DAY'S DIAL OR, HIS TWELVE HOURS THAT IS, TWELVE SEVERAL LECTURES BY WAY OF CATECHISM, AS they were delivered by him in the Chapel of ORIELL COLLEGE in Oxford, in the years of our Lord God 1612, and 1613. JOH. 11.9. Are there not twelve hours in the DAY? Cyp. de Orat. Domin. Quomodo Solei, & Dies non est, cui Sol & Dies Christus est. AT OXFORD, Printed by joseph Barnes. 1614 TO THEIR PARENTS HOPEFUL, and fairest Branches, the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Eurip. Iphig. in Taur. Pillars of their several Families, the gentlemans COMMONERS of Oriell College, Fellow-Commoners, and the rest: as also to the POOR SCHOLARS of that House, Proficiency in both Learnings, Secular, and Celestial. GEntlemen, and you the rest, no less beloved in the Lord. That most memorable a joh. 21.15. saying of our Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Feed my Lambs: or as it is doubled in the Vulgar, Pasce agnos meos, Pasce agnos meos: Feed my Lambs, Feed my Lambs, spoken personally to S. Peter, but in him to all us, who have to do with the Flock of Christ: hath made me a many times to bethink myself how I for my part might best perform it to you that are those very Lambs, & in some sort belonging to me. It is now some two years since, when opportunity was offered me never better. For being chosen by your Superiors to be your Catechism Reader for a year, a many of you may remember, how I performed that Task in Twelve Lectures. Since which time, considering with myself the slender benefit that might accrue to some of you, by hearing only those my Lectures without some farther help, I thought it fit by way of Printing to present them to all and every of you, and so much the rather for that the Eye is a surer Friend unto the Memory, than the Ear can possibly be, & you know whose b Horat. de Art● Po●●● saying it was, Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem Quam quae sunt oculis subiecta fidelibus: & quae Ipse sibi tradit spectator. Besides, that Speech (especially my Speech) hath not the benefit that Printing hath, of quoting Authors at large, a principal part of these my Lectures, which I could not then in a many respects deliver unto you so exactly. But my chiefest Motive of all of committing these unto the Press, is the continual flowing unto us of such as you are, some going, others coming and every Year some New ones, who since they are to belong to me in respect of my Pastoral charge, feign would I show my love unto my Saviour, by feeding those New ones in this sort. A way perhaps some what chargeable, but God that hath given ability to compass this, hath given a will too (in humility be it spoken) to contemn a world of Wealth towards the furtherance of a Soul. Concerning these my Lectures then, lo they offer themselves unto you, that which comes unto you so slightly, let it not be as slightly but regarded. One Schioppius c Gasp. Schioppii Alexipharm. count. Plessaum. tells us of late, of Paul the fift now Pope, how little he answered his expectation in a matter not much unlike hereunto. If that Gift, saith he, were bestowed upon his Fatherhood indeed, perhaps he no more attentively, or curiously observed it, than he did an excellent Book of a certain Divine, which I myself brought unto him, to the end and purpose to bring the Author of it in favour with him. d Non modò ab eo non lectum, sed neque certò loco, ubi reperiri, mihique restitui pesset, positii fuisse comperi. Schiop. Ib. p. 76. Col. 1. For after a few days I repairing unto him again, & ask of him how he liked the Book, I found that he had not only not read it, as I expected, but could not tell where in the world he had laid it. Indeed the Pope of Rome hath other gates matters than Books in his head, and therefore Schioppius there addeth e Virg. Aen. l. 6 Tu regere Imperio Populos Roman memento Paul the fift who is a Roman by birth, should remember he was to Rule. True: and me thinks Schioppius should have added withal, that he should remember to forget that which our Saviour said about Ruling: Reges Gentium dominantur eorum. Vos autem non sic, Luk. 22.25. But how soever they (it seems) are not altogether of our Saviour's mind, & therefore Schioppius commends the Pope, howsoever he neglected that Book: yet you, Beloved, should you do the like, are not sure of such an Homer as Schioppius is, and therefore is it best for you not to follow the Pope's example. Martha, Martha, f Luk. 10.41. saith our Saviour, thou carest, and art troubled about many things. But one thing is needful. It were happy perhaps for his Holiness, if he were but troubled as Martha was, but you, if you please, may be the Maries. That One thing so needful, lo here in these Lectures. Concerning my Method therein I go not (I confess) the beaten way, and it may seem (I grant) above the pitch of catechizing; what hath been here delivered by me, but presupposing you grounded before in the ordinary course of Catecisme; I mean Mr Dr Nowels, best approved of in our Church, I thought it my best way to acquaint you in this sort with matters of this weight, especially reading as I did in a College, and to Youths such as you are. Such they are as you, whom our Adversaries like wily Foxes go about to inveigle with a show of all Antiquity: you shall have somewhat here in store out of Antiquity itself, to confront that brag of theirs, as also to teach you to hold your own. And now Beloved what shall I more say? You see my care towards you, my love, and what not? g 1. Cor. 3.22. Whether it be Paul, or Apollo's, or Cephas, even all are yours, & ye Christ's, and Christ Gods. Courage then, dearly Beloved, and valiantly march on, who have so many Helps towards the saving of your Souls. And above all remember the Earth and the Soil you now tread upon is not vulgar or ordinary, but such for all the world, as the ancient Fathers of the Church did tread on in their days. That which h Midden dorp de Acad l. 2. p. 95. Edit. 1583. Vid. Cent. 4. Magdeb c. 7. p. 510. Nicomedia was to LACTANTIUS, i Mid. Ib. p. 142 Carthage to TERTULLIAN, l Mid. l. 3. p. 455 Milan to S. AMBROSE, m Mid. Ib. Milan and n Mid. l. 2. p. 142 Carthage to S. AUSTEN, o Mid. ib. p. 203 Constantinople to DAMASCEN, p Mid. ib. p. 88 Antioch, and q Mid. ib p 183 Vid. Naz. M●n●d. Athens to NAZIANZEN, r Mid. ib. p. 88 Antioch, s B. jewels Defence of the Apology. p. 430. Athens, and t Mid. l 2 p. 202 Constantinople to S. chrysostom, u Mid. Ib. p. 88 Antioch, and x Mid. ib. p. 102 Alexandria to S. JEROME, y Mid. ib. p. 88 Antioch, z Mid. Ib. p. 102 Alexandria, & a Mid Ib. p. 92. Caesarea to Origen, b Mid Ib. p. 88 Antioch, c Mid. Ib. p. 102 Alexandria, and d Mid. ib. p. 183 Vid. Naz. Monod. Athens to S. BASILL, e B. jewels Defence of the Apol. p. 430. Athens and f Mid. ib. p. 102 Alexandria to S. GREGORY, that for all the world is Oxford unto you. Those were the places in their days, where their Minds had the first tincture of Secular g two qui combibi purpuram volunt sufficiunt prius lanam medicamentis quibusdam: sic literis talibusque doctrinis ante excoli animos, & ad sapientiam concipiendam imbui & praeparari decet. Cicero. Vid. Lips. Var. Lect. l. 2. c. 10 p. 45. Learning, that so they might be the more ready for that deeper die of Divinity. Thus Nazianzen h Naz. Monod in vit. Basil. Mag. tells us of S. Basill (brought up as I said before in those famous Universities, Antioch, Alexandria, and Athens) how expert he was in Grammar, in Rhetoric, in Natural, and Moral Philosophy, in Astrology, Geometry, Arithmetic, Arts & Sciences for the which our University hath been so famous heretofore, as it hath caused them to show their Bounty therein, who were themselves brought up in other places. When Caius of Cambridge did i Caius de Antiq. l. 1. p, 152. Edit. 1574. of my FATHERS Printing twit us in the teeth with some of our Founders here in Oxford that had been themselves Cambridge Men, as Richard Fox the Founder of Corpus Christi College, Thomas Rotheram the Founder of Lincoln College, and William Smyth the Founder of Brasennose: At unde precor ( l Examen judicii Cantabrigiensis cuiusdam quise Londinensem dicit nuper de Origine utriusque Academiae lati Cui praefigitur ad ciusdem Prohemium Apologia. Exam. 20. A Book not yet printed, but of M. Keyes own hand-writing, & in the custody of our learned Antiquary M. Thomas Allen, and copied forth by my kind and loving Friend M Miles Windsor a true Lover of our Mother the University. saith our worthy Key again, who fully answered that Book) tam singularis erga nos animi affectus? ac multo quam in vestram Academian maior, nisi quod magis hîc arriderent illis omnia, Doctrina, Mores, juventutis educatio, Instituta, Pietatis cultus, Ritus, Consuetudines, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & Externae Ceremoniae, ipsaque demum Oxoniensis Nominis celebritas, ut alia multa non commemorem, quàm apud vos, quos alioqui vel ipsius naturae impulsu haud dubiè praetulissent. Surely Beloved the great renown of the Name of Oxford hath raised up three Worthies I mean a BODLEY, a BENNET, and a WADHAM, to do more than they did. Though what do I speak of three only? His excellent MAJESTY now Regnant, his Reverend CLERGY, his Honourable NOBILITY, and GENTRY of the Land, do all concur even in our days, to the ennobling of this Place, and shall not we to that great Renown our Oxford hath had in former Ages join Doctrine, and Manners, and Breeding up of youth, & keeping of Statutes, and Religion, and Rites, and Customs, & Discipline, & outward Ceremonies, & c? Shall the whole world (in a manner) concur to do us good, and we be wanting to ourselves? Shall God himself be at a Non plus for being of ᵐ ability (as it were) to do more unto us, l What could I have done any more to my Vineyard that I have not done unto it. Esa. 5 4. and we bring forth wild grapes? But it is not Beloved unto you, that these lines of mine do appertain, only I am afraid, lest you for whom these pains, & much more hath been taken, should be carried hereafter an other way, when you are of riper years, with the stream of the world. At what time think on him yet, who hath been painful for you as you see, & more truly tendereth your Salvation, than any Popish Priest or jesuite whatsoever. He that accounts himself a true Debtor to you, whether you be of the Richer, or Poorer sort, JOHN DAY From my Study in that College whereof yourselves are all Members. Octob. 17. 1614 THE SEVERAL ARGUMENTS, with the several Texts of Scripture, of every several Lecture in this Book. 1 The Preamble. Psal. 34.11. Pag. 1. 2 Of God's Essence Exod. 3.14. p. 23. 3 Of the Trinity. 1. joh. 5.7. p. 39 4 Of the Attributes of God. Exod. 34.6. p. 59 5 Of God's Works. Act. 17.24. p. 79. 6 Of the Church, and how distinguished from Paganism, judaisme, turcism, and Papism. Act. 2.42. p. 101. 7 Of the Articles of Belief, commonly called, The Apostles Creed Mark. 16.16. p. 127. 8 Of our Church's Tenets, against the Church of Rome wherein are comprised the forty Articles of 62. where unto Beneficed men, and Graduates in Oxford do usually subscribe. Act. 24.14. p. 157. 9 Of the ten Commandments. Mat. 22.37. p. 211. 10 Of Prayer. Mat. 6.9. p. 251. 11 Of Fasting. Mark. 2.19. p. 281. 12 Of Alms. Ephes. 2.10. p. 305. My Lord of London on jonas Lect. 40. p. 551. Other men as they list. Let them esteem the light of Antiquity no better worth then to be hid under a Bushel, & quite suppressed, that they may set their own upon a Candlestick, and 'cause it to blaze to the view of the whole House: Ego verò illos veneror, et tantis nominibus semper assurgo: Senec. Epist. l. 8. ep. 65. but for mine own part I have them in great reverence, and honour the very Names of the Fathers. THE PREAMBLE. Lect. 1. Decemb. 17. 1612. I am come this first time a Mourner hither: I trust I shall return from hence, when at length from hence I shall return, full of joy and ghostly comfort. They are the words of the Prophet a Psal. 126.7. David, He that now goeth on his way weeping, and heareth forth good seed, shall doubtless come again with joy, and bring his sheaves with him. When first I was contented to be put to this task, I little thought it should have been so long ere I should have said somewhat at the lea●t. It was in truth my chief desire to have been a frequent speaker unto you, & therefore was I the more willing to be easily entreated to these pains. But I no sooner bethought me of putting myself to the pains indeed, when that heaviest news was brought me of the greatest loss I ever had. True it is, it was our Saviour's answer to him that asked leave to bury his father: Fellow me, and let the dead bury their dead, Mar. 8.22. But he spoke it of Parents dead in soul, qui fide sunt destituti, saith b Pelican in Mat. 8 So S. Austen, Certè mortuos sepulcuri non sun● corpore mortui, quia si hec essent, mortua corpora sepeltri non possent Tamen mortuos eos vocat, vb●●ris● intus in anima? Aug de verb: Dom. Ser. 18. p. 51. Pelican, quae vita est animae such as as were destitute of faith which is the life of the soul: of Christian Parents, & to Christian Children he would have said no doubt as Toby did, Toby, 4.3. My son, after that I am dead bury me, and despise not thy Mother, but honour her all the days of thy life, and do that which shall please her, and anger her not. Remember my son how many dangers she sustained when thou wast in her womb. And when she dieth bury her by me in the same grave. And indeed to say the truth, Est aliquod humanis affectibus in calamitate solatium, saith that excellent b Erasm Vid. Christ. Op. Tom. 5. p. 604. Hollander, assedisse morituro, excepisse voces vitimas, dedisse novissimum osculum, dixisse vale aeternum, clausisse morientis oculos, praestitisse funeris supremum officium: It is some kind of comfort to us to have borne our friend company in his sickness, to have been partaker of his last words, to have given him our last farewell, to have closed up his eyes, and to have performed the last office of following him to his grave. But I was bereft of all these. It was not my hap to perform unto her this last office of following her to her grave, nor of cloasing up her eyes, nor of taking my last farewell, nor of being partaker of her last words, not not to be as much as present with her in her sickness. When joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim who was the younger Brother, and his left hand on Manasses who was the elder, it displeased him saith the c Gen. 48.17. Scripture, and he would have removed his Father's hands. Would God I might have enjoyed but her left hand only, her least blessing at that time had been enough, so should I have meditated oh my God, all the days of my life after, of all thy blessings bestowed on me, and d Eccles. 3.10. established by that hand. These things while I pondered with myself, and could in no wise be comforted, not not with that of the Prophet David, When my Father and Mother forsake me, Psal. 27.12. behold in the neck of this, an other grief, an other sorrow. PRINCE HENRY. The death of him, even his death whereof whosoever heard that was a true lover of Religion, and of the Gospel amongst us, his two ears did e 1. Sam. 3 11. tingle. Dead he is, alas he is dead, the Lord hath f jer. Lam. 2.1. darkened the daughter of Zion, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel. And which is most remarkable, and should 'cause all and every of us to lay it thoroughly to our hearts, even then, and at that time, when not many years before he had bestowed on this our Israel the greatest blessing that ever was. I say then and at that time, to show unto us, atque utinam daretur in unius speciem Concionis tota Anglia contracta, oratione hac uti, & Britannici in generis audientia collocari, to altar a little the words of g Arnab. adver. Gent. l. 1. p. 139 Arnobius, would God all England might now hear me, even this whole I'll of great Britain, to show unto us, I say, that if we of this Kingdom go on, as we have done prettily well since that time, in h Rom. 13.13. gluttony and drunkenness, in chambering and wantonness, in strife and envying, in Popery and Impiety (& indeed what not?) he both can, and will turn, our feasts into mourning, & all our songs into lamentation, Amos, 8.10. But to return unto my purpose. Clavus clavum pellit, maior minorem. As one nail drives out an other, the greater the less: even so did this, my former sorrow. It made me call to mind those excellent words of Esdras, who when a woman appeared unto him weeping for her son, and would not be comforted, because he was not: Thou foolish woman above all other ( i 2. Esd. 10.6. saith he) seest thou not our heaviness, and what cometh unto us? For Zion our Mother is all woeful, and is soar afflicted, and mourneth extremely. Seeing we be all now in heaviness and make our moan (for we be all sorrowful) art thou sorry for one son? His conclusion k V 15. there is: Now therefore withhold thy sorrow in thyself, and bear constantly that which cometh unto thee. For if thou allowest God's purpose, and receivest his counsel in time, thou shalt be commended therein. Go thy way then into the city to thine husband. Thus far Esdras. My former sorrow thus abated then, and having in this sort recovered myself (if yet I may be said to have recovered myself, who am often hereafter to meditate not only of my private loss, but of our public calamity too) what remaineth, but I now resume my first and foremost resolution of speaking unto you in this kind, that so long at the lest as this shall happen of speaking in this kind here unto you, my thoughts may be somewhat settled, and not always intentive on HER, for loss of whom I cannot but see a sea of crosses to myself, or not always intentive on HIM, for loss of whom I well may fear a world of crosses to our Kingdom. Come we then to the matter in hand, and first by way of Preamble, let me this first time entreat unto you of certain words of the Prophet David's, as they are written in his four and thirtieth Psalm, the eleventh verse of that Psalm. The words are these: Come ye children and hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. In which words for my better proceeding, let me observe unto you these four points. First an Invitation, Come: Secondly, the parties invited, ye children: Thirdly, the duty to be performed on their parts, hearken unto me: Fourthly, and lastly the duty on his part who did invite them, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. I will be very brief in all four; & first in the invitation Come, which is (you see) but a word, & therefore but a word shall you see to be said of it, Come. Memorable is that in S. Luke's Gospel of one that made a great supper, & bade many, and sent his Servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, ᵉ Come: for all things are now ready. l Luk 14.17. You are not ignorant of the excuses were made by a many of them at that time, nor in how little steed those excuses than stood them, nor of the just anger of the Master of the house conceived thereupon. I, saith he, say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. As if he had said: they should not have a bit of it to save their lives, not not to save their souls. So that in this one only word, Come, is comprehended all this: First, God himself inviting us: Secondly, inviting us by his servants: Thirdly, no excuse to serve the turn: Fourthly, his indignation and wrath, if so be we come not: Fiftly and lastly, if we come, his welcoming all and every of us. And thus you see how briefly I have entreated of this first word, Come. I will not be much longer in the two next, the Parties invited, Children: and which applies it to yourselves, ye: ye Children. I know Children may be taken in this place for all inferiors of what age soever, and the children here meant were no doubt the Children of Israel. I, an old man may be a child, Puer centum annorum was Esays phrase, Esa, 65.20: &, The honourable age is not that which is of long time, neither that which is measured by the number of years, but wisdom is the grey hair, and an undefiled life the old age, Wisd. 4.9. Howbeit speaking now to you, and it being your age I only aim at at this time, I am to instance only in yourselves, & to tell you that you are the children here meant, you are the Parties invited hither. It is good for a man, saith m jer. Lament. 3 27. jeremy, that he bear the yoke in his youth. What? will you say, so soon? n Terent. Heau. Act. 2 Sc. 1. Ilico nasci senes, neque illarum affines esse rerum, quas fert Adolescentia? I, Beloved even so soon, and therefore that old proverb, Pueros Angelicos in Satanam verti ubi consenuerint: young Saints, old Devils: ego (saith a good o Erasm Coll. Pietas pueril. Author) ab Authore Sathana natum arbitror: I am of opinion it was devised by the Devil himself. Sure I am it is contrary to that of Solomon: Teach a child in the trade of his way, Prov. 22.6. and when he is old he shall not departed from it. What? should we not begin betimes? And why was Circumcision than commanded the eight day, and the sacrament of Baptism permitted on any day, be we never, never so young, that as Hercules in his cradle, p Senec Herc. Fur. Act. 2. Monstra superavit prius quam nosse posset, so we might at the Font even vanquish the Devil, before we know so much as the name of a Devil what it meaneth. Should we not even in our youth be instructed in the Scriptures? And why was Timothy then permitted to know those Scriptures of a child? Continued thou saith the q 2. Tim 3.14. Apostle, in the things which thou hast learned, and art persuaded thereof, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that thou hast known the holy Scriptures of a child. How came Origen afterwards being a child to learn them to? jam tum etiam saith r Euseb hist. Eccles. l. 6. c. 2. p. 72. Eusebius, haud modica doctrinae fidei argumenta praeiecerat, in divinis scriptis adhuc puer exercitatus. Even then in his tender age he showed no small tokens of the doctrine of faith, being but a child as he was, and exercised in holy writ. How came our Saviour before them both being but twelve years old, to be found in the Temple amidst the Doctors s Luk 2.46. hearing them, & ask them questions? Samuel was but young when as he was consecrated to the Lord: when his mother had weaned him, saith the t 1. Sam. 1.24. Scripture, she took him with her, and brought the child to Elimine And she said, o my Lord as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood with thee here praying unto the Lord. I prayed for this child, & the Lord hath given me my desire which I asked of him. Therefore also I have given him unto the Lord: as long as he liveth, he shall be given unto the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there. Howbeit these will some man say, were destinated afterwards to be Teachers themselves, and therefore no marvel if so be they began betimes. Go we then unto the other Sex that is utterly bard from public u 1. Tim. 2.12. teaching, & were not infants of that sort brought up in the Scriptures too? I will content myself at this time only with a couple of them, Paula the daughter of Laeta, and Pacatula the daughter of Gaudentium, both of them young, both of them Virgins, and concerning both with the counsel of Jerome for the bringing of them up. First concerning Paula writing to her Mother Laeta: r Hieron. ad Laetam de Instit Filiae. Reddat, ˣ saith he, tibi pensum quotidiè de scripturarum floribus carptum: Enjoin her as a daily task to gather you some flowers every day out of the garden of holy Scriptures. And again a little after, Progemmis & serico, saith he, divinos codices amet: Instead of preticus stones and silks, teach her to love the holy Scriptures. And again after that, showing what order she should observe in reading those Scriptures: First, saith he, let her learn the Psalter, than the Proverbs, then Ecclesiastes, than job, than the Gospels, than the Acts of the Apostles, than the Epistles. After these the five books of Moses, the books of Kings, of Chronicles, of Esdras, of Hester; Last of all let her learn the Canticles. And writing to Gaudentium concerning her daughter Pacatula, y Hieron. ad Gaudent de Infantulae educat. Cum autem virgunculam rudem & edentulam septimus aetatis annus exceperit, discat memoriter Psalterium, & usque ad annos pubertatis libros Solomonis, Evangelia, Apostolos & Prophetas sui cordis thesaurum faciat. When she comes, saith St Jerome, to be seven years of age let her learn the Psalter by heart, and till she be twelve, let her make the treasure of her heart, the books of Solomon, the Evangelists, the Apostles, and the Prophets. It had been strange in those days to have heard Christians, I, and learned Christians, either of the one sex or the other, to profess they were z Illic. trepidaverunt timore ubi non erat timor, Ps. 14.9. afraid to read the Scriptures, to say, that Ignorance was the Mother of devotion, that it was not fit for girls and boys to be meddling therewith: nay maxi-mè pueris, a Chrysost in Ephes. Hom. 21. saith S. Chrysostom; est enim plurimum insipientiae in illa aetate. It is most necessary, saith S. Chrysostom, for worldly men to know those things which are to be taught out of the Scriptures, but especially for children for so much as that age is most with lack of wisdom and discretion. And again a little after: Let us bring them up, saith he, in instruction, and information of the Lord. Let us give them example ourselves, facientes eos à primaeva aetate Scripturarum lectioni vacare, causing them from their young and tender years to apply themselves to the reading of the Scriptures. But I have been longer in this second point than I purposed to have been: I come unto the third, namely the duty to be performed on their parts, Come ye children and hearken unto me. [And hearken.] For is it enough to come? nay, for when we are come, we may fairly fall asleep. Who so telleth a fool of wisdom, b Ecclus. 22.10. saith the wisdom of jesus the son of Syrach, is as a man which speaketh to one that is asleep: when he hath told his tale, he saith what is the matter? We may sleep and fall, as did c Act. 20.9. Eutychus from the third fit, & be taken up for dead. We may come and be no wiser than we were before we came, like them in the Acts of the Apostles, d Act. 19.32. the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. We may come as the e Gen. 19.11. Sodomites did to Lot's door, have our eyes perhaps broadwaking, and yet secundum quid, in regard of the matter in hand, be as blind as Beetles too. It is not enough you see to come then, but you must come & hearken. Come ye children and hearken. Here than we are all and every of us to bid Philosophy adieu. The Eye in this case as excellent a sense as it is, yet it is not the most excellent, the Ear is far to be preferred before it. Plus, saith f Lact. Instit. l. 3. c. 9 Lactantius, est in auribus quàm in oculis situm, quoniam & doctrina, & sapientia percipi auribus solis potest, oculis solis non potest. There is more in the ears of man, saith he, than there is in his eyes, for that learning and wisdom may be obtained by the ears only, by the only eye it is impossible. Thus, saith a worthy g D. Hackwell Vanity of the eyes, c. 21. p. 101 Divine, do we judge by the hearing only of the temper of metals, the soundness of timber, the emptiness of vessels, the deepness of waters. And we have heard, saith he, of many blind men who have become famous for wisdom and learning, but of deaf men we have not heard of any. I, Faith itself, as speaks the Apostle, is not that by hearing? How shall they call on him, h Rom. 10.14. saith he, in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? & how shall they hear without a Preacher? his conclusion i V 17. there is, than faith is by hearing, as if he had said, No Ear, no Faith: no hearing, no believing. Add hereunto the commodity that Hearing hath above all other senses whatsoever. For how many things must we see, & what books must we read, before we shall attain to the knowledge of that which we may learn by hearing one Lecture. We receive and understand in half an hour, that which our Master or Tutor who teacheth us, hath not prepared perhaps for us but in a long time & season. This Woolsey the Cardinal made good use of, in regard of his private good, for whereas the rest of the Council in those days called often upon K. Harry to acquaint himself with matters of state by resorting to the Council Table, and affourding his presence at their deliberations: he would advice him to follow his pleasures, and let Council matters alone to him, assuring him that at night he should have as much of him in one quarter of an hour as if he had been present all day at those tedious and wearisome consultations. By this trick, saith my l B. Godw. his Catal. of Bish. pag. 487. Author, he won himself such authority with the King, as he did even what he listed a long time after. But to return unto my purpose. As we are to come and hearken to, so is there danger also in hearing. For as our Saivour said in S. Marks m Mark. 4.24. Gospel: Take heed what you hear, and as S. Luke n Luk. 8.18. relateth it, Take heed how ye hear: so must we take especial heed not only what, and how, but also whom we hear. For as the Apostle o Philip. 3.18. saith to the Philippians, Many walk who are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is damnation, and so forth: so may it be said now a days that Many talk who are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is damnation, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is to their shame, which mind earthly things. And the same Apostle in an other place, Moreover p Act. 20.30. saith he, of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw disciples after them. And S. Peter to this purpose: These are wells without water q 2 Pet. 2.18. saith he, and clouds carried about with a tempest, to whom the black darkness is reserved for ever. For in speaking swelling words of vanity, they beguile with wantonness through the lusts of the flesh, them that were clean escaped from them which are wrapped in error. And would you then know whom to hearken to? It followeth, Come ye children and hearken unto me. Venite filij, audite me. Me your Prince, Me your Prophet, for he was in truth a very mixture of both. In the one hand as it were his Sword, in the other the Word, suppose a Book, & in both this Motto, Haec docet, Haec terret, This hand teacheth, This terrifies. For as r Aug. Ep. 48. S. Austen like a Father, Si terrerentur & non docerentur, improba quasi dominatio videretur; If those that err should be terrified only & not be taught, it might seem a kind of Tyranny: so the same Father in the self same period but like a judge, sed rursus si docerentur & non terrerentur, vetustate consuetudinis obdurarentur, & ad capessendam viam salutis pigrius moverentur; but again if they should be taught and not terrified to, custom would harden them, and make them place but slowly to the way of eternal life. Howbeit this is an argument that befits not our Meridian. I speak not now to Magistrates; I speak only unto you, and therefore come unto the last point namely the duty on his part who doth invite here, & what the Parties invited might expect at his hands, Come ye children & hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. [I will teach you the fear of the Lord.] Concerning Fear, in holy Scripture it is taken divers and sundry ways. It is taken first of all for the thing or danger feared, as Prov. 1.26, I will laugh at your destruction, and mock when your fear cometh. It is according unto that, Psalm. 2.4, He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: the Lord shall have them in derision. Which is not, Beloved, to be so understood as if the Lord were made of our metal, petulanti spleen, as speaks the s Pers. Sat. 1. Poet, set (as we say) on a merry pin: God forbidden we should ever think so basely of our God, but for the Prophet would intimate to us (as Calvin observes on that place) that when the whole world is up against him, he needeth no munitions, no fortifications or rampires against them, but can as easily and instantly bridle them, as a man is said to laugh who laughs by nature. Secondly, Fear is taken for the Person which is feared, as Gen. 31.42. Except the God of my Father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. They are jacob's words to Laban alluding, as Tremellius thinks, to Gen. 27.33, when as Isaac his father was stricken with a marvelous great fear whereby God as it were bridled him, lest he should recall again the blessing he gave. Thirdly Fear is taken for a free voluntary reverence, which Inferiors show to their Superiors, making them careful to obey & fearful to offend, as Rom. 13.7, Tribute to whom ye own tribute, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear. And that fear there spoken of is fearfulness to offend, not formidine poenae (as speaks the Poet) because of punishment ensuing, but virtutis amore, for love of goodness. You know whose saying it was, Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore: t Horat. Epist. l. 1. ad Quintium. Tu nihil admits in te, formidine poenae. Fourthly Fear is taken for an holy affection of the heart awing us & making us loathe to displease God by sin in respect of his gracious goodness and mercies, and for a love we bear to righteousness, as Psa. 130.4. There is mercy with thee, therefore shalt thou be feared. Now this is that Alpha and Omega, that beginning & end of wisdom so much spoken of in the Scriptures. The beginning, as Psalm. 111.10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: The end, as Eccles. 12.13. Let us hear the end of all, Fear God, and keep his commandments. Very excellent things throughout the Scriptures are spoken of this Fear. As Psal. 25.11. What man is he that feareth the Lord, him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose: and Psal. 145.19, He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: and Psalm, 115, 13, He shall bless them that fear the Lord both small and great. I but lentum est dabit, that saith the u Senec. Herc. Furens Act. 3. sc. Vtrumne vi sui. Poet: it may seem to long a coming, He will do it: why then he doth it in the present tense, and therefore, Psal. 33.17. The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, and Psal. 103, 11. Look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth: so great is his mercy also towards them that fear him: and in the 13. verse of that Psalm, Like as a father pitieth his own children, even so is the Lord merciful to them that fear him: and again in the 17. verse, The merciful goodness of the Lord endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear him: and in the 9 verse of this Psalm, They that fear him lack nothing. Si hoc quoque est lentum: if this may seem to slack to, for it is but even a doing, why then lo he hath done it already, and that in the preterperfect tense perfectly passed, He hath given meat unto them that fear him, Psal. 111.5. I omit Psal. 112.1. and Psal. 128.1. and Psal. 147.11. and Prov. 19.23. & Tob. 1.21. all deciphering unto us the benefit of this Fear, and I will say with the son of Syrach, The fear of the Lord is a pleasant garden of blessing, and there is nothing so beautiful as it is, Ecclus. 40.27. I have reckoned unto you four ways how Fear is to be taken. There is a fift, and a sixth way to, of both which in a word. Fiftly then Fear is taken for a terror in the heart of the wicked dreading God as a judge, and fearing to offend him only in regard of punishment that may ensue. Of this the Apostle S. john speaketh. 1. joh. 4.18. Fear saith he, hath painfulness, or as it is in our new Translation, Fear hath torment. And I say only in regard of punishment, for that the Godly in regard of punishment may be fearful to offend, but not in regard of punishment only. In this case x Aug. Tom. 9 in 1. epist. joan. p. 436. St Austen compares Fear to the bristle which is on the shoemakers thread, quando aliquid suitur, saith he, seta prius intrat, sed nisi exeat non succedit linum: when soever the shoemaker seweth a shoe the bristle first enters but unless it go out again the thread can in no wise enter, so the fear of God's vengeance first goeth before, and then brings in after it the long thread of God's mercies. Sixtly and lastly Fear is taken for the whole worship of God as Esay 29.13. for that which God himself there said, Their fear towards me was taught by the precepts of men: our Saviour interpreteth in S. Mathewes Gospel by the name of worship: In vain saith he, they worship me teaching for doctrines men's precepts. Mat. 15.9. And thus may Fear be taken here in this place, Come ye children and hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord: that is, afford me but your presence, come and hearken unto me diligently, & I will teach you how to worship the God of heaven. I will instruct you aright in his service, lest taking yourselves without good instruction, or to the right hand, or to the left, Gentilism, or Superstition; y Virg. Aentid. lib. 3. Dextrum Scylla latus, laevum implacata Charybdis Obsidet, The Scylla of Superstition being on one side, the Charybdis of Gentilism on the other; you utterly miscarry in this life, & consequently also in the life to come. Come ye children and hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The application is soon made. Such an invitation as was that, lo herein every respect. The Parties invited are yourselves. The duty on your parts to be performed, you are not ignorant what it is, if so be you did but hearken to this one word hearken. The disproportion is in myself. I am not I confess the I, here spoken of in this place. I may say as he in z Ambros. de Penitent. l. 2. c. 10. pag. 220. St Ambrose in another case, Ego non sum ego: z Ambros. de Penitent. l. 2. c. 10. pag. 220. I am not I. I am nor Prince, nor Prophet, not nor yet the son of a Prophet, as Amos spoke of himself, Amos, 7.14. and yet by the grace of God I am that I am, a 1. Cor. 15.10 & that God that against my expectation hath called me to this task, and made me not unwilling to accept of it, will I hope direct me therein; and to use Q. Elizabeth's words of blessed memory, b Slow Chronic. edit. 1601. pag. 1076. I trust God who hath hitherto preserved, and led me by the hand, will not now of his goodness suffer me to go alone. And yet as speaks the ᶜ Apostle, that I may boast myself a little, r 2. Cor. 11.16 as the Teacher here in this place was Prince, and Prophet both, and had in that respect two strings (as it were) to his bow: so am not I without two strings neither, even bound unto you in a double bond to tender the welfare of your souls; the one in regard of a particular calling of late by your Superiors to this place; the other of being before, and still remaining your Pastor. Both command, both constrain me, & I submit myself to both, and say with d Aug. Tom. 10. Ser. 16. p. 49. St Austen, Domino iubente loquor, quo terrente non taceo: The Lord commands me, and therefore I speak, he threatens if I speak not, and therefore I dare not hold my peace. If so be in my whole carriage, or managing hereof in any particular, any like Michol shall be ready to mislike at what may seem amiss, the answer that David gave shall be as ready: e 2. Sam. 6.21. It is before the Lord; & vilior fiam plusquam factus sum, & ero humilis in oculis meis; I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be low in my own sight. Totum enim decet quicquid defertur Religioni, ut nullum obsequium quod proficiat ad cultum & observantiam Christi erubescamus. All, saith St Ambrose, is decent that is given unto Religion, f Ambr. de Poenit. l 2 c. 6. pag. 213. nor are we to blush at any office performed on Christ's behalf. If any on the contrary think these pains of mine unfitting for you that are but Youths, and that they might better here be spared, and be bestowed elsewhere, I will oppose to him the words of St jerom which he wrote to Laeta concerning Paula her daughter whom I mentioned before, Ipse si Paulam miseris, g Hier. add Laetan de Instit. filiae. saith he, & Magistrum & Nutritium spondeo. Gestabo humeris, balbutientia senex verba formabo, multò gloriosior mundi Philosopho, qui non Regem Macedonum Babylonio periturum veneno, sed ancillam et sponsam Christi erudiam, Regnis coelestibus offerendam. If saith S. Jerome, you sand me your daughter Paula, I vow unto you to be her Master, and Foster-father both. I will bear her in my arms, and as old as I am, I will teach her even to speak. And herein my glory shallbe greater than was Aristotle's that great Philosopher of the world, who shall instruct not a king of Macedon shortly after to be made away by some Babylonish poison, but a handmaid & spouse of Christ destinated hereafter for the kingdom of heaven. If he so said but of one only, and she of the female sex to, what may I of so many of you as hear me this day, who as you are a many indeed, and of the more honourable & noble Sex, so who knoweth whether there are h joh. 1.26, 27 among you, whose sho-latchets an other day I may be unworthy to unloose. And so much the rather should my care be over you now in this kind, for there is even now a days a Scylla, and a Charybdis to. You shall no sooner settle yourselves to be truly religious indeed, but who so ready at hand as or Popery on the one side, or Puritanisme on the other. When wise king Solomon had given that good counsel, Pro. 4, 25. Let thine eyes behold the right, and let thine eye lids direct the way before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be ordered aright: he immediately addeth withal: Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left, but remove thy foot from evil. Gregory i Naz. orat. 26. pag. 446. Nazianzen makes a question here why king Solomon having spoken of Right before, should so soon give us counsel not to turn to the right hand: and his solution there is, that in the former place king Solomon meant that which was Right in very deed, but in the latter that which did but appear to be right, but yet notwithstanding was not so. Popery in this age having so much been beaten as it hath, nothing now unto a many seems so right, as that which is most opposite and contrary thereunto. But we aught not to turn to this right hand neither, no more then to the left. k Ovid. Met. l. 2 Altius egressus coelestia tecta cremabis, Inferius terras: medio tutissimus ibis. Popery aims at a celestial Hierarchy, I will ascend above the height of the clouds, & will be like the most High, Esay, 14.14. That which we call Puritanisme, at a popularity or parity, saying to Moses & to Aaron, ye take to much upon you, seeing all the Congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye yourselves above the congregation of the Lord, Numb. 16.3. Inter utrumque tene. A mean betwixt both doth well so it be a true mean and this is that myself shall aim at, to have you instructed in hereafter, Come ye Children and harken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. And here had I thought to have ended for this first time, howbeit before we part it shall not be amiss to make you acquainted with my manner of method I mean to observe unto you, that viewing as it were in one Card the several coasts we are to arrive at, we may when we are to set forth, launch out with much alacrity in hope of enriching our souls with abundance and store of treasure. Being to teach you then the Fear of the Lord, and that Fear being here taken for the whole worship of God: I shall entreat God willing of all that worship throughout my whole year. First and foremost than forasmuch as Divinity entreateth chief of two points, of God, & of the Church. I also will entreat of God and of the Church. Concerning God I shall show unto you first his Essence, than his Attributes, than his Works. Concerning the Church I shall also show, first what the Church is, secondly what she is to Believe, thirdly what to Practice. In showing you what she is I shall distinguish her first from Paganism, & judaisme, the two grand Religions of the old world: secondly from turcism, and Papism, the two smoking l Esay 7.4. firebrands of this world. In her Belief I shall discourse, first of the Articles of our Faith commonly called, the Apostles Creed: secondly of all those Tenets which our own Church holdeth against the rebellious Church of Rome. In her Practice I shall discourse, first of the Ten Commandments; secondly of Prayer; thirdly of Fasting; fourthly of Alms. Thus you see what I have proposed: God I hope hath disposed it to, wherefore to end with the words of my Text, Come ye children & hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The same Lord so bless us and the seed that hath been sown, that with you of the poorer sort the m Ma●. 13.22. cares of this world, with you of the wealthier the deceitfulness of your riches, with either of you of either sort the lusts of other things, grow not up like thorns and choke it. GOD'S ESSENCE. Lect. 2. jan. 21. 1612. I MAY seem to have kept a good decorum in being so long a coming hither since my former being in this place, considering the matter I am to speak of. I am at this time to speak of GOD, and you know the story of a Tully de Nature. Deor. lib. 1. Simonides, when he was to speak of that argument. He still doubled and trebled the time that was given him to pause upon it. True it is he was a Heathen, and had not the way to find him out as afterwards Christians had, I mean the benefit of his Word; but did Christians afterwards so found him as that they could perfectly know him indeed? Let us hear themselves speak. Dei natura, b Naz. Orat. 34 pag. 538. saith Nazianzen, nullis quidem verbis explicari potest: animo autem atque intellectu comprehends multò minus potest. The nature of God cannot be explicated by any manner of words whatsoever: much less can it be comprised or in our thoughts, or understanding. And again in the same c Ib. pag. 548. Oration, Quid tandem Deus natura sua & essentia sit, nec hominum quisquam unquam invenit, nec invenire potest. What God is in nature & essence neither did any man ever found, neither possibly can he found. And again a little after: In hac mortali vita quic quid ad nos usque perting it, aliud nihil est, quàm exiguus quidam riwlus ac velut parvus magnae lucis radius. Whatsoever concerning God happeneth to be known of us in this mortal life we here lead, is but a river in respect of a sea, and a little beam of that great light. And therefore d Aug de Verb. Dom Ser. 38. So Tertullian, Maior est ment ipsa nec cogitari possit quantus sit; quia si poterit tagitari, ment humana minor fit oportet qua concipi possit. Tertul. de Trin. pag. 494. S. Austen, Quid mirum si non comprehendis? si enim comprehendis non est Deus. What marvel is it if thou canst not comprehend God, for if so be thou couldst, then were not he God. So e Arnob. adves. Gen. l. 8. Arnobius, Magnitudinem Dei qui se putat nosse, minuit. He that thinks he knows God's greatness, doth diminish the greatness of God. If any man think, saith the f 1. Cor. 8.2. Apostle, that he knoweth any thing (how much more this thing?) he knoweth nothing yet, as he aught to know. The thoughts of mortal men, saith the g Wisd. 10.13. Corpus à prima creatione hominibus non idcirco datum est ut Deo cognoscen do sit impedime to P. Martyr Loc. Com. cap. 1. l. 4 §. 19, Author of the book of Wisdom, are fearful, and our forecasts are uncertain, because a corruptible body is heavy to the soul, and the earthly mansion keepeth down the mind that is full of cares. What? and shall we here then set down ourselves and rest us? nay, shall we despair of going farther? For that we know nothing as we aught to know, that is, we can know nothing, shall we endeavour therefore to know no more than we yet do; and pitching up our pillars with Hercules, say as he did in another case, Non ultra, Now no farther? God forbidden. Nay the same Apostle that said even now, that he knew nothing as he aught to know. And in another place, that he knew but in part, & prophesied in part, and that he saw but through a glass darkly: * Natal. Comes Mytholil. 3. c. 19 p. 274. Vi d●eund. l. 7, c. 1. p. 689. prayed yet for the i Eph. 3.17. Ephesians that being rooted and grounded in love they might be able to comprehend with all Saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, h 1. Cor. 13.9 that they might be filled with all fullness of God. Here then must be our endeavours even to know what may be known, but yet to have still before our eyes that good caveat given by k Prov. 25.27. vulg. Solomon; Qui scrutator est maiestatis opprimetur à gloria, He that pries too far into the majesty of God shall be overwhelmed with his glory. Est in Deo, l Hilar. de Trin. l. 1●. p 2●9. saith S. Hilary, quod percipi potest: est planè si modò quod potest velis. Sicut enim est in Sole quod videas, si hoc velis videre quod possis, amittas autem quod potevidere, dum quod non potes niteris: ita & in rebus Dei habes quod intelligas, si intelligere quod potes velis: caeterùm si ultra quàm potes spears, id quoque quod potuisti posse non poteris. There is, saith he, in God that which may be perceived by us: doubtless there is if so be thou endeavour that which may be. For as there is in the sun that which may be seen, if thou wilt see what thou mayst, but thou losest even what thou mayst see, if thou endeavour to see more than thou mayst: right so in matters concerning God, somewhat thou hast that thou mayst understand, if thou wilt understand what thou mayst, but if thou hopest beyond thy ability, then that which thou wert able once to do, now thou canst not do. And indeed this similitude of the Sun is brought by divers, as namely by m Radium quoque solarem non possumus apertè cognoscere, & ta men propter hoc cum ipsum maximè admiramur. Ita etiam de Dei cognition. Chr. in Ps. 138. Edit. Paris. 1556. p. 1023. S. chrysostom, n Si tanta claritas est Solis ut oculis in eum corporalibus non valeamus intendere quanta est illius claritas qui fecit Greg. in Psa. Poenitent. p 148. col 2. St Gregory, o Neque hoc Lumi nare magnum ( loquor istum quem quotidiè vides) vidisti tamen aliquam do sicuti est, sed tantum sicut illuminat, verbi causa aerem, montem, parietem. Bernard. sup Cantic. Ser. 31. p. 147. Col. 1. St Bernard, and a Si ad Solis aspectum oculorum nostrorum acies hebescit, ne orbem ipsum obtutus inspicial obviorum sibi superatus fulgore radiorum hoc idem mentis acies patitur in cogitation omni de Deo, & quanto ad considerandum Deum plus intenditur, tanto magis ipsa cogitationis sua luce coecatur. Tertul. de Trin. p 494. Tertullian. But I stay too long from that parcel of Scripture which I have chosen concerning GOD, and whereof God willing at this time I purpose to entreat. It is written in the book of Exodus, Exod. 3.14. The words are these: And God answered Moses, I am that I am. Also he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. Which words depending wholly upon the premises that went before, which premises were a kind of Dialogue between God and Moses, we will first seek out the occasion of them, and that was this. After some backwardness on Moses part about the embassage the Lord of heaven did purpose to employ him in, concerning the freeing the children of Israel from Egypt the house of bondage, as it is in the eleventh verse of this Chapter, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, & that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? And the Lord replying as it is in the twelve verse, Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee, and so forth: I, saith Moses, but when I shall come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your Fathers hath sent me unto you: If they say unto me, what is his name? what shall I say unto them? The answer to this question is the words of this my Text, wherein the Lord (you see) vouchsafeth to show to Moses what he is. And God answered Moses, I am that I am. Also he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 True it is, it is in the original, I will be that I will be in the future, & not I am that I am in the present tense, whereupon some have been of opinion, p Illyr. Clau. Script. de nomine jehovah Tract 6. p. 615 Vid. Zanch de Natura Deil. 1. c. 14. p. 48. col. 1. Illyricus by name, that his coming in the flesh was here signified, and the redemption of his people by his death and passion, howbeit forasmuch as the Hebrews use the future tense for the present, as that which noteth a continuance, and perpetuity of time, hence it is that that conceit may well be dispelled hence, and the word translated as here it is, howsoever Illyricus found fault with it, Ego sum qui sum, I am in the present tense. Now for these words, I am, how aptly and significantly they express the nature of God we shall the better conceive if so be we consider, first how they are added to those notions that Moses had before of God: secondly, if so be we mark their sense and meaning. The notions are twofold: the first, from God himself: the second, Moses his illation and inference thereupon. That which was from God himself was that in the 6 verse of this Chapter, God styleth himself in Moses his hearing, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of jacob. Abraham, and Isaac, and jacob three but silly men to speak of, and yet was not God ashamed of them to be called their God as it is in the Epistle to the q Heb. 11.6. Hebrews. Let me instance even in Isaac of whom what have we in the book of Genesis that God should name himself his God. r See Mr Bunnies Head Corner stone l. 1. c. 5 §. 5. p. 65. He lived some hundred & fourscore years, & yet are there scarce six several points remarkable that are recorded of him: as first when he was to be sacrificed how he knew so well (& yet it seemeth than he was some s Funccius makes him 26. Func. Chron. ad Annum mundi 2074. thirty years of age) what appertained to the service of God that himself espied what was wanting therein: secondly, he went out on an evening to t Gen. 24.63. meditate, or to pray in the u Parson's makes him but a child at this time: I, a little child, & yet he was at that time upon forty years of age, Vid. Mr Bunnies brief Answ. unto the idle and frivolous quarrels of R.P. against the late edition of the Resolution p. 152. field, perhaps he did it usually, but that is more than the Text avers: thirdly, he openly built an altar & worshipped the Lord: fourthly, though he were much inclined to Esau at the first, yet when he saw that God had turned that to jacob which he himself meant to Esau, he would not then altar the same: fifthly, he gave special charge unto jacob as touching the choice of his wife, and then did he bless him too. Behold the principal and total sum of some hundred and fourscore years. Nor is it likely he did perform much more than these related, considering the diligence of Moses in reporting matters of him that are of less moment and consequence than these. But this it is that may comfort us as many of us as now are, or shall be hereafter of the holy Ministry, that albeit we can by no means show such fruits as a many do in the Service of our God (and indeed all have not all talents, x Virg Egl. 8. Non omnia possumus omnes) yet if we endeavour to do what we can, and to do sincerely what we do, it is at true in this case as it is in Alms: y 1. Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, & not according to that he hath not. He that accepted of z Exod. 25.4 Goat's hair in the building of the Tabernacle, caused St judes one Epistle to be no less accepted of for the building of his Church, than fourteen of the Apostle St Paul's. Obadiah in the old Testament was as Canonical as Esay, Aggey as jeremy, and yet Obadiah hath but one Chapter, Esay three score and six, Aggey hath but two, jeremy fifty and two. But to return unto my purpose. The second notion is Moses his illation & inference upon the style which God here gave himself of being the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of jacob, namely that thereupon Moses terms him The Lord; as in the words immediately following, and in the seventh verse of this Chapter, Then the Lord said. It is in the original jehovah, and translated in the former translation of the Bible, as also in the last the Lord, for so did the Septuagint translate it to, as * Zanch. de not Dei, seu de diuin Attrib. l. 1. c. 17 Zanchius observeth. True it is b Illyr. Clau. script. tract. de Rat cognosc. sac. Lit. Tract. 1. p. 45. Vid Ib. De nomine jehovah Tract. 6. p. 622. Illyricus mislikes it, and saith that it doth obscure the nature of his name indeed, howbeit since the Apostles themselves, as c Calvin. Instit. l. 1. c. 13. §. 20. Calvin doth observe translated jehovah by this name too, their example in this case may be sufficient warrant for this Translation. Now whereas in our last Translation it is always set down in capital letters and those only four: that I take it, is or to show that it is a word in the original consisting of four letters commonly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or in imitation of the Germane Translation which hath the word heir in such capital letters, as d Illyr. Clau. sc. tract. de Rat. cognosc. sac. Lit. Tract. 1. p. 45. Illyricus shows unto us. It may be they had an other meaning too, namely that whereas Zanchius doth wittily observe that all Nations in a manner do writ the name of God with four letters, and maketh instance in the Hebrews, the Romans, the Spaniards, the Italians, the French, the Germane, the English (for so he e Supposing by like that we wrote God with a double D. as the Germans did Gort with a double T. takes it) the Chaldaeans, the Syrians, the Arabians, the Aethiopians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Magi, the Dalmatians, or Illyrici, the Turks and the New found world, esteeming it not to be done without the singular & especial providence of God himself; as if he had meant to show to all Nations that he was not the God of the jews only, but of all the world besides: forasmuch as Zanchius (I say) observeth this, & we indeed do not so writ it, it may be perhaps they would have the word f Only for often I have observed Esay. 30.15. Lord is in small ●●tters. LORD to supply that defect, lest in this case it might be said of us as was spoken in another, g Virg. Ecl. 1. Et penitus toto divisos orb Britannos. But to return to my purpose again. LORD is a name of relation, & you know in what predicament it is: Omnia quae ad aliquid sunt reciprocantur, velut servus, Domini servus, vicissimque. Dominus, servi Dominus esse dicitur. This word Lord doth intimate to us, that there is a mutual consequence, or a kind of dependence between God and us. Sieur non potest esse Servus, saith S. h Aug. de Trin. l. 5. c. 16. Vid. Damasc. Orth. Fid. l. 1. ●. 12. & Zanch. ubi sup. c. 10. p. 28. col. ● Austen, qui non habet Dominum, sic nec Dominus qui non habet Servum. As he cannot be a Servant that hath not a Lord: so cannot he be a Lord that hath not a servant. Howbeit here we are to note that our relation unto God is real, God's relation unto us is duntaxàt rationis, nominal only, and intentional. Not that there is any change at all in him, the change is in ourselves. Before the mountains saith i Psal. 90.2. David, were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made thou art God from everlasting and world without end. He that would see more in this case, I refer him to Zanchius in his first book De Natura Dei, the thirteenth chapter; where handling this question, seeing God is eternal and immutable and nothing chanceth to him a new: whether there be any names, which so belong unto him in time, that they could not belong unto him from everlasting: his answer is, That those names which betoken a relation between God & his Creatures as the name of Creator, of Lord, of Saviour, of Redeemer, and the like, are so spoken of God in time and not from everlasting, that notwithstanding no new thing happeneth unto him, neither is there hereby in him any change at all. And thus much of these two notions which you see content not Moses concerning the knowledge of God, namely that he is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, & of jacob, and that he styles him here the Lord, so that he is ignorant of him still, wherefore now of that which is added, I am, that I am: And, I am hath sent me unto you. Wherein first I shall consider the addition itself, secondly the meaning of the words. Concerning the addition it is more than usually hath been granted in like cases. When Manoah in the book of judges asked the Angel of his name, the Angel said unto him, why askest thou thus after my name which is secret? judg. 13.18. So likewise jacob when he had wrestled with the Angel in Genesis, saying, Tell me I pray thee thy name: the Angel's reply was, wherefore now dost thou ask my name? And it followeth there in that place, And he blessed him there, Gen. 32.29. Hic Angelus saith l Calv. Inst. l. 1. c. 13. §. 10. Calvin speaking of the former, jehovah fuit. Et iste jehovah fuit, speaking of the latter, & of this latter he there proveth it partly by Hosea, Hosea, 12.5, partly by the words of jacob Gen. 32.30. So Agur in Salomons m Prov. 30.4. Proverbs, what is his n Ex quo effectum est, ut nec nomen Dei proprium possit edici, quoniam non possit nec concipi Idenim nomine continuetur quicquid etiam ex naturae su● conditione c●mprehenditur No men enim significantia est eius rei quae comprehendi po●uit ex nomine. At quam do id de quo agitur tale est, uti condignè nec ipsis intellectibus colligatur: quomodo appellationis dignè vocabulo pronunciabitur. Tertul. de Trin. p. 496. name, and what is his sons name if thou canst tell? If thus then it were said to jacob, thus to Manoah, as also by Agur long after, how much more might the Lord in this place have thus spoken unto Moses, especially the Lord in some sort having declared himself unto him before. Nor was Moses now at this time a Puny in Religion. They are special great testimonies which the Apostle to the Hebrews gives him. By faith, saith the o Heb. 11.24. Apostle, Moses when he was come to age refused to be called the son of pharao's daughter, and chose rather to suffer adversity with the people of God, then to enjoy the pleasures of sins for a season, esteeming the rebuke of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, and feared not the fierceness of the king: for he endured as he that saw him which is invisible. Now if Moses did all this, and all before this time, as no doubt indeed but he did it all, how might the Lord have here answered him as did our Saviour S. Philip, joh. 14.9. I have been so long time with you, and hast thou not known me Philip? Right so in this place: I have been so long known unto thee, & dost thou now Moses ask my name? Thou when thou wert come to age didst refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter: thou didst choose rather to suffer adversity with the people of thy God, then to enjoy the pleasures of sins for a season: thou didst esteem the rebuke of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: thou hadst respect unto the recompense of the reward: thou didst forsake Egypt, & didst not fear the fierceness of the king: thou didst endure as he that saw me which am invisible, & dost thou not yet know my name? But it pleased the Lord of heaven not to deal with Moses in this sort. He rather satisfieth his desire, and addeth unto that which he had said of himself before, & so I come unto the meaning of that which he now saith, I am that I am, I am hath sent me unto you. And God answered Moses, I am that I am. Also he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. This other name he gives himself is (as I told you) in the Hebrew Eheie, and p M Bunny his Head Corner stone● 1. c. 6. §. 3. p. 115. signifieth two points, first as ever being of himself: secondly being he of whom all others have their being. I know there q Zanch. de Nature. Dei. l. 1. c 14 are that suppose there is signified hereby his two essential Attributes, Eternity & Immutability, but forasmuch as that opinion concerneth the future tense only, and we here read it in the present, I will at this time entreat of these points only of being of himself and being unto others: of those his other Attributes God willing at some other time. First then for his ever being of himself, or his own absolute manner of being, it is that which the Scriptures declare unto us, I, the very Heathen. The Scriptures they tell us that before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, he was God from everlasting, and world without end: so David as I told you before, Psalm 19.2, or rather Moses who hath his name in the forefront of that Psalm. And again in an other r Psal. 102.24 place: O my God, take me not away in the midst of mine age: as for thy years they endure throughout all generations. Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth: & the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish but then shalt endure: they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same; and thy years shall not fail. So likewise the Prophet Esay, or rather the Lord in the Prophet: Before me there was no God form, neither shall there be after me. I, even I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Saviour, yea before the day was, I am, Esay. 43.13. This the Heathen perceived also, and therefore s Vid. Zanch. de Nat. Dei seu de Divin. Attr. l. 1. c. 13. p 38. col 2 Plato he calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that which is: and in his Timaeus reprehendeth those which attribute unto him or the future, or the preterperfect tense, forasmuch as neither of those tenses did seem to agreed with him, but the present tense only. Hence it was that upon the doors of the Temple of Delphos the inscription was in capital letters E I: veram, saith t ●●ut. Moral. Part. 1. de E I apud Delphos. Plutarch, certam, solamque soli convenientem ei appellationem qua esse dicitur tribuentes; giving him thereby a true, a certain, and an only appellation of being and existing alone. Now that of him also all other things have their being what more pregnant proof, than the words of David in another of his Psalms: The eyes of all, u Ps. 145.15. saith he, wait upon thee O Lord, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand, and fillest all things living with plenteousness, And again in another x Psal. 104.24 place, O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all, the earth is full of thy riches: so is the great and wide sea also, wherein are things creeping innumerable both small & great beasts. There go● the ships, and there is that Leviathan, whom thou hast made to take his pastime therein. These wait all upon thee, that thou mayst give them meat in due season. When thou givest it them they gather it, and when thou openest thy hand they are filled with good. When thou hidest thy face they are troubled: when thou takest away their breath they die, & are turned again to their dust. So the Apostle to the * Rom. 11.36. Romans, Of him, and through him, and for him are all things; to him be glory for ever, Amen. Go we unto particulars, & in the eight & thirtieth Chapter of the Book of job; doth not the Lord instance in a many of them as in the Earth, the Sea, the Light, & Darkness, Snow, hail, Raine, Dew, Ice and so forth? And in the nine and thirtieth Chapter of the same Book doth he not instance likewise in the wild Goats, the Hinds, the wild Ass, the Unicorn, the Peacock, the Ostrich, the Horse, the Hawk, the Eagle? And in the fortieth Chapter in Behemoth, that is the Elephant as some suppose and in the one and fortieth Chapter in Leviathan that is the Crocodile as z Beza in joh. Praef. in c. 38. p 231. Beza is of opinion? If all this content us not for there is not in all these Chapters any mention at all of Man, go we then to the Acts of the Apostles and shall we not there find that in him we live and move, and have our being, Act. 17.28? Go we from thence to the Book of the Psalms, & shall we not there found the very manner of making and framing us? I will give thanks unto thee, saith a Psal. 139.11. David, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My bones are not hid from thee: though I be made secretly, and fashioned beneath in the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect, and in thy book were all my members written, which day by day were fashioned: when as yet there was none of them. My bones, saith he, are not hid from thee: though I be made secretly, & fashioned: it is in the original Ruccamthi, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accordingly whereunto it is in our new Translation, when I was made in secret and curiously wrought, of Racam, he wrought with a needle, as if every of us had been wrought in tissue, or in embroidered work by a cunning and expert hand. Return we at length to the Book of job again, and there shall we found it delivered to us in country terms: Hast thou not powered me out as milk, saith b job. 10.10. job, and turned me to curds like cheese? What then? and are country folk only made after this sort, Gentle and Noblemen after that other? those like milk, these like tissue? nay those and these both like to milk and like to tissue, God, saith the Apostle that made the world, and all things that are therein hath made of one blood all mankind, Act. 17.26. We see then the name here given unto God, we see it given unto him by himself, we see the meaning of it too, namely how it signifieth an absolute being of himself, & a cause of being unto others. I will end this point with that of c Damas'. Orth. Fid. l. 1. c. 12. Damascen: borrowed it seems from o Naz Orat. 38. p. 615. Gregory Naziazen Videtur principalius omnium de Deo dictorum nominum esse, Qui est. Totum enim in se ipso comprehendens habet ipsum ESSE: veluti quoddam pelagus substantiae infinitum & interminum. It seemeth this name, I am, is the chiefest and most principal of all the names of God. For this very word TO BE hath in it all whatsoever is comprehended in itself as it were a substantial Ocean infinite & boundless. Having thus then seen the principal name of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Damascen speaketh, we might now hope out of the premises to go a great way farther, & to make a definition of God, and so to know his very essence: but all Divines will tell us that that is impossible. He had need saith d M. Cartwr. Catech. p. 3. one, to have the art and Logic of God himself, that should give a perfect definition of him. And, Definiri non potest, saith e Fayi Enchirid Thes. 1. §. 8 p. 1. another, cum sit superior omni genere & differentia: It is impossible he should be defined, since he cannot be comprised under those two terms of Logic, Genus and Differentia. And, As fish, saith f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. orat. 34. p. 538. Nazianzen, that swim in the water, they see nor Sun, nor stars, but only a shadow of them: right so do men behold but as it were a shadow of God. Dum sumus in hoc corpore, saith the g 2. Cor. 5.6. Apostle, peregrinamur à Domino: whilst we are in this body, we are strangers from God: now Strangers in another country are ignorant for the most part of what is there done. Hence that of Cleophas to our h Luk. 24.18. Saviour; Art thou only a stranger in jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass therein in these days? And indeed as S. i Aug. de Trin. l. 1. c. 1. Austen tells us, Quo intellectu Deum capit homo, qui ipsum intellectum suum quo eum vult capere nondum capit: with what understanding can Man possibly conceive God, who cannot conceive his own understanding. Howbeit, for there is to be had some knowledge of God, and the Lord himself saith in the Prophet l jer. 9.24. jeremy, Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth & knoweth me, let us endeavour to define him, yet so as we always have that of m Arnob. in Ps. 91. Arnobius before our eyes, De Deo loqui etiam vera, quia periculosissimum est, timeamus: Let us fear to speak even that which is true concerning God, for that there is danger even in that. GOD then is an n Perkins on the Creed. p 27. ESSENCE spiritual, SIMPLE, JNFINITE, MOST HOLY. I say an ESSENCE to show (as I showed you before) that he is a thing absolutely subsisting in himself & by himself, not receiving his being from any other. I say spiritual to show that he is not any kind of Body, nor hath the parts of a Body and therefore the Scripture when it assighneth such parts unto him, as the eye, the hand, the feet, and so forth, The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, Psa. 33.18. The Lord upholdeth a good man with his hand, Psal. 37.24. I will glorify the place of my feet, Esay 60.13. It is but for our capacities sake who otherwise are not able to conceive his watchfulness over us meant by his Eye: his providence meant by his hand: his readiness to help us meant by his feet. It followeth that he is SIMPLE, not simple as we take Simple in our usual phrase of speech when as we say a simple man, a simple body, and so forth, but Simple that is not o Vid. Zanch. de Nat. Dei, seu de Divin. Attrib. 2. c. 2. p. 78. col. 1. compounded of several parts, nor of matter nor of form, nor of subject, nor of accident, as every other creature is. Again, Angels and the Souls of men they I grant are simple to, and they are, as God is, simple essences, but it is but in respect, as namely of the Elements. Even so the Elements are simple to, but only in respect of those things which are compounded of them: the simplicity that is in God that is most absolutely simple. It followeth that he is INFINITE. p Vid. Zanc. Ib. p. 77. Col. 1. Infinite in time, infinite in place. Infinite in time, for he is without beginning, and without end: Infinite in place, for he is every where, and in every place. The Prophet David speaking of the former of them, O my God q Ps. 102.24. vid. Ps. 90.2. saith he, take me not away in the midst of mine age, as for thy years they endure throughout all generations. Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish but thou shalt endure, they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shallbe changed: but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail. And speaking of the other, whither r Psal. 139.6. saith he, shall I go from thy spirit: or whither shall I go from thy presence? If I climb up into heaven thou art there: if I go down to hell, thou art there also. If I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of the Sea: even there also shall thy hand lead me, & thy right hand shall hold me. So the Lord himself in the Prophet s jer. 23.24. jeremy, Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth? I will conclude this point with that which a late Writer hath, concerning this word Infinite, Try it when y●u will t Treatise of the Nature of God. p. 80. saith he, and infiniteness you shall find to be the right Philosopher's stone which turneth all metals into gold, and that one dram of it being put not only to an Angel, or to an wh●l● Element, but even to the lest fly in the world, or the lest moat in the sun is of force to make it true & very God. Howbeit it can in truth Beloved no more be added or put unto the hugest Elephant that is, than it can be unto a fly: no more to the world itself, than but to a moat in the Sun. It is peculiar and proper to God alone, he only is infinite, God is an infinite essence. It followeth in the last place that he is MOST HOLY, and hence it is that the Prophet Esay doth triple this word Holy as Esay, 6.1. I saw the Lord saith he sitting upon an high throne, & lifted up. The Seraphims stood upon it. And one cried to an other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole world is full of his glory. A passage that as S. Ambrose did borrow of that Prophet, so we in our Church Service have borrowed of S. Ambrose. You know what we daily say throughout the year: To thee all Angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein. To thee Cherubin & Seraphim continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth, Heaven and Earth are full of the majesty of thy glory. And hence it seemeth hath come the custom of singing or saying Psalms, and other parts of common prayer, wherein the People and Minister answer one an other by course. But for this I shall refer you to those most excellent lines of Mr Hooker in his fift book of Ecclesiastical Polity, the nine and thirtieth section. I return unto my purpose. God is Most Holy two manner of ways. First for that he is Most Holy in himself: secondly for he maketh others Holy, and causeth them so to be. Of the former Moses speaketh, Exod. 15.11. Who is like unto thee O Lord among the Gods? who is like thee so glorious in holiness? Of the latter the Lord himself, Exod. 31.13. Keep ye my Sabbaths for it is a sign between me and you in your generations, that you may know that I the Lord do sanctify you: that is, do make you Holy. I will conclude all this concerning the definition with that of u Cyp●siue Russ. in Symb. Apo●. p. 358. S. Cyprian, or rather Ruffinus upon the Creed, Deum cum audis saith he substantiam intellige, sine initio, sine fine, simplicem sine ulla admixtione, invisibilem, incorporean, ineffabilem, inaestimabilem, in qua nihil adiunctum, nihil creatum sit. Sine authore est enim ille qui author est omnium. When as thou hearest God named unto thee understand thou a substance without beginning, without end, simple without commixtion, invisible, without body, unspeakable, inestimable, whereunto nothing is added, wherein nothing is created. For he hath no Creator who is himself the Creator of al. And thus have you heard in some so●t of the Essence of God, good God how f●r from that which he is in very d●ed. You have heard his definition. I know others define him otherwise. God saith x M, Cartw. Catec. p. 3. one, is a spirit, which hath his being of himself. He is the centre saith an y Fa●i Enchir. Thes. 1. §. 15. p. 2. other, from which all things issue, and whereunto they return again. Quid est Deus saith a z Senec. Nat. Quaest. l. 1. Praes. third? Quod vides totum et quod non vides totum: God is all we see, and all we see not. But when all that can be possibly, hath been spoken, that of a Aug. de Temp. Ser. 190. So Tertul. Quid de eo condignè dicas, qui est sublimitate omni sublimior, & altitudine omni altior, & profundo omni profundior, & omni luce lucidior, & omni claritate clarior, omni splendore splendidior, omni rohore robustior, omni virtute viritior, omni pulchritudine pulchrior, veritate omni verior, & fortitudine omni fortier, & maiestate omni maior, & omni potentia potentior, & omnibus divitiis ditior, omni prudentis prudentior, & omni benignitate benignior, omni bonitate melior, omni justitia iustior, omni clementia clementior. Minora enim sint necesse est omnium genera virtutum, co ipso qui virtutum omniam & Deus & parens est. Tertul. de Trin. pag. 494. S. Austen may well serve as a conclusion: Certè hoc est Deus quod & cum dicitur non potest dici, cum aestimatur non potest aestimari, cum comparatur non potest comparari, cum definitur ipsa definitione crescit: quia coelum manu sua cooperit, pugno omnem mundi ambitum claudit, quem totum omnia nesciunt & metuendo sciunt. Doubtless God is that entity which when it is spoken of, cannot be spoken: when it is esteemed, cannot sufficiently be esteemed of, when it is compared, is beyond comparison, when it is defined, our grows the limits of a definition, for that he covereth heaven itself with his hand, compriseth the compass of the whole world within his fist, whom all things know not, & yet by fearing him know him to. And thus much of God's Essence namely what God is, how the same God is in Persons inseparably, and without confusion, distinguished into the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three Persons and one God, if the same God so will at my next return to this place. In the meame time HE s● bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. THE TRINITY. Lecture 3. March. 18. 1612. IF much against your expectation, and my own intent and purpose too, I have failed you now these many weeks in performance of this exercise, imagine the cause to be not so much in myself (who cannot yet excuse myself wholly and altogether) as in divers & sundry lets occasioned by others. Among the rest suppose one to be (and indeed so it was) the death of that great MAECENAS, a Sr THONAS BODLEY, who died jan. 28. 1612. Stylo Eccles. Angl. than whom we of this place could hardly have had a greater loss. If ever there might be just cause of silence to these Exercises, what greater cause than that, when he that gave new tongues both to Divines, and Physicians, and Lawyers, & the Arts, himself lies speechless now, and bereaved of his life. I may use concerning him the words of b Aug. de verb. Apost. Ser. 33. p. 178. S. Austen, Discedente anima qui ambulabat jacet, loquebatur tacet, oculi lucem non capiunt, aures nulla voce patescunt, omnia membrorum officia conquieverunt, non est qui moverat gressus ad ambulandum, manus ad operandum, sensus ad percipiendum. And again a little after: Discessit qui non videtur, remansit quod cum dolore videatur. The soul, saith S. Austen, departing from him, he that walked lies along, he that talked holds his tongue; his eyes receive no light, his ears no sound, all his members fail in performance of their several duties. He that moved his feet to walk, his hands, those blessed hands of his continually to work, his senses to perceive, is not. He which is not seen is gone, that remaineth behind which may be seen indeed, but with grief and sorrow. What then, and shall we still grieve? shall we lament and sorrow still? Nay let us hearken rather to the same S. Austen, who upon like occasion of loss of friends, Lacrymas istas, c Aug. de verb. Apost. Ser. 32. pag 277. saith he, citò reprimat fidei gaudium quâ credimus Fideles quando moriuntur paululùm à nobis abire, & ad meliora transire. Let the joy of faith repress these tears of ours, by which faith we believe that the Faithful when they die step from us apart indeed, but to be possessed of a better place. That which every day we say as a parcel of our Grace, it being a passage of one of the d Ps. 111.6. vulg. Psalms, let us call to mind this day. In memoria aeterna erit justus. Ab auditu malo non timebit. Dispersit, dedit pauperibus. justitia eius manet in saeculum saeculi. The Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. He will not be afraid for any evil tidings. He hath dispersed abroad and given to the poor. His righteousness remaineth for ever. Now what saith c Aug. de Verb. Apost. Ser. 33. pag. 278. S. Austen is this Auditus malus, these evil tidings here spoken of, Ab auditu malo non timebit; but when it is said to them on the left hand, Ito in ignem aeternum, Departed from me ye cursed into everlasting fire? Ab hoc auditu malo justus non timebit; Erit enim ad dexteram, and so forth. The Righteous shall not be afraid of those ill tidings: for he shall be on the right hand among them to whom it is said. Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit ye the kingdom prepared for you. And thus shall it be (I nothing doubt) with that Right Honourable KNIGHT I now speak of, of whom to have said nothing at all had been liable to a kind of Ingratitude, to say more than hath been spoken might prove prejudicial to that time, which is allotted me to speak of God to whom himself is now gone. To come at length then to the matter in hand. It was a worthy saying of f Bernard de Consid l. 5. p. 260. Col. 4. S. Bernard, Solus est Deus qui frustra nunquam quaeri potest, nec cum quidem inveniri non potest. God it is, and God alone, that can never be sought in vain, not not then when it is impossible to found him out. justin Martyr gives the reason; Quamvis natura divina, g justin Mart. de Trinit. graecè p. 177. lat. p. 198 saith he, sit incomprehensibilis, non debemus tamen in totum ab ea quaerenda desistere, & per ignaviam vitam consumere: sed pro sua quisque portione acceptae à Domino scientiae strenuè rem examinet, certus non quidem exactè se percepturum, profecturum tamen aliquantum per huiusmodi contemplationem accedendo ad illum propiùs. Howsoever, saith he, the divine nature be incomprehensible, yet aught we not wholly to desist from the searching out of the same, consuming our lives in sloth and idleness. Wherefore let every one, according to that portion of knowledge he hath obtained of the Lord, industriously endeavour to seek it, assuring himself he shall not exactly and perfectly found it out, howbeit that he shall profit notwithstanding thereby, forasmuch as by this means he shall more nearly approach unto him. Experience whereof we had at my last supplying this place, when not finding out what God was, we heard notwithstanding of his Name, we heard also of his Nature. The Name was such as he gave himself. Concerning his Nature we defined him to he, An essence spiritual, Simple, Infinite, Most Holy, & every of these terms were explicated unto you. It remaineth now to be declared concerning the farther knowledge of this his Essence, how the same God is in Persons inseparably, and without confusion distinguished into the Father, Son, & Holy Ghost, whereof God willing at this time. And to this purpose have I made choice of a passage of one of the Epistles of S. john, namely the seventh verse of the fifth Chapter of of the first of his Epistles. The words are these; There are three which bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three which bear record in the earth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agreed in one. For the better considering of which words let us first observe the scope of the Apostle in this place: secondly the words themselves and consequence thereupon. The h Zanch. de Trib. Eloh. l. 1. c. 1. p. 4. Col. 2. vid. Ib. p. 3. Col. 2. scope of the Apostle in this place was to prove, that JESUS was the true Son of God, and the same Christ, & Messiah of whom the Prophets foretold long before, and therefore he upon whom alone our faith and the faith of every one aught to rely. For whereas others did deny that jesus was that Christ, our Apostle here in this place stiffly maintaineth that he is, to the end the Faithful might know that they had eternal life, & that they might believe in his name, as it is in the thirteenth verse of this Chapter. All which he proveth by two manner of witnesses, six in all, namely by witnesses in Heaven, and witnesses in Earth. The witnesses in heaven are three, the Father, the Son, & Holy Ghost: the witnesses in Earth are three too, the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood. First concerning the Father's witness that appeared at two several times, unto both which it is likely the Apostle alludes in this place. The first was at our saviours Baptism when as the Father spoke these words, * Mat. 3.17. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: The second at his Transfiguration, when as the same words were spoken again, but with this addition, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, hear him. i Mat. 17.5. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: hear him. Where by the way we are to note why the Father in both places should say of this his Son IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. We may say in this case as Pharaoh's chief Butler did in another, m Gen. 41.9. I call to mind my faults this day. Right so these words may put us in mind of the iniquity of Mankind that hath been in former ages. You shall read in the Book of ⁿ Genesis that it was so great, that it repent the Lord that he had made Man in the earth, and how he was sorry in his heart; you shall read in the Book of n Gen. 6.6. Psalms how the wrath of the Lord was so far kindled against his People; o Psal. 106.39. as that he abhorred his own inheritance: but these words here in this place are like the Olive leaf that Noah's Dove had plucked. p Gen. 8.11. Noah knew by that, that the waters were abated from of the earth; and we by these that the wrath of God is abated towards us and all Mankind. God q 2. Cor. 5.19. saith S. Paul, was in Christ, and reconciled the world to himself, not imputing their sins unto them. And thus much of the first witness. The second witness was the Son, and his witness appeared throughout the whole course of his life, partly in preaching, partly in working miracles, confirming his preaching thereby. I, but some will say, if the Son bear witness of himself what kind of witness is that? This was objected to him by the Pharisees: r Ioh 8.13. Thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not true. It is as if they had said, Thou bearest record of thyself, therefore thy record is not true. I, our Saviour himself of himself, s joh. 5.31. If I should bear witness of myself, my witness were not true. True it is, he so faith, but he speaketh there in that place according to the opinion of his Adversaries, as if he should have said: t Musc. in hunc locum. You suppose I seek not the glory of God, but my own, & to be a boaster of my own praises rather than a publisher of the truth of God; and so of myself to speak thus, & thus, without the sufficient testimony of others besides. Indeed were I such an one, you might worthily suspect me, & all that I have ever spoken: but you are deceived, it is not so, there is one that testifieth of me, and so forth. So that our Saviour as I said speaketh there according to the opinion of his Adversaries, for otherwise he saith of himself, and said it to the Pharisees that did object it against him: u joh. 8.14. Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go. And again, a little o Vers. 18. after, I am one that bear witness of myself. One, because such an one, and such an one; for the law of truth was in his mouth, & there was no iniquity sound in his lips, Malach. 2.6. I proceed. The Holy Ghost is the third witness, and his witness appeared both before his death, & after. Before his death at his Baptism, when as he descended on him like a p Mat. 3.16. Dove: after his death, and resurrection, and ascension into heaven, when as he descended on his Apostles in the shape of fiery q Act. 2.3. tongues. Whereupon S. Gregory hath this good note, In columba super Christum, r Greg in Evang Hom. 30. fol. 120. col 3. saith he, apparere debu●t Spiritus qui non veniebat ut peccata iam per zelum percuteret, sed adhuc per mansuetudinem toleraret: at contra super Discipulos in igne debuit Spiritus Sanctus demonstrari, ut hi qui erant simpliciter homines atque ideo peccatores, eos contra semetipsos spiritalis fervour accenderet, & peccata quibus Deus per mansuetudinem parceret, ipsi in se per poenitentiam punirent. It was convenient that the holy Spirit should appear upon Christ in the likeness of a Dove, forasmuch as he came not then at that time to punish sin through zeal, but through meekness to bear with it: but upon the Apostles it was convenient that contrariwise the Holy Ghost should be showed upon the Disciples in Fire, that they which were simply men and consequently sinners, a spiritual heat should inflame themselves against themselves, and those sins which God forgave through the bounty of his mercy, they through repentance should punish in themselves. S. Austen hath an other not much unlike: Audivimus columbam super Dominum, s Aug. in Evan. joan. Tract. 6, p. 34. saith he, has linguas divisas super discipulos congregatos: ibi simplicitas, hic fervour ostenditur. And again a little after, Ne spiritus sanctificati dolum habeant, in columba demonstratum est: ne simplicitas frigida remaneat, in igne demonstratum est. We have heard, faith S. Austen, that a Dove descended upon our Lord, & cloven Tongues upon the Disciples gathered together: in the Dove simplicity, in the Tongue's fervency and vehemency are understood. The one showeth that they that are sanctified by the Spirit should be without guile: the other that want of guile should not have a numbnes of spirit in it. But thus much of the heavenly witnesses; come we now to the terrestrial, the witnesses in earth. The witnesses in earth are three too, the Spirit, & Water, and Blood; which three what they are, several men are of several minds. An opinion there is that is indeed very probable, how by Spirit is understood The knowledge of God the Father, by the testimony of the holy Ghost, whereof the Apostle to the Romans, Rom. 8.6, as also to the Corinthians, 1. Cor. 1.30. Secondly that by Water is understood our Regeneration, the types whereof in the Law were the legal purifyings, the accomplishment thereof in the Gospel the Sacrament of Baptism. Thirdly, that by Blood is understood the Righteousness of Christ, which by his blood is purchased for us, consisting in two points, First in the remission of our sins, Secondly in the imputation of Christ his Righteousness. Howbeit I for my part shall rather commend unto you the opinion of t Zanch. de trib. Eloh. l. 1. ●. 1. p. 4. col. 2. Zanchius for this point, namely that these three witnesses in earth are as it were three kinds of Prophecies foreshowed and fulfilled in our Saviour Christ jesus, as first that he was a Prophet, secondly a Priest, thirdly a Prince. His teaching us as a Prophet the Scriptures very often compare unto Water, as Deut. 32.6. Esay, 11.9. Ezech. 47.1. job. 29.22. Amos 7.16. His coming as a Priest may be compared unto Blood by reason of his death and passion. So Esay prophesied of him, Esay, 53.5. and David when as he said, They pierced my hands and my feet, Psal. 22.17. Lastly his coming as a King with power and Majesty vanquishing his enemies and triumphing over them, that is intimated by the Spirit. Hence that of the Apostle in his epistle to Timothy, u 1. Tim. 3.16. justificatus est in spiritu, justified in the Spirit, that is, by his power and virtue, whereby he wrought miracles, whereby he rose again, whereby he vanquished his enemies, and overcame the world. So S. Peter, x 1. Pet. 3.18. Christ, saith he, was quickened in the spirit, by the which also he went and preached unto the spirits that are in prison. So our Saviour of himself, if I, y Mal. 12.28. saith he, cast out Devils by the spirit of God, then is the kingdom of God come unto you. So that the Apostles words in this my Text may thus be resolved: He who first came unto us as a Prophet by Water, that is, the doctrine of the Gospel, & spreads the same over the world: secondly he that came as a high Priest by Blood, who came indeed by his own blood, for he died such a death as was foretold he should die, and that for other folks sins: thirdly he who came as a Prince by his Spirit, that is, by his power in working miracles, in rising again from the dead, and in vanquishing of his Enemies, he no doubt is the true Messiah: but so came our Saviour Christ; and therefore was Christ the true Messiah. And this was the Apostles scope. z Virg. Aeneid. l. 1. Huc cursus fuit. Hither it was he meant to sail, & here indeed he did arrive with as prosperous a gale of wind as heart could wish. And thus much of the scope of the Apostle in this place, come we now to the words themselves, and consequence thereupon. There are three which bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three which bear record in the earth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agreed in one. First concerning the FATHER, we are first of all to consider that the name Father in holy Scripture is a M Perk. on the Creed p. 44. ascribed either to God indefinitely, and so by consequence to all the Persons in Trinity: or particularly to the first Person alone. As it is ascribed to God indefinitely, and by consequence to all three Persons, God is a Father properly and principally; earthly Parents are but images and resemblances of him, and therefore our Saviour Christ, b Mat. 23.9. Call no man your Father upon the earth: for there is but one, your Father which is in heaven. Now God is termed a Father both in respect of Nature, as also of Grace. Of Nature because he created, and governeth all things, whereupon he is called, c Heb. 12.9. The Father of spirits, and Adam is called, d Luk. 3 38. The son of God. Of Grace, for that we are all of us regenerate by him & accepted to be his Sons by adoption through the merits of our Saviour Christ. And in this respect the second Person aswell as the first, is called a e Esay. 9.6. Father, and said to have f Esay. 8.18. & 53.10. Seed, or Children. But when the name Father is particularly given to the first Person alone, it is because he is a Father by nature to the second Person, begetting him of his own substance before all worlds, Ex utero ante Luciferum genui te, as it is in the g Ps. 109.21 Vulgar, though it be in our english Vulgar: The dew of thy birth is of the womb of the morning, or as it is translated in our h Ps. 110.3. New, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth. i Aug. in Ps. 106 Quid est ex utero, saith S. Austen? what is meant here by the womb? Ex secreto, ex occulto: de meipso, de substantia mea, hoc est ex utero. In secret, in hidden wise: of myself, of my substance, that is from the womb, l Esay. 53.8. quia generationem eius quis enarrabit? For who shall declare his generation? Secondly concerning the WORD, we are first of all to note who it is, is meant thereby: secondly why & wherefore he is so called, who is indeed, thereby meant. By the Word is meant in this place not the Scripture as m Illa interpretatio nomine Patris intelligi Deum, nomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doctrinam, seu Scripturam sanctam: Spiritus autem, Sancti nomine, ipsa Christi miracula, etc.: coacta est nec cum Apostoli verbus coharet. Zanch, de Trib. Eloh. l. 8. c. 4 p. 306. C. 1. some would have it, but our Saviour Christ jesus, the second Person in Trinity, the only begotten Son of God, who as he is styled by S. john according to his human Nature by the name of the Lamb, as joh. 1.29. and again, joh. 1.36, Behold the lamb of God, and oftentimes in the Revelation; so according to his divine Nature is he styled by the name of the Word, as in the first words of his Gospel no less than three times in one period: In the beginning was the word, & the word was with God●, and that word was God. Now our Saviour Christ is called the WORD n Barth. Traheron. upon john c. 1. B. 8. b. partly for he is the image of his Father, representing all that is in the Father; partly for he floweth and issueth from him; partly for he is conceptus, the conception (if I may so speak) of the mind of God; partly for he is God's virtue and power whereby God uttereth himself; partly for he is God's wisdom whereby he once made and now governeth the whole world & all therein. Gregory o Greg. Naz. Orat. 36 p 590 Vid. Zanch. de Trib. Eloh. l. 6. c. 2. p. 240. Nazianzen allegeth three similitudes between the Son of God, and the Speech of man in regard whereof our Saviour Christ may be called the WORD. His words be these: Verbum ita se habet ad Patrem, ut sermo ad mentem, non modo propter generationem passionis omnis expertem, verùm etiam propter coniunctionem ipsius cum Patre, vimque enunciatricem. So is the word unto the Father as speech is to the mind, not only in regard of generation which is without all passion whatsoever, but in regard also of his conjunction which he hath with the Father, and power pronunciative. As if he had said: Three similitudes there are between the Son of God and the Speech of man in regard whereof he may be called by the name of the WORD. First for that our Speech which is the conception of our mind, is begotten by the mind & that without any passion or of that which doth beget, or of that which is begotten; so is the Son, of God the Father. Secondly as our conception remaineth p Quodcunque cogitaveris, sermo est; quodcunque senseris, ratio est: loquaris illud in animo, necesse est: & dum loqueris coniocutorem pateris sermonem in quo inest haec ipsa ratio, qua cum co cogitans loquaris, per quem loquens cogitas etc.: Tertull. advers. Praxeam. p. 317. always in the mind, and with the mind, of which it is begotten, insomuch that though it be sent forth or pronounced, yet never ceaseth to be with the same; so is the Son with the Father, and indeed inseparable from him. Thirdly as by our Speech pronounced, the counsel of our mind, as also our will is manifested to the world, so is the Father, and the Father's will declared by the Son. So that we are not here in this place to take the WORD for sonus percussionis, as speaks q Tertull. de Trin. p. 515. Tertullian, aut tonus coactae de visceribus vocis, for a word sounded or pronounced which vanisheth in an instant: our Saviour Christ is no such Word, but he is an essential Person subsisting & abiding in God. And here it may be thought as r Barth. Traheron upon S. john c. 1. p. 8. 8 a. some are of opinion that the Apostle here in this place hath reference to the first Chapter of Genesis, where it is not said simply by Moses that God made all of nought, but that he spoke, & so made all things; that is, he made all things by his word. So the Prophet David, s Ps. 148.4. He spoke the word, and they were made, he commanded and they were created, speaking of the Heavens: and in another place of the Earth, He spoke, saith he, t Ps. 33.9. and it was done, he commanded and it stoodfast. Thirdly concerning the HOLY GHOST it is as much as if the Apostle had here said, the Holy Spirit, & then seeing the Father, and the Son are Holy both, and both are Spirits, a question might be asked how this title Holy Spirit comes so peculiarly to be appropriated only to the third Person. The answer is hereunto that the Father, and the Son are in respect of their u M. Perkins on the Creed p 565 natures as well to be termed Holy indeed, as is the third Person in Trinity, the Holy Ghost. Howbeit the third Person is called Holy, for that besides the holiness of nature, his office is to sanctify the Church of God, to whom it agreeth in special manner, and after a peculiar sort so to do. For where the Father sanctifieth by the Son, and by the Holy Ghost; the Son from the Father, and by the Holy Ghost; the Holy Ghost sanctifieth from the Father and from the Son by himself immediately, and in this respect is the third Person termed Holy. Again, he is termed a Spirit not only because his nature is spiritual (for in that respect both the Father, and the Son are Spirits too) but because he is spired or breathed from the Father and the Son in that he proceedeth from both, howsoever the x Vid Zanch. de trib Eloh. l. 7. c. 8 Greeks at this day mainly err in this point. But thus much of the words, now of the consequence thereupon. The Consequence thereupon is this, that howsoever there is but One God as appeareth by these words, And these three are one: yet is there a Trinity in this One in regard they are Three to, according to the self same words. For if it may be said, and said truly, These three are one, then may it be as truly said, and so it is of all true Christians, This one is three. It remaineth then to be declared how they are one, how three, according to that of Athanasius in our Church Liturgy, The Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity: neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance. That God is One we have many places in holy Scripture for proof thereof, as Deut. 4.35, Unto thee, saith Moses, it was showed that thou mightest know, that the Lord he is God, and that there is none but he alone. Deut. 6.4, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is Lord only: or as it is in our new Translation, The Lord our God is ONE Lord. Deut. 32.39, Behold now for I, I am he, and there is no Gods with me. Malachy 2.10, Have we not all ONE Father? hath not ONE God made us? Esay, 45.5, I am the Lord, and there is no other, there is no God besides me. And again V 18, I am the Lord and there is no other. And again V 22, I am God & there is no other. 1. Cor. 8.4, We know, saith the Apostle, that an Idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but ONE. For though there be that are called Gods whether in heaven or in earth (as there be many Gods, and many Lords) yet unto us there is but ONE God, which is the Father of whom are all things, and we in him: and ONE Lord jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him. I omit for the Old Testament, Ios. 2.11. Ps. 18.32. 1. Sam. 2.2. 1. King. 8.23. 2. King. 5.15. 1. Chron. 17.20. jer. 37.16. and 41.4. and 44.6. and 45.5. and 46.9. and 48.12. And for the New Testament, Mat. 4.10. Rom. 3.30. Ephes. 4.6. 1. Tim. 2.5. I omit the Fathers, Greek and Latin, cited by Zanchius for this point: Ignatius, justin Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, Arnobius, Minutius Foelix, Cyprian, Lactantius, Eusebius of Caesarea, and St Austen. I omit the Poets, and Philosophers cited by him too, Orpheus, Homer, Sophocles, Pythagoras, Plato, Aeschylus, Philemon, Euripides, Menander. I omit also his several Reasons, you shall find them with the premises in his first Book de Tribus Elohim throughout the third Chapter, and I hasten to the TRINITY. The Lord our God, y M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. §. 51. p. 106. saith Reverend Hooker, is but one God. In which indivisible Unity notwithstanding, we adore the FATHER as being altogether of himself, we glorify that consubstantial Word which is the SON, we bless & magnify that coessential Spirit eternally proceeding from both, which is the HOLY GHOST. Now that in this Unity of one God, there is this Trinity comprehended, of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the places in holy Scripture are no less frequent than the former to prove it, howsoever the word Trinity itself be not there to be found at all. But we say of that as speaks S. Austen of the word Persons that the Church doth use to signify the same: z Aug. de Trin. l. 7. c. 4. Licuit loquendi & disputandi necessitate tres Personas dicere, non quia Scriptura dicit, sed quia Scriptura non contradicit. Lawful it is for us through a necessity of speaking, and disputing, to call them three Persons, not for the Scripture so speaks, but for it contradicts not them that so speak. Indeed as the self same Austen a Dictum est à nostris Graecis una essentia, tret substantiae: à Latinis autem una essentia vel substantia, tres personae. Aug. Ib. Aliter enim Graeci accipiunt substantiam quam Latini. Lombard 1. Sent. dist. 23. cap. Qua necessitate. observes in that place, the Grecians called this Deity, one Essence, three Substances: the Latins, one Essence or Substance, three Persons, which name of Persons we hold to this day. And therefore before we come to muster up such places as declare unto us these Persons, let us first of all define what a Person is. St Thomas out of Boetius defines it thus: b Th. Aquin. 1. Part. Sum. Theol. qu. 29. Art. 1. Persona est rationalis naturae individua substantia: A person is an individual substance of a reasonable nature. Tertullian as Calvin quotes him, defines it thus: c Tertul. advers. Praxeam, citant Calvino, Instit. l. 1. c: 3 §. 6. Persona est quaedam in Deo dispositio vel oeconomia quae de essentiae unitate nihil mutet: A person is a certain disposition or distribution in God, which yet changeth nothing of the unity of the essence. Zanchius thus: d Zanch. de Trib. Eloh. l. 1. c. 2. Persona est substantia individua, intelligens, volens, incommunicabilis. A person is an individual substance, that hath intelligence, and will, and cannot be communicated with any other. Calvin thus: e Cal●. Inst. l. 1. c. 13. §. 6. Personam voco subsistentiam in Dei essentia quae ad alios relata proprietate incommunicabili distinguitur. I call a Person saith he, a subsistence in the essence of God, which having relation to the other is distinguished from them by an uncommunicable propriety. It mattereth not much which we take of all these, only the two last are somewhat larger than the former. Howbeit this we must carry in mind, that we are not to take a Person here as the Person of a man is taken, it is St Austin's note hereupon. Personas in Patre, et Filio, & Spiritu Sancto f Aug. de Temp. Ser. 189 p. 725. Vid. Aug. de Trin. l. 7. c. 4. saith he, non dico quasi personas hominum, personam Patris dico quia Pater est, & Filij quia Filius est, & Spiritus Sancti quia Spiritus Sanctus est. Concerning the Persons in the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I call them not Persons in that sense, as if I should say the Persons of men: but I call the Person of the Father, because he is the Father, the Person of the Son because he is the Son, the Person of the Holy Ghost because he is the Holy Ghost. So that there are three Persons, but one Godhead, according unto that of Athanasius in our Church Service: There is one Person of the Father, an other of the Son, and an other of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. We have seen what a Person is, it remaineth that we muster up the places which in holy Scripture declare unto us, that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are three such Persons. And first that the Father is such a Substance subsisting by himself, a many are persuaded who will not acknowledge so much or in the Son, or Holy Ghost. De Patre nemo inficiatur, saith g Zanch. de trib. Eloh. l. 1. c. 4. p. 14. col. 1. Zanchius, No man makes doubt of the Father. Concerning the Son then, and Holy Ghost, let us see what the Scriptures say both Old and New. First then concerning the Son, king Solomon himself entitles him by the name of Wisdom. He to whom the Lord had given a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was h 1. King. 3.12 none like unto him before him, neither after him should arise the like, he acknowledgeth this Wisdom: and Prov. 8.11, brings him in speaking thus, By me kings reign, and Princes decree justice, and ver. 22. of that Chapter, The Lord saith he, hath i This is the word which the Septuagint mistaking in the Original, translated creavit●ne & so Ecclus in imitation of the Ecclus. 24.12. Qui creavit me, and v. 14. Ab initio & ante saecula cr●ata sum. Whereof see more in D Rain. Lectures, Prelect. 75. p. 883. possessed me in the beginning of his way: I was before his works of old: & concluding at the length, ver. 33. of that Chapter, Blessed is the man saith he, that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, and giving attendance at the posts of my doors. For he that findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me hurteth his own soul: and all that hate me love death. By wisdom l Lovater in hunc locum Vid. eundem in cap. 1. p. 9 saith Lavater, some understand the knowledge of God which we have by his word; and indeed the word of God itself. Veteres Theologi ipsum Christum intelligunt, saith he, But as for the ancient Fathers they understand our Saviour Christ. And indeed he of God is made unto us m 1. Cor. 1.30. Wisdom, & Righteousness, and Sanctification, & Redemption, as speaks the Apostle to the Corinthians. I omit sundry other places brought by Zanchius concerning the Godhead of the Son, out of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, josua, judges, the books of Samuel, the Psalms, the Proverbs, the book of job, the greater Prophets, the lesser, some fifty six in all, and I come unto the New Testament. By him saith the n Coloss. 1.16 Apostle in his Epistle to the Colossians, were all things created which are in heaven and which are in earth, things visible and invisible: whether they be Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers, all things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, & in him all things consist. Now if all things consist in him, shall not he himself much more consist? o Esay 66.9. Shall I 'cause to travail and not bring forth? shall I 'cause to bring forth, and shall be barren saith the Lord? You know the old rule p javel Epit in. l 1. de Gen et cor. Tom, 1. p. 236. col. 2. Propter quod unumquodque, & illud magis: so the cause be efficient, & univocal. So the Apostle to the Hebrews, Heb. 1.10. when he had said before in the eight verse of that Chapter, But unto the Son he saith, O God, thy Throne is for ever and ever etc.: he allegeth also this testimony out of the hundred and second Psalm, the five and twentieth verse, and applies it to our Saviour, Thou Lord, in the beginning hast established the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. So Heb. 13.8. jesus Christ yesterday saith he, and to day, the same also is for ever. Yesterday that is from the beginning of the world: To day, that is, for this time present: For ever, that is, to the end of the world. The meaning is, that the same Christ that saveth the Faithful now at this time, and reconciles them to his Father, & renews them by his Spirit, and now governs them, did so from the beginning of the world with all the faithful that ever were, and so shall do to the world's end. Thus q joh. 8.58. himself of himself, Verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. And praying an other time to his Father: And now r joh. 17 5. saith he, glorify me thou Father with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Concerning the Holy Ghost that he also is a Person subsisting by himself, witness that very verse of the word of God, s Juvenal. sat. 10. voluitur à primoqui proximus, which is the second in number. The earth t Gen. 1.2. saith Moses, was without form, and voided, and darkness was upon the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the Waters. What? as the Ships do there move, or as there is that Leviathan who takes his pastime therein, Psal. 104.26? Not but cherishing & sustaining them, ut foventur pulli ab incubantibus matribus, as young ones by their dams, so u Tremel. in Gen. 1.2. Tremellius on that place. What need I here produce a cloud of Scriptures to this purpose, as how he appeared, how he descended, how he rested on our Saviour in the likeness of a Dove, upon the Apostles in the similitude of fiery Tongues: how to one he gives the word of wisdom, to an other the word of knowledge, to an other faith, to an other the gifts of healing, to an other the operation of great works, to an other prophesy: to an other the discerning of spirits, to an other diversity of tongues, to an other the interpretation of tongues, & which is most remarkable, how he worketh all these things distributing to every man severally as he william. I say most remarkable for that I told you before out of Zanchius, a Person was an individual substance that hath intelligence, and william. Thus is judgement also attributed to him, Act. 15.28. Knowledge: 1. Cor. 2.11. Hearing, & speaking, and foreshowing things to come, joh. 16.13. Rule & Dominion over the faithful, Act. 13.2. Anointing and sending, Esay 61.1. Lastly the creating of the human nature in Christ, Luk. 1.35. But these you will say, are several Scriptures for the several Persons in several. I grant they are so, yet as these Scriptures are in several, so there want not others to, that comprehend them all in general, I will instance in a few. When as God the Father said in x Gen. 1.26. Genesis, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness: Quomodo unicus & singularis y Tertull. adversus Praxeam. p. 320. saith Tertullian, pluraliter loquitur? Being one only, and singular, how comes he to speak in the plural number? Shall we say as did the jews that he spoke unto the Angels? But Man was not made to the image or likeness of Angels, but to the image & likeness of God. Thus God z Gen. 1.27. saith Moses, created the man in his image: & he repeats it again, In the image of God created he him, he created them male and female. So likewise not long after: Behold, a Gen. 3.22. saith God, the man is become as one of us. Fallit aut ludit b Tertull. loc. citato. saith Tertullian, ut cum unus, & solus, & singularis esset, numerosè loqueretur: were he one only, and sole, and singular, should he thus speak plurally, he should either deceive us, or delude us. It may be thought our Saviour also alluded hereunto, who when he had said to Nicodemus, c joh. 3.11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, speaking in the singular, he immediately annexeth withal that which followeth in the plural, We speak that we know, and testify that we have seen: but ye receive not our witness. Where f See M. Math. Saunders Se●m. on the Cons●r between Christ and Nico●. Se●. 10. p. 239. passing on the sudden from I, to [we] and so to [our] what did he but intimate to Nicodemus in teaching our Regeneration, that he was One of that plural of whom Moses spoke in the Creation. But to return unto my purpose. Another Scripture that comprehendeth all three Persons in general is that of the Prophet Esay, Esay, 6.3. where having beheld in great glory and majesty God the Father, and hearing the Seraphims singing, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole world is full of his glory: he afterwards heard this message, g Esay, 6.9. Go and say unto this People; ye shall hear indeed but ye shall not understand, ye shall plainly see and not perceive. Now to whom doth S. john apply these words, doth he not apply them to God the Son, joh. 12.41? and to whom doth S. Paul apply them, doth he not apply them to the Holy Ghost, Act. 28.25? So it is, it is even so, & I conclude with Athanasius as we usually say it in his Creed, The Unity in Trinity, & the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. And thus much of the Trinity and by consequence of the Trinity in Unity, namely that these three Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are so truly & really distinct each one from other, that each and every of them subsisteth by himself, so that the Father is not the Son, neither is he the Holy Ghost: the Son is not the Holy Ghost, nor yet the Father: the Holy Ghost is neither the Father, neither is he the Son, & yet is every of them True God, & yet all of them together but h Vid. Zanch. de trib. Eloh. l. 8. c. 1. One God only. If this be too too hard, and intricate to be understood, the marvel is not great, we might well expostulate with ourselves, & complain of our dullness in this point, if ever mortal wit could have possibly comprehended it. It is i Sphinx Theologica, Philosophica, ex hist. de August. c. 2 p. 40 storied of S. Austen how he on a time endeavoured to sound it. He walked abroad to that purpose, and came at length to a river side, musing with himself and labouring to conceive it. At length not far off a little child appeared unto him very busy on the Bank. He had made forsooth a little hole and with a spoon which he had in his hand, was lading of the water into the foresaid little hole. S. Austen drew presently near him, and demanded of the child what it was he meant to do. Father, quoth he, my purpose is to unlade this whole river into this little hole you here see. Why quoth S. Austen, that's impossible, thou wilt never be able to do that: no more will you, quoth the Child, be ever able to bring that to pass which you are about, and with that the Child vanished. This story of S. Austen whether it were true, yea or not, I for my part cannot affirm. The rather for that neither S. Austen himself, nor Possidonius, or Possidius (as l Raynold. Thes. edit. vlt. Epist. ad Archiepisc. some call him) that wrote his life, do either of them make mention of it. Howbeit the thing itself namely that it is as impossible for us to conceive the blessed Trinity, as with a spoon to unlade a river, or to unlade it into so little a hole, sure I am that that's a truth. For if so be it be true your Aristotle m Arist. Metap. l. 2. c. 1. saith, that as the eyes of Bats are in respect of the Sun so our understanding is to those things which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, most manifest by nature: what is it unto this point that is of difficult things the most difficult, the very riddle of riddles, and (if I may so speak) the Sphynx of Divinity. Divers & sundry I grant are the n Vid. Zanch. de trib. Eloh l. 8. c. 6. p. 313. Similitudes which the ancient Fathers, & new Writers use in their Books to express it in some sort: as first from the similitude of the Sun and his Beams, so justin Martyr, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Lactantius: From the similitude of the Fountain, Flood, and River, so Tertullian again, and Cyprian, and Lactantius: from the similitude of the Root, and Stem, and Bough of a tree, so Tertullian again: from the Mind, Conceit, and Memory, so Tertullian & Cyprian: from the Understanding, Memory, and Will, so S. Austen: from the three faculties of the Soul, Rational, Irascible, & Concupiscible, so others: from the Deity, Soul, and Body of Christ, so Zanchius himself. I say to express it in some sort, for that to explicate the thing itself, that they all acknowledge to be impossible, only they endeavour to show that it is not impossible, nor absurd, that there should be Three Persons, whereof every one should be God, and yet not Three Gods, but one God only. Our duty in this case when ever we meditate hereupon, & have cause to think on this Trinity, is to say with Gregory o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz Orat. in Sanct Bap. Orat 40 p 668. Nazianzen, and to do as he did: I no sooner think of One, saith he, but immediately I am surrounded with the brightness of all Three, and when I meditate on all Three, I am presently brought to One again. I conclude with that of p Aug de Temp. Ser. 189 p. 725 Austen, Multa sunt quae dici possunt, sed sufficiat Fidelibus pau●a de mysterio. Trinitatis audisse. A many things might be spoken, but let it suffice the Faithful to hear but a few things concerning the mystery of the Trinity. And so much the rather, for it followeth in that place; In die judicij non damnor, quia dicam nescivi naturam Creatoris mei: si autem aliquid temere dixero, temeritas poenam habet, ignorantia veniam promeretur. In the day of judgement I shall not be damned, if so be I should say, I knew not the nature of my Creator: but if so be I speak of it rashly, rashness deserveth punishment, ignorance pardon. And thus much of the Essence of GOD, next of all God willing of that I proposed next, namely his Attributes. In the mean time God so bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. GOD'S ATTRIBUTES. Lecture 4. April. 15. 1613. THE Arrow, they say, that is l●ng in the Bow, doth never light well. And yet saith a M Aschams School of Shooting. l. 1. fol. 30. Toxophilus the worthy Schoolmaster of Shooting sometimes to hold a shaft at the head, doth more good with the fear of it, then if so be were it shot, it should do with the stroke of it. The Arrow I have brought with me now, and intent at this time to shoot among you, as also an other that is to second it (but they are like b 1. Sam. 20.20. jonathans' Arrows to warn, not to harm) have been * Sunt ali qui q●●●um fructus quia n●mis properè, minùs presperè oriuntur. Bernard. S●rm. de S Benedict. p. 26. Col. 3. long I confess in the Bow, and I fully purposed the last Term to have quit myself of the same; that so having done with the Attributes of God, as also with his Works, I might now have discoursed at this time of that which is next to follow them, The Church. But what in one respect, and what in an other, what in regard of one let, & what of an other, I could than at that time go no farther than to the Blessed Trinity; God's Attributes, and his Works, I was feign to defer till this time. Now then of his Attributes: of his Works God willing hereafter, when I shall the next time come thus unto you. Howbeit before we begin to set forward on our journey, we are first of all to learn, what Attributes are: secondly their several sorts Vocantur Attributa c Zanch. de Attrib. l. 2. c. 1. p. ●1. saith Zanchius, quia ea sibi attribuit Deus nostrâ causa. Hence it is they are called Attributes for that God doth attribute them unto himself in regard of us, and for our sakes, namely that by them we the better might conceive what he is. Now Attributes are of two sorts: Some so proper and peculiar unto God, that they can by no means be communicated with the Creatures, as Simplicity, Eternity, Immensity, etc.: Some other there are that howsoever simply and as they are in God they cannot be communicated unto us, as Highest Wisdom, Chiefest Goodness, Greatest Power, etc.: yet in part and by way of similitude and resemblance they may. I omit the former as having aimed at them in some sort in the definition I gave of God, and I come unto the latter, & the Text I have chosen to this purpose is the Speech of God himself, as it is related to us by Moses, Exodus, the four and thirtieth, the 6, and 7, verses. So the Lord passed before his face, and cried, The Lord, the Lord, strong, merciful, and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth: reserving mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity; and transgression, and sin, and not making the wicked innocent, visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the children, & upon children's children unto the third and fourth generation. Concerning which words, let us first of all see the occasion of them: then the words themselves. The occasion of them was this. Moses in the d Exod. 33.18 chapter before had requested of the Lord that he would show unto him his Face: that is, that he would declare unto him fully, & perfectly, his glory & his majesty. The Lords answer unto him was, that he could not gratify him therein by reason that the performance of such a request would prove his destruction, e V 20. for there shall no man see me, and live, saith he, f Ovid. Met. l. 3 Corpus mortale tumultus haud feret aethereos. Furthermore he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, & live. Which lest Moses might have taken to heart, & not have thought himself so deeply in God's books as in very deed he was, the Lord immediately yieldeth somewhat to him, somewhat of his request. Thou shalt see g Exod. 33.23 saith he, my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. The kind of similitude there used is taken from men whom if we see behind only, & only their backs towards us, we know them to be men indeed, but whether such or such a man, such or such a friend, that we know not. So that the Lord in these his words promised the knowledge of himself indeed, but an imperfect kind of knowledge, and he confirmed it with this sign: Behold h Exod. 33.23 saith he, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock: and while my glory passeth by, I will put thee in a cloven of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand whilst I pass by. So that the word also of Passing by, doth signify no less. For as on those whom we see as they pass only, we cannot fasten or fix our eyes, unless they stand to us face to face as did St. Peter to the Cripple, Act. 3.4. or Elisha unto Hazael 2 King. 8.11. no more could Moses here in this place; not though the Lord had stood still, how much more when he was in transitu, and only passed by. But thus much of the occasion, now concerning the words themselves. So the Lord passed before his face and cried, The Lord, the Lord, strong, merciful, and gracious; slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth, and so forth. In which words as we have a beadrol of the attributes, and Properties of God, so may we reduce them all into three several Heads: God's Power, God's Goodness, and the justice of God. The Power of God is explicated herein one word: his Goodness in seven: his justice in twain. Strong, there's his Power: Merciful & Gracious, Slow to anger, & Abundant in goodness, and truth, Reserving mercy for thousands, Forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, there's his Goodness. And not making the wicked innocent, visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children, and upon children's Children unto the third and fourth generation; there's his justice. And to these three several heads may not only these Attributes here specified be reduced, but all his other whatsoever, I mean the Attributes of the later sort, as we shall see hereafter in the handling of them. First then to begin with his Power, explicated here in one word, and that is Strong: So the Lord passed before his face, & cried, The Lord the Lord, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 El, that is, Strong. Deus fortis, saith Tremellius; though the Vulgar omits Fortis, and our new Translation too: but our old Translation hath it, & it being backed therein by Tremellius, we will the rather not refuse it. The Lord is Fortis then, Strong. He is l job 9 4. saith job, mighty in strength. Who is the king of glory? saith the m Ps. 24 8. Psalmist, It is the Lord strong and mighty, even the Lord mighty in battle. Nor is he F●rtis, Strong only in the positive degree of Strength, but Fortior Stronger. The waves of the Sea are mighty n Ps. 93.5. Tremel. says the Psalmist and rage horribly; magnificentior est in alto jehovah, but yet the Lord that dwelleth on high is mightier. Do we provoke the Lord to anger o 1. Cor. 10.22 saith the Apostle, are we stronger than he? Nay but the weakness of God is stronger than men, 1. Cor. 1.25. Nor is he Fortior, Stronger, but Fortissimus in the Superlative; for so himself of himself, Ego sum fortissimus D●us patris tui, though it be not so englished, Gen. 46.3. Hence that of Moses unto him, Deut. 3.24. Domine Deus tu coepisti saith he, ostendere servo tuo magnitudinem tuam, manumque fortissimam etc. O Lord God thou hast begun to show to thy Servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for where is there a God in heaven, or in earth, that can do like thy works, & like thy power? Now as his Power is exceeding great, so is it especially towards them that believe, and therefore was it S. Paul's prayer in behalf of the p Ephes. 1.19. Ephesians, That the eyes of their understanding might be lightened, that they might know among other things, what was the exceeding greatness of his power towards them that did believe. In Arithmetic, saith a worthy q M Gossens Trumpet of war p. D. 3. b. Divine, set one against ten, ten against an hundred, an hundred against a thousand, a thousand against ten thousand, although there be great o●des, yet is there some comparison, but if you could set down an infinite number, than there could be no comparison at all, because the one is finite, the other infinite: so is it, saith he, between the power of God and Man; I, between the power of God and all things else. Set all the Princes of the Earth in opposition against God, set all the world besides and they are nothing unto him: The Earth, r Ps. 104.32. saith David, shall tremble but at the very look of him: if He but touch the Hills they shall smoke. To this his Attribute of Power may be referred his Omnipotency which is said to be two manner of ways: s M Perkins on the Creed p. 57 First because he is able to do whatsoever he will, secondly because he is able to do indeed more than he william. Of the first the Prophet David: As for our God t Ps. 115.3. & Ps 135.6. saith he, he is in heaven, he hath done whatsoever pleased him. And u Tertul. adver. Praxeam, p. 320. Tertullian to this purpose, Dei posse velle est: & non posse nolle, quod autem voluit, & potuit, & ostendit. The power of God is to will, and not to be powerful to do a thing, not to be willing to it, howbeit what he would, that was he powerful to do, & also did it. Of the other S, john Baptist, God x Mat. 3.9. saith he, is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. So likewise our Saviour to S. Peter, when S. Peter had drawn his sword, and thought by his manhood to have defended him, and freed him from the rout (a piece of service that a world of Soldiers could not have performed at that time) Put up thy sword, y Mat. 26.32. saith our Saviour, into his place, for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Either thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he will give me more than twelve legions of Angels? So z Tertul. ubi supra. Tertullian again, Potuit ita salvus sim, Deus pennis hominem ad volandum instruxisse, quod & milvis praestitit, non tamen quia potuit, statim & fecit. God could, saith he, have given to man feathers to fly withal, as he hath given unto the kite, but though he could have done it, yet he did it not. Here might I take occasion to speak of our Adversaries argument concerning God's Omnipotency which they use about the Sacrament, but for I have far to go, and we may have occasion some other time to speak more plentifully of that, I shall at this time only commend unto you those three excellent Theorems of a worthy Writer in our age concerning an Argument drawn from God's Omnipotency. The first is this: We aught not to argue in Divinity from the Omnipotency of God, unless the will of God go before, plainly manifested unto us by his word. The second is this: We aught not to argue in Divinity from the Omnipotency of God to confirm that thing the contrary whereof is extant in his word. The third is this: We aught not to argue in Divinity from the Omnipotency of God to confirm that point that contains in it a contradiction. Whosoever will see more hereof, and how these three Theorems are confirmed, I refer him to a Anton. Sadeelis Opera Theol. pag. 272. edit. 1593. Sadeel's Treatise De Sacramentali maducatione corporis Christi, the third Chapter of that Book. But thus much of the Power of God, the first of the Attributes here mentioned, or rather the first Head. The second Head whereunto these Attributes may be referred, was (as I told you) The Goodness of God, & that in these seven, Merciful, and Gracious, Slow to anger, & Abundant in goodness & truth, Reserving mercy for thousands, Forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. And of every of these in their several order, and first of his Mercy: [Merciful] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is in the Original Racum: Nomen, saith b Zanch. de Attrib. l. 1. c. 18. Vid. Bart. Scheraei Itinerarium in Psalter. Davi d● Hebraeum Numero Radicum 1018 Zanchius, à visceribus deductum, a name first fetched from the bowels within. It is such a kind of affection as Parents are fraught withal when they hear of, or see their Children in any extremity. Such was the love and affection of the true Mother towards her Child, when King Solomon had commanded that it should be divided in twain. Her compassion, c 1. Kin. 3.26. saith the Scripture, was kindled towards her Son. It is in our new Translation, Her bowels yearned upon her Son. By this then the Lord doth signify that he is of such a nature, that though he scourge us for our sins, yet doth he pity us too as a Father his children. It is an excellent passage of David, Ps. 103.8. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: long suffering and of great goodness. He will not always be chiding: neither keepeth he his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins: nor rewarded us according to our wickedness. For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth: so great is his mercy also towards them that fear him. Look how wide also the East is from the West, so far hath he set our sins from us. Yea like as a Father pitieth his own children: even so is the Lord merciful to them that fear him. So S. Austen to this purpose, Filio quem diligit trasci potest pater, d Aug. Hom, 5. p. 288. saith he irascitur & amat potest dici●odit & amat non potest dici. A Father may be angry with his Son whom he loveth: that he is angry & loves him too, may well be said, that he hates him & loves him too, that by no means may be said. And as the same S. Austen in e Aug. Hom. 27. p. 331. another place, In quibuscunque peccatis non perdit viscera pia matter Ecclesia, Our dear Mother the Church looseth not her bowels towards us in regard of any sins we do commit, so we repent us of the same; no more doth God above, the Husband of the Church, and the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, 2. Cor. 1.3. It followeth, And Gracious. That is, f Zanch. ubi supra. saith Zanchius, ad gratificandum paratus, ready to pleasure, or confer a benefit upon us. Praised be the Lord daily, g Ps. 68.19. saith David, even the God which helpeth us, & poureth his benefits upon us. It is in our new Translation, who daily loadeth us with benefits. The Scriptures are full of proofs concerning this point, and that of our Saviour is most remarkable, how he maketh his h Mat. 5.45. Sun to arise i Imbres etiam & soles suos peraequante Deo justis & iniustis. Tertul. de Anima c. 27. p. 567. on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. All things, l Eccles. 9.2. saith the Preacher, come alike to all: and the same condition is to the just, and to the wicked, to the good, and to the pure, and to the polluted, and to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner, he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. True it is, it will not be so hereafter, it is thus only here in this world, & therefore S. Austen, Placuit divinae providentiae, m Aug de Civ. Dei l. 1. c. 8. p. 7. So in another place, Permixta ista temporalia Deus esse voluit quia si Bonis solis ea daret, putarent & Mali propter haec colendum Deum. Rursus si ea solis Malis daret, timerent Boni infirmi converti, ne ista illis fortè de essent. Aug. in Ps. 66 p. 472. saith he, praeparare in posterum bona justis, quibus non fruentur iniusti, & mala impijs, quibus non excruciabuntur boni. Ista verò temporalia bona & mala utrisque voluit esse communia, ut nec bona cupidius appetantur, quae mali quoque habere cernuntur, nec mala turpiter evitentur, quibus & boni plerumque afficiuntur. It hath pleased the divine Providence to prepare for hereafter such good things for good men, as the wicked shall not partake of, and such bad things for the wicked as the good shall not be tormented with. As for these temporal good things & bad things both, those would he have common both to the bad and to the good, that even these good things should not be sought eagerly after, which we see the wicked to enjoy too, nor these bad things basely avoided, wherein good men commonly have a share. It followeth, Slow to anger. Vbi notandum, n Zanch. ubi supra. saith Zanchius, Deum non dicere se esse sine ira, quasi nunquam peccatis irascatur, sed tantùm se tardum esse ad iram. Irascitur ergò: sed neque citò, neque facile, neque temerè. It is to be noted, saith Zanchius, that God doth not say that he is altogether without anger, as if he were never angry with sin at all, but only that he is Slow to anger. Angry than he is, our God is angry, but nor quickly, nor easily, nor rashly, or unadvisedly. Some, saith o Lact. de Ira Dei. l. 1. c. 1. Lactantius, are of opinion that God cannot be angry, because so divine a Nature is to be gentle, benign, & gracious only, Quorum error, saith he, quia maximus est, & ad evertendum vitae humanae statum spectat, coarguendus est à nobis. Whose error for it is so great an one, & toucheth the very overthrow of the whole state of human life, is therefore to be confuted by us, & so he confutes it indeed in a whole Treatise to that purpose. Howbeit here we are to know that Anger in God is not as it is in us a sudden perturbation, or an affection of the Soul, Nam Dei Natura, p Ambr. in Ep. ad Rom. c. 2. saith S. Ambrose, ab ijs passionibus immunis est. For the nature of God is free from such kind of passions. And again in q Amb. in Ps. 37 another place, Deus passioni non patet ut irascatur, cum sit impassibilis: sed quia vindicat, videtur irasci. God lies not open to the passion of anger, forasmuch as he is not touched with any perturbation, but in that he doth punish, he seems to be angry. So Thomas r Aquin. 1a 2ae, qu. 47. Ar●. 1. ad 1m. Aquinas, Ira non dicitur in Deo secundum passionem animi, sed secundum judicium justitiae, prout vult vindictam facere de peccato. Anger is not said to be in God according to the passion of the mind, but according to judgement, and to justice, whereby he wills that sin should be punished. To this his Attribute of Slowness to anger may be referred his Patience, when as he spares & bears with Sinners to the end they should repent. The Lord s 2. Pet. 3.9. saith S. Peter, is not slack concerning his promise (as some count slackness) but is patiented towards us, and would have no man to perish, but would all men to come to repentance. Agreeable whereunto is that of the Angel unto Esdras, t 2. E●d. 8.59. God would not that man should perish: but they after that they were created, have defiled the name of him that made them, and are unthankful unto him which prepared life for them. This it is the Apostle to the Romans calls the u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Rom. 2.4 Riches of his Patience: Despisest thou saith he, the riches of his bountifulness, and patience, & long sufferance, not knowing that the bountifulness of God leadeth thee to repentance? And well may he term it Riches, for as S. Austen speaking of Riches, Ecce undique lucra confluunt x Aug. de Temp Ser. 50. p. 484. saith he, & more fontium nummi currunt: behold gains flow in on every side, and money like flowds of water abounds continually: right so his Patience to, y Horat. Ep. l. 1. ad Lollium. Labitur, & labetur in omne volubilis aevum, flow it will for ever and ever, and they are but Rustics in Divinity, that dream of the dryness of it. True it is, a Ps. 7.13. If a man will not turn, he will whet his sword: he hath bend his bow, and made it ready. He hath prepared for him the instruments of death: he ordaineth his arrows against the Persecutors. And yet even in this, may we see the Patience of God to. For as there is mention here made of two b Vid. B. Pil. kingt or Nehem c. 4. p. 61, sorts of weapons that in the battles of old time did the greatest hurt to the Enemy, The Sword, and the Bow, the Sword when he was at hand, the Bow when he was far of, as if God should use them both; yet see in this his Anger how he forbears a long time. He first threatens, and warns, & that divers, & sundry times. Then takes he a time to prepare himself to battle. It asketh no doubt sometime to whet his Sword which is (as it were) rusty and blunt, to ordain his Arrows, or to make them ready, which are all (as it were) out of order or sealed up among his c Deut. 32. v. 23. & 34. treasures, & yet sometime to when so he hath done, he perhaps puts them up again, or not smiting at all, or in wrath remembering mercy: For in my wrath I smote thee saith the Lord, but in my mercy I had compassion on thee, Esay 60.10. I will end this of Patience, with an excellent passage of S. Cyprians which he hath to this purpose. What manner of Patience is it for quality d Qualis verò in Deo & quanta patientia quòd in contumeliam suae maiestatis & honoris instituta ab hominibus prophana templa, & terrena figmenta, & sacra sacrilega patientissimè sustinens, super bones & malos aequaliter facit diem nasci & lumen sol●●●boriri, & cum imbribus terram rigat, nemo à beneficiis eius excluditur, quo minus justis similiter & iniust●s indiscretas pluvias largiatur. Videmus inseparabi●● aequalitate patientiae nocentibus & noxiis, religiosis & impiis, gratias agentibus & ingratis Dei nutu tempora obsequi, elementa famulari, spirare ventos fontes fluere, grande●●ere copias messium, fructus mitescere vinearum, exuberare pomis arbusta, nemora frondescere, prata florere Et cum crebris imò continuis exacerbatur offensis Deus, indignationem suam temporal, & praestitu●um semel retributionis diem patienter expectat. Cumque habeat in potestute vindictam, mavult ●●ù tenere patientiam, sustinent scilicet clementer & differens, ut, fi fieri potest, multùm malicia protracta aliquando mutetur, & homo in errorum & scelerum contagione volutatus vel serò ad Dominum convertatur. Cyp. de Bo●● Patient. p. 97. Edit. Basil. 1530. saith he, & how great in quantity is that which is in God, who patiently suffereth profane Temples of the Heathen, worldly inventions & execrable sacrilege to be committed by men in contempt of his Majesty & Honour, and yet notwithstanding causeth the day to show forth, & the Sun to shine as well on the evil as the good. He watereth the ground with showers, and excludeth no man from his benefits, but bestoweth his reign in due season, to the profit and commodity aswell of the Unjust as the Just. We see again with what an unseparable equality of God's patience the times obey, the Elements serve, the Corn abundantly doth grow, the fruits of the Vine do ripe in season, the Trees abound with apples, the Woods spring, & the Meadows flourish as well to the use of the sinful as of the virtuous, as well to the wicked as to them that fear God, and aswell to the unthankful as to the giver of thanks. And whereas God is provoked with our many, or rather continual offences, yet doth he temper his indignation, and tarrieth patiently for the Day that is appointed for every man's reward. And whereas vengeance is in his own power, yet doth he not use it, but rather keepeth long patience; mercifully forbearing & deferring to the intent that man wallowing in the contagion and error of sin, may, if any remedy will serve, through delay of his displeasure, change at some time or other, and at length be converted unto God. Thus far S. Cyprian, and a great deal farther to this purpose, but I hasten to the other Attribute, And abundant in goodness. [In goodness.] Like as e Arist. Moral. ad Eud●m. l. 7. Aristotle distinguisheth Bonum, namely into that which is simpliciter bonum, and that which is Alicui tantùm, aut Aliquibus: Good simply, and in itself, and Good to some one, or unto many: so may we distinguish the Goodness of God, namely so far forth as he is Good simply, & in himself, or Good unto others. He is Good, simply and in himself, nay Goodness itself in the abstract, for that he is of that perfection, that sufficiency in himself, as that there is nothing wanting in him, nothing at all to be desired. He is in this respect not only Summum Bonum, the chief Good, but indeed the only Good, according to that of our Saviour, f Luk 18.19. why callest thou me good? none is good save one, even God. Hoc sensu g Zanch. de Attrib. l 4. c. 1. p. 409. Col. 1. saith Zanchius, etiam Christus quâ homo non est bonus: In this sense Christ as he is man is not good. A speech that might make us startle, the rather for he said a little h Zanch. Ib. p. 404. Col. 1. before, Etiam Diabolum quatenus res. est creata, & varijs donis ernata, dicimus esse bonum. We say the Devil himself is good as he is a thing created, and adorned with sundry gifts. But those are Zanchius' words, Hoc sensu etiam Christus quâ homon non est bonus, but he addeth immediately after, Ac proinde & ipse quatenus Deus, solus est bonus: And therefore he again as he is God, is only good. The reason saith he, is, because as he is man he is finite, and whatsoever good he hath, he hath it from God, and consequently from his Deity. And though he hath it saith he, most perfectly in respect of other things created: yet hath he it imperfectly in respect of God. But to return where I left. It is chiefly in regard of the other Goodness that God is named Good here, namely as he is Good not in himself, but unto others. Even as we say A good Prince, not if he be good to himself only, or do no man any wrong, or live retiredly, and so forth. But if he be gentle, courteous, debonair, liberal, a Protector of others, in a word such an one as under whom we may live in pea●e and plenty, in goodness & all godliness, according to that of i Si justi imperant, si inter linguas sublimiter honorantium, & obsequia nimis humiliter salutantium non extolluntur, sed se homines esse meminerunt: si suam potestatem ad Dei cultum maximè dilatandum, m●iestati eius famulam faciunt. Si Deum timent. diligunt, colunt; si plus amant illud regnum, ubi non timent habere consortes: si tardius vindicant, facilè ignoscunt: si eandem vindictam pro necessitate regendae tuendaeque Reip. non pro satur andis inimicitiarum odiis exerunt: si eandem veniam non ad impunitatem iniquitatis, sed ad spem correctionis indulgent: si quod asperè coguntur plerumque decernere, misericordiae lenitate, & beneficiorum largitate compensan●: si luxuria tantò eis est castigatior, quantò posset esse liberior●si malunt cupiditatibus pravis, quàm quibuslibet Gentibus imperare. Et si haec omnia faciunt, non propter ardo●em inanis gloriae, sed propter charitatem faelicitatis aeternaetsi pro suis peccatis, humilitatis, & miserationis, & orationis sacrificum, Deo suo vero immolare non negligunt. Aug de Ciu Dei. l. 5. c 24. And englished for the most part most excellently by M. Hooker. Eccles. Pol. l. 5. §. 76. p. 226. St. Austen, If they have virtuously reigned, if honour hath not filled their hearts with pride, if the exercise of their power hath been service and attendance upon the Majesty of the most High, and so as followeth in that place. God is Good then in himself, Good also unto others, I, so Good that it is the Burden (as it were) of the hundred and seventh Psalm, or like that Carmen amaebaeum in l Virg. Egl. 8. Virgil, Incipe Maenalios mecum mea tibia versus, or, Ducite ab urbe domum mea carmina ducite Daphnim, It being m Vers. 8. & 15. & 21. & 31. four several times repeated there, O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men. It followeth, And truth. [Abundant in goodness, and truth] As he is in Goodness, so in Truth, Abundant in both, & truly abundant in Truth, for that God is Truth n Zanch. de Attrib. l. 3. c. 3. p. 282. Col. 1. three manner of ways. Truth in himself: Truth in his works: Truth in his words. Howbeit Truth here in this place is taken the last way, and so accommodated unto words, as those words of God are Promises whether for temporal things, or things eternal. They are thy promises o Promissa tua sunt, & quis falli timeat cum promittit Veritas. Aug. Confess. l. 12. c. 1. saith St. Austen, and who will fear to be deceived when Truth itself doth promise'. Now God being Truth itself, Logic will help to inform us what Truth is in the abstract. Omnis creatura p Fulgent. de Fid. Orthod. p. 596. saith Fulgentius, quoniam opus est veritatis, est quidem creatura vera non tamen est veritas. Sola autem naturaliter est veritas, quae naturaliter est vera Divinitas. Every creature saith he, forasmuch as it is the work of truth, is in truth a true creature, howbeit it is not Truth. That alone naturally is truth and verity, that naturally is true Divinity. God then being Truth in the abstract, it will necessarily follow thereupon that no falsehood whatsoever can take hold of his word. For can q Vid. Zanch. de Attrib. l. 3. c. 3. p. 283. Col. 1. whiteness itself be black? or Knowledge itself be ignorant? A thing that is white indeed may be black, & a man of knowledge may be ignorant, I, the most of that we know (knew we more than who knows most) is but the lest of that we know not, howbeit Knowledge itself cannot be ignorant, neither Whiteness itself can ever be black. Right so it is in this case. God is Truth itself, God is not as man r Num. 23.19. saith Balaam, that he should lie: hath he said, and shall he not do it? And hath he spoken, and shall he not accomplish it? Or if according to the s Plutarch. de Auditione. Spartan fashion we would hear the same in effect out of a better man's mouth then Balaam was, It is unpossible saith the Apostle, that God should lie, Heb. 6.18. Besides, God is abundant in truth, that is, in keeping promises, by reason he is Omnipotent, whereupon t In Dei promis sit nulla est falsitas, quia in faciendis nulla omnipotenti est difficultas. Fulg●it. de Prae dist. l. 1 p 24 Fulgentius again, There is no falsehood at all in the promises of God, because in the performance of them there is no difficulty at all to him that is Omnipotent. It followeth, Reserving mercy for thousands. Of Mercy we spoke before, we are now also to speak of Mercy again. The truth is, there are almost none of all God's Attributes, but hath Mercy as an ingredient. Without question u Treatise of the nature of God. c. 4. § 5. p. 107. saith one, if any human affection may be truly said to be in God, it is this of Pity, or Mercy, the which of all other is most excellent, and commendable, proper to gentle, noble, and royal minds; as nothing on the contrary is so base & savage, as is unmercifulness and cruelty. But what is this Reserving? Who are these Thousands here thus specified? First concerning Thousands we read in the x Rev. 7.5. Revelation: Of the Tribe of juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the Tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the Tribe of God were sealed twelve thousand, & so of all the Tribes of the Children of Israel (Dan only excepted for cause's best known to God and to S. john) but are they the Thousands only here meant in this place? Not, for it followeth there: After these things I beheld, & so a great multitude which no man could number of all Nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with long white robes, and palms in their hands. So then they are the Elect that may be meant by these Thousands. I but who (will you say) are the Elect? It is I confess a hard question. I may say as Elias said to Elisha, y 2. Kin. 2.10. Rem difficilem postulasti: Thou hast asked an hard thing: howbeit I describe them thus. z Vid Zanch. de Attrib. l. 4. c. 4. p. 461. Col. 2. Such as fear the Lord, Psal. 103.13. Such as put their trust in God, Psal. 32.11. Such as call upon him, Psal. 86.5. Such as are his Servants, Deut. 32.36. Such as love him, and keep his commandments, Exod. 20.6. For of Such, & Such is it said, how he shall repent towards them; how he shows his mercy unto them: how he is merciful unto them all: how he is good, and gracious, and of great mercy. Go, and do thou likewise, a Luk. 10.37. saith our Saviour in an other case, so I in this, fear the Lord, put your trust in him, call upon him, be his Servants, love him and keep his commandments, and you shall be of these Elect. But now concerning the word Reserving: [Reserving mercy for thousands.] It is as if he had said, he doth treasure it up for us in store, and when he sees his time we shall have it in abundance. Perhaps he tries us here by b Heb. 11.36. mockings, & scourge yea moreover by bonds, and prisonment. It may be he suffers us to, to wander up and down in sheep skins, & in goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. I, to wander in wildernesses, and mountains, and dens, & caves of the earth. But what saith the Scripture of those many Thousands even now spoken of, and of that great multitude which no man could number of all nations, and kindreds, and people, & c? These are they c Rev. 7.14. saith the Angel there, which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their long robes, & have made their long robes white in the blood of the Lamb. And again, a little d V 16. after, They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the Sun light on them, neither any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall govern them, and shall lead them unto the lively fountained of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Reserving mercy for thousands. It followeth, Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin. When so much Mercy goes before, no marvel if Forgiveness of so much iniquity, and transgression, and sin doth follow after. They are both of them indeed inseparable companions, Mercy and Forgiveness: and no more can they be one without the other, than Fire can be without heat, the Sun without his beams. Now to them that do repent (who only are meant here in this place) what Sin so great either in quantity or quality (and all are e Zanch. de Attrib. l. 1. c. 18. p. 58. Col. 1. comprised in these three, Iniquity, Transgression, and Sin) but God forgives it unto us freely, and remembers it no more? What fault f Quid gravius peccatori aegro quàm Medici interfectio? quid gravius potest aeger facere, quàm si Medicum suum occidat? cum hoc dimittitur quid non dimittitur? Aug in Ps. 45. p. 287 saith S. Austen, more grievous to be committed by a Sinner the Patient, them the murdering of his Physician? What greater offence can the sick-man make, then if so be he should slaughter him? When such a sin as this, so great an offence is for given, what is it, that is not, that cannot be forgiven? He alludes to that of S. Peter, who telling the jews how they crucified and slew jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among them with great works, and wonders, & signs, and so forth: yet said unto them notwithstanding, g Act. 2.38. Amend your lives, & be baptised every one of you in the name of jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And thus much of the Goodness of God, the second Fountain, or Head I told you of. Now concerning his justice, which I told you was the third Head, and comprehending these twain: And not making the wicked innocent, visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the children, and upon children's children, unto the third and fourth generation. First of the former [And not making the wicked innocent.] He that justifieth the wicked, h Prov. v. 17.15. saith Solomon, & he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. If the Lord speak thus of Magistrates (for of Magistrates he there speaketh) who represent him more especially than other sorts and states of men whatsoever, well may he say in this place concerning the wicked as he doth, especially being to give them example by himself. Besides that it followeth well here, And not making the wicked innocent, in regard of the premises that went before. For lest upon the hearing thus of sins forgiven, the wicked should soothe up themselves, that theirs should be forgiven too, and as it is in i Deut. 29.19. Deuteronomy, he should bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, although I walk according to the stubbornness of my own heart, thus adding drunkenness unto thirst: there is a Supersedeas for all such, The Lord, l Deut. 29.20. saith Moses, will not be merciful unto him, and likewise another here in this place, And not making the wicked innocent. I, but who are the wicked here meant in this place? and as we asked, & answered before who are the Elect, so let us ask and answer now, who are the wicked. No man describes them better than doth the Prophet David, and the Apostle S. Paul out of him, from top to toe. He tells us of their Throats, he tells us of their Tongues, he tells us of their Lips, he tells of their Mouths, their Eyes, their Feet. Their THROAT, m Rom. 3.13. saith S. Paul, is an open Sepulchre, they have used their TONGVE to deceit: the poison of Asps is under their LIPS, whose MOUTH is full of cursing and bitterness. Their FEET are swift to shed blood. Destruction and calamity are in their ways. And the way of peace they have not known. The fear of God is not before their EIES. I will conclude this point of not making the wicked innocent, with that of the Prophet David, Ps. 11.6. The Lord alloweth the righteous: but the ungodly, and him that delighteth in wickedness, doth his soul abhor. Upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest: this shall be their portion to drink. And so I come to the latter Attribute, and consequently to the last of all: Visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the children, & upon children's children, unto the third and fourth generation. I may say of this later Attribute as speaks the Poet in an other case, Qui venit hic fluctus, fluctus supereminet omnes; Ovid. Trist. l. 1. Eleg. 2. and indeed of all the waves that went before, none is comparable unto this. Begin we with the word itself Visiting, and how harshly doth it sound not to the worst sort of people, Scholars. Scholasticus est n Plin. 2. Epist. l. 2 Ep. 3. saith Pliny, quo genere hominum nihil aut simplicius, aut syncerius, aut melius: Isaeus saith Pliny is a Scholar, than which kind of men none more honest in their dealing, none more sincere, none better. And yet even among such should a Visitation be had, how would every man blush thereat, that in any wise respecteth the credit of his College. And yet you know who o Diog. Laere. l. 6. in Diegene. said it, Magni fures parvum ducunt, The judge may be worse, than the Felon that stands at bar. It is not so with God & us. Come we to the matter that is visited, and that is iniquity. Si iniquitates observaveris Domine p Ps 130.3. saith David, Domine quis sustinebit? If thou Lord wilt be extreane to mark what is done amiss: o Lord who may abide it? But this is not all neither, for come we to the manner here, and it seems not our own Iniquity, but the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the children, I, and upon children's children, even unto the third & fourth generation. See Beloved, the greatest affliction that can in this world happen to man. Many an one there is no doubt that is reachles of himself; come rack, come rope, the words were q Vid. D. Fulck against the Defence of the Censure. p. 138. Campians, he cares not, he fears not, he will do it though he die for it a thousand deaths: but when he sees his children in hazard, & that his posterity shall rue his fault, r Virg. Aeneid. l. 3 Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis, that is, as here is said, His children, and his children's children unto the third and fourth generation, then will he be moved to remorse, that had not many days before a world of wickedness in his heart. Let me instance in that dishonourable knight Sr Everard Digby, one of those hellish Powder-rowt, who combining himself with that cursed crew and most desperate Catelines of our age, what little reckoning did he make of the whole State of this our Land. Of his most excellent MAJESTY, a king not to be paralleled in the world, his Gracious Consort our Sovereign QUEEN, the worthy Successor of Queen Elizabeth, that worthy PRINCE too too worthy to live any longer amongst us, his HIGHNESS that now lives, and grant o God, he may live s Dan. 3.9. even for ever, the Reverend PRELATES, the worthy NOBLES, the whole KINGDOM itself, when as they were all of them designed to a perpetual destruction. Did he not hope, and those his Complices, to see our t 2. Esd. 10.21 Sanctuary laid waste, our Altar broken down, our Temple destroyed: our Psalterion to faint, our Song to cease, our Mirth to vanish away, & the light of our Candlestick to be quenched, and the Ark of our Covenant taken away, and our Holy Things defiled, and the Name that is called upon over us, altogether dishonoured, and our Children put to shame, and our Priests burnt, and our Levites carried into captivity, & our Virgins defiled, & our Wives ravished, and our Righteous men spoiled, and our Children destroyed, & our young men brought into bondage, and our strong men become weak: And which is the greatest of all, Zion the seal to lose her worship, and to be delivered into the hands of them that hate us? And yet u The proceedings against the late Traitors. p. L. 3. b. HE in the peril of his private and domestical estate, how did he presently put on the bowels of Nature, and Compassion, making petition forsooth for his Son, that he (with his majesties leave) might have the benefit of an Entail, and so to succeed him in his Lands. Non me fugit x Tully Epist. ad Brutum. Ep. 12. saith Tully, quàm sit acerbum Parentum seclora Filiorum poenis lui. Sed hoc praeclarè legibus comparatum est, ut charitas liberorum amiciores Parents Reip. redderet. I am not ignorant how hard it is that Children should be punished for their Father's treasonable facts. But full well did the Laws provide it should be so, that the love which Parents did bear unto their Children, might make those Parents more respective to the Commonweal. Now if so be the love of Children, and fear of their miscarrying, might endear then so far to the love of the Commonweal which could but kill their bodies only, as y Mat 10.28. speaks our Saviour, how aught they to fear him which is able to destroy themselves, their Children, and children's Children, unto the third and fourth generation, both Souls and Bodies in hell. O but thou wilt say: what? & shall I be punished then for that which was my Father's fault? z Gen. 18 25 Shall not the judge of all the world do right? Or shall we renew that ancient Proverb again, a Ezech. 18.2 The Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? b Virg. Aen. l. 1 Tantaene animis coelestibus irae? Nay Beloved, mistake me not. c Virg. Aen. l. 6 Nullae hîc insidiae tales: absiste moveri: Nec vim VERBA ferunt. For it is not to be so understood, that if the Parents be wicked, & the Children be godly, he will punish the Children for the Father's sake: not, God forbidden. But if so be the Child follow a wicked Father's steps, and his Child his, and so along, then will he shower down plagues on that house, and root out that Family from the Earth; there shall not be one left that maketh water against a wall. Thus was it prophesied of jeroboam: Behold d 1. Kin. 14.10 saith the Lord, I will bring evil upon the house of jeroboam, and will cut of from jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, as well him that is shut up, as him that is left in Israel, and will sweep away the remnant of the house of jeroboam, as a man sweepeth away dung, till it be all gone. But thus much of the Attributes, or Properties of God, my next care is to be, to entreat of his works; wherefore of his Works God willing the next time. In the mean time HE so bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. GOD'S WORKS. Lecture 5. April. 22. 1613. FOrasmuch as there is no end of the Greatness of God a Quia magnitudinis Dei non est finis, & cum qu●m non capimus laudare debemus: tanquam deficientes in eius magnitudine ut reficiamur eius bonitate, ad Opera respiciamus, & de Operibus laudemus operantem, de conditis conditorem, de creatura creatorem. Aug. in Ps 144. saith S. Austen, and we aught to praise him whom we for our parts cannot conceive: for we are utterly deficient in his Greatness, to the end that we may be refreshed by his Goodness, let us view and consider his Works, and in regard of th●se his Works, let us praise him the Workman, in regard of those things made, let us praise him the Maker, in regard of the Creature, let us praise him the Creator. Having formerly declared to you, First the Essence of God whereby to know him, secondly his Attributes, or his Properties, & in both of them coming too too short of conceiving his Greatness indeed, what remaineth in the last place, but that we now come unto his WORKS: that so refreshed with his Goodness, and taking a view of those his Works, we not only praise the Workman, and Maker, and Creator of them, as speaks S. Austen, but fully finish also, and make an end of that one point of Divinity proposed in the beginning, and in my first Division, concerning God. To this end and purpose have I chosen at this time, a passage of the Apostle S. Paul's, who in the 17. Chapter of the Acts, the 24, 25, 26, and 27 verses, speaketh on this wise. God that made the world, and all things that are therein, seeing that he is Lord of Heaven, & Earth, dwelleth not in Temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, & breath and all things. And hath made of one blood all mankind, to devil on all the face of the earth, and hath assigned the times which were ordained before, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord if so be they might have groped after him, and found him, though doubtless he be not far from every one of us. I shall not need to acquaint you here with the occasion of these words, that would now be to little purpose, and as little suitable at this time to the matter I have in hand. I come to the words themselves which first entreat of God's Works: secondly of the powerfulness of those Works to make us to seek after God. Now the Works of God are named here, partly in general; partly in particular. Those which are in general are the World, and All things that are therein: that which is in particular; is the Creation of Man. Of both in their several order, and first of the Works of God here named in general: God that made the World and all things that are therein, etc. Great is the commendation that b Matrob. Saturn. l. 5. c. 1. p. 506. Macrobius gives unto Virgil for a certain hemistichium of his. Vis audire saith he, illum tanta brevitate dicentem, ut arctarimagis & contrahi brevitas ipsa non possit? — Et campos ubi Troia fuit. Ecce paucissimis verbis maximam civitatem hausit, & absorpsit: non reliquit illi nec ruinam. Speaking immediately again of the same Poet, & how he handled the self same matter in an other place, after a most copious kind of manner, when as he had rehearsed some nine of his verses to that purpose, Venit summa dies, & ineluctabile fatum Dardaniae, and so forth; (where yet it is in Virgil, & ineluctabile tempus) Quis sons, saith he, quis torrens, quod mare tot fluctibus, quot hic verbis inundavit? He praised him before for his Brevity, for that in those words, — Et Campos ubi Troia fuit, Brevity itself could not have been comprised more briefly. He swallowed up, saith Macrobius, in the fewest words that could be, the greatest City that ever was: he left it not so much as any rubbish to be seen. Which Virgil, saith he, in another place speaking again of the self same City passeth both Fountains, and Rivers, and Seas in plenty of words. That which Moses saith in so many words in the first Chapter of Genesis (& Moses as c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Theodoret. Ad Graec. Infid. Ser. 2. p. 29. speaks Theodoret was the Ocean of Divinity) our Apostle guided here by the self same Spirit that Moses was, compriseth in these few: The world and all things that are therein. Look we back unto Moses, and consider his words of the creation, and Quis fons, quis torrens, quod mare tot fluctibus, quot hic verbis in undavit? what Fountain, what River, nay what Sea can abound with so many waves, as Moses there doth with words? But come we again unto the Apostle here, and consider we these words; The world, and all things that are therein, and Quàm multa, quàm paucis, as Tully d Tull. Epist. Fam. l. 11. p. 24. speaks, in how few words, how many divers and sundry things may we see contained! As the creation of the light; the creation of Heaven; the creation of the Earth; the Sea, Herbs, and Trees; the creation of the Sun & Moon, and Stars; the creation of Whales, and Fishes, & feathered Fowl; the creation of the Beasts of the Earth, and Cattles, and every creeping thing of the Earth, as also of Adam and Eve, from whom ourselves first came. In a word nothing now whatsoever within the whole compass of this world, but was created then at that time, if not in the Individuum, yet doubtless in the Species of it. Excellent and most eloquent is that passage of Tertullian to this purpose, I will english it as I e Sic censeo. Venere propria, quasique nativo cuiusque linguae decore foveri sententias quasdam, subnixasque certis, ut ita dicam, idiotismi fulluris sustinevi: quam in aliam quasi Coloniam si deducas: iiden sanè sint cives: gratiam pristinae commendationis non retinebunt. Card. Exercit. 