reason to question it doubtless those that lie most in Christs Bosom here shall sit nearest him upon his Throne hereafter I shall shut up my discourse with four or five directions in this case First Labour to understand the various emanations of special and distinguishing Grace how many ways the Sun of Righteousness may shine upon Souls with healing in his Wings I am afraid many talk of Grace special distinguishing Grace who do not understand it as they ought to do Study to understand Christs saving looks upon Souls and to distinguish them from other looks which have no such saving vertue and evidence in them Christs saving looks upon Souls are either such as evidence pardon of Sin or contribute to the change of the heart in first or further degrees of holiness Or comforting us with the view of our own sincerity take a right notion of Christs kisses Be sure in thy desires of further Grace thou forgettest not to be thankful for what thou hast the least token of love for good to thy Soul is more worth than the world ther 's nothing little in Grace I before observed to you the passions of some Christians who are ready to overlook all that God hath done for their Souls if they want some particular dispensation of Grace which their hearts are set upon Make use of what thou hast To him that hath shall be given It is a saying which our Saviour applyeth to the parable of the sower Mat. 13. 12. Luk. 8. 18. and to the parable of the Talents Mat. 25. 29. In the two first places the meaning may be To him that hath in actual possession so it may be conceived as a promise of further grace to those who have any thing of the truth of grace but in the 25. Mat. 29. it is plainly to be understood of such as make use of and improve what they have for it is spoken with reference to those Servants that had ten Talents and had gained other ten and five talents and had gained other five In thy desires of more Grace distinguish betwixt necessary and comfortable influences betwixt manifestations of the Spirit given thee to profit withal and such as are given thee to make thy life more easy and cheerful the first thou mayest beg more absolutely and be as earnest for them as thou wilt The latter must be asked with more explicite submission to the will of God they being such as are not only not necessary to thy glorifying of God under all circumstances but not necessary to the eternal Salvation of thy Soul such for which the wisdom of God may see more reason under some circumstances to with-hold from thee and that in order to thy edification and improvement in holiness As to such influences though thou oughtest to desire them and to pray for them yet thou oughtest also to be content to wait for them David did so His Eyes failed while he said When wilt thou comfort me Wait upon God in all his own institutions The Ordinances of God are usually called means of Grace because they are usually made use of by God as means in and by which he communicateth his Grace in the several influences of it to our Souls These Ordinances are the Word Sacrament and Prayer The first Grace is usually dispensed to us upon reading or hearing the Word of God and so is further Grace also Therefore the Apostle Peter commands us to desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby I had saith David perished in my affliction if thy Word had not been my delight The Law of the Lord saith David is perfect converting the Soul the Testimony of the Lor d is sure making wise the simple the Statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart the Commandment of the Lord is pure inlightning the Eyes Psal 19. 6. 7. Christs love is a thing different from the Word but it is shewen to the Soul in the use of the Word Infinite instances might be given you of Christs kissing Souls manifesting his special love to Souls is it which I mean by it in the reading and especially in the hearing of the Word there it is that is in the use of that that he usually speaks to the hearts of Men and Women hence the Apostle tells us that the holy Scriptures are able to make the Man of God wise to Salvation and are profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instructions in righteousness Yea and for patience and comfort too Rom. 15. 4. For whatsoever things were written before were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope The Sacrament that is another mean the Sacramental believing eating of the Bread and Wine is an eating of the flesh and a drinking of the Blood of Christ a feeding upon all Christs fulness as Mediator Prayer is a mean of all Grace whatsoever God hath promised in a way of Grace is all promised upon this condition That he will for it be inquired of by his People Walk humbly and uprightly before God The humble he will teach saith the Psalmist Psal 25. and to the humble he will give more Grace Ja. 4. 6. 1 Pet. 5. 5. he dwelleth with those that are of a contrite and humble Spirit to revive the Spirits of the humble and the hearts of those that are contrite and for the upright he hath told us that he will with-hold from them no good thing But this is enough to have also spoken to this Proposition There is another term in the petition of the Text. which I shall take notice of she prayeth not only that her beloved would kiss her and that not with one but many kisses but she adds of his Mouth But of that hereafter Sermon V. Canticles 1. 2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth I Told you in the close of my last diseourse that I should not yet leave this Text because of the last words of his Mouth which we must either be allowed as a Pleonasme and superfluous or to contain in them yet some further spiritual Instruction The Jews say there is not the least tittle of the Law upon which great things do not depend nor do I fancy the allowing of more Pleonasms in holy writ than must necessarily be allowed I shall therefore take notice of what Origen and Beza and divers others have before me noted from the addition of these words That the believing Soul thirsts after a communion with Christ in his Word Mr. Ainsworth taking special notice of the term kisses understands the Doctrine of the Gospel which is the Word of Reconciliation as kisses are amoris reconciliationis symbola the tokens of love and reconciliation I am sure the notion is in itself true whether the sense of this Text or no. The Law worketh Wrath faith the Apostle the Doctrine of the Gospel alone speaks love and peace Christs Spouse here
of God We believe that in all Ages of the World Christ hath had a Flock a number that have heard his voice and followed him to whom he hath given and will give Eternal Life but they have been under various dispensations sometimes more and sometimes less perspicuous to the World We believe that it hath been the design of Rome ever since the Mystery of Iniquity began to work in it to blot out the prints of the feet of the Flock of Christ in former times we therefore reasonably in pursuit of this Direction of Christ's overlook the Churches of this and former Ages The practice of those of Rome in this and late ages we know to be directly contrary to the Word of God The practice of the Primitive Church in former ages we are incertain of further then what is contained in holy writ we know that it hath been the policy of the Papists to blot out all the records of those times which might make against them any thing that might shew us that the Doctrine Worship Discipline of the Church in those ages was different from their present practices we know that the records of the Primitive Churches practice excepting that in the Apostles time recorded in Scripture have been mostly in their hands and they have blotted out and put in what they pleased to justify their Idolatry and Superstitions we therefore call to the Law and to the Testimony to the holy Scriptures we are sure they have not been kept in their hands onely we believe them the pure Word of God We say there is no other certain rule no other unquestionable record of the footsteps of the flock We know they are able to make the man of God wise to salvation thoroughly furnished to every good work All Protestants acknowledg them a perfect rule as to matter of Doctrine we say they also are so as to Worship and Discipline and as to all our conversation We know the practice of the Saints and Servants of God in holy Writ not reproved by it are the footsteps of Christs flock for others we know not we are sure if they were contrary to the footsteps of the Servants of God in holy Writ they are no footsteps of the flock of Christ which hears his voice and owneth that only and will not follow strangers 2. As to the Shepherds mentioned in the Text We know Christ is the true Shepherd the chief Shepherd He feedeth his Flock like a Shepherd He ascending up into Heaven hath betrusted his Flock to Pastors and Teachers to Under-Shepherds we know that if these be Christs Shepherds they must take and follow Christ's directions