institution neither would S. Paul have created Timothie and Titus Bishops the one of Ephesus the other of Crete nor would the spirit of God but have cryed out against it when those seven Churches of Asia were sharply taxed for their faults For certaine it is that albeit they were governed by Bishops yet is there nothing spoken against either their admitting or retaining of such a government Nay let me adde that Philip preached and baptized and converted Samaria but had not the power to ordaine them Pastours and therefore Peter and Iohn are sent to impose hands and give the holy Ghost as in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles may be read at large And secondly concerning Gods house that it should not be differenced from another place was a long while since the prophane opinion of the Eustasian hereticks and of the Messalians after them But that the streame of this filthy wickednesse might be the better stopped this we know This Councell was in the yeare of our Lord 324. that about 1313 years since at Gangra a towne in Paphlagonia there was a Councell held wherein this heretick was confuted and hee with the rest of his opinion accursed The Fathers of which Councell in their subscription after their Canons among other things have these words Wee honour say they the houses of God and assemblies which are in them as holy and profitable And afterwards in the daies of Charles the great there was a * Viz. Canon 38. To which our 18 Canon well agreeth and both to that of S. Paul in 1 Cor. 11. Canon made in the Councell of Towrs wherein the people were required to behave themselves reverently in Churches And in the next Canon of the said Councell as also in the Councell of Mentz which was celebrated in the same yeare no Iudgement seats might be allowed to be either in Churches or their porches And in the 48 Canon of that at Mentz there was order taken that no wanton songs might bee sung neere unto a Church Canon 52 Nor might any one except a Bishop or worthy Priest or a religious faithfull Laick bee buried in a Church The like things were done at the Councell of Arles so also in the Councell of Starburg Canon 17. which was 86 yeares after it Long before which times of Charles the Emperour Iustinian Evag lib. 4. cap. 17. about the yeare of our Lord God * See Calviius in Chron. 534. would not receive into his Treasurie the vessels of gold which Titus took out of the Temple when it was destroyed but sent them to the Christian Bishops of Ierusalem there to bee disposed of as they themselves thought meete There was a Councell afterwards viz. the third Councell of Bracara * Helvic Alsted in Cronoâ— about the yeare of our Lord 675. which tooke order also concerning holy vessels for in the second Canon of the said Councell it was decreed that Vessels dedicated to God should not be abused nor applyed to secular and humane uses Neither is it but to be admired how zealous the Emperour Constantinus Magnus was Euseb de vita Const libr. 4. cap. 56. Et Socrat lib. 1. cap. 14. for being about to make warre with the Persians hee caused a Tabernacle or moving Temple to be made to carry with him that thereby he might alwayes have a holy place and house for his God sanctified and prepared for religious worship Nor may this seeme strange for as the Iewes had a moving house for their God sutable to their owne condition whilst they lived in their Tents So he being to goe from home provided a Tabernacle to doe his worship in whereas at other times he had standing Temples or Churches and these built even for their forme of fabrick in some sort imitable to their fixed Temple at Ierusalem For the primitive Christians were such followers of Antiquitie rather then incliners unto noveltie that they built their Churches with such distinction of Courts and places although not for the same uses as Salomon did his Temple For as the Iewes had their Atrium exterius their Atrium interius Sanctum and Sanctum Sanctorum so had the first Christians their Locus Poenitentium Auditorium presbyterium and Sacrarium Nay to goe a little higher Euseb lib. 6. cap. 33. when the Emperour Philip favoured the Christians and would have gladly joyned with them hee might not bee permitted suddenly untill hee had first stood in Loco poenitentium because in many things hee was still faultie Nay higher yet for in the dayes of S. Paul when the Corinthians had prophaned the Church which was at Corinth they were reprehended for it 1 Cor. 11.21 22. Shall I praise you in this saith the Apostle I praise you not Howbeit things are now growne to such a passe that if God bee not served slovenly wee are judged to be guiltie of superstition or Idolatrie Or if wee respect the Church as the house of God and will not suffer it to be prophaned nor come into it but with feare and reverence then wee are all for Poperie and I cannot tell what L. Archbish of Canterb. speech in Star-Cham Iune 14. 