294. p. 871. may. The rule of Truth, f Regula exigit veritatis ut primò omnium credamus in Deum Patrem & Dominum omnipotentem, id est, rerum omnium perfectissinum conditorem, qui Coelum alta sublimitate suspenderit, terram deiecta mole solidaverit, maria soluto liquore diffuderit, & haec omnia propriis & condignis instrumentis & ornala & plena digesserit. Name & in solidamento coeli luciferos Solis ortus excitavit, Lunae candentem globum ad solatium noctis incrementis orbis implevit, Astrorum etiam variis radiis fulgoribusque micantis lucis noctem accendit & haec omnia legitimis meatibus circumire totum mundi ambitum voluit, humano generi dies, menses, annos, signa, tempora, utilitatesque factura. In terris quoque altissimos montes in verlicem sustulit, valles in ima d●ieci●, campas aequaliter stravit, animalium greges ad varias hominum servitutes utiliter instituit. Sylvarum quoque robora humanis usibus profutura solidavit, fruges in cibum elicuit, fontium or a reseravit, & lapsuris fluminibus infudit. Postea ut ipsis quoque delicias procuraret oculis, variis florum coloribus ad voluptatem sectantium cuncta vestivit. In ipso quoque Mari, quamvis esset, & magnitudine & utilitate mirabile, multimoda animalia, nuac mediocris, nunc vasti corporis finxit, ingenium artificis de institutionis varietate testantia. Quibus non contentus ne fortè fremitus & cursus aquarum cum dispendio possessoris humani alienum occuparet elementum, fines littoribus inclusit: quo cum fremens fluctus & ex alto sinu spumans unda venisset, rursum in setediret, nec terminos concesses excederet, servans iura praescripta: ut divinas leges tantò magis homo custodiret, quantò illas etiam elementa servassent. Post quae hominem quoque mundo praeposuit, & quidem ad imaginem Dei factum: cui mentem & rationem indidit, & prudentiam ut Deum posset imitari: cuius etsi corporis terrena primordia, co●lestis ●ame● & divini halitus inspirata substantia. Tertul. de Trin. p. 493. saith he, exacteth at our hands, that first of all we believe in God the Father and Lord Omnipotent, that is, the most absolute Maker, and Creator of all things, who hath builded the Heavens on high, and fixed the Earth beneath, and bespread the Sea with moisture, and hath trimmed, and dressed every of these with all such necessaries as are behoveful for them. For first concerning Heaven, he hath caused therein the bright-some rising of the Sun, the shining globe of the Moon he hath filled with augmentation to lighten the night withal, as also with the many beams, and brightness of the Stars, all which he would that with orderly proceed they should compass the whole world, making for the benefit of mankind both days, and months, and years, and signs, and times, and commodities. Secondly concerning the Earth, he hath made therein the Hills, and Mountains of an excessive height, the Valleys and Dales he hath depressed as low, the Meadows and Pastures he hath smoothly spread in carpet wise, he hath ordained the herds of Cattles for the sundry services of men. He hath made stable, sure, & strong, the bodies of Oak and Timber, for the service of Man too, he hath brought Corn out of the earth, and made it fit for meat, he hath unclosed the heads of Fountains, and powered forth the same into the gliding Rivers. Afterwards that he might procure delight unto the eye, he hath clothed the Earth with sundry kinds of flowers. Thirdly concerning the Sea, howsoever it was exceeding admirable both for quantity and utility, yet hath he form and framed therein divers & sundry kinds of Beasts, some of less, some of a greater Bulcke, all testifying unto us the wisdom of their Maker in respect of the variety of their making. Wherewith not yet contenting himself, lest happily the ruffling and raging thereof should to the hurt and loss of Man the owner, encroach on the other Element, he hath appointed bounds unto the shore, whereunto when the roaring stoods, and boisterous waves are once come, they should back again with heave and hoe, neither should they exceed the limits granted unto them, but keep themselves within their set bounds, all to teach Man to observe God's Laws, seeing the Elements themselves are so obedient thereunto. After all these things rehearsed he hath placed Man over the world, made in truth at first to the similitude of God: to whom he hath given a mind, and reason, and wisdom, that he might imitate the same God. Whose Body howsoever it had an earthly beginning, yet was a substance inspired into him of a divine and heavenly breathing. Thus for Tertullian. Whose words since I cannot give them the true perfection they should have, you may find them in the Author himself, and they are very well worth your looking over. But to come unto my purpose. All these things thus specified as they could have been made in a moment, so is it not amiss for us to consider in what space of time they were made. Moses informs us of Six Birth-days that all these Things had, and indeed they were no less that went to the dispatching and finishing of them. In the first of them was made Materia prima: The Prime Mother of all things being, as also Light and Darkness. In the second, the Heavens, those celestial Orbs above. In the third, he brought the Sea into his own peculiar compass, and making the Dry Land to appear, he caused it to bring forth both Herbs, and Plants, and Trees. In the fourth, he made the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars in the Firmament. In the fift, he made the Fishes of the Sea, the Fowls, and every creeping thing. In the sixth he made the Beasts of the field, and all Cattles; & at length he made Man. g Musc. Loc. Comm. cap. de Create. p. 12, Musculus hath concluded all this in four only verses which he would have young men to have by heart. The verses are these: PRIMA Dies lucem; Coelum ALTERA; TERTIA. Terram; Sydera QVARTA; SEQVENS Piscem habet et Volucrem: SEXTA Animal quodvis, Hominemque ex pulvere terrae Protulit: at SABATHUM septima lux tenuit. They may in homely wise be englished thus. FIRST Day had light: the SECOND Heaven: the THIRD the Earth's round bowl: The FOURTH the Sun, and Moon, and Stars: the FIFT both Fish, and Fowl: The sixth bruit Beasts, and cattle eke, and brought forth Man withal, seventh Day had rest, and that it is, which we the Sabbath call. Here if a doubt arise concerning the Angels, why Moses in describing the creation of all other Creatures omitted them: I for my part am of Zanchius his opinion, that Moses hath not omitted them altogether, but hath comprehended them, though in secret wise, in the first words of his Book. For where he said, h Gen. 1.1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the beginning God created the Heaven, and the Earth, In nomine coelorum, Shammaijm, i Zanc. de Oper. Dei. l. 1. c. 2. p. 13. Col. 2. saith he, Angelos comprehendi non dubito, quorum sedes coelum est supremum. I nothing doubt but under the name of Heaven the Angels are comprehended, whose seat is the highest Heaven. Whosoever desireth to see more hereof, & on what day it is probable, that they were created, and why Moses speaks not of them in as direct terms, and as roundly, as he doth of Things visible, I refer you unto Zanchius, as also to a l M. Salkeld his Treatise of Angels. c. 3. p. 16. Treatise of Angels set forth not long ago. To return then where I left. Having thus much spoken in general of the Creation of the World, and all things therein contained, it will further our knowledge herein; if so be we do consider, First, of what he made this world; Secondly, how he made it. Of what this world was made is intimated unto us in the Hebrew word, Bara signifying, Creavit. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now for the Latin word Creavit, how soever sometimes it is truly spoken of many things as Men, & other Creatures, which are borne by propagation: as m Liv. Decad. 1. l. 1. Livy speaking of Silvius the son of Ascanius, Is, saith he, Aeneam Sylvium create: is deinde Latinum Sylvium: Silvius begot Aeneas Silvius, and Aeneas Silvius, Latinus Silvius: yet proprijssime n Zanch. de Oper. l. 1. c. 2. p. 9 Col. 1. saith Zanchius, & simpliciter tum aliquid dicitur creari, cum ex nihilo aliquid fit, simply and most properly that is said to be created, when something is made of nothing. Now this particle Ex, Ex nihilo, Of nothing, as the same o Zanch. Ib. c. 3 p. 31. Col. 2. Zanchius well observeth, sometimes signifies the material cause, whereof somewhat is made, sometimes order only, as when we say, Ex mane fit dies, & ex die meridies: of the morning day is made, & of the day Noontide: that is, after the morning comes the day, & after the day hath begun, Noontide. So likewise in this place, All things are made of nothing: that is, when as nothing at all was at first, afterwards whatsoever was, the same was made. This I confess was gibberish to Aristotle, who doted on Nature so much: but as one said in the p Virg. Egl. 1. Poet, Quid facerem? neque servitio me exire licebat, Nec tam praesentes alibi cognoscere Divos, What would you have me do? Neither could I put of my service wherewith at first I was so fettered, nor once suppose that there were elsewhere so favourable Gods: right so in this case was it with Aristotle, sworne-man he was to Nature, neither ever dreamt he of the true God. Where in let us see yet how he himself, and the crew of Philosophers that followed his steps, stumbled (as it were) at straws & leapt over blocks: how many Argoes eyes they had abroad, and were at home as blind as Beetles. The Intelligences, and Souls of Men they could not be ignorant how they were made, without previous, or precedent matter at all, for even by their own confession they are immaterial, they are not logd and clogged with Matter. Now God that could this do, and doth it daily even by their confession (I mean concerning the Souls of men) could not he at first have made this World, and all things therein contained without any help of Matter at all? was the Lord's hand so q Esay. 50.21 shortened? Or had he then forsooth not power? Doth he as much in a manner now, and could he not do it at the first? Indeed could God have done no more than Nature, it had been somewhat they had said: for true it is in Nature, Ex nihilo nihil fit: of nothing nought is made. Art doth imitate Nature, wherefore as Nature must needs have somewhat to work on, so of necessity must Art to, and therefore the Potter's art r Theod. Diu. Decret. epit. l. 5. p. 985. Col. 1. saith Theodoret, that requires clay: the art of building stones & brick: the Carpenters and Shipwrights, wood and timber: the art of Weaving, wool: of Tanning & Currying, hides & skins: of Painting, colours. But it is not so with God, he calleth those things which be not, as though they were, Rom. 4.17, And through faith, saith the Apostle, we understand that the world was ordained by the word of God, so that the things which we see are not made of things which did appear, Heb. 11.3. I conclude this point with that of Musculus; if so be s Musc. Loc. Com. Cap. de Create, p. 11. saith Musculus, it be demanded whence God created all things, our answer is, that he created some things of nothing, some things of the earth, some things of the water, & some things of flesh. He created of nothing the Heaven, the Earth, and Sea. Of the earth he created Adam our first Parent, and Beasts, and Plants, and Herbs of every kind. Of the waters he created Fishes, and Fowls of the air. Of flesh he made Eve the first Mother of mankind. All which notwithstanding (as t Vrfin. Catech. Angl. edit. 1611 p. 311. one observes) were either immediately, or mediately made of Nothing, forasmuch as the prime matter of all at the first had a beginning from Nothing. And thus much of the first point, namely of what he made this world: I now come to the Second, namely how he made it. How God did make the World we need no better Instructor than that excellent Singer of Israel David the Prophet, who shows us in a many places that the World was made by the Word. As Psal. 33.6. By the word saith he, of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth: and again in the 9 verse, For he spoke, and it was done: he commanded and it stood fast: And Psal. 148.5, For he spoke the word, and they were made, he commanded, and they were created. For the better proceeding wherein we are to observe u Vrsin. Ib. 9 310. five kinds of operations. The first of things which work according to the quality and force of their own nature, not being guided by any proper understanding or will of their own. Such is the operation of Fire, Water, Herbs & precious Stones. The second is of those which follow Nature in working to, but not without some proper appetite, or desire of their own, though the rule of reason be wanting. Of this sort are the operations & actions of bruit Beasts. The third is of Men, and Devils, who also work according to the quality of their nature, namely by reason, deliberation, & freely, but corruptly. The fourth is of good Angels who likewise as Men work by reason and will, but not corruptly. The fift is the highest, and supreme kind of working, which according to the nature of the first Agent floweth from an understanding, and will, and that most pure, most perfect, and most right, neither is it subject to the pleasure, & disposing of any higher cause. And therefore this Agent, who is indeed God himself, is most wise, most good, most free and most infinite, who hath no need of any deliberation to go before, but without motion, at his beck and commandment only, worketh and guideth all things, both what he will, and as he william. x Ps. 148.5. He spoke the word, and they were made, he commandeded, and they were created. Howbeit here we are to know that the Word of God is taken in the Scriptures, generally & specially. Generally, and so it is taken either for every thing, as Luk. 1.37: or for the doctrine of God, as joh. 8.47: or for things that have been done, as Luk. 1.2. Specially, and so is it taken or for the promise of God, as Ephes. 5.26: or God's decree, as Esay 45.23: or for the commandment of God, as Deut. 4.2: or for condemnation, sentence, and judgement, as Esay, 28. 14: or for the Son of God the second Person in Trinity as joh. 1.1: or lastly for his beck only as Heb. 1.3, Bearing up all things by his mighty word, and so it is in this place. By the word of the Lord, y Ps. 33.6. saith David, were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth. And thus much of the second point, and consequently of the Works of God, that are named here in general: now of that One that is named here in particular, and that is Man. And hath made of one blood all mankind to devil on all the face of the Earth, and hath assigned the times, that were ordained before, and the bounds of their habitation. Being to speak, Beloved, of MAN, I may say as did Tiberius the Emperor, when he wrote to the Senate of Rome. z Tacit. Anal. l. 6. p. 189. Quid scribam vobis P.C. aut quomodo scribam, aut quid omninò non scribam hoc tempore, Dij me Deaeque peius perdant, quam perire quotidiè sentio, si scio. What it is I should writ unto you Fathers of the Senate, or how I should writ unto you, or what at this time I should not writ, the Gods and Goddesses more afflict me, than I feel my self to be every hour, if I for my part, can now tell. Right so, Beloved, set the execration aside, or this of Tiberius, or that of Iezabels, The Gods do so to me, and more also, 1. King. 19.2. and what to say, or not to say, to speak or writ of Man, I for my part know not. Shall I tell you of the excellency, & nobility of his Birth, how God wrought him with his own hands (as you heard not a Lect. 3. p. 33. long ago out of b job. 10.9. job, and out of c Ps. 139.14. & Ps. 119.73. David) how he is d javel. Epit. in lib. Metaph. Tract. 1. c. 1. Tom. 1. p. 357. Col. 1. Vid. Conimb. in 2. de Coelo, q. 2. Art. 2 p. 184. So Picol. Copula & bymenaeus mortal. & aeternor. Picolom. Ethic. l. 2. c. 32. p. 174. Again, Mortalium finis, permanentium & flux ilium copula Mundique Epil●gus. Piccl. Ib. c. 39 p. 184. Nexus Dei, & Mundi, as some call him, as others, Horizon inter corporea & incorporea; A fastening or knitting together of God and the World: The Horizon between corporeal things, and things incorporeal? In a word how he is placed here in this world by God that made him, to be the e Ps. 8.6. So Tertui. Omnia famula sunt hominis, omnia subiecta, omnia mancipata. Tertul. de Anima. c. 15. p. 552. Monarch of the same? That were the next way, f Terent. Eunuch. Act. 2. Sc. 2. ex stulto insanum facere: with pride and self conceit, to set him quite besides himself. Shall I with g Principium iure tribuitur Homin●, cuius causa videtur cuncta alia genuisse Natura magna & saeva mercede contra tanta sua munera: ut non sit satis aestimare, Parens melior homini, an tristior Noverca fuerit. Ante omnia unum animantium cunctorum, alienis velat operibus: caeteris varia tegumenta tribuit, testas, cortices, ceria, spinas, villos, setas, pilos, plumam, pennas, squamas, vellera. Truncos etiam arboresque cortice, interdum gemino, à frigoribus & calore tutata est. Hominem tantùm nudum & in nuda humo, natali die abiicit ad vagitus statim & ploratum, nullumque tot animalium aliud ad lachrymas, & has protinus vitae principio. At Hercule rifus praecox ille & celerrimus, ante quadragesimum diem nulli datur Abhoc lucis rudimento, quae ne feras quidem inter nos genitas, vincula accipiunt, & omnium membrorum nexus: itaque feliciter natus jacet, manibus pedibusque devinctis, flens, animal caeteris imperaturum: & à suppliciis vitam auspicatur, unam tantum ob culpam quia natum est. Heu dementiam ab iis initiis existimantium ad superbiam se genitos. Prima roboris spes, primumque temporis munus Quadrupedi similem facit. Quando homini incessus? quando vox? quando firmum cibis os?? quamdiu palpitans vertex, summae inter cuncta animalia imbecillitatis indicium? jam morbi, totque medicinae contra mala excogitatae, & hae quoque subinde novitatibus victae. Caetera sentire naturam suam, alia pernicitatem usurpare, alia praepetes volatus, alia vires, alia nare: Hominem scire nihil sinc doctrina, non fari, non ingredi, non vefci: breviterque non aliud naturae sponte quàm flerc. Plin. Natur. Hist. l. 7. Prooem. p. 105. Pliny then tell you of his miseries, and how of all other living Creatures, Nature hath brought him forth altogether naked, & afterwards when he is clothed, clothing him yet with the bounty, and riches of others? how to all the rest she hath given sufficient to clad them according to their kind, as Shells, Hides, Shag, Bristles, Hair, Feathers, Quills, Scales, and Wool? I how the very trunks, and stems of Trees, and Plants, want not their Bark and rind, yea and sometimes double too, to defend them against the injuries both of heat and cold: Man only poor wretch, how even upon his birthday she hath laid him naked on the Earth, there to pule and cry from the very first hour that he is borne, so that no creature whatsoever is subject to shed tears, & weep like him? Shall I tell you how when he is borne, he is immediately fast bound, having no part or member at liberty, a thing, (as Pliny notes) not practised on the young whelps of the wildest Beast that is? Shall I tell you how long it is ere he can afterwards go alone? how long it is before he can prattle and speak, feed himself, and chew his meat? how long the mould and crown of his Head continues to beaten and pant before his brain be well settled, the undoubted mark, and token, saith Pliny, that bewrayeth his exceeding great weakness above all other Creatures whatsoever? Shall I tell you of his infirmities & sicknesses that seize upon his feeble Body, besides the new diseases that happen unto him continually, able to check and frustrate all provision of Physic, and skill of the most expert Galen that is? shall I tell you how among all other Creatures there is not one, but by a secret instinct of nature knoweth his own good, & whereto he is made able: some make use of the swiftness of their feet, some of their wings, some are strong of limb, others apt to swim, Man only knoweth nothing unless he be taught, he can neither speak, nor go, nor eat, otherwise than he is trained to it, and to be short how naturally he is apt & good at nothing but to pule and cry? Surely this were even enough to make us bid defiance to Nature, and under that pretence to blaspheme even God himself. Whether then shall we turn ourselves? To which of these two ways shall we betake us? we will venture on the former, and so much the rather on that, for that if in consideration of our Excellency we be puffed up too too far, we are like to have day by day Monitors enough to put us in mind of our Mortality. He that said of our Betters, I have said ye are Gods: and ye all are children of the most highest, h Psal. 86.1. said with one & the self same breath: but ye shall die like men. Concerning our Creation then it appertaineth to consider: i Vid M. Bunnies Corner Ston l. 1. c. 1. § 6. p. 7. First of the making of our Bodies, & then how they are endued with a living Soul. Concerning our Bodies we are to note the l Vid. Cyril. Catech. 4. Edit. Paris. 1608. p. 88 & Catech. 9 p. 195. wonderful composition, and connexion thereof, the just proportion, conveniency, and beauty of every part. This it was that caused Galen to writ that excellent Book De Vsu Partium, wherein he describes with admirable cunning, the knitting together, the proportionable agreement, the beauty & use of every member, and among others hath this passage: Admire not, m Galen. de Vsu Part. l. 3. c. 10. saith he, the Sun's beauty, nor the beauty of the Moon: nor that the multitude of the Stars are so well digested in such good order. Nor let their greatness, or beautifulness, or restless motion, or compass, & circuits, that they continually use, strike thee with admiration, as if those things which are here below in comparison of them should seem but small and base to be accounted of, and to want indeed their lustre and excellency. For thou shalt found that even in these things (he meaneth the several Parts of Man) the wisdom, & virtues, & providence of the Creator doth show and declare itself, and that the workman's art and cunning is as much in these, as in any of those whatsoever. The more wicked and absurd were the Manichees of old (with whom another day this very n Mat 12.42. Heathen shall rise in judgement and condemn them) who held that the Body o Alfons. de Castr. advers. haer. l. 4. p. 269. of Man was evil by Nature, and that the Devil was the Maker of it. Nor shall they be quit of all their punishment who held this Heresy but by halves, I mean the Paternianis, and Venustiani, who said as much of the lower parts, as did the Manichees of all. I cannot now stand about them, only I will say with S. Austen: p Caro igitur opus Dei est. Cum formatur, opus Dei est: cum conditur, opus Dei est: cum prodicitur, Dei opus est: cum regeneratur, opus Dei est: cum signatur, opus Dei est: cum curatur, opus Dei est. Quid debet Diabolo totiens opus Dei? Aug. de Verb. Apost. ser. 26. p. 260. So Tertull. Corpus istud Platonica sententia carcer [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qu. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] ceterùm Apostolica, Dei Templum cùm in Christo est. Tertul. de Anima c. 30. p 573. Vid. David's Desire. Ser, 4. p. 19 & Ser. 2. p. 91. The flesh when it is form, it is the work of God: when it is made, it is God's work: when it is brought forth it is God's work too: when it is regenerated it is God's work: when it is signed, it is God's work: when it is healed, it is God's work. What trow we hath the Devil to do at all, with that which is so oftentimes & so many ways Gods work. But thus much of the Body, now as touching the Soul. As touching the Soul we are to note two principal points. First and foremost whence it is, than the Nature or Excellency of it. Whence it is we are so much the rather to make inquiry, for that q Vid. M Bunies Corner stone l. 1 c. 1. §. 6. p. 9 Divers by such likelihoods as they have conceived, have taken the Soul to be nothing else in effect but only some Elementary Concretion, and so consequently both to follow the temperature of the Body, and to be but Mortal also. Whereas in truth as it was first of all breathed into Adam, so is it (though not in that manner) into all & every of us that come of him, that being most true which r In medio hominis (alluding to that of Zacharie Zach. 12. 1. Spiritum hominis in m●dio eius fingit, according to Vatablus) creando infunditur, & infundendo creature, Zanch. de Oper. Part. 3. l. 2. c. 5. Thes. 3. p. 559. Col. 2. r Tertullian, and Gregory Nyssen, cited by Colerus. Quaest. Theol. & Philosoph. Num. Anima sit ex traduce. p. 5. Zanchius hath, that the Soul in the midst of man is infused by creating, and by infusing is created. So that we have not our Souls Ex traduce, by Propagation as we have our Bodies, though there are I confess great men and some of the ˢ Fathers to, that hold this opinion. Concerning the state of the Soul t Hieron. Epist. ad Marcel. & Anaps. saith S. Jerome writing to Marcellinus, and Anapsychias, I remember your question very well, nay indeed the Church's question, WHETHER it came from Heaven, as Pythagoras the Philosopher, and all the Platonists, & Origen thinks: or, WHETHER it be of the proper & peculiar substance of God, as the Stoics, the Manichees, and the heretical Priscillianists of Spain suppose: or, WHETHER they are reserved in God's treasure made a long time before they came, or descended, into the Body, as some Ecclesiastical Persons foolishly are persuaded: or, WHETHER daily they are made by God, and so sent into the Bodies, according to that in the Gospel, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work: or, WHETHER it be ex traduce, as Tertullian, Apollinarius, and the greatest part of the West are of opinion, that as the Body is borne of the Body, so the Soul should be borne of the Soul, & be of like condition, as are the Souls of bruit Beasts. Whereupon S. Jerome: What my opinion is I remember I have delivered in my works against Ruffinus. Now his opinion there was this. When Ruffinus had said that he for his part held nothing positively, and definitively in this Question, but left the truth thereof to God himself, and to whomsoever he would reveal it: What! u Per tanta sacula tibi nullus videtur dignus fuisse, cui de hac quaestione Dominus revelavit? Non Patriarcha, non Propheta, non Apostolus, non Martyr? Ne tibi quidem quando in carceribus, & exiliis morabaris, huiusmodi sacramenta patuerunt? Dominus in Evangelio: Pater inquit revelavi nomen tuum hominibus Qui Patrem revelavit, de animarum statu tacuit? & miraris si contra te Fratrum scandala concitentur, cum id n●scire te iures quod Christi Ecc●esiae se nosse fateantur? Hieron. advers. Ruf. Apol. 2. saith S. Jerome, throughout so many ages seems no man worthy in your eyes, to whom the Lord hath revealed the truth of this Question? Not any of the patriarchs? nor of the Prophets? nor of the Apostles? nor of Martyrs? Why, man, were not these mysteries made most apparent to you yourself when you were in prison, and in exile? Father x joh. 17.6. saith our Saviour in the Gospel, I have revealed thy name unto men. He that revealed the Father, was he silent in this case concerning the state of Souls? And now Sir do you marvel, if you give scandal to the brethren, when as you protest you know not that which all the Churches of Christ profess they know? But thus much of the former point whence the Soul is. Concerning the Nature, or Excellency of it as it partly appeareth hereby in that it is made by God himself: so is it evident by the effects also, which it worketh in the Body. For where before the coming thereof the Body in some sort is like those Idols of which the Psalmist y Ps. 115.5. speaketh: They have mouths and speak not: eyes have they and see not: they have ears, and hear not: noses have they and smell not: they have hands and handle not: feet have they and walk not: neither speak they through their throat: the a Anima movet corpus, & conatus eius extrinsecus foris po ent. Ab illa est enim impingi & pedea in incessum, & manus in contactum, & oculos in conspectum, & linguam in offalum, velut sigillario motus superficiem intus agitantem. Tertull. de Anima. c. 2. p 528. Soul doth no sooner come, but the Body hath a power to perform all this, and therefore in tract of time it speaketh, it sees, it hears, it smells, it handles, it walks, it performs, what not? And therefore b Tull. Som. Scip. Tully in this respect very truly, Mens cuiusque is est quisque: The Mind or Soul of Man is all in all. By reason of this it is that he hath the knowledge of numbering, a point peculiar to himself: that he understandeth not things in particular only, but in a generality and universality: that he inventeth and disposeth Arts, discerneth Vice from Virtue, things honest from dishonest, and rules (as it were the world) both Land and Sea. By reason of this it is that though he hath not as bruit Beasts either Feathers, or Wings to fly with, or Swiftness or Nimbleness of foot, or Fins whereby to swim, or extraordinary Strength, etc.: yet hath he that which c French. Acad. Part. 2. c. 73. p. 407. Vid. Lact. de Opific. Dei. c. 2. & 3. Senica de Benefic. l. 2. c. 29. recompenseth and makes amendss for all these. For though he hath not Feathers to fly with, and mount aloft as Birds do, yet how many means hath he to ascend, and descend, to go and come, even when and whither he will? If he want himself the Swiftness & Footemanship of Beasts, yet how many Beasts are there with whose swiftness he may help himself? Though he hath not Fins whereby to swim, and so to pass along the Seas, yet hath he Boats & Ships to help himself, and by reason of those helps, how is he conversant in that Element? As for Strength which he may seem to want to bear burdens a far of, we daily see how that is recompensed by the service of Beasts unto his use. So that whatsoever he wants in himself, he hath dominion yet over such as have it, he is Lord Paramount (as it were) of the World, and all therein are at his service. I will not here speak of our d Vid. Calv. Inst. l. 2. c. 15. §. 3. Creation in the image of God: that is, of the integrity that Man had when as he was endued with a right understanding, when he had his affection framed according unto reason, and all his senses governed in good, and seemly order, and when in Excellent gifts he did truly resemble the excellency of his Creator. Alas we may now say, Fuimus Troes, we were when time was: e Virg. Aen. l. 2. Fuit Ilium, & ingens Gloria Teverorum: Paradise, and Calais, were once ours. But now, now we may say as f Tull. de Senect. Milo did: At high iam mortui sunt: our arms are not our own: and add what followeth there to, Non verò tam isti, quàm tu ipse, nugator. Triflers as we are, nay Traitors to God above, not our Arms so much, that is our Bodies, as Souls & Bodies both. O Adam g 2. Esd. 7.48. saith Esdras, What hast thou done? For in that that thou hast sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but the fall also redoundeth to us that come of thee. True it is, there are some relics in us of that Image whereunto we were formerly created, but whether they are in respect of our Bodies only, or only of our Souls, or in respect of both, Body and Soul both together, I will not now dispute the case, I refer you unto h Zanch. de Oper. Dei. Part. 3. l. 3. c. 1. p. 609. 610 etc. Omnis Anima eousque in Adam censetur, donec in Christo recenseatur. Tertul. de Anima. c. 22. p 559. Zanchius, who is likely to resolve you in this point no man better. Nor will I here describe unto you that excellent consort and apt proportion which is between the Heavens above, and the Body and Soul of Man: what correspondence there is between Man and the Sun in the Firmament: between Man again, and the Moon: Man and the other Planets: Man and the Stars: Man and those celestial Orbs that are above, it is done already to my hand by an excellent Plutarch in this kind i Harm. coelest. corp. & human. per Anton. Mizald. Monluciarum. Edit 1550 Antonius Mizaldus by way of Dialogue. I will end this point of the Nature & Excellency of the Soul with that of S. Bernard: l Bernard. super Cantic. Ser. 83. p. 184. Col. 3. Quid non tutè audeat apud Deum cuius se insignem cernit imagine, illustrem similitudine novit? Quid inquam vereatur de maiestate, cui de origine fiducia datur? What may not the Soul safely dare to do with God, by reason of whose image she is so beautiful, whose similitude makes her so glorious? What need she to fear that Majesty, who by reason of her birth may have such confidence? It is that in effect which the Apostle hath to the Hebrews, m Heb. 4.16. Let us go boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. And thus much of the Works of God as here they are named in general, and one of them in particular. Now of the powerfulness of these his Works to make us to seek after God: That they should seek the Lord if so be they might have groaped after him, and found him, though doubtless he be not far from every one of us. As it stood with good congruity in the building of Babel that their tongues should be confounded, and they should not understand one another, and so perforce be every of them driven to leave of their intended work: so was it necessary in building the Church that the Builders thereof should so speak as that they should not only understand one an other, but be understood by their Hearers to. This it was that was the cause of the first miracle that was wrought by our Saviour's Apostles after the Ascension, of whom it was said by their Hearers, who were n Ferus in Act. c. 2. some of them of Asia, some of Africa, some of Europe the known parts of the world at that time, Behold, say they, are not all these which speak of Galilee? How hear we every man our own language wherein we were borne? Act. 2.7. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, & the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, and of judaea, and of Cappadocia, of Pontus, & Asia, & of Phrygia, and Pamphylia, of Egypt, and of the parts of Libya, which is beside Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, & jews, and Proselytes, p Except I know the power of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a Barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a Barbarian unto me. 1. Cor. 14 11. Barbarus hîc egosum quia non intelligor ollis. Ovid, Trist. l. 5. ●leg. 10. Cretes, and Arabians: we heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. Indeed as it is noted by a o Calv. in Ps. 19 worthy Writer, & experience shows the same, the difference of tongues is the cause that mutual communication betwixt divers Nations doth utterly cease. And though one be most eloquent in his own language, yet if he come among Strangers he must be feign to be mute & hold his peace, or if so be he will needs speak, every one that is by, will accounted him but barbarous. Nay had he the knowledge saith Calvin of all the tongues in the World, yet could he not speak at once to two sundry kinds of Men, as to a Greek, and a Roman to, but as soon as he turned his speech or to the one, or to the other, the one or other should not conceive him. Well far a language then that goeth throughout the whole world. That not Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the Inhabitants of Mesopotamia only, in a word not those of Asia, and Africa, and Europe, can know and understand, but those of America to: nor only the learned and profound, but he also that cannot a letter of the Book, even he that saith, as it is in Esay, I cannot read, Esay 29.12. And would you know what language that is? It is the language of the Heavens: It is the language of the Day and Night. And yet I am deceived too, for as I take it, it is no language No, but it is a voice then, it is a sound, they are certain words; of which we may much better say, then did the Pythagoraeans of Heaven's harmony, q Tull Som. Scip. Quis est, qui complete aures meas tantus & tam dulcis son us? witness the Prophet David, who speaking of those heavenly Creatures (whereby he meant no doubt the rest of the Creatures too) The Heavens, saith he, declare the glory of God: & the Firmament showeth his handy Works. One day telleth another: and one night certifieth another. There is neither speech nor language: but their voices are heard among them. Their sound is gone out into all lands: and their words into the ends of the world. In the beauty of Heaven and Earth, r In pulchritudine coeli & terrae quaedam sunt paginae ad omnium oculos semper patentes, & Autorem suum nunquam tacentes, quarum protestatio doctrinam, imitatur magistrorum & eloquia Scripturarum. Ambros. Epist. l. 10. Ep. 84. p. 263. saith S. Ambrose, there are as it were Leaves and Pages that always lie open to every man's eye, and never are silent of their Author, the open protestation and declaring whereof imitates the teaching of a Master, & speech of holy Scripture. Hence it was that S. Anthony gave that excellent answer to a Philosopher, who demanded of him how he could possibly spend his time in the Wilderness, seeing he was destitute of Books: Meus liber O Philosophe, s Socrat. Hist. Eccles. l. 4. c. 18. p. 294. saith he, est Natura rerum à Deo conditarum: quae quotiescunque animo lubitum sit meo, libros ipsius Dei ad legendum suppeditat. O Philosopher, saith St Anthony, my Book is the Nature of all things created by God, which when I please I can peruse, and read, notwithstanding that I want the sacred Volumes of God. That, Beloved, is a Book indeed wherein all things are wrote in Capital letters, insomuch that who so readeth it, may not only run, as t Hab. 2 2. speaks the Prophet but do many things else besides. This is the Book that taught the Heathens (to the shame of u Concerning this point, & of Atheists, see more in that Reverend Prelate on jonas. Lect. 4 p. 61. & French Academy. Part. 2. c. 98. Atheists be it spoken) that there was a God at lest. Who when concerning the Heavens they perceived such aequabilitie of motion, such turning & trolling of them, such distinction, such utility, beauty, order, both of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, & what not? What did they but gather thence that what was done, was not done by chance, but that there was a Supreme Power that did dispose and order all. As if one, x si quis in Domum aliquam, aut in gymnasium, aut in ferum venerit, cum videat omnium rerum rationem, modum, disciplinam, non possit ea sine causa fieri judicare: sed esse aliquem intelligat, qui praesit & cui pareatur. Multò magis in tantis motibus, tantisque vicissitudinibus tam multarum rerum atque tautarum ordinibus, in quibus nihil unquam immensa, & infinita vetustas mentita sit, statuat necesse est, ab aliqua ment tantos Naturae motus gubernari. Tull. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. saith Balbus in Tully, should come into some house, or into a School, or into a Fair or Market place, and seeing the order of all things there, the whole manner and discipline, he cannot suppose that any thing there is done without cause, but he well understandeth there is some One who doth command and is obeyed. Much more in so great motions, in so interchangeable courses, such orders of so many several things, & things so great, that have never failed for so long a time, he must needs determine with himself that so many motions of Nature are not altogether masterless, but that they are governed, guided, and ruled by some Intelligence. Lo the powerfulness of God's works to make us to seek after God. And so much the rather when we shall consider with ourselves his admirable Workmanship, as is y Creatorem non in Coelo tantùm miramur, & Terra, Sole, ocean, Elephantis, Camelis, Equis, Bubus, Pardis, Visis, Leonibus, sed in minutis quoque animalibus, Formica, Culice, Muscis, Vermiculis, & istiosmodi genere, quorum magis scimus corpora, quàm nomina, candemque in tunctis veneramur solertiam: ita mens Christo dedita, aequè & in maioribus & in minoribus intenta est, sciens etiam pro ocioso verbo reddendam esse rationem. Hier. ad Heliod. Epitaph. Nepoliani. noted by S. Hierom, not only in those greater works the Heavens and Earth, Sun and Sea, Camels and Elephants, & so forth, but in the lest kind of Creature that is, the Gnat, the Fly, the Flea, and such like, Tantus Artifex in modicis, z Tertul. de Anima. c. 4. p. 531 saith Tertullian, quantus & in maximis: As skilful in working these lest littles, as in the hugest things that are. Nay Pliny doth admire him more in little things then in great, in a whole Chapter to that purpose, only he misnames him & calls him Nature, but you shall have his words at large. In bodies of any bigness, a In magnis corporibus, aut certè maioribus, facilis officina sequaci materia fuit. In his tam parvis, atque tam nullis, quae ratio, quanta vis, quàm inextricabili● perfectio? Vbi tot sensus collocavit in Culice? & sunt alia dictu minora. Sed ubi visum in eo praetendit? ubi gustatum applicavit? ubi odoratum inseruit? ubi verò truculentam illam & portione maximam vocem ingeneravit? qua subtilitate pennas adnexuit: praelongavit pedum crura? disposuit ieiunā caucam, uti alvum? avidum sanguinis, & potissimùm humani, sitim accendit? Telum verò perfodiendo tergori, quo spiculavit ingenio? Atque ut in capaci, cum cerni non possit exilitas, ita reciproca geminavit arte, ut sodiendo acuminatum pariter, sorbondoque. Fistulosum esset. Quos teredini ad perforanda robera cum sona teste dentes affixit? potissimumque è ligno cibatum fecit? Sed turrigeros Elephantorum miramur humeros, Taurorumque colla, & truces in sublime iactus, Tigrium rapinas, Leonum iubas, cùm rerum Natura nusquam magis, quàm in minimis tota sit. Plin. Hist. l. 11. c. 2. saith he, or at lest wise in those of the greater sort, Nature had no hard piece of work to procreate, form, and bring all parts to perfection, by reason that the matter whereof they be wrought, is pliable and will follow as she would have it. But in these so little bodies (nay pricks and specks rather than bodies indeed) how can one comprehend the reason, the power, and the inexplicable perfection that Nature hath therein showed? How hath she bestowed all the five Senses in a Gnat? & yet some there be less Creatures than they. But I say where hath she made the seat of the eyes to see before it? where hath she set and disposed the taste? where hath she placed and inserted the Instrument and Organ of Smelling? and above all, where hath she dissposed that dreadful and terrible noise that it maketh, that wonderful great sound I say in proportion of so little a body? Can there be devised a thing more finely and cunningly wrought then the wings set to her body? Mark what long shanked legs above ordinary she hath given unto them; see how she hath set that hungry hollow concavity instead of a belly: and hath made the same so thirsty and greedy after blood, and man's especially. Come to the weapon that it hath to prick, pierce, & enter through the skin; how artificially hath she pointed and sharpened it? And being so little as it is (as hardly the fineness thereof cannot be seen) yet as if it were of bigness and capacity answerable framed it she hath most cunningly for a twofold use: to wit, most sharp pointed, to prick and enter: and withal, hollow like a pipe for to suck in & convey the blood through it. Come to the Wood-worme, what manner of teeth hath Nature given it, to bore holes and eat into the very heart of hard Oak? who heareth any sound that she maketh whiles she is at her work? and yet in wood and timber, is in a manner all her feeding. We make a wonder at the monstrous & mighty shoulders of Elephants, able to carry turrets upon them. We marvel at the strong and stiff necks of Bulls, & to see how terrible they will take up things & toss them aloft into the air with their horns. We keep a wondering at the ravening of Tigers, and the shag manes of Lions: and yet in comparison of these Insecta, that is, Creatures that have no flesh, nor blood, nor sinew, there is nothing wherein Nature and her whole power is more seen, neither showeth she her might more than in the lest Creatures of all. And thus, Beloved, have you heard concerning the WORKS of God. You have heard of the powerfulness of those Works to make us to seek after God. It is no small comfort that the Apostle gives us here in this place that doubtless he is not far from every one of us. I will end with that of b Esay. 55.6. Esay, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found'st call ye upon him while he is near. For whosoever asketh, saith our Saviour, receiveth: and he that seeketh findeth, Mat. 7.8. But forasmach as there is no seeking of him (as I mean seeking now at this time) much less calling upon him as he is near unto us, unless we be of the Church of God my next care & pains shall be to entreat God willing of the Church. In the mean time, God so bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. THE CHURCH. Lecture 6. April. 29.1613. I am come at this time according to promise' to speak of the Church of God, and it is no little joy unto me, that I am come so soon unto you to speak thereof. Had the distance been so great between my last being here, and this time, (as it hath been many times heretofore upon none of the lest and lightest causes) it might happily have given occasion to some to think, especially had they been popishly affected, such as I hope none are here, that I made so long delay, & took so large a respite, in regard of a bad cause which I was to undertake, or for I meant to fall to a Nonsuit. But thanks be unto God that hath given us so soon this opportunity, me of speaking, you of hearing, & concerning you, that I cannot say as did the Author of that Treatise, De arbore scientiae boni & mali, in S. Austin's 9 Tome, a Debitum cure solve●e sermone sed pristinos meos non invenio creditores. Aug. Tom. 9 p. 813. I for my part am careful to pay the debt of my speech, but I want my old Creditors, and therefore now Beloved, of the CHURCH. But soft, did I name the Church? Do I intent moreover to speak of it? And are we not all of us then like b 1. Sam. 25.37 Nabal, or like to Niobe in the c Ovid. Met. l. 6 Poet, Nec flecti cervix, nec brachia reddere motus, Nec pes ut ire queat, sit & intra ut viscera saxum? that is, our hearts to die within us, and we to become like to stones. Audito nomine Ecclesiae, hostis expalluit d Camp. Rat. 3. saith Campian, & he spoke it even of us whom he took for the Church's enemies. Imò erubuit Campiane, e Whitak. in Camp. Rat. 3. saith Whitaker: They whom you mean, were not wan, as you say, but it makes them rather blush, when they see so chaste and holy a Matron so impiously, and insolently abused by you. Indeed they are strange Wooers. f Quid tibi Pisandrum, Polybumque Medontaque dirum, Eurymachique avidas, Antinoique manas, Atque alios referam? Ovid. Epist. Penelope Vlyssi. Eurymachus, Pisander, Antinous Medon, Polybus, and the rest of that whole crew of Penelope's wooers were not half so boisterous. But I say with her Husband in the g Senec. Troas, Act. 3. Sc. Matris quidem. Poet: — Non vacat vanis diem Conterere verbis, anchoras Classis legit. I will not stand wo●ding it with our Adversaries, Time, & Tide, tarry no man. I come unto my Text. And the Lord added to the Church from day to day, such as should be saved. The words are the words of S. Luke, in the second chapter of the Acts, and part of the 47 verse. For the better understanding whereof we will first of all speak of the Premises: then of the words themselves. The Acts of the Apostles h Actus Apostolorum nudam quidem videntur sonare historiam, & nascentis Ecclesiae infantiam texere: sed si noverimus Scriptorem eorum Lucam esse Medicum cuius laus est in Evangelio, animadverterimus pariter omnia verba illius animae languentis esse medicinam. Hier. Prol Galeat. ad Paulin. saith S. Jerome, do seem to show unto us a bore & naked history, & to declare the Church's infancy, but if so be we shall take notice once that the Writer thereof was Luke the Physician whose praise is in the Gospel, we shall find that all his words are physic and medicine to a sick and feeble Soul. Indeed of all other we are most beholding to S. Luke for this his History of the infancy and propagation of the Church. That our Saviour would build his Church, the Evangelist S. Matthew tells us, and he tells it in our Saviour's words, who when S. Peter had confessed that he was Christ the Son of God: Blessed i Mat. 16.17 saith our Saviour, art thou Simon the son of jonas, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, & upon this rock will I build my Church, & the gates of Hell shall not overcome it, S. Mark l Mark. 16.20 tells us, how after the Lord's ascension into Heaven, the Apostles went forth & preached every where. And how the Lord wrought with them, and confirmed the word with signs that followed. But this is all, nor doth he so much as name the Church. Not, nor S. john neither in his Gospel, only he tells us m joh. 21.15. there how our Saviour bade Simon Peter three several times feed his Lambs, & his Sheep, not a word how he fed them afterwards, or how the Stock did increase. True it is in his Revelation he discourseth of the Church at large. But of that Book we may say as S, Jerome did n Hier. ubi supra. Tota habet Sacramenta, quot verba. It hath as many mysteries, as words. And S, Denys to like effect, The matter o Euseb. Hist. Eccles. l. 7. c. 24. saith he, of this Book is far more profound than my wit can reach unto, & I doubt not but almost in every sentence of it, there lieth hidden a certain sense exceeding mystical and marvelous. S. Luke the Evangelist deals more plainly, who though in his former Treatise he doth not so much as name the Church, yet in this later he doth, and for three and twenty years together declares unto us how it began, how it increased, how it continued in the World. In the first chapter of all then having declared to Theophylus, and in him to all us, partly a recapitulation of what he had entreated of before, & that by showing generally the Subject of his former Book, namely our Saviour's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his Deeds, and his Doctrine, and that in the first verse, more specially his Conversing with his Disciples, and Ascension into Heaven, and that from the second to the eleventh verse: partly a Narration of the state of the primitive Church as then it stood at that time, and a pretty good while after that, in the rest of that first chapter, and part of this second I have in hand: he comes at length to show the fruit of a certain Speech S. Peter made upon an occasion that was offered him by some of the jews. Now the fruit and effect was, partly Special, partly General. The special fruit thereof was partly in the jews that dwelled in jerusalem: partly in their Adversaries that saw the wonders and signs that were done by the Apostles. The general fruit thereof was partly the community of such things as the Faithful enjoyed one with an other, as it is in the four and fortieth, and five and fortieth verses: partly the praises of God, & favour with the People as it is in the six and fortieth verse: partly Gods adding daily unto them such as he purposed at length to save, as it is in the seven and fortieth verse. And of this seven and fortieth verse now at this time, & of these three points therein handled: namely God's Addition to the Church: God's daily Addition to it: and Salvation of such as should be added: And the Lord added to the Church from day to day such as should be saved. [And the Lord added to the Church.] Being to speak of this addition, and augmentation of the Church of God, (I mean the Visible Church, for of the Church p Vid. M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 3 §. 1. p. 126. mystical we have now at this time no cause to speak.) We are first of all to define what the Church of God is. Concerning the true definition, and right description of the Church, much hath been said by a many, and divers and sundry are the Volumes that yet are extant to this purpose. It was well observed by the q Eccles. 12.12 Preacher that there is no end in making many books, and much reading is a weariness of the flesh. Doubtless in making books of this argument, there hath been no end as yet, and a reading over but of some of them, what a weariness would it prove to your tender years? I, if you please, will save you some labour, and as Laelius said to Cato, in behalf of himself & his friend Scipio, both of them young in years, Cato some fowrescore and four, r Quartum annum ago & oc togesimum, Tul. de Senect. Volumus sanè, nisi molestum est, Cato, tanquam aliquam viam longam confeceris, qua nobis quoque ingrediendum sit, istuc quo pervenisti, videre quale sit. We would feign know of you o Cato as of one that hath made that long journey, which we also are to go, what it is you are now come to, and hold concerning this point. I for my part have read somewhat indeed, but when I have oftentimes called to mind the best of that which I have read either in Protestants or Papists concerning this point, I must needs say I never met with more judicious lines about the Church, than those which our worthy Hooker hath left to all Posterity. You shall have them in full measure: and howsoever they may seem long, yet remember that of s Martial. Epig. l. 2. Ep. 77. Martial, Non sunt longa, quibus nihil est quod demere possis; Where there is not an idle word, that in no wise can be long. And join unto it that of t Aug. Retract. l. 1. p. in Prologue. Austen, Absit ut multiloquium deputetur, quando necessaria dicuntur, quantâlibet sermonum multitudine, ac prolixitate dicantur. God forbidden that that should be accounted too too many words, when necessary things are spoken, be the speech itself never so long. CHURCH then, u M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. §. 68 p. 184. saith Reverend Hooker, is a word which Art hath devised thereby to sever and distinguish that society of Men which professeth the true Religion, from the rest which profess it not. There have been in the world from the very first foundation thereof but three Religions: PAGANISM, which lived in the blindness of corrupt, and depraved nature; JUDAISME embracing the Law which reform Heathenish impiety, and taught Salvation to be looked for through one whom God in the last days would sand & exalt to be Lord of all; Finally CHRISTIAN BELIEF which yieldeth obedience to the Gospel of jesus Christ, and acknowledgeth him the Saviour whom God did promise'. Seeing then that the Church is a name which Art hath given to Professors of true Religion; as they which will define a Man are to pass by those qualities wherein one Man doth excel another, and to take only those essential properties, whereby a Man doth differ from Creatures of other kinds; so he that will teach what the Church is, shall never rightly perform the work whereabout he goeth, till in matter of Religion he touch that difference which severeth the Church's Religion from theirs who are not the Church. Religion being therefore a matter partly of contemplation, partly of action, we must define the Church which is a religious Society by such differences as do properly explain the essence of such things, that is to say, by the object, or matter whereabout the contemplations and actions of the Church are properly conversant. For so all knowledges, and all Virtues are defined. Whereupon because the only object which separateth ours from other Religions is JESUS CHRIST, in whom none but the Church doth believe, and whom none but the Church doth worship, we find that accordingly the Apostles do every where distinguish hereby the Church from Infidels, and from jews, accounting them which call upon the name of our Lord jesus Christ to be his Church. If we go lower we shall but add unto this, certain casual and variable accidents, which are not properly of the being, but make only for the happier and better being of the Church of God, either indeed, or in men's opinions, and conceits. Thus for that worthy Hooker, and no whit farther than victorious Truth marching before, himself like a faithful Soldier step by step followed after. So that these things thus considered, we may without more ado define the Church in this wise: x Vid. M. Hookers Learned Discourse of justification, and Works, etc. p. 13. A COMMUNITY OF MEN SANCTIFIED THROUGH THE PROFESSION OF THAT TRVETH, WHICH GOD HATH TAUGHT THE WORLD BY HIS SON CHRIST JESUS. First whereas I say A community of Men, I exclude not Women from the Church. No more than doth that Creed which immediately follows the Gospel, and is called Epinicium by y In Epinicio quod post Arianos prostigatos canere coepit Ecclesia, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deoverò, etc. Eras. in 1. Cor. 7. p. 423. Erasmus, that is, a song of Triumph in regard of Victory over the Arrians) when speaking of our Saviour, it saith, Who for us Men, and for our Salvation, came down from Heaven. It being a ruled case in the z Gal. 3.28. Apostle that there is neither jews, nor Grecian: there is neither Bond nor Free: there is neither Male nor Female: for ye are all one in Christ jesus. Secondly, by Sanctification, I mean with M. Hooker a separation from others not professing as they do. Otherwise (as he observeth) true Holiness, that is, Sanctification doth not consist in professing, but in obeying the truth of Christ. Thirdly & lastly, that Truth which God hath taught the world by his Son Christ jesus, I mean that Faith which the world hath been taught, whether by Christ himself at the first, or his Apostle after him. Concerning which Faith Tertullian speaking in a certain Treatise, Regula, a Tertullian. de Virg. Veland. p. 385. saith he, illius una omninò est, sola immobilis & irreformabilis. The rule is one alone, only immovable and not to be framed anew. What Rule that is, he showeth in that place by rehearsing the Articles of Belief. Which Belief as you shall know hereafter is the Epitome of all that which the Church is to believe: & the Epitome again of that Belief is that of the Apostle St. Paul: b 1. Tim. 3.16. God is manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in Glory. So that the Church as I defined it before is, A community of Men sanctified, that is, separated, from all other whatsoever, through the profession of this truth. And this definition as it is Logical, and according unto rules of an Art but mean, so may it be compared very fitly to the jaw-bone of that silly Beast, wherewith there were made by c judg. 15.16. Samson such heaps upon heaps. For if we must thus define a Church by that which a Church essentially is, and not by those qualities wherein one Church may excel another, what mean the Papists in general, the jesuits in particular, the great d Vid. D. Dr Prideaux Castigat. Andreae Eudaemon johannis. c. 5. §. 6. p. 139. Logicians of the world, and None-such of our days, to forget themselves so far in defining of the Church. Let me instance in Cardinal Bellarmine, who amongst jesuits bears the bell. Ecclesia, e Bell. de Eccl. Militant. l 3. c. 2. saith he, est caetus hominum eiusdem Christianae fidei professione, & eorundem Sacramentorum communione colligatus, sub regimine legitimorum Pastorum, ac praecipite unius Christi in terris Vicarij Romani Pontificis. The Church is a Community of Men tied together by the profession of the same Christian Faith, and participation of the self same Sacraments, under the government of their lawful Pastors, and specially of the only Vicar of Christ on the Earth, the Bishop of Rome. Which Definition puts me in mind of that merriment in the f Horat. Art. Poet. Poet, Humano capiti cervicem Pictor equinam jungere si velit, & varias inducere plumas, undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum Definat in piscem mulier formosa supernè: Spectatum admissi risum teneatis Amici? which till some one of you english better, the rest in the mean time may content themselves with this: If to a Woman's head, an Horses main A Painter would annex: and then again Deck every limb with Feathers to and fro, And lowest parts like Fish themselves should show, My Friends, were you minded to this sight, Can you refrain? would you not laugh outright? Now such a Picture as that should be, such a Definition this is. It puts me in mind of Nabuchadnezzars g Dan. 2.32. Image, whose Head was of Gold: his Breast and his Arms of Silver, his Belly and his Thighs of Brass, his Legs of iron, & his Feet were part of iron, and part of Clay. A community of Men, there's the Gold: Tied together by the profession of the same Christian Faith, there's the Silver: And participation of the self same Sacraments, there's the Brass; and as Bellarmine understandeth Sacraments it is Brass indeed, or rather Copper: Under the government of their lawful Pastors, their's the iron: And specially of the only Vicar of Christ on the earth the Bishop of Rome, their's party per pale, part of iron and part of clay. It puts me in mind of that of the h Eccles. 10.1 Preacher, Dead flies cause to stink, and putrefy the ointment of the Apothecary: so doth a little folly him that is in estimation for wisdom and for glory. Surely this is not a little folly in him that is in such estimation for wisdom and for glory to make us such a Definition. What? No more Church there, where the Bishop of Rome is no more? Must we participate of your Sacraments, your Pastors, your Pope, or shall we not else be of the Church? Indeed i job. 12.2. saith job to his three friends, because that ye are the people only, wisdom must die with you. Because you forsooth are the only Catholics, the Pope the only Vicar of Christ, the Church must die with you. I will not say Beloved, as l Ver. 3. followeth: But we have understanding as well as they, and are not inferior unto them. Comparisons be odious. But as Campian comes upon us, when we speak of the mystical Body of Christ, which is his Church too: m Camp. Rat. 3. Quae Scripturae, quae sensa, qui Patres hoc penicillo depingunt Ecclesiam? So let us be bold to ask of Bellarmine, what Scriptures? what sense of Scriptures, which of the Fathers trow we describe the Church in this sort? The Church is termed by the witness of jesuits themselves, doubtless of n Senserat in Scriptures tum Propheticis, tum Apostolicis, ubique honorificam Ecclesiae fieri mentionem: vo ' cari civitatem sanctam, fructi feram vineam, montem excelsum, directam viam, columbam unicam etc. Camp. Rat. 3. Campian, A fruitful, vineyard, a high Hill, a direct Path, the only Dove. What? & was that Vineyard then, that Hill, that Path, that Dove, when all that was first spoken, under the government of the Bishop of Rome, when as himself was not extant then, and yet the Church then was? Afterwards when there was the East Church, as also the West, and the Eastern Churches for causes best known unto themselves, did separate themselves from the West Church & refused the Bishop of Rome's jurisdiction, came so many millions of Souls presently, & so great a part of the whole world, not to be so much as of the Church? o Paulum Apostolum proferan, quem quotiescunque lego, videor mihi non verba audire, sed tonitrua. Hieron. adversus jovin. Apol. You O Romanists that hear S. Paul ask the question to the Romans, nay thundering it out unto them p Rom. 14.4. Tu quis es qui iudicas alienum servum? Who art thou that judgest an other man's Servant? Dare you not judge only, but condemn, I, & damn to the pit of hell, so many millions of God's Servants, and all for they are not under the regiment, & rule of the Bishop of Rome? q Tantanè vos generis tenuit fiducia vestri? I am coelum terramque, DEI sine numine, venti Miscere, & tantas audetis tollere moles? Dare you o you Romanists? dare you do thus, and thus? But what do I speak to them that hear not, or care not what is spoken? I return unto yourselves. Bellarmine you see is at a point to acknowledge no Church at all, to be a Church unless forsooth it be under the Regiment of the Bishop of Rome. Even so is r Vid. Sadeel. Oper. edit. 1593. p. 504, Col. 1. Turrian, and so are others, and therefore frame they their Definition of the Church accordingly. Moore like a Scholar yet Sr Thomas More, who howsoever he loved the Pope and his Supremacy no man better, (Greater love then this, hath no man s joh. 15.13. saith our Saviour, when any man bestoweth his life for his friend) yet never brought either of them into the Church's definition, whether because he would not entangle the matter with two questions at once, as t Sr. Th. Moor against Tyndal. l. 5. oper. Aug. p. 615. he himself would make us believe: or which is more likely in very deed (though he himself say not so much) for he saw such a definition so disagreeable to the Church when it was equally governed by four patriarchs. He than u Tr Th. Moor Dial. l. 1 c. 21. Oper. Aug. pag. 148. defines it thus: God's Church is a Congregation of People gathered into his Faith. And Faith saith he, is the first substantial difference discerning christian men from heathen, as Reason is the difference dividing Man from all kind of bruit Beasts. Mark I pray you, The first substantial difference, and, As Reason. And why not the only substantial difference then, if as Reason, and so should there need no more seconds to the essence of the Church, than there doth to Reason, his own instance there given, towards the definition of a Man? But thus far yet were not much amiss, and as it is, it is far beyond the definition of Bellarmine. But here's the spite again that Sr Thomas like a right x Being very Englishmen, never ceasing piddling about their bow and shafts, when they be well, but either with shorting & pyking their Bows, or else with new feathering, piecing and heading their shafts, can never have done, until they be stark naught. Asch. School of Shooting. l. 2. p. 41. b. Englishman not letting it alone while it is well, will be still tampering more and more with it, till at length he mar all. For had he meant by Faith the Twelve Articles of the Creed only which are indeed the Sum of Faith, and as S. Austen y Fidei Catholicae fundamentum super quod aedificium surrexit Ecclesiae constructum manibus Apastolorum & Propheta●um. Aug. de Symb. ad Catac. Tom. 9 p. 770. speaks: The foundation of the Catholic Faith whereupon the Church's frame doth arise, built by the hands of the Apostles, & also of the Prophets: we might indifferent well agreed with him, & the question were near at an end. But when he is still piddling with it, and tells us how he means by Faith, that we should forsooth believe that z Moor. Ib. p. 665. Matrimony is a Sacrament, that the Sacrament of the Altar is the very body of Christ, that Priests may not wed Nuns, or to speak in his own merry phrase that a Moor. Ib. p. 619. Friar Tuck may not marry Maid Marian: who sees not the good pale of milk he gave us even now, turned down again with his heels. I perceive that of jeremy is too too true, b jer. 13.23. Can the black Moore change his skin? Or the Leopard his spots? St Thomas hath only his Teeth white, all is else as black as coal. Now then having seen what the Church is by our own definition given, and that our own definition is by all likelihood so much the better, for that that of our Adversaries is so bad, let us now come unto those three points I told you of at first: the first and foremost whereof was, of God's addition to the Church. And the Lord added to the Church. How the World stood affected at that time, was intimated unto you before, when I told you from Mr Hooker, of Pagnanisme, and judaisme, and Christian Religion. Indeed the two former Paganism, & judaisme, were when time was the two grand Religions of the world; Paganism which lived in the blindness of corrupt, & depraved nature: judaisme embracing the law which reform heathenish impiety, and taught salvation to be looked for through the Messiah that was to come. Howbeit when at the length the Messiah indeed was come, and God had c Gal. 4.4. sent forth his Son made of a Woman, and made under the law that he might redeem them which were under the law, and they despised him when he came, d joh. 1.11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not, then as there was long war e 2. Sam. 3.1. saith the Scripture, between the house of Saul, and the house of David, but David waxed stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker: right so was it in this case, though not by dint of Sword, as that was, yet by virtue of the Word, which is lively f Heb 4.12. saith the Apostle, & mighty in operation, and sh●●per indeed then any g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sword, and entereth through even unto the dividing asunder of the Soul and the spirit, and of the joints, and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts, and th● intents of the heart. So the Apostle to the h 2. Cor. 10.4 Corinthians, The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to cast down holds, casting down the imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And thus were many of the jews brought into this captivity, and a many more of the Gentiles, i Senec. Troas Act. 4. Sc. Quicunque hymen. Quos singulos hic casus excelso magis Solio reponit: profuit multis capi. who had they not thus been captivated, had never been truly free. It was our Saviour's own l joh. 8.36. saying, If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed: and you know it is a passage in one of our daily Prayers, m Communion Book Collect for Peace. whose service is perfect freedom. But to return unto my purpose. First concerning the jews, how they were to be added to the Church, divers & sundry are the testimonies, which the Prophets have to that purpose, I will content myself with some few. First the Prophet n Esay. 44.1. Esay, Hear o jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and framed thee from the womb; he will help thee. Fear not O jacob my Servant, and thou righteous whom I have chosen. For I will power water upon the thirsty, and stoods upon the dry ground: I will power my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy Buds. And they shall grow as among the grass, and as the Willows by the rivers of waters. One shall say I am the Lords: another shall be called by the name of jacob: and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and name himself by the name of Israel. And again in another o Esay, 46.3. place, Hear ye me O house of jacob, & all that remain of the house of Israel, which are borne of me from the womb, and brought up of me from the birth. Therefore unto old age I the same, even I will bear you unto the hoary hairs: I have made you, and I will also bear you, and I will carry you, and I will deliver you. And again in a third p Esay. 51.22. place: Thus saith the Lord God, even God that pleadeth the cause of his people; Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling, even the dregss of the cup of my wrath: thou shalt drink it no more. So also the Prophet joel: q joel. 2.23. Be glad ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he hath given you the rain of righteousness, and he will 'cause to come down for you the rain, even the first rain, and the later rain in the first month. And the Barns shall be full of wheat, and the Presses shall abound with wine, and oil. And again a little r V 27. after: Ye shall also know, that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none other, and my people shall never be ashamed. And afterward will I power out my spirit upon all flesh: and your Sons, and your Daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also upon the Servants, and upon the Maids in those days will I power my Spirit. All which and that which followeth there to have been spoken of the jews, witness S. Peter in this Chapter, at the nine & thirtieth verse. I omit sundry other places throughout the Prophets concerning this purpose; such as are willing to see more, I refer them to s Imprinted 1612. p. 72. and 159. and 195. Vrbanus Regius, of Christ his Sermon going to Emaus. Secondly concerning the Gentiles (for so the jews called all the world except themselves) the Prophecies were as many, or rather a many more than were concerning the jews. The Prophet Esay hath not a Chapter almost, but it entreareth more or less of the vocation of the Gentiles: as the 2, the 9, the 11, the 18, the 42, the 45, & a many besides. I will content myself with a place or two. For what need we endeavour, t Nec enim oportet, quod solet dici, universum ebibere mare, eum quive. In discere quoniam aqua eius falsa est. Irenaeus advers Haer. l. 2 c. 34. saith Irenaeus, to drink up the whole Sea to see whether the water thereof be salt or no seeing a very few drops will serve the turn. First then the Prophet Esay u Esay, 54.1. saith, Rejoice O barren that didst not bear: break forth into joy, and rejoice thou that didst not travail with child: for the desolate hath more children, th●n the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tents, & let them spread out their curtains of thy habitations: spare not, stretch out thy cords, and make fast thy stakes. For thou shalt increase on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall possess the Gentiles, and devil in the desolate Cities. And again in another x Esay 42.6 place, Is it a small thing saith the Lord, that thou shouldst be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of jacob, and to restore the desolations of Israel: I will also give thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation unto the end of the world. This it was that our Saviour himself said in the y joh. 10.16. Gospel of S. john, Other sheep I have also which are not of this fold: them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; & there shall be one sheepfold, & one Shepherd. Whereupon the Apostle to the Ephesians, speaking of the Ephesians when as they had been Gentiles, Ye were, z Ephes. 2.12. saith he, at that time without Christ, and were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, & were strangers from the covenant of promise, and had no hope, & were without God in the world. But now in Christ jesus ye which once were far of, are made near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace which hath made of both one, and hath broken the stop of the a In osculum recipit utrumque parietem de diverso venientem Aug. de verb. Apost. Ser. 13. p. 216. partition wall, in abrogating through his flesh the hatred, that is the law of Commandments which standeth in ordinances for to make of twain one new man in himself, so making peace. His conclusion b Ephes. 2.19. there is, Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but Citizens with the Saints, and of the household of God, & are built upon the foundation of the Apostles, and Prophets, jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, in whom all the building coupled together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord. And of this rank we are, English, Irish, Dutch, Danes, French, Italians, & whatsoever Nations else have put on this rob of Christianity. Of a truth, c Act. 10.34. saith S. Peter, I perceive that God is no accepter of Persons, but in every Nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The Court of Heaven, d Et de Hierosolymis, & de Britannia aequaliter patet aula coelestis. Hieron. ad Paulinum de institutione Monachi. saith S. Jerome, lies as open to Great Britain, as it doth unto jerusalem. And again a little before. The Earth is the Lords, e Domini est terra & plenitudo eius. Postquam siccato judaeae vellere, universus orbis coelesti rore persusus est, & multi de Oriente & Occidente venientes, recubuerunt in sinu Abrahae: desiit notus esse tantùm in judaea Deus, & in Israel magnum nomen eius: sed in omnem terram exivit sonus Apostolorum, & in fines orbis terrae verba e●rum. Hier. ubi supra. saith he, and all that therein is. After that the fleece of jury being dry, the whole world besides was wet with heavenly dew, and many coming from East and West, & rested in Abraham's bosom, the Lord left to be known in jury only, and to have his name great in Israel, but the sound of the Apostles went out into all lands, and their words into the ends of the world. Such as are desirous to see more concerning the Vocation of the Gentiles, I refer them again to Vrbanus Regius his excellent f Printed long ago, & again reprinted, 1612 See it more especially, p. 115. b. & p. 128. b. & p. 159. b. Treatise to this purpose englished by Mr Hilton sometime Schoolmaster at St Anthony's. And thus much of the first point, of God's Addition to the Church: I now come to the second, and third, God's daily addition to it, and the Salvation of such as should be added thereunto. I shall be very brief in both, and all for I have already been so long about the First. And the Lord added to the Church from day to day, such as should saved. [From day to day] Our Saviour that said in S. John's g joh. 6 44. Gospel, of God his Father, No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him, h joh. 12.32. saith in the same Gospel of himself, I, if I were lift up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. What this lifting up was, he had showed long before. As Moses, i joh. 3.14. saith he, lift up the Serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lift up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. That our Saviour thus had been lifted up, that is upon the Cross, and afterwards lifted higher, that is, into heaven, when as S. Luke wrote these words, the Apostle S. Peter declareth partly in the four and twentieth, partly in the three & thirtieth verses of this very chapter we have in hand. It remained now that like a loadstone he should draw the world unto him, and in very deed he so did. His populous inheritance by that drawing was promised unto him l Vid. M. Fenton's answer to Alab. Motives Mot. 4. p. 20. Psal. 2.8, discovered by Daniel to replenish the Earth, Dan. 2.44. survayed by Esay from the East to the West, Esay 49.12: possessed by the Apostles from jerusalem to the world's end, as the effect hath declared. For, m Virg. Aen. l. 1. Quae regio in terris horum non plena laboris? What Region? what Coast? what quarter of the World? nay what nook did not ring of their labours? It was our Saviour's commission to them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, Mark. 16.15, and as much in effect by S. Paul was acknowledged to have been done, I thank my God, saith he, through jesus Christ, because your faith is published throughout the whole world; Rom. 1.8. Where by the way, Beloved, we are to note, that all that hath been spoken concerning Adding to the Church, is not so to be taken, as if the Church should at once, in any one age, enjoy these large Dominions, not not in th● most flourishing age, but only in succession of times. Not at once like the Deluge n Vid. M. Fenton ubi supra. saith a worthy Divine of our days, covering the face of the Earth, but as the waterflowds in course, winning ground in one place, and losing it in an other, dried up at jerusalem, and Samaria, before it have watered the ends of the earth: though in some ages full bank, in some at a lower ebb, specially when it is pestered with heresies, and schisms, prophesied to come in the later days. But thus much briefly of the second point. I come unto the third, namely the Salvation of such as should be added to the Church. And the Lord added to the Church from day to day such as should be saved. [Such as should be saved] It was even Balaam's desire, that Balaam of whom St Peter o 2. Pet. 2.15. tells us, how he loved the wages of unrighteousness, & our Saviour in the p Rev. 2.14. Revelation that he taught Baalac to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, that they should eat of things sacrificed unto Idols, and commit fornication: it was I say even balaam's desire, that he might be saved in the life to come. Let me die the death of the righteous q Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, & fiant novissima mea borum similia. Num. 23.10. saith he; and let my last end be like his. Unwilling he was to live the life of the Righteous, yet would he feign have died their deaths. He knew belike the effect of that which the Preacher r Eccles. 11.3. said, If the tree do fall toward the South, or toward the North, in the place that the tree falleth there it shall be. Indeed the desire of immortality, s M. Hookers Learned Discourse of justification, works etc. p. 30. saith Reverend Hooker, and of the knowledge of that whereby it may be obtained, is so natural unto all men, that even they who are not persuaded that they shall, do notwithstanding wish that they might know a way how to see no end of life. And because natural means are not able still to resist the force of Death; there is no People in the earth so savage, which hath not devised some supernatural help, or other to fly unto for aid and secure in extremities against the enemies of their lives. A longing therefore to be saved, saith he, without understanding the true way how, hath been the cause of all the superstitions in the world. We, Beloved, as we may long with others, so which a many others have not, we may (if so be we will) have our longing saved. How? By being joined to the Church of God, and by hearkening unto such as truly show us the way of Salvation. Concerning whom we need not now the testimony of a Damsel possessed with a spirit of Divination, who yet spoke the truth, Act. 16.17, These men are the Servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation: but we have the testimony of S. Luke himself, who, as I noted unto you out of jerom, howsoever he seems to writ a bore and naked history, yet so sets down his words, as that they are Physic & medicine to a sick and feeble Soul. Now among all his words to that purpose, these no doubt of salvation by being added to the Church, are not the lest to be accounted of: for this doubtless as it is the way, so there is no other way but this. And therefore we say not with t No● habentes pro Nave Ecclesiam, pro Gubernaculis Crucem, pro Gubernatore Christum, pro Prora Patrem, pro Vents, Spiritum Sanctum, pro Velo gratiam, pro Nautis Apostolos, pro Navigantibus Prophetas, pro Mari vetus Testamentum & novum committamus nos Pelagi profundo ad perquirendam in Scriptures divinis margaritam latentem. Chrys. Tom. 3. Hom. de Cruse Dominica Edit. Bas. 1547. p. 837. Edit. Paris. 