A Key Opening Mysterious Texts of Scripture, Collection of sermons 5 · Sermon 58
OLD AND NEW IDOLATRY PARALLELED. THE LVIII. SERMON.
1 KINGS 18.21.
If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.
Right Honourable, &c.
THe ſumme and ſubſtance of the ſpeech made by the Prophet Elijah before King Ahab, the Nobles and Commons of Iſrael aſſembled on Mount Carmel, is a quicke and ſprightly reproofe of wavering unſettledneſſe, fearfull lukewarmneſſe, and temporizing hypocriſie in matter of Religion, which we are ſtedfaſtly to reſolve upon, openly to profeſſe, and zealouſly to maintain even with ſtriving unto bloud, which is gloriouſly dyed by death for the truth with the tincture of Martyrdome. How long halt yee between two opinions? &c. This reprehenſory exhortation, or exhortatory reprehenſion was occaſioned by the mammering in which the people were at this time: the cauſes whereof I lately enquired into, to the end that as the fall of the Jewes became the riſe of the Gentiles; ſo the halting of the Iſraelites between the right way and the wrong, might prove our ſpeedy running in the race of godlineſſe to the goale of perfection, for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jeſus. The cauſe which I then declared unto you of their halting between two opinions was this: Ahab (inſtigated eſpecially by his wife Jezebel, partly by his example, but much more by furiouſly brandiſhing before them the ſword reking with the hot bloud of the ſlaughtered Prophets and ſervants of the true God) drove them to Baals groves, where they proſtrated themſelves before that abominable Idoll, and offered the flames of their Holocauſts to the bright beames of the Sunne. This their bowing to Baal, and burning incenſe to the hoſt of Heaven, ſo incenſed the God of Heaven, that he barred up the windowes of Heaven, and puniſhed their not thirſting after the water of life, with ſuch a drouth, that not men only and beaſts, but the earth alſo every where chopped & gaſped for ſome moiſture to refreſh her dried bowels, which for the ſpace of wel-nigh three yeers had no other irrigation than the effuſion of Saints bloud. The people thus miſerably perplexed, as being perſecuted on the one ſide by the Prince, and plagued on the other ſide by God himſelfe, in the end faint, and yeeld to the worſhip both of God & Baal. The crafty Serpent of Paradiſe reſembleth the Serpent called Amphisbaena, which hath two heads, & moveth contrary wayes at the ſame time. For when hee could not make them hot in Idolatry by feare, he cooleth them in the ſervice of God, and bringeth them to a luke-warme temper in the true Religion. At this the Prophet Elijah is exceedingly moved, and put out of all patience: his fiery ſpirit carrieth him firſt to Ahab, whom he thus charmeth; It is not I, but thou and thy fathers houſe that have troubled Iſrael, becauſe yee have followed Baalim: after up to Mount Carmel, where meeting with a Parliament of all Iſrael, hee thus abruptly and boldly ſetteth upon them: How long halt yee between two opinions? Every word hath his ſpirit and accent: How long? and halt ye? and between two opinions? It is a foule imperfection to halt, and yet more ſhamefull long to halt, moſt of all between two waies, and miſſe them both. To be inconſtant in civill affaires, which are in their own nature inconſtant, is weakneſſe: but in Religion, which is alwayes conſtant and one and the ſelfe ſame, to be unſettled, is (as I proved to you heretofore) the greateſt folly in the world. For he who is not aſſured of one Religion, is ſure to be ſaved by none. Yet as maſſie bodies have ſome quaverings and trepidations before they fixe and ſettle themſelves, ſo the moſt reſolved and eſtabliſhed Chriſtian hath a time before hee reſt unmoveable in the foundations of the true Religion; but he is not long in this motion of trepidation, he is not altogether liable to this reproofe of Elijah, How long halt yee between two opinions? Halting between two opinions may be (as I then exemplified unto you) two maner of waies, either by limping in a middle way betwixt both, or by often croſſing waies, and going ſometimes in one way, ſometimes in another.
