Vulg. in those things which pertain to God Tu eris illi in Principem quaerentem Doctrinam à facie Domini Targ. Jonath Thou shalt be a Prince to him a Prophet as well as he yea and somthing more then a Prophet he shall seek the word which he is to speak from thee and that as it were from the face of God Numb 12.6 9. If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a Vision or I will speak to him in a dream but my servant Moses is not so this is the difference betwixt him and Aaron with him will I speak Mouth to Mouth even apparently not in dark speeches and the Similitude of the Lord that is of God man to come in the flesh this Similitude of the Lord as praelusory to the reality of his Incarnation shall he behold So that what was Jethro's counsel betwixt Moses and the People seems here to be Gods institution betwixt him and Aaron cap. 18.19 Moses was to be to Aaron to God ward to bring the causes unto and to receive the Law from God and Aaron being to be his Oratour or his Herald was to make Proclamation of the Divine Law unto the People and upon all occasions to consult the Face of Moses the Face which did shine because of the Divine Glory on it and was therefore to be consulted as an Oracle This Paraphrase though it may be true in the Letter of the Text yet to take in the scope of the whole Paragraph which is a Vnion fixed by God himself betwixt these two we must as to this expression further improve our search Instead of God that is to defend him that so he may speak boldly for thee as he ought to speak that his Mouth which is no longer his but Thine may be opened for Thee in confidence We find in this book of Exodus that Princes and the chief Ministers of Justice amongst men are first called Gods cap. 21.6 the servant that had a mind to continue with his Master for ever was to come unto the Judges that is unto the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original and before them was the perpetual service to be ratified and again cap. 22.8 The thief was to be brought to the Judges that is to the Gods the same word in the Original to see whether he had put his hands to his neighbour's goods and vers 28. such Magistrates are secured from all manner of slander that may be cast upon them by malice of evil speaking Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people They are called Gods upon several accounts I briefly instance but in two the Vbiquity of their Presence the Omniscience of their Knowledge 1. The Vbiquity of their Presence they are every where their influence is unlimited the fancy is not new antienter then a modern Poet and I hope may now be better applied that Kings and Princes do in this resemble the Deity being like a Circle whose center is every where and whose circumference is no where God and the King can do no harm says our Law the reason is that Diffusive influence that is from Both directing manageing swaying and conveying all the good and all the happiness that is felt or enjoyed by the lower world or the inferiour sort of mankind all which is purely the product of Providence from the One and Government from the Other and if the Sun shining upon a Dunghill doth exhale vapours that are offensive it is not because there are spots in the Sun in Heaven but there is corruption in the Dunghill upon earth 2. The Omniscience of their knowledge they do as it were know every thing Prov. 16 10. A Divine sentence is in the lips of the King His Mouth erreth not in judgment Who could have thought that the way to find out the bowells of a Mother was to make the Child a sacrifice till King Solomon as the first effort of his Princely Spirit tried the experiment but says the Text 1 King 3 28. The wisdome of God was in the King to do judgment And this kind of Omniscience is a gift bestowed upon Judges and other Ministers of Justice when they execute the Laws of God and the King upon Capital offenders the indictment against whom is that they have not the fear of God before their eyes our Law taking special notice of the malice of the heart and proving that by some Overt-act whilst many times the Judge upon the Bench to the admiration of the standers by through a little very little glimpse of a most improbable circumstance doth unravel a whole mystery of iniquity so that on a sudden the Prisoner stands self-condemned at the Bar he might spare both Judge and Jury the trouble of bringing in and pronouncing their Verdict since the sentence of Death is to be read in his countenance and his face gathers blackness what can all this be but an immediate assistance a special illumination from God himself in the moment of judgments Psal 82. God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he judgeth among the Gods ver 6. I have said ye are Gods Grotius upon these and the like expressions in Scripture tells us that wherever the name of God is given unto men significat judiciariam potestatem jus vitae necis it implies a judiciary power and that no less than of life and death Our blessed Saviours Comment upon the compellation which certainly is the best runs thus Saint John 10.35 he called them Gods D. Ham. unto whom the Word of God came It is observed by a learned Paraphrast of our own that the coming of the Word of the Lord signifies Gods appointing a Man to some particular Office and giving him power