them He causeth his Wind to Blow and the Waters flow These are kept out of the ordinary Course of Natural Causes in God's more Immediate Government They are therefor call'd His Treasures and Reserv'd against the Day of Trouble against the Day of Battel and War Job xxxviij 22 23. Then shall the Right-aiming Thunder-bolts go abroad and from the Clouds as from a well-drawn Bow shall fly to the Mark. And Hail-stones full of Wrath shall be cast as out of a Stone-bow Yea a mighty Wind shall stand up against them and like a Storm shall drive them away Wisd v. 21. c. These are GOD's Armory and kept in His own hand And come not by Certain Rules as the Rising and Setting of the Sun the Solstices Eclipses c. And therefor are look'd upon as the More Immediate Acts of God and Instances of His Power Therefor David says His Strength is in the Clouds Psal lxviij 34. The Thunder is call'd His Voice The Storms at Sea and Commotions of the Waters are said to be His Act in His Immediate Governance As it is said Prov. xxj i. The King's Heart is in the Hand of the Lord as the Rivers of Water He turneth it Whithersoever He will It is the Lord that Commandeth the Waters Psal xxix 3 4. It is the glorious God that maketh the Thunder It is the Lord that Ruleth the Sea The Voice of the Lord is Mighty in Operation They that go down to the Sea in Ships These Men see the works of the Lord Psal cvij. 23 c. and his Wonders in the Deep for at his word the stormy wind ariseth and lifteth up the waves thereof for he maketh the storm to cease so that the waves thereof are still Nothing that is Fix'd and Certain in the Constant course of Natural Causes is Call'd a Wonder of the Lord. Else every thing would be equally a Wonder Nay it wou'd be a Wonder if it were otherwise as if the Sun should Stop or Go back if the Returns of Day and Night Summer and Winter should fail These wou'd be great Miracles which therefor God very seldom shews Else nothing wou'd be left Constant or Certain in Nature But all return to their old Chaos And then they wou'd cease to be Miracles if they were done as oft as Every body would Call for them But God hath Reserv'd some things out of the ordinary course of Nature And in these He shews daily Wonders of his Providence He calls this His Witness among the Gentiles Act. xiv 17. That as by his Works of Creation He had Demonstrated His Eternal Power and Godhead Rom. i. 20. So he had given them an equal Proof of His Providence and of their Continual Dependence upon Him in his sending them Rain and Fruitful Seasons for which they cou'd Assign no Natural Causes Thou art the God that do'st Wonders The Waters saw thee Psal lxxvij 14 c. O God the Waters saw thee they were afraid the Depths also were troubled The Clouds poured out Water the Skies sent out a Sound thine Arrows also went abroad the voice of thy Thunder was in the Heavens the Lightnings lighted the world the Earth trembled and shook Thy way is in the Sea and thy Path in the Great Waters and thy foot-steps are not known We cannot Trace God not know His foot-steps in His Dispensing of these things as of others which are Dispos'd in the Common Course of Natural Causes Therefor in these things God's Power is Chiefly shewn And in these things we are Commanded to Wait and Depend upon Him Lev. xxvi 4. Deut. x. 14. And He tells Us that He will Dispence them to one and not to Another Am. iv 7. But things that Depend on Natural Causes are Equal to All. We are Commanded to pray for Rain Zech. x. i. But it is not Permitted to Us it wou'd be Presumption and Tempting of God to Ask for Altering the Course of Nature of Sun Moon or Stars or to Break the Covenant of Day and Night And the Weather which God thus keeps in His own Hand is no less Necessary to our Life in Giving us the Fruits of the Earth than the Fixt Course of Nature the influence of the Sun c. To teach us that we must Depend as Much upon the Immediate Blessing of God as upon all Second Causes The Heathen were sensible of this And therefor They had as their Pra-Messum Prayers before Harvest so their Flori-festum after Harvest to express their Thankfulness to the Gods for the Fruits of the Earth But this People saith the Prophet hath a Revolting and a Rebellious heart Jer. v. 23 24. they are Revolted and Gone Neither say they in their heart Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth Rain both the Former and the Latter in his Season He reserveth unto us the appointed Weeks of the Harvest Thus we see that this Acknowledgment and Devotion to God was Commanded to the Jews and observ'd by the Heathen from the Dictates even of Natural Religion And what is it that can exempt Christians from Paying this From Rendring unto God the Honour and Tribute Due unto his Name sure they ought rather to Exceed than come short of Jews and Heathens in this It were much to be Desir'd that a