Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n
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A16549
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An exposition of the dominical epistles and gospels used in our English liturgie throughout the whole yeare together with a reason why the church did chuse the same / by Iohn Boys ... ; the winter part from the first Aduentuall Sunday to Lent.
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Boys, John, 1571-1625.
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1610
(1610)
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STC 3458; ESTC S106819
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229,612
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305
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will haue our sacrifice acceptable they must be first holy So diuine Plato Whatsoeuer is good and holie that is accepted of God Secondly sacrifice must be performed in faith otherwise though it be warraÌ„ted by Gods own word it is not acceptable prayer receiuing of y e Sacraments hearing of the Scriptures c. are holy sacrifices and yet not pleasing God if done without faith As our Apostle Rom. 14.23 Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne that is whatsoeuer is against our conscience so when the Recusant comes to Church against his conscience to satisfie the law of man not to certifie his loue to God it is not an acceptable sacrifice If a man be a Lawyer a Physitian a Merchant a Souldier against his conscience though his calling be neuer so good yet his oblation is bad Or as other expound that text more fitly Whatsoeuer is not done in a good assurance that God for Christs sake will accept of it and vs it is sinne Christians are Priests offering spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ. All good works without faith in him are like the course of an horse that runneth out of the way which taketh great labour but to no purpose For vnbeleeuing Gentiles and misbeleeuing heretikes albeit they be neuer so wittie neuer so vertuous are no sweete fauour to the Lord. Reasonable We reade in the Law that euery sacrifice was seasoned with salt now sâ—lt mystically notes discretion as Coloss. 4.6 Let your speech be gracious alwaies and powdred with salt that is with wisedome and sobrietie When Paul then exhorteth vs to giue our bodies a reasonable sacrifice his meaning is that al things must be done in order comely discreetly The prouerbe is good An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of learning for as zeale without knowledge is blinde quo vehementius irruit eo grauius corruit so knowledge without discretion is lame like a sword in a mad mans hand able to doe much apt to doe nothing Tolle hanc virtus vitium erit Hee that will fast must fast with discretion he must so mortifie that he do not kill his own flesh He that giueth almes to the poore must doe it with discretion omni petenti non omnia petenti quoth Augustine to euery one that doth aske but not euery thing that he doth aske so likewise pray with discretion obseruing place and time place left thou be reputed an hypocrite time lest accounted an heretike like the Psallianists and Euchitai Other expound the word reasonable as opposite to the Iewes oblations As if Paul should speake thus In the Law dead beasts but in the Gospell reasonable liuing men are to be sacrificed vnto God Euery Christian is a sacrificer euery layman a priest but the pastor is a priest of priests one that sacrificeth his people by teaching and exhorting them to giue vp their bodies a quicke and holie sacrifice to the Lord. I am saith Paul the minister of Iesus Christ toward the Gentiles ministring the Gospell of God that the offering vp of the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by the holy Ghost Hitherto concerning the first generall branch of Saint Pauls exhortation Now as Musitians doe not only teach their schollers what they shall sing but also what they shall not sing that they may follow that which is good and eschue that which is euill so Paul doth not onely shew what we must doe but also what we must not doe Fashion not your selues like vnto this world World vsed in the worse sense signifieth either the wicked men of the world or else the vaine things of the world the wicked men as Ioh. 12.31 the diuell is termed the prince of the world that is of the wicked in the world who make themselues his vassals by yeelding to his temptations according to that of Paul He is our master to whom we submit our selues as seruants It is not Satans power that hee doth thus dominere in the Church for he was bound and cast out of the Church but it is the weaknes and wickednes of men who loose him and open the gate when he was shut out admitting him as a lord of misrule ruling and ouerruling those who are children of disobedience Ephes. 2.2 Secondly the word World taken in a bad and more strict sense signifies the pomps and vanities of the world As 1. Epist Ioh. 2.15 Loue not the world neither the things of the world that is as himselfe construeth himselfe the lust of the flesh and pride of life According to both acceptions it may be well expounded in this text as if S. Paul should say Brethren I beseech you by the tender mercies of God that yee fashion not your selues either according to the wicked men or according to the vaine things of this world For y e first 2. things occasion fashioÌ„ in the world Multitude for as Cyprian said Incipit esse licituÌ„ quod solet esset publicum Custome is not onely another nurture but as it were another nature And as the Lawyers speake Quod est consuetum praesumitur esse iustum That which is done by many is thought at length lawfull in any Greatnes for as Paterculus writes Imperio maximus exemplo maior He that is highest hath alway most followers Augustus a learned Prince filled the Empire with schollers Tiberius with dissemblers Canstantine with Christians Iulian with Atheists So that Paul vnderstanding how prone men are to follow fashions aduiseth vs here not to conforme our selues according to the world In complements of courtesies and common ciuilities it is not amisse to follow either the most or the best In matter of Church orders and Ceremonies it is insolent singularitie not to fashion our selues according to that which is inioined by the best and vsed by the most yea euen in the maine points of holy religion If the great be good and the most best we may follow both But Saint Pauls meaning is that wee may not follow wicked men in their wickednesse nor worldly men in their worldlinesse nor good men but in that they are good as hee saith elsewhere Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ for as in imitation oratorie there are two sorts of examples one necessarie to be followed alwaies in all things as Demosthenes among the Grecians and Tully among the Latines another to be followed in some things and at some times as Poets and Historiographers Euen so there are two sorts of examples in Christian imitation the one necessarie which is Christ the way the truth and the life Via in exemplo veritas in promisso vita in praemio The truth in his learning the way for his liuing as the Fathers vsually glosse that place The other are to be followed in some things and at some times as Paul Peter Augustine Chrysostome Nazianzen and other blessed Saints of God whose liues and
