upon him for it as Aaron here did but as for Miriam she neither Confest her Sin nor shew'd any Sorrow for it but stubb rnly persisted in it For notwithstanding God Arraigned her himself and sate himself as â—udge in Moses's Cause and ask'd her why she was not affraid to speak against his Servant Moses she made no Reply by an humble Plea for Mercy but stood as a sullen Mute and so God recorded her and left her to Judgment and departs from her in great Fury Num. 12. 9. 2. The second Infectious Disease is the Pestilence which prevails mightily by Infection killing Thousands in a short time So doth the Plague of Spiritual Delusions Infect and Destroy many Thousands of Souls in a very few Days And that these Mens Principles in my Text had the same Effect it was too apparent in their Punishment and one may read their Sin in their Punishment And that there was a Spiritual Plague fore broken and running upon these Mens Spirits It is evident by the Injunction which God laid upon the rest of the People to depart from them and not to come near them nor touch any thing of theirs least their Sin should Infect them and they perish with them in their Sins And so Infectioâ—s was it to many Thousands in Israel that it brake forth upon them on the Morrow and in a Congregated Assembly Murmured against Moses and told him he had Killed the People of the Lord. How nearly doth Heresie in the Soul resemble the Pestilence in the Body for as fast as that lothsom Disease cleaves to the Body so fast doth Heresie stick in the Soul and Heart of a Man For as it is a very difficult thing and almost Impossible for a Phisttian to heal the Plague of Pestilence in the Body So it is a very hard and difficult thing for the best Majestrate or the best Minister in the World to reclaim any Man or Woman from the Error of their way that have forsaken the Publick Service of God the High-way of Salvation and betook themselves to the By-paths of a Pestilential Conventicle one Year Hence it is that the Apostle St. Paul Exhorts Titus to Reject A Man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition And subjoyns this Reason Knowing that he that is such is subverted and Sinneth being Condemned of himself Titus 3. 10 11. Now you may happily ask what an Heretick is I Answer A Heretick is one that obstinately Defends and Maintains an Opinion contrary to the Faith Practice and Profession of the truely Antient Catholick and Apostolick Church But ye may happily say why doth the Apostle Exhort Titus to be so quick and brief in Admonishing such an one and upon a second Contempt imediately to reject him I Answer Answer Because they have refused the way of Truth and chosen and prâ—fer'd an Erronious Opinion be ore it and obstinately reâ—use to return again This assâ—ion iâ— verified by the Testimony of the Prophet Jeremâ— Chap. 6. ver 16. Thus saith the Lord Stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old Paths where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall find Rest for your Souls This was the first Admonition the Prophet gave them aâ—ter their Revolt unto which they obstinately answered We will not walk therein The second word of Admonition is in ver 17 Also I set Watchmen over you saying Hearken to the sound of the Trumpet Unto which they made this stubbora Answer We will not Hearken Upon this their refusal after their second Admonition to return to the antient ways of God the Prophet proceeds in the name of the Lord to give Judgment upon them in ver 18. 19. Therefore hear ye Nations and know O Congrâ—gation what is among them Hear O Earth behold I wâ—ll bring Evil upon this People even the Fruit of their Thoughts because they have not hearkned unto my Words nor to my Law but rejected it Twice did those Men in my Text return a stubborn Anâ—wer to Moses that they would not return to their former Conformity but deâ—perately resolved to stick close to their former Remonstrance for when Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram the Sons of Eliab to come to him doubtless to perswade and advise with them to forbear the further Prosecution of their wicked Designs and to consider the manifold mischiefs that would unavoidably follow such wicked enterprizes as they were now begining to prosecute then they returned this resolute Answer We will not come up and aggravated it with this Expostulation Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a Land thâ—t floweth with Milk and Honey to kill us in the Wilderness except thou make thy self altogether a Prince over us ver 13. and then in ver 14. They follow their blow with a Moreover thou hast not brought us into a Land that floweth with Milk and Honey or given us Inheritance of Fields and Vineyards Wilt thou put out the Eyes of these Men We will not come up Upon this second Repulse of theirs to Moses's Admonition he utterly Rejects them and now will have no more to do with them but turns his Prayer directly