of Christ's Resurrection but also for God's Eternity so may the word Heri Yesterday when it is spoken of God in this manner be taken in the same sense likewise for the eternal God is not to be conceived by us in any thing that concerns his Essence or Relation under any Notion of time properly as some have impiously conceived It is said Es 30 33. Es 30.33 That Tophet is ordained of old that is from Yesterday so the Marginal Note also renders it Now consider if Tophet be there to be understood of Hell as it is usually taken and as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often mentioned in the New Testament doth imply though the place hath had a Being in time yet surely God ordained it in his eternal Decree before ever Time was And that I take to be the meaning of the Prophet's word Yesterday viz. That God had ordained Hell for his enemies from all eternity So here in the Text may the word be taken in the same sense But that it may not at all seem strange unto any that Eternity be spoken of with terms appropriated unto Time we do finde frequent expressions of Scripture in a tendency hereunto and that in this very particular concerning the eternal Being of the Son of God The Lord saith Wisdom i. e. Jesus Christ who is the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 possessed me in the Beginning of his Way Prov. 8.22 Pro. 8.22 A Beginning of a far more ancient date then Moses his Beginning mentioned Gen. 1.1 For it is interpreted V. 23. to be from everlasting It is said also of Christ Mich. 5.2 Mich. 5.2 That his out-goings have been of old as Initio saith S. Hierom from the Beginning i. e. from everlasting as it is there added by the Prophet which signifies the Daies of Eternity as the Marginal Note there likewise renders it So that to ascribe Daies unto Eternity even as unto Time though not in such a propriety of speech is no novelty Rev. 1.8 Again Christ saith of himself Rev. 1.8 that He is the Beginning and the Ending which is and which was and which is to come A place not much differing from our present Text describing the Eternity of Jesus Christ even in the same manner as 't were in a Parallel under the same notions of Time And the words there as here signifie that Christ is was and ever shall be a most perfect simple and absolute substance and Essence being all one with our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He who is yesterday to day and for ever We must howsoever confess that these words Erat Est Erit was is and shall be and so also yesterday to day c. are but discriminating terms and as I may say several feathers springing forth from the wing of that voluble and mutable Time which hovereth upon the Creation and therefore utterly incompatible with the most perfect Eternity of the Creatour whose whole Being is entire and compleat in it self without any the least vicissitude or variation whatsoever yet notwithstanding such is the gracious condescention of the most High they are commonly by the Holy Ghost in Scripture attributed unto Eternity As humane Actions are unto God of Descending and Ascending c. and humane passions of Grief Anger c. together with the parts and lineaments of a humane body to the end that poor mortal creatures might have some Illapses of that great Glory slide into their minds according to their narrow capacities which otherwise they could never be able to discover no nor endure Hence it is that Christ calls himself Rev. 1.11 Rev. 1.11 The Alpha and Omega the first and the last whereby I conceive is meant that he is the only begotten Son of the Father and before him there was none and after him there should not arise any that should be so begotten Lastly the Apostle calls him The first born of every creature signifying thereby saith Bishop Davenant Quod genitus fuit ante ullam rem creatam That is that he was begotten of the Father before any thing was created Col. 1.15 So that still we see Prius Posterius that is these terms former and latter which have reference unto Time used by the Holy Ghost in this high point of the eternal Generation of the Son of God from whence it appeareth clearly that the word Yesterday here in the Text may be taken not only for all time past but even for Eternity in a reference to the said Divine Generation other places of Scripture where the same Doctrine is asserted speaking it out in the same language too We may therefore I believe proceed on without any Hesitancy in grounding it upon this Text which I acknowledge hath not been in this sense commonly understood and therefore have I been the larger in laying the foundation in regard also of the great usefulness of it amongst us in these times I shall endeavour to speak the more freely of it A Doctrine it is which the Churches of Christ have constantly maintained in the vindication whereof the Saints have not counted their lives dear unto them A Doctrine not to come under the scrutiny of Reason it being infinitely above it Dei Generatio silentio honoretur magnum tibi dedicisse quod genitus sit said one very well The Generation of the Son of God is to be honoured with silence and poor creatures must acknowledge that they have learned much when they know the Son to be begotten If any man yet shall enquire de mode that is concerning the manner of this Generation he should be answered saith reverend Davenant with S. Ambrose Credere tibi jussum est non discutere permissum est Thou art commanded to believe it not allowed to examine or discuss it Es 53.8 for that question of the Prophet Es 53.8 which though it bear other significations we may make use of here will put to silence both Angels and Men Who can declare his Generation If indeed we were able to search the Records of Eternity we might happily find out what was done in Hâ—sterno in those daies of Eternity But such knowledge is too wonderful for us it is high we cannot attain unto it Phil. 4.7 The Apostle tells us Phil. 4.7 That the peace of Christ is above all understanding Surely then his Eternal Generation is above all understanding too let us therefore content our selves with what is revealed not suffering our poor home-spun Reason to lash out into this transcendent Mystery any further then the Spirit of God in Scripture is pleased to lead us This I conceive we may with modesty assert the first Person being Father from Eternity the Son must be co-eternal with him otherwise the Relation falleth And there being nothing in God but Essence and Relation if the Relation be taken away what the Consequence would be is easie to judge But doubtless this Divine Relation between the Father and the Son was from
