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<DATE>2010-06-23</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE QUAKERS WILDE QUESTIONS OBJECTED AGAINST The Mini&s;ters of the <HI>GOSPEL,</HI> And many Sacred Acts and Offices of <HI>RELIGION.</HI> With brief <HI>An&s;wers</HI> thereunto. TOGETHER WITH A Di&s;cour&s;e
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Of the Holy Spirit of God, His Impre&s;&s;ions and Workings on the Souls of Men.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Of Divine Revelation, Mediate and Im|mediate.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Of Error, Here&s;ie, and Schi&s;m: the Nature, Kindes, Cau&s;es, Rea&s;ons, and Dangers thereof: with Directions for avoiding the &s;ame.</ITEM>
</LIST> All very &s;ea&s;onable for the&s;e times.</P>
<P>By R. SHERLOCK, B D. at <HI>Borwick-Hal</HI> in
<HI>Lanca&s;hire.</HI></P>
<Q><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"></Q>
<Q><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">,
<BIBL>Mat. 13.24,25.</BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>E. Cotes</HI> for <HI>R. Roy&s;ton</HI> at the Angel in <HI>Ivie-Lane,</HI> 1656.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Honourable Sir <HI>Robert Bindlo&s;&s;e,</HI> Baronet.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>TIs not any ambitious de&s;ire to appear in print, that hath occa&s;ioned the birth and production of the&s;e en&s;uing <HI>Letters,</HI> and <HI>Di&s;cour&s;es;</HI> as being con&s;cious, 1. Of my own di&s;abilities to di&s;cu&s;s the &s;everal points and particulars thereof, with that learning and judgement, which the great weight, and pre&s;ent u&s;efulne&s;s thereof requireth: As knowing 2. my more then ordinary ob|noxiou&s;ne&s;s to the cen&s;ures of all parties, by rea&s;on of that fidelity, and obedience to the commands and orders of our &s;adly di&s;tracted and per&s;ecuted mother <HI>the Church of England,</HI> the which I am per&s;waded in con&s;cience I ought, as far as in Chri&s;tian prudence I may, to pre&s;erve inviolable.</P>
<P>For 'tis not the violent di&s;&s;olution of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Go|vernment,</HI> nor the manifold <HI>Here&s;ies,</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;ms,</HI> that a&s;&s;ault, wound, and divide this once flouri&s;hing <HI>Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t,</HI> which can warrant either an <HI>aberration</HI> from her orthodox Doctrine, or the <HI>neglect,</HI> much le&s;s <HI>contempt</HI> of her Apo&s;tolical orders and con&s;titutions.</P>
<P>The &s;ad condition wherein now &s;he lies, <HI>&s;tript naked of all her goodly attire: Her authority de&s;pi&s;ed: Her commands &s;lighted: The crown faln from her head: Her &s;acred body rent, and mangled: On all hands revi|led, and reproached both by</HI> Heretiques <HI>and</HI> Schi&s;ma|tiques;
<PB REF="3">do render her too conformable to her per&s;ecuted, abu&s;ed, crucified Lord and Saviour, to be abandoned and for&s;aken in her di&s;tre&s;&s;es: although all obedience to her orders in &s;uch a &s;ad juncture of time, can expect no other portion, but to drink with her of the &s;ame cup, <HI>&s;corn,</HI> and <HI>deri&s;ion,</HI> if not
<HI>per&s;ecution.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e con&s;iderations may &s;ufficiently per&s;wade the Reader how unwillingly I appear in print, if not 1. by way of chal|lenge provok'd: and
2. In con&s;cience of my duty enfor|cedly mov'd thereunto.</P>
<P>The occa&s;ion, as it is not unknown to you (Sir) &s;o it is very fit it &s;hould not be unknown to the Reader al&s;o.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t then a <HI>Letter of &s;trange, &s;crupulous, and unheard of Que&s;tions</HI> being &s;ent to your hou&s;e, and receiving their &s;hort, and &s;udden <HI>An&s;wers by way of Letter,</HI> under your roof, it was your de&s;ire they &s;hould both be made publique, if perhaps &s;ome of the many mi&s;guided &s;ouls among&s;t us, might re|ceive &s;atisfaction thereby; together with <HI>A Di&s;cour&s;e of the holy Spirit,</HI> (intended for the private &s;atisfaction of your <HI>vertuous Lady</HI>) for the further clearing of the &s;aid &s;crupulous que&s;tions.</P>
<P>This fir&s;t Edition being di&s;per&s;t, it was the Stationers de&s;ire it &s;hould be reprinted; whereunto I the more wil|lingly conde&s;cended, and withall added the other Di&s;cour&s;es thereunto, becau&s;e a <HI>Reply to the fore&s;aid Letter of An|&s;wers,</HI> and <HI>Di&s;cour&s;e of the holy Spirit,</HI> hath appeared pub|liquely in print al&s;o.</P>
<P>Not that I think it either <HI>prudent</HI> or
<HI>profitable,</HI> to have any further conte&s;tation with tho&s;e &s;trangely &s;educed per|&s;ons, who &s;ent that <HI>Letter,</HI> and publi&s;h'd this <HI>Reply,</HI> or to make any <HI>Rejoynder</HI> thereunto; for that were but <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>to beat the ayre,</HI> and fight with &s;hadowes, they being &s;uch kinde of per&s;ons whom S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> cals, <HI>Sine<PB REF="3">fine dicentes,</HI> who know no end of vain words, not di&s;tin|gui&s;hing betwixt <HI>re&s;pondere po&s;&s;e,</HI> and <HI>tacere nolle:</HI> ha|ving neither <HI>knowledge</HI> enough to give <HI>a right an|&s;wer,</HI> nor <HI>prudence</HI> enough <HI>to hold their peace;</HI> as think|ing &s;ure, that he who &s;peaks loude&s;t and longe&s;t, and will have the la&s;t word, carries away the Bell.</P>
<P>To wave therefore all intermedlings with their printed papers, which &s;ufficiently an&s;wer them&s;elves by their im|pertinencies and railings: (more then to take notice thence upon what grounds both they, and mo&s;t of Here|tiques do build their erroneous opinions, viz. <HI>The pre|tence of the Spirit,</HI> and of <HI>immediate Revelation,</HI> back'd with many mi&s;interpreted, and mi&s;applyed texts of Scripture) I conceive it more u&s;eful, to adde to the doctrine of the <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> formerly delivered, that of <HI>Divine Reve|lation;</HI> and the rather, becau&s;e 'tis &s;o much objected again&s;t the former Di&s;cour&s;e, that therein Revelation is denied, which is that <HI>great Diana</HI> &s;o much wor&s;hipped, and cryed up by all late &s;educed, and deceived per&s;ons, through the mi&s;under&s;tanding of &s;ome places of holy Seripture, which in the clo&s;e of that Di&s;cour&s;e of Revelation are cleared from &s;uch mi&s;conception.</P>
<P>The intention of the third Di&s;cour&s;e, is chiefly to lay down &s;uch grounds, and to give &s;uch <HI>directions,</HI> as may a&s;&s;i&s;t again&s;t the infection of <HI>Errors</HI> in Religion, the plague whereof is grown &s;o Epidemical, that there was ne|ver more need of Antidotes, and Pre&s;ervatives there-again&s;t: And this cannot well be effected, but that the
<HI>nature, kindes, rea&s;ons,</HI> and <HI>dangers</HI> of <HI>Error, Here&s;ie,</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> are fir&s;t to be con&s;idered, which is the &s;um of that Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>It is a plau&s;ible and taking way, and very many un|learned, and unstable &s;ouls are thereby bewitcht into new,<PB REF="4">&s;trange, and erroneous opinions, viz. <HI>That there is a far nearer cut to under&s;tand the things of God, then the ordinary way of &s;tudy in the Schools of the Prophets, and of indu&s;trious &s;earch into the Books and writings of the learned,</HI> and that's the way of <HI>the Spirit,</HI> and of <HI>immediate Revelation.</HI> as if there were no more requi|red for the acquiring of &s;piritual wi&s;dome, then to &s;it &s;till and wait for <HI>divine in&s;pirations</HI> from above, without any u&s;e of tho&s;e means, which God for that end hath ap|pointed: And hence by crying up <HI>the Spirit,</HI> the Prophets of the Lord are cryed down, to whom <HI>the Spirit of Pro|phe&s;ie,</HI> or of publique praying and preaching, after an e&s;pe|cial manner is peculiar, and proper: And in &s;tead of ado|ring God for his &s;piritual gifts of learning, as well <HI>Hu|mane</HI> as <HI>Divine,</HI> imparted to &s;ome men more then to others, to be employed for the advancement of his &s;ervice, and his peoples &s;alvation; tho&s;e men are chiefly cryed up, who under pretence of praying and preaching <HI>by the Spirit,</HI> and without the helps of <HI>heatheni&s;h Learning,</HI> as they call it; mo&s;t pre&s;umptuou&s;ly vent many religious in&s;ignifican|cies, devout non-&s;en&s;e, impertinencies, and &s;pecious no|things, <HI>i. e.</HI> many good words perhaps, Zealous expre&s;|&s;ions, and Scripture phra&s;es, but for want of <HI>order, cohe|rence,</HI> and <HI>due application,</HI> conducing nothing either to the <HI>information</HI> of the minde with &s;olid &s;oul-&s;aving <HI>truths,</HI> or to the <HI>reformation</HI> of manners by
<HI>Grace</HI> and <HI>obedience:</HI> And not only &s;o, but they prophe&s;ie lies al&s;o, and preach many fal&s;e and erroneous doctrines, the delu&s;ions of their own hearts, if not the &s;ugge&s;tions of Satan, and all mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e (but mo&s;t bla&s;phemou&s;ly) for the dictates of <HI>the ho|ly Spirit.</HI> So that hereby preaching is not only turned into
<HI>fooli&s;hne&s;s</HI> indeed, but into <HI>&s;infulne&s;s</HI> al&s;o: and that holy ordinance intended by God for the conver&s;ion and<PB REF="4">confirmation of &s;ouls in Truth is become (through the abu&s;e of unskilful and illiterate Zealots) one of the Devils engins, whereby he entraps the un&s;teady &s;ouls of men into errors, and deceits.</P>
<P>And that which further hath added to increa&s;e this infe|ction and plague of the holy, and true Religion, is a crying <HI>Reformation,</HI> and <HI>Liberty of con&s;cience,</HI> [which are ne|ce&s;&s;ary, if righly understood, and kept within their due limits] under which &s;pecious pretences many nece&s;&s;ary and u&s;eful <HI>Truths</HI> are <HI>decryed,</HI> and
<HI>licentiou&s;ne&s;s of opinion</HI> hath got footing: every one taking liberty to believe, and dis|believe what he li&s;t, to be of this, of that, and of every opi|nion, but what is orthodox, and true; and under the cloke of Religion, wounding, and even &s;tabbing to the heart that &s;acred body through its own bleeding &s;ides: u&s;ing the &s;harp, and &s;evere in&s;trument of Reformation, not only to pare the nails, but cut off the hands, and many the mo&s;t principal parts, and Members of the body &s;piritual: cry|ing down publique Prayers, confe&s;&s;ions of Sin, Catechi&s;ms, Creeds, the Commandements, Sacraments, and preaching down even Preaching it &s;elf, and the preachers al&s;o: there being not a few, who with the &s;ame breath, dare both pre&s;umptuou&s;ly bla&s;pheme, and &s;acrilegiou&s;ly invade the high and holy calling of the Prie&s;thood: calling lear|ning, a <HI>mark of the Bea&s;t;</HI> and lawful ordination to the Mini&s;tery, a <HI>badge of Antichri&s;t;</HI> Decency and order in Gods &s;ervice, <HI>the painting of the &s;trumpet,</HI> and <HI>deckings of the whore of Babylon;</HI> reading of holy Scriptures, &s;ing|ing of P&s;almes, and all di&s;creet forms of devotion, and me|thods of divine &s;ervice, <HI>beggerly elements, pieces of wil|wor&s;hip,</HI> and
<HI>carnal Go&s;pelling;</HI> and the Scriptures them|&s;elves, a <HI>dead letter,</HI> and u&s;ele&s;&s;e to them who under&s;tand the My&s;teries of godline&s;s by <HI>immediate Revelation.</HI></P>
<P><PB REF="5">It would be endle&s;s to rake into the puddle of tho&s;e ma|nifold pollutions, wherewith many thou&s;ands of people in the&s;e broken and di&s;tracted times have both polluted them&s;elves, and endevoured al&s;o to profane, and unhallow what ever is mo&s;t &s;acred, and dear to all di&s;creetly pious, and knowingly con&s;cientious Chri&s;tians; while&s;t the authors of all &s;uch confu&s;ions (with tho&s;e grand Heretiques, the &s;pawn of <HI>Simon Magus</HI> in the daies of <HI>Irenaeus</HI>) are called by them|&s;elves, <HI>The elect, the perfect, the &s;eed of God, having an unction from the holy One, being taught from above,</HI> &amp;c. Whereupon their hearts are &s;o uplifted within them, that they deny all re&s;pect to their &s;uperiours, &s;peak evil of dignities, de&s;pi&s;e their Mother, (the Church) &s;mite their brethren and fellow &s;ervants with reproaches and injurious revilings; calling them <HI>the wicked of the world; the &s;eed of the Serpent; the Reprobate; for whom is re&s;erved blackne&s;s of darkne&s;s,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Nor may we here ju&s;tifie our &s;elves, (though perhaps free from the infection of &s;uch wilde opinions, and bold heaven-daring pre&s;umptions) as if therefore we did con|tribute nothing there unto: But rather in all humility, and godly &s;orrow, we mu&s;t confe&s;s, that both our
<HI>national,</HI> and <HI>per&s;onal &s;ins,</HI> have provoked the mo&s;t ju&s;t God to give up our holy orthodox Church to be torn, and mangled by &s;uch confu&s;ions, and di&s;orders: and our holy Religion to be eaten up by &s;uch vermin as our own corrupt manners have bred and nouri&s;hed.</P>
<P>For when men &s;ee &s;uch as profe&s;&s;e the <HI>Truth,</HI> to be guil|ty of all kinde of di&s;orderly and licentious <HI>living;</HI> the truth it &s;elf becomes hereby &s;candalized, and that Religion which &s;uch wicked per&s;ons profe&s;&s;e is called in que&s;tion, and doubted whether it be of God, or no. That therefore which S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aid unto the Jewes,
<HI>Rom. 2.23,24.</HI> is too<PB REF="5">much appliable to many Orthodox Chri&s;tians among&s;t us, who profe&s;&s;e the Law of <HI>Truth,</HI> and declaim much again&s;t <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;ms</HI> in Religion, and yet through their lewd and exorbitant <HI>lives,</HI> breaking tho&s;e very Lawes of Truth which they do profe&s;&s;e, the Name of God is thereby di&s;honoured, and that Truth whereof God is the Author, is bla&s;phemed and evil &s;poken of by the Heretical gain&s;ayers, and oppo&s;ers thereof.</P>
<P>There are but two waies for the &s;uppre&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e Heretiques, who &s;top their eares, and harden their hearts, again&s;t the Doctrine and in&s;truction of the Church.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. A well e&s;tabli&s;hed <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Government,</HI> by who&s;e coercive Lawes, the people may be kept with|in the limits of the true faith, as to the outward pro|fe&s;&s;ion thereof in them&s;elves, and debarred the &s;eduction of others.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. An <HI>Exemplary piety</HI> in the profe&s;&s;ors of the Truth, that others may be won by their good conver&s;ation to the acknowledgement of the truth.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And now that the former of the&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> The arm of
<HI>Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical Government</HI> is broken, and the hedge of Gods
<HI>inclo&s;ed Garden</HI> thrown down, which &s;hould have kept out the
<HI>Foxes from eating up the Vines:</HI> there is no way left us to put to &s;ilence gain-&s;aying, and &s;educed per&s;ons, but to adorn our profe&s;sion with <HI>holine&s;s of conver&s;ati|on,</HI> and carefully to avoid all tho&s;e di&s;orderly and licen|tious manners, which &s;candalize our Religion, and unhal|low the ble&s;&s;ed name of Chri&s;t, which is called upon us: <HI>Having your conver&s;ation hone&s;t among the Gentiles</HI> (and &s;uch as oppo&s;e the truth) <HI>that whereas they &s;peak again&s;t you as evil doers, that they may by your good works, which they &s;hall behold, glorifie God in the day of vi&s;itation, 1 Pet. 2.12.</HI></P>
<P><PB REF="6">This is required of all per&s;ons what&s;oever, but mo&s;t e&s;pecially of per&s;ons of rank and quality, after who&s;e example even without command, not only most of their Dependants, but even of their inferior neighbours do frame their conver&s;ations: Such therefore are obliged to remember that the main end why God hath plac'd them in degree above others, is, <HI>That as their &s;upe|riority of place is a &s;tamp of the divine Supremacy over all, &s;o their &s;utable demeanor, &s;hould be a lea|ding &s;tar of holy and divine perfections unto all:</HI> Be|ing followers of God in all piety, and purity of life, and action: that therein their people and dependants may be fol|lowers of them.</P>
<P>Nor is it the lea&s;t rea&s;on, why God hath &s;uffered this late up&s;tart generation of Heretiques, to deny that re|&s;pect and honour which by the Lawes both of God, and man is due to their &s;uperiors, becau&s;e &s;uperiors have not given unto God that honour which is due unto him, by being as <HI>Images</HI> of his &s;uperiority, &s;o <HI>en&s;amples</HI> of his per|fections, in all holine&s;s, ju&s;tice, charity, purity and inte|grity of conver&s;ation.</P>
<P>Since it is the de&s;ire therefore of all good Chri&s;tians, that all Here&s;ies &s;hould be rooted out, and holy Truth re&s;tored, together with a re&s;pective obedience to all our &s;uperiors, according to the &s;everal relations and con|ditions, without which we mu&s;t never hope either for Truth or Peace to flouri&s;h among&s;t us: there is a&s;&s;ured|ly no readier way now left us hereunto, but that every one in his place, and calling, make con&s;cience of his waies, or in the words of the holy Spirit him&s;elf, That
<HI>every one who nameth the name of Chri&s;t depart from iniquity, 2 Tim.
2.19. Denying ungodline&s;&s;e and worldly lu&s;ts, and living &s;oberly, righteou&s;ly, and<PB REF="6">godly in this pre&s;ent world, Tit. 2.12.</HI> And this un|doubtedly (Sir) is no other but the way of your own peace and tranquillity here, and eternal felicity hereafter. To the effecting whereof, the Prayers and endevours &s;hall ne|ver be wanting of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your much obliged Servant In the Lord Je&s;us, <HI>R. Sherlock.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>The Table of Contents.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>The Letter of Quakers Que&s;tions.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> <HI>The Letter of An&s;wers returned.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>A Di&s;cour&s;e of the holy Spirit.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>THE Introduction and heads of the en&s;uing Di&s;cour&s;e,</HI> pag. 1</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 1. <HI>Of the Per&s;on of the holy Gho&s;t,</HI> p.
5</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 2. <HI>Of his Office or workings upon the mindes of men,</HI> p. 16</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 3. <HI>Of the Graces of the holy Spirit,</HI> p.
18</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 4. <HI>Of the Gifts of the holy Spirit,</HI> p.
20</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 5. <HI>Of the gift, and calling of the Mini&s;tery,</HI> p. 25</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 6. <HI>Of Mini&s;terial Gifts, ordinary and extraordinary,</HI> p. 29</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 7. <HI>Of tho&s;e operations and impre&s;&s;ions which are oppo&s;ite to the Spirit of Truth,</HI> p. 34</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 8. <HI>Of the &s;pirit of man, and the &s;pirit of the world,</HI> p. 40</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 9. <HI>Of the tryal of Spirits,</HI> p. 46
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>By the Word,</HI> p. 49</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>By the Fruits,</HI> p. 51</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>And by the Properties of the Spirit,</HI> p.
56</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 10. <HI>Of the means to obtain the true Spirit of God,</HI> p. 59</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>Of Divine Revelation.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>THE Introduction and general Heads.</HI> pag. 69</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 1. <HI>Of Divine Revelation from</HI> Adam
<HI>unto</HI> Chri&s;t, p. 73</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 2. <HI>Of the &s;everal manners of oxtraordinary, and more imme|diate Revelation,</HI> p. 90</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 3. <HI>Of an Exta&s;ie, natural and &s;upernatural, and the diffe|rence betwixt divine Exta&s;ies of old, and diabolical entran&s;ings and In&s;pirations,</HI> p. 83</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 4. <HI>Of the ordinary waies of divine Revelation before Chri&s;t,</HI> p. 89</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 5. <HI>Of their Schools of the Prophets,</HI> p.
91</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 6. <HI>Of being called Ma&s;ter,</HI> p. 94</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 7. <HI>That all Revelation is compleated in Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles,</HI> p. 96</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 8. <HI>Of the nece&s;&s;ity of learning, as to the under&s;tanding of Gods revealed will,</HI> p. 103</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 9. <HI>Some vulgar objections again&s;t &V;niver&s;ities, and Humane Learning, con&s;idered,</HI> p. 109</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 10. <HI>The &s;everal parts of learning required to the under&s;tan|ding of holy Scriptures.</HI> p. 118</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 11. <HI>Of the Analogie of Faith and Doctrine of the Church,</HI> p. 122</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 12. <HI>Three inferences appliable to the general &s;ubject of the whole Di&s;cour&s;e,</HI> p. 126</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 13. <HI>The internal, and divine qualifications of the &s;oul, as to the under&s;tanding of holy Scriptures.</HI> p. 130</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 14. <HI>The objection from the mi&s;demeanors of the Mini&s;ters con|&s;idered,</HI> p 134</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 15. <HI>The dangerous and de&s;tructive con&s;equences of depending upon immediate Revelation,</HI> p. 138</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 16. <HI>Several texts alledged again&s;t humane learning, &amp; the Mi|ni&s;tery: and for immediate Revelation explained,</HI> p. 147</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<PB REF="8">
<HEAD>Of Error, Here&s;ie, Schi&s;m, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>THE Introduction and general Heads.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 1. <HI>Of Error in general.</HI> pag. 173</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 2. <HI>Of the nature of Here&s;ie, and the particular ingredients thereof,</HI> p. 175</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 3. <HI>Of Schi&s;m and the kindes thereof,</HI> p.
180</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 4. <HI>That Here&s;ie and Schi&s;m, are the mutual cau&s;es each of other,</HI> p. 189</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 5. <HI>Of the cau&s;es both of Here&s;ie and Schi&s;m,</HI> p. 194</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 6. <HI>The ends why God permits Here&s;ies and Schi&s;ms,</HI> p. 205</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 7. <HI>Of the danger of them,</HI> p. 213</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 8. <HI>Rules and directions for the avoiding of Errors in Reli|gion,</HI> p. 224</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="questions">
<PB N="1" REF="8">
<HEAD>The Quakers wilde Que&s;tions.</HEAD>
<P>The Letter of Que&s;tions Endor&s;ed.
<Q>To the Prie&s;t at Borwick, Deliver.</Q></P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Quakers Que&s;tions di|rected by them as above.</NOTE>To all you profe&s;&s;ed Mini&s;ters, who have taken the title of the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t upon you, who is the end of the Law and Prophets, and &s;hadowes who &s;hadowed him forth, a few Que&s;tions to you that have taken this office upon you.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="question"><HI>WHether the Go&s;pel be the &s;ame the Apo&s;tles preached; and if it be, why go you to</HI> Ox|ford
<HI>or</HI> Cambridge, <HI>when the Apo&s;tle &s;aith,</HI> The Go&s;pel he preached was not after man, neither was he taught it by man.</ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether you can give another meaning to the Scri|ptures then they are, or whether the Apo&s;tles did not give the meaning to them when they &s;poke them forth, yea or no; and if they did, what need learned men to give a meaning to them?</HI></ITEM>
<PB N="2" REF="9">
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me by the Scriptures, who ever was made a Mi|ni&s;ter of Chri&s;t that was called of men Ma&s;ter.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me by the Scriptures, where ever the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t took Tithes of the people, or Augmenta|tions for preaching the Go&s;pel.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me by the Scriptures, and what Scripture you have which &s;peaks of the Word, two Sacraments, which you tell the people of, and &s;o deceive the &s;imple.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="6" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me what Scripture you have which &s;peaks, that the Apo&s;tles &s;prinkled Infants.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="7" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me what Scripture you have to &s;tand praying in the Synagogues before Sermon, and after, and whether the Apo&s;tles did &s;o.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="8" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me by the Scriptures where the Apo&s;tles went in|to the world, and gave the people of the world</HI> Davids <HI>P&s;alms to &s;ing in meeter; the&s;e things which you now practi&s;e, an&s;wer them by the Scriptures or the Apo&s;tles practi&s;es, without con&s;equence or imagination.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="9" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether a man &s;hall ovecome the body of &s;in while he is upon the earth or no.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="10" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether the cur&s;e be not upon him that preacheth ano|ther Go&s;pel then Chri&s;t and the Apo&s;tles, yea or no?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="11" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether any natural man can preach the Go&s;pel, or no?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="12" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether that any of the Mini&s;ters of God was made Mini&s;ters by the will of men, or no, &s;hew me it by the Scriptures.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="13" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me it by the Scriptures whether a man &s;hall grow up to that condition that he need no man teach him, but the Lord, or no.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="14" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not Antichri&s;ts, and di&s;obey Chri&s;t, that have the chiefest places in the A&s;&s;emblies, &s;tand praying in the Synagogues, called of men Ma&s;ters, which Chri&s;t did forbid his Di&s;ciples to act &s;uch things,
<PB N="3" REF="9">and cryed Woe again&s;t tho&s;e that did act them.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="15" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not Antichri&s;ts, and of the Devil, and no Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t, which do not abide in the doctrine of Chri&s;t.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="16" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not &s;educers which draw people from the anointing within them, and tell them they mu&s;t be taught of a man, when as the anointing teacheth them, and they need no man teach them but as the anointing teacheth, and the promi&s;e is to him that doth abide in it eternally.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="17" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they do not bewitch the people which draw them from the &s;pirit within, to &s;erve the ordinance of the word and traditions of men without, as the</HI> Galati|ans
<HI>were bewitched,</HI> Gal. 3.1.</ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="18" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not deceivers which tell the people tho&s;e are the Ordinances of God, which God never com|manded, and draw men from the Spirit within them, to follow their imaginations and inventions.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="19" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether you have the &s;ame &s;pirit which was in Chri&s;t, the Apo&s;tles and Prophets, which gave forth the Scri|ptures, &s;eeing you are contrary to the Scriptures, and fol|low your own inventions and traditions, and &s;o erre from them.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="20" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether ever Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles did fir&s;t baptize, and then preach faith and repentance twenty or thirty years after.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="21" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether ever Chri&s;t or the Apostles did retain</HI> 100 <HI>or</HI> 200 <ABBR>l.</ABBR> <HI>a year for preaching the Go&s;pel.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="22" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there to limit God to a place, calling it a</HI> Church, <HI>whereas the</HI> Church is in God, 1 The&s;&s;. 1.1.</ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="23" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there to have the Clark to &s;ay</HI> A|men, <HI>and have groats a piece of the world to maintain his trade?</HI></ITEM>
<PB N="4" REF="10">
<ITEM> <MILESTONE N="24" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there for taking money to bury the dead?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="25" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there for taking</HI> 10 <HI>or</HI> 20 <ABBR>s.</ABBR> <HI>for preaching a Funeral Sermon?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="26" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there for taking money for marry|ing man and woman?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="27" UNIT="question"><HI>When did any that was &s;ent of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to preach the Go&s;pel &s;ue men at the Law?</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>If thou be a Mini&s;ter of Je&s;us Chri&s;t which exerci|&s;eth a pure con&s;cience towards God, and towards Man, clear thy &s;elf from the guilt of the&s;e things, and an|&s;wer them in writing by the Scriptures, or Saints ex|amples; or el&s;e in &s;ilence confe&s;&s;e thy &s;elf to be guilty, and one of tho&s;e that Chri&s;t cryed <HI>woe</HI> again&s;t, acting the &s;ame things now, as they did then, <HI>filling up the mea&s;ure of thy fathers iniquity,</HI> which &s;aid <HI>they were Jewes and were not, but were of the &s;ynagogue of Satan.</HI> Thou &s;aye&s;t they mu&s;t be learned men, and brought up in Schola&s;tical waies, and by that means they mu&s;t open the Scriptures; becau&s;e thou &s;aye&s;t, they were fir&s;t given forth in
<HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>Hebrew</HI> which you call the <HI>Original,</HI> and therefore ignorant men cannot un|der&s;tand them, but mu&s;t have your meanings, inter|pretations, and dimen&s;ions of your own brain, and thus you deceive the &s;imple.</P>
<P>But an&s;wer me this que&s;tion,</P>
<P><HI>Whether the Scriptures as they are written in Engli&s;h be true as Chri&s;t and the Apo&s;tles &s;poke them forth; and if they be true as they are in Engli&s;h, what need any other language be learned by an Engli&s;h man to know them?</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>R. H.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="answers">
<PB N="5" REF="10">
<HEAD>THE Q&V;AKERS &s;everal Que&s;tions: WITH The An&s;wers Returned.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>R. H.</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>FOR what relative title to give you without offence I under&s;tand not: I received your paper of many &s;trange &s;crupulous Que&s;tions: And though it be mo&s;t true, that <HI>one fool may aske more Que&s;tions then</HI>
100. <HI>wi&s;e men can an|&s;wer,</HI> (as the common proverb goes) yet we are taught by a more authentick proverb, &s;ometimes
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 26.5.</NOTE><HI>to an&s;wer a fool in his fol|ly, le&s;t he be wi&s;e in his own conceit.</HI> I &s;ay not this to upbraid your per&s;on, but with reflexion on the follies and errors di&s;|plaid in your &s;everal que&s;tions; which will appear I believe in the following an&s;wers; if you read them, as becomes a good Chri&s;tian, without prejudice, partiality or ob&s;tinacy of mind, but with the &s;pirit of meekne&s;s, and a de&s;ire to
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;&s;. 5.21.</NOTE><HI>try all things, and hold fa&s;t that which is good.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether your Go&s;pel be the &s;ame the Apo&s;tles preached, and if it be, why go you to</HI> Oxford
<HI>or</HI> Cambridge, <HI>when the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, the Go&s;pel he preached was not after man, neither was he taught it by man?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> We preach the &s;ame Go&s;pel the Apo&s;tles preached, but do not attain the knowledge and under&s;tanding of this Go&s;pel by the &s;ame means; the Apo&s;tles were eye-witne&s;&s;es and
<PB N="6" REF="11">ear-witne&s;&s;es of the &s;ayings and doings of Chri&s;t, (which is the &s;um of the Go&s;pel) the my&s;teries whereof they under&s;tood by immediate revelation from heaven, being both publiquely, vi&s;i|bly and miraculou&s;ly in&s;pired with extraordinary gifts of the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.1,2,3,4.</NOTE> inabling them both more fully to under&s;tand, and more powerfully to preach the Go&s;pel,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Schools they had at <HI>Bethel,</HI> 2 King. 2.3. at
<HI>Jericho,</HI> v. 5. and <HI>Eli&s;has</HI> Colledge was &s;o full that they inlarged it, 2 King. 6.1. and at <HI>Naioth</HI> 1 Sam. 14.20 and upon <HI>the hill of God,</HI> 1 Sam. 10.5,10.</NOTE> then any mortal man could ever hope for &s;ince: But we do neither pretend to any &s;uch &s;ub|lime and eminent gifts, neither do we, or ought we to depend upon any &s;uch immediate and miraculous revelation from hea|ven; but do u&s;e tho&s;e ordinary means and helps, which God in his merciful providence hath in all ages afforded his peo|ple, <HI>viz.</HI> by &s;tudy and indu&s;try in the Schools of the Prophets.</P>
<P>Neither go we to <HI>Oxford</HI> and <HI>Cambridge</HI> to learn the Go|&s;pel we preach, but to learn the knowledge of tho&s;e tongues and languages, arts and &s;ciences which are the external means enabling us to under&s;tand and open the meaning of the Go|&s;pel, by the good hand of God upon us, pro&s;pering our la|bours and &s;tudies, to that end, that being well grounded in the truth, we might not be deceived and mi&s;take the inventions and errors of men, and doctrines of &s;educing &s;pirits, for
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 4.1,2.</NOTE><HI>the doctrines and commandements of God.</HI> Even as you went to School to learn to write and read, that you might read the Scriptures indeed, but not
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 3.16.</NOTE><HI>pervert them to your own de&s;truction;</HI> and that you might write your minde in truth and &s;incerity, but not to write &s;crupulous que&s;tions to puzzle and poy&s;on the &s;ouls of the &s;imple, who cannot &s;ee into the depth of your delu&s;ions.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether you can give another meaning to the Scriptures then they are, or whether the Apo&s;tles did not give the meaning to them when they &s;pake them forth, yea or no, and if they did, what need learned men give a meaning to them?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> The &s;en&s;e and meaning of the Scripture is involved and in|folded in it, even as the kernel of a nut is within the &s;hell, to finde out which &s;en&s;e, and declare it, and make it appear from under tho&s;e &s;everal kindes of metaphorical and figurative ex|pre&s;&s;ions which commonly clothe and cover it, is a part of our task and duty: And this we do by a &s;erious, diligent, and in|tent<PB N="7" REF="11">&s;earching, weighing and pondering the texts of Scri|ptures by comparing and conferring &s;everal places, by ob|&s;erving the connexions and coherences, by &s;incere and im|partiall collecting and ob&s;erving the &s;everal truths contained therein: and al&s;o flying unto God by prayer and devotion for a&s;&s;i&s;tance in the work.</P>
<P>And that it belongs to learned men to give the Sen&s;e and meaning of the Scriptures, we have in the old Te&s;tament the example of <HI>Ezra</HI> the <HI>Scribe,</HI> (that is, the <HI>Learned</HI>)<NOTE PLACE="marg">Neh.
8.4,5,6,7,8.</NOTE> who &s;tood upon a <HI>Pulpit of Wood</HI> high above all the people, made pur|po&s;ely for preaching; and the <HI>Levites cau&s;ed the people to un|der&s;tand the Law:</HI> and this they did not only by <HI>reading the Law</HI> di&s;tinctly, but <HI>they gave the &s;en&s;e,</HI> &s;aith the Text, <HI>and cau&s;ed the people to under&s;tand the reading.</HI></P>
<P>In the new Te&s;tament Chri&s;t him&s;elf took a text and prea|ched upon it:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 4.17,-22.</NOTE> <HI>Philip</HI> took the text which the Eunuch read in <HI>E&s;ay</HI> and preached Chri&s;t unto him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 8 30,-37.</NOTE> converting the Eu|nuch by giving the &s;en&s;e of the text, being of him&s;elf not able to <HI>under&s;tand without an interpreter.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me by the Scripture who ever was made a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t, that was called of men Ma&s;ter.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> The Prophets and Prie&s;ts under the Law were termed <HI>Fa|thers,</HI> and &s;uch as were bred under them, to be made capable of that function: as young Scholars are now in <HI>Oxford</HI> and
<HI>Cambridge,</HI> to be capable of the Mini&s;try; were termed <HI>the Sons of the Prophets:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King 2.12.15.</NOTE> under the Go&s;pel, be&s;ides the titles of <HI>Apo&s;tles, Prophets, Evangeli&s;ts,</HI> ordinary or common Mini|&s;ters are termed <HI>Doctors, Pa&s;tors, Shepherds of &s;ouls,</HI> which are terms of more eminency and re&s;pect, then
<HI>Ma&s;ter, Sir,</HI> or the like; and what el&s;e is meant by the
<HI>Ma&s;ters of the A&s;&s;emblies,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;.
12.11.</NOTE> but the Pa&s;tors and Teachers of the people a&s;|&s;embled in the &s;ervice of God? <HI>Ma&s;ters</HI> is a title of civil re&s;pect and honour, and we are commanded not only in ge|neral to
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.7.</NOTE><HI>give honour to whom honour is due,</HI> but particularly to pious and painful Mini&s;ters,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5.7.</NOTE><HI>Let them be counted worthy of double honour that labour in the Word and Doctrine.</HI> Now as on the one &s;ide it is a Go&s;pel duty to give titles of honour <PB N="8" REF="12">to whom they are due: &s;o on the other &s;ide it is a Go&s;pel &s;in to affect titles of honour through pride, vain-glory, and popular applau&s;e. Nor was it a &s;in in the <HI>Scribes</HI> and <HI>Pha|ri&s;ees</HI> to be called
<HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> but becau&s;e they
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.6,7.</NOTE><HI>loved to be called of men Ma&s;ter, Ma&s;ter,</HI> their vain-glorious affectation of the title, was their offence, and of this no man can taxe us, but on|ly God who knoweth the heart.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me by the Scriptures when ever the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t took tithes of the people,or augmentations for preaching of the go&s;pel.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> That the Prie&s;ts under the Law received Tithes, and that God commanded the people to pay tithes unto them, you cannot be ignorant;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 9.13,14.</NOTE><HI>Know you not</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>that they which mini&s;ter about holy things eat of the things of the Tem|ple, and they which wait at the Altar, are partakers with the Altar? Even &s;o al&s;o hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Go&s;pel, &s;hould live of the Go&s;pel.</HI> Even &s;o mu&s;t the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel be maintained, as were the Prie&s;ts under the Law; and that was by Tithes and offerings:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 11.42.</NOTE><HI>Wo to you Scribes and Phari&s;ees hypocrites, for ye tithe mint, and rue, and all manner of hearbs, and pa&s;&s;e over judgement and the love of God; the&s;e things ought you to have done,</HI> (mark that) <HI>and not leave the other undone.</HI> Whence you &s;ee, that to take and pay tithes is no other but what ought to be done, and the fault cryed wo again&s;t was <HI>the neglect of judgement</HI> and the
<HI>love of God.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew by the Scriptures, and what Scripture have you which &s;peaks of the Word, two Sacraments, which you tell the people of, and deceive the &s;imple?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> We confe&s;&s;e the word
<HI>Sacrament</HI> is not in the Scriptures, but the holy actions which we call
<HI>Sacraments</HI> are po&s;itive|ly and expre&s;ly commanded there.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Sacrament of <HI>Bapti&s;m</HI> is commanded,
<HI>Mat.</HI> 28.19.</P>
<P>And for the other Sacrament of <HI>the Lords Supper,</HI> the words of in&s;titution expre&s;ly command us to ob&s;erve it,<PB N="9" REF="12"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 26.26,27.</NOTE><HI>Take, eat, do this.</HI> And &s;ure we do not deceive the people, when we tell them of no other things, but what Chri&s;t him|&s;elf commanded both us and them to ob&s;erve. But you do deceive your own &s;oul, and the &s;ouls of tho&s;e &s;imple people you conver&s;e withall, while&s;t you deny and op|po&s;e your &s;elf again&s;t the very expre&s;&s;e commands of our Lord.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="6" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me what Scripture you have, which &s;peaks, that the Apo|&s;tles &s;prinkled Infants.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> That the Apo&s;tles were commanded <HI>to baptize all Nations,</HI> and that they <HI>did Baptize whole Families,</HI> is clearly expre&s;t in the Scripture.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 16.33.</NOTE> And &s;urely children are a part of all Na|tions; though you &s;hould &s;ay there were no Children in tho&s;e families that were Baptized; which is a thing very hard and improbable to affirm.</P>
<P>But further, for Childrens Bapti&s;m, we have &s;everal grounds out of the Scriptures.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Children under the Law were circumci&s;ed, and
<HI>Circum|ci&s;ion</HI> was
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 4.11.</NOTE><HI>the Seal of the righteou&s;ne&s;s of faith,</HI> as <HI>Bapti&s;m</HI> is now; for other external vi&s;ible &s;eal of our admi&s;&s;ion into the Co|venant of Grace, we have not commanded in the Scriptures, or practi&s;ed in the Church of Chri&s;t; And that this &s;eal of Bapti&s;m, both outward and inward, mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e upon all, be|fore they be admitted actual members of Chri&s;ts &s;piritual Kingdome here, which is the way to his eternal Kingdome hereafter; our Saviour expre&s;ly teacheth, &s;aying,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 5.3.</NOTE><HI>Except a man be born again of water and of the holy Gho&s;t, he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. That children are of the Kingdome of God, and to be admitted unto Chri&s;t, him&s;elf expre&s;ly affirms, and &s;trictly charges all men not to oppo&s;e it, &s;aying,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 18.15.</NOTE><HI>Suffer little Chil|dren to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of &s;uch al&s;o is the Kingdome of God;</HI> If they mu&s;t come unto Chri&s;t, we mu&s;t not &s;top up the way again&s;t them, by denying them the &s;eal of admi&s;&s;ion: And if the Kingdome of God belong unto<PB N="10" REF="13">them &s;urely the priviledges of the Kingdome al&s;o; whereof Bapti&s;m is one.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. That Infants are in &s;ome mea&s;ure capable of the Spirit of God, is manife&s;t from the example of the Prophet
<HI>Jere|miah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 1.5,6.</NOTE> and of <HI>John Bapti&s;t:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 1 66,80.</NOTE> And if they be capable of the in|ward Bapti&s;m which is the <HI>holy Gho&s;t,</HI> much more of the out|ward which is <HI>water;</HI> for <HI>can any man forbid water</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Pe|ter</HI> in the like ca&s;e) <HI>that the&s;e &s;hould not be Baptized which have received the holy Gho&s;t as well as we?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 10.47.</NOTE></ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. That children are capable of being received and ad|mitted into the Kingdome of Chri&s;t, him&s;elf doth intimate, &s;aying,
<HI>Except ye receive the Kingdome of God as a little Childe, ye &s;hall not enter therein,</HI> &s;o that receive it they may, though they know it not. For as the &s;in of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> is im|puted to children, and they are defiled therewith, though they under&s;tand it not: &s;o the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t the &s;e|cond <HI>Adam,</HI> may be, and we believe is, by Gods &s;ecret and unknown way communicated to Infants, though they know it not: As to men born deaf, and fools and &s;uch as are not capable of under&s;tanding, for to &s;uch God forbid we &s;hould deny the mercies of God through Chri&s;t.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="7" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me what Scripture you have to &s;tand praying in the Sy|nagogues before Sermon and after; and whether the Apo&s;tles did &s;o.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> That we are both to pray and preach the Go&s;pel, there are &s;o many Scriptures to prove, that I need not name any; and we pray both before and after Sermon, becau&s;e
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. We are commanded to <HI>pray continually.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;&s;. 5.17.</NOTE></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Becau&s;e prayer is the more chief and principall part of Gods &s;ervice, for it is written, <HI>My hou&s;e &s;hall be called the hou&s;e of prayer to all Nations.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat.
21.13.</NOTE></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. That by prayer and devotion we might obtain the a&s;&s;i|&s;tance and ble&s;&s;ing of God, both
<LIST>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, upon our labours in opening the Scriptures; and</ITEM>
<ITEM> Secondly, upon the peoples duty in learning and atten|ding <PB N="11" REF="13">thereunto;</ITEM>
</LIST> the prayer before Sermon refers to the one, and after Sermon to the other.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And in this que&s;tion I mu&s;t al&s;o further tell you, you con|found <HI>publique</HI> and <HI>private</HI> prayer, and thereby pervert and mi&s;apply the words of our Saviour,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 6.5.</NOTE><HI>When thou praye&s;t thou &s;halt not be as the hypocrites, for they love to pray &s;tanding in the Synagogues,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>that they may be &s;een of men;</HI> in which place our Saviour forbids only private prayer to be offered in publique places, out of vain-glory and o&s;tentation to be &s;een of men: and you fal&s;ly apply them again&s;t publique prayer, which is both commanded and practi&s;ed by publique per&s;ons and in publique places, and to the end that they may be both &s;een and heard of men; &s;ee for this the exam|ple of the
<HI>Levites,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Neh. 8. &amp; 9.3,4.</NOTE> both for
<HI>preaching,</HI> Neh. 8. and publique <HI>praying</HI> with a <HI>loud voice &s;tanding up upon the &s;taires that they might be heard,</HI> Neh. 9.3,4. Now
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 15.4. Act. 20.36.21.5.</NOTE><HI>what is written afore time is written for our learning.</HI> And that the Apo&s;tles did both
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 20.36. 21.5.</NOTE><HI>pray in publique</HI> for and with the people, and al&s;o <HI>preach in publique and in the Synagogues</HI> of the Jewes, is more then once or twice expre&s;t in the Scriptures.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="8" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me by the Scriptures when the Apo&s;tles went into the world, and gave the people of the world</HI> Davids <HI>P&s;almes to be &s;ung in meeter; The things that you practi&s;e an&s;wer them by the Scriptures, or the Apo&s;tles practi&s;e, without con&s;equence or ima|gination.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> Touching the u&s;e of P&s;alms in meeter, let me tell you, (be|cau&s;e I &s;ee you under&s;tand not the nature of
<HI>P&s;alms</HI>) that they are not properly called P&s;alms, if not &s;ung in ver&s;e and meeter; and for <HI>Davids P&s;alms,</HI> as you too &s;cornfully call them; know, that they are the very dictates and breathings of Gods holy Spirit; therefore are we commanded to
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 5.18,19.</NOTE><HI>be filled with the Spirit &s;peaking to our &s;elves in P&s;almes and Hymnes,</HI> &amp;c. And whereas all things in all P&s;alms are not at all times appliable to all per&s;ons, yet there is &s;omething in every P&s;alm appliable to every per&s;on, either by way of in&s;truction or <PB N="12" REF="14">devotion; and what in this or that P&s;alm is not appliable to our pre&s;ent condition, may be hereafter, and therefore it's fit they &s;hould be u&s;ed, both for pre&s;ent devotion and be|nefit; and al&s;o for the future, that we may be throughly fur|ni&s;hed with in&s;tructions and devotions again&s;t the time of need.</P>
<P>And for the Apo&s;tles practi&s;e herein, 'tis &s;ufficient we have their command, for &s;urely what they commanded others they practi&s;ed them&s;elves; you may &s;ee they did &s;o, Act. 16.25. <HI>At midnight</HI> Paul <HI>and</HI> Silas <HI>prayed and &s;ung P&s;alms un|to God.</HI></P>
<P>But herein you demand an an&s;wer without con&s;equence or imagination; you might as well have &s;aid, without rea&s;on or judgement, which is all one, as if you &s;hould bid me read your paper of Que&s;tions without my eyes.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="9" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether a man &s;hall overcome the body of &s;in whiles he is upon the earth, or no.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer">'Tis not po&s;&s;ible wholly and altogether to &s;ubdue
<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">It is overcome but not wholly, a conquered enemy may trouble, there is &s;till a war, Rom. 5.23. and the warfare endures until death, Rev. 2.10.</NOTE> the bo|dy of &s;in while&s;t we are in this world: for 'tis therefore called <HI>the body of &s;in,</HI> becau&s;e there will be &s;ome reliques of &s;in, &s;ome re|bellions of the fle&s;h again&s;t the &s;pirit, while&s;t we carry this body of fle&s;h about us, and are compo&s;ed of fle&s;h and &s;pirit. As a tree while&s;t there is life in it will bring forth fruit: &s;o the fle&s;h while&s;t it is quickned with &s;pirit of life, will bring forth &s;ome kinde of fle&s;hly fruits or other; which is clear from manifold texts of Scripture.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 8.46. Job
14.4. Prov. 20.9. 1 Joh. 1.8,10. Eccl. 7.22.</NOTE></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="10" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether the cur&s;e be not upon him that preacheth another Go&s;pel then Chri&s;t and the Apo&s;tles preached, yea or no.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer">'Tis mo&s;t true there is a cur&s;e, and a heavy cur&s;e too, will fall upon them that either
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 1.6,7,8,9.</NOTE><HI>preach another Go&s;pel,</HI> or el&s;e <HI>per|vert</HI> and poy&s;on the truth of this
<HI>Go&s;pel, which we have re|ceived<PB N="13" REF="14">from Chri&s;t and the Apo&s;tles:</HI> And I would to God nei|ther you, nor any of your &s;ect, and followers were either guilty of the &s;in, or liable to the cur&s;e.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="11" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether any natural man can preach the Go&s;pel, yea or no?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> He cannot preach the Go&s;pel who under&s;tands it not; and he that in &s;ome good mea&s;ure under&s;tands the Go&s;pel, is not to be called <HI>a natural man,</HI> becau&s;e,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The contents of the Go&s;pel are
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2.13.</NOTE><HI>the things of the Spi|rit of God,</HI> which the <HI>natural man receives not, neither knowes them:</HI> and</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Becau&s;e,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 11.2.</NOTE><HI>knowledge, wi&s;dome, and under&s;tanding,</HI> e&s;pecial|ly of &s;piritual things, <HI>are the gifts of the Spirit,</HI> with which gifts &s;piritual, the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel are through the u&s;e of means endowed; &s;ome more
<HI>plentifully,</HI> &s;ome more <HI>&s;pa|ringly,</HI> according as God by his holy Spirit ble&s;&s;ing our &s;tu|dies has imparted unto us, who
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.11.</NOTE><HI>di&s;tributes to every one &s;eve|rally as he will.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="12" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether that any Mini&s;ters of God was made Mini&s;ters by the will of man, or no, &s;hew it me by the Scriptures.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> There is no Mini&s;ter of God, is or can be made &s;o by the will of man only, but by man in &s;ubordination to the minde and will of God: for,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. God by his holy Spirit puts it into our hearts, to u&s;e the means to be qualified for &s;o great a calling.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. He ble&s;&s;eth and pro&s;pereth our &s;tudies and ende|vours for the attainment of tho&s;e gifts which qualifie us for it.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. He gives us hearts to imply tho&s;e qualifications in his &s;ervice;</ITEM>
</LIST> which gifts and qualifications being examined and approved by the more able, learned and reverend Fathers of the Church, we are &s;o by them through
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5.21,2 Tit. 1.5.</NOTE><HI>fa&s;ting, prayer and impo&s;ition of hands</HI> &s;et apart to this office: <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Barnabas</HI> though they were called of God immediately and
<PB N="14" REF="15">by miracle to the office of the
<HI>Apo&s;tle&s;hip,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 13.2,3</NOTE> which no man mu&s;t hope for &s;ince; yet even they were commanded by the Elders to be &s;ent forth <HI>through fa&s;ting, prayer and impo&s;iti|on of hands.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="13" UNIT="question"><HI>Shew me it by the Scriptures whether a man &s;hall grow up to that condition that he need no man teach him, but the Lord or no.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> We mu&s;t not look for any immediate extraordinary mi|raculous teaching by revelation from the Lord: And yet all men are taught of God too, &s;ome more, &s;ome le&s;&s;e, accor|ding as,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. They have &s;ouls more or le&s;&s;e capable of teaching.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. As they more or le&s;&s;e apply them&s;elves to the means which God hath ordained for our learning and in&s;truction;</ITEM>
</LIST> and according to our endevours in the u&s;e of means, &s;o God gives his ble&s;&s;ing thereupon.</P>
<P>That promi&s;e,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 31.34.</NOTE><HI>they &s;hall teach no more every man his neigh|bour, &s;aying, Know the Lord, for all men &s;hall know me, from the lea&s;t to the greate&s;t,</HI> is expre&s;&s;ed indeed to be fulfilled un|der the Go&s;pel, becau&s;e the means of knowing God un|der the Go&s;pel are more plentiful and effectual then under the Law:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 8.4,10.</NOTE> to wit, through the reeelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the miraculous in&s;piration of his Apo&s;tles immediately from heaven And whereas 'tis promi&s;ed,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 54.13.</NOTE><HI>thy children &s;hall be taught of the Lord,</HI> this promi&s;e is fulfilled in that we have the teaching, the doctrine of the Lord Je&s;us, even his holy Go&s;pel, who came down from heaven on purpo&s;e to teach us, Tit. 2.11,12.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tit. 2.11,12.</NOTE><HI>The grace of God which brings down &s;alva|tion hath appeared unto all men: teaching us, that denying, &amp;c.</HI> thus we are taught by the Lord Je&s;us, outwardly in the doctrine of his Go&s;pel, and inwardly by the motions and di|ctates of his holy Spirit: And yet for all this the be&s;t and mo&s;t knowing of men arrive not to &s;uch a perfection of knowledge in his gifts, as not to need teaching, becau&s;e while&s;t
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.9,10 11,12.</NOTE><HI>we are in this life we know but in part, and prophe&s;ie but in part, but when that which is perfect,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><PB N="15" REF="15"><MILESTONE N="14" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not Antichri&s;ts and di&s;obey Chri&s;t that have the chiefe&s;t places in A&s;&s;emblies, &s;tand praying in the Synagogues, which Chri&s;t did forbid his Di&s;ciples to act &s;uch things, and cryed woe again&s;t tho&s;e that did act them.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> They that vain-gloriou&s;ly affect the chiefe&s;t places in the A&s;&s;emblies, to offer up their private prayers &s;tanding in publique places that they may be &s;een; and they that love to be called of men Ma&s;ter, are hypocrites and &s;inners, and lyable to the wo denounced by Chri&s;t again&s;t &s;uch. But it is one thing to occupy the chief place in any meeting (for &s;ome one mu&s;t have it) and another thing out of pride and vain-glory to affect it; and &s;o of being called Ma&s;ter. 'Tis one thing to &s;tand praying in the publique A&s;&s;emblies, that the people may both &s;ee and hear, and joyn with us; and another thing to &s;tand praying privately in publique mee|tings, only to be &s;een and thought religious. And whereas you &s;eem to apply the&s;e mi&s;taken and mi&s;under&s;tood &s;ay|ings of Chri&s;t to all Mini&s;ters, and mo&s;t uncharitably de|mand whether &s;uch be not Antichri&s;ts; to this I &s;hall on|ly &s;ay, the Lord forgive you the hardne&s;s of your heart, and unju&s;t cen&s;ures of your Chri&s;tian brethren. Is it a mark of Antichri&s;t, to preach and pray with the people of God in publique? and at &s;uch times to &s;tand in an higher and more convenient place that the people may hear and joyn with us? examples of which practi&s;e I have alrea|dy given you out of Scripture. If we do the&s;e things in the pride of our hearts, the Lord only knowes it, and will avenge it. 'Tis not for you to cen&s;ure and condemn us herein, for in &s;o doing, you di&s;cover more pride of heart, and look more like Antichri&s;t, then tho&s;e you uncharitably taxe and term &s;o.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="15" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not Antichri&s;ts and of the Devill, and no Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t, which doth not abide in the Doctrine of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="16" REF="16"><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> They that &s;werve from the Doctrine of Chri&s;t, are of the <HI>&s;pirit of Antichri&s;t:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 4.6.</NOTE> And they that oppo&s;e the dictates and commands of the Spirit of truth &s;peaking in the word, are led by the <HI>&s;pirit of error,</HI> which is the Devil, who was <HI>a lyer from the beginning,</HI> and afterward coloured his lies and errors, with the words of truth perverted;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 8.44. Mat. 4.4.6.</NOTE> quoting and mi&s;applying the Scriptures, the better to in&s;inuate his fal&s;hoods; which things I could wi&s;h were not too applia|ble to you and your &s;ect: I am &s;ure that your malice and hatred to Mini&s;ters becau&s;e they oppo&s;e your errors, your bitter envyings, railings and revilings both of them and other your Chri&s;tian brethren, whom you call carnal, the wicked, and the people of the world; your fal&s;e and un|charitable applications of the woes and cur&s;es of the Scriptures, to all &s;uch who are wi&s;er then to be brought under your delu&s;ions; and in a word, your ju&s;tifying your &s;elves, and condemning others, are all of them undeniable &s;igns that you are not led by the &s;pirit of Truth, which is the &s;pirit of meekne&s;s and humility, of unity, love and charity.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6.1. Col. 3.12,13. 1 Joh.
4.6,7.</NOTE><HI>Hereby know we the &s;pirit of truth, and the &s;pirit of error,</HI> 1 Joh. 4.6. Even by <HI>love and charity,</HI> therefore it followes, <HI>Beloved let us love one another, for love comes of God, and every one that loves is born of God, and knoweth God, and he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="16" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not &s;educers that draw people from the anointing which is in them, and tell them that they mu&s;t be taught of man, whereas the anointing teacheth them, they need no man teach them, but as the anointing teacheth them, and the promi&s;e is to him that doth abide in it eternally.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> By the <HI>anointing within,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 2.27.</NOTE> is meant that mea&s;ure and pro|portion of &s;piritual wi&s;dome and under&s;tanding in the things of God, whereby according to command we are en|abled <HI>to try the &s;pirits whether they be of God, or no;</HI> becau&s;e<PB N="17" REF="16"><HI>many fal&s;e Prophets are gone forth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"> 1 Joh. 4.1.</NOTE> which the foregoing words doth imply, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> 26. <HI>The&s;e things have I writ|ten unto you concerning them that deceive you:</HI> Now this &s;piritual unction or knowledge of the truth, which is from the Spirit, who&s;oever hath received, need not be taught of man, if he abide in the truth which he hath received, and do not give heed to &s;educing &s;pirits. And I would to God that all who are called the <HI>Lords people</HI> had their hearts &s;prinkled with this
<HI>&s;piritual ointment,</HI> and their eyes anointed with this
<HI>eye-&s;alve,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 3.38.</NOTE> that they might &s;ee to di&s;cern betwixt <HI>light and darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> betwixt true Prophets, and &s;uch as deceive the &s;imple, le&s;t &s;uffering them|&s;elves <HI>being blinde</HI> to be <HI>led by the blinde</HI> they both <HI>fall into the ditch.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 15.14.</NOTE></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="17" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they do not bewitch the people, who withdraw them from the &s;pirit within, to ob&s;erve the ordinances of the world and traditions of men without, as the</HI> Galatians
<HI>were be|witched,</HI> Gal. 3.1.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> I mu&s;t tell you that there is not only a holy and good &s;pirit within, and that's but in too few, but there's al&s;o an evill and &s;educing &s;pirit within, and that's in too ma|ny; even the &s;pirit that doth bewitch men, and draw them a&s;ide from the doctrines and commands of the Spirit of truth; and to &s;trive by all means to draw the people off from giving heed to &s;educing &s;pirits, is not to ob&s;erve the ordinances of the world, and traditions of men, as you pervert the text, but to obey the commands of Gods true Spirit, who foretelling of <HI>fal&s;e Prophets,</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Spirits,</HI> often in the Word commands, exhorts, ad|moni&s;heth <HI>to beware of &s;uch,</HI> not to give heed to &s;uch, and not to <HI>beleeve every &s;pirit, but to try them.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 4.12. Mat. 7.15. 1 Joh. 4.1.</NOTE></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="18" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether they be not &s;educers which tell people the&s;e are the ordinances of God which God never commanded, as &s;prin|kling Infants, telling people of a Sacrament, which there is<PB N="18" REF="17">no Scripture for, and draw them from the &s;pirit within to fol|low your in aginations and inventions.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> They who are guilty of calling humane inventions Gods ordinances, are &s;educers we confe&s;&s;e: But for the &s;prinkling Infants, as you &s;cornfully call Bapti&s;m (which is Gods ordinance, for he hath ordained and comman|ded it to be ob&s;erved) I have already given you the grounds of it out of the Scriptures, and we call it a Sacrament, as being a terme be&s;t expre&s;&s;ing the nature of it, which you would confe&s;&s;e if you under&s;tood it.</P>
<P>And for the &s;pirit within, I have already told you out of Scripture, that we are not blindfolded to follow the dictates thereof, but to try them by the Spirit &s;peaking in the Word. And thus to draw men from the &s;pirit within, is not to follow our own imagina|tions, &s;ince God by his holy Spirit commands the &s;ame.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="19" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether you have the &s;ame &s;pirit which was in Chri&s;t, the Apo&s;tles acd Prophets which gave forth the Scriptures, &s;eeing you act contrary to the Scriptures, and follow your own inventions and tradition, and &s;o erre from them.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> They that doe believe or act any thing contrary to the Doctrine of Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, are not led by the &s;ame &s;pirit, but in &s;aying that we do this, herein I mu&s;t tell you, that you doe fal&s;ly and flatly belie us, &s;ince both we can, and you &s;ee we do prove our Mini&s;terial acti|ons to be agreeable to the Scriptures.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="20" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether ever Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles did fir&s;t Baptize, and then preach faith and repentance twenty or thirty years after|wards.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> Chri&s;t him&s;elf was Baptized being a per&s;on not ca|pable of faith, and repentance, for he was above both;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.2.</NOTE> <PB N="19" REF="17">of <HI>faith</HI> he was the
<HI>author and fini&s;her,</HI> the per&s;on in whom we are to beleeve; and of
<HI>repentance</HI> he was not capable, <HI>who knew no &s;in;</HI> and the
<HI>Bapti&s;m of Chri&s;t</HI> &s;ure it is to be our pattern and grand example.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 3.16. 1 Pet. 2.22.</NOTE></P>
<P>The Apo&s;tles al&s;o baptized many per&s;ons, who had not true Faith and Repentance, but were Hypocrites, as <HI>Simon Magus, Alexander the Copper&s;mith, Demas, Dio|trephes;</HI> And <HI>Simon Magus</HI> had repentance preached unto him, after he was baptized many daies; as the Text clearly expre&s;&s;eth:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act 8.13,22.</NOTE> From all which Examples it is manife&s;t that Faith and Repentance are not nece&s;&s;ari|ly required of all per&s;ons as to the reception of Bap|ti&s;m, but to the ble&s;&s;ed effects and fruits thereof: pardon of &s;in, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>2. Neither are children al&s;o ab&s;olutely and altoge|ther de&s;titute of Faith and Repentance; they have the&s;e Graces in the
<HI>power,</HI> though not in the <HI>act;</HI> In the <HI>&s;eed,</HI> though not in the <HI>fruit;</HI> In the promi&s;e for, and in their be|half, though not in the pre&s;ent actual performance; There|fore called <HI>the &s;ervants of God, believers, little ones, that be|lieve in me:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 25 41,42. Mat. 18.3,4,5,6,7 Act. 16.33. 18 8.</NOTE> And under the general notion of <HI>families,</HI> and <HI>hou&s;holds,</HI> they are rankt among&s;t per&s;ons baptized, con|verted, and &s;erving the Lord.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="21" UNIT="question"><HI>Whether ever Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles received</HI> 160 <HI>or</HI> 200 pounds a year, for preaching the Go&s;pel?</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> Chri&s;t him&s;elf when he preached the Go&s;pel, was maintained by the gifts and benevolence of his Audi|tors; who mini&s;tred unto him of their &s;ub&s;tance; And the Apo&s;tles for preaching the Go&s;pel had more I believe then 100 <ABBR><HI>l.</HI></ABBR> or 200
<ABBR><HI>l.</HI></ABBR> a year;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 15.41.</NOTE> for many of their Con|verts <HI>&s;old all their e&s;tates, and brought it, and laid it down at the Apo&s;tles feet;</HI> For, &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>If we have &s;own unto you &s;piritual things, is it a great matter, if we reap your carnal things?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 4.34,37 Rom. 15.27. 1 Cor.
9.11.</NOTE></P>
<P><PB N="20" REF="18"><MILESTONE N="22" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there to limit God to a place, calling it a</HI> Church; <HI>when as the</HI> Church is in God? 1 The&s;. 1.1.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> We do not limit God to a place who is every where, and filleth the World; but yet after a &s;pecial manner,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 23.23. Mat. 18.20.</NOTE><HI>When two or three are gathered together in his Name</HI> to wor&s;hip him and call upon his Name, <HI>there is he in the mid&s;t of them;</HI> And this place of A&s;&s;embly we call <HI>a Church,</HI> be|cau&s;e the Church or People of God do there a&s;&s;emble to his Service: and 'tis a Scripture term too, though you know it not; for as there is <HI>a Church in God,</HI> and <HI>in Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;&s;. 1.1.</NOTE> 1 The&s;&s;. 1.1. that is, per&s;ons devoted to Gods &s;ervice, in and through Je&s;us Chri&s;t: So there is <HI>a Church of God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 11.22.</NOTE> 1 Cor. 11.22. The place, namely, where &s;uch per&s;ons do a&s;&s;emble and joyn in Divine Wor|&s;hip. But &s;ince you cry down all di&s;tinctions, (as &s;avou|ring of humane Learning) whereby the naked truth of things might be clearly and di&s;tinctly &s;een as they are in them&s;elves, without conjunction with other things, it is no marvel you are &s;o blinde as not to di&s;tingui&s;h men from hou&s;es; per&s;ons from places; the &s;ervants of God from the places of his &s;ervice.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="23" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there to have a Clark to &s;ay</HI> Amen, <HI>and to have groats a piece of the world for his trade?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer">'Tis the duty of all good people to &s;ay Amen to every good Prayer, or what is &s;poken tending either to Gods glory, or their own good; and this you &s;hall finde both commanded and practi&s;ed in the Scriptures,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 106 46. Neb. 8 6. 2 Pet. 3.
<HI>ult.</HI> Rev. 22.20.</NOTE> if you do but con&s;ult the Marginal Texts: I may therefore rather de|mand of you, why do not rather all the people &s;ay A|men, then you ask of me why one man doth &s;o? And for the Groat he receives yearly of &s;ome per&s;ons in the world, (who are not all of the world, as you uncharitably cen&s;ure them) I conceive it is not to be &s;o much for
<PB N="21" REF="18">&s;aying Amen, as for many other Offices, wherein he is u&s;e|full both to Pa&s;tor and People.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="24,25,26" UNIT="question"><HI>What Scripture is there for taking money for burying the dead; or to have ten or twelve &s;hillings for Preaching a Funeral Sermon; or to take money for marrying man or woman?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> For our pains in labouring in the Word and Doctrine, the Apo&s;tle gives this general rule,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 5.17,18.</NOTE><HI>The Labourer is worthy of his wages:</HI> and what their wages is for their particular pains and labours in this or that Mini&s;terial Function, whether more or le&s;&s;e, is not of our choo&s;ing; but partly the liberality of Founders and Benefactors; partly cu&s;tome among&s;t all people, in all Chri&s;tian Coun|tries hath &s;etled it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="27" UNIT="question"><HI>When did any that was &s;ent of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to preach the Go|&s;pel, &s;ue men at the Law?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> We confe&s;&s;e, that to be contentious, and ready to go Law for every &s;mall tre&s;pa&s;&s;e, is a fault, and far from the quality of faithfull, charitable, and good members of Chri&s;ts Church, whether Mini&s;ter or People: for
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 11.6.</NOTE><HI>if any li&s;t to be contentious, we have no &s;uch cu&s;tome, nor the Chur|ches of God;</HI> But many &s;uch differences may ari&s;e be|twixt party and party concerning temporal rights, pro|perties and intere&s;ts, as cannot well be decided without &s;uit of Law:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 19.38.</NOTE> &s;o that it is not alwaies a fault in it &s;elf to go to Law, and &s;ue one another, but when it is done either contentiou&s;ly or uncharitably; and they that are guilty in this kinde, let them an&s;wer for them|&s;elves.</P>
<P><PB N="22" REF="19"> <MILESTONE UNIT="conclusion"> And now for your Conclu&s;ion, you &s;ay: <HI>If thou be a Mini&s;ter of Je&s;us Chri&s;t which exerci&s;eth a pure con&s;cience towards God and man, clear thy &s;elf from the guilt of the&s;e things, and an&s;wer them in writing by the Scriptures or Saints Examples, or el&s;e in &s;ilence confe&s;&s;e thy &s;elf guilty, and one of tho&s;e Chri&s;t cryed wo again&s;t; acting the &s;ame things now, as they did then,</HI> filling up the mea&s;ure of thy Fathers ini|quity, <HI>which &s;aid they</HI> were Jewes, and were not, but were of the Synagogue of Satan.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> Your challenge is very highly bitter and railing, both again&s;t me and all of my profe&s;&s;ion and calling; and you rail in Scripture terms too; whereby you take the gar|ments of Gods Holy Spirit, the Spirit of meekne&s;&s;e and love, and put them upon the Devils &s;houlders, who is the <HI>reviler</HI> and <HI>accu&s;er of his brethren:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12.10.</NOTE> But I dare own my calling in &s;pite of all the venom that the Devil and all his in&s;truments can &s;pit again&s;t it; and will be ever ready to maintain my integrity in the con&s;cientious exerci&s;e thereof, in de&s;pite of all that oppo&s;e it; your rayling Scripture woes are very much mi&s;applyed, you have mi&s;taken the object:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 26.2.</NOTE><HI>The cur&s;e cau&s;le&s;&s;e &s;hall not come,</HI> Prov. 26.2. You &s;hoot out your arrowes, even bitter words, at the mark they cannot hit, the venome whereof is &s;o far from being dreadful to me, that it mini&s;ters rather cau&s;e of &s;piritual joy and exultation, remembring the words of my Lord and Ma|&s;ter,
<HI>Mat.</HI> 5.11,12.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5.11,12.</NOTE><HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are ye when men revile and per&s;ecute you, and &s;ay all manner of evill again&s;t you for my &s;ake fal&s;ly, rejoyce and be glad, for great is your re|ward in heaven, for &s;o per&s;ecuted they the Prophets that were before you.</HI></P>
<P>I have according to your de&s;ire an&s;wered your &s;everal que&s;tions in writing, I will not retort your uncharitable application of Scripture woes and threatnings again&s;t your &s;elf, le&s;t I &s;hould become guilty with you of the &s;ame &s;in: but rather with all meekne&s;&s;e be&s;eech you in<PB N="23" REF="19">the fear of God, &s;eriou&s;ly to weigh and con&s;ider what I have &s;aid,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.7.</NOTE><HI>and the Lord give you a right under&s;tanding in all things.</HI></P>
<P>There remains yet one conclu&s;ive que&s;tion, which you ask &s;o peremptorily, as if it were impo&s;&s;ible to give you an an&s;wer, and thus
'tis Prefac'd.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="question"> Thou &s;ay&s;t, <HI>They mu&s;t be learned men, and brought up in Schola&s;tick waies, and by that means they mu&s;t open the Scripture,</HI> becau&s;e thou &s;aye&s;t, <HI>they were fir&s;t given forth in</HI> Greek <HI>and</HI> Hebrew, <HI>which you call the</HI> Original; <HI>and therefore ignorant men cannot under&s;tand them:</HI> But an&s;wer me this que&s;tion, <HI>Whether the Scriptures as they are written in</HI> Engli&s;h, <HI>be true, as Chri&s;t and the Apo&s;tles &s;pake them forth, and if they be true, as they are in</HI> Engli&s;h,
<HI>what need any other Language be learned by an</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>man to know them?</HI></P>
<P N="1"><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> Fir&s;t, what I have &s;aid, is no other then a truth un|deniable, that the Scriptures were given forth in
<HI>He|brew</HI> and <HI>Greek,</HI> which we do truly call the
<HI>Original.</HI> And as by learned men they are tran&s;lated; &s;o by lear|ned men, who under&s;tand both the Tran&s;lation and the Original, are mo&s;t fully and clearly under&s;tood. As waters be more clear and pure in the Fountain, then in the &s;tream; &s;o the holy Scriptures are more clear and intelligible to them that &s;ee them in the Fountain, and read them in the Original, then to tho&s;e who only can &s;ee and read them in the &s;tream, as they are derived unto them from the hands of the Tran&s;lators; And I mu&s;t here tell you withall, that it is very ill manners in you and not be|coming either the humility or thankfulne&s;&s;e of a Chri|&s;tian or a rea&s;onable man, to vilifie and undervalue Lear|ning and learned men, as to the under&s;tanding of the Scriptures, &s;ince neither you, nor any other man that
<PB N="24" REF="20">only under&s;tands <HI>Engli&s;h,</HI> had ever come to know any thing in the Scripture, if learned men had not tran&s;lated them to your hands.</P>
<P N="2">2. Since there hath been many tran&s;lations of the Scri|ptures out of <HI>Hebrew</HI> into <HI>Greek,</HI> out of <HI>Greek</HI> into <HI>La|tine,</HI> out of <HI>Hebrew</HI> and <HI>Greek</HI> into
<HI>Latine,</HI> out of <HI>Latine</HI> into <HI>Engli&s;h,</HI> out of
<HI>Greek</HI> into <HI>Engli&s;h,</HI> out of <HI>Hebrew</HI> and
<HI>Greek</HI> into <HI>Engli&s;h;</HI> which Tran&s;lations being made at &s;everal times, and in &s;everal Ages, do therefore very much differ and vary in &s;everal places: It is very unlike|ly &s;ure, that ignorant men, who under&s;tand only their own Native Language, &s;hould yet a&s;well under&s;tand the Scriptures as the learned, who have the gift of the&s;e &s;everall Languages, and can examine and compare the&s;e &s;everal Tran&s;lations with the original and Fountain Truth.</P>
<P>And would it not much conduce, think you, to the under&s;tanding of the Scripture to read the Interpretati|ons and pious Di&s;cour&s;es of tho&s;e holy religious Fathers of the Church, which lived either in, or about the A|po&s;tles time, or immediately afterward, and &s;o are mo&s;t likely to know the meaning of the Apo&s;tles in their writings, then we who live &s;o many hundred years &s;ince?</P>
<P>This I beleeve, no man that hath not lo&s;t his &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on will deny. Now to read and under&s;tand tho&s;e ancient writings, and the Scripture by tho&s;e helps, <HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>Latine</HI> is nece&s;&s;ary; for they wrote in tho&s;e Lan|guages.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="objection"> But to all this I beleeve you will &s;ay, <HI>That they who are endued with the Spirit of God, under&s;tand the things of God without all this labour and learning.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> We acknowledge and affirm as well as you, that wi&s;|dome, knowledge, and under&s;tanding are the gifts of the Spirit;<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 11.2.</NOTE> and that we mu&s;t wait upon God for them by<PB N="25" REF="20">Prayer; for <HI>from him cometh every good and perfect gift:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.5,17</NOTE> but yet God communicates not the&s;e gifts to the &s;ons of men by miracle, but through the u&s;e of the means;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 1. com|pare v. 4. &amp; 6 with v.
17.</NOTE> And to neglect and contemn the u&s;e of tho&s;e ordinary means, God hath given us to attain &s;piritual wi&s;dome by; and to depend upon extraordinary and miraculous reve|lation from Heaven, is to <HI>tempt</HI> the good <HI>Spirit of God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 4 7. 2 Thel. 2.10,11. 2 Tim. 4.1. 2 Pet. 3.15,16.</NOTE> and to <HI>provoke him to give us up to &s;trong delu&s;ions,</HI> and to <HI>give heed to &s;educing &s;pirits, and doctrines of Devils,</HI> which too often appear and in&s;inuate them&s;elves into the mindes of men, under the vizard, &s;hew, and &s;emblance of Reve|lations and Infu&s;ions, and Qualifications of the Spirit of truth; and this by &s;ad experience we daily &s;ee to be too true, and hath appeared in your &s;everal Que&s;tions: Now God Almighty deliver you, and all Chri&s;tian people from under the power of &s;uch delu&s;ions; 'Tis the daily Prayer of your Chri&s;tian brother,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>R. S.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q>But fooli&s;h and unlearned que&s;tions avoid, knowing that they do gender &s;trifes,
<BIBL>2 Tim. 2.23.</BIBL></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<GROUP>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="21">
<PB REF="21">
<P>A DISCOURSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, His <HI>Workings</HI> and
<HI>Impre&s;&s;ions</HI> ON THE <HI>SO&V;LS</HI> of <HI>MEN.</HI> With large Additionals.</P>
<Q><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"></Q>
<Q>Rectum e&s;t Index &s;ui &amp; obliqui.</Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>E. Cotes</HI> for <HI>R. Roy&s;ton</HI> at the Angel in <HI>Ivie-Lane,</HI> 1656.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="22">
<PB REF="22">
<HEAD>To the truly vertuous The Lady <HI>Rebecca Bindlo&s;&s;e.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Madam,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THis following Di&s;cour&s;e of the Holy Gho&s;t, his impre&s;&s;ions and workings on the &s;oul of man, was fir&s;t intended only for private &s;a|tisfaction to your Ladi&s;hips pious de&s;ires; That be|ing well grounded in the Orthodox Doctrine, and having a right under&s;tanding of the true Spirit of God, it might be as an impregnable bulwark again&s;t &s;o many &s;ugge&s;tions and temptations of the fal&s;e and deceitful &s;pirit: For the minde of man, being either devoid of the Spirit of Grace and Holine&s;&s;e; or el&s;e of a right under&s;tanding of the things of Gods Spi|rit, who is the Fountain both of Grace and Truth; is too apt and prone to clo&s;e with the &s;ugge&s;tions of the evil &s;pirit, who is the author and promoter of &s;infulne&s;&s;e and error: Never Age produc't &s;o many &s;piritual Mon&s;ters, as this wherein we live. And I think few parts of <HI>England</HI> be &s;o much infected with them, as the&s;e Northern parts be. They were ve|ry impudent and daring, when they adventured to tempt your vertuous minde, and by inticing words<PB REF="23">to allure your good opinion o&s; them; as full well knowing, if they could but have effected thus much, to have made you not an enemy to their procee|dings, though you did not clo&s;e with them, it would have given much lu&s;tre and credit to their erroneous Sect: But God be prai&s;ed that you are better groun|ded, then to be pro&s;elyted by &s;uch Ignoramo's; bet|ter re&s;olved then to be taken with &s;uch &s;hallow delu|&s;ions, which a good Chri&s;tian with half an eye unpre|judic'd, may ea&s;ily &s;ee through.</P>
<P>It is your goodne&s;&s;e (for, <HI>Bonum quo melius eo communius</HI>) to de&s;ire the publique communication of this &s;hort Di&s;cour&s;e <HI>of the Spirit,</HI> as a Doctrine both &s;ea&s;onable in re&s;pect of the many &s;preading infectious Errors, &s;o much prevailing among&s;t us; and al&s;o nece&s;&s;ary, as an antidote again&s;t that con|tagion which i&s;&s;uing out of the mouth of Hell pre|&s;umes mo&s;t impudently and impiou&s;ly to hide its ve|nome under the name and title of the
<HI>Holy Spirit:</HI> I could wi&s;h the Doctrine were for this end, more fully and &s;atisfactorily cleared to the mindes of men by the Pen of &s;ome more Judicious Writer; This mean Tract the Author in all humility acknowledges to be guilty of many defects and impertinencies, and him&s;elf one of the meane&s;t of the faithful and obedi|ent &s;ons of the Church: The &s;mall acceptance it &s;hall finde in the world, will be derived from your white Name and Vertue: in which Sanctuary it may e&s;cape the black-mouth'd Detractions of the Cen&s;o|rious, and re&s;t &s;ecure of the good acceptance, if not be|nefit of others.</P>
<P>May you be every day more happy in the in|crea&s;e<PB REF="23">of all Chri&s;tian vertues, growing up in the knowledge of God, and per&s;evering in the con&s;tant Profe&s;&s;ion of his holy Truth, and con&s;cientious pra|cti&s;e of the &s;ame, till you arrive at the Haven of true Happine&s;&s;e. This (Madam) &s;hall be the con|&s;tant endevour, and is the daily prayer</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Of your mo&s;t faithful and affectionate Servant in Chri&s;t, <HI>R. Sherlock.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="24">
<HEAD>ERRATA'S.</HEAD>
<P><TABLE>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="label">Pag.</CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label">Lin.</CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label">Read.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1</CELL>
<CELL>9</CELL>
<CELL>what</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>7</CELL>
<CELL>9</CELL>
<CELL>&s;ub&s;tance</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>21</CELL>
<CELL>20</CELL>
<CELL><HI>pa&s;tionis</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>58</CELL>
<CELL>9</CELL>
<CELL>con&s;ervation</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>74</CELL>
<CELL>5</CELL>
<CELL>a voice</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>9</CELL>
<CELL>the winde</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>10</CELL>
<CELL>His wil into their hearts</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>88</CELL>
<CELL>2</CELL>
<CELL>15 ch.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>91</CELL>
<CELL>17</CELL>
<CELL>to be offered</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>95</CELL>
<CELL>13</CELL>
<CELL>unlawful</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>96</CELL>
<CELL>17</CELL>
<CELL>to become</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>98</CELL>
<CELL>31</CELL>
<CELL>world</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>101</CELL>
<CELL>3</CELL>
<CELL>when</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>102</CELL>
<CELL>25</CELL>
<CELL>reciteth</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>104</CELL>
<CELL>5</CELL>
<CELL>our</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>106</CELL>
<CELL>4</CELL>
<CELL>unlearned</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>8</CELL>
<CELL>learning</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>14</CELL>
<CELL>who were honoured</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>107</CELL>
<CELL>5</CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>124</CELL>
<CELL>14</CELL>
<CELL>watchings</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>124</CELL>
<CELL>35</CELL>
<CELL>onmity</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>127</CELL>
<CELL>18</CELL>
<CELL>acts</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>128</CELL>
<CELL>11</CELL>
<CELL>con&s;cious</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>145</CELL>
<CELL>8</CELL>
<CELL><HI>Maximilla</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>148</CELL>
<CELL>5</CELL>
<CELL>no need of teaching</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>156</CELL>
<CELL>11</CELL>
<CELL>the&s;e.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>158</CELL>
<CELL>3</CELL>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>171</CELL>
<CELL>9</CELL>
<CELL>I</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>8</CELL>
<CELL>Levit.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>173</CELL>
<CELL>22</CELL>
<CELL>not nece&s;&s;ary</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>179</CELL>
<CELL>19</CELL>
<CELL>thus</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>193</CELL>
<CELL>1</CELL>
<CELL>to be contentious</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>30</CELL>
<CELL>&s;ick</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>201</CELL>
<CELL>32</CELL>
<CELL><HI>Photinus.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>212</CELL>
<CELL>13</CELL>
<CELL>by out</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>18</CELL>
<CELL>our</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>213</CELL>
<CELL>5</CELL>
<CELL>even</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>225</CELL>
<CELL>34</CELL>
<CELL>the&s;e</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>231</CELL>
<CELL>15</CELL>
<CELL>from</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>234</CELL>
<CELL>18</CELL>
<CELL>your</CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="introduction">
<PB N="1" REF="24">
<HEAD>The Introduction and general Heads of the en&s;uing Di&s;cour&s;e.</HEAD>
<P>NO Age hath ever brought forth more pretenders to the Spirit of God, then this wherein we live: And among&s;t this Ge|neration, there be many &s;o ignorant, that they know not what they mean by that Spirit, whereunto they &s;o much pretend: but blindfolded &s;uffer them&s;elves to be led by they know not whom, and with the hoodwinckt <HI>Samaritans,</HI> they <HI>wor&s;hip they know not whom.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 4.32.</NOTE> Who&s;e ignorance accompanied with exce&s;&s;ive pride of heart, which makes their ignorance the greater, that through pride they will not know, or acknowledge it: upon this ground the Devill hath &s;own his crop and reapt his Harve&s;t, even the cur&s;ed tares of many and &s;trong delu&s;ions: for that &s;ubtil Serpent full well knows how both ea&s;ily and powerfully to infinuate his Lyes and Errors into mindes un&s;etled, and not grounded in the knowledge of the Truth; So that mo&s;t tru|ly is that complaint of the Lord by his Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> verified of this people, <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 4.6.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 4
6.</NOTE> <HI>My peo|ple are de&s;troyed for lack of knowledge;</HI> even for lack of what they &s;o much boa&s;t of; That grand<PB N="2" REF="25">Enemy the Prince of Lyes, hath taken them in the very Net them&s;elves have made, even in the &s;nare of &s;elf-conceited knowledge, and holine&s;s, while&s;t
<HI>&s;uppo&s;ing them&s;elves wi&s;e they became fools.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.22.</NOTE> And pre|tending to the <HI>Spirit of God,</HI> whom they rightly know not, they are intrapt by the <HI>Spirit of Er|ror:</HI> and mi&s;erably &s;educed to the ruine of their &s;ouls.</P>
<P>Hence it is (chiefly, though not only hence) through ignorance intermixt with pride, that the Devill hath made &s;o great a harve&s;t of
<HI>tares</HI> over|growing and choaking the pure <HI>wheat</HI> of Truth:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13.25</NOTE> No Age of the Church having ever been &s;o fruitful in Here&s;ies and Errors; while&s;t the ever ble&s;&s;ed Name of the Spirit of God is abu&s;ed, by per&s;ons mo&s;t impudently pretending to him, that yet re|main ignorant of him; for had they known this Lord of life, it had not been po&s;&s;ible the &s;pirit of Delu&s;ion could have prevailed &s;o far with them, as to infix &s;o many Lyes, Impo&s;tures and Bla&s;phe|mies upon his &s;core; as therefore Saint <HI>Paul</HI> di|rected the <HI>Athenians</HI> to the knowledge of the true God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 17.23.</NOTE> whom they
<HI>ignorantly wor&s;hipped,</HI> and &s;o their pious intentions through ignorance degenerated in|to gro&s;&s;e Idolatries; &s;o it cannot but be an office both &s;ea&s;onable and charitable, as al&s;o of great benefit, and pre&s;ent nece&s;&s;ity, plainly to &s;et down and deliver the true Orthodoxal Doctrine of the Holy Gho&s;t, his Impre&s;&s;ions and Workings on the &s;ouls of man, that &s;o men may have a right under&s;tanding of this ever Ble&s;&s;ed Per&s;on of the the God-head &s;o much mi&s;taken, and his Sa|cred
<PB N="3" REF="25">Name (to the high offence of his Maje&s;ty) &s;o much profaned by impudent and fal&s;e pre|tences.</P>
<P>The Doctrine of the Holy Gho&s;t in re&s;pect both of his Per&s;on and Office, is by the <HI>Nicene Creed</HI> thus clearly and fully &s;et down, <HI>I beleeve in the Holy Gho&s;t, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth both from the Father and the Son, who to|gether with the Father and the Son is wor&s;hipped and glorified, who &s;pake by the Prophets.</HI> To give you my Comment upon this Text, were but to hold a candle to the Sun, the Doctrine delivered is &s;o clear and per&s;picuous. All that can be &s;aid upon this Article of our Chri&s;tian Faith is reducible to four heads.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Of the Per&s;on of the Holy Gho&s;t in him|&s;elfe.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Of his Office or Workings on the mindes of men.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. Of the trial of the true from fal&s;e &s;pirits.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. Of the means to be made partakers of the Spi|rit of Truth.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The two fir&s;t are doctrinal and <HI>&s;peculative</HI> points, for the rectifying and fitting the under&s;tanding rightly to conceive and beleeve aright this Article of Chri&s;tian Faith.</P>
<P>The two la&s;t are <HI>practical</HI> and applicatory for the guidance of our actions and Chri&s;tian performances according to this belief.</P>
<P><HI>And may this ever ble&s;&s;ed Spirit of God in|&s;pire and direct me to write, and all that read to<PB N="4" REF="26">under&s;tand, the divine, and cele&s;tial Doctrine both of his Per&s;on, and Office, to the illumination, and &s;anctification of our &s;ouls here, as the way to eter|nall &s;alvation hereafter.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<HEAD><PB N="5" REF="26">A DISCOURSE OF THE Holy Spirit.</HEAD>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. I. Of the Per&s;on of the Holy Gho&s;t in him&s;elf.</HEAD>
<P>THE more clearly to under&s;tand the Doctrine of the Spirit of God, it will be nece&s;&s;ary to u&s;e the light of &s;ome di&s;tinctions, for &s;o the naked and plain truth of any thing is mo&s;t clearly and di&s;tinctly &s;een, when namely, 'tis divided and di&s;tingui&s;ht from its conjunction with other things of the &s;ame or the like name and na|ture; which is the ground of that old Maxime, <HI>Qui bene di&s;tinguit bene docet,</HI> The way to teach well, or clearly to deliver any truth, is rightly to di&s;tingui&s;h that truth from other truths that are of near affinity thereunto either in name or nature; or in the words of the Apo&s;tle, which is the language of the Spirit of Truth, <HI>Rightly to divide the word of Truth,</HI> 2 <HI>Tim.</HI>
2.15.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.15.</NOTE> which was one of tho&s;e many qualifications of the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t, wherewithall they were immediately in&s;pired by this Spirit of Truth, for the propagation of the Go&s;pel; intimated in that he de&s;cen|ded from heaven upon them, in cloven or divided Tongues.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="distinction"> And fir&s;t that we mi&s;take not the creature for the Crea|tor, God over all ble&s;&s;ed for ever, we mu&s;t remember that a Spirit is either Create or Increate: or more plainly, &s;ometimes the word <HI>Spirit</HI> is in holy Scripture applyed to the
<HI>creature,</HI> &s;ometimes to the <HI>Creator.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="6" REF="27">There are &s;everal kindes of created &s;pirits; as <MILESTONE N="1"> 1. Tho&s;e glorious Inhabitants of the highe&s;t Heavens, the holy and ble&s;&s;ed Angels:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 1.14.</NOTE>
<HI>Are they not all mini&s;tring &s;pirits,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.14.
<MILESTONE N="2"> 2. Tho&s;e cur&s;ed inhabitants of the nether Hell, the chained Devils, <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, the Apo&s;tle &s;tyles them, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 6.12.</NOTE> 6.12.
<HI>Spiritual wickedne&s;&s;es,</HI> or <HI>wicked &s;pirits.</HI>
<MILESTONE N="3"> 3. The &s;ouls of men, which quicken and enliven the&s;e our frail and mortal bodies, every man being compo&s;ed of two natures, a body and a &s;oul,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 2.7.</NOTE> or fle&s;h and &s;pirit,
<HI>Gen.</HI> 2.7. <HI>And the Lord God formed man of the du&s;t of the earth,</HI> meaning his bo|dy, <HI>and breathed into his No&s;thrils the breath of life,</HI> meaning his &s;oul, and &s;o <HI>man became a living &s;oul,</HI> or living by his foul or &s;pirit, created, or infu&s;ed by God, into his earthly body. <MILESTONE N="4"> 4. The life and animation of each &s;en&s;itive creature; therefore we read,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 150.6.</NOTE>
<HI>P&s;al.</HI> 150.6. <HI>Let every thing that hath breath,</HI> or
<HI>&s;pirit, prai&s;e the Lord:</HI> All the&s;e are &s;everal kindes of created &s;pirits, &s;ome more, &s;ome le&s;&s;e pure, fine and &s;piritual.</P>
<P>But there is an increated Spirit al&s;o, who being neither made nor created in him&s;elf, is the great Maker and Crea|tor of all &s;pirits, and of all things; who being the prime Fountain and Original of all beeings, is &s;o eminent and tran&s;cendent a Beeing, that as he is in him&s;elf he only knows him&s;elf; nor is it po&s;&s;ible for us, or any creatures, who derive their beeing from him, to attain the perfect know|ledge of him; and therefore is he plea&s;ed in his holy Word, wherein he reveals him&s;elf unto us, to de&s;cribe him&s;elf by the names and properties of his excellent and mo&s;t eminent kinde of creatures, which are &s;pirits, &s;o that God is termed a Spirit <HI>Analogically,</HI> becau&s;e Angels or Spirits are the pure&s;t, fine&s;t, quicke&s;t, and mo&s;t active and intelligent beeings. But that we may not rank God with Angels or Spirits: (for he hath no match or equal) we mu&s;t learn this one ge|neral rule in Divinity: <HI>What&s;oever is &s;poken of God in the Scriptures, and withall is applyable to any creature, mu&s;t be un|der&s;tood of God</HI> eminenter, <HI>by way of eminency and tran&s;cendency, as the Prototype and grand Exemplar of that perfection which is applyed to the creature:</HI> As here Angels are Spirits, and
<PB N="7" REF="27">the &s;ouls of men are &s;pirits, but God is not a Spirit as they are &s;pirits, for he is the Fountain, the Original and all per|fect pattern of the Perfection and Purity of all created &s;pirits: therefore termed
<HI>the God of the &s;pirits of all fle&s;h,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 22
16.</NOTE> <HI>Numb.</HI> 22.16. and <HI>the Father of &s;pirits,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.9.</NOTE> <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.9.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="distinction"> That we may according to the Catholick Faith <HI>wor&s;hip one God in Trinity, and the Trinity in &V;nity, neither con|founding the Per&s;ons, nor dividing the Sub&s;tance;</HI> we mu&s;t rightly di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt the <HI>Sub&s;i&s;tence</HI> and the
<HI>Per&s;ons,</HI> or betwixt the <HI>E&s;&s;ence</HI> and
<HI>Sub&s;tance</HI> of God: which is ne|ce&s;&s;arily to be remembred and ob&s;erved in relation to the Article of Faith in hand: for &s;ometimes God is termed a Spirit <HI>E&s;&s;entially,</HI> in re&s;pect of his e&s;&s;ence, nature, or God|head: Sometimes <HI>Per&s;onally,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job.
