The Kings Censure Upon Rescusants that Refuse the Lords Supper, Title page – To the reader

The Kings Censure Upon Rescusants that Refuse the Lords Supper · Title page – To the reader

THE KINGS CENSURE UPON RECUSANTS, THAT Refuſe the SACRAMENT of the Lords Supper. Delivered in three SERMONS, CONTAINING A Refutation of ſome dangerous common errors, And a Remonſtration of the Duties of Adminiſtration and Participation of that Holy Sacrament.

Proving the Neceſſity of receiving it.

Reproving the Neglect and contempt of it.

Diſproving the Exceptions and excuſes alleged againſt either the giving or taking of it.

Set forth to publick view for the hungry and thirſty Souls ſake that deſire to be ſatisfyed.

By Thomas Marſhal Miniſter of the Doctrin and Sacraments of the Goſpel.

6. Ioh. 53. Except ye eat the fleſh of the Son of man, and drink his bloud, ye have no life in you.

22. Luke 19. This do in remembrance of me.

LONDON, Printed for Francis Cowles in the Old-Baily, 1654.

To the antient ſtanding Clergy of our Church, Preſbyterians, Independents, or by what other Names and Titles elſe they be diſtinguiſhed.

Reverend and Beloved Brethren,

LEt it not offend you, if after ſo many years diſtraction and contention to find out a Reformation of things in the Church, I mind you to return again to your ſelves, and enter into ſerious conſideration, how little good we have done in that, and with what ill ſucceſs we have managed our undertakings, whereby, through our manifold diviſions, we have brought contempt upon our perſons, almoſt to the levelling of the Miniſterial function, diſolv'd the Unity, and defaced the Beauty of the faireſt of all the Reformed Churches, even in the judgement of **Florētiſſima Anglia ocellus Eccleſiarum peculium Christiani ſingulare, &c. Horrore toti concutimur ad verſam hanc pulcherrimam Eccleſiae inter vos faciem, &c. in the Letter penned by Dr. Deodate to the late Aſſembly of Divines. 1 Cor. 11.1 Cor 11Geneva, from whence we were to take our pattern; expoſed the eſſential marks of the Church to be ſhot at and beaten down; The Doctrine which was pure obſcured with many errors; The Sacrament; which were rightly and duly adminiſtred, to be many ways abuſed and diſuſed, even thoſe foreign, thoſe reverend myſteries, as the antients tearmed the Elements in the Euchariſt, to be undervalued and vilified by ſome, as Chriſts bloud and the chalices given by Conſtantine, were by that unhappy Foelix, which God avenged with vomitting bloud night and day until he dyed: Theſe things, as they cannot but ſadly afflict the Souls of all good Chriſtians; ſo ſhould they excite all faithful Ministers in their ſeveral places, to endeavour their Reformation according to the Primitive pattern and inſtitution: more particularly for redreſs of things amiſs in and about the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper (which is the ſubject of this enſuing diſcourſe) to look to the firſt Inſtitution (as St. Paul did in the ſame caſe) of our Saviour; wherein he ſtraightly charged his Apoſtles and their Succeſſors, hoc agere, to do this in remembrance of him; In which word he gave us a Commiſſion for two things, Immitation and Intention, Imitation of all his Sacrament alactions, bleſſing, taking, breaking, giving, eating and drinking the Bread and Wine; and the Intention to do theſe in remembrance of him, or to continue a memorial of his death and paſſion. This was our Lord and Saviours laſt Will and Teſtament at his death; thus to give himſelf body and bloud to poor hungry and thirſty Souls under the figures of Bread and Wine, and ſhall we his Miniſters take on us to be his Executors and not perform the will of him that dyed? profeſs our ſelves his Stewards (of whom as St. Paul ſays, it is required that they be men faithfu) and not diſpenſe the Bread he gave to his family in due ſeaſon? 1 Cor. 4.2.1 Cor 4:2Or ſhall we take on us to be Chriſts Amanuenſes, his Secretaries to draw the Articles of the Covenant betwixt him and his people, which we do in our daily Preaching, and not confirm it to their ſouls and conſciences? if we adminiſter the Goſpel without the Sacraments which are the Seals (as too many do) we give the handwriting of the Covenant cancelled, and defraud the people of their right. This they do which follow not the example of his Sacramental actions. And beſides theſe, others fail in the main Intention. Chriſt bids do this in remembrance of him, or of his death and paſſion, which they ſimply do not, which give the Sacrament to none but Proſelites of their own Schiſm and faction, and ſo uſe the Seal of the Covenant as a badge or cognizance to diſtinguiſh the members of their own gathered Churches or Conventicles. If both the one and the other, he that fails in the action, and he that diverts the intention, would impartially communicate this holy myſtery of Chriſts Body to the Body of Chriſts Congregation, our rents and Schiſms would be ſooner drawn up together, and the people return to a better union in points of Religion, which is the chief ſcope and endeavour of this following tractat; which I preſent you with to peruſe, and ſubmit to your impartial cenſure; beſecching him that gave the encreaſe to what Paul planted, and Apollos watered, to crown your ſtudies with ſuch happy ſucceſs, that you may by them knit the peoples hearts again in the union of Religion, and the Communion of Christian love and affection; that the Doctrin every where may from the leven of error and Hereſy be refined, the Sacraments to the right uſe and adminiſtration be reſtored, the rod of Diſcipline may like Aarons bloſſom again and be replanted, and the face of the Church, which is now clouded and obſcured, may appear again in perfect beauty, and be preſented without ſpot or wrinckle at the day of our Lord and Maſters ſecond comming; to whoſe Grace at that great day, and always, he commends you, who is

Your Brother in all Chriſtian ſervice and love. Tho. Marſhal.

p. 1The Bridegrooms Invitation to a Wedding Supper &c.

