are condemn'd by it utterly but consider it as it relates to the Apostles and then it has another Aspect for so it is to be look'd upon as a perfect and absolute Form of Prayer given I doubt not to say to be like the Shekel in the Sanctuary a Standard to them and whereas 't is prefac'd with the Words I have read they are I conceive to be look'd on as a Canon to warrant both the Use of it and also the making it a Pattern for the Church to compose her Prayers by For 't is for such ends as these we are to think that our Saviour Christ directing his Apostles in the Duty of Praying say's unto them After this manner Pray ye In which Words there is an Act and it 's Modus or an Injunction and its Qualification Pray ye and Pray ye after this manner Which two considered with what is premis'd give ground for a double Quaere 1. Whether there ought to be a Solemn publick manner of Worship always in the Church of Christ 2. Whether that being granted we in our Church may be said to Pray after the manner prescribed by him Of both which while I speak Affirmatively of the First as briefly as I may of the Second more amply I crave the Patience of this Reverend and Learned Auditory and for my Defects Pardon The First is Whether there ought to be a Solemn and Publick Worship always in the Church of Christ or not And That there ought to be I collect from the Injunction here in the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pray ye in regard it is spoken by our Saviour in the Plural Number as to many and for that the Prayer it self is in the Plural too Our Father and then because it ends with Amen which is a Note of publick Use but chiefly in regard these Words are a part of his Divine Law as I instanc'd before whereby he must be thought to establish God's Worship if at all or any where For we may not imagine that the Words of this great Lawgiver import so little as that this Prayer of his should serve only for the present Use of his Disciples and that it should be a Temporary thing Nor can we conceive he meant that the Christian Church should have a less Solemn Service than the Jewish had If so why is this a part of this Sermon of his in the Mount where he is giving his Law why does he deliver it with so much Solemnity as he does with so much Majesty and Authority and why does he bring it in with other substantial parts of the Law of Moses of which he professes he came not to Destroy the least Iôta Surely a Solemn Service or way of worshiping God he meant by 't should be in his Church of which the Apostles to whom he speaks next to himself the prime Foundation Stones and that perpetual a known Solemn Publick and Perpetual Service which all Christian People should have Recourse to even as God's People the Jews had anciently at the Temple and their lesser Synagogues Then it was so in those Days when the Prophet Haggai's Glory appeared in the Second House and is it not most rational that it should be so in ours Yea is it not inferrible from this Rule and Precept manifestly Let who will imagin otherwise it is what I may and therefore shall express Definitively that so long as there shall be a Church upon the Face of the Earth this will authorise her to see that Prayers and Praises be rend'red to Almighty God publickly continually and that they ascend up like the Smoke of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice at the Temple as a due Homage to him For it the Arguments are very weighty and momentous For 1. Had they a Priesthood so have we an Order of Men appointed to be for ever in the Church by an unalterable Constitution Therefore doth the Apostle say of our Saviour Christ that he hath a Priesthood that 's unchangeable or that passeth not away Heb. 7. 24. As blessing us from Heaven by his Intercession on Earth by his Ministry and to like effect is that Promise of his to his Apostles that he would be always with them unto the end of the World Mat. 28. 20. Which Promise the Church has always understood not of the Apostles considered personally but of Church-Officers by an uninterrupted Succession I know the Erastians of our Age wrest the Words another way that thereby they may evacuate Episcopal Ordination For by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there say they is meant only the End or Consummation of the Jewish Oeconomy as it is taken Heb. 9. 26. But however grant it be so it matters not for that things were to continue ever after as they even as the Apostles left them is as undoubtedly true as that our Saviour till then was alwayes with them Again Had they the Jews a Day in which to serve God so have we We now the Lord's Day as they then the Sabbath And why a Day but for Holy Services to be perform'd in it Take away These by which the Day is Sanctify'd and Hallow'd and ye will near-hand make the Day an idol keeping the Day for the Dayes sake which is the Sabbath of the Ox and the Ass These two must go together still If Almighty God who made all Days be pleased above others with a Seventh or a First it is for our sakes that we may therein Devote our selves to his Service and that we may commemorate the great Benefits of our Creation and Redemption 3. What think we of the Celebration of the Eucharist which is in lieu of their Passeover in which we remember afresh and anew the Death of our Saviour Christ of Christ our Passeover as the Apostle stiles him who was Sacrificed for us is not that Solemnly to be Celebrated by us And if so can it be done I ask without Prayers and Hymns how can that be St. Mark says that our Saviour and his Apostles sung an Hymn at the Institution of it the known or wonted Hymn or Hallelujah say the Criticks that was used at the Feast beginning Psalm the 113 and ending Psalm the 118 and that Prayer was ever a Solemn Concomitant of this Grand Duty is evident Act. 2. 