1637. But I pray God saith our chiefe and reverend Prelate that the time come not upon this Kingdome in which it will be found that no one thing hath advanced or ushered in Poperie so fast as the grosse absurdities even in the worship of God which these men and their like maintaine both in opinion and practise And certainely this is a feare which stands upon too good a ground Slight it not therefore but rather esteeme that to bee a religious care which earnestly desires a timely prevention For as another once also a maine pillar of Gods Church among us hath discovered there is nothing which doth more retaine many in recusancie then want of due reverence in the house of God Bish Andr. in a Sermon upon Philip. 2.10 and at his holy worship I am privie saith he there is no one thing doth more alien those that of a simple mind refuse the Church then this that they see so unseemly behaviour so small reverence shewed this way But sure the Apostle * See the 1 Cor. 14.25 telleth us our cariage there should be such so decent as if a stranger or unbeleever should come into our assemblies the very reverence hee seeth there should make him fall downe and say Verely God is among us to see us so respectively beare ourselves in the manner of our worship And therefore though * Hee was an Ambassadour in the beginning of King James his raigne for K. Henry 4. of France See the Conference at Hampton Court pag. 38. Marquesse Rosney spoke home and fully in regard of what hee saw at the Court and Canterbury viz. That if the reformed Churches in France had kept the same orders among them that wee have hee was assured there would have beene in that Countrie many
c. 25. but God that is worshipped Furthermore Socrates also reporteth that Alexander Bishop of Constantinople Ad Altare progressus humi coram sacra Mensa se in faciem prostravit meaning that comming to the Altar hee cast himselfe on his face or bowed to the ground before that Holy Table Or as * Viz. Hee who was the authour of the Holy Table pag. 194. Sozom. lib. 1. cap. 28. some translate it out of the Greeke Copie Hee came into the Quire or Chancell and bowed before the Holy Table Sozomen makes mention that his prostration was when he came Ad Basin Altaris at the foot of the Altar Ad basin Altaris procidens totam noctem pronus humi jacebat And in the dayes of the fift generall Councel the Archbishop of the foresaid place exhorted the people to doe their accustomed reverence or to adore at the holy Altar Also in the dayes of Saint Ambrose Theod. lib. 5. cap. 17. the Emperour is put in mind of the difference of places And againe did not the reverence of Holy Altars prevaile so farre with the furious Souldiers and barbarous Goths that as the said Ambrose telleth us they willingly fell downe and kissed them Ambr. lib. 5. Epist 33. And if you thinke that this act of their was more then needed I answer that there is an honour due likewise to the very things themselves which consisteth in a Veneration or a reverent using of whatsoever belongeth to Gods House and chiefly of those things which have most relation to his holy worship otherwise wee should bee absolute allowers of prophanation and be in a manner as bad as those whom our Saviour himselfe drove away from out of his Fathers House More testimonies might bee alledged but these are enough and too many perhaps may some man thinke who careth not to tread in the steps of the holy Fathers And yet even the authour of the Holy Table thinketh that they did it decently and devoutly as may bee seene at the 193. page of his booke affirming more fully some certaine * See pag. 99. pages before that although the Canon doth not enjoyne it yet reason pietie and the constant practise of Antiquitie doth That Church-men doe it in Saint Chrysostomes Liturgie and the Lay-men are commanded to doe it in Saint Chrysostomes Homilie bequeathing them to Donatus who can practise all manner of Curtesies for Maskes and Dances but none by any meanes for Christ at their approach to the Holy Table Whereupon hee doth not so much accept against this kind of worship as that the Communion Table should be called by the name of Altar a poore quarrell and such as Antiquitie knowes not how to countenance It had beene good therefore if our Church had never beene troubled with such verball contentions But to give satisfaction in this let us looke among the Antients for our better quiet And first I will begin with the second or as some divide them the third of the Apostles Canons where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Altar is twice used for the Holy Table Ignatius also in his Epistles ad Philadelphenses Trallenses and Ephesies hath the same word for the same thing Iustin Martyr and Irenaeus are well enough knowne to call the Eucharist Iren. lib. 4. c. 20. c. 34. both an oblation and a Sacrifice and therefore not to bee doubted but that they called the place or seate thereof as well as their Predecessours and suecessours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertullian likewise in that testimonie of his already mentioned as also in * Lib. de Orat in sine other of his writings used the word Altar for the Communion Table And Saint Cyprian in many of