world out of that he shall give something and yee shall doe it before my comming because I will not have the Macedonians that I shall bring with me to see that you are behinde in this matter For I have told them that you are forward and if I come and they shall see that you are unprovided it will bee a shame to you and me too by reason of this I would have it done before I come that it may appeare that in these things you are prepared that you have out-run my diligence that I need not to spurre you on and instigate you unto workes of mercy because of your selves you are forward enough This I take to be the summe and sence of the words read To proceed in order First therefore concerning the maine thing the collection this word is never used in the Scriptures in this sence but in this place and Saint Paul as Chrysostome saith he cals the election S. Chrysost the collection for the Saints or the collection of the Saints The first originall of the word commeth of Lego which in the Greeke language hath its primary sence to gather the fruits of the earth or to gather something that is scattered something that is beneficiall for the life of man and so likewise in the Latine the word Collecta commeth from the same head and so in the booke of our divine service where you reade of Collects such Collects for such dayes the reason of the name is this when the time of prayer and the time of reading was the people came to offer up their gifts to offer to the poore mens boxe of such meanes as God had inabled them and that was called the collection and the prayer that was said was to this end and purpose to desire God Almighty to receive that collection that was offered there with a gratious hand with a favourable eye and not to disdaine it but to take it in good worth and so the reason of the name of Collects came into the Church It is true indeed the collection of the prayers that are made in the Collects is stil a collectiō of the things that are read in the Epistles Gospels a collection of them and of those things that did fit the times but the Church joyned to the collection of them prayers the collection of those things that God hath blessed them with so they joyned prayer and practise together they offered freely such things as came to hand and withall desired the Lord to accept of their collection In other places of Scripture it is called commonly a communion so the Apostle Rom. 1. Rom. 1. That I might communicate with you and in Gal. 6. Gal. 6.6 Let him that is taught and instructed communicate to him that instructeth him in all the good things that hee hath for the Saints of God had all things common Acts 4. Acts 4. in the Primitive Church all things were common they thought nothing they had was their owne and still there ought to be a communication as there is the communion of Saints by the same spirit so there should be also a communicating of the good and comfortable things of this world that no man should separate from the body but he should have a care of every member that wants and make a supply unto it according as God hath enabled him Now the reason of the metaphor is divers For some take it from the gathering of a field which is the most naturall And some also from the gathering of a shot in a banquet or friendly meeting Concerning the first which is the most common and naturall intention of the word the holy Ghost would teach us that the Church of God and the people of God are a gratious field the field of God the vineyard of God the garden of God it is no idle place no barren ground but a place that brings forth flowers and fruit in abundance in Ioh. 15. Joh. 15. saith Christ My Father is the Husbandman comparing the Church to a Vineyard in Gen. 32. Gen. 32. saith Isaack the smell of my sonne is like the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed Now therefore as the fields and the gardens and the vineyards by the mercy and blessing of God and by the benefit of the former and latter raine and the beames of the sunne doe yeeld forth timely fruit in due season and not onely timely fruit but full and plentifull fruit so the Church of God ought much more to demeane her selfe that she be not sterile and barren and fruitlesse not to beare a little fruit to no purpose as the corne that is in the house top Psal 1. whereof the Mower fils not his hand nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosome but it must corne that there may be some remainders for the poore As it was in Moses law that in all the harvest of the Iewes they must leave some gleanings remaining still for the poore so there must be in this collection and gathering fruit Gods people being his trees being his corne fields and vineyards that bring forth fruit fruit acceptable and fruit seasonable in the gathering of these fruits there must alwaies be a remainder for the poore ones that have nothing So the Lord hath determined and appointed Deut. and made the Law Thou shalt not shake thy olive tree thou shalt not shake all off it but thou shalt leave some here and there that the poor may get something And when thou reapest thy field thou shalt not rake up thy corne al together to thy selfe but thou shalt leave some gleanings as we see Ruth gleaned in the field of Boaz and when thou takest in thy vintage thou shalt not gather every cluster but thou shalt leave some scattered clusters for the poore to come after and take Thus the blessed God will have still some reliques for the poore and which is strange once in seven yeares the poore had all the fruit of that yeare being the yeare of Sabbaoth and rest So then out of this metaphor or reference wee learne what kinde of persons we ought to be as the Lord hath tilled us and manured us and hath spent much time and labour and paines and cost about us so let us labour to bring forth fruit and not to remaine barren and to bring forth such fruit as that we may have sufficient for our selves and something also remaining unto others that we may have a kinde of exuberancie a kinde of superfluity to the praise and glory of God and to the helpe and comfort of our brethren that are in need Therefore we conclude that where there is either no fruit or where the fruit is all appropriate to a mans selfe that there is nothing communicated to the Church of God where there is no collection there is no Church of Christ if there can be a collection made For the time it is now so full of miserie and danger that there are many
