as big or many times bigger than the globe of the earth where shall there be room for them If such a Scheme then be supposed in S. Peter's description the explication may be after this manner Mundus or the World to omit other particular acceptions is according to the Scripture's use either Mundus continens or Mundus contentus give me leave to use these terms for distinction sake By Mundus continens I mean the Compages and frame of the Physical heaven and earth wherein the rest of the creatures are contained by Mundus contentus the state or body of the inhabitants and Kingdoms of the earth Now to whatsoever the notion of Mundus is appliable there is also supposed to be an Heaven and Earth as being the names and parts whereby the Scriptures express the World The Heaven then of this Political world is the Sovereignty or Sovereign part thereof whose Host and Stars are the powers ruling that world In the highest place Gods and Idols next Kings Princes Peers Counsellours Magistrates and other such Lights shining in that Firmament And at such a meaning and no other it being an Oriental notion may aim for ought I can see that supposed fastuous style of Sapores King of Persia to Constantius the Emperour Rex Regum Sapores frater Solis Lunae partiçeps i.e. socius Siderum Constantio fratri salutem But to go on The Earth is the Peasantry or vulgus hominum together with the terrestrial creatures serving the use of man Of such a Heaven and Earth as this is the Lord speaks in the Prophecie of Haggai Ch. 2. v. 6 7. Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth both the sea and the dry land And I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come And again v. 21 22. I will shake the heavens and the earth And I will overthrow the Throne of Kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the Kingdoms of the Heathen c. Of such a Heaven and Earth speaks Ieremy Chap. 4. 23. I beheld the earth and it was without form and void 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the heavens and they had no light viz. as if the World were turn'd into the old Chaos again Gen. I. See the rest which follows Of such Heavens and an Earth speaks the Lord in Isaiah ch 51. 15 16. namely of the Heavens and Earth of the World or State of Israel I am saith he the Lord thy God who divided the sea to wit the Red sea when the waters thereof roared the Lord of Hosts is his name And put my Words i.e. my Law in thy mouth and covered thee in the shadow of my hand i.e. protected thee in thy march to Canaan c. that I might plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth i.e. make thee a State and build thee into a Political World and say unto Sion Thou art my people Of such a kind of Heaven speaks the same Prophet ch 34. 2 4 5. The indignation of the Lord is upon all Nations and his fury upon all their Armies c. And all the host of Heaven shall be dissolved and the Heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the Vine and as a falling fig from 〈◊〉 sig-tree For my sword shall be bathed in Heaven behold it shall come down upon â—â—maea c. See the rest and know that this destruction of Edom is prophesied of in no less Hyperbolical a strain by Obadiah and Ieremy c. 49. from v. 7 to 22. Ezek. 35. tot 25. 12. which I note lest any man wondring at the Hyperbole of this of Esay should think it appliable only to the Day of Iudgment And that such Schemes as these were usual to the Nations of the Orient may appear not only by the Chymical Philosophy derived thence which makes Heaven and Earth and Stars in every thing but from the testimony of Moses Maimonides who More Nebechim par 2. c. 29. affirms that the Arabians in his time in their vulgar speech when they would express that a man was fallen into some great calamity or adversity used to say Coelum ejus super terram ejus cecidit No question these Schemes were as familiar to them as our Poets strains and expressions are to us though of another genius ours are borrowed from fables stories persons places theirs were from the frame of the World the Sun Moon Stars and Elements c. If such a notion of Coelum and Terra may have place in this place of Peter and why may he not uttering a Prophecy borrow a Prophetical strain it may easily appear what Heaven and Earth the Fire at Christ's second coming shall burn up and consume viz. the Heaven and Earth of the contained world such as those which the former judgment by water overwhelmed and destroyed the world of wicked States and men high ones and low ones Princes and Peasants man and beast according to that twice-repeated passage Isa. 2. 11 17. which the ancient Iews interpreted of the Day of Iudgment The loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be made low and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day And the Idols these are part of the host of the Heaven we speak of he shall utterly abolish And of such Heavens and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as these it mattereth not though we understand an absolute destruction namely of so much as shall be burned as was in the Deluge of Noah and so likewise of the Earth and works thereof But whereas by the universal Deluge though only the Mundus contentus perished yet nevertheless the Mundus continens was therewith corrupted and depraved in the destruction by Fire it shall be otherwise for the world of wicked ones being destroyed the Heaven and Earth w ch contained them shall be purged and refined for the righteous todwell therein This Exposition I put but in the second place because where the proper sense of the letter may be kept I prefer it before any other To conclude If any there yet be whom neither of the former Expositions can satisfie but will needs have the fire and burning here spoken of to be that whereby the World is to be utterly annihilated I could answer That the Day of Iudgment is a thousand years and this Fire though it be to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that day yet shall it not be in the beginning but end thereof The beginning being but a destruction of the enemies of Christ and the Kingdom of Satan and then a restauration the end a destruction of the whole creature it self by utter annihilation and then S. Peter's words ver 13. to be construed after this manner That howsoever the Heavens and the Earth shall at length be dissolved by fire nevertheless before that shall be we look for a New heaven and a
Custom of all Religions of all Nations of all Vassals the Lord Iehovah Creator of Heaven and Earth ordained to his people this Observation of the Sabbath-day for a Sign and Cognisance that he should be their God and no other It is for a sign saith he between me and you that I Iehovah am your God And besides in the place I quoted before the 31. of Exod. 16 17. are these words The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual Covenant It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever for in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested As if he had said It is a Sign that the Creator of heaven and earth is your God But for the more distinct understanding of this signification we must know that the Sabbath includes two respects of time First the quotum one day of seven or the Seventh day after six days labour Secondly the designation or pitching that Seventh upon the day we call Saturday In both the Sabbatical observation was a sign and profession that Iehovah and no other was the God of Israel the first according to his attribute of Creatour the second of Deliverer of Israel out of AEgypt For by sanctifying the Seventh day after they had laboured six they professed themselves vassals and worshippers of that only God who created the Heaven and the Earth and having spent six days in that great work rested the Seventh day and therefore commanded them to observe this sutable distribution of their time as a baâ—ge and livery that their Religious service was appropriate to him alone And this is that which the Fourth Commandment in the reason given from the Creation intendeth and no more but this But seeing they might profess this acknowledgment as well by any other six dayes working and a seventh's resting as by those they pitched upon there being still what six dayes soever they had laboured and what seventh soever they had rested the same conformity with their Creator let us see the reason why they pitched upon tâ—ose six dayes wherein they laboured for labouring dayes rather than any other and why they chose that Seventh day namely Saturday to hallow and rest in rather than any other And this was that they might profess themselves servants of Iehovah their God in a relation and respect peculiar and proper to themselves to wit that they were the servants of that God which redeemed Israel out of the Land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage and upon the morning-watch of that very day which they kept for their Sabbath he overwhelmed Pharaoh and all his Host in the Red Sea and saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians This I gather from the repetition of the Decalogue Deut. 5. where that reason from the world's Creation in the Decalogue given at Horeb being left out Moses inserts this other of the Redemption of Israel out of Egypt in stead thereof namely as the reason why those six dayes rather than any other six for work and that Seventh day rather than any other seventh for rest were pitched upon as Israel observed them Remember saith he V. 15. thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm Therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day Namely not for the quotum of one day of seven â—or of that another reason was given the example of God in the Creation but for the designation of the day But whether this day were in order the seventh from the Creation or not the Scripture is silent for where it is called in the Commandment the seventh day that is in respect of the six dayes of labour and not otherwise and therefore whensoever it is so called those six dayes of labour are mentioned with it The seventh day therefore is the seventh after the six dayes of labour nor can any more be inferred from it the example of the Creation is brought for the quotum one day of seven as I have shewed and not for the designation of any certain day for that seventh Nevertheless it might fall out so by disposition of Divine Providence that the Iews designed Seventh day was both the seventh in order from the Creation and also the day of their deliverance out of Egypt But the Scripture no where tells us it was so howsoever most men take it for granted and therefore it may as well be not so Certain I am the Iews kept not that day for a Sabbath till the raining of Manna For that which should have been their Sabbath the week before had they then kept the day which afterward they kept was the fifteenth day of the second moneth and which day we read in the 16 of Exod. that they marched a wearisom march and came at night into the wilderness of Sin where they murmured for their poor entertainment and wished they had died in Egypt that night the Lord sent them Quailes the next morning it rained Manna which was the sixteenth day and so six dayes together the seventh which was the twenty second day it rained none and that day they were commanded to keep for their Sabbath Now if the twenty second day of the moneth were the Sabbath the fifteenth should have been if that day had been kept before but the Text tells us expresly they marcht that day and which is strange the day of the moneth is never named unless it be once for any station but this where the Sabbath was ordained otherwise it could not have been known that that day was ordained for a day of rest which before was none And why might not their day of holy rest be altered as well as the beginning of the year was for a memorial of their coming out of Egypt I can see no reason why it might nor not find any testimony to assure me it was not And thus much of the Iews Sabbath How and wherein it was a Sign whereby they professed themselves the servants of Iehovah and no other God Now I come to the Second thing I propounded to shew How far and in what manner the like observation binds us Christians I say therefore that the Christian as well as the Iew after six dayes spent in his own works is to sanctifie the seventh that he may profess himself thereby a servant of God the Creator of Heaven and Earth as well as the Iew. For the quotum therefore the Iew and Christian agree but in designation of the day they differ For the Christian chuseth for his Holy Day that which with the Iews was the First day of the week and calls it Dominicam the Lord 's Day that he might thereby profess himself a servant of that God who on the morning of that day vanquished Satan the Spiritual Pharaoh and
the Books written after the Captivity he is styled Deus coeli the God of Heaven as in Ezra Nehemiah Daniel in which Books together with the last of Chronicles the title of Deus Sabaoth The Lord of Hosts is not to be found but the title of Deus Coeli The God of Heaven only which as may seem was taken up for some reason in stead of the other But to return to what we have in hand It was the Angelical Host as ye hear who sang this Song of joy and praise unto the most High God And wherefore For any restitution or addition of Happiness to themselves No but for Peace on Earth and Good-will towards men He that was now born took not upon him the Nature of Angels but of men He came not into the world to save Angels but for the salvation of men Nor was the state of Angels to receive advancement in glory by his coming but the state of men and that too in such a sort as might seem to impeach the dignity and dim the lustre of those excellent creatures when an inferiour Nature the nature of Man was now to be advanced unto a throne of Divine majesty and to become Head and King not only of men but of the Heavenly Host it self O ye blessed Angels what did these tidings concern you That ruined mankind should be restored again and taken into favour whereas those of your own Host which fell likewise remained still in that gulf of perdition whereinto their sin had plunged them without hope of mercy or like promise of Deliverance What did it add to your eminent Dignity the most excellent of the creatures of God that the Nature of man should be advanced above yours that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth The Observation therefore which this Act of the Angels first presents unto us is The ingenuous goodness and sweet disposition of those immaculate and blessed Spirits in whose bosomes Envy the Image of the Devil and deadly poison of Charity hath no place at all For if any inclination to this cankered passion had been in these Heavenly creatures never such an occasion was offered nor greater could be to stir it up as now But Heaven admits of no such passion nor could such a torment consist with the blissful condition of those who dwell therein It is the smoke of that bottomless pit a native of Hell the character and cognisance of those Apostate Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation and are reserved for chains of everlasting darkness These indeed grieve no less at the Happinâ—ss of men than the Angels joy witness the name of their Prince Satan which signifies the Fiend or malicious one who out of Envy overthrew mankind in the beginning out of Envy he and all his fellow-fiends are so restless and indefatigable to seduce him still The Use of this Observation will not be far to seek if we remember the admonition our Saviour hath given us in the Prayer left unto his Church which is To make the Angels the pattern of our imitation in doing the will of our heavenly Father for so he teacheth us to pray Let thy will be done in earth as it is done in heaven that is Grant us O Lord to do thy will here as thy holy Angels do it there And as we should imitate them in all things else so in this affection towards the happiness and prosperity of others And good reason I think if we mean at all to approve our selves unto God our Father why we should endeavour rather to be like unto them than unto Devils But in nothing can we be more like them than in this to rejoyce for the good and not repine at the happiness of our Brethren Hoc enim Angelicum est This is the Character of the Angelical nature and consequently of those who one day shall have fellowship with them To be contrarily affected Diabolicum est is the badge and brand of Devils and Fiends and those who wear their Livery reason good they should keep them company Let every one therefore examine his own heart concerning this point that he may learn upon what terms he stands with God and what he may promise himself of the Blessedness to come Do the gifts of God doth his favour or blessing vouchsafed to thy brother when thou â—eest or hearest of them torment and crucifie thy soul dost thou make their happiness thy misery is thine eye evil to thy Brother because God's is good If this be so without doubt thy heart is not right before God nor doth his Spirit but the spirit of Devils and Fiends reign therein But if the contrary appear in any reasonable measure with a desire to encrease it for we must not look to attain the perfection of Angels in this life but in some measure and degree only if thou canst rejoyce at anothers good though it concerns not thy self the Spirit of God rests upon thee For emulations and envyings saith the Apostle Gal. 5. 19. c. are the fruits of the flesh but the fruits of the Spirit are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kindness and goodness So he calls the opposite vertues to those former vices But as any good that betides our brother ought to affect us with some degree of joy and not with grief and envy so chiefly and most of all his Spiritual good and that which concerns his Salvation ought so to do This was that the holy Angels praised God for in my Text on the behalf of men That unto them a Saviour was born who should save them from their sins and reconcile them unto God Which sweet disposition of those good and blessed spirits our Saviour himself further witnesseth when he saith Luke 15. 7 10. There is joy in heaven namely among the holy Angels for one sinner that repenteth But is there any man will you say such a son of Belial as he will not do this will not imitate the holy Angels in this Iudge ye There is an evil disease which commonly attends upon Sects and Differences in opinion That as men are curiously inquisitive into the lives and actions of the adverse party so are they willing to find them faulty and rejoyce at their falls and slips hear and relate them with delight namely because they suppose it makes much for their own side that the contrary should by such means be scandalized and the Patrons and followers thereof disreputed But should that be the matter of our grief whereat the Angels joy or that the matter of our joy whereat the Angels grieve How is this to do our Father's will on earth as the Angels do in heaven Nay if this be not to put on the robes of darkness and to shake hands with hellish Fiends I know not what is O my Soul come not thou into their secret unto
looked that that glorious Son of David should have been born of the most rich and potent parentage of that line but behold he was of the poorest and most despised Who would not have thought but Ierusalem the Royal City had been the only fit place for his Birth but he was born at Bethlehem one of the least Cities of Iudah And what in some stately and more convenient Palace there No in a stable and laid in a manger So was David his progenitor the youngest and most despised son of Ishai Samuel thought that brave and goodly Eliab the first-born was the man surely whom God would chuse to make him King But God had set his eye upon him whom the Father so little regarded as he could scarce think of him even the little one which kept the sheep Thus God derides the conceits of men Fools therefore that we are why do we value those things so much which God esteems so little We are wont otherwise to make much account of such things as Kings and Great ones have in esteem and to think but basely of those things which they despise why should not the Example of Almighty God bear the like sway in our judgments to prefer what he prefers and slight what he undervalues Let us therefore considering this set our hearts and affections upon heavenly and spiritual things and say of all the pomp and glory of this world Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity THUS have I spoken of the two first Particulars I propounded the Time when and the Place where our Saviour began the publication of his Gospel I come now to the Third The Summe of what he preached and it was this The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand Repent ye and believe the Gospel This was the Summe of what he preached and it contains two parts a Doctrine and an Exhortation The Doctrine is That the Time foretold by the Prophets when the Kingdom of God should begin was come The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand The Exhortation is That therefore they should Repent and believe the Gospel or glad tidings which that Kingdom brings I 'le begin with the Doctrine where I have two things to unfold 1. What this Kingdom of God is 2. What was the Time prefixt for the coming thereof which our Saviour saith was fulfilled when he spake unto them For the first The Kingdom of God is that which otherwise is called The Kingdom of Heaven These two are both one and therefore S. Matthew chap. 4. 17. when he relates this preaching of our Saviour saith that he preached and said Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand namely the same that Iohn Baptist his Harbinger preacht before him For the Hebrews express God by Heaven as we may see Dan. 4. 26. where it is said to Nebucchadnezzar that his kingdom should be restored unto him when he should acknowledge that the heavens bear rule that is God the most High who dwells in heaven The prodigal child in the Gospel saith Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee Luke 15. 21. So Matt. 21. 25. The Baptism of Iohn was it from Heaven or from men that is from God or from men This is the reason why the Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven mean one and the same thing Let us therefore now see what is meant by it This Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is the Kingdom of Messiah or Christ foretold in the Prophets the Kingdom of that Seed of the woman which should break the Serpent's head of that seed of Abraham wherein all the Nations of the earth should be blessed For so the Hebrew Doctors before and at our Saviour's coming had termed this Kingdom and taught their people to look for it under that name which they had learned out of the Prophecies of Daniel concerning it who in chap. 2. ver 44. describes it in this manner In the days of those Kings or Kingdoms that is while the days of the four Monarchies there spoken of yet lasted the God of heaven shall found or set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed nor be lest unto another people but it shall break in pieces and consume all these Kingdoms and it shall stand for ever In the 7 ch ver 13 14. he describes it thus I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven And there was given him dominion and glory and a Kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed From these places the Iews called the Messiah's Kingdom the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven Because in the first place it is said that the God of heaven should set up his Kingdom and in the other places that the Son of man namely Messiah should come in the clouds of Heaven For our Saviour brought not this term of phrase with him but found it at his coming used among the Iews which being fitly given he approved and so taught them the mysterie of his coming in their own language As we may see in so many Parables in the Gospel where our Saviour sets forth the state of his Church and the members of the same continually under the name of The Kingdom of God or The Kingdom of Heaven The Kingdom of Heaven is like a field where a sower sowed good seed c. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven c. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Merchant c. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net and such like In all which our Saviour describes the state of his Church in that language the people were used unto as he doth also in other of his Sermons Hence it is that when Iohn Baptist first and our Saviour after him preached The Kingdom of heaven is at hand the Iews wondred not at that term as at a novelty nor ever askt what it meant but understood it of the Kingdom of Messiah which they had been taught to call by that name then and is still found so called among their Rabbies and Doctors until this day though through their unbelief they have no portion therein but look for it still to come The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven then is nothing else but the Church of Christ or the Christian Church which is no Temporal kingdom like the kingdoms of this world which have power over the Body only but a Spiritual kingdom which reigns over the Souls and Spirits of men The Kingdom of God saith our Saviour is within you that is it is a kingdom of the inward man And therefore this kingdom was not to be founded after the manner of the kingdoms of men by great armies and field-battels but was to subdue the nations and conquer the world by
Ashteroth the Gods of the Sidonians Rimmon the God of the Aramites Where is now Dagon of the Philistines Milcom of the Ammonites Chemosh of Moab and Tammuz of the Egyptians Even these also whose names we hear so frequent in Scripture are perished with their very names from this earth and from under these heavens And the Nations which once worshipped them worship now the great God Creator of heaven and earth once all of them and yet the most of them truly and savingly in Christ Iesus the Saviour and Redeemer of the world The beginning of this strange and wonderful Change was about the Birth and Incarnation of Christ our Saviour at which time the Gods of the Gentiles grew speechless in their Oracles or if at any time they answered it was to testifie the nearness of that time wherein they were to be cast out and the presence of him who should do the same As it is reported of Augustus who consulting the Oracle of Apollo who should reign after him received this answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The meaning whereof is this The Hebrew child which rules the blessed Gods bids me leave this house and presently pack to hell From henceforth depart thou with silence from our Altars Whereupon it is said that Augustus reared an Altar in the Capitol with this Inscription ARA PRIMOGENITI DEI The Altar of the First-begotten of God Porphyrie though an enemy of Christians reports three farewel Oracles of Apollo The first whereof is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In English thus O wo is me lament ye Tripods for Apollo is gone he is gone he is gone For the burning light of heaven that Iupiter which was is and shall be O mighty Iupiter he compels me Ah wo is me the bright glory of my Oracles is gone from me And to the Priest which last consulted him his demand being Which was the true Religion he answered in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In English thus Thou unhappiest of the Priests oh that thou wouldst not have asked me being now at my last of the Divine Father and of the dear begotten of that famous King nor of the Spirit which comprehendeth and surroundeth all things For wo is me He it is that will I nill I will expel me from these Temples and full soon shall this dividing seat become a place of desolation And if at any time he were extremely urged by inchantments and exorcisms to break off this uncouth silence he answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apollo's voice is not to be recovered it is decayed through length of time and locked up with the keys of never-divining silence but do you as ye were wont such sacrifices as it beseemeth Phoebus to have The ceasing of Oracles in ancient times so frequent made the Heathen wonder what the cause should be for being grown very rare as the coming of Christ drew near and at the time of his being upon the earth the chiefest of all the Oracle of Delphos grown speechless as Strabo living at that time witnesseth before the end of that Age all the Oracles of the world in a manner held their peace Plutarch as ye all know at that time writ a Tract of the decay of Oracles wherein he labours to find the cause of their ceasing and after much search and many disputes he concludes the Reason partly to be from the absence of his Demoniacal spirits who by his Philosophy might either die through length of years or flit from place to place either exiled by others more strong or upon some other dislike and partly from the alteration of the soil where Oracles were seated which might not yield such Exhalations as in former times they had done This is the Summe of the Reasons in that Discourse But as we embrace this Testimony of Plutarch for the use and decay of Oracles so we are better enabled to give a true reason thereof than he was or could be namely As Meteors and smaller lights vanish and appear not when the Sun begins to rise So did these false lights of the Heathen vanish when the Sun of righteousness Christ Iesus arose unto the world As Dagon fell down when the Ark of God was brought into his Temple so when the true Ark of God Christ Iesus came into the world all the Dagons of the Nations fell down The time was come when as our Saviour saith Iohn 12. 31. the Prince of this world was to be cast out The night was past and the day was come and therefore such Bats and Birds of darkness as these were not any longer to play such reaks as in times past they had done Now began that War in heaven between Michael and the red Dragon whereof we read in the Revelation Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon and his Angels that is Christ our Lord and his undaunted souldiers fought with the Devil and all his Ethnick forces led by the Roman Emperors Which War though it lasted long and cost the bloud and lives of many a thousand valiant Martyrs yet in the days of Constantine the Dragon received so great an overthrow that he never could recover it and though in the days of Iulian he made head again and kept the field a while yet was he soon fain to quit it and leave the victory unto Michael's army Which defeature of his was accompanied with an ominous sign of his utter overthrow his Throne or Temple at Delphos with earthquakes thunder and lightening being utterly ruined For as by the rending of the veil of the Temple was signified the abolishment of Legal worship so by the prodigious destruction of the chiefest Temple the Devil had in all the world was as it were sealed the irrecoverable overthrow of Ethnicisme which in the Event immediately following proved true For though he retained some strength under Valens in the East by still enjoying his wonted sacrifices yet in the days of Theodosius he was utterly and finally vanquished when his last champion Eugenius who threatned to be another Iulian and to restore Ethnicisme again with his whole Army was discomfited by the prayer and prowess of Theodosius about the year of our Lord three hundred and ninety For after this time Ethnicisme was never publickly maintained in the Roman Empire nor any open attempt made for restoring it again whereby it seems the red Dragon was cast down to the earth and that now was perfected the Triumph of Michael's victory when the Gods that made not the heaven and the earth were fully perished as concerning their Empire from the earth and from under
rational part of our Christian Sacrifice which is Prayer Thanksgiving and Commemoration Mincha the material part thereof which is Oblatio farrea a Present of Bread and Wine BUT this Mincha is characterised in the Text with an attribute not to be overpast Mincha purum In omni loco offeretur incensum Nomini meo Mincha purum In every place Incense shall be offered to my Name and a pure Mincha The Meat-offering which the Gentiles should one day present the God of Israel with should be Munus purum a pure Offering or as the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a pure Sacrifice Let us learn if we can what this Purity is and wherein it consisteth or in what respect the Gentiles Oblation is so styled 1. Some of the Fathers take this Pure Offering to be an Offering that is purely or spiritually offered The old Sacrifices both of the Iew and Gentile were offered modo corporali in a corporeal manner by slaughter fire and incense but this of Christians should be offered only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of Prayer and Thanksgiving as Iustin Martyr expresses it whence it is usually called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reasonable and unbloudy Sacrifice namely of the manner of offering it not that there was no material thing used therein as some mistake for we know there was Bread and Wine but because it is offered unto God immaterially or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only which the Fathers in the first Council of Nice call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be sacrificed without sacrificing rites This sense of Pure Sacrifice is followed by Tertullian as may appear by his words ad Scapulam where speaking of the Christian Liturgy Sacrificamus saith he pro salute Imperatoris sed quomodo praecepit Deus purâ prece Non enim eget Deus Conditor Vniversitatis odoris aut sanguinis alicujus haec enim Daemoniorum pabula sunt We offer Sacrifice for the health and welfare of the Emperor but it is according as God hath commanded the Sacrifice of pure prayer For God the maker of the World stands not in need of the smell or savour or of the bloud of any creature These indeed are the food and diet which the Devils love Also in his third Book against Marcion cap. 22. In omni loco offertur Sacrificium Nomini meo In every place Sacrifice shall be offered to my Name sacrificium mundum and a pure Sacrifice that is saith he gloriae relatio benedictio laus hymni giving glory to God blessing praise and hymns which he presently calls munditia sacrificiorum the purities of Sacrifices The same way go some others But this sense though it fitly serves to difference our Christian Sacrifice from the old Sacrifices of the Iews and Gentiles and the thing it self be most true yet I cannot see how it can agree with the context of our Prophet where the word Incense though I confess mystically understood is expressed together with Munus purum a pure offering For it would make the Literal sense of our Prophet to be absurd and to say In every place Incense is offered to thy Name and an Offering without Incense And yet this would be the Literal meaning if Pure here signified without Incense 2. Let us hear therefore a second Interpretation of this Puritie of the Christian Mincha more agreeable to the dependence of the words and that is à conscientia offerentis from the disposition and affection of the offerer according to that of the Apostle Tit. 1. 15 16. To the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled They profess they know God but in works they deny him The Iews offering was prophane and polluted because it proceeded not out of a due belief and a conscience throughly perswaded of the Greatness of their God that he was the Creator and Lord of the whole earth but rather some petty and particular God like the Gods of other Nations But the Gentiles who should see him not only the God of one Nation but universally acknowledged over all the earth should have no such reason to doubt but firmly believe him to be the Great God Creator of heaven and earth and worship him as such and so their Offering be a Pure Offering not polluted with unbelief And it is to be observed that all the ancient Christian Liturgies begin with this acknowledgment For the Summe of the Eucharistical Doxology when the Bread and Wine is first presented before God is comprehended in that of the Apocalyps Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created And to this way of interpreting the Purity of the Christian Sacrifice to wit from the conscience and affection of the offerers the Fathers mostly bend Irenaeus lib. 4. cap. 34. Sacrificia non sanctificant hominem non enim indiget Deus sacrificio sed conscientia ejus qui offert sanctificat sacrificium pura exsistens Quoniam igitur cum simplicitate Ecclesia offert justè munus ejus purum sacrificium apud Denm deputatum est Sacrifices do not sanctifie a man for God stands not in need of any of our Sacrifices but the Conscience of him that offers being pure sanctifies the Sacrifice And because the Church offereth with Simplicity with a Conscience purified from all malice and hypocrisie rightly therefore is her Oblation accounted by God a Pure Sacrifice And a little after Oportet enim nos oblationem Deo facere in omnibus gratos inveniri fabricatori Deo in sententia pura fide sine hypocrisi c. For it behoveth us to present God with our Oblations and in all things to be found thankful unto God our maker with pure minds and faith unfeigned with stedfast hope and fervent love offering unto him the First-fruits or a Present of his Creatures Neither is Tertullian whom I alledged before for the other interpretation averse from this for in his fourth Book Cont. Marc. c. 1. Sacrificium mundum a pure Sacrifice that is saith he simplex oratio de conscientia pura sincere Prayer proceeding from a pure Conscience But this conscientious purity they seem to restrain at least chiefly to freedom from malice as that singular purity whereby this Christian Sacrifice is differenced from that of the Iew because none can offer it but he that is in charity with his brother according to that in the Gospel When thou bringest thy gift unto the Altar and remembrest thy brother hath ought against thee Go first and be reconciled to thy brother c. And therefore in the beginning of this Christian Service the Deacon was anciently wont to cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man have ought against his brother and then followed osculum sanctum the kiss of reconciliation Thus the Fathers of the
Psal. 37. 21. but the Righteous sheweth mercy and giveth and vers 25 Yet have I not seen the Righteous forsaken p. 80 Psal. 40. 6. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire mine ears hast thou bored c. p. 896 Psal. 44. 16. By reason of the Enemy and Avenger all this is come upon us p. 38 Psal. 50. 14 Offer unto God praise and pay thy Vows unto the most High p. 284 Vers. 16. Vnto the wicked God saith What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes and take my Covenant in thy mouth p. 371 Psal. 51. 16 17. Thou desirest not Sacrifice else would I give it thou delightest not in burnt-offering The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit c. p. 353 Psal. 68. 9 10. Thou O God didst send a plentiful rain whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Animalia tua dwelt therein p. 438 594 Psal. 74. 7 8. They have cast fire into thy Sanctuary They have burnt up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the land p. 69 Psal. 89. 18. The Holy one of Israel is our King p. 8 Psal. 104. 4. He maketh his Angels Spirits his ministers a flaming fire p. 28 Vers. 19. He appointeth the Moon for seasons p. 492 Psal. 110. 3. Thy people in the day of thy power shall be a people of free presents p. 115 Psal. 112. 6 The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance p. 80 Psal. 116. 13. I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. p. 380 Psal. 132. 7. We will go into his Tabernacle we will worship towards his Footstool p. 393 Psal. 138. 1 â— Before the Gods will I sing praise unto thee I will worship towards thy holy Temple p. 394 PROVERBS Chap. 4. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life p. 199. Chap. 8. 10. Receive my instruction and not silver p. 352 Chap. 11. 4. Righteousness delivereth from death p. 81 Chap. 15. 11. Hell and destruction are before the Lord. p. 32 Chap. 21. 16. The man that wandreth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the Congregation of the dead p. 31 Chap. 30. 8 9. Give me neither Poverty nor Riches feed me with food convenient for me Lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain p. 124 ECCLESIASTES Chap. 5. 1. Look to thy foot when thou comest to the House of God and be more ready to obey than to offer the Sacrifice of fools p. 340 Vers 4. 5 6. When thou Vowest a Vow defer not to pay it c. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin neither say thou before the Angel It was an error p. 345 Vers. 14. he begâ—tâ—eth a Son and there is nothing in his hand pag. 119 CANTICLES Chap. 7. 10. I am my beloved's and his desire is towards me p. 668 ESAY Chap. 2. 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the tâ—p of the mountains c. and all Nations shall flow unto it p. 135 Chap. 4. 1. Only let thy name be called upon us to take away our reproach p. 5 Chap. 6. 1. I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple p. 344 Chap. 7. 14. and shall call his name Emmanuel p. 465 Chap. 8. 12 13. Fear ye not their Fear neither dread ye it Sanctifie the Lord of hosts himself and let him be your Fear and let him be your Dread p. 9 Chap. 9. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quoniam non est obscuratio ei qui angustiae est ipsi p. 457 Vers. 1 2 3. As the first time he made vile or debased the land of Zebulâ—n and the land of Naphtali so in the latter time he shall make it glorious The way of the Sea by Iordan Galilce of the Gentiles the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light c. Thou hast multiplied the Nation and encreased the joy thereof p. 101 457 Vers. 6. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counseller The mighty God c. p. 465 Chap. 11. 15. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the AEgyptian Sea c. p. 529 Chap. 17. 7. to the Holy one of Israel p. 8 Chap. 19. 5. And the waters shall fail from the Sea p. 463 Chap. 24. 23. The Moon shall be confounded and the Sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Sion p. 448 Chap. 26. 19. Thy dead men shall live my dead bodies shall arise p. 578 Chap. 30. 31 33. Through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstanc doth kindle it p. 31 Chap. 40. 15. He taketh up the Isles as a very little thing p. 273 Chap. 42. 4. The Isles shall wait for this Law Ibid. Chap. 45. 14. The labour of Egypt and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans c. p. 578 Vers. 20. Assemble your selves and come draw near together ye that are escaped of the Nations p. 915 Chap. 51. 15 16. I am the Lord thy God that divided the Sea whose waves roared And I put my words in thy mouth and covered thee in the shadow of my hand that I might plant the Heavens and lay the Foundation of the Earth and say unto Sion Thou art my people p. 616 448 Chap. 53. 1 2. Who hath believed our report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed For he shall grow as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground p. 38 Chap. 55. 7. Let the wicked for sake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him p. 206 Chap. 66. 19. I will send those that escape of them unto the Nations and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles p. 915 Vers. 23. From one New-Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me p. 841 IEREMY Chap. 2. 10. Poss over to the Isles of Chittim p. 273 Vers. 11. my people have changed their Glory p. 5 Chap. 8. 20. The harvest is past the summer is ended and we are not saved p. 520 Chap. 10. 11. Thus shall ye say unto them The Gods that made not the Heavens and the Earth even they shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens p. 187 Chap. 34. 18 19. And I will give the man which have not performed the words of the Covenant which they had made before me when they cut the â—alf in twain and passed between the parts thereof I will give them into the hand of
whole Orthodox Christian Church in the Age immediately following the Apostles 771. a passage out of Iustin Martyr to this purpose vindicated which had been corrupted as other passages to the like purpose were expunged out of Sulpitius Severus Victorinus Petav. and others of the same judgment 533 534. nor was it anciently denied but by Hereticks and such as denied the Apocalyps 534 602. Other Testimonies for it as out of the Council of Nice 813. and a Carechism set forth in K. Edward the sixth his Reign 813 815. That this Millennium follows upon the expiring of Antichrist's reign 603. this clearly proved by the Synchronisms 429. That the 1000 years of Satans being bound began not at Constantine 427 880. S. Hierome's misrepresentation of the sense of the more ancient Fathers detected 899. Doubtful whether Cerinthus held any part of this Opinion though in a wrong sense 900 Mincha what 357 826. in marg The Purity of the Christian Mincha explained in three particulars 358 359 Minister how the word is sometimes used improperly 27 517. Four Solecisms from the improper use thereof ibid Ministers are not the peoples Ministers but God's 26. and are maintained out of Gods revenue 77 78 120. their maintenance is not of the nature of Alms 73. To make provision for God's Ministers and Worship a work highly pleasing to God 174 Miracles No noise of Miracles done by Reliques of Martyrs in the first 300 years after Christ 679 680. The design of the pretended Miracles in after-ages 681 c. Monks and Friers the chief promoters of Saint-worship 690 691. and of Image-worship 691. The two characters of Monastick professors 688. a third character 689. Monkisn poverty no point of Piety 126 c. Months The 42 Months in Apocal. 11. 2. the same with 1260 Days in vers 3. are to be taken for Months of years and are more than three single years and an half 598. their beginning and ending 600. why the profaning of the holy City by the Gentiles and the continuing of the Beast is number'd by Months Apocal. 11. 2. ch 13. 5. but the Prophesying of the Witnesses and the Woman's abode in the Wilderness by Days ch 11. 3. ch 12. 6. 481 492 Moses the Rites and Ordinances of Moses observed for some time after Christs ascension by the Apostles and believing Iews 841 Mountains and Hills what they signifie in the Prophetick style 135 462 Mountains and Islands 450 N NAme written in their foreheads in Apocal. 14. 1. what meant thereby 511 Name of God Hereby is meant 1 God himself 2. what is his by a peculiar right 4 5. Gods Name to be called upon a thing what is imports 5. Gods Name how it is sanctified or hallowed 9. how it is prophaned or polluted 14 Names of men in Apocal. 11. 13. what 489 490 Nations or Gentiles put in the Apocalyps for the Apostate or false Christians 574 908 Nazarites their Vow and Law abrogated by the Apostles and therefore no ground for Monkish orders 128 Nebuchadnezzar's Vision of an Image of Gold Silver Brass and Iron explained 104 105 743 744 New Heavens and New Earth what meant thereby 613 New Ierusalem what meant thereby 772 877 914 Nicene Council See Council Noah The seven Precepts of the sons of Noah 19. these Precepts were briefly included in the Apostles decision at the Council in Ierusalem Acts 15. 165. whether the observation of the Sabbath-day was included in any of these Precepts 20. The division of the Earth by Noah's Sons was not confused but orderly 274 Number of the Beast 666 why he differs from Monsieur Testara's conjecture about it 795. Mr. Potter's Discourse upon it highly approved by him 877 Numbers of Times when Definite and Indefinite 597 656 Numbers Distributive or Divisive wanting in the Hebrew Text and how supplied 700 O OBedience to Gods Commands the best protection against dangers 262. a more necessary and acceptable duty than Sacrifice 351 c. Three qualifications of true Obedience 1 Cordial 2 Resolved 3 Vniversal 310 Offerings were either Eucharistical or Euctical and Vâ—tal 285. a description of these 289. They are due to God naturally and perpetually 286. That they were not Typical and Ceremonial but Moral in their end and nature proved by four arguments 288 289. That they are required of Christians 291. the three degrees or parts thereof 290 Offerings and Sacrifices wherein they differ 369 The two Olive-branches in Zech. 4. explained 833 Oracles The Heathen Oracles began to cease at the birth of Christ. 193 194 Oratories See Proseucha's P. PAlestine See Canaan Passions 4 Rules for the governing of them 227 S. Paul's Conversion a Type of the calling of the Iews 891 Peace on Earth Luke 2. what is meant thereby 93 94 Peace-offerings and other Sacrifices were to be eaten before the third day and why 51 Penitents 5 degrees of them according to the discipline of the ancient Church 331 Pentecost why called the Feast of Weeks 265. and of harvest 269. why the Gospel was first published and in such a miraculous way at Pentecost 76. That those First Converts to the Christian Faith at Pentecost were not Gentiles but Iews 74 75 Perfect Heart See Heart Perjury upon Theft a more dangerous Sin in the Iewish State 133 Persecutions Which were the greatest and longest of the 10 Persecutions 334 S. Peter his Second Epistle why and by whom questioned 612 Pillars and Images why at first erected 632 The Pontifical Stole and Title first refused by the Emperour Gratian. 601 Poverty its dangers and evils 132 133 Prayer why God requires it of us 170. why not always heard 168. how God often hears our Prayers when we think he doth not 169. A set Form of Prayer proved to be lawful 2. Objections against set Forms answered 3 4. To be prayed to in Heaven and to present our Prayers to God is a Right and Privilege proper to Christ 639. and that Christ purchased it by his death 640 Presents The Oriental Custome to bring Presents to their Kings 115 Priesthood why confined to one Tribe only under the Law 178 179 Prophecies so foretel things to come as yet to instruct the present Church 285 Prophesying hath a fourfold sense in Scripture 58. in what sense it is attributed to Women 58 59 A Prophet's Reward is a special and eminent Reward 87 Prophetical Schemes familiar and usual to the Eastern Nations 616 759 Proselytes two sorts of them 1 Proselytes of the Covenant or Righteousness 2. Proselytes of the Gate 19 20. these are called in the Acts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Worshippers and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that fear God 20 21. why there were more of this sort of Proselytes 21 22. how these became so ready for the Gospel and Faith of Christ. 22 Proseuchae or Places of Prayer their use among the Iews and how they differed from Synagogues 66 67. where they are mentioned in Scripture 67. their Antiquities 68 69 Prosperity is apt to make men
that I found they were both inserted by the Author partly into his Discourse on Eccles. 5. 1. intituled The Reverence of God's House and partly into that Epistolary Tract of his touching The Holiness of Churches nor is there any thing in them but what is incorporated into those Tracts except this one Notion in the beginning of that forementioned short discourse upon Genes 28. 16. Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not where the Author hath this Observation They are the words of Iacob when he awoke out of the Vision he saw at Bethel He dream'd he saw a Ladder reaching from Heaven to Earth and the Angels of God ascending and descending thereon Above it stood the Lord himself saying I am the Lord the God of Abraham thy Father and the God of Isaac the Land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it and to thy seed I will multiply thee and in thy seed shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed I mean not to expound the Vision unto you it would be besides my scope but only will tell you thus much that the Author of the Book of Wisdom Chap. 10. 10. calls it a Vision of the Kingdom of God meaning as I suppose the Kingdom of Messiah which is here promised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He shewed him saith he relating this history of Iacob the Kingdom of God and gave him knowledge of holy things Which passage I think so much the more worthy to be observed because the term of Kingdom of God so frequent in the New Testament is no where to be found save in this place only This Observation I thought good to preserve by inserting it here upon this occasion There are several Texts of Scripture set down in the beginning of a thin Paper-book in Quarto which the Author it's likely intended to discourse upon but whether he perfected his intentions or only laid in some general materials for such a purpose in some other Papers some such thing seems to be intimated appears not to me from any Papers of his that have come to my hands Howsoever it may not be amiss but rather a gratification to some to set down here those Passages of Scripture which he had made choice of as fit objects for his deep-searching Thoughts to be exercis'd upon And they are these Acts 7. 43. Ye took up the Tabernacle of Moloch and the Star of your God Remphan c. Gen. 2. 9. The Tree of life in the middle of the Garden Iam. 5. 14. Is there any sick among you let him call for the Presbyters of the Church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord And the prayer of Faith shall save the sick c. Gen. 14. 18. And Melchizedek King of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the Priest of the most high God Gen. 20. 7. For he is a Prophet and he shall pray for thee and thou shalt live Matth. 12. 39. And there shall be no sign given to it but the sign of the Prophet Ionas 2 Sam. 21. 1. It is for Saul and his bloudy House because he slew the Gibeonites 1 Sam. 8. 7. And the Lord said unto Samuel They have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them 2 Cor. 3. 6 7. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life But if the ministration of Death written and engraven in stones was glorious How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious Matth. 2. 18. A voice was heard in Rama lamentation and weeping Rachel weeping for her children c. 1 Cor. 8. 10. For if any man should see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the Idol's temple c. Ioh. 16. 8. And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment Heb. 11. 4. By faith Abel offered unto God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 than Cain 2 Ep. Ioh. v. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ios. 22. 19. If the land of your possession be unclean then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord wherein the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth c. Nehem. 8. 6. And all the people answered Amen Amen with lifting up their hands c. 1 Cor. 11. 16. But if any man seem to be contentious we have no such custome nor the Churches of God These Seventeen Texts of Scripture together with that Title of several Psalms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I found set down in the beginning of that Paper-book the rest is wanting and these it seems he designed for the matter of his Chappel-exercises and if any such Diatribae or Discourses perfected by him upon these Scriptures be in the possession of any worthy persons for the Author was very communicative of his Papers it is both desired and hoped that they would impart them for the common benefit 5. That upon the View of all the Author's Writings it seem'd most accommodate for the Reader 's benefit that they should be digested into Five Books The First Book to contain his Discourses on several Texts of Scripture and of a different importance All of which were delivered in publick either in the Colledge-Chappel or in some greater Auditory except that one only Discourse upon Esay 2. 2 3. which was dictated by the Author 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the satisfaction of a Friend of his who desired his opinion touching that Prophecy and as it was related by the Author's Friend the original Paper is thus subscribed More time and more leisure might have afforded you better but for this you are beholden to your Cousin B. whose pains in writing was more than mine in dictating Vale. Yours I. M. The Second Book to contain such Tracts and Discourses on several Texts of Scripture as were of the like Argument and design viz. about Churches and the worship of God therein There are among the first 21 Discourses in the foregoing Book some Diatribae of the like import but those being published by the direction or with the liking of the Author's Executor I would not break the order in which they are so dispos'd The Third Book to contain his Treatises upon Prophetical Scriptures viz. The Apocalypse S. Peter 's Prophecy concerning The Day of Christ's second Coming S. Paul 's Prophecy touching The Apostasie of the Latter Times Tobie 's Prophecy De duplici Iudaeorum Captivitate Statu Novissimo And Three Treatises upon some obscure Passages in Daniel The Fourth Book to contain his Epistles to several Learned men whose Letters are also published otherwise his Answers to them had been less intelligible There are several large and learned Epistles of his added in this Edition besides some elaborate Letters of others as that of L. De Dieu not heretofore published but there is nothing
apud Persas aureum caput arietinum pro diademate gestare as appears from Ammian Marcellinus l. 19. The clear understanding of these and many other particulars in those Chapters depends altogether upon History By all which it is manifest how necessary it is for the full understanding of several parts of Scripture to be acquainted as the Author was with the Original Languages ancient Versions the Genius and Idioms of the Scripture-style and also with History and the ancient Customes both of the Iews and others without which it would be a fruitless attempt even for such as otherwise are of good abilities to undertake to give a pertinent and satisfying account of the forementioned and other the like passages of Scripture And as for those who though they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and bring not forth the Fruits of the Spirit would engross the Spirit wholly to themselves as the Iews did the Messias to their Nation to the excluding of the Gentiles and ignorantly despise all humane Learning and means of Knowledge what has been said may abundantly check their vain confidence such Scriptures as I have instanced in and others of the like nature being not to be explain'd without skill in the learned Languages History and Antiquity which is not to be had but by a studious converse with the best Authors except they will say that such skill and knowledge is infused and that the particular Events and Res gestae at large treated of in Books are made known to them by extraordinary Revelation which yet they are so wary as not to pretend to as they are also so wise as not to pretend to the Gifts of Tongues or Interpretation of Tongues those Gifts of the Spirit not unusual in the Apostles Age. 3. His diligent enquiry and happy insight into the Oriental Figurative Expressions and Prophetick Schemes throughout the Scripture For he observ'd that there were especially in the Writings of the Prophets certain Symbols Emblems and Hieroglyphical representations which were no less familiar to those Eastern Nations than our Poetical Schemes and Pictures are to us and that the true meaning of these Symbols was to be found out by some such means as these as 1. By comparing those several places of Scripture where they occur and observing what they use to stand for or what their uniform signification and notion is in such places which may be farther cleared as by considering the fitness and analogy between those Symbols and the Things represented by them so likewise by attending to some Plainer expressions in the Context which are a certain Key to the understanding of those that are Figurative and Emblematical Thus what in Ier. 4. 23. is figuratively describ'd The Earth is without Form and void 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the words used Gen. 1. 2 of the old Chaos and the Heavens have no light is the same with what is plainly express'd in the Context The whole Land is spoiled The whole Land shall be desolate And that in Haggai 2. 6 21. I will shake the Heavens and the Earth is explain'd by the words immediately following Thus in Zech. 11. 2. The Cedar is fallen the defenced Forest is come down is no other than that which is plainly set down in the same verse The mighty or the Nobles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are spoiled But in Dan. chap. 7. and ch 8. and in Apoc. 17. much of the Visions is there explain'd and the Symbols therein are render'd out of the Prophetical style afterwards into more easie and familiar sense 2. By observing how these Oriental Symbols are interpreted and render'd into plainer expressions by the Chaldee Paraphrasts who may justly be presum'd to know best what was meant thereby in those Countries as for example when the Prophets frequently speak of the Sun 's being darkned in its going forth the Moon not giving her light and elsewhere of the Stars falling from Heaven upon the Earth a phrase not to be understood Literally the Targum renders these and the like Prophetick strains in words that signifie the diminution of the Glory and Felicity of the State and the Downfal of the Grandees and Chiefs therein Sun Moon and Stars being put according to the Prophetick style for the Higher Powers Princes and Peers those Great Lights shining in the Firmament of the Political World Thus also when the Prophets denounce God's Iudgments to come upon all the Cedars and Oaks Esay 2. and when the Firre-trees and Oaks are bid to howl Zech. 11. the Targum in stead of mentioning these tall and goodly Trees has 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Princes of the People and Rulers of Provinces 3. By consulting such Authors as had collected any Fragments and Remains of the ancient Onirocriticks as Apomasar or Achmetes the Arabian published by the learned Rigaltius had of the Onirocriticks of the Indians Persians and Egyptians concerning which I need not enlarge the Author having inserted some pertinent Extracts thereof together with his judgment of their fitness to illustrate the meaning of the Prophetical Representations in his Commentary upon the Apocalyps p. 451. and elsewhere By which Onirocriticks it may appear what the Eastern nations did commonly suppose to be signified by such Symbols 4. His observing things in distant places of the Apocalypse to Synchronize and belong to the same time whence he was well assured That it was a false Hypothesis and a fundamental Error in any Commentators to think That all the Prophecies and Visions in this Mysterious Book are placed in such an order as is agreeable to the order of time wherein they were fulfill'd or That the Events succeeded one another in the same Series and order as the Visions do and consequently for them to frame their Interpretation of the Visions according to that deceitful Hypothesis and not according to that safe guidance and light which the Synchronisms afford must needs expose them to manifold mistakes from first to last and encumber the whole work with such Difficulties Inconsistencies and Incongruities in applying the Prophecies to History and Events as cannot possibly be excus'd and remov'd by all their wit were it greater than it is Of such consequence it is for all that would interpret the Apocalyptick Visions to take heed to the Apocalyptick Synchronisms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use S. Peter's expression as unto a light that shineth in a dark place Otherwise their whole Fabrick of Annotations will be but as a Building without a sure Ground-work and Foundation an House built upon the Sand which is but a fluid and uncertain bottome a Pile of private Fancies slight Conceits and weak Conjectures And though there may be some things therein which may have a shew of Learning and a seeming Concinnity to the injudicious and unskilful in the Prophetick Style yet the main of their performance for want of attending to this and the other means of knowledge mention'd in the foregoing particulars will
not swerving one jot therefrom as he somewhere professeth in his Epistles Yea so cautious and careful was he not to determine positively where the Scripture was not express that he confessed he durst not so much as imagine that Christ's presence in this Kingdom should be a Visible converse upon Earth He was also well aware that some both of elder and of later times degenerating from the Piety of the most ancient and purest Ages of the Church and swerving from that Primitive sober sense and harmless Notion of the Millennium which the Christian Church generally entertain'd in the days of Iustin Martyr had shamefully disfigur'd and deformed it with several erroneous conceits and idle fancies of their own But herein our Author's name and reputation is not concern'd he had nothing to do with the wood hay and stubble which some foolish builders had built upon the old foundation nor with those unseemly assumenta and disgraceful opinions which some that were miserable bunglers at the Interpretation of Prophecies had fastned upon the ancient Hypothesis He disavow'd with as much zeal as any one the extravagancies of such men and yet he would not in a rash heat wholly reject an ancient Tenet for having some Error annex'd to it for so he might sometime cast away a Truth as he that throws away what he finds because it is dirty it was his own comparison may perchance cast away a Iewel or a piece of Gold or Silver Thirdly and lastly to conclude this argument His Notion of the Millennial State was both Pure and Peaceable and therefore not unworthy of a fair construction Pure and clean it was altogether free from the least suspicion of Luxury and Sensuality It was his express Caution to beware of gross and carnal conceits of an Epicurean happiness misbeseeming the Spiritual purity of Saints If we conceit saith he any Deliciae let them be Spirituales which S. Austin confesseth to be Opinio tolerabilis lib. 20. De Civit. Dei. And therefore he was justly offended with Hierom. who being according to his wont a very unequal relator of the opinion of his Adverâ—aries imputed to the most ancient Fathers of the Church such an Unspiritual notion as this That the Felicity of this State was Beatitudo ventri gutturi Iudaico serviens and in several parts of his Writings he has clearly detected the unfaithfulness and falshood of Hierom in loading those Holy Souls with the charge of Iudaism and Epicurism as foul and undeserved an aspersion as could be imagined And verily such a Sensual State is so contrary to the character of the Kingdom of Christ and the true importance of what is meant by Reigning with Christ that it is no other in reality than the Kingdom of the Devil and a Reigning with him He well remembred that the proper Character of the New Heavens and the New Earth that is of the World renewed is thus described in S. Peter's Prophecy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherein dwelleth Righteousness A greater increase of Piety and Peace than has yet been in the world is that which makes up the Primary notion of Felicity of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or World to come And what hearty Christian does not most affectionately desire that Righteousness and true Holiness Peace on earth and Good will towards men may spread and obtain more universally in the world These things would as naturally make the world Happy as the abounding of Iniquity with the decays of Charity in any age makes the world Miserable Nor was his Notion lets Peaceable and Pure as may partly appear by what hath been already observed He was a true Son of Peace and lived a life of Obedience to the Laws of the Realm and of Conformity to the Discipline of the Church He feared both the Lord and the King and medled not with them that were given to change And his Writings bare the Impress and Character of his Peaceable Spirit and Life for not one clause not a syllable not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that naturally tends to blow men up into such furious heats as threaten publick Disquietnesses and Embroâ—lments is to be found therein as neither in the Writings of Iustin Martyr Irenaeus Cyprian and others of utmost Antiquity whose Doctrine touching this Point as also their Practices were far from any shew of Unpeaceableness far from provoking to any thing but Love and Good works As our Author himself was a man of a cool Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so likewise is his Notion and representation of the Millennium cool and calm and moderate not ministring to Faction and Sedition to Tumults and subversion of all Degrees and Orders of Superiority in the publick And assuredly the Happiness of the Millennial State shall take place in the world without that Disorder and Confusion which some men have extravagantly imagined men of unhallowed minds and consciences who judging of things according to the lusts of ambition and love of the world reigning in them have deprav'd and stain'd this Primitive Tenet the ancient sober and innocent notion of the Kingdom of Christ as likewise every other Mystery with not a few carnal conceits and intolerable fancies of their own And thus unto them that are defiled is nothign pure Nor shall those Tempora refrigerii ever be brought in by hot fanatick Zelots men set on fire in the Psalmist's phrase and ready also to set on fire the Course of Nature as S. Iames speaks such as are skilful only to destroy and overturn Destruction and Wasting are in their ways they are good at making the World a miserable uncomfortable and unhabitable place but the way of Peace they have not known as for Peace and Charity they have no right sentiments thereof and know not what belongs to them And therefore the Temper and Frame of their spirit being perfectly contrary to the Temper and Quality of those Better times they are thereby render'd uncapable either of furthering and hasting the Felicities of the New Heavens and Earth or of enjoying them when the New Ierusalem shall be come down from God out of Heaven and the Tabernacle of God shall be with men For the primary Character of that Future State being as was before observed Vniversal Righteousness and Good will Piety and Peace it naturally follows That they who are men of embitter d passions and of a destroying Spirit altogether devoid of civility gentleness and moderation kindness and benignity towards men and altogether unacquainted with what is lovely decorous venerable praise-worthy equitable and just can have no part nor lot in this matter so gross and course a constitution of spirit as theirs is speaks them unqualified for the Happiness of this Better State Nor can they ever be made meet for the World to come and the Kingdom of Christ till they have got the victory over their Self-love and Love of the world over their Pride and Envy their Wrath and
