THE COMMINATION Prescribed in the LITURGY OF THE Church of England VINDICATED;, AND Recommended to the Consideration of all Pious Christians. IN A SERMON, Preached to a Country Audience on the First Sunday in Lent, 1679/80.  
By Benjamin Camfeild, Rector of Aylston near Leicester.  Cursed is he that maketh the Blind to wander out of the way: And all the people shall fay Amen. Deut. 27.18. 
LONDON, Printed for H. Brome at the Gun, and R. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1680.   

TO THE COURTEOUS READER,  
HOw this honest Discourse may relish with thee, I know not: Yet if it prove Medicinal, the season I am sure, is good and proper enough for it, and, it matters not much, though it should be less palatable. Two desperately-malignant humours it hath to encounter and work upon, Faction and Profaneness, both of them now almost grown Epidemical. God Almighty send it a Success answerable to the sincere intentions of him that tenders it. But, if thou art Friend to an Orderly Piety and Christian Life, He may promise himself, moreover, thy acceptance and Prayers: And that is all, which I have to desire of Thee on his behalf: Unless it be this point of common Justice, that thou Read it over without prejudice, and consider of it, before thou pass censure: But This too I should rather commend unto thee for thy own Benefit, because Spiritual Physic Operates not like to Bodily, whether we think on it, or no.  
Farewell.   

A Lent Sermon.  Deuteron. XXVII. XV. 
— And all the people shall answer, and say Amen.  
IT is a most excellent Devotional Service, 
Cum primis salutaris est ceremonia: sed non video our debeat exhiberi solùm nno die, & non saepiùs. Bucer. for so in the Liturgy of Edward 6. it was determined to Ash-wednesday, but after enlarged to divers time of the year, with an ●●●alty only to the First day of Lent. See Mr. Ham. L'Estrange's. Alliance of Divine Offices. ch. 11. p. 318.  which our Church hath charitably provided for the Beginning of Lent in the Commination prescribed to be used on Ashwedensday (and at other times * of Solemn Humiliation, when the Ordinary shall appoint) as one of the most proper Helps and Expedients she could furnish Penitents with, in that lose and degenerate Age, wherein our Lot is fallen, which is impatient of a severer Discipline; namely, That, according to the Pattern set us, in this Chapter principally, the General Sentences of God's Curses against impenitent sinners be distinctly pronounced in the presence of all the People, and that every one that hears them should answer as distinctly unto each Sentence, Amen.  
But such is the Licentiousness and Profaneness of our Generation, that, instead of desiring and promoting the Restoration of Primitive Discipline, we will not vouchsafe to come up so much as Thus far. We make light of sin, and slight the Calls of God and his Church unto Repentance; and live, as if we thought that the happiness and Salvation of the World to come, were worthy but of very little Care and Labour and Pains in our striving to secure it here. We have found out new and easy ways and methods to Heaven, which the Primitive Christians, the Church of Christ from the Beginning were never acquainted with; ways to Heaven without Repentance, without confessing and forsaking our sins, and bringing forth Fruits meet for Repentance. We are not for going so far about, but a nearer Cut, a director Passage of our own devising, a Leap as it were from Hell to Heaven, or hugging our sins all the days of our Life, at Death and the Grave to part and shake hands with them. We have time enough to spare for Worldly pleasures and divertisements; but when Religion challengeth our attendance, we have no leisure at all for it. We can spend hours and days freely enough in Visits, in Sports, in Drinking, and 'tis well sometimes if not in worse employments: But, Oh! how Scrupulous do we seem in Conscience of taking any part from our six working days and Devoting it unto God  
Pardon me, Beloved, if upon this occasion, I speak somewhat plainly and freely to you. A Pan-Cake Bell, as we call it, upon Shrove-Tuesday, though no Authority enjoin it, will easily draw men from the works of their Callings, and every one is free and forward enough in harkening to the Summons of it. What a General Rendesvouz and Crowd of People is there every where usually upon it! But the Bells may Call loud enough and Chime long enough upon the Ash-Wedensday after it (and that by Authority too both of Church and State) yet few or none will take the warning given them, to lay aside their Worldly business for a while, to resort to the Congregation, there to Confess their Sins, and give proof of their Repentance, and Humble themselves together before Almighty God, in order to the procuring of his Forgiveness and Blessing.  
Nor is this all. I would it were. Too many there are, that are gone a degree farther in their Impiety. They content not themselves with abstaining from the Church's Service, but they sit down also in the Chair of the Scorner. They Scoff at, and Deride, Revile, and Blaspheme that most excellent Service which we then perform, as a Superstitious, Foolish or Wicked thing, an uncharitable Cursing of ourselves and others, etc. Of whom I must say, as St. Judas in another Case, These speak evil of those things, which they know not, 
Psal. 10.  but what they know Naturally, as Brute Beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.  