4.24.</NOTE> the tearm being applyed to this or that particular per&s;on of the Godhead: 1. <HI>E&s;&s;enti|ally, Joh.</HI> 4.24. <HI>God is a Spirit,</HI> (that is, he is &s;uch a God who&s;e e&s;&s;ence, nature, or being is eminently and tran&s;cen|dently pure and &s;piritual). 2. <HI>Per&s;onally, Mat.</HI>
3.16. <HI>Mat.</HI> 4.1. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.30. &s;o here and in many other places the term is peculiarly appropriated and applyed to the third Per&s;on of the Trinity, who is tearmed <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">,
<HI>the Holy Spirit,</HI> or <HI>the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> for <HI>Gho&s;t</HI> and <HI>Spirit</HI> is the &s;ame, the one an old <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> word, the other a <HI>Latine.</HI></P>
<P>This Name and Attribute the <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> as it is particu|larly applyed to the third Per&s;on of the Trinity, expre&s;|&s;eth and &s;ets forth unto us his <HI>Per&s;on</HI> and <HI>Office,</HI> his Per&s;o|nal &s;ub&s;i&s;tence in him&s;elf, and his Office or working in re|lation to us.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. His Per&s;on in the term <HI>Spirit.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. His Office in the Attribute <HI>Holy;</HI></ITEM>
</LIST> <HI>Sanctus dicitur, quia &s;anctificat, &amp; Spiritus, quia &s;piratus.</HI> He is called <HI>the Holy Gho&s;t</HI> from his Office, which is to &s;anctifie, or make ho|ly, and the Spirit from his Per&s;on, which is &s;pired or pro|ceeding.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>the Holy</HI>] not holy only in re&s;pect of his Per&s;on, as is al&s;o the Father and the Son, which is implyed in that cele&s;tial <HI>Tri&s;agion</HI> perpetually &s;ung by the Quire of Heaven, to the glory of this ever ble&s;&s;ed Trinity, <HI>E&s;ai.</HI> 6.3. <HI>Holy,
<PB N="8" REF="28">holy, holy Lord God of ho&s;ts,</HI> &amp;c. Holy three times to denote the holine&s;s of all the three Per&s;ons of the God-head, Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Gho&s;t: But <HI>the Holy</HI> particularly and peculiarly in re&s;pect of his Office, which is to &s;ancti|fie and hallow mo&s;t e&s;pecially the hearts of men; as to God the Father is appropriate the Work of <HI>Creation,</HI> who is therefore called <HI>the Almighty;</HI> the Omnipotence or Al|mightine&s;s of God being mo&s;t apparent in the Creation of all things: And as to God the Son is appropriate the work of
<HI>Redemption,</HI> who is therefore called <HI>the word of God, Joh.</HI>
1.1. and <HI>the wi&s;dome of the Father,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.24. Gods manifold Wi&s;dome being made apparent in the Redemption of mankinde: for it is a my&s;terie which the very <HI>Angels</HI> them|&s;elves <HI>de&s;ire to look into,</HI> 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.12. Even &s;o the work of <HI>Sanctification</HI> is appropriated to the Holy Gho&s;t, who is therefore called <HI>the Holy One:</HI> Gods holine&s;&s;e being mo&s;t apparent in purifying and &s;anctifying the unhallowed &s;ouls of men. <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 10.17. <HI>And the light of I&s;rael &s;hall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bonav.</NOTE><HI>Spiritus Sanctus e&s;t lumen illu|minans, &s;anctus &s;anctificans, flamm&aacute;&abque; inflammans,</HI> The holy Gho&s;t is that Divine light which illuminates our darkened under&s;tandings; that Holy One who &s;anctifies our &s;ouls, and polluted hearts; that &s;acred and cele&s;tial fire, which in|flames our cold earthly affections, even as of old he enlight|ned, &s;anctified, and enflamed the minds of the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t, which was &s;ignified by his De&s;cen&s;ion, not only with a <HI>ru&s;hing winde,</HI> which purifies and clean&s;es, but al&s;o
<HI>in Tongues of fire,</HI> which warms and enlightens, <HI>Act.</HI>
2.23.</P>
<P><HI>The Spirit</HI>] not only
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, of a &s;piritual Nature, but
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, the Spirit, expre&s;&s;ing his Per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence received from the Father, and from the Son, by &s;piration and proce&s;&s;ion: Even as the &s;econd Per&s;on of the Trinity, receives his per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence from the Father only,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, by Generation, and is therefore called <HI>the Son of God. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten:</HI> So the Holy Gho&s;t receives his Per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence from the Father and from the Son
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, by proce&s;&s;ion or &s;pira|tion; and is therefore termed <HI>the Spirit of God. The Holy
<PB N="9" REF="28">Gho&s;t is from the Father and from the Son, not made, nor crea|ted, nor begotten, but proceeding;</HI> proceeding from the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 15.26. Gal. 2.6. Rom. 8.14.</NOTE> and therefore often termed
<HI>the Spirit of the Father:</HI> pro|ceeding from the Son, and therefore often termed <HI>the Spirit of the Son:</HI> proceeding both from the Father and the Son, and therefore termed <HI>the Spirit of God.</HI></P>
<P>And yet further in either of the&s;e terms, <HI>the Holy,</HI> and <HI>the Spirit,</HI> both the Per&s;onal <HI>E&s;&s;ence,</HI> and al&s;o the <HI>Office</HI> of the Holy Gho&s;t is implyed: For 1. he is therefore called <HI>the Holy,</HI> not only in re&s;pect of his Office, as before,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. 2. cap. 3.</NOTE> but al|&s;o in re&s;pect of his Per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence; for therefore &s;aith <HI>I&s;i|dore</HI> in his Originals is he called <HI>the Holy,</HI> becau&s;e he is the Coe&s;&s;ential and Con&s;ub&s;tantial holine&s;s of the Father and the Son. 2. He is therefore termed <HI>the Spirit</HI> not only in re&s;pect of his per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence as before: but al&s;o in re&s;pect of his Office, which is to in&s;pire and infu&s;e his divine and cele&s;tial ble&s;&s;ings into the &s;ouls of men.</P>
<P>And from the name al&s;o of this divine Per&s;on, [<HI>the Spi|rit</HI>] we are to take notice, and firmly believe: That <HI>the Holy Gho&s;t</HI> is of the &s;ame e&s;&s;ence, and con&s;ub&s;tantial with the Father, and the Son, and in all re&s;pects coaequal, and coaeternal: &s;o that as the Father is God, and the Son is God, &s;o the Holy Gho&s;t is God; and as the Father is Almighty, and the Son Almighty, &s;o is the Holy Gho&s;t Almighty: and &s;o of all the other Attributes of the God-head: where|upon all acts of divine wor&s;hip al&s;o are aequally due to the Holy Gho&s;t as to the Father, and the Son: <HI>Who together with the Father and the Son, is wor&s;hipped and glorified.</HI></P>
<P>The difference betwixt this <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> and the other &s;a|cred Per&s;ons of the God-head con&s;i&s;ts in 3 particulars.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That he is the third or la&s;t per&s;on of the God-head: the third not in dignity, but in order only; not in diver&s;ity of e&s;&s;ence, or inaequality of maje&s;ty, but in order of &s;ub&s;i&s;ting: which again&s;t <HI>Arrians, Socinians,</HI> &amp;c. is firmly to be be|lieved according to that Decree of the third Toletan Coun|cel, <HI>Quicun&abque; Spiritum &s;anctum non credit, aut non crediderit &agrave; Patre &amp; Filio procedere, eum&abque; non dixerit Patri &amp; Filio coaeternum e&s;&s;e, &amp; coe&s;&s;entialem, anathema &s;it;</HI> that is, who|&s;oever
<PB N="10" REF="29">doth not beleeve the Holy Gho&s;t (<HI>viz.</HI> to be a real true &s;ub&s;i&s;ting per&s;on) and doth not believe him al&s;o to proceed from the Father, and the Son, and to be with the Father, and the Son coaeternal, and con&s;ub&s;tantial: Let him be accur&s;ed.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. The &s;econd Difference, is the way of this holy Per|&s;ons &s;ub&s;i&s;ting, <HI>viz.</HI> By &s;piration from the Father, and the Son: Touching the manner whereof, we mu&s;t &s;ay as the Pro|phet
<HI>I&s;aiah</HI> doth of the Sons generation from the Father, <HI>I&s;ai.</HI>
53.8. <HI>Who &s;hall declare his generation?</HI> 'Tis not only in|effable, not to be declared, but unconceivable al&s;o: The heart of man conceives it not, neither can the tongue of men or Angels expre&s;s it.
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE><HI>Inter illam generationem &amp; hanc proce&s;&s;ionem di&s;tinguere ne|&s;cio, non valeo, non &s;ufficio, quia &amp; illa, &amp; i&s;ta e&s;t ineffabilis,</HI> (that is) to di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt the Generation of God the Son, and the Proce&s;&s;ion of God the Holy Gho&s;t is impo&s;&s;i|ble, becau&s;e both the one and other be for the manner thereof un&s;peakable.</P></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. But thirdly, <HI>Hoc autem intere&s;t,</HI> &s;aith
<HI>I&s;idore,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;id. ibid.</NOTE><HI> inter na&s;cen|tem filium,</HI> &amp;c. betwixt the Son of Gods generation, and the Spirit of Gods proce&s;&s;ion, there is this difference indeed, That the Son is from the Father alone; but the Holy Gho&s;t is both from the Father and the Son; <HI>procedens, non geni|tus, &amp;c.</HI> proceeding, not begotten, to di&s;tingui&s;h him from the Son; proceeding, not unbegotten, to di&s;tingui&s;h him from the Father; the which we are to ob&s;erve, le&s;t contra|ry to the true Catholick Faith, we &s;hould admit either of two Sons, or two Fathers in the ever ble&s;&s;ed Trinity; or any way confound the &s;everal Per&s;ons therein, as if they were not di&s;tinct each from other really, but nominally only, and in relation to us, which was the error of the
<HI>Patripa&s;&s;ians</HI> and others, &s;truck at by that clau&s;e of the
<HI>Athana&s;ian</HI> Creed; <HI>&s;o there is one Father, not three Fathers, one Son, not three Sons, one Holy Gh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t, not three Holy Gho&s;ts.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="distinction"> Thirdly, that we may not confound the Per&s;on, and the Office of this ever ble&s;&s;ed Spirit of God, but rightly under&s;tand what is meant, by <HI>receiving the holy Gho&s;t,
<PB N="11" REF="29">being filled with the Holy Gho&s;t;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act 9.2. P&s;al. 2.4. Heb. 6.4.</NOTE> and <HI>made partakers of the Ho|ly Gho&s;t;</HI> and all Scriptures which &s;peak of <HI>having the Spi|rit,</HI> being <HI>endued with the Spirit,</HI> and the like, we mu&s;t in the third place rightly di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt the <HI>Per&s;onal E&s;|&s;ence</HI> of the Spirit, and the <HI>impre&s;&s;ions</HI> or
<HI>workings</HI> of this Spirit upon the mindes of men.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rac. catec.</NOTE> It was the error of the <HI>Ma|cedonians, Samo&s;atenians</HI> of old, and of <HI>Socinians</HI> of late: that by the Spirit of God is meant no other but <HI>virtus &s;eu efficacia, qu&acirc; homines fideles &s;anctificantur &amp; divinis u&s;i|bus con&s;ecrantur, i.e.</HI> That vertue or efficacy, whereby faith|full men are &s;anctified, and con&s;ecrate to divine offices. And oppo&s;ite to this extreme, many now a dayes run into the other, mi&s;taking, and mi&s;terming the efficacies, and vertues of the Spirit, for the per&s;on of the Spirit him&s;elf: the holy orthodox truth lies coucht up betwixt the&s;e two extremes, while&s;t neither on the one hand we pre&s;ume to annihilate the per&s;onal being of the Spirit, as if he were no more but a vertue, or influence upon the creature: nor yet on the other hand mi&s;take the influences of the Spirit, for his e&s;&s;ential &s;ub&s;i&s;ting per&s;on.</P>
<P>And when you read in holy Scriptures of <HI>being filled with the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> or <HI>made partakers of the Spirit of God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 8.17. Eph. 5.18. Wi&s;d. 1. P&s;al. 139.</NOTE> is not to be under&s;tood of the Spirit in re&s;pect of his Per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence; for thus he filleth the world, and contains all things, being really exi&s;tent and pre&s;ent in, and with all things and creatures, giving unto all their life and breath, and all things: <HI>In whom we live, and move, and have our be|ing,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 17.</NOTE> viz. by his inexi&s;ting pre&s;ence, and this in re&s;pect of his Per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence. If we &s;hould &s;ay then, that the Spirit of God is in his Saints and &s;ervants here upon earth in a greater mea&s;ure then in other men, Per&s;onally, and in re&s;pect of his E&s;&s;ence, we &s;hould &s;o divide and con&s;e|quently define, and limit the E&s;&s;ence of God, which is un|divided, infinite and unlimited, &s;ee <HI>Jer.</HI> 23.23. <HI>Am I a God at hand, and not a God a far off? Can any hide him&s;elf in &s;e|cret places, that I &s;hould not &s;ee him, for do not I fill Heaven and Earth, &s;aith the Lord?</HI> Thus then tho&s;e Scripture phra&s;es of <HI>receiviag the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. are not to be under&s;tood of<PB N="12" REF="30">the Spirit in re&s;pect of his Per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence, which is undi|vided, unlimited and filleth all things, and &s;o not one man more then another. But 2. In re&s;pect of his impre&s;&s;ions and workings on the &s;ouls of men, in re&s;pect of his gifts and graces, which are various and divers, and carry their name from the cau&s;e or Author of them;
<HI>There are di|ver&s;ity of gifts, but the &s;ame Spirit,</HI> 1
<HI>Cor.</HI> 12.4. where the Spirit is plainly di&s;tingui&s;hed from his gifts, as the cau&s;e from the effect, the workman from the work of his hands; or as the body of the Sun is di&s;tingui&s;hed from the light and heat which is darted and di&s;played from it. And where|as it is &s;aid the <HI>Spirit is but one,</HI> but <HI>his gifts are divers,</HI> we may hence ob&s;erve; that if we &s;hould confound the Spirit of God with the gifts and qualifications di&s;pen&s;ed from him, we &s;hould be &s;o far from acknowledging and wor&s;hipping the true God, which is but one, that we &s;hould fall into that gro&s;&s;e Idolatry of the Heathens of old, making as ma|ny Spirits of God, as they made gods, who deified the mo|ral vertues, and wor&s;hipped their &s;everal vertuous qualifi|cations as gods.</P>
<P>The unwary neglect of this di&s;tinction, betwixt the per|&s;on and qualifications of Gods Spirit, is that very rock where|upon many a mi&s;guided and un&s;table &s;oul, hath &s;uffered the &s;hipwrack of the true Chri&s;tian Faith; for being by the cun|ning &s;ugge&s;tion of the &s;pirit of Lyes once per&s;waded in their hearts, that they have the Spirit of God, and that per&s;onal|ly abiding in them, they are hereupon puft up with &s;uch an exce&s;&s;ive &s;piritual pride, and &s;elf-conceited eminence, as not only to exalt them&s;elves above, and de&s;pi&s;e their Chri|&s;tian brethren, who are better qualified, then them&s;elves: but even to extol them&s;elves above the heavens, and mo&s;t bla&s;phemou&s;ly to profe&s;&s;e and boa&s;t of an equality with God; a bla&s;phemy however 'tis &s;alved and minc't, that cannot be paralleld, but with that originall pride of the Devil, <HI>He &s;aid in his heart, I will be like the mo&s;t High:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3.</NOTE> and to this he tempted our fir&s;t Parents, per&s;wading them to rebel again&s;t their Maker, and become <HI>as Gods</HI> them&s;elves, <HI>knowing good and evil;</HI> this was the very &s;in, that hurled <HI>Lucifer</HI> like
<PB N="13" REF="30">Lightning from Heaven, his pride and pre&s;umption to be like the mo&s;t High, and therefore with all his Apo&s;tate crew he is now
<HI>re&s;erved in everla&s;ting chains under darkne&s;&s;e, to the judgement of the Great day.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jude 6.</NOTE> And for our new Sect of
<HI>En|thu&s;ia&s;ts,</HI> had they the Spirit of God, as they pretend, abiding in them, and &s;peaking in them Per&s;onally and E&s;&s;entially, this bla&s;phemy mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily follow, that they are equal with God, in re&s;pect of the Spirit in them, as them&s;elves affirm it, though not as
<HI>George Robert,</HI> &amp;c. To avoid which bla&s;phemy and many other ab&s;urd and wicked opinions of the like nature, which would follow thereupon, and wherwith too many un&s;table &s;ouls are now infected, we mu&s;t remember that to have the Spirit in the language of the Scripture, is not to be under&s;tood of his per&s;onal E&s;&s;ence, but of his qualifications.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e this di&s;tinction is very material, as to the many pre&s;ent delu&s;ions, under pretence of the Spirit: 'twill be nece&s;&s;ary therefore to clear it by &s;ome Scripture expre&s;|&s;ions, in this kinde: 'tis an ordinary piece of Rhetorick, and an u&s;ual figure in the dialect of the Scripture, to call <HI>the gifts</HI> and
<HI>qualifications</HI> of Gods holy Spirit, by the name of <HI>the Spirit,</HI> as <HI>Exod.</HI> 31.2,3. <HI>Behold, I have called by name</HI> Bezaleel, <HI>the &s;on of</HI> Uri, &amp;c.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod.
31.2,3.</NOTE> <HI>whom I have filled with the Spirit of God,</HI> (that is) with the gifts of the Spirit, for it followes, <HI>in all wi&s;dome and under&s;tanding and knowledg, and in all workman&s;hip:</HI> &s;o
<HI>Numb.</HI> 11.17. <HI>I will come down and talk with thee, and take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and put upon them, and they &s;hall bear the burthen with thee:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 11.17.</NOTE> where what el&s;e can po&s;&s;ibly be meant, by the Spirit which was upon <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to be put upon the El|ders, but that they &s;hould partake of the &s;ame &s;piritual gifts with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> enfitting them to bear the burthen with him, as to the admini&s;tration of ju&s;tice among&s;t the people, even the gifts of wi&s;dom, under&s;tanding and knowledg, impartially, and without re&s;pect of per&s;ons to execute ju&s;tice and judge|ment: &s;o <HI>the Spirit of the Lord &s;hall re&s;t upon him, I&s;ai.</HI> 11.2. the gifts of the Spirit, for &s;o it followes, <HI>The &s;pirit of wi&s;|dome and under&s;tanding, the &s;pirit of coun&s;ell and &s;trength, the &s;pirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord.</HI> He then that is a wi&s;e man may be &s;aid in the language
<PB N="14" REF="31">of the Spirit which is the Scripture, <HI>to have the Spirit of the Lord upon him,</HI> or <HI>to have the Spirit of God;</HI> becau&s;e the wi&s;dome he hath is from Gods Spirit, it comes down from above, and the means to fetch it thence is holy prayer: <HI>If any man lacks wi&s;dome, let him aske of God who giveth,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Jam.</HI> 1.5. So the wi&s;e&s;t of men <HI>obtained wi&s;dome,</HI> 1 <HI>King.</HI> 3.9. His prayer which brought her down from Heaven is recor|ded, <HI>Wi&s;d.</HI> 9. And the &s;ame may be &s;aid of coun&s;el, godli|ne&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> therefore the&s;e graces are termed from the cau&s;e and Author of them,
<HI>The &s;pirit of wi&s;dome, the &s;pirit of god|line&s;&s;e,</HI> &amp;c. So
<HI>Zach.</HI> 12.10. <HI>I will pour upon the hou&s;e of</HI> Da|vid, <HI>and inhabitants of</HI> Hieru&s;alem <HI>the &s;pirit of grace and &s;up|plication,</HI> (that is) by my Spirit I will enrich their &s;ouls, with the grace of piety and devotion, to be frequent and fervent in prayers and &s;upplications, according to the Apo|&s;tles admonition, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI>
6.18. <HI>Praying with all manner of prayer and &s;upplication in the &s;pirit:</HI> (that is) not only in the fervency and godly zeal of our own &s;ouls, or &s;pirits; but al&s;o praying thus in, or from the powerful influence of Gods Spirit, who inflames our own cold fro&s;ty devotions, and a&s;&s;i&s;ts our frailties in prayer; we pray in the &s;pirit, when both our prayers are the voice of our &s;pirits, and our &s;pirits are al&s;o taught and &s;anctified <HI>by Gods Spirit,</HI> as <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.15. <HI>For ye have not received the &s;pirit of bondage unto fear, but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father: Clamamus nos,</HI> &s;aith
<HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. lib. de cor. &amp; grat.</NOTE> we cry, not the Spirit; but <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.6. 'tis &s;aid the Spirit within us,
<HI>And becau&s;e ye are Sons, God hath &s;ent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts which cryeth Abba Father:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nos clamamus, &s;ed in &s;piritu, ip&s;o &s;cil. diffun|dente charita|tem in cordibus no&s;tris, &s;ine qu&acirc; quicun&abque; cla|mat, inaniter clamat. Aug. de verbis Dom. &s;ec. Matt &s;er.
11.</NOTE> <HI>Non hic ait, &amp;c.</HI> &s;aith the Father, he &s;aith not here as in the former place, <HI>by whom we cry,</HI> but the <HI>Spirit</HI> him&s;elf cryeth, <HI>quo efficitur ut cla|memus nos;</HI> for what el&s;e is
<HI>clamans &s;piritus in nobis,</HI> but <HI>cla|mantes nos faciens?</HI> The Spirit crying in our hearts is no other, but that he makes us by the vertue of his grace to cry unto God the Father, and pour forth our &s;ouls before him in prayer: which is al&s;o the meaning of that mi&s;apply|ed text again&s;t forms of prayer, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.26. <HI>The Spirit like|wi&s;e helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we &s;hould pray<PB N="15" REF="31">for as we ought: but the Spirit it &s;elf maketh interce&s;&s;ion for us, with groanings which cannot be expre&s;&s;ed:</HI> We know not what we ought to pray, he could not be ignorant, &s;aith the Father, of the Lords Prayer,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> neither could they be igno|rant of it, to whom he &s;aid thus, but &s;uch and &s;o pre&s;&s;ing are our infirmities, that fir&s;t many times we know not <HI>what</HI> to aske for in relation to our bodies and outward e&s;tates, &s;ometimes even praying for what is harmful, or at lea&s;t not at all profitable for us; and this infirmity of ours the Holy Gho&s;t helps, by the precepts and promi&s;es and forms of Prayer recorded in the word of God, which are the di|ctates of the Spirit: And many times 2. We know not
<HI>How</HI> to ask, for what is needfull, by rea&s;on of the dulne&s;s and deadne&s;s, and fro&s;ty coldne&s;s of our hearts; and this infirmity the Spirit helps, by quickning our devotion, as it followes, <HI>The Spirit maketh reque&s;t for us,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. epi&s;t. ed Sixt. presb.</NOTE><HI>Quid e&s;t enim in|terpellat, ni&s;i interpellare nos facit?</HI> what el&s;e can be the meaning of this, <HI>The Spirit makes interce&s;&s;ion for us,</HI> but that he makes us to intercede for our &s;elves, by his grace &s;e|cretly and un&s;peakably enlivening our devotions; &s;o that even with penitent and fervent &s;ighs and holy breathings after God we pour forth our prayers before him: &s;o <HI>Mat.</HI> 10.20. <HI>It is not you that &s;peaks, but the Spirit of your Father which &s;peaketh in you.</HI> Where the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Gods holy Spirit with us, is &s;o expre&s;t, &s;aith <HI>Augu&s;tine, &V;t ip&s;e facere dicitur, quod ut faciamus facit,</HI> He is &s;aid to do that him&s;elf in us which by his grace he &s;tirs us up to do. As there|fore no man can be wi&s;e, without the &s;pirit of wi&s;dome, nor knowing without the Spirit of knowledge, nor godly without the &s;pirit of goldine&s;s, nor charitable without the &s;pirit of love; &s;o no man can pray as he ought, without the &s;pirit of prayer and &s;upplication, not that there are &s;o many kindes of &s;pirits as the&s;e, but all the&s;e <HI>worketh one and the &s;ame &s;pirit dividing to every man &s;everally as he will,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.11.</P>
<P>From the meaning of all which places, and many more which might be alledged, 'tis manife&s;t that by the Spirit in us, is not meant the Spirit of God in him&s;elf, but in his<PB N="16" REF="32">graces:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> for how can the Spirit of God, who is (&s;aith the Fa|ther) one perfect and eternal beatitude with the Father and the Son, be &s;aid in him&s;elf, or according to him&s;elf, per&s;onal|ly to &s;peak, to &s;igh, to cry, to pray in us? no otherwi&s;e &s;urely but as by his gifts and graces we are enabled to &s;peak the truth, to &s;igh and breath after God, to cry unto him in the fervency of our &s;ouls, and devoutly to pour forth our prayers before him.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. Of the workings of the holy Spirit upon the mindes of men.</HEAD>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="general"> THE impre&s;&s;ions or workings of the Spirit of God upon the &s;ouls of men, are various and divers; Eve|ry thought, motion, and de&s;ire; every aptitude, prone|ne&s;&s;e and inclination; every faculty, power and ability, con|ducing either to the good of our &s;elves, or others, is from the Spirit of God, who di&s;tributes his &s;everal qualificati|ons, to &s;everal per&s;ons, and that &s;everally, even in &s;everal waies and kindes; to &s;ome in one kinde, to others in ano|ther, to &s;ome more, to &s;ome le&s;&s;e. <HI>&V;nto every one of us is given grace according to the mea&s;ure of the gift of Chri&s;t, Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.7.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Per hoc tollitur error attribuen|tium diver&s;i|tatem donorum Fato, vel con|&s;tellationibus, vel humano me|rito, &amp; non di|vinae voluntati &s;icut primae cau&s;ae.</HI> Lyr. in Loc.</NOTE> or <HI>according to the mea&s;ure of the Spirit,</HI> who is the gift of Chri&s;t. And this mea&s;ure whereby he di&s;tributes his gifts, is no other but the coun&s;el of his own will; for men are not <HI>wi&s;e, vertuous, charitable,</HI> &amp;c. by nece&s;&s;ity of <HI>Fate,</HI> or by the influence of <HI>&s;tars,</HI> nor yet for any their <HI>merits,</HI> or de|&s;erts, but of Gods good plea&s;ure, by the influence of his <HI>holy Spirit, who divideth to every man &s;everally as he wil,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.11.</P>
<P><HI>As he will</HI>] under this
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, 4 particulars are implied:
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>To whom, what, when</HI> and
<HI>where,</HI> he will: in all the&s;e re&s;pects the influences of <HI>Gods Spirit</HI> are free: <HI>The winde bloweth where it li&s;teth; &s;o is every one that is born of the Sporit, Joh.</HI> 3.8. But yet as the winde though it
<PB N="17" REF="32">blow upon all places alike within its circuit, yet are not all places alike aired, and filled with the winde, becau&s;e all places are not alike capable of it: &s;o the holy Spirit di&s;tri|butes to every one his mea&s;ure of gifts, but yet not to all alike, but to &s;ome more plentifully, to others with a &s;maller &s;cantling: and this according as he findes the hearts of men, more or le&s;s &s;oft and plyable, capable and enfitted to re|ceive his impre&s;&s;ions;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr.</NOTE> <HI>In quo quis animum intendit, in eo ac|cipit donum,</HI> according to the intention and pliablene&s;s of the minde to this or that &s;tudy, or imployment, whether divine or moral; accordingly &s;o doth the holy Gho&s;t com|municate his gifts and ble&s;&s;ings thereupon.</P>
<P>All the&s;e &s;everal workings of the Spirit, though they be &s;o numerous as that they cannot be ea&s;ily reckoned up; (there being more points of this heavenly winde, then there is in the Compa&s;s which is &s;et and ordered by the winde which bloweth in the air) yet unto two general heads they are all reducible:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Graces.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"></NOTE></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Gifts.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"></NOTE></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>There are two principal faculties of the rea&s;onable &s;oul,
<HI>the &V;nder&s;tanding,</HI> and <HI>the Will:</HI> Both which are naturally maimed by the fall of <HI>Adam: ignorance</HI> and <HI>error</HI> invading the under&s;tanding: <HI>di&s;obedience</HI> and <HI>rebellion</HI> the will. To rectifie this twofold di&s;order by nature, the &s;upernatural a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the <HI>holy Gho&s;t,</HI> is required: who by his cele&s;tial Gifts illuminates and clears the under&s;tanding; and by his holy Graces &s;ubdues the rebellion of the will, and purifies the uncleanne&s;s of the affections.</P>
<P>The one more immediately relates to the &s;ervice of
<HI>God,</HI> the other to the benefit of <HI>man:</HI> For,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. By the <HI>Graces</HI> of Gods Spirit we are &s;anctified, and enabled rightly to &s;erve God. And,</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. By his <HI>Gifts</HI> we are qualified, and enabled to edifie one another.</ITEM>
</LIST> By the fir&s;t we are made good <HI>Chri&s;tians:</HI> by the &s;econd we are made good and profitable <HI>Mini&s;ters.</HI> Both of the&s;e are called <HI>Habits,</HI> either becau&s;e they make us habile, and fit to di&s;cern and ta&s;te things divine, and<PB N="18" REF="33">heavenly: or
2. Becau&s;e as Habits clothe, and adorn the bo|dy; &s;o the&s;e divine Gifts and Graces do poli&s;h, adorn and enrich the &s;oul.</P>
<P>And the&s;e two kindes of the holy Spirits qualifications are repre&s;ented unto us by tho&s;e two types or figures of the Spirits de&s;cen&s;ion upon the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t; the one of <HI>the winde, Act.</HI> 2.2. and the other of <HI>the fire,</HI> ver&s;. 3. By the
<HI>winde</HI> were repre&s;ented tho&s;e divine and cele&s;tial graces, wherewithal the Apo&s;tles were endued, and whereby the &s;ouls of men are air'd, cleans'd, and purified, and &s;o &s;anctified to the &s;acred &s;ervice of God; and by the <HI>fire</HI> was repre&s;ented the gifts they were enriched withall, for the enlightning of the mindes, and enflaming the affections of others.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. III. Of the Graces of the holy Spirit.</HEAD>
<P>THE fir&s;t kinde of the holy Spirits impre&s;&s;ions, are his
<HI>graces</HI> repre&s;ented by the <HI>winde, Joh.</HI> 3.8. <HI>The winde blow|eth where it li&s;teth, and thou knowe&s;t not whence it comes, nor whi|ther it goeth, &s;o is every one that is born of the &s;pirit.</HI> As the winde being a pure, &s;ine, thin, &s;ubtil nature, is invi&s;ible, we perceive it not; neither can we conceive whence it comes; or whither it goes; all the perception we have of the winde is by its effects and operations; when it moves the air, to&s;&s;es the clouds, &s;hakes the trees, rai&s;es the du&s;t of the earth, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> nay &s;o active and &s;ubtil a thing is the winde, that if it act not, we &s;ay, it is not: when nothing is moved or &s;tirred by the winde; we &s;ay, there is no winde: &s;o is every one <HI>that is born of the Spirit;</HI> (that is) every one who&s;e &s;oul is animated and actuated by the graces of Gods Spirit: For 1. the workings of the Spirit of grace within us, are quick and in&s;en&s;ible, 'tis unconceivable, how, and in what
<PB N="19" REF="33">manner he works upon our hearts: Only, 2. we know him by his effects and workings: as when he moves and en|clines the &s;oul to what is holy, ju&s;t, and good; or when he &s;hakes the heart into contrition, compunction, and godly &s;orrow for &s;in; or when he rai&s;eth the minde out of the du&s;t, and rubbi&s;h of earthly vanities, and mounts it upon the wings of heavenly de&s;ires and meditations, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And 3. as when we &s;ee no &s;tirring, no moving of the air, but all is calm and &s;till, we &s;ay there is no winde: &s;o when there is no good motions or de&s;ires within us, no inclinations to piety, or charity, no godly contrition for &s;in, no ri&s;ing of the minde towards heaven, nor breathing after things divine and heavenly; we may well &s;ay, that &s;oul is becalmed, the Spirit of God is not there, neither hath the heavenly winde of the Almighty breathed therein.</P>
<P>The&s;e <HI>graces</HI> of Gods Spirit, repre&s;ented by the
<HI>winde,</HI> are the very e&s;&s;entials, the very life and being, the very &s;pirit and &s;oul of true Chri&s;tianity; and are as nece&s;&s;ary to the be|ing of a good Chri&s;tian, in the <HI>life of grace,</HI> as is the
<HI>natural winde,</HI> or breath of his No&s;thrils to his being, and living the <HI>life of nature;</HI> therefore we are termed <HI>the Body of Chri&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 12.5.</NOTE> the &s;oul that animates us, being the <HI>grace of his Spirit;</HI> and eve|ry man therefore that hath the name of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> called upon him, is but <HI>nominis Chri&s;tiani extrin&s;ecus &s;uperficies,</HI> an em|pty out&s;ide &s;uperficial chri&s;tian, that is not in &s;ome mea|&s;ure endued with his graces: To all per&s;ons it nece&s;&s;arily belongs to be partakers of them; whether Pa&s;tor or people, Lay or Clergy, gifted or ungifted men; whether we have the gifts of the Spirit or no, we mu&s;t not be de&s;titute of his graces; but upon all hearts this heavenly winde mu&s;t blow, to purifie and clean&s;e, to air and dry up the &s;uperfluous naughtine&s;&s;e of our natures, that &s;o our
<HI>&s;ouls</HI> and <HI>bodies</HI> may be <HI>the temples of the holy Gho&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 6.16.</NOTE> even by the grace of Gods Spirit devoted and con&s;ecrated to the &s;acred &s;ervice of his heavenly Maje&s;ty.</P>
<P>A Catalogue of the&s;e &s;piritual graces we have recorded,
<HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22. for they are the &s;ame which are there termed
<PB N="20" REF="34">[the fruits of the Spirit] <HI>The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-&s;uffering, gentlene&s;&s;e, goodne&s;&s;e, faith, meekne&s;&s;e, tem|perance, again&s;t &s;uch there is no Law.</HI> The&s;e are called <HI>the fruits of the Spirit</HI> for two rea&s;ons.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Becau&s;e as material fruits grow not, but upon trees; neither do the&s;e graces grow in the &s;oul, but upon the tree of life,
<HI>Joh.</HI> 14.4,5. <HI>As the branch cannot bear fruit of it &s;elf, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me; I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the &s;ame bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. As material fruits are to the body and corporal ta&s;te, &s;o are the fruits of the Spirit to the &s;oul, they are both plea&s;ant and delight&s;ome, and al&s;o &s;atisfie and feed the &s;oul unto life eternal;</ITEM>
</LIST> therefore it is &s;aid, <HI>again&s;t &s;uch there is no Law;</HI> there's no law can condemn &s;uch, as bring forth the&s;e fruits in their lives and conver&s;ations, as <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.1. <HI>Now then there is no condemnation to them that are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, which walk not after the fle&s;h but after the &s;pirit.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. Of the Gifts of the holy Spirit.</HEAD>
<P>THE &s;econd kinde of the holy Spirits impre&s;&s;ions on humane &s;ouls, are his <HI>gifts:</HI> repre&s;ented by the <HI>fire, Mat.</HI> 3.11.
<HI>He &s;hall baptize you with the holy Gho&s;t and with fire,</HI> (that is) he &s;hall endow and &s;prinkle the &s;ouls of men, with &s;uch gifts of the holy Gho&s;t, as are by fire repre&s;ented, <HI>viz.</HI> gifts which like unto fire, &s;hall be effectual and power|ful to enlighten the under&s;tandings, melt the hearts, and enflame the affections and de&s;ires of men.</P>
<P>And as the fire burns not for it &s;elf, but for the light and warmth of others; &s;o the gifts of the Spirit are imparted to the &s;ons of men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5.15.</NOTE> <HI>not to be hidden like a lighted candle under a<PB N="21" REF="34">bu&s;hel,</HI> not to be wrapt up in a retired ob&s;curity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 19.20.</NOTE> with <HI>the ta|lent of the unprofitable &s;ervant in a napkin;</HI> but to be imploy|ed to appear, to &s;hine forth and manife&s;t them&s;elves for the profit, benefit, and edification of others:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui renuunt do|na &s;piritus impertiri ali|is, quae non pro &s;e &s;ed pro a|liis acceperunt, ip&s;a &s;ili ple|rumq<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> dona adimunt;
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">un&abque; &s;ua &amp; non aliorum lu|cra cogitant, ip|&s;is &s;e quae priva|ta hab re appe|tunt bonis pri|vant.</HI> Greg. de cur. pa&s;t. p. 1. c. 5.</NOTE> <HI>He therefore who hath received the gifts of the Spirit, which are given,</HI> &s;aith the Father, <HI>not for him&s;elf only, but for the benefit of others al&s;o, by refu&s;ing to impart them unto others, he deprives him&s;elf of the u&s;e and efficacy of them: For while&s;t he meditates his own pri|vate benefit only, and not the good of others al&s;o, it is ju&s;t with God to rob him of what he covets to enjoy in private, &s;ince he ought to have communicated the &s;ame:</HI> &s;o the unprofitable &s;ervant, which laid up his talent in a napkin, had the &s;ame ju&s;tly taken from him, <HI>Luk.</HI> 19.24. For it is a manife&s;t &s;ign; that there is no true love of God in that heart, who im|ploys not the gifts he hath received from God, to the ad|vancement of his &s;ervice and benefit of his people according to his command: therefore &s;aid our Lord unto <HI>Peter, Joh.</HI> 21.15. Simon <HI>&s;on of</HI> Jonas
<HI>love&s;t thou me? he an&s;wered, Yea Lord, thou knowe&s;t that I love thee: he &s;aith unto him, Feed my lambs.</HI> Whereupon, &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Si cura pa&s;&s;ionis e&s;t dile|ctionis te&s;timonium, &amp;c.</HI> If our feeding, or teaching the peo|ple of Chri&s;t, be a &s;ign of our love unto Chri&s;t, then he who is qualified for this office by the <HI>gifts</HI> of the Spirit, and neg|lects the feeding the flock of Chri&s;t thereby; is manife&s;tly convinced not to love Chri&s;t him&s;elf, the chief &s;hepherd of our &s;ouls: <HI>For the love of Chri&s;t con&s;traineth us, that &s;ince Chri&s;t dyed for all, that they which live &s;hould not henceforth live to them&s;elves,</HI> &amp;c. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI>
5.14,15.</P>
<P>The&s;e <HI>Gifts</HI> of the Spirit are therefore called
<HI>the manife|&s;tations of the Spirit,</HI> as &s;hewing what the end and intent of their donation from the Spirit is; <HI>viz. to profit withall,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>In ip&s;a corporis po&s;itione accipi|mus quod in actione &s;erve|mu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> nimisita&abque; turpe e&s;t non i|mitari quod &s;u|mus.</HI> Greg. de cur. pa&s;t. p. 3.</NOTE> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.7. <HI>But the manife&s;tation of the Spirit, is given to every man to profit withall:</HI> As the end and u&s;e of the &s;everal parts of the body, is neither to be idle, nor yet to be imployed for it &s;elf only, as the eye is to &s;ee, and yet not for it &s;elf only, but for the direction of the hands, feet, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> the feet are to walk, and yet not for them&s;elves only, but al&s;o for the eyes, hands,
<HI>&amp;c.</HI> Even &s;o the end and u&s;e of the &s;everal gifts of Gods
<PB N="22" REF="35">Spirit, to &s;everal members of Chri&s;ts body, &s;everally, is both that they &s;hould be imploy'd, and imployed too, not only for private u&s;e, but-for the mutual benefit and edification each of other;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.</NOTE> as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> at large in the &s;ame chapter: the main &s;ubject whereof is the gifts of the Spirit; a cata|logue whereof you have ver&s;. 9, 10, 11. <HI>To one is given by the Spirit the word of wi&s;dome, to another the word of knowledge by the &s;ame Spirit, to another faith by the &s;ame Spirit,</HI> &amp;c. where by the way ob&s;erve,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Note.</NOTE>In that <HI>Faith</HI> is in this place reckoned among&s;t the <HI>gifts of the Spirit,</HI> and in the former place, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22. among&s;t <HI>the fruits or graces of the Spirit,</HI> that we may not confound the graces of God for &s;anctification, with his gifts for edification, we mu&s;t remember that there is a twofold
<HI>Faith,</HI> the one <HI>doctrinal, &s;peculative,</HI> and <HI>notionary, viz.</HI> a right under&s;tanding and firm belief of the &s;everall Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith, and &s;o it's a <HI>gift of Gods Spirit,</HI> and in this place rankt among&s;t them.</P>
<P>The other kinde of Faith is <HI>practical</HI> and
<HI>obediential, viz.</HI> the &s;quaring, regulating, and ordering of our lives and acti|ons, according to the principles, precepts, and commands of the Doctrinal Faith of Chri&s;t, and &s;o it is <HI>a grace of Gods Spirit,</HI> and rankt among&s;t them in the former place.</P>
<P>The gifts of the Spirit being principally and chiefly in|tended for the benefit and profit of others; though every man therefore, whether Lay or Clergy, Mini&s;ter or People, may and ought to u&s;e all means to be in &s;ome good mea&s;ure made partakers of them, for his own private direction, in the wayes of wi&s;dome and true godline&s;s; yet for the pub|lique in&s;truction of others, after an e&s;pecial and peculiar man|ner, they concern the Mini&s;try of the Go&s;pel, <HI>viz.</HI> &s;uch per|&s;ons whom God fir&s;t extraordinarily and miraculou&s;ly, &s;ince ordinarily, and in the u&s;e of means hath ordained for the guidance and direction of his people, in the wayes of his &s;ervice, and their own &s;alvation: and this I &s;uppo&s;e is clear from S. <HI>Paul, Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.8. <HI>Wherefore he &s;aith, when he a&s;cen|ded up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4.8.</NOTE> not unto all men, but unto &s;ome only;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 4.8,9,10,11,12.</NOTE> the&s;e words
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> re|&s;train the&s;e gifts to &s;ome few whom he &s;elected from the<PB N="23" REF="35">re&s;t of mankinde, as conveyances of the Go&s;pels light unto others; for &s;o it followes immediately (only a parenthe&s;is betwixt, which breaks not the &s;en&s;e)
<HI>He therefore gave &s;ome to be Apo&s;tles, and &s;ome Prophets, and &s;ome Evangeli&s;ts, and &s;ome Pa&s;tors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Mini&s;try, for the edifying of the body of Chri&s;t;</HI> implying a manife&s;t and clear di&s;tinction betwixt &s;ome, whom he hath ordained for the work of the Mini&s;try, and endued with gifts after an e&s;pecial manner for that end; and &s;ome others who are not of that &s;ociety, yea though they be Saints, and of the Body of Chri&s;t; a like difference is clearly implyed, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.28.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor.
12 28.</NOTE> where having through the whole chapter di&s;cour&s;t of the gifts of the Spirit, to be im|ployed for the mutual good and benefit of each others,
<HI>as members of the &s;ame body;</HI> le&s;t we &s;hould think that the&s;e gifts are equally common to all per&s;ons as for publick u&s;e and edification, he adds, <HI>and God hath ordained &s;ome in the Church,</HI> 1.
<HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> 2. <HI>Prophets,</HI> 3. <HI>Teachers,</HI> &amp;c. Some for the Office of Publick in&s;truction, he hath ordained; not all that li&s;t, as in the daies of <HI>Jeroboam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 13.33.</NOTE> when every man that would, became <HI>a Prie&s;t unto the Lord,</HI> which the Apo&s;tle cuts off by this pathetical Interrogation, immediately following, ver&s;. 29. <HI>Are all Apo&s;tles, are all Prophets, are all Teachers? q. d.</HI> not &s;o &s;urely, this is as if all the body were but one member; not all then, but &s;ome only: even that &s;ome whom God hath ordained, and manife&s;ted this his ordination, by the &s;piri|tual gifts of wi&s;dome, knowledge, &s;aith, tongues and the re&s;t before in the chapter remembred.</P>
<P>Should all men, who own the name of Chri&s;tians, be endu|ed with &s;piritual gifts, for the publique in&s;truction of others, two grand inconveniences would nece&s;&s;arily follow.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The gifts of the Spirit would be thereby made con|temptible, for who would care for that which every man hath?</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. The end of the Spirit in di&s;tributing his gifts would be fru&s;trate: for how &s;hall one member profit another, which is the end of the&s;e gifts, when all men have the &s;ame gifts?</ITEM>
</LIST> The mo&s;t wi&s;e God therefore in ordaining &s;ome to the Mini|&s;try,<PB N="24" REF="36">and not others, and di&s;tributing his gifts accor|dingly, provides, 1. That his gift be <HI>magis augu&s;tum,</HI> more reverend. 2. That the body of his Church, be <HI>magis ordina|tum,</HI> better proportioned.</P>
<P>For the &s;ame rea&s;ons al&s;o, the &s;piritual gifts are various and divers, and not given to all, no not of the Mini&s;try, alike, but di&s;cretely,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4 7.</NOTE> and
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI>according to the mea&s;ure of Chri&s;t;</HI> Chri&s;t keeps a mea&s;ure in his gifts; him&s;elf indeed the Head, <HI>received the Spirit without mea&s;ure,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job
3.34. Ephe&s;. 1.11.</NOTE> but none of his members ever received it but in mea&s;ure, and this mea&s;ure, is <HI>accor|ding to the coun&s;el of his own will,</HI> who re&s;pects in the di&s;tri|bution of his gifts,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, what is good and profitable, and mo&s;t tending to edification: as it is in the natural body, in every part and member of the body, God hath joyned beauty and convenience together, &s;o that every limb hath &s;uch a proportion, as is both comely and u&s;eful; So it is in the my&s;tical Body of Chri&s;t, the Church; it is <HI>una,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4.4.</NOTE> but <HI>varia,</HI> a Body con&s;i&s;ting of
<HI>many members,</HI> and all quickned by <HI>one Spirit;</HI> there is but
<HI>one body,</HI> and <HI>one &s;pirit,</HI> but <HI>many members;</HI> and in each member the gifts of the Spirit do vary;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor.
12.</NOTE> <HI>There are diver&s;ity of gifts, but the &s;ame Spirit:</HI> There are diver&s;ity of gifts, be|cau&s;e diver&s;ity of offices, but one Spirit; and therefore as they all flow from one Fountain, &s;o they are all of one na|ture, and tend all to one common end, <HI>The beauty and benefit of the Church;</HI> &s;o S. <HI>Ambro&s;e, In donis, officiorum e&s;t diver&s;itas, non naturae:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.11,12,13.</NOTE> all the members are therefore quickned with the &s;ame Spirit; <HI>aqu&egrave;,</HI> but not
<HI>aequaliter,</HI> all drink of the &s;ame Spirit, but not the &s;ame draught, for fulne&s;&s;e of mea|&s;ure, which makes each one u&s;eful in his way, but not in the &s;ame degree;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 21.</NOTE> all contributing to the beauty and benefit of the whole: <HI>As therefore the eye cannot &s;ay unto the hand, I have no need of thee, nor,</HI> &amp;c. &s;o neither is any member of the Church
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, &s;ufficient of him&s;elf, but is nece&s;&s;arily en|gaged to de&s;ire the benefit of the Communion of the Saints.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="25" REF="36">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. Of the Gift, and calling of the Mini&s;try.</HEAD>
<P>IT is confe&s;&s;ed that the &s;ame &s;piritual gifts and graces, which di&s;po&s;e &s;elect and &s;eparate per&s;ons, for the work of the Mini&s;try, may al&s;o re&s;t upon the hearts, and mindes of lay and &s;ecular per&s;ons: But abilities to perform an office, is only a fair di&s;po&s;ition, which puts &s;uch per&s;ons in a ca|pacity of receiving it orderly; not an actual inve&s;titure there|in: as every wi&s;e man is not a coun&s;ellor of State, nor every good Lawyer a Judge; &s;o neither is every man who is endued with the wi&s;dome of the Spirit, publickly to di&s;pen&s;e the the coun&s;els of the mo&s;t High, nor every man skild in the Divine Law, may be a publick Steward and admini&s;trator thereof; all natural and artificial abilities, nay Divine qua|lifications before Ordination, are &s;ilenc't by that que&s;tion of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>How &s;hall they preach except they be &s;ent?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 10.15.</NOTE> It was a mutinous &s;peech of
<HI>Korah, Dathan,</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> who &s;aid unto <HI>Mo&s;es, You take too much upon you, &s;ince all the con|gregation is holy,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 16.3.</NOTE> <HI>Numb.</HI> 16.3. Their Divine qualification did not licen&s;e them to invade <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s chair,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 32.35.</NOTE> or &s;acrilegi|ou&s;ly u&s;urp the Prie&s;t-hood; they paid dear for that u&s;ur|pation; when <HI>the fire came out from the Lord, and con&s;umed the mo&s;t forward of them, and the Earth opened her mouth and &s;wallowed</HI> Corah <HI>and all his company:</HI> a fair warning (any man would think) for lay per&s;ons to beware how they intermeddle with the Mini&s;terial Function;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;t po&s;teris daretur exemplum, nequis prae&s;umptione &s;uperbi &s;piritus, non &s;ibi &agrave; deo datum pontificatus munus inva|deret. Quod enim pertulerunt &s;uperbi illi Levitae, qui Deo non jubente &s;acer|dotium vendicabant, hoc patientur qui|cun&abque; &s;e ad epi&s;copatus, presbyteratus vel Diaconatus officium vel muneri|bus, vel adulationibus impudentur conantur ingerere: quomodo com|bu&s;ti &s;unt i&s;ti in corpore, &s;ic i&s;ti exu|rentur in corde.</HI> Aug. de Temp. Ser.
98.</NOTE> if they do it malici|ou&s;ly, let them remember the cur&s;e of
<HI>Co|rah;</HI> if they have more fair, but mi&s;taken purpo&s;es, let them remember what was the &s;ad portion of <HI>&V;zzah,</HI> for his over|bold approach to the Ark of God, which belonged to the 2 Sam. 6. 6, v. Prie&s;ts Office.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 6.6,7</NOTE></P>
<P>All Offices, Arts, and profitable Sciences; all great and publick things and imployments, are di&s;tingui&s;ht in the &s;ocie|ties
<PB N="26" REF="37">of men by proper and peculiar Profe&s;&s;ors, Arti&s;ts and Mini&s;ters: How then &s;hould we think that Religion, which is the Art of Arts, may lye in common, and be expo&s;ed to the profanation of every rude illiterate and unskilful me|chanick; to be unhallowed by the rude intermedlings of un|di&s;cerning per&s;ons, and not rather &s;eparate from profane and vulgar touch, by &s;elect, di&s;tinct, and qualified per&s;ons, for that end by God ordained? Who dares take upon him to rai&s;e forces, to impo&s;e taxes, to levie contributions, to pu|ni&s;h offenders, or the like, but &s;uch only who are de&s;igned thereunto, and have commi&s;&s;ion for it? And yet in the mat|ters of God, in the di&s;pen&s;ation of his holy my&s;teries, every man will be a Prie&s;t, and a Prophet, as if it were pardonable only to be di&s;orderly in Religion, or as if God would ac|cept a lawle&s;s liberty in tho&s;e things wherein the frailty of man is mo&s;t apt, and too likely to mi&s;carry, and wherein al&s;o the mi&s;carriage is mo&s;t fatal, and ruinous to the &s;oul for ever.</P>
<P>In Religion it is true, that all have a common intere&s;t, and &s;o they have in the Lawes al&s;o: and by the &s;ame rea&s;on, that the one, by the &s;ame the other al&s;o, may be di&s;pen&s;ed by all men promi&s;cuou&s;ly without order, without di&s;tincti|on, which mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily end in confu&s;ion. 'Tis true that under the Go&s;pel all true believers are <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> unto the Lord, and have &s;piritual
<HI>&s;acrifices</HI> to offer:<NOTE N="1" PLACE="marg">Pet. 2.5,9.</NOTE> But it is one thing for a man to be a Prie&s;t to him&s;elf, another thing to be &s;o to the whole Church:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 1.6. Rom. 12.1.</NOTE> It is one thing to offer up our &s;elves <HI>a living &s;acrifice acceptable unto God:</HI> another thing to repre&s;ent the Congregation unto God: All ordinary and private devoti|ons may and are to be done by private per&s;ons; but the &s;olemn, ritual and publick Wor&s;hip of God, mu&s;t be left to the publick Mini&s;ter. There is no good man but wi&s;heth with <HI>Mo&s;es; I would all the Lords people were Prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 11.29.</NOTE> <HI>Numb.</HI> 11.29. But it is one thing to be qualified as the Prophets of the Lord; another thing &s;acrilegiou&s;ly to invade their Office: Being qualified, they may do the Office of Prophets privately, to them&s;elves and their family, both by prayers for, and with them, and al&s;o by teaching and in&s;tructing them: But in
<PB N="27" REF="37">Gods hou&s;e and in the pre&s;ence of the whole Congregation, to di&s;pen&s;e the &s;acred my&s;teries of Salvation, is only pecu|liar to the Stewards of his hou&s;e, nor may others pre&s;ume to intermeddle therewithall. If we &s;earch into the &s;tate and condition of the Church from the beginning of the world to this very in&s;tant of time, we &s;hall finde, <HI>That both before the Law, under the Law, and under the Go&s;pel al&s;o, there were ever a certain &s;elect cho&s;en &s;ort of men,</HI> (&s;aith the learned <HI>Zanchy</HI>) <HI>de&s;ign'd for the office of the Prie&s;thood, and that it was not law|full for every one that li&s;t to thru&s;t him&s;elf into the execution of this &s;acred function:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ac primo qui|dam &agrave; &s;tatu ante legem, &agrave; &s;tatu &s;ub lege, &agrave; &s;tatu &s;ubgratia. &s;em|perenim reper<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">o certa hominum genera fui&s;&s;e &agrave; deo ad hoc offi|cium delecta, non autem licui&s;&s;e cuiquam &s;e ob|trudere.</HI> Zanch. in 4. Praec.</NOTE> The fir&s;t prie&s;t we read of that is &s;o called is <HI>Melchi&s;edech;</HI> of whom the holy Scriptures affirm, that he was without father, without mother, &amp;c. <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.3. His original being unknown by rea&s;on of his antiquity: And &s;o &s;aith a learned man of the Prie&s;thood, <HI>The antiquity of this great calling, is &s;o great, that it cannot be found out, nor can we finde its off-&s;pring, but with the fir&s;t ri&s;ing and being of a Church upon the face of the earth.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Card. Polus l. 1. ad H. 8.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>No man taketh this honour to him&s;elf, but he that is called of God, as was</HI> Aaron,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 5.4.</NOTE> who was called of God, but con&s;ecrated by <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod.
28.1,2.</NOTE> <HI>agitatus &agrave; Deo, con&s;ecrationis principe,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Diony&s;ius,</HI> God was the principal Author, and
<HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the Mini&s;ter of his Con&s;ecration;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb.
5.5.</NOTE> &s;o likewi&s;e Chri&s;t did not glorifie him&s;elf to become High Prie&s;t, but be was per&s;onally cho&s;en and &s;ent, or in his own language
<HI>&s;ealed of the Father,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6.27.</NOTE> and &s;ent into the world (that is) ordained to be Prie&s;t and Prophet of the world.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t received their Commi&s;&s;ion from him, <HI>Mat.</HI> 28.19. <HI>Go ye therefore and teach all Nations, bapti|zing,</HI> &amp;c.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 28.19.</NOTE> And that we might under&s;tand, that they had by virtue of this Commi&s;&s;ion power to Commi&s;&s;ionate others, to be their &s;ucce&s;&s;ors in all &s;ucceeding Generations of the Church; it followes, <HI>And lo, I am with you untill the end of the world;</HI> with you your &s;elves, until you have fulfilled your cour&s;e, and &s;erved your own Generation, and with you in your &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, untill the end of the world: and more plainly in tho&s;e other words of their Commi&s;&s;ion, <HI>Joh.</HI> 20.21,22,23.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 20.21,22,23.</NOTE><HI>As my Father hath &s;ent me, &s;o &s;end I you: and when<PB N="28" REF="38">he had &s;aid this, he breathed on them, and &s;aith unto them, Re|ceive ye the Holy Gho&s;t: who&s;e &s;oever &s;ins ye remit, they are re|mitted unto them, and who&s;e &s;oever &s;ins ye retain, they are re|tained:</HI> which &s;piritual power, and &s;piritual gifts communi|cated to the Apo&s;tles was not &s;ure to expire with them, ex|cept ye will al&s;o &s;ay, all Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Di&s;cipline and Go|vernment ended with the Apo&s;tles, and that all &s;candals and offences, here&s;ies and errors, &s;ins and vices are left reme|dile&s;s and without cure, or at lea&s;t without a Phy&s;itian to pre&s;cribe, admini&s;ter, and apply to wounded Con&s;ciences, and &s;in-&s;ick &s;ouls, their proper &s;alve and medicine: <HI>As my Fa|ther hath &s;ent me, &s;o &s;end I you</HI>] and as I have &s;ent you, &s;o you are to &s;end others;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act.
14.23 Titus 1.5.</NOTE> and this we read they did, <HI>They or|dained Elders in all Churches:</HI> and gave Commi&s;&s;ion to whom they ordained, to Ordain others: The Ordination was theirs, but the power was from above, and &s;o the Apo|&s;tles them&s;elves acknowledged in the very fir&s;t in&s;tance of Ordination, when they cho&s;e <HI>Matthias</HI> in the room of <HI>Ju|das: They prayed, &s;aying, Thou Lord &s;hew whether of the&s;e two thou ha&s;t cho&s;en,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.24.</NOTE> Act. 2.24. God choo&s;es, and man ordains; God cals the per&s;on to the Office, and man in&s;tals him therein: The power is Originally from God, as the Foun|tain, but conveyed through the Mini&s;try of man as the Con|duit.</P>
<P><HI>All power is given unto me, both in Heaven and in Earth, Go ye therefore,</HI> &amp;c.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 28.18,19.</NOTE> But becau&s;e there is no man how &s;acri|legiou&s;ly &s;oever he invaded the Mini&s;terial Office, but will pretend a call and a power from God thereunto; and he that is mo&s;t bold and forward to publi&s;h his follies in this kinde, is al&s;o apt to mi&s;take his boldne&s;s, for a call from God: he may fancy a call from above, when it is only a noi&s;e in his own head, or a deceitful eccho of his own heart; therefore we mu&s;t know this call from God to &s;o high and honourable an Office, as to be ordained for men in things pertaining to God, is either extraordinary, or ordinary; the fir&s;t begin|ning of a la&s;ting nece&s;&s;ity is extraordinary, and 'tis made or|dinary in &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, and by the la&s;ting continuation of a fixed and determinate Mini&s;try; as <HI>Adam</HI> at the fir&s;t was ex|traordinarily
<PB N="29" REF="38">formed, immediately created by God him&s;elf, but all mankinde &s;ince ordinarily by the mediation of parents; &s;o the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t who received the fir&s;t i&s;&s;ues of Evan|gelical Mini&s;try, were extraordinarily called; but all that have &s;ucceeded them, have been admitted by an ordinary vocation, becau&s;e the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion is but of ordinary nece&s;&s;i|ty; now for any man to pretend an extraordinary calling and immediate from God without the Mini&s;try of man, is to pretend al&s;o to a new Go&s;pel, and new Revelations, di&s;tinct from what Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles have delivered, and &s;uch can be no other then the dictates of &s;edu|cing &s;pirits and doctrines of Devils: and indeed &s;uch a pre|tence of immediate and extraordinary power and commi&s;&s;ion from above, can (in a fixed and &s;etled Mini&s;try by ordina|ry means) have no other end and i&s;&s;ue but to belie the Spi|rit of Truth, and cou&s;en the too credulous &s;ouls of the peo|ple, when ever they have a minde to it; nor is it any other but a meer pretence of folly to expect or relie upon an ex|traordinary calling, or abilities, by immediate infu&s;ion from heaven, without the u&s;e of means, as to the Mini&s;terial Function, &s;ince by ordinary and common means they may be &s;upplyed; for it is all one, as if we &s;hould expect men to be created, and by the hands of God immediately, as <HI>Adam</HI> was at the fir&s;t; or being &s;o formed, to be fed and nouri&s;hed with food from heaven, without any care or indu&s;try for pro|vi&s;ion here upon earth.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. Of mini&s;terial Gifts; ordinary and extraordinary.</HEAD>
<P>THis call to the Mini&s;terial Office under the Go&s;pel, both extraordinary in the Apo&s;tles, and ordinary in their &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, as it is in it &s;elf a grand ine&s;timable gift of the Ho|ly Gho&s;t, and the prime of them confer'd by our Lord in his triumph over our gho&s;tly foes, and victorious a&s;cen&s;ion in|to<PB N="30" REF="39">Heaven;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4.11.</NOTE> for then <HI>he gave &s;ome to be Apo&s;tles, &s;ome Pro|phets,</HI> &amp;c. So it hath al&s;o other gifts of the Spirit attending, as nece&s;&s;ary contributaries to the accompli&s;hment thereof, that this gift may be compleated and fitted <HI>for the edifica|tion of the body of Chri&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 12.</NOTE> through the work of the Mini&s;try, which proportionable to the two-fold calling are either ex|traordinary, or ordinary al&s;o; extraordinary they were, even plentifull and miraculous in the per&s;ons of the Apo&s;tles, <HI>viz.</HI> in &s;uch a mea&s;ure, and after &s;uch a manner, as no mor|tal men could ever hope for &s;ince; and very good rea&s;on there is that it &s;hould be &s;o: For the Apo&s;tles charge was much greater, and their task more difficult then any mans either was or can be &s;ince. They had all mankinde to in|&s;truct and principle in the doctrine of Chri&s;t; the &s;tiffe ob|durate and incredulous Jewes to convert; the fulne&s;&s;e of the Gentiles to bring in, both the rude Barbarians and learned Graecians to ma&s;ter and &s;ubdue. The whole world was their Dioce&s;e, the world &s;itting in darkne&s;&s;e, and in the &s;hadow of death; devoted to the &s;ervice of &s;in and Satan, the Prince of darkne&s;&s;e: Now to ma&s;ter and &s;ubdue the whole world, and <HI>to turn all men from darkne&s;&s;e to light, and from the power of Satan to the living God;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act 26.18.</NOTE> required, &s;ure, gifts and endow|ments more then ordinarily powerful and effectual, even &s;uch as were extraordinary and miraculous: and whereof none of their &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, none that ever followed them &s;ince in the Mini&s;terial Office, could po&s;&s;ibly hope to be partakers; for all Mini&s;ters &s;ince have but an handfull of men in compari|&s;on to deal withall, and the&s;e broken to their hands, being born and brought up in the holy Chri&s;tian Religion; As therefore there is no need of any &s;uch extraordinary quali|fications; &s;o neither do we, the be&s;t of us do not, dare not pretend, either to &s;uch &s;ublime and eminent gifts of the Spi|rit, or to any &s;uch immediate and extraordinary infu&s;ion of &s;pirituall gifts.</P>
<P>The &s;piritual gifts of the Apo&s;tles, differ from tho&s;e of their &s;ucce&s;&s;ors in two re&s;pects. 1. In re&s;pect of the mea|&s;ure or extent of them. 2. In re&s;pect of the manner of ac|qui&s;ition. Fir&s;t for the mea&s;ure, the Apo&s;tles were <HI>filled<PB N="31" REF="39">with the holy Gho&s;t, Act.</HI> 2.4. filled as full as they could hold,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.4.</NOTE> they were endued with as many eminent gifts for the exe|cution of the Apo&s;tolical Function as they were capable of; but we, even the be&s;t and able&s;t of the Sons of men, are not &s;o full, but they could hold much more; their's was a <HI>Bapti&s;m with the holy Gho&s;t,</HI> ours, is at the be&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 1.5.</NOTE> but a
<HI>Ran|ti&s;m;</HI> they were wa&s;hed, wa&s;hed as it were all all over with the Spirit; we but &s;prinkled with his gifts: they had the anointing of the holy One more plentifully, we in a &s;maller &s;cantling; they were anointed above, far above all their fellowes and &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, who received ordinarily but an <HI>Hin</HI> to their <HI>Epha.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 133.2.</NOTE> Their Unction was like the <HI>Ointment poured upon the head that ran down to the beard;</HI> and all others &s;ince but like the thin <HI>droppings</HI> upon the <HI>skirts of the gar|ment.</HI> And from hence we may ob&s;erve with S. <HI>Hierome:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Scio me aliter habere Ape&s;to|los, aliter reli|quos tractato|res; illos &s;emper vera di<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">re, i&s;tos ut hemines in quibuldam aberrare.</HI> Hier. ad Theo.</NOTE> That the Apo&s;tles excelled all other Mini&s;ters in this re&s;pect al&s;o, that they were &s;o guided and directed by the holy Spi|rit of God, that all truths, and nothing but truth, did at all times flow from them in the execution of their Function, but all other Mini&s;ters mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e in all humility, that as men they have their failings and mi&s;takes in one re&s;pect or other.</P>
<P>Secondly, for the manner, the Apo&s;tles were endued with their fulne&s;&s;e of &s;piritual gifts miraculou&s;ly; their In&s;pirati|on did publickly and vi&s;ibly appear to be by miracle and immediate from Heaven,
<HI>Act.</HI> 2. But we, as we can pretend unto no &s;uch extraordinary gifts; &s;o neither do we pretend unto, or depend upon any &s;uch extraordinary and immediate infu&s;ion of &s;piritual gifts; but ordinarily &amp; in the u&s;e of means, even by much &s;tudy, labour, and indu&s;try in the waies of wi&s;|dome, learning and knowledge, we do acquire our qualificati|ons: according to the command of the Apo&s;tle to <HI>Timothy,</HI> we <HI>&s;tudy</HI> for them, 2
<HI>Tim.</HI> 2.15. <HI>Study to &s;hew thy &s;elf approved, a workman that needeth not to be a&s;hamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.15.</NOTE> and yet <HI>Timothy</HI> &s;ure had le&s;s need to &s;tudy for his gifts, then any of us, as having more of immediate In|&s;piration then the be&s;t of men can hope for &s;ince.</P>
<P>And yet though we &s;tudy to be qualified for the work of the Mini&s;try; our qualifications are &s;till the gifts of the Spi|rit;
<PB N="32" REF="40">all our <HI>wi&s;dome</HI> and knowledge is <HI>from above:</HI> even as of <HI>Daniel</HI> and the three children, it is recorded that <HI>God gave them knowledge and under&s;tanding in all learning and wi&s;dome, Dan.</HI> 1.17.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 1.17.4.</NOTE> And yet it is &s;aid before ver&s;. the 4. that <HI>they were brought up and in&s;tructed in knowledge</HI> (and that by and among the Heathen too) <HI>and were taught the learning and tongue of the Caldaeans;</HI> So our humane learning, tongues and languages (&s;o much declaimed again&s;t by the ignorant) are the Handmaids to &s;piritual and Divine wi&s;dome and knowledge, and both the one and the other, though acqui|red by in&s;truction and &s;tudy in the Schools of the Prophets, are yet of Gods mercifull donation, they are &s;till the gifts of the Spirit.</P>
<P>And that fir&s;t, becau&s;e from the Spirit of God it is that we have mindes capable, and mindes inclinable to u&s;e the means, for the attainment of &s;uch gifts: for even our natural en|dowments, and moral qualifications are gifts of the Spirit; per&s;picacity, quickne&s;s of wit, ripene&s;s of judgement, to|gether with a &s;tudious, diligent and indu&s;trious minde in the &s;earch and dexterity, in the di&s;covery of the &s;everal waies of learning and knowledge, even all of them are the gifts of God; <HI>for every good and perfect gift,</HI> whether natural, moral, or divine,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.17. Joh. 3.27.</NOTE> <HI>cometh down from above, Jam.</HI> 1.17. for <HI>a man can receive nothing except it be given from above, Joh.</HI> 3.27. The very &s;peaking of an ordinary revealed Truth is called a &s;peaking <HI>by the Spirit, for no man can &s;ay, that Je&s;us is the Chri&s;t, but by the Spirit of God;</HI> becau&s;e the revelation of this, as of every truth, is from the <HI>Spirit</HI> originally, and from him al&s;o is both the power and the act of this con|fe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Secondly, our qualifications though acquired by &s;tudy, are yet the gifts of the Spirit, becau&s;e it is by Gods ble&s;|&s;ing and the influence of his good Spirit upon our &s;tudies and endevours, that we do acquire the&s;e qualifications: and it is generally, and for the mo&s;t part, that God di&s;tributes his gifts and ble&s;&s;ings according to mens inclinations, apt|ne&s;s and endevours for the reception of his gifts.
<HI>Habitus infu&s;i infunduntur per modum acqui&s;itorum:</HI> All infu&s;ed or in|&s;pired<PB N="33" REF="40"><HI>gifts,</HI> are infu&s;ed after the manner of gifts acquired, <HI>i.e.</HI> as we are more or le&s;&s;e indu&s;trious to acquire the <HI>gifts</HI> of the Spirit, accordingly &s;o they are more or le&s;&s;e given, and communicated to us by the Spirit: which is &s;ignified unto us by the parable of the hidden Trea&s;ure, <HI>Mat.</HI>
13.4. <HI>The Kingdome of heaven is like unto a trea&s;ure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof, goeth and &s;elleth all that he hath and buyeth that field:</HI> The trea&s;ure found without &s;earch, denoteth Gods free and gratuitous revela|tion of him&s;elf unto us: and the &s;elling of all to buy that field, &s;ignifies a mans utmo&s;t endevours, and labours to be made partaker of the&s;e divine Revelations.</P>
<P>Thirdly, becau&s;e the qualifications acquired by &s;tudy, are by the Spirit of God him&s;elf directed to the ends of the Spi|rit, which are
<HI>to profit withall;</HI> and then is Gods ble&s;&s;ing the greater, and the influence of his Spirit upon our &s;tudies, the more effectual and powerful, when we have in them no other aim or intention, but to be thereby enfitted and enabled to become u&s;efull in&s;truments of Gods &s;ervice, and his peoples edification. And both in that we do direct our &s;tudies to this end, and al&s;o imploy our gifts acquired by &s;tudy to this end al&s;o, it is from the Spirit of God: who <HI>works in us to will and to do of his own God plea&s;ure, Phil.</HI> 2.15.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2.15.</NOTE></P>
<P>And la&s;tly, all this is acknowledged, that our gifts in all the&s;e re&s;pects are from the Spirit of God, though &s;tudied for; In that together with tho&s;e means that are outward and moral, we u&s;e the Divine means al&s;o, <HI>viz.</HI> prayer and devotion, commanded <HI>Jam.</HI> 1.15.
<HI>If any man lacks wi&s;dome, let him ask it of God, who giveth to all men liberally and up|braideth not, and it &s;hall be given him.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.5.</NOTE></P>
<P>That the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pell notwith&s;tanding their gifts are from the Spirit, are yet bound to u&s;e all means, both Moral and Divine, for the acquiring thereof; is mani|fe&s;t even from Gods own example in the u&s;e of their Mini|&s;try: In that God him&s;elf who is not tyed to means, neither hath need of any, is yet plea&s;ed to u&s;e the means and Mini&s;try of &s;ome men for the in&s;truction and conver&s;ion of others; There is no que&s;tion, but he who at the fir&s;t created man af|ter <PB N="34" REF="41">his own Image, could without the Mini&s;try of man, have again repaired the decayes of his ble&s;&s;ed Image in man: But yet in all ages it hath &s;eemed good to his infinite wi&s;dome to u&s;e the mediation and Mini&s;try of men herein; And this he doth out of his tender re&s;pect to mens infirmities, con&s;ide|ring the va&s;t di&s;tance betwixt God and man;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 20.19. Deut. 5.27. &amp; 18.16. Heb. 12.19.</NOTE> which moved the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to Petition for a Mini&s;ter betwixt God and them, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.19. <HI>Talk thou with us and we will hear, but let not God talk with us le&s;t we die.</HI></P>
<P>As therefore no Mini&s;ter of God may think that God u&s;eth his Mini&s;try becau&s;e he needs it: &s;o neither may the people think there is no need of Mini&s;ters, becau&s;e God u&s;eth them: and he u&s;es them as &s;ubordinate fellow-labourers in the whole cour&s;e of mans &s;alvation;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.19. 2 Cor. 3.2. Mat. 16.19. 1 Tim. 4.16.</NOTE> the Mini&s;ters are &s;aid to <HI>beget men unto Chri&s;t;</HI> to <HI>nouri&s;h them in Chri&s;t;</HI> to <HI>binde and loo&s;e their &s;ouls;</HI> to <HI>open and &s;hut heaven,</HI> and in a word, <HI>to &s;ave;</HI> be|cau&s;e all the&s;e things Chri&s;t doth by them: they are <HI>cau&s;a conjuncta,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 3.2,3.</NOTE> co-operating with and under Chri&s;t; &s;o
<HI>Paul</HI> com|pares his <HI>Corinthians</HI> to <HI>a written Epi&s;tle,</HI> the Authors where|of were him&s;elf and the Spirit: the external writing was his; the internal &s;eal upon their hearts was the Spirits. The&s;e two then may not be &s;evered; Neither 1. may we look for In&s;pirations from heaven without the Mini&s;try of man upon earth: Nor yet 2. may we imagine, that the Mini&s;try of man upon earth can be effectual without in&s;piration from Heaven.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. Of tho&s;e operations and impre&s;sions that are oppo&s;ite to the Spirit of Truth.</HEAD>
<P>ANd becau&s;e it is not enough for us to know the truth; but al&s;o by that right and &s;traight line to ob&s;erve and di&s;cover what is repugnant and contrary thereunto: Let us remember, what by &s;ad and lamentable experience, we daily<PB N="35" REF="41">&s;ee and hear; that as there is a holy and a good Spirit of God by his gifts and graces working on the mindes of men: &s;o there is al&s;o an evill and a bad &s;pirit, even the &s;pirit of er|ror and uncleanne&s;s, the Devil, who hath his &s;ecret workings and continual countermines oppo&s;ing hereunto: which evil &s;pirit working al&s;o by the frail and deceivable &s;pirit of man, doth by many &s;ubtile wayes, ob&s;cure, corrupt, poy&s;on, and belye the &s;acred qualifications of the Spirit of Truth; nor doth the Devil that grand enemy of mans &s;alvation in any kinde of way, &s;o much cou&s;en and cheat the &s;ouls of men into ruine, as by putting fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es and counterfeit vizars on vices, errors, and di&s;tempers; that &s;o they may be mi&s;ta|ken for holy vertues, and divine qualifications. To in&s;tance in &s;ome particulars;</P>
<P N="1">Fir&s;t, It is a truth by the Spirit of God both foretold, pro|mi&s;ed, and performed, That the actings and impre&s;&s;ions of Gods Spirit upon the mindes of men, are both more &s;trong and frequent, as al&s;o more general and common under the Go&s;pel then they were under the Law: That the gift of the Mini&s;try it &s;elf is dilated, being not limited to the &s;ingle Tribe of <HI>Levi;</HI> but all men of what quality &s;oever have a ti|tle thereunto, meaning <HI>Genera &s;ingulorum,</HI> not <HI>&s;ingula gene|rum</HI> (that is) men of all &s;orts and kindes, not all of all kindes; but hereupon to make void, pull down, and level with the undi&s;tingui&s;ht multitude, the high and &s;olemn order and of|fices of the Prie&s;t-hood in&s;tituted by God him&s;elf, both un|der the Law and under the Go&s;pel; for a people to &s;natch the Divine Oracles from the lips of the Prie&s;t, and pre&s;ume to teach their Teachers; to invade the chair of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and offer incen&s;e with unhallowed cen&s;ors; for private per&s;ons to a&s;|&s;ume the publique admini&s;tration of Mini&s;terial Offices, with|out a lawful Call and due Ordination thereunto; though they may be otherwi&s;e qualified with knowledge and piety: The&s;e are fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es impo&s;ed upon the former truths, by the Spirit of lies; <HI>Tares</HI> &s;owed by the <HI>Enemy</HI> of mankinde amid&s;t the purer <HI>wheat:</HI> And that,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. To the high di&s;honour of God, and profanation of all that is religious and &s;acred.</ITEM>
<PB N="36" REF="42">
<ITEM> 2. To involve the Church of Chri&s;t, and bury it in the rubbi&s;h of confu&s;ion and di&s;order.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. To take away tho&s;e bounds and limits, di&s;tingui&s;hing Prie&s;t from people, which all Nations, Jewes and Gentiles, all Ages of the Church, both Ancient and Modern, have kept firm and inviolable.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. To pull down heavy judgements upon the heads of all &s;uch &s;acrilegious U&s;urpers and Invaders of Divine Rites.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 6 6,7. 2 Chron. 16.16, &amp;c.</NOTE></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="2">2. It is an impre&s;&s;ion of Gods Spirit upon the &s;oul of man to wait and depend upon God for &s;piritual wi&s;dome, knowledge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 3.5.</NOTE> <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and not to lean to our own under&s;tanding, or tru&s;t too much to our own wit, judgement, reading, learning,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 2.6.</NOTE> or the like; as knowing full well, That <HI>the Lord gives wi&s;dome, and from him cometh knowledge and under&s;tan|ding;</HI> But hereupon either to de&s;pi&s;e or neglect tho&s;e waies and means, and helps, which God in his merciful providence hath afforded us for to attain wi&s;dome, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as the &s;tudy of Tongues and Languages, Arts and Sciences, the reading and di&s;tinctly weighing the Di&s;cour&s;es of the learned; and to depend upon immediate Revelation and Infu&s;ion of &s;uch gifts from Heaven, as if they &s;hould drop upon our barren hearts, as did the <HI>Manna</HI> in the Wilderne&s;&s;e upon the Tents of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> out of the clouds, and by miracle; this is a fal&s;e glo&s;s which the &s;pirit of delu&s;ion puts upon the former truth, thereby to inveigle us.
<LIST>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="1"> 1. To tempt the good Spirit of God.</ITEM>
<ITEM> <MILESTONE N="2"> 2. To be expo&s;ed and laid open to &s;educing &s;pirits.</ITEM>
<ITEM> <MILESTONE N="3"> 3. To en&s;hrine Lady
<HI>Ignorance</HI> again as the Mother of <HI>De|votion,</HI> which all men know, (but who are blinded with igno|rance) to be the Dam of &s;uper&s;titions, errors, and con|fu&s;ions.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="3">3. Rightly to beleeve in the Son of God, as the mean of our ju&s;tification here, and ground of our hope of &s;alvation hereafter, this is an impre&s;&s;ion of Gods Spirit on the &s;oul of man; and in re&s;pect hereof we are &s;aid to have the <HI>Spirit of Faith,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 4.13.</NOTE> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.13. <HI>We having the &s;ame &s;pirit of faith ac|cording<PB N="37" REF="42">as it is written, I beleeved, therefore have I &s;poken;</HI> faith as it is <HI>doctrinal,</HI> being a &s;piritual
<HI>gift,</HI> and reckoned among&s;t them, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.9. And as it is
<HI>practical,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12 9. Gal. 5.22.</NOTE> being a
<HI>grace</HI> or <HI>fruit of the Spirit,</HI> and reckoned among&s;t them al&s;o, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22. But now to mingle and divide, and as it were to cut a&s;under, this true Evangelical Faith, as it &s;tands full and in|tire in all its integral parts, both of doctrine and practice, &s;o as to be vainly puft up with a conceit of being ingraffed into Chri&s;t, and thereby to be ju&s;tified here, and &s;ure of heaven hereafter; whether we live according to the rule of Faith, and in obedience unto the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, or no: to define and mea&s;ure our Faith, not by the &s;acred acts thereof com|manded, which is called <HI>the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Faith:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom
10.6.</NOTE> but by our own too too credulous fancies, and apprehen&s;ions, as if it were no more to be in Chri&s;t, but pre&s;umptuou&s;ly to pre|tend unto it, and impudently without ju&s;t ground to believe it: This &s;urely cannot be that true Evangelical Faith, whereunto &s;o many promi&s;es are annext; but a fal&s;e glo&s;&s;e which the &s;pirit of Error hath put thereupon; thereby,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. To puffe up the hearts of too too credulous men, with &s;piritual pride and pre&s;umption, and make them &s;well with the empty conceit and airy fancy of their own happy and eminent &s;tate and condition, when there is no &s;uch matter. And,</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. To inveigle men to neglect the u&s;e and practice of Chri&s;tian graces, tho&s;e fruits of the Spirit, which are, as it is already &s;aid, the very life and &s;oul of Chri&s;tianity, and con|&s;equently the way to heaven, if ever we mean to arrive there.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="4">4. It is an impre&s;&s;ion of Gods Spirit on the &s;oul of man, <HI>To be zealous for the Lord of Ho&s;ts,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King.
19.14.</NOTE> (that is) to be exceeding|ly fervent and forward, earne&s;t and de&s;irous by all po&s;&s;ible waies and means to advance the religious wor&s;hip and &s;er|vice of God: but to be &s;o factious and forward, &s;o fiery and furious as by any illegal, extravagant and di&s;orderly means to advance the truth it &s;elf, much le&s;&s;e to &s;et up any private opinions in relation to Gods Service, which have not been, <HI>&s;emper &amp; ubi&abque;, &amp; ab omnibus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Vincent.</NOTE> the three rules of Catho|lick<PB N="38" REF="43">Doctrine and Wor&s;hip, to be generally, and for the mo&s;t part of the Primitive times at lea&s;t, of all per&s;ons, at all times, and in all places received, and not now and then, here and there, by hereticks and &s;chi&s;maticks only introduc'd; I &s;ay to be zealous for &s;uch pieces of Religion, Doctrine and Wor&s;hip: and that <HI>per fas nef&aacute;&s;&abque;</HI> through ju&s;t or unju&s;t means, by right or by wrong, to endevour the advancement thereof: this is not true zeal, but a fal&s;e glo&s;s which the De|vil puts thereupon, even through the violence of this di&s;tem|pered heat.
<LIST>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="1"> 1. To divide, &s;eparate and break men into &s;ects, factions, and parties, that they might &s;o cla&s;h together to the ruine of each other: And,</ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="2"> 2. To inveigle men into con&s;piracies, &s;editions and rebel|lions again&s;t their Governors.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The like may be ob&s;erved of zeal for the conver&s;ion of a &s;inner, and bringing &s;ouls into the obedience of Chri&s;t, the more zealous and active, diligent and indu&s;trious any man is herein, with the more fire of Gods Spirit, no que&s;tion, he is endued: But withall ob&s;erve, that to be active and zealous to &s;educe and deceive, to inveigle and draw men a&s;ide into fal&s;e and erroneous opinions in Religion, is not a heat ca&s;t forth from the fire of Gods Spirit; but it ari&s;eth rather from the fire of hell; it comes from our adver&s;ary the De|vil,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 5.8.</NOTE> who al&s;o continually <HI>goeth about like a roaring Lion &s;eeking whom he may devour:</HI> And his Di&s;ciples they be, and con&s;e|quently in the &s;ame wofull &s;tate and condition with him, who take pains to pro&s;elyte per&s;ons unto the waies of error and perdition.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.15.</NOTE>
<HI>Wo unto you Scribes, Phari&s;ees, and hypocrites, for ye compa&s;&s;e Sea and land to make one Pro&s;elyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the childe of hell then your &s;elves.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. 'Tis an impre&s;&s;ion of Gods Spirit on the minde of man, to be apt and ready,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 18.15.</NOTE> active and forward, to coun&s;el, advi&s;e, admoni&s;h, and in &s;ome ca&s;es, and at &s;ome times to reprove one another,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 12,1.</NOTE> and tell men of their faults, and <HI>He that hateth reproof is a fool:</HI> but to rail and revile, cen&s;ure and judge, and condemn our brethren; and &s;ay it's only a telling them of<PB N="39" REF="43">their faults, and telling them what they are, or to meddle with other mens matters that concern us not, or to reprove other mens faults, while&s;t our &s;elves are guilty of greater; the&s;e are no true parts of Chri&s;tian fraternal admonition, but fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es that the Devil puts hereupon,
<LIST>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="1"> 1. To allure men to overlook and neglect them&s;elves, and the amendment of their own faults and ami&s;&s;es. And,</ITEM>
<ITEM><MILESTONE N="2"> 2. To di&s;&s;olve the &s;acred bonds of amity, peace and uni|ty with others, which are tho&s;e ligaments and &s;inews of the body of the Church, whereby good Chri&s;tians are cou|pled and united, and joyn together in the &s;acred &s;ervice of God, which is the way of their own &s;alvation.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And as into <HI>erroneous opinions</HI> on the one hand; &s;o into <HI>&s;inful actions</HI> on the other, are we allured and inveigled by the &s;ame &s;ubtil wile of Satan, obtruding his fal&s;e counterfeit coin of wickedne&s;s under the &s;hew and &s;emblance of the im|pre&s;&s;ions of the Spirit of holine&s;s; gilding, painting, and &s;et|ting out &s;infulne&s;s and vice, with the title, &s;hew and flou|ri&s;h of godline&s;s and vertue; thus covetou&s;ne&s;s on the one hand wears the painted mask and flouri&s;h of providence and good husbandry: and prodigal profu&s;ene&s;s on the other hand, of noblene&s;&s;e and genero&s;ity: Thus riot and exce&s;s, drunkenne&s;s and gluttony carry the fair flouri&s;hing titles of bountifulne&s;s, good fellow&s;hip, and freedome of &s;pirit; Thus wantonne&s;s and uncleanne&s;s are painted over with the &s;pe|cious terms of amorous kindne&s;s, and Court&s;hip; and pride, and haughtine&s;s, of magnanimity, greatne&s;s of &s;pirit, &s;upe|riority of rank. I might in&s;tance in mo&s;t of &s;ins and vices, how men are inveigled and cou&s;ened into them by the Devil, un|der the &s;hews and fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es of pretended vertues: For full well that &s;ubtil Serpent knows, that there is nothing &s;o beautiful and comely, nothing that hath &s;o much power to win upon the hearts and affections of men, as vertue and holine&s;s; and therefore in their habits and attire, doth he dre&s;s his deformed &s;trumpet vices, puts them in their co|lours, and &s;ends them forth under their names and titles; and hence it comes to pa&s;s, that the &s;illy &s;ouls of men are &s;o often cheated with the baneful poy&s;on of &s;infulne&s;s,<PB N="40" REF="44">while&s;t vicious di&s;po&s;itions undi&s;cernibly in&s;inuate them|&s;elves into our affections, under the attire and dre&s;s of ver|tuous qualifications:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 11.24.</NOTE> But thus the Devil transforms him&s;elf into an Angel of light, while&s;t baiting his &s;ugge&s;tions either with counterfeit revelations on the one hand, or with fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es of &s;piritual graces on the other; he entraps the &s;ouls of men in the &s;nares of &s;infulne&s;s and error, and leads them captivity captive to his pit de&s;truction.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. Of the Spirit of Man; and the Spirit of the World.</HEAD>
<P>THere are <HI>two Familiars,</HI> whereby the Devil doth ordi|narily work, and lay his &s;ecret and &s;ubtil &s;nares, to catch, cou&s;en, and delude our &s;ouls thus into &s;infulne&s;s and error; and the&s;e are either 1. the <HI>&s;pirit of man;</HI> or 2. the <HI>&s;pirit of the world:</HI> The dictates and workings of both which kinde of &s;pirits, being &s;tirr'd and quickned by the evil &s;pirit, diametrally oppo&s;e the impre&s;&s;ions and workings of the Spi|rit of truth.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, that the dictates of mans &s;pirit, the conceptions of natural &s;en&s;e and carnall rea&s;on, with private re&s;olutions thereupon, do oppo&s;e the working of Gods Spirit, our Sa|viour him&s;elf teacheth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 16.17.</NOTE> <HI>Mat.</HI> 16.17.
<HI>Fle&s;h and bloud hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven.</HI> So that fle&s;h and bloud hath their Revelations (that is) pri|vate men have their opinions and conceits, which oppo&s;e the truth that is revealed from heaven. The &s;ame oppo&s;ition of private re&s;olution to holy in&s;piration, doth St. <HI>Peter</HI> ob|&s;erve,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.
<HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1. <HI>ult. For prophe&s;ies of old time came not by the will of Man: but holy men of God &s;pake as they were moved by the holy Gho&s;t,</HI> not as they were moved by their own pri|vate will, wit, judgement, rea&s;on and re&s;olution; but as they were moved by the holy Gho&s;t; <HI>Et haec ideo dicuntur, &amp;c.</HI> The&s;e things are therefore &s;aid by the Apo&s;tle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;. ord.</NOTE> that no man
<PB N="41" REF="44">&s;hould pre&s;ume to interpret the holy Scripture after his own private minde or fancy; as too often, oppo&s;ing and thwart|ing, perverting and wre&s;ting the &s;ame, and the meaning of the holy Gho&s;t therein. There were many &s;uch per&s;ons in S. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tomes</HI> daies, <HI>which</HI> (&s;aith he)<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. referente Juello in A|polog. eccl. An|glic.</NOTE> <HI>boa&s;t of the holy Spirit, but while&s;t they &s;peak of their own they fal&s;ly boa&s;t to have the Spirit of God: For</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>as Chri&s;t did deny that he &s;poke of him&s;elf, when he &s;poke out of the Law and the Prophets, even even &s;o now if any thing be&s;ides the Go&s;pel</HI> (and this rightly un|der&s;tood) <HI>be obtruded under the name of the Spirit, 'tis not to be believed: For as Chri&s;t is the fulfilling of the Law and the Pro|phets; &s;o the holy Spirit is the fulfilling of the Go&s;pel.</HI></P>
<P>The Church of Chri&s;t hath in all ages been infe&s;ted, and in the&s;e la&s;t times, more then ever, with &s;uch kinde of per&s;ons, who pretending to be holy men of God, to have the Gift of prophe&s;ie, and interpretation of Scripture, even to &s;peak by the holy Gho&s;t; and yet are led by their own gho&s;t only, following their own private will and de&s;ires, imaginations and opinions, as their only guide and dictator; who pretend to the Spirt of God, and yet will not admit at any hand of other &s;pirit then their own, of other truth then the vi&s;ion of their own heads, or of other directions then the motions of their own hearts; rejecting, renouncing, and crying down all but what them&s;elves call holy; with the <HI>Donati&s;ts</HI> of old, <HI>Quod volumus, &s;anctum e&s;t,</HI> that they will have to be holy, right and true, &s;hall be &s;o, and nothing el&s;e: 'tis the very ground whereupon this la&s;t up&s;tart crew of Quakers build all their re&s;olutions, and &s;trange fanatick opinions, and here&s;ies; even that which they call
<HI>the light within us;</HI> This (&s;ay they) is the only Judge we mu&s;t follow, the Pilot we mu&s;t &s;teer by, the voice whereunto we mu&s;t give ear, the on|ly Sanctuary to which we mu&s;t flie for re&s;olution; never re|membring how this &s;anctuary is profan'd, by continual acts of &s;piritual fornication or idolatry therein committed; while&s;t in &s;tead, and even in oppo&s;ition to God and Spirit of all truth, they en&s;hrine and idolize their own fond, vain, and lying imaginations, which the Lord by his Prophet cals <HI>the vanity and deceitfulne&s;&s;e of their own heart.</HI> Jer. 14.14.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 14.4.</NOTE> <HI>The<PB N="42" REF="45">Lord &s;aid unto me, The Prophets prophe&s;ie lies in my Name, I have not &s;ent them, neither did I command them, neither &s;pake I unto them, but they prophe&s;ie unto you a fal&s;e vi&s;ion, and di|vination, and vanity, and the deceitfulne&s;&s;e of their own heart.</HI> 'Tis undoubtedly nece&s;&s;ary for every man to be per&s;waded in his own con&s;cience both of the truth of what he believes, and of the ju&s;tice and equity of what he undertakes: but yet this per&s;wa&s;ion of the con&s;cience, or the following the light within us, or the dictates of our own &s;pirit, is not the fir&s;t ground, and prime rule either of our faith, or of our works. For the con&s;cience it &s;elf mu&s;t be regulated, or el&s;e it will often prove a fal&s;e witne&s;s, and mo&s;t e&s;pecially in the things of God: for as con&s;cience is is &s;et betwixt God and us, &s;o it mu&s;t &s;peak from God unto us. And our &s;pirit or the light within us mu&s;t be guided by the light of Gods Spirit &s;hining in his word: S. Paul
<HI>thought verily he ought to do many things again&s;t the name of Je&s;us:</HI> This per&s;wa&s;ion aro&s;e from the light within him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act.
26.9,11.</NOTE> and hereupon he made havock of the Church, which no man that is not infatuate will &s;ay, was either fit, or lawful to be done. 'Twas fir&s;t in the heart of <HI>Judas</HI> to betray his Ma&s;ter, <HI>Joh.</HI> 13.2. Such was the light within him, and according to this light he walked, till at la&s;t he hanged him&s;elf.</P>
<P>And this delu&s;ion of mans own &s;pirit, following the deceit|full dictates of his own heart, is &s;eldome mentioned in holy Scripture, without heavie threats denounced both again&s;t &s;uch deluders, and all that &s;uffer them&s;elves to be deluded by them:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek.
13.3.</NOTE> as you may read, <HI>Jer.</HI> 14.15,16. And again, <HI>Ezek.</HI>
13.3. <HI>Wo unto the fooli&s;h Prophets, which follow their own &s;pirit, and have &s;een nothing;</HI> Nothing but what their own fooli&s;h &s;pirit dictates to them.</P>
<P>Such are noted by the Apo&s;tle al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gol.
2.18.</NOTE> Col. 2.18. <HI>Who in|trude into tho&s;e things which they have net &s;een,</HI> (or, <HI>which they under&s;tand not</HI>) <HI>being vainly puft up by their fle&s;hly minde,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Sen|&s;ualitatis, non rationis;</HI> following the dictates of &s;en&s;e, rather then of right rea&s;on; and in this place, the word
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> is remarkable; for even by that
'tis ea&s;ie to di&s;tingui&s;h be|twixt the dictates of a mans own carnal and &s;en&s;ual &s;pirit,<PB N="43" REF="45">and the impre&s;&s;ions of Gods holy Spirit, for the guidance of the minde: The dictate of the fle&s;hly &s;pirit is
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>inflatio,</HI> a puffing up; but the impre&s;&s;ion of the holy Spirit is
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>afflatio,</HI> an in&s;piration indeed, but without infla|tion, or puffing up: The heavenly winde of Gods Spirit may fill, but it never puffs up, or &s;wels the heart, but rather hum|bles and aba&s;eth the Spirit of man, which is mo&s;t conforma|ble to the Spirit of Chri&s;t, according to his own command, <HI>Mat.</HI> 11.29.
<HI>Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat.
11.29.</NOTE> the minde that is either puft up with pride, vain-glory, and fal&s;e conceited excellency in it &s;elf; or that &s;wels with ma|lice, hatred, or envie towards others, is not in&s;pired with the cele&s;tial Breath or Spirit of the holy Je&s;us, but follows its own carnal and corrupt dictates and conceits; being thereunto rai&s;ed and moved, by that grand Impo&s;tor, the &s;pirit of Delu&s;ion.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> Be&s;ides mans own carnal &s;pirit, there is al&s;o <HI>A &s;pirit of the World,</HI> oppo&s;ing and poy&s;oning the truths of Gods Spirit: The Apo&s;tle di&s;tingui&s;heth and oppo&s;eth the&s;e each to other,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2.12.</NOTE> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.12. <HI>Now we have not received the &s;pirit which is of the world, but the Spirit which is of God:</HI> which &s;pirit of the world, he cals a little before, <HI>the wi&s;dome of the world, and of the Princes thereof,</HI> ver&s;. 6. and oppo&s;eth the &s;ame to <HI>the wi&s;dome of God,</HI> ver&s;. 7. And what el&s;e can be this wi&s;dome of the world, but tho&s;e humane policies, &s;o frequent in the world, whereby men &s;teer their actions to their worldly ends and intere&s;ts? with this <HI>&s;pirit of the world</HI> are all &s;uch po&s;&s;e&s;t, who having &s;et up and en&s;hrined the world in their hearts, do thereupon ground their Religion, and thence deduce all their rea&s;ons, arguments and religious conclu&s;ions; &s;o that they can finde in their hearts to be thus far religious, and to clo&s;e with this or that &s;ect, &s;ociety, and opinion in Re|ligion, as it &s;tands with their worldly profit, plea&s;ure, credit, preferment, or the like: It was from the dictates of this &s;pi|rit that <HI>Jeroboam</HI> the Son of <HI>Nebat made I&s;rael to &s;in;</HI> pul|ling down the holy and true Religion e&s;tabli&s;hed among&s;t the people by the Lawes of God, and erecting two golden<PB N="44" REF="46">Calves at
<HI>Dan</HI> and <HI>Bethel,</HI> which became <HI>a &s;nare</HI> unto the peo|ple, who were thereby inveigled into idolatry, the cau&s;e of their utter ruine and extirpation in the end:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 12.28,29.</NOTE> And what other Spirit was it that moved this wicked U&s;urper thereunto, but that of his own worldly re&s;pects and intere&s;ts; there was no other way as this worldly &s;pirit dictated to him, to up|hold his pre&s;ent e&s;tate, and new gotten Monarchy? &s;o we read,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 12.26.</NOTE> 1
<HI>King.</HI> 12.26, <HI>&amp;c. And Jeroboam &s;aid in his heart, Now &s;hall the kingdome return to the hou&s;e of</HI> David, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Ra|ther then the people &s;hould return to their obedience to their liege Lord and Soveraign, religion mu&s;t down, and the true wor&s;hip of God be laid in the du&s;t, to make way for &s;uper&s;tition and idolatry to be &s;et up; the Prie&s;ts of the Lord &s;hall be di&s;carded, and the lowe&s;t of the people exalt|ted to that dignity, and to make the office more contempti|ble, every one that li&s;t, may take up the trade, and con|&s;ecrate him&s;elf to be <HI>a Prie&s;t of the high places,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 13.33.</NOTE> 1 King. 13.33.</P>
<P>It was this very &s;pirit al&s;o that &s;tirred up the
<HI>High-prie&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> to take coun&s;ell again&s;t our <HI>Saviour</HI> to put him to death; for &s;ay they, <HI>If we let him alone, all men will be|lieve on him,</HI>
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>The Romans will come and take away our place and Nation,</HI> Joh. 11.48.</P>
<P>It was this &s;pirit al&s;o that &s;tirred up <HI>Demetrius</HI> the Silver-&s;mith, with the re&s;t of the Crafts-men of the like occupation, again&s;t St. <HI>Paul</HI> and his companions, and the holy Chri&s;tian Religion preached by them; his Pretence was Religion (&s;uch a kinde Religion as it was) <HI>viz. Le&s;t the Temple of the great godde&s;&s;e Dianu &s;hould be nothing e&s;teemed, and her magnifi|cence, whom A&s;ia and all the world wor&s;hipt, &s;hould be de&s;troyed;</HI> but this Religion was blown by the winde of his own world|ly ends; his profit, his gain which he got by making &s;ilver &s;hrines for <HI>Diana,</HI> was in danger to be lo&s;t, and therefore it was now time for to &s;tir, not &s;o much for the maintenance of her honour, as his own profit, <HI>Act.</HI> 19.27.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act.
