATTH 7. 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven 264 ACTS 10. 4. And he said unto him Thy prayers and thine Almes are come up for a memoriall before God Or as it is verse 31◠are had in remembrance 285 PSALM 112. 6. The Righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance 311 NEHEM 13. 14 22. Remember me O my God concerning this and wipe not out my good deeds Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that I have done for the house of my God and for the offices thereof And spare me according to the greatnesse of thy mercy 324 MATTH 10. 41. He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophets reward 356 DEUT. 33. 8. And of Levi he said Let thy Thummim and thy Vrim be with thy Holy One. 350 ACTS 5. 3 4 5. But Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to purloin of the price of the land Whiles it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thy power why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the Ghost c. 379 JOEL 2. 17. Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and say Spare thy people ô Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach 404 GEN. 3. 13 14 15. And the Lord God said unto the woman What is this that thou hast done And the woman said The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat And the Lord God said unto the Serpent Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattell and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days
excellent creatures when an inferiour nature the nature of man was now to be advanced into a Throne of Divine Majesty and to become Head and King not only of men but of the heavenly Host it self O ye blessed Angels what did these tidings concern you that ruined mankinde should be restored again and taken into favour whereas those of your own Host which fell likewise remained still in that gulf of perdition whereinto their sin had plunged them without hope of mercy or like promise of Deliverance what did it adde to your eminent Dignity the most excellent of the creatures of God that the Nature of man should be advanced above yours that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth The Observation therefore which this Act of the Angels first presents unto us is the ingenuous goodnesse and sweet disposition of those immaculate and blessed spirits in whose bosomes Envy the Image of the Devil and deadly poison of charity hath no place at all For if any inclination to this cankered passion had been in these heavenly creatures never such an occasion offered nor greater could be to stir it up to envy But heaven admits of no such passion nor could such a torment consist with the blissefull condition of those who dwell therein It is the smoke of that bottomlesse pit a native of hell the character and cognisance of those Apostate Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation and are reserved for chains of everlasting darknesse These indeed grieve no lesse at the happinesse of men then the Angels joy witnesse the name of their Prince Satan which signifies the Fiend or malicious one who out of envy overthrew mankinde in the beginning out of envy he and all his fellow-fiends are so restlesse and indefatigable to seduce him still The Use of this Observation will not be far to seek if we remember the admonition our Saviour hath given us in the prayer left unto his Church which is To make the Angels the pattern of our imitation in doing the will of our heavenly Father for so he teacheth us to pray Let thy will be done in earth as it is done in heaven that is Grant us ô Lord to do thy will here as thy holy Angels do it there And as we should imitate them in all things else so in this affection towards the happinesse and prosperity of others And good reason I think if we mean at all to approve our selves unto God our Father why we should endeavour rather to be like unto them then unto Devils But in nothing can we be more like them then in this to rejoyce at the good and not repine at the happinesse of our brethren Hoc enim Angelicum est This is the Character of the Angelicall nature and consequently of those who one day shall have fellowship with them To be contrarily affected Diabolicum est the badge and brand of Devils and Fiends and those who wear their Livery reason good they should keep them company Let every one therefore examine his own heart concerning this point that he may learn upon what terms he stands with God and what he may promise himself of the blessednesse to come Do the gifts of God Doth his favour or blessing vouchsafed to thy brother when thou seest or hearest of them torment and crucifie thy soul Dost thou make their happinesse thy misery Is thine eye evill to thy Brother because Gods is good If this be so without doubt thy heart is not right before God nor doth his Spirit but the spirit of Devils or Fiends reign therein But if the contrary appear in any reasonable measure with a desire to increase it for we must not look to attain the perfection of Angels in this life but in some measure and degree only if thou canst rejoyce at anothers good though it concerns not thy self the Spirit of God rests upon thee For emulations and envyings saith the Apostle Gal. 5. are the fruits of the flesh but the fruits of the Spirit are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kindnesse and goodnesse So he cals the opposite vertues to those former vices But as any good that betides our brother ought to affect us with some degree of joy and not with grief and envy so chiefly and most of all his spirituall good and that which concerns his salvation ought so to do This was that the holy Angels praised God for in my Text on the behalf of men that unto them a Saviour was born who should save them from their sins and reconcile them unto God Which sweet disposition of those good and blessed spirits our Saviour himself further witnesseth when he saith Luk. 15. 17. There is joy in heaven namely among the holy Angels for one sinner that repenteth But is there any man will you say such a son of Beliall as will not do this will not imitate the holy Angels in this Judge ye There is an evil disease which commonly attends upon Sects and Differences in opinion that as men are curious and inquisitive into the lives and actions of the adverse party so are they willing to finde them faulty and rejoyce at their fals and slips hear and relate them with delight namely because they suppose it makes much for their own side that the contrary should by such means be scandalized and the Patrons and followers thereof disreputed But should that be the matter of our grief whereat the Angels joy or that the matter of our joy whereat the Angels grieve How is this to do our Fathers will on earth as the Angels do in heaven Nay if this be not to put on the robes of darknesse and to shake hands with hellish fiends I know not what is O my soul come not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united There is another Lesson yet more to be learned from this act of the Angels namely that if they glorifie God for our happinesse and the favour of God towards us in Christ much more should we glorifie and magnifie his goodnesse our selves to whom solely this Birth and the benefit of this Birth redounds If they sing Glory be to God on high for his favour toward men we to whom such favour is shown must not hold our peace for shall they for us and not we for our selves No the Quire of heaven did but set us in we are to bear a part and it should be a chief part since the best part is ours As therefore the Church in her publick Service hath ever since kept it up so must every one of us in particular never let it goe down or dye on our hands Thus much of the Quaere Now come we to the Antheme or Song it self whose contents are two First the Doxology or Praise Glory be to God on high Secondly a gratulation rendring the reason thereof Because of
unto the service and worship of God neither to be used by others nor they to carry themselves in their fashion of life as other persons for that which in other things sacred is their use in persons sacred is their conversation demeanour or carriage of themselves but all to be sanctified with a select appropriate or uncommon usage that as they are Gods by peculiar relation and have his Name called upon them so to be separate as far as they are capable from common use and imployed as instruments and circumstances of his worship and service which is the highest and most singular honour that any creature is capable of Nay as I have said before even this is to the honour of God that as himself is that singular incommunicable and absolutely Holy One and his service and worship therefore incommunicable so should that also which hath his Name thereon or is consecrated to his service be in some proportion incommunicably used and not promiscuously and commonly as other things are They are the words of Maymonides the Jew but such as will not misbecome a Christian to make use of concerning that Law Levit. V. 15. If a soule commit a trespasse and sin through ignorance in the holy things of the LORD then he shall bring unto the Lord for his trespasse a Ram c. Behold saith hee how great weight there is in the Law touching sacrilegious transgression And what though they be wood and stone and dust and ashes when the Name of the Lord of all the world is called upon things they are sanctified i. made holy And who so useth them to common use he transgresseth therein and though he doe it through ignorance he must needs bring his atonement Yea it is a thing worthy to be taken speciall notice of that that so presumptuous and most dreadfully vindicated sin of Korah Dathan Abiram and their company in offering incense unto the Lord being not called thereunto did not discharge their Censers of this discriminative respect due unto things Sacred For thus the Lord said unto Moses after that fire from heaven had consumed them for their impiety Speak unto Eleazar the Son of Aaron the Priest that he take up the Censers out of the burning and scatter thou the fire yonder for they are hallowed The Censers of these Sinners against their own souls let them make of them broad plates for a covering of the Altar for they offered them before the Lord therefore they are hallowed or holy Num. 16. 