Temporal I pass by this double honour possibly some think it too much for those that labour in the Word and Doctrine and I follow that which is the great designe of the Text the Vnion that is here fixed and everlastingly to be promoted and therefore the Word is singular Regis Sacerdotis unum est Os there is but one Mouth assigned both to King and Priest the one is to think the other to speak the same thing Moses and Aaron to go hand in hand together Hence it is observable that they were Both of the Tribe of Levi verse 14. Is not Aaron the Levite thy Brother The Levite and thy Brother and his Mouth to be thy Mouth to speak the words which thou shalt put into it Why then should there be any difference betwixt Moses and Aaron since they are Brethren They are Both of the same Tribe which the Lord had chosen out of all the Tribes of Israel to come and Minister before him the One was to deliver the Other to teach and instruct Both together to establish and confirm in a perpetual and never ceasing Oeconomy what are the judgments and the statutes of God and Man And all this not to Jacob and Israel onely but to Pharaoh and the Egyptians also 1. Aaron is the Mouth of Moses to the People that is to Israel to tell them that they are the Visited and Beloved of the Lord to proclaim to them the Royal Law of liberty out of the house of bondage from their slavery to wish them to follow the directions of their Law-giver Moses who will rule them according to the integrity of his heart and guide them with the skilfulness of his hand with the skilfulness of his hand with great and wonderfull Dexterity will he extricate them out of all their miseries remove their shoulders from the burdens and their hands from making the pots 2. And so Aaron to be the Mouth of Moses to Pharaoh and his fervants to denounce and execute as many Plagues on him and his people as are the Tribes of Israel if you reckon the plagues and signs together from first to last a Plague for each Tribe because of the hard and cruel bondage wherein he made each of them to serve neither would he permit them to depart in peace from amongst them that they might worship the Lord their God And here by the way we may take notice how necessary is this Vnion betwixt King and Priest how comfortable is their mutual assistance then especially when there is danger of a common enemy both to Church and State when there are a Generation of Men like Pharaoh who will not permit the people to be at quiet onely because Moses and Aaron would have them to serve the Lord how should Moses at such a time stand at the door of the Tabernacle with the Rod of God in his hand for the defence of Aaron and how should Aaron lift up his voice in the behalf of Moses hold up his hands lest that Amalech prevail In a word The Commandment is to go forth from Both to restore and to build the Temple the One must stand like stout Nehemiah with his Sword in his hand that so the work be not hindred the Other not unlike holy Ezra a Prophet of the Lord with the Sword or the Keys of the Kingdome in his Mouth that so it may be perfected in righteousness great is the care which Both together must take for many are the kindnesses which Both together must do unto the House of God and the Offices thereof O then may Aarons Bells never ring backward if ever let it be to call the people as One man to the quenching of a common flame let it be to stand between the living and the dead when a Plague is begun that it may be staid pro Te loquetur He shall speak for Thee to the people surely then he is not so to speak as to inveigh against him to aggravate his failings to exasperate and calumniate his Person before the people he may lift up his Voice like a Trumpet but it must not be the Trumpet of sedition the Alarm of War sounding to battel from the Pulpit let him cry aloud yea and he may not spare to tell Judah and Israel of their sins but it is not fitting to say to a Prince that he is wicked Such language as this does least of all become the Mouth of Aaron Much more unseemly is it for him to say before the People be they Israel it will increase their murmurings be they Egyptians it will add to their hard-heartedness that Moses is ungodly God doth hear the blasphemy of those who do in the least though it be but in a thought slander the footsteps of his Anointed Aaron himself was too sad an instance of this when he murmured against Moses saying Numb 12.2 Hath the Lord indeed spoken onely by Moses hath he not also spoken by us Yes he hath spoken by you Both and yet the Leprosie upon Miriam's forehead may be an intimation unto Aaron that he do cover his Mouth and shut his lips such language as this hath defiled them Vnclean unclean But the meekness of Moses was soon intreated and the God of mercy did accept of his intercession so that immediately there was a healing of this breath and Aaron is still continued to be the Mouth of Moses to the People To the People if to Moses surely much more to them and the People are to attend to him with reverence upon this treble account because that he is the Mouth of God of the King and also of the People Heb. 5.1 Every High Priest is ordained for men that is is set over men in things pertaining to God the manner of expression in the Original is the same with the Septuagint in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every High Priest is set over men as concerning those things which are to God-ward that is the interpretation may fairly be admitted without any great stress upon the words set over the ordinary sort of men to tell them with Authority and with power what is their duty either to God or his Vicegerent to the Lord of Lords or to those who are instead of God and they who do resist or despise either One or the Other do not despise or resist the Man in either of them but the God that is in them Both. And this brings me to the Second thing I observed from the Text which is the due Execution firm Establishment and sure Administration of both these Authorities together and that no otherwise then by a Divine Dispensation Whilst the Prince doth defend the Priests of the most High God he doth so stand by himself the Throne is thus established to him in Righteousness the Kingdome confirmed in the hands of Moses whilst he is unto Aaron and to his sons instead of God Instead of God in his quae ad Deum that is in the Letter of the Text
but beating of or speaking to the air Unless that Aaron be the Mouth of Moses what though his face shine the people will but the sooner turn away from him cum Jove Caesar God and the King as to Government have alike prerogatives Thunder from above bespeaks the Deity as terrible thus the Highest doth give forth his Voice Boanerges a son of Thunder here below declares earthly Majesty to be also dreadful But unless Moses put words into the mouth of Aaron stands by him and stands up to him while he speaks stretches out his Rod whilst he lifts up his Voice the Mouth of Aaron without this will be Vox praeterea nihil a Voice indeed but nothing else the noise no sooner heard but no where to be found Whose Mouth is fittest to preserve knowledge and to proclaim Obedience but his who is the Messenger of God and of the King of the Lord of Hosts and of him who like unto God himself is mighty in the battel and whose Arm should be made bare in strength but theirs who are the Anointed of the Lord Anointed in a great measure for this very thing that they should be a Guard and a Protection to all Gods Holy Ones since they are themselves not unfitly called Gods being all of them children of the Most Highest Shall I with all humility and due Reverence speak the words of truth and soberness it is in the Cause of God of the King and also of his Priests As the happiness is great to that People where this Vnion is most religiously observed no other then as the result of the Divine Institution so sad is the misery deplorable is the calamity both to King Priest and People upon the breach of it I need go no further for an instance then the story that is before us Would Moses and Aaron bring the people from Egypt through a wilderness into Canaan This must be their March Regular and solemn Num. 2.3 compared with Num. 3.38 Judah the Princely Tribe must set up his Standard Eastward Moses and Aaron Prince and Priest must keep the charge of the Sanctuary Eastward and hence not improbably the antient Ceremony of worshiping with their faces thither-ward Judah sets up his Standard for the Laity Moses and Aaron theirs for the Clergy and yet the latter to go along with Judah the Prince who was to protect them when settled in the Land of Promise and upon the whole whosoever he was the stranger that came nigh to either of them was to be put to death This was their March unto that Rest which God had prepared for them And yet notwithstanding their Station and Procession thus fixed by the Almighty do Moses and Aaron speak unadvisedly with their lips either one to another one of another or one against another at the waters of Massah and Meribah places that bore their names from those strivings and contentions the anger of the Lord is immediately kindled against them all and it was so inraged that it was by no means to be appeased Moses and Aaron must onely see that Land of Promise into which they are never like to come it shall be their punishment to behold what they never shall injoy in the view of but their foot shall not tread upon the goodly Mountain nor Lebanon and then as for the People their Carcases must fall in thâ— wilderness this is a froward Generation it shall noâ— enter into the Rest of God! When once there be Divisions many are the thoughts many are the searchings of heart I would not be mistaken as an evil-speaker or a fore-boder of evil tidings while I do thus mournfully and with all lowly submission crave leave to make out the Parallel Doth the Civil Magistrate either needlessly contend with or wilfully draw back the secular Arm from the Defence of the Ministry and does he think thus to still the murmurings of the people as the raging of the Sea so is their madness casting forth nothing but mire and dirt foaming out their own shame and is there no way to lay the storm but by mixing the waters with bloud hath the Pilot no means to secure the Ship but by throwing the Prophet into the waters especially such a Prophet as doth not fly from but is stedfastly bent on his Course to deliver and execute the Message of his Master that sent him Again is the Spiritual Mouth either silent in the behalf of or clamourous and obstreperous against doth it either not speak at all as it should in the defence or is it froward malapert and peevish against the Secular Arm do they who should consult the stars of Heaven for direction in the voyage either withhold their advice from or unseasonably quarrel with him that sits Steers-man at the Helm This may be the dreadful consequence of such ill will between Both in Portu naufragium certain ruine and destruction to the Ship and all that are in it yea and that in the Ken of the desired Haven as an aggravation to their misery in the very sight of Land Virtutem videant intabescantque relicta This is the sore calamity upon such lad animosities and dissatisfactions on either hand a strange kind of infatuation upon all marner of counsels and designs be they never so just and honourable they may see what is good and yet it doth escape them a price put into their hand and it falls away from them for want of a pious heart united to each other in Love and Duty and to God the maker of Both in fear and Reverence mutually to be exercised in the using of it And here by the way let it be seriously considered that the first Rejection of Saul from being King over Israel was because he invaded the Priesthood let our new Leviathan suggest what he pleases Hobb's Lev. part 3. chap. 42 pag. 95. 300. that the Civil Magistrate may reserve the exercise of the Ministerial Function to himself yea though there might be some reasonable excuse for it as his Enemies growing Vid Ecc. Ang. Articl 37. and coming on upon him and he was not willing to ingage them till he had made his supplication before the Lord 1 Sam. 13.11 15. But God had commanded the entrary he was not of himself to make a Vertue of that Necessity without an express permission therefore says Samuel Thou hast done foolishly and thy Kingdom shall not continue whereupon God chose to himself a man after his own heart one who to avoid such future presumption should be a Prophet as well as a Prince and therefore the eating of the Shew-bread upon an extream necessity was not in him so notorious a violation of Sacred and Ecclesiastick Order This was that David who called for his Sword which hung behind the Ephod 1 Sam. 21.9 Give it me says he for there is none like that he goes forth with the Prayers and the Blessing of the Priests to battel 1 Sam. 23.9 still I will urge a Testimony from
