A DISCOURSE OF The Lawfulness of Compliance With all the CEREMONIES OF THE CHURCH of ENGLAND HERE it may be demanded in the first place how indifferent actions or actions of a middle nature betwixt moral good and evil which are neither necessary nor unlawfull neither commanded nor forbidden by the Word of God and in the performance of which we can shew neither obedience nor disobedience but are left to our discretion can lay any obligation upon the Consciences of men Answer They may oblige the Conscience upon a fourfold account As first When we bind our selves with a Vow to God to doe such things to which we were not before obliged If the thing be lawfull and indifferent in it self we are bound to perform it not for the things sake but for the Vows sake For whensoâ—ver 〈…〉 is not unlawfull the bond or tye of Religion is contained in it and therefore that which before was free is now by reason of the Vow made due worship to God or at least for us necessary to be done Although the subject-matter or the thing it self vowed be indifferent yet the observation of that Vow doth directly belong to that honour which by our Religion we owe to God Of this nature were the Vows and Laws of the Nazarites of which we reade Numb 6. And by such a Vow Jephthah was entangled having rashly made a vow to offer unto God whatsoever thing came out first to meet him after his return from battel and victory for a Burnt-offering which proved to be his own Daughter and therefore was necessitated by his Vow though not to offer her up for a Burnt-sacrifice which was an abomination in the sight of God yet to doe to her so much as he thought the Law of God would permit to shut her up and to keep her in perpetual virginity which the Daughters of Israel bewailed Judges 11. Secondly Indifferent Rites and Ceremonies are then to be observed and oblige the Conscience when any for want of sufficient information and instruction is fully persuaded in his Conscience that they are not things indifferent but neâ—essary duties this was the case of the Jews when St. Paul wrote his Epistles The Ceremonies commanded by Moses were abolished by the death of Christ and therefore no man was any longer bound to conform to them yet they being otherwise strongly persuaded it was sinfull to act against the dictates of their Conscience So Rom. 14.5 Let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind It was lawfull for a Christian to esteem the Jewish Festivals all one with other days but unlawfull to profane those days which he thought holy v. 14. I know and am â—â—â—suaded by the Lord Jesus that c. It was an indifferent thing to eat Swines flesh or not to eat it yet if any man was persuaded in his Conscience the eating to be unlawfull he ought to forbear v. 23. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin Where by Faith we are to understand a particular persuasion concerning things about which we are exercised as that it was lawfull to eat or unlawfull to eat such or such meats not true saving Faith by which we become Christians and lay hold on our Saviour for life and salvation and which also the believing Jews mispersuaded in some such particulars as I have already mentioned were endued with Thirdly The third case is of evident and manifest Scandal that is when the observation or not observation of things indifferent doth manifestly endanger the Faith of weak Christians and harden others in their unbelief See 1 Cor. 10.27 28. 1 Cor. 8.8 9 10. And indeed one great design of the Apostle St. Paul was to persuade the strong Christians not to put a stumbling block before the weak Jews who still adhered to Mosaical Ceremonies So also Rom. 14.15 16 17 18 19 20 21. such was the condition of the believing Jews that though they embraced the Christian Faith yet they supposed that our Saviour came not to abolish Ceremonies but onely to reveal a farther light and that the Gospel was not to terminate or give a period to the Law of Moses but onely that it was a superstructure upon the foundation of Moses and the Prophets and therefore they thought that they might as well part with their Christianity as with their ancient Rites and Customs So that the total neglect of them by the faithfull among the Gentiles deterred the unbelieving Jews from embracing the Gospel and tempted almost those who already believed to renounce their Faith And therefore the Apostle doth exhort the believing Gentiles to abate their Liberty and not to endanger the Faith and Salvation of so many Souls Fourthly Although indifferent Rites do not oblige us to their observation directly of themselves or of their own account yet our Consciences are obliged to the observation of them indirectly and by consequence when they are commanded and enjoined by the Supreme Civil Magistrate and our Sovereign Lord. And this is by virtue of that Divine Precept Let every soul be subject to the higher powers which bindeth the Conscience directly The command of God to obey the King as Supreme in all lawfull things and such all indifferent things are doth