Alas! None of those Persons consider, what a provocation it is unto God Almighty, in the days and seasons of his Grace to harden their Hearts against him: How dear it cost his People of old in the Wilderness, unto whom therefore he swore in his wrath, 
Psal. 99  that they should not enter into his Rest: How dismal a Requital he hath threatened unto such, Prov. 1. ch. Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my Counsel, and would none of my Reproof; I also will Laugh at your Calamity, and Mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as Desolation, and your destruction cometh as a Whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you: Then shall they call upon me, saith He, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; for that they hated Knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would none of my Counsel, they despised all my reproof: Therefore shall they eat of the Fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.— These Persons think not, how implacable God hath declared himself upon such a like miscarriage, as this of theirs is. You have a full and lively Picture of it drawn for your view, Jsa. 22.12. etc. In that day did the Lord of Hosts call to weeping and mourning, and to baldness and to girding with Sackcloth; and behold joy and gladness, slaying Oxen and kill Sheep, eating Flesh and drinking Wine, (saying with the Epicurean Drolls of all Ages) Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we die. And it was revealed in my ears by the Lord of Hosts, (saith the Prophet) surely this Iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of Hosts.— Nor do I aggravate the matter here by this Comparison beyond what is Just and Right: For whensoever our Governors, both in Church and State, do by their Laws and Orders call us to Mourning and Fasting and Humiliation, we are to look upon it and interpret it, as if God himself called us by them thereunto; 
See 2 Cor. 5.20. 1 Thes. 4.8. etc.  and he expects we should take the warning, which they as his Deputies, give us, and construes our despising of them, as a contempt to himself, by whose Authority they Act; And so also of old he gave the warning to his People, according to that of the Prophet Joel, ch. 2. Blow the Trumpet, Sanctify a Fast, Call a Solemn Assembly; Gather the People; Sanctify the Congregation; Assemble the Elders; gather the Children and those that suck the Breasts; Let the Bridegroom go forth of his Chamber, and the Bride out of her Closet; Let the Priests, the Ministers of the Lord, weep between the Porch and the Altar, and let them say, spare thy People, O Lord!— This you see, is the Truth of the Case, we are all herein Transgressor's; though it may be aggravated in some by their Contumacy, and mitigated in others by their Seduction and Inadvertency.  
Beseech we God of his infinite mercy therefore, that he lay not this great Iniquity to the Charge of this sinful Kingdom! Pray we, as Moses did for the Israelites, 
Deut. 9.27.  Look not O Lord, unto the stubbornness of this People, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin! Or, as we have it our Litany.— From hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandment, Good Lord deliver us!  
However, upon all these Considerations laid together, I have purposely diverted unto the Text even now Read; that I might meet with those who will not so much as afford their presence at such a Solemnity, and give them that account of this part of our Service, which may, by God's Grace, engage them hereafter to a conscionable frequenting of it.  
And, that I may do this with the better success, I will First set before you the Law and Practice, as it stood among the Israelites; what was the Divine institution and Ordinance among them in this matter; and then Secondly, show you, how far we are still concerned in it, or what this observance among them suggests to invite and justify or vindicate our imitation.  
First, It is good to consider the Order, which the Lord kept with his People in times pasts, 
T. 6. L. 1. p. 196.  as the Nonconformists themselves have sometimes worded it upon other Occasions.  
The First provision about this we Read of Deuter. 11.26. etc.— Behold, saith Moses, 
Augmentatio Boni; Diminutio Boni Aben-Ezra.  I set before you this day a Blessing and a Curse (that is, Good and Evil, Happiness and Misery) A Blessing, if ye obey the Commandment of the Lord your God, which I Command you this day, and a Curse if ye will not obey.— And it shall come to pass, saith he, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee into the Land, whither thou goest to Possess it, that thou shalt put the Blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the Curse upon Mount Ebel; Are they not on the other side Jordan, & c? 
Ainsworth in Loc. — Thou shalt put, or give, the Blessing Upon, or Towards, Mount Gerizim (for so the Hebrew Preposition Gnal sometimes signifies) that is, cause it to be pronounced there; and so the Curse in like manner Upon, or Towards, Mount Ebel. Thou shalt see or take care that the Blessing and Curse be given forth by the Priests, 
Dandam curabis, operâ scil. Levitarum. Vatablus.  the Levites, towards these Mountains respectively; by the Levites, I say, whose Office it was to teach Jacob Gods Judgements, 
Deut. 33.10.  and Israel his Law; by whom God had before ordered the Solemn Blessing, ch. 10. and the Curses too, as afterwards we find it.  
But of this same matter he speaks more particularly and distinctly in This 27th Chapter. Psal. 12. etc. These shall stand on Mount Gerizim, to bless the People, when ye are come over Jordan, Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, (under which, Ephraim and Manasseh) and Benjamin. These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to Bless the People, 
Vatablus.  ad audiendam benedictionem, to hear the Blessing pronounced on the People for Obedience. And these shall stand upon Mount Ebel to Curse, Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. These on Mount Ebel to Curse, or for the Cursing, that is, in like manner, to hear the Curse denounced for Disobedience. For the People were not on either Mountain to pronounce the Blessing or the Curse, but to hear and witness unto both proclaimed by the Levites, as it follows.— And the Levites shall speak and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Cursed be (or, is) the man that maketh any Graven, or Molten Image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the Craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place: And all the People shall answer, and say, Amen. Cursed is he that setteth light by his Father or his Mother; And all the People shall say Amen.— etc. 
Munster is mistaken, who reckoned but 11.  in Twelve particulars, in the end of each of which it is prescribed still in words at length, And all the People shall say Amen.  
And as this Office was twice prescribed by Moses in the name of God unto them, as we have seen, so afterwards we find it put in practice under Joshua, when he had Conducted them over Jordan to this place. Josh. 8.33. etc. And all Israel and their Elders, and Officers, and their Judges stood on this side the Ark, and on that side, before the Priests, the Levites, which bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger (that is, the Proselyte) as he that was born among them. Half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebel; as Moses the Servant of the Lord had Commanded before, that they should Bless the People of Israel. And afterwards he Read all the words of the Law, the Blessings and Curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law; there was not a word of all that Moses Commanded, which Joshua read not before all the Congregation of Israel with the Women and the little ones and the Strangers, that were Conversant among them.  
