that one place was the other Commaundement enforced Nay the Apostle vnto Timothy as opposing to that sayth that now It is lawfull in all places to hold vp pure hands without wrath and doubting The Commaundement therefore in respect of the execution was plainely Temporall and as such an Idolatrous House stood opposite to that one-place so Ceremoniall And indeed it well and aptly taught that we should dissolue all conuentions of Schismatikes and Heretiques for bringing them to vnitie with the one Catholique body of Christ Iesus Wherewith let be remembred first that Euery creature since the remouall of the partition Wall which stood betweene the sew and Gentile it is made holy by the word and prayer Secondly for Vse it is lawfull to them that be sanctified and so hold it lawfull To deny this is to Iudaize and in effect not onely to say that the CHRIST is not come but also to blaspheme the libertie whereto Christ hath made vs free Thus the Diuell vnder the colour of Synceritie labours to annull Christianitie But if a man should let the former trueth of doctrine passe and then should put them to prooue that all our materiall Churches were from the very roote Idolatrized should he not put them to an endlesse businesse If they say that from the first Stone they were dedicated to some Idol-saint it is more then they can proue howsoeuer since for distinction sake or otherwise they haue had some Names put vpon them But admit it from the begining of their very Forme what reason can there be of vnlawfulnes to pray in them more then of praying in Amsterdams Churches librarie except they there study without Prayer and then it is like to be but a prophane study Or their praying in S. Annes S. Giles or S. Mâ—udlins parioche be it at bed or at board seing these Parioches were dedicated to such Saints as Anne Giles yea some of them to the Paternoster Creede Aue Kyriâ— whereof comes the word Kyrk If they answer that no doubt they may do this so well as Iudahs Prophet Preached before Bethels Alter or S. Pauls vsage of any deuotion in the Ship dedicated to Castâ—r and Pâ—llux I replie euen as lawfull it is for vs to pray in our Churches howsoeuer froÌ„ the foundation deuoted But the ground of such lawfull and well doing rests neither in their or our action But in this that so we do according to the former Doctrine it being a Doctrine according to godlynes directing vs to the true vse of euery creature But as To the Cleane all tâ—ings are cleane so To the vncleane and vnbeleeuing is nothing cleane For euen their â—â—indes and conseiences are vncleane So much of the Materiall Church considered from the Greeke * word Kyriake CHAP. iij. Touching the wordes Synagôgé and Ecclesia c. THe Septuagint that is the Seauentie learned Iewes or as Aristeas writes to his brother Philocratos 72. that is of euery Tribe sixe they at the request of Ptolemy Philadelph one of the Kinges of the South in Daniel did translate the Law into Greeke These in Moses vse the word Sinagoge for Congregation speaking of Israel not of the Tabernacle for if they speake of the Tabernacle then they write Tou martyrÃou of Witnesse not as we of Congregation It may be from the martyring of Beastes in that place whereby their fayth was witnessed to God-ward But in Leâ—iticus 8. 3. they ioyne both Synagogé Ecclesia togeather thus And assemble Pasan ten Synagogén ecclesias The whole Synagogue of the Church The writer of the Mà chabees-storie stiles the same Ecclesián pistôn The Church of Beleeuers In a word these two wordes Synagogé and Ecclesia be vsed each for other in diuine writing whether we intend thereby the place of sacred meetings or the people that so meete in these places 1. Synagogue for the place as Ioh. 16. 2. Act. 13. 14. with other places And Ecclesia for the place as 1. Cor. 11. 18. where the Apostle opposeth that place to their priuate Houses Compare it with vers 22. The like in 1. Cor. 14. 34. 2. Synagogue taken for a Conuention of people as before and also in Reuel 3. 9. And Ecclesia taken for a Conuention of people as afore and in many places of the New Testament yea for an vnciuill hurlie-burly as in Act. 19. 39. 41. called else-where the Beastes of Ephesus â— A certaine Auncient putteth this difference betweene them Ecclesia sayth he is a Conuocation and spokâ—n of reasonable creatures Capable of a calling But Synagôge is properly Congregation and spoken of Beastes of the flocke for such the Latines câ—ll Greges who come togeather rather by câ—action or driuing for so the Greeke word signifieth then by calling vnto as the â—â—rmer word importeth It must needes be graunted for pretty that he hath said but how fitting in Diuinitie it may be guessed by the vse of the wordes in the former allegations I conclude then that the Ecclesiasticall word Kyriake and the two Canonicall namely Synagoge and Ecclesia they all be of vs translated Church intending thereby as in the former Chapter An house of meeting specially for sacred vse or as in this Chapter more plainely they