reciprocally it is a thing most reasonable that they which receive it should always enjoy it since God himself had given them both the Assurance and Confirmation God therefore will once more Determine who amongst you shall be chosen to Offer Sacrifice unto him and to take charge of those things which appertain to Piety for it is a most Absurd Matter that Chore should have Power to desire a Dignity and that God should be deprived of that Authority to dispose the same as best liked him Cease therefore to Mutiny amongst your selves and to be troubled upon these Occasions and let every one of you that desire the Priest-Hood to Morrow bring each of you his Censer with Perfume and Fire from his House But thou O Chore give place unto God and expect his Election neither Arrogate to thy Self a greater Authority than God hath but come thou also amongst the rest of thy Competitors in this Honour to hear his Judgment neither see I cause why Aaron should not be there also present to be Judged with thee in that hitherto he hath Virtuously and Uprightly behaved himself in that Office and is likewise of the same Tribe and Race that thou art off Ye shall likewise offer Incense in the Presence of all the People and when the Perfume shall be past let him whose Sacrifice shall be most Acceptable in Gods sight be declared and published for the High-Priest so shall I be acquit of that Slander which is so wrongfully urged against me whereby I am charged upon my own particular Grace and Favour to have bestowed the Office of the Priest-Hood on my Brother After that Moses had spoken in this manner the People gave over Murmuring and forbear suspecting Moses allowing in themselves all that which had been spoken as being profitable for the Common-Wealth so that hereupon they dismissed the Assembly The next Day the People reassembled themselves together to assist the Sacrifice and to hear the Strife decided amongst the Competitors neither was this Assembly without Tumult for the whole Multitude were in suspence in expectation of the Event and some of them were desirous that Moses might be Convicted of Deceit But such as were of the wiser sort amongst them desired an end of the Sedition for they feared least the Common-Wealth should be utterly ruinated if the Tumult should proceed any further the Multitude likewise being desirous of Novelties and prone to speak evil of their Magistrates were diversâ—y disposed upon every Occurrent Moses also sent his Servants to Dathan and Abiram to Summonsthem to Appear according to the Covenant and Accord to attend the Issue of the Sacrifice but their Answer was that they would not Obey him nor that they would any longer permit that Moses by his subtil and sinister Devices should signorize over the People Which when Moses understood he took divers of the Elders amongst the People with him and being no ways moved with the Contumacy of Dathan be came unto him being willingly Attended by those who were drawn to Accompany him Now when Dathan and his Friends understood that Moses with the Nobles came unto them both they their Wives and Children Assembled themselves before the Tabernacle expecting that which might ensue They likewise came Guarded with their Servants who were Armed to Oppose themselves against Moses if so be he should offer them any Violence But no sooner drew he near unto them but that lifting up his Hands towards Heaven he Cryed out with a loud Voice in the hearing of the whole Multitude and Prayed after this manner O God! said he thou Lord over all that which either Heaven Earth or Sea containeth thou art a sufficient Witness with me of all my Actions for that I have managed all things by thy Will And thou art he who hast given me Power to Execute my purposes Thou that always in Commiseration of the Hebrews hast been my perpetual Help and Assistance Hear this my Prayer for nothing that is either done or thought can be hidden from thee for which Cause I hope thou wilt not Disdain to Testifie and Justifie the Truth and manifest the Ingratitude of these Men. Thou dost exactly know the Antiquity of my Race now also Testifie the Truth for me in those things which these Men altho' they know the contrary are not ashamed to impute unto me at such time as I led a Peaceable Life And that by thy Council I forsook the Possession of my Goods and the Fruition of my Peace to Engage my self in these Miseries which I have suffered for these Men. And first of all for their Liberty and now likewise for their Safety I have readily undertaken grievious Travels now therefore since I am grown into Suspition amongst these Men who by my Care and Providence have escaped so many Mischiefs and Miseries Thou that appearedst unto me in that Fire on the Mountain of Sinai and Vouchsafest to speak unto me and to Confirm me by the sight of Miracles that in thy Name sentst me a Messenger into Egypt and hast