suggested in extraordinary manner by the Holy Spirit as Prophecy was given of old according to that of S. Peter Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost So because many in the beginning of the Gospel were guided by a like instinct in the interpretation and application of Scripture they were said to Prophecy Thus the Apostle useth it in the fourteenth Chapter of this Epistle where he discourses of spirituall Gifts and before all prefers this of Prophecy because he that prophecieth saith he speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort But neither of these kinds of Prophecy sute with the person in my Text which is a woman For it is certain the Apostle speaks here of prophecying in the Church or Congregation but in the Church a woman might not speak no not so much as ask a question for her better instruction much lesse teach and instruct others This the Apostle teacheth us in this very Epistle Chapter the fourteenth even there where he discourseth so largely of those kinds of Prophecy Let your women saith he keep silence in the Churches For it is not permitted unto them to speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to be subject And if they will learn let them ask their husbands at home Again in the first of Timothy the second and the eleventh Let the women learn in silence with all subjection 12. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence Note here that to speak in a Church Assembly by way of teaching or instructing others is an act of superiority which therefore a woman might not do because her sex was to be in subjection and so to appear before God in that Garb and Posture which consisted therewith that is they might not speak to instruct men in the Church but to God she might To avoid this difficulty some would have the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my Text to be taken passively namely to hear or be present at Prophecy which is an acception without example either in Scripture or any where else It is true the Congregation is said to pray when the Priest only speaks but that they should be said to preach who are present only at the hearing of a Sermon is a Trope without example For the reason is not alike In prayer the Priest is the mouth of the Congregation and does what he does in their names and they assent to it by saying A men But he that preaches or prophecies is not the mouth of the Church to speak ought in their names that so they might be said to speak too but he is the mouth of God speaking to them It is not likely therefore that those who only hear another speaking or prophecying to them should be said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no more as I said then that all they should be said to preach who were at the hearing of a Sermon What shall we do then Is there any other acception of the word prophecying left us which may fit our turn Yes there is a fourth acception which if it can be made good will sute our Text better I think then any of the former to wit that prophecying here should be taken for praising God in Hymnes and Psalms For so it is fitly coupled with praying Praying and praising being the parts of the Christian Liturgy Besides our Apostle also in the fourteenth Chapter of this Epistle joyns them both together I will pray saith he with the spirit and will pray with understanding also I will sing with the spirit and I will sing that is prophecy with understanding also For because Prophets of old did three things First foretell things to come Secondly notifie the will of God unto the people And thirdly uttered themselves in musicall wise and as I may so speak in a poeticall strain and composure Hence it comes to passe that to prophecy in Scripture signifies the doing of any of these three things and amongst the rest to praise God in verse or musicall composure This to be so as I say I shall prove unto you out of two places of Scripture and first out of the first of Chronicles ch 25. where the word Prophecy is three severall times thus used I will alledge the words of the Text at large because I cannot well abbreviate them These they are v. 1. Moreover David and the Captains of the Host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Ieduthun who should prophecy with Harps with Psalteries and with Cymbals and the number of the men of Office according to their service was 2. Of the sons of Asaph Zaccur and Ioseph and Nathaniah and Asarelah the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph which prophecied according to the order of the King 3. Of Ieduthun the sons of Ieduthun Gedaliah and Zeri and Ieshaiah Hashabiah and Mattithiah and Schimei six under the hands of their Father Ieduthun who prophecied with a Harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord. Lo here to prophecy and to give thanks or confesse and to praise the Lord with spirituall songs made all one Nor needs such a notion seem strange when as even among the Latins the word vates signifieth both him that foretels things to come and a Poet for that the Gentile Oracles were given likewise in verse And S. Paul to Titus cals the Cretian Poet Epimenides a Prophet as one saith he of their own Prophets said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Arabians whose language comes the nearest both in words and notions to the Hebrew call a chief Poet of theirs Princeps omnium Poetarum saith â—rpenius quos unquam vidit mundus Muttenabbi that is Prophetizans or Propheta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now then if Asaph Ieduthun and Heman prophecied when they praised God in such Psalms as are entituled unto their severall Quires as we find them in the Psalm-Book for know that all the Psalms entituled to the sons of Korah belonged to the Quire of Heman who descended from Korah why may not we when we sing the same Psalms be said to prophecy likewise namely as he that useth a prayer composed by another prayeth and that according to the spirit of him that composed it So he that praiseth God with these spirituall and propheticall composures may be said to prophecy according to that spirit which speaketh in them And that Almighty God is well pleased with such service as this may appear by that one story of King Iehoshaphat in the second of Chronicles who when he marched forth against that great confederate Army of the children of Ammon Moab and Mount Seir the Text there tels us that having consulted with his people He appointed singers unto the Lord that should praise the Beauty of holinesse as they went out before the Army and to say Praise the Lord for his mercy endureth