ignorance into the Church of God Such simple people understand not what perfection God requires to be in him that is truely called a man of God he must be like Moses Acts 7.22 It is said That Moses was taught in all the learning of the Egyptians And so Saint Paul wisheth that the man of God may be perfect that he may be made up as a full and perfect number in Arithmetique that he may be fitted to every good worke which he cannot be except he can speake to a Poet after the manner of a Poet and to a Philosopher in the language of a Philosopher unlesse he can accōmodate himselfe to the party with whom he deales it is impossible he should be a fit and compleat man in the service of God Now the Apostle shewes us a rule here that those things that are vulgarly knowne and of common use they make a better and deeper impression in the mindes of men Therefore they are most of all to be translated and exhibited in speeches and Sermons to the people of God The reason is as I said before because all truth is from God whatsoever these heathen men had it was a glimmering from God Rom. 2.15 And also because the Apostle tels us Rom. 2. That the Heathens had the Law of God written in their hearts their thoughts eyther accusing or excusing them so that it followes then we cannot reject or cast off their sayings because they stand as matters of greater condemnation or matters of greater perswasion then other speeches for marke how our Lord Christ concludes out of the heathen Woe be to thee Chorazin Matth. 11.21 and woe be to thee Bethsaida for if those workes which thou hast seene had beene done in Tyre and Sydon they had repented long agoe Behold how he argues from the heathens so by the heathens actions we shall have greater condemnation then by those presidents we have in our owne Schooles for if the heathens doe thus it is a double shame for Christians not to attaine their perfection So when our Lord saith to Ierusalem that if the mighty workes that he had done in her had beene done in Sodome and Gomorrah they had repented long agoe in sackcloth and ashes He confutes Ierusalem by a strong and mighty argument taken from the heathen Therefore the deeds and sayings of the heathen are also to be noted and remembred of us because they containe much matter of profit to set forth the truth and glory of Gods word by As Saint Basile Basile saith in his Oration to the young man Procelius There is saith he great matter of good that lyeth in the writings of the Poets and Philosophers and every man cannot gather all the good As we see by experience when a man crops a flower from the earth he can get nothing out of it but the sweetnesse of the smell or the delightfulnesse of the colour but when the diligent Bee comes he will make more of it he will extract honey which is as it were the very spittle of the starres So when simple carnall minded men reade the Poets and the Philosophers they gather nothing but delight and pleasure but when the diligent Bee comes a wise man a serious considerate man he drawes honey out of them As Gregory Nazianzen saith Greg. Naz. speaking concerning the same argument saith he As a man that comes into a garden of Roses into a Rose-yard he seeth goodly Roses and goes to plucke a Rose but in the meane time he labours to shun the prickle so in reading of Poets and Philosophers we should plucke the rose but shun the thorne or prickle alway take the best and leave that which is harmefull For there is a mixture of these as the rose growes in the middest of thorns so the doctrine of the Poets is mixed with barbarisme superstition and corruption Let us separate the drosse from the gold refuse the one and take the other To conclude this point because I know every man doth not apprehend it well It is true indeed there is a great disorder in the quotation of humane learning in Sermons in quoting of Poetry and Philosophy and hath beene alwaies Therefore I doe not in all poynts confirme it onely that it may be it is certaine and that it must be in the Church because arguments drawn from the heathen are used by Christ and all his Apostles yet there must be some cautions used in it Cautions for use of humane Learning in Sermons First they must be few not many for it is a most heterogeneal thing for a man in preaching a whole houre to speake nothing but humane learning for he comes not there to be a Philosopher an Orator or to be a Poet but to convert and winne soules Therfore his chiefe time and the principall part of his speech must be the word of God exhortations out of Scripture and instructions to life and good manners so that too many of these are condemned Secondly they must be those things that are cleare and plaine and faire and that are commonly knowne such as every man is acquainted with As this here was a Proverbe in every mans mouth It was a thing notorious no man could doubt of it Therefore they offend against this rule that fetch and hooke in they know not how nor no man knows by what medium they bring in such sentences but to continue and stuffe up their speeches they bring in long and exorbitant sentences and heape them up together for ostentation Lastly they must not be things of affectation but such as come naturally as we speake by way of common proverbe for proverbs make a great impression in mens mindes common sentences sententious utterances are most powerfull So to conclude this poynt It is necessary for the Preacher as Musculus and Calvin and divers other Writers conclude to know a great deale more then the Bible to know more then the study of the principles of Religion they must be such men as that no man may except against them for their ignorance and blindenesse for they must have a taste of all things and be able to draw out of their treasurie those things that concerne the glory of the kingdome of God And because the heathens had a kinde of over-running as when the Conduit is full the water runnes at waste so when Gods people were full of light and knowledge some went over to the heathens for they have read and heard of our bookes Therefore truth which is the pearle or Iewell of God which is scattered we ought to gather it together againe It was lawfull for the Israelitish women to weare the Iewels of the Egyptian women It was lawfull for the children of Israell to possesse the lands and goods and Vineyards of the inhabitants of Canaan So let us take this Iewell of God his truth from these men that are unworthy to possesse it as pearles are often found in the basest and filthiest places let
