of Christ in offering your Praises to God contrary to his own appointed Way therein you do worship God in vain and I fear it will be said of you as it was to him that offered the Thank-offering under the Law Levit. 7.11 to 19. which was to be eaten on the first and second Days and if any of the Flesh of the Sacrifice of his Peace or Thank-offering were eaten at all on the third Day that it shall not be accepted neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it it shall be an Abomination and that Soul shall bear his Iniquity 5thly and lastly It is the Duty of all and of every individual Christian studiously to judg of the Doctrine delivered to them whether it be of Man or of God and to conform to the Authority of the Holy Scripture as the noble Bereans did Acts 17.10 11. who searched the Scriptures daily whether those things preached by Paul and Silas were so or no. And I am perswaded that it is for want of Zeal and Love to the Truths of Christ and through that slothful and idle Spirit attending so many Christians that the Errors of Men do so prevail But to leave what I have said I do beseech you courteous Reader christianly to overlook that Weakness you may espy in my Delivery and seriously to take notice not so much of that as of the main of this Subject without straining my Words beyond the drift and design of the body of my Discourse and to consider that the Authority of the Holy Scriptures is repugnant to such formal and customary Singing herein mentioned and treated of not with any Design to move Controversies or trouble others but to prevent the Divisions that possibly may arise amongst our selves through the Endeavours of some Persons to promote this Error in our Churches And as I hope the Lord hath engaged my Heart herein so he will bless my poor Endeavours to settle the Minds of my wavering Brethren and to prevent any farther Incroachments of this Error which hath been so generally rejected by us for many Years FINIS ERRATA Page 45. line 8. for formerly read formally P. 47. near the end in Margent add the Text Luke 4.17 c. ADVERTISEMENT There is now coming forth a Book intitled A Treatise of the Holy Trinunity in two Parts The First asserteth the Deity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Vnity of Essence with God the Father The Second in Defence of the former answereth the chiefest Objections made against this Doctrine By J. M. Chap. I. THE Case is briefly stated Chap. II. Sheweth that there is but one God the Creator and Former of all things Chap. III. Asserteth a Plurality of Divine Subsistences Chap. IV. Of the Father Chap. V. Proveth the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ 1. By his Names 2. That God in the Old Testament in divers Places is Christ in the New 3. By seven particular Texts of Holy Scriptures 4. That Christ pre-existed his Incarnation in his Divine Nature and is no Angel incarnate but is Coeternal with the Father 5. His Deity is proved by his Works And 6. By Divine Worship given to him Chap. VI. Proveth the Deity of the Holy Ghost 1. That he is a Person 2. His Deity is asserted from several Texts of Scripture 3. By his Works 4. By Divine Worship given to him Chap. VII Proveth the Unity of the Holy Trinity Chap. VIII Containeth some Explications of the Holy Trinunity 1. Of the essential Being of God 2. Of the Divine Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 3. Of the Distinctions of the Divine Nature and the Persons and some Shadows by way of Comparison of the incomparable and inconceivable Being of God and of the Union of Christ's two Natures PART II. Chap. I. Answereth Objections against the Scriptural Proofs of Christ's Deity Chap. II. Answers to Objections drawn from several Texts of Scriptures Chap. III. Answers to several Arguments against the Deity of Christ Chap. IV. Answers to several Objections against the Scriptures that prove the Deity of the Holy Ghost Chap. V. Answers to some Objections drawn from divers Scriptures to disprove the Deity of the Holy Spirit Chap. VI. Answers to some Scriptures from whence our Adversaries assert that the Father only is the true God With a general Answer and Conclusion Price bound one Shilling AN APPENDIX TO THE FORMER DISCOURSE Concerning SINGING in the Worship of GOD in the Gospel-Church IN the former Part of my Discourse on this Subject I laid a Foundation according to the proportion of Faith which I received from the Light of the holy Scriptures and have asserted something of the nature manner and order of Singing agreeable to the Dispensations of the Mind and Will of God unto his People both under the Old and New Testaments And finding my self concerned in the defence of the Truth of Christ which some have erred from in their practice of formal Singing I shall farther treat on this Subject for the better clearing of it from divers things that lie in the way of some Christians establishment in the Truth SECT I. 1. I Shall premise That