Acts 2. 42. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 S. Paul as himself saith bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ He and S. Peter and the rest of the Believers do the like more than once in the Acts of the Apostles What was Imposition of hands but an external gesture in an act of invocation for conferring a blessing and that perhaps sometimes without any vocal expression joyned therewith Besides I cannot conceive any reason why in this point of Evangelical worship Gesture should be more scrupled at than Voice Is not confessing praising praying and glorifying God by Voice an external 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 Saviour's meaning but some other Let us see if we can find 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 Evangelist termed Truth as Chap. 17. ver 17. and the Doctrine thereof by S. Paul the word of Truth See Ephes. Chap. 1. ver 13. Rom. 15. 8. The time therefore is now at hand said our Saviour when the true worshippers shall worship the Father no longer with bloudy 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 Iews and Samaritans to which our Saviour here makes answer which was not about worship in general but about the kind of worship in special which was confessed by both sides to be tied to one certain place only that is of worship by Sacrifice and the appendages in a word of the Typical worship proper to the first Covenant of which see a description Heb. 9. This Iosephus expresly testifies Lib. 12. Antiq. cap. 1. speaking of the Iews and Samaritans which dwelt together at Alexandria They lived saith he in perpetual discord one with the other whilst each laboured to maintain their Country customs those of Ierusalem affirming their Temple to be the sacred place whither sacrifices were to be sent the Samaritans on the other side contending they ought to be sent to Mount Garizim For otherwise who knows not that both Iews and Samaritans had other places of worship besides either of these namely their Proseucha's and Synagogues wherein they worshipped God not with internal only but external worship though not with Sacrifice which might be offered but in one place only And this also may seem to have been a Type of Christ as well as the rest namely that he was to be that one and only Mediator of the Church in the Temple of whose sacred body we have access unto the Father and in whom he accepts our service and devotions according to that Destroy this Temple and I will rear it up again in three days He spake saith the Text of the Temple of his Body This sense divers of the Ancients hit upon Eusebius Demon. Evang. Lib. 1. Cap. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not by Symbols and Types but as our Saviour saith in Spirit and Truth Not that in the New Testament men should worship God without all external services For the New Testament was to have external and visible services as well as the Old but such as should imply the verity of the promises already exhibited not be Types and shadows of them yet to come We know the Holy Ghost is wont to call the figured Face of the Law the Letter and the Verity thereby signified the Spirit As for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Spirit and Truth both together they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but once found in holy Writ to wit only in this place and so no light can be borrowed by comparing of the like expression any where else to expound them Besides nothing hinders but they may be here taken one for the exposition of the other namely that to worship the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with to worship him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But howsoever this exposition be fair and plausible yet methinks the reason which our Saviour gives in the words following should argue another meaning God saith he is a Spirit therefore they that worship him must worship in Spirit and Truth But God was a Spirit from the beginning If therefore for this reason he must be worshipped in Spirit and Truth he was so to be worshipped in the Old Testament as well as in the New Let us therefore seek another meaning For the finding whereof let us take notice that the Samaritans at whom our Saviour here aimeth were the off-spring of those Nations which the King of Assyria placed in the Cities of Samaria when he had carried away the Ten Tribes captive These as we may read in the second Book of the Kings at their first coming thither worshipped not the God of Israel but the gods of the Nations from whence they came wherefore he sent Lions amongst them which slew them Which they apprehending either from the information of some Israelite or otherwise to be because they knew not the worship of the God of the Country they informed the King of Assyria thereof desiring that some of the captiv'd Priests might be sent unto them to teach them the manner and rites of his worship which being accordingly done they thenceforth as the Text tells us worshipped the Lord yet feared their own Gods too and so did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Chrysostome speaks mingle things not to be mingled In this medley they continued about three hundred years till toward the end of the Persian Monarchy At what time it chanced that Manasse brother to Iaddo the High Priest of the returned Iews married the daughter of Sanballat then Governour of Samaria for which being expelled from Ierusalem by Nehemiah he fled to Sanballat his Father in Law and after his
example many other of the Iews of the best rank having married strange wives likewise and loth to forgo them betook themselves thither also Sanballat willingly entertains them and makes his son-in-Law Manasse their Priest For whose greater reputation and state when Alexander the Great subdued the Persian Monarchy he obtained leave of him to build a Temple upon Mount Garizim where his son-in-Law exercised the office of High Priest This was exceedingly prejudicious to the Iews and the occasion of a continual Schism whilst those that were discontented or excommunicated at Ierusalem were wont to betake themselves thither Yet by this means the Samaritans having now one of the sons of Aaron to be their Chief Priest and so many other of the Iews both Priests and others mingled amongst them were brought at length to cast off all their false gods and to worship the Lord the God of Israel only Yet so that howsoever they seemed to themselves to be true worshippers and altogether free from Idolatry nevertheless they retained a smack thereof inasmuch as they worshipped the true God under a visible representation to wit of a Dove and circumcised their Children in the name thereof as the Iewish Tradition tells us who therefore always branded their worship with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or spiritual Fornication Iust as their predecessors the Ten Tribes worshipped the same God of Israel under the similitude of a Cals This was the condition of the Samaritan Religion in our Saviour's time and if we weigh the matter well we shall find his words here to the woman very pliable to be construed with reference thereunto You ask saith he of the true place of worship whether Mount Garizim or Ierusalem which is not now greatly material forasmuch as the time is at hand when men shall worship the Father at neither But there is a greater difference between you and us than of Place though you take no notice of it namely even about the Object of worship it self For ye worship what ye know not but we Iews worship what we know How is that Thus Ye worship indeed the Father the God of Israel as we do but you worship him under a corporeal representation wherein you shew you know him not But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth In Spirit that is conceiving of him no otherwise than in Spirit and in Truth that is not under any corporeal or visible shape For God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not fancying him as a Body but as indeed he is a Spirit For those who worship him under a corporeal similitude do beli◠him according as the Apostle speaks Rom. 1. 23. of such as changed 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 v. 25. 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 Their Idols have caused them to erre And Esay 28. 15. We have made Lies our refuge And Ier. 16. 19 20. The Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth and shall say Surely our Fathers have possessed the Chaldee hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have worshipped a lie vanity wherein there is no profit Shall a man make Gods unto himself and they are no Gods This therefore I take to be the genuine meaning of this place and not that which is commonly supposed against external worship which I think this Demonstration will evince To worship what they know as the Iews are said to do and to worship in Spirit and Truth are taken by our Saviour for one and the same thing else the whole sense will be inconsequent But the Iews 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 DISCOURSE XIII S. LUKE 24. 45 46. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures 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 only 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 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 also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures Both of them therefore are somewhere 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 Iews most stumble at because their Doctors had not observed any such thing foretold to 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 yet 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 Messiah's death and rising again the third day were foretold in these Three parts of Scripture In the Law of Moses or Pentateuch in the Nebiim or Prophets and in the Psalms 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
utmost with meditation prayer and practice But on the contrary we must resist and crush every exorbitant thought which draws to sin at the first rising Tutissimum est It is most safe saith S. Austin Epist. 142. for the Soul to accustom it self to discern of its thoughts ad primum animi motum vel probare vel reprobare quid cogitat ut vel bonas cognationes alat vel statim extinguat malas and at the first motion thereof either to approve or else to disallow what the Mind is thinking of and so either to cherish and improve the thoughts and motions of the Mind if goodâ— or presently to extinguish them if evil 3. Lastly Let him that will indeed guard his Heart as it should be take heed of familiar and friendly converse with lewd prophane and ungracious company There is a strange attraction in ill company to poison and pervert even the best dispositions He that toucheth pitch saith the Son of Sirach shall be defiled therewith Can a man take fire in his bosom saith Solomen and his clothes not be burnt For believe it when a man is accustomed once and wonted to behold lewd and ungodly behaviour there steals upon him insensibly first a dislike of sober courses next a pleasing approbation of the contrary and so presently an habitual change of affections and demeanour into the manners and conditions of our companions It is a point that many will not believe but few or none did ever try but to their cost It was wise counsel had it not been in a sinful business which Ieroboam advised If this people saith he go up to sacrifice at Ierusalem then shall the heart of this people turn again to their lord even to Rehoboam king of Iudah and they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Iudah O that some men would be as wise for their good as he was for his sin THUS I have done with the first part of my Text The Admonition Keep thy heart with all diligence or above all keeping Now I proceed to the Motive For out of it are the issues of life that is All spiritual life and living actions issue from thence All living devotion all living service and worship of God issues from the Heart from those cleansed and loyal affections and dispositions of the Soul and inward man whereof I spake before Where such a Heart is not the Fountain there no action to God-ward liveth but is spiritually dead how gay and glorious soever it may outwardly seem No outward performance whatsoever be it never so conformable and like unto a godly man's action yet if it be not rooted in the Heart inwardly sanctified it is no issue of spiritual life nor acceptable with God Even as Statues and Puppets do move their eyes their hands their feet like unto living men yet are they not living actions because they come not from an inward Soul the fountain of life but from the artificial poise of weights and device of wheels set by the workman So is it here with heartless actions they are like the actions of true Christians but not Christian actions because they issue not from a Heart sanctified with purity and loyalty in the presence of God who tries the heart and reins but from the poise of vain-glory from the wheels of some external respects and advantages from a rotten heart which wrought not for the love of God but for the praise of men As therefore we judge of the state of natural life by the Pulse and beating of the Heart so must we do of spiritual No member of the body performs any action of natural life wherein a Pulse derived from the Heart beats not So is it in the spiritual man and the actions of Grace That lives not which some gracious and affectionate influence from the Heart quickens not Now this Issuing of our works and actions from the Heart is that which is called Sincerity and Truth so much commended unto us in Scripture For this Sincerity and Truth which is said to be in the works and actions of all such as fear and serve the Lord with acceptance is nothing else but an agreement of the outward work seen of men with the inward and sutable affection and meaning of the heart which God and our selves alone are privie to For as our words and speeches have truth in them when we speak as we think so our works and actions are done in sincerity and truth when they are done according to our heart's affection Sincerity therefore and Truth is the life of all our works of devotion and obedience unto God without this they are nothing but a carkase they are dead they live not neither doth God accept them For he desireth truth in the inward parts Psal. 51. 