Christ for the edifying of the Church Ephes 4. 11 12. He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith c. But not one word of such an Office as that of supreme Pastor or universal Sovereign over all Which we may be sure he would not have omitted if such an Office had been so necessary to the aforesaid Ends as is pretended CHAP. IX That the Pope hath power over Kings to Excommunicate and Depose them and can give Power to resist Soveraign Princes and can absolve Subjects from their Allegiance And that all Ecclesiastical Persons are exempted from the Jurisdiction of Secular Courts The 3d General Council of Lateran Cap. 27. 14. The 4th of Lateran Can. 3. de Haereticis Can. 43. Council of Lions Ann. 1245. Council of Constance Sess 17. Council of Trent Decret de Reformat Cap. 12. THis vast and exorbitant Power being founded upon the Pope's Headship over the Church which is refuted before there needs no new Arguments here for the confutation hereof For it is not pretended that the Pope hath a proper and direct temporal Soveraignty but as a necessary Consequent to and appendix of his Spiritual and for the promoting the Ends thereof The Pope can change Kingdoms take them from one and give them to another as the soveraign spiritual Prince if this be necessary to the Salvation of Souls Which are the words of Bellarmiâ—◠〈◊〉 Rom. Pontif. lib. 5. cap. 6. So that the same Arguments produced before to refute the spiritual Soveraignty serve also to overthrow the temporal and more strongly this having only relation to the former and inferr'd from it by far-fetch'd Consequences without the least intimation from Scripture And the exemption of all Ecclesiastical Persons from the Temporal Power is grounded likewise upon the same Papal Headship For he being supposed to be their supreme Governor and Soveraign is to take cognizance of all Causes that have relation to them as their proper Judg. And this being the Consequent of such a Principle the Principle being overthrown the Consequence must also fall with it And then there remains no other Power upon Earth to which the Clergy are to be subject as their supreme Governor under God and Christ but soveraign Princes and States in their several Dominions But yet this pretended Exemption of the Clergy may be likewise farther confuted from the following Texts Rom. 13. 1 2. Let every Soul be subject unto the higher Powers meaning the supreme Civil Authority whatsoever it is whether Emperor King c. in their several Dominions Here 's an universal Assertion respecting all Persons under such Authorities and no exemption of any For there is no such Power lawfully constituted but of God The Powers that be are ordainded of God. Wherefore he that resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation So that there is no Power whatever that can absolve Subjects from their Allegiance to the supreme Magistrate or free them from his Jurisdiction lawfully constituted For he beareth not the Sword in vain 't is his part to bear and wield and Sword of Justice For he is the Minister of God to execute Wrath upon him that doth evil and to punish Offenders And therefore Ecclesiastical Persons as â—ell as others if they do evil against the Laws of God and a lawful Government are liable to the just execution of punishments inflicted by such Governours But it is well known that the Republick of Venice was put under an Interdict for having began a Process against an Abbot and a Canon who were notoriously criminal and punishable 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. See also St. Peter ' s Judgment Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil Doers and for the praise of them that do well He doth not say Submit your selves to me as the supreme Head of the Church neither saith he Submit your selves from time to time to my Successor in Rome but submit your selves to the King as Supreme And how could he more manifestly teach subjection which all Persons of whatsoever Condition and Quality should render unto him For he makes no exception of the Clergy but this Epistle is directed to them as well as others See Chap. 5. Tit. 3. 1. See here again to the same purpose St. Paul Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates Who were these that Titus was to put in mind to be subject but those who by St. Paul's direction were committed to his care and teaching among which we find the Elders and Bishops of the Churches Chap. 1. 4 5. these were some of those then whom Titus was to put in mind to be subject Aaron was Elder Brother to Moses and chief Priest yet nevertheless he was subject to Moses and called him his Lord Exod. 32. 21 22. And Moses said unto Aaron What did this People unto thee that thou hast brought so great a Sin upon them viz. of the Golden Calf of which they spake And Aaron said Let not the Anger of my Lord wax hot thou knowest the People that they are set on mischief And Numb 12. 11. Aaron said unto Moses Alas my Lord lay not this Sin upon us wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned for he and Miriam had murmured against Moses The chief Priests were subject to the Kings of Israel For which you need but read the Books of Kings See one Example hereof to which no reply can be made 1 King. 2. 26 27. Vnto Abiather the Priest said King Solomon Get thee to Anathoth unto thine own Fields for thou art worthy of Death but I will not at this time put thee to death because thou bearest the Ark of God before David my Father c. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest unto the Lord. But now under the New Testament saith Cardinal Bonaventure the Temporal Rule is subject to the Priesthood and Popes may now degrade Kings and depose Emperors as this hath often come to pass But wherein is the difference and where is the proof of this impious Assertion St. Paul pleadeth his cause before Felix a secular Judg and doth not except against the Jurisdiction of the Court Acts 24. And so again before Festus Acts 25. But now the meanest Priest and the poorest Monk of them all where he can refuseth to appear before the secular Judges And it is a received Maxim The Pope ought to judg all the World and be judged himself of no Body Distinct 40. Can. Si Pape At last St. Paul appeals unto Cesar Acts 25. 10 11. Then said Paul I stand at Cesar
