Secondly That no humane prescribed or precomposed Forms are to be used in Gospel-Prayer or Singing appears from the Ministration and Conveyance of the Spirit and Power by the Gospel First The Gospel conveys the Spirit as Paul saith Who also hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life or quickneth Here the Law is called the Letter and the Gospel Spirit not because the Law was not spiritual and the Gospel was not transcribed in the Letter but 1st Because the Law required perfect Obedience to the Letter on Pain of Eternal Death and the Gospel sincere Obedience through the Spirit 2dly Because the Legal Worship was more formal in the Letter than the Gospel-Ministration which is in Spirit For we are the Circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and have no Confidence in the Flesh viz. in the formal and carnal Ordinances of the Law and much less in the humane precomposed forms of Men. 3dly Because the Law did not minister nor convey the Spirit to us it commanded in the Letter but gave no spiritual Power to perform Obedience to it which the Gospel did by giving the Spirit with the Word Therefore the Apostle calls the Gospel the Law of the Spirit of Life Rom. 8.2 And it is not through the Works of the Law that we receive the Spirit nor minister the Spirit but through the hearing of Faith Gal. 3.2 5 14. And this agrees with that great Commission which Christ himself gave to his Disciples Go ye therefore and teach all Nations Lo Math. 28.19 20. I am with you always even to the End of the World Not only by his outward Providence which is over others as well as they but by his Spirit which shall abide with us for ever John 14.16 And the Prophet saith As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my Words which I have put in thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seeds Seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever Here the Word and the Holy Spirit are conveyed throughout all Generations to the end of the World by the Covenant or Gospel of Jesus Christ And as none can say that the Words which the Lord had put in his Mouth were a humane prescribed form but as Christ himself saith John 6.63 The Words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life So the same Words proceeding from us by the same Spirit are Spirit in opposition to humane and legal forms which reject and deny the sufficient successive Gifts of the Spirit So that it is clearly manifest that the sufficient Gifts of the Holy Spirit do still remain and shall remain for the Service and Worship of God to the end of the World Secondly The Gospel doth minister and convey Power For where the Spirit is there will be Power The Apostle saith Ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage viz. of the Law again to fear Rom. 8.15 16. but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit gave a sufficient Power not only to the Apostles as such or to the Saints in Rome as partaking of the extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Spirit in that present Day but Gal. 4.6 Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father Here is the Reason of their Power because ye are Sons therefore all that are Sons according to the measure of the Spirit of Adoption which beareth Witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God have Power to pray to God as to their Father 2 Tim. 1.7 For God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear but of Power and of Love and of a sound Mind 1 Cor. 4.19 20. And the Kingdom of God is not in Word but in Power There were some in the Church of Corinth that were puffed up in their Minds whose Speech the Apostle would not know or regard but the Power of Religion was that which he looked for and did expect to find amongst them because the Kingdom of God viz. his Gospel-Church is not in Word but in Power A humane prescribed Form is no Power and therefore is none of this Gospel-Kingdom Jude 19. These are they that separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit And the Apostle Paul prophesied of such a professing People that should arise in the last Days Having a form of Godliness 2 Tim. 3.5 but denying the Power thereof and from such we must turn away They had an outward Form of Godliness but not the inward Power contrary to true Godliness which hath its Form from the inward Power and Workings of the Holy Spirit with the Word Now it is no Wonder that this formal People deny the Power of Godliness for an invented Form and the Power are Opposites and are inconsistent with each other for if there be a spiritual Power it refuses and denies the invented Form for then there is no need of a prescribed nor pre-composed humane Form and if we use such a Form we deny the Power and reject the sufficient successive Gifts of the Holy Spirit by relying on that Form And so the Apostle argues that as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do these