of Zophar Iob 20. 4. was known in the days of old and found true ever since man was placed upon the earth For as the Apostle saith of righteousness that it hath both the promise of this life and of the life to come so it is most true of unrighteousness that it hath the curse of this life as well as of the life to come The first sin of our first Parents whereof we all stand guilty was thus punished as it were to be a Rule and Law of what God would do after I say the first sin of our first Parents was punished with a curse in things of this life From hence come all the outward calamities and miseries of mankind wherein the happiest man on earth hath his share hence our labour and vexation of spirit hence our pain our want and all our trouble wherein we travel under the Sun No man in the world is exempted from this Law all of us as well feel a present punishment here in this life as fear that which shall be to come hereafter in the world to come Now as the universal misery we all feel is a temporal punishment of an universal sin so the clods of daily sin which we add unto this great mountain of transgression doth usually bring us under some special kind of punishment above that which we have in common with other men The whole History of the Bible if we look well into it is most part taken up in Examples of this one Maxim whosoever thinketh otherwise he hath taken too slight a view and too short a survey of the world's affairs Perhaps he sees the person of a Tyrant of an Oppressor of a Blasphemer to live long in jollity and to end his days in tranquillity or to use the words of Iob in the same argument to spend their days in wealth and in a moment without any more trouble go down into the grave How is it then true That God requiteth sin in this life or that any regard should be had to any temporal calamities or worldly disasters since these come alike to the just and unjust to the fool and to the wise to those whom God favoureth as well as those he favoureth not But for Answer hereunto we must know That the way of God in temporal punishments is one and his way in eternal and spiritual another he deals not after the same fashion in both For eternal punishments in the world to come the person which sinneth shall alone suffer and no other for him but as for temporal punishments which are seen in this world sometimes God lays them upon the person sometimes upon the posterity of the offender or sometimes upon others which in such like respects are near unto them as he sees best in his wisdom When therefore thou seest a man live in open and gross sins confine not thine eye unto his person only but look farther about him survey his whole family if nothing appear while he is living yet after his death consider of his posterity and thou wilt find the ways of God to be just and glorious in the avenging of sin and wickedness This question was long debated between Iob and his friends and at last came to this very issue Iob himself determining and assoiling it after this manner I will teach you saith he chap. 27. ver 11 c. by the hand of God that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal Behold all ye your selves have seen it why then are you thus altogether vain This is the portion of a wicked man from God and the heritage of oppressors which they shall receive of the Almighty If his children be multiplied it is for the sword and his off-spring shall not be satisfied with bread c. The reason of this difference between temporal punishments and eternal is to be gathered from the several and differing Ends of them both Because they are for divers Ends and Purposes therefore the way of God is diverse in the execution of them The End of eternal punishments is to satisfie the justice of God in avenging sin but the End of temporal punishments chiefly exemplary that is for example and warning unto others that they might hereby know that God regardeth and observeth the actions of men and therefore fear lest the like might come unto themselves which they have seen to have befallen other men Now for such an End as this it is not always requisite that God should punish every offender in his own person because the punishment here respecteth not so much the person of the offender himself as others who have been witnesses of his sin that they might take heed of committing the like Now this End may be as well attained in the punishment of a mans posterity subjects servants as of his own person For by both alike may others see that God observeth the sins of men and hath plagues in readiness for those which commit them And by both alike will men be afraid of the hand of God seeing most men do most vehemently wish the good and happy condition of their posterity and others having like relation unto them Kings the weal of their Subjects Fathers the good of their Children Husbands the good of their Wives and therefore will refrain from doing that which they see by experience of others may bring a plague or a curse upon any of them Yea God so much regardeth this exemplary End in temporal punishments that I think this to be one chief reason why God forgiving the sin and consequently eternal punishment yet he remitteth not temporal plagues and chastisements lest when the sin is notoriously known and scandalous those who saw the sin and could not so well know of the inward reconciliation between God and the sinner might stumble and doubt in their hearts Whether there were a God or no who observeth the ways of men In this sort and for this end was David punished whom though upon his humble repentance Nathan had told The Lord hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die yet nevertheless did God raise up evil against him out of his own house he took his wives from before his eyes and gave them unto his neighbour and the sword never departed from his house according as the Lord had spoken The reason hereof follows in the Text in the words of Nathan Because saith he by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the child also which is born unto thee shall surely die The child also that is all the former plagues together with the death of the child shall come upon thee for this end This then being so plain what End God chiefly aims at in his outward and visible judgments we ought hence to learn what to do as often as we see the hand of God fall heavy upon any open and known sinner namely to accomplish in our selves the End which God aâ—ms at to
of the world be blessed What was here acted else but the Mystery of Christ's Passion to wit That the promised seed should make all the Nations of the world blessed by becoming a sacrifice for sin which that it might be the more evident the Place is also designed the region of Mount Moriah there Abraham was bid to offer his â—on Isaac even where Messiah who was then in the loins of Isaac was one day to be offered upon the Cross. The Second prediction in the Law of Messiah's suffering death was by the slaying of Beasts for atonement of sin in their Sacrifices which were nothing else but shadows and representations of that Offering upon the Cross which Messiah was one day to make of himself for the sins of the world Which Mystery of the end of those Legal sacrifices was shewed in the former story of Abraham's offering Isaac For when he had now brought his son to the place appointed and had built an Altar and was now ready to stay him as he was commanded the Angel of the Lord stayed his hand and shewed him a Ram caught in a thicket by the horns which Ram Abraham took and offered for a burnt-offering in stead of his son to signifie that the offering of the Blessed seed was yet to be suspended and that God in the mean while would accept the offerings of Bulls and Rams as a pledge of that expiation which the Blessed seed of Abraham in the loins of Isaac should one day make And thus much for the Law Now I come to the Prophets wherein I find Three evident Prophecies That Messiah should suffer death The first is that famous one the 53. of Esay the whole Chapter through I will not repeat it all but some two or three passages thereof Verse 5. He was wounded saith the Prophet for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed Ver. 7. He was oppressed he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was brought as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep before her Shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth Ver. 8. He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken Now that this Prophecy was one of those by which the Apostles used to prove this Verity appears by the stroy of the conversion of the Eunuch Acts 8. unto whom Philip coming whilst he was in his Chariot reading this place of Scripture and he thereupon asking Philip of whom the Prophet spake these words the Text tells us that Philip began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Iesus The Second place in the Prophets which foretells That Christ should suffer is that in the ninth of Daniel who pointing out the time of Messiah's coming by Seventy weeks limits his count not at his Birth but at his Suffering as the most principal moment of his story From the going out of the commandment saith he to restore and build Ierusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks And after sixty two weeks shall Messiah be cut off What can be more plain than this A Third place in the Prophets is to be found Zachary 12. 10. where at the time when the Iews shall be converted Christ is brought in speaking in this manner I will pour out saith he upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and supplication and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced Hence it follows that the Iews should have pierced Messiah before they received him to be their Redeemer And that this place also was one of those applied by the Apostles to this purpose appears by S. Iohn's twice alledging it Once in his Gospel when a Souldier with a Spear pierced our Saviours side Then saith he was fulfilled that Scripture which saith They shall look upon him whom they pierced Again in the beginning of his Revelation Behold saith he he cometh in the clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him Now for the Third division of Scripture the Psalms the chief at least and principal place there which I dare warrant is that of the 16. Psalm v. 9 10. quoted both by S. Peter and S. