from this holy Table this blessed Sacrament yet feareth to come unprepared to it That man shall be as blessed in his coming as he is rare to find Blessed shall he be 1. in the sacred knowledg of Christs will Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose 2. Blessed shall he be in the quiet peace of a good conscience his soul shall dwell at ease 3. Blessed he shall be in the present comfort of an hopeful progenie his seed shall inherit the earth § 8. 1. Blessed in the knowledg of Christs will him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose He that feareth the Lord let him in this Sacrament commit his way unto the Lord Psal 37.5 as for the blessings of his Providence so for the instruction of his Spirit and the guidance of his hand that so the way which he shall walk may not be so much of his own as of Gods choice and not so much of his election as of Gods approbation So shall the Lord teach him in the way not only direct him to find it in the knowledg of his Word but also enable him to walk in it in a conformity to his will sanctifying him throughout the understanding to discern the will to embrace the affections to pursue the whole man to act what is holy and just and good § 9. And thus we know then which is the right way amidst the many now Cross-paths of Heresie and Schism we know which is the right way of truth and holiness not that which we devise but which God doth choose for it is God alone who must prescribe the rule by which we are to square our lives the form by which we are to order his Worship And therefore the Church from the beginning hath still worshipp'd God according to Divine revelation not humane discretion acknowledging as one true God so one true manner of Worship of which God himself is the Author the Author in his Word his Word of truth the glass of his Divinity from which Word declared in his holy Gospel and by his Spirit conveyed in the blessed Sacrament he that feareth the Lord shall be taught in the way that he shall choose to the making him blessed in the saving knowledg of his sacred will § 10. 2. Blessed in the quiet peace of a good conscience His soul shall dwell at ease His soul happily he may with S. Paul Gal. 6.17 bear in his body the marks of the Lord Iesus in his sufferings for his name his person imprisoned his estate seised his name defamed yet his soul enjoys its peace its ease its rest And when the World shall curse and condemn O the blessed peace of that mans soul whose conscience in the name of God shall acquit and absolve Sweet peace the peculiar blessing of the truly sanctified yea the special benefit of this blessed Sacrament which as it seals the Covenant of grace so of peace in a perfect reconciliation with God by Christ § 11. In this peace of conscience sure we are to find ease of soul yea pernoctabit anima the soul shall dwell or lodge all night in rest all the night of the Churches distress the dark and doleful night of heresies and schisms of oppression and violence the soul that is at peace with God being instructed in his truth and sanctified with his grace shall have its light in darkness its easeful rest of spiritual comforts amidst the tumultuous changes of temporal troubles Yea pernoctabit in bono when with others either their designs of mischief or their horror of guilt shall keep them waking the holy innocence of him that feareth the Lord shall have its bed of rest § 12. And it is not worldly calamity that shall so dismay his soul as to fright him from the profession of a true faith no the holy fear of God shall destroy all such sinful fears of men even as Moses's Serpent devoured all those Serpents of the Magicians efficit timor Dei ut caetera non possint timeri the fear of God hath this good effect that it makes other things not to be feared so that the soul of him who feareth the Lord doth dwell as in rest so in goodness as in peace so in patience till this moment of time be swallowed up in the fulness of eternity and he change his earthly dwelling for an heavenly Mansion and his spiritual peace for an everlasting blessedness And when he that feareth the Lord shall be translated to that eternal bliss of which spiritual peace is the earnest and the blessed Sacrament the pledge that God whom he feared shall take care of his children that they by the blessing of his Providence as his seed shall inherit the earth which is the third blessedness the present comfort of an hopeful progeny § 13. His seed so near and dear are children especially good children to their parents that they are their very seed as if themselves were but as chaff or straw without them and to them as well as unto the Parents belong the promises for so saith God to Abraham Act. 2.39 Gen. 17.7 I will be thy God and the God of thy seed after thee true it is temporal promises were the reward of legal obedience but now spiritual and eternal mercies are the incouragements of our Evangelical righteousness yea Canaan being a type of Heaven the temporal promises under the Law were the typical figures of those spiritual blessings given us in promise under the Gospel So that though the generation of the righteous shall be blessed Psal 112.2 yet may a righteous generation lose the inheritance of their fathers their just possessions by unjust violence and this without breach of this promise that the seed of those who fear the Lord shall inherit the earth § 14. For that to inherit the earth as spoken of Canaan in the type doth represent us the Evangelical promise of inheriting Heaven as the thing typified of which heavenly inheritance they cannot be deprived by an earthly violence who are the righteous seed of him who feares the Lord Thus have we seen the blessedness of him that feareth the Lord blessed in the saving knowledge of Christs sacred will in the quiet peace of a good conscience and in the present comfort of a hopeful progeny all which is implied when David here says VVhat man is he that feareth the Lord him shall he teach in the way that he shall chuse his soul shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherit the earth § 15. To sum up all then what man is he that feareth the Lord that feareth lest he offend and feareth till he obtain pardon of his offences And therefore now that mercy comes down from heaven in this blessed Sacrament and rests upon this Ordinance as a sacred Mercy-seat he does not with Adam in the garden withdraw and hide himself in a distrustful fear but as Aaron in the Temple Gen. 3.6 he draws near in an
truth and holiness thou shalt recover the favour of thy God and renew thy communion with Christ a communion of grace and life conveyed and seal'd thee in thy Baptism Concerning which our Lord and Saviour gave in commission and instruction to his Apostles and in them to all the Ministers of his Gospel Go ye disciple all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. THE FIFTH SERMON UPON Matth. 28. V. 19. and part of the 20. Go ye Disciple all Nations Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you GOD as he is Alpha so is he Omega too Introduction as he is the efficient so is he the final cause of all his Creatures especially of Angels and Men Rev. 1.11 endued with Understanding and Will who as they issue from God the product of his power so do they return to God the complement of their happiness And therefore whilst the Soul of Man winged with desires hovers over the surface of this Worlds changes like Noahs Dove Gen. 8.9 it findes no footing till it center its restless motions upon this sure Ark of the Almighties fruition But now what is the way which leads to his rest what the path of truth which conducts us safe to the Lord of Life whilst we all stand under one starry roof as Men as Christians our desires tend to the same Heaven yet we seek not to ascend by the same Ladder we all aim at the same Goal yet run not all in the same race In this we agree That God is our rest that happiness is our end yea that truth is the way and Christ is the Truth John 14.6 Yet when we come to the profession of the Truth and Faith of Christ how do we presently part hands and dividing our selves into several Sects we chuse to our selves several paths and all pretend the right way Now what is the reason of all our distraction and division but this That what God hath joyned men put asunder even the Authority of the Scriptures and the Doctrine of the Church Both which are established by Christ in the Commission and Instruction he here gives his Apostles Go ye disciple all Nations teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you Having done with the former part of our Saviours Instruction the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our admitting into the School and Church of Christ by Baptism we proceed to the latter part the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our tutoring and training up by Doctrine which doctrine is prescribed as to the extent of its object to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things whatsoever Christ hath commanded Here then as the subject matter of our ensuing discourse we will insist upon these two particulars First The object of our Faith the Word of God in which we have Whatsoever hath been commanded of Christ to be taught Secondly The means of communicating this object and preaching this Word the Ministry of the Church by which we are taught whatsoever Christ hath commanded Explic. 