Matth. 22.8.

And he ſaid unto his ſervants, Truly the wedding is ready, but they that were bidden are not worthy.

THE word of God comes to us in Parables, 1 Kings 14 3.1 Kgs 14:3like Jeroboams wife to the Prophet Ahijah with Cracknells and Hony, But diſguiſed and hard to be known. There is in them ſweetneſs of Speech, but difficulty of Senſe; So that as none could expound Sampſon's Riddle, 14 Judges 18.Judg 18but they that had plowed with his Heifer, ſo it is given to none to expound Chriſts, the antityped Sampſons Parables, but them which have ſet their hand to his plough, from which a looking back makes unfit for the Kingdom of God. 13 Mat. 11, 13.Matt 11:13To you (ſaith he) it is given to know the Myſteries of the Kingdom of Heaven; but to them all things are ſpoken in Parables, that ſeeing they may ſee and not perceive.

Now by the general ſentence of them that expound theſe Myſteries, 1 Tim. 1, 17.1 Tim 1:17The Parable of the King that made a marriagefeaſt for his Son is this; The immortal, inviſible, and only wiſe God is the King, His Son, Jeſus Chriſt; 3 Matt,This is my wellbeloved Son, ſaies he, by a voice from Heaven at his Baptiſm, and again at his Transfiguration. 17 Matt.This Son is the Bridgroom; His Spouſe, the Church; The Marriage, the ſpiritual Union betwixt them; The wedding dinner, the merrie cheer which the faithfull perceive in the Doctrin and Sacraments of the Goſpell. The Gueſts invited are of three ſorts; they which lye in the high-wayes and hedges, are Separatiſts and p. 2ſchiſmaticks, Auguſt. in Epiſt. 50. Intelligemus vias Haereſes, ſchiſmata ſaepes. Idem l. 2. cont. 2 Epiſt. Gaudenſii tom 7. & in Serm. 53. de verb. Dō. Venant de ſaepibus Haeretici nam qui conſtrunt ſaepes diviſio nes quaerunt. Diviſion.which adhere to the diviſions and ſeparations made from the Church of God, and theſe the King would have compelled to come in Luke 14.23. They that in the firſt place were called and would not come, were the obſtinate Jewes and all other Recuſants, which refuſe the Grace of God offered them in the Goſpell. They that made light of it, and by going another way, to their Farm or Merchandise, thought to be excuſed, are the careleſs and negligent, that preferre the profits of the World, before the proviſion of their Souls. The ſervants ſent to call the Gueſts to the wedding, are the Miniſters of God, at whoſe bidding they that come not when tis ready, are by the ſentence of God the King to his ſervants, ſaid to be unworthy.

And he ſaid unto his ſervants, Truly, the Wedding is ready, but they that were bidden are not worthy. Thus have you that Parable unmasked in which my Text is, which admits of a threefold partition: In the firſt, ſtands the Maſter of the Feaſt talking with his ſervants, And he ſaid unto his ſervants. In the ſecond, is the marriage-Feaſt made ready, truly the Wedding is ready. In the third, the Gueſts abſent are cenſured, but they that were bidden are not worthy.

In the firſt, which is the entrance into the Text, there is quis & quibus to be conſidered of, who ſpeaks, and to whom: and thirdly the modus dicendi, the manner how, he ſaid unto his ſervants.

In the ſecond, as in the dining Room, there are two things moſt obſervable, Nuptiae & Paratio, or the nature and quality of the Feaſt, a Wedding; and ſecondly the preparation or propenſity of it, the wedding is ready.

In the third, as in a Court of Judicature, we hear two things, querela & cenſura; a Complaint a nda Cenſure; The Kings complaint of the gueſts invited, they were bidden but came not, (for that is alſo here implied;) and his Cenſure upon them, they were not worthy.

Theſe are the parts of the text, all worthy to be ſpoken of by me, and hearkened unto by you in theſe times; And firſt of the firſt, 1 Quis.the Quis, who it is that ſpeaks this.

And if we mean to find him out, Obſervation.we muſt look back as far as the ſecond verſe, where he is ſtiled Rex quidam, a certain King. God goes often under the name of a King, as Kings p. 3ſomtimes under the name of Gods: 82 Pſalm 6. 47 Pſalm 44 51 5 24 3 Eſa Vſe of Information. Hoc toto tempore uſ que ad Cae ſarem Auguſt. qui videtur non adhue vel ipſorum opinione glorioſam ſed contentioſam & exitioſam & planè jam enervem & languidam libertatem ōnimodo extorſiſſe Romanis & ad regale arbitrium cuncta revocaſſe & quaſi morbida vetuſtate collapſam veluti …nſtauraſſe & renovaſſe rempublicam. Aug. de Civita. Dei. l. 3. c. 21. Exhortation.Ps 6:47Ps 44:51The Spirit of God in the Holy Scripture ſeems to take pleaſure in the Metaphor, and cloathes the Deitie of Heaven oft times with the Majeſty of a King on Earth. God is my King of old, ſaies the Kingly Prophet, God is the King of all the Earth, a great King above all Gods, my King and my God, the King of Glory, and many more. The Prophets ſet him out by the like Epithite, Jehovah is our King ſaith Eſay. The living God and King, ſaith Jeremiah. King of Kings and Lord of Lords is one of his names in the Revelation, and in the Parables of the Goſpel he is by Chriſt compared to a King that took account of his ſervants: and here to a certain King that made a marriage-feaſt for his Son.

