Teachers among you who shall privily bring in damnable Heresies 2 Pet. 2.1 If any of you do err from the truth and one convert him let him know that he which converteth a sinner from the errour of his way shall save a soul from death 1 Pet. 5.19 20. If conversion from errour procures Salvation perseverance in errour must inevitably infer damnation Heresies are reckoned amongst those things which shut men out of the kingdom of Heaven All sins whatsoever spring from errour in the understanding This is expressed in the names which the Scripture gives to sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1.27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an aberration from the mark Sinners are stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unreasonable 2 Thess 3.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without understanding Tit. 3.3 Fools Act. 26.11 A deceived heart is represented as the root of all miscarriages Is 44.19 20. If the fruit be damnable it is no uncharitableness to think the root is so 4. The reason why a just Catalogue of errours damnable to all men cannot be made is because that errour may be damnable to one which is not so to another Obligations to believe spring out of those advantages which Men have to know the mind of God therefore all not enjoying the same advantages cannot lie under an equal obligation Tho' this makes it difficult to give the number of errours yet it is no impediment to the discretion of their quality Number and quality are different modes and fall under distinct perceptions That kind of Locusts which destroyed the fruits of Aegypt were easily distinguish'd from others of the same denomination and yet it was impossible to make a Catalogue of them 5. The fault may be known by the guilty if they please to look back after they have made that which they call a mature search and observe how often they have given their assent before there has been such a degree of clarity in the object as could with justice lay a claim to it Extrinsecal respects and not the merit of the Cause do usually prevail with Men to take up an Opinion and when they have espoused it the often repetition of that which at first they knew to be an uncertainty makes them at last to give credit to it in good earnest Tho' they were Lyars at the beginning yet in the end became believers The best way to discover the deception is to make a review and to consider the first motives which did introduce their credence They are usually some excentrical regards to the persons of some which are under the same perswasion The fallibility of such inducements will give us just reason to look back withdraw our assent and not to terminate it upon any thing for the future but that which doth manifest its truth by undeniable evidence 6. God hath not put us into a state of probability Truths of peremptory necessity are delivered to us in demonstrations If they be hid it is only to those whose eyes are blinded by the God of this World The light of the glorious Gospel is plain and conspicuous enough in it self If every thing must be esteemed probable only against which some luxuriant wits may devise objections the clearest propositions will not arrive at the honour of being accounted certain but must be contented to take their place amongst probabilities It is as easie for a sceptical fancy to raise scruples as for Travellers in dry weather to raise dust in the high way It is reported of Car. Vedel p. 27. Perronius when he had made an Oration before Henry the third of France to prove the existence of the Deity with the great applause of the Auditory he made a tender to speak as much on the contrary side There is nothing more visible to us than local motion and yet the certainty of it has not been exempt from being encountred with opposition Objections are like clouds not all of them obscure the Sun and render his light dubious but those only which lye in a direct line betwixt that Luminary and the visive faculty Many objections may be started on either side but if the splendour of the object be so efficacious as not to permit them to come in a direct line betwixt it and the perceptive faculty they ought not to make any abatement and degrade the object from a state of certainty to a state of probability 7. An erroneous Conscience is no more the true Vicegerent of God than the Pseudo-Smerdis was the Brother of Cambyses or Perkin Warbeck the Son of Edward the fourth An erroneous Conscience is but a Counterfeit and no more to be obeyed than those pretenders If nothing falls under condemnation which is done according to Conscience S. Paul before his conversion was as unblameable as he believed himself to be when he expressed the highest degree of enmity to the Church The Jews also by the same way of arguing will be discharged from all guilt who thought it an acceptable service to God to shed the blood of his Servants Joh. 16.3 Errour in the Conscience is to be resolved into the Will as the spring of it and therefore cannot sanctisie those bad effects which it doth naturally produce Conscience is nothing but the Judgment for the right information of which a sufficient provision is made We then err when we neglect to make use of this provision and acquiesce in sudden dictates grounded upon something which is extrinsecal to the Cause and do not persevere in our scrutiny till matters be brought to such a degree of perspicuity as duely qualifies them for assent I have now finished the first particular Our Light to direct us in the Worship of God is to be directed from the Holy Scripture I will proceed to the next 2. Our strength to perform what we are directed unto we must expect from the Holy Spirit His assistance is either General or Special General Where the Gospel is preached it is accompanied with a Divine Power whereby the hearers are put into a capacity of complying with the demands of it Upon this account it is stiled the Administration of the Spirit the Law of the Spirit of Life the Power of God unto Salvation And Christ is represented as waiting to see what improvement will be made of it Behold I stand at the door and knock And those who frustrate the Divine Call are said to resist the Holy Ghost And those who are obedient to be begotten again by the Word which is a work appropriated to the Spirit as the principal Agent Such persons have a power to know That there is a Supreme Being which governs the World to discern their own iniquity in breaking those Laws by which he governs to be filled with consternation upon the account of the eternal pains which the Gospel threatens to the disobedient to have some hope of Amnesty and forgiveness in consideration of the Evangelical Promises and under these dispositions to
IMPRIMATUR C. Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. Ã Sacris Julii 13. 1693. A TREATISE relating to the Worship of GOD Divided into SIX SECTIONS CONCERNING I. The Nature of Divine Worship II. The peculiar Object of Worship III. The True Worshippers of God IV. Assistance requisite to Worship V. The Place of Worship VI. The Solemn Time of Worship By John Templer D.D. LONDON Printed by R.N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1694. TO THE READER THE late Author of This Treatise having sufficiently recommended himself to the World when Living by his indefatigable Labours in his Priestly Function and by the Works he has already Printed there will need the less to be said in behalf of this Posthumous piece For whosoever had the happiness of being acquainted with the Author will presently be apt to think that nothing that is mean or unworthy of the Publick could proceed from a person of that True Worth and accomplish'd Learning one whose excellent knowledge in all Church-Controversies rendered him fit to write of any and the soundness of whose Judgment and the sincerity of whose Life were sufficient demonstrations to all that throughly knew him That he would Write of none but what were most useful to the producing in the Minds of others a true love to Virtue and a firm adherence to Truth And altho' his long continuance in the Countrey and constant residence at his Living where he had not such frequent opportunities of conversing with the Learned in his own Profession may give occasion to some to think that his Parts and Genius must slag proportionably and his Writings be tinctured with the rudeness of a Country Abode and by consequence render him the less able to please and gratifie the humours of this nice and critical Age yet I hope whoever will impartially consider and read over this small Treatise will be abundantly satisfied of the contrary As a proof of which I appeal to the Treatise it self where if the Judgment of Men of known Abilities may be trusted there is solid Learning shewn without any vain Ostentation of it Truth vindicated with a native Simplicity that becomes it and the Religious Duties of Christianity press'd with that Zeal and warmth that so adorned the first Professors of it and rendered the Author whilest living the Joy and Admiration of his whole Flock Nor had the Publication of it been thus long deferred it being composed long before the Author's death but that the native and uncommon kind of Modesty which gave a Lustre to all his Actions would not permit it in his Life time to see the light He tho' fraught with so much admirable Knowledge strength of Parts and solidity of Judgment in the opinion of all others yet always was so diffident of any thing of his own composure that nothing but the strict Command of his Superiours or the passionate importunity of his Friends could force him to appear in Print So great an esteem had he of the censures of other Men and so little and low Thoughts of his own Worth And altho ' this is not altogether so commendable where there is just reason to be satisfied with as well as conscious of a Man 's own true Merit in respect of others many on this account having deprived the World of many advantageous Books yet if it be a fault it is such an one as none