A LITTLE TREATISE CONCERNING Things Indifferent In Relation unto WORSHIP DIRECTED To the KING and his COUNCIL and all Others who are concerned or do think themselves so to be in matters of RELIGION FOR THEM To Weigh well Mind and Consider if they please ere any Determination be had in Things of that nature By one that loves the Truth and Peace GEORGE BISHOPE All things are lawful for me but all things are not expedient All things are lawful for me but I will not be brought under the power of any 1 Cor. 6. 12. All things are lawful for me but all things are not expedient All things are lawful for me but all things edifie not 1 Cor. 10. 23. Printed in the Year 1663. A LITTLE TREATISE CONCERNING Things Indiferent c. THings Indifferent are so called either from the Nature of the Things themselves Or of the things about which they are Conversant And the General signification of them or of the word Indifferent the Term unto which they relate and by which they are understood is Something that may be done or not done according to the Liberty and Choice of him that doth them or not doth them So that if they be done it imports not any thing of a Necessity and if they be not done it implies not any matter of Guilt but that they may be done or not done according to the pleasure of him who doth them or doth them not And this is the Nature and Signification of Things Indifferent And this I lay down in the first Place because the Nature and Signification of the things treated about are necessary to be opened ere that which is intended there-from comes to be Discoursed Now it may be demanded as to the Thing What are things Indifferent and what not in relation to the Worship of God For that 's the Thing unto which this Little Treatise is terminated by me I Answer Things Indifferent in relation to the Worship of God are to be considered either as things that may be done or not done as being so or things Indifferent in their own Nature or as things that are not so in their own Nature yet are or may be left so by him who orders all things according to the good pleasure of his will especially as to that in which he will be Worshipped And so they may be considered either as to the Worship it self or to the Manner thereof or as to the things that are conversant thereabouts As to the Worship it self there is nothing that can be called Indifferent For nothing is indeed the Worship of God or can be truly called so but what he requires or what proceeds from the measure of him and the very requiring of a thing takes away the Indifferency of it So the Jews who were commanded all the Males of them once in a year to come and appear before the Lord and worship at Jerusalem and to observe New Moons and Sabbaths and to offer Incense and to keep appointed Feasts to Pray there in the Place where he said he would be heard yet they coming in the mind in which they should not come and offering in that which he accepts not which is not of him of the measure of him and from it he said unto them When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread in my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations and all that is so which is not from him the measure of him it proceeds from that which is vain and its end is vain it accomplishes not the thing it intends Incense is an abomination to me the New Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with It is Iniquity even the solemn Meeting Your New Moons and your appointed Feasts my soul hateth they are a trouble unto me I am weary to bear them And when you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when ye make many prayers I will not hear And the Reason is subjoyned Your hands are full of blood said the Lord by the Prophet Isa 1. 12 13 14 15. Now if the Jews who were so commanded coming to offer and to tread in his Courts and to pray and to keep dayes and to frequent the solemn Meetings and to observe the appointed Feasts which they were commanded had this said unto them When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread in my Courts because their hands were full of Blood because it was the murtherous spirit in which they came to appear the spirit that is out of Truth the Devil unto which he hath not regard nor to the offering of that which is not from the Spirit of him whom he accepts the spirit of the Devil who was a Lyar from the beginning and abode not in the Truth who caused Cain to slay his Brother about Religion the Murderer which was not accepted nor his Offering who slew his Brother and therefore is said to be of that wicked one and to slay his Brother because his own works were evil and his Brothers righteous how much more will he say it as to that which he requireth not And the reason of this is plain because all such things as are done as Worships and the Lord commandeth them not are will-Will-Worship or that which proceedeth not from the Lord or the measure of him in man which he only accepts that which is offered from it but from the Creature the spirit which is in the Creature and guides and rules it which is not of God which he doth not accept but is an abomination in his sight The Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord but the Prayer of the upright is his Delight Prov. 15. 8. Therefore it is said They Sacrificed unto Devils not to God to gods whom they knew not to new gods that came newly up whom their Fathers feared not when they Worshipped that or did that Worship which he required not But Jesurun waxed fat and kicked Thou art waxen fat thou art grown thick thou art covered with fatness then he forsook God that made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation they provoked him to jealousie with strange gods with abomination they provoked him to anger They sacrificed to Devils not to God c. though they seemed to pretend to Worship God when they worshipped but not as he required this was a sacrificing to Devils and not to God though he was in their mind or though they thought they worshipped him when it was not from him the measure of him the requirings of him who will be worshipped as he requires the thing and the mind the spirit and the thing And so saith Moses of the Rock that begat thee this was Israel who had a measure of God his first-born something in which he might know how to worship God and from which he will be worshipped and he accepts no other but what comes from it and