Surely then the name and Office of a King is not ſimply noxious and ſinfull; God never puts on ſuch Attributes as import ſin and miſchief to his people; and therefore the Roman Senators were ſimply (being Heathen) or knowingly miſtaken, being conſcious of what they had done, when after Tarquinius their King was expelled, they rendered the very name and office of a King, odious unto the People, whom they gulled of their Libertie, while they pretended to get it for them; Nor was it ever reſtored (as St. Auguſtine, a man as well verſt in thoſe Hiſtories as any man living now is or can be, reports out of his reading) untill Auguſtus Caeſar wreſted it out of the hands of the Senators, and brought back their contentioſam & exitioſam libertatem (as he tearmes it) ad Regale arbitrium, reduced their contentious and exitious liberty, to royal rule and arbitrie.

But to follow that is not my purpoſe, happily you will think tis no Theme for this time: yet God is our King, what ever Kings on earth be. Let me and you keep our ſelves cloſe unto him, whoſe Kingdome is everlaſting: He is our King, let us obey him, he rules, and of right ought to rule internally in the hearts of us all, externally in the Churches of his Saints, and will reign eternally amongſt the Saints and Angells of Heaven. All which rule goes often in the Goſpell under the name of the Kingdom of Heaven, but that may be diſtinguiſht into two, the Kingdome of Heaven in Heaven, and the Kingdome of Heaven on Earth. In this on earth (the ſcope of my ſpeech now) the Saints are his p. 4Subjects, the Preachers his Embaſſadors, the Temples his Houſes of Parliament, the word and Scriptures his Lawes and Statutes, the Spirit his Vice-Roy, the Rayment the Robe of Chriſts Righteouſneſs, the Food the Sacrament, which is the marriage feaſt of his Son, the Miniſters of the Goſpel the ſervants and waiters at the Table. The King ſaid unto his ſervants,

And here I would have turned over to the Servants (it being beſide my purpoſe to ſtay long in the Dore and entrance of my text) but that the Rebellious wickedneſs, and open Prophaneſs of our times, calls upon me to vindicate his Rights, and to ſtand up in the defence of his Honour and Eſtate.

1 Againſt them that ſay, 22Of Reproof ond Refutation. 1 of the Libertines, that under a pretence of Libertie will not obey him inwardly in heart: Nor outwardly in Church. 13 Heb. 17like thoſe diſobedient ſervants in the Parable, nolumus hunc regnare we will not have him to Reign over us, will not endure to be guided by the Vice-Roy of his Spirit, that rules in the hearts of his Children, nor ſubmit to any Government that ever yet he ſet up in the Churches of his Saints; but under a pretence of liberty of Conſcience, obey the unruly Luſts of their own wicked hearts, and ſo fall off from God's guidance, to make themſelves the ſervants of Sin, and ſlaves to the Devill, and under a pretext of Chriſtian liberty, refuſe to conform to any Order or Diſcipline in his Church. Count them but Prieſtridden, thats their terme, that will hearken to St. Paul and obey them that rule over them, and ſubmit to them that watch over their Souls, that they may give an account with joy, which they ſhall never do of ſuch, but with grief: which looſneſs and unrulineſs diſſolves all Bands of his Government, who is ſet up King in his holy hill of Sion, and brings all Beauty and Order in a Church to ataxie and confuſion.

Theſe deny him obedience, 22Of Atheists' two ſorts. 14. Pſalm. 1.Ps 1will not have God their King to rule over them; nor is that all, they will take away another part of his Kingly Office, his Court of Judicature from him, ſay he is not Elohim, with David's Fool in the Pſalm, no Supreme Judge that puniſheth men; but if the ludgments of God befall them, impute it to Fortune and Chance, with the Epicures of old, or with Aſtrologers to an unluckie Conſtellation at the day of Birth, which carries them on to an unfortunate death.

p. 5How ſalfe the Firſt is, God tells by his Prophet, that ſaies, Such as attribute the judgements of God to Fortune and Chance. 10 Matth. 29There is no evill in the City (meaning malum poenae, the evill of puniſhment) but the Lord hath done it. And by his Son, who oppoſes his Providence againſt Fortune and Chance, when he ſaies, a ſparrow lights not on the ground, without the providence of your Heavenly Father: and if Providence be in ſuch light Accidents, how much more in heavy judgments that befall mens Perſons, Families, and Nations?

But if his word be of no weight with them (for they count it but a device of mans brain) examples enough may be found in all Ages to demonſtrate his juſtice upon Sinners. Who could ſee the Doggs licking up Ahabs blood in the ſame place where they had licked the blood of innocent Naboth before, 1 Kings 21, 19.1 Kgs 21:19and not ſay, it is the juſt judgment of God upon him for his ſin, according to the word of Eliah? Or look upon that Tyrant Adontbezeck, bleeding under the table, with his thumbs and great toes cut off, as he had ſerved ſeventy Kings before, 1 Iudg. 7. 2 Machab. 6, 7, & 9.Judg 7:2and not ſay with him, as he had done to others, ſo had the Lord requited him? Or who can think of the intolerable pains, crawling wormes, noyſom Vloers, odious ſmell of the body of that bloody Antiochus, Iuſeb. his Eccl. Hiſt.that ſo cruelly perſecuted the people of God, and not acknowledg with him, the ſcourg of God upon him for his ſin? Or read Joſephus or Euſebius of the cruelties acted, and the miſeries endured by Herod, through the burning heat of his body both within and without, the gnawing in his ſtomach, the ſwelling in his leggs and thighs, feſtering of his Bowells, wormes breeding in his fleſh that eat him up, and ſtinking with putrefaction, and not ſay, as thoſe that ſaw him, theſe are not diſeaſes incident to human Nature, but the manifeſt ſtripes of divine Anger? Or can any recount the wrongs done by thoſe unrighteous Jews to their King and Saviour? How their King Agrippa was, after the ſame manner, mocked, and their Nobles ſcourged at Alexandria; Thirty of them ſold for a penny, which bought Him for thirty pence; were crucified by hundreds, upon the Walls, as they crucified Him; beſides eleven hundred thouſand that were deſtroyed by thoſe three devouring Plagues at one time, Famin, Sword, and Peſtilence: and not acknowledge a jus talionis from the revenging hand of the great King of the World, who ordereth all things by p. 6his Providence, without giving way to Fortune or Chance.

