in vaine they are yet in their sinnes I shall speake of these in their order Of the time the place the persons I. And as for the chiefe time I call it as I ought the Lord's Day or Sunday because the Sabbath as ceremoniall was abolished at the death of Christ as in the second Chapter to the Collossians is declared And why a day must be still observed is inregard of what is morall in the fourth Commandement For it is absolutely and directly of the Law of Nature that some time be set apart for the publique worshippe and solemne services of God And why one day in seven is not in regard of what is strictly morall in respect of Nature dictating but in respect of Nature informed by the Divine instruction of the God of Heaven For whereas Nature knew not how to make choice or put a difference betweene one number and another it pleased God to instruct and informe Nature that thereby that which is not strictly morall ratione naturae might bee knowne and accounted as morall ratione disciplinae of which condition is the quota pars both for Tythes and for the time of God's publique worshippe And next why this part of one in seven hath since the ceasing of the Sabbath beene observed by us ratheÌ„ ron the first then second third or any other day of the weeke is not in regard of any precept expressely commanding it but in regard of the Churches practice at all times and in all Ages ever since Now they that began it were the Apostles being led thereunto by our and their Lords resurrection and by his often apparitions to them upon that very day rather then upon any other day beside For as they knew the Sabbath to be abolished by Christs death In like manner by his resurrection they had ground sufficient to direct them to the choice of a peculiar day for the observation of a new and chiefe Festivall and so much the rather because Christ used then as I sayd to appeare unto them Hence therefore it is Revel 1.10 Ignat. epist ad Magnes that Saint Iohn makes mention of a Day which he calleth Dies Dominicus the Lord's Day And Ignatius one of Saint Iohns Disciples telleth us that it was the first day of the weeke the very Queene and chiefe of Dayes renowned by our Lord's resurrection So also sayth Saint Austine Aug ad Ianua epist 119. c. 13 the Lord's Day was declared to Christians by the resurrection of the Lord and from that time began to be celebraeted De verb. Apost Serm. 15. And in another place The raysing of the Lord hath promised to us an eternall day and hath consecrated for us the Lord's Day By which he meaneth that Christ thus honouring this day did thereby as it were point it out as the onely day to be made choice of for the religious and solemne services of God Or to use againe his owne words Demonstrare consecrare dignatus est Ad Ianuar. epist 119. c. 9. He did vouchsafe to demonstrate and consecrate it Thus they and their successours first tooke it up Apostoli Apostolici viri This was their ground and from them to us the observation thereof hath proceeded and is still retained in the Christian Church Yea Iust apol 2. ad Anton. Imperat ppope finem and further even this Day which was thus frequently called the Lord's Day Iustine Martyr calls also Sunday and may fitly be so named not because the Pagans dedicated that day to their Idoll of the Sunne but because as another Father speaketh The Sonne of righteousnesse which enlightneth every one of us Saint Ambr. Serm. 61. did then arise Neither was it knowne to have so much as the name of Sabbath ever after in the Church of God without some distinction added to distinguish it from that of the Iewes For in a proper and litterall sence it cannot bee called the Sabbath Day as being neither that day which the Iewes observed nor of such strickt rest as was that Day of theirs And indeed the very stricktnesse of their rest gave the name of Sabbath to the Day which they were to keepe but was not the principall thing wherein the sanctification of it consisted For though the rest was strictly exacted yet but accidentally annexed and therefore now removed in the removall of that yoke of outward observances which for the time was laid upon them Gala. 4. For as the effect abideth so long as the cause remaineth but perisheth when the cause ceaseth so the strictnesse of Rest was to remaine so long as the Day and memoâ—y of the things vailed under the strict rest thereof abided But the Day being taken away the end and reason of the sayd Rest is gone and also the strict Rest it selfe which being figurative could not be too strict For the more exact the figure is the better it signifieth as in the Lambe for the Passeover well appeareth which was to be alwaies such as had no blemish And that this Rest of theirs thus strictly exacted was but accidentally annexed will be manifest if we consider the many causes more then the chiefe and principall for which they were to keepe it For though such a Rest be alwaies requisite as may promote the divine duties of God's publique worship and not be contrary to the observance of that precept which requires the performance of them Yet if there be other ends beyond that which the solemne service of God requireth those ends must bee examined whether they be connected with that end which participates with the moralitie of that Commandement which leades us to the setting apart of some time for God's publique and solemne service We denie nothing to be abolished which is as a meanes requisite to that end for which a Day is set apart But if in the Iewish rest there were things figurative and to signifie something which was either past present or then to come We are nothing bound either to the name of their day to the day it selfe or to the strict observance of such a rest as that day of theirs required For if this be not granted wee retaine not onely the substance but ceremonie likewise of the Sabbath their many ends of rest beside that for which the day was chiefely set apart must needes be the cause of an extreame stricknesse But being to signifie as aforesayd it was to them and not to us that God intended such a Rest For first they rested in memorie of the Creation which on that particular day was ended sixe dayes being spent in Creating Exod. 20.11 before that day of Rest approached From the memorie of which after the manner that they remembred it we are now called in regard that the observation of the day it selfe is ceased Col. 2.16.17 Not that we doe hereby deny God to bee our Creatour but acknowledge Christ to be our Redeemer And indeed the benefit of Redemption being greater then that
