success for through faith the servants of God waxed valiant in fight Heb. 11.33 34. put to flight the Armies of the aliens and subdued Kingdoms They got not the victory 0141 0110 V 3 through their own strength neither was it their own arme that saved them but it was the aid and favour of the Deity whom they adored Hereupon the Psalmist saith I will not trust in my bow it is not my Sword that shall help me but it is thou O God that savest me and puttest them to confusion that hate me Non eripio Magistratui arma non praecido Consilia Typotius de Salut Reipub. p. 242. His enim Resp stat illis defenditur I do not disarm the Magistrate of his Militia nor cut off his Counsel for the Common-weal is upheld by the one and defended by the other At quovis rerum Statu absque Dei Numine nihil recte geritur desperatis rebus quid subsidii reliquum est Si non Deus praepotens atque immortalis In the best state of things nothing is well done without Gods assistance but when things are grown desperate what Anchor to hold is steady what Sanctuary to flee to but only the defence of the Almighty Some put their trust in Chariots and some in Horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God They are brought down and fall'n Psal 20.7 8. but we are risen and stand upright David therefore will have no Souldiers to be of his Guard but such as have a devotion for the Ark of God And where there is such a Prince after Gods own heart such a conformable Priesthood such Religious Elders such devout and zealous Souldiers we may be confident of an orderly well-affected people for it is the Irregular Priest and the Seditious Elder and the Factious Souldier that does distract and imbroil a Kingdom and fill it with disorder and confusion In a word to shut up this Scene of our Discourse When a Prince comes newly to his Throne and the possession of his Kingdom all Degrees and Orders of men under his Dominion address themselves to make their recognition of his Authority and pay their homage to him Why now the Ark of God was a going to be inthroned in Sion and take possession as it were of its Kingdom and therefore David will have all his Subjects of what rank or quality soever present themselves to acknowledge and perform their respective Duty the Priests to devote their zeal and diligence the Elders their Counsel and Authority the Captains their strength and valour and all the people their fidelity and obedience to the Royal Prerogative thereof Thus we have given you an account of the first Quaere who they were that did Transport or Conduct this Ark in this pregnant Relative They So They brought 2. How they did Transport and Conduct it 1. With what Carriage or Instruments 2. With what Pomp and Solemnity in which as in the other general parts that are to follow I must be more brief that I may come timely to the pitch of my designe the Application 1. With what Carriage and Instruments To set the Ark of the Covenant upon a Cart and commit it to the blind conduct of a pair of Kine was somewhat tolerable in the Philistims who had no Priests that were rightly dedicated to the most high God And they had so much reverence to it as to set it upon a Cart that had not been over-worn in the service of the world in the drudgery of their secular imployments a new Cart will less profane it then the shoulders of an old uncircumcised Philistine They had so much care and reverence too as to commit it to the conduct of such Kine as being sent from their Calves would be sure not to hurry it on too fast to run it into the danger of an utter over-throw It might have fall'n into the hands of some men much more rash unreasonable and head-strong But yet that this new Cart and those Kine should carry it as they did was not without a miracle as the Learned think When the Ark is within the confines of Israel where there are Priests anointed and hallowed to attend upon it to Cart it then whether out of sloth or negligence out of irreverence or carelesness out of Faction or Inconformity is such an intolerable contempt and prophanation as God will not let go unpunished David doth acknowledge that the breach which was made upon them by the death of Uzzah was for this disorder 1 Chron. 15.13 for God will have things performed in their due order in his service and that affliction was an instruction to him and mâ—de him apprehend that none ought to carry the Ark but the Priests and Levites * 1 Chron. 15.2 2 Chron. 5 4 5. and Josh 3.6 whom the Lord had chosen for that Ministry And well might they undertake it for the Ark of God was not like the Idols of Egypt aburden to the weary Beast †Isa 46.1 it did not oppress or wring the Priests shoulders for the Text saith The Lord helped them to bear it 1 Chron. 15.26 Such is Gods goodness if we will but seriously endeavour it we cannot want a sufficient assistance to perform our expected duty Thus you see with what Carriage or Instruments the Ark was transported But 2. With what pomp and solemnity and of this we may observe that it was very great but withal very pious very decent very delightful and very cordial 1. A pious solemnity It began with an accustomed Form of Prayer for so Moses had taught them when the Ark advanced to say * Num. 10.35 Psal 68.1 2. Rise Lord and let thine enemies be scattered To their Prayers they added Sacrifice 1 Chron. 