TWO HOMILIES CONCERNING the means how to resolve the controversies of this time.  
First written in French, by Ph. Mornay, and now translated into English.  
AT OXFORD, Printed by joseph Barnet 1612.   

To the Reader.  
THou hast here (gentle Reader) two homilies (for so the author himself, whosoever he be, entitleth them) written first in French, and now for thine understanding translated into English. Two homilies indeed very necessary in these times, not only for the authors countrymen and such like, who live amongst open Papists, but also for us of England, amongst whom it is to be feared too too many Papists do lurk. The author by his writing shows himself to be a Frenchman, & that a true, religious, & zealous Protestant, a French man he may be thought to be because he writs in french: as also the same may be gathered out of his second homily wherein in some two or three places he speaketh according to the discipline of the reformed French 
P. 84. & 134.  Churches, which have no Bishops over them, and wherein no clergy man hath any temporal jurisdiction. A Protestant he is, for how would he else have thus written against the errors of the Romish church? & that a true, religious and zealous one; for how could he else have written them with such earnestness, and soundness of doctrine? The homilies themselves need not be commended unto thee; they will commend themselves sufficiently, if thou wilt but take the pains to read them over advisedly. Farewell.   

HUNC AUDITE Matth. 17. v. 5.  
YOU Christians, that are perplexed in your minds amidst the controversies of this time, hover between the choice of that which is Divine, & that which is human, of that which is Authentical, and that which is Apocryphal, of that which is true and that which seems to be true, two only words out of the holy Gospel are able to put you out of doubt, and to cause you to see the difference between them. And behold, here is one of them for you; Hunc au dite, Hear him. Him, and no other. Our Lord jesus had now taken apart three of his disciples, Peter, james, & john, & brought them up into an high mountain. There had he been transfigured before them, his face shining as the Sun, his clothes being become as white as snow. which in this baseness were as pledges of his future glory, of that glory, which he took again, when it pleased him, and which he had never put away. There were Moses & Elias seen by his disciples talking with him Moses and the Prophets: as in a manner giving up there charge into his hands. his indeed which was the mark and the end, the perfection and accomplishment both of the law & the Prophets. Here Peter comes in, as it were, in opposition, Master it is good for us to be here. Being already ravished and drunken with the show of this glory, & these spiritual delights. Let us make here three Tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And we doubt not, but in this first he reserved a room for himself and his fellow-disciples. But as he spoke, and knew not, saith both S. Mark and S. Luke, what he said, 
Mar. 9 v. 6 Luc. 9  God from heaven directed him. Out of a cloud, that shadowed them, came a voice saying, This is that my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, Hear him. No longer Moses, no longer Elias: the old things are come to an end; I bring you new tidings, good new tidings. There is here no longer any need of Tabernacles or that we should pass from one figure to another. She hath from henceforth a place where she may rest. She is to be built on the firm ground. Wilt thou Peter, will ye, my disciples, one day enjoy this glory, and possess eternally that which you have seen as in a glimpse, behold here the means, the only means, to wit, my well-beloved, your happiness, and all my delight: But, Hear him. For it is he of whom Moses, the same which you have scene talking with him, which did here come to tender homage unto him for the whole law, told you heretofore very near two thousand years ago. (See how the Lord fulfilleth his sayings in their due time, 
Deut. 18.1.18. ) The Lord said unto me, I will raise them up a Prophet from amongst their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him: And whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. It is then profit to hear him, and danger to turn the ear from him. It is he of whom I spoke unto you by Esay my Prophet, 
Esay, 42. v 1.  Behold my servant, he is mine elect, I have put my spirit upon him. And do not stand upon his lowness, or his humiliation, in that he will not cause his voice to be heard in the street, nor will not make much noise. For so much the rather ought you to hearken unto him; whatsoever you see him to be, yet he shall bring forth judgement in truth. And is not that it which you ought to look for in these days? He shall not fail nor be discouraged, 
Verse, 4.  till he have set judgement in the earth: till he have instructed the whole world. Finally, it is he of whom john the Baptist, that Elias which you looked for, which you have seen, spoke unto you in these days: he being not the word made flesh, unto the which you ought at this time to hearken, but the voice which crieth in the wilderness, the forerunner of this word. Not that light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, but a lamp that beareth witness of that light. This is he of whom I said, he that cometh after me was better than I: 
oh. 1.15.  for he was before me. Before me, in as much as he is the everlasting word. After me, in as much as he is the word made flesh. 
V 16.  Of his fullness have all we received, Moses, Elias, all the Prophets. 
V 17  For the law was given by Moses; the law that entertained us with figures, us every one bound over also to sin, & therefore to death; Grace and truth is come unto you by jesus Christ. And again therefore, Hear him: the rather truly, because no man hath seen God at any time. No man can tell you any thing concerning divine matters, concerning things that appertain to your salvation, but by him: But the only son, more than any other, and after another manner. For as much as he is from everlasting in the bosom of the father. 
Prov. 8.  From everlasting and before all ages. That eternal wisdom which was with him in the creation of all things, and in the which he took his delight. She which cried so long ago, Give ear, for the opening of my lips shall teach thing, that be right, 
Prov 8. v. 6 & 7.  my mouth shall speak the truth. But at this time condescending to our weakness, made bone of your bones speaketh unto you mouth to mouth And therefore the Lord breaking through the thick cloud of all these precedent witnesses spoke thus unto us, (And who will not give heed unto this voice?) Hear it. Hear him. The Lord than will have his son hearkened unto: jesus our Lord; his well beloved son, hearkened unto, as being the teacher of salvation, but farther, let us see by whom. It is said, that he had taken apart, Peter, john, & james, the chiefest among the Apostles, for to make them partake of that vision, and by a consequent of this lesson; & in their persons so much the more all the rest. 
Gal. 2.9.  james, Cephas, and john, saith S. Paul, counted among the pillars of the Church. Taking them for afoundation of their doctrine this lesson, this word: james, & john, those whom Christ himselft hath honoured with the name of Sennes of thunder, not being able to make a sound, nor to thunder, but according to the voice, which he giveth unto them. Peter himself, on whose confession he built his Church; what greater honour could he receive? Bound by his Apostleship to hear him; to hear him for to teach it unto others, and not any thing of his own. Otherwise being subject to this Anathema pronounced by God; Whosoever will not hearken unto my words, 
Deut. v. 19  which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. And to hearken is to obey; for an Apostle and minister of the Gospel, it is to cause others to obey. An Anathema, which hath since been doubled and expounded by S. Paul even in the cause of S. Peter. 
Gal. 1. & 9  Though that we, or an Angel from heaven, preach unto you otherwise, then that which we havepreached unto you, let him be accursed, Anathema. And indeed when the heaven hath spoken, God through the heaven; all the Angels of heaven what have they to gainsay? Yea what can they say? Tou ching Gods matters, to speak after God, after the son of God which was sent and came down expressly to declare them unto us? Who can do this, but the king of pride, and the Angels of darkness transformed into Angels of light?  
You will say then, let us hear him: but are you of opinion that we ought to hear him alone? Yea truly, alone: For it is not without a mystery, that it is noted by the Evangelist, that as the voice was a speaking, jesus was left alone. Moses and Elias being retired and giving him place; how much more all other reachers, all other men? And if it be forbidden so expressly upon so high a pain to add to or diminish from the law given by the ministry of Angels; how much the rather is it forbidden concerning the Gospel pronounced by the mouth of the Son of God, light of light, the word, the everlasting wisdom of the Father, whose doctrine cannot choose but be perfect, perpetual, eternal? Alone, more over, for who will be so presumptuous, as to dare set hand to his workmanship, and after him to teachus any way of salvation; to prescribe us any rule thereof: & after him to discloes unto us any mystery of Religion, or any thing that might be expedient for a heavenly life? Lastly, alone, because there was but one Son, whom it behoved to set an end to all the Law givers of juda: & one Prophet by excellence poiuted out to Moses, by whom God might reveal himself to the world & open unto us the depths of his justice and of his mercy. This Christ, said the Samaritan woman, 
Ioh 4.25.  which when he is come, will tell us all things. And therefore saith this voice from heaven unto us, Hunc audite, pointing him unto us as it were with a finger, hear him. Him alone, whom so many former ages, so many herald, have gone before, & have continually by succession preached unto you: if that we ought to have learned the way of salvation from any other, by what path so ever he brought us thereunto, to what purpose then need we have come unto him, unto him alone without interruption ever since the beginning of the world? if any one might put in never so small an helping hand with him: to what end then is it, that the law and the Prophets do aim at him alone; that Moses & Elias were swallowed up in him, & vanished out of sight before him? This furniture of glory, this voice from heaven, God in his own person being present at this charge, was all this for to tell us some thing either common or communicable to another? Hear him, my well beloved son; Him, in whom I am well pleased, but for this time only, but without prejudice to them that shall come after, but with a reservation of other rules of well believing, and well doing, which shall from time to time be taught unto you; but if the meaning had been, that they should have rested here, was there any need of this solemn transfiguration, of so majestical a preface? As therefore when S. john saith unto us of jesus; Behold the Lamb of God; we consider in this Lamb all the typical and Sacramental Lambs both ended and, accomplished: after this Lamb, we do no longer settle our minds and hopes upon any other, that can take away or bear the sins of the world. In like manner, and that far more strictly, when God here saith unto us, hear him; This jesus, this Christ, this Emmanuel, God with us, my well beloved long before promised, at this day exhibited, the teacher of salvation, the author of life, & that by his death for us. Let us think, that in this Teacher, in this Lawgiver all others are accomplished and take an end: let no man presume so far, as to bring his lamp into the Christian church, if he have not lighted it at the beams of this Sun, all human inventions and rules being set aside; as before times all strange fire was far from the Lords Tabernacle, from his altar, from the censer, from the Priest, on pain of being devoured.  
A strange conclusion, will some man here say unto us, prevented by so many positive laws, by so many new examples, & so many good rules. We will therefore let him hear the Fathers. Tertullian; Let us then hear him, 
Tertul. l. 3. advers. Marcioné cap. 22.  of whom God had from the beginning declared that he ought to be heard in the name of a Prophet, because that for such an one he was to be esteemed among the people. But was he alone so to be esteemed? S. Cyprian Tertullians' scholar, and which very likely had learned if from him, saith. That we ought to hear Christ alone, the father hath recorded it from heaven, saying, 
Cypr▪ add Cicil. de sacrament Dom. calicis Ep. 63 in edit Pamelia na.  etc. Hear him. Wherefore if we ought to hear Christ alone, then ought we not to mind, what an other shall think fit to be done before us, but what Christ the first of all, which is before all, hath done; because also we ought not to follow the customs of men, but the truth of God. And to the same purpose doth he bring in many places out of the holy Scriptures both before and after. The reason thereof is to be sound in S. Ambrose. 
