the close So that in all things as aforesaid the Vnity in Trinity and the Trinity in Vnity is to be worshipped He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity What less than the whole doctrine aforegoing can the said words in all things as aforesaid refer to For ought doth appear no one part of the doctrine or explication is made more necessary to be believed than another Besides in the Nicene Creed in the doctrine of the Person of Christ why may not the summary thereof expressed in these words and in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God be distinguished in like manner from the following explicatory words begotten of the Father before all worlds God of God light of light c. as if the one but not the other were thereby intended as necessary to be believed Moreover if the sense of this Creed in the said Assertions be not to exclude from salvation all such as do not so distinctly know nor so explicitely believe concerning the doctrine of the Trinity as its sets forth in the explication thereof yet certainly it can be taken for no less than the excluding of such as apprehend and believe in any point contrary thereto which is the case of the Greek Church in denying the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son Admit the said Assertions are to be restrained to those that believe not as is expressed only in the summary of the doctrine I then make this query Whether none of those who being of very low capacities do not distinctly apprehend and explicitely believe one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity so as in their apprehensions neither to confound the persons nor divide the substance can truly and savingly fear God and believe in Christ Here let it be no offence to make the following Queries 1. Whether it be certain by the word of God that all those of the Christian profession whose apprehensions of the Trinity were not fully conformable to the Faith of the Homousians as the Orthodox were called in those times did perish everlastingly 2. Whether it be certain by the Word of God that all those who so apprehended of the union of the natures in Christ as was exprest either by the Nestorians or Eutychians did perish everlastingly Furthermore I enquire Whether it be certain by the Word of God That all Pagans who have lived since the times of Christianity and to whom the Gospel was never published are damned In the aforesaid Assertions the form of words being unlimited and universal seems to import so much Now the case of such who live in meer negative infidelity being without the revelation of the Gospel is different from theirs who by wilful perverseness overthrow the Faith against the evidence of that Divine testimony in the Holy Scripture which they profess to believe Without doubt none of the whole stock of Mankind can be saved but through the Redeemer Jesus Christ But it is not so certain that all are damned who live and dye without the knowledg of Redemption by him I certainly know That without holiness no man shall see the Lord and that no man can be holy without the sanctifying operation of the Holy Spirit But that none of them are sanctified who are without the knowledg of Christ and his Gospel is not so evidently and certainly known to me either from Scripture or Reason The sum of the matter is That I am afraid in the solemn rehearsal of a Creed in the midst of Divine Service to adjudg those to eternal damnation that are not so adjudged by the word of God yet I heartily and entirely assent to the doctrine of the Trinity and of the Incarnation of Christ according to the explication thereof as set forth in this Creed and I would not give my suffrage that any should be allowed in the publick Ministry who holds in any point contrary to the said doctrine Of the LITANY THE manner of the composure of the Litany and more especially that the formally petitioning words are in great part uttered by the people only I judg not so inconvenient but that I may comply therewith yet I had much rather and do heartily wish that it were otherwise framed Now I enquire Whether being thus minded I may justly declare my unfeigned consent to the use thereof Of the COLLECTS c. IN the Collect for Christmas-day these words And as at this time to be born are to be considered That our Saviour was born on or about the 25th of December is a matter of great uncertainty and little probability and contrary to the most rational Chronology It is therefore questioned whether the said words may be statedly used in a solemn prayer of the Church Tho this be a small matter yet the question is VVhether one may declare an assent and consent to the use of it while he doth not believe it to be true Of the Order for the Ministration of the Holy Communion IT is liable to exception That a great part of the Communion Service as it is called which makes a great part of the Morning-prayer for the Lords day is appointed to be read at the Communion-Table when there is no administration of the Sacrament If the declared consent hereunto import no more than that it may be complyed with in submission to authority I shall not refuse it In the Fourth Commandment it is appointed to be read The Lord blessed the Seventh day instead of the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day It may well be questioned whether one may consent to the changing of God own Words in this Commandment into other words of mans chusing But if the declared consent respect not the changing of one word for another but only the simple using of that word which stands in the Liturgy I shall not utterly refuse it seeing it hath nothing that is false or evil nor any so considerable inconvenience that I discern as to necessitate to a non-compliance Yet I dislike the retaining of it In the Exhortation preparatory to the Sacrament it is declared That it is requisite that no man should come to the Holy Communion but with a full trust in Gods Mercy and quiet conscience Here it is said not only that it is a duty to be so qualified in coming but that it is requisite that no man should come but so qualified This seems to mean that the said qualification is so necessary that none may lawfully come without it It is hereupon to be considered whether a godly Christian under doubts and fears touching his own estate towards God and apprehensive of Gods displeasure towards him may not have that Grace which may enable him to come acceptably to this Sacrament Tho I do not scruple the lawfulness of kneeling in the act of receiving the Sacramental Bread and Wine yet it is hard to consent to a Rule that debars from the Lords Supper all Christians who through unfeigned scruple of conscience refuse this gesture especially considering
You have heard brethren as well in your private examination as in the exhortation and holy lessons taken out of the Gospel and the writings of the Apostles of what dignity and how great importance this Office is whereto ye are called that is to say The Messengers the Watchmen the pastors and stewards of the Lord to teach to premonish to feed to provide for the Lords Family I acknowledg the passages here alledged are taken out of the old Book of Ordinanion that was established in this Church till the late alteration made Anno 1662. If those Alterations signifie another meaning about the several Holy Orders than what was signified in the Old Book then the sense of the Church of England in these times differs from the sense of the same Church in all times preceding the said Alterations But if they signifie no other meaning than what was signified in the old Book my Citations are of force to shew what is the sense of this Church as well of the present as of the former times about this matter And let this be further considered That the form of ordaining a Bishop according to the Church of England imports not the conferring of a higher power or an authorizing to any special work more than to what the Presbyter is authorized The old form was Take the Holy Ghost and remember that thou stir up the grace of God that is in thee by imposition of hands for God hath not given us the spirit of fea◠but of power and of love and of soberness What is there in this form of words that might not be used to a Presbyter at his ordination Or what is there in it expressive of more power than what belongs to a Presbyter The new form since the late alteration is Receive the Holy Ghost for the work and office of a Bishop in the Church of God now committed to thee by imposition of our hands in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen And remember that thou stir up the grace of God that is given thee by this imposition of our hands f r God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of soberness And what is there in this form that is expressive of any office power that the Presbyter hath not unless these words for the work and office of a bishop Now both the name and work and office of a bishop belongs to the Scripture-presbyter who is of divine institution and the presbyter to whom it doth not belong is but a humane creature or an ordinance of man § 7. Of the present Diocesan Bishop A Diocesan Bishop according to the hierarchical state is a Bishop of the lowest degree having under him