DIATRIBAE DISCOVRSES ON DIVERS TEXTS OF SCRIPTVRE Delivered upon severall occasions BY JOSEPH MEDE B. D. late Fellow of Christs Colledge in CAMBRIDGE Printed by the Authors own Copy The Contents you shall finde in the next leafe LONDON Printed by M. F. for JOHN CLARK and are to be sold at his Shop under S. Peters Church in Cornhill M DC XLII The Contents of the severall Texts of Scripture delivered in this Treatise S. MATTH 6. 9. Thus therefore pray ye Our Father c. pag. 1. MATTH 6. 9. LUKE 11. 2. Sanctified or hallowed be thy Name p. 17. ACTS 17. 4. There associated themselves to Paul and Silas of the worshipping Greeks a great multitude p. 82. 2 PETER 2. 4. For if God spared not the Angels which sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darknesse to be reserved unto Iudgement c. so we translate it To which of S. Peter answers that of S. Iude as almost that whole Epistle doth to this verse 6. And the Angels which kept not their first estate or principality but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darknesse unto the Iudgement of the great Day p. 99. 1 COR. 4. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God p. 108. S. IOHN 10. 20. He hath a Devill and is mad p 120. PROVERBS 21. 16. The Man that wandreth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the Congregation of the Dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in coetu Gigantum p. 132. GEN. 49. 10. The Scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor a Law-giver from between his feet untill SHILOH come and unto him shall the gathering of the People be p. 144. PSALME 8. 2. Out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou hast ordained strength because of thine enemies that thou mightest quell the Enemy and the Avenger p. 155. ZACH. 4. 10. These seven are the Eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth p. 172. S. MARK 11. 17. Is it not written My House shall be called a House of Prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to all the Nations p. 187. S. JOHN 4. 23. But the hour commeth and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth For the Father seeketh such to worship him pag. 197. S. LUKE 24. 45. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures 46. And said unto them Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day p. 210. EXOD. 4. 25. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the fore-skin of her son and cast it at his feet and said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es pag. 222. EZEKIEL 20. 20. Hallow my Sabbath and they shall be a sign between me and you to acknowledge that I Iehovah am your God pag. 234. 1 COR 11. 5. Every woman praying or prophecying with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head p. 246. TITUS 3. 5. By the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost p. 262. IOSH. 24. 26. And Ioshâ—…ah took a great stone and set it up there viz. in Sichem under the Oak which was in the Sanctuary of the Lord Alii by the Sanctuary Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 274 1 TIM 5. 17. Let the Elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour especially they that labour in the Word and Doctrine p. 296. ACTS 2. 5. And there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sojourning at Ierusalem Iows devout men out of every Nation under heaven p. 311. 1 COR. 9. 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 324. Three other Treatises by the same Author formerly Printed which may be added viz. 1. The Name ALTAR or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. CHURCHES that is Appropriate Places for Christian Worship 1 COR. 11. 22. Have ye not houses to eat and drink in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or despise ye the CHVRCH of God 3. The Reverence of GODS HOVSE ECCLESIASTES 5. 1. Look to thy foot or feet when thou commest to the House of God and be more ready to obey then to offer the sacrifice of fools for they know not that they doe evill Errata FOlio 9. line 10. testimonies in r. testimonies In. fol. 24. l. 16 28. the Hebrew words are false printed and misplaced fol. 87. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the words inverted fol 88. line 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fo 125. line 19. the Hebrew words are inverted line 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fol. 130. line 14. siqui r. siquis fol. 150. line 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fol. 162. ult 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fol. 184. in the margin the Hebrew is amisse fol. 229. the Hebrew is transposed and mis-printed fo 273. line 14. imitation r. initiation so 284 line 3. Actâ— 21. r Acts 16. fol. 334. line 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DISCOVRSES ON DIVERS TEXTS of SCRIPTURE S. MATTHEW 6. 9. Thus therefore pray ye Our Father c. IT was well hoped after the question about the lawfulness and fitness of a set forme of Prayer had been so long debated in our Church that the sect of those who opposed it had been ere this well-nigh extinguished but experience tels us the contrary that this fancy is not onely still living but begins as it were to recover and get strength afresh In which regard my discourse at this time will not be unseasonable if taking my rise from these words of our Saviour I acquaint you upon what grounds and example this practise of the Christian Church hath been established and how frivolous and weak the reasons are which some of late doe bring against it To begin therefore You see by the Text I have now read that our blessed Saviour delivered a set form of prayer unto his Disciples and in so doing hath commended the use of a set form of prayer unto his Church Thus therefore saith he pray ye Our Father which art in heaven c. Is not this a set form of prayer and did not our Saviour deliver it to be used by his Disciples They tell us No. For Thus say they in this place is not thus to be understood but for in this manner to this effect or sense or after this pattern not in these words and syllables To this I answer It is true that this form of prayer is a pattern for us to make other prayers by but that this only should be the meaning of our Saviours Thus and not the rehearsall of the words themselves I utterly deny and I prove it out of the eleventh Chapter of S. Luke where the
same prayer is again delivered in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whē you pray say Our Father which art in heaven that is doe it in haec Verba For what other phrase is there to express such a meaning if this be not Besides in this of S. Luke the occasion would be considered It came to passe saith he as Iesus was praying in a certain place that when he ceased one of his Disciples said unto him Lord teach us to pray as Iohn also taught his Disciples From whence it may not improbably be gathered that this was the custome of the Doctors of Israel to deliver some certain form of Prayer unto their Disciples to use as it were a Badge and Symbolum of their Discipleship at least Iohn Baptist had done so unto his Disciples and thereupon our Saviours Disciples besought him that he also would give them in like manner some forme of his making that they might also pray with their Masters spirit as Iohns Disciples did with theirs For that either our Saviours or Iohns Disciples knew not how to pray till now were ridiculous to imagine they being both of them Jews who had their certaine set houres of prayer which they constantly observed as the third sixt and ninth It was therefore a forme of prayer of their Masters making which both Iohn is said to have given his Disciples and our Saviours Disciples besought him to give them For the fuller understanding whereof I must tell you something more and the rather because it is not commonly taken notice of and that is That this delivery of the Lords prayer in S. Luke is not the same with that related by S. Matthew but another at another time and upon another occasion That of S. Matthew