Faith to teach many Mediators though inferior to Christ as to teach many Gods though subordinate to the Supreme God. So 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. For though there be that are called Gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be Gods many and Lords many but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him In opposition to the Pagan Idolatry in worshipping many inferior Gods and Lords together with the Supreme God either as sharers with him in the Government of the World or as Mediators with him for Men. But we are to worship and in Worship to apply our selves to no other but this only Lord God and our Saviour Jesus Christ For Acts 4. 12. Neither is there Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved not yet in Heaven neither John 14. 6. I am the Way the Truth and the Life no Man can come unto the Father but by me And Vers 13. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And John 16. 24. That your Joy may be full This is the only direction which our Saviour gave his Disciples a little before his Death to ask in his Name and to come to the Father by him to which and to no other way of address is the Promise of Audience made So that for any to address themselves to Saints or Angels as Mediators must needs be presumptuous and vain Ephes 2. 18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father And Ephes 3. 12. By him we have boldness and access with confidence through the Faith which we have in him There can be no need then of other Mediators since the Son renders the Father accessible and favourable to us so that we may come to him with an holy boldness and confidence Heb. 4. 15. For we have not an High-Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are Sin only excepted We cannot address our selves to any one that knows our Necessities better who hath more compassion of our Miseries or who is better able to do us good or who is more nearly allied unto us For we are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bone Ephes 5. Vers 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace to the immediate presence of God whither we may immediatly direct our Prayers through the Merits and Intercession of Christ not to the Shrine of any Saint by the way that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in a time of need And Heb. 10. 19. Having therefore boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus by a new and living Way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh and having an High-Priest over the House of God let us draw near with a true Heart in full assurance of Faith. But to use the Mediation of Saints and Angels and directly contrary to this boldness and assurance which we should have in our access to him by Christ For that sets us at a greater distance from God and implies as if we did not dare to approach his Presence without the Intercession of a Favourite Saint Heb. 7. 24 25. But this Man because he continueth for ever hath an unchangeable Priesthood wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Where the Intercession of our Saviour is made an act or part of his unchangeable Priesthood not to be imparted to any other And by this Intercession of his we obtain Eternal Salvation So that there can be no need of any others Intercession The Mediatory Intercession of Saints then is an invasion of Christ's Priestly Office and doth also plainly imply the insufficiency of our Saviour's Intercession contrary to the Apostle Heb. 12. 24. We are come to Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament and to the Blood of Sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel Note that Jesus Christ is the Mediator in virtue of his Blood. Which doth not cry for Vengeance against his Brethren as Abel's did but by which he intercedes and calls for Mercy Grace and Peace for the greatest Sinners who have their Hearts touched with Repentance and therefore none should be discouraged from approaching this Mediator 1 John 2. 1 2. I write these things unto you that ye sin not but if any Man sinneth we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous For he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of whole World. Where Christ is described as the Advocate the only Advocate appointed for us in the Court of Heaven and the Advocate General of all Christians And the Holy Spirit joins Intercession and Propitiation together and founds the former upon the latter to teach us that whosoever is not a Mediator of Redemption and Propitiation cannot be an Advocate or Mediator of Intercession It is his Mouth alone then by which we speak to the Father and that in the virtue of the Propitiation which he hath made So again Rom. 8. 