37 38. Now that by this discriminative usance or sanctification of things sacred the Name of God is honoured and sanctified according to the tenour of our petition is apparent not onely from reason which tels us that the honour and respect had unto ought that belongs unto another because it is his redounds unto the owner and Master but from Scripture which tels us that by the contrary use of them his name is prophaned Hear himself Lev. XXII 2. Speak unto Aaron saith he and his Sons that they separate themselves from the Holy things of the children of Israel and that they prophane not my Holy Name in the things which they hallow unto me Also in the Chapter next before v. 6. The Priest that should not discriminate himself according to those singular observations or differing rules there prescribed is said To prophane the Name of his God Again Ezek. XXII 26. When the Priests prophaned Gods holy things by putting no difference between the Holy and Prophane I saith the Lord am prophaned amongst them Likewise Chap. XLIII ver 7. together with other abominations there mentioned the Lord saith that his Holy Name had been polluted or prophaned by the carkasses of their Kings that is of Manasse and Amon buried in the Kings Garden hard by the walls of the Temple for so by the Hebrews and others that place is understood See 2 Kings XXI ver 18 26. by the pollution of the Temple the Lord esteemed his own Name prophaned Take in also if you will that of Malachi Cha. 1. where the Lord says of those who despised and dishonoured his Table or Altar by offering thereon for sacrifice the lame the blinde and sick which the Law had made unclean and polluted that they had prophaned his Holy Name But if the Name of God be prophaned by the disesteem and misusage of the things it is called upon then surely it is sanctified when the same are worthily and discriminatively used that is as becommeth the relation they have to him I have already specified the severall kinds of Sacred things which are thus to be sanctified yet lest something contained under some of them might not be taken notice of by so generall an intimation it will not be amisse a little more fully and particularly to explicate them then I have yet done Remember therefore that I ranged all sacred things under four heads 1. Of Persons Sacred such as were the Priests and Levites in the Old Testament and now in the New the Christian Clergy or Clerus so called from the beginning of Christian Antiquity either because they are the Lords 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Portion which the Church dedicateth unto him out of her self namely as the Levites were an offering of the Children of Israel which they offered unto him out of their Tribes or because their inheritance and livelihood is the Lords portion I preferre the first yet either of both will give their Order the title of Holinesse as doth also more especially their descent which they derive from the Apostles that is from those for whom their Lord and Master prayed unto his Father saying Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sanctifie them unto or for thy Truth thy Word is Truth that is Separate them unto the Ministery of thy Truth the word of thy Gospel which is the truth and verification of the promises of God It follows As thou hast sent me into the world so have I also sent them into the world this is the key which unlocks the meaning of that before and after And for their sakes I sanctifie my self that they might be sanctified for thy Truth that is And for as much as they cannot be consecrated to such an Office without some sacrifice to atone and purifie them therefore for their consecration to this holy function of ministration of the new Covenant I offer my self a Sacrifice unto thee for them in lieu of those legall and typicall ones wherewith Aaron and his sons first and then the whole Tribe of Levi were consecrated unto thy service in the old An Ellipsis of the first Substantive in Scripture is frequent So here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Truth for the Ministery of Truth Now that the Christian Church for of the Jewish I shall need say nothing hath always taken it for granted that those of her Clergy ought according to the
observation of those precepts whch the Hebrew Doctors call the precepts of the sons of Noah namely such as all the sons of Noah were bound to observe These precepts are in number seven recorded in the Talmud Maymonides and others under these following titles First the precept 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to renounce Idols and all Idolatrous worship Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship the true God the Creator of Heaven and Earth Thirdly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bloodshed to wit to commit no murder Fourthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 detectio nuditatum not to be defiled with fornication incest or other unlawfull conjunction Fiftly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rapina against theft and robbery Sixtly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning administration of Justice The seventh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Membrum de vivo so they call the Precept of not eating the flesh with the blood in it given to Noah when he came out of the Ark as Maymonides expresly expounds it and addes besides Quicunque haec sep tem praecepta exequenda susceperit ecce is est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex piis gentium mundi habetque partem in seculo futuro Note that he saith ex piis Gentium for this kinde were still esteemed Gentiles and so called because of their uncircumcision in respect whereof though no Idolaters they were according to the Law unclean and such as no Jew might converse with wherefore they came not to worship into the Sacred Courts of the Temple whither the Jews and circumcised Proselytes came but onely into the outmost Court called Atrium Gentium immundorum which in the second Temple surrounded the second or great Court whereinto the Israelites came being divided there-from by a low wall of stone made battlement-wise not above three Cubits high called saith Iosephus from whom I have it in the Hebrew Dialect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Lorica close by which stood certain little pillars whereon was written in Latin and Greek Letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In atrium sanctum transire alienigenam non debere And this I make no question is that which Saint Paul Ephes. 2. alluded unto when he saith That Christ had broken down the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the partitionwall namely that Lorica which separated the Court of the Gentiles from that of the Circumcision and so laying both Courts into one hath made the Jews and Gentiles Intercommoners whereby those that were sometime far off were now made nigh and as near as the other unto the Throne of God But in Solomons Temple this Court of the Gentiles seems not to have been but in the second Temple onely the Gentiles formerly worshipping without at the door and not coming within the Septs of the Temple at all This second kinde of Proselytes the Talmudists call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proselyti portae or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proselyti inquilini because they were under the same condition with those Gentile strangers which lived as inquilini in the land of Israel For all Gentiles dwelling within the Gates of Israel whether they were as servants taken in war or otherwise were bound to renounce their false Gods and to worship the God of Israel but not to be circumcised unlesse they would nor farther bound to keep the Law of Moses then was contained in those precepts of the sons of Noah These are those mentioned as often elsewhere in the Law so in the fourth Commandment by the name of the Stranger within thy gates whereby it might seem probable that the observation of the Sabbath day so far as concerneth one day in seven was included in some one or other of those precepts of the sons of Noah namely in that of worshipping for their God the Creator of heaven and earth and no other whereof this consecration of a seventh day after six dayes labour was a badge or livery according to that The sabbath is a signe between me and you that I Iehovah am your God because in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day vide Exod. 31. 16 17. Ezek. 20. 20. From the example of these inquilini all other Gentiles wheresoever living admitted to the worship of the God of Israel upon the same terms were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proselyti Portae or Proselyti inquilini of which sort there were many in all Cities and places of the Gentiles where the Jews had Synagogues and used to frequent the Synagogues with them though in a distinct place to hear the Law and the Prophets read and expounded But in the New Testament they are found called by another name to wit of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Worshippers so often mentioned though not observed in the Acts of the Apostles For first these are those meant in that of the Acts 17. 4. alleadged at my entrance into this discourse where it is said that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great number of the worshipping Greeks beleeved and adhered to Paul and Silas which the Vulgar rightly translateth de colentibus Gentilibus multitudo magna taking the name of Greeks here as elsewhere in the New Testament to be put for Gentiles in generall And this place will admit of no evasion For that they were Gentiles the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betokeneth expresly being given them by way of distinction from the Jews then and there present also That they were worshippers of the true God the God of Israel their coming into the Synagogue their name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their capablenesse of S. Pauls discourse which was to prove out of the Scriptures that Messiah was to suffer death and that Iesus was he argues sufficiently yea abundantly For who could have profited by such a Sermon as this but those who already had knowledge of the true God and beleeved the reward of the life to come This place therefore may serve as a key to all the rest of the places in this Book where these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are mentioned To that in the same Chapter ver 17. where it is said that Saint Paul in the Synagogue at Athens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 disputed with the Iews and the worshippers To that Acts 16. 14. where Saint Paul preaching the Gospel in the Jews Proseucha or Oratory at Philippi a woman named Lydia a seller of purple of the City Thyatira 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A proselyte worshipper was converted unto the faith and baptized with all her houshold In the like manner to Acts 18. 4. when S. Paul is said at Corinth to have reason'd in the Synagogues every Sabbath and to have perswaded the Jews and the Greeks For these Greeks were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what did they in the Synagogues else so regularly every Sabbath day True the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is here wanting But it