in that famous Sermon of Christ upon the Mount whereof it is a part that of S. Luke upon a speciall motion of the Disciples at a time when himselfe had done praying That of S. Matthew in the second that of S. Luke in the third yeare after his Baptisme Consider the Text of both and you shall finde it impossible to bring them into one and the same whence it follows that the Disciples when it was first uttered understood not that their Master intended it for a forme of prayer unto them but for a pattern or example onely or it may be to instruct them in speciall in what manner to ask forgiveness of sins For if they had thought he had given them a forme of prayer then they would never have asked him for one now wherefore our Saviour this second time utters himselfe more expresly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When ye pray say Our Father which art in heaven Thus their inadvertency becomes our confirmation For as Ioseph said to Pharaoh The dreame is doubled unto Pharaoh because the thing is established by God so may wee say here The delivery of this prayer was doubled unto the Disciples that they and we might thereby know the more certainly that our Saviour intended and commended it for a set form of prayer unto his Church Thus much of that set forme of prayer which our Saviour gave unto his Disciples as a precedent and warrant to his Church to give the like forms to her Disciples or members a thing which from her infancy she used to doe But because her practice is called in question as not warranted by Scripture let us see what was the practice of the Church of the old Testament then whose example and use wee can have no better rule to follow in the New First therefore wee find two set forms of prayer or invocation appointed by God himself in the Law of Moses One the form wherewith the Priests were to blesse the people Num. 6. 23. On this wise saith he shall Aaron and his sons blesse the children of Israel saying unto them The Lord blesse thee and keepe thee the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace Is not this a set forme of Prayer For what is to blesse but to pray over or invocate God for another The second is the forme of profession and prayer to be used by him who had paid his Tithes every third yeare Deut. 26. 13. O Lord God I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger to the Fatherlesse and unto the widow according to all thy commandements which thou hast commanded me I have not transgressed thy Commandements neither have I forgotten them 14. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning neither have I taken away ought thereof for any uncleane use c. 15. Look downe from thy holy habitation from heaven and blesse thy people Israel and the Land which thou hast given us as thou swarest to our Fathers a Land that floweth with Milke and honey But what need we seek thus for scattered Formes when wee have a whole booke of them together The Booke of Psalmes was the Jewish Liturgie or the chiefe part of the vocall service wherewith they worshipped God in the Temple This is evident by the Titles of the Psalms themselves which shew them to have beene commended to the severall Quires in the same to Asaph to the sonnes of Korah to Ieduthun and almost forty of them to the Magister Symphoniae in generall The like wee are to conceive of those which have no titles as for example of the 105 and 96 Psalmes which though they have no such Inscription in the Psalme-booke yet wee finde 1 Chron. 16. 7. That they were delivered by David into the hands of Asaph and his Brethren for formes to thanke the Lord. This a man would think were sufficient to take away all scruple in this point especially when 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 solve◠and all the reformed Churches use to sing the same Psalmes not onely as set formes but set in Meeter that is after a humane composure Are not the Psalmes set formes of Confession of Prayer and of Praising God And in case there had been no prayers amongst them yet what reason could be given why it should not bee as lawfull to pray unto God in a set forme as to praise him in such a one What therefore doe they say to this Why they tell us that the Psalmes are not sung in the Church unto God but so rehearsed for instruction of the people onely namely as the Chapters and Lessons are there read and no otherwise But if either wee doe ought or may sing the Psalmes in the Church with the same end and purpose that the Church of the old Testament did and it were absurd to say wee might not this exception will not subsist for what is more certaine then that the Church of Israel used the Psalmes for Formes of praising and invocating God What mean else those formes Cantemus Domino Psallite Domino and the like so frequent in them But there are more direct
and expresse testimonies In the 1 Chron. 25. it is expresly said of Ieduthuâ— and his soâ—â—es that their office was to prophesie with a Harpe to give thanks and to praise the Lord. In the second of Chron. 30. 21. wee read that the Levites and Priests praised the Lord day by day singing with loud Instruments unto the Lord. And as ye heard even now out of 1 Chron. 16. that David at the time when he brought up the Ark unto Jerusalem then first delivered the 105. and 95 Psalms into the hands of Aâ—… and his sonnes to confesse or give thanks unto the Lord. And lastly to leave no place for farther doubt wee read Ezra 3. 11. That the Levites the sonnes of Asaph were set with Cymbals to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David King of Israel And that they sung together by course in praising giving thanks unto the Lord because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever For this reason the foure and twenty Courses or Quires into which the singers of the Temple were divided by King David to serve in their turnes consisted each of them of twelve according to the number of the tribes of Israel that so every Tribe might have a mouth and voyce to praise and to give thanks unto God for him in the Temple Thus we have seene what warrant to pray and call upon God in a set forme hath from the practice of the Church of God in the old Testament And if reason may have place in the publike service of God where one is the mouth of many there is none so proper and convenient For how can the Minister be said properly to be the mouth of the Congregation in prayer unto God when the Congregation is not first made acquainted and privy to what he is to render unto God in their names which in a voluntary and extemporary Prayer they are not nor well can be I am sure neither so properly nor conveniently as in a set forme which both they and the whole Church have agreed upon and offer unto God at the same time though in severall places in the self-same forme and words And this may be a second reason I meane from Vniformity For how can the Church being a mysticall Body better testifie her unity before God then in her uniformity in calling upon him especially our Saviour telling us that if but two or three shall agree together on earth as touching anything that they shall ask it shall be done unto them of his Father which is in heaven So prevailable with Allmighty God is the power of consent in prayer Let us now in the last place see what reasons they bring who