of Creation the memorie of the first is obscured by the last and so the one is to give place unto the other as in a case not much unlike it the Prophet Ieremâ—e hath declared Ier. 16.14 15. Nor againe doth this last impose a like commemoration with the former in regard of Rest because our Saviour did not so much rest upon that day whereon he arose as valiantly overcome the powers of death It may be rather said that he rested before whil'st he lay in the Grave and so they who are dead bee sayd to rest from their labours but to rise againe implyes a breaking off from rest and a beginning of labour which even in this cannot but be granted if the consideration be taken up with relation to that rest which went before it whil'st the bodie lay in the quiet Grave till the time appointed Nor doe I thinke it strange to say that on our Day of the Lord the memorie of the Redemption be come in place of that of Creation For tho we have the proper solemnitie of Christ's Resurrection upon that day which is called Easter yet this weekely day of publique worship being as Saint Austine speaketh consecrated to us by our Lords Resurrection doth not onely deserve to be made choice of for the peculiar day of our solemne Assemblies but to be judged also to relate in some sort to the benefit of Redemption Secondly their strict resting was a memoriall of their deliverance from the hard labours which they had lately suffered in the Land of Aegypt as is expressely mentioned in Deut. 5.15 Now this was a thing peculiarly belonging unto them and not to us Therefore they and we are not both bound to one and the same strictnesse unlesse their condition and ours were both alike Thirdly Ezek. 20 12. this their Sabbath was given them for a signe Psal 147.20 that God had then chosen them from among all the Nations of the earth to be his people For the Heathen had no knowledge of his Lawes but they had the partition wall was then unbroken In token of which favour they had the Sabbath which they were strictly to observe not doing their owne will nor speaking so much as their owne words as in these Scriptures is declared Exod. 31.13 Ezek. 20.12 and Esa 58.13 And albeit all Christians now be likewise the people of God yet because they are of more Nations then one and live in times of more maturitie they are not tyed to such a strict yoake as if they were still in the dayes of the Law but differenced from that Heire who whil'st he is a Child must live as a servant as the Apostle speaketh Gala. 4.1 For when the fulnesse of time was come the condition of God's people was altered as at the fift verse of the foresayd Chapter is declared And at the seventh verse thus Thou art no more a servant but a Sonne And therefore though bound to bee obedient yet freed from those hard taskes which of old were strictly required from the Jewish people Last of all their Sabbath was a type whereby was prefigured that Rest Heb. 9.4 which as the Apostle speaketh and of which their Canaaen likewise was a figure remained for the people of God to be purchased for them by Christ who being come and gone into his Fathers house Ioh. 14.2 wherein are many mansion places went to prepare them as was prefigured in the foresaid Rest of the Jewish Sabbath And therefore seeing Christ hath actually purchased that which was then prefigured it were injurious to Christ to lay the same yoake still upon our neckes Yea in a word by what hath beene said it cannot but appeare that although our Lord's Day or Sunday hath of late yeares beene vulgarly knowne and called by the name of the Sabbath yet of right neither the name nor manner of keeping it appertaines thereunto For there is so great a difference betweene the old Sabbath and our Sunday that it is a manifest mistake to urge those Scriptures upon us which peculiarly belonged to them in the observation of their Day But if the Sunday be no Sabbath Quest why then doth the Church in her Liturgie retaine still the fourth Commandement and say Remember that thou keepe holy the Sabbath day c. yea and why are the people bound to pray at the end thereof Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keepe this Law For answer whereunto Sol. this is first that although all the other Commandements are to be kept ut sonant according to the letter as St Austin speaketh yet this of the Sabbath is of another kinde being partly morall partly ceremoniall And if so then in part it is abolished and in part retained And being but in part abolished it must upon necessity have still a place among the other precepts For so farre as 't is morall 't is still of force and is therefore put among the Precepts of the Decalogue for that which is morall in it For as I said formerly it proceedeth from the Law of Nature that some time be set apart for Gods publicke service And therefore this being revived in the Law of the fourth Commandement ought to be remembred and kept upon one day in seven which last though unknowne till Nature was