15.26 A Sacrifice of thanksgiving that God did vouchsafe not only to spare the Levites whereas he had smitten Uzzah but also to assist them in their Ministry and that their devotions might be the more rational they make them intelligible by a Psâ—lm of praise newly penn'd on purpose to adorn the pomp of this solemnity 1 Chron. 16.7 c. 2. It was a decent Solemnity 1 Chron. 15 2â— for David was clothed with a robe of fiâ—e linen and all the Levites that bare the Ark and the Singers and Chenaniah the Master of the Song with the Singers David also had upon him an Ephod of linen See Eng. Annot. on Judg. 8.27 1 Sam. 2.18 on 2 Sam. 6.14 The Ephod was an habit appropriated to Gods Service And there were two sorts of them one very rich and costly peculiar to the High-Priest made of blew purple scarlet and twined linen cunningly wrought and embroidered with gold of which Exod. 28.4.6 the other was a vestment of linen for Priests and Levites which others might freely use also though we finde it no where prescribed to them and such a one David used at this time on 2 Sam 6.14 say the English Annotators
and Counsel and was ready also to make out Evidence and give Testimony against Transgressours * Mendaz in 1 Reg. 4.11 p. 202. 2 A. Si quis alicujus sceler is conscius accedebat impunitus non abibat If any guilty person did approach it it would not let him depart unpunished When Moses had made a Conquest of the Madianites he made an order that amongst the women that were taken Prisoners Num. 31.17 18 the Virgins onely should be reprieved from death But how did they make the discrimination The Hebrews tell us that being all presented before the Ark the Virgins remained as inviolate as their chastity the rest were struck with an invisible violence and fell before the Majestatick presence of it And such was the Lotery that discovered the Theft and Sacriledge committed at Jericho when all the Israelites marched by as innocent and unconcerned the Ark did deprehend and arrest the guilty Achan Josh 7.14 he could not quit himself of the miraculous seizure nor deny this tacite accusation 3. It is stiled The Ark of God because God was the Authour and Founder of it He prescribed the parts and the matter the form and the fashion the use and the service of it He conferr'd the grace and benefits that did flow from it This was his Seat a Psal 99.1 his Habitation b Psal 74.7 his Court c Psal 84.10 his Throne d Jer. 17.12 his place of residence e Psal 31.20 where he did vouchsafe his gracious presence and is therefore dignified with the title of Jehovah f Num. 10.35 Psal 68.1 And in reâ—erence to the people Israel this Ark was their Glory their Strength their Beauty The Glory is departed from Israel g 1 Sam. 4. saith the wife of Phineas when the Ark of God was taken And the Psalmist saith God delivered their strength into Captivity and their beauty into the Enemies hands h Psal 78.61 If they wanted direction here they had the Oracle i Exod. 25.22 here they were admitted to conference with God himself There I will meet with thee saith the Lord to Moses and I will commune with thee from above the Mercy seat from between the two Cherubins which are upon the Ark of the Testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the Children of Israel And because they were worthily admired among all Nations for the Laws and Ordinances * Deut. 4.6 which they thus received this might very well be called their Glory not to mention the lustre of the Ark it self or the splendour of Divine Majesty that appeared in it If they wanted protection here they had an host of Angels they invincible Chariots of God to pitch their Tents about them represented by the Cherubins over-shadowing the Mercy-seat with their outstretched wings upon which account the Ark is called their strength And if they were defiled and wanted pardon here they had the Propitiatory and the Mercy-seat and because that soul is blessed and amiable in Gods eye whose sin is covered and blotted out therefore the Ark was stiled their beauty This Ark did adumbrate the Mystery of the Incarnation * Nicetus apud Greg. Nazian Orat. 43. Tho. 1 2 ae 102.4.6 in Col. 2. Heb. 1. It was a Type of Christ in whom the course wood was overlaid with pure gold in that the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily He is the Oracle of his Church for God spake to us by his own Son in whom were hid not the Tables of the Law only but all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge He is the Mercy-seat and the Propitiatory for God hath set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 And he hath prostrated Dagon and cut off his hands and head 1 Sam. 5.4 in that he hath defeated the designs and dissolved the works of the Devil In him we have the Cherubins adoring him * Heb. 1.6 and their wings to shelter us †John 1. ult The Angels ascending and descending upon the Mystical body of the Son of man Heb. 1. ult to minister to such as shall be Heirs of Salvation He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1. Luke 1. and is the glory of his people Israel 2. This Ark is a Type of the Church * Jo. Gerhard Loc. Com. de leg Cer. c. 2. Sect. 2. mihi p. 261. which is the Repository of the holy Scriptures and the Ordinances of divine Worship Where the Angels incamp where the Counsel of God is revealed where Mercy and Pardon are dispenced 3. This is a Type of the Gospel †Jo. Botsac prompt Allegor 1506. 