Jacobs Vow

The Text.

Gen. chap. 28. verse. 20, 21, 22.

20. Then Jacob vowed a Vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on.

21. So that I come again to my fathers house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.

22. And this Stone, which I have set up as a Pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the Tenth unto thee.

IACOBS VOW.

W HICH words are the Vowe of that holy Patriarke Jacob, who being mortally hated of his brother Esau, for deceiving him (as he termed it) both of his Birth-right, and of his Blessing, was forced to fly for his life: And by the advise of his Mother, with the express consent, and commandment of his Father in the first verse of this chapter, he travailed towards Padan-Aran unto his uncle Laban for succor; in hope there not only to have his life secured frō his brothers rage; but also to be provided of a Wife, amongst his own kindred, which might be a helper, and comforter unto him: yet he went not forth like a Woer, nor like either his father Isaac's son, or his grandfather: Abraham's servant, with Camels, and Men, and Jewels, and other provision for such a journey, (for then perhaps he had never made this Vowe,) but he went all alone like a poor Pilgrim, with his staff in his hand, and so came weary, and late (the Sun being down) unto a certain place, near unto Haran, where he took up his lodging for that night: and as Saint Chrysostom saith, Ibi dormiuit, vbi nox eum comprehendit, He slept there where he was benighted, not in any town or house, or tent, but Sub dio, making the earth his bed, heaven his canopie, and a stone (which he found in that place) the pillow whereupon he reposed his head: and yet having a wearied body, and a quiet conscience (which are two good Engines, to draw on sleep) he slept as soundly upon that hard pillow, as if he had lien upon a bed of Down: And in his sleep he dreamed of a certain Ladder reaching up from earth to heaven, upon which the Angels of God ascended, and descended, and the Lord himself stood at the top of the Ladder; who made unto him a large, and a mos • gracious four-fold promise, in the 13.14. and 15. verses. 1. That he would give unto him and his seed, that land upon which he then slept. 2. That he would multiply his seed as the dust of the earth. 3. That in his seed, all the Nations of the earth should be Blessed; And lastly, that he would be with him, and keep him whithersoever he went, and bring him again unto that land, and not to forsake him until he had performed all, that he had promised unto him.

When Jacob awoke out of his sleep, and perceived that the Lord was in that place, and he not aware of it, and that that place was no other, but the house of God, and gate of heaven, verse 17. he was stricken with fear and reverence, as everyone ought to be, that cometh within the gate of God's house, and took the stone that lay under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it, and called the name of that place Bethel, that is, the house of God.

And entering into a serious consideration of this gracious Promise, which far exceeded all that he could either ask, or think, he did not through unbelief make any doubt of the performance thereof; but certainly believing that it should be accomplished in due time, like a thankful Pilgrim, or a man even over-joyed with unexpected, but yet assured hopes; he began to study with himself, what he should render unto the Lord, for all these benefits promised unto him; and not finding any better means to express his thankfulness, he vowed a Vow in my Text, saying, If God will be with me, &c.

Of which Vow there be two parts. The first is, Petitio, a Request, which he desired of God; The second is, Promissio, a duty, which he promised to perform to God.

The Petition in these words, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my fathers house in peace ; The duty which he promiseth to perform in lieu of this benefit is three-fold. 1. That the Lord shall be his God. 2. That the stone which he had set up for a pillar, should be God's house. 3. That of all that God should give him, he would give unto God the Tenth. Of which points in order as they lie in the Text.

And first of the Petition, or request, which (as you see) is very moderate, and reasonable: for whereas God had promised unto Jacob four things; Jacob doth not desire all, nor half, nor the third part of that which was promised, but contenteth himself with the last, and least of all those four things, and desireth nothing, but only necessaries for the present; not Quails, or Manna for delight; but only bread for necessity, that is necessary food: not purple and fine linen for pomp; but only raiment to put on, that is, necessary clothes: not the attendance of many servants; but only the protection, and blessing of God, without which, neither his food, nor raiment, nor anything else could do him good, nor himself, either be well, or be.