and they are no further Shepherds then they do so He hath indeed betrusted to some his Gospel the Ministration both of the Doctrine and the Ordinances of the Gospel As they are to publish no other Doctrine so they are to prescribe no other Rules of life either for the Worship of God or government of the Church they have no legislative power in the Church committed to them only an executive power to execute those Laws those Ordinances which Christ the Supreme Shepherd and his Apostles which were his first Commissioners have left This is the trust which Christ hath committed to them in the discharge of which alone they can be faithful they are not the Ministers of men but the Ministers of Christ By the Tents of those Shepherds who do this all Christians are bound to ab de and to feed themselves neither casting off Divine institutions nor submitting to humane institutions contrary to the Divine rule and if the Divine rule be a perfect rule whatsoever is besides it is contrary to it for it reproacheth it with imperfection or else is meerly idle and Superfluous That this is the duty of Christians will appear both from the the consideration of the end for which God hath left us the footsteps of the flock in holy Writ and also from comparing this with other courses 1. Let us first consider the end for which God hath lest us the footsteps of his flock in holy Writ and when he ascended up on high gave gifts unto men and amongst others Pastors and Teachers The footsteps of the flock of Christ are to be found in the Word of God you have in Scripture not onely the instructions of David the words of the man according to Gods own heart but the practice of David recorded under several circumstances Not onely the Doctrine and instructions of the Apostles in their Sermons and Epistles but the Acts of the Apostles teaching us their practice Now though it be true that their examples oblige us in nothing wherein they did not follow the Lord Jesus Christ nor in any thing which they did in conformity to the Ceremonial law wherein they used a liberty that law being dead with Christ but through a gracious indulgence allowed for a time till the believing Jews could be Satisfied concerning the abolition of it in order to the gaining the Jews and walking towards them without offence upon which account Paul both circumcised Timothy and purified himself Nor are their examples our rules in what they did as Apostles or as men indued with the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost working miracles or speaking with tongues for as we cannot do the latter so we want their mission and more extraordinary commission to do the former Hence Ministers are under no obligation to do as they did fixing no where but going up and down preaching the Gospel and settling Churches yet in other things wherein they acted as Ministers of the Gospel or private Christians we are bound to the imitation of them and God hath left us their actions upon sacred record for our instruction For whatsoever is written aforetime is written for our learning Rom. 15. 4. The Apostle telleth us That all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness This is the end for which God hath given us the Scripture and all the Scripture 2 Tim 3. 16. 2. It is the most safe and certain rule The two great things that commend a rule given with reference to any end is the security of it and the certainty of it To walk by the footsteps of Christs flock recorded in Scripture must be a safe rule no man needeth fear sinning against God by obeying his Word and living up to the rule direction and prescription of it sin must be something contrary to the Divine Rule In following other rules men may err in following of this rule they cannot err The certainty of a rule much commends it If the Trumpet give an incertain sound who shall prepare himself for the battel If there be no certainty in a rule who can follow the direction of it Let us now compare this rule as to this case what a Christian is to do especially in a time of affliction and distress to maintain and uphold his
it are buried up in ruines It is the Word of God that is the Basis of the Church and the Basis of every individual Soul that is a Member of that Church 3. The Beams and Rafters of an House as they support the burthen and bear the weight of the Building so they also unite the parts and sides of it they are the Mediums of Union to it so is the Word and Ordinances to the Church The Word is the Foundation upon which the Church and every particular Soul is builded and the Doctrine of Faith and the Ordinances of God are the means of Union in it I do not think that an Explicit Covenant-Union is necessary to the constitution of a Church I think that Union which the whole Church hath in the Profession of the same Doctrine of Faith and in the practice of the same Ordinances Rules of Worship is sufficient to make up such an Union amongst all Gospel Professors as may justifie the denomination of a Catholick Church And again an agreement in the Profession of the same Faith and the practice of the same Ordinances in the same place is enough to make up a particular Church of God Look as in a Building let the walls be at never so many foot distance one from another yet the beams or dormans that go across the Building unite them together and make them all but one and the same Building So it is with the whole number of Professors scattered over the face of the whole Earth though part of them be in England part in France part in Germany part in other parts of the World yet the same Doctrine and Profession of Faith and the practice of the same Ordinances of Worship running through them all makes the whole but one Body one Church the House of the Living God 4. Look as it is with the Beams and Rafters the purer and stronger and more substantial they are and the more intire and homogeneous they are the stronger the House is So it is as to the Word and Ordinances of God the purer the Doctrine of Faith and Ordinances for Worship are the stronger and better the Church is If the Beams of an House be sappy or rotten or patched up of several heterogeneous pieces the weaker the House is and more subject to fall and to decay So it is with the Church which is the House of the Living God If the Doctrine of Faith owned and professed in it be as it were heart of Oke pure Doctrine taken out of the heart of the Written Word not sappy through the additions of Humane Inventions nor heterogeneous part of it the pure Word of God part of it the meer Fancies and Doctrines of men if the Ordinances for Worship practised in it be pure Ordinances if the Tabernacle be according to the Pattern of the Mount according to the form of sound words and pure Rule of the Gospel the Church is fair and glorious and strong the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it but if otherwise if the Doctrine of Faith professed in it be mingled with the Clay of Humane Fancies and Errours if the Ordinances of Worship practised in it be full of the sap of Traditions and Ceremonies the Church is a declining decaying Church and hath no strength in her The reason is because God will not continue with such a Church The Psalmist saith of the Church God is in the midst of her therefore she shall not fall now they must be golden Candlesticks in the midst of which God walketh But thus much may be sufficient to shew you the propriety of the Metaphor Let me shortly Apply this before I pass on to the other Proposition This in the first place commends unto us the Excellency of the Word of God and the Doctrine of Faith contained in it and the Excellency of Gospel Ordinances they are the Beams and Rafters of the House of God hewed out framed and fitted to the Building by him who was the Master-builder the Lord Jesus Christ and laid by him The Apostle 1 Cor. 3. 10 11. saith that as a wise Master-builder he had laid the Foundation and another builded thereon v. 11. Other Foundation could no man lay than that already laid which is Jesus Christ Christ is called the Church's Fundamentum its Foundation and he is the lapis angularis the corner stone as is contained in the Scripture Saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 2. 6. Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone eleâ—t and precious the head of the body Col. 1. 18. He from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part Eph. 4. 16. Our Divines say that Christ is the Foundation of the Church in a double sense 1. He is Fundamentum Salutis the Foundation of Salvation in the Church The Salvation of every Soul lieth upon his shoulders Act. 4. 