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lesser not that the reward shall not be different according to the diversity of our works. Secondly, I add, that this parable hath respect to the churches of the Jews and Gentiles not called, nor to be called at the same time: For the Jews were hired into the Vineyard betimes in the morning, the Gentiles not till the day was far spent; yet shall they by the goodness of their heavenly master receive the same reward of eternal life, which was promised to the Jew, with whom the Covenant was first made, and who bare the heat of the day, whilst the other stood idle. Besides, in the new vineyard of the Gospel the turn is changed; for into it because the Jews would not) the Gentiles have first been hired, though at several hours, the Jew being not to come in untill the eleventh hour ; yet when Christ comes to give us wages, shall receive his penny, that is, eternal life as well as we.

εἰσι

This to be the genuine scope of the parable, may be gathered by that which is presently subjoined by our Saviour as it were to be the key thereof. So the last (saith he) shall be first, and the first last; Toros yag sios KANTOI OXIYOS DE EXλEXT for many are called, but few are chosen: which I understand thus ; The last, that is, the Gentiles who came in last, shall be the first partakers of Christs kingdom. The Jews who were first in Covenant, and had wrought so long before us in God's Vineyard, shall be last in the covenant of Christ, and not converted till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in: for though many of them were invited at the first coming of Christ, ye few or none obeyed, and so the nation became not of his peculium, but stands yet rejected; πολλοι γαρ κλητοι, ολίγοι δε εκλεκτοι. To the like purpose in the same speech used by our Saviour, Luke 13. They shall come, saith he, from the East, and from the West, and from the North, and from the South, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last, which shall be first, and first which shall be last. What means this? Out of the eighth of St. Matthew, where the same passage is related, we shall hear it expounded; for there the word runs thus, Many shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom (that is, the whole generation of Israel, who received not the Gospel, at the preaching of Christ and his Apostles, and all the generations since, who have continued in unbelief) shall be cast out into utter darkness.

Vol. VIII. Churchm. Mag. April 1805. Rr And

306 Different Degrees of Glory in the life to Come.

And here by the way, because the parable useth the notion of a day, to signify a time of many ages; it will not be altogether unseasonable to note, that the Meta-. phor may appear the easier, how that the Scripture often elsewhere calls the whole time of man's pilgrimage in this world, by the name of a Day; As, To day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. St. Paul, Heb. 3, 13. Exhort one another að εxasny, nμɛpar, every day whilst it is called to Day; where we say Day to include every day. And I believe we are thus to understand Day in the Lord's Prayer, in that petition, Give us this day our daily bread; that is, the whole time we live in hoc seculo. For in stead of St. Matthew's this day, spoken after the Hebrew notion, Saint Luke hath in the same petition, xa, par, that is, every day. Therefore St. Matthew's Hodie, must comprehend St. Luke's every day, if the sense of the petition in both of them be the same, as I believe it is. Nay more than this; the world to come, even seculum æternitatis, or eternity itself is likewise termed, a day, 2 Pet. iii. ult. Domino nostro, saith he, et servatori Jesu Christo, sit gloria & nunc,i's nμeasur et in diem æternitatis: A long day indeed. But this obiter.

ημέραν,

Thus having cleared my proposition in thesi, or in general; that there shall be differing degrees of glory in the reward to come: It remains that I make it good in the hypothesis concerning a prophet; namely that them who instruct others in the ways and will of God, which, is the office of a prophet, there belongs a pre-eminence of reward, above and besides that which is common to all saints. This pre-eminence of glory the schoolmen term Aureola, that is, an additament of felicity to that essential glory in the vision of God, which they term Aurea: this Aureola or coronet to be added to the crown of glory, they ascribe to three sorts of persons; to virgins, to martyrs, and to doctors or prophets. The two first are out of my scope: the third, of prophets, let us see how it is proved out of scripture. First, therefore it is apparent from my text, He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; (ergo, there is some special or peculiar reward belonging to a prophet, and that too an eminent one; otherwise, our Saviour's speech will have no enforcement in it, as he that considers thereof may easily see. The second is, Dan. xii. 3. where the angel prophesying of the resur

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rection to be at the end of time, and saying, That many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame, and everlasting contempt; he adds, And those that be wise (that is, have learned the true wisdom, which consists in the fear, of God) shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. But those that turn many unto righteousness (that is, the teachers and instructers) as the stars for ever and ever. Here the difference between those that teach and are taught, is as much as between the light of the stars, and the brightness of the firmament. Some will have the whole sentence to speak of the eminency of glory laid up for prophets, translating won in the first place not docti or intelligentes, but doctores. The teachers shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many unto righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever, but I have followed that interpretation, which our translators thought most likely. Thirdly, to this eminency of glory the angel seems also to have respect in the end of that chapter, when he says, But go thy way Daniel, till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand up in thy lot at the end of days: in sorte tua, i. in sorte prophetarum. And this perhaps may be that too which our Saviour intends, Matth. v. Qui fecerit & docuerit, magnus vocabitur (i. e. erit) in regno cælorum, The reason of all this is, because those who teach and convert others to righteousness, have an interest and a kind of title to all the good works which they shall do: how then can their reward but be great and eminent, when not only their own works, but the works of their converts and disciples, shall be brought into their account?