He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophets reward DISC. XXIV pag. 89. S. Luke 2. 13 14. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory be to God on high or in the highest and on earth Peace Good-will towards men DISC. XXV pag. 97. S. Mark 1. 14. 15. Now after that Iohn was put in prison Iesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God And saying The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand Repent ye and Believe the Gospel DISC. XXVI pag. 106. S. Mark 1. 15. Repent ye and believe the Gospel DISC. XXVII pag. 115. Acts 5. 3 4 5. But Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the holy Ghost and to purloin of the price of the land Whiles it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thy power why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost DISC. XXVIII pag. 124. Proverbs 30. 8 9. Give me neither Poverty nor Riches Feed me with Food convenient for me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DISC. XXIX pag. 135. Isaiah 2. 2 3 4. And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lords House shall be established or prepared in the top of the Mountains and exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it c. DISC. XXX pag. 140. Iudges 1. 7. As I have done so God hath requited me DISC. XXXI pag. 150. S. Matthew 11. 28 29. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls DISC. XXXII pag. 157. S. Matthew 11. 29. ... Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls DISC. XXXIII pag. 164. Acts 10. 4. And he said unto him Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up for a memorial before God or as it is verse 31. are had in remembrance c. DISC. XXXIV pag. 173. Nehemiah 13. 14. Remember me O my God concerning this and wipe not out my good deeds Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that I have done for the House of my God and for the Offices thereof with Verse 22. Remember me O my God concerning this and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy DISC. XXXV pag. 177. Deuteronomy 33. 8. And of Levi he said Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy Holy One. DISC. XXXVI pag. 187. Ieremiah 10. 11. Thus shall ye say unto them The Gods that made not the Heavens and the Earth even they shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens DISC. XXXVII pag. 199. Proverbs 4. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above all keeping For out of it are the issues of life DISC. XXXVIII pag. 206. Isaiah 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon DISC. XXXIX pag. 213. S. Matthew 7. 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven DISC. XL. pag. 220. Genesis 3. 13. And the Lord God said unto the woman What is this that thou hast done And the woman said The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat DISC. XLI pag. 228. Genesis 3. 14. And the Lord God said unto the Serpent Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattel and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life DISC. XLII pag. 234. Genesis 3. 15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel DISC. XLIII Page 238 2 Peter 2. 1. But there were false Prophets also among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction DISC. XLIV pag. 245 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. And they did all eat the same Spiritual meat And did all drink the same Spiritual drink for they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. DISC. XLV pag. 251 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. ... And they did all eat the same spiritual meat And they did all drink the same Spiritual drink DISC. XLVI pag. 255 1 Cor. 10. 5. But with many of them God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the Wilderness DISC. XLVII pag. 260 Deuteronomy 16. 16 17. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall chuse in the Feast of Unleavened bread and in the Feast of Weeks and in the Feast of Tabernacles and they shall not appear before the Lord empty Every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee DISC. XLVIII pag. 265 Deuteronomy 16. 16 17. ... In the Feast of Unleavened bread and in the Feast of Weeks and in the Feast of Tabernacles and they shall not appear before the Lord empty Every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee DISC. XLIX pag. 271 Genesis 10. 5. By these the Isles of the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were divided 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their lands every one after his tongue after their families 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their nations DISC. L. pag. 276 Genesis 10. 5. By these were the Isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands c. DISC. LI. p. 284 Psalm 50. 14. Offer unto God praise and pay thy Vows unto the most High DISC. LII p. 295 Revel 3. 19. As many as I love Irebuke and chaslen Be zealous therefore and repent DISC. LIII pag. 303 1 Ep. Iohn 2. 3. Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandments THE FIRST BOOK CONTAINING DISCOURSES ON DIVERS TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE DISCOURSE 1. S. MATTHEW 6. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Thus therefore pray ye Our Father c. IT was well hoped after the question about the lawfulness and fitness of a set Form of Prayer had been so long debated in our Church that the Sect of those who opposed
of Sabbaoth Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory And because the pattern of God's holy worship is not to be taken from Earth but from Heaven the same Spirit therefore in the Apocalyps expresseth the Worship of God in the New Testament with the same form of hallowing or holying his Name which the heavenly Host useth For so the four Animalia representing the Catholick Church of Christ in the four quarters of the world are said when they give glory honour and thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne and liveth for ever and ever to do it by singing day and night this Trisagium Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come that is the sum of all that they did was but to agnize his Sanctity or Holiness or which is all one to Sanctifie his holy Name When therefore the same four Animalia are afterwards brought in chanting Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing and again Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever all is to be understood as comprehended within this general Doxologie as being but an exemplification thereof and therefore the Elogies or blazons mentioned therein to be taken according to the style of Holiness in an exclusive sense of such prerogatives as are peculiar to God alone And according to this notion of sanctifying God's Name which I contend for would the Lord have his Name sanctified Esa. 8. 12 13. when he saith Fear ye not their Fear that is the Idolaters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gods for so Fear here signifies to wit the thing feared neither dread ye it but sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your Fear and let him be your Dread that is your God Again chap. 29. 23. They shall sanctifie my Name saith he even sanctifie the Holy One of Iacob and shall fear the God of Israel The latter words shew the meaning of the former The like we have in the first Epistle of S. Peter chap. 3. vers 14 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Gentilium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Fear ye not their Fear nor be in dread thereof that is Fear not nor dread ye the Gods of the Gentiles which persecute you But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts that is Fear and worship him with your whole hearts For that this passage howsoever we are wont to expound it ought to be construed in the same sense with that of Esay 8. before alledged and the words to be rendred sutably I take it to be apparent for this reason because they are verbatim taken from thence as he that shall compare the Greek words of S. Peter with the Lxx. in that place of Esay will be forced to confess Besides this evident and express use of the word Sanctifie in the notion of religious and holy worship and fear of the Divine Majesty there is yet another expression sometimes used in Holy Scripture which implieth the self-same thing that namely to worship God with that which we call holy and divine worship is all one with to agnize his holiness or to sanctifie his Name Those speeches I mean wherein we are exhorted to worship the Lord because he is Holy As Psal. 99. 5. Exalt ye the Lord our God and worship at his foot-stool for he is Holy Again in the end of the Psalm Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for the Lord our God is Holy The same meaning is yet more emphatically expressed by those that sing the Song of victory over the Beast Apoc. 15. 3 4. Great say they and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of Nations Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that I believe is the true reading not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou only art Holy therefore all the Nations shall come and worship before thee that is they shall relinquish their Idols and plurality of Gods and worship thee as God only For this was the Doctrine both of Moses in the Old Testament and of Christ Iesus the Lamb of God in the New That one God only that made the heaven and the earth was to be acknowledged and worshipped and with an incommunicable worship In respect whereof as I take it these Victors are there said to sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb that is a gratulatory Song of the worship of one God after that his Ordinances were made manifest For otherwise the Ditty is borrowed from the 86. Psalm the 8 9 and 10. verses where we read Among the gods there is none like unto thee O Lord neither are there any works like unto thy works All Nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy Name For thou art great and dost wondrous works Thou art God alone that is Thou only art Holy Compare Ier. 10. ver 6 7. I have one thing more to adde before I finish this part of my Discourse lest I might leave unsatisfied that which may perhaps seem to some to weaken this my explication of the sanctification of God's Name For the word to sanctifie or be sanctified is sometimes used of God in a more general sense than that I have hitherto specified namely as signifying any way to be glorified or to glorifie as when he saith He will be sanctified in the destruction of his enemies or in the deliverance of his people and that before the Heathen and the like that is he would purchase him glory or be glorified thereby I answer It is true that to be sanctified is in these passages to be glorified but yet alwayes to be glorified as God and not otherwise Namely when God by the works of his Power of his Mercy or Iustice extorts from men the confession of his great and holy Godhead he is then said to sanctifie or make himself to be sanctified amongst them that is to be glorified and honoured by their conviction and acknowledgment of his Power and Godhead For although men may be also said to glorifie or purchase honour unto themselves when by their noble acts they make their abilities and worth known unto the world yet for such respect to be said to be sanctified is peculiar unto him alone whose Glory is his Holiness that is unto God THUS we have learned How the Name or Majesty of God is to be sanctified personally or in it self which is the chiefest thing we pray for and ought so to be in our endeavour namely To worship and glorifie him incommunicably according to his most eminent and unparallel'd Holiness and so ô Lord Hallowed be thy Name But there is another Sanctification or
by the Prophets for so Prophets are here to be understood and not of predictions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to fulfil them that is to supply accomplish or perfect those Rules and Doctrines of Iust and Unjust contained in them by a more ample interpretation and other improvement befitting the state of the Gospel For surely this must be the meaning of this speech of our Saviour if we be more willing as we should to take a sense from Scripture than to bring one to it Doth not the whole context following evince it Indeed the Law that is the Legal Covenant or Covenant of works as Law is oft taken in the New Testament together with all the Rites depending thereon is dissolved by the coming of Christ and a better Covenant with new Rites established in stead thereof but the Law that is the Doctrine and Rule of life given by God contradistinct from those ordinances which were only appendages of that Covenant though these were also in some sense perfected by bringing the truth and substance in stead of the figure and shadow thereof is not disannulled but confirmed and perfected by him in such manner as became the condition of the Covenant of the Gospel For that this confirmation is not to be restrained to the Decalogue only is manifest because our Saviour in the following words insists upon other Precepts besides it If it be said they are reducible thereto this will not serve the turn for so are all the rest of God's Commandments Unless therefore it can be shewn that to honour God by an oblation of his creature is no part of the Law here confirmed by our Saviour let no man be so daringly bold as to exempt himself and others from the obligation thereof unless he means to be one of them of whom our Saviour speaks immediately saying Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least of these Commandments and shall teach men so to do mark it he shall be called i. he shall be the least in the Kingdom of heaven The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is loose or dis-bind as he doth both that abrogates and that observes it not much more he that affirmeth it unlawful to be observed Nay how dare we dis-bind or loose our selves from the tye of that way of agnizing and honouring God which the Christian Church from her first beginnings durst not do Irenaeus witness of that age which next succeeded the Apostles is plain Lib. 4. c. 34. Offerre oportet Deo saith he primitias creaturae ejus sicut Moses ait Non apparebis vacuus ante conspectum Domini Dei tui Et non genus Oblationum reprobatum est oblationes enim illic sc. in V.T. oblationes autem hîc sacrificia in populo sacrificia in Ecclesia sed species immutata est tantùm quippe cum jam non à servis sed à liberis offeratur Vnus enim idem Dominus proprium autem character servilis oblationis proprium liberorum uti per oblationes ostendatur indicium libertatis It behoveth us saith he to offer unto God a present of his creature as also Moses saith Thou shalt not appear before the Lord thy God emptie For offerings in the general are not reprobated there were Offerings there viz. in the Old Test. there are also offerings here in the Church but the specification only is changed forasmuch as offerings now are not made by bond but free-men For there is one and the same Lord still but there is a proper character of a bond or servile offering and a proper character of free-mens that so even the offerings may shew forth the tokens of freedom Now where in Scripture he believed this doctrin and practice to be grounded he lets us know in the 27. chap. of the same Book Et quia Dominus naturalia Legis per quae homo justificatur quae etiam ante legisdationem custodiebant qui side justificabantur placebant Deo non dissolvit sed extendit sed implevit ex sermonibus ejus ostenditur That is That our Lord dissolved not but enlarged and perfected the natural precepts of the Law whereby a man is just which also before the Law was given they observed who were justified by faith and pleased God is evident by his words Then he cites some of the passages of that his Sermon upon the Mount Mat. 5. 20. And a little after addes Necesse fuit auferre quidem vincula servitutis quibus jam homo assueverat sine vinculis sequi Deum superextendi verò decreta libertatis augeri subjectionem quae est ad Regem ut non retrorsus quis renitens indignus appareat ei qui se liberavit Et propter hoc Dominus pro eo quod est Non moechaberis nec concupiscere praecepit pro eo quod est Non occîdes neque irasci quidem et pro eo quod est Decimare omnia quae sunt pauperibus dividere That is It was needful that those bonds of servitude which man had before been inured to should be taken off that so he might without Gyves follow God but that the laws and ordinances of freedom should be extended and his subjection to the King encreased lest that drawing backward he might appear unworthy of him that freed him And for this reason our Lord in stead of Thou shalt not commit adultery commands not so much as to lust in stead of Thou shalt not kill not so much as to be angry in stead of To Tithe to distribute all we have to the poor c. All which saith he in the same place are not solventis Legem sed adimplentis extendentis dilatantis not of one that dissolves the Law but fulfils extends and enlarges it alluding still to that in our Saviour's Sermon upon the Mount Besides those who are acquainted with Antiquity can tell that the Primitive Christians understood the holy Eucharist to be A commemoration of the Sacrifice of Christ's death upon the Cross in an oblation of Bread and Wine 'T is witnessed by the Fathers of those first Ages generally Whereupon the same Irenaeus also affirmeth that our Saviour by the institution of the Eucharist had confirmed Oblations in the New Testament Namely to thanks give or bless a thing in way to a sacred use he took to be an offering of it unto God And was not David's Benediction and thanksgiving at the preparation for the Temple and Offertory Where note well That as he upon that occasion blessed the Lord saying Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory all that is in heaven and earth is thine thine is the Kindgom Both riches and honour come of thee Ergo because all things come of theâ— of thine own have we given thee so do Christ's redeemed in their Evangelical Sâ—â—â— Apoc. 5. ascribe no less unto him saying v. 12. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and
at Thessalonica and proving out of the Scriptures that Messiah or Christ was to suffer and to rise again from the dead and that Iesus was that Christ it is said that some of them which heard believed and that there associated themselves to them a great multitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the worshipping Greeks Of these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is elsewhere mention in the Acts of the Apostles more than once but what they were our Commentators do not so fully inform us nor can it be understood without some delibation of Iewish Antiquity The explication whereof will give some light not to this passage only but to the whole Story of the Primitive Conversion of the Gentiles to the Faith recorded in that Book We must know therefore that of those Gentiles which embraced the worship of the God of Israel commonly term'd Proselytes there were two sorts One of such as were circumcised and took upon them the observation of the whole Law of Moses These were accounted as Iews to wit facti non nati made not born so bound to the like observances with them conversed with as freely as if they had been so born neither might the one eat drink or keep company with a Gentile more than the other lest they became unclean They worshipped in the same Court of the Temple where the Israelites did whither others might not come They were partakers with them in all things both divine and humane In a word they differed nothing from Iews but only that they were of Gentile race This kind the Iewish Doctors call◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proselytes of Righteousness or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proselytes of the Covenant namely because they took upon them the sign thereof Circumcision In the New Testament they are called simply Proselytes without addition Of which Order was Vriah the Hittite Achior in the Book of Iudith Herod the Idumaean Onkelos the Chaldee Paraphrast and many others both before and in our Saviour's time But besides these there was a second kind of Gentiles admitted likewise to the worship of the true God the God of Israel and the hope of the life to come which were not circumcised nor conformed themselves to the Mosaical rites and ordinances but were only tied to the observation of those Precepts which the Hebrew Doctors call The Precepts of the sons of Noah namely such as all the sons of Noah were bound to observe These Precepts are in number Seven recorded in the Talmud Maimonides and others under these following titles First the precept of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to renounce Idols and all Idolatrous worship Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship the true God the Creator of Heaven and Earth Thirdly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blood-shed to wit to commit no Murther Fourthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 detectio nuditatum not to be desiled with Fornication Incest or other unlawful conjunction Fifthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rapine against Theft and robbery Sixthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning administration of Iustice The seventh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Membrum de vivo so they call the Precept of not eating the flesh with the bloud in it given to Noah when he came out of the Ark as Maimonides expresly expounds it and adds besides Whosoever shall take upon him the observation of the Seven precepts of the sons of Noah he is to be accounted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one of the pious men of the nations of the world and shall have a portion in the world to come Note that he saith one of the pious men of the nations of the world or of the pious Gentiles for this kind were still esteemed Gentiles and so called because of their uncircumcision in respect whereof though no Idolaters they were according to the Law unclean and such as no Iew might converse with wherefore they came not to worship into the Sacred Courts of the Temple whither the Iews and circumcised Proselytes came but only into the outmost Court called Atrium Gentium immundorum the Court of the Gentiles and of the unclean which in the second Temple surrounded the second or great Court whereinto the Israelites came being divided there-from by a low wall of stone made battlement-wise not above three Cubits high called saith Iosephus from whom I have it in the Hebrew Dialect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Lorica close by which stood certain little pillars whereon was written in Greek and Latin letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In atrium sanctum transâ—re alienigenam non debere That no alien or stranger might go into the inner or holy Court. And this I make no question is that which S. Paul Ephes. 2. 14. alludeth unto when he saith that Christ had broken down the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the partition-wall namely that Lorica which separated the Court of the Gentiles from that of the Circumcision and so laying both Courts into one hath made the Iews and Gentiles Intercommoners whereby those that were sometime far off were now made nigh and as near as the other unto the Throne of God But in Solomon's Temple this Court of the Gentiles seems not to have been but in the second Temple only the Gentiles formerly worshipping without at the door and not coming within the Septs of the Temple at all This second kind of Proselites the Talmudists call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proselytes of the Gate or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proselyte-inhabitants namely because they were under the same condition with those Gentile-strangers which lived as Inquilini in the Land of Israel For all Gentiles dwelling within the Gates of Israel whether they were as servants taken in war or otherwise were bound to renounce their false Gods and to worship the God of Israel but not to be circumcised unless they would nor farther bound to keep the Law of Moses than was contained in those Precepts of the sons of Noah These are those mentioned as often elsewhere in the Law so in the fourth Commandment by the name of the Stranger within thy gates whereby it might seem probable that the observation of the Sabbath-day so far as concerneth one day in seven was included in some one or other of those Precepts of the sons of Noah namely in that of worshipping for their God the Creator of Heaven and earth and no other whereof this consecration of a seventh day after six days labour was a badge or livery according to that The Sabbath is a sign between me and you that I Iehovah am your God because in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day See Exod. 31. 16 17. Ezek. 20. 20. But this obiter and by the way From the example of these Inquilini all other Gentiles wheresoever living admitted to the worship of the God of Israel upon the same termes were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Experience which shews us that the Evil spirits are not yet bound with eternal chains having so much liberty of gadding about supplies in the Text vinciendos as if there were an Ellipsis reading it thus Iudicio magni illius Diei vinculis aeternis vinciendos reservâsse He hath reserved them to be bound in eternal chains at the Iudgment of the great Day In that of S. Peter if I understand him he takes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not for Dativus instrumenti with chains of darkness but as Dativus acquisitionis for chains of darkness and construes it with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if it were He delivered them for chains of darkness namely supposing a trajection of the words But for my part I take both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Peter and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Iude to be neither of them Dativus Instrumenti but both Acquisitionis or Finis and governed the one of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the other of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As in the Hebrew the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 serves both for the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for the Dative Case whose propriety the style of the Greek Testament every where imitates and why not in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for not with chains Nay among the Greek Grammarians we find observed that the Dative Case is sometimes put for the Accusative with the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in this example 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much more in the sacred Greek which so frequently imitates the Hebrew Construction Next for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Peter it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but once used and so not bound by any use or example to the signification which we here give it to wit casting down to hell I would therefore render it ad poenas tartareas damnavit he hath adjudged them to hellish torments to wit thus Angelos qui peccaverunt cum ad tartari supplicium damnasset catenis caliginis servandos tradidit ad Diem Iudicii Having adjudged the Angels that sinned to hell-torments he delivered them to be kept or reserved in the Aiery region as in a prison for chains of darkness at the Day of Iudgment For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iudgment here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Day of Iudgment as S. Iude hath it So also Matth. 12. 42. The Queen of the South shall rise in Iudgment with this Generation that is in or at the Day of Iudgment Or if I would render it not casting down to hell but casting down to hell-ward so the meaning in both places will be That the wicked Angels were cast down from Heaven to this lower Orb there to be reserved for chains of darkness at the Day of Iudgment Which sense the ninth verse of this Chapter of S. Peter plainly intimates by way of reddition Novit Dominus pios in tentatione cripere The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly in temptation as he did Noah and Lot Injustos verò in diem Iudicii cruciandos servare But to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Iudgment to be punished as he doth the wicked Angels Moreover verse 17. where the same hellish darkness is spoken of it is said to be reserved for the wicked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom that hideous darkness is reserved for ever whence it is probable that S. Peter in the foregoing passage of Angels referred also those chains of darkness to reserving and not to delivering that is not that the evil Angels were now already delivered to chains of darkness but reserved for them at the Day of Iudgment AND thus much for clearing of the words of these two parallel Texts Now what hath been anciently the current opinion about this point And first for the Iews it is apparent to have been a Tradition of theirs That all the space between the Earth and the Firmament is full of Troops of Evil spirits and their Chieftains having their residence in the Air which I make no doubt but S. Paul had respect to when he calls Satan the Prince of the power of the Air. Drusius quotes two Authors one the Book called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another one of the Commentators upon Pirke Aboth who speak in this manner Debet homo scire intelligere à terra usque ad firmamentum omnia plena esse turmis praefectis c. A man is to know and understand that all from Earth to the Firmament is full and no place is empty of Troops of Spirits together with their Chieftains and such as are Praepositi all which have their residence and fly up and down in the Air some of them incite to peace others to war some to goodness and life others to wickedness and death By Praepositi I suppose he means such among the Spirits as are set as Wardens over several charges for the managing of the affairs of mankind subject to their power This was the Opinion of the Iews which they seem to have learned by Tradition from their ancient Prophets for in the Old Testament we find no such thing written and yet we see S. Paul seems to approve it Now for the Doctors of the Christian Church S. Hierome upon the sixth of the Ephesians tells us that their Opinion was the same ' T is the opinion of all the Doctors â—aith he that the Devils have their Mansions and residence in the space between the heaven and the earth And that the Fathers of the first 300 or 400 years nor did nor could hold the evil Angels to have been cast into Hell upon their sin is evident by a singular Tenet of theirs For Iustin Martyr one of the most ancient hath this saying That Satan before the coming of Christ never durst blaspheme God and that saith he because till then he knew not he should be damned The same is approved by Irenaeus lib. 5. cap. 26. Praeclarè saith he dixit Iustinus quòd ante Domini adventum Satanas nunquam ausus est blasphemare Deum quippe nondum sciens suam damnationem Post adventum autem Domini ex sermonibus Christi Apostolorum ejus discens mâ—nifestè quoniam ignis aeternus ei praeparatus sit per hujusmodi homines blasphemat eum Deum qui judicium importat It was a worthy saying of Iustin That Satan before the coming of our Lord never durst blaspheme God as not till then knowing he should be damned But after the coming of our Lord he clearly understanding by the Discourses of Christ and his Apostles that everlasting fire was prepared for him by these men Irenaeus means those Hereticks who blasphemed the God of the Law
Levites meaning the chief in both sorts This honourable name the Apostles gave as a name of distinction to the Evangelical Pastors whereby they dignified them above those of the Law whose name in the Hebrew as I said before is but a denomination of Ministry And we have rejected the name of Dignity of Fathership of Eldership and assumed in stead thereof a name of under-service of subjection of Ministery to distinguish our Order by I say to distinguish our Order for in a general sense and with reference to God we are all his Ministers and it is an honour unto us so to be more than to be other mens Masters as our Apostle in my Text intimates Fourthly In the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas there is a worse Solecism by reason of this misapplied speech They have a kind of Officers who are the Pastors assistants in Discipline much like to our Church-wardens these they call Elders we style them Lay-Elders These are but a kind of Deacons at the most and of a new erection too and yet these are dignified by the name of Elders and Presbyters who are indeed but Deacons or Ministers and the Pastor himself is called a Minister who in the Apostles style is the only Presbyter or Elder For so they speak The Minister and his Presbyters or Elders To conclude it had been to be wished that those whom the term of Priest displeased as that which gave occasion by the long abuse thereof to fancy a Sacrifice had rather restored the Apostolical name of Presbyter in the full sound which would have been as soon and as easily learned and understood as Minister and was no way subject to that supposed inconvenience But the mis-application of the word Presbyter in some Churches to an Order the Apostles called not by that name deprived those thereof to whom it was properly due Howsoever when they call us Ministers let them account of us as the Ministers of Christ and not of men not as deputed by the Congregation to execute a power originally in them but as Stewards of the Mysteries of God DISCOURSE VI. S. IOHN 10. 20. He hath a Devil and is mad IT is a matter of greater moment than perhaps every man thinks of under what notions Things are conceived and from what property or Character the Names we call them by are derived For hereby not seldom it comes to pass that the same things presented to us under different notions and names derived therefrom are not taken to be the same they are Even as he that meets a man well known unto him in an exotick disguise or antick habit takes him to be some other though he knew him never so well before For example a man would wonder that a Comet as we call it being so remarkable and principal a work of the Divine power and which draws the eyes of all men with admiration towards it should no where be found mentioned in the Old Testament neither there where the works of God are so often recounted to magnifie him whenas Hail Snow Rain and Ice works of far less admiration are not pretermitted neither by way of allusion and figured expression in the Prophets predictions of great calamities and changes whereof they were taken to be presages especially when we see them borrow so many other allusions both from heaven and earth to paint their descriptions with Should a man therefore think there never appeared any of them in those times or to those Countries It is incredible Or that the Iews were so dull and heedless as not to observe them That is not like neither What should we say then Surely they conceived of them under some other notions than we do and accordingly expressed them some other way As what if by a Pillar of fire such a one perhaps as went before the Israelites in the Wilderness Or by a Pillar of fire and smoke as in that of Ieel 2. 30. I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth Bloud and Fire and Pillars of smoke Or by the name of an Angel of the Lord whereby no doubt they are guided according as it is said of that Pillar of Fire which went before thâ—â—â— raclites that the Angel of God when they were to pass the Red Seaâ— came and â—â—ood between them and the AEgyptians when that Pillar did so And who knows whether that in the 104. Psalm v. 4. may not have some meaning this way He maketh his Angels Spirits or winds and his Ministers a Flame of fire to wit because they are wont to appear in both It comes in in the Psalm among other Works of God in a sit place for such a sense both in regard of what goes before and follows after These I say or some of these may be descriptions of those we call Comets which because they are disguised under another notion and not denominated from Stellâ— or Coma hence we know them not Now to come toward my Text alike instance to this I take to be that of the Daemoniacks so often mentioned in the Gospel For I make no question but that now and then the same befals other men whereof I have experience my self to wit to marvel how these Daemoniacks should so abound in and about that Nation which was the People of God whereas in other Nations and their writings we hear of no such and that too as it should seem about the time of our Saviour's being on earth only because in the time before we find no mention of them in Scripture The wonder is yet the greater because it seems notwithstanding all this by the Story of the Gospel not to have been accounted then by the people of the Iews any strange or extraordinary thing but as a matter usual nor besides is taken notice of by any forein Story To meet with all these difficulties which I see not how otherwise can be easily satisfied I am perswaded till I shall hear better reason to the contrary that these Daemoniacks were no other than such as we call Mad-men and Lunaticks at least that we comprehend them under those names and that therefore they both still are and in all times and places have been much more frequent than we imagine The cause of which our mistake is that disguise of another name and notion than we conceive them by which makes us take them to be diverse which are the same That you may rightly understand this my Assertion before I acquaint you with the Reasons which induce me thereunto you must know That the Masters of Physick tell us of two kinds of Deliration or aliâ—nation of the Understanding One ex vi morbi that namely which is from or with a Fever called Delirium or Phrenitis the latter being a higher degree than the former Another kind sine Febre when a man having no other disease is crased and disturbed in his wits And this they say is either simple dotage proceeding from some weakness of the Brain or Intellective
a creature and of so despicable a beginning to such a power as to grapple with the Enemy and overcome him But behold there is yet something more admirable namely that this should not be done by the strength of his Arm but by the breath and power of his Mouth Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou hast ordained strength because of thine Enemies c. What Enemies Thine saith the Psalmist and such too as are Vltores Avengers the Enemies of both God and Mankind And who are those but Satan and his Angels those Principalities and Powers of the Air those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Rulers of the Darkness of this world as S. Paul speaks For when Mankind is the one party what can the other be but some Power that is not of Mankind Besides who are the Enemies both of God and Mankind but these and of mankind especially I will put Enmity saith God to the Serpent between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed hence he is called Satan the Adversary or Fiend and the Enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold I give you power saith our Saviour to the seventy Disciples Luke 10. 19. to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the Enemy Your Adversary the Devil saith S. Peter And this is he as I conceive who is here called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Enemy and the Avenger man's tormentor which words being found again in the 44. Psalm v. 16. may for ought I know by warrant of this place be taken for the same Enemy and the usual distinction altered and the place read thus By reason of the Enemy and the Avenger all this to wit the Calamity and confusion he spake of before is come upon us that is by the malice of Satan Now that such Enemies as these should be subducd by an Arm yea by a Mouth of flesh is a thing which might justly make the Prophet cry out Lord what is man c. Now that this which I have given is the true meaning of this place may be gathered from S. Paul's inculcating the word Enemy when 1 Cor. 15. 24. c. he demonstrates out of this Psalm that Christ before the end shall abolish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all rule and all authority and power For he must reign saith he till he hath put all Enemies under his feet The last Enemy which shall be destroyed is Death and then he alledges for his proof that Corollary in this Psalm For he hath put all things under his feet But in all this Psalm there is no mention of Enemies or subduing them but only in the Verse I have in hand which unless it be thus expounded S. Paul's allegation from hence will be too narrow to prove what he intendeth HAVING thus cleared the words I chose for my Theme I shall not need spend much time to shew you how directly and literally the purport of them was fulfilled in our Blessed Saviour's Incarnation You have in part heard such Scriptures already as do evince it The sum is this The Devil by sin brought mankind under thraldom and became the Prince of this world himself with his Angels being worshipped and served every where as Gods and the service and honour due to the great God the Creator of heaven and earth cast off and abandoned and all this to receive at last for reward eternal woe and everlasting death To vanquish and exterminate this Enemy and redeem the world from this miserable thraldom the Son of God took upon him not the nature of Angels which might have been the Enemies matches but the nature of weak and despicable Man that grows from a babe and suckling Who saith Esay in that famous Prophecy of Messiah hath believed our report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed namely that works such powerful things by weak means For he shall grow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a tender plant or sucker it is the very word here used in my Text for a sucking child and translated by the Seventy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as a root out of a dry ground that is a small and little one This is that whereof S. Paul discourses so divinely in the Epistle to the Hebrews To which of the Angels said he at any time Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak but unto him of whom it is said What is man that thou art mindâ—ul of him c Again We see Iesus who was made little lower than the Angels that is was made man that 's the meaning for the suffering of death crowned with Glory and Honour what can be so plain as this It is the Son of man by whom in part we are and more fully shall be delivered out of the hands of our enemies that we might serve the true God without fear as Zachary sayes in his Benedictus It is the Son of man that delivered us from the power of darkness Col. 1. 13. The Son of man that spoiled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly Col. 2. 15. It was no Angel that did all this but the Son of man even as was prophesied from the beginning when the Devil first got his Dominion that the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpent's head Nor is this all For this Son of man enables also other Sons of men his Disciples and Ministers to do the like in his name The seventy Disciples in the Gospel returned with joy saying Lord even the Devils are subject to us through thy name Yea not these only but as many as fight under his Banner against these Enemies have promise they shall at length quell and utterly subdue them yea at that great Day shall sit with their Lord and Master to judge and condemn them Do ye not know saith S. Paul that the Saints shall judge the world know ye not that we shall judge Angels Lastly This victory as for the event so for the manner of atchieving it is agreeable to our Prophecy Forasmuch as Christ our General nor fights nor conquers by force of Arms but by the power of his Word and Spirit which is the power of his Mouth according to my Text Out of the mouth of Babes c. Hence in the Apocalyps Christ appears with a sword going out of his mouth In the 2 Thess. 2. 8. it is said He shall consume that wicked one that is Antichrist with the Spirit of his mouth Esay prophesies Chap. 11. 4. that the Branch of Iesse should smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips should slay the wicked that is he does all nutu verbo by his word and command as God made the world By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the Hoast
Prophet in the name of a Prophet yet behind namely such as rob and spoil them of their livelihood and daily bread and not only themselves give nothing to enable and encourage them the better to perform their Ministery but take from them several ways that which the Piety and Bounty of their Ancestors hath allotted them yea to many if not to the most no gain or theft is more sweet than that which is gotten out of the Priest's portion But whether it will prove so at that day when the just God shall reward every man according to his works may be greatly feared I told you a little before that the reason why he that receives a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall be partaker of a Prophet's reward is because he that supports and enables a Prophet to do his duty hath thereby an interest in his work and consequently in the reward due to the same If this be so what can they look for who by subtracting their daily bread from them hinder and disenable them from the free and chearful performance of their duty by distracting them with the cares of providing for their bodily life Do they not derive upon themselves the guilt of whatsoever impediment comes hereby to the propagation of the Kingdom of Christ Shall not the loss of every Soul that perisheth for want of due provision to maintain an able Minister be cast to their account at the last day I will speak nothing now of the burthen which Sacriledge it self as being a robbing of God carries with it See Prov. 20. 25. It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy and after vows to make enquiry nor of those dreadful execrations which the Donors of such things were wont antiquo ritu to lay upon the heads of all such as should divert them to prophane uses wherewith these men willingly and wilfully involve themselves I will I say not speak of these for the present occasion calls upon me and tells me that I came not hither to curse but to bless I therefore change my note and say Blessed be God our heavenly Father who notwithstanding the malignity of many hath not left us destitute but in every Age hath raised up some to shew kindness unto the Prophets and to provide entertainment for them Witness the goodly Buildings and liberal Endowments in our two Seminaries for the entertainment and education of Prophets and Prophets Sons more particularly the Bounty of those Worthies the fruits of whose Piety and Devotion we our selves here assembled by the Divine goodness enjoy Whose blessed names therefore as their deserts challenge at our hands let us remember with all due honour and thankfulness After the mention of the Names of the College-Benefactors this followes in the Authors own Manuscript These are the Names of our pious Founders and Benefactors let their Memory be blessed for ever And when Christ our Lord shall come in his Glory to render every one according to his works and their Bones flourish again out of their graves let all the benefit and enlargement which shall redound to the Church of God by this their Bounty be cast in their account and we with them and they with us hear that comfortable voice Come ye blessed inherit the Kingdom prepared from the foundation of the World DISCOURSE XXIV S. LUKE 2. 13 14 And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory be to God on high or in the highest and on earth Peace Good-will towards men AT the Creation of the world when God laid the foundations of the Earth and stretched out his line thereon the Stars of the morning as God himself describes it Iob 38. 7. sang together and all the Sons of God that is the holy Angels shouted for joy This in my Text is so like it that a man would think some new Creation were in hand nor were it much wide of truth to affirm it for if ever there were a day wherein the Almighty Power the incomparable Wisdom the wonderful Goodness of God again the second time appeared as it did at the World's Creation it was this day whereof S. Luke our Evangelist now treateth when the Son of God took upon him our Flesh and was born of a Virgin to repair the breach between God and man and make all things new The news of which Restauration was no sooner heard and made known to the Shepherds by an Angel sent from heaven but suddenly the heavenly Host descended from their celestial mansions and sung this Carol of joy Glory be to God on high and welcome Peace on earth Good-will towards men A Song renowned both for the singularity of the first example for until this time unless it were once in a Prophetical Vision we shall not find a Song of Angels heard by men in all the Scripture and from the custom of the Church who afterward took it up in her Liturgy and hath continued the singing thereof ever since the dayes of the Apostles unto these of ours Yet perhaps it is not so commonly understood as usually said or chaunted and therefore will be worth our labour to enquire into the meaning thereof and hear such Instructions as may be learned therefrom Which that we may the better do I will consider First the Singers or Chaunters The heavenly Host Secondly the Carol or Hymn it self Glorid in excelsis Deo Glory be to God on high c. For the First The Heavenly Host here spoken of is an Army of holy Angels For the Host of heaven in the language of Scripture is twofold Visible or Invisible The Visible Host are the Stars which stand in their array like an Army Deut. 4. 19. Lest thou lift up thine eyes saith the Lord there unto heaven and when thou seest the Sun Moon and Stars even all the Host of heaven shouldst be driven to worship and serve them The Invisible Host are the Angels the heavenly Guard according to that of Micaiah 1 King 22 19. I saw the Lord sitting upon his Throne and all the Host of Heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left So. Psal. 103. 20 21. Bless the Lord ye his Angels that excel in strength that do his Commandments Bless the Lord all ye his Hosts ye ministers of his that do his pleasure Where the latter words do but vary that which is expressed in the former From this it is that the Lord Iehovah the true and only God is so often styled the Lord or God of Sabaoth or of Hosts that is King both of Stars and Angels according to that Nehem. 9. 6. Thou art God alone and the Host of Heaven worshippeth thee By which Title he is distinguished from the Gods of the Nations who were some of the Host to wit of the Stars or Angels but none of them The Lord of Hosts himself For the same reason and with the same meaning and sense in
their assembly mine honour be not thou united And thus much of our first Observation There is another Lesson yet more to be learned from this Act of the Angels namely That if they glorifie God for our Happiness and the Favour of God towards us in Christ much more should we glorifie and magnifie his Goodness our selves to whom solely this Birth and the benefit of this Birth redounds If they sing Glory be to God on high for his Favour toward men we to whom such Favour is shewn must not hold our peace for shall they for us and not we for our selves No the Quire of Heaven did but set us in we are to bear a part and it should be a chief part since the best part is ours As therefore the Church in her publick Service hath ever since kept it up so must every one of us in particular never let it go down or die in our hands THUS much of the Quire Now come we to the Amhem or Song it self whose contents are two First The Doxology or Praise Glory be to God on high Secondly A Gratulation rendring the reason thereof Because of Peace on earth Good-will towards men For the conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not to be taken here for a copulative but as Vau is frequently in the Hebrew for a conjunction causal or for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glory to God in the highest for that there is Peace on earth and Good-will towards men Or if we retain the copulative sense yet we must understand the words following as spoken by way of Gratulation Glory be to God on high and welcome Peace on earth Good-will towards men Or both causally and gratulatorily thus Glory be to God in the highest for ô factum bene there is Peace on earth and Good-will towards men To begin with the First The Doxology or Praise Glory be to God in the Highest that is Let the Angels glorifie him who dwell on high for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be referred to Glory and not to God the sense being Glorified be God by those on high and not God who dwells on high be glorified This may appear by the like expression in Psalm 148. 1 2. whence this Glorification seems to be borrowed Praise ye the Lord from the Heavens praise him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the highest Praise ye him all his Angels praise ye him all his Hosts And therefore Iunius for Praise ye the Lord from the Heavens hath Laudate eum coelites Praise him ye that dwell in Heaven The Chaldee for Praise him in excelsis hath Praise him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye high Angels In like manner here Gloria in excelsis Deo Glory to God in the highest are the words of the Angelical Quire inciting themselves and all the Host of Heaven to give glory and praise unto God for these wonderful tidings Now therefore let us see What this Glory is and How it is given to God To tell you every signification of the word Glory in Scripture might perhaps distract the hearer but would inform him little Nor will it be to purpose to reckon up every signification it hath when it is spoken of God I will therefore name only the two principal ones And first Glory when it is referred to God often signifies the Divine Presence or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in this Chapter a little before my Text when it is said The GLORY of the Lord shone round about the Shepherds and they were sore afraid But this is not the signification in my Text but another which I shall now tell you For Glory besides signifies in Scripture the high and glorious Supereminency or Majesty of God which consisteth in his threefold Supremacy of Power of Wisdom and of Goodness And as words of Eminency and Dignity with us as Majesty Highness Honour Worship are used for the Persons themselves to whom such Dignity belongeth as when we say his Majesty his Highness his Honour his Worship so in the Scripture and among the Hebrews His Glory or the Glory of the Lord is used to note the Divine Essence or Deity it self As in 2 Pet. 1. 17. There came a voice saith S. Peter from the excellent GLORY that is from God the Father This is my well-beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Rom. 1. 23. the Gentiles are said to have changed the GLORY of the incorruptible God into the likeness of things corruptible As it is said in Psal. 106. 20. of the Israelites in the Wilderness that they changed their GLORY into the similitude of an Oxe that eateth grass S. Iohn chap. 1. 14. of his Gospel says of the Son We beheld his GLORY the glory as of the only-begotten Son of God According to which sense he is called Heb. 1. 3. The Brightness of his Father's glory and the express Image of his person where the latter words are an exposition of the former Image expounding Brightness and Person or Substance expounding Glory If Glory therefore signifie the Divine Majesty or Greatness to Glorifie or give Glory unto God is nothing else but to acknowledge and confess this Majesty or Greatness of His namely his Supereminent Power his Wisdom and Goodness for in the peerless supereminency of these Three under which all his other Attributes are comprehended his Glorious Majesty consisteth Take this withal That all the religious service and worship we give unto God whether we praise him pray or give thanks unto him is nothing else but the acknowledging of this Glory either in deed or word namely by confessing it or doing some act whereby we acknowledge it To come to particulars By our Faith we confess his Wisdom and Truth by our Thanksgiving his Goodness and Mercy when we Pray we acknowledge his Power and Dominion and therefore the form of prayer our Saviour taught us concludes For thine is the Kingdom Power and Glory In Praise we confess all these or any of them according to that in the Hymn of the Church Te Deum laudamus Te Dominum confitemur We praise thee O God we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All which is evident by those forms of Glorification set down in the Apocalyps which are nothing else but express and particular acknowledgements of the Greatness or Majesty of God and his peerless prerogatives When the four Wights are said to have given Glory Honour and Thanks to him that sate upon the Throne what was their Ditty but this Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created When the Lamb opened the Book with seven Seals the Wights the Elders and every creature in Heaven in earth and under the earth sung Worthy is the Lamb to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Blessing And again Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and
unto the Lamb for ever and ever In which we may observe the whole Glorification to consist in the acknowledgement of these Three soveraign prerogatives of the Divine Majesty his Power his Wisdom his Goodness The two first Power and Wisdom are express and Riches and Strength belong to Power the third is contained in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blessing or Thanksgiving which is nothing else but the Confession of the Divine Goodness Hence it is that the Septuagint and Vulgar Latine commonly render the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifie to praise and glorifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confiteor Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus quoniam in seculum misericordia ejus Confess unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy is for ever Psal. 106. 1. 107. 1. 136. 1. Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo quoniam audisti verba oris mei I will confess unto thee O Lord with my whole heart for thou hast heard the words of my mouth So the Vulgar Latin in Psal. 137. Confitemini Domino invocate nomen ejus Confess unto the Lord and call upon his name Psal. 105. 1. and the like And in the 148. Psal. 13. Confessio ejus super coelum terram that is His glory is above the heaven and the earth The Holy Ghost in the New Testament useth the same language Matth. 11. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes where we have I thank thee O Father Beza and Erasmus read â—loriam tibi tribuo I give glory unto thee which I think is the better So Luke 2. 38. it is said of Anna 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she confessed to the Lord or she gave praise and thanks unto the Lord. So Heb. 13. 15. By him therefore that is by Christ let us offer the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fruit of our lips confessing to his Name By all which it is evident That to Praise and give Glory unto God whether by Praise at large or Prayer and Thanksgiving in special is nothing else as I have said but to confess and acknowledge his peerless Majesty over all and in all which the Scripture calls his Glory And if ever there were a Work of God wherein all these peerless Prerogatives of Power Wisdom and Goodness all together appeared in the highest degree it was undoubtedly in this wonderful Work of the Incarnation of the Son of God for man's redemption well therefore might the heavenly Host sing Gloria in excelsis Deo Glory be to God on High The Power the Wisdom and Goodness of the Glorious God be acknowledged by the holy Angels and all the Host of heaven for ever and ever This is the meaning of the Doxology COME we now to the Gratulation which contains the cause thereof Glory be to God on high for ô factum bene O happy news there is peace on earth good-will towards men One and the same thing two ways expressed for it is an Apposition or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the latter words declaring the meaning of the former Peace on earth that is Good will towards men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to wit in imitation of the Hebrew construction where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbs which signifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Noun signifying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are construed with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek and accordingly both the Septuagint and New Testament express the same But the Vulgar Interpreter reads here Pax in terris hominibus bonae voluntatis Peace on earth to men of good-will as if the Greek were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as now all our Copies constantly read and I believe ever did Yet Beza seems here to favour the Vulgar Latin expounding Homines bonae voluntatis Men of good-will of those whom God wills well to to wit of the Elect to whom this Peace by Christ belongeth and from the conveniency of this sense inclines to believe that the Greek anciently read so quoting to this end Irenaeus Origen and Chrysostome as he saith in divers places But he trusted too much the Latin Translation of Chrysostome for the Greek Chrysostome hath no such matter but both in those places Beza points to and in divers others reads constantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our Copies do And so I make no question Irenaeus and Origen did too in the Greek Originals if we had them to look into But the Latin Translators thought not fit to alter the words of the Hymn so ordinarily sung in the Liturgy and so expressed it in Latin as the Latin Church used And for the meaning I believe the Vulgar Latin aim'd at no other sense than what the Greek implies namely That this Peace was no earthly Peace but the Peace of God's good-will to man referring the Genitive Case voluntatis not to hominibus but to Pax. Pax in terris what Pax Pax bonae voluntatis hominibus That which makes me think so is because Origen or his Translator in the place Beza quotes for this reading expresly expounds it so And so there will not be a pin to chuse save that the Greek expresseth this sense by way of Apposition more naturally the Latin by way of Rection somewhat harshly and yet perhaps the Translator thought less ambiguously Well then This Peace on earth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God's good-will or favour to men and God's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good-will to men is the Peace on earth the Angels gratulate namely the Reconciliation of God to men in Christ. For by reason of sin Heaven and Earth God and Man were till now at enmity but by Christ this enmity is taken away and man by the forgiveness of his sin restored unto peace and favour with God And as by this Nativity God and Man became one Person so by this conjunction Heaven and Earth Angels and Men become one Fellowship one City and Kingdom of God the Kingdom of Satan that Prince of the powers of the Air who by reason of sin had captivated and brought under his service the whole Earth and thereby held the same at open war and enmity with Heaven being now by degrees to be destroyed and rooted out And this is that admirable Mystery of our Redemption by Christ which the Angelical Host here gratulates by the name of Peace on earth and Good-will towards men And that we may not doubt but we have hit the meaning That this Peace on earth is God's Good-will to men and therefore expounded by it besides that in the Old Testament Peace is often taken for God's favour and mercy to men as in that of Esay 54. 10. The mounâ—ains shall
