compleating of his most glorious design in this day of his power he will most certainly get himself a name in casting it down and having commanded his Light to shine out of Darkness Joh. 1.5 though the darkness of mens hearts will not receive it yet his Commandment still continueth in force and his word runneth very swiftly In a word true and great and marvellous and invincible is the light of this day concerning which much might be spoken from the predictions of the Prophets who prophecyed of this day and much might be added from the triumphant exultations of the Apostles whose eyes were first opened to see the light of this day but there is no need to undertake any further the clearing of the truth of this point for the day it self doth declare it the Sun which is the light and life of this day being not onely risen but ascended and not onely risen and ascended but fixed in his Meridian never more to descend till time be no more Nescit occasum Let us therefore now come to improve it by some close Applications unto us all whose lot it is to live under this Light First Seeing that this time of the Gospel is such a Lightsome day we then that are the Children of the day are to take notice of those Duties which the day requireth of us First whereof is that we rejoyce and be glad in it Truely Light is sweet saith Solomon and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun Eccles 11.7 1. Duty Ec. 11.7 How sweet then and pleasant a thing is it to behold the light of this day wherein the Glory of the Lord is risen upon the Church Es 60.1 as the Prophet foretold it should Es 60.1 That glory which since the beginning of the world was out of the reach and apprehension of any Creature which yet notwithstanding was earnestly longed for by the Holy and faithful Servants of God of old How happy would Abraham Isaac Jacob Moses David Hezekiah Josiah Esaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel c. have accounted themselves to have seen that Glory which is now revealed How full of joy would they have been in the light of this day wherein with open face we behold as in a Mirroir the Glory of the Lord saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 3. 2 Cor. 3.18 Nay wherein all flesh seeth the Salvation of God wherein the Word of God comes with power and evidence and Demonstration wherein the Spirit is shed forth abundantly in the hearts of Believers wherein knowledg covereth the earth even as the waters covers the seas so that God's people now need teach no more every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother the sense and meaning of the Shadows and Ceremonies of old saying Jer. 31.34 Know the Lord the Lord whom these things do typifie and so far as such carnal Ordinances are able make known unto you for now is fulfilled that which then the Lord promised saying they shall all know me from the least of them to the Greatest of them The whole Mystery of Godliness is now clearly revealed in so much that they who are endued with the Spirit of God know all things yea 1 Job 2.20 Act. 2.17 even Children and Handmaidens people of all sorts and Sexes understand more fully the Doctrine of Salvation then the Prophets and great Rabbies of old could be able to reach into And therefore it is worth our considering how emphatically the Spirit of God in scripture doth found out this word now in reference to the great glory of this day of the Gospel to that very end that all who are I say Children of the Day may see the Light and rejoyce in it Observe some instances Behold now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 Now is manifested the Righteousness of God Rom. 3.22 2 Cor. 6 2. Rom. 3.22 Eph 3.10 Eph. 3.5 Col. 1.26 1 Joh. 2.8 Now is made known the manifold Wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 The Mystery which was hidden from Ages and Generations is now revealed Eph. 3.5 Col. 1.26 The Darkness is past the true Light now shineth 1 Joh. 2.8 Now Now Now implying that now and never before the dawning of this day there was a light in the world to be reckoned of the highest value O blessed and happy Day And for ever and ever blessed be that good Providence of Heaven that hath brought us to see the Light of this Day making it unto us a good Day A Day of good tidings A day of Reconciliation with the God of Heaven A Day of joy and gladness Let us therefore I say again and again rejoyce and be glad in it Let the Children of the World glory some in their carnal wisdom some in their strength some in their riches But let us glory in this that we underl and and know the Lord. Now in this serene and joyful day of his gracious visitation did Abraham with great pleasure and rapture of spirit rejoyce to see this day afar off and shall not we now rejoyce when it is at hand yea when it comes upon us and the Light of it shineth round about us Surely we are not Abrahams Children unless we do the works of Abraham and if herein we do not rejoyce we are not of the Faith of Abraham and consequently shall not be blessed with him Objection But alas you 'll say this day is a day of trouble of rebuke and blasphemy of trouble to the Churches of Christ throughout the world of rebuke for God is angry with the world for sin of Blasphemy the Provocations wherewith God is provoked every day being very great reaching up into Heaven And should we now rejoyce Answer I Answer It is indeed a day of trouble to the people of God and possibly if they had rejoyced more for the consolation which their eyes have seen they had not seen so much trouble upon them as they do this day But nevertheless albeit there be so great and sore afflictions lying upon the Churches which all the Children of the Day must be sensible of yet in the midst of all this sorrow there is cause of rejoycing for why it is not a Night of trouble wherein no succour or comfort can be found but the Light of the Lord so shineth out before his people that they may plainly see his good works which with an out-stretched arme he hath wrought and still doth for their deliverance Ps 112.4 Vnto the Righteous saith the Psalmist Ps 112.4 Ariseth Light in Darkness that is in the darkest times of trouble then hath their light of comfort been wont to arise most And therefore though in some respect the day be somewhat cloudy yet it is not a Dismal Day though the Affliction be great yet the consolations of God are not so small with us but we may glorifie God in this day and rejoyce before him True you 'll say But alas we remember
God and are troubled for his Anger we see is enkindled it smoketh against the sheep of his Pasture By terrible things in Righteousness doth God answer his People now in this day when they call upon him chiding and chastning them very sore should we then make mirth I Answer far be it from us when the Lord God of Hostes calls to Weeping and Mourning c. that we should be of that cross grain'd disposition as to thwart the sad Dispensations of his Providence by giving up our selves to any vain and carnall Delights and when his hand is lifted up to correct and punish that then we should wilfully shut our eyes refusing to see that I say be far from us But I beseech you though this be a day of rebuke Is it not a time also of Love Nay when with rebukes the Lord doth correct his people is there not both love and faithfulness to be found in the bottom of those rebukes which makes them very sweet unto the soul of a Believer Besides can we not distinguish between the sorrowful dispensations of Providence whensoever they come upon us and the glorious dispensations of grace If the former be matter of sorrow the latter are of joy Rejoyce therefore in the Lord alwayes and again I say rejoyce Oh but it is a day of blasphemy And who that hath a tender regard to God's glory and the Churches Welfare can chuse but sigh and mourn to see and hear the Abominations that are so frequent this day How alas doth errour and heresie justle with divine truth Yea trample it under their feet And that which encreaseth the sorrow people that profess godliness love to have it so Some make a mock at Sin That which should be the terrour and amazement of the soul as being most of all contrary to God and a worse enemie to the whole creation then all the devils in Hell Fooles at this day do play and dally with it Others make a mock at Holiness Pro. 14.9 either by a profane Diabolical derision of it or els by a false Pharisaical Profession of it thereby to palliate their abominable wickedness Here are some jesting pleasantly with their Maker as he did who would needs drink a Health to his Patron blasphemously calling him his Maker There others sporting themselves with the Holy Scriptures exercising their scurrilous Wits upon those sacred Oracles whereat they should rather tremble and which the glorious Angels do stoope down to adore Alas alas is not the Air polluted with most execrable Hell-invented oaths and that Vnmanly vice of Drunkenness as our late King of never-dying Memory according to the excellent Wisdom given unto him in a Speech of his at Oxford most properly