19.27.</NOTE></P>
<P>And 'tis this &s;pirit of the world, that po&s;&s;e&s;&s;es the grea|te&s;t part of the world; generally, and for the mo&s;t part, men mea&s;ure and &s;quare out their Religion by the rule of<PB N="45" REF="46">their profit, or plea&s;ure, or preferment, or credit and e&s;teem among&s;t men; or indeed at the be&s;t, by the rule of &s;elf-pre|&s;ervation; &s;o far perhaps they will &s;ail by the winde of Gods Spirit as the Sea of this world is calm, peaceable, plea&s;ant, and the navigation gainful, or at lea&s;t not chargeable; but if any tempe&s;t ari&s;e, any gu&s;ts of trouble or oppo&s;ition again&s;t the truth blow in the face of its profe&s;&s;ors; if any dammages or dangers pur&s;ue them in their cour&s;e, they pre|&s;ently tack about, and will &s;ail no longer by the heavenly winde of God, but by the earthly winde of their own world|ly ends and intere&s;ts; not by the winde which blows from heaven, but by that which ari&s;eth out of the caves and hol|lows of an earthly minde;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.6. 2 Sam. 24.24.</NOTE> &s;uffering them&s;elves by this wind to be to&s;&s;ed to and fro, and driven to be of this, or that, or any Religion, that &s;hall co&s;t them nothing, nothing of charge, trouble, or danger; ebbing and flowing in this worlds va&s;t &s;ea, as the tide either of pro&s;perity or adver&s;ity, danger or &s;ecurity makes for or again&s;t them. But this &s;urely is &s;uch a &s;pirit as blows quite cro&s;&s;e and contrary to the &s;pirit which guided and directed the Apo&s;tles, for they fini&s;hed their cour&s;e over the troublous &s;ea of this world, to the cele&s;tial <HI>Canaan,</HI> by &s;ayling in all weathers, encountring all oppo&s;i|tions, and pa&s;&s;ing through all &s;torms that met and oppo&s;ed them: <HI>In afflictions, in nece&s;&s;ities, in di&s;tre&s;&s;es, in &s;tripes, in pri|&s;ons, in tumults, in labours, by watchings, by fa&s;tings, &amp;c.</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.4,5,6.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6,4,5,6.</NOTE> And yet in all the&s;e difficulties, &s;till faith the father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> <HI>The yoke of Chri&s;t is ea&s;ie, and his burthen light;</HI> nay, there is ea&s;e, peace, and comfort to the &s;oul in the mid&s;t of all the troubles, dangers, wants or nece&s;&s;ities that can in this life encounter us, while&s;t the holy Gho&s;t &s;ecretly by his comforts both cheers our &s;pirits, and fils the &s;ails of our de|&s;ires with the hopes of arriving &s;afe in the end at the harbour of eternal peace and felicity.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="46" REF="47">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX. Of the Tryal of Spirits.</HEAD>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="general"> SInce then that grand malignant Spirit, the enemy of our &s;alvation, working by the&s;e two Familiars, mans own de|ceivable &s;pirit, and the &s;pirit of the world, doth thus many waies counterfeit, poy&s;on, pervert, and con&s;equently ob|&s;truct, impede, and overthrow the workings of the Spirit of grace; as an Antidote again&s;t this poy&s;on of the &s;erpent, and that his countermines prevail not to the &s;ubver&s;ion of our &s;ouls; we mu&s;t make u&s;e of that friendly admonition of the Apo&s;tle, never &s;o nece&s;&s;ary to be ob&s;erved and pra|cti&s;ed as now;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 4.1.</NOTE> <HI>Dearly beloved, beleeve not every Spirit, but try the &s;pirits, whether they be of God, or no; for many fal&s;e Pro|phets are gone out into the world.</HI></P>
<P>The admonition is twofold:
<LIST>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, negative, <HI>Beleeve not every &s;pirit.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, po&s;itive, <HI>Try the &s;pirits;</HI></ITEM>
</LIST> and there is one gene|ral rea&s;on given for both,
<HI>becau&s;e many fal&s;e prophets are gone out into the world.</HI> He then that &s;hall be &s;o credulous, as to give heed to every one that pretends to the Spirit of truth, and under that pretence treats of holy and &s;piritual things; and &s;hall not fir&s;t by the rule of truth examine and try &s;uch things and per&s;ons; &s;hall be &s;ure to have lies and errors ob|truded upon him, under the dre&s;&s;e and attire of Truth; becau&s;e there ever was, and ever &s;hall be by Gods permi&s;&s;i|on and the Devils &s;ugge&s;tion, fal&s;e Prophets or fal&s;e Tea|chers in the world, and yet as fair and great pretenders to the truth, as the very true patrons and promoters thereof; &s;uch there were ever in the Church of God, both under the Law of old,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 2.1.</NOTE> and under the Go&s;pel anew. 2 Pet. 2.1.
<HI>But there were fal&s;e Prophets al&s;o among the people, even as there &s;hall be fal&s;e Teachers among you; which privily &s;hall bring in damnable here&s;ies, even denying the Lord that bought them; and &s;hall bring upon them&s;elves &s;wift de&s;truction:</HI> And 'twere well <PB N="47" REF="47">if the poy&s;on &s;pread no further, &s;o that others were not in|fected therewith al&s;o: but &s;o nau&s;eous is Truth to the mindes of men for its age, and antiquity, and &s;o acceptable are Lies and Errors for their novelty, that the&s;e fal&s;e Teachers never fail of many di&s;ciples and followers; &s;o it followes ver&s;. 2.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 2 1.</NOTE> <HI>And many &s;hall follow their de&s;tructions, by whom the way of truth &s;hall be evil &s;poken of.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, then <HI>beleeve them not,</HI> follow them not, be not cou|&s;en'd by their fair pretences, &s;o as to be infected with their fal&s;e doctrines: 'Tis our Saviours own command, Mat. 24.23.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat.
24.23.</NOTE> <HI>If any man &s;hall &s;ay unto you, Loe here is Chri&s;t, or, Loe there, beleeve it not; for there &s;hall ari&s;e fal&s;e Chri&s;ts, and fal&s;e Pro|phets, and &s;hall &s;hew great &s;igns and wonders, &s;o that if it were po&s;&s;ible they &s;hould deceive the very elect. (But that being fore|warn'd, ye may be arm'd again&s;t their delu&s;ions) Behold I have told you before. Wherefore, if they &s;hall &s;ay unto you, Behold, he is in the de&s;ert, go not forth; Behold, he is in the &s;ecret places, be|leeve it not.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;ame care and caution was commanded by God to his people under the Law:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 13 1.</NOTE><HI>If there ari&s;e among you a Pro|phet, or a Dreamer of dreams, (and give thee a &s;ign or a wonder,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 2.</NOTE>and the &s;ign and the wonder which he hath told thee, come to pa&s;&s;e) &s;aying, Let us go after other Gods, which thou ha&s;t not known, and let us &s;erve them;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE>Thou &s;halt not hearken unto the words of the Prophet or unto that Dreamer of dreams:For the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your &s;oul:</HI> From whence it is al&s;o further ob&s;ervable, The rea&s;on why God &s;uffers fal&s;e Prophets to ari&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> for the probation and trial of our proficiency and integrity in the love and &s;ervice of God; for &s;o &s;aith the Father upon tho&s;e words,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> [for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your &s;oul]:
<HI>Ten|tat nos Dominus, non ut &s;ciat ip&s;e, quem nihil latet, &s;ed ut &s;cire nos faciat, quantum in ejus dilectione profecerimus:</HI> God &s;uf|fers us to be tempted, tryed, and proved by the lying won|ders of fal&s;e Prophets ari&s;ing among&s;t us, not that he him|&s;elf may know what is in us, to whom the hearts of all men <PB N="48" REF="48">are naked and bare; but that we may thereby know our &s;elves, and our own proficiency, and con&s;tancy to the prin|ciples of truth and integrity.</P>
<P>The very &s;ame rea&s;on is given by the Apo&s;tle for the ne|ce&s;&s;ity of here&s;ies, 1 Cor. 11.19. <HI>For there mu&s;t be here&s;ies among you, that they which are approved among you may be known:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor 11.19.</NOTE> <HI>Quolibet errore caecentur, &amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de civ Dei lib. 18.</NOTE> With what error &s;o|ever our enemies are blinded, or with what wickedne&s;s &s;oe|ver they are deprav'd,
'tis for the proof, trial and exerci&s;e of the graces of Gods Spirit within us: Have they received power to afflict, per&s;ecute, impri&s;on,
<HI>&amp;c.</HI> 'Tis for the trial of our patience in &s;uffering, and charity in loving our ene|mies, and praying for our per&s;ecutors, as becomes the Di|&s;ciples of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5.44.</NOTE> Mat. 5.44. Do they only by fair words and cunning &s;peeches di&s;til their fal&s;e and poy&s;onous Do|ctrines?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6.1.</NOTE> 'Tis for the trial of our wi&s;dome in re&s;i&s;ting, and beneficence in per&s;wading and endevouring to re&s;tore them with the &s;pirit of <HI>meekne&s;&s;e;</HI> proving <HI>whether God will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth; that they may e&s;cape the &s;nare of the Devil, of whom they are taken cap|tive at his will,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.25,26.</NOTE> 2 Tim.
2.25,26.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>Try the &s;pirits, whether they be of God or no</HI>] Try them, how? but by the revelations of the Spirit, which is of God, who being the Spirit of truth, mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily therefore in all his qualifications and impre&s;&s;ions, be con|&s;entaneous and agreeable to him&s;elf;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> <HI>Veritas veritati congrua,</HI> one truth ever holds proportion with another; nay, all truths are as it were the images and re&s;emblances one of ano|ther; they are all links of the &s;ame golden chain, which affixt to the throne of heaven, di&s;playes 'its radiant lu&s;tre unto the mindes of men upon earth: They are all but &s;treams flowing from one and the &s;ame fountain, the God of truth. There is nothing then that we are to receive for truth, but what is con&s;onant and agrees with the Spirit of truth; which ever ble&s;&s;ed Spirit &s;peaking in the Word, hath thereby pre&s;cribed and given us a &s;ure and in|fallible rule of truth.</P>
<P><PB N="49" REF="48">What the Apo&s;tle cals a being <HI>filled with the Spirit,</HI> Eph. 5.18,19. he al&s;o cals <HI>the dwelling of the word of Chri&s;t in us richly:</HI> which any one that will compare the places may perceive: whence it is ea&s;ie to ob&s;erve that the Apo&s;tle means no other by being filled with the Spirit, then to be full of the Word of Chri&s;t, or to be mighty in the Scriptures: and the rea|&s;on is, becau&s;e the holy Spirit is not only the great Dictator of the Scriptures unto us, but al&s;o our guide in &s;everal re|&s;pects, as to the right under&s;tanding of them.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="rule"> The fir&s;t rule of trial then is the holy Word of God in general: that's the grand general rule, that's the great &s;quare or level, according to which we are to try and exa|mine the rectitude, truth and integrity both of the doctrines and opinions of others without; and al&s;o the impre&s;&s;ions and workings of the Spirit within. Gal.
1.8. <HI>Though we, or an Angel from Heaven &s;hould preach unto you another Go&s;pel, be&s;ides that you have received, let him be accur&s;ed.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 1.8.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Though we</HI>] preferring authority of the Go&s;pel they had preached, before their own authority the Preachers there|of; nay before the authority of cele&s;tial &s;pirits; <HI>Though an Angel from Heaven,</HI> &amp;c.] He &s;aw, &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> that it might &s;o come to pa&s;&s;e, that Satan transforming him&s;elf into an angel of light, and working by his mediators and in&s;truments, tho&s;e deceitful workers who transform them|&s;elves into the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 11,13,14.</NOTE> might &s;o cou&s;en and de|ceive them, if they did not keep clo&s;e to the Go&s;pel recei|ved; which is the true rule of faith: therefore he &s;aith <HI>ano|ther Go&s;pel be&s;ides,</HI> &amp;c.]
<HI>praeter,</HI> any thing that is be&s;ides, that holds not &s;quare, and is not level to that rule: <HI>Qui praeter|greditur fidei regulam, non procedit in via, &s;ed recedit &agrave; via;</HI> he that goes be&s;ides, and not according to the rule of faith, goes not forward in the way, but backward from the way of truth; &s;o 1 Joh. 4.8. <HI>We are of God,</HI> (&s;peaking of him|&s;elf, and the re&s;t of his fellow Apo&s;tles) <HI>He that knoweth God heareth us, (acquie&s;cendo doctrinae no&s;trae)</HI> cleaves to our do|ctrine,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra.</NOTE> <HI>and he that is not of God, heareth us not, neither is obedi|ent to our word: And hereby know we the Spirit of truth, and the &s;pirit of error, q. d.</HI> He that cleaves to our doctrine is<PB N="50" REF="49">guided by the Spirit of truth, and he that doth not &s;o, by the &s;pirit of error.</P>
<P>But the &s;pirit of error will come with his <HI>&s;criptum e&s;t</HI> like|wi&s;e, as he did again&s;t our Lord him&s;elf, <HI>Mat.</HI>
4. And all he|reticks and &s;chi&s;maticks do generally alledge Scriptures, and wre&s;t the very &s;ayings of the Spirit of truth again&s;t him&s;elf, to in&s;inuate thereby their lies and errors. For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> ob&s;erves of the writings of <HI>Ovid, Virgil, Homer,</HI> both the mat|ter of them hath been transferr'd unto other u&s;es, and the ver&s;es applyed to other matter: Even &s;o do hereticks deal with the holy writings of in&s;pired men:<NOTE PLACE="marg">De Prae&s;er. adv. Haer. cap. 39.</NOTE> <HI>Nec periclitor di|cere, &amp;c.</HI> I fear not to &s;ay, that the Scriptures were &s;o di&s;po|&s;ed by the wi&s;dome of God, that they might
<HI>accidentaliter,</HI> and by the by, even admini&s;ter matter to Here&s;ies; &s;ince I read that <HI>here&s;ies mu&s;t come,</HI> and without the Scriptures they cannot come. For 'tis in the production of here&s;ies, as of natural things, <HI>Corruptio unius e&s;t generatio alterius;</HI> the corruption of truth is the generation of here&s;ie; all here|tical opinions being generally grounded upon, and flowing from the fountain of truth, the Scripture; not as they are in them&s;elves rightly interpreted and under&s;tood, but as they are wre&s;ted and perverted either in the words, or in the &s;en&s;e, either by additions or diminutions; or by not con|&s;idering them together, but divided into parts, and taken up by &s;hreds and pieces; for the avoiding whereof the&s;e follow|ing rules mu&s;t be ob&s;erved in the trial of &s;pirits by the Scri|ptures.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="rule"> Fir&s;t, try and examine by the coherence, whether that be the very intent and aim of the holy Gho&s;t in the text, for the which it is urg'd and alleged: For the &s;ame words of the Spirit may be mi&s;applyed both to other things and other per&s;ons, then the Spirit ever meant or intended therein.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="rule"> Secondly, di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt times, ages, per&s;ons, when, wherein, and to whom this or that word was &s;poken: For there are many things both &s;aid and recorded to be done in the Word, which are only agreeable to tho&s;e times, to that age of the Church, and to &s;ome particular per&s;ons, and are not at all appliable to the Church and people of Chri&s;t in the&s;e times, or to any per&s;ons among&s;t us.</P>
<P><PB N="51" REF="49"><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="rule"> Thirdly, examine diligently the phra&s;e, and manner of &s;peech, whether it be plain or Metaphorical, literal or alle|gorical; a true hi&s;tory, or a parable only: For many things are &s;poken in the Word by way of type, figure, allegory, parable, and the like; which if we &s;hould apply in the plain and literal &s;en&s;e, would prove &s;trange mon&s;trous lies and con|tradictions; which God forbid any man &s;hould be &s;o bla&s;|phemous, as to impo&s;e on the Spirit of truth and wi&s;|dome.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="rule"> Fourthly, examine diligently what agreement every text of Scripture hath with other, and receive not ea&s;ily and &s;lightly the &s;eeming &s;en&s;e of any text, without comparing the &s;ame with its parallel texts: For many things &s;eem to be po&s;itively a&s;&s;erted in &s;ome places of the Word of God, which yet are directly contradicted in others; one place therefore is &s;o to be compared with, and interpreted by another, that the one do not ob&s;cure or any way cloud the truth of the other.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="rule"> Fifthly, examine whether that which we conceive to be the &s;en&s;e of this or that Scripture, be agreeable to tho&s;e Articles of Chri&s;tian faith contained in the Apo&s;tles Creed; that
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, or <HI>form of &s;ound words,</HI> in faith, we mu&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.13.</NOTE> <HI>hold fa&s;t;</HI> that <HI>model of faith once given to the Saints,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jude v. 3.</NOTE> for which we mu&s;t <HI>contend,</HI> and con&s;equently receive <HI>no private &s;en&s;e or interpretation of Scripture</HI> that is contrary thereunto;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet.
1.20.</NOTE> remem|bring that <HI>no Scripture is of any private interpretation, but that even the Spirits of the Prophets them&s;elves are &s;ubject to the Prophets.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 14.32.</NOTE></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="6" UNIT="rule"> Sixtly, examine what we conceive to be the &s;en&s;e of the Spirit in the Word, by the rule of that law written by the finger of God, in two Tables of &s;tone, as a la&s;ting &s;quare, according to which to regulate all our acti|ons, and con&s;equently all our conceptions and opinions, from whence our actions flow: The rule of obedience, or that all perfect rule of <HI>Charity,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.10.</NOTE> which is the <HI>fulfilling of the Law,</HI> is an infallible rule of trial of the &s;pirits, whether they be of God or no; <HI>Hereby</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>we are &s;ure we know God, if we keep his Commandements; he that
<PB N="52" REF="50">&s;aith, I know God, and keepeth not his Commandements, is a lyar, and the truth is not in him,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 2.34.</NOTE>
1 Joh. 2.34. It is not the Spirit of truth, but the &s;pirit of error, if it oppo&s;e, or deny, or any way impede and hinder our obedience to the Laws of God: For &s;aith the &s;ame Apo&s;tle again,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh.
3.24.</NOTE> <HI>He that keepeth his Com|mandements dwelleth in him, and he in him; and hereby we know that he abideth in us, even by that Spirit which he hath given us;</HI> even by the &s;pirit of obedience to the Comman|dements of God: So that even from hence 'tis clear, that both to have the Spirit abiding in us, and the way to know we have him al&s;o, and not a fal&s;e counterfeit lying &s;pirit, is, if thereby we be mov'd and enabled to keep Gods Com|mandements: This is the very rule our Saviour him&s;elf pre|&s;cribes to examine his own doctrine thereby,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 7.17.</NOTE> Joh.
7.17. <HI>If any man will do his will, he &s;hall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I &s;peak of my &s;elf:</HI> And this is the fir&s;t general rule of tryal of the Spirits, even the Word of God.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="rule"> A &s;econd rule, according to which to try the &s;pirits, whe|ther they be of God, or no, is by the fruits of the Spirit; and 'tis the rule our Lord him&s;elf hath given us to know them by, Mat. 7.15. <HI>Beware of fal&s;e Prophets, which come to you in &s;heeps cloathing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat.
7.15.</NOTE> Beware of fal&s;e Prophets] for many &s;uch are gone out into the world, who in re&s;pect of their exteriour dre&s;s and outward appearance, &s;o plau&s;ible are their pretences, &s;o &s;piritual are their expre&s;ions, &s;o much of the language of the Spirit, and Scripture phra&s;es flow from them, that you would take them for the true &s;heep of Chri&s;t, and undoubtedly to belong to his fold; and yet for all this, inwardly, really, and truly they are
<HI>wolves</HI> in &s;heeps cloathing, limbs of Satan, deceiving and de|vouring the &s;ouls of the &s;imple. <HI>But by their fruits you &s;hal know them</HI>] which is confirmed by an apt &s;imilitude, ver&s;. 16. <HI>Do men gather grapes of thornes, or figs of thi&s;tles? q. d.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat.
7.16.</NOTE> No man can be &s;o fooli&s;h as to expect this, but every tree, whether it be good or whether it be bad, bringeth forth fruit &s;uita|ble to its good or bad nature. So, <HI>every good tree bringeth<PB N="53" REF="50">forth good fruit, and a corrupt tree bringeth forth evill fruit;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">17.</NOTE> nor is it po&s;&s;ible it &s;hould be otherwi&s;e. <HI>A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">18.</NOTE> even &s;o fal&s;e Prophets cannot bring forth the fruit of good, true, whol&s;ome, &s;ound doctrines, and religious manners: So <HI>Menander,</HI>
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, No man being good in him&s;elf produceth evil actions: on the other &s;ide, &s;aith <HI>Antoninus,</HI>
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> He that will not have a wicked man to commit wicked|ne&s;s, is like unto him that will not have a fig-tree to bring forth figs: 'Tis then an infallible tryal of the &s;pirits, whe|ther they be of God, or no, by the fruits they bring forth.</P>
<P><HI>The fruit of the Spirit (viz.)</HI> which is of God, <HI>is love, joy, peace, long-&s;uffering, gentlene&s;s, goodne&s;s, faith, meekne&s;s, tem|perance:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.22,23</NOTE> The fir&s;t of the&s;e fruits, and the faire&s;t too, even of large&s;t extent, and mo&s;t la&s;ting, which this tree of life brings forth, is <HI>Love,</HI> even the love of God above all, and of our neighbour as our &s;elves: This therefore mu&s;t needs be an infal|lible touch-&s;tone to try the &s;pirit of truth, from the &s;pirit of error; for the &s;pirit of truth is the very &s;pirit of love; and that fir&s;t in re&s;pect of him&s;elf, being that e&s;&s;ential love, and love-knot of the Father and the Son: And &s;econdly, in re&s;pect of us, being that &s;acred <HI>vinculum,</HI> that invi&s;ible chain which unites us unto God <HI>by faith,</HI> which <HI>worketh by love,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5
6.</NOTE> and which unites one to another by charity, peace, amity, the in&s;eparable fruits of a true faith. So that the Spirit of God is <HI>vinculum unitatis,</HI> both in re&s;pect of his per&s;on and office; and that 3 waies: Fir&s;t, he is the bond of unity be|twixt God and God: Secondly, betwixt God and man: and, Thirdly, betwixt man and man: therefore call'd <HI>the unity of the Spirit,</HI> Eph. 4.3. The devil on the other &s;ide,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4.3.</NOTE> is of a quite contrary nature; as being the author, fautor, and fomentor of all divi&s;ion: He divides and &s;eparates man from God by &s;infulne&s;s and error; and man from man by envie, malice, hatred, &s;trife, and variance; therefore is he &s;o well known among&s;t the vulgar by his cloven foot, the embleme of divi&s;ion.</P>
<P><PB N="54" REF="51">Now our love to God above all, is manife&s;ted and expre&s;|&s;ed by our love to our neighbour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 4.20.</NOTE> 1 Joh. 4.20. <HI>If any man &s;ay, I love God, and hateth his Brother, he is a lyar; for he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath &s;een, how can he love God whom he hath not &s;een?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh 14.23,24.</NOTE> For, <HI>if any man love me</HI> (&s;aith the Lord) <HI>he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him: And he that lo|veth me not, keepeth not my Words; and the Word which you hear, is not mine, but the Fathers which &s;ent me:</HI> And what is the Word he means, and &s;o often particularly commands, but to love one another? <HI>This is my commandement, that ye love one another, as I have loved you,</HI> Joh. 15.12. And this is <HI>the fruit</HI> he giveth us in charge to bring forth, ver&s;. 16, 17. even <HI>to love one another:</HI> So that then, where there is malice, hatred, &s;trife, variance, bitter envyings, railings, revilings, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> for &s;uch kinde of per&s;ons to lay claim to the Spirit of unity, is a piece of impudent vanity, and a fal&s;e &s;ugge&s;tion, either from their own corrupt erring &s;pirit, or from the &s;pirit of error him&s;elf, the Devil, who is a hater, a reviler, and <HI>the accu&s;er of the brethren:</HI> And on the other &s;ide, where there is peace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12.10.</NOTE> love, unity, amity,
<HI>&amp;c.</HI> they are un|que&s;tionable marks and tokens of the Spirit of truth and unity: Therefore St. <HI>John</HI> in the forecited place, having told us, that <HI>hereby know we the Spirit of truth from the &s;pirit of er|ror;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 4.6,7,8.</NOTE> adds immediately,
<HI>Beloved, let us love one another; for love cometh of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God; and he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.</HI></P>
<P>It would be needle&s;&s;e to in&s;tance in the re&s;t of the fruits of the Spirit, becau&s;e love is not only the fir&s;t and chiefe&s;t of them, even the Mi&s;tre&s;&s;e, or rather the Queen of graces, and by the Apo&s;tle extoll'd above them all, 1 Cor. 13. but al&s;o, becau&s;e 'tis the &s;um, brief, abridgement, and epitome of all grace: All the fruits of the Spirits are contained in and derived from this one, as &s;treams from the fountain head;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> <HI>&V;nde caetera tanquam ex capite exorta, &amp; religata con|texuit,</HI> &s;aith the Father of <HI>the fruits of the Spirit,</HI> as they are reckoned by the Apo&s;tle, They all ari&s;e from, and<PB N="55" REF="51">are &s;umm'd up in this one; therefore
'tis call'd the bond of perfection, <HI>Col.</HI> 3.14. becau&s;e, &s;aith
<HI>Lyra,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sicut virtutes politicae conne|ctuntur in pru|den<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">, &s;ic in&s;u|&s;ae in charitate,</HI> Lyr. in Loc.</NOTE> <HI>as all Philo&s;ophi|cal vertues are bound up in that one of Prudence, &s;o all infu&s;ed vertues, or the graces of the Spirit are bound up in this one of Charity:</HI> and therefore al&s;o is love the fulfilling of the Law, Rom. 13.10. 'Tis the fulfilling of the Law in three re|&s;pects:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Reductiv&egrave;,</HI> in that the whole Law is reducible to this one command of Love; and like <HI>Homer</HI>'s Iliads in a nut&s;hel, the whole volume of the Law is contained in this &s;hort pre|cept,
<HI>Thou &s;halt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy &s;oul, and with all thy minde, and thy neighbour as thy &s;elfe.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 22.37,39,40.</NOTE></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>Formaliter,</HI> the very e&s;&s;ential form of our obedience to the Lawes of God, being our love to God: That's the ve|ry form, life, &s;oul, &s;pirit of a truly holy and acceptable obe|dience, both in piety towards God, and charity towards man, when it proceeds from the love we owe to God him|&s;elf, and to our neighbour for Gods &s;ake; and therefore is Love al&s;o &s;tyl'd <HI>the end of the Commandement,</HI> 1 Tim. 1.5. For,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 1.5.</NOTE> <HI>&s;inis in moralibus habet rationem formae,</HI> the end why we do this or that moral action is the very e&s;&s;ential form of the acti|on done.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. <HI>Effectiv&egrave;,</HI> obedience is the effect, the i&s;&s;ue, the pro|duct of our love to God, flowing from it as an effect from the cau&s;e; therefore 'tis &s;aid as before,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh.
14.23.</NOTE> <HI>If ye love me keep my Commandements.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Love then is, and needs mu&s;t be an exact, true, and in|fallible touch-&s;tone or tryal of the truth of Spirits, &s;ince 'tis the chief, the fountain, the abridgement of all the fruits thereof. And by the &s;ame rule may every man try and exa|mine him&s;elf, whether he be adopted and reconciled unto God through Chri&s;t, or not: <HI>For the Spirit beareth witne&s;&s;e with our &s;pirits that we are the Sons of God,</HI> Rom. 8.16. bear|eth witne&s;s, how? but by the &s;eale of &s;anctification upon our hearts: And this &s;eale is Love, <HI>Set me as a &s;eale upon thine heart&mdash;for Love is &s;trong as death,</HI> Cant. 8.6. Who&s;oe|ver findes
<HI>his &s;elf</HI> enricht with this precious jewel, the love
<PB N="56" REF="52">of God above all, and of his neighbour as him&s;elf, may thence a&s;&s;ure him&s;elf of his regeneration, and adoption, that he is the childe of God, <HI>for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God; and he that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is Love,</HI> 1 Joh. 4.7,8. And this love betwixt God and every true faithful &s;oul, is mutual, no man can love God, but he that is beloved of God; for our love to God is but the reflexion of Gods love upon our hearts, whereby our de&s;ires are inflamed towards him, and our en|devours quickned to &s;erve him in righteou&s;ne&s;s, and true ho|line&s;s:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. cp.
107.</NOTE> <HI>Quis ju&s;tus ni&s;i qui dilectus &agrave; Deo, Deum redamat, quod in nobis &s;piritus Dei efficit:</HI> who is, or can be a righte|ous man, but only he, who being beloved of God, loves God again, and expre&s;&s;es this love of his heart, by the righteou&s;|ne&s;s of his life; which love, and obedience the holy Spirit of God worketh in us.</P>
<P>A third rule for the trial of the Spirits, is by the properties of the Spirit of truth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.2.</NOTE> which are ob&s;ervable in the manner of his de&s;cen&s;ion upon the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t, recorded Act. 2.2. <HI>And &s;uddenly there came a &s;ound from heaven, as of a mighty ru&s;hing winde, and it filled all the hou&s;e where they were &s;itting.</HI></P>
<P>This heavenly winde or breath of the Almighty, where|with all the Apo&s;tles were filled, is expre&s;t here to have four properties.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. 'Twas <HI>Sudden.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Vehement.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. From <HI>heaven,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. It <HI>filled the place</HI> where they were &s;itting.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>All the&s;e are the properties of Gods Spirit, who&s;e mo|tions and in&s;pirations are,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>&s;udden,</HI> and unexpected, neither admitting of any de|layes nor put-offs:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr.</NOTE> For, <HI>ne&s;cit tarda molimina Spiritus &s;ancti gratia.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>vehement,</HI> for the conver&s;ion and quite turning over of the &s;oul he blowes upon;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor.
10.4.</NOTE> <HI>ca&s;ting down of &s;trong holds,</HI> (the fortifications of &s;in and Satan) <HI>and bringing into &s;ub|jection every thought that exalts it &s;elf.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>from heaven,</HI> as being the Spirit of God, who
<PB N="57" REF="52">dwelleth in the heavens, and to heaven-ward wings and rai&s;es the &s;oul which he in&s;pires.</P>
<P>Fourthly, it <HI>filled the hou&s;e</HI> where they were &s;itting: ever tends to the good of the Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet.
2.5.</NOTE> which is the <HI>hou&s;hold of faith:</HI> This heavenly winde never blowes, but for the good of Gods hou&s;hold; therefore are his people called <HI>a &s;piritual hou&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>By the two fir&s;t of the&s;e qualities, 'twill be a hard matter to di&s;tingui&s;h a fal&s;e &s;pirit from the Spirit of truth: For as it is ordinary and common to every winde, to be both &s;ud|den and vehement; &s;o
'tis common to every &s;pirit al&s;o, both true and fal&s;e; nay, commonly fal&s;e and faigned &s;pi|rits are more violent and vehement, and make a greater noi&s;e and &s;tir in the world then the true Spirit doth; and there is good rea&s;on for it: for the fal&s;e &s;pirit wanting the native &s;trength and genuine efficacy of the truth to &s;upport it, flies therefore to force and violence, earne&s;t zeal and for|wardne&s;s to bear up in the mindes and good opinions of the world.</P>
<P>For the tryal of &s;pirits then, according to this rule, we mu&s;t look upon the two other properties of this divine winde, which are not ordinary, and common, and not natural to that winde which blowes in the air.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, <HI>it came from heaven</HI>] Windes do not naturally come from heaven, but out of the caves and hollowes of the earth, or out of the middle region of the air; neither do they blow
<HI>de&s;ur&s;um,</HI> downwards, as this winde did, but laterally, from one coa&s;t or climate to another; but this winde came directly downwards, and
<HI>de coelo,</HI> from heaven it &s;elf.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, it <HI>filled the hou&s;e</HI> where they were &s;itting, and no hou&s;e but that: The winde naturally blowes upon all places alike, within its circuit; but this winde blew electively as it were, and by di&s;cretion, making choice of one place only to blow upon, and no other; &s;o that in both the&s;e re&s;pects it is manife&s;t it was a winde extraordinary and &s;uperna|tural.</P>
<P>And by the&s;e two properties we may try and examine, both the truth of our own, and of the &s;pirits of others.</P>
<P><PB N="58" REF="53"><MILESTONE N="1"> If fir&s;t, tho&s;e de&s;ires, opinions, and actions which relate to Religion, be from above, if the ground thereof be fetcht <HI>de coelo,</HI> from heaven; &s;o that they tend to make us heavenly minded, to wean our hearts from the world, to elevate and rai&s;e up our affections to things above, to form and frame our conver&s;ations towards heaven.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 3.2.</NOTE></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> If &s;econdly, they keep us within the pale and limits of the Church, if they tend to the general benefit, edification, pro|fit, and good of the hou&s;hold of faith; and to the conver|&s;ation of peace, and love, and unity among&s;t Chri&s;tians, we may then be confident it is the heavenly winde, the divine breath of the Almighty, the holy Spirit of God that in&s;pires them.</P>
<P>But if otherwi&s;e the&s;e motions and opinions that &s;eem religious be either, <MILESTONE N="1"> fir&s;t, grounded upon earthly and worldly re&s;pects, have their private aims and intentions, either of ambition, vain-glory, and popular applau&s;e, as in &s;ome, or of worldly profit, benefit, and preferment, as in others; or of hatred, malice, revenge, as in a third &s;ort of men: or if, <MILESTONE N="2"> &s;econdly, they tend to divi&s;ions, &s;chi&s;me, &s;eparation, de|bate, variance, malice, hatred, envie, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> If either they &s;mell rank of the world, or ta&s;te of any fruits of the fle&s;h, recorded Gal. 5.19. <HI>Now the works of the fle&s;h are manife&s;t, which are the&s;e, adultery, fornication,</HI> &amp;c. Then this winde comes &s;urely not from heaven, there is nothing in it but what is either natural, or wor&s;e, &s;ugge&s;ted by the &s;pirit of error: 'Tis either a revelation of fle&s;h and bloud, ari&s;ing out of the caves and hollowes of an earthly minde; or el&s;e it is in&s;pired and blown from tho&s;e regions of the air which are the habitation of unclean &s;pirits: 'Tis not <HI>defluxus coeli,</HI> a divine breath in&s;pired from heaven, but either <HI>exhalatio terrae,</HI> a terrene exhalation drawn from the hollows of a cor|rupt heart, or a bla&s;t from the &s;piritual powers of the air, a &s;ugge&s;tion of Satan.</P>
<P>And by this rule al&s;o, every man may try him&s;elf, whether he be truly &s;anctified by the Spirit of God, or not. He that &s;hall find his &s;oul po&s;&s;e&s;t with motions, and de&s;ires, weaned from all the pomps, and vanities, profits plea&s;ures, and<PB N="59" REF="53">cares of the world, hungring, and thir&s;ting, and breathing after heaven, who&s;e &s;oul dwels more in heaven, then on earth, who&s;e affections are &s;et on things above, and not on things below, may be well a&s;&s;ured of the Spirit of God dwelling in him. For all &s;uch motions, and de&s;ires are but &s;parks of that heavenly fire, the flame whereof is mindful of its own original, ever mounts the &s;oul aloft, works to|wards its own center, and tends to the place from whence it comes: To denote which a&s;cending quality of the Spirit of Grace, is one rea&s;on more why the holy Gho&s;t is repre|&s;ented by <HI>fire,</HI> Mat.
3.11. Becau&s;e 'tis the property of fire, both flame and &s;moke, to mount upward; &s;o 'tis the proper|ty of every heavenly in&s;pired &s;oul, to a&s;cend both in con|templation, and de&s;ires: neither the more pure, nor yet the more dro&s;&s;ie part of the &s;oul cleaves unto the du&s;t, and continually dwels below, that is endued with <HI>power from above,</HI> or with the <HI>Spirit</HI> of God. And for the &s;ame rea&s;on, among&s;t others al&s;o, the holy Gho&s;t is repre&s;ented by water, Joh. 7.38,39. becau&s;e, as
'tis the property of water, even again&s;t its own nature, to a&s;cend as high, as is the place from whence it de&s;cends; &s;o, even again&s;t the &s;tream of natural corruption, the &s;oul is mounted to heaven by the influence of Gods &s;pirit, who cometh down from heaven. And the wings which the holy Spirit hath for this a&s;cen&s;ion and flight, are devout and fervent prayers, divine and cele&s;tial meditations and de&s;ires.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. X. Of the means to obtain the true Spirit of God.</HEAD>
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="general"> THE holy Spirit of God, which in the &s;hape of a dove, the embleme of the Spirit of love, de&s;cended upon Chri&s;t our Lord;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3.16.</NOTE> and which afterward both vi&s;ibly and publickly al&s;o came down from heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act.
2.</NOTE> and filled the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t extraordinarily and miraculou&s;ly with his heavenly<PB N="60" REF="54">gifts and graces, doth daily de&s;cend &s;till upon the members of Chri&s;ts my&s;tical body, though not in &s;uch a plentiful mea|&s;ure, nor yet after &s;uch a vi&s;ible miraculous manner; yet ordinarily and invi&s;ibly in the u&s;e of means he comes &s;till, and by his &s;ecret cele&s;tial influence, vi&s;its, enlightens, and &s;anctifies the &s;ouls of men. In every good thought, in eve|ry good motion and pious de&s;ire of the &s;oul, in every de|vout &s;igh and &s;orrowful groan under the weight and bur|then of &s;in, in every &s;triving and rai&s;ing of the &s;oul from under that weight; in every elevation of the &s;oul from the du&s;t and rubbi&s;h of worldly vanities, and a&s;piring towards heaven; in every beam of holy truth, and divine grace, whe|ther relating to piety or charity, the holy Gho&s;t de&s;cends from heaven: Thus he daily comes unto us, and thus he will ever come and be with his Church and people, unto the end of the world, according to that promi&s;e of our Lord, Mat. 28.20.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 28.20.</NOTE> <HI>And lo, I am with you alway unto the end of the world:</HI> He will be with us, if we will be with him, and not neglect the means he hath ordained to be made partakers of his ever ble&s;&s;ed pre&s;ence with us.</P>
<P>The means to fetch down this holy Spirit from heaven to &s;anctifie our &s;ouls by his <HI>grace</HI> here, that he may exalt us to his
<HI>glory</HI> in the heavens hereafter; be&s;ides tho&s;e natural and moral means for the attainment of &s;piritual gifts before remembred, which are al&s;o di&s;pen&s;ed from the Spirit of God; the divine means or conveyances of the Spirit are either,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Outward,</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Inward.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The <HI>outward</HI> means are no other but tho&s;e three e&s;&s;ential parts of divine wor&s;hip:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Holy Prayer.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The <HI>holy Word.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The <HI>holy Sacraments.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The mo&s;t holy God commanding us nothing but what are the means and waies of our own happine&s;s;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quod homini proficit, Deo. &s;ervit.</HI> Tert. de poen. c. 2.</NOTE> <HI>viz.</HI> the means of grace and &s;anctification here, as the way to our glo|rification hereafter: For there is nothing that we poor, frail, mortal du&s;t and a&s;hes can perform, that may any way<PB N="61" REF="54">add, really add to the glory or happine&s;s of the mo&s;t high, mo&s;t glorious, and ever ble&s;&s;ed God: And in that he lays his commands upon us, and enjoyns us &s;everal waies of ac|knowledging our obedience to him, 'tis of his tender care and re&s;pect to us-ward, even for our guidance and directi|on in the waies of our own felicity: The Laws of God are no other then the rules of mans perfection, even the &s;acred paths we mu&s;t tread to attain that pitch of perfection, whereunto we are created, being in&s;tampt after the ble&s;&s;ed image of our Maker: So that the parts of Gods &s;ervice com|manded, are to us the means of grace and &s;alvation &s;incerely obeyed.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Holy prayer</HI> in all the parts and &s;pecies thereof, is a means to fetch down the holy Spirit of God in his gifts and graces: So &s;aith our Lord po&s;itively and clearly, Lnk. 11.13.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 11.13.</NOTE> <HI>If ye being evill know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more &s;hall your heavenly Father give his holy Spirit to them that ask him?</HI> And that we might know what is here meant by the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 7.11.</NOTE> St. <HI>Matthew</HI> records the words of our Lord thus, <HI>How much more &s;hall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask him? [All good things]</HI> being compri|&s;ed under the name of the <HI>Spirit,</HI> as the fountain from whence they flow: And Joh. 14.14.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 14.14.</NOTE> <HI>If ye &s;hall ask any thing in my name, I will do it;</HI> and pre&s;ently after he promi&s;eth, as the &s;um of all that they could ask for, <HI>I will pray the Father, and he &s;hall give you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth, &amp;c.</HI> God is in him&s;elf the fountain of all perfection; every good and every perfect gift, every divine, cele&s;tial, &s;oul-&s;anctify|ing grace is in God, as the original, prototype, and grand examplar; as the root from whence the &s;ap of every grace, as the Sun from whence the beam of every gift for illumi|nation is derived unto us;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.17.</NOTE> from the holy heavens they mu&s;t come, for there is their proper &s;eat and habitation;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Wi&s;d. 9.</NOTE> as the Wi&s;e man confe&s;&s;eth, when he petitioned the God of heaven for the wi&s;dome of the Spirit: And the &s;ame means mu&s;t we u&s;e to fetch down both wi&s;dome and the re&s;t of the gra|ces of the Spirit, even by prayer, commanded Jam. 1.5.
<PB N="62" REF="55">Prayer is the ble&s;&s;ed mean that unites God and man, brings heaven and earth together: 'Tis that golden chain (&s;aith
<HI>Ba|&s;il</HI>) that ties the gracious ears of God to the hearts and tongues of men: 'Tis the hand which reaches from earth to heaven, and takes forth every good thing out of the Lords trea&s;ury:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 7.7.</NOTE> Therefore 'tis &s;aid, Mat. 7.7. <HI>Ask and ye &s;hall re|ceive, &s;eek and ye &s;hall finde, knock and it &s;hall be opened unto you;</HI> &s;o that 'tis al&s;o the ring or hammer wherewithal we knock at the gates of heaven, and beg a ble&s;&s;ing from the great Lord that dwelleth there: Nay, it is <HI>the key of heaven,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Aug.</HI> which opens unto us tho&s;e
<HI>everla&s;ting doors of glory:</HI> 'Tis the ble&s;&s;ed engine wherewithal we &s;torm the heavenly <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and (as it were) by force and violence make our entrance in|to the holy City, which is full of wealth and never fading trea&s;ures.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 11.12.</NOTE> <HI>The Kingdome of heaven</HI> (&s;aith our Lord) <HI>&s;uffers vio|lence, and the violent take it by force:</HI> fervent importunate prayers being the &s;caling ladders,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 28.</NOTE> repre&s;ented by <HI>Jacobs ladder,</HI> which being &s;et upon the earth, the top thereof reacheth to the heavens; our &s;everal prayers upon all occa&s;ions, wants, and opportunities, are as it were the &s;everal rounds of this cele&s;tial ladder, whereupon the de&s;ires and affections of our &s;ouls a&s;cend from earth to heaven; and leaving the&s;e frail earthy tabernacles of clay, make their way unto the mo&s;t high God which &s;its in the heavens. Or it may be repre&s;ented by that <HI>fiery chariot of Elijah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 2.11.</NOTE> wherein he was wrapt from earth to heaven, for &s;o by fervent prayers and devotions are the &s;ouls of holy and religious men; they are thereby enwrapt and mount from the earth to have their conver&s;ation in heaven with God on high; whence they again de&s;cend enricht with cele&s;tial ble&s;&s;ings, or with the Spirit of God. This is al&s;o further proved by the example of the Apo&s;tles, who after they had prayed, the holy Gho&s;t de&s;cended on them, Act. 4.31. <HI>And when they had prayed, the place was &s;haken where they a&s;&s;embled together;</HI> and they were all filled with the ho|ly Gho&s;t, and the &s;pake the Word of God with bold|ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="63" REF="55">2. The <HI>holy Word of God</HI> in general, but the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t in &s;pecial, in the preaching, or reading, hearing and under&s;tanding thereof,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim.
3.16.</NOTE> is an effectual means for the obtaining of the Spirit; for <HI>all Scripture is given by in|&s;piration;</HI> they are the very dictates, the breathings of the Spirit upon the &s;ouls of men, and are therefore
<HI>pro|fitable for doctrine,</HI> or to teach the truth; <HI>for reproof,</HI> to convince what is fal&s;e and erroneous; <HI>for correction</HI> of the negligent and delinquent, and <HI>for in&s;truction</HI> in righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e to the proficient: <HI>That the man of God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;&s;. Lyra.</NOTE> he who is or|dained to divine offices, as
<HI>Timothy</HI> was, <HI>may be</HI> to that end <HI>perfected and thoroughly furni&s;hed to every good work,</HI> 2 Tim. 3.16. And of the Scriptures in the ver&s;e before 'tis &s;aid, <HI>they are &s;ufficient to make us wi&s;e to &s;alvation, viz.</HI> being &s;piritually under&s;tood, &s;aith the <HI>Inter. Glo&s;&s;.</HI> That they are the means both of our illumination and &s;ancti|fication, which are the ends of the Spirit, is clear from the prayer of our Lord, Joh. 17.17.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 17.17.</NOTE> <HI>Sanctifie them with thy truth, thy Word is truth:</HI> The Word of God, is the Word of truth for our illumination, and the Word of grace for our &s;anctification; and this prayer of our Lord was granted, &s;aith <HI>Lyra,</HI> in behalf of his Apo&s;tles, when the holy Spirit de&s;cended on them at the fea&s;t of Pente|co&s;t: Regeneration, which is the &s;ame with &s;anctification, and to be born of God, and to be born of the Spirit, is a&s;cribed to the Word of God, as the conveyance of the Spirit in this re&s;pect; or as the means of our new birth. Jam. 1.18. <HI>Of his own will begat he us, by the Word of truth.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.18.</NOTE> And Joh. 1.17. <HI>The Law was given by Mo&s;es, but grace and truth came by Je&s;us Chri&s;t:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh.
1.17.</NOTE> Now, what el&s;e are the gifts of the Spirit, or at lea&s;t, whereunto do they tend, but to the clear under&s;tanding of the truth of God re|vealed by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which revelations are the &s;um of his Go&s;pel? and what el&s;e are the graces of Gods Spirit, but <HI>accumulative,</HI> an obedience to this truth, even an obedi|ence to the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t?<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 1.24.</NOTE> Hence it is termed <HI>the power of God, and the wi&s;dome of God.</HI> And his Go&s;pel, <HI>the law<PB N="64" REF="56">of the Spirit of life,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.2. 2 Cor. 3.6.</NOTE> Rom.
8.2. 2 Cor. 3.6. So that the preaching, reading, hearing, or in a word, the clearing of this Go&s;pel unto the mindes of men, is the conveyance of the Spirit thereinto: An example whereof, &s;ee Act 18.44. <HI>While&s;t</HI> Peter
<HI>yet &s;pake the&s;e words,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 10.44.</NOTE> the words of the Go&s;pel, <HI>the holy Gho&s;t fell on them all that heard the Word.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. The <HI>Holy Sacraments,</HI> both <HI>Bapti&s;m</HI> and the <HI>Supper of the Lord,</HI> are effectual means al&s;o for the conveyance of the holy Spirit: 'Tis promi&s;ed upon our Bapti&s;m, with repen|tance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.38.</NOTE> Act. 2.38. <HI>Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t for the remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, and ye &s;hall receive the gift of the holy Gho&s;t:</HI> And this is al&s;o veri|fied from the example of Chri&s;t our head, upon who&s;e Bapti&s;m in <HI>Jordan,</HI> the heavens were opened, and the <HI>holy Gho&s;t</HI> de&s;cended in &s;hape of a <HI>dove,</HI> and lighted on him, Mat.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3.16.</NOTE> 3.16. denoting unto us, that by the virtue and power of Bapti&s;m not only the heavens are opened,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Remig.</NOTE> but al&s;o the gift of the holy Gho&s;t is received; therefore are we &s;aid to be <HI>born again of water, and of the holy Gho&s;t,</HI> and without that the heavens are &s;hut again&s;t us: There is no admi&s;&s;ion into the cele&s;tial Kingdome.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh.
3.5.</NOTE> Joh. 3.5. <HI>Except a man be born of water and the holy Gho&s;t, he cannot enter into the Kingdome of heaven:</HI> The Apo&s;tle St.
<HI>Paul</HI> couples both Sacraments together, as the conveyances of the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.13.</NOTE> 1 Cor. 12.13. <HI>By one Spirit we are all bapti|zed into one body, and are all made to drink of one Spirit;</HI> where we have the Spirit joyned with Bapti&s;m, and with the Lords Supper al&s;o; for what el&s;e can be meant by drinking of one Spirit, but an allu&s;ion to the eating and drinking of the holy body and bloud of our Lord? where|of him&s;elf te&s;tifies, Joh. 6.55,56. <HI>My &s;le&s;h is meat indeed, and my bloud is drink indeed; He that eateth my fle&s;h, and drinketh my bloud, dwelleth in me, and I in him;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6.55.</NOTE> that is, is make partaker of my Spirit, or of my gifts and graces: For in &s;uch a &s;piritual &s;en&s;e we mu&s;t needs under&s;tand the words; except we admit them in the gro&s;&s;e, carnal, and corporal &s;en&s;e of the
<HI>Romani&s;ts:</HI> Hence Chri&s;t is termed<PB N="65" REF="56">by the Apo&s;tle, <HI>a &s;piritual meat,</HI> and <HI>a &s;piritual drink,</HI> 1 Cor. 10.3.4.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 10.3.</NOTE> <HI>And they did all eat the &s;ame &s;piritual meat, and did all drink the &s;ame &s;piritual drink; for they drank of the &s;ame &s;piritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Chri&s;t:</HI> A &s;piritual meat and and &s;piritual drink Chri&s;t was to the
<HI>I&s;raelites</HI> of old, in tho&s;e Sacramental Symbols of his pre&s;ence with them, the <HI>Rock</HI> and the <HI>Manna,</HI> and the like, but in a more full mea&s;ure, and clear manner he is to us, in tho&s;e con&s;ecrated elements of his holy Supper, which being rightly admini&s;tred, and right|ly received, are &s;piritual food indeed; for we eat and drink the very Spirit of Chri&s;t therewithal; that is, are made par|takers of his gifts and graces.</P>
<P>But how comes it to pa&s;&s;e then, that the&s;e ble&s;&s;ed means of grace, the&s;e conveyances of the Spirit are &s;o often ineffectual? Many men do daily pray, often hear and read the Word of God, have been engraffed into the bo|dy of Chri&s;t by Bapti&s;m, and many times receive the ble&s;&s;ed Euchari&s;t, and yet little or no newes do they hear of the Spirit, very little &s;tirrings of the heart, few good moti|ons do they feel within, they are never the better, nor a whit the more enricht, either with &s;piritual gifts, or gra|ces, for the u&s;e of the&s;e means: The cau&s;e whereof is the hardne&s;&s;e of mans heart, which receives not the im|pre&s;&s;ions of the Spirit; the corruption of mans nature, which quenches the &s;acred fires of Piety and Charity, be|fore they be well inkindled in the &s;oul; the exorbitant and unruly lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, and of the world, which re|&s;i&s;t the good motions, lu&s;tings, and &s;trivings of the Spirit of God. <HI>Intus exi&s;tens prohibet alienum;</HI> when the fruits of the fle&s;h have overgrown the &s;oul, there's no room for the fruits of the Spirit to take rooting there: The&s;e two kindes of fruits cannot grow both in one heart, but the one will choak, overgrow, and de&s;troy the o|ther.</P>
<P>To this outward means of grace then, and of the Spi|rit, the inward qualifications, the infitting of the &s;oul to<PB N="66" REF="57">receive the impre&s;&s;ions of the Spirit, mu&s;t be added; <HI>Actus activorum in patiente di&s;po&s;ito;</HI> as the patient is di&s;po&s;ed and fitted to be wrought upon, accordingly &s;o is the power and efficacy of the Agent; &s;o that according as the hearts of men are more or le&s;&s;e per&s;pirable and plyable to the im|pre&s;&s;ions of the Spirit, accordingly &s;o are his workings and in|&s;pirations upon the heart.</P>
<P>The <HI>holy Spirit</HI> is compared in Scripture to
<HI>water,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 7.38 39.</NOTE> and as the water is of a diffu&s;ive nature, and knows no bounds but as 'tis limited by the channel or ve&s;&s;el that holds it; &s;o the Spirit is in him&s;elf of a &s;preading quality, and is only &s;traitned by the narrowne&s;&s;e of the hearts whereinto he flowes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 6.12.</NOTE> as 2 Cor. 6.12. <HI>Ye are not &s;traitned in us,</HI> that is, in our Mini&s;try, we preach abundance of grace unto you; <HI>but you are &s;traitned in your own bowels,</HI> through the hard|ne&s;&s;e of your hearts, being not capable of the graces of the Spirit.</P>
<P>And the heart is made &s;oft and pliable for the impre&s;|&s;ions of the Spirit, by repentance and mortification: the good &s;eed of Gods Spirit will not take root among&s;t the thornes of impiety:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 4.4.</NOTE> therefore &s;aith the Lord, Jer. 4.4. <HI>Break up the fallow ground of your hearts, and &s;ow not among&s;t thornes, be circumci&s;ed to the Lord, and take away the fore|skin of your hearts,</HI> (that is) hardne&s;&s;e of your hearts, Deut. 10.16.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut.
10.16.</NOTE> cald al&s;o <HI>the circumci&s;ion of the Spirit,</HI> Act. 2.29. becau&s;e it makes way for the Spirit;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2.11.</NOTE> and Col. 2.11. <HI>A cir|cumci&s;ion made without hands:</HI> even the putting off the &s;inful body of the fle&s;h, meaning the &s;inful crop of fle&s;h|ly lu&s;ts, which infe&s;t and infect the &s;oul, of the&s;e the &s;oul mu&s;t be di&s;arayed and deve&s;ted by repentance and mortifi|cation;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.13,14.</NOTE> Rom. 8.13,14. <HI>If ye live after the fle&s;h,</HI> &amp;c. The coherence of which ver&s;es imply, before we can be led by the Spirit of God, we mu&s;t mortifie the deeds of the fle&s;h, the &s;ordid rags of the old man mu&s;t be put off before the &s;oul can be clothed with the &s;plendid garments of the Spi|rit of grace. In vain is it to pray unto God for any &s;piri|tual grace or mercy while we continue in our &s;ins, for <HI>God<PB N="67" REF="57">heareth not &s;inners, Joh.</HI> 9.31. In vain to hear or read the Go&s;pel of grace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 6.15.</NOTE> except our feet be &s;hod with the prepa|ration of repentance, whereby we for&s;ake our &s;ins; There|fore before the Go&s;pel it &s;elf was publi&s;hed, this was fir&s;t proclaimed both by Chri&s;t and his forerunner, <HI>Repent, for the kingdome of God is at hand:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3.2 &amp; 4.17.
1 Cor. 11.28.</NOTE> In vain to participate of tho&s;e my&s;teries of our &s;alvation, the body and bloud of our Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deus gratiam polliciuus qui in extremi|tatibus temporum per &s;piritum &s;uum uni|ver&s;o o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">bi illuminaturus e&s;&s;et, praeire intinctienem poenitentiae ju&s;&s;it, ut quos per gratiam vocaret ad promi&s;&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">em per poenitentiae &s;ub&s;ignatienem aute compone|ret.</HI> Tert. de poen. c. 2.</NOTE> till fir&s;t by &s;elf-examination we have ca&s;t out the venome of our &s;in|ful doings by repentance and &s;tedfa&s;t purpo&s;es of amendment. In a word, it is our &s;ins unrepented that make void and ineffectual all the ble&s;&s;ed means of Grace and of the Spirit; by tho&s;e it is we <HI>quench the Spirit,</HI> we
<HI>grieve the Spirit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;&s;. 5.19. Ephe&s;.
4.30.</NOTE> we <HI>re&s;i&s;t the Spirit,</HI> we <HI>provoke the Spirit,</HI> and poy&s;on the ble&s;&s;ed wa|ters of life; &s;o that all the conveyances of the Spirit are barren and unfruitful while&s;t they reflect upon hardened and impenitent hearts. See therefore repentance enjoy|ned as to the receiving of the holy Gho&s;t, Act. 2.38. &amp; 8.19. And I would to God that all who pretend to the holy Spirit of God, or to any the fruits and graces of the Spirit, would fir&s;t learn before they make their boa&s;t of the Spirit, truly to repent them of their &s;ins,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.19,20,21.</NOTE> and to root out of the ground of their hearts all <HI>the fruits of the fle&s;h,</HI> which are, <HI>adultery, fornication, uncleanne&s;&s;e, la&s;ci|viou&s;ne&s;&s;e, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, &s;trife, &s;editions, here&s;ies, envyings, murthers, drunken|ne&s;&s;e, revellings, &amp;c.</HI> When the&s;e, all of the&s;e &s;inful fruits are extirpated out of the ground of the heart, there may be then &s;ome hopes, that our prayers and other divine acts and offices performed in the &s;incerity of our &s;ouls, may pre|vail with God for the direction and comfort of his Spirit of grace and truth.</P>
<P>God, which ha&s;t taught the hearts of thy faithfull peo|ple, by the &s;ending to them the light of thy holy<PB N="68" REF="58">Spirit; grant us by the &s;ame Spirit to have a right judge|ment in all things, and evermore to rejoyce in his holy comfort, through the merits of Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the &s;ame Spirit, one God world without end, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="58">
<P>A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE REVELATION, <HI>Mediate</HI> and
<HI>Immediate.</HI></P>
<Q>Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but tho&s;e things which are <HI>revealed</HI> belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Law,
<BIBL>Deut. 29.29.</BIBL></Q>
<Q>Omnis religio &s;upernis Revelationibus nititur, aut niti prae&s;u|mitur,
<BIBL>Mirand. de fid. &amp; ord. cred.</BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed, 1656.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="introduction">
<PB REF="59">
<PB N="6" REF="59">
<HEAD>The Introduction and general Heads.</HEAD>
<P>GOD as he is in him&s;elf, only knowes him&s;elf, and con&s;equently tho&s;e waies of his wor&s;hip,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Coeli my&s;tarium me doceat Deus qui condidit, non homo qui|&s;eip&s;um ignora|vit.</HI> Amb.</NOTE> which are holy, and acceptable to him&s;elf: Man who knowes not him&s;elf aright, cannot of him|&s;elf know God, nor tho&s;e divine and cele&s;tial my&s;te|ries, which are the waies of Gods &s;ervice and mans &s;alvation: <HI>For what man is he, that can knew the coun&s;el of God? Or, who can think what the will of the Lord is?</HI> Wi&s;d. 9.13. <HI>Veritas, i. e. arcanum &s;ummi Dei, qui fecit omnia, ingenio ac propriis &s;en&s;ibus non pote&s;t comprehendi: Alioqui, &amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lactant. lib.
1. c. 1.</NOTE> Truth which is the &s;ecret of the mo&s;t high God who hath formed all things, cannot by our own wit and proper &s;en&s;es be comprehended; for otherwi&s;e there would be little di&s;tance betwixt God and man, if mans cogitations could dive into the coun&s;els and di&s;po&s;itions of Gods eternal Maje&s;ty. <HI>Can&s;t thou by &s;earching finde out God, can&s;t thou finde out the Almighty unto perfection? it is as high as heaven, what can&s;t thou do? deeper then hell, what can&s;t thou know? the mea&s;ure thereof is lon|ger then the earth, and broader then the &s;ea,</HI> Job 11.7, &amp;c.</P>
<P N="2">2. This therefore mu&s;t be granted as the ground of all divine truth, that nothing either of God, or of his &s;a|cred &s;ervice is to be believed, and received by us, but what from God is revealed, or by revelation from hea|ven derived to us: <HI>Secret things belong to the Lord our
<PB N="70" REF="60">God, but tho&s;e things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Law,</HI> Deut. 29.29.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hilar. de Trin. lib. 5.</NOTE> <HI>Non pote&s;t Deus ni&s;i per Deum intelligi, &s;icut nec honorem &agrave; nobis Deus, ni&s;i per Deum accipit, nam&abque; honorandus, &amp;c.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>A Deo di&s;cen|dum e&s;t, quid de Deo intelligen|dum &s;it, quia non ni&s;i &s;e ou|thore cegno|&s;citur.</HI> Id.</NOTE> <HI>God cannot be known but by him&s;elf, neither doth he receive honour from us, but by him&s;elf: For that he is to be honour'd we understand not, but that him&s;elf hath taught and commanded him&s;elf to be honoured. The honour of God we are taught by God: nor may we entertain any &s;uch thoughts of God as our own frail humane judgements &s;ug|gest unto us: our nature is not &s;o &s;ublime and piercing, as by its own innate force, and vertue to be rai&s;ed up, and enrapt with cele&s;tial knowledge:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Wi&s;d. 9 15.</NOTE> For the corrupti|ble body pre&s;&s;eth down the &s;oul, and the earthly taber|nacle weigheth down the minde that mu&s;eth upon many things, and hardly do we ghe&s;&s;e aright at things that are upon earth, and with labour do we finde the things that are before us, but the things that are in heaven who hath &s;earched out? and thy coun&s;el who hath known, except thou give wi&s;dome and &s;end thy holy Spirit from above? For &s;o the waies of them that lived upon earth were reformed, and men were taught the things that are plea&s;ing unto thee, and were &s;aved through wi&s;dome.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. The fir&s;t and fundamental act of faith, then (which is to believe this or that Article of holy Reli|gion to be a divine truth, and the &s;ubject matter of our obedience) depends upon <HI>Divine Revelation,</HI> and <HI>command</HI> from God: <HI>He hath &s;hewed thee O man what is good,</HI> Micah 6.8. <HI>What thing &s;o ever I command thee, ob&s;erve to do it.</HI> Holy Religion is not of an earthly but of a heavenly de&s;cent: It is a beam di&s;|played<PB N="71" REF="60">from that light of truth, which is eternal, and immutable, her dwelling is in the holy heavens,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Wi&s;d. 9 10.</NOTE> where &s;he waits upon the throne of glory: And to earth &s;he de&s;cends not by any natural <HI>inve&s;tigation,</HI> but by &s;u|pernatural <HI>revelation:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mirand. de fid. &amp; o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">d. cred.</NOTE><HI>Omnis religio &s;upernis revela|tionibus nititur, aut niti prae&s;umitur.</HI> All religion de|pends upon revelation from above: <HI>Fle&s;h</HI> and <HI>bloud</HI> hath not
<HI>revealed</HI> it, <HI>but my Father which is in heaven,</HI> Mat.
16.17.</P>
<P N="4">4. That there is a general knowledge of God and &s;ome notions of that religious wor&s;hip we owe unto him, imprinted in the hearts of all men by nature, and is legible in the book of the creatures, the Apo&s;tle affirms Rom. 1.20. <HI>For the invi&s;ible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly &s;een, being un|der&s;tood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.</HI> But this &s;ight of God being not clear enough to bring us to the beatifical <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> and
<HI>fruition</HI> of God, which is that perfection and felicity whereunto (by being en&s;tampt after the image of God) he hath created, &amp;c. therefore it hath plea&s;ed him more clearly to <HI>reveal</HI> him&s;elf and the waies of his religi|ous wor&s;hip to his Church and people in all ages: And this either
1. <HI>extrardinarily,</HI> and <HI>immediately;</HI> or 2. <HI>or|dinarily, and in the u&s;e of means.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. The fir&s;t <HI>revelation</HI> of divine truth was
<HI>imme|diate, i. e.</HI> without the mediation, or mini&s;try of man intervening. But yet &s;o, as that 1. All tho&s;e holy per&s;ons to whom God immediately revealed him&s;elf, by certain infallible &s;igns, did them&s;elves know, and make known to others, that the <HI>revelations</HI> they re|celyed were no delu&s;ions, but from God him&s;elf the fountain of truth proceeding: God never &s;peaks &s;o<PB N="72" REF="61">extraordinarily, but by the &s;ame act, he both makes known the things &s;poken, and him&s;elf to be the &s;pea|ker. 2. That all <HI>immediate revelation</HI> was generally confirmed by <HI>miracle,</HI> therefore the Jews required <HI>&s;igns</HI> of Chri&s;t, as the means to confirm every new, and <HI>im|mediate revelation,</HI> Joh.
2.18. &amp; 6.30. 1 Cor. 1.22.</P>
<P>3. That not all, nay nor all holy per&s;ons, but only
<HI>&s;ome few, choice, &s;elect ve&s;&s;els</HI> had the honour of this
<HI>immediate revelation:</HI> the main body of the people &s;till received the knowledge of God by <HI>mediation, i. e.</HI> from their hands in whom the office of Prie&s;thood was in all ages en&s;tated. <HI>For the Prie&s;ts lips &s;hould keep knowledge,</HI> and <HI>they, i. e.</HI> the people, <HI>&s;hould &s;eek the Law at his mouth, for he is the me&s;&s;enger of the Lord of ho&s;ts,</HI> Mal. 2.7.</P>
<P N="6">6. The truth whereof, as al&s;o what we are to beleeve concerning <HI>divine revelation</HI> will appear, if we do im|partially con&s;ider and weigh,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>To what per&s;ons and after what manner God re|vealed him&s;elf from</HI> Adam <HI>unto</HI> Chri&s;t.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>That by Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, the whole minde of God is &s;o fully revealed, that we mu&s;t not now look for the revelation of any new truths.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. <HI>That the right understanding of what is already revealed, depends not upon Gods immediate in&s;piration, or revelation from heaven, but is to be acquired by Gods ble&s;&s;ing in the u&s;e of means: And that in order hereun|to, the knowledge of tongues and &s;ciences is both u&s;eful and nece&s;&s;ary.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. <HI>That to depend upon immediate revelation is not only dangerous, but de&s;tructive to the truth already re|vealed.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 5. <HI>That all tho&s;e texts of holy Scripture commonly al|ledg'd for the proof of immediate revelation, are mi&s;un|der&s;tood and wre&s;ted.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<HEAD><PB N="73" REF="61">OF DIVINE REVELATION, <HI>Mediate</HI> and
<HI>Immediate.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. I. Of divine Revelation from <HI>Adam</HI> unto
<HI>Chri&s;t.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. MAn being created after the Image of God, was undoubtedly at the fir&s;t endued with &s;uch a per|fect knowledge of divine truth, as was nece&s;&s;ary to the attainment of that felicity, whereunto God created him <HI>(viz.)</HI> the beatifical vi&s;ion and fruition of his Creator for ever: For as <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> do affirm, <HI>If it were po&s;&s;ible that the invi&s;ible and all &s;piritual God, could be repre&s;ented under any vi&s;ible or compounded &s;hape, and being: His body then mu&s;t needs be compo&s;ed of Light, and his &s;oul of Truth:</HI> So e&s;&s;ential to the very being of God, is knowledge and truth: and &s;o con&s;e|quently, to the being of man after the <HI>image of God.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. But this light of divine knowledge, was by mans di&s;o|bedience too &s;oon eclip&s;t, and his &s;oul involv'd in the dark|ne&s;&s;e of <HI>&s;infulne&s;s, ignorance,</HI> and <HI>error:</HI> our fir&s;t parents out of a &s;awcy ambitious affectation, to know what they ought not, engulft them&s;elves, and all their po&s;terity, into a na|tural blindne&s;s and ignorance of what they ought to know; &s;o that ever &s;ince,
<HI>hoc tantum &s;cimus, qu&ograve;d nihil &s;cimus:</HI> the mo&s;t knowing man, knowes be&s;t his own ignorance, and want of knowledge: <HI>For if any man think he knows any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know,</HI> 1 Cor. 8.2.</P>
<P N="3">3. But &s;ince without the knowledge of God, and of his mo&s;t holy will, that perfection of our being whereunto<PB N="74" REF="62">God hath created us, cannot be attained, Joh. 17.3. there|fore it plea&s;ed God to re&s;tore our fir&s;t faln parents in &s;ome mea&s;ure to the knowledge of him&s;elf, and of his will in the waies of his wor&s;hip: and this he did either <HI>immediately</HI> by him&s;elf, or by the <HI>mediation</HI> of intervening Angels, by the voice from heaven convey'd upon the wings of the winde, for &s;o we read Gen. 3.8. <HI>And they heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in the garden in the cool,</HI> or <HI>in the winde of the day:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Junins in loc.</NOTE> winde conveying his voice into their ears, and thereby his into their hearts.</P>
<P N="4">4. By vertue of this <HI>divine Revelation,</HI> or &s;ome others not recorded in holy Writ, <HI>Adam</HI> received from God both the knowledge of that religious &s;ervice and obedience which God then required from man, and therewithall the honour of the Prie&s;thood al&s;o: being as the fir&s;t man, &s;o the fir&s;t Prie&s;t in the world.</P>
<P N="5">5. For the proof of the fir&s;t, tho&s;e Lawes of divine wor|&s;hip, which were given by God to <HI>Adam,</HI> and from <HI>Adam</HI> transferred to his Sons and po&s;terity, though they be not clearly expre&s;&s;ed in holy Scripture (becau&s;e as the wor&s;hip of God grew up with time to more perfection, &s;o the le&s;s per|fect was the le&s;s regarded) yet in many places of holy Scri|pture the&s;e Lawes are, though but ob&s;curely, intimated: and by the Jewes with one common con&s;ent they are reduc't to &s;ix heads.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>The fir&s;t again&s;t fal&s;e wor&s;hip.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The &s;econd, of the wor&s;hip of the true God.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The third, of the appointing of Magi&s;trates, and admini&s;tration of Ju&s;tice.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The fourth, again&s;t the di&s;covery of nakedne&s;s, and &s;etting bounds to the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The fift again&s;t homicide, and &s;hedding of bloud.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The &s;ixt again&s;t theft, and of doing to others as we would be done unto our &s;elves.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And to the&s;e commands, doth that edict of the Apo&s;tolical councel of Hieru&s;alem relate, Act. 15.29. which being directed to &s;uch of the Gentiles as were converted to the faith of Chri&s;t, puts them in minde of tho&s;e precepts,<PB N="75" REF="62">which were given to the fir&s;t parents of mankinde.</P>
<P N="6">6. For the &s;econd, the <HI>Prie&s;thood</HI> of
<HI>Adam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mount. Acts &amp; Mon. c. 1. &s;ect.
16.</NOTE> this is ob&s;erved from Gen. 4.3.4. Cain <HI>and</HI> Abel
<HI>brought their offerings to the Lord.</HI> They brought their offerings] this was no <HI>wil-wor&s;hip,</HI> no act of divine &s;ervice derived out of their own brains, or by <HI>immediate revelation</HI> enjoyned, but by
<HI>direction,</HI> and <HI>com|mand</HI> from <HI>Adam:</HI> who doubtle&s;&s;e was &s;o in&s;tructed by God: him&s;elf receiving by
<HI>immediate revelation</HI> what his &s;ons and po&s;terity received
<HI>mediately</HI> and <HI>mini&s;terially</HI> from him. And they brought their offerings to the Lord] <HI>i. e.</HI> to be of|fered to the Lord by their father <HI>Adam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Beat. Pol. Jud. c. 2.</NOTE> who was as well their <HI>Prie&s;t,</HI> as their <HI>Parent,</HI> both their
<HI>bodily</HI> and <HI>gho&s;tly</HI> father: which is manife&s;t from the examples of <HI>Noah,</HI> who offered &s;a|crifices, Gen. 8.20. not his &s;ons: and of <HI>Abraham</HI> the like, Gen. 17.23. and of <HI>Job</HI> al&s;o, who &s;acrificed for his &s;ons, Job 1.5.</P>
<P N="7">7. From <HI>Adam</HI> the &s;everal Patriarchs in their re&s;pective families derived their right to the &s;acred function of
<HI>Prie&s;t|hood,</HI> which for many ages was en&s;tated in the <HI>fir&s;t born,</HI> and heads of families: until God was pleas'd to accept of the
<HI>tribe of Levi,</HI> for all the <HI>fir&s;t born of I&s;rael,</HI> Numb.
3.41.</P>
<P N="8">8. Thus then in the fir&s;t age of the world, the knowledge of God in the waies of his wor&s;hip, together with the office of
<HI>Prie&s;thood,</HI> was tran&s;mitted from <HI>Adam</HI> to his &s;ons, and &s;o from <HI>Patriarch</HI> to <HI>Patriarch</HI> in all generations: The &s;everal bodies of re&s;pective families being not by <HI>immediate revelation,</HI> but by the <HI>indoctrination</HI> and <HI>in&s;truction</HI> of the heads of fami|lies taught the waies of Gods &s;ervice, and their own &s;alvati|on: nor do we read of any divine truths <HI>immediately revealed,</HI> or any divine lawes by <HI>immediate revelation</HI> pre&s;cribed from <HI>Adam</HI> to <HI>Noah</HI> which was the &s;pace of 1500 years. The Prophe&s;ie of <HI>Enoch</HI> remembred of S. <HI>Jude,</HI> being not of the nature of any new truths revealed, but a denuntiation of judgement to be inflicted.</P>
<P>In all this long tract of time, the world being drown'd in &s;infulne&s;s and iniquity, it was revealed to <HI>Noah,</HI> that the earth &s;hould be drown'd by a floud al&s;o, and the &s;infull pollutions thereof wa&s;hed away by an univer&s;al deluge of waters,<PB N="76" REF="63">Gen.
6.12,13. <HI>And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all fle&s;h had corrupted his way upon the earth: And God &s;aid unto</HI> Noah,
<HI>the end of all fle&s;h is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold I will de&s;troy them with the earth.</HI></P>
<P N="10">10. 'Twas not all the people, 'twas not any we read of but <HI>Noah</HI> only, had this truth <HI>immediately revealed unto him: Jo|&s;ephus</HI> indeed tels us, that the <HI>&s;ons</HI> of <HI>Seth</HI> received by <HI>traditi|on</HI> from <HI>Adam,</HI> (not by <HI>immediate revelation</HI>) that the world &s;hould be twice de&s;troyed, once by
<HI>water,</HI> and once by <HI>fire:</HI> and therefore they erected two pillars,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;. Antiq. Jud. l. 1. c. 3</NOTE> the one of wood, and the other of &s;tone, wherein they engraved the principles of tho&s;e humane arts, and &s;ciences invented by them, that the one might &s;tand again&s;t the violence of the <HI>water,</HI> and the o|ther again&s;t the violence of the <HI>fire:</HI> And of this nature (it's mo&s;t probable) was the prophe&s;ie of <HI>Enoch,</HI> Jude ver&s;. 14, 15. <HI>And</HI> Enoch
<HI>al&s;o the &s;eventh from</HI> Adam <HI>prophe&s;ied of the&s;e, &s;ay|ing, Behold, the Lord cometh,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, with his holy Myriads, not &s;o properly rendred 10000 Saints, to execute judgement, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="11">11. But the time when the fir&s;t of the&s;e univer&s;al de&s;tru|ctions &s;hould happen, <HI>Noah</HI> only had the honour to receive
<HI>immediately</HI> from God: And for this end 'twas <HI>revealed</HI> to him, that by his <HI>mediation</HI> and <HI>mini&s;tery</HI> the people might have the knowledge of it, and be &s;tir'd up by his <HI>preaching</HI> (not by
<HI>im|mediate revelation</HI>) to repentance, and amendment of life; who is therefore call'd a <HI>preacher of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> 2 Pet. 2.5. And thus &s;ay the Hebrew Doctors,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pirke R. Elie|zer,
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">. 22.</NOTE> he preached, &s;aying, <HI>Turn you from your waies, and from your evill works, that the waters of the floud come not upon you and cut off the whole &s;eed of the &s;ons of</HI> Adam.</P>
<P N="12">12. Unto <HI>Noah,</HI> after the floud was dryed up, the fore&s;aid Lawes of holy living, given unto <HI>Adam</HI> were now renewed: adding thereunto a prohibition again&s;t eating of bloud, to deterre them from the &s;in of murther before prohibited, Gen. 9.4. <HI>But fle&s;h with the life thereof, i. e.</HI> the bloud <HI>there|of, &s;halt thou not eat.</HI> And this with the &s;ix former commands are commonly cal'd and known by the name of the
<HI>&s;even pre|cepts of</HI> Noah.</P>
<P N="13"><PB N="77" REF="63">13. From <HI>Noah</HI> the
<HI>Prie&s;thood</HI> de&s;cended upon his &s;on <HI>Shem,</HI> who was the fir&s;t of all men that had God as 'twere entayled upon him&s;elf in a more &s;pecial re&s;erved &s;ort of pe|culiar per&s;onal appropriation: For until the daies of <HI>Abra|ham,</HI> the great Lord of the world, and of all things therein, was peculiarly &s;tyled, <HI>the Lord God of</HI> Shem, Gen. 9.26.</P>
<P N="14">14. <HI>Abraham</HI> the &s;eventh from <HI>Noah,</HI> was the next per&s;on we read of that was honoured with <HI>immediate revelation;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Antiq. Jud. l. 1. c. 8.</NOTE> who fir&s;t by the way of <HI>Philo&s;ophy,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Jo&s;ephus,</HI> attain'd the knowledge of <HI>Divinity:</HI> by ob&s;erving the <HI>motions of the hea|vens, the cau&s;e, nature, order of creatures, he a&s;pir'd to the know|ledge of the Creator,</HI> but not &s;o perfectly as afterwards he received it by
<HI>revelation.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Recogn. lib. 1.</NOTE> And thus the Author of the Recog|nitions records the words of St. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Abraham, while&s;t he &s;eriou&s;ly pondered in his minde, the cau&s;es of things, Chri&s;t the true Prophet, who only knowes the de&s;ires, and purpo&s;es of all hearts, appear'd unto him, opening unto him the things he de&s;ired, teaching him the knowledge of the Divinity, the begin|ning and end of the world, the immortality of the &s;oul, the re&s;ur|rection of the dead, and the la&s;t judgement, with the rewards of the ju&s;t, and the puni&s;hment of the wicked, and withall pre&s;crib'd him &s;uch rules of holy living, whereby he might plea&s;e God.</HI></P>
<P>The authority of this <HI>revelation</HI> I &s;hall not put to que&s;tion, but thus much out of holy Writ we are a&s;&s;ur'd, that God
<HI>immediately revealed</HI> him&s;elf to <HI>Abraham,</HI> calling, and com|manding him out of the land of <HI>Chaldea,</HI> into the land of
<HI>Canaan,</HI> promi&s;ing to him, and his po&s;terity this land as a type of
<HI>Paradi&s;e,</HI> or cele&s;tial <HI>Canaan,</HI> entayling upon him, and his po&s;terity the priviledges and peculiar intere&s;ts of Gods peo|ple,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, as <HI>Chry&s;o&s;t.</HI> God making him&s;elf who is common to all, to be <HI>Abrahams,</HI> and his &s;eed, by pe|culiar intere&s;t and appropriation, <HI>I will be thy God, and the God of thy &s;eed after thee:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 17.7.</NOTE> and withall,
<HI>revealing</HI> unto him, that out of his loyns &s;hould come the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;ias, the de|fire of all nations, and ble&s;&s;ed Saviour of the world, Gen. 22.18. <HI>In thy &s;eed &s;hall all the nations of the earth be ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P N="16">16. The&s;e, and what other <HI>revelations</HI> &s;oever
<HI>Abraham</HI> re|ceived<PB N="78" REF="64"><HI>immediately</HI> from God, were upon this condition de|livered to him, that he &s;hould in&s;truct his family, who not <HI>immediately by revelation,</HI> or in&s;piration from God, but by the <HI>mediation</HI> and mini&s;terial <HI>in&s;truction</HI> of
<HI>Abraham,</HI> were to be taught the knowledge of God, and of his holy Lawes: upon this very ground God him&s;elf affirms him&s;elf to have revealed his will unto him: Gen. 18.17, &amp;c. <HI>And God &s;aid, Shall I hide from</HI> Abraham <HI>the things that I do, &amp;c. For I know him, that he will command his children and his hou&s;hold af|ter him, and they &s;hall keep the way of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P N="17">17. From <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> the knowledge of God was by <HI>tradition</HI> tran&s;mitted from Patriarch to Patriarch, and the Church or people of God, now confin'd to the &s;eed of I&s;rael, was by the &s;everal heads of their re&s;pective families in&s;tructed in the &s;ervice of God, till turning away after the Idols of
<HI>Egypt,</HI> God gave them up to a cruel bondage and &s;la|very under the tyranny of <HI>Pharaoh:</HI> In which great afflicti|on, <HI>when they be&s;ought the Lord, he &s;ent redemption to his peo|ple by the hands of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>his &s;ervant, and</HI> Aaron <HI>whom he had cho&s;en,</HI> P&s;al. 105.25,26.</P>
<P N="18">18. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the &s;eventh from <HI>Abraham,</HI> was &s;elected, and immediately call'd by God, as to be the leader and deliverer of his people, &s;o his Law-giver al&s;o, who receiving the minde of God by <HI>immediate revelation,</HI> made it known unto the peo|ple: The &s;um whereof was engraven in tables of &s;tone, and commanded to be kept as the &s;tanding rule of Gods wor&s;hip, and mans obedience to all po&s;terity: and the people were herein &s;o far from depending upon <HI>immediate revelation,</HI> that they petition'd to receive the minde of God by the
<HI>mediati|on</HI> and mini&s;try of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> Exod. 20.19. <HI>Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God &s;peak with us le&s;t we die.</HI></P>
<P N="19">19. The Law of God thus publi&s;hed and &s;tanding upon record, there was now le&s;&s;e need of <HI>immediate revelation,</HI> then before: the people of God had now <HI>a more &s;ure word of pro|phe&s;ie,</HI> then what formerly, 1. By <HI>revelation</HI> from heaven, 2. By
<HI>tradition</HI> from Patriarch to Patriarch was delivered. To the&s;e &s;acred writings therefore they were commanded to have recour&s;e: by them to be guided and directed, and not<PB N="79" REF="64">to &s;werve from what was contained therein, <HI>either to the right hand, or to the left,</HI> Jo&s;h.
1.7. <HI>To the Law, to the te&s;timony, if they &s;peak not according to this word, 'tis becau&s;e there is no light in them,</HI> I&s;a. 8.20. Where all pretence to new lights is cut off, and that pronounc't to be no true light, which is not grounded on the Lawes of God.</P>
<P N="20">20. For the pre&s;ervation of this law pure, and inviolate, a mini&s;tery or prie&s;thood was ordained, and by Gods &s;pecial command transferr'd from the fir&s;t born of every Tribe upon the Tribe of
<HI>Levi.</HI> To them belonged the interpretation of the Law, and the performance of all the &s;acred rites there|in contained, neither were the people either pre&s;umptuou&s;ly to depend upon <HI>immediate revelation</HI> in re&s;pect of the one, or &s;acrilegiou&s;ly entermeddle with any part of the
<HI>&s;acerdotal function</HI> in the other re&s;pect. But as to the fir&s;t
'twas or|dain'd, <HI>that the Prie&s;ts lips &s;hould keep knowledge, and they, i. e. the people, &s;hould &s;eek the Law at his mouth,</HI> Mal. 2.7. And as to the &s;econd, <HI>that no &s;tranger that is not of the hou&s;e of</HI> Aaron <HI>come neer to offer incen&s;e before the Lord, that he be not as</HI> Corah <HI>and his company,</HI> Numb. 16.40.</P>
<P N="21">21. But becau&s;e there is nothing among&s;t men &s;o well e&s;ta|bli&s;hed, but through the Devils &s;ugge&s;tion, and mans corrupti|on, 'tis liable to <HI>depravation</HI> and <HI>abu&s;e:</HI> God was plea&s;ed the better to re&s;train both his Prie&s;ts and people from the viola|tion of his written Law, to &s;tir up in every age &s;ome choice and &s;elect per&s;ons whom he enabled more <HI>immediately,</HI> and
<HI>extraordinarily,</HI> &s;ome to under&s;tand, and clear the Truth, and true meaning of his divine Law, when 'twas corrupted, or ob&s;cur'd by mi&s;-interpretations, and fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es: others to foretell, and pronounce both judgements to come upon the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors, and mercies upon &s;uch as ob&s;erv'd and kept his commandements: who&s;e in&s;pired writings, both by way of <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> and <HI>Prophe&s;ie, Doctrine,</HI> and <HI>Example, Praying,</HI> and <HI>Preaching,</HI> are as &s;o many commentaries of the <HI>Divine Law,</HI> and compleat the Canon of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> which is re|duc't by our Lord him&s;elf to the&s;e two general heads, <HI>the Law and the Prophets,</HI> Mat. 22.40.</P>
<P N="22"><PB N="90" REF="65">22. Thus from <HI>Adam</HI> unto
<HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> there is no pretence or colour for a people to depend upon
<HI>immediate revelation;</HI> the will of God being made known to his people, generally and ordinarily by the <HI>mediation</HI> and mini&s;tery of man, and but &s;eldome, and by a few choice per&s;ons, and upon <HI>extraordi|nary</HI> occa&s;ions, by <HI>immediate revelation:</HI> The truth whereof will further appear, and the weak grounds whereupon <HI>im|mediate revelation</HI> depends, will be di&s;covered in the &s;ucceeding chapters.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. Of the &s;everal manners of extraordinary and more im|mediate Revelation.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. <HI>GOD at &s;undry times, and in diver&s;e manners &s;pake in time pa&s;t to our fathers,</HI> Heb. 1. The divers manners of Gods extraordinary revelation of him&s;elf to his people of old, are reducible to &s;ix heads.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>By the mini&s;tery of Angels,</HI> who frequently appeared in humane &s;hape, and revealed the minde of God to &s;ome of his choice extraordinary &s;ervants: as Gen. 32.1,2. Zach. 1.9. Mat. 28.2.5. Act.
23.9. and many of tho&s;e Texts, wherein 'tis &s;aid, the Lord appeared unto &s;uch and &s;uch, are to be un|der&s;tood of the appearance of Angels:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob honorem &s;c. mittentis, ut plena &s;it ejus authoritas, hoc dr. i&s;ti qui mi&s;&s;us e&s;t, quod e&s;t illi qui mi&s;it, ut &s;ae|pius factum e&s;t de Angelis.</HI> Clem. Rec. lib. 2.</NOTE> &s;ee for this Exod.
3.2. compar'd with Act. 7.30. where in one place 'tis &s;aid, <HI>the Lord appeared unto</HI> Mo&s;es: in the other, <HI>an Angel of the Lord:</HI> and Exod. 29.20. ch. compar'd with Act. 7.53. and Exod. 23.20,21. Not that any Angel pre&s;umed to be called by the name of the Lord, or to be wor&s;hipped as God: but <HI>to adde the greater weight and authority to the me&s;&s;age he brought from the Lord, the me&s;&s;enger was called by the name of the Lord that &s;ent him.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>By Dreams,</HI> as Numb. 12.6. <HI>Is there a Prophet among you? I the Lord will make my &s;elf known unto him in a vi&s;ion, and will &s;peak unto him in a dream:</HI> and Job. 33.24, &amp;c. <HI>For God
<PB N="81" REF="65">&s;peaketh in a dream in the vi&s;ion of the night, then he openeth the ears of men, and &s;ealeth their in&s;truction:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quia anima clau&s;is &s;on&s;ibus exteriortbus ad recipiendam re|velationem ma|gis e&s;t apta, quia tunc non e&s;t per occupationem &s;en&s;uum exteri|orum impedita.</HI> Lyr. in Mat. 1.</NOTE> And the rea&s;on here|of is, becau&s;e when the outward &s;en&s;es are &s;hut, the inward &s;oul is more apt to receive the impre&s;&s;ion of divine revelati|on being no way then hindred by the working of the exte|rior &s;en&s;es upon outward &s;en&s;ible objects. Thus the Lord revealed him&s;elf to <HI>Jacob,</HI> Gen.
28.12. To <HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. 7.1. To <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> Mat.