will appear if we consider well the tenor of the Apostles Sermons to such Gentiles as they converted which we shall observe to presuppose that they already knew the true God and the promise of eternall life to such as worshiped him and so had no more to learn but the way and means now revealed by God for attainment thereof which was by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The other thing we may learn is what was the true state of the Question which the Apostles met to decide in the Councell at Jerusalem whether the Gentiles which beleeved in Christ were to be circumcised or not and so bound to keep the whole Law It was this to resolve that whereas all such as embraced the worship of the God of Israel conformed to one of these two kindes of Proselytes to whether of them the Gentiles which had or should receive the Gospel of Christ were to conform themselves whether to the Proselytes of the Covenant or to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Proselytes of the Gate Saint Peter standing up in the Councell demonstrates it to be the will of God that they should conform to the latter and not to the first and that upon this ground because that Cornelius the first Christened Gentile unto whom himself was sent by Divine Commission was no circumcised Proselyte but a Proselyte of the Gate or a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely yet received he no Commission to circumcise him Yea the holy Ghost as he was Preaching fell upon him and his houshold being uncircumcised as it did upon those of the Circumcision whereby it appeared that God would have the rest of the Gentiles which embraced the faith to be after the pattern of Cornelius and to have no more imposed upon them then He had And accordingly the Councel defines That no other burden should be laid upon them but onely to abstain from pollution of Idols from blood from things strangled and from fornication and as some copies have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To do as they would be done to that is they should as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 observe the praecepta Filiorum Nohae which here by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are briefly reckoned up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 PETER 2. 4. For if God spared not the Angels which sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darknesse to be reserved unto Iudgement c. so we translate it To which of S. Peter answers that of S. Iude as almost that whole Epistle doth to this verse 6. And the Angels which kept not their first estate or principality but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darknesse unto the Iudgement of the great Day THese two places are brought to prove that the Devils or evil spirits are now in Hell before the day of Judgement Which I cannot see how it can possibly stand with the rest of the Scripture which testifies every where that they have their mansion in the Air and here about the earth where they tempt seduce and do all the mischief they can to mankinde hence their Chieftain Satan is styled The Prince of the power of the Air that is of the airie Dominion or Princedom Therefore hither they were with their Prince exiled from Heaven and no further nor shall be untill the Day of Judgement And of this I shall speak at this time First to clear these Texts which seem to make for the contrary Secondly to enquire what was the opinion of the Ancients about this point As for this place of S. Peter and that imitation thereof in the Epistle of Iude I can beleeve the translation of neither Piscator not conceiving how that of S. Iude especially because of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eternall could be reconciled with other Scripture and experience which shews us that the Evill spirits are not yet bound with eternall chains having so much liberty of gadding about supplies in the Text vinciendos as if there were an Ellipsis reading it thus Iudicio magni illius Diei vinculis aeternis vinciendo reservâsse In that of S. Peter if I understand him he takes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not for Dativus instrumenti with chains of darknesse but as Dativus acquisitionis for chains of darknesse and construes it with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if it were He delivered them for chains of darknesse namely supposing a trajection of the words But for my part I take both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Peter and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Iude to be neither of them Dativus instrumenti but both Acquisitionis or Finis and governed the one of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the other of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As in the Hebrew the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 serves for the proposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for the Dative Case whose propriety the style of the Greek Testament every where imitates and why not in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay among the Greek Grammarians we finde observed that the Dative Case is sometimes put for the Accusative with the proposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As in this example 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much more in the sacred Greek which so frequently imitates the Hebrew Construction Next for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Peter it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so not bound by any use or example to the signification we here give it to wit throwing down to hell I would therefore render it ad poenas tartareas damnavit to wit thus Angelos qui peccaverunt cum ad tartari supplicium damnasset catenis caliginis servandos tradidit ad Diem Iudicii For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Iude hath it So also Mat. 12. 24. The Queen of the South shall rise in judgement with this Generation that is in or at the Day of Judgement Or I would render it not casting down to hell but casting down to hell ward So the meaning in both places will be That the wicked Angels were cast down from heaven to this lower orb there to be reserved for chains of darknesse at the Day of Judgement which sense the ninth verse in this Chapter of Peter plainly intimates by way of reddition Novit Dominus pios in tentatione eripere as he did Noah and Lot Injustos verò in diem Iudicii cruciandos servare as he doth the wicked Angels Moreover verse 17. where the same hellish darknesse is spoken of it is said to be reserved for the wicked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom that hideous darknesse is reserved for ever
whence it is probable that S. Peter in the foregoing passage of Angels referred also those chains of darknesse to reserving and not to delivering that is not that the evill Angels were now already delivered to chains of darknesse but reserved for them at the day of Judgement And thus much for clearing of the words of these two parallel Texts now what hath been anciently the current opinion of this point And first for the Jews it is apparent to have been a tradition of theirs that all the space between the earth and the firmament is full of troops of Evill spirits and their Chieftains having their residence in the air which I make no doubt S. Paul had respect to when he cals Satan the Prince of the power of the air Drusius quotes two Authors one the Book called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Munus novum another one of the Commentators upon Pirke Aboth who speak in this manner Debet homo scire intelligere à terra usque ad firmamentum omnia plena esse turmis praefectis infra plurimas esse Creaturas laedentes accusantes omnesque stare volare in aere neque à terra usque ad firmamentum locum esse vacuum sed omnia plena esse praepositis quorum alii ad pacem alii ad bellum alii ad bonum alii ad mulam ad vitam ad mortem incitant By praepositi I suppose he means such among the Spirits as are set as Wardens over severall charges for the managing of the affairs of mankinde subject to their powers This was the opinion of the Iews which they seem to have learned by tradition from their ancient Prophets For in the Old Testament we finde no such thing written and yet we see S. Paul seems to approve it Now for the Doctors of the Christian Church S. Hierome upon the sixth of the Ephesians tels us that their opinion was the same T is the opinion of all the Doctors saith he that Devils have their mansion and residence in the space between the heaven and the earth And that the Fathers of the first 300 or 400 years nor did nor could hold the evill Angels to have been cast into Hell upon their sin is evident by a singular Tenet of theirs For Iustn Martyr one of the most ancient hath this saying that Satan before the coming of Christ never durst blaspheme God and that saith he because till then he knew not he should be damned The same is approved by Irenaeus in his fifth Book and twentysixt Chapter Praeclarè saith he dixit Iustinus quod ante Domini adventum Satanas nunquam ausus est blasphemare Deum quippe nondum sciens suam damnationem Post adventum autem Domini ex sermonibus Christi Apostolorum ejus discens manifestè quoniam ignis aeternus ei praeparatus sit per hujusmodi homines he means those Heretiques who blasphemed the God of the Law blasphemat eum Deum qui judicium importat Eusebius 4. Hist. Cap. 17. cites the same out of both with approbation So doth Oecumenius upon the last Chap. of the first of S. Peter Epiphanius against Heresie 39. gives the same as his own assertion almost in the same words with Iustin and Irenaeus though not naming them Ante Christi adventum saith he nunquam ausus est Diabolus in Dominum suum blasphemum aliquod verbum loqui aut contra elationem cogitare expectavit enim Christi adventum put avitque se misericordiam aliquam assecuturum esse I will not enquire how true this Tenet of theirs is but onely gather this that they could not think the Devils were cast into Hell before the comming of Christ. For then how could they but have known they should be damned if the execution had already been done upon them Saint Augustine as may seem intending to reconcile these places of Peter and Iude with the rest of Scripture is alledged to affirm that the Devils suffering some hell-like torment in their aiery Mansion the Air may in that respect in an improper sense be called Hell But that the Devils were locally or actually in Hell or should be before the day of Judgement it is plain he held not and that will appear by these two passages in his Book de Civitate Dei First where he saith Daemones in hoc quidem aere habitant quia de Coeli superioris sublimitate dejecti merito irregressibilis transgressionis in hoc sibi congruo velut carcere praedamnati sunt Lib. 8. Cap. 22. The other where he expounds that of the Devils Mat. 8. Art thou come to torment us before the time that is saith he ante tempus Iudicii quo aeternâ damnatione puniendi sunt cum omnibus etiam hominibus qui eorum societate detinentur Lib. eodem Cap. 23. in fine The Divines of later times the Schoolmen and others to reconcile the supposed Contrariety in Scripture divide the matter holding some Devils to be in the Air as Saint Paul and the History of Scripture tels us some to be already in Hell as they thought Saint Peter and S. Iude affirm'd which opinion seems to be occasioned by a Quaere of Saint Hieroms upon the sixth of the Ephesians though he speaks but obscurely and defines nothing But what ground of Scripture or reason can be given why all the Devils which sinned should not be in the same condition especially Satan the worst and chief of them should not be in the worst estate but enjoy the greatest liberty It follows therefore that these places of Saint Peter and Saint Iude are to be construed according to the sense I have given of them namely that the evill Spirits which sinned being adjudged to hellish torments were cast out of Heaven into this lower Region there to be reserved as in a prison for chains of darknesse at the Day of Judgement 1 COR. 4. