no more difference between a Table and an Altar than between another Cup and a Chalice An Altar is not every Table or a Table for a common Feast but an Holy Table and an Holy Table is an Altar The difference is not as many suppose either in the matter as of wood or stone for an Altar may be of wood as both the golden Altar and that of Burnt-offering were in the Tabernacle namely of Shittim-wood and a Table may be of stone nor in the posture or manner of standing whether in the middle or against a wall for the Altar of Burnt-offering stood in the midst of the Priests court and the Altar of Incense up against the veil But this is the true difference that a Table is a common Name and an Altar is an Holy Table This Holy Altar saith Gregory Nyssene Sermone de Baptismo Christi whereat we stand is by nature a common stone nothing differing from other slates but being consecrated to the service of God and having received the benediction it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Holy Table an Altar inviolable See he makes one to be the Exegesis of the other For in times past when men perhaps were as wise as we are now it was thought fit and decent that things set apart unto God and sacred should be distinguished not only in use but in name also from things common Forwhat is a Temple or Church but an House yet distinguished in name from other Houses What is a Sacrifice but a Feast yet distinguished in name from other Feasts So what is an Altar but a Table yet distinguished in name from other Tables Well let all this be granted may someman say that there is no greater difference between these two names than as you affirm yet ought the Language of the Church to be conformed to the Style of the New Testament But where in the New Testament should those Ancients find any Text whereon to ground the application of this name to the Holy Table I answer There I am prone to believe whence they derived the Oblation of the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist and that Rite of Reconciliation at their entrance thereunto where the Deacon was wont to proclaim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nè quis contra aliquem or in some other words to like effect and then every one to salute his brother in token of Reconciliation and Peace and that was from that Ordinance of our Blessed Saviour in his Sermon upon the Mount viz. If thou bringest thy GIFT unto the ALTAR and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave thy GIFT before the ALTAR and go first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy GIFT Which Scripture they took to be an Evangelical constitution wherein our Saviour implied by way of Anticipation that he would leave some Rite to his Church in stead and after the manner of the Sacrifices of the Law which should begin with an Oblation as they did and that to require this proper and peculiar qualification in the Offerer To be at peace and without enmity with his Brother Insomuch as Irenaeus seems to place that Purity of the Evangelical oblation prophesied of by Malachi even in this requisite Vide l. 4. c. 34. Hence also they may seem to have learned to call the Bread and Wine in respect of this Oblation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy GIFTS from the word our Saviour here useth For that they derived from this Text that Rite of Peace and Reconciliation before the Offertory appears expresly out of Constit. Apost l. 2. c. 57. Iren. lib. 4. 34. Edit Fevard Tertull. De Oratione c. 10. Eusebius De vita Constantini lib. 4. c. 41. Cyril of Ierusalem Catech. Myst. 5. Why then may I not believe as well that they might derive from the same Text the Offertory it self and the application of the name Altar to the Holy Table seeing all three in the Text depend one upon another and that there is not in the New Testament any other passage of Scripture whereon so ancient and universal a practice of the Church as was in all these three particulars could expresly be grounded And besides that the Primitive practice of the Catholick Church is a good Rule to interpret Scripture by there may be good Reasons found from the circumstances of the Text and Sermon it self to perswade it to be an Evangelical Constitution 1. Because there was no such thing commanded in the Law to such as came to offer Sacrifice not any such Deuterosis to be found amongst the Traditions of the Elders Now it is altogether improbable our Saviour would then annex a new Rite to the Legal sacrifices when he was so soon after to abolish them by his sacrifice upon the Cross yea if the Harmonists of the Gospel are not deceived within less than two years after for they place this Sermon between his second and third Passeover Ergo he intended it for an Ordinance of the Kingdom of God as the Scripture speaks that is for the Church of his Gospel 2. Because the Sermon whereof this was part is that famous Sermon of our Saviour upon the Mount which he read as a Lecture to his Disciples to instruct them in the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God a little before he sent them out to preach and so in all likelihood contained the Summe of that they were to preach which no doubt was Doctrine Evangelical In all other parts of the Sermon we find it so wherefore then should we not so esteem it even in this also 3. Because it is brought in and that in the first place as an exemplification of that righteousness wherein the Citizens of the Kingdom of Christ were to outgo the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees I say unto you saith our Saviour except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Then follows this Text shewing how far we are to outstrip the Scribes and Pharisees in our obedience to the Precept Thou shalt not kill 4. This passage should be Evangelical forasmuch as it seems together with the rest that follow it to be a part of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Complementum Legis whereof our Saviour spake a little before saying Think not that I am come to dissolve the Law and the Prophets that is to abolish or abrogate the observation of them in my Kingdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to accomplish supply or perfect them For this to be the meaning of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole discourse following it seemeth to evince wherein namely our Saviour puts in practice and makes good de facto in several particulars what he formerly said he came to do SECTION III. BUT there is one thing yet behind by no means to be forgotten in this Argument That what I have hitherto spoken of