to praise God or praising of God is not confined to Songs of Praise but that there are other ways and manners of praising God than with such melodious Singing as in Psal 145.10 All thy Works shall praise thee O Lord and thy Saints shall bless thee and in Psal 148. throughout the whole Creation is required to praise God for he commanded and they were created Their very Being and Subsistence and the order of Nature is a Praise to the glorious Wisdom and Power of God And David saith Psal 50.23 Whoso offereth Praise glorifieth me viz. God And as praising God is glorifying honouring and magnifying of him so also is glorifying God often put for the same as praising of him which in the following Scriptures do also differ from that of Singing as in Mat. 21.16 where the Children crying Hosanna to the Son of David that is Save now is by Christ called Praise and Luke 19.37 The whole Multitude of the Disciples began to rejoyce and praise God saying Blessed be the King that cometh in the Name of the Lord Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest And this praising God and Glory in the Highest is in Matthew and Mark said to be crying Hosanna to the Son of David Hosanna in the highest And Luke 18.43 And immediately he received his Sight and followed him glorifying God and all the People when they saw it gave Praise unto God And Acts 3.8 9. The lame Man walking and leaping praised God And also Thanking 2 Cor. 4.15 chap. 9.11 to end Phil. 4.16 chap. 1.3 4. 1 Thes 1.2 Phil. 1.4 is glorifying or praising God which is by the ordinary Gift of the Spirit always to be mixt with Prayer as Paul did making mention of the Saints with Thanksgiving always in every Prayer and therefore as God is thus praised
Whether you will assert that meerly natural Worship without Gospel-Institutions and Qualifications for that which is Legal and Ceremonial is done away will please God and ought to be exercised in his Gospel-Church Or 3. Do you say that the acceptable manner of praising God in his Gospel-Church for that is the chiefest Point in question is discovered and warranted to us both from the Light of Nature and Divine Revelations and Gospel-Institutions and so because you have no Warrant from either of them for your Practice of formal Singing together do you shuffle between them both If you say that your Practice of singing Praises to God in his Church is a constant Ordinance by Divine Revelation and Institution only then you cannot pretend to the Practice of it from the Law or Instinct of Nature and if you found it on the Law of Nature only then you bring it into the Gospel-Church without regard being had to the Tenor of the Gospel which is that as God is a Spirit so they that worship him must worship in Spirit and in Truth as Christ saith The Hour cometh and now is Joh. 4.23 24. when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him Which is not to be understood of worshipping in our natural Spirits only For the Apostle saith Rom. 8.8 26 27. that they that are in the Flesh cannot please God But ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his And that the Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered And we are commanded to pray always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit Ephes 6.18 And to pray in the Holy Ghost and to be filled with the Spirit Chap. 5.18 19. speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs And I will pray with the Spirit 1 Cor. 14.15 and I will sing with the Spirit And the Apostle saith in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians Rom. 8.15 Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father And ye have received the Spirit of Adoption Gal. 4.6 whereby we cry Abba Father So that Gospel-Prayer and Singing is in with and by the help of the Holy Spirit And therefore if no regard be had to Gospel-Institutions and Qualifications for Prayer Singing but that they are to be practised from the Law Light or Instinct of Nature only then such Prayer and Singing so perform'd can't be part of Gospel-Worship nor should they be knowingly suffered in any Gospel-Church For the design of God in erecting the Gospel-Church was that he might have a Spiritual House 1 Pet. 2.5 9. an Holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual not natural Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Moreover if Singing and Prayer are put together and performed by you as spiritual Duties why do you not follow the spiritual Rule and plain Gospel-Order for Singing as well as Prayer And if you put them together as natural Duties from the Law or Instinct of Nature only without regard being had to Divine Institutions and Qualifications it is the ready way to bring the World by Shoals into the Gospel-Church and so to turn it by major Votes which is no argument of Truth into a natural Church-state And it also opens a wide door for Forms of Prayer as well as for Forms of Singing for if the Practice of both are