Selected quad for the lemma: master_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A96707
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Spicilegium, or, A glean of mixtling by John Winter, minister of East Dearham in Norfolke.
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Winter, John, 1621?-1698?
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1664
(1664)
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Wing W3083B; ESTC R42990
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32,830
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47
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Silver ten thousand Pieces of Gold and ten Changes of Reyment Were he now alive and in that condition and equipage I could direct him to those who though they could not ease him of his trouble wonld soon lighten him of his carriage For though Miracles are now ceased yet mischief is rife And Gehazi's are plentifull though Elisha's are lcarce No man could blame Naaman for valuing his life and the good of his posterity Job 2.4 The Devil knew Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life The Prophet bids him wash in Jordan Baptisme cleanseth the Leprosie of sin The Syrian at the motion hath two Diseases for one Before he was a Leper now both a Leper and a mad Man He came not thither to fetch fire and he thinks he need not come so farre for water Abanah and Pharphar in his judgement are better than all the waters in Israel But the sick Patient must observe not prescribe to himself and the hearer must not be his own teacher That is best for our spirituall Diseases which God prescribeth to us by his lawfull Doctors It sometimes happens that the servants are wiser than their Masters so was it now with Naaman They told him it was but to wash and that he would have done a great thing to be healed had it been enjoyned him and why then will he not do a small The Jews were enjoyned to cut their childrens skin and let out part of their blood in circumcision and they punctually observed it But among us many despise to bring their children to the sacred fountain they will not submit to wash and be clean But Naaman better considering goes to Jordan and washeth and is made as cleer as a Child And behold a Change as well of his conditions as of his complexion He thinks now he cannot express too much gratitude to the Prophet He returnes with all his retinue He professeth himself a servant to the Prophet and to the God of the Prophet He gives glory to the Lord and thanks to the Prophet He offers rich present and urges it upon the Prophet but he refused it as heartily As the Lord liveth saith he I will receive none Elisha was a pious and a cordiall man It is a good thing to hear men speak soundly and earnestly And a better to see them doe as they speak He was not like the late race of false Prophets whom some called Tryers perhaps for that they were the Touchstones of Gold and Silver who being much intreated verily and truly and really and I profess had an hundred feigned words fair pretences and zealous scruples in publick but would readily take and swallow as many pieces in private Naà man having taken his leave of Elisha was gon in peace when Gehazi Elisha's man is mad at his Master and thinks his Master-mad for refusing the rich present My Master hath spared this Naaman the Syrian said he to the Devil and himself but as the Lord liveth I will run after him and take somewhat of him Thus many times the Apothecaries bill is dearer than the Doctor But what had Gehazi done to deserve of Naaman Nothing And therefore he frames a lie in his Masters name on the behalf of two young sons of the Prophets The Honourable Elishas have too many such cursed servants and the poor sons of the Prophets have too many such Back friends as Gehazi who pretend the good of the Church but rend and scrape all to themselves And this makes their Masters so generally odious and the sons of the Prophets so needy and beggerly The noble Syrian glad of any opportunity to gratify Elisha gives the villain Gehazi more than he desired two Talents of Silver and two changes of rayment and two men he was no less worthy to bear the burthen of his iniquity for him till he came at home And now he wipes his mouth after his lie and makes it fit for another and comes and stands before his Master like a Saint of the last edition Thy servant went no whither But the Prophet who had a blessing for an honest stranger had a curse for a servant that took bribes Gehazi with his two Talents of Silver and two changes of rayment hath purchased Naaman's Leprosie and made it sure to himself and to his heirs for ever Not all the water of Jordan could wash away Gehazi's Disease nor can all the water of the Sea wash away bribery and the guilt of extortion That individuall 〈◊〉 is dead but he lives still in an aequivocall generation of Harpies the Palms of whose hands are lined with pitch and every finger is an aduncous tenter-hook As Gehazi did so do they make use of God's Name but take money in the Devil 's Gehazi would not spare Naaman and they will spare no man Whosoever comes within their reach As the Lord lives they will take something of him Oh for one of Domitian's fly-flaps to kill the Maggot-flies of State which Trajan spake of A Vespasian-squeese would do well with such hollow spunges Bribery and oppression is a deadly Leprosie overspreading Kingdomes and it cleaves to some great Offices and to their seed for ever Evagrius reports that Justinus the Emperour deposed Anastasius Lib. 5. n. 5. the godly Bishop of Antioch because he refused his simoniacall propositions and that Justinus soon after falling into a frenzy his fellow Emperour Tiberius took the whole Government to whom Justinus said pointing with his finger to his corrupt Officers Never be ruled by these men Lib. 5. cap. 12. for they have brought me into this misery And Tiberius took his Councell being a man well inclined He publikely declared that he looked upon that gold which is gotten by the tears of the Commonalty as upon Counterfeit Coin By which account of his They who exact and take bribes are worthy to suffer as Traytours to the King God send great Persons and double Portion of the spirit of Elisha And as for those who are of Gehazi's base mind may they never have silver nor changes of rayment untill they be cleansed from their dearly beloved Leprosie No new thing under the Sun Eccl. 1.9 SO saith Solomon And he was a wise man A great Philosopher and a great Divine And well hath he said No new thing under the Sun because things subject to mutation are every minute growing old untill at last they be no more The state of Glory and blest Eternity is above the brightness of the Sun Ps 102.26 2. Pet. 3.10 and the starry Heavens come farre short of it They wax old as doth a garment And they shall pass away There is indeed a day of renovation coming when He who of old made out of nothing all new things in the world shall out of a ruin'd old world worse than nothing make all things new Rev. 21.5 But this will be a work above the Sun And this will be for ever and ever But untill then there is