But the third sort which do not only call Christ their Lord but do the will of his Father these are the only true Christians for these there is hope but for none other Not every one saith our Saviour that saith unto me Lord Lord c. Our Saviour foresaw there would be among those who believed on his Name such as would think their Faith sufficient c. that as for Works they might be excused having him for their Lord and Captain of their Salvation who himself had both undergone the punishment due for their sins and fulfilled that obedience which they should have done so that now there remained nothing on their part for to obtain Salvation but to trust and rely upon him without any endeavour at all to please God by Works as being now become unuseful to Salvation If ever there was a time when Christians thus deceived themselves that time is now as both our practice sheweth plainly by a general neglect of such Duties of Piety and Charity which amongst our fore-fathers were frequent as also our open profession when being exhorted to these works of Piety to God and of Charity towards our brethren we stick not to alledge we are not bound unto them because we look not to be saved by the merit of works as they but by faith in Christ alone As though Faith in Christ excluded Works and did not rather include them as being that whereby they become acceptable unto God which of themselves they are not Or as if Works could no way conduce unto the attaining of Salvation but by way of merit and desert and not by way of the grace and favour of God in Christ as we shall see in the handling of this Text. We greatly now-a-days and that most dangerously mistake the error of our Forefathers which was not in that they did good works I would we did so but because they knew not rightly the End why they did them nor where the Value of them lay They thought the End of doing them was to obtain eternal life as a reward of Iustice due unto them whereas it is only of Grace and Promise in Christ Iesus They took their Works to have such perfectness in them as would endure the Touchstone of the Law of God yea such Worth and Value as to merit the Reward they looked for whereas all the Value and acceptableness of our works issues from the Merits of Christ and lies only in his righteousness communicated unto us and them by Faith and no otherwise But setting aside these errors of the End and of the Value of works we must know as well as they That not every one that saith unto Christ Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of his Father which is in Heaven Now for the Explication of the Words To call Christ Lord is to believe in him to acknowledge him to look for Salvation by him or as the Scripture expresseth it Luke 6. 47. to come unto him Every one saith our Saviour there explaining this very Text we have in hand that cometh unto me and heareth my words and doth them I will shew you who he is like where To come unto Christ is put in stead of that which in the former was To say unto him Lord. The doing of his Father's will is the doing of those works of obedience which his Father hath commanded in his Law and now committed to his Son whom he hath made the Head and King of his Church to see executed and performed by those he bringeth to Salvation But how and in what manner we shall see by and by The Text consists of two parts The one negative Not every one that saith unto Christ Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven The other affirmative But those who do the will of his Father shall only enter thither But these are so nearly linked together that they cannot be handled asunder And the Observations which I shall draw thence depend on the whole Text. The first and chiefest whereof is this That Faith in Christ without works of obedience and amendment of life is not sufficient for Salvation and consequently not that Faith whereby a Christian is justified For if it were it would save us If it be not sufficient to save us it cannot justifie us This floweth directly from the Text and cannot be denied if ye remember what I said before That to call Christ Lord is to believe in him For the better understanding of this you must take notice that there is a threefold Faith whereby men believe in Christ. There is a false Faith there is a true Faith but not saving and thirdly there is a saving Faith A false Faith is To believe to attain Salvation through Christ any other way than he hath ordained as namely to believe to attain Salvation through him without works of obedience to be accepted of God in him which is a Faith whereof there is no Gospel A true Faith is To believe Salvation is to be attained through obedience to God in Iesus Christ who by his merits and righteousness makes our selves and our works acceptable to his Father A saving and justifying Faith is To believe this so as to embrace and lay hold upon Christ for that end To believe to attain Salvation through obedience to God in Christ so as to apply our selves and rely upon Christ for that end namely to perform those works of obedience which God hath promised to reward with eternal life For a Iustifying Faith stayeth not only in the Brain but stirs up the Will to receive and enjoy the good believed according as it is promised This motion or election of the Will is that which maketh the difference between a saving Faith which joyneth us unto Christ and that which is true indeed but not saving but dogmatical and opinionative only And this motion or applying of the Will to Christ this embracing of Christ and the promises of the Gospel through him is that which the Scripture when it speaks of this â—aith calleth coming unto Christ or the receiving of him Iohn 1. 12. As many as received him to them he gave power or priviledge to be the sons of God even to them that believe on his Name where receiving and believing one expound another So for coming Come unto me saith our Saviour Matth. 11. 28. all ye that are heavy laden and I will ease you This last is very frequent Iohn 5. 40. Ye will not come to me saith our Saviour that ye might have life And Chap. 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me Ver. 44. No man can come unto me unless the Father draw him 45. Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me and such like All which express the specification of a saving Faith which consists in the embracing receiving and applying of the Will to the thing believed What this embracing receiving or applying
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
fulfilled or accomplished But it seems to me that the Fulness of the Gentiles and the Fulfilling or Accomplishment of their times should not be the same howsoever they may be coincident It should rather seem that our Saviour hath reference as to a thing known unto the Prophecy of Daniel where the Times of the Gentiles or the times wherein the Gentiles should have dominion with the misery and subjection of the Iewish Nation are set forth in the Vision of a fourfold Image and four Beasts which are the four Monarchies the Babylonian Persian Greek and Roman The first began with the first captivity of the Iewish Nation and through the times of all the rest they should be in subjection or in a worser estate under them But when their times should be accomplished then saith Daniel The Saints of the most High God shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever and ever that is there shall be no more kingdoms after it but it shall continue as long as the world shall endure Three of these Monarchies were past when our Saviour spake and the fourth was well entred If then by Saints there are meant the Iews which we know are called the holy People in that sense their country is still called the holy Land and their city in the Scripture the holy City viz. relatively then is it plain enough what Daniel's and our Saviour's words