2.13,19.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. <HI>By external repre&s;entations, and appearances when awake:</HI> as Jer. 1.11,12,13. Ezek. 1.4, &amp;c. and this was accompa|nied &s;ometime with the exta&s;ie, and entrancing of the per|&s;on, who received &s;uch <HI>vi&s;ions,</HI> as Dan. 10.8,9. St. <HI>Paul</HI> was in an <HI>exta&s;ie</HI> when he was caught up into the third heaven, &s;o that he knew not for that time, whether his &s;oul was cloathed with humane fle&s;h, or &s;eparated from it, 2 Cor. 12.2.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. <HI>By internal in&s;piration of the holy Gho&s;t, without any &s;uch exta&s;ie or abolition of &s;en&s;e:</HI> as <HI>Job, David,</HI> and many others were <HI>in&s;pired,</HI> and yet we read not that they were <HI>exta&s;ied</HI> or <HI>entranced,</HI> as 2 Pet. 1.21. <HI>Holy men of God &s;pake as they were moved by the holy Gho&s;t.</HI> There is an
<HI>ordinary</HI> moving by the holy Gho&s;t, for every good motion, every &s;park of cele&s;tial fire, whether for illumination, or &s;anctification, is from him. And there is an <HI>extraordinary</HI> motion of the Spirit, in the Prophets of the Old, and Apo&s;tles of the New Te&s;tament: <GAP DESC="foreign">: they were acted or carried by the holy Gho&s;t, and &s;pake, as they were thus incited by God. And tho&s;e under the New Te&s;tament were al&s;o ho|noured with this <HI>extraordinary</HI> manner of <HI>divine revelation</HI> up|on whom <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">
<HI>the holy Gho&s;t fell,</HI> Act. 10.44. and <HI>they &s;pake with tongues,</HI> and of whom 'tis &s;aid, by impo&s;ition of the Apo|&s;tles hands, <HI>they received the holy Gho&s;t,</HI> Act. 8.17.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 5. <HI>By &V;rim and Thummim,</HI> the one &s;ignifying
<HI>light,</HI> and the other <HI>perfection:</HI> they were two ornaments in the High|prie&s;ts brea&s;t-plate: but how, and after what manner they gave their an&s;wer, is diver&s;ly delivered. The learned Jewes &s;ay that the names of <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> and the twelve Patriarchs, with this addition: <HI>All the&s;e are the Tribes of I&s;rael:</HI> In which names and words, all the letters of the Alphabet are <PB N="82" REF="66">contained: And by the prominency and &s;hining of tho&s;e let|ters, the an&s;wers were received, and communicated to the people.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 6. <HI>By a voice from heaven,</HI> called by the Hebrews <HI>Bath-col:</HI> the daughter of a voice, or the production of thunder: and this was u&s;ually conveighed into the ears of the per&s;ons that heard it, upon the wings of the winde, as before is remembred, to
<HI>Adam,</HI> Gen. 3.8. So al&s;o to <HI>Elias,</HI> 1 King. 19.11,12. To Chri&s;t, Mat. 3.17. And his Apo&s;tles received the holy Gho&s;t <HI>in a mighty ru&s;hing winde,</HI> Act. 2.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The&s;e were the divers waies of more <HI>immediate revelation</HI> of old, which were not <HI>ordinary,</HI> and common, but at &s;undry times, and upon &s;pecial, and <HI>extraordinary</HI> occa&s;ions either upon &s;ome great work of <HI>Judgement</HI> or <HI>mercy</HI> from God to his people: or of <HI>repentance,</HI> and <HI>new obedience</HI> from the peo|ple unto God: All which waies of <HI>divine revelation</HI> are long &s;ince cea&s;ed in the Church of Chri&s;t; as being furni&s;hed with &s;ufficient <HI>means</HI> of in&s;truction in righteou&s;ne&s;s, and &s;aving knowledge, without any &s;uch manners of extraordinary re|velation:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecc. polit. l. 1. &s;ect. 14.</NOTE> for as the judicious
<HI>Hocker</HI> ob&s;erves: <HI>Since God him|&s;elf hath therefore revealed his will, becau&s;e men could not other|wi&s;e have known &s;o much as is nece&s;&s;ary; his &s;urcea&s;ing to &s;peak unto the world &s;ince the publi&s;hing of the Go&s;pel of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the delivery of the &s;ame in writing, is to us a manife&s;t token that the way of &s;alvation is now &s;ufficiently opened, and that we need no other means for our full in&s;truction, then God hath al|ready furni&s;hed us withal.</HI></P>
<P>There are 3. Rea&s;ons among&s;t others, why God was plea|&s;ed in &s;uch <HI>divers manners to reveal</HI> him&s;elf of old, but in the&s;e la&s;t daies to &s;urcea&s;e the u&s;e of any &s;uch <HI>revelations.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM><P N="1">1. Becau&s;e the people of God had either, 1. No Scripture at all, as from <HI>Adam</HI> to <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> Or, 2. The written Law only, as from <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to <HI>Samuel.</HI> Or, 3. The Lawes and the Pro|phets only, as from <HI>Samuel</HI> to <HI>Chri&s;t:</HI> but we have both
<HI>Law</HI> and <HI>Go&s;pel; Prophets,</HI> and <HI>Apo&s;tles;</HI> the
<HI>revelations</HI> of God both new and old, &s;ully and &s;ufficiently delivering the will of God unto us.</P>
<P N="2">2. Gods people of old looked unto Chri&s;t for to come, and<PB N="83" REF="66">waited for that light which was yet to be revealed: but we be|lieve in Chri&s;t already come: and are made partakers of that true light, which di&s;played from Chri&s;t the Sun of righteou&s;|ne&s;s does fully di&s;cover unto us, the waies of Gods &s;ervice, and of our own &s;alvation, &s;o that it is as needle&s;s for us now to depend upon <HI>new revelations,</HI> or &s;et up <HI>new lights,</HI> as to hold candles to the &s;un, when it &s;hines in its fulne&s;s of &s;plen|dour.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Jewes being curious of knowing things to come, and withall prone to Idolatry, that therefore they might not have recour&s;e to &s;ooth&s;ayers, and &s;orcerers, nor run a who|ring after Idols, God frequently &s;ent them Prophets <HI>extraor|dinary:</HI> and then they had mo&s;t &s;uch Prophets &s;ent, when they were mo&s;t Idolatrous. But now all idol-temples are broken down, and their Oracles long &s;ince cea&s;ed: &s;o that there is no &s;uch danger among Chri&s;tians of other Idolatry or Image|wor&s;hip, as that Idolatry which is too u&s;ual, and common; <HI>to wor&s;hip the imaginations of their own hearts:</HI> whereunto tho&s;e of all others are mo&s;t prone, who mo&s;t depend upon <HI>new re|velations.</HI></P></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. III. Of an exta&s;ie, natural and &s;upernatural, and the diffe|rence between Divine Exta&s;ies of old, and Diabolical Entrancings, and In&s;pirations.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. AS God is the fountain of <HI>Truth,</HI> which is derived unto us by <HI>revelation</HI> from him: &s;o the <HI>Devil</HI> is the father of <HI>Fal&s;hood</HI> and lies, which deduce their original from his &s;e|cret and &s;ubtil <HI>in&s;pirations.</HI> And herein the Devil is Gods
<HI>Ape.</HI> cunningly following the &s;ame waies of <HI>&s;eduction,</HI> and
<HI>deceit,</HI> ob&s;erved by God for the conveyance of his <HI>&s;aving Truth.</HI> So that where God has his <HI>Church,</HI> the Devil hath his
<HI>Chappel,</HI> and where God has his <HI>true Prophets,</HI> the Devil hath his <HI>fal&s;e Prophets</HI> al&s;o. And the &s;everal waies of <HI>Divine Revelation</HI><PB N="84" REF="67">ob&s;erved by the one, are imitated by the other, <HI>viz.</HI> by <HI>Dreams,</HI> and <HI>Vi&s;ions, Exta&s;ies,</HI> and <HI>Entrancings. I will go forth and I will be a lying &s;pirit in the mouthes of his Prophets,</HI> 1 King. 22.22. Thus the <HI>heavenly Doctrine and miracles of Chri&s;t are confronted by the devilli&s;h doctrines and lying wonders of Anti|chri&s;t,</HI> 2 The&s;&s;. 2.9. And a <HI>departure from the true &s;aith,</HI> there ever was and ever will be in the Church, while&s;t militant here upon earth, <HI>even by giving heed to &s;educing &s;pirits, and doctrines of Devils,</HI> 2 Tim. 4.1.</P>
<P N="2">2. Nor does this evil &s;pirit work his deceits, and in&s;pire his damnable doctrines, but by Gods permi&s;&s;ion, 1. King. 22.22. and therefore the evil &s;pirit is &s;aid to be <HI>from the Lord.</HI> Becau&s;e, 1. He is licenc'd by the Lord. And becau&s;e, 2. His actings upon, and by his &s;educed in&s;truments, are like the actings of the Spirit of the Lord upon his &s;ervants: &s;o we read, 1 Sam. 18.10. <HI>An evill &s;pirit from the Lord came up|on</HI> Saul, <HI>and he prophe&s;ied, i. e.</HI> was entranced, and demean'd him&s;elf as did the Prophets of the Lord, when extraordina|rily mov'd with the Spirit of Truth.</P>
<P N="3">3. Becau&s;e therefore &s;ome per&s;ons among&s;t us, that pre|tend to <HI>immediate Revelation,</HI> have their trances and preten|ded
<HI>exta&s;ies</HI> al&s;o in order hereunto: 'twill be pertinent here to add &s;ome notes of difference betwixt the <HI>extraordinary</HI> actings of the good <HI>Spirit,</HI> and tho&s;e <HI>agitations,</HI> and turbu|lent
<HI>motions</HI> of the evill <HI>&s;pirit,</HI> that the one may be the better di&s;tingui&s;ht from the other. But fir&s;t 'twill be nece&s;&s;ary to under&s;tand what an Exta&s;ie is, and the kindes thereof.</P>
<P N="4">4. And rightly to under&s;tand the nature of an Exta&s;ie, we mu&s;t remember, that man is of a middle nature betwixt <HI>Angels</HI> and
<HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> and this in re&s;pect of the two parts or regions of his &s;oul, the <HI>&s;uperior</HI> and <HI>inferior.</HI> The fir&s;t is cal'd the
<HI>rea&s;onable,</HI> and the &s;econd the <HI>&s;en&s;itive &s;oul.</HI> The fir&s;t, man hath in common with the <HI>Angels</HI> of heaven, and the &s;econd with the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> of the earth: now the&s;e two being combined into one &s;oul, there followes hereupon &s;uch a combination betwixt the faculties of each, that the working of the one without the other is
<HI>preternatural,</HI> and cal'd an <HI>Exta&s;ie.</HI></P>
<P N="4"><PB N="85" REF="67">4. So that from hence doth nece&s;&s;arily flow two general kindes of <HI>Exta&s;ies:</HI> the one of the
<HI>Rea&s;onable &s;oul,</HI> when that either works, or is wrought upon without the in&s;trumental mediation of the &s;en&s;es: being for the time enwrapt, and &s;e|parate from the u&s;e thereof. And the other of the
<HI>Sen&s;itive &s;oul,</HI> when that either acts, or is wrought upon by &s;en&s;ible objects, without the guidance, or direction of rea&s;on. The fir&s;t <HI>Exta&s;ie</HI> is above us, as we are men, for it renders us like to the <HI>Angels</HI> of heaven, which act not by any <HI>organs of &s;en&s;e.</HI> The &s;econd <HI>Exta&s;ie</HI> is below us, as we are rea&s;onable men, for it renders us like unto the <HI>bea&s;ts that peri&s;h.</HI> And the grea|ter that either of the&s;e Exta&s;ies be, the harder it is for the &s;oul to return to her &s;elf, or produce contrary operations to the <HI>Exta&s;ie</HI> wherein &s;he is. Hence &s;ome holy, and Angelical &s;ouls, have been &s;o enwrapt with divine and heavenly con|templations, that their outward &s;en&s;es have been for the time u&s;ele&s;s unto them, while&s;t they have not minded any earthly thing. And on the other &s;ide, &s;ome &s;en&s;ual and carnal per|&s;ons, (which is the far greater number) are &s;o taken up, and pleas'd with their &s;en&s;ual and worldly lu&s;ts, as if they had not an immortal &s;oul to be cared for, nor were endued with rea|&s;on to be the guide of their actions.</P>
<P N="5">5. But withal we mu&s;t know, that all the former kindes, or all the <HI>Exta&s;ies</HI> of the Rea&s;onable &s;oul, are not holy, heaven|ly, and Angelical: but &s;ome are <HI>natural,</HI> and &s;ome
<HI>&s;uper|natural.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. By <HI>natural Exta&s;ies,</HI> I mean &s;uch as proceed from natu|ral cau&s;es. As,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The &s;erious intention of the minde, which in &s;ome deep &s;tudy or contemplation, whether the object be good or evil, true or fal&s;e, may be ab&s;tracted for the time from its opera|tion by the external &s;en&s;es, upon outward &s;en&s;ible objects; which is no other but an ordinary <HI>natural Exta&s;ie.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. The &s;trange Relations of <HI>Angels,</HI> and
<HI>Devils, vi&s;i|ons</HI> and <HI>revelations,</HI> together with the
<HI>indoctrinations, &s;trange demeanor, ga&s;tly looks,</HI> and other
<HI>my&s;tical waies</HI> of per&s;ons de|&s;irous to deceive, may produce in others not only belief in them, but a &s;ecret tran&s;portation be&s;ides them&s;elves, and<PB N="86" REF="68">&s;trong fancies of having the like
<HI>vi&s;ions, revelations, &amp;c.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. There are many bodily di&s;tempers, as
<HI>Feavers, Epi|lep&s;ies, Melancholy, Hypochondriacal,</HI> and
<HI>Religious;</HI> the which as they are more or le&s;&s;e violent, and inten&s;e, accordingly do make greater or le&s;&s;e impre&s;&s;ions in the brain, and fancy, and &s;o produce either more <HI>ordinary,</HI> or
<HI>extraordinary</HI> con|ceited <HI>vi&s;ions,</HI> and <HI>fancied Revelations.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST> Too many of &s;uch <HI>Revelations</HI> as the&s;e, have in all ages, &s;ince <HI>divine Revelations</HI> are compleated, been made u&s;e of, by the &s;ubtilty of the Devil, and <HI>cunning craftine&s;s of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;</HI> that they may be e&s;teemed by the vulgar for in&s;pired per&s;ons, and obtrude their di&s;tempered imaginations upon the credulous, for holy, and divine in&s;pi|rations from above. The &s;everal kindes whereof have been ob&s;erved by Dr. <HI>Ca&s;aubon</HI> in his late Treati&s;e of Enthu&s;ia&s;m, whither I refer the Reader for further &s;atisfaction herein. </ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Supernatural Exta&s;ies,</HI> are tho&s;e only that are pertinent to our pre&s;ent di&s;cour&s;e: meaning al&s;o by
<HI>&s;upernatural</HI> not tho&s;e holy, divine, and ravi&s;hing contemplations, where|withall, all truly and fervently pious, and heavenly minded men are ordinarily <HI>exta&s;ied,</HI> and tran&s;ported (which are al|&s;o undoubtedly the influences of a &s;upernatural power) but the
<HI>extraordinary,</HI> and &s;upernatural actings either of the ho|ly and good Spirit of God of old, or of the fal&s;e and evill &s;pirit in all ages: For both the <HI>Divine</HI> and <HI>Diabolical</HI> &s;pirit, have not only their
<HI>ordinary,</HI> but al&s;o their <HI>extraordinary</HI> workings, and entrancings of the mindes of men which di&s;tingui&s;hes the per&s;ons &s;o wrought upon, either into true or fal&s;e Pro|phets. </ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="6">6. And the differences betwixt the one, and the other will appear as in many other, &s;o in the&s;e en&s;uing Parti|culars:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The Exta&s;ies of the Lords Prophets,</HI> though their &s;en&s;es were bound up, that the intellectual &s;oul might more imme|diately receive the impre&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e cele&s;tial truths, which were at &s;uch times <HI>revealed:</HI> yet their ge&s;tures, and demea|nor in &s;uch exta&s;ies, were notwith&s;tanding, grave, &s;ober, and mode&s;t. But the entrancings of fal&s;e Prophets are accompa|nied<PB N="87" REF="68">with wilde, exotique, and uncivil ge&s;tures, being by the evil &s;pirit (who&s;e delight it is to torment and vex whom he in&s;pires, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth) haled, and tumbled, <HI>tanquam furiis perciti,</HI> as if they were prickt, provok'd, and &s;purr'd up by Furies, &s;welling, foming, frothing at the mouth, throwing them&s;elves upon the ground, rending their fle&s;h, tearing their hair, wallowing &s;ometimes like drunkards in their vo|mit, and raving like men di&s;tracted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vid. Chry&s;. in 1 Cor. 12. Hom.
29.</NOTE> as <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> ob&s;erves of the <HI>Pythone&s;&s;e of Apollo:</HI> and is ob&s;ervable al&s;o of many <HI>Daemoniacks</HI> in the Go&s;pel, as Luk. 9.39. <HI>A &s;pirit taketh him, and he &s;uddenly cryeth out, and it teareth him that he fometh again, and brui&s;ing him hardly departeth from him.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>The Lords Prophets, when ab&s;tracted from the u&s;e of &s;en&s;e in their exta&s;ies,</HI> were &s;o far from lo&s;ing the u&s;e of their <HI>Rea|&s;on</HI> and <HI>&V;nder&s;tanding,</HI> that the very end why they were de|prived of the u&s;e of their &s;en&s;es for the time, was, that their under&s;tanding being more inten&s;e, might more clearly, be|cau&s;e more immediately, receive the Truths <HI>revealed.</HI> But <HI>fal&s;e Prophets,</HI> when <HI>entranced</HI> by the evil &s;pirit, were depriv'd of their <HI>under&s;tanding</HI> as well as of their &s;en&s;es: &s;o that of|tentimes them&s;elves <HI>under&s;tood</HI> not their own Prophe&s;ies, and pretended <HI>Revelations,</HI> as <HI>Chry&s;.</HI> out of <HI>Plato</HI> alledges:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>They &s;ay many things, and good, but they know not them&s;elves what they &s;ay.</HI> And this is ordinary with mo&s;t <HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;ticks,</HI> confu&s;edly to talk much of holy things, and to heap together Scripture phra&s;es &s;o much, without order, and right application to the clearing of any truth they would &s;eem to affirm, that as they them&s;elves know not well <HI>what they &s;ay, nor whereof they af|firm,</HI> &s;o is it very unlikely, that any man el&s;e &s;hould rightly under&s;tand their meanings.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. <HI>The Prophets of the Lord</HI> had never any
<HI>motions</HI> from the good Spirit, but what tended unto good, and not to the lea&s;t <HI>harm,</HI> either of them&s;elves, or others. But &s;uch as were en|trarced by the evill &s;pirit, had <HI>motions</HI> to do <HI>harm</HI> and <HI>mi&s;|chief</HI> both to <HI>them&s;elves,</HI> and to <HI>others</HI> al&s;o. As <HI>Saul</HI> would have killed <HI>David</HI> in his Prophet-like trances, 1 Sam. 18.11. And <HI>Pri&s;ca,</HI> and <HI>Maximilla,</HI> two heretical Prophete&s;&s;es, and great pretenders to <HI>immediate revelation,</HI> hanged them&s;elves<PB N="88" REF="69">in one of their counterfeit <HI>Revelation Exta&s;ies:</HI> which will further appear in the
16. chapter of this Di&s;cour&s;e.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. <HI>All that was delivered unto, or uttered by the true Prophets of God,</HI> in any of their <HI>Exta&s;ies,</HI> were for the good and edi|fication of the Church, and people of God. But all the
<HI>re|velations</HI> of fal&s;e Prophets, are at the be&s;t unprofitable, u&s;e|le&s;s, and vain, if not de&s;tructive to the Truth. The <HI>lies, er|rors,</HI> and <HI>deceits;</HI> the <HI>bla&s;phemies,</HI> and devili&s;h
<HI>doctrines,</HI> which the&s;e counterfet <HI>exta&s;ies</HI> and
<HI>revelations</HI> have brought forth, are both <HI>manifold</HI> and notoriou&s;ly <HI>manife&s;t</HI> al&s;o. But that ever any &s;aving truth either not known before, or not under|&s;tood, hath in the&s;e la&s;t daies, been by <HI>immediate revelation</HI> di&s;covered, cannot I believe by the greate&s;t <HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;t</HI> of the Age be made to appear.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. in Mat. c. 7. Hom. 19.</NOTE> S. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;t.</HI> gives us two rules whereby to know true Miracles, and con&s;equently true Re|velations al&s;o from &s;uch as are fal&s;e, and counterfeit. 1. If nece&s;&s;ary as to the time, and occa&s;ion of them: 2. If u&s;e|full and profitable as to the i&s;&s;ue, and fruits thereof; but if neither of the&s;e concur in a Miracle, or Revelation, they are fal&s;e and illu&s;ive, and to be a&s;cribed rather to the cunning of Satan, then to the power of God.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 5. The <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> and <HI>Prophe&s;yings</HI> of
<HI>the Lords Prophets</HI> were at all times, and altogether true, having not the lea&s;t mix|ture of <HI>error,</HI> or fal&s;hood therein: But tho&s;e of the fal&s;e Pro|phets, are &s;ometimes <HI>true,</HI> and &s;ometimes
<HI>fal&s;e,</HI> and &s;ometimes neither <HI>true</HI> nor <HI>fal&s;e,</HI> but of &s;uch a dubious nature, as to be &s;eemingly true not only in &s;everal, but even in contrary &s;en&s;es, <HI>Et e&s;t evidentis judicii,</HI> &amp;c. 'Tis evident enough, that tho&s;e things are not from the true God, wherein there is the lea&s;t mixture of fal&s;hood, or of a lye in any particular: <HI>Et in his qui mentiuntur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Iren. proem. ad|ver&s;. Haer.</NOTE> &s;aith <HI>Irenaeus,</HI> Even in lying vanities, and doctrines of Devils, there is ever &s;ome truths entermix|ed, that under the covert thereof, the fal&s;hood and deceit may unperceivably pa&s;s, and be entertain'd.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Thus though the <HI>Diabolical &s;pirit</HI> appear in the likene&s;s of <HI>holy Samuel,</HI> and the <HI>Exta&s;ies,</HI> and entrancings of <HI>fal&s;e Pro|phets,</HI> be like unto tho&s;e of the
<HI>Lords Prophets,</HI> yet 1. By their wilde exotique ge&s;tures and vexatious agitations: 2. By<PB N="89" REF="69">their lo&s;s of the u&s;e of their rea&s;on, and under&s;tanding for the time. 3. By their harmful motions, and mi&s;chievous in|citements. 4. By the u&s;ele&s;ne&s;&s;e, and unprofitablene&s;s of their revelations. And, 5. though they may &s;peak much truth, yet by the lea&s;t intermixture of fal&s;hood, and of a lie therewith, they may ea&s;ily be di&s;tingui&s;ht the one from the other.</P>
<P>But to leave the&s;e <HI>extraordinary</HI> means of divine
<HI>Revelation,</HI> &s;o long cea&s;ed in the Church of God, and not of late pre|tended unto, but by Impo&s;tors and &s;educed per&s;ons: which will appear yet further by con&s;idering in the next place, the <HI>ordinary</HI> means of
<HI>divine Revelation</HI> before Chri&s;t, and their <HI>Schools of the Prophets.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. Of the ordinary waies of Divine Revelation before Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. THE <HI>ordinary</HI> means, whereby God
<HI>revealed</HI> and made known his will unto his people, were in the fir&s;ter ages, the <HI>Tradition</HI> or delivery of divine Truths from Patriarch to Patriarch, together with the <HI>Catechetical in&s;tructions</HI> of the fir&s;t born, and heads of families, in whom the &s;everal offices of
<HI>King, Prie&s;t,</HI> and <HI>Prophet</HI> were <HI>pro tempore</HI> en&s;tated.</P>
<P>The&s;e divine truths, were not at the fir&s;t committed to writing, becau&s;e the years of the fir&s;t Patriarchs were &s;o ma|ny,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hook. eccl. pol. l. 1. &s;er. 13.</NOTE> that their memories might well &s;erve them in &s;tead of books: the imperfections and defects whereof God merci|fully relieved, by often putting them in minde, of what was mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary to be remembred by them. In which re&s;pect it is ea&s;ie to ob&s;erve, how many times one thing hath been iterated, even to &s;undry of the be&s;t, and wi&s;e&s;t among&s;t them.</P>
<P>And thus it continued in the Church of God: which was governed and in&s;tructed by a traditionary, and unwritten Law from <HI>Adam</HI> to
<HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><PB N="90" REF="70">2. When the lives of men upon earth were &s;hortned. The written Law of God, as a &s;urer and more durable means of
<HI>divine Revelation,</HI> was commanded to be the Rule of their actions. But yet not &s;o, as that 'twas permitted to each man to give his own &s;en&s;e, and make his own interpretation of this divine Law at will and plea&s;ure; but
'twas to be ex|pounded to them by the con&s;ecrated Prie&s;ts, and lawfully cal|led Prophets of God in all ages, Neh. 8.4,5, &amp;c. Mal. 1.7. Luk. 4.17. Act. 8.30.37.</P>
<P N="3">3. And this way of <HI>revealing</HI> the will of God in the ex|po&s;ition of his holy Lawes did differ much in the time of the fir&s;t, and of the &s;econd Temple. For under the &s;econd Temple Prophe&s;ie by
<HI>extraordinary Revelation</HI> generally cea&s;ed, and hereupon came in a multitude of other Expo&s;i|tors, <HI>Scribes,</HI> and <HI>Phari&s;ees, Wi&s;emen,</HI> and <HI>Di&s;puters,</HI> 1 Cor. 1.20. to all whom the people were commanded to give ear, and to <HI>&s;eek the Law at their mouth,</HI> Mat.
23.2,3. <HI>The Scribes and Phari&s;ees</HI> (&s;aith our Lord) <HI>&s;it in</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>chair, what&s;oever they &s;ay unto you, ob&s;erve and do it.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. God <HI>ordinarily revealed</HI> him&s;elf as by his
<HI>Word,</HI> and the interpretations thereof: &s;o by his <HI>Works</HI> in &s;everal in&s;tances of his providence, and acts of his &s;ervice commanded.
<HI>E. G.</HI> The delivery of his people out of <HI>Aegypt</HI> was a
<HI>revelation</HI> of Chri&s;ts flight, and return thence; and of our deliverance by him from the bondage of &s;piritual <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> the Prince of darkne&s;&s;e, and from that wor&s;e then Egyptian darkne&s;s of &s;in,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 1 15.</NOTE> and ignorance here, and blackne&s;s of darkne&s;s for ever hereafter.</P>
<P>Gods command to <HI>Abraham,</HI> to offer up his only Son
<HI>I&s;aac,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 22.</NOTE> was a <HI>Revelation</HI> of his gracious purpo&s;e, to offer his only &s;on a &s;acrifice for the &s;ins of the world, in whom all the nations of the earth are ble&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>The erection of the brazen Serpent in the wilderne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh 3.19.</NOTE> was a <HI>Revelation</HI> of the &s;on of mans elevation on the Cro&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>The Pa&s;&s;eover, or eating of the Pa&s;chal Lamb, a
<HI>Revelation</HI> of Chri&s;t our Pa&s;&s;eover,<NOTE N="1" PLACE="marg">Cor.
5.7.</NOTE> that <HI>Lamb of God who taketh away the &s;ins of the word.</HI></P>
<P>The very place where <HI>Adam</HI> was created, being the &s;ame
<PB N="91" REF="70">where <HI>Cain</HI> and <HI>Abel</HI> &s;acrificed, Gen. 4. where <HI>Noah</HI> built an Altar, Gen. 8.20. And where <HI>Abraham</HI> did the like, Gen. 22.9. Where <HI>David</HI> al&s;o built an Altar, 1 Chron.
21.22. And where <HI>Solomon</HI> built a Temple unto the Lord, 2 Chron. 3.1. was a <HI>typical Revelation</HI> of Chri&s;t to be &s;acrificed in the &s;ame place for our Reconciliation with God;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Maym. in Mi&s;a.</HI> book 8. Treat. of the Temp.</NOTE> which &s;ome of the Jewi&s;h Rabbies them&s;elves, (&s;aith <HI>Maym.</HI>) have ob&s;er|ved: &s;aying,
<HI>Our wi&s;e men have &s;aid, that</HI> Adam <HI>was created out of the place of his atonement.</HI> The rai&s;ing up of <HI>Jonah</HI> from the dead, who is conceived by &s;ome of the Ancients to be the widows &s;on of
<HI>Zarephath</HI> who was rai&s;ed by <HI>Elijah,</HI> 1 King. 17.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 12.40.</NOTE> And the &s;wallowing of the &s;ame
<HI>Jonah</HI> by the Whale, with his deliverance out of the belly of that fi&s;h af|ter three daies and three nights; was a prae&s;ignification of Chri&s;ts Re&s;urrection for us on the third day.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb.
9.9,10, &amp;c.</NOTE> All the &s;acrifices for &s;in under the Law, were as &s;o many ocular <HI>Re|velations</HI> of the great &s;acrifice of Gods Son offered up on the Altar of the Cro&s;&s;e. And &s;o their difference of meats, and drinks, and divers wa&s;hings; <HI>their new Moons,</HI> and <HI>Sabbaths, were &s;hadows of things to come, the body whereof is Chri&s;t,</HI> Col.
2.16,17. All the&s;e were as &s;o many my&s;tical Revelations or &s;hadowes of Chri&s;t the Son of righteou&s;ne&s;s, as &s;o many prae|&s;ignifications of Chri&s;t, who is the truth, and in whom all the&s;e &s;everal waies of divine Revelation both ordinary, and extra|ordinary were compleated.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. Of their Schooles of the Prophets.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. FOR the better enfitting of per&s;ons both in an
<HI>ordi|nary</HI> way to interpret the Law of God: as al&s;o to be capable of
<HI>extraordinary,</HI> and <HI>immediate Revelations</HI> upon ex|traordinary occa&s;ions; as al&s;o for the propagation of lear|ning, and encrea&s;e of wi&s;dome in order hereunto: there were divers Colledges, and <HI>Schooles of the Prophets</HI> in &s;everal<PB N="92" REF="71">places of the land of I&s;rael, the portion of Gods inheritance erected.</P>
<P>And although it be not po&s;itively in holy writ affirmed, that in &s;uch or &s;uch a place, there was a Colledge or School, where the gift of Prophe&s;ie was &s;tudied for (which is the ob|jection of the pre&s;ent pretenders to <HI>immediate Revelation</HI>) yet is it clearly enough implied in many places, and by the currant of all interpreters of holy Scriptures, by many Cho|rographers, and other learned per&s;ons, who have de&s;cribed unto us the cu&s;toms and manners of the Hebrewes, and this from the Hebrew Doctors them&s;elves, who be&s;t knew the &s;tate of their own Common-wealth, 'tis &s;ufficiently, and fully evidenced unto us.</P>
<P>To in&s;tance in &s;ome places, and pa&s;&s;ages of holy Scripture, from whence both the being, and &s;ome orders al&s;o of the&s;e Colledges are ob&s;erved.</P>
<P>We read Jo&s;h. 15.15. of the city of <HI>Kiriath-&s;epher,</HI> which being interpreted is <HI>civitas literarum, the City of Learning:</HI> for here &s;aith <HI>Adrichomius</HI> there was an Academy.</P>
<P>And in Judg. 7.1. of the hill <HI>Moreh,</HI> which is by inter|pretation <HI>the hill of the Teacher,</HI> receiving its denomina|tion from the School there erected.</P>
<P>In 1 Sam. 10.5.10. we read of the <HI>hill of God,</HI> &s;o call'd from the Prophets of the Lord who had there their <HI>Schoole,</HI> and the company of Prophets here mentioned, as al&s;o 1 Sam. 19.20.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Studio&s;orwn o|peram Prophe|tiae dantium,</HI> Junius in loc.</NOTE> were <HI>Students in tho&s;e waies of learning which enfitted them for the gift of Prophe&s;ie:</HI> And that the&s;e Prophets pro|phe&s;ied not by <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> (as our pre&s;ent Enthu|&s;ia&s;ts affirm) is manife&s;t, in that <HI>Samuel,</HI> &s;aith the Text, <HI>was &s;tanding as appointed over them.</HI> Had they been immediately taught by God, why was
<HI>Samuel</HI> appointed to be their guide and Teacher? And whereas 'tis further &s;aid, <HI>The Spirit of God was upon the me&s;&s;engers of</HI> Saul,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prophetabant. i.e. prophetico more agehant,</HI> Jun.</NOTE> <HI>and they al&s;o prophe&s;ied:</HI> The meaning is no other, but that God by his holy Spirit, &s;o changed their mindes that they did not now &s;o much think of apprehending <HI>David,</HI> (who was fled to this colledge as to a Sanctuary, and place of refuge) as to hear and di&s;cour&s;e with the Prophets of the Lord; and accordingly they put<PB N="93" REF="71">off their military habit, and behaved them&s;elves after the manner of the Prophets, quite forgetting to &s;ei&s;e upon <HI>Da|vid,</HI> which was the errand they came about. And thus <HI>Saul</HI> him&s;elf is &s;aid to prophe&s;ie as well as his me&s;&s;engers, ver&s;. 24.</P>
<P><HI>The &s;ons of the Prophets</HI> mentioned to be at
<HI>Bethel,</HI> 2 King. 2.3. and at <HI>Jericho,</HI> ver&s;. 5. at
<HI>Naioth,</HI> and many other places do appear to be no other but &s;tudents of &s;everal Col|ledges in &s;uch &s;everal places. <HI>Huldah</HI> the Prophete&s;&s;e is &s;aid <HI>to dwell in a Colledge in Hieru&s;alem,</HI> 2 King. 22.14. And in this city alone there were no le&s;&s;e then 200 Colledges and Schooles. <HI>The Ma&s;ter and the Scholar</HI> mentioned Mal. 2.12. and
<HI>the Schoole of one</HI> Tyrannus, Act. 19.9. with &s;everal more particular intimations are evident te&s;timonies of the&s;e Schooles.</P>
<P>We read P&s;al. 84.7. <HI>They go from &s;trength to &s;trength,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. paraph.</NOTE> in|terpreted by the Hebrews them&s;elves, who be&s;t knew their own eu&s;tomes, to be a kinde of promotion or degree, in removing from their <HI>Sanctuary</HI> to their
<HI>School:</HI> For in their <HI>Sanctuary</HI> and <HI>Synagogues,</HI> points of Divinity were more plainly delivered, their teachings there being
<HI>ad populum:</HI> But in their <HI>Schools</HI> deep points were handled, and more ex|actly, and profoundly di&s;cu&s;&s;ed, their teachings there being
<HI>ad clerum:</HI> So that 'twas a degree to be removed from the <HI>Teaching of the Sanctuary</HI> to that of the <HI>Schoole.</HI></P>
<P>There were three Degrees in the&s;e Schooles. 1.
<HI>Scholars,</HI> Di&s;ciples, or Juniors. 2. <HI>Proficients,</HI> who were by impo&s;ition of hands made <HI>Graduates,</HI> and thereby companions to the Rabbi: which ceremony of impo&s;ing hands they u&s;ed in imitation of
<HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> Numb. 27.18. 3. <HI>Rabbies</HI> &s;uch as were worthy to teach others. The name Rabbi being derived from the Heb.
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>Multiplicatus fuit:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Goodw. antiq.</HI> upon the title <HI>Rabbi.</HI></NOTE> &s;uch a one whom the Greeks &s;tyle
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, A Ma&s;ter or Doctor eminently gifted with variety of knowledge.</P>
<P>The <HI>Scholars</HI> &s;ate upon the <HI>ground</HI> at the feet of their Teachers: St. <HI>Paul</HI> was brought up <HI>at the feet of Gamaliel,</HI> Act. 22.3. <HI>Mary &s;ate at Je&s;us feet, and heard his werd,</HI> Luk. 10.39. The <HI>Graduates,</HI> or companions &s;ate upon
<HI>benches,</HI><PB N="94" REF="72">&s;omewhat higher: And the Rabbies in elevated re&s;erved <HI>chaires,</HI> which are tho&s;e <HI>chief &s;eats in the Synagogues,</HI> the <HI>Scribes,</HI> and <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> &s;o much affected, Mat. 23.6.</P>
<P>The chief Prophets, or Heads of the&s;e Colledges, were not only termed <HI>Rabbies,</HI> or Ma&s;ters, but al&s;o <HI>Fathers:</HI> and the
<HI>Scholars</HI> or Students the Sons, and <HI>ohildren of the Prophets,</HI> whereunto that &s;aying of our Lord alludes: <HI>Wi&s;dome is ju&s;tified of her children,</HI> Mat. 11.19. <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> cryed to <HI>Elijah, My Father, My Father,</HI> 2 King 2.12. The Targum upon the place reads <HI>Rabbi, Rabbi,</HI> my <HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> my <HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> or my teaching
<HI>Father:</HI> which by the wi&s;e man, are &s;tyl'd <HI>the Ma|&s;ters of the A&s;&s;emblies,</HI> Eccl. 12.11.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. Of being called Ma&s;ter.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. GReat was the pride and ambition of the <HI>Teachers of I&s;rael</HI> in the daies of our Saviour, both in affecting of the chief Seats, or Doctors Chair in their Synagogues, and Schools, and al&s;o the title of <HI>Rabbi, Ma&s;ter</HI> or <HI>Father:</HI> which was the cau&s;e of tho&s;e &s;harp reproofs, Mat. 23.6. &amp;c. <HI>They love the uppermo&s;t rooms at Fea&s;ts, and the chief &s;eats in the Sy|nagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men Rabbi, Rabbi:</HI> whereupon he infers the&s;e prohibitions, ver&s;. 8, &amp;c. <HI>But be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your Ma&s;ter, even Chri&s;t; and call no man Father upon earth, for one is your Father which is in heaven; and be not ye called Ma&s;ters, for one is your Ma&s;ter, even Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The true meaning of which prohibitions is worthy ex|amination, becau&s;e &s;ome weak and unlearned per&s;ons fal&s;ly conclude from hence, that 'tis unlawful to be called <HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> or to mount the pulpit to preach, which they call the <HI>upper|mo&s;t room in the Synagogue.</HI></P>
<P>And fir&s;t for the proof of the <HI>negative,</HI> That 'tis not unlawful, nor a tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;ts command in this
<PB N="95" REF="72">place, to be called <HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> doth appear, 1. Becau&s;e then 'twere unlawfull al&s;o to call any man <HI>Father,</HI> for both titles are here prohibited upon the &s;ame ground. 2. The&s;e titles are u&s;ed by the holy Gho&s;t in other places of Scripture, both <HI>bodily Fathers,</HI> Eph. 6 2.4. and <HI>gho&s;tly Fathers</HI> al&s;o, or the fathers of our &s;ouls, 1 Cor. 4.15 2 Cor 12.14. Both <HI>civil Ma&s;ters,</HI> Eph.
6.5 and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Ma&s;ters,</HI> Eccl. 12.11. The Di&s;ciples of
<HI>John</HI> &s;tyled him <HI>Rabbi</HI> or Ma&s;ter, <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.16. and &s;o they &s;tyl'd Chri&s;t, Joh. 1.38. And 3. 'Tis not a fault either to affect the wi&s;dome and learning of a <HI>Rabbi,</HI> or Ma&s;ter in I&s;rael. Nor, 2. is it a fault being en|dued with wi&s;dome and abilities of knowledge to be apt and de&s;irous to teach others Neither, 3. is it lawfull for this end, to mount the pulpit or highe&s;t place in the Church for the more convenience of being heard. Nor 4. is it a fault to a&s;&s;ume the title of
<HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> or <HI>Doctor,</HI> for the gaining of the greater credit and authority to the doctrine delivered: If we go no further then this, both the
<HI>uppermo&s;t &s;eat in the Synagogue,</HI> or the Pulpit;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Si de&s;id<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">retur nomen &amp; authoritas ma|gi&s;terii ad hoc, qu&ograve;d &s;cienti&acirc; jam habit&acirc; aliquis melius po&s;&s;it uti, non e&s;t ma|lum, &s;ed bonum: qua homes Doctor de|bet quaerere illa quae &s;aciunt ad effi|caciam doctrinae &s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">.</HI> Glo&s;&s;. ord in loc.</NOTE> and the title of <HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> al&s;o, are not only
<HI>lawful,</HI> but in the&s;e re&s;pects <HI>de&s;irable:</HI> Becau&s;e 1. Every good, and profitable Teacher, ought to de&s;ire, and &s;eek tho&s;e things which help to make his doctrine effectu|all and taking. 2.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Magi&s;tri: ex con&s;ortio veri magi&s;tri, tanquam nun<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ii ejus &amp; pre reverentia ejus &agrave; qu&abus; mittuntur, honorantur,</HI> Lyr. in loc.</NOTE> Every Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t is properly called <HI>Ma&s;ter, ex con&s;ortio veri magi&s;tri, &amp;c.</HI> as the un|der-ma&s;ter, or u&s;her unto Chri&s;t, and as he is Chri&s;ts me&s;&s;enger, and accordingly to be reverenc'd, and re&s;pected, out of that reverence and re&s;pect we owe to that great
<HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> and <HI>Doctor</HI> of his Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>De&s;iderare &s;eion|tiam vel actum docendi non e&s;t malum, &s;ed de&s;iderare no|men, hoc e&s;t malum, &amp; pec|catum &s;uperbiae,</HI> Ibid.</NOTE> who&s;e mini&s;ter and me&s;&s;enger he is.</P>
<P>But then in the &s;econd place as to the affirmative, the&s;e commands of Chri&s;t are tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed three waies.</P>
<P N="1">1. When out of pride and ambition, the place and title of
<HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> or Teacher is affected: <HI>They love,</HI> &s;aith the text, <HI>to be called of men Rabbi:</HI> where not the <HI>title,</HI> but the
<HI>love,</HI> or ambitious affectation of it is reprov'd: to affect the name
<PB N="96" REF="73">more then the thing; the place, more then the charge; the
<HI>title,</HI> more then the duty of a <HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> or Teacher: is one way, whereby all the&s;e divine prohibitions are tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P N="2">2. To give up our faith, and obedience to the &s;ole will, and command of any <HI>Rabbi</HI> or humane <HI>Doctor</HI> what&s;oever, any further then the <HI>word</HI> and doctrine of God the Father doth warrant, and direct us, is a breach of this particular prohibition: <HI>Call no man Father upon earth, for one is your Fa|ther which is in heaven.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Now that the Me&s;&s;ias was exhibited, to look upon any other &s;ave Chri&s;t alone, as the great Prophet of the Lord and
<HI>Doctor</HI> of his Church, is a tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of both the&s;e particular commands: <HI>Be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your Ma&s;ter, even Chri&s;t. Neither be ye called Ma&s;ter, for one is your Ma&s;ter, even Chri&s;t.</HI> All <HI>Ma&s;ters</HI> of Scholars, were now become
<HI>learners</HI> of Chri&s;t; And the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> them&s;elves to whom the&s;e commands were directed, though under Chri&s;t they were the greate&s;t
<HI>Ma&s;ters</HI> or Teachers of all the world, neverthele&s;&s;e were the
<HI>Di&s;ciples,</HI> or Scholars of Chri&s;t, and in this re&s;pect not to be called Ma&s;ters, <HI>i. e.</HI> not chiefly, primarily, and principally, but &s;econdarily, and in&s;trumental|ly only.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. That all Revelation is compleated in Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. WHen among&s;t the Jewes, their latter Prophets
<HI>Haggai, Zachary,</HI> and <HI>Malachy</HI> were dead, <HI>The ho|ly Gho&s;t went up,</HI> &s;ay the Hebrew Doctors, and departed from I&s;rael, <HI>i. e.</HI> All <HI>extraordinary</HI> waies of <HI>divine Revelation</HI> had an end, &s;ave only <HI>the voice from heaven</HI> And this was a
<HI>prologue,</HI> or prae&s;ignification of the coming of <HI>the true voice</HI> from heaven, or rather of the <HI>eternal Word</HI> him&s;elf, in whom<PB N="97" REF="73">all <HI>immediate Revelations,</HI> and <HI>voices</HI> from heaven were to cea&s;e, as having in him, their perfection and accompli&s;hment.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>All the Law, and the Prophets prophe&s;ied untill</HI> John, Mat. 11.13. <HI>i. e.</HI> The <HI>Law,</HI> and the
<HI>Prophets</HI> &s;pake of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to <HI>come.</HI> The
<HI>Law</HI> in <HI>types,</HI> and <HI>figures,</HI> the <HI>Prophets</HI> in
<HI>predicti|ons,</HI> and <HI>promi&s;es.</HI> And this was all the light the Church en|joyed until <HI>John</HI> came: and he more clearly pointed out the Me&s;&s;ias already come in the fle&s;h, &s;aying, <HI>This is he,</HI> Joh.
1.15. and <HI>behold the Lamb of God,</HI> ver&s;. 29. The <HI>types</HI> and figurative <HI>&s;ervices</HI> of the <HI>Law,</HI> were as &s;o many <HI>dumb &s;hews,</HI> and the <HI>predictions</HI> of the <HI>Prophets</HI> as &s;o many <HI>inarticulate &s;ounds</HI> of the <HI>word Chri&s;t.</HI> But
<HI>John</HI> was <HI>vox verbi</HI> the very voice of the Word: that's his &s;tyle, Mat. 3.3. <HI>The voice of one crying in the wilderne&s;s.</HI> The
<HI>Law,</HI> and the <HI>Prophets,</HI> were as <HI>dim glimmering tapers;</HI> but <HI>John was a burning, and a &s;hining light,</HI> Joh. 5.35. And this becau&s;e he was neare&s;t unto <HI>Chri&s;t the Sun of righ|teou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and fountain of all divine illuminations, from whom all the Prophets derive their light, as the Moon and the Stars do from the body of the Sun, which is the fountain of light material.</P>
<P N="3">3. And as the light of the Moon, and of the Stars,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Moy&s;es &amp; Eli|as &s;ignificant le|gis, &amp; prophe|tarum oracula in Domino com|pleta.</HI> Glo&s;&s;. ord.</NOTE> gives way to the light of the Sun, when it ari&s;es: &s;o the light of the <HI>Law,</HI> and of the
<HI>Prophets</HI> gave way unto Chri&s;t, when he who is <HI>the Light of the world</HI> appeared: we read therefore that in the transfiguration of Chri&s;t upon the mount, <HI>Mo&s;es and Elias appeared to him,</HI> Mat. 17.3.
<HI>Mo&s;es</HI> for the <HI>Law,</HI> and <HI>Elias</HI> for the
<HI>Prophets,</HI> acknowledging their <HI>Oracles</HI> to be com|pleated in
<HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> which was ratified by a <HI>voice</HI> from hea|ven, ver&s;.
5. <HI>This is my beloved Son, hear him.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Not that the <HI>Law</HI> and the <HI>Prophets</HI> are by or in Chri&s;t <HI>aboli&s;hed,</HI> but <HI>compleated,</HI> and
<HI>perfected</HI> rather: <HI>Chri&s;t is the end of the Law,</HI> Rom. 10.4. but 'tis <HI>finis proficiens, non interficiens,</HI> &s;aith the Father, not the end to aboli&s;h, but to fini&s;h and per|fect the <HI>Law, &amp; &s;ic perficiendo confirmare,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> and &s;o by com|pleating the <HI>Law,</HI> to e&s;tabli&s;h it as a &s;tanding Rule of righte|ou&s;ne&s;s to all po&s;terity. To think therefore that Chri&s;t hath made void the <HI>Law</HI> is a great &s;in, Chri&s;t him&s;elf having for|bidden us to harbour any &s;uch thought, or erroneous opi|nion
<PB N="98" REF="74">of him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5 17.</NOTE> Mat. 5.17.
<HI>Think not that I came to de&s;troy the Law, or the Prohets, I came not to de&s;troy, but to fulfil,</HI> the word is
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, to fill up: and &s;ignifies not only Chri&s;ts <HI>per&s;onal perfect obedience</HI> to the <HI>Law:</HI> but al&s;o <HI>the filling up,</HI> with his clear, and full light of
<HI>Revelation,</HI> what was wan|ting, or but ob&s;curely <HI>revealed</HI> by the <HI>Law,</HI> and the <HI>Pro|phets.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. Nor is it here unworthy ob&s;ervation, that as that
<HI>ma|terial light,</HI> which is di&s;played from the body of the Sun ari&s;eth by degrees, and &s;hineth more and more unto the perfect day: For 1. The <HI>day breaks,</HI> wherein there is more night then day; 2. The <HI>day dawns,</HI> when 'tis not yet fully nor clearly day; 3. The <HI>light</HI> is
<HI>diffu&s;ed through the air,</HI> and the beams are &s;pread upon the mountains, but yet the Sun is under the Horizon; 4. <HI>The Sun appears upon the earth,</HI> and ri&s;es by degrees till it mount up to the vertical point: even &s;o hath the <HI>light of divine Truth been revealed</HI> from hea|ven to the Church of God: 1. 'Twas but a <HI>dark,</HI> ob&s;cure, and glimmering light in the fir&s;t period of time from <HI>Adam</HI> to <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> 2.
<HI>'Twas more light&s;ome,</HI> but yet not clear, and full upon the promulgation of the <HI>Law.</HI> 3. It increa|&s;ed &s;till upon the ri&s;ing of the <HI>Prophets,</HI> as &s;o many <HI>Lumi|naries</HI> in the Church: by whom line after line, and precept af|ter precept, as &s;o many beams of the increa&s;ing light of <HI>di|vine Revelation</HI> were di&s;played; till 4.
<HI>The day of the Lord came,</HI> and the <HI>Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e</HI> appeared upon the earth. So that as time grew up, &s;o did the
<HI>Revelation</HI> of Gods will, and when <HI>Fulne&s;s of Time was come,</HI> we received a fulne&s;s of <HI>divine revelation, from him in whom all fulne&s;s dwels,</HI> Col. 1.19. <HI>When fulne&s;s of time was come,</HI> God &s;ent <HI>his Son,</HI> Gal. 4.4.</P>
<P N="6">6. So that notwith&s;tanding all the &s;everal waies, and manners of <HI>divine Revelation</HI> both <HI>mediate,</HI> and
<HI>immediate</HI> be|fore remembred: yet the word comparatively was &s;till as
'twere benighted with ignorance, untill Chri&s;t appeared <HI>to give light to them that &s;ate in darkene&s;s and in the &s;hadow of death, and to guide our feet in the way of peace,</HI> Luk. 1.79. Hence Chri&s;t is termed <HI>the morning Star,</HI> Numb. 24.17. <HI>and the<PB N="99" REF="74">day-&s;pring from on high,</HI> Luk. 1.78. And the light of his <HI>Re|velations,</HI> the
<HI>dawning of the day:</HI> and the illumination of our &s;ouls therewith,
<HI>the ri&s;ing of the Day-&s;tar in our hearts,</HI> 2 Pet. 1.20.</P>
<P N="7">7. The great difference betwixt the light of <HI>divine Reve|lation</HI> by the <HI>Law,</HI> and the <HI>Prophets</HI> in the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> and by the <HI>Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t</HI> in the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> is in four re|&s;pects ob&s;ervable from Heb. 1.1. <HI>God who at &s;undry times and in divers manners &s;pake in time pa&s;t to our fathers: hath in the&s;e la&s;t daies &s;poken unto us by his Son.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. God <HI>revealed</HI> him&s;elf to the Patriarchs, and prophets of old, <HI>at &s;undry times:</HI> the word is
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>i. e.</HI> in &s;undry parts, now a piece, and then a piece of divine Truth, as &s;eemed be&s;t to his divine wi&s;dome: But to us under the Go|&s;pel, he hath revealed him&s;elf
<HI>entirely, fully,</HI> and <HI>wholly</HI> by his Son: <HI>For it plea&s;ed God that in him &s;hould all fulne&s;s dwell:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Col.
1.19.</NOTE> <HI>and of his fulne&s;s we all receive:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 1.16.</NOTE> <HI>in whom are hid all the trea&s;ures of wi&s;dome and knowledge,</HI> Col. 2.3.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. God &s;pake to them of old <HI>in divers manners:</HI> By <HI>Dreams, Vi&s;ions, Angels, Voices,</HI> &amp;c. but to us under the Go&s;pel <HI>uni|formly,</HI> and <HI>without variation,</HI> by Chri&s;t, and his Mini&s;ters, which is one re&s;pect among&s;t others, why the
<HI>Prie&s;thood</HI> of Chri&s;t is &s;aid to be <HI>unchangeable,</HI> and
<HI>eternal:</HI> and this mani|fe&s;ts the <HI>imperfection</HI> of their light of old, and the <HI>perfection</HI> of ours now: as there are variety of lights for the night, and the&s;e lights al&s;o are changeable in their cour&s;es: but one Sun only for the light of the day, which is the light too that changeth not.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. God &s;pake to them of old <HI>by his Prophets,</HI> who were but meer men: but to us, <HI>by his Son,</HI> who is God as well as man. And herein is that Prophe&s;ie accompli&s;hed, I&s;a. 54.13. <HI>And all thy children &s;hall be taught of the Lord:</HI> A text which is too much abu&s;ed, and wre&s;ted to patronize <HI>new Revelations,</HI> and an
<HI>immediate</HI> teaching from God, without the <HI>mini&s;tery</HI> of man: whereas the Prophe&s;ie was fulfilled in the per&s;on of Chri&s;t, and by Chri&s;t him&s;elf 'tis applyed to him&s;elf, Joh. 6.45. So that we are all taught of God, in that we<PB N="100" REF="75">have the Doctrine or Teaching of
<HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> who is God: who&s;e <HI>Doctrine</HI> is therefore termed a
<HI>Go&s;pel, i. e. The Speech of God.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. God &s;pake to our Fathers
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>of old;</HI> which implies &s;ome new way of &s;peaking to follow: But to us
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>in the&s;e la&s;t daies,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Calci. in Heb. 1.1.</NOTE> to denote that this is his la&s;t way of &s;peaking by his Son: that we mu&s;t not now ex|pect any
<HI>new lights</HI> or depend upon any <HI>new Revelations</HI> af|ter this: So
<HI>Calvin</HI> upon the words: <HI>Hereby expre&s;ly de|claring that God would not now adde Prophe&s;ies to Prophe&s;ies, and Revelation to Revelation, but that all parts of divine Tea|ching were &s;o compleated in the Son of God; that this &s;hould be the la&s;t, and unchangeable te&s;timony we &s;hould receive from God:</HI> who&s;e heavenly Doctrine delivered unto us is therefore termed
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> an <HI>eternal Go&s;pel,</HI> Rev. 14.6.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="8">8. It were an opinion very much unworthy the
<HI>Wi&s;|dome, Power,</HI> and <HI>Goodne&s;s</HI> of the great God of heaven, that he &s;hould &s;end his only begotten Son into the world to
<HI>re|veal,</HI> and make known his will unto his people, him&s;elf ex|pre&s;&s;ing this to be the la&s;t time of his &s;ending al&s;o: <HI>But la&s;t of all he &s;ent his Son,</HI> Mat. 21.37. And yet that his
<HI>Revelation</HI> of him&s;elf &s;hould be &s;till <HI>defective,</HI> and
<HI>incomplete.</HI> Where|fore is Chri&s;t term'd <HI>the Light of the world,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quia impo&s;&s;ibile erat Deum &s;ire Deo di&s;cere; ideo per verbum &s;uum decet ho|mines &s;cire Deum.</HI> Iren. l. 4. c. 10. Joh. 1. 1 Cor. 1.24. Joh. 14.6.</NOTE> Joh. 1.5. <HI>and the &s;un of Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> Mal. 4.2. <HI>The &s;torchou&s;e of wi&s;dome and knowledge,</HI> Col. 1.19. The only mean of di&s;covering unto us the knowledge of God, <HI>without whom it is impo&s;&s;ible to know God: For no man hath &s;een God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bo&s;ome of the Father, he hath declared him,</HI> Joh. 1.18. Wherefore is he termed <HI>the Word of God,</HI> and <HI>the Wi&s;dome of the Father,</HI> the <HI>Way,</HI> the <HI>Truth</HI> and the <HI>Life:</HI> but by the&s;e and many more expre&s;&s;ions be&s;ides the&s;e, to &s;ignifie unto us, that the knowledge of God, and of his holy will is &s;o fully by Chri&s;t <HI>revealed,</HI> that here we mu&s;t now fix, and not expect any further <HI>Re|velations</HI> or
<HI>new Lights</HI> to be di&s;covered? He looks be|yond the Moon, that looks for <HI>Revelations</HI> beyond Chri&s;t, and what already &s;tands upon record to be revealed by him.<PB N="101" REF="75"><HI>There is no need to be curious after knowledge, &s;ince the Reve|lation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;aith
<HI>Tertul.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nobis curie&s;itate opus non e&s;t po&s;t Chri&s;tum Je&s;um, nec in|qui&s;itione po&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> Evangelium: Cum credimus, nil de&s;ideramus ultra c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">edere. Hoc
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">rius credimus non e&s;&s;e quod ultra credere d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">a|mus.</HI> Tert. de prae&s;. adver&s;. Haer. c. 8.</NOTE> <HI>nor is there need of fur|ther &s;earch after Truth, &s;ince we have found the Go&s;pel: where we beleeve in Chri&s;t, we de&s;ire not to beleeve any thing beyond this belief, for this we believe fir&s;t of Chri&s;t, and his Go&s;pel, that be|yond this there is nothing ought to be believed.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. The Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t had the honour after him to receive by <HI>Immediate Revelation,</HI> not any <HI>new Go&s;pel;</HI> but the right <HI>under&s;tanding, firm remembrance,</HI> and <HI>powerful publicati|on</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t.</HI> All who&s;e
<HI>epi&s;tles</HI> and <HI>writings,</HI> are as &s;o many
<HI>Commentaries</HI> and illu&s;trations of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> as the
<HI>Prophets</HI> of old were of the <HI>Law:</HI> And as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the <HI>Prophets</HI> compleat the <HI>old,</HI> &s;o <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and his <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> com|pleat the canon of the <HI>new Te&s;tament:</HI> which was ever re|ceived in all ages by the Church of Chri&s;t, as the <HI>Rule of Faith,</HI> and &s;ummary of <HI>divine Revelation.</HI> So
<HI>Irenaeus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quod prophetae praeconi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">z<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ve|runt, perf<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ci<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">a. Chri&s;tus, Apo|&s;toli tradider<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">: &agrave; quibus ecc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">|&s;ia accipiens per univer&s;um mundum &s;ela bene cu&s;tod<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">ns tradidi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> filiis,</HI> I<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">en. l. 5. ad|ver&s;. Haer.</NOTE><HI> What the Prophets foretold, Chri&s;t hath perfected, and his Apo&s;tles have delivered, from whom the Church through the whole world di&s;per&s;ed receiving the &s;ame, hath delivered it to her &s;ons,</HI> the
<HI>true</HI> Members of the Church Catholick, all which mu&s;t undoubted|ly believe and profe&s;&s;e with the re&s;t of the family: <HI>we are built upon the foundation of the Prophets, and Apo&s;tles, Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf being the head corner &s;tone,</HI> Eph. 2.20.</P>
<P>And here it cannot be either impertinent, or unprofitable to ob&s;erve in what re&s;pects &s;ometimes <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and &s;ometimes his
<HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> are &s;aid to be the <HI>foundation</HI> we are built upon.</P>
<P N="1">1. Chri&s;t is called the <HI>Foundation,</HI> 1 Cor.
3.11. <HI>Primari|ly</HI> as he is the fountain of all <HI>Revealed Truths,</HI> originally they flow from him, <HI>for no man hath &s;een the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son hath revealed him.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 1.18,</NOTE></P>
<P>The prophets and Apo&s;tles are the <HI>foundation</HI> too
<HI>Secon|darily,</HI> from, and under Chri&s;t, <HI>as his Stewards,</HI> 1 Cor. 4.1. <HI>Amba&s;&s;adors,</HI> 2 Cor. 5.20. <HI>Workmen together with, but under Chri&s;t,</HI> 2 Cor. 6.1.</P>
<P N="2">2. Chri&s;t is the <HI>Foundation</HI> as upon who&s;e doctrine, and ex|ample, life and death the faith of the whole Church is &s;et|led, and their &s;alvation fixed: <HI>for there is no other name under heaven in whom there is &s;alvation but the name of Je&s;us,</HI> Act.
4.12.</P>
<P><PB N="102" REF="76">The <HI>Prophets</HI> and
<HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> are the <HI>foundation mini&s;terially</HI> as they are the Admini&s;trators of this faith, and &s;alvation which is in Chri&s;t, the
<HI>Prophets</HI> more ob&s;curely, the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> more clearly delivering it unto us: Chri&s;t is as 'twere the ac|ceptable year of the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Rec. l. 4.</NOTE> having his twelve Apo&s;tles as the twelve <HI>moneths,</HI> which compleat and fill up the year: <HI>Chri&s;t is Alpha and Omega,</HI> the <HI>beginning</HI> and <HI>end</HI> of all
<HI>divine Re|velation:</HI> the <HI>end</HI> of the <HI>Law,</HI> the
<HI>beginning</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> the <HI>Supplement</HI> of the
<HI>Prophets,</HI> and the whole <HI>Tenor</HI> of the <HI>Apo|&s;tles</HI> preaching: even the <HI>corner &s;tone</HI> in whom both <HI>Law</HI> and
<HI>Go&s;pel, Prophets</HI> and <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> meet, or the centre in whom they are conjoyned.</P>
<P>And in this <HI>center</HI> we mu&s;t fix our faith, having found <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 14.6.</NOTE> as by his Prophets and Apo&s;tles he hath revealed him|&s;elf unto us, we mu&s;t &s;eek no further; He is the <HI>way,</HI> the <HI>truth,</HI> and the <HI>life:</HI> Let us not &s;eek any new waies or <HI>new Truths,</HI> le&s;t being mi&s;led by the <HI>Spirit of Error,</HI> we wander in the by-waies of death and ruine:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tert. de virg. veland.</NOTE> <HI>The canon, or Rule of our faith,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Tertullian, is one alone, immovable, and not po&s;&s;ible to be better framed anew: And what Rule this is,</HI> he &s;heweth by rehear&s;ing the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iren. adver&s;. Haere&s;. l. 1, 2. &amp; 3.</NOTE> and <HI>Ire|naeus</HI> before his time: <HI>The Church though &s;cattered through the whole world unto the uttermo&s;t borders of the earth, hath re|ceived from the Apo&s;tles, and their Di&s;ciples what to believe.</HI> The parts of which belief he al&s;o writeth, the &s;ame in &s;ub&s;tance with <HI>Tertullian,</HI> and thereupon infers,
<HI>This Faith, the Church &s;pread far and wide, pre&s;erveth as if one hou&s;e did contain them, The&s;e things it equally embraceth, as though it had one common &s;oul, one heart, and no more: It publi&s;heth, teacheth, and delivereth the&s;e things with uniform con&s;ent, as if God had given it but one only tongue, where|with to &s;peak. He which among&s;t the Guides of the Church is be&s;t able to &s;peak uttereth no more then this, and le&s;&s;e then this the mo&s;t &s;imple doth not utter,</HI> i. e. <HI>when they make profe&s;&s;ion of their Faith.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Similiter n. fi|des no&s;tra Re|velationi Apo|&s;tolis &amp; Pro|phetis factae qui canenicos libros &s;crip&s;erunt, non a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> revelationi, &s;i qua &s;uit, aliis doctoribus factae.</HI> Aquin. 1 p. &s;um. q. 2. Art. 8. ad &s;e|cund.</NOTE></P>
<P>And to conclude this &s;econd General, <HI>Our Faith,</HI> &s;aith the Schoolman, <HI>depends and is grounded upon that divine Revela|tion, which tho&s;e Prophets and Apo&s;tles received, which wrote
<PB N="103" REF="76">the canonical books of holy Scripture, and not upon any other Re|velation (if ever there were any &s;uch) received by any other lear|ned, or holy per&s;ons what&s;oever. Non n. novis Revelationibus, nunc regitur, &amp;c. The Chuch is not now guided by any Reve|lations, but per&s;i&s;ts and per&s;everes in tho&s;e things which the Prophets and Apo&s;tles have revealed, and delivered unto us, who were the Mini&s;ters of the word revealed.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. Of the nece&s;sity of learning as to the under&s;tanding of Gods revealed will in his word.</HEAD>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="general"> AS God hath graciou&s;ly pleas'd in his <HI>holy Word</HI> to <HI>reveal</HI> him&s;elf unto us, &s;o he hath commanded us to <HI>read, &s;tudy,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 17.19. 1 Tim.
4.13. Rev. 1.3. 2 Tim. 2 15. 1 Tim. 5.17.</NOTE> and <HI>labour</HI> in this
<HI>word,</HI> that the light of <HI>divine Revelation</HI> therein, may &s;hine into our hearts and guide us in the &s;acred paths of life eternal.</P>
<P>But as unto every thing of price, and value there is
<HI>art</HI> and <HI>skill</HI> required rightly to make u&s;e thereof: and al&s;o there are <HI>means</HI> and <HI>in&s;truments</HI> fitted for the acquiring of this skill, &s;o rightly to u&s;e this precious jewel of Gods holy Word for the illumination of our &s;ouls, there is much <HI>art</HI> and skill re|quired: and this <HI>skill</HI> mu&s;t be attained in the u&s;e of all tho&s;e <HI>in&s;truments,</HI> and helps which God hath for this end gra|ciou&s;ly afforded unto us: it being mo&s;t agreeable <HI>to the</HI> wi&s;|dome and goodne&s;&s;e of God, to work upon <HI>humane</HI> under|&s;tanding by <HI>humane</HI> means and helps, <HI>And according as we are more or le&s;&s;e indu&s;trious in the u&s;e of the&s;e means, God imparts a more or le&s;&s;e trea&s;ure of under&s;tanding unto us.</HI></P>
<P>Not as if the <HI>holy Spirit</HI> of God could not without means communicate his <HI>gifts</HI> of <HI>wi&s;dome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 24.45.</NOTE> and <HI>open</HI> our under&s;tanding <HI>to under&s;tand the Scriptures:</HI> But that <HI>ordinarily</HI> he doth not do this, but commands us not lazily to &s;it &s;till,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov.
2.4.</NOTE> and wait upon his <HI>immediate Revelations,</HI> but to <HI>&s;eek for knowledge,</HI> and <HI>&s;earch for wi&s;dome as for hid trea&s;ures:</HI> and how &s;hall we &s;eek for it, but<PB N="104" REF="77">in the u&s;e of tho&s;e means, he hath fitted for this &s;earch? And the&s;e <HI>means</HI> are either <HI>outward</HI> or <HI>inward.</HI> The <HI>outward</HI> and
<HI>humane</HI> helps are the <HI>knowledge</HI> and under&s;tanding of
<HI>tongues,</HI> and &s;ciences. The <HI>inward</HI> or <HI>divine</HI> means, are the <HI>purity,</HI> and holine&s;s, of the hearts and life.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t are nece&s;&s;ary, as to the <HI>formale externum,</HI> to un|der&s;tand the <HI>outward</HI> letter of the word in its proper and ge|nuine &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P>The &s;econd as to the <HI>formale internum,</HI> rightly to apply the word, according to the minde of the holy Spirit therein: And
<HI>experimentally</HI> to feel tho&s;e &s;acred truths accompli&s;hed in our &s;elves.</P>
<P>As to the <HI>former</HI> whereupon this controver&s;ie depends, the knowledge of <HI>tongues</HI> and <HI>languages, arts</HI> and
<HI>&s;ciences;</HI> here|withall the holy Scripture doth
<HI>pre&s;uppo&s;e</HI> tho&s;e men to be fur|ni&s;hed, that will dive into the &s;ecret and hidden my&s;teries therein contained; for all kindes of knowledge have their cer|tain bounds and limits, and each of them pre&s;uppo&s;es many nece&s;&s;ary things, learned in other &s;ciences, before we can know the &s;ecrets of this; as the Art of <HI>Rhetorick</HI> pre&s;uppo&s;eth that of
<HI>Grammar,</HI> and the knowledge of <HI>things,</HI> pre&s;uppo&s;eth the under&s;tanding of <HI>words:</HI> as the cabinet mu&s;t be fir&s;t opened be|fore the jewel therein can be found out.</P>
<P>There is a threefold knowledge of things, <HI>natural, moral,</HI> and <HI>divine.</HI> By the fir&s;t we are guided to live as
<HI>men.</HI> By the &s;econd, as <HI>rea&s;onable men,</HI> and members of a
<HI>civil &s;ociety.</HI> By the third, as <HI>Chri&s;tian men,</HI> and parts of Chri&s;ts body the Church. And each of the&s;e pre&s;uppo&s;es the other, as
<HI>moral</HI> wi&s;dome pre&s;uppo&s;es that which is <HI>natural,</HI> and
<HI>divine</HI> wi&s;|dome pre&s;uppo&s;es <HI>both:</HI> to this end God hath endued us not only, 1. With <HI>&s;en&s;e</HI> to know the things that concern our pre&s;ent life and being;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, Phil. de. Mo&s;.</NOTE> And 2. with
<HI>rea&s;on</HI> to know what con|cerns our well being, in the peace, contentment, and happi|ne&s;s of the &s;oul. But 3. He hath added al&s;o the
<HI>heavenly revelations of his holy Word,</HI> whereby what <HI>&s;en&s;e</HI> and <HI>rea&s;on</HI> could never finde out, as conducible to eternal happine&s;s, is made known unto us: And as <HI>rea&s;on</HI> doth imply, and pre&s;up|po&s;e a man to be endued with <HI>&s;en&s;e;</HI> &s;o
<HI>Religion</HI> and <HI>divine<PB N="105" REF="77">Revelation</HI> pre&s;uppo&s;es as to be endued with &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Divinity,</HI> which is the body of <HI>divine Revelation,</HI> is <HI>the Art of arts,</HI> and comprehends with it what ever other <HI>Arts</HI> do teach. And the holy Scriptures, the contents whereof are the precepts of this <HI>Art,</HI> both contains all kindes of
<HI>knowledge</HI> and relates to all &s;orts of <HI>truth both natural,</HI> Eph. 5.20. <HI>Civil,</HI> Rom. 13.4. <HI>Hi&s;torical,</HI> 2 Tim. 3.8.
<HI>Forein,</HI> Tit. 1.12. And con&s;equently to the under&s;tanding thereof, the knowledge of &s;uch Truths are nece&s;&s;arily &s;ub&s;ervient to the
<HI>&s;upernatural,</HI> and divine a&s;&s;i&s;tance.</P>
<P><HI>Humane Arts</HI> are the <HI>Handmaids</HI> of
<HI>Religion,</HI> which they &s;erve and wait upon as their <HI>Queen</HI> and Soveraign. And as great Per&s;ons are not approached unto, without the mediati|on of &s;ervants: and great Hou&s;es have their through-fare be|fore you come to rooms of &s;tate: and great Cities have their &s;uburbs, before you come to the high &s;treets; So the great and &s;acred body of Divinity is not approached unto <HI>ordinarily</HI> as &s;he &s;its in the height and perfection of under&s;tanding, but by the mediation of her <HI>Handmaids,</HI> or through the &s;everal pa&s;&s;ages of <HI>Tongues,</HI> and
<HI>Sciences.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Though many things in holy Scripture be <HI>plain</HI> and ea|&s;ie to be under&s;tood, without the help of much <HI>learning</HI> or
<HI>art,</HI> yet there are al&s;o many things <HI>ob&s;cure,</HI> dark, and my&s;teri|ous, which too many men for want of learning and &s;obriety do
<HI>mi&s;con&s;ter,</HI> pervert, and abu&s;e to their own ruine, which is expre&s;ly affirmed both of St. <HI>Pauls</HI> Epi&s;tles, and of other Scriptures al&s;o, 2 Pet 3.16. As al&s;o in all his Epi&s;tles &s;peak|ing in them of tho&s;e things, in which are &s;ome things hard to be under&s;tood, which they that are unlearned and un&s;table, wre&s;t as they do al&s;o the other Scriptures unto their own de|&s;truction. In which (meaning St.
<HI>Pauls</HI> Epi&s;tles) are &s;ome|things hard. And the holy Gho&s;t hath therefore left Gods word in many places <HI>veil'd</HI> and <HI>ob&s;cure:</HI> &s;aith St. <HI>Augu&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non temere a Spiritu S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">. Scripturas e&s;&s;e tectas, &s;ed ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">d maxim&egrave;
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> vi|le&s;cant: &amp; exerceant ut pa&s;cant,</HI> Aug.</NOTE> 1. <HI>Ne vile&s;cat,</HI> that we might not undervalue it. 2. <HI>&V;t exerceat,</HI> to keep us in the exerci&s;e of prayers and meditations, &s;tudies and labours; for all kinde of knowledge, the more hardly it is at|tained, the more we e&s;teem it, and the more al&s;o it doth feed <PB N="106" REF="78">and nouri&s;h the &s;oul, as making a deeper impre&s;&s;ion therein.</P>
<P N="4">4. Such is the height, and &s;ublime perfection of tho&s;e holy my&s;teries in &s;acred Scripture contained, that vulgar and lear|ned men have need of an interpreter, as Act. 8.31. <HI>Learned Guides</HI> therefore God hath in all ages rai&s;ed up, both <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Prophets</HI> under the <HI>Law,</HI> and under the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> whom he hath appointed the <HI>trea&s;urers</HI> of knowledge, and unlearning, in the &s;ound and &s;incere <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> of holy Scripture, and <HI>in|&s;truction</HI> of his people.</P>
<P N="5">5. The <HI>nece&s;&s;ity</HI> and <HI>honour</HI> of
<HI>humane learning</HI> as to the <HI>re|ception</HI> and right
<HI>under&s;tanding</HI> of <HI>divine Revelations</HI> doth ap|pear from the
<HI>antiquity:</HI> for tho&s;e <HI>fir&s;t Patriarchs</HI> of the world, who honoured with <HI>immediat Revelation,</HI> and inve&s;ted with the &s;acred office of the <HI>Prie&s;thood,</HI> were all of them <HI>learned men,</HI> either &s;o <HI>found</HI> or &s;o <HI>made</HI> by the God of
<HI>wi&s;dome</HI> and <HI>know|ledge</HI> when he &s;pake unto them.</P>
<P><HI>Adam</HI> as the fir&s;t <HI>man,</HI> &s;o the fir&s;t to whom God <HI>revealed</HI> him&s;elf, and fir&s;t <HI>Prie&s;t</HI> or
<HI>Prophet</HI> of the Lord, was not a no|vice in <HI>Philo&s;ophy,</HI> nor ignorant of any part of what we call <HI>hu|mane learning:</HI> he knew undoubtedly the <HI>nature, properties, ver|tues, effects,</HI> and
<HI>workings</HI> of all creatures: and therefore God permitted him to give them names according to their natures, Gen. 2.19.20. <HI>And out of the ground the Lord God formed eve|ry bea&s;t of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto</HI> Adam, <HI>to &s;ee what he would call them, and what&s;oever</HI> Adam <HI>called every living creature, that was the name thereof: and</HI> Adam <HI>gave names to all cattell, and to the fowl of the air, and to every bea&s;t of the field.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Noah</HI> the <HI>Preacher</HI> of
<HI>righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e</HI> was much given to the <HI>&s;tudy</HI> of
<HI>arts</HI> and <HI>&s;ciences,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s; adiiq l. 1. c.
4.</NOTE> both he and his &s;ons: And 'tis one rea&s;on remembred by
<HI>Jo&s;ephus,</HI> why God ble&s;&s;ed him, and tho&s;e fir&s;ter Fathers of the world with &s;o <HI>long a life, that they might bring to &s;ome perfection their &s;tudies of moral vertues,</HI> and <HI>invention of profitable &s;ciences, as A&s;tronomy, Geography, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Abraham</HI> the father of the faithful,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Idem. cap. 8.</NOTE> <HI>was a wi&s;e man</HI> and very
<HI>eloquent</HI> and of a <HI>piercing Judgement,</HI> &s;aith the &s;ame Author of him, <HI>He both learned him&s;elf, and preached to others, the know|ledge<PB N="107" REF="78">of the true God, which he learned by &s;tudy and con|templation of Gods works by ob&s;erving the &s;ea and the land, the &s;un, the moon, and the &s;tars: Whereupon the Caldeans con|&s;piring again&s;t him being warned of God he came into the land of</HI> Canaan. <HI>Philo</HI> cals him, <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Abr.</NOTE> A man much skil'd in natural Philo&s;ophy.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 31.10.</NOTE> who of all per&s;ons is &s;aid to have the neare&s;t and mo&s;t immediate conver&s;e with God, and was honoured as Gods in|&s;trument for the publication of his own Lawes: <HI>was learned in all the learning of the Egyptians,</HI> Act. 7.22. And <HI>Philo</HI> brings him in <HI>exhorting all men to the &s;tudy of Philo&s;ophy who de&s;ire to enrich their mindes with true knowledge and wi&s;dome.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Phi de &s;eptera|rio &amp; fe&s;t.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Daniel</HI> who was greatly beloved of God, and honoured with manifold <HI>vi&s;ions,</HI> and <HI>revelations,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 1.4.17.20.</NOTE> was bred up and well skil'd in the
<HI>Learning, and Tongue of the Chaldeans.</HI> And ge|nerally all the
<HI>Prophets</HI> of the Lord both <HI>ordinary</HI> and
<HI>extra|ordinary,</HI> &s;ome few excepted, were bred up in the
<HI>Schooles</HI> of the <HI>Prophets.</HI> The Hebrewes them&s;elves &s;ay, that where the holy Scripture addes to the name of a Prophet, the name of his father, that &s;uch a one was alwaies the &s;on of a Prophet, <HI>as</HI> I&s;aiah <HI>the &s;on of</HI> Amos, Ho&s;ea <HI>the &s;on of</HI> Buri
<HI>&amp;c.</HI> but with|all confe&s;&s;e that when the Prophet is named, and not his fa|ther, that &s;uch a one was a Prophet, but not the &s;on of a Prophet.</P>
<P>When <HI>Samuel</HI> had anointed <HI>Saul</HI> King over I&s;rael, <HI>and the Lord gave him another heart,</HI> 1 Sam. 10.9. &s;o that he prophe|&s;ied according to the word of <HI>Samuel</HI> among&s;t the re&s;t of the Prophets, ver&s;. 10. The people were a&s;toni&s;hed hereat, as a thing unu&s;ual, and extraordinary, that any one &s;hould <HI>pro|phe&s;ie,</HI> who was not the <HI>&s;on of a Prophet,</HI> therefore one deman|ding of another,
<HI>but who is their father?</HI> ver&s;. 12. which being not known, it grew into a proverb, <HI>Is</HI> Saul <HI>al&s;o among&s;t the Prophets?</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. The great nece&s;&s;ity of <HI>learning</HI> and
<HI>learned men</HI> will ap|pear, if we will con&s;ider how in all ages they have been what <HI>Cyril</HI> of <HI>Alexandria</HI> &s;tyles them,
<HI>Sanctos, my&s;tagagos, pulchri|tudine intelligentiae re&s;plende&s;centes tanquam propugnacula, &amp;c.</HI> Such as &s;tand again&s;t Sects like Bulwarks: and are the Re&s;cuers<PB N="108" REF="79">of Truth from the captivity of Hereticks, and the bold in|tru&s;ions of their fallacies and deceits: <HI>The multitude of the wi&s;e, is the welfare of the world,</HI> &s;aith the wi&s;e&s;t of men, Wi&s;d. 6.24. Both <HI>Religion,</HI> and the true u&s;e of <HI>Rea&s;on:</HI> both <HI>Church</HI> and <HI>Common-wealth; Law,</HI> and <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> all &s;ocieties both <HI>Civil</HI> and
<HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick,</HI> are upheld and maintained in peace and pro&s;perity by the <HI>hands</HI> and <HI>heads</HI> of <HI>learned</HI> men, and power of
<HI>learning:</HI> And the more any people or nation are e&s;tran|ged from the knowledge of liberal <HI>arts</HI> and <HI>&s;ciences,</HI> the fur|ther they are off from that dignity, whereby <HI>men</HI> do excell <HI>bea&s;ts,</HI> and irrational creatures. The end of <HI>learning,</HI> being no other but the rectifying of depraved <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> the &s;trengthning of the weakned
<HI>judgement,</HI> and the clearing of that eye of the &s;oul, the
<HI>under&s;tanding,</HI> whereby man is &s;tampt to the image of the mo&s;t
<HI>under&s;tanding,</HI> and all knowing God.</P>
<P>And when the <HI>natural</HI> light of the &s;oul is thus cleared by <HI>learning,</HI> the <HI>lives</HI> and <HI>manners</HI> of men are thereby rai&s;ed to the perfection of <HI>vertue,</HI> and
<HI>civility</HI> of conver&s;ation, beyond the rudene&s;s of
<HI>&s;alvages,</HI> and <HI>bea&s;ts:</HI>
<Q><L>&mdash;Didici&s;&s;e fidelit&egrave;r artes</L>
<L>Emollit mores, nec &s;init e&s;&s;e feros.</L></Q>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ex quo intelli|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">imus, quando doctrina non fu|crit in Eccle|&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">s, perire pudi|citiam, ca&s;tita|tem mori, &amp; omnes abire virtutes,</HI> Hier. in loc.</NOTE> The Prophet
<HI>Amos</HI> threatning a <HI>famine of the Word,</HI> ch. 8.11. adds ver&s;.
13. <HI>In that day &s;hall the fair virgins, and young men faint for thir&s;t:</HI> meaning not a <HI>corporal,</HI> but a <HI>&s;piritual</HI> thir&s;t: The Hebrews (&s;aith <HI>Hier.</HI>) interpret the <HI>fair virgins,</HI> to be their <HI>Synagogues,</HI> and <HI>Schooles</HI> of
<HI>learning,</HI> and the <HI>young men</HI> to be the <HI>choice Doctors,</HI> and <HI>Ma&s;ters</HI> of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> for the word
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;ignifies both: <HI>And when the&s;e &s;hall faint, and fail, and learned teaching cea&s;e in the Church, then cha&s;tity, pu|rity and integrity &s;hall peri&s;h, and all vertues &s;hall decay among&s;t men.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="109" REF="79">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX. Some vulgar Objections again&s;t Vniver&s;ities, and hu|mane learning con&s;idered.</HEAD>
<P><HI>LEarning and knowledge, knowes no other enemies, but the igno|rant and unlearned;</HI> And 'tis ever the nature of <HI>Pride,</HI> and an e&s;&s;ential property of <HI>Hereticks,</HI> to <HI>decry</HI> and &s;eemingly to contemn tho&s;e <HI>gifts,</HI> whereof them&s;elves are de&s;titute: they are thus characterized by S. <HI>Jude</HI> ver&s;. 10.
<HI>But the&s;e &s;peak evil of tho&s;e things which they know not:</HI> and for no other rea|&s;on, but to exalt them&s;elves above tho&s;e; who have that knowledge which they want; upon this very ground, many now a daies cry down
<HI>&V;niver&s;ities</HI> and <HI>humane learning;</HI> and why? only that they may lift up them&s;elves above their brethren, upon the fancied wings of counterfeit <HI>Revelations,</HI> who &s;o much flag, and fall below them in the <HI>gifts</HI> of <HI>know|ledge, under&s;tanding</HI> and
<HI>wi&s;dome.</HI> And to &s;upport this de|&s;tructive principle of
<HI>pride,</HI> they want not &s;ome &s;eemingly probable arguments.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="objection"><HI>The grand Objection of all</HI> Enthu&s;ia&s;ts <HI>again&s;t</HI> Colledges, <HI>and</HI> humane learning, <HI>and all &s;tudying for the knowledge of Gods revealed will in his word, is drawn from the examples of Eli&s;ha</HI> called from the plow, and
<HI>Amos</HI> who was an herd|man, <HI>in the Old Te&s;tament: And the</HI> Apo&s;tles, <HI>who were un|learned &s;imple fi&s;hermen, in the New.</HI></P>
<P>For An&s;wer whereunto: con&s;ider,</P>
<P N="1"><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> 1. That the calling of the&s;e per&s;ons was not only <HI>extra|ordinary,</HI> but <HI>&s;ingular</HI> and
<HI>unu&s;ual:</HI> For <HI>u&s;ually</HI> all the <HI>Prophets</HI> of the Lord both <HI>ordinary,</HI> and <HI>extraordinary</HI> were bred up in the
<HI>Schools of the Prophets,</HI> as hath been already intimated: &s;o that this is no warrant for any <HI>Shepheard, Ploughman, Fi&s;her|man,</HI> or other <HI>ordinary</HI> per&s;on what&s;oever to hope, or wait for the like call.</P>
<P N="2">2. There is a great difference betwixt <HI>Eli&s;ha the plough|man,<PB N="110" REF="80">and Eli&s;ha the Prophet;</HI> betwixt
<HI>Peter</HI> a <HI>Fi&s;herman,</HI> and St. <HI>Peter</HI> an
<HI>Apo&s;tle;</HI> every <HI>extraordinary</HI> calling from God is both confirmed by <HI>miracles,</HI> and accompanied al&s;o with
<HI>ex|traordinary</HI> gifts, to execute the duties of this <HI>calling,</HI> it be|ing as ea&s;ie with God, when he plea&s;es <HI>to make men learned as to finde them &s;o.</HI></P>
<P>And to de&s;cend to particulars,</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> though he was at the fir&s;t called from the plough, yet was he &s;o in&s;tructed by the Prophet <HI>Elijah,</HI> and upon his prayers &s;o <HI>extraordinarily</HI> endued with the &s;piritual
<HI>gifts,</HI> of wi&s;dome and knowledge, that he became <HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> of one of the Schools of the Prophets, who&s;e Colledge was &s;o full, that the Students de&s;ired him to have it enlarged, 2 King. 6.1. And 'twas one of his own <HI>Colledge,</HI> no &s;tranger, or illiterate per&s;on, that he &s;ent upon the Lords me&s;&s;age, <HI>to anoint</HI> Jehu <HI>King over I&s;rael,</HI> 2 King. 9.1.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Amos</HI> indeed profe&s;&s;eth of him&s;elf, Amos
7.14. <HI>I was no Prophet, neither was I Prophets &s;on, but I was an Herdman and gatherer of Sycomore fruits, and the Lord &s;aid uuto me, Go, and prophe&s;ie to this people:</HI> But then this is noted withall as a thing
<HI>&s;ingular,</HI> and <HI>rare,</HI> that &s;uch a one &s;hould be called a
<HI>Prophet,</HI> who was not the <HI>Son of a prophet,</HI> nor bred up in their <HI>Schools,</HI> whereby he might be enfitted for &s;o great a
<HI>calling.</HI> And undoubtedly the mouth of this Prophet would &s;oon have been &s;topt, and &s;evere puni&s;hment inflicted on him for pre&s;uming to prophe&s;ie in the name of the Lord, had he not by <HI>miracles,</HI> or &s;ome infallible &s;igns prov'd his calling to be <HI>extraordinary,</HI> and
<HI>divine.</HI> And although no <HI>miracle</HI> be re|corded for the confirmation of this Prophets <HI>extraordinary</HI> calling; yet of
<HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> who was called from the <HI>plough,</HI> we read, <HI>that he made Iron to &s;wim, rai&s;ed the dead, revealed the &s;ecret coun&s;els of the King of Syria,</HI> being many miles di&s;tant. And of the Apo&s;tles, that
<HI>they &s;pake diver&s;e languages, healed all di&s;ea&s;es, &amp;c.</HI> If therefore any of the&s;e per&s;ons who pre|tend to <HI>immediate Revelation,</HI> and con&s;equently to be <HI>extraor|dinarily</HI> called to preach the Go&s;pel, can confirm the &s;ame by any &s;uch miracle, 'twould be a very great &s;in again&s;t the good Spirit of God, to deny <HI>that he were in them of a truth:</HI><PB N="111" REF="80">but &s;ince this they cannot do, they &s;peak not with <HI>tongues,</HI> but again&s;t them rather; they cure no di&s;ea&s;es, but increa&s;e them the more, tho&s;e e&s;pecially of melancholy, frenzy, &amp;c. you may know their di&s;ciples by their pale complexions, lean cheeks, wilde di&s;torted looks: In a word, &s;ince they pre|tend to
<HI>extraordinary matters,</HI> and yet can by no <HI>extraordinae|ry means,</HI> or miracle confirm the &s;ame; 'tis too evident, that their pretended <HI>Revelations</HI> are the <HI>delu&s;ions</HI> of their own hearts, and not the <HI>in&s;pirations</HI> of the Spirit of truth.</P>
<P N="3">3. For the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> of Chri&s;t, though they were but ig|norant and <HI>unlearned</HI> per&s;ons, when fir&s;t called, yet through the <HI>in&s;tructions</HI> of Chri&s;t him&s;elf in per&s;on for three years to|gether, and the <HI>extraordinary in&s;pirations</HI> of his holy Spirit, they were afterwards endued with the gifts of <HI>learning,</HI> both
<HI>divine</HI> and <HI>humane:</HI> whereof the very appearances of the ho|ly Gho&s;t de&s;cending upon them may put us in minde, 1. <HI>In tongues,</HI> enabling them to under&s;tand, and &s;peak all languages. 2. In <HI>cloven Tongues,</HI> enduing them with it he Art of <HI>Rheto|rical elocution,</HI> and <HI>Logical Analy&s;e,</HI> to <HI>divide, di&s;tingui&s;h,</HI> and
<HI>re&s;olve</HI> Gods word into its proper parts and portions. 3. In
<HI>fiery Tongues,</HI> that by the knowledge of things both <HI>natural,</HI> and <HI>moral,</HI> they might <HI>illu&s;trate, clear</HI> and make ma|nife&s;t things <HI>divine.</HI> All which parts of <HI>learning</HI> evidently appear, both in their Sermons, and Epi&s;tles included in the &s;acred canon of Scripture, and tho&s;e al&s;o that &s;tand upon record in other Eccle&s;ia&s;tical writings.</P>
<P>Such per&s;ons then as from the example of the
<HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> pretend to the knowledge of Gods will by <HI>immediate Re|velation,</HI> mu&s;t al&s;o be a&s;&s;ur'd, that they have the gifts of
<HI>lear|ning</HI> by <HI>immediate in&s;piration</HI> al&s;o: For
<HI>Learning,</HI> and <HI>Religion,</HI> are two in&s;eparable twins, no rude and illiterrate Ignora|mo's, being capable while&s;t they &s;o continue, of the &s;ublime and cele&s;tial my&s;teries of godline&s;s.</P>
<P>And undoubtedly it had been a very unfitting thing, that the
<HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> of Chri&s;t at fir&s;t, or any of his <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> &s;ince, &s;hould be an ignorant and illiterate generation:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. in 1 Kin.</NOTE> <HI>Since our Redeemer him&s;elf</HI> (as a Father ob&s;erves) <HI>as he is the Word of the eternal Father, is the Ma&s;ter of all Arts and Sciences:</HI> He<PB N="112" REF="81">profe&s;&s;es him&s;elf to have received <HI>the Tongue of the learned,</HI> I&s;a. 50.4. And therefore
'tis not to be neglected by any of his <HI>members,</HI> much le&s;&s;e of his
<HI>Mini&s;ters.</HI> And they to whom <HI>learning</HI> is offen&s;ive, wherewithall Chri&s;t him&s;elf was enrich|ed, to them, Chri&s;t is become a
<HI>&s;tumbling block and a &s;tone of offence:</HI> For Chri&s;t cannot be again&s;t him&s;elf, neither can any true member of Chri&s;t either be again&s;t what was emi|nent in him, or again&s;t tho&s;e gifts that were be&s;towed by him. He gave the gifts of <HI>Tongues</HI> and <HI>Sciences,</HI> and he both will own them, and does require them. For as under the
<HI>Law,</HI> a lame and a blinde &s;acrifice was hateful unto God: &s;o both under Law and Go&s;pel he requires that the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> and
<HI>Prophets,</HI> which are the portion of his inheritance, &s;hould be
<HI>&s;ound,</HI> and <HI>&s;eeing</HI> per&s;ons, neither <HI>lame</HI> through <HI>negligence,</HI> nor <HI>blinde</HI> through
<HI>ignorance:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mal. 2.7. 1 Tim. 5.17. 2 Tim. 2.15. 2 Tim. 3.17.</NOTE> but &s;uch <HI>who&s;e lips pre&s;erve knowledge:</HI> and al&s;o <HI>labour in the Word and Doctrine:</HI> Such, <HI>who &s;tudy to &s;hew them&s;elves approved,</HI> and <HI>are thoroughly fur|ni&s;hed unto every good work.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="objection"><HI>But do not we hear many</HI> unlearned <HI>men preach the Word, expound Scriptures, and the mo&s;t difficult parts of them, even hard Prophe&s;ies, and the my&s;tical Revelation it &s;elf, and this to the great liking and almo&s;t admiration of the hearers? Do not we hear them di&s;pute with their Mini&s;ters, and write books again&s;t all that oppo&s;e them, and &s;hall we yet doubt of their in&s;piration, and the u&s;ele&s;ne&s;&s;e of humane learning, &s;ince the&s;e per&s;ons can do all this without it?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer">'Tis mo&s;t true, that &s;uch like things as the&s;e are performed by <HI>unlearned</HI> men, and make a great noi&s;e in the world, and bear &s;way with the vulgar very much: but when the&s;e <HI>Ser|mons, di&s;cour&s;es,</HI> and <HI>books</HI> come to the &s;canning of judicious ears, and &s;uch who have the gift of <HI>di&s;cerning &s;pirits,</HI> all their preachments prove but unprofitable prattle, if not pro|fanations of Gods holy word: Their di&s;cour&s;es of Reli|gion unrea&s;onable, and endle&s;&s;e brabbles, and their books fraught with impertinencies, railings, and lies: <HI>For the &s;in of their mouth, and the words of their lips, they &s;hall be taken in their pride; for why? their preaching is of cur&s;ing, and lies,</HI> P&s;. 59.12.</P>
<P><PB N="113" REF="81"><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="objection"><HI>But do not we hear many good things come from them, and many &s;weet truths, to the great contentment, and edification of the hearers?</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> There are many &s;entences and &s;ayings in holy Scripture, and other good Engli&s;h books, which are &s;o plain and con|vincing, that they cannot be wre&s;ted, or perverted: but when the&s;e come to be formed into a Sermon, or into a continued di&s;cour&s;e by rude and <HI>illiterate</HI> per&s;ons, they are generally &s;o
<HI>di&s;orderly</HI> and <HI>confu&s;edly</HI> delivered, &s;o <HI>maim'd</HI> and ob&s;cur'd by in&s;ignificant, impertinent and erroneous ex|pre&s;&s;ions, which like dirt or poy&s;on intermixt with whol|&s;ome food, doth choak, and kill, rather then nouri&s;h and edifie the &s;ouls of the hearers. The word of God, which is <HI>the &s;word of the Spirit,</HI> in the mouth of an ignorant
<HI>blinde zelot</HI> is like a &s;word in a mad mans hand, wherewith he wounds both him&s;elf and others for want of judgement to u&s;e it aright: or as an unskilful Phy&s;itian, though he have very good books of Phy&s;ick, and excellent phy&s;ical receits, if yet he do not fully under&s;tand the&s;e books, and the na|ture and working of the&s;e receits, and the &s;everal tempers withal to whom &s;everally they are appliable, he &s;hall more often kill then cure his Patients: Even &s;o it is with the un|skilful Phy&s;itians of the &s;oul, when they under&s;tand not the holy Word of God aright, nor yet
<HI>how, where, when,</HI> and <HI>to whom</HI> the &s;everal divine receits therein are appliable, they con|vert the &s;oul-&s;aving <HI>Phy&s;ick</HI> thereof to a &s;oul-killing <HI>poy&s;on:</HI> And the Word which is in it &s;elf the fountain of holy truths, becomes through the mi&s;under&s;tanding and mi&s;application of ignorant interpreters, and deceitful workers, the nur&s;ery of Haere&s;ies and errors. And as in <HI>natural</HI> things,
<HI>corruptio opti|mi e&s;t pe&s;&s;ima,</HI> The be&s;t things corrupted are of all corrupti|ons the wor&s;t: &s;o in <HI>&s;upernatural</HI> and divine my&s;teries, when the word of Truth it &s;elf is corrupted, and deceitfully han|dled by ignorant, and mi&s;guided per&s;ons, there is nothing more baneful to the truth of <HI>Religion,</HI> nor to the &s;ouls of men, whereof true Religion is the <HI>Phy&s;itian</HI> and <HI>Guide.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="114" REF="82"><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="objection"><HI>But hath not God expre&s;ly and plainly told us in his holy Word, that he makes choice of &s;uch whom you call ignorant, and illiterate per&s;ons, to be the in&s;truments of his grace, and &s;alva|tion unto men?</HI> as <HI>Mat.</HI>
11.25. I thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou ha&s;t hid the&s;e things from the wi&s;e, and prudent, and ha&s;t revealed them unto babes: <HI>and</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.26. Not many wi&s;e men after the fle&s;h, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="1"><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> 1. With all thankfulne&s;s and devotion of &s;oul we ac|knowledge Gods infinite goodne&s;s and wi&s;dome in the choice of Apo&s;tles, and fir&s;t preachers of the Go&s;pel, <HI>Non &s;apientes &amp;c Ne traduxi&s;&s;e prudentia, ne redemi&s;&s;e divitiis, ne potentiae nobilitat&iacute;&s;&abque; authoritate traxi&s;&s;e aliquos videretur:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. in Luc. 6.</NOTE> 1. Not many
<HI>wi&s;e,</HI> le&s;t any might &s;eem to have been inveigled, and &s;e|duc't to Chri&s;tianity by the inticing words of mans wi&s;dome. 2. Not many
<HI>Rich,</HI> le&s;t our redemption might &s;eem to be purcha&s;ed with gold or &s;ilver; or that worldly gain &s;hould become the motive to godline&s;s. 3. Not many <HI>Noble,</HI> le&s;t the authority of earthly powers, and dignities, rather then the authority of Chri&s;t, and the convincing power of his truth, might &s;eem the allurement of our conver&s;ion: there|fore God hath cho&s;en the fooli&s;h&mdash;even <HI>Fi&s;hermen</HI> to confound the
<HI>Philo&s;ophers; Publicans,</HI> and &s;inners to reprove the mo&s;t rigid
<HI>Stoicks,</HI> and morally vertuous; poor, weak, and unarmed men to make conque&s;t of all nations, to di&s;|&s;olve the armed powers of the world, and without any <HI>car|nall weapons to be mighty through God, for the pulling down of &s;trong holds</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 10.4.</NOTE>&mdash;that &s;o all the world might acknowledge the work of grace and &s;alvation in Chri&s;t, to be his <HI>Revelation,</HI> not mans <HI>invention,</HI> and that <HI>no fle&s;h might glory in his pre&s;ence,</HI> pre&s;uming to a&s;cribe to his own power, wi&s;dome, wealth, dig|nity, &amp;c. what is the &s;ole work of Gods grace and good|ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">But 2. It doth not hence follow, that all vulgar and un|learned per&s;ons may under&s;tand, and expound the Scriptures as well as the wi&s;e and <HI>learned,</HI> for the rea&s;ons already al|ledged in an&s;wer to the fir&s;t objection. And becau&s;e fur|ther<PB N="115" REF="82">under the notion of <HI>babes, little ones, fooli&s;h,</HI> and
<HI>weak things of the world,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quid e&s;t par|vos &amp;c. elegit, i.e. non &s;uperbos, &amp; elatos, &s;ed humiles, &amp; mites,</HI> Aug.</NOTE> is not meant &s;o much the <HI>ignorant</HI> and
<HI>un|learned,</HI> as the <HI>meek, lowly, humble,</HI> whom no &s;pirit of pride and &s;elf-conceited knowledge, and holine&s;s had puffed up: For it is not <HI>ignorance</HI> and want of <HI>learning,</HI> but <HI>humility,</HI> and <HI>&s;elf-dejection,</HI> that enfits the &s;oul for the impre&s;&s;ions of <HI>Grace</HI> and <HI>Truth.</HI> So that tho&s;e <HI>unlearned</HI> per&s;ons who have &s;o good an e&s;teem of them&s;elves, as to prefer their own &s;en&s;e and judgement in &s;piritual things, before that of the
<HI>learned,</HI> and of their Teachers; cannot be of the number of tho&s;e
<HI>babes</HI> and <HI>little ones</HI> to whom the my&s;teries of Chri&s;t are
<HI>re|vealed,</HI> but rather to be rankt among&s;t <HI>tho&s;e wi&s;e men after the fle&s;h,</HI> who are rejected.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="objection"><HI>But again&s;t humane learning we are admoni&s;ht to take heed of it as dangerous,</HI> Col. 2.8.