alike from the Law of Nature and Singing be performed in stinted precomposed Forms what reason can you render why such Forms of Prayer should not be used as well as such Forms of Singing But if Singing and Prayer are not put together by you as founded alike on the Law of Nature how can you demonstrate their Essences to be from the different Principles of Nature and Grace when true Gospel spiritual Singing is from the Fountain of the Holy Spirit as well as Prayer and preserve the Gospel-Church from the Confusion of apparently-known natural and spiritual Persons in having full Communion together if natural Worship meerly as such should be allowed therein Farthermore what Scripture-Grounds and Reasons can you render when you perform Prayer according to Gospel-Order in the Church with a single Voice by one at once in subjection to the Rule of Christ 1 Cor. 14.26 to 34. though Prayer is not expresly mentioned therein wherefore you do reject the Psalm expresly named and annexed with other Gifts unto the Rule from coming under the Order of it And what can you say to the Practice of Womens vocal Singing in the Church when it is so directly against the plain and positive Command of Christ To conclude this Epistle to you it highly concerns you to consider whether your practice of Singing or what I have herein asserted in this Treatise 1 Cor. 3.12 13 14 15. Rom. 2.16 can stand our Trial at the Day of Jesus Christ when both you and I shall appear before him and receive our Loss or Gain according to the Gospel And therefore that the Lord would graciously awaken you and convince you of your Error which I am perswaded that one day or other you will be made ashamed of and pardon your Sin and Injury to the Church of Christ therein and prevent your building of Hay and Stubble on the true Foundation and make you an Instrument of his Glory and his Peoples Comfort as it hath been my earnest Prayers to God for you so I desire in Love and Faithfulness to continue I. M. The CONTENTS of the Brief DISCOURSE or the First Part. 1. A Brief Exposition of Ephes 5.18 19. Col. 3.16 1 Cor. 14.26 Page 5 2. Of the Essence or Being of Singing Page 5 3. Of David's Psalms Page 9 4. Of Precomposed Songs and Hymns Page 15 5. Of Womens Singing Page 21 6. Of the Order of Singing Page 22 7. Objections answered 1. Of Moses Deborah and Barak's Singing Page 24 2. Of Musick used by the Prophets in Saul's Time Page 25 3. That Musick and Singing was an Institution to continue till Temple-Worship was made void is no Argument to prove that Gospel-Singing should continue in constant use from the Primitive Church till the second Coming of Christ Page 26 4. To Isa 52.8 9. Page 28 5. To Matth. 26.30 Page 29 6. To Acts 16.25 Page 32 7. To Ephes 5.19 Page 33 8. Of Wicked Mens praying and singing Praises Page 36 9. That true Believers having cause to praise God is no proof that they must constantly sing his Praise in his Worship Page 38 10. That Formal Prayer and Singing under the Law is no Argument for such under the Gospel Page 43 11. That Prayer and consequently Singing are of the same Nature under the Gospel as
Gifts exhorted to covet after and as the Apostle gives us an example by his own Endeavours to press after the Perfection of a Resurrection-state and we are also as strictly commanded to be perfect Mat. 5.48 as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect to walk as Christ walked 1 John 2.6 1 Pet. 1.15 and as he which hath called us is holy so to be holy in all manner of Conversation as we are to sing And therefore the nature of this Command for Singing is no more absolute than the others are for our pressing after the Perfection of Grace and of other special Gifts of the Holy Spirit And if this Command be so absolute and so universal as to require the vocal Singing together of all the Church in the constant Worship of God because it is written in general to the Saints at Ephesus and Coloss Then surely those positive Commands for Prayer which are more universally and strongly injoined on all Christians may be said to require their vocal praying together for we are commanded to pray always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit 1 Thess 5.17 Ephes 6.18 and to pray without ceasing Yet surely you will not say from these Exhortations because they are general to the Saints of Ephesus and to the Church of the Thessalonians that the whole Church must vocally pray together or that Women should pray at all vocally in the Church nor is there any reason from the Text or any other part of this Epistle or from any other Word of God why those Exhortations for Singing should include the Women and all the Church more than the others do for Prayer But some may object and say that Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs are for teaching and admonishing of the Church and therefore they must continue as part of the constant Worship of God to the end of the World To which I reply 1. That