Ten Commandments Exod. 19.9 that the people might hear and cap. 20.22 he talked with you from Heaven and he wrote them in two Tables of Stone and in the five Books of Moses The Ceremonial and Judicial Laws were delivered in this last way viz. by Writing being left upon Record in the Books of Moses This is celebrated as a choice Mercy Psal 103.7 He made known his ways unto Moses his Acts unto the Children of Israel yea as a peculiar and distinguishing Mercy Psal 147.2 last v. He sheweth his Word unto Jacob his Statutes and Judgments unto Israel he hath not dealt so with any Nation And now seems to have been the first Invention of the Art of Writing The first mention we find of it is in Moses his time In Jacobs time it may seem they had no knowledg of it because in the Covenant between him and Laban instead of any Articles in Writing between them or signing or sealing of it they only erect an heap of Stones as Monuments of Remembrance of it Gen. 31.45 seq And the Invention is so admirable that it seems to transcend all humane Wit and Industry The reducing of all audible and articulate Sounds unto visible Marks and that in so familiar and short a way by twenty or thirty Letters without any further load to the Memory that we may well ascribe it unto God himself as the blessed Author and Inventor of it to help his poor people to and in the knowledg of himself according to that in Prov. 8.12 I Wisdom dwell with Prudence and find out knowledg of witty Inventions 3. The Lord accepted the whole Nation to be his own peculiar people erecting a glorious Frame and Fabrick of Church and Common-wealth amongst them wherein the Lord himself was King and did immediately preside and therefore it hath been fitly called a Theocracy so Gideon Judg. 8.23 The Lord shall rule over you Isai 51.16 that I may plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth and say unto Zion thou art my People 4. He gave them glorious and visible symbols and tokens of his Presence amongst them walking before them in a Pillar of Cloud and Fire Exod. 13.21 22. which Pillar rested upon the Tabernacle after that the Tabernacle was built Exod. ult ult which also was a symbol of his Presence with them and so was the Ark and the Manna from Heaven Exod. 16.14 15. with the Rock that followed them Exod. 17.6 1 Cor. 10.4 5. The Lord himself conducted and led them through the Desarts of Arabia by the Hand of Moses and into the Land of Promise by the Hand of Joshuah drying up Jordan for them subduing the Inhabitants before them raising up Judges and Rulers for them and finally training them up by many instructing Providences to fit them for the further Mercies he had yet in store for them One would think all things were now well setled but there were two or three things partly defects in this Dispensation it self and partly some provoking evils on their part under it by reason whereof the Lord brought in a further and an higher Dispensation afterwards 1. There had been strange Rebellions and Provocations in the Wilderness which have had an influence into all the sorrows and troubles that have befallen them ever since Murmuring against God Mutining against Moses and Aaron which the Lord took very hainously and therefore destroyed Corah Dathan and Abiram by miracle For to disobey the just Commands of a lawful Magistrate is to rebel against God himself And above all Idolatry Exod. 32.34 35 In the day when I visit I will visit their Sin upon them and the Lord plagued the people because they made the Calf which Aaron made From whence the Jews have a proverb that in every affliction in every calamity that comes upon them there be some grains of the Molten Calf in it 2. There were frequent Degeneracies and Oppressions under the Judges 3. The Tabernacle was unfixed Upon all which accounts the Lord had not yet satisfied himself in the expressions of his own Love towards them but his Heart was full and he was resolved to do yet more for them and so to try them to the utmost Therefore he was pleased to put a period unto this Dispensation which began about the year of the World two thousand five hundred and thirteen and lasted about four hundred eighty seven or eighty eight years 1 Kings 6.1 2. The Lords second Dispensation under the Law was from the Temple to the Captivity in Babylon In this Period the Glory of the Legal Dispensation rose up to the greatest height and splendor and that chiefly in two particulars the Glory of the Kingdom and Temple 1. The Kingdom was setled in the House of David as the Type and Progenitor of the Messiah And in his days and Solomons it extended to the utmost bounds that God had spoken of to Abraham though afterwards for their own sins they were cut short the neighbour Nations shaking off the yoke and the Kingdom it self divided into two parts two Tribes only left to Solomons Posterity The Lord had promised Abraham that his Seed should possess all the Land to the River Euphrates Gen. 15.18 And it was performed in Davids time and in Solomons 1 King 4.21 24. 