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<DATE>2008-01-16</DATE>
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<NAME>Emma Leeson Huber</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A Po&s;t-&s;cript, or Appendix
TO
A TREATISE
Lately publi&s;hed by Authority, Intituled,
<HI>HAGIO-MASTIX,</HI>
OR,
The Scourge of the Saints di&s;plaid in his co|lours
of Ignorance and Blood. Being an Explication of the third ver&s;e of the thir|teenth
Chapter of the Prophecie of <HI>Zacharie;</HI> [the tenour
whereof is this: <HI>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;&s;e, that when any &s;hall
yet prophecie, then his father and his mother that begat him, &s;hall
&s;ay unto him, Thou &s;halt not live, for thou &s;peake&s;t lies in the
Name of the Lord: and his Father and his mother that begat
him, &s;hall thru&s;t him through when he prophecieth.]</HI> According
to the analogie of the Sriptures, the &s;cope and exigency of the
context, and the &s;ence of the be&s;t Expo&s;itors upon the place. By <HI>John Goodwin</HI> a &s;ervant of God and men, in the
Go&s;pel of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<BIBL>Ioh. 7. 24.</BIBL>
<Q> Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement.</Q>
<Q>Quidam Chri&s;tianae ac fraternae charitatis obliti, in tantum exi&s;timatio|nem
no&s;tram quoquo modo &s;tudent laedere, ut &s;uam, &s;e evertere nocendi
cupiditate, non videant. </Q>
<BIBL>Aug. in Re&s;p. ad Artic. Sibi fal&s;e impo&s;itos.</BIBL>
<Q>Prophetae fuerunt viri eloquentes, crebr&oacute;que &s;unt u&s;i tropis in &s;cribendo, qui|bus
multa obtexerunt. </Q>
<BIBL>Aug. de Doctr. Chri&s;t. l. 4. c. 7.</BIBL>
<Q>Mira profunditas eloquiorum tuorum; quorum ecce ante nos &s;uperficies blan|diens
parvulis; &s;ed mira profunditas, Deus meus, mira profunditas. Horror
e&s;t intendere in eam, horror honoris, &amp; tremor amoris. </Q>
<BIBL>Aug. Confe&s;&s;. l. 12. c. 14.</BIBL>
<Q>Quod e&s;t gladius ad vaginam, granum ad ari&s;tam, anima ad corpus, hoc e&s;t
&s;en&s;us genuinus ad ip&s;a verba Sacrae Scripturae. </Q>
<BIBL>Corn. <HI>&agrave;</HI> Lapide. In <HI>Argu|mento
&s;uper 12. Prophetas.</HI></BIBL>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>H: Overton,</HI> and are to be &s;old at his &s;hop in <HI>Popes-head</HI> Ally.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>A Preface to the Reader.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>GOOD READER,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_I Have almo&s;t daily occa&s;ion, as well to reverence,
as remember, this gracious di&s;pen&s;ation of God
(which el&s;ewhere I have taken knowledge of
in &s;ome of my writings) that whereas his Saints
and Servants commonly lie under the &s;orrow
and &s;hame of many infirmities, and &s;ome un|worthy
doings, yet he &s;o governs and orders the
ill will of their adver&s;aries, that they &s;eldom in their defamations or
hard &s;peakings again&s;t them, hit upon the&s;e; but commonly lay the
burden upon the whole &s;houlder, where the Saints are &s;tronge&s;t and
be&s;t able to bear it, charging them with &s;uch crimes and matters
of di&s;paragement, not onely whereof they are altogether innocent
and free, but which are mo&s;t contrary to their choice&s;t vertues, and
to the tenour of &s;uch practi&s;es, which are their chiefe&s;t honour and
commendation. <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> as great a pattern of cha&s;tity, as <HI>Abra|ham</HI>
was of faith, was yet defamed and accu&s;ed, as an Adulterer,
and a violent attempter of the cha&s;titie of others.<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Gen. 39. 17.</NOTE> <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> who
was <HI>meek above all the men on earth,</HI><NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Num. 12. 3.</NOTE> was yet charged
to <HI>take too much upon him,</HI> and to <HI>lift up him&s;elf, above the con|gregation
of the Lord.</HI><NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Num. 16. 3.</NOTE> The Prophet <HI>Elijah,</HI> who was indeed
<HI>the chariot and hor&s;emen of I&s;rael,</HI><NOTE N="d" PLACE="marg">2 Kin. 2. 12.</NOTE> i. a &s;peciall means, and
noble in&s;trument of the &s;afety of I&s;rael, was neverthele&s;&s;e arre&s;t|ed
by <HI>Ahab,</HI> as <HI>he</HI> (that is, as the onely man) <HI>that troubled I&s;rael.</HI>
<NOTE N="e" PLACE="marg">1 Kin. 18. 17.</NOTE> To pa&s;&s;e by (for the pre&s;ent) many more in&s;tances of like con|&s;ideration;
the Lord Chri&s;t him&s;elf was repre&s;ented, and accu&s;ed
<PB REF="3">
as an <HI>enemy unto Cae&s;ar,</HI><NOTE N="f" PLACE="marg">Iohn 19. 12.</NOTE> who yet was <HI>Cae&s;ars</HI> be&s;t friend, be|ing
he, by whom <HI>Kings reign,</HI> and <HI>Princes rule.</HI><NOTE N="g" PLACE="marg">Prov. 8. 15, 16.</NOTE></P>
<P>For my &s;elf, I know my &s;elf to be compa&s;&s;ed about with as many
infirmities, as the weake&s;t of men, and my great unworthine&s;&s;e in
many things is <HI>daily before me;</HI> yet it hath plea&s;ed my God, <HI>whom
I &s;erve in the Go&s;pel of his dear Son,</HI> &s;till to hide my nakedne&s;&s;e
from mine enemies, though many in number, and diligent inqui|rers
after it; and &s;o to di&s;po&s;e of their hatred and ill will again&s;t
me, that the fiery darts of their accu&s;ations have &s;till hit where
my bre&s;t-plate of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is, and hath been mo&s;t firme, and
of be&s;t proof. It is too much for me to &s;ay of my &s;elf, nor will
I &s;ay it; but it would be a truth comely enough in the mouths of
&s;ome others, to &s;ay, that I am, if not the be&s;t yet none of the wor&s;t
Friends, which the Divine Authority of the Scriptures hath a|mong&s;t
men; and that I have been as diligent, as faithfull, as la|borious
an A&s;&s;ertor thereof, as any of tho&s;e, who think them&s;elves
more worthy of the crown. All that I &s;hall &s;ay of my &s;elf in this
behalf, is, that if I have done any &s;ervice for the world, &s;ince
my entrance into it, or if the &s;ouls and con&s;ciences of men have any
cau&s;e at all to ble&s;&s;e me, it is, becau&s;e I have cloathed them with
&s;trength and confidence of the royall parentage and de&s;cent of the
Scriptures, and &s;ubdued their fears and jealou&s;ies of any &s;ubor|nation
(in that kinde) under their feet; or rather that I have at|tempted
with <HI>all my heart, and all my &s;oul,</HI> to do them. Notwith|&s;tanding,
with what importune clamour, and virulency of &s;pirit,
I have been of late traduced, not onely to vulgar cognizance, but
to Authority it &s;elf, as an enemy unto, and oppo&s;er of the heaven|ly
Originall of the Scriptures, by &s;ome, who out of zeal to God
(for &s;o they glo&s;&s;e the practi&s;e) neglect their own Trades and Im|ployments,
to follow Satans, <HI>in accu&s;ing the Brethren,</HI><NOTE N="h" PLACE="marg">Revel. 12. 10.</NOTE> is &s;o well
known throughout the City, that any farther information from me,
would be an impertinency. But though <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was accu&s;ed as an
enemy to the cha&s;tity of his mi&s;tre&s;&s;e, yet the true rea&s;on and ground
of his accu&s;ation (as the Scripture informeth us) was, not his en|mity,
but his faithfulne&s;&s;e, thereunto; in like manner, though the
matter of my accu&s;ation from the mouths of men, he oppo&s;ition to
the Scriptures; yet I make little que&s;tion, but that the reall and
true cau&s;e hereof, was not my oppo&s;ing, but my avouching the
<PB REF="3">
Scriptures, as the Oracles, or word of God, by a &s;trong and
pregnant eviction from them of a notorious unworthine&s;&s;e in tho&s;e
practi&s;es and proceedings again&s;t the Saints, wherein the&s;e men
with their fellows, were, to the reproach, not of Chri&s;tian Reli|gion
onely, but of humanity it &s;elf, engaged. <HI>But all things</HI> (&s;aith
the Apo&s;tle) <HI>that are</HI> [to be] <HI>reproved, are made manife&s;t by
the light: for what&s;oever doth make manife&s;t, is light. i.</HI> is by
this act of manife&s;tation or di&s;covery, clearly evinced to be light,
<HI>Eph.</HI> 5. 13. And as <HI>Jo&s;eph's</HI> Mi&s;tre&s;&s;e accu&s;ed him to his Lord,
for an adulterous attempt upon her, becau&s;e he refu&s;ed to be adul|terous
with her; &s;o becau&s;e I have con&s;tantly refu&s;ed to misfigure
the face of the Scriptures, and de&s;troy the character of the Divine
glory which is &s;tamped upon them, by compelling them to &s;erve in
the wars of High Presbyterie, again&s;t both them&s;elves, the Saints,
and the Truth; therefore have the&s;e men accu&s;ed me before Au|thority,
as if I had bla&s;phemed their honour, and contradicted
that manife&s;t and pregnant Relation, wherein they &s;tand unto
God, as their Father. That herein I charge them not, but with
the royall a&s;&s;ent of Truth, is evident from hence: There is &s;carce
any Divine, or Prote&s;tant Author, having a like occa&s;ion to &s;peak
of the &s;ame &s;ubject, but have expre&s;&s;ed them&s;elves upon the point
wherein I am made an offender, in
terms far more obnoxious to exception
then mine,<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">No tran&s;lation is &s;imply authenticall, or the undoubted word of God. In the undoubt|ed word of God, there can be no errour. But in tran&s;lations there may be, and are errours. The Bible tran&s;lated therefore is not the undoubted word of God, &amp;c. Dr. <HI>Featly</HI> in his Treati&s;e, intituled, <HI>The Dippers dips,</HI> p. 1. 2. This Treati&s;e was printed with Licen&s;e, and &s;ince reprinted 5. or 6. times, long &s;ince the &s;itting of this pre&s;ent Parliament; no man, that ever I have heard of, finding him&s;elf agrieved in the lea&s;t, at any of the&s;e expre&s;&s;ions.</NOTE> and yet my accu&s;ers are
all thoughts made for them and as men
in who&s;e mouths there are neither com|plaints,
nor reproofs. Why? the&s;e Au|thors,
either have ordered the Scrip|tures
and High Presbyterie, and made
them to agree; or el&s;e they had no oc|ca&s;ion
to take notice of any di&s;agree|ment
between them. But becau&s;e I
have &s;o demon&s;tratively proved that
the Scriptures, and High Presbyterie,
point, like Ea&s;t and We&s;t, one diame|trally
oppo&s;ite to the other, <HI>Ergo,</HI>
therefore my &s;aying, <HI>that it is no
foundation of Chri&s;tian Religion, to beleeve that the Eng|li&s;h
<PB REF="4">
Scriptures are the word of God,</HI> is a deniall of the Divine
Authority of the Scriptures &s;imply, though another mans &s;aying
twice as much, would have amounted to no &s;uch &s;um of indigna|tion.
But that I daily <HI>fight with bea&s;ts at Ephe&s;us, after the
manner of men, what advantageth it me;</HI> if the Scriptures be
not the word of God? Or why have I bought &s;o many Scripture
Truths at &s;uch great rates as I have done, as with the lo&s;&s;e of
Friends, credit, e&s;teem with men, e&s;tate, yea of all hope, that I &s;ay
not po&s;&s;ibility, of bettering my portion and condition in the world,
as low as it is, if I beleeve them not to be the word of God? Why
did I &s;o lately &s;uffer a Seque&s;tration from, or ejection out of
my free hold, (the be&s;t means I had in the world, for the &s;upport
and livelyhood of my &s;elf, wife, and &s;even children) for none other
cau&s;e, or crime that ever I could hear of, but for endeavouring to
<HI>go before others in an example of a reall Reformation (.i.</HI> For
my con&s;cientious and faithfull ob&s;ervance of the &s;olemn Covenant,
after by publique Order and injunction from Authority, I had ta|ken
it) if I believe not the Scriptures to be the word of God?