Ambr. de fide l. 1. c. 5.  Because that no man cometh to the Father, but by the Son, be it what it will that thou meditatest concerning the Father. 
Chrysost Homil 57 in Matth.  And likewise thou canst think nothing touching divine matters, but by the Son. Whereupon Chrysost. saith, Hear him in all things. In all, without exception; that from hence forth, 
Hiero Matt. 6.17  saith S. Hierome, we might no more pitch any tabernacle but to him, obey none but him, no longer Moses, nor Elias; they are but servants; it is no less their duty than ours, to raise him up a tabernacle within their hearts. He that spoke thus of them, what would he have said of such as are come since? of all those founders of new orders? unto which notwithstanding we erect as well as to Christ, yea in some sort above Christ, temples, altars, and sacrifices: and obey them rather than the law, the Gospel, or the Son of God himself.  
But pass we this over, not to anger the world. Yet truly we see that this lesson, as being engraven with the finger of God in their souls, doth remain deep he imprinted in all there writings▪ whereas james telleth us; there is one lawgiver, 
I am. 4.12.  which is able to save & destroy, who art thou that judgest another man, that takest upon thee to give him a law (how great so ever thou art) that may bind his conscience, and give or take from him life everlasting. 
1. joh. 1.  And S. john That which we have seen and heard of that word of life, declare we unto you. we have learned it both for you and for ourselves; that you might have fellowship with us & that our fellowship might be with the father and with his son jesus Christ. This is the reward of hearing him. far different from that which once they asked, to wit, his right hand or his left hand here on earth. S. Peter also alleging for a reason this same vision; 
2. Pet. 1.8 16.17.  For we followed not deceivable fables whenwe opened unto you the coming and power of our Lord jesus Christ, but with our eyes we saw his Majesty, when there came such a voice to him sent from that excellent glory, This is my beloved son etc. & then making a difference between the doctrine of the law & that of the Gospel, between Moses and Elias, which he had seen, and that jesus whom he was commanded to hearken unto: he goeth on thus, We have the word of the prophets, 
V 9 ●  to the which ye do well that ye take heed. But as to what? as unto a light, that shineth in a dark place. and how long? until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. This jesus the Son of righteousness, the true light of our souls, of the which all the Prophecies are but little sparks; this jesus, of whom Peter said, when he had known him, To whom should we go? Lord, thou hast the words of everlasting life. Thou hast them, that is to say, none hath them, but thou, but by thee: thou art the only headspring spring of them; all others 〈◊〉 but stinking cisterns. In son● other place perhaps we might find the words of life, but of a temporal life, of a mortal life, of an immortal death. Words of salvation and happiness are not found but in jesus only, in my jesus alone. And therefore with good reason was it told us in the mountain, Hear him. S. Paul was not at this vision, and yet sticks not to taker the same lesson for himself also, 
Heb. 1. v. 1 & 2.  God (saith he) having at sundry times and in diverse manners spoken in the old time to our fathers by the Prophets, in these last days hath spoken unto us by his son. 
2. I 16.  In these last days, saith he, that is to say, for the last time, and for good reason, sith that by this son, the heir (as he addeth) of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, that everlasting wisdom that assisted him, when he ●epared the heavens, 
Prov. 8. v. 27.  when he ●et the compass upon the deep. ●eing descended nevertheless graciously from heaven, from ●he bosom of the father, for to set us aright in his ways. For which cause also he relateth not ●nto us these visions and revelations of his, which he had seen, 
2. Cor. 12.  taken up into the third heaven, into Paradise, those words which cannot be spoken. (What could not he have told us, if he would but have entertained the time with such discourses?) But those things barely, which he had learned of our Lord, for the salvation of the Churches, that is to say, of the assemb lies of the faithful of all sorts, men, women, children, learned, and unlearned, unto which he did write; 
1. Cor. 1 v. 23. & 1 v. 3.  I have (saith he) received of the Lord that, which I have delivered unto you; I have delivered unto you that which I received; the Gospel whereby you are saved, if you keep in memory, after what manner I preached it unto you. If you keep it still the same, that I gave it you, without adding thereunto any thing of your own. And the rather, because I neither received it of man, 
Gal. 1. v. 12.  nor was I taught it, but by revelation of jesus Christ. Is not that man therefore very arrogant, that dares pass beyond that, within which these great Apostles do keep themselves, & bound both their preaching and writings? And after, yea & besides, this well beloved Son, this Son in whom the Father is well pleased, to teach and expound unto us, what the pleasure of God is, and with what service he is pleased; and thereupon to add somewhat of his own mind, and display his own fancies and inventions? Doth not this deserve that God should say unto us? Who hath required these things at your hands? Not to be allowed, not to be approved in your accounts? It is in vain that you serve me to please men, and according to the inventions of men? He are him, whom I have sent you, him of whom I have told you long since, that whosoever will not hearken unto his words, I will require it of him. 
Deut. 18. v. 19 & 20  For the Prophet that shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, even the same Prophet shall die, shall incur everlasting damnation. And here let these look to themselves, which against their own knowledge & conscience do preach unto the simple people so many things, which they have not heard from our Lord jesus Christ, no nor from his Apostles; which are grounded only upon visions in the air, upon pretended revelations, and certain tales far worse than Apocryphal. These notwithstanding are articles of belief, more to be believed & observed, nay more indeed believed and observed, than the word of Christ and the holy Scriptures.  
But it may be that this is spoken to those three only, those three, which were taken apart by our Lord, & were to learn some particular mystery thereby. But that which is only spoken to one of them (saith our Lord) is spoken unto all. The mysteries and the secrets of God are not of the same nature that others are of; They are spoken in the ear, but to be preached on the house tops. And indeed thou seest, that S. Paul did not stick to apply these words to himself, and the fathers have told thee that it concerns all the Apostles. And if all the Apostles, than also all their disciples and successors, all such as have believed their word, and have received from them their calling to teach the word, we may say, all Christians, all the faithful, all the sheep of our great shepherd. For (saith he) my sheep hear my voice, 
joh. 10.  they understand not the voice of a stranger, they fly back from him. We may say, the very Catholic & universal Church: For it is said unto her, hearken o daughter, 
Ps. 45.10.  & consider and incline thine ear. And how often hath it been told us, that that which is said to Peter, is said to all his successors, and to the whole Church? And for what reason should it not hold herein also? To be short, when our Lord saith unto his Apostles, Hoc facite, do this, thou drawest from thence a perpetual institution of a Sacrament, of a sacrifice: when God therefore saith here solemnly, Hunc audite, Hear him; What right hast thou to restrain it to these few, and to some peculiar mystery, to the end that all things may be lawful unto you? With what face canst thou deny, that these words do contain a lesson, which is to be continual and universal unto the end of the world, how to limit the faith and life of a Christian within the compass of Christ his voice, of Christ his law, of Christ his school, which is the only Lawgiver, the only Master and only teacher in his Church?  
But there is more in it yet, for this lesson is more necessary for us, than it was then for them or at any other time whatsoever since his Apostles. For us, I say, on whom the last ages are come; for us, whom so many ages, & by a consequent so many forestalled in their judgement, have prevented by anticipat opinions, by inveterated customs, by precedents of antiquity, by renown and majesty, which will offer to part stakes with the Godhead. and make themselves to be heard above the son of God, above the Father himself. For is there almost any age, that hath not brought forth its own teachers? Any teacher, that would not have his private opinions, his own inventions? I might say, heresies. And is there any of them, that hath not built his own stubble on Christ's foundation, & sown his own tars in Christ's field? And how may all this be remedied? Only by this word alone, Hear him, hear none other; let every other voice be suspected by you. Unto him that searcheth for the truth, doubteth of his way, and seeketh life; he, who is the truth, the way and the life, which also will teach them, doth of his own accord offer himself. And where then shall we seek him? This again was an easy matter for his Apostles▪ which had him at hand. which were daily in his company, and did as it were draw it out of his breast. For S. Paul likewise, to whom it was yet granted to hear him, though in lightning & in thunder. But whither sendest thou us to hear him? He which is ascended into heaven, and fitteth at the right hand of the Father, will not descend from thence, until he comes to judge the world. And in the mean time what shall become of our doubtings? Await patiently; our Lord is not so far from thee as thou imaginest. Say not in thy heart, 
Rom. 10. v. 6 7. & 8.  who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ from above. Or, who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring Christ again from the dead. The word is near thee. This is the word of faith. The Gospel which we read by the grace of our God, & which we preach. jesus Christ hath not left us Orphans. He hath not been prevented by death, having death in his own power; He is not dead without making a Testament, nor gone from earth up into heaven without a last will. By his Testament he speaketh yet at this day, and did speak in all the ages past, and giveth his law to his family. A Bastard he is or unthankful, that doth not hear him; It is his Gospel, and his holy Scriptures, in the which he liveth, and teacheth, and judgeth, and beareth rule in his Church. This Gospel, by whose rule he directeth the faithful, correcteth and reproveth the heretics and unbelievers, and putteth a difference between the one and the other; Of which S. Ireneus tells thee; That Gospel which the Apostles have preached, have they since given and delivered unto us, tradiderunt, in the Scriptures by the will of God, to be the foundation of our faith. Then is it not by occasion only, or by their own instinct, as some would make us Believe, 
August de ●on●en●. ●vang. l. 1.  S. Augustin; All that; which our Lord would that we should have concerning his ●●tiens and his sayings, he hath commanded, saith he, to his Apostles to write it, as with his own hands. As if therefore he had written it himself, if we read it, we hear himself. And S. Cyrill addeth; All that, 
Cyril. l. 12 in loh c. 68  which they have thought to suffice as well for manners as for doctrine: Will we be more able than they? S. john also the beloved Disciple of our Lord; 
joh. 20. v. 31.  These things are written not casually, not by human instinct, but that you might believe that jesus is that Christ that son of God, and that in believing ye might have life through his name. And this believing truly presupposeth hearing, according to the words of the Apostle: Faith is by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The Gospel hath succeeded the law, but as the truth succeed the shadow, and manhood infancy, that the doctrine might be made clean, and the condition of the Church amended. God not being content that his law had been written with his own finger, commanded also that it should be written in a book, that they should look in it, that every household from their first years should be instructed in it. Truly Christ the son of God, our only lawgiver, hath in like manner provided for his Gospel; being to leave this world & to withdraw his voice together with his flesh from us., he hath perpetuated it unto us in his Gospel. He hath given us evangelists & Apostles, whose pens he hath inspired. In them, & by them, if thou wilt, he speaketh unto thee, thou needest not climb up into a mountain for it, or enter into a cloud, or be overtaken with fear; thou needest only his bountifulness and grace alone; of him, I say, speaking in these Evangelists, his heavenly father telleth thee as well now as then; Hear him, ●●are him in them. As well as our Lord at every table where his Sacrament is celebrated according to his institution, telleth thee yet throughout the whole world, Hoc facite. Do this. And communicateth unto thee on the one part his Spirit in his word, on the other his body, his flesh, and his blood in his holy table. Which also is the reason, why every one of these good ancient fathers in all those conflicts of heresies did in times past betake themselves to this testament, did therein take counsel from the mouth of jesus, as in old time from God in the Ark and did therehence carry away healthful answers to the peace of their conscience, and the pacification of the Church. Miserable men, that we are, if some men had said unto us, hear Plato, hearken unto Aristotle, we would understand it so, 
Oped S. Aug.  that he had directed us to their books, and would go to buy them at the Stationers: nor would we any way trouble ourselves to seek their persons either in Hell or in their feigned Elysian fields. But when it is said unto us, Hear Christ, we begin to waver make as if we were very idiors, but indeed are malicious, & ask where he is? Hereupon mark what Optatus saith, that great African Doctor, contesting against the Donatists. 