1556. p 757 S. chrysostom only that the Church is a Ship, whose Tackle is the Cross; whose Master, our Saviour; whose Foredecke, God the Father; the Gale of Wind, the Holy Ghost; Grace, the Sails; the Apostles, the Mariners; the Prophets, the Fraught; the Old and New Testament, the sea wherein it sails: but a little more fully with one of our u M. Gossen his Trumpet of War. p. F. own, that she is a Man of war, and in this World a very sea of troubles, under sail. Whose Master is Christ; whose Mast, his Cross; whose sails, his Sanctimony; whose Tackle, Patience, & Perseverance; whose Cast Pieces, the Prophets, Apostles, and Preachers; the sound of whom hath been heard x Rom 10.18. over all the whole world; whose Mariners be the Angels singing their Celeusmata, y Luk. 2.14. Glory be to God in the high heavens, and peace in earth, and towards men good will, whose F●aught is, as the Souls of just Men, of Women, and Children; so the rich Gifts, & Donations bestowed upon Churches, and Colleges, bound up in bags that shall never z Luk. 12.33. perish, or wax old; whose Rudder, is Charity, for all the motions, and actions of the Church are a 1. Cor. 13.1. wrought in love; whose Anchor, is b Heb. 6.19. Hope; whose Flag in the top of her is Faith, and the word written in it, PREMIMUR NON OPPRIMIMUR, that is, c 2, Cor. 4.8. we are cast down, but we perish not. We say again it is the Ark of Noah, and all without this Ark what is it else, d Humfred. in Camp. Rat. 3. p. 208. saith a good old Doctor and sometimes a worthy Precedent of one of our Colleges, nifi pontus, & aer, imo aeris, & lucis, & vitae privatio, Water and Air, nay a depriving of us quite both of air, & light, and life itself. Howbeit here we are to note with Reverend e M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. §. 68 p. 185. Hooker, that howsoever the privilege of the Visible Church of God, is to be herein like the Ark of Noah, that for anything we know to the contrary, all without it are lost Sheep, yet in this was the Ark of Noah privileged above the Church, that whereas none of the which were in the one could perish, numbers in the other are cast away, because to eternal life our profession is not enough. Many things exclude from the kingdom of God, although from the Church they separate not. And thus, Beloved, have you heard of the Church. You have heard of Gods adding to it, of his adding to it daily, and of the Salvation of such as are added thereunto. My f Lect. 1. p. 29. promise was when I show'd you my Method, which I meant to observe, how when I came to speak of the Church, and to show what that was, I would distinguish her first from Paganism, and judaisme, the two grand Religions of the old world: secondly from turcism and Papism, the two smoking firebrands of this world. It is requisite I now perform it, and though it be a labour of many Leaves, yet shall you see I will absolve it not in over many Lines. First then concerning Paganism, you are to know that the word pagan properly signifieth Country People, and therefore, g Pers. in satire. Prol. said Persius of himself, — Ipse semipaganus Ad sacra vatum carmen affero nostrum. Semipaganus, h joan. Britan. in Pers. p. 326. Vid. joan. Baptist. Ib. p. 329. saith an Interpreter, that is, Semirusticus, & rudis Poeta. And pagan, saith he, comes of Pagus a Village: Pagus from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that signifieth Springs, or Fountains by reason that about such Springs Villages commonly were first placed. You know how necessary water is where any dwelling is to be. And we read of the Daughter of Caleb, how when she came unto her Father, Give me a blessing, i Iosh 15.19. judg. 1.15. saith she, for thou hast given me the South Country: give me also Springs of water. But to return unto my purpose. pagan properly signifying Country People, when Religion first of all took place in Cities, Paganus in common l Vid. M. Hooker. Eccles. Pol. l. 5 §. 80. p. 250 speech, came to be used for Infidels, and unbelievers, such as are usually called the Heathen. Now the Religion of the Heathen was to worship their Gods in Stocks and in Stones, and therefore the Prophet David, As for the Images of the Heathen, m Ps. 135.15. saith he, they are but Silver and Gold, the works of men's hands. They have mouths, & speak not: eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, and yet they hear not: neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them, & so are all they that put their trust in them. Had you taken upon you to tell them thereof, and what stupidity it had been, reasonable creatures as they were, to fall down before unreasonable, nay to worship such base stuff, Stocks and Stones, their answer would have been as S. Austen, and Arnobius relate it to us: n Non ego illum lapidem colo, nec illud simulachrum quod est sine sensu: non enim Propheta vester potuit nôsse, quia oculos habent & non vident, & ego nescio, quia illud simulachrum, nec animam habet, nec videt oculis, nec audit auribus. Non ergo illud colo, sed adoro quod video, & servio ei quem non video. Quis est iste? Numen quoddam, inquit, in●isibile quod praesidet illi simulachro. Aug. in Ps 96. p. 748. I worship not that stone, neither that same Image that is without sense: for neither could your Prophet know, that they have eyes, and see not, and I myself be ignorant that that Image hath no soul, nor sees with the eyes, nor hears with the ears. Wherefore I do not worship that, but I adore what I see, and serve him whom I see not. And who, will you say, is that? A certain invisible Power, that hath the tuition of that Image. And again in another o Videntur sibi purgatioris esse religionis qui dicunt, nec simulachrum, nec daemonium colo, sed per effigiem corporalem eius rei signum intutor, quam colere debeo. Aug. in Ps. 113. p. 898. place: They seem to be of a more refined Religion which say, I worship neither the Image, nor the Spirit, good, or bad, but by a corporal shape and similitude I behold the sign of that which I aught, and am bound to worship. So p Neque nos aera, neque auri ar●entique materias, neque alias quibus signa confiunt, eas esse per se Deos, & religiosa de●e●nimus numina: sed eos in his colimus, eosque●eneramu●, quos dedicatio infert sacra, & fabrilibus effici● inhabitare simulachris. Arnob. advers. Gentes. l. 6. p 199. Arnobius: Neither do we worship Brass, nor the matter of Gold or Silver, neither any other matter, wherewith images are made, do we esteem them by themselves to be either Gods, or religious Oracles, but in these things we worship and reverence those, whom a sacred consecration hath thither brought, & made as it were to inhabit th●se images of the workman. Now Lactantius tell● us in the Church's behalf, that she hath no Images: Non est dubium, q Lactant. Divin. Instit. l. 2 c 19 saith he, quin religio nulla sit, ubicunque simulachrum est. Doubtless there in that place is no Religion at all where ever there is an image. And Arnobius or Minutius Felix rather, to the self same purpose: Quod simulachrum, r Arnob. adver. Gent. l. 8. p. 229 saith he, Deo fingam, cum, si rectè existimes, sit Dei homo ipse simulachrum? What image shall I make to represent God thereby, since if we take it aright, Man himself is God's Image? Paganism and the Church then no better agreed then Fire and Water, Heat and Cold, when they are both of them in extremity. They were the Apostle S. Paul's s 2. Cor. 6.15. questions, What concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath the believer with the Infidel? & what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols? judaisme comes somewhat nearer, than doth Paganism, to the Church, in regard of that it hath been. For if we respect the time past, of every Forest of the earth, and of all the trees thereof it was the only t 2. Esd. 5.23. Vineyard, and of all the lands of the world the only Pit, & of all the flowers of the ground, the only Lily, and of all the depths of the sea, the only River, and of all builded Cities, the only Zion, and of all the souls, the only Dove, and of all the cattles, the only Sheep, and among all the multitude of people, the only People: & yet now at this time, this Vineyard, it is destroyed, this Pit is filled up, this Lily is faded, this River is dried, this Zion decayed, this Dove, this Sheep, this People slaughtered, & they that are now left, they are u Virg. Aen. l. 1 Reliquiae Danaum: the relics and remnant of a People, whom God in time may call; it is the Apostle S. Paul's x Rom. 11.23 Spero. In the mean time it may be said of them as jacob said of Reuben: y Gen. 49.3. Reuben mine eldest Son, thou art my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Thou wast light as water: thou shalt not be excellent, because thou wentest up to thy Father's bed: then didst thou defile my bed, thy dignity is gone. I, as the case now standeth, we are to have so little correspondence with them for all they are our elder z Exod. 4.22. Brethren, that the Apostle S. Paul a Gal. 5.2. tells us plainly, that if so be we be circumcised (a point they glory in, nothing more) Christ shall profit us nothing. turcism is a mingle-mangle of judaisme, and Heresy. Mahumet their great Prophet was b Act. & Mon. p. 736. Col. 2. borne in Arabia. His Father was a Syrian, or a Persian, his Mother an Ismaelite, which Ismaelites being a people of Arabia, were called then Agarens: which term Mahumet afterwards turned to the name of Saracens. It is thought that Sergius a Nestorian was a great doer with mohammed in contriving of his Alcoran. At length this kingdom of the Saracens began to be c Act. & Mon. p. 124 Col. 2. & p. 737. Col. 1. conquered by the Turks. Which Turks after they had overcome them, and made their power large and mighty both in Asia and Europe, began to divide their Kingdoms and Countries amongst themselves. But when they could not agreed, but with deadly war contended for the bounds of those kingdoms and Dominions, in the mean time four of the principal Families conquering and subduing all the rest, parted the whole Empire amongst themselves. And yet they also not so contented, fell to such cruel hatred, contention, war, & slaughter, that there was no end thereof, until the remnant of the ancient Turks was utterly rooted out. So that there are few now remaining which are Turks indeed by birth & blood, but the state of their great Empire is upholden by the strength and power of Soldiers, which have been Christians, and now are turned to Mahumets Religion. It would ask a long time to tell you of those points that are contained in their Alcoran, but it is needless now at this time; and therefore whosoever will see more of them, as also of their Religion, I refer them to M. Purchas his d M. Purchas Pilgrim. l. 3. c. 10.11.12.13 and 14. Pilgrimage, who tells of their opinions, their religious places, their Monasteries, their Liturgy and Circumcision, their sepulchres, Funeral rites, & Opinions touching the dead, their religious Votaries, & their Saints, their Priests and Hierarchy. There were of the Popish e W. Raynolds, W. G fford, Both Williams, and yet none of those hundred & ten Knights, all Williams, & alone Table, at Henry the Duke of Normandye's Feast in France. montaigne's Essays. l. 1. c. 46. Catholics, Sons of Zerviah, Simeon and Levi, Brethren in evil, the instruments of f Gen. 49.5. cruelty are in their habitations, whose fingers were g Psal. 57.5. spears, and arrows, & their pens sharp sword, that would make these Turks and us in a manner all one; and therefore framed a Book whose Title forsooth was, Calvino-Turcismus, but they got nothing by that bargain. For a worthy h M.D. Sutcliff. Hector of ours having answered that Book, every Chapter of it, every Leaf, prefixed another thereunto, and to give them an Oliver for a Rowland, or rather (as speaks our i Mat. 7.2. Saviour) with what measure they meated, to measure to them again, he on the contrary called his Treatise, Turco-Papismus, which for aught we can hear of, goes unanswered to this day. But now of Papism. I call Papism all that filthiness and corruption of Doctrine, which the Church of Rome, under the authority of the Bishop of Rome their Pope, and other factious Heads among them, hath gathered together these many years, and now maintains at this day against the Ancient, Apostolical, and truly Catholic Church of Christ. The kingdom of heaven, l Mat. 13.24. saith our Saviour, is like unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, there came his enemy and sowed tars among the wheat. doubtless these tars have been sown as in a many Christian Churches, so especially in the Church of Rome; which are now grown to that head, that they have overtopped all the other seed, & seem to bear the sway alone. For neither doth that Church now teach the Faith purely: or administer the Sacraments sincerely, or Pray religiously, & above all, is Idolatrous. For First concerning the Faith of Christ, how impurely do they teach it? m Vid. D. Ram. Thes. Angl. p. 729. Planting Superstition instead of Religion; Pride instead of Modesty; Doubting instead of Trusting; a Pharisaical Vanity instead of Christian Piety, that is (in a word) unfaithfulness instead of Faith. Concerning the Sacraments, how have they been increased by them in number, impaired in virtue, depraved with errors, polluted with ceremonies? Concerning Prayers, how irreligiously, like Parrots & Popinjays do they pray? praying likewise for the Dead who need not their Prayers? and to be delivered out of Purgatory who in truth were never there. But praying unto Creatures, yea to dumb creatures, as oil, stones, crosses, images, that is most Idolatrous. They that in jeremy, n jer. 2.27. said to a Tree, Thou art my Father, & to a stone, Thou hast begotten me, were I am half persuaded more righteous than these. And yet while I thus speak of them, I deny them not utterly to be a o Vid. M Hookers learned Discourse of justific. Works etc. p. 45. Heretics have justly been hated as branches cut of from the Body of the true Vine, yet only so far forth cut of, as their Heresies have extended. M. Hooker Eccl. Pol. l. ●. §. 68 p. 185 Heretics are not utterly cut of from the Visible Church of Christ. If the Fathers do any where, as oftentimes they do, make the true Visible Church of Christ, & Heretical companies opposite, they are to be construed, as separating Heretics not altogether from the company of Believers, but from the fellowship of sound Believers, Hooker Ib. l. 3 § 1. p. 130. That which separate●h utterly, that which cutteth of clean from the Visible Church of Christ, is plain Apostasy, direct denial, utter rejection of the whole Christian Faith. Hooker l. 5. § 68 p. 186. Church: I grant the Church of Rome to be a member of the Church, though not a sound one. I suppose, saith p Acne mihi longis rationibus disputandum sit●●s Pauli auctoricate contentos esse decet, qui Antichristum in Templo Dei sessurum pronuntiat. Quanquam & hoc ra●ionibus satis validis me probasse puto, Ecclesiam licet semiruptam, imo si lubet diruptam ac deformem, aliquam tamen man●re in Papatu. Calvin. Lelio Zozino Italo Ep. 104. Calvin, that in the Papacy some Church remaineth, a Church crazed, or if you will, broken quite in pieces, forlorn, misshapen, yet some Church. His reason is, Antichrist must fit in the Temple of God. I deny her not the name of a Church, saith q Si de Christi officio, & quarenda in Christo salute agatur, quo tanquam iugulo corpori caput, Ecclesiae Christus coniungitur: sic meritis Hominum & Sanctorum, indulgentiarum sord bus, & infinitis blasphemiarum machinis pars haec doctrinae labefactata est, utiam à tenui filo vita Ecclesiae penderet, eoque mox abrumpendo (quae suit Antichristi in agendo sedulitas) nisi tempori Dominus qui eum compescerent, Servos suos emisisset. Quamdiu vel ten illud filum reliquum manes, Ecclesiae nomen non denegamus, ut nec enim qui morbo contabescit, nomen hominis quamdiu vivit. Mornaeus Tract. de Ecclesia. cap. 2. pag. 43 Vid. Ibid. p. 22. Mornay Lord of Plessie, no more then to a Man the name of a man, as long as he liveth, what sickness soever he hath: His reason is, Salvation in jesus Christ which is the Neck which joineth the Head with the Body, jesus Christ with the Church, is made so feeble, and weak, by Merits of men, by Merits of Saints, by Pardons, and such other wickedness, that the life of the Church holdeth by a very little thread. So that the life of the Church holdeth then. Zanchius hath these words: I acknowledge the Church of Rome, even at this present day for a Church of Christ; such a Church as Israel was under jeroboam, yet a Church. His reason is this: Every man seethe saith he, except he willingly hoodwink himself, that as always so now, the Church of Rome holdeth firmly & steadfastly the Doctrine of truth concerning Christ, and baptizeth in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, confesseth & avoucheth Christ for the only redeemer of the world, & the judge that shall sit upon quick and dead, receiving true believers into endless joy, faithless and godless men being cast with Satan & his Angels into flames unquenchable. I speak not this, Beloved, to court the Church of Rome, or to play the prank of that unjust Steward of whom our Saviour tells the story. Who when his Master gave him warning to give up his accounts & Stewardship, What shall I do? r Nescio que singulari Dei beneficio, hoc adhuc boni in Romana Ecclesia servari nemo non videt, nisi qui videre non vult: quod ●imirùm sicut semper, sic nunc etiam constant & firma in vera de Deo d●que persona Domini nostri jesu Christi doctrina persistit: & baptizat in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti: Christumque agnoscit & praedicat pro unico mundi Redemptore, futuroque vivorum & mortuorum judice: qui veros fideles secum in aeternam vitam recepturus, incredulos autem & impios in aeternum ignem cum Diabolo & Angelis eius, eiecturus sit: quae causa est, cur Ecclesiam hanc, pro Ecclesia Christi etiamnum agnoscan: sed quali? qualis & ab Osea aliisque Prophetis, Ecclesia Israelis sub jeroboamo & deinceps fu sse describitur: nunquam enim resipu●t à suis fornicationibus. Atque haec de Ecclesia Romana. Zanch. de Relig. Christiana. Epist. ad Vlyssem Martinengum Comitem Barchensem Oper. Tom. 8. p. W two. post. pag 451. saith he: I cannot dig & to beg I am ashamed I know what I will do, that when I am put out of the Stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So if Religion should altar. I would gloze with Papists betimes by holding them of the Church: no God forbidden I should once have as much as a thought that way, but only to meet with the Harry hotspurs of our Age who by their untemperate zeal in not holding what they should, have caused perhaps a many to do otherwise then they would, have done, even utterly to forsake our Church, which being but of yesterdays growth in respect of the Church of Rome, suppose that if so be they be a Church, we by no means may be, unless we be as they are. I, for my part would instill other gates Learning into you, and teach you to know the true difference which is betwixt them both. If once we give Priest or jesuit that advantage against us, to hold them no Church at all, that is that they s Luk. 16.4. would have fulfaine, t Tusc. Quest. l. 1. Quia diserti esse possent, si contra ista dicerent. Here are they in for a year and a day. u Virg. Aen. l. 2. Hoc Ithacus velit, & magno mercentur Atridae. They had rather than all the Shoes in their shop, we would all of us hold this Tenet. I will end with that excellent z M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. li. 3. § 1. p. 130. passage of Reverend Hooker, worthy to be written in letters of Gold: So far as lawfully we may, we have held, and do hold fellowship with them. For even as the Apostle doth say of Israel, that they are in one respect enemies, but in another, beloved of God: In like sort with Rome we dare not communicate concerning sundry her gross and grievous abominations, yet touching those main parts of Christian Truth wherein they constantly still persist, we gladly * I acknowledge the Roman Church to be our Mother Church, although defiled with some infirmities, as the jews were when they crucified Christ. His excellent MAJESTY in his Speech in the upper House of the Parliament. March 19 1603. acknowledge them to be of the Family of jesus Christ, & our hearty prayer unto God Almighty is, that being conjoined so far forth with them, they may at the length (if it be his will) so yield to frame & reform themselves, that no distraction remain in any thing, but that we may all with one Heart, & one Mouth glorify God the Father of our Lord, and Saviour, whose Church we are. The same God so bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. THE CREED. Lecture 7. May, 6. 1613. WHenas I acquainted you, Beloved, at the first with my manner of Method I meant to observe in this my intended course of Catechism, I told you, that being to teach you the Fear of the Lord, that is, the worship of God, I would entreat of all that worship in the residue of my year. Now for that the whole Corpse of Divinity compriseth principally two points, God and the Church, I told you I would entreat also of God, and of the Church. What hath been said already concerning God, you have heard in divers & sundry Lectures, as also in the last of all concerning the other point, the Church. Wherein being to show unto you, First, what the Church is; secondly, what she is to Believe; thirdly, what to Practise: and in my last Lecture having declared what the Church is, it remaineth that I now show unto you, what she is chief to Believe. The Text I have chosen to this purpose is in the sixteenth chapter of St Marke's Gospel, the fifteenth and sixteenth verses. The words are these. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that shall believe, and be baptised, shallbe saved: but he that will not believe, shallbe damned. In which words is comprehended the justification of the Apostle's Ministry; in theirs, of all such Pastors as should succeed them to the world's end, and consequently of ourselves. So that first of all we have in these words the efficient cause, & Author of it, who is our Saviour jesus Christ. And he said unto them. Secondly, the parts of that their Ministry, as also of our own, and they are two, Doctrine & Administration of Sacraments: Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every Creature: there's the Doctrine. He that shall believe, and be baptized; under which as a Analysis Typicae Mosis Pflacheri S. Theol. Doct p. 452. some are of opinion, the other Sacrament is comprehended by way of Synecdoche, there's the Administration of Sacraments. Thirdly, we have the Effect here, and that is twofold, Salvation, and Damnation. The one to Believers: He that shall believe, and be baptised, shallbe saved: the other to unbelievers, But he that will not believe, shallbe damned. In the Doctrine I note two points: First who they are that are to be taught: Secondly what. The Parties to be taught, Every creature, not Bruit Beasts to whom St Francis is said to have preached as it is in his b D. Fulcks against the Defence of the Censure p. 262. Legend, but jew and Gentile, Bond and Free, and therefore a repealing of that which he said unto them before, Mat. 10.5, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter ye not. Paul and Barnabas c Act. 13.46. give the reason, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken unto you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo we turn to the Gentiles. That which is to be taught, is Evangelium the Gospel, which St Matthew d Mat. 28.20. relateth in these words, Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. I will not now meddle either with the Efficient cause, or with the Effect, nor yet with the Persons that are to be taught; my intent and purpose is to speak of the Doctrine only they were to reach. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel, etc. The word Gospel in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: and Evangelium, e Illyr. Clau. Script. Verbo Evangelium. saith Illyricus, is a Greek word, and signifies with them either a reward given to him that bringeth glad or good tidings, or a Sacrifice to the Gods in regard of those good tidings: or it signifies sometimes the good tidings itself. In the first signification f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer. Odyss. ξ Homer useth it. in the second g O suaves Epistolas tuas uno tempore mihi datas duas, quibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae reddam nescio, deberi quidem planè fateor. Cic. ad Artic. l. 2. Ep. 12. Tully, and h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Isocr. Areop. Isocrates: in the third i Plut. in Pomp. Plutarch, and l Aristoph. Plut. Aristophanes. Now of this last signification it is that it comes to be spoken, m Beza Annol. in Mat. 1 v. 1. saith Beza, of that true Doctrine of Salvation, which was not invented by Men, but was brought unto us from Heaven. And the first that used this word was the Angel in S. Luke's Gospel, that appeared to the Shepherds upon the birth of our Saviour Christ. Behold, n Luk. 2.10. saith the Angel, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I bring you tidings of great joy: & indeed great was the joy, that was annexed to such tidings. She, o Quae peperit & Mater & virgo est, quem peperit & insans & verbum est. Me●itò Coeli locuti sunt, Angeli gratulati, Pastorss laetati, Magi imitati, Reges turbati, arvuli coronati. Aug. de Temp. Ser. 5. p. 402. saith S. Austen, that bore, was a Mother, and a Virgin both: he that was borne, was both an Infant, and the Word. Wherefore it was not without cause that the Heavens spoke, the Angels rejoiced, the Shepherds were glad, the wise men journeyed, Kings were troubled, Children crowned. Now the Angel though there in that place delivered his message in this sort, p Luk. 2.10. Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the People, that is, that unto you is borne this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord: yet he implied no doubt withal, (and so much the rather for he calls him a Saviour) all those parcels and particulars concerning the Salvation of Mankind. All which particulars it pleased, (some say, the twelve Apostles) doubtless Antiquity to reduce to twelve Heads, that which we commonly call the Apostles Creed, whether the Apostles indeed themselves were the Authors of it at first, as q Arbitror illam duodecim Artifi●um operatione conslatam Duodecim enim Apostolorum symbolo fides sancta concepta est, qui vel●t perin Artifices in unum convenientes, clavem suo consilio conslaverunt. Ambros. Ser. 38. p. 326. Vid. Aug. de Temp. Ser. 115 & 181. some are of opinion, or for it r Vid. Calv. Instit. l. 2. c. 16. §. 18. summarily containeth therein that which they delivered or by word of mouth, or else by writing. It mattereth not much whether of these two ways we now take: howbeit it containeth the gospels Epitome indeed, and the Gospel is that Doctrine which our Saviour commandeth here in this my Text, that it should be preached to every Creature; it shall be my whole care at this time to entreat of the same unto you, and briefly as my manner is, to explicate unto you each particular. First then of the Creed in general: secondly of every part and Article thereof. Concerning the Creed in general it s Vid D. Rain. Thes. Angl. p. 710. containeth two Parts: One of them instructeth our Faith touching God; the other touching the People of God, that is, the Church. Touching God it teacheth us to believe in him who is one God in nature, distinct in three Persons; the Father, the Creator; the Son, the Redeemer; the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier. Touching the People of God it teacheth us to believe, that they are a Church, Holy & Catholic, which hath Communion of the Saints, to whom their Sins are forgiven, whose Bodies shall be raised up from death, and being joined with their Souls shall live everlastingly. I am not ignorant how others frame their Division otherwise. Card. Bellarmine among the rest; The first part of the Creed, t Bellar. Christ. Doct Translated out of Ital. by Ric. Haddock p. 58. saith he, belongeth unto God: the second unto the Church the Spouse of God. And as in God we believe, saith he, one Divinity and three Persons: so in the Church we believe that there is one only Church, and that it hath three principal graces; the first in the Soul, which is remission of sins, another in the Body which shall be the Resurrection of the Flesh, and the third in the Soul & Body together, which shall be life eternal. A Division I much dislike not. Howbeit, seeing the Communion of Saints is a prerogative of the Church, & the Cardinal in this Division of his hath quite and clean left it out, I for my part like the former rather, others like as they please. Thus much then of the Creed in general, come we now to every part and parcel of it in particular. And first of the first word Credo. Credo, I believe. It is an usual custom in some of our Colleges (perhaps in all) that when the Party chosen into it comes first to be admitted, or to a Probationers place, or to a Fellows, he is asked by the Party admitting him, who is the Governor or his Substitute, before the rest of the Fellows present, Quid petis? What is it, that you entreat at our hands? And his answer pesently is, if to be a Probationer, Eleemosynam huius Domus: but if to be a Fellow, Domus huius Perpetuitatem. Some such u So S. Peter (as it may be thought) alluding to the Questions in Baptism. 1. Pet. 3.21 saith, The baptism which saveth us is not (as legal purifications were) a cleansing of the flesh from outward impurity, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an interrogative trial of a good conscience towards God Mr Hooker Ecclesiast. Polit. lib. 5. §. 63 p. 152. ceremony there was in the Primitive Church of old when any one was converted or from Gentilism or judaisme to the faith of Christ jesus, & was to be baptized. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, x Cyril. Catech. Mystag 2. p. 519 vid. M. Perkins on the Creed p. 7 saith S. Cyril, Every of them was demanded, whether he believed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Whereupon they eftsoones made, saith he, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a saving confession: meaning that forthwith they repeated this, or the like Creed. So that hereby we may perceive in what form this Creed was penned, namely in the form of an Answer to a Question. The Priest, or Minister asked the question in the face of the Congregation, and the Party to be baptised made answer by the Creed. Now concerning the word itself, Credo, I believe, it is as much as if he had said, that I am fully persuaded, that these things I am now saying unto you, are true beyond all comparison, I; so true that there is no evidence in the world comparable unto them. The greatest assurance generally with all men, y M Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 2. § 7. p. 117. saith Reverend Hooker, is that which we have by plain aspect, and intuitive beholding. Where we cannot attain unto this, there what appeareth to be true by strong and invincible demonstration, such as wherein it is not by any way possible to be deceived, thereunto the mind doth necessarily assent, neither is it in the choice thereof to do otherwise. And in case both these do fail, than which way greatest probability leadeth, thither doth the mind evermore incline. Now Scripture, saith he, with Christian men being received as the word of God, that for which we have probable, yea that which we have necessary reason for, yea that which we see with our eyes, is not thought so sure, as that which the Scripture of God teacheth; because we hold that his speech revealeth there what himself seethe, & therefore the strongest proof of all, and the most necessary assented unto by us (which do thus receive the Scripture) is the Scripture itself. Thus far he. So that now we see the force of this word Credo, I believe. For all the sequels that follow after, being grounded on those Scriptures, which we assuredly believe to be the finger (as it were) of God, and Oracles from him partly spoken by himself, z Vid. M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 3. §. 8. p. 146. Reasons to prove the Scriptures to be of God. vid Calv. Inst. l. 1. c. 7. § 4. & 5. partly dictated unto them who delivered them from him, hence it is concerning these points, that every of us faith Credo, I believe. I, but some will say, why say we not in the plural number, Credimus, we believe? like as we say in the Lord's Prayer Pater noster, our Father, and Panem nostrum, our bread, and Da nobis, Give us etc. The cause is twofold: a M Perk on the Creed, p. 24. partly for in the Primitive Church this Creed was made to be an answer (as I told you) to a question demanded of every one in particular that was to be baptised: partly for that howsoever we are to pray one for another, & therefore to use the plural number, yet when we come to years (and so were they come who were commonly baptised in those times) we must have a particular Faith of our own, according to that of b Hab. 2.4. Habacuk, justus in fide suae vivet. The just shall live by his faith. And as the Prophet saith Fide suâ, so saith our Saviour Fides tua, Thy faith hath made thee whole, Mat. 9.22. But thus much of the first word Credo, I believe, which therefore I have been the longer in, and handled it apart, for it is particularly to be applied to every Article here following. And so I now come unto those Articles, the first and foremost whereof is, I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. There are that make two Articles of this, which is the first, and say that St Peter, he should say, I believe in God the Father Almighty, and St john, he should add, Maker of Heaven, and Earth. But I rather follow them that make it but one only, and so I purpose now to intreare of it at this time. First then where it is said, I believe in God the Father: Deus est c Aug. de Temp. Ser. 119. saith St Austen, & Pater est, Deus potestate, pater bonitate. God he is, & Father both, God in power, Father in goodness. Of God the Father I have spoken before, as also his Omnipotency expressed here by the word Almighty, and of his making Heaven and Earth, & therefore will I show you now what it is to believe in him. To believe in this God is thus much in effect. d M. Perk. on the Creed. p. 298. First to know and acknowledge him as he hath revealed himself in his word: Secondly, in particular to believe him to be my God: Thirdly, from my heart to put all my affiance in him. Concerning the phrase of speech here used Credo in Deum, I believe in God; I know it to be S. Austin's note thereupon, Credere Deo, and Credere Deum, & Credere in Deum, and of a great deal of difference betwixt them: but I am loathe to commend it to you, the rather for that the Hebrew as also the Greek do seem to take it away. For howsoever these phrases I believe in God, I believe in jesus Christ, I believe in the Holy Ghost, be most effectual and carry with them great force, yet are they not so e Vid. B. Iewe● Def. of the Apol. Part. 2. c. 1. Divis. 1. p. 90. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peculiar and special to God alone; nor so precisely used as some do imagine. And therefore is it said, Exod. 14.31. according to the Hebrew, The People believed in the Lord & in his servant Moses: and God himself said unto Moses according to the Hebrew to, Exod. 19.9. Lo I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whiles I talk with thee: and that they may also believe in thee for ever. So f Basil. de Spiritu Sanct. c. 14. St Basil, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: They were baptised in Moses and believed in him. And Arius the great heretic, and Euzoius in g Socrat. hist. l. 1. c. 19 ex version joan. jacob. Grynaei. Socrates his Story (herein it should seem according to the custom of those times) Credimus in unam Catholicam Ecclesiam Dei, ab una orbis terrarumora ad alteram usque se porrigentem. We believe in one Catholic Church of God spreading itself from one end of the world unto the other. But thus much of the first Article. The second is this: AND IN JESUS CHRIST HIS ONLY SON OUR LORD. jesus h Aug. de Temp Ser. 181. saith St Austen, signifies a Saviour, and he is called also Christ of the Greek word Chrisma, because that as Kings in the old time had sacred oil powered on them, so our Lord jesus Christ, was filled and replenished with the infusion of the Holy Ghost. Indeed concerning his former name the Angel gave it unto him, and he gives that very reason: Thou shalt call his Name jesus i Mat. 1.21. saith he, for he shall save his people from their sins. And concerning the name Christ, it is true that St john l joh. 3.34. saith, that God gave him not the Spirit by measure, and therefore of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace, joh. 1.16. But why is he called his Son here, I, & his only Son? And why is he called Lord, I, and our Lord? First he is called his Son for he is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten, I, and begotten of his Father m Christi nativitas genuina illa & prima, ac deitatis ipsius propria, silentio colatur Imò magis cogitationibus nostris imperemus ne illa inquirant, neque curiosè seru tentur. Vbi enim non tempus non seculum in tercessit, non modus excogitatus est, non spectator adsuit, non est qui enarret, quomodo imaginetur meus ipsa? Quomodo verò lingua ipsa mentis intelligentiae inserniet? Sed & Pater erat & Filius na●● est. Ne dixeris quando? sed praetereas hanc quaestionem. Ne inquisier is Quomodo? Impossibilis enim est respensio. Nam Quando, temporale est. Quomodo autem lapsum inducit ad corperales modos, Basil Hom. sine Conc in sanctam Christi Nativ. p. 246. before all worlds. He is therefore n Aug. de Temp. Ser. 181. saith St Austen, his only Son, because he hath no comparison, nor similitude with any creature. Men indeed are called the Sons of God by grace, he alone is his Son begotten by nature: sine foemineo partu o Aug. de Temp. Ser. 12. p. 414. saith the same St Austen, unicus Patri, sine virili complexu unicus Matri. The only Son of his Father, as not borne by human birth, the only Son of his Mother, as not needing man's help. He is therefore called Lord, for that he is as St john p Rev. 17.14. styles him, Lord of Lords, and king of kings, and he is therefore called our Lord, for that we & all the chosen when we were q Mr Perk. on the Creed p. 204. bond staves under Hell, Death and Condemnation, he paid the ransom of our redemption, & freed us from the bondage of Sin & Satan. Not with corruptible things, as r 1. Pet. 1.18. speaks St Peter, as silver and gold, but with his precious blood, as of a Lamb undefiled; and without spot. Thus the four Beasts, and the four and twenty Elders in the Revelation of St john, Thou art worthy, s Rev. 5.9. say they, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, because thou wast killed, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests, & we shall reign on the earth. Tu Domine; Domine, t Aug in Psal. 139. p. 1107. saith St Austen, id est, tu verissimè Domine, non quales Domini homines, non quales Domini qui emunt saccello, sed qualis Dominus qui emit sanguine. Lord, Lord, saith St Austen that is most truly Lord, not such a Lord as Men are, not such a Lord as buys his Vassal by the penny, but such a Lord as pays down right his most precious blood for him. It followeth: WHICH WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY GHOST, BORNE OF THE VIRGIN MARY. The third Article: and it compriseth the Incarnation of our Saviour, & that Incarnation is here expressed by two sundry and several parts: u Vid Mr Perkins on the Creed. p. 220. First his Conception, Secondly his Birth. The Conception of Christ is here set down with his efficient cause the Holy Ghost; even as the Angel said to joseph, joseph the Son of David, x Mat 1.20. saith he, fear not to take Mary for thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. Which Conception St Austen makes more plain unto us by this Similitude. As a worm y Sicut vermis calefaciente sole de puro lime formatur: sic Spiritu Sancto illustrante & sanctificante cor Virgins, caro Christi de s●la carne Virgin●s nulla sementina carnis origine operant concepta est. unde severmi comparans per Psalmistam dicit (Ps. 22.6) Ego sum Vermis & non Homo, id est, non conceptus more humano. Aug. De Temp. Ser. 181. saith he, through the heat of the sun is form and made of mud and slime alone: so the holy Ghost illightning and sanctifying the heart of the Virgin, the flesh of Christ was conceived of the flesh alone of the Virgin without any work or overture of Flesh by way of seed. Whereupon comparing himself to a worm, I am a worm saith he, and no man, that is, not conceived after the manner of men. But of the Conception we may say as did St Bernard: z Bernard. super Missus est. Hom 4. p. 8. Col. 2. Nec potest doceri, nisi à donante; nec potest addisci, nisi à suscipiente. Neither can it possibly be taught but by the Spirit himself, that so gave himself, neither possibly be learned, but by the Party that did receive him. I come unto his Birth, concerning which we are first to note the Birth itself, ●hen his Mother recorded here, Borne of the Virgin Mary. The Birth of our Saviour Christ to them that have Chrian Hearts is the comfort of all comforts, and the sweetest balm and confection that ever was. Behold a Luk 2.10 saith the Angel, I bring you tidings of great joy, that shallbe to all the People, that is, that unto you is borne this day in the City of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. And there eftsoons joined with that Angel an Army (as it were) of other Angels (for they are b V 13. styled, Heavenly Soldiers) praising God, and saying, Glory be to God in the high Heavens, and peace in earth, and towards men goodwill. And indeed according to this sacred hymn, how were all these things fulfilled? For by reason of this his Birth, First, what Glory was given to God, nor only then at that time, but after, and ever since? Secondly, what multiplicity of Peace in earth? Peace with God, Peace with Angels, Peace with ourselves, I mean in our consciences, Peace with our Enemies, and in a word, Peace with all the Creatures of the world besides. And indeed it was convenient such Peace should be, since this our Melchisedec was then borne, King of Salem, that is c Heb 7.2. King of Peace. Thirdly, what great Good will was towards men, seeing God by this his Son's Birth was d Vid. Lect. 3. p. 42. and 49. reconciled so unto us? But I come to the Mother of Christ. The Mother of Christ is here described by her Quality and by her Name. By her Quality, for she was a Virgin. Neque sit incredibile * Aug de Temp Ser. 181. saith St Austen, quod ipse natus de Virgin, qui Adam de Virgineo pulvere, & primam mulierem potuit de costa formare. Let it not seem incredibile to thee that he should be borne of a Virgin, who formerly was able to frame and fashion Adam out of the Virgin dust of the Earth, and the first woman that ever was, but only of a rib. Quantulus est qui natus est f Aug. Hom. 32 p. 340. saith the same St Austen in an other place, sed quantus est qui de Virgin natus est? Seems he little unto thee when he was, or because he was borne? I, but consider how great he was, that was borne of a Virgin. The name of the Mother of Christ is added here in this place, partly to show that he came of the lineage of David, & therefore that he was the Messiah, that was prophesied of before: partly that as herself prophesied all Ages should g Luk. 1.48. call her BLESSED so her Name should be registered in that Brief, which was to have passage over all the world. I am loathe to go besides my way, but it shall not be much amiss to relate unto you one story concerning this Name. It is h Montaigne his Essays l. 1. c. 46 reported that at Poitiers in France, our Lady's Church there had this beginning. A licentious young Gallant having his dwelling house in that very place, whereas the Church now standeth, caused on a night a Damsel to be brought him, with whom he thought to do, Quod Templo dicere non est, that that is not to be spoken in this place. He was no sooner about to wrap himself (in illos recessus cloacarum, it is Scaligers i Scaliger in Card. Exercit. 299. Num. 2. p. 891. phrase of that high Delight) but by chance ask her name, and hearing it to be Marry, was so suddenly struck with an awful respect to the sacred name of the VIRGIN MARY, that he not only immediately put her away from him, but reform the remainder of his life ever after. It had been well we might have heard of Her reformation too, that we might have said, as l Ovid. Met. l. 8 Ovid did, Illa vetus, dominis etiam casa parva duobus Vertitur in Templum. But howsoever that was, the report was, that in consideration of this miracle, there was first erected a Chapel in the place where His House then stood, consecrated to that holy Name, and afrerwardes the fair great Church which yet continueth to this day. But I come to the fourth Article: SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DEAD, AND BURIED. The mention of Pilate here, m Mentio Pilati ad temporis significationem, non ad personae illius pertinet dignitatem. Aug. de Temp. Ser. 181. saith S. Austen, is to signify the time when as our Saviour suffered, it is no honour unto him at al. And therefore the poor simple man, of whom it is n M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. § 71. p. 200. reported, that he was fully persuaded, that if Pontius Pilate had not been a Saint, the Apostles would never have suffered his name to stand in the Creed, was by all likelihood one of that rank of whom Mr White o M. Whites way to the true Church. Epist. to the Reader. Creezum zuum, etc. p. c. 2. tells us in his Way to the Church. But to return unto my purpose. We have in these four words, Suffered, Crucified, Dead, and Buried, the estate of our Saviour's humiliation: namely that condition of his in which he abased himself even to the death of the Cross: that by that means he might perform the office of a Priest in making satisfaction for us to the justice of his Father. All this is confirmed by our Saviour himself; as first his sufferings, O fools, p Luk. 24.25. saith he, and slow of heart, to believe all that the Prophets have spoken! aught not Christ to have suffered these things, & to enter into his glory? Secondly his Crucifying, As Moses, q joh. 3.14. saith he, lift up the Serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lift up. And again in another r joh. 12.32. place, I, if I were lift up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. And the Evangelist there s V 33. addeth, Now this said he, signifying what death he should die. Thirdly, his Death, Tristis, t Mat. 26.38. saith he, est anima mea usque ad mortem. My soul is very heavy, even unto the death. Fourthly his Burial: Let her alone, u Mark. 14.8. saith he, why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me, she hath done that she could: she came aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. What? will you say? and did our Saviour then, did he suffer such extremities? was he Crucified? did he Die? was he at length Buried? He that was God did he suffer? nay could he suffer? could he be Crucified? could he Die, and be Buried? yes, but not as God. S. Austen doth explicate it by this similitude. A man, x Sicut homo, verbi gratia, Philosophus non utique nisi secundum animam dicitur, nec ideo tamen absurdè, sed congruentissima, & usitatissima locutione dicimus Philosophum caesum Philosophum mortuum, Philosophum sepultum, cum totum secundum carnem accidat, non secundum illud quod est Philosophus; ita Christus Deus, Dei filius, Dominus gloriae, & si quie● huiusmodi secundum verbum dicitur; & tamen rectè dicitur Deus crucifixus, cum hoc cum secundum carnem passum esse, non secundum illud quo Dominus gloriae est, non habeatur incertum. Aug. Epist. 10● p. 295. saith he, is not called a Philosopher, but with correspondence to his soul, and yet we say most usually a Philosopher is beaten, a Philosopher is dead, a Philosopher is buried, when as all this happens to him in regard of his Body only, not as he is a Philosopher: so Christ who is God is called the Son of God and the Lord of glory, and by some other titles besides such as belong unto him as he is the Word, and yet we truly say that God is crucified, when it is certain he so was according to the flesh, not as he is Lord of glory. It followeth, HE DESCENDED INTO HELL, THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. I am not ignorant that this particle, He descended into Hell, is annexed by Some to the Article that went before, as if it were part of the estate of our Saviour's humiliation. And y Vrsin. Caetec. Angl. Edit. 1611. p. 509. they make this Hell to be the unspeakable distresses, torments, and terrors of his soul, into which he was plunged both before, and then especially when he hanged on the Cross, & much even in these late days hath been written of this argument to and fro. I must needs say that in this point, I differ from them who were dearer to me in their life time then ever Plato was to Aristotle. True it is that all that which those Articles have concerning this point whereunto we do all z The Articles agreed upon by the Archbishops & Bishops in the year 1562. & confirmed again 1571. subscribe, is only this: As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also it is to be believed that he went down into Hell. But forasmuch as by the worthy Prelates of our Church that point is a little more explained unto us, I would wish you to take them for your Pilots in this case. I will show you their words briefly, you may have recourse unto them when you please. As Christ in his body, saith Reverend a M. Eius ad inferos descensus quam habet sententiam? A. Quòd Christus, ut corpore in terrae viscera, ita anima à corpore separata ad inferos descendit, parite●que mortis tius vis ad mo●tuos inferosque adeo ipsos usque eo permanavit, ut & animae incredulorum tristissimae, ipsorumque incredulitati maximè debitae condemnationis sensum perciperent, ipseque Satanas inferorum princeps tyrannidis suae, & tenebrarum potentiam omnem afflictam, profligatan, & ruina opppressam esse animadverteret: è contraria verò part mortui, qui vivi Christo confidebant, redemptionis suae opus iam perfectum esse perspicerent, eiusque vim & effectum sen tientes, dulcissimo perpetuoque solatio fruerentur. Alex. Now el. Christ. Pietat prima Institutio edit. 1386. Vid. M D. Field of the Church l 5. c 19 pag. 72. where he shows the ends of Christ's descent more perspicuously, namely, to fasten condemnation to the Devil & his Angels, to triumph over the Principalities of darkness: to secure us from being surprised by them, & to prevent our coming thither. Nowell, descended into the bowels of the earth which was his Grave, so in his Soul severed from the Body, he descended into Hell. The ends of Christ's descent he maketh to be three. And withal saith he, (that is, together with his Soul) the virtue & force of his Death so pierced to the dead, and even to Hell itself; that first the souls of the unbelieving felt their most painful and just damnation for infidelity: Secondly, Satan himself the Prince of Hell, felt that all the power of his tyranny and darkness was weakened, vanquished, and fallen to ruin: Thirdly, the dead, who while they lived, believed in Christ, understood that the work of their redemption was now finished, and perceived the effect and strength thereof, with most sweet and assured comfort. Here is as much saith that worthy b B. Bilsons Surveyed of Christ's sufferings for Man's redemption. p. 677. PRELATE of ours, who wrote so much in defence of this Article, as I desire, grant this, saith he to his Adversary, and I urge you no farther. Now that Christ after death descended into Hell, is a point that all the Fathers so taught with one breath, that St Austen is bold to say, c Aug. Ep. 99 Quis nisi infidelis negaverit fuisse apud inferos Christum? Who but an Infidel will deny that Christ was in Hell? That a many of the ancient Creeds wanted this particle, is no just exception against it, for they want also divers other of the Articles besides, that are in the Apostles Creed. I might instance in the d Vid. B. Bilson of the full redempt. of Mankind. p. 415. Council of Nice, the Council of Constantinople, the Council of Ephesus, but I hasten to that which followeth here, our Saviour's Resurrection. Concerning his Resurrection I say, as did St Austen, e Si credidisti de Christo quod dedecoris est, crede quod gloriae est. Si credidisti quod mortis est, crede quod vitae est. Aug de Temp. Ser. 181. If concerning Christ thou hast believed that which is a reproach unto him, in any wise believe that which appertaineth to his glory. If thou hast believed that that doth concern his Death, believe that also that doth concern his life. Indeed this is a point proper and peculiar to us Christians. That he Suffered, and was Crucified, and Dead, and Buried, the jews will believe so much. f Mat. 28.12. They gathered them together with the Elders, and took counsel and gave large money unto the Soldiers, saying, say his Disciples came by night, & stole him away while we slept. But that the third day he rose again, or that he rose again at all, nor jew, nor Gentle, nor any will believe, that is not first become a Christian. Besides that upon this point all our Religion doth depend. For if so be Christ g 1. Cor. 15.14 saith the Apostle, be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. And we are found also false witnesses of God. Grievous consequences no doubt, and yet the Apostle goeth on. If Christ h V 17. saith he be not raised, your faith is vain: ye are yet in your sins. And so they which are asleep in Christ are perished. Moore grievous consequences than the former. They concerned the living only, these the living and the Dead. But will you see the Superlative, that that toucheth us that are living nearest of all? i V 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable. You know what Tully saith in his Paradoxes concerning Fools, Omnes stultos insanire, and Stultos omnes, servos. Surely it were happy with us Christians that we were such Fools, but if Christ were not risen we should be worse far, Frantic fools, & Slaves should be far above us, we, poor we, should be of all men the most miserable. But they were our Saviour's own words, l joh. 2.19. Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. They destroyed it, & according to promise he raised it up again in three days, and did withal what after followeth: HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND SITTETH AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. It is the sixth Article, and specifieth farther to us our Saviour's exaltation into glory. He ascended into Heaven m Aug. de Temp. Ser. 181. saith St Austen, that is, the condition of our nature which he took by being borne of a woman, he placed above the Heavens at the right hand of God his Father. The causes of his Ascending were divers: as first of all to lead n Ephes. 4.8. captivity captive that is Sin, & Satan, and Death, and the o 1. Cor. 15.55 Grave. These they were that captivated us, these they are that are led Captives by our Saviour. Secondly, to give p Ephes. 4.8. 1. Cor. 12.29. gifts and graces unto men, the gift of prophesying, the gift of teaching, the gift of doing miracles, the gift of healing. Thirdly, to prepare a place for all that should believe in him. q joh. 14.2. In my Father's house are many dwelling places: if it were not so I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. Fourthly, to sand the Comforter down unto his Church. r joh. 16.7. It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I departed, I, will sand him unto you. Lastly, to s Heb. 9.24. appear in the sight of God for us, I, to intercede for us. Who t Rom. 8.34. saith the Apostle, shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen? It is God that justifieth. Who shall condemn? It is Christ which is dead. Yea or rather which is risen again, who is also at the right hand of God, and maketh request also for us. So the Apostle St john, u 1. joh. 2.1. We have an Advocate with the Father jesus Christ, the Just: & how he offers there our Prayers to God he shows in his Revelation, Rev. 8.3. Then saith St john, another Angel came, & stood before the Altar, having a golden censer, and much odours was given unto him that he should offer with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne. Now that this Angel was our Saviour, Mr D. Rainolds proveth at large, in his 62. Lecture, p. 695. Concerning his sitting at God's right hand you are to remember what you have heard x Vid. Lect. 2. p. 35. before concerning such Parts of a Body, as the Scriptures assign to God. Tertullian hath an excellent passage to this purpose: which maketh y Ex hoc loco Tertulliani luce meridianâ clarius est non fecisse Deum corporeum, quem illi (benigniùs tamen) errorem impingit D. Augustinus c. 86. l 1. de Haeresib. B. Rhenanus in hunc locum Tertul. some to wonder, why St Austen should lay to his charge that error of making God to be corporeal. His words be these: Efficaciae divinae per membra monstrantur and so forth. z Efficaciae divinae per membra monstrantur: non habilus Dei, nec corporalia lineamenta ponuntur. Name & cum Oculi describuntur, quod omnia videant exprimitur: & quando Auris, quòd omnes audiat, proponitur. Et cum Digitus significantia quaedam voluntatis aperitur; et cum Nares, precum quasiodorum perceptio ostenditur; et cum Manus, quòd creaturae sit omnis autor probatur. Et quando Brachium, quòd nulla natura contra robur ipsius repugnare possit, edicitur. Et quando Pedes, quodimpleat omnia, nec sit quicquam ubi non sit Deus, explicatur. Neque enim sunt ei aut membra, aut membrorum officia necessaria, ad cuius solum etiam tacitum arbitrium & serviunt & adsunt omnia, Cur enim requirat Oculos, qui Lux est? aut cur quaerat Pedes, qui ubique est? aut cur ingredi velit, cum non sit quo extrase progredi possit? aut cur Manus expetat, cuius ad omnia instituenda artifex est & silexs voluntas? nec Auribus eget, qui etiam tacitas novit voluntates. Aut propter quam causam linguam quaerat, cui cogitare iussisse est? etc. Tertul. de Trin. p. 497. Vid. Eund. advers. Martion. l. 2 p. 157. Divine virtue, strength and efficacy are declared to us by these Members, not the feature & fashion of God, nor yet his corporeal lineaments. For when his EYES are described, it is meant that he seethe all: when his EAR, that he heareth all. When his FINGER, the meaning of his will is manifested to us: by his NOSTRILS is meant the receiving of our prayers as of so many sweet smells. By his HANDS that he is the Maker of every creature whatsoever. By his ARM, that no strength can possibly withstand his Power. By his FEET, that he filleth all things, and that there is no place where this Divine Majesty is not. Much more he hath to that purpose which I here omit for brevity's sake. So that concerning Gods Right Hand here the Truth indeed is that God is a Spirit, & hath nor Right hand nor left. Behold my hands and my feet a Luk. 24.39. saith our Saviour, for it is I myself: handle me and see, for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. The words than are metaphorical, and are taken from Kings and earthly Potentates whose usual custom is to place such on their right hands as they purpose extraordinarily to advance. So did king Solomon his Mother, 1. King. 2.19. and David prophesying of the Church, King's Daughters b Ps. 45.10. saith he, were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in a vesture of gold wrought about with divers colours. The meaning then of these words, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty is: that our Saviour Christ God and Man after his Ascension into heaven, is advanced to such an estate, as that he hath therein fullness both of glory, and power, and Majesty, and authority in the presence of God his Father, & of all the holy Angels and Saints in Heaven. It followeth: FROM THENCE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. The last point in this Creed that we are to believe concerning our Saviour: and it is as touching the last judgement. And it is thus much in effect: that Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven with exceeding great glory, and unspeakable Majesty waited on and accompanied with Legions of holy Angels. And at the horrible sound, and dreadful blast of Trumpet, all the dead that have lived from the creation of the world to that day, shall rise again with their Souls and Bodies whole and perfect, and shall appear before his Throne, to be judged, every one for himself, to give account of their life, which shall be examined by the righteous and severe judge according to truth. All this, c Totum hoc quod vocatur humanum genus, omnis ista Massa mortalitatis, ventura est ad libram, appendentur ibi opera hominum. Aug. in Ps. 72. p. 548 saith S. Austen, which we call Mankind, this whole Mass of Mortality, must hereafter come to trial, it must come unto the Balance, there the works of Men shall be weighed every of them. And whereas there were in his time such as St Peter speaks of, 2. Pet. 3.4. Where is the promise of his coming? (God grant they be not in ours) he endeavours in a many his Sermons to beaten this point of Belief into them, the effect whereof is this: Of all the d De omnibus rebus quae in Scriptures divinis promissa sunt, una tantummodo remansit. Deus autem qui nobis in tantis rebus verum dixit, in una nes fallit? etc. Aug. de verb. Dom. Ser. 20. p. 62. Vid Eund De verb. Dom. Ser. 31. p 84, & de Temp. Ser. 109. p 600. & De Temp Ser. 245. p. 810. promises that God hath made us in holy Scripture, one only is behind, and God that hath been so faithful in all the rest, will he fail us in this one? I cannot relate the rest unto you, I have far to go. Howbeit before I go from this point concerning judgement to come, a question here ariseth about the Quick and Dead. For since it is appointed unto men that they shall once dye (as e Heb. 9.27. speaks the Apostle) and after that cometh judgement, how comes it to be said in the Creed here, that Some shall be Quick, that is, alive? The same Apostle in f 1. Cor. 15.51 1. Thess. 4.17. other places resolves us of this doubt, who teacheth, that they which then shall remain alive, shall suddenly be changed and made a new; so that the corruption of their Bodies being taken away, & mortality removed, they shall put on immortality. Now to them this change shall be instead of death, inasmuch as the ending of a corrupt nature shall be the beginning of a nature that shall be incorruptible. It followeth, I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. Of the Holy Ghost I have spoken g Vid. Lect. 3. p. 49. and 54. before, and how he is the third Person in Trinity, and why he is called Holy Ghost, that is, Holy Spirit, seeing the Father and the Son are Holy both, and both of them are Spirits. That which concerning this third Person is thus briefly delivered here, was more largely declared afterwards to the whole Church of God in the Creed of Athanasius, as also in another Creed in the Synod of h Vid. M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. §. 42. p. 86. Constantinople, and which in the Book of Common Prayer followeth immediately the Gospel. The particulars concerning the Holy Spirit in Athanasius his Creed are these: First that there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost; but the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Secondly, that such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost, namely uncreate, incomprehensible, and eternal, & yet not three eternalls, but one, not three incomprehensibles, but one, not three uncreated, but one. Thirdly that as the Father, & the Son are both Almighty, both God, both Lord; so likewise the Holy Ghost, & yet not three Almighty's but one, nor three Gods but one, nor three Lords but one. Fourthly that the Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. Lastly, that there is one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts, and that in this Trinity none is afore, or after other, none is greater or lesser than another; but the whole three Persons be coeternal together and coequal. That which was declared in the Council of Constantinople was this: I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord & giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped & glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And thus much of the first part of the Creed instructing our Faith concerning God. Now as touching the other Part concerning the PEOPLE OF GOD, that is, his CHURCH; the first whereof is this, THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. When I spoke unto you the last time of the Visible Church of Christ, i Lect. 6. p. 104. I told you that of his Mystical Church we had then no cause to speak. Irenaeus advers. haer. l. 4. c. 18. & l. 5. c. 13. Clem. Strom. l. 7 Greg. Moral. l. 28. c. 9 Ambros. in Ep. ad Ephes. c. 3. Bernard. in Cant. Ser. 78. Aug. de Civ. Dei l. 11. c. 1. & l. 15. c. 1. & de Catech. Rud. c. 20. & de Baptism. count. Donat. l. 5. c. 27. No more indeed we had, for we were then to speak of the Visible only, such as the Christians in those times, and we in these are to join ourselves unto. Howbeit now we are to speak of the Church Mystical or Invisible, forasmuch as the Holy Catholic Church here mentioned, is that Mystical Body of Christ. The Church then in this sense is taken for the whole company of God's Elect, and that by the testimony of these six Fathers Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, St Gregory, St Ambrose, St Bernard, and St Austen. I spare to quote their words; you shall see them, with much more to this purpose in D. Rainolds l D Rainoldi sex Thes. de Script. & Eccles. Thes. 4. §. 25. p. 117. Edit. 1602. Theses concerning the Church. In this respect it is termed of us, a Body Mystical. A Body, because it containeth a huge multitude not from Abel to Zacharias only, Mat. 23.35. but from Abel to the last man that ever shall be saved. Mystical, for that the mystery of their conjunction is removed altogether from sense; for albeit their natural Persons be visible to the world, yet discern we not whereby they are infallibly of that Body. And this is the Catholic Church here meant in this place. Whereunto since the Mother Church of Rome, like the Mother Frog in the m Horat. Serm. l. 2. Sal. 3. Poet, that she may be as big as She, puffs up herself so much, m Horat. Serm. l. 2. Sal. 3. Quantanè! num tandem, se inflans, sic magna fuisset, Maior dimidio, num tanto! cum magis, atque Se magis inflaret: would, some of her little Frog-lings would put her in mind of that which followeth, — Non si te ruperis, inquit, Par eris. For to say the very Truth the name Catholic (as they mean it) doth not appertain to this, or that Church, but to the Church Universal, continued through all Nations, Ages, and Provinces, from Adam unto us and our Posterity: as the n Catech. Trid. in expos. Symb. Vid. D. Raynol, Thes. p. 30. Edit 1602. Council of Trent in their Catechism, and the o Andrad. Defence. Fid. Trid. l. 2. Pet. à Soto cont. Confess. Wirtenb. c. de Eccles. Al there cited by M. Dr Rain. in his Thes. in Engl. p. 673. Expounders of the Council Andradius, & Petrus à Soto (such is the force of Truth) do plainly confess. But thus much of the CHURCH. Come we now to those Prerogatives, which this Church partly hath, partly is to have hereafter, and they in this Creed are named p Vid. D. Rain. Thes. p. 131. Edit. 1602. Four, two in this life, and two in the life to come. The Communion of Saints, The forgiveness of sins, there's the former two: The Resurrection of the Body, and The life everlasting, there's the two later. First of the two former which make the Tenth Article, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. [The Communion of Saints] The word Saints so often used throughout the New Testament, as well for the living as the Dead, as Rom. 1.7. To all you that be at Rome beloved of God, called to be Saints: & 1. Cor. 1.2. Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ jesus, Saints by calling: & Philip. 1.1. To all the Saints of Christ jesus which are at Philippi, etc.: will intimate sufficiently to us, what Communion of Saints here is meant. For since a Communion doth signify to us that fellowship, concord, part, & agreement, when divers join and partake together in one thing, as, 2. Cor. 6.14, What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the believer with the Infidel? and what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols? Forasmuch I say as Communion here signifieth this fellowship, this concord, this partaking, this agreement, and God hath had them that worship him purely and sincerely, tum doctrinâ, tum moribus, in all Countries & places, & in all Times & Ages, what doth it signify but that these All, though so much severed in time and place, in regard they are knit together to one and the self same Body, whereof Christ is the Head, have both Communion with Christ the Head, as also with one an other. Of their Communion with Christ, the Apostle St Paul tells us, 1. Cor. 1.30. and again to the Ephesians, Ephes. 5.30. Of their Communion with one an other, as also with Christ the Head, the Apostle St john, 1. joh. 1.4. That which was from the beginning, saith he, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life; that I say, which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye may also have fellowship with us, & that our fellowship also may be with the Father, & with his Son jesus Christ. So that it may seem by these places & the like (as touching one an other) that they all of them have a communion in Spirit, a communion in Faith, a communion in Sacraments, a communion in Prayers, a communion in Love, a communion in Concord, a communion in Unity with one an other, not perhaps in that perfection while here they live in this world (as were indeed to be wished) howbeit that which is now wanting shall doubles hereafter be supplied. Paul & Barnabas that were so q Act. 15.39. stirred, that they departed asunder, are now good Friends in Heaven, where well they may wonder at one an other for their former falling out. But I come to the second Prerogative. The second Prerogative I told you of, was the Forgiveness of sins, & this as it is the Churches in general, so is it each ones in particular that doth belong to this Church. Vbi peccatum r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrys. ad Pop Antioch Hom. 5. saith St chrysostom, ibi procella: where sin is, there's a storm. And therefore Hesiodus correcteth Plato's speech, who said that Punishment doth succeed sin, & followeth it at heels, he affirms that Punishment is rather borne at the self same instant. And indeed S. Austen hath an excellent saying that matcheth both speeches together; * montaigne's Essays. l. 2. c. 5, Peccatum quod inultum videtur s Aug. Tom. 4. de Continent. p. 995. saith he, habet pedissequam poenam suam, ut nemo de admisso nisi aut amaritudine doleat, aut coecitate non doleat. Sin which seems unpunished hath a punishment that waits upon it, so that there is no man that doth commit sin but he weeps bitterly for it, and that's a punishment, or he cares not, & that's his blindness, and that's a greater punishment. But most significant is that of God himself unto Cain, If thou do well t Gen. 4.7. saith he, shalt thou not be accepted and if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door. Peccatum u Tre●el. in buns' locum. saith Tremellius, id est, poenae peccati, sin, that is, the punishment of sin: & if that lie so near as at our very doors, you know how oftentimes in a day it is like to have us by the throat. And doubtless so it would, were it not for Forgiveness here. Not a day goes over our head but every minute thereof we sin, & yet ask forgiveness, and not ask it, we are oftentimes forgiven to. There is one remission of sins x Remissio peccatorum una est quae semel datur in sancto baptismate, ali● quae quamdi● vivimus hic datur in Dominica Oratione Aug. Hom. 4●. p. 362. saith St Austen, that is given us at once in holy Baptism: there is an other that as long as we live here is given us in the Lord's Prayer; meaning when as we say it either at home or elsewhere. Mergimur y Aug. Confess. l. 13. c. 7. p. 156. saith he, & emergimus. We are many times plunged over head and ears, and yet we get out again. And whensoever we are broken and bruised, and we are full of sores for sin, our heavenly Physician is omnipotent, he can so cunningly cure us, as that he will not leave a scar behind. They are z Medicus noster omnipotens est, & sic consucvit plagas nostras curare ut nec cicatricum vestigium post ipsius medicamina remancat. Aug. de Temp. Ser. 1. p. 388. St Austin's own words. I should here discourse unto you how the Father, Son, & Holy Ghost do work this forgiveness in us, sometimes immediately by themselves, sometimes by the Service & Ministry of Man; as first of the Apostles, and afterwards of all such as have been their Successors ever since, but it is enough our Saviour a joh. 20.23. said, whosoever's sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and b Mat. 28.20. lo, I am with you always, until the end of the world. But I come to the eleventh Article, The resurrection of the Body, that which c In nulla re sic contradicitur fidei Christianae, quàm in resurrectione carnis. Aug. in Ps. 88 p. 678. S. Austen tells us is most contradicted of all others, THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. The same day, d Mat. 22 23. saith St Matthew, the Sadduces came to our Saviour which say that there is no resurrection. And Tertullian speaking of some of the Heretics of his time Saturnus, Basilides, Valentinus and the like, Nunc, e Tertul. de Resurrect. p. 2●. saith he, ad alios Sadducaeos praeparamur, partiarios sententiae illorum. Ita dimidiam agnoscunt resurrectionem, solius scilicet Animae, aspernati carnem, sicut & ipsum Dominum carnis. We are now in these days to make head against other Sadduces, that are copartners with the former. For they grant the Resurrection by halves, namely the resurrection of the Soul alone, despising the Flesh, as they do in very deed even him that is Lord thereof. Howbeit we that are true Christians must not thus misbeleeve. We must believe of the Body also, as well as of the Soul; & so much the rather for the Apostle S. Paul hath such excellent passages concerning that. To him that saith, How are the dead raised up? and with what body come they forth? O fool, f 1. Cor. 15.36 saith he, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bore corn as it falleth, of wheat, or some other grain. But God giveth it a body at his pleasure, even to every seed his own body. So also is the resurrection of the dead, g V 42. saith he. The body is sown in corruption, and is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, and is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, and is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, and is raised a spiritual body. And h V 53. again, This corruptible, must put on incorruption: and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible hath put on incorruption, and this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up into victory. So that our very Bodies (you see) shall rise again, & therefore was it said in the * Vrsin. Catech. Angl. Edit. 1611 p. 628. African Churches, Resurrectionem huius carnis, I believe the resurrection of this flesh, that is, a recollecting and gathering of the same matter, whereof our body was first composed, and which after our death was scattered, and severed into all the Elements: Nec in bestias, saith i Tertul. de Anim c. 15 p. 552 Tertullian, said in sua corpora revertentibus animabus, Our Souls returning not into the Bodies of Beasts, as some were of opinion, but into their own Bodies. St Ambrose gives the reason, why the Bodies should thus rise. For this, l Haec est series & causa justitiae ut quoniam Corporis, Animique communis est actus, quae Animus cogitavit corpus afficit, utrumque in judicium veniat, utrumque aut paenae dedatur, aut gloriae reservetur. Ambros. ser. 3. de Fide Resurrect. p. 44. saith he, is the order and cause of justice, that because the actions of the Body and Soul are common to both, the Body executing that which the Soul decreed, both of them should likewise come unto judgement, both of them be either delivered up to perpetual punishment, or both reserved to eternal glory. And so I come to that glory, AND LIFE EVERLASTING. This Article, m Vrsin. Catech Angl. edit. 1611 p. 633. saith Vrsinus is placed last, partly for it is fulfilled perfectly after the rest: partly for it is the effect of all the other that went before. For in no wise must we forget that parcel of my Text, He that shall believe, and be baptised shall be saved. Now what this Life everlasting is may justly seem unexplicable, seeing not only the Prophet n Esay. 64.4. Esay, but the Apostle o 1. Cor. 2.9. St Paul also after him determinately set down, that they are the Things which Eye hath not seen, neither Ear hath heard, neither came into man's Heart: and p Quid quaeris ut ascendat in linguam, quod in cor non ascendit. Aug. in Ps. 85. p. 650. S. Austin's inference is thereupon, And how should it then come into the tongue of man, that could never as yet come into the heart of man. Howbeit since we cannot possibly know what it is in very deed, let us go by analogy and proportion, and first consider what Life is, as Philosophers entreat of it. Life in Creatures possessed with living Souls, is properly the being of living Creatures. Now life is taken both for the first act, that is for the very living, and being: as also for the second act, that is, for the operation of a living thing. So that we may define it to be, An aptitude of a living thing to work the operations proper and peculiar thereunto, which is the operations also themselves, by reason of the union of the Body with the Soul. Now the life that we have here hath divers and sundry terms: when we are Infants, q In infantiae speratur pueritia & in pueritia speratur adolescentia, & in adolescentiae speratur inventus, & in inventute speratur gravitas, & in gravitate speratur senectus, senectus autem aliam aetatem quam speret non habet. Aug. Ep. 110. saith St Austen, we hope to come to Child's estate, when we are Children, to be Striplings, when we are Striplings, to be young Men, when we are young Men, to be ripe in years, when we are ripe in years, to be old: but old age hath no age to hope for after. When once we come to be too ripe, you know what follows. It is not so in Life here spoken of: this hath no such commaes, or colons, or periods. Why? for it is Everlasting. Now Everlasting is taken three manner of ways: First for that which hath neither beginning nor ending, so God is everlasting: Secondly that which hath no beginning and yet hath an ending, so the Decree of God: Thirdly that which hath a beginning, but never shall have end, and such are the Souls of Men. And in this third sense it is, that Life is called here Everlasting, that is, a Life that hath a beginning indeed, but that shall never afterwards have end. And this is that endless life so often promised in holy Scripture, not as was promised by the Poet, who when he had r Virg. Aen. l. 6 said in one place, His ego nec metas rerum, nec tempora pono, Imperium sine fine dedi, s Virg. Georg. l. 2. saith in another notwithstanding, — Res Romanae, perituraque Regna. Peritura veritate non tacuit t Aug. de Verb. Dom. Ser. 29. pag. 80. saith St Austen, semper mansura adulatione promisit: he told them their Empire should perish when he told them the truth, but when he told them it should ever last, he did but flatter them: no the Scriptures are still constant and hold an even course, & are like those heavenly Orbs above that never altar or change their course, but run continually their wont rounds. Nay they as u Ps. 102.26. saith the Prophet shall perish too, they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shall God change them, and they shallbe changed, but the word of the Lord x 1. Pet. 1.25. saith St Peter, that endureth for ever; and this is that word upon which here in this place Everlasting Life is grounded. And thus, Beloved, have you heard the whole exposition of that Creed, which is as y Ambr. Ser. 38. p. 326. ut supra, p. 129. in marg. speaks St Ambrose, the key of our Christian Faith. Of this Creed it is that St Austen speaking, Symbolum didicistis z Aug. de Temp. Serm. 135. saith he, ubi est regula fidei vestrae brevis, & grandis: brevis numero verborum, grandis pondere sententiarum. You have learned your Creed, wherein is the rule of your faith, little & large: little in regard of the small number of the words, large in regard of the weight of matter therein contained. Of this Creed Tertullian speaking as you heard the last time, Regula quidem fidei a Tertul. de Virg Veland. p 385. saith he, una omninò est, sola immobilis, & irreformabilis. The rule of Faith, is one alone, only immovable, and not to be framed anew. Of this Creed in effect Irenaeus speaking before them all, The Church b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Irenaeus advers. Haer. l. 1. c. 2. p. 34. Col. 2. saith he, though scattered through the world unto the utmost borders of the earth, hath from the Apostles, and their Disciples received this Truth, that is, Belief. The parts of which Belief he also having recited, This fatih, c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Irenaeus advers. Haer. l. 1. c. 3. p. 39 Col. 2. saith he, the Church being spread far and wide preserveth, as if one house did contain them all; these things it equally embraceth, as though it had even one Soul, one heart, & no more; it publisheth, teacheth, and delivereth these things with uniform consent, as if God had given it but one only tongue wherewith to speak. And d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. again a little after. He which amongst the Guides of the Church, is best able to speak, uttereth no more than this, & less than this the most simple doth not utter when he makes profession of his Faith. Not to believe all and every point of this Creed, is as much as our Souls are worth, there is such a connexion between all and every part: Ita res rem sequitur, as e Lact. Divin Inst l. 1. c. 16. speaks Lactantius in another case, so one Article, one particle is joined with another, as mar one, and mar all. An example whereof we have in Cassianus, who defending the Incarnation of the Son of God against Nestorius; If thou dost, f Cassian. de Incarnate. Dom. l. 6. c. 16. saith he, deny our Lord jesus Christ; in denying the Son thou canst not choose but deny the Father: for according to the voice of the Father himself, He that hath not the Son, hath not the Father. Wherefore denying him which is begotten, thou deniest him which doth beget. Again, denying the Son of God to have been borne in the flesh, how canst thou believe him to have suffered? Believing not his passion, what remaineth, but that thou deny his Resurrection? Whereupon it followeth, that thou also deny his Ascension into Heaven, the Apostle affirming, that he which ascended, did first descend. So that as much as lieth in thee, our Lord jesus Christ hath neither risen from the depth, nor is ascended into Heaven, nor sitteth at the right hand of God the Father, neither shall he come at the day of the final account, which is looked for, nor shall judge the quick and dead. Nestorius' confessed all the Articles of the Creed, but his opinion did imply the denial of every part of his Confession. By this you see how each Article is linked with one another. And therefore as the same Cassianus speaketh in the self same Book, This, g Haec ratio Ecclesiastici Sacramenti & Catholicae fidei est, ut qui partem divini sacramenti negat, partem non valeat confiteri. Ita enim sibi connexa & concorporata sunt omnia, ut aliud sine alio stare non possit, & qui unum ex omnibus denegaverit, alia ei omnia credidisse non profit. Cass. de Incarn. l. 6. saith he, is the State of Christian Faith, that he that denies one part thereof cannot possibly hold the other. For all, saith he, are so annexed, and so incorporated to one another, that one without the other cannot possibly consist, and he that shall deny one of all (his meaning is, if he obstinately stand in denial of it) it shall not profit him a whit to believe all the rest. What remaineth them but concerning this Creed we take every of us special care, and follow St Austin's advice and Counsel: Quotidie dicite, h Aug Hom. 42 p. 364. saith he, quando surgitis, quando vos collocatis ad somnum. Say it every day when as you rise, and also when you go to bed. And i Commemora Fidem tuam, inspicete● fit tanquam speculum tibi Symbolum tuum. Sint divitiae tuae, sint quotidiana ista quodommodo indumenta mentis tuae. Aug. Ib. again a little after, Make rehearsal of thy Faith, consider thyself thoroughly: let thy Creed be thy looking glass. Nay let it rather be thy treasure, let it be the daily apparel of thy mind. And again in another place: Writ it in your heart, l In cordescribite, & quotidiè dicite apud vos, antequam dormiatis, antequam procedatis vestro Symbolo vos munite. Aug. Tom. 9 de Symb. ad Catech c. 1. p. 752. saith he, & every day say it to yourselves before you sleep, before you walk abroad, see that you arm yourselves with your Creed. But as you say it, Beloved, daily, and arm yourselves with it, so your care must be withal to know the meaning of it too: otherwise Cardinal Ascanius had a Popiniay that could repeat it (they say) by rote, & that (not as a many Papists do at this day, Creezum zuum Patrum onitentem, and so forth: whereof see more in m M. Whites way to the true Church. Epist. to the Reader. p. c. 2. Mr White) but articulatissimè, saith my n Cael. Rhod. l. 3. c. 32. Author, continuatis perpetuò verbis, perinde ac vir peritus: treatably, and distinctly from point to point, as an expert and skilful man could possibly have done. I will end all this with that good o Constit. and Can. Eccles. Aw. 1603. Can. 18. Constitution of our Church concerning the standing at it, and saying it audibly with the Minister, as also the Confession, and the lords Prayer, following that. And indeed if it be true which St Austen hath, that this our Creed is both Tunica and Lorîca too, a Coat, and also a Harness; what better ceremony and gesture to testify our Christian resolution, then by Standing at the saying of that, for the lest jot whereof (if need be) we are to spend our dearest blood. And thus, Beloved, have you heard of the Articles of our Faith, commonly called, the Apostles Creed. The next point I p The Preamble Lect. 1. p. 20. promised you to handle, was all those Tenets which our own Church holdeth against the rebellious Church of Rome, whereof I had thought the next Thursday to have discoursed unto you at large. But forasmuch as that will be the Ascension day, and is therefore to call to mind elsewhere, that particular meditation of our Saviour's Ascending into Heaven, and the Causes of his Ascending thither, partly to lead Captivity captive, partly to give Gifts and Graces unto men, partly to prepare a place for all that should believe in him, partly to sand down his Holy Spirit: partly to appear in the sight of God, and there to intercede for us as you have heard this day, I shall defer this my next labour until the next Term. In the mean time, God so bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. OUR CHVRCH'S TENETS against the Church of Rome. Lecture 8. june, 6. 