The Pulpits Patronage Against Unordained Usurpation, Part 1 · Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII. The ſeventh Argument.
THat ought to be in every ſetled, well-ordered Arg. 7 Church, which God hath ſetled and eſtated on it; for the Church is Gods houſe (a)1 Tim. 3. 15., and it is an unrepealed Law, that every man bear rule in his own houſe (b)Eſth. 1. 22., that is, give Lawes and Rules of Government (c)Pſal. 101. per totum., order and overſee the execution of them (d)1 Tim. 3. 4; one that ruleth well his own houſe, having Children in ſubjection, diſpoſe of places & preferment in it (e)Luk. 12. 42, 43, 44.; who is that faithful and wiſe Steward, whom his Lord ſhall make ruler over his Houſhold, to give them their portion of meat in due ſeaſon? by houſe is not here meant ſo much the fabrick, building and materials of it, as the Family and members of it; as they ſpeak of Ruth the Moabiteſs (f)Ruth. 4. 11., the Lord make the woman that is come into thine houſe, like Rachel & like Leah, which two did build up the houſe of Iſrael; not the material houſes and fabricks which they had, but the perſons and members of it.
But God hath ſetled and appointed ſome to attend and act in holy things, whileſt the Church was but a ſojourner and wanderer in the world, as in the Patriarchs times (g)Heb. 11. 13, the Firſt born were appointed, as we have ſhewed before; but when they were embodied, and began to ſettle, there was a fixed and ſolid proviſion made. It is well ſaid by the Pſalmiſt (h)Pſ. 103. 14, that he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are duſt, homo eſt terrae filius, nihili nepos, as Auſtin, the Son of the earth, the Grandſon of nothing, and ſo retaineth a proneneſſe and proclivity, to ſink and totter into the ſame again, to minde and magnifie himſelf, to be indulgent to his proper intereſts and relations. It is obſerved, that ſuch as ſettle their Eſtates by will, upon thoſe perſons to whom by right and common Law they ſhould deſcend, leave quietneſſe and peace amongſt them; whereas extorted and unnatural bequeſts do ſeldom ſettle: So God intending now to make a ſetled and quiet ſtate, diſpoſeth of the higheſt and chiefeſt Offices, according to their natural and next relations; for having choſen and picked Moſes to be ſupreme and ſoveraign, in all Eccleſiaſtical and civil adminiſtrations (as he ſayes) (i)Numb. 12. 6, 7, 8., was pleaſed that all the ſetled dignities and offices ſhould be eſtabliſhed upon his alliances and neareſt kindred, as the Prieſthood upon Aron and upon his Sons (k)Exod. 27. 21. Exo. 28. 1. &c., and this was ſo intayled on him and his Sons, that if any other offered to invade it, and intermeddle in it, without a ſpecial Warrant, he was expreſly to be put to death (l)Numb. 3. 10; and when they were not careful in the execution of this Law, God undertakes it, as in the caſe of Ʋzzah is apparent (m)2 Sam. 6. 6, 7.. They were wont to ſay, that Kings were perſonae mixtae, and ſo might not order only, but act in Eccleſiaſticalls as well as Civills, as Moſes did (n)Lev. 8. 6, 7. &c., and ſo Solomon (o)1 King. 8. 22., who for that and other acts in holy things, doth call himſelf a Preacher (p)Eccleſ. 1. 12.; but the Kings of Juda did not find it ſo; for when they ventured upon any thing that was proper to the Prieſts, they heard of it, (q)1 Sam. 13. 12.as Saul for offering a burnt-offering, and Ʋzziah for attempting to offer incenſe (r)2 Chron. 26. 16.; for though they were not put to death according to the rigor of the Law, as Ʋzzah was, yet the one was not eſtabliſhed in his Government, and the other by a Levitical pollution was diſabled for it.