contend altogether for voluntary prayer and would have no set formes used First they say it is the ordinance of God that the Church should be edified by the gifts of her Ministers as well in praying as preaching Ergo their prayers should be extemporary or voluntary because in reading a set forme this gift cannot be shewn To this I answer First that there is not in this point the same reason for Prayer and for Preaching for in prayer I meane Publique the Minister is the mouth of the Church unto God and therefore it were convenient they should know what he puts up to God in their names but in preaching he is not so Secondly Why should not the Pastours and Ministers of the Church edify the Church by their gift of prayer as well in composing a set forme of prayer for her use by generall agreement as in uttering a voluntary or extemporary prayer in a particular Congregation Thirdly Are not the members of the Church to be edified as well by the Spirit of the Church as the Church or some part thereof by the Spirit of a member But how can the Church edifie her members by her gift of prayer otherwise then by a set form agreed upon by her consent Fourthly Ostentation of gifts is one thing but edification by them another Ostentation of the gift of prayer is indeed best shewn in a voluntary or extemporary prayer but the Church may be edified as well by a set forme Yea such a forme in the publique service of God is more edificative then a voluntary And that both because the Congregation is first made acquainted therewith and secondly because they are better secured from being ingaged in ought that might be unfit to speak unto God either for matter or manner or such as they would not have given their consent to if they had been aware of it For now that extraordinary assistance of the Holy Ghost which was in the Primitive and Apostolicall times is long since ceased And all men to whom that office belongeth to speake to God for others are not at all times discreet and well advised when they speake to him at will and extempore but subject to miscariage Lastly I answer That the Church is to be edified by the gift of her Ministers in voluntary prayer loco tempore in fit place and upon fit occasions not in all places and upon all occasions And thus much to this objection But they object secondly that the Spirit ought to be free and unlimited and that therefore a Book or set forme of prayer which limits the spirit in praying is not to be tolerated or used To this I answer it is false that the acting of the Spirit in one Christan may not be limited or regulated by the Spirit of another especially the spirit of a particular man in the publike worship by the spirit of the Church whereof he is a member For doth not the Apostle tell us 1 Cor. 14. that even that extraordinary spirit of Prophecy usuall in his time might be limited by the spirit of another Prophet Let the Prophets saith he speak two or three and let the other judg If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by let the first hold his peace Is not this a limiting He gives a reason For the spirits of the Prophets saith he are subject to the Prophets Besides are not the spirits of the people as well limited and determined by a voluntary prayer when they joyne therein with their Minister as they are by a set forme True the spirit of the Minister is then free but theirs is not so but tied and led by the spirit of the Minister as much as if he used a set forme But to elude this they tell us that the Question is not of limiting the spirit of the people but of the Minister onely For as for the people no more is required of them but to join with their Minister and to testifie it by saying Amen but the spirit of the Minister ought to be left free and not to be limited But where is this written that the one may not be limited as well as the other We heard the Apostle say even now The spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets If in prophecying why not in praying And
of the Saints and so translated accordingly This tradition is farther testified by Ionathan ben Vziel the Chaldee Paraphrast Gen. 11. 7. where the Lords words spoken in the plurall number Venite descendamus confundamus linguam eorum are paraphrased in this manner Dixit Dominus septem Angelis qui stant coram eo Venite nunc c. Whether rightly or fitly in this place it matters not The testimony is sufficient for the Jewish tradition of seven Arch-angels that stand before the Throne of God This tradition Iunius saith is magicall and not a little triumphs therein as an undoubted Argument to evince the Book of Tobit not to be Canonicall But whatsoever the Book of Tobit be I hope to shew this tradition to have firm ground and footing in Scripture and not so rashly to be rejected The chief and most clear place is that I have now read which gives us to understand that these seven Angels were represented by that Candlestick of Seven Lamps which continually burned in the Temple before the vail over against the Mercy seat which was the Throne of God For in the beginning of the Chapter the Prophet being shewed this Seven-lamped Candlestick in a Vision and two Olive-branches on each side ministring oyle to the Lamps thereof The Angel asketh him if he knew what these meant The Prophet answers No my Lord Then the Angel discoursing a little by way of Preface tels him what they were These seven saith he that is the seven Lamps are the seven eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth that is those Seven Vigiles or prime Ministers of his Providence the seven Arch-angels As for the two Olive-trees on each side These are saith he two anointed ones which stand before the Lord of the whole earth that is Zorobabel and Iesua the Prince and Priest at that time which should be Gods two instruments on earth whereby his Church signified by the Candlestick should be re-established and his Temple builded and that not by force or strength as he saith in his Preface but by the Spirit of God working with them as the olive trees here conveyed oyle to the Candlestick not after a naturall and usuall but a supernaturall and secret manner This interpretation of the latter hath the suffrage of the best Expositors both Jews and Christians and so I shall need say no more of it but betake my self to make good the first concerning the words I chose for my Text That those seven eyes of God signified by the seven Lamps are seven Angels That this is so I prove out of two places in the Apocalypse derived from hence where as well the Seven Lamps before the Throne as the Lambs Seven eyes are said to be the Seven Spirits of God I saw saith Saint Iohn cap. 4. 5. Seven Lamps before the Throne which are the Seven Spirits of God And again cap. 5. 