termed it grown Impudent notwithstanding all the good laws in force against it And such Brothelry commonly belched out by a Brutish Generation who yet live under the light of this day that the very Heathens would abhor it And is this a time then thinke you to Rejoyce I Answer For these things indeed let us be humbled and walk mournfully before the Lord let horrour feise upon us as it was with the Holy Prophet Ps 119.53 Ps 119.136 because of the wicked that forsake the law of the Lord Yea let us as he did for these things even swim in tears Ps 119 136. But we must know that this kinde of sorrow and humiliation is to be manifested in denying our selves that natural and lawful joy and liberty we may take sometimes in the free use of the Creatures not at all in quenching our spiritual joy We rejoyce not in iniquity but we rejoyce in the truth this joy no man nor no Devil should take from us because God hath called us to it and calleth upon us for it All this therefore hindereth not but that we may and ought to rejoyce in the Light of this day though there be much affliction upon the Church rebuke from God iniquity and blasphemy among men to be seen in it Secondly 2 Duty suffer the Light of this day to shine in upon your soules that the beams thereof may have their free and clear penetration into every corner of your inner man If ye be Children of light and Children of the day sprung from the womb of the morning you will be still craving after light ambitious of a Conformity to the nobleness of your extraction yea light is your proper element and the more you are swallowed up in it the more comfortable shall your life be unto you Mis-mean me not I exhort you not now to stand gazing after a Light that is too high for your reach or to break through God's pavilion to that light that is inaccessible There is a knowledge too wonderful for poor man which while he is cloathed with mortality yea and in some respect when his mortality hath put on immortality He shall never be able to attain unto Neither do I call upon you to look after those new lights which the varity and darkness of these times do so much cry up and extol for sure I am that which is new in point of Salvation cannot be true A position though much disliked by some giddy heads may well be maintained against Men and Angels Yea whatsoever may be obtruded upon you as a fundamental Light that shall appear in this Noontide of the Gospel to be of so narrow an extent that it hath not or cannot overspread the whole Hemisphere of the Church is most certainly counterfeit a prodigious comet portending some strong delusions rather then a true fixed light derived from the fountain of light For saith Christ himself Luk. 17.24 As the lightning that lightneth from one part under Heaven shineth to the other part under heaven so also is the Son of man in his day Not onely in the great day of his glorious appearance but even in this his day He is not concluded within the narrow confines of Africa as the Donatists of old would have him Nor in the conclave at Rome as the Papists at this day foolishly imagine Nor in the Desart that is in the separation amongst those that now-a-days forsake the Assemblies Nor in their secret Chambers that is in the Conventicles of Schismaticks But his going forth is from the end of Heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it his Church hath infallibly universally been inlightned by him with that knowledge that is necessary to Salvation unto which whosoever shall add is a Deceiver and to be anathematized by all the Churches of Christ Putting away therefore these vanities Let your soules give entertainment to that Light which this Day presenteth unto you And so much the rather because the Prince of darkness hath raised up many foggie noisome palpable mists to obscure this light with which mists the eyes of a multitude of people pretending to Holiness are miserably blinded And now if it be demanded what this light is I Answer First It is the light of Life not a
are now really and in truth delivered out of Babylon Admit that our Liturgy be found in the manner of some expressions and translation of it fit to be changed for the reasons of expediency and condescension wherein nevertheless we are for the churches sake to submit to the wisdom of those in whose power it is to order that change yet as it is considering the woful effects which the want of it hath produced and in regard of the reasons before specified it will well become all that fear God heartily to rejoyce at its Restauration Admit also which yet without contradicting the Holy Ghost cannot be granted that Episcopacy were as bad in its own nature as Schismaticks would make it yet it must be acknowledged to be far better then that Anarchy in the Church which was projected by the late Sect of Over-turners for their own sinister ends But it is now manifest that this despised persecuted Episcopacy is not an humane Ecclesiastical ordinance but Divine and therefore it is that Government under which we may have the greatest confidence that Religion may flourish and our souls may prosper Especially when we look upon those grave and reverend persons who are preferred to that office and charge and finde them according to his gracious MAJESTIES Declaration Concerning Ecclesiastical affairs men of learning virtue and piety such of whom the world is not worthy if it should still persist in enmity against them I name none for by their works and by their sufferings you may know them Onely let that free and faithful Speech uttered in a Sermon before his Majesty that now is whom God long preserve at the time of his Coronation shew what manner of spirit a Bishop may be of when he is employed in his Masters business in preaching the Gospel Apr. 23.1661 which was this Those persons meaning Kings and Princes that can be punished by none but God shall be sure to be most severely punished by God if because they can be punished by none but him they presume the more to sin against him What a thunder clap is this to be rattled in the ears of a King when he is in the height of his temporal glory Let any now or all of that sort of people who are apt to cry out Away with Bishops but try a little their own spirits and see whether at any time they have been or can be more faithful in speaking of Gods testimonies in such an audience and not be dismayed I say therefore again Let not the people of this Nation any more be such enemies to the Gospel of Christ and their own souls as to say Away with Liturgy and Away with Episcopacy rather we should say Away with Schisme and that virulency of spirit which hath too much prevailed upon us in these later times against those things that are so consonant to the holy Scriptures Away with pride which we have experimentally found to be the Mother of contention and the fore-runner of confusion whose swellings of late with scorn and contempt have superabounded Her Children pretending to tread down the pride of others Pro. 13.10 Pro. 16.18 have with the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah done it with a greater pride Away with hypocrisy and dissembling holiness which hath ever been accounted a double iniquity It is the best servant the Devil hath and shall have answerable wages above all the rest Mat. 24.51 This is that Crocodile that could weepe and houle when it had a design to destroy and swallow us up quick That Jezebel that could proclaim a fast when she projected cruelty and oppression That Pharisee that could make long prayers when poor Widows and Orphans houses were at the end of his devotion That Judas that would kiss and betray in the same breath cry All hail and in the very instant smite under the fift rib therefore Away with it Away with self-seeking that hath cramb'd the bags and fill'd the coffers of covetous earth-worms with the ruines of their Country Away with Heresie and Blasphemy The one cuts the throat of truth which should be dearer unto us then our lives And the other flies in the face of God Almighty and bids defiance against Heaven Both which I dare say have a deeper place in Hell then Superstition yet both of them rode circuit about this Nation while it stood un-Churched by our divisions and unkinged by our sins Away with that Image of Jealousie that Anti-Catholick and Anti-Christian Toleration which for politick ends and purposes hath cunningly yet most profanely been cryed up as the common interest of Sion that God takes care of as if an abomination of desolation were now become the Churches glory And the way to preserve truth in its purity were to blend it with Errour Had this cursed project continued as it began well might that Machiavellian principle in time have passed for sound doctrine viz. That all shall be saved in their own Religion though the Church of this Kingdom would as it was once said sooner have become the Devils dancing-schole then Gods Temple In the mean time those poor Superstitious Malignants that durst shew themselves in the behalf of Liturgy and Episcopacy must be sure above others to be exempted