import namely a glorious revocation and kingdom of the Iews when the time of the fourth Monarchy which then remained should be expired and accomplished But if here by the Saints of the most High are in general meant the Church yet by coincidence of time the same will fall out on the Iews behalf because S. Paul saith that at the time when the Fulness of the Gentiles shall come in the Iew shall be again restored For a conclusion The last limb of the fourth Monarchy is in Daniel The Horn with eyes which spake proud things against the most High which should continue a time times and half a time that is a year years and half a year In the Revelation it is The Beast with so many heads and horns full of names of blasphemy which was to continue forty two months the same period with the former which was expressed by times or years and the same time with a thousand two hundred and sixty days of the Churche's remaining in the wilderness When these Times whatsoever they be shall be ended then is the period of the Times of the Gentiles and of the Iews misery whereto our Saviour seems to refer in the Gospel then by S. Paul shall the Fulness of the Gentiles enter in then saith S. Iohn shall the kingdoms of the earth be the Lord's and his Christ's then saith Daniel in the former place Chap. 7. 27. shall the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven be given to the people of the Saints of the most High whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him The Use we are to make upon this long Discourse is Hope and comfortable Expectation Experience saith S. Paul Rom. 5. 4. worketh hope Let therefore our experience of God's Power and Truth in that which is past be as a pledge and pawn unto us of the future We have seen a great part of this Doom of false Gods fulfilled already what though we see not the means of the full accomplishment If thou shalt say in thy heart saith Moses Deut. 7. 17 18. These nations are more than I how can I dispossess them Thou shalt not be afraid of them but shalt remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt So if any of us shall say How can this be let us remember what the Lord hath done already in subduing so great a part of the world unto himself which once sate in darkness and in the shadow of death DISCOURSE XXXVII PROVERBS 4. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above all keeping For out of it are the issues of life EVERY way of man saith the same mouth which uttered this is right in his own eyes but the Lord pondereth the hearts Prov. 21. 2. And chap. 16. 2. All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the spirits Which words have this Discretive sense that Although the eyes of men judge of the rightness of the ways of men by that which appeareth to the eye yet God he is not as man nor judgeth like him but he pondereth the heart and spirit Therefore in Scripture he is styled A God that searcheth the heart and reins Ier. 17. 10. I the Lord search the heart I trie the reins even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings Which words our Saviour useth Rev. 2. 23. in his Epistle to Thyatira I am he which searcheth the reins and the hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works that is Men esteem of works as they see but I judge and reward them as I see Men punish and reward according to the outside only which comes under the view and stands in awe of men but God judges and rewards according to the Heart or inward man which he only sees and which therefore stands in awe and fear of none but him For as for the outward act it may as well be done for the praise and awe of men as for love and fear of God and therefore by it cannot be discerned whether our obedience be to God or man But the Heart is that divine Touch-stone as that which hath none to fear none to please none to approve it self unto but him who alone sees it and is only able to try and examine it If therefore any Precept any Admonition in the whole Book of God deserve the best of our attention to hear and greatest care to put in practice this of my Text is worthy to be accounted of that number Keep thy heart above all keeping For out of it are the issues of life The words divide themselves into two parts An Admonition and A Motive The Admonition Keep thy heart above all keeping The Motive For out of it are the issues of life that is Even as in the life of nature the Heart is the fountain of living and the well-spring of all operations of life so in the life of grace we live to God through it In the Admonition consider 1. The Act Keep 2. The Object what we are to keep our Heart 3. The Manner and Means how it must be kept with all diligence or above all keeping Of the Act Keep I shall not need say much it is an easie word and we shall not forget it in that which follows but ever and anon have occasion to repeat it Only here observe in general That our Hearts are untrusty
credit in fine he that hated his brother before must now love him as tenderly as himself What traveller is there that knowing himself to be in a contrary way and admonished that he must go back again would not return speedily Who but a fool would not consider that the longer he went forward the further he had to go back again the sooner he returned the easier would be his return the longer he went forward the more hard and difficult Why this is the case of every sinner every step he takes the further he is from God How painful then and tedious will that return be which is not speedily undertaken Nay when looking back we shall behold the infinite distance between God and us how can our heart almost but fail us and despair utterly that so long a way can ever be accomplished The Stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed time Ier. 8. 7. the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming Let the wise man be ashamed that knows not the sinner that considers not the time of his Return The second thing proper to a man's returning is to obliterate and tread out his former footing This is also required of every truly repentant sinner that wheresoever any footing remains of his former works he should tread them out for a repentant sinner must return by a line in the very path and tract of his sins Now some sins do vanish in the act and so leave no print behind them and such because they perish in the doing remain not to be undone by repentance But other sins there are which pass not away in the very doing but leave as it were a footing behind them I mean the work of the sin remains when the act is past and these works are to be undone in repentance Of this sort are sins most-what against the eighth Commandment Robbery Cousenage all ill-gotten and ill-withholden gain for in these Restitution is as it were the recalling undoing and treading out the mark of the sin committed He that hath taken a man's purse may give it him again but he that hath blasphemed cannot recal his blasphemy nor the refractary his former disobedience He that hath taken his brother's life cannot give it him again nor he that hath defamed him undo the word he hath spoken In these and such like Restitution hath no place but only God forgive me and doing the contrary hereafter But in Robbery Bribery Cousenage and all ill-gotten goods the goods we have taken from our neighbour remaining in our hand and power there is no repentance no forgiveness no returning without restoring what we have gotten Upon this I will dwell a while because I verily think that many men do not believe it but think it enough to cry God mercy but as for restoring of ought he must pardon them Surely Zaccheus the Publican had never learned this Evasion who to make good his Repentance gave half his goods unto the poor and promised fourfold Restitution of what he had gotten from any man wrongfully But if we will live by Laws and not by Examples hear the express Law of God Levit. 