An august and full assembly, we see, here, of the Rulers and all the People, Women and Children too, and Strangers (who had embraced their Religion) not excepted.— And when Joshua is said to have read all the Blessings and Curse according to all that was written in the Law, and as Moses had Commanded, we must understand that he issued out his Warrant, gave forth his Edict to the Priests the Levites herein to do their proper Office, and what they did at his Command is ascribed to him, as if he had done it.— And so again, though there be no particular mention here of the Acclamations of all the People answering and saying Amen, yet there can be no question at all, but that so we are to conceive of it, because All is said to be done by him according to all that was written by Moses in the Book of the Law about it, where he had his Pattern as well as Commission given him, and in which it was so often repeated," All the People shall say Amen.  
Concerning the place where these two Mountains stood, 
Vide Matium. in Josh. 8. Non procul â Sicimis. Antiq. L. 4. c. ult.  some difference there is among Cosmographers, which I shall not trouble you with. Josephus describes them near to Sichem, and that is the most common Opinion, it being reported by Travellers into those parts, that near the Gate of that City was jacob's Fountain, and somewhat above that, a Mount arising with two Tops, as it were, one against the other, which the Inhabitants thereabouts take for Gerizim and Ebel, the one upon the Right hand, the other on the Left, supposing the Face turned to the East or Sunrising; Mount Gerizim Southward, which was accounted Dextrum mundi latus the Right side of the World, and Mount Ebel Northward, which hath been ever looked upon as Male-ominata plaga, an ill-bodeing Coast.  
Now in the Valley, between these two Mountains, as the story tells us, was placed the Holy Ark, and next to that the Priests the Levites which bore it, and all Israel, Officers and People, in their several Tribes, on this side and on that, Half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and Half of them over against Mount Ebel. That is, as we are told more particularly, Towards Mount Gerizim were the six heads of the Free Tribes, with their respective Tribes, 
Liberarum filij ex justis Matribus familiâs.  Simeon and Levi, and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin, all Children of the Free-Women, Rachel and Lea. And Blessedness, the Apostle tells us, belongs to the Children of the Freewoman. Gal. 4.22.31.— Upon this Mount, afterwards the Samaritans are said to have Built their Temple, taking occasion, it seems, 
Ainsworth in Deuteron.  from what was now done there for a Superstitious conceit of the place itself, calling themselves, Those that belong to the Blessed Monte 
Servarum filij. — And then for Mount Ebel there were six others, the Sons of the Bondwomen, Four of them Born of the two handmaids, viz. Gad and Asher, the Sons of Zilpah, Lea's handmaid, Dan and Naphtali of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid. But then, to make up the number even with those on the other side, two are added, that were Born indeed of the Free, Reuben, the Eldest by Leah, but one that had forfeited his dignity by defiling his Father's Bed; and Zebulun the last of the Sons by Leah also, and so the least in Dignity. Thus the People are divided into two equal Choires, as it were, the one on the Right-hand, and the other on the Left, with all their Faces towards the Ark; 
Ora omnium obversa ad Arcam. Matius ut suprâ.  the Blessings to be pronounced by the Levites, towards those on Mount Gerizim, and the Curses towards those on Mount Ebel, over against them, not unfitly declaring (as one of the Rabbi's observes) Quantum esset inter benedictionem maledictionemque dissidium; how great a Distance there is between Obedience and Disobedience, the Blessing and the Curse. A vast Gulf, as it were, between them, like to that we read of in the Gospel, between Abraham's Bosom and the place of Torment. They move towards two opposite points, and are not possibly to be reconciled so as to meet together in one.  
Well, the Congregation thus set, we are to suppose that some one or more of the Levites did lift up his voice like a Trumpet, and, 
Tanquam fecialis: Mat ius ibid.  as God Almighty's Herald propound the Articles of his Law and Covenant, turning first to the Right, that is, towards Mount Gerizim, to utter the Benedictions and Blessings.— But, what these Blessings were, Moses doth not specify; and this silence of his in the Case is looked upon by some, 
Ainsworth in Loc.  as instructive about a Mystery (in like manner as the Apostle to the Hebrews interprets his silence concerning the Genealogy of Melchisedec) leading the Sagacious Reader to look for them by another, which is Christ, by whom cometh Grace and Truth, and whom God hath sent to Bless us.— But, waving this conjecture though these Blessings are not specified, it is not to be questioned, but they were rehearsed to the People as well as the Curses; nay, it is observable, where we have the History of the practice, in the time of Joshua, that the chief, if not only, mention is made of Benediction, as Moses the Servant of the Lord had Commanded before, that they should Bless the People of Israel. 