all Eternity otherwise we may argue further if the first Person be not Father from Eternity there must arise in time a change in his Personal Denomination which is incompossible with the Father of Lights in whom there is no variableness Yea more if the Son of God be the Power of God and the Wisdom of God as 1 Cor. 1.24 then surely he must be co-eternal with God Pet. Low Constat ergo qui semper habuit sapientiam semper habuit filium i. e. Manifest therefore it is that he who is eternally Wife must have the Son co-eternal with him But to contract what might be multiplied hereupon a very pregnant proof we have to this purpose given us Heb. 1.1 2 3. Hebr. 1.1 2 3. where the Apostle most elegantly doth set forth the whole Mystery of this Divine Relation in some remarkable Resemblances And albeit as Bishop Andrews that Magazine of Learning observeth well whose words it will be no offence here to rehearse there be not any resemblance translated from the Creature though never so excellent that will hold full Assay yet withal this we are to think that what terms the Holy Ghost hath made choice of they are no idle speculations that are drawn from them Three several Titles are by the Apostle ascribed unto Jesus Christ in the said Scripture every of which have their proper lustre to guide us into the knowledge of this Mystery which are these Son Brightness Character In Son there is a true Identity of Nature upon it is grounded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being of one substance even as the Sâ—n is with the Father But if any shall say the Son cometh after the Father in Time amends is made for that in the next term Brightness for it is not to be imagined that there ever was or ever could be a Light Body but in the very same instant there must stream from it a Brightness So upon this is grounded Coeternal But there is some inequality between the Light Body it self and the beam or brightness of it the Beam not being full out so clear shews an imperfection in the term Brightness but that is supplied in the next Character for that is ever just equal neither bigger nor less then the Type or Stamp that made it Vpon this then is grounded Coequal and like per omnia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So like as shew us the Father saith Philip Why he that sees the Character never desires to see the Stamp if ye see the one ye see the other He that seeth me seeth the Father whose express Form I am Agreeable to these three saith the same Authour we believe of Jesus Christ that he is consubstantial as the Son coeternal as the Brightness coequal as the Character Against the new heads of that old Hydra sprung up again in our daies of whom more shall be said hereafter Devout Bernard goeth along likewise in the same Tract Genuit Omnipotens Omnipotentem Altissimus Altissimum Aeternus Aeternum The Omnipotent saith he hath begotten the Omnipotent the Highest the Highest and the Eternal the Eternal Serm 1. De Adven Domini Neque fas est Dei filium degenerem suspicari sed equalis fateri necesse est Altitudinis ejusdem penitus Dignitatis nam filios Principum Principes filios Regum Reges esse quis nesciat i. e. Neither is it meet to imagine the Son to be of a Degenerate Nature but we must necessarily acknowledge him to be of an equal Altitude and Dignity with the Father for who among us knoweth not the Sons of Nobles to be Nobles and of Princes to be Princes We may conclude therefore the Son of God to be God also from Eternity being begotten of the Father from Eternity All which if we look back into the Womb of Eternity do clearly demonstrate the relation of the Son to be ever inseparable from the Father And so doth it if we look forwards for that ineffable Generation which is the ground of this Divine Relation is never past but as the Schole-men call it is Actus commensuratus Aeternitati just of the same sâ—ze with Eternity and therefore it follows in the Text Jesus Christ is the same to day which yesterday and will be also for ever This eternal Generation of the Son though it be not iterated yet it is continued even as Reason is the continual emanation of the Soul of man which also was coequal with it Mens gignens nunquam desinit giguere 〈◊〉 râ—tio genita nunquam desinit gigni Dr. Collins Reg. Prâ—f Theol. Though I confess still there be a great dissimilitude in Comparisons of this nature And as Regeneration in the Saints is a continual act of the Spirit of God upon them for Quotidie Renati sumus was the word of a sound Divine We are every day regenerated So is this Divine Generation of the Son of God a permanent and everlasting Generation which as it had no beginning in time so it hath no end being Actus Aeternus in God but with this difference Christ's Generation is perfect from Eternity though it be still in Esse not being like our Generation of one from or by another but as that whereby the Sun begetteth his Beams which are alwaies begotten yet alwaies perfect whereas our Regeneration is gradual