is of it Thou art unmindful and hast forgotten God that formed thee when he went from this said the Lord by Israel Deut. 32. 15 16 17 18. And of King Jeroboam who set up the Calves at Dan and at Bethel for Israel to worship and the high Places and ordained Priests unto them which the Lord required not it is said who did it without the command of the Lord And he ordained him Priests for the high Places and for the Devils and for the Calves which he had made 2 Chron. 11. 15. And he it was that made Israel to sin And of the Men of Judah it is said And the Princes thereof when they sacrificed that which the Lord required not They Sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto Devils and shed innocent blood even the blood of their sons and of their daughters whom they sacrificed unto the Idols of Canaan and the Land was polluted with blood Read this within as well as without for the offering up of the mind to a strange god to or in a thing which the Lord requires not is the same for the Birth of God is there strangled and made to pass thorow the fire of that which is offered to that of which the offering is even that from which it proceeds for unto that is the Offering made to that spirit from whence it comes and it being from the Devil it is to the Devil though the Mind may be to God which is deceived and thinks he is worshipped when it is the contrary Thus were they defiled with their own works and went a whoring after their own Inventions such is all that Worship which the Lord requireth not saith the Prophet Psal 106. 37 38 39. And of them who worshipped Stocks and Stones the works of mens hands yet pretended that they minded God therein and did it as a worship to God or that through them they intended the Lord which he required not It is said Confounded be all they that serve graven Images that boast themselves of Idols Worship him all ye Gods Psal 97. 7. And their Idols are silver and gold the work of mens hands they have mouthes but they speak not eyes have they but they see not noses have they but smell not they have hands but they handle not feet have they but they walk not neither speak they through their throats They that make them are like unto them so is every one that trusteth in them Psal 115. 4 5 6 7 8. And Saying to a Stock Thou art my Father and to a Stone thou hast brought me forth For they have turned their back unto me said the Lord and not their face but in the time of their trouble they will say arise and save us But where are the gods that thou hast made thee Let them arise if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble For according to the number of thy Cities are thy gods O Judah said the Lord to and of the Kings Princes Priests and Prophets of Israel who so said to a Stock and to a Stone that is the thing spake it bowing to that which the Lord did not require for that unto which any man doth bow he maketh that his God and puts it as that which hath begot him and which hath brought him forth And what a thing this is to say to a Stock Thou art my father c. let the man whose eyes are open judge Jer. 2. 27 28. As the thief is ashamed saith he when he is found so is the house of Israel ashamed they their Kings their Princes and their Priests and their Prophets saying c. as aforesaid And hence it is that the Apostle speaking of such things as stood in the will of man and were after the Doctrines and Commandments of men and from the Rudiments of the world which he calls all that which stands not in the will of God and the Commandment of him the measure of him in every one who is the Head by whom the Body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together encreaseth with the encrease of God saith to the Colossians Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puffed up with his fleshly mind and not hodling the head from which all the Body by joints and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the world why as though living in the world are ye subject unto Ordiances Touch not taste not handle not which all are to perish with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will-worship and humility and neglecting of the Body not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh Col. 2. 18 to the end Thus as to the Worship it self Now as to the manner of it The Jews had not Liberty in any thing as to the Manner of the Worship to order and appoint but what the Lord Commanded as they had not for the Worship as the Books of Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy testify at large Nor had David and Solomon liberty as to the Manner of building of the Temple as of the building the figure of this Other not made with hands in which the Sacrifice is to be offered Christ Jesus who is come but it was built for manner as well as matter according to the Pattern which David received from the Spirit of the Lord and which the Lord made David to understand in writing by his hand upon him even all the work of that Pattern 1 Chron. 28. 12 19. and which David gave to Solomon vers 11. c. And Ezekiel had the Pattern of the second Temple from the Spirit of the Lord. And the Apostles were led into all Truth all matter and manner by the Spirit Howbeit saith Christ when he the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will shew you things to come He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shew it unto you John 16. 12 13. And John speaking of the times after the Apostacy which was to follow yea it entred before the decease of the Apostles as he testifies Little children saith he it is the last time and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come even now there are many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time 1 Joh. 2. 18. And saith Paul Now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand Let no man deceive you by any means for