and ability for the performance of that Office to which he is appointed and so it is constantly used in the writings of the Prophets who do most of them begin their Prophecies with this solemn form of Words The Word of the Lord came unto me saying which is no more then as it were the Opening of their Commission the Reading of their Patent the first shewing and vouching of that Authority by which they act all which is an intimation unto us that the Supreme Magistrate and other subordinate Rulers and Governours sent by Him for the punishment of wickedness and vice and the praise of those that do well have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something of Divinity stampt both on their Persons and their Office and consequently that Both are Sacred This account you have of the Compellation as it may be applicable either to King Priest or any Ministerial Dispensour of Publick Justice whence by the way it is again observable That the Priest had all along from the beginning his share in Civil Government if the Word of God came to Moses in that he was instead of God yet it was to be spoken or published from the Mouth of Aaron
heaven the Blessed of the Lord even amongst Indians and Armenians those that sate in darkness and the shadow of death unto them by this Apostle was preached the word of life and that life was the Light of God and last of all how he seal'd the Doctrine which he deliver'd with his Blood his skin flay'd off and so he was exposed like his Master a man of sorrows neither was he in his death unlike unto him being nailed to a cross he committed himself and his cause to God that judgeth righteously All this it may be piously received and entertained from a literal and oral Tradition but ignorantly enough God knows how true fides penes sit Authores let those who have a more easy faith believe whose main business it is to gain credit to such things of which they are not themselves overmuch perswaded Our Church therefore having little or no regard to all these has rather chose to celebrate this Apostle as one of the Twelve without any particular specifications concerning him save only that he was Brother and Companion with the rest in Tribulation and in the Kingdom and Patience of our Lord Jesus Christ Accordingly the Gospel for the Day St. Luk. 22.24 is our Saviours Determination of that perplexing Question which so much troubled the Disciples at first among themselves and has since been no small cause of Division in the Christian Church Which of them should be the Greatest not St. Bartholomew himself should we grant him right Noble by his Birth yet he must not pretend here to a Priority therefore in the Gospel the words run thus The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship and they that exercise authority are called Patrons and Benefactors But ye shall not be so not so untill that Kings be your Nursing fathers and Queens your Nursing Mothers in the mean while let no one vindicate to himself Power and Prerogative amongst you over the rest of his brethren But he that is greatest among you let him be as the Younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve And the Epistle for this Day part of which is the Text was the happy effect and result upon this Determination The Apostles agreeing together amongst themselves the Gospel of Jesus did run and was glorified their Unity was causal of respect from those who were without whilst they kept together with one accord even the place where they met was an an indication both of their piety and their prudence in or about the Temple in Solomons Porch and as an ancient Gloss upon the Text fuerunt simul sapientes in domo sapientis The wisdom of God was here justified by the children of Wisdom and that in no other place then in an House of Wisdom whilst 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the rest whither they were Friends or enemies seeing and observing their Unity ecce ut seinvicem deligant they could not but keep their distance no man durst to joyn himself to them and yet notwithstanding this awe upon their spirits the Apostles wanted neither Praise nor Admiration But the People magnified them and upon the whole the word of God grew and was multiplied Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women Well therefore has our Church in her Divine Service furnished us at this time with a Prayer for the continuance of that Vnity and Vniformity which beares its later date from this Festival to wit that it would please Almighty God to grant unto his Church to love that Word which this Apostle in the Communion of the rest believed that both those who Minister may preach and the people may receive the same in the fear of God in the love of those truths and of one another through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The words of the Text having thus given you an account of our Churches choice in the selection of them for the Epistle at this time which I could not well omit partly out of a respect to the Festival and chiefly out of a design to speak a word in season too much and sadly in season even all the year long because of these days of error schism and sedition in which we live are in themselves a Parenthesis and so an Historicall observation made in the midst of a continued Narration A Descant made of what