as the sons of Jacob did with their brother Joseph who hated him for the singular love their father bare him Gen. 37.3 4 and for the peculiar Coat he put upon him And therefore could not speak peaceably unto him This is a strain beyond the malice and spite of Presbiterian Corah or Independent Dathan and Abiram though tending to the like effect through the garments to wound the function and together with Aaron's Mitre to throw down Moses Scepter Good Saints surely they are that deal with the Priests of the Lord as the Thieves dealt with the Traveller between Jerusalem and Jericho who stripped him of his raiment Lu. 10.30 and wounded him and left him half dead And if the injury done to the Ministers of Christ and their contempt and scorn be done to Christ himself Lu 10.16 Act. 9.5 as all who have the faith of Christ must believe than as the Church once in the Person of Christ spake concerning those barbarous souldiers so Christ again in the person of his Church may say of souldiers as bad They parted my garments amongst them and for Vesture they cast lots And God deliver us from unreasonable men in whose eyes our very Coats though honourable make us criminall It is a sad time when violence is preferred before science when passion overrules reason and the sword strikes against the Gown Even common reason and generall civil practise will afford distinct professiions their respective differentiall Habits And shall not the Church have leave to rule her children in their garbs and services Did Christ promise to send his Holy Spirit upon his Church Jo. 14.26 and to lead Her into all necessary truth and knowledge And hath he not allowed her so much discretion as to clad her children To appoint her inward Attendants their Habits and Liveries both for working dayes and Holy dayes We see when any fault is espyed in a Minister he is presently checked by his Coat that a Man in his Coat should do so And indeed God Almighty did upbraid Eli for his indulgence to his sons in their sins by the Linnen Ephod 1. Sam. 2.28 If then the sin of the Priest be aggravated by his Priestly garments then the garment serves to put the Priest in mind that he ought to be clothed with righteousness Again if the sin of the Priest is the greater for his Coat then their sin must be the greater allo who do wrong to him that wear's that holy garment And so much is to be gathered from the black deed of Doeg the Edomite which is heightened by this circumstance that he slew fourscore and five persons 1 Sam. 22.18 that did wear a Linnen Ephod The white and outward garment I hope I may say without offence is Angelicall Mark 9.3 Jo. 20.12 Revel 1.13 it is coelestiall So Christ appeared at his transfiguration So the Angels appeared at Christ's resurrection And Christ appeared unto St John in a Priestly habit Seeing God and Angels honour this Priestly habit how can wretched man despite it Seeing they are pleased to appear thus to men why should the Ministers of God disdain to appear in like habit in the presence of God and in the face of his Congregation The Ministers of God in a qualified sence are Angels that is the Messengers of the Lord. And wee all hope to be as Angels of God in heaven Why then should we be afraid to be like them in this also here upon earth Rev. 19.8 Clean Linnen is in a mysticall sense the righteousness of the Saints then let no man wickedly stain it neither let any man maliciously strain it to make it otherwise And if any would know how to reconcile black and white in the ministeriall habit let them take it thus The black becomes us as Mourners whose Lord and Master is for a while gone from us and as more than ordinary Mourners who besides our own sins and miseries have the sins and miseries of the World to lament and bewail The black shew's what our present condition here is in re indeed and at hand The which shew's what we are in spe in hope and what we shall be hereafter In this World we must have our black and white and most commonly black untill we shall be clothed upon with immortality In the mean time our tribulation worketh patience our patience hope our hope perseverance and that will bring the Crown Contraria juxtase posita magìs elucescunt Thus black and white are reconciled Thus contrary things do set off and beautifie one another Thus all things work together for good to them that fear God It hath been the the constant practise of the Church of God in all ages to have peculiar habits wherein to officiate in holy things Euseb l. 3. cap. 28. And it hath ever been accounted scandalous for Persons in holy orders to transgress this practise St John did wear the Priestly Habit called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Policrates Bishop of Ephesus in his Epistle to Victor Bishop of Rome doth witness And Eustathius Bishop of Sebastia in Armenia was condemned and deposed by the Councell at Gangra for casting off his proper habit and putting himself into the garb of the philosophers for putting his follwers likewise into a new habit Socr. scho lib. 2. cap. 33. for countenancing and encouraging Conventicles and for taking servants from the command of their Mastrs under the colour of Religion As also for crossing the Church inobservation of times abolishing the fasts of the Church and prescribing to his followers to fast on Sundays By whichit appearts the unlucky man was unlike his Name for that carried constancy and stability in it But he had nothing less in himself And it would be noted that when Men begin to waver and vary from the Church but in some outward things they do not stay there but fall into pernicious Principles and practises God grant there may not now be found in the Church of God Bishops of Eustathius his temper to the Countenancing of Separatists to the disquiet of the Church and to the hinderance of piety and of Churstian amity For as Plato told his young man though it be no great fault to play yet it is a great fault much to use it So A custome in disagreement though but in small matters will in the end prove no small matter Gehazi's Leprosie worse than Naamans 2 Kings 5. NAaman the famous Generall of the King of Syria's Army had an inbred Enemy which he could neither flee nor chase and that was his Leprosie For which he is advised by his captive Maid to repair to the prophet Elisha He is forthwith sent with the Letters Commendatory or rather Mandatory of the King of Syria to the King of Israel And he comes as though he had come to Court to trade with some Malefactors near the King some Merchants of the Church and State to buy places For he brings ten Talents of