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
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
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
Scripture though it may be sadly observed a new way of spinning out discourses without any the least regard had to the Law and the Prophets Bring me hither the Ephed says David that Ephod from behind which he took his Sword and so it was consecrated for the Lord's battels thus doth he enquire of the Lord upon every enterprise and that in no other way then according to the Divine Institution with a linen Ephod The answer from God to him was either a speedy return of Peace and safety or else a sure caution certainly to prevent and escape the Danger Upon this doth Doog that wicked Edomite put forth his hand to fall upon the Priests of the Lord kills them onely to take possession of their inheritance and is Abiathar escaped unto David with the Ephod in his hand there was a strange Providence in the escape and a wonderful security unto Both in that flight 1 Sam 22.23 Abide with me says the King unto the Priest and fear not for he that seeketh my Life seeketh thy Life but with me thou shalt be in safeguard Both these for a while may be hunted after upon the mountains by the sons of violence and yet they travelling together in yea and persecuted through a wilderness shall even there find a Sanctuary at the Mount of God and in God's due time which is the best for Both these Two keeping still close together the Consecrated Sword in the hand of the One the lâ—nnen Ephod upon the breast of the Other the Kingdom shall be established in the hand of the One the Priesthood shall be confirmed to the house of the Other these are the suremercies of David and of the Son of David to them Both. But let not David in his prosperity forget the House of Abiathar which was afflicted with him in all his affliction nor let Abiathar in his eminency and prelacy be unmindful of the servants of David so oversee them as to overlook them who were formerly a security to him when he fled from the face of Tyranny and Oppression let Both together live in that mutual Dependance in which God hath set them carrying on the same design so advantagious to Both keeping as sacred this Vnion which I must still reinforce to be the Divine Institution lest the last errour prove worse then the first and again some rebellious Sheba do blow the Trumpet God in his mercy prevent such doleful Alarms that they never more be heard amongst us To your Tents O Israel we have no part in David nor inheritance in the son of Jess Now see to thine own House David And would David look well to his own House it must be by having a due regard unto and a tender care of the House of God Thus Psal 132.1 God remembers David and all his trouble in that this was his Oath unto the Lord this was his Vow unto the mighty God of Jacob that he would not come within the Tabernacle of his house nor climb up unto his Bed untill he found out a Place for the Lord and with this most pathetick repetition of the words of his vow an Habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. The instance in the Text is the conclusion of the whole matter v. 27. Aaron met Moses in the Mount of God and kissed him Oh happy interview Moses and Aaron mutually embracing locus honestat the very Place bespeaks both Love and Honour it was at the Mount of God and then the Ceremony denotes both Veneration and endearment Osculum dignitatis he kissed him as a Token of subjection to him thus acknowledging his Majesty and Supremacy deosculatus est ex amore he rejoiced in his heart when he saw him and because he loved him he gave the seal of his affections with his lips an intimation at this first greeting that his Mouth joyned unto those lips quasi coalescebant in Vnum Os was now become but One Mouth with which he was resolved to proclaim Liberty to the Captives and after that enjoyn obedience to those ransomed ones This was Aaron's promise unto Moses and that because of the Divine appointment the Brethren being doubly dear to each other both in the flesh and in the Lord that he would be Moses's Spokesman unto the People he would be even he would be unto him instead of a Mouth Moses embraceth Aaron in the Arms of Love and of Protection the Rod in his hand is a Scepter of favour held out as a token of good will and kind acceptance to him This is the Rod which shall be stretched out working wonders in the defence of the Priesthood Moses embracing him in his Arms assures him from his very heart to the heart of his Brother that they Two thus clasping together coalescebant in Vnum Hominem became now but One Man this being the Promise of Moses that he would never be unmindful of the Word of the Lord as an everlasting command upon him That he should be unto Aaron instead of God Appl. Let it be known this day that there is a God in Israel that this God is to be worshipped and that in the Administration of this worship the Priesthood is to be secured from Contempt to be had in honour for the works sake about which it doth converse I dare not in the least venture to give directions here he must not presume who is the meanest and unworthiest of all the sons of Aaron who hath not been Eloquent neither heretofore nor since the Word of the Lord came unto him but humbly beg we may and heartily in all Duty and Submission invoke we must the Assistance of the Secular Arm lest both our Message and our Persons be altogether despised Did I say our Message or our Persons alas we