growing up still towards perfection And from hence it is that Christ is said by the Apostle Col. 1.15 Col. 1.15 to be the Image of God an Image not accidental or artificial such as is of a King in his Coin or money but the essential and natural Image of the Father such as is of a King in his Son being of the same nature with him and so not a vanishing transient shadow but express and permanent Image Polanus To this purpose saith one Haec Divina Genitura non est transiens sed permanens perpetua unde Pater Aeternus non de sinit giguere filium filius non desinit gigni à Patre That is the Divine Generation is not transient but permanent and perpetual for the eternal Father doth uncessantly beget the Son and the Son doth not cease to be begotten of the Father And thus far with the Clew of the holy Scriptures and the help of Orthodox Writers upon them have we entred into this Labyrinth where we see the Lord Jesus Christ to be the same yesterday to day and for ever in respect of his Divine Nature Here now before we come to make use of this Doctrine and to bring it home to the Conscience of the Believer for his Edification and Consolation we might arraign all the enemies unto it Jews Arrians Samosatenians and others and examine what Arguments they have been wont to produce against it which I doubt not but we should find to be of no force but that they are not worthy and therefore needless to be at large insisted upon Nevertheless that the malice and subtlety of the Devil
been willing to insert to give full satisfaction to those that are Scepticks in this point and for the confirmation of their faith that are sound and orthodox Object 2 Secondly They object that which the Angel speaks to the Virgin Mary Luke 1.35 The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall over-shadow thee therefore that Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Therefore also say they he was not the Son of God before his Incarnation Unto this also we may answer sundry waies Answ First The inference which the Angel produceth from his premises was to let the blessed Virgin see that the fruit of her Womb should be according to the Prophecy that went of him not of an ordinary Extraction because the Holy Ghost not a mortal man was to be the efficient thereof therefore that Holy Thing that should be born of her should be the Son of God and not of any man yet since the Nature that was produced Non Gene râ—t one â—ed 〈◊〉 benedictione was not after the similitude of the Nature and Essence of the Holy Ghost for Christ was not conceived of the substance but through the power of the Spirit we may conclude infallibly that Christ had not this denomination of the Son of Gost first given him at the time of his Incarnation Secondly Qui pascun ter ex Aqua sp sancto non ided aquae filios eos recte quispiam dixcrit Pet. Lom If it were so the Holy Ghost should by a proper right be called the Father of Christ which he never is in Scripture neither indeed did ever any that truly professed the Christian Faith acknowledge him in any respect to be for he is not the principle of the subsistence of the second person in the Trinity and therefore not the cause of the Divine eternal Sonship neither was there a new person conceived at his unconceivable over-shadowing of the Virgin and therefore he could not be the Father of Christ in respect of any inferiour filiation so that we must seek out some other sense of the Angels words then that which these Dreamers have foolishly imagined Thirdly The words therefore of the Angel may well be conceived to have reference to the Prophecy of Isaiah unto which he seems to have respect in the 31. Verse of this first of S. Luke the words of the Prophet are these Es 7.14 Mat. 1.23 Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bare a Son and shall call his name Immanuel which Immanual is being interpreted God with us Implying he shall be called both the Son of God and the Son of man and though the Angel makes mention only of the first of these Denominations V. 35. yet it is not to be taken exclusively of the other for he said before V. 31. Thou shalt call his name Jesus whereby he meaneth that he should be called also the Son of man In a word the Particle Therefore Luke 1.35 wherein the stress of this Objection lieth is not to be referred to the conception of Christ by the Holy Ghost as the cause of his Sonship but to the Prophecy that went before both of the Mother and the Son wherein they were both concern'd viz. That that should be fulfilled Fourthly Whereas it is said He shall be called the Son of God it is to be understood after the manner of the Hebrews Pro vere manifestabitur He shall be truly manifested and declared to be the Son of God as where it is said He shall be called Immanuel it is not meant He shall be called by that name but declared to be such as that name imports and acknowledged to be so among his people so by these words He shall be called the Son of God is meant he should be acknowledged to be the Son of God when he was born into the World not implying a Beginning of what he was not but that then he should begin to be manifested and acknowledged what he was Or else lastly He which was ever the Son of God in respect of his Godhead should now be called the Son of God existing in the Manhood or God manifested in the flesh as the Apostle phraseth it 1 Tim. 3.16 1 Tim. 3.16 Object 3 Thirdly They harp much upon that place of the Apostle Col. 1.15 where Christ is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first born or first begotten of every creature Whence they will infer that he must needs be a Creature for as the first begotten say they amongst brethren is to be reckoned one of their number and of the same nature with them so the first begotten of every creature must also be