informed is now to be reckoned as that principal portion of time which God requireth And so last of all being bound to the morality of the precept there is good reason that we pray to have the Lord incline our hearts to the keeping of it for being strengthned by his assistance there will be care had that we decline not away from the observation thereof And whereas I formerly gave notice that it is the very chiefe of Dayes or as I then expressed it Gods chiefe Schoole-day I had reason for it because there is no Holy Day which the Church hath appointed to be kept of such eminency and excellency as is this Day of the Lord according to that of St. Austin in his 251 Sermon De tempore at the very beginning therof in these words saying Sciendum est Fratres charissimi quod ideo à sanctis patribus nostris constitutum est christianis mandatum ut in solennitatibus Sanctorum maxime in Dominicis diebus otium haberent à terreno negotio vacarent ut paratiores promptiores essent ad divinum cultum In which words appeareth not only the excellency of this Day above other Festivalls but the necessity also of such a Rest as may be no hindrance but a furtherance to Gods publicke worship For such a Rest as this is as a means requisite for that end for which the Day is set apart The ancient Sabbath had as hath beene shewed other ends which here in this Day can take no place because the Day it selfe is now abolished and gone and the armes of the Church extended further then to one only Nation All that can be added more is this
have thought it religion to countenance the Clergie When therfore that famous * K. Iames in his Basilicon Doron lib. 2. pag. 38. King of blessed memory was about to speake severally of those 3. estates into which the subjects of England are divided he begins after this manner First saith he that I prejudge not the Church of her ancient priviledges reason would she should have the first place for orders sake in this catalogue the grouÌ„d of which priviledge I do beleeve came first from among Gods people of old with whom the highest Priest was second in the Kingdome And albeit every one who is a Priest or man of God among us be not a Prelate nor may looke to be of as high dignities as Aaron Nathan or Zadoc nor to have the like honours and employments that Archbishops and Bishops have yet know that we are all the men of God being lawfully called et pro Christo legatione fungimur and Ambassadours of Christ 2 Cor 5.20 And therefore besides what hath beene else this I may say Let a man so account of us even in geuerall as of the Ministers of Christ 1 Cor. 4.1 and stewards of the mysteries of God For to esteeme otherwise of us is to have an evill eye at that calling which the Lord hath honoured and to vilifie those persons whom he hath magnified would that they should be in high account because they are placed in an holy function which must at all times put a difference between them and other men Nor is it but observed till we meete with those who curse their Father and doe not blesse their Mother But enough of this till by and by Wee shall have it again at another turning till when I leave it and come now to the proofe of such things pertinent to all and every of the Fathers in this body as must be first handled Wherfore to proceed orderly let the scriptures and constant practise of the Church built thereupon First testifie that Churchmen have the name of Fathers Secondly that they bee not all of one equall ranke but of differing degrees And last of all that there is reverence and honour due to them as in the following Chapters Sections and Divisions shall be further shewed CHAPTER I. That the name or title of Father is pertinent to Churchmen THis truth I shall first prove out of the words of Saint Paul who witnesseth to the Corinthians that he had begotten them in Christ Iesus through the Gospell 1 Cor. 4.15 And so though he were no carnall yet a spirituall Father to them Where note that because he makes the word to be the means of their begetting it must needs follow that every other Minister who converteth soules is a spirituall Father because he by the word doth also beget children unto Christ In like manner hee also speaketh to the people of Galatia My little children of whom I travell in birth Gal 4.19 1 Tim. 5.1 till Christ bee formed in you And againe Rebuke not an Elder but exhâ—rt him as a Father which albeit he there meanes it of such in speciall as are Fathers for their age yet it prooveth the title of Father to be due to all who beare the name of Elders whether in Church or Common-weale For when he speaks afterwards of such into whose hands in respect of discipline the governement of the Church is committed 1 Tim. 5.17 hee calleth them by the name of Elders Seniores officij and would that if they rule well they should have double honour especially if they labour in the word and doctrine as well as in governement This is also proved out of the words of Saint Iohn For to those whom he writeth in his first epistle he speaketh as a Father using these words often My little children And at the fourth verse of his third Epistle I have saith hee no greater joy then to heare that my children walke in love And in his old age as St. Ierome tels the story being carried to the Church in the armes of his schollers and lifted into the Pulpit and not able to speake many words he used onely this sweet saying Filioli diligite alterutrum Little children or my sons love one another Neither was it but that in the times of the Law the Prophets also and Priests were called Fathers Oh my Father my Father the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof So said Elisha to Elias 2 Kin. 2.12 So said King Ioash also to Elisha 2 Kin. 13.14 Yea and thus saith the Scripture likewise of the Priests as we read in the 2 Chron. 