<HI>Let no man &s;poyle you through Phi|lo&s;ophy&mdash;</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> The be&s;t things may be, and too commonly are cor|rupted and abu&s;ed: the <HI>holy Scriptures</HI> them&s;elves, which are given by <HI>divine in&s;piration</HI> for our guidance to eternal hap|pine&s;s, have been and daily are by Hereticks and Schi&s;maticks wre&s;ted to their own condemnation. And &s;o it fares with
<HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> and all the parts of <HI>humane learning.</HI> 'Tis confe&s;|&s;ed, that many <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> oppo&s;ed holy Chri&s;tian Religion at the fir&s;t, as contradictory to &s;ome of their fal&s;e erroneous po&s;itions: and many Hereticks aro&s;e in the Church being &s;educed, and &s;educing others, with principles taken out of the heatheni&s;h
<HI>Pythagorean Philo&s;ophy:</HI> from the knowledge whereof they were called
<HI>Gno&s;ticks:</HI> But true <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> is not therefore to be condemned becau&s;e <HI>Heathen Philo&s;ophers</HI> held many fal&s;e tenents, no more then true Religion is to be condemned, becau&s;e &s;ome &s;educed profe&s;&s;ors thereof hold many Heretical and fal&s;e opinions therein. And herein the nece&s;&s;ary u&s;e of <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> is apparent, in that though many Here&s;ies &s;prung from <HI>Philo&s;ophers,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Era&s;m. in prae|fat, ad Irenae.</NOTE> yet by
<HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> they have been &s;uppre&s;t, and the truth maintained: witne&s;s <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> skil'd in all the learning of the Egyptians, again&s;t <HI>Jannes</HI> and <HI>Jambres,</HI> with the re&s;t of the Egyptian Magi|cians<PB N="116" REF="83">and Philo&s;ophers. And S. <HI>Paul</HI> by the help of his great learning and judgement,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 17.</NOTE> confuted the <HI>Stoick Philo&s;ophers,</HI> and <HI>Epicureans,</HI> and maintain'd the truth of Chri&s;ts re&s;ur|rection, which they denied: witne&s;s al&s;o <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> a <HI>Philo&s;opher,</HI> maintaining the truth again&s;t that <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> and grand Heretick <HI>Valentinus:</HI> &s;o <HI>Tertullian</HI> a <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> again&s;t <HI>Marcion</HI> a
<HI>Philo&s;opher: Origen</HI> again&s;t <HI>Cel&s;us: Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> again&s;t <HI>Libanius: Prudentius</HI> again&s;t <HI>Symmachus:</HI> And many of the Fathers more by the help of <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> and <HI>humane Learning,</HI> confuted the fal&s;e po&s;itions of <HI>Heathen Philo&s;ophy,</HI> and the many errors that from thence crept in, and infe&s;ted the holy Chri&s;tian Religion: So that 'tis not again&s;t
<HI>Philo|&s;ophy</HI> and <HI>humane learning,</HI> but the <HI>abu&s;e of it</HI> to the forging, and maintaining of fal&s;e opinions, that the Apo&s;tles admoni|tion is directed.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="6" UNIT="objection"><HI>But again&s;t the pre&s;ent way of breeding up Mini&s;ters in</HI> Colledges, <HI>it is yet further objected by the</HI> Enthu&s;ia&s;ts, <HI>that the very end of all &s;uch breeding, is meerly to make a trade of the Mini&s;tery; that they may get livings and preferments in the world: The</HI> Scholars <HI>&s;tudy for</HI> Benefices, <HI>and</HI> Tithes, <HI>and</HI> Degrees, <HI>and</HI> the Prie&s;ts teach for hire, <HI>and</HI> the Pro|phets prophe&s;ie for money:
<HI>thus the holy Gho&s;t is bought, and &s;old, and the office of the Mini&s;tery it &s;elf being</HI> Simo|niacal, <HI>is thereby</HI> unlawfull.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer">'Tis confe&s;&s;ed, That if Livings, and preferments were the only end of our &s;tudies and endevours, either for, or in the work of the Mini&s;tery, it were iniquity in us: And although it cannot be denied, but that &s;ome per&s;ons among&s;t us are too much guilty of this iniquity, yet the guilt of &s;ome few, and their ambitious and covetous de&s;ires, do's neither fir&s;t impeach the way of breeding in
<HI>Colledges,</HI> and <HI>Schooles:</HI> nor yet &s;econdly any way impugn the <HI>u&s;e</HI> and <HI>nece&s;&s;ity</HI> of the Mi|ni&s;terial office.</P>
<P>As to the fir&s;t: not only under the <HI>Law,</HI> the Prophets of the Lord, both ordinary and extraordinary, were generally &s;uch as were bred up in the Schools of the Prophets, as be|fore, but under the
<HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> we read of Chri&s;t him&s;elf, that<PB N="117" REF="83">he had recour&s;e unto the Temple, <HI>where he &s;ate among&s;t the Doctors, hearing them, and asking them que&s;tions,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Example ejus nobis o&s;tendens, ne infirmus do|cere quis oude|at, &s;i ille puer doceri interro|gando voluit, qui per divini|tatu potentiam verbum &s;cientiae ip&s;is doctoribus mini&s;travit.</HI> Lyra.</NOTE> Luk. 2.46. not that he who was
<HI>the wi&s;dome of the Father</HI> had need of any <HI>in&s;truction</HI> from men: but to give us an <HI>example</HI> by this gracious act of conde&s;cen&s;ion, fir&s;t to hear and learn from them, whom God and publique order has plac't over us, be|fore we pre&s;ume to be the teachers of others: As in <HI>tempo|rall</HI> and <HI>civill</HI> affairs, He to whom all things in heaven, and earth do bow and obey, was notwith&s;tanding obedient to his parents, and to <HI>Cae&s;ar;</HI> that he might be unto us a pat|tern of the like obedience: &s;o in <HI>&s;piritual</HI> and <HI>divine</HI> things, He who is the fountain of wi&s;dome and truth, vouch&s;aft not|with&s;tanding to be taught by, <HI>learn from</HI> the Doctors of the Law, that he might be unto us an example to ob&s;erve the &s;ame way of <HI>in&s;truction,</HI> and
<HI>breeding.</HI></P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Exemplified.</NOTE>The example of S.
<HI>Paul</HI> the great Apo&s;tle of the Gentiles <HI>bred up at the feet of</HI> Gamaliel, his <HI>Divinity Lectures</HI> for <HI>the &s;pace of &s;even years together, preached in the School of one Tyran|nus,</HI> hath both warranted and exemplified the joynt u&s;e of <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> and
<HI>Divinity Lectures</HI> in our <HI>Colledges;</HI> and the u&s;eful combination of <HI>humane</HI> and <HI>divine</HI> learning, of humane
<HI>Arts,</HI> and divine <HI>Theologie, Rea&s;on,</HI> and <HI>Religion,</HI> the one as the <HI>Handmaid,</HI> and the other as the Mi&s;tre&s;&s;e, or rather the <HI>Queen</HI> of &s;aving knowledge and wi&s;dome.</P>
<P>As to the &s;econd, Tho&s;e who either &s;tudy to preach, or preach what they have &s;tudied, and learnt, out of ambitious and cove|tous de&s;ires only: as their intentions &amp; de&s;ires are be&s;t known unto God the Judge of all, &s;o to his ju&s;t judgement 'tis our Chri&s;tian duty to refer them:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. in cant. Serm. 36. ci|tat. per. Th. Aq. &amp; E&s;t. in 1 Cor. 8.1.</NOTE> And herein 'tis to be heartily wi&s;hed, that tho&s;e pious and prudent directions of S. <HI>Bernard,</HI> might by all &s;tudents, and preachers both be remembred, and ob&s;erv'd: <HI>Nece&s;&s;e e&s;t ut &s;cias &amp;c.</HI> He that will &s;tudy aright for knowledge, and rightly imploy it, when he hath obtained it, it is nece&s;&s;ary that he con&s;ider and ob&s;erve 1. <HI>A right order.</HI> 2. <HI>A right endevour.</HI> 3. <HI>A right end</HI> in his &s;tudies, and &s;piritual labours. <HI>And</HI> 1. <HI>He ob&s;erves a right order, who &s;tudies to know that fir&s;t which is mo&s;t conduceable to eternal &s;alvation.</HI> 2. <HI>A right endevour is ob&s;erved, when that is mo&s;t earne&s;tly laboured
<PB N="118" REF="84">for which mo&s;t tends to the inflaming of the &s;oul with the cele&s;tial fire of holy charity.</HI> 3. <HI>He ob&s;erves a right end in his &s;tudies, who &s;tudies not, either</HI> 1. <HI>out of curio&s;ity, or</HI> 2. <HI>of vain-glory, or</HI> 3. <HI>for filthy lucre and preferment; or in a word, for any &s;ordid and worldly ends, but only for the edification of him&s;elf and others. For,</HI> 1. <HI>there are &s;ome</HI> (&s;aith the Father) <HI>who &s;tudy to know, only that they may know: and this is a fanta&s;tick, and misbecoming curio&s;ity. Others</HI> 2. <HI>&s;tudy to know that they may be known, and taken notice of for learned, and knowing men: and this is pride and vain-glorious o&s;tentation, again&s;t whom that &s;atyrical la&s;h of the Poet is directed,</HI> Scire tuum nihil e&s;t, ni&s;i te &s;cire hoc &s;ciat alter. <HI>Others</HI> 3. <HI>&s;tudy to know, that they may make &s;ale and gain of their knowledge; and this is filthy covetou&s;ne&s;s. Others</HI> 4. <HI>do &s;tudy for knowledge and widom for their own edi|fication in the mo&s;t holy Faith: and this is prudence. And others</HI> 5.
<HI>&s;tudy for the aedification of others: And this is Charity. Only the two la&s;t,</HI> (&s;aith the Father) <HI>abu&s;e not their knowledge, be|cau&s;e for this end only they labour for knowledge, that they may know to do good, both to them&s;elves and to others.</HI></P>
<P>The nece&s;&s;ity of learning as to the under&s;tanding of ho|ly Scriptures, will further appear by induction of parti|culars.&mdash;</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. X. The &s;everal parts of Learning required to the under|&s;tanding of the holy Scriptures.</HEAD>
<P N="1">I. TO the right under&s;tanding of the true and genuine &s;en&s;e of Gods holy Word, fir&s;t, <HI>The knowledge of Tongues and Languages is requi&s;ite.</HI> For <HI>tongues</HI> are the <HI>gates</HI> of know|ledge, or <HI>the doors</HI> to the hou&s;e of wi&s;dome: and as ordina|rily no man enters a hou&s;e but by the doors thereof; &s;o no man, how piercing &s;oever his under&s;tanding be, can enter the cabinet of divine my&s;teries contained in holy Scriptures, but by &s;ome in&s;ight in tho&s;e languages wherein they were<PB N="119" REF="84">written. For 1. 'tis not enough to &s;ee the&s;e waters of life in their &s;treams, except we &s;ee them al&s;o in their fountain, not only as they are &s;everally and variou&s;ly tran&s;lated by men, but as they are the immediate dictates of the Spirit of God: for as waters are more clear in the fountain then in the &s;tream, &s;o the holy Scriptures appear more clear and intel|ligible in the
<HI>Original</HI> and fountain Language, then as they are conveighed unto us in the &s;tream of Tran&s;lations into other languages.</P>
<P>2. The holy Scripture is full of Metaphors,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Multa dicuntur in &s;ae. Script.
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, &amp; omnis meta|phora, &s;i de alia in aliam lin|guam transfera|tur ad verbum, quibu&s;dam qua|&s;i &s;entibus ora|tionis &s;en&s;us &amp; germina &s;uffo|cantur,</HI> Hier. in Eph.
4,</NOTE> and as <HI>Hier.</HI> ob&s;erves, <HI>When a Metaphor is transferred out of one Language into another, if it be done exactly, and to a word, it lo&s;es its pro|per empha&s;is, and the &s;en&s;e and fruitfulne&s;s thereof is &s;tifled and choakt.</HI></P>
<P>3. There is no <HI>Tran&s;lation,</HI> how accurate &s;oever, can in all words and phra&s;es punctually agree with the <HI>Original:</HI> becau&s;e there are but few words to be found in any language which have not divers &s;ignifications.</P>
<P N="2">II. <HI>The knowledge of Geography, Hi&s;tory, Arts, and monu|ments of antiquity.</HI> For 1. The holy Scriptures being the Language of other Countreys, how &s;hall they under&s;tand them, that know nothing of the
<HI>&s;ituation</HI> of tho&s;e countreys and places, or of their
<HI>rites</HI> and <HI>cu&s;tomes,</HI> particular <HI>idiomes, phra&s;es,</HI> and <HI>proverbial</HI> &s;peeches, which mu&s;t needs &s;eem &s;trange, improper and in&s;ignificant to them, who know no more but the ordinary places, cu&s;tomes and expre&s;&s;ions of their own nation?</P>
<P>2. The Scriptures are of all books in the world, the mo&s;t ancient: now as times do alter and vary, &s;o do the cu&s;tomes and con&s;titutions, actions and affections, manners, and pro|verbial &s;ayings of all people alter al&s;o: hence the 14. chapter of the 1 Cor. is &s;o hard to be under&s;tood. Becau&s;e tho&s;e cu&s;tomes are &s;o long &s;ince out of date. And this may &s;eem to be one rea&s;on, why God in his wi&s;dome, hath &s;o often al|tered his waies of di&s;pen&s;ation, and the revelaton of his truth unto his Church: and 'tis the ground of that wi&s;e direction of the Father,
<HI>Di&s;tingue tempora &amp; intelliguntur Scripturae,</HI> he mu&s;t warily di&s;tingui&s;h, betwixt ancient and modern times, that will rightly under&s;tand the Scriptures.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="120" REF="85">III. The knowledge of Rhetorick, Logick, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> by the help whereof we are enabled to take notice, 1. Of tho&s;e <HI>tropes</HI> and <HI>figures,</HI> and <HI>metaphorical</HI> expre&s;&s;ions, whereof the holy Scripture is full, to know what is
<HI>properly,</HI> and what <HI>figuratively</HI> expre&s;&s;ed, what is the
<HI>literal,</HI> and what the <HI>my&s;tical</HI> &s;en&s;e therein; what is delivered by way of <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> and what by way of <HI>parable,</HI> and <HI>&s;imilitude;</HI> what by way of <HI>command,</HI> and what by way of
<HI>coun&s;el;</HI> to compare the more <HI>ob&s;cure,</HI> and dark places, with the more <HI>plain</HI> and per&s;picuous: the <HI>like</HI> &s;aying in one place, with its like in another; and the <HI>differing</HI> and unlike, with its <HI>unlike</HI> and <HI>differing</HI> expre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>2. To ob&s;erve the <HI>cau&s;es</HI> and <HI>grounds,</HI> the
<HI>&s;cope</HI> and drift of every &s;aying, with the <HI>rea&s;ons,</HI> and
<HI>arguments</HI> to enforce it, and warily to di&s;tingui&s;h, betwixt the
<HI>&s;ub&s;tance</HI> and <HI>cir|cum&s;tances</HI> of each <HI>command</HI> and <HI>admonition.</HI></P>
<P>3. By way of <HI>Logical Analy&s;e</HI> to <HI>open, divide,</HI> and <HI>re&s;olve</HI> the holy Word into its proper parts, that each who hears and reads the &s;ame may know his own portion, and what
<HI>particularly</HI> is applyable to him: An <HI>art</HI> which
<HI>Timothy</HI> was commanded to &s;tudy for: <HI>Study to &s;hew thy &s;elf approved, a workman that needeth not to be a&s;hamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,</HI> 1 Tim. 2.15.</P>
<P N="4">IV. <HI>The knowledge of natural cau&s;es, vertues, operations, and effects;</HI> which is the &s;um of <HI>Natural Philo&s;ophy.</HI> For, 1. The holy Scripture as well <HI>&s;ets</HI> forth unto us the <HI>works</HI> of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Adore &s;cripturae plenitudinem, quae mihi facto|rem mani&s;e&s;tat, &amp; facta,</HI> Tert. cont. Herm.</NOTE> as his <HI>words,</HI> of <HI>command, admonition,</HI> &amp;c. Witne&s;s the hi&s;tory of the creation, Gen. 1. which is in it &s;elf a little epitome of all <HI>natural Philo&s;ophy,</HI> and the admirable di&s;cour&s;es of Gods works in the book of <HI>Job,</HI> and in the <HI>P&s;almes</HI> of
<HI>David,</HI> and many other places; and this becau&s;e the works of God are, as the great <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;tyles the world,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>the School of Gods knowledge; For the invi&s;ible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly &s;een, being under&s;tood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,</HI> Rom. 1.20. The mo&s;t wi&s;e God who hath revealed him&s;elf unto us in his <HI>works</HI> as well as in his
<HI>word,</HI> hath al&s;o u&s;ed <HI>the one</HI> as a means to illu&s;trate and clear the meaning of <HI>the other:</HI> &s;o that as <HI>the word</HI> of God &s;ets forth his marvellous works,<PB N="121" REF="85">&s;o by his
<HI>works,</HI> and by &s;imilitudes and re&s;emblances taken from his creatures, he teacheth us in his word, both the knowledge of him&s;elf, and of his holy will, <HI>touching</HI> the waies of his wor&s;hip: witne&s;&s;e the manifold commands and admonitions expre&s;&s;ed under the notion of &s;everal creatures: <HI>The Oxe and the A&s;&s;e, the Stork, the Crane,</HI> and <HI>the Swallow.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.3.</NOTE> To exemplifie but in one text, which is al&s;o a po&s;itive com|mand of the Go&s;pel, Mat. 10.16. <HI>Be ye therefore wi&s;e as Ser|pents, but innocent as Doves:</HI> He then that knowes nothing of the <HI>nature</HI> of the <HI>Serpent,</HI> and of the
<HI>Dove,</HI> how &s;hall he under&s;tand the meaning or yeeld obedience to this com|mand? And that very appearance of the holy Gho&s;t in the &s;hape of a
<HI>Dove</HI> upon our Saviour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3.16. Act. 2.2,3.</NOTE> and in <HI>winde</HI> and <HI>fire</HI> upon his Apo&s;tles, implies the nece&s;&s;ity of this price of <HI>hu|mane Learning,</HI> to under&s;tand &s;omething of the properties of that <HI>creature,</HI> and of <HI>the&s;e elements,</HI> to under&s;tand aright the &s;everal <HI>qualifications</HI> of the holy Gho&s;t.</P>
<P N="5">V. <HI>The knowledge of moral Philo&s;ophy:</HI> for rightly to un|der&s;tand the nature, properties, &amp;c. of moral vertues, mu&s;t needs conduce exceedingly to the right under&s;tanding of the perfection and excellency of &s;piritual graces: the one being but the elevation and rai&s;ing up of the other to an higher pitch of perfection. The <HI>light of nature</HI> being not ex|tingui&s;hed, but made more clearly &s;eeing, <HI>by the light of Grace.</HI> And the guidance of natural rea&s;on being not aboli&s;ht,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> Ju&s;t. Mart. Diol. cum Tryph.</NOTE> but rectified, perfected, and confirmed by the dictates, and com|mands of the holy Chri&s;tian Faith. Therefore
<HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> &s;tiles Philo&s;ophy (meaning I believe natural and moral Phi|lo&s;ophy as &s;ub&s;ervient to Divinity) <HI>The greate&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion and mo&s;t acceptable unto God, as the means whereby we are brought to the knowledge of God, and of his holy will.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="122" REF="86">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI. Of the Analogie of faith: and the Doctrine of the Church.</HEAD>
<P>TO the right under&s;tanding of holy Scriptures 'tis fur|ther required <HI>to know what &s;en&s;e and meaning the ancient Fathers, the learned and pious Doctors of the Church in all ages have given of them:</HI> for no Scripture is of private interpre|tation. But interpreted and under&s;tood it mu&s;t be accor|ding to the general Canon, or <HI>Analogie of Faith;</HI> that <HI>faith</HI> which was once given to the Saints by the Apo&s;tles, the articles whereof are &s;ummarily comprehended in the Apo&s;tles Creed: That Faith which &s;o delivered and received, hath been pre|&s;erved and maintained,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vinc. vir.</NOTE> <HI>&s;emper, ubi&abque; &amp; ab omnibus,</HI> at all times, in all places, by all per&s;ons,
<HI>Councels,</HI> and <HI>Fathers;</HI> and is by the merciful providence of God (in &s;pite of all oppo&s;ition from <HI>Infidels, Heretiques,</HI> and
<HI>Schi&s;matiques</HI>) brought down unto us.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov.
3.5.</NOTE> This <HI>Faith,</HI> mu&s;t be <HI>the rule</HI> according to which we mu&s;t &s;teer our interpretations of holy Scriptures: not <HI>leaning to our own under&s;tanding,</HI> or <HI>abounding in our own &s;en&s;e,</HI> but ever &s;ubmitting our <HI>private judgement</HI> to the <HI>publique judgement</HI> of the Church: which in the Apo&s;tles own times was commanded, when the gift of prophe&s;ie or interpreta|tion of Scripture was by more immediate and <HI>extraordinary in&s;piration</HI> communicated, yet even then the judgement of the Church was to be allowed in the interpretation of Scripture, 1 Cor. 14.29. <HI>Let the Prophets &s;peak two or three, and let the other judge.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="objection"> But 'tis here objected:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 16.14.</NOTE><HI>Wilt thou put out the eyes of the&s;e people? mu&s;t we not &s;ee with our own eyes, but only with tho&s;e of the Church? Shall we pin our faith upon any mens &s;leeves? What need we the authority of men, when we have Gods own au|thority for our direction; and men are but men,</HI> i. e. <HI>frail and liable to error, &s;o that all they affirm is not to be taken for Go|&s;pel?</HI></P>
<P><PB N="123" REF="86">In an&s;wer whereunto, con&s;ider,</P>
<P N="1"><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> 1. That there is a great deal of difference betwixt an <HI>im|plicite faith</HI> and blinde obedience to the dictates of the Church, and a <HI>&s;ubmi&s;&s;ion</HI> to the publique judgement thereof: <HI>The fir&s;t</HI> deprives the people of their rea&s;on and judgement; <HI>the &s;econd</HI> renders them more meek, humble, &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive and obedient; and thereby more capable to receive the impre&s;|&s;ion of the knowledge of cele&s;tial my&s;teries.</P>
<P N="2">2.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nihil carum rerum &s;cire quae ant&egrave; na&s;cereris &s;acta &s;um, hoc e&s;t &s;em|per e&s;&s;e puerum.</HI> Cic.</NOTE> That we a&s;&s;ert not the ancient and learned Fathers of the Church, <HI>ut dominos, &s;ed ut duces fidei,</HI> Not as <HI>Lords</HI> over our faith, but as <HI>guides</HI> in the true belief: <HI>And he that knows nothing of the Religion of the Fathers for his guidance and di|rection, is mo&s;t likely &s;till to continue a childe in his religion.</HI></P>
<P N="3">Nor, 3.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quicquid omnes vel plures uno eodem&abque; &s;en&s;u, manife&s;t&egrave;, frequenter, per&s;everan|ter velut quod am &s;ibi con&s;entiente conci|lio, accipiendo, tenendo, tradendo firma|verint, id pro indubitato, certo rato&abque; habeatur, Quicquid vero quamvis ille doctus, &amp; &s;anctus, quamvis Epi&s;copus, praeter omnes, aut etiam contra omnes &s;en&s;erit, id inter proprias, &amp; privatas opiniunculas &agrave; communis &amp; publicae ge|neralis &s;ententiae authoritate &s;ecretum &s;it.</HI> Vinc. Lyr.</NOTE> are we to receive for Oracle, all that the ancient reverend
<HI>Fathers</HI> of the Church did affirm, being very few among&s;t them, but had their particu|lar errors and mi&s;takes: and in many particulars al&s;o ('tis confe&s;&s;ed) they did contradict each other. 'Tis not therefore the affirmations and private opinions of particular per&s;ons we mu&s;t look upon as the Doctrine of true Re|ligion, and true meaning of the Scri|ptures: but the
<HI>general</HI> and <HI>univer&s;al</HI> con&s;ent of all, for that all &s;hould erre and fall from the truth is contrary to what our Lord hath promi&s;ed, who will undoubtedly be as good as his word, Mat. 16.18. <HI>&V;pon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell &s;hall never prevail again&s;t it,</HI> and Mat. 28.20. <HI>I am with you alway even to the end of the world.</HI></P>
<P>In a word, in the interpretation of Scriptures and for the confirmation of holy truths thence deduced, the authority of the ancient
<HI>Fathers,</HI> and <HI>Doctors</HI> of the Church is to be con&s;ulted and known for the&s;e rea&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e they are certain and undeniable witne&s;&s;es of what the Church, and the people of Chri&s;t did in their re|&s;pective times, believe and hold for orthodox Doctrine. If <PB N="124" REF="87">the &s;ame doctrine St. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> taught in <HI>Africk,</HI> was al&s;o taught by St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> in <HI>Greece,</HI> by St.
<HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> in <HI>Italy,</HI> by St. <HI>Hierome</HI> in
<HI>Pale&s;tine,</HI> and &s;o in other places by holy and reverend Bi&s;hops, and Pa&s;tors of the Church, then this undoubtedly was the doctrine of the Church: and thus were the holy Scriptures under&s;tood in tho&s;e ages of the Church, <HI>Ita intellexit Ambro&s;ius, ita Cyprianus,</HI> &amp;c. Thus
<HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> thus <HI>Cyprian</HI> under&s;tood, &s;uch or &s;uch a place of Scripture, this had &s;ome weight in St. <HI>Augu&s;t.</HI> time, and St. <HI>Aug.</HI> opi|nion, and there is no rea&s;on, but that it &s;hould be of the &s;ame force &s;till among&s;t us.</P>
<P>'Tis no way probable but that per&s;ons &s;o eminent in
<HI>learning</HI> and in <HI>piety,</HI> &s;o frequent in holy <HI>prayers</HI> and <HI>medi|tations,</HI> in <HI>fa&s;tings</HI> and <HI>wailings,</HI> &s;o indefatigable in their <HI>&s;tudies</HI> and <HI>labours</HI> in the <HI>Word and Doctrine,</HI> and who laid down their <HI>lives,</HI> and
<HI>fortunes</HI> for the doctrine they prea|ched, &s;hould more truly under&s;tand the Scriptures, and the truth of Chri&s;tian Religion then we, who if there be any thing of <HI>Mode&s;ty</HI> and <HI>Humility</HI> in our hearts, mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e our &s;elves far inferiour to them in the &s;aid
<HI>gifts,</HI> and <HI>graces</HI> of the holy Spirit. <HI>&V;&s;&abque; adeo promi&s;cuit imis &s;umma longus dies, &amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> Hath time &s;o confounded all things, is light &s;o changed into darkne&s;s, and darkne&s;s become light, <HI>ut videant Pelagius</HI> &amp;c. that Haeretiques now are the only &s;eers, <HI>Et caeci &s;unt Hilarius, Cyprianus, Ambro&s;i&ugrave;s,</HI> And the learned pious Fathers of the Church become blinde? The words are too much appliable to the Heretiques of the times.</P>
<P N="3">3. The judgement of the Fathers being &s;o far remote from the&s;e times wherein we live, mu&s;t needs be impartial as to the controver&s;ies among&s;t us, touching the interpretation of any texts of Scripture, or doctrines therein delivered, as being altogether di&s;intere&s;ted, and knowing nothing of our di&s;putes and conte&s;tations thereabouts, <HI>Nullas nobi&s;cum vel vobi&s;cum amicitias attenderunt, &amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. contra Julian Pelag.</NOTE> They were neither in friend&s;hip nor in community with us, or with them, who in this age are of a contrary opinion to us, they were neither angry with us, nor them, neither did they pity either of us, but what they found profe&s;&s;ed in the Church, they faith|fully<PB N="125" REF="87">pre&s;erved, what they learned they taught, and what they received from their fathers, they delivered unto us their children: and undoubtedly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Survey of the pretended di|&s;cipline.</NOTE> as a learned man of our Church ob&s;erves, <HI>they that contemn the learned Fathers that went be|fore them, do but open a gap to their own di&s;credit, making way thereby to be contemned them&s;elves, by all tho&s;e that &s;hall come after.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. We cannot but rea&s;onably imagine, that tho&s;e holy and learned per&s;ons, who lived nearer the Apo&s;tles times, &s;hould proportionably know better the Apo&s;tles meaning in their writings, and the doctrine they preached, then any of us who live &s;o many hundred years &s;ince. Therefore &s;aith <HI>Irenaeus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Iren. l. 3. ch.
4.</NOTE> who was the Di&s;ciple of <HI>Polycarpus,</HI> the Di&s;ciple of St.
<HI>John, Where any que&s;tion ari&s;eth, and the holy Scripture</HI> (as 'tis too common)
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vinc. Ler.</NOTE> <HI>is &s;o perverted, as to be made &s;peak for both &s;ides; whither &s;hall we have recour&s;e for &s;atisfaction, but to the ancient Churches of Chri&s;t, in which the Apo&s;tles conver&s;t? from thence to hear what the truth is,</HI> viz. Quid Apo&s;toli, quid primi fideles, quid corum &s;ucce&s;&s;ores, &amp;c. <HI>what the Apo&s;tles, what their Di&s;ciples, and &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, what the primitive Saints and Martyrs, Councels and Fathers have received, taught and de|livered unto others: For what? came the word of God out from you, or came it unto you only?</HI> 1 Cor. 14.36. Since the Word of God comes not fir&s;t to us, but by and from the Church it is delivered, it followes that the &s;en&s;e and meaning of Gods word, mu&s;t not &s;pring from our own heads, but to be by and from the Church delivered together with the word.</P>
<P>The learned Doctor <HI>Whittaker</HI> in his di&s;putes again&s;t the authority of the Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Whit. de &s;ac. Q. 3. con. 1. c. 2. Dupl. adver&s;. Staplet.</NOTE> as it is by &s;ome Romani&s;ts prefer|red before the authority of holy Scriptures, doth yet ac|knowledge the&s;e four offices in the Church in order to the Scriptures:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That the Church is the <HI>Regi&s;ter,</HI> and con&s;erver of the Scriptures.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. The <HI>Judge</HI> both to di&s;cern and define, what Scriptures are <HI>Canonical,</HI> and what <HI>Apocryphal.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. To be the <HI>promulgator</HI> or publi&s;her of them to all its members the people of God, where ever di&s;per&s;ed over the face of the earth. And,</ITEM>
<PB N="126" REF="88">
<ITEM> 4. To be the <HI>interpreter</HI> and expounder of them:</ITEM>
</LIST> and in the&s;e re&s;pects to contemn, or neglect the Mini&s;try and Te&s;ti|mony of the Church, <HI>is the way to erre from the faith;</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>to ru&s;h into certain de&s;truction:</HI> And in the&s;e ca&s;es I may very well adde the words of our Lord, <HI>He that will not hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a Heathen or a Publican,</HI> Mat.
18.17.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII. Three inferences hence appliable to the general &s;ubject of the whole di&s;cour&s;e.</HEAD>
<P>ANd now if we lay all the&s;e together: The knowledge of
<HI>Tongues</HI> and <HI>Languages:</HI> of <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> and
<HI>Antiquity:</HI> of <HI>Arts</HI> and <HI>Sciences,</HI> as <HI>Rhetorick, Logick natural</HI> and <HI>moral</HI> Phi|lo&s;ophy: of the <HI>Analogie of the true Faith,</HI> and of the <HI>Do|ctrine of the Church, Councels, and Fathers:</HI> all which do ap|pear nece&s;&s;ary to the right under&s;tanding of holy Scriptures: we may very well hence infer,</P>
<P N="1">1. That the work of the Mini&s;try in the interpretation of the Scriptures, is not &s;o &s;light and ea&s;ie a bu&s;ine&s;s, as too many per&s;ons now a daies make of it. And they who can &s;o ea&s;ily run from the plough to the pulpit, and from the meane&s;t trades and employments of the world to inter|meddle with the mo&s;t &s;ublime and cele&s;tial my&s;teries of god|line&s;s: who pretending to the Spirit, and yet have not the&s;e gifts of the Spirit: and to divine Revelation, being alto|gether devoid and de&s;titute of the means thereof, do thereby become vain in their imaginations, liable to &s;trong delu&s;ions, giving heed to &s;educing &s;pirits and doctrines of Devils, and that for want of learning,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 4.1.</NOTE> (which they do therefore de&s;pi&s;e only becau&s;e they want it) they do pervert and wre&s;t the Scriptures to their de&s;truction. And,</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>That 'tis not immediate Revelation we mu&s;t depend upon for the right under&s;tanding of holy Scriptures:</HI> &s;ince the&s;e &s;e|veral<PB N="127" REF="88">parts of what is called humane learning, hath appeared nece&s;&s;ary thereunto: for otherwi&s;e 'twas in vain that
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t, which at the fir&s;t were illiterate, &s;hould be extraordinarily, and miraculou&s;ly endued with the gifts of learning.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. That &s;uch per&s;ons &s;hould be called both ordinarily, and extraordinarily to the Prophetical office as were emi|nent for learning and knowledge, not immediately infu&s;ed, but by their &s;tudies, and indu&s;try, and Gods ble&s;&s;ing there|upon acquired.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. That it were al&s;o in vain, we &s;hould be commanded to hear, read, &s;tudy, meditate, &s;eek, &s;earch and dive for know|ledge.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. That in vain al&s;o hath God of his great mercy affor|ded us the writings, directions, and in&s;tructions of holy and learned men in all ages: 'Tis an undeniable truth, that <HI>Deus &amp; natura nihil faciunt fru&s;tra.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>There are no arts of the divine Providence u&s;ele&s;s and unprofitable: But as God of his great <HI>mercy</HI> is never wanting to give what is needful: &s;o of his great <HI>wi&s;dome</HI> he is never lavi&s;h in giving more then is needfull. <HI>&V;numquod&abque; propter operationem &s;uam,</HI> God hath made all things for their u&s;es: every book, and every writing of the learned, orthodox and holy, and every tongue, and every &s;cience in every &s;uch book is for the manife&s;tation of &s;ome truth, and the profit of &s;ome &s;oul. That I am &s;ure is the end of Gods Spirit there|by, what ever may be the end of mans: <HI>For the manife&s;ta|tion of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withall,</HI> 1 Cor. 12.7.</P>
<P N="3">3. And thirdly, we may very well hence infer al&s;o that
'tis an over bold, ra&s;h and &s;aucy pre&s;umption in any per&s;ons of what quality or breeding &s;oever, to a&s;&s;ume the office of Prie&s;thood, and &s;tart up preachers of the Go&s;pel, being not fir&s;t well &s;tudied and endowed with the &s;everal qualifica|tions of learning and knowledge requi&s;ite thereunto. Adde hereunto the dignity of tho&s;e precious jewels committed to their charge, <HI>viz.</HI> The immortal &s;ouls of men, which are of &s;o great value before God as neither gold, &s;ilver, nor
<PB N="128" REF="89">any corruptible thing could redeem them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.18.</NOTE> <HI>but the bloud of Chri&s;t the eternal Son of God, as a lamb without blemi&s;h:</HI> now that which co&s;t our Redeemer &s;o dear, and is de&s;igned either to eternal happine&s;s, or eternal mi&s;ery, according as 'tis more or le&s;&s;e wi&s;ely and carefully ordered; requires &s;urely &s;uch a guide and pa&s;tor, as is not only <HI>wi&s;e, learned,</HI> and di&s;creet, but al&s;o <HI>vigilant,</HI> careful and con&s;cientious.</P>
<P>Under the <HI>Law,</HI> how unwilling was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to be &s;ent on the Lords me&s;&s;age though he was a learned man? Exod. 3. and &s;o was <HI>Jeremy</HI> al&s;o: <HI>I am a childe and cannot &s;peak,</HI> Jer.
1.6. And many others cautious of their own weakne&s;&s;e, and of the great abilities required to the execution of &s;o great a function, have more &s;afely declined then arrogantly a&s;&s;umed the &s;ame.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. de cura pa&s;t. l. 2. c. 7.</NOTE> <HI>Hinc. qui&abque; praecipites colligant,</HI> &amp;c. from hence all forward novices may ob&s;erve, how great a guilt of &s;inful pre|&s;umption they contract, who &s;et up them&s;elves to be tea|chers of others, while&s;t they have yet need to be taught them&s;elves: &s;ince that yet holy men of God, were afraid to undertake &s;o weighty a calling, even when God him&s;elf called and commanded them thereunto. Under the Go&s;pel Chri&s;t him&s;elf who is the word of God and the wi&s;dome of the Father, would not preach till he was 30. years old,
<HI>&V;t vim &s;aluberrimi timoris,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. ibid.</NOTE> &amp;c. That he might infu&s;e the ver|tue and efficacy of whol&s;ome fear and caution into the hearts of the over forward; &s;ince he who could not erre in his preachings, would not yet preach the waies of perfection and felicity till he was of perfect age.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t notwith&s;tanding that they were conver&s;ant with Chri&s;t all the while he continued prea|ching the Go&s;pel upon earth, daily heard his heavenly Do|ctrine as it di&s;tilled from his own mouth, and &s;aw the mira|cles he did for the confirmation thereof: and though they were endued in &s;ome mea&s;ure with the gifts and graces of the Spirit before his a&s;cen&s;ion; <HI>For he breathed on them,</HI> &amp;c. Luk. 24.45.
<HI>He opened their under&s;tandings, to under&s;tand the Scriptures,</HI> yet all this was not thought &s;ufficient to preach, and open the my&s;teries of the Go&s;pel to the world: but they were forbidden to do it, till they received additional gifts of<PB N="129" REF="89"><HI>learning and knowledge from above,</HI> Luk. 24.49. <HI>Tarry you at Hieru&s;alem, till you be endued with power from on high:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;&s;. ordin. in Loc.</NOTE> <HI>&V;t exemplum &s;equentibus daretur, &amp;c. Giving example to all po&s;te|rity, that no weak and illiterate per&s;ons, wanting the gifts of Tongues, Arts, &amp;c. pre&s;ume to intermeddle with preaching or unfolding the my&s;teries of the Go&s;pel.</HI></P>
<P>'Tis recorded of the great St. <HI>Ba&s;il,</HI> and
<HI>Nazianzen,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ruffin Lib. 2. cap. 9.</NOTE> that af|ter their long &s;tudies in &s;aecular <HI>learning,</HI> they continued for the &s;pace of thirteen yeers together in a mona&s;tery, <HI>giving them&s;elves to the &s;tudy of holy Scriptures, the &s;en&s;e and meaning whereof, they fetcht not out of their own heads, but out of the wri|tings and authority of the ancients to whom by &s;ucce&s;&s;ion from the Apo&s;tles, the rule of right under&s;tanding the Scriptures was apparently known.</HI></P>
<P>The order of divine wi&s;dome and providence in the di&s;pen|&s;ation of holy truths to the world, is worth our ob&s;ervati|on out of 1 Cor. 12.4,5,6. <HI>There are diver&s;ities of gifts, but the &s;ame Spirit, there are diver&s;ities of admini&s;trations, but the &s;ame Lord; and there are diver&s;ities of operations, but the &s;ame God that worketh all in all:</HI> From hence it is ea&s;ie to ob|&s;erve, that there mu&s;t be
<HI>gifts</HI> before <HI>admini&s;trations, (i. e.)</HI> 1. A man mu&s;t be qualified with <HI>gifts</HI> fit for every calling, before he receive
<HI>admini&s;tration,</HI> or be ordained to that calling. 2. There mu&s;t be
<HI>admini&s;tration</HI> before <HI>operation, i. e.</HI> A man mu&s;t be lawfully <HI>ordained</HI> to a calling, before he <HI>work</HI> or la|bour therein: <HI>So in the great calling of the Mini&s;try,</HI> the <HI>gifts</HI> of the Spirit mu&s;t precede or go before, before <HI>Letters of admi|ni&s;tration</HI> be taken. And, 2. a lawful <HI>ordination</HI> mu&s;t be taken before <HI>operation,</HI> or working therein. And he that either 1. a&s;&s;umes this high and &s;acred function,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bi&s;h Ands. &s;erm. in 1 Cor. 12.14, &amp;c.</NOTE> being not qualified with
<HI>gifts,</HI> contemns <HI>the Spirit</HI> from whom they come: Or, 2. He that labours in the word and Doctrine, though he be <HI>gifted,</HI> being not al&s;o lawfully <HI>ordained,</HI> contemns <HI>the Lord</HI> from whom all
<HI>admini&s;trations</HI> come, and who hath in&s;tituted and commanded ordination thereunto: Or, 3. He that be|ing both <HI>gifted</HI> and lawfully
<HI>ordained</HI> is not <HI>indu&s;trious</HI> in this calling, contemns
<HI>God the Father</HI> of all <HI>operations, who worketh all in all.</HI> He that thinks any of the&s;e &s;uperfluous, may as well<PB N="130" REF="90">que&s;tion whether &s;ome one Per&s;on of the <HI>Trinity</HI> be not &s;uperfluous al&s;o, even that Per&s;on from whom comes that part of the divi&s;ion, which he &s;lights and contemns. As it is therefore in the order of the Trinity, <HI>as the Father begets the Son, and from the Father and the Son proceeds the holy Gho&s;t:</HI> So in this Divi&s;ion, the <HI>gifts</HI> of the Spirit beget the Lords <HI>Admini&s;tration,</HI> or calling to the Mini&s;try, and both to|gether produce the <HI>operation</HI> or labour therein, which is the work of God: <HI>and as no man comes to Chri&s;t, but by the holy Gho&s;t;</HI> &s;o no man comes <HI>lawfully</HI> to the
<HI>calling,</HI> but by the <HI>gifts;</HI> and <HI>as no man comes to the Father, but by the Son,</HI> &s;o no man comes to the <HI>work,</HI> but by the
<HI>calling.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII. The internal and divine qualifications of the &s;oul, as to the under&s;tanding of holy Scriptures.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. TIs confe&s;&s;ed, that all the <HI>external</HI> parts of humane learning already remembred, though they be the <HI>gifts,</HI> and ble&s;&s;ings of Gods Spirit, and nece&s;&s;ary helps to the opening of the Letter, and right under&s;tanding of the literal and genuine &s;en&s;e of Gods word, yet are not in them&s;elves alone &s;ufficient to attain a true, and throughly &s;aving know|ledge thereof: except our &s;ouls be enricht as with the out|ward <HI>gifts,</HI> &s;o with inward <HI>graces</HI> of the holy Spirit al&s;o.</P>
<P><HI>Truth</HI> and <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> are the two in&s;eparable con&s;tituent parts of &s;piritual wi&s;dome: and to under&s;tand the
<HI>truth</HI> or true meaning of the Spirit of Truth in the word, the Spirit of <HI>holine&s;s</HI> mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily concur. And this is mo&s;t eloquent|ly expre&s;&s;ed <HI>Job</HI> 28. where after a mo&s;t high, and magni|ficent expre&s;&s;ion of the prai&s;es, great price and value of true wi&s;dome, a view is taken of all the parts of the world, where it might be found: gold and &s;ilver, iron and bra&s;&s;e, all u&s;eful metals, and precious &s;tones, have their places, though &s;ecret, de&s;igned them: but where &s;hall this rich pearl,<PB N="131" REF="90"><HI>where &s;hall wi&s;dome be found, and what is the place of under&s;tan|dings?</HI> Ver&s;. 12. <HI>It is not found in the land of the living: the depth &s;aith, It is not in me, and the &s;ea &s;aith, It is not in me.</HI> Ver&s;. 14. <HI>It is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept clo&s;e from the fowls of the air,</HI> ver&s;.
21. The mo&s;t Eagly &s;ighted Philo&s;ophers, and wi&s;emen of the world, who have viewed the natures, properties, and cau&s;es of all things, not in the earth alone, but in the heavens al&s;o, even the cour&s;es, influ|ences, and operations of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, have not yet attained true wi&s;dome: how then &s;hall we finde it out? it followes, <HI>God knoweth the place thereof, and he under&s;tandeth the way thereof,</HI> ver&s;. 23.&mdash;<HI>And he hath &s;aid, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wi&s;dome, and to depart from evil is un|der&s;tanding:</HI> briefly de&s;cribing both the place of wi&s;dome, and the way thereunto; even the way of <HI>piety,</HI> and
<HI>obedience.</HI></P>
<P>And of that <HI>piety,</HI> which is nece&s;&s;arily requi&s;ite to the un|der&s;tanding of holy Truth, there are &s;everal &s;pecies or par|ticular parts, which from the example of holy <HI>Bernard,</HI> may be thus reckoned up: <HI>Qui ut legeret, intelligendi fecit cupi|ditas; ut intelligeret, oratio impetravit; ut impetraret, quid ni&s;i vitae &s;anctitas promeruit?</HI> His earne&s;t de&s;ire of knowledge, made him &s;tudious and indu&s;trious in reading: his fervent prayers obtained the under&s;tanding of what he read: and his holy life made his prayers effectual for the enlightning of his under&s;tanding: and thus he mu&s;t de&s;ire, thus &s;tudy, thus pray, and thus live, who will attain that knowledge, which &s;hall make him wi&s;e to &s;alvation.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t divine qualification of the &s;oul requi&s;ite unto knowledge is the <HI>de&s;ire</HI> thereof: <HI>The beginning of wi&s;dome is the de&s;ire of in&s;truction,</HI> Wi&s;d. 6.17. <HI>Come unto me all ye that be de&s;irous of me, and fill your &s;elves with my fruits,</HI> Eccle&s;ia&s;ticus 24.19. and what is more authentick: <HI>If thou &s;eeke&s;t wi&s;|dome as &s;ilver, and &s;earche&s;t for her as for hid trea&s;ure, then &s;halt thou under&s;tand the fear of the Lord, and finde the know|ledge of God,</HI> Prov. 2.4. Such de&s;ires, and &s;tudies for wi&s;|dome, the holy Gho&s;t undoubtedly would never 1. exem|plifie, 2. exhort unto, 3. enkindle in the hearts of men, but that they &s;hould tend not to vexation, and trouble, but to<PB N="132" REF="91">&s;atisfaction and accompli&s;hment in the pro&s;ecution of them: <HI>Et hoc modo pri&ugrave;s invenire oportet ut quaeras, deinde quaerere ut pleni&ugrave;s invenias.</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>de&s;ire</HI> of knowledge mu&s;t not be only
<HI>earne&s;t,</HI> but al&s;o <HI>&s;incere,</HI> free from <HI>partialities, prejudices,</HI> and <HI>prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;i|ons,</HI> free from <HI>pride, covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e, ambition, emulation,</HI> and all ba&s;e, carnal, and worldly ends, and intere&s;ts:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Pura erit in|tentio &s;i in om|ni actione aut honorem De<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">, aut utilitaten proximi, aut bonam con&s;cien tiam quaeramus,</HI> Bern. &s;etm. par.</NOTE> denoted by <HI>the &s;inglene&s;s of the eye,</HI> Mat. 6.22. which is generally inter|preted to be <HI>purity of intention</HI> in all our &s;tudies, and ende|vours; which renders the whole body of our actions clear and &s;ucce&s;&s;eful.</P>
<P N="2">2. This earne&s;t, and &s;incere <HI>de&s;ire</HI> of wi&s;dome, mu&s;t be pro&s;ecuted as with diligent &s;tudies,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mens obcaecatur in divinis nifi &agrave; Domino illumi|nata.</HI></NOTE> &s;o with fervent <HI>prayers</HI> unto God for his daily ble&s;&s;ing thereupon: <HI>For the minde</HI> (which is the eye of the &s;oul) <HI>&s;ees nothing of the things of God, but as by God 'tis enlightned therein:</HI> therefore to him we are commanded to apply our &s;elves for wi&s;dome, Jam. 1.5. So the wi&s;e man obtained it, Wi&s;d. 7.7. <HI>Wherefore I prayed, and un|der&s;tanding was given me</HI>&mdash;Prayer is the key that opens the cabinet of Gods &s;ecrets;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Meli&ugrave;s &s;olvun|tur dubia ora|tione, qu&agrave;m hu|mana inqui&s;iti|one,</HI> Aug.</NOTE> the <HI>bucket</HI> wherewithall we dive, and draw forth the waters of life out of the fountain of wi&s;|dome: <HI>And the my&s;teries of godline&s;&s;e,</HI> &s;aith the Father, <HI>are more ea&s;ily unfolded by the efficacy of fervent prayers, then by the force of humane &s;tudies.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. But all mens <HI>prayers</HI> are not effectual to the obtaining of true wi&s;dome:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 9.21. Jam. 5.16.</NOTE>
<HI>For God heareth not &s;inners,</HI> 'tis the <HI>fervent prayer of the righteous man,</HI> that prevailes with God: In the third place therefore, our prayers mu&s;t be enliven'd by the <HI>piety</HI> and <HI>purity</HI> of our hearts and lives. And herein the&s;e two divine qualifications of the &s;oul are mo&s;t e&s;pecially re|quired, <HI>Innocence</HI> and
<HI>Obedience.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. And fir&s;t <HI>Innocence,</HI> or the purity and cleanne&s;&s;e of the &s;oul is nece&s;&s;ary to the reception of &s;aving knowledge: for <HI>wickedne&s;s,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Wi&s;d. 4.11,12.</NOTE> &s;aith the wi&s;e man, <HI>alters the under&s;tanding, and deceit beguiles the &s;oul:</HI> or the deceitful lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, and of the world, cou&s;en the &s;oul of its right under&s;tanding, &s;o it follows, for <HI>the bewitching of naughtine&s;s doth ob&s;cure things that are hone&s;t, and the wandring of concupi&s;cence doth undermine the &s;imple minde.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="133" REF="91">For as in a renewed, and righteous &s;oul, all the faculties thereof move forward, in their proper place and order; the
<HI>under&s;tanding</HI> fir&s;t rules the <HI>will,</HI> and
<HI>affections</HI> of the <HI>rea|&s;onable</HI> &s;oul, and the&s;e guide the inferior de&s;ires, or lu&s;ts of the <HI>&s;en&s;itive</HI> &s;oul, and keep them within their due bounds, and limits: &s;o in a &s;inful &s;oul the government is perverted, and all moves di&s;orderly and backward: 1. The inferior <HI>lu&s;ts</HI> of the <HI>&s;en&s;itive</HI> &s;oul, or carnal concupi&s;cence ma&s;ters the <HI>will</HI> and <HI>affections:</HI> and 2. the&s;e ma&s;ter the <HI>under&s;tanding</HI> and per|vert the judgement. So that to the right under&s;tanding of <HI>holy My&s;teries,</HI> a <HI>holy and renewed &s;oul</HI> is mo&s;t nece&s;&s;arily requi|&s;ite: <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in &s;pirit, for they &s;hall &s;ee God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deus e&s;t purga|tae mentis &s;a|pientia,</HI> Aug.</NOTE> Mat. 5.8. <HI>For God</HI> (&s;aith the Father) <HI>is the wi&s;dome of the purified minde.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Obedience</HI> is that &s;econd &s;pecification of
<HI>piety,</HI> which renders our &s;ouls capable of &s;aving knowledge: meaning by obedience, not that <HI>univer&s;al</HI> obedience to the Lawes of God, which includes all the parts of piety,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Citius exaudi|tur una oratio obedient is qu&agrave;m decem millia com emptoris,</HI> Aug. Hom. 3. ad monac.</NOTE> but that <HI>obediential meekne&s;s,</HI> and
<HI>humility</HI> of &s;pirit, which makes us ready to re|ceive the impre&s;&s;ions, and willing to &s;ubmit to the judge|ments of our &s;uperiors:
<HI>And one prayer,</HI> &s;aith the Father, <HI>of &s;uch an obedient per&s;on is &s;ooner heard then ten thou&s;and of the &s;cornful, and &s;uch as are wi&s;e in their own conceit: Surely he &s;corneth the &s;corners, but giveth grace to the lowly,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quanto obedi|entiores fucri|mus Praepo&s;i|tis, &amp; patribus, tanto obediet Deus orationi|bus no&s;tris,</HI> Eu&s;eb. Emi&s;&s;.</NOTE> Prov. 3.34. And <HI>Eu&s;ebius Emi&s;&s;enus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>By how much more we are obedi|ent to our Eccle&s;ia&s;tical or &s;piritual governors, and fathers who have the rule over us, and watch for our &s;ouls; by &s;o much the more God will be obedient to our prayers, and yeeld to our de&s;ires:</HI> &s;ee for further proof hereof, P&s;. 25.9. Joh. 7.17. Jam. 4.6. 1. Pet. 5.5.</P>
<P>The&s;e divine qualifications of the &s;oul, as to the right under&s;tanding of holy Truths, have the&s;e en&s;uing be|nefits.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Hereby the My&s;teries of godline&s;s appear more plain, ea&s;ie and intelligible to the &s;oul: <HI>For the wates of God are plain to the holy, but &s;tumbling blocks to the wicked,</HI> Ecclus.
39.24.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Hereby the &s;oul doth really ta&s;te and is delighted <PB N="134" REF="92">with the bread of life: For, &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Palato non &s;ano poena e&s;t panis, qui &s;ano e&s;t &s;ua|vis, &amp; oculis aegris odio&s;a e&s;t lux, quae puris e&s;t amabilis.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> <HI>as bread is &s;weet to the &s;ound and healthful palat, which to the &s;ickly, and un&s;ound is un&s;avoury: and as light is plea&s;ant to the clear eyes, but to the weak and &s;ickly trouble&s;ome, and offen&s;ive:</HI> &s;o the bread of life, and light of divine knowledge, is to the pure and holy, &s;weet, &s;avoury, and plea&s;ant: <HI>To the pure all things are pure, but to the impure and unclean, even holy things them|&s;elves become unholy,</HI> Tit. 11.15.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. Hereby God is invited, and won to pre&s;erve, and guide us in the waies of Truth, and to &s;catter and di&s;pell all tem|ptations, and &s;eductions to error, and deceit, P&s;. 25.11.14.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. Hereby that doctrinal knowledge of God, and literal under&s;tanding of his word in the u&s;e of outward means ob|tained, is made perfect, and compleated: The former being but the <HI>body,</HI> and carka&s;s, but this the <HI>&s;oul,</HI> and &s;pirit of &s;a|ving knowledge: <HI>If ye know the&s;e things, happy are ye, if ye do them,</HI> Joh. 13.17.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Hereby the heart is prepared, and the minde made capa|ble of a greater, and more full light of true wi&s;dome, accor|ding to that promi&s;e of the Lord, <HI>Habenti dabitur,</HI> Mat. 25.29. <HI>To him that hath &s;hall be given, and he &s;hall have more abun|dance:</HI> to him that makes a right u&s;e of his knowledge, more &s;hall be added: therefore the paths of the Ju&s;t are compared to the &s;hining light, which &s;hineth more and more to the perfect day, Prov. 14.8.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIV. The objection from the mi&s;demeanors of the Mini&s;try con&s;idered.</HEAD>
<P>THE nece&s;&s;ity of <HI>piety</HI> and integrity, as to the &s;acred and &s;aving knowledge of Gods <HI>Revealed will</HI> being thus apparent, the want hereof in &s;ome per&s;ons of the Clergy hath brought, even upon the &s;acred function it &s;elf, that great contempt and reproach under which it now lies oppre&s;&s;ed:<PB N="357" REF="92">there being nothing &s;o frequent in the mouthes of the peo|ple, as the &s;ins of their mini&s;ters: the
<HI>Perjury, time-&s;erving,</HI> and wavering <HI>incon&s;tancy</HI> of &s;ome, the <HI>faction</HI> and <HI>&s;edition</HI> of others; the
<HI>pride,</HI> the <HI>covetou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> the <HI>drunkenne&s;s</HI> of others,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Etenim non &s;o|lum doctie&s;&s;e volumus, &s;ed &amp; docti, &amp; boai. qualis ommno e&s;t, qut recte quidem verbis, &s;ed multo recti|us moribus &amp; vita philo&s;o phantur.</HI> Sabel. orat.
7.</NOTE> have made even the <HI>profe&s;&s;ion</HI> contemptible, and our labours in the word and doctine ineffectual, and vain: fervent prayers, and holy living being tho&s;e &s;piritual engines, where|by tho&s;e holy truths delivered in &s;ermons, have their influ|ence upon the hearts and lives of the hearers: and where an exemplary purity of life is wanting, 'tis no mervail, that God, who is the fountain of purity, deny his ble&s;&s;ings upon our labours, and turn our <HI>preaching into fooli&s;hne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>And herein the <HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;ts</HI> of the age, have found &s;o great a flaw in the <HI>Mini&s;tery,</HI> as that they ab&s;olutely decry the <HI>calling:</HI> or if not &s;o, yet the be&s;t terms they can af|ford the mo&s;t upright, and con&s;cientious among&s;t us, is <HI>fal&s;e Prophets,</HI> and <HI>deceivers of the people.</HI></P>
<P>But yet that the error of this opinion, and &s;infulne&s;s of the railing accu&s;ations, though again&s;t &s;ome per&s;ons they have too much of truth, may appear; 'tis nece&s;&s;ary to take notice of the&s;e following con&s;iderations:</P>
<P N="1">1. That 'tis the &s;ins of the <HI>people,</HI> that provokes God to give them ignorant and &s;inful <HI>&s;hepheards; And there &s;hall be like people like Prie&s;ts, &s;aith the Lord, and I will puni&s;h them for their waies, and reward them their doings,</HI> Ho&s;. 4.9. and again,
<HI>The daies of vi&s;itation are come, the daies of recompence are come, I&s;rael &s;hal know it: The Prophet is a fool, the &s;piritual man is mad:</HI> and what's the rea&s;on? <HI>for the multitude of thine ini|quity, and the great hatred,</HI> Ho&s;. 9.7.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non e&s;t &agrave; plebe, aut vulgaribus hominibus ar|guendus, out accu&s;andus epi&s;|copus licet &s;it inordinatus, quia pro meritis &s;ubd<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> rum di&s;|ponitur a Deo vita dectorum.</HI> Evar. ep. fra|tribus Aegypt.</NOTE> And therefore &s;aith <HI>Eva|ri&s;tus: A Bi&s;hop, and Pa&s;tor of &s;ouls is not to be reviled by the people, though be di&s;orderly, becau&s;e God di&s;po&s;eth of the lives of the Teachers according to the de&s;erts, and qualities of the hea|rers.</HI> And &s;o of <HI>Princes</HI> as well as of <HI>Prie&s;ts:</HI> wicked Princes God gives in his wrath,
<HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 13.11. <HI>viz.</HI> when he is angry with a people for their &s;ins: And even the errors of the be&s;t kings are a&s;cribed to the &s;ins of their &s;ubjects: As <HI>Da|vids</HI> &s;in in numbring the people was cau&s;ed by the anger of the Lord again&s;t <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> 2 Sam. 24.1. <HI>For the Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he turneth it whither &s;oever he will,</HI> Prov. <PB N="136" REF="93">21.1. either for a ble&s;&s;ing or cur&s;e upon their &s;ubjects:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Anacleti epi&s;t. tertia.</NOTE><HI>Sic pro meritis plebis &s;aepe pa&s;tores depravantur eccle&s;iae, ut pro|clivi&ugrave;s corruant qui &s;equuntur:</HI> 'Tis even &s;o with the Pa&s;tors of the Church, who are deprav'd, and diorder|ly in their lives, becau&s;e the people by their &s;ins have de|&s;erv'd to have &s;uch leaders, who&s;e directions &s;hall &s;ooner tend to the ruine, then to the health of their &s;ouls.</P>
<P N="2">2. 'Tis the duty of all Chri&s;tian <HI>people,</HI> rather to cover and veil, then to di&s;clo&s;e, and publi&s;h the enormities of their <HI>Pa|&s;tors:</HI> For they are their <HI>&s;piritual Fathers,</HI> 1 Cor. 4.15. And the nakedne&s;s of <HI>Fathers</HI> mu&s;t not be di&s;covered by the children, that the cur&s;e of <HI>Cham</HI> fall not upon them, Gen.
9.22.25. If the <HI>Pa&s;tors</HI> neglect their duty towards God, the
<HI>people</HI> mu&s;t not therefore neglect their duty to their
<HI>Pa|&s;tors,</HI> but wi&s;ely di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt their example and do|ctrine, obeying the <HI>truths</HI> they deliver, but avoiding the &s;in|full <HI>practi&s;es</HI> they follow: which is po&s;itively commanded by our Lord, Mat. 23.2,3. <HI>The Scribes and Phari&s;es &s;it in</HI> Mo&s;es
<HI>chair,&mdash;All therefore what&s;oever they bid ob&s;erve, that ob&s;erve and do: but do not ye after their works, for they &s;ay and do not: Etiam &s;i qui&s;quam traditor &s;ubrep&s;i&s;&s;et,</HI> &amp;c. &s;aith <HI>Aug.</HI> Though &s;ome traytor or wicked per&s;on creep into the chair of
<HI>Mo&s;es,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. Epi&s;. 165.</NOTE> it &s;hould nothing hurt the Church, or innocent Chri&s;tians, for whom Chri&s;t hath provided, &s;aying of evil prelats, what they &s;ay, do ye.</P>
<P N="3">3. The knowledge of the Truth may be obtained in the u&s;e of outward means, and the mini&s;terial office thereupon conferred upon &s;uch per&s;ons, as want the internal qualifica|tion of true piety: which is clear from the examples of <HI>Ba|laam,</HI> who <HI>loved the wages of righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and yet had <HI>the gift of prophe&s;ie:</HI> of
<HI>Judas</HI> who was &s;ent out by the Lord him&s;elf to preach the Go&s;pel, and yet had a De|vil: and <HI>Nicholas</HI> cho&s;en by the Apo&s;tles, one of the Dea|cons, and yet was the father of the Nicholaitan Haere&s;ie, &s;o much
<HI>dete&s;ted by God,</HI> Rev. 2.6. Shall we therefore accu&s;e, and rail upon the Prophets of the Lord for the &s;in of <HI>Balaam,</HI> or di&s;parage the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> of Chri&s;t for the &s;in of <HI>Judas;</HI> or impute to the re&s;t of the holy <HI>Deacons</HI> the error of <HI>Ni|cholas?</HI> or &s;hall we not hear and obey the truth, becau&s;e it<PB N="137" REF="93">comes from the mouthes of &s;ome <HI>wicked</HI> as well as <HI>good</HI> Mini|&s;ters? It is rather our duty to admire the wi&s;dome, and mag|nifie the goodne&s;s of God, who to give the greater te&s;timo|ny to the Truth, and to make it more illu&s;trious and evident, is plea&s;ed to deliver it unto us by his Mini&s;ters of both &s;orts, <HI>good</HI> and <HI>bad,</HI> both by the
<HI>holy,</HI> and by the <HI>profane.</HI> And 'tis the <HI>Spirit of God</HI> undoubtedly that works in, and by all per&s;ons that deliver the
<HI>truth:</HI> though not in all alike, but in men of <HI>divers</HI> qualifications after a <HI>different</HI> manner: in good men as
<HI>ingredient,</HI> and <HI>in&s;ident;</HI> in bad men, as <HI>urgent,</HI> and <HI>impellent:</HI> by good men more <HI>frequently</HI> and
<HI>effectually</HI> he works the conver&s;ion of his people; and by bad men
<HI>&s;ome|times</HI> al&s;o, though more <HI>rarely,</HI> that the working of his grace may appear in all, and the glory thereof may to him as the &s;upreme cau&s;e, and not to his in&s;truments be a&s;cribed.</P>
<P N="4">4. That the <HI>gifts</HI> of Gods holy Spirit, are not limited to tho&s;e that receive his <HI>graces,</HI> is further clear, Mat.
7.22,23. <HI>Many will &s;ay to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we pre|phe&s;ied in thy name</HI>&mdash;Here were great gifts be&s;towed, and that upon <HI>wicked,</HI> and un&s;anctified per&s;ons: for it followes immediately, <HI>Then will I profe&s;&s;e unto them, I never knew you, depart from me ye workers of iniquity:</HI> &s;o al&s;o 1 Cor. 13.2. <HI>Though I have the gift of prophe&s;ie, and under&s;tand all my&s;teries, and though I have all faith &s;o as to remove mountains</HI> (viz. of &s;eeming impo&s;&s;ibilities) <HI>and have not charity, I am nothing.</HI> From whence two things are plainly, and clearly ob|&s;ervable.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That the under&s;tanding of holy Scriptures, and of the my&s;teries of godline&s;s, or prophetical and mini&s;terial
<HI>gifts,</HI> may be obtained in the u&s;e of <HI>outward</HI> means, without the <HI>internal</HI> &s;anctification of &s;oul which con&s;i&s;ts in
<HI>charity</HI> or love, which is the <HI>fulfilling of the Law.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. But then &s;econdly, The gift of prophe&s;ie, with all the wi&s;dome and knowledge of holy things, though they may be, and often are u&s;eful for the edification of others; yet are they altogether fruitle&s;s, and ineffectual to the per&s;on that hath them, if not animated by the grace of <HI>charity,</HI> or obe|dience to the Lawes of God, for &s;o they are not much unlike<PB N="138" REF="94">a candle in a dark lanthorn, which ca&s;teth its light abroad upon others, leaving the per&s;on that holds it in dark|ne&s;&s;e.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XV. The dangerous and de&s;tructive con&s;equences of, and de|pending upon immediate Revelation.</HEAD>
<P>HEe that pretends unto or depends upon any further
<HI>Re|velations</HI> from heaven then God in his great mercy hath already afforded unto his Church and people, <HI>viz.</HI> 1. <HI>His written Word,</HI> 2. <HI>Tho&s;e &s;everal means and helps forementioned,</HI> both
<HI>divine</HI> and <HI>humane, outward</HI> and <HI>inward,</HI> for the right under&s;tanding of his Word, by the ble&s;&s;ing of God, and the &s;ecret influence of his holy Spirit upon our &s;tudies, and meditations therein: laies him&s;elf open to manifold tempta|tions, and dangerous &s;eductions of the &s;pirit of error and delu&s;ion: and as much as in him lies, &s;ubverts the very foun|dation of the holy Chri&s;tian Faith: for hereupon the&s;e
<HI>de|&s;tructive inconveniencies</HI> mu&s;t needs en&s;ue.</P>
<P N="1">1. The canon of holy <HI>Scripture</HI> is tran&s;gre&s;t and di&s;&s;olv'd, by the &s;uperaddition of <HI>new Revelations:</HI> and the authori|ty of Gods Word is made null, and void; that mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e for a
<HI>dead letter,</HI> when the fictitions dreams, and delu&s;ions of every idle enthu&s;ia&s;tical brain, under the mask of <HI>Revelati|ons,</HI> &s;hall be mi&s;taken and mi&s;called too, <HI>The quickning Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>And he that &s;ets up any thing of Religion to the di&s;ho|nour of holy Scriptures,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Optal. 1.3.</NOTE> 1. &s;aith the Father, he doth, <HI>aedi|ficium de ruina con&s;truere,</HI> erect a building upon the ruines of Gods truth; and &s;uch a building can be no better but an heap of errors and deceits: For what will not he dare to affirm, and hold, who holds any thing <HI>be&s;ides,</HI> or <HI>above,</HI> or but <HI>equal</HI> to the Word of God, for the Rule of Faith? Hereupon the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> hath been denied, and <HI>the la&s;t judgement,</HI> <PB N="139" REF="94">and the nece&s;&s;ity of all <HI>holy, ju&s;t,</HI> and <HI>good</HI> works, the nece&s;|&s;ary con&s;equences of the&s;e points of our faith: for he that believes not the Re&s;urrection, and la&s;t judgement, <HI>Quid bo|ni aut veri,</HI> what <HI>holy Truth</HI> will he care to believe, or what <HI>good action</HI> will he make con&s;cience to practi&s;e?</P>
<P N="2">2. He oppo&s;es him&s;elf to the doctrine of the
<HI>univer&s;al Church</HI> of Chri&s;t, for 1600 years together, who with one unanimous, and common con&s;ent, have received the holy Scriptures as the very canon of Faith, without addition or diminution, without ever hoping or waiting for any <HI>new Revelations</HI> to be &s;uperadded thereunto: and very good rea|&s;on &s;ure, if that di&s;mal cur&s;e wherewith the canon of holy Scripture is concluded, have any influence upon the mindes of men, Rev.
22.18.19. <HI>If any man adde unto the&s;e things, God &s;hall adde unto him, the plagues that are written in this book, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. And more particularly he makes void all tho&s;e com|mandements of God <HI>to &s;earch the Scriptures,</HI> to <HI>hear, read, meditate,</HI> and <HI>&s;tudy,</HI> and <HI>delight</HI> our &s;elves in the Lawes of God: For all <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> of Gods will, pre&s;uppo|&s;es the knowledge of the truth, without any <HI>&s;earch, &s;tudy,</HI> &amp;c. The contempt or neglect of which duty hath &s;ad and heavie judgements threatned thereunto, as Jer. 9.13, &amp;c. <HI>And the Lord &s;aith, Becau&s;e they have for&s;aken my Law, which I &s;et before them&mdash;And have walked after the imagination of their own heart&mdash;I will feed them with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink, I will &s;catter them among the hea|then,</HI> &amp;c. with manifold texts to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, both in the <HI>old</HI> and <HI>new</HI> Te&s;tament, as Prov. 13.13. &amp; 28.9. P&s;al. 81.11,12. Zach. 7.12.13. Joh. 5.45,46. &amp;
12.48.</P>
<P N="4">4. He makes void and unnece&s;&s;ary the &s;acred function of the <HI>Prie&s;thood,</HI> or Mini&s;tery, which God hath in all ages or|dained and &s;etled in his Church, as to mediate with God for the people, &s;o to in&s;truct the people from God: And this &s;acred office God hath both confirmed by miracles, and by te&s;timony of his ble&s;&s;ings ordinary and extraordinary, and guarded the &s;ame by many direful threatnings denounced, and many heavie judgements inflicted upon &s;uch as have, or
<PB N="140" REF="95">&s;hal &s;acrilegiou&s;ly violate, infringe, or u&s;urp this office, or neg|lect, refu&s;e, or contemn to hear the word of God in the mouthes of his Prophets, and faithful Mini&s;ters: See among&s;t many other places, Jer. 5.12, &amp;c. <HI>Becau&s;e the people belied the Lord, and &s;aid, It is not he,</HI> when he &s;pake by his Prophet; And becau&s;e they &s;aid moreover, <HI>The Prophets &s;hall become winde, and the word is not in them&mdash;Therefore thus &s;aith the Lord, Becau&s;e ye &s;peak this word, I will make my words in thy mouth, fire, and this people wood, and it &s;hall devour them:</HI> And to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, Jer. 6.10,11,12. &amp; Mat.
10.14,15. Luk. 10.11,12.</P>
<P N="5">5. All pretence to <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> lords it over the faith of our Chri&s;tian brethren: For an <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> commands an <HI>immediate belief,</HI> and blinde obedience, with|out any further &s;earch or trial at all: contrary to tho&s;e ex|pre&s;&s;e commands, 1 Joh 4.1. <HI>Beleeve not every &s;pirit, but try the &s;pirits:</HI> 1 The&s;&s;. 5.21. <HI>Prove all things, hold fa&s;t that which is good,</HI> or agreeable to the word of God: but reject that which is not &s;o, and hold for accur&s;ed the publi&s;hers, and promoters thereof: Gal.
1.8. <HI>Though we, or an Angel from heaven &s;hould preach unto you another Go&s;pel be&s;ides what ye have received, let him be accur&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. The <HI>faith of the Enthu&s;ia&s;t</HI> (if it may be called a faith, and not rather an illu&s;ion of his fancy) is not built upon the &s;ame grounds with <HI>the faith of Chri&s;ts Church;</HI> which is the
<HI>pillar and ground of truth:</HI> the Church is built upon <HI>the foundation of the Prophets, and Apo&s;tles, Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf being the head corner &s;tone,</HI> Eph. 2.20. <HI>i. e.</HI> what the
<HI>Prophets</HI> of the Old Te&s;tament, and the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> of the New, have <HI>re|vealed</HI> to be the doctrine of &s;alvation in Chri&s;t, is the foun|dation which the faith of all true Chri&s;tians is built upon: But the
<HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;ts faith,</HI> is not built upon <HI>old,</HI> but upon
<HI>new Revelations,</HI> not upon what is <HI>revealed</HI> already through the mediation of the Prophets and Apo&s;tles, and communicated by their &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, but upon what &s;hall be <HI>immediately re|vealed</HI> from heaven: and this <HI>groundle&s;s ground</HI> of faith is oppo&s;ed to that which is the <HI>true ground</HI> of faith indeed, and made of equal authority therewith; &s;o that upon this ground<PB N="141" REF="95">every private mans &s;ayings, and affirmations are of as great authority, and as much to be regarded, as the divinely in|&s;pired &s;ayings of the Prophets and Apo&s;tles; and this mu&s;t needs be &s;o, were there any truth in mens pretended
<HI>Reve|lations:</HI> for undoubtedly we owe as much <HI>faith, reverence,</HI> and <HI>obedience</HI> to every <HI>Revelation</HI> from heaven, how mean &s;oever the per&s;on be, that receives it, as we do to any part of Gods Word already <HI>revealed,</HI> though by the greate&s;t
<HI>Patri|arch</HI> or <HI>Prophet,</HI> that ever lived upon earth.</P>
<P N="7">7. All dependence upon <HI>new Revelations,</HI> laies a &s;ecret &s;tain of di&s;honour upon God: and this in two re&s;pects:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That God, notwith&s;tanding his &s;everal methods of di|vine <HI>Revelation,</HI> by the Patriarchs and Prophets of old, by his own Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and his Apo&s;tles in the&s;e la&s;t daies, &s;hould yet be defective in making known to his people the waies of his &s;ervice, and of their own &s;alvation.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. All pretence to new lights and <HI>Revelations,</HI> makes God, <HI>the Father of Lights, with whom is no variablene&s;&s;e, or &s;hadow of change,</HI> to vary and change his minde as oft as the fickle and deceitful mindes of men do alter: Nay, thus God is made to &s;peak things quite oppo&s;ite and contrary to him&s;elf; while&s;t the &s;everal conceits, &s;ecret &s;ugge&s;tions, and whi&s;|pers of mens hearts, which are as numerous as the &s;and, and contrarious as light, and darkne&s;s, are yet all under pretence of <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> fixed upon God, who chan|geth not.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="8">8. It doth extremely much derogate, and detract from the honour of holy Chri&s;tian Religion to have no better ground and foundation, then either the divinity of the <HI>Heathens</HI> of old, or that of the
<HI>Mahometans,</HI> which of later times hath &s;o far over&s;pread, and &s;wallowed up &s;o many Chri&s;tian King|domes, and flouri&s;hing Common-wealths in the world; and both the one and the other of the&s;e, not only derive their <HI>original,</HI> but al&s;o their <HI>progre&s;&s;e, &s;ucce&s;&s;e,</HI> and pre&s;ent <HI>continuance</HI> doth depend upon
<HI>immediate Revelations:</HI> which no good Chri&s;tian &s;urely doth doubt to be any other then <HI>Diabolical Delu&s;ions:</HI> The Divinity of the
<HI>Heathens</HI> was &s;uch, as the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> of their re&s;pective
<HI>Temples</HI> and <HI>Oracles</HI> delivered<PB N="142" REF="96">to the people in their prophetick trances, for cele&s;tial <HI>Re|&s;pon&s;es,</HI> and divine <HI>in&s;pirations:</HI> And the more &s;ubtil, and &s;ublime of the heathen Philo&s;ophers recommend unto us, an <HI>Ec&s;tatical</HI> contemplation, even to the abolition of the under&s;tanding, and Rea&s;on, as the highe&s;t and mo&s;t per|fect way of divine knowledge. <HI>Mahomet</HI> began with <HI>Raptures,</HI> and <HI>exta&s;ies,</HI> and &s;uppo&s;ed
<HI>Revelations</HI> of Angels. He there|fore, that &s;hall &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider the mon&s;trous <HI>Idolatries</HI> of the one, and the horrid
<HI>Bla&s;phemies</HI> of the other, will be careful &s;urely how he tru&s;ts unto, or depends upon <HI>immediate Revelations.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. This doctrine of <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> (&s;hould it be granted) is not &s;afe for &s;ober and peaceable-minded Chri&s;ti|ans to embrace, or depend upon it: but is fitte&s;t rather for &s;uch per&s;ons, who&s;e de&s;tructive plots, and de&s;igns, under the mask of Religion, are to dethrone, and murder Chri|&s;tian Princes, ruine well e&s;tabli&s;ht government, and gover|nors, both Eccle&s;ia&s;tick and Civil, ma&s;&s;acre their Chri&s;tian brethren, rob, ruine, and de&s;troy whatever oppo&s;es their de|&s;igns, and private per&s;wa&s;ions in point of faith, and man|ners, how &s;acred and u&s;eful &s;oever it be: &s;uch mi&s;chiefs and barbarous cruelties, when open force is wanting to effect, may be, and too often have been effected by <HI>pretended Re|velations,</HI> and men of
<HI>ec&s;tatical,</HI> and &s;educed fancies; who have thought they have greatly merited thereby, and done God good &s;ervice by de&s;troying the enemies of his Truth, and aboli&s;hing <HI>Haere&s;ie, Super&s;tition,</HI> &amp;c. when as indeed they have made havock of a people more righteous then them|&s;elves, de&s;troy'd the truth, and true wor&s;hip of God, open'd the way to di&s;order and confu&s;ion, and this through <HI>perju|ry, &s;acriledge, murder, rebellion,</HI> and the breach of all the lawes of <HI>piety, ju&s;tice,</HI> and <HI>charity.</HI></P>
<P N="10">10. The neglect of the means of &s;aving knowledge,
<HI>viz. learning,</HI> divine and humane, and to depend upon
<HI>Revelation,</HI> without the u&s;e of &s;uch means, is the way to advance Lady <HI>Ignorance</HI> again as the mother of devotion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;pencaeus.</NOTE> to drown the world in Barbari&s;m, &amp; to reduce the Church of Chri&s;t to that &s;ad condition, wherin it was in the ninth age, which was called,<PB N="143" REF="96"><HI>The unlearned, and the unhappy age of the Church:</HI> wherein he that &s;tudied Philo&s;ophy, and the Mathematicks was counted a Magician: he that knew the Greek tongue was &s;hrewdly &s;u&s;pected, but if he under&s;tood Hebrew al&s;o, he was no bet|ter then an Haeretique. 'Tis ob&s;erved by the learned, both
<HI>Hi&s;torians</HI> and <HI>Divines,</HI> that all the ten bloudy per&s;ecutions of the Church by the Heathen Emperors, did not &s;o da|mage holy Chri&s;tian Religion, as did the &s;ubtil underminings of <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. eccl. hi&s;t. l. 10. c. 32. Soz. l. 5. c. 5. Theod. l. 3. c. 7.</NOTE> who fought not again&s;t Chri&s;tian Religion, as did the re&s;t of the per&s;ecuting Emperors with <HI>fire</HI> and
<HI>faggot;</HI> but by taking from them all offices of dig|nity, and places of preferment: all Eccle&s;ia&s;tical promotions, and Church priviledges, and more e&s;pecially by putting down, and forbidding all Schools of learning, for the training up their youth in the knowledge of tongues and &s;ciences: that &s;o the <HI>light</HI> of holy Religion might be lo&s;t in the <HI>dark</HI> of ig|norance and decay of arts: For Arts and Tongues are the handmaids to holy Religion: the&s;e as 'twere hold the candle, while&s;t the &s;acred light of Truth is di&s;play'd for our direction in the waies of light and life everla|&s;ting.</P>
<P N="11">11. He <HI>tempts</HI> the good Spirit of God, who expects to re|ceive the knowledge of Truth by <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> and miracle, which by <HI>ordinary,</HI> common,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dominum ten|tare, e&s;t novo miraculo velle perficere, quod aliis rationibus fieri pote&s;t.</HI></NOTE> and known means is at|tainable: &s;o the Devil tempted our Lord to feed him&s;elf with the bread of a miracle, when Gods ordinary and common providence yeelded bread enough, Mat. 4.3. and to ca&s;t him|&s;elf down from the pinnacle of the Temple, when the way to come down by &s;teps, was plain and ea&s;ie without any &s;uch praecipitation.</P>
<P>That dependence upon <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> is
<HI>unnece&s;&s;ary,</HI> and con&s;equently <HI>u&s;ele&s;&s;e</HI> and unprofitable, is manife&s;t from what hath been already &s;aid from the &s;ufficiency of Gods revealed Truth: and is yet further manife&s;t from the vain, and bootle&s;&s;e i&s;&s;ue of all &s;uch dependence; For what &s;acred My&s;teries of holy Religion have been either made known, or more plainly unfolded by <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> in the&s;e la&s;t daies &s;ince the time of Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles? many <HI>Impo|&s;tures,</HI>
<PB N="144" REF="97">and lies, many <HI>Haere&s;ies</HI> and errors, many
<HI>Schi&s;mes</HI> and divi&s;ions, have fancied <HI>Revelations</HI> brought forth: but that any &s;ound &s;oul-&s;aving truth hath been of later times immedi|ately revealed, I could yet never hear or read of by any au|thentick witne&s;&s;es: and it is mo&s;t ju&s;t with God to give men up to the vanity of their minde, and to the delu&s;ions of their own hearts, who thus
<HI>tempt</HI> his holy Spirit, by leaving the known and beaten paths of Truth
<HI>revealed,</HI> to depend upon what is <HI>unnece&s;&s;ary, u&s;ele&s;s,</HI> and <HI>vain:</HI> and not only &s;o, but al&s;o,</P>
<P N="12">12. Dependence upon <HI>immediate Revelations</HI> laies us open to the delu&s;ions of Satan,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 11.14.</NOTE> who
<HI>transforming him&s;elf into an angel of light,</HI> in&s;inuates his &s;ugge&s;tions, and diabolical do|ctrines under the &s;hew and vizard of divine Revelations: Many pious men have been deluded by this wile of the De|vill,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tert. de anima c. 9.</NOTE> and have faln into gro&s;&s;e errors. <HI>Tertullian</HI> though he ob&s;erved this, and &s;aw how gro&s;ly many of <HI>Montanus</HI> &s;ect were cheated into foul mi&s;takes and errors, upon fancied <HI>Revelations,</HI> yet notwith&s;tanding &s;o &s;trongly doth the Devil work upon the fancy by the force of this inchantment, that he him&s;elf was deceived al&s;o, and became a <HI>Montani&s;t,</HI> being cou&s;ened hereunto, e&s;pecially by the pretended <HI>Revelations</HI> of a holy &s;i&s;ter, whom he much extols in his tract <HI>de Anim&acirc;:</HI> who&s;e pretended vi&s;ion of the &s;ub&s;tance of a &s;oul <HI>corporally</HI> exhibited to her view, made him believe the &s;oul to be cor|poreal: and although for this opinion he was not condem|ned for haere&s;ie; neither yet was guilty of tho&s;e more gro&s;s and bla&s;phemous opinions of the
<HI>Montani&s;ts,</HI> which their fancied <HI>Revelations</HI> brought forth: yet becau&s;e more zea|lou&s;ly then di&s;creetly he maintained private
<HI>Revelations,</HI> the <HI>Church</HI> of that age &s;eeing the many mi&s;chiefs, that en&s;ued upon that doctrine, &s;everely cen&s;ured him for it: which made him de&s;ert the communion of the Catholick Church, and &s;et up a congregation of his own, which were called from him
<HI>Tertulliani&s;ts,</HI> and are reckoned by S. <HI>Aug.</HI> among&s;t his Catalogue of Haereticks.</P>
<P>A &s;tory not much unlike this of <HI>Tertullian,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;. Aco&s;t. de temp. novi&s;&s;. l. 2. c. 11.</NOTE> is re|membred by Doctor, <HI>Ca&s;aubon</HI> out of <HI>Aco&s;ta:</HI> who re|cords<PB N="145" REF="97">of a learned Doctor of Divinity, and a very great zea|lot, who was cou&s;ened into &s;trange and bla&s;phemous opini|ons, fir&s;t by the pretended <HI>Revelations</HI> of an ordinary woman: the &s;tory is at large &s;et down in Engli&s;h by the &s;aid Doctor in his 3. ch. of Enthu&s;ia&s;m, with many other remarka|ble &s;tories of deluded per&s;ons, under pretence of <HI>Revela|tions.</HI></P>
<P>Tho&s;e two great pretenders to <HI>Revelation, Pri&s;ca</HI> and <HI>Pri|&s;cilla, Montanus</HI> his minions, were &s;o long cou&s;ened with Sa|tanical <HI>illu&s;ions,</HI> which they took for divine
<HI>Revelations,</HI> that at the la&s;t it was <HI>revealed</HI> unto them, that they &s;hould hang them&s;elves, that they might pa&s;&s;e from the mi&s;eries of this life, to the joyes of the other:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. eccl. hi&s;t. lib. 5. c. 16.</NOTE> And <HI>Theodotus</HI> a Montani&s;t had a vi&s;ion, that he &s;hould be taken up into heaven, and beleeving the &s;pirit of error, he was lifted up on high, and thence let fall down to the earth again, and &s;o mi&s;erably ended his life: And many of <HI>Montanus</HI> &s;ect which were great pretenders to <HI>Revelation,</HI> and had withdrawn them&s;elves from communion with the Catholick Church, at &s;everal times ended their lives in an <HI>halter,</HI> being thereinto incited by the Devil that in&s;pired them, who was the father of their <HI>Revelations.</HI></P>
<P>There were another ancient &s;ort of Haereticks in the Church, cal'd <HI>Me&s;&s;alians,</HI> and from their a&s;&s;iduity in prayers more then ordinary, they were al&s;o called <HI>Euchites:</HI> Their tenents were,
<HI>that every one brought into the world with him an evil &s;pirit, wherewith they were po&s;&s;e&s;t until by earne&s;t prayer the evil &s;pirit being driven away, the good Spirit of God did take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their &s;ouls, and after this they needed no more, no Sacraments, no Sermons, no Scripture to make them perfect, for they could &s;ee the holy Trinity vi&s;ibly, and foretel things to come, and all by immediate Revelation:</HI> But by this pretence to perfection, and dependence upon Revelation, mo&s;t of them, if not all, prov'd to be really po&s;&s;e&s;t by the Devil,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Theod. Hi&s;t, eccl.</NOTE> as is recorded by <HI>Theodoret</HI> in his Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>I might &s;tuffe this chapter with multitudes of holy per|&s;ons, that have been cou&s;ened with illu&s;ive, and lying
<HI>Reve|lations: Katharine</HI> a holy woman &s;aid, it was <HI>revealed</HI> to her,<PB N="146" REF="98">that the Virgin Mother of our Lord, was conderved in &s;in: And <HI>Briget</HI> as holy as &s;he,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. Franc, Pi|cus.</NOTE> pretended a <HI>Revelation</HI> quite con|trary to that of the other, <HI>viz.</HI> that the holy Virgin was free from original &s;in: venerable <HI>Bede</HI> remembers a vi&s;ion, &s;aith <HI>Bellarm.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bell. de purgat. l. 2. c. 7.</NOTE> wherein it was &s;hewed to a certain devout per|&s;on, <HI>That there was a fourth place be&s;ides, Heaven. Hell, and purgatory, not unlike the Elizian fields de&s;crib'd by the hea|then Poets, wherein lived tho&s;e &s;ouls which &s;uffered nothing, being not as yet made fit for the beatifical vi&s;ion:</HI> and this &s;aith the Cardinal is not improbable, &s;ince like to this Revelation <HI>Di|ony&s;ius, Cart.</HI> and
<HI>Greg.</HI> have many others: but contrary here|unto &s;aith <HI>Suarez</HI> another Je&s;uite, <HI>Revelationes Bedae &amp; Car|thu&s;iani,</HI> &amp;c. The Revelations of <HI>Bede,</HI> and <HI>Carthu&s;ianus</HI> are not to be believ'd, but in a metaphorical &s;en&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Suarez Je&s;. to.
4. in Thom. di&s;p. 46. 4. Num. 9.</NOTE></P>
<P>S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his Confe&s;&s;ions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. conf. l. 10.</NOTE> acknowledges him&s;elf to have been mercifully delivered from the curio&s;ity of <HI>vi&s;ions,</HI> and
<HI>miracles:</HI> For it is both a <HI>&s;in,</HI> and a <HI>judgement</HI> to be cu|rious in affecting, and depending upon &s;uch <HI>extraordinary</HI> means of divine <HI>Revelation:</HI> &s;ince the <HI>ordinary</HI> is not only &s;ufficient, but more certain and infallible, which is affirmed by S.
<HI>Peter</HI> preferring the Word of God before immediate Revelation by voice from heaven, 2 Pet. 1.18,19. <HI>And this voice which came from heaven we heard&mdash;But we have a more &s;ure word of prophe&s;ie,</HI> &amp;c. the meaning is, that an immediate voice from heaven revealed Chri&s;t to be the &s;on of God: But the written word of God is a more &s;ure and infallible way of <HI>revealing</HI> Chri&s;t: and what's the rea&s;on? but that
<HI>voices</HI> from heaven, <HI>vi&s;ions</HI> and immediate
<HI>Revelations</HI> may be, and often are counterfeited by the devil. But the holy Scri|ptures rightly under&s;tood, are a &s;ure, and infallible guide and an unerring rule of Truth, as being the Dictates, and in&s;pira|rations of the Spirit of Truth him&s;elf.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="147" REF="98">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVI. Several texts alledged again&s;t humane Learning, and again&s;t the Mini&s;tery, and for immediate Bevelation, explained.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 31.34. Heb. 8.10,11,12.</NOTE>THE tenor of the new covenant recorded Jer. 31.34. and remembred to be accompli&s;ht, Heb. 8.10,11,12. is the chief place alledged again&s;t the nece&s;&s;ity of
<HI>Learning,</HI> or the <HI>teaching</HI> of man, as containing the promi&s;e of an <HI>imme|diate teaching</HI> from God him&s;elf: <HI>This is the covenant which I will make with the hou&s;e of I&s;rael, after tho&s;e daies, &s;aith the Lord: I will put my Lawes into their minde, and write them in their hearts&mdash;And they &s;hall not teach every man his neigh|bour, and every man his brother, &s;aying, Know the Lord, for all &s;hall know me from the lea&s;t to the greate&s;t: for I will be merci|ful to their unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, and their &s;ins and iniquities will I remember no more.</HI></P>
<P>In which Text con&s;i&s;ting of three ver&s;es, there is a three|fold difference betwixt the <HI>old</HI> covenant and the <HI>new,</HI> de|livered.</P>
<P N="1">1. The <HI>old</HI> Law was written in Tables of &s;tone, but the <HI>new</HI> in the fle&s;hly tables of mens hearts: ver&s;. 10. <HI>I will put my Lawes into their mindes, &amp;c. i. e.</HI> my Lawes under the
<HI>new</HI> covenant &s;hall be more agreeable to the <HI>mindes,</HI> and more approve them&s;elves to the <HI>Spirits</HI> of men to be the waies of perfection and felicity, and con&s;equently &s;hall have a &s;tron|ger influence upon their <HI>hearts,</HI> then the Laws of the <HI>old</HI> co|venant: for that con&s;i&s;ted of many <HI>beggerly elements</HI> many types and figures, rites and ceremonies, which con&s;idered in them&s;elves, had no &s;uch efficacy to work upon the &s;oul to obey them, as the Lawes of the Go&s;pel have: therefore the one are call'd <HI>carnal</HI> ordinances, and the other <HI>&s;piritual.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. There was more need of frequent in&s;tructions, and
<HI>teachings</HI> of the people, to keep them up to the ob&s;ervance of tho&s;e <HI>carnal</HI> ordinances under the <HI>old</HI> Law, then there
<PB N="148" REF="99">is under the <HI>new:</HI> becau&s;e the doctrines of the Go&s;pel are more plain, clear and convincing: &s;o that per&s;ons of the mea|ne&s;t capacity may under&s;tand the knowledge of God: which is the meaning of ver&s;. 11. <HI>They &s;hall not teach every man his neighbour, &amp;c.</HI> Not that there &s;hould be no teaching at all under the Go&s;pel, but that le&s;&s;e teaching &s;hould &s;erve the turn.</P>
<P N="3">3. The &s;acrifices under the Law, were weak and in&s;uffi|cient, as to the taking away of &s;ins: but the offering up of the body of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, once for all, is a &s;ufficient &s;acrifice for our &s;ins, and <HI>not for ours only, but for the &s;ins of the whole world,</HI>
1 Joh. 2.2. and that's the &s;cope of ver&s;. 12. <HI>I will be merciful to their unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: and their &s;ins and iniquities I will remember no more.</HI></P>
<P>And for the further clearing of the&s;e words,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cognitio viae, &amp; cognitio pa|triae,</HI> Lyr. in Loc.</NOTE> <HI>They &s;hall not teach, &amp;c.</HI> There is a twofold knowledge of God: 1. In this life, 2. In the life to come. And to both of the&s;e the words in their literal &s;en&s;e do relate.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That in this life the knowledge of God under the Go|&s;pel was not at the fir&s;t taught by man, but by the ble&s;&s;ed Son of God him&s;elf, by him the Apo&s;tles were in&s;tructed at the fir&s;t, and not one of another: And to him this prophe|&s;ie is by him&s;elf applied, <HI>they &s;hall be all taught of God,</HI> Joh. 6.45.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. That in the life to come, all the ble&s;&s;ed Saints of God from the lea&s;t to the greate&s;t, &s;hall truly know God without the mediation of <HI>humane Teaching:</HI> For then &s;hall we &s;ee God as he is:
<HI>when that which is perfect is come, then that which is imperfect &s;hall be done away,</HI> 1 Cor. 13.9,10.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>But that in this life the people &s;hall have no need of
<HI>Pa|&s;tors</HI> to <HI>teach</HI> them the knowledge of God, is a fal&s;e collecti|on from the words: For as under the <HI>Law, Mo&s;es</HI> taught Gods will unto the people, and afterwards, they that &s;ate <HI>in Mo&s;es chair;</HI> &s;o under the <HI>Go&s;pel.</HI> 1. Chri&s;t him&s;elf
<HI>revea|led</HI> and <HI>taught</HI> Gods will to his Church, and afterwards his Apo&s;tles and their &s;ucce&s;&s;ors in all ages &s;ince: this being one of the promi&s;es and priviledges of the Go&s;pel, <HI>thine eyes &s;hall &s;ee thy teachers,</HI> I&s;a. 30.20. And of the gifts of the Spirit:
<PB N="149" REF="99"><HI>He gave &s;ome Apo&s;tles, &s;ome Prophets, &s;ome Evangeli&s;ts, &s;ome Pa&s;tors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints, &amp;c.</HI> Eph. 4.11,12. For as the &s;ame Apo&s;tle demands, <HI>How &s;hall they,</HI> i. e. <HI>any people believe in him, of whom they have not heard? And how &s;hall they hear without a preacher?</HI> Rom. 10.14. where
<HI>preaching,</HI> and <HI>hearing,</HI> are affirmed to be the nece&s;&s;ary mediums of <HI>receiving the Go&s;pel,</HI> and <HI>believing in Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Another place to the &s;ame purpo&s;e is alledged, 1 Joh. 2.20.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 2.20.</NOTE><HI>Ye have an unction from the holy one: and ye know all things.</HI> And ver&s;. 27.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">27.</NOTE><HI>The anointing which ye have received from him, abideth in you, and ye need not, that any man teach you: but as the &s;ame anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie: and even as he hath taught you, remain in him &s;till.</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>&V;nction</HI> from the holy one <HI>teaching,</HI> and whereby the&s;e Di&s;ciples were <HI>taught</HI> all nece&s;&s;ary Truths; is the <HI>holy Spirit</HI> &s;ent down from Chri&s;t <HI>the holy one,</HI> upon his Apo&s;tles, who being repleni&s;ht with his coele&s;tial <HI>gifts</HI> were not only them&s;elves led into all Truth, but did al&s;o <HI>teach</HI> their di&s;ci|ples the &s;ame.</P>
<P><HI>And the &s;ame anointing abideth in you</HI>] <HI>i. e.</HI> The &s;ame &s;piri|tual <HI>gifts,</HI> viz. of <HI>prophe&s;ie,</HI> of
<HI>miracles,</HI> of <HI>tongues,</HI> &amp;c. did &s;till as yet abide in their Churches, for the confirmation of tho&s;e Truths, which they had been
<HI>taught:</HI> and hereby, even by tho&s;e &s;acred per&s;ons, which had the&s;e <HI>gifts,</HI> they were held up to the <HI>Truth,</HI> and kept free from the &s;educements of <HI>Heretiques.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And ye need not, that any man teach you</HI>] So far as they were already taught, and knew all things already that were nece&s;&s;a|ry to be known, they had no need of any man to <HI>teach</HI> them: namely, as
<HI>ignorant</HI> and <HI>&s;educed</HI> per&s;ons have need of <HI>Teachers: the ignorant</HI> mu&s;t be taught, that they may learn what they knew not before: and the <HI>&s;educed</HI> and <HI>erroneous</HI> mu&s;t be
<HI>taught,</HI> that they may return to that faith from which they are faln: but the&s;e faithful per&s;ons to whom the Apo&s;tle here writes, were it &s;eems neither <HI>ignorant,</HI> nor yet <HI>&s;educed;</HI> and in neither of the&s;e <HI>re&s;pects</HI> had need of <HI>teaching:</HI></P>
<P><PB N="150" REF="100">But yet in other <HI>Re&s;pects</HI> both the&s;e di&s;ciples, and all others that do both know, and per&s;evere al&s;o in the Truth, have need of <HI>Teachers</HI> &s;till, by who&s;e a&s;&s;i&s;tance, and direction they may.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Be <HI>confirmed,</HI> and &s;trengthned to per&s;i&s;t in the Truth al|ready received.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>Grow up,</HI> and increa&s;e daily in the knowledge of God, and of his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. Be armed again&s;t the <HI>fair words, and cunning &s;peeches of &s;uch as lie in wait to deceive.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The like place,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;&s;. 4.9.</NOTE> which may help al&s;o to the further clearing of this, is 1 The&s;&s;. 4.9.