shew that now he had given the Sabbath a perfect rest for ever that there should be no more ceremoniall worke he had then fulfilled all the ceremonies the sinne of man was payd for and all the troublesome ceremonies of the law were abrogate and to shew that the Sabbath was ended he celebrated it in his grave and then upon the Munday the Iewes Munday the day of his resurrection hee rose againe to shew that ours must be an active life not in idle circumstances to passe it away in ceremonies as in the law but to remaine as an eternall Sabbath for ever we keepe a publique Sabbath to God though not in the same time and in memory of the same thing yet in the remembrance of a farre greater benefit 6 From the apparitions of Christ To conclude the point our Lord graced this constitution of the Church by his own presence most of his apparitions were upon the eighth day as wee may see in the Gospell that day that he rose still he glorified it with his presence eight dayes after he rose he came and shewed himselfe to his Disciples and the next day to Thomas and the rest of the Disciples and so for the time of 40. dayes that he continued on earth after his resurrection look how many Mundayes of the Iewes there was which is our Lords day so many apparitions hee made upon that day whereby they gathered that it was the will of the Lord and that hee meant to make that day glorious by his comfortable apparitions for still as I said his apparitions were upon that day he was absent all the weeke before hee appeared to none except it were to some few persons as Peter and Iohn but he made no publique apparition but onely upon the Lords day And upon this the Church of God was induced to make this change and we see it acted Acts 20.10 Acts 20.10 1 Cor. 16. and this chapter is a publique testimony of it and likewise in Rev. 1. Rev. 1. Saint Iohn saith I was in the spirit upon the Lords day which is generally taken by the fathers of the Church and by the Interpreters of the Gospell for this that we hold instead of the Sabbath day But because these kinde of people will never be satisfied except wee can answer their reasons as well as they can heare ours give me leave a little to goe forward in this poynt and heare what they can object for this Arguments against the change of the Saâ—bâ—th which thinke the Iewish Sabbath still to remaine in force I have spent the time against my minde and purpose therefore I will but name the chiefe heads of their arguments and refute them They conclude therefore that there is no certaine warrant for the changing of the Iewish Sabbath to ours 1 There is no written word for it because there is no direct written Scripture to prove it we have no Text of Scripture to worke it into us But for that we are to answer them Answ The Apostles in this guided by the spirit of God whatsoever the Apostles did being guided by the spirit of God their practise is a sufficient direction to us it is warrant enough that they have done it before us For so we have in many other things the practise of the Apostles to be a rule of our faith Christ not determining many particular things in the Church but leaving it to the discretion of the wise those that should be well furnished with knowledge for the directing of things in their places where they were therefore that which the Apostles did it was the act of Christ for they did it not of themselves but from a higher person from him that sent them Another reason they have and that is this 2 It is a part of the decalogue the decalogue or tenne Commandements are a perpetuall law but this is a part of the decalogue therefore this is a perpetuall law and the precepts that be in the tenne Commandements are all morall they are precepts that belong to all men to all times and places in the world Thirdly God is pleased to call the Sabbath an everlasting covenant God cals the Sabbath an everlasting covenant Deut. 12.16 I have made an everlasting covnant saith the Lord Deuter. 12.16 and in divers other places hee cals it a perpetuall covenant betweene me and my people Israel therefore it follows it must last as long as the world lasts and consequently it cannot be changed for then we alter the covenant of God 4 It was aucienter then Moses A fourth objection is this all the laws that are ancienter then Moses are immutable but this was more ancient then Moses law for it was given to man in paradise the Lord there by resting upon the seventh day did consecrate the Sabbath to be kept although some of the Fathers say as Iustin Martyr Iustin Martyr that they did not keepe it before the Floud but yet there was the institutioÌ„ of it therfore seeing it was a law given before Moses and before the fall of man it follows it is immutable and unchangeable because if there be any change it must be for imperfection and if there be any imperfection it must be for sinne and there was no sinne before the fall Therefore whatsoever was commanded before the fall was so perfect that it could not be altered it had no respect of imperfection in it 5 The cause of it is perpetuall And lastly the perpetuall cause of a law makes the law continue if the cause of it remaine the law must also continue and therefore there are many lawes that are made and abrogate againe because there is no use of them they were made in such a time for such things and the cause failing the law ceaseth but where the law hath a perpetuall cause there the law is in force to continue alway but the cause of the Iewish Sabbath continueth the meditation and contemplation upon the works of God and the holy operation of his hands this is the cause of the Sabbath and this alwayes continueth therefore the Iewish sabbath must continue These are the prime and chiefe grounds of their arguments I will answer a word to these and so conclude First in that they say the decalogue or ten Commandements is a law perpetuall Ans to Ob. 2. The Iewish Sabbath partly ceremoniall and bindes the consciences of all men It is true as farre forth as it is morall it doth but those parts that bee ceremoniall as the Sabbath is partly morall and partly ceremoniall and as it is moral it binds but as it is ceremoniall it doth not For the moralitie of the Sabbath is this to worship God in a publique service that wee are bound unto that which is ceremoniall that we should serve him upon such a day upon the seventh day rather then any other that doth not binde there is no part of moralitie in that that