resist the Truth 2 Tim. 3.8 Men of corrupt Minds Reprobate concerning the Faith Thirdly Seeing that those Persons with whom I am chiefly concerned do not only oppose deny and refuse the Use of a humane prescribed and precomposed Form of Prayer but also of that Prayer which our Lord taught his Disciples of which they rightly say that it was but an Epitome of all Prayer and was never intended to confine Prayer to the Compass and Form of those Words For we find that none of those many Prayers in the New Testament were so limited but according to the State and Circumstances of Persons and things they made Supplication by the Holy Spirit and so must Singing also be left to the Liberty of the Holy Spirit of God And one might think that I need not use farther Arguments for their own Practice confutes their Error in Singing prescribed Forms and testifies the Truth I am pleading for for what Reason can be given for Forms of Singing when they deny all Forms of Prayer and how can they reject a Form of Prayer or the Form of Prayer which Christ hath left us in the New Testament while they maintain the use of a humane Form of Singing which is no where found in the Holy Scriptures IV. Of Womens Singing That Women ought neither to teach nor pray vocally in the Church of Christ is generally believed by all Orthodox Christians and is asserted from 1 Cor. 14.34 35. Let your Women keep silence in the Churches for it
Christ under her Troubles and Persecutions in the Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Christ Rev. 1.9 For all that will live godly in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3.12 shall suffer Persecution And we must thrô much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Seeing therefore it is given to us not only to believe on Christ but also to suffer for his Sake Phil. 1.29 and that God has appointed his Church her Days of Mourning and that thrô her falling away from her primitive Love and Zeal she has lost much of those blessed Gifts of the Holy Spirit she then had Let us not deceive our selves and think to recover the Gift of Singing with our carnal Spirits Isa 22.12 13. in an improper and contrary Season Israel-like when we should mourn for the great Apostacy Pride Covetousness and Carnality of Spirit which is found in the Church of Christ and fast and pray for the Pardon of Sins Isa 32.15 the full Deliverance of the Captive Daughter of Sion and the Return of the Holy Spirit that the Wilderness may become a fruitful Field And therefore as our Sins deprive us and as God hath not allotted to us a Heaven of continual Joy and constant Singing in this present evil World so the different Graces of his Holy Spirit and Duties required of us are suited to the different Circumstances of our Lives which are mostly filled with Troubles Sins and Temptations And though particular Saints may and oft-times do rejoice and glory in Tribulations when the Spirit of Glory rests upon them and raises their Hearts above their Troubles yet this is but now and then at certain Times through a sight of Faith when God is sealing his Love upon their Spirits to incourage their Souls to persevere Otherwise if it were constant Troubles would be no more Troubles nor Afflictions no more Afflictions or if their Joys were greater and more constant than their Sorrows it could not so properly be called a Sackcloth mournful afflicted State for either of them which is most constant and in which we have the greatest Share and Exercise of our Lives deservedly beareth the Name And therefore if particular Souls or the Church of Christ in general be in a State of Trouble and Affliction they are so far uncapable of the constant Exercise of the Grace of Joy and consequently of constant spiritual Singing in the publick Worship of God as their Troubles and Sorrows must needs exceed their Joys and then the Graces and Duties suitable to that State should be in exercise as Long-suffering Patience Faith of Reliance Meekness Watching Praying c. which are more strongly injoined and oftner pressed on us in the New Testament for our constant Practice than Singing is and that because our Troubles and Sorrows are more constant than our spiritual Raptures So that from our Incapacity of maintaining a constant and sufficient Exercise of the Grace of Joy in our Souls through the Troubles Sins and Temptations of this World the Weakness of our Faith and want of the sufficient Gift of the Holy Spirit we are not now able to sing with the Spirit and with the Understanding also in the constant and publick Worship of God and to press it beyond our Understanding proportion of Faith and measure of the gracious Gift of the Holy Spirit when other Graces should be in exercise is a Sin 2. Every true Christian nor the Church of Christ in general is not capable to sing Praises to the Lord in his publick and constant Worship because the greatest number of Christians as it is believed