Sicut dominos praediorum liminibus affixi Tituli proloquuntur S. Augustine in Psal. 21. Quando potens aliquis invenerit Titulos suos nonne jure rem sibi vendicat dicit Non ponere◠titulos meos nisi res mea esset Whether this phrase of Scripture of Gods Name to be called or named upon a thing hath reference unto any such custome I cannot affirme but surely the meaning is the same to wit that God is the Lord and Proprietar of them And thus ye have heard what is this Name of God we pray here to be sanctified to wit a twofold Name First His Name and Majesty which we call upon Secondly that also which is called by his Name The first we may call his Personall the other his Denominative or participated Name Having learned what Nomen Dei importeth and so cleared the object of what we pray for let us next enquire What that is which the word Sanctifie or To be sanctified implieth being that which our vote witnesseth ought to be done thereunto And this I intended for the main and principall Argument of my present Discourse being a matter not so well traced as the former and perhaps not altogether freed of obscurity and difficulty to be understood For our more certain and assured discovery whereof we will first examine the abstract thereof Sanctity find out the notion of it namely what is the ratio formalis the formall state or nature of that which the Scripture entitleth in the generall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Holy not regarding what notion the Greeks or Latines had respect to in their Languages but what the holy Scripture properly intendeth under that name For because to be Sanctified can have but these two senses either To be made holy or To be used and done unto according to or as becometh its Holinesse and that the Majesty of God which is the prime object of this Act is not capable of the first sense viz. to be made holy but of the second onely if we therefore once rightly understand what is the condition and property of Sanctity according to the notion of Scripture we shall not be long ignorant what it is either for the Name or Majesty of God or that which is called by his Name to be hallowed or Sanctified namely to be done unto according to their Holinesse Now R. David Kimchi upon the 56 of Esay ver 2 Blessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it hath these words The sanctification of the Sabbath saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to separate or distinguish it from other dayes because every word of Sanctity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports a thing separated or divided from other things by way of preeminence or excellency Thus the Rabbi And that this which he saith is true namely that sanctity consists in discretion and distinction from other things by way of exaltation and preeminence may appeare by these instances and examples which I shall now produce out of Scripture And first from that Law touching the holy oyle Exod. 30. 31. where after the composition thereof described This saith the Lord shall be an holy anointing oyl unto me what is that it follows Vpon mans flesh shal it not be poured neither shal ye make any other like it after the composition thereof It is Holy therefore it shall be Holy unto you that is As this Oyle is Holy and discrete from other Oyles so shall it accordingly by you be used with difference and discrimination For the Text goes on Whosoever compoundeth any like it or putteth any of it upon a stranger that is upon any besides those it was appropriated to shall be cut off from his people What else means all this but that this Oyle should be a singular or peculiar Oyle set apart and distinguished from all other Oyles both in its composition and use and that to be such was to be Holy or Sacred The like we shall finde in the 35. verse of the same Chapter concerning the Holy perfume there described Thou shalt make it saith he to wit with the the ingredients he afore mentioned a perfume a confection after the art of the Apothecary tempered together pure and Holy verse 37. You shall not make to your selves i. not for your own use according to the composition thereof It shall be unto you holy for the Lord. ver 38. Whosoever shall make the like unto it to smell thereto shall be cut off from his people But above all others this notion of sanctity or holinesse is most expressely intimated and taught us in those divine periphrases or circumlocutions which the Lord himself more then once makes of an Holy People as Lev. 20. 24. speaking on this manner I am the Lord your God which have separated you from other people And ye shall be Holy unto me for I the Lord am Holy and have severed you from other people that ye should be mine Mark here that to separate is to make Holy and that to be Holy is to be separated from others of the same rank Again Deut. 26. 18 19. The Lord hath avouched thee to wit Israel this day to be his peculiar or appropriate people as he hath promised thee And to make thee high above all Nations which he hath made in praise in name and in honour namely that thou maist be an Holy people unto the Lord thy God as he hath spoken What is this but Rabbi Kimchi's definition almost verbatim That to bee sacred or Holy is to be separated or set apart from other things by way of excellence or which is all one To be set in some state of singularity or appropriatednesse whereby it is advanced above the common condition of things of the same order He that will may compare also two other passages Deut. 7. 6. 14. 2. parallels to those I have produced where to be an holy and to be a peculiar people are made one and the same or the one expounded by the other It may be yet further confirmed by comparing Deut. 19. 2 7. with Ioshuah 20. 7. For whereas in the former of these places it is said concerning the Cities of refuge Thou shalt separate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 three Cities for thee in the midst of thee In Ioshuah where this commandement is put in execution we read in stead of separated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they sanctified three Cities Kedesh Shechem and Hebron Where that the one is equivalent to the other the Septuagint so well understood that even in this place of Ioshuah for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Sanctificarunt they rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 separarunt or discreverunt The same notion of Holinesse may be gathered also from the Antithesis or opposite thereunto to wit unholy or unclean which the Scripture is wont to expresse by the name of Common So S. Peter in his Vision Acts 10. Lord saith he I have never eaten any thing
not so much the child as the Parents liable to the wrath of God as here the Angel sought not to kill the child who was uncircumcised but Moses the Father who should have circumcised it Both which observations I mean to amplifie no farther but to leave to your exacter meditations and so I conclude EZEKIEL 20. 