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles My â—lesh shall rest in hope For thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave neither suffer thine Holy One to see corruption For David as S. Peter and S. Paul say was buried and his body saw corruption therefore it cannot be spoken of him but of Messiah in the person of David as a Type in whose loyns Messiah was Now then if Messiah's body were to be laid in the grave it follows he was to die and to be in the state of the dead AND thus I have done the First part of my task and proved That Messiah was to suffer death according to the Scriptures namely foretold in that Threefold division of Scripture mentioned here by our Saviour the Law the Prophets and the Psalms Now I come to prove the other part That it behoved him also to rise again the third day according to the Scriptures And this was first foreshewn in the same story of Isaac wherein his sacrifice or suffering was actedâ— For from the time that God commanded Isaac to be offered for a burnt-offering Isaac was a dead man but the third day he was released from death This the Text tells us expresly that it was the third day when Abraham came to Mount Moriah and had his son as it were restored to him again which circumstance there was no need nor use at all to have noted had it not been for some Mystery For had there been nothing intended but the naked story what did it concern us to know whether it were the third or the fifth day that Abraham came to Moriah where he received his son from death Now that I have not misapplied this figure S. Paul is my witness who expresly makes this release of Isaac from slaughter a figure of the Resurrection For thus he speaks of this whole story Hebrews 11. 17 18 19. By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only-begotten Son Of whom it was said That in Isaac shall thy seed be called Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure The same was foreshewed by the Law of Sacrifices which were to be eaten before the third day some Sacrifices were to be eaten the same day they were offered but those which were deferred longest as the Peace-offerings were to be eaten before the third day The third day no sacrifice might be eaten but was to be burnt If it were eaten it was not accepted for an atonement but counted an abomination namely to shew that
Lord should one day destroy and overthrow as was then promised and we at this day see fulfilled But this Promise was general and not yet restrained to any part of mankind but so that any son of Adam might for ought was yet revealed be the progenitor of that Seed which should deliver man from the Devil's thraldom and reconcile him to his God But when God called Abraham forth of Vr of the Chaldees the Promise was made more special being restrained to the off-spring of his loyns For the Almighty tells him once and again and the third time That in his seed all the Nations of the earth should be blessed Gen. 12. 3. ch 18. 18. ch 22. 18. Now Abraham had two sons Ishmael the son of the bond-woman and Isaac the son of Sarah his wife Of which of these two the promised Seed should come was yet indifferent till God entailed it to Isaac both telling Abraham That in Isaac his seed should be called and repeating to Isaac the Promise made to Abraham That in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed Gen. 26. 4. Isaac had two sons Esau and Iacob Esau was excluded and the Promise entailed to Iacob That in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed Gen. 28. 14. that is the blessed Seed should come of his loyns Of Iacob came the twelve Patriarchs and of them the twelve Tribes of Israel among whom the Promise of the blessed Seed was entailed to the Tribe of Iudah and of him promised That Shiloh that is the Saviour or Peace-maker to whom the Nations were to be gathered should come The Sceptre saith the Text shall not depart from Iudah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him the gathering of the people be Gen. 49. 10. After this Tribe was multiplied and some hundreds of years together with the other Tribes setled in the land of Canaan the Promise was made yet more special and entailed to David a man of that Tribe whom God exalted to be King of his people as a Type of that Blessed King to come And to this all the Prophets bear witness That Messiah the Redeemer should be a Rod out of the stem of Iesse a Branch or Impe of David the Son and Heir of David's house yea another David For under these terms Esaiah Ieremiah Ezekiel Zachary prophesy of him and the rest of the Prophets to like purpose And this was the last limitation of the blessed Seed until the Angel Gabriel was sent of God to a Virgin of the house of David with a message That God had chosen her of all David's house to be that highly favoured one and that blessed Mother of that Great King who should be called the Son of the Highest of whose Kingdom there should be no end Luke 1. 32 33. Thus was the Gospel or glad tidings of a Redeemer prophesied and not only so but it was also signified and sealed by the Types and Shadows of the Law For the Legal Sacrifices which were offered to make atonement for sin were nothing else but shadows and representations of that Offering upon the Cross which Messiah was one day to make of himself for the sins of the world For the way whereby the blessed Seed should vanquish Satan and redeem his Elect out of his power and jurisdiction was by becoming a Sacrifice for sin so to cancel the title whereby the Devil held the world in thraldom This was foreshewed unto Abraham unto whose loyns as ye have heard the Promise of the blessed Seed was first confined For when Sarah had born him his son Isaac the son wherein his seed should be called and so either himself to be that happy Seed or the progenitor of the same God to reveal unto him by way of mysterie how that Seed of his should make all the Nations of the earth blessed commanded him to take his Son Isaac the only hope and pledge of that happy and blessed Seed and to offer him for a burnt-offering to the Lord upon the mountains of Moriah to intimate and signifie that this blessed Seed of Abraham should suffer death and by sacrifice of himself redeem the world from the claws of the Serpent yea and more than so that he should be offered even in that very place even in the land of Moriah and so he was for there was Ierusalem and the Temple for Sacrifice afterwards builded But when Abraham had brought his son to the place appointed had built an Altar there and made all things fit and was now ready to slay his son the Angel of the Lord stayed his hand and shewed him a Ram caught in a thicket by the horns which Ram Abraham took and offered for a burnt-offering in stead of his own son To signifie that the offering of the blessed Seed should be yet suspended and that God in the mean while would accept the offerings of Bulls and Rams as a pledge of that expiation which the blessed Seed of Abraham should one day make So this wonderful Story was to be the Key of the Sacrifices of the Law whereby it might be known what they meant and whither they tended namely That the bloud of Bulls and Rams and other Beasts of themselves do not work atonement for sin but only as they were ordained by God to stand for Types and Pledges of the Sacrifice of Christ to come Which that they might the more lively express God so disposed that that very place where the Ram was offered in stead of Isaac should be the place of Sacrifice for Israel For there it was where the Lord answered David by fire from heaven and so designed it for the place which he had chosen for his Altar There David pitched him a Tabernacle there Solomon built him his Temple By all which it is plain and manifest That the Fathers in the Old Testament under the Law were saved by Christ as well as we but with this difference That to them Christ was but in promise and hoped for to us he is already sent and exhibited To them the mysterie of Redemption by him was obscure and dark as known but for the general That it should be not in particular for the manner How it should be but to us all is open and revealed Their Faith groped after shadows but ours lays hold on the substance And let this Information be the Use of this Discourse This being premised touching the Promise of Christ so long before he came and how the Mysterie of his Gospel was pourtraied by Types and Shadows before it was openly revealed and exhibited I come to confirm and explain the Description I gave thereof to wit That it is the glad tidings of Salvation to be attained by Christ c. I say It is the glad tidings for so the name thereof both in the Greek and in our English imports For Spell in old English was to speak or read and so Gospel is as much as
IOSEPHI MEDI Assurge quicquid uspiam es docti chori Tantóque honores exhibeto nomini Cui Musa nostra pangeret carmen lubens Sed Medus omni major est praeconio Verùm beatum te Iosephe duxerim Sortita talem Scripta quòd sint vindicem Qui sparsa dudum ceu Sibyllae folia Prodire curat debito volumine MendÃsque preli seculÃque sordibus Vix illa toto liberat triennio Nunc integer comptus nitens concors tibi Vigebis infinita ad usque secula O te beatam paginam tanto Hospite O cui invidere cuncta possint marmora G. D. THE WORKS OF The Pious and Profoundly-Learned Ioseph Mede B. D. SOMETIME Fellow of CHRIST'S Colledge in CAMBRIDGE Corrected and Enlarged according to the Author 's own Manuscripts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HINC LVCEM ET POCVLA SACRA ALMA MATER CANTA BRIGIA LONDON Printed by Roger Norton for Richard Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred MAIESTY M DC LXXII THE WORKS OF Ioseph Mede B. D. IN FIVE BOOKS The Third Edition Almae Matri ACADEMIAE CANTABRIGIENSI Augustissimo Literarum Sacrario Haec Filii Sui IOSEPHI MEDI S. T. B. Collegii CHRISTI aliquando Socii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Auro contra non cara Omni aestimio digna Sed omni majora In honoris Debitae observantiae Testimonium L.M.Q. D.D. Iohannes Worthingtonus The General PREFACE THAT the Reader may have a more particular knowledge of the peculiar Advantages of This Edition and a clearer view of the great Worth of both the Author and his Writings as also of those Methods and Helps whereby the Author arrived at such a Perfection even in Literis interioribus in the more abstruse and recondite parts of Knowledge it is necessary that he be made acquainted with these following Advertisements Advertisements touching This Edition 1. That the Works of this Great Author printed at distant times since his Death have been with care and attention more than once collated and examin'd by the Author 's own Manuscripts that so upon a second and sometimes a third reading it might appear where the Prints differ'd from the Originals and that thereby they might be restored to that Lustre and Perfection wherein the Author left them How toilsome such an Employment was none can so well judge as they that have travell'd in the like labour But how advantageous it is for others the judicious Reader will easily discern upon the perusal of this Edition where he will find the Author's Notions to run more clear and smooth now that they are freed from any interpolations and imperfections that had crept into any of the former Prints For that all that care how wearisome soever was no less than necessary may appear from what I can aver with truth and soberness That in several of these Posthumous pieces I found that either through the hast or incuria of the Scribe or through his mistaking the Author's hand or for what other reason I affect not to enquire there were too many aberrations from the Original Sometimes a line or more being left out elsewhere some words omitted or mistaken and others substituted in the room thereof to the impairing at least of the Sense To instance in one or two Tracts for all In two of the former Editions of the Paraphrase upon S. Peter's Prophecy there were at least Thirty Mistakes some of them corrected in the Third but all in this last Edition according to the Author's Papers And in that excellent Diatriba upon S. Mark 1. 