Visions of Daniel chapt 7. and chapt 9. for the sonne of MAN Now the Conclusion of the Lords prayer doth call us directly to Dan. 7. and thence to chapt 9. therefore it calleth into minde all that those Visions haue so the end of the fourth Kingdome is seen to be a litle before our Lord his Incarnation so his most glorious incarnation celebrated by Angels so his Ascention attended by the same so the name MESSIAS and death of the Iust for the unjust and Covenant for manie in the Lords supper and yeere of death and Iubilie and ending of Moses Ceremonies all be called into minde by this sentence Thyne is the Kingdome power and glorie for ever and ever And as the morning spreadeth over the Mountaines and light flitteth from East to West so this sentence spreadeth over all the Doctrine of the Kingdome that the subjects of MESSIAS are poor and in the Sea but builded upon the ROCK And thus much for the Divine light by which this sentence may be knowne to be no trifling addition but breathed from God and a most heauenly parcel of the New Testament which the Popes barbarous Latine Translation would disannull others allowance of it would make to be no part of the New Testament Now for the second poynt how it absolveth the harmonie of the Prayer and Decalogue the meditation will haue profitable matter but all must be considered together God sayth I am the Eternall thy God Thou shalt haue no other Elohim God and judge but me We pray O our Father to thee onely we pray and flye God sayth Thou shalt not make to thy self any grauen Image nor the likenes of any thing c. We say Thou art in Heauen in light that none can come to nor thinke to what thou canst be likened God sayth Thou shalt not take the Name of the Eternall thy God in vayne We pray Sanctified be thy Name God sayth Remember that thou keep holy the Saboth day as Gods kingdomes badge We pray Thy Kingdome come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen God sayth Honour thy Father and Mother that it may be well with thee We pray Giue us all estates our competent nourishment God sayth Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not committe adulterie Thou shalt not steale Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour Thou shalt not covet We pray Forgiue us our trespasses as me forgiue them that trespasse against us and lead us not into hard tryals but deliver us from evill Now the Proem of the Decalogue and end of the Prayer are to be viewed God sayth I am the Eternall thy God that brought thee out of the Land of Egypt that was with great glorie and with the blood of the Lambe and overthrow of Pharaoh and his Host in the Redde Sea and terror of Nations and plague of Amalek that would fight against his Cousins in Izhak and shaking of the earth and flight of the Sea Ieremie telleth that the Deliverie from Babel should be more glorious and what perswaded 49000 Iewes to leaue Babel but the hope of him which should come with the Cloudes of Heauen and haue Kingdome power and glorie for ever In the first yeere of Bel-esh-zar they saw that Bel and Idols bred but fire and sorrow and eternall Rest was in the kingdome of Christ and they knew when the kingdome should fall and Cyrus deliver them and all Nations heare of their demanding of the way to Sion upon the hope of the Sonne of Man comming to shew the Kingdome of heauen to all Nations and to shake euen the heauen of Moses pollicie so that hope turned to the worlds salvation by Christ wherefore that speach was worthy to be in the Lords prayer to light our hearts in Christ without whom we haue no right at all to say Abba Father Wherefore they that denie this glorious sentence to be part of the New Testament or countenance the denyers are in most haynous blame and should amend all that is amisse Everie blemish wherewith wee staine Scripture wil grieue the sage especially the mayming of the prayer which first the Holy Ghost gaue for the verie syllables to be a perpetuall forme in the Church If our sacrifice be herein blemished God will not so willingly heare us I Belieue in God the Father Almightie maker of heauen and earth and in Iesus Christ 〈◊〉 sonne our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Marie suffred under Pontius Pilate was crocified dead and buried he went to the World of soules the third day he arose from the dead and ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father from thence he shall come to judge both the quick the dead I belieue in the Holy Ghost that there is a holy Catholique Church the Communion of Saincts the forgiuenes of sinnes the resurrection of the bodie and life everlasting Amen A direct Explanation