a more divine way namely by the power of the Word and Spirit as we see it hath done My Kingdom saith our Saviour is not of this world that is not from this world or to be set up by worldly means as other kingdoms are For if my Kingdom saith he were of or from this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered unto the Iews but now my Kingdom is not from hence Iohn 18. 36. Armies and Swords are not fit means to conquer the Souls of men and therefore Christ was to perform his conquests by a more divine and invisible way And as he conquered them so he governs and keeps them in their allegiance to him not by Garrisons and Armed Troops but by the power of the same Word and Spirit Lastly as he governs his subjects so he fights against his enemies not as the Kings of the earth do but by a divine and heavenly working by divine and heavenly ministers by the ministery of Angels who are all at his command For the Enemies of his Church and Kingdom are chiefly Spiritual namely those Spiritual powers those rulers of darkness the Devil and all his troops of Fiends which cannot be dealt withal nor resisted after a corporal manner but by Spiritual means and Spiritual ministers And though the Arms of flesh and bloud are also lift up against the Kingdom of Christ yet is it always by the instigation and under the conduct of those invisible Fiends As for the men employed in such service they are but the horses in the Devil's battels the Devil and his Angels are the riders and therefore to be repelled by a power and forces suitable unto them In a word the whole world by sin was become the kingdom of the Devil Christ came to recover it from him and to erect the Kingdom of God in place thereof Such a kingdom therefore as the one was such must the other be else it should not match it as by the tenor of â—â—e first Gospel it was to do which saith The seed of the Woman should break the Serpent's head I must add one thing more for the understanding of this Kingdom namely That this Kingdom of Christ which I have hitherto described hath a Two-fold state The one Militant consisting in a perpetual warfare and manifold sufferings which is the present state begun at his First coming when he ascended up into heaven to sit at the right hand of God The Second state is a Triumphant state which shall be at his Second appearing in glory in the clouds of heaven at what time he shall put down all authority power and rule and subdue all his enemies under his feet even death it self as S. Paul tells us 1 Cor. 15. 24. and in that great Assizes of the quick and dead shall render everlasting vengeance to his enemies and those who believed not his Gospel and give rewards of glory to his servants who have kept their faith and allegiance to him And that once done and so his Conquest finished he shall surrender up his Kingdom into the hands of his Father that being subject to him who put all things under his feet God may be all in all as S. Paul tells us In both which estates how fitly this Kingdom is called the Kingdom of Heaven or of God appears in three respects 1. Because the King thereof hath his seat and throne in heaven where he sits at the right hand of God 2. Because the beginning thereof is from heaven and not from earth or by earthly means 3. and lastly Because it is governed and administred by the power of heaven and not by earthly power Is not such a Kingdom rightly and truly called The Kingdom of heaven Thus much I thought good to speak for the explication of this speech The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven because this term is so frequent in the Gospel and not always or perhaps not rightly understood Henceforth let him that readeth understand NOW I come to the Second point namely What was the Time designed and prefixed for the coming and beginning of this Kingdom which our Saviour saith here was fulfilled The time saith he is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand The Time of this Kingdom was by the Prophet Daniel two ways foretold first generally and at large secondly more precisely and punctually The general time designed was That it should begin under and during the Fourth Kingdom or Roman Monarchy which at length it should utterly ruin and destroy For Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babel had a Vision of an Image of four differing metals The head of Gold the arms and breast of silver the belly and thighs of Brass the legs and feet of Iron but the feet mingled with clay While he beheld this Image and surveyed it from head to foot he saw a Stone hewen out of the mountain without hands which Stone smote the Image not upon the head or breast or belly but upon the Iron and Clayie feet whereby the Image and all his other metals being mingled with the Iron vanished away and became as chaff before the wind Then the Stone which smote the Image upon the feet became a great mountain and filled the whole earth This Vision Daniel expounded of four Gentile Kingdoms which should succeed one another in order with great extent of dominion The first compared to Gold was the Babylonian which then reigned The second resembled to Silver should be the Empire of the Medes and Persians which subdued that of Babylon The third figured by the Brazen belly and thighs was the Greek which subdued the Persian The Iron legs the fourth and last was the Roman which subdued the Greek and so became possessed of the riches and glory of all the former three During this last Kingdom was the Stone hewn out of the mountain and smote the Iron feet This Stone saith Daniel was the Kingdom of the God of heaven which should be set up before the days of these four Gentile kingdoms should expire namely under the last of them In the days of these Kingdoms saith he that is while these times of the Gentiles dominions yet lasted the God of heaven shall set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed nor lest unto another people as each of the other were but shall break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms namely in the last in which the other three were incorporated as it were and it self shall stand for ever Forasmuch as thou sawest saith he unto the King that the Stone was cut out of the mountain without hands that is without any earthly means and that it break in pieces the iron and the Brass the Silver and Gold mingled with it Now the Roman Empire during which this Prophecy was to be accomplished was in our Saviour's tâ—me come to the height and highest pitch and so next door to a declination and downfall But this
and believe the Gospel of which I am to speak now None can be Members or Citizens of the Kingdom of God but only those who are the Sons of God The means to become the Sons or Children of God is by Regeneration or New-birth This is the Mystery our Saviour told Nicodemus of when he came to him by night Except a man saith our Saviour be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Iohn 3. 3. Now Regeneration or New birth consists of these two parts Repentance towards God and Faith towards Christ according to that which the Apostle Paul told the Elders of the Church of Ephesus Acts 20. 21. that he had testified both to Iews and Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ that is the whole mystery of Regeneration whereby a man becomes the Child of God and a member of his Kingdom Where we are to note and it will serve us to understand these things the better that Repentance properly and distinctly taken looks towards God the Father and Faith unto Christ our Mediatour The one is our returning unto God from whom we are gone astray by sin the other the means or way of our return unto him by Christ without whom we can neither be reconciled to our heavenly Father nor perform any service acceptable unto him These two therefore our Saviour distinguisheth when he saith Repent and believe the Gospel the one looking to his Father the other to himself Both joyned together make the New birth or a new man even as in natural generation the Soul being united with the Body makes a natural man Repentance here being as the Body or Matter which Faith in the Gospel of Christ inlivens and informs as a Soul Those therefore who make Faith a part of Repentance understand by Repentance the whole Regeneration of a sinner Otherwise if Repentance be taken precisely and distinctly as it is here by our Saviour then is not Faith a part but a necessary concurrent of Repentance as the Soul is no part of the Body but concurs therewith to the making of a Man And thus much I held needful to speak of Repentance and Faith in general to make my way the more straight and easie to the handling of them severally and apart which now I come unto And first to begin with that which is first Repentance REPENTANCE is A turning of the whole heart from Satan and Sin to serve God in newness of life I say from Satan and Sin because he that lives in Sin serves the Devil and belongs to his jurisdiction And therefore in our Baptism which is the Seal of our New birth we profess our Repentance by renouncing the Devil and all his works that is the works of Sin wherewith he is served and then we swear fealty to God saying I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth c. The Definition I have given you shall find full and whole in our Saviour's words to S. Paul when he appeared to him going to Damascus Acts 26. 18. as S. Paul himself reporteth them namely that he would send him to the Gentiles To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they might receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified Which voice S. Paul there saith V. 19. he was obedient unto and thereupon went and shewed first to the Iews and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance V. 20. The Commission therefore given him in the words aforesaid was To preach Repentance And howsoever the name of Repentance be by a custome of speech restrained only to that Sorrow and Remorse for sin which is but the beginning of our Turning yet if we will speak according to Scripture as we must do when we expound it the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated Repentance is of a larger extent signifying not only those pangs of Contrition wherewith Repentance begins but the whole change and journey as I may so speak of the Soul of a sinner leaving the service of the Devil and turning to the service of God For this word in the New Testament answers to that of Turning and Returning so frequent in the Old as appears not only by the Syriack which so renders it but by those places in the New Testament where the one is put to explain the other as in that of S. Paul now quoted And that the word Turning is of as large sense as I speak of I shall need go no further for proof than to the words of our Saviour to S. Paul even now mentioned But this will appear better by the ensuing Discourse of the Parts of Repentance Repentance as any one almost may gather by the Definition given thereof hath two parts according to the two terms à quo ad quem An aversion or turning away and A conversion or turning unto An aversion or turning away from Satan and Sin that is the first part then A conversion or turning unto God by newness of life that is the second part The one is a falling off from the Creature the other a betaking to the Creator The first some call Mortification from that phrase in Scripture of Dying to sin Rom. 6. 11. Col. 3. 3. that is of ceasing to be the servants of sin The second Vivification from that Scripture-phrase of Living to God Rom. 6. 11. Gal. 2. 19. that is of beginning to be to God-ward the first receiving virtue from Christ's death the other from his resurrection For to live in the Scripture notion is as much as to be to die as not to be Because therefore to turn away from Satan and Sin is to renounce them and to be no more their 's under them it is called Dying to sin and because to turn unto God by newness of life is to become his and be that to him which before we were not it is called Living unto God But the more usual name of the first part of Repentance or the act of aversion and turning away is Contrition a term borrowed from the Old Testament The other part is simply called Conversion unto God or by some Reformation or Newness of Life I shall use some of these terms so as not to neglect the rest And the first part of Repentance I will call Contrition or Dying to sin as the most easie expression of which I shall now begin to speak Contrition or Dying unto sin hath sometimes the whole name of Repentance and Turning given to it namely as often as the thing to be turned from is solely mentioned As Heb. 6. 1. we have repentance from dead works S. Peter saith to Simon Magus Act. 8. 22. Repent of thy wickedness S. Paul 2 Cor. 12. 21. speaks of repenting of uncleanness and sornication and lasciviousness In all which and the like places Repentance
a comparative prayer as if he had said Rather than either Poverty or Riches Give me O Lord if it be thy will the Mean between both Feed me with Food convenient for me For though all three estates be indifferent yet comparatively and for choice the middle is the best and happiest condition Such speeches by way of Opposition or Antithesis yet implying in their sense a choice or Protimesis are frequent in Scripture I will have mercy and not sacrifice not to be understood as though God forbade Sacrifice but thus I had rather have mercy than sacrifice So in S. Matthew Lay not up for your selves treasures upon earth but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven not to be understood as a plain prohibition to lay up earthly treasures but by way of choice or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rather lay up treasures in heaven than treasures upon earth Have a greater care of the one than of the other And many the like for it is a frequent expression Thus having made the way plain and open to my Text I come now to consider the several parts thereof and First The Request or Thing prayed for where of the two ways whereby it is expressed I must for the more easie unfolding thereof begin with the Affirmative Feed me with Food convenient for me For if this be understood we cannot be long ignorant of the other If we know the Mean once which Agur chuseth we shall soon guess what he understands by Riches and Poverty the Extremes which he refuseth Feed me saith he with Food convenient for me This convenient food is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Panis dimensi mei The bread of my competent allowance The Septuagint turns it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Things fit and sufficient Symmachus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Competent diet The Chaldee Paraphrast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bread or Food sufficient for me for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies for it is the word for Sufficit in the 15. verse of this Chapter Four things say not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sufficit It is enough it is the word for Sufficient Exod. 36. 7. where it is said of the offering for the Tabernacle that which was offered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was sufficient for all the work and in 2 Sam. 24. 16. where God says of the plague 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sufficit It is enough Now by Bread or Food the Hebrew understands All provisions for the use of life so competent Food is a competent Maintenance Which to be the true meaning of this Panis dimensi Agur's deprecation of Poverty on the one side and of Riches on the other is a firm demonstration For what else can it be but a state of Competency which he begs as the Mean between Want and Superfluity And this is even that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that daily bread which Christ our Lord in his Prayer hath taught us all to pray for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as S. Luke hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Give us day by day our daily bread Where the meaning in general is indifferently well agreed upon but much ado there is what this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should signifie But not to trouble you with the rehearsal of so many varieties of interpretation as the singularity of this word hath begotten some nearer some altogether wide of the mark the plain truth is That as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word like unto this was first devised by the Septuagint so was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this prayer made by the Evangelists in imitation thereof neither of both being any where to be found but in Scripture only For the Septuagint of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying Abundantia Exuperantia abundance and superfluity formed the Adjective 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Peculiar people rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Supernumerary people a people wherein God had a Superlative propriety and interest above and besides his common interest to all the Nations of the world For so he saith Exod. 19. 5. Thou shalt be unto me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Peculiar people above all people for all the earth is mine as if he should say But you shall be mine in a degree above the rest According to the Example and Analogy of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I say the Evangelists here formed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies an Abundance or Superfluity of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Being and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ultra or super as it were an Over-Being so would 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie a Sufficiency as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is adequate to Being or as Suidas hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fit for our Being and Supportance Therefore as of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abundance the Septuagint made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abounding so the Evangelists of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sufficiency made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sufficient And this is agreeable to the Syriack Translation the Language our Saviour spake which hath here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The bread we have need of Thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Sufficient bread and opposed to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Superfluous and Superabounding bread All which will appear most clearly and elegantly if we do but parallel these two words in the Petition by way of Antithesis in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Superfluous and Superabounding bread but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sufficient bread give us O Lord this day And thus we have seen that this Prayer of Agur in my Text is the self-same with that our Saviour taught us in the Gospel which Tremellius well observing in his most elegant Hebrew Catechism renders that petition in these very words of Agur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as though our Saviour had reference to them Now for the right understanding of this Sufficiency we are to pray for we must know that a Competency is twofold Either in regard of Nature which sufficeth to support a man in his natural life and health or secondly a Competency in regard of a mans condition which is sufficient to support and maintain him in that condition order degree and calling wherein God hath placed him Both these degrees of Sufficiency are meant in the Prayer our Saviour taught us Give us this day our daily bread and in this of Agur Feed me with food convenient for me namely for Agur. For perhaps that may not be sufficient for Agur's condition which might suffice for another But if Agur's condition were such as some mans is that he needed no more than was convenient to maintain himself in his natural life and health then the Competency he must pray for is no more than a Competency
humblest nature and the humblest condition are the fittest for devotion For humble natures experience shews them the most religious whereas those which the world so much commendeth for high and brave spirits of all others do buckle the worst unto devotion God seeth not as man seeth It is not the tallest Eliab but the humblest David who is the man after God's own heart He that humbleth himself as a little child the same is the tallest and goodliest Soul in the kingdom of heaven The Stars in the firmament howsoever they here seem small to us yet are bigger than the Earth So he that is despicable and small here in the eyes of men is there a great one in the eyes of God As the humblest nature so the humblest estate and condition is best fitted for Religion as the poor rather than the rich Therefore Agur desired of God not to give him riches more than food convenient for him lest being full he should deny him and say Who is the Lord Such likewise is the state of adversity and affliction being a state of lowliness and an estate wherein our hearts are taken down and therefore more fit to bring us home to God than that of prosperity whence you know that David saies Psal. 94. 12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and Psal. 119. 67 71. Before I was afflicted I went astray But now I have kept thy word It is good for me that I have been afflicted For diseases say the Physicians must be cured by contraries It was Pride which caused the disloyalty and rebellion both of Men and Angels against their Creator whence is that of the Son of Sirach Ecclus. 10. 12. The beginning of Pride is when one departeth from God and his heart is turned away from his Maker ver 13. Pride is the beginning of sin and he that hath it shall pour out abomination If Pride then be the beginning of our rebellion against God then must Lowliness be the proper disposition of those who fear and worship him And Tanto quisque est vilior Deo quanto est pretiosior sibi The higher any one is in his own esteem the lower he is in God's Now from this near affinity and inseparable dependance between a Religious devotion and an Humble and Lowly mind it is that the Scripture useth them as equipollent terms Prov. 22. 4. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches honour and life Prov. 3. 33. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked but he blesseth the habitation of the Iust. Ver. 34. Surely he scorneth the scorners but he giveth grace or sheweth favour unto the lowly Where scorners and the wicked on the one part and the lowly and the just on the other are interchangeably used for one and the same In like manner speaks the son of Sirach Ecclus. 12. 4 5. Give to the godly man and help not a sinner Which in the next words he altereth thus Do well unto him that is lowly but give not to the ungodly In the same notion of Humility and Lowliness S. Paul tells the Ephesian Elders at Miletus that he had served the Lord with all humility of mind Acts 20. 19. I have dwelt the longer upon this point To shew that Lowliness of mind is the proper disposition for devotion and the mother of a religious fear because the present occasion if you examine it is nothing else but the exercise of what I speak of For the End of Fasting is to beget Lowliness and humbleness of mind that so we might be rightly disposed and affected to approach the Divine Majesty and tender our supplications unto him Especially at such times when his dreadful rod is shaken over us to bid us down and cry for mercy lest we perish Are they not some of the first words we uttered this day O come let us humble our selves and fall down before the Lord with reverence and fear Hence Fasting and Humbling a mans self go in Scripture for equipollent terms My clothing was sackeloth saith David Psal. 35. 13. I humbled my self with fasting So Ahab humbled himself and thereby deferred his judgment 1 King 21. 29. Hezekiah humbled himself both he and the inhabitants of Ierusalem 2 Chro. 32. 26. Manasseh likewise besought the Lord and humbled himself greatly before the God of his Father 2 Chron. 33. 12. If we take a view of the Ceremonies of this Discipline which the Ancients used and we in some part continue they imply nothing else but Lowliness either to express it if we be already so affected or to work and beget it in our hearts if as yet we have it not They are reducible to three heads 1. of Habit 2. of Gesture 3. of Diet. For Habit it was anciently Sackcloth and Ashes By the coursness of Sackcloth they ranked themselves as it were amongst the meanest and lowest condition of men By Ashes and sometimes Earth upon their heads they made themselves lower than the lowest of the creatures of God For the lowest of the Elements is the Earth than which we use to say a man cannot fall lower Qui jacet in terra non habet unde cadat For Gesture they sate or lay upon the ground which in the Primitive Church was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 humicubatio a natural ceremony both to express and ingenerate or increase this disposition of Lowliness and abjection of our selves and as frequently practised among the Christian Fathers as it is seldom or never used among us It were a thing most comely and undoubtedly most profitable if either these Ceremonies or some other answerable to them were reviv'd amongst us at such times as these If we were all of us this day attired if not in Sackcloth for perhaps it sutes not with the custom of our Nation yet in the dolefullest habit of mourners if we lay all groveling upon the ground would not such a ruful spectacle would not the very sight of such an uncouth Assembly much affect us The mournful hue of Funeral solemnities we know by experience will often make them to weep who otherwise had no particular cause of sorrow how much more when they have But the Principal ceremony and which we retain is Abstinence from meat and drink from which this whole exercise hath the name of Fasting the End thereof being to bring down our Bodies thereby the better to humble our Souls or to express so much I mean to express our sorrow and dejection if we be already so affected Mores animi sequuntur temperamentum corporis If the Body be full and lusty the Mind will be lofty and refractary and most unfit to approach the Divine Majesty with reverence and fear How uncomposed is that Heart to sue to God for mercy and aversion of his judgments which is fraught with rebellious unclean proud and lustful thoughts like so many dogs barking within it But these are all engendered and cherished by full feeding and
shewed himself according to his style A God gracious and merciful long-suffering and slow to anger But when these Iews notwithstanding this second tender not only continued in their former obstinacy refusing to accept him for their Redeemer but also misused and persecuted his Ambassadors sent unto them this their ingratitude was so hideous and hainous in the eyes of God that he could bear with them no longer but resolved thenceforth to cast them off and chuse himself a Church among the Gentiles To prepare a way whereunto he sent a Vision much about the same time both to Peter who was then by reason of the Iews persecution fled to Ioppa and to Cornelius a Gentile Captain of the Italian Band living at Caesarea upon that coast ordaining the one Peter to be the Messenger and Preacher and the other Cornelius to be the first Gentile which should be partaker of the Faith of Christ. Therefore accordingly Peter's Vision was to admonish him not to make scruple as all Iews did of conversing with a Gentile as unclean signified by a sheet let down from heaven wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the aire that is of all both clean and unclean wherewith came also a Voice saying Rise Peter kill and eat Whereunto when Peter answered Not so Lord for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean the Voice replies What God hath cleansed that call not thou unclean Now as this Vision was to give Peter commission to go unto Cornelius so was Cornelius his Vision to command him to send for Peter For he saw in a Vision at the ninth hour of the day an Angel of the Lord coming unto him and saying Cornelius Whom when Cornelius beholding and being afraid said What is it Lord The Angel said unto him Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up for a memorial or had in remembrance before God And now send men to Ioppa and call for one Simon whose surname is Peter and he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do And thus have I brought the Story as far as my Text which is as you see a part of this Message of the Angel to Cornelius namely his Report And he said unto him Thy Prayers and thine Alms c. Wherein I will consider two things First Who was the man and what was the condition of this person to whom the Angel spake namely Cornelius And the Angel said unto him Secondly What the Message or Report he brought importeth Thy Prayers and thine Alms-deeds are come in remembrance before God To begin with the First The man here spoken to as you may read in the beginning of the Chapter and as I have in some part already told you was Cornelius a Gentile Captain of the Italian Band at Caesarea and so no doubt himself of that Nation To understand which ye must know that at this time the Land of Iury like as most other Nations were was under the Roman Empire and ruled by a President of their appointing which President had his Court and Seat at Caesarea a great and magnificent City upon the Palestine coast some seventy miles from Ierusalem where was continually a guard of Souldiers both for the President 's safety and awing the subdued Iews and among these was our Cornelius a Commander being Captain of the Italian Band. But howsoever he were by race and breeding a Gentile yet for Religion he was no Idolater but a worshipper of the true God the God of Israel or God the Creator of heaven and earth For the Text tells us that he was a devout man and one that scared God with all his house who gave much alms to the people and prayed to God alway which is as much as to say he was a Proselyte for so were those converted Gentiles called who left their false Gods and worshipped the true Yet was he not circumcised nor had taken upon him the yoke of Moses Law and so was not accounted a member of the Church of Israel wherefore according to the Ordinances of the Law he was esteemed unclean and so not lawful for Peter or any other circumcised Iew to company with him had not God given Peter and Item that he should thenceforth call no man unclean forasmuch as that badge of separation was now dissolved For the better understanding of this we must know there were while the Legal worship stood two sorts of Proselytes or converted Gentiles One sort which were called Proselytes of the Covenant These were such as were circumcised and submitted themselves to the whole Mosaical Pedagogy These came into the Court of Israel to worship being accounted Iews and as freely conversed with as if they had been so born But there was a second sort of Proselytes inferior unto these whom they called Proselytes of the Gate These were not circumcised nor conformed themselves to the Mosaical Rites and Ordinances only they were tied to the obedience of those Commandments which the Hebrew Doctors call the Commandments of Noah that is such as all the sons of Noah were bound to observe Which were 1. To worship God the Creator 2. To disclaim the service of Idols 3. To abstain from Bloud namely both from the effusion of man's bloud and 4. from eating flesh with the bloud therein 5. To abstain from Fornication and all unlawful conjunction 6. To administer Iustice and 7. To abstain from Robbery and do as they would be done to And such Proselytes as these howsoever they were reputed Gentiles and such as with whom the Iews might not converse as being no free denizons of Israel yet did the Iewish Doctors yield them a part in the life to come Such a Proselyte was Naaman the Syrian and of such there were many in our Saviour's time and such an one was our Cornelius Hence it was that when afterward there arose a Controversie in the Church Whether or no the Gentiles which believed were to be circumcised and so bound to observe the Ordinances and Rites of Moses S. Peter in the Council of the Apostles at Ierusalem determined It was the will of God they should not and that upon this ground Because Cornelius the first believing Gentile was no circumcised Proselyte but a Proselyte of the Gate only and yet nevertheless when himself was sent as ye have heard to preach the Gospel of Christ to him and his house the Holy Ghost came down upon them as well as upon the Circumcision Whereby it was manifest that God would have the rest of the Gentiles which believed to have no more imposed upon them than Cornelius had and accordingly the Council concluded that no other burthen should be laid upon them but only those Precepts given to the sons of Noah To abstain from pollutions of Idols from bloud from things strangled and from fornication and the rest which they had received already
in becoming Christians and so needed not to be expresly mentioned For that enumeration in the Apostles Decree is to be understood with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or an Et caetera a Scheme usual in the allegation not only of Texts of Scripture but of pastages commonly and vulgarly known We may find an Example of it Hebr. 12. 27. in the citation of that Text of Haggai Yet once more and I will shake not the earth only but the heavens which the Apostle there repeats with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Yet once more saith he signifies the removing of things that are shaken that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as the Hebrews speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Yet once more and the rest signifies so much for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet once more alone signifies it not but that whole Sentence Now that I may not have held your ears all this time with so long a story without some matter of Instruction let us obâ—erve by the example of this Cornelius How great a favour and blessing of God it is to live and dwell within the pale of his Church where opportunity and means of Salvation is to be had If Cornelius had still dwelt among his Countrymen the Italians where he was bred and born or in any other Province of that Empire he had in all likelihood never come to this saving and blesâ—ed knowledge of the true God but died a Pagan as he was born But by this occasion of living at Caesarea within the confines of the land of Israel where the Oracles and Worship of the most High God were daily resounded and professed he became such an one as ye have heard a blessed Convert unto the true God whom with all his house he served and worshipped with acceptation If this be so Then should we our selves learn to be more thankful to God than most of us use to be for that condition wherein by his Providence we are born For we might if it had pleased him have been born and had our dwelling among Pagans and Gentiles who had no knowledge of his Word or Promise and such our Nation once was But behold his goodness and mercy we are born of Christian Parents and dwell in a Christian Country and so made partakers of the name and livery of Christ as soon as we were born How great should our thankfulness be for his mercy Nay we might have been born and bred in a Christian Nation too and yet such an one where Idolatry false worship and Popery so reigned as there had been little hopes or means either to be saved But behold we are born bred and dwell in a Reformed Christian State where the Worship of God in Christ is truly taught and practâ—â—ed where no God is worshipped but the Father and in no other Mediator but his Son Iesus Christ. How should we then magnifie our good God for his so great and abundant mercy towards us Luther or some other tells a story of a poor German peasant who on a time beholding an ugly Toad fell into a most bitter lamentation and weeping that he had been so unthankful to Almighty God who had made him a Man and not such an ugly creature as that was O that we could in like manner bewail our Ingratitude towards him who hath made us to have our birth and habitation not among Pagans and barbarous Indians a people without God in the World but in a believing and Christian Nation where the true God is known and the means of Salvation is to be had Thankfulness for a less benefit is the way to obtain a greater To acknowledge and prize God's favour towards us in the means is the way to obtain his grace to use them to our eternal advantage Whereas our neglect of Thankfulness in the one may cause God in his just judgment to deprive us of his Blessing in the other Consider it AND thus much concerning the Person to whom the Angel spake Cornelius And he said unto him Now I come to the Message it self Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up into remembrance before God Where before I make any further entrance there is an Objection requires to be answered namely How Cornelius his service could be accepted of God as here it is said to be whenas he had no knowledge of Christ without whom no man can please God I answer Cornelius pleased God through his Faith in the Promise of Christ to come as all just men under the Law did which Faith God did so long accept after Christ was come till his Coming and the mystery of Redemption wrought by him were fully and clearly made known and preached which had not been to Cornelius until this time For though he had heard of his preaching in Galilee and Iudaea and that he was crucified by the Iews yet hâ— had not heard of his Resurrection from the dead and Ascension into glory or was not assured of it till it was now confirm'd unto him by one sent from God himself And it is like that having heard somewhat of the Apostles preaching and of the Iews opposing their testimony and so knowing not what to believe he had earnestly besought God in his Devotions to lead him in the way of Truth and make known unto him what to do This being premised I return again unto the Angel's words wherein I will consider Three things 1. The conjunction or joyning of Almsdeeds with Prayer Thy Prayers and thine Alms. 2. The efficacy and power they have with God Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up into remembrance before God 3. I will add the Reasons why God so much accepteth them which are also so many Motives why we should be careful and diligent to practise them For the first The joyning of Almsdeeds with Prayer Cornelius we see joyn'd them and he is therefore in the verses before-going commended for a devout man and one that feared God And by the Angel's report from God himself we hear how graciously he accepted them giving us to understand that a Devotion thus arm'd was of all others the most powerful to pierce into his dwelling-place and fetch a blessing from him Therefore our Saviour likewise Matth. 6. 1 5. joyns the Precepts of Alms and Prayer together teaching us how to give Alms and how to Pray in one Sermon as things that ought to go hand in hand and not to be separated asunder It was also the Ordinance of the Church in the Apostles times that the First day of the week which was the time of publick Prayer should be the time also of Alms. So saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 16. 1. Now concerning the collection for the Saints saith he as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye 2. Vpon the first day of the week that is upon the Lord's day let every one of you lay by himself in store as God hath prospered him that there
which is given for the relief of the poor the Orphan and the Widow which is called Alms. For not only our Tithes but our Alms are an Offering unto Almighty God So Prov. 15. 17. He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord and Chap. 14. 31. He that hath mercy on the poor honoureth his Maker And our Saviour will tell us at the day of Iudgment that what was done unto them was done unto him This then is the Reason why we must give Alms because they are the Tribute of our Thanksgiving whereby we acknowledge we are God's Tenants and hold all we have of him that is of the Mannor of Heaven without which duty and service we have not the lawful use of what we possess Whence our Saviour tells the Pharisees who stood so much upon the washing of the Cup and Platter left their meat and drink should be unclean Give alms saith he of such things as you have and behold all things are clean unto you Luke 11. 41. Now that this Acknowledgment of God's Dominion was the End of the Offerings of the Law both those wherewith the Priests and Levites were maintained and those wherewith the poor the Orphan and the Widow were relieved appears by the solemn profession those who pay'd them were to make Deut. 26. where he that brought a basket of first-fruits to the house of God was to say I profess this day unto the Lord that I am come unto the Country which the Lord sware unto our Fathers for to give us And when the Priest had taken the basket he was to say thus verse 5 c. A Syrian ready to perish was my Father and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few and became there a Nation great mighty and populous And the Egyptians evil intreated us c. And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and out-stretched arm c. And brought us into this place and hath given us this land even a land that floweth with milk and honey And now behold I have brought the first-fruits of the land which thou O Lord hast given me And thou shalt set it saith the Text before the Lord thy God and worship before the Lord thy God This was to be done every year But for Tithes the profession was made every third year because then the course of all manner of Tithing came about For two years they pay'd the Levite's Tithe and the Festival Tithe the third year they pay'd the Levite's Tithe and the poor man's Tithe So that year the course of Tithing being finished the party was to make a solemn profession When thou hast made an end saith the Lord of Tithing all the Tithes of thine increase the third year which is the year of Tithing that is when the Tithing course finisheth and hast given it to the Levite the Stranger the Fatherless and the Widow that they may eat within thy Gates and be filled Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God I have brought away the hallowed thing out of mine house and also have given it to the Levite and to the Stranger to the Fatherless and to the Widow according to all the Commandments which thou hast commanded me Look down from thy holy habitation from heaven and bless thy people Israel and the land which thou hast given us as thou swarest to our Fathers a land that floweth with milk and honey What we have seen in these two sorts is to be supposed to be the End of all other Offerings for pious uses which were not Sacrifices namely To acknowledge God to be the Lord and Giver of all As we see in that royal Offering which David with the Princes and Chieâ—tains of Israel made for the building of the Temple 1 Chron. 29. 11 c. where David acknowledgeth thus Thine O Lord is the Kingdom and thou art exalted as Head over all Both riches and honour come of thee and thou reignest over all and in thine hand is power and might and in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all Now therefore our God we thank thee and praise thy glorious Name For all things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee For this Reason there was never time since God first gave the Earth to the sons of men wherein this Acknowledgment was not made by setting apart something of that he had given them to that purpose In the state of Paradise among all the Trees in the garden which God gave man freely to enjoy one Tree was Noli me tangere and reserved to God as holy in token that he was Lord of the garden So that the First sin of Mankind for the species of the fact was Sacriledge in prosaning that which was holy For which he was cast out of Paradise and the Earth cursed for his sake â—ecause he had violated the sign of his Fealty unto the great Landlord of the whole Earth Might I not say that many a man unto this day is cast out of his Paradise and the labours of his hands cursed for the same sin But to go on After man's ejection out of Paradise the first service that ever we read was erformed unto God was of this kind Abel bringing the best of his flock and Cain of the fruit of his ground for an Offering or Present unto the Lord. The first spoils that ever we read gotten from an Enemy in war paid Tithes to Melchisedâ—k the Priest of the most High God as an Acknowledgment that he had given Abraham the Victory Melâ—hisedck blessing God in his name to be the possessor of heaven and earth and to have delivered his enemies into his hand To which Abraham said Amen by paying him Tithes of all Iacob promiseth God that if he would give him any thing for at that time he had nothing he would give him the Tenth of what he should give him which is as much to say as he would acknowledge and profess him to be the Giver after the accustomed manner For the Time of the Law I may skip over that it is well enough known no man will deny it But let us come to the Time of the Gospel which though it hath freed us from the bondage of Typical Elements yet hath it not freed us from the profession of our Pealty unto God as Lord of the whole Earth 'T were strange methinks to affirm it I am sure the ancient Church next the Apostles thought otherwise I will quote for a witness Irenaeus who tells us that our Saviour when he took part of the Viands of his last Supper and giving thanks with them consecrated them into a Sacrament of his body and bloud set his Church an example of dedicating part of the creature in Dominicos usus Dominus saith he dans discipulis suis consilium Primitias Deo offerre ex suis creaturis non quasi indigenti
be Proper for so it belongs unto the High Priest to have Vrim and Thummim nor Typical because the Priests only and not the under Levites were Types of Christ but the sense must be Analogical signifying some endowments common to all Levites which resemble the Vrim and Thummim upon the Breast of the High Priest Now what these are the words themselves import namely Light of Vnderstanding and knowledg this is their Vrim and Integrity of life this is their Thummim The first makes them Doctores Teachers the second Ductores populi Guides and Leaders of the People He that wants either of these two wants the true ornament of Priesthood the right character of a Levite For though these endowments may well beseem all the Tribes of Israel yet Moses specially prays for them in Levi because by him they were to come to all the rest and the want of them in him could not but redound to all the rest Ita populus sicut sacerdos Such as the Priest is such will the People be the Priest cannot erre but he causeth others to erre also the Priest cannot sin but he causeth others to sin also And this is it that Malachi saith from the Lord unto the Priests of his time Ye are gone out of the way and have caused many to stumble at or in the Law But the Levites of old saith the same Prophet The Law of Truth was in their mouth and iniquity was not found in their lips they walked with God in peace and equity and turned many from iniquity Here you see when the Levites erre the people erre also when the Levites walk in equity the people are turned from iniquity The Ministers of Christ must be Lux mundi the light of the world Vos estis lux mundi Ye are the light of the world Ye are the world's Vrim faith Christ unto his Apostles For the lips of the Priest should preserve knowledg and they should learn the Law at his mouth This light of knowledg this teaching knowledg is the Vrim of every Levite and therefore Christ when he inspired his Apostles with knowledg of heavenly mysteries he sent a new Vrim from above even fiery tonguâ—s tongues of Vrim from Heaven He sent no fiery heads but fiery tongues for it is not sufficent for a Levite to have his head full of Vrim unless his tongue be a candle to shew it unto others There came indeed no Thummim from heaven as there came an Vrim for though the Apostles were secured from errors they were not freed from sin And yet we who are Levites must have such a Thummim as may be gotten upon earth for S. Paul bids Titus in all things to shew himself an example of good works and this is a Thummim of Integrity But besides this Thummim the Ministers of the Gospel have received from God more especially another Thummim like unto that which was proper to the High Priest namely the power of binding and loosing which is as it were a power of Oracle to declare unto the people the remission of their sins by the acceptance of Christ's Sacrifice And this directly answers to Thummim in the first sense DISCOURSE XXXVI IEREMIAH 10. 11. Thus shall ye say unto them The Gods that made not the Heavens and the Earth even they shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens THESE words are written in the Chaldee tongue whereas the rest of the Prophecy is in the Hebrew the reason whereof you shall then have when we have first seen the Occasion Coherence and Summe of the words which is as followeth The Prophet having in the end of the last Chapter threatned the Iews and all the neighbouring Nations with captivity Edom Ammon Moab with the Arabians of the wilderness in this Chapter leaving out the rest he singles out the Iews to instruct them for their demeanour and carriage in their captivity to wit that they should not learn the way of the Heathen whither they should be carried that they should not be dismayed at the signs of Heaven nor regard their Gods of Gold and Silver which could do neither evil nor good But lest they should think they had acquit themselves well if they abstained from what they should see the Heathen do he tells them they must yet do more than this they must make open profession against their Gods they must proclaim against their Idolatry and false worship and therefore in the middle of his exhortation he enterlaceth these words in the Chaldee tongue Thus shall ye say unto them c. These words then contain a Proclamation which the Iews are enjoyned from God to make against the Gods of the Gentiles when they should be carried captive to Babylon wherein are to be considered two things 1. The Proclaiming it self 2. The Summe of the Proclamation The Proclaiming in these words Thus shall ye say unto them The Summe of the Proclamation in these The Gods which have not made the Heavens and the Earth even they shallperish from the Earth and from under these Heavens In the Proclaiming are three things considerable 1. The Persons Who. 2. The Persons To whom 3. The manner How The Persons Who in the word Ye that is Ye Iews who are the worshippers of the living God Ye captive Iews carried out of your own land and living as slaves and vassals under your proud Lords the Babylonians Ye shall say unto them 2. The Persons To whom To them what Them even your Lordly Masters of Babylon Ye shall say unto them 3. The manner How Thus that is not in cryptick or mystical terms or in your Hebrew mutterings a language which they understand not but in the vulgar tongue of Babylon in plain Chaldee Thus shall ye say unto them c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Gods which have not made the Heavens and the Earth c. In the second part which I called The Summe of the Proclamation are two things contained 1. A description of false Gods in these words The Gods which made not the Heavens and the Earth 2. Their doom in these They shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens I shall speak of these in order and first of the Persons who must make this Proclamation namely The Israelites Ye Israelites Ye Servants of the God of Heaven Ye Sons of promise and peculiar heritage of the Lord of hosts Ye upon whom the dew of grace is shed from heaven Ye to whom the most High hath given his Oracles and made his Name known amongst you Ye shall say unto them Hence I observe That it is the office of every one who is a member of God's Church and the child of Grace to endeavour to bring others to the knowledge of God and godliness First All things in nature desire and covet the propagation of that kind wherein themselves are ranked The Fire is no sooner kindled but presently it will turn all it lays hold upon into
its own nature As it is with the Fire of Nature so must it be with the Fire of Grace it is as possible for the Sun to want light and the Fire to be without heat as the Fire of Grace to be kindled in their hearts who endeavour not to inflame others with the same heavenly fire Do we not see every Citizen every member of any Company or Society how eagerly they desire and how forward they are to further the enlargement of that Commonwealth and Society whereof they are members What one nobly descended but desireth the enlargement of his house and kindred continually What true English-man but desireth the encrease of our King's subjects the amplifying of his dominions and the Revenues of his Crown We would account them monsters who should be otherwise affected nay unworthy to live any longer as members or enjoy the rights of Subjects How canst thou then be a member of God's kingdom and not labour the encrease of God's Subjects or how darest thou usurp the name of a Christian or think thy self a child of Grace who endeavourest not the propagation of that heavenly Hierarchy whereof thou callest thy self a member The woman of Samaria had no sooner found the Messias but she runs and calls the whole City to be partakers of her happiness Iohn 4. 29. Christ bids Peter Luke 22. 32. When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren S. Paul in nothing more expressed the Character of a Christian than in this In the presence of Agrippa so servent was his wish that all who heard him that day were even as he was so great was his zeal Rom. 9. 3. that so his loss might have been recompensed with the gaining of the whole Iewish Nation unto Christ he could have been willing to be taken out of the Roll himself I could wish saith he that my self were accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh The Devil was no sooner fallen but he presently laboured to bring Man to the same ruine nay the restless compasser still goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking continually whom he may devour His Instruments are like him The sons of Belial how busie are they in debauching others and making them like themselves The Pharisees ran over sea and land and spared no labour to bring numbers to their Sect though but to make them as Christ speaks filii Gehennae sons of Hell The Iesuits how run they up and down into all corners of the world from the Sun rising unto the going down thereof to propagate their Heresies Nay the very Mahumetans run about the world to gain Profelytes for their beastly Prophet Mahomet And shall the children of the Kingdom of Heaven only want this desire this zeal this endeavour Impossible And if any such seem to be who do it not surely they are but bastards and such as God will never own to be his Some report of Mules and other such like creatures of Mongrel and mixt generation that they beget not again Even such Mongrels are those Christians who beget not unto God who labour not the conversion and drawing of others unto Christ. We pray unto God every day Let thy Kingdom come Let that which is our daily prayer be also our daily endeavour even of all that say to God Our Father else he will be no Father of ours Indeed the Kingdom of God shall come in despight of the Devil and all his Regiment but happy are those who further it For those that turn many unto righteousness shall shine as the stars in the firmament for evermore Thus much shall suffice for the first Observation One thing more I have yet to observe from the condition of the persons to whom this word Ye hath relation Ye shall say namely Ye captives Ye whom the Lord your God hath given into the hands of your enemies and made you as the off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the people Ye whose City the glory of the whole earth is consumed with fire whose Priests and Princes are all slain with the sword and the remnant of your people carried into a strange land Ye a people overwhelmed with the flouds of affliction and as far as the eye of flesh can see forsaken of the God whom ye worshipped Ye even ye shall say unto them The Gods that made not the Heavens and the Earth c. Hence observe No men so fit to glorifie God whether by confession of the mouth or devotion of the heart as his servants when they are humbled by affliction The Reasons are plain For 1. It is the Love of the World which quencheth our love toward God So long as the World pleaseth us so long our Love to God is weak and feeble but if once we are weaned from our delight and content in worldly things then if ever we cleave firmly unto God then are our hearts inflamed and our whole spirit fixt in Heaven which before stuck fast in earth Even as the Fire in coldest weather scorcheth most so doth the zeal of God's servants burn most in the midst of affliction The righteous are like the Palm-tree which then riseth highest when the burthen laid thereon weigheth heaviest So it is with them the weight of their affliction makes them rise up to Heaven 2. In affliction only it will appear whether men feared and loved God for his own sake or no or whether for some worldly respect only It is the property of a true Christian not to disclaim God in affliction as hypocrites do but then to confess him most when the world sees least cause why they should at all Until the storms and winds came the house built upon the sand seemed to stand as strong as that upon the rock This trial was it that Satan would have God put Iob unto Doth Iob saith he fear God for nought Hast thou not made a hedge about him and about all he hath c. But put forth thy hand now and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee unto thy face As if he had said While all things prosper in his hand who knows whether he be a man that truly feareth thee but strike and afflict him and then it will soon appear what he is And indeed the Devil saw soon what Iob was unto his little liking when the weight of his afflictions pressed these words out of his mouth Though he kill me I will trust in him For this cause That it might appear the Church was reared upon no earthly foundation the Wisdom of God would have it planted in Martyrdom and watered with the bloud of his Saints For the same cause also was the glorious name of Confessors in the Primitive Church given unto those who had held their Faith in the time of trial and persecution and for this cause would God have his people here to avouch him in the land of their captivity that the more the world wondred the more he might be
glorified Seeing therefore we are most fit to glorifie God in the time of our affliction Let this be a Motive unto us both of Comfort in the depth of sorrow and of Patience in the midst of pain always when the hand of God is upon us confessing with David Psal. 119. 71. Bonum est Domine quòd humiliasti me It is good Lord that thou hast humbled me AND thus I come to the Persons to whom this Proclamation is to be made intimated in the word Them Thus shall ye say unto them what Them even your Lords and Masters even your Lordly Masters your Rulers your proud Conquerors Sins therefore against the Person of God are to be reproved without all respect of Persons Such sins are sins of Idolatry or sins of the first and second Commandment For when false Gods are worshipped whether mediately or immediately the Person of God is dishonoured In these sins therefore the Cautions concerning persons who should reprove and persons who are to be reproved which in other sins Wisdom makes considerable have no place at all Be the person reproving or the person to be reproved publick or private greater or lesser it skilleth not for in case of Idolatry the poorest begger on the earth may admonish the greatest Emperor in the world Indeed the quality or condition of persons may be opposed to all other respects whatsoever and so make some time and some place unfit for reproof or admonition nay the quality of the persons of men may be such as doth exclude some persons from reproving them But when the case concerns the Person of God himself then to spare or regard the persons of men is Idolatry it self for this is to honour men more than God himself this is to suffer God to be dishonoured lest the honour of men should be impeached I confess the danger is great in regard of the flesh but we must know what our Saviour saith He that loveth father or mother yea his own life better than me is not worthy of me Thus the glorious Martyr Ignatius reproved Trajan the Emperor whilest he was sacrificing to his Gods even at the very Altar and in the face of his whole Army being at Antioch And for the same sin we see here the poor captive Iew was to reprove his great Babylonian Lord the miserable and contemptible slave the conqueror of the world the miry foot the head of gold For thus shall ye say even to them The Gods which made not the heavens and the earth c. AND so I will leave the Persons both Ye and Them and come to the third and last circumstance I considered in this act of protesting or proclaiming against the Gods of the heathen and that is The manner how it should be done intimated in the word Thus Thus shall ye say unto them that is in plain Chaldee not in Hebrew how holy a tongue soever but in the vulgar tongue of Babylon Thus shall ye say unto them Here we see That God will have his Church to utter his Oracles in the vulgar tongues of the Nations When ye inform the Gentiles of any part of the knowledge of me Thus shall ye say unto them Surely our Prophet's sudden changing of his Dialect here was a Praeludium to that great publishing of God's name to the Gentiles in their vulgar tongues after the Messias should come which Theodoret avoucheth to have been when he saith that the words of the Apostles and Prophets were turned into the languages of the Romans Egyptians Persians Indians Armenians Scythians Sauromatans and all the languages which any Nation used Certainly to keep the Scriptures in an unknown tongue is of all other the most unreasonable madness but to teach Pagans the Articles of their Creed at their first conversion in the Latine tongue as the Spaniards have done with the Indians is a most ridiculous folly It not the Word of God his revealed will unto his whole Church But how is it revealed in an unknown tongue Or is the Word of God a revealed will unto those only who are learned and hidden to others But if the Scriptures were in vulgar Tongues they might be occasions of many heresies by the mistakes of the vulgar if they might read them This is strange Can every Frier in a Pulpit when he preacheth warrant his words from being mistaken or perverted to heresie and are the words and sayings of God himself so obnoxious that they may not be read Nay if God himself may not speak in a vulgar tongue I see far less reason why a Frier should And so should the people know nothing at all concerning God if a good may not therefore be done because some will abuse it to evil NOW I come to the second main part of my Text The Summe of the Proclamation containing in it two things First A description of false Gods The Gods which made not the heavens and the earth Secondly Their doom They shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens To begin with the first The Gods which made not c. He saith not Those who were not Abraham's Gods or Iacob's Gods nor the Gods which brought not Israel out of Egypt or such like but The Gods which made not the heavens and the earth Whence note That men are to be dealt with and perswaded out of the Principles they acknowledge and are addicted to Ethnicks out of the Principles of Reason and Nature or the like Iews out of Moses and the Prophets Christians out of the Gospel In summe All sorts of men from that they are addicted to This is a Maxime of wisdom which God himself hath approved So the Iews acknowledging Prophetical doctrine are dealt with out of the Prophets A Virgin shall bear a Son But the Magi of the East being addicted to Astrology are drawn to Christ by the apparition of a Star and therefore the Star appeared not in Iudaea because the Iews used not to heed such things they had the Oracles of God but it appeared in the East that is was seen by them only who dwelt in the East which made the wise men wonder and joy so much when afterward it went before them going to Bethlehem So S. Paul being to preach a God the Athenians knew not avouched and defended his fact by an Altar of their own inscribed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the unknown God whence they might be convinced that a God whom their fathers knew not might yet be a God to be worshipped The same Apostle teacheth Tilus to convince the Cretians out of their own Poets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On the contrary S. Peter having to deal with the Iews and Proselytes Acts 2. useth no other grounds but the Prophecies of Ioel and David Again S. Paul being to enter with the Ethnicks of Lystra Acts 14. 15. who would needs have sacrificed to him as to a God insinuateth with an Argument from Nature and from
the Creation of the world Why do ye saith he these things we are also men of like passions with you and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are therein As it is with diverse Sects in Religion so is it with divers sorts and conditions of men an Argument or Motive sutable to one sort is altogether unfit for another All Vessels are best handled by their ansae or ears on what part soever they stand he that handleth them otherwise handleth them but aukwardly So it is with mens minds there are in every man's opinion or affections certain ansae or ears whereon a wise perswader should lay his hold to draw men unto him For this cause Aristotle in his Rhetoricks describes the several dispositions of several sorts of men of men of women of young of old of rich of poor of noble and ignoble that a Rhetorician might sute his motives accordingly A Dog is toll'd with a bone a worm is a bait to catch a fish a pigeon brings the hawk unto the Falconer's lure So must every wise fisher of men every wise angler of souls make choice of Motives according to the several dispositions and conditions of the hearers according to that of S. Paul 1 Cor. 9. 20 21 c. Vnto the Iews I became as a Iew that I might save the Iews to them which are without the Law as without the Law that I might gain them that are without the Law To the weak I became as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some And thus much shall suffice for this first Observation My second Observation from these words is this That the true God may be known by the Principles of Nature or the Creation of the Heaven and Earth For that which is a character or note of false Gods must needs likewise imply an argument for the true Rectum est index sui obliqui If those who made not the Heaven and the Earth are false Gods he then that made them is the true This is that which some call Natural Theologie others the Ascent of the Soul to God by the Scale of the creatures the steps whereof are to be ordered as followeth 1. All men by God do understand some Person or a living and Reasonable Essence 2. All men will grant that which is God to be the most excellent of all Persons or Living Essences 3. The Perfections of a Living and Reasonable Essence are threefold In the Understanding In the Will and In the Faculties of working In the Understanding is Wisdom In the Will Goodness In the Faculties Power Whatsoever therefore hath a Soveraignty in these three is the most excellent of Living and Reasonable Essences All men therefore if they want not the ordinary use of Reason will assent That under the name of God they mean Him to whom belongs a Soveraignty of Wisdom a Soveraignty of Goodness and a Soveraignty of Power and Might Thus far we agree and walk together But the error of the Nations hath been in the Application namely To whom belonged this Soveraignty and whether it belonged to many or to one alone But howsoever the Gentiles in this Application became vain in their Imaginations and transformed the glory of this incorruptible Soveraignty into the image of corruptibility yet as the Apostle saith God left them not without a witness in that those invisible things of him are seen by the creation of the world For a workman is known by his work The greatest work and the goodliest work that ever was is the Creation of the world He then that made the Heaven and the Earth is he alone to whom this threefold Soveraignty belongeth He alone is Almighty He alone is All-good He alone is All-wise What greater Power can there be than to make the Heaven and the Earth of nothing what Might so mighty as that which made whatsoever else is mighty even so many millions of powers as are in the Heavens above so admirable variety of faculties as are found in the Earth below Is there any Wisdom like unto his who in so manifold a work made nothing superfluous or vain but all things for their end who ordered and appointed such means for every end as better could not be devised who settled so goodly an Order and gave to every thing a Law and Rule which it should observe What Goodness so unspeakable as to have bestowed upon every thing some portion of goodness and to have sufficiently furnished them with endowments to attain and preserve the same What Goodness can be like unto that which he hath shewn unto us in making and ordaining all that ever he made for out use and service Thus we see the admirable Power the incomparable Wisdom and unspeakable Goodness of him that made the Heavens and the Earth He therefore is the true and living God and lives for ever Those Gods which made not the heavens and the earth are no Gods and shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens Thus have I let you see one part of The Scale of the creatures by which the Soul ascends unto God But there is another half yet behind to make a compleat Iacob's ladder For the Ascent of the Soul unto God by the comtemplation of the creatures is either the Ascent of the Vnderstanding to know him or the Ascent of our Will through obedience to worship him The first is that which I have hitherto spoken of The second though it be not here used and applied by our Prophet yet it is implied by his example in the former in that he hath therein taught us what use to make of the consideration of the creation of the world and creatures of God The Ascent therefore of the Will consists in its conformity and the conformity of all our Affections and Actions to the Will of God so far as it may be seen in the works of the creatures For God in that he hath given them a Law hath as it were stamped in them the character of his Will which is the Law and Rule they observe in working By this Ladder we may ascend two ways either by express Example or by Analogie By express Example where the Law which the Creatures observe in their workings is the very same which we ought to express in our actions By Analogie when the properties or actions of the Creatures especially if they be otherwise unsutable unto our nature are emblematically and by way of resemblance applied to admonish us of our duties To this kind belong Parable-similies framed according to the will of the applier whereof we shall find examples in the Scripture But because the Ascent by Example is the firmer and surer I will only shew some few Examples of it We see all Natural agents neglect their private good and