12. Neither is there Salvation in any other 2. He is Fundamentum Fidei Cultus the Foundation of Faith and Doctrine of Worship and Order the Foundation of Doctrine and Ordinances I say And as no man can lay any other Foundation of Salvation than Christ so neither can any lay any other Beams of Doctrine or Institutions for Worship but what Jesus Christ hath laid Christ by himself and by his Apostles laid these Foundations and Beams of Doctrine and Worship from the Gospel of Christ and the Writings of the Apostles must be drawn the Articles for the first and the Canons for the latter And the whole Building of the Church depends upon these Foundations and Beams Let the Word of Faith or the Purity of Worship fail from the Church or any part thereof it presently ceaseth to be a Church of God and turns into an Antichristian Synagogue Now I say this commends to every Christian the Doctrine of Faith and the Ordinances of God There is an Excellency in Entity or Being Hence whatsoever it be which gives Being to a thing and without which it would not be at least not such hath a great Excellency in it and the more noble the thing is to which Being is given the more Excellent is the Form by which it hath such Being The Soul of man gives Being to a man The Body without the Soul is but a lump of flesh a piece of Clay the Soul informeth and inliveneth and giveth an Humane Being to it separate that from it and the man is no more Some Philosophers have vainly dreamed of an Amma Mundi a general Soul of the World which should give Form Life Motion to every part of the World Now as the Soul of a man is more excellent than any Souls of Beasts because it is the Principle of a more Noble Being so doubtless if there were any such Universal Soul which gave Life Being Motion Form Union to all the World it would be a more excellent substance than any
Man 's but a shadow and a Picture is That shadow's shadow yet don't judge amiss Though here you onely on the shadow look What followes read The Substance is i' th' book THE INTERCOURSES OF DIVINE LOVE BETWIXT Christ and his Church OR The Particular Believing Soul Metaphorically expressed by Solomon in the first Chapter of the Canticles or Song of Songs Opened and Applied in several Sermons upon that whole Chapter In which the Excellencies of Christ the yernings of his bowels towards Believers under various circumstances the workings of their hearts towards and in communion with him with many other Gospel Propositions of great import to Souls are handled By John Collinges D. D. Solomon divinitus inspiratus Christi Ecclesiae laudes aeterni Connubii cecinit Sacramenta simulque expressit sanctae desiderium animae Epithalamii carmen exultans in spiritu jucundo composuit Elogio figurato tamen Nimirum velabat ipse instar Moysis faciem suam non minus forsitan in hâc parte fulgentem to quod illo adhuc in tempore nemo aut rarus erat qui revelatà facie gloriam illam speculari sufficeret Bernardus 1 Serm. in Cantica London Printed by T. Snowden for Edward Giles Bookseller in Norwich near the Market-place 1683. To the Lady Ann Knightley Madam AMongst the many Spiritual mercies by which within these fifty years last past England hath been exalted to heaven as our Saviour said of Capernaum the plenty of good Books hath not been the least so as there is hardly any point in Divinity which hath not been judiciously handled both dogmatically polemically and practically and discourses upon it published in our own Tongue The things hid in times of Popery yea and for many years in the beginning of our Reformation have been made known the things covered have been revealed what was at first spoken in darkness hath been told in the light preached upon the house tops and so published that all those who would might read and understand Certainly no Nation under Heaven of which we have any record was ever blessed with the Means of Grace to that degree none ever had more judicious Interpretations of the Word of God nor more serious and faithful Applications of it to the Consciences of men and women so as if either the Doctrine or Duty of the Gospel be yet hid to any it is much to be feared that it is to such only who shall perish But of all good Books we have been exalted in none more than those which have bin wrote on practical Subjects Books of all others to be most highly valued as more immediately serving the great end of man in shewing him the way of Salvation directing his coming to Christ and walking with him of which we have had such plenty as indeed there would be no more need of writing on such Subjects if the Vanity of our Natures did not more incline us to a discourse upon the same Argument newly wrote than to what hath been written as well some years since by which means the multiplying of good Books doth not a little contribute to the much reading of good Books and that I am sure contributes much both to knowledge and practice the two great ends that every Preacher ought to aim at so as I cannot be of their mind who would have no more written of this nature because so much hath been already wrote any more than I can be of theirs who think there is now no such need of Preaching because formerly there hath been so much So long as there are any Souls in the World who know not Christ and live not up to the Rules of his Gospel there will be need both of the one and of the other nay were there none such there would be need of it to keep up the Grace of God bestowed upon men in its warm exercise Nor me thinks should there be one Preacher of the Gospel who should not publish the glad tidings of it and leave some Record to the Ages to come of his faithfulness in that work The Riches of Divine Grace can never be too much published we can never enough declare his love who for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be made rich Such like thoughts as these Madam have brought these Discourses into a more publick light They were composed many years since soon after my entrance into the publick Ministry I am willing they should be a Testimony to the world what Doctrine I then Preached and see no cause yet to be ashamed of and what scope or design I have alwaies propounded to my self The Gospel of the Kingdom Christ The faithsul saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesâ—â— came into the world to save sinners 1. Tim. 1. 15. The Apostle Doctrine Acts 4. 12. That there is no Salvation in any other then in Christ for there is no other name under Heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved were the great things I took my self concerned as a Preacher to publish to the world Together with what our Saviour hath taught us That he who believeth him i not condemned But he that believeth not is condemned already shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Joh. 3. 18. 36 and that Faith without works is dead These were the greaâ— things I had in my eye to open explain and apply to people My apprehension that I saw much of these things revealed in the Song of Solomon though clouded under Metaphorical expressions was that which led me to the study of that difficult portion of holy Writ than which undoubtedly there is no portion of the Old Testament more Evangelical according to the common Hypothesis agreed by the most valuable Divines in all Ages viz. That it contains a Dialogue between Christ and his Church or particular believing Souls in it If any think I might have chosen plainer Texts from which to discourse these things I freely yield it as to many of them But shall this excellent Book alwaies acknowledged a sacred portion of holy Writ by the wisest man upon earth stiled the Song os Songs that is the most excellent Song lie by us as the Vision of a Book that is sealed or be bound up in our Bibles for nothing Or can there be any work more worthy of a Divine than to attempt the clearing of so incomparable a piece of Divine Revelation from that darkness which it pleased God to cloath it with in a time when the most which he spake concerning Christ was in Types 〈◊〉 Prophecies or Metaphors Time together with the Sermons of â—hrist and his Apostles have expounded the Types and Prophecies of Christ Is it not a work worthy of us to explain the Metaphors that we might have a Christ wholly unveiled There 's no great fear of any dangerous erring in the case if he that explaineth taketh care that his Explication agreeth with plainer Revelations Madam I think I may