Publick Office were Appointed for this And this made Part of our Solemn Devotion But till that be done I hope it will not be taken amiss by our Superiors to Exhort both our Priests to Receive and the Laity to Pay this their Bounden Duty to God and at His Altar to Offer up His Tythes IV. The Rest which are not there Offer'd at the Altar shou'd by the Owners be brought into Store-houses Appointed The Priest's Drawing of them is Scandalous and more his Farming of them They are All as well as the First-fruits which were offered Holy unto the Lord All are Offered in the First-fruits They are not to be Commuted or Redeem'd for Money where they can be brought in Kind They are a Sacrifice unto God and must not be Changed And they who Subtract or Refuse to Pay them have Denied The Lord to be their God by Denying Him His Tribute they ought to be cast out of the Congregation and not Reputed as Christians So it was Decreed in a General Parliament of Clergy and Laity at London A. D. 940. in the Reign of King Edmund before mentioned And this has been Confirmed by Repeated Vows and Acts of Parliament We are to Bring our Tythes and Offerings unto The Lord and not leave Him or His Priests to Draw them or Choose And besides the Affront to God it Engages the Priest and his Flock in many Disputes and Heart-burnings and often into Strifes and Law-suits which Lessens his Authority and Renders his Labours ineffectual by Personal Prejudices conceiv'd against him All this God foresaw and by His Law He prevented it But we are grown Wiser than He Cou'd the Priests under the Law
from Him For says he Isai xlv 7. I make Peace and Create Evil I the Lord do all these things And Am. iij. 6. Shall ther be Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it The wicked Blaspheme God Psal x. 12 14 15. while they do say in their Heart Tush Thou God carest not for it He hideth away his Face and He will never see it Surely Thou hast seen it for Thou beholdest Vngodliness and Wrong This Thou may'st take the Matter into Thine own Hand And the Jews are Reprehended by our Saviour for Not Discerning the Signs of the Times Mat. xvi 3. It is call'd a Knowing of God to observe the Course of His Judgment and His Mercies for how otherwise can we Know Him upon Earth He Judged the Cause of the Poor and Needy Jer. xxij 16. then it was well with him Waâ— not this to know Me saith the Lord And the Consequence is That not to take Notice of these things is not to Know God it is to Belie Him to Blaspheme Him as in the Texts before Quoted and Many More that cou'd be Produc'd to the same Purpose Now to Apply this to our Present Purpose I do not Pretend to draw an Argument from the Many Instances of God's Remarkable Judgments upon both their Persons and Families who had Robb'd His Church as if those Judgments Must of Necessity have been Inflicted Purely and Solely for this Sin But if this be a Sin and of so Deep a Dye as it must be if it be any Sin at all for it can be no other than Sacrilege And if that be the most Open and Notorious Known Sin of these Persons And likewise That these Judgments are observ'd to follow the Lands Houses and Tythes Impropriate tho often Bought and Sold and Changing of Owners Not in Every Case for if God shou'd Punish Wickedness in All the World must soon be Destroy'd And He do's often suffer the Wicked to Prosper It is one of the Sharpest Scourges He uses to Chastise a Sinful Nation And having done His Work to Burn the Rod But when we see Judgments to follow such a Sin for the Most Part and in such Repeated and Remarkable Instances as Sir Henry Spelman gives Us in his History of Sacrilege And many more of the same sort which we can Gather elsewhere And some that our own Experience can furnish Us withal In such Cases it is far from Superstition to take Notice of the Hand of God in them And not to do it is that Stupidity and Blasphemy before Reprehended it is a Hardning our selves against all the Methods of Divine Providence a Denial of it and Living without God in the World Who can for Example avoid the Observation of the New-Forest in Hampshire Devouring so Many of William the Conqueror's Sons by Strange Deaths he having Destroy'd 26 Parish Churches to make Room for his Deer there as you may see in Spelman's Hist Sacril p. 119 120. Or what is observ'd in the Preface to his De non Temerand Eccl. p. 42. That within 20 years after Hen. VIII his Seizing the Revenues of the Church by the Advice and Assistance of his Nobility and Dividing her Patrimony among them Chiefly More of them and their Children were Attainted and Dy'd by the Sword of Justice than from the Conquest to that time which was about 500 years Sir Henry Spelman's Hist Sacril c. vij Computes that The great Increase of Lands and Wealth that came to the King by the Dissolution was Quadruple to the Crown-Lands And takes Notice p. 226 227. how