can easily venture both these through a bad or through a good report and be unconcerned But sad it is to behold that amongst those that are baptized Christians Atheism and Profaneness should so strangely overspread it self yea and that notwithstanding so many popular Discourses every where made about the Reasonableness of Religion hence it is that the Offerings of the Lord have been abhorred amongst us whilst irreligion and a licentious Libertinisme doth exalt it self above all that is called God or Good in the midst of us what means else the bleating of the Oxen of the Beasts of Bashan in our ears the continued murmurings and gainsayings of Core strange fire every where offered up whilst the Lamp burning bright in the Sanctuary is neglected and all this mischief from some of the sons of Levi pretended ones at least fomented by the dissentions of false Brethren men that cannot be contented with their present station but they lead aside the simple and the ignorant into Houses Oh! may our new Laws for which we bless God and have more and more cause to honour and obey Authority may these be executed and may our old Ones not quite antiquated be seasonably re-inforced and shall I humbly make one
request laying that and my self at the feet of Majesty in the behalf of the place from whence I came and for which I now serve Let not us the little children of the Prophets in the very Schools of the Prophets be exposed to the obstinate perverseness of ignorance and sedition Aaron's Mouth is opened for Moses to the People to declare his Authority as from God to be Sacred and Inviolable that he is not subject to Man nor the sons of men for any of his actions but to his own Master he must stand or fall even to God alone who hath appointed him it is yet open for Moses at the Mercy-seat before the holy Altar that he may be filled with Grace Wisdom and Vnderstanding in the execution of Justice and the maintenance of Truth And what may Aaron humbly expect in return from Moses nay what does the Lord God require of him but that Moses should be as God to secure unto God his Oblation the Morning and the Evening Sacrifice never to cease And is not all this for the Lord's sake for the Lord who hath preserved the Rod of Moses in strength and honour who hath confirmed his Blessing upon Aaron in that his Rod also hath budded and bloomed Blossoms and brought forth Almonds the fruits of Joy and Peace God hath as we do every day thankfully Commemorate it made the Horn of David though once cut down to flourish and sprout forth again he hath ordained a Lamp and a Light for his Anointed a Lamp from out of the Sanctuary to guide him in the ways of Peace and Truth that so he dash not his foot against any stone of stumbling which Schism and Rebellion may lay in his way he hath restored Majesty the Excellency of Majesty to his Prince He hath renewed Beauty the Beauties of Holiness to his Priests and we hope and pray that he hath given and will continue security the Certainty of Defence unto Both Oh that the people therefore would in the fear of God Honour the King and Reverence his Priests that so there may be a further lengthning of our tranquillity neither shall our iniquity our froward peevish iniquity be our utter ruine in vain shall we pretend Loyalty to Moses the Servant of the Lord if we vex Aaron the Saint of God What shall we quarrel at those who bring and at that Administration which doth dispence the Gospel of everlasting Peace How can we thus expect to be at peace amongst our selves May then the Throne be established in Righteousness even upon the Mount of God and may the Mount of God be guarded by the glorious and sure defence of Angels because of the Throne of him who is as God which is upon it thus as upon a Rock the Rock of Ages shall Church and Kingdom be built * nec Portae Gehennae nec Genevae as once by a happy mistake out of the vulgar that Text was read neither the Gates of Hell nor the Dark close designs of Schism and Sedition shall ever be able to prevail against them * In Gebennico lacu Mendum Typographi esi in Gehennico lacu Namque à Gehenna quid Gebenna dissidet Pia Hilaria Angel Gaz. impres Lond. pag. 68. I conclude all with those Pathetical Petitions which our holy Church hath put into our Mouths for better I cannot use and God accept them from the bottom of all our hearts O Lord Save the King And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee Endue thy Ministers whether of Justice in the State or Holiness in the Church with Righteousness And so shalt thou make thy chosen people joyful Da pacem in diebus nostris Give Peace in our time O Lord For whether it be against open violence and force offered from abroad or against secret Treachery and privy Conspiracy fomented at home whether against professed Enemies or meerly pretending Friends the worst of Enemies there is no other fighteth for us but only Thou O God To this onely wise God who is alone able to make us understand our own happiness by keeping us in the strict and solemn observance of Vniformity at Vnity amongst our selves that so to Prince Priests and People there may be but One heart and One mind in the Fear of him in Love and Duty to one another To the Author of our Peace and of every good and perfect gift amongst us To Father Son and Holy Ghost Three Persons and One God be ascribed of us of all Angels and all men The Kingdom the Power and the Glory Dominion and Adoration World without end Amen SOLOMONS PORCH frequented by the APOSTLES Act. 5. part of