these things hee was not then the master of his owne guidance in the Action but hee was to bee lead and directed by a Spirit that was higher then his owne by the Spirit of God And hee was not so resolute as fleshly men are as to say I will doe this or I will doe that His yea was not yea and his nay was not nay as if he should say I was not so peremptory as to come unto you till I knew the will of God as St. Iames Iames 5. saith Chap. 5. For this you ought to say if God will or if the Lord permit so the sense is this That whereas I purposed to come unto you and doe not now come you must pardon mee for I am not lead by my selfe but by a higher Spirit which hinders and intervents my purposes as it pleaseth him for I depend not upon my owne will but upon the will of God for if I had beene guided by my owne will I had been with you Then as it followes in the Text The Lord is faithfull for our speach to you hath not beene yea and nay for the Sonne of God Iesus Christ who was preached among you by us was not yea and nay but yea for all the promises of God in him are yea and in him are amen As if hee should have said You must make a difference betweene my Preaching of the Gospel and the promises that I make as I am a man as I am a weake man and know not the things that are to come I know not the things that are contingent so I tell you this and I tell you that which it may bee shall not bee performed and made good so that I will not say that my yea is yea or my nay nay but when I come to preach the Gospel I am sure of those things I know what I say I understand my selfe I know the foundation of truth is unmoveable I know that there it is not yea and nay in Christ but all the promises of God in him are yea and in him are Amen for ever Thus you partly understand this But that wee may make it a little more open the sense of the Apostle is this That whereas I promised you in my former Epistle to come unto you I was so in earnest affected to this journey that whereas I told you I would not passe by you but would first goe to Macedonia and then come backe to you yet my minde was so altered and my bowels againe were so earnest that I determined to bee better then my word I purposed to come to you first and so to passe from you to Macedonia but all this was not in my owne government but in the hand of God I know not whether I shall goe I know not how I shall be disposed of I know not how the Lord hath laid the way for mee I know not where hee will have mee imployed I went to preach unto all Nations the Gospel of Christ but the Lord hindered mee and would not suffer mee to preach to many of them but bade mee hold my tongue so I promise you now to come to Corinth but I know not whether ever I shall come or that this shall come to passe therefore I would have you distinguish and make a difference between the word of my preaching and the word of my Promise the word of my Preaching is alway certaine it is yea and amen but those words that I promise as a man they bee yea and nay as God shall dispose of them I have not power of my selfe to order them so this place is a plaine argument of that I said before that St. Paul never performed this which hee thought and desired that is to come to Corinth Now looke to another place that makes it a little more plaine 2. Cor. 2.1 where hee gives another reason for it I determined saith hee I disposed with my selfe that I would never come in sorow to you I would never come to you in heavinesse but if I come I will come in joy and cheerefulnesse Now I understand that yee are in heavinesse because of the letter that I wrote unto you I wrote a letter concerning the incestuous fellow that used his fathers wife and lived with her and I understand that you are in heavinesse for this and I would not therefore come unto you for this cause because you were in sorow although I bee glad for it that you are sorry for it was a godly sorrow which caused repentance but yet I would not come unto you in that state but when you have made your peace with God and with your selves when you may entertaine me with cheerefulnesse it is my purpose then to come So both the will of God and my will wrought together in this for Gods will it perfects my will it was Gods will that I should not come unto you and my will is agreeable to Gods will the Lord told mee that it was not fit for mee to come and take you in sorrow for the spirit of the Pastor and of his Schollers should alwayes meet in joy they should rejoice continually as the Apostle saith We see then it was not done Now let us see a little the cause why it was not done The cause why he came not how came it to passe that the Apostle Paul was thus disturbed and disappointed of his purpose For that you shall see Acts 20.3 Act. 20.3 St. Paul went to Macedonia and came through those parts and exhorted the brethren with much exhortation from thence he came into Grecia and staying there three moneths he heard say that there was treason plotted against him that there was a conspiracy against him in Asia by the Iewes or else in some part of Grecia the Iewes had laid wait for his life to intercept and hinder him Therefore hee was counselled by the company by the body of the Apostles those that were then companions with him to goe backe againe to Macedonia and from thence he came to the port Towne to Philippi and thence along and never touched at Ephesus as we shal have occasion to shew upon the next verse if God give permission he never touched there but went along upon the first day upon Easter Munday as wee call it and so passed on till Pentecost and never saw Ephesus nor Corinth more but went to Ierusalem and after hee was carried to Rome and there he continued till the time of his Martyrdome So out of this we gather that St. Paul was twice at Macedon once when hee planted the Church and another time when hee came to visite the Church The planting of the Church wee find Act. 16.9 Acts 1â— 9 It is said there that there was in the night time a vision made to Paul a certaine vision appeared to him for there was a man of Macedon that stood there and intreated him and said unto him Come over to Macedonia and help us And upon this