6. I saw in the midst of the Throne and of the four Beasts as we translate it and of the four and twenty Elders a Lamb as if he had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth Here first we have Zacharies very words Seven eyes sent forth into all the earth Secondly That these seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God Thirdly that these seven Spirits were represented by the seven Lamps burning before the Throne If this be not sufficient to make my interpretation of Zacharie good I know not what can be For who can now but think that the Jews derived their tradition of these seven Angels from this place of Zachary and the Apocalypse from them both And that indeed the Jews supposed some such thing meant by the seven Lamps in the Temple appears by the report of Iosephus though depraved and fashioned unto the capacity of the Gentiles For he tels us both in his Antiquities Lib. 3. cap. 7. and in his De Bello Iudaico Lib. 6. cap. 14. that the seven Lamps signified the seven Planets and the most holy place within the vail ibid. cap. 5. the heaven of God or heaven of Glory and that therefore the Lamps stood slopewise as it were to expresse the obliquity of the Zodiack Now it is true that the Jewish Astrologians savouring of Gentilism make these seven Angels the prefects of the seven Planets which they seem to have learned in part from the Greek Philosophy which conceit howsoever it be vain and groundlesse yet may be as a key to understand the meaning of this of Iosephus And one thing more If the visible things of God may be learned as Saint Paul sayes from the Creation of the world why may not the invisible and intelligible world be learned from the Fabrick of the visible the one it may be being the pattern of the other But to let this passe and return again to the Apocalypse Where concerning the places alledged there may be two things objected First That the seven spirits there mentioned are and may be expounded of the Holy Ghost thus represented in respect of those seven-fold that is manifold Graces he communicates unto the Church I answer that many indeed have so taken it but besides the uncouthnesse of expressing one spirit by seven there is a reason in the Text why they cannot be so taken namely because not onely the seven Lamps are said to be those seven Spirits of God but the seven Eyes and seven Horns of the Lamb also to be the same Now it will be very hard and harsh to make the Holy Ghost the Horns and Eyes of Christ as he is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world that is as he is a Man Above Angels indeed the Man Iesus is exalted and that too for the suffering of death that is as the Lamb but not above the Holy Ghost This made not onely Drusius but even Beza himself in his Notes upon this place to affirm it could not be meant of the Holy Ghost but of seven created Spirits A second scruple is how if they be created spirits Iohn could pray for Grace and Peace from them Grace be unto you saith he and peace from him which is which was and is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his Throne and from Iesus Christ the faithful witnesse c. would he pray for Grace and peace from Angels I answer Why not For first he prayes not to them but unto God unto whom such votes are tendered Secondly he prayes for Grace and Peace from them not as Authors but as the Instruments of God in the dispensation thereof Are they not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sent forth to minister for them who are heirs of salvation And if it be no Idolatry to pray unto God to give Grace and Peace from the outward Ministery of his word no more is it to pray unto him for it from the invisible Ministery For certainly it is lawfull to
pray unto God for a blessing from an instrument which he is wont to give us by an instrument Secondly it may be said that the words Grace and Peace need not to be taken in that speciall and strict sense but in the large and generall wherein Grace sounds favour at large and Peace all manner of prosperity In which sense no man will deny but the blessed Angels have an interest in the dispensation of the favours and blessings of God to his Church and so God may be prayed to to give them as he is wont by their ministery Grace and Peace from him which is which was and is to come as the Author and Giver and from the seven Spirits as the Instruments and from Iesus Christ as the Mediator There is yet one place more in the Apocalypse to confirm this tradition chap. 8. 2. I saw saith Saint Iohn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The seven Angels which stood before God Is not this as plain as Tobit Why should then the one be accounted Magicall and not the other I adde moreover that these Angels are those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Principes primarii or chief Princes mentioned in the 10. of Daniel Michael one of the Princes saith the Angel there came to help me Now Michael we know is one of the Archangels And why therefore may not these chief Princes be those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereof Saint Paul speaks in his adjuration to Timothy I charge thee saith he before God and the Lord Iesus Christ and the Elect Angels not the good Angels at large but those Angeli eximii the seven Archangels which stand before the Throne of God And it may not without reason be conjectured that those seven chief Princes fained in the Persian Monarchie took their beginning from hence And that Daniel who in respect of his account for wisedom and of his power under Darius the Mede had a main stroke in the moulding and framing the government of that State caused the Persian Court to resemble that of heaven ordaining seven chief Princes to stand before the King Of which we finde twice mention in Scripture as in the book of Esther where they are recorded by name and styled The seven Princes of Media and Persia who saw the Kings face and sate first in the kingdom And in the Commission granted to Ezra by Artaxerxes Ezra 7. 14. they are called The Kings seven Counsellors Forasmuch as thou art sent by the King and his seven Counsellors c. And it may be the Church of Jerusalem when they chose seven Deacons to minister unto their Bishop had an eye the same way Hitherto of the number of these Archangels now a word or two of their office And that is first to be the universall Inspectors of the whole world and the Rulers and Princes of the whole Angelical hoast which appears in that they are called Principes primarii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their universall jurisdiction is meant by the words sent forth into the whole earth whereas the rest are limited to certain places Secondly to have the peculiar Charge and Guardianship of the Church and affairs thereof whilst the rest of the world with their Polities Kingdoms and Governments is committed to the care of subordinate Angels who according to their severall charges may seem to carry those names of Thrones Principalities Powers and Dominions That the charge of the Church quà talis belongs thus peculiarly and immediately to the seven Archangels may appear by S. Iohns saluting the Churches with a Benediction of Grace and Peace from their ministery and the typing of them by the seven Eyes and Horns of the Lamb as Powers which the Father since he exalted Him to be Head of his Church hath annexed to his Jurisdiction Hence it comes to passe that we finde these Angels peculiarly both before and in the Gospel to have been employed about the Church affairs In the Old Testament the Angel Gabriel one of the seven revealed to Daniel the time of the restauration of the Jewish State and comming of Messiah And the Angel Michael one of the chief Princes was his assistant when he strengthened Darius the Mede who founded the Monarchy which should restore them and is in speciall termed Dan. 12. the Prince that stood for Daniels people In the Gospel we finde the same Angel Gabriel imployed both to Zachary and the Blessed Virgin with the Euangelicall Tidings and that Zachary might take notice that he was one of the seven he sayes unto him I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God Likewise in the Churches combate with the Dragon Apoc. 12. Michael and his Angels are said to be her Champions and in her quarrel to have cast the Dragon and his Angels down to the Earth And in this Prophesie of Zachary it is said that these seven eyes of the Lord took care of one stone which Zorobabel laid for the foundation of the Temple and therefore the work could not be disappointed but should certainly at length be finished So as by this time we may guesse the meaning of that which Hanani the Seer told King Asa 2 Chron. 