the 12 13 14. verses being a part of the Epistle for St. Bortholomew's day 12. And by the hands of the Apostles were many signes and wonders wrought among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch 13. And of the rest durst no man joyn himself to them but the people magnified them 14. And Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women OF St. Bartholomew the Apostle at this â—ime to be commemorated St. Mat. 10.3 St. Mar. 3.18 St. Luk. 6.14 we read but little in holy Scripture only his name three or four times mentioned to wit that he was numbered with the twelve Apostles and so ordained by Christ himself to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom even Repentance and Remission of sins in the name of Jesus unto all nations beginning at Jerusalem Accordingly we find Him with the rest Act. 1.13 taking his part of that Ministry and Apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell concontinuing with them in prayer and supplication and with them also waiting for the Promise of the Father till they should be endued with farther power from on high and so upon the whole it is on all hands believed that this Apostle was unto the last a faithful witness of Jesus and of his Resurrection Upon the consideration of all which our Holy Mother the Church of England in this Festival has little or no regard to Legendary Fictions what might be guessed either of this Apostles person or of his conversation from his Name Whither he were not of noble extraction the Son of Ptolemy or as some will have it like Moses of old a Prophet so he an Apostle Filius aquae ductus sive aquae suspensae taken up and drawn out of the waters into which being cast the stream retired and gave back nec potuit extingui quin amnem repressit as the Historian Lucius Florus writes of Romulus he could not be drowned for he did as it were force the waters from him nec adiri usque ad justi cursum poterat amnis neither at this time could the flowing stream reach unto its wonted height Also what might be said of his success in his Ministery where and unto whom he preached the Gospel quae regio in terris For what nation under heaven was he reserved to be from
there is one reason more to raise our esteem for such Solemn Conventions as were at this time in Solomon's Porch we are to Magnifie that which is administred and those who do officiate in it because in doing so we may turn away many sinners from the errors of their ways save their souls from death and hide a multitude of sins we may save our selves and those with whom we do converse when they shall behold our meek Conversation as to God and his service coupled with Reverence and Fear This was the truest Respect the choicest Reverence that was here given not barely an Ecstatical Enthusiastical rapid admiration but such a one as had an influence on the course of this life in the hopes of a Better all was in order to salvation Which is the Fourth part of the Text and the subject of the last Discourse The Fourth SERMON The great Benefit which did accrue to the whole Community from the Reverence which was here exhibited or rather from the whole Dispensation at this present BEcause of the judgment from God inflicted which was grievous because of the Signes and Wonders wrought which were terrible because of the publick Convention the place of their meeting their behaviour there all which were holy because of the due distance observed which was solemn because of the awfull Reverence exhibited which was beautiful and glorious because of the Providence of God exerted which was miraculous but yet Constant all these things did work together for good to those who should be saved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Believers were the more added to the Lord Multitudes of men and women So that already you may percieve that this last Discourse is to be confined to these two particulars 1. To consider what was the occasion of this great Benefit implyed in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rather or the more and so referring to all those circumstances but now enumerated all contributing to the increase of their Number who were the general Assembly of the first-born Secondly What this great Benefit it self was more particularly and closely to be examined and that in these following Particulars all within the compass of the words themselves First A Conversion or an Effectual Calling 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some that were added and that in an External Communion because they were added therefore the increase of their number was visible added to the Lord but so as to be known in and acknowledged by the Church Secondly a due qualification and that internal in the heart but still in order to an outward profession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They were Believers in the Lord added to the Churches Communion and there holding the Faith which was once delivered to them Thirdly For their Number the Benefit great because it was diffusive the Redemption was the more precious because intimated that it might be Vniversal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They were Multitudes Fourthly No respect of Persons in relation unto Sex in Christ Jesus it is not Male nor Female but a New Creature the weaker Vessel has here its equal honour and proportionable too in its number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There were Multitudes as of Men so of Women of honourable and vertuous Women and of