42. Where 't is said of those First Fruits of the Apostles Preaching that they continued in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship in Breaking Bread and in Prayer 4. Thus we have a Priesthood a Day a Duty the Eucharist for one to which I might add more and have we not an House too Yes ever was there and must be for the before specifyed Ends of which I shall speak a little more largel◠as making out to us the Publickness and Perpetuity of God's Worship for therefore Mat. 21. 13. does our Saviour say it is written My House shall be called an House of Prayer and that as Esay saith from whom that Text is quoted for all People A Pregnant and full Testimony for what
shew some Token which of the two he best accepted This is done and what is the Event In the Morning forsooth because the Gregorian Missal was taken in pieces and scatter'd the Leaves of it here and there over the Church and that of St. Ambrose lay whole on the Altar this they conclude was Divinitùs a Token that the one was to be used all the World o're and the other only at Millan A pleasant thing this is it not And why all this adoe what is the Reason 'T is Conjectured only for the Sake of that one Word Figura in the Canon of St. Ambrose for that he calls the Scrament the Figure only of the Body and Blood of our Lord. So that 't was then we conceive and in Gregory the Seventh's Days of late Date at least that the Worshipping of the Host as God came in and together with it the Propitiatory Sacrifice instead of the Eucharistical Oblation and Invocation of Saints in lieu of an honorable Commemoration of them If so then Antiquity will not bear them out Nor will the great Boast of the Popes Infallibility neither for for that matter Mr. Crackanthrop tells us with undeniable Evidence that Vigilius in the fifth General Council of Constantinople was curst for Nestorianism Much less will the great Pretence of Universal Headship since besides this Story of Vigilius we are satisfy'd by S. Isidorus that Petrus de Lunâ alias Benedict the thirteenth was deposed by the Council of Constance as Eugenius afterwards by the Council of Basil We for our parts know assuredly that Christ is Head of his Church and we are well assured also that he is Infallible truly and he hath taught us other things then they do to give Divine Worship and to Pray to God only to our Father which is in Heaven and therefore the Council of Trent must Pardon us if we accept not of its Definitions but separate from the Church of Rome's Communion For since they bind us to Pray otherwise then our Saviour does to the Host to Saints and Angels to the Virgin Mary as a Mediatrix betwixt God and Us and the Queen of Heaven I conclude that they tho for Form they may yet for Matter and Substance do not Pray after this manner Next come we to our Dissenters at home who deny all set Forms and are for Extemporay Effusion as if that were it that our Saviour would have by saying After this manner Pray ye because no Form or Book was to be seen before him are not these in the right I answer nor they neither if we speak in reference to the Publick and Solemn Service and Worship of God 1. Because Christ came not as I have already said to Abolish what was well set before but to Reform what was Faulty and Manifest it is that the Jewes had set Forms of Prayer 2. The more is it Confirmed because this Pattern given by him is a Form it self and as called by a Father Breviarium Evangelii an Epitomy of the Gospel so was it also a Collection or Epitomy of the Jewish Euchologue as we learn from Mr. Selden P. Fagius and others If we Consult the Criticks we may find from whence every Petition was taken viz. from Sepher-Hammustar and Sepher-Tephillim their Books of Tradition and Prayers 3. More yet for that set Forms were used by the Appointment of God himself as we may see Num. 6. 23. Where God says to Moses speak unto Aron and to his Sons saying on this wise shall ye Bless the Children of Israel saying unto them the Lord Bless thee and Keep thee the Lord make his Face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his Countenance upon thee and give thee Peace and they shall put my Name upon the Children of Israel and I will Bless them So again at the Removal of the Ark Num. 10. 