Masius in Loc.  Sola Benedictio agebatur: It was their Blessing all along that was designed and aimed at; the other was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a thing as it were, by the by, Subservient and in order to this Benediction, as a likely means to remove the impediments and hindrances of it. Those therefore that are versed in the Jewish Antiquities, tell us, that the Blessings are particularly to be Collected out of the Curses here mentioned, answering to each of them. A pause being made by the Levite at the end of every Sentence or Period, both of Blessing and Curse, that the People, on both sides, might attest their approbation distinctly to every Article, as he went along, by their joint Acclamations of Amen; only with this difference, Those on Mount Gerizim beginning the Amen to the Blessings, and their Brethren on the other side against them on Mount Ebel resounding or echoing the like after them; Those on Mount Ebel again beginning the Amen to the Curses, 
P. Fagius in Denter.  and their Brethren on Gerizim repeating the same after them.— And it is not improbable but that the twelve Benedictions, on the one side, and the twelve Maledictions, on the other were pronounced alternatim, by turn, or Exchange, 
Antiq. L. 4. C. ult.  in the way of Antiphone or Responsal, succinentes sibi invicem, as Josephus hath it, The Levites suppose, first beginning towards the Right with the Blessings thus, Blessed is he that worshippeth the true Jehova only, and no other Gods besides or with him, whereunto All the People answer and say Amen, Those on Mount Gerizim beginning the shout, and those on Mount Ebel following them therein. And then, turning to the Left, (or another Levite it may be appointed for the Left) Cursed is the man that maketh any Graven or Molten Image, etc. whereto All the People again answer and say Amen, Those on Mount Ebel beginning the shout, and those on Mount Gerizim following them in the same. And then proceeding to the Second, Blessed is he that honoureth his Father and Mother; whereunto all the People in like manner answer and say Amen. And on the otherside, Cursed is he that setteth light by his Father, or Mother: And all the People say Amen.— And so in Order throughout all the rest. 
1. Inter Deum & hominem. 2. inter filium & patrem. Munster in Loc.  The First plainly relates to the leading Duty of man to God, which gins the First Table of the Law. The Second to that of Children to their Parents, which is also the First of the second Table. And then we may observe that the Last is general and comprehensive of all together. On the one side, suppose, Blessed is he that confirmeth all the words of this Law to do them.— and on the other,— Cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to do them. And all the People say Amen.  
Which interlocutory service finished between Priest and People, the Minister, as 'tis probable, proceeded to repeat all that follows in the 28th Chapter as an agreeable Comment or Illustration upon this Blessing and this Curse, which God had caused to be pronounced among them, and they by their Amen had consented to the truth and equity of; that they might the better understand and consider, how much was Comprised under either of them, what good things under the Blessing, and what evil things under the Curse. And it is not unlikely, but these Blessings and Curses, so distinctly proclaimed by God's Messenger, and attested to by the People, were the Summary, Epitome, or Abstract of that Law which was at this time also engraven upon 12 great Stones very plainly, 
Deuter. 27.8.  [in perpetuam rei memoriam] for a perpetual Remembrance to them all; The chief of those Commands, which they were obliged unto, thus recommended to their careful observance, both by the hope of Reward, and the fear of punishment.  
But, passing by all other observations, we have here, you see, a Form of worship prescribed by Moses to all the People, a Form of worship, wherein both Priest and People were interchangeably to bear a part, and a Form of worship to be observed orderly and uniformly among them. And all the People shall answer and say Amen.  
It is well, that there was none of the Spirit, or Leaven, of the Dissentors of our time then among them. For they would have said, To what purpose is all this Do about external and bodily worship? about the uttering of an Amen? about the observing of such Order and Ceremony in it? Nay, they would have gainsaid and quarrelled at it, if upon no other ground, yet merely because commanded, as an intolerable imposition upon their liberty and freedom, a yoke of bondage. Alas! It is no engageing now, as it was then, it seems, for all the People, that they shall observe any thing prescribed them about the service of God; so morose and untractable they are. Set them to the Right hand, they will take the Left: Bid them Kneel, or Stand up, they will Sat and Loll: Bid them Answer to any thing, They will be Mutes. Bid them say Amen; they will rather declare, by some or other sign or gesture, a dislike of the disaffection to the worship they are present at. They are not at all for being bound up to any thing, for obliging themselves, or paying their homage and devotion to God [conceptâ verborum formula] in any premeditate Form of words drawn up to their hands.— But that by the way.  
All I will now further inquire into about the Text shall be concerning the importance and meaning of this word, Amen, which the People, we may presume, here uttered with a great deal of Solemnity and reverence as well as understanding and affection. As we Read at another time, when Ezra Blessed the Lord, the Great God; All the People answered Amen, Amen, 
Ezra 8.6.  with lifting up their hands and bowing their heads, and worshipping the Lord with their Faces to the Ground. And there was a command for that Amen too, as well as for this, the Amen at the end of their Doxologies, 
See 1 Chron. 16.34. etc. Psal. 89. ult. 106.48. etc. 1 Cor. 14.16. Revel. 7.12.  and praises and prayers, which therefore hath been transcribed into the Churches practise ever since.  
Well, but what is the proper meaning and interpretation of Amen? That is, the most needful enquiry for our information.  
In answer to this therefore you must know, that it is Originally an Hebrew word, though since admitted by use and custom into all Languages, made a free denizon as it were in all Countries, retained in all Tongues and among all People. Now in the Hebrew it hath relation unto Truth, and so it is used sometimes as a Noun, for Truth itself, but more usually as an Adverb, for Truly, in confirmation of Truth.  
(1.) It is used as a Noun, for Truth, Verity, Faithfulness; So God himself is called The Amen, we English it the God of Truth. Isa. 65.16. 