but the best of Men have been or can be guilty of and for which likewise their deserts when made known have become the more illustrious Humility and Lowliness of Mind being Virtues of as great Excellency as they are rare and as apt to beget a due esteem of those that are endued with them as Pride and self conceit are to produce hatred and contempt But lest I should hinder the Reader by too long an Epistle from the pleasure and advantage he may reap from the Author himself or seem to allure his favour by a too tedious bespeaking of him I shall wholly submit this Treatise it having no other Patron to his unbyassed Judgment and hope tho' it had not the Author's last hand yet it may meet with so kind a reception as to conduce something to the spiritual welfare and happiness of Mankind And then I am sure it will answer to all the ends and purposes the Pious Author designed it and be so far the more probable to shew who its Composer was in that it will be always imployed in doing good THE CONTENTS SECT I. Concerning the Nature of Divine Worship THE Introduction from the importance of Divine Worship Mens proneness to mistake about it and the Devil's readiness to cherish this proneness pag. 1. The notion of Worship in geneneral p. 5 its Objects and Kinds p. 6. The acts of Divine Worship either mediate p. 7. or immediate p. 10 these either internal p. 11 or external p. 13 And these again either natural as Praying Praising Swearing Vowing ib. or instituted as Preaching Hearing Reading the Scriptures and receiving the Sacraments p. 17. The perpetuity of the Sacraments p. 20. Sacrifice no part of Divine Worship under the Gospel p. 22. SECT II. Concerning the Object of Divine Worship THE Introduction from the great and early mistakes of mankind about it and consequently the great circumspection we should use in our enquiries concerning it p. 29. To this purpose Five Propositions are laid down 1. Proposition There is a God who made the World This proved First from the World in general p. 35. Secondly from the particular parts of it as the Heavens p. 39. the Earth p. 41. the Body 44. the Soul of Man 47. They who say they still want sufficient evidence of this Truth should consider First there is as much evidence for it as for those things we doubt not of 54. Secondly as much as for the clearest axiom in Philosophy nay Thirdly in some respects more 55. And then Lastly the familiar dictates of our Vnderstanding will lead us to the acknowledgment of this truth 57. The Objection that there must be some pre-existent matter to frame the World out of answered ib. 2. Proposition In the Godhead are Three Persons For First when God is spoken of in Scripture sometimes the plural number is used 59. Secondly This Plurality is determined to Three in other places ib. Thirdly These three are not three manifestations only of God 60. Nor Fourthly three names only of the same God under divers inadequate conceptions ib. For Fifthly All things belonging to the nature of a person belong to each of them 61. And then Sixthly Such actions are attributed to each as belong to none but a person 62. The Spirit and Power and the Spirit and the effects or gifts of it are distinguished 64. 3. Proposition These Three Persons are One God For Vnity is essential to the Deity 64. And the Scriptures say they are One 65. as also that they have Vnity of Essence inasmuch as it attributes to each the Name
proportion to the other parts of it as one does to ten So that if a Man weighs two hundred pounds the Blood makes twenty of them Whereas in other Animals it is but as one to twenty For the distiling and straining of the Spirits out of this matter there is an elaboratory namely the Brain which in a Man is twice as much as in a Beast four times bigger in body As Men are designed for more action than brute Animals so the preparations conducing to that purpose are greater these Spirits commanded by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Soul into any part of the Body swell the Muscle and cause it to attract and pull the part which it is tied unto That the Soul may have a sensation of external objects their preparations are not inferior to those for motion and nutrition The Nerves which arise in the Brain are dispersed into all the parts of the Body So that no member can be touched by any object but the impression is presently conveyed into the Head Tho' there is great variety in the modification of the external Senses yet there is nothing superfluous I will instance only in the Eye It is lapped about with two coats to defend it against the injuries of the Air the outward is diaphanous in the forepart for the admission of the raies of light The inward has an aperture for the same reason which like a Curtain is moveable that the Pupilla may be greater or less according to the dimensions or distance of the object These Coats are filled with three Humours which refract the raies proceeding from the same point and make them to meet again at the bottom of the Eye which very much promotes distinct Vision The Crystalline Humor has on both sides the Processus Ciliares which serve as Tendons to alter the figure of it according as the object is nearer or farther off It will never enter into the belief of any intelligent Man that this provision for nutrition motion and sensation should be accidental and if any Wisdom be interested in the contrivance of it it must be our own or our Parents or the Wisdom of an invisible Being neither we or they know any thing of it and therefore there must be a Being in the World infinitely Wise which can be no other than what the true notion of a God imports As the Body so the Soul of Man evidently demonstrates the existence of a Deity the Powers of it are Two Understanding and Will These Two are so linked together that what conduceth to the perfection of the one never tends to the prejudice of the other The Will is no loser by any accomplishment of the Understanding nor the Understanding by any thing which is of sincere advantage to the Will If there be no God the contrary will be true For it is the perfection of the Understanding to know it truth being its proper object but the greatest damage to the Will No immorality will be disgusted when it comes to be informed that there is no Supreme Being to punish Vice and reward Virtue If the Understanding know it not this ignorance is a blemish to it but a true advantage to the Will there being nothing more efficacious to confine it within the bounds of Sobriety than this perswasion that there is a God The Principles as well as the Powers of the Soul give evidence in this matter As the false gods had their characters impressed upon the bodies of those who worshipped them So the True God has set his signatures upon the Soul there is a Law and a Conscience in every Man a Rule and a Judge a Law which points out the difference betwixt Just and Unjust Good and Evil Virtue and Vice This Rule is reduced in the Imperial Institutions to these Maximes Nothing must be done which is a violation of Piety Modesty Reputation We must not prejudice the estimation liberty and safety of others We must give to every one that which is his own These Axioms have the immediate effect of a Law which is to bind and take away our freedom to do that which is contrary Every Man is sensible that he is not at liberty to oppose the sence of these Propositions in his conversation In case he does if there be any remains of humane nature in him he finds himself under remorse and is really punished in the loss of that contentment which a sence of being employed in a good action is always accompanied with There cannot be a stricter obligation than this that a man must either do that which the propositions import or else lose his true felicity If this rule has the effect of a Law which is to bind it must have the essence and nature the operation is always a true indication of the nature of every thing and if the nature it must be made and impressed by some Sovereign Power The Legislative Power is never vested in an Inferior This Sovereign which made and impressed this Law must have a dominion over all mankind because all whether Princes or Peasants are sensible of their obligations in this particular Therefore there must be a Superior and invisible Power in the World which is that which we mean by the Deity As there is a Law in the Soul which argues the existence of God so likewise a Conscience This signifies the judgment of every Man imployed about his own actions as they bear a proportion or disproportion to the Divine Law Upon a discovery of guilt condemnation presently passeth and as great a consternation follows as that in a malefactor when he hears the sentence of death denounced against him Tho' in a time of prosperity when all things are quiet and serene the intellectual pulse may be very slow yet when a storm ariseth it is quickly awakened in the most exorbitant persons Every clap of Thunder is believed to be a messenger sent from Heaven to serve an Arrest upon them When they make the fairest appearance in the World they are like a Tragedy bound up in guilt leather without there is splendor within tumults and murder Their external Triumphs like the Drums of Tophet help only to drown the unwelcom reports of their uneasie Spirits These direful fears which haunt the Soul when it is no way obnoxious to the animadversions of humane justice evidently declare that there is an invisible power in the World which has impressed them and stands prepared to give it a taste of the most severe animadversions of his displeasure They cannot be imputed to melancholy because persons of all humours the most airy Tempers have been molested by them The Poet speaks of all in general But thinkst thou Curtman hoâ— in a vasâ—sse puteâ— c. they go free whose conscience make Whips that unheard their guilty Soul doth shake The Apostle asserts of the whole Community of the Gentiles Rom. 2. that their thoughts accuse them Neither are they the injections of politick Princes to keep their