But what is the reason why Isaac, who was exceeding rich, sent forth his son Jacob (who by God's providence was now lately made his Heir) so exceeding poor, that he is fain to petition for food and raiment, whereas Abraham his father, sent forth his very servant upon the like journey richly furnished, and sumptuously attended? Was Abraham's servant better then Isaac's son?

To omit the diverse Allegories which Saint Augustine, and Gregory have observed upon this passage, the reasons, as Theodoret and others have well summed them up, might be these.

• 1. Vt fratris conatus melius declinaret, that going poorly, and privately, his brother Esau might not so easily miss him, nor know which way to pursue after him.
• 2. That this misery might move him brother to compassion, and reconciliation.
• 3. Vt animus esset reuertendi, that carrying no wealth with him to maintain, or detain him abroad, he might have the more mind to return unto his father home again.
• 4. And lastly, that he might have the better experience of God's mercy, as indeed he had, for which he returned thanks unto God at his return in the 32. chap.

Jacob's poverty may teach us, that although worldly prosperity be the good blessing of God, wherewith he often enricheth his own children: yet he ever, at one time or other, chasteneth those, whom he loveth, and traineth them up in his school of affliction, and nurtureth them with his Ferula of wants and crosses. Virgatua & baculus tuus, saith the Psalmist &c. they must as well be humbled, and instructed with his rod of correction, as supported with his staff of comfort. Abraham and Isaac, Job, and David, and Jacob also in my Text, after his return from Padan-Aran, were all rich, and our Lord himself was Lord of all, and yet none of them wanted either their wants or crosses. And the children of Israel, God's own people were not only pinched with wants in the wilderness; but were pricked with thorns in their eyes, and goads in their sides, even in the land of Promise.

Whence we may learn, that Adversity is the blessing of God upon his Children, as well as Prosperity. Res prospera donum est consolantis, res aduersa donū est admonentis Dei, saith S. Augustine, Prosperity is the gift of God comforting, Adversity the gift of God admonishing: Prosperity may be the more pleasant, but Adversity many times is the more profitable: which made David out of his own experience ingeniously confess, that it was good for him, that he had been afflicted. And so it is good for us all to be afflicted sometimes, else we should forget both God, and our selves, and be too much wedded to this world, and say with Saint Peter, Bonum est esse hic, and begin to build such Tabernacles here upon earth, as would hinder us from our everlasting Tabernacles of bliss in heaven. And thus much of Jacob's poverty and want.

But now being in so great want as he was at this time, why doth he prefer so poor a Petition unto God, who is so rich in mercy? And whereas God had now lately appeared unto him here in Bethel, and promised the whole land of Canaan to him, and his, why doth he desire so poor a pittance, as food and raiment, which would only keep life and soul together? the very fowls of the air are furnished with these.

And yet Jacob desires no more, to teach us, how moderate we should be in the desire of earthly things. We may and ought to be even covetous of things spiritual, and heavenly; so saith the Apostle: Couet after the best gifts: but of temporal, and earthly things we may not be covetous, more then is necessary for our callings & estates: because as our Savior teacheth, A man's life doth not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Therefore the Apostles rule is, that having but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 only food and raiment, we must be content therewith: for Victus, & vestitus sunt diuitiae Christianorum, saith Jerome: food and raiment are the riches of Christians : and our pattern of Prayer doth warrant us, to petition only for our daily bread, that is, as it is excellently expounded in that Royal Meditation upon the Lord's Prayer, only for such temporal things, as are necessary for our Esse, or at farthest, for our Bene esse. And they that cannot be content with these, but with the Horse-leaches daughters, still cry, Give, Give ; and will needs be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish, and hurtful lusts, which drown the soul in perdition, and destruction, 1. Tim. 6. Jacob having once seen God in Bethel, and set his heart upon him, who is the true treasure, neither admired, nor much desired (more then was necessary) this worldly trash.