In Deo Amen, i. e. in Deo vero. Grot. in Loc.  That he who Blesseth himself in the Earth, shall Bless himself in the God of Truth; and he, that Sweareth in the Earth, shall Swear by the God of Truth. It is in the Hebrew, in and by God the Amen. He alone is Truth, the Very and True God, in whose Name we are to Bless, and by whose Name we are to Swear. And thus, in the New Testament, Christ, being also the True God, is in like manner called The Amen. Rev. 3.14. These things saith the Amen, the Faithful and True witness; where the Later words explain the Former, the Greek pertinently glozing upon the Hebrew (as chap. 1.8. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending) The Amen, that is," The Faithful and True witness, or as he elsewhere styles himself" The Truth. St. John 14.6. And so the word is used too by St. Paul, applied to the Promises of God through him. 2 Cor. 1.20. All the promises of God are in him, yea and in him Amen. i e. Truth and Truth; most certain, perfect and infallible Truth.  
But then (2ly.) it is most frequently used Adverbially, and then, as I said, the importance of it is Truly or Verily, as we often render it. And this is the primary, signification and use of it, as a word of Vehement asseveration or earnest affirming. Thus in St. Matthew ch. 24, 47." Amen I say unto you. So it is in the Original. We English it" Verily. But then in St. Luke. ch. 12.44. where the same thing is repeated, the Greek Varies, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, Truly, in Truth, or, as we there English it, Of a Truth I say unto you.— In another place we find it rendered by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is, in Greek, the Adverb of Affirming, answerable to the Latins, Etiam, and our Yea, (as where Christ enjoins, let your Communication be yea yea, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  etc. St. Matth. 5) Thus in St. Matthew ch. 23.36." Amen I say unto you, we read it," Verily. But it is in St. Luke ch. 11.51. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉," Yea I say unto you, though in our. Translation we have no notice of it.— Sometimes we find both the Greek and Hebrew put together. So in the place before quoted, All the promises in him yea, and in him Amen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; for the Noun: and so for the Adverb too. Revel. 1.7. Behold, he cometh with Clouds, and every eye shall see him, etc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉," Yea, Amen. We read it, Even so Amen. And this was usually ingeminated by our Blessed Saviour, when he was most earnest in his asseverations. Amen, Amen: or Verily, Verily I say unto you. St. John 3.3. and 5.14.12.16.23, etc.  
From all this now we gather, that Amen is most properly a note of Affirmation. And, when it comes at the end of a Sentence, we are to construe it according to the matter going before it. If it be any thing positively declared from God; then Amen, is the Subscription or Seal as it were of our Faith added to it. Thus we have it at the end of our Creed, Amen, that is our Creed over again in one word." So I believe, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Aquila & Symmachus sometimes render it." Assuredly, so it is.—" The Creator, saith St. Paul, 
Rom. 1.26.  who is Blessed for evermore, Amen, yea, that he is.— If it be matter of Desire or Prayer, Than it is all the Prayer repeated again in one word, which the Greek turns by, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Rev. 22.20.  the Latins by, Fiat, we in English, so be it, I come quickly, saith Christ: Amen, saith the Apostle, come Lord Jesus, that is, I both believe and desire it. So the Prophet Jeremiah. God having said, obey my voice, 
Jerem. 11.5.  that I may perform the Oath, which I have Sworn to your Fathers, etc.— Then answered I (saith he) and said, Amen; O Lord. We read it," So be it, O Lord. It is an expression both of Faith in God's promises, and Desire to enjoy them. But in another place of that Prophet it denotes desire alone and by itself without any belief or persuasion of the Truth of what went before. Thus, when Hananiah had Prophesied falsely the return of the Vessels and of Jechoniah; Jeremiah, 
Ch. 28.6.  to express his good wishes only, though he knew and foretold the Contrary, saith upon it; Amen, The Lord do so. The Lord perform the words which thou hast promised.— q. d. This would please me very well; and This is matter of my hearty wishes too, if so it pleased God.  
Amen, Originally and primarily is, Affirmantis, a word of Faith and persuasion, affirming or assenting to the truth of what is said. But sometimes it is moreover according to what goes before it, Optantis, a word of wishing and desiring, or Concedentis & ratum habentis, a note of consent and ratification, And that is the chief notion under which we are to look upon it throughout the Church's Service. As a Subscription of him that useth it to that which went before; as a Testimony of his assent and consent thereunto; and accordingly sometimes not only his Faith and persuasion, but his wishes and desires. Amen all the end of our prayers and praises is, So be it. At the end of our Creeds, So it is. And in like manner, whensoever an affirmation goes before it, as in these Sentences—" Cursed is the man, who doth so and so. Amen is, So we believe. Hereby therefore the people Saying Amen to these Curses, as before to the Blessings, did openly testify their firm belief of what had been pronounced in the name of God; set to their Seal, that God was true, and as his promises of Blessing to be embraced, so his threaten of Curse to be feared. They did hereby declare publicly their assent to the truth and Equity of them all; that it was but just and fitting that, whosoever among them did so and so transgress, should so and so be punished; The disobedient accursed, as the obedient Blessed; and upon the whole they gave up their full consent to the Law of God, established and ratified with these Blessings in it to the Obedient, and Curses to the Disobedient, as all Laws are with the People sanctions of due Rewards and Punishments.  
They did not therefore, as some vainly surmise, herein unnaturally Curse themselves, or wish these Curses absolutely to light upon themselves; No more than he that consenteth to any Law, that hath a penalty annexed to it. He only saith in effect, I consent to the Law thus promulged; I yield to the justice and equity of this punishment upon the breach of it; and think those worthy of the punishment who shall presume to break it. But, all the while, the scope, design and intention of the Law is Obedience and a Blessing upon that Obedience; and the punishment annexed only to deter from the violation of it. But then indeed, upon a supposition of such a wicked violation, we declare further, that the penalty is but just and righteous; nay, and we do voluntarily expose ourselves to the Infliction of it, by consenting to the Law so established.  