6. 2 c. where the Lord thus speaks unto Moses If a Soul sin in fellowship or dealing or in a thing taken away by violence or hath deceived his neighbour c. or hath found that which was lost and lieth concerning it c. Then it shall be because he hath sinned and is guilty that he shall restore what he hath taken violently or the thing that he hath gotten deceitfully c. he shall even restore the principal and adde the fifth part more thereunto in the day of his trespass-offering The day of our trespass-offering who are Christians is the day wherein we offer Christ unto his Father by a lively Faith for atonement for our sin the day of our repentance or our turning to God If the Iew 's sacrifice could not be accepted without thus doing no more shall a Christian's repentance Neither will it be enough to confess our sins and cry God mercy as we say For Numb 5. 7. where this same law is repeated Those saith the Lord which have thus sinned shall confess their sin which they have done and yet recompense his Trespass too with the principal thereof c. Yea so rigid is the Lord in exacting this that if the man himself who was thus wronged were dead and had no kinsman living yet the party offending was not so excused but was to make a recompence unto the Lord himself by giving it to his Priest as ye may see in the same place v. 8. Hence it is that the Lord Ezekiel 33. 14 15. maketh Restoring a main part of Repentance or Returning unto him If the wicked saith he turn from his sin and do what is lawful and right if he restore the pledge give again what he hath robbed then he shall surely live he shall not die If he will not do this it is easie to imagine what will follow namely that he shall surely die and not live But thou wilt say I am not able to make Restitution Why then shew thy self willing unto thy power for in this case God accepts the will for the deed But take heed thou dissemble not with him that knows thy most inward thoughts for he it is that trieth the heart and reins and nothing can be hid from him upon peril therefore of thy salvation deal truly with him that made thee for he is not as man that thou shouldst mock him or as the son of man that he should be deceived But thou wilt say I cannot do it unless I leave my wife and children to beggery Alas wilt thou venture thy own Soul to perish eternally to save thy house from beggery I must say unto thee as Peter said to Simon Magus Acts 8. 21 23. Thou hast neither part nor lot in the life to come for thy heart is not right in the sight of God Thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity thou preferrest the momentany glory of thy house before the everlasting safety of thy self Thou fool what will it profit thee to win the whole world and lose thy own soul But I shall thou wilt say in so doing proclaim mine own shame unto the whole world What then wouldst thou not be willing to undergo a greater penance than this for thy Soul's safety or how comes it to pass thou art more loth that men should know thy shame than God himself who made thee Lord how hard will it be for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven If men would think of this in their unjust dealing if they would remember this who scrape unto themselves riches by unlawful and ungodly means if those who get by extortion by cousening tricks of Law by bribery by sacrilegious Simony would think of this methinks it should make them pull back their hand For what joy and pleasure
should a man take in that gain which he knows he must one day forgo as willingly as now he desireth covetously when he might thus say with himself The time must come that I must wish from the bottom of my heart that this I now do had never been done if ever I mean to find mercy at the hands of God The time must one day come that I must restore all this I have thus unlawfully gotten yea make recompence besides for the injury I have done or else woe worth the time that ever I was born and cursed be the night wherein I was conceived If men would consider this Alas I shall never say unto God on my death-bed I repent from the bottom of my heart if I bequeath one joâ— of this I have thus gotten I shall never say unto God I wish from my soul this sin I have done were undone or if it were now to do again no motive in this world should make me do it Alas how can I say this whiles it is in some sort in my power to undo sin by restoring if I will not Surely he that had this in his mind would think it would not quit the cost to attain any of this world's goods unlawfully But let them think as they will as sure as God is true Without Restitution Repentance can never be true and without true Repentance it is impossible to be saved And thus much of this Third degree of Repentance and of the First part of my Text. I COME now to the Second which is The Condition and State he comes unto who hath done all this and that as ye hear is a State of Mercy The repentant sinner is capable of the Mercy of God to pardon and forgive his sin If the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous his thoughts The Lord will have mercy on him our God will abundantly pardon The Mercy of God is here as you see his loving-kindness unto a sinner to set him free from that evil he is liable to through sin and to restore unto him the good he hath lost thereby that is with commiseration of his misery to forgive him and restore him to that blessedness which is in the favour of God This mercy or mercifulness of God is here exprest first simply in the words The Lord will have mercy on him and secondly with a degree he will pardon abundantly Of these I will speak briefly and so make an end And first of the first If the forgiveness of our sins and the accepting of us into the everlasting favour of God be a work of Mercy then not of any Merit or deserving on our part for these two cannot stand together So saith S. Paul Tit. 3. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he hath saved us For if when we have done all we can we are still the subjects of pity it needs must be we are still in misery for no man shews pity or commiseration but to those that are in a pitiful case wheresoever Mercy is shewn the party aileth something But to be in case of Merit is no pitiful case what can he aile for his sin to whom Heaven is due for his merit who need not be beholden to God for his kindness but may challenge him for justice If this then be the manner of God to shew mercy unto those who deserve nothing at his hands it is our part to be like unto him We are not in actions of charity to look upon the merit but the misery the bestowing of Alms is no paying of wages or giving of rewards but an act of holy pity The like I might say of forgiving the offences of our brethren If he repent him of the injury thou are not to exact a merit of forgiveness but let thy love be as ingenuous unto thy brother as God's was free unto thee The last thing to be considered is The degree of God's mercy in delivering us from our sins It is no small favour for he pardoneth abundantly Amongst all the works of God his works of Mercy toward mankind are in surpassing measure Hence it is that he proclaims himself by this as by his principal style Exod. 34. 