1. which is the word of wisdom and the mind of Christ * 1 Cor. 2.16 1 Pet. 1.12 a mystery which the Angels desire to look into and so it answers to the Oracle It is the pledge of our peace the word of Reconciliation and so answers to the mercy-Seat It is the Magazin and Armory whence we are furnished with arms and strength for our Christian warfare It puts upon us the whole Armour of God the Shield of faith the breast-plate of righteousness the Helmet of salvation This was the Israelites Palladium and Sanctuary It divided the waters of Jordan demolished the Walls of Jericho prostrated Dagon and redeemed it self out of captivity when the wicked Israelites had exposed it to the scorn and triumphs of the uncircumcised representing hereby the Majesly of the Holy Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation pulling down strong holds drying up the inundations of sin and misery which stand in our way to Heaven prompting and pressing and inabling us to work out our own salvation In a word it did not signifie less and it could not well signifie more then God did really exhibit by it It hallowed every place where it stood and blessed every person that was qualified to receive a blessing from it This makes David so enamour'd of it and all his subjects so ready to conduct it So they brought the Ark c. In this Transportation or Conduct of the Ark we have two things to be inquired after 1. Who they were that did conduct it 2. How or after what manner they did conduct it 1. Who they were The Text saith That David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of the Lord unto his place which he had prepared for it 1 Chron 15.3 4 5. And David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites So David and the Elders of Israel and the Captains over thousands went to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Where we are to consider 1. By whose Authority and example it was Transported By David the King's 2. Under whose Inspection and Ministry The Priests and Levites 3. With what Train and Attendants Here were the Elders and the Captains
mercy to the Adversaries of this Church God hath filled their faces with shame that they might be induced to joyn with the Church in a due and decent conformity to seek his Name And so let all the Combinations of thy Churches enemies perish O Lord but let them that love thee and thy Church be as the Sun when he goeth forth in his might Judges 5.31 that our Land may be filled with piety devotion and glory and so have rest to all generations God hath done great things for us already whereof we rejoyce and what he hath done he is pleased to make his ingagement to do more if we do not render our selves utterly unworthy and forfeit our Tenure by our obstinate perversities This is one ground of our hope And there is A 2d. The Church of England hath a praying people a people whose devotions are solid and fervent regular and constant a people that do frequent the Publick Prayers of the Church out of humility and obedience out of judgment and prudence and yet do importune God in their Closets day and night too though they love not so much to play the Hypocrite as to sound their Trumpet to tell the world they do so You know the interest of ten righteous persons was so considerable to Almighty God that it should have prevail'd with him for the preservation of five most lewd and vitious Cities and God be blessed we have that number I trust many hundred times told over But because if we continue in sin the Epha a Zach. 5. will be full at last and if we neglect so great salvation and the things that do belong unto our peace those things will be hidden from our eyes and we shall bring upon our selves swift destruction b 2 Pet. 7.2 and then the devotions of holy Prophets will be injoyned silence by Gods own Order Jer. 7.16 Pray not thou for this people for their good c Jer. 14.11 c. 11.14 neither lift up cry nor prayer for them neither make intercession to me for I will not hear thee And though they should pray earnestly and continue their importunity receiving no such express Order as that Prophet Jeremy had to the contrary yet their prayers in this case in this juncture of affairs when the harvest of sin is ripe how effectual soever for themselves would not prevail they would be fruitless as to the generality of persons and the calamity of the Nation for when I bring my sore judgments upon the Land though these three men Noah Daniel and Job were in it as I live Ezek. 14.14 10. saith the Lord God they should deliver neither son nor daughter they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness Therefore to prevent this dreadful severity of Almighty God give me leave to propound some few Caveats and Directions to you touching your behaviour in reference to the Ark of God by which I understand his sacred Ordinances and so I shall conclude When God was about to descend upon Mount Sinai at the promulgation of the Law Exod. 19. he commanded Moses to set bounds to keep off the people that they might not press upon so dreadful a Majesty to their own ruine The presence of God with his holy Ark in his holy worship is no less sacred no less dreadful than it was on Mount Sinal I must therefore draw a line and set up rails about it as well to secure your interest in it as to preserve that respect and veneration that is due unto it These shall be made up of a six fold Caveat You must 1. Not over value or deifie it 2. Not undervalue or blaspheme it 3. Not invade or profane it 4. Not slander or belye it 5. Not intrude or pry into it 6. Not rifle or plunder it 1. You must not over-value or deifie it A very high esteem and reverence you