Parish-Ministers that are Presbyters or Priests but not accounted Bishops and by divine right claiming to himself alone the Episcopal Authority over all the Parish Churches and Ministers within his Diocess which may contain a hundred two hundred five hundred or a thousand parishes For an Episcopacy of this kind I discern no Scripture-Warrant nor Divine Right Every particular Church should have its proper pastor or Bishop and particular Churches with their proper pastors are so evidently of divine right that some eminently learned men in the Church of England have declared their judgment that no form of Church-Government besides the mere pastoral office and Church-Assemblies is prescribed in the Word of God but may be various according to the various condition and occasion of several Churches But if it be said that parochial Congregations are not Churches but only parts of the Diocess which is the lowest political Church I desire proof from Scripture that such Congregations as our parishes having their proper presbyter or presbyters invested with the power of the keys are not Churches properly so called The reason of demanding this proof is because the Scripture is a perfect rule for the essential constitution of Churches though the accidents thereto belonging may be regulated by humane prudence And it is most evident in Scripture that a particular congregation of Christians having their proper pastor or pastors presbyter or presbyters are Churches properly so called and a parochial Minister I conceive to be a pastor presbyter or elder according to the Scripture Moreover if a Diocess containing many hundred or perhaps a thousand parishes as it doth in England do constitute but one particular Church and the parishes be not properly to be accounted Churches but only so many parts of that one diocesan Church why may not ten thousand yea ten times ten thousand parishes be likewise accounted but one particular church and brought under one man as the sole bishop or pastor thereof Nor do I discern how it is possible for one man to do the work of a bishop towards so many parishes which is to oversee all the flock to preach to them all to baptize and confirm all that are to be baptized and confirmed to administer the Lords Supper to all to bless the congregation publickly and privately to admonish all as their need requires to excommunicate the impenitent to absolve the penitent and that upon knowledg of their particular estate for all these are pastoral or episcopal acts And let it here be noted that I speak of the work of a bishop infimi gradus or under whom there are no subordinate bishops If such a Diocesan bishop saith it sufficeth that he perform all this to the flock by others namely by the parish ministers as his Curates and by other officers his substitutes It is answered 1. The pastoral Authority is a personal trust 2. He is to shew his commission from Christ the prince of pastors to do his work by others for I am now enquiring what is of divine and not of humane Right 3. None but a bishop can do the proper work of a bishop and consequently the presbyters by whom the Diocesan doth his work either are bishops or their act is an usurpation and a nullity It is matter of divine Right only that is here considered As for the humane Rights of a Diocesan bishop to wit his dignity and his jurisdiction under the King as Supreme and to which he is intituled by the Law of the Land I intermeddle not therewith § 8. Of a Bishop or Bishops THE Divine Right of a bishop infimi gradus Ruling over many churches as their sole hishop or pastor hath been considered and now it is to be considered Whether there be of divine institution such a spiritual officer as hath the oversight of Bishops or is a Bishop of Bishops The Diocesan Bishop is really of this kind tho he will not own it for he is a bishop of Presbyters who are really bishops if they be that kind of Presbyters that the Scripture mentions But if the Presbyters which in the hierarchical state are subject to the Diocesan Bishop be of another kind they are not of Christs institution What hath been already said
Christ indeed hath instituted a ministry for the compleating of his church unto the consummation of all things he hath also promised his Apostles and his ministers successively in them that he will be with them alway to the end of the world But I find no promise of an uninterrupted succession of regularly ordained ministers That which is delivered by ordination is the sacred ministerial office at large as respecting the universal Church to be exercised here or there according to particular calls and opportunities § 21. Of Prayer and Fasting and Imposition of Hands in Ordination PRAYER is such a duty as is requisite to the sanctifying of all other duties as the preaching of the Word administration of Baptism and the Lords Supper and therefore is necessary to this sacred action of ordaining ministers Fasting is a service expressive of solemn humiliation and a necessary adjunct of extra ordinary prayer for the obtaining of more special mercy and therefore a necessary preparative and concomitant in this solemnity And we have Scripture Examples for prayer and fasting in the mission of persons to the work of the ministry Luke 6.12 13. Act. 13.2 Act. 14 23. What imposition of hands imports and the moment of it is to be considered from the use of it both in the Old and New Testament In the Old Testament 't was used 1. In solemn benediction the person blessing laid his hand on the person blessed Gen. 48.14 2. In offering Sacrifice as a sign of devoting it to the Lord by him that offered it Lev. 1.4 3. In ordaining to an office as a sign of setting apart therunto Numb 27.18 20. In the New Testament it is used 1. in blessing Mark 10.16 2. In curing bodily diseases Mark 16.18 Luke 13.13 Acts 19.11 3. In conveying the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost Acts 8.17 Acts 19.6 4. In ordaining ministers Acts 6.6 1 Tim 4.14 The meaning of imposition of hands spoken of Heb. 6.2 is diversly taken some take it as used for the remitting of sins as they also do 1 Tim. 5.22 and say that Baptism refers to the making of proselytes and laying on of hands to the absolving of penitents Others take it for confirmation Others conceive that the whole ministry is by a synecdoche therein comprehended From the various uses of this Rite we collect that it was a sign of conveying a benefit or of designing to an office or of devoting one to the Lord and particularly of authoritative benediction and designation to the office of the ministry and of devoting to the Lord in that kind There is no sufficient reason to make it but a temporary Rite and to limit the use of it in ordination only to the times of miraeles there being no circumstance in any Text to shew that it was done only for the present occasion And we read not that miraculous gifts were given by imposition of hands in ordination § 22. The power of Ordaining belongs to the Pastors of the Church SOme give this reason why the power of Ordination is not in the people but in the Pastors because the act of ordaining is a potestative or authoritative mission which power of mission is first seated in Christ and from him committed to the Apostles and from them to the Bishops or Elders But this Reason must be taken with a grain of salt or in a sound sense because Bishops or Elders have spiritual power formalier but not efficienter and they do not properly make or give the ministerial power but are only instruments of designation or application of that power to the person to whom Christ immediately gives it by the standing-act of his Law That the power of ordaining belongs not to the people but to the Church officers first appears by Scripture-authority for that in all the New Testament there is no example of ordination by any of the Laity but contrariwise it is therein expresly committed to spiritual officers 2. By Reason for that the Pastors of the Churches are better qualified for the designation of a person to the Holy ministry and for performing the action of solemn investiture as also for that ordination includes an authoritative benediction and that is to come from a Superior as the Scripture saith The less is blessed of the greater and not the greater of the less as it would be if the Pastor were to be ordained by the people that are governed by him Some argue for a popular ordination because election which is the greater belongs to the people But 1. Election is not greater than Ordination in the ministerial Call For in ordination investiture in the Function it self is given but in the peoples election no more is given than the stated exercise of the ministry in that Congregation 2. In case Election were greater than Ordination yet the consequence holds not Several parties may have each their own part divided to them and he that may do the greater may not always do the lesser unless the lesser be essentially included in the greater which is not in this case It is likewise urged for popular ordination That in the consecration of the Levites the children of Israel laid their hands upon them Numb 8.11 To this it is answered That the Levites were taken by God instead of the first born of all the children of Israel