6. The Lord the Lord God merciful gracious long-suffering which David expounds Psal. 103. 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy S. Paul describes him Ephes. 2. 4. a God who is rich in mercy This may appear by the admirable way of our Redemption in sending his own Son from Heaven to suffer the ignominious death of the Cross for our sake Even so God loved the world saith S. Iohn that he gave his only-begotten Son for the same This may appear by his patience and long-suffering in enduring sin In the 65. chap. of this Book v. 2 3. He spreadeth out his hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good yea which provokes him to anger continually to his face Lastly It may appear by that huge proportion wherein his Mercy exceeds his Vengeance He visits the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate him but sheweth mercy unto the thousandth generation of those who love him and keep his Commandments This may serve for our consolation in the most grievous temptation about the greatness of our sin The Lord is rich in mercy and therefore he will forgive the most grievous sin for the mercy of the Lord is greater than the sins of the whole world This Argument of comfort Moses bringeth in Deut. 4. 31. Because the Lord thy God is a merciful God he will not forsake thee nor destroy thee nor forget the Covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them DISCOURSE XXXIX 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 THERE are three sorts of men in the World Some which call not Christ their Lord as Turks Iews and Infidels Some which call him Lord as all Christians but not all in like manner for there are two sorts of them some which call him Lord and that is all others which both call him Lord and do the will of his Father the administration whereof is committed to him The first of these three sorts Those who do not so much as call Christ their Lord it is plain they cannot be saved for there is no other name under heaven to be saved byâ— but by the name of Christ only For the second sort Those who call Christ their Lord that is are Christians and profess to believe in Christ and hope to be saved by him and yet do no works of obedience unto God though such as these may think themselves in a good estate yet our Saviour here expresly excludes them from entring into the Kingdom of Heaven
perswasible if you consider that this is one of the most methodical Books in Scripture But if the Beginning of the Inner Court be coincident and no higher than that of the Outward Court it must then follow even by that little you yield me That the Vision of the twelfth Chapter fetches his Beginning higher than it For the Woman 's Child-bearing her Travail her Delivery with the Seven-headed Dragon's Attempt and the Battel of Michael you grant and the Text evinceth to be elder and before the Woman's abode in the Wilderness But the Woman's abode in the Wilderness the XLII months of the Beast and the XLII months of the Outer Court begin altogether and at the same time Therefore that which is elder to any one of them is elder to every one of them Why therefore should not the Book-prophecy have begun rather with this of the eldest beginning unless that that wherewith it begun did fetch its Beginning as high as it All this notwithstanding I confess ingenuously that your exceptions do so far weaken my Argument that it appears not to be of so sufficient strength as may force assent But that which is enough to stagger a man in his own Tenet is not alone sufficient to cause him to embrace the contrary unless the Arguments shewn for that part do appear of more force and probability than himself grounded upon Otherwise a man may reply as he is Terence did to the Lawyers Probè fecistis multò sum incertior quà m dudum Besides a Probability stands in place of a Demonstration till a greater Probability can be brought to shoulder it out Let me therefore acquaint you a little what scruples arise in me when I consider your Argument for the contrary You say S. Iohn surveyed both the Courts together For the measuring of the one and leaving the other unmeasured were at one time Ergo the things signified by them both fall also under one time Resp. 1. Here I consider first when a Representation is made not by Motion or Action but by a standing Type or Picture such as is the Fabrick of the Temple though the parts may be viewed all at one time yet may the thing signified by them be of differing times for in this case Order of place useth to signifie succession of time For example The Scheme I sent you may be comprehended at one view and yet the parts according to their order of place do represent priority and posteriority of times The Monarchical Image in Daniel was not by piece-meal but all at once presented to Nebuchadnezzar's view and yet the four metalled parts thereof were Types of four not coincident but successive Kingdoms So the seven Heads of the Whore-ridden Beast in this Prophecy though seen at once signified nevertheless Things not at once but some past some present some to come five Kings fallen the sixth present and seventh to come In the Temple it self the First Tabernacle or Holy Place was a Type of the Oeconomy of Redemption in the Church Militant and the Second Tabernacle or the Holy of Holies of the Church Triumphant in the Heavens So S. Paul to the Hebrews makes the first Tabernacle the Type of the Body of Christ wherein being incarnate he suffered here below and through which as through a First Tabernacle he entred within the Veil the Holiest Heavens there to make intercession for us Was there not here a priority and posteriority of times Why may not then the two Courts of the Temple be Types also of successive times though S. Iohn viewed them at one time Indeed where the Representation consists in Motion and Action I grant the case is otherwise for here things done together in Vision are to be expounded of things to be performed together in signification But the example we have in hand is not of that sort For the essence of the Type here consists not in what S. Iohn himself did but in that which was presented to S. Iohn in Vision namely the Frame of the Temple with his two Courts the First such as might be measured with divine measure the Second such as could not be measured therewith being possessed and troden down by the Gentiles As for S. Iohn's acts hereabouts they are no other than such as whereby he was to inform himself concerning that which was shewed unto himâ— Neither is this the only place where S. Iohn is bidden do something for his information