the Crown-Lands were Dwindling away Most of them being then gone when he Wrote in the Reign of King Charles I. and only Fee-Farm Rents Reserv'd out of the Greatest part of them viz. 40000 l. a year out of the Crown-Lands and 60000 l. out of the Church-Lands And observes as a Continuance of the Judgment upon them That an Infraction was then begun to be Made upon the Very Fee-Farm Rents themselves And that some of them had been Alienated But if he had Liv'd another Reign he wou'd have seen them Every one Sold And the Crown Reduc'd to Live from Hand to Mouth upon the Mere Benevolence of those Whose Care it is to keep it Always so Depending and upon its Good Behaviour So much has the Crown Gain'd by the Access of Sacrilegious Wealth as from Imperial Dignity and a Propriety Paramount in all the Lands of England to become an Honourable Beggar for its Daily Bread I know not how far this has sunk with those who are Concern'd Or whether another Curse may not be Added that is Never to Consider but Go on However Sir Hen. Spelman has told Us of several Gentlemen in England who out of a Due sense of the sin of this Sacrilege have freely Given up and Restored to the Chruch as far as the Laws wou'd Permit them all their Impropriate Tythes which had Descended to them from their Ancestors That instead of them and the Curses which attended them they might Entail the Blessing of God upon the Rest of their Estates and upon their Posterities The sense of this sunk so Deep with the Great Earl of Strafford that foreseeing a new Sacrilegious Deluge of Vsurpation upon the Church then coming on An. 1640 he made it his Dying In junction to his Sâ—â— under Peril of his Curse and of the Curse of God never to meddle with any Church-Lands or what had been once Dedicated to God This Legacy he sent him from the Scaffold where Men are past Dissembling or Courting of Favour tho this cou'd have been no Recommendation to him at that time And how Light soever some Men make of the sin of Sacrilege while they Gain by it yet when they come to Dye they may have the same sense of it which that Noble Lord then so Religiously Exprest But ther being no Repentance Accepted by God without Restitution as far as in our Power I Pray God they may think of it while it is in their Power to make that Restitution which Alone can witness the Sincerity of their Repentance 8. Ther can no Pretence be made for the Lawfulness of Impropriations when those Very Acts of Parliament which took them from the Church and Gave them to Lay-Men do acknowledge that they are God's Dues and His Right That they are Due to God and Holy Church as in 27 Hen. VIII c. 20. Nay they were always so acknowledg'd and no otherwise Insomuch that ther was no Law or Precedent for a Lay-Man to sue for Tythes it was utterly Heterogeneous and Abhorrent For which Reason when Tythes were given to Lay-Men they were forced to have a Particular Act of Parliament 32 Hen. VIII c. 7. to Enable Lay-men to sue for Tythe which before they cou'd not do In which Very Act Tythe is Nam'd as being Due to Almighty God And next to Act of Parliament the Great Oracle of our Law Sir Edw. Coke is to be heard who
AN ESSAY Concerning the Divine Right OF TYTHES By the AVTHOR of The Snake in the Grass LONDON Printed for C. Brome at the Gun W. Keblewhite at the Swan in St. Paul's Church yard E. Pool at the Half-Moon and G. Strahan at the Golden-Ball in Cornhil MDCC PREFACE THE Subject of Tythes is the Great DIANA of the Quakers They have Bent their Whole Force against Tythe as the likeliest Means to overthrow the Church And herein they have Many Abettors Upon whose Account I Resolv'd to Consider of Tythe in a Discourse by it self My Controversie with the Quakers has led me into Subjects of Different Natures and Engag'd me among other Parties As when they began to be Convinced concerning the Necessity and Benefit of the Sacraments of Baptism and The Lord's Supper But stuck upon the Administrator to whom they should go for it To satisfie them in this forc'd me Directly upon the Cause of Episcopacy This concerned other Dissenters And received a very Angry Answer from one who Stiles himself a Presbyterian Wherein I cou'd find Nothing to Reply to but Passion and Personal Reflections therefor I let it Sleep The like Fate I may meet with in this That it will be Oppos'd by others than the Quakers And indeed it is for the sake of others more than the Quakers that I write it Of others who shou'd have more understanding as not being Carry'd away with that Blind Enthusiasm which Possesses the Quakers But yet who suffer themselves to Swim down the Stream of a Popular Sacrilege Ther is nothing needful to these Men but to Rouse a little to open their Eyes and Consider And not to follow a Multitude to do Evil. I have not in the following Sheets quoted any of the Quaker-Books or Repeated their poor