given me Means to escape their Servitude And hast made Pharaoh's power and Armies inferior to my Fortunes that when we were ignorant of our Ways thou gavest a Passage through the Sea in whose Bottom and Womb the Egyptians were Drowned that gavest us Arms when we were unweaponed that madest the bitter Waters Savory and fit to be drank of and in our scarcity of Water forced Drink for us out of the Bowels of the hard Rock when we found no Meat on the Land thou did send it us from the Sea Moreover as a thing never hard of before afforded us Meat from Heaven and hast Established our State with Laws and Customs Be thou O Lord my Judge in all things and my Impartial Witness that I have neither bin Corrupted by any Bribe of any Particular Hebrew to favour Injustice nor that I bave suffered a Poor Man in his just Cause to loose his Right against a Rich Adversary And now having Administred the Common-Wealth will all Sincerity I am called in Question for a Crime whereof I am altogether Guiltless as if I had bestowed the Priest-Hood on my Brother for private Affection and not for thy Command sake Make it known that all things are disposed of by thy Providence and that nothing is brought to Effect by Casualty but by thy special Ordinance and to Express that thou hast care of the Hebrews Testify the same by thy just Punishment Inflicted on Dathan and Abiram who Accuse thee to be Insencible and boast that thou art Circumvented by my Subtilies But thou shalt make thy Revenge more notorious against the unbridled Detracters of thy Glory if they Perish after no common Manner least any Man should suspect that they suffer nothing Inhumane But let the Earth which they unworthily tread on open it self and swallow them up both with their Faculties and Families By this means both thy Power will manifestly appear unto all Men and thou shalt leave an Example
THE BANNER OF Corah Dathan and Abiram DISPLAY'D And Their SIN DISCOVER'D In Several SERMONS Preach'd at Bristol By JOHN MOORE Curate of Brislington and Queen-Charlton in the Diocess of Bath and Wells Concordiâ parvae crescunt Discordiá Magnae dilabuntur BRISTOLL Printed by W. Bonny for the Author and are to be Sold by most Booksellers in London and Bristoll 1696. JOSEPHUS TO THE READER CHore a Man Noble in Birth and famous for his Wealth amongst the Hebrews endued with a certain kind of Popular Eloquence seeing Moses placed in the highest Estate of Dignity was sore troubled and opressed with Envy For altho' he was of the same Tribe and Kindred yet thought he it a great Indignity in himself to be held his Inferior being both more enabled in Riches and nothing Inferior in Parentage for which Cause he began to Mutiny and Murmur amongst the Levites which were of the same Tribe with him and his Kindsmen telling them in Vehement Discourse That it was not to be suffered nor permitted that Moses under a pretence of certain Divinity should by Ambitious Policie to other Mens Prejudice only Study his own Glory shewing them how of late without all Law and Right he had given the Priest-hood to his Brother Aaron and Distributed other Dignities at his own Pleasure like a King without Allowance and Approbation of the People That this Injury done by him was not to be endured by Reason that he so covertly had insinuated himself into the Government that before he might be espied the People should be brought under Servitude For he that knoweth himself to be worthy of a Governmeâ—t sâ—riveth to obtain the same but by kind Persuâ—sions and Consent of the People and not by Force and Violence But they that despair by good means to atâ—ain thereunto unto do notwithstanding abstain from force least they should loose the Opinion of their Goodness and Honesty yet endeavour they by Malitious Subtilities to attain thereunto That it concerned the Common-Wealth to Extinguish and Root out the subtil Insinuations of such Men least of private they should at last grow publick Enemies For what Reason said he can Moses yeild why he hath bestowed the Priest-hood on Aaron and his Sons For if that God had Decreed that this Honour should have been bestowed on one of the Tribe of Levi there were more Reason that I should have it who am of the same Kindred with Moses and who surpass him both in Riches and Age. And if this Honor appertained to the most Antient of the Tribes that those of Reubens Loyns ought by right to enjoy it namely Dathan and Abiram and Phalal who are the most Ancient of that Tribe and the most powerful in Riches These things spake Chore under pretence and colour of the Weal of the Common-Wealth that is for the good of the People but in effect only to raise a Tumult amonst the Multitude and Intrude into the Office of the High-Priest This Discourse of his passing by little and little from Ear to Ear amongst the Multitude and Multiplied by the Envious and such as Maligned Aaron at last