would be a Proselyte to our Religion come in amongst us would not he say that we are all mad so far from being together with one accord that the variety of our Behaviours is argument too notorious that our minds are not intent upon the same business this is not the Beauty it is the very Deformity of Holiness Once more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were together and because so they were with one accord An outward Visible Conformity is in the very nature of the thing it self causal of internal Vnity Love and Charity is there increased where external Communion is promoted wheresoever there is Order there is Peace whereas Mutinies and Discontents are both the Child and Parent of Confusion Well therefore has the Psalmist compared the comliness and pleasantness of Brotherly Love to the outward administrations and solemnities of the sanctuary Psal 133.1 2. Behold how good and how decent a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in Vnity It is like the precious ointment upon the head which ran down upon the beard even Aaron 's beard that went down to the skirts of his clothing it is like the dew of Hermon even as the dew that descended upon the Mountains of Sion where the Lord himself commanded the Blessing even life for evermore Thus Love and Amity Union and Communion amongst Brethren professing the worship and service of One and the same God looking for and hastning to One and the same Hope is not only compared unto but also a due consequence of the sweet Odors upon Aarons head having their delightful refreshing influence upon the whole Assembly this is the Blessing of God out of Sion to those that are the sons of Sion Love and Peace Joy and Good-will for ever more Hence not without good reason was Jerusalem styled as the name imports a City of Peace because the Temple of the God of Peace was there that Temple which was built by Solomon who was a Prince of Peace after that God had given him Rest from all his Enemies round about neither was the noise of Axe or Hammer heard in all the Holy Mountain while it was Building This the Temple at Jerusalem and therefore the City it self is Built and Compact together even a City at Unity in it self for thither the Tribes go up the Tribes of the Lord to the Testimony of Israel to give thanks to the Name of the Lord. Oh! that we would Recall to our Minds our former happiness under a well ordered and a settled Vniformity how did the people of this Land rejoice to go up together to the House of God as Friends how comely were our Solemnities when whole Families met together at Gods Table the servant was thus far as free as his Master not as a Servant but as a Brother and yet when he came home he did his service without grudging not as unto man but as to the Lord in singleness of heart as knowing that he had a Master in Heaven How was the staff of Beauty in those days no other then the staff of Bands and whilst we did in a general unanimous consent serve our God with one heart and with one voice the result of Glory to God in the Highest was Peace on Earth and Good-will amongst men But wo and alas for us ever since we began to quarrel at our Religion to abhor the sacrifices of our God how has every Mans Hand been against his Brother Father against Son and the Son against his Father Maxima debetur servis reverentia a Man's Table has been made his Snare whilst the servants that attended upon him have been the Informers against him his worst Enemies those of his own House nay the Marriage Bed it self as Honorable as it is has not been free from this shame whilst there have been a Generation of men that would not allow St. Pauls Doctrine to be Gospel That the Believing Wife sanctifies the unbelieving husband and the Believing Husband sanctifieth the unbelieving Wife but our of a supercilious designe to pry into the secrets of Families as if they onely knew who were the chosen of God according to the election of Grace even at the Marriage-supper it self they have separated and divided betwixt Man and Wife put those asunder whom God Nature and Christianity had joined together this being the Religion of our later Reformation what Christ fore-told should be a final destruction upon the people of the Jews Two in abed the one taken and the other left Oh! That at length we might recover our first works and how shall we do that hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Repent and do your first works Betake we our selves now at last to that from whence we are fallen to our old honest Principles of Piety and Devotion toward God of Reverence and Obedience toward our Superiours of Love and Charity one toward another Oh! that we would but seriously think upon it nay for the childrens sake that yet are unborn that we would consider it our Fathers before us have left us a glorious Religion and what shall we do for the Generations that are to come shall we leave nothing to Posterity but Schisme and separation disorder and confusion But in the words of Holy Church we direct our Prayers unto our God since there is no help in man nor in the son of man O God we have heard with our ears and our Fathers have told us the noble works that thou didst in their dayes and in the old time before them O Lord Arise help us and deliver us for thy name sake and thy honour 'T is not to be expected that ever God should bless that Nation or people where the only fewds are about his service and till our Vniformity in the strictness of it be more countenanced than it has been restored to its wonted exactness and splendor we must never expect to see an end of those fewds Divisions are alwayes running upon the Multiplication say's our Royal Martyr and there is no settlement but in the point of Vnion Toleration then you may give it a new name and by an Vniversal Character Style it Comprehension but Babel in the original both in name and story is the most proper word to signifie Confusion this cannot be the way to peace because it is not like to be a service to the God of Peace of altogether with one accord The Musick of the Sanctuary is not made up of Discord Vnisons here is the only harmony the sweetest Melody both to Heaven and Earth it is a contradiction in the very terms of it and it is impossible that both parts of it should be true that if there be Divisions and those Tolerated therefore there would be no thoughts no searchings of heart Let us take our measures by this one instance Our Fathers worshiped in this Mountain said the Samaritan to the Jew and the Jew said that at Jerusalem men ought to worship and both these were satisfied in
〈◊〉 or some such word to be understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to warrant me this or the like Division Of the rest No one or as we Translate it No Man durst joyn hmself to them First Not the new convert Disciples though if any surely they might take the confidence but ver 11. Great fear came upon the whole Church We read in the fore-going Chapter ver 32. That the multitude of those that believed were of one heart and of one soul neither said any of them that ought of the goods which he possessed was his own but they had all things common as many as had possessions of lands sold them and laid down the price of what was sold at the Apostles feet And in the beginning of this Chapter we find some retaining part of the accursed thing of that which was devoted and dedicated unto God ver 4. whilst it was whole it was in the power of him that possessed it and after it was saâ—d still it was intirely in his power but being once Consecrated and separated from common use the property and propriety is then altered God doth vindicate the right of Possession to himself the sin was therefore the greater the more immediate against him in that there were some who gave indeed as others did for companies sake a certain curtailed portion to God and to his Church but not with a willing mind not as cheerful givers keeping back part of the price a wedg of Gold it may be to buy a Babylonish garment and presenting the remainder to the Apostles as the result of the whole sale this is the instance of Sacriledge even in the New Testament Satan thus hiling the hearts of wicked persons that they should lye against the holy Ghost not against Men but against God That therefore the Church be not troubled for this destructive sin of Sacriledge these two must fall a Sacrifice as Joshua of old to Achan and his House Thou hast troubled Israel and God shall trouble thee this day So the Apostles here to Ananias and Sapphira for the same sin since you have done wickedly this your oblation is abhorred both sin and death lye at the door Behold the feet of those who are to carry you forth are without ready for to bury you These two are to be cut off from the land of the living like Corah and his Company they went almost quick into hell Sacriledge whither it be under a legal or under an evangelical Dispensation is an invasion of that which God has claimed to himself for his own inheritance and it is a Sin which shall in no wise go unpunished it brings ruine and desolation wheresoever it is admitted Write such a one childless his name no more to be remembred unless for a terror unto others Corah Dathan and Abiram their wives their sons and their little ones and all that appertained unto them swallowed up alive in the pit Numb 16 33. Father Son and Daughter yea the whole House of Achan Oxen and Asses and Sheep first stoned with stones and then burnt with fire even in the Valley of Achor from this fore judgement thus severely executed upon the sin of Sacriledge this was the onely door of Hope Josh 7.18 Husband and Wife that so there might not be a Generation of Vipers to inherit their parents curse are both at once cut off in the instance before us root and branch in one day ver 10. the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her forth buried her by her husband Alas who can live when God doth thus well might the New Convert Disciples be terrified and affrighted lest that they also should not have been sincere in their Oblations lest that God should not accept the labour of their love by reason of some secret leaven of Hypocrisie that might lurk within them though they had sold their goods yet they might want charity and then they should be nothing worth wherein were they to be accounted of To see how severe an Avenger that God was with whom they had to do was cause enough of terror even to the Church it self every one of them smiting upon their breasts not daring to look up to Heaven standing afar off each one communing with his own heart and saying Lord be merciful unto me yea unto me a sinner we are all of us dead we are all of us sinful men O Lord Purior ex hoc tempore erat Ecclesiae coetus in quem multi dolose irrepserant Calv. From this time every man prepared himself for the publick Assemblies as near as he could according to the preparations of the Sanctuary they set their whole hearts to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with Reverence and with fear the terrors of the Lord in his Judgments did perswade them and do they go up unto the Temple to Solomons Porch to pray and to hear yet with the Penitent Devout Publican they must stand afar off and hence it was that they did return each man to his own house justified Thus when God is pleased to arise in the vindication of his service by his judgments upon the wicked and prophane to declare that he will be sanctified in all those that draw nigh unto him then should they who presume to tread his Courts look unto their feet when they come unto the House of God lest they offer the sacrifice of fools Would David bring up the Ark of God to his own City and to his own House and in the mid-way is Vzzah smitten Perez-Vzzah this Breach upon Vzzah makes David to smite upon his thigh lest that his way also should be found perverse before the Lord and God might find out some secret iniquity in him and so withhold good things from him 1 Chron. 13.22 David was afraid of the Lord that day saying How shall I bring the Ark of God home unto me Surely there is some iniquity or other that I do regard in my heart or it may be the sons of violence are too near about me and therefore at this time God will not not be intreated of he will by no means accept me upon this occasion it 's thought that he did pen the hundred and first Psalm in which he dedicates himself and his House to the service of his God Psal 101. Sing I must yea and so I will both of Mercy and Judgment unto thee O Lord will I sing of judgment because thy ways are terrible of Mercy because all thy paths are Peace first for himself he begins I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way Oh! when wilt thou come unto me why should the Ark of God now be carried aside from me I will walk in my House with a perfect heart Neither was this proposition like Joshua's of old Josh 24.15 Chuse you whom you will serve but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord No like a supreme Magistrate he resolves not to bear the sword in vain he is
Vulg. in those things which pertain to God Tu eris illi in Principem quaerentem Doctrinam à facie Domini Targ. Jonath Thou shalt be a Prince to him a Prophet as well as he yea and somthing more then a Prophet he shall seek the word which he is to speak from thee and that as it were from the face of God Numb 12.6 9. If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a Vision or I will speak to him in a dream but my servant Moses is not so this is the difference betwixt him and Aaron with him will I speak Mouth to Mouth even apparently not in dark speeches and the Similitude of the Lord that is of God man to come in the flesh this Similitude of the Lord as praelusory to the reality of his Incarnation shall he behold So that what was Jethro's counsel betwixt Moses and the People seems here to be Gods institution betwixt him and Aaron cap. 18.19 Moses was to be to Aaron to God ward to bring the causes unto and to receive the Law from God and Aaron being to be his Oratour or his Herald was to make Proclamation of the Divine Law unto the People and upon all occasions to consult the Face of Moses the Face which did shine because of the Divine Glory on it and was therefore to be consulted as an Oracle This Paraphrase though it may be true in the Letter of the Text yet to take in the scope of the whole Paragraph which is a Vnion fixed by God himself betwixt these two we must as to this expression further improve our search Instead of God that is to defend him that so he may speak boldly for thee as he ought to speak that his Mouth which is no longer his but Thine may be opened for Thee in confidence We find in this book of Exodus that Princes and the chief Ministers of Justice amongst men are first called Gods cap. 21.6 the servant that had a mind to continue with his Master for ever was to come unto the Judges that is unto the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original and before them was the perpetual service to be ratified and again cap. 22.8 The thief was to be brought to the Judges that is to the Gods the same word in the Original to see whether he had put his hands to his neighbour's goods and vers 28. such Magistrates are secured from all manner of slander that may be cast upon them by malice of evil speaking Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people They are called Gods upon several accounts I briefly instance but in two the Vbiquity of their Presence the Omniscience of their Knowledge 1. The Vbiquity of their Presence they are every where their influence is unlimited the fancy is not new antienter then a modern Poet and I hope may now be better applied that Kings and Princes do in this resemble the Deity being like a Circle whose center is every where and whose circumference is no where God and the King can do no harm says our Law the reason is that Diffusive influence that is from Both directing manageing swaying and conveying all the good and all the happiness that is felt or enjoyed by the lower world or the inferiour sort of mankind all which is purely the product of Providence from the One and Government from the Other and if the Sun shining upon a Dunghill doth exhale vapours that are offensive it is not because there are spots in the Sun in Heaven but there is corruption in the Dunghill upon earth 2. The Omniscience of their knowledge they do as it were know every thing Prov. 16 10. A Divine sentence is in the lips of the King His Mouth erreth not in judgment Who could have thought that the way to find out the bowells of a Mother was to make the Child a sacrifice till King Solomon as the first effort of his Princely Spirit tried