against them And in the Indignation of his Spirit said unto the Lord Respect not thou their Offering And what the Effect of such a Prayer was like to be may be easily read in the Judgment that followed for the Earth opened her Mouth and swallowed them up with all that appertain'd to them and I wish with all my Heart that these Mens Principles had sunck into the Ground with them and never appear'd again upon the face of Earth but vae mihi 3. A third Infectious Disease in the Body of Man is the Cancer a sore fretting Disease very small in the beginning dangerous in growth and pernitious in the end Such is all Scismatical and false Doctrine in the beginning scarcely discern'd but by degrees it eats so far into the Soul that it destroys both Faith and Practice We have this confirm'd by the Apostle St. Paul in an Epistle of his to the chief Pastor of the Church of Ephesâ—s 2. Tim. 2. Cap. 16. 17. 18. ver But shun prophane Bablings for they will increase unto more Ungodliness And their Word will eat as doth a Canker of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus Who concerning the truth have erred saying That the Resurrection is past already and overthrow the Faith of some O Lord for thy Mercy sake save and deliver thy Church and People in the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and the Religion Established by Law therein from the fly insinuating creeping Soul-infectious Diseases of Sediton Privy Conspiracy and Rebellion false Doctrine Heresie and Scisme and work in us such a Reformation in all our Lives that our Conversations before God and Man may be such as may beautifie and adorn our most Holy Faith and demonstrate to the World that we are living Members of Christ's Body I have now finished my third
is a wife Man and endued with Knowledge among you Let him shew out of a good Conversation his Works with Meekness of Wisdom But if ye have bitter Envying and Strife in your Hearts glory not and lie not against the truth This Wisdom descendeth not from above but is Earthly sensual Devilish For where Envying and Strife is there is Confusion and every evil work But the Wisdom that is from above is first Pure then Peaceable then gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits without Partiality or wrangling and the Fruit of Righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace Do ye not know that the Church of God is built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets whereof Christ Jesus the anointed Saviour was the corner stone And do ye not know that all of them have from time to time declaimed against all sorts of false Doctrin Heresie and Scism and declared for Unity Peace and Concord amongst all that proâ—ess the Christian Religion If ye have forgotten these things be not angry with me if I bring to your Remembrance the Testimonies of some of the Prophets who have given their suffrage to this Assertion The first is that of the Prophent Isaiah Chap. 35. 8. And an High-way shall be there and it shall be called the way of Holiness Now thus much I am bold to say in Vindication of the Publick Service of our Churâ—h that it is not only Formally an High-Way but really a Way of true Holiness and Righteousnuss if we can but frame our Lives and Conversations thereunto and obediently answer God in the things we pray for without which no one can walk in the Light of God's Countenance upon Earth nor ever see his Face in the Kingdom of Heaven The next is the Prophet Jeremiah chap. 31. 9. I will cause them to walk by the Rivers of water in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble And then at ver 21. he explains his meaning in this ver saying Set thee up Marks make the high heaps set thine Heart toward the High-Way even the way which thou wentest turn again O Virgin of Israel It seems by these Words of this Prophet that the People did formerly walk in the common High-way of Salvation but now they had forsaken it and drawn away many after them and caused them to stumble into their ways from the antient Paths to walk in Paths in a way not cast up i. e. to make a Profession of such a Religion which had neither Fence nor Bounds nor Form nor Method and so at last to make their Land desolate chap. 18. ver 15 16. I could instance the Testimonies of several other Prophets but two such Witnesses as these two Prophets were and such great Sufferers as they were for witnessing against the Scism that was raised against the Church of God in the time of their Prophecying may be sufficient to convince any unbiast Person that the increase and continuance of Scism in a Kingdom are sure Harbingers to the Ruin and Deâ—truction of it They that will not believe this will not believe Moses and the Prophets and they that will not believe them neither will they believe tho' one should arise from the Dead with the Flames of Hell-Fire about him But haply some one or other may ask this Question what is the Foundation of