34. It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right Hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us The Intercession of Christ is founded upon his Death It belongs to none other but him who shed his Blood upon the Cross to appear for us within the Heavenly Sanctuary It is his part only to present the Prayers of the Church of God who can cover their Defects and render them acceptable to God which was formerly shadowed in the Person of the High-Priest who was to carry upon his Miter a Plate of pure Gold in which was engraven Holiness to the Lord. Exod. 28. 37 38. Thou shalt put it on a blue Lace that it may be upon the Mitre upon the fore-front of the Mitre it shall be And it shall be upon Aaron ' s Forehead that Aaron may bear the Iniquity of the Holy Things which the Children of Israel shall hallow in all their Holy Gifts and it shall be always upon his Forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord. This is fulfilled in Christ alone who is the Substance and the Truth of all the ancient Figures All the Psalms of David and all other Prayers both in the Old and New Testament are directed to God alone and not one Supplication made or one Hymn bestowed upon any Tutelar or Patron Saint or Angel throughout all the Scripture Which is very strange among so many devout Men and their Devotions that are mentioned if the thing had been allowable 2 Kings 2. 9. Elijah said to Elisha Ask what I shall
do for thee before I be taken from thee And why not after if the thing were so proper But Elijah gave no encouragement to this nor is there any instance of any Prayer made to him by the Jews though it was certainly known he was in Heaven Nor yet to any Angel to Gabriel or Raphel or any other though the Angels certainly were as much in Heaven then as they are now Jacob's Prayer Gen. 48. 16. was to the Angel that redeemed him that is to Christ who often appeared as an Angel to the Patriarchs before his Incarnation and is called the Angel of God's Presence Isa 63. 9. All the Instructions for Prayer which we have in Scripture teach us to have recourse to God alone Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of Trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me Let any one shew the like Command to call upon the Saints and we will instantly do it Acts 2. 21. Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved But it is no-where said whosoever shall call upon the Name of St. Peter or St. Paul shall be saved Luke 11. 1 2. When one of his Disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray our Saviour gives this as the Model of all Prayer When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Which sure none can speak to a Saint or Angel who acknowledg themselves our Brethren and our Companions in Service Rev. 12. 11. Chap. 19. 20. Rom. 8. 15. They that are the Children of God have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry Abba Father And so Gal. 4. 6. For asmuch as ye are the Children of God God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our Hearts crying Abba Father That Spirit which is the Spirit of Adoption teacheth the Children of God to pray to God alone and that with humble Confidence as to a Father and all the Prayers that he forms in our Hearts are address'd to God as our Father So that that Spirit then that puts Men upon praying to Saints is another Spirit and not the Spirit of Jesus Christ And those that have not the confidence to address their Prayers to God whatever Spirit they are indued with have not the Spirit of Adoption All our Prayers and Thanksgivings are Spiritual Sacrifices but Sacrifices ought to be offered to God alone Psal 50. 14. Offer unto God Thanksgivings aâ—d pay thy Vows unto the most High. Hos 14. 2. Take with you words and turn unto the Lord say unto him Take away all Iniquity and receive us graciously so wâ—â—l we render thee the Calves of our Lips. Heb. 13. 1â— By him therefore viz. Jesus Christ let us offer the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is the Fruit of our Liâ—s giving Thanks in his Name 1 Pet. 2. 5. Christians are an Holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ It is a vast knowledg that the Saints to whom we pray must be supposed to have For they must be supposed to know where their Petitioners are what they want and how truly and rightly they pray and this perhaps of Persons in a thousand places or more if they should pray all to the same Saint at the same time As for instance to St. Paul or St. Peter what if all the People in the World should pray to them at the same time as 't is possible and may be done upon Popish Principles then St. Peter and St. Paul must know the Conditions of all the Men in the World at the same time or to instance in St. Nicholas the Sea-man's Saint in the words of an excellent Author He must be supposed to hearken when he is in Heaven suppose to what one Sea-man prays in a Shipwrack at the Straits to what another wishes for when he is becalm'd in the South-Sea to the Cries of another who sees an Hurricane by the Barbadots to the private desires of another who fishes for Pearls in the Guiny-Shore or Herrings by our English-Coast or for Whales hard by Greenland or for Trouts in the small Rivers and he must be able to hear what thousands of Passengers who cry to him being ready to perish in as many places all at once and withal in these numberless Places and Exigencies what they both think and deserve in order to the returning of suitable Reliefs and Helps Is not this a vast Knowledg for a mâ—re Creature to have But we are well assured both by Scripture and the nature of the thing that 't is vastly above them and is what they have not And therefore to ascribe it to them what is it but Idolatry The Saints in Heaven do not hear our Prayers To Hear Prayers is made the peculiar Attribute of God in Scripture Psal 65. 