which the Lord claimed as his own upon the destroying of the first-born of the Egyptians and so the imposition of hands by the first-born upon the Levites was not strictly an ordaining of them to their office but an offering of them as a sacrifice in their own stead to make an atonement for them as he that brought a sacrifice laid his hand on the head of it Tho in Timothy's ordination the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery be mentioned and where many Presbyters were they joined in this action yet I see not any thing in Scripture or Reason to gainsay the validity of ordination by a single Bishop or Presbyter Nevertheless ordination by the imposition of many hands is more unquestionable and the use thereof most laudabl◠and in no case to be omitted where it may be had according to the custom of the Church in all ages § 23. The Validity of Presbyterian Ordination IF a Bishop and Presbyter of divine institution be the same as hath been before proved the controversie about ordination by Presbyters is at an end And if the Bishop that now is be another kind of officer than the Scripture Presbyter there is no proof of his divine institution That the Presbyter that now is hath the Pastoral or Episcopal office hath been already proved by the form of their ordination and by the nature of that power of the keys that is granted to reside in them If the Prelates have invested them with an office that is truly Episcopal it matters not whether in express terms they gave them the power of ordaining or no or whether they expresly excluded the power of ordaining for not
Calendar yet in other chapters appointed to be read this person who speaks that which was untrue is set forth for a holy Angel And c. 7.3 both the Angel and Tobias are reported to say to Raguel that which was false on the Angels part viz. that they were of the sons of Naphtalim who were captives in Niniveh Tho we read in Scripture that Angels were sometimes taken to be men and so called by them that took them to be such yet we do not read therein that any Holy Angels affirmed that they were men and such particular men by name Tob. 12.15 The Angel is reported to say I am Raphael one of the seven holy Angels which present the prayers of the Saints and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy one The presenting of the prayers of the Saints before God looks like a mediatory act And suppose it here signifies but an act of ministry not of mediation yet I question whether it be right to consent to the use of such a passage as seems to imply the mediation or intercession of Angels for us and which may give an occasion to believe it and be made use of to prove that opinion The story of Bell and the Dragon is thought to be fabulous and there may be some regret in consenting to its being appointed to be read at a time when it being omitted the first Chapter of Isaiah would come in course to be read Moreover the reading of the Apocrypha hath been excepted against as it excludeth much of the Canonical Scriptures and taketh in such Books in their stead as are commonly reputed fabulous yet read for real History Of the Tables and Rules for Holy dayes and times IN this Book is contained the appointment of divers Festivals and other solemn times Now tho I scruple not to join in the publick Worship of God performed in those days yet I hesitate about the expresâ— declaring of assent and consent to the use of Tables and Rules directing to the solemnizing thereof It is to me doubtful whether any humane power may lawfully institute such times and days as some of these are I confess there be arguments for the lawfulness of such institution which I cannot well answer and there be other arguments against it which also I cannot well answer and this later sort I crave leave to propound in this place The occasions of these days and times were existent in the Apostles times and if God would have had these days appointed he could as easily and fitly have done it by his Apostles and have left it recorded in Scripture as he did other like things If the institution of these days and times were necessary it is equally necessary in all ages and parts of the Catholick Church and is the matter of an universal Law and so belongs to the Universal Lawgiver If the Universal Lawgiver hath reserved any thing to his own power it can be no less than the making of such Laws and Ordinances as are universally and perpetually necessary To affirm such institution to be universally necessary when God hath made no Law concerning it in Scripture is to overthrow the sufficiency of Scripture as a Catholick Rule of divine faith and worship For men to institute Ordinances of Worship supposed to be universally and perpetually necessary to the Church supposeth a defect in the divine universal and perpetual Ordinances to be made up by adding other Ordinances by way of supplement The fourth Commandment being one of the Decalogue seems to be of so high a nature that man may not presume to make the like The Table of all the Feasts to be observed begins All Sundays in the year so it calls the Lords day which it seems to put upon the same level with feasts of humane institution And there seems as great a sacredness if not greater conferred upon some of the high festivals as upon the Lords day which is of divine appointment The Lords day doth sufficiently answer the ends for which those festivals that relate to our Saviour are appointed for that being in memory of his Resurrection implies a memorial of all things done for mans redemption If such Institutions as these be not prohibited Deut. 4 2. Deut. 12.32 I enquire of what sort is the prohibited addition there spoken of The prohibition seems to me to be not meerly of adding to the Rule to wit the written law but of doing more than that Rule required as the precept is not of preserving the Rule but observing what is commanded in it I do not question the lawfulness of such humane institutions in divine Worship as are in meer subordination to divine institution and serve for the more convenient modifying and ordering thereof and which indeed are not properly additions thereunto because they are not of the same nature and use but are meerly accidentals of worship But I doubt of such humane Ordinances of divine worship as are coordinate with the divine Ordinances and express the same nature reason end and use with them and are additions properly so called The festival days appointed by the Church of England are in the Table of feasts set in coordination with the Lords day and they are not meerly the accidentals but very important integral parts of divine service in this Church In reason it must needs be that God hath sufficiently provided for his honour in the worship which he hath instituted as much as belongs to the reason and end of those things which he hath instituted Thereupon I enquire Whether it be not a presuming of our own against the divine wisdom to add to the divine Ordinances by way of supplement humane ordinances of the same reason and intent with the divine There is no question of the lawfulness of appointing some certain times besides the Lords day either fixed or variable to be spent in publick worship wherein God is to be glorified for Jesus Christ and the work of redemption wrought by him There is no question of the lawfulness of appointing days of humiliation and thanksgiving either for once or anniversarily upon special occasions and that besides the special occasions of those days things of universal and perpetual concernment ought to be minded in the religious exercises then performed In these cases the appointed days and times are only adjuncts of worship which as all other things must be performed in some certain time and they are for the worship but the worship is not for them and they are not intrinsecally holy but only by extrinsick denomination from the holy worship then solemnizâ—d But these concessions do not infer as I suppose the warrantableness of days appropriated to the same use and ends for which the Lords day is designed of God and made intrinsecally and permanently holy and sanctifying the worship as well as sanctified by it so that it were profaneness to alienate them to other uses Now as I assuredly believe that the Lords day is intrinsecally and