6. that is truth which proceedeth or issueth from the inward parts The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him that call upon him in truth Psal. 145. 18. For God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Iohn 4. 24. Whatsoever ye do saith S. Paul Col. 3. 23. do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men Our faith must be unfeigned 1 Tim. 1. 5. that is in truth and in sincerity Also our Love must not be in speech and tongue only but in deed and truth 1 Iohn 3. 18. And this is the highest Perfection attainable in this life for which God accepteth of our obedience as perfect which springeth from it though it be stained with much corruption and full of imperfection That which is wanting in the measure of obedience and holiness is made up in the truth and sincerity thereof If it have not this whatsoever it be it is good for nothing because it wants the Issue of life And such Actions are all the Actions of Hypocrites For Hypocrisie is the contrary to Sincerity and wheresoever Sincerity and Truth is not there Hypocrisie is being nothing else but a counterfeiting and falsehood of our actions when they come not from a Heart sutably affected and therefore is otherwise in Scripture understood by the name of Guile when those who serve God in sincerity and truth are said to be without guile that is without hypocrisie So Nathanael Iohn 1. 47. is called an Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile And of the Virgin-Saints Rev. 14. 5. it is said that in their mouth was found no guile for they are without fault before the Throne of God that is they served God without hypocrisie in sincerity and truth and therefore God accepted of their obedience as if it were without fault and imperfection as he is wont to do the works of those who serve him in that manner If therefore Sincerity be the life of our obedience and that which makes it graceful in the eyes of God then is Hypocrisie the death thereof which makes him loath and abhor it as a stinking carkase Hitherto have I
the nature and grounds of what they practised lest for want thereof they might cherish some unsafe conceit And notwithstanding I preached for Bowing as you say to Altars yet I have not hitherto used it my self in our own Chappel though I see some others do it If I come into other Chappels where it is generally practised I love not to be singular where I have no scruple But you would not have me have any hand in killing the Witnesses God forbid I should I rather endeavour they might not be guilty of their own deaths And I verily believe the way that many of them go is much more unlikely to save their lives than mine I could tell you a great deal here if I had you privately in my chamber which I mean not for any mans sake to commit to paper Siracusae vestrae capientur in pulvere pingitis As for Bowing at the name Iesus 't is commanded by our Church And for my self I hold it not unlawful to adore my Saviour upon any Cue or hint given Yet could I never believe it to be the meaning of that place of the Philippians nor that it can be inferred thence otherwise than by way of a general and indefinite consequence I derive it rather from the Custom of the World in several Religions thus to express some kind of Reverence when that which they acknowledge for their God is named as we find the Turks do at this day Besides I conceive to do this reverence at the name Iesus only is proper to the Latine Church and it may be of later standing For if some Greeks have not deceived me the custom of the Orient is to bow the head not only at the name Iesus but at the name Christ and sometimes though not so frequently at the name God And if that were the fashion of the elder Christianity that out of S. Hierom would found more to the purpose Moris est Ecclesiastici Christo genu-flectere This is all I can say to this point having had fewer Notions thereabout than about any of the rest That the worship of the Inward man is that which God principally requires and looks at I think no Christian man denies But what then Doth not our Saviour's rule hold notwithstanding in such a comparison 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And consider that the Question is not here as most men seem to make it between Inward worship and Outward worship seorsim for in such case it is plain the Outward is nothing worth but whether the Inward worship together with the Outward may not be more acceptable to God than the Inward alone As for that so commonly objected Scripture in this question Of worshipping the Father in spirit and truth as the Characteristical difference of the Evangelical worship from the Legal I believe it hath a far different sense from that it is commonly taken to have and that the Iews in our Saviour's sense worshipped the Father in spirit and truth But my work grows so fast that I must let it pass and be content with that vulgar answer viz. That under the Old Testament God was worshipped in types and figures of things to come but in the New men should worship the Father in spirit and truth that is according to the verity of the things presignified not that they should worship him without all gestures or postures of Body to which purpose it is wont to be alledged But all this while my mind is upon another matter which at length I am gotten unto viz. your strange construction and censure of the pains I took in opening my thoughts so freely unto you concerning these matters of reverential posture and gesture in respect of that interlaced piece wherein I intimated the Eucharist to have in it ratio sacrificii For 1. Because in the close of my Letter I expressed my fear of some Iudgment to befall the Reformed Churches because out of the immoderation of their zeal they had in a manner taken away all Difference between Sacred and Prophane you will needs suspect I aimed to make the present Iudgments of God upon Christendom to be for neglect of that Sacrifice which I had spoken of a thing I never thought of nor thought so plain an expression of my meaning could ever have been so mistaken I pray let me intreat you to read over those papers once again and then tell me with whom the fault is For why Is not to esteem the Eucharist a Sacrament to account it a Sacred thing unless it be accounted a Sacrifice 2. It seems strange to you that a matter of so great importance as I seem to make this Sacrifice to be should have so little evidence in God's Word and Antiquity and depend merely upon certain conjectures As for Scripture if you mean the name of Sacrifice neither is the name Sacrament nor Eucharist according to our Expositions there to be found no more than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet may not the thing be But when you speak of so little Evidence to be found in Antiquity I cannot but think such an Affirmation far more strange than you can possibly my Opinion For what is there in Christianity for which more Antiquity may be brought than for this I speak not now of the Fathers meaning whether I guessed rightly at it or not but in general of their Notion of a Sacrifice in the Eucharist If there be little Antiquity for this there is no Antiquity for any thing Eusebius Altkircherus a Calvinist printed Neustadii Palatinorum 1584. 1591. De mystico incruento Ecclesiae Sacrificio pag. 6. Fuit haec perpetua semper omnium Ecclesiasticorum Patrum concors unanimis sententia Quòd instituta per Christum passionis mortis suae in Sacra Coena memoria etiam Sacrificii in se contineret commendationem Bishop Morton in Epist. Dedicator prefixed to his Book of the Eucharist Apud veteres Patres ut quod res est liberè fateamur de Sacrificio Corporis Christi in Eucharistia incruento frequens est mentio quae dici vix potest quantopere quorundam alioqui doctorum hominum ingenia exercuerit torserit vexaver◠aut è contrà quà m jactanter Pontificii de ea re se ostentent And that in the Age immediately following the Apostles the Eucharist was generally conceived of under the name and notion of a Sacrifice to omit the Testimonies of Ignatius and Iustin Martyr take only this of Irenaeus Lib. 4. cap. 32. Dominus discipulis suis dans consilium primitias Deo offerre ex suis creaturis eum qui ex creatura Panis est accepit gratias egit dicens Hoc est Corpus meum Calicem similiter qui est ex ea creatura quae est secundùm nos suum Sanguinem confessus est Novi Testamenti novam docuit Oblationem quam Ecclesia ab Apostolis accipiens in universo mundo offert Deo c. And chap. 34. Igitur Ecclesiae Oblatio quam
Bent of the Times the Rule of his Opinion For being free from any aspiring after Applause Wealth and Honour and from seeking Great things for himself he was consequently secured from Flattery and Temporizing the usual artifice of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that will be rich that are resolved to make it their chief design and business to be great and wealthy in the world their heart is wholly upon it they are dead to the World to come and relish not the things above and are alive only to this present world being as eagerly intent and active about earthly things as if their portion were to be only in this life But such was the excellency of his spirit that he could not but abhor all Servile obsequiousness whatsoever as accounting it a certain argument of a Poorness of spirit either to flatter or to invite and receive Flatteries and withal considering that if those of Power and high degree were men of inward worth and excellent spirits they would shew themselves such in their valuing him not the less but rather more for his not applying himself to those ignoble arts and course policies proper to Parasites and ambitious men who speak not their own words nor seem to think their own thoughts but wholly enslave themselves to the thoughts and words the lusts and humors of those by whom for this pretended doing honour to them they seek to be advantaged Besides he might well think that he should rather undervalue and lessen them if he suppos'd they would regard him the more for those or the like Instances of an officious flattery as if they were not able to discern that Frankness and Openness of Spirit and Conversation Singleness of Heart and a Cordial readiness to serve others in love out of a pure heart is truly Christian Generous and Manly and on the contrary that Flattery and Fawning is Dog-like Base and Mercenary and lasts not long for though Parasites pretend to serve their Masters with great devotion a devotion so great as if they thought themselves rather their Creatures than God's yet in truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they rather serve their own belly and when their Masters cease to be in a capacity of serving them these men also cease to regard them and value them no more than an useless Tool or to use the Prophet's expression a broken Vessel wherein there is no pleasure Other particulars might be added but these may suffice to shew how Free he was from that which is apt to tempt men to judge amiss For it appears from the nature of the things themselves that Partiality Prejudice Pride and Passion Self-love Love of the World Flattery and Covetous Ambition do importunely sollicite men to make a false judgment corrupt their Affections wrong their Understandings enfeeble their Faculties unhappily dwarf their growth in useful Learning and keep them back from such an excellent improvement in Knowledge especially Divine Knowledge as otherwise they might attain And therefore had not Mr. Mede been free from the power of these Lusts he could never have perform'd so well as he hath done in any of his Tracts or Discourses especially upon the more abstruse and mysterious passages of H. Scripture Those therefore that are not of such a free and enlarged spirit but are fondly addicted either to themselves or Parties and are enslaved to Honour Wealth and particular narrow Interests and are under the power of Pride Passion serving divers Lusts and Pleasures they must needs be less excellent less improved in their studies less succesful in their Intellectual adventures than otherwise they might have been had they been established with a Free spirit Nor had some Authors of great reading and fame for Learning ever fallen into such mistakes but their Writings had been freer from imperfections and a greater respect they had secured to their Memories had they been less Passionate less Envious Proud and Self-conceited more Free and unbiassed more Humble and Modest as also more faithful to that excellent Rule of S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is somewhat of that great deal more which might be observed of the Author's Largeness and Freedom of spirit which yet in him was not accompanied with any unbecoming reflexions upon others as if he design'd to lessen the due esteem of what was laudable in their performances much less with any irreverence and opposition to the established Articles of Religion and prejudice to the Peace of the Church or State but on the contrary was an innocent ingenuous peaceable Freedom of enquiring into such Theories only as do not at all clash with the Doctrine established and was ever attended with a sweet Modesty a singular Sedateness and Sobriety of spirit and a due regard to Authority And whosoever would read the Author with most profit and judgment must read him also with a free unpassionate and unprejudiced spirit That Saying Omnis Liber eo spiritu legi debet quo scriptus est is true as well of every useful Book as of the Divinely-inspired Books of Holy Scripture Thus much of the Fourth Help or Instrument of Knowledge I shall mention but one particular more but it is a very weighty and important one of singular use and absolute necessity for the gaining the Best Knowledge wherein I might be as large as in the foregoing but because I would hasten to conclude the Preface I shall dispatch it in fewer lines V. The Fifth and Last Means whereby the Author arrived at such an Eminency of Knowledge was His faithful endeavour after such a Purity of Soul as is requisite to fit it for the fuller and clearer discerning of Divine Mysteries The necessity of such a Purity of Heart and Life in order to this End appears by several express places of Scripture as where it is said The Secret of the Lord is with them that fear him Psalm 25. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knowledge of the holy ones is Understanding Prov. 9. their way of knowing is Knowledge and Understanding indeed and again The pure in heart shall see God Matth. 5. But none of the wicked shall understand says the Angel to Daniel concerning the Mysteries mentioned in Chap. 12. And agreeable to these and many such passages of H. Scripture is that in the Book of Wisdom chap. 1. Into a malicious Soul Wisdom shall not enter nor dwell in the Body that is subject unto sin The same Truth is plainly acknowledged by the Best and more Divine Philosophers and accordingly they frequently discourse of their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Purgative Vertues as necessary to prepare the Soul for the knowledge of the most Excellent and Highest Truths as the Mystical or Contemplative Divines speaking of the way to Divine knowledge place the Via Purgativa before the Via Illuminativa and it is a known Maxime of Plato in his Phaed◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implying that