Where we may see, that howsoever worldlings do not only admire, but even adore riches, and honors, and earthly pleasures, as their sole trinity, yet the Children of God, knowing that earthly honors, and riches are but shadows of heavenly, and the pleasures of sin, not so much as shadows of heavenly pleasures: use these things, when God giveth them; but neither abuse nor admire the same. And why should men admire shadows, painted fires, which flame, but warm not? and may fitly be compared unto Glo-worms, or pieces of rotten-wood, which in a dark night shine like stars, but when the Sun ariseth, and showeth what they are, the one appeareth to be a poor worm, the other nothing but a rotten stick: So these glorious outward things, shine like Stars in the eyes of the Children of darkness: but the Children of light, whose eyes are purged from those scales of darkness, do plainly see, that in regard of true content, they be Vanitas vanissima, worms, & sticks, before which Solomon incomparably preferred wisdom; and Agur in the Proverbs of Solomon, prayed expressly against riches in the thirtieth Chapter, as well as poverty. Mendicitatem, & diuitias ne dederis mihi: Give me neither poverty, nor riches, but feed me with food convenient for me. And this is the reason, why Jacob in my Text, petitions neither for riches, nor honor, nor any other outward thing, but only for bread to eat, and clothes to put on.

And yet one thing more is to be observed in Jacob's Petition, out of these words of my Text, where he saith, If God will be with me, and keep me in this way, that I go, and bring me again to my fathers house in peace ; wherein besides food, and raiment, you see he desireth the protection, and blessing of God in his whole journey going out, and coming in: without which, neither his bread could nourish, nor his clothes keep him warm, nor anything else do him good. For Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God, that is, the blessing of God upon bread: For as in Physic, a diseased man is prescribed to boil certain medicinal herbs in running water, and then to drink a quantity of that water, and so is cured of his disease: and yet we know, that it is not the water, but the decoction, or infusion which cureth the Patient: so it is not the bread that nourisheth, nor the abundance of outward things, which enricheth, or contenteth, but the infusion of God's blessing, which is the staff of bread; without which a man may starve for hunger, with bread in his mouth, and die like the children of Israel with the flesh of Quails in their teeth.

Whereas on the contrary, Daniel feeding upon bare pulse, strengthened by the blessing of God, which is the staff of bread, and of all other nourishment, was fatter, and fairer, then they that were fed with the Kings diet: For it is the blessing of God, that maketh rich: and a little, that the righteous hath, is better then the great revenues of the ungodly. And we may observe in our own experience, many a man, who with a dinner of green herbs, as Solomon speaketh, that is short diet, course clothes, hard lodging, and a poor estate, looketh fatter, liveth merrier, sleepeth sweetlier, enjoyeth more hearts ease, and true content, and in truth liveth better then others that wear a chain of gold. And therefore wisely did Jacob desire nothing but food, and raiment, and God's blessing upon them, which he knew would serve his turn. And thus much of the Petition, or Request which Jacob desired of God.

Now I come to the duties, which he promiseth to perform to God, in the next words, Then shall the Lord be my God, &c. wherein Jacob, who was afterward surnamed Israel, having received but even the promise of a benefit, presently voweth the performance of a duty, to teach all true Israelites, that Beneficium postulat officium : and that the thankfulness of the receiver, ought to answer unto the benefit of the bestower, as the Echo answereth to the voice: we do no sooner receive the one, but we are immediately bound to return the other. So doth David, Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling, There is the benefit received; and then it followeth in the very next words, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living, there is the duty returned: So likewise in my Text, If God will be with me, and give me bread to eat, and clothes to put on, there is the benefit petitioned for, and promise, Then shall the Lord be my God, &c. there is the return of a duty vowed.