29.11 CHAP. II. SECTION I. BUt from hence I come to their rankes or orders And in the first place stands the King or cheife Magistrate whom Esay calleth a Nursing Father of the Church Esa 49.23 2 Sam. 5.1 and by the tenne tribes was acknowledged to be their Pastour And so indeed he was although in a differing manner from the Pastourship of Priests And yet not so farre differing neither as that hee bee * See Bishop Iewell against Hard defence of Apol part 6 chap. 15. divis 1. p. 612 mere laicus for then hee must bee tyed altogether to the State and meddle nothing with the Church in matters Ecclesiasticall how negligently wrongfully or disorderly soever he see things to be carried But being the keeper of both Tables he must have an eye to the Church as well as to the State not onely ordering that the Church be obeyed but that Bishops and other Priests doe their office as well as they who belong to the affaires of the Common wealth Yea in a word he is to mairtaine Gods worship K. Iames in his Apol. for the oath of allegiance pag. 108. printed Anno 1609. as well as the peoples welfare for thus as that second Salomon hath recorded doe godly and Christian Kings within their owne dominions sit to governe their Church as well as the rest of their people assisting the spirituall pover with the temporall sword making no new Articles of Faith but commanding obedience to be given to what the word of God approveth suffering no Sects and Schismes but reforming corruptions and also ordering that a decorum be observed in every thing that thereby the inward dulnes of the heart may bee the better awaked to a more reverent respect both towards God and his holy worship for if the outward beauty of Churches stirreth up devotion then much more the decent and comely manner of the service there Both doe well and well is it when both can bee found to goe together Now if any should suppose that this power of a King takes away the power of Bishops I answer that they are much deceived For this is not to annihilate or take away the jurisdiction or power of Bishops but to nurse cherish and oversee it For the Christian Church had Episcopall power granted as afterwards shall be shewed before ever there was any Christian
shall shew thee the sentence of judgement Upon which ground David setting the Kingdome in better order then in processe of time it was growne into 1 Chro. 23.4 appointed sixe thousand Levites to bee Indges and Magistrates over the people and beyond Iordan towards the West 1 Chron. 26.30 a thousand and seven hundred both to serve God in the place of Levites and also to serve the King in offices of State ibid. verse 32. Hee also set two thousand and seven hundred to bee over the Tribes of Ruben Gad and Manasseth to heare and determine in causes both Ecclesiasticall and Civill The like also did Iehosophat in his reformation of the Church and Common-weale 2 Chron. 19.5.8.11 Ezra was a Priest Ezr. c. 7. 8. yet who but he that first of all after the Captivitie ordered all matters both for the Church Nehe. c. 1. and State Nehemiah came not up untill 13. yeares after for Nehemiah was in the twentieth and Ezra in the 7. yeare of Artaxerxes Zorobabel I grant was long before but he did little or nothing for the reducing of things into a forme of government or suppose he did Ezra we are sure did a great deale more Neither was it 1 Sam. c. 2.18 c. 7.15.16 but that even before all these Samuel as a Priest ministered before the Lord in a linnen Ephod and as a Iudge did ride his circuit every yeare over all the land yea and in the daies of Saul although he was the annointed King yet Samuel ruled joyntly with him so long as they lived each with other or at the least was such a Counseller to him as that after hee was dead and buried he seeks to heare what he would advise or answer standing then destitute of such direction as he had usually received from him Nay sooner yet for Phineas was sent Ambassadour to proclaim war against the Rubenites the Gadites the half tribe of Manasses Iosh 22.12.3 The Priests overthrew the Citie Iericho Iosh 6. Nor did they afterwards but sound their Trumpets and bid the battell in the warre of Ahiiah against Ieroboam 2 Chron. 13.12.14 The land also is divided among the Tribes by Eleazar and Ioshua Numb 34.17 A thousand likewise of every Tribe is sent out to war against the Midianites under the conduct of Phineas Numb 31.6 And in the same warre the spoyles were divided among the Souldiers by Moses and Eleazar the Priest and the cheife Fathers of the Congregation verse 26. The people also were numbred by Moses and Eleazar in the plaine of Moab as they had been numbred formerly by Moses and Aaron in the wildernesse of Sinai Numb 26.63.64 From which testimonies it is plaine and manifest that some such Priests as the King thinks fit may when he pleaseth be lawfully employed in civill affaires or offices and may even thus be honoured as were those Priests of old And whereas some object that arguments drawne from the old Testament An objection answered prove nothing now under the New it is answered First that they may as well deny the arguments taken from thence against the Popes authority and domineering power over Christian Kings and Princes as denie these arguments for proofe of that civill honour which is thus given to the Ministers of the Gospell And therefore it is not love but envie which would seeme to bolster out things with such new Divinitie Secondly the Ministers of the Gospell as one hath well observed may with more convenience be employed in civill offices then those Priests under the Law whose time is not now taken up as then it was with attendance on the daily sacrifices great number of feasts solemnities