<HI>Touching brotherly love ye have no need, that I write unto you, for ye your &s;elves are taught of God to love one another:</HI> Taught of God, but how? not by <HI>imme|diate Revelation,</HI> but by the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t the Son of God, who doth &s;o often inculcate this le&s;&s;on of brotherly love, Joh.
13.34,35. &amp; 15.17. And the like is to be &s;aid of all other Go&s;pel Truths, all of them we are taught of God: From him they de&s;cend originally: he is the <HI>fountain</HI> of Truth, and Chri&s;t is the <HI>Conduit</HI> through whom the <HI>waters of life</HI> do flow: from <HI>God</HI> to
<HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> from Chri&s;t to his <HI>Apo|&s;tles,</HI> from them to their <HI>Succe&s;&s;ors,</HI> and <HI>Di&s;ciples, Pa&s;tors</HI> and
<HI>people</HI> in all ages.</P>
<P>But withal 'tis confe&s;&s;ed, and with all thankfulne&s;s of &s;oul to be acknowledged, That there is an <HI>inward</HI> teaching of God, as well as an <HI>outward,</HI> viz. the <HI>dictate</HI> of the Spirit with|in, as well as the <HI>doctrine</HI> of the Word without. The&s;e two God hath joyned together, and we mu&s;t not pre&s;ume to part them, by depending upon the one without the other: for as all &s;tudy, and meditation, reading, and hearing the Word, are ineffectual, if the inward influence of Gods Spirit does not open the wndowes of the &s;oul to receive the light di&s;|played thence: &s;o the inward influence and working of Gods Spirit, is ordinarily and for the mo&s;t part &s;ilent and &s;tirreth not but by reading, hearing, meditating of the word, and of good in&s;tructions thence derived: the one being as the body, and the other the &s;oul of Religion: and when the&s;e two meet together,
<HI>viz.</HI> the unction <HI>without,</HI> and the anoin|ting <HI>within:</HI> or when the &s;piritual <HI>gifts</HI> of the <HI>Mini&s;tery,</HI>
<PB N="151" REF="100">and <HI>graces</HI> of the <HI>people</HI> concur: or when then the <HI>outward</HI> effu&s;ions of the Spirit in the word fall upon hearts <HI>infu&s;ed,</HI> and &s;ea&s;oned with Grace and Obedience: then are the&s;e &s;everal promi&s;es accompli&s;hed, then are a people truly
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> The taught of God indeed: or, which is all one, then are they <HI>the true Di&s;ciples of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>The next memorable place mi&s;applyed to patronize
<HI>ex|traordinary</HI> and <HI>immediate Revelations,</HI> is that prophe&s;ie of Joel, 2.28. remembred to be accompli&s;ht, Act. 2.16. &amp;c.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jocl 2.28. Act. 2.16, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>It &s;hall come to pa&s;&s;e in the la&s;t daies, &s;aith God, I will powre out of my Spirit upon all fle&s;h: And your &s;ons and your daughters &s;hall prophe&s;ie, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>This text mu&s;t be under&s;tood with &s;everal limitations, otherwi&s;e many dangerous, and fal&s;e con&s;equences will en&s;ue, and &s;uch as are contrary to what in other places of Scripture is affirmed.</P>
<P><HI>I will pour out of my Spirit</HI>] not
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, but
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">: not <HI>my Spirit</HI> him&s;elf, for <HI>no fle&s;h,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ad dive &s;a do|na re&s;picit, non ad minutionem &s;ub&s;tantiae.</HI> Glo&s;&s;. ordin. in Loc.</NOTE> not <HI>all fle&s;h</HI> can con|tain the Spirit of God, <HI>who filleth all the world, and contain|eth all things,</HI> Wi&s;d. 1. <HI>But of my Spirit, i. e.</HI> of his <HI>gifts,</HI> and <HI>graces,</HI> even as
<HI>beams</HI> from the <HI>light,</HI> as <HI>heat</HI> from the
<HI>fire,</HI> or as <HI>&s;treams</HI> from this <HI>fountain</HI> of Truth.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>I will pour out.</HI>] Denoting indeed the liberal donation of &s;piritual <HI>gifts</HI> under the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> but yet with re&s;triction to certain <HI>times,</HI> and certain <HI>per&s;ons:</HI> for not at <HI>all times,</HI> neither upon <HI>all per&s;ons,</HI> is the
<HI>Spirit</HI> of God plentifully poured out: when the holy Gho&s;t
<HI>vi&s;ibly,</HI> and <HI>miraculou&s;ly</HI> de&s;cended up|on the
<HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> there was a plentiful <HI>pouring out,</HI> &s;o that
<HI>they were filled with the Spirit,</HI> ver&s;. 4. The gift of
<HI>Tongues,</HI> the gift of <HI>Prophe&s;ie,</HI> to under&s;tand and open all my&s;teries, the gift of <HI>healing all di&s;ea&s;es,</HI> the gift of
<HI>miracles,</HI> &amp;c. the&s;e and many other gifts were at this time after &s;uch a plentiful man|ner poured forth, that there were &s;ome reliques, &s;ome drops of this full mea&s;ure remaining in the Church for 400 years af|ter. Thus it was then, and 'twas then nece&s;&s;ary, becau&s;e the fir&s;t publication, and planting of the Go&s;pel, required <HI>ex|traordinary</HI> and more ample gifts and abilities for the effecting thereof: But we mu&s;t not look to &s;ee tho&s;e daies of &s;uch ex|traordinary<PB N="152" REF="101">effu&s;ions to return again: which is intimated in that they are called, <HI>the la&s;t daies,</HI> in the text, as being the <HI>la&s;t time</HI> we mu&s;t expect any &s;uch <HI>miraculous</HI> and
<HI>immediate</HI> effu|&s;ions, or <HI>Revelations,</HI> till the <HI>la&s;t day</HI> of all, even <HI>that great and notable day of the Lord come,</HI> ver&s;. 20.</P>
<P>Although therefore this prophe&s;ie may in &s;ome
<HI>general</HI> re|&s;pects be extended to all the people of God, yet
<HI>particularly,</HI> and after an <HI>e&s;peciall</HI> manner 'twas fulfilled in the per&s;ons of the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves, and by S. <HI>Peter</HI> 'tis here applyed un|to them, ver&s;. 15, 16. And undoubtedly 'tis high
<HI>pre&s;umption</HI> in any man, or &s;ect of men to apply to them&s;elves, what was <HI>peculiar</HI> and proper to the divinely in&s;pired Apo&s;tles: and their hopes mu&s;t needs be vain, who wait for <HI>extraordinary in&s;pirations</HI> upon <HI>mi&s;applied promi&s;es,</HI> and
<HI>prophe&s;ies</HI> long &s;ince accompli&s;ht.</P>
<P><HI>&V;pon all fle&s;h</HI>] Which 1. is not to be under&s;tood of <HI>all men</HI> promi&s;cuou&s;ly; but of <HI>all &s;uch men</HI> of all nations, and condi|tions, as give up their names to become <HI>my &s;ons</HI> and <HI>daughters;</HI> to be called by, and to call upon the name of the Lord, to the hope of &s;alvation, for &s;o the prophe&s;ie concludes:
<HI>Who&s;e|ever &s;hall call on the name of the Lord &s;hall be &s;aved:</HI> and &s;o S. <HI>Peter</HI> concludes his Sermon upon this prophe&s;ie,
<HI>Repent and be baptized,</HI> ver&s;. 38. Not all fle&s;h, but &s;uch only as are capa|ble of the effu&s;ions of the Spirit: and this limitation cuts off all <HI>Turks, Jews, Infidels, Heretiques,</HI> and <HI>Hypoerites:</HI> for no &s;uch <HI>fle&s;h</HI> have the Spirit of <HI>truth</HI> and
<HI>holine&s;s</HI> powred on them, but are led by the <HI>&s;pirit</HI> of
<HI>error</HI> and <HI>wickedne&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>2. <HI>All fle&s;h</HI>] cannot be meant of <HI>all</HI> Gods people neither as to the <HI>gift of prophe&s;ie,</HI> and full under&s;tanding of the my&s;te|ries of godline&s;s: For &s;o all good Chri&s;tians,
<HI>men</HI> and <HI>women,</HI> whether be they <HI>young</HI> or <HI>old, children</HI> or <HI>&s;ervants,</HI> mu&s;t turn <HI>Prophets.</HI> And
<HI>all fle&s;h</HI> (as the reverend <HI>Andrewes</HI>) mu&s;t be cut out into
<HI>Tongues,</HI> which is a mon&s;trous thing to imagine: <HI>For if all the body of Chri&s;t were a Tongue, where were the ears,</HI> &amp;c. If all were
<HI>Preachers,</HI> where were the <HI>Hearers?</HI> Such were not an
<HI>orderly Church,</HI> but a <HI>Babylon</HI> of <HI>confu&s;ion,</HI> where the one heard not another: therefore though it be &s;aid, <HI>all fle&s;h,</HI>
'tis not &s;aid, <HI>all your &s;ons and daughters</HI> &s;hall prophe&s;ie,
<PB N="153" REF="101">but <HI>&s;ome</HI> &s;hall do it for all: <HI>&s;ome &s;ons,</HI> and <HI>&s;ome &s;ervants</HI> too, <HI>i. e.</HI> &s;ome
<HI>Jewes</HI> and &s;ome <HI>Gentiles,</HI> &s;ome of all nations: <HI>God gave &s;ome Apo&s;tles, &s;ome Prophets, &amp;c.</HI> And the&s;e mu&s;t be of the <HI>male,</HI> not of the <HI>female</HI> &s;ex, they are prohibited, 1 Cor. 14.34. <HI>Let your women keep &s;ilence in the Churches.</HI> If you demand, how is <HI>the Spirit</HI> then upon <HI>all fle&s;h?</HI> 'Tis upon
<HI>all holy</HI> and good Chri&s;tians, but not upon all <HI>to prophe&s;ie:</HI> all Gods people, have in &s;ome mea&s;ure the Spirit of
<HI>grace</HI> and <HI>truth,</HI> but that does not authori&s;e them pre&s;ently to turn <HI>&s;peakers</HI> and <HI>teachers</HI> of others.</P>
<P><HI>But doth not the Apo&s;tle &s;ay, ye may all prophe&s;ie one by one,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 14.31.</NOTE> 1 Cor. 14.31. <HI>Ye all,</HI> that is, as <HI>many</HI> as be Prophets, but to think that all are &s;o, the Apo&s;tle holds it very ab&s;urd, demanding with indignation, <HI>Are all Apo&s;tles, are all Prophets?</HI> 1 Cor. 12.29. not &s;o &s;urely; <HI>the gift</HI> mu&s;t fir&s;t be had, and then <HI>letters</HI> of
<HI>Admini&s;tration</HI> taken, before <HI>the operation</HI> or work of
<HI>Prophe&s;ie</HI> be lawfully performed.</P>
<P>'Tis further alledg'd to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, 1 Cor. 12.7.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.7.</NOTE> <HI>To every man is given the manife&s;tation of the Spirit to profit withall:</HI> whence 'tis infer'd that both <HI>liberty of prophe&s;ying</HI> for the <HI>profit</HI> of our brethren, and
<HI>immediate Revelations,</HI> or manife&s;tations of the Spirit to that end, are given to every man. <MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> By <HI>every man</HI> is not meant every particular per&s;on, but every man that hath tho&s;e <HI>gifts</HI> mentioned in the next words, <HI>viz.</HI> The gifts of <HI>wi&s;dome, knowledge, faith, tongues, &amp;c.</HI> hath them for this end given, that he may <HI>profit</HI> and edifie the Church, and people of God thereby: And they are called, <HI>The manife&s;tations of the Spirit:</HI> 1. Becau&s;e they flow from the <HI>Spirit,</HI> either <HI>extraordinarily,</HI> or immediately, as in the fir&s;ter and primitive times of the Church; or <HI>ordinarily,</HI> and in the u&s;e of means in all ages &s;ince. 2. Becau&s;e by the help of the&s;e
<HI>gifts</HI> we are enabled to <HI>manife&s;t</HI> and clear the truth, and true meaning of the <HI>Spirit</HI> in the word.</P>
<P>Joh. 1.9.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 1.9.</NOTE> <HI>That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world:</HI> From whence 'tis urged, That every man hath a <HI>light within him,</HI> di&s;played from Chri&s;t the true light of the world, whereunto if he give heed, he &s;hall not need any outward illuminations or in&s;tructions from men,
<PB N="154" REF="102">for this is the work of Chri&s;t him&s;elf: and him&s;elf hath &s;uffi|ciently done it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer">'Tis with all reverence and thankfulne&s;s acknowledged, that Chri&s;t is the fountain of every perfect
<HI>illumination,</HI> whether <HI>natural, &s;piritual,</HI> or
<HI>eternal:</HI> But yet the words are not &s;o to be under&s;tood, <HI>as if every man,</HI> &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non quia nullus e&s;t hominum qui non tllumina|tur, &s;ed quia in&s;i ab ip&s;o nul|lus illumina|tur.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> <HI>were truly and fully enlightned immediately by Chri&s;t him&s;elf; but that no man is enlightned but by him:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sicut nemo &agrave; &s;eip&s;o e&s;&s;e, &s;ic aemo &agrave; &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">p&s;o &s;apiens e&s;&s;e po|te&s;t.</HI> Beda.</NOTE> For as no man can <HI>be;</HI> &s;o no man can be <HI>wi&s;e,</HI> or <HI>holy</HI> from him&s;elf, but from
<HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> But as it is in the effu&s;ion of the <HI>natural</HI> light of the world, there is <HI>Lux, lumen,</HI> and <HI>luminare:</HI> There is 1. the <HI>light</HI> it &s;elf; 2. The <HI>medium</HI> that receives it; 3. The &s;plendid <HI>bodies</HI> from whence 'tis di&s;plaid: &s;o it is in the
<HI>&s;piritual</HI> light of the Church; There is 1. <HI>Lux,</HI> the true light it &s;elf, and this is <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> 2. <HI>Lumen,</HI> the medium whereby our &s;ouls are en|lightned by Chri&s;t, and this is a <HI>lively</HI> faith: &s;uch a faith as is both <HI>doctrinal</HI> and <HI>practical:</HI> Joh. 12.46. <HI>I am come a light into the world, that who&s;oever beleeveth on me &s;hould not abide in darkne&s;&s;e.</HI> 3. <HI>Luminaria,</HI> the luminaries, or per&s;onal lights, by who&s;e Mini&s;tery this light is imparted: And the&s;e are the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> of Chri&s;t in all ages; to whom our Lord &s;aith, <HI>Ye are the light of the world,</HI> Mat. 5.14. So that as every man is enlightned by Chri&s;t
<HI>primarily</HI> and originally, &s;o by his Mini&s;ters al&s;o
<HI>&s;econdarily</HI> and in&s;trumentally: they are <HI>the earthen ve&s;&s;els that carry this heavenly trea&s;ure.</HI> The <HI>Lu|minaries</HI> that convey unto others that light of <HI>Grace</HI> and <HI>Truth,</HI> which from <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> they have received, even as the <HI>Sun,</HI> the
<HI>Moon,</HI> and the <HI>Stars,</HI> are the conveyances of that
<HI>ma|terial</HI> light, which had its being before them. And what the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaks of the diffu&s;ion of the light of the heavens, over the face of the whole earth, P&s;al. 19.4. is applyed by the Apo&s;tle to the Preachers of the Go&s;pel, Rom. 10.18. <HI>Their &s;ound is gone out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.</HI> And for the more full under&s;tanding of this text, 'tis worthy ob&s;ervation, that the words may as well, if not more properly be rendred thus in Engli&s;h, <HI>He is the true light who coming into the world lighteth every man:</HI> applying, as
<HI>Grotius</HI> notes, <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, to
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, and <PB N="155" REF="102">not to
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, and this is mo&s;t agreeable with the context, for it immediately followes, <HI>He is in the world: and as long as I am in the world I am the light thereof,</HI> Joh. 9.5. And this was Chri&s;ts principal errand into the world, <HI>to give light to them that &s;it in darkne&s;s,</HI> &amp;c. Luk. 1.79.</P>
<P>1 Cor. 14.30.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 14.30.</NOTE> <HI>But if any thing be revealed to another that &s;it|teth by, let the fir&s;t hold his peace:</HI> whence 'tis alledged that the people are capable of
<HI>Revelations</HI> from heaven, and may thereupon interrupt and &s;ilence the
<HI>Preacher,</HI> that their Re|velations may be heard.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer">'Tis mo&s;t true that every Preacher of the Go&s;pel, mu&s;t yeeld all obedience to a <HI>divine Revelation,</HI> and keep &s;ilence when God him&s;elf &s;peaks by the <HI>mediate</HI> mini&s;tery of man, or Angel; but that no &s;uch <HI>immediate Revelation</HI> can be meant in this text, is clear from the context: the words immedi|ately before, are the&s;e, <HI>Let the Prophets &s;peak two or three, and let the others judge:</HI> whereupon it followes, <HI>if any thing be re|vealed;</HI> not
<HI>immediately</HI> from heaven &s;urely, for that is not liable to
<HI>humane</HI> judgement: but as 'tis ver&s;. 26. <HI>If any man hath a Revelation, i. e.</HI> the <HI>gift of revealing</HI> or opening &s;ome
<HI>Go&s;pel Truth,</HI> which is hid under the veile of &s;ome <HI>type, fi|gure,</HI> or <HI>my&s;tical</HI> expre&s;&s;ion in the <HI>Law:</HI> For
<HI>Evangelium e&s;t velatum in lege, &amp; lex e&s;t revelat a in Evangelio, i. e.</HI> The <HI>Law</HI> is but the <HI>veiled Go&s;pel,</HI> and the
<HI>Go&s;pel</HI> the <HI>revealed Law:</HI> and he hath the <HI>gift,</HI> or Spirit of <HI>Revelation,</HI> not who brings in <HI>new Revelations</HI> (which under a di&s;mal cur&s;e is forbidden) but who can reveal and open
<HI>the old,</HI> who can pull the veile off <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> face, who can open the <HI>Law</HI> with the <HI>Go&s;pel key,</HI> and finde
<HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and the my&s;teries of &s;alvation, under the <HI>types</HI> and dark expre&s;&s;ions of the <HI>Law and the Prophets.</HI> And this is that which is al&s;o meant by <HI>the Spirit of Revelation,</HI> Eph. 1.17. and may &s;erve to clear that text al&s;o from the like fal&s;e collection thence.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 1.17.</NOTE></P>
<P>Only we may again remember herewithall for the clear|ing of both the&s;e, and all other texts alledged to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, that <HI>this gift of Revelation,</HI> was <HI>extraordinarily,</HI> and by more immediate in&s;piration communicated to the Apo&s;tles, and fir&s;t preachers of the Go&s;pel, and therefore 'tis called<PB N="156" REF="103"><HI>The &s;pirit of Revelation,</HI> which no <HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;t</HI> without &s;acri|ledge can now pretend unto, no more then he may to the gifts of <HI>Tongues, miracles, &amp;c.</HI> All which were <HI>peculiar</HI> to tho&s;e <HI>primitive</HI> times, being then nece&s;&s;ary for that fir&s;t plan|ting of the Go&s;pel, and working of faith in the hearts of the hearers, but are now, and have long &s;ince cea&s;ed, as be|ing no further u&s;eful: &s;ince the Go&s;pel is planted, and wee all profe&s;&s;e to believe the &s;ame. So that what the Father &s;aid of <HI>Miracles,</HI> the &s;ame is true of the <HI>gifts</HI> of
<HI>Tongues,</HI> of <HI>Wi&s;dome, Revelation,</HI> and all
<HI>extraordinary</HI> and <HI>immediate</HI> in&s;pirations of the holy Gho&s;t: <HI>This were nece&s;&s;ary before the world believed, even to this end, that the world might believe: But he that now looks for &s;uch grounds of his faith, as are extra|ordinary, and miraculous, is him&s;elf a miracle, becau&s;e he believes not with the re&s;t of the world of Beleevers.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Miracula nece&s;|&s;aria fuere pri|u&s;quam crederet mundus, ad hoc ut mundus cre|deret; Qui&s;|quis adhuc pro|digia ut credat inquirit, mag|num e&s;t ip&s;e prodigium: qui mundo credente non credit.</HI> Aug.</NOTE></P>
<P>Other texts alledged for the proof of immediate in&s;pira|tion, are &s;uch, wherein the <HI>inhabitation</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and his
<HI>Spi|rit,</HI> and our <HI>communion</HI> with them is expre&s;&s;ed. And Rom. 8.9. <HI>If any man have not the Spirit of Chri&s;t, he is none of him.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.9.</NOTE> And 1 Joh. 3.6. <HI>Who&s;oever abideth in him &s;inneth not.</HI> And ver&s;. 24. <HI>Hereby know we that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us.</HI></P>
<P>Rightly to under&s;tand which texts, and the like expre&s;&s;i|ons in all other texts, and to free them from the fal&s;e col|lections which <HI>Euthu&s;ia&s;tical</HI> per&s;ons gather from them, two things mu&s;t be explained.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. What is meant by <HI>Chri&s;t being in us.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. What <HI>by the Spirit which he hath given us.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>For the 1. <HI>By Chri&s;t being, and abiding in us,</HI> is meant that <HI>communion,</HI> which all faithful &s;ouls have with
<HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> where|by they derive from Chri&s;t as <HI>branches</HI> from the <HI>vine,</HI> the &s;ap of nouri&s;hment and growth in <HI>Grace,</HI> and obedience here, unto the hopes of eternal <HI>Glory</HI> hereafter, Joh.
15.4,5. <HI>Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of it &s;elf except it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in me: I am the vine, and ye are the branches, &amp;c.</HI> But this mu|tual inhabitation of Chri&s;t in us, and we in Chri&s;t, is not,
<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>No&s;tra &amp; ip|&s;ius conjunctio, nec mi&s;cet per&s;o|nas, nec unit &s;ub|&s;tantias, &s;ed af|fectus con&s;ociat &amp; confoederat voluntates.</HI> Cypr. de coen. dom.</NOTE> &s;aith the Father, <HI>a mixture of his per&s;on with ours, nor of his &s;ub&s;tance<PB N="157" REF="103">with our &s;ub&s;tance,</HI> (for &s;o the bla&s;phemous conceit of being equal with Chri&s;t, mu&s;t needs follow)
<HI>but 'tis the con&s;ociation of our affections, and confederation of our wils, with the holy de&s;ires, and ble&s;&s;ed will of our Lord:</HI> And thus Chri&s;t abideth in us by our <HI>obedience</HI> to his <HI>doctrine,</HI> and
<HI>conformity</HI> to his <HI>example</HI> both in the <HI>affections</HI> of our hearts, and the <HI>actions</HI> of our life: therefore he &s;aith, Joh.
15.7. <HI>If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,</HI> &amp;c. and ver&s;. 10. <HI>If ye keep my com|mandements, ye &s;hall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Fa|thers commandements, and abide in his love.</HI></P>
<P>In like manner the <HI>being of the holy Spirit in us,</HI> is not to be under&s;tood of his <HI>per&s;onal</HI> being: but of the being of his <HI>graces</HI> in our hearts, which render us of &s;uch a
<HI>gracious,</HI> and holy di&s;po&s;ition of <HI>Spirit,</HI> as makes us
<HI>obedient</HI> to the will, and <HI>conformable</HI> to the <HI>Spirit</HI> of Chri&s;t, who is not only our <HI>Lawgiver,</HI> but al&s;o the exact
<HI>pattern</HI> of perfect obedience to the <HI>Lawes</HI> he hath given us: &s;o <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.5. <HI>Let the &s;ame minde be in you, which was al&s;o in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> What to be equal with God? as &s;ome bla&s;phemous Enthu&s;ia&s;ts have per|verted the text: No, but the &s;ame gracious temper of
<HI>minde,</HI> or &s;pirit: even the &s;ame <HI>humility</HI> and
<HI>obedience</HI> to the will of God, both in life and death: &s;o it followes, <HI>who be|ing in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet made him&s;elf of no reputation, and humbled him&s;elf, and be|came obedient unto death</HI>&mdash;And who&s;oever by the influence of Gods holy <HI>Spirit,</HI> hath this gracious <HI>temper</HI> of minde or
<HI>Spirit</HI> wrought in him, may be a&s;&s;ured, that <HI>Chri&s;t dwelleth in him by his Spirit, which he hath given him;</HI> which makes him conformable to the minde or Spirit of Chri&s;t; who is as the <HI>fountain,</HI> &s;o the
<HI>exemplar</HI> of all gracious perfections.</P>
<P>And this is al&s;o the meaning of that other perverted text,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6.17.</NOTE> 1 Cor. 6.17. <HI>He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit:</HI> not that he hath the &s;ame <HI>e&s;&s;ential Spirit</HI> with the Lord; but be|ing by the my&s;tical bands of holy faith joyned unto him by the influence of his Spirit, he becomes to be a man <HI>of the &s;ame Spirit,</HI> viz. of <HI>love, meekne&s;&s;e, gentlene&s;s, goodne&s;s, holine&s;s, patience, humility, obedience,</HI> which were
<HI>graces</HI> of the <HI>Spirit</HI> mo&s;t eminent in <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and mu&s;t be in <HI>us</HI> al&s;o according to<PB N="158" REF="104">our model,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 13.5.</NOTE> and mea&s;ure of reception; if we be truly his <HI>Di&s;ciples.</HI></P>
<P>That other text alledged by the &s;ame purpo&s;e, 2 Cor. 13.5.
<HI>Know you not your &s;elves, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is in you except you be reprobates?</HI> is more generally mi&s;under&s;tood: for the words
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, are not &s;o rightly rendred in Engli&s;h: <HI>in you,</HI> as <HI>among you:</HI> and the meaning is, that Chri&s;t in his ho|ly Go&s;pel, was &s;o evidently pre&s;ent among&s;t the&s;e
<HI>Corin|thians</HI> by S. <HI>Paul</HI>'s powerful <HI>preaching,</HI> and the <HI>miracles</HI> he wrought, that if they did not acknowledge it, and beleeve in him, they mu&s;t be &s;uch &s;en&s;ele&s;s <HI>obdurate</HI> per&s;ons, as were uncapable of a true &s;aving faith.</P>
<P>From 1 Cor. 13.11,12.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.11,12.</NOTE>
<HI>When I was a childe, I &s;pake as a childe, I under&s;tood as a childe, I thought as a childe, but when I became a man, I put away childi&s;h things&mdash;now we &s;ee through a gla&s;&s;e darkly, but then face to face</HI>&mdash;'Tis alledged, That <HI>Scripture</HI> and <HI>ordinances</HI> are u&s;eful only in our <HI>minority:</HI> while&s;t we are <HI>babes</HI> in Chri&s;t, but the&s;e as <HI>childi&s;h things</HI> mu&s;t be laid a&s;ide, when we are grown up to be <HI>perfect men:</HI> and if we will &s;ee
<HI>clearly,</HI> we mu&s;t throw away the <HI>gla&s;&s;e</HI> of the
<HI>word,</HI> and <HI>ordinances,</HI> and have our in&s;pection into the things of God more <HI>immediately,</HI> and <HI>nearly,</HI> even by
<HI>immediate Re|velation.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> In the&s;e words, not the <HI>different degrees</HI> of <HI>Grace</HI> in this life, but the different
<HI>condition</HI> of the &s;tate of <HI>grace</HI> and of <HI>glory</HI> are compared together: being not here taught, who have need of the
<HI>gla&s;&s;e</HI> of holy Scriptures, and who not&punc; but what the be&s;t and mo&s;t perfect of us are <HI>in this life,</HI> in re&s;pect of what we &s;hall be <HI>in the life to come:</HI> here we &s;ee the things of God through <HI>the gla&s;&s;e</HI> of his <HI>word, works, &s;acraments</HI>&mdash;but hereafter more <HI>immediately</HI> and
<HI>fully,</HI> not by way of <HI>&s;pecies, image,</HI> and
<HI>repre&s;entation,</HI> as <HI>through a gla&s;&s;e;</HI> but in a full view, <HI>face</HI> to <HI>face:</HI> Here that we may be united unto God, we mu&s;t u&s;e the mediation of Faith, Hope, and Charity, ver&s;. 13.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 13.</NOTE> <HI>Now abideth Faith,</HI> but hereafter our
<HI>faith</HI> &s;hall be changed into <HI>vi&s;ion,</HI> our <HI>Hope</HI> into <HI>fruition,</HI> and only <HI>Cha|rity</HI> &s;hall remain, which being now but a <HI>&s;park</HI> &s;hall increa&s;e then into a <HI>flame,</HI> which &s;hall never die, but burn for ever.</P>
<P><PB N="159" REF="104">In the mean time we mu&s;t make u&s;e of tho&s;e <HI>pro&s;pectives</HI> God hath graciou&s;ly lent us, through which his <HI>goodne&s;&s;e, power, wi&s;dome,</HI> are repre&s;ented to us: and if we throw away this <HI>gla&s;&s;e,</HI> or neglect the waies and means of
<HI>grace</HI> and <HI>&s;al|vation,</HI> which God hath ordained: we mu&s;t expect either to &s;ee nothing at all, or nothing, but what are the
<HI>dreams</HI> and fond <HI>imaginations</HI> of means hearts, or what is wor&s;e, the <HI>de|lu&s;ions</HI> and de&s;tructive <HI>&s;ugge&s;tions</HI> of Satan the Prince of darkne&s;s.</P>
<P>The like objection is made from 2 Pet. 1.19.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.9.</NOTE> <HI>We have al|&s;o a more &s;ure word of prophe&s;ie, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that &s;hineth in a dark place, untill the day dawn, and the day-&s;tar ari&s;e in your hearts:</HI> From whence 'tis alleadged that the Word of God and his Ordinances, are only u&s;eful until we get po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t into our hearts, and then they are of no further u&s;e, becau&s;e Chri&s;t by
<HI>imme|diate Revelation</HI> is all in all to them in whom he abideth.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> The&s;e words, if the context be con&s;idered, make more again&s;t <HI>immediate Revelation,</HI> then any way can be pretended for it: for this <HI>&s;ure word of prophe&s;ie,</HI> whether it be under|&s;tood more <HI>particularly</HI> of the prophe&s;ies and coming of Chri&s;t to the de&s;truction of his crucifiers, and deliverance of his people; or whether more <HI>&s;pecially</HI> of the Law, and the Prophets of old, or whether more <HI>generally</HI> of all the Scri|ptures, both the old and new Te&s;tament; in what &s;en&s;e &s;o|ever this light of prophe&s;ie is taken, 'tis preferred before <HI>immediate Revelation,</HI> by <HI>voice</HI> from heaven: as being a more certain infallible way to direct us to the knowledge of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> the true light.</P>
<P>For the further illu&s;tration whereof, 'twill be not imperti|nent to ob&s;erve, that there is a twofold light, whereof Chri&s;t after an e&s;peciall manner is the fountain, and ori|ginal.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The light of Grace,</HI> and <HI>truth</HI> in this life.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>The light of Glory,</HI> and <HI>peace</HI> in that life to come.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And in both the&s;e re&s;pects, Chri&s;t is termed <HI>the morning &s;tar. The day-&s;pring from on high:</HI> or as in the text, <HI>The dawning of the day.</HI> The holy Scriptures, or (in the language of the
<PB N="160" REF="105">text according to &s;ome interpretations) <HI>the word of prophe&s;ie,</HI> is as 'twere tho&s;e <HI>beams,</HI> which are di&s;played from Chri&s;t <HI>the light</HI> of the world, for our illumination, and guidance in the paths of <HI>grace</HI> and <HI>truth,</HI> unto the man&s;ions of <HI>glory</HI> and <HI>peace eternal: Thy word is a light</HI>&mdash;P&s;al.
119. And all they who enjoy this word of prophe&s;ie in the right under&s;tan|ding, and con&s;cientious practi&s;e thereof, are therefore termed
<HI>children of the light and of the day, not of the night and of dark|ne&s;&s;e,</HI> 1 The&s;&s;. 5.5.</P>
<P>But a&s;&s;uredly (what ever &s;educed per&s;ons may fal&s;ly ga|ther from this text) who&s;oever &s;hall neglect, or contemn the u&s;e of this light or ob&s;cure the &s;ame by fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es, and mi&s;-interpretations, mu&s;t read the Apo&s;tles words backwards, and
<HI>become children of the night, and of darkne&s;&s;e, and not of the light, and of the day.</HI></P>
<P>But yet as the light of a <HI>candle</HI> is u&s;ele&s;s, when
<HI>the Sun</HI> ari|&s;eth, &s;o the light of <HI>Gods Word</HI> for our direction in the way of <HI>grace</HI> &s;hall cea&s;e, when the light <HI>of glory</HI> &s;hall once ari&s;e, and the <HI>day-&s;pring</HI> of eternity appear, when we &s;hall be uni|ted unto Chri&s;t, not by faith, but by vi&s;ion, when we &s;hall no more &s;ee him, and enjoy him in his word, and ordinances, through <HI>a gla&s;&s;e</HI> darkly but <HI>face to face,</HI> plainly and fully be made partakers of him.</P>
<P>But in the mean time while&s;t we live in this dark&s;ome place of the world, darkned, by <HI>ignorance</HI> and <HI>error,</HI> by
<HI>&s;in|fulne&s;s</HI> and manifold <HI>temptations</HI> thereunto; he that will not <HI>walk in darkne&s;s, not knowing whither he goes,</HI> mu&s;t make u&s;e of Gods holy word <HI>for a light unto his feet, and a lanthorn unto his pathes.</HI></P>
<P>Again&s;t the u&s;e of <HI>humane</HI> learning by the preachers of the Go&s;pel is alledged 1 Cor. 2.1,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor.
2.1,2,4.</NOTE> &amp;c. <HI>And I brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of &s;peech, or of wi&s;dome. For I determined to know nothing but Chri&s;t, and him crucified&mdash;And my &s;peech, and my preaching was not with the enticing word of mans wi&s;dome, but in demon&s;tration of the Spirit, and of power.</HI></P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle in this place, takes not away the u&s;e of
<HI>hu|mane learning,</HI> becau&s;e him&s;elf in other places makes u&s;e
<PB N="161" REF="105">thereof: he had his books and writings which he comman|ded to be brought unto him, 2 Tim. 4.13. he read the Greek Poets, which he quotes Act. 17.28. Tit. 1.12. He commands <HI>Timothy</HI> to give attendance to <HI>reading,</HI> 1 Tim. 4.13. and to <HI>&s;tudy,</HI> 2 Tim.
2.15. But among&s;t the&s;e <HI>Corin|thians</HI> at the fir&s;t he declined the u&s;e of his <HI>humane learning,</HI> not drawing his arguments from natural rea&s;on, and proba|ble di&s;cour&s;es out of Philo&s;ophy, guilded with curious, quaint, and rhetorical expre&s;&s;ions, which he cals <HI>the enticing words of humane wi&s;dome,</HI>
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>probable arguments,</HI> or
<HI>per|&s;wa&s;ive di&s;cour&s;es:</HI> this was not the way he went to convert the&s;e <HI>Corinthians;</HI> but <HI>by the demon&s;tration of the Spirit, and power,</HI> i. e. He proved Chri&s;t to be the Saviour of the world,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>By the demon&s;tration of the Spirit.</HI> Shewing that the holy Spirit 1. did &s;peak, and foretel in the Law, and in the Pro|phets, of Chri&s;ts coming into the world, and of his doings and &s;ufferings for our &s;alvation. 2. That he both vi&s;ibly de&s;cended on him, and audibly bare witne&s;s to him, in a voice from heaven, &s;aying, <HI>This is my beloved Son, &amp;c.</HI> 3. That he both vi&s;ibly and audibly de&s;cended upon his Apo&s;tles al&s;o, and endued them with
<HI>extraordinary</HI> gifts, and through their mini&s;tery al&s;o he de&s;cended upon others that were converted by them. Thus S. <HI>Paul</HI> preached Chri&s;t to the&s;e <HI>Corinthians</HI> by <HI>the demon&s;tration of the Spirit.</HI> And,</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>Of Power</HI> al&s;o, <HI>viz.</HI> The power of
<HI>miracles, curing di&s;ca&s;es, &s;peaking with tongues:</HI> the&s;e were the topical arguments, wherewith he per&s;waded them to become Chri&s;tians.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And the rea&s;on hereof he gives, ver&s;. 5. <HI>That your faith might not &s;tand in the wi&s;dome of men, but in the power of God,</HI> i. e. That the grounds of your belief in Chri&s;t, might not be the per&s;wa&s;ions and allurements of men, how wi&s;e &s;oever, but &s;uch as God him&s;elf made u&s;e of. In a word, his meaning in this place is, that he preached unto them
<HI>plainly</HI> and not <HI>Rhetorically:</HI> and the arguments he u&s;ed were <HI>demon&s;trative</HI> and <HI>divine,</HI> not <HI>probable</HI> and
<HI>humane</HI> only. But,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. We may not hence gather, that S. <HI>Paul</HI> did alwaies de|cline the u&s;e of <HI>Rhetorical,</HI> and <HI>Philo&s;ophical</HI> wi&s;dome in his <HI>preaching,</HI> but &s;uch was his great wi&s;dome, that his preaching<PB N="162" REF="106">was according to the conditions, and capacities of his hearers, &s;ometimes more <HI>plainly,</HI> &s;ometimes more
<HI>elegantly,</HI> and <HI>my&s;te|riou&s;ly:</HI> u&s;ing &s;ometimes
<HI>divine,</HI> and &s;ometimes <HI>humane,</HI> &s;ome|times
<HI>demon&s;trative,</HI> and &s;ometimes <HI>probable</HI> arguments, and per&s;wa&s;ions: He fed the <HI>babes</HI> in Chri&s;t with <HI>milk,</HI> as here, Ver&s;. 2. <HI>I determined to know nothing among you, but Chri&s;t, and him cruci&s;ied,</HI> but the more <HI>perfect</HI> and <HI>grown</HI> up in Chri&s;t, he fed with <HI>&s;tronger and &s;olid meat,</HI> as ver&s;. 6.
<HI>Howbeit we &s;peak wi&s;dome among them that are perfect.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> And 2. when his preaching was mo&s;t <HI>plain,</HI> it was not de|void of <HI>learning</HI> both <HI>divine,</HI> and <HI>humane,</HI>
'twas not without <HI>order, method, proper</HI> and <HI>pertinent</HI> expre&s;&s;ions, like the up|&s;tart intruders into the mini&s;terial office now a daies: who to avoid as they pretend <HI>the enticing words of mans wi&s;dome,</HI> &s;peak not forth <HI>the words of truth and &s;oberne&s;s:</HI> but rove, and ramble about many points in Divinity, which rightly they under&s;tand not; heaping together variety of texts, and Scripture expre&s;&s;ions without either order or right applica|tion; as if to &s;pend an hour, or more in a rude and zealous delivery of <HI>religious nothings,</HI> were to avoid the <HI>enticings words of mans wi&s;dome,</HI> and to preach
<HI>in the demon&s;tration of the Spi|rit, and of Power.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>1 Cor. 2.14. <HI>But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: neither can he know them becau&s;e they are &s;piritually di&s;cerned, but he that is &s;piritual judgeth all things:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Animalis homo e&s;t qui habet in|tellectum &amp; af|fectam depre&s;&s;es ad &s;en&s;ibilia.</HI> Lyra.</NOTE> whence all
<HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;ts,</HI> and pretenders to the Spirit, mo&s;t pre|&s;umptuou&s;ly arrogate to them&s;elves an <HI>un-erring</HI> judgement in all <HI>&s;piritual</HI> and divine things: vilifying all other per&s;ons be&s;ides them&s;elves, be they never &s;o <HI>learned</HI> or <HI>pious,</HI> as <HI>blinde</HI> and <HI>ignorant,</HI> under the notion of <HI>matural men;</HI> who&s;e pre&s;umption in the wre&s;ting of this text, and the true mea|ning thereof will appear by con&s;idering,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. What is meant by the <HI>natural</HI> and
<HI>&s;piritual man.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. And what by the <HI>things of the Spirit of God.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>For the fir&s;t, <HI>the natural man</HI> is &s;uch a one who&s;e <HI>under|&s;tanding</HI> and <HI>affections</HI> &s;oar no higher then outward <HI>&s;en&s;ible objects.</HI> So that there are two kindes of
<HI>natural men.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. One who is meerly <HI>natural</HI> in re&s;pect of the
<HI>under&s;tan|ding</HI> of his minde And,</ITEM>
<PB N="163" REF="106">
<ITEM>2. Another who is natural in re&s;pect of the
<HI>manner</HI> of his life.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Of the 1. &s;ort were the <HI>heathen Philo&s;ophers</HI> of old, who received not <HI>the things of the Spirit of God,</HI> but accounted them as <HI>fooli&s;h,</HI> idle, and ridiculous, becau&s;e they did &s;eeming|ly contradict the dictates of their <HI>natural rea&s;on.</HI></P>
<P>Of the 2. &s;ort are all <HI>vicious &s;inful per&s;ons,</HI> who are &s;o wed|ded either to their carnal delights, or to their worldly ends, and intere&s;ts, that <HI>holine&s;s, humblene&s;s, &s;elf-denial, taking up the cro&s;&s;e,</HI> and the re&s;t of &s;uch commands in the Go&s;pel are al|together di&s;reli&s;hed, they are fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e unto them.</P>
<P>For the 2. <HI>The things of the Spirit of God</HI> are reducible to two heads,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Pia dogmata.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Bona opera.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST> <HI>i. e.</HI> either, 1. <HI>Holy do|ctrines</HI> to be believed: Or, 2. <HI>Good works</HI> to be performed. The fir&s;t are contradictory, and &s;eemingly <HI>fooli&s;h</HI> to the <HI>natu|ral</HI> mans
<HI>rea&s;on</HI> and judgement: and the 2^d. to the <HI>natural</HI> mans
<HI>affections</HI> and conver&s;ation.</P>
<P>And the rea&s;on is given, becau&s;e <HI>they are &s;piritually di&s;cer|ned</HI>] For,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The holy <HI>doctrines</HI> of Chri&s;tiany many of them are above the reach of <HI>natural rea&s;on,</HI> and only by the eye of
<HI>faith,</HI> which is a gift of the Spirit, to be di&s;cerned.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. The <HI>good works</HI> by Chri&s;t in his Go&s;pel enjoyned, ma|ny of them are cro&s;s to the <HI>natural</HI> mans
<HI>inclinations:</HI> It mu&s;t be a higher principle, even the quickning
<HI>grace</HI> of the Spirit, that does open our eyes to di&s;cern them to be the way of ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e, and &s;o incline our hearts to yeeld obedience thereunto.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>So that the truth delivered in the fir&s;t part of this text con&s;i&s;ts of two branches: or, <HI>The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God two waies.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. In that the <HI>my&s;teries</HI> of the holy Chri&s;tian faith are not di&s;cernible by the eye of <HI>natural rea&s;on.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. In that the Chri&s;tian duties or <HI>good works</HI> of the Go&s;pel are not reli&s;hed, nor obeyed by men of meer <HI>natural affecti|ons</HI> and inclinations.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P><HI>But he that is Spiritual judgeth all things</HI>] The &s;piritual man is &s;uch a one, <PB N="164" REF="107">
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Who&s;e <HI>under&s;tanding</HI> is enriched with the
<HI>Gi&s;ts;</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Who&s;e <HI>affections</HI> are rectified by the
<HI>Graces</HI> of the Spirit, Or,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Who&s;e natural rea&s;on looks into the things of the Spirit, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>doctrines</HI> &amp; <HI>duties</HI> of Chri&s;tianity, with the eye of <HI>faith.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Who&s;e <HI>affections</HI> and de&s;ires are inclined hereunto by <HI>love</HI> and <HI>obedience.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P><HI>He judgeth all things</HI>] <HI>viz.</HI> All tho&s;e things of Gods Spi|rit, which <HI>natural</HI> men judge to be <HI>fooli&s;h,</HI> and contrarious to their rea&s;on, and to their felicity: he rightly judges to be mo&s;t wi&s;e and mo&s;t conducible to the attainment of that perfection and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, whereunto being after the image of God, he is created.</P>
<P><HI>Yet he him&s;elf is judged of no man</HI>] As being above and out of the reach of the <HI>cen&s;ures,</HI> and <HI>judgements</HI> of
<HI>natural</HI> men: All who&s;e cen&s;ures, and cen&s;orious detractions of him he values not, as knowing them to be both <HI>ra&s;h</HI> and <HI>idle, fooli&s;h,</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>2 Cor. 4.3. <HI>But if our Go&s;pel be hid, it is hid to them that are lo&s;t.</HI> Whence 'tis alledged, that the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t is clear, and intelligible enough to the children of Gods election, and heirs of the promi&s;e, without the help or a&s;&s;i&s;tance of any humane learning.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="answer"> But the Apo&s;tle treats not in this place of the under&s;tan|ding, but of the preaching of the Go&s;pel, affirming only that the word of God was not deceitfully handled, but the truth thereof was made &s;o manife&s;t by the &s;incere preaching of the Apo&s;tles, ver&s;.
2. that it remained dark and ob&s;cure to none, but &s;uch as were in a lo&s;t condition, men of an <HI>ob&s;ti|nate, obdurate, reprobate &s;en&s;e: In whom</HI> (as it followes ver&s;. 4.) <HI>the God of this world, hath blinded the mindes of them that beleeve not, le&s;t the light of the glorious Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, who is the image of God, &s;hould &s;hine unto them.</HI></P>
<P>And the Go&s;pel is hid to them that are lo&s;t two waies.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. When they <HI>receive</HI> it not being plainly preached to them, or <HI>approved</HI> to their <HI>con&s;cience in the &s;ight of God:</HI> as in ver&s;. 2. Or el&s;e,</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. When they do <HI>hear,</HI> and <HI>receive</HI> it, but not <HI>aright.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And men do not rightly <HI>receive</HI> the Go&s;pel,
<PB N="165" REF="107">
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. When they do not <HI>acquie&s;ce,</HI> and re&s;t in it, as the un|doubted way of life.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. When they do not readily <HI>obey,</HI> and put in practi&s;e what the Go&s;pel enjoyns and commands.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. When they <HI>per&s;evere</HI> not, are not con&s;tant in this <HI>faith</HI> and <HI>obedience.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>To this text many more are urg'd, wherein the priviledge of the Saints, and &s;ervants of God, as to the under&s;tanding of his will both
<HI>mediately</HI> and <HI>immediately,</HI> is affirmed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 25.14. Mat. 5.8. Joh. 10.4, &amp;c.</NOTE> P&s;. 25.14
<HI>The &s;ecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will &s;hew them his covenant,</HI> Mat. 5.8. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in &s;pi|rit, for they &s;hall &s;ee God. Chri&s;ts &s;heep do know his voice, and follow him; but a &s;tranger will they not follow, neither do they know the voice of &s;trangers,</HI> Joh. 10.4,5. with the places be|fore remembred, Mat. 11.25. 2 Cor. 1.26,27. From which and many other places both of the <HI>old</HI> and
<HI>new</HI> Te&s;tament 'tis alledged, that <HI>the elect, the Saints, holy</HI> and <HI>humble men,</HI> and &s;uch as <HI>fear God,</HI> have a
<HI>&s;ecret teaching</HI> from God whereby they under&s;tand his Word and will, without the help of <HI>hu|mane learning:</HI> they are <HI>that new Hieru&s;alem which hath no need of the light of Sun. Moon, or candle, but the Lord God is the light thereof,</HI> Rev. 21. They are <HI>the Saints that know all things, and need not that any &s;hould teach them:</HI> And though they be
<HI>illiterate,</HI> yet do they know more of God, then <HI>the Learned,</HI> and great ones of the world, whom <HI>the god of this world hath blinded,</HI> that they cannot &s;ee Chri&s;t through the thicket of profane learning, and unprofitable &s;peculations.</P>
<P>To clear all which Texts from the fal&s;e glo&s;&s;es, which un|learned and un&s;table men have put upon them to patronize their own want of learning and incon&s;tancy in the way of truth; Tis confe&s;&s;ed,</P>
<P N="1">1. That only <HI>the pure, and holy,</HI> only &s;uch who are &s;anctifi|ed by the <HI>Spirit of Grace,</HI> have the true and &s;aving knowledge of God, and of Je&s;us Chri&s;t: But withall we mu&s;t remem|ber, that there is a twofold knowledge of God and of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The one <HI>doctrinal,</HI> and &s;peculative, which is not ordi|narily obtainable but in the u&s;e of outward means, and the ble&s;&s;ing of God thereupon.</ITEM>
<PB N="166" REF="108">
<ITEM> 2. The other <HI>practical,</HI> or the &s;anctified u&s;e of this do|ctrinal knowledge by the immediate influence of Gods Spi|rit upon the &s;oul, enquickning and perfecting the &s;ame in all
<HI>obedience</HI> and <HI>holine&s;s of life,</HI> as the body is enquickned and animated by the &s;oul:</ITEM>
</LIST> And the former of the&s;e mu&s;t ever precede, and go before the later: For all <HI>holine&s;s</HI> and obedi|ence to the will of God, does pre&s;uppo&s;e <HI>the knowledge</HI> there|of. <HI>Prius e&s;t Deum no&s;&s;e, po&s;te&agrave; colere,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Lactantius:</HI> no man can
<HI>do</HI> the will of God, that <HI>knowes</HI> it not, nor make a &s;anctified u&s;e of that knowledge which he hath not obtained: but as in the procreation of the <HI>natural</HI> man, 1. The <HI>bo|dy</HI> is formed; and then, 2. The <HI>&s;oul infu&s;ed:</HI> So of the <HI>&s;piritual</HI> man al&s;o: 1. The <HI>body</HI> of &s;acred knowledge mu&s;t be conceived and framed in the minde. 2. The <HI>&s;oul</HI> of &s;anctification infu&s;ed in the obediential and practical u&s;e of this knowledge. And both of the&s;e are the work of Gods Spirit; the one the i&s;&s;ue of his <HI>gifts,</HI> and the other of his <HI>graces,</HI> but neither without the u&s;e of tho&s;e re&s;pective means which God hath thereunto mo&s;t graciou&s;ly appointed.</P>
<P N="2">2. Who&s;oever pretend to <HI>immediate Revelation,</HI> and to have a <HI>&s;ecret teaching</HI> from God, becau&s;e they are of the num|ber of his <HI>Saints,</HI> and &s;uch as <HI>fear God,</HI> mu&s;t remember, that 'tis an <HI>act</HI> of great <HI>pre&s;umption,</HI> misbecoming the humility of <HI>Saints,</HI> and directly oppo&s;ing the
<HI>fear of God,</HI> to neglect the <HI>means,</HI> and depend upon
<HI>miracle</HI> for the knowledge of his will; &s;o that by the very act of depending upon <HI>immediate Revelation,</HI> they cut them&s;elves off from all title, and intere&s;t in tho&s;e promi&s;es, that are made to the <HI>meek, lowly, humble,</HI> and &s;uch as <HI>fear the Lord:</HI> for how can they be of the number of tho&s;e <HI>babes</HI> to whom the my&s;teries of heaven are revea|led? who rank them&s;elves among&s;t the mo&s;t <HI>wi&s;e</HI> and
<HI>perfect:</HI> All <HI>profe&s;&s;ions</HI> and <HI>boa&s;tings</HI> of
<HI>wi&s;dome</HI> and <HI>holine&s;s,</HI> being <HI>&s;ym|ptomes</HI> of
<HI>pride</HI> and <HI>pre&s;umption,</HI> are thereby evident <HI>tokens,</HI> that there is no true &s;ober <HI>wi&s;dome,</HI> or &s;olid &s;oul-&s;aving
<HI>piety</HI> in the hearts of &s;uch <HI>profe&s;&s;ors: but that they intrude into tho&s;e things, which they have not &s;een, being vainly puft up by their fle&s;hly minde.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2.18.</NOTE> And the minde never &s;wels with that fle&s;hly hu|mour of &s;elf-conceited knowledge, and purity, without the <PB N="167" REF="108">&s;ecret infu&s;ions of that Diabolical <HI>&s;pirit,</HI> who as he was the fir&s;t original of all
<HI>pride</HI> and <HI>pre&s;umption,</HI> &s;o of all <HI>&s;infulne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>error</HI> thence derived, and infecting the hearts, and lives of men: For <HI>pride is the beginning of &s;in,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus.
10.13.</NOTE> (and error al&s;o) <HI>and he that hath it &s;hall powr out abominations.</HI></P>
<P>What, and how great are the benefits of <HI>piety,</HI> and holi|ne&s;s of life, as to the right under&s;tanding of Gods <HI>revealed will,</HI> hath been already expre&s;&s;ed: That it is as the very
<HI>&s;oul,</HI> and <HI>&s;pirit,</HI> &s;o the <HI>top,</HI> and
<HI>perfection</HI> of true wi&s;dome and know|ledge: that it is the
<HI>end</HI> of all our <HI>&s;tudies</HI> and endevours, and of all
<HI>learning</HI> and knowledge both <HI>divine</HI> and <HI>humane:</HI> and that without this <HI>holine&s;s of life,</HI> all our learning and know|ledge &s;hall be &s;o far from being any way u&s;eful as to our own particulars, that it &s;hall tend to our greater condemna|tion at the la&s;t day: Luk. 12.47. That while&s;t we &s;tudy for <HI>learning</HI> and <HI>knowledge:</HI> with de&s;ires and intentions on|ly to be more <HI>wi&s;ely,</HI> and <HI>knowingly pious</HI> and <HI>religious,</HI> and withall do make a <HI>&s;anctified u&s;e</HI> of our <HI>know|ledge</HI> received, not &s;uffering it to continue
<HI>notionary,</HI> and <HI>&s;pe|culative</HI> in the <HI>brain,</HI> but to be <HI>practical</HI> in the <HI>heart,</HI> and have its influence upon the
<HI>actions</HI> of our life: That thus I &s;ay God is invited, and according to his promi&s;es, will un|doubtedly multiply, and <HI>increa&s;e</HI> our
<HI>talent:</HI> and by his holy Spirit <HI>open our eyes</HI> to &s;ee more clearly the waies of his &s;er|vice, and our own &s;alvation, then &s;uch per&s;ons who have per|haps a greater portion of <HI>learning,</HI> but le&s;s
<HI>piety:</HI> and hence undoubtedly many per&s;ons of <HI>meaner gifts,</HI> and le&s;s <HI>learned,</HI> have out&s;tript others <HI>more learned</HI> and knowing in the know|ledge of holy my&s;teries, God of his great mercy enriching their under&s;tanding with <HI>more</HI> for the holy and pious u&s;e they have made of the <HI>le&s;s</HI> portion of knowledge imparted to them.</P>
<P>But yet notwith&s;tanding, <HI>the &s;oul</HI> mu&s;t not be advanc'd to the de&s;truction of the <HI>body</HI> of &s;acred knowledge: nor that which is the <HI>end</HI> and <HI>perfection</HI> of true
<HI>wi&s;dome,</HI> mu&s;t not make null and void the <HI>means</HI> God hath de&s;tin'd thereunto: nor may we pre&s;ume upon our <HI>good de&s;ires, pious intentions,</HI> and fan|cied relations unto God as this <HI>Elect and people,</HI> further then in all humility to wait upon him for his ble&s;&s;ing, not <HI>without</HI><PB N="168" REF="109">but <HI>in</HI> the u&s;e of tho&s;e <HI>means</HI> of grace and truth, which he hath ordained for our direction and guidance therein.</P>
<P>To conclude this di&s;cour&s;e in the words of judicious
<HI>Hooker,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. polit. l. 5. &s;ect. 10.</NOTE><HI>If licen&s;e were given to every man, to follow what him&s;elf imagi|neth that Gods Spirit doth reveal unto him, or what he &s;uppo&s;eth that God is likely to have revealed to &s;ome &s;pecial per&s;on, who&s;e ver|tues de&s;erve to be highly e&s;teemed, what other effect would en&s;ue hereupon, but utter confu&s;ion of his Church, under pretence of being taught, led, and guided by his Spirit? The gifts and graces where|of, do &s;o naturally all tend unto common peace, that where &s;uch &s;in|gularity is, they who&s;e hearts it po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth, ought to &s;u&s;pect it the more, in as much as if it did come from God, and &s;hould for that cau&s;e prevail with others, the &s;ame God which revealeth it to them, would al&s;o give them power of confirming it to others, either with miraculous operation, or with &s;trong invincible remon&s;trance of &s;ound rea&s;on, &s;uch as whereby it might appear, that God would in|deed have all mens judgements give place unto it. Whereas now the error, and in&s;ufficiency of their arguments, doth make it on the con|trary again&s;t them a &s;trong pre&s;umption, that God hath not moved their hearts to think &s;uch things, as he hath not enabled them to prove.</HI></P>
<P>The Prayer.
<Q> O ble&s;&s;ed Father of lights, and fountain of all holy, true, divine, and cele&s;tial Revelations; as thou ha&s;t been plea&s;ed to reveal thy Son unto us to be the way, the truth, and the life: &s;o give us hearts to cleave fa&s;t to the&s;e divine Revela|tions; both to acquie&s;ce and per&s;evere in the &s;acred doctrine and &s;aving practi&s;e thereof: take from us all vanity of mind, and deceitfulne&s;s of imagination; and let not the Author of lies prevail upon our depraved fancies, to take us off from an holy, humble, and con&s;tant dependence upon thee, in the u&s;e of the means of grace and truth ordained by thee: Let thy Word be ever a light unto our feet, and a lanthorn unto our paths: and let thy holy Spirit ever clear this light to our minds, and inflame our hearts with the &s;acred fire of divine love and zealous obedience to thy holy will revealed in thy word: that by the guidance of this twofold light, thy Word without, and thy Spirit within, both our outward and inward man may be directed in the waies of thy &s;ervice, and of our own &s;alvation, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord, <HI>Amen.</HI></Q></P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="109" MS="y">
<P>A DISCOURSE OF <HI>ERROR, HERESIE,</HI> &amp; <HI>SCHISM,</HI> The Nature, Kindes, Cau&s;es, &amp;c. With Directions for avoiding thereof.</P>
<Q>For there mu&s;t be Here&s;ies among you, that they which are approved, may be made manife&s;t among you,
<BIBL>1 Cor. 11.19.</BIBL></Q>
<Q>Ecce habes eccle&s;iam per totum mundum, noli &s;equi fal&s;os ju&s;tificatores, &s;ed veros praecipitatores,
<BIBL>Aug. in Joh. Tract.</BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed, 1656.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="introduction">
<PB REF="110">
<PB N="169" REF="110">
<HEAD>The Ground, and general Heads of the en&s;uing Di&s;cour&s;e.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. THere were never any <HI>times,</HI> wherein that ad|monition of S. <HI>Peter</HI> was more nece&s;&s;ary to be ob&s;erved, by all careful and con&s;cien|tious Chri&s;tians: <HI>Be &s;ober and vigilant, for your ad|ver&s;ary the Devil, as a roaring Lion, walketh about, &s;eeking whom he may devour,</HI> 1 Pet. 5.8.</P>
<P N="2">2. There are two waies, whereby the Devil wor|king upon mens frailties, and upon their extra|vagant lu&s;ts and pa&s;&s;ions, doth
<HI>devour,</HI> or de&s;troy their &s;ouls.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. By blinding their <HI>under&s;tandings,</HI> whereby they become apt to be &s;educed to the entertain|ment of <HI>errors,</HI> and belief of <HI>lies.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. By poy&s;oning their <HI>affections</HI> with the fal&s;e paint of worldly vanities: whereby they are in|inveigled into
<HI>&s;infulne&s;&s;e</HI> and <HI>vice.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="3">3. And &s;o nearly, and entermixedly are the acts of the
<HI>under&s;tanding</HI> enterwoven with tho&s;e of the <HI>will,</HI> and
<HI>affections,</HI> that the corruption of the one, doth ever corrupt and vitiate the other: So that as <HI>&s;infulne&s;s</HI> on the one hand, clouds the judgement, and is ever productive of errors in the
<HI>under&s;tanding:</HI> &s;o an erroneous <HI>Judgement</HI> on the other hand, is<PB N="170" REF="111">ever fruitful is the production of <HI>&s;inful acts</HI> and habits.</P>
<P N="4">4. Hence it comes to pa&s;&s;e by nece&s;&s;ary con&s;e|quence (the ju&s;t judgement of God concurring) that the great, and crying <HI>&s;ins</HI> of our Nation, have produced &s;o many great, and dangerous over&s;prea|ding <HI>errors</HI> among&s;t us: For the broaching, and belief of lies, as 'tis in it &s;elf a <HI>&s;in,</HI> and the fruit|full dam of many &s;ins: &s;o 'tis al&s;o by the ju&s;t judgement of God, a
<HI>puni&s;hment</HI> for &s;in: which is affirmed, 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI>
2.10,11. <HI>Becau&s;e they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be &s;aved. For this cau&s;e God &s;hall &s;end them &s;trong delu&s;ions that they &s;hould believe a lie.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. The love of the Truth is not received &s;o as to be effectual unto &s;alvation three waies.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. When we do not <HI>acquie&s;ce,</HI> and re&s;t in it, but fondly doat upon <HI>new Lights,</HI> and <HI>new Revelations,</HI> as if the truth of Chri&s;t revealed, were imperfect and de|fective.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. When we do not <HI>practi&s;e,</HI> and live accor|ding to the truth, having a form of godline&s;&s;e, in the doctrinal knowledge, and di&s;cour&s;e of the truth only, but no power, in the con&s;cientious practi&s;e thereof.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. When we do not <HI>per&s;evere</HI> either in the pro|fe&s;&s;ion of the true Faith: or practicall obedience thereof.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="6">6. When any of the&s;e waies the love of the truth is rejected, the guilt of &s;o great a crime, mo&s;t ju&s;t|ly provokes the Almighty to permit holy Truth to be poy&s;oned with lies, and doctrines of Devils.<PB N="171" REF="111">And in this re&s;pect God him&s;elf affirms him &s;elf to be the author (not actively, but permi&s;&s;ively) of all delu&s;ions, as Ezek. 14.9. <HI>If the Prophet be deceived when he hath &s;poken a thing: If the Lord have deceived that Prophet:</HI> which God doth mo&s;t ju&s;tly for the &s;inful di&s;obedience of the people; for this is no other, &s;aith <HI>Hierome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hier. in loc.</NOTE> but what is agree|able to that threat, Luk. 26.27,28. <HI>If you will not hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me: then will I walk contrary unto you in fury, &amp;c.</HI> There being nothing that God inflicts more <HI>contrary</HI> to the happine&s;&s;e of a people, then the <HI>infatuation</HI> of their
<HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Prophets.</HI></P>
<P>But,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Haeretici, veris catholicis mem|bris Chri&s;ti, ma|lo &s;uo pro&s;unt, dum Deus u|titur malis bene, &amp; diligentibus ewn, omnia co|operantur in bonum,</HI> Rom. 8.</NOTE> as <HI>all things work together for good to them that love God,</HI> &s;o do
<HI>Here&s;ies</HI> and <HI>errors</HI> al&s;o: The which as they are for
<HI>evil,</HI> by the <HI>infatuation</HI> of the <HI>wicked:</HI> &s;o they are for <HI>good</HI> al&s;o, in the fur|ther <HI>illumination,</HI> and &s;anctification of the <HI>Righte|ous.</HI> Nor would the &s;upreme goodne&s;&s;e ever &s;uffer the evill of Here&s;ie, or any other evill to be, but that he full well knows how to bring good out of evill.</P>
<P N="8">8. That we may then attain tho&s;e <HI>good</HI> ends for the which God permits Here&s;ies among&s;t us, and avoid the <HI>evil</HI> of infection and infatuation there|by: or according to the &s;ame Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> <HI>Ut qui&s;&abque; &s;ic carpet botrum, ut caveat &s;pinas, &amp; ex luto au|rum colligat:</HI> That every one may &s;o pluck the fruits as to avoid the thornes, and gather the gold of &s;ound doctrine, out of the mire of filthy Dreams and delu&s;ions, 'twill be nece&s;&s;ary &s;eriou&s;ly to weigh and con&s;ider, <PB N="172" REF="112">
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The nature of Error, Here&s;ie, and Schi&s;m, with the general heads hereof.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>The danger of being infected thereby.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. <HI>The ends for which God permits them.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. <HI>To ob&s;erve &s;uch rules, and receive &s;uch directi|ons, as may by divine a&s;si&s;tance, keep him free from in|fection by them.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<HEAD><PB N="173" REF="112">OF ERROR, HERESIE, and SCHISM.</HEAD>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. I. Of Error in general.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. EVery man by nature is as prone to Error, as to &s;in: the under&s;tanding being as well clouded, as the will, and affections corrupted by the fall of <HI>Adam:</HI> Our fir&s;t parents out of a &s;awcy pre&s;umption, affecting to know what they ought not, involv'd them&s;elves and all their po|&s;terity, in blindne&s;s and ignorance of what they ought to know.</P>
<P>The body of man being &s;ubjected to natural corruption and mortality, &s;ubjects the &s;oul while&s;t 'tis impri&s;oned there|in to a &s;piritual corruption al&s;o, through ignorance and er|ror. For the corruptible body (&s;aith the wi&s;e man) pre&s;&s;eth down the foul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the minde that mu&s;eth upon many things, and hardly do we gue&s;&s;e aright at things that are upon earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>In nallo errore, non humanita|tis, &s;ed Deitatis &s;olum e&s;t.</HI> Aug. &s;erm. ad frat. in erem.</NOTE> and with labour do we finde the things that are before us, and the things that are in heaven who hath &s;earched out? Wi&s;d. 9.15,16. So that not to be ignorant, and not erre in the points and particulars of heavenly truth, is not humane, &s;aith the Father, but the &s;ole prerogative of the divine nature.</P>
<P N="2">2. There is a threefold ignorance, wherewith all the minds of men are naturally clouded.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. To be ignorant of what is nece&s;&s;ary to be known.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Not to know what is nece&s;&s;ary and expedient for us, agreeable to our per&s;ons, callings, breeding, and the times wherein we live.</ITEM>
<PB N="174" REF="113">
<ITEM> 3. When through a corrupt and depraved di&s;po&s;ition of minde, we mi&s;take fal&s;hood for truth, and darkne&s;s for light, and this whether in bare opinion, or el&s;e of &s;et purpo&s;e, and &s;etled determination:</ITEM>
</LIST> The la&s;t of the&s;e is the mo&s;t &s;inful ig|norance, and that which properly and <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> is called <HI>Er|ror,</HI> whereunto that woe belongeth, I&s;a. 5.20. <HI>Wo unto them that call evill good, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. In many things we offend all, Jam. 3.2. And this not only by <HI>iniquity</HI> in life and action, but al&s;o by <HI>error</HI> in judgement &amp; opinion. But as God of his great mercy, through the merits of Chri&s;t, imputes not unto us tho&s;e &s;ins which through natural frailty, and meer infirmity, daily and hour|ly invade the innocence of the &s;oul, <HI>i. e.</HI> if with an <HI>humble, lowly, penitent</HI> and <HI>obedient</HI> heart we confe&s;&s;e them, and un|feignedly beleeve in Chri&s;t for the pardon of them: &s;o nei|ther doth he impute tho&s;e <HI>errors</HI> of our judgements, which are of &s;maller con&s;equence, while&s;t they infect not the
<HI>will,</HI> and <HI>affections,</HI> &s;o as <HI>ob&s;tinately</HI> and perver&s;ely to per&s;evere therein.</P>
<P>A bare and naked error in the under&s;tanding only, is ra|ther an <HI>infelicity</HI> then a <HI>crime:</HI> 'tis the ob&s;tinacy of the
<HI>will,</HI> the animo&s;ity, and perver&s;ene&s;s of the affections in cleaving to the mi&s;taken conception of the under&s;tanding, that ren|ders the mi&s;take a <HI>&s;inful</HI> and <HI>diabolical</HI> error; for, &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de verbis Apo&s;t. &s;erm. 22.</NOTE>
<HI>While&s;t we do but erre, we are but like our &s;elves, frail mortal men, who&s;e thoughts are mi&s;erable, and who&s;e devices are but uncertain: but when through animo&s;ity and perver&s;ne&s;s we per&s;i&s;t in our errors, we are then of our father the Devil, who as he was a lyar from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, &s;o doth he ob&s;tinately abide for ever in the de&s;tructive and damnable errors of his waies.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh.
8.44.</NOTE></P>
<P>Both this <HI>infelicity,</HI> and al&s;o this
<HI>&s;infulne&s;s</HI> of error will more fully appear, by con&s;idering and rightly under&s;tanding the nature of <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> the two general heads whereunto all &s;inful <HI>error</HI> is reducible.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="175" REF="113">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. Here&s;ie: the nature and ingredients thereof.</HEAD>
<P><HI>HEre&s;ie</HI> hath its denomination from the Greek word
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, to <HI>chu&s;e</HI> or follow by way of <HI>divi&s;ion,</HI> and &s;eparation: the which being continued, and increa&s;ed by <HI>perver&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>ob|&s;tinacy</HI> therein; gives unto <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> its perfection, and com|pleatment: The former is an error of the <HI>under&s;tanding,</HI> the latter an exorbitancy of the
<HI>will:</HI> And thus both the <HI>Senten|tiari&s;t,</HI> and the
<HI>Schoolman</HI> define an <HI>Heretique: He is an He|retique who both erres in the Articles of holy faith, through de|fect in his under&s;tanding, and withal pertinaciou&s;ly cleaves to &s;uch errors, through the perver&s;ene&s;s of his will.</HI></P>
<P>From this general de&s;cription of an <HI>Heretique,</HI> and the <HI>na|ture</HI> of Here&s;le, the particular <HI>ingredients,</HI> whereof the cup of Heretical poy&s;on is compounded, will appear to be the&s;e:</P>
<P N="1">1. To be an Heretique is to erre in matters of
<HI>faith,</HI> not of <HI>Fact,</HI> and in points of <HI>Doctrine,</HI> not of <HI>Di&s;cipline:</HI> the for|mer di&s;tingui&s;hes <HI>Here&s;ie,</HI> from <HI>&s;infulne&s;s</HI> of life: The latter oppo&s;es <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> to <HI>Schi&s;m.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e points of faith are either 1. <HI>Fundamental,</HI> &s;uch as are the grounds, pillars and con&s;tituent parts of holy Chri|&s;tian Religion: Or, 2. <HI>Super&s;tructive,</HI> &s;uch clear and evident truthes as are built upon, and by nece&s;&s;ary con&s;equence do flow from tho&s;e grounds. An <HI>error</HI> in the former is <HI>primari|ly,</HI> and
<HI>principally,</HI> and in the latter <HI>&s;econdarily</HI> and
<HI>con&s;equential|ly Here&s;ie.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. He that in either of the&s;e re&s;pects, erres in the mo&s;t holy faith, through <HI>ignorance, mi&s;under&s;tanding,</HI> or
<HI>mi&s;infor|mation,</HI> is not pre&s;ently to be adjudged an
<HI>Heretique:</HI> untill this error in his <HI>under&s;tanding,</HI> hath &s;o infected his <HI>will</HI> and <HI>affection,</HI> that he cleaves to this his private erroneous opinion, even again&s;t the judgement of holy Catholick Church and the doctrine of Chri&s;t &s;ufficiently made known unto him:
<PB N="176" REF="114">&s;o the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de civit. d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> l. 18. c. 51.</NOTE> <HI>Qui in eccle&s;ia Chri&s;ti morbidum aliquid pra|v&uacute;m&abque; &s;apiunt, &s;i correpti, ut &s;anum rectum&abque; &s;apiant, re&s;i&s;tunt contumaciter, &amp;c. They who in the Church of Chri&s;t, do be|lieve any pernicious doctrines, and being in&s;tructed and admo|ni&s;ht to receive the &s;ound and &s;aving truth, do yet pertinaciou&s;ly per&s;i&s;t in their errors, and continue to defend them &s;till, without conver&s;ion and amendment, are hereby become Heretiques;</HI> of whom S. <HI>John, They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 2.19.</NOTE> <HI>viz.</HI> In the &s;ociety of holy or thodox Chri&s;tians. And be|ing gone out through the ob&s;tinate maintaining the delu|&s;ions of their own heads, they become, &s;aith the Father, <HI>of the number of tho&s;e enemies whom God-permits for the trial of our faith, and exerci&s;e of our charity.</HI></P>
<P>And this particular ingredient of Here&s;ie, the &s;ame Fa|ther in one of his Epi&s;tles more fully cleareth thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui &s;ententiam &s;uam quamvis fal&s;am, nulla pertinaet animo&s;itate defendit: prae&s;er<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">m quam non dudacia &s;uae prae|&s;umptionis peperit, &s;ed &agrave; &s;eductis &amp; in errorem lap&s;is parentibus accepit: Quae|rit autem caut&acirc; &s;olioit udine veritatem, corrigi paratus cum invenerit: nequa|quam e&s;t inter hareticos deputandus.</HI> Aug. Epi&s;t. 162.</NOTE> <HI>He that defends his opinion though it be fal&s;e, with no perver&s;ne&s;s and animo&s;ity, e&s;pecially if it ari&s;e not from his own bold and &s;awcy pre&s;umption of minde, but from his erroneous and &s;educed guides and pa&s;tors, or parents he hath received it: if with all carefulne&s;s and diligence he &s;eek to know the Truth, being of a ready and prepared heart to imbrace it when he &s;hall finde it, &s;uch a per&s;on, though he does erre in the mo&s;t holy faith, is not to be ac|counted an Heretique.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. The third ingredient then of Heretical poy&s;on, is the ob&s;tinate cleaving to an erroneous opinion, or tenent in Religion, contrary to the judgement of the univer&s;al Church. So <HI>I&s;idore</HI> defines Heretiques to be &s;uch per&s;ons,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;id. de verbo Haere&s;.</NOTE> <HI>who of their own heads depart from the judgement of the Church; ham|mering out of their own brains fal&s;e and perver&s;e doctrines: whereas</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>it is not lawful for us</HI> (orthodox Chri&s;ti|ans) <HI>to bring in any thing of our own heads, nor yet to receive and believe what any others of their own heads have brought into the Church: We have the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t for our Au|thors, for even they brought in nothing of their own minde,<PB N="177" REF="114">but the doctrine they received from Chri&s;t they faithfully pub|li&s;hed and preached to the world. And though we,</HI> &s;aith the Apo|&s;tle, <HI>or an Angel from heaven &s;hould preach any other Go&s;pel, be|&s;ides, &amp;c.</HI> Gal. 1.18.</P>
<P>From the Apo&s;tles, the &s;ound and &s;aving Truth is received by the Church: &s;o that, &s;aith <HI>Irenaeus,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non oportet adhuc quarere apud alios veritatem quam facile e&s;t ab eccle&s;ia &s;umere, cum Apo&s;toli qua&s;i in depo&s;i|torium dives, pleni&s;&s;im&egrave; in ea contule|rint, omnia quae &s;unt veritatis, ut om|nis quicun&abque; velit &s;umat ex ea po|tum vitae.</HI> Irenae. l. 3. c. 4.</NOTE><HI>We ought not el&s;e where to &s;eek the truth, which in the Church may be ea&s;ily found, &s;ince the the Apo&s;tles have mo&s;t fully trea|&s;ur'd up therein, as in a rich &s;tore-hou&s;e, all things that are of Truth, &s;o that who|&s;oever li&s;t, may thence take out the wa|ters of life:</HI> Therefore the Apo&s;tle &s;tyles the Church, <HI>The pillar and ground of Truth,</HI> 1 Tim. 2.15. <HI>The pillar,</HI>]<NOTE PLACE="marg">In Glo&s;&s;. ordin.</NOTE> <HI>In &s;e bene &s;u&s;tinent veritatem, ne corruat licet tribuletur.</HI> Up|holding the Truth that it fall not, though daily di&s;tre&s;&s;ed by the gates or powers of hell, who&s;e in&s;truments are <HI>Wolves</HI> without, or <HI>Foxes</HI> within, the <HI>one</HI> by open per&s;e|cutions a&s;&s;ailing, the other by
<HI>&s;ecret</HI> infectious opinions undermining the Truth: but the Church like a <HI>pillar</HI> &s;up|ports it; and like the <HI>ground which God hath made to &s;tand continually,</HI> both upholds, and holds forth the true faith; and like a <HI>rock</HI> again&s;t the raging billowes of the &s;ea &s;tands it out again&s;t all the gu&s;ts of per&s;ecutions, here&s;ies, and &s;chi&s;mes, which are as 'twere that &s;piritual ammunition wherewith all <HI>the gates of hell</HI> are furni&s;ht, to fight again&s;t the Church of Chri&s;t, and the mo&s;t holy faith thereof: But while&s;t we &s;tand with the Church, we &s;hall not need to fear either the crafts or a&s;&s;aults of the&s;e gho&s;tly enemies: <HI>For upon a Rock Chri&s;t hath grounded his Church, and the gates of hell &s;hall never prevail again&s;t it,</HI> Mat. 16.18. When any particular per&s;on then oppo&s;es his <HI>private</HI> &s;pi|rit, and judgement, again&s;t the <HI>publique</HI> judgement, and &s;pirit of that Church whereof he is a member, or when any <HI>particular</HI> Church oppo&s;es the judgement of the <HI>Ca|tholick,</HI> or univer&s;al Church in point of holy faith; this nece&s;&s;arily makes one ingredient in the &s;in of Here&s;ie: for<PB N="178" REF="115">&s;o he or they do not &s;tand upon the
<HI>rock,</HI> whereupon holy faith is grounded, nor re&s;t on that
<HI>pillar</HI> which upholds the Truth.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Haec e&s;t vitae introitus, omnes a. reli|liqui fures &s;unt &amp; latrenes&mdash;St quis tam ob&s;tinat&egrave; in &s;uo errore per&s;i&s;tat, ut umver&s;am Chri&s;ti eccle&s;iam audire no|lit, talis juxta Chri&s;ti mandatum pro ethnico &amp; publicano nobis babendus e&s;t.</HI> Irenaeus.</NOTE> <HI>This</HI> (&s;aith
<HI>Irenaeus</HI>) <HI>is the way of life</HI> (meaning the way of the Church)
<HI>and all the re&s;t are theeves and robbers&mdash;Who&s;oever he be that will ob&s;tinately per|&s;i&s;t in his own erroneous opinion, and re|fu&s;e to hear the Church, let him be unto thee</HI> (according to the command of Chri&s;t) <HI>as a Heathen or Publican.</HI></P>
<P>As in the <HI>natural</HI> body he is accounted a mon&s;ter, rather then a perfect man, who hath any exuberant member that is di&s;proportionate, and not agreeable with the re&s;t of the members of the body: &s;o in the <HI>my&s;tical</HI> body of Chri&s;t, he is an Heretique,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sicut men&s;ura e&s;t unius cu|ju&s;&abque; partis, ita totius corporis, quod omnibus &s;uis partibus con&s;tat.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> no orthodox Chri&s;tian, who&s;e particular faith is exuberant, and agrees not with the whole body of the Church: according to that undeniable axiome, <HI>Turpis e&s;t pars omnis toti non congrua:</HI> That part is di&s;orderly and &s;in|ful, which agrees not with the whole, whereof it is a part.</P>
<P>As there is <HI>but one faith,</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.5. which is therefore called, <HI>The unity of the faith,</HI> ver&s;. 13. and though there be &s;everal articles, or parts of holy Truth, which con&s;titute this one body of faith, yet &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t.</NOTE>
<HI>Veritas e&s;t veri|tati congrua:</HI> one truth bears &s;uch a proportion with ano|ther, as is agreeable to the whole, &s;o that the whole body of the true faith is like it &s;elf in all the parts or particular points thereof:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;na fides non numero, &s;ed ge|nere, qua &s;imi|lis in omnibus.</HI></NOTE> even &s;o there is <HI>but one body,</HI> Eph. 4.4. <HI>i. e.</HI> one Church profe&s;&s;ing this one faith, and though there be many members of this one body, yet each true member is &s;o proportionate to the whole, as that all makes up but one orderly my&s;tical body of Chri&s;t, which ought to be as with|out &s;pot or &s;tain of &s;n, &s;o without the exuberant di&s;order of error.</P>
<P>'Tis the end and office of the Mini&s;tery to bring all Chri|&s;tians to this pitch of perfection, even to be all incorporate, as members of one my&s;tical body of Chri&s;t, by the unani|mous
<PB N="179" REF="115">acknowledgement of one faith: Ephe&s;. 4.11, &amp;c.
<HI>He gave &s;ome Apo&s;tles&mdash;for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Mini&s;try, for the edifying of the body of Chri&s;t, till we all come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the mea&s;ure of the &s;ta|ture of the fulne&s;s of Chri&s;t, that we henceforth be no more chil|dren to&s;&s;ed to and fro, and carried about with every winde of doctrine, by the &s;leight of men, and cunning craftine&s;s whereby they lie in wait to deceive: but &s;peaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, from whom the whole body fitly joyned together, and compacted by that, which every joynt &s;upply|eth according to the effectual working in the mea&s;ure of every part, maketh increa&s;e of the body to the edifying of it &s;elf in love.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. The 4. <HI>ingredient</HI> of <HI>Here&s;ie,</HI> is to hold and maintain an <HI>error</HI> in faith, with frowardne&s;s, and oppo&s;ition to <HI>lawful de|terminations.</HI> For though all Chri&s;tians cannot perhaps in their judgements &s;ubmit to all lawful determinations of con|trover&s;ies in Religion: yet however the&s;e are thereby ob|liged to a pa&s;&s;ive obedience, to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e their &s;ouls in pati|ence not to oppo&s;e the authority, and di&s;turb the peace of the Church. Remembring, 1. That the unity, peace, and authority of the Church in general, is more to be valued then any particular mans &s;atisfaction. And 2. That the
<HI>publique</HI> re&s;olution of the Church, is to be preferred before any
<HI>private</HI> mans per&s;wa&s;ion to the contrary.</P>
<P>That opinion of S. <HI>Cyprians</HI> concerning
<HI>Rebaptization</HI> was in him but an error, becau&s;e the Church had not
<HI>determined</HI> any thing for, or again&s;t it; but after the Church had de|fin'd it, and adjudged Rebaptization unlawful,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. eccl. hi&s;t, lib. 7. c. 2.</NOTE> 'twas in all per|&s;ons that maintained it, not an <HI>error</HI> only, but an <HI>Here&s;ie.</HI></P>
<P>To &s;um up all in few words: A man becomes guilty of Here&s;ie.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>By disheleeving any fundamental Article of Faith, or ne|re&s;&s;ary part of &s;aving Truth, in that &s;en&s;e, as it was evermore received by the univer&s;al Church of Chri&s;t.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. <HI>By beleeving any &s;uper&s;titious Errors, or Additions, which do vertually, and by nece&s;&s;ary and evident con&s;equence
<PB N="180" REF="116">&s;ubvert any article of holy faith, or overthrow a fundamental Truth.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. <HI>By beleeving and maintaining the&s;e, or le&s;&s;er errors then the&s;e, with perver&s;ene&s;&s;e and ob&s;tinacy after &s;ufficient con|viction.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. <HI>By beleeving and ob&s;tinately oppo&s;ing private opinions in points of faith, again&s;t the publique lawful Determinations of the Church to the contrary.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. Of Schi&s;me, the nature and kindes thereof.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. SChi&s;m is &s;o called from the Greek word
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, to <HI>divide,</HI> or
<HI>rent;</HI> the word is u&s;ed, 1 Cor. 1.10.
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>That there be no Schi&s;ms or divi&s;ions among&s;t you:</HI> And becau&s;e <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> and
<HI>contention</HI> are in&s;eparable twins, what therefore in this ver&s;e are called <HI>Schi&s;ms,</HI> in the next ver&s;. 11. are cal'd,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>contentions:</HI>
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>That there are contentions among&s;t you:</HI> And the better to conceive what is meant by the&s;e
<HI>&s;chi&s;ms</HI> and <HI>contentions,</HI> 'tis exem|plified ver&s;. 12.
<HI>One &s;aith, I am of Paul, another, I am of Apollo, another, I am of Cephas,</HI> and another will not depend upon any acknowledging neither
<HI>Paul,</HI> nor any mortal man to be his Tutor, and in&s;tructer, and <HI>he &s;aith, I am of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Thus the immaculate body of Chri&s;t is <HI>divided</HI> into parties and &s;ects, the partakers and followers of which &s;everal &s;ects, are therefore called <HI>Sectari&s;ts,</HI> and <HI>Separati&s;ts,</HI> viz. Such as <HI>cleave</HI> not to the <HI>whole body,</HI> but follow &s;ome
<HI>one part,</HI> that is <HI>broken off,</HI> and <HI>divided</HI> from the
<HI>whole.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> in the
<HI>my&s;tical</HI> body of Chri&s;t, do differ, as an <HI>inward</HI> &s;ickne&s;&s;e, and <HI>outward</HI> wound in the <HI>natu|ral</HI> body of man: but yet &s;o, that there are &s;everal <HI>internal</HI> a&s;wel as
<HI>external</HI> parts, and branches of <HI>Schi&s;m:</HI> for by how many waies, and means, <HI>communion</HI> is maintain'd among&s;t Chri&s;tians, by &s;o many waies, it may be broken, and di&s;|&s;olv'd:<PB N="181" REF="116">And every <HI>breach</HI> of communion is a <HI>Schi&s;m.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Now the <HI>Communion</HI> to be maintained among&s;t Chri&s;ti|ans is either
<LIST>
<ITEM>Internal.</ITEM>
<ITEM>External.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The <HI>internal</HI> communion hath &s;everal branches,
<HI>viz.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM> 1. To beleeve and a&s;&s;ent to all tho&s;e &s;aving truths re|vealed to us by Chri&s;t, and his Apo&s;tles, and in all ages of the Church maintained, 1 Cor. 13.7.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. To be with all obedience prepared in heart to a&s;&s;ent to the Dictates of the Church, whether univer&s;al or par|ticular, that are agreeable to &s;uch revealed Truths, Mat. 18.17.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. To judge charitably each of other, accounting all &s;uch for our Chri&s;tian brethren, who profe&s;s this &s;ame Chri&s;tian faith, and are of this Chri&s;tian minde, and &s;pirit, Col. 2.16.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. To &s;ympathize in each others affections: which in|cludes &s;everal particulars: as 1. To &s;orrow for the &s;ins and errors of others. 2. To condole in the &s;ufferings of others, or <HI>to weep with them that weep,</HI> Rom. 12.15. As al&s;o to con|gratulate the pro&s;perities of others, or to <HI>rejoyce with them that rejoyce:</HI> which enjoynes al&s;o,
3. To rejoyce as do the <HI>Angels</HI> of heaven at the <HI>conver&s;ion</HI> of a &s;inner, or any mi&s;gui|ded &s;oul from <HI>the errors of his waies,</HI> Luk. 15.7.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 5. To pray for the growth, and per&s;everance of all holy and orthodox per&s;ons in faith, and obedience, and for the conver&s;ion of all profane, &s;chi&s;matical, and heretical per|&s;ons, and for the reunion of all &s;uch to the Church, as are divided from it, 1 Sam. 12.23. P&s;al.
122.6. 1 Tim. 2.1.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 6. To hold communion in our de&s;ires and affections with all &s;uch as are divided from us in per&s;wa&s;ion, and judgement, and by all means to endevour an external communion with them, according to our &s;everal powers, and in our &s;e|veral places and offices, Gal. 6.1.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The <HI>external</HI> communion con&s;i&s;ts al&s;o of &s;everal bran|ches. As,
<LIST>
<ITEM> 1. In the oral confe&s;&s;ion of the &s;ame Creeds or Symbols of Chri&s;tian Faith, Rom. 10.9,10. 2 Tim. 1.13.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. In the participation of the &s;ame Sacraments, 1 Cor.
10.16.</ITEM>
<PB N="182" REF="117">
<ITEM> 3. In the admi&s;&s;ion of, and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion unto the &s;ame Apo|&s;tolical di&s;cipline, and government, Heb. 13.17.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 4. In the u&s;e of the &s;ame Liturgies, or publique forms of external divine wor&s;hip, 1 Cor. 1.10. Rom. 15.6.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="4">4. Hence by the rule of contraries, 'twil appear plainly, who is a <HI>Schi&s;matique,</HI> or in what re&s;pects the guilt of
<HI>Schi&s;m</HI> is contracted.</P>
<P N="1">1. He is guilty of Schi&s;m, who withdrawes his a&s;&s;ent from the doctrine of Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, either as 'tis by the Church univer&s;al profe&s;&s;ed, or el&s;e as 'tis expre&s;t by the do|ctrine, and e&s;tabli&s;ht by the Lawes of that particular Church whereof he is a member, while&s;t this particular Church oppo&s;es not the doctrine of the Church Catholique: for when any particular per&s;on &s;hall in any point of faith op|po&s;e his private opinion again&s;t the publique judgement of the Church, this is not only Schi&s;m in him, but &s;uch a branch of Schi&s;m al&s;o, as coincident with Here&s;ie, whereof before.</P>
<P N="2">2. He who &s;hall limit the Church of Chri&s;t to his own particular &s;ect or fraternity,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Recepimus pro mi&s;&s;iones de uni|ver&s;alitate ec|cle&s;iae, tote mundo diffu&s;ae, &s;i ergo angelus de coelo tibi has premi&s;&s;iones te|nenti diceret, Dimitte Chri|&s;tianitatem to|tius orbis, &amp; te|ne partem Do|nati, anathema e&s;&s;e deberet, quia tea tote praci|cidere, &amp; in partem contru|dere conaretur, &amp; alienare &agrave; promi&s;&s;is Dei.</HI> Aug. Epi&s;t. 165.</NOTE> &s;aying, <HI>we are the Church, we are the elect and people of God,</HI> and all who joyn not in com|munion with us, are <HI>ca&s;t-awaies,</HI> and out of the State of &s;al|vation, he is guilty of <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> in that he cuts off the main body of Chri&s;tian people, or rather cuts off him&s;elf and his own fraternity from the main body of Chri&s;ts holy Catholick Church. So the
<HI>Donati&s;ts</HI> of old limited the Church of Chri&s;t to their own &s;ect, and the confines thereof to that part of Africk where they inhabited, contrary to the promi&s;es of God, who <HI>hath given unto Chri&s;t the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermo&s;t parts of the earth for his po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion,</HI> P&s;al. 2.8. &amp; Gen. 22. <HI>In thee &s;hall all the nations of the earth be ble&s;&s;ed:</HI> whereupon the Father infers,
<HI>&s;ince we have the promi&s;es of God, concerning the univer&s;ality of the Church to be diffu&s;ed, and &s;pread over the face of the earth: if therefore an Angel from heaven &s;hould &s;ay unto thee, Forgo thy relation to the Catholick Church, and be of this or that particular Church or &s;ect, which &s;aith, we,</HI> and we only are the Church and peo|ple of God, <HI>he ought to be accur&s;ed, becau&s;e he hath endevoured to cut thee off from the whole, and to limit thee to a part, and there|by<PB N="183" REF="117">to alienate thee from the promi&s;es of God in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI></P>
<P N="3">A third branch of <HI>Schi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">m,</HI> nece&s;&s;arily depends upon and flowes from the &s;econd. And this is ra&s;hly to judge, and un|charitably to condemn the Churches, or &s;ocieties of our Chri&s;tian brethren; &s;o the <HI>Montani&s;ts</HI> per&s;waded their fol|lowers to &s;peak evil of the univer&s;al Church, where ever &s;pread over the face of the earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. eccl. hi&s;t. l. 5. c. 16.</NOTE> and not only to deny thereunto all reverence and e&s;teem, but al&s;o in no wi&s;e to joyn with them: of this kinde of
<HI>Schi&s;m</HI> are all &s;uch guilty, who refu&s;e to joyn with their Chri&s;tian brethren in the pub|lique &s;ervice of God, under pretence of &s;eparating from the wicked of the world, who with the proud Phari&s;ee in the Go&s;pel, pre&s;umptuou&s;ly <HI>ju&s;tifie them&s;elves</HI> and their own Church, and faction, and unju&s;tly condemn all others,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver&egrave; exi&s;time|mus po&s;&s;e ali|quid e&s;&s;e occul|tum in alio, quo vobis &s;uperior &s;it, etiam &s;i bo|num no&s;trum, quo illo vide|mur &s;uperiores e&s;&s;e, non &s;it oc|culium.</HI> Aug. de verbis Apo. &s;er. 21.</NOTE> Luk. 18.9. who are <HI>&s;o pure in their own eyes,</HI> as to &s;ay to others, <HI>Stand by thy &s;elf, come not neer to me, I am holier then thou,</HI> I&s;a. 65.5. little e&s;teeming the exhortation of the Apo&s;tle, Phil. 2.3. <HI>Let nothing be done through &s;trife or vain glory, but in lowline&s;s of minde let each e&s;teem other better then them&s;elves:</HI> For &s;aith the Father hereupon, <HI>There may be tho&s;e &s;ecret and hidden vertues in others, whereby they do excell thee, though that whereby thou doe&s;t &s;eem to excell others be not &s;ecret, but apparent.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. To have no Chri&s;tian &s;ympathy, or fellow feeling ei|ther of the &s;ins or &s;ufferings of our Chri&s;tian brethren, is a fourth branch of <HI>Schi&s;m:</HI> For as in the <HI>natural</HI> body, <HI>if one member &s;uffer, all the members &s;uffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoyce,</HI> 1 Cor. 12.26. And the rea|&s;on is given ver&s;.
25. <HI>That there &s;hould be no Schi&s;m in the body, but that the members &s;hould have the &s;ame care one for another:</HI> So it is in the
<HI>my&s;tical</HI> body of Chri&s;t, as it followes ver&s;. 27. <HI>Now ye are the body of Chri&s;t, and members in par|tisular.</HI> That there be no
<HI>Schi&s;m</HI> therefore 'tis required that we have the &s;ame care one for another, and according to the &s;ame Apo&s;tles injunction, Gal. 6.2. <HI>Bear ye one anothers burdens, and &s;o fulfil the Law of Chri&s;t,</HI> who hath borne the burden of our &s;ins, and &s;o mu&s;t we by his Law of charity bear one anothers burdens both of <HI>&s;ins</HI> and <HI>&s;ufferings,</HI> or el&s;e we manife&s;t our &s;elves to be no true members of his my&s;ti|cal
<PB N="184" REF="118">body, but either &s;uch members as are dead by
<HI>&s;infulne&s;s,</HI> or cut off from the body by <HI>Schi&s;m.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. He cannot be free from the guilt of Schi&s;m, who doth not heartily de&s;ire, and fervently <HI>pray</HI> for the <HI>peace</HI> of the <HI>Church,</HI> even for the peace, 1. of all <HI>Chri&s;tendome</HI> in gene|ral, for the happy knitting together of the broken parts, and divided members of this too much di&s;agreeing body: and for the <HI>peace</HI> and pro&s;perity, 2. of that particular <HI>Church,</HI> whereof each one is member, as P&s;al. 122.6,7. <HI>Pray for the peace of Hieru&s;alem, They &s;hall pro&s;per that love thee, peace be within thy wals, and pro&s;perity, &amp;c.</HI> The &s;ame Chri&s;tian duty is commanded al&s;o, 1 Tim.
2.1,2,3,4,5.</P>
<P>As to the parts of <HI>external</HI> communion;</P>
<P N="1">1. 'Tis a branch of Schi&s;m to <HI>reject</HI> the ancient Chri&s;tian Creeds, which are no other but tho&s;e con&s;onant agreeing
<HI>joynt</HI> bodies of the holy Chri&s;tian faith, whereby, as by &s;o many
<HI>ligaments</HI> and &s;inews, all Chri&s;tians are conjoyned as members of the &s;ame my&s;tical body, being all of <HI>one accord,</HI> and of <HI>one minde,</HI> Phil. 2.2. For it is the <HI>unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,</HI> or the unanimous &s;incere profe&s;&s;ion of one, and the &s;ame Chri&s;tian Faith, whereby <HI>we grow up together</HI> as one perfect <HI>man unto the mea&s;ure of the &s;ta|ture of the fulne&s;s of Chri&s;t,</HI> Eph. 4.13.</P>
<P N="2">2. To for&s;ake the publique a&s;&s;emblies of our Chri&s;tian bre|thren in the publique wor&s;hip of God, is another branch of
<HI>external</HI> Schi&s;m, and contrary to the rule of the author to the Heb.