provinces of narrower circuits of ground And how doth it appear that an Oecumenical council rightly so named can be For suppose it be not necessary to consist of all the bishops in the world but of some as delegates in the name of all yet it must consist of so many proportionably delegated from all in the several quarters as may signifie the sence and consent of all Hereupon let it be considered whether there be a possibility of such assemblies much more whether there be a possibility of the continuation or of the succession of them in such frequency as would be requisite in case such an assembly were Head of the Church Nor doth it stand with reason that an Oecumenical council in case it were existent can possibly execute the authority that belongs to the head of the Universal Church in overseeing all in receiving appeals from all in making authoritative determinations for all either immediately by it self or mediately by subordinate councils judicatories and ministers to be superintended regulated and determined by it in their proceedings Nor is there any notice given of the said headship of a General council more than of the Popes or any other bishops universal headship in the primitive and authentick records of the Charter that Christ hath given to his Church to wit the Holy Scriptures Nor is any rule given therein for the constitution of a General council whether it shall be made up only of the Clergy or only of such bishops as are of a higher order thâ—â— Presbyters or of all such bishops of the Catholick Church or if of some in the name of all what number there must be either definite or indefinite and proportionate to the number of those that are represented It is evident de facto that the officers of the Catholick Church as the particular bishops or pastors and the associations and conventions of them do not derive their spiritual authority from a General council Nor doth it appear that de jure they should derive their power from it any more than from the Pope § 11. The infallibility of the Catholick Church examined THE Romanists assert an insallibility about matters of faith somewhere seated within the Catholick Church as the perpetual priviledg thereof some of them place it in the Pope and others in a General council Hereupon this priviledg is to be considered whether it be and what it is The meaning of the term is a being not liable to be deceived or to deceive about those matters about which it is said to be That the catholick church is infallible in the essentials of the christian religion is a most indubitable truth for every member of the catholick church so remaining is infallible so far it involves a a contradiction that any such should err therein for it were as much as to be a christian and no christian The Query therefore is whether it be liable to errour in the integrals aâ—d accidentals of Religion Now the church remaining such is not necessarily or in its nature infallible so far and therefore if it be infallible it must be so from the free grant of Christ But it doth not appear in the Holy Scripture that any such grant is made to the church What was the Apostles doctrine and consequently the doctrine of the Church in their days obedient to their authority we know what the church universally held in any one age touching all the integral parts of religion much more concerning accidentals I conceive extreamly difficult if not impossible to be known But that the church hath de facto if not universally yet very generally erred in the same errour about some integrals of religion appears by the ancient general practise of some things now generally accounted erroneous as for instance the giving of the Lords Supper to infants Moreover it is evident that the whole Church in its several parts hath erred some in one point some in another and that no part thereof hath been found in which hath appeared no error in some point of Religion or other And if all the parts may variously err in several points why may not they also harmoniously err all of them in one and the same point If the Catholick Church be not infallible in all doctrines of Faith much less is any such Council infallible as was ever yet congregated or is ever like to be congregated Hereupon it follows that in all Controversies of doctrine we cannot stand finally to the decision of the Catholick Church if it were possible to be had or to the decision of any the largest Council that can possibly convene We cannot tell what the Catholick Church is nor what particular Churches or persons are sound parts thereof but by the holy Scriptures For what Criterion can be brought besides them Mens bare testimony of themselves is not to be rested on How can we know that the first Nicene Council was orthodox in its determination about the Sacred Trinity and the second Nicene Council erroneous in its determination for Image-worship but by finding that the former was consonant and the latter dissonant to the Scripture in their aforesaid determinations If it be said That of Councils called General those that consist of greater numbers of bishops must carry it against those that consist of lesser numbers let some proof either from Scripture or Reason be given for it What ground is there from either to conclude that in the time of the Arrian Heresie the major part of bishops in the Roman Empire or the major part of those that assembled in Council and for instance in the first Council at Nice might not possibly have been Arrians Moreover if the major part were to carry it in the first six Centuries why not also in the ten last That promise of Christ Mat. 28. I am with you always to the end of the world may imply That there shall be a successive continuation of Bishops or Pastors in the Catholick Church to the worlds end that shall be Orthodox in the Essentials yea and in the Integrals of Religion yet it doth not imply that they shall be the greater number of those that are called and reputed bishops or pastors within Christendom nor that the greater number of those being convened in Councils shall not err in their Conciliar determinations about matters of Faith § 12. Of the Indefectibility of the Catholick Church CHRIST hath promised the perpetuity of the Church in general in saying that he would build it on a Rock and the gates of Hell should not prevail against it and I am with you always to the end of the world but how far and in what respect this perpetuity and indefectibility is promised ought to be enquired into lest we expect or insist upon more than the promise hath ensured That which Christ hath promised cannot be less than that there be always upon earth a number of true believers or faithful Christians made visible by their external profession of Christianity successively
they but Christ makes the office and not they but Christ gives the power that belongs to the office from which they cannot detract The ordination of Timothy is said to be by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery 1 Tim. 4.14 If it be said that by the Presbytery is meant a company of Bishops it it granted that Presbyters and Bishops were all one If it be said they were a company of none but Diocesan Bishops that had subject-presbyters of an inferior order under them let it be proved from Scripture It is said by some That only the Diocesan Bishops ordain authoritatively and the Presbyters concomitantly founding the distinction on those two Texts 2 Tim. 1.6 and 1 Tim 4.14 it being said in the one That Timothy received the gift by the putting on of Paul's hands and in the other by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery To this it is answered 1. That the imposition of hands mentioned 2 Tim. 1.6 might be in confirmation for the first receiving of the Holy Ghost after Baptism and the following effects of the spirit of love power and of a sound mind argue so much 2. If any of a higher state than Presbyters laid hands on Timothy in his ordination yet the phrase of Presbytery argues that they did it as presbyters 3. If it was Paul that ordained Timothy authoritatively and the presbytery but concomitantly our bishops cannot thence claim the sole authoritative ordination for Paul was of an order above them and was no otherwise a bishop than as having Episcopal power eminently contained in his Apostolick office 4. If the presbytery there mentioned be a company of bishops of an order superior to presbyters it will follow by this distinction that such a bishop ordains not authoritatively but concomitantly 5. The said Texts afford no ground for the distinction of authoritative and concomitant ordination According to the hierarchical principle the bishop is enabled to give orders not by his power of jurisdiction but by his power of order Now a presbyter hath as much of the Character and Sacrament of order as a bishop and the consecration of a bishop is not held a distinct Sacrament of order from the ordination of a presbyter and the truth is the form of consecrating a bishop according to the English Ordinal is expressive of no more power of order than is given to the presbyter in the form of his ordination in the said Ordinal The conjunction of Presbyters with the Bishop in the present form of ordination shews that the order is conveyed by them as well as by the bishop Their imposition of hands is an authoritative benediction and dedication of the party ordained Let any instance be produced of the imposition of hands by any such as had no power of conveying that which was signified by that ceremony I mean of conveying it so far as mans act can reach unto To say it is only a sign of their giving consent is a poor evasion for the people give consent also If presbyters are at any time allowed to ordain by commission from a Bishop they cannot do it rightly if they have not an intrinsick power of doing it For the Bishops commission or license cannot give a new spiritual power to a Presbyter which was not in him before at least radically or habitually § 24. Of a valid Ministry AS Christ allows the Church to receive such to Baptism and the Lords Supper as he doth not receive so he allows the Church to call some to the Ministry whom he doth not call For it is