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
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
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
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
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
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
thither having heard of the signes and wonders only by the hearing of the ear they came and when they saw they both magnified and believed even the Adversary himself though he had malice enough yet he wanted power such durst not make too near approaches to them I cannot but here take notice of the Courage of these Apostles that in no wise they were dismayed or terrified even amidst the concourse of the people they were not affrighted their business was to save not to fear multitudes to convince mightily and with power not to dread the powers of the most or the mightiest of men men whose power consisted onely in their numbers 29. We ought to obey God rather than men The judgment of God upon Ananias and Sapphira might have been imputed as murder to these Apostles might not the people of the Jews here have cryed out as they did formerly against Moses upon the destruction of Corah and his Accomplices for a sin of much the like nature with this neither was the punishment unlike unto it they died not the common death of all men neither were they visited after the visitation of all men Numb 16.41 and all the Congregation murmured saying Ye have killed the People of the Lord Why might it not have been so with this mixt Assembly However the Apostles could expect no other then what did afterward really happen 17. That the High Priest and those that were with him should he filled with indignation Why should they therefore thus expose themselves to danger amidst the multitudes The answer to all is That they knew Jesus on whom they believed and whom they preached and it was with their joy 41. in that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of the Lord Jesus Courage and Resolution are vertues truly Apostolical it is beneath the dignity of a Priest to fear the People some come in humility to receive the Ingrafted word with a spirit of meekness and these are a joy to those that are set over them Some expect Signs and Wonders every day some new thing they are for the inticing words of mans Wisdom and he must work a miracle upon them that would perswade them though they are themselves the greatest Prodigy in that since the word of Salvation is come amongst them in the plainess of its Demonstration they will by no means submit the obedience of their faith to those Truths which in a Visible outward Oeconomy they cannot but profess neither dare take so much confidence to themselves as to deny them and after all these there are another sort who lie at the catch like the Pharisees and the Herodians St. Luke 11.54 Seeking something out of our Saviours Mouth to accuse or mis report him such whose business it is to carp at what they will not understand such who that they may bring an evil report upon the way of Godliness take every little or no occasion to traduce the Dispencers of it But whether they will hear or whether they will forbear the Prophets of the Lord are to come amongst them through good report and through bad report by honour and dishonour are we to approve our selves the Ministers of Christ and of his Gospel in much patience yea with the Apostles here in tumults and in labors as deceivers and yet true as unknown and yet well known and that they might be the better known frequenting those places where the greatest gathering of the people is like to be that so the word preached may have the more universal influence the very Place of their meeting was a Place of general and known concourse and so much the better because it was a part of the Temple see where they are assembled an intimation both of their Fortitude and Devotion even there where the thickest of the thronged multitudes were wont to gather with these we find the Apostles and the Convert Disciples at this Holy Convention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Solomon's Porch which is the Second thing I observed to you The place of their meeting in a place consecrated and separated for the Service of God in Solomons Porch Solomon's Porch The History of which place I shall not here spend to give you those that have opportunity and ability may consult Jos Antiqu. lib. 7. cap. 2. lib. 8. cap. 11. lib. 20. cap. 8. Where we have the description of it at large in all its Dimensions from which we conclude it capacious enough to receive so great an Assembly as we suppose at this time to have been there that it was part of the Temple is evident enough to us all from our Saviours presence in it St. John 10.23 Whilst he was celebrating the Feast of Dedication which by the way was an Apocryphal Feast instituted 1 Mac. 4.59 and our Saviour honoured such a Solemnity with his company Jesus walked in the Temple in Solomons Porch which was also a place of publique worship 2 Cron. 8.12 Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the Altar of the Lord which he had built before the Porch from all which and from the Text I gather as a word in season That our Lord and Blessed Saviour and from his example and precept the Apostles with the Primitive Christians did not usually assemble for the Worship and Service of God in private Houses or in solitary places if so be that any the outmost part of the Temple was allowed them to meet in First Our Saviour's Practice was most exemplary in this Whilst a Child he was the Holy Child Jesus early after his Birth so soon as the days of Purification according to Law were accomplished presented in and by the yearly Devotion of his Mother brought up unto the Temple where he soon exercised and delighted himself in the beauties of holiness The Days for Publick Worship were too soon accomplished for him St. Luc. 2.43 He must stay behind the rest of the Company some time longer and after three days sorrowful search where could they expect to find him though a Child of twelve years age but in the House of God and there about his Fathers business even in the midst of the Doctors hearing them and asking them questions in the midst of the Doctors and hearing them as if the Blessed Child would have been catechised by them and taught the way of God more perfectly this was his humility and yet asking them questions and so putting them to silence this was his authority whilst all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers This was the first onset of our Saviour in his Prophetick office and that in no other place then in the Temple True indeed afterward in the Course of his life he consecrated every place by his presence and therefore wherever he found the Multitudes still he taught them and yet we meet but with two notable instances of such an administration once by the Lake of Gennesareth when he taught the people out of the Ship and the other