the light of thy Countenance upon me Psal 4. 6. Let others take the ring let her have but the kiss and it is sufficient for her but single influences of Grace will not serve her turn every look of grace is sweet and frequent influences of Grace are necessary for her Secondly Observe How she begs 1. Reverently Let him kiss me Thus we ought to draw nigh to God with Reverence and Godly fear Reverence becomes the great Majesty of Heaven and Earth those that come without it towards God understand not his greatness 2. She begs humbly But a kiss The crumbs that fall from the Lords Table the touch of the Hem of his Garment any thing of Jesus Christ that may but argue distinguishing love 3. She asketh boldly not rudely but boldly Thus we ought to come to the Throne of Grace with an holy boldness the boldness of faith the word is in the future tense and may be translated He shall kiss me or he will kiss me His Majesty requires reverence His promise gives boldness and confidence 4. Lastly she asketh fervently There is a bluntness discernable in the form Let him kiss me which speaketh the Souls fervency Besides the trina repetitio repeating the same thing by three terms denotes as Lud. de Ponte observes flagrantissimum cordis affectum The most flagrant earnest desire of the Spouses heart I have thus far opened to you the Spouses first Petition in which the believing Soul with a Reverent holy humble boldness yet with all possible fervency begs of the Lord Jesus Christ her Spiritual Husband some special distinguishing token of his love more especially a near fellowship with him in his ordinances and the sealing up of his love to her soul in Gospel Doctrines This first petition she presseth with a double Argument 1. The first drawn from the Excellency of his love This she sets out per modum comparationis comparing it with Wine and preferring it before it 2. Comparing the name of Christ with Ointment and that not shut up in a box but poured out Thy name is as an Ointment poured forth v. 3. Her 2d Argument is drawn from her Love to her Beloved in the close of the third v. The Virgins love thee and the cause of this love is expressed to be the savour of his good Ointments Because of the savour c. Let me open the terms by which these Arguments are expressed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We translate it because thy loves are better than Wine what we translate Loves the Septuagint translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom the Vulg. Lat. and the Arab. Interp. follow Thy Breasts the Syriack translate it Bowels otherwise there is no difference in the Translations Delrio tells us that Alanus an Ancient Interpreter makes these words not the continued speech of the Spouse pressing her Petition by an Argument but the reply of her beloved to her assuring her of his love and that he valued her Breasts above all things That which probably led him into this mistake was his interpreting the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Breasts and not understanding how in any propriety of Speech the Spouse could commend the Breasts of her beloved they being parts from which usually the woman not the man is commended in ordinary Speech but as the whole stream of Interpreters runs another way so this seemeth to be no constraining argument to enforce us to acknowledge such a sudden and a subitam abruptam verborum commutationem as Delrio calls it abrupt change of words as this interpretaâ—ioâ— must necessarily infer For â— Though it be true that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a breast Ezek. 23. 3. v. 21. yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies beloved And loves in the Abstract and so it is translated Ezek. 16. 8. it was a time of love Suppose we should allow more authority to the Septuagint than to our Hebrew Text for which there is no reason yet it is not improper to assert these the words of the Spouse speaking to her beloved for although the God of Nature intending the woman for the Nurse hath provided that sex with larger breasts yet the man hath breasts also and such if you will believe the Philosopher as may have milk in them However he who runs may read the expression figurative Amoris sedes est in corde in uberibus quae cordi adhaerescunt The heart is the seat of love and the Breasts are nigh to the heart and this evidenceth the difference of Interpreters as to the translation of the word as to this Text to be but a word-bate for Ubera tua and Amorestui Thy Breasts or thy loves are much the same thing in signification Neither lastly is this the only Text in Scripture where the breasts of men are mentioned if we should be constrained to that sense Isaiah 60. 16. Thou shalt suck the Breast of Kings so also God is said to bear his People from the Belly and to carry them from the Womb. They are Metaphorical expressions and it is granted on all hands that if our Interpreters with whom concur most modern Interpreters have not hit the literal signification of the word yet they have not missed the sense in translating it Thy Loves By which Interpreters generally understand either the private influences of Grace with which God refresheth the particular Souls of his Saints or The publick ordinances and institutions of the Gospel by which God expresseth his love to his Church in general and every believing Soul in particular 1. Some understand Divine institutions Ordinances are indeed the Breasts at which Christ suckleth his Children those means by and through which he conveyeth the streams of his love to them and there is a great excellency in them David prefers a day in Christ's Courts before a 1000 elsewhere Origen observes that in some copies instead of quia ubera tua c. it was quia loquelae tuae thy Speeches are better than Wine which also excellently suits with the former expression The kisses of his mouth This sense in the general notion of it much pleaseth many Interpreters though something divided in their more particular notions Origen interprets it Dogmata tua thy Doctrines and seems indifferently to understand it of the Doctrine of the Law or of the Gospel The Popish Interpreters reading it Breasts expound it concerning the two Testaments so Genebrard c. Others interpret it more strictly concerning the sweet Doctrine of the Gospel which Saint Peter 1 Pet. 2. 2. compareth unto Milk which as new born Babes we ought to desire and concerning the Apostles and Prophets which were the first Instruments which God made use of to convey that Doctrine to us The sweetness of the Gospel saith Aquinas is meant here by which as with Milk those who are Babes in Christ are nourished Mr. Brightman making this the Speech of the Jewish
Paraphrast expounds the term in the Text of false Prophets Ahab and Jezebel had 300 of them at a time a great number of the People were ready upon all occasions to relapse into Idolatry and Superstition as they had any Princes that would either tolerate or incourage it Jeremiah and Micaiah and Amos and Elijah and all the true Prophets of the Lord found that their Mothers Children were angry with them so did those that were good People amongst them the Priests were a snare upon Mizpeh and a net spread upon Tabor to hinder the People from attending the true Worship of God Look upon the Church of Christ In Christs little company there was a Judas a Son of perdition and amongst the multitudes that followed him there were many that followed him but for the loaves In the primitive times there was a Demas an Hymeneus and a Philetus a Simon Magus Many false Apostles that opposed Paul and the Apostle to Timothy Prophesieth that there shall not be a lesser plenty of them in the latter days 1. Nor can it be reasonably expected otherwise considering 1. Gods appointment for the exercise of such as be real and true Saints 1. Cor. 11. 19. There must be saith the Apostle heresies amongst you that those who are approved may be made manifest False brethren discover themselves either by the broaching of false doctrine to corrupt the faith of Christians Or by bringing in undue Rites Ceremonies and Superstitions to corrupt the Worship of God Or by a looseness of conversation discovering the want of the Love and fear of God in their hearts Now the Lord hath appointed such a Constitution of his Church that these shall be tolerated in it that those who are approved may be made manifest contraries near one another best discover themselves 2. Secondly Man is tyed up to a judgment according to outward appearance God alone judgeth the heart and according to the reality of things Even Christ himself tho as God he was Omniscient and needed not that any should tell him what is in the heart of man yet when he appeared in the head of his Church here upon the Earth and acted as the chief Minister in and of it he admitted a Judas into his first society of that nature teaching us in our admissions of members whether by Baptism or other wise to content our selves with a visibility and outward appearance there must be a difference betwixt the Church visible and invisible the Church Militant and Triumphant 2. But as these are contrary in their Principles and in their Ends so they must and will be contrary in their actions and they will be angry with the true and more sincere Professors of the Gospel Thus it hath been in all ages and periods of the Church thus it is and will be Cain was a false Brother in the Church in Adams Family he roseg up against his brother Abel and slew him because he offered up a better Sacrifice and God had more respect unto him then he had unto Cain Ishmael was a false Brother in Abrahams Family Esau in Isaac the Scripture tells you of the ill agreement betwixt Isaacs and Ishmael Jacob and Esau The whole story of the Church of the Jews recorded in Scripture and of the Church of Christ recorded in the New Testament is a proof of this opposition