Certainly if I did not really and cordially beleeve them to be the
word of God, I would beleeve them as prudently, as many others
do: I would &s;o beleeve them, as not to be di&s;turbed by them, or
any thing in them, in my worldly intere&s;ts: I would &s;o believe
them, as to keep fair quarter with &s;oft raiment, great pur&s;es, full
tables, and benches of honour, notwith&s;tanding: nor would I &s;a|crifice
the lea&s;t degree of my hope of ri&s;ing in the world, upon the
&s;ervice of any thing what&s;oever contained in them. Nay, did I
not verily believe them to be the word of God, I would not for their
&s;akes, nor for the vindication of any thing which they &s;ay, expo&s;e
my &s;elf, as now I do, to the clamorous, and &s;tingling tongues of an
ill imployed, and (I fear) a wor&s;e &s;pirited generation of informers
(God <HI>forgive them,</HI> for I hope charitably, that <HI>they know not
what they do)</HI> I would write no books that &s;hould de&s;erve burning
by the common Hangman,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Some of my accu|&s;ers made it their mo&s;t af|fectionate reque&s;t, that my late book might be burnt by the com|mon Hangman</NOTE> but &s;uch onely which &s;hould be wel|come
to, and judged worthy to be &s;old, at the &s;igne of the Bible it
&s;elf. For I confe&s;&s;e, that I am neither Stoick, nor Cynick: I had
rather abound, then be in want: I had rather have the good wills,
and the good words of my generation, then their bad; and that the
greatne&s;&s;e of this world &s;hould rather &s;mile, then frown, upon me.
<PB REF="4">
And for the acquirement and injoyment of my de&s;ires in all the&s;e
I conceive I had as fair and large opportunities, as others of my
Brethren in the Mini&s;tery, and had a price in my hand, as &s;uffici|ent
(I make no que&s;tion) for the purcha&s;e, as many of tho&s;e, who
have bought, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e, and injoy: who&s;e felicity or advancement by
their purcha&s;e, I (God is my witne&s;&s;e) no waies emulate or envy.
For I judge it (in many ca&s;es) be&s;t for the peace, and accomodation
of the world, that they &s;hould enjoy the great things of the
world, who lea&s;t know how to want them, or what to do without
them. But that which mainly &s;eparated between me, and the in|joyment
of my de&s;ires in this kinde, was nothing el&s;e, but my belie|ving
the Scriptures to be the word of God: this principle within
me, was (I confe&s;&s;e) too &s;tiffe and &s;tately to bow down at the feet
of worldly accomodations, and the&s;e on the other hand thought
them&s;elves too good, to &s;ubject them&s;elves unto, or comport with
that my principle: and &s;ince they thus mutually re&s;ented the geni|us
and temper one of another, they have been &s;trangers, and kept
at a di&s;tance, and by this time &s;carce know, remember, or take much
care one for the other. It was a very irrationall and incongruous
imputation which &s;ome ca&s;t upon <HI>Paul,</HI> that he &s;hould <HI>preach Cir|cumci&s;ion,</HI>
when as he &s;uffered &s;o deeply as he did, for non-preach|ing,
at lea&s;t for non-practi&s;ing of it. <HI>And I Brethren</HI> (&s;aith he)
<HI>if I yet preach circumci&s;ion, why do I yet &s;uffer per&s;ecution?
then is the offence of the cro&s;&s;e cea&s;ed.</HI><NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Gal. 5. 11.</NOTE> And certainly, rea|&s;onable
and con&s;idering men being Judges, my accu&s;ation of deny|ing
the divine Authority of the Scriptures, is every whit as &s;en&s;e|le&s;&s;e
and importune, when as I &s;uffer, and have &s;uffered every
waies, in my credit, name, friends, e&s;tate, ea&s;e, yea, and expo&s;e my
&s;elf daily to further &s;ufferings, onely for believing, and acting
this my belief of, their Authority. My belief in this kinde, hath
dealt as hardly by me, as the Lord did by <HI>Balaam</HI> (in <HI>Balaks</HI> in|terpretation)
<HI>I thought</HI> (&s;aith he, to him) <HI>to promote thee to
great honour: but &s;o, the Lord hath kept thee back from ho|nour:</HI>
<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Num. 24. 11.</NOTE> But that belief I &s;peak of, which hath reigned in me,
and over me, hitherto, and hath ble&s;&s;ed me with &s;uch an abundance
of peace and comfort, in &s;ufferings for it, will not (I hope) for|&s;ake
her throne, till either &s;he hath overcome mine enemies, and &s;o
delivered me from &s;uffering further; or el&s;e changed the contemp|tiblene&s;&s;e
<PB REF="5">
of what I am yet capable to &s;uffer further in, into that
&s;pirit of glory, which re&s;teth on tho&s;e that &s;uffer for the Name of
Chri&s;t.<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">1 Pet 4. 14.</NOTE> For I am re&s;olved (God a&s;&s;i&s;ting) not to be <HI>a&s;hamed</HI>
of any of <HI>Chri&s;ts words,</HI><NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Mar. 8. 38.</NOTE> nor to forbear, upon occa&s;ion, the
free&s;t utterance and a&s;&s;erting of them, before what <HI>generation</HI> &s;o|ever:
and hope, that neither Name, nor Friends, nor E&s;tate, nor
Liberty, nor life it &s;elf, which have not betrayed me hitherto, will
ever for the future prove any &s;nare of death unto me, or hinder
me from <HI>fini&s;hing my cour&s;e with joy.</HI><NOTE N="d" PLACE="marg">Act. 20. 24.</NOTE> If I &s;hall mi&s;carry
or fall, in any of my &s;tandings up for the Truth, the inconvenience
or lo&s;&s;e, is already ca&s;t up by <HI>Luthers</HI> Arithmetique; <HI>Malo cum
Chri&s;to ruere, quam cum Cae&s;are &s;tare:</HI> I had rather <HI>fall</HI> with
<HI>Chri&s;t, then</HI> &s;tand with <HI>Cae&s;ar:</HI> I have begun to build a tower, and
tru&s;t I have wherewith to fini&s;h it; I am ingaged in a war again&s;t
the world, and do not intend to <HI>&s;end,</HI> or &s;upplicate for <HI>conditions
of peace;</HI> nothing doubting, but that I have &s;ufficient &s;trength
(the &s;trength of Heaven) <HI>to meet any adver&s;ary, that cometh
again&s;t me,</HI> in the field. I make no que&s;tion, but I &s;hall per&s;wade
the judgements of &s;ome, to accept of that Truth, who&s;e cau&s;e I
plead; but the &s;trength and glory of my comfort is, that of the
Apo&s;tle: <HI>We are unto God a &s;weet &s;avour of Chri&s;t, in them
that are &s;aved, and in them that peri&s;h,</HI> 2 Cor. 2. 15. <HI>Ezekiel</HI>
mu&s;t prophecie, whether the people to whom he is &s;ent <HI>will hear,
or whether they will forbear, that they might know, there hath
been a Prophet among&s;t them,</HI> Ezek. 2. 5. Men are then <HI>prepared
for de&s;truction</HI> upon the be&s;t terms for the glory of God therein,
when his Truth hath been effectually made known unto them, they
per&s;i&s;ting in their former wayes of di&s;obedience unto it. This is
that, which the Scripture calls, <HI>Rebellion</HI> 1 Sam. 15. 23. <HI>and
walking &s;tubbornly again&s;t God</HI> (as the former tran&s;lation reads
it) <HI>Lev.</HI> 26. 21. 23. 27. And in this re&s;pect, they who make known
his Truth unto me, are <HI>a &s;weet &s;avour unto him,</HI> even in tho&s;e
who peri&s;h, through di&s;obedience to it. As for him, who (it &s;eems)
counts it an honour to be an Officer in blood unto Satan, the
<HI>Scourger</HI> of the Saints under the name of <HI>Fools</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>A &s;cur|rilous Pamphlet lately put forth,</HI> Tam fine re, quam fine nomine, <HI>called,</HI> Mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">o ma|&s;tix.</NOTE> (for &s;o indeed they
are called in the dialect of the world, the language which this man
&s;peaketh) the God of Recompences<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Ier. 51. 56.</NOTE> will provide a <HI>&s;courge</HI> for him,
and that of Scorpions, in due time, (unle&s;&s;e by Repentance he becomes
<PB REF="5">
one of tho&s;e <HI>Fools,</HI> whom now he <HI>&s;courgeth)</HI> and will declare
from Heaven, with an a&s;toni&s;hing demon&s;tration, who is the
Fool, and who is the wi&s;e man.</P>
<P>And Reader, were it not for fear of making my gates too big
for my city, I &s;hould here, in further vindication of my &s;elf a|gain&s;t
the pretended crime of denying the Divine Authority of the
Scriptures, have directed thee to &s;uch pa&s;&s;ages in that di&s;cour&s;e it
&s;elf, which is con&s;trained to bear the cro&s;&s;e of this forged cavilla|tion,
wherein I clearly acknowledge and a&s;&s;ert the &s;ame: As 1. to
<HI>pag.</HI> 29. Where I &s;uppo&s;e <HI>the fouls of men, to have been ran&s;o|med
by the precious blood of Ie&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> So again to <HI>page</HI>
36. where I expre&s;&s;e my &s;elf thus. <HI>And though for my &s;elf, I
can, and do without &s;cruple, &s;ub&s;cribe to the truth of this do|ctrine,
yea and am ready, God a&s;&s;i&s;ting, to die for it; that God
is one in three per&s;ons, &amp;c.</HI> Certainly he that a&s;&s;erts, or takes for
granted, that the <HI>&s;ouls of men were ran&s;omed with the preci|ous
blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> and again, <HI>that God is one in three
per&s;ons,</HI> profe&s;&s;ing him&s;elf <HI>ready to die</HI> in atte&s;tation hereof, a&s;|&s;erts
his belief of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures, with
as much plaine&s;&s;e and evidence, as is lightly po&s;&s;ible for any man
in words to do. For who can really and cordially, and with a Faith
animating unto death, for the ob&s;ignation of their Truth, believe
either of the&s;e upon any lighter or loo&s;er foundation, then the Au|thority
or word of God him&s;elf? The latter place (I de&s;ire all the
world to take knowledge of it) which is the more pregnant of the
two, wherein I profe&s;&s;e my <HI>&s;ub&s;cribing without &s;cruple, to this
Doctrine, that God is one in three per&s;ons:</HI> and further, that
I am <HI>ready to die,</HI> in atte&s;tation of it, <HI>God a&s;&s;i&s;ting me;</HI> is in the
very next <HI>page</HI> unto, and but a very few lines before, that un|Chri&s;tianly,
yea, and &s;encele&s;ly perverted, and mi&s;-u&s;ed pa&s;&s;age,
wherein my Informers would fain per&s;wade the world, that they
&s;ee me under a deniall of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures,
with my pen. Mi&s;erable mend who know not how to refrain
from making them&s;elves more mi&s;erable, then they are, by ma|king
&s;in of innocency in other men, and innocency of &s;in in them|&s;elves:
Yea, the truth is, that I am &s;o far from denying the
Divine Originall or Authority of the Scriptures in the &s;aid book,
that <HI>Sect.</HI> 25. beginning at the foot of <HI>page</HI> 32. I a&s;&s;ert the &s;ame
<PB REF="6">
as demon&s;trable, by many grounds and Arguments otherwi&s;e;
whereas the Presbyterians (more generally, as there I &s;hew) hold
and affirm it undemon&s;trable upon &s;uch terms, by all arguments
and rea&s;ons what&s;oever, excepting onely the immediate illumina|tion
or revelation of the Spirit of God. But I remember that
he that glorified God more then all the world be&s;ides, was not|with&s;tanding
again and again charged with bla&s;phemy,<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Ioh. 10. 33. Mat. 9. 3. Mat. 26. 65. &amp;c.</NOTE> and
that by tho&s;e, who thought they knew as well as all the world be|&s;ides,
what bla&s;phemy was, yea, and judged them&s;elves as holy ju&s;t,
and zealous men, as far from that great abomination of unrigh|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e
of condemning the innocent, as were to be found among
all the living; yea, this great, and ble&s;&s;ed factour for God, and his
glory, and for the &s;alvation of the world, was at la&s;t notwith|&s;tanding
all his faithfulne&s;&s;e unto both worlds, &s;entenced
even by &s;uch men as I &s;pake of, worthy of death, as a bla&s;|phemer.
<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Mat. 26. 65, 66.</NOTE> Reader, I cannot but <HI>comfort my &s;elf with the&s;e
words.</HI> The Lord give thee a di&s;cerning &s;pirit between things
that differ, and keep thee from being either ravi&s;hed with the &s;pi|rit,
or rapt up into the third Heavens, of this pre&s;ent world.
Farewell.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>From my Studie in <HI>Cole|man&s;treet,</HI>
<DATE>March 2.