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God A Man would think at first sight that this Scripture did exceedingly warrant our use of the word Minister in stead of that of Priest and leave no plea for them who had rather speak otherwise Howsoever I intend at this time to shew the contrary and even out of this text that we have very much swarved herein from the Apostles language and abuse that word to such a sense as they never intended nor is any where found in Scripture I fayour neither superstition nor superstitious men yet truth is truth and needfull to be known especially when ignorance thereof breedeth errour and uncharitablenesse My discourse therefore shall be of the use of the words Priest and Minister wherein shall appear how truly we are all Ministers in the Apostles sense and yet how abusively and improperly so called in the ordinary prevailing use of that word I will begin thus All Ecclesiasticall persons or Clergy men may be considered in a
beginning to such a power as to grapple with the Enemy and overcome him But behold there is yet something more admirable namely that this should not be done by the strength of his Arm but by the breath power of his Mouth Out of the mouth of Babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength because of thine enemies c. What Enemies Thine saith the Psalmist and such too as are ultores avengers the enemies both of God and mankinde And who are those but Satan and his Angels those Principalities and Powers of the Air those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Rulers of the Darknesse of this world as Saint Paul speaks For when mankinde is the one party what can the other be but some Power that is not of mankinde Besides who are the Enemies both of God and mankinde but these And of mankinde especially I put enmity saith God to the serpent between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed Hence he is called Satan the adversary or Fiend and the enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold I give you power saith our Saviour to the seventy Disciples Luke 10. 19. to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the Power of the Enemy Your Adversary the Devill saith S. Peter And this is he as I conceive who is here called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Enemy the Avenger mans tormentor which words being found again in the 44. Psalm may for ought I know by warrant of this place be taken for the same Enemy and the usuall distinction altered and the place read thus By reason of the Enemy and the Avenger all this to wit the Calamity and confusion he spake of before is come upon us that is by the malice of Satan Now that such Enemies as these should be subdued by an arm yea by a mouth of flesh is a thing which might justly make the Prophet cry out Lord what is man c. Now that this which I have given is the true meaning of this place may be gathered from S. Paulâ— inculcating the word Enemy when 1 Cor. 15. he demonstrates out of this Psalm that Christ before the end shall abolish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For He must raign saith he till he hath put all enemies under his feet The last Enemy which shall be destroyed 〈◊〉 Death and then he alledges for his proof that Corollary in this Psalm For he hath put all things under his feet But in all this Psalm there is no mention of Enemies or subduing them but onely in the verse I have in hand which unlesse it be thus expounded S. Pauls allegation from hence will be too narrow to prove what he intendeth Having thus cleered the words I chose for my Theme I shall not spend much time to shew you how directly and literally the purport of them was fulfilled in our blessed Saviours incarnation You have in part heard such Scriptures already as do evince it The summe is this The Devill by sin brought mankinde under thraldom and became the prince of this world himself with his Angels being worshipped and served every where as Gods and the service and honour due to the great God the Creator of heaven and earth cast off and abandoned and all this to receive at last for reward eternall wo and everlasting death To vanquish and exterminate this enemy and redeem the world from this miserable thraldom the Son of God took upon him not the nature of Angels which might have been the enemies matches but the nature of weak and despicable man that growes from a babe and suckling Who saith Esay in that famous Prophecy of Messiah hath beleeved our report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed namely that works such powerfull things by weak means for he shall grow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a tender plant or sucker it is the very word here used in my Text for a sucking childe and translated by the Seventy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as a root out of a dry ground that is a small and little one This is that whereof S. Paul discourses so divinely in the Epistle to the Hebrews To which of the Angels said he at anytime Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak but unto him of whom it is said What is man that thou art mindefull of him or c. Again We see Iesus who was made little lower then the Angels that is was made man that 's the meaning for the suffering of death crowned with Glory and Honour what can be so plain as this It is the Son of man by whom in part we are and more fully shall be delivered out of the hands of our enemies that we might serve the true God without fear as Zachary sayes in his Benedictus It is the Son of man that delivered us from the power of darknesse Col. 1. 13. The Son of man that spoiled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly Col. 2. 15. It was no Angel that did all this but the Son of man even as was prophesied from the beginning when the Devill first got his Dominion That the Seed of the woman should break the Serpents head Nor is this all for this Son of man enables also other sons of men his Disciples and Ministers to do the like in his name The seventy Disciples in the Gospel return with joy saying Lord even the Devils are subject to us through thy name Yea not these onely but as many as fight under his Banner against these enemies have promise they shall at length quell and utterly subdue them Yea at that great Day shall sit with their Lord and Master to judge and condemn them Do ye not know saith S. Paul that the Saints shall judge the world know ye not that we shall judge Angels Lastly this victory as for the event so for the manner of atchieving it is agreeable to our Prophesie For as much as Christ our Generall nor fights nor conquers by force of Arms but by the power of his Word and Spirit which is the power of his mouth according to my Text Out of the mouth of Babes c. Hence in the Apocalypse Christ appears with a sword going out of his mouth In the 2 Thess. 2. it is said He shall consume Antichrist with the Spirit of his mouth Esay prophesies Chap. 11. 4. That the Branch of Iesse should smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips should stay the wicked That is he does all nuâ—â— verbo as God made the world By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the Hoasts of them by the breath of his mouth Psal 33. 6. So doth Christ vanquish his enemies and enable his Ministers to vanquish them Verbo Spiritu oris according to that Hos. 6. 5. I have
not so much the child as the Parents liable to the wrath of God as here the Angel sought not to kill the child who was uncircumcised but Moses the Father who should have circumcised it Both which observations I mean to amplifie no farther but to leave to your exacter meditations and so I conclude EZEKIEL 20. 20. Hallow my Sabbaths and they shall be a signe between me and you to acknowledge that I Iehovah am your God THis Commandement with the end thereof the Lord bids Ezekiel tell the Elders of Israel that he gave to their Fathers in the Wildernesse And it is recorded in the Law so that I might have taken it thence but I rather chose to make these words in Ezekiel my Text as expressed more plainly and so a Comment to those in the Law the place is Exod. 31. where this which my Text containeth is expressed thus Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep for it is a signe between me and you throughout your generations to acknowledge that I Iehovah am your sanctifier that is your God as the expression in Ezekiel tels us For to be the Sanctifier of a People and to be their God is all one whence also the Lord is so often called in Scripture the Holy One of Israel that is their Sanctifier and their God That which I intend at this time to observe from these words is the end why God commanded this observation of the Sabbath to the Israelites to wit that thereby as by a Symbolum they might testifie and professe what God they worshipped Secondly out of this ground to shew how far and in what manner the like observation binds us Christians who are worshippers of the same God whom the Jews worshipped though not under the same relation altogether wherein they worshipped him All Nations had something in their ceremonies whereby they signified the God they worshipped so in those of the celestiall Gods as they termed them and those which were Deified souls of men were differing rites whereby the one was known from the other Those gods which were made of men having funerall rites in their services as cognisances that they were souls deceased and each of them some imitation of some remarkable passage of the Legend of their lives either of some action done by them or some accident which befell them as in the