15. which in this Edition makes Discourse XXVI there were at least Fifty places wherein the Print did swerve from the Original Copy and sometimes not without harm done to the sense as in pag. 38. l. 6. of the first Edition it was thus express'd and pointed And so we are now arrived at the main Cardo and hinge of Repentance The joynt or second part thereof in which Aversion or Conversion meet and are knit together Whereas in the Author's Papers and agreeably in this Edition it is thus And so now we are arrived at the main Cardo and hinge of Repentance the Ioynt where the two parts thereof Aversion and Conversion meet and are knit together I may not here forget that there was one Discourse viz. Disc. 48. not before published wherein one word was so written that neither I nor any I advised with could possibly read it and therefore I left a void space in the line In three other places there was a word wanting in the Author's Manuscript and what word was plainly fit to be inserted I have enclosed in a different letter in these two crotchets and accordingly given notice thereof in the margins Which I here intimate as an Instance of that Diligence and Fidelity I thought my self bound to use in the preparing these Papers for the Press endeavouring all along so to deal herein as I my self would be dealt with in the like circumstances as being mindful of that Rule of our Saviour Christ As ye would that men should do to you do ye also to them likewise A most equitable and obliging Rule the observance whereof besides the good effect it would have as to the publick interest of Learning as in the particular case for which I here remember it would have a propitious and prevailing influence to the bettering of all the affairs and transactions of humane life Yea there is that compris'd in this compendious Aphorism wherein is contracted the Pith and Substance the very Quintessence and Spirits of all the many Precepts and Practical Maxims in the Doctrine not only of the Law and Prophets but of Christ and his Apostles as also of the Institutes and Pandects of the Civil Law containing what was drawn out of 150000 Verses of the old Books of Law which would not fail to make the whole World happy but would certainly make a true and real and more than Poetical Golden Age would turn the Wilderness into a Garden of Eden and make the World one Great Paradise and particularly Christendom the Ioy and Praise of the whole Earth For this Rule 's sake did the Emperour Alexander Severus as Lampridius relates of him shew the Christians more than ordinary favours who was so much in love with it that in palatio in publicis operibus he caused this to be written as a memorial worthy to be regarded by all Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri ne feceris the same with that Rule of elder date which Tobias received from his Father Quod ab alio oderis fieri tibi vide ne tu aliquando alteri feceris So the Vulgar Latin renders what is thus concisely express'd in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But to put a stop to this pleasing Digression and to conclude this First Advertisement one thing more I would add which I can affirm with a safe confidence That if in any passages of these Papers I
After a pardon obtained for my freedom I thus declared That I thought in one case he would be persuaded to accept of a Bishoprick for all this Why think you so rejoyned he suddenly and with some warmth Presuming upon the license granted me I shall tell you replied I and more than that I believe you will acknowledge as much your self At this he began to bungle at being angry for indeed that Passion was so great a stranger to him and so little in favour with him that unless it came in the company of or rather attending upon true Zeal to God-ward he would not endure its presence In short I remembred to him how often I heard him wonder why none of our Christian Kings had ever erected a Bishoprick in S. Alban's that Martyr being of such Fame and Antiquity and the Place so many ways convenient c. And then I propounded this case That if our then present Sovereign who afterwards in spight of Hypocrisie and Treason became indeed so Glorious a King that of all Kings He was the First Martyr should resolve upon an Erection of a Bishoprick at S. Alban's upon this one only condition That Mr. Mede will be persuaded to be the First Bishop there otherwise there shall be no Bishoprick at all I ask whether in this case Mr. Mede would not be willing to accept of a Bishoprick Hereat he laughed heartily and said at first Now thou puttest me to it indeed But by and by recollecting himself he concluded gravely to this purpose As there is no great fear of such a Temptation rebus sic stantibus so I dare reassume my former Protestation A Donative sine cura with my Fellowship will confine the utmost of my Ambition in this life 5. Of his Zeal against Sacrilege WHich had been heightned to a superlative degree yet in him of most men living would have been least to be wondered at and most to be justified because few men of his or any Age could pretend to that absolute soveraignty over themselves in point of Interest or ambitious Designs which he had and because none was more punctual in paying his Homage and Rental to Almighty God than he was But yet that his Zeal was according to knowledge and guided with great Iudgment and Discretion will manifestly appear unto all men who will but cast their eyes upon some of the Principles and Grounds he went upon E. g. 1. That according to the common Law of Nature the great Land-lord of the whole World ought to receive Homages from his Tenants and Dependents This God claimed in Paradise itself when Man was in the Zenith of his Perfection For would he say the Prohibited Tree there was a Sacred and a Sacramental Tree Wherefore he was positive and dogmatical in determining that the Formalis ratio and specifical Nature of Original Sin was Sacrilege Whereunto by the way he annexed this grave and serious Meditation Adam was turned out of his Paradise for Sacrilege and do we not frequently see many men turned out of their Paradises likewise their fair Estates for the very same sin This again hath been imprinted in the breasts of all Mankind who naturally and universally have ever abhorred Sacrilege Why then should Christians said he presume more upon their God in this case than others why more than the Pagans or Iews Here he quoted that of Malachi 3. ver 8. Will a man rob God Durst ever any man entertain such a thought And that of 1 Cor. 9. ver 13 14. See how dextrously he hath handled that Scripture in a set and just Diatribe As also that Rev. 5. ver 12. in that New song Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches Strength c. Lo here said he is mention of Riches due to the Lamb that was slain But what need hath He of our Riches True no more than a great rich Land-lord hath need of a Pepper-corn But yet as it is an Homage it is expected from the Tenant and may not be neglected by him without the Forfeiture of the whole And then for those who confidently deny Tithes to be due under the Gospel they do not consider how in so saying they must deny also Christ to be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek For as Tithes were paid to Melchizedek long before Aaron so are they due to Him who is a Priest after that Order now after Aaron 2. And this minds me of another of his Grounds viz. God's so favourably dealing with Men in requiring but the Tenth which is in truth said he the least part of our Goods according to the first division For as Ten is the Periodical number of things of a fixt and substantial nature so when we proceed beyond Ten we begin to make a new division as Eleven is Ten and one Twelve Ten and two c. Thus likewise God contents himself with the least part of our Time when he demands but the Seventh as the number Seven is the Periodical number of Time c. 3. A third Ground was That the chiefest things now dedicated to God are for the most part laden with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here he related at large with what Solemnity many of those Ancient Deeds and Writings specifying Goods and Lands devoted to the Service of God were wont to be offered at the Altar and what Vollies of all the hideous Curses imaginable touching either Body or Soul or Estate or Posterity were enumerated in those Writings and denounced against any who would offer to alienate them Upon this occasion he was wont to discourse very gravely How that at the first Reformation in England if the violent heat of seeming Zeal but indeed of Interest would have admitted so much of Consideration those Church-Lands of Abbies c. mought have been most happily disposed of in some such manner If one Part had been allotted to the Advancement of Learning and to the Augmentation of smaller Salaries for Cures and to the Reparation and beautifying of Churches Colledges c. If another Part had been for Provision of Clergy-Mens Widows and Orphans which God took special care of in the time of the Legal Priesthood the Sons being to inherit their Fathers places and the Daughters to be matched as well as their Mothers before them and which is not neglected by any of the Reformed Churches abroad If a third Part had been reserved for Bellum Sacrum in the defence of Church and Kingdom By this means pursued he our Kings would not have needed such Subsidies c. from their Subjects and the Church had kept her Patrimonie and very many great Families who too greedily possess'd themselves of Church-lands had not been totally ruined and extinct 4. And this leads me to a Fourth Ground which was the Series of Punishments which have constantly pursued this Sin It is to be observed said he that God did always set a special Mark of his Displeasure upon every
riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing Yea the 24. Elders which are the Christian Presbytery expressing ch 4. 11. the very argument and sum of that Hymnologie which the Primitive Church used at the offering of Bread and Wine for the Eucharist worship God saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created TAKING therefore for granted that which the Practice of the Church of God in all ages yea I think I may say the Consent of mankind from the beginning of the world beareth witness to that among those duties of the Sanctification of God's Name wherewith his Divine Majesty is immediately and personally glorified of which I have before spoken this is one and a principal one to agnize and confess his peerless Soveraignty and dominion over the creature by yielding him some part thereof toward his worship and service of which we renounce the propriety our selves and that accordingly there are both Things and Persons now in the Gospel as well as were before the Law was given in this manner lawfully and acceptably set apart and separated by the devotion of men unto the Divine Majesty and consequently relatively Holy which is nothing else but to be God's by a peculiar right I say that these are likewise to be done to according to their degree of sanctity in honour of him whose they are not to be worshipped with divine worship or the worship which we give unto God communicated to them far be it from us to defer to any creature the Honour due unto the Divine Majesty either together with him or without him but yet habenda cum discrimine to be regarded with a worthy and discriminative usance that is used with a select and differing respect from other things as namely if Places not as other places if Times not as other times if Things by way of distinction so called not as other things if Persons set apart unto the service and worship of God neither to be used by others nor they to carry themselves in their fashion of life as other persons for that which in other things sacred is their use in persons sacred is their conversation demeanour or carriage of themselves But all to be sanctified with a select appropriate or uncommon usage that as they are God's by peculiar relation and have his Name called upon them so to be separate as far as they are capable from common use and imployed as instruments and circumstances of his worship and service which is the highest and most singular honour that any creature is capable of Nay as I have said before even this is to the honour of God That as himself is that singular incommunicable and absolutely Holy One and his service and worship therefore incommunicable so should that also which hath his Name thereon or is coasecrated to his service be in some proportion incommunicably used and not promiscuously and commonly as other things are They are the words of Maimonides the Iew but such as will not misbecome a Christian to make use of concerning that Law Levit. 5. 15. If a soul commit a trespass and sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord then he shall bring unto the Lord for his â—respass a Ram c. Behold saith he how great weight there is in the Law touching sacrilegious transgression And what though they be wood and stone and dust and ashes when the Name of the Lord of all the world is called upon things they are sanctified that is made holy And whoso useth them to common use he transgresseth therein and though he do it through ignorance he must needs bring his atonement Yea it is a thing worthy to be taken special notice of that that so presumptuous and most dreadfully vindicated sin of Korah Dathan Abiram and their company in offering Incense unto the Lord being not called thereunto did not discharge their Censers of this discriminative respect due unto things Sacred For thus the Lord said unto Moses after that fire from heaven had consumed them for their impiety Speak unto Eleazar the Son of Aaron the Priest that he take up the Censers out of the burning and scatter thou the fire yonder for they are hallowed The Censers of these Sinners against their own souls let them make them broad plates for a covering of the Altar for they offered them before the Lord therefore they are hallowed or holy Now that by this discriminative usance or sanctification of Things sacred the Name of God is honoured and sanctified according to the tenor of our petition is apparent not only from Reason which tells us that the honour and respect had unto ought that belongs unto another because it is his redounds unto the owner and Master but from Scripture which tells us that by the contrary use of them his Name is prophaned Hear himself Lev. 22. 2. Speak unto Aaron saith he and his sons that they separate themselves from the Holy things of the children of Israel and that they prophane not my Holy Name in the things which they hallow unto me Also in the Chapter next before v. 6. the Priest that should not discriminate himself according to those singular observations or differing rules there prescribed him is said to prophane the Name of his God Again Ezek. 22. 26. when the Priests prophaned God's holy things by putting no difference between the Holy and Prophane I saith the Lord am prophaned amongst them Likewise chap. 43. 7. Together with other abominations there mentioned the Lord saith that his Holy Name had been polluted or prophaned by the carkasses of their Kings that is of Manasseh and Amon buried in the King's Garden hard by the walls of the Temple for so by the Hebrews and others that place is understood See 2 Kings 21. 18 26. By the pollution of the Temple the Lord esteemed his own Name prophaned Take in also if you will that of Malachi ch 1. where the Lord saies of those who despised and dishonoured his Table or Altar by offering thereon for sacrifice the lame blind and sick which the Law had made unclean and polluted that they had prophaned his Holy Name But if the Name of God be prophaned by the disesteem and misusage of the things it is called upon then surely it is sanctified when the same are worthily and discriminatively used that is as becometh the relation they have to him I HAVE already specified the several Kinds of Sacred things which are thus to be sanctified yet lest something contained under some of them might not be taken notice of by so general an intimation it will not be amiss a little more fully and particularly to explicate them than I have yet done Remember therefore that I ranged all Sacred things under four heads First of Persons Sacred such as were the Priests and Levites in the Old Testament and now in the
thy self to Christ become a disciple and a member of his Kingdom S. Paul likewise taught the Gospel in like manner for himself tells us so Acts 20. 21. that he testified both to Iews and Gentiles Repentance toward God and Faith toward our Lord Iesus Christ. Repentance therefore and the Gospel cannot be separated If Repentance includes newness of life and good works the Gospel doth so For Christ is the way of Repentance without Repentance there is no use of Christ and without Christ Repentance is unavailable and nothing worth for without him we can neither be quit of the sins we forsake nor turn by a new life unto God with hope of being received He is the blessed Ferry-man and his Gospel is the Boat provided by the unspeakable mercy of God for the passage of this Sea As therefore in Repentance we forsake sin to serve God in newness of life so in the tenour of the Gospel Christ delivers us from sin that we might through Faith in him bring forth the fruits and works of a new life acceptable to our heavenly Father Hence it is that we shall be judged and receive our sentence at the last day according to our works Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world For I was hungry and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came unto me Forasmuch as ye have done these things unto the least of my brethren ye have done them unto me Lord how do those look to be saved at that day who think good works not required to Salvation and accordingly do them not Can our Saviour pass this blessed sentence upon them No assuredly he will not But if the case be thus in the Gospel What is the reason will some men say that the Apostle tells us that we Christians are no longer under the Law nor justified by the works of the Law but under Grace and justified by Faith only I answer It is true that we are justified that is freed and acquitted from sin by Faith only But besides Iustification there is a Sanctification with the works of piety towards God and righteousness towards men as the Fruits yea as the End of our Iustification required to eternal life For therefore we are justified that we might do works acceptable to our heavenly Father through the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ which of our selves we could not and so obtain the reward he hath promised the doers of them As for the Law it is to be considered either as a Rule and so we are bound to conform and frame our actions to it for who dare deny but a Christian is bound to fear God and keep his Commandments or the Law may be considered as it is taken for the Covenant of works The Apostle when he disputes of this argument by the Law means the Covenant of works which he also calls The Law of works and by Faith and the Law of Faith he understands the Covenant of grace the condition whereof is Faith as will easily appear to him that shall diligently read the third and fourth chapters of the Epistle to the Galatians where he expresly changeth those terms of Law and Faith into the equivalent appellations of the Two Covenants Now as the Law is taken for the Covenant of works the Seal whereof was Circumcision 't is true we are not under it For the Covenant of works called by the Apostle the Law is that Covenant wherein Works are the condition on our part which if we perform in every point as the Law requires we are justified before God as keepers of his Covenant otherwise if we fail in the least thing we are condemned as guilty of the breach thereof Under this Covenant we are not for if we were and were to be judged according to it alas who could be saved For all saith the Apostle have sinned and come short of the glory of God There is none righteous no not one But the Covenant we are under is Believe and thou shalt be saved the Covenant of Grace the condition of which Covenant on our part is not the doing of works which may abide the Touch-stone of the Law but Faith in Iesus Christ which makes our works though of themselves insufficient and short of what the Law requires accepted of God and capable of reward This is that S. Iohn saith 1 Ep. 5. 