2 Chron. 9.26 And this Kingdom was a Type of the Kingdom of Christ 2. The other piece of their Glory was the Temple Before God had dwelt in Tents but now he had an House built unto his Name The Lord turned his flitting Tabernacle into a fixed Temple for which David made plentiful Preparation Solomon did erect and set it up He did it in seven or eight years time or more precisely seven years and an half for he began it in the second month and finished it in the eighth 1 King 6.1 and ult and he began it in the fourth year of his Reign and finished it in the eleventh moreover he began it in the 480th year after the coming out of Egypt and dedicated it seven or eight years after which fell into the year of the World three thousand or three thousand and one as you will find if you take the pains to compute and put all the former Periods together And their Kingdom and Temple stood in some degree of outward Glory about four hundred years from the finishing and dedicating of it to the beginning of their Bondage under the Yoke of Babylon And now one would think they had been setled in such a condition as might have stood for ever But the Apostacies were very great which brought this high and prosperous Dispensation to an end to a sad end For 1. The peoples hearts being not so with God as became a people crowned with such Glory God left them and their Princes the first and wisest of them the very Founders of their Kingdom and Temple unto very great and enormous transgressions David committed Adultery and Murther a very unparallell'd case for which the Lord threatneth the
out in a new dress given forth in a new manner The Lord adorns his Truths with new Ornaments as it were that men may be excited to Inquiries and Affections suitable Hence in every Age there be in one respect or other new Discoveries or new Dispensations and Dealings of God with his People Or if men be taken with Antiquity 1 Joh. 2.7 I write no new Commandment but an old Commandment for the substance of things The good old way of Faith and Holiness remains which all the Saints of God have gone to Heaven in Heb. 11. he shews the same Race which he sets before them had been run by all the Saints from Abel cap. 12.1 being compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses let us run our race that is set before us as if he should say I exhort you to nothing but what all those Saints of old have done before you and yet ver 40. he professeth God hath better things for them an higher and better Dispensation and cap. 12.18 Ye are not come to Mount Sinai but ye are come to Mount Sion ver 22. here he fetches an argument from this variety of Dispensation and from the preheminence of that which they wore under above former times Reas 2. For his own greater Glory And under this head many things come in to be considered This various and gradual Dispensation tends to his greater Glory divers ways 1. That there may be an harmony between this and the other Works of God 2. To shew the inestimable Worth and Glory of the Mystery of the Gospel of his Son 3. To manifest the variety of his Wisdom 4. His absolute Liberty And 5. His peculiar Goodness 1. That there might be an harmony between this and the other Works of God It is so in other works of God as well as in his speaking and revealing of his Mind As in the Creation of the World he could have made it all at once but he chose rather to make it in six days and he made various and several kinds of Creatures Therefore this variety of Administration in the Discoveries of himself and his Gospel is suitable to all the rest of his Works wherein he ever delights with Unity to mix Variety with Identity Diversity and Disagreement in some respects with Consent in other So we see in the outward Lineaments of mens Faces so in the inward abilities and dispositions of their Minds both in the common and saving in natural and spiritual endowments what a wonderful Composition there is and how great variety and so indeed in every Creature and Work of God Though in conclusion Omnia fiunt ab uno ad unum God is the Author and the End of all So in the Church 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6. there are diversities of Gifts differences of Administrations diversities of Operations but from the same Author Calv. in loc Symmetria Ecclesiae multiplici ut ita loquar unitate constat the Symmetry of the Church consists as I may so say in a manifold Unity 2. To manifest the inestimable Worth and Glory of the Mystery of the Gospel of his Son which appears in this in that it is attended with such a multitude of means of divers kinds for the Dispensation of it That so many ordinances Providences Persons and things in several ages of the World should all be subservient to the Exhibition of this one Mystery of Christ and Redemption by him This shews the Glory of it Col. 1.27 3. To manifest the