1. The object of our Faith the Word of God in which we have Whatsoever hath been commanded of Christ to be taught That there is a natural Theology we willingly acknowledge but that there can possibly be any natural Christianity we utterly deny and therefore that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1.20 that which may be known of God in the visible things of the world it is not his infinite grace and love as a Redeemer but hi◠eternal power and Godhead as a Creator True it is then that a natural knowledge will serve us to understand the Creatures Dialect which loudly and plainly speaks the presence and power of a Deity but Psal 29 2. how to worship this Deity in a beauty of Holiness and so enjoy him in a communion of love must needs be the dictate of a supernatural Revelation especially and eminently called the Word of God Which Word of God the word of life and grace hath been delivered to the Church by the mouth of Moses and the Prophets of Christ and his Apostles registred and recorded in the several Books of the sacred Scriptures both of the Old Testament and of the New The Books of the Old Testament we receive transmitted to us from the Jews by an especial providence and divine appointment made faithful Registers and Bibliothists to the Christian Church for unto them were committed the Oracles of God Rom. 3.2 But now under the New Testament Heb. 1.1 2. God who at sundry times and in divers manners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in different measures of light and divers manners of revelation spake in times past to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days in which the Church shall receive no more alteration or innovation from God as to the general form of his Worship and Truth but after this state follows eternity even in these last days God hath spoken unto us by his Son who being the onely begotten in the Bosom of the Father John 1.18 that is most intimately one with him not in a meer conjunction of love but in a near union of Nature and communion of Attributes he hath declared yea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath by divine Revelation expounded the Mysteries of the Godhead in his Communications of Grace unto his Church The Service then of God in the Old Testament Heb 9.1 that of the first Tabernacle and worldly Sanctuary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sanctuary earthly and material this did stand in meats and drinks Vers 10. and divers washings and carnal Ordinances imposed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laid as a burden upon the Jews till the times of the New Testament the time of Reformation the coming of the Messiah who should reform the Ecclesiastical state by abolishing what was earthly and carnal and by establishing what is heavenly and spiritual So that now Joh. 4.24 now God being a Spirit they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth in Spirit that 's in opposition to the carnal Ordinances and in Truth that 's in opposition to the typical Sacrifices or in Spirit for the purity and in Truth for the sincerity of his Worship which must neither be Superstitious nor Hypocritical Having then shewed you where it is that we have the Word of God even in the Books of sacred Scriptures I shall proceed to describe this Word unto you in its inherent Attributes and its transient operations 1. In its inherent Attributes especially its full sufficiency and its self authority 1. It s full sufficiency The holy Scriptures they are the heavenly store-house from whence the Church of Christ is furnished with all spiritual provision of heavenly Doctrine whether it be of Faith or of manners They are the full treasury in which are laid up for the Church her inestimable riches of divine Promises and spiritual Blessings Profitable they are First
Will the Preaching of which Word Christ hath committed to the Pastors of his Church And Oh the dignity and charge of their sacred Function Mal. 2.7 Whose lips are appointed to preserve knowledge and that men should seek the Law at their mouths So that when we speak it ought to be with that care and Conscience 1 Pet 4 11. as delivering to you the very Oracles of God O si quando loquamur ut Oracula vivamus ut numina Oh that when we speak unto you the Oracles of Gods truth that we then did present our selves examples of his holiness That so our lives integrity might be Et Censura Disciplina 2 Cor. 4.7 both a Censure and a Discipline to others enormity but We have our treasure in Earthen vessels Further yet this of Davids inquiring St. Hierome renders by an attendere and others by a visitare a visiting and attending Gods Temple And indeed though true it is That to the devout Saint and Servant of God every day is a Sabbath and every place a Temple yet as this does not exempt us from the observation of the Lords day so nor from the frequenting Gods House for as the one is a set and holy time so is the other a separate and holy place for his Publick worship according to that Levit. 19.30 Ye shall observe my Sabbaths and reverence my Sanctuary which was spoken to the Jew in the Letter but to the Christian in the Analogy And strange it is That they should be so remiss in reverencing Gods Sanctuary who yet seem so zealous for observing his Sabbaths dis-joyning in their practise what God hath so near joyned in his Precept But that we are to visit Gods Sanctuary and there attend his service is not onely from the precept of holy Scripture but also from the dictate of Divine Reason which is this That we are all to be considered in a double capacity as to our particular persons and our Political Relations Which Political Relations are especially two the first as to Civil Community the second as to Mystical Communion Now as in Temporal Matters we have our private places for our private affairs but publick Halls for publick services So in Spiritual Matters we have our private Closets for our private Devotions but publick Temples for publick Worship Civil Communion as Members of some Corporation requires the former and no less doth our Mystical Communion as Members of the Church require the latter But observe further David though so glorious a King yet will become an attendant in Gods house O the haughty pride then of the meaner Peasant Psal 95.6 who will not bow nor bend not fall down and worship in Gods Sanctuary O the haughty pride I say of the meaner Peasant For who are they that so much contemn the Worship and despise the reverence due to God in his Temple are they the mighty Kings or the truly Noble no but the meanest and the lowest of the people Thus whilst we see the Potentate prostrate we behold the Peasant stiff in Gods service yea at present do we not behold the servant covered whilst the Master is bare in Gods presence Strange disorder as unreasonable as it is irreverent which to reform know all actions we say in the Schools are specified ab objecto fine from their object and their end what then is civil in respect of men and secular Affairs is Religions in respect of God and his glory And thus bowing the Knee uncovering the Head and the like which are civil actions in a respect to men they become Religious and Divine having God for their object and his glory for their end The Soul actuating the Body an holy Fear actuating the Soul and the Spirit of God actuating that holy Fear So that apertio capitis a mans uncovering of the Head in Gods House is a part of Worship and a keeping the Head bare is a continued worshipping and if so then not to bare the Head is irreverence if not prophanation David here though a mighty Prince yet of a far more humble temper then the meanest Aâ—tisan of our age he thinks it no indignity to his Royal person but rather a delight to his devout Soul to attend Gods service he will leave his Pallace to visit Gods Temple and quit his Throne to wait at Gods Altar For so says the Psalmist to declare the fervor of his Devotion One thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of Lord all the days of my life to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his Temple We proceed to Application Applic. 