his Epistles Viz. Epist 42.55.64.70.73 c. doth the like So also doth Euscbius who lived in the daies of that famous Constantine Ambrose also Ambr. lib. 5. Epist 33. who was in the dayes of Theodosius a second Constantine saith no lesse And in Gregorie Nissen the like phrase is * Viz Serm. de baptismo Quid est Altare niss sedes corporis sanguinis Christi Optat lib. 6. used So also Saint Austin Optatus and generally so many others as cannot without tediousnesse be related Howbeit this must be remembred that as a worthy * Mr. Meade in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex Chrysost Hom. Quod Chrislus est Deus authour hath declared Saint Chrysostome affirmes it of our British Ilands saying The Britssh Ilands which lie out of this Sea and are in the Ocean it selfe have felt the power of the Word for even there also Churches and Altars are erected Now if in these testimonies the Apostles Canons bee misliked it cannot bee in respect of the first of them but rather that some other were added to them and continued under the same title still Or if the place of Saint Paul to the Corinthians be objected where hee saith 2 Cor. 10.12 You cannot communicate of the Table of the Lord and of the Table of Divels It is answered that there is another place equall to it in Heb. 13.10 where hee also saith Wee have an Altar whereof they have no right to eate who serve the Tabernacle Not that the materials of the Table or Altar can bee eaten but that they who come to the holy Communion participate of that which is there consecrated and from thence distributed And indeed we communicate from the Altar as from an Holy Table of that heavenly banquet which in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is afforded to us And from the Table as from an holy Altar wee offer unto God the Memorie of that Sacrifice which his dearely beloved Sonne once offered upon the Crosse And so though wee have neither any bloudy Sacrifice as among the Iewes nor any unbloudy propitiatorie Sacrifice offered for the Quick and the Dead as among the Papists yet wee have a commemorative Sacrifice done in remembrance of Christ and of his death and Passion And therefore one and the same thing may bee called both A Table and an Altar A Table for the Lords Supper and an Altar for the Memoriall Sacrifice of our Lords death Or will you have it yet more full and plaine then know that as the Apostle in the one place calls the Altar of the Pagans by the name of Table so in the * Viz. 1 Cor. 10.21 other place hee calls the Table of the Christians by the name of Altar * Viz. Heb. 13.10 For as hee compares cating with eating so also Altar with Altar or Table with Table using the appellation with indifferencie as wee also find in some other places of the Booke of God viz. Ezek. 41.22 and Malach. 1.7 Nor againe if things bee well weighed can it but probably appeare that Christ in Math. 5.23 taught Christians that even in the dayes of the Gospell there should bee something still which should beare the name of Altar in the holy place of their Assemblies
at which they might not offer except they were in perfect love and unitie one with another For in that Sermon where this dutie is commanded the Precepts given were not legall but Evangelicall it being a degree above the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees to seeke such peace as was then preached upon the Mountaine No tradition of the Elders or other Law being knowne to urge any such direction as was there delivered Whereupon considering one thing with another it may bee concluded as in a plaine case that by both names that sacred seate of the body and bloud of our Saviour as Optatus stileth it hath beene promiscuously and indifferently called from the first beginning of the Christian Church They goe wrong therefore who will be led by vulgar opinion and astonished by popular reports of they know not what Rome indeed hath made many things offensive to ignorant eares But it is neither vulgar opinion feare nor heare say that can disprove a truth For as shee seekes no corners so being suffered to display her colours shee cleares her selfe against all sorts of opposites bee their temper what it will To returne then to the matter in hand Antiquitie and that grounded upon Scripture takes from it as well as from what is appendant to it all and every just aspersion of innovation And verily those Sainted times loved the great God of Heaven and Earth too well to love any thing like him They knew him to bee a jealous God and therefore did not adore the thing or place toward which they worshipped but God alone to whom this homage is due Just Mart. ad Orthod quaest 118. See also Terâ—ul Apol. c. 16. Orig sup NuÌ„ Hom. 5. Basil de spirit sanct c. 27. Aug. de Serm. Dom. in Mont. lib. 2. c. 19. cum mulâ—is aliis It cannot bee saith Iustin Martyr that at the time of our Prayer wee should looke at all the parts of heaven at once therefore we worship looking towards one part viz. the East Not that that is only of Gods making or that hee hath chosen that only for his dwelling