year a Tenth of his Gain for the relief of the poor Hereunto he was induced by this Reason besides others set down by him in his Memorials That he might shew his Love and Thankfulness unto God as for raising him from a mean condition to that Wealth he then had so especially for his Spiritual Goodness to him This proportion he constantly set apart and out of this Treasury it was that he so liberally dispens'd upon all just occasions This was his Practice and it was agreeable to his daily Prayer That as God increas'd him in Wealth so he would be pleased withall to increase in him Humility Thankfulness together with a constant Perseverance in that lovely Grace of Charity But what was the issue of all God heard his Prayers and rewarded his Alms but he would fist try him For which is not to be unremember'd he reported it himself that for some space of time some three or four years after that his resolution of setting apart the Tenth of his Gain for Charitable purposes he found no increase nor did it appear that he thrived in the world yet was he not thereby discouraged but still gave bountifully and chearfully And this he did to use his own words out of love to God freely leaving Prosperity in Temporal things to God's good pleasure and conceiving that God in wisdom and Goodness prospered him not thereby to try his Sincerity to him and his Charity to others and that he himself might thereby have experience of his Love to God his Faith Patience and Constancy nor would he forgoe those Evidences hereof that thereby he gain'd for ten thousand times ten thousand times more than they cost him And thus God recompensed his patient continuance in doing good with Inward Blessings and he then thrived in his Spiritual estate if not in his Worldly But from that time forward after this proving of him for a season God abundantly advanced his Temporal estate so that he profess'd he found experimentally those gracious Promises of God to be true of his blessing him that disperseth and giveth to the poor and of the repayment of that with interest that is lent unto the Lord and of the finding again after many days with increase the bread that is cast upon the waters This was his Constant and Stated Charity besides what over and above all went out of his Poors-purse which he never carried out empty that he might ever be doing good Nor did he in all this seek his own Praise but God's that so his Charity might occasion many thanksgivings unto God And therefore when he himself gave to others his usual word was Praise God or when he sent to others any summe to be distributed among the poor his manner was to add in his Letter Will them to praise God for it Iust according to the mind of the Religious Mr. G. Herbert who in his Character of the Country-Parson doth thus express himself When-ever he gives any thing and sees men labour in thanking of him he exacts of them to let him alone and say rather God be praised God be glorified that so the Thanks may go the right way and thither only where they are only due These excellent Memorials of this Merciful mans Charity we thought good to excerp out of the fore-named Funeral Sermon and to present them here though in a more contracted form they being so highly Exemplary and Useful and therefore worthy to be made more publick too good to be lost as else they might be that Sermon being printed many years since and by itself and not extent in the Volume containing his other Sermons 39. But to return to Mr. Mede There were not a few that wonder'd at his Diffusive Charity considering his Incomes were not great for he had nothing but what his place in the Colledge afforded him no Dignity or advantageous Preferment abroad But their wonder might have been lessen'd had they either seriously considered the Promises of Plenty and outward Blessings in this life made by God peculiarly to this Grace of Charity or had they known how great a Summe the prudent charitable man is able to lay up for the poor by a Frugal management of a little Stock But our Author knew it well and by Experience which is the mother of Wisdom the surest way of knowing for our selves and of convincing others Experimentis optimè creditur Accordingly to this purpose upon an occasion which proved expensive to him through the disingenuity of some who yet were obliged to ease him he thus express'd himself I take it patiently and put it among my Erogations of Charity and I thank God I have not been so ill a husband of a poor Fellowship but I can spare so much for pious uses He warily therefore avoided the occasions of unnecessary expences and when he saw others lavishly spending beyond their Income and not wisely proportioning their expences to their Receipts he used to say with a pleasant allusion to that Philosophick term They wanted the Estimative Faculty And indeed in Prudence it was not less than needful for him to husband well his small Stock who employ'd his thoughts and cares his studies and best diligences about other things than Wealth Honour and Pleasure which yet are the things that not a few men pursue eagerly and industriously with all their mind and heart with all their soul and all their strength to the dishonour of their Function if any Clergie-men should be so Secular and Unspiritual in their Disposition and Practice as also to the dishonour of the Doctrine of the Holy Iesus deliver'd in his Sermon in the Mount be they Christians of what denomination soever Besides that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Plurihabitio this covetous ambition greedily hunting after more and more still is contrary to the great and many obligations of our Religion to that High Holy and Heavenly Calling wherewith Christians are called as also to the expectation of that better and enduring substance that great recompence of Reward reserved in Heaven His honest Thrift and Frugality was the more able to administer to his Charity because it was accompanied with a constant Temperance His feeding for the most part was rather to suffice Nature than to allow any pleasure to his Appetite which being usually good sometimes though very seldom he would gratifie with making a larger meal but his ordinary was his Colledge-Commons to which no man was more constant with the smaller sort of Beer the Wine which he drank at the Communion being usually more than he drank all the year besides Which made him merrily to tell them who observ'd the thriving of his Body which in his latter years was very apparent that They might see what Colledge-commons could do And in his both Frugality and Temperance he verified that of the Psalmist A good man will guide his affairs with discretion It being a most approved and experienced Truth That for the enabling a man to
before they knew of it as to Mr. Boys Mr. Fuller c. And I can never forget with what a Gusto that Brave Sir William Boswell was wont to relate this among the infinite more observable Passages in the Happy Reign of Q. Elizabeth That she gave a strict Charge and Command to both the Chancellors of both Her Vniversities to bring Her a Iust True and Imparâ—ial List of all the Eminent and Hopeful Students that were Graduates in each Vniversity to set down punctually their Names their Colledges their Standings their Faculties wherein they did eminere or were likely so to do Therein Her Majesty was exactly obeyed the Chancellors durst not do otherwise and the use She made of it was That if She had an Ambassador to send abroad then She of Her self would nominate such a Man of such an House to be his Chaplain and another of another House to be his Secretary c. When She had any places to dispose of fit for Persons of an Academical Education She would Her self consign such Persons as She judged to be pares Negoâ—iis Sir William had gotten the very individual Papers wherein these Names were listed and marked with the Queen 's own hand which he carefully laid up among his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now as Sir William pursued this could not be long concealed from the young Students and then it is easie to be imagined or rather it is not to be imagined how this Consideration that their Sovereign's Eye was upon them and so Propitious upon the Deserving among them how this I say would switch and spur on their Industries I end these Additionals to Mr. Mede's Character with that plain ordinary Vote wherein yet I believe I shall have very many joyn with me Sic mihi contingat vivere sicque mori God grant we may all in some proportion live as humbly as faithfully as fruitfully and Christianly and then die as peaceably and comfortably as he did Amen THE END If any one should scruple my Fidelity in relating some speeches of Mr. Mede's because spoken so many years since he may please to satisfie himself with this That it was my Custom presently when I went from Mr. Mede's Chamber to set down in writing what I conceived observable which writings I have yet by me and consulted with them in these my Narratives DIATRIBAE THE FIRST BOOK OF THE WORKS OF The Pious and Profoundly-Learned Ioseph Mede B.D. SOMETIME Fellow of CHRIST'S Colledge in CAMBRIDGE Containing as many DISCOURSES On Several Texts of SCRIPTURE as there are Sundays in the Year Corrected and Enlarged according to the Author 's own Manuscripts August de Doctr. Christ. l. 2. c. 6. in Psal. 140. Praefat. Spiritus Sanctus magnificè ac salubriter ità Scripturas modificavit ut locis apertioribus fami occurreret obscurioribus autem fastidium detergeret Si nusquam aperta esset Scriptura non te pasceret Si nusquam occulta non te exerceret THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST BOOK DISCOURSE 1. â— Page 1 S. Matthew 6. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Thus therefore pray ye Our Father c. DISC. II. pag. 4 S. Matthew 6. 9. S. Luke 11. 2. Sanctificetur Nomentuum Sanctified or Hallowed be thy Name DISC. III. pag. 19 Acts 17. 4. There associated themselves to Paul and Silas of the worshipping Greeks a great multitude DISC. IV. pag. 23 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 darkness to be reserved unto Iudgment c. so we translate it To which of S. Peter answers that of S. Iude as almost that whole Epistle doth to this vers 6. And the Angels which kept not their first estate or principality but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Iudgment of the great Day DISC. V. pag. 25 1 Cor. 4. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God DISC. VI. pag. 28 S. Iohn 10. 20. He hath a Devil and is mad DISC. VII pag. 31 Proverbs 21. 16. The man that wandreth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the Congregation of the Dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in coetu Gigantum DISC. VIII pag. 34 Genesis 49. 10. The Scepter shall not depart from Iudab nor a Law-giver from between his feet untill SHILOH come and unto him shall the gathering of the People be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DISC. IX pag. 36 Psalm 8. 2. Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou hast ordained strength â— because of thine Enemies that thou mightest quell the Enemy and the Avenger DISC. X. pag. 40 Zachariah 4. 10. These Seven are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth DISC. XI pag. 44 S. Mark 11. 17. Is it not written My House shall be called a House of Prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to all the Nations DISC. XII pag. 46 S. Iohn 4. 23. But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth For the Father seeketh such to worship him DISC. XIII pag. 49. 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 DISC. XIV pag. 52. Exodus 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 DISC. XV. pag. 55. Ezekiel 20. 20. Hallow my Sabbaths and they shall be a sign between me and you to acknowledge that I Iehovah am your God DISC. XVI pag. 58. 1 Cor. 11. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head DISC. XVII pag. 62. Titus 3. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost DISC. XVIII pag. 65. Ioshua 24. 26. And Ioshua 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 Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DISC. XIX pag. 70. 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 DISC. XX. pag. 74. Acts 2. 5. And there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sojourning at Ierusalem Iews devout men out of every Nation under Heaven DISC. XXI pag. 77. 1. Cor. 9. 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DISC. XXII pag. 80. Psalm 112. 6. The Righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance DISC. XXIII pag. 84. S. Matthew 10. 41.