effect the judgment of God had upon the sin of sacriledge in the verses before to wit what influence the punishment of this sin in the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira had upon the Church as also what was the effect of Gods Providence in the verses following how that God was with his Apostles to deliver them from the expectation of those who sought their lives he sent his Angel to open the prison door and out of prison they were sent to reign in the hearts of all that heard them and at length by the counsel of their enemies they were acquitted God over-ruling in those Determinations also so that this seems to be the Historical though Parenthetical observation of St. Luke writing the whole story That the Apostles and new convert Disciples being altogether with one accord in Solomons Porch of the rest durst no man joyn himself to them but the People magnified them and Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes of men and women Observe with me in the whole Parenthesis as the limits to what may be Discoused from it these four things 1. A Holy Convention They were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch 2. A Due Distance observed in that Convention Of the rest durst no man joyn himself to them 3. An awefull Reverence exhibited upon that Distance But the People magnified them 4. A Great Benefit redounding to the whole Community upon that Reverence or rather upon the whole present Dispensation Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes of men and women Of these in their order 1 A Holy Convention They were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch in which words we may observe 1. The Persons convening 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all of them 2. The Place of their meeting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Solomon's Porch 3. Their Behaviour at their meeting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 together with one accord These Three the Subject of the first Discourse 1. The Persons convening 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all of them Whether with the Apostles the new Convert Disciples or the multitudes called together at the noise of the wonders that were wrought or it may be amongst so many some out of curiosity to pry and observe and others out of evil will to seek and occasion against them that so they might deliver up these Apostles to the Rulers Thus might these multitudes at this time have been divided The Apostles were there labouring in the Word and Doctrine the new Converts were there receiving as new born babes the sincere milk of the word that they might grow thereby those who were curious and inquisitive came
they who they will it cannot be good it may be a zealous affection or affectation rather But it is not well And so I pass to the second thing In which Zeal is reprehensible and that is in relation to the Subject when the affectators of this kind are not rightly qualified as to affection or intention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They zealously affect but not well The question was cautelously put by Jehu however he was afterward mistaken in the management of his zeal when Jehonadab the son of Rechab came forth to meet him and salute him 2 Kings 10.15 Is thy heart right as my heart is right and he answered it is then was it a fit opportunity to call him up to him into his Chariot that he might see his zeal for the Lord of Hosts unless the heart be right zeal degenerates into hypocrisie and he that strains himself to act a passion upon the Stage for that while is as great a zealot as such a one who would fain make the world believe that he is transported upon the account of his Religion when neither his affection is real nor his intention sincere 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are Zealously affected but not well whose affection is not real such whose Zeal is rather Jealousie than love and this seems to be the proper import of the Phrase in the Text sumpta Metaphora a Procis Zelotypis Zelotypiae causa Paulum rivalem pseudo-apostoli non patiebantur Beza in loc The false Apostles who disturbed these Galatians in their Faith were jealous of St. Paul as their Rival lest he should too much win and gain upon the affections of the People and therefore they must needs be Zealous too and preach Christ out of strife and envy supposing so to add affliction to the other persecutions of this Blessed Apostle We find in Ezekiels Vision chap. 8.3 That in the same place where was the Image of Jealousie that prevoketh unto Jealousie behold the glory of the God of Israel was likewise there Sad it is that there should be cause to invert the Prophets Vision thus The Glory of the God of Israel is too much pretended where there are nothing but Images of jealousie erected and by uncharitable surmises and suspicions strange provocations unto Jealousie are fomented Thus in the words of a late excellent pen Zeal is many times both a Fire and Fan unto it self being blown by the ambient airy desire of applause out of a fond conceit of some selfish excellence and an evil eye upon the gifts and happy endowments of another True indeed we may covet earnestly the best gifts yea and especially that of Prophesie but then our emulations in reference to