but because it is the place appointed for that worship and service which wee performe to God Adding moreover that from whom the Church received the custome of praying from them also it received where to pray that is from the Apostles Thus that godly Father and blessed Martyr who was famous about 117 yeares after Christs Passion expresly witnessing that this order came first from the Apostles viz. that Christians direct their aspect towards the East when they pray or worship Tertullian witnesseth the same order and so doth Origen Athanasius Basil Gregorie Nissen Saint Austin Damascen with many others Nor can the Centurie writers but affirme it most of our Churches excepting some of late being built for scituation accordingly From which direction thus delivered was clearely shewed that albeit in the Iewish Tabernacle and Temple the Westerne part thereof was chiefe yet not so in the Christian Churches for in ours the Easterne part must be preferred And as with them the Westerne part was chiefe because the Mercie seate was there so with us the Easterne part because the Holy Table is placed here And for the scituation of both these there was just cause why they should bee rather so then otherwise For the Iewes wee know were in the times of darknesse in comparison of our times of light Their Tabernacle therefore and Temple had the place of highest Majestie in the West towards which they looked for want of the Sunnes appearance Christ was then unborne But wee are in the dayes of a better light the Sunne is risen and visiteth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—s the Day or Easterne light from on high Luke 1.78 Wee therefore in acknowledgement thereof turne our faces toward the East have there the place of highest Majestie and by turning thither professe our times to be the times of light To which may be added that of Damascen Damas de Orthod fid lib. 4. c. 13. affirming that when Christ hanged upon the Crosse hee was placed so as that his face looked into the West and therefore could not be seene but of those whose faces were directed towards the East Which together with the former was also a reason why the Christians had cause to preferre the Easterne part of their Churches before the Westerne and to place the Altar of their commemorative Sacrifice rather there then else-where Yea and further because the Divell is Gods Ape the Pagans looked into the West as well as the Iewes That therefore in opposition to the one as well as the other wee may renounce the Divell whom they served in their heathenish Idolatrie as well as the religion of the Iewes who denie Christ to be come wee turne to the East and so enter a covenant with the Sunne of righteousnesse And of this last Saint Ambrose among other of the Fathers speakes after this manner Thou art turned to the East because hee who renounceth the Divell is converted to Christ and beholds him directo obtuitu with a direct aspect Vnto which custome as is probably supposed Saint Iohn seemeth to allude in Revelat. 7.2 For there the Angell ascends from the East to meet and embrace them that looke towards him and seale them with the safetie of that Sacrament by which Christians seale their service unto him as in Master Yates is well observed Here therefore wee are to seate the Holy Table as in its proper place Nor was it ever otherwise among Christians when they might bee suffered to doe as they would except in some particular Churches which can be no fit president to be opposed against a generall practise And thus as I can see no reason why any should bee offended at a decent and holy reverence when wee come into the House of God which all Religions have beene carefull to performe so much lesse that they should grudge against it when wee doe it towards that place where the high and heavenly Mysteries of our salvation are to be consecrated and celebrated with all the solemnitie and devotion wee can possibly imagine Here it is that wee have our perfectest communion with God It begins indeed in Baptisme but ends in the Lords Supper for higher wee cannot goe till wee come in heaven and they are the best Saints that are admitted to it at the least wee judge them such because such they should be For though all may come to the Word and be present at our ordinarie Service yet when this commeth all but the faithfull must bee gone Ite Missaest was that which was said of old yea and still the unworthy are not to bee admitted but the rest invited to come and draw neere that they may receive this Sacrament to their comfort and have that high advancement of being fed at Gods owne Boord with the body and bloud of his beloved Sonne Say not therefore any longer Why are not the Font Deske or Pulpit