especially in our Day have not attained to a sufficient Faith of Assurance of the Love of God in Christ Jesus unto their Souls Rom 5.1 to 5. which made the Apostles to rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory but have their doubtings between Hope and Fear of what shall become of them to all Eternity 1 Pet. 1.8 And therefore while they are in the new Birth or Babes in Christ and have not met with the witnessing Power Rom. 8.15 or perswasive Influence of the Holy Spirit with their Spirits that they are the Children of God they cannot sing his Praise for their Redemption for if they are not sufficiently assured of it by Faith they cannot so rejoice in it And we should not think that God requireth more of his Church and People than he hath given Ability and Qualifications to perform Tenth Objection Formal Prayer and Singing were used under the Law and therefore why not formal Prayer and Singing under the Gospel Answer As the visible and successive Ministers of the Worship and Service of God under the Law were not called as spiritual converted regenerated Believers but were an Election out of the natural and carnal Seed of Abraham in their Generations by Succession unto the Ministerial Office so the Body of the Old-Testament-Church were not called into that visible Church-State as spiritual regenerated Believers but as the natural and carnal Seed of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. And therefore as that People were carnally and nationally imbodied into a visible Church-state so their instituted Worship was formal literal ceremonial carnal and typical suitable to them and the Design of God to make them and their Church-State a Type Shadow and Figure of his calling a spiritual People into a more spiritual Church-State to serve him in more spiritual Ordinances in Spirit and in Truth And therefore since Christ is come in the Flesh and hath removed and abolished the Mosaical and Levitical Church-State Heb. 7.12 17 18. Chap. 9.8 to 11. the New-Testament-Writers have described Gospel-Things in opposition to them as Power to Form Rom. 2.20 29. 2 Cor. 3.11 Gal. 3.2 3. 2 Cor. 3.6 Rom. 7.6 Chap. 1.28 29. Phil. 3.3 Gal. 3.29 Chap. 4.21 c. 29 to the End Heb. 10.1 Chap. 9.1 11 23. Col. 2.17 as Spirit to Flesh as Spiritual to Literal and Carnal as spiritual Seed to fleshly or carnal Seed as Shadows to Bodies as Worldly to Heavenly as Types and Figures of good Things to come So that there is no legal instituted Worship as found in the publick Levitical Service and Circumstances that can be either proper or a sufficient Warrant for our Practice in Gospel-Times and therefore it is our Duty to look more directly into the Gospel-Institutions for Gospel-Worship than to confuse the Minds of weak Christians with Questions from the dark Shadows of the Law which tend to Bondage and have proved very mischievous to the Gospel-Church for which cause many whom God hath graciously enlightned in the Holy Scriptures have been forced to treat the more largely on Legal Ceremonies 2 Cor. 3.14 15 17. to remove the Vail of the Law which to this day too too much remains on the Minds of many Christians Eleventh Objection Prayer under the Gospel is an Ordinance of the same Nature as it was under the Law and therefore Singing under the Gospel
Clark's Annot. must be taken to denote a Thanksgiving or a Blessing of God with the extraordinary Gift of Melodious Singing 2ly In ver 26. it is said How is it then Brethren when ye come together every one of you hath a Psalm hath a Doctrine hath a Tongue hath a Revelation hath an Interpretation Let all things be done to edifying All had or doubtless might have had the Psalms of David to read and therefore as none can say but that to have the Doctrine and other Gifts of the holy Spirit were something more than to be able to read or make a bare recital of some part of the holy Scriptures So there is the same reason to conclude that the having a Psalm was something farther than to be able to read or sing them out of a Book and that as sometimes the Doctrine as well as the Tongue the Revelation and the Interpretation were the special Gifts of the Spirit so was the Psalm also 3ly Singing is a special Gift of the holy Spirit because it is annexed to the fillings of it as his Fruits and Effects Eph. 5.18 19. Be filled with the Spirit speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs which plainly shews it to be the Fruits of a more than ordinary Fulness and Gift of the holy Spirit Secondly That the Gifts of the holy Spirit were not given alike to every Member of the Church of Christ for publick Worship appears from 1 Cor. 12.4 6 8 9 10 11 12 28 29 30. Now there are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit And there are diversities of Operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all For to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledg by the same Spirit To another