3 4. That to love God is to keep his commandments and his commandments now under the Gospel are not grievous For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our Faith c. Whence our Saviour also saith that his yoke the yoke of the Gospel was easie and his burthen light The condition of the first Covenant was that which we could not do the condition of the second Covenant is that which enableth us to do and makes accepted what we can do and this is the Covenant of the Gospel a Covenant of savour and grace through Iesus Christ our Lord. And thus we have seen what the Apostle's meaning is when he saith we are not under the Law but under Grace Not as though a Christian were not bound to walk after God's commandments but that the exact fulfilling of them is not the condition whereby we are justified in the New Covenant but Faith in Iesus Christ in whom whosoever cometh unto the Father is accepted be his offering never so mean so it be tendered with sincerity and truth of heart Most unworthy therefore should we be of this so great and unspeakable favour of Almighty God our heavenly Father offered us in the Gospel if when he hath given us his only Son to make the yoak of our obedience easie and possible to be born we contemning this superabundant grace should refuse to wear and draw therein Far be it from the heart of a Christian to think it possible to have any benefit by Christ as long as he stands thus affected or ever to win the prize of eternal life without running the race appointed thereunto Shall we sin that grace may abound saith S. Paul God forbid THUS much of the Gospel Now of Faith whereby we are partakers of the grace therein being the condition of the New Covenant which God hath struck with men Faith is to believe the Gospel that is to attain Salvation through Christ. But there is a three-fold Faith wherewith men believe in Christ. 1. There is a false Faith 2. there is a true Faith but not a saving and 3. there is a saving Faith A false Faith is to believe to attain Salvation by Christ any other way than God hath ordained as namely to believe to attain Salvation through him without works of obedience to be accepted of
only holy one All the Land of Canaan was the Lord's The Land is mine saith he and therefore it could not be alienate beyond the year of Iubilee and yet for all this there were some parts of the Land specially called Holy unto the Lord. All the increase of corn all the increase of wine all the fruit of the field was the Lord's and yet the Offerings alone were called Holy unto the Lord. God himself calls them his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his inheritance and therefore gave them unto that Tribe alone which alone he had made his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tribe of his inheritance So the offered Tribe lived of God's offerings the holy Tribe on the holy things Again why may we not call our Clergy God's inheritance when God himself calls the Levites his Levites Thou shalt saith he Num. 8. 14. separate the Levites from among the children of Israel and the Levite shall be mine that is my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Clergy Why may not we call the Ministers of Christ his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or inheritance when he himself calls them the gift his Father gave him out of the world for so he saith Ioh. 17. 6. I have declared thy name unto the men thou gavest me out of the world thine they were and thou gavest them me and again ver 11. Holy Father keep them in thy name even them whom thou hast given me If you say he speaks here of all his Elect the words following v. 12. prove the contrary for those saith he whom thou hast given me I have kept and none of them is lost but the child of perdition Here he plainly affirms he lost one of those his Father gave him wherefore he speaks not of his Elect ones for those no man can take out of his hands Again ver 18. As thou didst send me into the world saith he so I sent them into the world but I hope all the Elect are not sent as Christ was sent by his Father I conclude therefore So long as God in the Law says specially of the Levites They are mine So long as Christ in the Gospel of his Apostles They are mine O Father which thou hast given me out of the world it is neither arrogancy nor injury to stile those who minister about holy things by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inheritance of the Lord. WHAT LEVI was and what is meant by this Title God 's Holy one we have now shewed sufficiently It remains we should come unto the words containing the Blessing it self which is called Vrim and Thummim the words themselves signifie Light and Perfection Illumination and Integrity good endowments certainly whosoever shall enjoy them But because they are not only Appellative words but also Proper names of certain things we must enquire further what is meant by them and that in a twofold consideration First specially and properly as they are names of certain things belonging in special unto the High Priest Then generally as they are applied by Moses unto the whole Tribe of Levi. The first again shall be twofold What they were in the High Priest personally or what they signified in him typically himself being also a Type For the first What is meant by these things as they belong unto the High Priest personally is a matter full of controversie and therefore that we may the better proceed we will first see the Generals wherein all or the most agree and after come unto the particulars wherein they disagree The first wherein all agree is that this Vrim and Thummim was something put in the Breast-plate which was fastned to the Ephod over against the Heart of the High Priest And thus much the Scripture witnesseth Exod. 28. 30. where God saith to Moses And thou shalt put in the Breast-plate of Iudgment the Vrim and the Thummim and they shall be on Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord. And for this cause as most think was the Breast-plate made double that the Vrim and Thummim might be enveloped therein The second thing wherein all agree is That this Vrim and Thummim was a kind of Oracle whereby God gave answer to those that enquired of him and from hence the Septuagint call the whole Breast-plate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some turn Rationale but might more truly be turned Orationale for an Oracle is as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the voice of God though this Voice or Revelation were of divers kinds for at sundry times and in divers manners saith S. Paul God spake in old time to our Fathers The Iews therefore make four kinds of Divine Revelation First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Prophecy which was by Dreams and Visions The second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Holy Ghost as was in Iob David and others The third Urim and Thummim which was the Oracle The fourth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Voice from heaven which was usual in the second Temple after the Oracle had ceased as Matt. 3. 17. at Christ's Baptism there came a Voice from heaven saying This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and Ioh. 12. 28. when Christ said Father glorifie thy name There came a Voice from heaâ—â—â— like thunder saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again But to return again to our purpose That Urim and Thummim was an Oracle of God besides the consent of Iews and others it is plain by Scripture Num. 27. when God had commanded Moses to put his hands upon Ioshua and to set him over the congregation in his stead he addes Vers. 21. And he that is Ioshua shall stand before Eleazar the Priest who shall ask counsel for him by the judgment of Urim before the Lord. So 1 Sam. 23. when David was to ask counsel of the Lord he called for the Ephod wherein the Oracle was and whereas before he had once or twice asked counsel of the Lord concerning Keilah to prevent the objection how the Lord answered it follows in the next by way of a Prolepsis That Abiathar then Priest when he fled to David to Keilah brought the Ephod with him vers 6. Lastly in the second of Ezra when certain of the Priests which returned from Captivity could not find their names written in the Genealogies it is said vers 63. that the Tirshatha commanded they should not eat of the most holy things till there rose up a Priest with Urim and Thummim that is till God should by Oracle reveal whether they were Priests or no whereby it also appears that this Oracle had then ceased And for more light to that we have in hand it will not be amiss to observe that Teraphim among the Idolaters was answerable to the Urim and Thummim of the holy Patriarchs Both were ancient For Rachel is said to have stollen away her Father 's Teraphim and Urim and Thummim seems to have been used among the Patriarchs