import a People so meeting For in this Discourse we are not to speake as Ciuilians in their Law but as Diuines in our Law CHAP. iiij Touching Church-people THe word Ecclesia or Church doth somtimes intend the whole mysticall Body of Christ Iesus contayning not onely such Christians as be here Militaâ—â— that is fighting against the Diâ—el world and flesh but also that part of the holy Armie which hauing in the last act of life trod Satan vnder foote are now in Heauen Triumphant In some good sense the good Angels Our Fellow-seruants and of our Brethren the Prophets may be put into the Churches Albe But seeing by Church we properly vnderstand Mankind with whose nature he hath Communicated not with that of Angels I therefore in this Discourse must so be vnderstood And passing by the triumphant Church as they haue passed from the Sanctum here to the Sanctum sanctorum aboue we are to consider this Militant Church as it is Knowen to God or as it is Knowen to Vs. As it is knowen to God so The Lord not we doth know who are his And in that sense the Church is to vs inuisible or vnseeable As it is knowen to vs so it is like vnto Noahs Arke containing not onely a reuerend Shem but an hollow-hearted Cham not onely Beastes cleane but also vncleane Or it is like to the Tabernacles Sanctum where were not only holy oblations but also some ashes and light-snufs which were to be cast out of the Sanctam Againe this Militant Church is to be considered not onely in the Whole for which it is called in our Creede The Catholique Church but also in the parts whereof euery Society is termed a Communion of Saâ—â—tes By which
continues impenitent to be held as an heathen person and as a Puplicane As a meere heathen man might not enter into the Temple there to communicate with Israel so neither must this impenitent soule be admitted to the Churches communion in prayer and Sacraments But as an heathen might for his coÌ„uersion heare the Prophets preach so these may pertake in a Sermon seuered from the ordinarie Communion As a Publicane likewise he is to be held that is not easily to be admitted to our fellowship for eating and drinking as the Iewish Church walked towardes the Publicane who in all probabilitie was a Iew ready for pleasuring the vncircumcised Romaines to make a diuorce from his breathren and their lawfull discipline By all which it is euident that vpon an humble confession of his fault with promise to forsake it mercy and forgiuenesse was preached vnto him But contemning finally the Churches motherly admonishment he was to haue the dore of Mercie shut against him Which latter censure the Apostle in 1. Cor. 5. calleth A giuing vp to Satan and we commonly tearme it Excommunication If the sinner should not onely not repent but proceed to a Not louing Christ Iesus which I take to be the sinne of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost consisting first of a willing desertion from the Groundes of Christian Fayth Secondly from fellowship with the Church in that Fayth there then remayneth to him the Maranatha 1. Cor. 16. 22. which is an absolute declaration of the Lord comming to quit him with vengeaunce as a soule despayred of But as this is a sinner happily extraordinary and the rule in Math. 18. is giuen for ordinarie vse so I will adde the iudgements of some Aunâ—ients for the Ordinarie Origen in Math. 16. Petra est omnis qui imitatâ—r est Christi Si autem sâ—per vnum illum Petrum arbitraris vniuersam Ecclesiam edificari a Deo quid dicas de Iacobo Iohanne filijs tonitrui vel de singulis Apostolis Apud Iohanneâ— enim dans SS Iesus discipulis suis per insufflationem sic dicit Accipite SS c. quasi omnibus talibus constitutis qualis erat et Petrus Ambrose in 1. Cor. 5. Perfides Episcopus non potést iudicare Cum fratre autem in quo vitia haec reperiuntur non solum sacramenta non edenda sed ne communem escam docet vt erubescat Cum vitatur se corrigat Theodoret. in 1 Cor. 5. Si non oportet eos communis esse cibi partâ—cipes nec mystici quidem Diuini Chrysostome in English may helpe to stay some in their precipitate zeale against their infirme Brother His speach runneth thus It behooueth not a man priuily to calumniate his Brother but as Christ commaunded to take him apart and correct him The reprehensions that are giuen publiquely doe oftentimes make men impudent And very many sinners while they perceiue that their sinne may be concealed haue their mindes easily resolued to returne into the way But if once they perceiue their credite to be lost with many not a few such doe thence-foorth fall into desperation and tumble downe into shamelesnesse So farre hee And indeed Origen calleth such preposterous dealing with a Brother the action of an Infamer not of a Corrector Aquinas vpon 1. Cor. 5. giues this Verse for a rule towardes him that is excommunicate Os orare vale communio mensa negatur For Mother Zion shee for certaine pollutions did suspend the partie a while till they were cleansed and for Leaprosie did put them out of the hoste