openeth the womb shall be called Holy unto the Lord Ergo To be the Lord's and to be Holy are Synonyma's Though therefore the Gentiles Court had no sanctity of legal distinction yet had it the sanctity of peculiarity to God-ward and therefore not to be used as a common place The Illation proceeds by way of Conversion My House shall be called the House of Prayer to all Nations or People Ergo The House of Prayer for all Nations is my Father's House And the Emphasis lies in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our Translators were not so well advised of when following Beza too close they render the words thus My House shall be called of all Nations the House of Prayer as if the Dative Case here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were not Acquisitive but as it is sometimes with passive verbs in stead of the Ablative of the Agent for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which sense is clean from the scope and purpose of the place whence it is taken as he that compares them will easily see and I shall make fully to appear in the next part of my Discourse which I tendred by the name of an Observation To wit That this fact of our Saviour more particularly concerns us of the Gentiles than we take notice of Namely we are taught thereby what reverent esteem we ought to have of our Gentile Oratories and Churches howsoever not endued with such legal sanctity in every respect as was the Temple of the Iews yet Houses of Prayer as well as theirs This Observation will be made good by a threefold Consideration First of the Story as I have related it secondly from the Text here alledged for warrant thereof and thirdly from the circumstance of Time For the Story I have shewed it was acted in the Gentiles Court and not in that of the Iews because it is not credible that was thus prophaned It cannot therefore be alledged that this was a place of legal sanctity for according to legal sanctity it was held by the Iews as common only it was the place for the Gentiles to worship the God of Israel in and seems to have been proper to the second Temple the Gentiles in the first worshipping without at the Temple-door in the holy Mountain only Secondly The place alledged to avow the Fact speaks expresly of Gentile-worshippers not in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only but in the whole body of the context Hear the Prophet speak Esay chap. 56. ver 6 7. and then judge The sons of the stranger that 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 joyful in my House of Prayer their burnt-offerings and sacrifices accepted upon mine Altar Then follow the words of my Text For my House shall be called that is 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 viz. 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 Evangelist expressed the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 namely as that which shewed wherein the force of the accommodation to this occasion lay which the rest of the Evangelists 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 days before our Saviour suffered to wit when he came to his last Passeover How unseasonable had it been to vindicate the violation of Legal and typical sanctity which within so few days after he was utterly to abolish by his Cross unless 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 DISCOURSE XII S. IOHN 4. 23. But the hour cometh 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 that great controverted point between the Iews and Samaritans Whether Mount Garizim by Sichem where the Samaritans sacrificed or Ierusalem were the true place of worship Our Saviour tells her that this Question was not now of much moment For that the hour 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 Iews and them than this of Place namely even about That which was worshipped For ye saith he worship that ye know not but we Iews worship that we know Then follow the words premised But the hour cometh 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 External worship but that of the Spirit only and this to be a characteristical difference between the worship of the Old Testament and the New If at any time we talk of external decency in rites and bodily expressions as sit to be used in the service of God this is the usual Buckler to repel whatsoever may be said in that kind It is true indeed that the worship of the Gospel is much more spiritual than that of the Law But that the worship of the Gospel should be only spiritual and no external worship required therein as the Text according to some meus sense and allegation thereof would imply is repugnant not only to the practice and experience of the Christian Religion in all Ages but also to the express 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 consute this Gloss For is not the commemoration of the Sacrifice of Christ's death upon the Cross unto his Father in the Symbols of Bread and Wine an external worship And yet with this Rite hath the Church in all Ages used to make her solemn address of Prayer and Supplication unto the Divine Majesty as the Iews in the Old Testament did by Sacrifice When I say in all Ages I include also that of the Apostles For so much S. Luke testifieth of that first Christian society
and cast into the fire Matth. 21. 19. The fig-tree was cursed for having no fruit not for having evil fruit And the Sentence of condemnation as you heard before is to pass at that great day for not having done good works not for doing ill ones Go ye cursed for when I was hungry ye sed me not c. Matth. 25. 41 c. THUS having let you see how necessary it is for a Christian to joyn good works with his Faith in Christ I will now come to shew you How you must do them hoping I have already perswaded you that they must needs be done First therefore We must do them out of Faith in Christ that is relying upon him only for the acceptance and rewarding of them for in him alone God is well pleased with us and with what we do and therefore without saith and reliance upon him it is impossible to please God We must not think there is any worth in our works for which any such reward as God hath promised is due For alas our best works are full of imperfections and far short of what the Law requires Our reward therefore is not of merit but out of the merciful promise of God in Christ which the Apostle means when he says We are saved by grace and not by works that is It is the grace and favour of God in Christ which makes our selves acceptable and our works rewardable and not any desert in them or us Having laid this foundation The next thing required is Sincerity of heart in doing them We must do them out of the fear of God and conscience of his Commandments not out of respect of profit or fear or praise of men for such as do so are Hypocrites Not every one saith our Saviour that saith unto me Lord Lord but he that doth the will of my Father Now it is the will of our heavenly Father that we serve him in truth and uprightness of heart I know saith David 1 Chr. 29. 17. that thou my God triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness And so he said to Abraham Gen. 17. 1. I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou upright or be thou sincere This manner of serving of God Ioshua commended to the Israelites Iosh. 24. 14. Fear the Lord saith he and serve him in sincerity and truth and the Prophet Samuel 1 Sam. 12. 24. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart This sincerity uprightness and truth in God's service is when we do religious and pious duties and abstain from the contrary out of conscience to God-ward out of an heart possessed with the love and fear of God It is otherwise called in Scripture Perfectness or Perfectness of heart For it is a lame and unperfect service where the better half is wanting as the Heart is in every work of duty both to God and men And therefore it is called perfectness when both go together when conscience as the Soul enlivens the outward work as a Body And indeed this is all the perfection we can attain unto in this life To serve God in truth of heart though otherwise we come short of what we should and therefore God esteems our actions and works not according to the greatness or exactness of the performance but according to the sincerity and truth of our hearts in doing them as appears by the places I have already quoted and by that 1 Kings 15. 14. where it is said that though Asa failed in his reformation and the high places were not taken down nevertheless his heart was perfect with the Lord his God all his days A note to know such a sincerity and truth of heart by is If in our privacy when there is no witness but God and our selves we are careful then to abstain from sin as well as in the sight of men If when no body but God shall see and know it we are willing to do a good work as well as if all the world should know it He that findeth himself thus affected his Heart is true at least in some measure but so much the less by how much he findeth himself the less affected in this manner When we are in the presence and view of men we may soon be deceived in our selves and think we do that out of conscience and fear of God which indeed is but for the fear or praise of men either lest we should be damnified or impair our credit or the like But when there is none but God and us then to be afraid of sin and careful of good duties is a sign we fear God in truth and sincerity and not in hypocrisie The special and principal means to attain this sincerity and truth of heart is To possess our selves always with the apprehension of God's presence and to walk before him as in his eye Wheresoever thou art there is an Eye that sees thee an Ear that hears thee and a Hand that registreth thy most secret thoughts For the ways of man saith Solomon Prov. 5. 21. are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings How much ashamed would we be that men should know how much our hearts and our words and actions disagreed How would we blush that men should see us commit this or that sin or neglect this or that duty What horrible Atheism then doth this argue that the presence of man yea sometimes of a little child should â—â—nder us from that wickedness which God's presence cannot This having of God before our eyes and the continual meditation of his All-seeing presence would together with devout Prayer for the assistance of God's grace be in time the bane of hypocrisie and falshood of heart and beget in stead thereof that truth and sincerity which God loveth Another property of such obedience as God requires is Vniversality we must not serve God by halfs by doing some duties and omitting others but we must with David Psal. 119. 6 20. have respect to all God's Commandments to those of the second Table as well as to those of the first and to those of the first as well as those of the second The want of which Vniversality of obedience to both Tables is so frequent as the greatest part of Christians are plunged therein to the undoubted ruine of their fouls and shipwrack of everlasting life if they so continue For there are two sorts of men which think themselves in a good estate and are not The one are those who make conscience of the duties of the first Table but have little or no care of the duties of the second And this is a most dangerous evil by reason it is more hard to be discovered those which are guilty thereof being such as seem religious but their Religion is in vain Such were those in the Church of Israel against whom the Prophet Esay declaimeth Chap. 1. from the 10. verse to the 17. To what