And to the ſecond, 22Such as impute them to the influence of the Starrs, Hexam l. 4, c. 14. Lib. 5 de civit. Dei c. 1that impute their Calamities to Conſtellations at their Nativities, a thing which St. Ambroſe labours to evince with many Arguments, I ſhall only in ſhort, but ſhoot out the Queries of St. Auguſtin. If they ſay the Starrs are cauſes of human actions and events, Quale judicium de hominum factis Deo relinquitur quibus Coeleſtis neceſſitas adhibetur, What judgment is left to God over humane affairs, if we attribute the guidance of them to a neceſſary influence of the Starrs? Or whats the Reaſon there can no Reaſon be given why Twinns, born under the ſame Figure of the Heavens, as Jacob and Eſau, yea one at that time laying hand on the others heel, ſhould oft-times differ more in Diſpoſitions, Events, Actions, Profeſſions, Honours, and other things of this life, and in the manners of Death alſo, than they which were born of divers Parents, in divers Countries, and at divers times; Or why ſhould men ſo diverſly born, ſo often come to the ſame ends, periſhing by water, or ſlaughter, as is often ſeen in Souldiers and Mariners, if their deaths depend upon the Conſtellations at their Births? No ſure, there is a King that ruleth in theſe things, a God that judgeth the earth.

And yet I have not done with the perſon of this King in my Text, 33Of Blaſ phemers that take the name of God upon themſelves.till I have vindicated him againſt another ſort of Rebells more groſſe than theſe, that would pull the King of Heaven out of his Throne, Vote him down, and ſet up themſelves in his room, ſay they are God, ſo have ſome done of late, O Deus bone, in quae nos tempora reſervaſti! O good God in what an evill age do we live, to hear of ſuch horrible Blaſphemies againſt the Divine Majeſtie! If they did ſimply deny God's Eſſence (and yet they do it by conſequence, ſeing there is but one God) with the word of God we might put them to ſilence; Or if they believe not that to be of Divine inſpiration, but, as ſome ſay, of humane invention, we might turn them to the volume of Gods Workes, where every Creature is a Character, in which they may read the Eſſence and Attributes of God the Creator. Eſt Caelum & tellus ſuperos quid quaerimus ultra, There is an Heaven and an Earth, there is a God, make no more queſtion on't. But to ſuch a one as ſaies it himſelf, or his Followers p. 7for him that he is God, I know no better way than to let him blood for his Blaſphemies as he deſervs, at ſight whereof he will cry peccavi, and ſay no leſs than great Alexander, bleeding of a wound, to them that ſaluted him by the name of God foreign This is blood as ye ſee, Pluta. de adulat. & Amici diſcrimine.no ſuch humour flows from the immortal Gods. Or elſe to ſecure his perſon, and put him in ſafe cuſtody (as many better than they have beene) and then tell him he is no God, God is nuſquam incluſus, never kept within the walls of a Priſon. Cyclops, that derided Ulyſses for ſaying his wine in a Bottle was the God Bacchus, would never take him for a God that ſhould look out at a Grate: No ſuch condition is competible to our Sovereign God, no corruption, no reſtriction, but rather, the Majeſty of a King upon his Throne. And none of them dare challenge that I am ſure: None dare ſay he is King, though more bold with God, to ſay in theſe times he is God. And our God is even ſo, Rex quidam, The certain King, that made the marriage-Feaſt for his Son.

I have been ſomwhat long in the perſon of the King, 22The mo… dus dicendi how he ſpeakes.his Rights now in queſtion required it, I will be brief in the next, His Speech unto his ſervants, He ſaid unto his ſervants. God ſpeaks three maner of waies: Firſt verbis creantibus, with creating words: Secondly verbis vocalibus, with vocall words; Thirdly, verbis mentalibus, with mental words, to the minds and underſtandings of men.

After the firſt maner he ſpake when he made the Worlds. He ſpake the word and they were made ſaith the Pſalmiſt, 148 Pſalm 5. 4 Deut. 15.Ps 5:4Deut 15He commanded and they were created. Sayd after the ſecond maner, when he gave the Law, The Lord ſpake unto you out of the midſt of the fire, ſaith Moſes, and ye heard the Voice of the words. And after the third way he ſake to the Prophets, informing their minds and underſtandings. Prophecy came not of old time by the will of man, ſaith St. Peter, 2 Pet. 1.212 Pet 1:21but holy men ſpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoſt.

And this laſt way he ſpeaks ſtill to his ſervants under the Goſpel; not with words of his voice unto their eares, but with words of his mind or Spirit to their hearts. The Spirit teſtifieth to our ſpirit, ſaith St. Paul, 8 Rom. 16.Rom 16that we are the Sons of God. Dicuntur tibi quaedam verba arcana intrinſecus ut dubitare non poſſis quin juxta te ſit Spiritus, ſaith St. Cyprian. p. 8There are certain words ſpoken to thee inwardly, ſo that thou canſt not chooſe but know the Spirit ſpeaks unto thee. Theſe are the good motions of the Spirit that ſpeaks to inform thee in the truth, perform good duties, reform ill maners, 30 Eſay 21.Isa 21and admoniſh thee of dangers. Thou ſhalt hear a voice behind thee ſaying, This is the way, walk in it, when thou turneſt to the Right hand or the left. And after this way the King intimates his pleaſure now, concerning the Feaſt and the Gueſts, when he ſaies to his ſervants, The Wedding is ready, but they that were bidden are not worthy.