of the Article of our Lords soules departure from this world THE Holy Ghost teacheth plainly that our Lord his soul went from his bodie into the hands of God for so he sayth O Father into thy hands I commend my spirit And so the faythfull Thief believed when he sayd O Lord remember thou me when thou cemest in to thy Kingdome He as the Scribes and Doctors believed that all faythful soules goe from this world unto the joyes of God which place they call Paradise And that belief our Lord confirmed saying This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise And S. Paul speaketh to the Hebrews that through the veile of his flesh he went into the holy Place into Heauen Common speach called the place of the starres Heauen and because it is the bewtie of the visible world they held it the fittest terme to expres the world where God shewed himself to the blessed in joy before his throne And the cursed which are there haue a place of torments called by a borrowed speach Gehinnam the Valley of Hinnom that was properly a place neere Ierusalem where children were brent to Molesh and being a most miserable place was fit to shew the seat of them which haue ascended hence to Gods throne to abide a judgment unto eternal paynes be tormented before God and Lam for ever and ever All souls of men ascend and none ever descended but as death his inferior to life it is termed a descent and the going from a place lower of esteeme is called a descent as from Ierusalem to Samaria That which Christians call the world to come is called of the Iews in their common writings the world of souls and of the Grecians of all ages Hades And the Philosophers hield it a most happie thing for a just man to goe from this World to Hades The Apostles Articles of belief was written in Greeke according to the Greek it must be expounded There is Hades the World of souls where be distinct places
the joy of our soules and it were better for us that we were never born then to misse of this for the price is Gehenna While the families that hoped in Christ were few that one Bishop might teach them the Law was not written Sem Arphaxad Selah Heber Abraham and his sonnes by Returah whence Iob was Isaac Iacob Ioseph taught theirs the redemtion by word of mouth equitie by the Law of nature But when Israel multiplied a few suffised not to be Bishops then a Law was written and all Israel fortie yeeres had leasure to learne it And Levites were the common Bishops in the land as Bishop Eleazar speciall one PAKID a man of charge is Episcopus in the LXX 1 Timoth. 3. But not Levites onely were learned Al Paroches through the twelue Tribes had their Doctors of their owne and all of Israel often and no Levite as some were only of Levites in their 48 townes lotted to Levi and the high Councill might be all of Israel or all of Levi as it should fal out The Synagogues or Paroches had nothing to doe with sacrifice nor had any ceremonie of Levi no cope of Linnen as Aaron neither linnen only one shirt a Girdle and a Cappe as Levites in the Temple Neyther might they any more imitate Aharons attire then they might sacrifice there In their Synagogues they read the Law and all saving hand-laborers thrice a weeke from Childhood frequented Divinitie-scholes Of them the chief were chosen to rule and to teach after Angelus Ecclesiae had read or they might by sage leaue read after reading the chosen to rule and to teach called Elders or Bishops desired the best in esteem to speake or after often approbation they might offer their payns And this Policie Luc. 4. and 1 Corin. 14. alloweth So reason bred this policie and the holy Nation practised the same 1400 yeres knowing it a hard point to sanctifie Gods Law and to beware the taking of Gods Name in vayn Many high poynâ—s stand herein The truth of the Texts of both Testaments for the purenes of Coppies and the right helps for understanding the sufficiencie of Gods Word for salvation these be the chiefest and all deceived kingdomes are cursed for missing herein and the best may begin to looke better about them And all of wealth must know that their bent must be to know how to sanctifie Gods name As rash swearers so al deceived doe take Gods name in vayn Wherfore all that are of abilitie should from youth know the Law and all wel might by skilfull guides and a kingdome of Glorie must haue many glorious in it and they be simple that hope by bare hearing of Sermons to become learned As many Gentlemen spend their tyme to sanctifie Gods name so all should the most part would if Teachers learned before they taught The effect of this maketh the kingdome of heauen to be amongst us that