oblige the Conscience directly and of it self as all the Commands of God do And therefore all things commanded by him if not unlawfull do likewise bind the Conscience indirectly by virtue of the Command of God So when Parents employ their Children and Masters their Servants about any business the business it self doth not oblige the Conscience directly because not commanded by God but it doth indirectly and by consequence by virtue of the Command of God to honour Parents and obey our Masters in all things And that the Magistrate may impose in Religion things lawfull in themselves will appear because if he think the imposition of them expedient some ways or other as for the peace and quietness or the uniformity and the settlement of the People whom he governs and the keeping of them from distractions and innovations c. he may certainly impose them because he doeth it as a good and expedient thing And what a private man may doe by himself in things lawfull if he think the use of them to be expedient for his better service of God that also may the Magistrate impose for uniformity on his Subjects Otherwise I suppose that no Prince would impose Ceremonies on his People against their will merely because they are indifferent things unless he thought them also some way fit and expedient Now although Ecclesiastical Persons may be thought the fittest judges of what Ceremonies are most convenient for the Church yet in imposing them they ought to have regard to the Supreme Magistrate and not to act without much less against his consent Under the Old Testament the Legal Ministery which consisted in Ceremonies and Sacrifices was not ordered by the hand of Aaron the High-priest but by the hand of Moses who was King in
of humane Society though no ways hindered by the fear of the Laws of God If tumults and insurrections shall be the appendixes of every command we find not expresly and in so many words contained in the word of God we may fear that the frequent calamities which will attend men on this account may cause to say no worse a great decay of Christian Religion Let us a little consider what the effects of mens contumacy and opposition of decent Ceremonies established by Law by which our late Wars were begun maintained and carried on in England hath been in our own Nation How much Religion hath been established and propagated by stumbling at straws and leaping over blocks by loathing indifferent Geremonies when the great duties of holiness and righteousness required conformity Hath not this been the introduction of Atheism and irreligion the greatest distemper among us hath not this been the original of all Sects and Schisms hath it not nourished those manifold Errours and Heresies which caused profane Persons to sit down in the seat of the Scorners and therefore as we tender the honour of our Religion and would vindicate it from being an enemy to government and destructive to humane Society preserved by government unless we would drive the same design with the Devil the common enemy of mankind and especially of Christians to bring an universal scandal on our Profession and render it odious to mankind we must not be refractary or disobedient to humane Laws when the Laws of God permit us to obey them and give an eedless occasion of offence to those whom God hath placed in authority over us And therefore in this case though ecclesiastical Persons are the best judges of what ought to be introduced into the Church yet if there should arise a dissention for the avoiding Scandal the Fathers of the Church ought to give place to the Father of their Country St. Paul teacheth us 1 Cor. 9.20 21. that unto the Jews he became as a Jew that he might gain the Jews to them under the law as under the law to them without the law as c. to the weak as weak to all men all things that he might by all means save some What think you he would have done nay what would he not have done if the Emperours by his condescensions should have become Christians by which means a free passage to the Gospel would be laid open throughout the whole World would he that so severely injoined obedience to the higher Powers on pain of damnation and that so readily and willingly complied with all sorts of men for the salvation of their Souls have scrupled a few indifferent Ceremonies whereby Governours and Magistrates might be alienated from the love of Christianity he had the same reason to comply with these as with all other sorts of people for their good And thus these things being premised I shall come to shew the lawfulness of compliance with all the Ceremonies of the Church of England and this I shall doe by one general and comprehensive argument If the the Jewish Ceremonies commanded in the Levitical Law were indifferent and might lawfully be observed after the Death Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour who put a period unto them even by those who knew the Levitical Law abolished at that time much more are the Ceremonies of the Church of England indifferent and may be lawfully used But the