Sphere of their activity We perceive not with any of our Senses and yet the effects produced by them will not suffer us to doubt of their reality 2. We have as much assurance of the Truth of this Proposition a Deity doth exist as we have of the clearest Axiom in Philosophy the ground of certainty is nothing but a necessary and evident connexion betwixt the Subject and Predicate But there is no Maxim whose Subject and Predicate are more closely united than the parts of this Proposition In the notion of a Deity necessary existence is included and in the notion of necessary existence the nature of a Deity God doth necessarily exist and that which necessarily exists can be no other but God The parts of the Enunciation are reciprocal which argues Truth in the highest Degree 3. This Proposition is not only equal to others but has the advantage in some respects If it be supposed that the existence of a Deity is possible it will from thence follow that it is actual For that is properly said to be possible when there is no repugnancy at all why it may not exist and if there be no repugnancy to hinder the existence of a Deity It is supposed that there is a cause in Being which is able to make it exist A passive power in any thing to be what it is not supposeth an active power which is able to make the mutation This active power cannot be lodged in the Deity it self considered only as possible No meer possible can be the subject of an active power If in any thing distinct it must be either an Inferior or Superior or that which is equal to the Deity An Inferior can produce nothing which is more excellent than it self There can be no Superior to that which is boundless in perfection If in an equal then there is something already in Being which is infinite in power which can be no other but God If it be supposed as impossible that a Deity should exist the same consequence will follow For if it be impossible then all Beings are naturally finite and limited and if so the number of them must be either infinite or finite An infinite number cannot be The parts of all number being essentially finite the product must be of the same nature If finite then it must have the common bounds a first and a last If a first that first must be of it self without any dependence in point of causality for Entity in order of Nature preceding Energy if the first Being was produced by an operation that action must slow from a pre-existent Being and if it be of it self it must be infinite Whatsoever is finite receives its bounds from some cause Entity considered as possible being limitable divers ways and indifferent to what species it is determined to there can be no account given why it should come forth into Act and exist rather under one species than another were there not some pre-determining Cause The thing it self cannot be this Cause for then it had a Being before it was finite nor any other distinct thing because the Being we speak of is supposed to be first This Truth is so vigorous that the depressing of it with this supposition makes it like the Palm to arise with the greater force Lastly If we do but consult the familiar dictates of our understandings they will not fail to lead us into the knowledge of this Truth They naturally suggest to us that something must be Eternal This Eternal must be either the present Systeme of the World or the Cause of it The first cannot be asserted as I have before demonstrated If the second this Cause must be either meer matter or else an immaterial and spiritual substance Matter it cannot be In its productions the deepest Wisdom is discovered which Matter is utterly uncapable of If an immaterial and intellectual substance then there is an eternal Spirit invested with supereminent Power and Wisdom which is the true notion of a God If it be objected that such a Spirit cannot be the efficient of the World because he had no matter to frame it out of and it is universally acknowledged that out of nothing nothing can be made I answer that this Maxim must be limited to a finite power A Being invested with that which is infinite must necessarily be able to create all things out of nothing If an imperfect Being is able out of nothing to make a new mode as we daily see in the cogitations of the Mind and in the motions of the Body Much more must that which is absolute in perfection be able to form a new substance He who eminently contains all things in himself cannot be denied a power to exert a transient action and by it to give some outward expression of what is in himself insensible and permanent effects It is more difficult to conceive how a thing should be eternal without any cause which all grant to be true than to apprehend how a finite Being may be produced out of nothing by an Infinite Power He who seriously ponders the evidence that is given for the existence of a Deity and yet continues in his infidelity has nothing to lay the blame upon but his own obstinacy or unwillingness to have any thing true which may be a curb to his enormous inclinations If he will not be perswaded that any thing is certain but that which is the object of his sense all testimonies whether divine or humane to him are made of no signification and no place will be left for Faith which is conversant about things not seen and rests satisfied with testimonies whose verity there is no just reason to suspect Every thing is not capable of the same degree of evidence but if it has so much as its nature requires common reason will condemn us if we believe it not Now I have finished the first Proposition There is a God who made the World 2. In the Godhead there are Three Persons That we may the better arrive at the knowledge of this great Mystery the following steps are to be taken 1. When God is spoken of in the Sacred Oracles sometimes the plural number is used Let us make man Gen. 1.26 Behold man is as one of us Gen. 3.23 Let us go down and confound their language Gen. 11.7 This is not done in imitation of the stile of Princes who to express their grandeur make use of this number If this mode of speaking had been occasioned by that custom it would have been constantly used at the giving of the Law when the Divine Majesty was displaied in the most awful circumstances and yet then we meet with the singular number Princes use it only in the first person We Constantine We Maximilian In the Bible it frequently occurs in the third and in such construction as is not to be parallell'd in any Record as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jos 24.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jer. 10.10 None speak of
a Prince in the plural number but himself In the holy Bible others speak of God in that number 2. The plurality intimated in these expressions is determined to Three in other places of Scripture There are three which bear record in heaven 1 Joh. 5.7 They are represented under the name of The Father the Son the Holy Ghost Mat. 28.19 This was not so clearly revealed in the Old Testament but reserved for a more mature state The Jews being under strong propensions to Idolatry this Doctrine was not then set in the fullest light that no occasion might be from thence taken to confirm them in their errour 3. These Three are not three manifestations only of God If they did import nothing more no reason can be given why the number should be thus confined Since the Creation there have been many signal Manifestations of the Deity far exceeding this number A manifestation supposeth some discovery of that which was secret before and by consequence must be made in time but the holy Scripture attributes Eternity to the Father the Son and the blessed Spirit 4. These Three are not three names only of the same God under divers inadequate conceptions For then when it is said that Christ was baptized the Holy Ghost descended a voice came from the Father the meaning would be that one name of God was baptized another descended in the form of a Dove a third uttered a voice than which nothing can be more incongruous Nay when a command is given to baptised in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost the sence will amount to no more than this go and baptise in the name of three Names This explication of the Trinity is not reconcileable with the scope of S. John when he asserts that there are three which bear record in heaven For the reason why he mentions three is to evidence that there is a sufficient number of witnesses to testifie that Jesus is the Christ Now if by the Three are meant only three names of the same person the Apostle fails of his end and is represented as guilty of a manifest collusion He does as if a man should undertake to prove Oratory an excellent Art by three witnesses and produce only the three names of the Orator Marcus Tullius Cicero 5. All things required to the constitution of a person belong to them A Person is an intelligent Being which has a peculiar subsistence This definition agrees to the Father the Son and Holy Spirit They have all Intelligence and Knowledge The Father is said to know the Son and the Son the Father The Holy Ghost is stiled a Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding They have peculiar subsistence The Father is without communication from another The Son is from the Father The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son His procession from the Father is asserted in express words John 15.26 From the Son supposed in the Mission of the Comforter in the same Verse For as the Father is sent of none because he is of himself the Son is sent of the Father because he is of the Father so the Spirit is represented as sent by the Father and the Son because he proceeds from both Now he who is begotten or proceeds must necessarily be distinct from him by whom he is begotten and from whom he proceeds and by consequence have a peculiar mode of subsistence The Father 's being in the Son and the Son in the Father doth not destroy this distinction God is in every man and every man in God In him we live and move and have our Being and yet the discrimination remains betwixt the divine and humane subsistence 6. Such Actions are attributed to these three as belong to none but a person It will be superfluous to instance in those which are ascribed to the Father and the Son All the doubt is about the Spirit and yet the Scripture is very clear in this particular He is said to know will 1 Cor. 2.10 11. 