ceremonies of Osyris and Bacchus is obvious to any that reads them And indeed it is a naturall Decorum for servants and vassals by some mark or cognisance to testifie who is their Lord and Master In the Revelation the worshippers of the Beast receive his mark and the worshippers of the Lamb carry his mark and his Fathers in their Fore-heads Hence came the first use of the crosse in Baptisme as the mark of Christ the Deity to whom we are initiated and the same afterwards used in all Benedictions Prayers and Thanksgivings in token they were done in the name and merits of Christ crucified so that in the Primitive Church this rite was no more but that wherewith we conclude all our Prayers and Thanksgivings when we say Through Iesus Christ our Lord and Saviour though afterward it came to be abused as almost all other rites of Christianity to abominable superstition To return therefore unto my Text Agreeably to this principle and this custome of all Religions of all Nations of all vassals the Lord Iehovah Creator of heaven and earth ordained to his people this observation of the Sabbath day for a sign and cognisance that he should be their God and no other It is for a sign saith he between me and you that I Iehovah am your God In the place I quoted before in the 31. of Exod. are these words The Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetuall Covenant it is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever for in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested As if he had said it is a sign that the Creatour of heaven and earth is your God But for the distinct understanding of this signification we must know that the Sabbath includes two respects of time First the quotum one day of seven or the seventh day after six days labour Secondly the designation or pitching that seventh day upon the day we call Saturday In both the Sabbaticall observation was a sign and profession that Iehovah and no other was the God of Israel the first according to his attribute of Creator the second of Deliverer of Israel out of Egypt For by sanctifying the seventh day after they had laboured six they professed themselves vassals and worshippers of that only God who created the heaven and the earth and having spent six days in that great work rested the seventh day and therefore commanded them to observe this sutable distribution of their time as a badge and livery that their religious service was appropriate to him alone And this is that which the fourth Commandement in the reason given from the Creation intendeth and no more but this But seeing they might professe this acknowledgement as well by any other six days working and a sevenths resting as by those they pitched upon there being still what six days soever they had laboured and what seventh soever they had rested the same conformity with their Creator let us see the reason why they pitched upon those six days wherein they laboured for labouring days rather then any other six and why they chose that seventh day namely Saturday to hallow and rest in rather then any other And this was that they might professe themselves servants of Iehovah their God in a relation and respect peculiar and proper to themselves to wit that they were the servants of that God which redeemed Israel out of the Land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage and upon the morning watch of that very day which they kept for their Sabbath he overwhelmed Pharaoh and all his Host in the Red Sea and saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians This I gather from the repetition of the Decalogue Deut. 5. where that reason from the worlds Creation in the Decalogue given at Horeb being left out Moses inserts this other of the Redemption of Israel out of Egypt in stead thereof namely as the reason why those six days rather then any other six for work and that seventh day rather then any other seventh for rest were pitched upon as Israel observed them Remember saith he thou wert a servant in the Land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and a stretched out arm therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath Day Not for the quotum of one day of seven for of that another reason was given the example of God in the Creation but for the designation of the day But whether this day were in order
Gloriam tibi tribuo which I think is the better So also in this Chapter Luke 2. 38. it is said of Anna 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deo laudes gratiasque agebat So Heb. 13. 15. By him therefore that is by Christ let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fruit of our lips confessing to his Name By all which it is evident that to praise and give glory unto God whether by praise at large or prayer and thanksgiving in speciall is nothing else as I have said but to confesse and acknowledge his peerlesse Majesty over all and in all which the Scripture cals his glory And if ever there were a work of God wherein all these peerlesse Prerogatives of Power Wisdome and Goodnesse all together appeared in the highest degree it was undoubtedly in this wonderfull work of the Incarnation of the Son of God for mans redemption well therefore might the heavenly Host sing Gloria in excelsis Deo The Power the Wisdom and Goodnesse of the glorious God be acknowledged by the holy Angels and all the Host of heaven for ever and ever This is the meaning of the Doxology Come we now to the gratulation which contains the cause thereof glory be to God on high for ô factum benè ô happy news there is peace on earth good-will towards men One and the same thing two ways expressed for it is an Apposition or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the latter words declaring the meaning of the former Peace on earth that is good-will towards men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ' Ev for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to wit in imitation of the Hebrew construction where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verbs which signifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the nown signifying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are construed with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek and accordingly both the Septuagint and New Testament expresse the same But the Vulgar Interpreter reads here Pax in terris hominibus bonae voluntatis as if the Greek were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as now all our Copies constantly read and I beleeve ever did yet Beza seems here to favour the Vulgar Latine expounding Homines bonae voluntatis of those whom God wils well to to wit of the Elect to whom this Peace by Christ belongeth and from the conveniency of this sense inclines to beleeve that the Greek anciently read so quoting to this end Irenaeus Origen and Chrysostome as he saith in divers places But he trusted too much the Latine Translation of Chrysostome for the Greek Chrysostome hath no such matter but both in those places Beza points to and in divers others reads constantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our Copies doe And so I make no question Irenaeus and Origen did too in the Greek Originals if we had them to look into But the Latine Translators thought not fit to alter the words of the Hymne so ordinarily sung in the Liturgy and so expressed it in Latine as the Latine Church used And for the meaning I beleeve the Vulgar Latine aim'd at no other sense then what the Greek implies namely that this Peace was no earthly peace but the peace of Gods good-will to man referring the Genitive Case voluntatis not to hominibus but to pax Pax in terris what pax Pax bonae voluntatis hominibus That which makes me think so is because Origen and his Translator in the place Beza quotes for this reading expresly expounds it so And so there will not be a pin to choose save that the Greek expresseth this sense by way of Apposition more naturally the Latine by way of Rection somwhat harshly and yet perhaps the Translatour thought lesse ambiguously Well then this peace on earth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gods good-will or favour to men and Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the peace on earth the Angels gratulate namely the reconciliation of God to men in Christ For by reason of Sin heaven and earth God and man were till now at enmity but by Christ this enmity is taken away and man by the forgivenesse of his sin restored unto peace and favour with God And as by this Nativity God and man became one Person so by this conjunction Heaven and earth Angels and men become one Fellowship one City and Kingdome of God the Kingdome of Satan that Prince of the powers of the Aire who by reason of sin had captivated and brought under his service the whole Earth and thereby held the same at open war and enmity with Heaven being now by degrees to be destroyed and rooted out And this is that admirable mystery of our Redemption by Christ which the Angelicall Host here gratulates by the name of Peace on earth and good-will towards men And that we may not doubt but we have hit the meaning that this peace on earth is Gods good-will to men and therefore expounded by it besides that in the Old Testament peace is often taken for Gods favour and mercy to men as in that of Isay 54. 10. The mountains shall depart and the hils be removed but my kindnesse shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee So if we examine the Use thereof in the New Testament we shall finde it in speciall applied to this our Reconciliation to God in Christ by remission of sin S. Peter to Cornelius Act. 10. describes the Gospel thus The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace by Iesus Christ. And S. Paul Col. 1. It pleased God the Father that in Christ all fulnesse should dwell And having made peace through the bloud of his Crosse by him to reconcile all things unto himself What can be plainer then this The same as I take it he means Eph. 2. when he tels us That Christ came to preach peace both to those that were afarre off and to them that were nigh that is both to Jew and Gentile But what peace namely that through him we both might have accesse by one Spirit unto the Father Hence the Gospel is called the Gospel of peace and God so often in the New Testament the God of peace that is of reconcilement and favour and the Euangelicall salutation is Grace mercy and peace from God our Father and Iesus Christ our Lord. The meaning of this Angelicall gratulation being thus cleared let us see now what may be learned and observed therefrom Where my first Observation shall be this S. Peter tels Cornelius That to Christ give all the Prophets witnesse that through his name whosoever beleeveth in him shall receive remission of sins Our Saviour after his Resurrection expounding the Scriptures to his Apostles sayes the same Luke 24. 47. Thus it is written saith he and thus it behoved Christ to suffer