to Martyrs Who among the faithful while the Priest was standing at the Altar built for the honour and worship of God nay though it were over the holy body of the Martyr I say who ever heard the Priest to say thus in Prayer To thee O Peter or O Paul do I offer Sacrifice Here Sacrificium is expounded by Preces and Preces put for Sacrificium And Lib. 22. cap. 8. concerning one Hesperius a man of quality in the City whereof Austin was Bishop who by the affliction of his cattel and servants perceiving his Country-Grange liable to some malignant power of evil spirits Rogavit nostros saith S. Austin me absente Presbyteros ut aliquis eorum illò pergeret cujus orationibus cederent Perrexit unus obtulit ibi sacrificium corporis Christi orans quantum potuit ut cessaret illa vexatio Deo protinus miserante cessavit He entreated our Presbyters in my absence that some one of them would go to the place through the prevalency of whose Prayers he hoped the evil spirits would be forced away Accordingly one of them went thither and offered there the Sacrifice of Christ's Body praying earnestly with all his might for the ceasing of that fore affliction and it ceased forthwith through God's mercy The Priest was entreated to pray there he went and offered sacrifice and so prayed For this reason the Christian Sacrifice is among the Fathers by way of distinction called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacrificium laudis that is of Confession and Invocation of God namely to difference it from those of Bloud and Incense Augustine Lib. 1. contra Adversarium Legis Prophetarum cap. 20. Ecclesia immolat Deo in corpore Christi sacrificium laudis ex quo Deus Deorum locutus vocavit terram à Solis ortu usque ab occasum The Church offereth to God the Sacrifice of praise ever since the fulfilling of that in Psalm 50. The God of Gods hath spoken and called the earth from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof Again Epist. 86. Sacrificium laudis ab Ecclesia toto orbe diffusa diebus omnibus immolatur The Sacrifice of Praise is continually offered by the Christian Church dispersed all the world over And elsewhere And amongst the Greek Fathers this term is so frequent as I shall not need to quote any of them Now this joyning of the Prayers of the Church with the mystical commemoration of Christ in the Sacrament of his Body and Bloud was no after-Invention of the Fathers but took its original from the Apostles times and the very beginning of Christianity For so we read of the first believers Acts 2. 42. that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Vulgar Latine turns Erant autem perseverantes in doctrina Apostolorum communicatione fractionis panis orationibus And they persevered in the doctrine of the Apostles and in the communication of the breaking of bread and Prayers but the Syriack Perseverantes erant in doctrina Apostolorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 communicabant in oratione fractione Eucharistiae They persevered in the doctrine of the Apostles and communicated in Prayer and in breaking of the Eucharist that is They were assiduous and constant in hearing the Apostles and in celebrating the Christian Sacrifice Both which Translations teach us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Breaking of Bread and Prayers are to be referred to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Communion as the Exegesis thereof namely that this Communion of the Church consisted in the Breaking of Bread and Prayers and so the conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be Exegetically taken as if the Greek were rendred thus Erant perseverantes in audienda doctrina Apostolorum in communicatione videlicet fractione panis orationibus And who knows not that the Synaxis of the ancient Christians consisted of these three parts Of hearing the Word of God of Prayers and Commemoration of Christ in the Eucharist Our Translation therefore here is not so right which refers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and translates it The fellowship of the Apostles The Antiquity also of this conjunction we speak of appears out of Ignatius in his Epistle to the Ephesians where speaking of the damage which Schismaticks incur by dividing themselves from the communion of the Church he utters it in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man saith he deceive himself unless a man be within the Altar he is deprived of the Bread of God And if the prayer of one or two be of that force as to set Christ in the midst of them how much more shall the joynt-prayer of the Bishop and whole Church sent up unto God prevail with him to grant us all our requests in Christ These words of Ignatius directly imply that the Altar was the place as of the Bread of God so of the Publick Prayers of the Church and that they were so nearly linked together that he that was not within the Altar that is who should be divided therefrom had no benefit of either CHAP. VI. The Third Particular That the Christian Sacrifice is an Oblation of Thanksgiving and Prayer through Iesus Christ Commemorated in the Creatures of Bread and Wine Sacrifices under the Law were Rites to invocate God by That the Eucharist is a Rite to give thanks and invocate God by proved from several Testimonies of the Fathers and the Greek Liturgies A passage out of Mr. Perkins agreeable to this notion What meant by that usual expression of the Ancients speaking of the Eucharist Through Iesus Christ the great High-Priest By Nomen Dei in Mal. 1. Iustin Martyr and Irenaeus understood Christ. Why in the Eucharist Prayers were to be directed to God the Father THE second Particular thus proved the Third comes next in place which is I That this Oblation of Thanksgiving and Prayer was made through Iesus Christ commemorated in the creatures of Bread and Wine Namely they believed that our Blessed Saviour ordained this Sacrament of his Body and Bloud as a Rite to bless and invocate his Father by in stead of the manifold and bloudy Sacrifices of the Law For That those bloudy Sacrifices of the Law were Rites to invocate God by is a Truth though not so vulgarly known yet undeniable and may on the Gentiles behalf be proved out of Homer and other Authors on the Iews by that speech of Saul 1 Sam. 13. 12. when Samuel expostulated with him for having offered a burnt-offering I said saith he The Philistines will come down upon me to Gilgal and I have not made supplication to the Lord I forced my self therefore and offered a burnt-offering upon which place Kimchi notes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacrifice was a Rite or Medium whereby Prayer was usually presented unto God The same is likewise true of their Hymns and Doxologies as is to be seen 2 Chron. 29. 27. and by the
unto Him as this Of the practice of Antiquity THAT the ancient Christians worshipped towards the East that is the same way they did their first homage to God in their Baptism is manifest to all that have but looked into Antiquity That their Altars also were usually placed toward the same in their Churches is a Truth that can hardly be questioned It follows therefore that when they worshipped they turned themselves or looked toward the Altar also If it be asked Which of the two they respected in this their posture I answer they respected both and therefore placed the Altar accordingly to the Eastward that both might be observed even as the Iews placed their Altars both of Incense and Burnt-offering toward the West because they worshipped that way But if they could not observe both then they preferred the Altar as in that Church at Antioch where if Socrates say true the Altar or place thereof the Chancel for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes signifies stood toward the West contrary as he there acknowledgeth to the manner of other Churches Now he that considers well the Custome of Antiquity and remembers that which Gregory Nazianzen testifies of his mother Nonna will not think it credible they should either turn their backs upon the Altar or their faces from the Priest whilest he officiated thereat as then he always did which yet they must needs do if notwithstanding that situation of the Altar they had worshipped toward the East Howsoever if the nature of the things be considered there can be no difference given for the point of lawfulness between the one and the other nor why this should more intrench upon impiety and Superstition than that Thus much we find of the Christians posture in general when they worshipped God But what reverential Guise Ceremony or Worship they used at their ingress into God's House in the Ages next to the Apostles and some I believe they did is buried in silence and oblivion The Iews before them from whom the Christian Religion sprang used as I have already shewn to bow themselves down with their faces toward the Testimony or Mercy-Seat The Christians after them in the Greek and Oriental Churches have time out of mind and without any known beginning thereof used to bow in like manner with their posture toward the Altar or Holy Table saying that of the Publican in the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God be merciful to me a sinner as appears by the Liturgies of S. Chrysostome and S. Basil and as they are still known both Laitie and Clergie to do at this day Which custome of theirs not being found to have been ordained or established by the Decree or Canon of any Council and being â—o agreeable to the use of God's people of the Old Testament may therefore seem to have been derived unto them from very remote and ancient Tradition Nothing therefore can be known of the use of those first Ages of the Church farther than it shall seem probable they might imitate the Iews God's people before them or have given beginning to the custome of the Churches after them And if kneeling bowing or inclination of the head could be proved or for want of testimony may be supposed to have been their gesture at their ingress surely there were no reason why we should not believe they bowed kneeled or inclined their heads the same way then which they used to pray and worship at other times In the Latin Church this gesture of bowing towards the Altar may seem to have been proper to the Clergy in their approaches to it and recess from it at least to such as came into the Quire the Laity at their first entrance into the Church kneeling only Card. Bessarion a Greek in his Epistle to the Tutor of the Sons of Thomas Palaeologus instructing them how to carry and behave themselves among the Latines In Ecclesiam Latinorum saith he cùm ingredientur in genua procumbentes preces dicant ut Latinis mos est When they shall enter into any Church of the Latines let them kneel down and say their prayers as the manner of the Latines is For in Greece as is aforesaid their manner was to bow Yet whether they used not some other gesture in Spain would be enquired because of those words of Isidorus Hispalensis De Ecclesiasticis officiis lib. 1. c. 10. concerning those that came into the Church after the Service or Lessons were begun Si superveniat quisque saith he cùm Lectio celebratur adoret tantum Deum praesignatâ fronte aurem solicitè accommodet If any shall come into the Church when the Lesson is a reading let him only adore God and crossing his forehead attend diligently to what is read I will add here two the most ancient Testimonies I think extant of a Reverential respect used to be given to the Holy Table or Altar and that as I conceive if not both of them one at least of a more direct nature than that wherewith the same is honoured by being made the term only of our posture when we worship God One is out of Dionysius called Areopagita or whosoever were the Author for sure ancient he is Ecclesiast Hierarch cap. 2. De mysterio Baptismi where he saith That after the Hymn accustomed was sung the Priest or Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having saluted or kissed for either way may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be rendred the Holy Table he goes thence and questions the party to be baptized c. The other is of S. Athanasius in fine Sermonis adversùs eos qui Humanae in Christo Domino Naturae confessores spem suam in Homine defigere dicunt Edit Commel tom 2. pag. 255. in these words Quid quòd nunc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui ad sanctum Altare accedunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illúdque amplectuntur cum timore laetitia salutant velosculantur non in lapidibus aut lignis sed in Gratiâ per lapides aut ligna piis commemoratâ animo insistunt Understand here by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or GRATIA the holy EVCHARIST for so the Fathers are wont to call it See Casaubon Exercit. 16. § 46. The meaning therefore is That those who when they approach the holy Altar do with fear and joy embrace and kiss it as the manner then was attend it not as wood and stones but as that whereby the Body and Bloud of Christ is commemorated to his holy Ones CONCIO AD CLERVM DE SANCTUARIO DEI SEU DE SANCTITATE RELATIVA LEVITICI 19. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sanctuarium meum reveremini QUALEM Philosophi Virtuti sedem posuerunt ab Extremis utrinque remotam talem quoque Sacrae Scripturae stylus Pietatis laudat semitam Viam nempe mediam quâ neque dextrorsum iter neque sinistrorsum Hanc qui tenent viam rectam insistere perfectè coram Deo ambulare qui