St. Paul that great Apostle who laboured in the word and Doctrine more then all the rest being converted to the Faith Act. 9.20 Straightway he preached Christ in the Synagogues that he was the Son of God He being the Doctor of the Gentiles and the Jews being gone out of the Synagogue Act. 13.42 the Gentiles besought that this word might be spoke the next Sabbath Day to them accordingly they met at the Synagogue even almost the whole City to hear the word of God The same Apostle at another time came to Thessalonica where was a Synagogue of the Jews Act. 17.1 2. and says the Text as his manner was he went in unto them and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures from Thessalonica we follow him to Corinth Act. 18.2 where he reasoned with and perswaded both Jews and Greeks but still it was in the Synagogue on the Sabbath day from Corinth we go along with him to Ephesus ver 19. he entered into the Synagogue and reasoned with the Jews and v. 28. he mightily convinced the Jews and that Publickly shewing out of the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ and in the same chapter v. 21. he is very sollicitous in that he must by all means keep a feast that cometh in Jerusalem and we find him in another place Act. 24.11 going up to Jerusalem for to worship hastning at another time Act. 20.16 if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost Nay not onely the Jewish Temple and Synagogues were frequented by the Apostles upon all occasions ne Judaicum Templum horruerunt they did not abstain from the Jewish rituals and service though by the bringing in of a better hope those things were already abolished but amonst the Greeks also they did still appear in the places of Publick worship Act. 16.13 St. Paul being warned in a Vision to come over and help those of Macedonia comming to Philippi which was a chief City of Macedonia and a Colony he with the rest of his company went forth on the sabbath day out of the city by a river side where prayer was wont to be made So far was this Apostle from neglecting the Publick Assemblies wheresoever he came that it was once part of a mistaken accusation against him from his own Country men that he came to them so often that he minded not what company he brought with him thither he had brought Greeks along with him into the Temple But the respect which he had for the Temple and for such Houses of solemn Devotion was as publique as was his frequenting them for this was that Apostle who was so exceedingly careful and sollicitous lest places of Religious worship should be prophaned it was no small trouble to him when he heard that at Corinth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Feasts of Love at the Holy Communion were made occasions ministring unto riot and debauchery 1 Cor. 11.18 when ye come together in the Church what does he mean there by the word Church hear him exclaim himself v. 20. when ye come together in one place the very place it self may be and was antiently in the Apostle's time styled the Church well this was their meeting the abuse crept in amongst them was this ver 21. This is not to eat the Lords supper when in eating every one taketh before other his own supper and one is hungry and another is drunken upon all which the Apostles argumentation with them runs thus v. 22. What have ye not houses to eat and drink in or despise ye the Church of God what shall I say to you shall I praise you in this I praise you not from all which we may conclude that houses are to eat and drink in the Church of God spoken in antethesi in opposition to those houses is by no means to be despised and therefore v. 34. If any man hunger let him eat at home that ye come not together unto condemnation 'T was this very same Apostle who throughout the whole 14th Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians hath given his directions for the due management of external worship and scrvice the sum of all which is there v. 40. Let all things be done decently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So as becometh grandcur and solemnity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in order it is a Military phrase taken from the posture the souldier is placed in not to stir his foot but to keep his ground according to the Orders which were given him from his superiour Officers in order that is no otherwise then as it shall be appointed by those whose business it is and have a full commission to command in things of this nature whose injunctions must be according to the forementioned institutions that there be in the first place Devotion and Reverence towards God v. 25. falling down on the face and worshipping of God and next that there be respect towards men v. 32. the Spirits of the Prophets are to be subject to the Prophets yea and that in places appointed and set apart for Religious worship v. 33. for God is not the Author of confusion but of peace as in all Churches of the Saints in which words Saints are again distinguished from Churches and therefore Churches must needs be understood of the place rather then of the Masters of Assembly all Churches of the Saints whereupon our Apostle gives a particular injunction as to Women how they are to behave themselves in such places v. 34 35. Let your women keep silence in the Churches if they will learn any thing let them ask their husbands at home for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the Church where yet once more the House at home is put in opposition to the Church abroad And since we are come thus far in our Scripture allegations in the Defence of Publique assemblies in separated places and that even from the Apostles practice I close up this part of the Discourse upon such Apostolical institutions as I did that part of it insisted upon from our Saviours practice Christ himself has forewarned us that he is not to be found in the Wilderness or in the secret Chamber and his Apostles also after him have foretold these days of schisme and sedition which we have lived to see 2 Tim. 3.1 6. This know yea though you will not know it but do not ye clearly see it that in the last days perilous times shall come For Men shall be lovers of their own selves and of their own ways disobedient to Parents both natural sacred and civil unthank full no courtesies nor kindnesses will ingage them and therefore unholy also truce-breakers even their own Covenants are no obligations upon them false accusers despisers of those that are good Traitors heady high minded who think themselves wiser then either Rulers or Teachers of this sort are they that creep into houses and lead captive silly Women but they are not Women
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
〈◊〉 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