Arguments which they only Pickt up and down the High-way the Common Objections that were then Running about and you will meet with every where they are all Answer'd tho not Nam'd in what follows But it is very observable to what an Excess of Fury and Madness against all the Institutions of God that Spirit of Delusion which Possess'd the Quakers did Hurry them Even to Account this Part of the Worship of God the Offering of His Tythe to be a Renouncing of CHRIST a Denial of his having come in the Flesh and a Mark of Antichrist As you may see in The Snake in the Grass Sect. XIX And there sufficiently Answer'd Together with their other Designs they had in their Opposition to Tythes on Purpose to Ruin and Destroy the Clergy Therefor leaving these Men I turn to More Considerable Adversaries And first I Name Milton only for his Name lest the Party should say That I had not Consider'd his Performance against Tythes Which has More Wit but little more Argument than the Quakers His Fancy was too Predominant for his Judgment His Talent lay so much in Satyr that he hated Reasoning Or rather he got not leave to make use of it while he wrote for Hire against his own Opinion Which Appears by what he wrote Vnbrib'd which Mr. Toland has not Reprinted contrary to what he afterwards had a Pension to set up He sacrific'd a Noble Genius to the Vices of the Age. He has thrown away some of his Railery against Tythes and the Church then underfoot Which Tickl'd little Toland to that Degree That tho he has Reprinted that Precious Piece against Tythe call'd Considerations touching the likeliest Means to Remove HIRELINGS c. among the Rest of Milton's SHAME yet he has thrust Platches of it into that Life he wrote of Milton the most Considerable we must suppose that he cou'd find to be Worth this Repetition as A Pulpit Divine a LOLLARD indeed over his ELBOW-CVSHION And his Sheep sit as the Sheep in their PEWS at SMITHFIELD And such like Contemptible WITTICISMS Vnworthy an Author of any Name And shew Mr. Toland's Judgment in Picking out these to Adorn his Life lest the Reader might have Over-look'd such Delicious Stroaks in the Perusal of his Works But to Men of Sense it seems rather lik Playing of Booty to Please those Fools and Knaves who Hir'd him to write against Hirelings Nothing else cou'd have made him Submit to set down what he must know to be False unless we have a very Mean Opinion of his Knowledge the Cry of the Ignorant QVAKERS That we made Use of The POPISH Arguments against Tythes which Mr. Toland likewise Reprints in the Quotations he Repeats in his Life Whereas all that have any skill in these Matters do know That the Popish Writers were the First and Great Corrupters of the Doctrine of Tythe As is told Pag. 128 129. And that the Opposers and not the Defenders of Tythe have borrow'd their Arguments But Mr. Milton knew what wou'd Please he Regarded not the Truth but the Hire And knowing this he was Resolv'd to Cry Whore first Therefor he Charg'd the Clergy with the Name of Hirelings Which if it be Meant of those who take any thing for their Preaching it flies Directly in the face of our Blessed Saviour who uses the same word concerning Preachers saying that The Labourer is worthy of his Hire Luk. x. 7. But if it be Meant as it can bear no other Meaning That they are the Culpable Hirelings who value the Hire more than the Work That is to be known only by Him who knows the Heart And can be Guest at by us only from the Consequences And for St. Paul's Preaching Gratis to the Corinthians and Thessalonians which is urg'd by the Quakers and Milton it makes against them for the Apostle Asserts his Right to have been Burthensome as the Apostles of Christ 1 Thess ii 6. And says I have Robbed other Churches taking Wages of them to do you Service 2 Cor xi 8. And he gives the Reason ver 12. To cut off occasion from them that Desire occasion Such are False Apostles c. who had Rais'd a Great Schism in the Church of Corinth Alledging that the Apostles sought their own Gain by their Preaching And Endeavour'd to Make Disciples to themselves rather than to Christ For which Cause he says he was glad that he had Baptized so few in Corinth Whence the Quakers Argue against Baptism too Lest says he any shou'd say that I had Baptized in mine own Name 1 Cor. i. 15. And asks them v. 13. Were ye Baptised in the Name of Paul For the same Reason he wou'd take no Wages from the Church at Corinth to stop the Mouths of these Schismatical Apostles And says he Boasts in it 2 Cor. xi 10. But where had been the Cause of Boasting if he had only Refus'd to Exact what was None of his Due He stands upon it to be his Due And says So hath the Lord Ordained that they who Preach the Gospel shou'd Live of the Gospel 1 Cor. ix 14. But says he I have used none of these things that is Amongst you And therein he Glories He says Tho I