and survey of the Vision shewed him Vide cap. 7. v. 13 14. cap. 10. v. 4. cap. 14. v. 13. cap. 19. v. 9. Resp. 2. Secondly Neither were the Acts whereby the Apostle surveyed the two Courts either one Act or two Acts at one and the same time but several Acts several and successive times For first the Text expresseth no more but what the Angel bade S. Iohn do and not what S. Iohn did Now it will not follow that that which was comprehended in one bidding was therefore done at one time For that may be bidden with one Act of bidding which will require a two or three acts in performing and those too such as cannot be done at one time But perhaps you suppose there was but one only Act commanded to wit to measure the Inner and not the Outer Indeed if it were so then it must needs be of one time For if there be nothing here but the Doing of a thing in one place and not doing it in another it cannot possibly be of diverse times because every positive implies his negative and goes together with it But if the words of the Text be considered there will be sound more in them than so howsoever our Translation obscures it For first I conceive not S. Iohn's survey of the two Courts to be an Act of mere Separation but rather of Examination as the nature of measuring importeth Again there is more to be done to the Second Court than only Not measuring it that were but doing nothing to it For the words of the Text are not Leave out if thereby you understand a preâ—ermission only but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Cast it out the Vulgar hath Ejice forà s and Beza though himself translates Exclude yet confesseth it is ad verbum Ejice forás So that here we see a positive act commanded and not a pretermission only and our Translators when they turned it Leave out expressed rather what themselves conceived than what the words signified This considered I understand it thus That in this survey S. Iohn was first to examine the Inner Court which by its conformity to the Divine measure which he was to apply thereto he should find to be Sacred That done he was then in the next place to survey the Outer Court which because he should find possessed by the Gentiles and therefore not capable of the Divine measure he was to cast out that is excommunicate and pronounce unsacred and polluted See Ezek. 44. 6 7 8. The summe of all this discourse is in
enter nor the Ark of the Testimony be revealed unto them Consider Exod. 40. vers 36 37. Consider also what happened there at the Dedication of the Tabernacle vers 34 35. Thus with my prayers and best remembrance to your self I rest and am Your assured friend Ioseph Mede Christ's-Coll Iuly 12. 1624. CHAP. V. Mr. Mede's Answer to Mr. Wood's special accommodation of the four first Trumpets in Chap. 8. of the Apocalypse M r. Wood IF I mistake not your meaning your accommodation of the Trumpets appears to me very much intangled in the point of Time for it makes the three first Trumpets to begin at the same instant and all to be concluded within the sixth Seal nay if the sixth Seal be the wounding of the Roman Sovereignty by the Barbarians they will begin before it For the Council of Nice wherein Arrius whom you make the falling Star was condemned and where Contention among Church-men your first Trumpet burst forth and Ambition your second Trumpet was broached this Council was held An. 325. within two years after Constantine was sole Emperor But the wounding of the Empire by the Barbarous Nations your sixth Seal began not till after Iulian 365. and you make not the main stroke thereof till the year 410. by which time the Arrian Heresie was well cooled For it cannot be said that the Barbarous Nations defaced the Roman Majesty in the days of Constantine who was a glorious and when he once reigned alone a most peaceful Emperor And for Diocletian that bloudy Persecutor before him he was a most powerful and victorious Emperor in whose time the Roman Empire was more dreadful to the Neighbours than it had been many years yea almost Ages before I observe also a further confusion of the three Trumpets among themselves For Arrius whom you make the falling Star in chief and so the Head of your third Trumpet will in time rather challenge to be the first of the three for the Arrian heresie began before and occasioned the calling of the Council of Nice where you first begin that Contention and Ambition which you make the first and second Trumpet I had rather therefore yet continue my opinion That the great Earth-quake of the Sixth Seal should be that intestine change of the Romane State begun with Constantine and fully setled with the death of Iulian For an Earthquake implies not a Destruction but an extraordinary Alteration and change of the face of things as an Earthquake changeth the positure of the Earth by depressing Hills and exalting Vallies turning the chanels and the course of Rivers and such like And was not here the whole Politick Government as well as the Religion altered the Imperial Seat removed the Distribution of Provinces and Offices new moulded c. And though Christian Religion be of it self a perfection yet the introducing thereof turned the former state of the Empire topsy turvy when the low and trampled Vallies arose into Mountains and the haughty Mountains were laid as low as the Vallies How many Hills and Islands were by this means displaced And if the Roman Gods be any of the Stars or Hills here mentioned we need not go farther for an Exposition of this Earthquake and the shock it caused in the world Now if this be granted to be the right accommodation of the Sixth Seal then will the Trumpets of the Seventh follow in their due Order according to that Exposition of the four first Trumpets which you related even now as your Friend 's who yet is farr from deserving and acknowledging that Description you there give him I. M. CHAP. VI. Mr. Mede's Answers to those 3 Arguments of Mr. Wood endeavouring to prove That the Vials are immediate Consequents of the Seventh Trumpet Mr. Wood 1. UNto the Seventh Trumpet is attributed the last of the three great Woes Chap. 8. 13. chap. 11 14. But in the Seventh Trumpet 's effect there is no other Woe described but what follows in the pouring out of the Vials Ergo the Vials must needs be that Woe and immediately poured out upon the blast which the Transition Ch. 11. 14. calls for The third Woe cometh quickly viz. with the blast in the next words Mr. MEDE This Reason methinks were satisfied if only the last Vial fell within the seventh Trumpet For the third Woe I take to be that Battel of the Great Day of God Almighty under the seventh Vial which therefore I grant to be concurrent with the Beginning of the blast of the seventh Trumpet not yet blown But the other Vials I see no reason why they may not be referred to those Beginnings of the Ruin of the Beast and exaltation of the Undefiled Church described chap. 11. v. 11 12 13. which is before the second Woe or sixth Trumpet be expired Mr. WOOD. 2. The Temple is not open in Heaven until the seventh Trumpet blow Chap. 11. 19. Now the Angels which pour out the Vials come out of the Temple which was opened in Heaven Ergo the pouring out of the Vials must needs follow the blast of the Seventh Trumpet Chap. 15. 