And of this manner of ſpeaking, Application to two ſortsI ſhould now ſay no more, but for thoſe of our times that forge the Mandats of this great Monarch, and wreſt the words of his letters Patent, and ſay Sic dicit Dominus, thus ſaith the Lord, when the Lord hath not ſo ſpoken. And they are of two ſorts, ſome publike Paſtors, and others privat Profeſſors, as they have uſed to ſtile themſelves,

And firſt, 11To ſome Preachers. 5 Ier. 30, 31.Jer 30:31ſome Paſtors there are, or Prophets, that do ſo. In the Jewiſh Church were ſuch, A wonderfull and horrible thing is committed in the Land, the Prophets propheſie falſly, ſaith Jeremie, and the People love to have it ſo. And a Conſpiracy of ſuch Prophets Ezekiel ſpeaks of, 22 Ezek. 25.Ezek 25that deſtroyed Souls for love of Luore, made many Widdows, and dawbed the Princes with untempered morter, 28.divining lies and ſeeing vanity, and ſaying, Thus ſaith the Lord, when the Lord had not ſpoken.

But there are no ſuch in our Church, if every one may be heard ſpeak for himſelf, They will ſay every one with Saul to Samuel, when God ſent him againſt the Amalekites, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord: 1 Sam. 15.1 Sam 15But what mean the bleating of the Sheep, and the lowing of the Oxen which I hear in mine cares? ſaid Samuel; So what mean the crying Sins and Blaſphemous Hereſies of the times, which we hear in our eares? God ſends thee to cut down theſe, as he ſent Saul to ſlay them: But they ſpare them as Saul did the Amalekites for favour or feare, love of Lucre and Preferment, whereby they ſpread and increaſe. 22 Numb.Oh that we had no ſuch Balaams among us, that will be hired with promotions to curſe Iſrael, and yet ſay they will not ſpeak more or leſs than the word of the Lord for an houſe full of Silver and Gold. But they are not to be truſted upon their word in a matter of that moment, as p. 9is the everlaſting eſtate of your Souls, that will be drawn with the byaſs of by-reſpect from the ſcope and mark that they are chiefly to aim at. Such as are the cauſe of Schiſms and Sins contrary to the ſound Doctrine ye have learned, St. Paul bids, Mark and avoyd.

Neither is this the fault of ſome publick Preachers onelyonly, 22To ſome Profeſſors.but of ſome private Profeſſours too, who of late have learnt a way to counterfeit the King's Coyn, and ſet his own ſtamp upon their own baſe adulterate Metal; put a Verbum Domini, or a Sic dicit Deus, upon the thoughts and imaginations of their own hearts; A conceit ſo full of deceit and deluſion, as nothing can be more. Ger. 6.5.Every imagination of the thoughts of Man's heart is evil continually, ſaid God. Not the ſuggeſtions of Satan onelyonly, but what imagination proceeds from Man's heart, is evil; not ſome thoughts onelyonly, but every imagination of the thoughts; not ſometimes neither, but ſo continually. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, Mat. 15.19.Matt 15:19adulteries, fornications, falſe-witneſs, blaſphemies, ſaith our Saviour: No ſuch ungodly motions can be of God, unleſs they mean another God, the God of this World (an expreſſion of St. Paul's, wherewith he dignifies the Devil, 2 Cor. 4.4.) Prava cogitatio Sathanae ſeminatio, Evil cogitation is the Devil's ſuggeſtion; Mat. 16.23.Matt 16:23who as he ſpake in Peter an Apoſtle to Chriſt, to favour himſelf, ſo may better be thought to ſpeak in People apoſtate, to prompt them on to errour and ſin. A ſtrong deluſion it is which God juſtly ſends upon ſome of this Nation to their damnation, for their wilfull deſcrtion of the Truth, which was ſo plent fully preached among them. And ſo St. Paul ſaies, 2 Theſſ. 2.11, 12.2 Thess 2:112 Thess 2:12That for this cauſe God ſhall ſend a ſtrong deluſion, that they ſhall believe foreign, an untruth, falſhood, or hereſie, or lye, to this end, that they all might be damned which believed not the Truth, but had pleaſure in Unrighteouſneſs.

Whether the thoughts of Mens hearts be the dictates of God's Spirit, they muſt prove, by comparing them with what the Spirit of Truth writes in holy Scriptures: And if the Spirit that ſpeaks in thee, contradicts the Spirit that writes in that, 'tis not of God, neither are they his Servants that obey that; his Servants hear his voyce that is the Maſter of the Feaſt; And ſo from him now we come to them, He ſaid unto his Servants.

p. 10And they are mentioned before, 33Quibus to his Servants.verſe 3. the Men he ſent out to call the Gueſts to the VVedding. They ran not before they were ſent, as did the falſe Prophets, but ſtaid for their Miſſion, and that was their Commiſſion, foreign, the verb the ſame from whence the name Apoſtle ſprings. And again, Luk. 10. Mat. 28.Luke 10Matt 28in the 9 verſe, he ſaies, foreign, Go, a word of Authority, wherewith Chriſt ſent out his Apoſtles in other places. Obſervation.Without Letters of Orders to take the Miniſterial Office upon us, is in the Church but diſorder. None ought foreign, to call the Gueſts by preaching of the Word, or wait on the Table of the Lord, but whom he appoints to that Service.