holy Men not a few Fifthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all this the rather which is again to be considered in relation to the Subject capable of this great benefit the rather because of what they saw and what they heard and so it may denote in these Multitudes an Act of free choice and mature deliberation they saw what was done and they heard what was spoke and were convinced of all so that it was an Act of their judgment and of their reason in that they delivered themselves up to the obedience of their Faith Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes of Men and Women First To begin with that which is in the Text both first and last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The rather did this great Benefit accrue or the more was it enhanced occasion being given for this increase because of those various circumstances ennumerated all which wrought together for the good of those who should be saved by all which God was pleased to add unto the number of those who were to be blessed in glory everlasting I shall only touch upon each of the forementioned circumstances conducing to this happy increase and so apply the main scope of the former Discourses to the intent that holiness may be promoted Diffusive love and universal Charity may be increased and that the God of Order may be glorified in the hearts of all men First Because of the judgment from God inflicted upon the sin of Sacrilege which was grievous hence Believers were the more added to the Lord and those Multitudes ver 11. Fear came upon the whole Church Ob recentem adhuc ex prodigioso Ananiae interitu metum id tamen progressui Evangelii non obfuit the surprise was sudden and yet still conuinued timor fecit Deum the Gospel of God was glorified from the fears of those who were affrightned the terrours of the Lord did work kindly in order to a through and a pure perswasion Psal 110.2 This was the rod of strength out of Sion in that Christ and his word should rule in medio inimicorum in the midst round about and over all his enemies in the day of so dreadful a power the People were a willing People Fear is properly the coarctation of the Spirits upon any surprise summoning them from the more distant parts of the body to the relief of the nobler parts of the heart chiefly which is the principle seat of life and so it might seem here in the Vnion of the Body of the Church assembled they sought God in the way of his judgments at the dreadful effects of which they could not but be affrightned as men and yet as Christians they did hence take occasion to pluck up their Spirits the more earnestly to attend upon the service of their God securing in the first place the integrity of their Souls towards him in so much that should God kill them all the day long exhibiting himself in nothing but the sad expressions of his wrath that he is a jealous God and a Consuming fire yet they did all of them humbly resolve as one man to put their trust in him Not unlike to this was that glorious and Beneficial effect of the Divine Displeasure against those Exorcists who Sacrilegiously arrogated to themselves the Apostolical gift presuming to cast out Devills in the Name of Jesus saying We adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul Preacheth the evil Spirit knew both the Master and his Servant Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are ye and leaping upon them he prevailed against them so that they fled away naked and wounded The result of all which Act. 19.17 was that when this came to be known to the Jews and the Greeks dwelling at Ephesus
their people for without a little Dissimulation their could be neither Living nor Livelinood But certainly God has no need of such mens Hypocrisie to Manifest his Glory nor the Church of their Dissimulation to preserve its peace He that is a Friend to all Religions or to all perswasions in Religion so far that according to the circumstances of his life he can ingage in or defend any of them is in truth of no Religion at all he is ready to Apostatize with Julian and should there arise an eleventh Persecution against Christianity he is never like to be either a Resolute Confessour for the truth he has own'd or a Faithful Martyr for the Faith into which he was baptized but this will be his sad Conversion quite contrary to the blessed alteration which was in St. Paul Is not this he that preached Christ but now he destroys all those who call upon that name delivering them up to bonds and imprisonment even to death it self God grant that we may never know such times as will put these men to their tryal and he preserve and continue his Church in Unity and Uniformity amongst us that it never stand in need of them to be Champions for its Faith or Discipline But whither such an eager industrious sollicitude of being indifferent of appearing all things to all men wresting St. Pauls practice as bad as they have done his writings out of a desire not to gain Proselytes but credit and profit to themselves I say whether such a zealous studious luke-warmness in things sacred and holy is not in the direct consequence of it a pre-requisite disposing a man to turn Jew Turk Pagan Infidel any thing does not in the formal notion of it promote Atheisme both in practice and speculation I leave this to the Disputers of this World to the curious speculative heads of our times seriously and soberly to consider But as for us let us be careful of a Temporary Faith of a Religion ours in the profession of it