must have for tthe Ark of God and you may relie upon Gods promise and confidently expect what God hath engaged to do for you by the Ministry thereof But you must not turn the Ark into an Idol exhibere cultum Dei creaturae est Idololatria saith Aquinas if you devote that service to it and place that affiance in it which is due to God alone you do then make an Idol of it You make the Type of Christ to become his Rival you make him jealous of his own Representative and you eclipse his honour by that shadow that was design'd to illustrate and set it off And yet there are some that do more then this worse then this amounts to they do Hyper-deifie it advance it above God yea against God for God will not patronize the guilty Christ will not save the impenitent 't is a desperate presumption to think they will if you expect this from the Ark you do not only turn it into an Idol set it up in Gods stead but you do more then so you exalt it above God you pretend to make it do what God will not do what Christ cannot do you make it a real Antichrist For Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil and to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself And if you make the Ark a Sanctuary for Malefactors you set it up in opposition to Christ and provoke him to Arm himself as it were against it in vindication of his own glory Upon this very account it was that he delivered the Ark under the Law into the hands of the Philistines 1 Sam. 4. and Jer. 7.3 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel amend your ways and your doings and I will cause you to dwell in this place but trust ye not in lying words saying The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord as if that had been a threefold fortification to secure them against all possible calamity But ye trust in lying words that cannot profit will ye steal murder and commit adultery and swear faâ—sly and burn incense unto Baal and waâ—k after other gods whom ye know not and come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say we are delivered to do all these abominations is this house that is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes Behold even I have seen it saith the Lord But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh where I put my name at the first and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel c. That Ark which was the visible Symbol of his presence and the especial Instrument of his worship and service they set it up in opposition to his glory they would have it patronize their sin and protect them in their impenitâ—ncy against Gods severe judgements and this provokes God to give it up to be defiled by reproach and prophanation Let this be a Caveat to you therefore not to over-value or deifie the Ark of God 2. And yet
unfruitfulness Therefore I say unto you the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Mat. 21.43 Pudet haec opprobria nobis Et dici potuisse non potuisse refelli I must ingenuously confess we have but too much cause to be ashamed that we have requited the Lord no better that we have no better means to wipe off the stain of this most deserved reproach And unless we do seasonably repent God will visit for these things and be avenged of such an ingrateful Nation as this is In old Eli's time when the Priests were guilty of so much intemperance and uncleanness so much rapine and sacriledge and yet the out-cries of a complaining people could not awaken the Supreme Governour to unsheath his sword to redress these exorbitancies but the Priests proceeded to multiply and aggravate their crimes and the Prince his Lenity made his reprehensions but little better then a Toleration or Connivance and so the people fell into irreligion and prophaneness they abhorred the offering of the Lord When there was such a complication of sins and the sins of the Rulers as well Ecclesiastical as Civil did both procure and encourage sin in the people Then the Holy Oracle grew silent God himself departed the Cherubims made use of their wings to flye away and the Ark of God was taken If we be in league with Hell 1 Sam. chap. 3. 4. the Ark of the Covenant will not owne us Now the energy and efficacy of witchcrafts depends upon a League with Hell and Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft as long therefore as we cleave unto and in our hearts follow an Usurper we can have no saving Communion with the Ark of God no more then Israel had while they marched after Jeroboam They are nothing else but their iniquities that do separate betwixt God and his people Isa 59.1 Jer. 7.7 c. it is their sins that with-hold good things from them even the blessings of the Ark and God's Holy Temple As for the beauty of his Ornament he set it in Majesty but they made the image of their abominations and of their detestable things therein Therefore have I set it far from them And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil and they shall pollute it Ezek. 7.20 21. Under the Gospel we finde one Church that left her first Love Another that was neither hot nor cold Rev. chap. 2 3. A third that had a name that she lived but really she was dead A fourth that had such in her bosome and communion as did teach the wicked policies of Balaam and the unclean doctrine of the Nicolaitans A fifth that did grant a Toleration to Jezabel notwithstanding her execrable Artifice and practices in seducing such as had been dedicated to God's Service to commit Fornication and Idolatry