5 6. Which place shews that the 7 Angels come forth of the opened Temple Mr. MEDE It is true that the Temple is not opened in heaven till the seventh Trumpet soundeth But I think also that it shall not be opened till the seven Plagues of the seven Angels be fulfilled For is it not expresly said so chap. 15. 8 And the Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power and no man was able to enter into the Temple till the seven Plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled So I understand it as having reference by way of Antithesis to that in the 5. verse The Temple of the Tabernacle of Testimony in heaven was opened viz. when the Angels had done their Execution and the Harpers ended their Song of Deliverance Wherefore I grant not that the seven Angels came forth of the open Temple but suppose those five first verses of that Chapter to be a general Description of the Vials with the state of the Church under them newly washed in the glassy Laver of the Temple and yet standing upon the brink or brims thereof chaunting a Song of another Exodus like that of Israel with the conclusion whereof the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in heaven is opened that those might enter which before could not In the following Verses beginning And the seven Angels came out c. the Apostle resumes the Vision ab ovo and makes a more particular Description of the seven Angels Executions which before he but generally touched but now tells their attire whence they had their Vials and what was every ones Plague in particular to the end of the next Chapter which is therefore ill severed from the three last Verses of this 15. Chapter And note that the Complutensis Editio reads not the sixth verse of this Chap. And the seven Angels
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
whosoever shall remember thy name and this my conflict no pestilent disease may enter upon his house nor any other of those evils which may bring damage or troubles to the bodies of men She had no sooner spoken saith he but a voice was miraculously heard from heaven calling her and her fellow-Martyr Iulian to the heavenly pâ—aces and promising also that those things which she had asked should be accomplished In Saint Blasius who suffered saith Baronius under Licinius our Simeon tells us That when a woman came unto him to cure her son who had a fish-bone sticking in his throat he prayed in this manner Thou O Saviour who hast been ready to help those who called upon thee in truth hear my prayer and by thy invisible power take out the bone which sticks in this child and cure him And whensoever hereafter the like shall befall men children or beasts if any one then shall remember my name saying O Lord hasten thy help through the intercession of thy servant Blasius do thou cure him speedily to the honour and glory of thy holy Name Again he tells us That while they were carrying him before the President he restored to a poor widow a Hog her only Hog which a Wolf had taken away from her And when as afterward in sign of thankfulness she brought the Hog's head and feet boiled to the Martyr in prison he blessing her spake in this manner Woman in this Habit celebrate my Memorial and no good thing shall ever be wanting in thine house from my God yea and if any other imitating thee shall in like manner celebrate my Memorial he shall receive an everlasting gift from my God and a blessing all the days of his life When he comes to suffer he makes him pray to God thus Hear me thy Servant and whosoever shall have recourse to this thine Altar he means himself and whosoever shall have swallowed a bone or prickle or be vexed with any disease or be in affliction or necessity of persecution Grant Lord to every one his heart's desire as thou art gracious and merciful for thou art to be glorified now and evermore When he had thus prayed saith he Christ descended from heaven as a cloud and overshadowed him and our Saviour said unto him O my beloved Champion I will not only do this but that also which thou didst request for the widow and I will bless also every house which shall celebrate thy Memory and I will fill their store-houses with all good things for this thy glorious Confession and thy faith which thou hast in me Saint Catharine whom he calls AEcatharina a Martyr of Alexandria under Maximianus he makes to pray thus at her Martyrdom Grant unto those O Lord who through me shall call upon thy holy Name such their requests as are profitable for them that in all things thy wondrous works may be praised now and evermore But above all the rest Marina's prayer whom we Latines call Saint Margaret is compleat and for the purpose she suffered under Diocletian and thus she prayed if you dare believe Simeon And now O Lord my God whosoever for thy sake shall worship this Tabernacle of my Body which hath fought for thee and whosoever shall build an Oratory in the name of thy handmaid and shall therein offer unto thee spiritual sacrifices oblations and prayers and all those who shall faithfully describe this my conflict of Martyrdom and shall read and remember the name of thy handmaid Give unto them most holy Lord who art a lover of the good and a friend of Souls remission of sins and grant them propitiation and mercy according to the measure of their faith and let not the revenging hand come near them nor the evil of Famine nor the curse of Pestilence nor any grievous scourge nor let any other incurable destruction either of Body or Soul betide them And to all those who shall in faith and truth adhere to my house her Oratory or Chappel or unto my name and shall unto thee O Lord offer glory and praise and a sacrifice in remembrance of thine Handmaid and shall ask salvation and mercy through me Grant them O Lord abundant store of all good things for thou alone art good and gracious and the giver of all good things for ever and ever Amen While she was thus praying with her self saith Simeon behold there was a great earthquake c. yea and the Lord himself with an host and multitude of holy Angels standing by her in such sort as was perceptible to the understanding said Be of good chear Marina and fear not for I have heard thy prayers and have fulfilled and will in due time fulfill whatsoever thou hast asked even as thou hast asked it Thus saith Simeon who nevertheless in the very entrance to this his tale of Marina or Margaret complains much forsooth that not a few of these Narrations of the Acts of Martyrs were at the beginning forged yea profaned as he faith more truly than he was aware of evidentissimis Daemoniorum doctrinis Besides he calls I know not what Narration of this Virgin 's Martyrdom in that sort corrupted Dictio Daemoniaca but for his own part he would reject all counterfeit fables and tell us nothing but the very truth Which how honestly he hath performed and what touchstone he used let the Reader judge Baronius I am sure is quite ashamed of him who though he can be sometimes content to trade with not much better ware yet this of Simeon's he supposes will need very much washing and cleansing before it be merchantable CHAP. V. An useful Digression concerning the time when Simeon Metaphrastes lived and the occasion of his