1646.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>Thine, and all mens, in the
&s;ervice of the Lord
Je&s;us Chri&s;t:
John Goodwin.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="6">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>ZACH. 13. 3.</BIBL>
<Q>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;&s;e, that when any &s;hall yet prophecie
then his Father and his mother, that begat him, &s;hall
&s;ay unto him, Thou &s;halt not live: for thou &s;peake&s;t
lies in the Name of the Lord: And his father, and
his mother that begat him, &s;hall thru&s;t him through
when he prophecieth.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_BEcau&s;e there are &s;ome among&s;t us, who look up|on
this pa&s;&s;age of Scripture, as undoubted|ly
comporting with &s;uch a practi&s;e, which
(it &s;eems) too much comports with their de|&s;ires,
I mean, the inflicting of civill puni&s;h|ments
by the Magi&s;trate, upon &s;pirituall De|linquents
(per&s;ons uttering, or teaching er|roneous
doctrines in Religion) and having had no occa&s;ion mi|ni&s;tred,
to argue this, as I had for &s;everall others, in my late
Treati&s;e, intituled, <HI>Hagio-ma&s;tix,</HI> &amp;c. I conceive it may be a
good and acceptable &s;ervice both unto God and man, to make a
di&s;trict and narrow &s;earch into the minde of the one in it, for
the accomodation, and benefit of the other; partly in rectify|ing
the judgements and practi&s;e of &s;ome, partly in pre&s;erving
others from undue &s;ufferings. We &s;hall &s;teer our inquiry by the
compa&s;&s;e, partly of the &s;ence &amp; minde of the holy Gho&s;t in other
Scriptures; partly of the coherence and &s;cope of the context;
partly, of the &s;ence and import of the words them&s;elves; part|ly
by the analogy of phra&s;e or manner of expre&s;&s;ion found
<PB N="2" REF="7">
el&s;ewhere in Scripture: partly al&s;o of the apprehen&s;ions and
judgements, of the be&s;t and &s;ounde&s;t Expo&s;itors we have had
opportunity to &s;ee, and con&s;ult about the meaning of the place.
So then, that the Holy Gho&s;t had no intent as all to counte|nance
the interpo&s;all of the civill Sword, for the &s;uppre&s;&s;ion
or puni&s;hment of errour, or Here&s;ies under the Go&s;pel (lea&s;t of
all, in the&s;e times, or, in the Churches of the Gentiles) will
clearly appear, if not <HI>divi&s;im,</HI> yet <HI>conjunctim,</HI> by the&s;e en&s;uing
con&s;iderations.</P>
<P>1. It clearly appears from the two preceding ver&s;es (the
fir&s;t and &s;econd of this chapter: and indeed from the whole,
both precedent and &s;ub&s;equent chapters) that what is &s;poken
in this third ver&s;e, concerning the high di&s;plea&s;ure, which <HI>Fa|thers
and mothers</HI> &s;hould conceive again&s;t their children, when
they &s;hould <HI>prophecie lies in the name of the Lord,</HI> re&s;pecteth
onely the Nation, and Church of the Jews. Nor is there the
lea&s;t hint or intimation given in the context, that any thing ex|pre&s;&s;ed
in the &s;aid ver&s;e, relates unto the Gentiles. For. i. <HI>(v.</HI> 1.)
he mentions onely <HI>the hou&s;e of David, and the inhabitants of
Jeru&s;alem</HI> (1. the Jews, of what rank or condition &s;oever,
noble, or ignoble) as tho&s;e, for, or, unto whom, <HI>the fountain
for &s;in, and for uncleanne&s;&s;e,</HI> there &s;poken of, was to <HI>be opened.</HI>
Upon the &s;ame terms he expre&s;&s;eth him&s;elf in the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> thus
<HI>Mat. 15. 24. I am not &s;ent, but unto the lo&s;t &s;heep of the hou&s;e of
I&s;rael:</HI> meaning, that he was not &s;ent by his Father, to mini&s;ter
in the daies of his fle&s;h, either by preaching the word of the
Kingdom, or confirming it mith miracles, but onely unto the
Jews: in which re&s;pect the Apo&s;tle calleth him a <HI>mini&s;ter of the
circumci&s;ion</HI><NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Rom <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">5. 8.</NOTE> meaning the Jews. Now as our Saviour pro|fe&s;sing,
that he <HI>was not &s;ent, but to the lo&s;t &s;heep of the hou&s;e of
I&s;rael,</HI> &s;peaketh, onely and determinately of the <HI>Jews,</HI> not in|cluding
the Gentiles in the expre&s;sion; in like manner, when
the Holy Gho&s;t &s;peaking and prophecying of him, and of his
&s;ending into the world, under the metaphor of a <HI>fountain</HI> to be
<HI>opened to the hou&s;e of David, and to the inhabitants of Jeru&s;a|lem,
&amp;c.</HI> cannot rea&s;onably be conceived, in &s;uch an expre&s;&s;i|on
to minde the Gentiles, but the Jews onely. E&s;pecially con|&s;idering,
that this prophecie of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and the ble&s;sing
<PB N="3" REF="7">
he &s;hould bring with him, was not &s;imply directed unto the
Jews, and unto them onely, by the gracious appointment of
God, but it was directed and &s;ent unto them, being now in a
dejected and low condition, on purpo&s;e for their incourage|ment
and erection, as appears, <HI>Ezra</HI> 5. 1. and all Expo&s;itors
agree. Now when God is well plea&s;ed with the Jews, or in|tends
their comfort or incouragement by a me&s;&s;age from
him&s;elf by his Prophets, he is not wont to &s;peak of the calling
of the Gentiles, or of making the&s;e equall, or &s;uperiour, in
holy priviledges, unto them: but when he puts this ingredient
into any &s;uch addre&s;&s;ement of him&s;elf unto them, it &s;till argu|eth
his di&s;plea&s;ure and di&s;contentment with them, according to
what him&s;elf expre&s;&s;eth by the mouth of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> (a little before
his death) <HI>They have moved me to jealou&s;ie, with that which is
not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities:
and I will move them to jealou&s;ie with tho&s;e, which are not a peo|ple,
I will provoke them to anger with a fooli&s;h nation.</HI><NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Deut. 32. 21. See al&s;o Mal. 1. <HI>ver.</HI> 10. compared with <HI>ver.</HI> 11. &amp;c.</NOTE></P>
<P>2. The&s;e expre&s;&s;ions, <HI>I will cut off the names of the idols out
of the land,</HI> and again; <HI>al&s;o I will cau&s;e the Prophets, and the
unclean &s;pirit to pa&s;&s;e out of the</HI> land <HI>(ver.</HI> 2) clearly &s;hew, that
the context &s;peaks preci&s;ely and circum&s;criptively of the Church
and Nation of the Jews. It is a true and frequent ob&s;ervation
among&s;t Interpreters, that the word, <HI>land,</HI> indefinitely put, in
the Scriptures of the Old-Te&s;tament, alwaies in &s;uch con&s;tructi|ons
as this <HI>(viz.</HI> where no particular countrey, or people be|&s;ides,
are treated of) &s;ignifies, the land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> the inhe|ritance
of the Jews.</P>
<P>3. Some of our be&s;t and mo&s;t Orthodox Expo&s;itors, under|&s;tand,
not onely the pre&s;ent context (I mean the pa&s;&s;ages near
adjoyning both before and behinde, to the Scripture in hand,
and con&s;equently, this Scripture it &s;elf) but the whole chapter,
yea, and the whole proceeding and &s;ub&s;equent chapters, with
a peculiar reference and limitation to the Jews: yea, and fur|ther
limit and confine the whole content of this chapter, to
that tract or &s;pace of time, which began with the re&s;tauration
of this Church and State by the Macchabees after the deva&s;ta|tions,
and prophanations of <HI>Antiochus,</HI> and ended with the
&s;iege and de&s;truction of the City and Temple it &s;elf of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI>
<PB N="4" REF="8">
which they conceive (and that truly) to be predicted, and
de&s;cribed in the following chap|ter,
<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Summa hujus capitis e&s;t brevis narratio tum praecipuo|rum Dei donerum, tum eti|am eventorum, quae in popu|lo Judaico. i. Eccle&s;i&acirc; Dei contingere debebant (ac re|ip&s;a contigerunt) po&s;t in&s;tau|ratum &agrave; Maccabaeis populi &amp; Eccle&s;iae &s;tatum, u&s;que ad ex|tremam urbis Hieru&s;alem ob|&s;idionem ac excidionem, quae cap. &s;equenti continetur. Ita&abque; ordinem temporis continet haec prophetia et apt&egrave; &s;uperio|ri capiti connectitur. Cete|rum commemorat, duo quae dam &s;umma Dei in Eccle&s;iam &s;eu Iudeos, futura beneficia, nimirum peccatorum expian|dorum rationem et expurgati|onem Idololatriae a &s;u&acirc; Eccle|&s;i&acirc; &amp; Templo <HI>Lambe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">tus Da|naeus,</HI> in <HI>Zac. c. 13 v.</HI> 1. See al|&s;o <HI>Hugo Grotius</HI> upon the place.</NOTE> wherewith this prophecie
ends. So that according to this cal|culation
of the pa&s;&s;age in hand, there
is nothing at all herein prophecied
concerning the Churches of the Gen|tiles,
no nor concerning the Church
or nation of the Jews them&s;elves, un|der
the Go&s;pel, at lea&s;t after, or &s;ince
the final de&s;truction of their city and
temple when (according to the gene|ral
and con&s;tant opinion both of an|cient
&amp; modern Divines) the Mo&s;ai|call
politie and Occonomie of that
Church and State fully expired, and
gave up the Gho&s;t. Now the practi&s;e
or cour&s;e here &s;poken of, <HI>(viz</HI> the ap|pearance
and &s;tanding up of Parents
again&s;t their children, and that unto
death, in the ca&s;e of <HI>fal&s;e Prophecie</HI>
in ca&s;e it be to be literally under|&s;tood)
being a branch of that politie,
and enjoyned, <HI>Deut.</HI> 13. 5. 6. &amp;c. (as all Expo&s;itors almo&s;t I can
meet with upon the place in hand, agree) it is a ground of much
probability (at lea&s;t) that this Prophecie reacheth not beyond
the &s;aid terme of the expiration of the Mo&s;aicall Law.</P>
<P>If it be objected and &s;aid; yea, but if this be foretold by
God, in the nature of a &s;peciall benefit, or ble&s;&s;ing, which the
Church and nation of the Jews &s;hould enjoy (as it &s;eems here
to be) <HI>viz.</HI> that the zeal of the Truth, and purity of Religion
&s;hould be &s;o great and prevalent among&s;t them, that Parents
them&s;elves &s;hould do ju&s;tice, and that even unto death, upon
their own children, when they proved fal&s;e <HI>Prophets,</HI> and <HI>tea|chers
of lies;</HI> doth it not follow, that it will, and mu&s;t needs be
a proportionable benefit and ble&s;&s;ing to all other Churches and
nations, when their re&s;pective Magi&s;trates &s;hall proceed with
the like zeal again&s;t the like Delinquents? To this I an&s;wer.</P>
<P><PB N="5" REF="8">
1. Be it granted, that not only Civill (Magi&s;trates I mean) but
even naturall <HI>Parents</HI> them&s;elves lawfully may, yea, and of du|ty
ought, in the&s;e times of the Go&s;pel, to proceed with the
like zeal again&s;t the like Delinquents, yet will it not follow, that
they lawfully may, much le&s;&s;e that of duty they ought, to ex|pre&s;&s;e
or act their zeal after the &s;ame manner, or with the &s;elf
&s;ame kinde of expre&s;sion. It was lawfull for the Apo&s;tles, to
be as zealous again&s;t the enemies of God and of Chri&s;t, as it
was for <HI>Eliah;</HI> yet it was not as lawfull for them to expre&s;&s;e
their zeal by <HI>calling for fire from heaven to con&s;ume them,</HI><NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Luk 9. 54.</NOTE> as
it was for him. So it is not onely as lawfull, but nece&s;&s;ary al&s;o
by way of duty, for the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel, to be as zea|lous
for the glory of God, and for the peace and &s;afety of their
people, as either <HI>Phineas,</HI> or the &s;ame <HI>Eliah</HI> was: but it is not
as lawfull for them, either to thru&s;t adulterers or adultere&s;&s;es
thorow with &s;pears or javelins, as <HI>Phineas</HI> did; nor to &s;lay Ido|latrous
Prie&s;ts with their own hands, as did <HI>Eliah.</HI> In like man|ner,
it may be as lawfull, yea, and a matter of duty lying as
much upon Parents, whether naturall or civill, now, to pro|ceed
with the &s;ame mea&s;ure and &s;trength of zeal, again&s;t their
re&s;pective children, in ca&s;es of tho&s;e &s;infull mi&s;demeanours &s;pe|cified
in the Scripture in hand, as it was heretofore either for
the one kind of Parent or the other, among&s;t the Jews, to pro|ceed
again&s;t theirs; and yet withall they may &s;in grievou&s;ly, in
ca&s;e they &s;hall utter their zeal in &s;uch outward actings again&s;t
them, as the other did. The rea&s;on of the difference is, becau&s;e
God hath now under the Go&s;pel appointed other methods and
means for the vindication of his glory, and the peace of his
people, again&s;t the enemies of both, differing from tho&s;e pre|&s;cribed
under the Law (as hath been argued, and proved in the
preceeding Treati&s;e.) And as the Jews, though (as the Apo&s;tle
te&s;tifies of them) they had <HI>a zeal of God,</HI> [that is, either for the
glory of <HI>God,</HI> or for the obtaining of his favour]<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Rom. 10. 2.</NOTE> yet this
<HI>zeal</HI> of theirs <HI>not</HI> being <HI>according to knowledge.</HI> 1. Not being ex|erci&s;ed
or acted according to the will and minde of God reveal|ed
in the Scriptures in that behalf, but according to their own
erroneous &s;en&s;e &amp; mi&s;apprehen&s;ions herein, &s;inned greatly, even
to the lo&s;&s;e of the favour of God for ever, in, and by &s;uch an exe|cution,
<PB N="6" REF="9">
or acting of it: in like manner, men may be very <HI>zealou&s;ly</HI>
affected, either to promote the glory of God, or to procure
his love and favour; and yet by &s;eeking to effect either the one,
or the other, by means di&s;allowed by God in the Scriptures,
they may both highly di&s;honour him on the one hand, and pro|voke
his di&s;plea&s;ure, in&s;tead of his favour, on the other, And
that temptations in this kinde are very incident to per&s;ons of
zealous affections and de&s;ires for Gods glory, appears by the
character of tho&s;e times, wherein, as our Saviour informes his
Di&s;ciples, who&s;oever <HI>killeth them, will think that he doth God
&s;ervice.</HI><NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Iob. 16. 2.</NOTE> Who&s;oever <HI>killeth them, will thinke, &amp;c.</HI> This note
of univer&s;ality, <HI>who&s;oever,</HI> imports, that there would not be
onely one, or two, or &s;ome le&s;&s;e con&s;iderable numbers of men,
that would &s;tumble at the &s;tone here &s;poken of, but that this
would be a common or generall practi&s;e, countenanced and al|lowed,
if not enacted, by the Authority of States and King|doms.
The obnoxiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of zeal to the &s;aid temptation, might
be further confirmed by that example of the <HI>Jews,</HI> recorded,
<HI>Act.</HI> 13. 15. who are there &s;aid to have <HI>&s;tirred up the</HI> devout <HI>and
honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and rai|&s;ed
per&s;ecution again&s;t Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out
of their coa&s;ts;</HI> as al&s;o by the example of <HI>Paul</HI> him&s;elf, while&s;t
yet he was <HI>Saul;</HI> who (as him&s;elf confe&s;&s;eth) was <HI>zealous to|wards
God, and yet per&s;ecuted this way</HI> (the way of Chri&s;t) <HI>un|to
the death, binding and delivering into pri&s;ons, both men and wo|men.</HI>
<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Act. 22 3. 4.</NOTE> yea, <HI>and verily thought that he did God &s;ervice</HI> in
&s;o doing.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Act. 26. 9.</NOTE></P>
<P>But 2. Even tho&s;e Expo&s;itors, who under&s;tand the expre&s;|&s;ion
of <HI>thru&s;ting thorow</HI> (in the Scripture in hand) not liter|ally
only, but even to the utmo&s;t extent of the letter, <HI>viz.</HI> for
an ab&s;olutely &s;laying by death, (though the letter it &s;elfe doth
not inforce this, as we &s;hall &s;hew pre&s;ently) yet do not allow
&s;uch proceedings as this in Parents again&s;t their children, upon
every fal&s;e Doctrine or errour taught, or publi&s;hed by them
<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Non quod tamen omnis fal&s;a Doctrina, illiu&s;&abque; Do|ctor <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;it punien|dus, &amp;c. <HI>Dan. in Zach.</HI> 13 3</NOTE> nor do their hearts or learning here &s;erve them to under|take
the arbitration, between the &s;everall kindes of fal&s;e Do|ctrines
and errours; &s;o as to &s;anctifie &s;uch and &s;uch for the &s;word,
and to &s;hew mercy unto others. And who&s;oever will now un|dertake
<PB N="7" REF="9">
it, had need have a &s;peciall Commi&s;&s;ion for it under
the broad Seal of Heaven, Therefore &s;uch Parents, who &s;hall
<HI>thru&s;t</HI> their <HI>children thorow,</HI> or &s;lay (yea, or puni&s;h) them for
any <HI>fal&s;e Doctrine</HI> or error what&s;oever, had need have a better,
I mean, a more particular and &s;peciall warrant for their practi&s;e,
then this Scripture: So that,</P>
<P>3. If the &s;aid expre&s;sion of <HI>thru&s;ting thorow,</HI> be to be taken
literally, <HI>viz.</HI> either for &s;laying with death, or puni&s;hing other|wi&s;e
(with any civill puni&s;hment) the particular delinquency or
offence, again&s;t which &s;uch a proceeding is to take place, mu&s;t
be inquired after, and found out, onely by con&s;ultation had
with the tenour of the Law, <HI>Deut.</HI> 13. 5, 6, &amp;c. and <HI>Deut.</HI> 17. 2,
3. &amp;c. unto which Scriptures, Expo&s;itors generally (as was for|merly
noted) &s;end their Readers for a right under&s;tanding of
the pa&s;&s;age in hand. Now the fal&s;e Prophet that was in the&s;e
Scriptures &s;entenced by God unto death, was not every Here|tick,
or erroneous per&s;on (e&s;pecially as men now count Here|&s;ie
and errour) but determinately, and onely &s;uch a fal&s;e Pro|phet,
who endeavoured to per&s;wade them to the wor&s;hip of
a fal&s;e God, and that by pretending the in&s;piration of &s;ome
Deity, for the confirmation of &s;uch
a doctrine;<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Hoc intellige de P&s;eudo|prophet&acirc;, populum volente abducere ad cultura fal&s;orum Deorum: nam in tales quem|vis Iudaeum Lex armabat. <HI>Deut.</HI> 13. 8. 9. quae lex expre&s;&s;e addit, in tali crimine, nec filio parcendum. <HI>Hugo Grotius</HI> in <HI>Zach.</HI> 13. 3.</NOTE> (as was &s;ufficiently
proved in the fore mentioned Trea|ti&s;e,
<HI>Sect.</HI> 41.) So that how&s;oever, by
the joynt con&s;ent of Interpreters up|on
the place in hand, <HI>thru&s;ting tho|row</HI>
(in the literall or proper import
of the word, whether high, or low,)
was never allowable by God in the
Old Te&s;tament (much le&s;&s;e is it in the new) for any other kinde
of fal&s;e Prophecying or teaching, but that onely who&s;e ex|pre&s;s
bent and tendencie was, to draw off people from the wor|&s;hip
and &s;ervice of the true God, and to allure them to the
wor&s;hip of &s;ome Idoll, or fal&s;e God, yea, and this by a&s;&s;erting
&s;ome &s;peciall Revelation as of divine Authority, and credit, to
procure credit, and acceptation for &s;uch a doctrine.</P>
<P>4. <HI>Tarnovius</HI> a Prote&s;tant and learned expo&s;itor, ob&s;erves,
that the Originall word, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>transfodit, &s;eu transfixit,</HI> doth
<PB N="8" REF="10">
not always &s;ignifie &s;uch a <HI>thru&s;ting throw,</HI> which is unto death,
but &s;ometimes &s;uch a wounding, which admits of a ready cure,
as well as of a recovery: and cites, <HI>Jer.</HI> 37. 10. for this &s;igni|fication:
yea, and further affirms, that if men will needs un|der&s;tand
the expre&s;sion of <HI>thru&s;ting thorow (ver.</HI> 3.) literally
and properly, they mu&s;t of nece&s;sity, con&s;idering and compa|ring
herewith what follows in the &s;ixt ver&s;e, under&s;tand it, in
&s;uch a &s;ence. From whence al&s;o he infers, that the puni&s;hment
of <HI>thru&s;ting thorow</HI> here &s;poken of, if taken properly, cannot
be meant of any puni&s;hment to be inflicted by the Civill Magi|&s;trate,
but by the naturall Parents only, to whom we know, as
he &s;aith) that God hath given po|wer
of correction, and that by
&s;tripes and &s;courgings, again&s;t their
di&s;obedient children.<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Quid? quod nec <GAP DESC="foreign"> id e&s;t, transfodit, &s;emper &s;igni|ficat ita transfixit, ut inde mortuus &s;it: &s;iquidem expre&s;|&s;e habetur apud <HI>Ieremiam</HI> cap. 37. 10. reliqui e&s;&s;ent ex eis ho|mines transfixi, quis&abque; in ten|torio &s;uo exurgerent, &amp; com|burerent civitatem hanc igne: quomodo etiam experientia te&s;tatur multos confo&s;&s;os &s;u|pervivere, &amp;c. Et paulo po&s;t; verum &s;i omnino omnia pro|prie velis accipere etiam de+p&s;is Parentibus, in &s;u&acirc; ip&s;o|rum per&s;on&acirc;, correptiones, verbera, flagellatione&s;&abque; pri|vatas in filiis immorigeris his e&s;&s;e conce&s;&s;as novimus, <HI>Pro. 13. 24. Heb</HI> 12. 7, &amp;c. Et &s;i ver&s;um 6 cum hoc volu|mus conferte, omnino cogi|mur hoc a&s;&s;erere, utrun&abque; vo|cabulo configendi hic denota|ri, viz. primum praeire a&s;pera verba: quibus &s;i nihil profici|ant parentes, ventum iri ad verbera, aliaq media duriora &amp;c <HI>Tarno<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">us</HI> in <HI>Zach.</HI> 13. 3.</NOTE> The te|nour
of this &s;ixt ver&s;e, is this: <HI>And
one ball &s;ay unto him, what are the&s;e
wounds in thine hands? Then he &s;hall
an&s;wer, Tho&s;e with which I was woun|ded
in the hou&s;e of my friends.</HI> But,</P>
<P>5. <HI>The &s;aid Author delivers this
en&s;uing Expo&s;ition as his &s;ence up|on
the place,</HI> viz. <HI>that</HI> Friends of neer|e&s;t
relation, even naturall Parents
them&s;elves, &s;hall &s;o far &s;ubject their
mo&s;t dear and tender affections, and in|gagements
otherwi&s;e, to their zeal for
the truth and puritie of Religion, that
when any, even of tho&s;e that are neere&s;t
and deare&s;t unto them, through the al|lurement
of that unclean &s;pirit (&s;po|ken
of v. 2.) &s;hall prophecy, they &s;hall
[or will] endeavour to take him off,
and deter him from &s;uch a practi&s;e, by
producing and laying before him the
&s;entence of death out of the Law of
God. <HI>Exod.</HI> 20. 5. 7. threatening him after this manner; if thou
goe&s;t on, thou &s;halt not live <HI>[with God]</HI> but &s;halt be condemned
<PB N="9" REF="10">
(for the phra&s;e, compare <HI>Ezek. 18. 24. Ezek. 33. 10. Eph.</HI> 4. 18.
for the matter, <HI>Gal. 5. 20. 21. Philip.</HI> 3. 18, 19. 2 Tim. 2. 17. <HI>Tit.</HI> 3.
10, 11.) becau&s;e thou ha&s;t &s;poke fal&s;hood in the name of the Lord.
With the&s;e, and other like words, &s;harp, and piercing, &s;hall his
Father and his mother who begat him, <HI>as it were,</HI> pierce him tho|row
when he prophecieth. For thus, threatening words, &s;ore and
weighty reproofs, and indeed all Do|ctrines,
are &s;aid to cleave in &s;under
the hearts of tho&s;e that hear them,
<HI>Act.</HI> 7. 54. and again, to goad or prick
them by piercing, <HI>Act.</HI> 2. 37. And the
words of the Lord, are &s;aid to be
whet, <HI>Deut.</HI> 6. 7. and are compared
to a two-edged &s;word, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 149. 6, 7.
<HI>I&s;a. 49. 2. Eph. 6. 17. Heb. 4. 12. A|poc.</HI>
1. 16. <HI>&amp;</HI> 19. 15. and again to
goads or nails, <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 12. 13. namely
becau&s;e they do (as it were) &s;trike
or pierce a man thorow. To which
purpo&s;e that of <HI>Solomon, Prov.</HI> 12.