Againſt theſe two ſtrong holds of Sathan the Prophet Elijah ſetteth a dilemma, as it were an iron ramme with two hornes; with the one hee battereth down the one, and with the other the other. If the Lord be God, then are ye not to ſtay or halt as ye do between two religions, but ſpeedily and reſolutely to follow him, and embrace his true worſhip; but if yee can harbour ſuch a thought, as that Baal ſhould be God, then go after him. Either Jehovah is God, or Baal is he, as ye all agree; whether of the two be, it is certaine neither of them liketh of halting followers. If God be the Soveraigne of the whole world, why bow ye the knee to Baal? if Baal be hee, why make yee ſupplications to God? why enquire yee of his Prophets? What Lord ſoever be God, he is to be followed: if the Lord be he, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.
I hold it needleſſe to make any curious enquiry into the names or rites of this Idoll; that which way ſuffice for the underſtanding of this and other Texts of Scripture, I find that Baal was the abomination of the Sidonians, a people of Phoenicia, who (asaEx Rainold. de Rom. Eccleſ. Idolatr. l. 2. Sanchoniacho an ancient writer of that country, and Herodian a later Romane Hiſtorian affirme) worſhipped the Sunne, invocating him Beel, or Baal-Samen, that is in their language, Lord of Heaven. Though this Idoll were but one, yet in regard of the divers Images ſet up to it in divers places, we reade of Baalim, & Baal-Peor, and Baal-Zebub; juſt (ſaith Ribera the Jeſuit) as the Bleſſed Virgin, though ſhe be but one, yet ſhe is called by divers names, taken from the places where her Images are erected, as namely, ſhe is called ſometimes Lady of Loretto, ſometimes of Monte ſerato, ſometimes of Hayles.
But before I come to parallel the Papiſts and the Baalites, give us leave, rightbThe Lord Wotton extraordinary Embaſſador, and the Lieger Sir Thomas Edmonds. Honourable, who are Embaſſadors for Chriſt, to endeavour to imitate that vertue which is moſt eminent in men of your place, I meane courage and liberty, to deliver what wee have in commiſſion from our Lord and Maſter. Yee will ſay, what need this preface? what doth this Text concerne any here? though it be ſet upon the tenter hookes never ſo long, it cannot reach to any Chriſtian congregation. It were ignorance and impudency to affirme, that any who have given their names to Chriſt halt between God and Baal, or offer incenſe to the Sunne. I hope I may excuſe all here preſent from the ſin of the Baalites, & I would I could alſo all others, who profeſſe themſelves Chriſtians; but that I cannot doe, ſo long as the whoredomes of the Romiſh Jezebel are as evident as the Sunne-beames, which the Baalites worſhipped. I find not in Scripture Idolaters branded chiefly becauſe they were Baalites, but Baalites becauſe they were Idolaters. If then any who beare the name of Chriſtians may bee juſtly charged with idolatry, they fall under the ſharp edge of this reproofe in my Text, as alſo do all thoſe who are not yet reſolved which Religion to ſtick unto, the Romiſh or the Reformed. Now before we lay Idolatry to the charge of the Romiſh Church, it will be requiſite to diſtinguiſh of a double kind of Idolatry or Superſtition.