me with their mouth c. were fulfilled in them O hypocrites Esay prophesied well of you that is of such as are like to you 4. When as it is daily more and more fulfilled as Iam. 2.23 the scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham beleeued God Abraham assuredly beleeued God before but his offering vp of Isaac was a greater probate of his faith then the scripture was fulfilled that is more and more fulfilled when Abraham thus far trusted in God Now Christ fulfilled Zacharies saying in a literall and plaine sense for he sent for an Asse and rode thereon into Hierusalem that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet Reioyce O daughter Sion for behold thy King commeth c. S. Iohn and S. Matthew relate not the precise text of Zachary but keeping the sense they somewhat alter the words On the contrary blasphemous Heretikes and Atheists vse to keepe the words of scripture but altogether to change the sense Children full fed often play with their meate so Lucianists of our time play with the food of their soule making the Bible their babble The Lord who will not suffer his Name to be taken in vaine mend or end them As for Heretikes it is alway their custome to make the scriptures a ship-mans hose wreathing and wresting them euery way to serue their turne Non ad materiam scripturas sed materiam ad scripturas excogitant First they make their Sermon and then they looke for a text Herein the Papiâ—ts of later time most offend who doe not only faine new Fathers and falsifie the old Doctors putting out putting in chopping and changing as shall best fit their purpose so that the Fathers as Reuerend Iewell said are no Fathers but their children no Doctors but their schollers vttering not their owne mind but what the Papists enforce them to speake they do not I say wrong humane authors only but also presume to censure and constâ—ue Gods own bookes as they list as Augustine said of Faustus the Manichee Legant qui volunt inuenient aut falli imprudentèr aut fallere impudentèr Hence kill and eate to Peter is a warrant for the Pope to depose Princes It is written Thou shalt goe vpon the Lion and the Adder the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread vnder thy feet therfore the Pope may tread vpon the Emperors neck God made two great lights in the firmâ—ment that is two great dignities in the Church the Priest and the Prince but that which ruleth the day to wit spirituall things is the greater that which ruleth carnall things is the lesser as Innocentius the third disputes in the Decretals and their Glosse further addes out of Pâ—olomie that the Sunne containes the bignes of the Moone seuen thousand seuen hundred fortie foure times and so many degrees iump is euery Prelaâ—e aboue euery Prince Sometime they cite the beginning without the end sometime the end without the beginning sometime they take the words against the meaning sometime they make a meaning against the words and so they do not receiue but giue the Gospell as Maldonate fitly not admit the old scripture but vpon the point coine a new for in controuerted places either they suppresse the words or else not expresse the sense as if a man should pick away the corne and giue vs the chaffe or conuey away the iewels and throw vs the bag The blessed Euangelists had warrant from God and we warrant from them to quote scripture sometime more fully for explication and sometime more shortly for breuitie yet without alteration of the sense though there be some little alteration of the sentence Marlorats annotation is good that our Euangelist and other doe not alway repeate the very words in the Prophets and the Law that we might hereby take occasion to peruse the text and to conferre place with place Let vs then examine the words in Zachary which are these Reioyce greatly ô daughter Sion shout for ioy ô daughter Hierusalem Behold thy King commeth vnto thee They contain 2. remarkable points an Exultation Reioyce greatly c. Exaltation or commendation of Christ as a reason of this exceeding ioy Behold thy King commeth vnto thee iust meeke c. In the former obserue the Persons Exhorting Principall God for the worde of the Lord came to Zachary cap. 1. vers 1. This then is not the word of man but the voyce of God Instrumentall Zachary Exhorted Hierusalem Act reioyce In that Zachary was Gods organ marke the worthines of holy Prophets as being the very tongues and pens of the blessed Spirit and this dignitie belongeth also to their successors Apostles and other Preachers of the word for S. Matthew speakes in the plurall dicite tell ye concluding thâ— Prophets and Preachers whose office is to tell Hierusalem â—hat her King and Sauiour is come into the world to seeke and saue that which is lost Almighty God hath had in all ages either Patriarks or Prophets or Apostles or Preachers a Moyses or an Elias a Zachary or a Paul or an Athanasius or an Augustine or a Luther or a Iewel by whom he spake to his beloued Spoâ—se comfortably Reioyce greatly daughter Sion especially the Lord vseth to châ—se Zacharies that is such as are mindfull of God such as delight in the law of the Lord and exercise themselues therein day and night The persons exhorted are daughter Sion and daughter Hierusalem that is according to the vulgar Hebraisme Sion and Hiâ—rusalem as the sonne of man for man and sonne of floors for floore Esay 21.10 and Psalm 72.4 the childâ—en of the poore for the poore as Augustine vpon that place so daughter Sion daughter Babylon daughter Hierusalem for Sion Babylon and Hierusalem a phrase not strange to the Poet who called the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now Hierusalem was the Metropolis of the Iewes and Sion an eminent mount adioyning to Hierusalem and at this time the Iewes were the people of God and Hierusalem the citie of God Aâ— Salâ—m was his tabernacle and his dwelling in Sion Whereas therefor S. Matthew Tell ye the daughter of Sion he meaneth vsing a synecdoche Hierusalem And whereas Zachary names Hierusalem he meaneth the Church of God ouer the face of the whole earth of which Hierusalem is a figure and so the text iâ— to be construed typically not topically for this ioy concernes the Gentile so well as the Iew the one as the roote the other as the branch as Paul sheweth in his epistle to the Rom. cap. 11. Indeed Christ is the glory of his people Israel but he is the light of the Gentiles illuminating all such as sit in darknes and in the shadow of death Heere then obserue that Christ is the Churches ioy and only the Churches ioy dumb Idols are the Gentiles ioy Mahumet is the Turks ioy Circumcision is the Iewes ioy