And that now was the chief design of what was here prescribed— And all the People shall answer and say, Amen. viz. openly to testify their Consent, as hath been said, to the Law of God that had this penalty or Curse by him annexed to the breach of it; and so to enter themselves solemnly into Covenant with God, in hopes of his Blessing, and in dread of his Curse, both which were set before them; thus to vow and swear fealty to God's Laws, and bind their Souls with a Bond unto him; as the Psalmist saith of himself, I have Sworn to keep thy righteous Judgements. 
Psal. 119. — And every vow and Oath made unto God doth necessarily end in a Curse upon ourselves, if we break it, as Plutarch well notes; 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Rom. Quaest.  a Curse which by our perjury we pull down upon ourselves, and may in a sort too, namely, upon that supposition, be said beforehand to imprecate. So when Nehemiah took an Oath of the Priests to do according to their promise of Restitution. ch. 5. He shook his Lap and said, so God shake out every man from his house, and from his Labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out and emptied! And all the people said Amen, and praised the Lord and did According to this promise. 11.13. Yet here they did not properly Curse themselves, neither, but testified their belief, that God would so Curse the Disobedient, and that it was just and Righteous that so he should, whoever they were, and hereupon were moved to Obedience. Or, it may be, there was thus much more in it; they did Oblige themselves under a Curse to this Obedience, as every one that appeals to God Almighty as witness and Judge in a Case doth; saying in a manner, God do thus and thus to me, if I perform not. And yet, all the while, this is not any uncharitable Cursing of ourselves, but a most charitable obliging ourselves in the highest manner we can to our bounden duty, by the Belief and dread of that Curse, which otherwise we look for: As we find it expressed in that solemn Covenant with God, which Nehemiah Caused the Jews to Seal unto, They entered into a Curse and into an Oath to walk in Gods Law. ch. 10.29.  
And thus now I have given you an account of the Pattern before us, the Divine institution and appointment among the Jews, and their practice according to it. It remains only, that I show you next, as briefly as I can, how far we also may be still concerned in it.  
And First, 
See Dr. Comber on this Office. Compan. to Temple. part. 4. p. 551. etc.  in the General, should we grant it to have been wholly and purely Ceremonial, a positive and peculiar Ordinance of God for his People the Jews only, yet thus certainly it becomes us all, both to think and speak with all Modesty and Reverence of it, as such; God himself having Commanded that the Curses of his Law should be thus orderly and distinctly denounced by the Levites; and that all the People, at the hearing of them, should as distinctly and audibly answer and say, Amen. We must not therefore presume to Condemn this, either for a foolish or a wicked appointment. We must take heed, how we Blaspheme and affront God Almighty by the little Cavils and Exceptions of our prejudiced and forestalled apprehensions. To this height of impiety doth the zealous hatred of some against the Liturgy bring them. What otherwise they pretend to Reverence in their Bibles, they most ignorantly reproach and dispute against in the Common-prayer-book.  
But then, Secondly, though there were confessedly some particular Circumstances in this Case that belonged to the Jews only (such as the division of their Tribes after that manner upon the two opposite Mountains and the like) yet the Substance of the thing itself is manifestly such as carries a great deal of natural Equity and useful morality in it; and is the rather to be imitated by us, because God hath gone before in prescribing of it to this very purpose of engaging and promoting Obedience among his ancient People; Obedience being unto us, as well as unto them, the way to Blessing, and Disobedience to us, as well as unto them, the way to a Curse.  
As for the Laws of eternal Equity and Righteousness, our Blessed Saviour came not to destroy or put an end to them, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, more fully to Preach and more effectually to press them upon the World. And as to matters of Order and decency among the People, though of particular and positive institution, we may observe a frequent imitation in the Christian Church under the New Testament, without any challenge for so doing. We Rehearse their Deealogue as the Rule of our Lives. The very Petitions of the Lords Prayer had been used in their devotions. The materials of both Sacraments, the water of Baptism, the Loaf and Cup in the Lord's Supper took their rise from them. Bishops, Priests and Deacons in the Government of the Church, are by the Fathers resembled to their High-Priests, Priests, and Levites. 
*  sciamus traditiones Apostolicas sumptas de veteri Testamento, Quod Aaron & su●j ejus atque Levitae in Templo fuerunt, hoc sibi Episcopi, Presbyteri & Diaconi vendicant in Ecclesiâ. St. Hiron ad Evagr.  And the very manner and order of worshipping God in their Synagogues, for Reading the Holy Scriptures, and Prayers, as the Learned 
† Totum Regimen Ecclesiarum Christi conformatum fuit ad synagogarum exemplar. Grot. in Act. 11  know, hath been readily Copied out in the Churches of Christ.— No wonder therefore, that our Reformed Church was easily induced to an imitation of this most useful Discipline likewise, which hath God's Honour and our Good (the great ends of all our Lives) stamped, as it were, in Legible Characters upon the forehead of it.  