for euer except they were cured The first signified smaller euils for which the Pastor in holy discretion is to barre them some thinges for a season The other signified deeper sinne as Contumacie for which the sinner was further to be secluded Hereupon it is that Nyssâ—nus hath this Vetus est haec Ecclâ—siae regula quae cepit a lege fuit confirmata in Gratia And so the Auncient and new Church still are at vnitie in the substaunce of their Ordinaunces If inferiour Presbyters doe not of themselues exercise this power for Casting out but haue ioyned with them the chiefest Super-intendentes this is a good way to preuent such in playing Popes ouer Gods heritage and the likelyer course also of bringing the sinner to repentaunce Maliciously foolish therefore must they bee that call such ioynt exercise of that heauie censure by the name of Antichristian Virtus vnita fortior sed quis Schismatico stolidior CHAP. xj Touching Church-leitourgie THE Greeke word Leîtourgia signifying generally any publique ministerie or seruice and so the Angels are called Leitourgizing spirits it in Ecclesiastique vse is taken for some Forme of diuine Seruice prescribed for the Churches publique vse And this forme contayneth Prayers Lections of Scripture and Psalme-singing framed vnto seuerall occasions The Auncient mother Zion ouer and besides the Priestes preaching and the Prophets prophecying had a set forme for all their Seruice as appeareth through Leuiticus a peculiar forme of blessing the people Nomb. 6. 23. â— Euen as Moses had his prescribed forme of Prayer when the sacramentall Arke remooued or rested Nomb. 10. 3â— 36. And in after times their Leitourgie was much enlarged by King Daâ—id framing thereto right many Psalmes some Psalmes of Prayer some of Dedication some of Instruction some of Remembrance some of Degrees some of Hallelujaâ— c. And all that was done in the time of their non-age To the Church of Christ there is giuen a larger Body of Scripture out of the which and sutable to which the Church is to draw her forme of Leitourgie collecting such Scriptures for common Lections as may be held most fitting such a purpose And for the sanctification of all intermixing such kinds of Prayers as also may be fitted to ordinarie and extraordinarie occasions If any one man thinke he can doe this well of him selfe I thinke it can be better done of many conuening and concluding vpon such a forme of Prayer And as for our publique Forme of Seruice reiected of some in part for that some part of it hath before been in vse among Papistes as if God or the Ghospell or good wordes were therefore to be reiected it was of the holy Martyr Martin Bucer of loue he bore vnto it after due ouersight turned into Latine for vse of all that should vnderstand Latine Against this Leitourgie two sortes of Aduersaries insurge One of them as the Brownist and the like doth condemne all set forme of Prayer saying that nothing is to be brought into the Church sauing the Canonicall Scriptures and the Liuely voyce of Gods graces Now by Liuely voyce they meane Conceiued preaching and present Conceiued prayer And herevpon it is that they hold the Lordes Prayer in Math. 6. Not to be Prayer but Doctrine of Prayer I answere it is both Prayer and Doctrine of Prayer Doctrine it is for that thereby we are Taught
how to pray For Doctrine is Teaching And Prayer it is when a faythfull soule breathes it vp vnto God Mentally or Vocally also That Repetition of wordes vsed before euen the selfe same wordes continueth still Prayer consider it not onely in the Apostles Prayer inculcate in seuerall Epistles namely Grace be with you and peace from God our father c. but also in our Sauiours practise who in the time of his agonie when most effectuall Prayer was to be vsed is sayd of S. Mathew in chap. 26. 44. to haue Praied the third time saying the same wordes euen the selfe-same wordes which he had vsed twise before And the reason lieth in this that Prayer receaueth not his Forme from wordes old or new for one may Pray without any wordes at all but from the Spirit of Christ aduancing our Spirit to God in Fayth whether with words or without Which caused the Apostle to say in Rom. 8. We know not what to pray as we ought but the Spirit it selfe maketh request for vs with sighes vnexpressable And yet I could round some Separist in the eare and tell him true of Teacher and Teached that haue ordinarily vsed a set forme of Prayer that I speake nothing of him who in his Prayer concluded till by mee he was better informed thus To whom togeather with thee and the sanctified Spirit be all glory c. But let that frantique Ieronymo goe by The other Aduersarie is at home who graunting the lawfull necessarie vse of a Leitourgie doth insurge against some what in Ours as not well fitting his fancie His obiection ariseth first against Methode secondly against Matter For Methode take this his maine Obiection In the beginning of our Seruice a Confession of sinne is vsed by the Minister in the name of the Congregation