20. Hallow my Sabbaths and they shall be a signe between me and you to acknowledge that I Iehovah am your God THis Commandement with the end thereof the Lord bids Ezekiel tell the Elders of Israel that he gave to their Fathers in the Wildernesse And it is recorded in the Law so that I might have taken it thence but I rather chose to make these words in Ezekiel my Text as expressed more plainly and so a Comment to those in the Law the place is Exod. 31. where this which my Text containeth is expressed thus Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep for it is a signe between me and you throughout your generations to acknowledge that I Iehovah am your sanctifier that is your God as the expression in Ezekiel tels us For to be the Sanctifier of a People and to be their God is all one whence also the Lord is so often called in Scripture the Holy One of Israel that is their Sanctifier and their God That which I intend at this time to observe from these words is the end why God commanded this observation of the Sabbath to the Israelites to wit that thereby as by a Symbolum they might testifie and professe what God they worshipped Secondly out of this ground to shew how far and in what manner the like observation binds us Christians who are worshippers of the same God whom the Jews worshipped though not under the same relation altogether wherein they worshipped him All Nations had something in their ceremonies whereby they signified the God they worshipped so in those of the celestiall Gods as they termed them and those which were Deified souls of men were differing rites whereby the one was known from the other Those gods which were made of men having funerall rites in their services as cognisances that they were souls deceased and each of them some imitation of some remarkable passage of the Legend of their lives either of some action done by them or some accident which befell them as in the ceremonies of Osyris and Bacchus is obvious to any that reads them And indeed it is a naturall Decorum for servants and vassals by some mark or cognisance to testifie who is their Lord and Master In the Revelation the worshippers of the Beast receive his mark and the worshippers of the Lamb carry his mark and his Fathers in their Fore-heads Hence came the first use of the crosse in Baptisme as the mark of Christ the Deity to whom we are initiated and the same afterwards used in all Benedictions Prayers and Thanksgivings in token they were done in the name and merits of Christ crucified so that in the Primitive Church this rite was no more but that wherewith we conclude all our Prayers and Thanksgivings when we say Through Iesus Christ our Lord and Saviour though afterward it came to be abused as almost all other rites of Christianity to abominable superstition To return therefore unto my Text Agreeably to this principle and this custome of all Religions of all Nations of all vassals the Lord Iehovah Creator of heaven and earth ordained to his people this observation of the Sabbath day for a sign and cognisance that he should be their God and no other It is for a sign saith he between me and you that I Iehovah am your God In the place I quoted before in the 31. of Exod. are these words The Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetuall Covenant it is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever for in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested As if he had said it is a sign that the Creatour of heaven and earth is your God But for the distinct understanding of this signification we must know that the Sabbath includes two respects of time First the quotum one day of seven or the seventh day after six days labour Secondly the designation or pitching that seventh day upon the day we call Saturday In both the Sabbaticall observation was a sign and profession that Iehovah and no other was the God of Israel the first according to his attribute of Creator the second of Deliverer of Israel out of Egypt For by sanctifying the seventh day after they had laboured six they professed themselves vassals and worshippers of that only God who created the heaven and the earth and having spent six days in that great work rested the seventh day and therefore commanded them to observe this sutable distribution of their time as a badge and livery that their religious service was appropriate to him alone And this is that which the fourth Commandement in the reason given from the Creation intendeth and no more but this But seeing they might professe this acknowledgement as well by any other six days working and a sevenths resting as by those they pitched upon there being still what six days soever they had laboured and what seventh soever they had rested the same conformity with their Creator let us see the reason why they pitched upon those six days wherein they laboured for labouring days rather then any other six and why they chose that seventh day namely Saturday to hallow and rest in rather then any other And this was that they might professe themselves servants of Iehovah their God in a relation and respect peculiar and proper to themselves to wit that they were the servants of that God which redeemed Israel out of the Land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage and upon the morning watch of that very day which they kept for their Sabbath he overwhelmed Pharaoh and all his Host in the Red Sea and saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians This I gather from the repetition of the Decalogue Deut. 5. where that reason from the worlds Creation in the Decalogue given at Horeb being left out Moses inserts this other of the Redemption of Israel out of Egypt in stead thereof namely as the reason why those six days rather then any other six for work and that seventh day rather then any other seventh for rest were pitched upon as Israel observed them Remember saith he thou wert a servant in the Land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and a stretched out arm therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath Day Not for the quotum of one day of seven for of that another reason was given the example of God in the Creation but for the designation of the day But whether this day were in order
whence it is probable that S. Peter in the foregoing passage of Angels referred also those chains of darknesse to reserving and not to delivering that is not that the evill Angels were now already delivered to chains of darknesse but reserved for them at the day of Judgement And thus much for clearing of the words of these two parallel Texts now what hath been anciently the current opinion of this point And first for the Jews it is apparent to have been a tradition of theirs that all the space between the earth and the firmament is full of troops of Evill spirits and their Chieftains having their residence in the air which I make no doubt S. Paul had respect to when he cals Satan the Prince of the power of the air Drusius quotes two Authors one the Book called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Munus novum another one of the Commentators upon Pirke Aboth who speak in this manner Debet homo scire intelligere à terra usque ad firmamentum omnia plena esse turmis praefectis infra plurimas esse Creaturas laedentes accusantes omnesque stare volare in aere neque à terra usque ad firmamentum locum esse vacuum sed omnia plena esse praepositis quorum alii ad pacem alii ad bellum alii ad bonum alii ad mulam ad vitam ad mortem incitant By praepositi I suppose he means such among the Spirits as are set as Wardens over severall charges for the managing of the affairs of mankinde subject to their powers This was the opinion of the Iews which they seem to have learned by tradition from their ancient Prophets For in the Old Testament we finde no such thing written and yet we see S. Paul seems to approve it Now for the Doctors of the Christian Church S. Hierome upon the sixth of the Ephesians tels us that their opinion was the same T is the opinion of all the Doctors saith he that Devils have their mansion and residence in the space between the heaven and the earth And that the Fathers of the first 300 or 400 years nor did nor could hold the evill Angels to have been cast into Hell upon their sin is evident by a singular Tenet of theirs For Iustn Martyr one of the most ancient hath this saying that Satan before the coming of Christ never durst blaspheme God and that saith he because till then he knew not he should be damned The same is approved by Irenaeus in his fifth Book and twentysixt Chapter Praeclarè saith he dixit Iustinus quod ante Domini adventum Satanas nunquam ausus est blasphemare Deum quippe nondum sciens suam damnationem Post adventum autem Domini ex sermonibus Christi Apostolorum ejus discens manifestè quoniam ignis aeternus ei praeparatus sit per hujusmodi homines he means those Heretiques who blasphemed the God of the Law blasphemat eum Deum qui judicium importat Eusebius 4. Hist. Cap. 17. cites the same out of both with approbation So doth Oecumenius upon the last Chap. of the first of S. Peter Epiphanius against Heresie 39. gives the same as his own assertion almost in the same words with Iustin and Irenaeus though not naming them Ante Christi adventum saith he nunquam ausus est Diabolus in Dominum suum blasphemum aliquod verbum loqui aut contra elationem cogitare