and such like occasions by which their leisure was lesse to heare civill matters then now to the Minister under the Gospell Thirdly the Ministers of the Gospell have succeeded in a place of the Levites and looke what in that kinde was lawfull for them to doe is not unlawfull now especially seeing these employments pertained not to things typicall figurative or ceremoniall And fourthly although Christ and his Apostles were never thus employed yet is that nothing against our tenet For who made me a judge over you sayth Christ Intimating Luke 12.14 that unlesse the supreame Magistrate shall assigne Clergie-men to such offices they may not meddle with them But had the Church and Common-wealth been both one then it had beene as lawfull as in the daies of old which appointment or assignation was never like to bee so long as the Church was in the Kingdome of heathen tyrants Certain it is that when the Emperours became Christians some men of the Church were thus employed And although the condition of the Ministers of Christ differed not in this from that of the Levites yet it could not shew it selfe till then Examples are not wanting Theod. lib. 2. c. 30. Theodorit makes mention of one Iames Bishop of * Called also Nysibit Antioch in Mygdonia who shined with Apostolicall grace and yet was both Bishop and governour of the aforesaid Citie Or if this testimonie be obscure see another Saint Ambrose was twice employed in the office of an Ambassadour by the Emperour Valentinian and not without good successe Socrates also makes mention of one Marutha Socrat. lib. 7. c. â— Bishop of Mesopotamia whom the Emperour of Rome sent in an Ambassage to the King of Persia which employment likewise proved good both to the Church and Common-weale Neither can this bee called an inuasion of the offices of the civill Magistrate or be contrary to the rule of any auncient Canon when it is done by the consent and appointment of the chiefe Magistrate as in the lawes of Iustinian alledged by Saravia is apparent Lib. de honore Prasulibus et Presbyt debito cap. 20. And although the the Popes lawes have decreed the contrary yet it is not fit sayth one that we which are a reformed Church and have long since abandoned the Popes authority Dr Dove of Church govern pag. 40. should now forsake God and the examples of the holy Bible to follow the Pope and his Canons Fiftly and lastly Saint Paul thought it lawfull to spend his spare time in the worke of his hands But if the necessitie of Domesticke affaires may excuse a Pastour of the Church for so doing then much more may they be excused for doing such offices when the King thinkes it fit that they bee called thereunto as shall benefit the common wealth wherein they live Neither doth this appertaine to the entangling of our selves with the things of this World For that text where this is mentioned striketh at those whose covetous hands and greedie hearts are so glewed to the earth for the gathering to themselves a private estate that they forget every such thing as may tend to the good either of the Church or State wherein they live which every good Christian and therefore every upright man of God
will be carefull to avoid Nor againe doth that of our Saviour in Luke 22.25 denie the titles of civill honours to men of the Church Titles of civill honour are not their denied for it doth not as shall appeare forbid honour and authority or the titles thereunto belonging but ambitious seeking of it or them together with that tyrannicall using of it which the wicked kings of the Nations through the conceit of their owne greatnesse and soothings of their flatterers proudly take upon them And that this is the meaning of that Text appeareth by these reasons First because Christ acknowledged that the title Rabbi which signifieth a Master an honourable person or a man that is eminent by reason of his many dignities and places of honour that he holdeth was a title of right belonging to him Hee disclaimed it not but embraced it Ye call mee Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am Iohn 13.13 Secondly Iohn Baptist was called Master and not refused it Luke 3.12 Thirdly although Saint Paul and Barnabas (*) Act. 14.15 denied to be worshipped with Divine honour yet when Paul and Silas were reverenced with civill honour and called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lords by the Master of the Prison they made no scruple of it but onely sayd Beleeve in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saved Acts 16.30 Fourthly the change of Abram to Abraham and of Sarai to Sarah witnesse no lesse for their names being thus changed were not onely a token of confirming the promise but also an honourable favour which God himselfe vouchsafed to them Dr. Willet ex Mercer in Gen. for their greater grace and respect among those with whom they lived as was seene when Abraham communed with the Children of Heth who answering sayd unto him Heare us my Lord thou art a mighty Prince among us Gen. 23.6 And God also told Abimilech that he was a Prophet Gen. 20.7 Fiftly because when Obadiah met Elias he fell on his face and sayd Art thou my Lord Elias He answered yea Goe and tell thy Lord behold Elias is here 1 Kings 18.7.8 Sixtly because Elisha accepted of the like title as it is in the 2 Kings 4.16 In which regard Beza noted not amisse upon these words in Mat. 23.8 Bee not yee called Rabbi c. Ne vocemini id est Ne ambiatis Bee not ye called that is doe not ambitiously seeke after that title or pride your selves in it for otherwise our Sauiour doth not accept against any either for not denying the titles of their office or for not refusing the honour due unto them And here an end of this Section SECT II. THE next thing that followeth is That the people give