from this indulgence and so left to perish without any remedy doubtless this juggling did rouse up the jealousie of the Almighty and therefore it was high time to send it packing Away with Irreverence Profaness Looseness Sordidness in the Service of the Holy and Dreadful God which in the judgement of all that are truely pious is far worse then that other extreme of overmuch Curiosity and Superstition This in some kinde preserving supporting exalting Religion The other desacing suppressing trampling upon it Finally Away with Despising Dominion and speaking evil of Dignities Jud. v. 8. which Saint Jude condemneth v. 8. that is as it is probable by the purport of his Epistle such dominion and such dignities as were then settled in the Church against which Diotrephes and his crew would be still carping or as it is v. 19. Separate themselves Upon which despisers the same Apostle pronounceth Gods vengeance which hath a measure reaching even to all those who are this day guilty of the same sin Jud. v 2. Wo unto them saith he they have gone in the way of Kain persecuting Christs servants because they are preferred and accepted before them even as Cain did his brother Abel And ran greedily after the errour of Balaam for reward pouring out their curses upon the poor Church of God in hope to enrich themselves by the spoils of it And perish in the gain saying of Corah Their contempt of and insurrection against Church Governours Bishop Andrews thus argueth No man could perish in the gain-saying of Korah under the Gospel which St. Jude saith they may if there were not a superiority in the Clergy for Korahs mutiny was because he might not be equal to Aaron appointed his superiour by
Schismatical Covenant p. 229 The Creation the Worke of Christ p 42 The Creatures willing subjection unto Christ p. 53 Of the observation of Christmas p. 198 The Creatures misery under Man p. 65 The excellency of our Creation p. 105 None but the New Creature shall be the Inhabitant of the New Creation p. 107 Against curiosity in searching into those things of God that are beyond our reach p. 19 D. Daniel's seventy weekes interpreted p. 305 The day of the Gospel is a terrible day to all impenitent sinners p. 203 A description of Christs encountring with death p. 78 The Divine Service of the Church of England free from Superstition p. 234 E. The consideration of the Earth may lead us to an admiration of the Glory of God p 49 The great Engagement that lieth upon England above other Churches of the Gentiles to give praise unto God p. 270 Episcopacy proved to be of Divine Right p. 248 Eternity expressed by termes appropriated unto Time p. 6 The force of Example is great to induce likeness of manners p. 2 Examples of Gods Judgements which have fallen upon the enemies of the eternal Deity of Christ p 34 F. Fanatick people make themselves equal with Jesus Christ p. 24 A conviction of those that hold that the object of the faith of the Fathers of old was not Jesus Christ p. 175 To hold that not the object but the act of faith justifieth is a gross errour p. 176 Faith of believers how fixed before the comming of Châ—ist p. 156 A faithful saying uttered in a Sermon at his Majesties Coronation p. 256 How the Father is said to work by the Son p. 43 Of that fire which the Scripture speakes of whereby the Earth shall be burnt up at the last p. 96 To ascribe unto fortune good or ill success is a great sin p. 71 G. The divine generation of the Son of God is a permanent and everlasting generation p. 10 Gentiles instructed p. 268 Gentiles obliged to give praise unto God p. 269 Of the fulness of the Gentiles p. 338 The glory of the life to come described p. 107 How God ruled over man before the floud p. 64 Civil Government is no encroachment upon Christs natural or donative power p 55 Authoritative power or government over men shall be continued to the end of the World p. 66 Government is an ordinance of divine appointment proved both by the written and unwritten Word of God that is by Scripture and nature p 57 The good that ariseth by Government unto mankinde p. 65 H. The several forms of the Heathens enquiring after future events p. 72 That the Heathen did without Christ by the light of nature attain to such a knowledge of God as was enough for their everlasting salvation is a great errour p. 175 The impudent connivence that was given to Hereticks in the time of the late Schism p 37 To consider the Heavens a meanâ— to work in the hearts of men an awful reverence towards the Lord Jesus Christ p 48 The Hypostatical Vnion of two Natures in Christ Divine and humane shall never be dissolved nor the Mystical Vnion between Christ and his Church p. 285 I. Look unto Jesus from the beginning to the end p. 295 Of bowing at the name of Jesus p. 235 The errour of the Jews in following the light of yesterday p. 121 An exhortation to the Jews p. 164 Another exhortation to the Jews p. 262 The calling of the Jews proved p. 299 Of the Jews insurrection under Aelius Adrianus p. 321 The Jews wâ—ful blindness and hardness of heart described p. 335 The Jews continuanâ—e in the World when other great and mighty Nations are utterly extinct p. Ignorance in this day-light of the Gâ—spel condemned p. 202 Of the joy that Christians ought to take in their enjoyment of the Gâ—spel p 184 Julian the Apostate his blasphemy and death p. 34 No justification by the workes of the Law p. 126 K. Government by Kings proved to be the best Government p. 60 King Charles the First commended by those that were his Adversaries p. 248 A saying of his against drunkenness in a Speech at Oxford p. 187 King Charles the Second his zealous forwardness in establishing Religion p. 231 L. The woful effects of pretended liberty of conscience p. 38 New lights not to be regarded p. 188 Of the invincible nature of light p. 182 Of Limbus Patrum p. 170 The Liturgy of the Church of England not taken out of the Romish Missal p 242 The agreement of our Liturgy with the Forms of Primitive Devotion clearly demonstrated p. 244 M. Millenaries and Fift Monarchists refuted p. 103. Miracles not to be expected under the Gospel p. 132 Fift Monarchists may see their errour p. 70 No murmuring ought to be at Divine Providence in disposing the Earth and all that is therein p. 50 Murmurers reproved p. 74 How mutable the children of men are in their workes p. 45 The Mystical Vnion between Christ and his Church shall never cease p. 286 N. The humane nature exalted above the nature of Angels p 32 Gods remarkable judgment on Nestorius p 35 O. The Oracles of the Heathen ceased at the birth of our Saviour p. 266 Oracles from Heaven not to be now under the Gospel p. 129 Order among the Creatures p. 58 P. The errour of the Papists in following the light of yesterday p. 128 The vanity of the Papists in looking unto Jesus in a Picture p. 296 Christian Parents comforted concerning their Posterity p. 281 Prophane Politicians enemies to Christs Sovereignty p. 77 The prophane alarum'd p. 203 Proud persons enemies to Christs Sovereignty p. 77 Poland polluted with Socinianism p. 39 Q. Quakers enemies to Jesus Christ p. 39 Quarrelling against the restoring of lawful Government in this Nation condemned p. 74 R. Our Religion maintained to be the onely true Religion p. 169 An approved remedy to heal the woful distempers and divisions of this Church and Kingdome p. 276 The Creatures future restauration p. 93 Christs Righteousness imputed to us for Justification p. 177 Of the first Resurrection p. 106 The Romish Church guilty of Novelty p. 217 S. Samosatenian Hereticks confuted p. 12 Satan hath no power in the Aire but by permission p. 73 Sectarists justly charged with Superstition p. 231 Consider the wonders of God in the Sea p. 49 Sin of the ungodly is found out by the light of this day p. 207 Sin by the light of this day findeth out the sinner p. 208 Smectymnuus detected p. 253 The cursed blaspemy of Socinians abhorred p. 26 That the Souls of the Patriarchs did not before Christs Ascension ascend into that place of bliss whither the souls of the Saints now ascend is proved an errour p. 174 Of the Suns Eclipse at our Saviours Death p. 266 Of Superstition p. 233 T. The time of the Gospel is a time of light p. 180 A Story of Theodosius p. 30 The godly preserved in the time of trouble p. 80 Of