so is the whole story of the Church since the Apostles time and what need we any further proof then what we have at this day nor can any thing else be rationally expected whether we consider the falseness of such Persons hearts to God and the interest of God or the Pride of their hearts Or the looseness of such mens principles 1. The hearts of all such are false to God and the interest of God The love of God is the thing which doth distinguish a sincere Christian from an Hypocrite the Hypocrite loveth God in Word and in Tongue only the other loves him in Deed and in Truth There is no faithfulness in an Hypocrites heart his heart is not right with God the true Christian is sincere for God and serious and right down in his actings for the honour and glory of God The other doth but mock and dissemble and pursueth private interests of his own he sees that profession serveth his design and interest Observe in any other thing where two or more are joined in the prosecution of a design and one of them is serious right down and plainly pursueth his end but the other runs along with the business for some other ends or upon some otherdesigns but is not real in his scope intention and actions for the obtaining the end which he pretendeth to he whose heart is right for the work hath no greater enemythen he who is joined with him seemingly in the pursuit of it This is the case here all those who are visible Members of the Church of God are appearingly coupled in a design for the honour and glory of God It is the whole business of the Church of God which is the only body of People upon the Earth which God hath called and chosen for that purpose for the predication of his name In this Church there are some who do it from a single and right heart truly intending the honour and glory of God as their end there are others who are under an ingagement to do it as much as the others but their hearts are not right with God do not stand towards that work but drive some self end of private honour credit and applause these men may do some things night but they never walk with God fully as I remember it was said of Amaziah one of the Kings of Judah 2 Chron. 25. 2. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect heart so it may be said of these it may be they may do many things which as to the matter of them are right in the sight of the Lord but they neveâ— do them with a perfect heart so as there can never be a good harmony betwixt them and such whose hearts are more sincere and perfect The Hypocrite will never be heartily pleased with the sincere Christian 2. Especially considering the Pride that is in the heart of every Hypocrite Though the Hypocrite doth not himself love to do much for God in the denial of himself nor will further serve the Lord then he can by the service of God serve himself yet he is too proud to be patient of being outdone by any this was the ground of that opposition which Cain gave his Brother Abel this made him so wroth and his countenance to fall because the Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering but unto Cain and his offering he had no respect Gen. 4. 4. 5. Sincere Godly Christians will be doing their utmost for God spending much of their time and strength in communion with God they will be much in praying much in hearing the
impossible to be found This is the great thing which the Papists boast of the great thing which they contend for That those can be no true Ministers who are not ordained by Bishops in a lineal succession or a personal succession from the Apostles Rome hath only had such a succession therefore the Shepherds Tents are only to be found amongst them I am sorry to find any Protestants lisping this language of Ashdod Protestant Divines in former ages have thought it enough to prove succession in Doctrine The truth is a succession of Persons is a thing impossible to be proved if we must own no Ministers but such as can prove they are made so by Bishops in a true succession from the Apostles I am sure they must own none at all for how is it possible think you that after near 1700 years any Ministers should be able to prove such a succession All the Issue of this contest must be either to bring us all again to Rome which indeed vainly boasteth of such a succession or else to Atheism to the owning of no true Ministry at all and consequently to no Ordinances Nor is any such inquiry necessary for certainly Christ hath clothed his Church with a power to restore his institutions if they were lost or the exercise of them for any space of time were interrupted 2. Secondly The true Shepherds are to be known by their mission Christ is agreed to be the true Shepherd the principal Shepherd All true Under-Shepherds must have their mission from him He certainly sendeth none but 1. Such as are by him fitted and qualified for all parts of their work 2. Such as are disposed inclined to their work Consider but what the work of the Shepherd is viz. to seed the flock of Christ to watch over them c. And this is one way for you to know Christs Shepherds they are by him qualified for their work with gifts and abilities to pray and Preach to open and to apply the Scriptures they are also by him inclined and disposed to it desiring the Office of a Bishop and to give up themselves to it Where this is found there 's Christs Mission They are also called by the Church proved set apart to the work by fasting and Prayer but this is onely their external mission A Church may be so corrupted as to send out men who were never sent of Christ neither having any internal qualifications to fit them for it nor any inclinations and heart unto it only desiring to be put into the Priests Office for a morsel of bread No good Christian can judg these Christs Shepherds for though he hath given a power to his Church to send out Ministers yet they are limited to such as are able and faithful nor ought any to be look'd upon as a true Shepherd or Minister of Christ who apparently hath no inward qualifications for the work of the Ministry nor any heart faithfully to discharge it 3. Thirdly You shall know them by their Doctrine Gal. 1. 8. Though we or an Angel from Heaven Preach any other Gospel unto you then that which we have Preached unto you let him be accursed v. 9. As we said before so now I say again If any man Preach any other Gospel unto you then that you have received let him be accursed He that is accursed or to be accursed is none of those Shepherds by whose Tents Christians are to feed their Souls but those who bring any Doctrine to Peoples Ears that is contrary to the Doctrine delivered by Christ and his Apostles or other then that is accursed and by the Judgment of the Apostles to be accounted accursed such a one therefore can be no such Person as Christians are bound to hear or to feed their Souls by their Tents But you will say what if they be not declared so or adjudged so by the Church This is the Churches sin and neglect of their duty The Church by its judgments cannot make one hair of truth white or black she is only to declare and adjudg that to be the Doctrine of Christ which is so And to declare and adjudg that which is not so to be what it is If the Church will neglect her duty I am not to neglect mine If the Major part of the Church be so corrupted that they will call evil good and good evil determine Error to be truth and truth to be Error their Error cannot conclude me If it could we had long since been Arrians and in later times been Papists Protestants have therefore rightly determined that every true Christian hath a judgment of discretion in this case The sole judgment of truth Error is in Christ and his Word A declarative judgment is in the Church but a judgment of discretion so far as to guide a Christians particular practice is in every Christian who is to prove all things and to hold fast that only which is good I cannot I ought not to feed my Soul by the Tents of those Shepherds who bring me other Doctrine then what they can prove from the Word of God If the Church will suffer such I am not bound by their sins Gods Pastors feed his People with wisdom and understanding Jer. 3. 15. Not with meet high-swelling Words of vanity much less with lies and Erronious Doctrine contrary to Christs and the Apostles Doctrine 4. Fourthly Christ tells us that to the true Shepherd the Porter openeth John 10. v. 3. And the Sheep hear his voice God opens the hearts of his People to such as are his Shepherds The Apostle tells the Corinthians they were the seal of his Apostleships 1 Cor. 9. 2. And again 2 Cor. 3. 2 3. Ye are our Epistle Written in our hearts and known and read of all men for as much as you are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ Ministered by us Written not with Ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in tables of stone but in the fleshly tables of the heart God hath sealed the ministry of those Ministersto be from him whose ministry he hath blessed by opening the hearts of People to it and by it there needs no further evidence this is a sufficient letter of recommendation of them to all that own the name of Christ I speak not here for that insignificant conversion of men to an opinion without a turning of their heart from sin unto God but of the real conversion or change of mens hearts This is a proof Sirs of true Shepherds a proof of a true ministry 2 Cor 13. 3. I will never question the truth of that mans ministry with whose ministry I see God going along So that their ministry opens the Eyes of the blind and turns men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance amongst them that are Sanctified Which were the ends for which God sent out Paul Acts 26. 18. Let such men