2. Oh thou that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all Flesh come For Psal 145. 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon him to all that call upon him in Truth But can any one say so of the Saints Their Essence is not infinite to be in all Places of the World near unto all those that cry unto them The Saints departed do not know our particular Necessities Eccles 9. 5 6. For the Dead know not any thing also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perish'd Job 14. 21. His Sons come to honour and he knoweth it not and they are brought low but he perceiveth it not of them He doth not know the Condition or Necessities of his nearest Relations Isa 63. 16. Thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not Yet Abraham was now in Heaven into whose Bosom the Faithful pass Luke 16. 22. And God tells Josiah 2 Kings 22. 20. I will gather thee unto thy Fathers and thine Eyes shall not see all the Evil which I will bring upon this place He was not sensible after his departure of the publick Miseries much less the particular Necessities of his People If the Saints departed know our Necessities how do they know them They are not Omnipresent are they Or do they see all in the Face of God But 't is certain the Angels do not for they know not the Day of Judgment Mat. 13. 32. Besides if they see all things in the Face of God this is to make them Omniscient as God is and so to make them Gods or do they only see some things If they only see some things how shall we be assured that they see either us praying or what we want For who can tell but these may be some of those Things which they do not see Or do they only know all things that occur by the information of Ministring-Angels But how are we sure that the Angels themselves know all our Affairs tho they may know some wherein their own Comfort and Happiness is likewise concern'd as the Conversion of a Sinner which brings Joy in Heaven Luke 15. 7. This one thing
Rehoboam King of Judah and they shall kill me Whereupon the King took Counsel and made two Calves of Gold and said unto them It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem Behold thy Gods O Israel which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt using the same words as Aaron did And the People were easily perswaded for ease-sake generally to comply with this which it cannot be imagined they should so soon have done if thereby had been designed an utter rejection of the True God. Which was afterwards done by Ahab setting up the Worship of Baal which is therefore reckoned as a greater Sin than this of Jeroboam 1 Kings 16. 31. It came to pass as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the Sins of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat that he went and served Baal and worshipped him And Jehu is commended for destroying Baal out of Israel 2 King. 10. 28. In doing which he boasts of his Zeal for the Lord vers 16. And he is rewarded for it ver 28. Howbeit from the Sins of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat who made Israel to sin Jehu departed not from after them viz. the golden Calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan. Which plainly signifies that the Calves at Bethel and at Dan were worshipped as Symbols and Images of Jehovah the true God and therefore this is distinguish'd from the Idolatry of Ahab in worshipping Baal and look'd upon as a lesser Sin which otherwise it would not have been And the Idolatrous Worship of the Sun and false Gods is noted as a Consequent of the Idolatry of worshipping the True God by Images or Images as his Symbols through the just Judgment of God upon Mens blindness in doing as they do Acts 7. 41 43. Deut. 4. 25 26 27 28. And yet Jeroboam is highly condemned for Idolatry in the Worship of the Calves though the true God was worshipped in them and he is said notwithstanding to have gone and made other Gods and molten Images to provoke me says God to anger and hast cast me behind thy back 1 Kings 14. 9. It being so by Interpretation because he worshipped the Images with God and did not worship God in his own way The like may be said of Micah who no doubt intended no more but to worship the God of Israel in his molten Image and that only as the Symbol of his Presence Judg. 17. And those that went a whoring after Gideon's Ephod directed their Worship through that to God himself Judg. 8. 27. And those that worshipp'd the Brazen Serpent intended their Worship to that but in a secondary manner as to an holy Relique which God formerly made use for the Healing of the People and they thought no doubt to honour God in honouring of that 2 King. 18. 