And here the Servants are not to be taken in the common and largeſt ſenſe, for all that worſhip him, and ſerve him as the People do, but in a ſtricter and more peculiar way for them that officiate in his ſervice, as the Prieſts and Miniſters do. Kings make a difference in their Servants; ſome wait more nearly upon their Perſons, ſome in Offices further off: So doth God the King here, who makes a diſtinction betwixt his Miniſters and his People; though all ſerve him together, yet they in a nearer way. Num. 16.9.Num 16:9God hath ſeparated them to be near himſelf in the ſervice of the Tabernacle, and to ſtand before the Congregation to miniſter unto him. They are his Stewards, the People his Houſhold; they his Embaſſadours, but thoſe their Auditors; they his Servitors, thoſe his Gueſts. The Gueſts are ſent for, the Servants ſent; the Gueſts called, the Servants call them. Verſ. 3.He ſent out his Servants to call them that were bidden.

A diſtinction then ſure muſt be betwixt theſe two, Vſe 1. of Inſtruction.Prieſt and People, Clergy and Laity; God hath ordained it ſo, and gives no licenſe to private men to take upon them the publick Miniſtring without a Lawfull, yea and an External Calling. To do ſo upon preſumption of Gifts and Abilities, is as great diſorder in the Church, as for the Common Souldier, upon pretence of his skill and valour, to uſurp his Captains or chief Commanders place in the Camp; or for the Common Lawyer upon pretence of his Learning and Judgement, to ſet him down in the Judges place in the Court. This to do, without Commiſſion, brings all in all the three into confuſion.

But for private men to officiate in the Prieſts room, 22Of Con…So … though a Heathen, yet a Wiſe Man, ſo abhorred p. 11that he counted it foreign, a deed deſerving many deaths. He it may be you will think was ſevere: But God, who is gentle and mercifull, cenſured it worthy a foul Diſeaſe, when he, for offering Incenſe in the Prieſts office, puniſhed Ʋzziah the King with the Leproſie; VVorthy of deprivation in King Saul, 1 Sam. 13.11, 12, 13, 14.1 Sam 13:111 Sam 13:121 Sam 13:131 Sam 13:14who but once played the Sacrificer in caſe of neceſſity, yet for this was caſt out of the Throne, both he and his Poſterity. Nay more than ſo, worthy of death, and that a ſtrange death too, Numb. 16.40.Num 16:40in the 250 Princes of the Congregation, that for offering Incenſe were conſumed with ſtrange Fire that came out from the Lord. And that for a memorandum, That no Stranger which is not of the Seed of Aaron come near to offer Incenſe before the Lord, that he be not as Corah and his Company. And theſe all had the natural gift, ſufficient abilities to act thoſe parts of the Prieſts Office they enterpriſed: But God, that was not therewithall pleaſed, ſeverely puniſhed it as a prophanation for want of lawfull Calling and Conſecration.

If private men for their practice of unlicenſed preaching pretend there is more liberty under the Goſpel to take on them the publick Miniſtry, they are deceived, there is no ſuch warrant from the Word of God.

Not from the Prophecy of thoſe times by Joel, Ioel 2.28.Joel 2:28which St. Peter ſaies was fulfilled in the Apoſtles ſpeaking with Tongues thoſe Magnalia Dei upon the day of Pentecoſt; Act. 2.16, 17.Acts 2:16Acts 2:17This is that, ſaies he, which was ſpoken by the Prophet Joel, that in the laſt daies (meaning the daies of the Goſpel at the beginning of them, not the laſt daies before the end of the World) God will pour out his Spirit upon all Fleſh, and your Sons and Daughters ſhall prophecy (as did the Daughters of Philip the Evangeliſt) for this was a prediction of the holy Spirits emanation at the firſt plantation of the Goſpel, Act. 21.9.Acts 21:9not of phanatique ſpirits eruption towards the end of the World, when falſe Chriſts and falſe Prophets ſhall ariſe, Mat. 24.Matt 24and Mockers be in the laſt times, which walk after their own luſts. And theſe are they, ſaies St. Jude, which ſeparate themſelves, Iude 18, 19and are ſenſual, having not the Spirit.

Nor have they precept, as they pretend, for their practice. That of St. Paul, That all may prophecy one by one, 1 Cor. 13.31.1 Cor 13:31will not patronize them in it. That is not to be underſtood of all the People, private Men and Women, which he forbids elſwhere p. 12to ſpeak in the Church, 1 Cor. 14.34.1 Cor 14:34but of all the Prophets or Preachers lawfully called to inſtruct the Church of God, as appears by the Context.

'Tis great boldneſs then, without an external Calling from Men, to aſſume that high Calling under God, and to be, as St. Baſil tearms it, foreign, a Mans ſelf-ordainer. Yea a madneſs, Lib. 4. Inſtit. cap. 3. ſect. 14.ſaies Calvin, Ʋt ab hominibus deſignetur Epiſcopus omninò ex ordine legitimae vocationis eſſe nemo ſobrius inficiabitur, That a Biſhop or Miniſter ſhould be deſigned of Men, none but a mad Man will deny to be a lawfull Ordination. Heb. 5.4. Exod. 29.1.Heb 5:4Exod 29:1St. Paul ſaith, No man aſſumed the honour of the Prieſthood, unleſs he was called of God, as Aaron was, who was conſecrated by Moſes with a great deal of Ceremony.

But that none ſhould upon a conceit of an internal Calling, or Gift of the Spirit, go out to preach, without the external Conſecration by Impoſition of Hands, the Holy Ghoſt hath given us a plain direction, Act. 13.3.Acts 13:3ſaying, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them: Called they were to the work of the Miniſtry by the Holy Ghoſt, it appears by the words (whereto I have called them) and yet he ſaies, Separate them for the work, which was done accordingly in the next verſe, 4.They faſted, and prayed, and laid their hands on them, and ſo ſent them away. Where you ſee the orderly proceeding of the Holy Ghoſt in making the Miniſters of the Goſpel, when he appoints them that were internally called by him, to receive an external Calling by the hands of Men.