1. When religious worſhip is given to a falſe god, which is forbidden in the firſt precept of the Decalogue.
2. When a falſe or irreligious worſhip is given to the true God, which is forbidden in the ſecond Commandement.
With Idolatry in the firſt ſenſe we charge them not; for they receiving with us the Apoſtles Creed, worſhip one God in Trinity with us: but from Idolatry in the ſecond acception they can never cleere themſelves, but by changing their tenets, and reforming their practice. For every will-worſhip, or worſhip deviſed by man againſt or beſides Gods commandement, is a falſe worſhip: and what is Popery almoſt elſe but an addition of humane traditions to Gods commandements & his pure worſhip? What is their offering of Chriſt in the Maſſe for a propitiatory ſacrifice for the living and the dead? their elevation of the hoſt? their carrying it in ſolemne Proceſſion? their dedicating a feaſt to it, called Corpus Chriſti day? What are their benedictions of oyle, ſalt, and ſpittle, chriſtening of Bells and Gallies? What are their invocation of Saints, Dirges, and Requiems for the dead? going in pilgrimages to the Images and Reliques of Saints and Martyrs, but religious, or rather irreligious rites brought in by the Church without any command or warrant from Gods Word? Secondly, other learned Divines diſtinguiſh Idolatry into
1. Craſſam, a groſſe or palpable kind of Idolatry, when the creature it ſelfe is worſhipped in or for it ſelfe.
2. Subtilem, a ſubtle and more cunning kind of Idolatry, when the creature is denied to bee worſhipped, but God in, by, and through it.
For as the ſame wooll may be ſpunne with a courſer or with a finer thread, ſo the ſame ſinne ſpecie may bee committed after a groſſer or more ſubtle manner. As for example: hee may be ſaid to commit groſſe murder, who cuts a mans throat, or chops off his head, or runneth him through the heart, and not he who poyſoneth his broth, or his gloves, or his ſpurres, or his ſaddle; and yet the latter is as guilty of murder before God as the former. In like manner, hee who defileth corporally the body of his neighbours wife, may be ſaid to commit groſſe adultery, yet hee is not free from that foule crime, who luſteth after a woman in his heart, though he commit not the foule act; ſo wee may ſay, that hee who robbeth a man upon the highway, or cutteth his purſe in a throng, committeth groſſe theft; yet certainly he that cheateth or couzeneth a man of his mony, is as well a breaker of the eighth commandement as the former: The ſame we are to conceive concerning Idolatry forbidden in the ſecond commandement. For whether it be craſſa or ſubtilis, a worſhip of the creature it ſelfe, or a pretended worſhip of God in or by the creature, it is odious and abominable in the ſight of God. For the people that worſhipped the golden Calfe made by Aaron, and the ten Tribes which worſhipped the Calves ſet up by Jeroboam, worſhipped the true God in and by thoſe Images. For Aaron, when hee ſaw the golden Calfe, built an Altar before it, & made a Proclamation, To morrow is a feaſt Jehovae, to the Lord. And Jeroboam (as Joſephus teſtifieth) appointed not that the Calves that hee ſet up in Dan and Bethel ſhould be adored as gods, ſed ut in Vitulis Deus coleretur; but that God ſhould bee worſhipped in and by thoſe Calves. Nay the Baalites, who were eſteemed groſſer Idolaters than the other, had this plea for themſelves, that under the name of Baal-Samen, the Lord of Heaven, they worſhipped the true God, as may be more than probably gathered out of the words of God by the ProphetcHoſ. 2.16. Hoſea, And it ſhall bee in that day (ſaith the Lord) that thou ſhalt call mee Iſhi, my husband, and ſhalt call mee no more Baal: for I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they ſhall bee no more remembred by their name. Yet the Scripture ſtileth theſe Idolaters:d1. Cor. 10.7. Neither bee yee idolaters, as were ſome of them, as it is written, The people ſate downe to eate and drinke, and roſe up to play. And God proceedeth againſt them, as if they were groſſe Idolaters: for Moſes tooke the eExod. 32.20.27.Calfe which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and grownd it to powder, and ſtrawed i… upon the water, and made the children of Iſrael drinke of it. And he ſaid to the ſons of Levi, Thus ſaith the Lord God of Iſrael, Put every man his ſword by his ſide, and goe in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and ſlay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. Neither did the ten Tribes after, or the Baalites eſcape better: for the Kings of Iſrael were plagued for their Idolatry, and all the people led into captivity. And for the Baalites, they were ſlaine with a ſword, and the Temple of Baal made a Jakes.