Now we all have received the same or the like benefits, both spiritual and temporal, whereby we are all bound unto the like thankfulness; but where is the performance of the same, or the like duties? We owe as much, or more unto God for his benefits, then Jacob did, but who voweth, or payeth unto him the like duties, that Jacob did? What heart can think, or what tongue can express our infinite obligations? First for spiritual favors: Infinitely are we bound unto God for our Creation: more then infinitely (if more might be) for our Redemption, and our effectual Calling unto the participation thereof. What shall we then render unto the Lord, for all these benefits done unto us? Totum me de beo, saith S. Bernard, pro me facto: quid igitur rependam pro me redempto? Lowe every whit of myself (unto God) for my Creation, what shall I then render unto him for my Redemption?

And Saint Ambrose saith, Nihil est quod dignum refer possumus pro suscepta carne Maria, quid pro cruce obita, quid pro verberibus, & sepultura reddemus? We are not able to be sufficiently thankful for taking our flesh of the (Virgin) Marie, what shall we then return unto him for his suffering upon the Cross, for his stripes, for his burial?

And as for temporal benefits, we are far before Jacob ; he wandered up and down the world like a poor Pilgrim, with his staff in his hand: he kept sheep, and was parched with the heat of the day, and frozen with the cold of the night; and in my Text, the bare earth was his bed, a hard stone his pillow; he had nothing, he desired nothing, but only bread to eat, and clothes to put on, and the protection and blessing of God upon him in his journey, and yet he, even for these vowed a Vow unto God. We sit under our own Vines, and our own Fig-trees in peace and rest, We lie upon beds of Iuorie, and stretch our selves upon our couches; we are clad in purple and fine linen, and fare delicately every day; we eat calves out of the stalls, and lambes out of the flocks; we drink wine in boules, and anoint our selves with costly ointments, and invent instruments of Music (like David.) But who is either sorry for the affliction of Joseph, the extreme miseries of our Brethren in neighbor-Countries, or who is sensible of our own great prosperity, and our incomparable happiness, or who for all this voweth one Vow to God?

When our Savior CHRIST had cleansed ten Leapers, there was but one found amongst all those ten, & he a stranger too, that returned to give God thanks. I fear there is scarcely one of an hundred amongst us, that is but even so thankful unto God for all his benefits, as that stranger was only for his cleansing.

When this good Patriarke Jacob returned rich from Padan-Aran in the 32. chapter of this book, he neither forgot what he was then, nor what he had been before: and therefore in a thankful remembrance of God's great mercies towards him, he paid one part of this Vow in that place, and worshipped God, saying, O Lord, I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies: for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.

Many a one there be in this honorable Court, who have passed over, not the river of Jordan, but the river of Trent, or Thames, or Seuerne with their staves in their hands, that is, poor estates in comparison, and have been delivered from many dangers, and are now even laden with riches and honors; And yet I doubt there be not many, that for all this, have vowed with Jacob, to have the Lord for their God, or to build him an House, or to pay him the Tenth of all that he hath given them.

One Religious Vow, you see weekly paid in this place by our royal Jacob, I mean our Tuesdayes Exercise; which was devoutly vowed, upon as just an occasion, as ever Vow was made. And hitherto (God be thanked) it hath been religiously performed. God grant that this our Jacob may long, and long live a happy King of this happy Island, even as long (if it be his will) as the old Patriarke Jacob did, to pay this tribute, and the rest of his Vowes unto the King of Kings. And can we that are his servants, have a better pattern to imitate, then the Religious example of so Royal a Master? therefore I will conclude this point, with that zealous exhortation of another King, Psal. 76.11. Vouete & reddite Domino Deo vestro. Vow unto the Lord your God, and keep it, all ye that are round about him: bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. And thus much of the general of Jacob's Vow.

Now I come to the particular duties vowed; and they are three. First, that the Lord should be his God, that is, that he would worship the true God, and no other. Secondly, that the stone which he had set up for a pillar, should be God's house: that is, he would dedicate that place unto the public worship of God. Thirdly, for the maintenance of both these, he would give the Tenth of all that he had. All which were necessary duties, and everyone of them hath a necessary relation, and dependence upon other; For if God must be worshipped, then must he have a place to be worshipped in, which is here called an House, and our SAVIOR saith, shall of all nations be called the House of Prayer; And if a House of Prayer, then a maintenance for that House, and them that shall say Prayers in it. Of these in order, and first of the first.