expectavit enim Christi adventum put avitque se misericordiam aliquam assecuturum esse I will not enquire how true this Tenet of theirs is but onely gather this that they could not think the Devils were cast into Hell before the comming of Christ. For then how could they but have known they should be damned if the execution had already been done upon them Saint Augustine as may seem intending to reconcile these places of Peter and Iude with the rest of Scripture is alledged to affirm that the Devils suffering some hell-like torment in their aiery Mansion the Air may in that respect in an improper sense be called Hell But that the Devils were locally or actually in Hell or should be before the day of Judgement it is plain he held not and that will appear by these two passages in his Book de Civitate Dei First where he saith Daemones in hoc quidem aere habitant quia de Coeli superioris sublimitate dejecti merito irregressibilis transgressionis in hoc sibi congruo velut carcere praedamnati sunt Lib. 8. Cap. 22. The other where he expounds that of the Devils Mat. 8. Art thou come to torment us before the time that is saith he ante tempus Iudicii quo aeternâ damnatione puniendi sunt cum omnibus etiam hominibus qui eorum societate detinentur Lib. eodem Cap. 23. in fine The Divines of later times the Schoolmen and others to reconcile the supposed Contrariety in Scripture divide the matter holding some Devils to be in the Air as Saint Paul and the History of Scripture tels us some to be already in Hell as they thought Saint Peter and S. Iude affirm'd which opinion seems to be occasioned by a Quaere of Saint Hieroms upon the sixth of the Ephesians though he speaks but obscurely and defines nothing But what ground of Scripture or reason can be given why all the Devils which sinned should not be in the same condition especially Satan the worst and chief of them should not be in the worst estate but enjoy the greatest liberty It follows therefore that these places of Saint Peter and Saint Iude are to be construed according to the sense I have given of them namely that the evill Spirits which sinned being adjudged to hellish torments were cast out of Heaven into this lower Region there to be reserved as in a prison for chains of darknesse at the Day of Judgement 1 COR. 4. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God A Man would think at first sight that this Scripture did exceedingly warrant our use of the word Minister in stead of that of Priest and leave no plea for them who had rather speak otherwise Howsoever I intend at this time to shew the contrary and even out of this text that we have very much swarved herein from the Apostles language and abuse that word to such a sense as they never intended nor is any where found in Scripture I fayour neither superstition nor superstitious men yet truth is truth and needfull to be known especially when ignorance thereof breedeth errour and uncharitablenesse My discourse therefore shall be of the use of the words Priest and Minister wherein shall appear how truly we are all Ministers in the Apostles sense and yet how abusively and improperly so called in the ordinary prevailing use of that word I will begin thus All Ecclesiasticall persons or Clergy men may be considered in a
the seventh from the Creation or not the Scripture is silent for where it is called in the Commandement the seventh day that is in respect of the six days of labour and not otherwise and therefore whensoever it is so called those six days of labour are mentioned with it The seventh day therefore is the seventh after six days of labour nor can any more be inferred from it The example of the Creation is brought for the quotum one day of seven as I have shewed and not for the designation of any certain day for that seventh Neverthelesse it might fall out so by disposition of Divine Providence that the Jews designed seventh day was both the seventh in order from the Creation and also the day of their deliverance out of Egypt But the Scripture no where tels us it was so howsoever most men take it for granted and therefore it may as well be not so Certain I am the Jews kept not that day for a Sabbath till the raining of Manna For that which should have been their Sabbath the week before had they then kept the day which afterward they kept was the fifteenth day of the second month on which day we reade in the 16. of Exodus that they marched a wearisome march and came at night into the wildernesse of Sin where they murmured for their poor entertainment and wished they had died in Egypt that night the Lord sent them Quails the next morning it rained Manna which was the sixteenth day and so six days together the seventh which was the two and twentieth it rained none and that day they were commanded to keep for their Sabbath now if the two and twentieth day of the month were the Sabbath the fifteenth should have been if that day had been kept before but the Text tels us expresly they marcht that day and which is strange the day of the month is never named unlesse it be once for any station but this where the Sabbath was ordained otherwise it could not have been known that that day was ordained for a day of rest which before was none And why might not their day of holy rest be altered as well as the beginning of the year was for a memoriall of their comming out of Egypt I can see no reason why it might not nor finde any testimony to assure me it was not And thus much of the Jews Sabbath how and wherein it was a sign whereby they professed themselves the servants of Iehovah and no other God Now I come to the second thing I propounded to shew how far and in what manner the like observation binds us Christians I say therefore that the Christian as well as the Iew after six days spent in his own works is to sanctifie the seventh that he may professe himself thereby a servant of God the Creatour of Heaven and Earth as well as the Jew For the quotum therefore the Jew and Christian agree but in designation of the day they differ For the Christian chooseth for his Holy day that which with the Jews was the first day of the week and cals it Dominicum that he might thereby professe himself a servant of that God who on the morning of that day vanquished Satan the Spirituall Pharaoh and redeemed us from our Spirituall thraldome by raising Iesus Christ our Lord from the dead begetting us in stead of an earthly Canaan to an inheritance incorruptible in the Heavens In a word the Christian by the day he hallows professes himself a Christian that is as S. Paul speaks To beleeve on him that raised up Iesus from the dead so that the Jew and Christian both though they fall not upon the same day yet make their designation of their day upon the like ground the Jews the memoriall day of their deliverance from the temporall Egypt and temporall Pharaoh the Christians the memoriall of their deliverance from the spirituall Egypt and spirituall Pharaoh But might not will you say the Christian as well have observed the Jewish for his seventh day as the day he doth I answer No he might not For in so doing he should seem not to acknowledge his Redemption to be already performed but still expected For the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt by the Ministery of Moses was intended for a type and pledge of the spirituall deliverance which was to come by Christ their Canaan also to which they marched being a type of that heavenly inheritance which the redeemed by Christ do look for Since therefore the shadow is now made void by the comming of the substance the relation is changed and God is no longer to be worshipped and beleeved in as a God foreshewing and assuring by types but as a God who hath performed the substance of what he promised And this is that which S. Paul means Colossians 2. 16 17. where he saith Let no man judge you henceforth in respect of a Feast day New Moon or Sabbath days which were a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ. 