he did addresse himselfe to Ierusalem not comming at Ephesus but sayling by it as wee see Acts 20.17 Act. 20.17 he purposed to sayle into Asia but not to come at Ephesus but to sayle by it and when he came to Miletus which is about three or foure leagues from Ephesus he stay'd there because it was a place that was more private and because the Iews could not so soone have intelligence that hee was there From thence he sent a Boat to Ephesus to entreat the Elders and Seniours to come thither to him and in Acts 20. we read of his conversing with them they tooke the Communion together and hee gave them notice and knowledge that there were Wolves crept into the Church of God and he told them also what their duty was to watch as good Bishops as good Pastors to the flock over which Christ had made them over-seers and hee told them that they should never see his face any more So this was the last journey that ever S. Paul had in the world for going from Philippi he sayled by Ephesus he came not at it and from Ephesus that is from the parts about Ephesus hee went along to Tyre and from thence he came to Cesarea and from Cesarea to Ierusalem And when he came thither hee entred into a vow according to the direction of the Apostle S. Iames and the rest of the Elders at Ierusalem and then the Iewes set upon him and tooke him in the Temple and brought him to the barre and there hee made three or foure Apologies for himselfe and when hee saw that they were cruelly and bloudily set to take away his life hee appealed from them to Caesar the Emperour at Rome being very neere 2000. miles off and by this meanes he saved his life from the cruelty of the Iewes and gained many people in Rome and in Cesars house to the doctrine of Christ So that S. Paul was henceforth a prisoner but the word God was not bound but that ranne swiftly and wonne many to the credit and faith of the Gospell howbeit he being in bonds and being a prisoner hee could not take his scope to see the Countries as before but he lay a prisoner in Rome untill the last yeare of Nero Paul beheaded in the lâ—st year of Nero. in which time he was beheaded in the latter end of the Emperour Nero as all Historians agree So much of that point I will stay at Ephesus that is if God give me that I have purposed that it may be effected that I shall get to Ephesus and have liberty and scope peaceably to be there I will stay there till I can get a convenient oportunity to goe to Ierusalem to be there about Pentecost but because in the meane time he heard of another thing that the Iewes had laid wait for him that they had beset the Creeks and Ports about Corinth and other parts of Greece and that they had entred into Ephesus and into divers strong parts of Asia where they thought that S. Paul would goe by land Therefore the Apostle takes that meanes that God had set apart and defeats them and comes not at Ephesus but went away by Sea and came safe to Ierusalem where he offered up his last service to God I meane the service to the Saints which was the gift and contribution which the Church of Corinth sent and he stood a true professour of the faith before Felix and before Festus and before the Presidents and before Bernice and before Herod and after that he was cast in prison hee was taken prisoner and sent by a Captaine to Rome to the Emperour Now for the Place where he saith he will abide we are a little to take notice of that I will stay at Ephesus This Ephesus which at this day is called Fesome Ephesus what a Citie in Turkie in Euonia in the lesser Asia which is watered with the river Catristell it was a famous and noble place in respect of the great riches and the great concourse of all Navigators and Merchants thither It was famous also for the Temple of Diana which although it were burned before by that wicked Impe Diostrotus yet it was reedified again by the Kings of Asia and was made the goodliest place in the world where there was also the shrine of Iupiter and the shrine of Diana which came from heaven as the vaine Inhabitants imagine This place was famous for Witchcraft and they had also certaine Letters whereby they could bind and loose and hee that had those Letters about him they thought him able to worke wonders wheresoever he went In summe this Ephesus was a place where the devill had set his throne by Magick and by all kinde of licentiousnesse and loosenesse by most abominable idolatry Great is Diana of the Ephesians great is Diana of the Ephesians The devill had not such a court againe under heaven as he had there for neere unto it was the Oracle Branchyde Branchyde which was the greatest wonder one of them in the world that the devill should fore-tell things to come and that he should speake out of a stone and although that at Delphos Delphos in Grecia were more famous because the Grecians were much inamoured of their owne land yet the Oracle of Branchyde was more true and infallible in the prediction of events then the other was such a place was this which the Apostle Paul had a purpose to abide in For indeed as Chrysostome Chrysost well observes there is no such footing for Christ as where the devill hath made his stay before for when the strong man keepes the house all things are in quiet the devill is compared to the strong man all things were in quiet at Ephesus and there was never any uprore till S. Paul came there and when hee came once to conjure the Conjurer and to over-rule the devill and to pull downe the Shrines and Images and to make Diana and the Silver-smiths that wrought about her to be of little account then all the Citie is in a stirre and in an uprore So here wee see the singular spirit of the Apostle and that spirit that should be in all the Ministers of the Gospell to settle themselves where the devill is most rampant and raging and not to feare danger not to feare his cloven foot but to settle themselves in his habitation that the stronger man may cast out the strong man for as Christ saith when the strong man possesseth the house all things are quiet but when a stronger then he comes hee disrobes him he puts him out of his harnesse and he binds him and casts him out of his house and so takes the house into his owne possession So much of that of the place Now for the time how long hee will stay Part 2. The time that is till Pentecost that is I will stay there that I may have dayes enow to sayle to and arive at Ierusalem by them