Opt. Milevit. l. 5. contra Parmen.  You Donatists say, yea: we catholics say, Nay. In the midst of your yea and our nay, men's souls are in doubt. None will believe you, nor. us also; because therefore that we are at odds, we must seek judges. The Christians, saith he, are the parties themselves, the heathen cannot conceive our mysteries. And therefore can there be found no judgement on earth. Must we seek it in heaven? Note here the question, & mark how he answers it. But what go we to seek for in heaven, seeing we have a Testament in the Gospel? So long as the father is present, he chargeth every one of his children, what they are to do. There is as yet no need of any testament. And so Christ gave to these Apostles their charge, whilst yet he was on earth. But as an earthly Father seeing himself to be near the grave maketh his will, for to prevent and end all controversies betwixt his children; & then men go not to seek him in his tomb, but in this will, wherein he speaketh as if he lived, and though dumb yet is understood: so indeed, Christ, he, that hath made the Testament, is in heaven, but let us seek his will in his Gospel, as in his testament. For even these very things, which some of you do now, he did even at that time see you do them. And as at that time he did foresee them, as being God everlasting, unto whom all things are known from eternity, so without doubt he hath manifestly provided against them; he hath prevented all chances, and anticipated all tricks and cavils. hear also S. Augustin, Optatus his Countryman, which either had learned it of the other, or was inspired by the same spirit. We are brethren, why strive we one with another? Our father died not without a Testament; he made a will, and then died; died & rose again. Men do plead concerning the succession of the dead, until the will be brought forth; It being brought forth, every one is silent, that it may be opened & rehearsed. The judge hearkeneth at tentively, the Advocates hold their peace, the Criers cause silence, the people stands in suspense, whilst that the words of the deceased are a reading, who lieth in his tomb● without feeling, and yet his words have their force. Christ is seated in heaven, & shall he be contradicted in his Testament? 
August. in Psal. 21.  Open then, and let us read▪ we are brethren, why are we at variance? Let us appease our anger: our father hath not left us without a Testament. His Gospels; A Testament. saith S. Basill, 
Basil. de Fide.  unto which nothing ought to be added. It would be false; nay sacrilege. The Apostle, saith he, by a worldly example forbiddeth us exprestie to add any thing to the holy Scripture, when he saith; And notwithstanding no man rejecteth the Testament of a man, or addeth any thing thereunto, if it hath once been established. Wherefore we have always known, that we must fly from every voice and all meanings, which are beside the doctrine of our Lord. Beside, saith he, and not against. And now in the mouth of these three witnesses, shall not our speech be confirmed unto you? God will have it, & hath appointed that his well beloved Son should be heard. Herd here beneath, so long as he conversed here in his own person: and heard in his holy Gospel, sealed unto us by his Apostles by the will of the Father, and the commandment of the Son, since that he hath been lifted up from this world.  
Herd, do you tell us, in his Gospel? I & you to hear him. Then behoveth it us to read. May we do so, without being excommunicated or anathematised? A book so dangerous, full of ambushes, full of snares? HOW the world is changed, nay even the very voice of the Church since the time of these good fathers? That the law of our Lord, which is to decide all our controversies should be esteemed of in these days as a matter of question; and this Testament which ought to bring to an agreement the most contentious brethren, as a bundle of contradictory clauses. Can this Testament ever have been altered? Seeing that we agree in this, that it could not, what remains then, but that this alteration proceeds not from the truth of the thing, but from the malice of the persons? Thy father hath made a will: doth it not concern thee to see what he leaveth thee; and under what title; to know also what things he chargeth thee to do? Were he the greatest stranger in the world, wouldst thou not be so curious as to read it? He that would conceal it from thee, yea and keep thee from reading it, couldst thou believe he did this without fraud? And being curious in every other thing, wilt thou be negligent in this? Thou that seemest to be a quick fellow, and wouldst be esteemed of for such a one in all thy business; wilt thou in this be an idiot, & less than a babe? Canst thou do this without a contempt to God? Canst thou do this if Gospel, and an eternal life? Tell me in thy conscience, if thou hadst lived in the time that our Lord conversed here in his flesh, and hadst had the grace to acknowledge him to be that Christ that Son of the living God; wouldst thou have made any difficulty, or thought it to be any grievous fault, or an execrable deed to hear him preach? Wouldst thou not on the contrary, have gone to seek after this divine word, even in the midst of the wilderness (Whatsoever the Scribes and the Pharisees had said unto thee) wouldst not thou have had thine attentive care linked to his sacred mouth? And behold, when he was to ascend up into heaven, for to lift you up thither after him, he hath sealed the same unto you in his Scriptures, in his Gospels, which for the greater part are nothing but his Sermons; his speeches set down by writing, that thou mayst read them and read them again more distinctly & more clearly, chew and chew them again at your ease; written expressly by sundry Evangelists, that for thine instruction the one may give light & serve for an interpreter to the other. And yet shall men make you believe that the pen and style of his Evangelists and Apostles, though led by the same Spirit, by that Spirit, which was promised unto them, was to bring into their memory all that which he had told them, hath connected this saving, this quickening word, into a dead letter, a murdering and condemning letter; that thou mightest abhor it, and fly from it, and cast it into the fire, I & thyself because of it? why than what needed this word have been given unto us in writing by the will of God, as S. Ireneus told us before, and by the commandment of Christ, as S. Augustin repeated it, but that it might be read? And why should it be read less, than the law and the Prophets, by all believers. S. Peter called Prophesying a candle, but the Gospel a Sun, a full midday, such a light as can admit no increase. Truly our Saviour wrought miracles enough, in the which his divinity appeared both effectually and evidently; And for all this yet sendeth he the jews to the law & the Prophets. Search saith he, the Scriptures. 
joh. 5.  And we find not that they reply unto him: we are forbidden them. S. Paul also exercising his Apostleship among the jews cometh into a Synagogue of the city of Berea; 
Act. 17.  & as he was powerful in the holy scriptures, he preached unto them that jesus is the Christ. What do then those of Berea? They were not ignorant of that so notorious vision which S. Paul saw in the way to Damascus, they might likewise have laid a foundation on such signs and miracles, as confirmed his sayings. And nevertheless the Evangelist Saint Luke telleth us, that they received the word with all readiness, but by what means? Searching the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so: to wit, as S. Paul had preached unto them. And this is the reason, why S. Luke telleth us, that they were more noble men than those, which were at Thessalonica: by this live lie faith, which they with a zeal mixed with knowledge, did draw out of the reading of the holy Scriptures. Whence also it is that he addeth that many of them believed, and of honourable women which were Grecians. Women therefore at that time were not reproved, but commended by the Evangelist, by the holy Ghost himself, for having read, conferred, and searched the holy Scriptures; And that also, that they might judge of the doctrine and preaching of S. Paul that excellent Apostle. Now what is it that the Gospel could since have done unto us, what evil hath it done to Christendom, that we should fear or abhor the reading thereof? Truly when as S. john telleth us, these things are written that ye might believe: 
joh. 20. v. 31.  He telleth us consequently, that they are written, that ye might read them, and read them for to believe them, and therefore they may be understood of us, they are not ambiguous, they are fit of themselves to persuade us, and to make us believe. Whenas also S. Paul directed his Epistles, to the churches of Rome, of Corinth, of Galatia, of Ephesus, of Philippi, & c? which consisted of all ages, sexes, and conditions; his purpose was not to exclude any one from them, he hath admitted all of us thereunto: unto those Epistles notwithstanding, in the which he treateth most deeply and profoundly of the deepest and profoundest articles of the Christian faith; and none of us will wrong him so far as to think, that his intent was thereby to destroy them, he being so powerful and so zealous in their instruction. The like is also to be thought of S. Peter, and S. james, & the other Apostles. But speak we also of the church in these primitive times. Of what folly do we accuse her, which took so great a care, to cause the new testament to be translated into all languages, that all men might be able to understand it? Into the Latin, the Syrian, the Arabian, the Egyptian, the Ethiopian, the Persian, the Indian, the Scythian, the Sauromaticke, & the Goths language. And for what manner of men shall we take S. Hierome, and S. Chrysostome, which turned it into the Sclavonian and Armenian tongues, commending so expressly the reading thereof unto all persons? 
Chrysost. Hom. 3. de Lazaro. In joh. Hom 29. De verbo Esay Hom 2. In opere Imperf. Homil 42 In Matt. Hom. 2. In joh. Homil. 16 In Genes. Hom. 12.13.21.  The one of them so far as to say, that they are the instruments of every Christian man's trade, that he ought, and can no less want them, than an artificer the implements of his shop, that he must spare no cost for to buy them, that he ought to have them always in his hand, and not refer himself either to Monk or Clergy man; but on the contrary he ought to prejudice and judge the sermons of the Preachers, I and his own too, 
Ad Col. Hom 9 & ad Thess. Hom. 3.  by reading before hand the same place, which is expounded unto them: ought also to arm himself against the Arrians, & all other heretics, because it shall so happen (saith he, and repeats it at sundry times) that then when Antichrist shall be come with his army of heresies, there shall be left no other means to know the truth or true Christianity by, but only, tantummodò, 
Chrysost. in Opere Imperf. Hom 9  by the Scriptures: No more at all by visions, nor by miracles. The reader may find on that same subject many homilies, in the which he can never be cloyed, almost whole ones together, which we need not bring in here. Origen, S. Basil, S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, S. Hierom, say every one the same also. When as then men spoke of of the Scriptures quite otherwise at this day; and use as many inhibitions for to remove us from them, as these good Fathers had exhortations for to bring us near them: when as men tell us, as unto little children, take heed thereof, the wolf is there: can we hear this, and not have cause to suspect them? And what then is more likely, then to believe rather that our Church is much changed, sith that the voice of our teachers is quite different from that of these holy Fathers: & that they set our candlestick under abushel, for fear we should perceive these deformities & gaps, or seek after a reformation, or call them into the law, at least to repentance?  