A matter, if we consider it, of no small encouragement and comfort unto us, whoin God hath placed in this condition to be teachers and instructers of others, if so be we bury not our talent in a napkin, but employ it for our Lord and Master. For it is not the habit or faculty, but the work, which shall reap the reward we speak of: happy are we therefore, if we neglect not this opportunity of bliss, which God hath given us.

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REVIEW OF NEW PUBLIATIONS,

The Churchman's Rememberancer, being a Collection of scarce and valuable Treatises in defence of the truly pri mitive Doctrines and Discipline of the Established Church. No. IV. containing, the Sum and Substance of the Conference which it pleased his Excellent Majestie to have with the Lords Bishops, and others of his Clergy (at which the most of the Lords of the Council were present) in his Majesties Privie-Chamber, at Hampton-court, Jan. 14. 1603. Contracted by William Barlow, Doctor of Divinity, and Dean of Chester. 8vo. Pp. 87.

THAT the present times imperiously call for the utcutofthose who

have a sincere regard for the interests of the established church, cannot be questioned. Her rooted adversaries of the Roman communion, are endeavouring on the one hand, to place themselves, at least on a level with her in the seat of authority; and the modern puritans, are aiming to undermine both her doctrine and her discipline. Under such circumstances, it behoves every watchman belonging to our Zion, to be on his post; and happy are we to observe, that there are not wanting faithful men to blow the trumpet, and to give warning in the day of danger, as well as to unite their labours in the defence of sound principles, and in exposing the artifices of open and secret enemies.

The gentlemen who have formed themselves into a society for the purpose of reviving and publishing scarce and valuable tracts in divinity, under the general title of The Churchman's Rememberancer,' justly deserve the thanks of every friend of religious truth, and we trust, that their laudable efforts will be abundantly compensated. In their former numbers, they have reprinted Dr. Waterland's Discourse on Regeneration-Dr. Winchester's Dissertation on the Seventeenth Article of the Church of England-Dr. Waterland's Summary View of the Doctrine of Justification; and in the present, they have given to the public, a faithful reprint of Bishop Barlow's Account of the Hampton Court Conference.

The

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The occasion of this conference was this. ately on the accession of James VI. of Scotland to the throne of England, the puritans who had intrigued in vain, during the preceding reign, to get the church modelled to their fancy, both in doctrine and discipline, flattered themselves, that they should be more successful with a monarch bred among presbyterians. While, therefore, he was on his progress to London, they presented him a petition, called the Millenary Petition, from the supposed number of subscribing names to it. The two Universities were alarmed at this forward, and certainly indecent measure, and took steps, accordingly to counteract it. That of Oxford, published an answer to the petition and her sister of Cambridge, called a congregation for this purpose, that "whoever opposed by word or writing, or any other way, the doctrine or discipline of the church of England, or any part thereof, should be suspended ipso facto, from any degree already taken, and be disabled from taking any degree for the future.”

The king adopted a measure, which certainly evinced his wisdom and impartiality, though some uncandid and unmannerly writers as Peirce, Neale, Warner, and Toplady, think proper to charge him with pride and craft in the business. This was to hear what both sides had to say, the puritans against, and the bishops for those points commonly objected to by the former *. A conference was accordingly held in his presence and of his council at Hampton-Court, in 1603, which lasted three days; and though, in the result, a few immaterial points were conceded, and some alterations in the ritual adopted, yet so trivial and weak were the arguments of the nonconformists, that the king, on a subsequent proclamation declares, "That the success of the Conference was such which happens to many other things which give great expectation before they are closely examined: that he found strong remonstrances supported with such slender proofs, that both himself and his council perceived there was no ground for any change in those things which were

Dr. Fuller, an historian, whose candour is acknowledged by the most rigid non-conformists, says, "It is uncertain, whether the Conference at Hampton-Court, was by the King's favour graciously tendered; or by the mediation of the Lords of his Council powerfully procured; or by the Bishops, as confident of their cause, voluntarily proffered; or by the dissatisfied Minister's importunity, effectually obtained: each opinion pretends to probability; but the last is most likely." Church History.

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