eare and come where they may heare the Doctrines rebukes and exhortations of their ghostly Fathers For though they be men whom the Lord hath assigned to this holy office yet men to whom hee hath conveighed a peculiar grace 2 Tim. 1.6 ibid. which the Orthodox and right do so stirre up that when they preach they preach not themselves but Iesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.5 Heb. 5.4 They have power to officiate but they take it not it is given them before they have it It came to those of Christs schoole from Christ himselfe but was not to end with them for there is a * building which cannot be perfected without it And being therefore appointed for it Ephes 4.12 Mat. 28. ult it hath beene conveighed ever since by the imposition of hands to such as are not otherwise any lawfull Priests of God And finally that care may be had in the conveighance hereof It is the counsell of Saint Paul to Timothie 1 Tim. 5.22 That he lay hands upon no man suddenly Thus then we have it and are by this meanes become persons sacred and have authoritie to deale in holy things We blesse in the name of him that blesseth The dispensation of the Word and Sacraments is committed to us We have power to binde Mat. 18.18 2 Cor. 5.20 wee have power to loose wee are Ambassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us The message is from Heaven as delivering to you God's blessed will out of his holy Word And therefore to be received 1 Thess 2.13 not as the word of men but as the Word of God So that as we if we love the Lord Ioh. 21.15.16 will feede his Lambes and Sheepe In like manner ye if ye despise not Christ Luke 21.16 Acts 7.51 nor resist the holy Ghost will be content to hearken to the words of those by whom he speaketh For this he doth hee speaketh by us though not by immediate inspiration as some phantastickes fondly dreame yet by our rightly dividing that Word of truth which is properly and indeed the Word of God Aug. cont Epist Parmenioni l. 2. c. 11. In cujus praedicatione spiritus Sanctus operatur as Saint Austine speaketh So that though our Sermons ought to have no greater credit then they can gaine unto themselves by their agreement with the Scriptures yet not dissenting from them they are truely and indeed the Truth and Doctrine of God and though not his Word by immediate inspiration yet the Word of God in a secundarie sence as being the sober explication and application of some such part or portion of the Word as we then pitch upon In which regard the Preachers of it are Co-workers or jont-labourers with God as even the Apostles were For though we cannot bee compared with them in worthinesse of grace and vertue yet in likenesse of office and Ministerie we may and must And indeed t is a perpetuall Sanction Mal. 2.7 that the Priests lippes are to preserve knowledge and that the people seeke the Law at their mouthes for even in this they are the messengers of the Lord of Hosts So that in what way so ever they convey or give notification of the object of faith which is the Word unto the people whether it be by reading or otherwise it is to be of more esteem then when t is done by any other Which I doe not note to deterre Lay-people from reading of the Scripture but to shew the difference that is betweene their reading and ours as also to signifie that no Scripture is of private interpretation 1 Pet. 1.20 as Saint Peter hath declared And now to the amplifying of all this thus I proceed The Lord's Day or Sunday is God's chiefe Schoole-day wherein God's people must come to the Church for that 's his Schoole-house wherein among other duties to bee done they must heare his Word for that 's their lesson Some be Truants and care not for comming Others be Recusants and may not come to joyn themselves with us A third sort be Schismaticks and will not come except where they affect and when they please And last of all others be indifferent and will sometimes come but in respect of the end their comming and hearing is
history where he sheweth that when the Emperour Philip who was long before Constantine would have joyned himselfe with the Congregations of Christians he might not untill he had first stood in Loco Poenitentium And of the two last Theod ret makes mention in the relation of that passage which was betweene Theodosius and Saint Ambrose For Saint Ambrose putting the Emperour in mind of the difference of places Theod lib. 5. c. 17. telleth him plainly that the Locainteriora should not be entred but by the Priests onely And this he sayd not onely in regard of the Altar-place but of the whole Quire or Chancell which was severed from the bodie of the Church per Cancellos whereupon it was called a Chancell even as the proprietie thereof caused it bee named Presbyterium that is a place only for the Priests peculiarly and solely belonging unto them Revel c. 4. c. 7. vers 11. At which Saint Iohn also pointed when he saw the Presbyters or 24. Elders neerer to the Throne then the foure living Creatures * viz. the word for the living creatures See Psal 68.10 whose word is else-where used to signifie the Congregation of the people The Throne then and place of Majestie must be first that 's the holy Table within the Sacrarium and answers to the Mercie Seate and Sanctum Sanctorum among the Iewes in which the most excellent part of their typicall service was perfomed And well may I say that it answers thereunto For as then there was to be a proper and selected place for that Ceremony of expiating of the people So now for the Commemorating thereof not as it was a Ceremonie but as it was in act performed by our Saviour There is to be in our Churches a Sanctum Sanctorum still wherein we are to celebrate the memorie of Christs sacrifice in those holy Mysteries which he