these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ordinary gifts of the holy Ghost bestowed by vertue of their Mission upon such as are diligent in the work of the Ministry ought not to be with a soure and a supercilious eye upon the better parts or more happy success of our Brethren covet we may and that earnestly the best gifts but yet says the Apostle shew I unto you a more excellent way 2 Cor. 12.31 and that is Love and Charity which is the Bond of all perfection Should we have the tongues of Men and Angels and yet want charity we are like a sounding brass and a tinckling Cymbal what is the gift of Prophecy the understanding of all mystery and of all knowledge without charity it is nothing charity envyeth not vaunteth not it self is not puffed up seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things since then there are some whose Zeal has burnt up their Love they are so suspitious lest others should go before them that they overshoot themselves we may pity them because they are in a distemper and wish that they will return to a right and a sober mind but we cannot at all approve of such jealous ardors as these which spend themselves only that they may make a greater braze then is at their neighbours fire in such a case the Affection is not Real and therefore the Zeal is to be suspected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not well 2. Men are Zealously affected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not well when the Intention is not sincere and this is the result of the former where the heart is not right void of a true affection there the main drift and scope of any action must needs be amiss A Man may shew a Zeal to himself in his earnestness for his Religion when it is more out of love to himself then to the thing which he professes as in the Text being willing that you should affect them Nay though it be a sad aggravation of the sin yet there is just cause to fear it that many are Zealous out of a Designe to Subvert and Supplant Religion when it is not established according to their humour and to bring an evil report upon the way of Godliness Such are they who decry Prophaneness and Debauchery so much that they forget Rebellion and Disobedience to be a sin who attribute the immoralities that are in mens lives to a certain Discipline restored in the Church and Government in the State and not to the general corruption of humane nature unhappily worse depraved amongst us from the Principles of Libertenisme in the late days of Rebellion first raised and since too much fomented So that these zealots have no reason to reproach us that the former days were better than these as if it were possible that God and his glory could be then more regarded when Tyranny and Usurpation was in the Throne Sacrilege and profane invasion in the Church Robbery and Oppression in every Street Sequestration and unjust Possession almost in every Estate And yet now we are Governed by a Law of Love every man sits under his own Vine and Figtree with great delight and our God is or may be worshipped in his Temple and there in the Beauties of his holiness now there is a King in Israel every man doth that which seemeth good in his own eyes Pudet haec opprobria Sad it is I confess that there should be any in the strength of such restored and renewed Mercies who provoke a Gracious God to anger and give occasion to the adversary to blaspheme but this does not excuse their malice who upon this account are ready to seek opportunity to themselves of shewing their Disaffection to the Government both Civil and Ecclesiastical rather then their Zeal for Piety and Holiness To these I have only this to say notwithstanding their pretended sanctity they cannot bragg over much of their honesty even to this day we observe it that they are a subtil crafty and a supplanting Generation And to all the world I do here profess it that upon thorow search and examination amongst all the divisions and separations that are in the midst of us could I but any where
in strength to pull down the inclosure yet every mans hand shall be against his Brother who shall first go in and take possession of the Field It was the pious animadversions of our late glorious Martyred King upon the mutual dissentions that happened amongst his enemies when both himself and the Ark was taken Captive That those contentions were but the struggling of Twins which before One Womb had inclosed the younger striving to prevail against the elder what one sort hunted after the other sought to catch for themselves and hence the same Royal Pen gives us this remark what a benefit their accrues from Unity and Uniformity So impossible it is that the Lines should be drawn from the Centre and not to divide from each other so much the wider by how much the farther they go from the point of Vnion Brethren in iniquity are not long friends Herod and Pontius are onely reconciled against Christ when their interests come once to be different they will again divide and be insolent enemies there being nothing harder then to keep ill men long in one Mind they are loth to be eclipsed or out-done in one common design he that gets most of popular applause is looked upon with an evil eye by the rest whilst on the other side they who are the most expert in framing snares and gins to hold the Vulgar