Scism or whence doth it arise Why truly the question is worth asking and the Answer if I rightly apprehend it may do some good to the Church of God for the time to come however under Correction I will give my Judgment upon it and if it can plainly appear that I am mistaken in my Judgment I shall ingeniously confess that I am a Man and not God and therefore may err The Question is whence Scism ariseth I Answer Scism ariseth from hence when a Man of Knowledge and deep Understanding in the Mystery of Godliness which he had attained unto by his constant attendance on the the publickâ— Ministry of the Word and Service of the Church at length begins to grow weary of serving God in the Highway of Salvation and to think in himself that he knows as much or more than his own Minister can teach him and that he can make better and longer Prayers than the common Prayers of the Church are he is not at rest till he hath found out a creeping hole of â—islike at something or other tho' it be but some harmâ—ess Ceremony and so having once disgusted it he resolves to dissert the Communion of the Church and then is at a Stand in himself what to do or what Society of Men to associate with just like a Man that hath variety of Business with divers Men in several Places and not yet resolv'd whither to go first takes his Staff in his Hand and at the door sets it as upright as possibly he can and that way that his Staff falls that way he steers his Course So likewise do those knowing Men that for little or no cause forsake the publiqué Assemblies of our Church set up the Staff of Conscience and towards what Society of Men it falls thither they trudge Such a Similitude as this doth that smart Prophet Hosea Uâ—e when he reprov'd the humersom and Headstrong Tribe of Ephraim and the unstable Tribe of Juda for their easie Compliance with new-fáshion'd Altars and making a new Covenant and for taking new Measures of Divine Worship and justling out that which was before established bâ— the Law of God Now this similitude of the Prophet is written in the 4th Chapter of his Prophesie Ver. 12 13. My People ask council of their stocks i. e. their stock of knowledge and their staff declareth unto them for the spirit of whoredoms that is of Spiritual Whoredoms hath caused them to err and they have gone a whoring from under their God They sacrifice upon the tops of the Mountains and burn Incense upon the Hills under Oaks and Poplars and Elms. Thus Scism sprung up like Hemlock amongst the Backsliding Israelites and thus it sprang up amongst the English Deus dabit his quoque finem The Lord in Mercy put an end to our Divisions for they are very many great and very destructive for A Kingdom divided cannot stand well A Parliament divided cannot make Laws well A Church divided cannot pray well A Clergy divided cannot all preach well A University divided cannot study well An Army divided cannot fight well A Fleet of Ships divided cannot sail well A Chamber of Aldermen divided cannot Rule well A House divided cannot thrive well A Man divided in himself doth seldom think well and A Vestry divided will never do well either to Church or Poor So that by all these Experiments it is too evident that where Strise and Divisions are there will be certainly Confusion and every evil work will follow But where Unity Peace and Concord are there are the choicest of God's Blessings attending yea there God
Hath the Lord indeed only spoken by Moses hath he not spoken also by us Here was Envy and Emulation at the Government intrusted by God in the Hands of Moses Disobedience would undoubtedly have followed the Leprosi of Original Sin dâ—d cleave so fast to their Loyns that altho' they were Saints upon Earth yet they were nâ—t quite free from stumbling upon the Threshould oâ— Original Corruption true Children oâ— Disobediâ—nt Parents Adam and Eve our first Parents would set up for themselves and be as Gods Miriam and Aaron will Rule and Govern as well as Moses Hath the Lord indeed say they spoken onely by Moses Hath he not spoken also by us No wonder Moses was not angry with his Brother and Sister for aspiring to share with him in a piece of Earthly Government when he knew that his own first Parents aspired to an Heavenly Throne by endeavouring to be as Gods Nay Aaron in another sinful Act of his outdid his Progenitors for they presumed to be but as Gods to know Good and Evil but Aaron presumed to make a God nay to make many Gods Make us Gods saith sinful Israel that may go before us Bring your Ear rings saith Aaron and I 'le make you some Original Sin like a Snow ball gathers by rolling from place to place The same Serpent that perswaded our first Parents to conceit themselves Gods hath prevailed with Aaron not to conceit himself to be one but take upon him the Employment of making a God and so to be greater than God For as he that makes a King is said to be greater then a King so he that makes a God may conceit