his prerogative to be the Searcher of the Hearts and men can judg but by appearance Such as Christ doth not allow the Church to call to the Ministry may by his permission through the Churches mal-administration be called thereunto and being so called they abide therein by his permission till they be cast out by due reformation and so long their calling is valid as to external order And such are Ministers to others tho not to their own good and Chrsts ordinances by them administred are valid and effectual to those intents for which he appointed them The whole current of Scripture shews that Gods ordinances are not made void by the close hypocrisie or gross impiety of the dispensers thereof and the contrary opinion tends to unchurch Churches and to deny the Christendom of the Christian World for the most part As we must distinguish between miscarriages in admission and the nullity of the office so between defects or corruptions in the office it self and the nullity thereof The Priesthood and Worship in the Temple at Jerusalem was often much corrupted yet it was true for the substance thereof but the Priesthood appointed for the Calves at Dan and Bethel was false for the substance and a nullity Tho the sacrificing Priesthood at Dan and Bethel were a nullity yet the Ten Tribes had the substance of the true religion and some external acts of worship true and valid as circumcision and so retained something of a Church So now among the Papists there is the substance of the Christian Religion and some thing of a Church and Ministry and ordinances The Ministry of the Popish Priests with reference to the Sacrifice of the Mass is a nullity but as ordained to preach the Gospel and Baptize and to any other parts of the proper work of the Ministry it is not a nullity but their administration in those things is valid § 25. Of the Magistrates Power in Ecclesiastical Affairs MAgistratical and Ecclesiastical power are in their nature wholly divers and they are not subordinate but collateral powers yet Ministers are subject to Magistrates and Magistrates to Ministers in divers respects according to the nature of the power that is seated in either of them The Magistratical power is Imperial the Ecclesiastical is ministerial and so the pastor is under the magistrate as his Ruler by the sword not only in civil but in sacred things and the magistrate is under the pastor as his Ruler by the word or his authoritative teacher The pastors power over the magistrate is no dimunution to his right for it takes away none of his authoritty nor doth it hinder the exercise and efficacy of it but it is his benefit because it is an authoritative administring to him the mercies of the Gospel in Christs Name and if he be not under that authoritative administration he is not under the blessing of the Gospel Howbeit the pastoral discipline may not be so exercised towards the supream magistrate as by dishonouring him to make him less capable of improving his office to the common good which the excommunicating of him would do but if magistrates whether of higher or lower rank be excommunicated nevertheless they must be obeyed The magistrates power over the pastor is no diminution to his spiritual authority for it is not given to hinder but to further the efficacy and exercise thereof So that both powers are mutually
bishop to delegate his Episcopal power to a Lay-man yea or to a Clergy-man if that Clergy-man be not as Christs commissioned Officer authorized to exert that power 18. The sentence of excommunication is denounced for any non observaâ—ce of the judgment of the Court tho in cases of doubtful right and in the smallest matters But no proof of such practice can be produced from the first ages And let the bishops themselves judg howsoever contempt may be pretended in the case Whether many who are usually so sentenced either upon doubtful or trivial matters do indeed deserve to be adjudged to such a state as that sentence duly administred doth import 19. The Parish Minister is bound to denounce in his Church the sentence of Excommunication decreed by the Court tho he have no cognizance of the cause and tho he know the sentence to be unjâ—st But no such practice was known in the ancient church 20. Ministers at their Ordination receive that Office which essentially includes an Authority and Obligation to teach their flocks yet they may not preach without a license from the bishop in their own proper charges or cures tho they perform other Offices of the Ministry But anciently it was not so 21. The present bishops require of their Clergy an Oath of Canonical obedience but let any proof be given that the ancient bishops did ever impose such an Oath or that the presbyters ever took it 22 The Parish minister hath not the liberty of examining whether the Infant brought to Baptism be a capable subject thereof that is Whether he be the child of a Christian or Infidel but he must baptize the child of every one that is presented by Godfathers and Godmothers who commonly have little or no interest in the Infant nor care of its education and who not seldome are but Boys and Girls 23. Confirmation is to be administred only by the bishop and yet it is in an ordinary way impossible for him to examine all persons to be confirmed by him within his Diocess Consequently it cannot be duly administred to multitudes of persons that are to be presented thereunto and they that are confirmed are few in comparison of those that are not But the ancient bishops being bishops of one particular Church were capable of taking the oversight of every particular person of their flocks and did personally perform the same 24. A great part of the adult members of Parish-churches are such as understand not what Christianity is but the ancient churches were careful that all their members might be competently knowing in the Religion which they professed as appears by their discipline towards the Catechumeni and the long time before they admitted them to baptism 25. The Parish ministers have no remedy but to give the Sacrament to ignorant and scandalous persons that offer themselves thereunto they can but accuse the openly wicked in the Chancellors Court and but for one time deny the Sacrament to some kind of notorious sinners but then they are bound to prosecute them in the Court and to procure a sentence against them there where not one notorious sinner of a multitude is or can be brought to a due tryal in regard of the way of proceeding in Ecclesiastical Courts and the multitude of souls in every Diocess The consequent hereof is the general intrusion of the grosly ignorant and profane who pollute the communion of the Church and eat and drink damnation to themselves 26. All parishioners that are of age are compelled to receive the Sacrament how unfit or unwilling soever they be by the terrors of penalties subsequent to excommunication and those that have been excommunicated for refusing to receive are absolved from that sentence if being driven thereunto they will receive the Sacrament rather than lye in Gaol And the Parish-ministers are compelled to give the Sacrament to such 27. Many Orthodox Learned and Pious men duly qualified for the Ministry are cast and kept out of it for not declaring an unfeigned assent and consent to all and every thing contained in the Liturgy and Book of Ordination Let any proof be given that ever any of the ancient Bishops or Churches thought all the points contained in those books so necessary to be assented and consented to or that any of them so severely required the like conformity to opinions forms and ceremonies of the like nature and reason 28. The present bishops debar all Christians from the Lords Supper who through unfeigned scruple of conscience refuse to kneel in the act of receiving the Sacramental bread and wine and they debar from baptism the children of those Parents who judg it unlawful for them to permit the signing of their children with the sign of the Cross But the ancient bishops did not so nor doth the practise of Antiquity warrant the same 29. The greatest severity of the present Church-discipline is directed against Ministers and people who observe not full conformity to the Rules Forms Rights and Ceremonies prescribed in the Liturgy and Canons But the ancient bishops exercised it against those who subverted the Christian faith by damnable Heresies or enormously transgressed the Rules of soberness righteousness and godliness prescribed of God in his word 30. The Oath imposed upon the Church-wardens to make their Presentments according to the Book of Articles framed by the bishop hath had this consequence which ought to be laid to heart that commonly they would rather overlook their Oath than become accusers of their honest neighbours not only those who withdraw from but those who hold communion with the Parish churches 31. The requiring of the reordination of those ministers who have been ordained by presbyters is contrary to the practise of the ancient Church it contradicts the judgments of many Eminent bishops and other Divines of the Church of England who have maintained the validity of Presbyterial ordination it nullifies the ministry of all the Foreign Reformed Churches and of most if not of all the Lutheran churches and it advances the Church of Rome above them for the priests of the Church of Rome upon their conversion are received without reordination whereas those that come from the Foreign Reformed churches must be reordained before they be admitted to the ministry in the church of England And all this is done when in Scripture the office of a bishop and presbyter is one and the same and the difference between them came in afterwards by Ecclesiastical custome It is commonly said That Churches and Bishops being now delivered from their ancient low and distressed state under the tyranny and persecution of the Heathen powers and enjoying the patronage and bounty of Christian Rulers should not be consined to their ancient meanness narrowness and weakness but be enlarged in opulency amplitude and potency answerable to the Civil State Ans It is freely granted that the state Ecclesiastical should in reasonable proportion partake of the prosperity of the Civil state But the question still remains 1. Whether