To have the LORD for our GOD, is the very sum of the first Commandment, the meaning whereof, as all Interpreters expound it, is to love God above all, to make him our treasure, and infinitely to prefer him, and his Service before our selves, and all other things in the world. A duty whereunto every man is bound, as well as Jacob, and every man that is not an Atheist, will confess, and profess as much: But how they perform this duty, or either love, or prefer God above all, who so far prefer themselves, their honors, pleasures and profits unto God's Service, that they spend more hours of time, and pounds of money upon the one, then minutes, or pence upon the other; and bestow more cost even upon points and shoe-strings in one day, then upon the worshipping of God in a whole year, judge ye. Aures omnium pulso, conscientias singulorum conuenio, as Saint Augustine speaketh. If the Lord be their God, where is his fear? where is his love? where is his honor? there goeth more to this, then the hearing of a Sermon once, or twice a week; especially as it is usually heard, which is scarce worth the name of a hearing: and Jacob meant more then so in my Text. For to have the Lord for our God, is to love him above all, as I said before, and to serve him Semper, & ad semper, with an universal obedience, both in regard of time and place, and with David to have respect, not unto someone, or two; but unto all his Commandments. They which serve God on the Sundays, but not on the week-days; in the Church, not in their Chambers, Closets, Callings, and whole course of life; and that, not for praise, profit, pleasing of men, or custom; but out of a good and honest heart, and a conscience of their duties, do not perform this part of Jacob's Vow, to have the Lord for their God. And thus much of the first duty.

The second followeth in the next words, And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's House. A duty necessarily depending upon the former; for if God must be worshipped, then must he have a place to be worshipped in, here called an House.

Now some think, that this place where Jacob slept, and set up this Pillar, was Mount Moria, and that he called it Bethel, or the House of God, Prophetically by a Prolepsis, because the Temple should afterwards be built there: yet there may be two other reasons, why Jacob calleth this pillar God's House, as before he called the very place Bethel.

• 1. Because God had manifested his presence here, in an extraordinary manner, as he did afterwards both in the wandering tabernacle, and in the fixed Temple, where he was, therefore said to dwell, as in an House.
• 2. Because Jacob consecrated this place unto the Service of God, and chap. 35. and 14. verse, set up an Altar for his worship instead of this Pillar, and (as may probably be thought) would have built a House for Prayer, and sacrificed in this place, if himself, and the Church had been then settled here, and had opportunity, and means to have done it. But being a Pilgrim, and in his journey, he did what he could for the present, he anointed a Pillar, erected an Altar for Sacrifice, and dedicated a place for an House of Prayer; whereby we may see what great care this holy Patriarke had of the place of God's worship: his first care was for the worship it self, which he vowed in the former words: his next care is of the place of his worship, in these words.

To teach us, that as our first care should be of the worship of God: so our second care should be of the place of his worship. The object of our first love, must be God himself: the object of our second love, must be the House of God. O Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth, (saith David ) Psalm 26.8. Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the very dust thereof. Psal. 102.14. And Psal. 84.10. One day in thy Courts, is better then a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, then to dwell in the tents of wickedness : And he rendereth the reason, why he so exceedingly loved the House of God, in the very next verse: for there the Lord is the sun and shield, there he will give grace and glory: and no good thing will he withhold from them that live a godly life. God is in all places by a general providence, but he dwelleth in his house by a special presence. He distilleth the drops of his mercy upon every part of the earth, but he poureth it down upon that holy ground, which is dedicate to his Service. There, he shineth like the Sun: there, he defendeth like a shield: he filled the Temple at Jerusalem with his glory: he made many gracious promises to them that prayed therein, or towards it, and still where two or three are gathered together in his Name, he will be in the midst amongst them: and no good thing will he with-hold from them, that worship him in the beauty of holiness, and wait for his loving kindness in the midst of his Temple.