brought the whole Tribes into a Mutiny so that Two Hundred and Fifty of the chiefest Nobles grew at length to be Partakers of Chores Conspiracy and all of these inforce themselves to take away the Priesthood from Moses's Brother and to Transfer it to him The People likewise were in such sort Incensed as that they sought to stone Moses and ran all of them by confused heaps with noise and uprore crying out before the Tabernacle of God That the Tyrant was to be cut off and the People delivered from Thraldom Who under pretence of Religion had insupportable Thraldom imposed upon them for if it had been God that had chosen him i. e. Aaron to be High Priest he would have preferred such a one to the Dignity who had been worthy and would not have departed to those who were far inferiour to others that if he had Decreed to Confer it on Aaron he had remitted the Commission of his Election to the People and not left the disposing of it to his Brother Moses who long before that time had perceived Chores Treacherous Slander and saw the People very sore Incensed was notwithstanding nothing at all abashed thereat but being resolved in his Conscience that he had Governed the State uprightly and well assured that his Brother obtained the Priest-Hood not by his favour but by God's Election he came into the Congregation where he uttered not one word against the People but addressing himself unto Chore he Expostulated with him and Accused him in as much as was for him possible being besides his other Qualities Fashioned and Compos'd by Nature Eloquently to speak in publick Assemblies I think saith he Chore that both thou and every one of those pointing with his Finger at the Two Hundred and Fifty Men of his Faction are worthy of Honour Yea I Contemn not the rest of this Assembly altho' they are not to be compared with you in Riches and other Endowments For neither doth Aaron therefore possess the Priest-Hood because he is Richer for thou hast more ample Possessions than either of us neither because he is more Noble for God hath equally Imparted the same unto us all having given us one and the same Grandfather Neither have I been moved thereunto by Brotherly Affection to bestow it on him which was due to others For had I not Respected Gods Right in Disposing of this I had not forgotten my self to further and prefer another since there is no Man more near my self than my self or whom I had rather wish well to then my self For what Wisdom had it been in me to expose my self to those Dangers which they incurr who make breach of Laws to suffer another Man to Reap Fruit of my Impiety But God forbid that my Conscience should be stained with any such Sin neither were the Fruit mine also would God leave it unpunished neither in me who should Contemn him neither in you for that ye were not Ignorant of that ye ought to do and of that which was Gracefull in his Sight He himself it is that hath chosen the High-Priest and by this means hath acquitted me of that â—ccusation that in this Respect might be Objected against me for altho ' Aaron hath obtained this Degree not by my Favour but by Godsâ— own Appointment yet notwithstanding he Referreth and Remitteth the Matter to the publick Disposition and Order of you all neither requireth he any Prerogative for that â—he hath Exercised the Charge already or for that at this present it is Granted him to intermeddle with the same but esteemeth it to be the greatest Happiness that may befall him to see your Mutinies and Seditions cease For neither have we injured Gods Will in that we also wish your Assent and Allowance but that which of his own Accord he hath given it was not Lawful to refuse with a safe Conscience As
commands a Blessing even Life for evermore To conclude this Postscript I do once again pray and beseech you for the Lord Jesus's sake who is verily and indeed the true Prince of Peace and the Covenant that he sealed with his precious Blood for the present Comfort and Eternal Happiness of the Sons and Daughters of Men is a Covenant of Peace that ye will return to the high way of Salvation again and be as heretofore good Examples to those that have not yet attain'd to those large Meásures of Knowledge and Practice as you had before ye left us you have given us a grievous wound by leaving us and ye may give us an healing Plaister by your return to us again What a joyful sight would it be to the choicest Members of our Church to see you take your own Places and possesses your own Seats again Do ye not yet know that Satan's Master-piece of Malice whereby he endeavours to work Mischief to the Church of God is to sow the Tare-seed of Divisions amongst them For if he can but start a question from the unstable Heart of any one of them that may beget a doubtful Disputation amongst them he hath his ends and tho' it may seem to increase Knowledge yet if it will but make the least rent