And becauſe there was great reaſon that the High Prieſt ſhould have a hand in ordering the Affairs, and beſtowing of the Offices that were of truſt and profit in the ſervice and attendance, the Tribe of Levi his neareſt kindred, is taken from among the reſt, and given unto Aaron and his Sons to be imployed in the holy things (s)Numb. 3. 9, 10, 12, 13.; and becauſe the Church of God at this time had the preheminence, and was attended in that Nation with much magnificence and ſtate, there were beſides theſe ordinary and meniall Servants that were tyed to their times and tasks, ſome extraordinary and honorable Servants, that were as well for ornament as uſe; as Moſes, Samuel, David, Eliah, Eſay, Jeremy, and others, that were imployed upon occaſions and emergencies; as in a great houſe there are not only veſſels of wood and earth for uſe and ſervice, but alſo of gold and ſilver, for honour and magnificence, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks (t)2 Tim. 2. 20.; ſo in this Houſe of God, ſome were at all times raiſed up in an extraordinary manner, to attend and act in holy things; and ſo curious and exact was God in theſe Adminiſtrations and Imployments, and ſo rigid in the Rule and Government of his own houſe, that he left almoſt nothing unto humane prudence: for though Moſes was faithfull in all his houſe, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks (u)Heb. 3. 2.; yet God gives him exact and punctuall directions for every thing, leaving nothing to invention and diſcretion, which God knew was a leaden rule, and might be bowed to intereſts and occaſions; and becauſe he would have theſe directions riveted and fixed in him, he gives him patterns of them (w)Exod. 25. 9., that his eyes might be engaged to ſuccor and aſſiſt his eares:
Segnius irritant animos demiſſa per aures,
Quam quae ſunt oculis ſubject a fidelibus—
And becauſe he might forget, or be unmindfull of his directions, he is ſeverely charged for to make them after the pattern which was ſhewed thee in the Mount (x)Exod. 25. 40.. One would have thought, that ſeeing David and Solomon were both of them exceeding wiſe, and had both of them (eſpecially Solomon) great ſkill in building and Architecture, there would have needed no particular direction for the Temple, for he might have ſaid, make all things in proportion to the Tabernacle which thou haſt ready to be thy guide and copy, only the Temple muſt be bigger and more magnificent. As the Prince of Orange ſaid unto his Steward, when a great Embaſſador was invited to his Table, that every diſh ſhould be inlarged; ſo God might have ſaid, let every thing be more magnificent and illuſtrous then in the Tabernacle, for there you have the ſubſtance.
No, God would not adventure any thing upon Davids honeſty, or Solomons ability, but gives him patterns and directions for them (y)1 Chron. 28. 11, 12, 13.; and leſt Solomon ſhould think that he could help it, and make ſome improvement of what he had received, his Father tells him, (z)1 Chron. 29. 19.that God had given it, and left no latitude of adding or detracting any thing; as men give order in their houſes for many things to pleaſe and gratifie their own peculiar fancies, that others many times miſlike. The World hath been a long time exerciſed in contriving and inventing Forms of Government, that Tyranny on the one hand, & Anarchy on the other, might beexcluded; yet the beſt in many things have been defective: but God conſiders every thing, who ſhould be Officers, and what Subordination, there ſhould be, what ſhould belong unto the Prieſts alone (a)Numb. 3. 38., and what ſhould belong unto the Levits that were not Prieſts (b)Numb. 3. 6, 7, 8.; and that not only in the generall, but in all the ſub-diviſions of the Levites: for God well knew, that what was every bodies work, was no bodies work. Its ſaid of the King of Swedens Army, that whereſoever they incamped, there was ſuch order and exactneſs in the poſture and model of it, that how unexpected ſoever an alarum was, no Souldier miſſed his own proper Pike or Musket; God takes that order in the marching and incamping of his Church, that every family of the Levites knew what belonged unto them; for thoſe of Gerſhon, the body of the Tabernacle (c)Numb. 3. 25, 26.; for thoſe of Kohath, the Ark and Table, & Candleſtick, & Altars hanging, and what was proper to it (d)Numb. 3. 31.; for thoſe of Merari, the boards, and barres, and pillars, and ſockets, and all the furniture belonging to the outward Court (e)Numb. 3. 36, 37.: now if God were ſo exact and punctual in all the Officers and Offices of a tranſitory moving Tabernacle, that was ſhortly after to be ſwallowed up, and ſhadowed by the Temple; and of the Temple that was nothing but a foil and introduction to the Goſpel-ſervice, what ſhould we be in that? for if that which was done away, was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious (f)2 Cor. 3. 11; if the Levitical and legal adminiſtration were ſo exactly and punctually provided for; how much more ſhould the Evangelical? if God himſelf ſet ſome apart to attend and act in holy things, which many others of the Congregation could have done as well as they; how much more curious ſhould we be in things for which who is ſufficient? as the Apoſtle ſpeaks (g)2 Cor. 2. 16: if God would have his Cooks and Butchers ſo exact and abſolute, ſo educated, inſtructed and provided for; what ſhould his Secretaries, Counſellors and Heralds be?