1. To give you several seasonable Admonitions know It is the Prophets title which best adorns and beautifies the Christians Temple Ezek. 48.35 even Jehovah Shammah The Lord is there And where the Lord is there will be his Servants the holy Angels are in their Masters House they we may be sure frequent our Publick Meetings Yea doubtless nothing done on Earth is more joyous to the Angels or formidable to the Divels then the united Prayers and fighs and tears and lauds and praises of Gods Saints in Gods Sanctuary Wherefore if it be the presence of God of Christ and of the Angels which makes the place of Gods worship beautiful we may truly say of Gods Sanctuary Psal 45.13 what is said of the Kings Daughter It is all glorious within It s chief Beauty consists not in the outward Forms but the inward Mysteries not in the stately structure but the gracious presence not in the visible Congregation but the invisible Communion the Beauty is not the object of bodily but of Spiritual eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. de graec affect cur Serm. 11. it is of such things as Faith doth Minister and present unto us And therefore we cannot but justly reprove those who boast of their knowledge and cry up their Faith as if they were the onely men of a quick sight and peircing eye Whereas they have so thick a film of prejudice and prophaneness that they cannot behold with David the beauty of the Lord in his Sanctuary Know vain men that for the accomplishment of true delight there must be not onely a pleasing object but also a prepared faculty and if there be no affection in the faculty there can be no fruition of the object Hence it is that the rarest harmony affects not the Asses ear so nor heavenly delights earthly mindes and why not because there is no pleasantness in the object but no fitness in the subject no fitness either of faculty or of affection either of faculty to discern or of affection to desire Wherefore O ye prophane men and dissolute mindes know The reason why you are not taken with the Beauty of the Lord in the service of his Sanctuary it is because either prejudice and error hath blinded your judgments or the flesh and the world
have deaded your affections so that either you do not see what is visible to the Spiritual eye or do not desire what is delightful to the devout Heart Such a heart as that of Davids who makes it his unum petii One thing have I desired of the Lord c. But further yet well does David make this the end and reason of his dwelling in the Lords House That he may behold his Beauty for how many are there who never behold the Lords beauty whilst they are in his House They are happily as forward to come to Gods Temple as David they desire it ay and seek it too but what is it to see God or rather to be seen themselves is it to behold the Beauty of the Lord or is not rather O the bewitching folly and cursed Atheism of some mens hearts is it I say to behold the Beauty of the Lord or not rather to behold the Beauty of some Lady Tell me O thou prophane wanton Is it not some Mistress that masters thy Devotion Tell me thou gaudy Minion is it not more to shew thy self then serve thy God is it not more that others may see thy beauty then that thou maist see the Beauty of the Lord Are not these the Motives and Reasons of too too many who resort to Gods House I appeal to your own bosoms and if so no wonder if they who are blinded with the filth and folly of their own lusts cannot see the Beauty and Loveliness of Gods house The Beauty of the Lord as it is not the prospect of every place so nor is it the object of every eye 1 Cor. 2.14 The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned No wonder then if they taste not the sweetness of Davids delight who see not the beauty which ravisheth him which beauty is not seen by the Eye of Sense but the Eye of Faith And this Eye is set in the heart not in the head for so David taken and ravished with this Beauty of the Lord Psal 57.7 he cries out My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed Oh Beloved Know that when an humble penitent and enlarged suppliant feels a secret ardor of Divine love and then comes to bear a part in that holy Worship which is presented before the Throne of Grace holds Communion with the Saints and Angels and is accepted by the God of Heaven as perfumed by the Incense of Christs Merits Oh this this is more beautiful and lovely more pleasing and joyous to the devout Soul then to sway the Scepter of the Universe and command a confluence of all this Worlds delights Confident I am Rev. 4.10 those four and twenty Elders in the Revelations had more joy and delight in casting down their Crowns and Worshiping the Lamb then ever Monarch had in wearing his Crown though Domitian-like he were adored by men And here to restrain mens irreverence in the Church Let me use alike argument to that of Lycurgus to restrain a desired parity in the State It is said of Lycurgus That when the Lacedemonians required an equality in their Government he wished them first to begin it in their Houses and this did presently instruct them to know That par in parem non habet imperium where there is parity there can be no good rule As thus Lycurgus to restrain the Lacedemonian parity in the State so to restrain mens irreverence in the Church I say Beloved do ye when ye serve God here as ye require them to do who serve you at home that is as you expect they should give you a civil respect in your houses so do you give God a Religious reverence in his Temple otherwise it will be apparent you are more sensible of your own honor then of Gods and esteem more of your own houses then his Or else it will appear you prophanely think the Church not to be Gods House nor the Service there his Worship A prophaneness diametrically opposite to Davids Devotion in his Unum petii One thing have I desired c. 2. Be we exhorted acrording to Davids example Aperto vivere vâ—to openly to profess our devotion and zeal to Gods House declare our judgment and affection for Gods Worship even then when we cannot give our presence and attendance in his Sanctuary There is none but thinks the Churches present pressure to be the Clergies tryal and true indeed it is so yet to be driven from Pulpit and Altar from Sanctuary and Service is no new thing to us that hath been our tryal again and again in all which we have to the eye and ear of the whole world witnessed by our sufferings our hearty good will and zeal to Gods House Wherefore know Beloved this tryal is also and more especially the peoples to prove their sincerity whether they have had a respect to the presence of God or of men in attending the service of his Sanctuary for Fashion or for Conscience If for Conscience they will then follow the Lamb whither soever he goes Rev. 4.14 they will follow Christ wheresoever he presents himself in his Ordinances even in private Communion with a desire and longing after the Publick Congregation We say the presence of the King makes the Court and as it was told Commodus ibi Roma ubi Augustus There is Rome Herodian l. 1. where is the Emperor so there is the Church where is Christ Christ in hâ—s Ordinances there is his Sanctuary where is his service And it is no new thing to have the Ark brought into the house of Abinadab 1 Sam. 7.1 changing its publick seat for a private habitation Now I bless God for this opportunity of vindicating the honor of his House that as the Jews when driven from Jerusalem yet prayed with their faces towards the Temple so ye if God shall suffer you to be deprived of his service may still pray with your desires fixt upon his Sanctuary longing to visit his Temple and behold the beauty of his Holiness And here seeing we are come into Gods house and that to feed at Christ Table do we so behold his beauty as to adore his presence adore it with the humblest reverence of a devout heart so worshipping God in his Sanctuary as Christ hath taught us to petition him in our Prayers even Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven See then what is our pattern in the Mount Rev. 4.10 11. 