the experiment but says the Text 1 King 3 28. The wisdome of God was in the King to do judgment And this kind of Omniscience is a gift bestowed upon Judges and other Ministers of Justice when they execute the Laws of God and the King upon Capital offenders the indictment against whom is that they have not the fear of God before their eyes our Law taking special notice of the malice of the heart and proving that by some Overt-act whilst many times the Judge upon the Bench to the admiration of the standers by through a little very little glimpse of a most improbable circumstance doth unravel a whole mystery of iniquity so that on a sudden the Prisoner stands self-condemned at the Bar he might spare both Judge and Jury the trouble of bringing in and pronouncing their Verdict since the sentence of Death is to be read in his countenance and his face gathers blackness what can all this be but an immediate assistance a special illumination from God himself in the moment of judgments Psal 82. God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he judgeth among the Gods ver 6. I have said ye are Gods Grotius upon these and the like expressions in Scripture tells us that wherever the name of God is given unto men significat judiciariam potestatem jus vitae necis it implies a judiciary power and that no less than of life and death Our blessed Saviours Comment upon the compellation which certainly is the best runs thus Saint John 10.35 he called them Gods D. Ham. unto whom the Word of God came It is observed by a learned Paraphrast of our own that the coming of the Word of the Lord signifies Gods appointing a Man to some particular Office and giving him power and ability for the performance of that Office to which he is appointed and so it is constantly used in the writings of the Prophets who do most of them begin their Prophecies with this solemn form of Words The Word of the Lord came unto me saying which is no more then as it were the Opening of their Commission the Reading of their Patent the first shewing and vouching of that Authority by which they act all which is an intimation unto us that the Supreme Magistrate and other subordinate Rulers and Governours sent by Him for the punishment of wickedness and vice and the praise of those that do well have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something of Divinity stampt both on their Persons and their Office and consequently that Both are Sacred This account you have of the Compellation as it may be applicable either to King Priest or any Ministerial Dispensour of Publick Justice whence by the way it is again observable That the Priest had all along from the beginning his share in Civil Government if the Word of God came to Moses in that he was instead of God yet it was to be spoken or published from the Mouth of Aaron
and therefore St. Paul when he had spoken less warily to the High Priest begs pardon with an acknowledgment of his fault as a transgression of that inhibition before cited Num. 22.28 Thou shalt not revile the Gods I wist not brethren that he was the High Priest for it is written Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy People Act. 23.5 So then if they Both act by one and the same Commission He of the two that hath the Pre-eminence for a Supremacy and Subordination must be admitted else there could be no Government does no more than vindicate to himself his own Royal Prerogative whilst he secures as firm and inviolable to the other his Priestly priviledges and immunities and in this sense most properly and to best purpose is Moses to be unto Aaron instead of God Instead of God yea and that in as many respects as Aaron was to be to him instead of a Mouth the Relation being all along mutual and reciprocal Instead of God to Aaron whether it be before the Israelites or the Egyptians 1. Before the Israelites yea though they be the two hundred and fifty Princes of the Assembly Num. 16.1 Men of renown famous in the Congregation gathered together in a grand conspiracy to invade the Priesthood Moses must then speak as from God himself and declare who it is that is Holy amongst them whom the Lord hath chosen to come nigh unto himself v. 11. What is Aaron that ye murmur against him Before the Egyptians Pharaoh his servants and his People cap. 7.1 I have set thee as a God to Pharaoh and Aaron thy Brother shall be thy Prophet Thou shalt speak what I command as from me to Aaron and He shall speak what Thou shalt suggest as from me to Pharaoh and thus Thou shalt be as God to them Both Mine Oracle to the One to reveal all my mind my Rod and Scourge upon the Other to execute all my wrath though he will not as a man of wisdom should hear the Rod and him that hath appointed it yet thou shalt multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt Jannes and Jambres though they may withstand shall not altogether prevail when they see the duft from under them to crawl up in Vermin on them they shall lay their hands upon their Mouths and abhor themselves in that Dust acknowledge this to be the Finger of God and throughout all they shall confess that the Rod in the hand of Moses was guided by the Arm of the Almighty Thus God hath fenced against a common enemy both King and Priest in a mutual dependance the One with a power sufficient that he may uphold the Other with a sure defence that he may be sustained and the interests of Both these are so interwoven together that wherever the Breach is made the injury is alike damage to Both. It is the same God who hath given commandment concerning Princes that they should not be touched by the hands of violence Touch not mine Anointed as they are Anointed they are Mine they are as my self who hath likewise in the very next words given it in charge whether it be to Prince or People to Magistrate or Peasant concerning those who have a more immediate attendance upon him Do my Prophets no harm As therefore Aaron's Divine Mouth must be opened for not against Moses he must not traduce speak evil of him before the People So Moses's God-like power must be exercised and exerted for not against Aaron he must not suffer him to be exposed to the scorn and reproach of a froward and an untoward generation In order to which Defence that their persons may be Venerable whose office is so sacred the maintenance of whom in honour is so great a security unto Majesty to be sure Moses will be careful that Aaron and his sons have an inheritance allotted to them in the Promised Land and that not apart or distinct by themselves but as a blessing to whole Israel dispersed amidst and throughout all their Tribes This was Moses's last Benediction upon the House of Levi not long before his death Deut. 33.11 Bless Lord his substance and accept the work of his hands smite through the loins of them that rise against him and that hate him that they rise not again It is not to be imagined that Moses will take less care of Aaron and the Levites than did Pharaoh of his Egyptian Priests who in the days of famine had enough their portion of meat assigned to them from Pharaoh's Table insomuch that when all the land of Egypt was bought into the Crown Gen. 47.22 Onely the lands of the Priests were not sold In this sence also is Moses to be to Aaron in the stead of God to secure unto him the Lord 's inheritance since dreadful are like to be the effects of Sacriledge upon that Nation or People amongst whom it is an iniquity though endeavoured to be established by a Law May the King and his Throne be guiltless the Kingdome established unto him in Righteousness for He onely is as God who doth preserve in the hollow of his hand the Churches portion from the violence of such who pant after nothing but the Dust of the Earth upon the Head of the Poor One inference more The words of the Text are spoken Vniversally and at large without the least limitation and restriction which may be an intimation to us That this labour of love here required from one to the other must be reciprocal the Vnion preserved inviolable whatsoever personal provocations may unhappily intervene on either side We do humbly crave pardon whilst we do suppose that which we need not fear since we are assured that Moses was the most true hearted man in all the earth faithfull in all the House of God yet should he refuse to be a God to Aaron with-hold his protection from him so put a veil over his face that he should not in the least behold his countenance and then throw it off again onely to terrifie him with his frowns for all this the Obligation doth not cease on Aaron's side he must still be the Mouth of Moses to the people Again should Aaron shut his own Mouth not speak for Moses when the sons of Belial are against him more out of policy then good honesty keep silence at such a time because it is an evil time for all this Moses must still be unto Aaron instead of God instead of God that is as Supreme and far above him he may visit upon and punish him for his personal miscarriage nevertheless at the same time he is obliged to maintain and defend as Sacred the whole Order Doth Aaron make a calf in the absence of Moses hearken to the voice of an unruly people in their despite of Moses As for this Moses we wot not what is become of him though they knew him to be in the Mount with God and in the mean time does Aaron make the people naked to
Scripture though it may be sadly observed a new way of spinning out discourses without any the least regard had to the Law and the Prophets Bring me hither the Ephed says David that Ephod from behind which he took his Sword and so it was consecrated for the Lord's battels thus doth he enquire of the Lord upon every enterprise and that in no other way then according to the Divine Institution with a linen Ephod The answer from God to him was either a speedy return of Peace and safety or else a sure caution certainly to prevent and escape the Danger Upon this doth Doog that wicked Edomite put forth his hand to fall upon the Priests of the Lord kills them onely to take possession of their inheritance and is Abiathar escaped unto David with the Ephod in his hand there was a strange Providence in the escape and a wonderful security unto Both in that flight 1 Sam 22.23 Abide with me says the King unto the Priest and fear not for he that seeketh my Life seeketh thy Life but with me thou shalt be in safeguard Both these for a while may be hunted after upon the mountains by the sons of violence and yet they travelling together in yea and persecuted through a wilderness shall even there find a Sanctuary at the Mount of God and in God's due time which is the best for Both these Two keeping still close together the Consecrated Sword in the hand of the One the lâ—nnen Ephod upon the breast of the Other the Kingdom shall be established in the hand of the One the Priesthood shall be confirmed to the house of the Other these are the suremercies of David and of the Son of David to them Both. But let not David in his prosperity forget the House of Abiathar which was afflicted with him in all his affliction nor let Abiathar in his eminency and prelacy be unmindful of the servants of David so oversee them as to overlook them who were formerly a security to him when he fled from the face of Tyranny and Oppression let Both together live in that mutual Dependance in which God hath set them carrying on the same design so advantagious to Both keeping as sacred this Vnion which I must still reinforce to be the Divine Institution lest the last errour prove worse then the first and again some rebellious Sheba do blow the Trumpet God in his mercy prevent such doleful Alarms that they never more be heard amongst us To your Tents O Israel we have no part in David nor inheritance in the son of Jess Now see to thine own House David And would David look well to his own House it must be by having a due regard unto and a tender care of the House of God Thus Psal 132.1 God remembers David and all his trouble in that this was his Oath unto the Lord this was his Vow unto the mighty God of Jacob that he would not come within the Tabernacle of his house nor climb up unto his Bed untill he found out a Place for the Lord and with this most pathetick repetition of the words of his vow an Habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. The instance in the Text is the conclusion of the whole matter v. 27. Aaron met Moses in the Mount of God and kissed him Oh happy interview Moses and Aaron mutually embracing locus honestat the very Place bespeaks both Love and Honour it was at the Mount of God and then the Ceremony denotes both Veneration and endearment Osculum dignitatis he kissed him as a Token of subjection to him thus acknowledging his Majesty and Supremacy deosculatus est ex amore he rejoiced in his heart when he saw him and because he loved him he gave the seal of his affections with his lips an intimation at this first greeting that his Mouth joyned unto those lips quasi coalescebant in Vnum Os was now become but One Mouth with which he was resolved to proclaim Liberty to the Captives and after that enjoyn obedience to those ransomed ones This was Aaron's promise unto Moses and that because of the Divine appointment the Brethren being doubly dear to each other both in the flesh and in the Lord that he would be Moses's Spokesman unto the People he would be even he would be unto him instead of a Mouth Moses embraceth Aaron in the Arms of Love and of Protection the Rod in his hand is a Scepter of favour held out as a token of good will and kind acceptance to him This is the Rod which shall be stretched out working wonders in the defence of the Priesthood Moses embracing him in his Arms assures him from his very heart to the heart of his Brother that they Two thus clasping together coalescebant in Vnum Hominem became now but One Man this being the Promise of Moses that he would never be unmindful of the Word of the Lord as an everlasting command upon him That he should be unto Aaron instead of God Appl. Let it be known this day that there is a God in Israel that this God is to be worshipped and that in the Administration of this worship the Priesthood is to be secured from Contempt to be had in honour for the works sake about which it doth converse I dare not in the least venture to give directions here he must not presume who is the meanest and unworthiest of all the sons of Aaron who hath not been Eloquent neither heretofore nor since the Word of the Lord came unto him but humbly beg we may and heartily in all Duty and Submission invoke we must the Assistance of the Secular Arm lest both our Message and our Persons be altogether despised Did I say our Message or our Persons alas we can easily venture both these through a bad or through a good report and be unconcerned But sad it is to behold that amongst those that are baptized Christians Atheism and Profaneness should so strangely overspread it self yea and that notwithstanding so many popular Discourses every where made about the Reasonableness of Religion hence it is that the Offerings of the Lord have been abhorred amongst us whilst irreligion and a licentious Libertinisme doth exalt it self above all that is called God or Good in the midst of us what means else the bleating of the Oxen of the Beasts of Bashan in our ears the continued murmurings and gainsayings of Core strange fire every where offered up whilst the Lamp burning bright in the Sanctuary is neglected and all this mischief from some of the sons of Levi pretended ones at least fomented by the dissentions of false Brethren men that cannot be contented with their present station but they lead aside the simple and the ignorant into Houses Oh! may our new Laws for which we bless God and have more and more cause to honour and obey Authority may these be executed and may our old Ones not quite antiquated be seasonably re-inforced and shall I humbly make one