And what became of all these Churcheâ— Why their Candlestick was removed and the Ark of God was taken from them And though the Ark of God were entail'd upon England yet there is a measure there are aggravations there are combinations of sin that when they are once made up will provoke God to use his prerogative over us not in a way of mercy but of justice to cut off that entail and determine as he did in another case against it Though England were the signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck thee thence And yet this I must take leave to interpose in vindication of the present Church of England The fault is not in her She may truly say the Sons of Zeruiah are too hard for us She hath it not in her power to redress things as she would And whose factious clamours and petitions and other acts of open hostility were they that unhing'd the Government and pull'd down those venerable Courts of Justice whose Authority and Splendour were able to dazzle the eyes and break the hearts of the most insolent offenders Till such Courts can be restored we must have patience to preach and pray being in the same condition that we finde the Church of Corinth in 2 Cor. 10.6 Having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled The delinquents among them were too numerous and too potent for the Censures of the Church to take place upon them For it is not prudent to exasperate a multitude with the severity of a Discipline which their numbers can so easily over-master But when the Reformation of the major part is so conspicuous and the Zeal of the conformable part so serious and earnest that it may be prudent to proceed against the refractory then the Church will not fail in her duty but inflict such censures upon offenders as shall be suitable to their demerits Having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience shall be fulfilled In the mean while we are not without our Prognostications too that the Ark shall still reside and prosper with us 1. Our late Tribulations have wrought patience and our patience experience and our experience Hope A Hope Rom. 5.3 4 5. we trust that will never make ashamed We argue our selves into this perswasion by the Logick of Manoah's wise If the Lord were pleased to destroy us Judg. 13.23 He would not have received an offering at our hands nor would he have shewed us all these things He would not have heard our prayers nor have wrought such miracles of mercy for the Restitution of his Ark amongst us A mercy that the Church of England may very well celebrate with a very little variation of the expressions in the 83. Psalm For loe our enemies lift up their head and made a tumult They took crafty counsel against thy people They said Come let us cut them off that the name of the Church of England may be no more in remembrance They consulted together with one consent and were confederate The tabernacles of Edom and the Ishmaelites of Moab and the Hagarens Gebal and Ammon and Amalek the Philistines with the Inhabitants of Tyre Assur also was joyned with them and have holpen the Children of Lot But God hath upon the matter done unto them as unto the Midianites as to Sisera as to Jabin which perished at Endor they became as dung for the Earth He made their Princes like Oreb and Zeb yea all their Princes as Zebah and Zalmunna Who said let us take to our selves the houses of God into our possession Our God made them like a wheel that could never fix upon any solid ground of establishment but rolled and turned about in a restless variety of changes At last they were as stubble before the winde God did divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel He did confound their Languages that the building of their Babel could not go forward And all these dispensations were out of a design of
shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering For my name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts This is that solemn Commemorative Oblation of the Sacrifice of the Cross with our Adorations Laudes and Prayers in that Sacramental Eucharist of Christs own Institution Christ is given us in pretium saith that Learned Bishop * Bishop Andrews Ser. 2. of the Nativity for a price a price either of ransome to bring out de loco caliginoso or a price of purchase of that where without it we have no interest the Kingdom of Heaven For both he is given Non habentes oblationem majorem neque puriorem quae Deo posset offerri quà m Eucharistiam eam in omni offerunt loco Dignam planè Deo oblationem cujus respectu jam holocaustae bostiae omnes antiquae Deo non placent tantopere illa placet sc Eucharistia Paul de Palacio in Mal. 1.11 offer we him for both He was given us to that end we might give him back We wanted we had nothing valuable that we might have this he gave us as a thing of greatest price to offer for that which needeth a great price our sins so many in number and so foul in quality We had nothing worthy God This He gave us that is worthy him which cannot be but accepted offer we it never so often Let us then offer him and in the act of offering ask of him what is meet And a little after This his flesh he gave for us in sacrifice and this he giveth us in the Sacrament that the Sacrifice may by the Sacrament be truly applied to us What an irreligious what a scandalous neglect of the Ark of God in respect of this part of our Solemn worship hath been throughout this Kingdom I need not tell you you cannot but remember it