and to the Widow according to all the Commandements which thou hast commanded me Look down from thy holy habitation from heaven and blesse thy people Israel and the land which thou hast given us as thou swarest to our Fathers a land that floweth with milk and honey What we have seen in these two sorts is to be supposed to be the end of all other Offerings in pios usus which were not sacrifices namely to acknowledge God to be the Lord and giver of all As we see in that royall Offering which David with the Princes and Chieftains of Israel made for the building of the Temple 1 Chron. 29. where David acknowledgeth thus Thine ô Lord is the Kingdom and thou art exalted as Head over all Both riches and honour come of thee and thou reignest over all and in thine hand is power and might and in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all Now therefore our God we thank thee and praise thy glorious Name For all things come of thee and of thine hand have we given thee For this reason there was never time since God first gave the Earth to the sons of men wherein this acknowledgement was not made by setting apart of something of that he had given them to that purpose In the state of Paradise among all the trees in the garden which God gave man freely to enjoy one tree was Noli me tangere and reserved to God as holy in token that he was Lord of the garden So that the first sin of Mankinde for the species of the fact was Sacriledge in profaning that which was holy For which he was cast out of Paradise and the Earth cursed for his sake because he had violated the signe of his fealty unto the great Landlord of the whole earth Might I not say that many a man unto this day is cast out of his Paradise and the labours of his hands cursed for the same sin But to go on After mans ejection out of Paradise the first service that ever we read was performed unto God was of this kinde Abel bringing the best of his flock and Cain of the fruit of his ground for an Offering or Present unto the Lord. The first spoils that ever we read gotten from an Enemy in war paid tithes to Melchisedek the Priest of the most high God as an acknowledgement that he had given Abraham the Victory Melchisedek blessing God in his name to be the possessor of heaven and earth and to have delivered his enemies into his hand To which Abraham said Amen by paying him Tithes of all Iacob promiseth God that if he would give him any thing for at that time he had nothing he would give him the tenth of what he should give him Which is as much to say as he would acknowledge and professe him to be the giver after the accustomed manner For the time of the Law I may skip over that it is well enough known no man will deny it But let us come to the time of the Gospel which though it hath freed us from the bondage of typicall Elements yet hath it not freed us from the possession of our Fealty unto God as Lord of the whole earth 'T were strange me thinks to affirm it I am sure the ancient Church next the Apostles thought otherwise I will quote for a witnesse Irenaeus who Lib. 4. cap. 32. tels us that our Saviour when he took part of the Viands of his last Supper and giving thanks with them consecrated them into a Sacrament of his body and blood set his Church an example of dedicating part of the creature in Dominicos usus Dominus saith he dans discipulis suis consilium primitias Deo offerre ex suis creaturis non quasi indigenti sed ut ipsi nec infructuosi nec ingrati sint eum qui ex creatura panis est accepit gratias egit c. Et novi Testamenti novam docuit oblationem quam Ecclesia ab Apostolis accipiens in universo mundo offert Deo ei qui alimenta nobis praestat primitias suorum munerum in novo Testamento But this is no proper occasion to follow this argument any further I will therefore leave it and adde a second reason why God requires Alms and such like offerings at our hands Namely that we might not forget God our blessed Saviour Mat. 6. and Luk. 12. 33 c. speaking of this very matter of alms Lay not up saith he for your selves treasures upon earth but â—ay up for your selves treasures in heaven For where your treasure is there will your heart be The proper evill of abundance is to forget God and our dependence upon him the remedy whereof most genuine and naturall is to pay him a rent of what we have So shall we always think of our Landlord and lift up our hearts to heaven in whatsoever we receive and enjoy Yea when this service is so acceptable to God that he promiseth a great reward to those who thus honour and acknowledge him how can it choose but detain our hearts in heaven in that respect also when we shall so often think of God not onely as the Lord and giver of what we have but as the rewarder also of the acknowledgement we perform PSAL. 112. 6. The Righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance A Word fitly spoken saith Solomon is like Apples of Gold in pictures of Silver that is gracefull and comely so is a Text of Scripture fitly chosen and rightly applied to the occasion Such an one as I take it is this I have now read not chosen by me but appointed by order to be used at these times of commemoration I shall need no other preface to commend it to your attention Let us therefore see what is the sense and meaning thereof The Righteous that is the bountifull shall be in everlasting remembrance In remembrance with God in remembrance with men with God in the world to come and in this world with men how and in what manner These are the severall heads I shall treat of and first of the first the Subject The Righteous or the bountifull man Righteousnesse in a speciall sense in the Hebrew and the rest of the Orientall Tongues of kinde to it signifies Beneficence or Bounty both the Virtue and the work and therefore by the Hellenists or Septuagint is it translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word so frequent in the New Testament for that we call Alms. 'T is a known place Dan. 4. according both to the Septuagint and vulgar Latine Peccata tua Eleemosynis redime iniquitates tuas misericordi is pauperum where in the Originall for Eleemosyna is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iustitia as we in our English render it Break off thy sins by righteousnesse and thine iniquity by shewing mercy to the poor This notion of righteousnesse is to be found thrice together in the 12. of Tobit ver 8. Prayer saith old Tobit
the use of the things themselves Vrim is Light and Illumination Thummim Integrity and Perfection By Vrim the Jews were ascertained of the counsell and will of God By Thummim of his favour and good will towards them All this agrees to Christ both in himself and in regard of us In himself his brest is full of Vrim full of Light and Understanding in him dwell all the treasures of Wisdome and Knowledge as S. Paul saith He is the Wisdome of the Father by which the world it self was made His heart is also endowed with Thummim with all kind of Perfections He was conceived without Originall sin lived without Actuall sin fulfilled the whole Law of God which is the Law of Thummim the Law of all Perfection Thus to Christ himself agrees both Vrim and Thummim and so it doth also in regard of us for he is an Vrim and Thummim both to us and for us To us he is Vrim a light which enlightneth every one which commeth unto the world He is the light which shone in darknesse but the darknesse could not comprehend it He was that light by which the people as it is said in Matthew 4. which sate in darknesse saw great light And of this Light Iohn came to bear witnesse that all might beleeve in him Ioh. 1. In summe Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Patris the Word and Oracle of his Father by whom we know and learn the Fathers will for so S. Iohn saith cap. 1. No man hath seen God at any time but the Son who is in the bosome of the Father he hath revealed him unto us Neither is Christ only an Vrim but also a Thummim to us For as by Thummim the Jews were ascertained of Gods favour toward them in accepting their Sacrifice so by Christ comming in the flesh is revealed the unspeakable mercy of God to mankind in that he would accept his Sacrifice once offered for the expiation of the sins of the whole world This is that Good-will toward men which the Angels sung of assoon as he was born Glory be to God on high peace on earth and good-will towards men Yea glory be to God on high for this peace on earth and for this good will towards men Thus we see Christ an Vrim and Thummim to us now let us see how he is the same for us and that is when his wisdome and righteousnesse is made ours by imputation So his Vrim becomes our Vrim his Thummim our Thummim that is his wisdome is made ours his righteousnesse and favour with God made ours for this is my welbeloved Son said a voice from heaven in whom I am well pleased In brief S. Paul comprehends both these together where he saith Christ Iesus is made unto us Wisdome Sanctification and Redemption And so Lord let thy Vrim and thy Thummim be with thy holy one And thus much for the speciall consideration of this Vrim and Thummim both personally and typically Now I come unto the generall meaning thereof as it concerns not the High Priest only but the whole Tribe of Levi for this is the blessing of that whole Tribe And in this large respect the meaning cannot be proper for so it belongs unto the High Priest to have Vrim and Thummim nor typicall because the Priests only and not the under Levites were types of Christ but the sense must be analogicall signifying some endowments common to all Levites which resemble the Vrim and Thummim upon the brest of the High Priest Now what these are the words themselves import namely Light of understanding knowledge this is their Vrim and Integrity of life this is their Thummim The first makes them Doctores the second Ductores populi He that wants either of these two wants the true ornament of Priesthood the right character of a Levit. For though these endowments may well beseem all the Tribes of Israel yet Moses specially prays for them in Levi because by him they were to come to all the rest and the want of them in him could not but redound to all the rest It a populus sicut sacerdos the Priest cannot erre but he causeth others to erre also the Priest cannot sin but he causeth others to sin also And this is it that Malachi saith from the Lord unto the Priests of his time Ye are gone out of the way and have caused many to fall by the Law But the Levites of old saith the same Prophet The Law of Truth was in their mouth and iniquity was not found in their lips they walked with God in peace and equity and turned many from iniquity Here you see when the Levites erre the people erre also when the Levites walk in equity the people are turned from iniquity The Ministers of Christ must be Lux mundi the light of the world Vos estis lux mundi ye are the light of the world ye are the worlds Vrim saith Christ unto his Apostles for the lips of the Priest should preserve knowledge and they should learn the Law at hâ—s mouth This light of knowledge this teaching knowledge is the Vrim of every Levite and therefore Christ when he inspired his Apostles with knowledge of heavenly mysteries he sent a new Vrim from above even fiery tongues tongues of Vrim from heaven He sent no fiery heads but fiery tongues for it is not sufficient for a Levite to have his head full of Vrim unlesse his tongue be a candle to shew it unto others There came indeed no Thummim from heaven as there came an Vrim for though the Apostles were secured from errors they were not freed from sin And yet we who are Levites must have such a Thummim as may be gotten upon earth for S. Paul bid Titus in all things to shew himself an example of good works and this is a Thummim of Integrity But besides this Thummim the Ministers of the Gospel have received from God more especially another Thummim like unto that which was proper to the High Priest namely the power of binding and loosing which is as it were a power of Oracle to declare unto the people the remission of their sins by the acceptance of Christs Sacrifice And this directly answers to Thummim in the first sense ACTS 5. 