35. Where when the Ark set forward the Prayer was Rise up Lord and let thine Enemies be scattered and when it rested again Return O Lord unto the many Thousands of Israel 4. Yet more because of our Saviour's own Example who in his Agony used the same Words three times over Let this Cup pass from me Besides 5. May I not justly argue from the Inconveniencies and Absurdities of Extemporary Prayers why not For they are great and many and such as may not be indured in the Solemn Worship of God in a publick Congregation For that which they which stand for it are so much against falls out unto them the stinting I mean of the Spirit they stint the People say what they will more by much then they are stinted by a Form of Prayer which they know before They are such also as leave the People to be imposed upon by an Humorist or a Madman or one that is Unorthodox or Heretical Yea they are Obnoxious to Nonsense and Blasphemy and in what can we hope to find Atonement if our very Prayers are Provocations Finally they are such as no Man present can assure himself that he can say Amen to as becomes most certainly such Prayers as we offer up to the great Majesty of Heaven Nor is it impertinent to question how all the Parishes in Christendom should be supplyed not to mention these things with Men of such rare and singular Ability's scarcely to be believed to be in the Apostles themselves but that they were indued with Inspiration from above And Inspiration I know no man but an absolute Fanatick will pretend to If any do then what becomes of that Question of St. Paul Are all Apostles sure enough all are not Apostles I shall demand from them that pretend to that that they shew me their Credentials from Heaven that they let me see the Cloven Tongues sitting upon their Heads that they let me hear them speak all Languages or make it appear that they have seen Christ out of Heaven as St. Paul did But in vain may we expect such things as these since John's latter Days are past and gone We are now an ordinary Ministry and Extraordinaries are put a Period to even as the Star that conducted the Wise Men went out at Jerusalem and as when the Children of Israel came to Canaan where they might Plow and Sow then did Mannah cease it was in its Infancy that the Church had the Teat put in her Mouth So 't is manifest I think that neither they at Rome nor our Dissenters at home do Pray after this manner It remains to be considered next whether we in our Church do And If I prove that a way of Liturgy such as we use is to Christ's Meaning agreeable and that there is nothing Unorthodox nothing Corrupt in ours that we do I conceive will not be denyed This therefore I shall indeavour to make good And For the first of these I shall not scruple to let alone what hath been already said to Appeal to the Practice of the Apostles themselves and also of all Churches since even
to the precedent Century For in the Apostles time that they had then Liturgies known Offices consisting of Prayers and Praises in use with them is easily Discerned from St Paul's Advice to the Romans Ch. 15. 6. which is with one Mind and one Mouth to Glorifie God by which Words that a Form is meant is more than intimated from his reprehending the Corinthians 1 Cor. 14. 26. Because in their publick Assemblies they had every one a Psalm that is to say a Manner or Form of his own which hindered Edification and bred Confusion and why not from that Act. 13. 2. where we read As they Ministred unto the Lord and Fasted the Holy Ghost said Minister'd 't is rendered but the Words in the Greek are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they were Liturgying that is because joyned with Fasting as they were performing Divine Service which it seems was this way For it further the Liturgy of St. James and the Liturgy of St. Mark used by the Cophti still and that of St. Peter used a long time in the Church of Rome are a strong Inforcement tho of them we can produce only some Fragments and broken Pieces For had they not had Offices would it not have been known and observed by after-Ages but the succeeding times give account of the contrary that they had 'T was not 300 Years after the Apostle's Days that the Council of Nice was and then there is great mention of them as you may see in Eusebius his fourth Book of the Life of Constantine who tells us there of Orationum Syngraphe a Book of Prayers and Liturgia Mystica so he calls it a Mystical Liturgy which Constantine the Emperor was present at And what is more common then in Ecclesiastical Writers to hear of the Liturgy of St. Hierome and of St. Ambrose and so of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom the last of which hath left it upon Record that in the Primitive Church among the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit one was the gift of making Prayers for the Church to use It seems the Gift of Prayer was not look'd upon then as a Faculty of making long and familiar Harangues to God as it hath been of late Years without Sense or Reason Look we moreover on the Canons of the Councils and we shall find them for us that of Carthage and that of Melevis so early It is the 23 Canon of the third Council of Carthage Quascunque sibi preces c. Let no Man use any Prayers that he hath made unless he first consult with the Brethren i. e. Fellow-Officers of the Church who were learned and well instructed More ample is that of Melevis which says as I find in Caranza Placuit ut preces quae probaetae fuerunt in Synodo ab omnibus Celebrentur It is our Will that Prayers only that are approved by a Synod be celebrated by all nec alia