Jesus Châ—ist wâ—ll be the Same in the world to come is in part declared with a Caution premised p. 284. 1. He will continue to be the Same for ever in the Hypostatical union of his two Natures Divine and Humane p. 285. 2. He will continue to be the Same for ever in his mystical Vnion with his Church p. 286. Where is to be seen First How Christ will be over his Church then as a Head 1. As a Head alone without any subordinate power Celestial or Terrestrial ibid. 2. As a Head he will preserve and uphold the members of his mystical Body in their glorious Being p. 287. 3. As a Head he will keep the members of his said mystical Body in a perfect Vnion ibid. 4. As a Head he will shew unto them those glorious mysteries which in this life are beyond their reach and capacity ibid. Secondly Jesus Christ will then be in his people by love p. 288. The Doctrine proved by Scripture p. 290. And by the Testimony of Divines Ancient and Modern ibid. An Objection taken out of the Apostles words 1 Cor. 15.24.28 concerning Christs delivery up of the Kingdome to God even the Father c. Answered at large p. 291. An Exhortation to look unto Jesus p. 295. In the Appendix these following Scriptures proving the certainty of the Calling and Conversion of the JEWS are Quoted and Expounded DEut. 4 30 31. p. 300. Esaiah 11.11 12. p. 301. Esaiah 43.5 6. p. 302. Jeremiah 3.18.23.4 p. 303. Jer. 30.3.31.1.4 ibid. Ezekiel 37.21 22. ibid. Daniel 9.24 p. 306. Hosea 1.10 p. 316. Hosea 3.4 5. p. 318. Luke 21.23 24. p. 319. Acts 1.6 7. p. 324. Rom. 11. p. 328. An Objection answered viz. The Calling of the Jews shall not be till the very instant of the Consummation of all things p. 342. Another Objection answered viz. Their Pertinacy in despising the Gospel makes them the Object of Gods perfect hatred p. 344. Another Objection answered viz. They are enemies unto God not onely in a Passive sense but in an Active also p. 3â—â— Another Objection answered viz. The Jews are now so embodyed with other Nations that it is impossible they should ever any more become a Nation distinct from the Gentiles p. 350. Another Objection answered viz. To maintain this Doctrine of the Jews Restauration is to put the world into a carelesse security concerning the end p. ibid. A word of Exhortation to all the Churches of the Gentiles to pray earnestly unto God for the conversion of the Jews and to eschew those sins among our selves which may probably be a hinderance to the bringing on of so glorious a work p. 352. AN ASCENT TO THE HOLY MOUNT To see JESUS CHRIST in his Glory OR A PERSPECTIVE to help the Weak Sight to behold the Eternity and Immutability of the Lord Jesus Christ Taken out of the words of S. Paul Hebr. 13.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jesus Christ the same Yesterday to Day and for ever Adsis O JESV JESVS CHRIST whom we still preach unto you and in whom you do believe else our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain The Lord Jesus Christ I say as he is the Object of your Expectation in this Service we are now about So is he you see by my Text the subject of my intended Business at this time When my Discourse therefore shall answer your expectation you will I hope afford your diligent attention thereunto The words at first sight seem to be the sudden efflux of the Spirit added here in the close as the result of that which had been said before and as the Total Sum of the Epistle shutting up the whole as in a Parenthesis implying that all that was written amounted unto this viz Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for-ever Or else they are inserted as a reviving Cordial to the poor Hebrews who might seeing the Gentiles were received into Covenant with God fear themselves to be quite cast off from Grace because their Nation had so generally with much pertinacy refused that great Salvation which was brought unto them Upon which account the Apostle inferreth this short and sweet Epiphonema to comfort them with now at parting Jesus Christ is the sams yesterday to day and for ever As much as to say Jesus Christ is the same to you as he was from the beginning who as he was at first sent to seek and to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel so now also notwithstanding former unkindnesses and though his grace is not to be confin'd as it hath been but must extend to all Nations yet he abideth still a Saviour unto you if you abide in the faith and he will be so likewise to the end of the world Thus may this Verse seem to carry this sense within its own Verge not having any intercourse with the Contexture bordering upon it But it is generally conceived by Expositours that these words are coincident with those immediately before-going where an Exhortation is given to the Hebrews to be mindful of their Guides who had taught them the way of God truly not according to the Mosaical but Evangelical Pattern and to imitate them in the holiness of their lives and in their constancy to the faith which they sealed with their death The words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remember them which have the rule over you or are your Guides who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation The force of example we all know is very great to induce likeness of Manners and the greater the example is the greater power it hath to draw to similitude It was wont to be said Facile transitur ad plures We are easily moved to go after a Multitude but it may well be added Facile transitur ad majores It is no hard matter to make us imitate great Authorities be the patterns good or bad for the vices of Rulers are commonly the rule of Vices and the vertues of Leaders will also lead unto Vertue Hereupon it is that the Apostle proposeth unto the Hebrews the example of their Leaders to the end that they might not as he saith V 9. be carried about with divers and strange Doctrines where they had their instruction there also they might receive establishment by their imitation in whose example Quiddam memorabile designat Apostolus saith Calvin the Apostle noteth some memorable matter worthy of their saddest thoughts implying thus much that their Teachers had in defence of that Word which they had spoken unto them gone through much affliction not loving their lives unto death for that was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the issue and Exit of their Conversation which the Hebrews should consider that when they saw how stedfast and invincible their Leaders were in the faith their example might the better move them And now to set an edge upon this Exhortation the Apostle sheweth in the words of my
was saith Bishop Reynolds to be a middle Person to stand and minister between God and Man in their behalf to be impartial and faithful towards the Justice and Truth of God and not to be over-ruled by his love to Men to injure him and to be compassionate and merciful towards the errours of men and not to be over-ruled by his Zeal to God's Justice to give over the care and service of them And such an high Priest was Christ zealous of his Fathers Righteousness and Glory for he was set forth to declare the Righteousness of God Rom. 3.25 And he did Glorifie him on earth by finishing the things which he had given him to do Rom 3.25 John 17.4 compassionate also towards the errours and miseries of his Church for he was appointed to expiate and to remove them out of the way Col. 2.14 Now since Christ was ordained thus for the good of men Col. 2.14 can it be imagined that he had a care only of that sort of men that came after him into the World and none at all of those that had been before Was Abraham the Friend of God and David the man after Gods own heart of no reckoning with him If so let that accursed Opinion of the ancient Gnosticks the first-born of the Devil have a Licence to pass without controll that no man was saved all went to Hell unto the 15 year of Tiberius Caesar wherein it was from Heaven revealed concerning Christ This is my beloved Son hear him Or was there some other Mediatour before Jesus Christ took upon him our Nature who did execute that Office for 4000 years and then resign'd it up to the Son of God leaving the residue to be done by him in a time which happily may not be half so long Or were all those that lived in that long Tract of time shut up in Limbo when they died from whence they could not be delivered till Christ himself came among them These and such other Carcinomata as Bishop Mountague calls them are rather for Cauteries then curing Salves to work upon we may perhaps meet with some of them hereafter undoubtedly the Lord Jesus Christ was alwaies The man who was is and shall be the Mediatour between God and Man Lastly The high Priest was to offer Gifâ—s and Sacrifices for Sins that so Divine Justice might be satisfied which had been by sin violated Hence it was that as the Apostle saith Heb. 9.22 Almost all things were by the Law purged with bloud Heb. 9.12 and without shedding of bloud is no remission Death was to attend upon Justice as her Executioner but if Justice pass a Sentence at any time and execution follow not upon it Justice vanisheth into nothing and is become a meer Ludibrium for Execution is the very life of Justice Death therefore since he is let into the World by mans sin must do its office that so Justice may live Accordingly did the Priests who were ordained to see that a due satisfaction should be made to Divine Justice and to make an Atonement for the people never come before the Lord without bloud But first they slew the Sacrifice upon the Altar and then took of the bloud Lev. 16.11 15. and brought it before the Mercy-seat within the Veil to testifie the death of the Sacrifice whereupon Sin was expiated and Justice fully satisfied Thus did the Priests under the Law and thus also did Christ without whom all