16. 9. The Eyes of the Lord that is these seven Eyes run to and fro through the whole Earth to shew themselves strong in the behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards him S. MARK 11. 17. Is it not written My House shall be called a House of Prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to all the Nations THey are the words of our Blessed Saviour when he cast the Buyers and Sellers and Money-changers out of the Temple and forbad to carry any vessels thorow it Concerning which story it is worth observation that our Saviour whilest he was upon earth never exercised any Kingly or coactive Jurisdiction but in vindicating his Fathers house from prophanation and this he did two severall times once at the first Passeover after he began his Prophesie whereof you may read Iohn 2. And now again at his last Passeover when he came to give his soul a sacrifice for sin This is that which Saint Mark relates in this place as do also two other of the Euangelists Saint Matthew and Saint Luke The vindication of Gods House from Prophanation how little account soever we are wont to make thereof was with our blessed Saviour the Alpha and Omega the first and last of his care Vbi incipit ibi desinit The consideration of which how momentous it is I leave to your selves to judge Thus much by way of Preface Now for understanding of the words I have chosen I will divide my discourse into a Question and an Observation The Question is In what part of the Temple this Market was kept A thing not commonly enquired after by Expositors much lesse defined The Observation That this fact of our Saviour more particularly concerns us of the Gentiles then we take notice of For the first in
joyn themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the Name of the Lord to be his servants every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my Covenant namely that I alone shall be his God even them will I bring to my holy Mountain and make them joyfull in my House of Prayer their burnt offerings and sacrifices accepted upon mine Altar Then follow the words of Text For my House shall be called shall be it is an Hebraism a House of Prayer for all People What is this but a Description of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gentile worshippers And this place alone makes good all that I have said before That this vindication was of the Gentiles Court Otherwise the allegation of this Scripture had been impertinent for the Gentiles of whom the Prophet speaks worshipped in no place but this Hence also appears to what purpose our Euangelist expressed the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 namely as that which shewed wherein the force of the accommodation to this occasion lay which the rest of the Euangelists omitted as referring to the place of the Prophet whence it was taken those who heard it being not ignorant of whom the Prophet spake Thirdly the circumstance of time argues the same thing if we consider that this was done but a few dayes before our Saviour suffered to wit when he came to his last Passeover How unseasonable had it been to vindicate the violation of legall and typicall sanctity which within so few dayes after he was utterly to abolish by his Crosse unlesse he had meant thereby to leave his Church a lasting lesson what reverence and respect he would have accounted due to such places as this was which he vindicated JOHN 4. 23. But the hour commeth and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth For the Father seeketh such to worship him THey are the words of our Blessed Saviour to the woman of Samaria who perceiving him by his discourse to be a Prophet desired to be resolved by him of the great controverted point between the Jews and Samaritans whether Mount Garizim by Sichem where the Samaritans sacrificed or Ierusalem were the true place of worship Our Saviour tels her that this question was not now of much moment For that the houre or time was near at hand when they should neither worship the Father in Mount Garizim nor at Ierusalem But that there was a greater difference between the Jews and them then this of place namely even about that which was worshipped For ye saith he worship that ye know not But we Jews worship that we know Then follow the words premised But the houre commeth and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth It is an abused Text being commonly alledged to prove that God now in the Gospel either requires not or regards not externall worship but that of the Spirit onely And this to be a characteristicall difference between the worship of the Old Testament and the New If at any time we talk of externall decency in rites and bodily expressions as fit to be used in the service of God this is the usuall Buckler to repell whatsoever may be said in that kinde It is true indeed that the worship of the Gospel is much more spirituall then that of the Law But that the worship of the Gospel should be onely spirituall and no externall worship required therein as the Text according to some mens sense and allegation thereof would imply is repugnant not onely to the practice and experience of the Christian Religion in all ages but also to the expresse Ordinances of the Gospel it self For what are the Sacraments of the New Testament are they not rites wherein and wherewith God is served and worshipped The consideration of the holy Eucharist alone will confute this Glosse For is not the commemoration of the sacrifice of Christs death upon the Crosse unto his Father in the Symbols of Bread and Wine an externall worship And yet with this rite hath the Church in all ages used to make her solemne addresse of Prayer and Supplication unto the Divine Majesty as the Jews in the Old Testament did by Sacrifice when I say in all Ages I include that of the Apostles For so much Saint Luke testifieth of that first Christian society Acts 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They continued in breaking of Bread and in Prayers As for bodily expressions by gestures and postures as standing kneeling bowing and the like our blessed Saviour himself lift up his sacred eyes to heaven when he prayed for Lazarus fell on his face when he prayed in his agony Saint Paul as himself saith bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ He and Saint Peter and the rest of the beleevers do the like more then once in the Acts of the Apostles What was imposition of hands but an externall gesture in an act of invocation