3 4 5. 3. But Peter said Ananias Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the holy Ghost and to purloin of the price of the Land 4. Whiles it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thy power why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God 5. And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up c. IN the 110. Psalm where our Saviour is Prophetically described in the person of a King advanced to the Throne of Divine Majesty glorious and victorious The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool
sin The sin of a Prince greater then the sin of a vulgar person and therefore in the Law there was a greater Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the Prince and Priest then of the people The third circumstance aggravating his sin was the easinesse of the commandment and the easinesse man had to keep the same both in regard of himself whom no itching concupiscence urged as being altogether free therefrom and not as we his off-spring are continually vexed with the boiling thereof Secondly in regard of the thing it self he was to abstain from being onely one fruit in so great a liberty of all the garden besides How easily might he have abstain'd from one to whom God had given the use of all saving this one he wanted not to feed him he wanted no variety of food he had even enough to surfet on only to approve his obedience to Him who had given all the rest unto him he was to abstain from one and yet he would not Quanta fait saith S. Aug. iniquitas in peccando ubi tanta erat non peccandi facilitas The fourth circumstance aggravating this sin was the place which was Paradise as it were in Gods own presence even afore his face for as heaven above other parts of the world is the place of Gods speciall presence so was Paradise above other parts of the earth as it were an heaven upon earth the place wherein he singularly revealed himself and therefore an holy place and the Temple of God Do not men otherwise giving the loose rein to wickednesse yet abhorre to commit it in Gods Temple How impudently contumelious was this sin therefore which was committed in Gods very Presence-chamber All these aggravations are common to both our Parents which all laid together makes their sin as great as ever any was saving the sin against the holy Ghost for so the best Divines do think But Eve addes one aggravation more to her weight in that she was not content to sin her self alone but she allured and drew her husband also into the like horrible transgression with her whereby she was not only guilty of her own personall sin but of her husbands also And this added so much unto her former summe that S. Paul 1 Tim. 2. 14. speaks of her as if she had been the only transgressour Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression So great and horrible a thing it is in the Eye of God to be cause or mover of anothers sin woe be unto them who by any means are the cause of anothers fall And justly might God say to Eve for this respect though there had been no more What is this that thou hast done Now I come to the womans excuse The Serpent beguiled me In which words are three things considerable The author the Serpent The action Guile The object Me. Concerning the author the Serpent two things are inquirable first what the Serpent was indeed secondly what Eve supposed him to be For the first I think none so unreasonable as to beleeve it was the unreasonable and brute Serpent for whence should he learn or how should he understand Gods commandment to our first Parents Or how is it possible a Serpent should speak and not only so but speak the language which Eve understood For though some there be who think that beasts and birds have some speech-like utterings of themselves yet none that a beast should speak the language of man It remains therefore that according unto the Scriptures it was that old deceiver the Devil and Satan who abused the brute Serpent either by entring into him or taking his shape upon him The last of which I rather incline unto supposing it as you shall hear presently to be the law of spirits when they have intercourse or commerce with men to take some visible shape upon them as the Devil here the Serpents whence he becomes styled in Scripture The old Serpent Now for the second question what Eve took him to be whether the Serpent or Satan If we say she thought him to be the brute Serpent how will this stand with the perfection of mans knowledge in his integrity to think a Serpent could speak like a reasonable creature who would not judge her a silly woman now that should think so and yet the wisest of us all is far short of Eve in regard of her knowledge then Again if we say she knew him to be the Devil I will not ask why she would converse at all with a wicked spirit who she knew had fallen from his Maker but I would know how we should construe the meaning of the Holy Ghost in the beginning of this Chapter where he saith The Serpent was the subtillest of all the beasts of the field which God had made and so implies the womans opinion of the Serpents wisdome was the occasion why she was so beguiled otherwise to what end are those words spoken unlesse to shew that Satan chose the Serpents shape that through the opinion and colour of his well-known wisdome and sagacity he might beguile the woman For the assoiling of which difficulty I offer these propositions following First I will suppose there is a law in the commerce of spirits and men that a spirit must present himself under the shape of some visible thing For as in naturall and bodily things there is no entercourse of action and passion unlesse the things have some proportion each to other and unlesse they communicate in some common matter so it seems God hath ordained a Law that invisible things should converse with things visible in a shape as they are visible which is so true that the conversing presence of a spirit is called a Vision or Apparition And experience with the Scriptures will shew us that not only evil Angels but good yea God himself converseth in this manner with men And all this I suppose Eve knew Secondly I suppose further that as spirits are to converse with men under some visible shape so is there a law given them that it must be under the shape of some such thing as may lesse or more resemble their condition For as in nature we see every severall thing hath a severall and sutable physiognomy or figure as a badge of the inward nature whereby it is known as by a habit of distinction so it seems to be in the shapes and apparitions of Spirits And as in a well governed Common-wealth every sort and condition of men is known by some differing habit agreeable to his quality so it seems it should be in Gods great Commonwealth concerning the shapes which spirits take upon them And he that gave the law that a man should not wear the habit of a woman nor a woman the habit of a man because as he had made them divers so would he have them so known by their habits so it seems he will not suffer a good and a bad spirit a noble and ignoble one
food of Angels whereby this their intellectuall life and vegetation is strengthned and continued is that unspeakable joy and delight which accompanies this contemplation of God and which they finde in the beholding of whatsoever else hath any conformity or sutableness with him his power his wisdome his glory his goodnesse According to that in the Gospel There is joy in heaven and in the presence of the Angels of God for one sinner that repenteth This is that Manna which feeds the blessed Angels and which makes them unweariable and unsatiable in their contemplation and imitation of God as corporall food enableth the body for the continuance of corporall works And such as this had been the Devils fare had he not fallen from his first estate by sin whereas now in stead of that Manna he is fain with the Serpent to feed of a food as course and as base as the dust of the earth for as of a glorious Angel he is fallen to be a damned spirit so is his diet answerable to continue him in that damnable estate namely a food clean contrary to that of the blessed Angels and a very earth to their heaven A most execrable joy and a malicious delight in whatsoever is opposite to the power the wisdome the goodnesse the glory of God his Creator this is that he hungreth and hunteth after and nothing but this If there were no sin no confusion no misery of creatures in the world the Devil would be soon starved for this is that he preys after this is that carrion he seeks for when he goeth about as S. Peter saith like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour I have read of a people of America that will eat no flesh before it be stinking rotten and then it seems to them most tender and delicate These are of a diet like unto the Devil for nothing but garbage and carrion are his dainties the more rotten with sin the more pleasing to his palate that which stinks most in Gods nostrils that smels the sweetest in his The last part of this curse remains I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed c. In which we will first consider the parties who are to be at this deadly feud Secondly the event and successe they have one against the other For the first the parties are on one side said to be the Serpent and his seed on the other side The woman and her seed By the Serpent we are to understand Satan the Prince of darknesse and Father of Devils This Serpents seed in the first place are the whole crue of Devils and damned spirits who are fallen from their first estate and condition These are the Serpents first-born begotten by him not by corporall generation nor as they are spirits but by spirituall deformation as they are Devils For it is the opinion of Divines that Satan fell first himself and afterward propagated his Apostasie by drawing others after him over whom therefore he worthily deserveth to have the principality and chiefdome in which respect also were there no other yet he might be called their Father and they his sons or seed as we know the use of the Scripture is to call Princes Fathers and Subjects sons The latter off-spring of the Devil being a second brood are the whole company of wicked and reprobate worldlings for that such as these are the spawn of that foul fiend it appears clearly by the words of our Saviour to the Pharisees Ioh. 8. 