A Century of Sermons, Sermon 19
THE NINETEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation.
MAT. iv. 10.
Thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord thy God, and him only ſhalt thou ſerve.
AT the ſame time that our Saviour alleged theſe words out of holy Scripture againſt the Devil, He bid him apage, get thee hence, as who ſhould ſay, this was true doctrin, but no way for his turn. Even as Eliſha ſaid to the Noble-man of Samaria, there ſhould be ſtore of corn in the gates of Samaria, tu tamen non guſtabis, but it ſhall do you no good, you ſhall never taſte of it. Aſſuredly though Satan was ſent away from this godly doctrine to his own place, and this ſentence of Holy Writ was thrown after him, like a ſtone at a dog, to make him be gone the faſter, yet it invites us to come about it, as Wiſdom ſays in Solomon, Come near my children, not get you hence, hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. For that propoſition in Logick is a direct teacher, which ſpeaks poſitively, as they ſay categorically, what is to be done; ſo doth this, thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord thy God: and then it is very ſatisfactory, and leavs no queſtion after it, for it hath an expreſs ſign or note in it, which every propoſition ſhould have, which will be clear to the underſtanding, and him Only ſhalt thou ſerve.
That particle of the Text is like the point of the Loadſtone, referring to whom all religious honour conſtantly and unchangeably is to be performed. Do but imagin that word [only] were in another print from the reſt, or in capital letters, as that which is the emphaſis of the verſe, and whereupon all divine duty doth lean, and there needs no more preface to prepare you for that which follows. Upon this word I will ſpeak now according to its own property, that is, of nothing elſe at this time. That God is only to be worſhipped and ſerved, ſhall be my only Treatiſe; and I will go in hand with it two ways: 1. Building up the true doctrine affirmatively: 2. Beating down thoſe wrong opinions that offend againſt it. For whatſoever things they are to which men do offer religious worſhip and ſervice beſide the Lord, let them diſtinguiſh that they do it improperly, with a leſs religious worſhip, with reference to Almighty God; let them ſlick it over with what gloſs of wit they pleaſe, I am on the Lords ſide, and in his behalf I plead, that they run into ſome kind of Idolatry. But firſt plainly and affirmatively, without rubbing againſt the adverſary's errors, that God only is to be worſhipped and ſerved.
In the firſt place I muſt not conceal from you, this word upon which we ſtand ſo much (and good reaſon for it) but this word Only is not to be found in that verſe, which is quoted by our Saviour, Deut. vi. 13. the margent of your own Bible, and indeed all Expoſitors ancient and modern, hold that to be the very Scripture which Chriſt doth here apply, and thus you find, thou ſhalt fear the Lord thy God, and ſerve him, and ſhalt ſwear by his name. I but 'tis not written there, thou ſhalt ſerve him only. Hath He added to the word? put caſe He ſhould add to the word (as in this inſtance He did not;) but put caſe He ſhould, it were free for him, but for none elſe to do it, He may do what He will with his own. After Moſes had finiſhed the Law, and the Lord had ſaid thereupon, curſed is he that addeth unto it, yet the book of the Pſalms and the Prophets were put to it, and after all theſe the Goſpel, and the whole New Teſtament was added; yet none of thoſe were the patches of mans wit, but the increaſe and ſupply which God himſelf gave to his own eternal Oracles. Yet I give not this anſwer, as if Chriſt had thruſt one ſyllable into the Law to give it more ſenſe and authority than it had before: He came to fulfil the Law, but not to overfil it: For firſt Chriſt ſaid nothing but that which is written; if not here, yet in another Prophet, and one ſpirit is in all the Prophets: conſult with Samuel, 1 lib. chap. 2. v. 3. Prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and ſerve him only: that's down right, as my Text hath it, I need not give it a grain to make up weight. Then there's for Satan; he cannot ſay but he was refuted with very Scripture. Secondly, let us keep unto thoſe words of Deuteron. for ſurely thoſe were intended, and the word only is there in effect, the next verſe makes it good, that it could not be excepted. Thou ſhalt fear the Lord thy God, and ſerve him. Well, but will God admit any partner? otherwiſe we muſt ſerve him alone; juſt ſo: for it follows, ye ſhall not go after other Gods, of the Gods of the people that are round about: ſerved him, and no other God whatſoever. Why, then it is a clear aequipollencie in Logick, thou ſhalt ſerve him only. The Devil is moſt perverſe and litigious, yet he never denied it.