proper end to maintain the publick good of the Universe the Water ascends upward the Aire downward against nature to maintain the connexion and indivulsion of the parts of the world So should every good member of a Commonwealth or Society pass by his private profit and private pleasure to further the common good of the weal publick Every natural body will rend and break in pieces rather than the Order of the world should be violated by a penetration of dimensions So should every good member hazard yea lose both his life and estate for the common behoof of that body whereof he is a member All things of inferior nature give place without reluctancy to those which have a sublimity of nature above them the Water willingly submitteth unto the Air the Air unto the Fire c. yea the one doth further as far as it can the ascent of the other above it The like should we express in the subordination of degrees and conditions amongst men All things which grow upon the earth turn their heads and faces upward toward that by whose influence they grow and are preserved So should we unto him in whom we live and move and have our being These are only general Instances for a taste drawn from the general rule of the Creatures to admonish us of general duties If I should from hence take a view of every several creature in his kind I might shew you in clay all Ethical and Oeconomical vertues sampled in one kind or other of them Go to the pismire thou sluggard saith Solomon Be wise as serpents saith a wiser than Solomon The Oxe knoweth his owner and the ass his masters crib but Israel hath not known me saith the Lord by the â—rophet Esay The Stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming saith our Prophet Ieremy Go to the lilies of the field and learn of them saith our Saviour To say no more There is no creature in the world but upbraids us with sin in daily and continually breaking the Law of our creation which they so inviolably observe We should therefore hence learn to use these Creatures not for our bodies only to array them and feed them and such like but for the spiritual good of the inward man that so in them and with them we may glorifie our Creator God made all the Creation for the service of man but not for the service of his Body alone as most conceive it but also for the service of his Better part the Soul and Understanding We should never therefore use behold or look upon any one of our fellow-creatures but we should be raised by them unto God invited to devotion and spurred to conform our Wills and Affections to the pattern of that Eternal Will which they any way express I doubt not but the Philosophy of Solomon was of this strain when he spake of herbs and trees and of living creatures the fragments which here and there remain in the Proverbs may give us some taste thereof If we would do thus it would abate our Pride and make us know our selves better Lord what is man but the most unreasonable creature upon the face of the earth the most unjust lawless irregular creature that walks under the Sun Consider the marches of that Royal host of Heaven look upon the fowls of the Air and fishes of the Sea survey all that springeth all that moveth and creepeth upon the Earth and tell me from the circumference above unto the centre below what one creature what worst creature of God's making what silly worm doth so transgress the Law of his creation as Man doth And yet Man hath Reason given him whereby he knoweth the Law and Rule he is to follow Man hath also a liberty of Will But what doth he with them His Reason he abuseth to most unreasonable actions his Will to most licencious and abominable liberty It is a wonder the Earth can endure to bear him so vile a burthen or the Sun to shine upon him the most unworthy creature in the world Thus much concerning The description of the false Gods in the words The Gods that made not the Heavens and the Earth It remains I should speak of their Doom in the last words They shall perish from the Earth c. Wherein I shall observe two things 1. Their destiny it self which is perishing They shall perish and 2. The circumstances of this perishing from the Earth and from under these Heavens I make them two because they will yield different Observations and Instructions To begin therefore with the first The Doom or Destiny it self which is perishing They shall perish These words you see were a Prophecy of what was to come upon the Gods of the Heathen in after-times for at the time and age wherein they were spoken things in the world were far otherwise than here is foretold they should be For the dominion and jurisdiction of Iehovah the God of Heaven seemed exceeding small his Name being only known in Iacob and his Greatness and Throne amongst the Sons of Israel whereas Idols false gods and false worship overwhelmed as it were the face of the whole earth The kingdom of God was but a small parcel whereas Devils and Idols commanded and swayed all the Nations of the earth besides The dew of grace lay only upon the fleece of Gideon but all the earth besides was dry This was the state of the times when this Prophecy was uttered nay worse at that time than ever it had been before For even that small portion of men which acknowledged the Lord God of heaven was now almost quite extinguished and devoured by the vassals of the Gods of the Nations Israel being carried away captive into a strange land with much unlikelihood of return and the most High God as it were mastered by the Gods of the Nations Ye have heard the state of the times wherein this Prophecy is commanded Now let us consider of the Event and this we shall find partly already accomplished and partly yet to come For the first We have seen with our eyes we have heard with our ears and our fathers have told us the wondrous works of the Lord. We have heard and daily read of the admired Oracles of the Gentiles of Apollo at Delphus of Iupiter Ammon in Egypt and many moe too long to be named but all of them are long since perished from the earth and from under these heavens We have heard of the names of many Gods in former times of great renown in these Islands of the Gentiles Iupiter Mars Apollo Neptune Iuno Vesta Venus Minerva Diana c. all Europe Italy Greece and the lesâ—er Asia swarming with their Temples and Ceremonies and yet now are they perished from the earth and from under these heavens Where is now Bel the God of Babylon Nisroch the God of Assyria Baal and
of Psal. 8. 6. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet and then adds For in that he put all in subjection under him he left nothing that is not put under him But now mark it we see not yet all things put under him If any say that the Apostle speaks here of the Kingdom of Glory in heaven and not of the Kingdom of Grace on earth I reply 1. out of the former place That he speaks of such a subjection whereof the rising of the dead shall be the last act of all and which shall be before he yields up the Kingdom to his Father But neither of these can be affirmed of the Kingdom of Glory but the contrary viz. The rising of the dead is at the beginning and not at the end of the Kingdom of Glory and so is also the yielding up of his kingdom unto his Father 2. I reply out of this place That the Apostle speaks of that Kingdom and subjection of the Earth or state of the Earth which was to come For so he speaks ver 5. Vnto the Angels he hath not put in subjection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Earth or state of the Earth which shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which we speak Here he affirms that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is that of whose subjection he meaneth If then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie only the Earth and the Earth's inhabitants and is no where in the whole Scripture otherwise used I cannot see how this place can well bear any other exposition First then to confirm this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same which the Hebrews call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so the Septuagint render it whose use of speaking I doubt not but the Apostle follows But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most constantly signifies the habitable earth or the earth with the things that live and dwell thereon whence the Septuagint though they commonly render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet sometimes they render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The earth sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which is under heaven Therefore with the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The earth and That which is under the heavens If this suffice not we may yet consider That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Participle of the feminine gender and therefore understands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the earth which is inhabited Lastly Wheresoever elsewhere this word is found in the New Testament it is most expresly used of the earth and inhabitants thereof In the beginning of this Epistle we read Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the heavens are the works of thine hands Matth. 24. 14. This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over all the earth and then shall the end come Luke 2. 1. Then went a decree from Augustus that all the world should be taxed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The rest behind are far more express but I leave them to your own leisure and will only add this one thing That our English rendring in this place of the Hebrews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The world to come makes it not only ambiguous but seeming to mean The Kingdom of Glory But we shall find that The world in that sense is always 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but no where in all the Bible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so I leave this with submission to the judgement of others My next Reason shall be from that we read in the Revelation where the Church by the conquest of Michael set free from the Dragon's fury is said to escape into the wilderness that is into a state though of safety peace and security yet of hardship misery and scarcity For it seems to be an allusion to the Israelites escaping the tyranny of Pharaoh by going into the wilderness In this wilderness or place of hardship scarcity misery and much affliction the Church must remain saith S. Iohn a time times and half a time or as he elsewhere speaketh a thousand two hundred and threescore days that is a year years and half a year and when this time shall be expired that is as learned Divines think when so many years shall be ended as those days are taking the beginning of our reckoning from Michael's Trophee then saith our Apostle shall the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever Rev. 11. 15. Whereby it should seem that the Church is yet in the Wilderness and that the promised happiness of the ample and flourishing glory thereof before the end of the world is yet to come My last Reason shall be from Rom. 11. where S. Paul speaking of the future restoring and calling of the Iews saith it shall be when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in I would not saith he that ye should be ignorant of this mystery c. v. 25. Now because the Iews are not yet called it followeth that the fulness of the Gentiles is yet to come and what should then this Fulness be but the Fulness of the Gospel's extent over all the nations of the world which our Apostle ver 15. of the same chapter calls life from the dead For if the casting away of the Iews be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead As if the Church of the Gentiles were as yet half dead if it be compared with that glorious vigour and accession which shall come unto it when the Iews shall be again received into favour In brief The Fulness here spoken of is either a Fulness of grace a Fulness of extent or a Fulness of time A Fulness of time only it cannot be because our Apostle saith this Fulness shall enter in namely shall enter into the Church of Christ but this I see not how it can be spoken of a period of time As for a Fulness of grace and spiritual gifts that was greater when S. Paul spake than ever it was since and therefore if it be meant it must be yet to come And for the Fulness of extent it was as large for the number of Nations in the Apostles times as it is now in ours For as for the American Christians they are only so in name being forced only to seem so by the Spaniards Whatsoever Fulness then the Apostle here meaneth is yet to come I will add only one thing more and so end this point Some think that S. Paul in this place hath reference unto that speech of Christ Luke 21. 24. where he foretells That the Iews should fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all nations and Ierusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles should be
the clean contrary we fear man more than God those that can but kill the body above him that hath power to cast both body and soul into hell-fire Who would not be loth to break a King's laws in a King's sight and yet for God's Laws who fears though our most secret thoughts be always in his sight In the outward work which men see we are careful to restrain our hands and tongues from slipping lest man's Law might take hold of us but the thoughts of our heart we with all security let run at random and never once curb them What is this but to account the Laws of God as cobwebs the Laws of men as chains of Iron or openly to profess that of men we have some little fear where they command with God but where God commands alone no fear at all Even as those wicked ones whereof David speaks in the 94. Psalm v. 7. who say The Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Iacob regard it But he that planted the ear saith David v. 9 10 11. shall he not hear he that formed the eye shall he not see He that teacheth man knowledg shall he not know yes The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man c. Who then art thou to use the words of Esay that art afraid of man who shall die and of the son of man who shall be as the grass and forgettest the Lord who made thee who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth The last thing I mean to observe from these two first degrees of a sinner's conversion is Wherein the life of a true Convert doth exceed the works both of the heathen and the hypocrite Glorious things are spoken of Aristides of Scipio of Socrates But their best works are but like unto counterfeit coin the outside glistering with gold but the inside lead or worse metall their hands their feet their walk like the Gate of an Israelite but their heart was uncircumcised like the heart of a Philistine for they wanted the purity of the heart seasoned with the love of God they wanted these cleansed thoughts these holy affections and therefore were their best works no better than glorious sins Even as statues and puppets do move their eyes their hands their feet like unto living men and yet they are not living actions because they come not from an inward soul the Fountain of life but from the artificial poise of weights and wheels set by the workman Even such were the vertues of the heathens very puppet-plays like unto the actions of Christian men but not Christian actions because they came not from a pure heart which gives life unto a Christian but from the poise of vain-glory from the wheels of corrupt affections from a rotten heart which wrought not for the love of God but for the praise of men â— And no better are the works of Hypocrites â—ay worse for they knew not that the heart was to be cleansed or how it should be cleansed but these know that God requires the heart and yet their works are nothing but shews unto men Such were the Pharisees of whom Christ saith Matth. 23. 27 28. Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye are like unto whited sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead mens bones and of all uncleanness Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men but within ye are full of hypocrisie and iniquity and v. 25. ye make clean the outside of the Cup and platter but within ye are full of extortion and excess But if we are loth as who would not to share our portion with the Gentiles or to have our lot fall with the Hypocrites let our righteousness then exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees let us remember that God challenges the heart and inward man as his peculiar due Let us not therefore only forsake the walk and external gate of wickedness but even bad thoughts and evil motions with all the occasions of them Let us I say with Solomon Prov. 4. 23. Keep our heart above all keeping for out of it are the issues of life But the joy of the hypocrite saith Zophar Iob 20. 5. is but for a moment v. 6. Though his excellency mount up unto the heavens and his head reach unto the clouds v. 7. Yet shall he perish for ever like his own dung Having spoken of the two first degrees of Repentance I come now to the third which is Returning unto God It is not enough to forsake the works of wickedness or the heart to forgoe the thoughts of unrighteousness but this is more required of a sinner than he should return unto the Lord. He that hath gone out of his way and knows it will not only make a stop and go no farther in the wrong way but if he means to arrive at the place he desireth will seek the new and right way and follow it for he that standeth still will never come at his journies end Even so must every sinner do in his journey of Repentance The putting off the old man we heard before now come we to the putting on of the new In the two former steps we had eschewing of evil in this we have doing of good and without this the other is altogether vain That tree is not called a good tree which bringeth forth no ill fruit but that is a good Tree which bringeth forth good fruit and Every Tree that bringeth forth no fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire But for the better understanding of this we will consider two things proper to a man that returneth 1. To go away clean contrary to the way he went before 2. To out-tread and obliterate his former steps Both of these every one must perform who truly returns unto God by Repentance First I say He must go a way clean contrary to his former way Many men think that the way to Hell is but a little out of the way to Heaven so that a man in a small time with small ado may cross out of the one into the other but they are much deceived For as Sin is more than a stepping aside viz. a plain and direct going away from God so is Repentance or the forsaking of sin more than a little coasting out of one way into another crossing will not serve there is no way in the world to come to the place we seek but to go quite back again the way we came The way of pleasure in sin must be changed for as extreme a sorrow for the same He that hath superstitiously worshipped false Gods must now as devoutly serve the true the tongue that hath uttered swearings and spoken blasphemies must as plentifully sound forth the name of God in prayer and thanksgiving the covetous man must become liberal the oppressor of the poor as charitable in relieving them the calumniator of his brother a tender guarder of his
is infected This poison saith the Scripture was the breach of God's commandment in Paradise by eating of the forbidden fruit for which Adam being called to an account by the great Iudge and laying the fault upon the Woman which God had given him for an helper God vouchsafes as ye hear in my Text to examine the Woman saying What is this that thou hast done And she answers The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat These words contain in them two parts First God's Inquisition accusing Secondly The Woman's Confession excusing her fact The first in the first words And the Lord said unto the woman c. The second in the last words And the woman said The Serpent beguiled me c. For the first words which God speaks being considered absolutely are an Indictment for some crime as they are Interrogative they are an Inquisition concerning the same and therefore I call them an Inquisition accusing So the second are a Confession as the Woman says I have eaten but with an excuse when she says The Serpent beguiled me and therefore I call them a Confession excusing In the Inquisition are two things to be considered First The Author and Person who makes it which is the Lord God himself so saith my Text And the Lord God said unto the woman Secondly The Inquisition it self What is this that thou hast done In the Person who comes and makes this Inquest being the Lord God himself we may observe and behold his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his wonderful Goodness and unspeakable Love to mankind which here reveals it self in four most remarkable Circumstances First In his forbearance And the Lord said When said the Lord namely not till Adam had accused her she who was first in the sin was last questioned for the same and that too because her husband had appealed her God knew and observed well enough the first degree and every progress of her sin he needed no information from another yet as though he were loth to take notice thereof as though he were loth to find her guilty yea as though he were loth to denounce the punishment which his Iustice required he comes not against her until now and that as though he were unwilling to come at all If we look back into the Story we shall yet find a further confirmation thereof How long did God hold his hand before he stripped the woman especially of that glorious beauty of her integrity and made her with opened eyes to see her shameful nakedness She had at the first onset of her Conference with the Serpent sinned a sin of Vnbelief of God and yet God spared her In the progress she sinned more in her proud Ambition of being like to God himself and to be wise above what was given her and God yet spared her She sinned when she coveted and longed once to eat of the forbidden fruit when it began to seem more pleasing and desirable unto her than Obedience to God's Commandment and God yet spared her At last she takes and eats thereof and so came to the height and consummation of her sin and yet behold and see the Clemency and Longanimity of our good God he paused yet a while until she had given unto her husband also and then and not till then he opened their eyes to see their woful misery A Lesson first to us men if so be we think the Example of God worthy our imitation to bear long with our brother as God bears with us to admonish him as it is in the Gospel the first second and third time before we use him like an Heathen or a Publican to forgive him seven times yea as Christ says to Peter if he repent and ask forgiveness seventy times seven Secondly This may be a cordial of spiritual comfort unto us sinners Though we make a shift to keep our selves from the execution of sin yet we find our hearts full of sinful thoughts ungodly desires and unclean lusts and such like sinful motions from the infirmity of our flesh which notwithstanding we cannot ever expel or be rid of yet let us hope that God out of his mercy will bear with our weakness and pass by our infirmities who bore with the sin of our first Parents until it came to execution The second Circumstance is The temper of his Iustice in that he vouchsafes first to enquire of the offence and examine the fact before he gives Sentence or proceeds to execution The like example we have Gen. 11. 5. where it is said The Lord came down to see the City and Tower which the children of men had builded afore he would confound their language or scatter them abroad from that ambitious Babel upon the face of the earth Again Gen. 18. 20 21. the Lord says Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grievous I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know He from whom no secrets are hid he that formed the heart of man and knows all the works we do he that trieth and searcheth the heart and reins even he will first examine the fact will first hear what miserable man can say for himself before his Sentence shall pass upon him not out of ignorance of what was done for how should the omniscient God be ignorant but out of his wonderful clemency and unspeakable moderation towards Man I say towards Man for to him alone he shews this favour for as for the Serpent we see he vouchsafes nor to ask him one question nor to expect what he could say for himself but presently without examination proceeds to judgment against him Doth the great God the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth deal with so unspeakable temper with his creature and is vile man a base earth-worm so austere unto his brother It was the height of Eve's whole ambition to be like unto God but her off-spring's ambition is to be most unlike unto him He glories in mercy and clemency we in rage and rash austerity He hears his creature speak before he condemns him we condemn our brother before we hear him speak Be wise be instructed ye Iudes of the earth let this great Example of God be the pattern of your imitation yealet no private man condemn another rashly until he hath heard what he may say foâ— himself as God himself here vouchsafed to go before us The third Circumstance is God's condescent unto man in that he sends neither Angels nor Ministers to examine our first Parents and to make inquisition of their offence but he coâ—â—s himself in person to take notice thereof When men are offended especially great â—en they will not deign to look upon or to admit into their presence those that have offended them How great therefore is this indulgence of Almighty God who deigâ—s here his presence to our most wretched and most naked
Parents who had so grievously sinned against him How happily graced would a poor offender think himself if he night be admitted to the presence of his Prince there to say what he could either for his defence or excuse or else to sue for mercy and move compassion By how much therefore God is greater than the greatest Monarchs of the world even as much as they are greater than nothing so much is this indulgence of God here expâ—essed in my Text to Eve as before to her husband surpassing all the favour and â—ondescent of men who sent not for man but came himself unto him yea who vouchsafed then to seek them out when they ran away from him Now all this is spoken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the fashion of men and therefore not so much to express what God himself did as what men ought to do Let it be a Lesson therefore to those who are set over others not to be too hard of access to such as are obnoxious unto them If God himself vouchsafed so far unto his creature so wretched much more should man unto his brother The fourth Circumstance is The manner of his speech to Eve in that he that was the Lord God should so mildly speak unto her What is this thou hast done The Lord God said it saith my Text but who would not think it rather the speech of a familiar and condoling friend than of so great a Iudge so greatly offended Here is no word of asperity but of lenity no menacing no upbraiding terms but only What is this thou hast done And should not we learn hence not to insult over such whose offences make them liable either to us or others should we upbraid rail triumph and vomit our impotency upon them Certainly we seem not to remember what a gentle and commiserating Iudge God is or that our selves are men and have to deal with humane frailty and man's miserable condition which we ought to behold with pity and not handle with bitterness THE next thing is The Inquisition it self What is this thou hast done Some read Why hast thou done this expounding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Eve's answer following where she saith I have eaten plainly argues the question was What she had done and not Why she had done it And therefore I take the words as our Translation hath them and understand this manner of asking by God to be a Scheme of admiration and to imply an exaggeration of the woman's sin as if he had said O what an horrible sin is this thou hast committed How grievously hast thou transgressed O what hast thou done And therefore God enquiring of her sin with exaggeration she makes answer with diminution Indeed she had offended because she had eaten but yet the offence was the less for the Serpent had deceived her This then being the meaning of the words let us behold in them the greatness of the sin of our first Parents which made the Lord God himself to say What is this thou hast done The greatness of this sin I will first consider as it concerns them both in general and then as in particular The greatness of the sin in general appears in these four Considerations First It was a transgression of such a Law as was given only to prove man whether he would be under God or no. For the Moral Law which was written and engraven in the Hearts of our first Parents was for the doing of things simply good and abstaining from things simply evil such things as a good man would do were there no Commandment and such things as he would not do were there no Prohibition so that in these there was no trial whether man would obey God or no only because he commanded him and merely for obedience sake And therefore had God ordained this Symbolical Law prohibiting a thing in it self neither good nor evil neither pleasing nor displeasing unto God but indifferent that man's observance thereof might be a profession and testimony that he was willing to submit himself to God's pleasure only because it was his pleasure And that it might yet the more appear God made not choice of such a thing as man cared not for but of a pleasant and desirable thing whereunto the more his inclination was carried the more by his abstaining might his willing subjection be approved The violating therefore of this Law was an open profession that he would not be under God and renouncing of him to be his Lord. And this is the first respect wherein appears the greatness of Adam's sin The second Consideration arguing the same is That he on whom God hâ—d bestowed so many glorious endowments whom he had as it were stuffed with so manâ— excellent abilities and adorned with so many precious graces that he should sin against him and set so light by his commandment For of those to whom God had given so much he might justly require and expect much Therefore those whom God hatâ— furnished with the best gifts either of knowledge or other abilities they if they sâ— sin most grievously So that in this respect the sin of Adam and Eve exceeded the â—â—ns of their posterity as much as their integrity did our corruption The greater â—he person the greater his sin The sin of a Prince greater than the sin of a vulgar person and therefore in the Law there was a greater Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the Prince and Priest than of the people The third circumstance aggravating his sin was The easiness of the commandment and the easiness man had to keep the same Both in regard of himself whom no itching Concupiscence urged as being altogether free therefrom and not as we his off-spring are continually vexed with the boiling thereof Secondly in regard of the thing it self he was to abstain from being only one fruit in so great a liberty of all the garden besides How easily might he have abstain'd from one to whom God had given the use of all saving this one He wanted not to feed him he wanted no variety of food he had even enough to surfeit on only to approve his obedience to Him who had given all the rest unto him he was to abstain from one and yet he would not Quanta â—uit saith S. Austin iniquitas in peccando ubi tanta erat uon peccandi facilitas How great an iniquity was it there to sin where it was so easie a thing not to sin The fourth circumstance aggravating this sin was The place which was Paradise as it were in God's own presence even afore his face For as Heaven above other parts of the world is the place of God's special presence so was Paradise above other parts of the earth as it were an Heaven upon earth the place wherein he singularly revealed himself and therefore an Holy place and the Temple of God Do not men otherwise giving the loose rein to wickedness yet abhor
prevail with him than his subtile motives were to overcome him and indeed the Event prov'd he was not much deceiv'd Hence we are to observe That the Devil taketh advantage of the vehemency of our Passions to work our overthrow if he once find these to fasten his hold by he then thinks he may lead us whither he lift To have gained our affections is as it were to have gotten a party within which is a dangerous advantage to further the invasion of an enemy especially when most of our Passions are our Favorites which we can deny nothing they ask and if they be once bribed will work us wholly to the dispose of our Arch-enemy That we may not therefore afford the Devil this advantage and as it were reach him a rope to hang us withal it behoves us so to govern and temper our Passions and Affections that they transport us not into the Devil's jurisdiction which that we may the better do it will not be unfit to set down some Rules for performance thereof First therefore It is best to resist our Passions at the beginning and to use the same policy which Pharaoh did with the Israelites that they might not over-run his Country in killing all their Infants as soon as they were born While the sore is green Chirurgeons seldom despair but festered once they hardly cure it So it is with the Passions of our Mind when they are first growing they are soon curbed but being a little entertained they will hardly be subdued The second means is To inure our selves to cross our Passions when there is no danger and to bridle our selves sometimes from ordinary and lawful desires that we may do it with more ease when we are in danger For how can he hope to be able to master his Passions when dangerous temptations assault him who never used them to it in the time of his security We know that men who would fit themselves for the Wars will practice in the time of Peace when there is no enemy near and will toil and labour when they might be at rest will lie hard when they may command a soft bed will watch when they might sleep and all to make them able to endure the like when they shall have need The like must we do that we may get an habit to cross and subdue our Passions when we shall have need The third means is To fly occasions which may incense the Passions whereunto we are inclined Occasiones faciunt latrones saith the Proverb Occasion makes him a thief which else might have been an honest man Wherefore he that commits himself to Sea in a boisterous tempest is worthy to suffer Shipwrack and he that willingly puts himself in the company of infected persons may blame himself if he fall into their diseases Lastly but chiefly When thy Passions are most vehement then seek for succour from Heaven Fly under the wings of Christ as the Chickens under the Hen when the Kite seeks to devour them Beat at the gates of mercy and crave grace to overcome thy misery He is thy Father and will not give thee a Serpent if thou ask him Fish Humble thy self before him open thy sores and wounds unto him and the good Samaritan will pour in both wine and oyl and thy Passions shall melt and fall away as clouds are dispelled and consumed by the Sun DISCOURSE XLI GENESIS 3. 14. And the Lord God said unto the Serpent Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattel and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life THESE words contain in them the Serpent's Doom and Destiny pronounced upon him by the great Lord of Heaven and Earth They contain in them two parts First The Reason of this Sentence in the words Because thou hast done this Secondly The Sentence it self in the words following Thou art cursed above all cattel c. The Reason of this Heavy doom is Because thou hast done this What This namely Because he had beguiled the Man and Woman which God had made and caused them to transgress his great Commandment He therefore that is the cause and occasion of anothers sin is as hateful to God as the doer and is liable to as great or rather a greater punishment than he For the Serpent here for causing hath this doom as well as the Man and Woman for doing Nay which is to be observed his doom is the first read unto him as if he were the Arch-offender and not to the Man or Woman till he was done with What should this mean but that his fault being the mover was more grievous in the eyes of God than theirs which is the reason also why the Woman comes in the next place to have her Sentence because she had been a sin-maker and was guilty not only of her own personal sin but of her husband 's also whence the Man who had sinn'd only himself and not caused others to sin had his judgment last of all I might also confirm the same from the quality of their several judgments in that the Serpent alone is doom'd to be accursed and no such word spoken either of the Man or the Woman But I shall not need to tarry here to prove How horrible and fearful a thing it is to be the Author of another's sin We know they are the words of our Saviour Matt. 18. 6 7. Wo unto the world because of scandals and wo unto the man by whom a scandal cometh it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the Sea And S. Paul 1 Cor. 8. 13. would eat no meat as long as the world lasteth rather than make his brother to offend Would they would consider this who are not content alone to sin themselves but play the Devil in corrupting others It seems they long to be double damn'd I would also they would think of this who make no conscience at all by extremities and vexations and other grievances to drive a man to Perjury and other grievous sins and yet think themselves free when they should know that he that is the Author of another's sin makes another's guilt his own and shall share in the punishment every whit as deep as he But this shall suffice to have observed in the first part The Reason of the Serpent's doom Now I come to the second The doom it self wherein the words as you see have all relation to the Serpent For the Lord said unto the Serpent Thou art cursed c. Thou shalt go upon thy breast c. But because this Serpent was more than a brute Serpent the Devil himself being the chief Agent in this his Instrument it is a thing much controverted Vpon which of these this curse is here pronounced 1. Some would have it spoken only of the brute Serpent because here is a comparison made
improve himself more near to his primitive temper than now he is But God who had decreed he should ever remain under this malediction appointed also the means to retain him therein DISCOURSE XLII GENESIS 3. 15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel THE third and last particular remains to be treated of I will put enmity between thee and the woman c. This no doubt intendeth in some things more directly the spiritual Serpent than the brute yet for the general it may and ought as well as the rest to be expounded of the brute Serpent as a Glass wherein to behold the malice and destiny of the other the Devil It containeth two parts The Enmity and the Event and Managing thereof For the Enmity how it is verified concerning the brute Serpent experience telleth It is some part of the happiness of the creature to be the Favourite of Man who is the Lord thereof what honour could betide it greater than this But between the Serpent and Man is the most deadly enmity and the strongest antipathy that is amongst the Beasts of the field such an one as discovereth it self both in the natural and sensitive faculties of them both For the first Their humours are poison each to other the gall of a Serpent is Man's deadly poison and so is the spittle of a Man affirmed to poison the Serpent For the sensitive antipathy it appears in that the one doth so much abhor the sight of presence of the other Man's nature is at nothing so much astonished as at the sight of a Serpent and like enough the Serpent is in like manner affected at the sight of Man and that more especially as the Naturalists affirm of a naked man than otherwise As though his instinct even remembred the time of his malediction when he and naked man stood before God to receive this sentence of everlasting enmity And whereas the words of the Text do in special point out the Woman in this sentence of enmity the Naturalists do observe that is greater and more vehement with that sex than with the male of mankind Insomuch that Rupertus affirmeth That if but the naked foot of a Woman doth never so little press the head of a Serpent before he can sting her both the head and body presently dieth which no cudgel or other weapon will cause but that some life and motion will still remain behind Hoc saith he ita esse ipsorum qui per industriam exploraverunt fidâ relatione comperimus Lib. 3. de Trin. c. 20. You know my Author who affirms that he had this from the faithful report of such as had purposely bestow'd their pains to find out the truth thereof The remaining words of my Text do express the Managing and Event of this enmity which is far more dangerous and unlucky on the Serpent's part than on Man's for Man is able to reach the Serpent's head where his life chiefly resideth and where a blow is deadly but as for the Serpent he shall not be able to prevail against Man otherwise than privily and unawares and that but in the lowest part namely when he shall pass him unseen to sting him by the heel And that this is the nature of a Serpent it appeareth in the words of Dan's blessing Gen. 49. 17. Dan shall be a Serpent by the way an Adder in the path that biteth the horse-heels so that his rider shall fall backward And to make an end of this discourse also it is a thing to be observed in the nature of a Serpent that assoon as he perceiveth man ready to throw or strike at him he will presently roul his body for a buckler to save his head even as though he had some impression of that doctrine which God here read him in my Text Ipse conteret tibi caput He shall bruise thy Head Beware thy head AND thus hitherto I have considered these words as they are the curse of the brute Serpent Now I am to go over with them again to shew how they are propounded unto us by God as a Glass wherein to behold the Devil's malediction the Serpent being made now the discovery of his vileness which once he abused for a mask to hide it from the woman As therefore the Serpent is the most accursed of all the cattel and beasts of the field so is the Devil the most accursed Spirit amongst all orders and degrees of Spirits namely of the highest of Angels become the abjectest of Spirits more base and accursed than the most cursed damned Soul having little or nothing left him of that good which was sutable to a spiritual condition and this is the state of the Devil for the general answerable to that of the Serpent Now for the particulars The first is Vpon thy breast shalt thou go How doth this befit the Devil The Devil hath no bodily breast to go upon But as I shewed in the Serpent that this groveling signified the abasement of his whole nature from its primitive excellency so in the Devil it signifies his stooping down and falling from his most sublime and glorious condition A wonderful stoop this was when that which had been advanced as high as heaven was made to fall down as low yea lower than the earth it self This is the Devil 's going upon his breast this the groveling of that once so highly reared posture according to that description of Iude ver 6. who calls them the Angels that kept not their first estate but left their own habitation agreeable to that of S. Peter 2 Ep. 2. 4. God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to hell The second particular is The dust of the earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life The food wherewith Spirits are fed is analogical spiritual and not corporal we must therefore here seek out that which in them hath the fittest resemblance with corporal food The life of Angels consists in the continual contemplation of the excellent Greatness wonderful Goodness and glorious Beauty of the Essence of God both as it is in it self and as it is communicated unto his creatures This is that which our Saviour intimates Matth. 18. 10. Their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven The food of Angels whereby this their Intellectual life and vegetation is strengthened and continued is that unspeakable joy and delight which accompanies their contemplation of God and which they find in the beholding of whatsoever else hath any conformity and sutableness with him his Power his Wisdom his Glory his Goodness according to that in the Gospel There is joy in heaven and in the presence of the Angels of God for one sinner that repenteth This is that Manna which feeds the blessed Angels and which makes them unweariable and unsatiable in their contemplation and imitation of
the Serpent and what the Heel of the Woman's seed Those who understand The seed of the woman singularly of the person of Christ only make his Head to be the Godhead against which the Serpent could prevail nothing but his heel to be the Manhood which the Serpent so bruised at his Passion that the grave became his bed for three days together This indeed is true and no marvel for the Head is as it were the whole Bodie 's Epitome But we who have expounded The seed of the woman collectively of Christ and his Members must also in this mystical Body find a mystical Head and a mystical Heel and so in like manner for the Serpent and his seed The Head therefore or if you had rather Headship is nothing else but Soveraignty The Serpent's head is the Devil's Soveraignty which is called Principatus mortis the Soveraignty of death namely both objectivè and effectivè that is such a Soveraignty as under which are only such as are liable to Death both temporal and eternal and such a Soveraignty whose power consists not in saving and giving of life but in destroying and bringing unto Death both of body and soul. Under the name also of Death understand as the Scripture doth all other miseries of mankind which are the companions of this double Death I speak of This is that damnable Head of the Serpent the Devillish Soveraignty of Satan Now the Sword whereby this Soveraignty was obtained the Sceptre whereby it is maintained or as S. Paul speaks the Sting of this Serpent's head is Sin This is that which got him this Kingdom at the first and this is still the right whereby he holds the greatest part thereof Imperium iisdem artibus conservaâ—ur quibus acquiritur By the same arts and methods is an Empire conserved by the which it was at first obtained This Soveraignty of the Devil which once overwhelmed â—igh all the world the Woman's seed should break in pieces and destroy which according to this Prophecy we see already performed in a great measure and the grounds laid long ago for the destruction of all that remaineth As saith S. Iohn Ep. 1. c. 3. v. 8. The Son of God was manifested for this purpose that he might destroy the works of the Devil And Christ himself said that the time was come that the Prince of this world should be cast out and bade his Disciples be of good chear for he had overcome the world If you would see what a wonderful victory he hath long ago gotten of the Serpent when after a terrible battel he overcame and destroyed the Soveraignty of the Serpent in the Roman Empire see it described in the 12. of the Revelation v. 7 8. where Michael that is Christ and his Angels fought against the great Dragon and his Angels till the Dragon with all his Army was discomfited and their place found no more in heaven that is he utterly lost his Soveraignty in that state whence there was a voice in heaven v. 10. Now is come salvation strength and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. And what he will at the length do with the remainder yet of the Devil's Soveraignty you may find in the 19. and 20. chapters of the Revelation For he must reign as S. Paul saith until he hath put all his enemies under his feet until he hath destroyed all power rule and authority adverse unto him And then last of all destroying Death by giving immortality to our raised bodies shall surrender up his Kingdom unto his Father as it is 1 Cor. 15. 25 c. But Satan saith my Text shall prevail something against him for the Serpent shall bruise his heel What is this Heel Those who understood the seed of the woman singularly as I told you made it Christ's Manhood But now we expound the seed Christ's Mystical Body what shall we make the Heel thereof I could say that by it were only meant a light wound or the Devil 's assaulting the Body of Christ ex insidiis at unawares for that is his fashion since the great overthrow which our Michael gave him to work his feats underhand and to undermine our Lord in his members But this though true is not full enough It may seem therefore the fittest to make hypocritical Christians who profess Christ outwardly but inwardly are not his to make these the heel of his Mystical Body for against such the Devil we know prevaileth somewhat and by them annoyeth the rest of the Body with his venome though he be far enough yet from impeaching our Lord's Headship and Soveraignty But will you give me leave to utter another conceit If the Blessed souls in heaven be the upper part of Christ's mystical Body the Saints on earth the lower part of the same may not the Bodies of the Saints deceased which lye in the earth be accounted for the heel For I cannot believe but they have relation to this mystical Body though their Souls be severed from them and yet must that relation be as of the lowest and most postick members of all If you will admit this then it will appear presently what was this hurt upon the heel when Christ had once mauled the Devil's head for the Text seems to intimate that the Devil should give this wound after his head was broken I will hold you in suspence no longer Read the 13. of the Revelation and see what follows upon Michael's Victory over the Dragon what the Devil did when he was down He forms a new Instrument of the wounded Roman Empire by whose means under a pretence of the Honour given to the precious Reliques of the Saints and Martyrs he conveyed the poyson of Saint-worship and Saint-invocation into the Kingdom of Christ with which wound of the heel the Devil coming on the blind side the true Church had been long annoyed and limpeth still DISCOURSE XLIII 2 PETER 2. 1. But there were false Prophets also among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction MANY are the Prophesies in Scripture wherein the Holy Ghost forewarns us of a great and solemn Defection and Corruption of Faith which should one day overspread the visible Face of the Catholick Church of Christ and eclipse the light of Christian Verity and Belief S. Paul 2 Thes. 2. 3. foretels us that there should be an Apostasie or Falling away of Christians and the Man of sin be revealed before the coming of the day of the Lord. The same Apostle 1 Tim. 4. 1. tells us that though the great Mystery of Godliness spoken of chap. 3. 16. were then preached among the Gentiles and believed on in the world yet the Spirit spake expresly that in the latter times some should depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and doctrines of Devils or Daemons S. Iohn tells
than to hold one may be fed by the meat another man eats or be saved by another man's Faith Which were most ridiculous for a man is nourished by his own meat and the just must live by his own Faith Many strong Reasons might be alledged against this so soul a corruption but I will comprise all in three 1. It is against the express commandment of Christ whose words are Eat ye all of this and Drink ye all of this Had the Church of Rome been the true Spouse of Christ she would never have presumed to abolish what he hath ordained and to establish what her self hath devised not only in this but in many other actions which is no less than to advance her self in Wisdom and Authority above the Son of God 2. It is against the nature of a Sacrament which consists in receiving For the main difference between a Sacrifice and a Sacrament is that in the one we give to God in the other God gives to us and we receive of him 3. It abolishes the Mystery of our consolation and that whereby our Faith is strengthened in the use of these Holy Signs that mankind might have an interest in Christ and what he should do on our behalf We know it was required he should be incarnate and take our nature upon him which now he hath done Every one of us can believe that what he hath done is for the behoof of mankind and so some men shall be the better for it since our whole kind by reason of his Incarnation is capable of the benefits of his Passion and the whole work of Redemption But in that though Christ became man yet he took not upon him the nature of every several man hence no man from his Incarnation could apply these Benefits unto himself in special For he might say indeed Christ was made man and so man may be the better for him and have some interest in him but since he was not incarnate into me how should I apply this unto my self Why therefore the All-wise God who knew our weakness hath so ordained in the Mystery of this Holy Sacrament that it is a Mystical Incarnation of Christ into every one who receives it Whence Gregory Nazianzen defines the Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Communion of the Incarnation of God For in that he affirms the Bread to be his Body and the Wine to be his Bloud by receiving this Body and Bloud of Christ and so changing it into the substance of our Body and into our Bloud by way of nourishment the Body of Christ becomes our Body and his Bloud is made our Bloud and we become in a Mystical manner flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone And as in his conception of the Holy Virgin he took upon him the nature of Man that he might save Man so in his Holy Sacrament he takes upon him the nature of every man in singular that he might save every man who becomes him in the Divine Sacrament of his Body and Bloud His real Incarnation was only in one but his Mystical Incarnation in many and hence comes this Sacrament to be an Instrument whereby Christ is conveyed unto us his Benefits applied and so our Faith confirmed How then do they abolish this Holy Mystery this comfortable Analogy where Christ is offered but those for whom he is offered receive him not but stand as gazing Spectators whilst the Priest alone is the Actor But let us who are so happy above them who come hither as Receivers and not as Gazers let us I say consider how great a Gift it is which God gives us Zaccheus gave a great Gift half his Goods unto the Poor Herod promised a greater unto the dancing Damsel but the greatest of all is that which the prodigal giver offered our Saviour even all the Kingdoms of the World But all these Gifts are faln short and of infinite less value than this transcendent Gift which God gives unto us which makes S. Iohn when he speaks of it to express it with an Emphasis So God loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life Lo here the greatest Gift that Heaven can yield or the Earth can receive Let us therefore stir up Hearts and Hands to give thanks and praise unto him of whom we receive so wonderful a Gift saying with the Prophet David What shall we render unto the Lord for this admirable benefit AND thus I come to a fourth Observation which these words will lend us namely That the Apostle warrants here by his Example the Illustration of things in the Gospel by the Types of the Law For if the Apostle uses an Example where one would scarce suspect there was a Tppe much more doth he approve an application where a Type is plain and evident and besides seems to insinuate thus much unto us That all the extraordinary actions of God toward his ancient People had in them some Mystery of some things to come as this of Manna in the Wilderness And I make no question but the searching and suting of Allegories in these two kinds were allowable and profitable But this is the errour of Allegorizers They seek Allegories where they are not but where they are they seldom look for them For although the body and verity be of it self more clear and evident than the shadow yet always a Comparison affords more light than a single contemplation Now because the Apostle hath led the way of this practice in the matter of the Eucharist let me have leave to second him in another Instance of the same Argument almost out of himself in the Chapter not in so sublime a kind but in a plain and vulgar Type Amongst all the Sacrifice of the Law there is none either for name or nature comes so near the Sacrament of the Supper as the Eucharistical The Passeover was a special kind hereof where it is so well known that the Fathers ate the same Spiritual Meat we do that I shall not need say any thing of it only it shall suffice to shew the same in the whole kind of Eucharistical Offerings which is not so much observed An Eucharistical Sacrifice or a Peace-offering was a Sacrifice of fire or expiatory a part whereof was burnt upon the Altar as in other Sacrifices but the remainder and greater part was eaten by the faithful people who brought it that so their Sacrifice being turned into their bodie 's nourishment might be a Sign of their incorporation into Christ to come who was the true Sacrifice for Sin So whereas other Sacrifices were only Sacrifices this was also a Sacrament the rest were only for Expiation but this also for application being a Communion of that Sacrifice which was offered Rightly therefore was it added to all other Sacrifices for what profit was there of expiation of Sin unless it were applied
as we should For as corporal food doth rather hurt than nourish a body abounding with evil humors So the Soul being fraught with vices this heavenly food rather killeth than comforts it As Adam in the state of his Integrity might freely take and taste of all the Trees in the Garden one only excepted but after his transgression he was justly restrained So doth the Lord admit us unto his Table if we come worthily otherwise we are no welcome guests unto him Therefore as it was said to Moses when he came near the presence of God Pluck off thy shooes for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground So let all of us put off the shooes of our corruptions and then we may approach with comfort to the holy Table of the Lord. DISCOURSE XLVII DEUTERONOMY 16. 16 17. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall chuse in the Feast of Vnleavened bread and in the Feast of Weeks and in the Feast of Tabernacles and they shall not appear before the Lord empty Every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee THESE words are a commandment for the observation of the great and chiefest Festival times of the Law not only here mentioned but elsewhere injoyned in the Books of the Law as I think in three several places Exod. 23. 14. and again 34. 23. and also Levit. 23. The words I read consist of two parts First The Observation it self 2. A special duty required thereat The Observation it self comprehends four things 1. The Work or Action commanded which is To appear before the Lord 2. The Persons who every Male all thy Males 3. The Place where in a select place in the place which the Lord shall chuse 4. The Time when Three times in the year In the Feast of Vnleavened bread in the Feast of Weeks and in the Feast of Tabernacles The second part A special duty required at this solemn service and that is a duty of real thanksgiving viz. a holy present or oblation to be given unto God and that expressed First in the kind They shall not appear before the Lord empty Secondly in the measure Every one shall give as he is able c. Of these I am to speak in order and first of the first The Action enjoyned To appear before the Lord. To appear before the Lord is in an Holy Assembly to perform a Religious service unto him For in every such Assembly and Service he is present after a special and peculiar manner according to that of our Saviour in the Gospel Where two or three are gathered in my Name there am I in the midst of them And as when one man speaks unto another or hears another speaking unto him either is said to be in others presence So he that comes to speak unto God in Confession Prayer and Thanksgiving and hath God likewise speaking unto him either in the publishing of the Law in the promises of his Gospel in the receiving of his Sacraments and ministerial benediction is truly said to appear or come into the presence of the Lord. To appear therefore in God's presence is to be assembled in his publick Worship where there is as it were a mutual entercourse between him and us and in this it is differing from private Devotion where the one part only is acted and not the other Every day is a day of private Devotion yea every hour if occasion serveth but a Holyday's work is the publick service of God in a Holy Convocation Seeing therefore as often as we come together for the Worship of God in the Holy Assembly of the Church we appear in the presence of the Majesty of God himself it may admonish us of the reverence we are to use in such Assemblies If when we come into the presence of a Prince we think an awful fear and a more than ordinary reverence doth best beseem us in whatsoever we speak or do much more is this required of us when we approach the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Hosts No gesture we use no word we speak no action we do but should be framed to express the awe and regard we owe unto so great and high a presence If Order be any where required it is here If idle and vain words be in a far less presence taken as contemptuous in this they cannot be less than merely blasphemous If any unseemly or unsutable gesture if any neglectful or regardless demeanour be elsewhere culpable here it is abominable when we are in his presence who is the God of Order and Beauty and gives us an express command to perform all points of his Service 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to order and with comeliness This makes him say to Moses when he appeared in the Bush Pluck off thy shooes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is Holy ground Whence Solomon borrows his speech Eccles. 5. 1. Keep thy foot or look unto thy feet when thou enterest into the House of God This being as much as if he had â—aid Behave thy self in God's presence reverently Which in the words following he enlarges saying Be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of Fools v. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth c. And hither belongs that of S. Paul 1 Cor. 11. 4 5 c. requiring a seemly habit and gesture of men and women in the Holy Assemblies the woman to pray covered in token of her subjection the man uncovered as a sign of his head-ship and superiority over the woman according to the use of those times and places And it is specially to be observed which he speaketh in the 10. Verse For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head that is the ensign of power to which she is subject because of the Angels i.e. because of the presence of God attended with multitudes of Angels For these are the Train of the Almighty and as it were the Guard attending and ministring unto his presence wheresoever he keeps his station they pitch round about him When Daniel saw him in the Vision thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him Revel 5. 11. I beheld saith S. Iohn and I heard the voice of many Angels round about the Throne and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands So when God appeared to Iacob going to Padan-Aram he saw the Angels of God descending and ascending upon a Ladder Whence it appears that wheresoever God keeps his Court his Train is with him and perhaps it were no error to affirm That the peculiarity of God's presence in one place more than another