variety of his Wisdom that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 variegata sapientia It is like a party coloured Garment Ephes 3.10 As in the works of Creation and Providence so it is in the Dispensations of his Grace the Wisdom of God cannot be sufficiently manifested in any one or in a few things or in one manner of working And therefore it refracts it self into many parcels and scatters its Beams every manner of way that all put together may argue unto Man the inexhaustible depth and infinite largeness thereof Hence he hath found out many ways and means to convey the same Grace and every several manner hath some peculiar Beam of Wisdom and Worth in it This great variety and change of his Dispensations was not because in process of time God found out a better way and so relinquish'd the old as in the work of Creation he did not profit by Experience though he made Man last the most perfect Creature last For the Inequalities and Degrees of things came from the Wisdom of God as well as the divers kinds of them and every thing is best in its place and kind and proportion to the whole though not simply and in it self It is best that in a body there should be a Foot as well as an Head though simply and in it self the Head be more excellent The Wisdom of God appears not only in the individual natures of things but in their references and proportions to other things and to the whole whereof they are parts so it is better and the Wisdom of God appears more in that there was both a Legal and a Gospel Dispensation of Christ and his Benefits though the Gospel Dispensation be in it self far the more excellent Therefore this is a third Beam of his Glory that shines forth herein viz. his manifold Wisdom As there is infinite Wisdom in every thing God doth so he would have us see it 4. This variety of Dispensation manifests the Lords absolute Freedom and Liberty and Soveraignty in the use of Means and Instruments that he is not tyed to any of them He can work by little or by great means by few or many He can dispense the same Grace to his Church either in a Family-way or in a Nation or in all Nations For the Church of God was first a Family then in populo Israelitico and now in populo Catholico He can reveal himself either by ordinary or extraordinary persons either in a more immediate way or in a mediate way He hath not limited himself to one way or time or manner of speaking lest we should ascribe the Glory to the Means to the Tools rather than the blessed Workman and Author Therefore he is pleased ever and anon to change the Means to break his Tools as it were and throw them away and make new ones Hence if men begin to think that a Temple at Jerusalem hath any Salvation in it he will burn it up and be worshipped in spirit and truth in every Cottage as Joh. 4. pure Incense every where Mal. 1.11 5. The fifth Beam of Divine Glory that shines forth in this variety of Administration is this the Glory of peculiar Goodness which the Lord will receive by this means from every Saint of his according to his peculiar dealing with him Some will bless him for Multitude and Excellency of Means others will admire his Power and Grace in working by small and weak means some will praise him for one kind of
Zerobabel others afterwards with Ezra and others lastly with Nehemiah So is the Reformation out of Popery The first Reformers were not infallible therefore could not reform all things at once 2. It met with much opposition and was carried on through great difficulties and of all their Enemies the Samaritans did most obstruct them of whom you read 2 Kin. 17. that they served the Lord and other Gods and Ezra 4.1 2. When rejected then they brake out into open opposition and again in the New Testament Joh. 4.9 whereby it appears that they did believe and expect the Messiahs coming as well as the Jews Joh. 4.20 and again Rev. 3.9 they are there described The Sum is they had a kind of mongrel Religion made up partly of Judaism and partly of Paganism So now when the Church of God under the New Testament is coming forth out of spiritual Babylon There is a mongrel Generation risen up whom some have fitly called Calvino Papistas Calvinian Papists who are for the Protestant Doctrine and for Popish Worship I refer it to every ones Conscience to judge whether it may not be fitly applied to our late Innovators who are for a Linsey-woolsey Religion a mixture of sound and wholsome Doctrine with Antichristian popish worship their Wine is mixt with Water the Protestant Faith with popish Ceremonies and Superstitions they build Hay and Stubble upon the Foundation The Foundation of our Church is right which is Jesus Christ and Justification by Faith in his blood but the Superstructure they build upon it is humane Inventions and Superstitions which is not Gold and Silver pure Worship and wholesome Discipline but Hay and Stubble and the day will discover it 1 Cor. 3. 