himselfe ordained and commanded to be done The Presbyterium must bee next being the Court of the Priests In which Saint Ambrose would not that so much as the Emperour should have a seate Sozom. lib. 7. c. 24. but ordered that he should be placed without immediately next to those barres or lattices which severed the Church from the Chancell Nor was the Emperour any whit against it for he knew as the sayd Father told him that Purple made no Priests and therefore such places as belonged unto them he would bee carefull ever after not to meddle with Then next after this must be the Court of the people for though the booke of the Revelation be very mysticall yet as I have else-where shewed seeing the visions there mentioned of things appertaining to the Christians do so frequently allude to the fashions of the Iewes and are expressed as if they were represented to Saint Iohn in the Heavens it is as if it should be sayd Gods Church is in it selfe but one though the parte be two Militant and Triumphant And therefore as the Church of the Iewes was ordered according to what this holy Man saw in the Heaven represented to him so ought the Church of the Christians as being surrogated into their roome for whom the Temple was built I shall not need to speake much more for the Locus Poenitentium is the Porch and answereth to those outward Courts which were of old Onely herein ther 's one thing yet to be discussed concerning the Presbyterium and Sacrarium for some have gone about to perswade that they were not at the end of the Church because Eusebius seemes to them to speake as if they were in the middest Euseb lib. 10. eccles bist c. 4. ex orat parugyrica in Encaniss and so our moderne Fabrickes are differing from those among the first Christians But I answer that in case it were so in some Churches yet are they but exceptions in particular and nothing at all against a generall order Nor is it cleare to be so at all by that which is urged for Eusebius doth more plainly say that the Altar in the Church there mentioned was in the middle of the Chancell than that the Chancell and Altar were in the middle of the Church And yet this even thus that is supposing the Altar there to be in the middle of the Chancell rather than at the upper end thereof in the middle betweene North and South being but a particular instance can be no fit president to be opposed against a generall practise For generally the Altarium or place allotted for the Altar which I have formerly mentioned by the name of Sacrarium was in the East at the upper end of the Quire or Chancell as is apparent by that of Socrates who takes speciall notice of that Church at Antioch of Syria Socrat. hist Eccles lib. 5. cap. 21. in which the Altarstood at the western end thereof contrary to the scituation of it in other Churches And againe that the Presbyterium Quire or Chancell was not in the middle of the Church and all the people round about it appeareth by that of Saint Ambrose in allotting the Emperour Theodosius a place within the bodie of the Church immediately before those bars or lattices which severed the Church from the Chancell of which I have spoken a little before And this the sayd Ambrose did that so the Emperour might have a place before the people as had the Priests before the Emperour for as a learned D. hath fully proved See Dr. Heylyn Antid Lincoln c. 7. the Quires or Chancells had in them First the seates appointed generally for the Clergie then the Bishops chaire and last of all the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Altarium or Sacrarium this being the whole space purposely set apart for the Altar or holy Table and was severed from the rest of the Chancell by Rayles or Curtaine To which may be added that ancient custome of praying East-ward and then ther 's nothing to be objected further And now if this be not enough to prove that God must have his house on earth yea and thus contrived too if a right order be well observed and not otherwise stopped then nothing can For though the Iewes indeed had their highest Court at the other end because their times were darke in respect of ours yet we having been visited by that Day-spring from on high do turne our faces toward the East have there the place of highest Majestie and by turning thither professe our times to be those very times of light wherein the signification of their shadowes is accomplished as I have else where shewed more at large And last of all to speake more generally the Lord being to have such peculiar places as Temples or Churches it is the peoples duties to resort unto them there to expresse their praises poure out their prayers and heare the preachings of his Priests 1 Tim 2.8 For although privately a man may pray any where as occasion shall require 1 Cor. 11.22 lifting up pure hands c. yet neverthelesse to
For as in the case of divorce Christ sent the Scribes and Pharisees to see how it was Ab initio so in this case of maintenance for Gods Ministers Inquire of the old wayes and when you find that in the beginning it was not so as sacrilegious persons now would have it nor commanded since that it should be so you may conclude without any more adoe that the Quota pars is still a tenth And indeed that wee may bring the totall of this dispute home to the Apostles Text that very way of paying tithes is a reall communication of all kind of goods whereas in stipens taxing of houses or rating of persons cannot but bee much errour Pars celatur pars subducitur ausim dicere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omnia bona non communicantur saith that famous (*) Bishop And. in his Posth De decimis pag. 148 Worthy of happy memory And againe secondly that it ought stil to be as in diebus illis St. Paul †1 Cor. 9.13 14. in