A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE KINGS majesty at White-Hall, the VII. of February, 1636. By Thomas laurence D. of Divinity, and chaplain to His majesty in ordinary. Published by the KINGS special Command. PSAL. 84. O how amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! ESAY 8.13, 14. sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread; and he shall be for a sanctuary. The second Edition. LONDON, Printed by R. Badger, and are to be sold in S. Dunstans Churchyard in Fleet-street, at the little-shop turning up to Cliffards-Inne. MDCXXXVII. A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE KINGS majesty at White-Hall, Feb. 7. MDCXXXVI. EXODVS III. V. And he said, Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. MY Text is Mandatum reverendi locum, quia sanctus est, saith Cajetan Cajet. in loc. Dionysius Carthus. Cornel●à ●ap. Rupert. Hug. Vict. Tostat. : A mandate enjoining a reverential distance unto the place, where typically God the son was represented, where literally God himself was present; either in his own Person, or by the mediation of an angel: Holinesse becometh thy house for ever, saith David Psal. 93.5. : so doth reverence, and lowliness too, keep thy foot therefore, when thou goest to the house of God, saith Salomon Ec●les. 5. ●. : for surely the Lord is in this place, though I knew it not, saith jacob Gen. 28.16. . God came indeed to him in a dream but if we dream while we are here, he will not come so to us. O let us come, saith the Prophet Psal 9●. 6. , but let us fall down too: he commands our faith, but loathes our incivility, and loves neither a distrustful servant, nor a saucy one. He is here indeed, and be not too venturous, lest thou feel him: Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes, &c. Where you may observe, First, a distinction in consecrated places: some consecrated to such a height, some not consecrated so high; the presence of the Lord in all, but not the same degrees of his presence in all: for, although one be holy and the other, one is not so holy as the other. Put off thy shoes where thou art( this being an outward Ceremony of ordinary use in their devotions, through those Eastern parts, whereby they testified the inward humiliation of the mind: commanded joshuah josh. 5.15. in express terms elsewhere, and Moses here; and by the rules of equipollency, according to that exposition of the rabbis Pet. coun. de rep. Heb. l. 2. c. 12. Ainsw. in loc. in the next book, others besides: in continual observation among the Priests Exod. 30.19. come. à Lap. in loc. of the Iewes, and from thence, perchance( as Procopius So the Saracens. Tostat. in loc. Hence prov●rbially used, {αβγδ}, &c. So others with Procop. in Exod. 3. Graeci ●●●ficuli discalc●ati ad sacra commeabant. and others tell us they used it) derived to the Gentiles: for why should any slave be more vile in the sight of his lord, than we in the presence of our God?) 'tis holy there: but come not hither though thy shoes be off, 'tis holier here: the greatest respects thou canst give, are little enough for the place where thou art; and too little for the place where I the am: thou mayst not tread on that ground with thy shoes on, nor on this though thy shoes be of. ●econdly, The reason of this distinction: no inherem essential pre-eminence, flowing from the nature and position of the place; but a relative Per solutionem calceamenti demonstrat sancti praesentiam. Procop. in Exod. 3. Solve calceamenta propter loci sanctitatem& Dei, said unde terra illa sancta? quia deputata ad apparitionem illam,& mysterium,& collocutionem sanctam,& dationem legis. Dionys. Carthus. in loc. jerusalem dicta sancta, quòd in ea Templum, &c. Brent in loc. Vt reverentiam exhiberet divinae Majestati quae in loco hoc praesentiam exhibebat, utque magna animi veneratione ad percipiendum Dei accederet oraculum Cornel. à Lap. in loc. Sanctified by the presence, and apparition of God. Ainsw. in loc. The meaning of that ceremony, Exod 3.5. Ios. 5.15. was to show reverence to the place where God did manifest his presence. Mason of Fast. c. 3. accidental preminence, arising from a peculiar dispensation of his esidence, and graces in the place. GOD was by his power and presence where Moses was, and he spake to him there; delivering his Commission in t●is Chapter, arming him with miracles to speed it in the next: and this was enough to supererogate a greater reverence to this place than another, because GOD was more present in this place than in another: thy shoes might become that, thy bare feet best svit with this; and yet draw not too nigh the bush for all that; for even this deportment is not low enough to come thither, because that inf●nitude is more presentiall there. The Son of God was here in an allegory: for ignis in rubo Deus in carne, say some of the Fathers: the fire in the bush is God in the flesh: and ignis in rubo Deus in virgin, the fire in the bush is God in the virgin Bern. Serm. de beat. Mar. in illud Apocal. 12. Signum magnum apparuit. Theodoret. Nyssen. Orat. De Christi Nativitate. , say others. And the Son of God was here without an allegory, either in his own person according to many of the ancient: I am come down to deliver them, saith this apparition at the eighth Verse: and none of the Persons came down for our spiritual deliverance, whereof this temporal redemption of Israel out of Egypt was a Type, but he: or by the deputation of an angel, Greg moral. l. 28. c. 2. &c. as the most. For although Cornelius à Lap. will have us Quia communis est Theologorum cum S. Dionysio c. 4. Coel. hierar: sententia, omnes Dei apparitiones in V. T. factas esse per Angelos. Cornel. à Lap. in loc. grant him, out of Dionysius the Areopagite, the all apparitions of GOD in the Old Testament were by Angels; yet is he as willing to grant us out of others, that all those Angels Multi Patres in omnibus apparitionibus V. T. repraesentatum fuisse filium. Ibid. just. Cont. Tryyh. tart. li. 2. Cont. Mar. Hilar. lib. 4. de Trin. Ambros. de fid. Chrys. in Act 7. were Proxies, and Depties for CHRIST. Which may bee the reason perchance, why the same vision, that is styled an Corn à Lap. ibid. angel in one verse of this Chapter, in all the rest; the LORD; to show, that, if this were not that angel of the covenant in the Prophet, yet was it at least auctoritate Deus, though obsequio Angelus, as the Iesuite Exod. 3.2. An angel and the Lord, &c. v. 1.4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 18. An angel, Act. 7.30, 53. speaks; in the person of an angel, the representation of GOD. Approximation and nearness was permitted there, remoteness and distances required here. He might use adoration in that place, he must only use it towards this, because God was there more than ordinary, he will have more respects than ordinary: thy shoes are too unclean for that place, thy bare feet not clean enough for this. Thirdly, the illation upon this reason: A proportionable adoration to those different degrees of consecration: either in respect of the body, from the literal sense: adoration in conjunction, with that place, in it; put off thy shoes there: Adoration in opposition to the other place, towards it; come not nigh here. Or, in respect of the soul, from the tropological Dead Skins the materials of those, to show i●●o egypt he was to go, though he were sent thither to die. Ambros. in luke. Brent. in Loc. The sign of giving up an interest either of possessions by an ordinary transaction: O● of the marriage bed by divorce, Ruth. ●. 7. Deut 25.9. Veterum est consuetudo, ut si sponsum sponsa repudiare velvet, discalcearetur ille,& hoc esset signum repudii. Proinde Moses excalcea●i jubetur, ne ad ecclesiam, quae in rubo significabatur,& quasi sponsus calceatus accederet-hoc Christo servabatur qui verus sponsus, cujus non sum dignus solvere corrigiam calcei. Rab. Maur. in Loc. Exuere calceos, id est, Sordes. Calvin. Gallas, &c. The guise of a Penitent, 2 Sam. 15.30. Ezek. 24.17. Esay 20.2, 4. : put off thy shoes then out of a due respect unto me in the place where thou art: and, at this remove, in a more humble adoration, prostrate thyself towards the place where I am; and join thy heart with thy knee too; be that which thou dost, the messenger of what thou meanest; nor let thy body adore me, but in the company of thy mind, join soul and body in this Humiliation: 'tis holy where thou hearest me speak: but 'tis holier from whence I speak; that is too clean for thy shoes, and this for thy feet. These are the measures of your patience, and this time: for the better spending whereof, that holy God, to whom all consecrated places are hallowed, instruct me rightly to put the difference betwixt holy and profane, the neglect whereof made God so angry in Ezekiel Ezek. 22.26. , and you rightly to observe it: which leads me to the distinction of consecrated places, and my first general. 