he hath as much as he looks for he knows that there will be some Standers-by that will blow at the Coal Nothing can harm the Church of Christ but the Divisions of her own Children to avoid which a true Believer will deny himself and be silent in many things of Circumstance rather than he will maintain a dispute that may in the least be prejudicial to the Church's Peace Abraham had cause enough to have held a dispute with Lot when their Herdsmen fell out about what I know not and doubtless might have had the better of it but he will not he had rather be silent and so quench the Coals of Strife than to encrease the Flame by contention he wisely foresaw the Mischief that was likely to follow the Strife and Contention that was begun betwixt them so that he presently endeavours to put out the Fire before it was too much kindled by refusing to contend at all Let there be no Strife I pray thee saith he to Lot betwixt me and thee and betwixt my Herdsmen and thy Herdsmen for we be Brethren All true Believers are the Children of faithful Abraham and therefore I could wish with all my Heart that these Words were written in Characters of Gold upon the fleshly Tables of the Hearts of all the Servants of Christ whom the Doctrin of the Gospel hath united by Articles of a true Faith how sweet would Peace and how bitter would Divisions be to them It is a remarkable thing and worth our notice that all the Miseries that the subtle Serpent hath brought upon all Mankind had its Rise and Beginning from a doubtful Disputation betwixt himself and our first Parents and thus he began with a soft smooth oily Language yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden And the Woman said unto the Serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die And the serpent said unto the woman ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil as if the Serpent had said you talk of dying if ye eat why surely ye shall not die God hath kept that Secret from you which I will reveal to you I am an Angel of Light I came down from Heaven and therefore must needs know the Mind and Will of God better than you do Ye say that if ye eat of the Tree in the midst of the Garden you shall die but I tell you that God knows that in the very day ye eat thereof your Eyes shall be opened your Understanding's enlightned your Knowledge increased and ye shall be as Gods perfectly knowing Good and Evil. Will ye then be limited by a Law when ye may have perfect Freedom Will ye be tied to the Observation of an Ordinance when ye may live above all Ordinances will ye be such Enemies to your own Good Will ye stand so much in your own Light Will ye continue blind when ye may have your Eyes open'd 'T is but stepping a little beyond the bounds of your usual walk and ye shall enjoy such unspeakable Priviledges which God never yet discover'd to you In this doubtful Disputation did the Dragon that old Serpent which is call'd the Devil and Satan lay the foundation of the mystery of Iniquity which we may plainly perceive was not wrought by a temptation to Carnal Infirmities but by a crafty Delusion to Spiritual Wickedness and if you will but consult the sacred Scriptures as Christ hath commanded Joh. 5. 39. and take diligent notice of the things ye read ye will easily perceive that Spiritual Wickedness hath had the greatest share in those Sins that have provoked the Lord to pour forth the Vials of his Wrath upon his Church and People in all Ages of the World And being assured by so sacred a Testimony as the Word of God is that the Divisions of a Kingdom do portend its Desolation let us follow those things that make for Peace and let us take the advice which the Apostle St. Paul gives us Ephes 4. 30 31 32. Grieve not the holy spirit of God whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice And be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you And now once more I pray and beseech you that if ye have any bowels of Pity or Compassion upon your native Country if ye do not desire to see the Kingdom wherein ye were born to be made an Akeldama or Field of Blood If ye do not desire to see your Relations and Neighbours wallow in their Blood and sheathing their Swords in each others Breasts that ye will return in time from the causes of it Do ye think it will be a pleasant sight to see a Company of Bloody Soldiers â—orcibly entriâ—g your Houses with drawn Swords in their Hands with Fire in their Eyes Death in their Looks their Mouths full of cursed Oaths and devillish Execrations will the noise and lamentable screeches and outcries of your Wives and Children be pleasing to you when ye shall see them kickt and beaten like Dogs in your presence and otherwise barbarously us'd before your Eyes your Houses plunder'd and spoil'd of their best Furniture your Chambers and Chests broken up and emptied of your choicest Treasures Can it be any pleasure