appearance of Regeneration may be qualified for Confirmation according to the terms prescribed in this book and besides all this that children of ungodly Parents to whom the promise of salvation doth not belong cannot be supposed to be really regenerate and pardoned by Baptism Let the tendency of the said assertion as also of that touching the saving regeneration and undoubted salvation of all baptized infants be well considered whether it be to bring men to a sight of their misery in the unregenerate state and an endeavour of their recovery by real regeneration or to keep them from it The Rubrick after Confirmation There shall none be admitted to the Holy Communion until such time as he be confirmed or be ready and desirous to be confirmed This Rubrick is not only in the nature of a Directory shewing that Confirmation according to due order is requisite to be received by persons before they come to the Communion but a rigid exclusion of all from the Communion who are not confirmed or are not ready and desirous to be confirmed according to the prescribed manner It is granted That a credible approved profession of Faith and Repentance may be made necessary to admission because they who do not make such profession are justly excluded from Communion in the Sacrament But there are many that are fit for this Communion that are not willing to submit to this order of Confirmation And if their refusal of it be culpable yet it may not deserve so great punishment as exclusion from the Sacrament Of the Form of Matrimony TOuching this form of words Who hast consecrated the state of Matrimony to such an excellent mystery that in it is signified and represented the spiritual Marriage and unity betwixt Christ and his Church be it considered that this Doctrine is not found in Scripture that Marriage was consecrated to represent the said mystery It is indeed a similitude used to express that mistical union But every similitude used in Scripture to express a holy Mystery as that of the Vine and the Branches to express the Union betwixt Christ and the faithful is not consecrated to a representation thereof Upon this very ground the Papists hold Matrimony to be a Sacrament because God hath put in it the signification of so excellent a thing as the indissoluble conjunction of Christ with the Church The Apostle Eph. 5.30 31. speaking of a great mystery doth not in any respect intend the Marriage-Institution and Union but only the Union of Christ and his Church Now tho this be a small matter for which a peaceable man would not break with a Church yet such a one may question Whether he may declare his unfeigned assent and consent to the use of it while he doth not believe it to be true The Rubrick at the end of Matrimony It is convenient that the new Married persons should receive the Holy Communion at the time of their Marriage or at the first opportunity after their Marriage I question whether it be convenient that the new Married Persons should receive the Holy Communion at the time of their Marriage In case married Persons could at the time of their Marriage be composed to such a holy and spiritual and heavenly frame and so sequester their thoughts from the concernments of the body as requisite for the solemn duty of receiving the Sacrament and withal should abstain from those heightned sensitive injoyments which are used at that time this Rubrick were allowable and commendable But it is not so with one of a thousand if with any one nor do I know that it is requisite it should be so at least ordinarily The rule of Scripture is That Persons should abstain from conjugal embraces in time of most selemn Religious exercises 1 Cor. 7.5 This also is but a small matter for which no breach should be made But a sober peaceable man may question whether he may assent and consent to the use of such a Rubrick as to that part of it Yet questionless it may be convenient that the new-married Persons if duly qualified should receive the Holy Communion at the first opportunity after their Marriage Of the Order for Visitation of the Sick RUbrick The Sick person shall be moved to make a special confession of his sins if he shall feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter After which confession the Priest shall absolve him if he humbly and heartily desire it Here the Priest is desired and required to absolve every Sick person after special confession of sin in case he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter if he humbly and heartily desire it And the Absolution is to be given absolutely unto every such person and not conditionally if he truly repent In defence of Absolution given upon the only terms prescribed in this Book it doth not satisfie to say that if the Sick person shew himself truly penitent his Absolution ought not to be left to the Ministers discretion For every Minister ought to exercise a judgment of discretion about his own Act especially an Act of such importance as the absolving of a sinner from all his sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And the question still remains whether every Sick person that can verbally express as much as is here required be truly penitent yea or make a credible profession thereof To presume every one is truly penitent who is desirous to receive Absolution is a charity larger than of Gods allowing That the Absolution should be pronounced absolutely and never conditionally it doth not satisfie to say that the condition is understood For it is not reasonably supposed that all the Sick who can say so much as is here required of them do understand or consider that it is spoken to them conditionally Too many be stupidly sensless and grosly ignorant of their own spiritual estate and of the true conditions of reconciliation with God In the Rubrick of the Communion of the Sick the Curate is required to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to every Sick person that is desirous to receive it but he is not allowed to consider whether he be fit to receive it To presume that every one is fit to receive that is desirous to receive is a Charity larger than of Gods allowing It is known by sad experience that many very bad men are desirous to receive the Sacrament when they are Sick It may be considered whether this manner of giving Absolution and administring the Sacrament to every Sick person that is desirous to receive the same tend to bring men to repentance or to harden them in impenitency Of the Order for Burial of the Dead THese ensuing forms Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the Soul of our dear Brother here departed we commit his Body to the ground c. in sure and certain Hope of the Resurrection to eternal Life Also we
Acts of observance towards God we are upon this ground immediately obliged unto they are Natural Worship due to God as our Creator All Natural Worship due to God as Creator is discernable by natural revelation or the Book of Nature In Nature intire it was clearly and compleatly thereby discernable but in Nature fallen more dimly and defectively yet not for want of objective evidence but for the indisposition of our faculty Likewise to God our Redeemer there is a Worship due from us naturally and immediately arising from our redemption and our relation to God therein founded And it is our redemption being supposed no more of Gods arbitrary institution than that Worship which is founded in the Law of our Creation and primitive State To the knowledg of this sort of Natural Worship we come by means of that Divine revelation by which we come to the knowledg of our redeemed state But the knowledg of our redeemed state being supposed natural Reason will shew that such and such Acts of observance in specie are naturally and indispensably due to God our Redeemer § 6. Of Divine instituted Worship INstituted Worship is that which depends in specie and immediately upon Gods free Will and Arbitrary institution But the institution being made and continuing it is naturally and necessarily due to God so far as he requires it tho it be not immediately natural For our natural and unchangeable relation to God necessarily and perpetually obliges us to whatsoever God hath appointed so far and so long