whatsoever they did had been to no purpose their sacrificing of a Lamb had been of no more account with God then the cutting off of a Dogs Neck and there offering an Oblation no better then the offering of Swines bloud Christ therefore I say once for all offered up a Sacrifice which was himself the virtue whereof was alwaies operative to make those former Sacrifices effectual to those ends and purposes before-mentioned and after that by his own bloud he entred into the Holy Place Heb 9 12.10 12. So then Christ it was that was still represented as a slain man in all those Sacrifices of old for a sentence of Death lying upon him through the determinate Counsel and fore knowledge of God made him in all those Ages before Act. 2 23. as good as dead in which regard he is called The Lamb slain from the beginning of the world Rev. 13.8 And because Justice would have Death for satisfaction else must the whole World have immediately fallen under her displeasure therefore in all likely hood the very first thing that died in the World was Christ in a Figure and consequently a Sacrifice from the beginning He was a Sacrifice ready even for Cain to make use of for his good if he had had Faith to apply it as appeareth by the words which the Lord speaks unto him If thou doest not well sin lieth at the door That is Gen. 4.7 a Sacrifice for sin for so the offering for sin is in Scripture frequently called which Interpretation because it may carry with it a sound of novelty Dr. John Harris Harden of Winchester Col. I shall take leave by the way to tell such that as I finde it owned by a late learned and reverend Divine so upon the examining of the grounds whereupon this Interpretation is built it will I doubt not appear to be very probable First God cometh not to deject Cain lower then he was but to raise him up from his dejection as is manifest both by his deigning to give him an Oracle from Heaven and also by the words wherewith he beginneth his speech unto him Why art thou wrath and why is thy Countenance fallen Secondly If the words Sin lieth at the door intend a sudden judgment to seize upon him what coherence can there be between these and the words following which are spoken concerning Abel viz. And thy brothers desire shall be subject unto thee For to read the place thus If thou doest not well thou shalt certainly be punished and thy brothers desire shall be subject unto thee This if there be any coherence at all were to threaten poor Abel more or at least as much as Cain Thirdly The Original word Chateath it is the aforesaid Authours observation as it signifieth Sin so also doth it the Sacrifice for Sin as Hos 4.8 2 Cor. 5.21 Hos 4 8. 2 Cor. 5.21 do witness And it was the custom according to which Moses speaketh as being best acquainted therewith to lay the Sacrifice at the Sanctuary door Vt populum dirigeret ad mediatorem saith Calvin to teach the people to serve God in Christ who is the true Sanctuary This sense therefore upon these Considerations may seem to be very agreeable with the scope of the Holy Ghost in that place so that a Sacrifice was ready for Cain at that time and what Sacrifice was that but Christ the Lamb then slain who alone taketh away the sin of the World and besides it seemeth to be a sacrifice distinct
Father making intercession for you Your Prophet who gave unto your Fathers Statutes and Judgements so righteous that there was no Nation how great so ever in this World that had the like and who will now again teach you the good and the right way if you will hearken unto him Awake Awake therefore O Israel awake awake gather your selves together yea gather your selves together O Nation that art to be desired behold and see how tenderly careful the Lord hath been of you ever since he took you to be his peculiar people Time was when he carried you about as upon Eagle's wings and the time is now come that he would take yee into his Bosome wherein alone you shall after all your unkindnesses finde rest for your Souls He remembers the kindness of your Youth O that you would now consider the kindness of his Age Fortie years long did your Fathers greive him in the wilderness and will you go on to vex him fortie times forty more He then swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest and accordingly it came to pass for their Carcasses all fell in the wilderness but their little ones which they said should be a prey them did he bring into that Good Land which he promised to give unto Abraham be warned therefore betimes for if you will not turn you shall certainly fall and perish as they did but your Children shall surely see that Glory that shall be revealed for the Lord hath sworn in his Love that Jacob shall not be forsaken for ever Consider it is no novelty that we perswade you unto but that which was from the the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our Eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life for the Life was manifested and we have seen it and bear Witness and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that yee also may have Fellowship with us and truely our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ Come then I say again and mourn for him whom you have pierced and we also will mourn with you for good cause have we so to do having alas many a time dealt too treacherously with this our great redeemer and put him to an open shame by our frequent swervings and tergiversations from that righteous and holy rule that he hath set us we will abandon this present evil World and all the flattering insinuations thereof our dearest relations shall be of no Value with us in comparison of our fellowship with you and that Brotherly Covenant which shall oblige us both unto our common Lord who hath loved you from the beginning and will love you again more abundantly if you will now turn unto him Return return therefore O Shulamite return return Secondly this may teach us to forbear that Disdain which is commonly found to be in these days against the Ages that have been before us For whatsoever Light hath been in the World at any time it hath been derived from this Father of Lights Jesus Christ And he hath by that tender care which himself had both of the Law and the Fathers who lived under it and before it set us an Example to bear a due respect as becommeth Brethren to that antiquity which hath been enlightned by him in this Day of the Gospel For the Law though it was perverted by such as would not believe in him to a Sinister use even to the utter Abolition of his whole Evangelical institute and was in that respect justly disavowed by his Apostles in their writings yet he professeth the design of his coming was not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it And for the Fathers in their sundry Generations before him who walking in this Light had fellowship with him we have sufficiently seen how he hath owned them Yea and ever since he hath been the leader and supporter of his Church in all the various changes that have come upon it for he is he Everlasting Father of his people Es 9.6 and the Provision whatsoever it was that his family hath hitherto lived upon from the time that he dwelt among us as it hath been as his cost and of his wise and prudent devising so it hath been always ordered and disposed by him How ill then doth it become us in these days to cast forth reproachful speeches against the Light of antiquity or those that walked in it Do we not thereby call into question the Wisdom of Christ himself I speak not here of the unwritten Verities or Traditions of Antiquity as they are called which have neither with them a Catholick Recognition nor any warrant or footstep from the written word That is a Door which hath let in much Corruption into the Church nor of the untrue writings of any Monkish Heterodox Spirits which are the spurious Issue of that man of Sin But that which I do undertake upon this occasion to vindicate is that Holy Venerable Renowned Orthodox Antiquity which hath been alwayes faithful to Jesus Christ and his Gospel which hath borne the burden and heat of the day in maintaining and defending by Writing by Preaching by Living by Dying the Doctrine of Christ crucified against the Prince of Darkness and all his cursed Adherents What though there have been clouds and eclipses of the glorious Light of Truth in former times which notwithstanding have by the brightness of Christs appearance in the Ministery of his old Servants been dispelled scattered and removed What though there have been Differences and Contentions arisen rather about Circumstantials then Fundamentals of the Gospel from which we in this Age are not altogether free Yet since it is so that Jesus Christ hath been the same to them which he is to us we should learn to judge at least more modestly then we do of the dayes that have been before us It is as it hath been observed the common disease of all Ages to applaud themselves above any that have been before them Actions of men being for the most part according to the vogue and sway of times and have onely their upholding by the opinion of the vulgar We deale with Antiquity but as Posterity will with us which ever thinks it self the wiser and that will judge likewise of our errours according to the Cast of their Imaginations Yet I say not but that we have great reason to bless God for those discoveries of his Grace and those Manifestations of his Truth that wee enjoy in these times and I doubt not but God hath some also now that will be valiant for his Truth as there have been ever of old but when we look into the Lives of those who now-a-dayes are most zealous in decrying Antiquity and extolling the present Age and yet finde Spiritual Pride and Censoriousness so common amongst them besides their