Vows Page 130. Sect. XII The Benefit of Paying our Tythe Page 155. Sect. XIII Remarkable Judgments for not Paying of our Tythe Page 161. Sect. XIV Of what things Tythe is to be Pay'd Page 176. Sect. XV. The difference betwixt the Tythe to the Poor And the Tythe of Worship Page 180. Sect. XVI When Tythes are to be Pay'd Page 183. Sect. XVII Of what Part of our Goods Tythe is to be Pay'd Page 187. Sect. XVIII Who they are that ought to Pay Tythe Page 189. Sect. XIX If Tythes may be Commuted or Redeem'd Page 193. Sect. XX. To Whom Tythes are to be Pay'd Page 198. Sect. XXI In what Manner Tythes ought to be Offer'd Page 202. Sect. XXII How Priests are to Pay their Tythe Page 214. Sect. XXIII A Remedy Proposed How the Impropriate Tythes c. may be Restored Page 217. Without Loss to the Impropriators And to the great Benefit of the Nation Wherein of Maintaining the Poor And taking off the Charge of the Poor-Rates throughout England Page 218. Six other Great Advantages to the Nation Propos'd by this Method Page 227. The Objection Answer'd That this wou'd make the Clergy too Rich. Page 230. Wherein of the Monastick-Life Page 233. Of the Coelibacy of the Clergy Page 237. And their bearing Secular Employments Page 240. CONCLUSION Page 248. A Form of Prayer and Thansgiving upon the Offering of our Tythe to the Priest With a Blessing to be Pronounced by the Priest upon us oâ— by the Bishop upon a Priest that Offers to Him Page 254. AN ESSAY Concerning the Divine Right OF TYTHES INTRODVCTION ST Clemens Romanus writing to the Corinthians about the Schism which had Unhappily broken out in their Church spent most of his Epistle to them in Guarding them against the Sins of Pride and Contention as the Apostle Paul had done in both his Epistles to them knowing that these were the Roots whence their Schism grew and All Schisms do Grow And that if they cou'd once Return from their Pride into the Frame of a Meek and truly Humble Spirit their Schism wou'd soon Wither and Decay This is the most Effectual Method to strike at the Root of a Disease without this ther can be no thorow Cure This is the Method I have Chose in the Subject I have Undertaken To make my Entrance with some Considerations concerning that Trust and Dependence which we ought to have in God The Want of which is the Root of all Covetousness which is therefore call'd Idolatry because iâ— transfers our Trust from God to Mammon And Covetousness is so the Rooâ— of Sacrilege that as no Man wou'd Rob God for Nought so can nonâ— Return from his Sacrilege till he iâ— Cur'd of that Covetousness which caused it And Covetousness cannot bâ— Cur'd while we are Possess'd with that Dis-trust of God which naturally leads to Covetousness and is thâ— Cause of it And while we remain in that Frame no Arguments can Prevail or Charms have Power over such an Adder as is Deaf to every thing but Gain Therefore I have begun at the Root And let no Reader think this Subject of Trust in God because it is so Common unworthy of his Consideration for None upon Earth have it as they ought to have And we are to Encrease in it and that must be by often Meditation upon it which by the Grace of God without which we can do nothing is the most Effectual Means to Strengthen our selves in it However it is Necessary to the Business I am now upon And to offend those as little as may be who may think it a Needless Preparative I have been very Short upon it and afforded them rather Hints and Heads of Meditation than a Discourse suited to the Import of the Subject SECT I. Of Trust in God WHen God Created Man He Instituted a Worship which He commanded Man to Pay to Him as his Creator not that He wanted any thing from Man but for the Happiness of Man Because the Supream Happiness of Man does consist in the Knowledge and Enjoyment oâ— God And the Greatest Misery Man can fall into is to forsake God and seek for Happiness any where else Because so he must seek it where it iâ— not to be found The Great Worship of God is our Trust and Dependence upon Him as the Sovereign Disposer of all thing in Heaven and on Earth But this must be Express'd not only with our Lips but in our Actions And if we did Really Believe it wâ— would be as ready to Trust to it where Life or Estate were concern'd as in the smallest Matters But because many may think they have it when they have it not And that this Trust and absolute Dependence upon God is apt in our Weak Minds to Decay and Die unless it be stirr'd up and kept alive by frequent Instances and fresh Experiments of God's Power and Protection over us For Want of which and by the Loosness of our Lives Men are brought to look only or chiefly to Second Causes and to Trust in them Therefore God in his All-wise Dispensations has Requir'd from us continual Proofs of our Dependence upon Him even as to our Subsistence and the very Necessaries of our