as he hath appointed it § 7. Of Moral and Ceremonial Worship THis distinction being commonly used must here be taken notice of It is wholly coincident with the former For that which is commonly called Moral is for the most part but not all of it natural Worship nor perhaps is all natural Worship to be called Moral for there may be some natural Ceremonies that is to say naturally laudable tho not absolutely necessary Nor is all instituted Worship Ceremonial but some is Moral as observing of the weekly Sabbath or Lords day Nor is all Ceremonial Worship instituted For besides natural ceremonies other ceremonious religious Acts may be used arbitrarily and occasionally and but once indeed such Acts may be called instituted as Instituted is opposed to Natural but not as it betokens stated or setled The word Moral is ambiguous and as I suppose inconveniently used in this matter as it also is when used in distinguishing the divine Law into Moral and Ceremonial For every Law is Moral or circa mores and all Worship is Moral as being an Act of our behaviour conformable to the divine Law Nevertheless we must yield to use which hath the dominion of words and inquire into the meaning of this word in this point Sometimes the word in this case is taken by them that use it for that which is of perpetual right But that this is not the adequate sense appears for that some things not ceremonial but esteemed moral are not perpetual And there is a common distinction between Moral natural and Moral positive and that Moral positive is not in the nature of the thing perpetual is unquestionable and it is evident that some Moral positive is not de facto of perpetual right as the old Seventh-day Sabbath Concerning which day tho there might be something ceremonial in the corporal rest thereof especially under the Mosaical dispensation yet the observing of that measure of time and that special day every week set a part for Gods solemn Worship was not ceremonial nor yet natural but Moral positive yet not perpetual Besides there is nothing in the nature of the thing to hinder the perpetuity of some ceremonial Law or Worship if it pleased God to perpetuate it Yea there are some ceremonial Ordinances of Divine Worship now instituted that are to indure to the Consummation of all things namely the two Sacraments of the New Testament The best distinguishing-terms that I can find to express what is generally meant by Moral and Ceremonial Worship is That the former is substantial â—nd by it self Divine Worship the later is but a supplemental as an appurtenance to the former the better to express it and set it off and externally to compleat it I suppose the term Complemental might here fitly enough be used but that it sounds ill from the sense which it hath in common use And meer ceremonial persons do indeed but complement with God according to the common meaning of that word Tho ceremonial Worship be but supplemental to that which is called Moral and Substantial yet being appointed of God it is not to be lightly esteemed but to be valued according to its importance And there be some parts or kinds thereof that are of high importance in Religion as the Sacraments and Sacrifies under the the Old Testament and the Sacraments of the New-Testament § 8. The parts of Worship distinguished from the adjuncts or accidents thereof WOrship may be considered both as a generical and as an integral whole and accordingly it hath specifical and integral parts Every specifical part or kind thereof hath in it the common name and nature of the genus And every integral part of the same species is homogenial and hath the name and nature of that species And the specifically different parts may be considered as integral parts and heterogenial that go to the making up of one intire Divine Service It imports much to discern and distinguish rightly between Worship it self and the accidents thereof without which it is not performable or at least not performable in due manner such as are order method phrase or form of words degree frequency time place furniture These things appertain to Divine Worship not in any peculiar reason but in common as to all grave civil or humane actions Nor do these things immediately and directly respect God and his Honour to whom the Worship is directed but Man and his convenience by whom the Worship is performed Nevertheless God and his Honour is concerned in them in as much as he is concerned that men be set in all convenient circumstances for his Worship and therefore ultimately they respect him and they are to be used for the hallowing of his name I take not this to be any constitutive or consecutive difference between the Worship it self and its adjuncts that the one makes acceptable to God and is a means of Grace from him and the other not For I conceive both the one and the other may have this effect tho not in equal degree Tho Ceremonial Worship be but an appurtenance of that which is called Moral yet it is truly a species of Worship as having the common nature of Worship in it Howbeit it is but an Analogical species as having the nature of its genus but in an inferior way §. 9. Of those acts of Religion that are Moral Natural Worship THE acts of Religion that are Moral Natural Worship are the hearing of Gods word with
would not be Some say that in the old Law the least ceremony prescribed of God was a part of Worship Which Assertion I do not now so far examine as to declare my assent or dissent But if it were so I think it was not meerly as prescribed of God but upon some further Reason For I do not see that God cannot prescribe a meer adjunct of Worship but it must thereby lose its formal state or become formally another thing viz. a matter of Worship but think it may remain in its own state a meer Adjunct still Nevertheless the observation of that divinely prescribed Adjunct may be an act of Worship so far as every act of obedience to God as such may be so called But here we speak of Worship not in so large but in the stricter sense § 17. Of sacred Signs and significant Ceremonies in Divine Worship A Sign is something more known shewing another thing less known or that which is more open discovering something more latent or at least that which doth further clear and confirm the truth of what is alike evident There are Signs natural and customary and instituted and arbitrary and stated and occasional As things signified so Signs are either Sacred or Common And as of all other things so there may be Signs of Worship And Signs immediately expressive of Worship are Worship For all external worship is a sign of the internal whether it be true or feigned And Ceremonies that signifie or express an act of Worship are ceremonial Worship But all significant Ceremonies are not Worship because they do not all signifie or express an act of Worship Among significant Ceremonies that are parts of Worship I reckon the Cross in Baptism being confessedly a sign of our dedication to Christ § 18. Of the nature of being holy and the distinctions of holiness HOliness in Creatures signifies either a quality in Angels and Men which is called the Image of God or the relation of any thing to God as appropriated to him In a general sence all things in heaven and earth are the Lords but whatsoever is his in a special sence or separated to his use is called holy As first persons either more generally devoted to him and that heartily as all the faithful and their seed or professedly as all visible Christians or else by special Office as the Priests of old and now the Ministers of the Gospel 2ly Things some by his own immediate Command others by general directions to Men and of these some are more remotely others more nearly set apart unto him Things more nearly or strictly devoted to God are Temples Utensils Lands c. which are Holy being justly related to God by lawful Separation Ministers are more holy than these because more nearly related to God Things remotely or more at large devoted to God are the Meat Drink House Lands Labours Offices c. of every one that is godly who with himself devotes all that he hath to God Indeed as every thing is sanctified of God to a Believer so every thing is sanctified by a Believer unto God But the holiness of things is ordinarily understood of things not remotely and at large and ultimately but more nearly and in a stricter sence devoted to God Some say such a state of Separation to holy uses that the thing may no more be alienated is proper holiness But others think this too narrow a description For there may be a temporary Separation as well as perpetual to holy uses as here strictly taken for those onely that more nearly respect God's Worship and Service and not for all uses ultimately respecting God's Honour in which larger sence by the Holy all things as hath been said are used to holy uses Some say That those things are not sacred that accompany Religious Worship in a way common to it with other things as Time Place Furniture c. Things used in Religious Services may be civil in their own Nature and they do not then alter their Matter or Form but onely their Subject to which they are Adjuncts To which it is answered That things considered in their own nature that is Physically are neither