2. Typical vengeance and destruction upon the Enemies of his people For as the Jews were a typical people and did prefigure and represent the whole Church of God under the Gospel So the neighbour Nations with whom they had to do were also Typical of Gospel Enemies to the Church and their Sins and Judgments did prefigure and shadow forth something Analogous under the New Testament I shall refer them to 2. sorts Typical Prefigurations 1. Of Rome and 2. Of Hell it self 1. Types of Rome There be 5. places and people in the Old Testament that seem to be Types of Rome and Antichristian abominations 1. Sodom Rev. 11.8 for their monstrous Lusts and unnatural filthiness and uncleanness 2. Egypt for their Idolatry and cruelty to Gods People Therefore the Plagues of Rome are described with allusion to the Plagues of Egypt Rev. 16. Here is noisome boyles and Rivers of blood and darkness and Locusts c. 3. Jericho Hence that Curse of Joshua upon the Rebuilders of it Josh 6.26 27. This City was the first that stood out against the People of God which Curse was not in vain 1 Kin. 16.34 This seems to have had a further meaning to hold forth the irreparable ruines and everlasting destruction of all the implacable Enemies of God and his People and especially Rome and Antichrist which is to perish like a Milstone cast into the Sea never to rise more Rev. 18. Vid◠on Joshua among the personal Types This Curse of Joshua will come upon all such as shall attempt to Rebuild Rome and restore Popery when the Lord hath cast it down 4. Edom and Bozra the chief City thereof that is Italy and Rome therefore the same expressions which belong to Babylon and are spiritually understood of Rome Isa 13.19 21. are also used concerning Edom. Isa 34.11 and vers 4. The ruine of Idumea is set forth with expressions like unto those Rev. 6.12 13. The land shall become burning Pitch vers 9 10. the meaning is dreadful vengeance hideous indignation Isa 63.1 Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed Garments from Bozra Christ is there set forth as cloathed with Garments dipt in the blood of his Enemies 5. Babylon For this the Scripture is express Rev. 17.5 and vers 18. From all which we should learn both to know and to take heed of Antichrist seeing the Lord hath so many ways declared and foresignified him unto us Shall we look back toward Sodom Remember Lots Wife Shall we return into Egypt again Shall we Rebuild Jericho Would we be found in Bozra or Babylon in the day of the Lords fury 2. Types of Hell For as they had Types of Heaven and spiritual Glory so they had likewise of Hell and spiritual Torment and Misery They had all things taught and represented to them by things outward and visible And the visible expressions of divine vengeance upon Wicked Men of old led the People of God further to see and take notice of that eternal Wrath that is to come I shall instance therefore in 4. Prefigurations of Hell 1. The Deluge or destruction of the Old World by Water The Apostle parallels this and the destruction that shall be by Fire at the great Day together 2 Pet. 3.6 7. Hence Hell is called in the Old Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quahal rephaim Coetus Gigantum Prov. 21.16 Prov. 2.18 Isa 14.9 10. It stirreth up the Rephaims for thee God that hath overthrown the Gyants of the old World and cast them upon their backs in Hell Those men of Renown are now roaring and wailing under the Waters as the vulgar Latine reads that place Job 26.5 6. Gigantes gemunt sub Aquis he hath conquered those Gigantine Sinners who were cut down with a Flood as Job 22.16 He is able to deal with other Rebels Never any hardened himself against God and prospered Job 9.4 2. Sodom Therefore Hell is called the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 20.10 and 21.8 3. Egypt when under the ten Plagues especially that of darkness Exod. 10.21 22. For Hell is a place of utter darkness Mat. 25.30 In stead of darkness the Psalmist doth not mention that but saith He sent evil Angels amongst them Psal 78.49 A lively prefiguration of Hell wherein there is utter darkness but yet light enough to see affrighting apparitions of Devils and evil Angels 4. Tophet an horrid and cursed place wherein they were wont to Sacrifice their Children in the fire to Molech It was in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom Hence Hell is called in the New Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi Vallis Hinnom This Tophet was a place every way execrable both for the hideous Wickedness there committed and for the hideous Plagues and Judgments there executed There they did Sacrifice their Children to the Devil with an hideous noise to drown their Crys and Skreetchings Vid. my Notes on the Creation Gen. 1. Mede Disc 7. For an external detestation whereof King Josiah polluted it and made it a place execrable ordaining it to be the place where dead Carcasses Garbage and other unclean things should be cast out for the consuming whereof to prevent annoyance a continual Fire was there burning Yea the Lord himself as it were Consecrated this