10.25 Where he forbids this, as he enjoynes the for|mer, and that becau&s;e the one does commonly follow upon the other: 1. Therefore he enjoynes, ver&s;. 23.
<HI>Let us hold fa&s;t the profe&s;&s;ion of our faith without wavering</HI>&mdash;And 2. that which would follow upon the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of this command, <HI>not for&s;aking the a&s;&s;embling of your &s;elves together as the cu&s;tome of &s;ome is,</HI> ver&s;. 25. 'Twas the cu&s;tome of &s;ome for fear of per&s;ecution, and reproach to for&s;ake the publique a&s;|&s;emblies of Chri&s;tians:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;&s;. interlin. in loc.</NOTE> and of others &s;aith the <HI>Glo&s;&s;e,</HI> upon pre&s;umption of their own piety and perfection to &s;eparate them&s;elves from the re&s;t of their brethren whom they ra&s;hly judged to be &s;inners, and &s;uch imperfect, defective per&s;ons,<PB N="185" REF="118">as were unworthy of their &s;ociety: to for&s;ake the a&s;&s;embling of our &s;elves together, for either of the&s;e cau&s;es contracts the guilt of <HI>Schi&s;m.</HI> In the latter re&s;pect the Novatians &s;epara|ting them&s;elves from the Church of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. eccl. hi&s;t. l. 6. c. 33.</NOTE> cal'd them&s;elves
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, or Puritans: &s;aith the eccle&s;ia&s;tical hi&s;torian.</P>
<P N="3">3. And this kinde of Schi&s;m con&s;i&s;ts of two parts.
1. To refu&s;e to joyn in the participation of the &s;ame <HI>Sacraments.</HI>
2. In the u&s;e of the &s;ame <HI>Liturgies,</HI> or publick forms of di|vine wor&s;hip. As to the 1. There is <HI>but one bapti&s;m,</HI> Eph. 4.5. or one Sacrament whereby we are engraffed into the body of Chri&s;ts Church, which who&s;oever refu&s;es, or re|admits, both the <HI>Catabapti&s;t,</HI> and the
<HI>Anabapti&s;t</HI> makes a breach in the my&s;tical body of Chri&s;t. So,
<HI>but one Sacrament of our nouri&s;hment and growth in grace,</HI> even that of the holy body and bloud of Chri&s;t: in communion whereof, <HI>we being many are one bread, and one body, for we are all partakers of of that one bread,</HI> 1 Cor. 10.16,17. Even &s;aith the Father, <HI>As many grains are incorporate in one bread, and many members in one body, &s;o the faithful members of Chri&s;ts Church, make up but one bread and body, by participation of Chri&s;ts ble&s;&s;ed bo|dy and bloud under the &s;acramental repre&s;entation of bread and wine.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> He that contemns or neglects then the u&s;e of this Sa|crament, doth for his part
<HI>&s;eparate</HI> and <HI>divide</HI> him&s;elf from the body of Chri&s;t, wherewith every prudent good Chri&s;ti|an de&s;ires to be <HI>joyned, that he may grow into him in all things, which is the head, even Chri&s;t,</HI> Eph.
4.15. And Sacraments among&s;t many other holy ends of their in&s;titution, hath this for one, that they are <HI>marks of di&s;tinctions,</HI> &s;aith judicious <HI>Hooker, to &s;eparate Gods own people from &s;trangers.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hook. eccl. pol. lib. 5. &s;ect. 57.</NOTE></P>
<P N="4">4. To decline the u&s;e, and to refu&s;e to joyn in the Church <HI>Liturgies,</HI> or publique forms of divine &s;ervice; &s;uch
<HI>Liturgies</HI> being both agreeable to the word of God, and to the do|ctrine, and con&s;tant practi&s;e of the Church in all ages; if it be not in it &s;elf a branch of <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> 'tis the <HI>cau&s;e,</HI> and cur&s;ed <HI>parent</HI> thereof: For as no <HI>form</HI> of prayer is the mother of confu&s;ion, &s;o <HI>&s;everal forms</HI> by per&s;ons of the &s;ame Church, are the means and in-lets of divi&s;ion: for while&s;t one likes this mans way of praying, and another likes another mans<PB N="186" REF="119">way: one &s;aith, I am of <HI>Paul,</HI> and another, I am of <HI>Apol|lo, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore to prevent all divi&s;ion in the Church, and to keep out all <HI>corruptions</HI> both in faith and manners, and to avoid all
<HI>ignorant, in&s;ignificant, improper,</HI> and <HI>extravagant</HI> waies of expre&s;&s;ing our mindes, unto God in prayer: As al&s;o that we might communicate in each others prayers, and reap the be|nefit of each others fervency and devotion of &s;oul in prayer, the&s;e were the great and weighty rea&s;ons wherefore ever a &s;et and &s;tanding form of publique prayers hath been pre&s;cri|bed and u&s;ed in the Church of Chri&s;t. And when we do con&s;ider, and remember, 1. That God him&s;elf under the Law commanded &s;et forms of prayer to be u&s;ed, Numb. 6.23. Deut. 20.3. &amp; 26.3,5. 2. That
<HI>Mo&s;es</HI> thank&s;giving for that admirable victory given the I&s;raelites again&s;t <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> not only &s;tands upon record for a precedent or pattern for the framing of prayers, which might be repeated often; but al|&s;o grew afterwards to be a part of the Jewi&s;h Liturgy. 3. That all the P&s;almes are &s;o many &s;et forms of prayer and prai&s;e that were u&s;ed in the Temple, 2 Chron. 29.30. al|though they never had again the &s;ame occa&s;ions which brought them forth at the fir&s;t. 4. That under the Go&s;pel, not only <HI>John Bapti&s;t</HI> fir&s;t, but afterwards Chri&s;t him&s;elf taught his Di&s;ciples a &s;et form of prayer, with a po&s;itive com|mand when ever they prayed, to &s;ay, <HI>Our Father, &amp;c.</HI> Luk.
11.1,2. 5. That Chri&s;t him&s;elf u&s;ed a &s;et form in his agony, Mat. 26
39. not altering his expre&s;&s;ions, (as if God were plea&s;ed with variety of phra&s;es, a cu&s;tome which only &s;erves to tickle the itching ears of men, and win popular applau&s;e) <HI>but he went again and prayed, &s;aying the &s;ame words,</HI> ver&s;. 44. And al&s;o upon the cro&s;&s;e he u&s;ed a &s;et form, not of his own framing, but u&s;ed long before in the Church, Mat. 27.46.
6. That this was the way of the primitive Church, as appears from the
<HI>Liturgies</HI> of S. <HI>James</HI> the Apo&s;tle, of S. <HI>Ba&s;il,</HI> S. <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome, &amp;c.</HI> And 7. if we con&s;ider with the judicious <HI>Hoo|ker,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hook. eccl. pol. l. 5. &s;ect.
25.</NOTE><HI>The irk &s;ome deformities whereby through endle&s;s and &s;en&s;e|le&s;s effu&s;ions of indige&s;ted prayers, the worthie&s;t part of Chri&s;tian duty to God, is un&s;ufferably di&s;graced: while&s;t men are herein<PB N="187" REF="119">&s;ubject to no certain order, but pray both what and how they li&s;t:</HI> All the&s;e things being &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idered, we mu&s;t needs &s;ay with the &s;ame learned author: <HI>That no doubt from God it hath proceeded, and by us it mu&s;t be acknowledged as a work of his &s;ingular care and providence, That the Church evermore held a pre&s;cript form of Common-Prayer, although not in all things every where the &s;ame, yet for the mo&s;t part retaining the &s;ame Analogie: So that if the Liturgies of all ancient Churches throughout the world be compared among&s;t them&s;elves, it may be ea&s;ily perceived, they had all one original mould, and that the publique prayers of the people of God in Churches throughly &s;et|led, did never u&s;e to be voluntary dictates, proceeding from any mans extemporal wit: but &s;uch known publique forms, wherein all might joyn together in the wor&s;hip of God,</HI> accor|ding to the Apo&s;tles command, Rom. 15.6.
<HI>That ye may with one minde and one mouth glorifie God, even the Father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Calvin</HI> him&s;elf, who was furni&s;hed with as great gifts for the powring forth of his &s;oul in prayer,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dr. Ferns Ca&s;e.</NOTE> as any of tho&s;e per&s;ons that now plead &s;o much for the liberty of their expre&s;&s;ions in publique prayer, is yet &s;aid to have often wi&s;hed that all the Churches had one and the &s;ame publique wor&s;hip, or <HI>Liturgie,</HI> and that upon the&s;e rea&s;ons, The holding of <HI>unity</HI> in the Church, and the excluding of <HI>novelty, faction,</HI> and the <HI>boa&s;ting</HI> of gifts.</P>
<P N="5">5. To deny obedience to our lawful eccle&s;ia&s;tical &s;uperi|ors, whether it be the Church <HI>univer&s;al,</HI> or <HI>particular: e&s;&s;en|tial,</HI> or <HI>repre&s;entative:</HI> or whether it be &s;ome &s;ingle &s;uperior, and this either of <HI>divine,</HI> or of lawful
<HI>humane</HI> in&s;titution: 'tis generally acknowledged by the
<HI>Fathers,</HI> to be a branch of Schi&s;m.</P>
<P>S. <HI>Cyprian</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>Filiusimpius, qui contemptis epi&s;copis &amp; Dei &s;acerdotibus de|relictis, con&s;ti|tuere audet ali|ud Altare.</HI> Cyp. de unit. eccl.</NOTE> defines a Schi&s;matique:
<HI>To be &s;uch a wicked &s;on as contemns the Bi&s;hops, and for&s;akes the Prie&s;ts of the Lord, pre&s;umptuou&s;ly daring to &s;et up another Altar.</HI></P>
<P>And again, <HI>The&s;e are the waies of Schi&s;matiques&mdash;to plea&s;e them&s;elves, and with proud di&s;dain to contemn their Rulers.</HI></P>
<P>And again,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hi &s;unt conatus &s;chi&s;matiec|rum&mdash;ut &s;ibi placeant. &V;t praepo&s;itum &s;u|perbo tumore contemnant.</HI> Id. ep. 65.</NOTE> <HI>This you ought to know&mdash;Who&s;oever is not with the Bi&s;hop, is not in the Church.</HI> And S. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;num &s;cire de|bes<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> &s;i quis cum epi&s;copo non &s;it, in ec|cle&s;ia non e&s;&s;e.</HI> Id. ep. 69. Hier.</NOTE> <HI>it was the judgement of the whole Chri&s;tian world,</HI> (<HI>totius orbis decreto,</HI>
<PB N="188" REF="120">are the words) <HI>That for avoiding of Schi&s;ms, and Here&s;ie, it was nece&s;&s;ary there &s;hould be one Bi&s;hop in every Dioce&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> admoni&s;heth his Chri&s;tian brethren,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. ad &s;rat. &s;erm. de obed.</NOTE> <HI>Nolite mihi re&s;i&s;tere, quia omnis pote&s;tas &agrave; Deo e&s;t</HI>&mdash;you are not to op|po&s;e or re&s;i&s;t me, who am your Bi&s;hop, <HI>For all powers are of God,</HI> whether of Church or Common wealth, <HI>and who&s;oever re&s;i&s;teth the power, re&s;i&s;teth the ordinance of God, &amp;c.</HI> Rom.
13. When <HI>Samuel</HI> the Prophet was rejected of the Jewes from that rule and government he exerci&s;ed over them, the Lord &s;aid unto him, <HI>They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I &s;hould not reign over them,</HI> 1 Sam. 8.7. The &s;ame thing &s;aid our Lord to his Apo&s;tles, Luk. 10.16. <HI>He that heareth you, heareth me, and he that de&s;pi&s;eth</HI>&mdash;Therefore &s;aid S. <HI>Bern. Obedientia quae majoribus praebetur, Deo exhibetur:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. de Praec. &amp; di&s;p. tract. c. 12.</NOTE> The <HI>obedience</HI> we give unto our &s;uperiors is exhibited to God him|&s;elf, and &s;o of <HI>di&s;obedience</HI> al&s;o. Therefore we read <HI>Deut.</HI> 17.12. <HI>The man that will do pre&s;umptuou&s;ly, and will not hearken unto the Prie&s;t&mdash;or unto the Judge&mdash;even that man &s;hall die. Ca|vete ergo &s;acerdotes, ne aliquis ve&s;trum audeat in&s;urgere contra praepo&s;itum</HI>&mdash;As the father goes on in the forementioned place,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Take heed ye that are Prie&s;ts, how you ri&s;e up again&s;t him that hath the Rule over you: For</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>all Eccle&s;ia&s;tical gover|nors are planted in the Church for our good, and for the Churches unity, whereof our Lord would have us to be very careful, le&s;t like &s;heep without a &s;hepheard, we be divided from the unity of the faith by divers errors.</HI></P>
<P>But to come nearer home: Doctor <HI>Moulin,</HI> the &s;on of
<HI>P. Moulin,</HI> wrote a book to vindicate the <HI>French</HI> reformed
<HI>Churches</HI> from being the pattern to any <HI>Scotti&s;h</HI> or
<HI>Engli&s;h Presbyterians</HI> to reject their <HI>Bi&s;hops;</HI> where he gives us al&s;o the &s;evere cen&s;ures of <HI>Zanchy,</HI> and <HI>Calvin</HI> them&s;elves, again&s;t tho&s;e that deny obedience to their lawful
<HI>Bi&s;hops, Te&s;tor me Deo</HI>&mdash;&s;aith <HI>Zanchy, I prote&s;t before God, and in my con&s;cience, that I hold them no better then Schi&s;matiques, that account it a part of reformation in the Church, to have no Bi&s;hops</HI>&mdash;And &s;aith <HI>Calvin, They are worthy of any execration that will not &s;ub|mit them&s;elves to that Hierarchy which &s;ubmitteth it &s;elf unto the Lord</HI>&mdash;The&s;e cen&s;ures he cites out of the Tracts <HI>de reformat. Eccl.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="189" REF="120"><HI>Beza</HI> him&s;elf, the great patron of <HI>Presbyterian Elder&s;hip,</HI> yet confe&s;&s;eth it to be nece&s;&s;ary,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bez. cont. Sar.</NOTE> <HI>&V;t Presbyterio</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>e&s;&s;et &amp; permaneret,</HI> that one be <HI>Prelate</HI> over the
<HI>Presbytery;</HI> and this not <HI>pro tempore,</HI> but to continue; and allowes S. <HI>Hierom's</HI> Rea&s;on why it &s;hould be &s;o, <HI>in Remedium Schi&s;matis,</HI> for the avoiding of Schi&s;m.</P>
<P>Again&s;t the&s;e two branches of <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> the holy
<HI>Ignatius</HI> in his Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Magne&s;ians,</HI> gives them this twofold coun&s;el and advice, <HI>As Chri&s;t</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>did nothing without his Father, being all one with his Father,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ignat. epi&s;t. ad Magn.</NOTE>
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>&s;o neither mu&s;t you do any thing without your Bi&s;hop,</HI>
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>but a&s;&s;emble together, and have but one prayer common to you all.</HI></P>
<P N="5">A fifth branch of <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> followes upon the&s;e two la&s;t:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Fe&s;ta eccle&s;iae rect&egrave; colum qui &s;e filios eccle|&s;iae e&s;&s;e cogno&s;|cunt,</HI> Aug. de Tem. &s;er.
253.</NOTE> which is to <HI>reject</HI> and <HI>profane</HI> tho&s;e publique times of Gods &s;ervice, whether <HI>fe&s;tival,</HI> or <HI>fa&s;ting,</HI> ob&s;erved by the Church of Chri&s;t in all ages: concerning which I &s;hall only remem|ber the words of S. <HI>Aug. They do rightly ob&s;erve the fe&s;tivals of the Church, who acknowledge them&s;elves to be faithful, and loyal &s;ons of the Church;</HI> and not Schi&s;matiques.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. That Here&s;ie and Schi&s;m, are the mutual cau&s;es each of other.</HEAD>
<P>AS <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> like abortive twins are in many particulars coincident and cleave together, like <HI>Jacob</HI> and
<HI>E&s;au,</HI> the one holding fa&s;t by the heel of the other: &s;o they are mutually the productive cau&s;es, and cur&s;ed parents each of other. For,</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Heretical errors</HI> in points of faith do ea&s;ily produce a <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> and cau&s;e a &s;eparation among&s;t Chri&s;tians in the u&s;e of the &s;ame <HI>Sacraments,</HI> and of the &s;ame publique <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> at the &s;ame <HI>time</HI> and <HI>place:</HI> For difference in <HI>opinions,</HI> breeds dif|ference in <HI>affections,</HI> and different affections produce divers<PB N="190" REF="121"><HI>&s;ocieties</HI> and congregations: and the&s;e according to their op|po&s;ite opinions, frame oppo&s;ite forms, and waies of divine wor&s;hip. So the <HI>Arrian</HI> Here&s;ie brought forth a different doxologie in the Church: the Orthodox Chri&s;tians &s;aying, <HI>Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the holy Gho&s;t.</HI> And the <HI>Arrians, Glory be to the Father by the Son in the Spirit.</HI> 'Tis the property of <HI>Heretiques,</HI> as to depart from the
<HI>faith,</HI> &s;o from the <HI>Congregation</HI> al&s;o:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ex nobis pro|dierum, &s;c. ab unitate catholi|ca recedentes.</HI> Glo&s;&s;. interlin</NOTE> <HI>The&s;e are they that &s;eparate them&s;elves,</HI> Jude 19. So S. <HI>John</HI> al&s;o &s;ets forth the waies of Heretiques, <HI>They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, &amp;c.</HI> 1 Joh. 2.19.</P>
<P N="2">2. That <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> is the cau&s;e of
<HI>Here&s;ie,</HI> is al&s;o manife&s;t from the example of the
<HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> who fir&s;t were but <HI>Schi&s;|matiques</HI> in breaking communion with the Church of God at <HI>Hieru&s;alem,</HI> but pre&s;ently after they became guilty of <HI>Here|&s;ie,</HI> nay, downright
<HI>Idolatry,</HI> wor&s;hipping the golden calves of <HI>Jeroboam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non vobis obji|cio ni&s;i Schi&s;|matis crimen, quod etiam hae|re&s;in male per|&s;everando feci|&s;tis.</HI> Ad. Don. Epi&s;t.
164.</NOTE> erected in <HI>Dan,</HI> and <HI>Bethel:</HI> &s;o the
<HI>Donati&s;ts;</HI> their crime at fir&s;t was only <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> they &s;eparated them|&s;elves from the congregation of Chri&s;ts flock under a pre|tence of more holine&s;&s;e then the re&s;t of their brethren: but their per&s;everance in this <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> made them afterwards
<HI>He|retiques:</HI> as S. <HI>Augu&s;t.</HI> in one of his Epi&s;tles cals them. And in our own Church at home, 'tis too manife&s;t, that 'twas
<HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> which fir&s;t opened the gap, whereat all tho&s;e infe|ctious <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> which over&s;pread us entred: The <HI>breach of Communion</HI> in the u&s;e of publique prayers, and participation of the Sacraments,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;ia uni|tatem qui non tenet, tenere &s;e fidem credit?</HI> Cyp. de unit. eccl.</NOTE> and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to the Apo&s;tolical go|vernment of Epi&s;copacy, being followed with
<HI>Here&s;ies</HI> that &s;ubvert all government, decency, and order, and the very Sa|craments them&s;elves. Nor indeed can we imagine it &s;hould be otherwi&s;e, if we con&s;ider it fir&s;t,</P>
<P N="1">1. That Eccle&s;ia&s;tical government and authority, di&s;ci|pline and order, together with a publique Liturgie or form of prayer, whereby all members of the &s;ame Church joyn in the wor&s;hip of the &s;ame God, as with <HI>one heart,</HI> &s;o with <HI>one voice:</HI> That the&s;e I &s;ay, are the <HI>mounds</HI> or <HI>hedges,</HI> which keep out <HI>the wilde Boars of the Forre&s;t from rooting up the Lords<PB N="191" REF="121">vineyard, and the little Foxes from eating up the grapes there|of.</HI> In re&s;pect whereof, the Church which is the &s;pou&s;e of Chri&s;t, is called <HI>an inclo&s;ed garden,</HI> Cant 4.12. As therefore the breaking down of any garden wall, laies it common and wa&s;te: &s;o the breach of the&s;e mounds by Schi&s;m and di&s;obe|dience, laies wa&s;te the Church, makes it a wilderne&s;s and de|&s;ert, wherein bryers and thornes, here&s;ies and iniquities &s;pring up and grow.</P>
<P>In re&s;pect therefore of the fir&s;t, <HI>viz. Eccle&s;ia&s;tical govern|ment, He that will not hear the Church,</HI> &s;aith the Lord, <HI>let him be unto thee as an heathen, &amp;c.</HI> Mat. 18.17. And Heb. 13.17. <HI>Obey them that have the rule over you, and &s;ubmit your &s;elves; for they watch for your &s;ouls, viz.</HI> To keep you free as from the pollution of <HI>&s;in,</HI> &s;o from the poy&s;on of <HI>Here&s;ie,</HI> which are the two &s;nares of the Devil, wherein he al&s;o continually watcheth to entrap, and devour the &s;ouls of men.</P>
<P>And in re&s;pect of the &s;econd, A <HI>publique</HI> known
<HI>form of Prayer,</HI> it was ever conceived by the wi&s;e and learned Fathers of the Church, That liberty for every man to vent in <HI>pub|lique</HI> his own <HI>private</HI> conceptions, if not fir&s;t examined and approved, did open a gap to all <HI>licentiou&s;ne&s;s in opinion:</HI> for the proof whereof, I &s;hall only mention two te&s;timonies.
<LIST>
<ITEM> The 1. is the 23. Canon of the third Councel of
<HI>Carthage,</HI> in the&s;e words, <HI>Qua&s;cun&abque; &s;ibi preces aliquis de&s;cribet, non iis utatur, ni&s;i prius eas cum in&s;tructioribus fratribus contulerit:</HI> no man may u&s;e any prayers, which he hath made, till fir&s;t he hath con&s;ulted with his more learned brethren concerning them.</ITEM>
<ITEM> The 2. which is more appo&s;ite to our pre&s;ent purpo&s;e, is the 12. Canon of the <HI>Milevitan</HI> Councel, in the&s;e words, <HI>Placuit ut preces, quae probatae fuerint in concilio, ab omnibus celebrentur, nec alia omnino dicantur in eccle&s;ia ni&s;i quae &agrave; pru|dentioribus tractatae, &amp; comprobatae in Synodo fuerint, ne fort&egrave; aliquid contra fidem, vel per ignorantiam, vel per minus &s;tudi|um &s;it compo&s;itum:</HI> It was decreed, that the prayers which were approved in the Councel, &s;hould be u&s;ed by all, and that no other &s;hould be &s;aid in the Church, but tho&s;e that had been weighed by the more prudent, and approved in
<PB N="192" REF="122">a Synod, le&s;t either through ignorance or negligence, any thing &s;hould be &s;aid, or framed again&s;t the true faith.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>If then the wi&s;dome of the Church determined, that ap|proved and &s;et forms of prayer were nece&s;&s;ary for the pre&s;er|vation of the true faith: it mu&s;t needs follow, that the neg|lect, and contempt hereof hath not been the lea&s;t cau&s;e of &s;o much depravation, and corruption of the faith among&s;t us.</P>
<P N="2">2. That <HI>Schi&s;ms</HI> and breaches of publique communion are tho&s;e gaps, whereat. <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> do enter: we mu&s;t need acknow|ledge, if we con&s;ider, That the <HI>Devil</HI> who is the author of all <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> and divi&s;ion (who is therefore &s;o well known to the vulgar by his cloven foot) is <HI>&s;erpens lubricus,</HI> a &s;ly, &s;lip|pery, in&s;inuating &s;erpent, give him but the <HI>inch,</HI> and he will quickly have the ell: &s;uffer him but to make a rent in the
<HI>garment,</HI> and he pre&s;ently a&s;&s;ailes the body of Religion: if he win ground in the <HI>ceremonies,</HI> and make a <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> there, he will not be long from the <HI>Sacraments,</HI> and produce <HI>He|re&s;ies</HI> in them: Thus 'twas among&s;t the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> 1 Cor. 11. From their neglect of Ceremonies, &s;itting covered at prayer, they grew as irreverent and homely with the Sacrament, eating,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bi&s;hop <HI>Andr.</HI> &s;erm. upon 1 Cor. 11.16.</NOTE> and drinking, as if they had been at home, &s;o that the Apo&s;tle is fain to tell them, ver&s;. 22. <HI>That they had homes to be homely at:</HI> The Church, the hou&s;e of God was no place for &s;uch irreverent demeanor. And the like is obvious to each mans ob&s;ervation among&s;t us, how the decent <HI>ceremonies,</HI> and publique orders of Prayer, and of the Sacraments, being &s;truck at, the <HI>&s;ub&s;tance</HI> of both hath not long continued free from that impetuous violence of factious, and &s;chi&s;matical &s;pirits.</P>
<P N="3">3. This will yet further appear, if we con&s;ider <HI>the nature of contention,</HI> which is &s;o unruly, that it knows no bounds and limits, but like waters overflowing the banks, which run endwi&s;e ever, without return, &s;o Prov. 17.14. <HI>The beginning of &s;trife, is, as when one letteth out water, therefore leave off con|tention before it be medled with.</HI></P>
<P>To <HI>contend</HI> for the true faith, is commendable, and com|manded al&s;o Jude 3. but <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">,
<HI>contention</HI> is one thing, and
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, to be <HI>contentious</HI> is another. To contend for the<PB N="193" REF="122">Truth is the duty of all good Chri&s;tians, but to contentious about harmle&s;s ceremonies, and things indifferent, is not the cu&s;tome of Gods Church and people: <HI>If any man li&s;t to be contentious, we have no &s;uch cu&s;tome, nor the Church of God,</HI> 1 Cor. 11.16. From the cohaerence of which Text, the dan|ger of contentiou&s;ne&s;s is al&s;o ob&s;ervable: For 1. all the con|tention was about <HI>ceremonies,</HI> about wearing long or &s;hort hair, praying covered, or bare, ver&s;. 13, 14, 15. &amp; ver&s;. 4, 5, 6. And being contentious about the&s;e things, pre&s;ently there followed <HI>Schi&s;ms,</HI> or divi&s;ions among&s;t them, ver&s;. 18. and &s;hortly after down-right <HI>Here&s;ies,</HI> ver&s;. 19. Thus <HI>Pru|ritus di&s;putandi,</HI> becomes <HI>Scabies Eccle&s;iae,</HI> the itch of <HI>conten|tion,</HI> breeds the <HI>&s;cab</HI> of <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> and <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> in the Church.</P>
<P>Hear from a per&s;on intere&s;ted in &s;uch contentions, the truth hereof confe&s;&s;ed:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Baxter. Saints Re&s;t. 3. Part ch.
13.</NOTE><HI>Publique wars, and private quarrels, which do u&s;ually pretend to the reformation of the Church, the vindicating of the truth, and the welfare of &s;ouls, do u&s;ually prove in the i&s;&s;ue the greate&s;t means to overthrow all: it is as natural for wars and contentious to produce Errors, Schi&s;ms, contempt of Magi&s;tracy, Mini&s;try, and Ordinances, as it is for a dead carrion to breed worms and vermine: beleeve it from one who hath too many years experience of it, both in armies and Garri&s;ons: It is as hard a thing to maintain in a people, a &s;ound under&s;tanding, tender con&s;cience, a lively gracious heavenly frame of &s;pirit, and up|right life, in a way of war, and contention, as to keep a candle lighted in a &s;torm, or under the waters.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. When a <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> is once made, and the communion of the Church de&s;erted, the &s;eparati&s;ts like travellers out of the beaten road, finde no path to walk in, and &s;o become cir|cular, and endle&s;s in their waies: or like &s;uch folks, which con|tinually to&s;s and turn them&s;elves upon their bed, &s;eeking that re&s;t and repo&s;e, which cannot be found till the humours of the body recover their due temper, and be confin'd to their proper limits: Hence it comes to pa&s;s, that <HI>new doctrines,</HI> and new opinions in religion are commonly broacht, and &s;et a foot by <HI>Schi&s;maticks,</HI> and this in oppo&s;ition &s;till to tho&s;e
<HI>ancient Truths</HI> which are the doctrines of the Church,
<PB N="194" REF="123">from which they have &s;eparated them&s;elves: It being the e&s;|&s;ential property of a <HI>Schi&s;matick,</HI> like <HI>Proteus,</HI> to change his minde into every opinion, repre&s;ented to his fancy as plau|&s;ible. Hereunto agrees that ancient authentick father of the Church,
<HI>Irenaeus;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Alienati vero &agrave; veritate, digni in emni volu|tantur errore, fluctuati abeo, aliter at&abque; ali|ter per tempora de ii&s;dem &s;en|tientes, &amp; nun|quam &s;cientiam &s;labilem haben|tes.</HI> Iren. l. 3. c. 4. adv. Haer.</NOTE><HI> When men are once alienated from the truth, they de&s;ervedly wallow them&s;elves in the mire of all kinde of errors, being to&s;&s;ed to and fro thereby; Sometime of one opinion, and &s;ometime of another, even in the &s;ame things: having no certain, fixt, and &s;etled knowledge at all.</HI></P>
<P>And the rea&s;on hereof why <HI>Schi&s;matiques</HI> mu&s;t need be|come <HI>Heretiques,</HI> is rendred by S. <HI>Hierome;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nullum Schi&s;|ma non &s;ibi ali|quam fingit Haere&s;im, ut re|ct&egrave; ab eccle&s;ia rece&s;&s;i&s;&s;e videa|tur.</HI> Hier. ad Tit. c.
3.</NOTE><HI> No Schi&s;m</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>but will beget an Here&s;ie, that thereby the Schi&s;matique may the better maintain his unlawful &s;eparation from the Church.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. Of the cau&s;es of Here&s;ie, and Schi&s;m: and the manners of Heretiques.</HEAD>
<P><HI>HE that will convert an Heretique,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eum qui Haere|ticum vult con|vertere, oportet, &s;cire regulas &s;ive argumenta eorum. Nec n. e&s;t po&s;&s;ibile ali|oui curare quo&s;|dam mal&egrave; ha|bentes, qui igno|rat pa&s;&s;ionem eorum, qui ma|l&egrave; valent.</HI> Iren. part. in lib. 4. adver&s;. Haer.</NOTE> &s;aith <HI>Ireneus, he mu&s;t know, as the arguments which they u&s;e, &s;o the Rules whereby they proceed: It being not po&s;&s;ible for any to work a cure upon another that is di&s;ea&s;ed, if he know not the cau&s;es of his di&s;ea&s;e,</HI> and the waies of its progre&s;&s;e, in the infection of the humors, &s;pirits, or more &s;olid parts of the body: &s;o that to heal the di&s;tempers of
<HI>Here&s;ie,</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> 'tis nece&s;|&s;ary to &s;earch out the cau&s;es, and take notice of tho&s;e evil waies, and corrupt cu&s;tomes of &s;educed &s;pirits.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t original cau&s;e of all <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;ms,</HI> is <HI>pride</HI> and ambition, which was the original &s;in both in men, and Devils, &s;aith <HI>Syracides,</HI> Ecclus. 10.13. Therefore he admoni&s;heth, <HI>Extoll not thy &s;elf in the coun&s;el of thine own<PB N="195" REF="123">heart, that thy &s;oul be not torn in pieces as a wilde bull, &s;traying alone,</HI> chap. 6.2. Thus <HI>Simon Magus,</HI> the fir&s;t <HI>Heretique</HI> in the Church of Chri&s;t, bewitched the people of
<HI>Samaria, giving out that him&s;elf was &s;ome great one,</HI> Act. 8.9. Thus <HI>Montanus</HI> (as <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> records)<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. Hi l. lib. 5. cap. 16.</NOTE> <HI>being inflamed with the gree|dy de&s;ire of primacy, and &s;uperiority, yeelded to the Actings of contrary, or evil &s;pirits in him&s;elf, by whom being &s;odainly exta|&s;ied and entran&s;ed, he began to utter &s;trange and new doctrines contrary to &s;uch, as were generally received in the Church, pre|tending to the gift of prophe&s;ie by immediate Revelation.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Theodor. l. 1. hi&s;t. eccl c. 24.</NOTE> Thus <HI>Arrius,</HI> and <HI>Novatus,</HI> being defeated of their ambitious de|&s;ires of being Bi&s;hops, the one of
<HI>Alexandria,</HI> the other of <HI>Rome,</HI> became the heads, and pe&s;tilent Authors of mo&s;t per|nicious <HI>Here&s;ies;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Si n. radix ela|tionis ab&s;cindi|tur, rami pravae a&s;&s;ertionis are|fiunt.</HI> Greg.</NOTE> that they might lift up them&s;elves to be the heads and leaders of <HI>Heretiques,</HI> &s;ince they could not be &s;o of <HI>orthodox</HI> Chri&s;tians. S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> affirms of <HI>Primianus,</HI> and <HI>Maximinianus,</HI> who through
<HI>pride</HI> and vain glory lifted up them&s;elves to be the heads of two factions among the <HI>Dona|ti&s;ts;</HI> And 'twas well for them, &s;aith the Father, &s;uch factions fell out; for otherwi&s;e <HI>Primianus</HI> had been
<HI>Po&s;treminianus,</HI> and <HI>Maximinianus</HI> had been
<HI>Minimianus,</HI> per&s;ons of whom no notice had been taken, but now in a
<HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> either of them is a jolly fellow, and <HI>notorious</HI> in the way of oppo&s;ing the Church. So <HI>Jack Straw,</HI> and <HI>Wat Tiler</HI> had been buried in oblivion, had they not rai&s;ed a mutiny, and made an in&s;urrection. And are there not too many among&s;t us, who&s;e mean &s;tamp, calling, and parts, <HI>pride</HI> and vain-glory hath &s;tir'd up to
<HI>faction</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> partly to rai&s;e them&s;elves up out of the du&s;t of <HI>con|tempt,</HI> and oblivion, and partly out of
<HI>covetou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> knowing it to be <HI>the be&s;t fi&s;hing in troubled waters?</HI></P>
<P>What el&s;e can it be but <HI>pride</HI> of heart, that either moves &s;ome to decry <HI>government,</HI> as &s;corning to be under any com|mand,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. 6.</NOTE> or that moves others &s;o &s;tifly to contend for a <HI>parity</HI> in government, as &s;corning any &s;uperiors?
'Twas noted by every man, &s;aith the Hi&s;tory of the Church of <HI>Scotland, That of all men, none could le&s;&s;e endure parity, and loved more to com|mand, then they who had introduced it into the Church.</HI> Was not
<PB N="196" REF="124">this <HI>the gain-&s;aying of Corah,</HI> who becau&s;e he could not be high-prie&s;t him&s;elf, he would have all prie&s;ts equal, and no one <HI>to lift him&s;elf above the congregation of the Lords</HI> Numb.
16.3.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quo&s;vis ad intellectum pravum inten|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">o perver&s;a non raperet, ni&s;i prius &s;uperbia in&s;laret; dum enim prae caeteris &s;apientes arbitrantur, &s;equi alios ad melius intellecta de&s;piciunt, at&abque; ut apud vulgus &s;cientiae nomen exiorque|ant, &s;tudent &s;um mopere &amp; ab aliis rect&egrave; intellecta de&s;truere, &amp; &s;ua per|ver&s;a roborare.</HI> Greg. de cur. pa&s;t. p. 3. adm. 26.</NOTE> And can it be other but the &s;ame tumor of
<HI>Pride,</HI> and vain|glory, that moves men to prefer their own private conceptions and extempo|ral effu&s;ions in prayer, before the appro|ved wi&s;e, and commanded forms of the Church? If you run through all the &s;e|veral parts of <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> and kindes of <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> remembred; if you take notice of all the <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> that have been in the Church: <HI>this hu|mor of pride, ob&s;erve it who mill</HI> (&s;aith reverend
<HI>Andrewes</HI>)<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Andr.</HI> &s;erm. of imag. Epi&s;t.
165.</NOTE> <HI>hath brought forth mo&s;t part of the Here&s;ies &s;ince the time of the Go&s;pel: Mater omnium haereticorum &s;uperbia e&s;t,</HI> &s;aith
<HI>Aug.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Diver&s;is locis &s;unt diver&s;ae, haere&s;es, &s;ed una mater &s;up<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">rbia omnes genuit; &s;icut una mater no&s;tra eccle&s;ia catho|lica, omnes Chri&s;tianos fideles toto orbe di&s;&s;u&s;es.</HI> Aug. de Temp.</NOTE><HI> The mother of all here&s;ie is pride,</HI> and &s;o they are de&s;cribed by 2 Pet. 2.10. <HI>To de&s;pi&s;e government, to be pre&s;umptuous and &s;elf|willed, and not afraid to &s;peak evill of dignities:</HI> and to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, Epi&s;t. Jude, ver&s;. 8. And &s;o the Father again,
<HI>There are many Here&s;ies in many places, but they have all one common mother, which is pride,</HI> (in oppo&s;ing private per&s;wa&s;ions to the publique re&s;olu|tions, and ob&s;ervances of the Church) <HI>even as thore are many faithful good Chri&s;tians di&s;per&s;t over the face of the earth, and the&s;e al&s;o have all but one common mother, the Catholick Church, to whom they duly render all obedience, and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. A &s;econd cau&s;e of Here&s;ies and Schi&s;ms, is
<HI>covetou&s;|ne&s;s,</HI> which is directly a&s;&s;erted by the Apo&s;tle, 1 Tim. 6.10. <HI>For the love of money is the root of all evill, which while &s;ome have coveted after, they have erred from the faith:</HI> This was the cau&s;e of <HI>Balaams</HI> error in that <HI>he loved the wages of Righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="197" REF="124">The <HI>Novatians</HI> called them&s;elves
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>h. e. mundos, the pure,</HI> and <HI>the clean:</HI> but &s;aith <HI>I&s;idore, Had they given them&s;elves their proper character, it &s;hould have been not mun|dos,</HI> but
<HI>mundanos;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cathari mundi|ores &s;e caeteris praedicant: qui nomen &s;uum &s;i cogno&s;cere vel|lent, munda|nos &s;e potius quam mundos vecarent.</HI> I&s;id. orig. l. 8.</NOTE> not the Puritans, but the worldlings: <HI>Covetou&s;ne&s;s</HI> in&s;eparably cleaving to all the members of that heret cal crue, as Pride was the parent of them. Nor can we well imagine, whether pride or covetou&s;ne&s;s reigned more in <HI>Montanus, Arrius,</HI> and <HI>Novatus,</HI> when failing in their hopes of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical preferments, they became the heads of the &s;everal Here&s;ies called by their &s;everall names.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;tn. qui non amator e&s;&s;et pu|cuniae, ni&s;i per hoc putaret &s;e excellentiorem e&s;&s;e; et e&s;t qui non amaret ex|cellere, ni&s;i pu|taret per hoc majores divi|tias habere.</HI> Aug.</NOTE></P>
<P>Nor is it a bare and &s;ingle <HI>covetou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> but that which is the wor&s;t and mo&s;t enormous kinde thereof that often breeds, and alwaies po&s;&s;e&s;&s;es the &s;pirits of <HI>Hereticks</HI> and
<HI>Schi&s;ma|ticks, viz.</HI> the great, and erying &s;in of
<HI>&s;acriledge;</HI> even a &s;acrilegious, and evil eye after the revenues of the Church; <HI>&s;acriledge</HI> being one of the Devils mo&s;t &s;trong and alluring <HI>&s;nares,</HI> whereby he entraps men into <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> and Schi&s;m: <HI>It is a &s;nare to the man who devoureth that which is holy,</HI> Prov. 20.25.</P>
<P N="3">3. A third cau&s;e of Here&s;ies, and Schi&s;ms is
<HI>Ignoranee;</HI> And &s;uch a kinde of ignorance, as under the &s;hew, and ap|pearance of knowledge po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth the minde: which makes all per&s;ons in an error &s;o &s;tiffe and perver&s;e in the mainte|nance thereof: their ignorance being not ea&s;ily to be di&s;|pel'd by the light of Truth, becau&s;e in what they are mo&s;t ignorant they conceit them&s;elves mo&s;t knowing: Heretiques in this re&s;pect being not unlike per&s;ons that are
<HI>drunken,</HI> and yet think them&s;elves &s;ober, and &s;o become guilty of much wild, and exotique demeanor, the which, not conceiving them&s;elves to be drunk, they fondly imagine to be bravely di&s;creet, and gallant: &s;o the&s;e profe&s;ling them&s;elves to be wi&s;e they become fools, Rom. 1.21. being wedded to their own opinions how fal&s;e &s;oever, while&s;t they think them&s;elves wi&s;er, then tho&s;e from whom they ought to receive directi|ons in the waies of Truth.</P>
<P N="1">Hence 1. ari&s;eth that exorbitant cu&s;tome of the
<HI>Here|tiques</HI> to detract, and undervalue their &s;uperiors in the know|ledge<PB N="198" REF="125">of things divine, and boldly to pre&s;ume to teach their teachers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Nazian. o|rat.</NOTE> at which pre&s;umption of a people, <HI>Gregory Na|zianzen</HI> being greatly offended, u&s;eth the&s;e words in an ora|tion to them, <HI>Pre&s;ume not ye that are &s;heep, to make your &s;elves guides of them that &s;hould guide you, neither &s;eek ye to overskip the fold which they about you have pitched. It &s;ufficeth for your part, if you can well frame your &s;elves to be ordered: Take not upon your &s;elves to judge nor to make them &s;ubject to your lawes, who &s;hould be a law to you;</HI> For God is not a God of <HI>&s;edition, and confu&s;ion, but of order and peace.</HI></P>
<P N="2">Hence 2. they pre&s;ume <HI>to ju&s;tifie them&s;elves,</HI> and <HI>de&s;pi&s;e others,</HI> which none dare pre&s;ume to do, but &s;uch as do not truly know them&s;elves. Such is that
<HI>generation who are pure in their own eyes;</HI> they would never be &s;o, were they not ignorant of what followes, <HI>But they are not wa&s;hed from their filthine&s;s,</HI> Prov. 3.12. <HI>And hence come Schi&s;ms,</HI> (&s;aith a lear|ned man) <HI>becau&s;e men do &s;ay, we are pure, and we are holy, we are they that &s;anctifie the impure, and 'tis our prayers that are effectual with God, and for our &s;akes his ble&s;&s;ings de&s;cend upon others:</HI> And upon this ground they &s;e|parate them&s;elves into
<HI>&s;ects</HI> and <HI>parties,</HI> each one &s;aying of his own &s;ect,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ecce habes ec|cle&s;iam per to|tum mundum: noli &s;equi fal&s;os ju&s;tificatores, &s;ed veros praeci pitatores.</HI> Aug. in Joh. tract. 1.</NOTE> <HI>Lo here is Chri&s;t, and lo there,</HI> Mat. 13. limiting him to a part, being ignorant that he hath bought the whole, and taken po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion al&s;o, being the propitiation for our &s;ins, and <HI>not for ours only, but for the &s;ins of the whole world,</HI> 1 Joh. 2.2. Whereupon &s;aith the Father, <HI>Behold, thou ha&s;t the Church diffu&s;ed over the whole earth, follow not therefore &s;uch who fal&s;ly ju&s;tifie them&s;elves, and thereby too truly headlong them&s;elves into the gulf of errors.</HI></P>
<P N="3">Hence 3. they pre&s;ume to meddle with My&s;teries above the &s;phear of their capacities, <HI>The &s;incere milk of Gods word</HI> will not &s;erve their turn, but they will drink of the <HI>wine</HI> of cele&s;tiall truth, which their <HI>under&s;tandings</HI> being not able to dige&s;t, they are <HI>intoxicated</HI> therewith and &s;tagger like drunken men, <HI>being to&s;&s;ed to and fro with every winde of doctrine:</HI> again&s;t which pre&s;umption the wi&s;e <HI>Syracides</HI> admoni&s;heth, Ecclus. 3.21. <HI>Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither &s;earch the things that are above thy &s;trength. But what
<PB N="199" REF="125">is commanded thee, think thereupon with reverence&mdash;For many are deceived through their own vain opinion, and an evil &s;u&s;pi|cion hath overthrown their judgement.</HI></P>
<P N="4">Hence 4. Even from <HI>ignorance</HI> under the pretext of knowledge, 'tis the cu&s;tome of <HI>Heretiques</HI> to <HI>&s;narle,</HI> and
<HI>de|tract,</HI> and &s;peak evil of tho&s;e Truths, the profound and deep excellency whereof their darkned under&s;tandings cannot fa|thom; &s;o they are de&s;cribed 2 Pet. 2.12. and Jude, ver&s;. 10. <HI>To &s;peak evil of the things they under&s;tand not:</HI> As the Jewes becau&s;e they under&s;tood not Chri&s;ts Doctrine of the bread of life, therefore they &s;trove among&s;t them&s;elves &s;aying, <HI>How can this man give us his fle&s;h to eat?</HI> Joh. 6.52. And <HI>Ni|codemus,</HI> becau&s;e he under&s;tood not the nature of Regenerati|on, was offended at the doctrine, &s;aying, <HI>How can a man be born when he is old, &amp;c.</HI> Joh. 3.4.</P>
<P>Whereas all good Chri&s;tians, who have any grain of true faith, do <HI>believe</HI> with reverence, even tho&s;e my&s;teries of god|line&s;s, which they <HI>under&s;tand not,</HI> expecting with all humility and obedience till they &s;hall be opened, and made known unto them. So <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> records of <HI>Diony&s;ius Alexand.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hi&s;t. eccl. l. 7. c. 23.</NOTE> who &s;peaking of the Revelation of S. <HI>John,</HI> &s;aith,
<HI>I do not impugn tho&s;e things therein, which I under&s;tand not, but rather ad|mire them,</HI> the more for that they are above my under&s;tan|ding. And S. <HI>Aug.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quod &s;icun|dum fidem qua imbuti &s;umus inteligere va|luerimus, tan|quam de cibo gaudeamus; quod &s;ecundum &s;anam fideire|gulam intelligere non poterimus, bonum tamen &amp; verum e&s;&s;e mi|nime dubitemus,</HI> Aug. in Joh. tract. 18.</NOTE> gives us this rule to be ob&s;erved as tou|ching the my&s;teries of holy Religion: <HI>What according to the mea&s;ure of faith wherewith we are endowed, we do under&s;tand aright, let us therein rejoyce, as 'tis the food of our &s;ouls, but what we cannot according to the &s;ound rule of faith conceive, we mu&s;t not therefore doubt, but to be holy, ju&s;t, and good.</HI></P>
<P N="5">Hence 5. ari&s;eth &s;o much <HI>levity</HI> and
<HI>incon&s;tancy</HI> of minde in all <HI>heretical,</HI> and
<HI>&s;chi&s;matical</HI> per&s;ons: <HI>like children to&s;&s;ed to and fro with every winde of doctrine,</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.14. Even as children for want of judgement di&s;tingui&s;h not betwixt whol&s;ome, and unwhol&s;ome diet, betwixt food and poy&s;on: &s;o all per&s;ons become erroneous and wavering for want of knowledge, and judgement, rightly to di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt
<HI>light</HI> and <HI>darkne&s;s, tares</HI> and <HI>wheat, corn</HI> and
<HI>chaffe,</HI> betwixt what is the <HI>food,</HI> and what they
<HI>poy&s;on</HI><PB N="200" REF="126">of their &s;ouls: therefore they are compared <HI>to clouds with|out water, carried about with windes,</HI> Jude, ver&s;. 12. denoting the emptine&s;s of &s;ound knowledge, which renders them not only <HI>incon&s;tant</HI> in the tenents of religious Truths, but al&s;o
<HI>obnoxious</HI> both to the broaching and belief of <HI>lies:</HI> having ever an itching de&s;ire to things <HI>new,</HI> and &s;trange, but with the I&s;raelites loathing the <HI>old</HI> Manna, though it be the food of Angels, for no other rea&s;on, but becau&s;e they are accu&s;tomed to it.</P>
<P>And this <HI>&s;piritual itch,</HI> a more baneful di&s;ea&s;e then the <HI>cor|poral,</HI> is grown <HI>epidemical,</HI> and &s;o over&s;preading the body of our Church, as that prophe&s;ie of the Apo&s;tle hath at no time been more manife&s;tly fulfilled, then in the&s;e our daies. 2 Tim. 4. 3.4. <HI>For the time will come, when they will not endure &s;ound doctrine, but after their own lu&s;ts &s;hall heap to them&s;elves teachers, having itching ears. And they &s;hall turn away their ears from the Truth, and &s;hall be turned unto Fables. This itch,</HI> &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Pruritus in au|ribus &s;pirituali|ter fornicami|bus: &s;icut pru|ritu libidinis in carne cor|rumpitur inte|gritas ca&s;tita|tis.</HI> Aug. in Joh. Hom. 43.</NOTE> <HI>is as pernicious to the purity of Truth, as is the itch of lu&s;t to the vertue of cha&s;tity:</HI> for hence many &s;olid and &s;oul-&s;aving <HI>Truths</HI> are often contemned, for their
<HI>anti|quity,</HI> becau&s;e they were heard of before, and &s;o they tickle not their <HI>itching ears:</HI> And <HI>lies,</HI> and <HI>errors</HI> are readily em|brac'd in their &s;tead meerly for their <HI>novelty.</HI> And tho&s;e teachers which feed this humor, and claw this <HI>itch</HI> by bring|ing things <HI>new</HI> and &s;trange to their ears, are the only per&s;ons they lu&s;t after, delight in, and follow by heaps, and mul|titudes.</P>
<P>But undoubtedly among&s;t many other, this is one infal|lible mark whereby to di&s;tingui&s;h <HI>Truth</HI> from <HI>Error,</HI> and con|&s;equently <HI>Heretiques</HI> and Schi&s;matiques from orthodox Chri|&s;tians: Truth like the <HI>Sun</HI> in the firmament, is ever one and the &s;ame, and con&s;tant to it &s;elf: bue <HI>Error</HI> changes like the
<HI>Moon,</HI> is multifarious and endle&s;s, knowes no &s;tint, or limits; therefore <HI>Tertullian</HI> cals the faith of Heretiques, <HI>Fides annua, men&s;trua, fides temporum non evangeliorum:</HI> Not like the faith of the Go&s;pel which is fixt and &s;etled, permanent and con|&s;tant, but the faith of a year, or of a moneths continuance, and the faith of the times; as the times change and alter,<PB N="201" REF="126">&s;o doth the Religion commonly of all &s;educed, and errone|ous per&s;ons.</P>
<P>From which <HI>incon&s;tancy</HI> new &s;ects, and parties daily and hourly do ari&s;e among&s;t <HI>Heretiques:</HI> as from the &s;hop of
<HI>Simon Magus</HI> Here&s;ie, &s;prung all tho&s;e innumerable &s;orts of Heretiques in the Church, till the time of the <HI>Manichaean</HI> here&s;ie And the&s;e <HI>Manichees</HI> were al&s;o &s;ubdivided into <HI>Cathari&s;ts, Macarians,</HI> and <HI>Manichees &s;trictly</HI> &s;o called. From
<HI>Arrius</HI> &s;prung the <HI>Macedonians, Aerians, Aetians,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. cont. Don. l. 1. c. 6.</NOTE> and innumerable others: <HI>Donatus</HI> party, &s;aith S. <HI>Aug.</HI> was &s;oon broken into many le&s;&s;e and &s;maller parcels;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deni&abque; penitus in&s;pecta omnes haere&s;es in mul|tis cum autori|bus &s;uis di&s;&s;en|tientes depre|henduntur.</HI> Tert. de prae. cont. Haer. c. 42.</NOTE> The <HI>Anabapti&s;ts</HI> among&s;t us are &s;ubdivided into <HI>Antinomians, Browni&s;ts, Seek|ers, Ranters, Quakers, Famili&s;ts, &amp;c.</HI> And finally, &s;aith the Father, <HI>look into all Here&s;ies, and you may ea&s;ily finde them in many things di&s;&s;enting even from their own authors and Foun|ders:</HI> And &s;eldome &s;hall you &s;ee Heretiques agree in any one point, except it be to oppo&s;e, and cry down the Truth, as <HI>Herod</HI> and <HI>Pilat</HI> again&s;t Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="6">6. From the &s;ame dark Aby&s;&s;e of
<HI>Ignorance,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ne&abque; n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> natae &s;unt haere&s;es, &amp; quaedam dogma|ta illaqueantia animos &amp; in profundum praecipitantia, ni&s;i dum &s;criptu|rae bonae intelli|gerentur mal&egrave;, &amp; quod in iis non bene imel|ligitur, etiam temer&egrave; &amp; au|dacter a&s;&s;eritur.</HI> Aug. in Joh. Tract.
18.</NOTE> under the &s;emblance of &s;elf-conceited wi&s;dome, hath &s;prung that which is of all others the greate&s;t cau&s;e of Here&s;ies, <HI>viz.</HI> The <HI>mi&s;|interpretation</HI> and mi&s;-application of the holy Scriptures: For &s;aith the Father, <HI>Here&s;ie had never &s;prung up: nor fal&s;e do|ctrines bewitching and de&s;troying the &s;ouls of men, had never been broacht, had not the good word of God been ill under&s;tood, and that al&s;o which is but ill, and weakly under&s;tood, been ra&s;hly and pre&s;umptuou&s;ly affirmed.</HI> 'Tis ever the cu&s;tome of He|retiques to alledge holy Scriptures in a wre&s;ted and perver|ted &s;en&s;e, making tho&s;e &s;acred writings like a no&s;e of wax, turning, and writhing them to this, and to that, and to every &s;en&s;e that be&s;t agrees with their own vain imagina|tions:
<HI>Aliter Photius, aliter Novatianus, &amp;c.</HI> One He|retique under&s;tands it this way, and another diver&s;ly from him, and a third di&s;tinct from both, and all put ano|ther &s;en&s;e upon the words of God then ever his holy Spirit intended therein: <HI>Pro voluntatis &s;uae &s;en&s;u, Hilar.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Vinc. Lir. ad|ver&s;us Haer. c. 2.</NOTE> The &s;en&s;e of their own minde and &s;pirit, not of Gods Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hil de trinitate l. 2.</NOTE> they put upon the Scriptures, which occa&s;ion'd that com|plaint<PB N="202" REF="127">of S. <HI>Hierome:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sola &s;criptura|rum ars e&s;t, quam &s;ibi pa&s;|&s;im omnes ven|dicant. Hanc garrula avus, hanc delirus &s;enex, hanc &s;o phi&s;ta verbo&s;us, hanc univer&s;i pre&s;umunt, la|cerant, docent, ante quam di&s;|cant.</HI> Hier. ad Pel. l. 1. c. 6.</NOTE><HI>'Tis only the Art of under&s;tanding Scri|ptures which all per&s;ons challenge to them&s;elves. This the prat|ling old wife, and the doting old man, and the wrangler full of words, this all men pre&s;ume unto, and upon pre&s;umption of their intere&s;t therein, they tear, and wre&s;t, and abu&s;e it at their plea&s;ure, pre&s;uming to teach the doctrine thereof before they have half learned it.</HI></P>
<P>As in the natural creation of children too many are the i&s;&s;ue of lu&s;t, and wantonne&s;s, nor is it con&s;idered when they are begotten, how they &s;hall be kept; even &s;o 'tis in the &s;piritual brood of Here&s;ies; <HI>pride, covetou&s;ne&s;s</HI> and <HI>ignorance,</HI> begets them before the authors know how to maintain them: but as children when they are once gotten, mu&s;t be kept though they pinch upon their neighbours; &s;o this hereti|cal crew rather then the opinions which are the i&s;&s;ue of their pride and vanity &s;hould die, they will &s;teal <HI>the &s;ineere milk of the word</HI> to nouri&s;h them; or in language of another &s;train; rather then they will &s;ubmit their vain imaginations to the truth and true meaning of Gods word, the truth of that mu&s;t &s;ubmit to their imaginations.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Videtis id vos agere, ut omnis &s;criptura|rum de medio auferatur authoritas, &amp; &s;uus cui&abque; animus author &s;it quid in qua&abque; &s;criptura probet, quid improbet: id e&s;t, non ut authoritati &s;ubjiciatur &s;cri|pturarum ad fidem, &s;ed ut &s;ibi &s;cripturas ip&s;e &s;ubjiciat: non ut illi ideo placeat aliquid quia hoc in &s;ublimi authoritate &s;criptum legitur, &s;ed ideo rect&egrave; &s;criptum videatur quia hoc illi placuit.</HI> Aug. cont. Fau&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>And this,</HI> &s;aith the Father,
<HI>is the way to rob the Scripture of its authority, while&s;t every mans own imagination mu&s;t tell him what it allowes, and what it di&s;allowes: this is not to be &s;ubject to the authority of the Scriptures, but to make the Scriptures &s;ubject to our imaginations: &s;o that there|fore this or that is not acceptable unto them, becau&s;e 'tis written in the word of God, but therefore 'tis well &s;aid, or written there, becau&s;e 'tis accepta|ble unto them.</HI></P>
<P>The great danger they incur, who put another &s;en&s;e up|on the holy Scriptures then Gods holy Spirit ever intended therein, is repre&s;ented to us, by the &s;trange fire, which that rebellious crew under the conduct of
<HI>Corah, Dathan,</HI> and <HI>Abiram</HI> offered up unto the Lord, <HI>there came out a fire from the Lord and devoured</HI> the pre&s;umptuous &s;acrificers, Numb. 16.18,35. <HI>So tho&s;e unlearned and un&s;table &s;outs which wre&s;t the<PB N="203" REF="127">Scriptures, do it to their own de&s;truction,</HI> 2 Pet. 3.16. As a remedy to prevent &s;o great mi&s;chief,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lat. conc. &s;e|cundum &s;e&s;&s;. 11.</NOTE> the ancient Fathers thought it meet to provide (&s;aith the reverend
<HI>Andrewes</HI>) that they who took upon them to interpret the Scriptures, &s;hould put in &s;ureties that the &s;en&s;e they gave of them &s;hould be no other then what the Church in former times acknow|ledged. So <HI>Vinc. Lirin.</HI> al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Propter tantos tam varii erro|ris anfractus, nece&s;&s;e e&s;t, ut propheticae, &amp; Apo&s;tolicae in|terpretationis linea, &s;ecundum eccle&s;ia&s;tici &amp; catholici &s;en|&s;us normam di|rig a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">.</HI> Vinc. Lir. adver&s;. Haer. c. 2.</NOTE> <HI>By rea&s;on of the manifold wind|ings and turnings of the Scriptures, for the maintenance of &s;eve|ral errors, 'tis nece&s;&s;ary to direct the line of prophetical and Apo|&s;tolical interpretation, according to the rule of an Eccle&s;ia&s;tical &s;en&s;e and meaning:</HI> for, <HI>Quis unquam Haere&s;es, &amp;c.</HI> &s;aith the &s;ame Author, <HI>Who ever brought in an Haere&s;ie but fir&s;t he di&s;|agreed from the con&s;ent of antiquity, and of the ancient Catho|lique Church: Et in laqueum &s;it verbum Dei,</HI> &s;aith <HI>E&s;tius:</HI> the holy Word of God becomes a &s;nare, and a &s;tumbling block to all tho&s;e who contemning the authority of the Church, pre&s;ume to impo&s;e their own private &s;en&s;e upon it. And he that obtrudes his private &s;en&s;e of Scripture upon his hea|rers, not only lords it over their faith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;tius in Rom.
11.9.</NOTE> but over the faith of the univer&s;al Church of Chri&s;t, nay he makes null and void the authority of holy Scriptures, for Scripture is no more Scripture, if not rightly interpreted.</P>
<P N="7">7. Another general cau&s;e of erroneous opinions in Re|ligion, is <HI>Hypocri&s;ie:</HI> when men are cold and lukewarm, and too negligent in the practi&s;e, which is the life of Chri&s;tianity, when they
<HI>receive not the love of the Truth,</HI> &s;o, as readily to obey and practi&s;e it; then it is ju&s;t with God to <HI>give them up to &s;trong delu&s;ions.</HI> Nay, hereby men lay them&s;elves open to the delu&s;ions of Heretiques, becau&s;e the excellency of holy Chri&s;tian truths are not, cannot be known but by the practi&s;e and experience thereof, therefore &s;aid our Saviour, <HI>If ye do his will, ye &s;hall know of my doctrine whether it be of God or no,</HI> Joh. 7.17. So that undoubtedly what ever pie|ty, or purity
<HI>Heretiques</HI> may pretend unto, yet generally 'tis but a meer formal out&s;ide, a &s;how, and &s;hadow of truth, but no &s;ub&s;tantial &s;olid piety, or charity; <HI>having a form of godline&s;s, but denying the power,</HI> 2 Tim. 3.5. For to &s;uch who by obe|dience, practi&s;e, and experience do know and believe the ex|cellency<PB N="204" REF="128">of Truth, it is not po&s;&s;ible to be &s;educed, and drawn a&s;ide therefrom:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quamdiu bona opera &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">imus, ip&s;um lumen ju+&s;itiae ante ocu|los no&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> ada|perit veritatem.</HI> C<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">rv<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">. in Mat. 7. Hom. 19.</NOTE> therefore our Lord cals all fal&s;e Prophets, <HI>Woolves in &s;heeps cloathing,</HI> Mat. 7.15. that is, <HI>Nominis Chri|&s;tiani extrin&s;ecus &s;uperficies,</HI> meer nominal out&s;ide Chri&s;tians: no men &s;o &s;eemingly au&s;tere and &s;trict, and yet all is but empty appearance of holine&s;s: no men a&s;&s;ume to them&s;elves more holy titles, <HI>the Saints, the Elect, the People of God.</HI> If they, be &s;imple and illiterate per&s;ons, then they apply to them|&s;elves, <HI>God hath cho&s;en the &s;imple,</HI> 1 Cor. 1.27. and tho&s;e that confute them in di&s;cour&s;e, do it by <HI>carnal Rea&s;on,</HI> and <HI>the wi&s;|dome of the fle&s;h;</HI> if they be &s;ubtil and acute in argumentati|on, and put to &s;ilence &s;ome weak adver&s;ary, then 'tis the
<HI>wi&s;dome of the &s;pirit</HI> in them, which the wi&s;dome of the fle&s;h cannot re&s;i&s;t. Tell them of their folly and madne&s;s, they &s;ay Chri&s;ts own Apo&s;tle was accounted mad: if they &s;uffer ac|cording to law for their enormities, then they &s;ay they &s;uffer for righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;ake; nay their &s;ins and delinquencies they would make appear to be pieties: &s;o &s;ubtil are all Hypo|crites in the outward and nominal part of Religion, that if it were po&s;&s;ible, <HI>they would deceive the very Elect:</HI> and many thou&s;ands are deceived by their appearances of holine&s;s, and &s;trictne&s;s of life, but 'tis &s;uch only who are &s;omewhat in|fected with Hypocri&s;ie as well as them&s;elves: therefore they are &s;tyl'd <HI>Wels without water, clouds that are carried with a tempe&s;t,</HI> 2 Pet. 2.17. For as empty clouds are mo&s;t to&s;&s;ed by the winde: &s;o men that are religious only in religious names, and religious talk, and outward &s;hew of Religion, being not balla&s;t with &s;incere devotion towards God, and charity to|wards man, &s;uch are they that are mo&s;t apt to be to&s;&s;ed with every winde of doctrine.</P>
<P N="8">8. All <HI>errors</HI> and &s;editions in the mo&s;t holy faith are ge|nerally thrown upon the grand impo&s;tor and father of lies,
<HI>the Devil,</HI> who no que&s;tion hath a great iufluence therein, therefore cal'd, <HI>The doctrines of devils,</HI> and he and his Angels, <HI>&s;educing &s;pirits,</HI> 1 Tim. 4.1. and all that are &s;educed, <HI>the children of the wicked one,</HI> Mat. 13.38. but yet withall we mu&s;t know, that if the voluntary &s;ins of <HI>pride, covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e, pre&s;umption, &amp;c.</HI> did not fir&s;t infect the minde, his tares<PB N="205" REF="128">of
<HI>Here&s;ie</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> could never take rooting there: 'tis of the <HI>corruptions</HI> of the mindes and manners of men that all
<HI>Here&s;ies</HI> are engendred, and like the creatures of putre&s;acti|on to which <HI>heat</HI> and <HI>moi&s;ture</HI> gives a natural being, &s;o the filthy moi&s;ture, or <HI>corruption</HI> of mens hearts quickned by the ince&s;&s;ant operation of <HI>the evil &s;pirit,</HI> gives unto all
<HI>Here&s;ies</HI> their &s;piritual being, and growth in the minde: <HI>For wickedne&s;s,</HI> &s;aith the wi&s;e man, <HI>doth alter the under&s;tanding, and the bewitch|ing of naughtine&s;s doth ob&s;cure things that are hone&s;t,</HI> Wi&s;d. 4.11. <HI>Sin,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Chry&s;. doth &s;o blinde the &s;en&s;es of &s;inners, that &s;eeing not the waies of fal&s;hood and error, they headlong them&s;elves therein: nor could ever any errors prevail over man, if &s;in had not made the way: for fir&s;t a man is blinded by his &s;ins, and then drawn away by the devil, and &s;educed: For error,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>begetteth not &s;ins, but &s;ins beget and bring forth error.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. in Mat. 7. Hom. 19.</NOTE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. The ends why God permits Here&s;ies and Schi&s;mes.</HEAD>
<P>ALmighty God as by his powerful word, of nothing he hath made all things, &s;o doth he &s;till not only <HI>uphold all things by the word of his power,</HI> but mo&s;t wi&s;ely <HI>govern, order,</HI> and
<HI>di&s;po&s;e</HI> of all, being the Ma&s;ter-wheel of all motions, and the original cau&s;e of all actions, and events, whether they be good or evil, of the <HI>good</HI> by his <HI>active,</HI> and of the <HI>evil</HI> by his
<HI>permi&s;&s;ive</HI> providence, as Amos 3.6. <HI>Shal there be any evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?</HI></P>
<P>And as it is in the greater world,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Terra &s;alutife|ras herbas, ea|dem&abque; nocentes Nutrit, &amp; ur|ticae proxima &s;aepe ro&s;a e&s;t.</HI></NOTE> all <HI>good</HI> and u&s;eful things have their contrary <HI>evils:</HI> there are <HI>fruitful</HI> &s;howres and the fatning <HI>dew</HI> of heaven: and there are al&s;o <HI>harmful</HI> &s;torms of hail, and corrupt, and infectious <HI>vapours:</HI> There are trees of
<HI>whol&s;ome fruit,</HI> and herbs for the u&s;e and nouri&s;hment both of man and bea&s;t, and there are al&s;o both <HI>trees</HI> and herbs that are
<HI>unwhol&s;ome</HI> and <HI>poy&s;onous:</HI> there are living creatures al&s;o both <HI>tame</HI> and <HI>wilde,</HI> both &s;uch as are
<HI>&s;ervice|able</HI><PB N="206" REF="129">unto man, and &s;uch al&s;o as are
<HI>de&s;tructive,</HI> fierce, cruel, and mi&s;chievous: &s;o in the le&s;&s;er world al&s;o; there is in the field of Gods Church, both
<HI>wheat</HI> and <HI>tares, corn</HI> and <HI>chaffe;</HI> both <HI>true</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e</HI> Prophets, the one the <HI>pillars</HI> of &s;ound, cele&s;tial, &s;oul-&s;aving Truth, the other the <HI>deceitful workers,</HI> and Patrons of errors, here&s;ies, and &s;chi&s;ms.</P>
<P><HI>Truth</HI> &s;tands ever firm upon its own proper ba&s;e, and be|ing &s;upported by no other but its own native excellency and vertue, ever appears like it &s;elf in its own plain &s;imple na|ked colours: But
<HI>Error</HI> being in it &s;elf crooked, and deformed, puts on the &s;hape, and ever appears in the likene&s;s of holy truth, following her &s;teps to trip up her heels, and take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of her throne: The very Philo&s;ophy of the Hea|thens, was followed and undermin'd by fal&s;e Philo&s;ophers: and among&s;t the <HI>Jewes</HI> their <HI>circumci&s;ion,</HI> and &s;ome other rites and ceremonies were imitated by the <HI>Arabians,</HI> and other nations: and yet the one were the wor&s;hippers of the true God herein, and the others wor&s;hipped Idols: And in the wor&s;hip of the true God, to that which is &s;ound and &s;incere is oppo&s;ed fal&s;e, counterfeit, and hypocritical wor&s;hip: to the true and lawful <HI>Bapti&s;m,</HI> is oppo&s;ed unlawful and extra|regular <HI>dipping:</HI> to the commandements of God, the traditi|ons of men: to the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> and faithful Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t,
<HI>fal&s;e Apo&s;tles,</HI> and <HI>deceitful workers:</HI> and in a word, there is nothing of the mo&s;t holy fath, but by the cunning of the De|vil, working upon the corruptions of mens hearts, &s;ome|thing is forged in oppo&s;ition thereunto:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">. Athen. lib. de re&s;ur.</NOTE> No article of the Chri&s;tian faith e&s;caping the inva&s;ion of Heretiques, and the corruption thereof by heretical and fal&s;e po&s;itions: the which will ea&s;ily appear to every man that li&s;t to con&s;ult <HI>Phila|&s;trius, Epiphanius, Augu&s;tine, Joh. Dam&s;cene,</HI> who out of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical records have given the &s;everal catalogues of Here&s;ies and Heretiques.</P>
<P>The Rea&s;ons why God is plea&s;ed to permit it &s;hould be &s;o, may be reduc'd to two general heads, <HI>viz.</HI> 1. <HI>In re&s;pect of the faith it &s;elf.</HI> 2. <HI>In re&s;pect of the profe&s;&s;ors thereof.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>In re&s;pect of the faith of Chri&s;t,</HI> 1. The excellency thereof doth appear from the manifold a&s;&s;aults, and machi|nations<PB N="207" REF="129">of the devil thereagain&s;t: for were not the &s;tedfa&s;t profe&s;&s;ion of the Chri&s;tian faith, and the con&s;cientious pra|cti&s;e thereof, the way both of Gods acceptable &s;ervice, and of mans &s;alvation, the devil would never be &s;o bu&s;ie to cor|rupt and adulterate the &s;ame, who&s;e inveterate enmity both to God and man, incites, provokes him perpetually to de|prave and fal&s;ifie the <HI>pure wor&s;hip</HI> of the one, and hinder the <HI>&s;alvation</HI> of the other.</P>
<P>2. The holy <HI>faith</HI> of Chri&s;t appears more
<HI>pure,</HI> &s;incere, and illu&s;trious by the te&s;t, and oppo&s;ition of
<HI>heretical</HI> po&s;i|tions: we read Numb. 16.36. that the Lord commanded
<HI>Mo&s;es to take the cen&s;ers of tho&s;e proud rebels, which ro&s;e up again&s;t</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>and</HI> Aaron, <HI>wherein they offered &s;trange fire be|fore the Lord, and to make broad plates for a covering of the Altar; for they offered them before the Lord, therefore are they hallowed: &s;c. &s;anctificata in mortibus peccatorum:</HI> Through the death of the offenders they were &s;anctified to be a me|morial to the children of I&s;rael, to beware of the like &s;chi&s;m, in&s;urrection, and &s;acriledge. <HI>The&s;e cen&s;ers,</HI> (&s;aith the Father) <HI>are a figure of the holy Scriptures, wherein Heretiques offer &s;trange fire, by impo&s;ing a &s;trange &s;en&s;e, and di&s;tinct from the minde of Gods Spirit therein,</HI> which is &s;o abomina|ble unto God, that 'tis commonly the ruine of the Authors, and abettors thereof: But yet if we bring the&s;e <HI>brazen cen|&s;ers</HI> to the
<HI>golden Altar</HI> of God, and compare the &s;trange fire therein, with the true fire from heaven, the lu&s;tre of the one will appear more clear and eminent, through the fal&s;e and counterfeit glo&s;&s;e of the other: for as that maxime is true in general, <HI>Contraria inter &s;e oppo&s;ita magis eluce&s;cunt,</HI> All contraries by their mutual oppo&s;ition do more clearly &s;hew them&s;elves, &s;o this in particular al&s;o is as true, <HI>veritas fal&s;o|rum comparatione magis fulgebit,</HI> Truth when compared and oppo&s;ed to fal&s;hood, appears like gold from the dro&s;s when tryed in the fire, more illu&s;trious and &s;hining.</P>
<P>'Tis one rea&s;on therefore, why holy catholick doctrine is &s;o much be&s;ieged, and impugned by heretical gain&s;ayers, and <HI>tares</HI> of erroneous opinions are intermixt with the <HI>pure grain</HI> of &s;incerity and truth, <HI>viz. That the holy faith might <PB N="208" REF="130">not loo&s;e its glo&s;s and lu&s;tre, but appearing like it &s;elf clear and per&s;picuous might more effectually conduce to the illumination of our &s;ouls.</HI></P>
<P>3. The holy <HI>faith</HI> by the oppo&s;ition of
<HI>Here&s;ie</HI> is <HI>elevated</HI> and rai&s;ed to a higher pitch of perfection, and the my&s;teries thereof become thereby to be more acutely handled, more narrowly &s;ifted, and throughly con&s;idered: whereas other|wi&s;e like children we &s;hould ever be content with <HI>milk,</HI> and neglect the more &s;olid and <HI>&s;ub&s;tantial food,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Haereticos per|mi&s;it Deus, ne &s;emper lacte nu|triamur, &amp; in bruta infantia remaneamus.</HI> Aug. Tract. 36. in Joh.</NOTE> re&s;ting in <HI>generals,</HI> and not de&s;cending to the di&s;cu&s;&s;ion and right under&s;tanding of <HI>particular</HI> truths. So &s;aith the Father,
<HI>God therefore &s;uf|fers Heretiques among&s;t us, that we might not alway be nou|ri&s;hed with milk, and continue for ever in the more bruti&s;h e&s;tate of infancy.</HI></P>
<P>4. The holy <HI>faith</HI> by the oppo&s;ition of
<HI>Here&s;ie</HI> is the more <HI>confirmed</HI> and &s;trengthned, even as trees &s;haken with the winde, take the fa&s;ter hold, and are thereby more firmly en|rooted in the earth; &s;o the more the foundation of our faith is a&s;&s;aulted and &s;haken by the gu&s;ts of heretical opini|ons, the fa&s;ter hold is taken, and more firmly the principles of holy truth are enrooted in our hearts.</P>
<P>Nor is this the weake&s;t argument to per&s;wade us of, and confirm us in the truth of all the Articles of the Chri&s;tian faith, that notwith&s;tanding the &s;everal oppo&s;itions of <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> in all ages, many whereof have for the time &s;o pro&s;pered and prevailed, as to infect the greater and more eminent &s;ort of Chri&s;tian profe&s;&s;ors, yet the true faith hath ever in the end triumphed over them; they have da&s;ht them&s;elves in pieces like waves again&s;t a rock have broken into a foam, and va|ni&s;ht in to &s;moke: for, <HI>magna e&s;t veritas &amp; praevalebit: As for truth it endureth, and is alwaies &s;trong, it liveth, and con|quereth for evermore,</HI> E&s;d. 4.38.</P>
<P N="2">The &s;econd general <HI>end</HI> why God permits
<HI>Here&s;ies,</HI> is in re&s;pect of <HI>the profe&s;&s;ors</HI> of the holy faith: And the&s;e being of two &s;orts, <HI>good</HI> and <HI>bad,</HI> either &s;uch as are &s;ound <HI>grain,</HI> or el&s;e &s;uch as are empty
<HI>chaffe,</HI> therefore he &s;uffers the <HI>fan</HI> of temptation to pa&s;&s;e over all, by the a&s;&s;aults of erroneous<PB N="209" REF="130">opinions, that the one might be di&s;tingui&s;ht from the other, that the corn might be <HI>winnowed</HI> from the chaffe, the wheat &s;eparate from the tares, and &s;oundorthodox Chri&s;tians might be known from the un&s;ound, hollow-hearted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Hom. 19. in Mat. 7.</NOTE> hypocritical profe&s;&s;ors of the faith. <HI>That the evil may not be crowned with the good, therefore God &s;ends temptations</HI> (&s;aith the Father)
<HI>and that the good may not peri&s;h with the evil, therefore he commands us to beware of fal&s;e Prophets.</HI></P>
<P>2. The rea&s;on why the un&s;ound, and <HI>&s;inful profe&s;&s;ors,</HI> are tempted, and by temptation overcome by the a&s;&s;aults of erroneous opinions in Religion, is by the ju&s;t judgement of God permitted for a puni&s;hment upon them: for as it is in the way of
<HI>&s;infulne&s;s,</HI> one &s;in is commonly the puni&s;hment of another, God mo&s;t ju&s;tly withdrawing the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of his divine grace from &s;uch as wilfully tran&s;gre&s;s his mo&s;t ho|ly Lawes:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Peccatum, quod non per poeni|tentia~ diluitur, mox &s;uo pondere ad aliud trahi|tur.</HI> Greg.</NOTE> <HI>So that when &s;in</HI> (&s;aith the Father) <HI>is not wa&s;hed away with the tears of repentance, the weight thereof &s;inks the &s;oul into the puddle of following &s;ins: His own iniquities &s;hall take the wicked him&s;elf, and he &s;hall be holden with the cords of his &s;ins,</HI> Prov. 5.22. So it is in the way. of <HI>Error,</HI> they who receive not the truth in the <HI>love</HI> and <HI>life</HI> thereof, which is &s;ound and &s;incere obedience thereunto; <HI>For this cau&s;e God &s;hall &s;end them &s;trong delu&s;ions, that they &s;hould believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had plea&s;ure in unrighteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> 2 The&s;&s;. 2.10,11,12. So <HI>Saul</HI> for his di&s;obedience, 1 Sam. 15.22,23. <HI>The Spirit of the Lord departed from him, and an evil &s;pirit from the Lord trou|bled him,</HI> 1 Sam. 16.14. So
<HI>Ahab</HI> for his many abominati|ons, refu&s;ed to ear hthe voice of the true Prophet <HI>Mi|caiah,</HI> and li&s;tned to <HI>fal&s;e Prophets</HI> to his own ruine and de|&s;truction, 2 Chron. 18. And &s;o <HI>Judas</HI> who&s;e faith in Chri&s;t was never &s;ound, but his Religion lay in his pur&s;e, not in his heart, was therefore &s;uffered to be tempted, and eternally ruined by that temptation to betray his Ma&s;ter.</P>
<P>3. In re&s;pect of the &s;ound and <HI>&s;incere profe&s;&s;ors</HI> of Chri&s;ti|anity, God permits <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> for many u&s;eful and profitable rea&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1. That tho&s;e &s;maller errors and mi&s;takes, wherewithall<PB N="210" REF="131">through ignorance, or mi&s;per&s;wa&s;ion the under&s;tandings of many good men are infected, might by the oppo&s;ition of Here&s;ies be cleared, and done away, and the chaffe, by the fan of temptation be winnowed, and &s;ifted from the purer grain: &s;o &s;aith an ancient Father of the Church:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Datam &s;cimus Sa anae pote&s;ta|tom, ut &s;ervos Chri&s;ti <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">ib<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">|ret, ut quod de tri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> inven<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">rreis Jung retur: &amp; qu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">d de his aed ig<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">um alimen|ta tran&s;iret.</HI> Anacleti epi&s;t.</NOTE>
<HI>We know that power is given to the Devil to winnow, and &s;ift the &s;ervants of God, that what is found to be &s;ound and good wheat might be gathered into the barn, and carefully trea&s;ured up in the &s;tedfa&s;t belief thereof: and what proves but chaffe and fit for the fire, might be &s;haken off:</HI> The inundation of herefies being one of tho&s;e fiery trials, whereby
<HI>every mans work &s;hall appear, whe|ther it be geld, &s;ilver and precious &s;tones</HI> to be continued, or whe|ther no better then <HI>wood, hay, and &s;tubble</HI> (which too often is built upon the &s;ame foundation with the other) and to be con&s;umed, 1 Cor. 3.11,12,13.</P>
<P N="2">2. Here&s;ies are permitted, to &s;coure off the ru&s;t of
<HI>idle|ne&s;s,</HI> &s;loth, negligence, and carele&s;ne&s;s in matters of faith; they render all careful and con&s;cientious Chri&s;tians more di|ligent in &s;ifting, and &s;earching out the truth, and more care|ful al&s;o of what they hear, and of what they receive: for truth, according to tho&s;e &s;everal commands given, <HI>Beware of fal&s;e Prophets,</HI> Mat. 7.15. <HI>Take heed how ye hear,</HI> Luk. 8.18. <HI>And take heed what ye hear,</HI> Mark 4.24.
<HI>Try all things, and held fa&s;t that which is good,</HI> 1 The&s;&s; 5.21.
<HI>And beleeve not every &s;pirit, but try the &s;pirits, whether they be of God or no,</HI> 1. Joh. 4.1. Therefore many fal&s;e Prophets, and fal&s;e &s;pirits there are, and heretical a&s;&s;ertions are interwoven with the Articles of the true faith, that we might not grow dull, and &s;tupid, and negligent, and idle, but be indu&s;trious, vigilant, and wary, <HI>having our &s;en&s;es exerci&s;ed to di&s;cern both good and evil,</HI> and our under&s;tandings poli&s;hed, through the many ex|ercitations, and oppo&s;itions of untruths: <HI>Becau&s;e God would not have his &s;ervants without judgement</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Chry&s;.</HI>)<NOTE PLACE="marg">H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">. 19. in Mat. 7.</NOTE> not to be able to di&s;cern betwixt light and darkne&s;s, <HI>therefore he &s;ends them temptations,</HI> and <HI>becau&s;e he would not have them to peri&s;h through ignorance, and negligence, therefore he commands them to beware.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. For the exerci&s;e and trial as of our
<HI>&s;incerity,</HI> &s;o of our<PB N="211" REF="131"><HI>courage,</HI> and
<HI>&s;piritual &s;ortitude</HI> in the oppo&s;ition and re&s;i&s;t|ance we make again&s;t the a&s;&s;aults of Here&s;ies, is another end why God permits us to be a&s;&s;aulted by them: there is no greater &s;ign of our &s;incerity in the love and &s;ervice of God, then by being <HI>&s;tedfa&s;t in his covenant,</HI> P&s;al. 78.37. one chief and principal part of which covenant is, <HI>&s;tedfa&s;tly to believe all the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith:</HI> from the which there is no man that loves the Lord with all his heart, can be in|duced to &s;werve, or go a&s;tray; nor can all the machinations of the <HI>Devil,</HI> or any &s;inful lu&s;ts of the
<HI>world,</HI> or of the <HI>fle&s;h</HI> in this re&s;pect prevail again&s;t him. For he that is <HI>ver&egrave; pius, e&s;t ver&egrave; fortis:</HI> True and &s;ound piety never wants courage to defend the Truth; and true courage, through divine a&s;&s;i&s;t|ance, is ever accompanied with
<HI>con&s;tancy,</HI> and <HI>victory</HI> over all temptations: This is commanded Deut. 13.1. <HI>If there ari&s;e a fal&s;e Prophet, thou &s;halt not hearken to the words of that Prophet</HI>&mdash;And the rea&s;on is rendred, why &s;uch &s;hould ari&s;e, and why thou &s;hould not hearken unto them, ver&s;. 3. <HI>For the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, &amp;c. q. d.</HI> If you truly love the Lord, it will appear by the oppo&s;ition to what&s;oever does corrupt, or deprave the waies of his wor&s;hip: God &s;ends not temptations that we &s;hould hearken and yeeld unto them, but that our love to him might appear by our re&s;i&s;tance and vanqui&s;hment of them. And our weapons in this &s;piritual warfare, are fervent importunate prayes, ari&s;ing from a true &s;incere and &s;ound piety and devotion of &s;oul; <HI>The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth, He will fulfil the de&s;ire of them that fear him; he al&s;o will hear their cry, and will &s;ave them,</HI> P&s;al. 145.28,29. He will &s;ave them out of the windings and &s;ubtil waies of <HI>error</HI> and <HI>deceit,</HI> who truly love and fear him, and in the &s;incerity of their &s;ouls call upon him: <HI>For God is faithful, and will not &s;uffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will even give the i&s;&s;ue with the temptation that they may be able to bear it,</HI> 1 Cor. 10.13. <HI>Vel cadere non &s;init, vel &agrave; ca&s;u erigit:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;&s;. in loc.</NOTE> either God
<HI>&s;uffers not the righteous to be moved,</HI> P&s;al. 55.22. <HI>Or if he fall, yet &s;hall he ri&s;e again, for the Lord upholdeth him with
<PB N="212" REF="132">his hand:&mdash;Qui tentanti dat licentiam, tentato dat mi&s;ericordi|am:</HI> The &s;ame God who &s;uffers the <HI>tempter,</HI> &s;upports the <HI>tempted</HI> al&s;o: and again&s;t the temptations of fal&s;e Prophets upholds the true faithful &s;oul that loves the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his might.</P>
<P N="4">4. As our love to <HI>God,</HI> &s;o our love to our
<HI>neighbour</HI> al&s;o is exerci&s;ed and tryed by the
<HI>permi&s;&s;ion</HI> of Here&s;ies among&s;t us: And this,
<LIST>
<ITEM> 1. By our readine&s;s to <HI>in&s;truct</HI> the ignorant, and <HI>&s;trengthen</HI> the weak, that they be not &s;educed, and en&s;nared by them: Rom. 14.1. <HI>Him that is weak in the &s;aith receive ye, but not to doubtful di&s;putations.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Before <HI>endevours</HI> in the u&s;e of all po&s;&s;ible means to bring into the way of Truth, all &s;uch as have erred, and are deceived. <HI>proving whether God will give them repentance to the acknowledge|ment of the truth, that they may e&s;cape the &s;nare of the Devil, of whom they are taken captive at his will,</HI> 2 Tim. 2.25,26.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. By your <HI>prayers</HI> for them, that God would open their eyes to under&s;tand the truth, and relinqui&s;h their errors,
<HI>that they may be converted, and be healed,</HI> Jam. 5.16. <HI>Praying one for another that ye may be healed.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="5">5. For the <HI>exerci&s;e of our patience and meekne&s;s:</HI> For all Heretiques and Schi&s;matiques what&s;oever, do generally and for the mo&s;t part a&s;&s;ume to them&s;elves to be the on|ly Church and people of God, and all others be&s;ides them&s;elves to be reprobates and ca&s;tawaies, whom there|fore, where they have power they con&s;tantly per&s;ecute, and afflict: and where outward power is wanting, they &s;hew their inward malice by bitter railings, revilings, and uncha|ritable cen&s;ures and condemnations of them: All which God permits for the exerci&s;e of our patience, meekne&s;s, and Chri&s;ti|an moderation: that being
<HI>reviled, we revile not again, not ren|dring evill for evill, nor railing for railing: but contrani|wi&s;e ble&s;&s;ing,</HI> and earne&s;tly praying for their <HI>conver&s;ion,</HI> who as earne&s;tly wi&s;h for our
<HI>confu&s;ion:</HI> and this both according to the <HI>command</HI> and
<HI>example</HI> of our ble&s;&s;ed Lord and Ma&s;ter, Mat. 5.44. <HI>But I &s;ay unto you, love your enemies, ble&s;s them that cur&s;e you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which de|&s;pitefully u&s;e you and per&s;ecute you.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="213" REF="132">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. Of the danger of Here&s;ie and Shi&s;m.</HEAD>
<P>THE mo&s;t holy God, as he is infinite in <HI>mercy,</HI> &s;o in <HI>ju&s;tice;</HI> for <HI>as well wrath as mercy cometh from him, and his indignation re&s;teth upon &s;inners:</HI> 'tis of his mercy that <HI>all things work together for good to them that love him; Etiam peccata,</HI> &s;aith the Father, ever their <HI>&s;ins,</HI> while&s;t truly repent|ed do work to their greater <HI>Humiliation,</HI> and more <HI>careful con&s;cienciou&s;ne&s;s</HI> of their waies, and &s;o their <HI>errors</HI> al&s;o do work both for their trial of, and confirmation in the mo&s;t holy faith: 'Tis of his <HI>ju&s;tice,</HI> that <HI>evill doth haunt the wicked per&s;on to his ruine:</HI> both the evil of <HI>&s;in,</HI> and the evil of
<HI>error,</HI> leaves not the wicked per&s;on till he be cea&s;ed with the evill of <HI>puni&s;hment</HI> either <HI>temporal</HI> or <HI>eternal:</HI> hence it comes to pa&s;s, that <HI>Here&s;ie is both profitable and dangerous,</HI> as S. <HI>Chry&s;.</HI> ob&s;erves,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry. Hom. 19. in Mat. 7.</NOTE> <HI>'tis u&s;eful and profitable in that thereby the truly faith|full are &s;ifted, tryed and known from the light, giddy, and coun|terfeit number of profe&s;&s;ors; and 'tis dangerous in that many are thereby &s;educed and peri&s;h.</HI></P>
<P>The great danger of Here&s;ie and Schi&s;m will appear, if we con&s;ider,</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>The infectious nature</HI> of them, how ea&s;ily this <HI>&s;piritual plague</HI> doth &s;ea&s;e, and how fa&s;t it cleaveth to the depraved &s;oul of man: There is no que&s;tion, but if holy truth could be difcerned by mortal eyes, in its native beauty and lu&s;tre, there is nothing that would &s;o much attract and ravi&s;h the &s;oul, whether we re&s;pect the
<HI>cau&s;e</HI> thereof, as being a beam di&s;plaid from the divine light of heaven: or its <HI>effect,</HI> being the perfection, and joy of the highe&s;t faculty in man, <HI>the under&s;tanding:</HI> in both re&s;pects there's nothing &s;o illu|&s;trious and lovely in it &s;elf, as holy <HI>Truth:</HI> that therefore which makes errors, and lies &s;o plau&s;ible, and
<HI>infectious,</HI> is not their own natural &s;tamp and quality which is deformed and hateful, but the <HI>counterfeit dre&s;s</HI> of &s;eeming Truth where|withall<PB N="214" REF="133">the Devil doth gild, and paint, and cover their defor|mities; nor could the devil ever obtrude his lies, and errors, but that they are gilded over with holy and religious expre&s;&s;ions, and intermixt al&s;o with many whol&s;ome and profitable truths: and thus doth this Prince of darkne&s;s <HI>transform him|&s;elf into an Angel of light,</HI> that he may at once both amu&s;e and betray the deceived &s;ouls of men, through a
<HI>&s;piritual</HI> to an <HI>eternal</HI> darkne&s;s.</P>
<P>But as <HI>&s;in</HI> is the more &s;inful and dangerous,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ibi vitiorum illecebrae &s;unt ubi tegmen pu|tabatur virtu|tum.</HI> Hier. in Eccl.</NOTE> the more 'tis palliated and clothed with the name and attire of vertue, be|cau&s;e, &s;aith <HI>Hierome, In tho&s;e veils and covers of vertue, the &s;nares of &s;infulne&s;s and vice do &s;ecretly lurk:</HI> So <HI>errors</HI> in Re|ligion are the more deceivable, and <HI>de&s;tructive,</HI> by being arayed in the garments of truth and integrity: for thus they appear to the outward view of the unskilful, <HI>more true,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Irenaeus, then truth it &s;elf, even as a coun|terfeit jewel</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Si quis aquae mixtum gyp&s;um dans pro lacte &s;educat per &s;imilitudinem coloris, &s;ic de omnibus qui quolibet modo depra|vant quae &s;unt Dei, &amp; adulterant veri|tatem Dei. Lacte gyp&s;um mal&egrave; mi&s;ce|tur.</HI> Irenae. l. 3. c. 19.</NOTE> made bright and &s;parkling by Art, &s;o deceives the eyes of the un|skilful Lapidary, that he prefers it before the true and genuine Diamond: or as poy&s;on &s;ecretly mixt with whol&s;ome food pa&s;&s;es for good nouri&s;hment:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sunt quidam vaniloqui, &amp; mentis &s;e|ductores, non Chri&s;tiani, &s;ed Chri&s;tum mercantes, &amp; cauponantes verbum E|vangelii, qui venenum erroris commi|&s;centes dulci blandimento, &s;icut oeno|meli, ut qui biberit illius potus gu&s;tabi|lem &s;en&s;um, dulcedine captus, in ob&s;er|vanter morti abdicatur.</HI> Ignat. ep. ad Trall.</NOTE> or <HI>as well mixed whitelime by the likene&s;s of its colour pa&s;&s;es for milk; &s;o the untempered mortar of fal&s;e Prophets,</HI> Ezek. 22.28. <HI>for the &s;incere milk of the Word,</HI> 1 Pet. 2.2.</P>
<P>To this de&s;tructive quality of error, the holy profe&s;&s;ions, and &s;trict au&s;tere outward actions of Heretiques do much conduce, no man &s;o pure in their <HI>own eyes,</HI> none &s;o &s;eeming|ly pure and holy, to the outward view of <HI>other mens eyes,</HI> none more zealous in their way, none &s;o full of religious phra&s;es, and Scripture expre&s;&s;ions: their <HI>cro&s;&s;ed armes, down|ca&s;t eyes, neglected ge&s;tures, garb,</HI> and <HI>attire,</HI> &s;eemingly be&s;peak them men altogether weaned from the world, and who&s;e conver&s;ation is in heaven;
<HI>Sed latet anguis in herba:</HI> when under all the&s;e fair, and goodly appearances, there lies &s;ecret|ly the &s;erpentine poy&s;on of error; fal&s;hood, and lying vanity<PB N="215" REF="133">of minde, they do not only hereby deceive them&s;elves, but mightily &s;educe, and deceive others al&s;o: For, <HI>there is no|thing</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI>)<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry. Hom. 19. in Mat. 7.</NOTE> <HI>does &s;o much de&s;troy Truth, and Holi|no&s;s, as counterfeit truth, and feigned holine&s;s; for the evil which is manife&s;t, is &s;hun'd and avoided as evil; but evil covered un|der the &s;hew of Good, is not therefore avoided, becau&s;e not known to be evil, but is received as good and holy: and doth therefore de|&s;troy that which is good by being intermixt therewith:</HI> And thus &s;aith he, <HI>the &s;ervants of the Devil do mo&s;t wickedly corrupt, and deprave the holy Chri&s;tian Religion, while&s;t they pretend to be them&s;elves good Chri&s;tians:</HI> of whom our Lord therefore commands us to beware, &s;aying,
<HI>Beware of fal&s;e Prophets which come unto you in &s;heeps clothing, but inwardly are ravening woolves,</HI> Mat. 7.15.</P>
<P N="2">2. The great danger of Here&s;ie, and Schi&s;m, will further appear, if we con&s;ider that they are ever productive, and fruitful in all licentiou&s;ne&s;s, and &s;infulne&s;s of heart, and life: for Here&s;ies being begotten by the Devil of the &s;inful cor|ruptions of men hearts as is already noted, cannot there|fore have any other i&s;&s;ue but of the &s;ame mold and temper, whereof they are them&s;elves begotten.</P>
<P>What ever therefore may be the external garbe, and ap|pearance of holine&s;s, which Heretiques generally do put on, and how ever <HI>pure</HI> they may &s;eem <HI>in their own eyes,</HI> yet are &s;uch <HI>who are not wa&s;hed from their filthine&s;s:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 30.12.</NOTE> and however they may <HI>ju&s;tifie them&s;elves</HI> with the Phari&s;ee, yet are they not therefore ju&s;t before God, but rather the further off from ju&s;tification.</P>
<P>Some of them you &s;hall hear to brag much, and boa&s;t of the
<HI>Spirit,</HI> and yet very fruitful in the lu&s;ts of the <HI>fle&s;h.</HI> For &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>whereas there is among you envying, and &s;trife, and divi&s;ions, are ye not carnal?</HI> 1 Cor. 3.3. To talk much again&s;t the vanities of the world, and to be them&s;elves world|ly minded: for &s;o faith S. <HI>John</HI> of fal&s;e Prophets: They are of the world, therefore &s;peak they of the world, and the world heareth them, 1
<HI>Joh.</HI> 4.5. To profe&s;s, and make a great &s;hew of <HI>humility</HI> and <HI>obedience:</HI> and yet as S. <HI>Jude</HI> ob|&s;erves, <HI>The de&s;pi&s;e government and &s;peak evil of dignities,</HI> ver&s;. 8.