Jewish Ceremonies c. and therefore c. Of these Propositions in order now the sequel or consequence will evidently appear if wâ— compare theirs and ours together 'T is true indeed the Jewish Ceremonies had their institution and signification given unto them at first immediately from God himself And the Jews still thought that this obligation from God remained on them But however they were instituted onely for a certain time till Christ should come in the flesh and by oblation of himself once purchase the remission of our sins And then their signification together with the obligation to observe and perform them utterly perished so far forth as it was from God For this was the end of the institution of the Sacrifices and most of the Ceremonies to signify Christ to come and the offering him up as a Sacrifice for us all Heb. 9.23 24. And therefore the continuation of them afterwards was not from Divine Authority but depended on the ignorance of the Jews and prudence of the Apostles the Jews were zealous of the Law and the Apostles were willing to permit it as long as they embraced Christianity But God's institution and injunction being then expired they were for the time they were afterwards used as much humane and depending on the will of man as our Ceremonies are now and so in this case there is an equality And it is all one to think that to be appointed by God which is not appointed by him and to know it to be appointed by God's Vicegerent But if we will consider other circumstances we shall find that those which attended the Jewish Ceremonies were very dangerous and had such tendency to evil which ours are exempted from For first They might well be accounted vain and as the Passover Sacrifices for sin unreasonable Christ being already offered Secondly It might seem to be a mocking of God and abusing his Institution to use Ceremonies signifying Christ to come who was then ascended into Heaven and which represented his merits as future when they were already consummated Thirdly The use of them was joined in most Jews with this erroneous opinion that they were necessary parts of God's worship See Rom. 14. Fourthly Our Ceremonies signify onely ex parte hominis or on the part of man they either signify our duty and what we are or serve to put us in mind of what we should be but the Jewish Ceremonies did signify not onely ex parte hominis but ex parte Dei too they were used not onely as signs to put us in mind of our obedience to God but as means of conveying divine benediction upon us they were used not onely as mere Ceremonies but as Sacraments too and as proper parts of Divine Worship and as seals of the Covenant as Circumcision and the Passover Fifthly The observing of them among the Jews by the allowance of the Apostles might endanger as indeed it did the intrusion of them on the Gentiles And it being impossible for the Gentiles to observe all the Ceremonial Law of Moses and come up all of them to Jerusalem to keep the Passover and offer sacrifice it might cause them utterly to reject the Gospel which was incumbred with such impossible observations And here by the way I suppose that Christ came not onely to abolish the Jewish Ceremonies but also to leave all people to the indifferent use of such Ceremonies which were consistent with the service of God and agreeable to their own Country and temper which is a true kind of liberty Sixthly It might stir up the Jews to
might well be counted an Idolater but as long as it is used as an indifferent Ceremony according to the directions of the Church of England none ought to be offended For it was borrowed from the Primitive Christians who gloried in the sign of the Cross But we have yet an higher example of conformity and compliance in the Apostle which he did not out of his single judgment but with the advice of an assembly of Apostles and Elders As in the Acts 21.18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25. where we see that though the Elders received with much joy the news concerning the conversion of the Gentiles to the Faith yet considering how many Jews there were who believed and yet were also zealous for the Law of Moses and that they were offended with Paul for preaching among the Gentiles against Moses and his Ceremonial Law and that therefore his person would not be acceptable to them they advised him by all means to shew his compliance with them in his conformity to their Rites and Ceremonies as doth there appear Now v. 26. we find the Apostle following and obeying their counsel he did not onely comply with them in shewing reverence to the Temple observing Rites about Vows and Purification but likewise in their Offerings and typical Oblations Certainly should any men doe half so much now as St. Paul did then some furious Zealots who place their Religion as much in opposing Ceremonies as the Jews did in observing them would cry out against him as they did against St. Paul on another occasion Acts 22.22 Away with such a fellow from the earth for it is not fit he should live And here farther we