need of Beasts for Types but Meats and Drinks for godly works are as it were Meat and Drink to preserve that life which is according to Godliness This Corban we turn the Meat-and-Drink-offerings others Munus the Gentiles called it Libum But I said This Offering was commonly adjoyned to the Zebach or Bloudy Sacrifice for sometimes it is separate from it For to this Mincha I refer the holy Incense which was within the Temple which figured that continual sweet favour and Incense of the Merits and Obedience which Christ presents unto his Father in a Temple not made with hands that is in Heaven Again both Zebach and Mincha the Bloudy Sacrifice with its Meat-and-Drink-Offering were of differing kinds and for differing Ends. For either kind was Simple or Diverse Simple I call that which all of it was most holy and the whole was to shadow out the Satisfaction of Christ. And this was either for Internal sins or for External For Internal sins that is the sins of our Hearts Thoughts and Affections was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holocaust or Burnt-offering For External sins or evil deeds were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sin-offering and the Trespass-offering as we call them the one if I am not deceived for Sins against the First Table to wit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Trespass-offering the other for sins of the Second Table But because our Internal sins or sins of Infirmity are peccata jugia continual and daily sins therefore the Holocaust or Burnt-offering was continual and daily offered the Sin-offering and Trespass-offering were not so and yet whensoever they were offered they were offered with a Burnt-offering to shew that our Evil works cannot be expiated and made pure unless the Heart the fountain whence they spring be also purged A Diverse Sacrifice or Varium Sacrificium I call that which was not wholy most Holy neither was all of it to figure the Offering of Christ to come So that it was partly holy and partly most holy Such a one was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Peace-offering which I define A Corban part whereof was burnt upon the Altar as in other Sacrifices but the remainder and greater part was eaten by the faithful people who brought it that so their Sacrifice by being turned into their bodies nourishment might be a Sign of their incorporation into Christ to come who was the true Sacrifice for sin Here that which was eaten by the People was not most Holy for then had it belonged only to the Priest but it was a Sacrament and a Communion of that Sacrifice which was offered and signified Christ whose Bloud was to be shed and Body broken for their atonement Rightly therefore was it called a Sacrifice of Peace as being a Ceremony or Sacrament of Peace and Communion with Christ Iesus and by him with God the Father The Greeks commonly call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Eucharistical sacrifice it being to be celebrated with both oral and real Thanksgiving to God as for the same reason our Sacrament of Peace is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Eucharist which our Saviour Christ hath ordained in stead of that Eucharistical Sacrifice under the Law And of this kind were the ordinary Sacrifices of the Gentiles of which the Christians were forbidden to eat because they who in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper had communion with Christ already come as the Iews in the Peach-offerings had communion with Christ who was to come might have no peace and communion with Devils as the Greeks had in their sacrifice as S. Paul after he had compared these three together concludes 1 Cor. 10. 21. Ye cannot drink the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's Table and of the Table of Devils Out of which place and the Epistle to the Hebrews you may gather all that I have said hitherto of the Vse and Ends of the Corbanim or most Holy Offerings This affinity of the Eucharistical sacrifice with the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper moved the ancient Christians to frame the Office of the Lord's Supper as near as could be unto the Office of the Eucharistical Sacrifice as might be easily shewn in most particulars BUT now will I leave The most holy Offerings and come to Those which had but a single holiness which I said before were called Terumoth or Heave-offerings more seldom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tenuphoth or Wave-offerings both from the manner of offering them which was not by Fire as in the most Holy but by holding up or shaking them before the Lord. A Terumah therefore or Heave-offering I define thus An Offering made unto God of that we have received in way of thankfulness or acknowledgement of his dominion over the whole earth or thus more shortly An Offering made only unto the praise and honour of God and therefore it is Levit. 19. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sanctum laudationum an holy thing of praise or an offering of praise And to this purpose are those words of David unto God 1 Chron. 29. 11 12 13 14. whenas himself and the Princes of Israel had offered an huge Terumah of Gold and Silver for the building of the Temple Thine O Lord saith he is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and majesty for all that is in heaven and in earth is thine Thine is the Kingdom O Lord and thou art exalted as Head above all Both riches and honour come of thee and thou reignest over all Now therefore our God we thank and praise namely by this Heave-offering thy glorious Name For all things come of thee and of thine own hand we have given thee Now the Terumah or Heave-offering was either Definite or Indefinite A Definite Heave-offering was the Tenth of all increase and this alone was certain both in regard of the things to be offered and the measure according to which they were to be offered The Indefinite Terumah was either Commanded or Free That which was Commanded was either General as the First-fruits or Special as the Heave-offering of the breast and shoulder of the Peace-offerings and of one loaf of the Meat-offering of the same and these the Greeks call fitly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Freewill-offering or voluntary Heave-offering was either more or less solemn The most solemn and usual was that which the Hebrews call Terumah-gedola which indeed was ordinary but I think no where absolutely commanded Voluntary Heave-offerings less usual were the Offerings of Gold Silver Land and whatsoever else they might give unto the use of the Lord his Temple and Ministers AND thus have we seen all the Kinds of the Offerings in the Law both holy and most holy and I think there is no Offering to be found but it belongs to some of these I have named either
Offering is presently exhibited De futuro when we bind our selves then to do it when we obtain our suit And this is called a Vow differing from the other not in nature but in time and this special kind because usual my Text puts for the whole kind Pay thy vows c. Further here is to be noted that as Thanksgiving is joyned with Prayer so is the Gift for Thanksgiving joyned with a Gift for Prayer Or the same Gift is first applied to Thanksgiving and then to Prayer that so as Thanksgiving is a mean to obtain by Prayer so a Present of Thanksgiving for a former Benefit is a mean to obtain of God a favour Herein then consists the Nature of an Offering addressed to Prayer not to merit the thing we ask but to be an argument before God that he would hear us because he hath promised in Christ to hear them who honour him This is not then orare satisfactoriè as the Papists do in their Mass but only oblatorié To pray satisfactoriè or meritoriè is to offer a price worth the thing we ask for To pray only oblatoriè is to offer a motive or condition in regard of God's promise in Christ to obtain our suit that is to make as it were a visible or real Prayer And such a Prayer were the Alms of Cornelius Acts 10. of whom it is said v. 4. That his Prayers and Alms were come up for a memorial before God Now before this Offering Euctical or Eucharistical can be complete it must consist of three degrees or parts Cordis Oris Operis the Offering of the Heart of the Mouth and of the Hand The Offering of the Heart is a Sursum Corda the lifting up of our Hearts to God either to praise him or to pray unto him The Offering of our Mouth is to express the same with our tongues and is called The Calves of our lips The Offering of our Hand which is properly call'd an Offering is a Testimony of what our Heart conceives or Tongue can express by honouring God with a Present of our substance The first of these is the formalis ratio or that whereby the two last are sanctified without it they are no Offerings no Thanksgiving no Prayer But the last is hallowed by the two former for a Sursum corda the lifting up of our Hearts and the profession of our Mouths is that which makes our Gift an Offering which without this Consecration is no Offering at all Hence it is that this kind of Offerings in regard of other Offerings is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not as some have thought from the thing offered as though nothing were offered but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rationes or orationes but from the manner of hallowing it which was as Iustin Martyr speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of Prayer and Thanksgiving For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not as some have thought opposed to a material offering but to an offering earthly and terrenely sanctified as were the Typical Sacrifices of the Law by Fire and Bloud but this Offering is offered by no other Fire but the Fire of the Spirit by no other Bloud than the precious drops of Prayer and Thanksgiving In brief 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Offering spiritually offered not an offering only of the Spirit it is opposed to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to a material and real offering as it is easily to be seen in Iustin Martyr Irenaeus and the ancient Liturgies who call the material offering of Bread and Wine for the Sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reasonable and unbloudy Sacrifice As the most Holy offerings were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fiery offerings not because they offered only fire but because that which was offered was done by fire so are all these Heave-offerings called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they were offered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meaning the manner not the matter of the offering To come therefore to a conclusion That the Heave-offerings were such Offerings as I have now described it appears plainly in three principal sorts of them First-fruits Tithes and Voluntary Heave-offerings In First-fruits it appears by the Confession which every one was to make who offered them Deut. 26. 6 c. When the Egyptians evil intreated us and afflicted us and when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers the Lord heard our voice and brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and out-stretched arm and he hath brought us into this place and hath given us this land even a land that floweth with milk and honey And now behold I have brought the First-fruits of the Land which thou O Lord hast given me And so saith the Text thou shalt set them before the Lord thy God and worship before the Lord thy God Whither tend all these words but to a thankful acknowledgment and remembrance of the Blessings they had received from God in giving them so good a Land and doing so great things for them And for Tithes you may see in the same place what he was to say that offered them namely I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house and also have given them unto the Levite and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow according to all thy Commandments which thou hast commanded me Look down therefore from thy holy habitation from heaven and bless thy people Israel and the Land which thou hast given us as thou swarest to our fathers a Land that floweth with milk and honey Here is an Euctical offering an offering applied to Prayer as if they had said We honour thee O Lord with this part of our substance that thou seeing our Obedience mightest in mercy vouchsafe to look down from thy holy habitation and bless us thy people and the Land which thou hast given us I come now to the voluntary Heave-offering of which we have a noble Pattern in that great Terumah of Gold and Silver which David and his Princes offered for the building of the Temple in 1 Chron. 29. Where we shall find first Praise or Thanksgiving that is an acknowledgment of God's Dominion Power and Goodness from which comes all the good we have Thine O Lord saith David ver 11. is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the Majesty for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine ver 12. Both riches and honour come of thee and thou reignest over all ver 13. Now therefore our God we thank thee and praise thy glorious name And afterwards he comes to Prayer ver 18 19. O Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Israel our fathers Give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy Commandments thy Testimonies and Statutes I will add for a conclusion that of Nehemiah 13. 14. who being the Head and Ruler of his brethren when he commanded
of Menander cited by Iustin Martyr in his De Monarchia Dei hath reference 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No God pleaseth me that gads abroad None that leaves his house shall come in my Book A just and good God ought To tarry at home to save those that placed him According to this notion of a Temple these Authors alledged grant that Christians neither had any Temples no nor ought to have forasmuch as the God whom they worshipped was such a one as filled the Heaven and the Earth and dwelt not in Temples made with hands And because the Gentiles appropriated the name of a Temple to this notion of encloistering a Deity by an Idol therefore the Christians of those first Ages for the most part abstained therefrom especially when they had to deal with Gentiles calling their Houses of worship Ecclesiae or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence is the Dutch and our English Kurk and Church in Latine Dominica 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Oratories or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the like seldom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Templa that appellation being grown by the use of both sides into a name of distinction of the Houses of Gentile Superstition from those of Christian Worship Which that I affirm not upon bare conjecture these Examples will make manifest First that of Aurelian the Emperor before alledged in his Epistle to the Senate De Libris Sibyllinis inspiciendis Miror vos Patres sancti tamdiu de aperiendis Sibyllinis dubitâsse libris perinde quasi in Christianorum ECCLESIA non in TEMPLO Deorum omnium tractaretis And that of Zeno Veronensis in his Sermon de Continentia Proponamus itaque ut saepe contingit in unum sibi convenire diversae religionis diem quo tibi ECCLESIA illi adeunda sint TEMPLA He speaks of a Christian woman married to a Gentile That also of S. Hierom in in his Epistle ad Riparium saying of Iulian the Apostate Quòd Sanctorum BASILICAS aut destruxerit aut in TEMPLA converterit Thus they spake when they would distinguish Otherwise now and then the Christian Fathers use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Templum for Ecclesia but respecting the Temple of the true God at Ierusalem not the notion of the Gentiles That this Answer is true and genuine I prove first Because the Gentiles themselves who objected this want to the Christians neither were nor could be ignorant that they had Oratories where they performed their Christian service when they were so notoriously known as we saw before to the Emperors Galienus and Aurelian and a controversie about one of them referred unto the latter when also the Emperor's Edicts flew about in every City for demolishing them Why therefore do they object in this manner but because for the defect of something they thought thereto necessary they esteemed not those Oratories for Temples Secondly Because in that dispute between Origen and Celsus it is supposed by both that the Persians and Iews were as concerning this matter in like condition with the Christians neither of both enduring to worship their Gods in Temples Hear Origen speak Lib. 7. p. 385 386. Licet Scythae AfrÃque Numidae impii Seres ut Celsus ait aliaeque gentes atque etiam Persae aversentur TEMPLA ARAS STATVAS non candem aversandi causam esse illis nobis and a little after Inter abhorrentes ab ARARVM TEMPLORVM STATVARVM ceremoniis Scythae Numidae impiÃque Seres Persae aliis moventur rationibus quà m Christiani Iudaei quibus religio est sic numen colere Illarum enim gentium nemo ab his alienus est quòd intelligat Daemonas DEVINCTOS haerere CERTIS LOCIS STATVIS sive incantatos quibusdam magicis carminibus sive alià s incubantes locis semel praeoccupatis ubi lurconum more se oblectant victimarum nidoribus Caeterùm Christiani homines Iudaei sibi temperant ab his propter illud Legis Dominum Deum tuum timebis ipsi soli servies item propter illud Non erunt tibi alieni Dii praeter me Non facies tibiipsi simulacrum c. Lo here it is all one with Origen to have Templa as to worship other Gods as it was a little before with Minutius Felix his Octavius if you mark it to have Delnbra Simulacra Yet certainly neither Celsus nor Origen whatsoever they here say of the Persians and Iews were ignorant that the Persians had their Pyraea or Pyrathaea Houses where the Fire was worshipped though without Images or Statues also that the Iews had both then and also formerly their Synagogues and Proseuchae in the places and Countries where they were dispersed and once a most glorious and magnificent Temple or Sanctuary Ergo by Temples they understand not Houses of prayer and religious rites in the general but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Places where Demons were incloistered by the position of an Idol or consecrated Statue And here let me add because it is not impertinent what I have observed in reading the Itinerarium of Benjamin Tudelensis the Iew namely that he expresses constantly after this manner the Oratories of Iews Turks and Christians by differing names those of the Iews he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Houses of assembly or Synagogues the Turkish Mosquees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Houses of prayer but the Christian Churches because of Images yea that renowned Church of S. Sophie it self he called always 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 BAMOTH the name of the Idol-Temples in the Old Testament which we translate High-places This I note for an example of that proneness in Religions of a contrary Rite thus to distinguish as other things so their Places of worship by diversity of names though they communicate in the same common nature and use Thirdly That the Answer I have given to these objected passages is genuine I prove Because some of these Authors acknowledge elsewhere that Christians had Houses of Sacred worship in their time As namely Arnobius whose words were as pressing as any of the rest yet in the self-same Books acknowledges the Christian Oratories by the name of CONVENTICULA or Meeting-places by that name endeavouring I suppose to express the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The place is about the end of his fourth Book adversùs Gentes Quòd si haberet vos saith he aliqua vestris pro religionibus indignatio has potiùs literas he means the Poets absurd and blasphemous fictions and tales of their Gods hos exurere debuistis olim libros demoliri dissolvere Theatra haec potiùs in quibus infamiae numinum propudiosis quotidie publicantur in fabulis of this their scurrilous dishonouring of their Gods upon the Stage he had spoken much before Nam nostra quidem scripta cur ignibus meruerint
his bloud that is our Propitiatory or Mercy-seat for so it is called in the Greek both of the Old and New Testament nor is the word I think ever used but in that sense unless in Ezekiel 43. for the Settle of the Altar But you will say This Christian Memorial is not always actually present in our Churches as some one or other at least of those in the Law were in the Temple I answer It is enough it is wont to be as the Chair of State loses not its relation and due respect though the King be not always there And remember that the Ark of the Covenant was not in Ierusalem when Daniel opened his windows and prayed thitherward yea that it was wanting in the Holy Place I mean that sacred Cabinet made by Moses all the time of the second or Zorobabel's Temple and yet the place esteemed notwithstanding as if it had been there You will yet except and say That in the Old Testament those things were appointed by divine Law and Commandment but in the New we find no such thing I answer In things for which we find no new Rule given in the New Testament there we are referred and left to the Analogy of the Old This the Apostle's proof taken from thence for the maintenance of the Ministers of the Gospel 1 Cor. 9. 13 14. viz. Thus were they Ergo So God hath ordained that we will give us to understand likewise the practice of the Church in baptizing Infants derived surely from the Analogie of Circumcision the hallowing of every first day of the week as one in every seven from the Analogie of the Iewish Sabbath and other the like S. Hierome witnesseth the same in that saying of his Vt sciamus traditiones Apostolicas sumptas ex Veteri Testamento quod Aaron filii ejus atque Levitae in Templo fuerunt hoc sibi Episcopi Presbyteri atque Diaconi vendicant in Ecclesia That we may know saith he that the Apostolick traditions were derived from the Old Testament that which Aaron his Sons and the Levites were in the Temple the same do Bishops Priests and Deacons claim in the Church For we are to consider That the end of Christ's coming into the world was not properly to give new Laws unto menâ— but to accomplish the Law already given and to publish the Gospel of Reconciliation through his Name to those who had transgressed it Whence it is that we find not the style of the New Testament to carry a form of enacting Laws almost any where but those which are there mentioned to be brought in occasionally only by way of proof of interpretation exhortation application or the like and not as by way of constitution or re-enacting Meanwhile lest I should be mistaken mark well that I said not the Old Testament was to be our Rule simply in the case mentioned but the Analogie thereof only that is this regulation is to be made according to that proportion which the difference of the two Covenants and the things in them admits and no further the more particular application and limitation of which Analogie is to be referred to the judgment and prudence of the Church There comes here very fitly into my mind a passage of Clemens a man of the Apostolick age he whose name S. Paul saith was written in the Book of life in his genuine Epistle Ad Corinthios lately set forth pag. 52. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is All those duties which the Lord hath commandedus to do we ought to do them regularly and orderly our Oblations and divine Services to celebrate them on set and appointed times For so he hath ordained not that we should do them at hap-hazard and without order but at certain determined days and times WHERE also and BY WHOM he will have them executed himself hath defined according to his supreme will But where hath the Lord defined these things unless he hath left us to the Analogy of the Old Testament It follows in the Text alledged There I will come unto thee and bless thee In the Place where the Lord 's Memorial is where his Colours as I may so speak are displayed and set up there in a special manner he vouchsafes his presence with the sons of men to bless them or to speak rotundè where his Memorial is there His 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 SHECINAH or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as the Hebrew Masters term it that is His GLORY The Gentiles ascribed the presence of their Gods to the places where Images and Statues were erected and consecrated for them But such personal similitudes the God of Israel abhors and forbids to be made unto Him yet promiseth his presence in every place where the Memorial or Record of his Name shall be but of his own appointment not of man's devising For thus I suppose is the Text there to be understood and to be construed by way of Antithesis or opposition You shall not make with me gods of silver nor gods of gold An Altar only of earth or of stone shalt thou make unto me to offer thy Sacrifices upon For in every place where I shall record my Name I will come unto thee and bless thee And here take notice that for this reason the Tabernacle of the Lord was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Tabernacle of meeting not of mens meeting together as is commonly supposed when we translate it Tabernacle of the Congregation but of God's meeting there with men I have a good author for it for so the Lord himself gives the reason of the name in three several places of the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Tabernacle of meeting â—here I will meet with you See Exod. 29. 42. 30. 36. Num. 17. 4. and Masius in Ios. c. 18. SECTION II. THUS we have seen What is the condition and property of that Place which in my Text is called God's House But before I proceed to speak of the Duty of those who come thither which was the second thing I propounded there is one thing yet to be cleared concerning that which I last mentioned namely How God is said to come unto or to be present with men in one place more than another seeing his Presence fills every place Heaven being his throne and the whole Earth his footstool For although we read often in Holy Scripture of such a SHECINAH or Speciality of the Divine presence and have it often in our mouths yet what it is and wherein the Ratio thereof consisteth is seldom if at all enquired into When we speak of Churches we content our selves to say That God's special presence there is in his Word and Sacraments But though it be true that the Divine Majesty is there specially present where his Word and Sacraments are yet seems not this Speciality of presence to be the same with his Word and Sacraments but a diverse relation from them This
may be gathered in some sort out of those words of Exodus whereupon we have so long dwelt as where the recording of God's Name and his coming thither are spoken of as two but is more strongly evinced by such instances of Scripture where the Lord is said to have been specially present in places where this Record of his Word and Sacraments was not as for example to Moses in the Bush to Iacob at Bethel and the like The true Ratio therefore of this SHECINAH or Speciality of Divine Presence must be sought and defined by something which is common to all these and not by that which is proper to some only Well then to hold you no longer in suspence This Specification of the Divine presence whereby God is said to be in one place more than another I suppose under correction to consist in his train or retinue A King is there where his Court is where his train and retinue are So God the Lord of Hosts is there specially present where the Heavenly Guard the blessed Angels keep their sacred station and rendezvous That this is consonant to the revelation of holy Scripture I shew first from the collection or inference which the Patriarch Iacob makes upon that Divine vision of his at Bethel where having seen a ladder reaching from heaven to earth and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon it Surely saith he the Lord is in this place and I knew it not How dreadful is this place It is no other but the House of God even the gate of Heaven that is Heaven's Guild-hall Heaven's Court namely because of the Angels For the Gate was wont to be the Iudgment-Hall and the Place where Kings and Senators used to sit attended by their guard and ministers Secondly I prove it from that interpretative expression used in the New Testament of the Lord's descent upon Mount Sinai when the Law was given intimating that the Specification of the presence of the Divine Majesty there also consisted in the Angelical retinue there encamping For so S. Steven Acts 7. 53. You who have received the Law by the disposition of Angels and have not kept it S. Paul twice first Gal. 3. 19. The Law was added because of transgressions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator and again Heb. 2. 2. he calls the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word spoken by Angels Howbeit in the story it self we find no such thing expressed but only that the Lord descended upon the Mount in a fiery and smoking cloud accompanied with thunders and lightnings with an earthquake and the voice of a trumpet Whence then should this expression of S. Steven and the Apostle proceed but from a supposition that the Special presence of the Divine Majesty wheresoever it is said to be consisted in the encamping of his sacred retinue the Angels for that of himself He who filleth the Heaven and the Earth could not descend nor be in one place more than another Yea all the Apparitions of the Divine Majesty in Scripture are described by this retinue That of the Ancient of days coming to judgment Dan. 7. 10. Thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him to wit of Angels Whence we read in the Gospel that Christ our Saviour shall come in the glory of his Father that is with an Host of Angels as the Holy Ghost himself in the same places expounds it for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Glory here signifies the Presence of the Divine Majesty In the same style of the same Appearing prophesied Enoch the seventh from Adam Iude verse 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold the Lord cometh with his holy Myriads or ten thousands for so it ought to be rendred and not as we have it with ten thousand of his Saints Wherefore here the vulgar Latine comes nearer which hath Ecce venit Dominus in sanctis millibus suis. A like expression whereunto of the Divine presence we shall find in Moses Blessing Deut. 33. 2. The Lord saith he came from Sinai unto them i. unto Israel and rose up from Sâ—ir unto them he shined forth from mount Paran he came with his holy ten thousands or holy Myriads for so it should be translated then it follows from his right hand went a fiery law for them From whence perhaps that notion of the Iewish Doctors followed by S. Steven and the Apostle That the Law was given by Angels had its beginning And thus you have heard out of Scripture What that is whereby the Special presence of the Divine Majesty is as I suppose defined that is wherein it consists namely such as is appliable to all places wherein he is said to be thus present even to Heaven it self his Throne and Seat of glory the proper place as every one knows of Angelical residence Now according to this manner of presence is the Divine Majesty to be acknowledged present in the Places where his Name is recorded as in his Temple under the Law and in our Christian Oratories or Churches under the Gospel namely that the heavenly Guard there attend and keep their rendezvous as in their Master's House according to that vision which the Prophet Esay had thereof Esay 6. 1. I saw the Lord saith he sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his train filled the Temple Septuagint and Iohn 12. 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Angels and Seraphims his stipatores as may be gathered from that which immediately follows verse 3. where it is said The Seraphims cried one unto another Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God of hosts the whole earth is full of his Glory This King Agrippa in Iosephus intimates in that Oration he is said to have made unto the Iews a little before that fatal siege dehorting them from rebelling against the Romans where speaking to the people hard by and in view of that sacred Temple he hath these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I call to witness your sacred Temple and the holy Angels of God namely which encamp there The â—ame is implied in that of the 138. Psalm ver 1 2. according to the translation of the Septuagint and Vulgar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In conspectu Angolorum psallam tibi Adorabo ad Templum sanctum tuum confitebor Nomini tuo Before the Angels I will sing praise unto thee I will worship towards thy holy Temple and praise thy Name And according to this sense I understand that of Solomon in this Book of Ecclesiastes within two or three verses of my Text concerning vows to be made in God's House When thou vowest a vow defer not to pay it Better it is thou shouldest not vow than vow and not pay Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin neither say thou BEFORE THE ANGEL It was an error that is Let not such a foolish excuse come from thee in the
what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Nay Ier. 7. 21 22 23. he seems to say expresly that he never commanded them Put saith he your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices and eat flesh For I spake not unto your Fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices But this thing commanded I them saying Obey my voice and I will be your God and ye shall be my people and walk ye in the wayes that I have commanded you that it may be well with you Yet nothing is more plain than that God ordained Sacrifices at Mount Sinai How then shall this difficulty be resolved Some and those of the Ancients too have affirmed that these Ordinances of Sacrifice were not given to Israel at first nor prima intentione Dei but were as they call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 superinducta afterwards imposed upon them when they had committed Idolatry in making and worshipping the golden Calf But the contrary to this is also apparent For to pass by Cain and Abel's sacrifices and the sacrifices of Noah and Abraham when the Lord pronounced the Decalogue from Mount Sinai he added this as it were an Appendix thereto Ye shall not make with me gods of silver neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold Only an Altar thou shalt make unto me and shalt Sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings thy sheep and thine Oxen c. and this before Moses came down from the Mount or the Calf was yet made Nay more than all this when Moses and Aaron were sent unto Pharaeoh the effect of their Embassy was The God of the Hebrews saith Let my people go that they may sacrifice unto me three dayes journey in the wilderness And when Pharaoh would have given them leave to have sacrificed to their God in the Land No saith Moses we will go three days journey into the wilderness and there Sacrifice to the Lord our God as he hath commanded us What shall we answer then to those passages of Scripture where God disclaimeth Sacrifice saying he required no such Service at his peoples hands yea that he commanded them no such thing when he brought them out of the Land of Egypt For the assoiling this difficulty according to the differing quality of the passages which are or may be produced to this purpose I lay down these three Propositions 1. That according to the propriety and genius of the Hebrew tongue a Comparative sense is often expressed after the form of an Antithesis As in that of Ioel Rent your hearts and not your garments that is more or rather than your garments Prov. 8. 10. Receive my instruction and not silver that is rather than silver as the words following teach us to construe it and knowledge rather than choice gold Likewise in the New Testament Lay not up treasures for your selves on earth but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven that is Treasures in Heaven rather than treasures on earth have more â—are to lay up the one than the other According to this construction only without more ado some of the aforesaid passages will be discharged of their difficulty as namely that of Hosea I desired mercy and not sacrifice that is more or rather than sacrifice as the following words give us to understand which are and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings and according as the same sense is elsewhere expressed as Prov. 21. 3. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than Sacrifice But all will not be thus salved 2. Wherefore I lay down this second Proposition That antecedenter antecedently it is true that God commanded not Sacrifice should be offered unto him neither when the Law was given nor before but consequenter consequently only For the understanding whereof we must know That Sacrifice was a Rite whereby men renewed a Covenant with God by making aâ—onement for their sin therefore it presupposed a breach and transgression of the Law But the will of God was not that men should transgress his Law and violate the Covenant he had made with them but that they should observe and keep it which if they did Sacrifice would have no place This is that I mean when I say that God required not nor commanded Sacrifice antecedently but that men should keep his Commandments But in case sin were committed and the articles of his Covenant violated then and in such a state God ordained and admitted of Sacrifice for a Rite of atonement and redintegration of his Covenant with men that is he commanded Sacrifice only consequenter consequently as a remedy if sin were committed And if those Ancients could be thus understood who say that Sacrifice was not ordained when the Law was first given but after it was transgressed namely if their meaning were only that the ordinance of Sacrifice presupposed a transgression of the Law then their Assertion were true but otherwise historically taken it cannot be defended Now according to this proposition is of that of Ieremy 7. 22 23. to be understood or if there be any other like it I spake not unto your Fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings and Sacrifices But this thing commanded I them Obey my voice and I will be your God and ye shall be my people and walk ye in all the wayes that I have commanded you that it may be well with you 3. My third Proposition is this That when Sacrifice was to be offered in case of sin yet even then God accepted not thereof primariò primarily and for it self as though any refreshment or emolument accrued to him thereby as the Gentiles fondly supposed of their gods but secondarily only as a testimony of the conscience of the offerer desiring with humble repentance to glorifie him with a Present and by that Rite to renew a covenant with him For Sacrifice as I have said was oblatio foedâ—ralis a federal oblation Now Almighty God renews a Covenant with or receiveth again into his favour none but the repentant sinner and therefore accepts of Sacrifice in no other regard but as a token and effect of this Otherwise it is an abomination unto him as whereby men professed a desire of being reconciled unto God when they had offended him and yet had no such meaning Hence God rejects all Sacrifices wherein there is no Contrition nor Purpose to forsake sin and keep his commandments which are the parts of Repentance So is to be taken that in the first of Esay To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices Bring no more vain oblations incense is an abomination unto me Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil then if you offer sacrifice unto me
words of the Chaldee Paraphrast Ionathan upon Exod. 38. 8. concerning the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle The Women saith he which came 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to pray stood at the door of the Tabernacle by their Oblation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and they praised and confessed afterwards they returning to their husbands brought forth righteous children It is further confirmed for Invocation in general by that which the Scripture so often reports of Abraham and Isaac That they built Altars where they came and there they called upon the name of the Lord But the Altar was a place for Sacrifice In stead therefore of the slaying of Beasts and burning of Incense whereby they called upon the Name of God in the Old Testament the Fathers I say believed our Saviour ordained this Sacrament of Bread and Wine as a Rite whereby to give thanks and make supplication to his Father in his Name The mystery of which Rite they took to be this That as Christ by presenting his Death and Satisfaction to his Father continually intercedes for us in Heaven so the Church on Earth semblably approaches the Throne of Grace by representing Christ unto his Father in these holy Mysteries of his Death and Passion Veteres enim saith Cassander in hoc mystico sacrificio non tam peractae semel in Cruee oblationis cujus hîc memoria celebratur quà m perpetui Sacerdotii jugis sacrificii quod quotidie in Coelis sempiternus Sacerdos offert rationem habuerunt cujus hîc Imago per solennes Ministrorum preces exprimitur The Ancients did not in this mystical Sacrifice so much consider and respect the Oblation once made upon the Cross the memory whereof is here celebrated as the everlasting Priesthood of Christ and the perpetual Sacrifice which he our High-Priest for ever doth continually offer in Heaven the resemblance whereof is here on earth exprest by the solemn prayers of God's Ministers This a Reverend and famous Divine of blessed memory once of this Society and interr'd in this place saw more clearly or exprest more plainly than any other Reformed Writer I have yet seen in his Demonstratio Problematis and Title de Sacrificio Missae where he speaks thus Veteres Coenam Domini seu totam coenae actionem vocârunt Sacrificium variis de causis quia est commemoratio adeâ—que repraesentatio Deo Patri sacrificii Christi in cruce immolati The ancient Fathers used to call the Supper of the Lord or the whole action of the Supper a Sacrifice and that for divers reasons Because it is a Commemoration and also a Representation unto God the Father of the Sacrifice of Christ offered upon the Cross. He goes on Hoc modo fideles etiam inter orandum Christum offerunt Deo Patri victimam pro suis peccatis dum scilicet mente affectúque ad sacrificium ejus unicum feruntur ut Deum sibi habeant faciántque propitium In this sense the Faithful in their prayers do offer Christ as a Sacrifice unto God the Father for their sins in being wholly carried away in their minds and affections unto that only and true Sacrifice thereby to procure and obtain God's favour to them That which every Christian doth mentally and vocally when he commends his prayers to God the Father through Iesus Christ making mention of his death and satisfaction that in the publick service of the Church was done by that Rite which our Saviour commanded to be used in Commemoration of him These things thus explained Let us now see by what Testimonies and Authorities it may be proved the ancient Church had this meaning I will begin with S. Ambrose because his Testimony is punctual to our explication Offic. lib. 1. cap. 48. Antè saith he Agnus offerebatur offerebatur Vitulus nunc Christus offertur sed offertur quasi homo quasi recipiens passionem offert seipsum quasi sacerdos ut peccata nostra dimittat hîc in imagine ibi in veritate ubi apud Patrem pro nobis quasi advocat us intervenit Heretofore under the Law was wont to be offered a Lamb and a Bullock Exod. 29. But now under the Gospel Christ is offered but he is offered as a man and as one that suffered and he also as a Priest offers himself for the forgiveness of our sins Here on earth this is done in a resemblance and representation there in Heaven in truth where he as our Advocate intercedes for us with his Father An Author which Cassander in his Consultations quotes without name expresses this mystery fully Non impiè à nobis saith he Christus occiditur sed piè sacrificatur hoc modo mortem Domini annunciam us donec veniat hoc enim hîc per eum humiliter agimus in terris quod pro nobis ipse potenter sicut filius pro sua reverentia exaudiendus agit in Coelis ubi apud Patrem pro nobis quasi advocatus intervenit cui est pro nobis intervenire carnem quam pro nobis de nobis sumsit Deo Patri quodaemmodo pro nobis ingerere Christ is not wickedly slain by us but piously sacrificed and thus we shew the Lord's death till he come For we by him do that here on earth in a meaner way which he as a Son to be heard for his reverence or piety doth for us in heaven powerfully and prevailingly where he as our Advocate mediates for us with the Father whose office it is to intercede for us and to present that flesh which he took for us and of us to God the Father in our behalf My next Author shall be Eusebius Demonstrat Evangel lib. 1. cap. 10. where mentioning that of the 23. Psalm Thou hast prepared a Table before me c. Thou anointedst my head with oyl Herein saith he are plainly signified the Mystical unction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the venerable Sacrifices of Christ's table he means the Symbols of the Body and Bloud of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby propitiating God we are taught to offer up all our life long unto the Lord of all unbloudy and reasonable Sacrifices most acceptable to him by his most glorious High-Priest Iesus Christ. Here Eusebius affirms that Christians are taught to offer unto God reasonable and unbloudy sacrifices that is Prayer and Thanksgiving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propitiating or finding favour with God through the venerable mysteries of Christ's Table For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is litare i. e. propitiare or placare Numen votum impetrare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gratum facere Next I produce Cyril of Ierusalem or more likely Iohn his successor Author of those five Catecheses Mystagogicae In the last of which relating and expounding the meaning of that which was said or done in the celebration of the Eucharist according to the use of his time amongst other things he says thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after that Spiritual Sacrifice that unbloudy
the same Book where Celsus likewise would have mankind thankful unto Demons as those to whom the charge of things here upon earth is committed and to offer unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First-fruits and Prayers Origen thus takes him up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let Celsus as being void of the true Knowledge of God render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Demons As for us Christians whose only desire it is to please the Creator of the Vniverse we eat the Bread that was offered unto him with Prayer and Thanksgiving for his Gifts and then made a kind of holy Body by Prayer Mark here Bread offered unto God with Prayer and Thanksgiving pro datis for that he hath given us and then by Prayer made a holy Body and so eaten Thus much out of Fathers all of them within less than two hundred and fifty years after Christ and less than one hundred and fifty after the death of S. Iohn The same appears in the Forms of the ancient Liturgies As in that of Clemens where the Priest in the name of the whole Church assembled speaks thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We offer unto thee our King and God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to his that is Christ's appointment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Bread and this Cup 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Giving thanks unto thee through him for that thou hast vouchsafed us he speaks of the whole Church to stand before thee and to minister unto thee And we beseech thee thou God that wantest nothing that thou wouldst look favourably upon these Gifts here set before thee and accept them to the honour of thy Christ c. Again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the Gift or Oblation that is offered to the Lord our God let us pray that our good God would receive it through the mediation of his Christ to his heavenly Altar for a sweet-smelling savour Yea in the Canon of the Roman Church though the Rite be not used yet the words remain still as when the Priest long before the consecration of the Body and Bloud of Christ prays Te Clementissime Pater per Iesum Christum Filium tuum Dominum nostrum supplices rogamus ut accepta habeas benedicas haec Dona haec Munera We humbly beseech and intreat thee most merciful Father Through Iesus Christ thy Son our Lord to accept and bless these Gifts these Presents and other like passages which now they wrest to a new-found Oblation of the Body and Bloud of Christ which the ancient Church knew not of But of all others This Rite is most strongly confirmed by that wont of the Ancient Fathers to confute the Hereticks of those first times who held the Creator of the world to be some inferiour Deity and not the Father of Christ out of the Eucharist For say they unless the Father of Christ be the Creator of the world why is the Creature offered unto him in the Eucharist as if he were would he be agnized the Author and Lord of that he is not Hear Irenaeus Adversus Haeres lib. 4. cap. 34. Haereticorum Synagogae saith he non offerunt Eucharisticam oblationem quam Dominus offerri docuit Alterum enim praeter Fabricatorem dicentes Patrem Ideo quae secundùm nos Creaturae sunt offerentes ei cupidum alieni oftendunt eum aliena concupiscentem The Synagogues of the Hereticks do not offer the very Eucharistical oblation which our Lord taught and appointed to be offered for they affirming another besides the Creator of the world to be the Father of Christ do therefore while they offer unto him the Creatures which are here with us represent him to be desirous of that which is anothers and to covet that which is not his and a little after Quomodo autem constabit eis eum panem in quo gratiae actae sunt Corpus esse Domini sui Calicem sanguinis ejus si non ipsum Fabricatoris mundi Filium dicant id est Verbum ejus per quod lignum fructificat defluunt fontes terra dat primùm quidem gramen post deinde spicam deinde plenum triticum in spica How shall it appear to them that that Bread for which Thanks have been given is the Body of their Lord and that Cup the Cup of his Bloud if they deny him to be the Son of the Creator of the world that is to say to be the word of him by whom the Tree brings forth fruit Fountains send forth water and the Earth brings forth first green corn like grass then the ear after that the full corn in the ear From the same ground Tertullian argues against Marcion Contra Marc. lib. 1. cap. 23. Non putem saith he impudentiorem quà m qui in alâ—ena aqua alii Deo tingitur ad alienum Coelum alii Deo expanditur in aliena terra alii Deo sternitur super alienum panem alii Deo gratiarum actionibus fungitur I cannot conceive any one more impudent than he that is baptized to a God in a water that is none of his that in prayer to a God spreads forth his hands towards an Heaven that is none of his that prostrates himself to a God upon an Earth that is not his that gives thanks to a God for that Bread which is none of his Origen against the same Heretick useth the same Argument Dialog advers Marc. 3. pauso ante finem Dominus aspiciens in coelum gratias agit Ecquid non agit conditori gratias Cùm panem accepisset poculum benedixisset quid alterine pro Creaturis conditoris benedicit an potiùs illi qui effecit exhibuit Our Lord looking up to heaven gave thanks What did not he give thanks to the Creator of the world When he took the Bread and the Cup and blessed did he bless and give thanks to any other for the Creatures of God the Maker of the world and not rather bless and give thanks to him who made them and gave them us Lastly This Oblation of the Bread and Wine is implied in S. Paul's parallel of the Lord's Supper and the Sacrifice of the Gentiles Ye cannot saith he be partakers of the Table of the Lord and the Table of Devils namely because they imply contrary Covenants incompatible one with the other a Sacrifice as I told you being Epulum foederale a Federal Feast Now here it is manifest that the Table of Devils is so called because it consisted of Viands offered to Devils for so S. Paul expresly tells us whereby those that eat thereof eat of the Devil's meat Ergo The Table of the Lord is likewise called his Table not because he ordained it but it because consisted of Viands offered unto him Having thus as I think sufficiently proved what I took in hand I think it not amiss to answer two Questions which this Discourse may beget The first is How the Ancients
there placed by the name of ALTARE and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet these Authors afore-named when the Gentiles object Atheism to the Christians as who had no Templa no Arae no Simulacra are wont in their Apologies to answer by way of Concession not only that they had none but more that they ought not to have What should this mean why this They answer the Gentiles according to the notion wherein they objected this unto them to wit that they had no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no Idol-stools or Simulacrorum scabella not that they had no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore the word which Origen there useth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in all those passages you shall ever find Arae Simulacra to go together Origen O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Celsus ait nos Ararum Statuarum Templorúmque fundationes fugere Minutius Felix Cur nullas Aras habent Templa nulla nulla nota Simulacra Arnobius In hac consuéstis parte crimen nobis maximum impietatis affigere Quòd non Deorum alicujus simulacrum constituamus aut formam non Altaria fabricemus NON ARAS Lactantius Quid sibi Templa quid Arae volunt quid denique ipsa Simulacra c And as for Temples their meaning was they had no such claustra Numinum as the Gentiles supposed Temples to be and to which they appropriated that name viz. Places whereunto the Gods by the power of spels and magical consecrations were confined and limited and for the presencing of whom a Statue was necessary places wherein they dwelt shut up as Birds in a cage or as the Devil confined within a circle that so they might be ready at hand when men had occasion to seek unto them That Christians indeed had no such dwellings for their God as these for that their God dwelt not in Temples made with hands But not that they had not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For such the stories and monuments of those times expresly inform us they had and the Gentiles themselves that objected this defect knew it too well as may appear by their Emperors Rescripts for demolishing them and sometimes for restoring them when the Persecution ceased All which he that will may find in Eusebius his Ecclesiastical History before either Arnobius or Lactantius wrote Whither I refer them that would be more fully satisfied yea to Arnobius himself in the end of his 4. Book adversùs Gentes where he speaks of the burning of the Christians sacred Books and demolition of their Places of assembly And thus I conclude my Discourse PSALM CXXXII VII We will go into his Tabernacle we will worship towards his Footstool SO the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rightly rendred and those who say Before his Footstool imply the same if it be rightly construed The LXX hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Toward the Place where his feet stand which is a Periphrasis of a Footstool THE LORD'S FOOTSTOOL here mentioned was either the Ark of the Testimony it self or the place at least where it stood called DEBIR or the Holy of Holies towards which the Iews in their Temple used to worship The very next words following my Text argue so much Arise O Lord into thy rest thou and the Ark of thy strength And it is plain out of 1 Chron. 28. 2. where David saith concerning his purpose to have built God an House I had in mine heart to build an House of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and for the FOOTSTOOL of our God Where the Conjunction and is Exegetical and the same with that is According to this expression the Prophet Ieremy also in the beginning of the second of his Lamentations bewaileth that The Lord had cast down the beauty of Israel that is his glorious Temple and remembred not his FOOTSTOOL that is the Ark of his Covenant in the day of his wrath This to be the true and genuine meaning of this phrase of worshipping the Lord towards his Footstool besides the confessed Custom of the time is evidently confirmed by a parallel expression of this worshipping posture Psalm 28. 2. Hear the voice of my supplication when I cry unto thee when I lift up mine hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 towards thine HOLY ORACLE that is toward the most Holy place where the Ark stood and from whence God gave his answers For that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DEBIR which is here translated ORACLE was the Sanctum Sanctorum or Most holy place is clear out of the 6. and 8. Chapters of the first Book of Kings where in the former we read that Solomon prepared the ORACLE or DEBIR to set the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord there in the latter that the Priests brought in the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord unto his place into the Oracle of the House to the most holy place even under the wings of the Cherubims Wherefore the Authors of the Translation used in our Liturgy rendred this passage of the Psalm When I hold up my hands toward the Mercy-seat of thy holy Temple namely having respect to the meaning thereof Thus you see that one of the two must needs be this Scabellum pedum or FOOTSTOOL of God either the Ark or Mercy-seat it self or the Adytum Templi the Most holy place where it stood For that it is not the whole Temple at large though that might be so called but some thing or part to those that are within it the first word◠of my Text We will go into his Tabernacles do argue If then it be the Ark whose Cover was that we call the Mercy-seat it seems to have been so called in respect of God's sitting upon the Cherubims under which the Ark lay as it were his Footstool whence sometimes it is described The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Hosts which sitteth upon the Cherubims If the Ark with the Cover thereof the Mercy-seat be it self considered as God's Throne then the place thereof the DEBIR may not unfitly be termed his Footstool Or lastly if we consider Heaven to be the Throne of God as indeed it is then whatsoever place or monument of Presence he hath here on Earth is in true esteem no more but his Footstool Thus the meaning of the Text is plain which I thought good to make choice of for the Argument of my Discourse at this time for our better information concerning the lawfulness of that practice of worshipping God towards the holy Table or Altar For it becomes not us who live in such places as these where Knowledge is taught and should be derived to other parts of the Church to be ignorant of the reason and quality of any thing especially concerning the Worship of God which either we do our selves or see others do lest in
came out of the Temple but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of Heaven Mr. WOOD. 3. These seven Angels chap. 15. 1. are said to bring the seven last plagues wherein the whole wrath of God is accomplished which is nothing but the branching out of the the third Woe and therefore after though under the last Vial. Mr. MEDE The Vials as I take it are called the seven last Plagues in reference only to the seven Trumpets which are the seven first Plagues the first ruining the old Beast the last destroying the new which is risen out of his Ruines CHAP. VII The Virgin-Company of the 144 thousand Sealed ones described in Chap. 14. of the Apocalypse briefly interpreted THis Vision of the Sealed Ones I begin and end with the Times of the Beast taking them for the same with those whose Sealing began with the beginning of the Seventh or Trumpet-Seal with which Seal I also begin the Times of the Beast supposing that Sealing there was purposely interlaced to be compared with the Vision here that thereby we might know in what part of the Seals to fix the Beginning of the Beast to which no Character of the whole Book will direct us but only the Paralel of the Sealed Number beginning and contemporary with the seventh Seal chap. 7. and here again reiterated as beginning and comporary also with the Beast For the Accommodation I understand it to be A Description of the Faithful and Vndefiled Company of Christ under the polluted times of the Anti-christian Beast next before mentioned And they are described 1. By their Head the true Lamb Christ Iesus and not he that had Horns like a Lamb but spake like the Dragon 2. By their Place which was even Mount Sion that elevated and conspicuous part of the World where men visibly professed the Name of Christ and where his Apostles had once founded him that Temple which now Antichrist usurped Nor were these Faithful Ones tied to any one part of this Mountain above other as the false Prophet's Followers are to their Cathedra Petri but they follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth 3. By their Worship in praying and praising God wherein they were undefiled Virgins not polluting themselves with the Mother or Metropolis of Fornications though their Religious Song seemed a new one and was such as none could sing but themselves This is the General description of their state during the whole time After which followeth that which passed between them and the Followers of the Beast in their later time which is twofold 1. Preaching and Admonition under three Angels 2. The Acts of Execution which are two The one of an Harvest wherein Christ their Master and Lord of the Harvest sends forth Labourers into his overgrown Field and reaps it which I understand of the present Reformation wherein our Lord hath gathered his Wheat out of that Field of Weeds and bound it together in new-erected Churches Next after this Harvest comes the Vintage an Execution of Vengeance as soon as the Grapes are once bloud-ripe This Execution is yet to come though it seems not farr off For the Reapers bring little Wheat home of late whereby it should seem that Harvest is in a manner done and the time of Vintage a-coming This is the sum of what I have as yet conceived of this Vision Moreover supposing this Vintage to be yet to come I am much inclined to think that this 1600 furlongs without the City should be a Designation of Peter's Patrimony or the Demeasns of the Church which in the longest extent thereof from the Walls of Rome to the River Po is exactly 1600 furlongs or 200 Italian miles whereby it is probable that the Pope's own Territories Stato della Chiesa may prove the Cock-pit of this Execution whether Christ as into a Wine-press will from all parts gather the bloudy Grapes when he means to tread them I. M. CHAP. VIII Mr. Mede's Answers to several Enquiries about some difficult passages in the Apocalypse Sr. I Will make no full Reply to your sorrowful beginning lest I should revive your grief and make your wound to bleed afresh Only I will desire the Almighty to continue that patient submission unto his Will which I doubt not but he hath given you and make this your loss in the flesh your advancement in the Spirit Your Letters and Book found me in Suffolk at Sr. Martin Stutvill's I thank you for communicating your elaborate Meditations to which and your Letter I would have made a large Reply had I been at home and not a non-resident from my Study and hourly molested with such occasions of interturbation as the place and solemnity brings Enquiry I. Concerning the four Wights Revel 4. 6 c. This attendance upon the Throne of God by the 24 Elders and the 4 Animalia or living creatures is a Representation of his pitching in the Wilderness in the midst of the Levites and the 4 Standards of the Congregation having for their Ensigns as the Iews say by ancient Tradition a Lion a Bullock a Man an Eagle For the manner of their encamping was this 1. In the midst was the Tabernacle or Throne of God 2. Round about the Tabernacle and next unto it pitched the Priests and Levites Then 3 ly the Body of the Congregation divided into 4 Standards and placed about the Tabernacle East West North and South Three Tribes went to a Standard which were called by the name of the chiefest Tribe The first on the East-side of the Tabernacle was the Standard of Iudah which contained Issachar and Zebulon and had for the Ensign a Lion The second on the West was the Standard of Ephraim containing Manasse and Benjamin and had for the Ensign an Oxe or Bullock On the South was the Standard of Reuben comprehending Gad and Simeon and had for their Ensign a Man On the North-side pitched the Standard of Dan with whom encamped Asher and Naphthali and had for their Ensign an Eagle All this you shall find Numb ch 1. ch 2. ch 3. saving the specification of the Ensigns which is from the Iews Tradition the Text only saying they had Ensigns but expresses not what they were And marvel not that S. Iohn should here allude unto a Tradition of the Iews for elsewhere in this Book he alludes to their Customs and borrows their Phrases as in that of walking in white garments and in the phrase of the Second death a speech no where else in Scripture but frequent in the Targum and in the Iewish Doctors And that this Tradition hath some warrant some which I have met withal in my search would prove out of the 68 or according to the Vulgar 67 Psalm vers 11. Thus the 8. verse begins O God when thou wentest forth before thy people when thou didst march through the wilderness The earth shook the heavens also dropped at the presence of God even Sinai it self was moved at
follows after them That all the tribes of the Earth or Land should mourn Now I cannot understand how these two Prophetical passages should not have the same meaning when our Saviour and his Apostle alledge them joyned which they have in their own Authors expressed apart or being expressed together as one should not be fulfilled at once By such a miraculous apparition of Christ from Heaven was S. Paul converted And I hope it is no Heresie to think That the whole Nation of the Iews those Zelots against Christ may be converted by as strange a means as was that one Zelot of their Nation 4. Those who shall be Partakers of this Kingdom are described to be of two sorts 1. The deceased Martyrs who as far as I can yet understand it shall resume their Bodies and reign in Heaven 2. Such of the Living as have not worshipped the Beast nor his Image neither have received his mark c. these shall reign on Earth For so I construe the words I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus and for the Word of God and subaudi I saw those which had not worshipped the Beast nor his Image nor had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived that is the Martyrs and reigned that is both of them with Christ a thousand years 5. Under the Second sort of those Reigners together with the Virgin-Christians of the Gentiles who are the Surrogate Israel I would in a particular respect understand the Nation of the Iews then converted to the Faith of Christ who coming in toward the end of the day may above all others be said to be Those who had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image nor had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands which most of the Christian Gentiles had done and therefore at the time of their cleansing Chap. 15. ver 2. are rather described Those that had gotten the victory over the Beast and over his Image and over his mark and over the number of his Name 6. The Rising of the Martyrs is that which is called the First Resurrection being as it seems a prerogative to their sufferings above the rest of the Dead who as they suffered with Christ in the time of his patience so should they be glorified with him in the Reign of his Victory before the Vniversal Resurrection of all Blessed and Holy are they who have part in the First Resurrection for on them the Second death hath no power namely because they are not in Via but in Patria being a prerogative as I understand it of this First sort of Reigners only and not of the Second Thus I yet admit the First Resurrection to be Corporal as well as the Second though I confess I have much striven against it and if the Text would admit another sense less free of Paradox I had yet rather listen unto it but I find it not Howsoever to grant a Particular Resurrection before the General is against no Article of Faith For the Gospel tells us Matth. 27. v. 52 53. that at our Saviour's Resurrection The graves were opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and went into the holy City and appeared unto many Neither was the number of them a small number if we may credit the Fathers or the most ancient Records of Christian Tradition For of this was that famous saying That Christ descended alone but ascended with a multitude which is found in the heads of the Sermon of Thaddeus as they are reported by Eusebius out of the Syriack Records of the City of Edessa Lib. 1. cap. ult in Ignatius's Epistle to the Trallians and in the Disputation of Macarius Bishop of Ierusalem in the first General Council of Nice also in Cyrill's Catechism Nay this Cyrill of Ierusalem Chrysostome and others suppose this Resurrection to have been common to all the Saints that died before our Saviour See the Bishop of Meath De Limbo Patrum Howsoever it be it holds no unfit proportion with this supposed of the Martyrs And how it doth more impeach any Article of our Faith to think that may be of the Martyrs which we believe of the Patriarchs I yet see not 7. The Second Resurrection to be after the End of the 1000 years Iustin Martyr by way of distinction calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Eternal and Vniversal Resurrection of all together namely in respect of the former which was Particular and but of some And that it is common both to the Godly and to the Wicked and not of the Wicked only may appear in that there are two Books opened for the Dead ver 12. whereof one is the Book of Life which argues two sorts of Dead to be judged Nor can I imagine how it can be otherwise unless all the Iust which live during the 1000 years be supposed to be immortal which is a Paradox I dare not admit understanding not that all the Individuals but that the Body of the Church here on Earth should successively Reign with Christ her Lord 1000 years Besides the attempt of the Nations after the Devil 's loosing argues a State subject to mutability As for those words of v. 14. which seem to intimate no other Dead then judged but the Wicked because it 's said That Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire which is the Second Death I suppose nothing else is meant thereby but that Death was now quite vanquished and that there should be no more Death of Body or Separation of Soul but only the Second Death As if it had been said Death and Hades are now confined only to the Lake of Fire which is the Second Death but the former Death of Bodies in the Grave and the State of separate Souls in Hades was no more 8. For Gog and Magog who after Satan's loosing and before the last Resurrection shall gather together against the Camp of the Saints and the Beloved City it cannot be literally understood of the Nations so called in the Old Testament For there Gog the Prince with the People of Magog come out of the North-parts where the posterity of Magog was seated But Gog and Magog here are said to be Nations which are in the four quarters of the Earth As therefore the Apocalyptical Babylon is not Babylon in Chaldaea but a Counter-type thereof most like for Vniversal Ambition and Metropolitanship of Spiritual Fornication so this Apocalyptical Gog and Magog is not the Gog and Magog of the North but a Counter-type of them which should after the same manner attempt against the Beloved City then which the Scythian Gog and Magog I mean the Turk doth against the Church of the Gentiles now and should before his last Ruine attempt against Israel at their return And if there ever be an Antichrist such as the Fathers describe now will be the most likely time for him when