For a Man then to run from his Shop, and ruſh into the Pulpit; to leave the Cart, and leap into the Chair of Moſes; to live by the Sword of War, and handle the Word, the Goſpel of Peace, and that without Authority, is ſuch a preſumption as was ſcarce heard of in the Primitive times, foreign, For Laymen to preach, ſaith a Biſhop in Euſebius, is a thing not heard of before; and yet he ſpoke it of Origen, a Man of extraordinary gifts and learning; and ſome judge (and that not without cauſe) his many Errours to be Gods juſt judgement upon him for that his preſumption. No marvel then if illiterate Idiots. Men and Women in our times, become the Broachers of ſo many blaſphemous Errours and Hereſies, uſurping that holy Function, in which, without a lawfull Calling, none can expect a bleſſing.

p. 13I have been long going through the entry of my Text, The ſecond partition of the Text.but you ſee what crouds of Oppoſites ſtood in my way; which now having paſſed, I ſhall bring you to the Dining-room, the ſecond Partition; where are Nuptiae & Paratio, the Quality of the Feaſt, a VVedding, and the fitting and making it ready for the Gueſts, He ſaid unto his Servants, The Wedding is ready.

And firſt, of the Quality of the Feaſt, The Quality of the Feaſt, A Wedding.which he intimates in the Wedding, more plainly explicates in the fourth verſe, ſaying, I have prepared my Dinner, foreign, in the Greek, the beſt thing that I have; and that is the ſacrifice of Chriſt's Body, ſometimes called the Paſchal Lamb, and the fatted Calf in the Parable of the Prodigal, here figured by his Oxen and Fatlings that were made ready; for in the ſacrifice of theſe things was Chriſts death ſhadowed under the Law. So that Chriſt crucified, is all that is here underſtood, and made a Feaſt for our Souls, he being in the Sacrament both Sponſus & Convivium, Bridegroom and Feaſt, as he was at his Death both Sacerdos & Sacrificium, both Sacrifice and Prieſt.

But before we come to the Dinner, How the Bride and Bridegroom were coupled. Eph. 5.12. Christus ex puriſſimis & ſanctiſſimis Virginis ſanguinibus copulavit ſibi carnem animatam anima rationali per Spiritum Sanctum creans. Pet. Lomb. lib. 3. diſ. 3. c. 1. Hoſ. 2.19.Eph 5:12Hos 2:19it is meet I ſpeak firſt of the Marriage, and ſhew how the Bride and Bridegroom were coupled together; and that is foreign, (St. Paul ſaies) a great Myſterie, for I ſpeak of Chriſt and his Church. Jeſus Chriſt, the onelyonly begotten, and dearly beloved Son of God, is the Son of the great King (as you heard) He came forth as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber of Heaven, and took to VVife the Catholick Church here on Earth; Of which myſtical Match, and matchleſs Union, that Royal Preacher, King Salomon, made that Nuptial Song of the Canticles. The ſanctified VVomb of the Virgin was the Chappel where the Matrimonial Knot was tyed. The Holy Ghoſt the Prieſt that joyned them together by uniting to the Son of God the Humane Nature. This his Conception was the inception of the Wedding. The Communion betwixt Chriſt and his Church, the Continuation, which laſts with his Spouſe ſo long as the World endures. I will marry thee to me in faithfulneſs (ſaith he) and in righteouſneſs, lovingkindneſs, and mercy. And at the end of the World ſhall be the Conſummation of this Marriage, when Chriſt ſhall come again, and take his Bride home to his Fathers houſe, to live p. 14with him for ever in Heaven. And then it ſhall be ſaid, Let us be glad and rejoyce, Rev. 19.7.Rev 19:7for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his Wife hath made her ſelf ready.

For this Wedding great feaſting was made in Heaven and on Earth, The Marriage feaſts.publick and private.

The Angels, the Friends of the Bridegroom, held a Feſtival of Joy and Gladneſs in Heaven, when they ſaw this Match go forward, Luk. 2.Luke 2and ſung that Nuptial Hymn, Glory be to God on high, on Earth peace, and good will among Men.

At the Converſion of a Sinner, which to the Bridegroom is the uniting of a Member to his Church, Luk. 15. Rev. 3.20. Salmeron. tract. 23. de parab. hac. Hic eſt ſenſus literalis hujus parabolae, quae ad coenam Eucharistiae ad quam vocati ſunt omnes, pauci acccdunt extendi potest. Orig. Euthym. Author imperfecti operis, &c. ſec undum Terinum in Iocum. Luk. 14.16 1 Cor. 11.10. 1 Cor. 11.24. Do this in …emem…rance of …e. …ev. 19.7.8.Luke 15Rev 3:20Luke 14:161 Cor 11:101 Cor 11:24is merry chear in Heart and in Heaven; Joy in Heaven among the Angels over one Sinner that repenteth; and joy in the heart of the penitent Sinner, which is that the Bridegroom meaneth, when he ſaies, He ſtands at the door (of the heart) and knocks, by the Finger of his Spirit, and if any will open to let him in, he will ſup with him, bringing good chear with him, even the comfort that comes of the free pardon of his ſins.