name O leave us not Sermon LXI Cant. 1. 17. The Beams of our house are Cedar and our Rafters of Fir. THe same Person speaks still which spake in the former verse she had there Commended her beloved and Commended her Bed ever since he came into it she now comes to Commend her and her beloveds house in the words of the Text The Beams of our house are Cedar and our rafters of Fir. The Chaldee Paraph thus glosseth Solomon the Prophet said how beautiful is the house of Lords Sanctuary builded by my hands of Cedar wood But the house of the Lords Sanctuary which is to be builded in the days of the Messias is more beautiful whose Beams are of those Cedars which are in the Paradise of pleasure and the Galleries thereof shall be of Fir Pine c. There are some difficult terms in the Text I must therefore halt a little in the explication of the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Beams of our houses The word is used two Kings 6. 2. 5. 2 Chron. 3. 7. where it is translated also a Beam Gen. 19. 8. it is translated a roof it comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Pihel signifies to lay the Beams of an house the Beams of an house are properly those pieces of timber which bear the whole weight of the building The Beams of our house are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedar The word properly so signifies It is a word often used in Scripture to express that kind of wood which is called Cedar which with us is very rare with them very frequent and ordinary in building we shall by and by further inquire the nature of it The Common usage of the word in Scripture to express Cedars makes me a little wonder at Montanus his translation of it Larices which signifies a certain tree not known saith Vitruvius but to those that dwelt near the Adriatick sea a kind of wood very useful in buildings because in regard of the great bitterness of the sap it was neither subject to worms nor putrefaction nor to be burnt with fire but I know not whether it was known to the Jews or no nor can see any reason to depart from our translation It follows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Rafters of fire some read our Galleries of Cypress some of Fir some of Pine The word translated rafters is used only in this sense in this place it is also used Gen. 30. 38. v. 41. Exod. 2. 16. but in those Texts it is translated gutters and wells And Cant. 7. 5. where it is translated Galleries Pagnine thinks it signifies the little Beams or pieces of timber in buildings These Rafters saith the Text are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word which is no where used in Scripture saving only in this Text which hath given Interpreters a liberty to abound in several senses Hierom makes it Cypress so the LXX Vulg. Lat. Syr. Arab. Others Ash Others Fir. Aben Ezra Thinks it the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fir our translators seem to follow that so doth Montanus and Pagnine The Caldee Paraph makes it to be the wood of the Brutine tree of which tree Pliny speaks and tells us that it is like a Cypress tree The boughs white the smell sweet And a great enemy to Poyson having thus far enquired the literal meaning of the terms let us enquire for the real sense we will first enquire 1. Qu. What is here meant by the house mentioned 2. What the Beams and Rafters of this house are 3. What the excellencies of these sorts of woods were Which maketh the Spouse chuse to compare her and her beloveds house to an house builded of these forts of wood 1. Qu. What is here meant by the house mentioned in the Text Our house Whoso considereth that the Beloved here mentioned is the King of glory the Lord of Heaven and Earth who dwells not in houses made with hands will easily conclude it is no fabrick of wood and stone Christ when he was upon the Earth had no such-place where to hide his head and now the Heaven of Heavens contain him that is here meant True it is that the Lord of old chose a particular house in which he was pleased more eminently to manifest his gracious presence in allusion to which his mystical Spiritual habitation may possibly be called his house But this is not it which is here intended The Chaldee Paraphrast makes Solomon in this a Prophet for foretelling an house of God to which Solomons in all its glory was not like The new Testament mentions a double house of God The first more publick viz. The Church 1. Tim. 3. 15. The second more private The Souls and bodies of believers The Apostle tells the Ephesians that they were become an habitation of God through the Spirit and the Apostle dissuades from the Sin of Fornication upon this argument because their bodies were the temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. By the house here I find Interpreters generally understanding the aggregate body of Christians which we call the Church properly enough called the Lords house because as a man dwelleth in his house so the Lord is said to dwell in his Church 2 Cor. 6. 16. God hath said he will dwell amongst his People that he is in the midst amongst them that he walks in the midst of the golden Candlesticks c. So that by our house in the Text the Church is meant in which Christ dwells and the Saints dwell The 2d Question is What is here meant by the Beams and Rafters The Beams of a building you know are those Principal parts which sustain and uphold the building We must therefore inquire what those things or Persons are which do as it were uphold and bear up the Church some understand by these terms Persons others understand things those who understand Persons understand by the Beams the several sorts of Officers in the Church of God Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors Teachers By the rafters they understand particular Christians So Gregory Per tignacedrina praedicatores designamus per laquearia cupressina ipsos populos figuramus This seems to be conform to that of the Apostle Eph. 2. 20. you are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets But Protestant Writers observe that the Apostle there doth not make the Apostles and Prophets the foundation but Christ Preached by them and their Doctrine And thus they interpret Chrysostom Oecumenius Theophylact Tertullian concluding that the Apostles and Prophets could not be called the foundation upon any other account then with respect to their Ministry and the Doctrine of the Gospel Preached by them For other foundation can none lay then what is already laid Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone Non enim respexit rei nomen sed rem nominis saith Chamier others therefore by the Beams and rafters of Christs house mentioned in the Text understand rather things
same numerical acts of Worship in one place we conceive it stands upon no such bottom that it deserves any pains in the confutation of it it may be a good Notion of a particular Church but not an exclusive of the Application of the term to more Now this Visible Church of God is that which is Christ's House The Invisible Church is so and the Visible Church is so He walketh in the midst of the golden Candlesticks 2. That this is Christ's House appears 1. From the letter of Scripture 1 Tim. 3. 15. That thou mayess know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the House of God which is the Church of the living God Timothy's charge was not the Invisible Church but the Visible Church this is called the House of God Heb. 3. 6. Christ is said to be faithful as a Son over his own house whose house saith he we are c. I shall not here dispute the Question whether the hypocritical part of the Visible Church be aequivocal or univocal Members sure I am take those together with the sincere Professors and they make up but one Church which is his House But secondly Look which way you will upon the Church it is Christ's House he hath the dominion of it and he useth it as his House he hath bought it Act. 20. 28. he hath redeemed it with his own precious blood It is given him It is his House by right of donation The Members of it are given him by his Father The Stones of it are his the Saints are the lively Stones built up into this Spiritual House 1 Pet. 2. 