4. yet all these are condemned for Idolaters And the Church of Rome hath not any one thing more to say for her self in her worshipping of Images than these might have said for themselves Let Mens Intentions be never so good as they think to honour God in such and such a way If Men do such Actions as the Law forbids and interprets to be Idolatry it is not Mens Intentions whatsoever they may pretend can excuse them from being idolatrous For it is the Law that determines our Actions and our Intentions cannot alter the nature of an Action that is determined by the Law. If our Adversaries give Honour and Worship to the Images which must terminate in God and Christ as they pretend then it must be Divine Worship which they give to the Images because it is certainly Divine Worship which is given to God and Christ for if it pass from the Image to the Person then it is the same Worship which is given to both though it terminates not in the Image but the Person And as for the Images of Saints If the same Worship be given to the Images as to the Persons as it must be likewise if it pass by them to the Persons then if the Worship which they give the Saints themselves be due only to God and so is idolatrous as is proved in Chap. foregoing then so is their Worship of their Images idolatrous likewise And what is said of their Images may be in like manner applied to their Reliques supposing them never so real and much more to their feigned ones as we have reason to believe many of them to be as the Milk of the Virgin c. Deut. 34. 6. God buried Moses c. and no Man knoweth of his Sepulchre unto this day lest the Israelites who were inclined to Idolatry should worship his Body as it is the general Opinion And for that reason the Devil would have shewed the Grave and Body of Moses to the Israelites but Michael the Arch-Angel hindred him which may be conjectured to be the Contention mentioned Jude 9. 2 Kings 18. 4. Hezekiah brake in pieces the brazen Serpent that Moses had made though of God's own institution and which was preserved among them as a Memorial of the Divine Operation in healing those formerly that look'd up to it The Reason was because it was abused to Idolatry and the Children of Israel did burn Incense to it If there should be any Miracles or Cures wrought by the means of any Reliques it is by the Power of God alone that it is done who is therefore to have all the Glory and not either the Saint or his Reliques to share in it which the Saints have always refused and referr'd all to God as St. Peter Acts 3. 12. and St. Paul Acts 14. 14. And though we find in Scripture therefore many Miracles wrought by Moses's Rod Elijah's Mantle the Hem of Christ's Garment St. Peter's Shadow and St. Paul's Handkerchief yet we never read that any of these were adored or worshipped or if they had it had been Idolatry it being a referring the Virtue and Honour to Creatures above what was in them and what belonged to God alone who wrought all by them CHAP. XIV That the Clergy may not Marry and that Marriage to them is a Pollution Council of Trent Sess 24. Can. 9. Decret Gratian. distinct 82. Can. Propos Can. Plurimos COntrary to that which is written Heb. 13. 4. Marriage is honourable among all and the Bed undefiled 'T is spoken universally and the Apostle makes no exception of the Clergy or Ministers of the Gospel So 1 Cor. 7. 2. To avoid Fornication let everâ— Man have his own Wife and every Woman her own Husband And vers 9. If they cannot contain let them marry for it is better to marry than to burn This is a general Rule concerning which none can shew that God hath excepted Priests or Monks 1 Cor. 9. 5. Have we not power to lead about a Sister a Wife as well as other Apostles and as the Brethren of the Lord and Cephas For that this is to be meant of a Wife married to an Apostle is the Opinion of
be justified and by thy Words thou shalt be condemned Yet we do not say that all Sins are equal or equally deserving the same degree of Death or Pain but all deserving the Death and exclusion from God. So that 't is not possible for the Sinner to offer a sufficient Recompence or Satisfaction for the least Sin. Mich. 6. 6 7. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the High God Shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings with Calves of a Year Old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oil Shall I give my First-born for my Transgression the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul So by what means shall I satisfy the Justice of my God Shall I Fast in Lent Shall I make Prayers of forty hours long Shall I give all my Goods to nourish the Poor But all these things cannot expiate my Sins these have no proportion or equivalence to his Justice And moreover as to those Penitential Works which are said to be Satisfactions as Prayer and Fasting and Alms c. they are Debts already to which we are obliged by virtue of the Law there being no Works of supererrogation beyond or above the Precept of the Law as is proved afterwards and therefore they cannot be Satisfactions for other Debts or Sins or Defects of Obedience For that which is a Duty already due before the commission of the Fault can never satisfy for the Fault committed We are obliged indeed to Repentance and to practise some Acts of Discipline to shew our indignation against our selves for our Sins and to deter us the more from sinning for the future And sometimes we must make some Satisfaction to the Church for the Scandals that we have committed and to testify the truth of our Repentance and sometimes to particular Men in case of particular Instances And we do not doubt but these things are very pleasing to God and may averâ— his Displeasure according to his Covenant and Promise made to us Penitens and are tending to his Honour But we deny that they are proper and equivalent Satisfactions