Authors and furtherers thereof they should be such as had their consciences seared who forbad marriage and meats Where before I go any further I must give an account of thus translating these latter words which I make the second part because they are commonly translated otherwise viz. intransitively as referring the words of the two latter verses to the persons mentioned in the first viz. those Some who should Apostatize and give heed to erroneous spirits and Doctrines of Devils as they usually translate it So that the words of the second and third verses should be the expression by particulars of that which was before generally comprized under erroneous spirits and doctrines of Devils which should consist partly in forbidding lawful marriage and partly in commanding abstinence from meats But this interpretation seems very unlikely For first since S. Paul intendeth here to describe that great Apostasie of the visible Christian Church as is evident by the pointing out of the time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the latter times who can believe that he who aimeth at this would instance only in the smaller and almost circumstantial Errours omitting the main and fundamental which the Scripture elsewhere telleth us should be Idolatry or Spiritual fornication Secondly As for Errours about Marriage and Meats they were not proper to the last times but found more or less in the Apostles own times as may be gathered by some passages of their Epistles Why should then our Apostle here speaking of the Apostasie of the latter times instance only in those things which the first times in some measure were never free from Lastly which I take alone to be sufficient The Syntax of the words will not bear it to have them so translated For the persons in the first verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are expressed in casu recto whereas the persons in the verses following 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are in the genitive now by what Syntax can these be construed intransitively how will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. without breach of Grammar unsampled in our Apostle's Epistles If any say they may be referred then and agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that indeed would be a strange sense and nothing to their purpose to say that Devils lie have seared consciences and forbid marriage and meats But to construe it transitively and to make all these genitive cases to be governed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and take the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie Causam or Modum actionis as is most usual in Scripture this as it keepeth the Syntax true so I hope to make it appear hereafter to be the very meaning and the Event most answerable thereunto when you shall hear proved out of story That the Apostasie of the visible Church came in by lying wonders and all deceiveableness of unrighteousness managed by those who either professed or doted upon Monastical hypocrisie the affectation and errours whereof at length surprising the body of the Church is that which S. Paul 2 Thess. 2. 10. calls not the Apostasie it self but Aâ—not-love of the Truth for which God gave them over to strong delusions that they might believe a lye But this is out of its place only I have anticipated thus much lest you should be too long in suspence of the grounds of this novelty in translating And yet this difficulty concerning the Syntax hath stumbled many of our latter Interpreters as amongst others Beza who solves it only by saying That the Apostle more regarded the matter than the construction which for my part I cannot believe CHAP. II. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Scripture imports Revolt or Rebellion That Idolatry is such proved from several passages in Scriplute By Spirits in the Text are meant Doctrines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are to be taken Passively viz. for Doctrines concerning Daemons Several instances of the like form of speech in Scripture I Return now unto the First part of my Text The Description of that solemn Apostasie where I will consider the five parts or points thereof as I have propounded them though it be not according to the order of the words And first in the more general expression as I called it in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as to say They shall make an Apostasie Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Scripture's use when it looks towards a person signifies a Revolt or Rebellion when towards God a spiritual Revolt from God or Rebellion against Divine Majesty whether Total or by Idolatry and serving other Gods For the Seventy whence the New Testament borrows the use of speech usually translates by this word the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to rebel and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rebellion both which when they have reference to a spiritual Sovereignty mean nought else but Idolatry and serving of other Gods as may appear Iosuah 22. 19. where the Israelites supposing their brethren the Reubenites and Gadites in building another Altar upon the banks of Iordan had meant to have forsaken the Lord and served other Gods they said unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you have rebelled against the Lord and presently Rebell not against the Lord nor rebell against us where the Seventy hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in vers 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rebellion is translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the words the Lord God of gods he knoweth if it be in rebellion or in transgression against the Lord. Also Numb 14. vers 9. when the people would have renounced the Lord upon the report of the Spies Iosuah and Caleb spake unto them saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rebel ye not where the Seventy hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be not Apostates from the Lord. So Nehem. 9. 26. in that repentant confession which the Levites make of the Idolatry of their Nation they were disobedient say they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and rebelled against thee where the Seventy hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Daniel in the like confession Chap. 9. vers 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Seventy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have rebelled against him So the Idolatry of Ahaz 2 Chron. 28. and Chap. 29. is by the same Interpreters called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 revolted greatly from the Lord. I will not trouble you with the places where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used for Treason and Rebellion against earthly Princes which are many It is sufficient to gather from what we have quoted That Apostasie having reference to a Sovereignty and Lordship betokens a withdrawing of service and subjection there-from which if the Sovereignty and Majesty be Divine is done by Idolatry and service of other Gods as well as if the Majesty of the true God were renounced altogether The use of the
hence it is that the Primitive Fathers which write against the Gentiles do so often upbraid them That their Temples were nothing else but the Sepulchres of dead men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Clem. in his Protreptie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They were indeed called by the specious and plausible name of Temples but were in truth nothing but Sepulchres that is the very Sepulchres of dead men were called Temples He goeth on speaking to the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be ye therefore at length perswaded to forget and relinquish your Daemon-worship and be ashamed to worship the Sepulchres of dead men To the like purpose Arnobius l. 6. advers Gent. Quid quòd multa ex his Templa quae tholis sunt aureis sublimibus elata fastigiis autorum conscriptionibus comprobatur contegere cineres at que ossa functorum esse corporum sepulturas Nonne patet promptum est aut pro Diis immortalibus mortuos vos colere aut inexpiabilem fieri Numinibus contumeliam quorum Delubra Templa mortuorum superlata sunt bustis Where he tells them that many of their Temples famous for their high and golden roofs were nothing but the Sepulchres of the deceased covering dead bones and ashes and that it was very evident that for the immortal Gods they worship'd men that were dead or that they were guilty of doing an horrible dishonour to the Gods whose Temples were built over the burying-places of dead men I might further add to these Oecumenical doctrines of Daemons that monstrous one of the AEgyptians for which their fellow-Gentiles derided them who worshipped living brute Beasts yea Onions and Garlick and Water it self with Divine worship as supposing some Daemon or other to dwell in them Such were their Cow-god Apis and their Bull-god Mnevis and their Water-god Nilus which it shall be enough to have only named to make the former compleat and that from it and the rest of that kind of abominations we may gather this Conclusion once for all That since the Sovereign and Celestial Gods as you heard before might not be approached nor polluted by these earthly and material things but kept always immovably without change of place or presence their heavenly stations therefore the adoring or worshipping of any visible or material thing for any supposed presence or other relation of a divine power therewith is to be accounted amongst the Doctrines of Daemons CHAP. VI. A Recapitulation or Summary of the Doctrines of Daemons How the Severals thereof are revived and resembled in the Apostate Christian Church That the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometime in Scripture taken according to the Theology of the Gentiles and not always for an Evil Spirit That it is so to be taken in the Text was the judgment of Epiphanius an observable passage quoted out of him to this purpose AND thus have you seen the Theology of Daemons 1. For their Nature and degree to have been supposed by the Gentiles an inferiour and middle sort of Divine Powers between the Sovereign and Heavenly Gods and mortal men 2. Their Office to be as Mediators and Agents between these Sovereign Gods and men 3. Their Original to be the Deified Souls of worthy men after death and some of an higher degree which had no beginning nor ever were imprisoned in mortal bodies 4. The way to worship them to find and receive benefits from them namely by consecrated Images and Pillars wherein to have and retain their presence at devotions to be given them 5. To adore their Reliques and to Temple them Now therefore judge impartially whether S. Paul's Prophecy be not fulfilled already amongst Christians who foretold that the time should come that they should Apostatize and revive again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doctrines of Daemons whether the deifying and worshipping of Saints and Angles whether the bowing down to Images whether of men or other things visible breaden Idols and Crosses like new Daemon-Pillars whether the adoring or templing of Reliques whether these make not as lively an image of the Gentiles Theologie of Daemons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as possibly could be expressed and whether these two words comprehend not the whole pith and marrow of Christian Apostasie which was to consist in Spiritual fornication or Idolatry as appears by that name and denomination thereof given by S. Iohn in his Revelation The Whore of Babylon Is not she rightly termed the Babylonish whore which hath revived and replanted the Doctrines of Daemons first founded in the ancient Babel And is not this now fulfilled which S. Iohn foretells us Apoc. 11. That the second and outmost Court of the Temple which is the second state of the Christian Church together with the holy City should be trodden down and overtrampled by the Gentiles that is overwhelmed with the Gentiles Idolatry forty two months But perhaps I am yet too forward in my Application some things in our way must first be cleared For howsoever the resemblance indeed be evident yet First the Text seems not to intend or mean it because the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the Scripture never taken in the better or indifferent sense howsoever prophane Authors do so use it but always in an evil sense for the Devil or an Evil Spirit Now the signification of words in Scripture is to be esteemed and taken only according to the Scripture's use though other Writers use them otherwise Secondly For the charge of Idolatry though much of that wherein we have instanced may be granted to be justly suspected for such indeed yet nevertheless that whereupon this Application mainly relieth namely The praying to Saints glorified as Mediators and Agents for us with God should not seem to deserve so foul a name For suppose it were a needless yea and a fruitless Ceremony yet what reason can be given why this should be more tainted with Idolatry than is the like honour given to Saints and holy men whilst they live on earth whom then to desire to mediate and pray to God for us was never accounted so much as an unlawful matter When these two Scruples are answered I will return to continue my former Application To the First therefore for the use of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Scripture I say That because those which the Gentiles took for Daemons and for Deified Souls of their Worthies were indeed no other than Evil Spirits counterfeiting the Souls of men deceased and masking themselves under the names of such supposed Daemons under that colour to seduce mankind therefore the Scripture useth the name Daemons for that they were indeed and not for what they seemed to be For no blessed Soul or good Angel would admit any honour which did derogate from the honour of the only true God who made them neither do the glorified Saints in heaven or the blessed Angels though Apostate Christians now invocate and worship them accept of this honour hear their prayers or condescend