Private Conuenticles are not to be compared with the public Assemblies of the Church, that is both the throne of God's glory, and his Mercy-seat.

Which ever so inflamed the holy men of God in former ages with the zeal of his House, that they spared neither cost, nor pains, nor ever affected anything so much, as the building and beautifying thereof. I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep, nor my eye-lids to slumber (saith David, ) until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Psal. 132. The good Centurion in the Gospel built a Synagogue at his own charges. Great Constantine, that mirror of devotion, bare twelve baskets of earth upon his own shoulders towards the founding of a Church. And when that noble Captain Terentius had done such service in Armenia, that the Emperor Valens bade him ask whatsoever he would, for a reward of his service, his only suite (as Theodoret reporteth) was vt Orthodoxis vna praeberetur Ecclesia : And when the Emperor rare his petition, and bade him ask somewhat else, he still persisted in his suite, and called God to record, that he would make no other suit but that. And how zealous our own forefathers have been in this kind of devotion, I need not speak, the zeal of God's House did even eat them up: the goodly Monuments whereof, yet extant in all our Cities, and many Countey-Parishes (which have spared us both the labor, and charge of building Houses unto God) speak for them. But some of those Houses which they have built, and even the fairest of them, since their Butteresses, and Pillars (I mean their maintenance) hath been plucked away, begin to droop already, and in time, (if it be not prevented) will molder away, and drop down: And yet who pitieth the ruins of Zion, or repaireth any one wall, or window thereof? Will yourselves dwell in ceiled houses, and suffer the Houses of God to lie waste? Shall Pater noster build Churches, and Our father pull them down? (as the proverb is) or suffer them to fall? O let not that be told in Gath, nor published in the streets of Askalon, lest the Philistines rejoice, left the uncircumcised triumph.

Therefore to conclude this point, Seeing we need not with Jacob in my Text, vow to build: let us all out of our zeal unto God's House, vow to beautify, or at least to keep up those Houses, which are built to our hands. And thus much of the second duty, which Jacob vowed in these words, This stone which I have set up, &c.

The third followeth in the last words, And of all that thou shalt give me, I will give the Tenth unto thee. A duty necessarily depending upon the two former, as I said before: For if God must be worshipped, and have an House, then must there of necessity be a maintenance: therefore Jacob in the third place, for a perpetual maintenance of the worship, and house of God, and them that shall attend therein, voweth for himself, and all the posterity, as well of his Faith, as Flesh, unto the end of the world, the payment of Tithes; Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the Tenth unto thee.

But what is the reason why Jacob here voweth to give unto God rather the Tenth then any other part of his goods? Surely howsoever some other causes may be alleged, yet the true reason is, because Jacob knew, either by the light of Nature, or by the tradition and practice of his Ancestors, that this quota, the very tenth, and no other part, was, is, and forever must be as due unto God, as either his House, or his worship: therefore he joineth these three together, being all relatives which depend one upon another; Se mutuo ponunt, & auferunt, and they are all equally due unto God: And due unto him, not by any common right, as other things, but by a special propriety, and right of reservation: whereby Almighty God from the very Creation of the world, and donation thereof unto the use of men, reserved unto himself, and separated from common use, unto his own Service, some out of everyone of these five things, which should never after be alienated, or taken away without Sacrilege.