the Devil is loose but for a little season I. M. A PARAPHRASE AND EXPOSITION Of the PROPHECIE OF S t. PETER CONCERNING The Day of Christ's Second Coming DESCRIBED In the Third CHAPTER of his Second EPISTLE AS ALSO How the CONFLAGRATION or Destruction of the WORLD by FIRE whereof S. Peter speaks and especially of the Heavens is to be understood BY IOSEPH MEDE B. D. The Fifth Edition corrected in sundry places and enlarged with some Additional Observations out of the Author 's own Manuscripts A PARAPHRASE and EXPOSITION OF THE PROPHECIE of S. PETER CONCERNING The Day of Christ's Second Coming DESCRIBED In the Third CHAPTER of the Second EPISTLE Verses 1 2. SAint Peter exhorts the believing Iews unto whom he writes to be mindful of the words of the holy Prophets Esay Daniel and Malachi concerning the coming of Christ to Iudgment and the Restauration then promised it being also confirmed by the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour Verses 3 4. For howsoever it were then believed both by Iews and Christianed Gentiles yet in the last days should come those who walking after their own desires or humors should deny and deride the expectation of any such promise of the Day of Christ saying Where is the promise of his coming Where is the New heaven and New earth you talk of Verse 4. pars altera The reason of this their unbelief being because they imagine there hath never yet since the creation of the World been any example of such a destruction and change ensuing it as this at the coming of Christ should be For since the Fathers fell asleep say they even since Adam died all things have continued as they were from the beginning of the creation Therefore the expectation of any such change of the World and the state of things therein as is supposed is vain and frivolous and never to be fulfilled Verses 5 6. But those who suppose this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that there hath never yet any such destruction and change befallen the Creation and thence conclude there is no such nor shall ever be they weigh and consider not the universal Deluge in the time of Noah when the curse laid upon the creature for man's sin first solemnly took place brought as a like destruction so a like change upon the world for the degeneration of the creature as this at the second coming of Christ shall be for the restauration and renovation of the same in the day of the glorious liberty of the children of God For the Heavens were of old and the globe of the Earth consisting partly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of water viz. that of the Great deep and partly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amongst water to wit the clouds and floud-gates of heaven hanging about it all framed by the word of God By which waters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the world which then was being overwhelmed with water perished as it is written Gen. 7. 11 c. In the 600. year of Noah's life in the second month the 17. day of the month were all the Fountains of the Great deep broken up and the Floud-gates or Cataracts of heaven were opened and verse 18. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth And all flesh died that moved upon the earth both of fowl and of cattel and of beast and of every creeping thing and every man verse 21. Verse 7. But the Heavens and the Earth that is the World which is now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto a From this proportion which the Iudgment to come by Fire hath unto that which was by Water in the Deluge Irenaeus calls it Diluvium ignis Lib. 5. cap. 29. juxta Edit Fevardentii fire at the Day of Iudgment and perdition of ungodly men according to the prophecy of Daniel c. 7. v. 10 11. who saw a fiery stream issuing and coming forth before the Iudge of the world and the body of the fourth Beast burned therewith And of Esay chap. 66. 15 16. who saith of that day That the Lord shall come with fire and with his chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire And that by fire and by his sword i. e. by his sword of fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord would plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord shall be many b It may be it is of this day the same Prophet Esay also speaks chap. 9. 5. where he saith The battel of the Messiah should not be as the battel of the warriour with confused noise and garments rolled in bloud but with burning and fuel of fire For the old Prophets for the most part speak of the coming of Christ indefinitely and in general without that distinction of First and Second coming which the Gospel out of Daniel hath more clearly taught us And so consequently they spake of the things to be at Christ's coming indefinitely and altogether which we who are now more fully informed by the revelation of the Gospel of a two-fold coming must apply each of them to its proper time those things which befit the state of his First coming unto it and such things as befit the state of his Second coming unto his Second and what befits Both alike may be applied unto Both. So also Mal. 4. 1. That the great and terrible day shall burn as an oven and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble which at the coming of that day shall be burnt up Verse 8. But whereas I mentioned saith S. Peter the Day of Iudgment lest ye might mistake it for a short day or a day of a few hours I would not beloved have you ignorant that One day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day a Thus I expound these words by way of a preoccupation or premunition because they are the formal words of the Iewish Doctors when they speak of the Day of Iudgment or Day of Christ as S. Peter here doth viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 una dies Dei Sancti Benedicti sunt mille anni And though they use to quote that of the ninetieth Psalm Mille anni in oculis tuis sicut dies hesternus for confirmation thereof yet are not those words formally in the Psalm So that S. Peter in this passage seems rather to have had respect to that common saying of the Iews in this argument than to the words of the Psalm where the words One day with the Lord is as a thousand years are not though the latter part of the sentence A thousand years as one day may allude thither as the * Trad. R. Ketinae in Gemara Sanâ—edrin Midrasch iâ—hillim super Ps. 90. Iews also were wont to bring it for a confirmation of the former 2. These words are commonly taken as an argument why God should not be thought slack in his promise which follows in
the next verse But the first Fathers took it otherwise and besides it proves it not For the question is not whether the time be long or short in respect of God but whether it be long or short in respect of us otherwise not only a thousand but an 100 thousand years are in the eyes of God no more than one day is to us and so it would not seem long to God if the Day of Iudgment should be deferred till then 3. Let the judicious consider it whether this passage so prone to be taken in the exposition I have given yea and alledged to that purpose were not some part of a motive to the zelotical Anti-chiliasts whereof Eusebius whom we trust was none of the least to be so willing and ready to question the authority of this Epistle as they did also at the same time of the Apocalypse The pretence against this Epistle was because it wanted the testimony of allegation by the first Fathers But Dies Domini sicut mille anni quoted both by Iustin Martyr and Irenaeus is not out of the ninetieth Psalm as they took for granted for there are no such words but out of this Epistle of Peter who applies it to the Day of Iudgment which he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Day of the Lord. Consider it Verse 9. And though this Day be long deferred yet is not the Lord slack concerning his promise as some men account slackness as if he had alter'd his purpose or meant never to perform it but the cause of this delay is his long-suffering towards us a S. Peter speaks and writes in this Epistle to his brethren the Iews as appears by the first verse of this chapter of the seed of Israel not willing that any should perish at that day but that our whole Nation should come unto repentance b Therefore the same S. Peter in his first publick Sermon to his Nation in the Temple after the sending of the Holy Ghost Acts 3. 19 c. exhorts them to repent and be converted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the washing away of their sins That so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those times of refreshing and restitution of all things which God had spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets might come which till then were to be suspended Object But God could have hastened the Iews conversion if it had pleased him Resp. But it stood not with the oeconomy of his Iustice when the Iews had rejected Christ their expiation to grant them this grace until they should have fulfilled a time of penance for all the sins of their Nation even from the first time they were a people until the last destruction of Ierusalem For since they would none of their pardon and attonement by Christ with respect unto whose coming God had so long spared them for all their expiation by Sacrifice looked unto him God would not bate them an ace of the judgment they had merited but would visit all the former sins of their Nation upon them from the golden Calf until their crucifying and final rejecting of their Messiah which if that Day should surprise them in their unbelief must inevitably perish with the rest of the enemies of Christ. Verse 10. But as for the manner of the coming of this great Day of the Lord it shall be suddenly and unawares as a thief in the night in which the a What these Heavens are and why I render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the host of them and how this Conflagration is to be understood I will shew when I have done my Paraphrase Heavens with a crackling noise of fire shall pass away and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a What these Heavens are and why I render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the host of them and how this Conflagration is to be understood I will shew when I have done my Paraphrase or host of them shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works therein shall be burned Verse 11 12. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness to make our selves fire-proof and such as may abide the day of refining As namely becometh those who by faith look for and hasten the coming of the Day of the Lord wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the host of them melt with fervent heat For our life and conversation ought to be sutable to our faith and we are so to walk as if that were always present which by faith we look for Verse 13. But this Conflagration ended whatsoever those Scoffers say who question the promise of Christ's second coming we look according to his promise Isa. 65. 17 66. 22 for a New heaven and a New earth that is a new and refined state of the World wherein righteousness shall dwell according as the same Prophet saith chap. 60. 20 21. The Lord shall be thine everlasting light and the days of thy mourning shall be ended Thy people also shall be all righteous they shall inherit the land or earth for ever Verse 14 15 16. Wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things at his coming be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless and account the long-suffering of God in the delay thereof to be for salvation Even as our beloved Paul also one of the Apostles of our Lord who confirmeth these words of the holy Prophets according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you enforcing the like exhortation unto holiness of life from this our faith and expectation of the Lord Iesus his appearing to judgment which we now make unto you namely Heb. 12. 14 28 29. As also in all his Epistles speaking in them of these things viz. Rom. 2. 4 5 6 7. ‑ 1 Cor. 1. 7 8. 3. 13. ‑ 2 Cor. 5. 9 10 11. initio 7. 1. ‑ Phil. 1. 10. 2. 15 16. also 3. 20 c. ‑ Coloss. 3. 4 5. ‑ 1 Thess. 2. 12. 3. 13. denique 5. 23. ‑ 2 Thess. 1. 8 c. 1 Tim. 6. 14 15. ‑ Tit. 2. 12 13. Verse 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amongst which things concerning the Second coming of Christ are somethings hard to be conceived which those which are unlearned and not well setled in the Faith like unto these Scoffers stumble at as they do at other Scriptures taking occasion thereby to stagger and doubt of the truth of God so perverting the Scriptures from their right end by making them the means of their own destruction which were given by God as a means whereby they might believe and be saved How this Conflagration of the World whereof S. PETER speaks and especially of the Heavens is to be understood FOR resolution of this Question I must premise some things to make the way thereto the more easie 1. That in the old Hebrew language wherein the
Scripture speaks there is no one word to express that Compages of the superior and inferior bodies which we call Mundus but those two words Heaven and Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 joyned and put together only So that when S. Peter saith The World which then was perished by water but the Heavens and the Earth which are now are reserved to fire he might as well have said according to his meaning The Heavens and the Earth which then were perished by water as the World that now is shall by fire For the words Heaven and Earth joyned imply no more in the one according to the Scripture's notion than the single word Mundus or World doth in the other being applied to the history of the great Deluge As also a New heaven and a New earth is the same notion with that in our expression when we say a New World that is to say Nova rerum facies nova rerum conditio which we otherwise apply to very small and even particular and domestical changes when we say Here is a new World which the Hebrew would or might express Here is a new Heaven and a new Earth 2. That it is not like that any other World or Heaven and Earth shall perish by Fire than such a one as heretofore perished by Water For so the Antithesis imports viz. The World or Heaven and Earth which then was perished by water the Heaven and Earth which now is is reserved for a destruction by fire Now the World which perished by water was no other than the sublunary World the Heaven whereof is that which we call Aire but the Scriptures Heaven which sublunary Heaven together with the Earth was marred by that general Deluge and the creatures belonging to them both either wholly destroyed or marvellously corrupted from that they were before Such a World therefore and no other Heaven and Earth shall undergo this second deluge of Fire for restauration which before suffered the deluge of Water for corruption 3. Observe also for the better understanding of S. Peter's meaning That the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we in this place are wont to turn Elements is not like to be understood in the notion of the Greek Philosophy whose terms and notions the Scripture useth not but otherwise divideth the World Nay further in this place it cannot be so understood for that the Hebrew division of the World into Heaven and Earth is here expressed and these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distinguished from them both But when the whole World is divided into Heaven and Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Earth is meant the Earthen Globe which S. Peter saith is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so the Water and Earth are both included in the sole name of Earth in Heaven the Air is included Thus three of the Philosophical Elements are bestowed The fourth is the Fire but this is that which is to burn the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so none of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be burnt And if any of these Elements could be exempted from this division into Heaven and Earth besides the Fire as namely the Air yet could not that nor any one of them alone be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Peter for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notes more than one It must needs therefore be that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here meaneth something else Let us see if we can find out what it is Mark then S. Peter's order 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By which correspondence it should seem that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should be some furniture belonging to Coelum as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the buildings and whole furniture of Creatures belonging to Terra which furniture of both but especially that of the Heaven the Scripture calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the host of them Gen. 2. 1. The heavens and the earth were finished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and all the host of them LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vulg. Ornatus eorum Nay seeing the whole World is nothing else but the Heaven and the Earth and what is contained in them i. e. exercitus eorum and seeing Heaven and Earth are both here distinctly named and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 put for the host of the Earth it must needs be that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 named as a distinct thing from all three should note the host of heaven and so the meaning of S. Peter should be when he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if he had said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heavens and the host thereof or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Earth and the works therein But how will some man say should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 come to have this notion I answer thus The Hebrew verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth in ordine militari sto incedo and so answers to the Greek verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is expounded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. in ordine militari incedo Vide Scap. ex Etymolog Accordingly the LXX render the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. in procinctu sto instructâ acie sto Now if the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie the same with the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why may not the Hebrew Noun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we turn exercitus be rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hellenists or Greekish Iews as in other words so here following the Etymology from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and having an eye more to their own native language than to the use of Greece It would be long to shew in how many words they and the Greek Scriptures written according to their Dialect use notions which the Greeks used not namely respecting some conformity or other in their own tongue The works of the learned in sacred Criticism are of late full of such observations whereby many difficulties and obscurities in Scripture become clear and easie Nevertheless the Gentile Greeks themselves use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which come of the same verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the same sense we plead for viz. for ordo militaris Military array Why may not then the Hellenists so the Greek Iews are called do the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being for the Etymology every way as fit seeing also they are otherwise wont to permute significations from vicinity of sound For a further confirmation of this notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I contend for I will add what I have met with to that purpose Schickardus a learned professor of the Oriental tongues at Tubing in his Bechinath happeruschim pag. 44. hath discovered out of Ramban's or R. Moses ben Nachman's Preface in Perusche hattorah two passages taken out of the Chaldee copy of the Wisdom of Solomon which that Rabbi had seen whereby the said Schickardus proveth against S. Ierome that the Greek is not the Original
but was translated out of Chaldee The passages which this Ramban quoteth thence are chap. 7. v. 5 6 7 and part of the 8. and again v. 17 18 19 20 21. In the last of which quotations because there is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I greedily looked what word in the Chaldee answered here to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I found to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which those who have skill know to signifie the Planets 12 Signs or Constellations of Heaven as being the same with the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore here are Stars and Planets which I shall not need prove to be the host of the Ethereal heaven yea and perhaps too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are derived of the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ire as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now we know the Scriptures make three heavens 1. The Air or Sublunary heaven 2. The Ethereal or Starry heaven 3. The heaven of Glory or Empyreal heaven Every of these heavens have their host or army The host of the heaven of Glory or the third heaven are the Angels and blessed Spirits The host of the Ethereal heaven are the Stars and Planets The host of the Aereal or Sublunary heaven are either visible as the Clouds of Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and other Meteors as also the rest of the creatures mansioning therein as the Fowls of heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or invisible viz. the wicked Spirits and Devils whose Prince Satan is called the Prince of the power of the Air Eph. 2. 2. and his host 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rulers of the world that is of the Sublunary world and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wicked spirits in heavenly places namely in the lowest or sublunary heavens Eph. 6. 12. And whether S. Paul Gal. 4. 8 9. and Gol. 2. 8 c. includes not some of those under his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I cannot affirm let the Learned further consider it when namely he speaks to and of Gentiles and not Iews HAVING hitherto prepar'd the way let us now come closer home to S. Peter whose words evidently import that some of these Heavens or all of them shall suffer a Conflagration at the Day of Christ. Not all of them for who ever put the Empyreal heaven in that reckoning And for the Ethereal heaven he that considereth both the supereminent nature and immensity thereof and of those innumerable bodies therein in regard of which the whole Sublunary world is but a point or centre and that it no way can be proved that ever those bodies received any curse for mans sin or contagion by the world's deluge or that any enemies of God dwell in them to pollute them he that considereth this will not easily be induced to believe that the Fire of the day of Iudgment should burn them It remaineth therefore that the Sublunary heavens only with their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are to be the subject of this Conflagration These Heavens saith S. Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. solventur shall be dissolved and their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall melt with fervent heat 'T is a Metaphor taken from the refining of metalls quae igne solvuntur ut purificentur which are melted in order to their purifying and refining So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as Coeli igne adhibito constabuntur This to be the meaning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appears because S. Peter himself interprets solvi to be liquefieri For having in the tenth verse said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. shall be dissolved he in the twelfth verse repeating it says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. shall melt Now melting is for refining and purifying Nor is the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 averse from this notion the LXX using 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in the Psalms more than once The words of the Lord are as refined or tried silver LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 12. and so elsewhere But when the Sublunary heaven shall be thus refined even the Ethereal lights of the Stars of the Sun and Moon c. will appear to those on earth much more glorious than now they do as sending their raies through a purer Medium so that all the world to us-ward shall be as it were renewed As for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or passing away verse 10. it is an Hebraism signifying any change or going of a thing from the state wherein it was and answers to the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth both transire and mutari as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also in Chaldaism doth And Schindler notes that Psal. 102. the Arabick for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mutabuntur hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transibunt In the twelfth verse it is expounded by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have already shewed is commuted with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They therefore all three of them signifie one and the same thing and I see no reason why we should imagine a greater emphasis in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for an utter abolition in the destruction by fire than was before implied in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he spake of the destruction by water 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 6. But what shall become of the invisible host which I named as part of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of this Sublunary heaven viz. those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the army of wicked and unclean spirits shall the Fire of the last Iudgment touch these I answer Though the operation of the Fire shall not be upon them to burn them yet shall they also suffer by this fiery judgment being thereby to be exiled and dejected from those high mansions and bestowed in some lower place For so that of Iude seems to imply The Angels saith he which kept not their first estate but left their own or proper habitation he hath reserved to be bound with everlasting chains of darkness at the Iudgment of the great Day Vide Piscat in hunc locum And this seems to me to be the most literal and unforced exposition of this description of S. Peter of the Heaven and Earth's conflagration at the Day of Christ and so to be preferred before any other BUT if a Prophetical strain or Scheme may be here admitted there is another way of explication which yet in the conclusion will come to the same purpose the former did although the way thereto be not the same And certainly our Saviour in the Gospel describing the coming of this Day useth a Prophetical expression The Sun saith he shall be darkned and the Moon shall not give her light and the Stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken For if this be taken literally whither shall the Stars fall from heaven which are either
New earth i.e. a new world or restauration to precede this abolition according to his promise Isa. 65. 17. 66. 22. But such an exposition methinks would not suit so well with that which I take to be S. Peter's chiefest scope in this passage nor with the words of the holy Prophets he pointeth at which seem to speak only of a Fire which should precede a restauration and not of that which should cause an utter abolition of the world And as concerning such an utter abolition of the whole frame of Heaven and Earth after the Oeconomy of the redemption and victory of Christ shall be finished it seemeth to me a mystery which hath no bottom Howsoever I am not perswaded this place of S. Peter should mean any such thing Those passages Iob 14. 12. and Apoc. 20. 11. may seem to be of more moment And if any such annihilation shall be it stands more with reason it should be by the immediate power of God without the instrument of any creature than by Fire and that he who at first brought it out of nothing without any creature's help should reduce it again to nothing without the help of any creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Collection of some passages in the ancient Fathers shewing that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are meant the Host and Furniture of Heaven c. IUSTINUS M. Apol. 1. pro Christianis statim ab initio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sic leg non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Interpres non intellexit Ità accipit THEODORETUS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad Galat. cap. 4. Apud THEOPHILUM Antiochenum Luminaria Astra veniunt nomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et Paulò pòst 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ideo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. Nec solùm idolorum cultum Lex Divina inhibet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide quae sequuntur In Epistola POLYCRATIS Episcopi Ephesini apud Eusebium lib. 3. cap. 25. de obitu Philippi Ioannis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verte jam Magna Luminaria AUTHOR Quaestionum ad Antiochum inter opera Athanasii Quaest. 37. vel 16. Solem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nuncupat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Solem intelligit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De voce Elementi vide CYPRIANUM in Exhort ad Martyr cap. 1. I. M. Of the FIRE at Christ's Second Coming An Extract of Mr. Mede's Letter to Mr. N. E. relating to some Passages in this Treatise upon 2 Pet. 3. CHrist our Lord shall come when the Beatum Milleunium is to begin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in flaming fire by the Divine and miraculous efficacy whereof the World that now is shall be refined and delivered from the bondage of corruption which came upon it for the sin of Man This Fire of Christ's coming and no other was that Ignis Purgatorius which some of those first Fathers harped on namely they supposed this Divine Fire should stretch even to the Souls of the dead and that such as had departed out of this life not fully purged of sin by Repentance here should not be found Fire-proof at that day but be refined cum mora dolore before their resurrection See that of Cyprian Epist. 52. Aliud est ad veniam stare aliud ad gloriam pervenire aliud miâ—â—um in carcerem non exire inde donec solvat novissimum quadrantem aliud scatim fiâ—â— virtutis accipere mercedem aliud pro peccatis longo dolore cruciatum emundari purgari diu igne aliud pendere in Die Iudicii ad sententiam Domini aliud statim à Domino coronari Compare that of Irenaeus lib 1. c. 2. Christum in suo de coelis adventu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This conceit sure had its ground from that of Paul 1 Cor. 3. 13. The day viz. of Iudgment shall declare what is combustible in our works because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is and upon that exhortation of Peter 2 Pet. 3. 14. Yet did they at least some of them expect another fire at the end of the thousand years for the destruction of Gog and Magog c. I. M. Some Excerpta out of the Fathers concerning the Renovation of the World Tertullianus lib. 3. adversus Marcionem cap. 24. NAm confitemur in terra nobis Regnum repromissum sed ante coelum sed alio statu utpote post Resurrectionem in Mille annos in civitate divini operis Hierusalem coelo delatâ quam Apostolus Matrem nostram sursum designat politeuma nostrum id est municipatum in coelis esse pronuncians alicui utique coelesti civitati eam deputat Hanc Ezechiel novit Apostolus Ioannes vidit Hanc dicimus excipiendis resurrectione sanctis refovendis omnium bonorum utique Spiritualium copiâ in compensationem corum quae in seculo vel despeximus vel amisimus à Deo prospectam Siquidem justum Deo dignum illic quoque exsultare famulos ejus ubi sunt afflicti in nomine ipsius Haec ratio Regni coelestis N. B. Sic vocat quod in terris futurum asserit utpote de coelo sive coelitus vel in quo coelestis Angelica vivetur vita Post cujus Mille annos intra quam aetatem concluditur sanctorum Resurrectio pro meritis maturiùs vel tardiùs resurgentium tunc mundi destructione Iudicii conflagratione commissâ demutati in atomo in Angelicam substantiam scilieet per illud incorruptelae superindumentum transferemur in coeleste Regnum In the Former of these testimonies we have Tertullian's authority for the applying of Ezekiel's Temple to the New Ierusalem In the latter for the time of the world's conflagration and its destruction Tertullian differs from the rest I am sure from Irenaeus Unless by judicii conflagratio Vide enim de Spectaculis c. 30. he meaneth that of Gog and Magog Apocal. 20. 9. But I think he doth not Idem de Resurrectione Carnis cap. 25. Eliam in Apocalypsi Ioannis ordo temporum sternitur quem Martyrum quoque animae sub altari ultionem judicium flagitantes sustinere didicerunt ut priùs orbis de pateris Angelorum plagas suas ebibat prostituta illa Civitas à decem Regibus dignos exitus referat Bestia Antichristus cum suo Pseudopropheta certamen Ecclesiae Dei inferat atque ita Diabolo in abyssum interim relegato Primae Resurrectionis praerogativa de soliis ordinetur dehinc igni dato universalis Resurrectionis censura de libris judicetur Idem adversus Hermogenem cap. 11. Imò judicium frustrà constituit Deus in justitia utique puniturus quibus contra malum finis cùm praeses ejus Diabolus abierit in
ignem quem praeparavit illi Deus Angelis ejus priùs inputeum abyssi relegatus cùm◠Revelatio filiorum Dei redemerit conditionem id est creaturam à malo utique vanitati subjectam cùm restitutâ innocentiâ integritate conditionis pecora condixerint bestiis parvuli de serpentibus luserint cùm Pater filio posuerit inimicos sub pedes utique operarios mali Origenes contra Celsum lib. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Interpres hîc non bonâ fide egit Idem in Ierem. Hom. 13. Siquis servaverit lavacrum Spiritûs Sancti i.e. ut paulò antè innuerat qui sanctus est neque post fidem magisterium Dei rursum ad scelera conversus est qui mortale peccaetum non commiserit iste in Resurrectionis Primae parte communicat Siquis verò in secunda Resurrectione servatur iste peccator est qui ignis indiget baptismo c. alludit ad illud Mat. 3. 11. Quamobrem cùm talia post mortem nobis residere videamus Scripturas diligenter simul recitantes reponamus eas in cordibus nostris juxta earum vivere praecepta nitamur ut ante excessionis diem si sieri potest peccatorum sordibus sic vocat leviora peccata seu passiones animae ut paulò antè emundati cum sanctis valeamus assumi in Christo Iesu annon respicit 1 Thes. 4. 16 17 cui est gloria imperium in secula seculorum Amen Quamvis non dubito quin Hieronymus qui in Prol. ad Orig. homil in Ezech. fatetur se vertisse 14 Origenis homilias in Ierem. hîc Origenis sententiam nonnihil immutando emolliverit tamen satìs adhuc remanet quo Origenes cum Millenariis sensisse arguatur Methodius Olympi Lyciae deinde Tyri Episcopus in Libro de Resurrectione contra Originem apud Epiphanium Haeres 74. interloquente Procl Et verò 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I. M. THE APOSTASY OF THE LATTER TIMES OR THE GENTILES THEOLOGY OF DAEMONS Revived in the LATTER TIMES amongst Christians in Worshipping of Angels Deifying and Invocating of Saints Adoring of Reliques Bowing down to Images and Crosses c. All Which Together with the Original and Progress of this Grand Apostasy Are Represented In several Elaborate DISCOURSES upon 1 Tim. 4. 1 2 c. Howbeit the Spirit speaketh expressely That in the Latter times some shall revolt from the Faith attending to erroneous Spirits and Doctrines of Daemons Through the hypocrisie of Liars having seared consciences Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats By The Pious and Profoundly-Learned IOSEPH MEDE B. D. sometime Fellow of Christ's College in Cambridge The Fifth Edition enlarged and corrected in sundry places according to the Authors own Manuscript THE APOSTASY OF THE LATTER TIMES A Treatise on 1 Timothy Chap. 4. Verse 1 2 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Which I conceive may be thus Translated Howbeit the Spirit speaketh expresly That in the latter times some shall revolt from the Faith attending to erroneous Spirits and Doctrines of Daemons Through the hypocrisie of Liars having seared consciences Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats c. CHAP. I. The dependance of the Text upon the last verse in the foregoing Chapter Why in the Description of the Mystery of Godliness those words Assumed into Glory are set last A view of the several parts of the Text containing the Method and Order of the insuing Discourse The Author 's 3 Reasons for his rendring the Text differently from the Common Translation THE WORDS I have read are a Prophecie of a Revolt of Christians from the Great Mystery of Christian Worship described in the last verse of the former Chapter which according to the division of the Ancients should be the first of this For that last Verse together with the first six Verses of this and half the seventh verse make the seventh Title or main Section of this Epistle expressed in the Edition of Robert Stephen and so are supposed from the grounds of that division to belong all to one argument The Words therefore of my Text depend upon the last of the former Chapter as the second part of a Discrete proposition That howsoever the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mystery of Christian Religion which is God manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels and assumed into Glory though this Mystery was a great one and at that time preached and believed in the world Nevertheless the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaketh expresly That in the latter times there shall be a revolt or departing from this Faith though not in all parts of it yet from a main and fundamental part thereof namely The assumption of this God and Man to the Throne of Glory and incommunicable Majesty in Heaven whereby he hath a Name given him above every Name and whereof no creature in Heaven or in Earth can be capable Which connexion is the reason why the Apostle putteth this Assumption into Glory in the last place of his description which should else in the true order have followed the words justified in the Spirit and been before preached unto the Gentiles and believed on in the world But it is the method of the Scripture sometimes to translate the proper order and to mention that in the last place whereunto it is to joyn and from whence it is to infer the next words that follow after And unless this reason be allowed here there will hardly be found any other reason of this misplacing But more of this shall be both spoken and made better to appear hereafter I come now more near to my Text the words whereof I divide into two parts First A Description of this solemn Apostasie in the first verse Secondly The Manner or Means whereby it was to come to pass in the following verses viz. Through the hypocrisie of Liars who had seared consciences forbade to marry and bade to abstain from meats For the Description of the Apostasie it self we shall find it first Generally and Indefinitely expressed both in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they shall Apostatize or revolt and in the next 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall attend to erroneous Doctrines or Doctrines of errour Then Particularly 1. What these erroneous Doctrines should be for the kind or quality namely new Doctrines of Daemons or a new Idolatry 2. The Persons who should thus apostatize not all but TINE 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 SOME 3. The Time when it should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the latter times 4. The Proof or warrant of this Prophesie it is that which the Spirit hath else-where long agoe foretold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the written word verbatim totidem verbis or in express words For the second part viz. The Means Consider 1. The Manner or Method used viz. By lying hypocrisie or hypocritical lying 2. The quality and description of the
saith Though there be that are called Gods whether in heaven or in earth as there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God 's many that is Dii Coelestes Sovereign Deities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Lords many that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Daemons Presidents of earthly things Yet to us Christians there is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Sovereign God the Father of whom are all things and we to him that is to whom as Supream we are to direct all our services and but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Lord Iesus Christ in stead of their many Mediators and Daemons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by whom are all things which come from the Father to us and through whom alone we find access unto him The allusion methinks is passing elegant and such as I think cannot be well understood without this distinction of Superior and Inferior Deities in the Theology of the Gentiles they having a plurality in both sorts and we Christians but one in each as our Apostle affirmeth There wants but only the name of Daemons in stead of which the Apostle puts Lords and that for the honour of Christ of whom he was to infer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Lord the Name of Christ being not to be polluted with the appellation of an Idol for his Apodosis must have been otherwise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Daemon Or it may be he alludes unto the Hebrew name Baalim which signifies Lords and those Lords as I told you were nothing else but Daemons For thus would S. Paul speak in the Hebrew tongue There are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many Gods and many Lords CHAP. IV. The Gentiles Doctrine concerning the Original of Daemons viz. That they were the Souls of men Deified or Canonized after death This proved out of Hesiod Plato Trismegist Philo Byblius the translator of Sanchuniathon Plutarch Tully Baal or Bel or Belus the first Deified King Hence Daemons are called in Scripture Baalim Daemons and Heroes how they differ Daemons called by the Romans Penates Lares as also Dii Animales Soul-Gods Another and an higher kind of Daemons such as never dwelt in Bodies These answer to Angels as the other viz. the Soul-Daemons answer to Saints AND thus have I shewed you though but briefly in regard of the abundance the argument would afford the Nature and Office of these Daemons according to the Doctrine of the Gentiles I come now unto another part of this Doctrine which concerns the Original of Daemons whom you shall find to be the Deified Souls of men after death For the Canonizing of the Souls of deceased Worthies is not now first devised among Christians but was an Idolatrous trick even from the days of the elder world so that the Devil when he brought in this Apostatical doctrine amongst Christians swerved but little from his ancient method of seducing mankind Let Hesiod speak in the first place as being of the most known the most ancient He tells us that when those happy men of the First and Golden age of the world were departed this life great Iupiter promoted them to be Daemons that is Keepers and Protectors or Patrons of earthly mortals and Overseers of their good and evil works Givers of riches c. and this saith he is the Kingly Royalty given them But hear his own words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And hence it is that Oenomaus quoted by Eusebius calleth these Daemon-gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod's gods The next shall be Plato who in his Cratylus says That Hesiod and a great number of the rest of the Poets speak excellently when they affirm that good men when they die attain great honour and dignity and become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is saith he as much to say as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Wise ones for Wise ones saith he are only Good ones and all Good ones are of Hesiod's Golden generation The same Plato Lib. 5. de Repub. would have all those who die valiantly in the field to be accounted of the Golden kind and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 effici to be made Daemons and the Oracle to be consulted how they should be buried and honoured and accordingly ever afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. their Sepulchres to be served and adored as the Sepulchres of Daemons In like manner should be done unto all who in their life-time excelled in vertue whether they died through age or otherwise This place Eusebius quotes Lib. 13. Praep. Evang. to parallel with it the then harmless practice of Christians in honouring the memory of Martyrs by holding their assemblies at their Sepulchres to the end that he might shew the Gentiles that Christians also honoured their Worthies in the worthiest fashion But it had been well if in the next Ages after this custom of Christians then but resembling had not proved the very same Doctrine of Daemons which the Gentiles practised But I go on and my next Author shall be Hermes Trismegistus whose antiquity is said to be very near the time of Moses I will translate you his words out of his Asclepius which Apuleius made Latine There having named AEsculapius Osiris and his Grandfather Hermes who were as he saith worshipped for Daemons in his own time he adds further That the AEgyptians call them namely the Daemons Sancta animalia and that amongst them namely the AEgyptians per singulas Civitates coli eorum animas quorum sunt consecratae virtutes Through every city their Souls are worshipped whose Vertues are deified And here note by the way that some are of opinion that the AEgyptian Serapis whose Idol had a bushel upon his head was Ioseph whose Soul the AEgyptians had canonized for a Daemon after his death Philo Byblius the translator of Sanchuniathon that ancient Phoenician Historian who lived before the times of Troy and wrote the Acts of Moses and the Iews saith Eusebius very agreeably to the Scripture and saith he learned his Story of Ierom-baal a Priest of the God IEVO Philo Byblius I say in a Preface to his Translation of this Author setteth down what he had observed and learned out of the same Story and might serve to help their understanding who should read it namely That all the Barbarians chiefly the Phoenicians and AEgyptians of whom the rest had it accounted of those for Dii Maximi who had found out any thing profitable for the life of men or had deserved well of any Nation and that they worshipped these as Gods erecting Statues Images and Temples unto them And more especially they gave the Names of their Kings as to the Elements of the world so also to these their reputed Gods for they esteemed the natural Deities of the Sun Moon and Planets and those which are in these to be only and properly Gods so that
to their devotions by any sign or act whatsoever but whatsoever is made seem to be done by them is done by the self-fame wicked Spirits which heretofore were masked under the names of Daemons and therefore in this regard the one may as well bear the names of Daemons as the other and be as likely to be intended by the use of that word Secondly though the Scripture often useth this word in the worst sense yet follows it not it always should do so Because the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it self which the Scripture hath appropriated to signifie Satan the Prince of hell-hounds following therein the Seventy who first gave it this notion nowhere else sampled in any Greek Author yet is this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the New Testament it self three several times used in the common sense for a Slanderer or False accuser and that in three several Epistles in both to Timothy and that to Titus And why should the like seem improbable for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay most certain it is so as I now come to make manifest And that first Acts 17. 18. where S. Paul our Apostle having at Athens preached Iesus risen from the dead the Philosophers thus encountred him saying This fellow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate He seemeth to be a setter-forth of strange gods namely Daemon-gods For hearing of one Iesus after death to become a Lord and Saviour and to be adored with divine worship they took him presently according to their own principles in that kind to be some new or forein Daemon for so it follows in the Text that they said thus Because he preached unto them Iesus and the Resurrection Upon the same ground Celsus in Origen lib. 8. cont Cels. calls the same Christ our Saviour the Christians Daemon for whereas the Christians said that they without hurt and danger blasphemed and reproached the Gentiles Gods Celsus replies Nonne vides bone vir quòd etiam tuo Daemoni opponens se quispiam non solùm convitiatur sed terrâ marique illum exigit Do you not see good Sir that some opposing your Daemon do not only reproach him but proclaim him unworthy to be at all in the world Where Origen answers Celsus Qui nullos scit malos Daemones nescio quomodo sui oblitus Iesum vocârit Daemonem He that acknowledges no evil Daemons I know not how he came to forget himself calling Iesus a Daemon But S. Paul thus charged by the Philosophers coming to make his Apology in the Areopagus retorts their accusation Ye men of Athens saith he I see you in all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too full of Daemons already I shall not need bring any more amongst you For thus the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Etymology signifies a worshipper of Daemon-gods and was anciently used in this sense and so you shall find it often in Clemens Alexandrinus his Protrepticon not to speak of others though afterwards from signifying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Budaeus speaks it came to be applied to those who were too precise and anxious in their devotions But I saith our Apostle preach no new Daemon unto you but that Sovereign and Celestial God who made the world and all things therein who being Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not as your Daemon-gods do in Temples made with hands neither is worshipped with mens hands as though he needed any thing as you conceive of your Daemons seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things This God I preach unto you And this place I take to be so unanswerable for the indifferent and common acception of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that I care not now though the rest should fail me but let us see what they are In Revel 9. 13 c. the sixth Trumpet from Euphrates brings an huge army upon the Christian world which destroyeth a third part of men and yet those which remained repented not of those sins verse 2. for which these plagues came upon the earth viz. That they should not worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Idols of gold silver and brass and stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk Is not this a Comment upon the Apostle's Prophecy in my Text The time which it concerns must needs fall in the last times for it is the last Trumpet save one The place must be the Roman Empire or Christian world for that is the Stage of all the Seals and Trumpets And how could it be otherwise seeing S. Iohn at Pathmos saw them coming from the great River Euphrates whatsoever comes from thence must needs fall upon the Territory of the Roman Empire To hold you no longer the best Expounders make it the Ottoman or Turkish invasion which hath swallowed so great a part of Christendom But what people are they who in the Roman Territory do in these latter times worship Idols of gold silver brass and stone and wood Are they Ethnicks there is none such Are they Iews they cannot endure the sight of them Are they Mahumetans nay they abhor it also Then must they needs be Christians and then must Christians too worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for both are spoken of the same men But what Christians do or ever did worship Devils formally But Daemon-gods alas they do and long have done Here therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is again taken in the common and Philosophical sense or at least which is all one for Evil Spirits worshipped under the names of Daemons and deceased Souls Besides my Text there is but one place more in all the Epistles of S. Paul where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used namely 1 Cor. 10. 21. where if there be any allusion to the Gentiles conceit of Daemons then all the places of S. Paul's Epistles are bending that way But some there are saith Stephen in his Thesaurus who think the Apostle in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Cup of Daemons alludes unto that poculum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used amongst the Gentiles And further to strengthen this conceit of the Apostle's Allusion to the Heathenish notion of Daemons the words of the former verse make much For the things which the Gentiles sacrifice saith he to Daemons and not to God Now this was the very Tenet of the Gentiles That the Sovereign and Celestial Gods were to be worshipped only purâ mente and with hymns and praises and that Sacrifices were only for Daemons Vid. Porphy in Euseb. Praep. Evang. Herm. Trismeg in Asclepio Apuleium de Daemonio Socratis He therefore who had given his faith to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Lord to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only Potentate to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the one and only Mediator Iesus Christ must have no communion have no part in the service of those many Mediators Lords or
must premise some General grounds which are as followeth First That as God is most One and without all Multiplicity so must the Honour and Service which is given unto him have no Communicability Isa. 42. 8. I am the Lord that is my name and my glory will I not give unto another nor my praise to graven Images For the One-most God must have an One-most service Therefore in that Action whereof God is the Object nothing must be an Object but God Or in the Scripture phrase thus In those actions which look towards the Face of God nothing may come between whose Face such Actions may look upon besides him whether by way of Subordination to him or Representation of him For I am the Lord thy God saith he Thou shalt have no other Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before my face Secondly This Face of God is not only the Object of his Person but also the Place of his presence where his Glory is revealed in the Heavens where we shall see him face to face 1 Cor. 13. 12. Revel 22. 4. and where the Angels in heaven behold the Face of the Father which is in Heaven Matth. 18. 10. No Action therefore directed thitherward that is to this Face of his revealed presence and glory may so much as look asquint upon any other Object or behold any other Face but the Face of God alone For we must have no other Gods before his Face I say not that a man may not turn his Face upon the Face of any other thing when he turns his Face towards the Face of God for how then should we worship him at all seeing which way soever we turn us something will always be before us But it is not the Face of our Bodies or their posture but the Face and posture of the Act we do which must not have the Face turned upon any thing else when it is directed at the Face of God namely That Action in which God is faced must face nothing else but God that is Where God is the Object whether in regard of his Person when we pray unto him or of his Throne of presence when we would approach it or direct our supplications towards it there nothing is to have any respect of an Object but God alone So although when we pray unto God we turn the face of our Bodies towards Heaven the Sun the Moon and Stars yet do we not therefore worship the host of heaven because our Action hath no relation to them as to an Object but to God alone and howsoever they are between God and us in place yet as an Object of our devotion neither they nor any thing in them come any way between us and him Now for the reason if you ask it of this Incommunicableness of all Action and Service directed to God-ward you shall have it Exod. 34. 14. Because the Lord whose name is Iealous is a Iealous God Iealous not only lest he should not be honoured and served as God but Iealous lest he should not be honoured as One God For as by honouring him we acknowledge him God so by the Incommunicableness of honour we acknowledge him One God For this cause God being to give us a Mediator by whom we should have access unto his presence and whom without his Iealousie we might interpose in our devotions and supplications unto himself or offered at the Throne of his Majesty and Glory in the heavens provided that admirable Mystery of communicating to the nature of a man born of a woman the Hypostatical union of the second Person of the Deity and him after he had vanquished death to exalt to sit at his right hand of Glory and Power in the Heavens there in his own Presence and Throne to receive our Requests and to deal as an Agent between us and him Thus at length I am arrived at that Port which all this while I made for viz. to shew That this Glory of Christ which is styled His sitting at the Right hand of God is that Incommunicable Royalty to which of right belongeth in the Presence of God to receive and present our devotions to the Divine Majesty as in that which now followeth shall appear Sessio ad Dextram Dei To sit at the Right hand of God is to be installed in God's Throne or to have a God-like Royalty which is defined in Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Majesty of Christ in heaven whence it is said Heb. 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He sate down on the Right hand of Majesty on high and Heb. 8. 1. it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens It is called also by Christ himself Mark 14. 62. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 22. 69. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Right hand of Power and the Right hand of the Power of God For as to the Right hand belongs both dignity and strength so doth this Glory of Christ include both a God-like Sublimity and a God-like Power the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The proper place where the Majestical Glory is revealed is the Heavens as may appear almost wheresoever this sitting at the right hand of God is mentioned Eph. 1. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Coloss. 3. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 7. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 3. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Heaven Heavenly places High places and the like being alwayes thereto annexed and every where appeareth to be a consequent of his Ascension into Heaven as we say in our Creed He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the Right hand of God and therefore in the words whereon my Text depends is expressed by Assumed or Taken up into Glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as God himself is styled Pater in Coelis not because not elsewhere but because his Glory is there revealed so Christ sits ad dextram in Coelis because there the beams of the Majesty given him by his Father are revealed whence it comes that his Kingdom is called the Kingdom of Heaven that is a Kingdom whose King 's residence and Kingly Throne are both in Heaven This glorious Throne of Majesty this Sitting at the Right hand of the Power of the Almighty is a Name incommunicable an Exaltation whereof no creature in heaven or earth is capable which is that the Apostle means to tell us when he saith Eph. 1. 21. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come and Phil. 2. 9 10. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that is created name That at the name of Iesus every knee should bow both of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Revel 3. 21. He
that overcometh saith Christ I will give him to sit with me in my Throne even as I have overcome and sate with my Father in his Throne Here is mention we see of two Thrones of which my Throne that is Christ's Throne is the condition of a glorified man in this Throne his Saints shall sit with him But my Father's Throne is the Power of Divine Majesty wherein none may sit but God and the God-Man Iesus Christ. These grounds laid I say That the Honour of being prayed to in Heaven and before the Throne of presence is a Prerogative of Dextra Dei and to receive our devotions there a Flower of Christ's sitting at the Right hand of God as S. Paul Rom. 8. 34. conjoyns them saying Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is at the Right hand of God and who makes intercession for us For by right of this his Exaltation and Majesty he comes to be a Priest after the order of Melchisedech as appears Psalm 110. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou on my Right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool then follow the effects thereof ver 4. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech And by the same right also he becomes the Only and Eternal Priest which hath to do in the most Holy place the Heavens For as the High Priest only entred the most Holy place beyond the veil in the earthly Tabernacle so Christ Iesus our only High Priest through his Body as the first Tabernacle by his own bloud entred into the second Tabernacle or Holy place not made with hands as was the figure but into Heaven it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there to appear in the presence of God for us All this you have in the same words at large Heb. 9. 7 11 12 24. Now in the Tabernacle of this world as was in the first Tabernacle we may haply find many Priests whom to imploy as Agents for us with God But in the second Tabernacle which is Heaven there is but one Agent to be imployed but one who hath Royal commission to deal between God and men that Angel of the presence as Isaiah calls him ch 63. 9. and one only Mediator Iesus Christ the Lord of glory who in this prerogative is above Saints and Angels For to which of the Saints or Angels said God at any time Sit on my Right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool Heb. 1. 4 9 13. Neither will this Demonstration admit that vulgar Exception to be of any force namely That Expiatory mediation or Meritorious intercession in heaven should indeed appertain to Christ alone but Favourable intercession to pray for us not so and therefore for this we may without derogation to Christ solicite either Saints or Angels I could say that this ragge is too-too narrow and short to cover their nakedness who lay hold of it in whose Supplications to Saints and to God too in their names nothing is more usual than the express mention of their Merits Bloud and Sufferings as Motives to God to hear them But we shall not need this Answer For we have demonstrated that as in the Law none but the High Priest alone was to do office in the Holiest place so Christ Iesus now is the only Agent for whatsoever is to be done for us in the holiest Tabernacle of Heaven Besides we read that none but the High Priest alone was to offer Incense or to incense the most Holy place when he entred into it But Incense is the Prayers of the Saints sent thither from this outward Temple of the militant Church as in the Law was fetched from without the veil This therefore none in Heaven but Christ alone must receive from us to offer for us And this is that Angel with the golden Censer Rev. 8. 3. who there offers the Incense of the prayers of the Saints there given him to offer upon the golden Altar before the Throne alluding expresly to the golden Altar before the Testimony For the fuller understanding and farther confirmation of what hath been spoken take this also That notwithstanding the man Christ Iesus in regard of his Person being God as well as Man◠was from his first incarnation capable of this Royalty and Glory not only for the incomparable sufficiency of his Person which by reason of his twofold Nature is alwaies and in all places present both with God and men and so at one instant able and ready at every need to present to the one what he should receive from the other but chiefly and most of all for that by being very God himself his Father's jealousie which could never have brooked the communication of this Glory to any other which should not have been the self-same with himself was by this condition of his Person prevented and secured Nevertheless and notwithstanding all this capability of his Person it was the will of his Father in the dispensation of the Mystery of our redemption not to confer it upon him but as purchased and attained by suffering and undergoing of that Death which no creature in heaven or in earth was able to undergo but himself being a suffering of a Death whereby Death it self was overcome and vanquished to the end that none by death save Iesus Christ alone might be ever thought or deemed capable of the like Glory and Sublimity but that it might appear for ever to be a peculiar right to him And this I think is not only agreeable to the tenour of Scripture but express Scripture it self Heb. 2. 9 10. But we see Iesus who was made a little lower than the Angels by the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings Phil. 2. 8. And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross and v. 9 10. Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him and given him a name above every name That at the name of Iesus every knee should bow Heb. 10. 12. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever sate down on the Right hand of God Rom. 14. 9. For to this end Christ both died rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living See besides Acts 5. 30 31. Rom. 8. 34. Ephes. 1. 20. 1 Pet. 1. 11. Lastly for that particular parcel of this Glory of Christ viz. To be that only Name in which we are to ask at the hands of God whatsoever we have to ask is not this also ascribed and annexed to his triumph over death Iohn 14. 12 13. I go unto my Father viz. through death And whatsoever ye ask in my name that will I do Iohn