Thirdly, be ſatisfied yet further, that the 72 Tranſlators, ſo called, having the right underſtanding of the Text, that God commandeth all glory, and worſhip, and divine ſervice to himſelf without comperes or ſharers, they render the Hebrew in thoſe Greek words which our Saviour quoted foreign, him only ſhalt thou ſerve. Now all do yield that the five books of Moſes were tranſlated by thoſe 72 Jews of great learning,Antiquit. lib. 12. c. 2. whom Eleazar the High-Prieſt ſent to Ptolemy Philadelphus for that purpſe: So much both Philo and Joſephus acknowledge, though they ſpeak of no more. Occaſion is taken from hence by ſome to cry up that Greek Tranſlation of the Old Teſtament, becauſe our Saviour alledgeth theſe words as thoſe Septuagint have made them up, and not as they are in the pure original Hebrew. I will not ſtand upon this Theme any long time, but ſay much in brief. Firſt, that St. Paul layes a firm ground how the Jews had the Oracles of God committed to them, it was one of their National Privileges; therefore their tongue is the matrix and fountain from whence we are to expound what the Holy Ghoſt hath delivered in the Old Teſtament. I deny not but the Jews themſelves might uſe the Copies of the Greek Language, for there were many of them, and ſome conjecture, that where we read of certain Helleniſtae, Bolduc de Eccleſ. poſt legem c. 5.Greeks that came to our Saviour in the Goſpel, they were thoſe Jews that rather uſed the Greek Tranſlation than the Hebrew; perhaps being more eaſie to their capacities, for their common ſpeech in thoſe daies was Syrian, and Hebrew was taught in Sholes as we teach Latin, therefore ſome ſuppoſe there was a Faction of Helleniſts among them, they and the Scribes, who damned all Scripture which was not in their own Hebrew tongue, being upon all occaſions at hot variance. So you find there was a murmuring of the Graecians againſt the Hebrews, Acts vi. 1. To return to my concluſion ſome Jews did not abhor to read their own Law in the Greek tongue, yet theſe were but a Faction; for when St. Paul ſaies the Oracles of God were committed to them, and by way of high privilege, he muſt mean it of that idiom which their Fathers ſpake, wherein it was firſt wrote, and whereof their learned men for the preſent were the Doctors. Secondly, though the Hebrew was, and is the authentique language for that part of Scripture, yet there was a moſt venerable Tranſlation of it into Greek, which our Saviour, the Evangeliſts, and Apoſtles uſed: it kept the ſenſe, yea the words of the Hebrew for the moſt part ſo exactly, that our Saviour, who taught the Law according to it, did ſay, one jot or title of the Law ſhould not periſh. St. Hierom ſays, if that Tranſlation had been purely extant, he would have ſpared his own pains, and not have undergone ſo laborious a task to turn the whole Old Teſtament out of Hebrew into Latin. Thirdly, that pure Greek Tranſlation was uſed by our Saviour (though not in Greek words but in Syriac) not as preferring it, or matching it with the original authentique Hebrew, but partly becauſe it was moſt frequent, and moſt known, for they all ſpake the Greek tongue in all the hither parts of Aſia, after Alexander the great had exalted the Graecian Monarchy; partly to import, that a door of faith was now opened to the Gentiles, and that they ſhould reap thoſe heavenly things, ſince the Jews, thought themſelves unworthy of them. Fourthly, this Greek Tranſlation, which at this day goes under the name of the 72, is of far leſs value and authority than that which was ſo honour'd with our Saviours mouth:Praefat. in 1. lib. Paralip. for I will believe St. Hierom in this caſe, being a moſt exact Linguiſt (rather than thoſe Fathers that took languages upon truſt) but thus He. Germana illa antiqua tranſlatio corrupta eſt, & violata, ac pro varietate regionum diverſa feruntur exempla. That old genuine Tranſlation was corrupted and violated: and ſeveral Copies of it were ſhewn and uſed in ſeveral Kingdoms of the World. Enough of this, wherein I have laid down my mind briefly for the ſatisfaction of underſtanding Auditors, upon occaſion that Chriſt cited theſe words, not barely as in the Hebrew, but with an addition, yet a clear and a natural addition, as it is in the Greek Tranſlation; Thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord thy God, and him only ſhalt thou ſerve.
Now to the poſitive Doctrine. Him only: his name can ſtand with no other name, and no other name can ſtand Collegue or Partner in his worſhip: it is an embaſing of gold to joyn any other mettal with it; how much more to ſay this Sacrifice, or this Altar; this Temple, or this ſacred Service; this Vow or this Prayer ſhall be divided between the true God and ſome other ſuppoſed Deity? Did not He make man Lord only of all the Creatures, and him only after his own image and ſimilitude; Did He not take mans nature only upon him? nuſquam Angelos, He was not of the nature of Angels, but of the Seed of Abraham? Did He not redeem us only, and not the evil ſpirits, when we were as far loſt as they. Finally, are they not our bodies only which He will raiſe from incorruption, and not the beaſts? What, all this for us, and for us only? and yet do we halt between him and other Gods; as if we had ſome pious worſhip for him, and ſome for whom we think good beſide: We are ſo free of our Religion forſooth, we cannot keep in bounds to him only. It would move our laughter to ſee a weak-brain'd man pay half his debt to his Creditor, and the other half to one where he never ſtood engag'd: if this be ridiculous, then to pay our devotion to any thing in heaven or earth, which we owe all and entire to the God of heaven and earth, is both ſcornful and idolatrous: ille mihi & non alteri, ego illi & non alteri: well concluded of Bernard. He hath made us Chriſtians alone his choſen people, therefore He ſhall be my King, to whom alone I will pay worſhip, and honor, and adoration. The wiſe men of the Eaſt that came a long journy to worſhip Chriſt, and laid down the offering of their homage at his feet, never opened their treaſures, that we read, to give any Preſent to Herod: if you give a religious tribute to any other King, but to this alone, He diſdains your payment. All or none, like the true Mother of the Child: and better give him two mites, if two mites be all we have, than give him a talent with Ananias and Saphira, if a talent be but half our inheritance. St. Auſtin asks why the Romans worſhipt all kind of Idol Gods they ever heard of, but never worſhipped the true God? He anſwers, becauſe the falſe Gods, after the good fellowſhip of the world, loved company, and would permit any to be partners with them in adoration, the true God would be left out if there were any but himſelf: for it is againſt the nature of him that is infinite, almighty, incomprehenſible to be equall'd or matcht in any thing.