1. CO◠〈◊〉 5. Every woman praying or prophecying with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head I Have chosen this of the woman rather then that of the man going before it for the Theme of my Discourse First because I conceive the fault at the reformation whereof the Apostle here almeth in the Church of Corinth was the womens only not the mens That which the Apostle speaks of a man praying or prophecying being by way of supposition and for illustration of the unseemlinesse of that guise which the women used Secondly because the condition of the sex in the words read makes something for the better understanding of that which is spoken of both as we shall see presently What I intend to speak upon this Text shall consist of these two parts First of an enquiry what is here meant by prophecying a thing attributed to women and therefore undoubtedly some such thing as they were capable of Secondly what was this fault for matter and manner of the women of the Church of Corinth which the Apostle here reproveth To begin with the first and which I am like to dwell longest upon Some take prophecying here in the stricter sense to be foretelling of things to come as that which in those Primitive times both men and women did by the powring out of the Holy Ghost upon them according to that of the Prophet Ioel applied by S. Peter to the sending of the Holy Ghost at the first promulgation of the Gospel I will powre out my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophecy and your young men shall see visions And that such Prophetesses as these were those four Daughters of Philip the Euangelist whereof we read Acts 21. 9. Others take prophecying here in a more large notion for the gift of interpreting and opening Divine mysteries contained in holy Scripture for the instruction and edification of the hearers especially as it was then inspired and
for religious duties The one called Proseuchae the other Synagogues the difference between which was this Proseucha was a plot of ground encompassed with a wall or some other like mound or enclosure and open above much like to our Courts the use properly for prayer as the name Proseucha importeth A Synagogue was aedificium tectum a covered edifice as our houses and Churches are where the Law and Prophets were read and expounded and the people instructed in divine matters according to that Acts 15. 21. Moses of old time hath in every City them that preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day From whence also ye may gather that Synagogues were within the Cities as Proseucha's were without which was another difference between them as you shall hear confirmed That Proseucha's were such places as I have described them to be I prove out of a notable place of Epiphanius a Jew bred and born in Palestine who in his Tract against the Messalian Heretiques after he hath told us that the Messaliam built themselves certain houses or large places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fororum instar which they called Proseuchae he goes on thus Et habuisse quidem Iudaeos jam olim ut Samaritas certa quaedam ad precandum loca extra urbes quas Proseuchas dicerent ex Apostolorum Actibus liquet ubi purpurae institrix Lydia Apostolo Paulo occurrisse dicitur De quo ita Scriptura narrat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it seemed to be a place of prayer of which I shall say more anon He goes on still Est Sicimis saith he quae hodie Neapolis dicitur Proseuchae locus extra urbem Theatro similis secundo ab urbe lapide situs Quem ita aperto coelo area subdiali extruxerunt Samaritae Iudaeorum in omnibus imitatores Out of these words you may collect every part of my description First that Proseuchae were out of the Cities in the fields Secondly that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the ancients Forum or place of market and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the open aire and without roof such as the Courts of the Temple also were whither the people came to pray so that they were as it were a kind of dis-joyned and remoter Courts unto the Temple whither they turned themselves when they prayed in them Thirdly that they were ordained for places of prayer All these are in this passage of Epiphanius and moreover that such a one was in his time remaining at Sichem the place my Text speaks of there erected by the Samaritans in that as in all things else imitators of the Jews What better testimony could be desired These Proseucha's of the Jews both name and thing were not unknown to the Poet Iuvenal when describing in his third Satyr in what manner proud and insolent fellows in the City of Rome used in their drunken humours to abuse and quarrell with those they met in the streets in the night time whom they took to be of mean estate and condition he brings them in speaking thus Ede ubi consistas in quâ te quaero Proseuchâ where dwell you in what Proseucha should I seek or enquire for you intimating that he was some poor fellow either that dwelt in an house that could not keep out wind and weather but was like a Jews Proseucha all open above or he alludes to the banishment of the Jews out of Rome by Domitian in his own time and then fresh as who had no where else to bestow themselves but in their Proseucha's out of the City or who used to assemble in the Proseucha's according to some of these senses is Iuvenall to be understood For that the Jews had Proseucha's about the City of Rome appears by Philo Iudaeus in his De legatione ad Calum where commending the clemency and moderation of Augustus Caesar he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he knew the Jews of Rome had their Proseucha's and that they used to assemble in them especially on the Sabbath days and yet never molested them as Caius did The same Philo mentioneth Proseucha's elswhere though it be not to be dissembled that he seems to comprehend Synagogues also properly so called under that name as being better known to the Gentiles who called both by that name Iosephus in his Life tels us of a Proseucha at Tiberias in Galilee in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On the next day the Sabbath the whole people were gathered together in the Proseucha which is saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a large edifice fit to receive a great multitude In the New Testament the name of Synagogue is frequent but that of Proseucba seldom whence may be conjectured that both are comprehended under that name as in Philo both are termed Proseuchae yet once or twice as learned Interpreters think we read of Proseucha's in the new Testament as namely Acts 16. 13. which Epiphanius even now alledged to that purpose where S. Luke tels us that S. Paul being come to Philippi in Macedonia on the Sabbath Day they went out of the City to a river side 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where there was taken to be a Proseucha or where was famed to be a Proseucha 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will bear both The Syriack hath Quia ibi conspiciebatur Domus orationis the Arabick Locus orationis For if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were taken here for prayer it selfe as if the sense were where prayer was used to be made it should rather have been said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet if it were so taken it would still argue no lesse then that there was here an appointed place for prayer and that out of the City which is all one as to say there was a Proseucha so I take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the 16. verse of the same Chapter where it is said It came to passe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we went to the Proseucha especially since we read not in the Text that S. Paul went thither to pray but to preach where he deemed there was an assembly that day according to custome And we sate down saith S. Luke and spake unto the women which were come together there A second place where a Proseucha is mentioned in the New Testament may be that Luke 6. 12. where it is said that our Saviour went out into a high Mountain to pray and continued all night 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Proseucha Dei so Drusius thinks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is here to be taken for a place and the Article helps the sense otherwise it seems an odde and unaccustomed expression for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to mean in prayer made unto God and why should it not be as likely that our Saviour might sometimes pray in their Proseucha's as teach in their Synagogues Thus we have seen the testimonies for Proseucha's their use and difference from Synagogues