1 'tis observable, that in those solemn apparitions of God: to Abraham, upon Mount Moriah, where the Passion of Christ was represented in a Type: and to Moses upon Mount Sina, where the Conception According to that hymn in the Church: Rubum quem viderat Moses incombustum, conservatam agnovimus virginitatem, Sancta Dei genetrix. Similiter Procop. in Exod. of Christ was represented in a Type: and to David in the Threshing floor of Araunah, where the intercession of Christ was represented in a Type: some of them being in that place, where the Temple was to be built, as joseph. Ant. l. 1, c. 14. l. 7. c. 14. that to Abraham and David upon Moriah: other, where the Tabernacle was commanded to be built, as that to Moses on Sina; there was a distinction of persons enjoined, in respect of places; which, in some proportion, answered to the distinction of persons and places, in the Tabernacle and the Temple, I and the Lad will go yonder, saith Abraham: I the Sacrificer, and the Lad the Sacrifice; the Court of the Priests: but abide you here, 'tis not for you to go so far; the Court of the people, Gen. 22.5. Moses was a Type of our Redemption by Christ, delivering Israel out of Egypt: and josuah was a Type of our salvation by Christ, bringing Israel into Canaan( for the son of man was to effect both by the power of the son of God) and yet put off thy shoes saith God to either; because neither Moses being not the first-borne, nor extraordinarily called then: josuah, though the first-borne, yet suspended altogether then, by the separation of Levi. had power to execute the Priest-hood then: the place where ye stand is Holy, Moses before his consecration may be there: the place where I am is holier, Moses after his consecration, is scarce holy enough to be here; and as Moses understood his distance, so did josuah too, for he did so: in the fifth of that story, at the fifteenth verse: God afterwards designs Moses to the employment Moses and Aaron among his Priests, Psal. 99. Exod. 40. where be is commanded to do the acts of consecration. of a Priest, that was before a ruler of the people; and to show the nearness of his person, gives him a nearness of place: there is one stand for the laity, another for the Clergy, and yet both without the Mount, in the 19. of Exodus. Verse 21, 22, 24. Aaron with Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy Elders( all of them being Priests by inheritance, or destination) may ascend up the Mount, but not up so high upon the Mount, for Moses alone shall come near the Lord:( into the Sanctuary they may come, they may not come into the Oracle,) in that very Chapter, after which a Mandate is given by GOD for the ordering of the Tabernacle, the four and twentieth of this story, at the first and second verse. Lastly, David erects an Altar upon Moriah, being then the possession of Araunah, as formerly Abraham had done: consecrated it was by the sacrifices of both, and the apparitions of God to both, and in both represented the satisfaction and mediation of Christ; where he that provided for the building of the Temple, observes the same distance, which was observed in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the Altar built near the place where the angel stood, but not in it, 2 Sam. 24, 16, 18. Nor was the direction particular in this behalf, but universal and general: a distinction of holinesse in their persons Exod. 29. Leviticus 8. Numb. 8. : a distinction of holinesse in their garments Exod. 28.& 29. : a distinction of holinesse in their sacrifices Lev. c. 1. c. 2. c. 3. : a distinction of holinesse in the ornaments Exod. c. 26. c. 27. c. 35. c. 36. c. 37. c. 38. : a distinction of holinesse in the furniture of the Temple: some holy; most holy others Exod. 30.10, 29. . Gershoms charge holier than Meraries, and Coaths than Gershoms, and the charge of Aarons family than eithers Numb. 3, . The whole Camp is holy, and Numb. 5. therefore no unclean person must be in this: the Tabernacle holier than the Camp, and therefore the Levites Num. 1.50.51. c. 4. alone must pitch round about that: the Sanctuary holier than the Tabernacle, and therfore the Priests Levit. 21.6. onely must enter there; and into the Tabernacle without washing Exod. 30.20, 21 , but not into this: the Oracle holier than all, and therefore none must approach here, but Aaron himself, that is holiest Numb. 17.8. Exod. 39.30. Num. 35.28. of all, and that but once a year neither, and that not without lotions Heb. 9.3, 7. , and propitiatory vestments, and mystical sprinklings, blood in one hand to appease God, and a censer presenting a cloud of incense, as it were, to hid him from God in the other. Nor did this distinction expire with the Tabernacle, but lived also in the Temple; for as Moses Heb. 8.5. went by a pattern before, so did Salomon 1 Paralip. 28.6.12, 19. and Ezra Ezra 2.63. Nehem. 7.64, 65. c. 8.3. after: which the Iewes were so careful of, that when Pompey to his own ruin, as it appeared by the sequel, invaded the Sanctuary, the natives joseph. Antiq. l. 14. c. 8. more deplored the discovery, than the spoil thereof: Nicanor in the Macchabees 1 Mac 7.42. being punished by the God of Israel, S. Steven Acts 6.13. , and S. Paul Acts 24.12. c. 21, 28, 29. in the Acts, accused by the people of Israel,( and their accusation had been just, had it been true Acts 24.13 c. 21 29. ) for not observing the distinction of those courts: and, in that war against Antigonus, Herod protested, he had rather hazard his kingdom {αβγδ}. joseph. Antiq. l. 14. c. 28. , than this; while the Temple was building at his own expense, never coming within those forbidden lists, but entrusting the charge with the Priests; and inscribing the sentence of death over the gates against those aliens, that should break in within the ranges, as Iosephus Antiq. l. 15. c. 14. Women in the second court not permitted the same place with men. 1b. relates, not observing thus an humble distance to the place. And must God lose part of his honour from us, by sending his son to us? or must there be less holinesse in the Church, where he was in truth and substance sacrificed by himself, than where he was sacrificed in a type or shadow, by Aaron in the Temple? Certainly no. Our Saviour tells us in the gospel, the Temple is holier Mat. 23.17, 19. than the gold, and the Altar than the gift; and, by expulsing those exchangers and hu●sters, though for the service So Comment. in loc. Gualther Mar. 11.15. Marlor. Mat. 21.12, 13. thereof, beyond the very utmost borders The same call it there atrium, that is, atrium populi, or Salomons porch, 2 Paralip. 6.13. Acts 3.11. into this the people onely resorted, and farther than this wee red not that our Saviour came, being not of Levi, but of Iuda, a Priest after the order of Melchisedech; not after the order of Aaron, for of Iuda Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood, Heb. 7.14. Spelm. de non tem. Eccles. &c. of the Sanctuary; and at no other times, than after his joh. 2.14 Mat. 21.12. Marlorat. in loc. baptism, and before his passion joh. 2.15. Spelm. de non tem. Eccles. , at the entrance, and accomplishment of our redemption; and, when those Mat. 21.13. Luk. 19 46. Mar 11.17. Esa. 56.7. as the same and others collect thence. legal sacrifices, their doves and oxen were before ejected; and from that place, where the Christian Church was best represented, their instructions and customary devotions being performed here, which were to last after Christ; their types, which were to expire with Christ, within; shows, that this distinction should extend as far as the benefit of his Passion or baptism did, and live as long as Oratory or gospel. Wherefore as the Christians in after-ages distinguished their Oratories into an Vid. Godw: Ant. l. 1. c. 1, &c. Atrium, or Church-yard, a Sanctum, or Church, a Sanctum Sanctorum, or chancel: so did they conceive a greater opinion of sanctity in one of them, than in the other; and in one place of them, than in another, having an altar here, answerable to an oracle, or ark, a mercy-seat there; and, that it might appear this discrimination was not temporary, but continual, pointed their Churches Eastward, and looking towards the Temple. Church-yards they thought profaned by Aug. Serm. de temp. to. 10. 