omnino dicentur in Ecclesia and that no other but those that are so approved by a Synod be said in the Church lest by chance any thing either through Ignorance or Carelesness be done against the Faith Well then that thus it was in the first 4 or 5 Centuries of the Church besides the Glimpses for it in Scripture Fathers and Councils Testifie And what that it hath been so ever since have we not the Consent of the Churches of all Ages we have look we which way we will either into the East or West Which being granted can we imagine that the Church hath continued so long even till these last Days in so gross an Error or can we think it fit to throw aside the way of the Universal Church in all Ages for a few Mens Sake that have Voluble Tongues Or is not rather the Custom and Practice of the Church of all Ages in stead of a Rate and perpetual Law they are Saravia's Words speaking in reference to Episcopacy which and the Liturgy must Live and Dye together Mos totius Ecclesiae est inviolabilis quaedam lex the Custom of the whole Church is an inviolable Law and which at peradventure so it ought to be esteemed yea to be kept and held inviolably by us For tho such a Custom or Constitution of the Church in Mr. Weemes his Words may not be Jus Divinum Divinè Divinum a Law that is properly and purely Divine as having no plain positive Command for it in the Scriptures yet it is Jus Divinum humanè Divinum of like Force and in a manner equally Divine with that for which there is a positive Law supposing still it be Universal It is quodam modo Divinum as Forbâ—sius in his Ierenicum says in some manner Divine as being founded in God's positive Law which commands us to obey our Superiors as them also to see that all things be done according to Rule and with all Decency and Order And surely we have more reason to believe that the Primitive Fathers would not stray from the Apostical Practice who could not but see what was done before them and would rather dye Martyrs then part with the least Truth then that the whole Church hath all along been deceived unto this present Day On this Argument stands Infant-Baptism the Observation of the Lord's Day Episcopacy and the like and to me it is prevalent before all that can be said against it by Novelists Common Prayer spoken of in the Epistles of Ignatius has more in it than a World of Arguments produced against what I affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 see that ye all come together in one place let there be one Common Prayer among you one Mind one Hope in Love and Faith that is spotless I go upon such Grounds as these and nothing seems to me more Plain putting all together than that the use of Liturgy is not only Ancient but also Primitive and Apostolical Now 2ly that in ours there is no Spot or Blemish for which to be rejected I come next to prove And had I need say any thing to that Matter I know 't is accused of Popery But O ye holy Martyrs how came you to be so mistaken then as to dye thus in Defence of Popery and in Defiance of it at one and the same Instant Mr. John Hullier being burnt at the Stake with the Common-Prayer-Book in his Bosom But Oh! there is somewhat of the Mass Book in it I confess it There are the Creeds and some of the Hymns and Collects that are used by them and they have a Litany too But shall we abolish our Creeds the Nicene Athanasian and Apostolical because they have them as well as we and throw away our Collects and Litany because they have also Collects and a Litany Then away with the Christian Religion upon that like Score A weak Argument and very inconsequent Do we not know that if we reform Popery in what is amiss we do but as Christ did by the Jewish Euchologue and that that is true which
Infidels the Apostles were to Preach only letting them know that Jesus was the Messias they were not yet Capable of Church Commâ—nion But they did not so by Converts and Proselytes their way with them ye have in that fore-cited Place where 't is said They continâ—ed in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship in breaking of Bread and in Prayer But 4. Chiefly give me leave to Mind you to remember your Subscriptions your Assent and Consent and all your solemn Ingagements and so to be stedfast and hold fast your Profession as becomes the Servants of Christ Brethren we live in Evil days in Perillous times On the one side we are call'd Hereticks on the other hand Papists for all that let 's stand our Ground 'T is not as Men will have Act they may as they think 〈◊〉 â—roject secretly but the Counsel of the Lord that must stâ—nd Design they may and lay Plots but there is one that sitterh in 〈◊〉 Heavens who will Laugh them to scorn Ye know what 〈◊〉 hashnerus's days he did by Haman who sought to destroy the 〈◊〉 Haman was hang'd on his own Gibbet and Mordecaâ— the 〈◊〉 whom he hated was exalted What in Dâ—rius's dâ—yes 〈◊〉 he disappointed Tolnaâ— and Shâ—sher Boznâ—i They wrote Letters to Darius against the Jews about the rebuilding of Jâ—râ—salâ—â— and his Occasion'd him to make a Decree for them which whosoever should dare to alter the Timber of his House should be pull'd down and set up again and he hang'd thereon and his House be made a Dunghil And blessed be God