request laying that and my self at the feet of Majesty in the behalf of the place from whence I came and for which I now serve Let not us the little children of the Prophets in the very Schools of the Prophets be exposed to the obstinate perverseness of ignorance and sedition Aaron's Mouth is opened for Moses to the People to declare his Authority as from God to be Sacred and Inviolable that he is not subject to Man nor the sons of men for any of his actions but to his own Master he must stand or fall even to God alone who hath appointed him it is yet open for Moses at the Mercy-seat before the holy Altar that he may be filled with Grace Wisdom and Vnderstanding in the execution of Justice and the maintenance of Truth And what may Aaron humbly expect in return from Moses nay what does the Lord God require of him but that Moses should be as God to secure unto God his Oblation the Morning and the Evening Sacrifice never to cease And is not all this for the Lord's sake for the Lord who hath preserved the Rod of Moses in strength and honour who hath confirmed his Blessing upon Aaron in that his Rod also hath budded and bloomed Blossoms and brought forth Almonds the fruits of Joy and Peace God hath as we do every day thankfully Commemorate it made the Horn of David though once cut down to flourish and sprout forth again he hath ordained a Lamp and a Light for his Anointed a Lamp from out of the Sanctuary to guide him in the ways of Peace and Truth that so he dash not his foot against any stone of stumbling which Schism and Rebellion may lay in his way he hath restored Majesty the Excellency of Majesty to his Prince He hath renewed Beauty the Beauties of Holiness to his Priests and we hope and pray that he hath given and will continue security the Certainty of Defence unto Both Oh that the people therefore would in the fear of God Honour the King and Reverence his Priests that so there may be a further lengthning of our tranquillity neither shall our iniquity our froward peevish iniquity be our utter ruine in vain shall we pretend Loyalty to Moses the Servant of the Lord if we vex Aaron the Saint of God What shall we quarrel at those who bring and at that Administration which doth dispence the Gospel of everlasting Peace How can we thus expect to be at peace amongst our selves May then the Throne be established in Righteousness even upon the Mount of God and may the Mount of God be guarded by the glorious and sure defence of Angels because of the Throne of him who is as God which is upon it thus as upon a Rock the Rock of Ages shall Church and Kingdom be built * nec Portae Gehennae nec Genevae as once by a happy mistake out of the vulgar that Text was read neither the Gates of Hell nor the Dark close designs of Schism and Sedition shall ever be able to prevail against them * In Gebennico lacu Mendum Typographi esi in Gehennico lacu Namque à Gehenna quid Gebenna dissidet Pia Hilaria Angel Gaz. impres Lond. pag. 68. I conclude all with those Pathetical Petitions which our holy Church hath put into our Mouths for better I cannot use and God accept them from the bottom of all our hearts O Lord Save the King And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee Endue thy Ministers whether of Justice in the State or Holiness in the Church with Righteousness And so shalt thou make thy chosen people joyful Da pacem in diebus nostris Give Peace in our time O Lord For whether it be against open violence and force offered from abroad or against secret Treachery and privy Conspiracy fomented at home whether against professed Enemies or meerly pretending Friends the worst of Enemies there is no other fighteth for us but only Thou O God To this onely wise God who is alone able to make us understand our own happiness by keeping us in the strict and solemn observance of Vniformity at Vnity amongst our selves that so to Prince Priests and People there may be but One heart and One mind in the Fear of him in Love and Duty to one another To the Author of our Peace and of every good and perfect gift amongst us To Father Son and Holy Ghost Three Persons and One God be ascribed of us of all Angels and all men The Kingdom the Power and the Glory Dominion and Adoration World without end Amen SOLOMONS PORCH frequented by the APOSTLES Act. 5. part of the 12 13 14. verses being a part of the Epistle for St. Bortholomew's day 12. And by the hands of the Apostles were many signes and wonders wrought among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch 13. And of the rest durst no man joyn himself to them but the people magnified them 14. And Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women OF St. Bartholomew the Apostle at this â—ime to be commemorated St. Mat. 10.3 St. Mar. 3.18 St. Luk. 6.14 we read but little in holy Scripture only his name three or four times mentioned to wit that he was numbered with the twelve Apostles and so ordained by Christ himself to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom even Repentance and Remission of sins in the name of Jesus unto all nations beginning at Jerusalem Accordingly we find Him with the rest Act. 1.13 taking his part of that Ministry and Apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell concontinuing with them in prayer and supplication and with them also waiting for the Promise of the Father till they should be endued with farther power from on high and so upon the whole it is on all hands believed that this Apostle was unto the last a faithful witness of Jesus and of his Resurrection Upon the consideration of all which our Holy Mother the Church of England in this Festival has little or no regard to Legendary Fictions what might be guessed either of this Apostles person or of his conversation from his Name Whither he were not of noble extraction the Son of Ptolemy or as some will have it like Moses of old a Prophet so he an Apostle Filius aquae ductus sive aquae suspensae taken up and drawn out of the waters into which being cast the stream retired and gave back nec potuit extingui quin amnem repressit as the Historian Lucius Florus writes of Romulus he could not be drowned for he did as it were force the waters from him nec adiri usque ad justi cursum poterat amnis neither at this time could the flowing stream reach unto its wonted height Also what might be said of his success in his Ministery where and unto whom he preached the Gospel quae regio in terris For what nation under heaven was he reserved to be from
convene in the Tents of wickedness and when Christ first appeared in the flesh it was the Character of a Devout and a Religious person St. Luc. 15.37 of Anna the Prophetess a Widdow of 84 years age that she departed not from the Temple but served God with fasting and prayers night and day and does old Simeon wait for the Consolation of Israel to see Christ in the flesh by the Spirit he is led into the Temple there to behold the salvation of his God and so to depart in peace sed nobis non licet esse tam religiosis now it seems all Godliness consists in the most ungodly of separations as if this untoward Age of ours would invert the proverb the farther from the Church the nearer in communion with God! Well! whether they will hear or whether they will forbear and yet he that hath ears let him hear saith the Spirit unto the Churches you see whosoever ye be that do Divide our Saviour's Practice and his Precept the Apostolical Progress and their Institution are against you from the beginning even when they wanted an outward Administration a fixed and a setled Dispensation then it was not thus Jesus Christ our Lord was obedient in all things even in their Apocryphal celebrations to the constitutions of that Church under which he lived The Apostles were men of open hearts and of open lives neither were they ashamed of the Testimony of the Lord Jesus they rejoiced upon all occasions to go up yea though it were but to a Porch of the House of God though the Jewish Dispensation was still there administred yet Type and Antitype together appearing both were for that time glorious we find them all together in one place and all of them there together with one heart Unity and Uniformity was that which gave credit to Christianity from the first Plantation of it They were all with one accord in Solomons Porch which is the Third thing I observed unto you in this holy Convention and that is their Behaviour at their meeting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one accord When the Queen of Sheba came from far to behold the wisdom of Solomon 1 Reg. 10.5 the Houses that he built to God and for himself the meat of his Table and the sitting of his servants the attendance of his Ministers and their apparrel and his Cup-bearers and after all and above all the rest the Ascent by which he went up unto the House of the Lord which as most interpreters agree was therefore called Solomons Porch after the captivity rebuilt and restored to its former splendor and magnificence as Josephus in the forecited places gives us the account at large I say when she saw all this there was no more spirit in her To consider with our selves how that even in the Apostles times Solomons Porch was a continued Ascent up unto the House of God the Procession though it was solemn and glorious atrium populi grandis Basi lica Vatabl. the Grandeur of it was Princely and thither came the people to serve the Lord and upon the whole that the Apostles were there with the new Convert Disciples to the Christian Faith even multitudes of Believers both men and women though the Tongues which sate upon the Apostles were cloven yet their hearts were not divided they loved and they lived and they witnessed unto Jesus and they served their God together and all as Brethren Methinks now our Spirits should be raised nay our hearts may fail within us in admiration of them and of their primitive uniforme celebrations and in a sad reflection upon our selves to consider that with our Vniformity charity has forsaken us how sadly are we mangled and divided one amongst and one against another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 With one accord The word in Scripture seems to intimate not onely an inward sameness of affection a mutual agreement of mind and disposition but also an outward Vniform Behaviour Act. 4.32 The multitudes of those who believed were of one heart and one soul that was their internal affection ver 24. With one accord they lifted up their voice to God that was their external communion Act. 11.46 With one accord in the Temple and in breaking of Bread the result of which concord in Religious performances was peace and amity in their civil conversations they did eat their meat with gladness and in singleness of hearts So that we may hence gather that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text their being together with one accord is sufficiently expressive both of the inward frame of their minds one to another and the outward management of their solemn Assemblies one amongst another even what the Apostle gives in advice Rom 15.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we should with one Mind and with one Mouth glorifie God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Divine service being publick says a judicious writer of our own Church hath this advantage in it Mr. Thorndike Rel. Assem pa. 2 3. in as much as the honor which it pleaseth God to accept at our hands becometh his greatness more when in a judgment of charity we have reason to believe that such a worship proceeds from more agreement of mind as the strength of mens Bodies joined to one purpose removeth that which one by one they could not stir so Vnited Devotions the more publick the more numerous the more numerous the more Vnited prevail with God to such an effect as severally they cannot bring to pass This was Gods promise of old that it should be his blessing upon his Church even in Gospel times Zeph. 3.9 I will turn to the people of a pure language or of a pure lip that they may call upon the name of the Lord with one consent 'T is therefore requisite upon the whole that as a demonstration that we are all of one mind and of one soul even in outward service our Behaviour should be one and the same Reverent and Vnity be known unless it be by provoking one another to love in our Vniformity you have seen already that the Apostolical way of serving God was falling down upon the face and worshipping him 1 Cor. 14.25 in those days it was good and wholsome counsel Rom. 12.1 I beseech you Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your Bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God and this too however some may now count it superstition a will-worship and a voluntary humility yet in the Apostles time it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a rational a reasonable service To see some at the Church Prayers sitting some lolling and leaning here and there it may be some vouchsafing to stand up few or none upon their knees that posture if any one should think the fittest for Supplicants and Petitioners to the great God of Heaven and Earth Go behave thy self otherwise before thy Prince and see whether he will accept thee should the ignorant or unlearned the stranger that