214. All immodest behaviour prohibited here, Articl. 1634. n. 52. Statut. Synodal. come. n. 36. apud Carranz. p. 64●. sports; but the Churches themselves even by their feasts of 1 Cor. 11.12. Triclinium epularum, Hieron. in loc. Phot. Nomoc. Tit 5. c. 2. Out of a council of Gangra and Carthage. Artic. 1580. n. 61. Art. 1634. 63. Can. 1571. n. 20. 88. charity: the whole Gothi Roma capta ad Ecclesiam confugientibus peper●erunt. Cornel. à Lap. in Numb. 25.15. Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 5. c. 2.25. Tit. 8. c. 22.26. Tit. 8. c. 13.27. Tit. 8. c. 19. rep. 28 Tit. 8. c. 7.32. Tit. 8. c. 12. rep. 1 Mac. 10.83. c. 5.43. 2 Mac. 4.33. circuit both before, and after Christ, was privileged for refuge; but the inviolablest Sanctuary of all was that, which was nearest to the Exod. 21.14. 1 Reg. 2.28. holiest of all: none out of the communion of the Church permitted to lye there, without Nullus laicus in Ecclesia sepeliatur, nisi in communi coemiterio. council Tribur. c. 17. : and few in the communion of the Church admitted here, within Nullus laicus in Ecclesia sepeliatur, nisi in communi coemiterio. council Tribur. c. 17. ; any consecrated ground preferred Paulinus demands whether the holinesse of the place avails the dead, and S. Aug answers him de cur. pro Mort. ad Paulin. c. 4. Augustines body translated from without the door into the North porch of S. Peter& S. Paul, Bed. l. 2. c. 3. hist. Edelburg translated in like manner, l. 3. c. 8. B. Aydans bones translated to the Altar, c. 17. as also B. Cedda's. c. 23. for interment before that which was not consecrated;& that in a higher esteem, which Paulinus demands whether the holinesse of the place avails the dead, and S. Aug answers him de cur. pro Mort. ad Paulin. c. 4. Augustines body translated from without the door into the North porch of S. Peter& S. Paul, Bed. l. 2. c. 3. hist. Edelburg translated in like manner, l. 3. c. 8. B. Aydans bones translated to the Altar, c. 17. as also B. Cedda's. c. 23. was in a higher degree of consecration; and Paulinus demands whether the holinesse of the place avails the dead, and S. Aug answers him de cur. pro Mort. ad Paulin. c. 4. Augustines body translated from without the door into the North porch of S. Peter& S. Paul, Bed. l. 2. c. 3. hist. Edelburg translated in like manner, l. 3. c. 8. B. Aydans bones translated to the Altar, c. 17. as also B. Cedda's. c. 23. that in the highest, which was nearest the Altar. {αβγδ} and {αβγδ} had their stations Cod. Can. Eccles, univers. Can. 11, 12, 14, 26, 41, 44, 45. Iustell. not. p. 159, 166. ex Greg. Thaumatourg. Ba. sil. Harmenopul. Schol. Graec. Harmenopuli. Tertul. Synes. Theoph. Alex. , {αβγδ} and {αβγδ}, had theirs: their fideles venturing not {αβγδ}, as Theodoret Lib. 5. cap. 18. ; or {αβγδ}, as some councils in Binius To. 1. part. 1. p. 158, &c. speak; beyond those rails or cancelli( whence the name of chancel was derived) which distinguished the nave, or body of the Church from the Oracle, or chancel. None out of orders, no not at the Communion, came within these( whence arose that distinction in the ancient Church betwixt the communion of the Clergy, S. Ambrose told Theodosius being in the Church, {αβγδ}( intri cancellos, saith the interpreter) {αβγδ}. Theodoret. l 5. c. 18. and the Laity, being not different in substance, as an ignorant Romanist urges for the restraint of the Cup, but in place) nor all within orders, neither within those regions beyond these( for the very Sand. relat. pag. 173. Grecians themselves haue their Tables enclosed with great mystery from the people, at this day,) the inferior degrees communicating within the first, the higher alone within the second: in the chancel the rest, the Priests only Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 3. c. 7. Tit. 13. c. 27. council. Laod. c. 19 Tolet 4. c. 17 at the Altar. So that, although they carefully provided for a due respect to other parts of their Churches, forbidding either to build Phot. Nomoc. tit 2. c 1, 2. Tit. 3. c. 14. on or near them, to pass or carry through them, as our Mar. 11.16. Saviour also in the gospel did; to profane the former soil of any Church by secular uses, after, in a more convenient si●e, they had built another, to open shops and stalls upon the doors and walls of God( for if he would not be troubled with the noise of hammers, while his Temple was building, he will not be troubled with the noise of hammers about it, when it is built) yet was there a more awful reverence commanded to this part, being barred from the ordinary view, which made them so passionately Neque hic rerum finis erat: nam& Sanctuarium ingressi sunt milites: quorum aliquos scimus nullis initiatos mysteriis,& viderunt omnia quae incus erant: quin& sanctissimus Christi sanguis, sicut in tali tumultu contingit, in praedictorum militum vestes effusus est. Chrys. Epist. 1. Innocent. Rom. Episcopo. complain, when the outrages of those Pagan times broke in upon them, with the 1 Sam. 6.19. Bethshemites, and discovered what they might not see: the same distinction being observed by the Gentiles besides: for they had their jul. Poll. l. 1. c. 1. &c. {αβγδ} and their {αβγδ}, their {αβγδ} and their {αβγδ}, as appears by their own antiquities, and Historians: all the particulars whereof might be justified by several authorities, were't not for the losing of my Sermon in my quotations. Cursed be the man, saith the council of Cod. Can. Eccl. univers. p. 40. {αβγδ}. Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 5. c. 1. Tit. 13. c. 33. Gangra, that teacheth the contempt of the house of God. The curse is 1300 yeares old at least: and yet, 'tis to be feared, lives still, to condemn a distemper of zeal in our later times. For how have the same which aimed at a parity in Church-men, sided also for a parity in the Church; and, from a parity in the Church, risen to a parity of all places with the Church; that the Temple of God is the world, and to build is to confine him, as John Hus And anciently othe●s also. V. Vedel exercit. in Ignat. Ep. ad magnets. c. 4. Test. of the true Church. p. 130. &c. did? ye take too much upon you, seeing all persons are holy with the rebels Numb. 16.3. here; and to what purpose is this wast, seeing all places are holy, with the traitor Mat. 26.8. there? ye are a royal Priesthood in Saint Peter 1 Pet. 2.9. , all Priests; and therefore a Priestly kingdom in Moses Exo●. 19.6. , all Kings: no difference betwixt him that sacrificeth, and him that sacrificeth not; the pulpit, and the tables end; the belfry, and the altar. And to show they are {αβγδ}, those that make merchandise of the Word of God in Saint Paul 2 Cor. 2.17. , have retailed their Divinity in some parts, by the strike and the scales, the perk and the pound, preferring ware-houses before Churches. What? despise ye the house of God, saith the Doctor 1 Cor. 11.22. of the Gentiles? Some do, and some do not: but wherein have we despised it, say they? In that ye say, the table of the Lord is contemptible; saith the Prophet. Psalms of degrees we red of; because, 'tis said, they were sung upon those degrees or ascents unto the Temple; and as there were degrees without the Temple, so are there degrees within the Temple too: different respects due to places, for different degrees in the places; the neglect therefore of respects to the Table, was a contempt of the Table, Mal. 1.7. But blessed be God, who, as formerly he bestowed Kings King Ethelbert built S. Pauls in London,& S. Andrewes in Rochester. Bed. hist. l. 2. c. 3. &c. upon this land to raise his Churches, so hath he raised us Kings, to preserve his Churches: else, that curse on Israel, in Hoseah Hos. 10.1. L●ppi& tribulus ascendisset supper arras. , had been ours perchance ere this: The thorn and the thistle had come upon our Altars; we might have met in caves and chambers stil, as the Primitive Christians sometimes did; for though we would allow the Lord heaven for his throne, we would scarce allow him earth enough for his footstool: and the Magistrate might have cause to enjoin the carriage of padles Deut. 23.14. again, even when we walk within the courts of God. Damascen De imag Orat. 3. tells us of a judgement upon the violaters of one Oratory by death: and Bede Hist. l. 4. c. 25. tells us of a judgement upon the violaters of another Oratory by fire. He is the Lords anointed, saith David, and therefore God forbid we should touch the King: and this is the Lords anointed V●●tion used in Consecration. Gen. 35.14 c. 28.18. Exod. 40.9. Mi●m. Fel. Octav. &c. too; and therfore God forbid we should wrong the Church: for as a disresp●ct to the Cha●re of State reflects upon the King, because he is represented there: so doth a disrespect to the Church reflect upon God, because he is there: the same God through every part therof, but not in the same manner through every part thereof. For as there are different degrees of sanctity in them, so is there a different dispensation of his presence in them too: which leads me to the reason of this distinction, and my second general. 