as holy as the Table for this is the highest advancement that a Christian hath and although the Lord bee present in all his holy Ordinances yet here more specially insomuch that the Holy Table or Altar must upon necessitie bee evermore taken as the great signe of his presence as carrying with it the highest relation thereunto Shall we come into these houses saith one and neere those places as wee come into a common Inne or Ale-house is there no respect no regard to be shewed in the one above the other I thinke reason and discretion will teach us the contrarie For as another also speakes it is just that that place have a preheminence above the rest from which vertue and efficacie is derived to the rest for all benefits and mercies to bee dispensed to us come from the death of Christ which as is most certaine is represented there This place therefore may bee well esteemed as a Mercie Seate where God according to his being in such holy places may bee said to sit graciously reconciling a sinner to himselfe by the bloud of his Sonne For though in Baptisme there bee some externall resemblance of Christ crucified yet here more fully and therefore specially commanded to bee done in memorie of his Passion Yea here I say the speciall place of Majestie and that so as it may be well esteemed as a Mercie seate For in briefe that I may recapitulate the summe of all First as even that thing or place which is dedicated to the highest office in our worship or to the most sacred Mysterie of our religion must needs be the Most holy although not by any internall inherent qualitie infused transforming the nature of it but by an externall adherent qualitie in relation to the businesse about which it is used or for which it is set apart So also secondly In what part or place wee have the most lively demonstration of his Presence there must be the very highest degree thereof and so the highest Court of or for his Holinesse wherein the resemblance or Monument of his Residence standeth not as an Image but as a signe or testimonie even as the Arke was the signe of his presence in the Temple For now the greatest signe of Gods residence in his holy place is the Altar or Holy Table call it which you will even as the Arke was heretofore the signe of his presence in the Temple Toward this part therefore I say a more awfull reverence is required then towards or in any other part beside For in a word to shut up this although it were griefe enough to the ancient Christians to see any part of their Churches violated or prophaned by the Pagans yet that they should violate this Holy Place was a great Cordolium indeed and did augment their sorrow to the very full Whereupon Saint Chrysostome complaines after this manner writing to Innocent the first Bishop of Rome Neither was here saith he an end of those things for the Souldiers entred even into the very Sanctuarie Some whereof wee know were not so much as initiated in Divine Mysteries and there they saw those things which were within Yea and the most holy bloud of Christ was spilt upon the garments of the foresaid Souldiers as it falleth out in such a tumult And thus much for Reverence in entring THE next concernes our Deportment being entred all the time the Service is in doing Now this must bee such as becommeth those who either speake unto God or have God speaking unto them For as in hearing God commeth neere unto us so in Prayer we come neere unto him And if so as so it is then surely bold and lazie postures are unsufferable and irreverent gestures more then unseemely Some may not sit when others stand or scorne to bend when others kneele 1 Cor. 11. â— Saint Paul who would have all things to bee done decently and in order forbids the covering of the head and would that hee who made the whole man should bee worshipped of the whole For as wee must shew our faith by our workes in like manner our inward humiliation devotion and honour to our God must bee sure to appeare in our * 1 Cor. 6.20 outward gestures and comely postures at his holy service God expects that we serve in both soule and body For as the second without the first is a dead oblation so the first without the second is but a maimed offering Which agrees to that of Saint Paul in another place With the heart man beleeveth Rom. 10.101 and with the tongue hee confesseth Or more plainly to that of David Oh come Psal 95.6 let us worship and fall downe and kneele before the Lordour Maker Or if you will to that of Saint Paul yet once againe saying Rom. 12.1 I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that yee give up your bodyes as well as your soules a living sacrifice The second Precept speakes as much For if wee may not bow unto an Image because God is a jealous God then without question we must in such parts of his service as require it bow and fall downe when wee worship Him Did not the Divell therefore thinke it a great point of honour to have our Saviour shew his worship and reverence towards him by falling down in worshiping of him He did not say It sufficeth if thou wilt but inwardly adore me Math. 4.9 But All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall downe and worship mee And in heaven Revel 4.10 as Saint Iohn saw it represented to him is not God worshipped by the bowings or fallings downe of those that bee there Verely as I have already shewed Heaven is alwayes like it selfe The Church Militant is a kind of heaven