5. and they are built upon the foundation of his Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone they are sanctified in and through Jesus Christ his blood is as the Mortar and Cement by that they are united to God and made one each with other The Builder is his Spirit Eph. 2. 22. Consider an House as to the use of it and upon that account they are also his House Is an House the place where a man abideth and dwelleth so is the Church to the Lord Jesus Christ that 's the place where he dwelleth He dwelt of old in Mount Zion Isa 8. 18. there he abideth Is the House a man's resting place so is Zion to God 2 Chron. 6. 41. Psal 132. 8 13 14. The Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it Is the House a man's feeding place where he dineth and suppeth and feedeth so is the Church Cant. 2. 16. He feedeth amongst the Lillies When the Spouse desired to be informed where Christ fed her answer was Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the Flock Cant. 1. 7. Is that a man's House where he keeps his Wife his Children his Servants such is the Church there Christ keeps his Children his Servants his Spouse Is a man's House the place where he spends what he hath such is the Church there it is that Christ gives out grace and glory yea and every good thing Lastly Is a man's House the place where he is protected and defended such is the Church to Christ there he expeâ—â—s protection for his great Name his Ordinances c. But this is enough to have shewed you the propriety of the Metaphor But 3. The Church is not only Christ's House but it is the Believer's House too not the Believer's House as to dominion and title but as to use No man but Jesus Christ alone hath a dominion and Lordship over the Church of God even the Apostles themselves were but Ministers to it But yet I say The Church is the Believer's House it is the place where he dwells He chuseth rather to be a Door-keeper in the House of the Lord than to dwell in the Tents of wickedness Psal 84. 10. Hear David expressing himself Psal 27. 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the daies of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his Temple A man cannot be a Believer but he must forthwith be a Member of the Church Invisible None is a true Believer but he immediately by his Profession of that Faith makes himself a Member of the Catholick Visible Church and he will desire to unite himself to the particular Assemblies which are parts of that Catholick Body No sooner were the three thousand converted at St. Peter's Sermon Act. 2. 41. But they added to the Church and there they dwell v. 42. They continue stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of bread and prayers No sooner was Paul converted Act. 9. 26. but he assayeth to joyn himself unto the Disciples And v. 28. he was with them going out and coming in at Hierusalem But this is enough to have spoken to the Explication of the Point I come to the Application which shall be in four words This Notion speaks the Churches 1. Dignity 2. Duty 3. Security 4. Probability of Reformation In the first place This Notion speaks the Church's Dignity It is the Habitation of the King of Kings When Jacob in his Journey to Padan-Aram had had that notable Vision he breaketh out in the morning into this expression v. 17. How dreadful is this place This is none other but the House of God this is the Gate of Heaven I am not speaking of the Church in a local notion but of the true Church The number of true Believers or the number of Visible Professors let the World vilifie them as much as they please they are a Noble Society Those who have clean hands and pure hearts who have not lift up their Souls unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully they shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of their Salvation This is the generation of them that seek thy face O Jacob Psal 24. 4 5 6. Believers may have their infirmities and a Professing People may have their great failings the Lord be merciful to the Professors of England for theirs but yet take them notwithstanding all and they are the best People in the World they are the Lord's Habitation he hath pitched his Tents among them and manifests his presence with them Secondly As it speaks the Dignity of the Church so it speaks the Duty of those who are the Members of the Church Psal 93. 5. Holiness becomes thine House O Lord. The Wise man commands us to keep our feet when we go into the House of God Eccles 5. And God bid Moses put off the shoes from off his feet upon this account because he was upon holy ground he was near the burning Bush where God made himself a temporary Habitation Those that take upon them the Profession of Religion stand concerned to be holy and those that are entred into the Profession of it stand concerned
particular Soul is But God himself supplieth that place Now The Word and Ordinances of the Gospel though they be not Anima Mundi the Soul of the World Yet they are Anima Eâ—clesiae as it were the Soul of the Church of God without which the Church would be no such thing as the Church of the Living God They are those things which make the Church to be a Church and the whole Church to be but one Church Let this therefore engage every Christian to prize the Word and to prize the Ordinances of the Gospel That 's the first Branch Hence in the second place you may observe what is a sad Symptom of a decaying Church and by this you may also discern a lame and imperfect Church Look as in a Building there are some more principal Beams and pieces of Timber without which there can be no House no Building Others that are integral parts without which the Building is not compleat yet the House may be an House though lame and imperfect So it is in this case without the Doctrine of Faith and some Ordinances of Worship the Church is no Church If any part of the Doctrine of Faith be wanting or corrupted in a Church the Church is however true yet lame and imperfect Suppose a Church wholly want some Ordinances as some do the Ordinances of Ecclesiastical Censures yet they are not by this made no Church if they have the Doctrine of Faith and some Ordinances of Worship much less ought a Church to be so censured for the temporary want or suspension of the Exercise of some Ordinances which was the case of the Jewish Church in the Wilderness as to Circumcision but yet the Church that wanteth such Ordinances is imperfect and lame And again I say this is a sad Symptom of a decaying Church when either the Doctrine of Faith or Ordinances of Worship are denied or corrupted in it for these are the Beams and Rafters of the House and every one grants that House to be a decaying declining House where the Beams and Rafters are rotten We need no further Evidence of this than what we have in God's Epistles to the seven Churches of Asia recorded by St. John in the second and third Chapters of the Revelation The Church of Smyrna was a decaying Church The Doctrine of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans was holden in it The Church of Thyatira was a decaying Church for the Woman Jezebel taught and seduced the Servants of God in it And but a while after these Rafters and Beams being decayed these Houses of God fell and to this very day lie in their rubbish From that time that Jeroboam set up the Calves at Dan and Bethel and the Kings of Judah set up Altars in Groves the Church of the Jews was a declining decaying Church and the Rulers of it and Members of it having no heart timely to repair and reform it the House fell It is true God raised it again after the Captivity but it decaying the second time fell and lies buried in its Ruines this day Thirdly From this Notion may be drawn a great argument both for unity and uniformity Vnity in matters of faith Vniformity in matters of practice The Doctrine of unity in the Church of the Gospel is exceedingly pressed in Scripture scarce is there any one of the Epistles of the Apostles in which it is not again and again pressed Be of one mind there is a double union which is our duty to labour after The first is unit as fidei the unity of faith as to the understanding The second is unit as Charit at is quoad affectum the unity of Love and Charity as to the affections The latter of these hath been highly pleaded for in these sinful and wofully divided times and indeed never more need of it but it hath not been duly considered that considering the corrupt state of man The former union must be the Mother of the latter For as all love is founded in some similitude so this love and affection where it hath any where grown up to its due heighth we shall find hath been founded in the similitude of understanding and de facto it is evident that amongst Christians of different persuasions in the things of God there hath seldom been an intireness of cordial affection Indeed these things ought not to be therefore I do not Commend them nor yet blame the exhortation of brethren of divided Principles to an union in affection forbearing one another