2. In every consecration there is livery and seisin, giving and taking possession; giving possession by man, and taking by God, and although man take not possession always immediately by himself, but mediately, sometimes by a proxe: or, though, immediately by himself, he is not personally always present, but for the most part onely relatively there: God always takes possession immediately by himself, and is always in an especial manner, personally present, where he takes possession too: the difference betwixt ordinary and extraordinary consecration; consecration by donation from man; and consecration by assumption or reservation from God; lying principally in this: that his presence follows that; but his presence makes this: there 'tis a consequent, and here an antecedent to consecration. For example: God ●ppeares to jacob at Luz, in the eight and twentieth of Genesis: 'twas there he saw the Angels ascending and descending, that thoroughfare betw●xt earth and heaven, Verse 12. and thereupon, surely the Lord is in this place, saith he, Verse 16. What ther●? how dreadful is it therefore, seeing the house of God maste●●●inely be, where God certainly ●s, and the Gate of H●●ven, from whence our prayers ●re ●●●ryed by the Angels into Heaven? Verse 17 〈◇〉 will he ever est●em it less, and the 〈…〉 Pillar where he intends an Altar, Verse 〈…〉 property of the place is altered, so is 〈…〉 L●●z●o●ce, 'tis Bethel now, Verse 19. and in this house of God shall his vows and devotions be performed unto God, the presence of God in that place inferred a consecration of the place, at the last verse of that Chapter. Nor was this the illation of jacob onely here, but elsewhere of God himself: the Lord appeared by an angel unto David, and the Lord commanded David by a Prophet, go, rear an Altar there, 2 Sam. 24.18. The Lord appeared by an Angel unto Moses in Sina, and near jericho unto josuah: the story of josuah assures us, God was in an especial manner present there: and the story of Moses assures us, God was in an especial manner present here, inaccessible {αβγδ}. joseph Antiq. l 3. c. 4. {αβγδ}. l. 2. c. 5. it was, both for the steepnesse, and the height, and the fearful residence of God in the Mount. Moses was the {αβγδ}. Ibid. first in those parts, that ever invaded it, saith Iosephus; and the people durst not do so much, after he had often Exod. 3.1. c. 19.3, 20, 24. done so: afar Exod. 20.18. off they are placed, and when they were sanctified too; and yet even here they seem too near. Moses's adventure passeth not without a joseph. Ant. l. 2. c. 5. check, though afterwards he received the Law, and now an embassy, from hence; and when he returns from egypt, his offence must be expiated by sacrifice. God tells him the place is holy, because his presence made it holy: for as the judgement seat is, where sits the judge; so where the Lord is, there is an Altar and an Oracle. {αβγδ}. Ibid. And as the presence of God precedes consecration in those examples, so doth it follow in others. A place there was for Adams devotions and his families, which Cain, as the usual idiom of Scripture is, calls the face 1 Chron. 16.29. Ion. 1.3. Exod. 23.17. Walk. of sacril. &c. of God, according to the opinion of several Divines; and which face Abel enjoyed, God testifying his presence, as Theodotio {αβγδ}. Mar. Sept. renders, by firing his sacrifice, Gen. 4.5, 14. A tabernacle is erected for Israel in the wilderness, and the same God, which commanded it to be consecrated, took possession of it, as soon as it was consecrated, Exo. 40.34. a Temple is erected for Israel in Canaan: Solomon 2 Chron. 6. 1 Reg. 8. {αβγδ}. joseph. Ant. l. 8. c. 2. implores Gods especial mercies, and his especial assistance, and his especial presence to such as should perform their orisons in, or towards that place, at the consecration; and all these follow upon the consecration 2 Chro. 5.13, 14 1 Reg. 6. 13. c. 9.3. , 2 Chron. 7.1. Whether therefore it be ordinary, or extraordinary, wheresoever a consecration is, there God especially is, by a peculiar dispensation of his gracious and merciful presence: so was he to Abraham and jacob by his covenant and promise, so to Moses and josuah by his commission and assistance, so to that whole Nation by his immediate direction and audience, in the Tabernacle and the Temple. And, as there was a greater communication of the divine presence in these places, than in others( whence that erection 1 Reg. 8.38, 42, 44, 48. 2 Chron. 6.25, 34. Dan. 6.10. of Altars, to continue his residence, where God appeared once; that praying of their living, and that placing of their dead The patriarches i● Hebron lye North and South, and Hebron is South from jerusalem. Bed. hist. l. 5. c. 18. &c. , with their faces towards the Temple; that appellation of presence, or show bread The Sept. call them {αβγδ}. The Heb. face bread. , that expression of the Temple by the face Esa. 37.14, 15. c. 66.23. 1 Sam. 10.25. Exod. 23.17. of God: of frequenting his Courts by Esa. 37.14, 15. c. 66.23. 1 Sam. 10.25. Exod. 23.17. coming before the Lord: those apparitions of God To Abraham& David, Gen. 22. 2 Sam. 24. joseph. Antiq. l. 7. c. 10. l. 1. c. 14. {αβγδ}. , where the Temple was to be built; that serenity of the weather, never raining in {αβγδ}. joseph. Ant. l. 15. c. 14. the day time, but in the night, as their historian relates, while the Temple was to be re-built;& that departure of God, by a voice in the Temple from God {αβγδ} joseph de Bell. judaic. l. 7. c. 12. , before the final destruction of it, under Titus Vespasian;) so was there a greater communication of the same presence in some parts of those places, than in others: and therefore, though the glory of the Lord filled both the Exod. 40.35 38. Ezek. 43.5. c. 44.4. Tabernacle and the Temple, yet it filled not all alike: for wee read of the place of his Throne Ezek. 43 7. , and of the soles of his feet: a place where he walked Deut. 23.14. Esa. 37.14, 15. The Cherubins faces were inward. 2 Chron. 3.14. , and a place where he sate Deut. 23.14. Esa. 37.14, 15. The Cherubins faces were inward. 2 Chron. 3.14. ; a place of his being, and a place of his rest Num. 10.35, 36. Psal. 132.8. Psal. 76.3. Psal. 87.2. 1 Sam. 4.7, 8. This shall bee my rest for ever. , a Tent and a mansion Num. 10.35, 36. Psal. 132.8. Psal. 76.3. Psal. 87.2. 1 Sam. 4.7, 8. This shall bee my rest for ever. house; that as the earth, in comparison of this, saith Iosephus {αβγδ}. Antiq. l. 3. c. 5. , and this as the heaven, in comparison of that: the Lord of Israel indeed may bee elsewhere, but the glory of 1 Sam. 4 22. Israel is here: and, although God may there meet with Moses, here Moses shall bee sure to meet with God, Exod. 30.16. And as that distinction in holy places continued after Christ, so did the reason of that distinction too: the whole indeed is the house of God, so the Apostle calls 1 Tim 3.15. it: because, although the Lord bee without these walls, he is more within; as we are not presumed to be so much abroad, as at home: and therefore God is not only present extraordinarily himself there, as the decrees, the general opinion of Divines, with the forms of consecration show: but, also, as a learned B. Montag. Invoc. Saints p. 153. sparsim. to the end of that Treatise. Prelate of this Land hath, out of the ancient, collected to my hands, according to that representation of this truth, in Iacobs Ladder, he is present also, by his Ministers and Angels. And yet, though the Church conceived him to bee present in all parts of this house, it conceived him to bee more present in one part of this house, than in another. Which was the reason; that, notwithstanding the distribution of the Sacrament might be in other parts, the consecration was in one; where our Liturgy also hath enjoined the second Rubric. before the Communion, and Churching. service to bee red; and after childbirth, the presentation of wings, and oblations: and all this, in respect of that peculiar dispensation of his presence in this division of the Church; as within the veil, in that division of the Temple; having