But I wish there were and I pray God there may be such a sense of our miscarriages in these particulars as may produce a Salutary shame a Cordial and thorow humiliation There is nothing else can fit us for so lovely a prospect as is the external Beauty of Gods house and solemn worship To this purpose it is very remarkable what the Lord saith to the Prophet Ezekiel Chap. 43.10 11. Thou Son of man shew the house to the house of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern And if they be ashamed of all that they have done shew them the Form of the House and the fashion thereof and the goings out thereof and the comings in thereof and all the Forms thereof and all the Ordinances thereof and all the Forms thereof and all the Laws thereof and write it in their sight that they may keep the whole Form thereof and all the Ordinances thereof and do them And this will lead me to the last Stage of my Discourse which is the end of my Design viz. to give you some directions how you are to demean your selves in reference to the Ark of Gods solemn worship But these Directions should be usher'd in with a word or two of admonition to such as are in highest Authority over us 1. The First is To support and countenance the Hierarchy that Order of men who are set apart by a special act of Consecration to attend the service of the Ark the Ark of God cannot appear glorious under the Ministry of a contemptible Priesthood It is the Learning and Piety the Prudence and Gravity the Splendor and Authority of the Episcopal Order that must keep up the Ark in a steady posture amongst us Aspiring Novices will run it into bogs and precipices and leave it without a guard to be overlaid with Superstition or exposed to the rude hands of Sacriledge and Prophaness Where there is such a Hierarchy as keeps every one to his Station and Office there the people are instructed by the example of their regular subordination to keep their Order and Decorum and this is the Apostles Bulwark opposed to seduction Col. 2.5 and such as keep to it are impregnable For as that Reverend and Learned Bishop observes Bishop Daven ad Colos 2.5 Rarò in errores praecipitantur qui ordinem obedientiae Praepositis debitum observant è contrà ubi ordo praecipiendi parendi negligitur ibi tanquam per disjectam aciem facile perrumpitur They seldom fall into Errours that observe the order of obedience due unto their Prelates * Not one Ranter or Quaker or Anabaptist of all that adhere to the Bishop nor an Antitrinitarian c. but on the contrary where the order of commanding and obeying is neglected there the enemy easily breaks in as into a routed Army To this purpose we may observe that Holy Martyr St. Ignatius very full and pressing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be ye subject unto the Bishop as unto the Lord For he watcheth for your souls as he that must give account Epist. ad Trallian And a little after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is necessary that you do nothing that you attempt nothing without the Bishop And a while after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reverence your Bishop even as Christ according to the precept of the blessed Apostles For he that is within the Altar within the communion of the Church is an intire pure Christian and for this cause obey your Bishop and the Priests But he that is not within this communion he that acts of his own head without the Bishop not in conformity with him and the Priests and Deacons is polluted in his Conscience and is worse then an Infidel * 1 Tim. 5.8 thus Ignatius The Hierarchy therefore of the Church is by all means to be kept up and all due veneration and obedience is to be paid to it But this belongs chiefly to the Higher Powers and yet something you may all do towards it It is Recorded that when Chrysostome was to be banished from Constantinople the people were so affected with him that they all went to the Emperour and Petitioned for Chrysostome professing they could no more miss Chrysostome then they could miss the Sun out of the Firmament and yet which I desire you to observe and carry home with you Chrysostome was not the peoples mercenary Curate or flattering Heb. 13.17 Lecturer but the Bishop of the Diocess and his See was Constantinople And I suppose this might be one reason why Mr. Calamy as he saith was so loth fully to tell that story But 2. There is a second Admonition directed to all that are concern'd herein to take care that this Hierarchy be really such as the name importeth A Holy Order or Governance Holy in their persons and conversation and holy in their ministration and address Lev. 10.3 God will be sanctified of all those that draw nigh unto him Be ye holy ye that bear the vessels of the Lord upon the bells of the horses Zach. 14.10 saith the Prophet shall be