only because suited to the Climate we live in and the air we breath in to the popular breath we daily suck to the soil of the Countrey to the humours of Multitude Let us be stedfast in our holy Profession persevere in the way of Godliness as knowing that Pure Religion is to keep our selves unspotted from the World it is Heaven-born God on high is Worshiped and man upon Earth is saved in the celebration of it this being our Assurance that we are accepted and a comfortable satisfaction to us that our zeal is rightly qualified when in the integrity of our hearts and the uprightness of our soul it is as permanent as it is passionate it is the same continued flame bright and pure to the last bending it self one way tending upwards though it be fire it is not seated beneath the concave of the Moon I mean spent upon sublunary changing perishing Designes but it is cherished by influenced upon and clothed with the Sun of Righteousness and the reward of its Constancy shall be Everlasting Felicity for him who is thus piously zealous unto Death there is laid up a Crown of Life And so I pass to the 2. Reason of this Apostolical approbation and that Taken from the habit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It must be alwayes And here as in the Application of the first Discourse was mentioned we must be careful that we distinguish the habit of zeal from the constitution of the Body whether it be not the overflowing of the Gall rather than the result of Grace from the heart True indeed being called unto Grace and Holiness whatsoever were our passions before they are Crucified now with Christ in mortification and with him they are risen again and sanctified unto his service and so our zeal may at the same time be in some sort the natural temper of our Bodies and the pious frame of our Minds but then in other circumstances of life our zeal for Charity must alwayes take place of Passion neither must the Sun at any time set somnum nec rixa facit nor are the shadows of the night to be spread over our wrath So then be our Constitution what it will if in the personal occurrences of our lives our Moderation be known unto all men our zeal for God and Religion because perpetually the same is therefore Good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it must be Alwaies Thunder does root up Foundations the effects of it are as dreadful as the noise is terrible but then the Lightning which doth accompany it is momentany it is but a sudden flash and we see it again no more There is a Madzeal or a Phrenzy rather like Thunder it pretends that it will clear the air when it makes the earth to tremble nothing but Desolation and overturning where-ever the Bolt lights it makes havock of all before it be it never so pleasant or desireable but the Lightning transcient the promising overtures are but some sudden glances which have more of terror and amazement than of comfort and refreshment we see them indeed or hear of them no sooner are they seen or heard but no where are they to be found whereas a Holy zeal is like the Sun breaking through a cloud though intercepted with the mists and foggs of errour and seduction yet it will make its way and spread the day where e're it comes it ariseth in its strength and in its beauty and rejoyceth to run its course it s going forth is from Heaven and its Circuit to the end of it again and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof such a thing is a pious zeal like unto the Ordinances of Heaven abiding the same for ever day after day tells the World its Piety and night after night in a satisfactory contemplation upon its own constancy sheweth unto the Devout Soul that such a zeal thus fixed and unalterable is according unto Godliness True zeal is not like Herods Devotion who sometimes heard John Baptist gladly and for his sake when the humour took him did many things that were good it is not like Agrippa's half Perswasion and yet not perswaded to be a Christian very near and so the farther from the Kingdom of Heaven it is not like Felix his pannick fit of trembling while he hears St. Paul reasoning of Temperance of Righteousness and of Judgment to come soon shaked off in a colder Dismission go thy way for this time when I have a more convenient season I will send for thee it is not a sudden motion an ecstatical rapture an impetus that may cast Saul himself amongst the Prophets it is not a hot burning fit which comes and goes as some unhealthy humours ferment more or less in the Body or wild fancys work disturbedly and confusedly in the brain such a zeal as this which is not constant to it self is not unlike to Sauls evil Spirit when the Lord was departed from him it wants Davids Harp the sweet Singer of Israel the