an Altar here answerable to a Mercy-seat there: as also, in respect of that union betwixt this place and his human nature, that and his divine: for, as I like not Berengarius Sensualiter. de consecrat. dist. 2. c. 2. Ego Berengarius, which the gloss likes not. that said, he is sensually; nor Peter Carnaliter& corporaliter. Vit. Pet. Mart. per Iosiam Simlerum praefix. come. in Gen. Martyr, whom he that writes his life tells us he said, he is carnally, and corporally there: because I like Saint Ambrose Quid quaeris naturae ordinem in Christi corpore, cum praeter naturam sit ipse Dominus natus ex virgin? Ambros. , and Lombard Si quaeris modum quo id fieri potest, respondeo, mysterium credi salubtiter potest, investigari salubriter non potest. Lomb. sent. 4. d. 11. a. 3. He gives this rule, but in this argument observes it not, as he should. , and Bucer His counsel to P. Martyr, ut in causa Coenae Dominicae, obscuris quibusdam& ambiguis dicendi formulis uteretur. Vit. P. Martyris per Ios. Simler. praefix. comment. in Genes. , and Roffensis De potestat. Pap. in temporalibus. Praefat. , and Harding Harding ibid. Salubriter credi potest, fideliter quaeri non potest. Those at Oxford in their dispu●ations with Cranmer, out of Damascen. and Lanfrank. Iuell. vit p. 105. Which these were not so careful to observe neither, determining the modus too far. in this respect, who advice in this argument, forbearing the determination of the manner, to cloth out fancies in general, and indefinite expressions: as I like not those that say he is bodily there, so I like not those that say his body The Armenians. Brer. Enq. c. 24. and some mentioned by Theodoret. dial. 3. qui carnis veritatem negantes, Eucharistiam respuebant, &c. is not there, because Christ Mat. 26.26. Mark 24.22. Luke 22.19. John 6.53. saith 'tis there; and S. Paul 1 Cor. 10.16. c. 11.24. saith 'tis there; and the Church of England Eng. Liturg. Ar. ticl. 28. saith 'tis there; and the Church of Roffens. praefat. citat. {αβγδ}. Damascen. de def.& de imag. council. Eph. Cod. Can. Eccles. ant. Rom. p. 100. Zonar. in Can. Ap. 3, 4, 8, 9, 31.19. council. Laod. {αβγδ}. Chrys. tom. 5. orat. 55. {αβγδ}. p 566. 581. tom. 3. in 1 Cor. 10. orat. 24. {αβγδ}. tot. The Altar cloth scarlet. Objected to Peter, {αβγδ}. Conc. Constantinop. Gen 5. sub Me●m act. 5 God ever said 'tis there; and that truly, and substantially, and essentially, as the confessions of all the reformed harmony. Confess. Churches speak: and that not only by way of representation, or commemoration, and yet without either con Roffeas. Praef. cit. , sub, or trans, which the ancient Church said not: by a real, and nevertheless, which the ancient Church said, a spiritual, and mystical, and supernatural presentation, and exhibition. For why should our Saviour bid us take, what he would not have us receive? We must believe 'tis there, we must not know how 'tis there: our faith may see it, our sense cannot, 'tis a mystery, they all say; and 'twere no mystery, if 'twere known: his presence they determined, the manner of his presence they determined not: they said he is there, and they said the Lord knows how. For why should we seek him naturally in the Communion, whom naturally we cannot find in the womb of the Virgin. Which belief of theirs, concerning the verity of Christs being in the Sacrament, occasioned also those frequent expressions of that place and mystery amongst the Ancient, by the names of Sacrifice and Altar. So the Apostles usually in their Canons Ap. Can. 3, 4, 5.9. &c. , and those too, which are undoubtedly theirs: so the same in those constitutions Ap. Const. l. 8. c. 13. &c. , which by many are thought to bee theirs. So Clement Clem. Ep. 1 Cor. p. 58, 53. , in his Epistle to the Corinthians: so the council of Ancyra Conc. Ancyr c. 1 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.15, &c , of Neocaesarea council. Neocaesar. c. 9 13. &c. , of Gangra con. Gang. c 4. &c , of Laodicaea council. Laod. c. 19, 44, 49, 56, 58, &c. , the Nicene council. Nicen c. 5, 11, 13, 18, &c. and the Trullan council. Trull. c. 3. councils; so the Nomocanon Nomoc. Plot. Tit. 2. c. 3. c. 15.7. Tit. 12. c. 8. Tit. 13 c. 17, &c. Tit. 3. c. 1, 4, 8, 9. Tit 12. c. 6, 9. Tit. 1. c. 14, 22, 20. , the Code of the universal Cod. Can. Eccles. univers. c. 84, 123, 148, &c. , the African Cod. Can. Eccles. African. c. 4, 8, 7, 10, 11, 14, 37, 41, 70, 74, 103, &c. , the ancient Cod. Can Eccles. antiq. Rom. p. 109, 375, 435, 455, 439, 402, &c. roman Church. So as many of the ancient Ignat. Ep. Smyrnens. p. 168. {αβγδ}. p. Ephes. p. 218. {αβγδ}. Ep. Tars. p. 27. {αβγδ}. At the first planting of the Faith in this Land Altars built of ston. Bed. hist. l. 1. c. 30. l. 2. c. 14. Chrys. writing against the Gentiles, useth the largeness of Christs kingdom, for an argument to convince them, on that of our Saviour Mat. 16. supper hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam. Orat. 61. Quod Christus sit Deus, contra judaeos& Gentiles, tom. 6. p. 634. {αβγδ}▪ Divinis reconciliari altaribus. Lomb. Sent. 4. d. 20. a. 6. Bed l 1 c 15, 20 27, 30. l. 2. c. 1 3, 20. l. 3. c. 2. l. 4. c. 2. l. 5. c. 20, 21, 17, 18. The high Altar. l. 5. c. 11. {αβγδ}. Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 13.17. The Donatists enemies to Altars Optat. l. 1. Aug. to 10. hom. 50. Ad hoc altar quod nunc in Ecclesia est in terra positum, terrenis oculis expositum, ad mysteriorum signacula celebranda, multi etiam scelerati possunt accedere ad illud autem altar, quod praecursor pro nobis introivit Iesus, nullus eorum accedere poterit. Lutherani non horrent altaris, oblationisque nomen Pelarg. The side fract. panis Euchar p. 66, 69 Massaliani sieve Euchetae Templorum,& Ararum adjecêre contemptum Damasc. de haeres. hujus s●●●ficij caro& sanguis, ante adventum Christi per victimas similitudinum permitteba●● 〈◇〉 Aug de Civ. Dei. l. 17. c. 20. Habemus& altar, Heb. 13. of this. Answer to cardinal 〈◇〉 reply p. 6, 7. by the Bishop of Winchester. And therefore the name of Priest as usual C●● Can. Eccles. Rom. Can. Ap. c. 5.7.9.47. Proleg. in 4. univers. council. council. Ancyr. c ● council. Antioch. c. 1.17, 19. council. Laod. c. 3, 5, 13, 19, 42, 54, 55, 101, 102, 103, 111. council. Chalced. c. 26. p. 133. Conc. Sard. c. 11, 13. council. Carthag. c. 3, 15, 24, 6 14, 20, ●2, 3●, 41, 53, 64 Ejusdem Cod. p. 369, 371, 376, 379, 388, 389, 391, 394, 395, 396, 397, 400, 4●5, 401, 415, ●●●●21, 423, 424, 425, 434, 435, 437, 440, 449, 463, 464, 477, 478, 479, 480, 482, 483, 484, 485, 490, 491, ●●●, ●93, 498, 499, 500, 503, 505, 511, 512, 513, 522, 539, 540, 544, 547, 549, 552, 556, 558, 570, 571, 573▪ ●74, ●79, 580 581 180, 181, 208, 210, 230, 278, 314, 315, 244, 348, 357, 363, 316, 318, 319, 321, 325, 330, 332▪, ●36, ●38, ●●●, 441 342, 343, 367, 368, &c. And the same are as numerous in the●e 〈◇〉 these. 〈…〉 of prayer for diverting Gods visitation, Edit. 1625. p 3, 4, 30, 31, 56, 57, 58, 59, 70, 71, 72, 79. Articl. Edit. 1580. 17, 23, 24. Articl. Edit. 16. 34. 4, 5. The form of prayer for d●●●rting Gods visitation, in the year of our Lord, 1636. And in as many places as the other. Chrys. liturgy, with the other, know no other expression for such, but {αβγδ}; and those have red none of the ancient, that have not red this. as I have red; wherein, as far as I have perused, I believe a man may safely vie places, and in many allow twenty for one. And so Ignatius in several Epistles: which makes me the more wonder, Vedelius Apolog. pro Ignat. c. 4. Exercit. in Epist. ad magnets. c. 4. Exercit. in Ep. ad Philadelph. c. 18 He strives to corrupt Epist. Ephes. by fo●sting in {αβγδ}. Mar.& not. crit. p. 140. should have the face to deny the use of these words with any of the Primitive times, unless his exercitations were ready, before his Author was red. And were there no other reason to warrant the especial dispensation of his favour and presence, in this place, besides this; I see no reason any should stick at this: seeing 'tis just that place should have a pre-eminence above the rest, from which Chrys. shows all benefits and mercies to be dispensed to us from the death of Christ, which is represented there. In 1 Cor. 10. Hom. 24. Ethic. virtue, and efficacy is derived to the rest: for the Word which we preach is not operative, but through the merit of that sacrifice: nor those streams of regeneration pure and clean, any thing regenerative at all, unless first bathed and washed in his blood. Nor can any say, this grace of his extraordinary residence, and assistance or operation which we presume here, is greater than ecclesiastical Writers ordinarily ascribe to those parts our Saviour in his Humanity conversed principally in, to those things he used, or were used against Damascen. de fid. Orthod. l. 4. c. 16. de imag. &c.