Religious honour and ſervice is that retribution which a reaſonable creature makes for the bleſſing wherewith it is bleſſed: Who is it that bleſſeth us with all manner of ſtore? is not that eaſily anſwered; and it is as quickly rejoyn'd; then let him only be worſhipped. If there be any other created power, to whom you impart religious veneration, let him help you if he can when you ſtand in need, and go to the Gods whom you have choſen to ſeek for ſuccour. Worſhip him all ye Gods, ſays David, Pſal. xcvii. 7. No creature ſo great that can be greater than the name of a God: and whatſoever excellency it hath, yea the rather becauſe it is very excellent above its fellows, it muſt kneel and bow to the ſupreme Majeſty; Worſhip him all ye Gods. Why then infer, he that is to diſcharge divine honour, is not to be proſecuted with divine honour: religious worſhip belongs to him that owes ſervice to none: nothing that we can ſuppoſe with a ſound wit is like genus ſubalternum fit to worſhip, and fit to be worſhipped; a thing that doth adore God, who is above him, and is ador'd of men that are beneath him: what perturbation were this in Religion? and Religion is as God himſelf is, pure order, and not confuſion. There are ſome whom I glance at, who are not ſound in this doctrine; yet think themſelves as ſafe as under Ajax his Buckler with this diſtinction, that latria or the principal religious ſervice is proper to God alone, but dulia a leſs principal religious ſervice may be performed in good Chriſtian ſort to Angels and Saints, to their Reliques, or to their Images, and they think there is ſuch force in thoſe words, that God muſt take that anſwer, for all it is written, him only ſhalt thou ſerve.
I will put ſome diligence to the examination of this diſtinction; as firſt, how it came in uſe; then if thoſe two words have any proper difference in their ſignification, and then what meaning there can be in it, that God ſhould have one kind of religions worſhip done unto him, and the Creatures another. The words are both of them Greek, foreign and foreign, and the firſt that attempted to diſtinguiſh them was St. Auſtin, whoſe praiſe is, that He was the moſt rational and intelligent writer for argument of all that lived in that flouriſhing age, but when he medled with the tongues he was out of his Element. Eraſmus cannot chooſe but ſmile at him ſometimes in the margent, when he will forget himſelf, and tamper with Greek phraſes, vide ut graeciſſat. Now this diſtinction muſt needs have weak hold, when a man of no skill was the inventor: tractent fabrilia fabri. Yet how was St. Auſtin put to it firſt to excogitate that way? I have ſearcht it, and it was thus. Becauſe there is ſome religious honour certainly due to God, which is incommunicable to any creature, the good Father laboured for a word which ſhould be proper to this worſhip, and given to nothing elſe, that equivocations and ambiguities might not trouble his Doctrine. This was judiciouſly thought of; yet I told you before that all languages are defective in this point, no word which ſtands for religious worſhip, but is alſo promiſcuouſly applied by good Authors to civil devoir and reverence. Finding no help for this in the Latine tongue, he borrowed the word latria from the Greek tongue to make it Latin, that it might ſignifie no other worſhip, but that which is due to God: as if it could have loſt its proper ſignification in the Greek by becoming Latin. Says he, Latria eſt cultus Deo debitus, qui in latino uno vocabulo nuncupari non poteſt: Now the uſe of all good Authors will not permit this, as I will ſhew by and by. But by their leave that ſay they borrow of St. Auſtin, where doth he ſay that foreign is another ſpecies of religious worſhip, which is divers from latria? I cannot find that, nor they neither: yes, it is extant, that He teacheth foreign is an honour to be given to Angels and Saints: but doth he ſay, that honour is an inferiour part of religious worſhip? at no hand; nor of religious worſhip. I believe miſtakes have paſt on both ſides,Aquin. 2.2. qu. 103. ar. 3. that worſhip hath been divided by our Divines into religious and civil, without further explication: for ſome acute wits have objected, that the honour given to a perſon is grounded upon ſome excellency in him, but excellency is threefold, therefore there muſt be a threefold honour or worſhip: there is the divine and infinite excellencie of God, which requires an honour peculiar to it ſelf of the higheſt ſtrein; then there is humane excellencie, conſiſting in ſuch honour and reverenced qualities as men have, to which a civil reverence is to be paid. Between theſe there is another excellency which is ſupernatural, that grace and glory which the Angels and Saints have, here they demand that ſome honour above the ordinary civil garb ſhould be paid to ſupernatural excellency: This I believe S. Auſtin for want of words called foreign, but never meant it was a religious expreſſion: But to make things clearer, I have divided worſhip before into three parts; the firſt is of moſt holy religion to God alone, the ſecond of civil ſubjection to our Superiors, honour to whom honour belongeth, as the Apoſtle ſays; but the third muſt not be forgotten, when we give moral reverence to ſome (not upon the relation of being ſubject, and under them) for excellent endowments, ſo Kings have faln down proſtrate before Prophets, ſo Abraham bowed down to the three Angels; and this moral reverence is greater or leſs as we apprehend the perſon to have natural or ſupernatural excellency: This ſurely was St. Auſtin's foreign, and ſo the meaning of his diſtinction is tolerable, but he ſtates a difference in words which are not to be differenced, as I will declare it briefly.