upon earth and therefore the Congregations in it must imitate the Assemblies which are Triumphant Here wee must take no knowledge of either Father or Mother Master or Dame or other of our Betters so as wee leave Gods service and rise from our knees to honour them For they that doe thus seeme to say to God Almightie Stay a while I shall bee for thee againe anonne My Master and Mistris are not yet in their seates I am now standing up unto them and will by and by kneele downe againe unto thee But whoever they bee who have used to doe thus must if they doe as they ought doe so no more For if they doe they preferre the Creature before the Creatour and reverence their Master above their Maker For 't is a Rule that when the dutie which wee owe to God and the dutie which wee owe to Man stand in competition both together we must then leave all Father and Mother Master and Mistris to waite upon God Have yee not houses to eate and to drinkein Despise yee the Church of God saith the Apostle although in another case So may I say in this There bee other times and other places to shew your dutie and respect
Psallentium multitudine sed delectabilis ex consonantie suavitate which is true both in singing and in other parts of Gods service And verely it was the praise of the Primitive Church in whose steps is the best footing to doe all this joyntly and aloud insomuch that as Saint Hierom speaketh their Amen was like a clap of Thunder as is here signified and their Halleluia as the roring of the Sea I should bee glad therefore to see the people joyne with their Minister both in heart and voyce and to let so cheerefall and so good a light shine forth before men that thereby the forwardnesse and alacritie of one may stirre up the dull drooping soule of another and so all bee as they should in the House and at the services of God And thus much for Deportment being entred Fourthly as wee may not bee Late Commers nor Ill Enterers We must not depart till all be ended nor of Ill Deportment being entred So neither may wee be such giddie-headed Fugitives as to bee gone away before the whole service bee fully ended For in the judgement of S. Chrysostome Chrysost-homde non contemnend Ecclesia Hee is no better then a Fugitive who takes his leave before the time come that hee bee dismissed Nay should hee goe to a Theatre hee would scarce be guiltie of such a quick departure but would first expect his Valete plaudite and then depart And is not the Priests blessing besides the service that he goeth from of a farre greater consequence Prophane men and women thus to dishonour the God of heaven Oh tell it not abroad but to terrifie these idle and wearie worshippers They preferre their owne desires before Gods service and so in effect make any thing else their God rather then the Lord How else could they shew such an irkesome assent to his holy worship But 't is not unknowne what was the censure for this offence in the dayes of old From the first words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which the peoples silent attention was called for untill the last words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Dimissio populi they might not depart it being a censure no lesse then excommunication to bee gone away before the end excepting in cases of extreame necessitie Thus in the Greeke Church And in the Latine there was Ite Missa est twice pronounced by the Deacon once when the Catechumeni were sent away and once at the end of the Communion after the whole Service was fully ended Our * Can. 18. Eccles Anglic. See also Concil 4 Carth. Concil Aurel. Can. 28. Canon therefore doth not ill beseeme us which treads so neere such pious times And seeing it is in the power of the Church to make such Lawes let it bee in the conscience of the officers to see them kept Yea in a word as wee pray that God would heare us and goe not farre from us so by the like relation wee are to bee carefull that wee runne not away from Him For it is but justice that God deale with us as wee with Him And if wee forsake or flie his House on earth no marvell if hee will not suffer us to enjoy the faire beautie of it in the glorions heavens In such a case as this the complaint can bee no sooner taken up Lord why hast thou forsaken us but presently the answer will be as ready Oh wicked and slothfull servant why hast thou forsaken mee Last of all as for Reverence in departure they are ill advised who rush out together like an heard of cattell For when all was done They bowed themselves and worshipped Their last posture being like their first as the * See 2 Chro. 29.29 Scriptures also beare us witnesse ANd now after all this there is one thing more would be observed namely that wee ever remember for whom this House is set apart If it bee once Gods House 't is alwayes so as well when no assemblie is there present as when the Service is in doing For by the relation of divine proprietie as it is alwayes holy so alwayes His. And this comes to passe in regard of the Dedication or Consecration thereof to the divine Majestie For when