Here I would not bee miſtaken, as if I put no difference between an Heathen and a Papiſt, an Hereticke and an Infidell. For although the Papiſts in their tranſcendent charity exclude Proteſtants out of all poſſibility of ſalvation,See Wright his motives, That Proteſtants have no faith, no God, no religion. Fiſher his Treat. Out of the Romiſh Church no ſalvation. Bellar. apol. 8. Jacobus quia Catholicus non eſt, Chriſtianus non eſt. W.B. his diſcourſe entituled the Non entitie of Proteſtants religion. deny them to have any Church, any faith, any hope of ſalvation, any intereſt in Chriſt, any part in God; yet wee have learned from the Apoſtle to render to no man evill for evill, nor rebuke for rebuke, nor ſlander for ſlander: wee deny them not to have a Church, though very corrupt and unſound; wee doubt not but through Gods mercy many thouſands of our fore-fathers, who lived and dyed in the communion of their Church, and according to that meaſure of knowledge which was revealed unto them out of holy Scripture in the myſteries of ſalvation, led a godly and innocent life, not holding any errour againſt their conſcience, nor allowing themſelves in any knowne ſinne, continually asking pardon for their negligences and ignorances of God, through Chriſts merits, might bee ſaved, though not as Papiſts, that is, not by their Popiſh additions and ſuperſtitions, but as Proteſtants, that is, by thoſe common grounds of Chriſtianity which they hold with us. All that I intend to ſhew herein is, that in ſome practices of theirs, they may bee rightly compared to the Heathen: as when the Apoſtle ſaith, that he that provideth not for his owne family is worſe than an Infidell, his meaning is not, that every Chriſtian that is a careleſſe houſholder, is ſimply in worſe ſtate than a Heathen; but onelyonly by way of aggravation of that ſinne, hee teacheth all unthrifts that in that particular they are more culpable than Heathen: In like manner my meaning is not to put Papiſts and Heathen in the ſame ſtate and ranke, as if there were not more hope of a Papiſt than a Painims ſalvation; but to breed a greater loathing and deteſtation of Popiſh idolatry and ſuperſtition, by paralleling Baalites and other Heathens together, I will make it evidently appeare, that ſome particular practices of the Romane Church are no better than Heatheniſh.See Hom. againſt the perill of Idolatry, p. 3. Of this mind were they who laid the firſt ſtones of the happy reformation in England. Our Image maintainers and worſhippers have uſed and uſe the ſame outward rites and manner of honouring and worſhipping their Images, as the Gentiles did uſe before their Idols: and that therefore they commit idolatry as well inwardly as outwardly, as did the wicked Gentile Idolaters.
If any reply, that theſe Homilies were but Sermons of private men tranſported with zeale, and carry not with them the authority of the whole Church of England: I anſwer, that as thoſe Verſes of Poets alledged by the Apoſtle were made part of the Canonicall Scripture by being inſerted into his inſpired Epiſtles; ſo the Homilies, which are mentioned by name in the 35. Article, and commended as containing godly andgHis Majeſties declaration: We doe therefore ratifie and confrme the ſaid Articles, which doe containe the doctrine of the Church of E…gland, requiring all our loving ſubjects to continue in the uniforme profeſsion thereof, and prohibiting the leaſt difference from the ſaid Articles. wholeſome doctrine, and neceſſary for the times, are made part of the Articles of Religion which are eſtabliſhed by authority of the whole Convocation, and ratified and confirmed by the royall aſſent. Were not this the expreſſe judgement of the Church of England, (whoſe authority ought to ſtop the mouth of all that profeſſe themſelves to be her children, from any way blaunching the idolatrous practices of the Romane Church) yet were not the fore-heads of our Image-worſhippers made of as hard metall as their Images, they would bluſh to ſay as they doe, that the teſtimonies which wee alledge out of Scriptures and Fathers make againſt Idols, and not againſt Image-worſhip. For the words are,hLevit. 