whosoever shall remember thy name and this my conflict no pestilent disease may enter upon his house nor any other of those evils which may bring damage or troubles to the bodies of men She had no sooner spoken saith he but a voice was miraculously heard from heaven calling her and her fellow-Martyr Iulian to the heavenly pâ—aces and promising also that those things which she had asked should be accomplished In Saint Blasius who suffered saith Baronius under Licinius our Simeon tells us That when a woman came unto him to cure her son who had a fish-bone sticking in his throat he prayed in this manner Thou O Saviour who hast been ready to help those who called upon thee in truth hear my prayer and by thy invisible power take out the bone which sticks in this child and cure him And whensoever hereafter the like shall befall men children or beasts if any one then shall remember my name saying O Lord hasten thy help through the intercession of thy servant Blasius do thou cure him speedily to the honour and glory of thy holy Name Again he tells us That while they were carrying him before the President he restored to a poor widow a Hog her only Hog which a Wolf had taken away from her And when as afterward in sign of thankfulness she brought the Hog's head and feet boiled to the Martyr in prison he blessing her spake in this manner Woman in this Habit celebrate my Memorial and no good thing shall ever be wanting in thine house from my God yea and if any other imitating thee shall in like manner celebrate my Memorial he shall receive an everlasting gift from my God and a blessing all the days of his life When he comes to suffer he makes him pray to God thus Hear me thy Servant and whosoever shall have recourse to this thine Altar he means himself and whosoever shall have swallowed a bone or prickle or be vexed with any disease or be in affliction or necessity of persecution Grant Lord to every one his heart's desire as thou art gracious and merciful for thou art to be glorified now and evermore When he had thus prayed saith he Christ descended from heaven as a cloud and overshadowed him and our Saviour said unto him O my beloved Champion I will not only do this but that also which thou didst request for the widow and I will bless also every house which shall celebrate thy Memory and I will fill their store-houses with all good things for this thy glorious Confession and thy faith which thou hast in me Saint Catharine whom he calls AEcatharina a Martyr of Alexandria under Maximianus he makes to pray thus at her Martyrdom Grant unto those O Lord who through me shall call upon thy holy Name such their requests as are profitable for them that in all things thy wondrous works may be praised now and evermore But above all the rest Marina's prayer whom we Latines call Saint Margaret is compleat and for the purpose she suffered under Diocletian and thus she prayed if you dare believe Simeon And now O Lord my God whosoever for thy sake shall worship this Tabernacle of my Body which hath fought for thee and whosoever shall build an Oratory in the name of thy handmaid and shall therein offer unto thee spiritual sacrifices oblations and prayers and all those who shall faithfully describe this my conflict of Martyrdom and shall read and remember the name of thy handmaid Give unto them most holy Lord who art a lover of the good and a friend of Souls remission of sins and grant them propitiation and mercy according to the measure of their faith and let not the revenging hand come near them nor the evil of Famine nor the curse of Pestilence nor any grievous scourge nor let any other incurable destruction either of Body or Soul betide them And to all those who shall in faith and truth adhere to my house her Oratory or Chappel or unto my name and shall unto thee O Lord offer glory and praise and a sacrifice in remembrance of thine Handmaid and shall ask salvation and mercy through me Grant them O Lord abundant store of all good things for thou alone art good and gracious and the giver of all good things for ever and ever Amen While she was thus praying with her self saith Simeon behold there was a great earthquake c. yea and the Lord himself with an host and multitude of holy Angels standing by her in such sort as was perceptible to the understanding said Be of good chear Marina and fear not for I have heard thy prayers and have fulfilled and will in due time fulfill whatsoever thou hast asked even as thou hast asked it Thus saith Simeon who nevertheless in the very entrance to this his tale of Marina or Margaret complains much forsooth that not a few of these Narrations of the Acts of Martyrs were at the beginning forged yea profaned as he faith more truly than he was aware of evidentissimis Daemoniorum doctrinis Besides he calls I know not what Narration of this Virgin 's Martyrdom in that sort corrupted Dictio Daemoniaca but for his own part he would reject all counterfeit fables and tell us nothing but the very truth Which how honestly he hath performed and what touchstone he used let the Reader judge Baronius I am sure is quite ashamed of him who though he can be sometimes content to trade with not much better ware yet this of Simeon's he supposes will need very much washing and cleansing before it be merchantable CHAP. V. An useful Digression concerning the time when Simeon Metaphrastes lived and the occasion of his writing That his living within the time of the great Opposition against Saint-worship moved him to devise such Stories as made for the credit and advantage of that Cause then in danger A brief historical account even out of the Records left by the Adversaries of the great Opposition in the Greek and Eastern Churches against worshipping of Images and of Saints When it began how long it lasted and under what Emperors Of the Great Council held at Constantinople under Constantinus Copronymus against Idolatry An attempt to foist in two Canons in favour of Saint-worship frustrated Several Slanders and Calumnies fastened upon the Council and the Emperor by the idolatrous faction The Original of these Slanders That they were notorious Lies proved from the Decrees of the Council BUT for the better understanding of this Mystery of iniquity and what necessity there was of such desperate shifts when time was ye shall know that this superstitious Simeon lived towards the end of that time of great and long Opposition against Idolatry in the Greek and Eastern Churches by divers Emperors with the greatest part of their Bishops Peers and People lasting from about the year of our Lord 720 till after 840 that is a 120 years which was not against Images only though they bare
and the Latin call it Imperium orbis terrarum 13. Daniel himself interpreteth the Stone to be a Kingdom which the God of heaven should set up in the days of those Kingdoms and therefore it cannot be the Kingdom of Christ as God coeternal with his Father but the Kingdom of Christ as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which began not before he was incarnate In the days of these Kingdoms saith he that is whilst some of them were yet in being the God of heaven shall set up a Kingdom which should never be destroyed nor left as the former should to another people but should break in pieces and consume all those Kingdoms and it self should sâ—and for ever Forasmuch saith he as thou sawest a Stone was cut out of a mountain without hands and that it brake in pieces the iron the brass the clay the silver and the gold Here make the full point for these words belong not to that which follows as our mis-distinction in the verses seems to refer them but to that which went before of their interpretation See the same reference of Forasmuch in the 40 and 41 verses 14. I will not now dispute of the Prepositionâ—â— though I had enough to say against you but I say that the words In the daies of those Kings are much more likely to be construed by Ellipsis particulae partitivae usual in the Hebrew and Chaldee quâ—si In the daies of some one of those Kings viz. the last of them So Iephtah is said to have been buried in the cities of Gilead that is in some one of them c. There be some other passages not so principal though I dissent from you in them which I omit as I desire to do this whole Disputation That I had reserved to have answered in your former Reply was to that of the Ruffling Horn which by the express words of the Angel was to last until the time came the Saints should possess the Kingdom that is until the Son of man came in the clouds of heaven to take a Kingdom for this is the Angel's exposition of that part of the Vision and therefore it could not be Antiochus Epiphanes Your Answer to this seemed very unsufficient I desire you to weigh it better and I make an end Yours I. M. October 13. EPISTLE IX Mr. Hayn's Fourth Letter to Mr. Mede about several passages in Daniel and the Revelation 1. SCaliger's or Iunius his Opinion prevail not so much as should their Reasons God had told the Iews plainly the year and by types the time of the year when Messias should work their redemption So that it was not enough to know in what age it should be 2. The coming of the Son of man is to his Kingdom on earth on which the Scripture runs abundantly Dan. 2. 7. Apoc. 1. 7. Luke 17. 20. and was to be before that generation passed Matth. 24. 34. And within that space of time he came on Ierusalem as the Floud on the old world There shall be a Second coming of Christ namely to Iudgment And then he shall give up his Kingdom here to the Father Yet shall this Kingdom here and that in Heaven be one and the same consist of the same men or subjects and have the same bent to the honour of God 3. The Greeks Rule after Antiochus Epiphanes was sufficient to express the clayie legs that is enough for me and the clayie legs are part of the Fourth Monarchy The Romans more the Iews friends full many scores of years after Epiphanes his time Their war against God's people is that for which God paints them out as Beasts And though the Romans conquered Macedon long before Christ's coming yet both Iulius Caesar and Antonie let Cleopatra hold her due of what Rule she had and were but sticklers not opposites at first 4. If Christ's Kingdom took place at his first coming the same is one and but one and that everlasting 5. The seven Trumpets seven Vials two Witnesses c. shew a new matter not particulars of the Fourth Kingdom particularized before in Daniel 6. The late Iews God enlighten them shift abundantly and the ancient both before and after their desertion did but groap in darkness 7. Yet both the late and old Iews and Porphyrie too saw some truth who can deny it 8. The Text saith In the days of those Kingdoms say you as if it were in all of them and the Stone confounds all Why should we allow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 typi 9. You deny the duration of the Fourth Kingdom to hold proportion with the parts of the Image I affirm it my reason is If the Three former do then the Fourth also 10. I know there is a Second coming of Christ that at the day of Iudgment But the Kingdom once begun is one for it is everlasting If there were two Kingdoms the one must end the other begin Though there be degrees in the progress of Christ's Kingdom in regard of the world's indisposition to submit to it yet de jure all is Christ's at his Ascension 11. The Mystery which now you speak of I acknowledge and bless God for it namely of the calling of the Gentiles The Iews Rejection also is plain in the time of the Gospel yet was a remnant of their Nation saved And what more were the elect out of other Nations â— few to the many 12. Though de facto the Gospel was not preached to all the world then yet see mentem Legislatoris the mind of the Law-giver Go preach to all Nations 13. Christ is the Stone what is said of him in many things is and may be said of them of his Kingdom He bruises with a rod of von Ps. 2. so do his servants Rev. 2. 27. He the Stone and his kingdom and people here do the same thing 14. For â— the Proposition the authority I brought was sound and good That about Iephtah is though I use not to be sudden in this kind ill translated I wish time would have given me leave to have conferred with Books and men about it I pray you think of it Were it not better Gideon was buried by the cities of Gilead namely the men of them all much honouring him joyned in solemnizing his burial 15. Not the ruffling Horn as you call it but the body of the Beast Dan. 7. 11. continued till the Son of man came Now the Body of the Beast hornless may express the same or be correspondent to the clayie legs and thus the answer is home in this particular also Much more I could have said but must here make an end and leave you to God whom I pray to keep us in his truth Octob. 16. 1629. EPISTLE XII Mr. Mede's Answer to Mr. Hayn's Fourth Letter about several passages in Daniel and the Revelation NOW I have obtained a Release that you might not think I shook off this Collation out of Pride or Contempt but to avoid too great a diversion from other