Therefore, Hunc audite, Hear jesus our saviour, hear him in his Scriptures. But to make use of them: Hear him with due reverence: Think with yourself, when you alight upon this new Testament of our Lord, that you enter into the temple of God, into his sanctuary; that Christ preacheth unto us therein, that it is his voice, which is the truth and the way: that it is not for nought, that the Church hath called these Scriptures Canonical, that is to say Regular, they being rules directing our faith and our salvation. ●nter therefore with invocation of God's holy name, by the same jesus, requiring of him his holy Spirit, that may inspire you, enlighten you, & give you an access to his mysteries: being void of all passions, & full of holy affections, hungering after salvation, and covetous of his glory. And doubt not, but that seeking him there, for there he is, he will be found of thee; & knacking at this door he will open unto thee, he will prevent thee, and draw thee unto hinn The Eunuch of the Queen of the Ethiopians, 
Act. 8.  read Esaias the Prophet in his chariot; read him but understood him not. And yet found he there jesus, whom he scarce sought after; Philip running unto him, being carried by the Spirit, for to be his trucheman, his interpreter. Thus is God at hand to those that seek his Son in the Scriptures. Thus also is the Son himself delighted in being sought after here, and in offering himself to be found here in his school. Which being risen and glorified, coming to his disciples at Emmaus, when he might have shown them his wounds, tokens of his mortality and also of his Godhead, had rather resolve them in their doubts by Moses & by the Prophets. Did not our hearts, said they, burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and when he opened unto us the Scriptures. Why then simple people & idiots as we are, you will say, (for I speak even unto them also) in these Scriptures what are we to do? Thou Christian, that hast thy conscience doubtful about the controversies of this time: thou shalt consult with jesus thy Saviour in this his word on them. In a matter of great doubt thou consultest with thine Advocate, & wilt believe his writings therein. What wrong then shalt thou do to thy Saviour, in a matter of thine own salvation, if thou wilt not hear him, if thou wilt not believe him? Thou shalt also in reading it see before thee the chief points of thy Religion, whereof thou art in doubt; Those, that above others are commanded and commended unto you; of which either the belief is more strictly prescribed unto thee, or the practice in special urged upon thee: for to observe or not to observe those, which are told thee to procure greater sin or greater reward. Thou shalt observe in these holy Scriptures the words of thy Saviour, & the rules of thy salvation; if there be any mention made of them, and in what manner, if in the same manner, as men teach them unto thee, as they are celebrated in thy church, though not in name, yet at least in effect, though not in express terms, yet at least in such as are equivalent. In brief, if in the reading of these holy Scriptures thou canst find out the belief, the doctrine, the discipline, the face the visage, and lineaments of thine own church▪ and of that, which is taught, believed, and done in thy church. Truly if thou canst perceive all this, call then thyself happy, think that thou art in Paradise, where the voice of jesus, where his word is heard. From this church be thou never desirous to depart. But say with the Apostle, who shall separate me from this church, wherein is felt the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, 
Rom. 8 35  or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers. For what greater consolation can there be in this conflict of opinions, then to have peace in his conscience; and in these so dangerous occurrents, them to be assured of his way? Of the true faith warranted by the word of his God, and, by a consequent, of his salvation? But on the contrary, if thou findest nothing therein of the most part of that which men preach unto thee, & make thee believe, and enjoin thee to do; if in the inward and in the outward, in the doctrine & in the discipline, thou findest altogether a different voice and different hue; hast not thou then cause to doubt, that thou art strayed from the sheepfold of thy Saviour, where thou knewest not his voice, but the voice rather of a stranger, in words & doctrines so strange, that it is now no longer the true temple of God, seeing that it is an other than our Saviour, that causeth his voice there to sound, & hath seized on the chair thereof? And what remaineth then, but that with the spouse in the Canticles thou sayest unto him, Show me o thou whom my soul loveth, 
Cant 1.6.  where thou feedest, where thou liest at noon: for why should I be as she that turneth aside? 
Psal. 25. & 23.  Show me thy ways, o Lord, direct me in thy truth, sand me thy light, let it lead me, let is bring me into thy Tabernacles. Tabernacles in deed in regard of that stately building of this temple, wherein I find myself to be, and of a small show, and very contemptible. But be they what they will yet are they the tabernacles & booths of that chief. Shepherd, which I seek for, whose skins and cords he will stretch out when it shall please him; & in the mean time I shall be sure to find there my Shepherd, I shall not want. 
Psal. 23.  That good shepherd, which layeth down his life for his sheep, 
joh. 10.  and lifteth them all up even the little lambs, into his bosom; 
Esa. 40.11  doth wash them in the pool of Siloa, feedeth them to the hand, and nourisheth them up with himself into life everlasting. Whereas in this feigned Temple I was fed with nothing but smoke, with wind, with sound, with pride, with rumour with luxury; I laid out, as the Prophet saith, my silver and my labour for that which neither did nourish nor satisfy: 
Esay. 55.  in idle suffrages, in vain services, and erroneous indeed because vain.  
Here again is another stop. What then? The Religion of Christ, the true one, the only religion, doth she not admit of any increase or change? May not men add thereunto some Laws, some articles, some new ceremonies? Learn this my friend, that the true religion, as a man from his first birth, hath all his members, all his joints, any the least part cannot be taken from it; (thou findest it so in thine own body,) without maiming it; any the noblest, that thou canst imagine, cannot be applied unto it out of the work, with out disproportion, without deformity, without wronging the whole frame: if any thing be in it more than should be, it is extuberancie, or some unnatural flesh that groweth out; because that Religion is not a thing invented by man, but by a divine Law, and the rule of God's service, and of man's salvation; and none other but God can give or enjoin it unto man; because that his thoughts are above the thoughts of man, and are higher than the heavens that are above the earth; 
Cor. 2.1.  because that no man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man; not one man of another man, though they have the same offspring, & do consist of the same faculties and like parts; but every one of himself. And with much more reason then; no man hath known, no man hath ever been able to know, the things of God but the spirit of God. Who art thou, 
Esa. 40 13  saith the Prophet, that instructest the spirit of the Lord; or art his counsellor to teach him any thing? And hence it is that we see, all those authors of religions among the heathen, to have been so childish and ridiculous in their ceremonies; and can we imagine, that, when we undertake to add any thing to that religion, which was ordained from God by jesus Christ, we should be less so then they were? can we think, that the dirt and dust, and smoke, which we cast upon it, can any way honour, nay can it choose but disfigure or pollute his work? And nevertheless, do not thou think therefore that the Doctors in the church are unprofitable, or that they are not very profitable, that the church & her members all and every one of them cannot help or grow up. Truly the right Religion can grow both in itself and in thee, hath grown heretofore, and can always go on in growth. But learn also how she groweth. She groweth in herself, and even in thee also, (if thou canst make thine use of it,) when the old Testament hath taught thee that it behoved the Christ of God to die and rise again; and the new, that he hath died indeed, and is risen again. And behold a sufficient cloud of witnesses, of holy martyrs, which many ages ago, by hundreds and thousands together have died for the witness of this death, of this resurrection; & by their sufferings and deaths have subdued the world unto him, & knit together under the banner of his cross those which he hath separated from the world: dost not thou think that these articles, I believe that he rose again from the dead; I believe the resurrection of the body, are very well perfected by them, well grown, and strengthened both in them and in thee, so far as to believe them, and to embrace them even to the death for this faith, seeing that by this faith thou art to live? Behold also, the law hath told thee, that this Christ should be the son of God and nevertheless be borne of a Virgin: and the Gospel, that he is that jesus that son of the living God, God of God, & therefore from everlasting as the Father; and that word nevertheless made flesh, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary; God and man, both together. Sundry heretics, Arius and Nestorius above the rest, begin they to call in question some his eternity and Godhead, and some his manhood and mortality, and by a consequent the Character of the Saviour of the world; whereupon the Almighty through his spirit stirreth up many great doctors from all quarters, powerful in the Scriptures, which by the same do overcome and convince them, do demonstrate with efficacy in one only person as well the one as the other nature; both the wills as well the one as the other to be necessary for our salvation; the one working without prejudice to the other. And that by places well expounded and aswell applied, and by arguments drawn from them, both strong in themselves and, as strongly urged; so that after many cumbats the field is left to the truth, the victory & glory to the simplicity, and to that seeming weakness of the Gospel. Dost not thou think that these articles of our creed, I believe in jesus Christ the only son of the Father Almighty our Lord, borne of the virgin Mary, conceived by the holy Ghost; these very same in number, as they use to speak in the schools, have bred in thee a new impression & in themselves new forces? The like also is to be thought of so many others, for all that the heretics do set upon them, which harden and make themselves strong against them; and we by them, as wrestlers against the skirmish, according as the heretics do trouble & vex them. Those articles of the fall of man by himself, of his restitution by one jesus alone; of the grace of God, of free justification, for all that Pelagius, Celestius, & their consorts, either lay battery against them or undermine them: stand fast notwithstanding, with out once moving thence, where the Master-builder placed them, make no breach in the proportion of the building, & stir not from their first conformity, to the which nothing can be added, but in the manner of a botch, quite contrary to the nature of the first Law givers intent, and to that Law, in the which nothing can be altered without high treason, & from which nothing can be derogated without sacrilege. 
