great Sin where e're 't is found The Church in her Prayers for this day seems not to make any confession for this Sin she thinks her hands are clean she eats and wipes her mouth and says she has done no wickedness Prov. 30. 20. and yet 't is a Bishop that says though it was said indeed before he was Bishop in his preface to the Relation of the death of the primitive Persecutors that they who let themselves loose to all the Rages of a mad Prosecution of some poor undiscreet and deluded People ought seriously to profess their Repentance of this fury in Instances that may be as visible and edifying as their rage hath been publick and Destructive And now we proceed to Examine whether some drops of Abels blood may not be found in the skirts of England and search into the Stuff that we may know whether there be any Accursed thing hid in it That we may accordingly govern our selves in these days of Fasting and Lamentation The first thing we shall consider that was imposed upon the Nonconformists is the subscription in the Act of Vniformity with the Oath in the Oxford Act in which are these words I A. B. do declare that it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King Again I A. B. do swear that it is not lawful We refused thus to declare and swear and here observe these three things First a man may believe a Proposition to be true though it be disputable which yet he would not be willing to swear that it was true As I believe the Pope to be Antichrist yet I am not willing to swear that the Pope is Antichrist I believe by Mystical Babylon is meant Rome I believe the Saints in Heaven know not our affairs here yet I should be unwilling to swear it Secondly That Barclay Grotius and others who have written Largely in favour of the Prerogative of Crowned Heads do yet allow that there are some cases in which it is lawful for the Subject to take Arms against the King and if the King turns Tyrant Governing not by Law but by his own Will he doth Excidere de jure etsi haereditario Thirdly All the Nobility and Gentry of England all the Nobility and Gentry of Scotland and all the Protestant Princes beyond the Seas in their Proceedings against the late King James have justified the Nonconformists in refusing the Oxford Oath Whose turn is it to take shame now The Second thing we must consider is that about Re-ordination in the Act of Vniformity as though Ordination by Presbyters and Pastors of Churches were not sufficient without the laying on of the Hands of those we now call Bishops Lords Bishops To this I say 1. That the Word of God in the New Testament makes no difference between the Bishop and the Presbyter or Pastor of a Church He that is a Pastor of a Church of Christ is a Gospel Bishop Christs Bishop Act. 20. 17 28. the same persons that are called Presbyters in one place or Elders are in the other called Bishops or Overseers So Tit. 1. 5 6 7. Timothy was ordained by the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytery 1 Tim. 4. 14. of this Judgment were Augustine Jerom Chrysostome with many others among the Greeks and Latins 2. All our Learned Divines at the Reformation from Popery held that the Ordination by the Pastors of Churches was valid and good the 23 Article of ministring in the Congregation seems to speak as much of this Judgment are the French Churches Belgick and Helvetick Churches besides many others I need not name the Church of Scotland for Scotland hath justified all our Nonconformity by restoring the ejected Ministers to their places as of old 3. Our Diocesan Bishops may glory over us as the Kings Bishops Bishops of the State but they must not pretend to be so near in Blood to the Scripture Bishops of the first two hundred years as the Pastors of single Congregations wherefore I say that Ordination by the hands of the Pastors of Churches filled with the Holy Ghost is much more eligible than by Diocesan Bishops The Third point we must consider is the Declaration in the Act of Vniformity which is this I A. B. do here declare my unfeigned Assent and Consent to all and every thing contained and prescribed in and by the Book Intituled the Book of Common Prayer Here we refuse 1. In the matter of Assent Many things might be named but one shall suffice we can't Assent to that passage in the Creed commonly called Athanasius Creed where 't is said that every one that doth not keep that Faith whole shall without doubt perish Everlastingly Now one Article of that Creed is about the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son which the Greek Churches did not Believe nor receive If I believe it was an Error in the Greek Churches and that they see not clearly into that Mystery yet I must be very bold if I leap into the Throne of Judgment and pronounce them Lost and Damned The Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son is a most profound Mystery and very much obscured by bringing in that word Procession Which the Scripture on that occasion never uses The Church of Rome