26.1. Yee ſhall make no Idoll or graven Images, nor reare up any ſtanding Image, nor ſet up any Image of ſtone, to bow downe to it. The words are,iExod. 20 4. Thou ſhalt not make to thy ſelfe any Peſel, that is, any thing carved or graven: And if there may ſeem any miſt in this generall word to any, the words following cleerly diſpell it, Nor the likeneſſe of any thing that is in heaven above, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth. The third Text is thus rendered in their own vulgar Latine:kDeut. 4.15, 16, 17. Take therefore good heed to your ſoules; for yee ſaw no manner of ſimilitude in the day which the Lord ſpake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, leſt peradventure being deceived, Cuſtodite ſollicit… animas veſtras, non vidiſtis aliquam ſimilitudinem in die quâ Dominus vobis locutus eſt in Horeb in medio igne, ne fortè faciatis vobis ſculptam imaginem, vel ſimilitudinem maſculi vel foeminae.ye make you a graven Image, the ſimilitude of any figure, the likeneſſe of male or female, the likeneſſe of any beaſt that is on the earth, the likeneſſe of any winged fowle that flyeth in the aire, the likeneſſe of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeneſſe of any fiſh that is in the waters beneath the earth. Neither is our allegation out of the Prophet Eſay leſſe poignant than the former: To whom will mEſay 40.18, 19, 20.ye liken God? or what likeneſſe will yee compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven Image, and the goldſmith ſpreadeth it over with gold, and caſteth ſilver chaines. Hee that is ſo impoveriſhed that hee hath no oblation, chooſeth a tree that will not rot; hee ſeeketh unto him a cunning workman, to prepare a graven Image, &c. As tor the words Imago and Idolum, if wee reſpect the originall, they are all one: for foreign is derived from foreign, ſignifying the ſhape or ſpecies of any thing: and therefore not onelyonly Ariſtotle calleth the ſhapes of things, which are received into our ſenſes, the idols of the ſenſes, but CardinallnCom. in c. 20. Exod. Cajetan alſo the images of the Angels in the Arke, Idola Cherubinorum. If wee regard the moſt common uſe of the words, they differ as mulier and ſcortum, that is, a woman and a ſtrumpet. For as a woman abuſed or defiled by corporall fornication, is called a ſtrumpet; ſo all ſuch Images as are abuſed to ſpirituall fornication are called Idols. Thus SaintoLib. 8. de orig. c. 11. Idolum eſt ſimulachrum, quod humanâ effigie eſt conſecra…um. Iſidore defineth an Idoll: An Idoll is an Image conſecrated in an humane ſhape. And at the firſt all Idols were ſuch, but after men fell into groſſer idolatry, and turned the glory of God not only into the ſimilitude of a pRom. 1.23, 24.corruptible man, but alſo of beaſts, and fowles, and creeping things. The difference which Cardinall Bellarmine maketh between an Image and an Idoll (viz.) that an Idoll is the repreſentation of that which hath no exiſtence in nature; but an Image the likeneſſe of ſomething really exiſtent, is falſe, and repugnant to Scripture. For the Cherubims in the A…ke were Images, yet never was there any thing in nature exiſtent in ſuch a forme as they were expreſſed, viz. in the face of a childe with ſix wings. And no man doubteth, but that the Image which Aaron made, the Nehuſtan which Hezekiah brake downe, Bell and the Dragon, Rempham, Baal, and Dagon were Idols, and the worſhippers of them Idolaters: yet were theſe figures the repreſentations of things exiſtent in nature, viz. of a King, a Beaſt, a Serpent, a