Life I. Thus He commanded Abram to Quit his Country and his Father's House all his Relations and Acquaintance and to travel into a strange Country Acts vij 5. where He gave him none Inheritance no not so much as to set his foot on but to Depend wholly upon His Providence to support him And so he liv'd and Isaac and Jacob and the Twelve Patriarchs Heb. xj 13. as Strangers and Pilgrims upon the Earth II. He Led the Children of Israel through a Waste and Barren Wilderness where for 40 Years together He fed them with Manna from Heaven and brought Water out of the Flinty Rock Deut. viij 3. That He might make them know that Man doth not live by Bread only by the Means of Second or Natural Causes but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of the Lord doth Man live i.e. God can support by what Means and Methods He pleases and Second Means have no Virtue but what they Receive from Him Not only no Virtue as to their Qualities and Operations But even as to their Quantity and Encrease Thus they who Exod. xvj 18. out of Covetousness or Distrust of God gather'd more Manna than was commanded them yet found Nothing over And they who not out of Presumption gather'd less yet had no Lack. And to keep their Dependence continually upon God no more Manna was given than for one Day at once and Command was given to Gather no more than the Proportion allotted for one Day which was the Full of an Omer And that none of it shou'd be left until the next Day And when some out of good Husbandry as they thought kept of it till the next Day it did not Profit them for it bred Worms and Stank So will our Endeavours
our Tongue Prov. iij. 9. which is but an Inferiour and Contemplative Worship But He has Requir'd that we shou'd Pay Him an Active Honour that is Worship Him Ecclus xxxv 8. with our Substance This is a Necessary Part of that Glory which we must give to God and as much Preferable to Verbal Praises as Deeds are more than Words The Psalmist Describes this Plainly Psal xcvj 8. Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto His Name or The Glory of His Name as our Margin reads it What is that Glory The next Words shew it Bring as Offering and come into His Courts Hence that Command is so oft Repeated Exo. xxiij 15. Ch. xxxiv 20. Deut. xvj 16 17. That None shou'd appear Empty before the Lord. When we Approach to Worship GOD we must Sacrifice more or less of our Mammon before Him to shew that we Depend upon God for our whole Subsistence and that Mammon is not that God But we offer him up as a Sacrifice to another God to a Greater than he I will not offer unto the Lord my God said David of that which doth Cost me Nothing 2 Sam. xxiv 24. But I will not Labour this Point further because I suppose that I shall have none to oppose me For All Christians do Grant that some Part of our Substance is Due to God Nay this is a Notion wherein All Mankind do agree and have done at All Times since the Beginning of the World No Nation was ever so Barbarous that did not Sacrifice to some God or other And though the Outward Typical BLOODY Sacrifices have ceas'd among Christians since Christ the True and only Propitiatory Sacrifice offer'd His own Blood for Us upon the Cross yet I hope ther is not any Christian to be found who thinks that we are therefore Releas'd from the Command of Honouring the Lord with our Substance and Disposing of some Part of our Money though not in Beasts for Sacrifice yet in the Service of God which never did Consist wholly in the Sacrifice of Beasts Ther are and ever were other Parts of His Worship and from which we are not Releas'd For as Irenaeus proves Advers Haeres l. 4. c. 34. Ther are Offerings and Sacrifices under the Gospel as well as under the Law that the Command is not Abolish'd only the Species of some are Chang'd It being therefore Granted That some Part of our Substance is Due to God let us proceed to Enquire what that Part is or whether God has left us wholly at loose to give what Part we Please and in what Manner we think fit 2. This being a Part of God's Worship it cannot be Paid after our Fancies but as God has Appointed it To Give Alms to a Poor Man iâ— an Act of Charity and Commanded by God But it is not a Dired Act of Worship or Devotion Every Good Act we do whether of Mercy or Justice or any other Morality is and may be Constru'd Consequentially to be a Worship of God as being done in Obedience to His Command And thus every Act of ouâ— Life may be counted an Act of Worship because Whether we Eat or Drinâ— or whatever we do 1 Cor. x. 31. we are Commanded to do All to the Glory of God Buâ— all these Acts have ever been Distinguish'd from the Acts of Direct WORSHIP which are to be Regulateâ— strictly according to the Positive Command of God in Scripture from which we must not Depart either 〈◊〉 the Right Hand Deut. v. 32. or to the Left neither to Add