connatural with the creatures and therefore cannot be begotten from Eternity but is a creature having a temporal beginning of existency even as they Thus do these Christomacho fighters against Christ shew their teeth though they cannot bite and shoot out their bolt wherewith they let fly nothing but their own folly But let them if they will Marcion enjoy their priviledge to be of his brotherhood who deservedly was called Primogenitus Diaboli the first begotten of the Devil In the mean time that their folly may be made manifest unto all men as his also was and that all who love the Lord Jesus Christ may have their faith confirmed and their affections enlarged towards him let these following answers be taken into consideration Answ First It would be observed that Christ is not called here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The first Created as it should indeed be rendred if their sense should pass for currant but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The first begotten of every creature which signifieth that he was begotten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Before all the Creation as appeareth by what is presently added by the Apostle V. 16. For by him were all things created which clearly distinguisheth him from those things that are made giving him also the priority before all things V. 17. which must conclude his Generation to be Eternal Secondly If the Apostle must be taken in such a sense as that his words here should make Christ and the Creature Correlatives each to other it will not necessarily follow that he from his original was a creature too And now to make it clear that the Apostles meaning is of a higher aim and strain I shall undertake with all due reverence and sobriety to speak of this great Mystery according as God hath dealt to me the measure of faith and the Lord give us a right understanding therein Saint Paul seems here to be raised up by the Holy Ghost into a spiritual rapture setting forth the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as I may say in all its Dimensions the height and length and bredth and depth thereof The height in that he is the uncreated everlasting Image of the invisible God for in that sense it must be taken in regard he
our poor Nature And thus have we done with the second part of my second Interpretation of the Text viz. That Jesus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only He in the great work of Preservation I shall only add a word or two of Apology in the closure hereof I confess this latter Corolary in the Branches of it may for the most part seem to have a more proper reference to the third Interpretation of the Text that followeth as being a Consequent that might arise upon the consideration of Christs Immutability towards his Church Nevertheless I conceive it doth not bear the guilt of an unpardonable Incongruity to insert it in this place However if it be misliked by any they may if they please in their thoughts transfer it and make use of it accordingly CHAP. III. How the Text is Applicable to Christ in the work of Restauration THe third Particular in this second Interpretation of the Text viz. With a reference unto the Creatures is this Jesus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the work of Restauration the same from first to last exercising the same Wisdom Goodness Power as in the Creation and Preservation Rev. 21.5 6. so in the Restauration of the World for he shall restore all things That which the first Adam had and lost by sin shall be restored again by the second Adam Jesus Christ because he is immutably the same not to be diverted from his course either by Sin or Satan The Apostle S. Peter Act. 3. tells us of times of refreshing Act. 3.19.21 and of restitution of all things which shall be at the last yea and not only he but as he saith God hath spoken it by the mouth of all his Prophets since the world began As much as to say God is very constant in the Asseveration of this Doctrine and if God hath spoken it and spoken it so unmovably without Retractation first by his Prophets his holy Prophets yea all his holy Prophets since the World began and again asserted ratified it by his Apostles what ever men do deem of it it will be found to be a Truth built upon a sure Foundation and therefore we are not to be shy in the profession thereof That well known place of the Apostle Rom. 8.21 Rom. 8.21 runneth with a full strength in a tendency hereunto The Creature saith he shall be delivered from the bondage of Corruption into the glorious liberty of the Children of God That is as our Reverend Bishop Reynolds renders the sense Upon the Creatures shall be conferred a Glory which shall be in the proportion of their Natures a sutable Advancement unto them as the glory of the Children shall be unto them And of this Advancement the Apostle in the same place saith The Creature is in hope and expectation which hope and expectation Christ will not suffer to be frustrated he being the beginning of the Creation of God and therefore co nomine in point of his own honour so engaged unto it as not to sleight the fervent desire thereof in any thing that may really tend to its well-being But before we proceed any further it will not be out of our way a little to take into consideration according to our poor measure that obscure and intricate Scripture in its whole latitude that we may see from thence what just cause we have to extoll and magnifie the Lord Jesus Christ in this as well as in any thing else that hath been spoken in order to the Creatures The words are these For the earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God for the Creature was made subject to vanity Rom. 8.19 not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope 20 because the Creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption 21 into the glorious liberty of the children of God 22. for we know that the whole Creation groaneth and travelleth in pain together untill now Four things are especially to be taken notice of in these words upon the discussion whereof we may through Grace come to discern somewhat of the Minde of the Spirit of God therein And they are these First The Creature is subject unto Vanity and under the bondage of Corruption Secondly The Creature waiteth and groaneth to be delivered from this Vanity and Bondage Thirdly The time of its Deliverance is when the Sons of God are manifested Fourthly The manner of the Deliverance It shall be into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God First The Creature is subject to Vanity c. The Creature What 's that Much Controversie there is amongst Writers who this Creature should be But it is not my purpose to enter into the many tortuous and oblique Maeanders of that Debate as to tell you what some conceive of the Angels in order hereunto Nor what others say of men indefinitely Others of the Godly only Others of the Gentile World in opposition to the Jews Dr. Hammond c. For in so doing I should but lead you into doubtful Disputations which the Holy Ghost forbiddeth Rom. 14.1 and perplex the present Doctrine with more difficulty and obscurity Better it is to lay down the sense plainly which I humbly conceive and that is this By the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here rendred Creature and afterwards V. 22. translated the Creation is to be understood Mundi Machina the whole Frame Engine and Fabrick of the World consisting both of Celestial and Elementary Regions not troubling our selves with any inquiry after those Creatures that have their Being in this Elementary part Whether they shall be interessed in that glorious Deliverance that is to come or no though they be subject unto Vanity and under the bondage of Corruption as the place of their Habitation is And this I believe will be the sasest way for us to take in this Difficulty wherein also we shall not leave the Apostle who is our Guide and Conduct in this Labyrinth but have his concurrency with us This Creature saith the Apostle is subject unto Vanity under the Bondage of Corruption This Creature so beautiful so excellent as hath been before described in the forming whereof the Omnipotent God hath shewn forth his Wisdom Power Goodness is now strugling under a miserable Thraldom and that which aggravates the Misery is that i◠should be brought into this woful plight by one who was taken out of its own Bowels and advanced to the Rule and Dominion over all the rest of her Off-spring round about him whose folly as it began this mischief so it is still laying on more and more load insomuch that unless the great and wise Creatour interpose his powerful Arm by removing this Tyrant or altering his Nature that Work whereby he sought for ever to Glorifie will in time come to nothing But let us more particularly observe the great Misery that this poor Creature is
Church of Rome If then that Cause so much pleaded for had such ill Consequents attending upon it may we not well say Sublatâ Causâ tollitur Effectus When the Cause is taken away the Effect will follow At least as I said before there is great hope it shall follow especially now when God hath in Mercy set over us a Man of Understanding and Knowledge Pro. 28.2 to lengthen out the State and Tranquillity of our Countrey when for the Transgressions of it it was by the Intrusion of Usurpers neer unto utter ruine A Man I say after his own heart Tutour'd and Bred up by him like David in the school of affliction Whose Heart is also fixed upon God to serve him in Righteousness and true Holiness A Prince so pious that he makes it his work and accounts it his glory to have true Religion established amongst his people in the Power and Purity of it See his Majesties Proclamation May 30. 1660. Witness his extreme dislike of Profaness which he hasted to publish the very next day after his happy Return unto us Commanding it to be read in all Churches monethly for six moneths after But well worthy indeed to be set up in them as a perpetual Monument of Piety to all Generations Wherein he declares the Purpose and Resolution of his Religious Heart in these words We will not exercise just Severity against any Malefactours sooner then against men of Dissolute Debauched and Prophane lives with what parts soever they may be otherwise qualified and endowed Requiring all Majors Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace to be very vigilant and strict in the Discovery and Prosecution of all Dissolute and Profane Persons such as blaspheme the Name of God by profane swearing and cursing or revile and disturb Ministers and despise the publick worship of God Witness also the Declaration which his Majesty set forth Octob. 25 immediately following concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs wherein he hath made known to God and the world That his Resolution is and shall be to promote the Power of Godliness to encourage the Exercises of Religion both publick and private and to take care that the Lords Day be applied to Holy Exercises without unnecessary divertisements and that Insufficient Negligent and Scandalous Ministers be not permitted in the Church Which being so What is it but a profane slander of the footsteps of Gods Anointed both of Christ himself and his Vicegerent over us to amuse the world with false reports of a return to profaness as if the Times were now become so loose that Wickedness should be established by a Law Whereas there was never more likelihood then now if the Devil through the turbulent spirits of factious Schismaticks did not hinder it for Religion to prosper and