men should obey God in CHRIST on earth as the Angels obey being sent out ministring spirits for them that shall inherit salvation For that we haue one day in the Law the seauenth day which Adam kept and all the Fathers til in Egypt they forsook Gode Then they found by Manna not rayned that day which was the sabboth and they are commanded to remember and keep that Day holy And that day our Lord rested wholly in the graue and so finished the Ceremonie And his resurrection bringing light into the world made the day where in God sayd Let there be light as it was the first in order to be also the first in dignitie In the beginning the first day after Adam fell Adam bestowed in sacrifice to meditate on Christ his Rest and the first day after performance of that Rest became the LORDS DAY which Angels with most comfortable joy celebrate in the Gospell and in which our Lord often shewed himself wherefore the Church kept it Act. 20. and Apoc. 1. our Lord appeared unto Iohn in Patmos and took away the covering from all the Bible on that day being called the LORDS Day So the same authoritie which appointed Adam the next day to his fall to Rest in hope of Christ appointeth us the next to our Lords Rest performed most absolutely Adam was to studie upon the Creation which his fall brought under vanitie and upon the hope of better Rest And we are to joy in the day of our Light manifested unto the world and a plaine token of the new world So the Iewes Sabboth and ours tende both to one and the same purpose though the day be altered And their universal consent standeth from Moses playn narration for the word of not eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evill and Satans reply and the eating and sentences and losse of Paradise that all fell the same day the first day of man and accordingly at noone day our Lord on the tree began the Combat with Satan and at the cool of the day went into his kingdome through the vaile of his flesh leaving this world which the Latine heathen call Descendere ad Inferos the Grekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Iewes to returne to God or to asceud And they are barbarous babes that know neyther Latin Creek nor Ebrew nor Divinitie whither just soules were to goe The terme Kingdoms is taken in three degrees 1. For Gods powre over all 2. for his mercies manifestation and 3. for the happie state of glorie in heauen But all goe by knowledge together they which know God aright as Governour will embrace him as a Redeemer and shal finde him an eternall comforter For these degrees wee pray but the second is most of difficultie for the minde to goe up to heauen to bring Christ downe and to goe to the deep to bring Christ from the dead and to dye with Christ and to seeke those things which are aboue Therefore Gods powre in Christ is by the noblest part called the kingdome of Heauen And the government in the Gospel affaires to cherish and rule men in the Church is the policie of heauen The Iewes though they many of them knew not the person of Christ yet they had haue all that the Apostles teach and therefore therein no strife was in al the N. Testament both sides held the same minde for the old Testament and differed not for one letter Both held the same Common places from Moses and agree saving in Traditions and about MESSIAH but for government they agreed Archysynagogus Readers of the Law and prophets the qualities of a Bishop or Elder the providing for the poor the manner of excommunication and absolution the Laws to bridle Elders from tyranny all these are the same in both and reason requireth so much and will suffer no more in effect And our Policie might soone come in equitie nere this if all Bishops were as many be and they which worst may would not be holden the Candle A translation by consent studie of
came into the world by which we may trye what is light and from God and what is darknes and from Satan When God speaketh he speaketh to the heart of all men and as an hammer breaketh stones so his word maketh hearts to yeeld that appeareth in all parts of Gods word specially in this Forme of prayer It hath the Consent of al natiue light for the open phrase more nerely of the Iewes Scribes for Divinitie and truely the summe of Christianitie euen as the two Tables had of old The Law commandeth all good and here we craue grace for to doe all that is good That we may hold GOD to be our God and only That we regarde him as not resemblable by any Image but as dwelling in light that none can come to nor imagine what should be like unto him That we neither thinke nor speake lightly of him or of his Word that teacheth of his