18. may well be alleadged. There is
<HI>(&s;aith he)</HI> that &s;peaketh like the pier|cings
of a &s;word, &amp;c. Where there is
the &s;ame radix which is here in the
text, and the meaning is, that there
are &s;ome, who with &s;harp and heart|piercing
words provoke tho&s;e unto
anger, to whom they &s;peak; as a|gain
there are wi&s;e men, who with
&s;oft words, pacific wrath, &amp;c.<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Sic autem futurum e&s;t, ut quum prophe|taverit qui&s;piam amplius ab illo &s;piritu impu|ritatis pellectus, dicaent ei, qui &s;unt ip&s;i &agrave; na|tura conjuncti&s;&s;imi, parentes &s;cilicet, qui ge|nuerunt cum; non tant&uacute;m pater ejus, &s;ed &amp; mater ejus, cujus tamen in natos &s;olet e&s;&s;e tenerrimus affectus, at&abque; adeo &s;tudium natu|rale ac <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;uas pietatis &s;tudio subiicien|tes juxta Chri&s;ti monitum, <HI>Mat.</HI> 10. 37. &s;en|tentiam mortis ex lege Dei proferant, atque ill&acirc; ip&s;um deterreant, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20. 5. 7. &s;ic com|minantes, &s;i ita perrexeris, non es victurus tandem apud Deum, &s;ed condemnaberis (confer <HI>Ezek</HI> 18. 24. &amp; 33. 10. <HI>Eph.</HI> 4. 18. quod ad phra&s;in, quod ad rem, <HI>Gal. 5. 20, 21. Phil.</HI> 3. 18, 19. 2 Tim. 2. 17. Titum 3. 10, 11.) quia fal&s;itatem locutus es nomine Iehovae, &amp; his alil&s;&abque; verbis durioribus velut transfigent eum pater ejus &amp; mater ejus, qui genuerint eum, dum ita prophetat ip&s;e, quomodo verba comminatoria aut graves reprehen&s;iones aut doctrinae omnes dicuntur findere corda au|ditorum, Act 7. 54. &s;timulare, ac pungendo penetrate, <HI>Act.</HI> 2 37. &amp; verba Iehovae acui <HI>Deut.</HI> 6. 7. unde &amp; ip&s;a gladio ancipiti, <HI>P&s;al. 149. 6. 7. I&s;a 49. 2. Eph. 6. 17. Heb. 4. 12. Apoc.</HI> 1. 16. &amp; 19. 15. aculeis deni&abque; &amp; clavis con|feruntur, <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 12. 13. quod nimirum ho|minem velut transfigant, in quam &s;ententi|am huc merito adducimus illud Salomonis <HI>Prov.</HI> 12. 18. e&s;t qui pronunciat &s;imilia transfo&s;&s;ronibus gladii, at lingua &s;apient&ucirc;m me|dicinae. Ubi eadem Radix quae hic extat, in textu, &amp; notatur, e&s;&s;e, qui verbis a&s;peris cor ejus cui dicuntur, penetrantibus ad iram provocat, &amp; e&s;&s;e &s;apientes, qui &s;uis verbis blandis iram &s;edent.</NOTE></P>
<P>This is the be&s;t and fulle&s;t Expo&s;ition of the place, that I can
any where meer with among&s;t Interpreters; for the confirma|tion
whereof, be&s;ides what the Author him&s;elf abundantly citeth
<PB N="14" REF="11">
ca&s;e that cometh to pa&s;&s;e, which Chri&s;t here commandeth us to
take heed of, that is, the wheat is pluckt up with the tares; which
is an horrible &s;in before God, and can never be excu&s;ed. Here then
con&s;ider, how madly we have gone to work, who would needs
compell unto the Faith, Turks by war, Heretiques by fire, Jews
through fear of death and other injuries, and pull up the tares by
our own &s;trength, as if we were a kinde of men by our &s;elves,
who had power over the hearts and &s;pirits of men, and as if it
were in our hand to bring men unto righteou&s;ne&s;s and true godli|ne&s;s.
We by &s;uch a cour&s;e, pull men quite away from the
word, by &s;laying them, that it cannot work any thing upon
them: and &s;o, as much as in us lieth, we make our &s;elves guilty
of a double death, of that of the body, which we de&s;troy by a
death temporall; and of the &s;oul, which we thru&s;t down into
Hell, &s;o &s;laying it eternally, and then we boa&s;t, as if we had per|formed
&s;ome &s;peciall &s;ervice unto God, and promi&s;e our &s;elves
a reward in Heaven for it. Well therefore may this place
throughly terrifie tho&s;e inqui&s;itors after Heretiques, and tho&s;e
murtherers, if they had not foreheads of iron, who make
little or nothing of it to put men to death, for every errour &s;o
by them judged or e&s;teemed, yea, <HI>though they had Heretiques
indeed</HI> to deal with. But now, them&s;elves being the Heretiques,
they burn true Saints. What is this, but to pluck up the wheat,
while&s;t they pretend the pulling up of the tares, &amp;c.<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg"><HI>Proxi|mum,</HI> doce mur quo modo ha|bere nos debeamus erga illos haereticos ac fal&s;os doctores: non extin|guer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">e eos &amp; excin|dere opor|tet: aperte enim hic Chri&s;tus ait, <HI>sinite cre&s;cere u|traque.</HI> Solo Dei verbo contra cos agendum e&s;t Ita e+nim hac in re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">evenire &s;olet, ut qui hodie errat, cras po&s;&s;it redi|re in viam. Quis novit quando Dei verbum cor cuju&s;quam attracturum &s;it? Si autem exu|ratur; vel alias tollatur, impeditur, ne po&s;&s;it in viam reduci, verbo&abque; Dei &s;ubducitur, ut pe|rire cum nece&s;&s;e &s;it, qui alias potui&s;&s;et errore liberari. Tum evenit quod hic Chri&s;tus vult caveri, nempe <HI>triticum &s;imul cum zizaniis evellitur.</HI> id quod horrendum peccatum e&s;t coram Deo, ne&abque; unquam poterit excu&s;ari. Hinc vero vide, ut male &s;ant hactenus fuerimus, qui Tureas bello, haereticos igni, Judaeos necis metu &amp; aliis injuriis voluimus ad fidem com|pellere, &amp; zizania no&s;tris viribus evellere, ac &s;i nos ij e&s;&s;emus, quibus pote&s;tas e&s;&s;et in cor|da &amp; &s;piritus, &amp; in no&s;tra manu ad ju&s;titiam &amp; pietatem hominem revocare: quod &s;i unus Deus non faciat, manet perpetuo infectum. Nos i&s;to pacto vero homines potius &agrave; verbo avellimus, eos perimendo ne po&s;sit in eis aliquid operari, &amp; duplicis necis, quantum in nobis e&s;t, nos reos con&s;tituimus: corporis, quod perdimus morte temporaria: &amp; animae, quam in gehennam detrudimus morte afficientes aeterna, pe&s;tea jactamus ob&s;equium nos prae&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;&s;e Deo, ac peculiare nobis pollicemur hinc in coelo praemium. Iure igitur debebat hic locus <HI>inqui&s;itores haereticorum,</HI> &amp; homicidas illos, qui ob errorem quem libet, qui ip&s;is videtur, homines adeo facile mactant, &s;i non e&s;&s;et illis frons ferrea, etiam &s;i quando vere haeteticos, in manibus haberent, plane petterrefacete. Nunc autem exurunt veros &s;anctos, &amp; &s;unt ip&s;i haereti i. Quod quid aliud e&s;t, quam evellere triticum, &amp; pre &s;e ferre evul&s;i|onem zizaniorum. <HI>Luther. Po&s;till in Dominic quint. po&s;t Epiphan.</HI></NOTE></P>
<P><PB N="15" REF="11">
Long before <HI>Luther, Au&s;tin</HI> expounded the &s;ame Parable
much after the &s;ame manner, carrying the &s;cope and importance
of it to the very &s;ame point: which expo&s;ition of <HI>Au&s;tin,
Mu&s;culus</HI> in his <HI>Comon Places (cap. de Haere&s;i)</HI> having at large
rehear&s;ed, concludes thus: <HI>Haec Augu&s;tinus: quibus contra occi|&s;ores
haereticorum parabolam zizaniorum convenienti&s;&s;im&egrave;, meo
judicio, exponit. i.</HI> Thus <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> in which pa&s;&s;age he ex|pounds
the parable of the Tares, and that (in my judge|ment)
mo&s;t appo&s;itely and properly, again&s;t tho&s;e that
would have Heretiques put to death.</P>
<P><HI>The &s;ame</HI> Luther, <HI>el&s;ewhere writeth, and argueth thus.</HI>
That Heretiques &s;hould be burnt is contrary to the will and
minde of the Spirit of God.</P>
<P>This I prove, fir&s;t, from the experience of the whole
Church, which from her fir&s;t beginnings never burnt an He|retique
nor ever will burn any: It would be a &s;trange
thing, that in &s;o many ages none &s;hould be burnt, if the
Spirit of God had declared him&s;elf for it. But <HI>[the Papi&s;ts]</HI>
will &s;ay: <HI>John Hu&s;&s;e,</HI> and <HI>Jerome</HI> of <HI>Prague</HI> were burnt at <HI>Con|&s;tance.
I an&s;wer,</HI> I &s;peak of Heretiques: as for <HI>John Hu&s;&s;e</HI> and
the &s;aid <HI>Jerome,</HI> they were Orthodox men, they being Here|tiques,
Apo&s;tates, and Antichri&s;ts di&s;ciples, (as appears by what
was formerly &s;aid) who burnt them. In imitation of who&s;e
example, other murtherers al&s;o in other places, burnt and
&s;lew the Saints of Chri&s;t, among&s;t whom <HI>Jerome Savano|rola,</HI>
with tho&s;e that followed him, may be numbred.</P>
<P>Secondly, from the Scriptures, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2. They &s;hall turn
their &s;words into Plough-&s;hares, and their &s;pears into pru|ning
books. And <HI>cap.</HI> 11. They &s;hall not kill, nor hurt in all
my holy mountain. And Chri&s;t committed no manner of arms
or weapons at all to his Apo&s;tles; nor did he injoyn any o|ther
puni&s;hment, then that he, who &s;hould refu&s;e to hear the
Church, &s;hould be counted as an Heathen, <HI>Matth.</HI> 18. And
the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Tit.</HI> 3. teacheth to avoid a man that is an He|retique,
but doth not command that he &s;hould be put to death,
either by fire, or &s;word. And to the Corinths he &s;aith:
<PB N="16" REF="12">
there mu&s;t be Herefies, that tho&s;e which are approved may be
made manife&s;t. But what will your holine&s;s, mo&s;t holy Lord,
here &s;ay? <HI>Luke</HI> 9. when the Di&s;ciples would have brought
down fire from Heaven to de&s;troy a city, Chri&s;t re&s;trained
them; &s;aying, you know not of what &s;pirit ye are the children.
The Son of man came not to de&s;troy mens lives, but to &s;ave
them: This is that which I have &s;aid, and now &s;ay again,
Chri&s;t him&s;elf being my ma&s;ter [in it] that they, who per&s;e|cute
men with fire, are not children of the good &s;pirit. Of what
&s;pirit then? even of the evil &s;pirit, who was a murtherer
from the beginning.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t would not compell men by force or fire, to the faith. He
gave the &s;word of the &s;pirit, that the children of his &s;pirit &s;hould
fight with that. But for this &s;word of the &s;pirit (the word of God)
the Pope with his Popelings have laid it up in bench-holes
among&s;t worms and moths, and are become &s;tout hunters,
and <HI>Nimrods</HI> in the earth, who do what&s;oever they plea&s;e, in
the Name of the old Caldean God, <HI>Ur,</HI> or Fire; that &s;o
<HI>Babylon</HI> the latter may in every thing re&s;emble <HI>Babylon</HI> the
former: this <HI>Babylon</HI> burnt the fore-fathers of Chri&s;t; the
other, burns his children. The &s;ame God of them both, <HI>Ur,</HI> or
Fire, always burns and rageth.</P>
<P>But even the&s;e men them&s;elves in their mo&s;t &s;acred Canons,
prohibite armes unto Clergy men; and would have the Church to
pray effectually for the pre&s;ervation of the life of a Clergy man,
when he is delivered to the &s;ecular Judicatory. But by &s;uch di&s;|cour&s;e
as this, they do but make a mock of the death of innocent
men. For in the mean time, the Pope, the Prince of the Clergy,
with all the Kings, make mo&s;t bloody and cruell wars: yea, what
havock and &s;laughters of men are there not made by his command?