indeed solemnly Anathematizes the Greeks in Bulla Coenae every Maundy Thursday as so many Schismaticks and Apostates 'T is a considerable point of Popery to curse and destroy all that seem to differ from us in Opinion 2. In the matter of consent we cannot consent to every thing contained and prescribed in and by the Book intituled the Book of Common Prayer I intend not to speak of the Ceremonies the Cross the Surplice because all know they came from Rome and when Rome falls they will fall too Neither shall I look into the Prayers of the Church though that is no very commendable passage wherewith she is so oft upbraided in praying that the Late King James a profest Papist might persevere in the Faith but that which I shall account for is our Refusal to Read the imposed Form of Common Prayer a point a little more difficult but not less material than that of Ceremonies and here pray judge between Vs and the Church of England First During the Apostles time and two or three hundred years after there was no Liturgy used nor imposed neither did they direct for the drawing up of any and inforcing it by Penal Laws it hath been abundantly cleared by those that have laboured in this controversy that the Pastors of Churches in the primitive Times did not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Read Prayers de Scripto recitare They did Read Psalms Chapters but they did not Read Prayers Acts 12. 5. The Prayer of the Church for Peter's Inlargement was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Instant Fervent without ceasing but not by any prescribed Form as is agreed upon by all sides some have been so curious as to observe
that in the Primitive Times the Saints usually prayed with their Eyes fixed on the Mercy-seat or closed which utterly disables Persons for Reading Prayers 2. The Pastors of Churches in the Primitive Times were under the teaching of the Anointing and had the Spirit and Gift of Prayer The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Justin Martyr Apol. 2. is vindicated beyond all exceptions by which it's most manifest that they prayed not then in their Assemblies by Book or Form but from the Gift and Ability they had So likewise that of Tertullian Apol. 1. Sine monitore quia de pectore oramus shews clearly not only that the Primitive way of Prayer was not by prescribed Liturgies but that it was the Heathenish way of Prayer The Christians prayed by Heart the Heathens prayed by Book The Heathenish Greeks Persians Romans had their Monitors Priests and Sacred Persons who were wont to say Prayers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of a Book This is a matter well known from the Authority of Apuleius Pausanias Livy Cicero Lactantius 3. When the Christians were so numerous at Constantinople that it was thought convenient to Dispose of them in several Churches that zealous Emperour Constantine the Great writes to Eusebius Bishop of Caesarea for fifty Bibles for the use of the Churches but there is no mention of any one Common-Prayer-Book Euseb l. 4. c. 34 36. 4. When Forms of Prayer began to be used every Church made use of what Forms they pleased so Socrates Scholast lib. 5. And it appears by the Epistles of Pope Pius the Fifth and Gregory the Thirteenth prefixt to the Breviarium Romanum that the several Churches of the Roman Communion had their several Liturgies until that branch of the Churches Liberty was taken away by the Council of Trent Here in England before the Reformation we had several Modes of Common-Prayer-Books some after the use of Sarum others after the use of York Lincoln which afterward were reduced to one for publick use and imposed by Law 5. 'T was the Ignorance Carnality the Sloth and Laziness of the Clergy together with their Pride which first brought in and imposed Service-Books upon the Churches as for those Liturgies which bear the Great names of St. James Peter Mark Clemens Basil and Chrysostom they are known Forgeries When the Church began to be an Harlot when Bishops were not Silver Trumpets but Tinkling Cymbals Clouds without Water Bells without Clappers and Breasts without Milk when the Bishops in Councils as of Ephesus and Chalcedon profest they did Literas ignorare and could not write their own Names to confirm their Canons then came in our Liturgies 6. 'T is no part of our business to enquire whether in some cases it may not be lawful to use a Set Form of Prayer but I would satisfie you in this that our way of Worship without the Restraint of Set Forms is most agreeable to the way of Worship used by the Holy Apostles and by the Primitive times for many hundreds of years past before Set Forms were used and many hundreds more before they were imposed Now I must desire you to observe this one thing that there is great difference between Vsing a Set Form and Imposing it which I shall clear to you thus We find Levit. 5. 