where all things have not been alike revealed to all but such is the corruption of our natures that this is rather optandum then sperandum to be wished for rather than hoped for if there could be unity in Judgment and uniformity in practice which the Apostle calls a thinking and a speaking the same things the other union of affection would follow more readily O let us labour for this There is but one truth but one true rule of Worship This Doctrine these rules are contained in the Word of God these are the Beams and Rafters of the Church and if the same Beams and Rafters run through the whole Church and be upon every part of the roof we may expect that the building should be strong and durable on the other side the difference of these Beams and Rafters whiles one Church holds one thing in maâ—ter of faith another Church holdeth another thing nay whiles one particular Christian believes one thing another Christian believes another thing whiles this Church or this Christian Worships God after one way and order another Church or other Christians they Worship God after another way though indeed it is possible their differences may not be so great but they may yet agree in one and the same head the Lord Jesus Christ and so both parties differing may at lest be saved yea it may be their differences are not so great but there may be a just forbearing one of another provided all Christians were of equal understandings or that they rightly understood each other yet doubtless this breach of unity as to matters of Judgment in things relating to the Doctrine of Faith and breach of Vniformity as to matters of practice is a great weakening of the Church of God and much spoileth the beauty and glory of it O therefore study unity and study uniformity you strengthen the building by both these you weaken it by dividing or disagreeing at least to open notice It is to me very remarkable that St. Paul almost in every Epistle presseth these things and Phil. 4. 2. when but two women dissented he thought it worthy of his pains to persuade them to it I beseech Euodias and I beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Doest thou therefore O Christian differ from other Christians amongst whom thou livest in any matter of faith or in any matter of practice as to fellowship in Ordinances sit not down Satisfied but labour for this unity for
this uniformity And as means to it let me but offer you my thoughts 1. I would have Christians open hearted and free in the discovery of their dissents It is one of the great plagues of our times that Christians are not free one with another but lock up their private opinions and make it a great piece of their art to conceal themselves and to lurk under ambiguous phrases c. It is true some are too open the Apostle Commands him that in an indifferent thing hath a particular faith to have it to himself before God Rom. 14. 22. that is to be understood as to the open publishing of it to the disturbance of others and the offence of the weak but in the mean time doubtless a prudent discovery of such dissents to able and faithful Persons of a differing Judgment would much contribute to the unity of Christians 2. Especially 2dly If they would be willing to be convinced and to hear arguments against themselves to bring forth their strong reasons and to hear others bring forth theirs also I know not how it comes to pass that Christians who have Spiritual sores in their understandings and Judgments are very loth to discover them and are impatient of having them touched at least at first would Christians be willing to take Satisfaction and give Satisfaction each to other many of our differences in Doctrine and practice would easily be composed especially if to their mutual discourses to this purpose they would but bring humble hearts and pietatem discendi rather then discutiendi acumen a pious mind to learn rather then a defire to shew their quaintness in arguing their own cause which Augustine lamented that he did not do in his reading the Scriptures whiles he was a young man 3. And 3dly If to all this Christians would add Prayer unto that God who revealeth truth to his People it would highly contribute to this unity I am pleading for it is a piece of Christs intercession for us that we might be one 4. And lastly Would Christians as becomes such as are humble if after all due means used for mutual Satisfaction and attaining to this happiness but learn that piety and prudence which the Apostle Commands and reason dictateth viz. To keep the things wherein they dissent to themselves and walk together so far forth as they have mutually attained and are mutually agreed certainly this would go very far and if this course did not fully contribute to preserve the strength and beauty of the Beams and Rafters of Gods house amongst us yet the weakness of them or rather indeed our weakness would not be so manifest to our enemies nor our nakedness so much discovered unto them that hate us Is the Doctrine of faith And are the Ordinances of God the Beams and Rafters of the Church How much are we then all concerned to keep them in their strength and purity and beauty We are Commanded to contend earnestly for the faith which was delivered once to the Saints Jude 3. and to strive together for the faith of the Gospel Phil. 2. 7. there is a striving about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers which the Apostle warns Timothy against 2 Tim. 2. 14. and there is a striving about things that are indifferent and it may be granted on both sides to be so These are vain janglings and unprofitable strivings But there is a striving for the Doctrine of faith against Haereticks and erroneous Persons and there is a striving for a true Worship of God and a pure administration of Ordinances according to the rule of the word without the mixture of Ceremonies and humane Inventions In these things Christians that are members of the Church stand highly concerned to strive To strive to maintain the Word of God and the Doctrines of faith contained in them that they be not corrupted with the leaven of errour And to maintain the Worship of God in its perfection that no part of it be loft and in its purity that the administration of it be not mixed up with humane inventions now to strive for these things is a noble striving and worthy of Christians for the Ordinances of God and the Word of God they are the Beams and Rafters of the house of God and what man is there that doth not take himself concerned to take care of the Beams and Rafters of hishouse that nothing comes to them which may expose them to a sudden putrefaction and rotenness and indanger the whole building to fall If a Church defends the Doctrine of the Word and the Ordinances of God and maintains them in their strength beauty purity they will defend it There can be no instance given of Gods leaving any Church so long as the Doctrine of faith remained in it incorrupted and the Ordinances of God abode in it and were administred in their power strength and purity But this is enough to have spoken to the 2d Proposition the 3d yet remains Sermon LXIII Cant. 1. 17. The Beams of our house are Cedar and our Rafters are of Fir. I Am now come to the last Proposition which I observed out of these Words with which I shall close my discourses both upon this verse and upon this whole Chapter The point is this Prop. 3. There is a Beauty Sweetness Power and Efficacy and an incorruptible nature in the Word and Ordinances of God These four things I noted to you concerning these two sorts of wood to which the Spouse here likeneth the Beams and Rafters of the Church which is her and her beloveds house Here are four things in the Proposition praedicated of these Spiritual Rafters 1. The first is Beauty Cedars and Fir trees are tall and goodly trees the latter lose not their beauty in the Winter time Zion of old was called the perfection of beauty Psal 50. 2. strength and beauty were said to be in the Sanctuary Psal 96. 6. the feet of them who bring glad tidings of peace are called beautiful Rom. 10. 15. the Sanctuary indeed of old had an external beauty it was full of Gold and of rare work which much pleased the carnal Eyes of the beholders This beauty is ceased with the Jewish Worship But there is a greater beauty still remaining the beauty of Solomons Temple in all its glory was not like the beauty of Gospel administration 1. Beauty is a pleasing thing That which Satisfieth the lust of the Eye is that which we call carnal beauty the orderly administration of Gospel institutions is a comely thing in the Eyes of a Spiritual Soul the simplicity of the Gospel administrations hinders not the beauty at all The sober grown Person thinks a suit of plain Spanish cloth as beautiful as the Child thinks its gay coat whose colours it may be are more diverse and the ribbands about it of several colours but the substance of it not of half so much value 'T is true the legal administrations were more gay but