another place speaks it more plainely expresly setting downe the practice of the Old Testament for a President unto the New He fetcheth proofes (*) Deut. 2◠1. from Moses awnot only to confirm the equity of providing maintenance for Gods Ministers but also to shew and confirme the manner how even to the measure thereof For it must be granted Dr. Carlet of tythes c. 4. that the Apostles words concluding sometime certainly doe rather conclude that which was the ordinary maintenance commonly received in the Church than that which was never in use insomuch that as the Levites lived by tthes and offerings so should we For it is in the Text plainely and directly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even so Even so hath the Lord ordained that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel And if even so then by tithes and offerings for so was the Ministery of Law maintained Nay marke it yet a little better and it cannot but be yeelded that whereas the Apostle saith The Lord hath ordained that they who preach the Gospel should liue of the Gospel there must be some ordinance of the Lord shewed concerning this of which hee speaketh but none can be shewed excepting that of old The Apostles times were extraordinary and such as they could be where Persecution put all things out of square yea such as they could be in the first founding of a Church the Planters and Waterers being sent from place to place and things not setled till a long while after as anon shall bee further shewed Here therefore was no ordinance for a continued maintenance Their taking of benevolence proves no such thing no more than their going from place to place proveth that a Church should be always unsetled And therfore his Ordinance was of old so this Even so can plead for nothing else to bee ordinarily received than tythes and offerings for Even so hath the Lord ordained And why Even so or after the same manner but because Gods part is certainly annexed to Gods worship the rate or measure whereof beside offerings is said to be a tenth of all that wherewith the Lord yeare by yeare blesseth his people this being that maine and principall tithe Deut. 18.1 which in Deuteronomy is called the Tythe of Inheritance as afterwards more fully shall be shewed Bullinger in the tenth Sermon of his fift Decade speakes not so much of tithes as of stipends to bee given to the Ministers of the Gospell yet when hee commeth to this of Saint Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even so hath the Lord ordained hee then concludeth thus But I judge saith he this especially to be observed which the Apostle speaketh in plaine words viz. That the Lord instituted his Ordinance concerning the maintenance of the Ministers unto the imitati 〈◊〉 of the ANCIENT LAVVES of of the Iewish people Hereof wee gather that wee misse not much the worke if in this and such like cases wee doe not utterl reject the ancient institutions of the Fathers Thus he Another speaking of our owne countrey saith Here onely was the errour of that marke the King did not restore the Tenths to the constant maintenance of the Ministery which portion whether it now belong to the Church or no Iure divine I intend not to dispute pro or con But this I dare say Gods owne order hath manifested it to be both competent and convenient for that purpose beyond all old exceptions or new inventions and so proves it to agree with the Law of Nature if not to flow immediatel from thence deserving therfore to live after the honourable buriall of the Ceremoniall Law as it breathed long before it Thus that other Neither thirdly is it but that in the seventh Chapter to the Hebrewes Levi is said to pay tythes unto Christ because Abraham in whose loines Levie then was paied tithes to Melchisedech the type of Christ which whether it bee pertinent to our right and claime who are the Ministers of Christ I shall need to say little Only this I would should be well observed that as under the Law it was not so much the Levites as God by them who received this sacred tribute So before the Law not so much Melchisedech as the Lord in Melchisedech yea and now also under the Gospel not so much the Ministers as Christ receiveth Tythes For hee saith the Apostle Of whom these things are spoken is Christ our Lord who sprang out of another Tribe then that of Levi even out of Iudah Heb. 7.13 14. Quod debehat Ahraham Deo solvit in manum Melchisedeck saith Calmin Calvin in Heb. 7. That which Abraham owed unto God hee paied into the hands of Melchisedeck Or as Saint Chrysostome speaketh Abraham the Father of the faithfull Chrysost hous 5. adversus Iudaeo paying his Tythes to Melchisedeck shadowed out all the faithfull paying Tythes unto Christ Againe Tythes payed to Melchisedeek are here brought by the Apostle to prove not onely the greatnesse but the perpetuity of Christ's Priesthood and therefore Tythes ought to bee payed as long as Christ's Priesthood standeth And as I said before although the Priests have alwayes received them yet the originall right is none of theirs They have them but by way of Deputation or Assignment and this but once made manifest by any written Law Howbeit that once was enough because the end was ever the same namely for the service that they do This very end made it be practised in Nature towards them that then were the Lords Priests though (†) Bishop Mount against Mr. Seld. ◠1. pag. 210. no doubt the Patriarkes had for this as for all other points of Divine service speciall instruction and direction by Illumination Angelicall information or divine Revelation which was the Pedagogy God trained them up in untill that Scripture came in place wherein the Assignation and reason of it was recorded And from thence also it was that before the Law