1614 THey were the words of a Hieron. Tom. 2. Epist. ad Pammach. adver. errores joannis Hierosolym. p. 162. St Jerome, Nolo in suspicion haereseos quenquam esse patientem; I would have no Man Patient in the crime of Heresy. Patient, as I take it saith Reverend Hooker, we should be always, b Mr Hookers learned Discourse of justification, works, etc. p. 67. though the crime of Heresy were intended; but silent in a thing of so great consequence I could not, Beloved, I durst not be, especially the love that I bear to the truth of Christ jesus being hereby somewhat called in question. Thus spoke that worthy Man of himself by reason of an Adversary, who had sometimes been his c Psal. 55.15. familiar friend, and afterwards kicked up the heel against him. Who so readeth the Books of our Adversaries which they pester the world so much with, shall hardly find a page where there is not somewhat at lest against us concerning Heresy, & how we are Heretics, no men worse. Let us see what Bristol saith, one for all, and — d Virg. Aeneid. lib. 2. Crimine ab uno Disce omnes: by the length of his foot, take we a scantling of all the rest. Our Protestants and Puritans e Brist. Motives Motiu. 4. saith he, for this their unmerciful opinion (about infants) are not Catholics, they are contrary to the Apostle, they condemn the Universal Church of God, they are to be detested as corrupters of our Faith, as Heretics, as Pelagians: and indeed s●●● worse than Pelagians. And a little after, O unmerciful and cruel Heretics! — f Virg. Aeneid. l. 6. Ne saevi magne Sacerdos. Or if he like g Gretzer. de iure & more prohibendi lib. maios l. 2. c. 7. Gretzers words better, Placiae, Papista, placidè. Prove but by one example of old Heresies most undoubted, prove most plainly that we are Heretics, Nomina, aut frontem exporrige, ut Calumniatorum nota inuratur. I cannot now stand to disprove the two examples alleged by him, neither need I in very deed; it is done already to my hand by one of the worthies of our Church, he that answered such a h Rastel, Fecknan, Allen, Heskins, Riston, Hosius, Sanders, Bristol, Stapleton, Martial, Frarin, Defence of the Censure, & the Rhemish Testament. Populus superantur ab uno. rabble of them, i Doctor Fulkes Retentive against bristol Motives, p. 15. and p. 101. Doctor Fulke. But you see in the mean time how spitefully they speak, nay how spitefully they wright of us, & yet Bristol was Nobody to Weston, & others, that came after, nor Weston unto those that now come after him. But it is not their words that can affright us, not they shall not make us lose so much as Patience. Silent indeed in a thing of so great consequence, we cannot, Beloved, we dare not be, & therefore now of those heresies which they lay so mainly to our charge. The Text I have chosen to this purpose is a parcel of the words of the Apostle St. Paul, as they are related unto us by St. Luke, Act. 24, 14. The words are these. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call Heresy, so worship I the God of my Fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law, and the Prophets. In which words we see first of all a grievous crime laid to the charge of the Apostle St Paul: Secondly, the Apostles Apology or Defence for the same. The crime laid to the Apostles charge was Heresy: & Heresy indeed is a crime so heinous, that unless it may be seen l jewel. Apol. p. 18. saith our worthy jewel, unless it may be felt, and in a manner may be holden with hands and fingers, it aught not lightly to be judged, or believed, when it is laid to the charge of any Christian. For Heresy as he saith, is a forsaking of Salvation, a renouncing of God's grace, a departure from the body and spirit of Christ. So St Austen, Let a member m Contingit vs in corpore humano, imò de corpore aliquod praecidatur membrum, Manus, Digitus, Pes, nunquid praecisum sequitur Anima? Cum in corpore esset vivebat, praecisum amittit vitam. Sic & homo Christianus Catholicus est dum in corpore vivit, praecisus Haereticus factus est, membrum amputatum non sequitur Spiritus. Aug. Tom. 10. de Temp. Ser, 186. p. 722. saith he, be cut and parted from the Body, be it the Hand, or Finger, or Foot, when it is cut of, doth the Soul follow that part that is cut of? When it was in the Body it lived indeed, but being cut of it looseth his life. Right so a Christian is a Catholic, while he is in the Body, but being once out, & made an Heretic, he is as a member clean cut of, the Spirit doth not follow him. Howbeit the Heresy here laid to the Apostles charge in this place, was indeed no Heresy. He was accused by Tertullus that he was of the Sect, or the Heresy of the Nazarites (for howsoever before this time the Disciples were called Christians, Act. 11.26. Yet were they called also Nazarites of jesus of Nazareth) but he was accused by Tertullus, that he was of the Sect or Heresy of the Nazarites, Certainly n Act. 24.5. saith Tertullus, we have found this man a pestilent fellow, & a mover of sedition among all the jews throughout the world, and a chief maintainer of the Sect of the Nazarites. Now the Apostle St Paul here in this place doth not only not deny this point of his Accusation, but freely confesseth that if so be that were Heresy, than was he an Heretic indeed, but yet he worshipped (he o Act. 24.14. said) the true God, and believed all that was written in the Law and the Prophets, which was the word of God, and therefore did he put it to their own consciences, whether he were an Heretic, or no. An excellent pattern of ourselves, who are accused as he was, and may excuse ourselves as he did. Only they have us not now (God be thanked) as Tertullus had Paul before a Tribunal Seat. Those days are past & gone, their power and might is much abated, though their hatred & malice be never a whit. But, Benè est p Hieron. Tom. 2. Apol. advers. Ruffin. l. 2 p. 223. saith St Jerome, quòd malicia non habet tantas vires, quantos conatus. Perierat innocentia, si semper nequitiae juncta esset potentia. It is well that Malice hath not so much might as it hath spite. Innocency were undone, if wickedness & powrefulnes were still in one Predicament. c Senec. Troas. Act. 1. se. Quicunque Troia iam vetus est malum: Eighty eight is an old soar. They have given us of late occasion to say with Israel in the q Psal. 124.1. Psalm, If the Lord himself had not been on our side (now may Israel say) if the Lord himself had not been on our side, when Romish Catholic rose up against us, they had swallowed us up quick; when they were so wrathfully displeased at us. And that which r V 5. followeth a little after; But praised be the Lord, which hath not given us over for a pray unto their teeth. Our Soul is escaped, even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler: the snare was broken, and we were delivered. But to come unto my purpose. To show that we may excuse ourselves as the Apostle here did, I hold it my best way to rehearse all those Points we are accused of by them, & to confirm them very briefly, both by the Scriptures, and by Fathers. Which that it may the better be brought about, I can think of no better course then to rehearse here before you all those Tenets which our Mother the Church of England holdeth concerning Doctrine and Discipline. I mean those Articles concluded in a s Articles, where upon it was agreed by the Archbishops & Bishops of both Provinces, and the whole Clergy. In the Convocation holden at London in the year of our Lord God. 1562 Synod of hers in the year 62, whereunto we all of us subscribe at the taking of our Degrees. And by this means shall you reap a double benefit: First you shall hear what you are to subscribe unto, and not go blindefold to work, as too too many have done heretofore, and have afterwards been a t Prov. 10.1. heaviness to our Mother the Church by kicking the heel against her: Secondly, you shall have somewhat also in store against the Dictates of our Adversaries, who employ so much pains to inveigle such as you are, & to make them their u faciatis unum Proselytum. Mat. 23.15. Proselytes. I know to perform all this will be somewhat above your capacities, especially now at this time being so young as you are, a many of you; howbeit as our Saviour x joh. 13.7. said to St Peter when he washed his Feet, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know it hereafter: right so say I in this case, that which by tenderness of years you cannot now so well skill of, you shall God willing hereafter, if in the mean time you lay up all these sayings in your hearts, as did the Blessed Virgin our Saviour's, Luk. 2.51. Our Saviour's Parents, y Luk. 2.50. saith S. Luke, understood not the word that he spoke unto them, and yet, z V 51. saith he immediately after, his Mother kept all those sayings in her heart. As touching the order I shall observe, forasmuch as the Articles are many (some thirty or forty of them in all) & some there are about which there is little or no difference at all between our Adversaries and ourselves: those about which there is none at all, or at lest wise very little, those will I barely read unto you, the Rest about which there is, I will first read them, then prove them both by Scriptures, and by Fathers. I shall be at this time somewhat long, but your patience may be the greater, partly for I have not yet been over tedious unto you at any time, partly for I shall hereafter be the breefer in those points that are hereafter to be handled. I come to the first Article. Art. 1 The first of those Articles is of Faith in the holy Trinity, and there is about that Article no difference at all between us. The Article is this. There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead, there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and authority, the Father, the Son, and the holy Ghost. Art. 2 The second is of the word of God, which was made very Man, and about that we agreed too. The Article is this. The Son which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very, & eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took Man's Nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance: so that two whole and perfect Natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood were joined in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man: who suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for Original guilt, but also for all actual sins of Men. Art. 3 The third is of our Saviour's going down into Hell, and therein also we agreed. The Article is this. As Christ died for us and was buried: so also it is to be believed, that he went down into Hell. Art. 4 The fourth is of the Resurrection of our Saviour, and in that we agreed too. The Article is this. Christ did truly arise again from death, and took again his body, with flesh, bone, and all things appertaining to the perfection of Man's nature: wherewith he ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth until he re-return to judge all men at the last day. Art. 5 The fift is of the Holy Ghost, and in that also we agreed. The Article is this. The Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father, & the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father & the Son, very, and eternal God. hitherto have we and our Adversaries gone hand in hand, no whit varying each from other, but now lo gins the breach, and first in the sixth Article. Art. 6 It is of the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures to Salvation, & the Article is this. Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary for salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith, or be thought requisite and necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scriptures we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church. The names and number of them are these: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numeri, Deuteronomium joshua, judges, Ruth, The 1. Book of Samuel, The 2. Book of Samuel, The 1. Book of Kings, The 2. Book of Kings, The 1. Book of Chronicles, The 2. Book of Chronicles, The 1. Book of Esdras, The 2. Book of Esdras, The Book of Hester, The Book of job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher, Cantica, or Songs of Solomon. The 4 greater Prophets, The 12. less Prophets. And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life, and instruction of manners: but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine. Such are these following. The third book of Esdras. The fourth of Esdras. The book of Tobias. The book of judith. The rest of the books of Hester. The book of Wisdom. jesus the son of Syrach. Baruch the Prophet. The Song of the three Children. The story of Susanna. Of Bell and the Dragon. The Prayer of Manasses. The 1 Book of Maccabees. The 2 Book of Maccabees. All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive and accounted them Canonical. So that we have in this Article two points to prove. First, that the holy Scripture containeth all things necessary (to be known and believed) for the Salvation of man. Secondly, that all the Books in the volume of the Bible are not Canonical, as for example, Toby, judith, Wisdom, the Son of Syrach, the Maccabees, etc. For the former we have both Scriptures and Fathers. Scriptures, as Deut. 4.2, Ye shall put nothing to the Word, which I command you, neither shall ye take aught there from. And Deut. 12.32, Whatsoever I command ye take heed you do it: thou shalt put nothing thereto, nor take aught therefrom. So joshua, 1.7, Be thou strong & of a most valiant courage, that thou mayst observe and do according to all the law which Moses my servant hath commanded thee: thou shalt not turn away from it, to the right hand, nor to the left. I omit the Prophet David, in whom there are not many more Psalms than there are testimonies of the sufficiency of the Law (chief the 19, b Roffensis himself that wrote against Luther, calls the Holy Scripture Conclave quoddam omnium veritatum And again veritatum omnium Pelagus Aflert. Luther. confutatio, Art. 37. and the 119) which Law delivered to the Israelites whatsoever was necessary to their salvation. I omit also that of the Apostle S. Paul, 2. Tim. 3.16 The whole Scripture is given by inspiration of God, & is profitable to teach, to improve, to correct, and to instruct in righteousness, that the man of God may be absolute, being made perfect unto all good works. I come to the Fathers. First Tertullian: Adoro, a Tertul. advers Hermog. p. 123. Edit. Par. 1545 saith he, Scripturae plenitudinem. And again a little after: Scriptum esse doceat Hermogenis officina. Si non est scriptum, timeat vae illud adijcientibus, aut detrahentibus destinatum. I adore, saith he of himself, the fullness of the Scripture. Let Hermogenes School show that it is written. If so be it be not written, then let him fear that curse appointed for them, which add or take away. And this was the place of Tertullian against Hermogenes, that so puzzled Campian at the first (Campian that great Goliath that challenged all and every of us from the highest to the lowest) that he did not c A doughty challenger he was, and an hot shot, that knew no better what Books the Fathers had written. See more of his whole carriage in that Disputation's in D. full Against the Defence of the Censure. Ep. to the Reader. p. 34. think there was any such Book in all Tertullian. And yet see the boldness of the jesuite, he had no sooner denied there was such a Book, but when he saw he was deceived, he took presently upon him to d Conference at the Tower. The 4 days Confer. p. C c. 2. b. discourse of the Argument of it. But I proceed. Credimus e Hierom. Tom. 2. advers. Helvid. p. 13. Edit. Basil. 1537. saith St Jerome, quia legimus, non credimus quia non legimus. He in the Controversy which he had with Helvidius turns the reason in and out. We believe it because we read it, and because we read it not, therefore we believe it not. So St Basil, Manifesta est elapsio à fide f Basil. Ser. de Confess. Fid. p. 438. Edit. Basil. 1540 saith he, & superbiae crimen, aut reprobare quid ex his quae scripta sunt, aut superinducere quid ex non scriptis. He affirmeth it to be a manifest revolting from the Faith, & a spice of pride, either to disallow any thing that is written, or to bring in any thing that is not written. And more over concerning the Authority of Scriptures, that they should be the judge of controversies in religion, there is, saith D. Humphrey, a most excellent place in Chrysostom, g Humfred. in Camp. Rat. 5. p. 507. quem nullus locus cummunis jesuitarum, nulla Topica, Logica, Philosophica, Theologica, possunt demoliri. Not common place books of the jesuits, none of their Topics, Logic, Philosophy, Theology, could possibly demolish. They used saith he, the Sword not of Hercules, but of the Printer, & left it out quite and clean. I take it he means a h Tunc cum vinderitis abominationem desolationis stantem in loco sancto, id est, cum videritis haeresim impiam, quae est exercitus Antichristi flantem in locis sanctis Ecclesiae, in illo tempore qui in judaea sunt fugiant ad montes id est, qui sunt in Christianitate conferant se ad Scripturas. And a little after Montes autem sunt Scripturae Apostolorum aut Prophetarum, etc. And again a little after: Quare jubet in hoc tempore omnes Christianos confer se ad Scripturas? Quia in tempore hoc ex quo obtinuit Haeresii illas Ecclesias, nulla probatio potest esse verae Christianitatis, neque refugium potest esse Christianorum aliud, volentium cognoscere fidei veritatem, nisi Scripturae divinae, etc. Chrys. Tom. 2, Op. impers. in Mat. Homil. 49. Edit. Basil. 1547. p. 1088. place in Opere Imperf. in Mat. Hom. 49. you shall found it in S. Chrysostom in his 2. Tom. I return unto my purpose. And before we have done with this point, there is a main objection to be answered concerning the Premises. For it hath oftentimes been demanded, how the Books of holy Scripture contain in them all necessary things, when of things necessary the very chiefest is to know what Books we are bound to esteem holy, which point is confessed impossible for the Scripture itself to teach. Whereunto it may be answered, that albeit Scripture do profess to contain in it ●ll things which are necessary unto Salvation, yet the meaning cannot be simply of all things that are necessary but all things that are necessary in some certain kind or form; as all things that are necessary, and either could not at all, or could not easily be known by the light of natural discourse: all things which are necessary to be known that we may be saved, but known with presupposal of knowledge concerning certain Principles, whereof it receiveth us already persuaded, and then instructeth us in all the residue that are necessary. In the number of these Principles one is the sacred Authority of Scripture. See more hereof in Reverend Mr i M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 1. §. 14. p. 86. and l. 3. §. 8. p. 146. Hooker. I come to the second point concerning Books Canonical. That they only are Canonical which our Church accepteth of; and that the rest are Apocrypha, it is sufficient to have the testimony of Antiquity only, & so have we. First the Council of Laodicea, which framing the catalogue of Books Canonical, * Non oportet libros quisunt extra canonem legere (in Ecclesi●●) nisi solo● canonic●s novi & vit●ris Testamenti. Quae autem oporteat legi, & in authoritatem recipi haec sunt. Gen. Ex. Levit. Nu. Deut. Ies. Nave judicum, Ruth. Reg. lib. quatuor. Paralip. libri duo, Esdre, lib. Psalm. numero 150. Proverb. Solom. Eccles. Cantic. Canticor. job. Hester. Duod. Proph. Libri id est Ose & Amos, joel, Abdias, jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Abacu●, Sophonias, Aggaeus. Zach. Malach. Esai. jer. Ezech. Dan Novi Test. id est, Evang. sec. Mat. sec. Marc. sec. Luc sec. joan. Act Apost. Canonicae Epist. 7. jacobi una, Petriduae, 1a & 2 a. joannis tres 1a 2ª & 3a. Jude una, Epistolae Apost. Pauli numero 14. Ad Rom. ad Cor. 1a & 2a ad Gal. ad Ephes. ad Philippenses una, a● Colos. una. ad Thess. duae 1a & 2 a. ad Timoth. duae 1a & 2 a. ad Titum, ad Philem. ad Heb. Conc. Laod. Ao. D. 364. vel 368. Can. 59 sive vlt. p. 227. Edit. C●lon per Petrum Quentel omitteth these in controversy betwixt our Adversaries and us. Secondly, the testimony of Melito the Bishop of Sardia of whom you shall read in m Meliton Gnesim● fratri salutem etc. In Orientem reversus, & eo loco constitutus ubi ista sunt & praedicata & gesta veteris instrument ilibros diligenter cognitos in ordinem subieci, & ad te misi: quorum haec sunt nomina. Quinque libri Mosis, Gen Ex Levit. Nu. Deut. Deinde jesus Nave, judices, Ruth, Regum. quatuor libri, Paralip. duo Ps. David. Proverb Sol. Sapientia. Eccles. Cantic. Canticor. job. Prophetae Esaias, jeremias. Duod. Prophet. lib. unus. Daniel. Ezechiel. Esd. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. l. 4. c. 25. ex vers. Grynaei Basil. 1587. Where for Sapientia is named, and thereby it seemeth that the Book of Wisd. is made Canonical, Vid. D. Rainolds Lectures Praelect. 14. p. 116. how that is to be understood, namely that the Proverbs are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per excellentiam. Eusebius. Thirdly the testimony of n Horum libros lege duos atque viginti, nihilque cum Apocryphis habeto common, Vid. Locum S Cyril. Catech. 4. p 99 Edit. Paris 1608. St Cyril. Who so is desirous to see more, I refer him to those excellent Lectures sometimes read here in Oxford, and lately set forth by o Praelectiones D Rainoldi De Libris Apocryphis, In nobili Oppenheimio sumptibus Viduae Levini Hulsii & Henrici Laurentii, Aᵒ 1611. Vid. Praelect. 34, 35, 36. Strangers to as great a commendation unto them, as a reproach unto ourselves. But thus much of the sixth Article. In the seventh we join hands again, there is I confess some little difference; but the Article is this; The Old Testament is not contrary to the New. For both in the old and new Testament everlasting life is offered to Mankind by Christ, who is the only mediator between God and Man, being both God and Man. Wherefore they are not to be heard which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises. Although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men; nor the Civil Precepts thereof aught of necessity to be received in any Common wealth: yet notwithstanding no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral. Now when it is said in this Article, that They are not to be heard which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises (meaning the Fathers of the old Testament) true it is, that our Popish writers have run upon that string, and by name the Fathers of the Council of Trent, alleging St Austen for that point (they might have done p Chrys. Tom. 1. Hom. de Fide Annae p. 490. Edit. Paris. 1556 St chrysostom too) but forasmuch as it is none of the Controversies in question now adays, I will refer you only to Mr D. Rainolds q D. Rain. Praelect. 7. p. 78. and Prael. 11. p. 98. Lectures, where he handleth this point. Art. 8 I come to the eight Article wherein we join hands to, after a sort. The Article is this: The three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Ath●nasius Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed aught thoroughly to be received, & believed. For they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture. I say after a sort, for that our Adversaries it may be, suppose there are some points in those Creeds that are proved rather by Tradition, but I will not now stand on this point. I come to our greater fall out, & that is in the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, & 14. Article. Art. 9 The 9, is of Original, or Birth Sin, & the Article is this: Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk) but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit, & therefore in every person borne in this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated, whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire of the flesh, is not subject to the law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptised, yet the Apostle doth confess that Concupiscence and lust hath of itself the Nature of sin. Here then in this Article we are to confirm two Points. First that Original Sin remains in God's dear Children: Secondly, that Concupiscence even in the Regenerate is Sin. Prove one, and prove both. That Concupiscence, and the corrupt inclination of Nature even in the Children of God is verily and properly Sin, is thus proved by the word of God. First St Paul so calls it, Rom. 7.17, Now than it is no more I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in me. And again, v. 20, Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in me. Nay he calleth it Sin six several times in that Chapter: he had called it so in the sixth Chapter no less than five times; and in the Chapter next to this, that is in the eight, Three times. We dare not say as the r Conc. Trid. Sess. 5 Num. 5. Council of Trent did, Hanc Concupiscentiam, quam aliquando Apostolus peccatum appellat, Sancta Synodus declarat Ecclesiam Catholicam nunquam intellexisse peccatum appellari, quòd verè & proprie in renatis peccatum sit, sed quia ex peccato est, & ad peccatum inclinat: This Concupiscence which the Apostle sometime calleth sin, this Holy Synod declares that the Catholic Church never understood it to be called sin, for that truly and properly it was sin in the Regenerate. Not we take the Apostle at his word, and whatsoever their Catholic Church hath thought in this point, the Catholic Fathers not only thought, but taught also otherwise. Witness St Ambrose, whom St Austen s Ambros. apud August. Tom. 7. Contra julian. l. 2. p. 661 Edit. Basil 1528. citeth: Multa in nobis operatur peccatum: nobis reluctantibus redivivae plerumque voluptates resurgunt. This sin (original) worketh many things in us: even against our wills a many times pleasures revived arise within us. Witness St Cyprian whom St Austen t Cyp. apud August. Ib. p. 666. citeth to, Ne quisquam sibi de puro & immaculato pectore blandiatur. Si nemo esse sine peccato potest, quisquis se inculpatum esse dixerit, aut superbus, aut stultus est. Let no man soothe up himself that he hath a pure and immaculate heart. And for because no man can possibly be without sin, he who saith he is, is or proud, or foolish. Witness S. Austen himself, Sicut coecitas cordis, u Aug. Tom. 7. Cont. julian. l. 5 c. 3. p. 725. saith he, & peccatum est, & poena peccati est, & causa peccati: ita concupiscentia carnis adversus quam bonus concupiscit spiritus, & peccatum est, & poena peccati est, & causa peccati est. As blindness of the heart is both sin itself, and the punishment of Sin, and the cause of Sin: so is Concupiscence of the Flesh against the which the good Spirit lusteth. Briefly where the Fathers say that Concupiscence is not Sin, their meaning is, saith a worthy x Anion. Sadeelis Ad Artic. 39 p 466. Opera Theol. Edit. 1593. Writer, for that through God's Grace it is not imputed unto us. Whosoever is desirous to see more, I refer him to M. Dr Whitakers De Peccato Originali, l. 3. the 6, & 7 Chapters. I come to the tenth Article, which is of free-will. Art. 10 The Article is this: The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn & prepare himself by his own natural strength, and good works, to Faith & calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good Works pleasant, and acceptable to God, without the Grace of God preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good william. The point in this Article to be avouched against our Adversaries is this: Man cannot do any work that good is, and godly, not being as yet regenerate. A truth approved both by the Scriptures, and the Fathers. The Scriptures, as 1. Cor. 2.14, The natural man perceiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. And 2. Cor. 3.5. We are not sufficient of ourselves, to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God. So our Saviour Christ, joh. 15.5. Without me can ye do nothing. And john 6.44, Not man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. The Fathers: as first St Ambrose: Reparabilem & sanabilem esse de natura est, y Ambr. Tom. 2 de vocat. Gent. l. 2. c. 2. p 28. Edit. Bas. 1538 reparatum autem & sanatum esse de gratia est. To be fit to be repaired, and to be healed is of Nature, but to be repaired, and healed, that is of Grace. And again in z Ambr. Tom. 3 Epist. l. 10. ep. 84. p. 270. another place, In omnibus bonis opulentiae tuae & Gratiam Donatoris, & ius proprietatis agnoscas. In all thy spiritual riches acknowledge the Grace of him that gave it thee, & the right of propriety from him. And yet again in a third a Ambr. Tom. 2 de vocat. Gent. l. 1. c. 2. p 5. place, Voluntas nihil in suis habet viribus nisi periculi facilitatem. Quoniam voluntas mutabilis quae non ab incommutabili voluntate regitur, tanto citiùs propinquat iniquitati, quanto acriùs intenditur actioni. Will hath nothing in her own power, but a facility to miscarry. For mutable will which is not rectified by that immutable Will above, is so much the nearer to Iniquity, the more intent she is to do aught. b Fulgent. de Praedest. p. 15. Edit. Bas. 1587. So Fulgentius: Dat Deus cor novum ut in iustificationibus etus ambulemus, quod pertinet ad bonae voluntatis initium. Dat etiam ut judicia eius observemus & faciamus, quod pertinet ad bonae operationis effectum. unde * Fortè cognoscimus. cognoscimur Dei esse, ut bonum facere velimus, & ut bonum facere valeamus. God gives us a new heart to the end we should walk in his Statutes, and that belongeth to the beginning of a good william. It is his gift also, that we observe and do his Statutes, & that belongs to the effect of good working. Wherefore we acknowledge it to be Gods peculiar, that both we be willing to do that which good is, and able also to perform it. Lastly S. Austen: Quae voluntas? c Aug Tom. 10 de verb. Apost. Ser. 13. p. 214. Edit. Bas. 1529 saith he, quod liberum arbitrium? nisi ille regat cadis, nisi regat iaces. What will? what free-will dost thou prattle of unto me? Unless God do govern it thou fallest down right: unless he govern it, there thou liest without recovery. And again in d Aug. To. 1. Retract. l. 1. c. 15. p. 16 Edit. Basil. 1529. another place, In tantum libera est, quia in tantum liberata est. The will is so far forth free, for she is freed so far forth by the mercy of God. In a word, where S. Austen in other places seemeth to defend the Freedom of will, it was for because having to do with the Manichees, who held that Men were of evil will by creation of the evil God, he held indeed Freedom of will, but yet e V D. Fulke on the Rhem. Test. in Mat. 25.34. Freedom of will from coaction by nature, not from the thraldom of Sin through the first man's fall. The eleventh article is of the justification of Man. Art. 11 The Article is this. We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore that we are justified by Faith Only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of justification. In which Article we are to make good against our Adversaries two several Propositions: First that only for Christ his merit we are accounted righteous before God: Secondly that we are justified by Faith Only. Both these in a manner are one, and therefore that only for Christ his merit we are accounted righteous before God, and that we are justified by Faith Only, witness that of the Apostle S. john 1. john. 1.7. The blood of jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. That of the Apostle S. Paul, Rom. 5.19. As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many also be made rigbteous. That of the same Apostle, 1 Cor. 1.30. Ye are of him in jesus Christ who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption. I, but this term ONLY, f You have it not in all the word of God that Faith only doth justify, saith Campian This Proposition, Faith only doth justify is not to be found in all the word of God Conference in the Tower p. D. d. 3. b. though S. Paul say, man is justified by Faith, yet he never said by faith only. Rhem in jam. 1.24. say our Adversaries, where is that in all the Scripture? where? where is it? and where is this term Merit? where is Transubtantiation? where is Mass? — g Senec. Troas Act. 3 Sc. Quid moesia. Vbi Hector? Vbi cuncti Phryges'? Vbi Priamus? unum quaeris; ego quaero omnia. Howbeit as there is in Scripture that which they imagine proves all this: both Merit, and Mass, and Transubstantiation, and the like, not named there in particular, so we are assured there is in Scripture that which proveth Faith Faith. For what mean there those many Negatives, h Rom. 9.11. Gal. 2.16. Tit. 3.5. Not by works: i Rom. 11 6. Ephes. 2.9. Not of works; l 2 Tim. 1.9. Not according to works; m Rom 4.6. Without works; n Rom. 4 13. Not through the law: o Rom. 3.20. Not by the works of the law, p Rom 3.21. Without the law: q Gal 2.16. Not but by Faith: is he not purblind as St Petere speaketh (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) & cannot see a far of, that sees not in those Negatives, Only Faith? r 2. Pet. 1 9 Faith Only? Did not the Fathers therein perceive as much before us? Do they not thereupon use those very words of Sola Fides in Latin, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek? & that which was also equivalent to them as s Tantùm. ut credant. Amb. Tom. 5. in Epist. ad Rom c. 4 p. 186. Edit. Basil. 1538. Num est & hic quippiam allaturus? Fidem duntaxat. Theophyl. in Ep. ad Rom. c. 4 p. 7 Edit. Colon. 1528 Totum. credulitas sola donavit (Abrahamo) Aug. Tom. 10. de Temp Ser. 68 p. 516. Edit. Basil. 1529. De remissione peccatorum sufficere deberet sola credulitas. Cyp. in Symb. Apost. p. 379. Edit. Basil. 1530. Fidem tantùm prodesse, & tantum nos posse quantum credimuss. Cyp. ad Quirinun, l. 3. c. 42. p. 305. Edit. Basil. 1530. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Chrys. in Epist. ad Titum. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. fol. 99 b. Edit. Veronae. 1529. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Oecum. in Ep. ad Rom. p 270. Edit. Veronae. 1532. Tantùm credere, sola credulitas, Fides tantùm, & c? Search and see, or to save you a labour let me be the Searcher for you. I have else where proclaimed it long since, I will now make it good unto you, that unless it be one Case only (which my poor reading perhaps hath not light upon as yet) otherwise there is no one Case in Sola Fides but some of the Fathers have used it, more than once in their writings. As first in the Nominative t Fides sola justificat. Hilar. in Mat. Can. 8. p. 352. & Can. 21. p. 406. Edit. Basil. 1535. Whereupon faith Erasmus, Addit Hilarius, Fides enim sola justificat, atqui haec est vox tot clamoribus hoc saeculo lapidata, quae in Hilario reverenter auditur. Erasm. de Ratione Contion. l. 3. St Hilary, u Sola fides posita est ad salutem. Ambr. Tom. 5. in. Epist. ad Rom. c. 9 p. 216. Edit. Basil. 1538. St Ambrose, x Si Gentes fides sola non salvat, nec nos. In 2. ad Gal. p. 346. Col. 2. And In 3. ad Gal. p. 347. he hath five times Sola Fides, though be say in that Chapter too, Non justificat sola fides, meaning a dead faith. Hier. Tom 9 Edit. Basil. 1537. St jerom, y Quia sola fides Christi mundat, non credentes in Christum soluti sunt ab emundatione. Aug. Tom. 8. in. Ps. 88 Conc. 2. p. 987. Edit. Basil. 1529. St Austen and z Ab hoc peccato quod originaliter carnalis nativitas trahit, neminem facultas naturalis, neminem litera sanctae legis, sed sola fides eripit jesu Christi. Fulgent. de Incarnate. c. 16, p 746. Edit. Basil. 1587. Fulgentius: In the Genitive, a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrys. in 2. ad Ephes Sir 5. p 145. And again, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, In 1. ad Tim. c. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 8. b. Edit Veronae 1529. St Chrysostom, b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Theodor. ad Graec. Infid. Ser. 7. p 107. Col. 1. Edit. Commelin. 1592. Theodoret, and c Dicit (Apostolus) sufficere solius fidei justificationem. Orig. in. 3. ad Rom. p. 504. Oper. Part. 2. Edit. Bas. 1571. Origen: In the Dative, d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Chrys. in 3. ad Gal. p. 95 Edit. Veronae. 1529. St Chrysostom again, and e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Basil. de Humil p. 388. Edit. Basil. 1532. S. Basil. In the Accusative, f Impius per solam fidem iustificatur apud Deum. In 4. ad Rom. p. 186. And again, Solam fidem gratiae Dei posceret ad Salutem, Ib. And again, Cum sciant Abraham per solam fidem justificatum. And a little after, Hi ergo haeredes sunt promissionis Abrahae qui illi succedunt suscipientes fidem in qua benedictus & justificatus est Abraham. Ib. in 3. ad Gal. p, 329. And again, ut veniens qui promissus erat Abrahae fidem solam ab iis posceret, quam habuit Abraham ut & malorum svorum veniam & justificationem mererentur. Ibid. p. 331. Ambros. Tom. 5. Edit. Basil. 1538. S. Ambrose, g Rectè dici posset ad solam fidem pertinere Dei mandata, si non mortua, sed viva illa intelligatur fides. Aug. Tom. 4. de Fid. & Oper. c. 22. p. 54. Edit. Basil. 1528. St Austen, h Quid à nobis exigit, quid praestari sibi à nobis jubet, nisi solam tantummodò fidem, castitatem, humilitatem etc. Salvian. de Provident. l. 7. p. 241. Edit. Par. 1594 Salvianus, i Nos dicimus, illi per fidem solam ad indulgentiam attingunt. Arnob. in Ps. 106. p. 92. Edit. Par. 1580. Arnobius, l Nunc planè demonstrat fidem ipsam vel solam iustificandi in se habere virtutem. Theophyl. in 3 ad Gal. p. 77. Edit. Colon. 1528. Theophilact, & m Solam justificatus per fidem pacem habebit ad Deum, Super Cantic. Ser. 22. Fol. 137 Col. 4. And again, Innuens: solam interdum fidem sufficere ad salutem, & sine ipsa sufficere nihil. Bernar. Epist. 77. fol. 205. Col. 4 Edit. Paris. 1547. S. Bernard: In the Ablative n Hoc constitutum est à Deo, ut qui credit in Christum salvus sit sine opere sola fide gratis accipiens remissionem peccatorum, In 1. Cor. 1 p. 239 And again, Sola fide justificati sunt dono Dei. In 3 ad Rom. p. 184. And again, Sola fide iustificentur apud Deum. in 4. ad Rom. p. 186. Ambr Tom. 5. Edit. Basil. 1538. St Ambrose again, o Evangelium per quod Gentes sola fide salvantur, in 2. ad Gal. pag. 345. Col. 2. And again, Non ex operibus legis, sed sola fide sicut Gentes vitam in Christo invenisse te nosti, Ib. p. 346: Col. 2. Again upon that of the Apostle, In fide viuò filii Dei] In sola fide; quia nihil debeo legi antiquae. p. 347. Col. 1. And again, In sola fide spes collocatur animarum, In 6. ad. Gal p. ●53. Col. 2. Hier. Tom. 9 Edit. Basil. 1537. St Jerome, p Praecogniti quod non fuerant credituri ea fide qua sola possent à peccatorum obligatione liberari. Aug Tom. 9 in Evang. joan. Tract. 42. p. 216 Edit. Basil 1529. St Austen and q Salus sola fide quaeritur. Paulin. apud Augustinum Tom. 2. ep. 58. p. 186 Edit. Basil 1528. Paulinus. Shall I give you a taste in every Case? Fides Sola justificat, so St Hilary: Sufficit solius fidei justificatio, so Origen: Qui soli fidei innititur benedictus est, so St chrysostom: Impius per solam fidem iustificatur, so St Ambrose: There wants indeed the Vocative: but, Gentes Sola Fide salvantur, so St Jerome. Now where our Adversaries would shifted of these & the like places with a r Rhem. in jam. 1.24. Vid. D. Fulke against them. distinction of a first and second justification, we may meet them at that turn with that of St Gregory: Nudum me in fide s Greg. Moral. l 2. c. 40. p. 11. Col. 1. Edit. Par. 1551. saith he, prima gratia genuit, nudum eadem gratia in assumptione salvabit. He speaketh in the person of a tempted Soul, as if such an one should say: The first Grace begot me in faith when I was but naked (in good works) and the same Grace shall save me hereafter, whenas I shall be but naked (in them) neither. Besides that they speak not only of the first conversion of a man, but of justification unto salvation of every faithful man according to the example of Abraham, and David, who both had good works, yet were not justified by them before God, but by their faith only. But of this see more in D. Fulkes Rejoinder to bristol Reply, p. 206. and 207, as also against the Rhemish Testament on james 1.24. I will conclude this point with that of t Calvin, in Act Synod. Trid. Sext. Sess. Antid. Tract. Theol. p. 336. Col. 2. Calvin: Fides Sola est quae justificat; sides tamen quae justificat non est sola. solis calor solus est, qui terram calefaciat: non tamen idem in sole solus est, quia coniunctus cum splendore. It is faith alone that justifies, and yet that Faith that justifies is not alone. Like as it is the heat alone of the Sun that heateth the earth, yet is not that heat in the sun alone, forasmuch as it hath brightness joined with it. I come to the 12, 13, and 14, Articles concerning Good Works. Art. 12 The 12 is this: Albeit that good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgement, yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true & lively Faith, in so much that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit. Art. 13 The 13 is this: Works done before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace (or as the Schoole-Authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather for that they are not done as God hath willed & commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin. Art. 14 The 14 this: Voluntary Works besides, over & above God's commandments, which they call works of Supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety. For by them men do declare that they do not only tender unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that they do more for his sake, then of bounden duty is required: whereas Christ saith plainly, when ye have done all that are commanded to you, say we be unprofitable servants. Now from these three Articles arise three main Questions. First from the 12 Article, whether our good Works can put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's strict judgement. Secondly, from the 13 Article, whether Good Works being done before justification can please God, and deserve grace of congruity, and have not rather the nature of sin. Thirdly, from the 14 Article, whether Works of Supererogation can be taught without arrogancy and impiety. But that Good Works cannot put away our Sins, & in no wise endure the severity of God's judgement: & that before justification they cannot please God, and deserve grace of congruity, but rather have the nature of Sin: and that works of Supererogation cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety, is evident in effect by that which hath been already said concerning Works, and Faith Only. I come to the 15, 16, 17, and 18, Article wherein our agreement is much greater. The 15, Article, is of our Saviour's being alone without sin. Art. 15 The Articles is this: Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things (sin only except) from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh, and in his spirit. He came to be a Lamb without spot, who by a sacrifice of himself once made should take away the sins of the world: & sin (as St john saith) was not in him. But all we the rest, (although baptised, and borne again in Christ) yet offend in many things, and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, & the truth is not in us. Art. 16 The 16 Article is of Sin after Baptism, the words are these: Not every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism, is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism. After we have received the holy Ghost, we may departed from grace given, and fall into sin, & by the grace of God (we may) arise again, and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned, which say they can no more sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent. The 17 Article is of Predestination, and Election. The Article is this: Art. 17 Predestination to life, is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel, secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation, those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through grace obey the calling, they be justified freely, they be made sons of God by adoption; they be made like the Image of his only begotten Son jesus Christ; they walk religiously in good works, and at length by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity. As the godly consideration of Predestination and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, aswell because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: so, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into recklessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation. Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture: and in our doings, that will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God. The 18 Article is of obtaining eternal salvation, only by the name of Christ. The Article is this: Art. 18 They also are to be had accursed, that presume to say, that every man shall be saved by the law or sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law, and the light of nature. For holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the name of jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved. Now in all these we have in some sort, gone (as it were) together, we are now again to part and that at the Church Style, for the 19 Article is this. Art. 19 The visible Church of Christ, is a Congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly administered, according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity, are requisite to the same. As the Church of jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch have erred: so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith. Here I confess should much be spoken aswell for ourselves, as against our Adversaries, howbeit since of the Visible Church I have spoken so much t Lect. 6. p. 106 already, as also of the Church of Rome, how it hath and doth u Ibid. p. 123. err, I will refer you concerning this Article to that which hath been already spoken, and I come unto the next, which is of the Authority of the Church. Art. 20 The Church hath power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in controversies of Faith: and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore although the Church be a witness and a keeper of holy writ; yet as it aught not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the same, aught it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of salvation. Of this also should much be spoken, but forasmuch as I have spoken before, & that upon the 6. Article of the Sufficiency of holy Scripture, it shall be needless to prove at this time, that the Church may enforce any thing to be believed that is either contrary, or besides the word of God, that is the Scriptures. Of the power the Church hath to decree Rites and Ceremonies, see Reverend M. Hooker in his third Book of Ecclesiastical Polity, the 9 Section. I come to the 21. Article, Of the authority of general councils: the Article is this. Art. 21 General councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of Princes. And when they be gathered together (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, where of all be not governed with the spirit and word of God) they may err, & sometime have erred, even in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation, have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared, that they may be taken out of holy Scripture. That Princes as supreme Governors within their own Territories and Dominions may command all sorts of men to meet together, either to the implanting of Truth where it is not: or to the suppressing of Errors, Idolatry or Superstition where it is, witness the Counsels that were held in the time of the Mosaical Government by David, Solomon, Asa, Ezekiah, josiah, etc. as also the General and National Counsels that have been held by Christian Emperors, Kings and Princes. General: as the Nicene by Constantine the great, the Council of Constantinople by Theodosius the elder, the Council of Ephesus by Theodosius the younger, the Council of Chalcedon by Martian. And to go a little out of my way, these were those four Counsels that in x Vid M Hooker Ecclesiast. Pol. l 5 §. 54. p. 116. four only words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, Truly, Perfectly, Indivisibly, Distinctly: the first against the Arrians, the second against the Apollinarians, the third against Nestorians, the fourth against Eutychians, taught us how to comprise by way of abridgement whatsoever Antiquity hath handled at large, either in declaration of Christian Belief, or in refutation of those four Heresies. Of these also it was, that S. Gregory gave that testimony, how he honoured them all Four, & that which was next unto them too, as he did the Four y Sicut Sancti Evangelii quatuor libros, sic quatuor Concilia suscipere & venerarime fateor, etc. Quintum qu●que Concilium pariter veneror etc. Greg. Epist. l. 1 ep. 24. p. 156. Col. 1. Edit. Paris. 1551. Gospels: meaning as it is likely, and as M.D. Whitaker z Whitaker. in Camp. Rat. 4. observes, that which was decreed and concluded in those councils out of God's word against those Heretics. I proceed. Besides these General Counsels there have been Nationall and Provincial too, called by those Princes who had the government in those Parts, as the Council at Frankford, Rheims, Moguntia etc. by Charles the Great: at Paris and Orleans by Childebert, and at other places by other Princes. That the ancient Fathers were of opinion that so it was to be, witness first of all S. Jerome, Synodus, a Hieron. Tom. 2. Advers. Ruffin. Apol. 2. p. 221. Edit. Basil. 1537. saith he, à qua excommunicatus est (Hilarius) in qua urbe fuit? Dic Episcoporum vocabula. Doce qui eo anno Consules fuerint, qui Imperator hanc Synodum iusserit congregari. He would needs know of Ruffinus, amongst a many other questions, what Emperor had caused that Synod to be called, wherein Hilarius was supposed to have been excommunicated. Such another witness might be b Chrys. Tom. 5. Epist 1. ad Innocent. p. 971. Edit. Bas. 1547 S. chrysostom, such another c Conc. Tom. 1. in Conc. Aqui leiens p. 331. b. Edit Colon. 1538. S. Ambrose, but I produce not their testimonies for brevity's sake. That Counsels have erred, we have the experience of it in some of them, and the testimonies of the Fathers besides. The experience we have of it in some of them is in that they have concluded things contradictory, as the Council of Laodicea, d Vid. D. Rain. Thes. Angl. Thes 2 p. 699. Vid. Whitak de Conc qu. 6. c. 3. p. 287 and the third Council of Carthage about the Canon of the Scripture. The Council of Nice & the Council of Lateran, about the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. The Council of Constance, and the Council of Florence, about the Pope's subjection to general Counsels. — e Lucan. l. 1. Infestis obvia signis Signa, pares Aquilas, & pila minantia pilis. The testimonies of the Fathers are many, I will instance only in a few. First in Gregory Nazianzen, who being requested to come to a Council utterly refused, and gave this f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Naz ep. 42. ad Procop. p. 814. Edit. Par. 1609 reason, he for his part had never seen any good end of such meetings. Secondly in St Jerome, Spiritus Sancti g Hieron. Tom. 9 in Ep. ad Gal. citatur à Whitakero l. de Conc. qu. 6 c. 3. p. 328 & in Duraeum. l. 4. p 292. saith he, doctrina est, quae Canonicis literis prodita est; contra quam si quid statuant Concilia, nefas duco. It is the doctrine of the holy Ghost, which is delivered unto us in the Canonical Scriptures, against which if so be Counsels should in any wise decree, I should hold it a wicked act. Thirdly, in St Austen, who speaking of Counsels, Quis nesciat h Aug. Tom. 7. de Bapt. contra Donat. l. 2. c. 3. p. 261. Edit. Basil. 1528. saith he, & ipsa Concilia, quae per singulas Regiones vel Provincias fiunt, plenariorum Conciliorum authoritati, quae fiunt ex universo Orb Christiano sine ullis ambagibus cedere, ipsaque plenaria saepè priora posterioribus emendars? It was a point that no man was ignorant of in his days, how that National & Provincial gave place to General Counsels, and that the General Counsels themselves were oftentimes amended by them that came after. I come to the 22. Article, which is of Purgatory. The Article is this: Art. 22 The Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, worshipping and adoration aswell of Images, as of Relics, & also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the word of God. First concerning the point that Purgatory, Pardons, worshipping and adoration of Images and of Relics, & Invocation of Saints are grounded on no Scripture-warrant hath been manifested, by the examining of those Scriptures where upon our Adversaries have grounded them. I will instance in Purgatory. The chiefest places ˡ brought for that, is Malachy 3, 2. 1. Cor. 3.10. Mat. 5.25. alleged by Cardinali Allen, Allen. of Purg. l. 1. c. 6. etc. 10 and with which they keep a great pother b Purgatories Triumph over Hell, by I.R. c. 3. now of late, Mat. 12.32. First concerning those two places that of Malachy and that of the Apostle to the Corinthians, it may be showed by the plain circumstances of the places themselves, and also by the judgement of the ancient Fathers that neither of them both appertaineth any whit to Purgatory. See more in Mr D. Fulke his c D. Fulk● Answer to Allens Book of Purgatory, c. 6. p. 101 Answer to Cardinal Allen. Concerning that of Mat. 5.25. Thou shalt not come out thence, till thou hast paid the utmost farthing. The meaning of Christ d D. Fulk, Ib. c. 10. p. 135. saith D. Fulke is plain, that he shall never come out, no more than that wicked Servant, which was cast in prison until he should pay the whole debt, which was ten thousands talents, Mat. 18.34. Concerning that of Saint Matthew again, Mat. 12.32, St Mark as the same e D. Fulke against the Rhemish Test. in Mat. 12.32. Dr Fulke observeth in an other place is a sure Interpreter of those words showing Mark. 3.29. that he shall never have forgiveness, but is culpable of eternal damnation. But of this place of Scripture you shall read much more in those excellent f D. Ray. Prael. de lib. Apocryph Praelect. 171. 172, 173, 174, 175, etc. Lectures of D. Raynolds. I refer you unto him. I need not here produce the Father's concerning the point here mentioned in this Article, seeing the Article speaks here of Scripture only: howbeit that you may see, we have of the ancient Fathers even in these points too, first concerning Purgatory, and Pardons, you shall hear what St Hilary saith, Confessio peccatorum g Hilar. in Ps. 51. p 466. Edit. Basil. 1535. saith he, non nisi in huius seculi tempore est, dum voluntati suae unusquisque permissus est, & per vitae licentiam habet confessionis arbitrium. Decedentibus namque de vita, simul & de iure decidimus voluntatis. Tunc enim ex merito praeteritae voluntatis lex iam constituta, aut quietis aut poenae excedentium ex corpore suscipit voluntatem. It is in effect that which the h Eccles. 11.3. Preacher hath, If the tree do fall towards the South, or toward the North, in the place that the tree falleth there it shall be. So St Jerome, Docemur i Hieron. Tom. 5. in 6. ad Gal p. 199 Col. 1. Ed●t. Bas. 1537 So S. Austen, Donec sumus in hac vita, quan tacunque nobis acciderint peccata, possibile est omnia ablui per poenitentiam. Cum autem abducti fuerimus ab hoc saeculo, ibi iam etiam si paenetebit nos; val. de enim nos poenitebit, sed nulla erit utilitas paenitentiae etc. Aug. Tom. 10. De Temp. Ser. 181 p 712 Edit. Basil. 1529. saith he, dumb in praesenti seculo sumus sive orationibus, sive consilijs invicem posse nos coadiuvari. Cum autem ante tribunal Christi venerimus, non job, non Daniel, nec Noe rogare posse pro quoquam; sed unumquemque portare onus suum. We are taught whilst we are in this world that we may be helped by each others Prayers, or each others Counsels. But when we shall once come before the Tribunal Seat of Christ, neither job, nor Daniel, nor No can possibly intercede for any, but every one must bear his own burden. For worshipping and adoration of Images, I told you l Lect. 6. p. 120 before what m Lact. Divin. Instit. l. 2. c. 19 p. 144. Edit. Lugd. 1541. Lactantius said, Non est dubium quin Religio nulla sit ubicunque simulachrum est. Religion and Images agreed together, as Dagon and the Ark did, 1. Sam. 5.4. For worshipping and adoration of Relics, as the Cross, etc.: we say with n Arnob. adver. Gent. l. 8. pag. 228. Ed. Paris. 1580 Arnobius, or Minutius Felix rather, Cruces nec colimus, nec optamus: vos planè qui ligneos Deos consecratis, cruces ligneas ut Deorum vestrorum partes forsitan adoratis. True it is he spoke to the Gentiles, but may not the like be said to Papists now? Or suppose some Papists should say these words of Arnobius to the Gentiles, might not the Gentiles entreat Horace to make reply to the Papists again, o Horat. Serm. l. 2 Sat. 3. O maior tandem parcas in sane minori? It is too too much they offend in this kind, specially about the Cross, which (a body would tremble to relate it, they not to writ it) is to be worshipped ( p Ergo Crux Christi est adoranda adoratione latriae. Th. Aquin. Sum. Part. 3. qu. 25. Art. 4. say they) with the self-same honour that is due to God himself. For whereas Thomas in one q Crucem illam ut quandam Christi rem per contactum, ibi (in 30 sententiarum) hyperduliâ, hîc latriâ adorandam dicit. Hoc enim patet non esse revocationem dicti, quòd crux illa ut quaedam Christi res, est vener●nda: sed magnificationem illius, dum ab hyperdulia ad latriani ascenditur. Thomae à Ʋio Caiet. Comment. in illum locum Th Aquin. place (I can not Saint him now) had given Hyperdulia to it, a dish above Commons, yet not content herewith (such is the greedy appetite of the Changelings of the Church of Rome) in an other place he gives it Latria, & so r Insomuch that Greg. de Valentia holdeth, as may well be concluded by his words, that some kind of Idolatry is lawful, and that S. Peter insinuated so much. His words be these. B. Petrum insinuavisse cultum aliquem simulachrorum (nempe sacrarum imaginum) rectum esse, quum fideles nominatim ab illicitis idolorum cultibus deterrere voluit, Greg. Valent. the Idololat. l. 2 c. 7. Now the words of S. Peter are, 1. Pet. 4.3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Valentia goeth on, Quid enim attinebat ita determinatè cultos simulachrorum illicitos notare si omninò nullos simulachrorum cultus licitos esse censuisset. So that by his reckoning S. Peter might have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Vid. D Rain de Romanae Eccles. Idololat. l. 2. c 9 §. 9 p. 587. a many after him. This being taught in their Schools by their great rabbis that then lived, imagine how the common Fry went to their Idolatry as to their dinners. There needed not Nebuchadnezars s Dan. 3.10. Decree that every one that should hear the sound of the Cornet, Trumpet, Harp, etc.: should fall down and worship, this would they do without bidding to the great infamy of Christian Religion. But now concerning the last point, Invocation of Saints; wherein we say with t Aug. Tom. 9 Meditat. c. 5 p 476. Edit. Basil. 1529. St Austen, Quem alium dirigam intercessorem tibi nescio, nisi hunc qui est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris. And again in an other u Aug. Tom. 8. in. Ps. 64 p 455. Edit. Basil. 152. place, Ipse Sacerdos est qui nunc ingressus in interiora veli, solus ibi ex his qui carnem gestaverunt interpellat pro nobis. If Nisi hunc, & solus exclude all other, then can this Doctrine of our Adversaries by no means be admitted. I come to the 23, Article which is, Of ministering in the Congregation; wherein we agreed somewhat better. The Article is this: Art. 23 It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of public preaching, or ministering the Sacraments in the Congregation, before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same. And those we aught to judge lawfully called, and sent, which be chosen, and called to this work by men who have public authority given unto them in the Congregation, to call, and sand Ministers into the lords Vineyard. I would we might but as well agreed in the next Article unto this, which is of speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the People understandeth. The Article is this: Art. 24 It is a thing plainly repugnant to the word of God, & the custom of the Primitive Church, to have public prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments in a tongue not understanded of the People. Now that it is first of all repugnant to the word of God we may hence gather, for that it crosseth a whole Chapter of the Apostle St Paul's to the Corinthians. It x 1. Cor. 14 6 profiteth not, it is y V 9 spoken in the air, that is, it is not understood, he that speaketh is a z V 11. Barbarian, the understanding is without a V 14. fruit, it b V 17. edifies not, it c V 19 instructs not, it gives occasion to some to say that we that use it are d V 23. out of our wits. Concerning the custom of the Primitive Church let us hear what the Fathers say for their times. First Origen: Germanè Christiani, e Origen. count. Cells. l 8. p. 799. Edit. Bas. 1571. saith he, ne usitatis quidem in sacra Scriptura Dei nominibus utuntur inter precandum, sed Graeci, Graecis, Romani, Romanis, singulique precantur propriâ linguâ, Deumque celebrant pro viribus: & omnium linguarum Dominus omnibus linguis precantes exaudit, tam variè loquentes haud secus quàm consonos (ut ita dicam) & unius vocis homines intelligens, Non est enim Deus maximus unus eorum qui certam aliquam linguam sortiti sunt sive Graecam, sive Barbaran, ceterum ignari, nec solliciti de alienae linguae hominibus. The Grecians name God in the Greek tongue, the Romans in the Latin, and all several Nations pray unto God, & praise him in their own natural and mother tongue. For he that is the Lord of all tongues, heareth men praying in all tongues, not otherwise then if it were one voice pronounced by divers tongues For God that ruleth the whole world, is not as some one man, that hath gotten the Greek or Latin tongue and knoweth none besides. So S. jerom: Nunc passionem Christi, f Hieron. Tom. 1 ad Heliodor. Epitaph. Nepot. p. 22. Edit. Bas. 1537. saith he, & Resurrectionem eius, cunctorum Gentium & voces & literae sonant. Taceo de Hebraeis, Graecis, & Latinis, quas Nationes suae Crucis titulo Dominus dedicavit. And again a little after, g Bessisunt in Thracia juxta Strymonem amnem, ad dextrum accolentes latu● Solin. c. 15. Bessis etiam finitimas Getis ostendit Ovid. Vivere quàm miserum est inter Bessosque Getasque Illum qui populi sem per in ore fui. Ovid. Trist. l. 4. Eleg. 1. Bessorun feritas, & pellitorum turba populorum, qui mortuorum quondam inferijs homines immolabant, stridorem suum in dulce Christi fregerunt melos & totius mundi una vox est Christus. Now both the tongues and Books of all Nations do found out Christ his Passion and Resurrection. I omit the jews, and Greeks, & Romans, which Nations the Lord hath dedicated to himself in the title of his Cross. The savage nature of the Bessi, and People that for their wildness go clad in skins, who sometimes made Sacrifices of the Bodies of Men, have turned their barbarous speech into the sweet harmony of Christ, and Christ is now become the voice of the whole world. How S. Austen h Aug. Tom. 8. in Ps. 18 Exposit. 2. p. 61. Edit Basil. 1529. resembleth those that understand not what they say or sing at time of Divine Service to Parrots, and Pies, and Crows, and such like, I have showed i David's desire to go to Church Ser. 1. p. 48. elsewhere. Now though Public Prayer and Sacraments be only specified in this Article, yet are the Scriptures also meant, forasmuch as public Prayer (meant here in this place) is never without them. True it is they are heard in some places and above the capacity of the common People, but our Adversaries will be never able to answer that one passage of l Aug. Tom. 8. de Doct Christ. l. 2. c. 9 p. 17. Edit. Bas. 1528 S. Austen: In his quae apertè in Scriptura posita sunt inveniuntur illa omnia, quae continent fidem, moresque vivendi. All such things as concern our Faith, and Manners for life, are there found plain enough. And therefore, saith he in another m Aug. Tom. 10 De verb. Apost. Ser. 1. p. 169. Edit. Bas. 1529 place, Sancta & divina eloquia Fratres iugiter imò quotidiè nobis salubriter recitantur, ut animae nostrae pascantur, in futuro autem seculo aeternis epulis saginentur. Brethren, saith S. Austen, the Holy & Divine Scriptures are continually, I, every day rehearsed unto us wholesomely, and profitably, to the end our souls should be nourished thereby, Coimus. and should be made fat with everlasting Feasts in the world to come. * Tertul. in Apologet. c. 39 p. 709 Edit. Paris. 1580. So Tertullian, Cogimur, ⁿ saith he, ad literarum divinarum commemorationem, si quidpraesentium temporum qualitas aut praemonere cogit, aut recognoscere. Certè fidem sanctis vocibus pascimus, spem erigimus, fiduciam figimus. We meet together to hear the rehearsal of holy Scriptures. If the state of the present time do force us to forewarn any thing, or call any thing to remembrance of that which already we have heard. Verily we feed our Faith with those holy words, we confirm our hope, we assure our confidence & trust. The more I wonder at some of our own coat, who so causelessly complain of the waist and desolation of so many distressed Souls, who in so many places of this our Land and Country, say they, I use their own o Nomen quaetis? cui bon●? words, have been, and are daily either pined away and consumed to the bone, for lack of God's sustenance, the bread of life, the word of God, the only preservative of the Soul: when God he knowet●●t is not the want of that that makes them so to pine (if so be they do pine and consume away) as not attending to it when it is read unto them, or refusing to hear it if it be not preached, and that as they take Preaching too, or not reading it at home themselves, or not hearing others read it that can. Benefits, our Martyrs when time was, would have been glad to have enjoyed: but we wax wanton now, juvenal. Sat. 6. and must have our fancies pleased. Nunc patimur longae pacis mala! But of this I have spoken p Conc. ad Cler. p. 5. elsewhere although in another Dialect. I come to the 25 Article which is of the Sacraments. The Article is this: Art. 25 Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession: but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of Grace & God's good will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen, and confirm our faith in him. There are two Sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. Those five commonly called Sacraments, that is to say Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, & extreme Unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures; but yet have not like nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lords supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God. The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should duly use them. And in such only, as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation: but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves damnation, as St Paul saith. That these five are Sacraments it lieth on our Adversaries to prove, Probatio p L. cum de Lege. ff. de proba: & glos. Ibid. saith the Civil law, incumbit affirmanti; which if so be they could have proved, they would (I doubt not) have proved long ere this. They that so much boast of Antiquity as they do, and that the Fathers are as verily theirs as q Ad Patres si quando licebit accedere, confectum est praelium Tam sunt nostri quàm Gregorius ipse Decimus tertius, fiüorum Ecclesiae Pater amantissimus. Camp. Rat. 5. Gregory the thirteenth was, sometimes Bishop of Rome, me thinks in all this while they should have quelled us with one Father that saith there are seven Sacraments. In the mean time till they do it, let them consult with these Fathers whom we produce, but for two. First St Austen: Sacramentis is numero paucissimis r Aug. Tom. 2. Ep. 118. p. 359. Edit. Bas. 1528 saith he, observatione facillimis, significatione praestantissimis societatem novi Populi Christus colligavit. Christ hath gathered together a whole society & fellowship of a new kind of People by Sacraments most few in number, most easy to be observed, and most excellent for signification. Now if they be the fewest in number, what more few then two? Or if they will say that Paucissima might be the phrase of Antiquity for Seven, & I remember indeed that Possidius, or Possidonius in St Austin's life s Sibi iuss●rat Psalmos Davidices qui sunt paucissimi de poenitentia scribi Posid. in vita Aug c. 31. pag. 609. Oper. Aug. Tom. 1 calls the Penitential Psalms Paucissimi, which were no less than seven, and St Austen himself saith immediately after the former words alleged, Et si quid aliud in Scriptures canonicis commendatur; yet in divers places he speaks of the Sacraments but as of two. As for example. t Aug. Tom. 8. in Psal. 103. Conc. 4. p. 834 And Tom 9 in Evang. joan. Tract. 15. p. 9 Edit. Bas. 1529 De latere Crucifixi percusso Sacramenta Ecclesiae profluxerunt. Now out of our Saviour's side when he was crucified we know there issued nothing but ᵘ Blood & Water. And again in an other place, x Aug. Tom. 9 de Cataclys. c. 4. p. 675. Edit. Bas 1529. Continuò exivit. Sanguis et Aqua, quae sunt Matris Ecclesiae gemina Sacramenta. Forth with came there forth Blood & Water which are the two Sacraments of our Mother the Church. y Aug. Tom. 3. de Doct Christ. l. 3. c. 9 p. 35. Edit. Bas. 1528 And in his Book de Doctrina Christiaena he names no more. So z Cyp Epist. l 2. ep. 1. ad Steph. p 42. ●. Edit. Bas. 1530. S. Cyprian: Tunc demum planè sanctificari & esse Filij Dei possunt si utroque Sacramento nascantur. Then may they be thoroughly sanctified, & become the Children of God, if they be new borne by both the Sacraments. I omit a justin Martyr Apol. 2. justin Martyr, b Tertul. cont. Martion. l. 1. & 4. Tertullian, c Ambros. de Sacram. St Ambrose, d Cyril. in Mystagogicis. Cyrillus Alexandrinus and others, who having occasion to treat of Sacraments speak only but of two, Baptism, and the Supper. Concerning the gazing on the Sacraments here specified, and carrying them about, let our Adversaries call to mind how well they agreed with the Fathers in this Practice. First Origen: Dominus panem e Origen in Levit. c 7. Hom. 5. p. 129. Edit. Basil. 1537. saith he, quem Discipulis dabat, & dicebat eye, Accipite & manducate, non distulit, nec servari jussit in crastinum. The bread which our Lord gave unto his Disciples he prolonged not to give it, he commanded it not to be kept against the next day. Then f Hier. Tom. 9 in 1. Cor. 11. p. 316. Col. 2. Edit. Basil. 1537. St Jerome: Post communionem quaecumque eis de sacrificijs superfuissent, illic in Ecclesia communem coenam comedentes pariter consumebant. After the Communion whatsoever was left of the sacrifices, even there in the Church they all eat together as they did eat their common Supper. Then Clemens g Clem. Rom. ep. 2. Oper. p. 360. Edit. Colon. 1570. Romanus, Tanta in altario holocausta offerantur, quanta populo sufficere debeant. Quòd si remanserint, in crastinum non reserventur, sed cum timore & tremore Clericorum diligentia consumantur. Let so many Hosts be offered on the Altar as may suffice for the People that are present. If any remain as overplus let them in no wise be reserved till the morrow, but with fear and trembling let them be eaten by Clergy men. Evagrius h Evagrius Hist. Ecclesiast. l. 4. c 35. p. 622 Edit. Bas. 1587. tells us that it was the old custom, that if any Fragments did remain the little children that went to School were called to the eating of them. I come to the 26. Article which is of the unworthiness of the Ministers how it hindereth not the effect of the Sacraments, wherein both sides do agreed. The Article is this: Art. 26 Although in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometime the evil have chief authority in the ministration of the Word and Sacraments: yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission & authority, we may use their ministry, both in hearing the Word of God, and in receiving of the Sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished from such, as by saith, & rightly do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them, which be effectual because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men. Nevertheless, it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church, that inquiry be made of evil Ministers & that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their offences: & finally being found guilty, by just judgement be deposed. We agreed also in the 27 Article which is of Baptism. The Article is this: Art. 27 Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not Christened: but it is also a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly, are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the Sons of God, by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; faith is confirmed, and grace increased by virtue of Prayer unto God. The Baptism of young Children, is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ. The 28 Article which is, Of the Supper of the Lord doth set us at odds, nothing more. Cui non mirum id, monstrique simile videatur i Io. Foxii Syllogist in Epi. Hertator. saith Reverend Fox, ex ea re, quae una omnium maximè ad concordiàm comparata sit, tantum discordiae incendium conflari potuisse? To whom may it not seem strange even to admiration, that out of that Matter which most especially was provided for peace and unity, such burning flames should be caused betwixt one Christian and an other, But come we to the Article. Art. 28 The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians aught to have among themselves one to an other: but rather it is a Sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death. In so much that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ, and likewise the Cup of Blessing, is a partaking of the blood of Christ. Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy writ: but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received & eaten in the Supper, is Faith. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped. First for the word Transubstantiation which signifieth a passing or turning of one substance into an other, they themselves do think that it is intolerable to say that the substance of bread is changed into the substance of Christ's Body, and therefore their Schoolmen hold that the Bread departeth and getteth itself away and that then in place thereof, succeedeth Christ's Body. Which kind of change l Vid. B. jewel Defence of the Artic. Ar. 8. p. 397. say we cannot be termed Transubstantiatio, but rather Cessio, Successio, Annihilatio, or Substitutio. But as concerning the point itself, that it cannot be proved by holy writ, nay that it is repugnant thereunto, and overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament is that that is here affirmed, and our Adversaries themselves have made good. For neither have they proved it by holy writ, nor have they disproved such Proofs as have showed how repugnant it is to the plain words of Scripture, & overthroweth in very truth the nature of a Sacrament. They are excellent Treatises, that Sadeel hath m Sadeel de Spirituali manducat. Corp. Christi. Item. de Sacrament. manducat. Corp. Christi Oper. Theol. p. 216. & p. 251. made to this purpose, by reason of my haste I will refer you unto them. And lest in the mean time you should think for that the Scriptures are here named only, our Adversaries by all likelihood have some relief yet out of the Fathers, I will acquaint you with what I have read even concerning the Fathers in this point, and for aught I have read in our Adversaries Books (who are not altogether tonguetyed when they can take any advantage) goes uncontrolled as it is there set down, & a many more passages to that purpose. Bring us but one Father n The true Difference between Christian subjection and unchristian Rebellion. Part. 4. saith our worthy Bilson, for 800 years, that ever taught your Transubstantiation, and we will count it Catholic. You may wrist saith he, and misuse 500 places of the Fathers, as your Friends before you have done in this point, and yourselves in other questions have showed the like activity. But that the substance of the bread vanisheth by consecration, and the substance of Christ's Body really succeedeth under the same dimensions and accidents of Bread and wine, and entereth our mouths locally comprised within those forms: for this saith he●, you shall never show us any one Father Greek or Latin within the compass of 800 years after Christ. Here would they needs have come with their Replies. I.R. should have here triumphed. I wisse it is good reason our Saviour's Triumph should have been before Purgatories Triumph at the lest. But nay, nay. Purgatory hath stood them more in steed them ever did our Saviour. The Children of this world are o Luk. 16.8. not to learn wisdom of the Children, not not of light. I go on. That the Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner; and that the Means thereof is Faith, witness that of p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Athanas. Tom. 1. in illud. Quicunque dixerit verbum p. 771. Edit. Commelian. 1601. Athanasius: How few men would his Body have sufficed, that this should be the food of the whole world? Yea therefore doth he warn them of his ascension into heaven, that he might draw them from thinking on his Body, and they thereby learn, that the flesh which he spoke of, was celestial meat from above, & spiritual nourishment to be given by him, etc. That of q Cyp de Coen. Dom. p. 447. Edit. Bas. 1530 St Cyprian: Eating & drinking be referred to one & the self-same end, with the which as the substance of our Bodies is increased and preserved, so the life of the Spirit is maintained with his proper nourishment. What food is to the flesh that faith is to the Soul: what meat is to the Body, that the Word is to the Spirit, working everlastingly with a more excellent virtue that, which bodily meats do for a time & only for a season. That of Ambrose who approaching to the sacred Communion which they r Ambr. Tom. 5 in Orat. 1. praepar. ad Miss. p. 660. Edit. Paris 1586. entitle a Prayer preparing to Mass, amongst other things speaketh thus to our Saviour himself: Thou Lord saidst with thine holy and blessed mouth, the bread which I will give, is my flesh (given) for the life of the world. He that eateth me shall live through me, he abideth in me, and I in him. I am the living bread which came down from heaven, if any eat of this bread he shall live for ever. Most delightful Bread! heal thou the taste of my heart, that I may feel the sweetness of thy love. Let mine heart eat thee, and with thy pleasant relish let the bowels of my soul be replenished. Angels eat thee with full mouth, let Man that is a Pilgrim (on earth) eat thee as his weakness will suffer him, that he faint not in the way, having this provision for his journey. Holy bread living bread beautiful bread! which camest from heaven, and givest life to the world, come into my heart, and cleanse me from all filth of flesh and spirit. Enter into my soul, heal and sanctify me within and without. another point in this Article is as concerning the Reserving of it, and Carrying it about, but of that we have spoken before in the 25 Article. Concerning the Lifting of it up, & Worshipping it, I shall not need to speak much. The Idolatry hath been too too great that hath been occasioned thereby. True it is S. Austen s Aug. Tom. 8. in Ps. 98. p 760 Edit. Bas. 1529 saith, Nemo illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit, No man eateth that flesh of Christ unless he first adore it; but he means not the corporal creature: no more doth S. Ambrose neither, who t Ambr. Tom. 2 de Spir. Sanct. l 3. c. 12. p. 195 Edit. Bas. 1538. Vid. B. Bilson ubi supra. saith in a certain place, Carnem Christi hody in mysterijs adoramus. We adore the flesh of Christ in the mysteries. I come to the 29 Article wherein we say of the wicked that they do not eat the Body of Christ in the use of the Lords Supper, contrary unto our Adversaries. The Article is this: Art. 29 The wicked and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally & visibly press with their teeth (as St Augustine saith) the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ: yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ, but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing. A truth, that in very deed dependeth on the premises, that were made good in the former Article. For if so be the Body of Christ be taken and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner, and the means thereof is Faith, what have the wicked there to do without their wedding garment? What fellowship u 2. Cor. 6.14 saith the Apostle, hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the believer with the infidel? The judgement of the Fathers is correspondent hereunto. None x una est domus Ecclesiae, in qua Agnus editur, nullus ei communicate, quem Israelitici nominis generositas non commendat. Cypr. de Coena domini p. 448. Edit. Basil. 