the Same Yesterday to Day and for ever Fourthly We may upon the Consideration of this Doctrine see how absurd and foolish that Dream is of a certain Vbi a Place of confinement for the Souls of the Faithful who lived and died Yesterday in that long tract of time under the Law and before it which place is by the Papists called Limbus Patrum for in regard the work of Redemption was not fully accomplished by Jesus Christ till he had suffered Death upon the Cross therefore say they all those Patriarchs and Prophets and Holy men of old from the beginning of the World unto that time could not enter into Heaven but were shut up in some lower parts of the Earth bordering upon Purgatory which say they is next door to Hell For saith Bishop Mountague as if some of their Masters had been soon sent thither to take a survey thereof they do quarter out that infernal Clime into four Regions And this place amongst the rest which they have assigned unto the Fathers they determine to be the uppermost Fringe as the Word Limbus signifies or the verge of Hell It is not my purpose to descend so low as to examine the particulars of this their Subterraneous Chorography I believe the Vanity thereof is Visible enough to all that have not their Eyes put out with the smoke of Purgatory Rather let the strength of our present Doctrine be set in opposition to this fond dream of that false and Apostatical Church of Rome which hath obtruded many such like idle Fopperies upon those poor people that are bewitched with her Sorceries and then let all mankinde judge which is the Truth True it is Bishop Mountague of Nor. they make much boast of Antiquity in the upholding of this their fabulous Limbo though as learned an Antiquary as any possiby that ever was in their Conclave affirmeth that Antiquity will not own it Nevertheless if it should it shall be of no Value with us if it clash with the Divine Oracles of the Holy Scriptures They tell us that the Souls of the godly are in the bundle of Life with the Lord their God 1 Sam. 25.29 1 Sam. 25.29 Ec. 12.7 And that the spirit returns unto God that gave it Ec. 12.7 That the Soul of Lazarus was carried by the Angels who always behold the face of God in Heaven Mat. 18.11 into Abrahams Bosome Luk. 16. Luk. 16.22 And therefore it is well observed against the Rhemists upon that place that Limbo being supposed to be under the Earth and Lazarus's Soul from Earth was carried upwards If he went to Limbo the Angels were not well acquainted with the Way in that they carry him above the Earth when they ought to have carried him to a place underneath the Earth Add hereunto what a world of Absurd ities would follow if this Pepish devise should pass for currant Act. 15.11 How could Saint Peter say Act. 15. We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Luk. 20.38 How could the Patriarchs be said to live with God if they were banished out of his Sight Luk. 20. And if this Limbo be the Brim or Hem of the damned places how is it said that the Glutton in Hell saw Abraham afar off with Lazarus in his Bosome and that there was a great Gulfe and Distance between the Damned's place and that wherein Lazarus abode As for Abraham it may be collected clearly from Heb. 11.9.10 that he immediately after Death was received up into Heaven Heb. 11 9.10 according to his expectation Contented he was with his flitting Tabernacles while he continued as a Sojourner here in this Life because there was a City to come after this Life that would be firm and steddy wherein he looked to be admitted and which should make full amends for all his wearisome Peregrinations Where we may see that that City having Foundations which the Holy Patriarch by Faith expected is by an Antithesis set ad oppositum to those Tabernacles which he formerly lived in with Isaac and Jacob whereby is intimated that he was not received into any other building after his death then that which is permanent Into which City he being received it must necessarily follow that all the faithful people of God who were transported by Angels into his Bosome as Lazarus was were there received and entertained likewise Moreover because this Parable is much perverted by the Papists to their sinister sense when Abraham opposeth Lazarus's Comfort to the Glutton's Torment it is evident that he being in infinite Torment the other was in infinite Joy which because it cannot be but in Heaven A term appropriated by the Holy Ghost to the Ages of the Church before Christ But not fit to be used now in the time of the Gospel Gerard. Rom. 5.15 as in the Lord's Presence-Chamber it followeth that the †Bosome of Abraham is the Rest that his faithful and right begotten Children have in Heaven In fine That which chiefly I have to say against this absurd errour is this viz. That it derogateth from the Merits of Jesus Christ making him not to be of yesterday and his death to be effectual onely à parte post to those that come after him An Opinion therefore to be Anathematized by all the Churches of the Saint yea further the Sin of Adam is by this means contrary to the Doctrine of the Apostle Rom. 5.15 made more powerful to Condemnation then Christ's Righteousness can be unto Salvation for the Sin of Adam casteth his Wicked and Unbelieving Posterity into Hell immediately after Death whereas by their Doctrine the Communication of Christ's Righteousness with them that believed in him could not immediately after Death lift them up into the Kingdom of Heaven How this can stand with Christ's honour or how it agreeth with the aforesaid Scripture let the Jesuites themselves tell us if they can Objection Well but yet the Scripture notwithstanding they affirm will bear them out in this their opinion for saith the Apostle Heb. 9.8 The way into the Holiest of all was not made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing Heb. 9.8 Upon which place these Limbonians do much harpe for the maintenance of their foolish errour collecting as they think very strenuously that the way to Heaven was not open before Christ's Passion and therefore the Patriarchs and good men of old must needs have some other place of rest assigned unto them for their abode until that time Solution A short Answer to a vain Cavil may suffice briefly then let it be observed The Apostle saith not the way to Heaven was shut up while the first Tabernacle was standing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was not yet clearly manifested Whereby he gives us to understand that the people of God under the Old Testament knew the way to Heaven but darkly viz. through the vail of Types But withall that they knew there was
some according to the original word here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 correcting disorders and Ordaining Ministers both which plainly argue Episcopal authority for no single Presbyter was ever allowed even by our Antiepiscopal men to manage such a power Now as according to the Apostles word Heb. 7.7 the less is blessed of the better so must the correction of what is amiss and the power of conferring an Ecclesiastical office upon any be in a Superiour also I know well what is usually objected here viz. That Titus was an Evangelist that is say some an Assistant to the Apostle in his peregrinations among the Churches and therefore was endowed with an extraordinary power insomuch that his office was not capable of a Succession My answer hereto is this It is granted that Titus for some time removed from place to place with the Apostle as the exigency of his work required one while at Jerusalem another while at Crete from thence to Nicopolis he is ordered by the Apostle to come unto him after that he is sent to Corinth from whence he is expected at Treas and met with Paul in Macedonia whence he is sent again to Corinth c. as some have traced him in his several Stages Yet nevertheless though he was such a temporary Itinerant with the Apostle and if they will needs have it so though he executed the office of an Evangelist in so doing It followeth not that his first Commission for Crete was thereby revoked But that he did the office of an Evangelist while he attended the Apostle may be granted as he did while he was resident in Crete that is by labouring in the Word and Doctrine For after all that can be said other Evangelist Titus never was nor can he ever be proved to be Add hereunto Neither