It tends apparently to the Honour of God and his Laws, thus to have the Equity Truth and Righteousness of them made known, proclaimed, and acknowledged: And it tends as apparently to promote Righteousness and Virtue in us, thus distinctly to own and profess our firm belief, that all the Laws of God are Righteous and Good, and that the Sanctions of them are all just and equal; and we left inexcusable upon the Transgression of them. It is therefore a very fitting means and help, you see, both to Glorify God and to promote our own good and happiness; to bring us to Repentance, for what is past, and to keep us in Obedience, for the time to come.  
Nor hath this Transaction any thing in it that is repugnant or unsuitable to the Times of the Gospel, more than of the Law; to the Christian worship, any more than to the Jewish.  
Christ, it is true, hath taken away the Curse of the Law, 
Gal. 3.13.  being made a Curse for us, as the Apostle hath it. There is no dispute of that. And so it was then too, in Type and figure, shadowed forth and adumbrated in their Sacrifices: 
Revel. 13.8.  He being the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World, and the substance of all those shadows. But this is only still with respect unto True Penitents; that is, those who sincerely Repent of their former Disobedience, and as sincerely resolve and endeavour to reform and amend for the future. As to all others, who bid God defiance, and sin, elatâ man, with an hand lift up against Heaven, as it were daring the Almighty to punish them, the Curse of the Law holds still in force; and all the Acts of wilful sin and Disobedience are, no less now than before, under the Sentence of God's Curse. And we ought every one to believe and Confess this, till by the sight of our Cursed wretched and miserable Estate, by reason of Sin, we are brought unto Repentance and Reformation, and so qualified for the Pardon and Blessing of the Gospel of Grace through Jesus Christ. Then we are assured, that there shall be no Condemnation to us, 
Rom. 8.1.  who walk" not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit; but we shall most certainly be delivered from the Execution of all those Threaten, not because there is no truth and certainty in them, but in regard that our Redeemer, by his merit and satisfaction hath purchased for us a Release and immunity from them. We are yet to declare a steadfast belief of the Truth and certainty of these Curses; thereby to own what our sins deserve at God's hands, and most justly expose us to; and admire the patience and forbearance of God towards us; and they are to be as a Schoolmaster to lead us unto Christ for deliverance from them, and as a Tutor and Monitor of the great obligation we have to him our Redeemer; They are also to bring us to a true and serious Humiliation for all our Transgressions, and to warn us against them for the time to come. For, notwithstanding the Blessing of the Gospel, we are yet, if we take not heed, 
† If any man love not the Lord Jesus Let him be Anathema Maranatha. 1 Cor. 16.22.  liable to a Curse also, if we are wilfully Disobedient to it; nay and a greater and sadder Curse and Condemnation, than the Law ever pronounced, because the Blessing to us is by many degrees greater, than what was set before them. As we have better promises, so we have also a sorer Judgement held forth unto us, as the Apostle to the Hebrews, more than once, intimateth. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great Salvation? ch. 2. And of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Blood of the Son of God, & c? ch. 10. The Gospel is not made up altogether of comforts and promises, as some mistake it, but hath its Threats and Terrors also. knowing therefore the Terror of the Lord we persuade men 2 Cor. 5.11.  
Both the Baptist, Christ's forerunner, and our Blessed Saviour himself too, call upon us to Repent, that we may fly from wrath; and tell us, that the Axe is now laid to the root of the Trees, so that every Tree which bringeth not forth good Fruit is to be hewn down, and cast into the Fire; and that unless we Repent we shall all perish.— In that famous Sermon of our Lords upon the Mount, we have him not only, as it were upon Mount Gerizim uttering the Beatitudes or Blessings to his Disciples. St. Matt. 5. Blessed are the poor in Spirit. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the Peacemakers. Blessed are they that are persecuted for Righteousness-sake. But, if we compare St. Luke ch. 6. We find him also as it were upon Mount Ebal, to denounce unto others a contrary Woe and Curse. But Woe unto you that are Rich. Woe unto you that are full. woe unto you that Laugh now. woe unto you when all men speak well of you.— As elsewhere we find him uttering many Woes against the Hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, 
St. Matth. 23. St. Luke 11. St. Matth. 11. St. Luke 10.  and those that Repent not at the sight of his mighty works among them. And, when he vouchsafes to give us an account of the Judgement of the Last day he lets us understand, how all men than shall be divided and separated, as the Children of Israel now were, the Righteous, that is the Sons of the Freewoman, the Faithful Disciples of Christ, as it were on Gerizim, at the Right hand to receive a Blessing, but the unrighteous, that is the Bondslaves of Sin and Satan, as it were on Ebal, at the Left hand to receive the Curse. St. Matth. 25. Then shall the King say unto them on his Right hand, Come ye Blessed of my Father. ver. 34. Then shall he say also unto them on the Lefthand, Depart from me ye Cursed.— ver. 41. So that, you see, the Gospel itself hath its Sentences both of Blessing and Cursing; And there is an Amen too, 
St. Mat. 28.20. St. Mark 16.20. St. Luke 24.53. St. John. 21.25  you may observe, at the end of all the Four Evangelists, which relates to all things Contained in them, Woes and Curses, as well as Blessings, to testify the Certainty of both, and the Belief of both in the Church of Christ. Amen, that is, This is the Gospel of Truth. We say commonly, as True as Gospel. And both of them shall be made good to the full at the Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgement of God; when all Nations shall be gathered before the Great Judge, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats, and set the Sheep on his Right hand, (that is, as hath been said, on Gerizim) and the Goats on the Left, (that is, on Ebal.) When our Lord shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels, in flaming fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; but to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe. 2 Thes. 1.  