to it Ch. xij 32. or Diminish from it But in General Actions of Morality we are left to the General Guidanoâ— of our own Reason according to the General Directions of the Scripture and the Ordinary Assistances of the Holy Spirit and to the Performance of which General Promises are annexed But in the more Direct Acts of Worship which are All Commanded by Revelation we are Limited Precisely to what is so Revealed and ther are Particular and Peculiar Promises annexed to the Performance and a more than ORDINARY Assistance and Participation of the Holy Spirit of God Therefore what Part of our Substance God has Reserv'd as a Part of His Worship is not to be Reckon'd among Bare Acts of Charity but must be Offer'd in such Manner and Method as He has Commanded This being Premised we will now see whether any Determinate Quantum of our Estates has been Reserv'd by God as Sacred to Himself SECT V. Of the Determinate Number of a Tenth under the Law THE Cabalists make many Mysteries in this Number It is the Completion of all Single Numbers and the first Number of Increase by which all Nations do Multiply And therefore ther seems to be even some Natural Aptitude in this Number beyond that of any other which forces all Mankind without Concerting to Multiply by it And being thus in many Respects the most Perfect of Numbers the First and Last of Numbers comprehending all Single Numbers and Multiplying them in Infinitum it seems the most Fit and Proper Number wherein to Pay our Tribute to God who is the First and the Last and Multiplies all we have unto us by this acknowledging that All we Enjoy and all our Increase is His and comes from Him Ther are Cabalisms upon this Number as to the Decalogue comprehending all Duty and the Ten Candlesticks in the Temple 1 Kings vij 49. representing the Ten Severities and Mercies as they reckon them of God and the Holy Seed is called a Tenth Isa vj. 13. They tell us that ther is a Mytholology not only in the Quantum or Number of the Tythe but in the Manner of its Payment viz. The People were to Pay the Tenth to the Levites and the Levites the Tenth of their Tenth to the High-Priest They say that the People do represent the Corporeal Part of Man the Levites the Animal and the High-Priest the Spiritual which is the Highest And that as the People fed the Levites by Paying their Tythe to them and the Levites in the same manner fed the High-Priest so in Man the Corporeal Part feeds the Animal and the Animal feeds the Spiriâ—ual But I leave these Allusions and whatever Truth ther may be in â—hem yet I lay no Stress of my present Argument upon them I Enquire not now after Tythes upon account of the Reasons either Natural or Cabalâ—istical for the Fitness of that Number above any other But I desire to follow Matter of Fact and see what God has Appointed for if that can be found out it Determines our Obedience more Positively and Certainly than a Thousand Conjectures or Contrivances of our own Let me only observe that Ten being the utmost Number it is the leasâ— Proportion that cou'd be Reserv'd for Nine wou'd be a Greater Proportion of our Goods and Eight a Greateâ— than that c. But now to follow the Clew oâ— Matter of Fact by which I intend to Determine this Cause
of Tythe It is in the first place very Evident Thaâ— a Tenth Part of all Increase was Reserv'd as such under the Law Anâ— that it was to be offer'd to the Priests not only as a Maintenance to them but as an Offering unto the Lord iâ— the same Nature as other Offerings anâ— Sacrifices Num. xviij 24. The Tythes of the Childreâ— of Israel which they offer as an Heavâ—â— Offering unto the Lord. All the Tythe of the Land Lev. xxvij 30. whether 〈◊〉 the Seed of the Land or of the Fruit 〈◊〉 the Trees is the Lord's it is Holy unto the Lord. Thither shall ye bring your Burnt-Offerings Deut. xij 6. and your Sacrifices and your Tythes and Heave-Offerings of your Hands and your Vows and your Free-Will-Offerings and the Firstlings of your Herds and of your Flocks Here the Tythes are reckon'd in the same Rank with the Sacrifices and other Offerings and Vows as Holy unto the Lord As they are again Deut. xxvj 13. where they are called The Hallowed Things And hence the Substraction of Tythes is called a Robbing of God and that equally with the Substracting of the other Offerings of the Lord. Will a Man Rob God Mal. iij. 8 9. Yet ye have Robbed Me But ye say Wherein have we Robbed Thee In Tythes and Offerings Ye are Cursed with a Curse for ye have Robbed me even this whole Nation SECT VI. A Tenth Requir'd before the Law shewn in Abram and Jacob. BUT now it Remains to be known whether this was a Particular Institution only to the Jews under the Law Or whether it had a more Ancient Rise And how Ancient That it was before the Law it is Evident from the Example of Abram Gen. xiv 20. who Paid Tythes to Melchisedec and of