a Daemon â— yet spake not of and yet a Daemon to sit as God in the Temple and Throne of Christ with the keys of Hades and death to deliver them What stronger presumption can there be of this than the Event and that the errour of Purgatory had so long been working before the Devil seemed to know how to make this use of it which at length he spied out and plied lustily with Signs and Wonders If all this be true then it follows still that it is Spiritual Fornication which the Holy Ghost in Scripture intendeth and the Event hath marked out for the Soul of Antichristian abomination and impiety But of the matter of Miracles and lying wonders more in the Second part of my Text which is the proper place thereof 3. And lastly The Great Apostasie is a thing proper to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latter times which I will shew when I come at it to be the last times of the Fourth Kingdom of Daniel Dan. 7. 25. alibi But amongst all other Corruptions only the Spiritual fornication of the Church and Spouse of Christ will be found proper to these times CHAP. IX Two Exceptions against the foregoing Assertion Except I. That Idolatry should rather be laid upon the Pagans This answered and proved That Pagan Idolatry is not here meant nor can the Saracen or Turk be the Antichrist meant in Scripture Except II. That Antichristianism cannot be charged upon those that acknowledge the true God and Christ. The Answer to this wherein is interwoven the Author's serious and pathetical Expostulation with the Church of Rome That Antichrist is a Counter-Christ and his Coming a Counter-resemblance of the Coming of Christ shew'd in several particulars BUT you will say if Idolatry and Spiritual fornication be the matter why should not this rather be laid upon Paynims and Turks and Saracens who acknowledge not Christ rather than upon Christians who do I answer S. Paul and S. Iohn prophesied of a thing to come not of that which was in being when they prophesied But Ethnical and Paynim Idolatry at that time overwhelmed the whole earth yea and persecuted and made war with the Saints and no time hath yet been when this Idolatry was not to be found It must needs be then some other Whoredom for Whoredom it was to be which was prophesied of to come Again neither Saraâ—en nor Turk the greatest unchristian States since Christ neither of these I say can be the Antichrist we speak of nor their Blasphemy that Mystery of iniquity foretold by the Apostles and Prophets For there are two unquestionable Characters of that Mystery which will neither of them without doubt not both of them agree to Turk or Saracen namely First That it should sit in the Great City which in S. Iohn's time reigned over the nations of the earth Secondly That it should be an Apostasie from the Christian faith once embraced But the Turk whatsoever he be is no Apostate being of a Nation which never was Christian Nor was the seat of the Saracen Empire whilest it stood either in the Old or New Rome or near unto either For I would seem to yield for this time that New Rome or Constantinople would serve the turn though I am far enough from believing it Nor will I allege that Mahumet himself and his Nation were both Paynims when they began their blasphemie for you would tell me that Sergius the Monk taught him to make the Alcoran Nor will I question now whether the Christian or the Mahumetan be the greater Idolater though the doubt might soon be resolved seeing it is well known that the Mahumetans worship no Images But I have alleged nothing but what is without exception That both these Characters I speak of cannot be applied either to Turk or Saracen though I believe that neither can be When I spake of Paynims and Mahumetans I would have you remember that there were some blasphemous Sects in the first Ages of the Church which are no more to be accounted of as Christians than Mahumetans and Paynims are nay Mahumetanism is nearer Christianity than many of them were For amongst whom the Christians Deity is not received and worshipped those though they spring up in imitation of Christianity I account but new Paynim-blasphemies and not Christian Heresies Such were the Cerinthians Marcionites Saturnians Valentinians and Manichees c. Which neither professed the same Deity nor acknowledged that Divine Word which we Christians do whereas yet the Mahumetans worship the same God with Iews and Christians God the Creator of Heaven and Earth the God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob howsoever they conceive otherwise of his Nature and Properties than Christians do But this by the way lest it might put a rub in our discourse of Spiritual fornication But you will still allege for her behalf who seems all this while to be charged That Antichrist and the Man of sin is set forth in Scripture as the most hateful and execrable thing that can be in the eyes of God Almighty But how can such a thing be said and comparatively to be where the true God with Christ his Son God and man are in any sort acknowledged and worshipped Lord that the whole strain of Scripture in the Prophets especially and the example of the Church of Israel should not cure this web and take this filme from the eyes of men Doth not the Lord say of Israel that he had chosen them to be a special people to himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth Deut. 7. 6. You only have I known saith he of all the families of the earth Amos 3. 2. And is not Christ the Lord of Christians and is not the Church his Spouse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith S. Paul Ephes. 5. 32. This is a great Mystery No marvel then where this Mystery is not considered if the Mystery of iniquity be not understood Alas poor Church of Israel thy case it seems should have been a very hard one For what Nation in the world ever suffered so much rebuke so many plagues so much wrath as thou hast done Yet couldst thou say for thy self thou never forsookest the true God altogether but wast still called by his Name only thou wouldst fain worship him in Calves and Images as other Nations thy neighbours did their Gods thou wouldst needs follow the fashion and this was thine errour Thou never meantest to cast off thy Iehovah altogether but still wouldst have him to be thy God and thy self to be his people yet thou tookest this liberty to have other Gods besides the Lord thy God viz. thy Baalims and Daemon-Gods of other Nations about thee and yet hopedst that Iehovah the God of heaven thy only Sovereign God would not be offended thereat since thou retainedst him still in chief place and honour with thee Why was thy God then so unkind and cruel unto thee to call thee Whore and Prostitute Whore
Your very loving Friend Tho. Hayn I. POSIT DAniel shews not the Roman Monarchie's persecution of the Church and the Fall of the same Monarchy Argum. 1. If the Romans persecution of the saints and the Fall of the Romans were not revealed till Christ revealed them to Iohn in the Apocalyps then Daniel revealed them not But the Romans persecution of the Saints and their Fall were not revealed till Christ revealed them to Iohn in the Apocalyps Ergò Daniel revealed them not The Major Proposition is evident The Minor is thus proved The Romans persecution of the Saints and their Fall are revealed in the little Book Apoc. 5. c. by opening seven seals and blowing seven Trumpets all concerning seven-headed Rome and none was able to open the Seals of this Book till Christ opened them to Iohn Ergò the Romans persecution and Fall were revealed to none till Christ revealed them to Iohn The former part of the Antecedent is granted by the general consent of Interpreters on the Apocalyps The latter part is clear in the Text Apocal. 5. None was able to open the Book none in heaven or earth or under the earth Now if Daniel had shewed these persecutions Paul who delivered to his hearers all the counsel of God could have opened these also But Apocal. 5. denies that he could or that any man else could Argum. 2. The persecutions of Christ's eternal Kingdom mentioned in Dan. 2. 44. chap. 7. 26 27. and frequently in the New Testament are not prophesied f in Daniel But the persecutions brought by the Romans on the Church are against Christ's eternal Kingdom to be preached over the world after Christ. Ergò the persecutions brought by the Romans on the Church or eternal Kingdom of Christ are not spoken of in Daniel The Minor Proposition is clear The Major is confirmed by all speeches of that eternal Kingdom in Daniel The Stone which became a Mountain is not battered nor the Mountain any way assailed chap. 2. The eternal Kingdom breaks the former Kingdoms but it self is not broken Chap. 2. 44. When the four Beasts chap. 7. are destroyed then comes the Son of man in the clouds and receives the eternal Kingdom which Iohn Baptist Christ himself and the Apostles preached There also is no persecution of this Kingdom mentioned Chap. 7. 13 14. nor Verse 27 c. The Battel against the Saints Verse 21. and the consuming of them Verse 25. concerns the Saints before the setting up of Christ's Kingdom over all the world as the endeavour to alter Times and Laws plainly shews Antiochus Epiphanes was the man that attempted this II. POSIT The fourth Beast Dan. 7. is not able sufficiently to express the Roman Empire and therefore it expresseth it not Argum. That which is but sufficiently expressed by all the four Beasts or the chief parts of all four cannot be sufficiently expressed by one of the four alone namely the fourth But the Roman Empire is but sufficiently expressed by all the four Beasts Dan. 7. or the chief parts of them Ergò the Roman Empire cannot be sufficiently expressed by the fourth Beast alone The Major is evident The Minor is thus confirmed If the Roman Empire Apoc. 13. be resembled by a Beast which is composed of all Daniel's four Beasts Dan. 7. or the chief parts of the four Beasts then it is but sufficiently expressed by them all But the Roman Empire Apoc. 13. is resembled by a Beast which is composed of all Daniel's four Beasts or their chief parts Ergò the Roman Empire c. The Major is proved thus Either the Major is true or else the Composition taken from the three former Beasts and their chief parts is needless But it is not needless for God hath nothing needless in his Word Ergò the Major is true The Minor is proved thus That the Roman Empire is expressed by a Beast composed of all Daniel's four Beasts Dan. 7. or the chief parts of them all is plain thus 3. It is like a Leopard It hath 7 heads 3. Beast The Leopard 1. 1. It hath a Lion's mouth So had the four Beasts in Dan. 1. The Lion 1. 2. A Bear 's pawes  2. The Bear 1. 4. The 10 horns of the 4. Beast  4. The Last Beast 4.    In all 7 heads It blasphemes hath large authority wars against the Saints overcomes and prospers Therefore it is composed and is extracted out of the 4 Beasts Dan. 7. EPISTLE VI. Mr. Med's Answer to Mr. Hayn's First Letter about several passages in Daniel and the Revelation SIR THE last week I could not get any time to answer your Letter and therefore I thought good to make use of your indulgence that I should answer at my best leisure And though I have not now that leisure I expected yet I will not frustrate you any longer What passages of mine you should have seen upon Daniel's times I cannot imagine for I remember not to have done any thing directly upon that Prophecy but only occasionally in some Discourses upon other places of Scripture whether any body hath extracted those parcels from their body I cannot tell but wish they had not lest I may have wrong by being mistaken For your Two Positions about the Fourth Kingdom in Daniel your Grounds do as much mistake as contradict my Tenets And therefore I shall either answer or decline your Arguments by setting down my own opinion in these following Theses 1. The Roman Empire to be the Fourth Kingdom of Daniel was believed by the Church of Israel both before and in our Saviour's time received by the Disciples of the Apostles and the whole Christian Church for the first 400 years without any known contradiction And I confess having so good ground in Scripture it is with me tantùm non Articulus fidei little less than an Article of faith 2. I acknowledge also the subject of the Apocalyptical Visions to be Fata Imperii Romani post primum Christi adventum usque ad secundum supersuturi The Fates of the Roman Empire which after the first coming of Christ was still to continue in being even till the second And this I affirm the Roman Kingdom was revealed unto Daniel but not according to that distinct succession of things and specification of the Fates thereof which was first made known unto S. Iohn but only in general and in imagine confusa not to be explicated but by Christ himself I say the Roman Kingdom was revealed to Daniel in general but the order of the times thereof and the series rerum gerundarum or course of things to be acted therein not until the Revelation unto S. Iohn 3. Nor is it strange or unwonted that a thing may be revealed in general and yet most of the particulars concerning the same to be unknown and sealed The calling of the Gentiles or the Kingdom of Christ among the Gentiles by way of surrogation to the Iews was revealed unto S. Peter and
the Throne of the Ancient of days was set and the Iews had defence till Christ's time from the weak Greeks And now the Romans having an inch given them take an ell and usurp authority over the Iews and with them kill Christ the Messiah But Christ overcame death and had all power in heaven and in earth given him Matth. 28. This his Kingdom we acknowledge in our prayers and the Church celebrates Apocal. 5. by the voice of all such as were made Priests and Kings to reign on the earth even such as were gathered out of all nations tongues and kindreds That which you add about Times put for Things done in time is very true for the signification of the Phrase when it comes alone in divers places But here changing of Times and Laws go together Antiochus Epiphanes his dealings wonderfully agree to this 1 Mac. 1. 42. He would make every one leave his Laws He forbids burnt-offering and sacrifice Vers 45. He commands the Books of the Law to be burnt Vers. 56 57. He slew the Iews for circumcising their children Vers. 60. He puts down their Laws 2 Macc. 4. 10. 6. 1 2. He uses threats and cruelty then flattery to make them forsake the Law 2 Macc. 7. All these stirrs grew from the Greeks attempting to make them leave their Laws 1 Macc. 6. 59. Then Epiphanes his attempt to alter Times is clear in his command to put down the Sabbaths and Feasts and his making them to keep Bacchus Feasts 2 Macc. 6. 7. To the Seventh THESIS The Fourth Beast Dan. 7. and the First Beast Revel 13. are not one and the same They differ much in shape of body and in their acts and in their falls and plagues Besides that in the Apocal. is made as it were of all the four in Daniel and is so described as if it came in stead and was comparable to them all as indeed it was Horns more or less distinguish not a Beast That infirms not what I said By the way only I here observe That the Beast with seven horns was a Lamb indeed that is Christ. The Beast Apocal. 13. with two horns had these two horns like a Lamb's but in truth he might be a Wolf Seeing it is not said that Daniel's Fourth Beast had four heads therein I mistook in my former writing it is to be presumed he had but one as Beasts usually have no more except in Vision for expression of some special matter more heads be attributed to them The Third Beast Dan. 7. had four heads The number of which four heads with the three heads of the other three Beasts◠fits so well with Iohn's Beast besides the resemblance to the Lion Bear Leopard that I believe it cannot be casual especially seeing it is in God's Book Concerning that you say of Mouth put singularly I answer that the Beast Apocal. 13. had seven heads with names of blasphemy This will imply that each had a mouth and that a blasphemous mouth which is more Besides the very nomination of head implies a mouth and seven heads seven mouths And whereas there is mention of a mouth given the Beast Vers. 5. methinks that should intimate the extremity of blasphemy proceeding from the seventh head beyond all the rest Whereas you say the third Kingdom in Daniel was not so distinctly revealed Chap. 7. as afterwards chap. 8. That is true And further I add That in Visions and Prophecies God hath spoken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and revealed things to come by parts so that several Visions or Prophecies laid together make up the whole In each of Daniel's Visions something is passed over to be supplied by the rest In the second Chapter there is nothing to type Alexander's four chief Chaptains nor is it told what people should be trode on by the Iron legs In Chap. 7. the Exposition of the three former kingdoms is very brief the Exposition of the fourth very large The weakness of Antiochus his Successors is unexpressed In Chap. 8. nine of the horns coming out of Alexander's Captains are passed over and the little Horn fully set out The Kingdom of Christ over all Nations is not spoken of at all These things thus passed over are supplied by the rest So is it in the Revelation The afflicting of God's Church is diversly expressed and the afflicters thereof and the afflicted by them So that no one Vision but the several Visions laid together do give us a perfect and whole delineation of what was to come from that time to the end of the World EPISTLE VIII Mr. Mede's Answer to Mr. Hayn's Second Letter about several passages in Daniel and the Revelation SIR I Received yours at the Commencement wherein I found if I should answer to every part I should have as many Questions to dispute as I sent you Theses The experience of which multiplications in that kind makes me so backward in Collations by writing So that I can with much more patience endure to be contradicted than be drawn to make Reply But all this time the truth is I had no leisure nor yet have and am presently also to go into the Countrey where I shall stay some weeks and have no opportunity to write That I might not therefore in the mean time seem too much too neglect you I have caused a Scholar of yours to write out something I had by me in a Paper long ago written wherein you may further see my Opinion and some part of the grounds thereof When I return and have more leisure I shall answer to what I find Principal in your Replies but not to what is Circumstantial for so the business would grow too tedious for my pen. In the mean time I would desire you to believe that I have read the most that hath or can be said for that Opinion either by the chief Patrons thereof Broughton and Iunius or their followers Polanus Piscator D. Willet and that whilst I was yet free and first began with these kind of studies and yet found nothing that could in the least measure perswade me to be of their mind And I see now that the modern Writers and even some of their Scholars return to the ancient opinion and forsake their Masters in this point This I speak not to boast of my reading in this controversie but to shorten your Discourses which you may send hereafter you shall need but touch and spare the labour of so much enlargement But a word or two to your Reply Whereas you say The ground of the expectation of the coming of Christ when be came was the Fall or expiration of the Fourth Kingdom I utterly deny it The ground was the near expiration of Daniel's 70 weeks concurring with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Fourth Kingdom the Roman during which his Kingdom was to be first revealed and at the end of which consummated Besides I acknowledge no place in this account of Kingdoms for the Greeks after Antiochus Epiphanes
Octob. 8. 1629. from Christ's Hospital London THE ground of the expectation of the coming of Christ and his Kingdom was say you the near expiration of Daniel's Seventy weeks The expectation of Simeon Anna and others of the Magi and them of the East was seventy years before the end of Daniel's Seventy weeks according to your opinion For you hold that the Seventy weeks end at Ierusalem's overthrow which was after Christ's Birth seventy years Therefore it could not be any mark for the looking for of Christ. 2. At the end of the Seventy weeks according to your judgment the City and Sanctuary was to be destroyed sacrifice ended and desolation brought on the Iews Therefore the Seventy weeks according to your Tenet is a mark of other matters not of Christ's or the Saints Kingdom but rather of Vespasian's as Iosephus saith which ensued just upon the end of the Seventy weeks But in truth Daniel's Seventy weeks end at Christ's death and seeing Christ was expected to be King of the Iews all that truly kept account of the Seventy weeks might rightly conceive that Christ about thirty years before the expiration of the Seventy weeks should be born and so about thirty years old which are years fit for publick charge should enter upon that Kingdom Of this reason I forbore to write formerly because I saw that we should differ about the beginning and end of Daniel's Seventy weeks which would bring on a new controversie between us That Christ's Kingdom was as you affirm to be revealed in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Fourth Kingdom I see no Text that proves it nor that Christ's Kingdom should be consummated at the end of the Roman Kingdom At the end of the Fourth Kingdom in Daniel it was to begin Chap. 7. And that it was perfected in Christ Iesus is evident for he overcame the Devil Death Hell and all and teaches that all power is given him in heaven and earth that all things bow to him and that he led captivity captive Further I have good ground for to say that the extirpation of the Fourth Kingdom was one sâ—re mark of Christ's coming and his Kingdom for that only is the mark of the same Chap. 2. and 7. where that Kingdom is mentioned You will not admit the Greeks any Rule after Antiochus Epiph. death because the Holy Ghost ends their Kingdom in him I say the Holy Ghost ends the domineering violence and persecution of the Saints in him but there were to be clayie feet after him Stories shew that many Kings of the Greeks ruled after him and in the end Cleopatra a woman as Iosephus saith of chief Nobility in those times even Caesar at first umpired between her and her brother in matters of difference between them She had the revenue of Iericho and Arabia and other parts she killed all her kindred that might stand in her wayâ— and desired Antonie to do the like by them of chief bleâ—d in Syria that she in right of the Greeks might have all She with the rest after Epiphanes were sufficient to express the clayie legs And that Rule is sufficient and all that I stand for Besides the Stone as cut out not as growing to a Mountain is to fall on the toes So that if by the legs the Romans be understood Christ was not to come in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but at their fall Evident it is that Christ's Kingdom took place as frequent mention of it in the New Testament shews at his first coming and so began at the beginning of the Roman persecutions not at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of them they were abundant and manifold afterward The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of their Empire hath nothing to do here You hold still that the Roman Kingdom was revealed to Daniel but not according to the distinct Fates and Times as to Iohn I shewed that the Fourth Kingdom in Daniel was revealed to him most distinctly for the original proceeding strength acts persecution sufferings fall All the 〈◊〉 are revealed to Iohn about the Roman Kingdom Now if they should both speak of the Roman Kingdom but in these points 〈…〉 it be true in Iohn that this Book was opened by none as you limit it according 〈…〉 distinct Fates before by Christ Therefore the limitation propounded by you cannot hold I say not that the Iews after the Apostles times brought in or invented the opinion That the Romans were Daniel's Fourth Kingdom but that they endeavoured to perswade it whoever were the brochers of it Ionathan Ben Uziel or any other surely some of their stamp And the rather they then did and now do perswade to it because some Christians by assenting to them give them advantage therein If Porphyrie an enemy to Christians overcome by the evidence of truth confessed it that is a greater confirmation of the truth The Devil confessed Christ to be the Son of the living God though the Devil be a liar commonly yet now he spake that which was most true Besides in S. Ierome it appears that Porphyrie was not alone in that opinion but that divers others held the same And in the eleventh chapter S. Ierome goes along with Porphyrie in most things but addeth this That Antichrist and his doings were there typed And in points in which S. Ierome crosseth Porphyrie his arguments are sometimes but his own bare assertion sometimes weak If you please to set the best edge on them that may be we will try them And Porphyrie had Suctorius his Author To the writing in a different hand You hold Christ's Kingdom to be double First Regnum Lapidis while the times of the Four Kingdoms lasted I say it cannot be in the time of the three former Kingdoms for it was preached by Christ and the Apostles to be at hand in the time of the Romans Antiochus Epiphanes his time whom you make the last of the Greeks being past well-near or full hundreds of years before Besides I object That if Christ's Kingdom be set up in the Fourth Kingdom 's time it must be set up in the three formers time also For it confounded the gold silver brass iron as well as fell on the clayie legs Again if you make the Sâ—one to continue a Stone from Christ's time till ours and some years after God knows how long to smite the feet of the Image you will make the legs and feet of the Image above 1600 years long three times and more as long as all the body The Second Kingdom of Christ you hold to be Regnum montis that shall fill the whole earth to arise when the Image shall be utterly destroyed 1. I say This division of Christ's Kingdom is no where in Scripture plainly expressed though this Kingdom be most frequently handled If such a thing had been it would in one place or other in the various handling of it have been plainly taught 2. The Stone spreads it self over the whole earth presently
discern in S. Malthew the Hebrew Evangelist Chap. 24. v. 30. two such Appearances intimated The one in the words Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and all the Tribes of the earth shall mourn out of Zach. 12. v. 10 11 12. The other in the words following And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory out of Dan. 7. But here I find a rub which I cannot yet get over For this appearing of the sign of the Son of man in heaven as well as his coming in the clouds with great glory is said to be immediately after the tribulation of those days that is as I am wont to expound it soon after the long tribulation of the Iewish Nation shall be ended But their tribulation shall not end till they be converted Ergo their Conversion must needs precede the sign of the Son of man in heaven there mentioned Here I stick But your Objections I think I could answer thus As first to that of the Iews Conversion to be wrought by the taking away the veil from their hearts 2 Cor. 3. I could answer That that is the Internal cause of their Conversion or if you will the act of the Spirit of God illuminating and converting them as he that takes away the film from the eyes of him that sees not or the hood from him that is hood-winkt does by that act make him see But I speak of the External cause or means of the Iews Conversion such as in the ordinary administration of God is the preaching of the Word but extraordinarily may be by Miracle as was in the Conversion of Paul who nevertheless had the Mosaical veil taken from his heart as well as the rest of his Nation when they are converted shall have But by the way because you mention that place Luk. 7. 47. give me leave to add That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies in Scripture not only Quia or quoniam but also the redditive thereto which is Ideo propterea because namely the Hebrew particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers signifies both as appears Psal. 116. v. 10. compared with 2 Cor. 4. 13. ubi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hebraeo à Paulo exponitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Gen. 22. 17. item Eccles. 8. 6. See our English In both which places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both the causal Quoniam and the redditive thereto Ideo Now the Scripture is wont to extend the Greek words it useth unto the full notion of the Hebrew or Chaldee to which they answer as may be proved by many Examples though in the Greeks use they signified not so This Dialect is called Lingua Hellenistica spoken by the Hellenists or Greekish Iews which lived dispersed under the Greek Empire whose property is to accommodate verba Graeca notioni Orientis But no such ground can be shewn I think for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quando to signifie the redditive tunc To your other Objection How such a Vision could be manifested to the Iews dispersed in several parts of the world I could answer That a Vision or Apparition in Heaven may be seen to the greatest part of the world at the same time as Stars and Comets are how else shall the Appearing of our Saviour in the clouds of Heaven at his coming to Iudgment be seen at once to so many Nations of the world But here is one thing more considerable from the miraculous Conversion of S. Paul upon supposal that that of the Iews may be like it viz. That though many were present with S. Paul at that time yet none saw the apparition of Christ nor heard him speak but Paul alone for whose sake he appeared The rest saw indeed a strange light and heard the voice of Paul replying and answering but they heard not the voice nor saw any that spake unto him which therefore made them astonished Compare Acts 9. 7. where it is said They heard Paul's voice with Acts 22. 9. where it is said They heard not the voice of him that spake unto him And take heed here of some of our English Bibles which have put in a not where it should not be as they have done the like in other places Fie upon such careless Printers But to the matter What if the like be at the Iews Conversion to wit that they alone shall see and hear the voice of Christ but none of the Gentiles amongst whom they dwell though perhaps some strange light for a testimony may at that instant surprise the whole world to the astonishment of the Nations therein Consider that of Matt. 24. 27. and the places of the other Evangelists answering thereto And what if the Iews upon such an apparition may have as S. Paul had an Ananias too or as they expect an Elias to instruct them So you know the ancient Christian Church believed from Mal. 4. 5. Mat. 17. 11. Ecclus. 48. 10. For though the Fathers as well as the Iews might erre concerning the person and circumstances of this Elias yet it follows not presently but the substance of the opinion might be true But I will not discover all my roving Speculations unless I had better ground for them lest perhaps I should make you more than wonder at me Howsoever it be I suppose it is no sin to conceive magnificè and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of so great a work of God towards a people for whom he hath formerly shewed so many wonders especially this being to be the greatest work of mercy and wonder that ever he did for them far beyond the bringing them forth of AEgypt and leading them in the wilderness c. Consider it Besides it may be there is a precedent already extant Sure I am when I had entertained this conceit into my meditation I was led by I know not what providence as I was searching some other matter to find an History of the greatest multitude of Iews that ever I think were converted since the Apostles times to have been convinced by such a miraculous apparition in every respect as I had apprehended The Story if it be true happened about some 570 years after Christ in the daies of Iustinus the Greek Emperor though Bigneus puts it a hundred years before in the kingdom of the Omerites some write Homerites in Arabia Felix where the Iews in those parts being a strong party had challenged to a publick Disputation a Christian City and Kingdom in that Tract upon condition that if they could not convince the Christians by strength of Reason and Scripture they would become Christians if they could they required the Christians should turn Iews The Disputation was performed for three days together sub dio in a full assembly of the King his Peers and people between Gregentius Bishop of Tephra and Herbanus champion for the Iews who were there assembled with him
and their Lord should reign for ever See the place and consider it This opinion is here and there also dispersed in the Chaldee Paraphrase and in the Talmud as of ancient Tradition and is the opinion of the Iews at this day who as they look not for the Kingdom of their Messiah until Dies Iudicii magni so they expect that their forefathers at least such as were just and holy should rise at the beginning of the same and reign in the land of Israel with their off-spring under Messiah I can hardly believe that all this smoke of Tradition could arise but from some fire of Truth anciently made known unto them Besides why should the holy Ghost in this point speak so like them unless he would induce us mutatis mutandis to mean with them In fine the Second and Universal Resurrection with the State of the Saints after it now so clearly revealed in Christianity seems to have been less known to the ancient Church of the Iews than the First and the State to accompany it Lastly This was the Opinion of the whole Orthodox Christian Church in the Age immediately following the death of S. Iohn when yet Polycarp and many of the Apostles Disciples were living as Iustin Martyr expresly affirmeth whose passage to that purpose when I return again to Cambridge I will send you illustrated with some Notes and the reading in one place restored from a corruption crept thereinto by fraud or otherwise A testimony absolute without all comparison to perswade such as rely upon Authority and Antiquity It is to be admired that an Opinion once so generally received in the Church should ever have been cried down and buried But those Times which extinguished this brought other Alterations into the Church besides this Et quidem sic fieri oportuit I will say something more observed perhaps by few of those which have knowledge enough of the rest namely That this Opinion of the First Resurrection was the true ground and mother of prayers for the dead so anciently received in the Church which were then conceived after this manner Vt partem haberent in Resurrectione prima See Tertullian who first mentions them The reason was because this having part in Resurrectione prima was not to be common to all but to be a priviledge of some namely of Martyrs and Confessors equipollent to them if God so would accept them Moreover the belief of this Prerogative of Martyrs in Resurrectione prima was that which made the Christians of those times so joyously desirous of Martyrdom These things will perhaps seem strange but they will be found true if duly examined Thus I have discovered my opinion of the thing which I suppose the Scripture hath revealed shall be But de modo how it shall be I would willingly abstain from determining We must be content to be ignorant of the manner of things which for the matter we are bound to believe Too much adventuring here without a sure guide may be dangerous and breed intolerable fancies as it did among some in those ancient times which occasioned as may seem the death and burial of the main Opinion it self so generally at first believed Yet thus much I conceive the Text seems to imply That these Saints of the First Resurrection should reign here on earth in the New Ierusalem in a state of beatitude and glory partaking of Divine presence and Vision of Christ their King as it were in an Heaven upon earth or new Paradise immutable unchangeable c. Secondly That for the better understanding of this Mysterie we must distinguish between the State of the New Ierusalem and State of the Nations which shall walk in the light thereof they shall not be both one but much differing Therefore what is spoken particularly of the New Ierusalem must not be applied to the whole Church which then shall be New Ierusalem is not the whole Church but the Metropolis thereof and of the New world The State of the Nations which shall walk in her light though happy and glorious yet shall be changeable as appears by the commotio◠of the Nations seduced at the end of the Thousand years But the State of those wh◠dwell in the New Ierusalem shall be extra omnem mutationis aleam Blessed are thos◠who have part in the First Resurrection for on them the Second Death hath no power I differ therefore from Piscator and agree with Alstedius That the Saints of th◠First Resurrection should reign on Earth during the Millennium and not in Heaven I differ from both in that I make this State of the Church to belong to Secundus Adventus Christi or Dies Iudicii Magni when Christ shall appear in the clouds of Heaven to destroy all the professed enemies of his Church and Kingdom and deliver the creature from that bondage of corruption brought upon it for the sin of man Whereas they make it to precede the Day of Iudgment and Second coming Though this Notion may seem to make but little alteration of the thing believed yet it is of no small moment to facilitate the understanding of Scripture and puts upon the thing it self another nature than is conceived by those who apprehend it otherwise In a word Ours conceive this State to be ante Diem Iudicii Others though wrongfully suppose the ancient Chiliasts to have held it to be post Diem Iudicii But the truth is it is neither before nor after but ipsa Dies Iudicii ipsum tempus Secundae apparitionis Christi And it is to be remembred here that the Iews who gave this time the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Day of Iudgment and from whom our Saviour and his Apostles took it never understood thereby but a Time of many years continuance yea some mirabile dictu of a thousand years and the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Day of Iudgment is more frequent in their Writings than in the New Testament it self It is mentioned I know not how many times in the Chaldee Paraphrase of that little Book of Ecclesiastes The word Day is in the Hebrew notion used ordinarily for tempus yea longissimum as in the Prophets for the seventy years Captivity for the time of their great and long Captivity for the time of their pilgrimage in the wilderness Psal. 95. according to the LXX and S. Pauls translation Hebr. 3. The day of temptation in the wilderness when your Fathers tempted me and proved me and saw my works forty years See the thirteenth verse of that chapter where a Day includes every Day So should Day be taken in the Lord's Prayer for the time of this our life Compare it with S. Luke whose words are Give us every day our daily bread See the longest day of all days in the last words of S. Peter's last Epistle in the Greek and Latin for our English obscures it with a general expression It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dies
aeternitatis There came forth that year I conceived my Specimina of that Millennium a Discourse by a Lutheran with this Title Vero-similia historico-Prophetica de Rebus in novissimo die eventuris pio studio cujusdam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He conceals his name it is a little but elaborate Discourse He hath the same notion of Dies novissimus which I had of Dies Iudicii I found with no little admiration a great part of my private Speculations of this matter in that Tractate Spying it in the Catalogue and guessing what it meant by the Title I laid for it at London There came but two I got them both one for a friend another for my self I have used means for more Copies but they cannot say the Merchants be heard of Mine is now lent away when I can recover it I will send it you Thus I take my leave lest I seal too late God keep us Dalham-Hall Aug. 18. Yours Ioseph Mede Post-script Now I have done I repent me of so tumultuary and confused a Discourse of so great a Mysterie wherein so much is wanting to give it light and evidence I must desire you therefore to keep it to your self and to pardon the fault you have been an occasion of in putting me upon it EPISTLE XXI Dr. Meddus his Letter to Mr. Mede touching Dr. Twisse's Answers to nine Quaere's about Regnum Sanctorum Worthy Sir and my dear Friend THis hath been unto me no pleasant time being much weakened by this months bleeding and a pain in my right arm I have done with the Lutheran though doing all with my own hand I have been longer about it than Dr. Twisse was having the help of divers hands I now send it back with many thanks You may remember in the beginning of November I sent you a Letter from Dr. Twisse when I wrote he had besides some Quaere's to have proposed unto you concerning the thousand years Regnum Sanctorum but he durst not be so bold yet left it free unto me to do as I thought good But then propounding other things and being loth especially to hinder you in the going forward as with another part of the Revelation so with the clearing of 2 Pet. c. 3. And besides your inhibition was then a command unto me to make no more demands till after these late Holy-days But now in hope of your favourable bearing with me I shall adventure to make his Quaere's and Answers known unto you yet with this caution that neither they nor your judgment or censure of the Lutheran Book which I once desired may retard your other meditations nor to give answer thereunto but at your best leisure and conveniency Now to the Quaere's and Answers Quaere 1. As concerning the persons to be raised which are expressed Rev. 20. 4. to be only Martyrs and Piscator will have it proceed only of such Now this is very strange considering that undoubtedly some never suffering Martyrdom have been as great in the favour of God as any Martyrs as Abraham Isaac Iacob and the Virgin Mary Answ. This may be helped two waies First by such an interpretation of Martyrdom as may be extended much further then to the suffering of death for the testimony of Christ Secondly by comparing this of Rev. 20. 4. with other places as namely with Rev. 5. 10. 11. 18. where the same grace is extended to them that fear God's Name to small and great Object But then here followeth a contrary inconvenience that so it shall be extended unto all Answ. Yet is it not said To all that fear God's Name Quaere 2. Concerning the Communion between the Saints raised from their graves and the people then living and remaining on the earth called the nations that are saved that is from the fire whereby the earth and the works thereof shall be burned 2 Pet. 3. 10. Alstedius will have the Saints raised to be Doctors of the Church taking no notice of any distinction of male and female though of both Sexes there have been both Saints and Martyrs Rev. 21. 24. it is said that the nations shall walk in the light of New Ierusalem and if the Saints shall reign over the Nations there must be a Communion such as is between Governors and persons governed And this Government shall be undoubtedly in reference to the Worship of God Now consider 1. What Communion can such Bodies as ours have with glorified bodies considering that when Moses came down from the Mount his countenance did so shine that the Israelites could not endure to look him in the face Answ. First this glorious lustre may be qualified so far as to be without offence Secondly The world being restored why may not the mortal Bodies of men be something altered also Surely God can proportion it 2. Whether shall the Bodies of the Saints raised be covered or naked It seems very incongruous they should be naked neither can we devise in any congruity a glorified Body should be covered What raiment were any fit covering for such Neither is it congruous their glory should be covered as Moses's face was with a Veil Answ. As Angels appeared their faces shining like lightning and their raiment whitè as snow which aspect terrible at the first by familiar conversation might prove not terrible so Light may be as a garment to the Saints raised 3. Whether Christ and the Saints raised shall eat and drink One Mr. a Minister in Lincolnshire maintains they shall as I have heard from a noble person and for his opinion alledgeth that of our Saviour I will not from henceforth drink of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God Mar. 14. 25. Add to this Luk. 14. 15. One sitting at table with Christ said Blessed is he that eateth bread in the Kingdom of God This he meant as did all the Iews of the Kingdom of the Messias on earth which opinion our Saviour doth no where correct Otherwise what use will they have of the Restauration of the world Yet this is very hard to concoct 1. That Christ and his Saints all glorified should come from Heaven to eat and drink on earth which comes near to the vile opinion of Cerinthus that for a 1000 years God's Saints should live on earth in carnal pleasures 2. In this case it seems their Bodies should be exposed to excrements which is not to be endured in Bodies glorified Answ. 1. No more than our Saviour's was after his Resurrection or Angels who sometimes did eat with the Patriarchs Answ. 2. If so yet not for necessity much less for satisfaction to the flesh but for other reasons as Christ did eat with his Apostles after his Resurrection Quaere 3. Then there will be no place for such desires as to be dissolved and to be with Christ Philip. 1. 23. and to be removed out of the body and to dwell with the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 8. For then to be dissolved will
be to be absent from the Lord and to dwell in the body will be to be present with the Lord. Ans. 1. Though death will not then be comfortable in this respect yet it may in other respects as it brings freedom from seducing which afterwards shall be incident to Gog and Magog Ans. 2. As Methuselah lived above 900 years a little before the Floud so in the Restauration of the world why may not men live a 1000 years I speak not of the Saints raised but of those that shall walk in the light of new Ierusalem Quaere 4. Christ's Kingdom shall have no end Luk. 1. 33. Dan. 7. 14. But this Kingdom of Christ shall last but a 1000 years and then Gog and Magog shall prevail so far as not only to invade all the Nations that walk in the light of new Ierusalem but even to besiege the beloved City that is new Ierusalem it self Rev. 20. Ans. 1. But not prevail over new Ierusalem but be forthwith consumed with fire and then Christ's Kingdom continuing still shall be translated from earth to Heaven Ans. 2. Christ's Kingdom shall succeed other kingdoms but no kingdom shall succeed this and in that respect it is said to be everlasting But Christ must resign his Kingdom to his Father that God may be all in all 1. Cor. 15. Quaere 5. Christ's coming is not till the restoring of all things Acts 3. 21. But the restoring of all things followeth after the consumption of Gog and Magog Rev. 20. 11. and Rev. 21. 1. Ergò Christ's coming shall not be till after Gog and Magog's ruine Ergò not a 1000 years before Ans. It is said that before his face that sate upon the throne heaven and earth fled away c. But it is not said that then it began to fly away to wit after the destruction of Gog and Magog Quaere 6. 'T is very strange that Gog and Magog should adventure to besiege new Ierusalem the Devil and his Angels might as well adventure to besiege Heaven Answ. True if Gog and Magog knew the condition of new Ierusalem so well as the Devil and his Angels know the condition of Heaven Quaere 7. Shall all that oppose Christ's truth be consumed with fire at that day Consider Paul opposed the Gospel for a while yet was a chosen vessel of God and many that do not oppose may yet be reprobates Ans. 1. Yet at that day all such to whom the Lord coming in a flaming fire shall render vengeance for not obeying the Gospel of Christ Iesus 2 Thess. 1. 8. shall be none of God's Elect. Ans. 2. But some of God's Elect perhaps may be converted that very day Quaere 8. What shall become of Infants found alive at that day not only of God's children but of others also Ans. 1. If consumed in the same fire with their ungodly parents this will be no more strange than that which fell out in the conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrah Ans. 2. Yet they may be of the number of those that escape if so it please God and hereunto to wit that it should so please God I should rather incline Quaere 9. From heaven we look for a Saviour that shall transform our vile bodies and make them like unto his glorius body Phil. 3. ult Ergò at Christ's coming all the Saints that remain alive shall be so transformed Ans. So they shall before that Day of Iudgment ends for it continueth a 1000 years Quaere 10. They that then are found alive shall be caught up in the air and ever be with the Lord I mean the godly But if there shall be a 1000 years reign on earth what need they be caught up in the air and how ever be with the Lord from thenceforth if they and their posterity after them continue for the space of a 1000 years subject to mortality These were his Ten Quaere's and Answers unto Nine of them with which Contemplations he wrote his heart serv'd him not to acquaint you or to intreat your judgment in the way of correction or confirmation and addition but left it unto me The Father of lights illuminate our hearts with all saving light to his Glory the good of his people and our own comforts in Christ Iesus So I rest 6. Ian. 1629. Yours ever Sam. Meddus EPISTLE XXII Mr. Mede's Answer to the Tenth Quaere about the 1000 years Regnum Sanctorum SIR BY reason of this late indisposition I was not fit for any matter of study till yesterday howsoever I considered than Dr. T. his Answers to the Objections and applaud them finding through them all a right and dexterous apprehension of the thing questioned which many are very uncapable to conceive But because he leaves the last unanswered I suppose it was tacitely reserved to me for Tithe himself having answered Nine I will therefore as well as I can propound what I had before conceived might be answered to such an Objection wherein you shall also perceive in part wherein I differ from the Lutheran 1. Therefore It is not needful that the Resurrection of those which slept in Christ and the Rapture of those which shall be left alive together with them into the Aire should be at one and the same time For the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first and then or afterwards may admit a great distance of time as 1 Cor. 15. 23. Every one or all mankind shall rise in their order Christ the first-fruits that is first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming Here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 afterwards notes a distance of time of above a thousand and a half of years as we find by experience Suppose therefore this Rapture of the Saints into the Aire be to translate them to Heaven yet it might be construed thus The dead in Christ that is for Christ namely the Martyrs shall rise first afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. a thousand years after we which are alive and remain shall together with them be caught up in the clouds and meet the Lord in the Aire and so from thenceforth we shall ever be with the Lord. Thus Tertullian seems to understand it who interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as it is in ver 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Martyrs namely such as die propter Christum for Christ by means of Christ through Christ for Christ's sake taking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as noting the cause or means of their death So Piscator expounds the like speech Apoc. 14. 13. Blessed are the dead which die 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est propter Dominum for the Lord Beza qui Domini causâ moriuntur which die for the Lord's sake 2. If thus to restrain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seem not so fully to answer the Apostle's scope and intention which seems to be a general consolation to all that die in the faith a fruition
of Christ then may we give it the largest sense and yet say That it is not needful that the Resurrection of those which died in Christ should be all at once or altogether but the Martyrs first in the First resurrection then after an appointed time the rest of the dead in the Last resurrection afterward when the Resurrection shall be thus compleat those which remain alive at Christ's coming shall together with those which are risen be caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the Aire and from thenceforth be eternally with him And so the reason why those which Christ found alive at his coming were not instantly translated should be in part that they might not prevent the dead but be consummate with them 3. Both these Interpretations suppose the Rapture of the Saints into the Clouds to be for their present translation into Heaven But suppose that be not the meaning of it for the words if we weigh them well seem to imply it to be for another end namely To do honour unto their Lord and King at his return and to attend upon him when he comes to judge the World Those saith the Text which sleep in Iesus will God bring with him he saith not carry away with him Again They and those which are alive shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the Aire to meet the Lord's coming hither to Iudgment not to follow him returning hence the Iudgment being finished Besides it is to be noted that although in the Hebrew notion the Aire be comprehended under the name of Heaven yet would not the Apostle here use the word Heaven but the word Aire as it were to avoid the ambiguity lest we might interpret it of our translation into Heaven If this be the meaning then are those words We shall ever be with the Lord thus to be interpreted After this our gathering together unto Christ at his coming so the Apostle calls this Rapture 2 Thess. 2. 1. we shall from henceforth never lose his presence but always enjoy it partly on earth during his reign of a 1000 years and partly in Heaven when we shall be translated thither For it cannot be concluded because the Text saith the Saints after their rapture on high should thenceforth be ever with the Lord Ergò they shall from thenceforth be in Heaven for no Heaven is here mentioned If they must needs be with Christ there where they are to meet him it would rather follow they should be ever with him in the Aire than in Heaven which I suppose none will admit And otherwise the Text will afford no more for Heaven than it will for Earth nay the words he shall bring them with him make most for the latter 4. I will add this more namely what may be conceived to be the cause of this Rapture of the Saints on high to meet the Lord in the Clouds rather than to wait his coming to the Earth What if it be that they may be preserved during the Conflagration of the earth and the works thereof 2 Pet. 3. 10. that as Noah and his family were preserved from the Deluge by being lift up above the waters in the Ark so should the Saints at the Conflagration be lift up in the Clouds unto their Ark Christ to be preserved there from the deluge of fire wherein the wicked shall be consumed There is a Tradition of the Iews founding this way which they ascribe unto one Elias a Iewish Doctor whose is that Tradition of the duration of the World and well known among Divines Duo millia Inane duo millia Lex duo millia dies Messiae viz. Sex mille annos duraturus est Mundus He lived under the second Temple about the first times of the Greek Monarchy so that it is no device of any latter Rabbies but a Tradition anciently received amongst them whilst they were yet the Church of God I will transcribe it because it hath something remarkable concerning the 1000 years It sounds thus Traditio domûs Eliae Iusti quos resuscitabit Deus non redigentur iterum in pulverem He means of the First and Particular Resurrection before the General which the Iews acknowledge and talk much of See Wisdom chap. 3. ab initio ad finem v. 8. Si quaeras autem Mille annis istis quibus Deus Sanctus Benedictus renovaturus est mundum suum de quibus dicitur Et exaltabitur Dominus solus in die illo Es. 2. 11. quid justis futurum sit sciendum quòd Deus Sanctus Benedictus dabit illis alas quasi aquilarum ut volent super facie aquarum unde dicitur Psal. 46. 3. Propterea non timebimus cùm mutabitur terra At fortè inquies erit ipsis dolori seu afflictioni Sed occurrit illud Esa. 40. 31. Exspectantibus Dominum innovabuntur vires efferentur alâ instar aquilarum The Hebrew words are in Gemara Sanhedrin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Tradition of the house of Elias The just whom God shall raise up viz. in the First Resurrection shall not be turned again to dust Now if you ask How it shall be with the just in those Thousand years wherein the Holy Blessed God shall renew his world whereof it is said Esa. 2. 11. And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day you must know that the Holy Blessed God will give them the wings as it were of Eagles to fly upon the face of the waters whence it is said Psal. 46. 3. Therefore shall we not fear when the Earth shall be changed But perhaps you will say it shall be a pain and affliction to them Not at all for it is said Esa. 40. 31. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles I have no more left Mr. Doctor may adde this to my Placita Iudaeorum Thus with my best respects to your self and him I rest Yours c. I. M. Post-script Adde unto this that of our Saviour Where the body is there shall the Eagles be gathered together EPISTLE XXIII Dr. Twisse his Third Letter to Mr. Mede touching some obscure passages in Daniel Worthy Sir I Am sorry you are offended to have those your learned Discussions of that difficult place in Daniel touching the LXX weeks communicated I confess I travell'd not a little for the gaining of them first at Oxford where I first discovered some track of them then at London by my good friend Dr. Meddus his means first with Mr. Mason my good friend and ancient acquaintance than with Mr. D. What account soever you make of them I assure you I shall make never a whit the less reckoning of your learned pains Good reason your account should proceed according to the exactness of your own judgment in these Studies but to me truly they are rare notions The rather because I perceive your care is equal in maintaining congruity both with the Hebrew Text and
maintain in the spirits perfected And why should it be any discomfort to me that Christ in his Manhood is gone to ruine Antichrist and to reign with his Saints and that I must stay till my turn comes to reign with him I have written to Mr. B. in answer to his Letter wherein he made relation of whereabouts he had written to you and what you answered him whereupon I took occasion to write unto him and to acquaint him with the Praecognita you speak of In one of your former Letters you told me of a Chappel-exercise you had to communicate unto me when I returned that of Gog and Magog which truly I had forgotten in my last to entreat but since perusing your Letters and lighting upon it I resolved the next time I wrote to put you in mind of your promise which whether it be the same you have wrote of concerning Dan. 11. I know not I could not neglect to write unto you with the first to acquaint you with my receit of yours which came to my hands Apr. 4. and to give you many thanks for your love and pains which I shall never requite save with love if that may be a requital as your acceptance may make it I commend you from my heart to the Grace of God and your studies as mine own to the Divine benediction and rest Newbury April 6. 1635. Yours ever in the Lord extreamly obliged W. Twisse Post-script A strange Book came lately to my hands of the variation of the longitude of places on earth by the variation of the Compass which was formerly supposed to be invariable That which 54 years since was found to be deg 11 22 years agoe was found to be but deg 7 and the last year but deg 4. Dr. L. my neighbour desires to be remembred unto you He told me a story of Mr. Selden what he delivered to my Lord Herbert concerning you as namely that you took it unkindly that he would not believe that a Trumpet signified a thousand years I made answer on your behalf as I thought good EPISTLE LI. Mr. Mede's Answer to Dr. Twisse's Fifth Letter expressing the great Candour and Freedom of his spirit as to differences in Opinions and how little affected he was with the report of Mr. Selden's Censure of his Book An Answer to an Exception concerning the State of the Millennial felicity in Seculo futuro A Vindication of Lactantius and others from the calumnies of some Antichiliasts The reason why Hierom was afraid to mention Iustin Martyr where he speaks of the ancient Chiliasts SIR SOME business that calls upon me will make me be short at this time That which I called a Chappel-exercise was a diverse thing from this I last offered to send you namely a little thing for understanding S. Paul's allegation out of Psal. 8. Hebr. 2. concerning the exaltation of the nature of Man to which God hath subjected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This last is a large Discourse upon 1 Tim. 4. delivered first at several times by way of Common-places as we call them in the Colledge and in certain Sermons at S. Mary's but at what time my Notions in the Apocalyps were yet but raw and the Mystery of the Millenary Kingdom not understood So you will find in it many things not consentaneous to my present notions and some other things that my maturer thoughts could now correct or wipe out Well whatsoever they be I send you them both The little one hath another conceit annexed to it which I was not so well aware of viz. of Zipporah's circumcising I would fain but could not tell how to separate it from the other unless I should write it out anew which I had rather than undergo hazard as you see the imputation of Vanity For Mr. Selden he is a Gentleman by whose Writings I have learned much and make no slight esteem of but otherwise utterly unknown unto me I never saw him in my life nor he me nor was there ever any entercourse between us by letter word message or otherwise Nor did I ever hear any Censure of his concerning my Book or any particular therein till now much less replyed to any such thing reported to me or took it unkindly as you say he told my Lord Herbert Surely it was but some scheme of discourse that passed from some body gratis when my Book was discoursed of But the author of that scheme was more deceived in me than he could have been in any man else There are I think few men living who are less troubled to see others differ in opinion from them than I am whether it be a Vice or Vertue I know not So far is it from me to take it unkindly that I should not be believed in a Paradox If any man can patiently suffer me to differ from him it nothing affects me how much or how little they differ from me Which disposition so much the more encreaseth in me as I take dayly liberty to examine either mine own former persuasions or other mens opinions But if I should go on I should perhaps discover too much my indifferency this way Let it pass I am no niggard according to my ability to impart what I know but it is where I find some appetite as you say otherwise my familiarist friends some of them are as ignorant of my Notions as any stranger For if they discover no stomach I use not to examine them no not to offer them and it would be in vain Pauci enim inviti discunt 'T is true that Glorified bodies have no need of inheritance temporal for their maintenance and nourishment but for their mansion and habitation they have need of a place of abode The Creatures upon earth were not all made no not the most of them for mans eating and drinking but for his glorifying the Wisdom Goodness and Power of his Creator in the contemplation of them Such a use is not unbefitting the Sons of the Resurrection And what use should many of them have had but this if Man had continued in the Integrity of his first Creation Like scruples will arise in a mans mind concerning the State of Beatitude in the heavenly mansions as What should a glorified Soul do there with a Body and bodily Senses What Objects are there to entertain them Some body and if I am not much deceived our Mr. Perkins somewhere in his Works I had thought in his Aurea Armilla but now cannot find it in the English nor have I the Latin Copy moving a question To what use the Renovated Earth after the Last Iudgment should serve answers For the solace of the glorified Saints who should sometimes live in Heaven and sometimes on Earth alledging for this conceit that in Apocal. 5. 10. Thou hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on earth Were it not more agreeable to Reason to affirm That seeing Man consists of two parts a Body and a Soul each shall
have his preeminence in order in respect of the Place of Beatitude first the Body on Earth then the Soul in Heaven Earth seeming more suitable for the entertainment of the one and Heaven for the other yet so as both of them shall be for ever undivided as in being so in bliss and fruition of God The creature hath been ever since the Fall of Man subject to Vanity and the bondage of corruption that which was made at first to glorifie its Creator under the dominion of Man being abused to sin and made the instrument to dishonour him that made it Under which bondage to which it is unwillingly subject it even groaneth and travelleth in pain expecting one day to be delivered therefrom into the glorious liberty of the children of God Shall there never then be a Time in which the Creature shall serve and be used to the end for which it was first made namely to serve to set forth the Wisdom Power and Goodness of its Maker and that too under the dominion of Man in such a degree and manner as hath never yet been nor is easy by us yet to be conceived I say again The Creature may serve Man for a more noble and divine use than for eating and drinking though I am not able to comprehend and decipher it Think what the use of so many Creatures should have been to Man in Paradise when as yet there was no Commission given to eat flesh nor had Man need of clothing Should not Man then first have enjoy'd his happiness in Paradise and on Earth and after a time have been translated into Heaven Shall not the Soul come down to receive its Body on Earth If so what absurdity is it that it may stay a while with it here and entertain it self together with it in that beginning of Felicity which the Instauration of the Creature may afford them There are many Tenets among the Fathers and Schoolmen Concerning the Day of Iudgment and State of the Resurrection which most men receive without question Bring them together with that I represent unto the Lydius lapis of the Scripture and try which of the two hath most easy footing therein S. Peter tells us Acts 3. 21. of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the Second coming of Christ foretold by the mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began Try whether you can shew any such thing in the Prophets according to your manner of exposition S. Iohn tells us of a Mystery of God to be yet finished which he had declared to his Servants the Prophets Try how well this will be found according as some interpret them But I never meant to have gone thus deep when I put pen to paper Now therefore I end with my best respect and prayers to Almighty God to make us capable of that Felicity he hath prepared for such as look for the Coming of the Lord Iesus when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe So I rest Yours to command I. Mede Christ's Coll. April 18. 1635. In that passage of Lactantius you mention you may please to observe how wrongfully the ancient Chiliasts and Lactantius by name are charged to hold That the Saints which rise from the dead shall marry and get children whereas he expresly affirms it of those only qui erunt in corporibus vivi when Christ cometh Nor did any of the rest I mean of the Fathers Iustin Irenaeus Melito c. think otherwise You may observe also that Hierom in so many passages wherein he names the Fathers that were Chiliasts doth never mention Iustin Martyr being afraid it seems of the Antiquity and Authority of the man I conceive the measuring of the Temple in Ezekiel to have reference to the time of the New Ierusalem but how to expound it I know not And no marvel for I have read some-body of our Writers affirming it was never yet understood by any man what it meant nor could easily be divined EPISTLE LII This that follows is under the Author 's own hand and was enclosed its likely in some short Letter to Dr. Twisse What the Letter contain'd appears not it being not to be found among the MSS. But the Discourse contains some Testimonies concerning the Kingdom of Christ The first taken out of the Form of Ecclesiastical Doctrine set forth by the First Council of Nice The other taken out of a Catechism set forth in K. Edward the Sixth his Reign I. THat great Council of Nice called by Constantine besides their Definition of Faith and Canons Ecclesiastical set forth certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Forms of Ecclesiastical Doctrine according to which all Teachers in the Church were to frame their Discourse and direct their opinions Some of these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Formulae doctrinae Ecclesiasticae are recorded by Gelasius Cyzicenus in his Historia Actorum Concilii Niceni Amongst these there is this Formula for the Doctrine of the State of the Resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. Minutior i. vilior seu imperfectior fact us est Mundus propter praecognitionem praeviderat enim Deus peccaturum esse hominem Ideirco novos coelos novam terram exspectamus juxta Sacras literas quando illuxerit Apparitio Regnum magn◠Dei Salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi Et tunc ut ait Daniel accipient Regnum Sancti Altissimi Et erit terra pura sancta terra viventium non mortuorum quam oculis fidei praevidens David clamat Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium terra mansuetorum humilium Beati enim inquit mites quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram Et Propheta calcabunt ipsam ait pedes mansuetorum humilium 1. Iudge by this notwithstanding 50 years opposition how powerful the Chiliastical party yet was at the time of that Council By some of whom if this Formula were not framed and composed yet was it thus moderated as you see that both parties might accept it Salvâ cuique interpretatione suâ as being delivered in the Terms and Language of Scripture 2. Iudge secondly whether in my Explication of the Millennium I have not kept within the compass of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not swerved one jot therefrom II. What do you think the Author of the Catechism set forth in K. Edward's time and by him authorized 20. May in the last year of his reign meant when he explicates the two first Petitions of the Lord's Prayer in this manner The Dialogue is between Magister and Auditor Sanctificetur Nomen tuum M. Quomodo hoc fit A. Dicam Tum demum hoc fit cùm omissis illis omnibus qui nomen Deorum sortiuntur sive in coelo sive in terra sive in templis variis figuris imaginibus adorentur solum hunc nostrum Patrem agnoscamus precemur verum Deum