Nature but haue skil to honour his Name That we may rest from our owne works and keepe a continuall Sabbath to him having his kingdome amongst us as on high he maketh peace and the mightie Angels doe his wil. These Petitions we make for those things which concerne Gods honour principally Then follow others for our necessitie That we haue a moderate portion neither want in scarcitie nor abound in superfluitie but such as serveth our houshold that the Officers as Fathers and the rest as Brethren and Children may liue together without sorrow and distres Now our sinnes make a partition between GOD and us by Rancor Lust Theft Untruth and Avarice therein we craue pardon and Gods lenitie as we be soft to such as use as amisse And confesse our owne weakenes under the Aegyptiacall slaverie of Satan and under Tyrantes such as the Iewes felt by Babel Madai Iavan with Seleuco-lagidae which as four Beasts made a sea of troubles till CHRIST brought his kingdome power and glorie over all the world This in summe the Lords Prayer hath and the two Tables haue the same and as the Tables be answerable one to the other so is our Lords prayer unto both The Law commandeth all that may be knowne on done and this prayer desireth full grace for so much And as all the fiue Books of Moyses yea the Prophets are but a Commentarie upon the Law so all the New Testament is a Commentarie upon the Lords Prayer and both are pure as silver tryed seauen tymes in a vessel of fined earth wherefore we must examine what is drosse here by our corrupterror and remoue all such from the pure Metall that is from God And we shall neede fire of tryall for the Hebrews the old Scribes and Rabbines with their side who haue continued over the world a great part of them dealers with the Law and to which tenor of speach the New Testament if fitted they hold the phrases all as all the termes of the Law no lesse then we doe but they deny the powre of them Therefore they must be better examined and that will we doe by Gods helpe in this sorte First considering the knowledge and honour of Godâ— next our neede and distresse and still compare the Lords prayer with the Dealogue Our first speach here is of GOD how we doe acknoledge him we say O our Father much try all there must be of this world before the pure meaning appeareth The Heathen Philosophers could say Zeupâ—teâ— Iupiter the Father 〈◊〉 yet they were godlesse in this world Also the Iew sayth good words from holy Moyses but not 〈◊〉 understood Thou art our Father Isa 63â— 10. and againe Is not he thy Fatherâ— Deâ—t 3â— â— yet both these sorts petish for ever because they knowe not the Father Now the first degree of Father is most holy in this sentence There be three the Father the Word and the Spirit and these three be one so the Father is relatiue to the SON called the WORD as in Prov. 30. Who went up to heauen and came downe who gathereth the winde in his fist who bound up the waters in a garment who hath set the borders of the earth what is HIS Name and the Name of his SONNE if thou knowest it Here we haue Father in the highest degree and the SONNE coeternall who with the SPIRIT aeternall all three one infinite Nature created the world They that misse of Fatherhood in this sense knowe not God and they can not be saved In another sense Father is the ateribute of God without distinction of Person as IEHOVAH in Ebrew ELOHIM which two names must be expounded that all three may be better understood ELOHIM is the first name that the Creator of all hath in the Scripture and in notation it betokeneth MIGHTIE and in forme a pluralitie EL-HEM one mightie nature be They. They Iew Rabbi Bochai upon Gen. 1. confesseth so much and bringeth the like mysteries from Eccles 1â— Remember thy CREATORS in the dayes of thy youth c. and from Isai 54. IEHOVAH thy MAKERS Of old tyme the Scribes of Doctors of Iehuda held the Trinitie untill stubbornenesse against the Redeemer drew them to extremitie of blindnesse Since they disturbe all and they bred Arrians But the old Rabbins held it not strange to heare of Father Sonne and Holy Spirit in the Vnitie of Godhead and in ELOHIM EL-HEM one mightie Nature be they IEHOVAH likewise is of them held in most high and holy reverence and where CHRIST the great GOD sayth Deut. 18. Thou shalt perfect with IEHOVAH thy GOD he sayth Matth. 