as big or many times bigger than the globe of the earth where shall there be room for them If such a Scheme then be supposed in S. Peter's description the explication may be after this manner Mundus or the World to omit other particular acceptions is according to the Scripture's use either Mundus continens or Mundus contentus give me leave to use these terms for distinction sake By Mundus continens I mean the Compages and frame of the Physical heaven and earth wherein the rest of the creatures are contained by Mundus contentus the state or body of the inhabitants and Kingdoms of the earth Now to whatsoever the notion of Mundus is appliable there is also supposed to be an Heaven and Earth as being the names and parts whereby the Scriptures express the World The Heaven then of this Political world is the Sovereignty or Sovereign part thereof whose Host and Stars are the powers ruling that world In the highest place Gods and Idols next Kings Princes Peers Counsellours Magistrates and other such Lights shining in that Firmament And at such a meaning and no other it being an Oriental notion may aim for ought I can see that supposed fastuous style of Sapores King of Persia to Constantius the Emperour Rex Regum Sapores frater Solis Lunae partiçeps i.e. socius Siderum Constantio fratri salutem But to go on The Earth is the Peasantry or vulgus hominum together with the terrestrial creatures serving the use of man Of such a Heaven and Earth as this is the Lord speaks in the Prophecie of Haggai Ch. 2. v. 6 7. Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth both the sea and the dry land And I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come And again v. 21 22. I will shake the heavens and the earth And I will overthrow the Throne of Kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the Kingdoms of the Heathen c. Of such a Heaven and Earth speaks Ieremy Chap. 4. 23. I beheld the earth and it was without form and void 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the heavens and they had no light viz. as if the World were turn'd into the old Chaos again Gen. I. See the rest which follows Of such Heavens and an Earth speaks the Lord in Isaiah ch 51. 15 16. namely of the Heavens and Earth of the World or State of Israel I am saith he the Lord thy God who divided the sea to wit the Red sea when the waters thereof roared the Lord of Hosts is his name And put my Words i.e. my Law in thy mouth and covered thee in the shadow of my hand i.e. protected thee in thy march to Canaan c. that I might plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth i.e. make thee a State and build thee into a Political World and say unto Sion Thou art my people Of such a kind of Heaven speaks the same Prophet ch 34. 2 4 5. The indignation of the Lord is upon all Nations and his fury upon all their Armies c. And all the host of Heaven shall be dissolved and the Heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the Vine and as a falling fig from 〈◊〉 sig-tree For my sword shall be bathed in Heaven behold it shall come down upon â—â—maea c. See the rest and know that this destruction of Edom is prophesied of in no less Hyperbolical a strain by Obadiah and Ieremy c. 49. from v. 7 to 22. Ezek. 35. tot 25. 12. which I note lest any man wondring at the Hyperbole of this of Esay should think it appliable only to the Day of Iudgment And that such Schemes as these were usual to the Nations of the Orient may appear not only by the Chymical Philosophy derived thence which makes Heaven and Earth and Stars in every thing but from the testimony of Moses Maimonides who More Nebechim par 2. c. 29. affirms that the Arabians in his time in their vulgar speech when they would express that a man was fallen into some great calamity or adversity used to say Coelum ejus super terram ejus cecidit No question these Schemes were as familiar to them as our Poets strains and expressions are to us though of another genius ours are borrowed from fables stories persons places theirs were from the frame of the World the Sun Moon Stars and Elements c. If such a notion of Coelum and Terra may have place in this place of Peter and why may he not uttering a Prophecy borrow a Prophetical strain it may easily appear what Heaven and Earth the Fire at Christ's second coming shall burn up and consume viz. the Heaven and Earth of the contained world such as those which the former judgment by water overwhelmed and destroyed the world of wicked States and men high ones and low ones Princes and Peasants man and beast according to that twice-repeated passage Isa. 2. 11 17. which the ancient Iews interpreted of the Day of Iudgment The loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be made low and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day And the Idols these are part of the host of the Heaven we speak of he shall utterly abolish And of such Heavens and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as these it mattereth not though we understand an absolute destruction namely of so much as shall be burned as was in the Deluge of Noah and so likewise of the Earth and works thereof But whereas by the universal Deluge though only the Mundus contentus perished yet nevertheless the Mundus continens was therewith corrupted and depraved in the destruction by Fire it shall be otherwise for the world of wicked ones being destroyed the Heaven and Earth w ch contained them shall be purged and refined for the righteous todwell therein This Exposition I put but in the second place because where the proper sense of the letter may be kept I prefer it before any other To conclude If any there yet be whom neither of the former Expositions can satisfie but will needs have the fire and burning here spoken of to be that whereby the World is to be utterly annihilated I could answer That the Day of Iudgment is a thousand years and this Fire though it be to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that day yet shall it not be in the beginning but end thereof The beginning being but a destruction of the enemies of Christ and the Kingdom of Satan and then a restauration the end a destruction of the whole creature it self by utter annihilation and then S. Peter's words ver 13. to be construed after this manner That howsoever the Heavens and the Earth shall at length be dissolved by fire nevertheless before that shall be we look for a New heaven and a
advanced viz. Through the Hypocrisie of such as forbid marriage and command to abstain from meats Who are these The wonderful correspondence of the Event makes me verily believe that the Holy Ghost intended here at least chiefly to decypher unto us Monks and Doctors of Monkery by two such marks as are the chief points and grounds of that Singularity of life For Prohibition of marriage and Difference of meats are inseparable Characters of Monastical profession and therefore common to all that crew of Hypocrites whether Solivagant Eremites or Anchorites which live alone or Coenobites which live in Society And if we take them joyned together as our Apostle doth I think they can befit no other kind of men by way of Rule and Precept but these alone 'T is true all Antichrist's Priests are forbidden marriage generally and absolutely but meats they are not but only upon certain daies and times which is not their case alone but the people also partake with them in the like restraint But Monks are bound by the vowed Rule of their profession to abstain from both absolutely and perpetually Concerning the first hear S. Chrysostome speak Hom. 7. in Matth. Nobis Monachis saith he omnia mandata Legis sunt communia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All the Commandments of God's Law are common to us with Monks besides Marriage Wherefore in the Council of Chalcedon is an express Canon cap. 16. Vt nec Deo dicata Virgo nec Monachus nubant That no Nun or Monk should marry i. e. they might not forsake their profession For the second the Abstaining from meats S. Bennet can tell us best who is the Father and founder of well-nigh all the Monks of the West His Rule which they all bind themselves to observe saith A carnibus omnes abstineant Let all abstain from flesh Again Carnium etiam quadrupedum omnino ab omnibus abstineatur comestio Let all abstain altogether from the eating of flesh even of four-footed beasts Hence is that Decree of Bishop Fructuosus in Gratian Dist. 5. Carnem cuiquam Monacho nec gustandi nec sumendi est concessa licentia No Monk hath leave granted him to take or so much as to tast a piece of flesh And these were the two principal observations of the first Monks before they came to be gathered into a Society of a common life under certain set Rules Paulus Thebaeus the first pattern of this kind of life abstained as from Marriage whereof there is no question so from all meats save bread and dates Anthony the next ate nought but bread and salt and both drank no other drink but water Epiphanius in his Anchorato tells us of differing observations in this kind Some ate no flesh but fish some neither of both but only fruits and herbs some are flying creatures but abstained from all besides But if you will take Meats in this place in a larger sense you shall have a full Definition of Monkery and take in that other Monastical principle of Renouncing possessions and having no propriety in any thing which they account the Second fundamental principle next to the Vow of chastity or single life Now may not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meats be expounded in this sense We know the word Bread in Scripture signifies all things needful for maintenance of life omnia vitae subsidia and therefore we ask them all in the Lord's prayer under that name Give us this day our daily bread Mark the words of David to Ziba 2 Sam. 9. 10 Thou and thy Sons and thy Servants shall till the land for him Mephibosheth and thou shalt bring in the fruits that thy Master's son may have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Food to eat Here Bread or Food is taken for Mephibosheth's whole maintenance the whole profit of the Lands which Ziba tills Matth. 10. 9 10 Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses Nor scrip for your journey neither two coats nor shoes nor yet staves for the workman is worthy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his meat Here gold silver brass clothes and staves and all come under 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is meat In stead whereof S. Luke chap. 10. vers 7. putteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his hire Prov. 30. 8. Agur saith Give me neither poverty nor riches Feed me with Food convenient for me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By all which appears that Food and Meat in Scripture is often taken for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Iames speaks chap. 2. vers 16. for all provision of things for the use of the body and this life maintenance revenue estate possession Why may not then Abstaining from meats in this Prophecie mean or include Abstaining from possessions Votum paupertatis the Vow of Poverty and renouncing of the world as the Hypocrites call it to which the following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are every way as pliable as to the stricter sense and may be read thus which God hath created to be injoyed with thanksgiving of them which c. Let us hear S. Bennet's Rule speak for all Nemo aliquid proprium habeat nullam omnino rem neque codicem neque tabulas neque graphiarium sed nihil omnino Let no man have any thing proper or as his own no kind of thing neither book nor writing nor Inkhorn nor any thing at all And those who had once imposed upon themselves this law were prohibited for ever to return to the world again Monachis non licere ad seculum redire saith the Canon of a great Council Hear a Story out of S. Hierom Epist. ad Eustochium A certain Monk being dead was found to have been so good a Husband as to have had lying by him an hundred Solidi which he had gotten by weaving of linen hereupon great doubt there was what it should be done withal whether given to the poor to the Church or to what use But Pambo Isidorus and the other Fathers of the Monks laying their heads together decreed it should be buried with him with this blessing Pecunia tua sit tecum in perditionem Thy mony perish together with thee The like sentence gave Gregory the Great against Iustus a Monk for the like fault Dial. l. 4. c. 55. I conclude therefore That these words are a Description of Monkery by such notes as are fundamental which way soever we take them either containing Single life and Discrimen ciborum the Differencing meats or the two Vows of Chastity and Poverty or all three of them Chastity Poverty and Abstaining from meats As for that other Vow of Obedience it was not from the beginning nor common to all not to Eremites and Anchorites but such as lived in common under an Head And these are the men through whose Hypocrisie and by whose means the Doctrine of Daemons should be brought in and advanced among Christians in the Latter times CHAP. VIII That Monastick life and Saint-worship began much about the same time That Monks and Friers