Starre, the Sunne, and a Fiſh: and therefore what arguments the ancient Fathers, Origen, Arnobius, Lactantius, and Minutius Felix uſe againſt the Heatheniſh Idols, will ſerve as ſtrong weapons to knocke downe and batter in pieces all Popiſh Images. What a qDivin inſtit. l. 2. c. 2. Quae igitur amentia eſt aut ea fingere quae ipſi poſtmodum timeant, aut timere quae finxerint? Non ipſos inquiunt timemus, ſed cos ad quorum imaginem ſunt facta, & quorum nominibus conſecrata ſunt: nempè, ideò timetis quod eos eſſe in coelo arbitramini. Neque enim ſi dii ſunt, aliter fieri poteſt: cur igitur oculos in coelum non tollitis? cur ad parietes, & ligna, & lapides potiùs quàm illò ſpectatis ubi eos eſſe creditis? Hominis imago tum neceſſaria videtur cùm procul abeſt, ſuperva…u… futura cùm praeſ…o adeſt: Dei autem cujus ſpiritus ac numen ubique d…ſum a…eſſe nunquam po…ſt, ſemper …qu…mago ſupervacan…a eſt.madneſſe is it (ſaith Lactantius) either to make that which they ought to feare, or to feare that which themſelves have made? If yee worſhip the Images for themſelves, yee are more ſenſleſſe and blockiſh than they: for they if they had life and ſenſe as ye have, would not ſuffer you to worſhip them, but themſelves would fall downe and worſhip you their makers. But if, as ſome will colour the matter, yee worſhip not the Image but God by the Image, why then lift yee not up your eyes to heaven, where yee know God ſitteth in his majeſty? why caſt yee them downe? why in offering up your prayers to him turne yee to a carved ſtone or painted poſt? The uſe of an Image is, to preſerve the memory of thoſe that are dead or abſent: therefore ſith God is alwaies alive and preſent with us, his image is alwaies ſuperfluous. And in our devotion to turne to it is all one, as if a man in the preſence of his friend, or a ſervant in the preſence of his maſter, having a meſſage to deliver to him-ſhould turne from him and tell a tale to his picture. And is it not a ſtrange thing that ſottiſh men ſhould performe ſuch a deale of reſpect and ceremony to the image? bow downe before it, bring preſents, and burne incenſe to it, and yet all this while make no reckoning at all of the goldſmith, whoſe creature it is? Queſtionleſſe there can bee norOrig lil 8 cont. Celſum. Simulachra Deo dicanda non ſunt fabrorum opera, &c. viſible or bodily image made to reſemble the nature of the inviſible God: but if wee will draw a picture of him, it muſt be in the ſMinutius Felix in dial. Deus in noſtro dedicandus eſt pectore, quod ſimulachrum Deo fingam, cùm fi recté exiſtimes, ſit Dei homo ipſe ſimulachrum?table of our hearts, by expreſſing his divine vertues and attributes. tLactant. loc. ſupr. cit. Simulachrum Dei non eſt illud quod digitis hominis é lapide aut aer… …l…e materiâ fabricatur, ſed ipſe homo, quoniam & ſentit, & movetur, & multas magnaſque actione… habet. Recté Seneca in moral. Simulachra deorum venerantur, illis ſupplicant, illis per totum aſſident di…m, … …ſtant, illis ſtipem jaciunt, victimas cedunt, & cùm haec tantoperé ſuſpiciunt, fabros qui illa fece… contemnunt.Is not man himſelfe made after Gods image? what an incongruity then were it for man to thinke of making or dedicating any other image to God, who is it himſelfe? What abjectneſſe and baſeneſſe is it for him who beareth the image of the living God, to caſt himſelfe downe before, and adore the images of dead men and women? We reade of a barbarous and ſavage act of a cruell tyrant, who bound living men to dead carkaſſes, till the one corrupted the other, and both rotted together. Is not the cruelty of thoſe Heathen Emperours as barbarous, who perforce couple the living images of God, the ſoules of men to dead images, to corrupt them thereby? Which of theſe battell-axes is not as ſerviceable altogether to knocke downe Popiſh Images, as to maule and deface Heatheniſh Idols?