The words both foreign and foreign, both foreign and foreign, either of them ſtand for all ſort of worſhip confuſedly, of religion, of moral reverence, and of civil ſubjection. foreign and foreign, each word in Euſtathius denote a Servant, if there be any odds foreign is the more enthralled and captivated Servant: for foreign is the hired Servant a foreign, which ſignifies the wages of an hired one. But an hirling is at his own choice, whether he will do a mans work or no: but foreign is a Bond ſervant, part of his Maſters poſſeſſion, he muſtgirt him to his work and cannot avoid it: therefore we are Gods foreign, his Servants that muſt do his will, his Bond-ſervants, we ought to obey him in all things, though He had covenanted to give us no wages. 'Tis the greater ſubjection, if you ſtand upon words, and therefore due to the greateſt. I preſs further, that foreign in Scripture ſtands not only for holy ſervice, but for civil obſervance, Matth. xviii. that Servant that owed his Maſter more than he could pay, fell down and foreign, he worſhipt him: but evidently, Levit. xxiii. 3. The Seventh day is a Sabbath of reſt, an holy Convocation, ye ſhall do no work therein, foreign, ſo it is in the 72. which muſt not ſtand for Religious, that is the day proper, but for ſecular tasks and buſineſſes. Once again let me ſtrike upon the ſame Pin, How often do both theſe words preſent unto us the ſame thing? Even Gods holy ſervice, Rom. i. 9. God is my witneſs, foreign, Whom I ſerve in the Spirit. In the ſame Epiſtle, Cha. xvi. foreign, they ſerve not our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. And nothing more fairly markt out, that foreign, in a Religious relation is only due to God, then that Text, Gal. iv. 8. St. Paul tells the Galatians, that while they were Gentiles, foreign, Ye ſerved them that by nature were not Gods. The Argument is fix'd on this, foreign religiouſly belongs to the true God, and not to Angels, Saints, or any nuncupative Gods. So the Arrians were accuſed of Idolatry by Athanaſius, becauſe they profeſſed to worſhip Chriſt, and yet confeſſed him not to be God eternal, coequal with his Father. They had no ſuch diſtinction as latria and dulia to ſhift the Objection.
I have been compelled to fight with words, I know with little profit to the ordinary hearer, but the skilful will bear me witneſs, theſe things could not well be omitted upon this Theme. Now I come to ponder the meaning of the diſtinction, yet no Pontifician whom I have read hath made a clear meaning of it. Yes, ſome will ſay, they hold latria is a ſupreme religious Adoration to be given to God alone; Dulia is an inferiour religious worſhip aptly given to perſons or things of ſome ſupernatural graces, or divine relations. That is, God hath his due reſerved, the Angels, the Saints, and their Images, and Reliques are worſhipped Abſque latria; which is to ſay in ſtrictneſs of Grammer, they worſhip them without worſhip. For latria put in Engliſh is Worſhip. But I leave that, and demand, here are two Religious Worſhips in their Church, the one to God, the other to ſome of his Creatures, what belongs to the one that doth not to the other, if both be religious? Do they differ in degrees only? That the intention of the heart is bent more earneſtly to honour the one, and with leſs zeal and ardour the other. That is no real difference, for ſo the ſame man praiſeth God with more vehemency of ſpirit at one time than at another. Or is it diverſified to be another ſpecies of Religious Worſhip, by performing the ſame external garbe, and the like internal honour to the Creator, and to the Creature; but with this odds, that the Devotee doth apprehend God as an infinite eſſence, but the created ſubſtances as fellow Servants, and therefore no way to be worſhipped above Servants with God-like honour? This I think is all that can be ſaid, I have read no more ſaid for it; yet this is nothing, for ſo the underſtanding only conceives a different object, but it is not demonſtrated, that the will or the body brings forth ſeveral acts of Worſhip. And it is enough to overthrow their errour, if they would mark it, that they ſay, how they conſider it is but a Creature which they adore with dulie, or ſecondary religious Worſhip, for the foundation of all religious Worſhip is Excellentia infinita apprehenſa ſub ratione primi principii, & ſummi boni noſtri; An infinite perfection of excellency, on which all things do depend for their firſt being, and for their laſt happineſs. So St. Auſtin, Haec eſt religio Chriſtiana, Tract. 