5.8 c. what is the precedent Angels and Saints give us in Heaven Why we have it in St. Johns Vision where the heavenly Spirits the Angels and Saints they worship they fall down and sing praise and this with consent of will and of worship keeping order and unity one posture of adoration one form of praise as one heart of devotion and one fire of love Now what better way in our aspirings after perfection then to imitate those who are perfect and so whilst Sojourners on Earth to have our conversation in Heaven whereas a multitude met together in the Church without Order and Discipline Non populus sed turba est It is not a Congregation but a tumult not an assembly but a rout Babilonem exhibet Bern. in dedicat Eccle. Ser. 5. de Hierusalem nihil habet as Bernard well Such a meeting speaks men of Babylon not of Jerusalem not Jerusalem which is above whose order and unity we have seen in St. Johns Vision and ought to imitate in Gods House To close As you behold the Beauty of the Lord in the form of the Churches ministration so above all behold it in the excellency and glory of the things ministred Behold we that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that good pleasure of the Lord wherewith he loveth us in Christ bringing life and salvation to our Souls in the death and passion of his Son See here that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greek Church calls it that portentum amoris that stupendous wonder and astonishing mystery of Divine love that God should give his Son and the Son give himself to be the Sacrifice for our sin on his Cross and the Food of our Souls at his Table And here O thou humble penitent and devout suppliant When thou hast tasted the sweetness and delights behold the beauty and glory of the Lord in this Contemplation of his Love with St. Austin I say unto thee Aliud desidera si majus si melius si suavius inveneris Go consider and desire contemplate and enjoy something else if any thing thou canst finde greater or better or sweeter greater in glory better in worth or sweeter in delights But if here thou beholdest a beauty to which all other excellency is a foil a glory to which all other lustre is a stain a delight to which all other pleasure is a bitterness If so then here center thy desires and take up Davids Unum petii One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his Temple Halleluiah FINIS
seized Zech. 12.2 how doth the Churches portion prove a cup of poison making them to vomit up not only the meat they have swallowed but their own bowels also even bring ruine upon themselves and their posterities § 2. And now Oh what shame and confusion shall be upon the soul when this guilt flies in the face and men find by sad experience Obad. 4. that though with Edom they have made their nest among the stars Ezek. 28.14 and become in the language of the Prophet speaking of Tyre tanquam Cherub extentus protegens as a Cherub spreading their wing and enlarging their power and protection over People and Nations yet having Tyres guilt they meet with Tyres doom their great glory does consume to ashes and their ruine's sealed with a non eris in perpetuum Vers 19. Thou shalt not be any more for ever Wherefore when we behold Riches heaped up by oppression and sacriledge Honor founded upon usurpation and violence worldly glory built upon the sandy foundation of a successful impiety then say we with Jacob Gen. 49 6. Psal 141.4 My soul come not thou into their secret And with David Let me not eat of their dainties lest partaking of their sin and guilt we partake with them in their shame and punishment Yea as the best guard of the soul against the suggestions of Satan and seductions of men make we Davids prayer our petition invocating God in all fervor of devotion as the Psalmist here does Let me not be ashamed for I put my trust in thee Let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait on thee § 3. This the second part of Davids petition Let integrity and uprightness preserve me Integrity of heart like Elisha's salt it purgeth the spring and purifieth the streams it seasons our duties and keeps the soul sound under all its infirmities and failings The least grace sincere and saving it is like seed of a growing and an increasing nature and though hid under a heap of corruptions yet does it spring up to everlasting life Joh. 4.14 Take we a view of this uprightness and integrity as to its subject its end and its object 1. The subject the inward man without which all outward performances they are Pharisaical obedience for God is a Spirit Joh 4.23 and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth And thus the Apostle I delight in the law of God after the inward man Rom. 7.22 In religious services then the integrity is that of the heart so that in what the heart does not act God does not accept Isa 29 13 14. the performance of the outward duty without the concurrence of the inward man being as a body without a soul and meet formal professors though they wear Christs livery yet do they serve themselves § 4. 2. The end the principal and ultimate is Gods glory to which there are many subordinate and subservient as the good of his Church the salvation of our souls the welfare of our Country the benefit of our families and the like But now we must observe it is too low a judgment of integrity to take its measure from the more near and immediate ends of actions we must eye therefore the principal and ultimate end the glory of God 1 Cor. 10.31 A sincere aim at which sacred end does lay the soul level and eaven in its desires which otherwise would warp and bend according to the sway of some base lusts and vile affections But notwithstanding this pure aim at Gods glory Heb. 11.26 seeing Moses hath a respect to the recompense of reward Heb. 12.2 and our Saviour himself had an eye to the joy that was set before him It will be no hypoâ—ritical affection but a devout encouragement to quicken our pace in the way of holiness from this Scripture-motive our own salvation and happiness I call it a Scripture-motive then which nothing is more frequently urged in sacred Scripture § 5. And indeed whether Gods glory or Mans happiness be considered as co-ordinate one with another or as subordinate one to another sure I am they are inseparable one from another no man can rightly aim at his own happiness without a respect to Gods glory nor yet aim at Gods glory without a respect to his own happiness For what is it to attain happiness but fully to enjoy God Psal 36.6 Psal 17.16 Psal 16.11 and what is it fully to enjoy God but to attain happiness So then Gods glory is mans felicity and mans felicity is Gods glory true it is some pious souls and learned pens have made it a note of integrity to love God though theâ—e were no heaven But besides the nicety of the Metaphysical abstraction if rightly considered it implies a contradiction 1 Joh. 4 8. for seeing God is love what is there in heaven which is not contained in the love of God And whereas hereby they think to cleer pure love from the stain of being mercenary it is but a needless attempt for that omnis amor mercedis non est mercinarius Ps 16.5 Lam. 3.24 Gen. 17.1 all love of reward is not mercenary love for that God who is our portion is our reward and if so to love our reward is to love God § 6. 3 The object whatsoever God commands which is to be done ut mandavit quia mandavit according to his will and because of his soveraignty To do what but not as God commands is disobedience 1 Sam. 15.19 as with Saul in the case of Amalek Again to do as God commands but not because he commands is hypocrisie as with Jehu in the case of Baal Jehu 2 King 10.30 31. he is zealous in reforming yet not to advance Gods glory but his own greatness But further of those things which God hath commanded Integrity respects the credenda as well as the agenda the doctrines of faith as well as the duties of obedience For it is easie to observe how the Apostles in their several Epistles are as zealous in their reproofs and as hot in their zeal against evil doctrines as against evil lives against false Teachers as against lewd Livers yea and accordingly in their exhortations and instructions they join the necessity of a true faith with that of a good conscience § 7. To practise holiness and profess heresie and to profess truth but practise prophaneness are both opposite to Davids integrity and uprightness for sincere faith can no more dispense with any doctrines revealed then holy life with any precepts declared in Gods word Yea Gal. 5.19.20 2 Pet. 2 1. ask the Apostles and they will tell us Heresies as well as Prophanenesses they are works of the flesh they are damnable yea bring swift damnation False teachers as well as lewd livers they deny the Lord that bought them Jud. 4. and are prepared of old to destruction Wherefore a holding fast the true