• 1. A form of Divine worship, which may never be given to any other.
• 2. A time for this worship, which is the Saboth day, never to be abrogated.
• 3. A place of worship, which is his House, never to be profaned.
• 4. A Priest-hood, which may never bow knee unto Baal.
• 5. And lastly, for the maintenance of all these, Tithes, which he therefore calleth his own inheritance, never without Sacrilege to be impropriated. De omni substantia quam Deus homini donat, decimam partem sibi reseruauit. Of all the substance which God hath given unto man, he hath reserved the Tenth part unto himself. They be the very words of Saint Ambrose, And S. Augustine saith, Deus sibi tantùm decimam vendicans, nobis omnia condonauit. God challenging only to himself the Tenth, hath given all things unto us. And that he reserved to himself the tithes for this purpose, even from the beginning, as well as any of the other four things may appear by this; That for anything we know to the contrary, tithes were paid even from the beginning of the world: for some think, that Cain, and Abel offered the very tithe as they were instructed of their father Adam : But howsoever that be, certain it is, that there is no sooner mention made of any Priest 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of an order fit to receive them, then there is mention of paying of tithes unto him. For Abraham the father of the Faithful, no sooner met with Melchizedek a Priest of an Order, but for an example unto all his posterity, even all the Faithful, unto the end of the world, he gave him tithes of all the spoils. Gen. 14. And gave it him, not as an arbitrary gift; but as a necessary due unto God: for he sware not to take so much as a Shooe-latchet of the King of Sodom's, And yet he took the tithe, to offer, not as his, but as God's due. And Jacob in my Text, amongst other Morrall duties (for here is nothing Ceremonial) voweth the paying of tithes: and in the 27. of Leviticus, which is the first place where tithes are mentioned under the Law, God doth not then begin to reserve them, and to say, All the tithes of the land shall be the Lord's ; but claimeth them as his due of old by ancient inheritance, saying, All the tithe is the Lord's, it is holy unto the Lord ; not it shall be. And so being his own of old, he only assigneth them unto the Levitical Priest-hood for that time. And thus you see them due, both before, and under the Law.

Now let any man show, when, and where they were abrogated by the Gospel? Not by our Savior CHRIST, who speaketh of them twice, or thrice, and so had just occasion to have abrogated them, if he had had any such intent; yet he abrogateth not, but rather confirmeth them. Matth. 23. Haec oportuit facere ; These things ought you to have done. Nor by the Apostle, for S. Paul is so far from abrogating, that on the contrary he both commandeth, and establisheth them, and proveth them due. He commandeth them, Gal. 6.6. Let him that is taught in the word communicate with him that teacheth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in all good things. Indeed he nameth not the very Quotum, how much they were to communicate, as taking it for granted, that the Galatians themselves knew that to be the truth, both by the light of Nature, and by the Scriptures, and by the perpetual practice of the Church, and by the practice of the Heathen themselves, who used to offer their Tithes to their Idols.

And 1. Cor. 9. he plainly establisheth for a perpetual ordinance the paying of Tithes: for saith he, Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the Gospel, should live of the Gospel. Even so, (that is as appeareth) out of the former verse, As they that ministered about holy things in the Temple, lived upon those holy things, and they that waited upon the Altar, lived of the Altar: Even so must the Ministers of the Gospel live, upon the self same maintenance. Now how lived they? Indeed the Priests of the Law had other emoluments, which were Ceremonial, and temporary: but their principal, moral, certain, and perpetual maintenance was out of those ordinary, and annual Tithes, which are God's standing Inheritance; therefore of them must the Priests of the Gospel live; Even so (saith the Apostle) hath the Lord ordained: here is no abrogation, but a ratification of this eternal ordinance.

And lastly (which in mine opinion is the most impregnable place) Heb. 7. the Apostle strongly proveth, that the Tithes must forever remain due unto God: For being to prove the excellency of CHRIST'S Priest-hood, above the Priest-hood of Aaron, and Levi, he proveth it by the perpetuity thereof: because CHRIST remaineth a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek : whereas the Levitical Priest-hood was already ended, & to prove the perpetuity of Christ's Priest-hood, he useth no other Medium, but this perpetual tithing, Vers. 8. Here men that did receive Tithes, that is Levi, who died both in regard of person and office: but there, that is CHRIST in Melchizedek received them, of whom it is witnessed, that he liveth: therefore if Christ's Priest-hood be perpetual, then must his tithing be perpetual, or else the Apostles argument is to no purpose.