the Word of God it is without life it is without efficacy without the consequent which of due belongs unto it This also as I said before the great God must worke to make that which is spacious and large of it selfe to make it effectuall that when the doore hath once admitted the King of glory that we may keep him there that we may entertaine him into our hearts that we may lodge him in our affections that wee may yeeld our selves unto him in all our actions and that wee may bring forth fruit in our lives and conversations that our faith within us and the Lord within us may work effectually without us This is that mighty effectuall doore which God must open and make it wide and large and great and effectuall and prosperous that God may enter in and dwell there for ever I should come now to the last part of the Text which is full of great and various matter I should be too troublesome if I should enter into it namely concerning the Adversaries that were there to shew what were these adversaries They were Iewes no doubt and such as had skill in the law of Moses for they were the chiefe enemies of Paul the heathen came in more easily because they thought it was a better religion that they taught than that they had already but the Iewes thought theirs to be the best religion therefore St. Paul found the most enmity and hatred among them in all places And likewise concerning the place where these adversaries were not at Ephesus as most Interpreters agree but at Ierusalem because there was the great feast of Pentecost kept there was no such number of men simply in the world there was no such number of men as was gathered at Ierusalem at the feast Three times in the yeare saith God you shall come and appeare before me In the Passeover in the feast of weeks and in the feast of Tabernacles And Iosephus makes a true record that there were nine millions at one Passeover in his time which is a number sans number not to be numbred but only that the Iewish Nation were scattered in the world and wheresoever they were scattered they had the conscience to come at the feast to pay their vowes and sacrifice to God therefore the sea being full of fish it was time for St. Paul now to cast in his net and it could not fall amisse but it would no doubt prove an effectuall doore and take that which came to hand and sure it was effectuall for hee took so many that his net was almost broken with the multitude of fish but these things I will not trouble you with at this time I have been too offensive to you already FINIS SERM. 7. 1 COR. 16.9 10. A great doore is opened and there are many Adversaries THe summe of that I have said of the travells of St. Paul concerning these places of Corinth and Ephesus and Macedon is this that St. Paul was for the space of three years at Ephesus and from thence hee was driven out by the conspiracy of Demetrius the silver-smith and his company hee went therefore to Macedon to visite the Churches that hee had planted before and being at Ephesus almost three yeares hee disputed dayly for the space of a yeare and halfe in the Schoole of one Tyrannus a Philosopher after that time hee never came to Ephesus more for although he had a determination to be there and to stay there till hee might have a convenient saile to goe to Ierusalem by the Feast of Pentecost yet the Lord that disposeth of all things would not suffer that to bee so but the Iewes having laid wait for him in the way as hee was to returne so the brethren gave him counsell to goe back againe by Philippos into Macedon and to fetch a Northerne course that so their land-wait for him might be disappointed in which journey he wrot this Epistle to the Corinthians as one purposing to come to them but he was hindered by the treason of the Iewes for at Corinth hee had beene before for the space of 18. Moneths and the reason why he was there so long was because God told him in Acts 18. Acts 18. that hee had much people in that city and afterward going to Ephesus and staying there the space almost of three yeares and being driven out by the conspiracy of Demetrius he went to Macedon to visite the Churches that hee had before planted there for you heard before that he had two journeys to Macedon the first by reason of the vision in Acts 16. there appeared to him a man of Macedon and said Come to Macedon and helpe us And then he could goe no further then Berea that noble City because the Iewes sent thither from Thessalonica to take him after he had beene there three weekes discoursing of the Kingdome of God So his friends brought him along to Athens and from Athens to Corinth and there hee spent 18. Moneths and from thence hee went to Ephesus and stayed there three yeares from Ephesus being driven by the conspiracy of Demetrius he went to Macedon to view the Churches hee had planted there and to goe no further in the Countrey then purposing to come to Corinth they told him of a treason that was plotted against him which both hindered his purpose to come to Corinth as also his going to Ephesus therefore hee sailed by Ephesus because as I said there was treason as that hee could not with a safe conscience cast himselfe into the danger without tempting of God and because he had a great desire to be at Ierusalem at Pentecost These things are plainly set downe in the Acts of the Apostles You shall see in Act. 20. Acts 20. how these things agree In the first verse as soone as this tumult was ceased that is that great tumult of the people when they cried Great is Diana of the Ephesians great is Diana of the Ephesians which Demetrius raised when the tumult was ceased Paul called the Disciples together and saluted them and went to goe forward to Macedon and comming into those parts hee intreated them and exhorted them with much speach and comming into Greece hee stayed there three moneths and hearing of a certaine treason that was laid for him by the Iewes as hee was to goe to Syria therefore there was a Decree made that hee should returne back againe by Macedon Now three verses after you have it that wee sailed after the day of Sweet-bread from Philippi and came to the brethren at Troas in five dayes c. where wee stayed seven dayes Now about the 15. verse of that Chapter St. Paul did saile besides Ephesus that hee might not spend time in Asia for hee made hast if it were possible for him at the day of Pentecost to bee at Ierusalem So hee sent from Myletus to Ephesus and called the Elders of the Church and spake to them those rare and fatherly speaches as it