can it be found that ever Titus had such a peculiar charge given unto him in any of those places where he either accompanied the Apostle or was employed by him as he had in Crete For was he ever appointed to such a work either in Jerusalem or in Corinth or in Macedonia or in Dalmatia or in any place else besides Crete Surely it cannot be imagined but that these places might need the care and vigilancy of a Titus as well as that to which he was consign'd If therefore such an office of Government fixed upon one person in one place over a numerous Clergie was for the advancement of the Gospel of such nacessity in the dayes of the Apostles who were not at all wanting in the discharge of their duty without all contradiction it is at least as necessary now unless we will say that the care of the Churches well-fare was confin'd unto those Primitive Times and not to be extended to after-ages All which considered It is more then probable that the Apostle did devolve a power upon Titus not of an Evangelist in the late upstart sense but that which is indeed Episcopal superiour to that of an ordinary Presbyter and not onely so but that this was to be a president for the Government of the Churches to the end of the world Especially when we look upon the reason which the Apostle annexeth to the seventh verse in these words For a Bishop must be blameless c. Which for my part I conceive to be the ground of the Apostles own act in leaving Titus at Crete for the ends and purposes there premised knowing him to be a fit instrument for such a weighty employment and not at all to shew the qualification of the persons whom he should ordain as it hath been commonly understood Such qualification the Apostle had described in the sixth verse saying If any be blameless that is as a late Writer glosseth upon it approved by the testimony of the Church to be under no scandalous sin The husband of one wife that is One who lives not with a second wife after putting away the first Having faithful children that is such if he have any as have all received the Faith For if he bring not up his own children to be Christian what hope is there that he will be fit to convert others Not accused of riot or unruly that is who live temperately and regularly Meaning that Titus should not ordain any but those that are thus qualified in respect of their own vertuous living the Christian education of their children But now if he should again in the seventh verse repeat the same qualification of unblameableness as referring to the same persons his words would border too much upon an uncomely tautology which was never incident to that spirit by which he wrote As I said therefore before so I say again when the Apostle had declared how the persons should be qualified whom Titus should ordain he proceedeth to give Titus himself a reason implying withal the justification of his own Act why he left him in Crete about such an important business as to correct disorders and to ordain Elders For saith he A Bishop that is one who must be employed in these things must be as I have found thee to be blameless as the steward of God not self-willed c. Otherwise with what face can he lay hands upon any looking for such qualifications as are just and fit for such offices if they be wanting in himself Or how can he correct disorders in others if he himself be blame-worthy Knowing therefore thee to be in all points fitted for this great work I left thee in Crete c. So that the intent of the Apostle here plainly is this partly to satisfie Titus concerning his leaving him there as being for a purpose of an extrordinary concernment but chiefly to shew the qualifications of the persons to be employed in correcting and ordaining upon whom he sets an honourable mark of distinction for his works sake calling him BISHOP whereas the persons or dained he had before distinguished by a title proper to their office calling them Presbyters This is one interpretation of the Apostles meaning which I humbly submit to the judgement of the Church It is clear without any wrest or ambiguity and upon which it plainly follows that Bishop and Presbyter are not one and the same but distinct in their offices and it is hereby as plain likewise that the office of Bishop distinct from that of a Presbyter is of divine inslitution If this sense will not be allowed by our Opponents as for my part I know not why it should be rejected Let them consider a second Whereas the Apostle saith that He left Titus in Crete to ordain Elders in every City shewing in the sixth verse how they should be qualified viz. That they be blameless c. And thereupon alledgeth his reason in the seventh verse For a BISHOP must be blameless c. He implieth the great care that Titus should have in ordaining Elders because from among them BISHOPS were to be chosen for the Government of the Churches whom it concern'd in regard of their power
as they stand in their several relations to the Church wherein the wisdom of God and his good Providence hath placed them to bear up as with one shoulder the glory of Christ's Name against sin the World and the Devil Look now unto JESUS First It hath been his constant design to bring all those who believe in him into a Brotherly fellowship one with another not onely to unite them in several Societies as some would have it but to gather those Societies into one Body And the more there is of this Union among thern under Himself who is the sole head of the Body which Dignity none can challenge if it be but by way of Resemblance without Anti-Christian Usurpation and a presumptuous encroachment upon him it hath ever been most agreeable to his mind and will This I say hath been the product of his eternal wisdom for the establishment of his Kingdom in the midst of the Nations Secondly It hath always been his work to settle a Government in his Church for the well being of it that peace and love might be preserved amongst his people punishments inflicted upon the unpeaceable and unruly and that all things especially in the duties of his publick worship and service might be done according to the variety of emergencies arising in several Nations and Ages Decently and in order For that is decent and orderly in one place and time which by experience proveth to be uncomely and disorderly in another Which government being de facto to say nothing of it here de jure enough hath been said of that before continued from the beginning he hath been pleased to bless and prosper with a most happy success to the enlargement of his Kingdom and the propagation of his Gospel Which we may well presume he would not have done in so long a succession of time and so many vicissitudes of troubles and deliverances that have come upon his Church if it had not been according to his minde but since it is so and the Apostle here telling us that he is the Same for ever we may probably conclude that as he hath not left his Church without a care of her well-being in this particular so he will not digress from it but that such a Government so continued and made successful by him shall be perpetuated as own'd by him to the end of the world Let us then I say again look unto Jesus and see his goings in his Sanctuary in the midst of his people from the beginning Let us see also and acknowledge his Immutability therein for the Eternity of Israel is not as man that he should lye or the son of man that he should repent As in all other things that he hath undertaken for the advancement of his kingdome so undoubtedly in this he will be the Same for ever If therefore this hath been his work and design to establish unity and order in his Church and to settle and prosper this very government in it which is this day so much contradicted will it become those that pretend to have an interest in him to walk contrary to him Or will he cease to be the Same in the carrying on of his own work in his good old way to please those unquiet people that will never be satisfied but make the world believe they do him the greatest service when they do what they can to hinder his work What though some mens Tongues and pens run riot crying out still for liberty Liberty of Conscience not considering that to serve the Lord in a chearful submission to his sweet yoke wherewith he hath always kept his Church in good order is perfect freedom nor being willing to know nor understand that Conscientia in tantum libera in quantum ab errore liberata Conscience is so far free as it is freed from errour Yet we may be sure Jesus Christ will still keep on his course because he is the Same for ever And let Conscience it self for which all this clamour is made wheresoever it is not enthralled to lust or errour judge in this case Whether it be a liberty which Christ hath purchased for those that believe in him to cross him in his work which he hath hitherto wrought for the good of his Church I speak not here of what he hath permitted a long time for the trial of his people and the advancement of his truth as being able to bring good out of evil but what he hath alwayes acted as the