And thus you see it proved by these three places of Scripture, that these Tithes, which Jacob vowed in my Text long before the Law, are still due unto God, and his Church in the time of the Gospel iure Diuino : And this hath been both the constant opinion of all Antiquity, and the perpetual practice of the Church, whatsoever any late History doth report to the contrary. Therefore it is absurd to say, that these Tithes were only Levitical, and that there is now nothing but a competency due by a Moral equity: For how can they be only Levitical, which were vowed by Jacob in my text, and paid by Abraham, and by Levi himself in the loins of Abraham, five hundred years before the Levitical Law began. And to speak of a Competencie now, is a mere conceit: For who shall presume to prescribe an uncertain Competencie, where God himself hath set down a perpetual certainty, which he never yet altered? Or why should any man think, that God, who provided a standing, certain, and liberal Maintenance for the Levitical Priest-hood in the time of the Law, which was less honorable, should leave the Ministry of the Gospel, which exceedeth in honor unto an uncertain and beggarly competency: especially foreknowing, and foretelling that in these last days Charity should wax cold, and men be lovers of themselves, and their pleasures, more then lovers of God, and his Church. And yet he requireth Hospitality at our hands too, which he knew the worlds competency could not afford.

Therefore it must needs follow for a certain conclusion, wherewith I will end, that all true Jacobites, or true Israelites, which live under the Gospel, are bound to perform all Jacob's Vow in the time of the Gospel, and not only to have the Lord for their God, and build, or at least maintain his houses; but also, of all that he hath given them, to give the Tenth unto him. And therefore, as Solomon saith, It must needs be a destruction for any man to devour these things that are sanctified, the usurping, and devouring whereof, (as I verily believe) hath been the destruction of many Houses amongst us. Noluimus partiri cum Deo decimas, saith Saint Augustine; Modo autem totum tollitur: We would not give our Tithes unto God, and now all is taken from us. And Malachi saith, They are cursed with a Curse all the whole Nation of them, that robbed the Lord of Tithes and Offerings. And David curseth the devourers of these holy things, with the most bitter curse, that ever he cursed any creature. O my God (saith he) Do unto them that say, Let us take the Houses of God into our possession, as unto the Midianites, as to Sisera and Jabin, which perished at Endor, and became as dung for the earth. Make their Nobles like Oreb, and Zeeb: yea all their Princes, as Zebah and Zalmunna: make them like a wheel, and as the stubble before the wind: As the fire burneth the wood, and as the flame setteth the mountain on fire; so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm, &c. God keep all our Nobles and Princes, and People from this bitter Curse: for the avoiding whereof, and obtaining the contrary blessing, me thinks many should not only, with Jacob in my Text, vow to give their own Tithes; but vow to redeem these captive tithes, out of the hands of other men, who have usurped the same, and to restore them unto the Lord again, who is their right owner; then which, they cannot almost offer a more acceptable Sacrifice, or Service unto him.

And yet how these houses of God are taken, and still held in possession, and his Inheritance still embezelled in these days, the cries of the poor Levites everywhere do witness, not only in those places, where all is gone, and only a Competency (as it was then supposed) often pounds a year left (which is scarce a Competency now for a Hog-heard) but also in many other places, where the tithes are not quite impropriated, but yet so gelded by pretended prescriptions, and unconscionable, nay unreasonable customs de modo decimandi, & de non decimando, and they many times confirmed by prohibitions, that the poor Levite hath in some places, not the tenth, in some, not the twentieth part of the tithe. I would to God that the Body of the Honorable Parliament were as willing as the Relligious and Royal Head thereof, to take this grievance into their serious consideration, that this Parliament might have the honor to enact some wholesome Law for the honor of God, the advancement of his Church the peace of their own consciences, and the relief of the poor Clergy in this behalf; that so we might all (as we are all bound) pay Jacob's Vow unto the God of Jacob, and receive from him Jacob's blessing. Which God grant for his Son JESUS CHRIST his sake, who is our eternal Priest, to whom with the Father, and his Blessed Spirit be all Honor, Praise, and Thanks-giving forever, and ever. AMEN.