stedfastly purposed to be the Minister of God for Good but an Avenger to execute wrath upon him that worketh evil A froward heart shall depart away from me I will not know a wicked person whose privily slandereth his Neighbour him will I cut off him that hath an high look and a proud heart I will not suffer Mine eyes shall be upon such as are faithful in the land that they may dwell with me he that walketh in a perfect way he shall serve me I will early destroy all the wicked of the land and why all this thorow Reformation both within doors and without why because the Ark of God was not to have its habitation amidst the Tents of ungodliness as if the Princely Prophet should have said All this will I do that I may prepare a place for it That I may cut off all wicked doers from that City which henceforth because of the Shew bread there to be dispensed is to be called Bethlehem the House of Bread the City of the Lord and that because of the service of the God of Israel between the Cherubims which is there to be aministred the daily sacrifice which is never to cease the Burnt offering for Israel never to fail I will early destroy all the wicked of the Land that I may cut off all wicked doers from this City of the Lord. Thus the God whom we serve is a holy and a Jealous God and therefore as Joshuah to the people in that forementioned place Josh 24 9. Ye cannot serve the Lord lest he turn and do you hurt and consume you his jealousie should provoke us to sincerity that we be careful in our nearer approaches to him at the publick solemnities of his holiness there be not an evil heart in us even at such a time and in those addresses to depart from the living the great and the dreadful God in drawing nigh to him with our mouths while our hearts are far from him God is in heaven and we on earth and from heaven it is that he is ready to execute judgment upon the Hypocrite and false hearted therefore though in the Ministrations of the Sanctuary we are permitted to kiss the Son yet it is lest that he should be angry for should his wrath be kindled yea but a little how soon should we perish from the right way Psal 2.11 Serve the Lord with fear and though that service be the fulness of our joy yet we must rejoice unto him with reverence and with trembling Here in the context Fear came upon the whole Church upon those very persons who for joy had in the former Chapter parted willingly with their substance yet because God had made a Breach amongst them the effects of his wrath were both sudden and dreadfull and should they also have been found false in their services what could they expect but that they should likewise perish The Apostles therefore being gathered together every man had good reason to suspect and examine himself they could not forbear to assemble with them to hear what the Lord God would say unto them and yet out of a pious reflection upon their own unworthiness and the purity of that God with whom they had to do they dare not be too hasty in their nearer approaches Fear came upon the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the rest as distinguished from the Apostles even from amongst the Disciples such who believed with joy in the assurance of their Faith and yet with trembling as conscious to themselves of their own unbelief of those New Converts durst no man joyne himself to them Nay the dread which was upon their Spirits was not a little increased when they saw the Consternation to be Vniversal fear not only upon the Church but upon such as were without even upon all those which heard those things and they may be the Second sort of Persons who are said in the Text to keep this distance by the hands of the Apostles were signs and wonders wrought among the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of the rest as distinguished both from the Apostles and the People of those who were amongst though not of the mixed multitude durst no man join himself unto them And here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 opponuntur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rest are to be understood in a contra distinction to and from the multitude quos vitae ordo authoritas in signiores fecerat such amongst them as were notable either for their quality or authority these were surprised v. 11. Even as many as saw those things but they would not come too near lest they should lose of their interest or of that power and authority with which at present they were invested They were sufficiently convinced by the Signes which they saw and the Wonders which they could not but acknowledge from their very outward senses to their consciences they could not but lay their hands upon their mouths and say of a truth mighty works and terrible do shew forth themselves in these Apostles and yet they would not venture to joyn themselves unto them lest they might run the same fate with them ver 18. Be cast into prison or be informed against to the chief Priests and Pharisees like those St. John 12.42 chief Rulers who believed on our Saviour but did not confess him because of the Pharisees lest they should be put out of the Synagogue for they loved the praise of men more then the praise of God These were acted by a principle of temporal politick prudence and not by that Wisdom which is pure as well as peaceable who see with their eyes and yet interest doth blind them hear with their ears and yet because of some external inconveniencies that may happen they stop their ears to these heavenly Charmers Charm they never so wisely who understand with their heart and yet are not converted lest they should be healed There be some like St. Peter who neither fly from nor forsake their Saviour but they follow afar off to see the end of the matter and if prosecution wax hot their charity grows cold in the time of temptation they fall away they see that bitterness is like to be in the end and so they force themselves both to deny and forswear their Master Some wait onely in a corner of Solomons Porch lest they should be seen of men I mean it of those who are too much in subjection to their Ring-leaders in mischief and were it not for fear of being cast out of favour of losing such a ones good word or his good will they could frequent the places of Assembly with more courage then they do Alas what would you have us do says the poor deluded Country man we must wait upon the Great man of the Town be it to a Church or to a Barn it is well if now and then we can steal in at a back door where we may hear and not be seen for should He come to know
our Apostles we are sent unto our Prayers Behold O Lord the threatnings of the Sons of Belial who are still against thee all the reflections they make upon these latter Providences is they repent that they have done no more mischief and all the sin they acknowledge in their blasphemous allusions is that they were false to their Covenant in that the Amalakites were not utterly destroyed let us betake our selves to better Devotions than these that God would abate their pride asswage their malice and confonnd their Devices but then as for their Persons He brings into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived Put them in fear O Lord that they may seek thy name Forgive our enemies persecutors and slanderers and turn their hearts Forgive them for they know not what they do Oh! That even this might not be laid to their charge how that they still have recourse to their old designes of Mischief though hitherto in the course of the Divine Providence they have proved so ineffectual May the God of Heaven yet laugh them to scorn and he confirm his King upon the hill of Sion Deliverance shall arise one way or other the God who is worshiped in will take care of the service of the Sanctuary he who hath and who doth we trust that he will still deliver us they that hate us shall see it and be ashamed because the Lord hath holpen us and comforted us But as for them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are of the rest they have estranged themselves and gone out from us because they were not of us neither shall they dare God will restrain their fury they shall not presume to approach and hurt us which is the Second thing observed in this second part of the Text to wit what was the present frame and temper of their minds by whom this due distance was kept 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No one durst That is there was an unaccountable surprise and dread upon their Spirits which as to the persons affected might be divers and various they did not dare some kind of awe there was which was a curb and a restraint upon them 1. In the Disciples it might be modesty and humility 2. In those from amidst the multitude a timorous misgiving 3. In the Adversary Terrour Amazement and Astonishment Thus one way or other the Gospel of Jesus was glorified it had diversly but surely its desired effect upon all this is that word which cannot return in vain but will accomplish the thing for which it is sent First In the Disciples who took heed how where and what they did here who frequented Solomons Porch that they might observe the out-goings of the Lord in his Sanctuary in them their Modesty was exercised and their Humility was increased with meekness they received the ingrafted word and yet jealous enough of themselves that they did not grow as they should thereby to them the immortal seed was sown in an honest and in a good heart and yet the Fruit which they did bear was with patience their heart was raised at the contemplation of God and of his holiness but at the same time broken in a sorrowful reflection upon themselves and their own unworthiness though they did believe yet almost with tears in their eyes this was the Prayer of their Faith Lord we believe help our unbeliefe in them an humble and a lowly expectancy as well as a fiducial recumbency had its perfect work they are ready to give up themselves and their substance to the service of God and of his Sanctuary and yet considering that God expects both heart and hand together piously they examine their own integrity throughout all they know that their good things do not extend to God therefore their delight is with such as are excellent in the Earth and when they have done all that they can they are far from vaunting a State of Perfection they acknowledge themselves to be unprofitable Servants and Miserable Sinners they make this their humble and hearty recognition saying We have done or rather Would we had done what was our duty to do Secondly In those from amidst the multitude it was a Timorous Misgiving their hearts failed them for fear of what might become of them in another world and yet they were loth to let go their interest in this upon what they heard and saw they made some heavy steps toward happiness but alass they looked back and they gave back the one returns to his honours and the other to his great Possessions Oh the deceitfulness of riches and of power how hard is it for those who trust in either to enter into the Kingdom of God with the Disciples upon the like occasion we may cry out Lord increase our Faith yes in the Text here is an argument to settle us in our Faith in that the wisdom of God was here justified in the hearts of the children of this World in the midst of all their wealth and their greatness the convictions that are within them are a damp upon their Spirits Thus St. Paul cannot reason of righteousness of temperance and of judgment to come but Felix must needs tremble and does Agrippa know the Scriptures does he believe the Prophets and will he not resign the obedience of his Faith to what he does know and cannot but believe however as stout and resolved a sinner as he is against God and his own Soul laught heartily and entirely to embrace this way least he lose something of his outward Pomp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lest the retinue that is about him should withdraw and refuse any longer to be of his train yet to hear St. Paul Preach will he will he he cannot but confess to him and all the World however his misgiving thoughts perplex him and he will not be perswaded yet he is almost perswaded to be a Christian Virtutem videant how strangely is the self-condemning Worldling or Voluptuary infatuated only that he may perish the more dreadfuly under the clear apprehensions of his approaching and yet wilfully neglected happiness Alas poor silly wretch who against himself and his own resentments prefers this World to a better in a moment he and his thoughts perish and in the end he proves a fool 3. In the Adversary it was terrour amazement and Astonishment to observe the courage and boldness of these Apostles though they were ignorant and unlearned men the wonders which they wrought and the judgments which were inflicted they could not but be surprised and fall backwards like the Officers which came to apprehend our Saviour so is it here with the Disciples as it was formerly with their Master Never men surely spake or did like these men what do we do the finger of God is here in vain do we strive we shall not prevail like the Egyptian chariots in the Red Sea all our designs go on against them but heavily in vain do we strive against them and at the same