Faith by the same Spirit To another the Gifts of healing by the same Spirit To another the working of Miracles to another Prophesy to another decerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another Interpretations of Tongues But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every Man severally as he will c. and Rom. 12.4 6 7. So that the Gifts of the holy Spirit are severally divided and distributed as God is graciously pleased to bestow them for the benefit and edification of the Church and though the Gift of Singing is not expresly named yet it is included in the Word of Wisdom and Gift of Teaching which are comprehensive of all manner of Teaching as well in Singing as otherwise Having proved that such spiritual Singing as was used in the Primitive Apostolical Church was from a special Gift of the holy Spirit and that the Gifts of the Spirit were not alike distributed to the Members of the Gospel-Church for publick Worship From whence it follows that every Member or the whole Church as they have not the like spiritual Gifts so they are not capable of the like spiritual Singing I now come to answer the said Objection and to open those Scriptures that are brought to prove that Singing is commanded by Christ in the New Testament so as to bind us to the constant use of it in the Gospel-Church 1st Scripture that is brought to prove vocal Singing commanded for constant Worship is 1 Cor. 14.15 See more part 1. pag. 8. 26. I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with the Vnderstanding also How is it then Brethren when ye come together every one of you hath a Psalm hath a Doctrine hath a Tongue hath a Revelation hath an Interpretation Let all things be done to edifying 1st In verse 15. there is no positive Command but Paul's Example which we should follow according to the measure of the Gift of Christ which is not now attained by us for such vocal spiritual Singing 2dly Nor can verse 26. be taken for a positive Command to sing a Psalm seeing it is put by way of Question If they had a Psalm a Doctrine c. and that what Gift or Gifts of the Spirit every one of the ministring Brethren had the Command was that they should put them forth for the edifying of the Church Nor can this Text be a positive Command for singing a Psalm in the constant Worship of God any more than it is a Command for the constant Use of the other extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit together mentioned with the Psalm Neither is there any colour of Reason to think that the Psalm should be vocally sung by all the Church together any more than that the Doctrine and the Revelation and other Gifts of the Holy Spirit should be delivered or said vocally together or any of them otherwise than according to the general Rule in the following Verses 2dly Ephes 5.18 See more part 1. pag. 4 5 c. 19. From this Scripture I have shewed before that there is no warrant for vocal Singing but that speaking to your selves may be properly taken for inward speaking in the Heart and have cited Mr. Pool who renders it speaking in which the word to in this Text as we read it is there shewed to import But if it were granted as it is not that vocal Singing was here intended yet this Exhortation is no such positive Command as to make it binding for the constant Worship of God any farther than to such a Gift of the Spirit for this Exhortation respects our being filled with the Spirit and speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs are annexed as his Fruits and Effects and therefore the latter cannot be attained without the former so that we are under as strict a Command to be filled with the Spirit Col. 3.16 for the inriching of us with the Word of Christ to dwell in us in all Wisdom as we are to sing yea to be filled with the Spirit being primarily commanded as the efficient cause to Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs then to be filled with the Spirit should be primarily sought after and instead of runing into humane Forms of Worship to obtain the Spirit and the Increase of his Graces in our Souls we should seek more earnestly for the Spirit to raise up our Hearts above our ordinary frames to worship the Lord in the Beauties of Holiness Besides this Exhortation given to endeavour after the fillings and inrichings of the Word and Spirit warrants none either disorderly to improve his Gifts or to counterfeit their Attainment of them 3dly Col. 3.16 See more part 1. pag. 7. This Command or rather this Exhortation to teach and admonish one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs is given neither absolutely to require Impossibilities of us nor yet to break any other Command nor to interfere with the order and manner of God's Worship and therefore this Scripture intends no more than to stir up the Church of Coloss to the Attainment of this spiritual Gift of Singing 1 Cor. 12.31 Chap. 14.1 Phil. 3.11 as well as of other