<PB N="216" REF="134">To be righteous and ju&s;t per&s;ons: and contrary to the rule of righteou&s;ne&s;s, <HI>they render not to all men their due, tribute to whom tribute is due, cu&s;tome to whom cu&s;tome, fear to whom fear belongeth, honour to whom honour appertaineth,</HI> Rom. 13.7.</P>
<P>No men ordinarily profe&s;s more zeal to Religion then He|retiques, and to the pure wor&s;hip of God <HI>in &s;pirit and in truth;</HI> yet none do more maim, corrupt and deprave Religi|on, and undermine Gods holy wor&s;hip: the greate&s;t heat of their zeal being laid out, and exerci&s;ed in crying out again&s;t parts, and e&s;&s;ential branches of Gods &s;ervice: &s;ome again&s;t Gods <HI>Commandements,</HI> others again&s;t the
<HI>Articles</HI> of the mo&s;t holy Faith, others again&s;t that all-perfect form and pattern of devotion, the <HI>Lords Prayer,</HI> &s;ome again&s;t
<HI>publique prayers,</HI> others again&s;t the <HI>Sacraments:</HI> &s;ome are again&s;t the <HI>places,</HI> others again&s;t the <HI>times,</HI> others again&s;t the <HI>per&s;ons</HI> de|voted to the &s;acred &s;ervice of God: and others &s;acrilegi|ou&s;ly rob him of the <HI>means,</HI> and
<HI>maintenance</HI> of his &s;er|vice.</P>
<P>S. <HI>James</HI> tels us, <HI>Pure Religion, and undefiled before God, is to vi&s;it the fatherle&s;s and widowes, and to keep our &s;elves un&s;pot|ted of the world,</HI> Jam. 1.27. And yet 'tis u&s;ual with Here|tiques, none more, to profe&s;s purity of Religion, and none le&s;&s;e charitable to the fatherle&s;s and widowes, who&s;e number is increa&s;ed by their cruelty, not relieved by their mercy: And as to the pollutions of the world, none more &s;ubtil and active to undermine their neighbours, and by covetou&s;ne&s;s, inju&s;tice, fal&s;e accu&s;ations, and all unlawful and indirect means to deprive them of their means, e&s;tates, and prefer|ments in the world.</P>
<P>And hence it is that <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> and <HI>Seditions,</HI> or Schi&s;ms, are reckoned among&s;t <HI>the fruits of the fle&s;h:</HI> becau&s;e both they proceed from fle&s;hly lu&s;ts, pride, coveti&s;e, &amp;c. and are them|&s;elves al&s;o productive of many exorbitant and wicked works.</P>
<P>Nor is it po&s;&s;ible but that all <HI>Here&s;ies,</HI> and heretical opi|nions mu&s;t needs produce loo&s;e, &s;inful, and di&s;&s;olute
<HI>actions:</HI> becau&s;e the acts of the under&s;tanding, and of the will are &s;o nearly, and mixedly enterwoven, that the corruption of
<PB N="217" REF="134">the one, doth ever corrupt and vitiate the other. And in|deed there are few Here&s;ies, which either do not directly teach, or &s;ecretly imply &s;ome kinde of loo&s;ne&s;s, exorbitancy, and &s;infulne&s;s of action. The <HI>Gno&s;ticks</HI> and <HI>Ebionites</HI> open|ly declaimed again&s;t the honour of virgin <HI>cha&s;tity:</HI> The <HI>Ni|cholaitans</HI> would have all wives in common: The <HI>Manichees</HI> with their ance&s;tors, the di&s;ciples of <HI>Simon Magus,</HI> were all of loo&s;e, di&s;&s;olute, licentious lives, of whom S. <HI>Peter</HI> parti|cularly &s;peaks, 2 Pet.
2.10. <HI>Yet they</HI> (i. e. <HI>Simon Magus</HI> and his di&s;ciples)
<HI>walk after the fle&s;h in the lu&s;t of uncleanne&s;s, and de&s;pi&s;e government; pre&s;umptuous are they, and &s;elf-willed, they are not afraid to &s;peak evil of dignities.</HI> The <HI>Circumcellions</HI> were taught to lay violent hands upon them&s;elves, and the <HI>Montani&s;ts</HI> al&s;o. The
<HI>Anabapti&s;ts</HI> and many other Separa|ti&s;ts of the &s;ame &s;tamp, openly profe&s;s, that them&s;elves be|ing the only people of God, have only right therefore to the creature, all others be&s;ide them&s;elves being u&s;urpers of what they enjoy, and &s;o 'tis no inju&s;tice in them to rob, plun|der, and di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;s them of their goods and e&s;tates. The
<HI>Soli|fidians</HI> deny the nece&s;&s;ity of good works, and &s;o they may live as they li&s;t; and generally all Heretiques rail, revile, cen&s;ure, judge, and condemn all that are not of their own minde and way, which are &s;ins of no &s;mall account in the &s;ight of God.</P>
<P>And what el&s;e hath filled all Chri&s;tendome with factions, and &s;editions, with tumults and troubles, with ma&s;&s;acres, wars, and bloud&s;hed, but fir&s;t the broaching and belief of <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> and
<HI>lies,</HI> and renting the &s;eamle&s;s coat of Chri&s;t by uncharitable
<HI>excommunications,</HI> and <HI>&s;chi&s;matical &s;eparations,</HI> both of
<HI>general</HI> Churches, and <HI>particular</HI> congregations each from other? We read not, that the <HI>Arrians,</HI> or the <HI>Dona|ti&s;ts</HI> taught or profe&s;&s;ed any thing that was for matter of action, &s;inful, factious, and &s;editious: and yet the tumults and troubles, uncharitable cen&s;ures, cruel per&s;ecutions, that followed both the <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> of the one, and the <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> of the other, are too many to be expre&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>It is the duty of all good Chri&s;tians to be <HI>meek, gentle, humble, patient, obedient</HI> to &s;uperiors, &amp;c. and 'tis the duty
<PB N="218" REF="135">of all good Pa&s;tors to exhort their people to the practi&s;e of the&s;e and the re&s;t of the fruits or graces of the Spirit: but Heretiques on the contrary part blow the trumpet of war, faction, divi&s;ion, crying Down, down &s;till with this, and that, and tother piece of religious wor&s;hip, which they brand with the loathed name of <HI>Super&s;tition,</HI> only becau&s;e it &s;utes not with their deceived <HI>imaginations.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Great is the danger of Here&s;ie and Schi&s;m, becau&s;e <HI>the &s;pirit of Here&s;ie,</HI> and faction &s;huts out <HI>the Spirit of Grace,</HI> and robs the &s;oul of all divine a&s;&s;i&s;tance in the waies of life. It is no marvel therefore that Heretiques are generally cruel, mi&s;chievous, and evil per&s;ons, &s;ince they are deprived of the grace of God, without which we can do nothing that good is: And <HI>Grace</HI> cannot live out of the company of her twin|&s;i&s;ter, <HI>Truth:</HI> Grace and Truth flow from Chri&s;t the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s, as <HI>light</HI> and
<HI>heat</HI> from the Sun in the firma|ment, both which are &s;o co-e&s;&s;ential to the Sun it &s;elf, that the one cannot have a being without the other. All er|rors therefore, when through perver&s;ne&s;s and wilfulne&s;s they are grown up to be Here&s;ies, as they blinde the under|&s;tanding, &s;o they harden the heart al&s;o, and provoke the mo&s;t ju&s;t God to give up &s;uch per&s;ons to <HI>a reprobate &s;en&s;e,</HI> Rom 1.28.</P>
<P N="4">4. Here&s;ie and Schi&s;m are the more dangerous in that the infection knowes no bounds or limits, but &s;preads and <HI>eats like a canker,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.17.</NOTE> &s;aith the Apo&s;tle 2 Tim.
2.17. or as a gan|gren, which beginning in a &s;mall unperceivable &s;pot, increa|&s;es &s;till if it be not de&s;troyed, till it over&s;pread and con&s;ume the body: So 'tis in the way of <HI>Error,</HI> that which begins many times but with a &s;mall &s;cruple, if it be not wi&s;ely &s;tay|ed, increa&s;es into &s;uch erroneous opinions as are de&s;tructive to the main body of Religion, and being of a Church. Thus <HI>Montanus</HI> fir&s;t began with the conceit of <HI>immediate Revela|tion,</HI> then to limit the in&s;piration of the holy Gho&s;t to him|&s;elf, and his followers, thence they fell into the &s;in of <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> and broke off communion with the whole Church of Chri&s;t, which proceeded at length to this mon&s;trous conceit among them, that only the hou&s;e of <HI>Montanus</HI> was the true Church,
<PB N="219" REF="135">and that <HI>Montanus</HI> him&s;elf was the <HI>holy Gho&s;t:</HI> even &s;o among&s;t us fir&s;t the <HI>ceremonies,</HI> and then the <HI>&s;ub&s;tance</HI> both of the holy <HI>Sacraments,</HI> and divine
<HI>&s;ervice</HI> were fir&s;t &s;cru|pled, and then cryed down, and afterward pulled down al&s;o: fir&s;t Chri&s;tian liberty is pretended, and then bruti&s;h di&s;or|der, and confu&s;ion followes. The Church is free, 'tis mo&s;t true, and not to be clog'd, and burthened with a number of needle&s;s, fruitle&s;s, in&s;ignificant ceremonies, but yet not &s;o free, as to be freed of all order, decency, reverence, unity, and uniformity in the publique &s;ervice of God: but that &s;crupulous and new fangled &s;ouls, when they once begin to doubt, and then leave the way of truth, like travellers that have lo&s;t their way, wander up and down, and are as far, if not farther off their journeys end, then when fir&s;t they left the high and beaten road.</P>
<P>It would be endle&s;s to reckon up the &s;everal Sects and mon&s;trous Here&s;ies, which have crept in among&s;t us at this one gap fir&s;t of all, <HI>viz.</HI> The &s;chi&s;matical de&s;ertion of that publique form of prayer, admini&s;tration of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies in&s;tituted and commanded by the Church to be ob&s;erved by all the obedient &s;ons, and faithful members thereof. One who hath computed the He|re&s;ies, which &s;even years agoe &s;prung up from that time when the
<HI>Common-prayer</HI> was aboli&s;hed, &s;ayes, they have dou|bled the number, of what they were in S. <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> time, and in his daies they were very neer four&s;core: and they are much multiplied &s;ince that time, and daily do increa&s;e; for <HI>evil men and &s;educers &s;hall wax wor&s;e and wor&s;e, deceiving and being deceived,</HI> 2. Tim. 3.13. Nor mu&s;t we hope for other, till the God of all <HI>truth,</HI> and <HI>peace</HI> be plea&s;ed together with his <HI>Truth</HI> to re&s;tore <HI>unity,</HI> and
<HI>order</HI> in his wor&s;hip, where|of for our manifold &s;ins he hath &s;o long deprived us.</P>
<P N="5">5. Here&s;ies and Schi&s;ms, as they are the cur&s;ed parents of <HI>&s;in,</HI> &s;o of <HI>judgements</HI> al&s;o, both
<HI>temporal,</HI> and <HI>eternal:</HI> as to <HI>temporal judgements,</HI> S.
<HI>Stephen</HI> tels us out of Amos 5.25. <HI>That if we make to our &s;elves tabernacles, or figures to wor&s;hip them, our puni&s;hment &s;hall be to be carried away beyond Baby|lon,</HI> Act. 7.43. <HI>Babylon,</HI> &s;aith the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug de civit. dei. l. 18.</NOTE> <HI>e&s;t civitas illa con|fu&s;ionis,<PB N="218" REF="136"><GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page"> <PB N="219" REF="136"><GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page"><PB N="220" REF="137">quae indifferenter habet philo&s;ophos inter &s;e diver&s;a, &amp; adver&s;a &s;entientes.</HI> That city of confu&s;ion, which con&s;i&s;ts of per&s;ons of diver&s;e and contrary opinions each to other: and that's the portion of tho&s;e people, that either vent, or addict them&s;elves to new opinions, the fond imaginations of their own hearts, they &s;hall dwel in the mid&s;t of perpetual &s;trifes and contentions, and the Babyloni&s;h confu&s;ion of di|ver&s;e, and contrary opinions each to other: whereas Gods city, <HI>the Church,</HI> is a city <HI>that is at unity in it &s;elf,</HI> the ble&s;&s;ed inhabitants of which city, the members of the true Church are all of <HI>one heart,</HI> and of <HI>one minde:</HI> neither is there, or ought there to be in this city, as in <HI>Babel,</HI> liberty for eve|ry &s;ect-ma&s;ter to &s;et up what imaginations he plea&s;e with|out controll; for when <HI>liberty of con&s;cience</HI> produces
<HI>licen|tiou&s;ne&s;s of opinion, confu&s;ion,</HI> and <HI>di&s;order</HI> mu&s;t needs en&s;ue; and if <HI>Babylons</HI> confu&s;ion goes before, the captivity of <HI>Baby|lon</HI> will not be far behinde; for what el&s;e can be the end of <HI>confu&s;ion,</HI> through diver&s;ity of opinion, but ruine and
<HI>de&s;ola|tion?</HI></P>
<P>The ble&s;&s;ed fruits of <HI>unity</HI> and concord, are
<HI>peace</HI> and pro&s;perity; <HI>Concordi&acirc; res parvae cre&s;cunt:</HI> and the cur&s;ed ef|fects of contentions, and variety of opinions, are war, and de&s;truction; <HI>Di&s;cordi&acirc; maximae dilabuntur.</HI> The world is full of examples of both kindes: therefore is there no one Chri&s;tian duty, whereunto we have more pathetical and zealous admonitions in the Scriptures, then this of unity and agreement both in
<HI>judgement</HI> and <HI>affection:</HI> for this our ble&s;&s;ed Lord &s;o &s;ervently prayed, Joh. 17.11,22,23. To this he &s;o frequently exhorteth his. Apo&s;tles, Mark 9.50. Joh 14.27.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui perver&s;a mente de prae|ceptis pacis di|&s;cordiam faci|unt, ju&s;to dei examine ip&s;i de verbis vitae mo|riuntur.</HI> Greg. de cur. pa&s;t. Adm. 25.</NOTE> And his Apo&s;tles, all Chri&s;tians, Rom. 12.4, &amp;c. chap. 15.6. &amp; 1 Cor. 1.10.
<HI>Now I be&s;eech you brethren by the name of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that ye all &s;peak the &s;ame thing, and that there be no divi&s;ions among you, but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the &s;ame minde, and in the &s;ame judgement:</HI> &s;o al&s;o, 2 Cor. 13.11. Ephe&s;. 4.1, &amp;c. Phil. 1.27. &amp; 2.2. <HI>He therefore,</HI> &s;aith the Father, <HI>that through perver&s;|ne&s;s of minde, &s;hall out of the precepts of peace and concord, create di&s;&s;en&s;ion and &s;trife, creates death to him&s;elf out of the words<PB N="221" REF="137">of life:</HI> Charity is of the very e&s;&s;ence of Chri&s;tianity, the <HI>Queen</HI> of graces, the <HI>&s;um,</HI> perfection, and fulfilling of the divine Law: but all the bonds of Chri&s;tian Charity, and therein all the &s;acred duties we owe both to God and man,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quam ver&ograve; di|lectionem eu|&s;todit, &amp; cogi|tat, qui di&s;cor|diae farore vi&s;a|nus, eccle&s;iam &s;cindit, pacem turbat, chari|tatem di&s;&s;ipat?</HI> Cyp. de unit. eccl.</NOTE> are in|fringed and tran&s;gre&s;t by contention, &s;trife, and Schi&s;mati|cal rending and tearing the Church of Chri&s;t into factions and parties: and what ever piety &s;uch per&s;ons may out|wardly make &s;hew of, yet can they not have any true cha|rity, &s;aith <HI>Cyprian,</HI> or love either to God in the fir&s;t place, or to their neighbours in the next, who endevour not to <HI>keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.3. <HI>with|out which no man &s;hall ever &s;ee the Lord,</HI> Heb. 12.14.</P>
<P>And this will yet further appear if we con&s;ider,</P>
<P N="6">6. That Schi&s;m alone without any heretical opinions (though the&s;e two can hardly be parted) cuts a man off from the unity of the Church: for 'tis an in&s;urrection, <HI>a being in armes again&s;t the Church,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Cyprian:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Arma contra eccle&s;iam por|tat.</HI> Cyp. de unit. eccl.</NOTE> And he that <HI>is &s;epa|rated from the Church the &s;pou&s;e of Chri&s;t, is joyned to an adul|tere&s;s,</HI> &s;aith the &s;ame Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyp. ibid.</NOTE> <HI>and cuts him&s;elf off from all the promi&s;es made unto the Church and people of God:</HI> nor mu&s;t he think to own <HI>God</HI> for his
<HI>Father, who acknowledgeth not the Church for his Mother; For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body, &s;o al&s;o is Chri&s;t,</HI> 1 Cor. 12.12. And for this cau&s;e, &s;aith S. <HI>Aug.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug de correc. Doni&s;t. c.
25.</NOTE> <HI>No man can be righteous, while&s;t he &s;tands &s;epa|rated from the unity of Chri&s;ts body, but as any part or member of mans natural body being cut off the body, is thereby devoid of the &s;pirit of life: &s;o the man that is cut off from the body of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t the righteous, is thereby devoid of the &s;piritual life of righteou&s;ne&s;s, though he do retain the &s;hape, form, and likene&s;s of a true living member:</HI> and the ancient Father <HI>Irenaeus</HI> gives the rea&s;on further, out of 1 Cor. 12.28.
<HI>In the Church God hath &s;et Apo&s;tles, Prophets, teachers, &amp; univer&s;am operationem Spiritus reliquam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Irenae. adver&s;. Haerd. 3. c. 40.</NOTE> all the gifts and graces of Gods holy Spi|rit, are therein di&s;pen&s;ed: <HI>Cujus non &s;unt participes, &amp;c.</HI> whereof they are not partakers, who come not unto the Church to be joyned thereunto, but defraud them&s;elves of life by evil opinions, and wor&s;e actions: <HI>&V;bi enim eccle&s;ia,<PB N="224" REF="138">ibi &amp; &s;piritus</HI>&mdash;for where the Church is, there is the Spirit of life and &s;anctification.</P>
<P N="7">7. Heretiques,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Extra eccle&s;iam con&s;i&s;tens, &amp; contra pacem, &amp; dilectionem Chri&s;ti &s;aciens, inter adver&s;a|ros compute|tur.</HI> Cyp. ep. 76.</NOTE> and Schi&s;maticks have been ever accounted the great adver&s;aries of Chri&s;ts Church, and people, who&s;e in|te&s;tine broyles, and homebred divi&s;ions have done more mi&s;chief to the truth, and doctrine of Chri&s;t, then all the external per&s;ecutions of bloudy tyrants and Heathens: hence the &s;harp command of the Apo&s;tle again&s;t &s;uch, Tit. 3.10,11. <HI>A man that is an heretique after the fir&s;t or &s;econd admonition re|ject, knowing that he that is &s;uch, &s;ubverteth and &s;inneth, becau&s;e condemn'd of him&s;elf:</HI> &s;uch a one is &s;elf-condemned, having 1. <HI>pa&s;&s;ed &s;entence</HI> upon him&s;elf by profe&s;&s;ing again&s;t the do|ctrine, and dividing from the communion of the Church. And 2. he <HI>hath done execution</HI> upon him&s;elf al&s;o, for he hath excommunicated him&s;elf in going out from the Church: <HI>Quomodo te &agrave; tot gregibus &s;cidi&s;ti? ex&s;cidi&s;ti teip&s;um:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Firmil. ad Cyp. Ep. 75.</NOTE> He that is &s;uch a one,
<HI>reject,</HI> have no company with him, 2 The&s;&s;. 3.14. S. <HI>John</HI> going to wa&s;h him&s;elf in a Bath, and there e&s;pying <HI>Cerinthus</HI> an Heretique, leapt ha&s;tily out of the Bath again, &s;aying that he feared the fabrick of the Bath would fall upon them all that were there, &s;ince
<HI>Cerinthus</HI> the ene|my of truth is in it:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iren. adver&s;. Haer. l. 3. c. 3.</NOTE> And <HI>Polycarpus,</HI> who was S.
<HI>Johns</HI> di&s;ci|ple, and heard the&s;e words from the Apo&s;tle, meeting with <HI>Marcion</HI> another Heretique, who &s;aying unto him, <HI>Cogno&s;ce nos,</HI> acknowledge us for the true Di&s;ciples of Chri&s;t, an|&s;wered, I know thee to be the fir&s;t born of Satan. <HI>So great fear,</HI> &s;aith
<HI>Irenaeus, had the Apo&s;tles, and their Di&s;ciples of ha|ving any communication with per&s;ons that had depraved and cor|rupted the Truth:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Id. l 4. c. 62.</NOTE> according to Tit. 3.10. For <HI>nulla ab iis tanta pote&s;t e&s;&s;e corruptio, quanta e&s;t &s;chi&s;matis pernicies,</HI> &s;aith the &s;ame Father.
<HI>Athana&s;ius,</HI> and <HI>Epiphanius</HI> deny Heretiques <HI>(ni&s;i homonym&ohgr;s)</HI> to be called Chri&s;tians: and <HI>Optatus</HI> tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Apparet Anti|chri&s;tos omnes e&s;&s;e, quos con|&s;tat &agrave; charitate at&abque; ab unitate eccle&s;iae r ece&s;&s;i&s;&s;e</HI> Opt. l. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> that Schi&s;matiques are the Antichri&s;ts &s;poken of by S. <HI>John,</HI> 1 Joh. 2.18. for &s;o they are de&s;cribed, ver&s;. 19.
<HI>They went out from us, but they were not of us,</HI> &amp;c. Which is the way of Schi&s;m, and the de&s;cription of Schi&s;matiques: and he in|&s;tances in <HI>Novatian, qui extra eccle&s;iam con&s;i&s;tens, in|ter Antichri&s;tos computetur.</HI> The <HI>Samaritans,</HI> who were Schi&s;|matiques
<PB N="225" REF="138">Cyprian,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Addendo autem civitatem Sa|maritano um de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ere omitti ubi crant &s;chi&s;|matici, o&s;tendit &s;chi&s;maticos Gemilibus ad|aequari.</HI> Cyp. Ep. 76.</NOTE> from the Jewi&s;h Church, the Jewes therefore had no conver&s;ation with them, Joh. 4.9. And they are reckoned by our Saviour with the Gentiles, Mat. 10.5.</P>
<P N="8">8. The &s;ad condition of all <HI>Heretiques,</HI> and
<HI>Schi&s;matiques,</HI> lying under the guilt of grievous &s;in, and being obnoxious thereby to the <HI>judgements</HI> of God, is frequently al&s;o re|membred by the Fathers: <HI>How are they without all hope,</HI> &s;aith
<HI>Cyprian,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Id. ibid.</NOTE> <HI>and incur Gods heavy indignation, to their own ruine, who make a Schi&s;m, the holy Scripture doth declare in the book of the Kings: where the ten tribes making a breach and Schi&s;m in the Church, and departing from Judah and Benjamin, the Lord is &s;aid to be wroth with the whole &s;eed of I&s;rael.</HI> And by the example of <HI>Corah, D. than,</HI> and <HI>Abiram</HI> is manife&s;ted and proved, &s;aith the &s;ame Father in the &s;ame place,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. ep.
164.</NOTE> <HI>that they are not only guilty of great &s;in, but liable to grievous puni&s;hment who ra&s;hly joyn them&s;elves with Schi&s;matiques: Il|lud &s;celus ad exemplum devitandi: God for the pre&s;ent &s;o grie|vou&s;ly puni&s;hed the &s;in of Corah and his complices, giving us thereby an example,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Aug. to avoid the &s;ame; and &s;hew|ing that when he &s;pares to puni&s;h &s;uch per&s;ons in this life, the greater puni&s;hment he re&s;erves for them in the life to come:</HI> which is affirmed 2 Pet. 2.9.
<HI>For God will judge &s;uch per&s;ons,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Irenaeus, who make Schi&s;ms and divi&s;ions, minding more their own utility, then the Churches unity, Qui propter modi|cas qua&s;libet cau&s;as magnum, &amp; glorio&s;um corpus Chri&s;ti cen|&s;eindunt:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE> who for every light cau&s;e and unnece&s;&s;ary &s;cruples rend the great and glorious body of Chri&s;t, and as much as in them lies de&s;troy the &s;ame, &s;peaking of peace and charity, but making war and divi&s;ion, &s;training at a gnat, and &s;wallowing the camel.</HI> Gods &s;ervice is the way of mans &s;alvation, and <HI>that nation or kingdome which will not &s;erve the Lord &s;hall pe|ri&s;h,</HI> I&s;a. 6.12. The ground and foundation of Gods &s;ervice is faith, <HI>for without faith it is impo&s;&s;ible to plea&s;e God,</HI> Heb. 11.6. Now-the true, holy, and orthodox faith is but <HI>one,</HI> Eph 4.5. therefore termed the <HI>unity of faith,</HI> ver&s;. 13. Now he that plea&s;eth not God by the mean of a true faith, doth di&s;plea&s;e, and fight again&s;t him by the oppo&s;ition of a fal&s;e faith: ac|cording to our Saviours own rule, Mat. 12.30. <HI>He that is not<PB N="224" REF="139">with me is again&s;t me, and he that gathereth not with me &s;cat|tereth abroad:</HI> And undoubtedly, he that is again&s;t Chri&s;t, he that is his adver&s;ary, makes him&s;elf immediately liable to eternal condemnation, which is effected by every one that holds not the unity of the true faith, for <HI>he that beleeveth not in me is condemned already,</HI> Joh. 3.18. In a word, as the true faith believed and obeyed is the way of life, &s;o a fal&s;e faith embrac't and followed is the high way of death and ruine; as <HI>the word of truth</HI> is the key of the kingdome of heaven, &s;o <HI>the word of untruth</HI> and error, is the key that opens the gates of hell; as the fir&s;t is that true and &s;acred light which di&s;covers and clears the way that leads to light, and life everla&s;ting, &s;o the latter is the <HI>ignis fatuus,</HI> the fal&s;e fire that mi&s;guides the wandring &s;ouls of men, to the con|fines of that kingdome, where dwelleth blackne&s;s of dark|ne&s;s for evermore. Of all &s;educers and maintainers of He|re&s;ies, the Apo&s;tle S. <HI>Peter</HI> affirms, that they bring upon them&s;elves &s;wift de&s;truction, that their judgement of a long time lingreth not, and their damnation &s;lumbreth not, 2 Pet. 2.1,2,3.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. Rules and directions for the avoiding of Errors in Religion.</HEAD>
<P>THat we might be the better armed again&s;t the a&s;&s;aults of Heretiques, and heretical opinions in Religion, our Lord and Ma&s;ter hath not only foretold us, that <HI>fal&s;e teachers</HI> &s;hould in all ages of the Church ari&s;e, and <HI>errors</HI> &s;pring up with the <HI>truth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 24.23. &amp; 7.15. Mar. 13.21. Luk. 17.23.</NOTE> as
<HI>tares</HI> amid&s;t the <HI>wheat:</HI> but al&s;o hath &s;trict|ly charged us to <HI>beware of them: not to follow after them, nor believe them:</HI> who&s;e pretences &s;hall be &s;o plau&s;ible, their out|ward appearances of holine&s;s &s;o &s;pecious, and taking: and their words and works by the &s;ecret, and invi&s;ible a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Satan &s;o extraordinary, as that if it were <HI>po&s;&s;ible they would deceive the very elect.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="225" REF="139">The Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t treading in the &s;ame &s;teps with their Lord, and even in their own daies &s;eeing his words fulfilled,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 1.7. 1 Tim. 5.12. 2 Tim. 3.6,7. &amp; 4.3,4.
2 Pet. 2.1,2,3. Jude 8. Eph. 4 14. Rom. 16.17,18. 1 Joh. 4.1.</NOTE> and
<HI>fal&s;e Prophets</HI> ari&s;ing: not only &s;everely inveigh again&s;t them, but al&s;o impo&s;e upon us the &s;ame &s;trict care and cau|tion: not to be &s;educed by them, <HI>or like children to be to&s;&s;ed to and fro, and carryed about with every winde of doctrine, by the &s;leight of men, and cunning craftine&s;s, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.</HI></P>
<P>To yeeld obedience to the&s;e &s;everal injunctions, and to
<HI>&s;tand fa&s;t in the true faith rooted, and built up therein,</HI> again&s;t the a&s;&s;aults of fal&s;e and deceitful workers, the&s;e following directions will be u&s;eful.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>To be well, and throughly in&s;tructed in the grounds and principles of holy Religion:</HI> For as no firm and durable buil|ding can be rai&s;ed without a good foundation laid; &s;o no man can be built up in the mo&s;t holy faith, and firmly &s;et|led in the truth, except the foundation and ground-work be fir&s;t well, and &s;urely laid in the right under&s;tanding and firm adherence to the principles of holy Religion.</P>
<P>Now the general ground, and foundation of all holy and &s;aving Truth, is <HI>the word of God:</HI> or the divinely in&s;pired writings of
<HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the Prophets in the <HI>old,</HI> and of Chri&s;t, and his Apo&s;tles in the <HI>new</HI> Te&s;tament: <HI>Ye are built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apo&s;tles, Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf be|ing the head corner &s;tone,</HI> Eph. 2.20.</P>
<P>But although all things contained in the holy Scriptures be infallibly true, and in &s;ome re&s;pect or other u&s;e|full and edifying: yet all are not therefore <HI>fundamentall Truths.</HI></P>
<P>Tho&s;e principles of holy truth contained in the Scriptures which are fundamental, are according to the doctrine of the Church reduced to five Heads: 1. <HI>Repentance.</HI> 2. <HI>Faith.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ch. catec.</NOTE> 3. <HI>Obedience.</HI> 4. <HI>Prayer.</HI> 5.
<HI>Sacraments.</HI> If any <HI>winde of doctrine</HI> move us from off any of the grounds, our &s;ouls mu&s;t needs &s;uffer the &s;hipwrack of holy Truth, and be &s;plit upon the rocks of fal&s;e erroneous opinions: As to the&s;e principles therefore, the&s;e particular rules mu&s;t be ob&s;erved for the avoiding of errors.
<LIST>
<ITEM><PB N="226" REF="140">1. And fir&s;t for Repentance, which is termed <HI>the founda|tion of Chri&s;tian Doctrine,</HI> Heb. 6.1. He that will not build but upon what is the foundation of truth, mu&s;t not admit of any opinion what&s;oever, that &s;hall take him off from the con&s;tant confe&s;&s;ion of his &s;ins with all humility, and godly &s;orrow: remembring that <HI>there is not a ju&s;t man upon earth, that doth good and &s;inneth not,</HI> Eccl. 7.20. And the only means left us to recover our &s;elves out of the &s;nares of &s;in, is by <HI>Repentance</HI> to wa&s;h our hearts with the tears of godly &s;orrow for &s;in, to empty our &s;ouls of them by confe&s;&s;ion, and make them clean by more &s;tedfa&s;t purpo&s;es, and &s;trong re&s;i&s;tance again&s;t all temptations unto &s;in: And this is the fir&s;t part of that <HI>Bapti&s;mal vow,</HI> or of that covenant we made with God, when any of us by holy and lawful Bap|ti&s;m were admitted into the bo&s;ome of his Church: even <HI>to for&s;ake the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the &s;inful lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h:</HI> or, <HI>man|fully to fight under the banner of Chri&s;t again&s;t the devil, the world, and the fle&s;h:</HI> which is no other but to adhere to the <HI>doctrine,</HI> and to continue in the <HI>practi&s;e</HI> of true
<HI>Repen|tance.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. As to <HI>Faith,</HI> which is joyned with
<HI>Repentance,</HI> as ano|ther e&s;&s;ential part of the &s;ame foundation of Truth, Heb. 6.1. 'tis nece&s;&s;ary <HI>for the avoiding of Errors,</HI> to admit of no opinion relating to Religion, that is not agreeable to tho&s;e Articles of the Chri&s;tian faith, &s;ummarily expre&s;t in the <HI>Apo&s;tles Creed,</HI> which is that <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, or
<HI>form of &s;ound words in faith,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Symbolum A|pre&s;lolorum e&s;t regula &s;idei ve|&s;trae, brevis &amp; grandis, bre|vis numero ver|borum, grandis pondere &s;enten|tiarum.</HI> Aug. de Temp.</NOTE> we are commanded <HI>to hold fa&s;t,</HI> 2 Tim. 1.13. That modell of <HI>faith once given to Saints,</HI> we are commanded <HI>earne&s;tly to contend for,</HI> Jud. 3. <HI>The Apo&s;tles Creed</HI> (&s;aith S. <HI>Aug.</HI>) is the rule of your faith, which is though <HI>&s;hort,</HI> yet <HI>weighty: &s;hort in the number of words,</HI> but <HI>weighty in &s;entences,</HI> or the &s;everal articles thereof. The <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> of Chri&s;t is in|deed the <HI>grand Rule</HI> of faith, whereof this <HI>le&s;&s;er Rule,</HI> the Apo&s;tles Creed is the &s;um, and Epitome: <HI>And he that goes be&s;ides, and not according to the Rule of faith goes not forward in the way, but backward from the way of Truth.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. As to <HI>Obedience:</HI> To entertain no opinion, that agrees<PB N="227" REF="140">not with that all-perfect rule of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, <HI>the Deca|logue,</HI> or ten Commandements of the moral Law: for what|&s;oever &s;hall <HI>oppo&s;e, thwart, make void,</HI> or any way
<HI>take off our obedience</HI> to any of Gods Commandements, is to be re|jected as fal&s;e and erroneous: <HI>Who&s;oever</HI> (&s;aith our Lord)
<HI>&s;hall break one of the&s;e lea&s;t Commandements, and teach men &s;o to do, he &s;hall be called lea&s;t in the Kingdome of heaven:</HI> that is, &s;aith the <HI>Glo&s;&s;e, the mo&s;t de&s;pi&s;ed in the Church of Chri&s;t:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Minimus in reg|no&mdash;h. c. de|&s;pecti&s;&s;imu, in eccle&s;ia, quia decidit &agrave; fide.</HI> Lir. in loc.</NOTE> and the rea&s;on is given, <HI>becau&s;e he is faln from the faith:</HI> he is lap&s;t into error, which is expre&s;ly a&s;&s;erted by S.
<HI>John, Here|by we are &s;ure we know God, if we keep his commandements; he that &s;aith he knowes God, and keepeth not his commandements, is a lyar, and the truth is not in him,</HI> 1 Joh. 2.3,4.
<P>And in order to this <HI>Rule,</HI> 'tis nece&s;&s;ary al&s;o to admit of no opinion that tends to the breach of either of tho&s;e general Rules of <HI>Charity, which is the fulfilling of the Law,</HI> viz.
<HI>To love God above all, and thy neighbour as thy &s;elf:</HI> for <HI>on the&s;e two hang all the Law and the Prophets,</HI> Mat. 22.37, &amp;c. What&s;o|ever therefore doth not tend either 1. to the inflaming of our &s;ouls with the &s;acred fire of divine love, to the advance|ment of Gods glory, and the promoting of his &s;ervice, both <HI>inward</HI> and <HI>outward;</HI> As al&s;o what&s;oever, 2. tends not to the maintenance of <HI>love,</HI> and
<HI>unity, ju&s;tice,</HI> and <HI>charity, inno|cence,</HI> and
<HI>beneficence</HI> towards our neighbors, is not to be en|tertained as a beam &s;hining from the light of holy <HI>Truth,</HI> but as a fla&s;h of illu&s;ion &s;ugge&s;ted by the &s;pirit of <HI>Error: Hereby &s;hall all men know that you are my di&s;ciples, if ye love one another,</HI> Joh. 13.35.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> <HI>He omits</HI> (&s;aith the Father) <HI>the gift of Miracles, Tongues, Prophe&s;ies, Knowledge to under&s;tand all my&s;teries, Faith to remove mountains; by none of tho&s;e, but by your charity you &s;hall be known to be my di&s;ciples.</HI></P></ITEM>
<ITEM> 6 As to the doctrine of Prayer: That we admit of no opinion, that &s;hall take us off either from the frequent and fervent u&s;e of holy <HI>Prayers</HI> in general, or more particularly from the u&s;e of the
<HI>Lords Prayer,</HI> the which is not only com|manded by our Lord to be u&s;ed when we pray, Luk. 11.2. but by the which al&s;o we do communicate in our prayers, with all holy orthodox Chri&s;tians: there being no time when
<PB N="228" REF="141">ever we do u&s;e this prayer, but many thou&s;ands of pious per&s;ons are at the &s;ame time powring forth their &s;ouls un|to God in the words of the &s;ame prayer. To neglect there|fore, much more to de&s;pi&s;e the u&s;e of this prayer, if it be not a piece of di&s;obedience to the plain and po&s;itive com|mand of Chri&s;t and &s;o a branch of <HI>Hece&s;ie,</HI> yet 'tis a depriving our &s;elves of the greate&s;t benefit of the
<HI>Communions of Saints,</HI> and &s;o a branch of <HI>Schi&s;m.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 7. As to the Sacraments, that we reject, what ever doth either ob&s;truct the u&s;e or deny the efficacy either of
<HI>Bapti&s;m,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 26 26, 27 &amp; 28.19. Job. 6.51,53. Act. 2.38.</NOTE> or <HI>the Supper of the Lord:</HI> The u&s;e thereof being po&s;itively commanded, and the efficacy thereof as po&s;itively a&s;&s;erted by Chri&s;t him&s;elf: The&s;e being al&s;o the <HI>&s;eales</HI> of the covenant of grace, <HI>Bapti&s;m</HI> the &s;eale of our admi&s;&s;ion, and the
<HI>Euchari&s;t</HI> of our confirmation in the mo&s;t holy faith: what&s;over opinion therefore either oppo&s;eth the practi&s;e, or di&s;anuls the ver|tuous influence of the&s;e holy Chri&s;tian performances, makes void the commandements of Chri&s;t, infringeth the &s;eales of the new Covenant, ob&s;tructs the ble&s;&s;ed means of grace, and mu&s;t therefore nece&s;&s;arily be fal&s;e, erroneous, and de|&s;tructive to the Truth.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="2">2.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Id teneamus quod &s;emper, quodubi&abque;, quod ab emnibus.</HI> Vinc. Lir. c. 3.</NOTE> A &s;econd general <HI>rule</HI> for the avoiding of errors, is, That in the&s;e, and in all things, that relate to Religion, we &s;u&s;pect every opinion that is new, and &s;trange, to be fal&s;e, and erroneous: for 'tis a certain and infallible rule: <HI>That what is mo&s;t ancient and generally received is mo&s;t true:</HI> For God who is the fountain of Truth is immutable,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.17.</NOTE>
<HI>with him is no variablene&s;s, nor &s;hadow of turning.</HI> And holy Truth, being a cele&s;tial ray di&s;played from his &s;acred Maje&s;ty, mu&s;t needs be like unto him, ever con&s;tant to it &s;elf, and not liable to al|teration.</P>
<P>That we may be guided in the waies of Truth, hear what coun&s;el the holy Gho&s;t in this re&s;pect gives unto us: Deut. 4.32. <HI>Aske now of the daies that are pa&s;t, which were before thee from the day that God created man upon earth, &amp;c.</HI> and Job 8.8,9,10. <HI>For inquire I pray thee of the former age, and prepare thy &s;elf to the &s;earch of their Fathers (For we are of ye|&s;terday, and know nothing&mdash;) Shall not they teach thee and tell thee&mdash;</HI><PB N="229" REF="141">And Jer. 6.6. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord, &s;tand ye in the waies and &s;ee and for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye &s;hall finde re&s;t for your &s;ouls: But they &s;aid</HI> ('tis the &s;ay|ing of all Heretiques and Schi&s;matiques)
<HI>we will not walk therein:</HI> we are for <HI>new</HI> waies, <HI>new</HI> lights, and <HI>new</HI> revelations; we have <HI>itching ears,</HI> and the&s;e mu&s;t be &s;cratcht with new doctrines, till the &s;cab of Here&s;ie ari&s;e upon the &s;oul: your old Doctrines are out of date, they are nau&s;eous and offen|&s;ive,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4.3,4.</NOTE> their age and antiquity makes them tedious to our &s;ouls: thus &s;ound doctrine will not be endured becau&s;e men have itching ears, and therefore <HI>they &s;hall be tutned away from the truth,</HI> and <HI>&s;hall be turned unto fables and lies.</HI> But <HI>Catholicorum hoc fere proprium &amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Vinc. lirin.</NOTE> It is the prophe&s;ie of all holy Catholick good Chri&s;tians, to hold fa&s;t the Doctrines depo&s;ited, and committed by the Apo&s;tles fir&s;t to the anci|ent fathers of the Church, and by them tran&s;mitted to all po&s;terity: <HI>O</HI> Timothy <HI>keep that which is committed to thy tru&s;t, avoiding profane and vain bablings;</HI> profane, and vain, becau&s;e new and &s;trange, <HI>Quae &agrave; me non audi&s;ti,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Hie|rome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hier. in loc. 1 Tim. 6.20.
<HI>Cum Galatae, fal&s;is Prophetis auditis, nau&s;ea quadam verita|tis ad&s;ecti ca|tholicae doctrinae manna reve|mentes haereticae novitatis &s;ordi|bus oblectaren|tur, it a &s;e Apo|&s;tolica exercuit authorit as, ut &s;umma cwn ve|ritate decern<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">|ret, Licet nos aut angelus de coelo &amp;c.</HI> Vinc. c. 12.</NOTE> Doctrines which the Apo&s;tles delivered not: Nay, if they &s;hould deliver any doctrine &s;trange and new, or if an Angel from heaven &s;hould do it, the Apo&s;tle hath &s;aid it, and &s;aid it again, <HI>Though we, or an Angell from heaven &s;hould preach any other Go&s;pel then that you have received, let him be ac|cur&s;ed,</HI> Gal. 1.9. <HI>Let that therfore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning: if that which ye have heard from the begin|ning remain in you, then &s;hall ye al&s;o continue in the Son, and in the Father,</HI> 1 Joh. 2.24. And this &s;ame rule is again pre|&s;cribed 2 Joh. 6. and the rea&s;on is given, ver&s;. 7. Be|cau&s;e <HI>many deceivers are entred into the world, q. d.</HI> the way not to be deceived, is to hold fa&s;t what you heard from the beginning, and to walk in it.</P>
<P>Thus the Nicene Fathers,
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">: <HI>Hold fa&s;t the old doctrines and u&s;ages of the Church:</HI> And this was ever the cry of the Church, <HI>Mos antiquus obtineat,</HI> let antiquity be the judge what is true and what fal&s;e. He therefore that will not headlong him&s;elf into Here&s;ie, mu&s;t not be new fangled in his Religion, not affecting <HI>novelty,</HI> but &s;tick<PB N="230" REF="142">clo&s;e to <HI>antiquity,</HI> receiving nothing for truth, but what was fir&s;t received by our ance&s;tors, and delivered from one generation to another by continued &s;ucce&s;&s;ion from the times of the Apo&s;tles: <HI>For we mu&s;t not follow Religion</HI> (&s;aith the Father)<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nil novandum m&s;i quod tradi|tum e&s;t&mdash;Nos religionem non qu&acirc; vellemus ducere, &s;ed qu&acirc; illa duceret, &s;e|qui oportet.</HI> Vinc. adv. Haer. c. 9.</NOTE> <HI>which way we would lead it, but what way Religi|on leads us.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. To avoid errors in Religion, we mu&s;t beware of
<HI>ex|tremity</HI> in oppo&s;ing errors: <HI>'Tis an ordinary piece of cunning in the devil</HI> (as <HI>Luther</HI> hath ob&s;erved)<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Di&s;camus hoc e&s;&s;e proprium diaboli artifi|cium, &s;i non po|te&s;t nocere per|&s;equendo &amp; de|&s;truendo, hoc &s;acit corrigen|do &amp; aedifican|do.</HI> Luc. de refut. Haer.</NOTE> <HI>that whom he cannot hurt by per&s;ecution and affliction, he hath ruin'd in the way of cor|rection, aedification, and reformation:</HI> Thus by &s;ad experience, we have &s;een almo&s;t an extirpation of Religion under the notion of Reformation, a blinde zeal of <HI>reforming</HI> errors hath <HI>deformed</HI> the truth it &s;elf, and in &s;tead of paring the <HI>nails</HI> hath cut off both the
<HI>hands</HI> and <HI>feet</HI> of Chri&s;ts &s;pou&s;e the Church: Thus in oppo&s;ition to <HI>Prelacy,</HI> we have run in|to <HI>Anarchy:</HI> and in crying out <HI>Popery, popery,</HI> we have cryed down many nece&s;&s;ary Truths, and bani&s;ht all <HI>decency</HI> and <HI>order</HI> in divine wor&s;hip, together with all <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Di|&s;cipline,</HI> and government from among&s;t us. Thus al&s;o a pretended purity to &s;eparate from &s;inners hath cau&s;ed ma|ny to &s;eparate from people more righteous then them&s;elves: and while&s;t they have pre&s;umptuou&s;ly thought to leave the wicked of the world, they have left their religion behinde them: according to the old proverbe, <HI>making a great deal more ha&s;t then good &s;peed.</HI></P>
<P>That therefore our much forwardne&s;s in oppo&s;ing one error, may not headlong us into another, and our zeal to truth over-run and trample it under foot: we mu&s;t remem|ber that this zeal is to be tempered ever <HI>with meekne&s;s of wi&s;dome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quia quos im plet omnes &amp; columnae &s;impli|citate man&s;ue|tos, &amp; igne ze|li ardentes ex|hibet.</HI></NOTE> Gal 6.1. therefore the holy Gho&s;t de&s;cended on our Saviour in &s;hape of a <HI>Dove,</HI> as well as on his Apo&s;tles in likene&s;s of <HI>fire;</HI> to denote unto us, that we are as well to be endued with the <HI>meekne&s;s</HI> and <HI>innocence</HI> of a <HI>dove,</HI> as with the <HI>heat</HI> and <HI>fire</HI> of <HI>zeal:</HI> that as by the one we are quickned and enlivened unto <HI>piety,</HI> &s;o by the other we may be tempered, and qualified to keep within the limits of <HI>truth</HI> and
<HI>&s;ober|ne&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P N="4"><PB N="231" REF="142">4. That we beware of oppo&s;ing one part of religious truth again&s;t another, and of <HI>disjoyning</HI> tho&s;e things, which God hath <HI>joyned</HI> together, <HI>e. g.</HI> God hath joyned
<HI>faith,</HI> and <HI>good works</HI> as the <HI>&s;oul</HI> and
<HI>body,</HI> as the <HI>tree</HI> and its <HI>fruits,</HI> or as the
<HI>foundation</HI> and <HI>building</HI> of holy Religion. And in good|works, or the holy actions of obedience, he hath coupled both the Tables of the Law together, the one containing the &s;acred offices of <HI>piety</HI> towards God, and the other of <HI>ju&s;tice</HI> and <HI>charity</HI> towards man: he then that will not be guilty of <HI>Error,</HI> mu&s;t not pre&s;ume upon any pretence how &s;pecious &s;oever, to divide the&s;e or any of the&s;e each from other. For he that parts <HI>faith</HI> from <HI>good works,</HI> parts the body from the &s;oul, and overthrowes holy Religion from off its proper ba&s;is, and foundation. And he that parts <HI>holine&s;s</HI> and
<HI>righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> or righteou&s;ne&s;s from holine&s;s, who pretends
<HI>Religion</HI> to God, to be <HI>unju&s;t,</HI> or <HI>uncharita|ble</HI> to man, or out of a pretence of ju&s;tice or kindne&s;s to man, robs God of any part of his wor&s;hip, u&s;es one table of the Law as an in&s;trument to break the other, to the ruine and breach of both.</P>
<P N="5">5. To avoid errors, 'tis nece&s;&s;ary that we obey and &s;ubmit our &s;elves to the directions and guidance of tho&s;e con&s;ecrate per&s;ons, whom God hath ordained, and according to Gods or|dinance are lawfully called, and rightly in&s;tituted to be the Pa&s;tors of our &s;ouls, and the pillars of his Truth: This dire|ction God him&s;elf giveth to his people as an antidote again&s;t idolatry, and all fal&s;e wor&s;hip: Deut.
12.19. <HI>Take heed to thy &s;elf, that thou for&s;ake not the Levite, as long as thou live&s;t upon the earth:</HI> and chap. 17.8. <HI>If there ari&s;e a matter too hard for thee in judgement&mdash;thou &s;halt ari&s;e&mdash;and come unto the Prie&s;ts, the Levites&mdash;And the man that wil do pre&s;umptuou&s;ly, &amp; will not hearken unto the Prie&s;t that &s;tandeth to mini&s;ter&mdash;even that man &s;hall die,</HI> ver&s;. 12. And Mal. 2.7.
<HI>The Prie&s;ts lips, &amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Haec &s;unt initia haereticorum ut &s;ibi placeant, &amp; praepo&s;itum &s;uperbo tumore contemnant.</HI> Cyp. l. 3. epi&s;t. 9.</NOTE> The &s;ame command is given, Heb. 13.17. <HI>Obey them that have the rule over you, &amp; &s;ubmit your &s;elves, for they watch for your &s;ouls, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>But when people contemn their Pa&s;tors, and de&s;pi&s;e their directions, when they pre&s;ume to be wi&s;er then their tea|chers: and to &s;et them&s;elves above tho&s;e who are over<PB N="232" REF="143">them in the Lord: when they will controll their Prie&s;ts, and &s;natch the holy oracles out of their mouths, cen&s;ure their doctrines, revile their per&s;ons, &s;candalize their pro|fe&s;&s;ion, hence ari&s;e Here&s;ies, Schi&s;ms and factions, this opens the gap to all errors, &s;eductions, and fal&s;hoods: Thus when the &s;pirit of contradiction reigned, and <HI>the people were as tho&s;e that &s;trive with their Prie&s;ts,</HI> Ho&s;. 4.4. hear what a dreadful ruine attended them: ver&s;. 5. <HI>Therefore &s;halt thou fall in the day, and the Prophet &s;hall fall with thee in the night, de|&s;truction &s;hall follow upon de&s;truction, as the night followeth the day, and I will de&s;troy thy mother,</HI> the Church. And what el&s;e can be expected, but that men &s;hould &s;tumble, and fall into errors and deceits even when the light of &s;aving knowledge &s;hineth unto them; if the directions of tho&s;e whom God rightly placed to be the <HI>lights</HI> of his Church, Mat. 5.14. are neglected and di&s;obeyed: e&s;pecially if we remember, that all &s;uch contempt and di&s;obedience reflecteth upon Chri&s;t the true Light him&s;elf:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>In di&s;cipule magi&s;ter audi|tur, &amp; in filio pater honoralur.</HI> Bed. in loc.</NOTE> Luk. 10.16. <HI>He that heareth you heareth me</HI> (&s;aith our Lord to his Di&s;ciples, and in them to all faithful Pa&s;tors) <HI>and he that de&s;pi&s;eth you, de&s;pi&s;eth me: and he that de&s;pi&s;eth me de&s;pi&s;eth him that &s;ent me.</HI></P>
<P>And here we that are Pa&s;tors ought in all humility to acknowledge that there is as well obedience due from us to our Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Fathers, the Bi&s;hops, as there is from the people unto us: and when we deny the one, it is mo&s;t ju&s;t with God to deprive us of the other: the mi&s;erable effects whereof we are by &s;ad experience too &s;en&s;ible of.</P>
<P N="6">6. That we be not en&s;nared in the labyrinth of error,
'tis nece&s;&s;ary that we &s;uppre&s;s all &s;welling conceits of our own knowledge, and wi&s;dome: <HI>For &s;ee&s;t thou a man wi&s;e in his own conceit? there is more hopes of a fool, then of &s;uch a one,</HI> Prov. 26.12. And undoubtedly no men for the mo&s;t part are &s;o wi&s;e in their own conceits, and proud of their know|ledge in &s;piritual things, as they that have the lea&s;t porti|on of &s;piritual under&s;tanding: for the fir&s;t appearance of &s;piritual light, doth &s;o amaze all weak and ignorant minds, that they think pre&s;ently they are <HI>the children of the light,</HI> when they are not yet out of the confines of the Kingdome<PB N="233" REF="143">of darkne&s;s, and are confident of knowing all things, when as yet they have not &s;o much knowledge as to acquaint them with their own ignorance. And as one hath truly ob&s;erved, 'Tis ordinary with men, while&s;t they are young, and novices in Religion, to de&s;pi&s;e tho&s;e doctrines, and religious offices, which upon more maturity and ripene&s;s of judgement, they have approved and embraced.</P>
<P>He then that de&s;ires to be endued with the &s;pirit of truth mu&s;t conform him&s;elf to the Spirit of Chri&s;t, <HI>in all meekne&s;s and humility: Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly:</HI> Mat. 11.29. And he that will not learn this le&s;&s;on, &s;hall never learn exactly to <HI>know the errors of his waies:</HI> for Humility moulds and prepares the &s;oul to receive the impre&s;&s;ions of holy Truth: which pride and &s;elf-conceitedne&s;s re&s;i&s;ts and oppo&s;es: &s;o P&s;al. 25.9. <HI>The meek will he guide in judgement, and the meek will he teach his way:</HI> but Jam. 4.6. <HI>God re|&s;i&s;teth the proud,</HI> and 'tis becau&s;e the proud fir&s;t re&s;i&s;t the impre&s;&s;ions of Gods Spirit: <HI>As the black apple of the eye &s;ees clearly, but if there be a white pearle therein it &s;ees nothing; even &s;o the eye of humane under&s;tanding,</HI> &s;aith
<HI>Greg.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. de cur. pa&s;t. c. 11.</NOTE> <HI>if &s;en&s;ible of its own ignorance, and &s;infulne&s;s, &s;ees more clearly the &s;ecrets of Truth: but if once it apprehend, and gather a &s;elf-conceited whitene&s;s, and purity of holine&s;s and wi&s;dome, 'tis excluded from the light of cele&s;tial knowledge:</HI> For &s;o much the le&s;&s;e doth any man perceive the light of truth, by how much he is by pride exalted and puft up with conceit of his own under|&s;tanding.</P>
<P>There be too many in the&s;e &s;ad times of &s;uch univer&s;al de|lu&s;ion, that think them&s;elves very wi&s;e and great proficients in Religion, if they can but talk, and wrangle, and hold di&s;cour&s;e to and again of religious matters; &s;uch di&s;cour&s;e is too often al&s;o in Scripture phra&s;es either not under&s;tood or el&s;e wre&s;ted, and perverted, and tends ordinarily to the crying down of &s;ome religious practi&s;e, or ancient cu&s;tome of the Church, though it be not only innocent but u&s;eful and edifying: expre&s;&s;ions and arguments of this nature, the devil is ever ready to &s;ugge&s;t to the mindes of men, and to whet and &s;mooth their tongues to run on readily in &s;uch <PB N="234" REF="144">kinde of unprofitable, and de&s;tructive effu&s;ions, which puffes them up with fond conceits of their knowledge, and under|&s;tanding in the waies of God, till
<HI>profe&s;&s;ing them&s;elves wi&s;e, they become fools,</HI> and wax
<HI>vain in their imaginations,</HI> and <HI>their fooli&s;h hearts be darkned,</HI> &s;o that they cannot &s;ee the light of truth through the mi&s;t, and imperfect glimmering of their own conceited knowledge: Thus the Devil him&s;elf was lo&s;t in the bottomle&s;s pit of error, and eternal confu&s;ion, his knowledge (which was &s;o great,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> qua&s;i
<GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;ciens. Aug.</NOTE> that from the excellency thereof he derives his name in Greek) puft him up and made him &s;wel with pride, till he bur&s;t out into flat rebel|lion again&s;t his maker: they then that will not fall into the &s;ame condemnation, mu&s;t give ear to the&s;e directions of the holy Gho&s;t, Prov. 3.7. <HI>Lean not to thine own under|&s;tanding: for many are deceived by their own vain opinion, and evil &s;u&s;picion hath overthrown their judgement,</HI> Ecclus. 3.24. <HI>Wo unto them that are wi&s;e in their own eyes, and prudent in their own &s;ight,</HI> I&s;a. 5.21. <HI>Be not therefore wi&s;e in their own con|ceits,</HI> Rom.
12.16. with many more places to the &s;ame pur|po&s;e.</P>
<P N="7">7. From whence will follow another rule of direction for the avoiding of errors, <HI>That we entermeddle not with tho&s;e my&s;terious points of Religion, nor yet with tho&s;e harder places of holy Scripture, which are above the reach of our under|&s;tanding.</HI> For all &s;uch over curious entermedlings, coming from pride and &s;elf-conceited wit begets &s;uch an exorbitance in the <HI>&s;piritual man,</HI> as &s;urfetting, and drunkenne&s;s in the <HI>natural.</HI> For when men overweening their own judgements will pre&s;ume to pry into tho&s;e &s;ecret my&s;teries of godline&s;s and portions of holy writ, which their under&s;tandings can|not fathom, nor their judgements dige&s;t, hence ari&s;eth a giddine&s;s of minde, this makes them reel to and fro, and &s;tag|ger like drunken men, being to&s;t with every winde of doctrine, how &s;trange, new, and fanatick &s;oever, which I may not im|properly call a <HI>&s;piritual drunkenne&s;s with the wine of Gods Word,</HI> or a <HI>&s;urfet of the bread of life.</HI> 'Tis the grand epide|mical di&s;ea&s;e of the times, and the too too fruitful dam of many of tho&s;e abortive &s;holes of erroneous opinions that<PB N="235" REF="144">&s;warm among&s;t us. So &s;aith the Apo&s;tle of &s;uch as are be|guiled into a fal&s;e wor&s;hip: <HI>They intrude into tho&s;e things which they have not &s;een, being vainly puft up with their fle&s;hly minde,</HI> Col. 2.18. out of pride and an overweening conceit of their knowledge and judgement they pre&s;ume to meddle with what the under&s;tood not, and &s;o were cou&s;ened with fal|&s;ities and lies.</P>
<P>To avoid this mi&s;chief, take for example the Prophet
<HI>Da|vid,</HI> P&s;al. 131.1. <HI>Lord mine heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I exerci&s;e my &s;elf in great matters, or in things too high for me.</HI> Advice to the &s;ame purpo&s;e the wi&s;e
<HI>Syra|cides</HI> gives us, Ecclus. 3.21. &amp;c. <HI>Seek not the things that are too hard for thee, neither &s;earch the things that are above thy &s;trength; but what is commanded thee, think thereupon with re|verence: for it is not needful for thee to &s;ee with thine eyes the things that are in &s;ecret: be not curious in unnece&s;&s;ary matters&mdash;</HI> And if you de&s;ire advice herein yet more authentick, &s;ee Rom. 12.3. <HI>For I &s;ay through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of him&s;elf more highly then he ought to think, but to think &s;oberly:</HI> or to be wi&s;e with &s;o|briety.</P>
<P>And this wi&s;dome with &s;obriety con&s;i&s;ts of three parti|culars.
<LIST>
<ITEM> 1. Not to profe&s;s or boa&s;t of more knowledge and piety then God hath really and truly endued us withal, Ecclus. 3.25.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. Not to boa&s;t of that little knowledge and goodne&s;s which really we have, Rom. 11.20.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. Not to <HI>lean to our own under&s;tanding,</HI> Prov. 3.5.</ITEM>
</LIST> But to &s;ubmit our judgements to the judgement of per&s;ons that have more under&s;tanding then our &s;elves: remembring that even <HI>the &s;pirits of the Prophets are &s;ubject to the Prophets:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 14 32.</NOTE> And that they who had the gift of Prophe&s;ie, were comman|ded to &s;ubmit their doctrine to the judgement of others, 1 Cor. 14.29. And undoubtedly <HI>he is a man of the be&s;t judge|ment</HI> (&s;aith the Italian proverb) <HI>that tru&s;ts not to his own judgement.</HI></P>
<P N="8"><PB N="236" REF="145">8. But yet though we mu&s;t &s;ubmit our judgements to our &s;uperiors,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 14.1.</NOTE> we mu&s;t not be too <HI>credulous,</HI> nor believe every one that &s;aith he hath the Spirit, no not of the Mi|ni&s;tery,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom.
16.18.</NOTE> e&s;pecially in the&s;e evil daies, wherein <HI>many &s;alfe prophets are gone forth into the world:</HI> who <HI>with cunning words and fair &s;peeches deceive the &s;ouls of the &s;imple.</HI></P>
<P>If we judge according to the <HI>outward appearances</HI> of men, and think becau&s;e they are very zealous in their waies, and &s;trict in their life, and &s;piritual in their expre&s;|&s;ions, that therefore they are in favour with God, and know his minde, and are partakers of the Spirit of Truth; we &s;hall be &s;ure to be cou&s;en'd: Becau&s;e,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Such are generally the profe&s;&s;ions, pretences, and ap|pearances of all Heretiques, and Schi&s;matiques.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 2. The pretences and appearances of &s;uch are general|ly more fair, plau&s;ible, and zealous then ordinary: And the more forward and zealous they are in ju&s;tifying their own &s;ect, and a&s;cribing to them&s;elves infallibility, the more fal&s;e, and counterfeit commonly they be: this being the very way whereby the Devil doth by his in|&s;truments in&s;inuate all his delu&s;ions, and lying vanities, even under the plau&s;ible pretences of &s;eeming holine&s;s, for|ward zeal, and more then ordinary &s;trictne&s;s, and au&s;terity, of conver&s;ation: <HI>And no marvail, for Satan him&s;elf is trans|formed into an Angel of light, therefore 'tis no great thing, if his mini&s;ters al&s;o be transformed as Mini&s;ters of righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> 2 Cor. 14.15. <HI>i. e.</HI> &s;aith the Glo&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> collid&egrave; &s;ub &s;pecie religio|nis decipientes.</HI> Glo&s;&s;. interl.</NOTE> craftily deceiving under the &s;hew of Religion.</ITEM>
<ITEM> 3. There is in &s;ome men a more natural di&s;po&s;ition to &s;trictne&s;s and au&s;terity of life then others have, and there is a natural quickne&s;s, and volubility of language, and a natu|ral ardour and fervency of minde wherewith &s;ome men are endowed more then others: which are not therefore infal|lible tokens, that all opinions &s;uch per&s;ons maintain are or|thodox and true.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P><HI>Scultetus</HI> tels of an arch-heretique in <HI>Germany</HI> cal'd <HI>Swenchfield,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Abrab. Scult. annual. eccle&s;.</NOTE> a great Sect-ma&s;ter, who among&s;t other ex|travagancies
<PB N="237" REF="145">held many bla&s;phemous opinions touching the Scriptures, and yet this man did <HI>ardentes ad Deum preces cre|berrim&egrave; fundere,</HI> was both very fervent, and very frequent in his prayers unto God.</P>
<P><HI>Hacket,</HI> who was executed for bla&s;phemy in the daies of Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> is reported to have excelled &s;o much in the gift of <HI>extempore</HI> prayer, that his di&s;ci|ples did believe him to be altogether inflamed with the Spirit of God: and that his expre&s;&s;ions were im|mediately from the Spirit, and that there was no|thing he might not obtain from God by his pray|ers.</P>
<P><HI>Ba&s;ilides</HI> the great Duke of Mu&s;covy, was very much exerci&s;ed both in <HI>Prayer,</HI> and <HI>Fa&s;ting,</HI> and very &s;evere towards others under his command, that did not con|form to his example: He had his feigned Vi&s;ions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Paulus Odor bornius in vita. quat. l.
2.</NOTE> and Revelations al&s;o, and yet a greater Tyrant, and a more bloudy villain Chri&s;tendome hath not &s;een.</P>
<P>The Scribes and Phari&s;ees of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Church, and the Novatians and Donati&s;ts of the <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> were far greater pretenders to piety, and &s;trictne&s;s of life, then the truly orthodox of either Church, and yet very great, and noto|rious Schi&s;matiques.</P>
<P>Not to be cou&s;ened therefore with fair and goodly pretences of any party, or &s;ect of men, how &s;eeming|ly holy and zealous &s;oever, and pretending <HI>that they have Chri&s;t,</HI> that <HI>they have the Spirit,</HI> that they only are in the right, when they are deeply involv'd in an aby&s;&s;e of errors: our Lord hath fore-arm'd us with &s;ound and &s;aving coun&s;ell, Mat. 24.23, &amp;c. <HI>Then if any &s;hall &s;ay unto you, Lo here is Chri&s;t, or lo there, believe it not, for there &s;hall ari&s;e fal&s;e Chri&s;ts, and fal&s;e Prophets&mdash;Where|fore, if they &s;hall &s;ay, Behold, he is in the de&s;ert, goe not forth, behold, he is in the &s;ecret chambers, believe it not: for as the lightning cometh out of the Ea&s;t, and &s;hineth unto the We&s;t, &s;o &s;hall the comming of the Son of man be.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="238" REF="146">Two rules for the avoiding infection by fal&s;e Prophets under &s;pecious pretences, are hence ob&s;ervable.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Habet unaqua|cun&abque; Haere&s;is vel certas mun|di partes unde <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> ecce hic, ecce illic.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Every Here&s;ie</HI> (&s;aith the Glo&s;&s;e)
<HI>is limited to &s;ome particular parts of the world,</HI> and the infection is not uni|ver&s;ally diffu&s;ed, therefore 'tis &s;aid, <HI>Lo here, or lo there:</HI> If any man then &s;hall limit Chri&s;t to his particular Church, much le&s;&s;e to his particular &s;ect, or fraternity, <HI>believe it not,</HI> for &s;uch are fal&s;e Chri&s;ts, and fal&s;e Prophets:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ne credatur &s;chi&s;maticis, no|mine autem ori|entis &amp; occi|dentis torum or|bem de&s;ignat.</HI> Glo&s;&s;. ordin.</NOTE> For the Truth di&s;plaid from Chri&s;t the <HI>Sun of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e,</HI> like the light of the heaven is diffu&s;ed from Ea&s;t to We&s;t, or &s;pread over the face of the whole earth: which renders
<HI>the Church. i. e.</HI> all &s;ound and &s;incere profe&s;&s;ors of the Truth, as well <HI>Catholique</HI> as <HI>Holy.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM> 2.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vel in occultis aut ob&s;curis conventiculis curio&s;itatem ho|minum decipit haere&s;is.</HI> Id.</NOTE>
<HI>Here&s;ie,</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> &s;eek out <HI>ob&s;cure</HI> and
<HI>retired</HI> pla|ces, and begin in conventicles and private meetings, there|fore 'tis &s;aid, <HI>Behold, he is in the de&s;ert, behold, he is in the &s;ecret chambers:</HI> So the Apo&s;tle of deceivers al&s;o, they creep into hou&s;es, and lead captive &s;illy women, &amp;c. 2 Tim. 3.6. But <HI>Veritas non quaerit angulos,</HI> Truth &s;eeketh no lurking holes, is not a&s;hamed to appear in publique, being like the light that <HI>&s;hineth from Ea&s;t to We&s;t,</HI> open, free, and manife&s;t to all, except forc't to retire|ment by per&s;ecution and violence.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P N="9">9. For the avoiding of errors 'twill be nece&s;&s;ary to ob|&s;erve further: that a Truth is not to be disbelieved, or rejected, becau&s;e 'tis profe&s;t by lewd and licentious per&s;ons, or maintained by a Church, and people, that are in other re&s;pects erroneous, and mi&s;guided. For Truth is Truth, by what mouth &s;oever it bee &s;po|ken, and 'tis the more confirmed to be Truth, becau&s;e 'tis even by the enemies of Truth atte&s;ted to be &s;o.</P>
<P>The unwary neglect of this <HI>rule,</HI> hath not been the lea&s;t inlet to manifold errors: for 'tis too u&s;ual with ma|ny to object both again&s;t orthodox truths and eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cal orders on the one hand, that this or that <HI>the Papi&s;ts</HI> hold, and again&s;t a &s;trict careful con&s;cientious life on the other, that thus and thus <HI>the Puritans</HI> profe&s;s: Hence many<PB N="239" REF="146">truths have been rejected for errors, and many decent, u&s;eful orders, cu&s;tomes, ceremonies, and nece&s;&s;ary acts of di&s;cipline have been cryed down as &s;uper&s;titious, idolatrous, and anti|chri&s;tian, and the &s;acred body of religion it &s;elf is almo&s;t wholly turned out of the Church under the &s;tyle of Po|pery.</P>
<P>Nor hath that piety and integrity of life, which is required of particular per&s;ons e&s;cap'd better, but under the notion of Puritani&s;m hath been too much bani&s;ht from the lives, and manners of men, for fear of being branded with the guilt of Schi&s;m, faction, and &s;eparation.</P>
<P N="10">10 He that will not unawares headlong him&s;elf into the gulph of <HI>error,</HI> mu&s;t not pre&s;ume upon any <HI>extraordinary infu|&s;ion</HI> of Gifts, and Graces from above: but in all humility wait upon God in the u&s;e of means, and the careful improve|ment of what gifts and graces he hath already received: <HI>It is the manner of Heretiques and Hypocrites</HI> (&s;aith a learned man)<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. C<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>ever to pretend to high lights of the Spirit, and to finde new, and unheard of waies of walking with God, &s;lighting all that is common, though never &s;o commendable; and catching at all that is curious, though never &s;o dangerous; and thus they lo&s;e them&s;elves in their chymerical conceptions: and pretending to refine ancient piety, and truth, are puft up with &s;ecret pride, and pre&s;umption, and gra&s;p nothing but froth and vanity.</HI></P>
<P>That there are &s;uch things as <HI>Exta&s;ies,</HI> and more then or|dinary <HI>ravi&s;hments of &s;pirit,</HI> and <HI>infu&s;ions</HI> of divine gifts, and qualifications, is not doubted: but &s;uch &s;upereminences, on|ly &s;uperexcellent &s;ouls are capable of: neither yet are they afforded to all pious, devout, and heavenly minded per&s;ons, that &s;o none may pre&s;ume to depend upon them, but that every man &s;hould keep his &s;tation, and
<HI>walk humbly with his God:</HI> not relying upon <HI>extraordinary in&s;pirations</HI> in the neglect of <HI>ordinary means,</HI> which is in many re&s;pects de&s;tru|ctive and dangerous, as in the former Treati&s;e.</P>
<P>And although it be mo&s;t true, that the conver&s;ion of every man to the truth, being a work of the Spirit, is therefore &s;udden, and at one in&s;tant, or moment of time begotten and wrought in the &s;oul: yet notwith&s;tanding our progre&s;s<PB N="240" REF="147">towards perfection and bli&s;s in the waies of Truth, and Holi|ne&s;s, goes on &s;tep by &s;tep, lei&s;urely and by degrees: <HI>The pathes of the ju&s;t are as the &s;hining light which &s;hineth more and more to the perfect day.</HI> Prov. 4.18.</P>
<P>Both the knowledge of the <HI>Truth,</HI> and the practi&s;e of
<HI>holine&s;s,</HI> begins with dawnings like the light of the day, all darkne&s;s of <HI>ignorance,</HI> and <HI>&s;in,</HI> being not pre&s;ently, and in the &s;ame in&s;tant di&s;pel'd and &s;cattered; but by little, and little, the light of <HI>Grace</HI> and <HI>Truth</HI> increa&s;eth, and &s;till more and more clearly, &s;hineth towards perfection; and we a&s;cend from <HI>gift</HI> to <HI>gift,</HI> and from <HI>grace</HI> to <HI>grace,</HI> as the Sun mounts up by degrees to the vertical point: not unlike the motions of the Angels upon <HI>Jacobs</HI> ladder,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 18.12.</NOTE> who although they had wings, did not &s;uddenly fly up and down, but a&s;cended, and de&s;cended, &s;tep by &s;tep: &s;o &s;aith the Apo&s;tle,
<HI>Adde to your faith, vertue, to vertue, knowledge, and to knowledge, tempe|rance, &amp;c.</HI> 2 Pet. 1.5.</P>
<P>There be many now adaies, wherein di&s;&s;imulation and pre|&s;umption &s;o generally reigns, who like to tho&s;e heretical
<HI>Me&s;|&s;alians</HI> of old, pretend to that perfection as <HI>to be above or|dinances and means.</HI></P>
<P>And although it be true, that &s;ome few divine cele&s;tial &s;ouls, by their private fervent prayers, holy de&s;ires, heavenly contemplations, zealous hungrings and thir&s;tings, pantings and breathings after God, have a nearer and more clo&s;e fa|miliarity with him, then in, and by the u&s;e of external ordi|nances is attainable: yet &s;o to be above ordinances, as to live without them, is to live be&s;ides the rules of the Go&s;pel, and not to &s;ubmit to the Law and government of Chri&s;t, which is in effect to &s;ay with tho&s;e rebels in the parable, <HI>We will not have this man to reign over us.</HI></P>
<P>While&s;t our &s;ouls do inhabit in the&s;e tabernacles of clay, God hath appointed us to receive his ble&s;&s;ings by means &s;utable to our condition: And to have our ble&s;&s;edne&s;s di|&s;pen&s;ed by Gods immediate hand, is not to be hoped for, till we have our con&s;ummation with the ble&s;&s;ed Saints, and An|gels of heaven.</P>
<P>In the mean time let us take heed, le&s;t while&s;t we exalt our
<PB N="241" REF="147">&s;elves to be equal with the <HI>Angels,</HI> we fall not lower then the &s;tate of <HI>good men,</HI> and prove like hollow ve&s;&s;els, all &s;ound, and no &s;ub&s;tance, all prattle and pretence, without the &s;ound|ne&s;s and &s;incerity of pure and undefiled Religion: He that will ri&s;e to perfection mu&s;t fall low in his own e&s;timation: 1 Pet.
5.6. Humble your &s;elves&mdash;If in all humility and obe|dience we keep within that line of duty, which God in his good providence hath drawn about us, he will in his due time exalt us to &s;uch a mea&s;ure of gifts, and graces, as &s;hall be&s;t conduce to the advancement of his &s;ervice, and our own &s;alvation.</P>
<P N="11">11. La&s;tly, he that will carefully avoid all erroneous opi|nions in Religion, mu&s;t not dwell &s;o much in di&s;putes and argumentations in the things of God, as in the con&s;cienti|ous practi&s;e, and careful obedience unto his mo&s;t holy Laws: 'Tis not true Religion that is only <HI>notionary</HI> in the brain, nor that a godly zeal, that only dwels upon the tongue, they mu&s;t be al&s;o <HI>practical</HI> in the heart, and have their influence upon the actions and manners of our lives, conforming them to that all-perfect rule of righteou&s;ne&s;s, which is the will and command of God.</P>
<P>There was never more talk and prattle of Religion, and yet never le&s;s practi&s;e, all the fire of holy zeal is &s;pent in preaching, and hearing, di&s;puting, and wrangling, and the maintenance of &s;ects and factions; while&s;t obedience to Gods Commandements lies a bleeding, and the &s;incere practi&s;e of Chri&s;tianity, which is the life thereof, is neglected: all the &s;ap of grace being wa&s;ted in the production of leaves, no fruits of truly pious, and charitable actions appear: which is not the lea&s;t cau&s;e of &s;uch univer&s;al apo&s;ta&s;ie from the Truth. For while&s;t Religion is not &s;etled in the heart, and thence breaks forth into the actions of a holy life, but floats aloft in the fan&s;ie, and de&s;cends no lower then the ear, or tongue, to hear and talk of it; thus it does but render the minde fickle, and apt to receive the impre&s;&s;ion of every new and &s;trange opinion how erroneous &s;oever, if it wear but the garments and appear in the colours of the Spirit of grace and truth.</P>
<P><PB N="242" REF="148">It is al&s;o &s;ad to ob&s;erve how eagerly men contend for <HI>&s;ha|dowes,</HI> in the lo&s;s of the
<HI>&s;ub&s;tance:</HI> how &s;trict and curious ma|ny are in &s;maller matters, and things of indifferency, while&s;t the e&s;&s;ential duties of Chri&s;tianity are &s;lighted. A &s;pice of that old hypocri&s;ie of the Scribes and Phari&s;ees: <HI>who paid tithes of mint, cumin, and ani&s;e, but omitted the weightier matters of the Law,</HI> judgement, mercy, and &s;aith, Mat. 23.23.</P>
<P>There is no readier way to give &s;top to the current, and &s;tay the violent inundation of Here&s;ies among&s;t us, then that profe&s;&s;ors of Religion would be more careful of religious practi&s;es, then &s;tudious of opinions; more indu&s;trious to &s;ub|due their carnal, and worldly lu&s;ts, and to cheri&s;h all inclina|tions to pious and charitable actions, then to move que&s;tions, and rai&s;e di&s;putes in religious matters; undoubtedly more practi&s;e of Religion, and le&s;s di&s;pute about it, would much wither the tares of error now in their full growth, and make tho&s;e holy orthodox truths appear in their proper lu&s;tre, which are now ob&s;cur'd in the bu&s;tle of unnece&s;&s;ary conten|tions, and lo&s;t in the confu&s;ed heap of variance and vain opi|nions.</P>
<P N="12">12. There are two practical points of holy Chri&s;tian Reli|gion, which are great antidotes, and pre&s;ervatives again&s;t the delu&s;ions of Satan, if carefully and con&s;cientiou&s;ly performed, <HI>viz Prayer,</HI> and <HI>Fa&s;ting:</HI> this being as 'twere the <HI>body,</HI> and the other the <HI>&s;oul</HI> of true practical piety. And the concur|rence of the&s;e two together, a religious <HI>Fa&s;t,</HI> with a pure and fervent
<HI>Prayer,</HI> is armour of proof, again&s;t the mo&s;t violent temptations of Satan, either to <HI>&s;infulne&s;s,</HI> or <HI>error:</HI> when no|thing el&s;e will enchain the Devil, and quell his temptations, he is <HI>ca&s;t out by prayer and fa&s;ting.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 9.19.</NOTE>
<HI>Prayer</HI> is that <HI>whip,</HI> which drives the Devil out of the
<HI>temple</HI> of the Heart: and <HI>Fa&s;ting</HI> makes this whip more
<HI>&s;harp,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Oratio daemoni flagellum.</HI></NOTE> vigorous, and piercing: <HI>Prayer</HI> is that <HI>chain</HI> which ties up the Devil from the infu&s;ion of his &s;eductions and deceits:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">junium ora|tionem reborat.</HI> Bern.</NOTE> and by <HI>fa&s;ting</HI> we <HI>&s;trengthen</HI> the chain, and make it hold.</P>
<P N="13">13. But a <HI>threefold cord is not ea&s;ily broken:</HI> If therefore we &s;hall adde to our <HI>Prayers</HI> and Fa&s;tings,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl.
4.12.</NOTE> the exerci&s;e of Chri&s;ti|an <HI>Charity,</HI> avoiding all malice, and hatred, all uncharitable <PB N="243" REF="148">cen&s;ures, bitter railings, and envyings one of another, which are too u&s;ual with per&s;ons of different per&s;wa&s;ions: and &s;hall with all meekne&s;s of wi&s;dome, long-&s;uffering, and forbearance, endevour each others in&s;truction, and direction in the waies of truth, and holine&s;s: again&s;t &s;uch powerful &s;piritual wea|pons, undoubtedly, the &s;pirit of error &s;hall not have &s;trength to prevail, while&s;t through the mean of a lively faith the&s;e holy actions receive their efficacy and value from the meri|torious death and &s;ufferings of our deare&s;t Lord and Saviour, who by his death hath overcome him who had the power of death, the Devil, and all the &s;pirits and powers of darkne&s;s: all who&s;e black and mi&s;chievous de&s;igns, and &s;ecret in&s;inua|tions of error, and deceit, are annihilate, and deaded, and from them, all we have redemption through faith in the bloud of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Ble&s;&s;ed Lord who ha&s;t built thy Church upon a rock, and pro|mi&s;ed that the gates of hell &s;hould never prevail again&s;t it;</HI></P>
<P><HI>Behold O Lord how that infernal &s;pirit of error, and delu&s;ion hath pro&s;pered and prevailed among&s;t us.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O God the heathen are come into thine inheritance, thy holy Temple have they defiled, and made thy Church an heap of con|fu&s;ions and di&s;order.</HI></P>
<P><HI>We are become an open &s;hame unto our enemies, a very &s;corn and deri&s;ion to them that are round about us.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Lord how long wilt thou be angry? &s;hall thy jealou&s;ie burn like fire for ever?</HI></P>
<P><HI>O remember not our old &s;ins, but have mercy upon us, and that &s;oon, for we are come to great mi&s;ery.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Help us O God of our &s;alvation, for the glory of thy name.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O deliver us, and be merciful to our &s;ins for thy Names &s;ake.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O be gracious to thine inheritance, and let not thine enemies any longer devour and tear thy Church into erroneous &s;ects and factions.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Remove not good Lord, thy candle&s;tick, the light of thy truth from among&s;t us: but let us ever enjoy the freedome of thy Go|&s;pel, the food of thy Word, and &s;weet refre&s;hing of thy Sacraments, with all the benefits of the communion of Saints.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="244" REF="149"><HI>So we that be thy people, and the &s;heep of thy pa&s;ture, will give thee thanks for ever, and will &s;hew forth thy prai&s;e to all genera|tions.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And to this end vouch&s;afe holy Father, to give us a right un|der&s;tanding, and firm practical belief of all the points of holy Chri&s;tian Doctrine: with an humble con&s;cientious obedience to all thy mo&s;t holy Lawes: inflame our hearts with the mo&s;t &s;acred fire of Charity, that we per&s;evering in the love and &s;ervice of thy &s;acred Maje&s;ty, and in mutual love and brotherly kindne&s;s each to other, thy mercy may in the end receive us from amid&s;t the tumultuous waves of temptations to &s;ins and errors in this life, to the haven of eternal &s;ecurity, and peaceful felicity in the life to come, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord, Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TRAILER>THE END.</TRAILER>
</GROUP>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="149">
<HEAD>A Catalogue of &s;ome Books printed for <HI>Rich. Roy&s;ton</HI> at the Angel in Ivie-lane, <HI>London,</HI> and &s;ome formerly Printed at <HI>OXFORD.</HI></HEAD>
<LIST>
<HEAD>Books written by <HI>H. Hammond,</HI> D.D.</HEAD>
<ITEM>A Paraphra&s;e and Annotations upon all the Books of the New Te&s;t. by <HI>H. Hammond</HI> D.D. in <HI>fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>The Practical Catechi&s;m,</HI> with all other Engli&s;h Treati&s;es of <HI>H. Ham|mond</HI> D.D. in two volumes in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Di&s;&s;ertationes quatuor, quibus Epi&s;copatus Jura ex S. Scripturis &amp; primaeva Antiquitate ad&s;truuntur, contra &s;ententiam D.</HI> Blondelli <HI>&amp; altorum. Au|thore</HI> Henrico Hammond, <HI>in</HI>
4</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. A Letter of Re&s;olution of &s;ix Queries, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. Of Schi&s;m. A defence of the Church of England, again&s;t the Excepti|ons of the Romani&s;ts, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. Of Fundamentals in a notion referring to practice, by
<HI>H. Hammond</HI> D.D. in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. Six books of late Controver&s;ie in defence of the Church of England, in two volumes in 4. newly publi&s;hed.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>The names of &s;everal Treati&s;es and Sermons written by
<HI>Jer. Taylor</HI> D.D.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1. <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, Cour&s;e of Sermons for all the Sundays in the year, together with a Di&s;cour&s;e of the Divine In&s;titution, Nece&s;&s;ity, and Separa|tion of the Office Mini&s;terial, in <HI>fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Epi&s;copacy a&s;&s;erted, in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The Hi&s;tory of the Life and Death of the Ever-ble&s;&s;ed Je&s;us Chri&s;t, 2. Edit. in <HI>fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The Liberty of Prophe&s;ying in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. An Apologie for authori&s;ed and Set-formes of Liturgie, in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. A di&s;cour&s;e of Bapti&s;m, its in&s;titution &amp; efficacy upon all Beleevers, in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. The Rule and Exerci&s;es of holy living, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8. The Rule and Exerci&s;es of holy dying, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>9. A &s;hort Catechi&s;m for in&s;titution of young per&s;ons in the Chri&s;tian Religion, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>10. A &s;hort in&s;titution of Grammar compo&s;ed for young Scholars in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>11. The Real Pre&s;ence and &s;piritual of <HI>CHRIST</HI> in the Ble&s;&s;ed Sa|crament<PB REF="150">proved again&s;t the Doctrine of Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation, in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>12 The Golden Grove, or, A Manual of daily Prayers fitted to the daies of the week, together with a &s;hort Method of Peace and Holine&s;s.</ITEM>
<ITEM>13. The Doctrine and practi&s;e of repentance re&s;cued from Popular Er|rors, in a large 8. Newly publi&s;hed.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Certamen Religio&s;um,</HI> or a Conference between the late King of <HI>Engl.</HI> and the late Lord Marque&s;&s;e of
<HI>Worce&s;t.</HI> concerning Religion, at <HI>Ragland</HI> Ca&s;tle, together with a Vindication of the Prote&s;tant Cau&s;e, by <HI>Chr. Cartwright,</HI> in
4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The P&s;alter of <HI>David,</HI> with Titles and Collects according to the matter of each P&s;alm, by the Right honorable <HI>Chr. Hatton,</HI> in 12. the fifth Edition with additionals.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Boanerges</HI> and <HI>Barnabas,</HI> or Judgement and Mercy for wounded and affli|cted &s;ouls, in &s;everal Soliloquies, by
<HI>Francis Quarles,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The life of Faith in dead Times, by <HI>Chr. Hud&s;on</HI> Preacher at <HI>Putney,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Guide unto true Ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e, or a Body of the Doctrine of the Scri|ptures, directing a man to the &s;aving knowledg of God, by <HI>Sam. Crook,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Six excellent Sermons upon &s;everal occa&s;ions preached by
<HI>Edw. Willan,</HI> Vicar of <HI>Hoxne,</HI> in 40.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Dipper Dipp'd, or the Anabapti&s;t duck'd and plung'd over head and ears, by <HI>Daniel Featly,</HI> D.D. in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Hermes Theologus,</HI> or a Divine Mercury; new De&s;cants upon old Records, by <HI>Theoph. Wodnote,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Philo&s;ophical Elements concerning Government and civil Society, by <HI>Thomas Hobbs</HI> of <HI>Malmsbury,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An E&s;&s;ay upon <HI>Statius,</HI> or the five fir&s;t Books of <HI>Pub. Papinius Statius</HI> his <HI>Thebais,</HI> by <HI>Tho. Stephens,</HI> Schoolma&s;ter in Saint <HI>Edmundsbury,</HI> in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Nomenclatura Brevis Anglo-Latino-Graeca inu&s;um Scholae We&s;tmona&s;terien&s;is, per</HI> F. Gregory, <HI>in</HI> 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Etymologicum Parvum in u&s;um Scholae publicae We&s;tmona&s;terien&s;is, opera &amp; &s;tudio</HI> Franci&s;ci Gregorii,
<HI>in</HI> 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Grammatices Graecae Enchiridion in u&s;um Scholae Collegialis Wigorniae, in</HI> 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A di&s;cour&s;e of Holy Love by Sir <HI>Geo. Strode</HI> Knight, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Saints Honey-comb full of Divine Truths, by <HI>R. Gove,</HI> Preacher of <HI>Henton S. George</HI> in
<HI>Somer&s;et-&s;hire,</HI> in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Communicants Guide, directing the younger &s;ort which have never yet received, and the elder and ignorant &s;ort, which have hitherto re|ceived unworthily, how they may receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper with comfort, by <HI>R. Gove,</HI> in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Contemplation of Heaven, with an Exerci&s;e of Love, and a De&s;cant on the Prayer in the Garden, by a Catholick Gent. in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Full An&s;wer to a Declaration of the Hou&s;e of Commons concerning no more addre&s;&s;es to the King, printed at <HI>Oxford</HI> 1648. in 4.</ITEM>
<PB REF="150">
<ITEM>The Royali&s;ts Defence, printed at <HI>Oxford</HI> 1648.
4.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Mercurius Ru&s;ticus,</HI> or the Countreymans Complaint, printed at <HI>Oxford</HI> 1648 in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Relation of the Conference between <HI>W. Laud,</HI> Lord Archb. of <HI>Canter|bury,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Fi&s;her</HI> the Je&s;uite by command of K <HI>James, fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Church Lands not to be &s;old, 1647. in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Countrey-mans Catechi&s;m, or the Churches plea for Tithes by <HI>R. Boreman,</HI> B.D. in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Regal Apologie printed at <HI>Oxford,</HI> in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Fair Warning to take heed of the <HI>Scotti&s;h</HI> Di&s;cipline by Bi&s;hop <HI>Bram|hall,</HI> in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sacro&s;ancta Regia Maje&s;tas</HI> in 4. printed at
<HI>Oxford,</HI> and written by the Arch|bi&s;hop of <HI>Tu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Chri&s;tians Directory, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Royal Slave, a Play in 4 acted at Chri&s;t-Church in
<HI>Oxford.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Devotion dige&s;ted into &s;everal Di&s;cour&s;es and Meditations upon the Lords mo&s;t holy Prayer; Together with additional Exercitations upon Ba|pti&s;m, The Lords Supper, Here&s;ies, Bla&s;phemy, The Creatures, The &s;ouls pantings after God, The Mercies of God, The &s;ouls complaint of its ab&s;ence from God, by <HI>Peter Samwaies,</HI> Fellow lately re&s;ident in Trinity Col. <HI>Camb.</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the Divi&s;ion between the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> and
<HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Church upon Refor|mation by <HI>H Fern.</HI> D.D. in 12. the &s;econd Edition with many Additio|nals</ITEM>
<ITEM>Directions for the profitable reading of the Scriptures, by
<HI>John White,</HI> M.A. in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Exemplary lives and Memorable Acts of the 9 mo&s;t worthy women of the world, 3 Jews, 3 Gentiles, 3 Chri&s;tians, by <HI>Tho. Heywood,</HI> in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Saints Legacies, or a Collection of Promi&s;es out of the Word of God, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Judicium Univer&s;itatis Oxonien&s;is de Solenni Lege &amp; Foedere, Juramento Negativo,</HI> &amp;c. in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Certain Sermons and Letters of Defence and Re&s;olutions to &s;ome of the late Controver&s;aries of our times, by <HI>Ja&s;per Mayn,</HI> D.D. in 4. New.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Janua Linguaxum Re&s;erata, &s;ive omnium Scientiarum &amp; Linguarum &s;emina|rium, Auctore Cl. Viro J.A. Gomenio, in</HI>
12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Treati&s;e concerning Divine Providence, very &s;ea&s;onable for all ages, by <HI>Tho. Morton</HI> Bi&s;hop of
<HI>Dure&s;me,</HI> in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Ob&s;ervations upon Mr. <HI>Hobbs</HI> his
<HI>Leviathan,</HI> with &s;ome Ob&s;ervation up|on Sir <HI>Walter Rawleigh</HI>'s Hi&s;tory of the World, by <HI>Alex. Ro&s;&s;e,</HI> in
12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Fifty Sermons preached by that learned &amp; reverend Divine,
<HI>Jo. Donne.</HI> in <HI>fol.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wits Common wealth, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Banquet of Je&s;ts new and old, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Balzac</HI>'s Letters the fourth part, in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Quarles</HI> Virgin Widow, a Play, 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Solomon</HI>'s Recantation, in 4 by <HI>Francis Quarles.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Ame&s;ii anti&s;ynodalia,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<PB REF="151">
<ITEM>Chri&s;ts Commination again&s;t Scandalizers, by <HI>John Tombes,</HI> in 12. New.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Dr. <HI>Stuart</HI>'s An&s;wer to <HI>Fountains</HI> Letter, in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Tract of Fortifications, with 22. Bra&s;&s;e cuts in
4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Dr. <HI>Griffiths</HI> Sermon preached at S. <HI>Pauls,</HI> in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Ble&s;&s;ed Birth-day, printed at <HI>Oxford,</HI> in
8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Di&s;cour&s;e of the &s;tate Eccle&s;ia&s;tical in
4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An account of the Church Catholique where it was before the Reforma|tion, by <HI>Edw. Boughen</HI> D.D. in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An Adverti&s;ement to the Jewry men of <HI>England</HI> touching Witches, written by the Author of the Ob&s;ervations upon Mr.
<HI>Hobbs</HI> Leviathan, in 4. New.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Epi&s;copacy and Presbytery con&s;idered, by <HI>Hen. Fern.</HI> D.D. in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Sermon preached at the I&s;le of <HI>Wight</HI> before his Maje&s;ty, by <HI>H. Fern,</HI> D.D. in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Commoners Liberty, or the Engli&s;h mans Birth-right, in
4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An Expedient for compo&s;ing Differences in Religion, in
4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Treati&s;e of Self denial, in 4. by a concealed Author.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The holy Life and death of the late Vicounte&s;&s;e
<HI>Falkland,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Certain Con&s;iderations of pre&s;ent Concernment, Touching the Refor|med Church of <HI>England,</HI> by <HI>H. Fern,</HI> in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Englands</HI> Faithful Reprover and Monitor in 12. by
<HI>John Allington.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>Newly publi&s;hed.</HEAD>
<ITEM>The grand Con&s;piracy of the Members again&s;t the Mind, of Jews again&s;t their King. As it hath been delivered in four Sermons by
<HI>John Alling|ton,</HI> B.D. in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>White Salt,</HI> or a &s;ober Correction of a mad World, by <HI>John Sherman,</HI> B.D. a di&s;continuer, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The matching of the Magi&s;trates Authority, and the Chri&s;tians true Li|berty in matters of Religion, by <HI>Will. Lyford,</HI> B. D. and late Mini&s;ter of <HI>Sherborn</HI> in <HI>Dor&s;.</HI> in 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A compendious Di&s;cour&s;e upon the Ca&s;e as it it &s;tands between the Church of <HI>England,</HI> and tho&s;e Congregations that have divided from it, by <HI>Hen. Fern.</HI> D.D. New.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A correct Copy of &s;ome Notes, concerning Gods Decrees e&s;pecially of Reprobation, by <HI>T. P.</HI> Preacher of Gods Word in
<HI>Northampton&s;hire,</HI> and publi&s;hed to prevent calumny in 4. New.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Hi&s;tory of the Church of <HI>Scotland,</HI> by <HI>Joh. Spot&s;wood</HI> Archbi&s;hop of St. <HI>Andrews,</HI> in <HI>fol.</HI> New.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Phra&s;eologia Anglo-Latina,</HI> or Engli&s;h Proprieties rendred into proper La|tine for the u&s;e and benefit of Grammar Scholars, in 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Dr. <HI>Cou&s;ins</HI> Devotions, in 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The per&s;ecuted Mini&s;tery, by <HI>William Langley</HI> late of St. <HI>Maries</HI> in the City of <HI>Liechfield,</HI> Mini&s;ter, in
4.</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>THE END.</TRAILER>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