1 Cor. 12.11 Job 33.4 Psal 104.30 create preserve These actions are undoubted indications of a person Actions are attributed to things either properly or improperly Whensoever they are attributed to them in the first sence they are infallible Arguments of suppositality Actiones sunt suppositorum And it is apparent that when they are attributed to the Spirit it is not always in an improper and figurative sence He is said to make intercession Rom. 8. v. If this action be assigned to the Spirit improperly or tropically then it may be properly attributed to the Father who according to the Socinian notion useth the Spirit as a power or virtue to produce what he designs even as those operations which are ascribed to Charity in a tropical sence 1 Cor. 13. properly belong to the Man which is indued with it and makes use of it as a moral power or virtue But Intertercession betwixt the Father and us cannot with any congruity be said to be made by the Father himself The Father is one party and we the other Where there are two parties Intercession supposes the interposition of a third person All this makes it manifest why the Father Son and Holy Ghost are represented in Scripture as Three Persons The personality of the Father is mentioned Heb. 1.3 The Son is said to be his express Image which can import no less than that he is a person like unto his Father The Holy Spirit is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another Comforter like unto the Son He is set forth by the demonstrative Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an undoubted note of personality If in any humane Writing the matter of which was never drawn into controversie by the pride or prejudice of a Party such expressions as these should occur He shall teach you He shal bring all things to your remembrance He shall testifie of me He will reprove the World He will guide you into all Truth He shall glorifie me and that He who is to do all this proceeds from the Father and is sent by the Son We should account him a very absurd Interpreter that should say that the He so often repeated is not a person nor personally distinct from him by whom he is sent and from whom he proceeds All this is asserted in the Scripture of the Holy Ghost The Socinians willingly grant an eternal personality to the Father but deny it to the Son and the Spirit They say that the Son is a Person but not eternal that the Holy Ghost is neither a Person nor eternal but a Power and Virtue from God or an effect produced by that Power and yet the personality of the Son must be as early as his Filiation and his Filiation or Sonship is undoubtedly eternal The Prophet Micha saies His goings forth have been from old from everlasting c. 5. v. 2. The Spirit cannot always signifie Power or an effect produced by the Power The Spirit and Power are plainly distinguished
Jesus is said to return in the power of the Spirit Luk. 14. S. Paul prays that the Romans may abound in hope thro' the power of the Holy Ghost Rom. 15 14. Mighty signs and wonders are said to be done by the power of the Spirit of God If the Spirit in these places did signifie no more than a divine power the meaning would be that Christ returned the Romans abounded miracles were wrought thro' the power of a Power The Spirit is likewise evidently distinguished from effects or gifts The Apostle saies that There are diversity of gifts but the same Spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 To one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit v. 8. And that all these worketh this one and the same Spirit So that there can be nothing left in these Texts for the Spirit to signifie but a Person He being manifestly distinguished from the Divine Power and the gifts and products of that Power Now I have finished the second Proposition In the Godhead there are Three Persons 3. These Three are One God Unity is essential to the Deity Plurality proceeds from the fecundity and fruitfulness of Causes but God is of himself without dependence upon any Cause If there be more Gods there must be more Infinites in the same kind which implies a contradiction for one infinite Being contains all perfection not only as considered in the general notion but actually and therefore there is none for any other Deity to be invested with and possessed of in the same manner If there be more Gods they must be distinct one from another This distinction must arise from some diversity in Nature to attribute such diversity to the Divine Nature is to make a dishonourable reflection upon the simplicity of it The Father Son and Holy Ghost are this One God 1. The Scripture plainly asserts that they are one 1 John 5.7 Tho' these words are not found in some Copies yet they are extant in more than they are wanting in and in that which is dubious the decision is according to the suffrage of the major part If such an addition has been made to the Text it must be done before or after the two first General Councils If before it was either accidental or intentional Not Accidental thro' the inadvertency of the Scribe For tho' a Scribe may mistake and leave out letters and words yet it cannot be imagined that he should casually without any design add a whole sentence and not presently upon a review which may be justly presumed in a Writing of such importance discover and correct his errour Not Intentional no good reason can be given why any should industriously make such a spurious insertion before the controversie concerning the Deity of Christ and the Holy Ghost did commence Neither was the addition which is pretended made after the two first General Councils Because the words we speak of are found in those Copies which the Fathers who lived before those Councils made use of S. Cyprian asserts de Patre Filio c. Of the Father Son and Holy Ghost it is written and these Three are One. This gives us just reason to believe that the Copies in which these words are wanting fell into the hands of the Arrians and that a rasure was made by them 2. As the words of S. John assure us that The Father the Son and the Spirit are One so we are assured by other texts of Sacred Writ that this Unity is in the Divine Essence They have all one and the same infinite Nature This is evident by the attribution of the Name Properties and peculiar Operations of the most High God to them None doubt of this relation to the Father The matter is likewise clear concerning the Son and the Spirit Christ is called the mighty God Isa 9.6 God blessed for evermore Rom. 9.5 The true God 1 Joh. 5.20 The most high God Psal 58.17 56. The most High which the Israelites tempted and provoked in the wilderness is expresly called Christ 1 Cor. 10.9 The name of God is never attributed in the sacred Oracles with such emphatical Epithets to any finite Being They are intentionally inserted to signifie that Jesus is stiled God not upon the account of his Embassy from his Father or a deification in the state of Glory but his infinite Nature He who is made God and is not so essentially cannot be said to be the true mighty most High God blessed for evermore As the Name of God so the Properties of the Divine Nature are attributed to him Omniscience Joh. 21.17 Immutability Heb. 1.11 Omnipotence Rev. 1.8 Eternity He is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is which was which is to come v. 4. Eternity comprehends all differences of time Was he but a meer Creature such perfections could not reside in him A finite Being under the greatest Elevation has not a capacity large enough to entertain and receive such boundless excellencies The peculiar Operations of God are likewise attributed to him as Creation Joh. 1.2 Coloss 1.16 God is said to create all things by Jesus Christ Eph. 3.9 The Son did concur with the Father and the Spirit in this great Work as a co-ordinate cause The Nature of Creation will not admit the interposals of an instrument There being no matter to prepare a physical instrument has nothing to do in the case And Christ is represented as more than a Moral The infinite power whereby all things are made is often ascribed to him which is never done to a meer moral instrument such as the Apostles were in the production of Miracles Conservation is likewise ascribed to him He is said to uphold all things with the word of his power Heb. 1.3 It was usual for the Jews to express the Deity by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 power and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is here inserted to assure them that Christ sustains the World and prevents its relapse into its primitive Abyss by virtue of his Deity Lastly He is said to work Miracles He made the blind to see the lame to walk the dead to revive This he did not bring to pass by any mutuatitious power When he healed the multitude it is said Virtue went out of him Luk. 6.19 The power whereby he did it was not adventitious but innate When S. Peter wrought a miracle that Christ by whose power it was effected might not be deprived of the glory of it he names him as the principal cause His name thro' faith in his name hath made this man whole Act. 3.16 As the name properties and operations of the Divine Nature are attributed to the Son of God So likewise to the Holy Ghost The Spirit of the Lord 2 Sam. 23.2 is stiled the God of Israel Ananias who lied unto the Spirit Act. 5.3 is said to lie unto God v. 4. The body which is the Temple of the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 is stiled