Musick of the Sanctuary and the Songs of Sion to lay it nay and as the fit may take him the Javelin may be cast at David himself because of his Musick though a watchful eye and a speedy flight may prevent the danger whilst the hole out of the Wall is indication sufficient of the madness of the thrower This is the unaccountable Phrenzy of some whose zeal for they know not what would knock a mans brains out only for a wen in his fore-head who drive furiously like Iehu not at all considering what they trample upon or Desolations they leave behind them and then when it is too late they bethink themselves and look backwards they tell us they never thought it would have come to this they confess that they have done a great deal more then ever they intended and at length after all this mischief they will now sit down and be quiet never thinking of asking God forgiveness or giveing the Church satisfaction for the Schisms they have made now they are in the other extream as indifferent as before they were violent luke-warm indeed the heat if any is spent the wrong way But on the contrary that zeal which is Good is with Reverence be it spoke like unto Jesus the Author of its Faith it is the same Yesterday to day and for ever the same yesterday when it was cherished and countenanced in prosperity and the same yesterday too when it was threatned and frowned upon in adversity the same to day being restored to honour and to favour and the same to day too should it be laid aside as useless or troublesome whilst Schism and Rebellion is to be cajoled if not rewarded the same for ever owning the Axiome to be true though the deduction somewhat hard and disingenuous that They who have already been approved in Affliction and Tribulation so manifesting their Piety to God their Allegiance to their Prince and their Devotion to the Church act by one and the same Principle still and this Principle will keep them honest must therefore the constant performance of their Duty be the only reward of their zeal and that zeal is yet again the same for ever ready to incounter all manner of difficulties as if it had never been disobliged such a zeal is good which is thus permanent it is like the fire upon the Altar a constant flame of love before it s kept alive whilst hid in the Embers of its own loyalty and fidelity under it breaks forth to its wonted brightness and lustre after Captivity though it consumes the Zealot yet it changes not and after all that has been said the word in the Text is emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is Always one and the same and though sometime reflecting upon it self with comfort it may innocently and justly have an eye to the recompence of reward whether temporal or eternal yet it is not an eye service as before Men it is a holy zeal out of singleness of heart as pleasing God which is the Third and Last Reason of this Apostollical approbation taken from the occasion of expressing it not only when I your Apostle am present with you That zeal which is Good though its habit be as constant as is the Object of it universally good it is alway the same temper and frame of mind yet withal it is discreet as well as vehement it will then chiefly take occasion to shew it self when there is most need of it when the Spiritual Apostle or Pastor is out of the way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not only out of fear because of my Authority and jurisdiction when I am present but out of love to the thing it self should I be absent from you This is that which our chief Apostle as having the care over all the Churches the great Doctor of the Gentiles did give in charge in most of his Epistles to the several Churches which he had planted That they should be careful to manifest unto all the World that they had received the Truth of the Gospel in the love of it in that their stedfastness to the Faith be one and the same though he should not be locally present with them shaking the Rod of his jurisdiction over them thus were the Churches Centures to be managed at Corinth upon the incestuous person 1 Cor. 53. I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one to Satan and to the same Corinthians who took it for granted that the Apostle had a coercive power over them he gives them their option that according to their Behaviour during his absence so should his Presence with them be 1 Cor. 4.21 What will ye it is in your own power to make me welcome at my coming shall I come unto you with a Rod that is in the severity of Discipline over you or in the spirit of Meekness in the affability and courteousness of conversation with you and what was wanting in the Corinthians this same Apostle commends as praise worthy in his Colossians Chap. 11.5 Though I be absent in the flesh yet I am with you in the spirit joying and beholding your Order and the stedfastness of your Faith in Christ It was the same Caution which he gave to the Philippians Chap. 1.27 Let your Conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one spirit striving together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is contending with eagerness and zeal for the faith of the Gospel and to these Philippians also with this caution he gives them witness bearing Testimony for them that they had been constant thereby to incourage their future perseverance Chap. 2.12 Wherefore my beloved as ye have alwayes obeyed not in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling By all which it is evident that that zeal is to be suspected for Hypocrysie which is only suited to time place and person which is then exerted when such persons are present who either have a power over or an influence upon us but these being withdrawn immediately we grow as cold and as indifferent as ever the Ruler having turned his back the Servant presently alters the Copy of his Countenance It was an Heathens advice that we should imagine our selves in the presence of Socrates or some other rigid exemplar of vertue which may be a restraint upon us that we do not at any time transgress the Rule of our duty but that Philosopher came nearer the Dictates of Christianity who gave us this in Counsel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythag. Aur. Carm. That above all things we have a Reverence for our selves