us was none of the Sublata though somewhere it be as well as the rest And the field of my defence is so much the larger if it be considered that one of the three Res sacrae is capable of Subdivision But enough of this it being no well-becoming Theme to dispute upon I said there was eadem ratio Loci temporis not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but eadem ratio Loci Temporis sacri to wit for the Sanctification i. e. holy and discriminative usance due unto them both and the formal reason in respect whereof it is due For the reason why a thing is to be Sanctified or Sanctè habendum is because it is Sanctum or Sacrum Now whatsoever is appropriate unto God and his Service is such whether the determination thereof be by God's own immediate Ordination or mans Devotion it is all one in this respect so the Appropriation or Dedication thereof be supposed lawful and agreeable to the Divine will For this Sanctification we speak of depends not either upon the difference of the cause or manner whereby the thing is consecrated nor upon the diversity of Natural and Artificial being but upon the Formalis ratio of the Object because it is Holy or Sacred therefore to be sanctified with holy usance For to Sanctifie in Scripture is not only to make holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to do unto a thing as becometh its holiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moreover I believe the Sanctification of Place to be intended in the Fourth Commandment as well as that of Time and that not only from the Rule observed in the interpretation of the rest of the Commandments by one of the kind named to understand all the rest ejusdem generis but especially the Lord himself hath conjoyned them as pairs Levit. 19. 30. Keep my Sabbaths and reverence my Sanctuary And why not when they are so near a-kin being both Circumstances of Action why may I not then say Quae Deus conjunxit nemo separet And it may be if it be well looked into the Sanctification of the Lord's-day might be urged with far more advantage upon the ground I intimate than upon that other which is so much controverted But it is partialitie that undoes all It seems by this Objection I have now answered you supposed the Argument of my Book to be The Reverence of holy Places which is only The Antiquity of them You ask me if I believe indeed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was Ignatius his word I say I do till I hear some sufficient reason why I should not For that of my not being able to give an instance of the like either in his time or within 100 years after seems to me to have no force of concluding at all When I affirmed in my Altare That the name of Table could not be shewed given to that whereon the Eucharist was celebrated in any Ecclesiastical Writer confessed to be genuine before 200 years after Christ I inferred not therefrom that therefore the name Table was never used all that time nor if I had would you have believed me And yet to tell you the truth when I wrote that I had some persuasion or suspicion that that Name could not be shewed in any Writer for 3 hundred years after Christ but durst not affirm so much as I thought because I was not sure of Origen But when a Friend of mine soon after wondred how I durst avouch in publick a thing so incredible as this to him seemed to be I discovered that I had affirmed somewhat less than I believed and desired him to make trial whether he could find it in 300 years or not wherein when he had spent some time he could not He alledged indeed Cyprian de Coena Domini but I told him that was confessed of all sides to be none of his c. And now see the luck of it The week before I received yours a Friend shewed me the New Articles of the New Bishop of Norwich his Diocesan wherein besides some other unwonted things which some body will startle at the Bishop avouches upon the credit of his reading That the name Table in that sense is never to be found in any Ecclesiastical Writer of the first 300 years save only once in an occasional passage of Dionysius Areop agita Now Sir what think you of this Yet you see I can shew the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oftner than once in those first 300 years Yea if you would grant me that the Author of that Hierarchical Treatise whosoever he were lived but within the compass of 200 years after Christ I could give you an instance both of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 within the time by you limited For this Dionysius in his Mysterium Synaxeos describes the Deacons standing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in his Theory of the same mentions the sending of the Euergumeni at the time of the Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 However it be it follows not that because I can shew it but once within that 200 years therefore I should believe it was used never Besides methinks I observe some unreasonableness used in this kind viz. Notwithstanding such paucitie of Monuments remaining unto us of those first Ages upon every unconcluding suspicion to discredit those we have and then when we have done to require proof that such things were in those times which we without proof deny when those who alone could give testimony are disenabled and sometimes for no other reason but because they give such testimony Is this dealing reasonable As for the taking down of S. Gregorie's Church I answer In the Law some things Sacred were unalienable even quoad Individuum as for example such as were consecrated by way of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Levit. 27. 28 29. Others were unalienable as touching the kind only and therefore if need were the Individuum might be changed so it were for the better and with the Lord's advantage which the Law provides should be by adding a fifth part thereunto See the rest of the Chapter quoted But what is this to the deciding of the lawfulness or truth of what is in question to alledge that which men do Is not all the world full of Contradictions I verily believe that even those who are zealous for the Sanctification of the Lord's-day do in their practice if not in their Theory too overthrow the Principles whereupon it stands I think I have no more to make answer to and I confess I have done this not without some tediousness For you must pardon me if judging as a Stander-by I am not persuaded you are by nature so prone and pliable as you think to the way which you say I take Yes I now find one thing more S. Gregorie's Church you say is going down at least is to be built elsewhere but we never yet heard the like of the Lord's-day◠No but I have namely that
35 Schism the evil and danger of it 876 Scripture The Holy Scripture is not to be kept in an unknown tongue 190. whether the silence of Scripture be an argument sufficient to conclude against matter of fact 840. an account of some Idioms or Forms of speech in Scripture 161 and 347 349 380 285 and 352 Sea what it signifies in the Prophetick style 462 The Sealing of the 144000 in Apocal. 7. what it means 584 Seed of the Woman meant of Christ's person and Christ mystical 236 Serpent why the Devil took this shape 223 289. the Curse was pronounced upon both the Serpent and the Devil 229. what kind of Serpent was accursed 230. how God could in Iustice punish the brute Serpent 229 230 his Curse was To go upon his Breast and not only on his Belly 231 232. as also To feed on dust 233 234. Enmity between Man and the Serpent 234. The Serpents Seed meant of the Devil and wicked men 236. The Serpents Head or Headship is Principatus mortis 237 Set Forms See Prayer Seven eyes of the Lord are the seven Archangels 41 43 Seven Heads of the Beast signifie both 7 Hiâ—s and 7 Successions of different sorts of Governours 524 Seven Seals in Apocal. 