quicken our zeal of hungring desires and oft-times suffers the assaults of some sensual lust to pull down or prevent the haughtiness of spiritual pride So that our growth in grace is then real when it is not apparent it is always true though not always equal there being no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the members of Christs body Eph. 4 16. Col. 2.19 but still an effectual working of his Spirit and grace in each part of the New man 2. When God and Christ have the greatest measure the highest degree of thy will love and desire though thine heart is not so enlarg'd thy spirit not so chearful thy duties not so pleasant yet are thy graces saving and sincere Saving and sincere making God in Christ thine end on whom thou dost fix thine intentions aims and affections for the attainment and enjoyment of him And this is a sure sign God is thine end that thou art so disquieted in his seeming absence from thy soul For what we most highly prize Ps 7â— 25.25 Ps 2â— 1 Ps 143 7. we are most careful to keep most joyous to possess most grieved to lose and most troubled to want 3. There is less danger and more hope of a languishing afflicted and mournful then of a rais'd ravish'd and transported Soul Humility and holy fear shall preserve the former whilst pride and presumption destroys the latter For whilst proud conceits fanatick dreams and false joys fill the sails how many how very many do run themselves upon the rocks even the rocks of presumption and spiritual pride Rev. 3 17. â—am 4.6 whereas God giveth grace unto the humble 4. When the soul by mortification struggles with the motions by prayer contests with the suggestions and by vows contends with the sollicitations of sin then the corruptions of heart do not so much argue a decay as the oppositions of soul do prove an increase of grace which increase if it be not in that growth which is upward in the sprouting of the branches yet is it in that which is downward in the spreading of the root Col. 2.7 Mat. 11.29 Mat. 5.3 Rom. 5.1 2. and by how much grace is the more firmly rooted in humility and poverty of spirit by so much shall it the more abundantly flourish in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost The Rules of Direction 1. Go not about to judge of thy Spiritual estate in an unseasonable time or by uncertain signs 1. Not in an unseasonable time as is that of temptation when the Mind is clouded the Conscience afflicted and the Spirit wounded Ps â—7 10 what were this but to take a Prospect in a Mist or to view a Country in a Storm 2. Not by uncertain signs Many signs beget much perplexities Confident I am the formality of multiplying marks and signs hath more puzled then pacified more entangled then resolved doubting and troubled Consciences For among ten or twelve or more Signs of Grace which some give as if they would make up with number what is wanting in weight the soul that questions but one often shall be more dejected and afflicted with that one then rais'd and comforted with all the other nine True it is Formae nos latent the essential forms are hid from us is true in natural much more in spiritual things and therefore in Divinity our Demonstrations are still a posteriori discovering the cause by the effect Wherefore we must observe that the effects we set up as signs be such as are most proper and immediate to the cause and then I am sure they cannot be many and those that are Isa 57.18 19. they will be full convincing the Judgment and comforting the tender Conscience Thus we discover the fire by its heat the sun by its light whereas to discover the sun by its heat or the fire by its light may prove erroneous though we know light is in the fire and heat is in the sun yet not so immediately but that there may be light where there is no heat and there may be heat where there is no light Thus to discover sanctifying and saving grace by this sign of joy and delight in holy duties is by an effect more remote from the cause and the cause may really be without this effect For how many gracious hearts and sanctified souls even such as we are now conversing with do languish in trouble and are opprest with grief So that if joy and delight in holy duties must be the evidence of their saving graces Psal â—7 and Psal 88. there is no remedy but they must lie down in sorrow and it is not any present ministration shall afford them comfort till Gods mercy make good the sign which mans imprudence hath prescribed Know then one proper sign rightly apprehended and truly applied is a Rule of trial which concludes in it all that can be given And amongst other signs of saving grace Poverty of spirit with an hungring and thirsting after righteousness is as immediate and infallible as any can be nam'd Wherefore 2. Lay hold on the Promise in its sweetness of divine truth so suitable to the condition of thine afflicted estate Hear thy Saviours words Blessed are the poor in spirit Matth. 5 3. vers 4. vers 6. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven And again Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Yea Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Lay up these Promises in thine heart as thy sure delight prize them as thy treasure feed on them as thy Manna given of God to refresh thy soul in the Wilderness of this afflicting world Build thou thy peace upon this pillar suck the sweet comforts of the Spirit from these breasts of consolation Isa 66.12 Apply these healing medicines to thy wounded Conscience by a discursive meditation awaken thy heart and incite thy will to close with God and with Christ in the mercy and truth of the promise saying in Davids self-expostulation Why art thou cast down O my soul Psal 42.11 and why art thou disquieted within me Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Or as the devout Psalmist again Return unto thy rest O my soul Psal 116 7. for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Thus as chasing the benumb'd limbs with hot oils will recover their former warmth and life so plying the sadded heart with quickening thoughts will restore its former peace and comfort And when thou feelest a secret heat of divine grace keep the fire burning ply it with zealous affections those zealous affections rais'd in devout meditations those devout meditations fixt upon the promises those promises founded upon Christ as Mediator and upon God in him as Fountain of all grace and love 3. Keep an open passage betwixt God and thy soul hold fast an humble converse and heavenly communion with him Eph. 1.3 as in
are fastned unto Pillars so the Word of Truth the Gospel of Christ is committed to the Church to be held forth to the veiw and proposed to the faith of all 1 John 4.6 Wherefore St. John he gives this infallible note of true Doctrine that it holds fast a conformity to and a communion with the Church of Christ Hereby says the Apostle hereby know we the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error the spirit of error that seeks a separation from and the Spirit of truth that holds a communion with the holy men of God in the several parts of the World and the several ages of the Church both as to the practise of Holiness and Doctrines of Faith To establish us then against those Impostures which withdrawing us from the Church Seduce us into Heresie To establish us I say against those impostures observe we the Apostles seasonable admonition That we be not soon shaken in minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Thes â— 2 not removed from our judgement and faith in the Scriptures to which we have been directed in which we have been instructed by the Church of Christ not thus removed by Spirit or Word however pretended to be Apostolical and Holy yea however asserted to be Angelical and Divine 2 Cor. 11.14 for that Satan the Prince of Darkness is oftentimes transformed in the Hypocritical