writing That his living within the time of the great Opposition against Saint-worship moved him to devise such Stories as made for the credit and advantage of that Cause then in danger A brief historical account even out of the Records left by the Adversaries of the great Opposition in the Greek and Eastern Churches against worshipping of Images and of Saints When it began how long it lasted and under what Emperors Of the Great Council held at Constantinople under Constantinus Copronymus against Idolatry An attempt to foist in two Canons in favour of Saint-worship frustrated Several Slanders and Calumnies fastened upon the Council and the Emperor by the idolatrous faction The Original of these Slanders That they were notorious Lies proved from the Decrees of the Council BUT for the better understanding of this Mystery of iniquity and what necessity there was of such desperate shifts when time was ye shall know that this superstitious Simeon lived towards the end of that time of great and long Opposition against Idolatry in the Greek and Eastern Churches by divers Emperors with the greatest part of their Bishops Peers and People lasting from about the year of our Lord 720 till after 840 that is a 120 years which was not against Images only though they bare
their enemies p. 372 Chap. 35. 6 7. The Rechabites said We will drink no wine for Ionadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us saying Ye shall drink no wine nor shall ye build an house but dwell in teats c. p. 127 LAMENTATIONS Chap. 2. 1. The Lord hath cast down the beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstool in the day of his anger p. 393 EZEKIEL Chap. 4. 6. Lie again on thy right side and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Iudah forty dayes p. 784 Chap. 20. 20. Hasâ—ow my Sabbaths and they shall be a Sign between me and you that ye may know that I am the Lord your God p. 55 Chap. 27. 3. Tyrus a Merchant of people for many Islands p. 273 Chap. 38. 17. Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the Prophets of Israel c. p. 796 Chap. 43. 7. my holy Name shall the house of Israel 〈◊〉 more desile by the Carkâ—ses of their Kings p. 14 DANIEL Chap. 2. from vers 32. to vers 44. p. 104 Vers. 44 45. In the dayes of these Kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed nor left to another people but it shall break in pieces and consume at these Kingdoms and it self shall stand for ever Forasmuch as thou sawest that a Stone was cut out of a mountain without hands and that it brake in pieces the iron the brass c. p. 744 754 755 Chap 4. 26. after that thou shalt have known that the heavens bear rule p. 102 Chap. 7. 3. And four Beasts came up from the Sea p. 454 Vers. 9. I behold till the Thrones were pitched down p. 762 Verse 10. the Iudgment was set p. 532. 762 Verse 11. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the Horn spake I beheld till the Beast was slain and his body destroy'd and given to the burning flame Ibid. Verse 12. As concerning the rest of the Beasts they had their dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time p. 780. 781 Verse 22. and judgment was given to the Saints of the most High p. 532 Vers. 24. And the ten Horns are ten Kings and another shall rise behind them and he shall be diverse from the first and shall depress three Kings p. 778 779 Vers. 25. And he shall think to change Times and Laws p. 737 Ch. 5. 4. behold an He-goat came from the West p. 473 c. Verse 23. And in the latter end of the Kingdom of Graecia a King of a fierce countenance shall stand up p. 654 Chap. 9. 24. Seventy weeks are allotted for thy people and for thy holy City to finish transgression and make an end of sins c. p. 697 Verse 25. Also know and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return and to build Ierusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be Sevens of weeks c. p. 699 Verse 26. And after 62 weeks shall Messiah be cut off and they none of his c. p. 704 Verse 27. Nevertheless he shall confirm a covenant with many one week c. p. 706 Chap. 10 2. I Daniel was mourning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 599 Verse 13. Michael one of the chief Princes came to help me p. 42 Chap. 11. V. 36 37 38 39. p. 667 670 671 Verse 41 42 43. p. 674 Verse 44 45. p. 816 Chap. 12. 11 12. And from the time that the daily Sacrifice shall be taken away shall be 1290 days Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 1335 days p. 717 IOEL Verse 30. Pillars of smoke p. 28 AMOS Chap. 4. 2. The Lord hath sworn by his Holiness p. 8 Chap. 8. 7. The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Iacob ibid. MICAH Chap. 5. 5. And he shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land c. p. 796 ZACHARY Chap. 3. 9. For behold the stone that I have laid before Ioshua p. 833 marg Chap. 4. 2 3. I looked and behold a Candlestick with seven Lamps and two Olive-trees by it p. 833 Verse 6. Not by might nor by force but by my Spirit p. 41 833 Verse 10. These Seven are the Eyes of the ' Lord which run to and fro through the whole Earth p. 40 Verse 14. These are the two anointed ones that stand before the Lord of the whole Earth p. 41 Chap. 8. 19. The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the tenth p. 890 MALACHI Chap. 1. 6 7. Ye say Wherein have we polluted thy Name In that ye say The Table of the Lord is contemptible And if ye offer the blind for Sacrifice is it not evil Offer it now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee p. 357 Verse 11. In every place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a pure Offering p. 355 TOBIT Chap. 14. Verse 3. to Verse 8. p. 〈…〉 I MACCABEES Chap. 14. 5. An entrance to the Isles of the Sea p. 273 II MACCABEES Chap. 4. 38. he took away Andronicus his purple p. 911 S. MATTHEW Chap. 5. 17. Think not that I am come to dissolve the Law and the Prophets I am not come to dissolve but to fulfil p. 12 Verse 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least of these Commandments and shall teach men so to do he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of heaven ibid. Chap. 6. 1. Take heed that ye do not your Alms before men p. 80 Verse 9. Thus therefore pray ye p. 1 Hallowed be thy Name p. 4 Verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread p. 125 Verse 19. Lay not up for your selves treasures upon earth p. 352 Chap. 7. 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven c. p. 213 Chap. 8. 12. But the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness p. 86 Verse 29. Art thou come hither to torment us before the time p. 25 Chap. 10. 41. He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophets reward p. 84 Chap. 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 p. 150 Chap. 12. 42. The Queen of the South shall rise up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with this generation p. 24 Chap. 17. 11. Elias truly shall first come and restore all things p. 98 Chap. 19. 21. If thou wilt be perfect go sell that thou hast and give it to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven p. 126 Verse 28. in the regeneration p. 85 Chap. 20. 16. So the last shall be first and the first last for many be called but few chosen p. 86 Chap.