the Temple of God 1 Cor. 3.16 He is Eternal Heb. 9.7 Omniscient 1 Cor. 2.10 Omnipresent Psal 139.7 The whole Creation is represented as the effect of his power The host of Heaven Psal 33.6 Man the principal Work of God upon the Earth Job 33.4 The Fish in the Sea Psal 104.3 are all of his formation Before there was any Wind Immeasusque Deus super aequora vasia meabat which is peculiar to the Firmament a work of the second day the Spirit of the Lord is said to move upon the Waters The Chaos by his incubation was digested into Order and brought to a state of Maturation Certainly God who composed the Scripture and declares in it that he will not give his Glory to another would never have assigned his name nature and peculiar operations to the Spirit had he not been of the same Essence with himself To assert that all this is attributed to the Spirit because God makes use of him as an instrument to effect his Work will not remove the difficulty For there is some work attributed to the Spirit to which no instrument can concur as Creation There are other operations in doing of which God cannot be said to use the Spirit according to the sentiments of the Socinians as to know and search his deep things For the Spirit in their apprehensions signifies a Divine Power and it is very incongruous to say that God knows and searches things by his Power This Truth concerning the Trinity in Unity hath been so fully discovered that all sorts of men have taken notice of it The Mind of the Christians before Constantine may be very well known by Athanasuis Orat. 1.121 Ad Serapio tom 1. p. 366. de Spi. Sanâ—â—o Apol. 2. who wanted no opportunity to be acquainted with their Writings He expresly asserts that there was nothing established by the Nicene Synod but what was agreeable to them S. Basil cites several Authorities of the first Centuries for the same purpose In those Writings which are come to our hands there are many evident expressions of this doctrin Justin Martyr speaking of the Father of righteousness saies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. him and the Son coming from him and the prophetick Spirit we receive and adore Athenagoras in vindication of the Christians whom the Heathens accounted Atheists saies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. who would not admire to hear them called Atheists who own God the Father God the Son God the Holy Ghost Clemens Alexandrinus ends his Paedagogus with very lively expressions of this Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. to the only Father Son c. with the Holy Ghost all in one c. There are Testimonies of the same importance in Tertullian Cyprian Lactantius All these with many others agree that there is but one God and that there are Three which participate of the Deity and that one of them is the fountain of the rest from whence it inevitably follows that they must be personally distinct The fountain and the streams are always different one from the other Indeed there are some things spoken in the explication of this Mystery which are liable to an ambiguous construction as is manifest in the discourse of Justin Martyr with the Jew Tâ—â—â—h and the Treatise of Tertullian against Praxeas This Truth being not then encountred with so direct an opposition as it was in the time of Arrius some degrees of caution in point of expression are wanting and too great a condescension made to the Sentiments of the Philosophers by blending their notions with the ineffable Mystery that it might gain a more ready entertainment among them Such prudential accommodations must not be construed in such a sence as to prejudice the Truth which in other places of the same Authors is clearly acknowledged The clear must not be expounded by that which is obscure but the obscure by that which is clear The Jews have not been without some knowledge of this Mystery Pugio fidei p. 397. Raimundus Martini says that he scarcely ever conferred with any of them who were in any estimation for Wisdom who would not grant that God was Trinus Vnus They have a Tradition that when the Benediction Num. 6.26 was pronounced by the Priest he used when he came to the word Jehova to lift three fingers higher than the rest to denote the Trinity It was their manner to call the Father Son Voisin in Pug. fidei p. 400. and Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subsistences and to assert the unity of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the infinite God Those words The Lord our God is one God are in Zohar applied to the Trinity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is interpreted the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added with a great letter in the Hebrew Text to denote their Unity The Hebrew Scholiast says that the repetition of the name of God three times Psal 50.1 2. is to denote the three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which created the World These are stiled inward persons It is observed that all the names of God have a plural termination Voisin p. 406. p. 400. except Jehova his essential name to import the plurality of Persons and unity of Essence It is a saying among the Cabalists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Father is God the Son is God the Holy Ghost is God Three in One and One in Three By the Abbreviature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Father and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son They say they are put together to express their Unity and that the three Letters do signifie the three Hypostases in one Essence Tho' this Doctrine is very much disguised in the Writings of the Heathens yet there is so much of it left unmask'd as it may be plainly discerned they were not totally strangers to it The chief God among the Persians was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 threefold with relation to this Sacred Mystery The first Hypostasis they called Oramasâ—les the second Mithras the third Arimanes Plato likewise mentions Three 〈◊〉 5. l. 1. l. 3. c. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These by Plotinus are represented as the three Hypostases which are Principles or first causes in the Universe When Thulis King of Aegypt went to the Oracle of Serapis to inquire Saidas in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who before him could do such exploits as he had done and who would be after him The Answer was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First God after him the Word and then the Spirit concurring with both Bâ—rnier's Mâ—moirs â—â—m 3. p. 130. The Indians own Three in the Deity known by the names of Brahma Bischen and Mehaâ—denâ— Dervis â—rsielebi a Mahometan acknowledged to a Christian who was disputing with him about Religion that at the commencement of all their Negotiations Epito
is usually more violent than that which ariseth from a diversity in Civil The pretence of a Sacred Institution communicates an edge to the Spirits of those who are concerned for them They are easily induced to believe That they are engaged in the quarrel of the Deity and that their zeal for them will render the Divine Power propitious to them This consideration pushes them forward and makes them as fierce as the Poet represents the Combites to be against the Tentyrites An old grudge to immortal hatred turn'd Juv. Sat. 15. Betwixt the Tentyrites and Combites burn'd A wound in those adjacent towns past cure Because that neither people could endure Their neighbours Deities or would have more Held to be Gods than they themselves adore Such heats are frequently attended with very direful consequences Rev. 8.5 They produce strong Convulsion-fits in the Community Thundrings Lightnings and an Earthquake are represented as proceeding from the Fire of the Altar The Fire which consumed the Senate-House in Constantinople began in the Church Socr. p. 727. Nothing can be safe when Men are inflamed with a zeal for their own private Sentiments They think every one is under an obligation to submit to them The want of power is the only thing which gives a temper to their deportment So soon as they are numerous and prevalent enough nothing will satisfie but a complete Conquest all must stoop to their perswasions They account it an evidence of weakness if they cannot and of irreligion if they will not settle that which they conceive to be best And they believe they are not secure in the enjoyment of their power except they suppress others and bend them into a compliance with them 6. If Contests arise in the same Church about external modes a ready way to compose them is to appeal to Primitive Order and give the preference to those who come nearest to it If we view it as it lies in the Holy Scriptures and those undoubted Records which are next in Antiquity we shall find it to be not pompous and theatrical but grave and comely not calculated for the gratification of the Sensitive but Intellectual part not apt to divert the Intention from the import of Worship and yet sufficient to secure it against the assaults of Rudeness and Contempt The Ministerial part was appropriated to Three Orders of Men Apostles Elders and Deacons persons sound in Doctrin Sober and unspotted in their Conversation Presbyters were ordained in every Church and City The solemn time for Sacred Conventions was the first of the week In the Assemblies The Men were uncovered the Women veiled The Minister began with Prayer This he directed to God with the most important expressions of Devotion without the help of such a Prompter as the Ethnick Priests use to have lest they might forget the names of any of their Gods which were very numerous After this were read the Writings of the Apostles and Prophets And because some things are hard to be understood and those which are easie ought not only to be entertained in the Head but the Heart in the next place followed Preaching with the most pathetical Exhortations to Practice When the Sermon was finished all did rise from their seat and joyn in Prayer After this succeeded the celebration of the Holy Communion in which the President poured forth Thanksgiving and Supplication with all his