Vincent. Lirinen. contra hęreticos  Hear thereupon, what saith our Vincentius Lirinensis; (for in such matters I speak not willingly without mine author; and such an author as may please thee.) The Canon, saith he, of the Scriptures is perfect, and more than sufficient in itself for all things. What then shall it not be lawful to put somewhat of our own there unto? Timothy, saith he, thou that art a Doctor of the Church, Depositum custodi, keep that which hath been trusted unto thee, thou hast received it of gold, give it up again of gold, I will have no lead nor brass or base mettle from you: God hath he endowed thee with his spirit, or with learning, then be thou a Bezeleel in his spiritual Tabernacle, in his church, cut and square these precious stones of his divine doctrine, set them cunningly in some work, give a lustre unto them, and a sparkling, and grace. But go no farther than he did, presume not to change any thing either in the matter or the form, which the Lord hath prescribed unto thee: unto this Bezeleel God had prescribed of every thing, even to the very badgers skins, and the loops of the Tabernacle, he had left him nothing to do after his own mind. For what serves then both his and our industry? That by thee, saith he, men may understand that more clearly, which before they believed more obscurely. One and the same article of faith, more clearly, but no new one, none of thine own head. That in teaching that, which thou hast learned, thou mayst say the same things after a new manner, with a new grace or method, but no new things; nothing, that is not in this rule of holy Scripture; nove (saith he) non nova. And he addeth, that this is not said unto Timothy in particular, but to the whole Church, to the whole body of those that have any charge therein, because that this Depositum, is a thing which hath been commanded thee, and thou thyself hast not invented; which thou hast received, and thou thyself haste or forged. It is no work of chine own wit, but it was taught thee; it is no matter of private usurpation, but of public grant. In respect of which lastly, thou oughtest not be the author, but the keeper, not the ordainer, but the follower; thou oughtest not to lead others, but to follow. And to speak truly, what need is there of all these inventions, and of so many careeres, as we give, ununprofitable to our own wits, for to beautify the Religion, to our own fancy? As if, saith he, it were not an heavenly doctrine, and sufficed to have been once revealed; but an earthly institution, and could never be perfected but by a continual amendment, according as men use to deliberate together of one thing to day, and to morrow of another. After him, which flourished about some twelve hundred years ago, all wearied and tired by the inventions of his own time, what is there that we may not now say? Shall we esteem of it as heresy, or a lust after schism, to call the Church back again unto Christ, unto his holy word and unto his holy Scriptures? Therefore, Hunc audite, Hear jesus, hear him, ye which have heard so many others, and that to your great harm; hear him, and shut your care unto them, which was too open to human teachings, and is from hence forth to be reserved for his voice alone. But because that our cares are uncircumcised, & filled with fat, let us beseech this everlasting Son, that by his spirit he would cleanse them and pierce them even unto our hearts, and unto our souls, for to hear and understand our jesus, and his voice, in his word, and in his doctrine, and that he will grant, that we may hear it, to believe it with our hearts; that we may believe it, to confess it to salvation; and that we may profess it to the edification of our neighbours and his Church. But above all, because that in his language to hear is to obey, and that truly to believe and to do well, do naturally follow the one upon the other: let us make our supplication unto him, that he will give us the grace, to be of the number of those, which hearken unto his word and keep it; and being consequently built, & laying our foundation on that Rock, which all the waves of the sea can never shake, and the gates of hell with all their endeavours can never approach unto; we may then be assured, that as he hath granted us here beneath to be of the number of his true disciples, so he will make us in heaven above, (not upon this earthly mountain) partakers of his full glory; because that there we cannot say, as S. Peter did, Let us make here three Tabernacles, as being ravished with the sense of a light shadow of this heavenly glory; but rather as being both better in our wits, and better instructed and that by himself, we are to hear him, and to depend on his sayings, and to seek him in his word, wherein he makes us to understand him, as being the finisher of the law, and the author of salvation in his Gospel, yea himself being that salvation; that so, when the earthly habitation of this our abode shall come to be destroyed, we may be carried up into that building and everlasting house, which was never made with hands, but hath been prepared by the father for his Disciples. Now to him be all honour and glory with the Son and the holy Ghost for ever and ever.  
Amen.   

NON SIC FVIT ab initio. MATTH. 19 v. 8.  
WE have told you that two only words out of the Gospel were able to decide the most part of doubts, that are at this day in Christendom; and we have already expounded unto you one of them, Hunc audite, Hear him, that well beloved Son, that Son and Christ of God, in his word, in his holy Scriptures. Whereby are cut off all forged articles of faith or of religion, that have no foundation all in this his word. Now followeth the second; Non sic fuit ab initio: From the beginning it was not so. Which banisheth out of the Church, and consequently blotteth out in our consciences, whatsoever the invention or imitation of man, either in imitation of the jews and Pagans, or in love of their own fancies, hath added to those very articles, which are grounded in the holy Scriptures, in so much, that we have need from time to time to recall them to their first institution, & beginning, it belonging to the same divinity, and being of the same kind, nature, and consequence, to invent new articles of faith, or to cast the old ones anew, to institute a religion in the whole, or in some parts. jesus Christ therefore being asked by the Pharisees, which came to tempt him, whether it be lawful for a man to put away his wife, answers them by the law of God; Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female; and would have them twain to be one flesh? And let no man therefore put asunder that, which God hath coupled together. Here was wherewithal to stop their mouth. But they nevertheless reply; Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement? This proud nation opposing Moses to God, the servant to the master, the creature to his Creator. But what answereth our Saviour, which was even meekness and humbleness itself, but yet for all that abated nothing from the glory of the father? Moses because of the hardness of your heart hath suffered you to do so. A number of things have either been brought in or tolerated in the Church under this pretence; But from the beginning it was not so; Such was not the institution of marriage ordained by God, that great lawgiver; to this original it is that he calleth them, without any respect of their prescriptions. I say therefore unto you, I which was present with God, being coeternal with him, when he made them, when he coupled them together, when he blessed them, which know his meaning, and the reason of the law, which also will cause it to be followed, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for whoredom, and marry another, committeth adultery. How many things might the Pharisees have to say hereupon, in a matter wherein Moses was touched, that great captain of God's people, which had spoken to him face to face, had received the law from his hand, authorized by so many miracles? By a prescription of two thousand years? By so long a forbearance? And that under so many kings, Priests, and Prophets? And yet they stand here at a stay, & yield without once contradicting this sentence; From the beginning it was not so; In Paradise this was ordered otherwise. If then this hold in a law that concerns only civil society, how much more in Ecclesiastical laws, which concern religion, and God's service? the articles of our faith, the salvation of our souls, and things spiritual? Wherein the natural man discerneth nothing, nor the spiritual man perceiveth an●e more, then as far as the Spirit of God guideth him, and being guided by the spirit of God can go no farther, then as he keeps himself to his word; how illuminated soever he either be or seem to be, he can add nothing to God's work, to his commandment; whatsoever he putteth to it, is but imperfect and full of filth. And hence it is that the Politicians do so often rehearse unto us, that to the upholding of the laws of any commonwealth, it is necessary that they should be recalled from time to time to their principles; to wit, against all tricks, & side-stroaks as it were of such as wrest & the brave them. And therefore for a greater cause was God's people enjoind so carefully to know the law of God and his service at their finger's end; that so, as many men as there were of them, so many controllers there might be in the church, for to keep her in and call her back again to her bounds. And therefore was it that Esay cried so loud: To the Law and to the Testimony, 
Esay. 8.20  if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. No salvation for this people. Then is this a rule, which is to be received for the direction of God's church, & to contain all whatsoever concerns the true religion, the whole duty of man towards God, & his own salvation: and for such a one hath it indeed always been used, as often as there was in hand any reformation of the Church.  
David had established God's service, in the midst of his people, according to the ten or of his law. And many of his successors, either drunken with the service of false Gods, or neglecting the service of the true God, had partly corrupted it, and partly suffered it to go to decay; and now that good king josaphat, moved with a true zeal of God, is about to restore it again: It is said, 
2. Chron. 17 v. 3. unto the 9  That he walked in the first ways of his father David. He stood not upon that, which his father Asa, though a godly Prince, had either done or tolerated, and stood as little also on that, which so many other in all this while had done, for to draw a precedent from their example: but turned back even unto David, unto the first ways of David, unto his best years; and those very best ones yet did he examine by the law of God: when it is added, that he sought the God of his father; not that which his father had done, but that which the God of his father had appointed to he done; he walked in his commandments, and not according to that which Israel had done; he ordered himself according to the law, and not after the usual custom of the church, he took away the high places and the groves out of juda, which had been tolerated amongst them by most of their best kings. To a young and tender king this toleration might have screwed for an excuse. And that his people might also seek the same ways, he sent Priests and Levites, as also some of the chief men of his Estate to assist them, That they should teach those of juda, But how? Having the book of the law of the Lord with them, for to recall their faith to this belief, their worship to his ordinances, their crooked & depraved ways, to this square, to this rule. And we find not, that in all this circuit, which they make, any one doth once object unto them either the tradition or the authority of the church, or the toleration of the Fathers. So well had every one of them learned & remembered, even in the midst of that corruption; that there, where the God of their fathers spoke, was no place at all to hearken unto either the Church of Israel, or all their fathers together.  
Likewise Hezekiah when he came to the crown; he had had to his father king Ahaz, which had broken the vessels of God's house, and shut up his temple; that is to say, had cast down his service, 
2 Chron. 28. v. 24.  & built up altars to the false Gods in all the cities of juda; instead of the true Altar, many thousands of false ones, as superstition of its own nature doth multiply; all this might have been a great stumbling block to this young Prince, but yet he goeth on farther. Even in the first year of his reign, he openeth the doors and repairs them; and which is more, doth send for the Priests and Levites those which ought rather to have prevented him, and commanded them to cast forth the filthiness. By filthiness he meant all kinds of strange services. All what was not in the law, that counted he to be strange; & because they might have said, as we at this day; have not our fathers lived as well as thou? what wilt thou then do? He cutteth them short with this, our fathers have trespassed, 
2. Chron. 29. v. 6.7.  and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, & have turned away their faces from him and turned their backs; they have quenched the lamps of the Temple: What light them can we look for, or what darkness ought not we to expect from them? And therefore did they arise at this word, and gathered their brethren, and being convicted and sorrowful in their hearts sanctified themselves, cleansed the house of the Lord, & carried the filth thereof out unto the brook; that it might never at any time be remembered. And all this was done according to the commandment of the king, as it is said there? But what is added? 
V 15.  By the word of the Lord: as before was said of josaphat. And that for to abolish all false worshippings. He beginneth afterward to establish the true worship, & the manner of their sacrifices, by the same authority, and in the like method, according to the commandment, saith he, of David, and Gad, and Nathan. 
V 25.  This might seem enough to content them, seeing these were such excellent prophets. But doth he stay there and thinketh he thereby to have satisfied them? No, but he takes it yet higher. In the church of God, wherein we must not live after examples or the commandments of men; for the commandment, saith he, 
V 25.  was by the hand of the Lord, & by the hand of his Prophets. And we must not think that all this while Hezekiah was attended upon or assisted by others in that manner, as so good a work might have required. The Priests, in the very reformation of these sacrifices, are found to be but few in number. Those, which have the chiefest charge in the church, are not always the first that do reform it: for want of them, he was constained to set a work the Levites; we in our days might say for want of Bishops, the Priests or Deacons, those which are less bound to prevent and forbid these corruptions. The Levites, saith the holy story, being found to be, 
V 34. & 35  more up right in heart for to sanctify themselves, than the Priests, &c: And so the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. In the like manner doth Hezekiah proceed to the reformation of the sacraments; he publisheth a  to be kept throughout all Israel and that such a , saith the author of this holy story, as for a long time before they had not celebrated, after that manner as it is written, to wit, in the law of God. For a long time before, saith he; This might have been enough to stop all reformation; and if we had lived at that time, we had been ready to tell them, have not our fathers done it on this manner? Are they all damned? What need is there then of such a change? will we be wiser than they? wifer than the Priests? wifer than the church itself? But what then would Hezekiah have told us? The same truly, that he told them: 
2. Chron. 30.16.  Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, & jacob. It is no time now to stay still in these Abuses. And he caused this to be cried every where throughout the land. 