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil and the lusts of your Father ye will do And again 1 Ioh. 3. 10. The children of God are opposed to the children of the Devil Therefore Christ cals Iudas a Devil Ioh. 6. And Paul Act. 13. 10. cals Elymas the Sorcerer A child of the Devil The case is plain And as the Vanguard consisted of the first crue so these latter are the Rere of Satans Army Now on the other side against this Army of Hell-hounds stand the Woman and the Womans seed The woman though only named excludes not the man who was to be at enmity with the Devil as well as the woman But the reason of this unusuall Trope which cals the kind by the name of the weaker and inferiour sex is because of the words following of â—he seed wherein is contained the great mystery of Christs Incarnation under whose colours and in whose power alone this Army is both to march and overcome for this great Captain was to be as you know the seed of the woman only and not of the man A Virgin should conceive a Son whose name is called Emmanuel Whence it comes to passe that some by seed will have no other seed to be understood but the person of Christ only both because he is alone that seed of the woman which is not the seed of man and because S. Paul Gal. 3. 16. in those words In thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed expoundeth seed singularly and individually of Christ himself alone But if it be well observed the case here is not the like for the seed of the woman is opposed to the seed of the Serpent which seed cannot chuse but be taken collectively for Satan and all his regiments of Devils and hell-hounds And why should not also the seed of the woman be understood of Christ mysticall that is of Christ the Head with all his members who are incorporate into him by faith into one mysticall body For although they are naturally the seed of man as well as of the woman yet spiritually by this incorporation they are the feed of the woman only as is their Head with whom they are one And this it is which makes them of the party against the Serpent for till they once became the seed of the woman only there was no enmity betwixt them The seed therefore of the woman I expound to be Christ and his Members He 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the seed of the woman by nature they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by their spirituall engraâ—ment into him Hence appears the difference of these two Armies First in Satans Army all march under their Father who begot them but Christs Army sighteth under the Colours of their elder brother the first begotten seed of the woman Secondly in their ranging Christ and his Army are as one body informed by one Spirit the Devil is far more disunited Thirdly in their fighting for in Satans Army every Souldier useth his own strength and fights with his own weapons but in Christs Army the whole strength lies in Christ their Generall All our Armour is on his back and our weapons guided by the power of his hand So we may learn out of S. Paul Ephes. 6. 11 12. Put on saith he the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the
they deny him The Jews offering was prophane and polluted because it proceeded not out of a due beleef and a conscience throughly perswaded of the greatnesse of their God that he was the Creator and Lord of the whole earth but rather some petty and particular god like the gods of other Nations But the Gentiles who should see him not onely the God of one Nation but universally acknowledged over all the earth should have no such reason to doubt but firmly beleeve him to be the Great God Creator of heaven and earth and worship him as such and so their offering be a pure offering not polluted with unbelief And it is to be observed that all the ancient Christian Liturgies begin with this acknowledgement For the summe of the Eucharisticall Doxologie when the Bread and Wine is first presented before God is comprehended in that of the Apocalypse Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glorie honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created And to this way of interpreting the purity of the Christian sacrifice to wit from the conscience and affection of the offerers the Fathers mostly bend Irenaeus lib. 4. cap. 34. Sacrificia non sanctificant hominem non enim indiget Deus sacrificio sed conscientia ejus qui offert sanctificat sacrificium pura existens Quoniam igitur cum simplicitate Ecclesia offert justè munus ejus purum sacrificium apud Deum deputatum est And a little after Oportet enim nos oblationem Deo facere in omnibus gratos inveniri fabricatori Deo insententia pura fide sine hypocrisi c. Neither is Tertullian whom I alledged before for the other interpretation averse from this for in his fourth Book Con. Marc. c. 1. Sacrificium mundum that is saith he simplex oratio de conscientia pura But this conscientious purity they seem to restrain at least chiefly to freedom from malice as that singular puritie whereby this Christian sacrifice is differenced from that of the Jew because none can offer it but he that is in charity with his brother according to that in the Gospel When thou bringest thy gift unto the Altar and remembrest thy brother hath ought against thee go first and be c. And therefore in the beginning of this Christian service the Deacon was anciently wont to cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man have ought against his brother and then followed osculum sanctum the kisse of reconciliation Thus the Fathers of the first Councell of Nice took Sacrificium purum as appears Can. 5. where they expound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is offered omni simultate deposita But according to this exposition the puritie of the Christian sacrifice will not be opposite to the pollution of the Iewish in the same kinde as it would if more generally taken but in another kinde and so the sense stands thus You will not offer me a pure offering but the Gentiles one day shall and that with a puritie of another manner of stamp then that my Law requires of you And thus I have told you the two wayes according to which the ancients understood this puritie and I prefer the latter as I think they did But there is a third Interpretation were it backt by their Authority which I confesse it is not which I would prefer before them both and I think you will wonder with me they should be so silent therein Namely that the title of Puritie is given to the Christian Mincha in respect of Christ whom it signifies and represents who is a sacrifice without all spot blemish and imperfection This the Antithesis of this sacrifice to that of the Jews might seem to imply For the Jews are charged with offering polluted Bread upon Gods Altar whereby what is meant the words following tell us If you offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evill And if you offer the lame and sick is it not evill And in the end of the Chapter Cursed be the deceiver who hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing Now if the sacrifice of the Gentiles be called pure in opposition to this is it not so called in respect of that most perfect unblemisht and unvaluable sacrifice it represents Iesus Christ the Lamb of God I leave it to your consideration SECTION 3. HAving absolved the two first things I propounded given you a definition of the Christian sacrifice and explained the words of my Text I come to the third and longest part of my task to prove each particular contained in my Definition by the testimonies and authorities of the Fathers and writers of the first Ages of the Church The Particulars I am to prove are in number six First That this Christian service is an Oblation and expressed under that Notion by the utmost Antiquity Secondly That it is an Oblation of Thanksgiving and Prayer Thirdly An Oblation through Iesus Christ commemorated in the creatures of Bread and Wine Fourthly That this Commemoration of Christ according to the style of the ancient Church is also a Sacrifice Fiftly That the Body and Blood of Christ in this mysticall Service was made of Bread and Wine which had first been offered unto God to agnize him the Lord of the Creature Sixtly That this Sacrifice was placed in Commemoration onely of Christs sacrifice upon the Crosse and not in a reall offering of his Body and Blood anew When I shall have proved all these by sufficient Authority I hope you will give me leave to conclude my Definition for true That the Christian sacrifice ex mente antique Ecclesiae was An Oblation of Thanksgiving and Prayer to God the Father through Iesus Christ and his sacrifice Commemorated in the creatures of Bread and Wine wherewith God had first been agnized SECT I. LEt us begin then with the first That this Christian service is an Oblation and under that Notion expressed by all Antiquitie The names whereby the Ancient Church called this Service are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Oblatio Sacrificium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word if rightly understood of aequipollent sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacrificium Mediatoris sacrificium Altaris Sacrificium precis sacrificium Corporis sanguints Christi It would be infinite to note all the Places and Authors where and by whom it is thus called The four last are S. Augustins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are to be found with Iustin Martyr and Irenaeus whose antiquitie is the Age next the Apostles But you will say the Fathers even so early had swarved from the style of the Apostolick Age during which these kinde of terms were not used as appears by that we finde them not any where in their Epistles and writings But what if the contrary may be evinced that this language was used even while the Apostles yet lived For grant they are neither found in