might the People expressing their concurrence by saying Amen All was concluded with a contribution for the relief of the Poor Besides these circumstances There were some Symbolical Rites in use namely The Love-Feasts the Holy Kiss As the laying of these aside in some time doth plainly express That the Church did not believe they were grounded upon a perpetual institution but taken up upon Prudential Considerations in a Conformity to the general rules of Scripture So the Practice of them in the purest Age when Christian Simplicity was in its greatest vigour doth manifestly teach us That we have no just grounds to condemn our own Church because she retains some Rites not burdensome in their number and as innocent in their meaning as They were 7. If by reason of paucity of records or any obscurity in those which are extant it cannot be agreed what was the Primitive Order The ready way to Peace before Authority has made any determination is for the several Members of the Church to make prudent Condescensions one to another so as none may be nourished in their errour nor any have any just reason of offence administred to them This was the condition of the Romans when S. Paul did address his Epistle to them Their contests were violent Authority had not yet interposed The Counsel of the Apostle has an entire aspect upon this purpose Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him who eateth not judge him who eateth One man esteemeth one day above another another man esteemeth every day alike Let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind Matters were not then ripe enough in that Church for a decision The converted Jews had not a full insight into the liberty which Christ purchased for them Therefore S. Paul doth not determine the case on either side but adviseth every member to a prudent demeanour and To follow the things which make for peace and things with which one may edisie another The Apostle suspending the exercise of his authority in these circumstances cannot be brought into an argument against all determinations about things which are adiaphorous for he in other Churches did decide this matter as appears by his Epistles to the Galatians and Colossians How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage ye observe days months times and years Gal. 4.9 10. Let no man therefore judge ye in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the New Moon or Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ Col. 2.16 17. Certainly if the Apostle had believed That all Churches are to enjoy a freedom equal to that in which he left the Romans he would not have been so positive as he is with these eminent Churches 8. If Condescensions cannot be procured and circumstances become such That Rulers believe it prudential to make a determination both weak and strong are bound to acquiesce in the decision Such a determination is within the Sphere of humane authority God has commanded all that is Good and interdicted all Evil. The only things which are left to be the immediate object of Sublunary Power are those which are neither They may become useful or not useful as circumstances happen but in their own nature they are neither good or evil If any apply themselves to the doing of them for the sake of some intrinsick bonity which they fansie to be in them and others stand at a distance from them upon the account of some
Titulars and Pensioners sent from that Court with many other devices P. 18 19 20. insomuch that a Romish Priest in his Letter to the Bishop of Ferns saies That the Council was neither Oecumenical nor Occidental nor free He who considers all this will be under no inclination to believe That the Council of Trent was inspired with any thing besides the infallible Spirit of Worldly Policy As for the People They can make no just plea to infallibility If the Head cannot justifie his plea much less the feet which are guided by and take their measures from him If the Head and Members together are the recipients of it for it is not agreed whether the Decrees of the Pope without a Council or the Decrees of a Council without the Pope or the Decrees of the Pope and Council without the acceptance of the whole body of the People be authentick Some say one thing some another Their Language is confounded that they may be hindred from building the aspiring tower of Infallibility it ought to be examined how this comes to be known Two things are alledged 1. There is a peremptory necessity for such a guide 2. The Church of Rome has all the evidence that can be reasonably desired that she is such a one 1. The necessity is not apparent It was necessary that the doctrin concerning Religion should be revealed by God the first Proponents of it infallibly guided by the influence of the Divine Spirit but there is no just reason why such persons should be continued in the Church to the end of the World The certainty of Religion may be secured without them We have an infallible rule to steer our course by The Books in which it is contained are conveyed to our hand with all the desirable assurance That they are not forged but really such as they pretend to be We have as much evidence for this as the nature of the thing is capable of The Tradition whereby they are delivered to us is so universal That could the like be produced for those points which are in controversie betwixt us and the Church of Rome we should not be backward in the entertainment of them We have far less evidence for many Writings as Plato's Tully's Caesar's which without any hesitancy we believe to be genuine These are conveyed unto us but by a very few hands in comparison but the Books of the Scripture being of general concernment were perused by all sorts and by this means have gain'd the most universal attestation Porphyry and Julian with other implacable enemies to the Christian Faith did acknowledge those books to be composed by those whose names they bear The Books being thus delivered when we come to consult the doctrine contained in them we find ingraven upon it peculiar characters of Divinity agreeable to the impressions of the Deity made upon the Souls of all men together with the broad Seal of Heaven annexed unto it many Miracles which God never gives to any a power to do for the confirming an errour In order to the gaining the true Sence and meaning of this doctrine we have great advantage from the clearness of the stile in all points of absolute necessity to Salvation Truths of this importance are set in a very clear light What is more manifest than the following particulars There is a God a peculiar Worship is due to him in the Deity are Three Persons The Second cloathed himself with our Nature that he might be in a capacity to transact the work of our Redemption Those that would have a title to the benefits of his Redemption must Believe Repent lead a holy Life An eternal reward will be given to those that do these things and an everlasting punishment inflicted upon those who neglect them A day is appointed when all must stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ These particulars with many others of a-like nature are written with the greatest perspicuity If any complain of obscurity it is in themselves and not in the object If men will devest themselves of their prejudices dissipate those mists which are cast before them they cannot remain long unacquainted with these Truths If any controversie arise we have visible Guides to advise with who are devoted to the study of the Sacred Oracles and solemnly set apart by a Divine appointment to this purpose even as in secular concerns there is not only a Law to walk by but Men wholly devoted to the search of the meaning of it who are able in difficult cases to assist us Tho' these Persons whether alone or congregated in a Synod are not infallible yet when they are duly improved sincerely Religious free from the Bias of an irrelative interest they give us a high degree of assurance That their thoughts are agreeable to Truth and just Reason if we cannot internally assent to keep our Faith to our selves and not to disturb the Peace of the Church by an imprudent publication We attribute to the Divine Spirit speaking in the holy Scripture supreme and infallible Conduct To the Governours of the Church Subordinate and Ministerial To private Men who are under their Government we dare not deny the judgment of discretion God requires of them a reasonable Service 〈…〉 a compliance as is in brute creatures who are entirely subject to the discretion of those who use them and can give no account of the action they are directed to He expects the concurrence of the Heart He has endued us with a freedom to determine our selves and requires that our election be made upon such evidence that in case our Rulers command us to do otherwise than we apprehend to be right we may be able to give a sober account of our dissatisfaction an answer to every one that asketh us a reason of the hope which is in us with meekness and fear We are obliged to prove all things try the Spirits whether they be of God This Exhortation is not directed only to Fathers and Governours in the Church but such as are stiled young men and children who are under their conduct This liberty in point of discretion doth not lessen and impair the certainty of Religion Those who use it have a rational power conferred upon them by the Supreme Being for the searching and finding out of Truth They have visible Guides to make their application to in order to the removing their scruples They have the enjoyment of the publick Ministry which by Heaven is designed as the ordinary means to convey information to them the promise of the divine Spirit which doth accompany it and will be assistant to them if they do not resist it but expose themselves to its operations a power to suspend their assent till the matter be clear and evident When the object is so and the faculty duly prepared by the use of such means as have been specified it will be unreasonable to assert That we may in such circumstances be imposed upon He to whom veracity