In Heaven and in Heart this Chear is made: but the Marriage-feaſt of my Text may beſt be applyed to the ſpiritual refreſhing of Souls by means of the Miniſtry of the Word, and Sacraments of the Goſpel in the Temple. And that chiefly of the Euchariſt, by the conſent of many Interpreters; the Sacrament of Chriſt's Body and Blood exhibited under the ſigns of Bread and Wine to nouriſh our Souls to Everlaſting Life. This is the Feaſt of Fat things, full of Marrow, and of VVine upon the Lees, which the Lord promiſed to make to all People in the Mountain of the Lord of Hoaſts, which is his Church, Iſa. 25.9. St. Luke calls it, foreign, a great Supper, and St. Paul, the Supper of the Lord, becauſe firſt inſtituted and adminiſtred by the Lord himſelf at Supper-time. Of which he gave a ſpecial charge to his Apoſtles and their Succeſſors to act over the myſterious rites thereof for a memorial of him, till his coming again at the end of the World, when he ſhall take his Bride, and lead her in a Triumphant manner into the Bridechamber of Heaven, where the marriage-feaſt of the Lamb ſhall be conſummated, To which the Bride ſhall dreſs her ſelf with fine white Linnen, which is the Righteouſneſs of the Saints; and all the Congregation of Heaven ſhall ſing Allelujah, and ſay, Let us … p. 15of the Lamb is come, and his VVife hath made her ſelf ready.

But till this his ſecond coming to call us to that Supper of the Lamb in the Temple of Heaven, he calls us to celebrate the Supper of the Lord in his Church here on Earth; 1 Cor. 11.24.1 Cor 11:24Do this, ſaith he, in remembrance of me; and that's the great Sacramental Feaſt of the Goſpel, and ſolemnization of the Wedding made ready.

And here I might to theſe moſt high and excellent Feaſts annex thoſe ſubordinate Solemnities which the Spouſe out of her devotion hath thought fit to obſerve in memorial of her Bridegrooms tranſcendent acts of grace in the aſſumption of our humane nature from the immaculate Virgin, Application.in his Birth into the World; in his Circumciſion, and Obedience to the Law for us; in his Paſſion for our Sins, Reſurrection from the Dead, Aſcenſion into Heaven, and his Miſſion of the Holy Ghoſt. For the Catholick Church was not antiently of the Presbyterian Reformers minds, that take away the ſpecial memorials of theſe never-to-be-forgotten Favours, and under a pretence of pulling down Superſtition, ſhake the Foundation, and leave the Frame in a tottering condition. foreign, ſaid Ignatius, Epiſt. ad Philip. Lib. 5. cap. 3 α. β.Diſhonour not thoſe holy Feaſts. And if that be ſuſpected, Socrates the Hiſtorian tels us of a certain, that they did in thoſe times, foreign, in ſeveral Countryes abſtain from labour, and obſerve foreign, the Feaſt of Eaſter, and other Feaſts; and that of Cuſtome they held foreign, a Commemoration of the ſoul-ſaving Paſſion of Jeſus Chriſt. And St. Auguſt. in ep. ad Janu. 118. ſaies, they obſerved a Day to the memorial of our Saviour's Nativity, and other Feſtivals, vel ab ipſis Apoſtolis, vel à plenariis Conciliis. No doubt the Church hath power to ſhew her gratitude and love to her Saviour in theſe Feſtival remembrances; and though precept ſhe hath none in the New Teſtament for it, yet is ſhe not left without precedents in the Old. The Jewiſh Church yearly obſerved, for her temporal deliverance, Heſt. 9.2.22.the Feaſt of Purim, and ſo they did the Feaſt of Dedication after the building of the ſecond Temple, Ioh. 10.2John 10:2to which our Saviour himſelf reſorted, approving it by his own example.

But I forbear to preſs the obſervance of theſe, but cannot chooſe but breath out in ſighs, the words of Jeremie's Lamentation, p. 16for the other, Lam. 1.4.Lam 1:4and ſay, The waies of Sion do mourn, becauſe Men come not to the Solemn Feaſts: For ſo it is in too many Places and Pariſhes, that the Oracle for Doctrine is ſilenced, the Table for the holy Communion ſequeſtred, the Temple for the Congregation deſolate, and made a deteſtation. The Food of Souls, in the Doctrine of the Goſpel, Multitudes of People reliſh not, unleſs it be leavened with unwholſome Errours, which beſt pleaſe their diſtempered Palats; loath the Manna which their Fathers liked ſo well, cry out, Our Soul is we ary of this dry Bread, and wiſh for the Onions, Leeks and Melons of Hereſies and Errours; or elſe reject altogether the wholſome nouriſhment of their Souls, to feed upon the corrupt and crude humours of their own ſtomacks, for which they ſhall eat in the end the fruit of their own Inventions. They that forſake that Word which was to David a Light unto his feet, Pſal. 119.Ps 119and a Lanthorn unto his paths, to follow the Ignis Fatuus of their own idle brains, will fall into the Ditch at laſt, when they dye, from whence will be no redemption.

Nor is this all, but, which is more grievous to think of, that holy Feaſt, the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, which all Chriſtians have had in ſo high and honourable eſtimation, is counted with many but a needleſs Ceremony, and the Table of the Lord in the Church valued no better worth than the Dreſſer-board in their Kitchen; the Cups and Chalices become uſeleſs, or put to prophane uſes, and the precious Blood of Chriſt trampled under foot through contempt. And is this a Reformation in Church? or rather, is it not the abhomination of deſolation ſtanding in the Holy Place? the fore-running ſign (as our Saviour ſaid) when ſeen in the Temple of Jeruſalem, Mat. 24.Matt 24of that Nations total ruine and ſubverſion. VVhichWhich to prevent here, let us honour God's Ordinances better, and make proviſion for theſe holy Feaſts of the Goſpel; where we have with God on Earth the neareſt Communion. Let the Servants, the Miniſters, prepare, and the Gueſts, the Communicants, draw near, and all things be in readineſs; which comes next to our handling, in the preparation and making ready of the Feaſt; He ſaid unto his Servants, truly the Wedding is ready. Of which I ſhall ſay no more at preſent, but have your attention in readineſs for it againſt the next day.