V 7.  Be not ye like your fathers & like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers. What proportion, I pray you, is there between that respect, which you own to your earthly fathers, and that duty, which you own to the Lord God of you and of your fathers also? There were not wanting, saith be some men in Ephraim, Manassen, and Zebulun, that mocked them, being now grown old in their filthiness; nevertheless the greater part submitted themselves: In judah especially, with one heart, 
V 12.  according to the word of the Lord. They take away therefore the altars that were in jerusalem, and all those for incense took they away, & they celebrated the passover, according to the Law. Some at legth of the Priests were ashaned, & sanctified themselves, the Levits supplying the places and the duty of those that were obstinate against them. And the like thing the like , was not seen in jerusalem since the time of Solomon and of David, 
V 26.  for many ages together. And it followeth in the same place, that assoon as the  was finished, by the same commandment, all the people being inflamed with a new zeal, went out, and broke the images, & cut down the groves, and broke down the high places and the altars. But behold, they did more yet; at the same time also, (for it is to be read in the same verse, the Author maketh not two narrations of this and that which went before, 
2 King 18 v 4. Numb. 21 v. 9 ) he broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made by the express commandment of God, for a present remedy against the bitings of those fiery serpents, to him that did look on it; as a sign of Christ the Son of God, which was to be lifted up on a tree, for a remedy against sin, the biting of that old serpent, to him that would turn the eyes of his faith towards him. Because that now indeed, of that present use, which remained no longer, t●ey had made an abuse: of the sign and sacrament of Christ which was to come, they had made it as the thing itself, and had given unto it divine honours: and had lastly converted this so healthful an image into an abominable idol. Wherefore also, when he broke it, he gave them to understand, that it was but Nehushtan, a piece of brass contemptible in itself, & hereafter for ever unprofitable, I & dangerous too, by reason of that relation which it had unto Christ, seeing they abused it. And he was very highly commended for it by the Spirit of God, for having done uprightly in the sight of the Lord, and because he trusted in the God of Israel: for having laid aside all human considerations, that he might retain or restore the purity of his service. And indeed by reason of the condition of the church wherein we observed her to have been at that time, as also by reason of the connivance the slackness and corruption of the Priests, which then were; it is not to be doubred, but that he met with some that contradicted him; & then is it not said here for nought, that he trusted in God, to wit, against the murmuring of the people; And, unto those days the children of Israel burned incense to it; alleging without doubt, a prescription of so many years, but especially, that this serpent was instituted by God and erected by Moses himself. But against all this, that answer which our Saviour gave here to the Pharisie; stood him instead: Non sic fuit ab mitio, From the beginning it was not so. It was ordained to be a remedy for you against the biting of he serpents in the wilderness; and now you are no longer in that ●ase. For a sign, that on that Christ which was to come, the son of the living God, did depend all your health both temporal and spiritual; and you now have attributed all that to this image, and transferred the honour of the Creator to the creature, of the ordainer himself to the thing ordained by him. And therefore hath he now brought it back again to his first nature. And I would to God we had not many things in our Christian Religion, which have very great need of the like remedy.  
josiah likewise is renowned amongst the kings of Israel, 
2 Chron. 34. &. 35.  because he had reform the church: & that on good grounds for Manasseh had defiled all the service thereof, & had brought in false Gods in steed of the Almighty, and Amon his son, the father of josiah, had not done much better than he. 
2 King. 22 & 23.  josiah began this reformation, by repairing the ruins of the Temple, whereof he laid the charge on Hilkiah the high Priest. It happened so, that Hilkiah amongst many other old registers, 
2 King, 22  which he sought for, found the book of the Law in the Temple. You may imagine to what a strait the church was brought, when the high Priest himself findeth this book but by a chance. No sooner had he found it, but he sendeth it to josiah by Shaphan the Secretary, which read it be fore him; therein he findeth, that it was a thing of nothing to build up again the Temple of God, unless he also would establish again his service; that it reigned not only on the ho●se top, as they say; but that the inside also was posaned, and the Sanctuary filled with Idolatry. And hereupon beginneth he now to detest the sin of the Church: rend his clothes, taketh counsel with the Prophetess, and humbleth himself. Here the Priest might have comforted himself with this: that he knew his lesson by heart, & might have contented him with the tradition of the Church; which never faileth, never lieth; but what does he? He gathereth together the Priests and the Levits in the house of God; all juda, all jerusalem, from the very lest to the greatest. At that time was it not the fashion to get a dispensation for to read the holy Scriptures? In the midst of them all he causeth this book to be read: which being read, he maketh a covenant to observe it, and bindeth therewith all the people. And after all this, he purgeth the Temple from all idolatry and superstition, and driveth out all the Priests thereof, he casteth their vessels into the fire, and breaketh down the high places, even those that were in the cities of juda, having been tolerated by so many good kings, & in the which the Priests of the stock of Levi those that had their lawful calling, did sacrifice unto the true God. And hereupon there might have been much to gainsay: what is there wanting to these sacrifices? Are they not offered to him and by those, to whom and by whom they ought to be offered? Is this therefore any thing else, but a desire of novelty. And put the case, that there is some defect in them, is it not for all that tolerable, having already been tolerated by so many good kings, by so many high Priests, for so many years together? And is it not in this, that that law of policy is to take place, that a thing once well settled, though it be evil, ought not to be taken away, but to shun all inconveniences it ought to be left still in his place? And nevertheless our rule makes him not stick at all this; 
Deut. 12, v. 11.  From the beginning it was not so. There shall be a place (saith Moses) which the Lord shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall you bring all your  offerings and your sacrifices, etc. Take heed, 
V 1●.  that thou offer them not in every place that thou seest, and which thou thinkest to be fit for thy purpose. As if he said, for I will not take any of thy pretended supererogations for sacrifices or worshipping. I will be worshipped, according to that which I have commanded thee, and not after thine own fancy. Because indeed that God, the very reason and cause of all things, hath his end in all whatsoever he ordaineth; for to direct all nations to the sacrifice of his only son alone, he would have but one temple, one sanctuary, and one altar, whereas thou dost darken and confound his meaning, by thine own inventions, by thy pretended good purposes, and by such a multitude of thine high places and thine altars; every sacrifice of thine is a wrong worship. Therefore also is it said, in that which follows; that he commanded the people to keep the Passeover. But how? As it is written in the book of the covenant; 
2 Kin. c. 23  according to the word of the Lord delivered by the hand of Moses. He sendeth them to the original, to the old form thereof; and indeed it is added, There was no Passeover holden like that from the days of the judges that judged Israel, 
V 22.  nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of juda; not in samuel's time, no nor in the time of Hezekiah himself. So necessary a thing did he esteem it, to keep himself exactly to the law of the Lord, and to his holy Scriptures.  
In the time of the captivity of Babylon, the Church of God, God's Israel, in the midst of the Chaldeans, those great masters of ceremonies and patrons of all idolatry and superstition, could not possibly have stood out so long without being corrupted. What does then Esdras in this case, when he bringeth back the people into jerusalem? How doth he proceed to set them in order again? Truly it is said that, as soon as they were come into jerusalem, jeshua the son of Iozadak, with his brethren the Priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel, the captain of the transmigration, builded the altar of the God of Israel to offer thereon, 
Esd 3 v. 2  not according to their own fancy, nor according to that which they might have learned in that medley of the heathen; but, saith he, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. As if it were said, that they calling to mind the punishment of the sons of Aaron, which were consumed by the fire of the wrath of God, for having offered unto him a strange fire; they re-establish after the same manner the service of God in jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses; they are not ashamed to go and learn their lesson therein. And yet are we not to think, that they wanted amongst them such men as were of courage, and had in them presumption enough, to add somewhat of their own thereunto. Lastly, to apply somewhat nearer our text to this purpose; Esdras the restorer of the Church at that time, was fully informed, how that many of the chiefest of the people, yea & sun Priests also against the express law of the Lord, had taken unto themselves strange wives, 
Chap. 9  of those nations which were forbidden them; whereupon he rend his clothes, plucked of the hair of his head and of his beard, fell on his knees, and confessed both his own and the people's sins in the presence of God; 
V 7.  from the days of our fathers, saith he, have we been in a great trespass unto this day. The longer that the sin had lasted, the greater doth he acknowledge to be the fault: so far was he from taking thereby any right occasion to continue it. But did he stay here only? No, he returned▪ to his principle; Thou hadst forbidden us to do so, 
Levit 18. ●. 25 27.  saith he, by thy servants the Prophets, 
Deut. 7.3.  etc. And now shall we return to break these commandments? Shall we go on still, o Lord, in these abominations? So that being strengthened by the assistance of honest men, & amongst others by Shechaniah the son of jehiel, he caused the people to swear & bound them with a new oath to the keeping of God's law, that law especially, which forbade all these incests; whence ensued forth with the putting away of all their strange wives, and that by the common consent of the people and of the Priests themselves, which at the reading of the law were convicted of their faults. This was a hard sentence you will say, as also an harder execution, to part asunder so many households, and to rend in two the wife from the husband, the children from the mother. And what became then all this while of Esdras his wisdom? Was there no Pope amongst them in those days, that might have dispensed with them for this? But rather if thou believest the Lord, when he hath spoken, wouldst thou have had him cast God's people again into that furnace from whence they were but newly come; and that the wrath of the Lord for disobedience (they are the very words of the law) should waxhot against them, 
Deut ●, 4.  and destroy them suddenly? So certain is that maxim in all good divinity, that we ought to obey God without looking back; and in a matter of reformation we ought to do nothing by rote, but have always recourse unto this book.  
Our Lord therefore, which was come in our flesh to reform the Church, doth give us also the same rule, a rule indeed pronounced by him in this one case; but yet it extendeth itself over all whatsoever concerns God's service, and therefore is it herein so much the more to be put in practice, as this is a matter of greater mystery and weight. As also we learn the same in God's law concerning his service. So saith he in another place, where he instructeth his Disciples: Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the Prophets: 
Matth. 5. v. 17.  The reformation of the church hath always been subject to this slander. I am come to fulfil them, to recall the law unto his right observation, to restore unto it his due and natural interpretation, and to keep it from all traditions, inventions, and Pharisaical glosses, the which under a colour of giving light unto it, do indeed darken it: instead of establishing it, do destroy it; instead of honouring it, do make a mock of it. You have heard that it was said by them of the old time, your Doctors, & your Fathers, Thou shalt not kill, for whosoever killeth shall be culpable of judgement. 