of the method of his operation with those to whom the Sacred Oracles are communicated but not so full a disclosure of it with others which are not admitted to a participation of that immunity That which is revealed is sufficient to demonstrate That God is not wanting to them and if they miscarry their destruction is chargeable only upon themselves It is manifest That they with all others are naturally so much under the power of that corruption which is contracted by the Fall That the Image of God is obliterated in them and they rendered unable to do any thing which is spiritually good The Second Adam has so far made a reparation That the light of Reason in some measure discovering their obligations to their Creator is impressed upon them He who is stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lighteth every Man that comes into the World That which may be known of God is manifest in them not so much upon the account of the remains of the Divine Image which they received in the state of innocency as a secondary discovery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for God hath manifested it unto them There is a spirit in every man enclosed with darkness and the effects of the Primitive Apostasie but the inspiration of the Lord giveth understanding When men had benighted themselves it was the pleasure of the Lord to light a candle for them Prov. 20.27 This light is not only received but a power to comport with the meaning of it For it is plain they receive so much from God that for their defect in the glorifying of them they are rendered inexcusable Rom. 1.20 If light had been imparted to discover their obligations and a power denied to satisfie them no fairer excuse could have been devised than this That the Divine Benignity since their Primitive Apostasie whereby they lost their Light and Power has been pleased to give them some Light again to see their duty but withhold a Power to discharge it To all this we may add That the fault is in themselves that they enjoy no fuller a manifestation and those assistances which accompany it By not improvement of that which they have they are deprived of a just claim to that which is greater The Sound of the Gospel which went to the uttermost parts of the Earth was drowned with the clamour of their exorbitances Divine Providence notwithstanding these provocations has placed the Candlestick at no such distance from them as renders them uncapable of receiving benefit by it They traffick with those in temporal concerns which are acquainted with it And if their affection to him who is the desire of all Nations was not thro' a voluntary defect grown very languid they may do the same in Spirituals Tho' we are not able to delineate the manner of God's giving his aid to all in the concerns of Religion Yet we have no inferiour degree of assurance in the general That all do receive such an assistance as renders them inexcusable if they do not perform what he requires To assert That he withholds such help makes a very dishonourable reflection upon him It casts a cloud upon the glorious constellation of his Attributes in particular upon his Goodness as tho' he was less kind under the Second Covenant than under the First His Justice as tho' he did condemn men for that which it was never in their power to prevent His Mercy in offering external means to those who have no power to make use of them It has a tendency to deface that idea which we naturally have of God in our Souls and beget in the room of it very enormous conceptions As tho' he did require the Lame to walk and yet not furnish them with such supports as are of peremptory necessity to that motion It leaves no matter for the Worm of Conscience to breed out of If the damned knew That a sufficient power while they were upon the Theatre of this World was not given to them to escape the Torment they are in how can they reflect with indignation upon their own folly for the mis-spending their time and the loss of their opportunity to gain a more easie state No man is inclined to make pensive reflections upon himself for the not bringing to pass impossibilities It renders exhortation useless Counsel supposeth a power in him to whom it is directed to comply with it None will exhort a person to see who has irrecoverably lost his visive faculty or one who is dead to move It enervates the nature of repentance Who will believe himself concerned to grieve for the omission of that which was never in his power to do or for the doing of that which he never had power to omit As God created Angels with a Will confirmed to that which is Good brute Creatures with a Faculty determined to their proper Objects So he has made Man in a middle state not secured as the supernal Spirits are nor determined as inferiour Animals He has endued him with a sufficient power which he may use or abuse improve or neglect This is evident in the first Adam who undoubtedly had a power to persevere in his innocency and in those who are converted by the grace of the second Adam whom all confess to have a power to do more good than they do He who worketh after the counsel of his will is pleased to make man after his image and leave him in the hands of his own counsel Ecclus. 15 14. His concourse with him he adapts to his constitution As the sinite Spirit which animates the body has its several Organs by which its operations are modified So likewise the infinite Spirit who by his omnipotent interposal sustains the Universe All the Creatures are his Organs some free some necessary Every one he useth according to its Nature Those which are necessary he concurrs necessarily with Those which are free he ordinarily accommodates himself to their freedom and by this means keeps up the order which he has established This assertion is not prejudicial to his prescience It is manifest that he knows what Evil Men will do although they determine themselves to the doing of it By a parity of reason he must know the Good altho' they use their own freedom in the doing of it Neither is it injurious to his Sovereignty He has the hearts of all Men in his own hand He can interpose his determining influence He can take away the power whereby he inables them to determine themselves All their determinations he can so order as to make them subservient to the design of his Providence Neither doth it destroy the immediate dependence of the Will upon him It is dependent in its Being for conservation in its acts for his prevenient grace and simultaneous concourse Tho' God is the cause of every Being yet not of all the modes of a free Agent as is evident in the evil of sin which is such a mode and yet brought to pass without his efficiency
aliud in Decalogo praecipi nisi ut unam diem è septem à labore feriemur quod plerique Theologi morale immutabile esse agnoscunt quis verò sit septimus ille non designari c. It is to be observed that nothing else is commanded in the Decalogue except that we abstain from labour and keep holy one day of seven which many Divines confess to be moral and immutable but which of the days that Seventh is it is not expressed Against this interpretation it is objected Epilogue That then it follows That the Jews were not tyed by the Fourth Command to keep their Sabbath or if they were common sence cannot understand how Christians by the same Command should be tied to keep the First of the Week To which I reply That supposing the sence to be true which is given there is no difficulty in conceiving how all this may be done The Command requires One day of every Week to be observed as the Lord shall appoint He appointed by another Law Saturday to be that One day during the Jewish Oeconomy and when a period was put to that constitution he did substitute the First of the Week in the room of it Common sence can do no otherwise than conceive That the Last of the Week during the Law must be obligatory to the Jews by virtue of the Fourth Command it being one of seven of God's appointment and likewise the First of the Week to Christians so soon as the Last was discharged and that appointed in the place of it There is no greater mystery in the apprehending of this than there is to understand how the Fifth Command which did oblige the Jews to honour Hezekias as thè Father of their Community should bind Christians to pay the same respects to Constantine the Great The Eighth Precept did forbid a Jew to invade the right of another what was his right the judicial Law did determine Tho' that Law is at an end and the rights of Christians setled by the Laws of the Country where they live yet the Eighth Commandment doth as much oblige them as it did formerly the Jews Now I pass to the Second branch of the Proposition The Sabbath of the Fourth Command One in Seven is perpetual and not to continue only during the Jewish Oeconomy This will be manifest if we consider it is part of the Decalogue which is intended to oblige in all ages 1. In the Old Testament it is plainly distinguished from those Laws which the time of Reformation has put a period to The Decalogue was published without a restriction to any particular place The ceremonial and Judicial Laws are confined to the Land of Canaan Deut. 10.14 Deut. 5.31 The Decalogue was given immediately by God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the mouth of power as the Talmudists speak he being accompanied upon the Mount with his Angelical retinne as witnesses to the promulgation The temporary Commandments were delivered by the ministration of Moses Abarb. fol. 209. Col. 2. The Decalogue was written upon Tables of stone to point out the durableness of it and delivered without any ceremonial solemnity The other Precepts were written by Moses in a Book which was sprinkled with the blood of Calves and Goats Exod. 24.8 Heb. 9.19 with Water Scarlet Wool and Hyssop When Moses went up into the Mount to receive the Two Tables on which the Decalogue was written he was attended with Joshua Exo. 24.13 