I shall prove each Particular out of plain Scripture 1. That great Seed that was not only the Seed of the Woman but the Son of God this was the first and chief Seed here intended Gal 3.16 He saith not as to Seeds but to thy Seed which is Christ such a Seed in whom all Nations are blessed Now it is in Christ only that all Nations are blessed therefore he was this promised Seed The Lord had not before limited the Seed Messiah to any particular Family but left it at large so far as appears among the whole Race of Mankind It was said to Adam the Seed of the Woman there was then no further limitation till Noahs time and then in Abrahams time the Lord limits the Covenant to his Seed It was afterwards confined to Judah one of the twelve Tribes at last the Lord went further to one Family in Judah namely Davids but here he limits it to Abraham that of him should come that great and blessed Seed This was the main thing indeed as without which all other Promises could never be bestowed and fulfilled but through him they are Yea and Amen Abraham saw my day and rejoyced he saw the Messias was to come of his Loyns this was the Seed in whom he believed and by which he was saved 2. There was a Church-seed promised the meaning is this That the Church of God should be continued in his Race and Posterity the true Religion should be setled there There were other godly persons before and after we read of Melchisedech and Job and his Friends and it is very like there might be others and when God had setled Salvation to Abraham it was the duty of all others to joyn themselves to that Church The Lord entailed by Covenant all his Ordinances to Abraham and his Posterity He gave them his Statutes and Judgments he chose them to be a peculiar People a People to the Lord and that is a Church a Society intrusted and invested with the Ordinances and thus he dealt with them he shewed his Statutes to Israel this is no small priviledge and mercy to enjoy the Ordinances this is called the Kingdom of God This Christ threatned the Jews that it should be taken from them and given to other people Mat. 21.43 that is God would settle his Church among the Gentiles and give them his Ordinances And that this is a Priviledge we see by that expression of the Apostle to the Ephesians wherein he mentions it as a part of the dreadful misery of the Ephesians that they were Aliens to the Common Wealth of Israel 3. There was a third thing intended and that is a believing Seed such as should be truly Godly and of this the Apostle speaks in Gal. 3.7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith are the Seed of Abraham so that all true Believers are his Seed in that sense He is called the Father of the Faithful all Believers are his Posterity There were Multitudes that were truly Godly of Abrahams Seed and all that are Godly are his Seed they walk in his steps they are the Seed of the Covenant they are spiritually related to him He was the Pattern and typical Head of that Covenant in which we do all believe the Pattern of Faith to us He is called our Father It is said of him that he believed against sense and reason this was not writen for his sake alone but for us also that we might follow his steps 4. There was included in this Covenant an ingrafted Seed it is the Apostles expression in Rom. 11.17 I mean a Seed not only of the Jews but of the Gentiles God did not only engage to Abraham that there should be Church of his own natural Seed and that there should be Saints of his natural Seed but that the Gentiles should be ingrafted into his Covenant and so become his Seed Thou being a wild Olive Tree wert grafted in among them and partakest of the root and fatness of the Olive Tree God did above and beyond the ordinary course of things ingraft the Gentiles into that Covenant that he had once made with Abraham And thus you see what the Seed is which the Lord did promise in the Covenant whereof Circumcision was the Seal He did promise to give to Abraham that Seed firstly and chiefly that Seed who was the Son of God and a Church Seed and a believing Seed and not only a Seed of the Nation of the Jews but a Seed ingrafted into that Grace and Covenant from among the Gentiles We have gone through two Branches of the Covenant the third is this 3. That God would give an Inheritance to him and them this was the third part of Gods Covenant with him It is the greatest desire in nature to have Children and it is a good desire it is of God And what do Parents desire next a comfortable Inheritance for them and this did the Lord promise to Abraham And in that Text which hath been so often alledged God first promises to make him exceeding Fruitful and then I will give to thee and thy Seed after thee the Land wherein thou art yet a Stranger The Lord promised an Inheritance and that Inheritance