And this may ſuffice for the paralleling of Baalites and Papiſts in generall, as they are Idolaters: let us now compare them in ſpeciall.
1. As the Papiſts plead for themſelves, that they worſhip not Idols, that is, the repreſentation of things feigned, and deviſed by man, but images of things truly exiſtent; ſo the Baalites might varniſh over their idolatry, ſaying, that the image they worſhipped was not of any feigned deity, but of that which all men and women ſaw, which was not only viſible, but alſo moſt glorious, to wit, the Sunne.
2. As the Baalites ſtood upon the multitude of Baals worſhippers and miniſters: For to one Prieſt or Prophet of God that durſt ſhew his head, they had above foure hundred that followed the Court, and had their table there, (& albeit indeed there were more than ſeven thouſand in Iſrael that never bowed the knee to Baal: yet theſe played leaſt in ſight, and there were more than ſeventy times ſeven thouſand in all Iſrael, that for ought appeares, either willingly or by conſtraint bowed to him) in like manner the Papiſts at this day brag of nothing ſo much, as of the multitude of their profeſſours, and paucitie or latencie of thoſe, eſpecially in former ages, that profeſſed the reformed religion, or impugned the Roman faith.
3. As the prieſts of Baal called him Baal Samen, King or Lord of heaven, ſo doe the ſuperſtitious Papiſts call the bleſſed Virgin the Queene of heaven.
4. As the Baalites erected divers images to Baal, which received names from the places where they ſtood, as Bal Peor, Baal Zephon, Baal Tamar; ſo have the Papiſts erected divers images to our Lady, which they in like manner denominate from the cities where they are ſet up, as the Lady of Loretto, the Lady of Sichem, the Lady of Mount Seratto, the Lady of Hailes, Noſtre Dame de Paris, de Rouen, &c.
5. As the ſervitours of Baal were diſtinguiſhed into ordinary Prieſts and Chemarims, who were a peculiar order differing from the reſt by their blacke habit: ſo the Romiſh Clergie is evidently divided into ordinary Prieſts, and Monks, and Jeſuites, whoſe coat is of the ſame colour with Baals Chemarims.
6. As the Prieſts of Baal uſed vaine repetitions of the name of their God in their prayers, crying, O Baal heare us, Baal heare us, &c. ſo doe Papiſts in their Jeſus and Ladies Pſalters much more often repeat the name of Jeſus and our Lady, and, which I never read of the Baalites, they put a kind of religion in the number. For yee ſhall reade in the Churches as yee paſſe by, many hundred, nay thouſand yeeres of pardons liberally offered to all that devoutly ſay over ſo many Pater noſters or Ave Maries before ſuch an Altar or Picture.
7. As the Prieſts of Baal uſed many ſtrange geſtures at their Altars, mentioned ver. 26. ſo doe theſe at theirs, and ſome more ridiculous than thoſe of the Baalites.
8. As the Prieſts of Baal cut themſelves with knives and launcers till the bloud guſhed out in great abundance, ſo theſe at their ſolemne proceſſions whip themſelves till they are all bloudy.