for conferring a blessing and that perhaps sometimes without any vocall expression joyned therewith Besides I cannot conceive any reason why in this point of Euangelicall worship Gesture should be more scrupled at then Voyce Is not confessing praising praying and glorifying God by voyce an externall and bodily worship as well as that of Gesture why should then the one derogate from the worship of the Father in Spirit and Truth and not the other To conclude there was never any society of men in the world that worshipped the Father in such a manner as this interpretation would imply And therefore cannot this be our Saviours meaning but some other Let us see if we can finde out what it is There may be two senses given of these words both of them agreeable to reason and the analogy of Scripture let us take our choice The one is That to worship God in Spirit and Truth is to worship him not with types and shadows of things to come as in the Old Testament but according to the verity of the things exhibited in Christ according to that The Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Iesus Christ. Whence the mystery of the Gospel is elsewhere by our Saviour in this Euangelist termed Truth as Cap. 17. ver 17. and the Doctrine thereof by Saint Paul The word of truth See Ephes. Cap. 1. ver 13. Rom. 15. ver 8. The time therefore is now at hand said our Saviour when the true worshippers shall worship the Father no longer with bloody sacrifices and the Rites and Ordinances depending thereon but in and according to the verity of that which these Ordinances figured For all these were types of Christ in whom being now exhibited the true worshippers shall henceforth worship the Father This sense hath good warrant from the state of the Question between the Jews and Samaritans to which our Saviour here makes answer which was not about worship in generall but about the kinde
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not fancying him as a body but as indeed he is a Spirit For those who worship him under a corporeall similitude doe bely him according as the Apostle speaks Rom. 1. of such as change the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible man Birds or Beasts They changed saith he the truth of God into a lie and served the creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 juxta Creatorem as or with the Creator who is blessed for ever Hence Idols in Scripture are termed Lies as Amos 2. 4. Their Lies have caused them to erre after which their Fathers walked The Vulgar hath Seduxerunt eos Idola ipsorum And Isa. 28. 15. We have made Lies our refuge And Ier. 16. 19. Venient gentes à finibus terrae dicent Verè mendacium possederunt the Chaldee hath coluerunt Patres nostri vanitatem in qua non est utilitas Nunquid faciet sibi homo Deos ipsi non sunt Dii This therefore I take to be the genuine meaning of this place and not that which is commonly supposed against externall worship which I think this demonstration will evince To worship what they know as the Jews are said to doe and to worship in spirit and truth are here taken by our Saviour for equivalents else the whole sense will be inconsequent But the Jews worshipped not God without Rites and Ceremonies who yet are supposed to worship him in spirit and truth Ergo to worship God without Rites and Ceremonies is not to worship him in spirit and truth according to the meaning here intended S. LUKE 24. 45. Then opened be their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures 46. And said unto them Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day OUr Blessed Saviour after he was risen from the dead told his Disciples not onely that his suffering of death and rising again the third day was foretold in the Scriptures but also pointed out those Scriptures unto them and opened their understanding that they might understand them that is he expounded or explained them unto them Certain it is therefore that somewhere in the Old Testament these things were foretold should befall the Messiah Yea S. Paul 1 Cor. 15. 3 4. will further assure us that they are I delivered unto you saith he first of all that which I received how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures 4. And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures Both of them therefore are somwhere foretold in the Scriptures and it becomes not us to be so ignorant as commonly we are which those Scriptures be which foretell them It is a main point of our Faith and that which the Jews most stumble at because their Doctors had not observed any such thing of Messiah The more they were ignorant thereof the more it concerns us to be confirmed therein I thought good therefore to make this the Argument of my Discourse at this time to inform both you and my self where these things are foretold and if I can to point out those very Scriptures which our Saviour here expounded to his Disciples Which that I may the better do I will make the words fore-going my Text to be as the Pole-star in this my search These are the things saith our Saviour which I spake unto you while I was with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me Then follow the words I read Then opened he their understanding c. These two events therefore of Messiahs death and rising again the third day were foretold in these three parts of Scripture in the Law of Moses or Pentateuch in the Neb im or Prophets and in the Psalmes and in these three we must search for them And first for the first that Messiah should suffer death This was fore-signified in the Law or Pentateuch first in the Story of Abraham where he was commanded to offer his son Isaac the son wherein his seed should be called and to whom the promise was entailed That in it should all the Nations of the world be blessed What was here acted else but the mystery of Christs Passion to wit that the promised seed should make all the Nations of the world blessed by becomming a sacrifice for sin which that it might be the more evident the place is also designed the region of Mount Moriah there Abraham was bid to offer his son Isaac even where Messiah who was then in the loins of Isaac was one day to be offered upon the Crosse. The second prediction in the Law of Messiahs suffering death was by the slaying of Beasts for the atonement of sin in their sacrifices which were nothing else but shadows and representations of that offering upon the Crosse which Messiah was one day to make of himself for the sins of the world Which mystery of the end of those legall sacrifices was shewed in the former story of Abrahams offering Isaac For when he had now brought his son to the place appointed and had built an Altar and was now ready to slay him as he was commanded the Angel of the Lord stayed his hand and shewed him a Ram caught in a thicket by the horns which Ram Abraham took and offered for a burnt offering in stead of his son to signifie that the offering of the blessed seed was yet to be suspended and that God in the mean while would accept the offerings of Buls and Rams as a pledge of that expiation which the blessed seed of Abraham in the loyns of Isaac should one day make And thus much for the Law now I come to the Prophets wherein I finde three evident Prophecies that Messiah should suffer death The first is that famous one in the 53. of Isay the whole Chapter through I will not repeat it all but some two or three passages thereof ver 5. He was wounded saith the Prophet for our transgressions he was bruised for 〈◊〉 inâ—quities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed And ver 7. He was oppressed he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was brought as a Lamb to the slaughter 〈◊〉 as a Sheep before his Shearers is dumb so he opened noi his mouth Ver. 8. He was cut off out of the Land of the living for the transgression of my people was 〈◊〉 smitten Now that this Prophecy was one of those by which the Apostles used to prove this verity appears by the story of the conversion of the Eunuch Acts 8. unto whom Philip comming whilst he was in his Chariot reading this place of Scripture and hâ— thereupon asking Philip of whom the Prophet spake these words the Text tels us that Philip began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Iesus The