civil nor sacred but are either the one or the other according to their relation and application Therefore many things of the same species Physically considered may be sometimes Civil and sometimes Sacred according to their different use and relation as the same Physical act that is but civil reverence in a civil affair may be religious reverence in a religious Service They accompany Religion in a way common to it with other actions Physically but not Morally or Relatively And whereas it is said they are of the same use out of God's service as in it as there is the same use of mens eyes in reading one Book as in reading another The Answer is They are of the same use Physically but not Relatively and Morally For explaining the former Paragraph be it noted That Religion presupposeth civility and consequently holy things and actions require civil things and actions as inferior attendants thereon Religious Worship or Divine Service must needs be accompanied with many things of a meer civil import which do not thereupon alter their state from civil to sacred as the civil Habits both of Ministers and People the civil order of their sitting according to their several ranks and other civil decencies observed in holy Assemblies that still remain but meer civilities For they are not applied nor related to Religion as adjuncts to a Subject nor are referred to a holy use or end otherwise then as all things are referred ultimately to a holy end onely they are requisite to accompany Religion in their lower state of Civility Nevertheless there be many things which in civil affairs are meerly civil yet in Religious Exercises are Religious their Relative state being altered for that they are directly applied to a religious or holy use and end as bowing of the Body lifting up the Hand or the Eyes standing up being Physically the same are Sacred actions being applied to Divine worship and civil when applied to civil repects Every thing should be reverenced according to the Degree and Measure of its Holiness The Second Part of Idolatry § 1. Of Superstition in general AS there is a defect in Religion so there is an excess and this is called Superstition This excess is not in the formal reason of Religion for we cannot too much observe reverence and love God but either in the undueness of the object or the acts thereof Internal or External Excess in the undueness of the object of Religious Worship is Idolatry Excess in the Internal acts thereof lies in the inward anxiety scrupulosity or other exorbitant fancy about it The Excess in the External acts is either in the Kind or the Measure thereof in the Kind as being forbidden either in particular or in general in the measure of what for the Kind is lawful as when it is to the
II. ver 1 2 3 4. JONAH prophesied in Israel in or before the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash 2 King 14 25. He was also sent to preach to Niniveh the chief City of the Assyrian Empire But he disobeyed the call of God and endeavoured to flee to Tarshish The Lord by a mighty storm at Sea pursues him And being by lot and his own confession found guilty and the cause of the tempest the Mariners by his own direction cast him into the Sea where the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow him up and he was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights This Chapter contains Jonah's exercise in the fishes belly the Narrative whereof was penned after his deliverance with an addition of praise Ver. 1. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly Before this trouble he was froward against God and fled from him now he is humble and yielding Our distress and trouble is sanctified to us when our frowardness and averseness from duty is overcome and we are made humble and yielding to God and ready for duty when we are brought to our good behaviour Let us look after this fruit of our distresses troubles or crosses that we be brought in and subdued to God Let us also look after this kindly fruit of pubblick troubles He flees to God by prayer Our distress and trouble is sanctified to us when it drives us to prayer that we set about it in earnest and continue in it and so bring us close to God Isa 26 16. Lord in trouble have they visited thee They poured out a prayer when thy chastning was upon them Let us look after this kindly fruit of our publick and private troubles that we be more in prayer and much visit the throne of Grace that instead of running from God we run to him and cast our selves into the arms of his mercy Then hath God reduced us and brought us home to our true rest that we might be safe then he hath done us good indeed Further we hence learn That prayer to God is a refuge to the afflicted both to the Church and to every faithful soul and they find relief in it All the distressed that take this course find sure comfort Because God is rich in mercy to all that call upon him Rom. 10.12 The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him Yea God is more especially helpful to the distressed Hos 14.3 In thee the fatherless findeth mercy This instructs us what is our refuge in all our troubles and what course to take wherein we shall not fail to speed Jam. 5.13 Is any among you afflicted let him pray Be sincere in this duty and perform it with unfeigned repentance for your former neglect Moreover it is here said That Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God The Lord was still his God notwithstanding his severe hand upon him When God corrects us for sin he doth not cast us off as none of his Correction is not Rejection Still his gracious relation to us and our Covenant-interest in him abides Wherefore let them that fear the Lord still look to him and claim an interest in him as their God tho he be angry and severely chasten them Thus the Church lays claim to him Isa 63.16 Doubtless thou art our Father c. Thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer c. And let us take hold of his Covenant whereby he is our God for encouragement in prayer and the ground of our humble confidence toward him Let as many as are humble and willing to accept his grace do this Here is noted the condition whereid he was out of the fishes belly a distress into which he had brought himself by his rebellion or wilful disobedience Hence we learn That after wilful disobedience we may sue to God for mercy He hath not shut up the way against us because there is Forgiveness with him and he hath left room for repentance Let this goodness of God lead sinners to repentance Let such goodness overcome their hearts for it is set forth for this very end God hath not shut up the way Let not them shut out themselves Let a penitent people encourage themselves as Israel is encouraged Hos 14.1 O Israel return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity Let the children of God after high provocations being duly humbled encourage themselves in his mercy Tho we have wilfully brought our selves into trouble by our own Folly yea run into it yet we must not discourage our selves as if it were in vain to pray to God for help This is indeed a very uncomfortable circumstance in our suffering to draw it upon our selves yet this was Jonah's case Therefore in such a case let us judg and lothe our selves let us fear and tremble in our selves yet let us not despair nor be driven from seeking our relief For God delights to save them that have undone themselves V. 2. I cryed by reason of my affliction unto the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell cryed I and thou heardst my voice This verse expresseth the sum of his trouble his exercise in it and his gracious audience His trouble and his prayer in it I cried by reason of my affliction out of the belly of hell cried I. Here was a deplorable state and in appearance desperate yet his Faith could look through to Gods Mercy-seat There is no state so deplorable and seemingly desperate that the people of God may be brought into but their Faith may see a way through it to the throne of Grace whether it be the state of any particular Child of God or of his Church and people in common Is any Child of God so distressed that he can see no outlet yet let him look through it to the Throne of Grace There is hope for him in his God and let him look to God and be comforted Isa 50.10 Doth the condition of the Church appear forlorn and hopeless as Jonah's was that we can see no way to escape yet God can open a way by a strange hand of Providence He is fearful in praises doing wonders Exod. 15.11 Truâ—y our condition is very deplorable if we look to human help Yet the Providence of God and his appearances for us are some glimps of light some token for good Therefore be not faithless but believing do not abandon your hope tho greatly distressed encourage your selves in the Lord your God I cryed by reason of my affliction c. Great distress calls for great importunity in prayer not only to call upon God but to cry to him to cry mightily as the King of Niniveh commanded his subjects Jonah 3 8. Let them cry mightily unto God When we thus cry our own necessity is feelingly acknowledged and Gods mercy is duly valued Let the distress of our Nation and the Church aâ—d people of God therein excite us to send