Jacob Ch. xxviij 22. who Vow'd his Tythes to God I. But ther are Objections against these two Instances 1. As to Melchisedec It is said Abram That the Tenth Part which Abram gave to Melchisedec was not any thing that was Due to Melchisedec nor given to him under the Notion of Tythe nor to him as he was a Priest but that it was only a Voluntary Boon or Gratuity which Abram gave to him and that it might have been an Eighth a Ninth a Twelfth a Fifteenth or any other Part Abram had Pleas'd Answ All this Pretence is overthrown by what is said in the vij Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews where Ver. 4. the Apostle argues the Greatness of Melchisedec above Abram from Abram's Paying of Tythes to him Now Consider saith the Text how Great this Man was unto whom even the Patriarch Abram gave the Tenth of the Spoils But if it had been only a Gratuity or Free Gift from Abram it wou'd have argu'd the Greatness of Abram above Melchisedec for the Giver is Greater than the Receiver But when any thing is paid as a Tribute or a Rent Due it argues the Greatness of the Receiver above that of the Payer And therefore unless Abram paid his Tythe to Melchisedec as a Tribute Due to him the Apostle's Argument is so far from being Conclusive that it operates quite Contrary to that Inference which the Apostle made from it and Proves the Greatness of Abram above Melchisedec whereas the Apostle in this Verse and Ver. 7. puts it without all Contradiction that Abram was the Less and Melchisedec the Greater and the Better And this was not a Personal Comparison betwixt them but the Preference given to Melchisedec was in respect of his Character because he was a Priest whose Office it was to Bless in the Name of the Lord. Thence St. Paul argues That without all Contradiction the Less is Blessed of the Better Again Ver. 9. The Apostle argues the Preference of the Melchisedecal Priesthood before that of Levi because Levi in his Father Abram paid Tythes to Melchisedec Here 1. it is Establish'd that those who RECEIVE Tythes are Greater and of Higher Dignity than those who PAY the Tythes to them 2. It is hence made Manifest That the Tythe which Abram paid to Melchisedec was Paid in the true Notion of Tythe as Tythe and a Tribute which was Due to Melchisedec as he was Priest of the Most High God For if it had not been Paid as Tythe how cou'd Levi have been said to have Paid Tythes in Abram And the Word is observable v. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Melchisedec Tythed Abram i. e. Put him under Tythe or Exacted it from him as his Due The Vulgar Translates it Decimas sumpsit ab Abram He Took Tythes from Abram 3. And because it was Part of the Priest's Office to Receive The Lord's Tythe a Receiver of Tythe and a Priest are Terms Synonimous Thus in this same Chapter Heb. vij it is said v. 8. Here Men that Die Receive Tythe that is Under the Law the Priests were Mortal and therefore ther was a Necessity of their succeeding one another But there that is in the Case of Christ Typify'd by Melchisedec He i.e. Christ Receiveth them Tythes of whom it is witnessed that he Liveth i. e. Liveth for Ever and so is not to be succeeded by any other High-Priest And He Ever Liveth to Receive our Tythe for Ever that is for Ever to be our High-Priest for a Priest and a Receiver of Tythe are here made to be the same He Christ Receiveth them the Tythes that is in the Language of this Text He Christ is our Priest And in Repeating the same thing over again Ver. 23. the Word Priests is put for those who are call'd Receivers of Tythe in the 8th Verse for speaking of the Mortality of the High-Priests of the Tribe of Levi it is express'd thus in the 8th Verse Here Men that Die Receive Tythes And Ver. 23. it is thus worded They were many Priests because they were not suffer'd to Continue by reason of Death And then when in the Comparison the Eternity of the Priesthood of Christ is set forth it is said Ver. 24. Because He continueth Ever He hath an Vn-Changeable Priesthood Which is Expressed Ver. 8. by saying That He Ever Liveth to Receive Tythes Which is the same as being a Priest as the Text runs But there He Christ Receiveth them Tythes of whom it is witnessed that He Liveth So that as a Sacrificer and a Priest are the same because none have a Right to Sacrifice but the Priests a Receiver of Tythes is as Synonimous to a Priest for the same Reason because none other but the Priests only have any Right or Title to Receive the Tythes of God For as beforesaid Tythes are Part of the Offerings to God Part of his Worship and therefore to be Paid as such into the Hands of his Priests only as all other of His Offerings and Sacrifices were This shews the Folly of those who wou'd have these Tythes paid to Melchisedec as King and not as Priest Because he is call'd King of Salem as well as Priest of the Most