and cast him into prison yet his word and power and spirit was stronger than they all and convinced and confuted them that although they seemed to themselves to be conquerers yet they were vanquished for so the Word of God useth to doe to conquer the conquerers and although they thought they took him prisoner yet he took them prisoners for it is a horrible victory that a man gets against the truth a man were better to be taken by the truth than to overcome and quell it These things I note as not any way prejudiciall to the authority or antiquity of those great Fathers and Interpreters but being as I think the more cleare exposition the truer meaning of the Text that he purposed to goe to Ierusalem by the feast of Pentecost and that was but seven weeks off now and although hee purposed if matters had been in place to have staid a while at Ephesus yet still his mind was at Ierusalem where the door was opened because of the aboundance of people that flocked and came thither and the adversaries were so many that it exceeded all faith to make relation of for the Iewes were bound thrice in the yeare all that were above 15. yeares old in the neare countries and all that were above 20. yeares old in far countries they were all bound thrice in the yeare to present themselves before the Lord in Ierusalem and they were such an infinite multitude that a man would wonder that the Land was not over-runne with them like grashoppers and destroyed by their being there But wee are too narrow to consider the blessings of God upon that Land for besides this that they were men of a very sparing and moderate dyet and cared not so much for soft beds but were content to lie in the fields to lie in tents nor they cared not for variety of fare any thing was sufficient for them Wee see that faith and credit makes this good in the History of Iosephus who as I said reports that there were nine millions at one Passeover Wee see the possibility of it also in King Iehosaphats time that had eleven hundred thousand men and upwards that did alway wait upon him besides those that were in his strong gallies that were men of warre as we see in 2 Chron. 17. 2 Chron. 17. Now if he were able to maintain such a number of men it may well be thought that when the generall concourse of that people was from all the parts and kingdomes of the world that there must be an infinite masse of people If hee had above one million daily attending upon him surely the severall parts of the world would furnish it to the number that Iosephus speaks of And it is not to be disputed how the land could beare them how it could nourish them these things wee are not to question but to understand that the blessing of God was mightily poured forth upon that Nation It is apparant I say in 2 Chron. 17. that Iehosaphat had so many hundred thousand men alway at his command So then the Apostle saith here a doore was opened there were so many men and so many adversaries for the most part therefore his minde was set and his spirit was inflamed so much the more to throw himselfe into the danger and to cast himselfe into the front of the battaile because he knew he was secure of the victory although he were overcome by the troublesome world yet he knew he should overcome in the quarrell of Christ that the truth of God should prevaile against them and chaine the chainers So much for the story 2 Part. The Church of God cannot want adversaries Now for the common induction that wee are to make out of this we learne that the Church of God and the truth of God can never want enemies wee must look still for a great number of adversaries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle wee are made for this purpose In 1 Cor. 4. 1 Cor. 4. I am perswaded saith the Apostle that God hath set us the last Ministers of the Gospell he hath set us out to be the off-scouring of the world the scorne of the people to be a theatre and stage for men and Angels to gaze upon And Simeon when he had the babe our Lord Iesus Christ in his armes he saith of him that hee was borne to be a stumbling stone to be a marke of contradiction hee was borne to have adversaries No sooner could the Gospell peepe out into the world then it had a number of adversaries and enemies to tread and trample it downe againe Those persecutions that were under the first Emperours after Christ the ten bloudy persecutions they witnesse what great adversaries the poore truth of Christ had And the Church of the Iewes which the Apostle called before him Acts 28. Acts 28. when they were convented and called together by the Apostle they told him that this new heresie the doctrine of the Gospell of Christ Iesus which they accounted heresie they knew for a certaine that it was every where spoken against that it was every where gainsaid It is an easie matter for lies to prevaile in the world the sonnes of darknesse are predestinated to bee drowned in darknesse to vanish in their owne dreames and so the lies of one Philosopher may passe upon another and they may joyne and blend them together and live in quiet and peace and yet all be lies But the pure truth of God and the sincere light of the Gospel it can indure no such Egyptian smoaks but it will shine bright forth of it selfe and therefore it cannot bee suffered for the Devill the Prince of darknesse he doth alway shew himselfe against the Lord of light and against the Gospel of light still either to extinguish it if possibly he can or at least to eclipse and dazle the light of it or to immure it in cloudes that it may not appeare to the sonnes of men It was the fortune of all truth ever to be beaten downe by liars but yet the Lord hath given it this victory It runnes the same course with Christ for hee died and was buried three dayes but hee rose againe so the truth which is his daughter the daughter of the Trinity the sister of the Sunne the brightnesse of the world although it bee for a time obscured and damped by the wickednesse of the Devils instruments and such miscreants yet in time it riseth againe it selfe by the power of God it is raised from the dead after that never more to be outed and undone but still to shine and fill the Hemisphere Therefore this should teach us Vse that men must not be discouraged in the worke of the Ministery because of the noise and tumult of the adversaries he that is for Christ he must feare no rumors but in good reports and bad reports and through prosperity and mischiefe he must make a way unto him that he seeks for of