1530. saith St Cyprian, is partaker of this Lamb, that is not a right Israelite. Multa y Origen. Oper. Part. 2. in Mat. c. 15 p. 27. Edit Basil. 1571. saith Origen, de ipso Verbo dici possent, quod factum est caro, verusque cibus, quem qui comederit, omnino vivet in aeternum, quem nullus malus potest edere. Many things might be spoken of the Word, as that it was made Flesh and true meat, which whosoever eateth of, without all doubt shall live for ever, which no wicked person can eat of. And St Jerome making instance in Heretics, Isti multas immolant hostias z Hieron. Tom. 6. In Osee c. 8. p. 37. Col. 2. Edit. Basil. 1537. saith he, & comedunt carnes earum, unam Christi hostiam deserentes, nec comedentes eius carnem, cuius caro cibus credentium est. So that Heretics you see by S. Ierom's testimony do not eat this flesh. Why? for it is the food of the faithful? I come to the 30. Article, of Receiving in both kinds, and we disagree in that too. The Article is this: The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay People. For both the parts of the Lord's Sacrament by Christ's ordinance and commandment aught to be ministered to all Christian men alike. A truth so evident to the eye of him that hath but looked on S. Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians, that unless they frame an Index Expurgatorius for him, they are quite undone in this point too. Ye cannot, a 1. Cor. 10.21 saith he, drink the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of the Devils. Again, b 1. Cor. 11.26 As often as ye shall eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye show the Lords death till he come. Me thinks our Adversaries here should say as c Act. 26.24. Festus once did, Paul thou art besides thyself; much learning doth make thee mad: or else with the Friar in the d Georg. Bu. chanani Franciscan. Poet, * S. PAUL. Tarsensis fuge scripta senis, fuge toxica nostri Ordinis. O primis utinam periisset in annis, Aut mansisset adhuc hostis, licet ante renatus Vivifica quàm Lympha esset, tam multa dedisset Funera grassat us ferro, ingentique procella Afflixisset adhuc tenerum pietatis ovile: Plus tamen adscriptus nobis, plus factus amicus Obfuit. This Friar you must understand was an old senior, and gave certain Precepts to a Novice. Among the rest this was one: Fly Novice, fly, the Man that TARSUS bred, Nor do his Books, or Writings read: o dread The bane of us Franciscans. Ah that he Had perished even in his Infancy, Or had remained a Foe unto us yet, And never with Font-water had been wet. For had he of the Flock made havoc still, And not have left till now their blood to spill, Yet being Christian now, and now come to us, Behold the harm is more, which he doth do us. But I come from verse to prose, and now I am to prove unto you, that as the Scriptures so the Fathers are for the Communion in both kinds. First S. Cyprian. How do we prepare, e Quomodo docemus aut provocamus eos in confession nominis sanguinem suii fund●re, si eye militaturis Christi sanguinem denegamus? Aut quomodo ad Martyrii poculum idoncos facimus, si non eos ad bibendum prius in Ecclesia poculum Domini iure communicationis ad mittimus, Cyp. Epist. Lib. 1 Ep. 2. p. 4. Edit. Basil. 1530. saith he (the People) for the Cup of Martyrdom, if we do not first admit them in the Church to drink the Lords Cup by right of Communion? Then S. Austen: Not only no man is forbidden, f A cuius sacrificii sanguine in alimentum sumendo, non s●lùm nemo probibetur, sed ad bibendum potiùs omnes exhortantur qui volunt habere vitam. Aug. Tom. 4. Quaest. super Levit. l. 3 c. 57 p. 155. Edit. Basil. 1528. saith he, but rather all men that seek for life are encouraged to drink. So g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrys in 2. ad. Cor. Hom. 18 p. 59 b. Edit. Veronae. 1529. S. Chysostome: One body is proposed to all, and one cup. And again in another place, while thou beholdest with thine eyes, h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrys. de Sacerd l. 3. p. 77. Edit. August v. 1599 saith he, our Lord sacrificed, the Priest intent to that sacrifice, and pouring forth his Prayers, the People all about besprinkled and made read with that most precious blood; dost thou think thou art amongst mortal creatures, and that thou hast thy being on earth? The word he there useth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; made read like crimson, or scarlet; whereunto he compareth most elegantly, their drinking of the Cup. justin Martyr, i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. justin. in Tryph p. 112. Edit. Paris. 1551. he calls it the Christians Dry, and Wet Nourishment, that they might, saith he, be admonished thereby what God the Son of God hath suffered for them. Infinite are the places, l B Bilson ubi supra. saith that worthy Prelate I spoke of even now, which might be brought to make faith, that for a thousand years in the Church of God, the People were not deprived of the Lords Cup. I come to the 31 Article, wherein we differ most of all: the Article is this; The offering of Christ once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual, & there is no other satisfaction for sin, but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said that the Priests did offer Christ for the quick & the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits. We are now come to the Diana of our Popish Ephesians, whose magnificence of all our Adversaries is so much worshipped. m Act. 19.27. And surely were St Paul alive now in these days, & should speak as he wrote when time was, of Christ his Offering once made, the shout was not so great in Asia against him concerning the Diana of the Ephesians, as it would be here in Europe concerning the Diana of the Romans. For what trow you would they say concerning these & the like passages? u Heb. 7.27. Such a high Priest it became us to have which is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, & made higher than the heavens: which needed not daily as those high Priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins, and then for the People's for that did he ONCE when he offered up himself. Again, o Heb. 9.12. By his own blood entered he in ONCE unto the holy place, and obtained eternal redemption for us. Again, p Heb. 9.26. Not that he should offer himself often, etc.: for than must he have often suffered since the foundation of the world, but now in the end of the world hath he appeared ONCE to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself. Again, q Heb. 9.28. As it is appointed unto men that they shall once die, and after that cometh the judgement, so Christ was ONCE offered to take away the sins of many. Again, r Heb. 10.10. By the which will we are sanctified, even by the offering of the Body of jesus Christ ONCE made. Again, s V 12. This man after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE for sins, sitteth for ever at the right hand of God, and from henceforth tarrieth, till his enemies be made his footstool. t V 14. For with ONE OFFERING hath he consecrated for ever them that are sanctified. What would they say of all this? Would they not wish as did the Friar, Primis perijsset in annis, aut mansisset adhuc hostis, that he had died in the Cradle, or had been still an Enemy unto Christians? Indeed there is good reason they should take it to heart; for if so be our Saviour Christ did but once enter unto the Holy place and obtained eternal redemption, if he hath appeared but Once to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself, if but with one offering he hath consecrated for ever them that are sanctified; then offered he not for sins any Sacrifice in his Supper, much less did he institute any such Sacrifice to be reiterated, & this, Beloved, is that that cuts the heartstrings of Popery. That the Fathers speak as we do is manifest by their writings. First u Aug. Tom 3. De Trin. l. 4. Co. 13. p. 217. Edit. Bas. 1528 St Austen: jesus Christus morte sua quip uno verissimo sacrificio pro nobis oblato, quicquid culparum erat, unde nos Principatus & Potestates ad luenda supplicia iure detinebant purgavit, abolevit, extinxit, etc.: what sins soever we committed, by reason whereof Principalities & Powers had us in subjection, our Saviour Christ jesus by his death, namely by one most true sacrifice offered for us, hath purged, abolished, & quite extinguished. So S. chrysostom: There is now x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrys. in Epist ad Heb. Hom. 13 p. 15●. Edit. Veronae, 1529. saith he, no other sacrifice. It is one only that hath purged us. Nothing now after that, but Fire and Hell. So y Theophyl. in 8 ad Heb. p. 154. b Ed. Colon. 1528. Theophylact: Hic verò hostiam taliter obtulit, & tam fuit illa rei ingentis effectrix, ut vel temporis momento, per se terrarum orbem purgaverit. And again a little after, Nec saepè pro alijs sed semel obtulit. Quia cum virtute is praestet & pietate, vel unica & sola oblatione satis potuit cuncta perficere. Our Saviour offered such a sacrifice and of so great va●ue, as that in a moment of time it purged the whole world (of the faithful,) and he forasmuch as he was of such virtue & power, well might he perform as much by one alone and sole sacrifice. I but z Rhem. in 1. Cor. 10.21. Vid D. Fulke against them. say our Adversaries the Fathers call the Mass a Sacrifice. The Mass? Why they do not so much as name it. St Ambrose hath the word once, and so have two Provincial Counsels in Africa. Leo hath it twice, which is all (saith our worthy a B. Bilson. ubi. supra. Prelate) they can find in 600 years. True it is they speak of Sacrifices indeed, but they are as like that Sacrifice, as York is foul Sutton to speak in a Northern Proverb. Sacrificamus b Tertul. ad Scap. p. 448 Edit. Paris. 1580 saith Tertullian, sed quomodo Deus praecepit, pura prece. We sacrifice for the safety of the Emperor, both to our God & his God: but as the self same God commands us too, only by mere prayer. He would have laughed outright to have read in our Adversaries books, that a poor woman was as much bound to procure a Mass to be said for her Hen, as a king for his kingdom. Which Cardinal Allen perhaps foresaw too, and therefore c Coram Deo non est magis ridiculum ut panpercula procuvet sacrificium pro Gallina, quàm Rex pro Imperio: cum Christiani à minimo ad maximum dicere debeant; Pro omnibus quae retribuisti mihi Calicem salutaris accipiam & nomen Dei invocabo. Alan. de Sacrific. Eucharist. l. 2. c. 33. p. 623. sets it down, Coram Deo non est magis ridiculum: it was not so with God, with men he knew it was impossible. But to return unto my purpose. As Tertullian, so justin Martyr, Supplications d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. justin. Martyr. in Tryph. p. 112 Edit. Par. 1551. saith he; and giving of thanks, I grant are the only perfect Sacrifices, and such as are acceptable unto God. And Christians, they have learned to make only such sacrifices, God e Naz Orat:. 15 p. 225. Edit. Parif. 1609. saith Nazianzen requireth at our hands the alone & only sacrifice of praise, & a contrite heart, and a new Creature in Christ, which new Creature the Scripture doth call a new man. And f chries. Hom de Spiritu Sancte Tom. 3 p. 885. Edit. Bas. 1547 St chrysostom to this purpose, Quod tuum altarium? men's tua spiritualis? Quod spirituale tuum sacrificium? omnis bona operatio. Quod templum tuum? mundum Cor. So that he makes the Mind, the Altar, every good Work a Sacrifice, the Heart of Man, the Temple. I, but the Fathers say that Christ is here sacrified, & that he is offered here. Be it so, & they say withal that Christ is Crucified also here. But do they mean may we think, really Crucified? Not doubtless, & therefore think they not, or Sacrificed, or Offered. They knew the force of the Apostles consequence, Then must he have often suffered. Heb. 9.26. I come to the 32 Article, which is of the Marriage of Priests, wherein we might hope of some good match to be made, but that they are ●o ready to forbidden the banes. The Article is this: Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, are not commanded by God's law either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage. Therefore it is lawful also for them, as for all other Christian men to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness. The best is, it is not enough to forbidden the banes only, but it must be on a lawful cause. Which seeing they cannot allege, and yet still forbidden the banes, we will do as Agesilaus did in an other case, who being to pass by a neighbour Country with a troup of Soldiers which he had, and ask leave of the Governor thereof to that purpose, when answer was returned that he would advice upon it, Deliberet sanè g Plut. in Agesilao. & Apophthegm. Lacon. saith Agesilaus, nos interim progrediemur. well then, let him advice, we in the mean time will go forward: right so say we in this case, let them deny the banes, we will marry notwithstanding, I mean so many of us as want, that which hundreds of them have not, The gift of Continency. Neither shall we this do either against Scriptures, or the Fathers. That Priests were married in the old Testament is a case as clear as the Sun; I, they had precepts given unto them concerning the choice of their wives. h Levit. 21.13 He should take a maid unto his wife. But a widow, or a divorced woman, or a polluted, or an harlot, these he should not marry. Concerning the New Testament the Apostle St Paul so speaks of the Clergy, i 1. Tim 3.2. Bishops, l Tit. 1.6. Elders, and m 1. Tim 3.12 Deacons, as if his meaning had been that they might be married. I, the Apostles themselves (as n Omnes Apostoli exceptis joanne & Paulo uxores habu●runt, Ambros. Tom. 5. in 2. Cor. 11. p. 310. So that I say all the Apostles, meaning the 12. Apostles: of which 12 Paul was none. And yet there are that say St Paul had a wife too, as Ignatius, & Clemens. For Clemens, see Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l 3. c. 27. Edit. Basil. 1587. Concerning Ignatius, D. Martin in his Treatise of Priests unlawful Marriages c. 1 p. z 3. b. saith he hath seen Manuscripts to the contrary, and maketh instance in one in Magdalen College Library. But concerning this see more in D. Poynets Defence of Priests marriages. p. 118 For I take it to be D. Poynets, and not as D, Coosens doth (Part. 2. p. 109.) to be D. Parkers, sometimes Archbishop of Canterbury. some think) were all of them married, john the Evangelist only excepted. If you would see more concerning this, I refer you to o Socrat. Hist. Eccl●s. l. 8. c. 8. Edit. Basil. 1587. Socrates, and p Sozom Hist. Eccles. l. 1. c. 22 Edit. Basil. 1587. Sozomen concerning Paphnutius, how being himself an unmarried man, stood mainly yet in the defence of the Clergy that was married. I refer you to the q Synodus 6. Constant. c. 13. l. 8 c. 19 Ex Gratian, Dist. 31. c Quoniam p. 153. Edit. Lugd. 1584. Vid. Acts and Monum. p. 1153 Col. 1. sixth Council of Constance that by no means would have those marriages dissolved. To that of r Hier. advers. jovin. l. 1. p. 40. Edit. Bas. 1537. S. Jerome, Eliguntur Mariti in Sacerdotium, non nego: quia non sunt tanti virgins, quanti necessarij sunt Sacerdotes. Married men I grant are chosen into the Priesthood. True! for Priests indeed are far more necessary than Virgins. Lastly to your own Mantuan, who writing of S. Hilary one of the Fathers of the Church, s Bapt. Mant. Fast. l. 1. Op. Tom. 2. p. 252. Ed t 1576 hath concerning him these verses: Non nocuit tibi progenies, non obstitit uxor Legitimo coniuncta thoro, non horruit illa Tempestate Deus thalamos, cunabula, taedas. Sola erat in pretio, quae nunc incognita, virtus Sordet, & attrito vivit cumplebe cucullo. To thee, good Bishop, Children were no let, Nor wife that lay with thee in lawful bed, That thou thereby thy Function shouldst forget, And Flock of thine should be but scarcely fed. Not, God himself at those times did not blame Or Bed or Cradle, or the Nuptial Flame. Yet was that Virtue then in high esteem, Which we a chaste and honest life do call, A virtue seldom now, or never seen, But with the Churchmen than was all in all. It's raged and torn even as poor Creatures be; They are in threadbare Garments so is she. So t Prospero lib. Epigram p 210 b. & there is in the margin., Videtur esse carmen Paulini, postea Nolani Episcopi ad uxorem. Oper. Edit. Duaeci. 1577. St Prosper, Agè iam precor mearum Comes irremota rerum. Trepidam, brevemque vitam Domino Deo dicemus. But I come to the 33 Article wherein we agreed somewhat better. The Article is this: That person which by open denunciation of the church, is rightly cut off from the unity of the Church, & excommunicated, aught to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful as an Heathen & Publican, until he be openly reconciled by penance, & received unto the Church by a judge that hath authority thereto. We agreed also in the next which is of the Traditions of the Church; at lest wise the difference is not great. The Article is this: Art. 34 It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, or utterly like, for at all times they have been divers, and may be changed according to the diversity of Countries, Times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's word. Whosoever through his private judgement, willingly and purposely doth openly break the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Church, which be not repugnant to the word of God, and be ordained and approved by common authority, aught to be rebuked openly (that others may fear to do the like) as he that offendeth against the common order of the Church, and hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, & woundeth the consciences of the weak Brethren. Every particular or National Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish ceremonies or rites of the church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying. In the next to this which is of Homilies I confess we agreed not, especially concerning the Matter of them. The Article is this: Art. 35 The second book of Homilies the several titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholesome doctrine, and necessary for these times, as doth the former Book of Homilies, which were set forth in the time of Edward the sixth: and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the Ministers diligently and distinctly, that they may be understanded of the People. Then follow the Names of the Homilies. 1 Of the right use of the Church. 2. Against peril of Idolatry. 3, Of the repairing and keeping clean of Churches. 4, Of good works, first of fasting. 5, Against gluttony and drunkenness. 6. Against excess of apparel. 7, Of Prayer. 8, Of the place and time of Prayer. 9, That common Prayers and Sacraments aught to be ministered in a known tongue. 10, Of the reverend estimation of God's word. 11, Of alms doing. 12, Of the Nativity of Christ. 13, Of the passion of Christ. 14, Of the Resurrection of Christ. 15, Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. 16, Of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. 17, Of the Rogation days. 18, Of the state of Matrimony. 19, Of Repentance. 20, Against Idleness. 21, Against rebellion. But of the Matter of these Homilies so far forth as it toucheth our Adversaries, I have partly spoken heretofore, partly I shall speak hereafter upon divers & sundry opportunities, that shall be offered: wherefore I omit it now for this time, M. Mason of the Consecrat. of the Bishops in the Church of England, as also of the Ordinations of Priests & Deacons. Concerning which Book I. R. in his Purgatories Triumph over Hel. p. 141 hath this passage. I dare not urge M. Mason too far, lest he bring me the next time he writeth, as authentical Records for the consecration of Cranmers heart in Lambeth Chapel, as he hath printed now at last, when such are dead as might control them, which their importunity could never obtain in their life, for the ordinations of his Bishops in the same place. Thus are they never pleased, nor full, nor fasting. But I trust by that time M. Mason hath done with him, Habebit poenam noxium caput, to speak in Livies phrase, or rather in S. jeroms, Os barbarum, & procax & in convitia semper armatum. and come to the 36 Article, which is of the Consecration of Bishops, and Ministers. The Article is this: The book of consecration of Archbishops, and Bishops, & ordaining of Priests & Deacons, lately set forth in the time of Edward the sixth, & confirmed at the same time by authority of Parliament, doth contain all things necessary to such consecration & ordaining, neither hath it any thing, that of itself is superstitious or ungodly. And therefore whosoever are consecrated or ordered according to the Rites of that book, since the second year of the forenamed King Edward, unto this time or hereafter shall be consecrated or ordered according to the same Rites, we decree all such to be rightly, orderly, and lawfully consecrated, and ordered. And in this Article is there much to say, but I have lately been prevented by a painful and skilful ᵘ workman in the house of God, the Church, to whose labours I refer you. And I refer you the rather to him for he was sometimes of this House, though afterwards full worthily he were chosen into another. I come to the 37 Article, which is of the Civil Magistrates. Art. 37 The Article is this: The Queen's Majesty hath the chief power in this Realm of England, & other Her Dominions, unto whom the chief government of all estates of this Realm; whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil, in all causes doth appertain, and is not, nor aught to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction. Where we attribute to the Queen's Majesty the chief government, by which titles we understand the minds of some slanderous folks to be offended; we give not to our Princes the ministering either of God's word, or of the Sacraments, the which thing the Injunctions also lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queen, doth most plainly testify: but that only prerogative which we see to have been given always to all godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God himself, that is, that they should rule all estates and degrees committed to their charge by God, whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal, and restrain with the Civil sword the stubborn and evil doers. The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England. The Laws of the Realm may punish Christian men with death, for heinous and grievous offences. It is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars. This concerneth the Supremacy of his Majesty now Regnant (howsoever according to those times these Articles were framed in, Queen ELIZABETH be here named.) And reason good that as his Majesty defendeth our Rites, so we also for our parts should every of us endeavour to defend his Right & Title. True it is, he is able himself to do that, no man better, and we have seen to our great joy, even in this kind, — x Virg. Aeneid. l. 11. Quantus In clypeum assurgat, quo turbine torqueat hastam. but yet for our Adversaries be many, even like the Aramites y 1. Kin. 20.27 filling whole Countries, reason we should all and every of us put to our helping hand. But to come to the point in hand. That we give no more in this Article to the Prince that is over us than is given him by God's word, and confirmed by the Fathers, I shall briefly now prove both by the Word, and by the Fathers. First concerning the Word, the Apostle St Peter, by whom they claim, disclaiming (it should seem) all such Superiority, Submit yourselves z 1. Pet. 2.13. saith he, unto all manner ordinance of man for the Lords sake, whether it be unto the king as unto the superior, or unto Governors as unto them that are sent of him. So the Apostle St Paul, Let every soul a Rom. 13.1. saith he, be subject unto the higher powers. And that ye may know of what Powers he speaketh there in that place, Princes b V 3. saith he, are not to be feared for good works but for evil. So our Saviour Christ himself, when Pilate was up with his authority over him, Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to lose thee? Thou couldst have no power at all against me c joh. 19.11. saith our Saviour, except it were given thee from above. And indeed that the chief government of all estates of a Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical, or Civil do appertain to Kingly authority; witness that of the Prophets, who so often & so earnestly commanded the Kings in their time (from the mouth of the Lord) to cut down the groves and high places, to break down the Idols, and Images whereby Idolatry was committed, and commended such as did it, and threatened such as did it not. So that a Christian Prince indeed as our worthy jewel c jewel Apol. p. 160 observeth hath the charge of both Tables committed to him by God, to the end he may understand, that not Temporal matters only, but also Religious and Ecclesiastical Causes pertain to his office. Thus Theodosius the Emperor did not only sit among the Bishops, but also d Socrat. Eccl. Hist. l. 5. c. 10. Sozom. l. 7. c. 12 ordered the whole arguing of the cause, and tore in pieces the Heretics books, and allowed for good the judgement of the Catholics. In the Council of Chalcedon a e Videtur nobis justum esse, eidem poenae Dioscorun R. Episcopum Alexand, & juvenalem Rev. Episc. Hicrosol. etc. Concil. Ch●lced. Act. 1. p. 831. Vid. Evagrium. l. 2. c. 4. Magistrate condemned for Heretics, by the sentence of his own mouth, Dioscorus, juvenalis, and Thal●ssius being Bishops, and gave judgement to put them down from their dignities in the Church. But I come to the Fathers. Colimus Imperatorem sic f Tertul. ad S●●● de Perseq. ta● 448. Edit. P●t. 1580. saith Tertullian, quomodo & nobis licet, & ipsi expedit, ut hominem à Deo secundum: & quicquid est à Deo consecutum, solo Deo minorem. And again in an other g Tertul. Apologet. c. 30. p 703. Edit. eiusd. place, Sentiunt eum Deum esse solum in caius solius potestate sunt, à quo sunt secundi, post quem primi an●e omnes & super omnes Deos. The meaning is, it is only God who is above Princes, Princes are after him, & then before all others. So h Optat. cont. Parmen. l. 3. Optatus, Super Imperatorem non est nisi solus Deus qui fecit Imperatorem. The Emperor hath none above him, but God that made him. And i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ad Pop. Antioch. Hom. 2 p. 33. Edit. Lond. 1590. St chrysostom to this purpose, Parem ullum super terram non habet. The Emperor hath no Peer on earth, much less a superior. They had little l Vid B. Bilson ubi sup. Part. 3. p 69. Edit. Lond. 1586 Arithmetic in those days to cast that a Priest should be seven & forty times greater than a Prince, by reason of the Sun and Moon in the firmament. I will end this point of the Supremacy with the subscription of a Priest, m D. Rain. Conf. c. 10. Divis 1. p. 674 At the beginning of which Conference there is a letter of M Harts to justify M. D. Raynolds true dealing with him. Both set forth in M. Heart's life time lest some wrangling I R might say: He hath printed now at last, when such are dead as might control him. Mr Hart by name with whom our D. Rainolds had that famous conference. Who when he had thought that we meant to give as much to the Prince by the title of the Supremacy, as they did to the Pope, and saw by Mr Nowel's Books that we gave her no more, then doth St Austen, who saith that kings do serve God in this, as kings, if in their own Realm they command good things, and forbidden evil; not only concerning the civil state of men, but the n In hoc Reges sicut eis divinitus praecipitur Deo serviunt in quantum Reges sunt, si in suo Reg not bona iubeant, mala prohib●●nt, non solum quae pertinent ad humanam societatem, verumetiam quae ad divinam religionem. Aug. Tom. 7. cont. Crescon. Grammat. l. 3. c. 50. p. 185. Edit Bas. 1528. Religion of God also, thus much he subscribed unto. Upon which Confession if you please you may make these sequences: First what is the right and interest of Princes in matters Ecclesiastical: Secondly, that by a Priest's confession we gave no more to Queen Elizabeth then was indeed due unto her: Thirdly, that you need not travail over sea for this knowledge either to Rome, or Rheims, or Douai or so forth, you may as well learn it here at home. But to return to the matter in hand. That the Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction within this Realm is a sequence of the Premises, and therefore may he do well to stoop to Thrasoes proffers in the Poet, o Terent. Eunuch. Act. 5. Scen. 9 haereat in part aliqua tandem apud Thaidem, to play at small games in our kingdom, rather than wholly to sit out. Now, throwing at all as he doth there is great good hope on our side, fear on theirs, that he shall at length lose all. I come to the 38 & 39 Articles: the one of Christian men's goods which are not common: the other of a christian man's oath, wherein we agreed. The 38 Article is this: Art. 38 The riches and goods of Christians are not common, as touching the right, title, and possession of the same, as certain Anabaptists do falsely boast. Notwithstanding every man aught of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give Alms to the poor, according to his ability. The 39 Article is this: Art. 39 As we confess that vain & rash swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord jesus Christ, and james his Apostle: so we judge that Christian Religion doth not prohibit, but that a man may swear when the Magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the Prophets teaching, in justice, judgement, and truth. Art. 40 The 40 Article is the Ratification of all the Articles going before, namely that being agreed upon in the year 62, they were confirmed again some nine years after in the year 71. And thus, Beloved, have you heard at length the chief points of that Doctrine which our Mother the Church of England doth hold at this day. And now as jacob p Gen. 31.36. said to Laban, What have I trespassed? What have I offended, that thou hast pursued after me? Seeing thou hast searched all my stuff, what haste thou found of all thy household stuff? Put it here before my brethren, and thy Brethren, that they may judge between us both: so let us say unto our Adversaries what have we trespassed? What have we offended? That they pursue us so hotly, and at every third word call us Heretics. Now that all our stuff is thus searched, what Heresy is it they therein find? Do we say the Scriptures are sufficient to Salvation; that the Apochryphas are not Canonical; that Original Sin remaineth in them that are regenerated; that Man hath not free-will; that we are justified by faith only; that good works cannot put away sin and endure the severity of God's judgement; & done before justification that they cannot please God, and deserve grace of congruity; and that works of Supererogation cannot be taught without impiety? Do we say that any particular Church may err; and General Counsels to; that the doctrine of Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping of Images, etc.: is repugnant to the word of God; as also public Service in a tongue not understood that there are but two Sacraments only, Baptism & the Supper; that there is no Transubstantiation in the Sacrament, that is, a pasing or turning of one substance into an other; that the wicked eat not the Body of Christ; that the Cup is to be administered to the People? Do we say that the Mass is no Sacrifice; that Ministers may marry; that who are consecrated and ordered Bishops and Ministers according to our Rites are lawfully consecrated, & lawfully ordered; that the Prince is Supreme Governor, and the Pope hath nothing to do in this our whole Land, nor Church, nor Commonweal? Alas what is there in all this that may not evidently be proved, both by q See more hereof in M. Rogers of these Articles. Scriptures and by Fathers? Somewhat you have heard out of either of them concerning these several points already. Much q See Mr. Rogers upon these Articles. Printed by john Legat. 1607. more might have been brought, but my purpose was to give a taste only, that when you shall come to riper years, you in reading of the Fathers may say as the Psalmist did in another case, r Ps. 47.9. vulg Sicut audivimus, sic vidimus, Like as we have heard, so have we seen, Psalm. 48.7. It was a worthy speech of one of our s B. Bilsons survey of Christ's sufferings for Man's Redemption. p. 415. Prelates: I do nowhere refuse the faith professed & preached in the Primitive Church of Christ by the learned and ancient Pastors, and Guiders thereof. I openly confess to God, & this Realm, I should never sleep quietly, if I saw myself to be of another faith then they were. Thus he: and imagine for Oxford, for he was an Oxford man, one more shall you have for Cambridge, and then no more. This I dare avow, t D. Fulke against Stapletons' Fortress, p. 25. saith D. Fulke, that what Article of Doctrine soever we do affirm, the same hath been affirmed of the godly Fathers of the Primitive Church, whatsoever we deny, the same cannot be proved to have been universally affirmed and received of all the godly Fathers by the space of 600 years together. And what remaineth but I now conclude not only with the words of my Text, But this we confess unto them that after the way which they call Heresy, so worship we the God of our Fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law, & the Prophets: but believing all things also that were written by the Evangelists, and the Apostles, & not refusing that Faith that was professed & preached in the Primitive Church of Christ by the learned and ancient Fathers the Pastors and Guiders thereof. The God of Heaven so bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IT was an excellent speech of a Arnob. adver. Gent. l. 8. p 231 Arnobius, or rather of Minutius Felix, Lecture 9 Junii, 10. 1613. Nos non habitu sapientiam, sed ment praeferimus: non eloquimur magna, sed vivimus. We Christians make no show of wisdom by our exterior outward habit, but by the habit of our mind; our words are not so lofty as our lives. And Tertullian speaking of the Christians how virtuously they lived in his days, hath many lines to this purpose: I at this time will only english them, & indeed I would they were englished by English men as they should be. He writing to the Heathens, It is b De vestris semper aestuat carcer; de vestris semper metalla suspirant; de vestris semper bestiae saginantur; de vestris semper munerarii noxiorum greges pascuntur. Nemo illic Christianus nisi planè tantùm Christianus, aut si & aliud, iam non Christianus. Si de Pudicitia provocemur, lego partem sententiae Atticae in Socratem corruptorem Adolescentium pronunciatam. Sexum nec soemineum mutat Christianus. Novi & Phrynem meretricem Diogenis supera recubantis ardorem subantem. Audio & quendam Spensippum de Platonis schola in adulterio periisse. Christianus uxori suae soli masculus nascitur. Democritus excoecando semetipsum quòd mulieres sine concupiscentia aspicere non posset, & doleret si non esset potitus, incontinentiam emendatione profitetur. At Christianus salvis oculis foeminam videt, animo adversus libidinem coecus est. Si de Probitate defendam, eccè lutulentis pedibus Diogenes superbos Platonis thoros alia superbia deculcat; Christianus nec in pauperem superbit. Si de Modestia certem, eccè Pythagoras apud Thurios, Zenon apud Pryenense● tyrannidem affectant; Christianus verò nec aedilitatem. Si de Aequanimitate congrediar Lycurgus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 optavit, quod Leges eius Lacones emendassent; Christianus etiam damnatus gratias agit. Se de Fide comparem, Anaxagoras depositum hostibus denegavit; Christianus etiam extra fidelis vocatur. Si de Simplicitate consistam, Aristoteles familiarem suum Hermiam turpiter loco excedere fecit; Christianus nec inimicum suum laedit. Idem Aristoteles tam turpiter Alexandro regendo potius adulatur quàm Plato à Dionysio ventris gratia unditatur Aristippus in purpura sub magna gravitatis superficie nepotatur, & Hippias dum civitati insidias disponit, occiditur; hoc pro suis omni atrocitate dissipatis nemo unquam ten●avit Ch●istianus. Sed dicet aliqu●s etiam de nostris excedere quosdamà regula disciplinae, de sinunt tum Christiani haberi penes nos. Tertul. Apologel. c. 44 & 45. p 713. 714. 715. saith he, with men of your sort that the Prisons are so replenished; yours they are that for their misdeeds are condemned to the mines; it is with yours that your wild beasts fat themselves; yours they are that your beautiful Citizens do feed their droves withal procured for that purpose. Not Christian to be seen in those places, as he is a Christian only: or if so be he be somewhat else, then is he no Christian. And comparing a little after their Philosophers and Christians together, If, saith he, the challenge be made concerning CHASTITY, I could tell you what even your Socrates in part was condemned for; I could tell you of Phryne's the harlot of Diogenes, & of one Speusippus a Scholar of Plato's; as for a Christian he shows himself to be male only unto ... his wife. Your Democritus he forsooth put out his two eyes, & all for he could not look on a woman, but he must needs lust after her: a Christian looks on women with safety of eyesight enough, and concerning lust, it is not his eye, it is his heart that is blind only, If I should speak of CIVILITY, I could tell you of Diogenes, that trampled Plato's pride under foot, but with a greater pride of his own; a Christian is not proud, not not towards the very poor. If so be I should speak of MODESTY, even Pythagoras with the Thurians, Zeno with the Pryenians affected a kind of Tyranny: a Christian seeks not after the meanest office that is. If so be I should speak of PATIENCE, Lycurgus wished to the Lacedæmonians an evil end, for because they altered his laws: a Christian though he be condemned, will notwithstanding give thanks for it. If I should speak of FIDELITY, Anaxagoras refused to give the Enemy his Depositum, that which was given unto him in keeping, no Enemy can blame a Christian for such kind of dealing. If I should speak of PLAINNESS and SIMPLICITY, I could tell you how Aristotle used his friend Hermias: a Christian will not harm, not not his enemy. The self-same Aristotle as basely flattered Alexander, as Plato did Dionysius, or Aristippus played the gurmandizer, Hippias the Traitor: this a Christian will never adventure upon, no though it were to the good of a many besides. But some perhaps will say that there are even of Ours to, that sometimes tread awry: nay but then they are none of ours, but are utterly discarded by us. Behold, Beloved, what a golden age there was of Christians at that time! how virtuous they were! how religious! what discipline towards such as gave occasion of offence! Their scope was obedience, ours is skill; their endeavour was reformation of life, our virtue nothing but to hear gladly the reproof of vice; they in the practice of their religion wearied chief their knees and hands, we especially our ears and tongues: In a word, we are grown, saith c M Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. ●. § 81. p. 265. Reverend Hooker, as in a many things else so in this to a kind of intemperancy, which (only Sermons excepted) hath almost brought all other duties of Religion out of taste. The consideration hereof, dearly Beloved, did 'cause me at the first, when I pondered with myself what kind of Lectures to read unto you, to make such a Division of them that as some should be for knowledge, & illightning of the mind, so others again should be for life & conversation. This it was that made me make that division at the d Lect. 1. p. 20. first of what the Church was to Believe, & what to Practise. Doing & Teaching was our Saviour's method, Act. 1.1. ours shall not be contrary to it, if Teaching be first, & then Doing. Having told you then heretofore what the Church is to Believe, and by consequence every of you who are of that Church: come we now unto her Practice which being first of all to observe the Commandments, secondly to Pray, thirdly to Fast, fourthly to give Alms: of every of these in their several order, and in as many several Lectures, and first of the ten Commandments. The Text I have chosen to this purpose is out of St Matthewes Gospel. Mat. 22. the 37, 38, 39, and 40 verses. The words be these: jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, & with all thy mind. This is the first and the great Commandment. And the second is like unto this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, On these two commandments hangeth the whole Law and the Prophets. The words you see are an answer, and the answer is to a guestion, which a certain Pharisee here made. This Pharisee it should seem was of the humour of some in our days whose questioning with their Minister is not so much to learn, as to try what he can do, and if he bestir not himself the better, to expose him to the scorn and contempt of standers by. A saucy & malapert kind of * Sheep Ram. pant. Questionists, who having so many Quaerees for others, have not one only for themselves, whether the disgrace so wittingly and willingly offered to the Servant, redound to the Master or not. But to return unto my Pharisee. He was, saith the Text, An expounder of the Law, and setting upon our Saviour in his own proper element, the law, he thought now to show himself such an one therein as that the world should take notice of him that he was the man that put jesus to a Non plus. c Pers. Satyr. 1. Nam pulchrum est digito monstrari, & possit hic est. It is not unlikely but that he studied the Case long before, and all the Obs, and all the Sols, that might have been made to that purpose. As if so he had said with himself. What? will he say the first Commandment is greatest of all, Thou shalt have no other Gods but me? Why but the second is as great as that: Thou shalt make no graven image. And as great as is the second, is the third by all likelihood of not taking God's name in vain. And the fourth concerning the Sabbath may seem to be greatest of all: for besides that our memories are specially charged with that Commandment, Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day, how was there one but for gathering thereon a few sticks even stoned to death by Gods own f Num. 15.36. express commandment. But what would he say then unto the fift, concerning the honouring of our Parents, which is the first Commandment with promise? So likewise of the rest, there being not one amongst them all, but in one respect or other seeming to have more peculiarly some pre-eminence above the rest. But whatsoever it was that urged him to urge our Saviour in this wise, whether Haughtiness or Pride upon the talon of learning God had given him, or Fnvy that our Saviour should so much speak of the law as he did; g Virg. Aen. l. 1 Non illi imperium pelagi: saevumque tridentem, Sed mihi sort datum; or else with Envy in the Poet indeed, h Ovid. Met. l. 2 Vixque tenens lachrymas, quia nil lachrimabile cernit. Our Saviour's answer here unto him was a good effect of a bad cause: for had not the Pharisee here been so vicious, we had wanted perhaps this good Instruction of Epitomizing thus the ten Commandments, nor have known the first and great Commandment, of loving God above all, & how the second is like unto it, of loving our Neighbours as ourselves. Howbeit before we come to this Epitomizing of our Saviour's, it will not be amiss to take a view of each one of them in particular, that so having considered them one by one, we may make the true benefit of an Epitome indeed, which is not therefore made us, to save us a labour in reading the larger Volumes, (that would prove the bane of true Learning) but when we have read them over, to call to our minds what we have read, and to treasure up the sum thereof more firmly in our memories. Two several places there are in holy writ that contain therein these Commandments at large, Exodus, 20.1. & Deut. 5.6. In the book of Exodus they were first given, in Deuteronomy they were repeated again. The reason was for that they being dead to whom the Law was given in Mount Sinai (and of that Exodus maketh mention) Moses repeateth the Law again more particularly in Deuteronomy exhorting and persuading them to observe & keep the same. But first of these ten Commandments in general, then of every of them in particular. jesus said to him: thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and so forth. The opinion was wondrous great the Romans had of those Laws of theirs, which they called the 12 Tables. Tully was so transported with the love he bore unto them, that having occasion to entreat of them, Fremant omnes licet, i Tully de Orat. l. 1. saith he, dicam quod sentio, Bibliothecas meherculè omnium Philosophorum, unus mihi videtur duodecim Tabularum libellus, si quis Legum fontes & capita viderit, & autoritatis pondere, & utilitatis ubertate superare. Let others take it as they list, I for my part will show you my opinion, namely that that one little Book of the twelve Tables (if so be a man would feign see the fountains of Laws, whence they spring, and the chiefest heads of all and every of them) seems to surpass all the Books that all the Philosophers ever wrote, partly in respect of the authority which it hath, partly in respect of the profit and utility which it bringeth. Now if so be you would feign know what is become of that Book, we must return it with a writ of, Non est inventus: It is not indeed to be found, only some Fragments still remain, which rather show unto the world that there was indeed such a Book, then that the Book that was, was such. But whatsoever the opinion of that Book was, & the words of Tully how true soever, it was nothing comparable to two Tables the Scripture speaks of, so far beyond those Twelve, as the Sun and Moon beyond the Stars. As Tully spoke in their commendation, so S. Austen in the others, Quae disputationes, l Aug. Tom. 2. Epist. 3. p. 9 saith he, quae literae quorumlibet Philosophorum, quae leges quarumlibet Civitatum duobus Praeceptis ex quibus Christus dicit totam Legem, Prophetasque pendere ullo modo sint comparandae? Hîc Physica, Ethica, Logica, Politica. What disputations, saith St Austen, what learning of any Philosophers whatsoever, what Laws of any Cities are in any wise to be compared to those two Commandments, on which our Saviour saith the whole Law and the Prophets do hang. In those two are comprised the Physics, the Ethics, Logic, and the Politics. Physics, forasmuch as all the causes of natural things are in God the Creator: Ethics for that a good and an honest life is not otherwise framed then when those things are loved which are to be loved; God & our Neighbour: Logic for that the truth and light of a reasonable soul is God only: Politics for that a city is not governed or kept unless the chief good be beloved, that is God himself, & in him every of us love each other sincerely, & for his sake. I should be very loathe to make them equal, for I remember that of m Hieron. adv. jovin. l. 1. jerom, Quando minora maioribus coaequantur, Inferioris comparatio superioris iniuria est: when lesser things are equalled to those that are greater, wrong is done uno the better part: and therefore let us now see the odds between them both. First concerning the 12 Tables call we to mind the first maker of them, and it was man, mortal man: the Commandments were first written by the n Exod. 32, 16 & 31.18. Deut. 9 10. finger of God himself. Secondly, consider the scope of them, and it was but to bind the outward man, I mean the outward actions of those men as were subject to the same: here the inward man is bound too, But I say unto you, saith our Saviour, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Mat. 5.29. Thirdly, If we consider the extent of those 12 Tables, they were but for one meridian, & befitting only a popular state: no Nation under Heaven, whom these Commandments may not fit. For why spould God, o Cur etenim Deus universitatis conditor, mundi totius gubernator, hominis Plasmator, universarun gentium Sator, Legem per Moysen uni populo ded●sse credatur & non omnibus gentibus attribuisse dicatur? Tertul. adver. judaeos. p 99 saith Tertullian, the maker and governor of this whole world, framer of Man, and Creator of all the Nations in the world, be thought to give by Moses a Law to one People, and not be said rather to have given it to all the world. Lastly, If we consider the perfection of those, we shall found that at the first there were in all but 10 Tables, afterwards Two were added to make them up just Twelve: these were but Ten at first, and so have continued ever since, admitting in them no alteration of that perfection they first had. True it is, as o In lege Adae datâ, omnia Praecepta condita recognoscimus, quae pestea pullulaverunt data per Moysen. Tertul adv. judaeo 〈◊〉 Tertullian observeth they were all of them comprised in that one Precept given to Adam, Gen. 2.17. about the forbidden fruit, and therefore he calls that Law, Primordialem Legem, & saith that it was Quasi matrix omnium Praeceptorum Dei, The first original law that ever was, & as it were the womb of the ten Commandments, howbeit afterwards when they were brought forth & once came to be ten in number; the number afterwards still held, howsoever the Tables that held them were but two. No controversy at all then about the number of them, nor of the two Tables that did contain them; a controversy there is which they are that are in whither Table, & how they are to be divided. Some there are that in respect they are all of them but Ten, divide them into equal parts, placing five of them in the first Table, and five in the second, so josephus & Philo judaeus: others make but three in the first Table, and seven in the second, so S. Austen, and Clemens Alexandrinus in part, for he maketh three in the first, but then in the second he hath but six: but the most usual division is of Four in the first Table, and Six in the second, and this is the division of all the Fathers besides. Our Antipodes of Rome that so much boast of the Fathers, and how they are theirs thick and threefold, in their Division of the Commandments leave all the Fathers p Vid D. Rain. Confer. with M, Hart c. 2. Divis. 2 p. 75. quite and clean, and follow S. Austen only. Under colour of whom they conceal the second Commandment from the People, and omit it in their Prayer Books, as also in their Catechisms, and then to salve the matter lest thereby we should have no more than nine Commandments they cut the q Flatly opposite to holy Scripture. For house and Wife the two members that should in our Adversaries judgement make two several Commandments, are placed. Deut. 5.21, Wife and House, so that the former member Exod. 20, 17 is the latter, Deut. 5.21. & the latter Deut. 5.21. is the former Ex, 20.17. and so by their reckoning the 9 Commandment should be the 10 and the 10 the 9 or indeed we should not known which is ninth, or which is tenth Vid. M. Bunnies Head corner Stone. l. 1. c. 7. § 4. p. 135. Tenth into twain. But to return unto my purpose. There being in the first Table than Four Commandments, in the second Table Six, they are specified to be these. The first of having no other Gods, but the Lord: the second of having no Images: the third of not taking his name in vain: the fourth, of keeping the Sabbath. And these in the first Table, the reason of the connexion of all which four, seemeth this. The first teacheth Gods inward worship: the second his outward: the third the reverend use of both: the fourth the principal time when both are to be done. Those six in the second Table are specified to be these. The first, is of honouring our Parents: the second, of not killing: the third, of not committing adultery: the fourth, of not stealing: the fift, of not bearing false witness: the sixth and last, of not coveting. The reason of this connexion seems to be this. In the first which is the fift Commandment, we are taught special duties, and those mutual, as of the Superior to the Inferior, and of the Inferior to the Superior again, and that under the Precept of Honouring Father and Mother. In the other five are contained general duties, and first because life is the ground of all the rest, therefore in the first of them, which is the sixth Commandment, order is taken to preserve that Thou shalt not kill. Secondly because as life must be preserved, so we aught to live an honest life, therefore in the second of them which is the seventh Commandment, order is taken for that, Thou shalt not commit Adultery. Thirdly because an honest life must be honestly maintained, & we must content ourselves with what God gives us, be it little, be it much, in the third which is the eight Commandment, we have a precept concerning that, Thou shalt not steal. Fourthly for it is not enough to possess our goods in such good sort, but we must have a care of our good names too, in the fourth, which is the ninth Commandment, we are forbidden To bear false witness. Lastly, for the heart of Man is the fountain of all vices, there coming from thence as speaks our Saviour, Mat. 15.19. Evil Thoughts, Murders, Adulteries, & so forth; and when we see many Pipes and Conduits infected we go to the Fountain, for that from thence the infection comes, and we endeavour to take order for that hence it is that in the fift, which is the tenth Commandment, we are forbidden the first motions and enticements unto sin, howsoever the Heart consent not. And thus much of the Commandments in general, come we now to each particular, and that as briefly as I may, not forgetting that of r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Greg. Naz. Orat. in Sanct. Bapt. Orat. 40. p. 637. Nazianzen, that Excess of speech is as great an enemy, & as obnoxious to the ear, as superfluity of meat is to the stomach. Besides that holding you so long the last time I will now endeavour to make you amendss. To come them to the matter in hand. The first Commandment is in these words: s Exod. 20.1. Deut. 5.7. Then God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. In which words I note first of all two several Prefaces: Secondly the Precept itself. The one of those two Prefaces is that which Moses made concerning God: the other is that which God made concerning himself. That which Moses made concerning God is in these words, Then God spoke all these words, saying. Then? when? t Exod. 19.1 when the Israelites were come to the wilderness of Sinai, u V 14. when they were sanctified, and as Moses commanded them, had washed their clothes, x V 15. when they were ready on the third day & came not at their wives, y V 16. when it was early in the morning, and there were thunders, and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon Sinai, and the sound of the Trumpet exceeding lov●d. z V 18. When mount Sinai was all on smoke, because the Lord came down in fire, & the mount trembled exceedingly, & the sound of the Trumpet blew long, and waxed louder and louder. When a V 25. Moses was gone down from the mount b Zanch. de Redempt. l. 1. c. 12 p. 214. lest it should have been thought to have been his voice. In a word, when the sight that appeared was so terrible, that even Moses himself said, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I c So our New Translat. Heb. 12.21. exceedingly fear, & quake. Then God spoke all these words, saying. And indeed if we respect the nature of the Law, full well was all this as Harbingers unto it. For what doth the law but accuse and terrify, Make us subject unto sin, subject unto Death, subject to the wrath of God, and when we once are in that plight, what do we see in the whole world, but Thunders, & Lightnings, and Clouds, and sounds of Trumpet as it were summoning us to judgement; Before us, all the world as it were on a light fire, Above us, an angry judge, About us, Satan and his Complices, Beneath us, Hell and Damnation, With in us, a worm of conscience, that howsoever we die, d Esay. 66.24. Mark 9.44. & v. 46. & v. 48. never dieth. It followeth, God spoke all these words, saying. God in his own person, attended upon with millions of glorious Angels, spoke, in a distinct voice and sound of words, that the People both heard and understood them. The People were at that time six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, and well might it be, as e Zanch. ubi supra. Zanchius observeth, that God himself spoke, for what human voice had been possible to have pierced even the twentieth part of so many several ears? In this respect it is f Vid. M.D. Boys his Exposition of all the principal Scriptures in our Liturgy p. 86. thought that St Stephen doth call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, g Act. 7.38. lively Oracles, in as much as they were uttered by the lively voice of God himself. I come to the other Preface, that which God made concerning himself, I am the Lord thy God which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. In which Preface he yields them two sorts of Arguments to prove that both he on his part might give them a law, and that they on their parts were bound to keep it. The first argument is taken from his essence, & his greatness, and goodness towards them, I am the Lord thy God: the second from a peculiar benefit, and a principal favour done unto them, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Concerning his Essence, and Greatness, and Goodness, the words are in the Original jehovah Eloheka. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of the former namely jehovah I have spoken h Lect. 2, p. 28. before, a word or two of the latter, Elohim. Elohim i Elohim est nomen potentiae & fortitudinis, magnarumque virium, eoque optimè convenit Deo, & quidem soli, propriè. Zanch, de Diu. Attrib. l. 1. c. 12 p. 33. , saith Zanchius, is a name of power and strength, and of great puissance, and therefore is most agreeable unto God, and properly to him alone. It is a word of the plural number, and oftentimes so used throughout the holy Scriptures, in the singular very seldom, all to signify thereby three Persons in the Godhead. Being a word, saith he, of the plural number, it is sometimes in construction joined with a verb of the plural, sometimes with an adjective of the plural though the verb be in the singular, sometimes with a verb of the singular. In all these three kinds there is l Zanc. Ib. p. 34. saith he, to be noted a plurality of Persons, though it be not so apparent in this last kind, as in the two former. Besides as he saith in an other m Nunquam dixit in sacris literis se esse unum Elohim, sicut semper ait se esse jehovam unum. Zanch. de Redempt. l. 1 c. 12. p. 215. place, God never calls himself One Elohim, as he ever calls himself One jehovah, to show no doubt in himself a plurality, not of Essence, or of essential Attributes, but of Persons. And thus much briefly of the word. The second argument taken from that peculiar benefit of his done unto them, was concerning the land of Egypt out of which he brought them, when as they had been in bondage there the space of 400 years. — n Virg. Aen. l. 1 longa est iniuria, longae Ambages: sed summa sequar fastigia rerum. So it was that joseph the son of jacob after divers and sundry afflictions came in Egypt to great o Gen 41.44. honour. Where being a great dearth and in all the Countries round about, and especially in Canaan, where joseph's Father and Brethren lived, he p Gen. 45.10. Act. 7.14. sent for them & their families to sojourn with him in Egypt some threescore and fifteen souls. It pleased the Lord afterwards in tract of time to multiply them exceedingly, in so much that they grew to many thousands. Which the kings of Egypt that came after perceiving, and how q Exod. 1.18. obnoxious it would be unto them to have such a People in their bosom, and to grow up still amongst them, they endeavoured to keep them under, and set Taskmasters over them, afterwards they took order to r Exod. 1.22. slay all their male children. In time of this massacre was Moses borne, & not only escaped miraculously, but as miraculously was he s Exod. 2.10. brought up under the nose of one of those Tyrants. From whom at length flying upon occasion of a murder he had committed upon one of his Subjects in behalf of one of his Brethren, after some forty years after that, he returned to Egypt again with a message from the Lord concerning the deliverance of his People. t Exod. 5.1. Pharaoh was loathe to hear on that ear, but afterwards when he saw so many miracles wrought concerning u Exod. 7.1. Blood and x 8.6. Frogs, and y 8.16. Lice, and z 8.24. Flies, and a 9.3. Murrain, and b 9.10. Blisters, and c 9.23. Thunder, and d 10.13. Grasshoppers, and e 10.22. Darkness, and f 12.29. loss even of his own first-born, then lo he granted leave, who yet afterwards repenting himself, and pursuing them with all his People hoping to have recovered them, and to have had them in the slavery he had them before, he utterly g Exod. 14.28. perished in the Sea, as he was pursuing them amain. And this was the house of Bondage here spoken of in this place, from which the Lord having thus delivered them by means of so many strange miracles, no marvel though he use it as a special argument in this place, why he on his part might give them a Law, and they on their parts were bound to keep it. So that this his benefit and favour to them is here remembered in this place, partly for it was a late benefit, the sweetness whereof was yet in their mouths: partly for it was so great a benefit, and to be remembered of all posterity: partly for it was a type of the deliverance of all the Elect from the Egypt of this world. In all and every of these respects it h Zanch de Redempt. l. 1. c. 12 p. 217 Col. 1. agreed to the Children of Israel; in this last respect it agrees to Christians, who are now the i Gal. 6.16. Israel of God. For if so be the Lord himself l jer. 16.14. said, The days come, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but, the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the North, etc.: how much more may it well be m Mat. 8.11. said, Vivit Dominus, The Lord liveth, that shall bring all and every of us from East and West, North and South, to sit with Abraham, and Isaac, and jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But I come to the Precept itself, Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. First whereas it is here said, Thou shalt have no other Gods, the truth is there is no other God besides to be had. For who is God, n Psal 18.31. saith the Psalmist, but the Lord? or who hath any strength except our God? So likewise the Prophet Esay, I am the Lord, and there is no other, Esay 45.5. and again, I am the Lord, and there is no other, Esay, 45.18, and yet again the third time, I am God, and there is no other, Esay, 45.22. Howbeit seeing man's nature is such as that he will frame to himself other Gods, partly in opinion, partly in practice, hence it is that here it is said, Thou shalt have no other. So that the Emphasis is in Thou: Thou, whether thou art an Israelite, or Thou, whether a Christian, Thou shalt have no other Gods. Though there be, o 1. Cor. 8.5. saith the Apostle S. Paul, that are called Gods, whether in Heaven, or in Earth, (as there be many Gods, and many Lords) yet unto us there is but one God, which is the Father of whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him. Secondly where he saith Before me, or as it is in Deuteronomy, Deut. 5.7, Before my face, Indignitatem auget, p Calvin Inst. l. 2. c. 8. §. 16. saith Calvin, it shows the augmentation of the heinousness of the crime, if so be we betake us to other Gods, like as if an unchaste woman, saith he, by bringing in an adulterer openly before her Husband's eyes, should the more vex his mind. That of Assuerus is famous concerning Haman, who when he was fallen upon the bed whereon Ester sat: what q Ester, 7.8, saith the king, will he force the Queen also before me in the house? and then was there no way with him but one. So the Lord here in this place the more to fray us from falling from him, gives us warning that we can do nothing in that kind, but that he himself is a witness of it, He that planted the ear, r Ps. 94.9. saith the Psalmist, shall he not hear? or he that made the eye, shall he not see? Quantascunque tenebras factis tuis superstruxeris, Deus lumen est, s Tertul. de Poenit p. 379. saith Tertullian. It is that in effect which David t Ps. 139.10. saith, If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall cover me: then shall my night be turned to day. Yea the darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is as clear as the day: the darkness and light to to thee are both alike. I might seem to have sufficiently entreated of this Commandment considering the brevity I have proposed to myself, howbeit there is one thing yet that I must necessarily tell you of, before I part from it, and it serveth not only for this Commandment, but for all the other that follow after. It is a u Semper in negativis meminerimus affirmativa contineri. Strigel. Loc Theol. Part 2. c. 4. p. 26. ruled case, That all the Commandments if they be Negative, then by way of Synecdoche they comprehend in them an Affirmative too, if so be they be Affirmative, then by the self same figure they comprehend a Negative too. This being then a negative Precept, and comprehending in it an affirmative, the affirmative therein comprehended is this: We aught to retain the Lord, as our own & only God. Not as Masters retain their Servants to have or to discard as it falls out a many times at their pleasure, and as Tertullian x Tertul. in Apologet. c 5 p. 669. writes merrily of the Heathens, Nisi homini Deus placuerit Deus non erit. Homo iam Deo propitius esse debebit. Unless God please Man the better, he shall be God no longer Man must now be friendly and favourable to God. No but that perpetually we have him as our own, not giving away elsewhere what is proper and peculiar to him. Now the things we own to God, though they be indeed innumerable, yet as Calvin well y Calvin. Instit. l. 2 c. 8. § 16. observes may be reduced to four heads, Adoration, Affiance, Invocation, and Giving of Thanks. But I come to the second z Exod. 20.4, Deut. 5.8. Commandment. Thou shalt make thee no graven Image, neither any similitude of things that are in heaven above, neither that are the in earth beneath, nor that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, neither serve them, for I am the Lord thy God a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children, upon the third generation, and upon the fourth of them that hate me: & showing mercy unto thousands to them that love me & keep my Commandments. There are in this second Commandment three especial and principal parts. First, the Precept itself: Secondly a menacing of those that worship him otherwise than he will: Thirdly, a promise unto such as worship him aright. The Precept consisteth of two points: First, that Images should in no wise be made, namely to worship God withal: Secondly, they should not be adored, or served by us. Concerning the former point of Images not to be made, I therefore add, to worship God withal, for that in his Treatise of worshipping of Images, hath a whole Chapter, the contents whereof is, That the word of God forbiddeth not generally the making of all kind of Images, and in what sense Images are forbidden to be made: whereunto you shall have the Answer of that worthy Hector of ours D. Fulke. That the word of God, a M. D. Fulkes Cenfu●. of Sand. Treatise of the worship of Images. p. 596. saith he, forbiddeth not the making of all Images generally, it is a matter out of Controversy with us, although the jews and Mahometists think the contrary. But seeing making of Images is by the second Commandment expressly forbidden, we may clearly perceive, what Images are forbidden to be made, if we consider that this is a Precept of the first Table, which concerneth Religion. Therefore by it we are forbidden to make ourselves any manner of Images for any use of Religion. Now that Images aught not to be made to worship God withal, we have divers and sundry Scriptures, as Deut. 4.15. Esay, 40 18. Act. 17.29, Rom. 1.23. I spare to cite the words, you may turn unto them at your leisure. The second point relieth on that which hath been said concerning the former, for if Images may not be made to any use of Religion, much less may they be worshipped. But of Images I have spoken b Lect. 8. in Artic. 22. p. 181. before, only now let me briefly show that there is in truth no difference between an Image and an Idol, if so be the Image be once worshipped. First, Idolum by their own Vulgar is c Vulg. Exod. 34.15 Levit. 26.30. Num. 23.21 where it being in the Vulgar, Non est Idolum in jacob nec videtur Simula. chrum in Israel. The Douai Bible set forth 1609. translateth thus There is no Idol in jacob, neither is there simulachre to be seen in Israel. Ha', ha', he. I pray you remember the verse before, p. 108. Spectatum admissi, etc. My friends were you admitted to this sight, Can you refrain? would you not laugh outright? called Simulachrum, and Simulachrum signifies as much as Imago, an Image. So Tully, Statuae & Imagines, d Tull. pro Archia Poeta. saith he, non animorum simulachra sunt, sed corporum. So e Arnob●cont. Gent. l. 8. Arnobius, as you have heard before, Quod simulachrum Deo fingam, cùm si rectè existimes, sit Dei homo ipse simulachrum. Of this, see more in M.D. Fulks f D. Fulks Defence against Martin's Discovery, c. 1. na. 5. p 7, 8, 9, etc. Defence of the Translation of our Bibles. Secondly, they are both borrowed, the one from the Greek, the other from the Latin, and therefore in their own Dialect signifying both of them one thing, it is probable that even in the English tongue they may be both of them so applied. Thirdly, you shall found it in g An old manuscript in my own keeping. The beginning whereof is, In the name of the father etc. Some call it Christianorum Speculum. old english, that the first woe that ever came to the Children of Israel after that they were comen out of Egypt was for the worshipping of an Image. Fourthly, & lastly, Bellarmine himself brings nothing to the contrary, but that oftentimes the name of an Idol is attributed to true Images, whereof see more in D. Raynolds in his h D Rayn. de Rom. Eccles. Idololat. l. 2. c. 3. p. 361 Besides that our Adversaries themselves use the word Images in their D●way Bib●e upon Numb. 31.16. in margin: Images of Beelphegor. And those I trow were Idols. Douai Bible p. 386, Edit. 1609. Book de Idololatria. And thus much of the first part namely of the Precept. Concerning the Menacing of those that worship him otherwise then he would; which he calleth here, An hating of him, he shows that he is a jealous God, and how he Visits the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children, upon their third and fourth generation, but of this have I spoken i Lect. 4. p. 75. heretofore, only for the word jealous here let me observe that jealousy, as l Zanch. de Redemp. l. 1. c. 14. p. 338. Col. 2. Zanchius tells us, is first an affection of a Lover who cannot endure any Rival. Secondly that affection of his whereby he is so moved for wrongs offered him as that he cannot but be revenged. They are Solomons own words, jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance, Prov. 6.34 Now both those significations, saith Zanchius, agreed to the Lord our God. First God, he is the Husband of the Church, and will be worshipped by her only, and as by the Church in general, so by every member of it in particular. Secondly, we see the punishment here, as also the promise unto such as worship him aright, but of both these I have spoken m Lect, 4. p. 64. & 72. before, and therefore come I to the third n Exod. 20, 7. Deut 5.11. Commandment. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain. As in the former, so in this there is a Precept, and a menacing to. The Precept is in these words: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: the menacing in these; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless. In the Precept I observe first what the Name of Lord is, secondly, what it is to take that Name in vain. We shall be too too scant in our measure if entreating now of the Name of God we afford him no other name than we have given him o Lect. 2. p. 26. heretofore. You may remember what those Names were, but they are not the only Names here intimated in this place. Here then is meant by the Name of God not only his Titles and Properties, but his Ordinances, his Works, and his whole outward worship whereby God is made known unto us, as men are by their names. Now by In vain here in this place is meant all abuse of them, the which is done two ways, or in our works, or in our words. Our Works; as when the Name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (or for we live not now among Gentiles, among our Adversaries the Papists) through us, Rom. 2.24. Our Words, as when we talk, of God, as also of his Word, irreverently and unworthily, without any devotion in the world, or else when on every light occasion no perfect period passeth our mouths but it hath a volley of oaths in triumph of what is spoken. p Horat. Epod. Od. 7. Quò quò scelesti ruitis? aut our dexteris Aptantur enses conditi? And indeed such oaths are Swords, nay worse than swords and that to a man's own self. A sword doth not pierce so deep, q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. ad Pop Antioch. Hom. 15. saith St Chrysostom, as the nature of an oath doth, neither doth it give so deadly a blow. r Virg. Aeneid. lib 4. And as one saith he, that hath the halter about his neck, & is going out of the gates of the City to be executed, is as a dead man already even before he come to the place of execution, in such a case saith S. Chrysostom, is the Swearer, as if he had said, he hath his death's wound about him, — Haeret lateri let halis arundo. well he may hold out for a spurt, but it is not likely to be long, What is your life? saith s jam. 4.14. S. james, It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and afterward vanisheth away. Of all Sins this is a Sin that doth most impeach our reputation. For Oaths are ordained where need is, that Truth should not perish, & Debates should be at an end. So the Apostle to the Hebrews, An oath for confirmation t Heb. 6.16. saith he, is among men an end of all strife. But he that swears at every word, declareth plainly that no credit is to be given to any of his words and therefore he joins to every word an Oath as a surety of the truth thereof. Like as if a man would offer a great substantial Surety when he would borrow but a Penny doth he not plainly show to him of whom he would borrow it, that he is of small credit himself that would for so small a matter offer so great a Surety? But what do I speak of credit with men, you see what followeth here in this place concerning the menacing, The Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain. You see the arrow sticks in him still. — u Virg. Aeneid. lib. 7. Actaque multo Perque uterum sonitu, perque ilia venit arundo. Now if the Lord will not hold him guiltless, he hath scarcely the benefit of that Superscription to be set upon his door, which infected Houses have in a well governed City, Lord have mercy upon us. They were the Lords own words to the Prophet Zachary, who when he said unto him, what seest thou? And he answered, I see a flying book: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits: This x Zach. 5.2. saith the Lord, is the curse that goeth forth over the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut of, as well on this side as on that: and every one that sweareth shallbe cut of, as well on this side as on that. In any wise we that are Scholars let us beware of this Book, of all the Books in the world let not this be the scholars Book. Were I to speak now to Tradesmen I would wish them they would not make it their Shop-book neither, but I come to the fourth y Exod. 20.8. Deut. 5.12. Commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy Son, nor thy Daughter, thy man Servant, nor thy Maid, nor thy Beast, nor thy Stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made the Heaven and the Earth, the Sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Between which Commandment & the former three that went before, we may observe three special z Vid. Zanch. de Redempt. li. 1. c. 19 p. 594. col. 2. differences. First they were Negative only, this Negative in part, in part Affirmative. Secondly, in the former, there he showed us not his own example, here he doth. Thirdly, in the former three, there was no such note of special remembrance, in this there is. All to intimate unto us that God had a special liking to this Commandment, & therefore so carefully chargeth us with it. But I come to the Precept itself wherein I observe four points. First the explication of this word Sabbath: Secondly, what it is to keep it holy, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Thirdly, the Parties concerning whom this Commandment is given, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereof comes ELISABETH Requies Dei, of El and Sabbath, Vid. Barthol. Scheraei Itinerar. num. 1075. the Master himself and Mistress, Son and Daughter, man Servant, and maid Servant, Beast, & Stranger. Fourthly, Gods own example of sanctifying the same, For in six days the Lord made the Heaven, and the Earth, etc. Concerning the explication of this word Sabbath, it is an Hebrew word, and signifieth Rest. And sometimes is it taken by the way of Synecdoche for a whole week, as Luk. 24.1, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The first day of the week, and Luk. 18.12, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I fast twice in the week, but here in this place it signifies a Day of rest, appointed to be kept holy to the Lord, and to be spent in his service. This among the jews was the seventh day being reckoned from the Creation: we a That of 7 days, one is to be consecrated to the Lord, that is moral & perpetual but that this one day was the 7, that was ceremonial and therefore abrogated by the Church. Vid. Zanch. the Redempt. l. 1. c. 19 p. 593. col. 1. Christians make it the next unto it in remembrance of our Saviour's Resurrection. And this observation of the Lords Day hath testimony of holy Scripture, as 1. Cor. 16.2. Act. 20.7. Revel. 1.10. See more hereof in D. Fulkes Answer to the Rhemists' Testament, upon this last quotation of the Apocalypse. Concerning the second point of keeping it holy, it is to apply it to such uses as it was ordained for at first, namely to rest from our weekly labours all that day, and to give ourselves wholly to the Service of God. And yet allow we to be done three kinds of works, Opera pietatis, The works of Piety, Opera Charitatis, The Works of Charity, and Opera Necessitatis, The Works of Necessity. Of these three you may see more in Mr D. Willets b D. Willet Synops. Papismi. The 9 general Cont. qu. 8. p. 430. Edit. 1610. Synopsis. I am persuaded I may yet go a little farther, even as he doth. Namely that whereas some are utterly against any Recreation at all on that day. I fear me they are as far out in one extreme, as the Profaners of the Sabbath are in an other. To recreate ourselves so far forth as we shall be the fit for divine exercises that we are to perform at Church whether at Morning or Evening Prayer, or hearing of Sermons if there be any, is no where forbidden by the word. And I am persuaded no one thing hath caused the People to be so far out of square from keeping the Sabbath as they should, as the unreasonable exactions of such who will permit them no refresh. But I come to a worse Tenet. In regard it is here said, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, there are that are of opinion that we should have no Holy days at all, & which is worse than opinion, you shall have them put it in practice. I would it were not in this City, which by reason of somuch Preaching & Preachers on the one side, & so many kinds of Magistrates, and Governors on the other, should be an example to all other that hath much fewer of both sorts. But I come not to complain. What Zanchius hath said of our Holy Days I have told you c David's Desire Scr. 2. p. 103. elsewhere, namely how they are comprehended in this fourth Precept under the name of the Sabbath. They are his very words, d Zanch. de Redempt. l. 1. c. 10. p. 597. Col. 1. Quatenus Praeceptum hoc ad nos quoque pertinct, quia ex part morale ac naturale est, concludimus, nobis quoque mandari, ut nostros dies festos sanctificemus. So far forth as this fourth Precept belongs to us Christians, in regard it is partly moral and natural, we conclude, that we therein in are commanded to sanctify our Holy Days, which though they hap to us at other times, then did the jewish Sabbaths and their Feasts, nomine tamen Sabbathi, nobis his significatur, quòd in nostris Festis debeamus & nos Sabbathi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, hoc est, quiescere ab illis operibus à quibus & judaei quiescere iubebantur: yet is it signified unto us in the name of the Sabbath here, that we in our Holy Days aught to rest from those works from which the jews were commanded to rest. As for that it is here said, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy works: this, e Archb. Whytgifts Defence of the Answ. to the Admonit. Trac. 10. c. 1. Divis. 4 p. 541. saith a worthy Prelate of our Church, is no Commandment, but a signification, that so many days they might labour. See more in that worthy Prelate, as also in f Zanch de Redempt. l. 1. c. 19 p. 603. Col. 1. Zanchius. As touching the Parties concerning whom this Commandment is given, it is in effect that which joshua once g Josh. 24.15. said, I, and my house, will serve the Lord. Adigere quisque Paterfamiliâs potest, saith Zanchius, & debet suos domesticos ad externum cultum. The Master of a Family (and consequently the Magistrate too, for he also is understood, saith g Zanch. Ib p. 601. Col. 2. Zanchius) may and must compel those of his household to the outward performance hereof. Besides that he taketh care even for h 1. Cor. 9.9. Oxen here, and teacheth us to be those righteous men that i Prov. 12.10. regard the life of their beast. But his own example is that which aught to move us nothing more. We to profane that which God himself hath sanctified? we to dare to work on that day, on which, for gathering a few sticks an Israelite was l Num. 15.36. stoned to death by Gods own determination? nay to work on that day on which the Lord himself would not work? no nor rain so much as m Exod. 16.27. & V 29. Manna on it? What? is not God the same God still? is he not as Just as ever? is his arm so shortened, that it cannot even now adays strike home? But I had rather use those golden interrogations of Leo the Emperor, who when n Cod l. 3. tit. 12. l. 3. Constantine had with over great facility licenced Sundays labours in Country Villages, reversed that, and made another in these words: o Leo Constit. 