himself greater than the God he hath made Oâ— the horrible Contagion and Infection of Original Sin which like a foul Leprosie hath spread it self into the whole Masse of Mankind And as thus the Leprosie of Original Sin had spread it self into the several Faculties of Miriams and Aarons Soul so the Lord Plagâ—ed Miriam with a soul Leprosie in several parts of her Body a Punishment suitable to her Sin If it should here be askt why Aaron guilty of the same Sin with his Sister Miriam was not Plagued with the same Punishment of Leprosie as she was according to the rule of Justice the same Sin the same Punishment I answer it is true the Lord might in Justice have smitten Aaron with the Plague of Leprosie as he did Miriam but he did not he spared Aaron and Punished Miriam and that for several good and weighty Reasons as I humbly conceive 1. That the Church and all the World may know that he hath two Hands as well as two Eyes the one to lay on the stroak of Justice and the other to extend Grace and Mercy that he is Mercy as well as Justice and Judgment as well as Mercy 2. That the Sons of Men may know that God is a free Agent and may do with his own what he pleaseth that he can have Mercy upon whom he will have Mercy and Punish others for the Iniquity of their Transgressions and leave them to the hardness of their own Hearts 3. The Sin was greater in Miriam then in Aaron Aaron might have a seeming colour for what he said having formerly been Moses's Speaker for God to Pharaoh but for Miriam to assume the Privilege of a Speaker was neither proper to her Sex nor ever an Office in the Church for a Woman to Execute I permit not a Woman saith St. Paul to Speak in the Church 4. Aarons Office might excuse him and speak something for him being by a special Decree and Ordinance of God Anointed with Holy Oyl High Priest to offer Sacrifice for the Sins of all Israel and no Leper was to Officiate in that calling nor stand at Gods Altar so that the Purity of his Office freed him from that foul and lothsom Punishment of the Plague of Leprosie God's Altar was nor a fit place for a Deformed Person to stand at to offer Sacrifices therefore for the Glory of his Name and the Holiness of his Altar he exempted the Sacrificer from the Punishment of so loathsom a Disease altho ' he went not Scot-free for for this and other failings he was debarr'd both of the sight and enterance into the Land of Canaan the Land of Promise 5. It might probable be that Aaron was not Principal but Accessary to this Sin for Miriam is first named in the Text Numb 12. And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Aethiopian Woman whom he had Married If she had not been Principal in the Sin it s very likely she had not been named first in the Inditement And it is very likely that the Quarrel began betwixt the two Sisters In-law Ziporah and Miriam about what I know not but be it what it will Miriam hath engaged her Brother Aaron in the Quarrel and both of them knew that Moses was so Just and so good a Man that if the matter on Ziporah's part were not a Breach of God's Sacred Law he was bound by the Sacred Tye of Marriage to Vindicate her against them both they resolve therefore to bring him in for a Party and make him Faulty for fuch a Choice and so begin a Quarrel with him who it may be knew nothing of their Discontents Dr. Hall late Bishop of Norwich that English Seneca that Painful Pious Prelate in his Contemplations on the Holy Story hath an excellent Passage upon this Place Lib. 6 Pag. 196. in Oct. Miriam and Aaron are in Mutiny against Moses Who is so Holy that Sins not What Sin is so unnatural that the best can avoid without God's preventing Grace Who can but grieve to see Aaron at the end of so many Sins Of late I saw him Carving the Molten Image and Consecrating an Altar to a False God now I see him seconding an uukind Mutiny against his Brother both find him Accessary neither Principal in the first Sin of Mankind the Servent who was Principal in it found no Mercy nor Grace Whereas Adam and his Wife who were but Accessarieâ— had upon their Repentance the offer of both and therefore 6. A fixth Râ—son â—hy Aaron escaped the Punishment inflicte upon Miriam was because oâ— his speedy Repentance for no sooner did he perceive the Leprosie upon Miriams Face he knew there was but one way to escape that or a greater punishment viz. a Conâ—ssion 〈◊〉 in and a speedy Repentance And therefore having offended his Brother Moses he first asketh him Forgiveness saying Alas my Lord lay not this Sin upon us wherein we have done Foolishly and wherein we have Sinned The universal Ant dote against all Gods Judgments is Unfeignâ—d and speedy Repentance Had Miriam Repented at the Word of the Lord to her as Aaron did at the Hand of the Lord upon hâ—r 't is very likly that she had eâ—caped the Leprosie as well as he for that God who is rich in Mercy to one is rich in Mercy to all that Unfeignedly call