7. that there was provision made for such as were Poor in their Estates that if they were not able to bring for a Trespass-Offering or Sin-Offering a Lamb or Kid of the Goats he might bring Two Turtle-Doves or Two young Pigeons which the Lord would accept of but if a Rich man that had Flocks and Herds had brought Two young Pigeons the Lord would have abhorred it and much more if all the Rich men in Israel had agreed together from a principle of Covetousness in making a Law that it should be penal for any man be he Rich or Poor to bring any thing for a Sin-Offering besides Two young Pigeons Many persons in the Churches may be poor in Parts and in Gifts and may need the help of a Set Form of Prayer but to Impose by Law a Set Form upon all be their ability for Prayer never so great is to bind us up to the offering of Doves and Pigeons when we are able to bring before the Lord Lambs Kids and Bullocks this were a Law to be disliked Or thus whereas the condition of some that are Lame and Impotent requires the help of Crutches to go to Market and they are to be pitied under their Infirmities yet if a Law were made that every man that comes to Market without Crutches should lose one of his Ears you would all cry out that it was an unequal and unrighteous Law Some may need and use Set Forms but to Impose them upon all under severe and terrible Penalties is that which hath no warrant from Scripture nor the first and best Ages of the Church A Fourth Point we are to look into is that Branch of the Subscription required by the Act of Vniformity which concerns the Covenant it runs thus I do declare that I do hold there Lies no obligation upon me or any other person from the Oath commonly called the Solemn League or Covenant to endeavour any Change or Alteration of the Government either in Church or State and that the same in it self was an unlawful Oath and Imposed on the Subjects of the Realm against the known Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom We have Refused to Renounce this Covenant now consider what we say for our selves 1. There are many useful Preachers and Men of good Learning that never read a Law-book in their Lives they know nothing of Magna Charta Bracton Littleton Cook Common Law Statute Law Is it reasonable then to require them to Declare the Covenant is contrary to known Laws and Liberties which they are utterly unacquainted with 2. Though I am one of those that never took the Covenant yet when I consider That the King Lords and Commons of England and Scotland have taken it 't is a very strange thing if it should bind none of them not one of them A man had need spend some years in Casuistical Divinity and read all the Books which are Extant De Obligatione Juramenti before he absolve two or three Kingdoms and declare understandingly that no one man is bound by that Oath which almost every man took 3. By the Covenant all persons were bound in their places to endeavour a Reformation of the Church according to the Scriptures and the Examples of the Best Reformed Churches is this an unlawful Oath if a man should swear that in his Place and Calling he would endeavour with all his might to cast every Idol out of the World we see our King the Lords and Commons of Scotland have cast off Prelacy and Established Presbytery But I will speak no more to this Subject By what you have heard you may judge whether we have been straining at Gnats or other men have swallowed Camels The Fifth Point
and the Last we shall take notice of is that passage in the Liturgy concerning the Commination or Denouncing of Gods Anger and Judgments against sinners which begins thus Cursed is the man that maketh any Carved or Graven Image to worship it Cursed is he that curseth his Father and Mother Cursed is he that removeth his Neighbours Land-mark And all the People are to say Amen In the Preface to this Commination we have words to this purpose That until the Godly Discipline of the Primitive Church may be restored again which is much to be wished it is thought good instead thereof to Read the general sentences of Gods cursing against impenitent sinners and that the People should answer to every sentence Amen Upon this occasion I have these things to present to your meditation First That those Excellent Persons our Reformers and Compilers of this Book of Common-Prayer had no full satisfaction in what was then done They ingenuously confess they came short of the Godly Discipline of the Primitive Times and that the Reformation should have been carried on higher if the Times would have given leave and yet they had then their Government by Bishops Arch-bishops Chancellors Registers Arch-deacons Surrogates and Proctors as we have at this day But as Moses gave the License of Divorces because of the Jews hardness of heart but from the beginning it was not so in like manner our Reformers direct to this way of Commination and Cursing instead of the Antient Discipline allowing that from the beginning it was not so Matth. 19. 