23. in Johan.ut non colatur niſi unus Deus, quia non fecit animam beatam niſi unus Deus; Religious proſtration ſeeks out no object, but ſuch as can make the ſoul bleſſed for ever, and that is the only Lord. St. Hilary, In maledicto eſt religio creaturae; De Trin. lib. 8.All Religion done to a Creature is accurſed. That Weather-cock Spalatenſis, after much ſearch in antiquity, confeſſeth, that Nazianzen in the Greek Church, Gregory the Great in the Latine Church, knew of no other Religious Worſhip but that which is called Latria, Lib. 7. de. Rep. c. 12. num. 45. & 47.2.2. qu. ar. 8.the veneration of God. Nay, their great Schoolman Aquinas, I will make him the Judge againſt himſelf, Religio eſt virtus exhibens famulatum Deo, in iis quae ſpecialiter pertinent ad Deum; Religion is a vertue which doth perform all Miniſtry to God in thoſe duties which peculiarly belong to God. Go now and ſay againſt all theſe reaſons and teſtimonies, there is ſome kind of Religious Worſhip pertaining to a Creature. I have heard ſome interpret it thus, it is not denied but we are to give honour to the bleſſed Angels and Saints, yes verily, God forbid elſe. Then they encroach, that we are taught by our Religion to give them that honour; therefore that honour which we do give them is Religious. A moſt unlearned Aſſumption. Religion teacheth the Children to honour the Parents, yet it is not Religious honour, but Civil, that is given to our Parents. Religion teacheth a Mariner or Plowman to follow his Calling diligently, yet thoſe are not religious, but worldly buſineſſes. Religious Worſhip is the actus elicitus, the immediate act which flows from Religion, but all other honeſt, civil Offices are actus imperati à latria; Actions wherein Religion governs us, and teacheth us, but they are not properly called religious. In a word, no ſuch excellency can be apprehended in a Creature to have religious honour done unto it, for Religion binds the ſoul for ever to that it worſhips, and that is only to God. Therefore I conclude the firſt Dogmatical part of my Text, that Chriſt included all kind of religious honours, exempted none, when he ſaid, Thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord thy God, and him only ſhalt thou ſerve. And when the Pontificians profeſs to aſcribe a Religious Dulia, but no Latria to a Creature, their Practice and their Doctrine cannot agree if they yield Religious Worſhip, of what kind ſoever, to any thing ſave unto the Lord our God; if it be not Idolatry, it is groſs Superſtition; foreign, The glory of a pious heart be given to God alone, and not to God and the ever bleſſed Virgin joyned together; as the Jeſuites generally conclude all their Books with that Blaſphemy.
There is more of my task behind, though but little of it can be ſpent in this hour, to demoliſh the errors of them that have offended againſt this Imperial Law, Thou ſhalt worſhip, &c. Sundry falſe opinions have beaten upon theſe words as upon an Anvil; open enemies, and deceitful friends have riſen up againſt it. Some are totally, ſome in half, ſome are quarter Idolaters, but the leaſt corn of that ſin is as heavy as a Milſtone to plunge them without repentance into damnation. In many of the Errors to be refuted I will be at a word, and diſpatch; in ſome I will inſiſt the longer, where I find them worth my labour. Thoſe tranſgreſſors that worſhip not God alone are of three ſorts: The firſt are ſuch as make another God than the Lord of heaven and earth in their own heart, and worſhip that invention. The ſecond are they that kneel unto the true God, and yet reſerve ſome part of Religious Worſhip for his glorified Creatures, as the Bleſſed Virgin, the Angels, the Saints both living and departed, both themſelves, and their very Reliques ſhall have ſome part of their Adoration. Thirdly, Beſide the honour which they give to the inviſible God, they find out a way to worſhip him in viſible works of their own hands, in Images, in the figure of the Croſs, in the Elements of the Lords Supper. All theſe are Aberrations, for there is but one truth againſt them all, Thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord, &c.