pretences of truth and holiness into an Angel of light But O Beloved that which heightens the sin and shall heighten the condemnation of our days Apostates is this That they joyn themselves to those works and workers of darkness which have not so much as the appearance and shew of light For that now wicked men they have fronted themselves with Judah s impudence They declare their sin as Sodom they hide it not Isa 3.9 And though Heresie and Schism with their so inseparable concomitants Sacriledge and Prophaneness though they have put of their mask of truth and holiness yet are not men affrighted with their ugliness but as if the Hellish deformity were some heavenly beauty they are woed and won to an embracing those Doctrines and a pursuing those practises which even startle and amaze the souls and mindes of the truly religious Rev. 12.4 But blessed be God the Dragons Tail is not so long as to sweep away all the Stars of Heaven amidst the thickest of Heresies and Schisms God does and will preserve himself a remnant John 4 24. to worship him in spirit and in truth a remnant approved in the faith and manifest by their works For so says our Apostle There must be also Heresies among you but by the wisdom of Gods providence ordered to this end That they which are approved may be made manifest among you 2. General part the Premunition Explic. and therein of the first particular the Apostles fore-arming them with constancy in the Faith that they be approved Mercy and Justice they are the two Pillars of Gods Throne of Majesty whereon he sits as King in the Supremacy of his will to govern by the wisdom and power of his providence all things in Heaven and in Earth So that of all humane actions God he is no bare spectator but an All-powerful and an All-wise disposer what is good he working it by his grace rewards it with his bounty and what is evil he permitting it with patience he revengeth it by his justice but whether good or evil as he sways all by his power so he disposeth all by his wisdom ordering it to these sacred ends his peoples spiritual advantage and his own eternal glory Wherefore that Heresies permitted of God do spring up spread themselvs in the Church Chrysost in Act. Apost Hom 33 Aug Eâ—chirid c. 61 de Cor. Grat. c. 10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the language of St Chrysostome it comes to pass by Providential dispensation The wisdom of God having determined it more suitable to the glory of his providence ex malis hona elicere quam nulla esse permittere as St. Augustine more suitable to the glory of his providence to bring good out of evil then not to suffer evil at all to be And therefore the Schools in their Tracts of Gods providence tell us aright That if God did not suffer some evil we should want much good Aquin. 1. q. 21. art 2. Non enim esset vita Leonis si non esset occisio animalium If there were no slaughter of Beasts there would be no life of the Lyon and so were there no persecution of Tyrants there would be no patience of Martyrs were there no opposition of Heresie there would be no honor or reward in the approbation of the truth Now as Persecution doth exercise the Patience so does Heresie try the Faith of Gods chosen and to this end doth God order this That Faith having its tentation and tryal Vt fides habendo tentationem haberet etiam probationem Tert. de Praescript Aug Serm. 98. de temp may have its approbation and reward Yea as St. Augustine speaks God suffers the Catholick Faith to be impugned and opposed by Heretical Doctrine Ut fides nostra non otio Torpescat sed multis exercitationibus Elimetur That our Faith may not grow sluggish and rusty with ease but become more quickened and polished by exercise And hereby indeed are exercised all the edifying gifts and sanctifying graces of the Orthodox their edifying gifts of knowledge of prophecy of tongues c. Their sanctifying graces of humility meekness charity c. All which as they are opposed so are they exercised and as they are exercised so are they improved by the subtleties hypocrisies and pertinacies of the Heretical As for the Doctrine of Faith Chrysost in Act. Apost hom 33. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Trees shaken with the winds more firmly fix their Roots in the Earth so the doctrines of Faith discussed by the oppositions of Heresie more deeply fix their truth in the Church But what is it not a seeming Paradox that the doctrines of Faith should be the more clean for the foul hands of Heresie Why for this know it is as Brass Inscriptions appear the better by foul feet not from the dirt but from the rubbing Thus the doctrines of Faith become the more dilucide and clear not from the Error but from the examinations of Heresie For whilst the subtlety and pertinacy of Hereticks do stir up the wisdom and industry of the Orthodox Theological Verities and Gospel Mysteries Aug. de Civiâ— Dei l. 16. c. â— Et considerantur diligentius intelliguntur clariùs They are more strictly examined and more clearly understood And therefore does St. Augustine the Hammerer of Hereticks whose Pen was of all the Fathers the most imployed against Heresies and Schisms even he professeth himself to be of the number of those Qui proficiendo scribunt scribendo proficiunt Aug. ep 7. ad Marcel who in improving their
Not onely yearly or monethly but even daily new Doctrines of Faith and all from the pretended new Revelations and new discoveries of the Spirit Yea from the influence of this Vulgar Error it is That the meanest Artisans become the chief Preachers the Day-laborer in the Brick a Master builder of the Temple from hence it is That Sacriledge is expunged the Decalogue the Lords Prayer and the Creed banished the Church and all disorder and confusion breaks in like a flood That you may know then we heartily desire to preserve your common right and special blessing of reading the sacred Scriptures against the Papists as well as prevent the particular abuse and fatal mischief of corrupting the holy Word by the Factious Observe We acknowledge that the holy Scriptures in Truths absolutely necessary to Salvation they are plain and easie but 2 Pet. 3.16 in Mysteries excellently profitable for edification they are in many places dubious and difficult to be understood Wherefore we allow every private person a Judgment of Discretion to apply what is easie and plain but not a Power of Interpretation to expound what is difficult and dubious Certainly John 5.39 2 Pet 3.18 every man is bound to search the Scriptures that he may know and improve that knowledge too of Gods will Yea bound he is to apply what he reads and reading understands for the ordering his conversation in Truth and Holiness in Faith and obedience Thus then you see we by no means like that Popish stupidity that you should live like Horse and Mule without understanding No more then we like that factious frenzy that every man should think himself more then Doctor of the Chair to interpret Scripture by his private Spirit Wherefore for the true Interpretation of Scripture observe We admit the Judgment of the Church as a Trusty Guide and the Opinion of the Learned as a Rational Argument but we approve the Scripture it self as an Infallible Rule clearing those Texts which are dark and doubtful by those places which are more plain evident being still careful to keep close to the Analogy of Faith consisting in those principles of Christianity which are clearly set forth in Scripture and generally receiv'd of the Church What think you now then Beloved he who is not acquainted with the Judgment of the Church and so wants his Trusty Guide he who is not acquainted with the Opinions of the Learned and so wants his Rational Argument he who is not well instructed in the Principles of Religion and so knows not the Analogy of Faith he who is not skilled in the Language and Phrase and Method of the Scripture and so wants his Infallible Rule is such a person however he may pretend to the Spirit is such a person think you fit to be an Interpreter of the Word Wherefore to interpret Scriptures by the Spirit not being qualified as to the use of means for right Interpretation it is certainly most certainly plain Enthusiasm A phanatick presumption the greatest evidence of the Spirit of Error being so opposit in act and operation to the order and method of the Spirit of Truth Object But here the Enthusiast to prove his interpeting Scripture by the Spirit to be lawful and right he urgeth