6. what is meant thereby 441 917 c. Seven Trumpets See Trumpets Seven Vials See Vials Seventy Weeks See Daniels Weeks Seventy years See Years Shechinah or Gods special presence in a place is where the Angels keep their station 343 c. Sheep set at Christs right hand 841 Shiloh the name of Messiah 34 it signifies a Peace-maker 35 Silence in holy offices was a point of Religion 458 Simeon Metaphrastes his fabulous Legends 682 c. his design therein 683 c. Sin compared in Scripture to an Heavy Burthen in respect of the Weight of Punishment and of Loathsomness 151. the reason of Sins Loathsomness 152. Conformity between the Sin and Punishment in 4 particulars 144. the hainousness of a Sin to be estimated from the hearts election 350. Commission of one Sin makes way for another 135. what it is to forsake Sin 207. Rules to know whether our purpose to forsake Sin be real 152 153 Sin-offering what 287 Sincerity of Heart what it is how it may be known and attain'd 217 218 Sitting at Gods right hand what it signifies 638 639. that it is a priviledge appropriate to Christ. ibid. Some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word doth not always in Scripture imply a small number 648 c. Socinian Tenets censured 869 883 Son of man whence Christ is so called 764 788 Spirit sometimes in Scripture signifies Doctrine 626 Spirit and truth See Worship in spirit and truth Spirits Good or Evil how they appear and converse with men 223 224 Spiritual blessings were veiled in Earthly Promises under the Law 249 250 Stealing is either by Force or by Fraud both forbidden in the 8 Commandment 132. See more in Theft Sun Moon and Stars what they are according to the Prophetick style in the Political world 449 450 466 615 Synagogues how they differ'd from Proseucha's 66. their antiquity 839 Synchronisms what 491. their usefulness 431 581 T. TAbernack of meetingâ— so call'd from God's meeting there with men 343. Feast of Tabernacles wherein it was a Figure of Christ 266. how it was neglected to be kept from Iosua's time to Nehemiah's 268. what this Omission may seem to imply 268 Table sometimes in Scripture put for Epulum or the Meat it self 386. Table of the Lord in 1 Cor. 10. why so called 375. the name Table not used in any Ecclesiastical Writer before 200 years after Christ 860. Table and Altar how they differ 389 Holy Table Name and Thing 844 Temple what the Gentiles Notion of a Temple was 335 336. why the primitive Christians for the most part abstain'd from the name Temple 336 337 Temple at Ierusalem it s 3 Courts in our Saviours time 44 45. it was the Third or Gentiles Court that was prophaned by the Iews and vndicated by our Saviour 45 46. This Temple is called in Scripture Gods Throne 438 439 917. In what respects it was a Type of Christ. 48 407 263 Temples of the Heathen why they are said by the ancient Fathers to be nothing else but the Sepulchres of dead men 633 Ten Horns signifie in Dan. and the Apocal. Ten Kingdoms into which the Roman Empire was shivered 661. that they belong to the Seventh or Vppermost Head of the Beast 499 737 Ten Kings See Ten Horns Teraphim what they were and how they answered to Vrim and Thummim 183 Terumah or Heave-offering defined 288 the Terumoth or Heave-offerings were either First-fruits or Tithes or Frâ—e-will-offerings 290 Theft in no case lawful 133. the trial of it in doubtful cases was in the Iewish Polity by the parties Oath Hence Perjury and Theft are forbidden together in Scripture 133 Three Kings whom the Little Horn should depress to advance himself 779 Throne to be taken up to Gods Throne what 494 Thummim See Vrim Thunder See Bath Kol Time Times and half a Time what 497 656 744. Times of the Gentiles 753. Times put for Things done in time 737 Tithes How the question of the due of Tithes is to be stated 120 Tituls why Houses and Churches were so called 5 327 328 Tobit's prophesie of the Iews Captivity and Restauration explain'd 579 Transubstantiation promoted by lying Miracles 688 Trees what they signifie in the Prophetick style 460 Trespass-offering how it differed from the Sin-offering 287 Tribes why the 12 Tribes are in Apocal 7. reckoned in a different order than elsewhere in Scripture 455 c. Tribute See Rent Trumpets Seven Trumpets their meaning 595 Turks why described in Apocal. 9. by the army of Horsemen 473 Twelve why each of the 24 Courses or Quires of Singers in the Temple consisted of Twelve 3 Typical speeches often true in the Type and Antitype 285. when what is attributed to the Type belongs to the thing typified 468 V. VEspers See Even-song Vials Seven Vials their meaning 585 923. the agreement between the 7 Vials and 7 Trumpets 585 Vintage what it means in the Propherick style 521 c. Visions Apocalyptick whether represented in the Seven-sealed Book to be seen or to be read by S. Iohn 787 An Vnrepentant Sinner is an Insidel 153 Vnworthy receiving See Sacraments Vows The 3 Vows common to all Monks viz. Vow of Chastity Poverty and Abstaining from meats the Fourth Vew viz. of Obedience not common to all nor so old 689 Vrim and Thummim what they signifie 183. they were a Divine Oracle ibid. the Matter thereof and the Manner of enquiring thereby 184 185. How Vrim and Thummim did typisie something in Christ. 185 186 W. WAldenses See Albigenses White To walk in white To be clothed with white raiment what meant thereby in the Apocalyps 909 Whore and Whoredom meant according to the Prophetick style of Idolatry 645 646. Whoe of Babylon in Apocal. 17. why this Vision only of all
example many other of the Iews of the best rank having married strange wives likewise and loth to forgo them betook themselves thither also Sanballat willingly entertains them and makes his son-in-Law Manasse their Priest For whose greater reputation and state when Alexander the Great subdued the Persian Monarchy he obtained leave of him to build a Temple upon Mount Garizim where his son-in-Law exercised the office of High Priest This was exceedingly prejudicious to the Iews and the occasion of a continual Schism whilst those that were discontented or excommunicated at Ierusalem were wont to betake themselves thither Yet by this means the Samaritans having now one of the sons of Aaron to be their Chief Priest and so many other of the Iews both Priests and others mingled amongst them were brought at length to cast off all their false gods and to worship the Lord the God of Israel only Yet so that howsoever they seemed to themselves to be true worshippers and altogether free from Idolatry nevertheless they retained a smack thereof inasmuch as they worshipped the true God under a visible representation to wit of a Dove and circumcised their Children in the name thereof as the Iewish Tradition tells us who therefore always branded their worship with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or spiritual Fornication Iust as their predecessors the Ten Tribes worshipped the same God of Israel under the similitude of a Cals This was the condition of the Samaritan Religion in our Saviour's time and if we weigh the matter well we shall find his words here to the woman very pliable to be construed with reference thereunto You ask saith he of the true place of worship whether Mount Garizim or Ierusalem which is not now greatly material forasmuch as the time is at hand when men shall worship the Father at neither But there is a greater difference between you and us than of Place though you take no notice of it namely even about the Object of worship it self For ye worship what ye know not but we Iews worship what we know How is that Thus Ye worship indeed the Father the God of Israel as we do but you worship him under a corporeal representation wherein you shew you know him not But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth In Spirit that is conceiving of him no otherwise than in Spirit and in Truth that is not under any corporeal or visible shape For God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not fancying him as a Body but as indeed he is a Spirit For those who worship him under a corporeal similitude do beli◠him according as the Apostle speaks Rom. 1. 23. of such as changed the glory of the Incorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible Man Birds or Beasts They changed saith he the truth of God into a lie and served the creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 juxta Creatorem as or with the Creator who is blessed for ever v. 25. Hence Idols in Scripture are termed Lies as Amos 2. 4. Their Lies have caused them to erre after which their Fathers walked The Vulgar hath Seduxerunt eos Idola ipsorum Their Idols have caused them to erre And Esay 28. 15. We have made Lies our refuge And Ier. 16. 19 20. The Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth and shall say Surely our Fathers have possessed the Chaldee hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have worshipped a lie vanity wherein there is no profit Shall a man make Gods unto himself and they are no Gods This therefore I take to be the genuine meaning of this place and not that which is commonly supposed against external worship which I think this Demonstration will evince To worship what they know as the Iews are said to do and to worship in Spirit and Truth are taken by our Saviour for one and the same thing else the whole sense will be inconsequent But the Iews worshipped not God without Rites and Ceremonies who yet are supposed to worship him in Spirit and Truth Ergo To worship God without Rites and Ceremonies is not to worship him in Spirit and Truth according to the meaning here intended DISCOURSE XIII S. LUKE 24. 45 46. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures And said unto them Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day OUR Blessed Saviour after he was risen from the dead told his Disciples not only that his Suffering of death and Rising again the third day was foretold in the Scriptures but also pointed out those Scriptures unto them and opened their understanding that they might understand them that is he expounded or explained them unto them Certain it is therefore that somewhere in the Old Testament these things were foretold should befall Messiah Yea S. Paul 1 Cor. 15. 3 4. will further assure us that they are I delivered unto you saith he first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures Both of them therefore are somewhere foretold in the Scriptures and it becomes not us to be so ignorant as commonly we are which those Scriptures be which foretell them It is a main point of our Faith and that which the Iews most stumble at because their Doctors had not observed any such thing foretold to Messiah The more they were ignorant thereof the more it concerns us to be confirmed therein I thought good therefore to make this the Argument of my Discourse at this time to inform both you and my self where these things are foretold and if I can to point out those very Scriptures which our Saviour here expounded to his Disciples Which that I may the better do I will make the words fore-going my Text to be as the Pole-star in this my search These are the things saith our Saviour which I spake unto you while I was yet with you That all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me Then follow the words I read Then opened he their understanding c. These two events therefore of Messiah's death and rising again the third day were foretold in these Three parts of Scripture In the Law of Moses or Pentateuch in the Nebiim or Prophets and in the Psalms and in these Three we must search for them And first for the First That Messiah should suffer death This was fore-signified in the Law or Pentateuch First in the story of Abraham where he was commanded to offer his son Isaac the son wherein his seed should be called and to whom the promise was entailed That in it should all the Nations