the Camp whither every one that sought the Lord was to go and called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tabernacle of meeting viz. of meeting with God not of Mens meeting together as we mean when we turn it Tabernacle of the Congregation Of which perhaps more hereafter Now for the nature of these Places we can no where learn it better than from that of the Lord to Moses Exod. 20. immediately after he had pronounced the Decalogue from Mount Sinai where premising that they should not make with him whom they had seen talking with them from Heaven Gods of silver and Gods of gold and that they should make his Altar namely whilst they were there in the Wilderness of earth and sacrifice their sacrifices thereon he adds In all places where I record my Name I will come unto thee and will bless thee Here is contained the definition of the Place set apart for Divine Worship 'T is the Place where God records his Name and communicates himself to men to bless them Exod. 20. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In every place where the Memorial I appoint of my Name shall be or In every place set apart for the Memorial of my name The Memorial of God's Name is any token or symbol whereby he testifies his Covenant and as it were commerceth with Men. And though the Ark were afterward made for this purpose as the standing Memorial of his Name and therefore called The Testimony and the Ark of the Covenant yet could not that here be specially pointed at as which yet was not in being nor any commandment concerning the making thereof yet heard of And so the words to be taken generally for any such as were the Sacrifices immediately before mentioned and the Seat of them the Altar and therefore may seem to be more particularly referred unto for that these were Federal Rites whereby the Name of God was remembred and his Covenant testified may be easily proved whence that which was burned upon the Altar is so often called The Memorial See Levit. chap. 24. 7. c. 2. c. 5. c. 6. And the Son of Sirach tells us Ecclus. 45. 16. that Aaron was chosen out of all men living to offer Sacrifices to the Lord incense and a sweet savour for a Memorial to make reconciliation for his People Add Esay 66. 3. Qui recordatur thure quasi qui benedicat idolo But I must not stay too long in this Now I ask Did not Christ ordain the Holy Eucharist to be the Memorial of his Name in the New Testament Hoc saith he est corpus meum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And there be those that will not stick to say That Christ is as much present here as the Lord was upon the Mercy-seat between the Cherubims Why should not then the Places appointed for the Station of this Memorial under the Gospel have some semblable Sanctity to that where the Name of God was recorded in the Law And though we be not now tied to one only Place as under the Law and that God hears the faithful prayers of his Servants wheresoever they are made unto him as also he did then yet should not the Place of his Memorial be promiscuous and common but set apart to that sacred purpose You will say This Christian Memorial is not always there present as at least some one or other of those in the Law were I answer It is enough it is wont to be as the Chair of Estate loseth not its relation and due respect though the King be not always there And remember that the Ark of the Covenant or Testimony was not in Ierusalem when Daniel opened his windows and prayed thitherward and that it was wanting in the Holy place all the time of the Second Temple the Seat thereof being only there You will say In the Old Testament these things were appointed by Divine law and commanded but in the New we find no such thing I answer In things for which we find no new Rule given in the New Testament there we are referred to the analogy of the Old witness the Apostles proofs taken thence for the maintenance of the Ministery 1. Cor. 9. and the like and the practice of the Church ab initio in Baptizing Infants from the analogy of Circumcision in hallowing every First day of the Week as one in Seven from the analogy of the Iewish Sabbath For it is to be seriously considered That the end of Christ's coming into the world was not to give new Laws but to fulfil the Law already given and to preach the Gospel of reconciliation through his Name to those who had transgressed it Whence we see the Style of the New Testament not any where to carry the form of enacting Laws but such as are there mentioned to be mentioned only occasionally by way of allegation of interpretation of proof of exhortation and not by way of re-enacting There comes now very fitly into my mind a passage of Clemens a Man of the Apostolical Age whose name S. Paul says was written in the Book of Life in his genuine Epistle ad Corinthios lately set forth page 52. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omnia ritè ordine facere debemus quaecunque Dominus peragere nos jussit What doth he command 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. praestitutis temporibus oblationes liturgias obire neque enim temere vel inordinatè voluit ista fieri sed statutis temporibus horis V B I etiam A QVIBVS peragi velit ipse excelsissimâ suâ voluntate definivit But where hath the Lord defined these things unless he hath left us to the analogy of the Old Testament 4. Concerning the Objection of our Saviour's eating the Passeover and first Institution of the Holy Supper in a Common place in an Inne Against the supposed Sanctity or Dignity to be ascribed to the Holy Table or Altar as the place where the Memorial of the Body and Bloud of Christ is represented you object the Table and place of the first Institution which was an ordinary Table and a common Inne whereby it should seem that the Table whereon it was afterwards to be celebrated should no otherwise be accounted of First I answer It follows not and that from the parallel of the Institution of the Passeover which though at first it were killed in a private house and the bloud stricken upon the door-posts yet afterwards it might not be so but was to be offered in the place which the Lord should chuse Deut. 16. 5 6. to place his Name there according to the Law given for all Offerings and Sacrifices in general Deut. 12. à versu 4. ad 14. inclusivè with a triple inculcation in one continued Series of speech This Answer seems to me sufficient for the Objection of the first Institution But there is one thing more yet to be considered That there is not the same reason of the Place where the
Sacrifice is sanctified or offered and the Place where it is eaten Every Sacrifice was to be offered and sanctified at the Altar where the Bloud was sprinkled and the Memorial burned but that done it was eaten in another place those which were eaten only by the Priests in the Chambers of the Temple those which the people were partakers of as the Peace-Offerings out of the Temple Of this nature was the Passeover the Lamb being first to be offered and slain in the Temple and the Bloud sprinkled on the Altar according unto the Law Deut. 16. and the practice 2 Chron. 35. 1 2 6 10 11. that done to be eaten where they would provided it were in loco mundo in a clean place And thus was the Paschal Lamb whereof our Saviour ate prepared and sanctified yea by proportion of all other Sacrifices the Bread and the Wine whereof the Holy Supper was instituted for they were the Minchah or Meat and Drink-offering of the Passeover such as all other Sacrifices had annexed unto them And to what end else was the Law so strict that they should bring all their Sacrifices and Offerings unto the Place which the Lord should chuse to put his Name there but that they might be sanctified and hallowed at the Lord's Altar before they feasted with them whence perhaps that custom of the ancient Church was derived to offer the Bread and Wine unto God upon the Holy Table before it was consecrated to be the Body and Bloud of Christ because they supposed that at the first institution they had been so offered at the Altar in the Temple But as the Iews used not to eat their Sacrifices where they offered them no more did the ancient Christians think themselves bound to eat the Eucharist where it was consecrated insomuch that they carried it sometimes to their houses and ordinarily sent it to those which were absent And if it be well observed in the practice of our own Church there is a difference commonly between the place of consecration and the place of eating though both be in the Church True it is that at the first Institution though perhaps not the first hallowing of the Bread and Wine for the Passeover yet the consecration thereof to be the Symbols of the Body and Bloud of Christ was in a common room and that out of the necessity of the connexion which the materials thereof had with the viands of the Passeover Yet I suppose not the House to have been of the condition of our Inns but only for such Sacred entertainments as this was of which sort Ierusalem must needs have had very many for the accommodation of such as came to feast before the Lord as the whole Nation was to do three times in a year If all that hath been yet said will not satisfie this Objection yet I hope what I shall now say will do it fully What needed there any Altar or Place of relative presence where the Son of God the Heavenly Altar and Holy of Holies was himself present in person Is not the Temple of God there where he is and what Altar was so holy as his Sacred hands 5. Why in the posture of our adoration of the Divine Majesty more respect should be had to the Altar or Holy Table than either to the Font or Pulpit seeing they are also Places of God's presence as well as the other Suppose they be so yet when there are many why should not that which hath the principality draw this respect unto it A man is present where any part of him is yet when we salute him or speak unto him we are wont to direct our selves unto his Face as that wherein his presence is most principal and erected not to his Backer parts or to his Shoulders though the organ of hearing be that way Perhaps it was this principality which that Doctor or whatsoever he be whom you mention intended when he said that Hoc est Corpus meum was more with him than Hoc est Verbum meum But I think for my part first that the comparison of the Pulpit with the Sacraments and their places is heterogeneal Secondly that neither the Pulpit nor the Place of the Sacrament of Baptism are in this point or for this purpose we speak of of the same nature with the Altar For it ought to be considered though it be a thing now-a-days in a manner quite forgotten that the Eucharist according to the meaning of the Institution is the Rite of our address unto God the Father in the New Testament wherewith we come before him to offer unto his Divine Majesty our thanksgivings supplications and praises in the Name of his Son Iesus Christ crucified for us that is It is not only a Sacrament but as the ancient Church used to speak a Sacrifice also For that Sacrifices were Rites whereby they invocated and called upon God is a Truth though perhaps not so vulgarly taken notice of yet undeniable as on the Gentiles behalf may be seen in Homer in divers places where he describes the manner of offering Sacrifices on the Iews behalf by that speech of Saul 1 Sam. 13. 12. when Samuel expostulating with him for having offered a Burnt-offering I said saith he the Philistins will come down upon me to Gilgal and I have not made supplication to the Lord. I forced my self therefore and offered a Burnt-offering See also 1 Sam. 7. 8 9. Ezra 6. 10. Baruch 1. 10 11. 1 Mac. 12. 11. 2 Chron. 7. 12 sequentia Hence of Abraham and Isaac it is said when they built Altars that there they called upon the name of the Lord but Altars were the place for Sacrifice In stead therefore of the slaughtering of Beasts and the Sacrifices offered by fire and incense whereby they called upon the name of God in the Old Testament the Fathers and primitive Christians believed that our Saviour ordained this Sacrament of Bread and Wine as a Rite whereby to give thanks and make supplication to his Father in his Name in the New The mystery of which Rite they took to be this That as Christ by presenting his Death and Satisfaction to his Father continually intercedes for us in Heaven so the Church on earth semblably approaches the Throne of Grace by representing his Death and Passion to his Father in these holy Mysteries of his Body and Bloud Veteres enim saith Cassander in hoc mystico Sacrificio non tam peractae semel in Cruce oblationis cujus hîc memoria celebratur quà m perpetui Sacerdotii jugis Sacrificii quod in coelis sempiternus Sacerdos offert rationem habuerunt cujus hîc Imago per solennes Ministrorum preces exprimitur This that reverend and learned Divine Mr. Perkins once Fellow of our Society saw more clearly or expressed more plainly than any other Reformed Writer that I have yet seen in his Demonstrat Problem titulo de Sacrificio Missae Veteres inquit Coenam Domini seu totam coenae
as one Day This is the Day of the great Assises beginning with the Seventh Trumpet Apocal. 11. 15. wherein Christ shall give reward unto his Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear his Name and shall destroy them that destroy the earth vers 18. The Process of this wonderful Day S. Iohn describes by a twofold Iudgment and a twofold Resurrection and the glorious Reign of the Saints between them The morning Iudgment shall be of Antichrist and all his partakers whom Christ shall destroy at the appearing of his coming 2 Thess. 2. 8. and then shall be the first and particular Resurrection The evening Iudgment shall be upon the remainder of the living enemies of Christ Gog and Magog and conclude with the last and universal Resurrection of the dead and so the last enemy Death being now wholly vanquished he shall surrender his Kingdom into the hands of his Father that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15. 24 c. Nor ought it to seem strange that the name Day should signifie so long a time as a Thousand years The Iews who first imposed it understood it so And in the end of S. Peter we shall find yet a longer Day even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dies AEternitatis a Day of Eternity 2 Pet. 3. 18. The Prophets have many such long Days when they say In Die illo Vide. The whole time of Christ's first coming is called a Day Ioh. 16. 26. 2 Cor. 6. 2. The whole time of the Iews fourty years abode in the wilderness is called a Day Heb. 3. 8 9. Their first Captivity of seventy years a Day Vide Prophetas Their last and long Captivity a Day as Deut. 32. 35. alibi apud Prophetas And what if in our daily prayer Give us this day our daily bread Day be to be taken for the whole time of our life For in stead of S. Matthew's This day speaking after the Hebrew notion S. Luke hath in the same Petition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is every day So S. Paul Heb. 3. 13. Exhort one another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every day whilest it is called To Day Doth not Day here include many days Now if the Thousand years of the Reign of Christ be the Day of Iudgment then it will follow that though we may know by the fulfilling of things to be fulfilled whether it be nearer or farther off yet the precise time of the coming thereof cannot be known because it is to come upon the world unawares as a Thief in the night II. Nevertheless it is true that the Primitive Fathers especially those who believed the Chiliad conceived the World should last and the Church therein labour 6000 years and that the Seventh thousand should be the Day of Iudgment and Sabbath in which the Saints should reign with Christ their Lord. So Irenaeus Lib. 5. c. 28. Quotquot diebus hic factus est mundus tot Millenis consummatur Si enim Dies Domini quasi Mille anni in Sex autem diebus consummata sunt quae facta sunt manifestum est quoniam consummatio ipsorum Sextus millesimus annus est Idem eodem Libro cap. 30. Cùm vastaverit Antichristus hic omnia in mundo regnans annis tribus mensibus sex tunc veniet Dominus de coelis in nubibus in gloriae Patris illum quidem obedientes ei in stagnum ignis mittens adducens autenâ— justis Regni tempora hoc est requietionem i. Sabbatum septimam diem sanctificatam restituens Abrahae promissionem haereditatis c. Iustinus Martyr Dialogo cum Tryphone Iudaeo loquens de Mellennio Regni Christi Novimus inquit dictum illud quòd Dies Domini sit sicut mille anni huc pertinere Cyprianus Lib. de Exhortatione Martyrii Primi in dispositione Divina Septem dies annorum Septem millia continent ut consummatio legitima impleatur Lactantius de Divino praemio Lib. 7. c. 14. Quoniam Sex diebus cuncta Dei opera perfecta sunt per secula Sex id est annorum Sex millia manere in hoc statu mundum necesse est Dies enim magnus Dei Mille annorum circulo terminatur Et ut Deus Sex illos dies in tantis rebus fabricandis laboravit ità religio ejus veritas in his Sex millibus annorum laborare necesse est malitiâ praevalente dominaute Et rurius Quoniam perfectis operibus requievit die Septimo eúmque benedixit necesse est ut in fine Sexti millesimi anni malitia omnis aboleatur è terra regnet annos Mille Iustitia sitque tranquillitas requies à laboribus quos mundus jamdiu perpessus est III. The ancient Iews also had a Tradition to the same purpose as appears by these testimonies recorded in the Gemara or Glosse of their Talmud Cod. Sanhedrim cap. Kol Iisrael For there concerning that of Esay chap. 2. Exaltabitur Dominus solus die illo thus speaks the Talmudical Gloss. Dixit Rabbi Ketâ—â—a Sex annorum millibus stat Mundus uno Millenario vastabitur de quo dicitur AT QUE EXALTAEITUR DOMINUS SOLUS DIE ILLO Note By Vastabitur they mean the Vastation of the world by Fire in the Day of Iudgment whereby it shall become New or a New Heaven and New Earth Sequitur Traditio adstipulatur R. Ketinae nempe ista Sicut ex septenis annis Septimus quisque Annus Remissionis est ità septem millibus annorum mundi Septimus Millenarius Millenarius Remissionis erit ut Dominus solus exaltetur in die illo Dicitur enim Psal. 92. Psalmus Canticum de Die Sabbati id est de eo Die qui totus Quies est Note they understand this Psalm of the Great day of Iudgment and the Sabbath mentioned in the Title of the great Sabbath of a Thousand years Dicitur item Psal. 90 Nam mille anni in oculis tuis velut dies hesternus Sequitur Traditio Domûs Eliae Sex mille annos durat mundus Bis mille annis Inanitas bis mille annis Lex denique bis mille annis Dies Christi At verò propter peccata nostra plurima enormia abierunt ex his qui abierunt These last words Petrus Galatinus proves to be added to this Tradition by the later Iews And surely this Elias lived under the second Temple and before the birth of Christ. And though there be no mention here of the Seventh thousand years yet that this R. Elias acknowledged it as well as the rest appears by a former place of the same Gemara Talmudica which is this Traditio Domûs Eliae Iusti quos resuscitabit Deus c. IV. The concinnity of this conceit hath made me I confess sometimes inquisitive whether it could be brought to accord with the received computation of the Age of the World and with our experience of the beginning and continuance of the times of Antichrist now revealed But the
Verse 25. Vntil the fulness of the Gentiles be come in p. 197 Chap. 16. 5. Salute the Church at their house p. 324 I CORINTHIANS Chap. 4. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ p. 25 Chap. 8. 5 6. Though there be that are called Gods whether in heaven or in earth as there be Gods many and Lords many Yet to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we to him and but one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him p. 628 Chap. 9. 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel p. 77 Verse 23. This I do for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that I might be partaker thereof with you p. 79 Chap. 10. 3 4. And they did all â—at the same spiritual meâ—t and did all drink the same spiritual drink For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. p. 245 Vers. 5. But with many of them God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness p. 255 Vers. 20. The things which the Gentiles Sacrifice they sacrifice to Daemons and not to God Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the Cup of Daemons p. 636 Vers. 21. Ye cannot be partakers of the Table of the Lord and the Table of Devils p. 375 Vers. 31. whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God p. 171 Chap. 11. 5. Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head p. 58 Vers. 10. For this cause ought the woman to have a covering on her head because of the Angels p. 345 346 Vers. 16. But if any man seem to be contentious we have no such custome nor the Churches of God p. 61 Vers. 22. Have ye not houses to eat and drink in or despise ye the Church of God p. 319 Vers. 29. not differencing the Lord's body p. 8 Chap. 13. 5. Charity seekâ—th not her own p. 177 Chap. 15. 23. But every man in his own order Christ the first-fruits afterward they that are Christ's at his coming p. 775 802 Chap. 16. 19. See Romans 16. 5 EPHESIANS Chap. â— 2. the Prince of the power of the Aire p. 23 24 Vers. 8 9 10. By grace ye are saved through faith not of works lest any man should boast For we are his workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them p. 112 215 Vers. 14. and hath broken down the partition wall between us p. 20 COLOSSIANS Chap. 2. 8 9. Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godbeaa bodily and ye are complete in him p. 628 Chap. 4. 15. See Romans 16. 5. I THESSALONIANS Chap. 4. 16. The dead in Christ shall rise first p. 519 Vers. 17 18. Afterwards we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so we shall ever be with the Lord. p. 775 776 II THESSALONIANS Chap. 2. 3. Vnless that Apostasie come first p. 625 Vers. 7. Only he who now letteth will lett until he be taken out of the way p. 656 Vers. 8. that wicked one whom the Lord shall destroy at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his coming p. 763 I TIMOTHY Chap. 4. 1. Howbeit the Spirit speaketh expresly That in the latter times some shall revolt from the Faith attending to erroneous Spirits and Doctrines of Daemons p. 623 Vers. 2. Through the hypocrisie or feigning of Liers having their conscience seared p. 675 Vers. 3. Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats p. 688 Chap. 5. 17. Let the Elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour especially they that labour in the word and doctrine p. 70 Vers. 21. elect Angels p. 42 Chap. 6. 19. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation p. 82 II TIMOTHY Chap. 2. 19. The foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity p. 82 TITUS Chap. 3. 5. By the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost p. 62 PHILEMON Vers. 1 2. To Philemon odr dearly-beloved and fellow-labourer And to Apphia our beloved and Archippus our fellow-souldier and to the Church at thy house p. 324 HEBREWS Chap. 1. 6. And when he bringeth again the first-begotten into the world p. 577 Chap. 2. 5. For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the World to come whereof we speak p. 577 Chap. 9. 5. the Cherubims of glory p. 345 Vers. 29. in the end of ages p. 655 Chap. 10. 5. a Body hast thou prepared me p. 897 Vers. 25. as ye see the Day approching p. 664 Vers. 29. and hath counted the bloud of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified a common thing p. 7 Vers. 37. For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry p. 664 Chap. 11. 16. But now they desire a better countrey that is an heavenly p. 801 Chap. 12. 27. This Yet once more signifies the removing of things that are shaken p. 166 IAMES Chap. 5. 3. Ye have heaped up goods for the last daies p. 664 Vers. 7 8. the coming of the Lord. p. 708 I PETER Chap. 3. 14 15. Fear ye not their Fear nor be in dread thereof But sanctifie the Lord God in your heart p. 9 Chap. 4. 7. The end of all approcheth Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer p. 664 Chap. 5. 13. The Church that is at Babylon saluteth you p. 76 II PETER Chap. 2. 1. But there were false Prophets among the People even aâ— there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them p. 238 Vers. 4. For if God spared not the Angels which sinned but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto Iudgment p. 23 Vers. 6. making them an Ensample unto those that after should live ungodly p. 33 Chap. 3. from vers 3. to Vers. 16. p. 609 c. I IOHN Chap. 1. 9. he is faithful and just to forgive p. 175 Chap. 2. 3. Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandments p. 303 Vers. 18. Antichrist many Antichrists Chap. 4. 3. 2 Ep. Vers. 7 p. 663 900 IUDE Vers. 6. See 2 Peter 2. 4. Vers. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 914 Vers. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 344 APOCALYPS Besides several whole Chapters and parts of Chapters of the Apocalyps explained from pag. 419. to p. 605. and from pag. 905 to the end there are several passages explained
〈◊〉 614 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 49. 10. 35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ezek. 24. 16. 668 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esth. 7. 5. 116 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 170 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Manna 245 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meat-offering what 287 358 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mahuzzim Dan. 11. 38. 669 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To revolt put for Idolatry 625 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 9. 27. 706 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie both poenam culpam 911 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To despise provoke blaspheme is put for Idolatry 502 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esai 26. 19. 578 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 9. 24. 697 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 11. 37. 668 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 8. 2. why rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pag. 39 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 536 705 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 474 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 9. 26. 507 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 110. 3. 115 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 60 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Idols why so called 268 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a Foundation and a Bond or a Bill of contract 82 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Facere is both to do and to sacrifice 674 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paraclete Pag 496 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 614 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Almes why so called 80 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rock a Title given to God 670 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 4. 25. 52 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To melt and To resiâ—e 615 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Holy what it imports Page 6 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The â—ast why Arabia so called 467 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how it differs from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 402. 860 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Levit. 19. 24. why the Heave-offering so called 288 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Coetus Gigamum why Hell was so called 32 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Voices signâ—â— Thunder 458 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apocal 12. 10. why Satan is so call'd 496 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Corban what 286 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 485 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 9. 25. 700 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 7. 9. mis-translated 762 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 206 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signif â—evens of daies not of years Page 599 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signiâ— the Supreme Poner 35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 9. 25. 700 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shiloh why Christ was so called 35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shechinah what 343 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peace 94 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peace-offerings what 287 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heaven and Earth put for the World 613 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To hear and To obey 351 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccles. 5. 1. 347 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Idols 707 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 10. 13. 42 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the habitable Earth Page 196 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Idols 707 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wave-offerings what 288 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Dragon 493 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heave-offerings what 288 513 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 9. 25. 709 The Greek Words explained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 470 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 42 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 391 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 384 391 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 516 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 358 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 39 40 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 907 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 515 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 246 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 518 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 331 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 60 324 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peccatum Sacrif pro peccato p. 910 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 122 123 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 824 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 900 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 322 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 519 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 513 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 625 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 522 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 43 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 288 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 909 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro quibusvis Summatibus p. 711 911 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 708 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 501 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 389 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 689 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 391 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 752 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 279 283 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 59 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 29 627 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 29 30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 635 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 488 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 638 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 444 918 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 345 346 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 610 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 635 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 26 27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 8 402 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 626 634 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 80 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 10 913 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 914 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 344 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 171 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 915 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 361 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exercitus robur p. 499 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 321 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 468 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 473 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 78 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro loco p. 319 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 80 176 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 14 93 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 519 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 566 569 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 915 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 119 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 474 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 614 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 476 676 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 915 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 506 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 93 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 775 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 125 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 801 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 907 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 266 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 166 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 652 663 664 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 653 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 609 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
the Apocalyptick Visions is expounded by the Angel 432 582. why she is said to have a golden cup in her hand and her Name written in her forehead 525 Wilderness Israel's being in the Wilderness and the Churche's abode in the Wilderness compared 906 907 Wing signifies in Dan. 9. an Army the fitness of the word to signifie thus 707. Wing of abominations is an Army of Idolarrous Gentiles ibid. How the Roman Army was the Army of Messiah 708 Witnesses why Two and in sackcloth 480 481. the two Wars of the Beast against them 765. their Slaughter how far it extends 760 761. their Death and Resurrection how to be understood 484 Women Why the Corinthian women are reproved for being unveiled or uncovered in the Church 61. how they are said to prophesie 58 59 Works Good Works 3 qualifications of them 217 c. 3 Reasons for the necessity of them 215 c. God rewards our Works out of his mercy not for any merit in them 175 World Heaven and Earth put according to the Hebrew idiom for World 613. That the World should last 7000 years and the Seventh Thousand be the Beatum Milleunium was an ancient Tradition of the Iews 892. World sometimes in Scripture put for the Roman Empire 705 Worship External worship required in the Gospel 47. Four Reasons for it 349 350. The Iews worshipped versus Locum praesentiae 394. That such Worshipping is not the same with worshipping God by an Image 395 To worship God in spirit and truth what 47. 48. The Worship directed to God is Incommunicable and why 638 639 Y. YEars That the Antichristian Times are more than 3 single Years and an half proved by 5 Reasons 598. The 70 years Captivity of the Iews in Babylon whence to be reckoned 658 Z. ZAchary The 9 10 and 11 Chapters in his Book seem to befit Ieremy's time better 786 833 c. Zebach or The bloudy Sacrifice defined 287 Zipporah deferred not the circumcision of her child out of any aversation of that Rite 52. her words in Exod. 4. 25. vindicated from the common misconstruction 53 c. ERRATA Page 481. line 3. read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 790. l. 14. for Page r. Figure pag. 495. l. 10. r. Angelo pag. 496. l. antepenult r. legibus pag. 498. l. 1. r. crudelitate l. 41. r. Caesarum imperium A Catalogue of some Books Reprinted and of other New Books Printed since the Fire and sold by Richard Royston viz. A Paraphrase and Annotations upon all the Books of the New Testament by H. Hammond D. D. in Fol. Third Edition Ductor Dubitantium or the Rule of Conscience in Five Books in Fol. by Ier. Taylor D. D. and late Lord Bishop of Down and Gonnor The Practical Catechism together with all other Tracts formerly Printed in 4 o in 8 o and 12 o his Controversies excepted now in the Press in a large Fol. By the late Reverend H. Hammond D. D. The Great Exemplar or the Life and Death of the Holy Iesus in Fol. with Figures suitable to every Story Ingrav'd in Copper By the late Reverend Ier. Taylor D. D. Phraseologia Anglo Latina or Phrases of the English and Latine Tongue By Iohn Willis sometimes School-master at Thistleworth together with a Collection of English Latine Proverbs for the use of Schools by William Walker Master of the Free-School of Grantham in 8 o new The Whole Duty of Man now Translated into the Welch Tongue at the command of the four Lord Bishops of Wales for the benefit of that Nation By Io. Langford A. M. in 8o. The Christian Sacrifice a Treatise shewing the necessity end and manner of Receiving the Holy Communion together with suitable Prayers and Meditations for every Month in the Year and the Principal Festivals in memory of our Blessed Saviour in 8 o By the Reverend S. Patrick D. D. Chaplain in Ordidinary to his Sacred Majesty A Friendly Debate between a Conformist and a Non-conformist in 8o. Peace and Holiness in three Sermons upon several occasions the First to the Clergy Preached at Stony-Stratford in the County of Buoks being a Visitation-Sermon published in Vindication of the Author The Second preached to a great Presence in London The Third at the Funeral of M rs Anne Norton by Ignatius Fuller Rector of Sherrington in 8 o new A Discourse concerning the true Notion of the Lords Supper to which are added two Sermons by R. Cudworth D. D. Master of Christs-Colledge in Cambridge in 8o. The Works of the Reverend and Learned Mr. Iohn Gregory sometimes Master of Arts of Christ-Church in Oxon. 4o. The Sinner Impleaded in his own Court to which is now added the Signal Diagnostick by Tho. Pierce D. D. and President of St. Mary Magdalen-Colledge in Oxon. in 4o. Also a Collection of Sermons upon several occasions together with a Correct Copy of some Notes concerning Gods Decrees in 4o. Enlarged by the same Author Christian Consolations drawn from Five Heads in Religion I. Faith II. Hope III. The Holy Spirit IV. Prayer V. The Sacrament Written by the Right Reverend Father in God Iohn Hacket late Lord Bishop of Leichfield and Coventry and Chaplain to King Charles the First and Second in 12 o new A Disswasive from Popery the First and Second Part in 4 o by Ier. Taylor late Lord Bishop of Down and Connor The Principles and Practises of certain several Moderate Divines of the Church of England also The Design of Christianity both which are written by Edward Fowler Minister of Gods Word at Northill in Bedfordshire in 8o. A Free Conference touching the Present State of England both at home and abroad in order to the Designs of France in 8 o new to which is added the Buckler of State and Iustice against the design manifestly discover'd of the Universal Monarchy under the vain Pretext of the Queen of France her pretensions in 8o. Iudicium Vniversitatis Oxoniensis à Roberto Sandersono S. Theologiae ibidem Professore Regio postea Episcopo Lincolniensi in 8o. The Profitableness of Piety open'd in an Assize Sermon preach'd at Dorchester by Richard West D. D. in 4 o new A Sermon preached at the Funeral of the Honourable the Lady Farmor by Iohn Dobson B. D. Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen-Colledge in Oxon. in 4 o new THE END * All of them except some few mentioned at the end of this Preface * None of which were number'd among the Errata * Pag. 109. lin 21. ‖ These the Author a little before calls the Two parts of Repentance Aversion from sin the first Conversion to God the second part ‖ See p. 280. lin ult ‖ See p. 276 279 281. * Luk. 6. * Chap. 4. 15. * Chap. 2. ‖ Rev. 10. 9. * See a particular account both of the Enlargements and of the Additiâ—nals at the end of this Preface * See a particular account both of the Enlargements and of the Additiâ—nals at the end of this Preface * See Epistle 97. p. 881. * p.
postae accidit sub Hadriano usque ad consummationem seculi ruinae Hierusalem permansurae sunt quanquam sibi Iudaei auream atque gemmatam Hierusalem restituendam putent rurstisque victimas sacrificiâ— conjugia sanctorum regnun in terris Domini Salvatoris quae licèt non sequamur damnare â—amen non possumus quia multi virâ—rum Ecclesiasâ—icorum Martyrum ista dixerunt Unusquisque in suo sensu abundeâ— Domini cuncta judicio reserventur Haec verba tua sunt Hieronyme Sed dic sodes An viri isti Ecclesiastici Martyres sanctissimi dixerunt circumcisionem victimas in regne illo Christi restituendas cave dixeris Aut si ità credidisse scires annon sine cunctatione damnares Quod autem Cerinthum attinet si quid hujusmodi erraverit ex Iudaismo attulit Iudani enim fuit Christianis non imputandum Mirum tamen est de hac Cerimhi haere si apud Irenaeum Tertullianum nè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quidem reperiri qui tamen exprosessâ— de erroribus ejus scripserunt Totum hoc â—â—â—ur fide cujusdam Gaii hominis obscuri quem â—escio an ex Alogorum baereticorum numero fuerit quos testatur Epiphanius â—am Ioannis Evangelium quà m Apocalypsin Cerimho adscripsisse Certè eodem tempore vixit Apocalypsin quod artiâ—et ab corum sententia non abhorruisse quicunque verba ejus apud Eusebium hand oscitanter ligeriâ— fatebitur Isai. cap. 2. Vers. 11 17. * Quam magistri agnoscunt passim necnon author lib. Sapientiae cap. 3. vers 7 8. * Mal. 4. 1. * Isai. 5. 16. ‖ Zeph. 3. 8. * Sapient cap. 3. 7 13. Confer 1 Pet. 2. 12. cap. 5. 6. juxta Vulg. quaedam ex 〈…〉 Graeca Lib. 11. c. 1 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Iren. l. 3. c. 12. Tertull. lib. de Resuâ—r carnis Syrum interpretem Quinimo illud praelium commissum absoluâ—um fuit in ictu oculi ut postea demonstrabitur At temph commensuratio non est facta in ictu ocuit * Noâ—at in Luc. 17. * Hujus editionis pag. 424. * Apocal. 6. 17. Drusiâ—â— ad cap. 1. Ioelis Dies Domini genusloquendi forâ—nse ut si dicat Iudicium Domini quomodo Apost Diem humanum dixit pro Iudicium humanum 1 Cor. 4. 3. Bestia septiml capiâ—â—â— est imago Bestiae sexto caâ—ite mactat vâ—l imaginem gerit c. * Apoc. 14. 4. * Cap. 7. 14. * Hujus edit p. 423. * Cap. 3◠〈◊〉 * Cap. 7. 9. * Hujes edit pag. 421. * Hujus edit pag. 506. * Hujus edit pag. 439. lin 1. 2. * Hujus edit pag. 439. * Hujus edit p. 455. * Hujus edit pag. 482. * Hujus edit pag. 500. * Hujus edit pag. 522. * Hujus edit pag. 421. * Hujus edit p. 439. * Conferatur Hymnus Davidis novissimus 2 Sam. 22. cum eodem Ps. 18. 〈◊〉 excidii Hierosolylmitaâ—i 2 Reg à v. 1â— cap. 24. ad finim â— 25. cum eadem historia Ier. 52. Legatio Merodach Baladaâ— 2 Reg. â— 20. com 12 13 c. cum eadem Esai 39. 2 Sam. 21. 19. cum 1 Par. 20. 5. * Hujus edit pag. 519. * Sic Ireâ—d â—5 c. 32. l. 5. * Hâ—c respicere videtur il lud Cypriani Epist. 52. Aliud est pendere in die Iudicii ad sententiam Domini aliud statim à Domino coronari Agit verò nisi admâ—dum â—allor dâ— pâ—aerogativa Martyrum c. Et illud Irenaei lib. 1. c. 2. Christum in suo de coelis adventu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enim hic pro poena posita videtur non virtuâ—e Qunni poenam in Mora Resurrectionis constituit Teâ—uâ— * Deut. 33. 6. Psal. 49. 11. Esai 65. 6 15. * Vt Ps. 16. 10 Act. 2. 31. Ezek. 14. 25. apud Lxx. Levit. 19. 28. alibi Adde Apoc. 6. 9. Addit quidam Eccles 16. ul◠‖ Auth. Qu. Resp. ad Orth. qu. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indignat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Huc pertineâ— illud Auth. Qu. Resp. ad Orâ—h qu. 120. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 2 Pet. 3. 8. * Cap. 11. 8. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. de Mundo cap. 3. * Consule R. Episâ— corum Aâ—mach Respons ad Ieseiâ—am p. 337 338 339 c. Cap. 20. Ver. 8 9. Psalm 72. â— Isai. 49. 6. * Non enim tam â—essâ—o ad dcâ—tram Dei quà m plena omnimodasub jugatio câ—ncuicatio hostium iuea aâ—â—â—gatione attendituâ— quae demum in Secuâ—â— do adventu adâ—mpâ—nd â— est * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Vers. 14. Responâ—â— cap 14. in neâ—â— indeâ—â— versu 3. ad sâ—â—â—ersûs 7. in Grâ—â—o 9. * Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In a Letter to Mr. Wood of Lenton in Lincolnshire by way of Answer to his Apoc. 17. 18. * See the Scheme at pag. 431. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Chap. 7. 1. In answer to a letter from the same Friend * Chap. 15. Chap. 16. * Chap. 16. 10. In answer to Mr. Wood's letter of April 29. 1624. * What 's meant by Sun Moon and Stars Heaven and Earth and Sea c. see in the Author's Comment upon Apocal 16. where is mention of the Vials and Chap. 8. where is mention of the Trumpets See also Chap. 6 V. 12 13 c. Chap. 17. Verse 10. * 30 Days to every Month. * Lib. 18. de 〈◊〉 Dâ—i c. 53 54. i. e. penultimo ultimâ— * Ibidem c. 54. sub finem An. Christi 1. 33. 70. 94. * If you will count the Embolism of 5 days then add 5 years more to each of them For Gensericus took Rome the year after nor was there any afterward that may be truly accounted Emperor though some Tyrants scuffled for that name some few years after * If you will count the Embolism of 5 days then add 5 years more to each of them For Gensericus took Rome the year after nor was there any afterward that may be truly accounted Emperor though some Tyrants scuffled for that name some few years after * If you will count the Embolism of 5 days then add 5 years more to each of them For Gensericus took Rome the year after nor was there any afterward that may be truly accounted Emperor though some Tyrants scuffled for that name some few years after * If you will count the Embolism of 5 days then add 5 years more to each of them For Gensericus took Rome the year after nor was there any afterward that may be truly accounted Emperor though some Tyrants scuffled for that name some few years after * Of the beginning and ending of these days see the Author 's elaborate Discourse toward the end of this Third Book De Numeris Danielis c. * For Solomon prayed before the Altar at that time and
blessed the Congregation which stood in the outward Court 2 Chron. c. 6. v. 12 3. and they sacrificed that day and all the time of the Feast viz. in the Courts though the Priests could not enter the Covered Temple for the glory of the Lord which filled it * Viz. the Trumpets * Chap. 8. 10. See before in Chap. 2. Sect. 6 * See before in Chap. 3. Sect. 1. * Chap. 7. * Chap. 14. 1. * Chap. 13. 11. * Chap. 14. 4. * Vers. 15. * Vers. 18. * Vers. 20. * Decemb. 27. * Num. 2. 2. a Ch. 3. 4. ch 6. 11. ch 7. 13. b Ch. 2. 11. ch 20. 6. 14. ch 21. 8. * The Lxx. have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Israil is often in the Psal. and elsewhere in Scripture called God's inheritance * Vers. 4. * Vers. 4. * 〈…〉 Vide Commâ—ns Apocal ad cap. 8. vers 8. * The Caesars were Pontifices maximi as well as Augusti and received the Pontifical Stole at their inauguration yea Constantine and his sons received the Stole and bore the Title though they executed not the Office Gratian was the first that refused both * The Demi-Caesars kept their Court at Ravenna never at Rome The Numbers of Times in Dan. 12. have also been taken definitely by those who yet differ about their Epocha * This is more fully demonstrated in the next Chapter * Roma meretrix rides the Beast under his last Head * Chap. 9. v. 5. * Vers. 15. * Chap. 16. 12 c. Dan. 10. 2â— * Targum Hierosolym Targum Ionâ—thanis * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * This is the Author 's own Argument to what follows See the meaning of those days in the Author 's learned Discourse De Nuâ—heris Danielis c. which is the last Discourse in this Third Book * Compare Dan. 11. 31. Chap. 12. 11. See page 531. * See pag. 534. * See in Book V. the words of Gaius out of Eusebius with the Author's Animadversions Thâ—s was wroté before his Comment on the Apocal. and so were the other Tracts in these Râ—mains except that in Chap. 9. be of a later date Dan. 7. 13. Zach. 12. 10. See in Book V. the Author 's short Tract styled The Mystery of S. Pauls Conversion or The Type of the Calling of the Iews Revel 20. 4. Chap. 20. 6. * See in Book IV. the Authors 2d Letter to D. Meddus where this is largely treated of See also above in this Book in the Appendix to the Apocal. his Epist. ad Amicum De Resurrectionâ— Prima c. ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Vid. Act. Concil Niceni apud Gelas. Cyzicen l. 1. c. 23. â—l 24. ‖ In Catech. 14. * Hades is properly the place of Separate Souls whether good or bad after death * Ezek. 38. 15. chap. 39. 2. a If that which S. Peter here describeth were foretold by the old Prophets then must S. Peter be so expounded as it may be shewn in them and agree with them a This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or last days should seem to be the time of the Churche's Apostasie under Antichrist according to that of S. Paul 1 Tim. 4. 1. In the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to spirits of error and doctrines of Daemons For as the times of the fourth and last of Daniel's Kingdoms were the last times in general during which Christ was to come and found his Church and Kingdom so the latter times of the Fourth Kingdom being that period of a Time times and half a time wherein the wicked Horn should domineer are the latmost times of the last times or last times in special b I take Promise here for Res promissa the thing promised the Antithesis implying that to be the meaning viz. The scoffers say Where is the Promise of his coming Nevertheless we look for a New heaven and New earth according to his Promise But here is somewhat Reader in the application wherein thou mayest erre but be not thou uncharitable in thy censure nor think I am For although the crying down and condemning of the opinion of the Chiliasts will be found to be near upon the beginning of the times of the Antichristian Apostasie which I suppose to be called the last times and that the utter burying of that Opinion falls within these times yet thou must know 1. That there is not the like reason of the first Authors of crying down a Truth and of those who led by their authority take it afterward without further examination for an Error 2. To scoff is one thing and barely not to believe is another 3. 'T is one thing to deny a promise simply and another to deny or question the manner thereof as also to reject a Truth sincerely propounded and when it is intangled with errors as that of the later Chiliasts may seem to have been c I take Promise here for Res promissa the thing promised the Antithesis implying that to be the meaning viz. The scoffers say Where is the Promise of his coming Nevertheless we look for a New heaven and New earth according to his Promise But here is somewhat Reader in the application wherein thou mayest erre but be not thou uncharitable in thy censure nor think I am For although the crying down and condemning of the opinion of the Chiliasts will be found to be near upon the beginning of the times of the Antichristian Apostasie which I suppose to be called the last times and that the utter burying of that Opinion falls within these times yet thou must know 1. That there is not the like reason of the first Authors of crying down a Truth and of those who led by their authority take it afterward without further examination for an Error 2. To scoff is one thing and barely not to believe is another 3. 'T is one thing to deny a promise simply and another to deny or question the manner thereof as also to reject a Truth sincerely propounded and when it is intangled with errors as that of the later Chiliasts may seem to have been As touching the Iews and the impeachment of this Opinion amongst them in the latter times I find amongst the Doctors of the Gemara or Gloss of their Talmud which was finished about 500 years after Christ a Tenet of one R. Samuels often mentioned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That there was to be no difference between the present state of the world and the days of Messiah but in respect of the bondage under the Kingdoms of the Gentiles only thereby opposing the more ancient opinion and tradition of the Renovation of the World After this time there appears to have been amongst the Iews a Sect of the followers of the opinion of this R. Samuel which at length was greatly advanced by the authority of that learned Maimonides who having drunk too deep of the Philosophy of Aristotle wherein he was admirably skilful became a
his Clavis Apocalyptica seven Copies whereof he sent into Ireland ‖ Viz. Dissert Le Numeriâ— Dan. cap. 12. v. 11 12. Speâ—â—men interpret Millen Apocalypt * That the Seventâ— Mâ—â—nary is by the whole School of the Cabâ—alists call'd The Great Day of Iudgment * namely such as Moses Law had prescribed for their Feasts and Solemnities ‖ namely them of old about Sacrificing and Circumcision c. Rev. 10. â— 2 Thess. 2. 8. * Rev. 13. 1. Object Answer Object Answ. Object Answer * Dan. 8. 23. See the last Discourse but one in Book III. Regnum Romanum est Regnum quartum Danielis Argum. 3. * Rev. 10. 7. Rev. 11. 15. * See this Prophesie of Tobit explained in pag. 579. * For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 25. 〈◊〉 Tâ—en shall be Signs So the Hebrews use that copulative and the Greek Testament with them Acts 1. Repl. Bâ—â—â— Iuâ— 7. 12. Ioseph 15. 5. Xiphil Ioseph Bell. 1. 13. S. Ier. in Dan. c. 11. Isocrat Alâ—â—ed Object Answer * Ch. 11. 15. Vâ—d Dâ—n Weeks Dan. 9. v. 25. * Iâ—â—â— 12. 7. * Dan. 7. 22. Matth. 24. 34. 2 Thess. â— 3. * I have had good occasion to know his name and some of his notions too * 〈…〉 * Witnesses and Keepers of the Primitive Doctrine * Chap. 4. * the little Book Revel 10. Vixit â—ndreâ—â— circa annum Christi 500. * Revel 11. verse 12. ‖ Verse 13. * Verse 14. * Verse 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Verse 13. * Verse 8. * Verse 9. * Verse 2. * Rom. 11. 11. See this more fully reâ—ed of in Ep. XVII See alsâ— in Book V. aâ— Trâ—ct styled The Mystâ—ry of S. Paul's Conversion * Vulgar Lat. Donec throni 〈◊〉 sunt LXX Thâ—odotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chaâ—d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 usurpatum de Solo inveniat apud Chald. Paraph â—â—â— â— v. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi in 〈◊〉 est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sepâ—uag 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Verse 10. ‖ Verse 13. 1 Cor. 6. 2. 2 Thest. ch 2. ver 2 3. * See Epistle VIII * Chap. 11. 9. * Matt. 24. 29. * Because * Therefore Or I could say This apparition might be vouchsafed to some chief ones of them whom God should chuse and they as wiâ—nesses make it known to the rest A remarkable story of a great conversion of Iews wrought by Christ's apparition and voice from heaven according to that Apocal. 5. 10. Wâ— shall reign oâ— the earth N. B. * See Book III. pag. 664. * See Book III. pag. 664. See in Book III. pag. 710. â—rist ad Amicuâ—â— de Resurrestionâ— prima That the word Day in Scripture sometimes implies a long times or many years * See Dr. Twisse his First Letter to Mr. Mâ—de * In a MS. of Dr. Twisse there is a third Answer added in the Margin but whether it was added in the Paper of his Answers sent by Dr. Meddâ—â— to Mr. Mede appearâ— tur Answ. 3. It appears by Esa. 65. 20. that they who are sound alive at Christ's coming shall be â—bnoxioâ—s unto death but after death thâ—y shall rise ere the 1000 years be eâ—pâ—â—â— and reign 〈◊〉 Christ. 1 Thess. 4. * 1. Thesâ— 4. verse 16 17â— * In Geâ—â—ra Abodah Zarah c. 1. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mutabitur though we here translate it be moved movâ—bitur * See this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 explained by the Author in his Paraphr on 2 Pet. 3. ver 16. The explication of which verse was written by Mr. Mede in Dr. Twisse's Manuscript and not extant in the former Editions See Book III pag. 612. * See Epist. VIII ‖ See Epist. XV. * Revel 17. * Dan. 7. 24. * Vid. Gen. 22. 13. Exod. 14. 19. Iosh. 8. 2. 2 Kingâ— 9. 18. 2 Chro. 13 13. Ezck. 3. 12. alibi * See Book III. pag 463. pag 661. * In another 〈◊〉 of Mr. 〈◊〉 to Mr. Thoâ— Iohnson of Rochdale in Lancashire Novemb 9. 1636. â—here much of 〈◊〉 letter is transâ—ribâ—d in answer to the like Dâ—ubt is â—â—is added The Aâ—â—i-christian Hâ—rn with eyes and mouth that is qui cum revera Comu tantâ—m sit pro Capâ—e tamen sese â—erit cujus est proprtum oâ— oculos habere * In the Letter to Mr. T. I. this is add d now â—fter the division and dilaceration of the Empire but one of the Kingdoms ‖ The Horn. * this proud domineering Horn. * and invested * Verse 4 5 6. This and the two short Letters that follow though written at some distance of time are in this as in the former Edition joyned together as being preparatory to the better understanding of the large Letter immediately following * Ezek. 4. 6. * Anâ—al Eccles Tom. 4. See also chap. 5. 11. Ia the rest is no tittle difference throughout * For no where else is Messiah so termed but there * See the Scheme in pag. 430. of this Editio * erias * Iconisâ—is This Latin Epistle is of the same import with Epistle XXXVII This Letter containâ— Mr. Mede's thanks returned to M. Testard for his great respectsâ— wiâ—hal his reasons why he cannot concur with him in his notions about the Number of the. Beast's name * Vid. pag. 710. * Vid. pag. 713â— * Whâ—â—h I desire when you have used it to send me back again Ezek. 38. 17. explained * Ezek. 38. 2. Micah 5. Dan. 11. 35 36 explained * Namely of the end of the Greek Monarchy which in the holy account is not extended beyond Antiochus Epiphanes * i. primiâ— * â—on caeditur populus usquedum caedâ—tur princeps ejus in excelâ—o R. Sol. ad Esaiae 34. 5. See Mr. Mede's Conjecture of Gog and Magog in Book III. Pag. 713. * Thâ— Terra Australiâ— yet incognita might in part be peopled through that fry of Islands lying between it and Camboia in the Oriental Sea But of that Continent we know nothing whether it be fully inhabited or not Our Saviouâ—â— proof of the Resurrection from Exod. 3. 6. I am the God of Abraham c. explained Exod. 6. 4. Deut. 11. â—1 Vid. Luc 10. 5â— In the Old Testamâ—nt 〈◊〉 See Gen. 〈◊〉 12. 49. Iudg. 5. 〈◊〉 Mark those words well The land of thy pilgrimage The land whereon thy headlies Gen. 28. The land which thou seest Gen. 13. and the like And in S. Paul The place which he shouâ—d after receive for an inheritance Heb. 11. * 1 Cor. 15. * Of which this Great Author hath given a Specimen in his prefecting and more fully expressing such pieces of that Treause as he had occasion to exceâ—p and make use of in senâ—e Writings in this Volume as the judicious Reader may observe Huâ—us 〈◊〉 pag. 476. This Letter contains Mr. Dury's great respect to Mr. Mede and withal sollicits him to impart his thoughts about the best method of pursuing the design for a Pacification amongst the Protestant
11. 29. when he expresseth the prophanation of the Holy Supper in coming to it and using it as a common banquet by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not differencing the Lord's body that is not sanctifying it or using it as became so holy a thing HITHERTO I have considered the words of my Text apart but now let us put them again together and see How the Name of God ought to be Sanctified in the manner now specified both in it self and in the things which it is called upon as in the beginning I distinguished For the better understanding of which we are to take notice of a twofold Holiness one Original Absolute and Essential in God the other Derived or Relative in the things which are His properly according to the use of the Latin called Sacra Sacred things Both these have their several and distinct Sanctifications belonging unto them For whatsoever is Holy ought to be sanctified according to the condition and proportion of the Holiness it hath To speak of them distinctly The first Original or Absolute Holiness is nothing else but the incommunicable Eminency of the Divine Majesty exalted above all and divided from all other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Eminencies whatsoever For that which a man takes to be and makes account of as his God whether it be such indeed or by him fancyed only he ascribes unto it â—in so doing a condition of Eminency above and distinct from all other Eminencies whatsoever that is of Holiness Hence it comes that we find the Lord the God of Israel and the only true God in Scripture so often styled Sanctus Israelis the Holy One of Israel that is Israel's most Eminent and Incommunicable One or which is all one His God as namely Psal. 89. 18. The Lord is our defence the HOLY ONE of Israel is our King Esay 17. 7. At that day shall a man look unto his Maker and his eyes shall have respect to the HOLY ONE of Israel Habak 1. 12. Art not thou from everlasting O Lord my God mine HOLY ONE Agreeably whereunto the Lord is said also now and then to swear by his HOLINESS that is by Himself as in the Psalm before alledged v. 35. Once have I sworn by my HOLINESS that I will not lie unto David c. Amos 4. 2. The Lord God hath sworn by his HOLINESS that lo the dayes shall come upon you that he will take you away with hooks c. According to this sense I suppose also that of Amos 8. 7. isâ— to be understood The Lord hath sworn by the Excellency of Iacob that is Iacob's most Eminent and Incommunicable One or by Iacob's HOLY ONE Surely I will never forget any of their works c. For indeed the Gods of the Nations were not properly and truly Holy because but partially and respectively only forasmuch as the Divine eminency which they were supposed to have was even in the opinion of those who worshipped them common to others with them and so not discriminated from nor exalted above all But the God of Israel was simply and absolutely such both in himself and to them-ward who worshipped him as who might acknowledge no other and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by way of distinction from all other Gods called Sanctus Israelis The Holy One of Israel that is that sole absolute and only incommunicable One or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Author of the Book of Wisdome calls him chap. 14. 21. That God exalted above all and divided from all without pareil there being no other such besides him There is none holy as the Lord saith Hannah for there is none besides thee Lxx. none Holy besides thee neither is there any Rock like our God Wherefore it is to be observed that although the Scripture every where vouchsafes the Gentiles Daemons the name of Gods yet it never I think calls them Holy Ones as indeed they were not Thus you see that as Holiness in general imports a state of eminency and separation so this of God as I have described it disagrees not from that general notion when I affirm it to consist in a state of peerless or incommunicable Majesty for that which is such includes both the one and the other But would you understand it yet better Apply it then to his Attributes whereby he is known unto us and know that The Lord is Holy is as much as to say He is a Majesty of peerless Power of peerless Wisdom of peerless Goodness and so of the rest Such a one is our God and such is his Holiness Now then to Sanctifie this peerless Name or Majesty of his must be by doing unto him according to that which his Holiness challengeth in respect of the double importance thereof namely to serve and glorifie him because of his Eminency and to do it with a singular separate and incommunicated worship because he is Holy Not to do the former is Irreligion and Atheism as not to acknowledg God to be the Chief and Soveraign Eminency not to observe the second is Idolatry For as the Lord our God is a singular and peerless Majesty distinguished from and exalted above all things and eminencies else whatsoever so must his Worship be singular incommunicable and proper to him alone Otherwise saith Ioshnah to the people Ye cannot serve the Lord. Why For saith he He is an Holy God He is a jealous God that can endure no corrival He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins Iâ— ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods c. Whence in Scripture those who communicate the Worship given unto him with any besides him or together with him by way of Object that is whether immediately or but mediately are deemed to deny his incomparable Sanctity and therefore said to prophane his Holy Name See Ezek. 20. 39. and chap. 43. 7 8. Levit. 18. 21. In a word All that whole immediate Duty and Service which we ow unto God whether inward or outward contained under the name of Divine Worship when either we confess praise pray unto call upon or swear by his Name yea all the Worship both of men and Angels is nothing else but to acknowledg in thought word and work this peerless preeminence of his Power of his Wisdom of his Goodness and other Attributes that is His Holiness by ascribing and giving unto him that which we give and ascribe to none besides him that is to sanctifie his most Holy Name This is that the Holy Ghost would teach us when describing how the Seraphims worship and glorifie God Esay 6. 3. he brings them in crying one unto another Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory that is Sanctifying him From whence is derived that which we repeat every day in the Hymne To thee all Angels cry aloud the heavens and all the powers therein To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God