to the Justice of God or that any Sufferings are so which we can undergo or that there can be any such performed or undergone by us at all As for the Sufferings and Punishments inflicted by God himself upon Men after their Sins are forgiven these are not designed by him as vindictive Punishments upon them and Compensations to his Justice but either for Example to others that they sinning may not presume upon impunity from his sparing of others or as Acts of mere Discipline and fatherly Correction to deter his own from falling into the like Sins for the time to come For Psal 103. Like as a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord pitieth them that serve him What a Father doth is for his Childrens amendment he doth not inflict Torment or Suffering on them for his own Satisfaction nor doth delight in giving them any trouble were it not needful for themselves Or if any earthly Parent does so yet God doth not Heb. 12. 10. Nor is it true always that these temporal Inflictions are or are to be inflicted upon good Men but only in some certain Cases when God sees it meet and fitting for them or others CHAP. XVIII That some Persons may satisfy over and above what is needful for themselves and their own Sins so that their Satisfactions may serve for others that want them or have not enough of their own Catech. Rom. par 2. cap. 5. p. 61. And that these are put into the Treasury of the Church to be dispens'd by Indulgences Decret de Indulg BUT by what is said in the foregoing Chapter it appears that no Man whatsoever can offer an equivalent Satisfaction or Compensation to the Justice of God for any one Sin of his own and that he can never by his Sufferings exhaust the demerit of any one Sin the Wages of Sin being Death everlasting And Psal 130. 3. If thou Lord shouldst mark Inquities O Lord who shall stand The Psalmist's Question implies that no Man can stand in Judgment if God should be strict with him And how can he be supposed to suffer more than he deserves Psal 143. â— Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant O Lord. The Psalmist is afraid to put himself upon an equal Trial before God. But according to these People one may not only reckon with the Justice of God but that God will be indepted something over and above Psal 90. 7 8. We are consumed by thine Anger and by thy Wrath are we troubled Thou hast set our Iniqui-quities before thee our secret Sins in the Light of thy Countenance The Prophet Moses here speaks of the Calamities of this Life and refers them all to our Sins So that whatsoever we suffer is but a just infliction for our Sins Dan. 9. 7. O Lord Righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of Face The Prophet reckons that whatsoever God inflicts upon Men he is righteous therein and that an utter confusion of Face is but what we deserve It was his own Sin as well as the Peoples that he was confessing Vers 20. Ezra 9. 13. After all that is come upon us for our Evil Deeds thou our God hast punish'd us less than our Iniquities deserve Must not we always say the same And what is become then of Satisfaction and superabundant Satisfaction Lamen 3. 39. Wherefore doth a living Man complain a Man for the punishment of his Iniquity But if God should punish him more than he deserves he would have cause of complaint But Job 34. 23. God will not lay upon Man more than is right that he should enter into Judgment with God as it is implied he might do if he should So that whosoever suffers suffers but what is due and yet doth not satisfy much less over-satisfy The Penitential Works of the Saints are but what are due also before as was before observed and therefore are not Satisfactions And the Afflictions that are laid upon them are for other ends and not to be an equivalent Satisfaction to Divine Justice It is Christ alone who hath offered himself a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice for all our Sins He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World. Who his one self bare our Sins in hiâ— Body on the Tree The only Propitiation 1 Tim. 2. 5 6. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all This is no Man's Business but his nor can be done by any but him For Acts 4. 12. There is not Salvation in any other For there is no other Name given among Men by which we must be saved But if others may satisfy and their Satisfactions may serve for us they are so far made our Redeemers and Saviours Which is to put them into Christ's Office and stead
there any thing here that does not exactly agree to them And how unlikely is all this to give Men much Instruction Habak 2. 18. What profiteth the graven Image that the Maker thereof hath graven it The molten Image and a teacher of Lies What Instruction or Teaching can it give to set out God and the Holy Trinity by the Resemblances before-mentioned or to dress out God like a Pope with a Miter and a Triple Crown which yet they often do and make Ale-house Signs with such Pictures Is not this to expose the Divine Nature to contempt and scorn instead of giving any good Instruction But as the making of the Images of God is cried down and condemned in the Scripture so of any other likewise in order to their being worshipp'd or bowed down to and the bowing down to any Image is condemned which equally respects Popish Images as any others To the Law above-mentioned Exod. 24. add Levit. 26. 1. Ye shall make no Idols nor graven Images neither rear you up a standing Image neither shall you set up any Image of Stone in your Land to bow down to it for I am the Lord your God. Deut. 27. 