that of St. Paul as his Herculean Argument 1 Cor. 2.14 That the Spiritual man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intelligit ac discernit as Beza renders it he understands and discerns Judicat as the Vulgar Latin and our English he judgeth and that all things in matters of Faith and of Manners of Doctrine and of Conversation So that what needs more to interpret Scripture then to have the Spirit the case seems clear if St. Paul may decide the Question Answ But stay no Triumph before Victory To this I answer The same Apostle who saith The spiritual man judgeth all things says also 1 Cor. 14.32 The Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets where by Prophets are especially intended the Interpreters of the Scriptures and that the Enthusiast himself will readily acknowledge Now then observe If the Spiritual man will interpret Scripture by the Spirit he must remember That his spirit must be subject to the Prophets submit unto the Judgment of the Church in those holy Interpreters which have gone before him or which are now surviving with him Otherwise he is not spiritual but carnal carnally puft up with the pride of his own spirit which he blasphemously calls the Motion of Gods Spirit Thus then to interpret Scripture by the Spirit according to St. Pauls direction taking the Church for our Guide holy Expositors for our Instruction there can be no just quarrel at our Interpretation For that we keep to the right Rule and Line to the Polar Star and the skilful Pilot the happy Union of what the Text hath joyned the Word of God and the Ministry of the Church for so is the Instruction of our Saviour in his Commission to his Apostles Go ye disciple all Nations Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you 1. By vertue of our Ministerial charge we do here Applic. in foro Conscientiae in the Court of Conscience arraign and condemn the Heresies and Schisms of our present times of that so horrid though so common sin of Scripture-Sacriledge men surreptitiously stealing away the true meaning or prophanely corrupting the proper phrase of Gods Word thereby making the Delphick Oracle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sacred Scriptures I mean to speak that sense which the Spirit of Error hath imposed not the Spirit of Truth revealed Church-Sacriledge and Scripture-Sacriledge they commonly go together they who will prophane the House of God will not stick to corrupt the Word of Christ and they who will not spare to defile his Worship will not care to pervert his Truth Wherefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz oâ—at 36. Rev. 22.18 19. as for the Sacrilegious invaders of the Holy Scriptures whether they be such as violate the Letter or such as pervert the Sense let them see the guilt of their sin in the horror of its punishment denounced by St. John saying I testifie unto everyman that heareth the words of the Prophecy of this Book If any man shall adde unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book And if any man shall take away from the words of the Book of this Prophecy God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life and out of the Holy City and from the things which are written in this Book O dreadful Commination God will assuredly cut him off from benefit by the Testament of Christ who shall by Heretical forgery either detract or corrupt it The Gospel of Christ is his Testament and if it be but a Mans Testament how much more when it is The Testament of God being confirmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being by Legal Authority ratified and declared Authentick No man disannulleth Gal.
of Mediator that he is the head of the body the Church In this observe three branches of divine mysteries upon which we shall insist by Explication and gather some fruit from each branch by Application The branches of divine mysteries these 1. How Christ is said to be the Head of the Church 2. What the Church is of which he is Head And 3. How the Church of Christ of which he is Head is said to be a Body 1. How Christ is said to be the Head of the Church viz. In thâ—se four particulars 1. The fulness of his perfection 2. The excellency of his glory 3. The lively operations of his Spirit 4. The real communication of his benefits 1. The fulness of his perfection S. Paul writing of the mysteries of Grace Eph. 1.10 tells us of God gathering together in one all things in Christ The Original expresseth it by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which S. Hierom renders by a recapitulari as a metaphor taken from the manner of Orators whose usual art it is to sum up the chief parts of the whole Oration in a short yet full Epilogue Thus hath God made Christ as Head of the Church to be a recapitulation or compendium of all the excellencies in the creatures So that whatsoever was eminent in the Patriarks Kings or Prophets whatsoever was glorious in the creation of the World or promulgation of the Law whatsoever glory was in Moses's Sanctuary Solomon's Temple or the Jewish Sacrifices whatsoever grace is in his Saints or excellency in the Angels All that and what more can possibly be expressed or conceived it is an higher degree of perfection and in a greater measure of fulness comprised and contained in him who is the Fountain of all Christ Jesus the Head of the Church This this our Apostle makes the very formal constituting cause of Christs office and dignity as Mediator and Head of the Church that in him all fulness dwells even the fulness of grace of wisdom of power and of the Divinity it self According to that of the Apostle to his Colossians Col. 2.9 In him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no temporary sojourning but a perpetual habitation In him dwells the fulness of the Godhead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodily not in shadows and figures but in substance and truth not meerly by a vertual operation but even in a personal union God he dwells in Heaven by his glorious presence in the hearts of his Saints by his gracious Spirit but in Christ alone by union hypostatical From which hypostatical union does flow Christs fulness of perfection And needs must he have the greatest fulness in whom are hid the richest treasures Col. 2.3 the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of righteousness and truth of peace and of joy of holiness and of happiness Yea as in the Head is the source of all the Senses so in Christ the fulness of all the Graces And thus is Christ the Head of the Church for his fulness of perfection 2. The excellency of his glory The Head is most noble and excellent in the body natural and so is Christ in the body mystical Joh. 1.21 He is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Prophet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by an excellency above all the Prophets So that Joh. 1.18 though no man hath seen God at any time yet the only begotten in the bosom of the Father this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this the Prophet he hath revealed him He is that Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec Heb 5.6 Heb. 4.14 that High-Priest that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that great High-Priest who by his own blood hath passed into the Heavens and ever lives to make intercession for us 1 Pet. 5 4. Joh. 10.11 He is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that chief Shepherd that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that one and only Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep and delivers his Lambs from the mouth of the Lyon He it is whose name is Wonderfull Isa 9.6 1 Tim. 6.15 Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of peace He is that the blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the blessed even blessedness it self Gal. 3.8.16 in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed The highest excellency of Christ's glory is set forth unto us by his sitting at the right hand of the Father where the right hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 metaphorically and after the manner of men Ps 44.3 Ps 110.1 Ps 16.11 is transferred to God which signifies in the language of the sacred Scriptures sometimes might and power sometimes majesty and glory sometimes eternal joy and perfect felicity in all which respects Christ alone is said to be set at the right hand of his Father though in might majesty and happiness equal to the