Firſt, God loſeth all his honour at their hands that frame a new God in their own heart, and do all their ſervice to it, like the Epheſians, that hallowed no other power in heaven and earth but a Goddeſs of their own acceptation, Great is Diana of the Epheſians. This is the moſt groſs Idolatry of all other which profeſſeth not the true God one whit, and profeſſeth that to be a God which hath no ſubſiſtence, but the Metal of Gold or Silver, or any other ſtuff upon which the Artiſt exerciſed his invention. This is the foul and apparent tranſgreſſion of the firſt Commandment, but to worſhip the true God in a manner contrary to that he hath commanded, in a piece of bread, or in an Image is Idolatry by reduction, and againſt the Second Commandment. But the tranſgreſſion of the Heathen was moſt vicious that knew no God but the works of their own hands. The Scripture ſays, they ſinned more grievouſly that worſhipped Baalim than they that worſhipped the true God in Jeroboams Calves: For Jehu called the Iſraelites that worſhipped God in thoſe Calves the worſhippers of the Lord. But when Ahab was not content with that ſin, but was ſeduced by his Wife Jezabel, who came of the Idolatrous Zidonians, ſays the Lord, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the ſins of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat, he went and ſerved Baal, and worſhipped him, 1 Kings xvi. 23. It is more peſtilentious, you ſee, to worſhip a ſtark Idol than to worſhip the true God in an Idol, though both are abominable. But I will not ſpeak of that ſtupid Idolatry of the Heathen, whoſe own folly hath laught it out of the world, if the workman could have put life into his work, the Statue would have worſhipped him for making it. All thoſe puppit Gods are faln down like Dagon of the Philiſtins; and the Jewiſh Writers obſerve well, that Dagons feet and hands were broken off from his body, Partes adorationis abſciſſae ſunt. The Philiſtins worſhipped that ſtock with their bended knee, and their hands lifted up, therefore the Idol loſt his hands and knees. Furthermore Dagon fell down upon his face, Non tantum jacens, ſed ſuper os jacens, ut videretur adorare arcam Domini; He was laid in a poſture as if proſtrate before the Ark of God; as if the Heathen, and all their vain inventions ſhould be turned into the praiſe of the true God, Worſhip him all ye Gods. I will cloſe this Point with a Paradox, They which moſt abhor all Pictures and Images at this day, they which hate them more than they ſhould do, even in relation to civil uſe, commit great Idolatry in this firſt concluſion; for Jews and Turks, thoſe I mean, worſhip not the true God, but a Figment of their own mind, I avouch it, what they adore is a mere Figment of their own; it is not a Creature, that they deny, and very truly; neither is it the Creator and Lord of all things, for they do not worſhip Three Perſons in Trinity, and one God in Ʋnity. This is the moſt ſubtil and pernicious kind of Idolatry of all others; the more pernicious becauſe ſo hardly diſcerned. But thus I have made good by Paradox, They that hate all Images are the greateſt Idolaters.
I proceed to the ſecond Tribe of them whom I endited of Idolatry, even thoſe that know the true God, and ſerve him, but yet allow a modification of Religious Worſhip to ſome of his Creatures. In the cenſure of this Crime I will begin with that ſin which is moſt to be deteſted. Satan had an eye upon Idolaters that ſome worſhipped the Elements, and built Temples to the Fire, to the Water, and Earth, and made themſelves Prieſts for thoſe abuſes: Some kneeled unto the Sun and Moon; the Children gathered ſticks, the Fathers made the fire, and the Women made Cakes to the Queen of heaven, that is, to the Sun, which was a Feminine Idol, and is foreign, in St. Paul. Nay, Satan had traced out that Angels were adored by ſome ſuperſtitious, therefore being puft that he was a moſt excellent Creature in his Eſſence, and none of the leaſt Angels, he demands worſhip of our Saviour, All theſe things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worſhip me. This Idolatry which, he would have, is ſo rank above all other, that it ſmels of the very fire and brimſtone of Hell. Becauſe St. Paul ſays what the Gentiles ſacrifice to Idols they ſacrifice to Devils, ſome of the Fathers expound it, that the Devils lurkt inviſibly in Idols that were worſhipped, ſo they themſelves at the ſecond hand were worſhipped in Idols. He may lurch homage by thoſe ſlights, but I do almoſt doubt whether it be poſſible for any man to be ſo intoxicated and ſeduced as directly to honour the Devil. For my part I give no credit to ſuch ſtories as are written of the Indians in Calicut. They that write Coſmography or Navigations leaze up ſuch reports from Seamen and Mariners, and may be fit to be read in a ſleepy day, but never to be believed. Thoſe Indians they write of are a moſt ingenuous witty people in all Manufacture that comes from them, and I cannot think them of ſuch a dark capacity in Religion, to worſhip that odious Fiend of Hell. Mary if there be ſuch among them as are Witches and Sorcerers, though Satan croucheth to ſuch, and is commanded by them, yet they be Idolaters in a moſt high delinquency, becauſe they compact with the Devil, yea, and are ſealed to him by certain Characters.
For the Children of God are received into Covenant with God, firſt by Circumciſion, then by Baptiſm, therefore obliquely they take the Devil for a God, who enter Covenant with him by marks in the fleſh, or any other ſign, as it were in imitation of a Sacrament. And it makes it worſhip according to the true properties of Worſhip, when they take his promiſes for ſome benefits to be received, and reciprocally return him promiſes of obedience. This is to attribute verity to Satan, that he will do what he ſays, and power that he can bring extraordinary effects to paſs, and ſo they worſhip him both by faith and confederation. Theſe are they againſt whom Moſes ſpeaks ſo often in the Law, that they muſt not be ſuffred to live if they be detected; he had been brought up in all the learning of the Egyptians, and knew the ways of their moſt accurſed Sorcerers. And becauſe every one baptized unto Chriſt doth deteſt this ſin from the bottom of his heart to give honour to the Devil, therefore look to it that you do not touch the skirts of it before you are aware by Ignorance, Perverſneſs, or Curioſity. It is idolizing of the Devil to conſult with thoſe for any ſatisfaction, whom we ſuſpect to have confederacy with the Devil, whether they have or no. There ſhall not be found among you a Conſulter with familiar Spirits, or with a Wizard, or a Necromancer, Deut. xviii. 11. It is Idolizing of him to uſe divinations by dreams, by calling on the dead, by the tunes of birds, by Lots, and generally by all ſuch means as are not directly natural, or appointed by God to find out the truth. Many things are Diabolical where there hath not paſſed any Diabolical communication: And in ſuch things where you offer no ſervice to Satan, yet you buſie your ſelf, before you take heed, with the Art and Spirit of Satan. You would think it were rigid Divinity to ſay, that it was in ſome wiſe an Idolizing of the Devil to expel Aches and Diſeaſes by Charms, and ſtrange words which you underſtood not? What do you know but that Satan may be ſecretly called upon in thoſe words, when you think you do nothing leſs than call upon him? That great Divine Zanchius confeſſeth of himſelf,Zanch. de Redemp. p. 674. that he rid himſelf of the Toothach by muttering certain ſtrange Lines which he was taught in Italy: But he repented him for the fact, becauſe, for ought he knew, it was the Devils receipt, for God and Nature never appointed ſuch remedies to cure diſeaſes. And ſo much be ſpoken againſt the idolizing the worſt of all Gods Creatures the Devil.