there is one reason more to raise our esteem for such Solemn Conventions as were at this time in Solomon's Porch we are to Magnifie that which is administred and those who do officiate in it because in doing so we may turn away many sinners from the errors of their ways save their souls from death and hide a multitude of sins we may save our selves and those with whom we do converse when they shall behold our meek Conversation as to God and his service coupled with Reverence and Fear This was the truest Respect the choicest Reverence that was here given not barely an Ecstatical Enthusiastical rapid admiration but such a one as had an influence on the course of this life in the hopes of a Better all was in order to salvation Which is the Fourth part of the Text and the subject of the last Discourse The Fourth SERMON The great Benefit which did accrue to the whole Community from the Reverence which was here exhibited or rather from the whole Dispensation at this present BEcause of the judgment from God inflicted which was grievous because of the Signes and Wonders wrought which were terrible because of the publick Convention the place of their meeting their behaviour there all which were holy because of the due distance observed which was solemn because of the awfull Reverence exhibited which was beautiful and glorious because of the Providence of God exerted which was miraculous but yet Constant all these things did work together for good to those who should be saved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Believers were the more added to the Lord Multitudes of men and women So that already you may percieve that this last Discourse is to be confined to these two particulars 1. To consider what was the occasion of this great Benefit implyed in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rather or the more and so referring to all those circumstances but now enumerated all contributing to the increase of their Number who were the general Assembly of the first-born Secondly What this great Benefit it self was more particularly and closely to be examined and that in these following Particulars all within the compass of the words themselves First A Conversion or an Effectual Calling 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some that were added and that in an External Communion because they were added therefore the increase of their number was visible added to the Lord but so as to be known in and acknowledged by the Church Secondly a due qualification and that internal in the heart but still in order to an outward profession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They were Believers in the Lord added to the Churches Communion and there holding the Faith which was once delivered to them Thirdly For their Number the Benefit great because it was diffusive the Redemption was the more precious because intimated that it might be Vniversal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They were Multitudes Fourthly No respect of Persons in relation unto Sex in Christ Jesus it is not Male nor Female but a New Creature the weaker Vessel has here its equal honour and proportionable too in its number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There were Multitudes as of Men so of Women of honourable and vertuous Women and of holy Men not a few Fifthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all this the rather which is again to be considered in relation to the Subject capable of this great benefit the rather because of what they saw and what they heard and so it may denote in these Multitudes an Act of free choice and mature deliberation they saw what was done and they heard what was spoke and were convinced of all so that it was an Act of their judgment and of their reason in that they delivered themselves up to the obedience of their Faith Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes of Men and Women First To begin with that which is in the Text both first and last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The rather did this great Benefit accrue or the more was it enhanced occasion being given for this increase because of those various circumstances ennumerated all which wrought together for the good of those who should be saved by all which God was pleased to add unto the number of those who were to be blessed in glory everlasting I shall only touch upon each of the forementioned circumstances conducing to this happy increase and so apply the main scope of the former Discourses to the intent that holiness may be promoted Diffusive love and universal Charity may be increased and that the God of Order may be glorified in the hearts of all men First Because of the judgment from God inflicted upon the sin of Sacrilege which was grievous hence Believers were the more added to the Lord and those Multitudes ver 11. Fear came upon the whole Church Ob recentem adhuc ex prodigioso Ananiae interitu metum id tamen progressui Evangelii non obfuit the surprise was sudden and yet still conuinued timor fecit Deum the Gospel of God was glorified from the fears of those who were affrightned the terrours of the Lord did work kindly in order to a through and a pure perswasion Psal 110.2 This was the rod of strength out of Sion in that Christ and his word should rule in medio inimicorum in the midst round about and over all his enemies in the day of so dreadful a power the People were a willing People Fear is properly the coarctation of the Spirits upon any surprise summoning them from the more distant parts of the body to the relief of the nobler parts of the heart chiefly which is the principle seat of life and so it might seem here in the Vnion of the Body of the Church assembled they sought God in the way of his judgments at the dreadful effects of which they could not but be affrightned as men and yet as Christians they did hence take occasion to pluck up their Spirits the more earnestly to attend upon the service of their God securing in the first place the integrity of their Souls towards him in so much that should God kill them all the day long exhibiting himself in nothing but the sad expressions of his wrath that he is a jealous God and a Consuming fire yet they did all of them humbly resolve as one man to put their trust in him Not unlike to this was that glorious and Beneficial effect of the Divine Displeasure against those Exorcists who Sacrilegiously arrogated to themselves the Apostolical gift presuming to cast out Devills in the Name of Jesus saying We adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul Preacheth the evil Spirit knew both the Master and his Servant Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are ye and leaping upon them he prevailed against them so that they fled away naked and wounded The result of all which Act. 19.17 was that when this came to be known to the Jews and the Greeks dwelling at Ephesus
gladness Act. 2.41 The same day the General reception of the word was already past and in the same day the Seal of the Covenant was conferred in that there were added to them as they were an Apostolick Church about three thousand souls and to warrant me this remark upon the Addition here in the Text and those other places we have it expressly Chap. 2.47 The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved from all which this inference is obvious That out of the Church we are not to presume for Salvation or to give it you in as modest terms as may be and those naturally deduced from the Text They that shall be saved with the Lord are first of all supposed to be added by the Lord to the Church Faith though it be the gift of God in the Heart unto Salvation yet he giveth unto every man a certain measure no otherwise than by an Ecclesiastical Dispensation For to make a summary rehersal of that Creed into which we are Baptized this is the compendium of the whole The Creed which with good reason we call the Apostles Creed or at least Apostolical is in our Church-Catechisme distinguished and divided into the Belief of the Father our Creator of the Son our Redemer and of the Holy Ghost the Comforter ruling in all our hearts in order to a thorow Sanctification now in the assurance of this Holy Ghost as he is a Spirit of Prophesie we do believe a Catholick and Apostolick Church in that Church as it is Apostolick and Catholick we must acknowledge a Communion of Saints the result of which Communion in this Church from the Holy Ghost is the forgiveness of our Sins whatsoever is loosed on Earth is loosed also in Heaven whence we do further believe and hope for the Resurrection of our flesh and the Life in the World to come And therefore to the Doctrine of the Trinity the Father Creating the Son Redeeming and the Holy Ghost Purifying as also to those Articles of the Church Administring in a visible holy Communion the Remission of Sins unto all such as look for the Resurrection to eternal Life we in the assurance of our Faith are to say Amen I would at length fain put it to the question what people generally have in their thoughts when they stand up at their Creed and say that they Believe a holy Catholick and Apostolick Church in effect it should be thus much that they do confess there is a Congregation and Corporation of Christian people though dispersed throughout the whole world that this society is united in a holy Communion under Christ the supreme and onely Head that it is assisted moved and directed by the Holy Ghost that it is Matriculated as it were into one holy Congregation and fraternity by Baptisme sustained by the word of Catechising which is milk for babes nourished by the Lords Supper which is meat for stronger men that it is continued by an holy Apostolical Succession by which the Keyes of the Kingdom are faithfully administred whatsoever is bound on earth is ratified in heaven and after all this does the promise of Christ signifie nothing that he will be with his Church so universally and every way holy that so whither he as the Head is gone the Members may follow after every one in his own order Christ the first afterward those that are Christs both before and at his coming And if this be the meaning of the Article as had I time might soon be proved from several Scriptures and our Separatists themselves do not deny but that this Summary Compendium of Faith is both antient and a sound Confession we thank them that at the same time when they thrust it out of our Churches they were pleased to annex it to the close of their Calvinistical Catechism I would demand of them and put it to the Conscience of those who are deluded by them how they can expect salvation in another world when they avoid the communion of the Saints in this and that against their vow in Baptisme against their solemn Profession of Faith I might I perswade my self urge it against their own inward sentiments whenever they do seriously think upon it what this Article of their Creed does mean or else they must be notoriously hypocritical before God against their own reason somthing or other they must believe when they do confess that there is such a thing as a holy Catholick and Apostolick Church and what can they believe to their souls good but that in the Communion of this Church they do expect salvation Let them if they are so fool-hardy excommunicate themselves and so put themselves into the condition of Heathens to be saved without a law and beside the Gospel if God so please to be sure there is great safety in the Christian institution as the Church is a holy society if with our hearts we believe and with our mouths we make confession of that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints to wit that there is a Holy Catholick Church and in that Church a Holy Communion of Saints and the result of both these is the forgiveness of sins and that because of the Churches Catholick Faith that there shall be a Resurrection of the Dead for unless it be so we are still in our sins when both soul and body are to be united together in order to be made partakers of everlasting life undoubtedly we shall be saved I know there are some who quarrel at the Athanasian Creed though they have subscribed to it for these words in it however I am not afraid to cite them to our present purpose whosoever will be saved that is in the unity of the Church before all things he must be careful that he hold the Catholick Faith for the Church is Catholick which faith except he keep whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly And so I pass to the Second instance of this great Benefit here accruing from the present Dispensation and that is a due qualification internal in the heart but still in order to an outward profession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were Believers in the Lord which were now added to the Churches Communion holding the Faith as from the Apostles at this time it was delivered By Faith here not to spend time in the ordinary Definitions of it we may securely understand the pious and fiducial application of all the circumstances of this outward administration to each mans particular and private concerns whatsoever was publickly dispensed was in the heart of those that were assembled digested in an humble assurance of salvation there-from So that upon this account Schism from a Visible Communion is the result of Infidelity it is an evil heart of Unbelief that departs from God our Father or the Church our Mother in that whosoever he be that separates he cannot or he will not make due and sober reflections upon outward services in order to his own private
a publick spirit as publick as is their sedition in some sort delivered my own soul and they shall not perish without warning and that repeated with as much vehemency as are their Divisions God in mercy give a Blessing And so may they see yet again how I do set before them fire and water and will they chuse the water alas the waters of Separation are waters of bitterness Massah and Meribah be their name and Marah is their tast they are themselves as it were baptized strife and contention and so noisome loathsome and every way unsavory is their rellish But the Fire is from the Lord in the Sanctuary it is a Refiners fire and a coal from the Altar that so all iniquity may be done away Blessing and a Curse and will they chuse the curse it is Anathema Maranatha A curse untill Christ come against all those who love not the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Communion of his Saints But this the Blessing when the Spirit shall say come and the Bride shall say come and the Church shall say come and every one that has set heart to seek the Lord the Lord God of his Fathers shall also come that so God may translate his Church which is here terribly Militant as an Army with banners in good order and in due aray unto Trophies and Triumphs in that glory which shall be everlasting And so look they once more and behold and chuse they whether they will Life and Death and will they chuse Death Death which shall never have an end the reward of those who do wilfully reject the means and the passage unto Life Oh! that at length they would believe schism and separation to be a damning Sin that they would not place the worship of God in the ways and amidst the sons of perdition I 'le leave a Text or two for them to urge upon themselves and can there be plainer words than these Rom. 13.2 They that resist that power which is the Ordinance of God or which is all one that Power which commands Obedience unto Gods Ordinance shall receive unto themselves Damnation 2 Pet. 3.1 3. False Prophets and false Teachers bring upon themselves swift Destruction whose judgment of a long time lingreth not and their Damnation slumbereth not Epist of St. Jude v. 13. These are wandring stars not keeping within their proper and appointed Orbs in order to a regular and an equal revolution Vnto whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness for ever But after all this Life and Peace to those that seek and keep peace in the fear and love of God and of those that are set over them To conclude Let us be perswaded as we are men and Christians to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace considering that God is terrible in his judgments against the Rebellious and Sacrilegious he is wonderful in his providence for the defence of those that wait and call upon him his wrath is dreadful unto Death his loving kindness is surpassing and in his favour is Life The Assembling together of his Saints is Venerable and Awful God is honoured in the midst whilst due Reverence is paid to those that are round about him considering all these things what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness we should be no longer faithless but believing may we the more and the rather be added to the Church as Believers in the Lord and may this number increase to Multitudes of every age and of every Sex both Men and Women our Churches Prayer shall with little alteration be the close of all We Pray thee O Lord Help thy Servants whom thou hast redâ—emed with thy most Precious Blood Make them to be numbred with thy Saints here in a holy Communion and hereafter in glory everlasting To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us all to whom be ascribed Honour Praise and Adoration to Father Son and Holy Ghost One God and three Persons and that of all Ages in the Church by Christ Jesus world without end Amen Lord Mercifully receive the Prayers of thy Church that all troubles and errors being quenched it may serve thee in quietness and grant us peace in our days Amen A BAD AND A Good Zeal DESCRIBED and LIMITED Gal. 4.17 18. 