and to rise from the dead the third day and that remission of sins should be preached in his Name among the Nations But where is this publication of remission of sins by Christ written for in those formall words we shall hardly finde it Let us take here the Angels key and we shall for they tell us that peace on earth is this good-will towards men Now do not the Prophets speak of some peace on earth which Messiah should bring with him when he comes yes surely well then let us look for this publication of remission of sins under that name and we shall finde it Isay 9. 6. Vnto us a Childe is born unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderfull Counsellor the mighty God the Father of eternity the Prince of peace that is of peace not between men and men but between God and men and of the increase of his government and peace shall be no end Isay 52. 7. How beautifull upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace that bringeth good tidings of good that publisheth salvation that saith unto Zion Thy God reigneth which place S. Paul Rom. 10. 15. interprets of the publication of the Gospel of Christ. Esay 53. 5. The chastisement of our peace was upon him that is he suffered for the remission of our sins Is. 57. 19. quoted by S. Paul to the Ephesians Chap. 2. Peace to him that is afarre off and to him that is near saith the Lord and I will heal him Ezek. 34. 24 25. I the Lord will be their God and my servant David King Messiah a Prince among them And I will make a Covenant of peace with them So Chap. 37. 26. Hag. 2. 9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater then of the former saith the Lord of Hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of Hosts Zech. 9. 10. Shout ô daughter of Ierusalem behold thy King commeth unto thee and he shall speak peace unto the Heathen and his Dominion shall be from Sea to Sea and from the River unto the end of the earth Thus much of the Use to be made of the Angels expression in this heavenly Carol Now I shall propound to your consideration another and that taken from the argument it self namely that if Almighty God our heavenly Father be so graciously disposed to us-ward as to be reconciled unto us by forgiving us our trespasses then ought we semblably to be reconciled to our brethren and forgive them their trespasses when they have wronged or offended us Leo Serm. 6. de Nativit Natalis Domini natalis est pacis ergo singuli fideles offerant Patri pacificorum concordiam filiorum The Illation is good we have the authority of the Apostle S. Iohn to back it 1 Ioh. 4. 10. God saith he so loved us that he sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins What follows Beloved saith he if God so loved us we ought to love end another So I say if God be so gracious to forgive and be reconciled to us we ought as it were to eccho this his loving kindnesse and to forgive and be reconciled one to another This congruity and semblablenesse of our actions and affections one towards another with Gods favour and mercy towards us is the Rule and Reason not only of this but of many other duties he requires at our hands Thus the Jews were every seventh year to manumise their servants as an act of congruity and thankfulnesse to God who had delivered them when they were servants out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage They were bidden to use a stranger kindly because themselves had been strangers and God when they were oppressed had been compassionate and kinde towards them and redeemed them from their thraldome Likewise we reade in the Gospel Luk. 8. 36. Be ye mercifull as your heavenly Father is mercifull And Matth. 5. Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obtain mercy In a word God hath revealed he will shew mercy to none but such as appear before him with this congruity Iames 2. 13. He shall have judgement without mercy that sheweth no mercy and therefore the tenor of our sentence at the last judgement runs Come ye blessed and be partakers of mercy because ye have shewed it But Goe ye cursed without all mercy into Hell fire because ye have shewed no mercy Thus we see how God requires this congruity in generall and as for the particular of reconcilement and forgiving our brother it is written in capitall letters and urged in such sort as it might not unfitly be termed the Livery of Christianity In so much that if we consider it duly it cannot but breed astonishment that the evidence and necessity should be so apparent and the practice among those who look for the benefit of Christ and call upon his Name so little regarded when as I dare boldly pronounce there is no remission of sins to be looked for at the hands of God without it An invincible argument whereof is That our Saviour himself in the prayer he hath taught his Church hath put in a barre against asking it but upon this condition Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us If we ask not with this disposition there is no promise that any such prayer shall be heard nay our Saviour tels us in plain terms it shall not If saith he you forgive not men their trespasses no more will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses How then can any man whose heart is fraught with malice and meditates revenge against his brother hear this and not tremble Is it not a fearfull thing for a man to carry in his own bosome not only an evidence that his sins are unpardoned but a barre too that he cannot ask the forgivenesse of them Let no man deceive himself Etsi enim multis bonis conscientiis abundemus saith S. Chrysostome reconciliatione tamen contemptâ nullum possumus promereri solatium As the fifth Commandement is called by the Apostle the first Commandement of promise so is this petition for forgivenesse of sins the only petition with condition and such a condition too as our Saviour dwels upon and enforces when he had delivered this form of prayer to his Disciples For he passes by all the rest of the petitions and singles out this alone to comment upon as that wherein the chiefest moment lay and without which all our prayer would be uneffectuall and to no purpose A further confirmation of which we have in that parable of Servus nequam Matth. 18. whom his Lord being moved with compassion when he besought him forgave a debt of ten thousand Talents But he finding one of his fellow-servants which ought him an hundred pence though he fell at his feet and besought him yet would not hear him but cast him into prison
such an one where Idolatry false worship and Popery so reigned as there had been little hopes or means to have been saved But behold we are born bred and dwell in a reformed Christian State where the worship of God in Christ is truly taught and practised where no God is worshipped but the Father and in no other Mediator but his Son Jesus Christ. How should we then magnifie our good God for his so great and abundant mercy towards us Luther or some other tels a story of a German pesant who on a time beholding an ugly Toad fell into a most bitter lamentation and weeping that he had been so unthankfull to Almighty God who had made him a man and not such an ugly creature as that was O that we could in like manner bewail our ingratitude towards him who hath made us to have our birth and habitation not among Pagans and barbarous Indians a people without God in the world but in a beleeving and Christian Nation where the true God is known and the means of salvation is to be had Thankfulnesse for a lesse benefit is the way to obtain a greater To acknowledge and prize Gods favour towards us in the means is the way to obtain his grace to use them to our eternall advantage whereas our neglect of thankfulnesse in the one may cause God in his just judgement to deprive us of his blessing in the other Consider it And thus much concerning the