what shew of reasoÌ„ can be given why the spirit of a particular Minister in the publick worship of the Church may not yea ought not to be limited and regulated by the spirit of the Church representative as well as the spirit of a whole Congregation by the spirit of a particular Minister For every particular Minister is as much subordinate to the spirit of the Church representative as the spirit of the Congregation is to his So much for this objection There remaineth yet a third which may be answered in two or three words No set forme of prayer say they can serve for all occasions What then Yet why may it not be used for all such occasions as it serves for if any sudden and unexpected occasion happen for which the Church cannot provide the spirit of her Ministers is free Who will forbid them to supply in such a case that by a voluntary and arbitrary forme which the Church could not provide for in a set forme And this is what I intended to say of this argument THE SANCTIFICATION OF GODS NAME MATTH 6. 9. LUKE 11. 2. Sanctificetur nomen tuum Sanctified or hallowed be thy Name ALthough I make no question but that which we so often repeat unto Almighty God in our daily prayers is for the generall meaning thereof by the most of us in some competent measure understood Yet because by a more full and distinct explication the knowledge of some may be improved and the meditations of others occasioned to a further search I hope I shall not doe amisse nor be thought to have chosen a theame either needlesse or not so fit for this Auditory if I shall inquire what that is we pray for in this first Petition of the prayer our Lord hath taught us when we desire That Gods Name may be sanctified For perhaps we shall find more contained therein then is commonly taken notice of The words are few and therefore shall need no other Analyse then what their very number presents unto us viz. Gods Name and the sanctifying thereof Sanctificetur Nomen tuum I will begin first with the last in order but first in nature Nomen tuum Gods Name By which according to the style of holy Scripture we are to understand in this place first of all God himself or his sacred Deity to wit abstractly expressed according to the style of eminency and dignity 〈◊〉 Dei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Divine Majesty as we are wont for the King to say His Majesty or the Kings Majesty and of other persons of honour and eminency Their Highnesse Their Honour His Excellency and the like So of God His Name and sometimes with the self-same meaning His Glory as Ier. 2. 11. Hath any Nation changed their Gods which yet are no Gods but my people have changed their Glory i. their God for that which is good for nought So Psalme 106. 20. of the Calf made in the Wildernesse They changed their Glorie into the similitude of an Oxe that eateth grasse And S. Paul Rom. 1. 23. They changed the Glory i. the Majesty of the incorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible man c. Such is the notion but much more frequent of Gods Name In a word Nomen Del in this kinde of use is nothing else but Divinum Numen Whence it is that in Scripture To call upon the Name of God To blaspheme the Name of God To love his Name To sweare by his Name To build a Temple to his Name for his Name to dwell there And in the New Testament To beleeve in the Name of the Lord Iesus To call upon the Name of the Lord Iesus these I say and the like expressions have no other meaning then to doe these things to the Divine Majesty to the Lord Jesus whose is that Name above every Name where at every knee must bow Accordingly here Sanctificetur Nomen tuum Hallowed be thy Name is as much as to say Sanctificetur Numen tuum Sanctified be thy Divine Majesty Secondly under the Name of God here to be sanctified or hallowed understand besides the Majesty of his Godhead that also super quod invocatum est Nomen ejus whereupon his Name is called or that which is called by his Name as we in our Bibles commonly expresse this phrase of Scripture that is all whatsoever is Gods or God is the Lord and owner of by a peculiar right such as are things sacred whether they be persons or whether things by distinction so called or Times or Places which have upon them a relation of peculiarnesse towards God For such as these are said in Scripture To have the Name of God called upon them or To be called by his Name that is To be His. Thus we read in Scripture of an House which had the Name of God upon it or which was called by his Name that is of Gods House 1 Kings 8. 43. Ier. 7. 10. c. Of a City upon which the Name of God was called or named to wit the Holy City Jerusalem the City of the great King the Lord of hosts Ier. 25. 29. Dan. 9. 18. Of an Ark upon which the Name of God the Lord was called 1 Chro. 13. 6. 2 Sam. 6. 2. that is the Lords Ark or the Ark of his Covenant as it is elsewhere named Of a people upon which the Name of the Lord was called or which were called by his Name Deut. 28. 10. Dan. 9. 19. and elsewhere that is were his peculiar and holy people as is said in like manner and with like meaning of the Church of the New Testament Iames 2. 7. Acts 15 17. I represent not these places of Scripture at large because I know that every eare that is acquainted with Scripture can beare witness unto them And for the meaning of this expression of Gods Name to be called upon a thing or a thing to be called by his Name that it is all one as to say it to be His besides the evidence of the matter wherabout it is used appeares by the same phrase used in two other places of the like relation of men to that which is theirs as Gen. 48 16. Where Iacob blessing Iosephs sons saith The Angell which redeemed me from all evil blesse the lads and let my name be called upon them That is let them be mine namely as Reuben and Simeon are mine as he saith a little before for they are words of adoption Again in the fourth of Esay where it is said That seven women should take hold of one man and say We will eat our own bread and weare our own apparel onely let thy Name be called upon us to take away our reproach That is Doe thou own us or let us be thine that it may not be a reproach unto us that we have no husband The Ancients were wont to set the Names of the Owners upon their houses and other possessions whâ—ch they called Tituli Titles Chrysologus Serm. 145.