Father according to his Godhead yet ad dextram Patris at the right hand that is next indeed yet inferior to the Father according to his manhood Ps 45.9 And thus in that Allegorical Hymn and Spiritual Epithalamium it is said Upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in gold of Ophir that is The Church clothed with glory is seated in perfect felicity next to Christ as Christ is next to his Father To close then viz. Upon Ascension-day This is what the Church commemorates the highest degree of Christs exaltation in might majesty and happiness that He is set down at the right hand of God And thus having finish'd the work of mans redemption after his many humiliations in the body he is exalted in the same body and whereas his Divinity was clouded in his humiliation Eph. 4.8 it shines forth gloriously in his exaltation when ascending up on high he leads Captivity captive and entring the heavenly Jerusalem he is invested and adored crowned and worshipped as King of Angels and Saints Head of the body the Church This the second particular Christ the Head of the Church as for the fulness of his perfection so for the excellency of his glory 3. The lively Operations of his Spirit As the head gives sense and motion to the body so does Christ a quickening and actuating vigor to his Church Act. 17.28 By him we live move and have our being Mal 4.2 Joh. 1.9 as in life natural so in life spiritual whether it be that of Grace or that of Glory He is the Sun of Righteousness that true light which lighteth every one that cometh into the World He is the overflowing and ever flowing Fountain of whose fulness do we all receive grace for grace Joh. 1.16 From him we have the grace of Justification by his blood the grace of Sanctification by his Spirit He it is that ingrafts faith in us and strengthens it that kindles Charity
blessed be his holy Name that he is pleased to vouchsafe us here the visible face of a Church amidst the Churches so many blind-foldings and buffetings in this her enemies hour Luke 22.53 and power of darkness But because I know many of you come from far having your habitations where are no Churches no Churches as to the right Administration of the Word and Sacraments therefore let me minde you of what St. Paul admonisheth you Heb. 10.25 Not to forsake the assembling your selves together but to meet in a private participation and communion of the Ordinances where you cannot have them in publick And in so doing fear not the guilt or reproach of a Conventicle for be assured That it is not a Conventicle where Religious persons meet in private Administrations of Publick Forms but where Faction meets in the Administration of Private Forms opposite to Publick Order John 20.19 The Apostles we finde in a Private Meeting With the doors shut for fear of the Jews yea the Primitive Saints had their Crypta their secret places for Private Worship for fear of their Persecutors It is not then so much the place of worship as the form of service which makes the Conventicle even when that service is opposit to the established order of the Church whether the place be private or publick Be it so then that we are reduced to the persecuted condition of the Primitive Saints when their salutations run to Aquila and Priscilla Rom. 16.19 and the Church in their House Be it so that we are forced to celebrate the Eucharist as our Saviour did institute it Mark 14.15 in some inward or upper Room Be it so that whilst Heresie declaims in the Pulpit Truth be driven to the Desk yet know wheresoever we finde the Word truly preached the Faith sincerely profest the Sacraments rightly administred there we finde a visible Church with which we are to hold communion For that Christ hath there promised his gracious presence Matth. 18 20. who hath said That where two or three are thus met together in his Name he will be in the midst of them Thus we have done with the Explication of the first general part The description of Christ in the Dignity and Office of Mediator As the Head of the Body the Church I should proceed to the Twofold Relation from which this Description is raised that of Creator As the beginning of all things and that of Redeemer As the first-born from the dead And having opened unto you the Twofold Relation from whence the Description is raised I should proceed to the Threefold Reason whereby it is argued First From the final moving cause That in all things he might have the pre-eminence Secondly The efficient ordaining cause the good will and pleasure of the Father And thirdly The formal constituting cause the fulness of perfection dwelling in Christ These particulars seeing I cannot enlarge upon in Explication give me leave lightly to open by way of Paraphrase that so I may proceed to Application Know then Christ is the Head of the Body the Church as he is the beginning the first-born from the dead that is the Author of nature grace and glory the Fountain as of life natural so of life spiritual and life eternal not onely the Creator and Preserver of the living but also the Raiser and Restorer of the dead The first that rose to an immortal and incorruptible life and the Author as well as the Exemplar of all that shall rise to the like life incorruptible and immortal And wherefore this but that In all things he might have the pre-eminence Tam in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quam in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well in the Creation and natural estate of the World as in the Redemption and Spiritual estate of the Church Whether it be in Creation or Redemption in Conservation or Restauration in Grace or in Glory in Earth or in Heaven in Time or in Eternity in all Primas tenet He hath the pre-eminence But by what ordaining Power and Authority doth he obtain and possess this Dignity Why it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good will and pleasure of the Father who to this very end that Christ might be King and Head of his Church Lord Paramont above all principalities and powers he hath communicated to him all fulness All fulness of wisdom grace power and of the Divinity it self and this fulness is not that of the Vessel but of the Fountain it dwells in him So that though of his fulness do we all receive John 1.16 yet is not his grace to be exhausted he imparts his grace as the Sun his light without diminution of his fulness which fulness he hath as Head of the Body the Church c. 1. By way of Admonition that Applic. as in the Body there is a diversity of Members and in the Members a diversity of Functions Rom. 12.4 1 Cor. 12.12 c. yet in those divers Functions and different Members there is a mutual communion and a perfect concord the less honorable not invading the office of the more noble nor the more noble contemning the use of the less honorable So ought it to be in the Church where every one of the Faithful as a member hath his office his gift his function from Christ not so much in a regard to himself as in a relation to the whole community in which he hath his proper station order and degree appointed him of God which whosoever by emulation disturbs or by ambition violates he prophanes the Ordinance of God and sins against the goodness and wisdom of his Providence And as the hand usurping the office of the Eye or the Foot invading the Function of the Hand this Schism must needs tend both to each Members and the whole Bodies destruction Thus is it in the Church of Christ if the Mechanick shall invade the office of the Minister the Subject usurpe the office of the Soveraign Psal 77.23 Epis Winton If instead of the people led like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron wicked men shall invert the order and make Moses and Aaron to be led like sheep by the hand of the people Sure this Schism in the Body Mystical to say no worse like that in the Body Natural it must needs be dangerous and destructive to the whole even destructive to the people as well as to Moses and Aaron to Magistracy and Ministry even the State Civil and Ecclesiastical 2. Whatsoever is others Schism see we to our own sincerity that we be true Members of Christs Body which Body of Christ admits of no withered hands no wooden legs no prophane persons no formal Hypocrites but such as are truly justified through the Blood of Christ and sanctified by his Spirit of Grace Quid facit in demo fidei perfidum pectus so St. Cyprian What hath an Apostate to do with the houshold of Faith What hath a stranger