some brand or stamp upon them which points at the Sin for which they are inflicted you may call it a Sin-mark If the passages and ground of the continuance of this German War be well considered would not a man think they spake that of the Apostle Thou that hatest Idols dost thou commit Sacriledge But I dare go no further it may be I have said too much already For I well know the way that I go pleaseth neither party the one loves not the Pope should be Antichrist nor the other to hear that these things should not be Popery Thus you see I have at length brought both ends together and end where I began Pardon me this one Letter and I will trouble you no more with this Theme your Reply to my short Answer to your Quere occasioned it I forget not my best respect unto your self nor my prayers to the Almighty for blessing to you and yours Thus I rest Christ's Coll. Iuly 15. 1635. Your assured Friend Ioseph Mede I sent by Mr. B. 4. or 5. Exercises upon passages of Scripture such as I had in separate papers and fit to be communicated For those that were in Books joyned with other things I could not and some that were apart for some Reasons I would not expose to danger of censure I hope those which I sent are safely arrived with you EPISTLE LIX Dr. Twisse's Ninth Letter to Mr. Mede thanking him for his pains in the foregoing Letter and desiring his resolution of a Doubt concerning the 7 Lamps signifying the 7 Angels in Zach. 4. Right dear and Right worthy Sir I AM somewhat of a more chearful spirit than when I wrote my last I have gotten more liberty of spirit to consider your large Discourse savouring of great Learning no less Iudgment and a distinctive Apprehension of things of good importance and that not in my judgment only but in the judgment of others though all require serious and further consideration And for mine own particular I cannot but reflect upon my self how deeply I am beholden unto you for intrusting me in so liberal a manner with these your Speculations We can never offend in putting difference between the Holy and Prophane neither can we offend in presenting our selves too reverently at the Lord's Table Never was the Mercy-seat so well known in the days of the Old Testament as in these days of the New We now behold the glory of the Lord with open face and accordingly our Saviour tells us the Lord requires the true worshippers should worship him in spirit and in truth in distinction from worshipping him either at Ierusalem or in the Mount the woman spake of And in this kind of worship we cannot exceed But as for outward Gestures I doubt I shall prove but a Novice as long as I breath and we affect not to make ostentation of our Devotion in the face of the world the rather because thereby we draw upon our selves the censure of Hypocrisie and sometimes if a man lifts up his Eyes he is censured for a P. and I confess there is no outward Gesture of Devotion which may not be as handsomly performed by as carnal an heart as breaths I am confident you are far from studia partium so should we be all and be ambitious of nothing but of the love and favour of God and of our conformity unto him in truth and holiness I heartily thank you for all and particularly for these Pieces which now I return I hope they will arrive safely in your hands What I wrote the last time I have almost utterly forgotten saving the clearing of one Objection concerning the Seven Angels standing before the Throne represented by the Seven Lamps which I much desired it arising from the Text it self the Lamps being maintained by the Oile which drops from the Two Olive-trees which are interpreted to be Zorobabel and Ieshua But I have troubled you so much that I fear the aspersion of immodesty in troubling you any further I cannot sufficiently express my thankfulness for that I have already received I desire ever to be found Newbury Iuly 27. 1635. Yours in the best respect Will. Twisse EPISTLE LX. Dr. Twisse's Tenth Letter to Mr. Mede desiring him to reveal unto him those Pluscula in Zach. chapters 9 10 11. which fit not so well Zachary's time as Ieremy's as also to resolve a Doubt about the 7. Lamps in Zach. 4. with some reflexions upon Mr. Mede's large Letter about Temples and Altars and the Christian Sacrifice Worthy Sir DO you not miss your Letter ad Ludovicum de Dieu And do you not find it strange it is not returned with the rest I assure you I took no notice of it till Wednesday last two days after the last week's Letter I wrote unto you In every particular it was welcome unto me as all yours always are But your Variae lectiones concerning the Old Testament and the pregnant evidences thereof which you alledge do astonish me and above all your adventure to vindicate unto Ieremy his own Prophecy which so long hath gone under the name of Zachary I never was acquainted with any better way of reconciliation than that which Beza mentions of the likeness of abbreviations of each name which might cause a mistake by the Transcribers O that you would reveal unto me those Pluscula which in those three Chapters of Zachary 9 10 11. do more agree as you observe to the time of Ieremy than to the time of Zachary Why may you not have a peculiar way also to reconcile the Genealogie in the LXX with that in the Hebrew where Kainan is found in the one which is not in the other Thus I make bold to put you to new trouble but I presume it is no more trouble to you than the writing like as that other whereabout I moved you How the Seven Lamps are maintained by the oyl derived from the two Olive-Trees if by the Seven Lamps are meant the Seven Angels that stand before the Throne of God Yet have I not done with your large Letter concerning Temples and Altars Since the writing of my last while I was reading that large Letter of yours to some Divines who were much taken with admiration at the Learning contained therein in an Argument wherein we had been so little versed I say in the reading of it I observed one thing which in all my former readings I took no notice of and that is in these words This is a point of great moment and consequent worthy to be looked into by all the Learned of the Reformed Religion lest while we have deservedly abolished the prodigious and blasphemous Sacrifice of the Papists wherein Christ is again hypostatically offered to his Father we have not but very implicitely and obscurely reduced that ancient Commemorative Sacrifice of Christians wherein that one Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross was continually by that sacred Rite represented and inculcated to his Father his Father
herein f I wonder sacred Fathers that ye demur so long about opening and consulting the Sibyll's books as if ye were treating or debating this matter in the Christians Church and not in the Temple of all the Gods * Hist. Eccl. l. 7. c. 29. Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Thus was Paulus with great disgrace cast out of the Church by the Secular power b How shall any one be able to express those infinite multitudes of Christians assembling in every city those famous meetings of theirs in their Oratories or Churches and therefore they not being content with those smaller Churches which before they had those their ancient Edifices not being large enough to receive so great a number took care to erect from the very foundations fairer and more spacious ones in every city * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c The Penitents the Hearers the Catechumens or Learners and Probationers in Christianity and the Believers Wheresoever Ten men of Israel were there ought to be built a Synagogue Maiâ— in Tâ—phillah c. 11. Object 1. Answer Object 2. * No Temples Altars Images a Celsus saith Origen affirms that Christians decline the building or setting up of Altars Images and Temples * Lib. 8. contra Celsum b We do indeed saith Origen decline the building of Temples not for the reason which the Gentiles suppose but because we having learnt by the doctrine of Iesus Christ How God is to be worshipped and served we think our selves obliged in conscience to avoid and abstain from all such things as under a prerence and colour of Piety do make men really impious namely those who have erred and gone astray from the true way of worshipping God by Iesus Christ who alone is the way of worshipping God aright according to that most true saying of his I am the Way the Truth and the Life c Why do the Christians keep such ado to conceal and hide that whatsoever it be which they worship Why have they no Altars no Temples no Images unless that which they worship and keep so close were either worthy of punishment or shameful a Do you think that we conceal what we worship because we have neither Temples nor Altars But I beseech you What Image should I make for God whenas if we well consider it Man himself is the lively Image of God What Temple should I build for him whenas the whole world made by him is not able to contain him And whenas I who am but a man have a large habitation and room enough to be in shall I think to enclose and confine so Great a Majesty within one little House Tell me Is not God better sanctified in our Mind and Heart and where can we better prepare an habitation and consecrate a place for God than in the bottom of our Souls in the inmost of our inward man * Al. laxiú◠* Advers Gent. l. 6. b Herein ye are wont to charge us with most hideous impiety and irreligion viz. That we neither build Sacred Houses or Temples to perform the Offices of religious worship in nor make any Image or Representation of any God nor build any kind of Altars at all * See the Difference between Altare and Ara in the Treatise of Tlâ— Name Altar * See the Difference between Altare and Ara in the Treatise of Tlâ— Name Altar c For what use of the Gods should we desire to have Temples for what necessary purposes do we affirm these present Temples to be built or do ye think Temples should be built anew * Institut adversus Gentes lib. 2. cap. 2. d Why do ye not lift up your eyes to Heaven and invocating the Gods by name sacrifice openly and in publick Why do ye rather look to walls and wood and stone than look up thither where ye believe the Gods to dwell What then can Temples mean what do Images or Altars signifie Answer * Worshipping Places Acts 7. 4â— * According to this notion of Templum Tertull. cap. 15. de Idololatria Si Templis renunciâsti 〈◊〉 feceriâ— Temâ— plum januâ—â— tuam Et de Corona mil. cap. 11. Exâ—ubabit nempe Christiâ—nus pro Templis quibus renaâ—ciavit coeuabit ilâ—â— ubi Apâ—stolo non placeâ— id est in Idoko 1 Cor. 8. 10. a I wonder sacred Fathers that ye demur so long about opening and consulting the Sibyll's books as if ye were treating or debating this matter in the Christians CHURCH and not in the TEMPLE of all the Gods b Let us propound the case and suppose as it often comes to pass that the performance of these different Religions may fall out upon one and the same day wherein thou being a Christian must go to the CHURCH and he thy Husband a Gentile must at the same time repair to the TEMPLES a That he either destroyed the Churches of the Saints or else turned them into Temples b Although the Scythians the Numidians in Africk and the irreligious or Atheâ—stical Seres as Celsus characterizes them besides other Nations yea and the Persians too cannot endure TEMPLES ALTARS and STATUES or IMAGES yet is not their and our averseness from these things founded upon the same Grounds and Considerations And a little after saith Origen Among those that are averse from worshipping the Deity in and by ALTARS TEMPLES and IMAGES the Scythians Numidians and the irreligious Seres and the Persians also go upon other Grounds and Principles than the Christians and Iews who hold it utterly unlawful to worship God after that manner For none of those Nations is averse from erecting and setting up Temples Altars and Images upon this account as being apprehensive of that unworthy Hypothesis and notion of the other Gentiles who supposed that the Demons were enclosed and shut up fast in certain Places viz. Temples and Images being either confined thither by Magical Spells or else having preoccupied such places of themselves where they did greedily feed and feast themselves with the Nidour and Savour of the Sacrifices But now Christians and also the Iews are utterly averse from such things out of a conscientious respect to that in the Law Deuter. 6. 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve as also in obedience to that in the Decalogue Thou shalt have no other Gods but me and again Thou shalt not make to thy self any Image c. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * So with Tertullian in the places before alledged in the margin Renunciôsse Templis dicitur qui Idolis * Strabo li. 15. in appeud ad Herodot Theodoâ—et li. 5. c. 38. Yea seâ— de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nâ—naeâ—e in Elymaide Persidis 1 Mac. 6. 2. 2 Mac. 1. 13. ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a If there were in you any zeal for your Religion any just indignation against what doth manifestly