hence they must offer who offer unto God and are accepted in his sight Something that is his own from his own of his own the measure of him which is not born of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God As David did in the figure when he and his Princes offered unto the Temple the figure of him who was to come Christ Jesus by whom all our Sacrifices are to be offered who is come the second time without sin unto salvation of thine own saith he have we given thee For we are strangers before thee and sojourners as were all our Fathers see how low he was when he came to offer to the Figure to that which perished the Temple and the things thereof against the time it should be builded which was to be after his dayes For he was not to build it though it was in his heart because he had made great wars and had shed much bloud but Solomon was to build it for in his dayes peace and quietness the Lord said he would give Israel and that he should be a man of Rest and that he would give him rest from all his enemies round about He shall build an house for mine Name and he shall be my son and I will be his Father and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever said the Lord 1 Chron. 22. 7 8 9 10. See the difference between the man of Blood and the man of Peace and the offering that comes from each and what it signifies and who it is that is to build the Temple of the Lord and which the Lord accepts and in whom he is well pleased it is Solomon the man of rest Our dayes on the earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding O Lord our God all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy Name cometh of thine hand and it is all thine own 1 Chron. 29. 14 15 16. and this the Lord accepted And it must be of his own that now must be given him else he accepts it not and his own is that which is of him of the measure of him as aforesaid And therefore a necessity there is for all men hither to come ere that they can come to serve or worship him acceptably with reverence and godly fear who is a consuming fire and will be had in reverence by all that are about him Heb. 12. 29. Psal 89. 7. Or that he will be worshipped of them Therefore hath he moved me and it hath lain upon me from the Lord to write these things unto you that you may not be mistaken as to your Worships or think ye be doing that which is well-pleasing to him when he accepts it not For he is a God of purer eyes than to behold evil and no iniquity can come near his dwelling nor can he look on iniquity and he beholdeth the proud afar off and he scattereth the proud in the imaginations of their hearts how then can they come near him For nothing can come near him but what is like him and as he is as aforesaid This is my well-beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased hear him saith the Lord. So to the Son every one must come to the measure of him in every one that which reproves that which makes manifest that they may know the Lord and his Power and his Arm and his working the mighty power of his working who is able to subdue all things unto himself and to bring down the mighty from their seats and to exalt the humble and meek For Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose Name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of an humble and contrite spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Isa 57. 15. For all these things hath mine hand made Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Foot-stool where is the House that ye build unto me and where is the place of my Rest and all these things have been saith the Lord But to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and that trembleth at my word Isa 66. 2. And thus it concerns every man to mind for as much as he stands in a state of dependency upon God and hath need of him and his Mercy to save and preserve him to all Eternity for as much as there is something in him which is eternal that can never be destroyed with which if it should be ill with for ever it will be sad and this the Lord knowes and in what state man is and what need he hath of him and therefore hath he placed something of himself in man to shew him how it is with him and his state and the way to God who is lost in the fall and how he may please him and do that which is acceptable in his sight that so it may be well with him for ever For otherwise what is a man profited saith Christ if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give see how high it goes in exchange for his soul Mat. 16. 26. And now is the hour of your visitation whilst ye are here and whilst the Lord strives with you the measure of him in every one of you which calls upon you to heed this and tells you this is so and ye believe this is Truth but yet are not guided by that which tells you it is so and which ye believe though ye believe it and know it is so and that it is good for you to heed it thereby to be led out of the evil and to be delivered from all evil and so redeemed unto God for the Redemption is from evil and the deliverance which holds the mind in captivity and estrangeth it from God so that it knows him not who gives it life and breath and moving and the displeasure of God is against the Creature because his mind is alienated from God by wicked works And therefore that his creature may be saved and delivered from the wrath to come from that on which his wrath is revealed and will be revealed the Lord Jesus will in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in them that believe 2 Thes 1. 7 8 9 10. I say that his creature may be saved and delivered from the wrath to come hath he put something of himself in him that he may know whither to go to be delivered And because no man may say in his heart who shall ascend for me into Heaven that is to bring Christ down