5. Ye shall be perfect euen as your Father in heauen is perfect So we see Father to be used for IEHOVAH Now the terme IEHOVAH must be considered though no tongue can tell fully the force of it Being and giving the Being to all things and ruling all in order and performer of promise doth it betoken In the narration of Moses how all the frame of the world was made still untill the whole host of heauen and earth was finished the name ELOHIM only was used But when the perfect Being had appearance then the Creator is termed IEHOVAH ELOHIM S. Paul translateth it Who only hath immortalitie as Elohim who is only Mightie Eusebius hath from some ancient Grecian the sweetest Epigram that ever was made which can not be referred to my knowledge but to Iehovah though in Greeke it can not be sounded Thus it standeth as from God speaking of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seauen sounding letters prayse me God the great and eternall The Father of all things that never is wearie And I am the immortall viole of all things Which tune the Concent of the heauenly melodie Some holy Iew that respected the thrice holy Name IEHOVAH seemeth to be the Father of this Epigramme as they had of auncient tyme verie learned men in the
Greeke tongue cited in Clemens Eusebius and in Anthologia Now by this which hath been spoken we see the terme Father the terme Elehim and Iehovah how they be all one Also that IEHOVAH is spoken of CHRIST Isat 6 9. and Iohn 12 41. doe shew and that CHRIST is Iehovah euen the Talmud granteth from Ier. 23 and againe 31. I wil raise unto David the Brightnes the lust and the name by which they shall call him is Jehovah our righteousnes so we see how the first word in holy Prayer of the Decalogue to be all one Here we acknowledge the true God the Eternal of Nature and counsel Creator and governor of all things and holy Iustice and unspeakable mercy and all truth in all 〈◊〉 honoureth these namesâ— as errors and haeresies argue their authors not to knowe the name of God Now for the terme Father in respect of Creature wee must weigh the use The Starres the Angels be called the sonnes of God Iob. 3. 8. When the morning starres were glad together and the sonnes of God shouted So the Angels which were created with the light the first day they are the sonnes of Them the Mightie the Trinitie These Angels saw the frame of Meteores and distinction of waters fish fonles and beasts how they could not serue their turne And when man was made though of the slime of the earth yet in soule equall he was to Angels in wiâ—re to giue names to Creatures And therefore when God gaue his Angels charge to serue man that he should not hurt his foote against a stone all should haue knowne that he made his Angel spirits and his Ministers a flaâ—â—â— of fire But some of them disdained to marke how all was made for man and rebelled against IEHOVAH Eâ—OUâ—M disturbed all the course of wisedome and brought man to rebellion and all the Creature subject unto groning wherupon a new course is manifested that the SONNE of God should take the nature of man to be our brother that God might be his Father as he is man and ours for him who came to performe obedience unto death to giue life presently for our soules passing hence to heauen when they leaue the body as he through the Vaile of his flesh entred into the joy of the Father and they who stubbornly deny that can haue no hope of salvation And by his ResurrectioÌ„ our bodies shal arise in the later day al of both sots as in our death of body al soules returne to God that gaue them to abide judgment for every hid thing good or evil On high be places of light and joy called heauen On high be places of torment called Hell the separation is large enough that the one can not passe to the other The general name is coÌ„mon to both THE WORLD OF SOVLS to the Iewes who knew that all soules ascend out of this world HADES or unknown place to heathen who knew not any thing out of this world but thought there were beyond the gates of the sunne as Homer speaketh or out of the light of the skie places of distinct state garden for the godly and Tartarus prison for the wicked Then Heathen took not Heauen as we doe for a place of Gods glorie out of this world but for some part of the starrie skie as Iustin Martyr disputeth against them But the Scripture lifteth us aboue the heauen of the aire and heauen of starres into a third heauen unto that our Lord wâ—nt from the crosse unto that S. Paul was taken up and all saythfull shal haue a Tabernacle there when this earthly dwelling is dissolved The Thiefe knew that our Lords soule should goe hence thither as all just and our Lord doth confirme him therein This course the Creater tooke taking our nature unto him to be our brother that we may by his spirit cry Abba Father In this sense we cry Abba Father and Elohim and Eternall and O thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come Israel felt by an