if you will have this Argument serviceable to prove the constant use of Psalms and Hymns it will be equally serviceable to prove the constant use of spiritual Songs for all three are alike set forth in the Text for teaching and admonishing And if you will grant that there is an absolute necessity of a successive Gift of the Holy Spirit by his immediate Dictates for Spiritual Songs which some do though others do not why is there not as much reason to grant a necessity for the Gift of the Holy Spirit for Psalms and Hymns For to be filled with the Spirit is primarily set forth as the Fountain of all three which are his Fruits and Effects and therefore there is no Reason to deny a necessity of the special Gift of the Holy Spirit for any one or two of them more than for the others and then if all three are from a special Gift of the Holy Spirit there is an Exclusion of humane precomposed stinted Forms But though I thus argue to clear the Truth from these Objections yet I make no difference between them as respecting their composure by the special Gift of the Spirit so of their manner of Delivery in the Gospel-Church for all three are alike as hath been proved before To which I shall here add See more part 1. pag. 35. That seeing we have three or four several Names together of Old-Testamentthings and Types viz. * Rev. 8.1 3 4. There was silence in Heaven for half an hour while the Angel offered up the Incense with the Prayers of the Saints alluding to the custom of the Jews Luke 1.8 9 10. who while the Priest was offering Incense they made their private Prayers before the Lord as appears in that it was by the whole Multitude in the outer or great Court of the Temple where the Priests did never use to minister their publick Service in God's Worship but in the inner Court called therefore the Court of the Priests for which cause it could not be publick ministerial Prayer See the Dutch Annotations on these Scriptures Luke 1.8 9 10. 1 Kings 6.36 2 Chron. 4.9 Exod. 40.26 33. and Dr. Franois Roberts in his Key of the Bible on Rev. 8.1 and Mr. Joseph Mede in his Key of the Revelations on Chap. 8.1 And the aforesaid Dr. Roberts in Page 112 and 122. also sheweth That Psalms Hymns and Songs do answer the three Hebrew and Greek Words in the Titles of the Psalms as 1st 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mizmor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Psalm Psal 3 4 5 6 c. 2dly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tehillah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Hymn Psal 145. in which Psalm though the LXXII have not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Hymn but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Praise which for sense are one and the same Hymn signifying Praise yet the very word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in Greek in the Titles of Psalm 6 54 60 66. and in the close of Psalm 71. according to the Greek but which is Ps 72. according to the Hebrew ver 20. The Greek saith Ended are Hymns of David Son of Jesse 3dly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Ode a Song Psal 30 45 46 65 68 108 120 to 135. which account of these three Words serves to confirm what was cited before out of Ainsworth Part 1. page 33. Censer Incense the Golden Altar and the Smoak that pertained to and accompanied the Peoples Prayers at the Temple to express the Antitype viz. the Intercession of Jesus Christ accompanying Gospel-Prayers We may as well understand Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs not to intend the same that were prescribed under the Law for Temple-Worship but rather in such like manner that the word Psalmos which comes from another Greek Word which signifies gently to beat or strike and relates to Psalterium a Psaltery a musical Instrument like a Harp to Psalmista a Psalmist or a Composer of Songs to musical Instuments and signifies a Psalm or Lessen to be sung to a musical Instrument doth set forth the sweet Strikings or Touches of the Spirit of Christ upon our Souls which produceth Melody in our Hearts and was sometimes vented by the Melody of the Voice and Hymns and Spiritual Songs the matter of Praise and Doctrine exerted or put forth by one and the same special Gift of the holy Spirit though expressed under so many Old Testament Names But if we go about to limit these three Words Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs to their legal Use and Significations we may by the same Rule confine the others also to intend a legal material Censer Incense Golden Altar and Smoke and so bring in this legal Ceremony that accompanied Prayer as well as Old-Testament-Singing into the Gospel-Church Moreover to understand those Words of the legal Use and Signification of David's Psalms Hymns and Songs affords a strong Argument for the lawful Use of prescript and stinted Forms of Prayer as Dr. Roberts observes saying that the Scripture-Psalms Hymns and