17. They zealously affect you but not well yea they would exclude you that you might affect them or us 18. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing and not only when I am present with you IT was even in our Saviours time the Hypocritical Devotion of the Pharisees and is at this day the Pharisaical Hypocrisie both of the Conclave and the Consistory to compass Sea and Land to make one Proselyte and when he is gained they make him two-fold more the child of Hell then themselves so that the last estate of the poor man is worse than his beginning But as for us Woe unto us unless that our Religion do exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees their industry was both commendable and imitable if we could abstract their Labour of Love as they call it from the malice of their intention we may hear them both while they sit in the Chair of Moses but not when their design is to tumble Moses out of his Chair not when they rebell against Moses the Servant of the Lord and vex Aaron the Saint of God their long Prayers were not amiss no though they were in the Markets and the corners of every street when they made their great solemn and pompous Processions that they might be seen of men and so give an example of Devotion unto the World but we must beware of them when we find that upon this pretence they devour Widdows Houses when they commit a rapine upon the portion of the Widdow and of the Fatherless their long Robes were no such hainous crime nor their Phylacteries upon their Garments in which are supposed to have been written in Capital Letters the Ten Commandements of God to put the People in mind of their Duty but this was their fault when they proposed the Law as a Precept of obedience unto others and most shamefully and wickedly broke it in every Precept themselves in a word it is an Evangelical Precept the command of Christ himself with which Holy Church begins and exhorts to her offertory That we let our Light shine before men even the Light of our Profession in the publick attestations of our Religion we may be both burning and shining Lights but we must be careful that there be the oyl of good works to feed the flame lest men rejoyce in our Light only for a season and because they cannot behold a pious and a holy conversation directed by the fear of God therefore they do not glorifie our Father which is in Heaven we are to be watchful then that we try the hot Spirits of zeal that are abroad inthe world whether they be
they who they will it cannot be good it may be a zealous affection or affectation rather But it is not well And so I pass to the second thing In which Zeal is reprehensible and that is in relation to the Subject when the affectators of this kind are not rightly qualified as to affection or intention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They zealously affect but not well The question was cautelously put by Jehu however he was afterward mistaken in the management of his zeal when Jehonadab the son of Rechab came forth to meet him and salute him 2 Kings 10.15 Is thy heart right as my heart is right and he answered it is then was it a fit opportunity to call him up to him into his Chariot that he might see his zeal for the Lord of Hosts unless the heart be right zeal degenerates into hypocrisie and he that strains himself to act a passion upon the Stage for that while is as great a zealot as such a one who would fain make the world believe that he is transported upon the account of his Religion when neither his affection is real nor his intention sincere 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are Zealously affected but not well whose affection is not real such whose Zeal is rather Jealousie than love and this seems to be the proper import of the Phrase in the Text sumpta Metaphora a Procis Zelotypis Zelotypiae causa Paulum rivalem pseudo-apostoli non patiebantur Beza in loc The false Apostles who disturbed these Galatians in their Faith were jealous of St. Paul as their Rival lest he should too much win and gain upon the affections of the People and therefore they must needs be Zealous too and preach Christ out of strife and envy supposing so to add affliction to the other persecutions of this Blessed Apostle We find in Ezekiels Vision chap. 8.3 That in the same place where was the Image of Jealousie that prevoketh unto Jealousie behold the glory of the God of Israel was likewise there Sad it is that there should be cause to invert the Prophets Vision thus The Glory of the God of Israel is too much pretended where there are nothing but Images of jealousie erected and by uncharitable surmises and suspicions strange provocations unto Jealousie are fomented Thus in the words of a late excellent pen Zeal is many times both a Fire and Fan unto it self being blown by the ambient airy desire of applause out of a fond conceit of some selfish excellence and an evil eye upon the gifts and happy endowments of another True indeed we may covet earnestly the best gifts yea and especially that of Prophesie but then our emulations in reference to these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ordinary gifts of the holy Ghost bestowed by vertue of their Mission upon such as are diligent in the work of the Ministry ought not to be with a soure and a supercilious eye upon the better parts or more happy success of our Brethren covet we may and that earnestly the best gifts but yet says the Apostle shew I unto you a more excellent way 2 Cor. 12.31 and that is Love and Charity which is the Bond of all perfection Should we have the tongues of Men and Angels and yet want charity we are like a sounding brass and a tinckling Cymbal what is the gift of Prophecy the understanding of all mystery and of all knowledge without charity it is nothing charity envyeth not vaunteth not it self is not puffed up seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things since then there are some whose Zeal has burnt up their Love they are so suspitious lest others should go before them that they overshoot themselves we may pity them because they are in a distemper and wish that they will return to a right and a sober mind but we cannot at all approve of such jealous ardors as these which spend themselves only that they may make a greater braze then is at their neighbours fire in such a case the Affection is not Real and therefore the Zeal is to be suspected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not well 2. Men are Zealously affected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not well when the Intention is not sincere and this is the result of the former where the heart is not right void of a true affection there the main drift and scope of any action must needs be amiss A Man may shew a Zeal to himself in his earnestness for his Religion when it is more out of love to himself then to the thing which he professes as in the Text being willing that you should affect them Nay though it be a sad aggravation of the sin yet there is just cause to fear it that many are Zealous out of a Designe to Subvert and Supplant Religion when it is not established according to their humour and to bring an evil report upon the way of Godliness Such are they who decry Prophaneness and Debauchery so much that they forget Rebellion and Disobedience to be a sin who attribute the immoralities that are in mens lives to a certain Discipline restored in the Church and Government in the State and not to the general corruption of humane nature unhappily worse depraved amongst us from the Principles of Libertenisme in the late days of Rebellion first raised and since too much fomented So that these zealots have no reason to reproach us that the former days were better than these as if it were possible that God and his glory could be then more regarded when Tyranny and Usurpation was in the Throne Sacrilege and profane invasion in the Church Robbery and Oppression in every Street Sequestration and unjust Possession almost in every Estate And yet now we are Governed by a Law of Love every man sits under his own Vine and Figtree with great delight and our God is or may be worshipped in his Temple and there in the Beauties of his holiness now there is a King in Israel every man doth that which seemeth good in his own eyes Pudet haec opprobria Sad it is I confess that there should be any in the strength of such restored and renewed Mercies who provoke a Gracious God to anger and give occasion to the adversary to blaspheme but this does not excuse their malice who upon this account are ready to seek opportunity to themselves of shewing their Disaffection to the Government both Civil and Ecclesiastical rather then their Zeal for Piety and Holiness To these I have only this to say notwithstanding their pretended sanctity they cannot bragg over much of their honesty even to this day we observe it that they are a subtil crafty and a supplanting Generation And to all the world I do here profess it that upon thorow search and examination amongst all the divisions and separations that are in the midst of us could I but any where
have kindled this shall you have of my hand you shall lie down in sorrow Would we examine and try our own or the spirits of others whether they be of God or no the Word of the Lord is sharp and piercing it divides betwixt the marrow and the bones it searcheth out the depths and secrets of the heart That fire cannot be a flame of holy incense to consume the Sacrifice and to render it acceptable which has no regard to the Holy Oracle of God Here that zeal is reproveable which spends it self either in decrying the sacred Scriptures as useless or in preverting the Scriptures making them of private interpretation to speak what they never intended such who wrest them to their own destruction First They that decry the Scriptures as useless since we are now not to be directed by a line or by precept but we are all to be taught of God of this sort are they who think themselves above Ordinances waiting only for some secret instincts some impetuous raptures to carry them they know not whither to do they know not what such who have laid aside the first Principles of Godliness they are not to be dealt with you shall never argue them into a better temper so long as this melancholy dumpish humour doth transport them they have this still for a refuge that they are not free to hear or to answer you But as for our selves that we be not led away by the errour of these wicked men it may be urged and I cannot urge it too often the Articles of our Creed into which we were baptized that as in our Profession we do believe the Holy Ghost to be the Lord and giver of Life and so a spirit of illumination unto the Sons of Men so we do believe that he the same Spirit spake by the Prophets He the same Spirit does assist in the Communion of Saints and therefore we are not to neglect the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is Secondly As for that other sort who have made themselves the only perpetual Dictators in Religion whose humour is the only Light they have for the interpretation of the Scripture who make the Scripture to be of a private interpretation speaking what it never intended who have against the continued practices of Christianity in all ages found out a new clew of thread to extricate themselves and others out of some Labyrinths of controversie of their own devising and do thus betray the simple and ignorant into not onely foolish but dangerous errors these men act as if they had forgot those Scriptures which they pretend for to interpret those that tell us that the Spirits of the Prophets must be subject to the Prophets especially when they are met together in a holy Communion They who would take heed to a sure word of Prophesie must know this first of all 2 Pet. 1.20 That no Prophesies of Scripture are of private interpretation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is of a mans conceited enthusiastical and sudden explication 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Mar. 4.34 It was the onely prerogative of Christ himself when he was alone for to interpret but as to us the word of Prophesie is not thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the will of man we must take in along with us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Analogy of our Common Faith and the sacred authority of the Catholick Church as knowing that whatsoever seemed good unto the Holy Ghost as it is revealed in the word seemed good likewise to the same Spirit as it is explained by the Church and proposed to those who will receive the truth in the love of it to be matter for their Faith wherefore the Scripture hath said I mean St. Paul in whose writings there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some things hard to be understood which the Pride and Tyranny of the Church of Rome on the one hand and the unstable peevishness of our Classical Brethren from their Consistory on the other have wrested two contrary ways yet between them both the word of God abideth sure to wit that Scripture which refers us to an Interpreter for all the rest 1 Tim. 3.15 The Church of the Living God in all things necessary to salvation as the words following do imply is the onely pillar and ground of truth and then he adds the fundamental articles of our Christian faith without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels c. That zeal then is truly commendable just holy and good which is a Zeal according to the Scriptures a contention for the Faith of God in them revealed as they are by the Church delivered to the Saints which whilst it doth coufess the Holy Ghost to rule in the hearts of all Believers does not too hastily pass over the two next Articles of our Christian Faith in which we also do believe a Holy Catholick Church and in the Vnity of that Church do joyn with the Communion of Saints such a Zeal as this is good that is guided by a good rule by the word of God as it is proposed and said open by the Church to be a perfect Canon an exact prescription to tell us what ought to be our Faith and to guide us in our manners in all holy Conversation and Godliness Secondly Zeal is good in Relation to the Object of it if it be managed upon a good matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon a good thing which bears its due proportion to that rule This is that which St. Paul tells us is the result of the Grace of God bringing salvation and appearing unto all Tit. 2.14 In that our Saviour gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works The people are then peculiar and the zeal is singular when by the blood of Christ we are cleansed from all iniquity so that our works are good Having once submitted our selves to the obedience of Faith and publickly owned it in the Unity of the Church every man has so far a Judgment of private Discretion and possibly not in many cases besides as to examine his own Actions by that Rule of Righteousness which he hath received and the rectitude of which he must not in the least dispute Saul forgot himself and God also when in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah he slew the Gibeonites 2 Sam. 21.2 These Gibeonites though but hewers of wood and drawers of water in the sanctuary were to be preserved because of the Oath of God Joshuah 9.3 17. They who were for exterpating root and branch amongst us though they had formerly given up their names to God and to his Church in their Promissory Subscriptions that they would conform to and not endeavour the alteration of the Religion established and yet after all this in their zeal unto the people did lift up