a thing is once dedicated or consecrated to the Lord the proprietie thereof becomes so His as it is no longer Ours Yea thus to be Gods is to be His in a peculiar manner and not as other things are And for all this wee have sufficient warant First in the goods of the Church as in that example of Ananias and Saphyra Act. ◠4 in the Acts of the Apostles The goods were their owne before they had devoted them but then they nothing appertained to them Secondly in the Vessels and Vtensils of the Church as was seene Dan. 5.23 Theod. l. 3. c. 12.13 and Sozom. lib. 5. c. 7. Math. 21.12 Ioh. 2.14 not only in that example of Balthasar but in that also of the wretched Felix and filthy Iulian. And last of all in the very place it selfe as our Saviours act beside other examples hath well declared And therefore it is more then manifest that they are in a great errour who would have Churches holy no longer then the time of divine Service For as there is alwayes a great difference betweene a Priest and a Lay-man So alwayes a great difference betweene a Church and another place Which to conclude with affords us these two Lessons First that wee are at all times so to behave us in Gods house as that wee be more reverend there then else-where It is the place where his honour dwelleth Psal 26.8 and to bee uncovered in the Kings presence Chamber is an usuall thing though the King bee not there It should bee as usuall to doe the like much rather in the Houses of God though the solemnitie of service bee not then For there can bee but little love to God when rudenesse takes place of reverence and sequesters our respect from such persons things and places as belong unto Him Secondly if it bee Gods house it cannot bee also thine wee may not pervert or turne it to any secular employment For though the Divel deale cunningly and perswade what hee can the contrarie yet let it not bee thy fate to bee thus dangerously mis-led by such a Lyar. For as hee deales falsely when hee would have us beleeve that wee may retaine God in our hearts together with our sinnes So hee deales as deceitfully when hee would have us thinke that Gods House may serve for other uses besides his service Retort it therefore back againe that as God when hee calls to Man for his heart meaneth not that the World the Flesh and the Divell should have one part and hee another but meaneth that it bee all for himselfe So if it bee Gods house hee must and will have it all alone Before it was built to bee an house to thy God the ground and cost were thine owne and thou mightest have done with them what thou wouldest as in that before of Saint Peter to Ananias But when thou hast once given them to God it is no more Thine but His house Yea and so His as that it be solely His. Hee loves no partner nor is delighted with the doings of a rude and wicked Prophaner for Holinesse becommeth thine house for ever as it is in the 93 Psalme at the 6 verse Quest But bee there no times nor no occasions wherein things sacred may be applied to a common use Answ There be I grant some cases wherein the Lord will have mercie and not sacrifice but it is not for every one to judge of that Howbeit this I may say that Charitie is a maine piece of pietie and in that regard holy things cannot bee properly said to bee prophaned when wee are forced to make them serve to the necessities of our Brethren as was seene in David Math. 12. when hee and they that were with him went into the house of God and did eate the Shewbread as also in that of some of the Fathers who were necessitated to sell a part of the holy Vessels for the safetie of the needie And in like case I thinke the Church is not prophaned though wee be shut up there for our better safetie if when wee are there we doe not that which may prophane it But what 's all this to that unsufferable libertie which some men take either in the making of it a place to teach a Schoole to lay lumber in or a place for Iuries to consult together at their Courts and Leets or a place for neighbours to come and commune in about their Sesses or other compositions or for a prophane Glasier to mend his glasse upon the holy Table or to say as hath been sometimes that Playes and Enterludes may bee acted there No These and the like are farre from that which may bee done in such a place And therefore as Christ whipped the Buyers and sellers from the Temple overthrew the Tables of the money-changers and seates of them that sold Doves So should every Christian Church zealously expell all such kinds of prophane doings from the Houses of God For it cannot but bee well pleasing to the owner of them to see his honour thus advanced And God bee thanked wee have those among us who are tenderly affected towards it The Lord make them prosperous and never let them prevaile oh Lord whose factious proceedings declare too well that they love to trouble the harmlesse peace of their Holy Mother Soli Deo Gloria FINIS Perlegi hunc Tractatum cui titulus Prophano-Mastix dignumque judico quitypis mandetur Tho. Wykes R. P. Episc Lond. Capell domest Octob 17. 1638.