Theſe things being ſo, is it poſſible that there ſhould be any that have given their names to Chriſt, and partake with us in the myſteries of ſalvation, and ſeed at our Lords board, ſhould yet bow the knee to the Romiſh Baal, and ſo fall within the ſtroake of Elijahs reproofe, How long halt yee between two opinions? Should wee not much wrong our reformed Church, to ſurmiſe there ſhould be any of her members ſubject to the infirmity, or rather deformity of the Iſraelites here taxed by the Prophet? Had they no meanes this ſixty yeeres to ſtrengthen the ſinewes of their faith, and cure their halting? Are there any that follow Baalim, or, to ſpeake more properly, inſiſt in the ſteps of Balaam, and for the wages of unrighteouſneſſe will as much as in them lyeth curſe thoſe whom God hath bleſſed? Are there any that liſpe in the language of Canaan, and ſpeake plaine in the language of Aſhdod? frame and maintaine ſuch opinions and tenets, as like the ancient Tragedian Buskin (which ſerved indifferently for either foot, left as well as right) ſo theſe, as paſſable in Rome as Geneva? If there be any ſuch, I need not apply to them this reprehenſion of my Prophet, How long halt yee between two opinions? The dumbe beaſt, and uſed to the yoke, hath long agoe reproved the madneſſe of ſuch Prophets. But I would that this larum of Elijah ſtill rung in the eare of ſome of our great Statiſts,About this time Doctor Carier, who came over Chaplaine with the Lord Wotton, preached a ſcandalous Sermon in Paris at Luxenburg houſe, and not long after reconciled himſelfe to the Romiſh Church, and miſcarrying firſt in his religion, & after in his hope of great preferments by the Cardinall Perons meanes, in great diſcontent ended his wretched dayes. who in the height of their policy overreach their Religion, and keep it ſo in awe, that it ſhall not quatch againſt any of their projects for the raiſing their fortunes, or put them to any trouble, danger, or inconvenience. For as the Heliotropium turneth alwayes to the Sunne, ſo they their opinions and practice in matter of Religion to the prevalent faction in State. As the cunning Artizan in Macrobius, about the time of the civill warre between Anthony and Auguſtus Caeſar, had two Crowes, and with great labour and induſtry he taught one of them to ſay, Salve Antoni Imperator, God ſave Emperour Anthony: and the other, Salve Auguſte Imperator, All haile my Liege Auguſtus; and thereby howſoever the world went, he had a bird for the Conquerour: ſo theſe, if the reformed Religion prevaile, their birds note is, Ave Chriſte, ſpes unica: but if Popery be like to get the upper hand, they have a bird then that can ſing, Ave Maria. Strange it is …hat in the cleare light of the Goſpel wee ſhould ſee ſo many Batts flying, which a man cannot tell what to make of, whether birds or mice. They are Zoophytes, plant-animals, like the wonderfull ſheep in Muſcovie, Epicens, amphibia animalia, creatures that ſometimes live in the water, and ſometimes on the land, monſters bred of unlawfull conjunctions, which ſhould not ſee light. If the image of this vice be ſo horrid and odious in nature, what ſhall wee judge of the vice it ſelfe in religion? I am ſure God can better away with any ſort of ſinners than theſe: for theſe he threatneth to ſpew out of his mouth.
To cloſe up all. My Beloved, as yee tender the ſalvation of body and ſoule, take heed of this Laodicean temper in religion; if ye ever looke to be ſaved by your religion, yee muſt ſave and preſerve it entire and unmixed. Take heed how ye familiarly converſe with the Prieſts and Chemarims of Baal, leſt they draw you away from the living God to dumb & dead Idols. By no meanes bee brought to bow the knee to Baal, or give any ſhew or countenance to idolatrous worſhip: for God is a jealous God, and will not give any part of his glory to graven Images. Now the Lord, who of his infinite mercy hath vouchſafed unto us the liberty of the Goſpel, and free preaching of his Word, give a ſpeciall bleſſing to that portion which hath been delivered to us at this preſent; plant hee the true Religion in our hearts, and daily water it both by hearing and reading his Word, and meditating thereupon, that it may bring forth plentifull fruit of righteouſneſſe in us all; ſtrengthen he the ſinewes of our faith, that we never halt between two opinions; enflame he our zeale, that we be never cold or lukewarme in the truth: but in our underſtanding being rightly enformed and fully reſolved of the orthodoxe faith, we may in the whole courſe of our life be conformed to it, reformed by it, zealous for it, and conſtant in it to death, and ſo receive the crowne of life through Jeſus Chriſt. Cui cum Patre, & Spiritu ſancto, &c. Amen.