have not we in our days seen with our Eyes that Jehovah Jireh is his Name still that he who keepeth Israel neither Slumbreth nor Sleepeth Besides should we come to the Fiery Tryal and be made to Resist unto Blood yet even there he can Deliver us if it please him He did so by the three Children the Angel of the Lord came down into the Furnace and beat out the Flame out of the Furnace and a moist whistling Wind came and fann'd their Bodies and cool'd them and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hair of their Head was sing'd Theodorus will tell us the same who when he Agoniz'd and was torn with Scourges and Whips being a little respited said that a little Boy stood by and wip'd off his Sweat and Blood as with a Holland Hend-kerechief So that should we suffer he will be by to assist and upsiold But suppose the worst that we lose our Lives in the Cause of God King David says his loving Kindness is better then Life and is 〈◊〉 his Presence much more in which is Fuliness of 〈◊〉 'T is but a short Life lost and the Martyrs Crown is gain'd Hâ—ar what that glorious Hicro-Martys St. 〈◊〉 said when inviron'd wâ—th his six Leopards as he call'd his Keepers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Lâ—t Fire a Cross Wild Beasts the Crâ—sâ—ing of Bones Distortion of Limbs the Contrition of the whole Body and the Cuffs and Torments of Satan come upon me so I may injoy Christ after All. No matter tho we be Ground betwixt the Teeth of wild Beasts so we be pure Manchet for God at last and if we get to Heaven tho with Elijah in a Chariot of Fire what harm Let us Fear God and Honour the King and Fear nothing else Mind our Duty the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to borrow a drop of Oyl out of Epictetus his Lamp and for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leave them to God Chrysostom says well to this Purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. With this I leave you and turn me to the rest of my Auditors whom I beseech by the Meekness and Gentleness of Christ that you would Consider seriously what it is you Contemn or Despise in little setting by the Churches Service its Grave Confessions its Comfortable Absolutions its wholesom Prayers its Seraphick Hymns its Angelical Doxologies all made after Christ's Pattern without the least Mixture of that which is truly call'd Popery in it agreeable to Antiquity in its Doctrine the truest and most sound Body of Theology and Seal'd to us with the Blood of Martyrs I verily believe there is not any thing in it that the Ancient Fathers I may say the Apostles themselves if they were Living would not say Amen to We do not Truckle under the Church of Rome but derive our Services and Customs much beyond them We do not borrow of those Neighbours of ours but search their Houses to see what Jewels they have of ours England that in other things is the Ape of Nations confessedly in this has waited only on God and Reason What the Ancient Church of Christ us'd Primitively is Ours as well as Theirs Who can be so simple as to think that the Apostles Creed does not belong to him because the Papists have it as well as he nor the Creed of Athanasius because they too own the Doctrine of the Trinity in Unity These things belong to us as well as to them and it were very strange if there were nothing amongst them worthy our respect and â—â—â—eration Therefore this way be not deluded Nor again let any thing proved with you neither to prefer mens Extempore 〈◊〉 and Daily new made Prayers us'd by none that I read of Anâ—â—â—â—ly but Achitophel when in Rebellion against King David who to make Religion serviceable to his By ends must have Prayers made him daily New and fresh as Dr. Hammond out of the Rabbins tells us I say to prefer them before the Churches Solemn Prayers to set them out again taken for the most part out of Scripture us'd by the best of Saints Compos'd by Martyrâ— approv'd of as to its Doctrine and Manner by Councils impos'd by Authority confirm'd by Law and that does not shun to sâ—â—w its Face in any Language whatsoever being Translated into Greek and Latine that the East and Western Churches may see how it is that we in England do serve our God Truly not in the Churches Prayers but in our selves does the Fault lye that think if at any time we come to Church 't is no matter when or with what Devotion Ye do God a Favour ye think to Tread his Courts tho ye neither Mind the Confession nor yet Pray nor hear the Word read nor yet give God Praise with what Devotion ye ought Whereas if ye consider'd what Remission of sins is what to have God's â—avour and would but come to the beginning and Confess your selves humbly and take the Absolution with you Pronounc'd by one standing in Priestly Garments and so in God's stead and then would be hearty in your Prayers and be Attentive to the Lessons together with the Epistles and Gospels and perform once the whole Service Intelligently and Devoutly beginning with the Confession and ending with the Benediction sure you would quickly find your Hearts Transported with the Love of it and be ready to wonder with Elisha's man that your Eyes were no sooner open crying with Elisha himself at Elija's Rapture My Father my Father