Credulity by seemingly pious stratagems do hug themselves in the conceit of their own ingenuity above their fellows and still they pretend nothing but zeal and affection to those with whom they converse and all that they may keep the Populacy fast to themselves They would that the people should affect none but them And thus I have done with the first part of the Text which is the account given us of a bad and a wicked zeal described to us from the object of it when it is of Persons not of things of men and not their graces and those either Clergy Laity or persons in a more mixed Relation a certain Juncto or Knot of acquaintance they zealously affect you from the Subject of it when the affectators are not rightly quallified as to affection or intention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not well from the nature of the zeal it self when in its direct consequence it tends to a Shisme or Separation and Dis-union nay though the pretence be Comprehension yet the design is to exclude you or us separate us from you and you from us And lastly from the zealots themselves when their design is to warm themselves by the Church when it is one fire to gain Proselytes to their Party rather then to their Cause they would that you should affect them Application That we be careful lest we be drawn into temptation and a snare that we be not deceived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the slight of men as if the Dice were to be set upon us and we were to be hectored out of our Religion as too too many are out of their estates as it were by the cogging of a Dye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we beware of the subtilty of the old Scrpent and the craft of a new Generation of Vipers who lie in wait to deceive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we take heed of the cunning wiles the curious arts and Methods the industrious contrivances the ingenious sophisms of error and sedition By these two hints we may both examine our selves and be circumspect as to others know a false Zeal should either we be carried away with it or we may discover it in any one else should they seduce us by it And they are these Is not the Zeal pretended the product of Passion more than Piety the result of the Bodies Gonstitution more then a virtuous habit and frame of Mind and again is not the Thing for which there is so much Zeal more the Zealots interest then his Devotion Is he not a more laborious slave to his worldly profit than a diligent servant to his Gracious God First Is not the Zeal the product of Passion more then Piety the result chiefly of the Bodies Constitution rather then of a Virtuous habit and frame of Mind that Zeal which is the consequence of mans temper is to be suspect for choler as is moderation for lukewarmness which proceeds from an easie facil Disposition we are not to ascribe that to Piety says a late excellent pen which a man owes to his Complexion and think Religion makes him zealous when it is his Constitution Not by the way but that a Mans Natural Disposition may be Sanctified and God may and does make use of our tempers and inclinations in order to his service yet there is cause enough of suspition when the passions are not regulated or in the language of the Apostle rather then the Philosopher when we have not crucified the affections and the lusts that zeal is not kindled by a coal from the Altar in which iniquity is not done away the lips are still unclean when in other circumstances of life there are the same heats nothing but choler and anger and that violent and long continued upon every little or no occasion They whose hearts are a sacrifice of holy incense a pure flame a burnt-offering a sweet smelling savour acceptable unto God cannot spare any of their heat upon outward provocations they can pass by injuries unconcerned and be quiet so God may have his honour intire they value not their own they have not given up their understanding to their splene love and charity is the Rule they walk by amongst men and though many times they shew themselves concerned in the cause of God yet it is not so much a fretful humour running in their blood as the overflowing and circulation of Grace from the heart in a word it is a zeal for Gods House that it may stand not a design to promote their own house that it may be exalted higher which doth thus Consume them and that is the Second Note of distinction whereby we may know and beware of a false Zeal Is not the thing for which there is so much zeal more the Zealots interest then his Devotion is he not more a laborious slave to his worldly Mammon then a diligent servant to his gracious God And this is that which renders zeal though for a good thing it self to be bad The Devil thought it a sufficient Plea against Job that he did not serve God for nought none was like Job for prosperity which he knew to be the result of his Piety God hedged him in on every side no wonder if none were like him in all the earth for his integrity one that feared God an eschewed evil Had not they reason think you those who made Silver shrines for Diana to set the whole City in an uproar in the defence of their great Goddess in so much that nothing else could be heard for two hours together but this Out-cry Great is the Diana of the Ephesians whom not only