was the Land of Canaan Now the Question is whether this was a temporal or spiritual Inheritance Doubtless the Lord did not promise to Abraham Canaan meerly as a temporal Inheritance but as a spiritual Inheritance Canaan was not as other Lands are a meer outward thing but it was a typical Land it was the Land of Emmanuel it is the Land of Glory Canaan was a Type of Heaven and in that respect it was that they did so earnestly prize it and look upon it as being Heaven in an earthly Shadow therefore Jacob and Joseph must needs be buried there therefore the Apostle assures us they did seek a better Country they professed themselves Strangers and Pilgrims here upon Earth They that say such things declare plainly they seek another Country which is an heavenly one wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God It is a heavenly City whose Builder and Maker is God so that under that Shadow the Lord did promise Heaven to Abraham and this was the third part of this Covenant This Land of Canaan is called the Mountain of Holiness what expression can be higher Dan. 11. and therefore the Saints did look beyond that to another Country You see what the Covenant was and what were the principal things and Branches of it That God should be his God that God should give him a Seed and that God should give an Inheritance to him and them You see what the Covenant is that Circumcision doth relate to Now the last thing that was propounded was this what respect it is that Circumcision hath to this Covenant He gave him the Covenant of Circumcision For this Note these five things 1. Circumcision respects the Covenant as the Seal or Sacrament of Initiation into the Covenant The reason of
here consider Priests as Ministers for the Levitical Ministry was a Type of the Gospel-Ministry And so the Instruction here is this That the Priests should feed and live themselves upon the same Christ and the same Truths they preach to others 1 Tim. 4.16 Take heed unto thy self and unto thy Doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee 5. There was Incense set upon the Bread Lev. 24.7 and thou shalt put pure Frakincense upon each row Incense was a Type of Prayer so the Word and Prayer should go together The solemn Dispensation of the Word should be accompanied with Prayer Acts. 6.4 But we will give our selves continually to Prayer and to the Ministry of the Word It is said of the Levites Deut. 33.10 they shall teach Jacob thy Judgments and Israel thy Law they shall preach the Word They shall put Incense before thee and whole burnt Sacrifice upon thine Altar Here is Prayer and the Administration of the Sacraments which do succeed instead of the Jewish Sacrifices 6. Christ thus feeding and sustaining his Church gives us some intimation of his Kingly Office For he is this Bread of Life by which their Lives are sustained and upheld And so look as the Candlestick points especially to his Prophetical Office in teaching and enlightening us and the Altar and Vessels of Incense to that great work of his Priestly Office mediating and interceding for us so the Table of Shew-bread speaks his Kingly Office in sustaining and upholding of us 7. A third mystery of the Shew-bread is this It seems to have been a Sacrifice unto the Lord namely a Meat-offering and consequently all the Gospel-mysteries of the Meat-offering do belong to the Shew-bread as being one species or kind thereof For the Rule is this in Lev. 24.7 Thou shalt put pure Frankincense upon each row that it may be on the Bread for a memorial even an Offering made by Fire unto the Lord and accordingly it was to be eaten as other Fire-offerings were by Aaron and his Sons in the Holy place For it is most holy unto him of the Offerings of the Lord made by Fire ver 9. The Incense was burnt upon the Altar as a memorial for the Bread or as some think an handful of the Flower whereof they were made was burnt with the Incense for the whole Now the Meat-offering did purge away Sin as typifying the Righteousness of Jesus Christ both his active and passive Obedience 1 Sam. 3.14 purged by Sacrifice or by Meat-offering It signified also the Persons and Services of the Saints and the Acceptance of both before the Lord. All which may be applied to the Shew-bread under the notion of a Meat-offering Therefore I shall not here insist upon these Considerations but refer them to that place to which they do belong namely to the legal Offerings and Sacrifices where the Meat-offering comes to be considered But as to the two former notions of the Shew-bread to improve them a little more practically we may apply them both for Comfort and for Tryal 1. For Comfort As the Church is this Shew-bread they stand before the Lord continually his eye is ever upon them Though thou art one whom Man despiseth and whom the Nations abhor as usually the best of Gods people are most hated and least beloved in the world yet if the Lord regard thee what though men