V 21.  For to avoid this judgement they have taught you, that it was enough not to kill at all; likewise it was said; Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
V 27.  And they have made you believe, that you were free from this law, if only you kept yourselves from acting this sin. Like wise; 
V 43.  Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. And in like manner all the other commandments. But I say unto you I that am the true law giver, that know the meaning of the Father, of that eternal Father, the creator of bodies and spirits, which giveth his law alike to the one and to the other; That whosoever hateth his brother hath already killed him; whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her. And, if so be you do not help your greatest enemies, even those which persecute you, then are you not his children, but the children of hell. Calling them back in this manner from their Fathers (as we have observed throughout in the state of the church of Israel) to the God of their Fathers; from the gloss, to the text; from the letter, to the spirit, to the right purpose of the Law giver, & to the reason● of the law. And this did the pharisees say we, to blaspheme the Temple, and to call Moses in question; in these days amongst us men would say it were, to condemn the Fathers, and to overthrow the Church. Behold therefore this rule, which our Saviour giveth us: from the beginning it was not so. This was not the will of him that made the Testament; let this rule but be stretched out over the building of the church; and then, whatsoever shall be found to be out of this line, or out of the squire, let it be censured to be also out of the work, let it be condemned to be battered by the hammer, and to be cut of from the faith & doctrine of the church. Let S. Paul be an example unto us even in those first times. For men, in matters of religion, can never go on very far without straying, unless they always take this guide along with them. Even in his time was the holy supper of the Lord profaned amongst the Corinthians; in this church of God, by them that were sanctified in Christ jesus, 
Cor. 1.2.  and Saints by calling: for so he termeth them. But what saith he to them? Every man, when they should eat, 
〈◊〉. 11. v. 21  taketh his own supper afore, etc. And one is hungry and another is drunken. This is not to eat the Lords Supper. This is not to celebrate that holy Sacrament, it is rather to despise his church. Here then is a remedy for it. I have received, saith he of the Lord, 
V 23  that which I also have delivered or taught unto you. 
Theodor i● 1. de 〈…〉 ●. 7  And hereupon doth he rehearse unto them at large the whole institution of the Lords Supper, in the same manner as we find it in the Gospel; As I have received it, even so have I delivered it unto you; It is now your duty, if you will be Christians, to observe it accordingly. S. Peter also perceiving that he was now shortly to leave this world, 
Gelas. Cilic. in Act. Conc. ●ic  doth not tell the churches to the which he wrote; after my decease, do not much trouble yourselves about that which you are to do; I will instruct you sufficiently by revelations, and visions; there shall scarce be one week in the which I will not give you some new Article of faith, or deliver unto you some new ceremony or other. But on the contrary he saith; Seeing I know that the time is at hand, that I must lay down this my tabernacle, 
2. Pet 1. v. 14, & 15.  I will endeavour therefore always, that after my departing ye also may be able to have remembrance of these things, that is, of the doctrine of salvation, which openeth unto them an entrance into the everlasting kingdom of Christ jesus. To wit I myself beating this doctrine into you so deep, whilst I am yet amongst you in this Tabernacle, that, after I shall have left you, you cannot forget it. Which also was the reason, why that great Emperor Constantine in the midst of all the hard contentions of his time went no where for help but thither. There is nothing more unworthy said he to the Bishops of his time, then to wrangle one with another about the controversies of divine matters, seeing that we have the doctrine of the holy Ghost in writing. And, the books of the Evangelists and Apostles, together with the Oracles of the ancient Prophets, do teach us evidently, what we ought to conclude about divine matters, and therefore laying aside all discord, let us take the decision of all our controversies out of those words, which were inspired by God.  
What then? Is it now behoveful to reduce the Christian Church to this rule? The church truly hath always fitly been compared to a ship: and no ship can keep his right way without a compass to direct it; if at some time it be not looked upon, how good and skilful soever the Pilot or the Mates of the ship be, we are not to think it strange, if she be much out of the way. This ship also hath floated up & down for many years together, and hath run upon many strange coasts: it were then a marvel, if she were not soiled, or had not gathered on the out side much moss, many worms and shells; & in the inside much corruption, contagion, and all kinds of vermin; or if she did not leak for a long time already on so many places, where every one bringeth his superfluities, & leaveth his excrements, but no man in all this time hath taken the beasom in hand or set hand to the Pump. It were a miracle indeed if there had been left any thing entire. And wretched men that we are, being ourselves full of nastiness in the midst of all this filth; yet do we cry out blasphemy, if any one smell it; and curse him, that will take it away. She hath moiled her anchor within the havens, yea and in the mud also and owze, of jews, Pagans, Philosophers Peripatetics, Academics, both old and new. She hath been freighted with their merchandise, with their inventions. Fron the one, she hath put on the ceremonies, which from henceforth over without any mystery; and from the others, she hath borrowed their superstition & Idolatry: from the one, by a forcible imitation, she hath confirmed the presumption & merits of man, contrary to the end of the whole law and Gospel; from the others they have received fables for truth, Poësies for history, Mythology for Divinity: for these ten or twelve hundred years together, we have had no other trade, no other traffic, being always mingled, (like unto the people of Israel, not once looking on the law) with strange women; & yet do we find it strange, that our progeny, our religion, is become bastard? can we believe, if the Apostles of our Lord, if all those Apostolical men, of the next age, should come hither once again, that they would find as much as one step of the old discipline and Christian policy; Amongst us truly hath now been verified that tale, which goeth about, of him that took a prisoner, but was carried away by him himself. We have converted many jews and Pagans unto Christ; but they have perverted us: we have baptised them; but they have plunged us in their filthiness: and from henceforth, if we now convert one amongst t●em, we make them twice as much the sons of hell.  
Come thou then hither, and question with our Lord jesus Christ, not as a Pharisie to tempt him, but as a true Christian with a good conscience to learn of him. Master, teach me how to pray; I know, that I ought to call upon God, but I am told, that I ought also to call upon the Angels and Saints, and set them a work as intercessers unto thee. Is this lawful? He will tell thee with out doubt, (for he cannot do otherwise, being neither contrary to God nor to himself,) Hast thou not read, that which is written; Call upon me, and I will hear thee, & thou shalt give me the praise. And knowest thou not that he, in whom men believe, is one only God, according to thy Creed, the Father, the Son, and the holy Ghost? And how often is it rehearsed unto thee, that there is but one only Mediator between God & men: he alone, that could make their peace with the Father and their propitiation in his blood? And hereupon as thy pharisees, thou canst not choose but make reply on this manner: why then doth such or such a father direct us to this or to that Martyr? But he will answer us again: For the hardness of your heart, & out of the weakness of theirs, was this so done. You come but new and fresh from the service of false Gods; These good men thought then to have gained much, when they had caused you to put them away, & to take the Saints for a change instead of them; But from the beginning it was not so. For the space of 4. or 5. thousand years together, men spoke not of calling upon any other in the church, but on God alone; the Angels were conversant with the patriarchs: doth any one call upon them? Henoch and Eliah were taken up into heaven; No or his children, Elisha or his other disciples, do they come unto them? Of so many Psalms of David, which are as so many prayers, in all that diversity of matter, is there any one only that hath any other object of his faith, and of his prayer, but him alone? And am I come to derogate from his glory, I the beloved Son from the Father's worship, or rather to establish it, & so much the more to glorify him? I then tell you that which I long since told to Satan; Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
Marth. 4.  and him only shalt thou serve. And invocation is one of the chief parts of his worship, of his service. Fron the weakness of some of my servants do not you take all your strength: out of their wants, do not you seek a supply either of the law of God, or of my Gospel: and from my patience by reason of my long forbearance, do not you make a law, nor think to plead prescription against the true religion and pure worship. That which the Lord hath reserved unto himself alone, do not you turn it away upon the creature, do not part it.  
Let another come, and say thus; Master, we are all in doubt amidst all these controversies. Is it lawful to reverence, to adore the Images of the Saints, of the Virgin Marie, thine own, that also of the holy Trinity? And he will answer doubtless, he which is come to establish the law and not do destroy it; Hast thou not read what is written in the law; in that law, which was given by the ministery of the holy Angels? Thou shalt not make any graved image; 
Exod. 20.  thou shalt not bow down to them, neither serve them. Dost thou not look for some plainer or more express speech? Or is it need, that you should have a gloss hereupon? There follows therefore the reason of it. For saith he, I am the Lord thy God; a mighty & jealous God. And can his nature then be changed now? And yet thou wilt not be ashamed to reply: why then have our Masters given them unto us for books instead of the Gospels? When we gild them, cloth them, perfume them, worship them, call upon them; is there any thing in all this, whereof God may complain? To whom doth this honour redound but to him, his Saints being glorified in their images, & he in his Saints? But know thou (will he answer thee) that God, as he is a Spirit, so he will have such as worship him in spirit and truth; he willbe worshipped, as he himself hath commanded, and not after the fancies of men. Know also that an image is a teacher of lies, 
Habak. 2, v. 18.  and maketh of men beasts, and confoundeth those that are inclined thereunto; and as for those Masters that have given you images instead of Masters, they did this since the time that they are become ignorant and careless and have been dispensed withal for not preaching my Gospel, dumb Pastors as they were themselves they have given thee these dumb preachers. But from the beginning it was not so, before the law and under the law, for the space of four thousand years, the church of God hath had no images. To have them or not to have them, as some particular livery, did then put a difference between the believer and the infidel. Yea and for eight hundred years together, since the time that by me grace was come into the world in the better part of Europe, in France itself, there were none of them. I therefore say unto you. Of the ignorance of your Masters do not you make your knowledge; make not your Christianity of the imitation and emulation of Paganism; The word of the Lord standeth fast for ever. That which once he hath ordained, he never superannuateth nor disannulleth.  
Let another proceed, I know Lord, that thou art the Lamb, which takest away the sins of the world. But we are told also of a certain fire, at our going out of this world, wherein we must be purged, and must for all this pay and make even our reckoning; what must I believe in this matter? And thereupon he will tell thee all that, which the holy Scripture teacheth us: hast thou not read, what my Prophets say, That I was wounded for your transgressions, 
Esai. 53. v, 5.  and broken for your iniquities, & that the chastisement of your peace was upon me. God which is all justice, all mercy, will he have the same debt paid twice? Zacharie saith, There shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, 
Zacharie. 13. v. 1.  to the Church, for sin, for every uncleanness whatsoever; and I verily am this fountain, a fountain that never drieth up; to what purpose serves thy fire if this water do suffice? And that this water is not sufficient, who can say it without blasphemy. But yet if thou wilt have a fire also, hear what john the Baptist saith; 
Matth.  I baptise thee with water and with fire. Thy spirit indeed with a spiritual fire, even with mine own spirit. And here thou wilt reply (for thou art for bidden to yield) But S. Augustine, and S. Gregory do not they speak of a fire, to the which we must go when we depart out of this world? Do not they say, thee it is not altogether incredible that there is one, and that it may be true? And at all adventures hath it not been a good thing to keep the souls in such awe? For how many fair Churches have been founded thereby, how many cloisters, Chapels, and Masses? And will you then have the old doubts of those men to be unto you as articles of faith? The fables of Platonikes as truth? The fictions of Poets, as sound divinity? Our Lord moreover will say unto thee. He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting, he is already gone from death to life; he that believeth not in him, the wrath of God remaineth upon him; he is already condemned, and shall not see life. Between these two where canst thou find any place for this Purgatory? And then will the Son of God say unto thee again; Do not stand upon that which the Doctors tell thee thereof; They could never create it. From the beginning it was not so. If it had been from the beginning, there is no question but the Church of Israel would have made use of it; by so much the more, because that fountain, for the cleansing of sin, was not as then opened. And yet for four thousand years together, is there any one word spoken of it? Amongst so many sacrifices, and those of so many fashions; is there any one word spoken of such sacrifices, as were for the dead or for their sins? And if it had been created since that time, would then the Apostles have hidden it from us? would they have told us. Blessed are they that die in the Lord, from henceforth they do rest from their labours. If we confess our sins God is faithful and just; The blood of his Son jesus Christ doth purge and cleanse us from all sin. This Purgatory than is a strange fire in the Church; such a one, as quencheth her natural heat, her confidence in the merit of the Redeemer. And therefore; That which the Lord hath paid and quitted for us so dearly, so fully, the faithful man needs not to buy it again; Let no servant of God therefore sell it him again.  