Nor are the beſt of his Creatures to be honoured with Religious Worſhip, no not good Angels, nor Saints, living or departed. I muſt not ſpare any that wander from my Text; for God himſelf is the complete and entire Object of all Religious Worſhip, Him only ſhalt thou ſerve. Shew me where the Church is bidden to adore Angels with divine Adoration. What ſo much writing and zeal to maintain that, ſo much fury to bid Anathema to them that diſlike it, and yet no exhortation in all the Bible to commend it. Was ever any puniſh'd by God for default that way? Any one ſo much as check'd or quarrel'd for it? The Letter of the Scripture preſſeth upon all things elſe to the leaſt ſcruple if they be forgotten. If Gods Houſe be not honoured, if his Tithes be not paid, if his Prophets be evil intreated; yet for the religious reverencing of Angels not one word of expoſtulation to advance it in the Law or Goſpel. Nay, St. Paul ſays, they that teach the worſhipping of Angels do but beguile you with voluntary humility, Col. ii. 18. O, ſay the Rhemiſts, if any ſhould attribute ſuch pious culture to the Angels as Simon Magus did, making them equal with God, then he is within the reprehenſion of that Text. A frothy evaſion, for who regards what Simon Magus did? The Apoſtle gives us a general caution, That we be not beguiled by worſhipping of Angels. Is there no treſpaſs unleſs they be equalized with God? Then the Platonicks taught good divinity, for they worſhipped their Daemones or Angels, not as the firſt cauſes of all things, but as Spirits employed by the firſt Principle of the world. If an Angel from heaven teach the ſame doctrine in his own caſe which Paul did, ſurely two ſuch Witneſſes both in one tale cannot be refuſed. The inſtance is more beaten than any high way, Rev. xix. 10. St. John certainly being even beſide himſelf with the excellency of Revelation, fell at an Angels feet to worſhip him, who ſaid unto him, See thou do it not. I leave it to your judgments if this be not a monſtrous prevarication of Bellarmines, That the Angel might have accepted that dutiful homage, if he had pleaſed, and did not make ſhy of it before Chriſt was incarnate, but in honour of our Lords incarnation, who took our nature upon him, Angels from thenceforth will not be religiouſly worſhipped by men. Therefore we do what becomes us when we fall down to worſhip Angels, and Angels do what becomes them when they refuſe it; thus He. But, I beſeech you, if learned men may take ſuch leave to interpret Scripture, they may turn it to any thing. Doth the Angel ſay any ſuch thing to John, that the times were altered, human nature was now more precious than before, and grown too good for ſuch ſervile obſervance: No, but very plainly in the Text, See thou do it not to me, I am thy fellow-ſervant, worſhip God.