despise thee Psal 40. ult I am poor and needy yet the Lord thinketh upon me Quest But how may I know that I am one of those that are under the Eye and Care and Love of God Answ The second notion of the Shew-bread speaks to this Dost thou feed upon Christ Is he the Shew-bread the Food of thy Soul whom as a spiritual Priest thou dost feed upon by Faith Then thou art the Shew-bread in that other notion as being continually before the Lord under his eye of special Care and Love And because all depends upon this let me give you a few Directions about it some Directions in eating the Shew-bread in feeding upon Christ in the Word 1. Do not feed upon other things Isai 55.2 Wherefore do you spend your Mony for that which is not Bread It is but to feed upon Husks Luke 15 16. and lying Vanities that cannot profit As if through a Distemper in the Stomach a man eats Coals or feeds upon Ashes it hurts the Appetite and weakens Nature so in Spirituals 2. Do not feed upon the Word without Christ in the Word For it is not the Letter of the Word it is not the bare Letter of the Promise but Christ in the Promise that is the Food of the Soul there be some that catch at the Promises and Benefits of Christ but do not close with Christ himself in the Promise who is indeed exhibited and manifested therein Therefore you should labour to see Christ himself there to behold his Glory as the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth as Joh. 1.14 to see his fitness and suitableness to all the necessities of a poor sinful Soul and that he is a person every way fit to be the great means of our access unto God and so upon that account to close with him as your Saviour having seen who and what a one he is as revealed in the Word of Promise by which we are first united to his Person and then do enjoy Communion with him in his Benefits 3. Never think that you seed upon Christ in the Promise a right until you find strength and nourishment from him Bread strengthens mans heart Psal 104.15 16. It is a lamentable thing when the Bread of life strengthens not when there is no staff nor stay in the Promise when God sends leanness into mens Souls But may not true Believers complain of unprofitableness Yes But strength comes at last if they go on to feed upon this food Therefore that which I aim at is this that you should never cease believing and eating and feeding upon Christ in every Ordinance and at every opportunity till at last you find strength and spiritual nutriment unto your Souls by him THE GOSPEL of the INCENSE and the GOLDEN ALTAR in the HOLY of HOLIES Dece 27 1668. Hebr. 9.3 4 5. And after the second Veil the Tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all which had the Golden Censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with Gold wherein was the Golden Pot that had Munna and Aarons Rod that budded and the Tables of the Covenant and over it the Cherubims of Glory shadowing the Mercy-seat of which we cannot now speak particularly HAving spoken of the holy Vessels in the Sanctuary we are now to treat of the sacred Furniture of the Holy of Holies concerning which we formerly observed from this Text this Doctrinal proposition Obs 5. That the sacred Furniture or the holy Vessels and Vtensils belonging to the Holy of holies were the Golden vessels for the
p. 593. Ainsworth on Psalms p. ult of Musick in Temple Ames Fresh Suit against Ceremonies part 2. cap. 4. sect 6. pag. 405 406. Didoclav Altar Damasc cap. 8 p. 490 491 c. Cotton of Singing of Psal c. 3. p. 12. who do with one mouth testifie against them most of them expresly affirming that they are a part of the abrogated legal Pedagogy so that we might as well recall the Incense Tapers Sacrifices New Moons Circumcision and all the other shadows of the Law into use again But Aquinas himself also though a Popish Schoolman pleads against them upon the same account quia aliquid figurabant and saith the Church in his time did not use them ne videatur judaizare lest they should seem to judaise Aquin. secund secundae Qest 91. Art 2.4 Yea Tilenus himself before his Apostacy for what his Judgment was afterwards in this particular I do not know but in his first which were his best times he saith Instrumenta inanimata sive ea sint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quicunque in Ecclesiam revocant Synagogam pridem sepultam hac in parte refâ—diunt operosum illud machinamentum quod Antonomastice vocant Organon Vitaliani Papae inventum ac donum illis arrideat qui magnae meretrici supparasitari quam Christianae simplicitati studere malunt non absimiles Ethnicis quos Lactantius ad Templa ventitare ait non tam Religionis gratia quam ut videant audiant quod oblectet lib. 2. cap. 7. quibus publicorum Conventuum finis non est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syntag. part 2. disp 49. thes 49 50. What it was that was the thing intended and signified by these dark shadows is not without some