8. Secondly 'T is more than a hundred years since these Good men first recorded their hearty desires and wishes for a higher and more compleat Reformation in these words Vntil the said Discipline may be restored again which is much to be wished and it is enough that the Church carries her Good Wishes with her through all Generations The Bishop of Sarum in his excellent Sermon upon Psal 144. 15. before the House of Commons calls upon them to carry the Reformation higher as they desire to see the Church and State to prosper You can concur in giving the last finishings to our Reformation many of the old Corruptions do yet remain among us in practice and the Administration of the Ecclesiastical Authority is liable to great Objections I will not run out into farther particulars for it will be easie to find them and if you once set about it you will soon see what work there is before you Now if after all there be nothing done for the Lord and his House then will these wishes of our Reformers stand as a Testimony against our Prelates for ever Thirdly Many of the Prophets Apostles and Holy Men of old fell into great Trouble by standing up in their places for a Reformation Idolatrous Ahab and Jezebel made Elijah weary of his Life Isaiah the Prophet was as Dorotheus saith sawn asunder for opposing the Corruptions of his time The Holy Apostles were charged by the Jews though most falsly that they turned the World upside down Acts 17. 6. and accordingly they sought their Destruction Our Lord Jesus Christ came in the time for Reformation Heb. 9. 10. and pursued it so closely that the rage of the Jews the Priests Scribes and Pharisees was kindled against him and nothing but his Blood shed by false Accusation upon the Cross could quench it We may compare John 2. 15. with Mat. 21. 12. where we find him cleansing the Temple And he made a Scourge of small Cords he drove them all out of the Temple and the Sheep and the Oxen and poured out the Changers Money and overthrew the Tables In this Nehemiah seems to have been his Type ch 13. 8. and it grieved me sore therefore I cast forth all the Houshold-stuff of Tobiah out of the Chambers of the House of the Lord 't is a dangerous yet a needful work to Cleanse and Reform Our Lord Christ owned it and upon that which our Lord Christ did of this kind we may make these Remarks 1. That with this Reforming work our Lord began and ended his Ministry not once but twice did he cast the buyers and sellers out of the Temple Diseases are apt to return upon the Ecclesiastical body 2. He scourged them out as so many Beasts to shew that he was a Lion as well as a Lamb. 3. That in that necessary work he had no regard to his own safety the zeal of the Lords House eat it up 4. Men will never part with their gainful corruptions till constrained by the rod. 5. The Lord makes a scourge for those that were wont to make a scourge for others that disliked their Corruptions in worship Matth. 10. 17. 6. Those are vile and base and as so many Beasts in our Lords account that are enemies to Reformation Fourthly That which the Nonconformists of these Three Kingdoms have Written for Preached for and Suffered for is that the Godly Worship and Godly Discipline of the Primitive Church may berestored which is much to be wished So it was said by our Fathers so it is now said by the Liturgy and so we also say at this day It was no crime heretofore nay 't is no crime now when the Church-men say we need a farther Reformation and it can be no crime in us neither why then should we be afraid That expression about the Godly Discipline stands in the Liturgy as well for the Justification of the Nonconformists as for a Testimony against the Prelates Fifthly It was the Glory of Moses that he was faithful in the house of God Heb. 3. 5. He did all things according to the pattern in the Mount it was also the Glory of King Solomon that in building of the Temple and ordering all things about the Porch Courts Chambers the Altars Lavers Tables and golden Candlesticks he kept precisely to divine direction as in 1 Chron. 28. 11-19 The Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me Even all the works of this pattern now if this were the Glory of these great men to keep to the Rule it can never be our shame to walk in their steps and follow their example pressing continually to have all things in Gods House according to the Pattern in the Mount Having this occasion to make mention of Solomon and the Magnificent Temple which he built 't is our present concernment to stand still a little and make some short reflectiosn upon it 1. I say the first fixt place for solemn worship that ever God appointed was Solomons Temple The Tabernacle of Moses was indeed the Place for Divine Service to which the Tribes were to resort But then the Tabernacle was a walking Temple sometimes at Shilo sometimes else where For the space of about 500 years from Moses to Solomon there was no fixt Place for worship as afterwards the Temple was 2. That the only fixt place for solemn worship by the immediate designation and appointment of God was the Temple at