shall be our satisfaction nothing else but Complacency our Delight To which place of Bliss and Contentment God of his infinite mercy bring us all for Jesus Christ his sake who is gone before to prepare those Mansions for us To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God be ascribed Honour and Glory and Blessing with Adoration World without end Amen MODERATION AS AN APOSTOLICAL COUNSEL Explained Philip. 4.5 Being part of the Epistle for the fourth Sunday in Advent Let your Moderation be known unto all men The Lord is at hand OUr Lord and Blessed Saviour being to come into the world and to appear a Minister of Reconciliation to the People sent his Messenger before his face to prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths strait and the voice from God at that time in the mouth of his Prophet crying in the Wilderness of Judea was this St. Mat. 3.2 Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Afterward John being cast into Prison Jesus himself went forth and began to teach in every City and he was as it were the Eccho to the voice foregoing the message he delivered being the very same St. Matthew 4.17 Jesus began to preach and to say Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand This John who came neither eating nor drinking sequestring himself from the World and denying himself the pleasures of ordinary Converse our Blessed Master Jesus Christ the Righteous who came eating and drinking who lived after the common manner of men the one in every crowded City and the other in a waste howling Wil derness Both have the same Lesson to teach and the same Argument to inforce it Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and though from the dayes of John the Baptist the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force that is the fruit of Repentance is not only carefulness but Indignation likewise and a holy zeal though our Saviour himself too as meek and lowly as he was came to send Fire upon the Earth and before his departure hence what if it were already kindled Yet Jesus being risen and Ascended sate down at the right hand of the Majesty on High his Gospel being strangely propagated he having given to such as shall be saved by Faith in his name and Repentance towards God Love and Charity is now the Law by which he will rule and govern in the hearts of all Believers the feet of those that follow him or expect his coming again must be shod with the Preparation of his Gospel as it is a Gospel of Peace Et speciosi Pedes and these feet are to appear Beautiful that so all may see them Brotherly Love was the precious Legacy which he left behind him and this to continue till he come again so that the same Motive which gained Proselites at first to embrace the Christian Doctrine with Repentance and godly sorrow is an Apostolical incitation to the several Churches as they were Planted that they continue in the Faith which they had received as knowing on whom they Believed the Product of Repentance now is not only to be Indignation Zeal and a holy Revenge but also the Peaceable fruit of Righteousness whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise they who embrace Christianity must think upon and follow those things and that because of Christs Coming whether in the Flesh or unto Judgment in the Flesh in our Flesh with which he was cloathed The Lord of Heaven is at Hand and with him the Kingdom of Heaven also he being himself the King and the Kingdom too he is at Hand not far from every one of us carrying our Nature and our Constitution with him Sanctifying our Inclinations and Affections whilst he subjected himself unto all our Passions unto judgment the Kingdom of Heaven the Lord from Heaven is at Hand to call the World to an account if for their idle words surely for their hard speeches their heart-burning thoughts their uncharitable Actions against such as are quiet in the Land not suffering their Brethren for whom Christ died to live securely by them therefore considering these things that the Man Christ Jesus who came in the fulness of time shall come again at the end of all time after which time shall be no more to judge both the quick and dead and withal lifting up our heads in a comfortable expectation that our Redemption draweth nigh and our Salvation is nearer than when we first believed what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy humble affable Conversation and Godliness Let our Moderation be known unto all Men the Lord is at Hand You see that our Church has furnished me with a Text every way suitable not only as to the present time but consequential upon my former Discourses though I have already I hope sufficiently set bounds to a holy zeal that it do not transgress the law of Love and Charity yet since nothing is more usual than to urge this portion of Scripture now read in Defence of Luke-warmness and since likewise nothing is more incident to our Natures than that we deceive our selves mistaking our Passions many times too too often uncharitableness it self for a holy zeal therefore as a restriction in the one case and a due information in the other following the Churche's prescription the Text is every way suitable and a word in season Let your Moderation be known unto all Men the Lord is at Hand The parts of the Text are Obvious these Two 1. A Duty injoyned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let your Moderation be known unto all men 2. An Argument to inforce it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lord is at Hand 2. The Duty is not only injoyned but recommended also it is not only to be an inherent quality or a Disposition within us that is Our Moderation but so Ours that it may be known yea and known not here and there to one or two but indifferently as the circumstances of our Conversation ingage us unto all Men whereupon the Argument to inforce the Duty may be urged this being the scope of the Text either in our Churches Selection of it as part of the Epistle for this day or in the Apostles intention as it is wholesome counsel given to these Philippians The Lord is at Hand that is appearing in the Flesh and whilst so going about and doing good proposing himself a pattern of Moderation unto all Again the Lord is at Hand coming to be our Judge when the secrets of our hearts shall be laid open not only before the eyes of him with whom we have to do not only before our own Consciences when our own sin shall it self reprove us and the iniquity of our heels shall compass us about but likewise as a further aggravation either of our shame or glory we shall be made
made manifest unto all there are mollisma tempora certain times and seasons in which it is most amiable and it is part of Christian prudence so to exert it that it may appear beautiful and lovely unto all in its proper season the present circumstances are to be consulted seriously least our Moderation do degenerate into a sordid and a sneaking compliance an Holy Zeal must sometimes have its perfect work as well as Patience when once Remissness gets the upper hand of Order God himself is neglected whilst his Divine Offices are perfunctorily carelesly and slubberly performed when the publike Solemnities of Religion are if not laid aside yet so managed as if they were altogethar needless and to no purpose the Moderate Man may mourn in secret and by his silence at such a time manifests his prudence because it is an evil time but this seems to be rather an opportunity for courage and constancy in the Resolute that the world may see that we are neither afraid nor ashamed of that which some count madness and folly that we are neither to be complemented by the sly Polititian nor Hectored by the prophane Atheist out of that Faith which we have professed and wherein we stand In a word this is our Moderation when in affliction we are not froward under discouragements we are not discontented when we can love those who persecute us and are ready to do good to those who do despightfully use us when we count it all joy that for righteousness sake we are evil thought of or evil spoke of when we are not over-sollicitous of every ones good word but should God and his Truth require it we can venture through a bad report to shew our Constancy and Perseverance and though the Moderate Man walks circumspectly not as a fool but as wise endeavouring to approve himself to the Consciences of those with whom he has to do yet his heart doth neither mis-give him nor reproach him as his humility is conspicuous so his integrity is solid if he does approve himself it is that the Lord may commend the singleness of his heart and the integrity of his Soul even the Lord who is at Hand And so I press to the Third and Last thing propounded to wit How the Coming of Christ either in the Flesh or to Judgment is an Argument to us to improve this Grace of Moderation The Lord is at hand just now gone from us lately appearing in our Flesh And he is at hand in like manner to come again the day is approaching in which God will Judge the World by the Man whom he hath ordained even the Man Christ Jesus and the Apostle doth in another place joyn both these together to wit that the consideration of Christs first Coming should have this effect upon us that we live in a continual expectancy of his Second Tit. 2.11 12. The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present evil world Moderation is but one comprehensive word for all these looking for that blessed Hope and the glorious appearance of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ First Let your Moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand not far from every one of us lately appearing in our flesh having Sanctified our inclinations and affections whilst he was subject unto like Passions with us being in every thing tempted as we are yet without sin we might indeed sometime have been foolish deceived by and deceiving one another Status Naturae status Belli in this sense we were by Nature the Children of Wrath not only in relation to God whom we had provoked but also in relation to each other delighting in violence and oppression But Tit. 3.4 After the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared we are freely justified by his Grace and made Co heirs together according to the Hope of Eternal Life and this is that which we must Persevere in since we have believed on God that we be alwayes careful to maintain good works and those such which are not in the least Destructive but every way profitable unto men let every one that nameth the Name of Christ Jesus our Lord depart from all iniquity Our Saviour in the Flesh God incarnate in his Birth throughout his Life but chiefly at his Death was not only a most successful example but a prevailing argument for our Moderation First His Birth was the Son of Righteousness arising with healing in his wings it was through the tender Mercies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through the Bowels of the mercy of our God that the Day-spring from on high did visit us and this is our Happiness consequential hereupon that being delivered from our Ghostly and our carnal Enemies we may serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the daies of our lives this was the Angelical Hymn at his Birth that as his coming into the World was Glory to God in the highest so it was in Earth Peace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and good will towards Men nay further that our Love upon this occasion might be raised to its due pitch those words are not unfitly rendered by the Vulgar In terris pax hominibus bone voluntatis On earth Peace unto Men of Good will And now shall our Saviour empty himself of his honour that he may accommodate himself unto us and we be puffed up one against another are we not all of us now Brethren doubtly dear unto each other both in the Flesh and in the Lord or rather in the Lord who was made Flesh Secondly Nay yet again not only the fruit of his holy Mothers Womb at his Birth but the whole course of his Life was nothing else but a continued labour of Love could he do any good were it to the poorest and the meanest to the basest and unworthiest it was his meat and his drink he loved much and therefore all along though loaded with indignities he forgave much he had not where to lay his head and yet he wrought Salvation wheresoever he came how glad was he though in a crowd that vertue wentout of him in this chiefly was his humility conspicuous in that he confessed and he denyed it not that He though the Son of Man and so the first born of the whole Creation came not to be Ministred unto but to Minister and to give his Life a Ransome for many And are not we likewise to tread in his steps is not this the Lesson which hence we are to take out that the greatest amongst us be in all good and vertuous offices as it were a Servant unto all remembring alwayes the words of our Lord Jesu Christ that it is better to give than receive we should therefore from his example be ready to give and willing to communicate Thirdly Yet once more and chief of all his Death was