obscurity and difficulty to determine But yet it may be found out as in other Types so in this by considering the nature of the thing it self and by diligent observing the hints and intimations that are given by the Spirit of God in the Scripture For the meaning of the Types is seldom fully and explicitly declared and held forth but for the most part briefly and obscurely hinted and so left by God to be collected by the Christian Wisdom and Industry of his people The Silver Trumpets then are conceived to hold forth the Promulgation of the Gospel the preaching of the pure Word of God by his Messengers See Ainsworth on Numb 10. For which as there is a clear and fair analogy and proportion in the things themselves so there be some hints of Scripture that seem evidently to look this way As when Solomon saith the Tongue of the just is as choice Silver Prov. 10.20 so the Messengers of God are said to lift up their voice as a Trumpet Isai 58.1 set the Trumpet to thy mouth Hos 8.1 And in Ezek. 33 3-6 the faithful discharge and execution of their Office is expressed by blowing the Trumpet So when it is said in that great Prophesie concerning the Restauration of the Jews Isai 27.13 that in that day the great Trumpet shall be blown it is understood by Interpreters concerning the sounding of the Silver Trumpet of the Gospel throughout the world So Calvin in Isai 27.13 of whose Renown for a spiritual and solid Interpreter we need not speak Tubae spiritualis nempe Evangelii clangor c. So the Dutch Annotators in Isai 27.13 understand by this great Trumpet in a spiritual way the Trumpet of the Gospel whereby God hath called and gathered unto himself a Church out of all People and Nations of the World So Mr. Davenport of the true Messiah p. 21. The sounding of Trumpets to give notice of the Jubile typed out the preaching of the Gospel which began in Johns Ministry and Christ seconded it Luk. 4.18.22 And both these and all the rest of their Musical instruments were expressions and signs of Joy Psal 89.15 and 98.6 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound with Harp with Trumpets with sound of Cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord the King They were therefore fit Resemblances to shadow out that heavenly Musick and inward Melody of the Joys and Graces of Gods Spirit in the Hearts of his people The Apostle therefore exhorts us to sing unto the Lord but instead of calling upon us for Musical instruments he requires the Spirit of Grace in the Heart and Melody in the Heart Ephes 5.18 19. Colos 3.16 The making a joyful noise with Instruments continueth not saith Mr. Cotton of the singing of Psalms cap. 3. p. 12. save only so far as it is kept alive in the Antitype the affections of our Hearts our praecordia making melody with the songs and professions of our Lips and with the gracious and peaceable conversations of our Lives Yea so clear and obvious are these significations of the Jewish Musick notwithstanding some some little obscurity that Tilenus himself though dark enough in other things could not but see it such is the evidence of the thing it self Festum clangoris saith he continuam spiritualem laetitiam Evangelici praeconii tuba excitandam denotabat the Feast of Trumpets denotes those continual spiritual rejoicings raised in the heart by the pleasant sound of the Trumpet of the Gospel Syntag. par 1. disp 52. thes 61. 4. But suppose the signification of the Jewish Musick could not be found out as indeed it is an hard thing to find out the meaning all their Types and Ceremonies Yet nevertheless we are delivered by Jesus Christ not only from their Types and Ceremonies but also from all their yokes and burthens and from all such Ordinances and Observations as did befit them and belong unto them as in that estate of infancy and childhood Junius therefore upon the History of Miriams praising the Lord with Timbrels and with Dances distinguisheth thus Eorum quae lege imperata sunt alia ad rei futurae praesignificationem pertinuerunt alia singularem illius Ecclesiae habuerunt significationem Quaecunque res futuras praesignificaverunt ea post Complementum in Christo usurpare est impium quae Ecclesiae illius fuerunt propria vel singularia eadem nunc usurpare est ridiculum Jun. in Exod. 15.20 which overthrows that deceitful Rule of Bellarmine which he repeats and makes use over again and again when he saith Ceremoniae Judaeorum propriae sunt illae quae ad aliud futurum significandum erant institutae At Ceremoniae quae fundantur in Ratione naturali ut genua flectere similes non sunt propriae Judaeorum atque ad hoc genus pertinent instrumenta musica porro talem esse Templorum Dedicationem apparet c. Bell. tom 2. de Cultu Sanct. lib. 3. c. 5. tom 3. de Missa l. 2. c. 15. tom 4. de Bon. Oper. in partic l. 1. c. 16. where besides the impropriety of expression for kneeling in Prayer is not so fitly called a Ceremony being an outward gesture which both the