person to whom the Angel spake Cornelius And he said unto him Now I come to the message it self Thy prayers and thine almes are come into remembrance before God Where before I make any further entrance there is an Objection requires to be answered namely how Cornelius his service could be accepted of God as it is said to be when as he had no knowledge of Christ without whom no man can please God I answer Cornelius pleased God through his faith in the promise of Christ to come as all just men under the Law did which faith God did so long accept after Christ was come till his comming and the mystery of Redemption wrought by him were fully and clearly made known and preached which had not been to Cornelius till this time for though he had heard of his preaching in Galilee and Judaea and that he was crucified by the Jews yet he had not heard of his Resurrection from the dead and Ascension into glory or was not assured of it till it was now confirm'd unto him by one sent from God himself And it is like that having heard somewhat of the Apostles preaching and of the Jews opposing their testimony and so knowing not what to beleeve he had earnestly besought God in his Devotions to lead him in the way of truth and make known unto him what to doe This being premised I return again unto the Angels words wherein I will consider three things First the conjunction or coupling of Almesdeeds with Prayer Thy Prayers and thine Almes Secondly the efficacy of power they have with God Thy Prayers and thine Almes are come up into remembrance before God Thirdly I will adde the reasons why God so much accepteth them which are also so many Motives why we should be carefull and diligent to practise them For the first the joyning of Almesdeeds with prayer Cornelius we see joyn'd them and he is therefore in the verses before going commended for a devout man and one that feared God And by the Angels report from God himself we hear how graciously he accepted them giving us to understand that a Devotion thus arm'd was of all others the most powerfull to pierce into his dwelling place and fetch a blessing from him Therefore our Saviour likewise Mat. 6. joyns the precepts of Alms and Prayer together teaching us how to give alms and how to pray in one Sermon as things that ought to goe hand in hand and not to be separated asunder It was also the Ordinance of the Church in the Apostles times that the first day of the week which was the time of publike prayer should be the time also of Alms. So saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 16. 1. Now concerning the collection for the Saints saith he as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye 2. Vpon the first day of the week that is upon the Lords day let every one of you lay by himself in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come Which institution seems to be derived from the Commandement of God in the Law twice repeated Let no man appear before the Lord empty For the words annexed to that Law Deut. 16. where it is applied to the three great feasts when all Israel was to assemble to pray before the Lord in his Tabernacle the words I say there annexed sound altogether like unto these of S. Paul concerning the Lords day Three times a year saith the Text there shall all the males appear before the Lord and they shall not appear before the Lord empty Every one shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee Is not this the same in sense with S. Pauls Let every one lay by himself in store as God hath prospered him The Primitive Church after the Apostles followed the same president and our own Reformed Church hath ordained the same in her Service-book were it accordingly practised as was intended For after the Epistle and Gospel she appoints divers choice sentences of Scripture to be read which exhorts us to Almes and other Offerings to the honour of Almighty God and then as supposing it to be done in the Prayer for the whole estate of Christs Church We humbly beseech him most mercifully to accept our Almes and receive our prayers which we offer unto his Divine Majesty Shall I now need to exhort Christians thus to furnish and strengthen their prayers which they daily offer unto God to couple them with Almesdeeds to come before God with a present and not empty-handed Whom neither Gods Commandement the practice of his Church the example of his Saints nor the acceptance of such prayers as the hand which dealeth Almes lifteth up to him whom these will not move no words of mine will do it But some may say Would you have us always give Alms when we pray No I say not so but I would not have you appear before the Lord empry that is such as are not wont to give them nor mean to do for you may give them before or second your prayers with them after you may have set and appointed times for the one as you have for the other or when the Law of man injoyns you any thing in this kinde do it heartily faithfully and with a willing minde without grudging that so God may accept it as a service done to him Or lastly thou maist doe as the holy men of Scripture were wont vow and promise unto God if
This rule of congruity I say is the reason why at the day of our great account we shall be judged according to our works of mercy and bounty To do as we would be done to hath place not onely between man and man but between God and men Nor is this I speak of manifest by the form of our last sentence onely but by other Scriptures beside what else means that of our Saviour Luke 16. Make unto your selves friends of the unrighteous Mammon that is of these slippery and deceitfull riches for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Scriptures Dialect is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting Tabernacles Or what means that of S. Paul 1 Tim. 6. 17. Charge them that be rich in this world that they trust not in uncertain riches but in the living God That they do good that they be rich in good works laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternall life Laying up a good foundation c. in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here it is observable that works of Beneficence are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the foundation of the reward we shall receive in the life to come If any but S. Paul had said so we should have gone near to have excepted against it for an error Works the foundation of eternall life No that shall not need but the foundation of that blessed sentence we shall receive at the last day for them and that is evident by the form thereof which we have alledged whatsoever is meant a great priviledge sure is hereby implied that these works have above others A like place to this we have in the old Testament with application particularly to Alms or works of mercy Tobit 4. 9. For thou layest up for thy self a good treasure against the day of necessity in the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. which answers to the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here give me leave to tell you what a late sacred Critick hath observed concerning the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that place of Timothy namely that the signification thereof there is not Vulgar but Hellenisticall agreeable to the use of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereto it answers for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies as it doth Radix or fundamentum but besides this in the Rabbinicall Dialect it is used for Tabula contractus a Bill of contract a Bond or Obligation whereby such as lend are secured their loan again That therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the first sense doth answer the same likewise in the second and accordingly the Apostles meaning to be that those who exercise these works of beneficence do provide themselves as it were of a Bill or Bond upon which they may at that day sue or plead for the award of eternall life Vi pacti but not Vi meriti In the same sense he takes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 2. 