When he received the other Precepts with Aaron and Nadab c. v. 1. to import that the Decalogue must be observed under the Gospel in times of Jesus as well as Moses The other Precepts only during the Priesthood of Aaron An Ark was prepared for the preserving of the Decalogue No such provision was made for the ceremonial Law The Ark where the Decalogue lay was separated for many years from the Tabernacle where all the ceremonial service was performed and never joyned again to that which was of Moses's erection but David made a new Tent for it at Jerusalem 2 Chron 3.4 and left the old in Gibeon to shew that when Moses's Tabernacle with all the ceremonial constitutions were laid aside and a more perfect Tabernacle erected by the Son of David the Ten Commandments would retain their force and vigour He who will seriously consider what is upon record in the Old Testament cannot but discern a very plain difference put betwixt the Ten Commandments and those Laws which were to be annulled in the time of the Gospel 2. In the New Testament We have many evident intimations That the Decalogue as delivered by Moses is to continue as a perpetual rule to Christians one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law Matt. 5. By the Law we must understand the Ten Commandments Such a Law is spoken of as is antecedent to the times of Christ and this must be the Law of Nature as published by the Light of Reason or the Law as delivered by Moses The first cannot be here designed For our Blessed Lord had that in his Eye which the Scribes and Pharisees had a zeal for They endeavoured to influence the Disciples with a perswasion That the intent of their Master was to destroy this Law v. 17.20 The Law which was the object of their fervour was nto the Law of Nature as it lies out of the Scripture but the Law of Moses This Law of Moses doth not import one single Precept but a System or Combination for that which is here called Law is stiled Commandments v. 19. There are but three Systems of Commands in the Pentateuch The Ceremonial The Judicial and the Decalogue The Two first cannot be understood for the Law here is such as none might break and teach Men so to do The words have an aspect upon the future time when the Kingdom of Heaven or the Gospel-state should be more fully set up which was not till the Pentecost when the Apostles were anointed by the Spirit and set upon their Thrones but at that time it was lawful to act contrary to the judicial and ceremonial Systeme and teach others so to do Therefore by the Law nothing is left to be understood but that Combination of Precepts stiled The Decalogue and that we may know it is That in every particular which is here established it is expressed That one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from it all shall continue in full vigour and power and that we may have further assurance That the Fourth Comandment which is usually reputed the least is in the number of the Precepts here ratified it is added Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments c. to intimate That not only the great such as are purely natural and discoverable without revelation but the lesser such as the Fourth Command is accounted to be are here included To the words of Christ we may add the words of the Proto-Martyr when he was about to
Seal the Faith of the Gospel with his blood He asserts That Moses received the lively Oracles to give unto us Act. 7.38 The lively Oracles are the Ten Commandments They are stiled Oracles because they were laid up in the place from whence God used to give forth his Oracles and lively in opposition to the dead Oracles of the Heathens which were observed to languish and fail about the time of the manifestation of Jesus Christ whereas the Ten Commandments were then in their full vigour These Precepts Stephen a sincere Convert to the Faith of Christ says Moses received That he might deliver them to us In this number he includes himself as standing in the relation of a Christian the whole Chapter being intended as an Apology for that profession Therefore the Decalogue concerns us not only by virtue of the matter of it but the Tradition and delivery by Moses To this are very consonant the words of S. Paul Honour thy Father and thy Mother which is the first Commandment with promise That it may be well with thee and thou mayst live long on the earth Eph. 6.2 3. This Promise is here mentioned with a design to quicken those who were Christians and no Israelites by birth to give a chearful obedience to the Fifth Command The Apostle endeavours That it may have this effect upon them by declaring their particular interest in it This is the first Commandment with promise as well to you Ephesians as those who are Jews If his meaning had been That this is the first Command which was given with promise to the Jews only therefore do you who are Ephesians conform to it the strength of the argument had been lost It is no good consequence That because length of days was promised to the Jews That therefore the Gentiles should enjoy the same priviledge Many temporal blessings were entailed upon that people which Christians can make no just claim to The Gospel is a more refined dispensation under the Law there was less of the Spirit and more of Temporal things While Christians are in the Sea of this world they cannot expect that the tide of external blessings should be as great as it was under the Judaical Oeconomy Now there is nothing in the whole Decalogue which in appearance is more appropriated to the Israelites than this Promise Those words That thy days may be long in the Land seem to have a particular aspect upon the land of Canaan and if that in the Decalogue which seems to be most appropriated is notwithstanding not so but common to Christians then that which seems to be less appropriated is likewise common to them and by consequence the whole Decalogue It is a known rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If that which has a greater appearance of being is not neither is that which has less Lastly The words of S. James are of the same importance For he that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill c. 2.11 These two Commands are perpetual and oblige all Christians The reason of their obligation is not taken from their intrinsick nature but the authority of him who published them in the time of Moses That that time and place is aimed at is evident from v. 8. Fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture that is The Scripture and Writings of Moses where the Law is laid down and the manner of its being spoken by God upon the Mount related This reason whereby these Two Commands become obligatory under the Gospel extends to every particular precept in the Decalogue He that said thou shalt not kill thou shalt not commit adultery said likewise Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy All these were spoken at the same time in the same manner immediately by the mouth of God unto the People which cannot be affirmed of any of the Laws which are not contained in that Combination And if there be the same reason for the obligation of the whole Decalogue amongst Christians as there is for the Sixth and Seventh Precepts then the whole doth oblige them and will continue so to do to the World's End Very consonant to this is the Testimony of Theophilus Antiochenus who speaking of these Two Laws which S. James mentions together with the other parts of the Decalogue which he stiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 useth these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moses the servant of God was a Minister of this divine Law to all the world In this he asserts no more than what the Apostle had done before him Rom. 3.19 What things soever the Law saith it saith to them which are under the Law that all the world may become guilty before God By the World we must understand not only Jews but Gentiles as most evidently appears by the ninth verse It is impossible that the whole World should be obnoxious to guilt upon the account of disobedience to the Moral Law as it lyes in the Old Testament had it not been intentionally given to it The Constitutions which go under the name of Clemens Romanus Constit Apost l. 6. c. 19. represent the Decalogue as a compleat and perfect Law appertaining to Christians Irenaeus speaks of two sorts of Divine Precepts L. 4. c. 26. p. 344. particularia which are appropriated to the Old Testament and eminentiora summa which are common to the Old and New The Scholiast upon the place reckons the Decalogue amongst the last it being designed by God as a perpetual rule for his people in all ages For this Gloss he had authority enough from Irenaeus himself L. 4. c. 39. c. 31. who afterwards represents the Decalogue as the Law of Nature and at the coming of Christ to receive extension and enlargement but no dissolution To these Testimonies we may add the consent of our own Church which she has sufficiently discovered in her placing the Ten Commandments as delivered in the Twentieth chap. of Exodus in the very Catechism which Children are to learn and obliging the people in the Liturgy after the reading of every Precept to use such words as import That it is a Law obligatory to them To say That She by the word Law understands sometimes the Law only in the mystical and Spiritual sence is very incongruous for she makes no discrimination but enjoyns the continuation of the same form of Speech to the last Command A Precept without the Letter is no Law at all It is a known rule That when the literal sence of a Law is repeated the whole Law is abrogated For the Letter is the foundation whatsoever is besides is the superstructure The superstruction must necessarily fall when the foundation is removed Tho' the spiritual sence of a Law may be of use when the Letter is discharged yet it is not to be accounted as the sence of that which is now a Law but of that which was formerly so The spiritual sence of the Ceremonial Law is still of use yet