truth in the inheritance of Christ which hee had bought with his owne bloud maugre the devill and all adverse powers whatsoever These are the reasons to stay him at Ephesus because there was an effectuall doore Now whether the doore were opened at Ephesus or at Ierusalem it is a matter that I greatly make quâ—stion of which I shall come in time to speake of for as yet I think that all the Writers upon this place are deceived for they think that this doore was at Ephesus and that the Apostle had a great and faire occasion there but it cannot be that the Apostle should settle his thoughts there his ayme was at the greatest and fairest so that the doore must be at Ierusalem as after we shall prove by some arguments such as God shall suggest of these things briefly and in order as the shortnesse of the time will permit Part 1 Where S. Paul wâ—s when hee wrote this Epistle Concerning the first point where Saint Paul was when hee wrote this Epistle for it seemes to him that reades that hee was now at Ephesus and yet as I said before and according to the Story it is certaine that hee was not there now when hee wrote these things but hee was at Philippi and so the subscription it selfe seemes to signifie But here mee thinks I heare one of those supersilious men that will understand no more than they list themselves that will confine the Ministers in the preaching of the Gospell Quest mee thinks I heare him move a question what should wee doe hearing of an idle discourse concerning the Apostles being where he was and in what place when this Epistle was written What is this to duty what is this to the building of us up in faith so the speech runnes among such kind of people Answ Whereunto I answer That there is nothing that is more materiall to a wise Christian to those that will understand any thing then to know the order of times and the Chronologie of Scripture it is as deepe and as profound and 〈◊〉 necessary and as comfortable a matter as any things in the world next to the points of salvation and justification there is nothing that delights a man more than the order of time and place which iâ— iâ— be not set downe notably there is no History so excellens but it mâ—y seeme a fable and a tale if it have not constantly the time and place adjoyned and these men must understand that if they think it is to no purpose to discourse of these things that then the Church of God hath beene in a great and a long error Is it no matter to know where S. Paul wrote this Epistle whether at Ephesus or at Philippi and is it so great a matter to know whether Peter were at Rome and yet we know what a strong foundation is layd upon that what great building there is upon it the whole primacie of the Apostolike See and the priority of all Churches is built upon this whether Peter were at Rome And the Church of God hath beene alway inquisitive to know the passages of the providence of God and of his government in the world in so much that concerning the building of the Temple there is an exact account of the yeares set downe From the comming out of Egypt to the building of the Temple there is an exact number of the yeares set downe and divers and sundry Records in the Scriptures there is nothing more common and familiar then this is Therefore for the answer to this question I say it may justly be doubted whether Paul were at Ephesus nay we may rather conclude that he was not there when hee wrote this Epistle for although there be something that perswades to it as Chrysostome Chrysost and after him Calvin Calvin and divers of the later Interpreters hold it because he saith he will stay at Ephesus that therefore he was there And againe there is another reason in the salutation at the latterend ver 18. Ver. 18. The Churches of Asia salute you Now Ephesus is in Asia and Philippi is in Europe in Macedonia it seemes therefore that hee wrote the salutation from the place where he was and he tells them the Churches of Asia salute them therfore he was in Asia by consequence at Ephesus for either he must be at Philippi or at Ephesus for there is no third place that can be imagined But for this first it followeth not that because he saith he will stay at Ephesus that therfore he was there for he had it onely in resolution he was determined to goe now and he was now to embarke at Philippi and so to saile to Ephesus but he understanding that there was treason layd for him in the way he durst not come there hee did not goe by the way of Asia but he came another way And for that he saith the Churches of Asia salute you that might be also upon the remembrance of his late comming from Ephesus or by the letters that hee received from them hee received a letter from Ephesus wherein the Churches of Asia saluted the Church of Corinth so that neither of these doe prove that he was at Ephesus when hee wrote this Epistle It is likely therefore that he was at Philippi a Citie in the North part of Macedonia as it might be in the North part of England and so to come along the shore as farre as the great Citie that this is so and that this Epistle was written from Philippi the subscription makes it manifest For saith hee there it was written from Philippi and sent by Stephanas and Fortunatus and although indâ—ed these subscriptions bee oft times faulty yet in this there was never any that durst move or make any contradiction against it Beza Beza whose judgement I esteeme above all men in these cases hee holds for certaine that it must needs be written from Philippi so then the manner of this journey that S. Paul purposed it was hindered by the treachery of the Iewes who hearing that Paul was in Grecia in Macedonia they layd wait for him in the chiefe parts of Asia and as they heard that Demetrius and his fellowes had wrought him a mischiefe in Ephesus when they had like to have slain him therefore they entered into Ephesus and by treason lay in wait to kill him which when Paul understood the brethren gave him counsell After he had spent three moneths in Grecia that is in the parts of Aeolia and those parts adjoyning to Macedonia they desired him that hee would not goe to Corinth from Ephesus but returne back againe by Philippi and so to Macedon In Act. 20.3 Act. 20 3. Luke doth discourse plainly of it the Apostles advice was to goe back againe through Macedon and so taking ship at Philippi which is the uttermost Citie of Macedon and there having received the almes which was contributed in the Church of Corinth in great abundance