outward blessing of deliverance from Egypt the spiritual deliverance from Hel by IEHOVAH the Eternall which none other could performe that he should be their Father and they should haue no other Elohim mightie defender but him that he only should be the hearer of their prayer and thus the terme Father and Iehovah and Elohim our mightie Iudge and defender sound one and the same thing We trespasse deadly when we pray to any other against the Law Him only shalt thou serue upon which Law the Scribes sitting upon Moses chaire say thus we haue bene taught from age to age that this worship is Prayer David confirmeth this saying Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will heare thee and thou shalt worship me and our Lord more expresly in this chap. When ye pray pray unto your Father which is in heauen And neither the holy Apostles ever not the common Iewes at this day in their Synagogue pray but unto the Creator The Iewes know him not yet hold the generall of praying only to God as the holy Doctors Simeon Zacharie and our Lord his Kinred in S. Luke chap. 3. and Matth. 1. professed openly And as he that sacrificed unto any but unto God was to be destroyed as cursed So the greater subduction of honor from God maketh one more cursed But prayer is more then sacrifice Therefore the giving of the greater to a Creature is more cursed By this the Pseudo-Catholiques must confesse they haue no hope of salvation darkening knowledge by words wil nothing help their turne Their heart telleth them that they haue small hope in God that seeke to Creatures whereas God dwelleth in light that none can come to Creatures know not the heart of man nor how God pittieth or hardeneth to shew his most wise government of the world So they can not call upon him whom they knowe not and misse of the true Father as Bastards and they misse wilfully and grope like the blinde at noone day Now the terme our protesteth that we will haue no other Elohim but him none other Patrons for our life and soule but him who is our Creator by him we came into the World to his providence only we commit our state his Angels pitch their tents about us when he commandeth but not any our supplication to them When Abraham with his owne family fought against four kings he trusted only in God and as God would the Angels fought for him not by any prayer unto them Neither did he pray eure unto Adam or Henoch whom he knew to be in Paradise but made God only his Iudge On earth Ciuil Magistrates be Elohim and the Angels also be so called as Psal 97 7. Let all the Elohim worship him But for Civil Officers so farre they must be followed euen the heathen as they hold the Law of nature In assemblies of Gods people which may make judges of
their owne it is unlawfull to plead before infidels Moses Bxod. 18. telleth that where the Rulers must be men of religion towards God also the Talmud teacheth the same and God confirmeth it 1 Cor. 6. saying Dare any of you plead before Infidels But here come doubts because God sayth Thou shalt make unto thee a King of thy Brethren The Iewes held it unlawfull to obey heathen and often rebelled against oth as did Zedekiah against Nebucadnetzar and Theudas and Barcosba against the Romans yet the Talmud taught that wheÌ„ the Iewes admitted once the coine of any prince therein they acknowledged him their governour and our Lord confirmeth that acknowledgment upon the image superscription of Caesar And full often doth S. Paul teach that obedience S. Peter omitteth not the same doctrine both foresaw that as the Iewes rejected Governours because they would judge in their owne lawes so in tyme Scholers would among us pretending that Politicians in heathon studies were not fitt But Christianitie having no new matter but the Incarnation of the Angel of our Covenant the Eternall king of glorie and his Resurrection having I say no new matter but that wherein the world would staggar suffereth not Scholars to beare such sway but requireth others PoliticiaÌ„s always to be Bishops in their Paroches to censure the Messengers of the Church who should read learnedly the Bible which few can doe and which labor spendeth all a mans youth And all the sage should speak upon request and the rest judge In such assemblies one day might open all the Bible while plaine matters be only touched and only difficulties be handled But men loue darkenes and will haue other Elohim then God willeth And wheras God sayth Thou shalt not make unto thee Elohim of gold Elohim of silver The Scribes sitting in the chaire of Moses truly conclude that Governours that buy their places fall to be Elohim of gold and silver And Episcopi