when doth he not call in to him the &s;ecular arm, &s;o terrifying the
world with both deaths? And yet the prime Clergy man him&s;elf
doth not bear arms, while&s;t he prays devourly for tho&s;e that are
to be &s;lain, and is earne&s;t, that they may be di&s;patched out of hand,
and that they be narrowly &s;earched after, and found out in every
corner of the world. O Satan, Satan, Satan, wo unto thee with
<PB N="17" REF="12">
Pope and Papi&s;ts, who &s;o impudently di&s;port your &s;elves with the
mo&s;t &s;ad and &s;erious affairs of the Church, and &s;lay the &s;ouls of
men with their bodies.<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg"><P>Haere|ticos com|buri e&s;t contra vo|luntatem &s;piritus. Primum ab experientia totius Eccle&s;iae probo, quae ab initio &s;ui u&s;&abque; huc nullum combu&s;&s;it haereticum, nec aliquando comburet. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">itum autem e&s;&s;et, in tot &s;ecu|lis non e&s;&s;e aliquos combu&s;tos, &s;i voluntas &s;piritus hoc volui&s;&s;et. At dicent; Con&s;tantiae Johannes Hu&s;s &amp; Hieronymus de Praga exu&s;ti &s;unt. Re&s;pondeo: Ego de haereticis lo|quor, Nam Iohannem Hu&s;s &amp; Hieronymum, viros catholicos combu&s;&s;erent haeretici ip&s;i &amp; Apo&s;tatae, &amp; Antichri&s;ti Di&s;cipuli, ut ex &s;uperius dictis patet. Quorum exem|plum &amp; multi alii homicidae imitati in diver&s;is locis &s;anctos Chri&s;ti exu&s;&s;erunt, &amp; occi|derunt, inter quos Hieronymus Savanorola cum &s;uis numerandus videtur.</P><P>Secundo, ex Scriptura E&s;a 2. Conflabunt gladios &s;uos in vomeres, &amp; lanceas &s;uas in falces. Eju&s;dem 11. Non occident, &amp; non nocebunt in univer&s;o monte &s;ancto meo. Et Chri&s;tus Apo&s;tolis nihil pror&s;us armorum commi&s;it, nec aliam poenam impo&s;uit, quam ut haberetur pro ethnico, qui Eccle&s;iam non audiret, Matth. 18. Et Apo&s;tolis Tit. 3. Haereticum hominem vitari docet, non occidi ju&s;&s;it armis vel igne. Et ad Cor. dicit: Oportet Haere&s;es e&s;&s;e, ut qui probati &s;unt, manife&s;ti fiant. Sed quid hic dicet, Domine &s;ancti&s;&s;ime. &s;anctitas ve&s;tra? Luc 9. ubi Di&s;cipuli volebant ignem de coelo deducere, &amp; civitatem perdere, compe&s;cuit cos Chri&s;tus, dicens: Ne&s;citis cujus &s;piritus filii &s;itis? Non venit Filius hominis animas perdere, &s;ed &s;aluare. Hoc e&s;t, quod &amp; ego dixi, &amp; dico, Chri&s;to Magi&s;tro, cos qui igne per&s;equntur homines, non e&s;&s;e beni &s;piritus filios: Cuius tunc? mali &s;piritus, qui erat homicida ab initio.</P><P>Chri&s;tus non voluit vi &amp; igne cogere homines ad fidem Dedit ob id gladium &s;piritus, ut in hoc pugnarent qui &s;ui &s;piritus filii &s;unt. At gladium &s;piritus, quod e&s;t verbum Dei, Dominus papa, cum &s;uis Papa&s;tris, &s;ubter &s;camnum inter blattas &amp; tineas po&s;uerunt, &amp; rur&s;um facti &s;unt robu&s;ti venatores, &amp; Nimrodi in terra, qui denuo in Deo Chaldaeo|rum, qui Ur &s;eu ignis fuit, omnia quae volunt, faciunt, ne quid Babylon noui&s;&s;ima di&s;|crepet a Babylone pri&s;ca: illa exu&s;&s;it Patres Chri&s;ti, i&s;ta exurit filios Chri&s;ti, &amp; utriu&s;&abque; idem Deus, Ur &s;emper urit &amp; &s;aevit.</P><P>Sed ip&s;i quoque in &s;uis &s;acerrimis Canonibus prohibent Clericis arma, &amp; clericum fo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">o &s;eculari traditum volunt per Eccle&s;iam efficacibus precibus redimi a morte. Verum his verbis ludunt in mortibus innocent&ucirc;m. Nam interim <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">apa clericorum princeps, cum omnibus Regibus cruenti&s;&s;ime belligeratur, Imo quae &s;trages non illius imperio fi|unt? Quando non invocat brachium &s;eculare, &amp; morte utraque terret mundum? Et tamen interim Clericus ip&s;e primus non fert arma, dum efficaciter orat pro occidendis, dum in&s;tat, ne mors eorum differatur, ut in omni orbis angulo exqui&s;iti&s;&s;ime perqui|rantur. <HI>O Satan, &ocirc; Satan, &ocirc; Satan, Vae tibi cum Papa &amp; Papi&s;tis, qui tam impudenter in rebus tam &s;eriiis Eccle&s;iae luditis, &amp; animae cum corporibus occiditis.</HI> Luther in A&s;&s;ert. omni|um Articulorum per bullam Leonis Decimi damnatorum. Artic 33.</P></NOTE>
This plea&s;eth no good man in the true Church, <HI>(&s;aith</HI> Augu&s;tine) that any man, though an Heretique,
&s;hould be put to death.<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Nullis tamen bonis in Catholica hoc placet, &s;i u&s;que ad mortem in quemquam, licet haereticum, &s;aeviatur. <HI>Aug. contra Cre&s;con. Gram.</HI> l. 3. c. 50.</NOTE> And el&s;e|where: love the men, and &s;lay the er|rors
be confident of the truth, without
<PB N="18" REF="13">
being cruel,<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg"><Q>Diligi te homines: interficite errores: fine &s;uperhia de veritate prae&s;umi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">e, fine &s;ae<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">itia pro veritate certate.</Q> <BIBL>Idem con|tra lit. Pe til. l. 1. c. 29.</BIBL></NOTE> <HI>In another place, an&s;wering a certain epi&s;tle of an
Heretique, he &s;aith thus:</HI> Though the Lord by his &s;ervants is wont
to overturn the kingdoms of error, yet he commands the men them|&s;elves,
in as much as they are men, &s;hould be rather amended, then de+&s;troyed.
<HI>And &s;oon after:</HI> It was our part therefore to wi&s;h and make
choice of the better means, that &s;o we might have an acce&s;s &amp; way
to your amendments; not by contention emulation, and per&s;ecutions;
but by gentle con&s;olations, by loving exhortations, by &s;oft and calm
disputations; as it is written, The &s;ervant of the Lord mu&s;t not
&s;trive but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patient; In meekne&s;s
in&s;tructing tho&s;e that are contrary minded, &amp;c. <HI>And pre&s;ently af|ter:</HI>
Let tho&s;e deal cruelly with you, who know not with what labour
truth in found &amp; with what difficulty errors are declined. Let tho&s;e
be cruel towards you, who know not how rare and heroick a thing
it is to overcome carnal phanta&s;mes or imaginations, with the &s;e|renity
&amp; clearne&s;s of a pious minde. Let tho&s;e handle you with cru|elty,
who know not how difficult it is &s;o to cure the eye of the inner
man, that it may be able to behold the
&s;un that was made for it: not that Sun,
which you wor&s;hip in an heavenly body,
w^c^h glitters &amp; &s;hines in the fle&s;hly eyes
both of men and bea&s;ts: but the Sun,
of whom it is written by the Prophet;
The Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s, is ri&s;en up|on
me, and of whom it is &s;aid in the
Go&s;pel: He was the true light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into
the world: Let tho&s;e be cruel to you,
who know not with what, and how ma|ny
&s;ighings and groanings, even a lit|tle
knowledge of God is to be obtained.
La&s;tly, let tho&s;e be cruell to you, who
them&s;elves are deceived with no &s;uch
errour, as they finde you for the pre|&s;ent
deceived with.<NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Quanquam enim Dominus per &s;ervos &s;uos regna &s;ubverat erroris, ip&s;es tamen homines, in quantum homines &s;unt, emen|dandos e&s;&s;e potius, quam perdendos jubet. Et mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> No&s;trum enim fuit eligere et op|tare meliora, ut ad ve&s;tram correctionem aditum haberemus: non in contentione, &amp; aemulatione, &amp; per&s;ecutionibus, &s;ed man|&s;uere con&s;olando, benevole hortando, leni|ter di&s;putando: &s;icut: criptum e&s;t Servum autem domini non oportet litigare, &s;ed mi|tem e&s;&s;e adomnes, docibilem, patientem, in mode&s;tia corripi entem diver&s;o &s;antientes. Et mox: Illi in vos &s;aeviant qui ne&s;ciunt cum quo labore verum inveniatin, et quam difficile caveanter errores. Illi in vos &s;ae|viant, qui no&s;ciunt quam tarum &amp; orduum &s;it <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> phanta&s;mata piae mentis &s;ere <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;uperere. Illi in vos &s;aeviant qui ne|&s;ciunt cum quanta difricultate &s;anctur ocu|lus <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> hominis, ut po&s;&s;it intueri &s;o|lam &s;uum non i&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">, quem vos col<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters">s coe+le&s;ti corpore, ocalis carnels &amp; hominum, et pecorum, fulgentem at&abque; radiantem: &s;ed illum de quo Scriptum e&s;t per Prophetam. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">rtus e&s;t mihi Iu&s;titiae Sol; et de quo dictum e&s;t in E|vangel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="3 letters">: Erat lumen verum quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mun|dum. Uli in vos &s;aeviant, qui ne&s;ciunt quibus &s;u&s;piriis et gemitibus fiat, ut ex quantula|cun&abque; parte intelligi po&s;&s;it Deus. I o&s;tremo illi in vos &s;aeviant, qui nullo tali errore decepti &s;unt, quali vos aeceptos vident. <BIBL>Idem contra Epi&s;tolam Fundamenti, non long&eacute; ab initio.</BIBL></NOTE></P>
<P><PB N="19" REF="13">
And whereas it is commonly &s;aid, that <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> afterwards
rever&s;ed his opinion concerning the unlawfulne&s;s of proceeding
again&s;t erroneous Per&s;ons by outward violence (a flie which
Mr. <HI>Edw.</HI> al&s;o catcheth at in his <HI>Antap.</HI> pag. 290. 291.) it
is true, he was &s;omewhat over-per&s;waded by others (as him|&s;elf
confe&s;&s;eth) this way: but that which befals many wi&s;e
men frequently, and in many ca&s;es, <HI>viz.</HI> to exchange, or make
bargains to lo&s;s, might very po&s;&s;ibly befal <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> him&s;elf once.