Holiness to flourish Away then with Profaness and let Superstition pack together with it for what entertainment is it like here to finde When King Charls the Sufferer L. Bishop of Winton the sonne of King Charls the Martyr as a Reverend Father of our Church hath worthily proclaimed him is new by the Divine Power and Goodness settled upon his Throne to be the Defender of that Faith for which he suffered That Faith I say which the Church of England professeth in opposition to the Church of Rome From which as it was observed by that Loyal and Peace-making Parliament that first so happily brought the Nation under his Majesties Government neither the Temptation of Allurements Perswasions and Promises from seducing Papists on the one hand nor the Persecution and hard Vsage from some seduced and mis-guided Professours of the Protestant Religion on the other hand could at all prevail upon him to make him swerve in the least Degree But chose rather still to suffer Afflictions though never so grievous as Moses did then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season by so doing For which his Name shall be sweet and his Memorial precious in all the Churches of Christ to the end of the World I say then again Is it like that Superstition in any kinde should be Tolerated much less shall it be Established under the Government of so famous a Sufferer for the Protestant Profession yea and so active a Defender of it who hath made it manifest that his Care and Study is for the propagation thereof And who hath solemnly professed that nothing shall be proposed to testifie his Zeal and Affection for it to which he will not readily consent It will be objected What do we hear Words when we see Deeds Is there not an Actual return to Superstition in this Land now when the Ceremonies which were cast out are brought in again and the Liturgie restored And what are these but either the Issues of Will-worship which the Holy Scripture doth condemn or the Bratts of Babylon which should be taken not to be cherisht but to be dasht against the stones Besides Is not the Government also by Bishops set up again in its former Height which is not warranted by the word of God If we then should consent to these things How shall we like unto Jesus Christ our Pattern in the Text continue faithful with God in our Conformity to his Rule which he hath set us I answer First we may be still the same in a constant Adherency to the Foundation though we may as Divine Providence leads us whether it be in Judgment or in Mercy vary sometimes from that which is Circumstantial of which nature are those things that are here objected unto us and our fidelity to the former wil certainly entitle us to a faithful Imitation of Jesus Christ notwithstanding our change in the latter Nay is it not a great weakning of the Foundation and an injurious imputation put upon the Master-Builder to lay so much weight upon Circumstantials as to make them Unchangeable when they are not of his particular appointment though allowed by him to be annexed to his Building It is Superstition doubtless so to set up External Rites in competition with the Everlasting Rule of the Gospel as if they were not upon any Emergency whatsoever to be altered or removed And it is as ranck Superstition on the other side after they have been removed and restored again Superstitio ex super stando qua significatur nimium ese Sen. Epist 123. pertinaciously to stand in opposition against them especially when Experience hath made it manifest that the removal of them hath introduced much disorder and profaness in the service of God But we may appeal unto Christ himself to Judge in this Case Whether or no when a Christian Magistrate that truly feareth God taking notice of a great decay of Religion which by a wild and lawless Liberty hath been brought amongst his Subjects shall for the improvement of Piety recommend unto them a Form of Divine Service accompanied with such Rites and Ceremonies as are in force by Law and in the observing whereof True Religion hath formerly flourished Whether I say
God Num. 16.10 shall suddenly bring certain ruine upon them as the like sin did on Korah and his Complices therefore Away with it Lastly Away with that evil spirit of Rebellion against Regal Authority which eminently possessed that decemvirate of Traitours who have been justly executed for their Treason A Spirit that appeared like an Angel of Light but proved as black and ugly as any that came out of the bottomless pit A Spirit that hath brought such a stench and smoke with it that the Sun and the Aire of the Gospel is even darkned thereby Yea let all Ages be examined there shall never be found in any Nation such a black vaile drawn over the face of true Religion since it was established in the World as hath been by the treachery of those Persons that were fascinated with this Spirit When a Christian Prince as well deserving of the Church as ever any that sat upon a throne the most able Protectour of the Protestant Profession hath under a pretence of Religion been barbarously murdered by them and made a prey to their ambitious lusts and impious designes Yet these are the men whose example our objectours propose as a pattern of courage and constancy for their imitation If indeed to encourage themselves in an evil matter so as not to be terrified in the prosecution of it by the approaches of death and their appearance before the great God hath made them fit to be exemplary to those that undertake to be their Advocates let them be canonized for Saints whom the World not onely Christian but Heathen hath hitherto abhorred as bloud-thirsty and deceitful men But so long as the Word and Statute law of the most high God is in force and remains unretracted it is not their constancy in their treason to the death nor