& def. Bed. Eccles. hist. Chrys. tom. 6. Orat. 61. Quod Christus Deus, contra judaeos& Gentiles. p. 631, 632. Damasc. de imag. Orat. 1. p. 705, 706, 707, 721, 722, 723, 724. him: no more than his garment had, in Saint mark Mar. 6.56. ; or his spittle, in Saint John joh. 9.6. ; no more than the rod of Moses in Exodus Exod. 7.& 14. ; the mantle of 2 Reg. 2. Eliah, or the bones of 2 Reg. 13.20. Elisha in the Kings: no more than the handkerchief of Saint Paul in the 19. Acts 19.12. of the Acts, or in the 5. the Acts 5.15. shadow of Saint Peter. I need not range for an Application, because the Lord hath brought it to my hands. Many people shall say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Sion shall the Law of the Lord go forth, and the word of the Lord from jerusalem. A prophecy it is of the Church: and it is in our power to fulfil this prophecy, by our coming to the Church: many people shall say;( and o that many people may ever say so) come, let us go from strength to strength, as David Ab acie in aciem. jun.& Trem. de band en band. Fre. Bib. {αβγδ}. Sept. Sen. de virtute in virtutem. Vulg. id est, à coetu uno sacro ad alterum, ad exercendum publicè totum Dei cultum. Metaphora à re militari. jun.& Trem. in loc. speaks; that is, de acie in aciem, say interpreters Ab acie in aciem. jun.& Trem. de band en band. Fre. Bib. {αβγδ}. Sept. Sen. de virtute in virtutem. Vulg. id est, à coetu uno sacro ad alterum, ad exercendum publicè totum Dei cultum. Metaphora à re militari. jun.& Trem. in loc. : from the violence, and assault of one holy assembly to another. Let our hallelujahs be sent up like the roaring of the Sea, and our Amens like a clap of thunder, as Saint Hierom relates of the Primitive Christians: for thus is the Church an army with banners in the Canticles, and no way but thus. Let us not only invade God by our single devotions, but by our united cries beleaguer and besiege him. 'tis the mountain of the Lord, because he builds on a Rock that lays his foundation here; and, he that doth not, builds on the sand, and 'tis the house of the Lord, whom we shall find no where, if not here; because to pray, in Gods language, is to meet job 20.15. Sept. Sen. with God; and he that pretends business to keep himself from hence, {αβγδ}. Chrys. 10.5. orat. 13. p. 72. saith something is more necessary than he, he will teach us his ways here, and he will give us grace to walk in his ways here too: because he that comes not willingly to Church, must go unwillingly to hell; saith that fearful proverb in Bede Bed hist. l. 5. c. 15 , which he warrants by as fearful an example. There is a balm justified by some Goclen, &c. , which cures at any distance; but this balm of Gilead doth not: it must be applied to the wound, not to the sword; nor can a Sermon have any influence on such as are not there. The wedding is prepared, go ye therefore into the highways, and bid to the wedding, go not into their Chambers, but unto their ways, where men are to be, not where they are not to be at such times; bid those ye find there, but bid not those ye find not there, saith our Saviour Matth. 22.8. in the gospel. For, as when we receive summons from our superiors, the messenger seeks us not in idling places, pursues us not into the fields, comes not to our sports to warn us, but to our houses, there reads his message, as if we were there, because we should be there, and then, without any further enquiry, departs, fastening the Script upon our doors. In like manner, the Priests are Gods Ambassadors, saith Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5.20. : they are his messengers, saith Malachi Mal. 2.7. : God supposeth every man at home, and so do they; because at all consecrated houres, they are presumed to have no houses, but such. Out of Sion shall the Law of the LORD go forth, and the word of the LORD from jerusalem: from Sion in jerusalem; but not from jerusalem without Sion: from his Temple where he especially is, but not so out of his Temple, where he so especially is not, Esa 2.3. We find no stately Churches in the first ages after Christ, meaner Oratories we find: no such {αβγδ}. Ignat. Epist magnets. Arnob. cont. Gent. l 6. minute. Octav. vid. Vedel. in Ep. magnets. c 4. Rev. 12.6. Altars as the Heathens had, had the Christians: nor no such Temples then. The Woman was in the wilderness, in those Pagan times, and who looks for state, or costliness there? Had those happy souls been blessed with such, as we, by the gracious wisdom of a Religious Prince, and the careful devotion of those Governours under him, enjoy: the ebb would not have been formerly so low, when the Organ was so high: canonical houres had been more canonically kept; nor would those seats have been so lank at prayer, whose original and fundamental business is nothing but to pray, their midnights would have more filled such, than our noones. What shall be the sign, that I shall go up to the house of the Lord, saith Hezekiah 2 Reg. 20.8, 9. ? Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go backward, saith Esaiah? The sun is too fleet for our zeal already, our Religion is too long divided betwixt the comb and the glass, to pray at that rate: and therefore, if the Sun go forward, 'tis a sign we shall not go up; bid the Sun go backward, and then perchance we may. The Pelagians said, there is no sin but by imitation: but, if this had ruled us, that had not been: for I would all of us sailed by this carded, and all our light were borrowed from this sun: Whom remember, O my God, Nehem. 13.14. concerning this, and wipe not out the good deeds that he hath done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof: blessed are they that dwell in thy house, saith David, and therefore blessed be he. God loves an early devotion, and an humble too: We will come, saith the Psalmist, and we will fall low besides: for, as we may appear in a Court; and yet, by the omission of our service, may be judged not to be there: so if we neglect our homage, we are absent, though we are here: by which I am conveyed to the illation upon this reason, and my last general. 3 The assumption flows so naturally from the postulata or lemmata, that I might conclude as Mathematicians use; with a constat quod erat demonstrandum; were't not my resolution to prescribe for the one, as well as for the other; that, as the Church of England assumes the same premises, so doth she infer the same conclusion the Church of God hath ever done before. A different holinesse confessed there is of places: and 'tis confessed too, this ariseth from a different presence of God in places: and there must follow therefore, as by the learned 'tis confessed besides, a different respect towards those places: else were there not a cleanness betwixt honour and merit, which natural justice requires; nor should we weigh out our distances so evenly to God, as we do to man: as the King shines more or less upon men, we more or less regard them, and measure out a different rate of honour or worship, according to that different proportion of either which he bestows. We read of civill respects from Abraham Gen. 23.7. to Ephron, from his servant Gen. 24.26. to him, from jacob to Gen. 33.3, 6, 7. Esau, from the Gen. 41.45. c. 37.8, 9, 10. c. 42.6. c. 43.27, 29. c. 50.18. Egyptians to joseph, from joseph Gen, 49.9. to jacob, from Moses Exod. 18.7. to jethro, from Ruth Ruth. 2.10. to Boaz, from judith to judith 10.20. Holofernes, from Solomon 1 Reg. 2.19. to Bathsheba, from Ahazias 2 Reg. 2.15. c. 1.13. Ambassador to Eliah, from Saul to 1 Sam 28.14. Samuel, from Nebucadnezzar Dan. 2.46. to Daniel. And we read of loyal respects from David 1 Sam. 24.10. to Saul; from Araunah 2 Sam. 24.20. 1 Paralip. 21.21. , and Abigail 1 Sam. 25.24, 41 , and the Amalekites 2 Sam. 1.2. , and Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9.6, 8. , and the Woman 2 Sam. 14.4. of Tecoa, and joab 2 Sam. 14.24. , and Shimei 2 Sam. 19.18. , and Chusi 2 Sam. 18.2. , and Ahimaaz 2 Sam. 18.28. , and Bathsheba 1 Reg. 1.16.31. , and Nathan 1 Reg. 1.23. , to David, and from Adoniah 1 Reg. 1.53. to Solomon; nor to their persons alone, but to their portraitures The lowliness of the Sultans homage to the Caliph of Egypt. Guil. Tyr. the violation of Theodos. statues, how dangerous. Chrysost. {αβγδ}. Congeyes performed to Iulians. Naz. Invect. {αβγδ}. Damasc. orth. fid. l. 4. c. 3. , their robes, their arms royal, their chairs of State, their Chambers of Presence, because as the King is represented in his Nobles, so God is in the King. And we red of reverential respects to the Tabernacle, and {αβγδ}. Damascen. orth. fid. l. 4. c. 12, 16. Orat. 1. de imag. Orat. 2. de imag. Orat. 3. de imag. in 24. several places at least of those orations. {αβγδ} In Mich. Comnenus Calend. Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 7. c. 1. council 7 Gen. Nicen. Phot. de synod. Num. 22.31. Bed. hist. l. 1. c. 18, 29, 30. l. 3. c. 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 29 l. 4. c. 10, 30. Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 8. cap. 1. Tit. 7. cap. 1. Tit. 9. c. 27. Tit. 13. c. 23. Damasc. de dormit. Dei genetricis. Ser. 2.& Ser. 1. ci●. fin. in inventione capitis Praecursoris. pag. 608. Confess. p. 675. {αβγδ}, and that {αβγδ}. Chrys. Liturg. vid. caeteras Graecorum Liturgias. the Temple, and the cross, and the Gospels of CHRIST: for as persons and things have ever been in a Religious or civill esteem, so have Religious and civill persons ever esteemed them: and one star differeth from another no more in height, than in glory. Nor is all this to insinuate the derivation of Gods honour upon any besides God( God divert that damnable Idolatry as far from me, as he hath done from the Church of God) {αβγδ}, saith Damascen Damascen. Orat. 1. de imag. . Some have a civill respect, others a Religious {αβγδ} in Ignat. Ep. Tars. {αβγδ}, Damascen. Orat. 2. de imag.& {αβγδ}, &c. Ibid. A reverence to the place where God did manifest his presence. Mason. of fast. c. 3. p. 22. Reverentia vel honor religiosus— debetur omnibus iis quae propriè spectant ad cultum— And 'tis religious too, not only quia imperatur à religione, but also because fundamentum habet in relacione rei aut personae alicujus ad religionem,& cultum sacrum. Ames. de Conscient. l. 4. c 31. §. 1. Honor ille qui Deo debetur, non potest ipsi debito modo exhiberi, nisi cum singulari reverentia tracte●tur ejus instrumenta; propter arctam illam connexionem& relationem, quae inter actum aliquem,& instrumenta actus intercedit. §. 2. , but the Lord only a divine: for, as the infinitude of his nature cannot be comprehended under the same kind of being, so neither can it be comprehended under the same kind of worship with a creature: but only to show, by what natural and rational proportions, the Church rose by way of supereminency, as the schools speak, from a relative respect of divine things, to an absolute respect of the divine Essence; and from a just valuation of Man, to a right estimate of God. We seldom find adoration under the Law( the strictest time against superstition of any) without prostration of the body, and inclination too: so did Lot Gen. 19.1. ; so did Abraham Gen. 18.2. ; so did his servant Gen. 24.26, 48, 52. ; so did Israel Exod. 4.31. c. 11 8. c. 12.28. c. 20.5. c. 23.24. c. 24.1. c. 33.10. Nehem. 8.6. judith 6.14. ; so did Moses Exod. 34.8.14. Numb. 16.4.22, c. 20.6. ; so did joshuah Ios. 5.15. c. 6.6. ; so did David 1 Sam. 28.41. 1 Reg. 1.47. ; so did Ezekiel; so did Daniel Dan. 6.10. ; so did Maccabeus 1 Mac. 4.55. 2 Mac. 10.4. ; and therefore by a Metonymia signi, and a Senecdoche parts, through those sacred volumes, this is frequently used alone Exod. 4.3 1. c. 11 8. c. 12.28. c. 20.5. c. 23.24. c. 24.1. c. 33.10. Nehem. 8.6. judith 6.14. , to design the whole service of God; as, if all were out, if this were not in: which was done with their faces towards the mercy seat, at the gate they shall worship God, saith Ezekiel Ezek. 46.2, 3. Domus oraculi dicitur, quod versus eam à sacerdotibus& populo oraretur. Tostat. in 3 Reg. 6. q. 13. The entrance of the Tabernacle towards the East. joseph. Antiq. l. 3. c. 5. Moses commanded them, when they came to Canaan, {αβγδ}. l. 4. c. 8. {αβγδ}. l. 8. c. 2. The lavers of the Temple {αβγδ}. c. 2. {αβγδ}. l. 11. c. 5. : because the gate was over against GOD; the Temple being built in a length, Ezek. 44.4. and the entry before the Oracle( which from their constant manner of praying that way, thence had the Oracle Ezek. 46.2, 3. Domus oraculi dicitur, quod versus eam à sacerdotibus& populo oraretur. Tostat. in 3 Reg. 6. q. 13. The entrance of the Tabernacle towards the East. joseph. Antiq. l. 3. c. 5. Moses commanded them, when they came to Canaan, {αβγδ}. l. 4. c. 8. {αβγδ}. l. 8. c. 2. The lavers of the Temple {αβγδ}. c. 2. {αβγδ}. l. 11. c. 5. its name) and this as well without the land, Levit. 6.1. 1 Reg. 19.18. Psal. 94.6. Esa. 17.7, 8. c. 46.6. c. 36.7. c. 27.13. c. 60.13, 14. c. 66.23. Mic. 6.6. 2 Reg. 18.22. Psal. 138.2. as within; so Salomon 1 Reg. 8. in his prayer presumed; and Daniel Dan. 6.10. in his prayer did so: and that, although the jewish Tabernacle and Temple, whither their eye directed their orisons, were engraven with Cherubims 1 Reg. 6.35. Exod. 36.35. too. And all this; because, 'tis facies mea, my face, in Esaiah Esa. 66.23. here: and Vestigia pedum meorum, my steps there Esa. 60.13, 14. . 'tis coram Domino, before the Lord, Damasc. Orth. fid. l. 4. c. 17. de imag. orat. 1. de imag. orat. 2. in one place of Ezekiel Ezek. 46.3. , and gloria Domini, the glory of the Lord, in another Ezek. 44.4. The courts of my holinesse, Esa. 62.9. . Ye shall reverence my Sanctuary, I am the Lord: I am the Lord that am there, and therefore ye shall do your reverence there; {αβγδ}, not {αβγδ}: nor to the place so much, as to me that am presentiall in that place, Levit. 19.20. Which was the reason of that forced prostration also of Dagon, before the ark in Samuel Dagon found in Azotus {αβγδ}. joseph. Antiq. l. 6. c. 1. 1 Sam. 5.4. ; and that constant performance of Israels obeisance in the wilderness Exod. 4.31. c. 11.8. c. 12.28. c. 20.5. c. 23, 24. c. 24.1. c. 33.10. c. 34.8, 14. Numb. 16.4.22.45. c. 20.6. 2 Reg. 18.22. 1 Paralip. 16. 29. towards the Mount, and the Tabernacle, the fire, and the cloud, the Oracle and the Altar. Nor was this guise of their devotion recorded only as a practise under the Law; but as a prediction concerning the gospel: so the Prophets, and more especially that Evangelist Esa. 17.7, 8. c. 66.23. amongst the Prophets: The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the Pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my Sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee, shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee, shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall call thee the City of the Lord, the Zion of the holy one of Israel. A place of glory it shall be, because it is my Sanctuary; and a place of humility, because I am in my Sanctuary; a place of beauty, and yet a place of bowing and bending too, Esay 60.13, 14. The converted gentle falling down in the Church will worship, saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 14.25. : and the converted Iewes falling down did worship, say the Evangelists luke. 15.19. c. 5.12 joh. 9 38. Acts 10.25. : and the departed souls, falling down, shall worship, saith the Apocalypse Apoc. 3.9. c. 4.10. c. 5.14. c. 7.11. c. 11.1.16. c. 15.4. . The first before an invisible, the rest before a visible presence of God. For the foundation of this homage is not grounded upon the visibility of it, but the truth: whether he bee seen or not seen, where he thus is, he is thus to be served: as he that sees not, is not less neglectfull in the omission of his observance, if he know the King is there, than he that sees his presence, and observes it not: a Bartimaeus that cannot discern, than a Mordecai that out-faces him. And in this belief, as the Primitive Christians used prostration to God at their eucharistical devotions; so did they, at their ordinary too. For that sauciness and familiarity of faith was not in fashion then, which brings men to Church without joints, and sends them from Church without hearts; as if they onely came to keep company, and to sit with God. We find {αβγδ}, a kind of worship at the Communion, in cyril cyril Catech. 5. of jerusalem: and {αβγδ}, a down right worship in Eusebius Exaltata mente adora corpus Dei tui. cit. per Iuel. conc. ad Paul. cruc. vit. per Humphred. Emissenus, Theodoret {αβγδ}. dial. 2. , Augustine Nemo carnem illam manducat, nisi prius adoraverit. Aug. in Psal. 98 , and Chrysostome {αβγδ}. Chrysost. in 1 Cor. hom. 24. Ethic. . We find the neglect of the respect condemned in the Begardi and Beguinae, at a general council in Vienna Apud Carranz. Sum. council. 16. p. 435. Odon. Paris. Statut. Synod. ibid. p. 639. : because 'tis {αβγδ}, it deserves this respect in the Nomocanon {αβγδ}. Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 2. c. 2. schol. of Photius. For our address must be with dread and horror, {αβγδ}, saith that rhetorical Bishop Chrys. 1 Cor. 10. hom. 20. Ethic. . Because he shall depart hence, without joy, that comes hither without fear. More yet, we have {αβγδ}, an honour due to the Altar, in Ignatius {αβγδ}. Ignat. Ep. Ta●s. , and adgeniculari aris, a kneeling to Altars, in Tertullian A part of pennance Presbyteris advolvi, aris adgeniculari, omnibus fratribus legationes deprecationis suae injungere. tertul. de poenit. ; and {αβγδ} {αβγδ}. Patriarcha commotae plebi. Act. 5. , adoration of the Altar, in that general council of Constantinople under Menna: and reverentiam altaribus exhibendam, a reverence to Altars, in the Synodals of Odo Odon. Paris. Statut. Synod. apud Carranz. 16. p. 638, 639. . We have {αβγδ}, a salutation of the Table in Dionysius {αβγδ}. Dionys. Areop. hierar. c. 2. , and {αβγδ}, a Veneration of the Table in Damascen {αβγδ}. Damasc. de imag. Orat. 1. {αβγδ}. Orat. 2. . We have {αβγδ}, the Scarlet of the venerable Altar, in one council Objected to Peter, {αβγδ}. Con. Constantinop. Gen. sub Menna. act. 4. ; and divina altaria, the divine Altars in another council. Carthag. apud Lomb. sent. 4. d. 20. a 6. Divinis reconciliari altaribus. . We meet with {αβγδ}, a bowing of the head, in that donation fathered upon Constantine Constantine bestowed those privileges on Rome— {αβγδ}. Constant. Donat. apud Schol. in Phot. Nomoc. Tit. 8. c 1. : and {αβγδ}, an exaltation of the soul, through the humiliation of the body, out of an awful reverence toward that place, in the life of Mary {αβγδ}. vit. Mar. Egyp. apud Damasc. de imag. Orat. 3. the egyptian. Wee meet with Theodosius cleaving to the dust, in Theodoret l. 5. 18. Ed. Steph. ; and the Grecians triple prostration, from their Liturgies Sands relat. p. 173, 174. {αβγδ}. In several places of Chrysost. Liturg. Vid. caeteras Graecorum Liturgias. , and such as have been among them; and Gorgonias falling before it, in her sickness, as to a common physician, which resided there, in nazianzen Naz. Orat. in Gorgon. : which was the onely reason of that fearful judgement, upon a disrespect of this place, in the story Theodor. l 3. c. 11, 12. of the Church before: and may be one reason of that general custom of praying Eastward Nomoc. Phot. Tit. 3. c. 1. Tit. c. 5. Damasc. Orth fid. l. 4. c. 13. Orat. 1. de imag. Orat. 2. de imag. histor. p. 896. vid. Ral. l 1. par. 1. c. 3. §. 3. , which continues in so many places, unto this day. And whosoever thinks not this prescription long enough, had need writ annals ancienter than the world. Since hath ecclesiastical adoration ever been in use: and I wish, those seditious Corahs of our Israel, would raise no contradiction against that authority, which God hath justly bestowed upon his Kings, and their Churches( for to curse God, and the King, in Esaiah Esa 8.21. , goes together: because he that doubts not to do one, will undoubtedly do the other) but of this date: or that they could show so quiet and interrupted a possession, such a time out of mind, for the best lands, and Charters they have. fear not therfore to tread in the same steps with the Church of England, because this treads in the same steps the Church of God ever did before. Those sainted times loved him too well, to love any thing like him; and although they gave a Religious Reverence unto those places, they terminated that religious reverence in God, not in the places: {αβγδ}, saith De Orthod. fid. l. 4 c. 12. Damascene. The house of God was honoured for God, th● Throne for the King, the Altar for the Sacrifice: as Alexander adoring Gods name in Iaddus Iaddus being in al his Priestly robes, {αβγδ}. joseph. Antiq. l. 11. c. 8. mitre, adored God alone, neither Iaddus, nor his mitre: and he that respects a house for the owners sake, respects not his house, but him, so much they said; but to justify the practise of our Church, I need not say so much. For, as although the human nature of Christ receive all from the divine, we adore the whole suppositum in gross, which consists of the human as well as the divine: so, because of Gods personal presence in the place, we adore him, without an abstraction of his Person from the place. 'tis not the Altar we worship, but the Lord towards the Altar: no prostration to a false God, but a prostration before the true God: pulverisatio nihileitatis nostrae, as à Kempis upon another occasion speaks, an acknowledgement of our vileness, and Gods infiniteness; of our original out of dust, and our resolution into dust; a confession of His being there, and our humiliation to Him that is there: an adoration of him that is not seen, looking on that which is seen: no Altar against God, but as that in josuah Ios. 22.25. was an Altar for God; nor an Altar of any strange worship, but of witness. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holinesse, saith David Psal. 96.9. ; 'tis a place of holinesse, and therefore no Layfee for Mammon: and a place of beauty, and therefore no resort for our pollution. 'tis Bethel the house of God, frequent it we must for his sake: and Bethlem, the house of bread, frequent we must for our own. Here dwells our physician, o let us run to the God of our health, as David calls him, and here encampes our general, o let us fly to the God of our strength, as Moses; this is {αβγδ} in Damascene {αβγδ}. Damasc. Orat. 1.& 2. de imag. ; a universal antidote that never failed, no languishing soul miscarried: and this is {αβγδ}, in Iosephus The Cuthites or Samaritans accused the Iewes, that they built a Temple {αβγδ}. Ios. Antiq. l. 11. c. 4. , an impregnable fort, that never was taken yet( the same word in Hebrew {αβγδ}. Joseph. Antiq. l. 7 c. 3. signifying the Temple, and safety too) no distressed soul perished there. Antiochus Eupator indeed besieged Iudas Maccabeus Id. l. 12. 14. thus, with what success the story tells, because he might as well have besieged him in heaven, as there: for who can be blocked up here, that converseth with the Lord which is every where? or want succours, that maintains correspondence, and intercourse with God? Ho, every one that thirsteth, saith the Prophet; nay, every one that is hungry, and every one that is sickly, and every one that is in distress, and every one that is in debt, and every one that is discontented too. Behold the Altar, and the Sacrifice; a Lamb in a thicket, Christ entangled in a Crown of thorns: the lamb of God that hath taken away the sins of the world, and therefore ours: that hath wiped out all our scores, hath strike all our Tallies; that broke the bars of hell by his descent into hell, and opened the gates of heaven by his Ascension. O let us enter therfore into these Courts with thanksgivings, and into these gates with praise: enter with preparation, as unto God; for he that comes hither as he is, goes away as he was; and enter with reverence, as in the presence of God; for he that prays, as if God were not here, when he hath prayed, shall find him no where. Enter with our souls, because God loves no satisfy but the heart: and enter without our sins, because God hears not us, if we harken not to him. Enter all ear, while God speaks to us; all heart and tongue, while we speak to God; because, if the heart go one way, and the tongue another: if we turn this house into an exchange or a stews, by thinking in this house, on our gains or our lusts; we defile not the Temple, as Antiochus joseph. Antiq. l. 13. c. 16. , by engraving the similitudes of unclean beasts on these doors, but by bringing them within. Enter by the humiliation of our souls, and enter with the prostration of our bodies; because as this, without that, is a dead oblation; so that, without this, is a maimed one. Adaman Bed. hist. l. 5. in Bede tells, in his discourse of holy places, from the mouth of a Bishop, who had been there: that in a Church erected in that place, from whence our Saviour ascended, there rushed annually in those times, a violent gale of wind from heaven upon Ascension Day, which forced all those it found standing, to fall prostrate on the earth. I do not justify the relation, and yet 'tis ancient; only I wish, that when we come hither, we need no wind from heaven to humble us here: but that falling down by the dejection of our bodies, we may rise up by the exaltation of our souls, and living in his fear, may die in his favour: which the Father of mercies grant us all, for the merits of his son, to whom, &c.