King of his Church and which the very nature of his office did indeed require should be done For any to quarrel at his actings and to call in question all that he hath hitherto done in that kinde as if he had been ever since his ascension onely a spectatour of his Church to see how well she could shift for her self in her own preservation without the exercise of his power by settling a government in her what is this but to tax him with negligence in his office and to make him a Saviour but in part which in effect is to be none at all What though there be some things that are circumstantial to this Government and some Ceremonies in divine worship that have not an immediate stamp of Divine authority upon them to make them currant which will never be found in the whole institute and order of any Church should we therefore reject all that is in them good and warrantable Because people have not their desire in things indifferent should they not consent to that which is necessary for the honour of Christ and the welfare of his Church Two things that should be dearer to us then our lives much more are they to be preferred before a self-satisfaction in some scrupulous niceties the bare using 1 Cor. 8.8 or not using whereof as the Apostle speaks of meat commendeth us not to God But alas these things are not regarded as they ought to be Mens novel apprehensions of the Kingdome of Christ and their particular interests therein must counter-ballance all the publick concernments of Christ and his Church But O yee poor deluded people consider Hath not the Lord Jesus Christ been already too much dishonoured by your needless dissentions but that you will have him to dishonour himself by varying from his wonted course in the ordering of his Church Hath not the peace of his poor Church been too much disturbed and Christian Charity too much violated heretofore in the late times of Schisme Mr. Vines when as one of the prime Leaders amongst you said then too truely It was almost Popery to speak of it This was indeed the old mark for by this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples said Christ if yee love one another But the truth is it was almost worn out and instead thereof Infelix Lolium unhappy Feuds Quarrels Divisions Rents abounded What fruit had you then in those things whereof you have been ashamed that you will now return unto them
that should not be wholly spent before this obduration of theirs should be wholly removed from them and when that shall be the Apostle here tells us when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in If any shall demand what this fulness of the Gentiles is I must answer with Origen Quaerit ista plenitudo gentium unus solus not it unigenitus eâ—us c. What this fulness of the Gentiles shall be is known onely unto God and to his onely begotten Son and to those to whom the Son will reveale it Possibly it may be a great multitude of Gentiles such as was not the like in all the generations of old that should flock together to the Church like Doves to their windows by the accession of which multitude to the faith the Jews shall be provoked through a holy emulation to acknowledge Christ to be the true Messiah repenting themselves of their so long estrangement from him or possibly because the Jews shall hereafter have their peculiar fulness according to what is said before of them v. 12. in opposition to their present failing therefore hath God also appointed a certain fulness for the Gentiles unknown as yet what it shall be that when it is come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So rendred 1 Cor. 6.3 neither of them should have cause to despise each other any more In sine this I think we may safely say of it that this word of the Apostle hath some affinity with the word of our Saviour Luk. 21.24 before insisted upon viz. When the times of the Gentiles as they are in the hand of God shall be fulfilled so that when God hath finished all his predeterminate counsel concerning the Gentiles and the depth of his wisdome issued forth such a spiritual and ecclesiastical fulness among them as may be for the advancement of the Gospel and Kingdome of Christ then shall the mystery of God concerning his Israel be finished also 2 Cor. 3.16 The vaile shall be taken off from them their occallation wholly cease and they shall according to the Prophecy of Zachary Look upon him whom they have pierced and mourn for him as one mourneth for his onely Son c. And then saith the Apostle all Israel shall be saved All Israel that is not as it is construed by some the whole Israel of God throughout the world consisting of Jews and Gentiles for that neither was any mystery to those unto whom this Epistle is written who knew full well by dayly experience that multitudes of the Gentiles together with some of the Jewish Nation were converted to the faith and by consequence should undoubtedly be saved yea if this construction should be admitted the Apostle had receded from his scope which he aimed at throughout this whole Chapter which was to suppress the insolency of the Gentiles against the Jews and to quicken the poor Jews with some lively hope of their restauration Laying aside therefore this mistake though it be fathered by many who carry a great name amongst us in the interpretation of Scripture By Israel here is undoubtedly meant Children of the flock of Abraham sprung out of the thigh of Jacob those whom the Apostle calls before v. 14. His own flesh Concerning whom a Question likewise is started by Expositors upon the occasion of this Note of Universality all whether thereby is meant all none excepted or many that is the greatest number of the Jews that shall be saved Which needless Question I shall not stand upon onely deliver in short my poor conceptions concerning the Apostles sense in this particular with submission to the Church By all Israel is meant not Judah alone which then dwelt in the Land of Canaan but all the twelve Tribes of Israel that were scattered abroad in the world all of them saith the Apostle shall be saved that is delivered from their sin and consequently from their captivity and brought again as they were before into a state of salvation wherein they shall abide for ever so long as the world enduâ—eth This in truth is the bottome of the mystery that is here intended and this sense I am prone to give of it being inclined unto it by the word of the Prophet as it is alledged by the Apostle viz. There shall come out of Sion a deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my Covenant with them when I shall take away their sin In which words three things are of special remark First the Apostles varying from the Prophet in the allegation of his testimony for this will be of singular use to our present purpose The Prophet had said a Redeemer shall come the Apostle saith there shall come a Deliverer a Redeemer shall come to Sion saith the Prophet there shall come a Deliverer out of Sion saith the Apostle to those that turn from ungodliness in Jacob saith the Prophet to turn away ungodliness from Jacob saith the Apostle And why is there so much disparity may some say between them Should not the Apostle since he will corroborate his assertion from what is written by the Prophet produce his testimony exactly without any alteration I answer the spirit of truth alwayes One and the Same wherewith these Actuaries and Pen-men of Holy Writ were guided knew best in what termes to express the purpose and counsel of God concerning his people both in the times of the Law and of the Gospel Distingue tempora concordabunt scripturae Hence it is that the Apostle is here made the Prophets interpreter rendring his sense in evangelical termes according to the intent and purpose of the Spirit therein That therefore which the Prophet speaks of the comming of Christ in the flesh is extended by the Apostle to a blessed effect that shall follow thereupon which he might in reason warrantably do for causâ proximâ positâ necesse est poni effectum the effect will undoubtedly follow the cause and that coming of the Messiah was certainly the immediate cause of all the happiness that at any time was to come upon the Church to the end of the World Here is then no contradiction in this disparity but a sweet and melodious harmony rather the eccho whereof to my apprehension soundeth in this manner This Redeemer or redeeming Kinsman of Israel Christ Jesus being come unto Sion shall out of Sion that is from his Church where he hath his dwelling and abode by his spirit cause a deliverance to arise for his kindred Israel in restoring them again to their spiritual estate which being lost by their unbelief he had purchased again for them And because the Redeemer was to slay the murderer of his kindred as well as to re-enfeoffe them in their Land and livelihood therefore shall this deliverer also turn away that is utterly destroy ungodliness their murderous enemy out of Jacob which being his act for them they also by right of propinquity and nearness of kindred may be said themselves to be active