Let another also come, that perhaps hath looked more deeply into it; and say, Master, I know that thou hast been made an oblation on the tree of the Cross, & wiped out, and utterly abolished the handwriting that was against us. And nevertheless we are told, that thou art every day offered up, every day sacrificed in Mass; and hereupon is all this stir; To what opinion therefore shall we stand fast? and hereupon he will tell thee Hast thou not read, what Esay saith of me; His soul shall be made an oblation for sin; The soul of the Son of God. At what rate them dost thou reckon her? and knowest thou not that I have given my flesh for the life, and my blood for the remission of the sins of the world? In comparison of this price, all your pretended. Oblations can amount to nothing. Knowest thou not also, that likewise all the other sacrisices of the Law, are fulfilled and abolished in this one only? And here, either blown up by tradition, or forestalled by custom, thou wilt reply; but would then our Fathers for so long time together have made so great account of the Mass, and all for nothing? Why then, art thou not then, really with thy flesh and bones, sacrificed therein every day? Did not men speak of this oblation, even in the time of good S. Gregory, not above six hundred years after thine incarnation. The ill disposed facility of men in accommodating themselves to infidelity, hath brought in these things; And this carnal wisdom, hath been found to be but natural, and is rightly convicted of folly before God. The outward worship of jews and Gentiles consisted in sacrifices; and when they have been brought to the Christian faith, they were willing to content them with the word of sacrifice taken in a large sense; with this word did they qualify the christian service; their prayers, their Sacraments, their Alms. How far safer had it been, to keep them in their own propriety; and to teach them the right end of the old sacrifices; that is, their end in my cone only Sacrifice? I had also appointed for a sacrament of this one sa crifice, of my flesh crucified and of my blood shed for you, That bread which you break, 
〈◊〉. Cor. 10 〈◊〉. 16.  the Communion of my body; that cup which you bless, the Communion of my blood. The real communication in sum of all the blessings and benesittes, that redound unto you by this sacrifice. And in as much as their devotion did wax cold, instead of making my people participate of them, they have thought it enough only to she we them unto them, they have also taken my cup from them. But I say unto you, that From the beginning it was not so. Do but read the Apostle; Without shedding of blood is no remission of sin. 
Heb 9 v. 22.  And wilt thou therefore for the remission of thy sins take unto thyself the place of the jews; wilt thou once again shed my blood? Read on further that which he rehearseth unto thee so often; Christ hath appeared once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 
V 26.  It is not then for nought, that they show him so many times unto thee? Again, We are sanctified by the offering of the body of jensus Christ once made. 
C. 10. v. ●0  With one offering hath he consecrated us for ever. and iffonever, 
V 14.  why then do we begin again every day? That therefore, which I have fulfilled at once, effectually, and perfectly, do not thou accuse it of imperfection by reiterating it; do not darken the truth, nor bely the virtue thereof, by the frivolous repre sentations. That which I have given thee for a Sacrament, & thanksgiving, of that unspeakable benesit, do not thou account it as a Sacrifice. That which God hath joined, seeing I have joined them, to wit, the sacraments in my holy Supper; thou man, under what colour soever it be, do not separate them.  
But lastly, could our Fathers then oversee so grossly? These good kings, josaphat, Hezekiah Iozia●, those good servants of God, Hilkiah, Esdras, & others, did never make this question.  they had the book of the law, and did know, that therein they had the ordinances of God, they rend their clothes, beat their breasts, confessed both their own & their father's sins before the Congre gation; they exhorted, and by their own example brought, the whole people to repentance. What therefore, could our Saviour ever leave us as Orphans, and his bark without a guide? On the contrary, hath he not left us a lieutenant general, a vice-God, this man God on earth? Else what becomes of that, Tues Pe trus, Pasce oves meas, Thou art Peter: and, feed my sheep. But here our Lord will answer thee. I am that everlasting word, that was made flesh for thee. The on lie Emmanuell, God with thee; with you, by my Spirit in mine holy word; I am with you until the end of the world. 
Ma●th. 28  As for lieutenants, I have as many, as there are good Pastors and holy dispensers of my word and Sacraments here on earth. But as for General, or Vice-God, there ought none to be over my state because I am every where present, I have no need of any; how much so ever the man be limited to a certain place, or be he as quick as he will or is able to be. I have said indeode unto Peter, one of mine Apostles, and unto one for all. Thou art Peter, & on this Rock will I build my church. On this Rock, that is, on his confession; for he had confessed unto me, 
Matth. 16  Thou art the Christ the son of the living God. And thereupon have you placed under an Altar at Rome, the supposed Relics of Peter, and have called them the confession of Peter. On this pretended confession have you built S. Peter's church. It was not so that this holy Apostle understood it, when he told us, 
Pe●▪ 2. v. ●.  Be ye as lively stones made a spiritual house. But upon what? truly not upon this your confession, but upon his own, upon him that is that living stone, rejected by me, and yet the chief Cornerstone, elect and precious in God's eyes. I told him also, the gates of hell should not prevail against it; and all the power of Satan shall be found weak against it. And you have thereby gathered, that it must be a temporal, puissant, and invincible Empire. But Peter understood far better this my style & language; He that shall believe in it in this living Stone, in me that am the Rock of Israel, shall never be confounded. I had likewise said unto Peter, I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, 
joh. 22.  whatsoever thou bindest on earth shall be bound in heaven. And I gave them indeed unto him, & unto all his fellows, after my resurrection; to wit, the ministry of reconciliation by the preaching of the Gospel. And thence you have concluded Thou art Peter; Ergo, the Bishop of Rome is the universal Bishop of the world; he shutteth, and no man openeth, he openeth & no man shutteth, He hath in his hands all power both temporal and spiritual, he openeth heaven, he shutteth hell, & quencheth the fire in Purgatory, he commandeth the Angels he keepeth in awe the Devils, he saveth or damneth men, at his own pleasure; he giveth dispensations contrary to the law of God, and to his Gospel; being not so much in the place of God as against God himself. And yet are we bound to believe, that God is changed in opinion when he is altered in his. But between these two propositions; Thou art Peter, & The Bishop of Rome is Vice-God, nay more than God. What a gulf is there to be filled? And whence can it be filled, but from that bottomless deep? How much better did the holy Apostle understand this: Feed my sheep, that is with my word. Feed, saith he, you Priests my fellows in the Priest hood, the flock of Christ which is committed to your charge not as bearing rule over the inheritance of the Lord, be they of the Clergy or laymen, but so, that ye may defend the flock. And when the chiefen shepherd shall appear, you shall receive that incorruptible crown of glory. And not here on earth a triple crown or kingdom. This therefore was the meaning of the Lord, far different from thy gloss, & yet Peter himself is the interpreter. And therefore would he have answered thee here, as before. Fron the beginning it was not so. The first Bishops of Rome, for the space of 300. years, under the Heathen Emperors, for the most part were all Martyrs, & knew never what this temporal jurisdiction meant. As for the 400. years following, under the Christian Emperors, they were humble servants; they obtained from them their grants, immunities, and privileges, and held as it were from them their chief authority: so far were they from once speaking of giving them any, or making them their feudary vassals. As for the 300. ensuing years, they begin to embrace them, to undermine them, & by tricks & smooth dealing defeat the one by an other; do at the length set themselves in their place; they seize upon their dwellings, they put on their scarlet, invest themselves with their crown, set footing upon their Empire, bewitch their subjects, and with their feet they spurn at their own persons. A long time after, and, as it were, through a long wood, come in by degrees the jubilees, Indulgences, & Fairs or Markets of sin, the banks of Pardons; the Agnus Dei, the hallowd grains & every day some new babbles or others. In so much that for these 600. years and more, the most learned & flourishing years of the Christian church, she could not look so deeply into these mysteries, as to understand (even the Romish church itself, as much Latin as she was) the virtue & force of these two Latin words; ecce duo gladij, Behold here two swords. (What likelihood is there in it?) Therefore he that useth them with both his hands at this day, though he have no other Mission, no other Commission, yet shallbe unto us a Vice-God? And what else can he be, being he will have himself to be so, & calleth himself so, if he be it not?  
Thus therefore by this one word; Non sic fuit ab initio. from the beginning it was not so, doth our Lord here call us back to a reformatió of the abuses of the church, in all her parts, according to his first institution, according to his word. And let these few points serve unto us for scantlings; as one beam of the Sun; one drop of the Sea. You may after the like manner run over all the rest. And would to God that in good time we had practised this rule in Christendom; how many contentions, schisms, wars, massacres, & confusions, might we then have spared & avoided? of the which we are culpable, and hereafter must give account. Whereas at the sighs & groans of so many great and holy persons, throughout all Christendom, for so many ages together, we have out of pure pride only answered them with this. It was impossible the church should err she cannot err. What conscience was there in this? And had not they then cause enough to believe, that this was the voice of that woman in the Apocalypse, I am a Queen, and shall never be a widow? Say we therefore with the Prophet, We have departed from thy precepts & from thy judgements. Our Kings, our Priests, 
Dan. 9 v. 5  our fathers, all our people; & let us not stand any longer upon our reputation, or think to maintain our credit. 
V 7.  Unto thee belongeth righteousness and unto us open shame, Unto thee, o Lord be the glory of our repentance, of our confession, of our confusion, and of our shame; to the edification of thy church, and the salvation of our own souls, through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  
Soli Deo gloria.   

Errata.  
PAg. 18. lin. 4. for givest read give. p. 31. l. vit. for clean r. clear. p. 42. l. 31 for connected r. converted. p 52. l. 22. for see r. set. p 58. l. 7. for extuberacie, r. an extuberancie p. 62 l 4 for they r. then. p. 67. l. 19 for unprofitable r. unprofitably. l. 21 for to our r. and to our p. 68 l. 8. for all r. already. p. 87. lin. 6 for take r. took p. 93. l 4. for rent r. rents.