We know <HI>Tertullian,</HI> a man of as great learning, as <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI>
mi&s;carried after the &s;ame manner, and that once and again, in
points of great moment. And though <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> retracted his for|mer
opinion (in part) yet he never refuted, nor any man for
him, nor is any man able to refute tho&s;e grounds and rea&s;ons,
upon which his former opinion was built (as they were briefly
touched in the la&s;t recited te&s;timony) in compari&s;on of which
(all reverence and terms of honour re&s;erved to &s;o incomparable
a man) tho&s;e, upon which he changed his opinion, in the judge|ment
of any con&s;idering and di&s;-ingaged man, will be found
for weight and &s;ub&s;tance very incon&s;iderable.</P>
<P><HI>Moreover</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Mu&s;culus) he that is a Chri&s;tian, will at|tempt
the correction or amendment of an Heretique, with no o|ther
spirit, then the spirit of Chri&s;t, which is a &s;pirit of love,
gentlene&s;s, humility, and</HI> beneficence.&mdash;<HI>His heart especially
is to be moved and drawn; which is &s;ooner, and to better purpo&s;e
done by &s;ervices of love, and by a spirit of meekne&s;s, then by
violence, or any clamorous di&s;puta|tion.</HI>
<NOTE N="d" PLACE="marg">Deinde, correctionem Haeretici mo|litur Chri&s;tianus, nullo alio quam Chri&s;ti &s;piritu, qui &s;piritus dilectionis e&s;t, man|&s;uetudinis, humilitatis, ac beneficentiae.&mdash;Movendum cum primis illius cor e&s;t: id quod benevolentiae officiis, ac &s;piritu man&s;uetudinis prius &amp; utilius, qu&agrave;m vio|lenti&acirc; vel verbo&s;&acirc; di&s;putatione perficitur. <HI>Mu&s;c Loc. Com. Cap. de Haere&s;i.</HI></NOTE> And el&s;ewhere: <HI>I</HI> (&s;aith
he) <HI>altogether, and without all di&s;|&s;embling
confe&s;s my &s;elf to be in the
number of tho&s;e, whom it much di&s;|plea&s;eth,
that whereas errours &s;hould
be &s;lain, men are &s;lain</HI> [in &s;tead of
them]<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Omnin&ograve; citr&agrave; di&s;&s;imulationem inter eos me e&s;&s;e fatetor, quibus admodum di&s;plicet, quod ubi interficiendi &s;unt er|rores, interficiuntur homines <HI>Idem. ib.</HI></NOTE> The &s;aying of <HI>Melancthon</HI>
is &s;weet and pious. <HI>Whereas</HI> (&s;aith he)
<HI>the Devil being &s;et on fire with the
hatred of God, to put reproach and
di&s;honour upon him, hath alwaies, and
&s;till doth move light wits, to spread and &s;catter fal&s;e opinions up
<PB N="20" REF="14">
and down, and it is much to be feared that in this utmo&s;t pe|riod
of the old age of the world, there will be greater confu&s;ions
of opinions then ever; we ought therefore to &s;trive, or fight, both
wayes,</HI> viz. <HI>by prayer, and doctrine.</HI>
<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Cum autem Diabolus ardens odio Dei, vt cum contumeli&aacute; afficiat, &s;emper impulerit, &amp; impellat levia ingenia ad &s;pargendas fal&s;as opiniones, &amp; in hac ul|tima Senecta mundi majores confu&s;iones opinionum fore metuendum &s;it, utro&abque; modo pugnandum e&s;t, videlicet precatione &amp; doctrina. <HI>Pb. Melancth. in Ena<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">. Symb. Niceni.</HI></NOTE> To conclude (for te&s;timonies)
<HI>Calvin</HI> him&s;elf, who &s;eems by his
practi&s;e, to have &s;harpened fir&s;t his
own pen, and by both pen and
practi&s;e to have &s;harpened the pens
of all tho&s;e Prote&s;tant writers, who
&s;ince his dayes have handled the &s;ub|ject,
we all this while &s;peak of, more
roughly: &s;eems notwith&s;tanding,
now and then, the truth rejoycing again&s;t his judgement, to
pull down, what el&s;ewhere he builds up, in this kinde, and to
acknowledge a non-nece&s;&s;ity, of proceeding again&s;t Heretiques
or erroneous per&s;ons in a way of outward violence or compul|&s;ion,
if other means more proper for their &s;uppre&s;&s;ion, were
effectually advanced. <HI>Therefore</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>as by the ri&s;ing of the
&s;un, the darkne&s;s is put to flight, and the true and di&s;tinct &s;hape
or face of all things appeareth: So when God appeareth, or ri&s;eth
up in the world by the Doctrine of his word, all the impo&s;tures
what&s;oever of Satan mu&s;t of nece&s;|&s;ity
flee</HI> far <HI>away.</HI><NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Sicut ergo folis exortu fugantur te|nebrae, &amp; apparet di&s;tincta rerum omni|um facies: Sic etiam ubi Deus emergit per &s;ui verbi Doctrinam, <HI>nece&s;&s;e e&s;t procul facce&s;&s;ere omnes</HI> Satanae impo&s;turas. <HI>calv. in Zach.</HI> 13. 1.</NOTE> If errors and
Herefies, which are the fir&s;t born of
<HI>Satans impo&s;tures, mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity</HI>
avant <HI>far away,</HI> when <HI>God ari&s;eth in
the world in the Doctrine of his word;</HI>
certainly if this word be but effectu|ally
preached, there will be no nece&s;&s;ity of driving them away
by fire and &s;word: except we mean thus to pur&s;ue them, after
they are departed <HI>far away</HI> from us, as indeed the Papi&s;ts many
times do; who u&s;e to de&s;troy the lives of tho&s;e, that recant
and abjure their errours, (as they call errour) as well as theirs,
who per&s;i&s;t ob&s;tinate. So that it is neither agreeable to the
&s;cope of the place, nor minde of the Scripture el&s;ewhere,
nor to the &s;en&s;e of many Orthodox Interpreters upon the
place, nor to the judgement of the chief Modern Writers
<PB N="21" REF="14">
of the Prote&s;tant partie otherwi&s;e, to under&s;tand the phra&s;e of
<HI>thru&s;ting through</HI> (in the Scripture in hand) literally, or of
<HI>thru&s;ting through</HI> with &s;word, &s;pear, or the like, unto death;
e&s;pecially with relation to the Churches of the Gentiles under
the Go&s;pel. And though &s;ome of our Prote&s;tant Expo&s;itors
&s;eem to carry it in &s;uch a &s;en&s;e; yet the great crie of this inter|pretation,
is heard out of the mid&s;t of Rome; Ie&s;uits and others,
the children of that mother, thir&s;ting after the blood of the
Saints, being with open mouth the great abettors and pro|claimers
of it. But,</P>
<P>9. Whereas the Latine tran&s;lation reads, <HI>transfigent eum,</HI>
and our Engli&s;h, <HI>they &s;hall thru&s;t him through,</HI> the <HI>Septuagint</HI>
readeth, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>i. e.</HI> they &s;hall joyntly tread upon him,
or kick him with their feet; which imports only a di&s;gracefull,
or di&s;re&s;pectfull carriage towards him. But,</P>
<P>10. (And la&s;tly) If there be yet any place left for a further
conjecture upon a difficult and ob&s;cure place; (for peremptori|ne&s;s
and magi&s;trality, become difficulties no otherwi&s;e, then a
full career the deepe&s;t ways:) it may I conceive relate (in
the direct, and full import of it) to tho&s;e <HI>times of refre&s;hing,</HI>
which &s;hall <HI>come from the pre&s;ence of the Lord, and of the re&s;titu|tion
of all things, viz.</HI> to the Jewi&s;h Church and Nation; where|of
Peter &s;peaks and prophe&s;ies, Act. 3. 19. 21. and our Saviour
him&s;elf, Mat. 23. 39. <HI>For I &s;ay unto you, yee &s;hall not &s;ee me hence|forth,
till ye &s;ay, Ble&s;&s;ed be he that commeth in the Name of the
Lord:</HI> and the Apo&s;tle Paul, Rom. 11. 26. <HI>And &s;o all I&s;rael
&s;hall be &s;aved:</HI> and the Prophet Ieremie (before them all) <HI>But
this &s;hall be the Covenant that I will make with the hou&s;e of I&s;rael:
After tho&s;e days (&s;aith the Lord) I will put my Law in their in|ward
parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and
they &s;hall be my people. And they &s;hall teach no more every man
his neighbour, and every man his brother, &s;aying, Know the Lord:
for they &s;hall all know me from the lea&s;t of them, unto the greate&s;t
of them, &s;aith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I
will remember their &s;in no more,</HI> Ier. 31. 33, 34. The&s;e, with
many more pa&s;&s;ages of like tendencie and import in the Scrip|tures,
plainly &s;hew, that God hath yet among&s;t the &s;ealed trea|&s;ures
of his coun&s;els and decrees, precious thoughts towards his
<PB N="22" REF="15">
ancient people, the nation of the Iews; purpo&s;ing in his time
to build them up again into a Church of far more Inward grace
and holine&s;s; into a nation, of far more outward beauty,
&s;trength, and glory, then ever was their portion &s;ince they
fir&s;t became a Church or nation, unto this day, either in the one
kinde, or in the other. Now then I conceive, that the intent
and &s;cope, of the Prophet <HI>Zacharie,</HI> in the fir&s;t part of his 13.
Chapter, to the end of <HI>ver.</HI> 6. was to encourage and rai&s;e the
faint &s;pirits of that &s;mall remnant of his nation to whom he
was &s;ent by God with the me&s;&s;age of this prophecie, by repre|&s;enting
unto them, how glorious a Church and nation God in|tended
to make of them and their po&s;terity in time; and what
a &s;pirit, and rich anointing of zeal and holine&s;s, and knowledge
and purity of Religion, &s;hould be found upon them in that day;
in&s;omuch that no touch or tincture of Idolatrie, no mixture of
errour or fal&s;e doctrine, &s;hould deface their beauty, or &s;tain the
brightne&s;s of their glory: yea, and that their zeal towards God,
his Law and truth &s;hould be &s;o exceeding fervent and &s;trong,
that it &s;hall command and &s;ubdue under it, all carnall, yea or
naturall affections, di&s;po&s;itions, and de&s;ires, all other ends, pur|po&s;es
and intentions what&s;oever.</P>
<P>By the way this interpretation doth neither &s;uppo&s;e or im|ply
either that there will be any &s;on, or child, that &s;hall then
<HI>prophecie lies amongst them;</HI> or that parents whether Fathers
or mothers, &s;hould or would &s;lay them, or <HI>thru&s;t them through,</HI>
in ca&s;e they did; but &s;uch expre&s;&s;ions as the&s;e are <HI>figurative</HI> (as
we lately heard from Mr. <HI>Deodate,</HI> and our Engli&s;h Annotati|ons
upon the Bible) <HI>taken from what was commanded again&s;t
fal&s;e Prophets,</HI> Deut. 13. that is, they only note or expre&s;s,
&s;uch a degree, mea&s;ure, or inten&s;ne&s;s of zeal to the truth and
puritie of Religion, which God in his Law commanded to be
expre&s;&s;ed by naturall parents, again&s;t their children, and by o|thers
again&s;t per&s;ons in neere&s;t and deare&s;t relation to them, in
the ca&s;e of &s;educement to Idolatrie. Now as the &s;ame degree,
either of love, or hatred, doth not nece&s;&s;arily import a &s;pecifi|call
indentitie or &s;amene&s;s of expre&s;&s;ion, but a generical only,
<HI>viz.</HI> by way of equipollencie, or equivalencie, yea and this only,
when there is occa&s;ion or opportunity: in like manner it is no
<PB N="23" REF="15">
ways nece&s;&s;ary, that they who are as zealous for the truth and
Law of God, as tho&s;e Parents were, who in vindication there|of
did lay violent hands upon their own naturall children,
&s;hould act or expre&s;s this their zeal, with the &s;elf &s;ame kinde
of expre&s;&s;ion (I mean, &s;hould &s;lay their children al&s;o) there
being &s;everal other ways and kinds of expre&s;&s;ion, by which
the greate&s;t zeal for the Truth and purity of Religion where|of
the nature of man is capable, may be proportionably de|clared
and expre&s;&s;ed, upon occa&s;ion.</P>
<P>But for the interpretation of the place in hand, la&s;t mention|ed
and explained, there are the&s;e rea&s;ons, abundantly &s;uffici|ent
(as I conceive) to carry it.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, there is &s;carce any figure, or propriety of &s;peech more
frequent in the Scripture, then to expre&s;s a proper and par|ticular
&s;en&s;e by words importing another &s;en&s;e equivalent to it.
Thus God promi&s;eth victories, and deliverances to his people,
by &s;aying, <HI>(P&s;al.</HI> 68. 22.) <HI>I will bring again from Ba&s;han; I
will bring my people again from the depths of the Sea;</HI> meaning,
that, as he had delivered their fore fathers from <HI>Og,</HI> king of
<HI>Ba&s;han,</HI> and given them victory in battell again&s;t him; and had
brought them out of the Red &s;ea, &s;o delivering them from
<HI>Pharaoh,</HI> who pur&s;ued them; &s;o he would for the future de|liver
them from other their enemies, and give them victory and
&s;ucce&s;s again&s;t them.<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Sen&s;us e&s;t: &s;icut majores ve&s;tros liberavi ab Ogo, ci&s;&abque; victorian contra illum dedi: item &s;icut eos eduxi, &eacute; mari rubro, eo&s;&abque; liberavi &agrave; per&s;e|quente Pharaone, ei&s;&abque; victo|riam contr&aacute; illum dedi: ita etiam in po&s;terum vos libera|bo ab inimicis ve&s;tris, victo|riamq: vobis contra illos da|bo. <HI>Pi&s;cator</HI> in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 68. 23.</NOTE> Thus he
threateneth them with bondage and
captivity, by telling them, <HI>that they
&s;hall return to Egypt</HI> (Ho&s;. 8. 13.)
<HI>Now will he remember their iniquity</HI>
(&s;aith the Prophet) <HI>&amp; vi&s;it their &s;ins:
they &s;hall return to Egypt.</HI> In this fi|gure,
or phra&s;e of &s;peech (to for|bear
further in&s;tances) the Apo&s;tle
<HI>Paul</HI> affirmeth, that, <HI>if any provide
not for his own, e&s;pecially for tho&s;e
of his own hou&s;e, he hath denied the faith:</HI><NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5. 8.</NOTE> his mean|ing
is not, that by &s;uch a neglective and ungraci|ous
cour&s;e, he doth properly, or formally deny, or
di&s;claime Chri&s;tian Religion; but, that he doth that,
<PB N="24" REF="16">
which is tantamont, or equivalent to &s;uch a deniall, in
re&s;pect of the prejudice which is thereby like to accrue unto
Religion.</P>
<P>Secondly, it is a common ob&s;ervation among Writers, that
the holy Gho&s;t takes a delight to make the New Te&s;tament and
the Old, as it were inter-commoners in language, and phra&s;e
of &s;peech; <HI>i.</HI> to expre&s;s matters proper to the one, by words
and phra&s;es, which in propriety and &s;trictne&s;s of &s;ence, &s;igni|fie
things appropriate to the other.
<NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Quibus &s;i quis explica|tionis uberioris grati&acirc;, id quo|que velit &s;ubjicere, quod Pro|pheta de tempore Novi Te|&s;tamenti loquens ad popu+lum &s;ub veteri, accommodet &s;e ad eorum captum loquen|di formulis, et tum notis u|tens quidem, &s;ed long&eacute; aliter intelligens, re&s;piciat ad legem Ceremonialem, quae extat, <HI>Deut.</HI> 13. 5. non improbabili|ter hoc fieri po&s;&s;e colligimus. <GAP DESC="foreign"> in <HI>Zach.</HI> 13. 3.</NOTE> Thus <HI>Malachi,</HI> prophecying of
the wor&s;hip of God under the New
Te&s;tament, expre&s;&s;eth it thus: <HI>My
name &s;hall be great among the Gen|tiles,
and incen&s;e &s;hall be offered unto
my Name, and a pure offering,</HI>
Mal. 1. 11. And after, <HI>cap.</HI> 3. 3. he
prophecieth of the mini&s;ters of the
Go&s;pel, under the names of, <HI>the &s;ons
of Levi:</HI> And <HI>cap.</HI> 4. 5. of <HI>John Bap|ti&s;t</HI>
under the Name of <HI>Elijah the
Prophet.</HI> But as none of the&s;e expre&s;|&s;ions,
are in their literall, proper
and Grammaticall &s;ignifications appliable to the times of the
New Te&s;tament; no neither is it nece&s;&s;ary, no nor &s;o much
as probable in the lea&s;t degree, that the Old Te&s;tament, or Law|phra&s;e
of <HI>Parents thru&s;ting thorough their children for prophe|cying
lies,</HI> wherein our prophet expre&s;&s;eth and fore&s;heweth the
great zeal for Truth and purity of Religion which &s;hould be
found in men, under the Go&s;pel, &s;hould be under&s;tood in the
letter, or in the formall &s;ence or &s;ignification of the words.</P>
<P>Thirdly, the context it &s;elf, and the &s;eries thereof, plainly
&s;hew, that the pa&s;&s;age and prophe&s;ie in hand particularly re|lateth
to the&s;e times &s;pecified, <HI>viz.</HI> wherein the <HI>receiving</HI> again
of the Jewi&s;h Nation by God, &s;hall be <HI>as life from the dead,</HI>
<NOTE N="d" PLACE="marg">Rom. 11. 15.</NOTE> unto the world, and their Church and State re&s;tored to &s;e|ven
times more then their ancient beautie and glory. For <HI>ver.</HI>
10. 11. &amp; 12. of the preceding Chapter, the Prophet clearly
de&s;cribes that great and generall conver&s;ion of this people un|to
<PB N="25" REF="16">
to God, partly by the cau&s;es or means of it, partly by the con&s;e|quents
or effects of it. <HI>And I will poure upon the hou&s;e of Da|vid,
and the inhabitants of Jeru&s;alem, the spirit of grace and of
&s;upplications, and they &s;hall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they &s;hall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his
onely &s;on, and &s;hall be in bitterne&s;s for him, as one that is in
bitterne&s;s for his fir&s;t-born. In that day there &s;hall be a great
mourning in Jeru&s;alem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the
valley of Megiddon. And the land &s;hall mourn, every family
apart, the family of the hou&s;e of David apart, and their wives
apart: the family of the hou&s;e of Nathan apart, and their wives
apart: the family of the hou&s;e of Levi apart, and their wives
apart: the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart. And
all the families that remain, (viz.</HI> all be&s;ides the&s;e) <HI>every fami|ly
apart, and their wives apart.</HI> Fir&s;t, evident it is, that the te|nour
of the things here &s;poken, carries the &s;cope and intent
of the pa&s;&s;age directly upon the nation and people of the Jews,
and doth not &s;uffer it to be under&s;tood of any other. This
needs no other proof; except (haply) a &s;econd and more &s;eri|ous
peru&s;all of the words. Secondly, as evident it is, that it
relates, not to a remnant, or le&s;&s;er part, but to the generality,
or body of this Nation. <HI>And the land &s;hall mourn</HI> (&s;aith the
Prophet) <HI>every family apart, &amp;c.</HI> (And again: <HI>And all the fa|milies
that remain, &amp;c.</HI> Thirdly, and la&s;tly, the expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>and
they &s;hall look upon me whom they have pierced,</HI> plainly implies,
that this Nation &s;hall &s;ee and behold Chri&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> when upon
their Repentance (implied, by the <HI>spirit of grace, and &s;uppli|cations
poured out upon them)</HI> he &s;hall appear or come unto
them, to rai&s;e up the tabernacle of <HI>David,</HI> which had been a
long time fallen, and to build them up, both Church and State,
in excellency of beauty, &s;trength and glory; according to the
expre&s;s tenour of that grand motive, by which <HI>Peter</HI> inviteth
them to Repentance, <HI>Act. 3. 19, 20. 21. Repent ye therefore, and
be converted, that your &s;ins may be blotted out</HI> [<GAP DESC="foreign">].
<HI>i.</HI> not, <HI>when,</HI> as our
Tran&s;lation hath it) but, <HI>that,</HI> or to the intent that, <HI>times of re|fre&s;hing may come</HI> (not, <HI>&s;hall come,</HI> as our Engli&s;h Tran&s;lation
again mi&s;-readeth it) <HI>from the</HI> [face, or] <HI>pre&s;ence of the Lord.
<PB N="26" REF="17">
And that he may</HI> [not, <HI>and he &s;hall,</HI> as our Engli&s;h yet again
mi&s;-tran&s;lateth, <GAP DESC="foreign">] <HI>&s;end Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which before
was preached unto you, whom the heavens mu&s;t receive, untill
the times of re&s;titution of all things, which God hath spoken by
the mouth of all his holy Prophets &s;ince the world began.</HI> So that
the Repentance and conver&s;ion of this people unto God, when,
or how &s;oon &s;oever it &s;hall take place, &s;hall be immediatly, or
&s;oon after, rewarded by him, with the &s;ending of his Son <HI>Je&s;us
Chri&s;t,</HI> their long expected <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI>
unto them,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">It is the opinion of &s;ome of the Rab|bins, that their Me&s;&s;iah was indeed born (according to the Scriptures) before the de&s;truction of the &s;econd Temple: and withal, that for their &s;ins, he hideth him|&s;elf for a time in the Sea, and other de|&s;ert places, untill they be worthy of his coming <HI>Rab. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">o&s;ue. Ben. Levi.</HI> in <HI>Taim. Tract. Sanedr cap. Helec.</HI> And the Iews have a proverbiall &s;aying among&s;t them: that the days of <HI>Hezebias</HI> have &s;wallowed up the days of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias.</HI></NOTE> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>i.</HI> (as
the word properly imports) to re|&s;tore,
or, re-con&s;titute all things,
<HI>[viz.</HI> in their Church and State] as
they were before, yet not formally,
but eminently, and with abundance
of &s;uperadded glory. Upon this
&s;ight, or beholding of him <HI>(viz,</HI> as
coming or come unto them with this
abundance of grace, and love, and
mercy, who had for &s;o many ages to|gether
&s;o injuriou&s;ly and de&s;pitefully intreated him) &s;hall en&s;ue
and follow, that mo&s;t &s;olemn, affectionate and unparalled
mourning, <HI>viz</HI> for their &s;trange, inveterate, and long continu|ed
unkindne&s;s, and hatred towards him, which our Prophet
de&s;cribes, in the latter end of the tran&s;cribed pa&s;&s;age (which
al&s;o is el&s;ewhere fore&s;hewed in Scripture upon the &s;ame occa|&s;ion)
<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Revel. 1. 7. Mat. 24 30.</NOTE> Now having thus foretold the general conver&s;ion of
this Nation unto God, towards the end of <HI>cap.</HI> 12. he goeth on
in the beginning of this chapter, and declareth, how happy,
holy, and glorious the State and condition of this Church &s;hall
be, upon, and after this their conver&s;ion; and among&s;t other
&s;piritual priviledges, wherewith it &s;hould be inve&s;ted, inriched,
and adorned (mentioned, <HI>ver.</HI> 1. &amp; 2.) he &s;hews that the zeal
of this Church, and people, for the truth and purity of Reli|gion,
&s;hall be &s;ignall, eminent, &s;o as to reign over all inferiour
ends, coun&s;els, inclinations, and de&s;ires in men; yea over all,
even the neare&s;t and deare&s;t natural relations them&s;elves, which
are the harde&s;t to be commanded, or brought into &s;ubjection.</P>
<P><PB N="27" REF="17">
Fourthly, It no where appeareth, either by the Scriptures,
or by any Hi&s;tory of credit, nor is it in it &s;elf a thing any
ways probable, or worthy belief, that ever the nation of the
Jews (I mean, the main body, or generality of them) were
ever &s;o zealou&s;ly affected to the truth and purity of Religion,
&s;ince the time when this Prophe&s;ie was uttered, as the tenour
and import hereof &s;eems to bear and require. Nay, &s;ince the
promulgation of the Go&s;pel in the world (which is the time
conte&s;ted for by many, as wherein the &s;aid Prophe&s;ie, was to
take place and be fulfilled) the generality of this Nation hath
been &s;o far from any zeal for the Truth, that they have been as
violent and de&s;perate oppo&s;ers of it, as any other Nation, or
generation of men in the world. Therefore (doubtle&s;s) the
days appointed for the accompli&s;hment of the Prophe&s;ie in
hand, are not yet come.</P>
<P>Fiftly, Severall other of the Prophets of God are wont
in their writings, upon the like occa&s;ion, <HI>viz.</HI> for the incourage|ment
of the Church and People of God in their days being
under any affliction or di&s;couragement, yea, and otherwi&s;e, to
re-minde them of the &s;aid <HI>Jubilean</HI> times, which God hath in
&s;tore among&s;t his trea&s;ures, for them and their po&s;terities, and
will bring forth and give into their bo&s;oms in his appointed
&s;ea&s;on. See <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 11. &amp; 35. Chapters throughout. And again,
<HI>I&s;a.</HI> 65. 17, 18. and to the end. And yet again, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 66. 20.
to the end. See al&s;o <HI>Jer.</HI> 31. 31, 32. and to the end of the
Chapter. Other places of like import, as very obvious, and
frequent both in the&s;e and other Prophets: Yea, I conceive,
that there is &s;carce any one of all the Prophets, (if any) but
in &s;ome place or other, ca&s;ts an eye (at lea&s;t) upon tho&s;e times
and days we &s;peak of, though in &s;ome of them it be hard to di&s;|cern
where. The ground of my conception in this, is, that of
<HI>Peter</HI> formerly touched, where &s;peaking of <HI>the times of a Re&s;ti|tution
of all things</HI> [to the Jewi&s;h nation, as was &s;aid] he adds
<HI>which God hath &s;poken of by the mouth of all his Prophets, &s;ince the
world began.</HI></P>
<P>Sixthly and la&s;tly, it &s;eems by a brief touch which I finde in
<HI>Grotius</HI> Commentaries upon the Scripture in debate, that the
Expo&s;ition la&s;t propounded and hitherto argued for, was in|deed
<PB N="28" REF="18">
the &s;ence of the ancient Rabbins, and Jews them&s;elves,
how weak and incon&s;iderable &s;oever it &s;eems unto this Author:
For having delivered his own &s;ence upon the words, as was
formerly repre&s;ented, he clo&s;eth thus, <HI>Haec et alia quaedam &s;tult&egrave;
Rabbini referunt ad tempus po&s;t Re&s;urrectionem.</HI> 1. The&s;e and
&s;ome other things the Rabbins fondly refer and apply to the
time after the Re&s;urrection. What they may further mean by the
<HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> I am not able to &s;ay: but doubtle&s;s they include
herein, or pre&s;uppo&s;e that happy and ble&s;&s;ed e&s;tate of their
nation, which <HI>Peter</HI> cals (as we have heard) <GAP DESC="foreign">,
<HI>the re&s;titution of all things,</HI> and which hath been their earne&s;t
and con&s;tant expectation for many generations, and is not
let fall by them to this day.</P>
<P>By that which hath been taken into con&s;ideration in this di&s;|cour&s;e,
to di&s;cover the minde of God in the Scripture fir&s;t pro|po&s;ed,
it fully appears, that there is but a very &s;lender appear|ance
in it of any ground, (if any at all) whereon to build the
lawfulne&s;s of any compul&s;ory proceedings by way of civill pe|naltie,
whether death, or other, again&s;t Per&s;ons deemed er|roneous,
in the&s;e times of the Go&s;pel. This <HI>trumpet gives no
di&s;tinct &s;ound</HI> at all to <HI>prepare</HI> any man to that <HI>battell.</HI> But when
men <HI>delight in war,</HI> the whi&s;tling of the wind will &s;erve for a
&s;ignall, It is the ob&s;ervation of an Engli&s;h Divine, that the Pa|pi&s;ts,
where ever they meet with the word, fire, in the Scrip|tures,
they finde a proof for purgatory, <HI>A deceived heart</HI> (&s;aith
the Prophet <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> concerning the Idolater) <HI>hath turned him a|&s;ide,
that he cannot deliver his &s;oul:</HI><NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 44. 20.</NOTE> When men plea&s;e them|&s;elves,
and gratifie their affections with the belief of any con|clu&s;ion,
before they have &s;eriou&s;ly and impartially debated the
truth of it: the <HI>&s;hadows of the mountains</HI> will <HI>&s;eem men</HI> unto
them, for the guard and &s;upport of it: and on the contrary,
the &s;tronge&s;t men will &s;eem but as the &s;hadows of mountains
unto them, for the eviction and dethroning of it.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