19. The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And let every one that nameth or calleth upon the name of Christ depart from iniquity The mentioning of a Seal here implies a Bill of contract for Bils of contract had their Seals appendent to them each side whereof had his Motto the one suiting with the one party contrahent the other with the other That to this S. Paul alludes Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he standeth sure that is Gods Bill of contract or his Chirographum having a Seal according to the manner the one side whereof carrieth this Motto The Lord knoweth them that are his the other this Let every one that calleth upon the Name of Christ depart from iniquity Thus God remembreth the Righteous or charitable man in the world to come He remembreth him also in this For that which the Apostle saith of godlinesse that it hath the promise of this life as well as of that to come is most properly and peculiarly true of this righteousnesse of bounty and mercy other righteousnesse indeed must not look for reward till hereafter but this is wont to be rewarded now For spirituall blessings we have the example of Cornelius who for his Almesdeeds found favour with God to have S. Peter sent unto him to instruct him in the saving knowledge of Christ Thy prayers and thine Almesdeeds said the Angel are come up in remembrance before God Now therefore send to Joppa and inquire for one Simon Peter c. For temporall blessings hear what David says Psa. 37. 25. quoted before I was young saith he and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging their bread He is ever mercifull and lendeth therefore his seed is blessed This blessing is the mercifull and charitable mans peculiar that his children shall not want who was liberall and open-handed to supply the want of others But think not that God remembers the charitable man with a temporall blessing in his posterity onely for he remembers him also in his own person Thus the same David Psal. 41. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poore the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble 2. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon the earth and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing c. And doth not his Son King Solomon say the same Prov. 19. 17. He that hath pâ—ty upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord and that which he hath given he will pay him again But this perhaps some will think may be applied to the reward in the life to come If it be it would much illustrate that of S. Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I now spake of But Prov. 28. 27. is a place not capable of this exception He that giveth to the poor shall not lack but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse Thus we have seen how the righteous man is in remembrance with God Now let us see how the same is and ought to be in remembrance with men And it may be inferred from the former for why should not we remember those whom God doth The practice in the Church of God hath been accordingly The Jews when they make mention of any of their deceased Worthies are wont to do it with this Encomium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est Memoria ejus sit in benedictione Otherwhile with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Memoria ejus sit ad vitam futuri seculi And of their Rabbies in generall when they mention them they say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magistri nostri quorum memoria sit ad benedictionem Which encomiasticall scheme is taken from that of Solomon Pr. 10. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
despising of others be cropped and withered and these I can tell you will quite spoil a garden where many good flowers grow If after this manner we be affected then are we humbled If not we are not sufficiently taken down all our service is hypocrisie nor will our devotions be accepted of that all-seeing Majesty who resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble GEN. 3. 13 14 15. 13. And the Lord God said unto the woman What is this that thou hast done And the woman said The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat 14. And the Lord God said unto the Serpent Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattell and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life 15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel THE Story whereof the words I have read are part is so well known to all that it would be needless to spend time in any long preface thereof Who knows not the story of Adams fall who hath not heard of the sin of Eve our Mother If there were no Scripture yet the unsampled irregularity of our whole nature which all the time of our life runs counter to all order and right reason the wofull misery of our condition being a scene of sorrow without any rest or contentment This might breed some generall suspition that Ab initio non fuit ita but that he who made us Lords of his creatures made us not so worthlesse and vile as now we are but that some common Father to us all had drunken some strange and devillish poyson wherewith the whole race is infected This poyson saith the Scripture was the breach of Gods commandement in Paradise by eating of the forbidden fruit for which Adam being called to an account by the great Judge and laying the fault upon the woman which God had given him for an helper God vouchsafes as ye hear in my Text to examine the Woman saying What is this that thou hast done And she answers The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat These words contain in them two parts First Gods Inquisition accusing Secondly the womans Confession excusing her fact The first in the first words And the Lord said unto the woman c. The second in the last words And the woman said The Serpent c. For the first words which God speaks being considered absolutely are an indictment for some crime as they are interrogative they are an inquisition concerning the same and therefore I call them an Inquisition accusing So the second are a Confession as the woman says I have eaten but with an excuse when she says The Serpent beguiled me and therefore I call them a Confession excusing In the Inquisition are two things to be considered First the Author and Person who makes it which is the Lord God himself So saith my Text And the Lord God said unto the woman Secondly the Inquisition it self What is this that thou hast done In the Person who comes and makes this Inquest being the Lord God himself we may observe and behold his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his wonderfull goodnesse and unspeakable love to mankinde which here reveals it self in four most remarkable circumstances First in his forbearance And the Lord said When said the Lord namely not till Adam had accused her she who was first in the sin was last questioned for the same and that too because her husband had appealed her God knew and observed well enough the first degree and every progresse of her sin he needed no information from another yet as though he were loth to take notice thereof as though he were loth to finde her guilty yea as though he were loth to denounce the punishment which his Justice required he comes not against her untill now and that as though he were unwilling to come at all If we look back into the story we shall yet finde a further confirmation thereof How long did God hold his hand before he stripped the woman especially of that glorious beauty of her integrity and made her with opened eies to see her shamefull nakednesse She had at the first onset of her conference with the Serpent sinned a sin of unbeleef of God and yet God spared her In the progresse she sinned more in her proud ambition of being like to God himself and to be wise above what was given her and God yet spared her She sinned when she coveted and longed once to eat of the forbidden fruit when it began to seem more pleasing and desirable unto her then obedience to Gods Commandement and God yet spared her At last she takes and eats thereof and so came to the heighth and consummation of her sin and yet behold and see the clemency and longanimity of our good God he paused yet a while untill she had given unto her husband also and then and not till