and that before the CongregatioÌ„ be present I answere first it may be a ranke lye that the Obiector propoundeth for some Congregation may be present Before though not euery member of the Congregation no more then some-times at their Conuenticles Whereat though their Tom and Sib be present yet happily lynkin and Sicily may be absent Secondly our Minister taking his fittest time doth desire such as be present not absent to ioyne in that Confession with him Thirdly if any be absent that should and might be present it is their sinne not the Ministers much lesse the Bookes seeing Confession of sinne is exceeding necessarie in the Exordium of our deuotions And that Nehemiah and Daniel had well learned when they begun their Deuotions with the Confession of their sinnes and the sinnes of the people For exception against Matter it is fourefold First for Omission Secondly for Addition Thirdly for Translation Fourthly for certaine Capital-letters 1. For Omission as in passing by the Psalmes Titles I answere first it is not repugnant vnto Gods word that some Scripture be read and othersome omitted in the Common seruice seeing neither all Scripture is Then to be read witnesse the seuerall Leitourgies of their owne drawing nor is our Minister debarred to handle any Scripture Secondly the Lections in a Leitourgie require the playnest scriptures because generally for the vse of the common people But that the Psalmes-titles be not a plaine Scripture will appeare thus The Hebrew word Lame natséach is turned To him that excelleth Yet according to the Septuagint who should best vnderstand it it is turned by that which as in auncient Latine translations valueth Vnto or Vpon the end By Targum and some other Latines otherwise Hereupon Frier Faelix vnto Pope Leo the tenth is bold to say Anullo Aucthore hactenus recte expositam inuenj nam haec dictio manasséach participium est verbj nizeach I change not his forme of spelling quod quidem verbum cum a nomine nessach descendat velè conuerso diuersas habet significationes The Rabbines of the Iewes who should best vnderstand it being at no vnitie in this poynt amongst themselues nor Greeke Church nor Latine Church nor others daring to determine of it peremptorily as beseemeth in cases of Fayth what saucinesse is it not in this poynt to taxe our Church when the Taxers themselues can at best but guesse how the Title may be translated Againe we haue in some Translation to him that excelleth on NegÃnóth or on NechÃlóth Who can assuredly determine whether these were Instruments or Tunes or what If the Minister will preach vpon it he may But to be ioyned with ordinarie Lections I see no necessitie howsoeuer it may be lawfull 2. For Addition there be in the 14. Psalme three Verses moe in our Common-seruice Booke then be in the Hebrew namely the 5. 6. and 7. verses the whole so being deuided into eleauen verses I ingeniously confesse that once I conceiued how that Exception of Addition had risen against the three last Verses as it lieth in our ordinarie Bibles where the whole besides the Title be but seauen But now it is cleare that they meane the three Verses inserted into the Psalme immediatly vpon the fourth beginning thus Their throate is an open sepulchre c. Hereto I answere It is not repugnant to Gods word that these Verses be there read in our Common seruice once for that the same Verses are Scripture so alleadged by S. Paul in Rom. 3. Secondly for that they be inserted where for the argument they be as fitting as they were in the other place for the Apostles purpose 3. As for Traslation they excerpe sundry places Two principall be fetcht from the 105. 106. Psalmes From the 105. 18. this Vèlô marû aeth debárau word for word thus And they bittered not his word or They bittered not at his word Now as it is questionable who be They there spoken of whether the Commissioners or the People so the phrase bittering not his word as not prouoking the word or bittering not at his word as being not prouoked by his word is so doubtfull a phrase as no temporate spirit specially of no greater guiftes then the Obiectors will easily dare to oppose in this poynt or the like to the body of an whole Church In Psal. 106. 30. we read Phyneas stood vp prayed They say it should be turned Hee executed judgement I answere the originall word is Palal which the Iewes Targum as Pagnâ—â— noteth doth turne Hee prayed And Hithpallel in 2. Chro. 30. 18. is properly turned Hezekiah prayed In Psal. 5. 2. Vnto thee aeth-pallal I will pray So Psal. 32. 6. and Substantiuely it is very often vsed in the Psalmes for Prayer The Septuaginâ— whom the common Latine in Austens times did follow is Exilasato whereof commeth Hilasterion turned Propitiatory Now seeing Placation and Propitiation is properly by Oblation and Prayer the Septuaginâ— must needes also so well as the old Latine intend with vs Prayer rather then Execution of Iudgement Nor could his executing iudgement haue found rest with the Lord otherwise then the same were sanctified with