amiable are thy dwellings O Lord of Hosts My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord for one day in thy Courts is better then a thousand Psal 84.1 2 4 10. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God blessed are they that dwell in thy house And there is nothing more welcome to a holy soul then an invitation to such a Coelestial entertainment I was glad when they said unto me Psal 122.1 2 we will go into the house of the Lord and there he desires to fix his station Our feet shall stand within thy gates O Jerusalem Yea they shall joy as the joy in harvest as the joy of those that divide the spoil a Isa 9.3 I will go unto the Altar of God unto God my exceeding joy b Psal 43.4 Such a joy of heart as overflows the banks thereof and causeth exultation in the body too My heart danceth for joy and not so only but my heart and my flesh also rejoyceth in the living God And much more the glory of the flesh the best member of it the tongue They shall sing in the ways of the Lord that great is the glory of the Lord. The service of God should be like the celebration of a solemn Jubilee Jubilate Deo O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands Psal 100.1 serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song and again O come let us sing unto the Lord Psal 95.1 let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our Salvation If we had that zeal of Gods glory or that sense of our own duty or if we had but that regard to our own interest and advantage that we should have it were impossible we should be either so slack in our approach or when present so cold and dull in our attention to Gods solemn service Are we not in some danger of Gods displeasure for this awkward carriage towards him does he not threaten his people for it Deut. 28.47 45. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulnesse and gladnesse of heart for the abundance of all things therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger and in thirst and in want of all things he that cannot delight himself in the Solemnities of Gods house in that his gracious presence where there is in some sence a fulnesse of joy Psal 16. ult it is pity he should ever come to his right hand where are pleasures for evermore you must approach with Alacrity 3. You must approach the Ark with unanimity As Jerusalem was builded Psal 122.3 so it was govern'd as a City at unity in it self Psal 95.6 The kingly Prophet invites O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord O magnifie the Lord with me Psal 34.3 and let us exalt his name together And at that great solemnity of Solomon's when he dedicated the house of the Lord we find all Israel in consort with him 2 Chron. 7.4 The King and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. God hath an expectation it should be so amongst us too for he saith by his Evangelical Prophet And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains Isa 2.2 3. and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it And many people shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his pathes For then as the Lord saith by another Prophet will I turn to the people a pure language Zeph. 3.9 that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent crouding in to the holy Assemblies with one shoulder as the original importeth And that it might be so amongst us how earnestly doth the Apostle conjure us in the persons of the Church of Philippi if there be therefore any consolation in Christ Phil. 2.1 2. if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels of mercies fulfil ye my joy and what is that that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind For Christ hath but one Church My love my undefiled is one there is one body and one spirit and ye are called in one hope of your calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism Eph. 4.4 5 5. one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all What a multiplicity of Arguments hath the blessed Apostle twisted together to make the unity that should be amongst Christians indissoluble And if the advantages hereof were duly weighed these alone were enough to make it so See Magal in Josh c. 6. §. 1. Annnot 3. Origen weighing that verse of the Psalmist Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound Psal 89.15 He quaeres what it is that renders a people blessed He saith not blessed are the people that do righteousness or blessed are the people that understand mysteries or are able to give an account of the heaven of the earth and of the stars but he saith blessed are the people that know the sound the jubilation In other places the fear of the Lord maketh blessed but it maketh but one man blessed for so it is said Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. Else where we find also that more are blessed as blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are the meek blessed are the peace makers blessed are the pure in heart But here in the Psalmist the blessedness is profuse and I know not what so great cause of blessedness is intimated that it should make the whole people blessed that hears the Jubilation Unde mihi jubilatio videtur indicare quendam concordiae unanimitatis affectum whereupon it seems to me that this Jubilation doth import an affection of concord and unanimity which if it clasps the hearts and hands of two or three Disciples together in Prayer it makes them so prevalent offering up their devotions in the name of Christ that the heavenly Father grants all they pray for And if it be so great a blessedness that a whole people are unanimous that they all speak the same thing being joyn'd together in the same mind and in the same judgment the united devotions of such a people may be as prevalent as theirs were in the Acts of the Apostles They were of one heart and of one soul Acts 2.1 Chap. 4.31.32 they were with one accord in one place and there was a great earth quake where they prayed in unanimity and the place being shaken the holy Ghost descended The joynt devotions of an unanimous faithful people might be thus effectual terrae motu facto destruentur