15. Cursed be the Man that maketh any graven or molten Image an abomination to the Lord the Work of the hands of the Crafts-man Isa 2. 8 9. The Jews are severely reproved for this Their Land is full of Idols they worship the Work of their own Hands that which their own Fingers have made And the mean Man boweth down and the great Man humbleth himself therefore forgive them not It is not the worshipping of Images as they are the Images of false Gods that the Prophet condemns them for but in general of all Images And he censures them for just such Worship as is practised in the Church of Rome for humbling themselves and bowing down to them This is that they do in the Church of Rome they fall down before their Images and pray before them and moreover they kiss them they offer Incense to them they light Candles to them they dress them and adorn them they crown them with Flowers they carry them upon their Shoulders they go in Pilgrimages to them in a word they do every thing and more they render them the same Service and the very same outward expressions of Honours which the Jews or Pagans did to their Images So Isa 44. 13 c. The Carpenter stretcheth out his Rule he marketh it out with a Line he fitteth it with Planes and he marketh it out with a Compass and maketh it after the Figure of a Man according to the Beauty of a Man that it may remain in the House He â—eweth him down Cedars and taketh the Cypress and the Oak which he strengthneth for himself among the Trees of the Forrest he planteth an Ash and the Rain doth nourish it Then shall it be for a Man to burn for he will take thereof and warm himself yea he kindleth it and baketh Bread yea he maketh a God and worshippeth it he maketh it a graven Image and falleth down thereto He burneth part thereof in the Fire with part thereof he eateth Flesh he rosteth Rost and is satisfied yea he warmeth himself and saith Aha I am warm I have seen the Fire And the residue thereof-he maketh a God even his graven Image He falleth down to it and worshippeth it and prayeth unto it and saith Deliver me for thou art my God. See also Jer. 10. 3. Again Chap. 46. 6 7. They lavish Gold out of the Bag and weigh Silver in a Ballance and â—hire a Goldsmith and he maketh it a God they fall down yea they worship They bear him upon their Shoulders they carry him and set him in his place and he standeth and from his place he shall not remove yea one shall cry unto him yet can he not answer nor save him out of his trouble And why are not these and all other things wherein the Popish and Jewish Concerns about Images alike equally to be condemned For note that it is not to be imagined that either the Jews or Heathen were so stupid as to worship the Images before-mentioned as Gods themselves but as the Symbols of him whom they thought therâ—â—â— God and whom by consecration they thought to be in them or present with them and so worshipp'd them in relation to him For the Apostle says of the Heathens Rom. 1. 25. That they changed the Truth of God whom they knew vers 21. into a Lie and worshipped and served the Creature more than the Creator 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or besides the Creator who is blessed for ever Which implies that they worshipped the Creator but making these Images of him they worshipp'd them besides him or with him Which shows that Idolatry is consistent with the Worship of one Supreme God. And that worshipping the Images of this one Supreme God together with him was the Sin of the Heathen And therefore though the Papists likewise own and worship one Supreme God the Creator yet by worshipping his Images in relation to him or with him they may be guilty of Idolatry As the Men of Ephesus worshipp'd the Image which came down from Jupiter Acts 19. 35. So that they did not take the Image for Jupiter himself but as the Image of him whom they thought the Supreme God and as the Symbol of his Presence and so they accordingly worshipp'd it do not the Papists the same And it is evident that the Jews in worshipping the molten Calf intended their Worship to it not as being either a God really it self nor yet as an Image of an Egyptian or false God but as an Image of Jehova the True God and as the Symbol of his Presence with them Moses being as they thought quite gone from them and there being a Promise made just before his departure to send an Angel before them For they intended to worship that God in it that brought them out of Egypt And could they think that this Image did it before it was made or that an Egyptian God would work such a deliverance for them Besides Aaron proclaimed a Feast to Jehova upon the Day of its Consecration Exod. 32. And their Sacrifices to it were Sheep and Oxen which was an abomination to the Egyptians to offer Neither is this any where laid to their Charge that they fell to the Idolatry of worshipping false Gods as afterwards to Baal Peer Moâ—och Remphan c. Such also was the Worship given to the two Calves at Dan and Bethel set up by Jeroboam It was given to them as the Symbols of the true God. Jeroboam not intending thereby to forsake him but only to take Men off from going to Jerusalem to worship him which was contrary to his Interest He gives this as the only Reason 1 Kings 12. 27. If this People go up to do Sacrifice in the House of the Lord at Jerusalem then shall the Heart of this People turn again unto their Lord even unto