cannot imagine that this was ill done by the Apople because he was never guilty of sinfull compliance in the greatest danger and because it was agreeable to his Precepts and course of life all along and because this counsel proceeded from the joint consent of the Apostles and Elders in whose assemblies the Holy Ghost was always present Wherefore it followeth that the Jewish Ceremonies liable to so many exceptions were not however so odious and sinfull absolutely considered but that as occasion required they might be observed and lawfully used even by those who knew them abolished by the death of Christ And therefore surely the Ceremonies of the Church of England which are harmless and innocent if not pious which are as no-ways burthensome in themselves so instituted onely for decency and uniformity ought to be observed For by thus doing Faction and Schism will be avoided brotherly love maintaintained peace and unity the glory of our Profession preserved OF THE NECESSITY Of the USE of COMMON-PRAYER IN PUBLICK THE Apostle St. Paul lays down two Rules to guide our Prayers by 1 Cor. 14.15 What is it then I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also And in the 16. and 17. verses presseth the praying with the understanding also because otherwise he that occupieth the place of the unlearned could not say Amen at his giving of thanks seeing he understood not what was said and was not at all edified thereby And v. 19. he tells us that he had rather spake five words with understanding that the Church might be edified than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue It seems the Corinthians did much affect praying with the Spirit as they thought it to be though they regarded not the understandings and edification of their hearers I wish the like may not be said of many among our selves who cry up extemporary praying for the onely praying with the Spirit and condemning Common-prayer as carnal and formal but if we will examine these two sorts of Prayers with the Rules laid down by the Apostle we shall find that Common-prayer or Forms of Prayer are every way as consistent with praying by the spirit and are best for edification and the understanding of the hearers 'T is true our understandings and inventions too both of Speaker and People ought to be under the guidance directions and assistence of the Spirit as well as our Affections the former being the nobler and the latter the more ignoble and lower faculties of the Soul And therefore as to praying with the Spirit it 's requisite that these too be sanctified that we may clearly discerne apprehend and find out those truths which God hath revealed and those sins which are apt to beset us and those mercies we stand in need of But however it 's not to be expected that in all our Prayers the Spirit should help our inventions in finding out new matter much less new words For the sanctification of the understanding doth not consist in these We ought to judge the quite contrary for the same judgments we pray against the same mercies we pray for in one prayer we must pray for often and though God's Spirit may discover more and more our sinfulness to us yet the same sinfulness on one hand and grace on the other which afford matter for prayer now may afford us matter to our lives end As for particular occasions they have their particular Prayers But he is in a very sad and strange condition that when he comes to pray to Almighty God knows nothing at all before-hand what he should pray for nor what he should pray a-against but expects that the Spirit should furnish him with new matter for his Prayer or else he will be at a loss For 't is to be supposed that we are acquainted with our own wants before-hand and the sense of our misery and wretchedness in our selves is usually the first motive and inducement to prayer And therefore the assistence of the Spirit and operation on the understanding and invention is not to furnish us with new matter and words at prayers but in keeping alive a serious and constant apprehension of our condition which should remain with us not onely in times of our devotion but also be a continual gâ—ide throughout the course of our life He is to be accounted rather an infidel heathen or unbeliever than a true Christian a man altogether unacquainted with his spiritual estate and condition that knows no Attributes of God to be celebrated no sins he is guilty of no judgments he is afraid of no graces in which he is deficient no mercies he stands in need of but all of these are the matter of Prayer and all of these every one that knows any thing of Christianity must be in some measure acquainted with before he performs the duty of Prayer The knowledge of them being not onely requisite to that duty but necessary to constitute and denominate him a Christian And though some may think they have new discoveries in time of Prayer which I shall not now dispute of what nature they are yet the general ground and foundation of their Prayer is no new-invented matter but such which before-hand they must