then he opened their eyes to see their wofull misery A lesson first to us men if so be we think the example of God worthy our imitation to bear long with our brother as God bears with us to admonish him as it is in the Gospel the first second and third time before we use him like an Heathen or a Publican to forgive him seven times yea as Christ says to Peter if he repent and ask forgivenesse seventy times seven times Secondly this may be a cordiall of spirituall comfort unto us sinners though we make a shift to keep our selves from the execution of sin yet we finde our hearts full of sinfull thoughts ungodly desires and unclean lusts and such like sinfull motions from the infirmity of our flesh which notwithstanding we cannot ever expell or be rid of yet let us hope that God out of his mercy will bear with our weaknesse and passe by our infirmities who bore with the sin of our first Parents untill it came to execution The second circumstance is the temper of his Justice in that he vouchsafes first to enquire of the offence and examine the fact before he gives sentence or proceeds to execution The like example we have Gen. 11. where it is said The Lord came down to see the City and Tower which the children of men had builded afore he would confound their language or scatter them abroad from that ambitious Babel upon the face of the earth Again Gen. 18. the Lord says I will go down and see whether they of Sodâ—me have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know He from whom no secrets are hid he that formed the heart of man and knows all the works we do he that trieth and searcheth the heart and reins even he will first examine the fact will first hear what miserable man can say for himself before his sentence shall
according to that Domini est terra plenitudo ejus And Let no man appear before the Lord emptie Therefore as this sacrifice consisted of two parts as I told you of Praise and Prayer which in respect of the other I call sacrificium quod and of the commemoration of Christ crucified which I call sacrificium quo so the symbols of Bread and Wine traversed both being first presented as symbols of Praise and Thanksgiving to agnize God the Lord of the creature in the sacrificum quod Then by invocation of the Holy Ghost made the symbols of the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrificium quo So that the whole service throughout consisted of a reasonable part and of a materiall part as of a Soul and a Body of which I shall speak more fully hereafter when I come to prove this I have said by the testimonies of the Ancients SECTION 2. ANd this is that Sacrifice which Malachi foretold the Gentiles should one day offer unto God In omni loco offeretur incensum Nomini meo Mincha purum quoniam magnum erit Nomen meum in Gentibus dicit Dominus exercituum Which words I am now according to the order I propounded to explicate and apply to my Definition Know therefore that the Prophet in the foregoing Words upbraids the Jews with despising and disesteeming their God forasmuch as they offered unto him for sacrifice not the best but the lame the torn and the sick as though he had not been the great King Creator and Lord of the whole World but some petty god and of an inferior rank for whom any thing were good enough If I be a Father where is mine honour If I be Dominus where is my fear saith the Lord of Hosts unto you O Priests that despise my name and ye say wherein have we despised it Ye offer polluted bread upon mine Altar and ye say Wherein have we polluted thee In that ye say The Table of the Lord is contemptible or not so much to be regarded that is you think so as appears by the basenesse of your offering For the Present shewes what esteem the giver hath of him he honoureth therewith But you offer that to me which ye would not think fit to offer to your Prorex or Governour under the King of Persia which shewes you have but a mean esteem of me in your hearts and that you beleeve not I am He that I am because you see me acknowledged of no other Nation but yours and that ye have been subdued by the Gentiles and brought into this miserable and despicable condition wherein you now are you imagine me to be some Topicall god and as of small jurisdiction so of little power But know that howsoever I now seem to be but the Lord of a poor Nation yet the days are coming When from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts it follows though you have prophaned it in that ye say the Table of the Lord is contemptible whereas I am a great King and my Name shall be dreadfull among the Heathen This is the dependence and coherence of the words Now to apply them Incense as the Scripture it self tels notes the Prayers of the Saints It was also that wherewith the remembrance was made in the sacrifices or God put in minde Mincha which we turn Munus is oblatio farrea an offering made of meal or flower baked or fryed or dryed or parched corn We in our English when we make distinction call it a meat-offering but might call it a bread-offering of which the Libamen or the drink-offering being an indivisible concomitant both are implyed under the name Mincha where it alone is named The Application then is easie Incense here notes the rationall part of our Christian sacrifice which is Prayer Thanksgiving and Commemoration Mincha the materiall part thereof which is oblatio farrea or a present of Bread and Wine BUT this Mincha is characterised in the Text with an attribute not to be overpast Mincha purum in omni loco offeretur incensum nomini meo Mincha purum The meat-offering which the Gentiles should one day present the God of Israel with should be munus purum or as the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us learn if we can what this Purity is and wherein it consisteth or in what respect the Gentiles oblation is so styled Some of the Fathers take this Pure offering to be an offering that is purely or spiritually offered The old sacrifices both of the Jew and Gentile were offered modo corporali by slaughter fire and incense but this of Christians should be offered onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Iustin Martyr expresses it whence it is usually called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reasonable and unbloody sacrifice namely of the manner of offering it Not that there was no materiall thing used therein as some mistake for we know there was Bread and Wine but because it is offered unto God immaterially or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely which the Fathers in the first Councell of Nice call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be sacrificed without sacrificing rites This sense of Pure sacrifice is followed by Tertullian as may appear by his words ad Scapulam where speaking of the Christian Liturgie Sacrificamus saith he pro Imperatore sed quomodo praecepit Deus pura prece Non enim eget Deus Conditor Vniversitatis odoris aut sanguinis alicujus Also in his third Book against Marcion cap. 22. In omni loco offertur incensum Nomini meo sacrificium mundum that is saith he gloriae relatio benedictio hymni which he presently cals munditias sacrificiorum The same way go some others But this sense though it fitly serves to difference our Christian sacrifice from the old sacrifices of the Jews and Gentiles and the thing it self be most true yet I cannot see how it can agree with the context of our Prophet where the word Incense though I confesse mystically understood is expressed together with Munus purum For it would make the literall sense of our Prophet to be this In every place Incense is offered to my Name and an offering without Incense And yet this would be the literall meaning if Pure here signified without Incense Let us hear therefore a second Interpretation of this Puritie of the Christian Mincha more agreeable to the dependence of the words and that is a conscientia offerentis from the disposition and affection of the offerer according to that of the Apostle Tit. 1. 15. To the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbeleeving is nothing pure but even their minde and conscience is defiled They professe they know God but in their works