This Institution therefore among the Jews, which gives us a Remembrance and Representation of these things is not any more unsuitable to the times of the Gospel, than to those of the Law; For we are all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, under the Law to Christ. 
† 1 Cor. 9.21. Gal. 6.2. St. Jam. 2.12.  It is as fit now as then, that we should attend to the whole will of God, his Curses no less than Blessings. 'Tis as fit now as then, that we should set the Amen of our Faith to each of them; answering unto every Sentence in the Holy word of God, Amen, and so confessing with our mouths, that we believe it unfeignedly in our hearts. To the intent, as it follows in our Church Service, that, being admonished of the great indignation of God against sinners, we may the rather be moved unto earnest and true Repentance; and may walk more warily in these dangerous days; fleeing from such vices, for which we affirm with our own mouths the Curse of God to be due.  
Mark here, I beseech you, the plain Resolution of our Amen to God's several Curses. It is not uncharitably to Curse ourselves or others; No, all is in order to a Blessing, that we may every one carry a share of the Blessing home with us. It is only to affirm with our mouths, the Truth of the Divine Curses; That the Curse is due to such and such Transgressor's by God's appointment. That it is most certain all such Sinners are really accursed by God, under his Curse, while they continue such; and have no possibility of removing that Curse, but by a speedy Repentance and Return to God for pardon and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, that by and in him they may be Blessed; for ever Blessed by being first saved from their Sins, and turned from their iniquities.— God of old declared his great Indignation against those, who hearing the words of his Curses, should yet bless themselves in their hearts, saying I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart to add drunkenness to thirst: The Lord, saith Moses, will not spare such a man, but all the Curses in this book shall lie upon him. Deuter. 29.18.19. The Prophet Isaiah proclaims it, once and again. There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. ch. 48.22. and ch. 57.21. Let no man deceive you with vain words, saith the Apostle, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience. Ephes. 5.6. And when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as Travel upon a Woman with Child, and they shall not escape. 1 Thes. 5.3. It is of great concernment to us therefore, in time to see and understand and believe and be sensible of the Cursed State which our sins necessarily and unavoidably involve us in, and to judge and condemn ourselves, 
1 Cor. 11.31.  that we may anticipate the judgement of the Lord, that we may not be then condemned by him; and that we may be moved effectually to humble ourselves in this day of grace, and season lent us for Repentance, to deprecate all his displeasure against us, and obtain acceptance and favour with him through his Beloved.  
It is not we, alas! that make Obedience a Blessed thing, or Disobedience a Cursed thing. 'Tis all one for that, whether we Believe it, or not: Whether we say and own it, or not. The Blessing and Curse are, both of them, already pronounced from God. They are the Sentences of his Curse contained in the Holy Scriptures, the Infallible word of him, that cannot lie; and gathered out thence only for our caution and warning. Our Amen added to them is but a fitting declaration, that those whom God hath Blessed are certainly Blessed; and those whom he hath Cursed are as certainly Cursed; saying with our Lips that we believe this in our hearts, which we are Damned infidels if we believe not.  
And this way of owning and confessing it, is a very probable and likely means to prevent the danger by showing of it to us; to bring us, as hath been said, to an hearty Repentance for all that is past and a through amendment for the time to come, that so we may avoid the Curse and inherit the Blessing; that taking this leisurely admonition of God's fierce displeasure against such and such Sinners, viz. (Idolaters, Disobedient to Parents and Governors, , Cruel, Malicious, , Uncharitable, Covetous, and suchlike, who do err and go astray from the Commands of God, the paths of piety, Righteousness and Sobriety, and walk in the High-Road to destruction) we may the rather be moved to an earnest and true Repentance in all these particulars for the gross miscarriages we have been guilty of; and for the future awakened and stirred up to take greater heed unto ourselves, and walk circumspectly, especially in these dangerous days, wherein there are so many bad examples, in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation; fleeing from those several Vices, 
Ex ore tuo.  for which we have affirmed with our own mouths, (and therefore affirmed with our mouths, because we believe in our hearts) the Curse of God is due, as it is clearly and plainly legible in his Holy word.  
There can be nothing of impiety, or folly, nothing of antiquated Judaisme, or innovating Popery, and Superstition certainly in all this. Nay, I must pronounce upon the whole, that there is nothing, which keeps persons from an hearty Compliance with so wholesome a Service, but either: First, the not understanding of it aright. Or, Secondly, some secret love reserved to their own Sins, which makes them backward and unwilling thus to enter into a sacred vow and covenant with God under a Curse against them. For otherwise the Benefit of this Devotion is most Conspicuous. What more prevailing motive can there possibly be both to Repentance and Reformation, than this Remembrance of the dreadful Judgement of God hanging over our heads, whilst we continue in Sin, and always ready to fall upon us, prompting of us therefore, as the only remedy and way to escape, forthwith to return unto God, with all contrition and meekness of heart, bewailing and lamenting our wicked life, acknowledging and confessing our aggravated offences to him, and seeking to bring forth Fruits becoming penitents.  
And, Thus if we do, as the excellent Homily of the Church assures us in the Close, Christ will deliver us from the Curse of the Law, and from the extreme malediction, which will light upon them that shall be set on the Left hand; and he will set us at his Right hand, and give us the gracious benediction of his Father, commanding us to take possession of his most glorious Kingdom.  
Unto which he vouchsafe to bring us all for his Infinite mercy! Amen.  
FINIS.