their smooth language how spiritual soever it seemed to be wherewith they left the World that shall come up in remembrance before God at the last day to their comfort if they died in the justification of that guilt for which they were condemned No unclean thing saith the Holy Ghost must enter into Heaven And amongst all pollutions that of bloud upon the conscience is in the sight of God most filthy True it is they neglected the body to use the Apostles word but what advantage will that be to them if they likewise neglected the soul History will tell us it is no newes to hear of a resolved obstination and obsirmation of mind in the suffering of death There was Attilius Regulus and Cato Vticensis and Anaxarchus and many more who for their Countreys sake or some such worldly respect Tunde tunde Anaxarchi fellem non enim tundis Anaxarchum have been very prodigal of their lives Some of them with admirable patience contented to endure most exquisite torments Of them we may say in the words of our Saviour they had their reward Their highest aime was to be reckoned good Patriots or men of valour and accordingly hath same fixt upon them a marke of renown to this very day But what reward shall be given unto these who cannot be reputed by any that are rational fit to triumph in their death upon any honest account in the least degree What I say shall be done unto such false tongues and false hearts and hands full of bloud We must leave the determination thereof to the righteous judge who will render to every man according to his doings We should not I confess have thus stept aside to make this rehearsal of the flagitious wickedness of such unworthy persons whose memory will be odious to all Generations had it not been necessary to undeceive others who are prone to applaud and justifie them because of their seeming fortitude at the time of their death In which regard neither will it be amiss to minister a little eye-salve to such poor deluded people that their eyes may be opened to see their folly and to convince them by some clear demonstrations of the falsehood of those men whom they so highly magnifie I called it a Seeming Fortitude which these Traitors shewed at their death and well I might For notwithstanding all the vainglorious flourishes of holiness and constant perseverance in their Cause reall it could not be Besides the failing of virtue in it which is essential to all true Fortitude and which the very Heathen have judged to be inseparable from it Plutarchus in vita Coriolani insomuch that they conceived there could be no Virtue without Fortitude nor no Fortitude without Virtue What constancy or Christian fortitude could be in them when after they perceived that the Law did take hold upon them to bring them to their condign punishment they would then all on a sudden pretend to an undantedness of spirit in their justification whereas some few dayes before while they were upon their Trial the greatest number of them did sue for mercy pretending a claim to his Majesties pardon which must needs carry with it an Implicite acknowledgment of guilt With what face could Axtell at his death make his boast of the Cause professing that if he had a thousand lives he could lay them all down for it when at his tryal as he said he had endeavoured to obtain the mercy and favour of his Majesty And that when some witnessed against him that he did beat the souldiers because they did not at his bidding cry out against the King for justice and execution he shifted it off thus saying That it was more probable because they did cry out for justice and execution he did therefore strike them using these words I 'll Justice you I 'll Execution ye And what constancy did appear in Cook the most zealous of them all when the words he uttered at his death contradicted his pleadings at his tryal for his life as the book set forth with too partial a respect unto him doth relate At his death he exprest himself in this manner I am satisfied that the Cause that is that which was maintained against the King is the most noble and glorious Cause that hath been agitated for God and Christ since the Apostolical times Such a Cause that the Martyrs would gladly come again to suffer for if they might And though too many object against me that of the Apostle 1 Pet. 4 15. Let none of you suffer as a murtherer yet I look upon it as a most noble and high act of Justice that our Story can parallel And so far as I had a hand in it never any one action in all my life comes to my minde with less regret or trouble of conscience then that doth Now compare this with what was sworn against him at his tryal and those excuses and evasions he then used to shift off his Charge One of the witnesses that appeared having been of his intimate acquaintance affirmed upon oath Mr. Natley That when he understood that the said Cock was employed as a Solicitour against the King he desired
should remain as a blot upon them to cause any more separation between their God and them and to bring in everlasting righteousness which will consummate the Vision and Prophecy that they may be a righteous Nation and holy People to the Lord above all others so long as the World endureth Hereupon I demand Have these things as yet been fulfilled upon this People Is their iniquity transgression and sin to speak of it first in a general sense finished or purged away Yea is it at all restrained Rather doth it not abound more and more If then these seventy sevens must be limited to so narrow a compass as they have usually been Where is the truth of this Prophecy Where It is in the Messiah say some who by his death hath done all this for them Most true But nevertheless it shall not be effectual unto them till they do believe and receive him for their Messiah For Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth saith Saint Paul Rom. 10.4 But withall the Apostle there addeth that which we finde in this people to this very day Rom. 10.16 They have not all obeyed the Gospel For as Esaias saith so may we Who among them hath believed our report concerning this Messiah which hath been carried to the end of the world Yea the same Prophet feareth not in plain terms to say I was found of them that sought me not I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me meaning the Gentiles but to Israel he saith All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain saying people This time therefore is not yet expired because their iniquity transgression and sin as yet remaineth Or if that single transgression in Jacob or his sonnes before-mentioned was finished having received a just recompense of reward at their deliverance out of Egypt and the multiplied rebellions since of the Jewish nation wherewith they in their several generations afterwards did provoke the Lord against them were sealed up at their return out of Babylon so as they should appear no more to their shame yet their iniquity in crucifying the Lord of glory is still marked before the Lord and therefore is their present captivity still continued But when these seventy sevens are ended God will surely be reconciled to them for that also It will be objected How doth this Interpretation agree with the words following where these seventy sevens are branched out into a tripartite division and made to expire at the furthest with the destruction of Jerusalem I answer Though mention be there also made of seventy sevens yet I conceive it will not necessarily follow that they must be the same with those before spoken of ver 24. but because the Prophet had in his prayer besought the Lord for the City Jerusalem as well as for the people therefore after that the Angel had made known the minde of the Lord in order to the whole Vision and Prophecie concerning the people he then goeth on to reveal unto him in the following part of the Chapter more particularly what shall befall the City within the compass of another seventy distinct from the former yet included in it wherein also should happen the greatest manifestation of Gods love unto his Israel For in that time the whole Prophecy relating to the Messiah who was to confirm the Covenant made with Abraham and who as the Angel saith did confirm it in one week of that seventy should be fulfilled In regard therefore that this latter is so expressly referred to the City both for the re-edifying and the destruction of it and the former as punctually referred to the people for those ends and purposes there specified as hath been proved it may well be presumed that they are not the same Yea the Angel himself seems to put the difference For when he speaks of the first seventy he calls upon the Prophet to understand the matter and to consider the vision that is the vision which was by the said term of years to be sealed And when he speaks of the latter seventy he again adviseth the Prophet to know and understand implying that he was about to reveal another secret unto him touching his City which would likewise require his best understanding as the other before did And now to conclude Let it be considered whether this sense that I have through the guidance I hope of Gods grace given of this Scripture doth not carry with it a sound of truth according to the minde of the Spirit of God in it which if it do Is it not clear that the posterity of Jacob called here by the Angel Daniel's people because God would not own them during the time of his desertion of them shall shortly be restored to the honour of their Primogeniture and become Gods people again according to the Covenant made with their fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob which Covenant he will not break because he is ' O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same yesterday to day and for ever Much more might be added in the vindication of this sense that I have here given but it is time now Manum de tabula to put an end to this matter in the handling whereof I have already been larger then at first I intended when I entred upon it yet meet it was that I should not onely give the meaning thereof according to my apprehension but to clear up the difficulties of it yea and to answer those objections that might be raised against it I confess there is a singularity that I may possibly be charged with yet I hope I may be excused therein For first in such dark and dubious offertures of the minde of God as this is no man is or ought to be bound up by the sense of another but a latitude may be taken in rendring the construction of them provided that the common Boundaries which the spirit of Truth hath set unto us in this case be not transgressed Secondly I have here with all due modesty declared my opinion after the form of an Hypothesis and by way of Conjecture with submission also to the Church of Christ wherein I do but as becometh a dutiful sonne of the Church Onely let not my humble manner of proposing my judgement create a prejudice in the hearts of any persons to make them to think the more sleightly of what I have here written If it be but a bare conjecture that I have here offered it is but as all other Interpretations have been that hitherto are given of this Scripture Neither indeed was it possible as I have before said that any Expositor could go beyond a conjecture in their Interpretation of it For the variety of their Epoche's do plainly argue much uncertainty in their computations And whereas they generally agree upon one root of time in order to their accounts viz. The going forth of the Commandment though when that should be they cannot precisely
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