Mark both his reaſons, firſt, I am thy fellow-ſervant. Fellow ſervants are to worſhip one Maſter together, not one to worſhip the other. Yes, ſays the Adverſary, hereafter we ſhall worſhip together in the Church Triumphant, and be ſtiled foreign. Why, we have the ſame excellency and beatitude which then ſhall be revealed in a lively faith, and a ſteadfaſt hope. And if they ſhall be leſs honoured of us hereafter than now, the Angels ſhould loſe honour by our being exalted into heaven. Nay,Lib. de ver. relig. cap. 55. rather their glory ſhall be increaſed to requite that ſedulous care which they had over us here againſt the tyranny of the world and the devil. I will wiſh no other Author but St. Auſtin to ſpeak on my ſide, ſays he, Let us believe that the beſt Angels, and moſt excellent miniſtring ſpirits do deſire that we may worſhip one God together with them. Honoramus eos charitate non ſervitute; That is, we love them for their good will, we do not ſerve them, Nec eis templa conſtruimus, they would not be ſo honoured of us, for they know, none better, if we be holy, we our ſelves are the Temples of the Holy Ghoſt. This we have learnt out of the firſt reaſon, what the Angel meant, Fall not down before me, I am thy fellow-ſervant. Beſide it is added, Worſhip God. Can any queſtion be made but St. John would worſhip God? Surely he was not to be taught that: No, but he was to be rouzed out of an extaſie, that God only is to be adored with a ſanctified fear, and no Creature. It is eaſie to caſt a ſcruple in any mans way, ſo the Pontificians give us an objection to pick, Joſh. v. 14. A man ſtood over againſt Joſhuah with a drawn Sword; Joſhuah demands, Art thou for us, or for our Adverſaries? The ſuppoſed man replies, Nay, but a Captain of the Hoſt of the Lord am I now come. Then Joſhuah fell on his face to the earth, and did worſhip. Firſt, the Antagoniſt preſumes, without all ſuſpition of denial, that Joſhuah did worſhip the Angel. But the Text ſays no more than as ſoon as he knew God had ſent him a Captain from heaven he did worſhip: But if it were Religious Worſhip it was done not to the Angel, but unto Gods upon the coming of the Angel. When ſuch things come before us as are ſigns of Gods preſence and grace, of his miſſion and inſtitution (not of our own invention, ware that) it is good pious devotion to fall down and worſhip God when thoſe things are before us. As it is moſt laudable in us to kneel, not to the outward Elements upon the Lords Table, but unto God at the receiving of Chriſt in thoſe Elements. So Moſes probably fell down at or before the burning buſh where God ſpake. When the fire came down from heaven to conſume the Sacrafice, it was a ſign of the Lords ſpecial preſence, and the people fell down and worſhipped, 2. Chron. vii. 3. Thus Joſhuah ſeeing the Captain of Gods Hoſt come to ſuccour him fell down and praiſed the Lord. This anſwer I dare build upon; yet if it were extorted, that either Joſhuah worſhipped this Angel, or Balaam that other Angel, who bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face, Num. xxii. 31. It is not, or ever will be proved, that theſe were religious Adorations, but very great moral reverence done unto them, more than to any men on earth, according to their Coeleſtial and Supernatural excellency. But Angels are not to be religiouſly worſhipped in heaven, why then on earth? Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that is in this precept, Thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord thy God, and him only ſhalt thou ſerve.
Yet a few words before I end. To adore the Euchariſt, the Reliques of Saints, the Figure of the Croſs, or Images of Chriſt and his Servants departed is to commit Idolatry with inanimate things; thoſe being all alike in that, I will keep that bundle of Tares for another occaſion. But the ſuperſtitious worſhipping of Saints is ſo near of kin to that of Angels, againſt which I concluded before, that the ſame Notions I uſed before, and a little added, will clearly condemn it. We muſt not think more divinely of a Creature than a Creature is capable. And even in this we have cauſe to bleſs God that our Religion is repurged from moſt ſtrong defilements, that our common Prayers have none of thoſe blaſphemies, which ſome chant over to the moſt glorious Virgin the Mother of our Lord. And all this happens that they impute more Divinity unto her, then is competent to a Creature. So the Heatheniſh Lycaonians ſaw that Paul and Barnabas were men, but they thought ſome Divinity did inhabite them ſuch as is in God. Certainly, ſo the good Centurion Cornelius was miſtaken, for he gave unto Peter both civil obſervance as unto a man: But becauſe the Lord did bid him ſend for Peter for his ſouls Salvation, he thought there was a genious in him above a Creature. Otherwiſe Peter had not corrected the reverence he did him, with thoſe words, Stand up, I my ſelf alſo am a man, Acts x. 26. His cogitation had apprehended ſome divineneſs in Peter, which made him commit a religious proſtration for which he was rebuked. And indeed an opinion is bread in the ſuperſtitious touching the Saints departed, that there is more Divineneſs in them than they can receive, elſe they would not bow down themſelves to the mention of their names, and make ſupplications unto them. When I commend my ſelf to the Prayers of any man upon earth, I attribute nothing unto him falſly as divine, he hath ears to hear me, he hath memory, faith, and chariry to commend his brethren to God: But when I do the like to the Saints (granting the diſtinction that they call upon them to intercede, not to perform their requeſt) but when I do the like to them, I make them ſtand in the place of God, to hear all men every where at once perhaps lifting up their voice, nay, perchance no more than the thought of their heart unto them. Solius Dei proprium eſt ubique omnes audire & exandire; It is the excellency of God alone to hear, and attend to all men in all places at once. Therefore he makes an Idol of that Saint, in whom he ſuppoſeth as much vertue and excellency to hear him (how much ſoever diſtant) as is in God himſelf. I omit burning Incenſe to their Shrines, making Pilgrimages to their Sepulchres. Building Churches, wherein their memory may be worſhipped and invoked; And making Vows in their names, which is one of the flowers of Gods eternal royalty. They that are ſuch earneſt Devotees to Creatures, and think there is not work enough for a Chriſtian to worſhip God alone, deſerve that groſs deluſion, which hath ſtarted from ſome of their own Confeſſions that many names are enrolled for glorified Saints, and great Patrons of the Church, whoſe ſouls are tormented in Hell. Let God be worſhipped for the holy Prophets, Apoſtles, and Martyrs departed, ſo ſhall we our ſelves, we truſt, one day have a place in that Coeleſtial Quire, where the Lord our God is only worſhipped, and he only ſerved day and night without ceaſing. AMEN.