of Elders in policie of Gods people made by money may no more be honoured then an Idol The heathen knowen slaues of Satan had outward obedience till God by Civill Policie and Constantinus might did fell them and so Elohim of gold may haue in Courts but as men haâ—â— of all true hearts and men hateful unto God as Idols But the true Officer is worthy of double honour as the Prince Theophilus to whom God dedicated two parts of the N. Testament that all should follow such a Bishop and haue no Father nor Rabbi but God and his Vicars wherof Kings Rulers are the chief Episcopi and Elders and the Readers of the word which should be or rare skill yet are superiors only in diligence Al Iewes townes had Ros Ielibah an head of their councill Episcopus Tzophe as Antigonus successor to Alexander Macedon was holden Tzopheh or Episcopus of Asia But none of the Iewes Episcopi ruled saving for one voice and so farre he was Elohim When Ananias went further S. Paul gaue him over to Gods eternall curse and he and his sonne Eleazar authors of Rebellion brought Ierusalem to be Iebus againe and troden down while they knew not Elohim And thus much for the names that warn of right knowledge of God For God his honour two warnings are giuen the one for the eyes the other for the tongue but both depend upon the heart Now God dwelleth in light that none can come to and would by the frame of the world teach us of his eternall powre and Godhead But our sloth admiring the Creature will worship him by that So the stars were Heathens gods so the forme of a mans bodie is the Papists against that CHRIST engraved the Law in stone Thou shalt not make unto thy self any grauen Image or likenes of any thing that is in heauen or earth or the seas which the shore keepeth in the lower chanel God requireth the paynes of the minde to thinke upon him and to follow his Word and none of that course can abide Idols neither did Idol-knights ever admire Gods nature or loue his Word Nothing in the aire our next heauen or among the starrie heauen is like unto him but we must ascend into the third Heauen aboue all this visible world unto an unspekable light to think wel of God and in that light God is invisible and thence bringeth his hid Counsels into light for them that in minde worship him others be Batts and Mould-warts And when we say that our Father is in the third heauen we proclaime rejection of all that worship images as not being the children of God So we here goe aboue all eye-sight and ascend in our minds aboue this visible world unto the world of Soules whither all ascend either to joy in the light of God in heauen and Paradise or to woe of darknes of Hell and Torment All that in light of minde wil not ascend to heauen shal ascend to the throne of God to heare condemnation to haue on high a place of woe for ever and ever In the dayes of Enosh men corrupted the calling upon Gods name giving starres his glorie but the flood taught them the penaltie when their bodies became wrinkled by waters and their spirits went up to eternall prison So Babel was built to the worship of stars because men that made their bellies their god would and could not with their heavie hearts ascend the heauens but by tongues exhorted unto Idols name easie devotion For that God did cutte them off from Adams tongue and hope of his life for ever saving the few that would endure the minds paynes to search how God in Christ reconciled the world unto himself And God so hated the heathen that he gaue by Moses an hedge of Lawes to keep Israel from amitie with them euen for the verie powling the head that they should not be like the Arabians as Maymony full well expoundeth that Law Levit. 19. and all should still shunne the garment polluted by the fleshly minded men A further paynes of the minde is required for the honour of God to sanctifie his name and the Law forbidding to take his Name in vayn includeth that in a Commandement Now all Gods doctrine is called his Name all holy speaches of him In his LAW shal the nations trust Isa 42. In his NAME sayth Matth. 12. The Attributes ELOHIM IEHOVAH EL-SHADDAI ADONAI â—AH TZVR the Mightie the Eternall the All-sufficient the Stay of the World the Giver of life and breath the Rock such these are abridgements of the Bible and the Bible a Commentarie upon them So by NAME all holy doctrine is conteyned and we pray for knowledge in it as the Law maketh all guiltie that taketh his NAME in vayne Herein standeth the greatest care of true Christian Policie how all congregations may haue many Bishops to sanctifie Gods Name to know the truth and to speake it with fear and care In this standeth only