54. Vid. Mr Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. § 71. p. 202. We ordain accorcording to the true meaning of the Holy Ghost, and of the Apostles thereby directed, that on the sacred day wherein our own integrity was restored, all do rest and surcease labour, that neither Husbandman, nor other on that day put their hands to forbidden works. For if the jews did so much reverence their Sabbath which was but a shadow of ours, are not we which in habit the light and truth of grace bound to honour that day which the Lord himself hath honoured, and hath therein delivered us both from dishonour, & from death? Are we not bound to keep it singular and inviolable, well contenting ourselves with so liberal a grant of the rest, and not encroaching upon that one, which God hath chosen to his honour? Were it not reckless neglect of Religion to make that very day common, and to think we may do with it as with the rest? But thus much of the fourth Commandment, and consequently of the first Table: come we now unto the second Table, and therein to the first Commandment which is in number the fift; p Exod. 20.12. Deut. 5.16. Honour thy Father, & thy Mother, that thy days may be prolonged upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. In which Commandment we have first of all the Precept itself, than the Reason of it. The Precept is concerning Parents, and the Honour to be done unto them; and therefore first who these Parents are, next what this Honour is here specified. By Father & Mother are meant first of all our Natural Parents, concerning whom in holy Scripture there are divers and sundry passages. As Exod 21.15, He that smiteth his Father, or his Mother shall die the death. And Exod. 21.17, He that curseth his Father or his Mother shall die the death. So Prov. 20.20, He that curseth his Father or his Mother his light shall be put out in obscure darkness. And Prov. 30.17, The eye that mocketh his Father, and despiseth the instruction of his Mother, let the Ravens of the valley pick it out, and the young Eagles eat it: or as it is in our New Translation, The Ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young Eagles shall eat it. Now concerning the word Cursing in both the places that went before we are to note that it is in the Hebrew Kallel which though it be rendered Cursing, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet properly signifieth Vilifying, and Contemning, and so may it be taken in those places, as q Lavater in Prov. 20.20. p. 212 Vid. Barth. Scheraei Itinerar. num. 964. Lavater observes. A point I note the rather, for that some perhaps will not stick to vilify and contemn their Parents, who would be loathe to curse them outright, but there is no difference in this case, either in vilifying, or cursing them. The Text in the Original aims at both. But the greatest impiety of all is to lay violent hands on them; and to bereave them of their lives, with which kind of Parricides how the Romans dealt by sowing them in a Sack with an Ape, a Dog, a Cock, and a Viper, & so threw them into the Sea, r justin. Instit. l. 4. justinian, and s Tul. pro Rosc. Amerin. Tully, and others will tell you. Besides our Natural Parents our Superiors are understood to, whether it be the Magistrate, or the Minister. The one, for he rules and protects us, and indeed is a nursing Father, Esay 49, 23, the other, for he instructeth us, and begets us through the Gospel, 1. Cor. 4.15. But I come to the Honour here. The Honour here specified in this place compriseth in it three t Calvin. Instit. l 2. c. 8 § 36. points, Reverence, Obedience, and Gratitude: or as it is observed by the u Ecclus. 3.9. Son of Syrach in Deed, and in Word, and in all Patience. But of these points I shall have occasion to speak else, only now let me say unto you that this Precept of Honouring our Parents must always be with that Proviso of the Apostle x Ephes. 6.1. St Paul's, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, In the Lord. Otherwise we may say as did our Saviour in a certain case, who is my Mother? and who are my Brethren? Mat, 12.48. Honora Patrem tuum y Hieron. ad Furiam. de Vidui servand. saith St Jerome, sed si te à vero Patre non separat. Tam diu scito sanguinis copulam, quàm diu ille suum noverit creatorem. And they are memorable words he hath in an other z Hieron. ad Heliod. de vita Eremitic●. place; Licet parvulus ex collo pendeat nepos, licet sparso crine & scissis vestibus, ubera quibus te nutrierat matter ostendat, licet in limine pater iaceat, per calcatum perge patrem, ficcis oculis ad vexillum crucis evola. Solum pietatis genus est in hac re esse crudelem. So that this excepted of obeying God rather than our Parents if they both command contrary things, it is a special good note a Plutarch. de Fraterno Amore. Plutarch gives us; Matri & Patri non ita se dare, ut semper ea dicas atque aga● quibus laetentur, etiam si molestiam praeterea nullam afferas; impium iniustumque habetur; not so to behave ourselves to our Parents, as that we always speak and do those things that should rejoice them to see, though otherwise we should not anger them, yet even this were bad enough & a spice of impiety. But I come to the Reason of the Precept: That thy days may be prolonged upon the Land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. It was the Apostle b Ephes. 6.2. St Paul's observation hereupon that this Commandment of Honouring our Parents was the first Commandment with promise. True it is that in the second Commandment Mercy was promised unto thousands, but that was in general to those that loved him & kept his Commandments: the first c Zanch. in Eph. c. 6. p. 487. col. 2 particular Commandment that had a particular promise annexed thereunto, that is this, concerning Parents. What? And was the Land of Canaan then meant only here in this place? d Virg. Aen. l. 1 Hic pietatis honos? sic nos in sceptra reponis? Not doubtless not that only, and therefore the Apostle St Paul he e Ephes. 6.3 relateth the words thus: That it may be well with thee, and that thou mayst live long on earth. I, but this will some say is not always fulfilled neither. Be it, it is not always, yet is it for the most part: & when ever it is not fulfilled according to the letter, it is never but fulfilled by way of commutation. For if so be instead of this transitory life, God give them an eternal life in the heavens, it is as if instead of a penny thou hast promised a pooreman, thou shouldst open thy purse, & give him a whole pound. Now as this Promise is here made to such as honour their Parents, so to such as honour them not, there is intimated a Curse. You heard what was said even now of dying the death, and of his light to be put out in obscure darkness, and of the Ravens of the valley and young Eagles how they shall pick out and eat up his eyes. But I come to the f Exod. 20.13 Deut. 5.17. sixth Commandeemnt: Thou shalt not kill. We are now come to that Commandment that shows God's entire love towards Man, nothing more. Man as you have heard was his Image, God g Gen. 1.27. saith Moses, created the man in his image; in the image of God created he him: he created them male & female. Now as if so be a man should deface his Prince his image, he were worthy of severe punishment, for that it touched in some sort the Prince himself, and therefore our Saviour Christ of the penny that had Caesar's Image and Superscription, Give, h Mat 22.21. saith he, to Caesar the things which are Caesar's: so of how much punishment should he be worthy that defaceth God's image; for so is every man, high and low, rich and poor, one with an other. They were our Saviour's own words to him that had his sword drawn (a body would have thought in as good a cause as the world could have afforded) Put up thy sword into his place: for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword, Mat. 26.52. a sign he came not to break but to fulfil that Law which said, Blood defileth the land: & the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it, Numb. 35.33. I, Cain himself as wicked as he was i Gen. 4.15. had yet a mark set upon him that none should kill him, and if so be any should do it wittingly & willingly, Doubtless, saith God, whosoever slayeth Cain, he shall be punished seavenfold. Howbeit this Commandment aims not at all at the Magistrate's Sword, nor at lawful Wars that are made in defence of our Country. You may remember what you hard out of the 37. Article of l Lect. 8. p. 204. late. The laws of the Realm may punish Christian men with death, for heinous & grievous offences. And again, It is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars. So that it aims not at the Magistrate, or at any kind of lawful warfare, at private quarrels indeed it doth, as also at all those circumstances that are dependent thereupon, as Anger, Hatred, Envy, etc.: and especially at those Challenges hand to hand in the field. m Virg. Aen. l. 6 Ne pueri, ne tanta animis assuescite bella: Neu patriae validas in viscera vertite vires. You know what followeth: Tuque prior, tu parce, genus qui ducis Olympo, Proijce tela manu, Servus meus. n joh. 18 11. Peter put up thy sword into the sheath. O but thou must stand upon thy manhood? A God's name, when thy Prince, or Country calls for it: otherwise remember thou art to stand on thy Christian duty too. How many laws did Moses make for the Nation of the jews, and yet not one of them all for challenging to the field, who yet stood on their reputation no men more! Nay he that made it a Law that if the head of an axe fly off and slay his neighbour near unto him, with whom he had no quarrel, if the pursuer should take his Person, before he came to the City of refuge, it was lawful to kill him, Deut. 19.6, what would he have thought of these Gallants, who thrust themselves into this straight, either to slay, or to be slain. It is memorable that Busbequius writeth of the Turkish Bassas, how they took up a Turkish Captain that had made such a challenge to one of his fellows for wronging him. What? o Tun' Commilitoni tuo singulare certamen denunciare ausus es? Deerant quip Christiani, in quos pugnares. Vivit uterque vestrúm pane nostri Imperatoris: nihil omnius intervos de vita decernere parabatis. Quo iure? quonam exemplo? An ignorabatis utercunque vestrum cecidisset Imperatoris damno casurum? Anger. Busbequius. Legat. Turc. Epist. 3. p 83. b Edit. Paris. 1595. saith he, & didst thou dare to denounce the combat against thy fellow soldier? Are there no Christians now to fight with all? you both of you live by the bread of our Emperor: and yet notwithstanding both forsooth must needs ●oe hazard each others life. I, but by what right? I, but by what example? Didst thou not know that whether soever of you had been slain in that quarrel, our Sovereign had had the loss? he had lost a man? Which as soon as they had said, saith my Author, they commanded him to prison, whence after many months obtaining with much ado his liberty again, he never could recover his reputation after. That which followeth is too true: Apud nos, saith he, multi hoste publico nunquam conspecto, quod in civem aut contubernalem strinxerunt ferrum, clari & memorabiles habentur. A many with us Christians, are counted gallant & brave men for drawing their Swords not against a public enemy, whom they never so much as saw, but only against their own Countryman, and perhaps their Companion too. And this forsooth is Valour. Howbeit true Valour is that which is joined with Virtue, and there is no Virtue at all, but what is grounded on God's Book. The only Duel approved there, is between the Old man, and the New, the Flesh and the Spirit. Hîc certemus, p Pet. Martyr. Loc. Com. Class. 4. Loc. 18. saith an excellent writer, let us here fight our bellies full. Nor is it a Duel for an hour, a month, or a year, but for all our whole life time. We have God, & Angels, and Men for the Spectators: the Word of God for the Sword; Faith the Shield the Devil our Adversary. Strength we have from Christ, and shall have at the length assured Victory q Rom. 16.20. The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly. But I will end this point of Devils with that excellent passage of S. Bernard: r Si in voluntate alterum occidendi, te potius occidi contigerit, moreris homi cida. Quòd si praevales, & voluntate superandi vel vindicandi fortè occidis hominem, vivis Homicida. Non autem expedit sive mortuo, sivo vivo, sive victori. five victo, esse Homicidam. Infelix victoria, quâ superans hominem, succumbis vitio. Bernard. ad Milites Templi Sir c. 1. fol. 100 Col. 1. If in fight thou have a mind to kill another man, and then art slain thyself, thou diest a Murderer: If thou prevail and kill the other, than thou livest a Murderer. But whether thou live or die, conquer, or be conquered, it is not good to be a Murderer. Here, Beloved, might I take occasion to speak of that admirable issuing forth of the blood after it is settled in the Body, if he that slew it appear in presence within some certain hours, some say seven. But I refer you to Hieronymus s Hieron. Mag. Miscel. l. 3 c. 5. Magius, who among some score of witnesses to this purpose hath t Lucret. l. 4. Lucretius, u Hom Iliad 17 Homer, x Ficin de Immort. l 16. c. 5. Ficinus, y Lang. Ep. 40. Langius, z Lemnius de occultis nat. mirac. l. 2 c. 7. Lennius, and others: as also to Coelius Rhodiginus, who a Coel. Rhodig. Lict. Antiq l. 3. c. 12. p. 106. assays to give the reason of it. I come to the b Exod. 20.14 De●t 5.18. seventh Commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery. As Murder in the former Commandment may be committed by unadvised Anger only, and therefore our Saviour Christ, I, c Mat 5, 22. saith he, say unto you, whosoever is angry with his Brother unadvisedly, shall be culpable of judgement; much more by Hatred only, and therefore the Apostle S. john, d 1. joh. 3.15. whosoever hateth his Brother is a manslayer (meaning any one Christian whatsoever, for we are all of us Brethren) so may Adultery in this Commandment, by a lusting look only, and therefore our Saviour again, I, e Mat. 5.28. saith he, say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. I, and such Adultery as may cast him into hell fire, and therefore it followeth immediately, f V 29. Wherefore if thy right eye 'cause thee to offend, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for better it is for thee that one of thy members perish, then that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Whatsoever it is, g Quicquid est quod significat oculus, sine dubio tale est, quod vehementer diligitur. Quod autem additum est Dexter, fortasse ad augendam vim dilectionis valet. Aug. Tom. 4. de Ser. Domini in Monte, l. 1. p. 794. saith S. Austen, that signifieth an Eye here, without all doubt it is such a thing as is dearly beloved of us. And it may be the Right Eye is specified too in this place, to show that it is such a thing as is more than dearly beloved by us. h Nicelaus de Lyra in hunc locum p. 111. Lyra comes a little more near the point. Whereas it is said here in this place Pluck it out, it is not so to be understood, that man to avoid concupiscence should deprive himself of any member that God hath given him: for that is not the way to heal Concupiscence whose vigour is within. Now because, saith he, a more effectual remedy may be had another way, namely by the Will repressing the unlawful acts of the members, therefore is the plucking out here metaphorically understood. For as the Eye being once plucked out, it can by no means actually see; so consequently he plucks out his eye exceeding well, who willingly represseth it from every unlawful act of seeing. But to come unto my purpose. This being their danger who in respect of actual adultery are a great way of, in what a miserable plight are they whose concupiscence breaks forth into act, act into custom, custom into carelessness, who assemble themselves by companies in the i Erat fama (de Domitiano) quasi Concubinas ipse divelleret, nataretque inter vulgatissimas meretrices. Suet. in Domitian. c. 22. harlot's houses, as i Erat fama (de Domitiano) quasi Concubinas ipse divelleret, nataretque inter vulgatissimas meretrices. Suet. in Domitian. c. 22. speaks the Prophet jeremy, and rise up in the morning like fed horses: and neigh after their neighbour's wives. In a word, who make a covenant with her m Prov. 6.27. whose feet go down to death, and her steps take hold of hell. O quanta iniquitas n Aug Tom. 9 de honest. mulier. c. 3. p. 1052. & Tom. 10. de Temp. Ser. 250. p. 818. saith St Austen, o quanta perversitas, l jer. 5.7. ut animam quam Christus suo sacro redemit sanguine, luxuriosus quisque propter unius momenti delectationem libidinis, Diabolo inimico suo vendat ac traedat. O how great injustice is it, what overthwartnesse in the highest degree to make sale, and deliver up that Soul to thy adversary the Devil, and all for a spurt of pleasure, which cost our Saviour Christ the dearest blood he had. But I am not now to preach to such, I am only to give you warning, that in any wise your tender years beware of such sales. Quid mihi & voluptati o Hieron. ad Eustech. de custod. virginitatis. saith S. Jerome, quae brevi perit: what have I to do with pleasure which is gone in a moment. Memorable is that which the same S. Jerome hath concerning Hilarion. The Devil p Cernebat se vinci à puero, & prius ab eo calcatum suiss● quàm per aetatem calcore potuisses Hieron de vita S. Hilarion. saith he, that boasted once how he would ascend q Esay, 14.14. above the height of the clouds, and he would be like the most High, perceived himself to be overcome of a child; and to be spurned and trampled by him, even before he was of age to trample on him. As for that uncleaneness which the Apostle calls, r jud. v. 7. strange Flesh, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, s Quam Daemones videntes oculos claudunt Aug, Tom. 10. ad Fratres in Eremo Ser. 47. p 986. and at the sight whereof the devils themselves (as one speaketh) close up their eyes, I trust there is no such iniquity either in jacob, or in Israel. I come to the t Exod. 20.15 Deut. 5 19 eight Commandment, Thou shalt not steal. Of stealth there are many u Calv. Instit. l. 2. c. 8. §. 45. kinds. There is one by way of violence when by force and threats we take licentiously other men's goods. An other is by way of deceit whereas we convey them away guilefully. A third is when we obtain them by colour of law, having indeed no right unto them. A fourth by way of flattery, when we dive into men, to make ourselves Masters of what they have. In a word all crafty means whatsoever, whereby we possess ourselves of what is an other man's, is stealth in this Commandment. To steal apples, or pears, or plumbs, etc.: is perhaps but a sport to many, who laugh full merrily at it when they have done. But see how seriously S. Austen confessed the like prank of his, both to God & the world. O Lord x Furtum certè punit lex tua Domine, & lex scripta in cordibus hominum quam ne ipsa quidem delet iniquitas. Et ego furtum facere volui & seci, nulla compulsus egestate nec penuria, sed fastidio justitiae, & sagina iniquitatis. A●bor erat Pirus in vicinia vineae nostrae pomis onusta, nec forma nec sapore illecebrosis. Ad hanc excutiendam atque asportandam, nequissimi adolescentuli perreximus nocte intempesta, & abstulimus inde onera ingentia. Ecce cor meum, Deus meus, ecce cor meum, quód miseratus es in imo abyssi. Aug. Tom. 1. Confess. l. 2. c 4 p. 56. saith he, thy law doth punish theft, and that law which is written in the hearts of men, which iniquity itself can in no wise disannul. I also was willing enough, and indeed did steal, compelled by no occasion of want, nor of penury that I had, but a loathing I had of goodness, and I was puffed up with iniquity. There was a Pear tree hard by our vineyard full of goodly pears to see to, and of an indifferent good taste. A many cracks of us went thither on a night to gather and carry away, and we had every of us good store indeed. Behold my heart, my God, behold my heart, whereof thou hast had some pity even in the bottom of Hell. I come to the y Exod. 20.16 Deut. 5.20. ninth Commandment. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. It is the first Commandment wherein our Neighbour is mentioned, but not not the first wherein he hath been intimated. The truth is, all this second Table is concerning our Neighbour. The, fift that we should honour him; the sixth, that we should not kill him; the seventh, that we should not voluptuously abuse either him, or his; the eight, that we should not steal from him; and this ninth, that we should not witness against him falsely or perfidiously. If you would know who is our neighbour, z Luk. 10.29. it was a question was asked our Saviour, & he immediately put to the asker such a pretty kind of case, as that the asker of the question did a V 37. answer it himself. Hence it is that S. Austin saith, not as it is in the proverb, b Terent And. Act. 4 Sc. 1. Proximus sum egomet mihi, but c Aug. Tom. 8. in Ps. 118. Conc. 8. p 922. Omnis homo omni homini proximus, All men are neighbours to one an other: & again in an other d Aug. de Tem. Ser. 221. p. 771 place, Proximus omnis homo; Proximus tuus ille est qui tecum natus est ex Adam e● Eva. Every man is thy neighbour. He is thy neighbour that is borne as thou art, of Adam and Eue. Though there is I confess a Specially too; e Gal. 6.10. Specially they of the household of faith. That which here then is commanded us, is first that we defame and slander no man; secondly, that we give no ear to such as are fraught with that vice: thirdly, that we give no cause of such ill speeches to go of us. Concerning the first, though Witnessing be here named in special, and witnessing is properly then, when as we are called to give testimony; yet that is but one point only of all the branches here f Semper eo recurrendum est, ex singulis vitiorum generibus speciem unam paradigmatis loco proponi ad quam ceterae referantur: eam autem potissim● deligi, in qua vitii turpitudo maximè emineat. Calv. Inst. l 2. c. 8. § 47. meant, as you hard before of Murder, Adultery, and of Stealth. And as touching defaming and slandering our Neighbour, mirum est, g Calv. Ib. saith Calvin, quàm supinâ securitate passim in hac re peccetur, ut rarissimi reperiantur qui non hoc morbo notabiliter laborent: adeò venenatâ quadam dulcedine oblectamur in alienis malis tum inquirendis, tum detegendis. It is strange to see how securely men in every place offend herein, insomuch that there are very few to be found at all that are not notoriously sick of this disease, so much are we all delighted with a kind of poisoned sweetness in searching out and disclosing the evils of other men. But as the talebearer, so the tale-hearer is in fault top: the one is the Thief, the other the Receiver. uno in momento, h Bernard. in Cant. Ser. 24. So S. jerom, Nemo invito auditori libenter refert. Discat detractor, dum te videt non libenter audire non facile detrahere. Hieron Tom. 2. add Nepotian, de vita Cleri●orum. And again, Detractor cum tristem faciem viderit audientis, imò ne audientis quidem, sed obturantis aures suas, ne audiat judicium sanguinis, ilico conticescit, pallet vultus, haerent labia, saliva siccatur. Idem. ad Rustic Monach. de vivendi forma. saith S. Bernard, multitudinis audientium dum aures inficit, animas interficit. At one and the self same time while he is muttering in the ear, he is murdering the soul. S. Austen would none of that; and therefore about his i Possid. de vita August. c. 22. Table (for they are commonly at great men's Tables that have such a flux of tongue) had these two verses, Quisquis amat dictis absentum rodere vitam: Hanc mensam indignam noverit esse sibi. In english thus: would God in England: Who so the party absent hence, By Tales seeks to disgrace: Let him arise from this my Board, Such Guests have here no place. But to come again to prose. We are not altogether scotfree ourselves, if so be we give just occasion of such reports to be made of us. And therefore was it l Hieron. Tom. 2. ad Celant. S. jeroms counsel, Ne ex nobis scintilla procedat per quam adversus nos sinistrae famae flamma confletur. That the sparkle should not fly from ourselves, that should 'cause such a flame of an evil, report against us. In vain, saith he, are we angry with those our Slanderers, if we minister fuel to their fire. But I come to the tenth and last Commandment that which contains a Fire indeed, I mean for it doth forbidden that Fire of Concupiscence that is in all, and every of us. m Exod. 20.17 Deut. 5.21. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, neither any thing that is thy neighbours. The former Precepts they condemned the settled thought to do mischief: this Precept condemneth even the first inclination and motion to Sin, though a man consent not. I, n Rom. 7.7. saith the Apostle, knew not sin, but by the Law: for I had not known lust, except the Law had said, thou shalt not lust. So that God commandeth here in this place a marvelous fervency of Love to our Neighbours, which in no wise he would have tainted with the lest concupiscence that is. The slightest provocations that are, are utterly against this Commandment. We shall not need to say with o 1. Sam. 14.43 jonathan, I tasted a little honey, and lo I must die: this is much less. If so be we do but wish to taste of honey, or whatsoever else belongeth to our Neighbour, though we taste it not indeed, if we but wish to have it, we are dead by the Law, there is a handwriting against us. You know p Martial. Epig l. 4 Epig. 18. whose verses they were, Quid non saeva sibi voluit fortuna licere? Aut ubi mors non est, si iugulat is aquae? But what is it the Law of God rather doth not take fast hold of, and where is not Death included in it, when but a Thought shall stifle us? So that we shall not say with David neither, The waters are come in, even unto my soul. q Ps. 69.1. I stick in the deep mire where no ground is: I am come into deep waters so that the floods run over me, not, the Law you see takes hold of our thoughts, and Quomodo aures nostrae ad voces nostras, r Aug. Tom. 8. in Ps. 148. p. 1188. & Tom. 10 Hom. 16. p. 308. saith S. Austen, sic aures Dei ad cogita●●ones nostras. As our own Ears are to our words, so are Gods Ears to our thoughts. Here a question ariseth betwixt us and our Adversaries whether it be possible to keep these Commandments or no. Our Adversaries say it is, but without Scriptures, without Fathers. First concerning Scriptures, Gal. 3.21. If there had been a Law given which could have given life, surely righteousness should have been by the Law. Rom. 8.3, It was impossible to the Law (namely to justify and save us) in as much as it was weak because of the flesh. And 1. Cor. 13.9, We know in part, and we prophecy in part. Concerning the Fathers, first S. Austen s Aug. Tom. 8. in Ps. 40 p. 249 saith, Quis illam implet? Who it it that doth fulfil it? So t Hieron. Tom. 2 add Ctesiphons'. advers. Pelag. p. 254. S. jerom, Facilia dicis Dei esse mandata, & tamen nullum proferre potes qui universa compleverit. You say; saith S. jerom to Ctesiphon, that God's Commandments are easy, and yet can you instance in no one that hath fulfilled all of them. Again, u Hieron. Tom. 2. advers. Pelag. l. 3. p. 303. Multis testimonijs supra didicisti Legem nullum potuisse complere. Thou hast had already many testimonies to teach thee, that no man could ever fulfil the Law. And again in a * Hier. Tom. 2. Advers. jov in. l. 1. p 30. third place, Quam implere nullus potuit, which no man could fulfil. So S. Bernard, x Bernard. in Cantic. Scr. 50. fol. 159. col. 3. Non latuit Praeceptorem praecepti pondus heminum excedere vires. The giver of the Commandment was not ignorant how the weight of the Commandment far exceeded the strength of men. True it is, we may in one sense fulfil them too, & therefore y Aug. Retract l. 1. c 19 p. 20. S. Austen, Omnia mandata facta deputantur, quando quicquid non fit ignoscitur. God accounteth all these Commandments performed by us, when a● he forgives us what we perform not. And again in another place, z Aug. de verb. Apost. Ser. 3. p. 259. Cancellos tibi fecit Lex ut non inventendo quà exires, ad gratiam convolares. The Law hath made rails and bars about thee, that no ways finding how to get out, thou shouldst fly to God's mercy. Much more might be said herein; but I refer you to our worthy a D. Abbot's Defence of the Reformed Catholic Part 2. p. 550. usque ad p. 573. Professor, who hath said so much already against a Doctor of our Adversaries, as also to Mr Fox in his good Friday Sermon at Paul's Cross, both in English and in Latin. And thus, Beloved, as briefly as possibly I could, have I now run over at length these ten Commandments. b joan. Foxius de Christ crucis. Par. 2. p 55 It is true, much more might have been spoken of every one of them, so might there have been of our Church's Tenets, so of the Articles of our Faith; but my project is, to refer you to the heads only, partly for I am to comprise much matter in few hours, partly for I have not many hours to speak in this kind more unto you. There are of the Interpreters that resemble these Commandments unto your ten Predicaments: so Peter Martyr in divers places; The ten Commandments c P. Martyr. Loc. Com. Class. 2. Loc. 10. § 14 & Class. 2. Loc. 14. § 3. saith he, are in respect of Virtue and Vice, as are the ten Predicaments in respect of all things that have a being. For as there is nothing, saith he, but may reduced to some one Predicament or other, so is there no Virtue, no Vice at all, but may be reduced to some Commandment. If question be made of Drunkenness (for of Drunkenness some make question) Drunkenness as d Aquin. 2● 2 ae qu. 150. Art. 1 in corp. Aquinas tells us is contained under Gula, Gluttony, as the Species under Genus, and therefore to be referred to that Commandment that Gluttony is. Now for Gluttony he c Aquin. Ib. qu. 148. Art. 2. ad 1m. tells us, that by a kind of reduction it is opposed to that Commandment, which is of Sanctifying of the Sabbath in regard it doth avert us from the end we are to tend unto. Now as it is reducible to that Commandment, so may it be besides unto the Rest, so far forth as it is the cause of such several vices as are condemned in such Commandments. As it makes us then forget God, so may it be reduced to the first Commandment: as it makes us to swear and state, so unto the third: as to forget our Superiors, so unto the fift: as to rail and revile our neighbours, so unto the sixth and ninth: as to behave ourselves lasciviously so to the seventh and tenth. But thus much of the ten Commandments in general, and of every of them in particular. Come we now to our Saviour's Epitome of them, whereof but in a word. jesus said unto him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and the great Commandment. And the second is like unto this. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two Commandments hangeth the whole Law and the Prophets. That Ten are reduced to two, it is because the four Commandments that are in the first Table are reduced to One, and the Six Commandments in the second Table reduced to an Other. First concerning the Four. That Four may be reduced to One, it must be done by such a means, as all the Four are capable of, & also that One. By that which hath been said it doth appear that the soul (as it were) of the four Commandments, that are in the first Table, is the Love of God, I mean that love wherewith we aught to love him. So that if we love him is we aught, that is with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, then shall we have no other Gods but him, and this is an inward worship, & this is the first Commandment. If we love him as we aught, that is, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, then as we worship him inwardly in our heart, so shall we do it outwardly in our actions, and not impart it unto Images, and this is the second Commandment. If we love him as we aught, that is, with all our heart, with all our soul, and withal our mind, then will we reverently use these two worships, the inward, and the outward, and this is the third Commandment. Lastly, if we love God as we aught, that is, with all our heart, with all our soul, & with all our mind, then shall we have special desire to keep his Sabbaths, and this is the fourth Commandment. So that the Love of God being all in all, you see what cause our Saviour had to reduce all Four to One. The self same cause he had to reduce the o●her Six into an Other, for as the Love of God in the first Table was all in all, so in the second, the love of our Neighbour. Whereupon the Apostle S. Paul, Own nothing f Rom. 13.8. saith he, to any man but to Love one an other: for he that loveth an other hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet: and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Nor wanted our Saviour the very words of Scripture itself to countenance this Division. For where he said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, & with all thy mind, it is with a little alteration set clearly down, Deut. 6.5. & the other, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself, that is set down without any alteration, even in as many syllables, Levit. 19.18. The only observation I will give you now, and so an end, is concerning the Love of our Neighbours thus graced by our Saviour. You see in what account it is with God, & therefore in what it is to be with Men. Did he give but ten Commandments in all? No less than six of them concern our Neighbour. Did he afterwards contract them into two? The one of them was our Neighbours. Was the first concerning God? the second concerned our Neighbour Was the first Commandment great? Nihil secundum long inquat à primo, g Tertul. de Pudicitia p. 630. saith Tertullian, Nihil tam proximum primo quàm secuudum. The second was like unto it. Did the Law and the Prophets depend upon the one? so they do on the other too. Quomodo noluit, saith h Aug. Tom. 9 in epist. joan. Tract. 10. p 444 S. Austen, te dividere per multas paginas? In his duobus praeceptis Lex pendet & Prophetae. See how our Saviour was loathe thou shouldst wea●y thy flesh with many Books. He gives thee the sum of all: On these two Commandments hung the whole Law and the Prophets. Nay, shall I go a little farther? Said our Saviour that this second Commandment was like unto the former? Let us be tried by the Apostle S. Paul, in whose eyes they were so like, that though he takes not one for another, yet he takes one of them for both. Love, i Rom. 13.10. saith he, doth not evil to his neighbour, therefore is love the fulfilling of the Law. And again in another place, lest it might be thought he had mistaken himself, All the Law, l Gal. 5.14. saith he, is fulfilled in one word which is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And yet again in a third place, m Gal. 6.2. Bear ye one another's burden, and so fulfil the law of Christ. I, our Saviour Christ himself, n Mat. 7.12. Vid. Aug. Tom. 3. de Trin. l. 8. c. 7. whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, even so do ye to them: for this is the Law and the Prophets. And thus much of the first point the Church is to practise, & consequently ourselves; not that we are able to fulfil them as we aught in very deed, but to do our best endeavours. And hence it is that in our Church Service, as Reverend o M Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. § 39 p. 77. Hooker observeth, when the Minister lifteth up his voice like a Trumpet to proclaim these Laws unto the People, they adjoin though not as Israel did, by way of generality a cheerful promise, p Exod. 19.8.24 3. Deut 5.27.26.17. Josh. 24.16: All that the Lord hath common- we will do, yet that which God doth no less approve, that which savoureth more of meekness, that which testifieth rather a feeling knowledge of our common imbecility, unto the several branches there of, several, lowly, and humble requests for grace at the merciful hands of God to perform the thing which is commanded. And thus much of the first point, which the Church as I q Lect. 1. p. 21. observed, is to practise. The second is PRAYER, and of Prayer God willing at my next return. In the mean time God so bless us, & the seed that hath been sown, etc. PRAYER. Lecture 10. Junii, 17. 1613. BEing at this time to speak unto you of the second of those four Points which the Church (I told you) was to practise, and consequently yourselves, namely PRAYER; me thinks in this my long voyage through so many several Seas, as hitherto I have sailed, I am now come to such a place, as S. Luke calls in the a Act. 27.8. Acts, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The fair havens. Prayer, saith Reverend b M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. §. 23. p 53. Hooker, are those c Hos. 14.3. calves of men's lips, those most gracious and sweet d Rev. 5.8. odours, those rich presents & gifts, which being e Act. 10.4. carried up into heaven, do best testify our dutiful affection, and are for the purchasing of all favour at the hands of God the most undoubted means we can use. And again a little after, The knowledge is small, saith he, which we have on earth concerning things that are done in heaven. Notwithstanding thus much we know even of Saints in heaven that they pray. And therefore Prayer being a work common to the Church as well Triumphant as Militant, a work common unto Men with Angels, what should we think but that so much of our lives is celestial and divine, as we spend in the excercise of Prayer. I may say concerning Prayer as speaks the Apostle concerning Faith: By Faith Abel f Heb. 11.4 saith he, offered unto God a greater sacrifice than Cain: g V 5. by Faith ●as Enoch taken away that he should not see death: h V 7. by Faith No being warned of God of the things which were as yet not seen, moved with reverence prepared the Ark, & so forth. So may I say, Beloved, of Prayer, & so indeed was it long ago said by one that was not solùm carne mihi, as speaks i Aug. de verb. Dom. Ser. 26. pag. 72. St Austen, sed etiam religione germanus, my own Father's l My dear and worthy Brother Mr. Richard Day now with God. Son. By prayer m In his Preface to the Book of Christian Prayers. saith he, Hanna was of a barren woman made n 1. Sam. 1.27 fruitful: David o 2. Sam 12.13 Psal. 51.17. obtained forgiveness for his manslaughter & whoredom: Elias p 1. Kin. 18.42. caused great plenty of rain: Ezechias q 2. Kin. 19.15 overcame Senacherib: Toby r Toby. 8.5. prospered: Susanna was s Dan. 13 42. delivered from death. By Prayer, Queen Hester t Esther. 14.3. delivered herself, and her people: jonas was u jonas. 2.2. delivered out of the Whale's belly: the Ninivites from that x jonas. 3.8. destruction, that was intended against them. By Prayer y Luk. 17.13. Lepers were cleansed, the z Luk. 18 38. blind restored to sight, the a Mat. 8.6. palsy cured, many obtained health for their b Mat 9.18. daughters, c Luk 9 38. sons, & d Mat 8.13. servants. By Prayer the e Act. 3.3. lame man was restored to limbs, the f Mark. 7.32. deaf to hear, the g Mat. 9.32. dumb to speak: remission of sins was h Mat. 18 27. Mat. 11.28. obtained, the Holy Ghost i Ioh 14 16. Act. 2.4. purchased both for the Apostles and all the Faithful. And now Beloved what shall I more say? I will only say with l Chrys. Tom 5. De incomprehensib. Dei natura Hom. 5. p. 1195 S. chrysostom: The force of Prayer hath extinguished the force of fire; it hath stopped the mouths of Lions, it hath appeased wars, ended battles, driven away tempests, expelled Devils. It hath opened the doors of Heaven, broken in sunder the bands of death, rid us of diseases, smothered our offences, it hath strengthened Cities that by Earth quakes were ready to fall, it hath averted from us plagues that were coming down from heaven, plots and practices of wicked men, in a word all what ever Hell and Satan could device. Of Prayer then at this time, and the Text I have chosen to this purpose, is that golden Stamp of Prayer which hath the Image & Superscription of our Saviour himself. You shall have it in St Matthewes Gospel, the 6. chapter, the 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. verses. The words are these. After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done even in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtor. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen. Which words as here they lie, are parcel of that Sermon which our Saviour made upon the Mount. Now among all the Sermons our Saviour made & so many several Instructions as he gave, his Sermon on the Mount was the most famous of all the rest, partly in respect of the length of it, partly of the Matter contained in it. The length thereof taketh up no less than three whole Chapters, the fift, the sixth, and the seventh: so that as Aristophanes thought of Archilochus Poems, or m Mihi tu? quis minus? cui ut Aristophani Archilochi jambus, sic Epistola longissima quaeque optima videtur. Tul. ad Attic. l. 16. ep. 11. Longissima quaeque Ciceronis Oratio doctioribus maximè placet, quod de Orationibus Demosthenis eidem Tullio visum est. joan. Passeratii Orat. & Praefat. p. 81. Tully of Atticus his Epistles, or of Demosthenes his Orations, or learned men of Tully's, that the longest were the best; right so may we say of our Saviour's Sermons, and of this in particular, for that of all the Sermons he ever made, we have nothing so many passages as we have of this. Concerning the matter contained in it S. Austen is of opinion that if a man consider it well he shall find therein concerning Manners, An absolute and perfect way whereby a Christian life aught to be led. Nor speak I this n Aug. Tom. 4. De Serm. Dom. in Monte l. 1. saith he, at all adventures, and rashly, but I gather as much from our Saviour's own words. Who concludeth so his Sermon, as if he meant it should be such a perfect rule for us. For at the end thereof he saith, whosoever then heareth of me these words and doth the same, I will liken him to a wise man which hath builded his house on a rock etc. Seeing then he said not whosoever heareth my words, but whosoever heareth these my words, I trow he sufficiently intimateth that those very words spoken on the mount, do so perfectly instruct them who will lead their lives thereafter, that well they may be likened to him that builded his house upon a Rock. Now this sixth Chapter wherein we are, being a parcel of that Sermon, it containeth in it from the first to the 18. verse these three points, Alms, and Prayer, and Fasting, three most necessary duties of every Christian. Beginning in the fift verse to speak of Prayer, he tells us of two sorts of Praying, that we must in any wise eschew, An hypocritical kind, and An heathenish kind, both as bad as bad may be. Our Saviour here deals, as did an expert o B jewels Sermons at the Court. p. 104. physician, of whom Apollonius spoke unto an Emperor. The Emperor pretending a reformation of the Empire which before his time Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and others, had spoiled and defaced and ask Apollonius what order he were best to take: Sir, saith he, you must do as the cunning physician did who sent his Scholars to a rude Minstrel, but with this Item, whatsoever you see him do, see that you avoid it. He is unlearned & his manner of fingering nought: see therefore that in playing you for your parts do the contrary. Even so our Saviour here for Praying; When thou prayest p Mat. 6.5. saith he, be not as the Hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the Synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, because they would be seen of men. Also when ye pray q V 7. saith he, use no vain repetitions as the Heathen; for they think to be heard for their much babbling. Be ye not like them therefore: for your Father knoweth whereof ye have need before ye ask of him. Now for it was not sufficient in this case to tell them what they should not do, without informing them also what to do: he delivereth a form of Prayer, which because himself taught it, is therefore called, The Lord's Prayer. This Prayer he taught his Disciples, at two sundry and several times. Once in this his Sermon which he made upon the Mount: an other time when one of his Disciples r Luk. 11.1. said unto him, Master teach us to pray, as john also taught his Disciples. So that as John's Disciples had received of their Master a form of Prayer amongst themselves which none but themselves did use, so that by it as by a s Vid. M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. §. 35. p. 72. mark of special difference they were known from others: the Apostles it should seem having taken special notice thereof, thereupon they request our Saviour to teach them to pray, as john the Baptist had taught his. It should seem they had forgotten what our Saviour had taught in this place; & indeed it is to true which t Aug. Tom. 4. de Consens. Evang. l. 3. c. 13. p. 352, S. Austen hath, Fluitat humana memoria per varias cogitationes, nec in cuiusquam potestate est, quid & quando veniat in mentem. Man's memory by reason of divers and sundry thoughts doth float up and down, neither is it in any man's power, to call to mind what, and when he list. Memory, saith a witty u Mountaignee Essays l. 2. c. 17 French man, the more I distrust it, the more it troubleth me. It serves me best of all by chance, and I must carelessly sue unto her, for if I once urge her, she is amazed, and if she once begin to waver, the more I sound her, the more entangled, and intricate she proveth: she will wait upon me, when she list, not when I please. But to return unto my purpose. By reason that our Saviour taught his Disciples this Prayer, hence it is that x Praemissa legitima & ordinaria Oratione quasi fundamento. Tertul. de Orat. p. 659. Tertullian, and y Moneo vos Charissimi, ut precem legitimam Patri, & Deo offerendam ante discatis. Aug. Tom. 10. de Temp. Ser. 126. p. 626. S. Austen both term it, Orationem legitimam: the Prayer which Christ's own Law hath tied his Church to use, in the same prescript form of words; wherewith he himself did deliver it. And therefore what part of the world soever we fall into, if Christian Religion have been there received, the ordinary use of this very prayer hath with equal continuance accompanied the same as one of the principal, and most material duties of honour done unto our Saviour Christ jesus. S. Austen z Verba quae Dominus noster jesus Christus in Oratione docuit, forma est desideriorum. Non tibi licet petere aliud, quàm ibi ●●riptum est. Aug. Tom 10. Tract. in Orat Domin. Again, Quamlibet alia verba dicamus nihil ●liud dicimus quàm quod in ista Dominica Oratione positum est, si recte & congruenter oramus, ●nd again a little after, si per omnia Precationum verba discurras, quantum existimo, nihil inenies, quod non ista Dominica contineat & concludat Oratio. Aug. Tom. 2. Epist. 121. c. 12. calls it Formam Desideriorum, the Mould and pattern of all such Petitions as we are at any time to make, and shows that we are at any hand to keep within this compass. Should I discourse at this time of the excellency of this Prayer, I should hold you too too long, especially should I declare unto you the Dignity of it, the Brevity, the Perfection, the Order, the Efficacy and Force, as also the Necessity of it: but I will content myself at this time with that of S. Cyprian. a Quae vera magis apud Patrem precatio, quàm quae à Filio; qui est veritas, de eius ore prolata est? ut a litter orare quam decuit non ignorantia sola sil, sed & culpa, quando ipse posuerit & dixerit, Reiicitis mandatum Dei, ut traditionem vestram statuatis. Oremus itaque, Fratres dilectis simi, sicut Magister Deus docuit. Amica & familiaris Oratio est Deum de suo rogare, ad aures eius ascendere Christi orationem. Agnos cat Pater Filii sui verba, cum precem facimus. Qui habitat intus in pectore, ipse sit & in voce. Et cum ipsum habeamus apud Patram Advocatum pro peccatis nostris, quando peccatores pro delictis nostris petimus, Advocati nostri verba premamus. Nam cum dicat, quia quodcunque petieritis à Patre in nomine meo dabit vobis: quantò efficaciùs impe tramus quod petimus in Christi nomine si petamus ipsius Oratione. Cyp. Ser. 6. de orat. Domin p. 230. What Prayer to be accounted with the Father more truly a Prayer, saith he, then that which is spoken by the mouth of the Son, who is truth itself. Insomuch, that to pray otherwise then he hath taught, is not ignorance only, but a fault, seeing he himself hath set down and said, ye lay the Commandment of God apart, that you may observe your own Traditions. Let us pray therefore, Beloved Brethren; saith he, as our Master hath taught us. It is a friendly and a familiar kind of Praying to ask God with his own, to have Christ his Prayer to ascend into his ears. When ever we Pray let the Father acknowledge the words of his own Son. Christ who is in our hearts let him be in our Tongues too. And seeing we have an Advocate with the Father for our Sins, when we who have sinned go to seek for pardon, let us allege unto God the self same words which our Advocate hath taught us. For sith his promise is our plain warrant, that what we ask in his name we shall receive, how much rather shall we receive; if not only his name do countenance, but also his speech present our requests? And so I come to the words themselves, Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, etc. Divers & sundry are the Moulds into which this Prayer is cast by Interpretets of both ages, Old and New, as also of both sides, Protestants, and Papists. It is not my purpose to allege them all, that would ask a long time, only will I bring you that which best befits the words as here they lie. First the Access, or entrance to Prayer commonly called the Exordium, and that in these words, Our Father which art in Heaven: Secondly the Prayer itself consisting, some say in Six, some, in Seven Petitions, all comes to one reckoning. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done even in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtor. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Lastly the Conclusion, & that is in these words: For thine is the kingdom, & the power, & the glory, for ever, Amen. Of every of these in their several order, and first of the Access or Entrance, commonly called the Exordium. OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN. Inchoari oratio debet à Dei laud b Amb. Tom. 4 de Sacram. l. 6. c. 5. p. 384. saith S. Ambrose, ut roges omnipotentem Deum cui possibilia sunt omnia, qui habet voluntatem praestandi. Our Prayers are to begin with the praises of God, that so we may seem to ask God omnipotent with whom all things are possible, & besides who hath a will to grant us our Requests: In these words are both, his Will, and his Power. His will in these, Our Father, his Power in the next unto them, which art in heaven. Concerning the word Father, Tertullian saith it is a name of Power to. Appellatio ista c Tertull. de Orat. p. 657. saith he, & pietatis & potestatis est. It is a name both of Piety, that is of natural & loving affection, such as Parents bear to Children, & also of Power. Dicendo Patrem saith he, Deum quoque cognominamus. In calling him Father, we imply he is God to, in that we put our affiance in him. Thus God d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Cyril Hierosol. Catech. 7. p. 169 saith S. Cyrill, vouchsafeth by his unspeakable clemency to be called the Father of men: he which is in heaven, to be the Father of them which are upon the earth: he which made all times to be Father of them which live in time: he which holdeth the earth in his fist, to be Father of them which walk as Grasshoppers upon the earth. But do we not e Mentimur jovem? junonis odio crede. L Y. Quid violas jovem? Mertale coelo non potest iungi genus. Senec. H●rc Fur. Act. 2 Scen. Non vetera. mentiri jovem? Is God our Father indeed? Valerius Maximus hath a whole Chapter of those that being but basely borne would make the world believe that they came of high Parentage. And he f Valer. Max. l. 9 c. 16. calls it, Impudentiae genus, nec ferendum ullo modo: a kind of impudency, & in no wise to be borne withal. And surely we Christians should prove such kind of Creatures should we say we are Gods, & God not our Father. But the Apostle S. Paul will avouch this Pedigree, namely he is our Father, first by Creation, then by Adoption. By Creation, for we are his Generation, Act. 17.29. And Deut. 32.6, Is not he thy Father, that hath bought thee? he hath made thee, and proportioned thee. So the Prophet Esay, Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, & Israel know us not, yet thou O Lord, art our Father, and our Redeemer, Esay, 63.16. So g Aug. de verb. Dom. Ser. 28. p. 76. S. Austen, Nobis omnibus in common est Pater, quia nos creavit, he is a Father to us all in general, for that he did created us. By Adoption; so the Apostle S. Paul to the Romans, As many h Rom. 8.14. saith he, as are led by the spirit of God, they are the Sons of God. i V, 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage to fear again: but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father. l V 16. The same spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the Children of God. Now if you would know what adoption is, the Civilians will tell you, that it is m Vid P. Martyr Loc Com. Class. 3 Loc. 3. Actus legitimus imitans naturam, repertus ad illorum solatium qui liberos non habent. A lawful act in imitation of Nature, found out for their comfort who have no children of their own. True it is God himself was not destitute of a Son, for he had a Beloved Son in whom he was well pleased, as you have heard n Lect. 7. p. 134. heretofore, howbeit for in all the nature of man he had yet no children at all, thence it was that he adopted his Elect unto himself. Cum haberet unicum, o Aug. in Epist. joan. Tract. 8. p. 434. saith S. Austen, noluit illum esse unum: sed, ut fratres haberet, adoptavit illi, qui cum illo possiderent vitam aeternam. When he had his only Son, he would not have him to be alone: but he adopted Brethren unto him, who should enjoy with him eternal life. Now whereas we say, Father in this Prayer, we are to imply withal both The Son, & Holy Ghost. The reason is, for that the name of Father, a also the name of God, when it is opposed to all Creature (as Father is here in this place) then is it taken not personally, but essentially. In Patre Filius invocatur p Tertul de Orat p. 657. saith Tertullian: ego enim, q joh. 10.30. inquit, & Pater unum sumus. When we pray unto the Father, we pray to the Son too, for the Son hath said, I & my Father are one. And thus much of these first two words, Our Father, here in this Prayer: only an Instruction from either of them, & then to the words that follow. First for the word Our, Our Father, here in this place, the Instruction I gather is, that it was our Saviour's mind that we should not in our Prayers have respect unto ourselves only, but to all and every of our Brethren. And therefore all is here in the plural number, as Our Father, and Give us, and Our bread, and Forgive us, and Our Sins, and so forth. Let every one pray, r unusquisque oret Dominum non pro se tantum sed & pro omnibus fratribus, sicut Dominus jesus orare nos docuit, ubi non singulis privatam precem mandavit, sed communi & concordi prece orare pro omnibus jussit. Cyp. Epist. l. 4. ep. 4. pag. 124. And again, Ante omia pacis doctor atque unitatis magister singulatim nolis it, & privatim precem sieri, ut quis cum precatur prose tantum precetur. Id. de Orat. Domin. p. 231. saith S. Cyprian, not for himself only, but for all his Brethren, as the Lord jesus hath taught us to pray, when he gave not in particular to every one of his Disciples a private Prayer, but commanded them to pray for all with one mind and one assent, in a Prayer that is common to al. And therefore s Ad magnum genus pertinere coepistis. Sub isto Patre fratres sunt Dominus & Servus, sub isto Patre fratres sunt Imperator & miles, sub isto Patre fratres sunt dives & pauper. Omnes Christiani fideles diversos in terra habent Patres, alii nobiles, alii ignobiles, unum verò Patrem invocant qui est in coelis. Aug. de Temp. Ser. 135. p. 641. S. Austen, You that are to say, Our Father which art in heaven, are to appertain to a great kindred. The Master and the Man, the General and the Soldier, the Rich man and the poor are all Brethren under this Father. Nay all faithful Christians, saith he, though they have divers Fathers on earth, some noble, some base, yet do they all of them call upon one Father, when they speak to him that is in heaven. It is true, we may sometimes say, My, in particular too, and therefore the prodigal Child, I will rise and go to my Father, Luk. 15.18. & the benefit that is common to all, we may use as peculiar to ourselves, so did the Apostle S. Paul, so the Prophets, as S. Chrysostom hath t Chrys. in Gen. Hom. 34. observed. S. Bernard gives the reason. In creatione, o Bern. in Ps. Qui habitat. Ser. 2. p. 674. saith he, in redemptione, caeterisque omnibus beneficijs est Deus omnium: sed in tentationibus suis tanquam proprium eum habent singuli electorum. In regard of creation, redemption, & such like benefits he is the God of all: but in temptations, every of the Elect have him as proper & peculiar to themselves. But thus much of the first Instruction from the word, Our, here in this place. The Instruction I gather from the word, Father, is this: the great prerogative we Christians have, above the Israelites that were of old, in that we may come with such boldness to him, as to call him Father. The israelites, I confess were his Children, nay he calls them his first-born, Exod. 4.22. and yet for all this u Nusquam invenitur praeceptum populo Israel, ut diceret Paternoster, aut oraret Patrem Deum. Aug. de Serm. Dom. in Monte. l. 2. which of them all when they came to pray unto him used this style of Father, as we do? Now how potent the very name of Father is to extort a benefit from a Father, were he averse & backward from giving it, witness Esau's importunity, who though he obtained x Heb. 12.17. not the blessing indeed, yet a blessing he had, such as it was, Gen. 27.39. This little word, Father, y Luth. in epist. ad Gal. c. 4. saith Luther, conceived effectually in the heart, passeth all the eloquence of Demosthenes, and Tully, and the greatest Orators that ever were. Our Saviour seems to acknowledge as much. What man is there among you, z Mat. 7.9. saith he, which if his Son ask him bread, would give him a stone? or if he ask fish; will he give him a serpent? If ye then which are evil can give to your children good gifts, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him. But I come to that that followeth, which art in Heaven. True it is, God is every where, & yet as a Aug Epist. 57 p. 177. S. Austen noteth, Non dicimus, Pater noster qui es ubique, cum & hoc verum sit, sed Pater noster qui es in coelis. We say not, though it be true too, Our Father which art every where, but, Our Father which art in heaven. And therefore king Solomon, Hear thou in the place of thine habitation, saith he, even in Heaven, 1. King. 8.30. So that we must, as S. Cyprian teacheth us, b Cyp. cont. Demetrian. p. 147. Illuc intueri, illuc oculos nostros erigere, in supernis Deum quaerere, non ante ineptae simulachra, & figmenta terrena captivum corpu incurvare. Look up to those heavens above, thither erect and cast our eyes, there in that place seek our God, not prostrate our captive Bodies before the fopperies either of Idols or of Images. There are c Vid. Calv. Instit. l 3. c. 20. §. 40. who take these words which art in heaven, as if they signified God's Majesty and Power, Heaven the place thereof being put for the things themselves, & then the meaning is, Our Father which art in heaven, that is, whic●●rt of infinite greatness, and height, and power, and immortality. But I like the former interpretation better, so that we do not Palos terminales figere Deo, as * Turtull. de jeiunio. p. 650. speaks Tertullian enclose him wholly within the circle of heaven. Behold, d 1. King 8.27. saith Solomon, the heavens, and the heavens of heavens are not able to contain thee, how much more unable is this house that I have built. And howsoever S. Austen say in one e Aug. in Psal. 145. p. 1162. place, Absens est Pater noster ad quem clamamus, Pater noster qui es in coelis. Ideo Ecclesia vidua quasi absent sponso, absent viro. That Father of ours is absent from us, to whom we cry, our Father which art in heaven. And therefore the Church is as a Widow, her Lord, and Husband thus absent: yet saith he in another f Aug. de Temp. Ser. 140. p 649 place, Absentia Domini non est absens. Habeto fidem & tecum est quem non vides. The absence of the Lord is no absence at all. Have but faith, and he whom thou seest not, is notwithstanding with thee. Thus much of the Exordium: now concerning the Prayer which whether it consisteth of six, or rather of g Tres petitiones superiores aeternae sunt. Quaetuer sequentes ad islam vitam pertinent. Aug. Hom. 42. p. 364. So that hereby we may shape an answer unto such as complain of our Church Prayers, more than a third part (say they) spent in praying for, and praying against the commodities, and incommodities of this life. Vid. M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5 § 35. p. 71. seven Petitions, the first of them is this, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. To be Hallowed is to be sanctified, & it is a metaphor taken from things dedicated to God, or to the Temple. And our desire here is (the Imperative being put for the Optative as also in the other Petitions) that God's Name, that is, his Attributes, his Works, his Word, his Sacraments, whereby he is known to his Church as men are by their names, that all these (I say) be put apart from all profane abuses unto the right use prescribed in the third Commandment, where it was said that the Lord would not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. So that we wish h Calv. Inst. l. 3. c. 20. § 41. that honour to be given to God which he is most worthy of, that men never speak, or think of him but with exceeding great reverence, that God would not only deliver that holy Name of his from all contempt and dishonour, but subdue all mankind to the worthy esteeming of it. Which is not saith S. Austen so to be understood, as if we desired this of God for his own sake, not for ours. Intellige i Aug. Tom. 10. Tract. in Orat. Domini. saith he, & pro te rogas. Hoc enim rogas, ut quod semper sanctum est in se sanctificetur in te. Thou prayest herein for thyself to. For this it is thou prayest for, that that Name, which is always holy in itself, should be hallowed in thee. Again, this request which we make of hallowing the Name of God l Aug. Tom. 4. de Serm. Dom. in Monte. l. 2. saith he, is not so made by us as if the Name of God were not holy already, but the meaning is that it should be hallowed by men. And again a little after, Et hoc est quod nunc agitur saith he, dum Evangelium adhuc usque quáque per diversas gentes innotescendo, commendat unius Dei nomen per administrationem filij eius. And this it is which is now performed throughout the whole world, while the Gospel by becoming to be known every where among so many Nations, commendeth this name of our God unto us, through the administration of his Son. I come to the r Tertullian makes it the third. Tertul. de Orat. p. 658. second Petition. THY KINGDOM COME. God's kingdom is twofold: First that Administration whereby he governeth all things even the Devils themselves: secondly, that Administration of his Son Christ jesus the head of the Church in which he frameth men by his word and spirit to the subjection of the same word; & so is the kingdom of God here taken in this place. And so taken here in this place, this kingdom is twofold too. First, the kingdom of Grace: Secondly, the kingdom of Glory. The kingdom of grace is that wherein those only, live that are subject to Christ, are obedient to his laws, & are continually taught in his word by his holy Spirit. And of this kingdom the Apostle S. Paul speaking, The kingdom of God s Rom. 14.17. saith he, is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. And, Tunc venit regnum Dei t Aug. de verb. Dom: Serm. 28. p 76. saith S. Austen, quando est is gratiam eius consecuti: Ipse enim ait, Regnum Dei intra vos est. Then comes the kingdom of God unto you, when ye have obtained his grace. And therefore he himself t Luk. 17.21. saith, The kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of Glory is that which is the blessed state of all God's People that partly are already in heaven, partly shallbe hereafter when God shallbe all in all. The former is an entrance and preparation to this latter: this latter is the end and consummation of the former. If so be we would participate of the kingdom of Glory, we must first of all be Subjects in the kingdom of Grace. But that is to be while here we are in this world: Behold now u 2. Cor. 6.2. saith the Apostle S. Paul, the accepted time, behold now the day of Salvation. Now in this Petition we aim at three points. First that this kingdom of Grace be not hindered by many spars and lets that it hath what with the World, the Flesh, & the Devil. Secondly, that he quicken his coming unto judgement; for so the Saints themselves pray, I mean the Church Triumphant, Rev. 6.10. & so the Church Militant too, Rev. 22.20. Thirdly, that he would come to each and every of us in particular, & summon us to him by Death, not in respect of Crosses and calamities he sends us at any time, that were pusillanimity, and want of courage in us, but to be freed from this body of Sin, not to be constrained, as x Ps. 120 4. speaks the Psalmist, to devil with Mesech, and to have our habitation among the Tents of Cedar, to desire to be loosed, and to be with Christ, as y Philip. 1.22 speaks the Apostle to the Philippians. The Instruction I gather hence is, not to play the hypocrites with God, namely to make this petition and yet to be full loathe to see that day. Optas ut veniat a Aug. in Ps. 97. p. 756. saith S. Austen, quem times ne veniat? corrige te, ut non ores contra te. Dost thou desire him to come, whom thou fearest lest he should come. Why then amend thyself, lest thou prayest against thyself. So likewise in another place, Perversum est b Aug. in Psal. 147 p. 1172. saith he, & nescio utrùm verum, quem diligis, timere ne veniat; orare, veniat regnum tuum, et timere ne exaudiaxis. This is perverse dealing, and far from sincerity to fear his coming whom thou sayst thou lovest: to pray that his kingdom come, and yet to fear thou shouldst be heard. But they are most excellent comforts, which S. Austen hath in that place, unde autem timor, saith he, quia judex venturus est? nunquid iniustus? nunquid malevolus? nunquid invidus? etc. Nihil horum. Quis ergo venturus est? quare non gauds? quis venturus est judicare te, nisi qui venit judicari propter te. And why art thou afraid saith S. Austen, for he shall come as a judge? Why is he an unjust judge? Is he a malicious judge? Is he envious and spiteful? Not, not a whit. And who then shall come to judge thee? Why dost thou not joy thereupon? Who shall come to judge thee, but he who when time was, came himself to be judged for thee. He spoke not as Papists do, c Vid. Foxium de Christo gratis iustificante. l. 3. p. 338. Canisius by name, that the expectation of that day is not terrible only to Sinners, but also to the Saints: not he spoke as our Saviour rather, When these things begin to come to pass, then look, up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth near, Luk. 21.28. I come to the third Petition: THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. We have here in this Petition two several points to be considered: First, the will of God that it is to be done; Secondly, the manner of doing it. First concerning the will of God, d Calv. Instit. l. 3. c. 20. §. 43. his secret will is not here meant whereby he governeth all things, and directeth them to their ends, but his other will, his will revealed, namely that whereunto our willing obedience aught to answer. Like as our Saviour said in his e Mat. 26.39 agony, O my Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And again, f V 42. O my Father if this cup cannot pass away from me, but that I must drink it, thy will be done. And again the g V 44. third time, O my Father if this cup cannot pass away from me but that I must drink it, thy will be done, for he said the g V 44. same words again. He that taught us to say, Mat. 6.10. Thy will be done: you see how in his own case, Mat. 26.42, he puts it in practice. Ipse erat, h Tertul. de Orat. p. 658. saith Tertullian, voluntas & potestas Patris, & tamen ad demonstrationem sufferentiae debitae, voluntati se patris tradidit. He himself was the will and power of his Father, and yet to make demonstration of his patience that was due, he yielded himself to his Fathers william. Now concerning this will of God as there are divers and sundry particulars commended unto us in holy writ, so may they be reduced to three Heads. First to believe in Christ, so the Apostle i joh. 3.23. S. john, This is then his Commandment that we believe in the name of his Son jesus Christ. The second is our Sanctification of Body & Soul, and of this the Apostle to the l 1. Thess 4 3. Thessalonians, This is the will of God even your sanctification, and that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know, how to possess his vessel in holiness, and honour, and not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles that know not God. That no man oppress or defraud his Brother in any matter: for the Lord is avenger of all such things. The third is our bearing afflictions in this life, whatsoever God shall sand us, & of this, the same Apostle in the same Epistle to the m 1. Thess. 5.18. Thessalonians: In all things give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ jesus towards you. And thus much of the will of God, that it is to be done. Concerning the manner of doing that will of his, it is here set down by way of Similitude, Sicut in coelo, & in terra, In earth as it is in heaven. Sicut, n Aug. in Epist. joan. Tract. 4. p. 412. saith S. Austen, non semper ad parilitatem & aequalitatem refertur. This word Sicut [As] doth not always intimate unto us a parity or equality in each respect. He maketh instance in that of our Saviour, o joh. 17.23. Dilexisti eos sicut & me dilexisti: Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. It is true, the Apostles were beloved of God, and as the Son himself was beloved, but not in that degree of love, for all that Sicut there. Right so the Sicut here in this place, his will is to be done by us here in earth as it is in heaven, namely by those Angelical Creatures there, willingly, speedily, & faithfully, in regard whereof they are said to be winged, but is it the meaning of our Prayer here, that we also should perform the same in the same degree of perfection? Not that's impossible while here we are in this life: it is sufficient for us if we come aloof off, or if we march with them hand in hand as it were, yet to be but like As●anius of whom the p Virg Aen. l. 2 Poet, — Sequiturque Patrem non passibus aequis, half a dozen of whose steps made but one of his Fathers. And thus much of the three Petitions that principally concern God's glory: now of those three, or four rather that have reference especially to our own good: the first whereof is this, and it is the fourth Petition; GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD. Our Rhemists that with much ado were brought at length to be willing to translate the New Testament into English, when they came to this place translated it thus: Give us to day our supersubstantial bread. Now Supersubstantial is as well understood of them, for whom they translated that Testament, as if it had been plain gibberish. Doubtless this, Beloved, was not the way whereby the People should be q Rhem. 1. Pet. 2.5. Superedified, to use another of their words: and little have they r Rhem. Philip. 4 10. Reflourished to care for them to use a phrase of theirs: and lest of all will it help them, s Rhem Ephes. 6.12. Against the Rectors of the world of this darkness, Against the spirituals of wickedness in the celestials, smile not at them they are their own phrases, and now forsooth Canonical. But to come to the matter in hand. The word in the t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. D Fulk against the Rhemish Testament in Mat. 6.11. Original is ambiguous, and upon the ambiguity of the Greek word many of the Fathers refer this Petition to spiritual Food especially; among which the lords Supper is a part, as the Preaching of God's word also is an other part, noted by the Fathers to be desired in this Petition. And therefore u Amb. Tom. 4. de Sacram. lib. 6. c. 5. 384. saith S. Ambrose Haec postulatio maxima est eorum quae postulantur. This is the chiefest Petition of all. Howbeit x Luk. 11.3. S. Luke, as D. Fulke y D. Fulke ubi supra. noteth is the best Interpreter of the Greek word, who showeth that it signifieth Bread sufficient for every day: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith S. Luke, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. In which place our Rhemists themselves translate it, Daily. But now concerning the word Bread. Bread in the Hebrew Dialect is taken for that sustenance whereby the life of man is maintained and signifies as Sustenance, that is, Meat and Drink, so Apparel, Health, Liberty Peace, etc. Like as when the Lord said to Adam, z Gen. 3.19. In the sweat of thy face, shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, his meaning was he should earn his living by the sweat of his brows. Now Bread in this kind as it hath here in this place, so aught it to have three special properties. First, it must be given us: Secondly, it must be our own: Thirdly, it must be Daily. Given us, for that as a worthy a B. Andrew's of the Combat between Christ and Satan. Ser. 7. p. 91. Prelate observes out of Brentius many have Panem quotidianum, that cannot come by Da nobis: they come not to it by God's gift. Not they come to it either as b 1. Kin. 21.19. Ahab came to Naboths vineyard, that is, by force: or as c 2. Sam. 16 4 Ziba came to Mephiboseths' lands, that is by fraud. Secondly, it must be our own, that is, such as we obtain by the calling that we have. In regard whereof it was the Apostles d 2. Thes. 3.10 Precept, that if any would not work, he should not eat, and besides that they should work with quietness, and eat their e V 12. own bread. Thirdly, it must be Daily, that is, such as teacheth us to rest on his Fatherly goodness from day to day, like as Manna taught the Israelites, Exod. 16.19. Meritò adiecit, Da nobis hodiè, saith f Tertul. de Orat. p. 658. Tertullian, ut qui praemiserat, Nolite de crastino cogitare quid edatis. He fitly annexed this Petition here, Give us this day: who had said unto them but a little before, Be not careful for the morrow what you shall eat, or what you shall drink. Not but that there aught to be a godly care with every Christian of laying up sometimes more, sometimes less, as God hath blessed us with abundance, but we aught to take heed of a distrusting care, that is, when we rely too too much upon the means, & utterly forget him who g Ps. 145 16. openeth his hand and filleth all things living with plenteousness. Now the greatest Prince and Potentate that is, is bound to beg this bread, which if so be he hath not in this sort; and so by reason of this blessing it prove unto him the Staff of bread, Esay 3.1. It will prove but the Bread of carefulness, Psal. 127.3. I come to the fift Petition. AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE ALSO FORGIVE OUR debtor. That by Debts here, sins are meant; first our own word Trespasses which we continually use instead thereof, doth sufficiently confirm, secondly the Evangelist S. Luke who useth the very word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Sins, Luk. 11.4. Now Sins are called Debts in respect of the great resemblance that is betwixt Debts and them. For even as a Debt doth bind a man either to make satisfaction, or else to go to Prison till he pay the utmost farthing, Mat. 5.26. so is it with us in respect of Sin which bindeth us or by ourselves or by some other to satisfy God's justice which is to be satisfied to the utmost mite, Luk. 12.59. Now Forgiveness serves for both, both for Debt and sin. And hence it is we ask it here, and no doubt as we do ask it, so we as verily obtain it to, if we faithfully ask the same. Qui orare nos pro debitis & peccatis docuit h Cyp. de Orat. Domin p. 238. saith S. Cyprian, paternan misericordiam promisit, & veniam secuturan. He that taught us to pray for these our debts and sins, promised his fatherly mercy, and pardon to ensue. But why do we here say, As we also forgive our debtor. As we also? Why We? or what kind of consequence doth it seem to be, that though we forgive others that are Men as we are, yet God should forgive us who are in respect of him but worms, and not men. The consequence seemeth to be this. Seeing we, that have but a drop of mercy in respect of thee, forgive others, thou who art the fountain of mercy, do thou forgive us. And therefore S. Luke sets it thus down: For even we forgive every man that is indebted to us. I, but how then if we do not forgive? If we do not forgive, not not to die for it? How if we say we do forgive, but we will never forget it? How if we proclaim that the Party offending us may well come into our Pater Noster; but he shall never come into our Creed? i Quid agemus nos in die judicii super quorum iram non unius diei, sed tantorum annorum Sol testis occubuit. Hier. Tom. 2. Ad Castorinam Materteram. How if the Sun not of one Day only, but of whole Twelve months go down upon our wrath? Si dicis, fac l Aug. in Evang joan Tract. 7. p. 45. saith S. Austen, quid enim facturus es, quo iturus es, si mentitus fueris in precibus? If you say you do forgive, by all means do forgive then, for what canst thou possibly do, whether wilt thou go for succour, if in thy prayers thou tellest a lie. I come to the sixth Petition: AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION. First here is a good sequence, & very fitly doth this Petition follow the former, to teach us that as we must be careful to pray for pardon of sins past, so by all means we must endeavour to prevent sins to come. But now concerning the words, Led us not into temptation, that is, saith m Id est, ne nespatiaris induci ab eo utique qui tentat. Ceterum absit ut Dominus tentare videatur, quasi aut ignoret fidem cuiusque, aut deiicere sit consentiens. Diaboli est & infirmitas & malitia, Tertul de Orat. p. 659. Tertullian, suffer us not to be led by him who indeed doth tempt us. Be it far saith he, from us to think that the Lord doth tempt, as if he knew not any man's faith, or were consenting to his overthrow: that is, the iniquity and malice of Satan himself. n Dictum est ne no● inducas in tentationem, quod intelligitur ne nos inferri deserendo permittas. Aug. ep 89 p. 257. S. Austen expounds it thus? Led us not into temptation, that is suffer us not by forsaking us to be led there into And indeed o Cypr. de Orat. Dom. pag 239. S. Cyprian hath it in these words, Ne patiaris nos induci in tentationem; suffer us not to be led into temptation. So p Ambros. Tom. 4. de Sacram. Serm. 6. cap. 5 pag 384. S. Ambrose, and q Chrys. Tom 5. Hom. de Orat. Dominic. If that be S. Chrysostom's. For To. 2. Mat. in Hom. 20. he hath, Ne nos inducas. Saint chrysostom to, grounding no doubt on that of r jam. 1.13. S. james, Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. Howbeit seeing here it is said unto no other but God himself, Led us not into temptation: and the Scriptures bear witness of Christ himself that he was s Mat. 4.1. led aside of the Spirit to be tempted of the Devil, which Spirit doubtless was the good Spirit, Luk. 4.1. this same Suffer us not reacheth not home to that which is intimated here indeed, & therefore say we to God himself, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Do not thou o Lord lead us into temptation, as being an action of God himself. Why but the Apostle S. james saith, that God tempteth no man, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. True, as the Author of evil, but as a righteous judge he doth. Witness S. Austen who after a long Disputation against Inlian the Pelagian bringeth this Petition, as an argument to prove the same. What is that t Quid est autem quod quotidie dicimus, Ne nos inferas in tentationem, nisi ut non tradamur concupiscentiis nostris? Tradit ergo Deus in passiones ignominiae, ut siant quae non conveniunt, sed ipse convenienter tradit, & fiunt eadem peccata & peccatorum supplicia praeteritorum, & suppliciorum merita futurorum. Sicut tradidit Achab in Pseudo-prophetarum mendacium: sicut tradidit Roboam in falsum consilium. Facit haec miris & ineffabilibus modis, qui novit justa judicia sua, non solùm in corporibus hominum, sed & in ipsis cordibus operari. Aug. Tom. 7 cont. julian. Pelag l. 5. c. 3. saith S. Austen, which we say daily, lead us not into temptation, but that we be not delivered to our own concupiscences? And again a little after, Therefore God delivereth into ignominious passions, that those things may be done, which are not convenient, but he delivereth conveniently, and the same sins are made both punishments of sins past, and deserts of punishments to come. As he delivered Achab into the lie of the false Prophets, as he delivered Roboam into false counsel. These things he doth by marvelous and unspeakable means who knoweth how to work his judgements, not only in men's bodies, but in their very hearts. Who so will see more hereof, & as much indeed as need be spoken, I refer him to those excellent Lectures, the 18, and 19, upon jonas, delivered by him that worthily now is one of the u My Lo●d of London, who truly makes the garment of holiness honourable, Ecclus. 50.11. worthiest of our Clergy. Our conclusion may be this. As the Romans in the Conspiracy which was made against Caesar, if there were in it any thing worthy of renown, that they referred x Plutarch. in Cas. wholly unto Brutus, but all the cruel and violent acts those they imputed unto Cassius: so Temptation so far forth as it is good for us (and good it is sometimes, Bonun mihi, y Ps. 118.71. vulg. Ps. 119.71. saith David, quia humiliasti me: It is good for me that I have been afflicted) the Lord himself works it: as there is any evil in it, Cassius the Devil, and his Complices, I come to the seventh and last Petition, though there be that make it but an Appendix unto this, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. He that seeketh, z Qui vult liberari à malo, testatur quia in malo est. Aug. Hom. 42. saith S. Austen, to be delivered from evil, is a witness against himself that he is in evil. I, and against our Roman Catholics too, that think that men may be so holy, as that they may merit even for others. But this is not that I aim at now. Now at this time I am to tell you of the many evils that surround us, while here we are in this world. In this world, a In hac Terra tentatio est, in hac terra periculosè navigatur, in hac terra per rimas fragilitatum subintrat aliquid quod debeat sentinari. Aug. Tom. 10. Tract. in Orat. Dominic. saith S. Austen, there is tentation, there is in this world a dangerous navigation, somewhat there is while we are in this world, that always enters into us by the leaks of our infirmities, which is still to be pumped out. I, but their are but generalities. will you have them specified in particular? S. Cyprian doth it, no man better. If Avarice, b Si Avaritia prostrata est, exurgit Libido: si Libido compressa est, succedit Ambitio: si Ambitio contempta est, Ira exasperate, instat Superbia, Violentia invitat, Invidia concordiam rumpit, amicitiam Zelus abscindit. Cyp. de Mortal. p. 207, saith he, be overthrown, Lust presently starteth up: if Lust be suppressed, Ambition follows after: if Ambition be disgraced, Wrath inflames us, Pride puffs us up, Drunkenness allures us, Envy breaks concord, and Hatred cuts off Friendship. And thus, Beloved, have we to do with such an adversary, as was Hannibal to the Romans, c Liv. Dec. 3. l 7. Seu vicit ferociter instat victis: seu victus est, instaurat cum victoribus certamen. Whether he vanquish, or is vanquished, nothing but blows to be looked for. Ad debellandos Dei servos, d Cyp. de zelo & livore p. 190. saith S. Cyprian, inquietus semper, & semper infestus: over busy & never but making of roads to vanquish & overcome the servants of Go●. And He it is as the most think, that is the Evil here meant. It is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 potius de Persona quàm de re dicitur. Beza Annot in Mat. 6.13. saith Beza, is spoken of the Person rather than of the thing, howbeit it is all one whether of both we take it to be. The Devil indeed is the enemy that lieth in wait for our life: but Sin is the weapon wherewith he continually wars against us. And thus much of the Prayer itself, come we now to the Conclusion, which partly allegeth the Reason of making all these Requests to God, and that in these words, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever: partly assureth us that all shall be as we have formerly requested & that in the word, Amen. FOR THY IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER, AMEN. I love Erasmus well, and am persuaded he well deserves as much of all that love true learning, but in my opinion he was much to blame to f Erasm. Annot. in Mat. 6. p. 33. Edu. Bas. 1527 say of this Conclusion that they that added this unto the Lord's Prayer did Divinae Precationi suas nugas assuere, to so heavenly a prayer did sow patches of their own. I am sorry that in this point his great Learning, & great judgement were yet no better matches. And yet can I hardly be of Mr Cartwrights mind on the other side, that saith these words were g M. Cartwrights Answer to the Preface of the Rhemish Testament. p. 154. borrowed from the Prophet David out of the Book of Chronicles: for if he suppose they came from thence, for that the Prophet h 1. Chr. 29.11 there saith, Thine O Lord is greatness, and power, and glory and victory and praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is thine: thine is the kingdom O Lord, and thou excellest as head over all, as being an abridgement of them: he may 'cause another to think that our Saviour's words, Mat. 12 30. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth: And Mark, 9.40. Whosoever is not against us is on our part, came from a like speech of Caesars set down by i Cic. Orat. pro & Ligario. Tully, Nos, omnes adversarios putare, nisi qui nobiscum essent: te, omnes, qui contra te non essent, tuos. But howsoever that be, the words are not to be neglected, chiefly for that though they want in some Greek Copies, and those of the most ancient stamp, nor are expounded by divers of the Fathers that expound of purpose this Prayer unto us, yet other Greek Copies have them, and the l Vid. D. Fulke against the Preface of the Rhemish Test. §. 38. Hebrew, & Syriack too; and therefore now concerning the words. Quomodo coepit à laudibus Dei [Oratio] m Amb. Tom. 4 de Sacram. l. 6. c. 5. p 384. saith S. Ambrose, sic debet in Dei laud desinere. As in our Prayers we must begin with the Praises of God, so must we end with them too. The Prayers here given are threefold. Funiculus triplex, n Eccles. 4.12 saith the Preacher, difficilè rumpitur. A threefold cord is not easily broken. Here is Kingdom, and Power, & Glory, all given unto God, and twisted here together to great good purpose. First concerning Kingdom here, it is his royal Government over all the world, and every particular therein, the hairs of our heads not excepted, nor so much as a pile of grass. Concerning his Power, it is that Omnipotency of his, whereby he doth execute and administer whatsoever belongeth to that Government. Concerning his Glory, it is that exceeding Praise which redoundeth unto him, by reason of such administration. And all three are for ever, his Kingdom for ever, his Power for ever, and for ever his Glory too. Aeternitas, o Aug. Tom. 8. in Psal. 145. p. 1162. saith S. Austen, in verbo, quatuor syllabis constat, in se sine fine est. Eternity in respect of the word consisteth only of four syllables (Ever, consisteth but of two) but in itself it is endless. A counterfeit whereof we have in this life, p Vicissitudine temporum sibi succedentium, dum Luna minuitur & rursus impletur, dum sol omni anno locum suum repetit, dum Ver, vel Aestas. vel Autumnus, vel Hiems, sic transit, ut redeat, aeternitatis quaedam imitatio est. Aug. in Ps. 9 p. 39 saith the same S. Austen in another place, When as the Moon waineth and waxeth again, when the Sun every year recovereth his wont place, when Spring, or Summer, or Autumn, or Winter, so pass and go on, that at length they return again. What? and is his the Kingdom then, and that for ever? Of whom then should we ask these things that belong unto that Kingdom, but only of God? Besides, that as S. chrysostom q Chrysost in Mat. Hom. 20. noteth, it shows that our Adversary the Devil is subject to the same God, howsoever God so permitting him he seem to resist him all he can. Is his the Power, and that for ever too? Then was it a foolish decree of king r Dan. 6.7. Darius, that none should ask a Petition for thirty days but only of him, seeing it is God that is powerful only to grant all requests made unto him, and consequently these. Lastly, is his the Glory, and that for ever? It is for his Glory that we crave these things, s 1. Sam. 4.21. which Glory (should but one miscarry, one only of all his Elect that thus pray) how should it be darkened and obscured, how might we say thereof as Phineas his wife t Proinde à quo petam ut accipiam? apud quem quaeram ut inveniam? ad quem pulsabo ut aperiatur mihi? quis habet petenti dare, nisi cuius omnia Scuius sum etiam ipse qui peto. Tertul. advers. Martion. l. 4. p. 217. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said when she was in travail, Ichadob, where is the Glory? The glory is not departed so much from Israel, as it is in truth from the God of Israel. I will end this point with that of Tertullian, who after a short conviction of Martion the Heretic out of every of the former Petitions, hath at the length this passage, & as it is likely by reason of this Conclusion. Therefore of whom shall I ask that I may receive? At whom shall I seek, that I may found? At whom shall I knock, that it may be opened unto me? who hath to give to him that asketh, but he whos● are all things, whose also I am that ask. The word Amen, is an u Ob sui emphasin singularem retinetur haec vocula Amen in omnium Christianorum linguis invariata: praebens simul luculentum argumentum primaevitati Hebraicae. Barth Schaer. I●in. in Ps. David num. 53. Vid. Aug Epist. 178 & de Doctr. Christ. l 2. c. 10. & 11. & in Evang. joan. Tract. 41. Hebrew word, & derived from a word that signifieth Truth, and hath this signification here: that the premises are certain and out of doubt, and whereunto we do assent, and believe that so they shall be, trusting to the truth of the promises of God. S. Jerome x Hier. in Mat. c. 6 p 21. calls it Signaculum Orationis Dominicae, The seal of the Lords Prayer, and so it may be called of all our other Prayers besides. This indeed is the People's word, howsoever now adays it be posted over to the Clerk, who because when the People are absent, is to supply that defect, is permitted by them even when they are present too to say it, and that alone. That it was and is the People's word, witness that of the Apostle S. Paul, 1. Cor. 14.16. as also that whole Chapter of Deut. where it is said twelve sundry times, as it is in our new Translation, And all the People shall say Amen. It was at that time when a many Curses were y Deut. 27.15. pronounced by the Levites in the hearing of the People, as Cursed be the man that shall make any carved or molten image, and z V 16. cursed be he that curseth his Father and his Mother, and a V 17. cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's mark, and so forth. Now if they were bound to say Amen to those Curses, and that by the precept of God himself; how willingly should they now at the end of every Prayer which containeth so many blessings, be always ready to say it, and that in a decent loud voice. I omit the custom of the Primitive Church in this case related unto us by so many of the Fathers, b justin Martyr Apol. 2. justin Martyr, c Tertul. despectaculis c. 25. Tertullian, d Aug. epist. 106 S. Austen, and e Hieron. Praef. ad. Lib. 2. Comment. in epist. ad Gal. S. Jerome, for that I hasten to an end. Thus, Beloved, have you had in brief my short meditations of this Prayer. You have heard of the Exordium of it: You have heard of the Prayer itself: You have heard of the Conclusion. Elegant is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that Recapitulation, and summary f Honour in Patre, fides, testimonium in Nomine, oblatio obsequii in Voluntate, commemoratio spei in Regno, petitio vitae in Pane, exomologesis debitorum in Deprecatione, sollicitudo tentationum in Postulatione turelae, Tertull. de Orat p. 659. brief, which Tertullian hath upon this Prayer, but speaking of it in general, Compendijs paucorum verborum saith he, quot attinguntur edicta Prophetarum, Evangeliorum, Apostolorum, Sermons Domini, Parabolae, Exempla, Praecepta, quot simul expunguntur officia Dei. Within the small compass of a few words how many passages are couched up together of the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Apostles? How many of our Saviour's Sermons, Parables, Examples, and Precepts? How many Titles and honours of God are there set down? So g Cyp. de Orat. Dominic. p. 239 And again, Qualia sunt Orationis Dominicae sacramenta, quàm multa, quàm magna, breviter insermone collecta, sed in virtute spiritualiter copiosa! ut nihil omnino praetermissum sit, quod non in precibus atque orationibus nostris coelestis doctrinae compendio comprehendatur. Cyp Ib. p. 232. S. Cyprian, Praeceptorum suorum fecit jesus grand compendium, ut in disciplina coelesti discentium memoria non laboraret, sed quod esset simplici fidei necessarium velociter disceret. Our Saviour hath made a special brief of all his Precepts, that the memories of such as are brought up in his School should not be clogged with them, but easily & quickly learn whatsoever was requisite to the simplicity of their faith. So h Aug: de Temp. Ser. 170. p. 692. S. Austen, Docuit te pauca verba quae quivis idiota potest tenere & dicere. He hath taught thee a few words which the simplest that is may have by rote, and repeat it again. There are that call this Prayer i Durand. Rational. divin. Offi●. l. 5. c. 5. §. 17. The salt of all of our Prayers, which we make to God above, & indeed not unfitly. For as Tully gives a precept concerning Rhetoric, that, l Tul. de. Orat. l. 1. Libandus est ex omni genere urbanitatis facetiarum quidam lepos, quo tanquam sale perspergatur omnis oratio: we must gather and pick out here and there pretty and witty sayings, wherewith our speech is to be sprinkled as it were with salt, to make it the more toothsome: right so in the Congregation are all our Prayers besprinkled with this Prayer, & therefore is it used in our Church Service, First in the front of our Prayers, immediately after the Confession, Secondly, after the Belief, Thirdly, at the end of the Litany. In the front m M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 5. § 35 p. 72. saith Reverend Hooker, as a Guide, in the end of some principal limbs, or parts of our prayers, as a compliment which fully perfecteth whatsoever may be defective in the rest. And here should I make an end, but that I hold it very requisite having showed you Quid, what to pray, to put you a little in mind Quales, after what sort you should come to God's house to pray. I will effect it in a few lines. The Author is Apocryphal, the words notwithstanding may be Canonical, which jesus the Son of Syrach hath Ecclesiasticus, 18.23. Before thou prayest saith he, prepare thyself, and be not as one that tempteth the Lord. I say the words may be Canonical, for that the self same words in effect are indeed in Canonical Scripture. Take heed to thy foot n Eccles. 4.17 saith Ecclesiastes, when thou interest into the house of God, and be more near to hear, then to give the sacrifice of fools. Alas Beloved, who is it now a days that esteems of the Church as of the House of God? What difference do we make betwixt it & the poorest Cottage that is? where must our Children play but forsooth in the Church, or that which is all one in effect, the Churchyard. We may well blush to speak it, but it is in vain to hide it, it is too too manifest to our faces, those monuments, those o Amongst the rest, that concerning King Alfred with all the Customs of the University very fairly set forth in glass, and Pentameter verses under every of them, at the West end of S. Mary's Vid. M. Twine Antiq. Acad. Oxen. Apol. p. 202. glorious monuments that have stood in our Windows uncrackt, untouched, fair and seemly to see to, for hundreds of years together, have even in our memory been pelted down by little Brats in their plays and pastimes, to the eie-soare, nay heart-soare of as many as truly love God's House. Alas how were Children brought up heretofore in ages gone & passed, had they no pastimes? Not recreations? Yes doubtless, & places to recreate themselves in, though the Church or Churchyard by all likelihood were none. But what will you say means this? What is this unto my purpose? I was to tell you now, after what sort you should come to God's house to pray. True it is I was so, and so I do, and therefore made instance in this Example to put you in mind how reverently you should esteem of the Church. It was jacob's saying when it seemeth he had somewhat forgot himself, p Gen. 28.16. Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not ware. And presently after, How fearful is this place! This is no other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Beloved, we have as great cause to say as much of God's Churches: and shall we q We come (a many of us) about the middle of Service, if not at the later end, we there set with our hats on all a great part of it: but Service is no sooner ended but we clap on our hats indeed, which should it, be in a Chamber of Presence, might make us to forfeit our heads. Offer it now unto thy Prince: will he be content with thee, or accept thy Person, says the Lord of hosts. Malac. 1.9. go into them, or go out, or behave ourselves therein, as rudely and uncivilly as if they were but our Father's Barns? I dare avow that that Popish extremity of Superstition, is far better than this Extremity of Profaneness on our side, & though a reverend regard of place add nothing to Prayer itself, yet is it a help no doubt to them that pray, in regard whereof Churches especially have been deputed to that use. Hence those many religious Solemnities in erecting them at first, in making of them public, and delivering them as it were into Gods own possession, all to intimate unto us in solemn manner the holy and religious uses, it is intended they should be put unto. When r Vid Euseb. de Vita Constant. l. 4 c. 41. 43, 44. 45. Constantine the Emperor had finished an House for the service of God at jerusalem, the dedication he judged a matter not unworthy, about the solemn performance whereof, the greatest part of the Bishops in Christendom should meet together. The like is recorded by s Athanas. Apolog. ad Constantium. Athanasius concerning a Bishop of Alexandria in a work of the like devout magnificence. It will not be long or ever our own eyes (God-willing) shall behold the like in a t Wadham College Chapel which was shortly after consecrated, namely june 29. being S. Peter's day. neighbour College, the youngest Daughter of our Mother the University. God forbidden it should be said of that Dedication, as was said of those Luds seculares, that were but once in an age: u Pol. Virg. de Inventor. rerum l. 8. c. 1. Venite ad Ludos, quos nemo mortalium vidit, neque visurus est; come see those Plays that never man saw, nor ever shall see again: so, come and see that Dedication of a Chapel that never here was seen in our memory before, nor ever shall be seen again. God I say forbidden! but if this were the custom of Antiquity to consecrated these places, and we by practice approve the same, let us accordingly acknowledge their worth, and not behave ourselves therein as if they were in truth no better then base hovels. There is an other sort of comers to Church not so bad I confess as these, and yet in this respect x Oportet ut quando psallitur ab omnibus psallatur: & cum oratur, ut ab omnibus oretur: cumque Lectio legitur, facto silentio, aeque au diatur à cunctis Isidor. de Eccl. Offic. c. 10. bad enough, who in time of Divine Service will be there with their Books indeed, but not with Church-bookes. Some Pamphlet or other they bring, to pass away the time, and there are they toti in illis, as deeply in, as deep may be. The Apostles speech in an other case affords us words unto than in this: y 1. Cor. 11.22 Have ye not houses to eat and drink in? despise ye the Church of God? So, have they not Studies to apply those Books in? Despise they the Church of God? Is this to have as Clemens Alexandrinus z Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 7. speaks, unam vocem, & unam mentem, one voice, one mind? Or as S. a Bas. in epist. ad Cleric. Neocaesar Basil, unum os, & unum cor, one mouth, one heart? Or as the Prophet b jer. 32.39. jeremy, Cor unum, & viam unam, one heart, and one way? But I will end with that of c Quando slamus ad orationem. Fratres dilectissimi, vigilare & incumbere ad preces toto cord debe mus. Cogitatio omnis secularis & carnales abscedat, nec quicquam tunc animus quam id solùm cogitet quod precatur. Ideo & Sacerdos ante orationem praefatione praemissa, parat fratrum mentes dicendo, Sursum corda, ut dum respondet plebs, Habemus ad Dominum, admoneatur nihil aliud se, quàm Dominum cogitare debere. Claudatur contra Adversarium pectus, & soli Deo pateat, nec ad se hostem Dei, tempore orationis adire patiatur: obrepit enim frequenter & penetrate, & subtiliter fallens prece● nostras à Deo avocat, ut aliud habeamus in cord, aliud in voce, cum intentione syncera Dominum debeat non vocis sonus, sed animus & sensus orare. Quae autem segnitia est alienari & capi ineptis cogitationibus & prophanis, cum Dominum deprecaris, quasi sit aliud, quod magis debeas cogitare quàm quod cum Deo loquaris: Quomodo te au diri à Deo postulas, cum te ipse non audias Vis esse Deum memorem tui cum rogas, cum tu ipse memor tui non sis▪ Cyp de Orat. Dominic. p. 241. S. Cyprian: When we prepare saith he, ourselves to prayer, we must with all our hearts apply ourselves to the prayers then made in the Church. Every secular and carnal thought aught then to be abandoned, & our mind fixed only on that which is said by the Minister. Hence it is the Minister saith, Lift up your hearts, and the People answer again, We lift them up unto the Lord. So that let our Heart be close shut against our Adversary, but wide open unto God, nor let it suffer in time of Prayer the Enemy of God to come but near it. S. Cyprian goeth on, elegantly, & excellently, but I made promise' but of a little, wherefore but thus much of Prayer, the second of those points that the Church is to practise. The third is FASTING, and of Fasting I had thought to have entreated the next Thursday, but for then we are to celebrated elsewhere the Nativity of him who came neither eating nor drinking, Mat. 11.18. that is in the way of Righteousness, Mat. 21.32. whose Disciples fasted often, Mat. 9.19. It is I am persuaded Gods good providence whose wisdom so comely d Wisd. 8.1. ordereth all things, that first (as it were) we should see the Party who is so memorable for Fasting, thereby to season us the better for the better receipt of that Doctrine. Of Fasting then if God be willing the Thursday after that. In the mean time HE so bless us and the seed that hath been sown, etc. FASTING. Lecture 11. july, 1. 1613. I Am come at this time to speak of FASTING, an Argument seldom spoken of, and as seldom practised by a many. For how many are there in this Kingdom to whom throughout the whole year no meal comes amiss, Fasting Days, & Flesh Days are all one with them, unless perhaps (which is often too) the Fasting Days prove more fleshly, than the Flesh Days themselves. It is true we show ourselves that we are no Papists herein (and yet by your leave some Papists will lick their fingers with us now & then) but in avoiding that extremity, do we not run into another? what if they forsaking Flesh on these days, glut themselves with Fish more powerful than any Flesh to the furtherance of that which is not at this time to be spoken; shall we therefore on the same days glut ourselves as much with Flesh and all for we will be opposite? what if a many of them, it may be, abstain even from Fish too, and yet have their divers & sundry sweet a Insuper etiam famam abstinentiae in delitiis quaerimus. Hieron Tom. 2. ad Nepot. Confections more powerful than Flesh or Fish, and of warmer operations; shall we therefore gormandize, and say we fast as they do? What if they put merit in Fasting, and so prove erroneous; shall we therefore be profane and wholly irreligious? Nay, God forbidden. We have not so learned Christ: you know whose saying it was, — Non ego Avarum b Hor. Ser. l. 1. Cum veto te fieri, vappam jubeo, ac Nebulonem. There is a difference, saith our English c The difference between staring and stark blind; The wise man at all times to follow can found. Heywoods' Dialogue of Proverbs. Part, 2. p. H. 4. b. Proverb, between staring, and stark blind. What? we not to fast at all? nay to be Enemies to Fasting? we not to practise that, the praises whereof are so frequent, & the effect said to be so potent, throughout the whole Scriptures, and Fathers of the Church? Go we to the manner of the Church at all times, & hath it not always been that at the first institution, or undertaking of any great & weighty affairs, there hath been, as a worthy d B. Andrew's of the Combat between Christ and Satan. Ser. 2. p. 14 b. Prelate observeth, extraordinary Fasting? So Moses, saith he, when he entered into his calling, at the receiving of the Law, e Deut. 9.9. fasted forty days. So Elias at the restoring of the same Law, did the f 1. Kin. 19.18. like. So likewise when they went about the re-edifying of the Temple: And there at the River by Ahana, g Ezra. 8.21. saith Ezra, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God, and seek of him a right way for us, and for our children, and for all our substance. So likewise in the new Testament, as at the Separation of Paul & Barnabas, Act. 13.3. at the ordaining of Elders, Act. 14.23. and in a dangerous voyage by Sea, Act. 27.9. Come we to the Fathers, and when as they endeavour to speak of Fasting, they can hardly satisfy themselves with the several appellations they give unto it. Fasting, h Chrys. Tom. 5. Ser. de Itiun. saith S. chrysostom, is an imitating, or following the very Angels in heaven so far forth as we are able, a contempt of things present, a School of Prayer, a sustenance of the Soul, a Bridle to the Body. What is Fasting, i Ambr. Tom. 4. de Helia & jejune. c. 3. p. 289. saith S. Ambrose, but an heavenly substance and representation. Fasting is a refreshing of the Soul, the food of the mind. Fasting is the life of Angels. Fasting is the Death of offences, the razing out of sin, the remedy of Salvation, the root of Grace, it is the Foundation of Chastity. And again a little after, Fasting, l Ib. c. 8. p. 292. saith he, is the Schoolmaster of Continency, the doctrine of Virginity, the humility of the mind, a chastizing of the Flesh, a form of Sobriety, a rule of virtue, a purifying of the Soul, the bounty of commiseration, the doctrine of Lenity, the allurement of Charity, the glory of old men, the preserver of young. Of Fasting then at this time: and the Text I have chosen to this purpose is a saying of our Saviour's in the second Chapter of S. Marks Gospel, the 19 and 20. verses. The words are these: And jesus said unto them, can the Children of the Marriage chamber fast, whiles the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, & then shall they fast in those days. In which words we are to consider. First the occasion of them, than the words themselves. The occasion of these words is intimated unto us in the verse going before. The Disciples of john, saith Saint Mark, and the Pharisees did fast, and came and said unto him, why do the Disciples of john, and of the Pharisees fast, and thy Disciples fast not? S. Mathewe m Mat. 9.14. saith the Disciples of john, did come and ask the question. S. Luke n Luk. 5 30. saith it was the question of the o So it may seem by comparing the 30 and 33 verses together: but S. Austen was of opinion that S. Luke did mean the Guests in that place. Aug. de Consens. Evang. l. 2. c. 27. Scribes and Pharisees. So that belike all came, the Disciples of john were here joined with Scribes and Pharisees. Not Saul among the p 1. Sam. 10.11 Prophets, but the Prophets among Saules; Brutus with Cassius, and Cassius with Brutus, and both against Caesar. john the Baptist was a man of whom our Saviour gave that great testimony; q Mat. 11.11. Verily I say unto you, among them which are begotten of women, arose there not a greater than john Baptist. The Scribes and Pharisees were the greatest enemies that ever our Saviour had, and yet see how these old Foxes could wind themselves into that Brood, & 'cause them here to join with them in way of opposition to our Saviour. They could not be ignorant how their Master john condemned the Pharisees, no man more, how he r Mat. 3.7. inveighed against them most bitterly, terming them Generation of Vipers, as being unworthy the name of Men, and yet forsooth who but they here with Scribes & Pharisees. A lesson to teach us with whom we use to consort ourselves, for it is not for nothing that Solomon s Prov. 22.24. counsels us to make no friendship with an angry man, nor to go with the furious man, and the reason he gives is this, Lest thou t Novi ego hoc saeculum moribus quibus sit. Malus bonum malum esse vult ut sit sui similis Plaus. Trinum. Act. 2. Sc. Quo illic. learn, saith he, his ways, & receive destruction to thy soul. That God was merciful to the Souls of these Disciples of john I doubt not, but see how they learned the ways of these angry, and furious men. First they learn to found fault with him of whom their Master himself had u joh. 1.29. said, Ecce Agnus Dei; Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world, that Lamb of God, that Son of the Father that taketh away the sins of the world, & was to have mercy even on them: they are now offended at him, they are offended with his Followers, they make themselves inmates with those who were Traitors to his Person, Nolumus hunc regnare super nos. We will not have this man to reign over us, Luk. 19.14. x juu. Satyr. 1. Omne in praecipiti vitium stetit. They rest not here, they run headlong yet farther, they fall to boasting of themselves. We the Disciples of john, and of the Pharisees fast, nay as it is in y Mat. 9.14. S. Matthews Gospel, we and the Pharisees fast often. It was an excellent saying of z Aug ep. 56. p. 170. S. Austen, Vitia catera in peccatis, superbia verò etiam in rectè factis timenda est, ne illa quae laudabiliter facta sunt, ipsius laudis cupiditate amittantur. All other vices are to be taken heed of in the sins that we commit, but we are to beware of Pride even in the good things that we do, lest we should lose the benefit of those things that are laudably done by a desire to be praised for them. And might not our Saviour now have said as Caesar did to Brutus that stabbed him with others, a Suet. Tranq. in julio c. 82. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉? What & Brutus too? What? john's Disciples so brutish? Might he not have said as the Prophet Hosea did, b Hos. 4.15. Though thou Israel play the harlot, yet let not juda sin? Might he not have said as once he did, c Mat. 6.17. When thou fastest anoint thy head & wash thy face, that thou seem not unto men to fast, much less boast of it so untimely? But let us see what our Saviour said. And jesus said unto them; Can the children of the marriage chamber fast, whiles the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast in those days. He puts then in mind of a certain speech which they had heard of their Master before. For when they had come unto their Master long before this and said unto him, Rabbi he that was with thee beyond jordan to whom thou barest witness, behold he baptizeth & all men come to him: his answer unto them was, d Ioh 3.27. A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves are my witnesses, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom. So that he who a little before saw Nathaniel under the figtree before that Philip called him, joh. 1.48. saw no doubt all this, and heard all this communication between john and his Disciples. To this than it is likely he alludeth here in this place, hence it is he here saith, Can the Children of the marriage chamber fast whiles the Bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the Bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the Bridegroom shallbe taken from them, and then shall they fast in those days. Which words contain in them a double answer to the former question. First an answer by way of interrogation with an affirmative annexed, and that in these words, Can the Children of the marriage chamber fast whiles the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them they cannot fast. Secondly, an other answer by way of affirmation only, how indeed they should fast afterwards: But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, & then shall they fast in those days. So that our Saviour here in this place stops not (as elsewhere) two gaps with one bush, but one gap with two bushes, to make the sense somewhat stronger, according unto that, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, Luk. 6.38. It is in e Vid. Aug. de Consens. Evang. l. 2. c. 27. S. Luke's Gospel, Can ye make the children of the wedding chamber to fast, Luk. 5.34. and Mat. 9.15, Can the children of the marriage chamber mourn, so that the Simile here used is borrowed primarily from the solemnity of marriage. As if our Saviour had thus said: f Eccles, 3.1. To all things there is an appointed time, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. g V 4. A time to weep, & a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embracing. A time of war, and a time of peace. Now the time that is most suitable to the time of laughing and of dancing, to the time of embracing, & of peace, what is it under heaven, if it be not marriage time, when after so much love and liking of both Parties, the Bridegroom, and the Bride, so many * Institutum est ut iam pactae sponsae non tradantur statim, ne vileus habeat Maritus datam, quam non suspiraverit sponsus dilatam Aug. Confess. l. 8 c. 3. ubique maius gaudium, molestia maior praecedit. Ib. sighs on either side for wanting each other, so many stays and lets and prolong of the time, both at length enjoy each other, to the great rejoicing of their friends, who strive to show that joy of theirs some in one kind, some in an other. But what will you say is this to the question here proposed? Much every manner of way. Our Saviour Christ jesus here was this Bridegroom. He had newly married (as it were) his Church unto him. It was the cause of his coming from heaven to solemnize this marriage. They were as you heard before S. john the Baptists own words: h joh. 3.28. He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom: but the friend of the Bridegroom which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegrooms voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled, Now as our Saviour was the Bridegroom, so his Apostles were the marriage Guests, for so by an i Calv. in hunc locum. Hebrew phrase, The children of the marriage chamber here signify. They then enjoying his corporal presence what should they but rejoice, I, & rejoice greatly because of the bridegrooms voice, as john the Baptist spoke. And thus at this time did the Apostles, as our Saviour fared, so fared they, and how then could Feasting & Fasting agreed together. So that Cannot here in this place, As long as they have the Bridegroom with them they cannot fast, is taken for that as l Greg. Naz Orat. 36. p. 583. Edit. Par. 1609. Nazianzene noteth, which is not convenient not agreeable unto reason, nor is not fitting so to do. And thus much of the first Answer. The second answer (which I told you was by way of affirmation only) was that there was indeed a time to come when these his Disciples should fast. When there should be mourning, and weeping, & great lamentation, like as m Mat. 2.18. Rachel wept for her children, and would not be comforted because they were not. For the time was afterwards to come, and that within a few years, when this their Bridegroom should be taken from them, & then indeed were they to make many an hungry meal God wots. He was to be taken as a Thief with swords & with staves, Mat. 26.55. He was to be taken from Prison and judgement, Esay 53.8. He was to be taken out of life, even as a sheep is brought to the slaughter, Esay, 53.7. he was to be taken from the Cross, and put into a new Tomb, Mat. 27.60. he was (as they thought) to be taken from thence too, They have taken away the Lord out of the Sepulchre, & we know not where they have laid him, joh. 20.2. Lastly, he was to be taken up on high, for a cloud took him out of their sight, Act. 1.9. The Bridegroom then so many ways to be taken away from them, imagine, Beloved, in what a taking these his Disciples might be, and how prove they should be to fast, that were to surfeit afterwards of so many several sorrows. You have seen the occasion of these words, as also the words themselves. It remaineth that out of the same I now observe unto you such points as may be gathered thereupon, and those are three. First a Necessity of Fasting, and that in these words, And then shall they fast. Secondly, who they are upon whom this necessity is here laid, and that in these words, The children of the marriage chamber: Thirdly, the time when, and that in these, The days will come when the Bridegroom shallbe taken from from them, and then shall they fast in those days. Of every of these in their order, & first of the Necessity of Fasting. And then shall they fast. Before we come to show the Necessity of Fasting it will will not be amiss to consider first what Fasting is, Fasting n Chemnit. Ex am. Conc. Trid. Part. 4 p. 90. Col. 2. saith a good Writer, est castingatio corporis, & humiliatio animi per abstinentiam cibi & abdicationem deliciarum seu delectationum, quibus corpori & sensibus aliâs benè solet fieri. Fasting is a chastisement of the Body, and a humiliation of the mind through abstinence of meat and abandoning of pleasures whereof the Body at other times is made partaker. Or thus, jeiunium est abstinentia cibi, & abdicatio delectationum corporis ad tempus talis, quâ & corpus castigetur, & animus humilietur; an abstinence from meat and such a forsaking for a time of all our pleasures, as that the Body is thereby chastened, & our minds & souls humbled. For the better conceiving whereof we are to know that whereas every Man consisteth of two parts, the Body and the Soul, and this Body, and this Soul are too too many times like Simeon and Levi, o Gen. 49.5. Brethren in evil, going about to overthrow themselves, and to work their own bane: and whereas all this harm proceedeth chiefly from the * Prius seminatur homo, postea concipitur in utero, & ibi caro formatur, deinde pos● dies 47. creature anima & corpori infunditur Aug. ad Fratres in Eremo. Ser. 25 p. 943. elder of these twain, the Body, which hath this advantage of the Soul, that as itself shall be affected, so shall the Souls operations be: hence it is, that to bring them both into a ghostly kind of temper, and to make them hold a true pace, we bereave the Body of that usual food which formerly we gave unto it. Famous was the saying of Hilarion to this purpose, who living solitarily in the Wilderness, and feeling those sparkles arising that use to set the Soul a fire: what saith he unto his Flesh, and darest thou begin to kick? p Hieron de vita Hilarion. Ego Aselle faciam ut non calcitres. Ass as thou art I will hamper thee well enough. Nec te hordeo alum, sed paleis. Fame te conficiam & siti: gravi onerabo pondere, per aestus indagabo & frigora, ut cibum potiùs quàm lasciviam cogites. I shall not hereafter feed thee with provender, but only with cahffe. I will make thee even pine away with hunger and thirst. I will drive thee through heat and cold, so that thou shalt have little lust to think on any thing, but of meat. But as there is in this case to be an abstinence of meat, so there is to be besides an abandoning of all such pleasures as we are at other times to partake of. And therefore the Prophet joel in an extraordinary case of Fasting, such as a Public Fast is whereof you shall hear anon, Blow the Trumpet, q joel. 2.15. saith he, in Zion, sanctify the congregation: gather the Elders: assemble the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the Bridegroom go forth of his chamber, & the Bride out of her Bride-chamber. Behold, Beloved, even the Bridegroom, who was by Moses law privileged no less then for a twelvemonth, that he should not go a r Deut. 24.5. warfare, neither be charged with any business, but he should be free at home, & rejoice with his wife, & privileged by our Saviour here in this place; yet had he no privilege in a case extraordinary, and no marvel, for nor Children, nor Babes that sucked the breasts were it seems exempted either. So the Apostle to the Corinthians speaking to married couples, s 1. Cor. 7.5. Defraud not one another, saith he, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting, and prayer. What, and is this wild fire of our Flesh the only cause of Fasting then? Not not so neither. Much harm, t M Hooker. Eccles Pol. l 5. §. 72 p. 205. saith Reverend Hooker, hath grown to the Church of God, through a false imagination that Fasting standeth men in no steed for any spiritual respect, but only to take down the frankness of nature, & to tame the wildness of the flesh. Whereupon the world being bold to surfeit, doth now blush to fast, supposing that men when they fast do rather bewray a disease, then exercise a virtue. I much wonder, saith he, what they who are thus persuaded, do think, what conceit they have concerning the Fasts of the patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apostles, our Lord jesus Christ himself. Some other causes there were in these then, and may be in us likewise, which may move us to fast. There are that allege other causes, why we also aught to fast, as first that we may be the better disposed to Prayer and Meditation: Secondly, that it should be a testimony of our humiliation before God, when upon extraordinary causes we acknowledge our own guiltiness. And indeed when we call to mind our many weaknesses in praying, whose conscience will not check him, and control him for the same? Let me instance every in the Fathers, who acknowledging as much of themselves, are sufficient witnesses unto us of the general deluge of this Sin. While we intent, u Dum ad aures tuas voce cerdis intendimus, nescio unde irruentibus nugatoriis cognitationibus res tanta praeciditur. Aug. Conf. l. 10. c. 35. p. 130. saith S. Austen, to pray unto thee with the voice of our heart, we are cut off I know not how, with a many idle cogitations that rush in upon us. So S. Jerome. I come, x Ad orationem assisto; non orarem, si non crederem, sed si verè crederem, illud cor quo Deus videtur mundarem, manibus tanderē pectus, genas lachrymis rigarem, corpore inborresceren, ere pallerem, iaterem ad Domini mei pedes, eosque fletu perfunderem, crine ter gerem, haererem certè trunco crucis, nec prius amitterem, quam misericordiam impetrarem. Nunc verò crebetrimè in oratione mea, aut per porticus deambulo, aut de faenore computo, aut abductus turpi cogitation, etiam quae dictu erubescenda sunt, gero. Hieron. Advers. Luciferian. Dial. saith he, to pray, I should not pray at all unless I did believe, but if I did believe indeed, then should I cleanse that heart wherewith God is seen, I should knock my breast with my hands, water my cheeks with tears, I should feel an horror over all my body, I should be as pale as ashes, I should kneel at the feet of my Lord, and wash them with my tears, and wipe them with the hairs of my head, doubtless I should hold fast the beam of his Cross, and in no wise part from it until I had obtained mercy. Howbeit now most often times in the Prayers that I make, or my wits are a woolgathering, or my mind is on my halfpenny, or quite transported with foul and filthy thoughts, I do those things that are shameful to be spoken. Thus S. jerom, if not of himself, yet in the person of Orthodoxus, a true believer, to show that even true Believers may thus be distracted in their prayers. So S. Bernard: Have mercy upon me O God, y Miserere mei Deus quoniam ihi plus pecco, ubi peccata mea emendare debeo. In Monasterio namque saepè dum oro, non attendo quod dico. Oro quidem ore, sed ment feris vagante, orationis fructu privor. Corpore sum interius, sed cord exterius: & ideo perdo quod dico. Idcirco magnam iniuriam Deo facio cum illum precor ut meam precem exaudiatquam ego qui fundo non audio. Deprecor illum ut mihi in. endat. ego verò nec mihi nec illi intendo sed quod deterius est, immunda & inutiton in cord versando, faetorem horribilem eius aspectibus ingero. Bern. Meditat. Aliâs lib. de anima. c. 8. p. 297. col 4. saith he, for where I aught to amend my faults, there am I faulty more and more. For often times in my Monastery while I am a praying, I attend not to what I say. I pray indeed with my mouth, but my mind wandering abroad, I am deprived of the fruit of prayer. My body is within indeed but my heart is without, and therefore I lose the words that I speak. And again a little after, Wherefore I do great injury to God, when I pray him to hear my prayer, whereunto myself do not hearken while I power it forth unto him. I make request unto him to attend unto me, and I for my part neither attend myself nor him, nay which is far worse, by casting to and fro unclean & unprofitable thoughts in my heart, I present unto his presence an intolerable stinch. Now if the Belweathers of the flock of Christ thus spoke of themselves, at lest wise of such Believers as they themselves were, what may we say in like case, whose consciences will put us in mind of more than this comes to. We are never better affected unto God, z M Hookers learned discourse of justif. Works, etc. p. 10. saith Reverend Hooker, then when we pray; yet when we pray, how are our affections many times a Nos experimento continue cernimus & sétimus hanc evagationis necessitatem. Gerson de Orat. & eius valere. Oper. Part. 3. fol. 4●1 Col. 3. And he tells a little before of the Country fellow that was to say his Pater noster for an Ass and quite lost h●m by reason of the Saddle. distracted! How little reverence do we show unto the grand majesty of God, unto whom we speak! How little remorse of our own miseries! How little taste of the sweet influence of his tender mercies do we feel! Are we not, saith he, as unwilling many times to begin, and as glad to make an end; as if in saying Cal upon me, he had set us a very burden some task? All this and more than this our Flesh continually worketh, that traitorous Flesh of ours, and therefore you see how necessary it is we should subdue it as by other means, so especially by Fasting. You see what Fasting is. You have scene withal the Necessity of it. For if our Flesh be thus wild and not to be tamed but by Fasting: if Fasting better disposeth us to Prayer and Meditation: if Fasting be a special testimony of humbling ourselves before God, what remaineth but as the Apostle S. Paul said of Preaching, b 1. Cor. 9.16. Necessity is laid upon me, and woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel, so we say of Fasting in time of the Gospel; Necessity is laid upon us and woe is unto us if we fast not. Woe unto our Bodies for they are as so many Serpents proffering forbidden fruit unto our Souls: woe unto our Souls for they are as so many eves tempted, and tempting others. Woe to us Bodies and Souls, which shall not be cast out of Eden only, where shall be set * Gen. 3.24. Cherubims & the blade of a Sword shaken to keep the way of the tree of life, but both shall be cast out into utter darkness where is d Mat. 8.12. weeping & gnashing of teeth. I come to the second point: who they are that are to fast, and that in these words; The children of the marriage chamber. And jesus said unto them, Can the children of the marriage chamber fast, whiles the Bridegroom is with them? You heard before who they were that were meant by these Children here. And it is true the Apostles indeed were primarily meant, they were the Parties here oppugned, and they were the Parties here in this place defended by our Saviour. Howbeit as somethings were spoken to, and of the Apostles in particular, wherein no body else was to bear a part: some things wherein their Successors only and the Clergy should have a share: some things wherein all Christians should share as well as they: so this among other things appertained to all Christians especially all such as to whom or Age, or weakness gave no exemption. For as for such our Adversaries themselves will not deny but they are to be exempted indeed. And therefore Bellarmine hath some certain Classes, ranks and orders of men of this kind. In the first he e Bell de bon. Oper. in partic. l 2. c. 10. placeth Oldmen and Children, sick folks, & women with child, All such as in the opinion of Physicians cannot fast without danger of bodily health, & all such poor folks as go from door to door. In the second Preachers, & Lecturers, & Confessors, and such as attend on sick folks, & any other who cannot possibly fast & satisfy withal the duty they own unto the Church. In the third all such as having a laborious kind of trade have their spirits exhausted by it, he maketh instance in Masons, Smiths, Carpenters and the like. And indeed reason good, for if jacob said well to Esau, f Gen. 33.13. My Lord I●c●b knoweth that the children are tender, and the Ewes, and kine with young under my hand; and if they should overdrive them one day, all the flock would die; and therefore would he drive softly according to the pace of the cattle, and as the Children should be able to endure: how much more should the Church have care and compassion in this spiritual driving of hers, lest whose Souls she seeks to save, she should 'cause their Bodies to be destroyed. But where was this care or compassion when time was in this Mother Church of Rome, if so be she be a Mother that hath no g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quorsum superbum Matris illa vendicet Nomen sibi, quae Matre dignü nil agit, Sophocl. Trachin Mother-hood in her at all or towards women with Child, or towards them that kept them: did they not h Vid Acts and Mon. concerning Frebarns wife, p. 1184. and concerning two young girls Lucy Wily & Agnes Wily, who kept their Mother in child bed: p 1048. handle them most barbarously, and profanely use that nourishment which was to be food unto them? I wonder what these Fellows would have done with that piece of powdered Pork which Spiridion, cum iam instaret Quadragesima, even in the beginning of Lent did i Sozom. Hist. l. 1. c. 11. p. 436 set before his Guest willing him to eat thereof, & began unto him himself. But I hasten to the Time, for that the Time itself hastens. The days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast in those days. How the Bridegroom was taken from them & by how many manner of ways, I have told you even now, & so is he consequently taken from us too, till he come at length for good & all Whom the heaven l Act. 3.21. saith S. Peter, must contain until the time that all things be restored: and m Aug Ep. 57 p. 176. S. Austen to this purpose, Noli itaque dubitare ibi nunc esse hominem Christum jesum, unde venturus est, nec aliunde quàm inde venturus est ad vivos mortuosque iudicandos. Doubt thou not therefore that Christ jesus as he is man is there (in heaven) from whence he shall come, & from no place but thence to judge both quick & dead. But he may be said to be absent from us two manner of ways besides. First from any of us in particular when he layeth any cross or calamity upon us, & therefore the Prophet n Ps. 22.1. David, My God, my God (look upon me) why haste thou forsaken me: and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint? Secondly, from us all in general when upon a whole City or upon a Nation he sendeth some general calamities, & therefore the Prophet David o Ps. 74.1. again, O God, wherefore art thou absent from us so long, why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture? According to these two circumstances Fast were commonly in holy Scriptures, & now in time of the Gospel aught our Fasts also to be. So that Fast in holy Scripture were either of men's own free and voluntary accord as their particular devotion did move them thereunto, or else they were publicly enjoined in their Synagogues, and required at the hands of all. Concerning private Fasts in holy Scriptures there was an ancient practice among the jews of fasting voluntarily and in private, when as there was no day set, but the Party that fasted chose any time according to season and opportunity. And it was concerning those that our Saviour gave those precepts, Mat. 6.16. Where he taught them also the manner of Fasting, and proposed unto them a reward. Now private Fasts p P. Martyr loc. Cont. Class. 3. Loc. 10 §. 8. saith Peter Martyr are then to be undertaken when some proper and peculiar calamity afflicteth us at home, or if no such betide us, then must we so do for others. Thus did David the Prophet in general, Psal. 35.12. & particularly for Abner, 2. Sam. 3.35. When they were sick, saith he, I put on sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting: and again concerning Abner, So do God to me, saith he, and more also, if I taste bread, or aught else till the Sun be down. Concerning their public Fasts, required at the hands of all, they were either Ordinary or Extraordinary. Ordinary Fasts, such as were either yearly, or monthly, or weekly, observed by them. Extraordinary, or upon occasion of some imminent danger, or some public calamity that had overtaken them already, or upon the undertaking of some great & weighty affairs. Imminent danger as that of Niniveh (though the Ninivites were not Israelites) jon. 3.7. Public calamity, as that of the Israelites against the Beniamites, judg. 20.26. Undertaking of weighty affairs, as Re-edifying of the Temple, Esd. 8.21. Inimitation of all this we have also our Fasts too, Ordidinary, and Extraordinary. Our Ordinary Fasts are such as are to be observed either yearly, or weekly. The yearly Fast is Lent, and Ember days. Ember days so called as if you should say Temper-days, of Quatuor Temporun (according to the q Vid. Bristew● Motives M●t: 32, Dutch, the root of our English) & are to be fasted four several times a year. The weekly Fast is to be observed on Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Saterdaies. Concerning Frydaies, and Saterdaies, how first they were kept by the Church but yearly, and that immediately before Easter, how afterwards they came to be weekly: bow the Churches that observed not Saturday, had Wednesday instead thereof, it would ask a long time to tell you, and therefore I refer you to r M. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l 51 § 72. p. 208. Reverend Mr Hooker for this point. Concerning Wednesday, it is a day enjoined us by QUEEN ELIZABETH of blessed memory aswell as the two other, & therefore when that frantic s Pius, 5. Pope in his furious Bull against her, among many gross and palpable untruths had set down this for one that she had abolished Ciborum delectum, all choice of meats: out worthy jewel thus answered it; t B. jewels view of a seditious Bull p. 12. Opera Angl. Edit. 1611. What one fish day is changed through the whole year? What Lenten, Ember, Saturday, Friday, or other usual Fasting day? Our Law u Eliz. Anno 5. c 5. saith, it shall not be lawful to any person or persons within this Realm to eat any flesh upon any days now usually observed as fish days. Nay besides those days which our Forefathers kept, we have appointed that Wednesday in every week throughout the year, be kept fish day, and that no manner of person shall eat any flesh on the same day, whereby we have made nigh fifty fish days more, then have been observed heretofore by the laws & customs of this Realm. What? and doth this please them? Not nor this neither. Stapleton x Stapl. Promp. Morale in Dom. 1. Quadrages. p. 370. calls it, Novum jeiunium, Politicum, minimè Philosophicum, & minùs religiosum, a new kind of Fast, a Politic fast, such a Fast as is not so much as Philosophical, and no ways religious, or Ecclesiastical. Weston he y Westen de tripl. hom. office l. 2 c. 7 p, 92. tells us that Iciunij quartae feriae, concerning. Wednesday fast, post Ignatium mentionem fecit antiquissimus Ecclesiastes Clemens Alexandrinus: that two of the most ancient, Ignatius and Clemens Alexandrinus, do mention it both. Thus will they have it sometimes to be new, sometimes to be old, sometimes Politic, sometimes Ecclesiastical. It were a skilful Cook that knew their diet. But thus much of ordinary Fasts. The Fasts that are Extraordinary, are either upon occasion (as I said) of some imminent danger, or some public calamity that hath already overtaken us, or upon the undertaking of some great and weighty affairs. And the difference between the Ordinary, and the Extraordinary Fasts is this, that in the Ordinary Fasts we need but abate only the quantity and kind of diet (& therefore the Law doth rather z Vid. D. Abboss. Answer. to D. Bish. Epistle to the King p. 65. call them Fish days then Fasting days) but in the Extraordinary, we aught to deprive ourselves wholly of all food during the time that our Fasts continued. And of these Extraordinary Fasts should much be spoken, especially how they should not be c My Lord of London on jonas Lect 35. p. 473. practised but by warrant from the Magistrate, and how the peevish overhastinesse of some have by preventing the Magistrates decree, done in truth more harm then good: only this I will now say, that by how much these general Fasts are the seldomer practised of us, by so much should we keep the Ordinary ones, and specially our private Fasts much more often. For never to seek after God, b M Hooker Eccles. Pol. l 5. § 72. p. 205. saith Reverend Hooker, saving only when either the crib, or the whip doth constrain, were brutish servility: and a great derogation to the worth of that which is most predominant in man, if sometime it had not a kind of voluntary access to God, & of conference as it were with God, all inferior considerations laid aside. Which kind of fasting from all meat and drink, or what may be instead thereof, or in our particular fasts, or extraordinary is not so to be taken neither, as if the Lord, as c Non quod Deus universitatis creator & Dominus, intestinorum nostiorum rugitu, & inanitate ventris, pulmonisque delectetus ardore, sed quod aliter pudicitia tuta esse non possit. Hieron Tom. 1 ad Eustoch. de custodia Virgin p. 137. speaks S. Jerome, were delighted with the croaking of our bellies, and emptiness thereof, & parching heat of our lungs: but that we join with this abstinence, an abstinence from vices too, or else the other abstinence is nothing worth. A peccatis nostris, d Aug. de Temp Ser. 182. p. 695 saith S. Austen, principaliter ieiunemus, ne jejunia * Fortè, Nostra. vestra sicut judaerum jejunia à Deo respuantur. Quale est enim ut à cibis quos Dominus creavit, nescio quis impostor abstineat, & peccatorum saginâ pinguescat. Let us principally fast from our Sins, lest our Fasts as the jews fasts should be rejected of the Lord. For what a kind of Fast is that, that some Impostor should abstain from meats that God hath created, & should fat himself with sin. And how the Fasts of the jews were rejected of the Lord, the Prophet Esay will tell us from the Lords own mouth, who when the People said unto him, wherefore have we fasted and thou seest it not? we have punished ourselves, and thou regardest it not, e Esay. 58.3. Behold, saith the Lord, in the day of your fast, you will seek your will, and require all your debts. f V 4. Behold, you fast to strife and debate, & to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do to day, to make your voice to be heard above. g V 5. Is it such a fast that I have chosen, that a man should afflict his Soul for a day, and to bow down his head as a Bulrush, and to lie down in sackcloth and ashes? Wilt thou call this a fasting, or an acceptable day to the Lord? h V 6. Is not this the fasting that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to take off the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke. i V 7. Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that wander, unto thine house? when thou seest the naked that thou cover him, & hide not thyself from thine own flesh? The Prophet Esay goeth on, but I must l Vid Chrys. Ad Pop. Antioch. Hom. 71, cui titulus, Nihil prodeste ●eiunium si reliqua desint merita. Tem. 5. p. 446. content myself with this, for that I have yet far to go. You have seen, Beloved, concerning Fasting, First, the necessity of it: Secondly, the Parties who they are that are to fast: Thirdly, the time, and withal the manner of Fasting how it is, namely for a certain time to abstain from all meat and drink, or what may be instead thereof, as also from vices too, and besides to be doing good. Now the Popish kind of Fasting (whereof they so much boast, and contemn us ten times more than ever the m Luk. 18.11. Pharisee did the Publican for not observing of the same) how little correspondence it hath with true Fasting indeed, is evident by the premises. For may that be called a Fast, when they fast from the flesh of Birds and Beasts, & feed on the flesh of Fish? I speak no otherwise then doth the Apostle Saint Paul, All flesh, n 1. Cor. 15.39 saith he, is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of Men, another flesh of Beasts, another of Fishes, and another of Birds. I speak no otherwise than Moses doth, who speaking of Fish, calls it Flesh too, for when the Lord had promised Flesh unto the People, Six hundred thousand footmen are there of the People, o Num. 11.22 saith Moses, among whom I am: & thou sayst that I will give them flesh that they may eat a month long. Shall the Sheep and the beeves be slain for them to found them? either shall all the Fish of the Sea be gathered together for them to suffice them? I speak no otherwise than the Lord himself doth, who having spoken of Fish that have nor Fins, nor scales: They, p Levit. 11.11 faith the Lord, shall be an abomination unto you, ye shall not eat of their flesh, but shall abhor their carcase. Now as our q joh. 10 35. Saviour reasoned in another case, If he called them Gods, unto whom the word of God was given, and the Scripture cannot be broken, say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemest because I said I am the Son of God? So if the Apostle S. Paul, if Moses, if the Lord himself call Fish by the very name of Flesh, and the Scripture cannot be broken, say they of him who eateth Fish, that he abstaineth from eating Flesh? or that he eateth no Flesh at all, who eateth nothing but Fish? That which the Spirit of God in the holy Scriptures hath thus joined (as it were) together, will they presume to put asunder, especially in such a case as concerneth (as they say) no less than Life and Death, Salvation and Damnation? But be it they were distinguished, and it were meritorious to feed on Fish, and damnable to feed on Flesh, yet may that be called a Fast when they feed not on Fish only (more r The fast of Fish is much more delicate and exquisite than that of flesh. Montaign. Essays l. 1. c. 49. powerful a many times than Flesh is to the works of the Flesh) but they pour down their throats withal so much of that Blood, which jacob s Gen 49.11. calls the Blood of the grape? My meaning is when they fast not from Wine. Vinum, t Ephes. 5.18. saith the Apostle S. Paul, in quo est luxuria, wine wherein is excess. Nec mirum, u Hieron ad Furiam p. 81. saith S Jerome, hoc figulum sensisse de vasculo quod ipse fabricatus est, cum etiam Comicus cuius finis est humanos mores nosse atque describere, dixerit, sine Cerere & Libero friget Venus. Nor is it any marvel that the Potter should so speak of the vessel which he himself framed, when as the Comical Poet, whose end it is to know and show the manners of men, said that Venus was but key-cold without the company of Ceres, and Bacchus, the one the Goddess of Corn, the other the God of Wine. Wine, saith the same x Hieron. ad Eustoch. de custod. Virgin. p. 137. S. Jerome, that is no better than Venom; Prima arma Daemonum. Incendium voluptatis. The devils chief weapon, and inflammation of pleasure? Quid oleum flammae adijcimus, saith he, quid ardenti corpusculo fomenta ignium ministramus? Why do we by drinking of wine add oil unto the flame, saith he, why do we yield that fuel to our Bodies already burning? And indeed it is a clear case, how the ancient Fathers in their Fasts abstained from wine too. Qui nos abstinemus à vino, y Aug. de Temp Ser. 64. p. 511. saith S. Austen, quo moderatè uti licet, imprimis peccata fugiamus, quae omninò nunquam licent. Again, Cessent lavacra, z Aug. de Temp Ser 65 p. 512. saith he, vina, vel carnes, non quòd creaturam Dei iudicemus esse damnandam, sed qui toto anno nobis viximus, saltem vel paucos dies vivamus & Domino. So a Chrys Tom. 5. de jejune. Ser. 1. p. 815. S. chrysostom, Quae tibi subtracta sunt? Vinum, phlegmatis immundicia, capitis dolour, respirandi difficultas. So b Clem. Rom. Constit. Apost. l. 5 c. 17. Clemens Romanus, c Cyrillus Hieros. Catech. 4. p. 92. Edit. Paris. 1608. Cyrillus Hierosolimitanus, d Origen in job. l. 3. p. 431. Origen, and e Basil. de jejune. Hom. 1. p. 237. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Basil. But what do I reckon up by piece-meal the many Solecisms of their Fasts. Consider we the Fasts of the Manichees of old; consider we what was spoken against them by the Orthodox Christians that then lived: and see if in the one we have not the true pattern of Popish Fasts, and of Protestants arguments and reasons against them in the other. Our thrice-worthy f M.D. Abbots against D. B sh. Epistle to the King. p 34. Professor hath thus observed it. The Montanists appointed g Horum ●em po●a obse●vantes & dies & menses & annos Galaticamur planè, si Iudai carum ceremo niarum, fi legalium solennitatum observantes sumus, illas enim Apostolus dedocet cempescent veteris Testamenti in Christo sepulti perseverantiam & novi sistens, Tertul. de jejune. p. 650. certain and standing days for fasting and forbearing of certain meats: so do the Papists. The Montanists did not take any creature or meat to be h Quo ille non ex institutione, sed ex devotione abstinebat. Tertul. Ib. p. 648. Abstinentes ab eis quae non reiicimus sed differimus. Tertul Ib. p. 651 Sciebat quosdam castigatores & interdictores victus incusare qui ex fastidio, non qui ex officio abstinerent. Tertul. Ib. unclean, but did only by way of devotion as they pretended forbear at certain times: and the Papists also do the same. The Montanists being urged with the place of S. Paul to Timothy of them that command to abstain from meats, answered that that place touched i Praedamnans haereticus perpetuam abstinentiam praecepturos ad destruenda & despicienda ●pera Creatoris-quales apud Marcionem, apud Tatianum, non apud Paracletum, Tertul. Ibid. Martion and Tatianus, and such other who condemned the creatures as evil & unclean not them who did not reject the creatures, but only forbear the use of them at some times: the same answer give the l Rhem. Annot. in. 1. Tim. 4.3. Papists. The Montanists took their very fastings to be a service and worship of God: so do the m Bell. de bonis Oper. in partic. l. 2. c. 8. Papists. The Montanists thought that their fastings did n Nos hoc prius affirmare debemus, quod occulie subrui periclitatur quantum valeat apud Deum inanitas istat & ante omni●, unde ratio ipsa prec●sserit ●oc modo promerendi Deum. Tertul. Ib. p. 645. Delicta quae ieiuniis elimentur. Ib. p. 650. merit at God's hands: that it was a satisfaction for sin, an expiation of sin: that emptiness of belly did much avail with God, and made God to devil with man: the same effects do the Papists teach of their superstitious Fasts. Were there so many correspondences between Martial the Poet, and Maximus? Not doubtless, and yet you know how o Martial. Epig. l. 2. Epig. 18. oftentimes he said, I am sumus ergo pares. There is now no difference between us. Our worthy Professor goeth on. Look what arguments, saith he, the Papists use for their fastings, the very same Tertullian used for the Montanists. Look what cavils & calumniations the Papists use against us of Feasting instead of Fasting, of Epicurism, & papering the belly, the same Tertullian being a Montanist used against the doctrine of the Church of Rome that then was, whereas neither that Church then, nor we now do reject that true fasting which the Scripture teacheth, but only those opinions of Fasting which the Montanists first devised, & the Papists have received against the Scripture; namely, to forbear continually by way of religion such and such days from such & such meats with a mind therein, and by their very forbearance to do a worship to God, to satisfy for sin, to merit and purchase the forgiveness thereof and to deserve eternal life. But what do I mention our own Writers that found such fault with their Fast? Are we the only men that do it? Are there not even of themselves that show as well as we, how they serve therein from all Antiquity? nay, that find fault with it as well as we? Mark and observe their words, you shall see what the force of Truth is by our Adversaries themselves. Quid enim dicerent? quò evaderent, as speaks p Aug. de Verb. Apost. Ser. 22. p. 253. S. Austen, inclusi retibus veritatis? For what indeed should they else say? how should they possibly escape entangled as they are in the Nets of Truth. First Maldonate a jesuite hath of Fasting these words. Quod attinet ad ciborum delectum q Maldonat. in Summula qu. 23. Art. 2. p. 341. Edit. Col. 1604. saith he, sempere in jeiunio obseruatum est ut ab illis cibis abstineretur, qui maximè finem ieiunij imp●dire poterant. Id autem mutatum est, mutatis temporibus saepe. Nam verum & perfectum jeiunium, & quasi exemplar omnium fuit illud, quod ipso nomine declaratur, Nihil comedere, ut latino verbo significatur. Nam propriè esse ieiunum est nihil prorsus edere. Ad hunc modum perfectissimos ieiunatores legimus ieiunasse. Concerning the choice of meats in Fasting it hath been always observed to abstain from those meats, which chiefly might hinder the end of Fasting. But that with the often change of times is changed now a days. For a true and perfect Fast, & as it were a pattern of all other, is that Fast which is signified by the name itself, that is, to eat nothing at all, as appears by the latin word for properly to be Fasting is to eat just nothing. He maketh instance there in that place in the fast of Moses, of Elias, of our Saviour, of S. Paul, & those other that fasted with him the space of fourteen days, Act. 27.33. You shall have coupled with Maldonate a other jesuite too, Azorius by name, he of Fasting hath these words: Certè, r Azor. Instit. Moral. l. 7 c. 10 §. Certè p. 563. Col. 1. Edit. Colon. 1602. saith he, negari non potest consueta veterum Christianorum jejunia, carnium esu & vini potis caruisse: at verò in more positum est, ut in diebus ieiuniorum piscibus, herbis, leguminibus, & fructibus, & vino similiter utamur. Certainly it cannot be denied but that the usual Fasts of the ancient Christians was to want the Use of eating of Flesh, and drinking of Wine; howbeit now in these days it is with us an usual custom both with Fish, and Herbs, and Pulse, and Fruit, to have the use of wine too. What? of Wine would some body say? wine wherein is excess as you heard before from the Apostle S. Paul? wine, as bad as venom? the devils chief weapon, and inflammation to voluptuousness, as you heard from S. jerom? wine as you hard from S. Chrysostone the filth and matter of phlegm, the cause of headache, & of difficulty of fetching brath? O yes! Omnes communi consensu testantur, id quod solum in potum, non in cibum sumitur, cuiusmodi vinum etiam est, jeiunium minimè relaxare. They are all agreed upon it, that that which is taken for drink only, not for meat, such as wine is, doth not prejudice a man's fast. Good news for Drinkers, who care but little for Meat, so they be not bard the Spigot. But let us hear him answer one objection more. f Azor. ubi sup. Colum. 2. At vinum inquies, etiam ipsum nutrit, you will say that wine nourisheth. Likely enough: and what will Azorius say to that? Verum est saith he, nutrire quidem aliquantulum: sed non sumitur precipuè ad nutriendum, sed ad sitim levandam, & ideo non in cibum, sed in potum adhibetur. Indeed saith Azorius, true it is, it nourisheth a little, but wine is not chief taken in regard of that, but to quench the thirst, and therefore is it used not for meat, but for drink. A worshipful wise conclusion, Vinum non in cibum sed in potum adhibetur, wine is not used for meat, but for drink. But if wine may be drunk for all it nourish a little, & there is no breaking of the Fast: why should a little Flesh be so capital an offence that it may be, will not nourish much more? Or why did not all agreed upon this in those primitive times of the Church when Wine so strictly was forbidden? But I hasten to my third witness, him whom when you shall once hear to speak, you would suppose he were some Protestant, should I not name the man unto you. But Ferus is the man, he reckons up no less than eight t Ferus Exord, in jonam Proph inter Opusc, v●ria p. 178. Edit. Lugd. 1567. abuses which are in their Fast. First, saith he, for that Fasting is too much straightened by some amongst us, and is made exceeding difficult & burdensome to the Poor. Secondly, for that by Fasting the Consciences are more bound than they aught to be. Thirdly, for that hereupon they make mortal sin too too easy. Fourthly, for that the Rich being dispensed withal, the Poor are left in the briars. Fiftly, in that a many of them (I might have englished it, the most, Ferus his word is, Plerique) but in that a many of them put their hope of Salvation in Fasting, prefer it before the Commandments of God, and accounted it a greater Sin not to fast, then to commit u Denique non ieiunare maius peccatum aestimant, quàm adulterari, aut inebriari. Mark this for that one S. R. in his Answer to Bells challenge insinuates, that no Catholic doth so, & scores it up for Bells fourscore & sixteenth untruth, and in his Epistle to the Reader he termeth it a Slander. Thus we slander them with matters of Truth. adultery, or to be drunken. Sixtly, for that we judge too too rashly of those that fast not. Seventhly, for that we abstain only from Flesh, and seek a greater pleasure both in Fish and also in Wine. Eightly, that we fast from Flesh, but not from the vices of the Flesh. Nay we in our Fasts, saith he, x Imò in jeiunio nostro non minùs adulteramur, fernicamur, inebriamur, foenecamu● proximos opp●iraimus, b●sphemamus etc. quàm aliis temporibus. The same S. R. in his Answer to Bell. p 410. in the Margin produceth M. Fox his Testimony, that PROTESTANTS ARE SO ILL THAT THEY CANNOT BE WOR●E IF THEY WOULD, which is likely enough to be true of some that go under that name, who with these Roman Catholics are like another day to be bound up in bundles and to be thrown into hell fire Mat. 13.30. So say our Rhemists. Look whether your men be more virtuous, your women more chaste, your children more obedient, your servants more trusty, your maids more modest, your friends more faithful, your Laity more just in dealing, your Clergy more devout in praying: whether there be more religion, fear of God, faith, and conscience in all states now, then of old, when there was not to much reading, chatting, and jangling of God's word, but much more sincere dealing, doing and keeping the same. The Rhemists in the Preface to their Testament §. 18. Whereunto M. Cartwright in effect thus answereth The trial of the cause by the outward Fruits receiveth many exceptions. First as four sorts of grounds sown by the seed of the Gospel, there is but one fruitful; wherefore to prejudice the Fruit that the good ground yieldeth, by the barrenness and unprofitableness of the other three sorts, is not equal nor upright judgement. Secondly the fault may be in the negligence of some of the Governors of the Church. Now, to lay that fault upon the Religion, which cleaveth unto the Governors, is likewise an unequal and vn●veniudgement. Thirdly, though Sin reigned in Popery, yet it appeared not, the candle of knowledge clean put out, The bright shining of the Gospel makes it now appear more ugly. M. Cartwright in his Answer to the Preface of the Rhemish Test. p. 53, 54, 55, etc. commit no less adultery, fornication, drunkenness, usury, we oppress our neighbours no less, and blaspheme God as much as we do at other times. y Virg. Aeneid. l 2. Apparet domus intus & atria longa patescunt. Me thinks they should now boast no more of their Fasting: much less twit us in the teeth for our intemperancy. Doubtless then thus to be, we cannot be worse if we would, and were we the worst that ever were, we should hardly deserve this report. But thus much of Fasting the third of those four points the Church is to practise, and consequently ourselves: the fourth is ALMS, & of Alms God willing at my next return, my next, and last. In the mean time God so bless us, and the seed that hath been sown, etc. ALMS. Lecture 12. Novemb. 18 1613. MOses, great Moses, so famous throughout the world both with jew & Gentile, Graecian and Barbarian, when after much ado he was persuaded by the mouth of God himself to go unto Pharaoh, that he might bring the Israelites out of Egypt, he took his wife & his sons a Exod. 4.20. saith the Scripture, & put them on an Ass, & returned toward the land of Egypt. Howbeit as he was by the way in the Inn b V 24. saith the self same Scripture again, occurrit ei Dominus, & volebat occidere eum: the Lord met him, and would have killed him. A strange kind of accident, and if I mistake not, one of the strangest in God's book. The Lord was the Author of that his journey: he persuaded him unto it divers and sundry ways; it was a message he sent him about of singular great importance, and yet for all this: As he was by the way in the Inn saith the Scripture, the Lord met him, and would have killed him. Neque tamen causa exprimitur c Calv. in hunt lecum. saith Calvin, cur Deum sibi-tam infestum senserit and yet the cause is not set down there why God was so angry with him, only by the Text we may conjecture for he had not circumcised his Son. O the judgements and justice of God against Sin even in his Servants, if d Luk. 23.31. they do these things to a green tree, what shall be done to the dry? The time is come e 1. Pet. 4.17. saith S. Peter, that judgement must begin at the house of God. If it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them which obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly, and the sinner appear? It fared with me the last Term, dearly Beloved in our Saviour, as it did with Moses at that time, who having such a message concerning you, as Moses had concerning the Israelites, about a spiritual delivery of you from an Enemy spiritual, was in like danger as Moses was of loss of temporal life. The difference betwixt us was, that the danger of the loss of his life was at the very beginning of his message, mine at the latter end. I had but one only Lecture to make you, when as my many & manifold sins caused that great God above to read himself a Lecture unto me concerning another world. And as the Apostle f Philip. 2.27. speaks of Epaphroditus, Not doubt he was sick very near unto death, but God had mercy on him: so may I say concerning myself, sick I was, and by all likelihood as g Corpus penè iacebat exanime, & anhelos artus mors vicina quatiebat. Hieron. ad Marcellam de aegrotat. Blesillae. near unto Death, but God that had mercy on him, had mercy on me too: he h Psal. 103.4 saved my life from destruction, and crowned me with mercy, and loving kindness. For my own part my resolution was i Bern. Ser. in Festo S. Martin p. 64 Col. 3, that of S. Martin, sick (it should seem) of the same disease that I was, Domine si adhuc Populo tuo sum necessarius, non recuso laborem, and I added thereunto, sin autem, non sepulchrum. O Lord, if so be yet thou wilt employ me still among thy People, I am content to take the pains, if not, to betake myself to my sepulchre, or my grave. But it seems the Lord had yet somewhat else to employ me in, wherefore so graciously he having now lengthened the thread of my life, what remaineth but I now arise & minister unto him, as did S. Peter's Mother, Mat. 8.15. To come then to the matter in hand. It is a good definition, or description rather which Athanasius doth give us of a Christian man. A Christian, l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Athanas Tom. 2. Tract. de Desinit. p 59 Edit. Conunclin. 1601 saith Athanasius, is a true and a reasonable house of Christ, builded up by good works, as also by a right belief. Now S. Austen speaking of Faith, he tells us how it is our first-born, and goes before Works. All our good works, m Primogenita cordis nostri Fides est, nemo enim benè operatur, nisi Fides praecesserit. Omnia opera tua bona filii tui sunt spirituales sed inter istos tibi primogenita Fides est. Aug. Tom. 9 de Convenient. Decem Praecep & decem Plagar. c. 10. p. 785. & Tom. 10. de Temp. Ser. 95 p. 566. saith he, are our spiritual Children, but the eldest of them is Faith. This it was that caused me to make that Division at the first (as I have told you n Lect. 9 p. 213 heretofore) of what it was the Church was first of all to believe, and secondly what to practice. Concerning her Belief you have heard already, as also concerning three points of those four she is to practise. The fourth is Alms, and of Alms God willing at this time, and the Text I have chosen to this purpose is a passage of the Apostle S. Paul's, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, the second Chapter, the tenth verse. The words are these, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them. I omit the coherence here in this verse with that which went before, nor do I purpose now to tell you who these Ephesians were. I come to the words themselves, out of which I observe unto you four especial and principal points: First a Creation of us: Secondly, in whom: Thirdly, unto what: Fourthly, our correspondence thereunto. First of the first and foremost, namely our Creation. Our Creation here spoken of, is not that Creation whereof I have told you o Lect. 2. p. 33. & Lect. 5. p. 91 heretofore concerning the making of our Bodies, and enduing them with a lively Soul, as you have heard heretofore out of job, & out of David, not, that is common to us with the very wicked & reprobate, but this Creation here spoken of, is proper and peculiar to the Godly. And would you know what that is? Our Regeneration, our new Birth, that which our Saviour spoke of to Nicodemus, p joh. 3.3. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be borne again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. We see it by experience the Tree that beareth Crabs, & wild and sour fruit, by graffing and inoculating, beareth that which is sweet and pleasant. So is it with mankind. In our first birth we are but like crab stocks, but being new graffed by regeneration, we are clean altered & changed. Nor in this case doth it avail us that we are, begotten by faithful Parents, forasmuch as they beget us, as q Aug. de verb. Apost. Ser. 14. p. 222. speaks S. Austen, Non unde regenerati, sed unde generati sunt, as they themselves were borne at first, not as they were afterwards born anew. Even as of winnowed corn, saith he, when it is sown in the ground, an husk grows up with the corn, & yet without the husk was the corn first sown. I but in whom is this Creation? In our Saviour Christ jesus. A party not unknown unto you. I have told you r Lect. 7. p. 134 heretofore of these two Names of his, Christ & jesus. He is the Party we are grafted into, we are now Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bones. No union in the world more near then between our Saviour and ourselves. They are his own words. s joh. 15.5. I am the vine ye are the branches, which unless himself had spoken, not any one of us but might have said, — t Virg. Aen. l. 1. Haud equidem tali me dignor honore. They are his Apostles words also, u 2. Cor. 11.2. I have prepared you for one husband, to present you as a pure Virgin to Christ: it is in effect the same which the Servants of David said to Abigail, x M. Hooker Eccl Pol. l. 5. §. 56. p. 124. David sent us to thee to take thee to his wife; whereunto we may answer again with Abigayls humble compliment, x 1. Sam 25.41 Behold, let thy handmaid be a Servant to wash the feet of the Servants of my Lord. Christ therefore both as God and as man, is that true Adam whose eves we are, that true vine whereof ourselves both spiritually & corporally are truest Branches. The mixture of his bodily substance with ours ʸ saith Reverend Hooker, is a thing which the ancient Fathers z Nostra quip & ipsius con iunctio nec miscet personas, nec unit substantias, sed affectus consociat & confaederat voluntates. Cyp. de caena Dom. disclaim. Yet the mixture of his Flesh with ours they a Iren. advers. haer. l. 4. c. 34. speak of, to signify what our very Bodies through mystical conjunction receive from that vital efficacy which we know to be in his, and from bodily mixtures they borrow divers b Cyril. in joh. l. 10. c. 13. Similitudes rather to declare the truth, than the manner of coherence between his sacred, and the sanctified Bodies of Saints. The third point to be observed, is to what we are thus created, and it is said to Good Works. Whereunto in the fourth place our correspondence aught to be, by being prompt and ready therein; intimated here in this place by the Metaphor of Walking. For as nothing is more usual in health then walking is, nothing more willingly we do perform if we be in health indeed, nothing that confirmeth more our health unto us then moderate walking doth, right so Good Works they are the very way we are every of us to walk in, & then is it a very pregnant proof that we have our spiritual health indeed, when as we are prompt to perform Good Works upon any occasion offered to us. Concerning Good Works they are many and manifold, even all our good Actions whatsoever, as well those inward Actions of the Mind and Will, as those outward of the Body. And therefore our Saviour Christ, he calls Belief a work, joh. 6.29. and the law of God, which is called The law of Works, Rom. 3.27. commandeth not only outward Works, but inward Operations too. These Geod Works the Apostle calleth the fruit of the Spirit, and he c Gal, 5.22. reckons then up to be these, Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperancy, among all which Goodness is that, which I chief aim at at this time. Now Goodness when it is referred to God, as it doth oftentimes signify his gracious kindness whereby he is beneficial to his creatures; so being referred unto men, it signifieth that quality whereby men after God's example become beneficial and helpful to others. Thus d Ruth. 2.20. Naomi of Booz in Ruth, Blessed saith she, be he of the Lord: for he ceaseth not to do good to the living, and to the dead. To the living & to the dead, that is e Quomodo mortuos? Cum adhuc superstites essent Elimelech et Filij eius beneficia in eos contulit, postea vero ipsis mortuis, propter corum memoriam viduis ipsorum, quibuscuque in rebus potuit gratificatus est. Hoc est pietatem vel misericordiam facere erga mortues Lavater in Ruth. c. 2. p 59 b. saith Lavater, to my Husband, and Children when as they were alive, and now they are dead, to us their widows for their sakes. So the Apostle to the Galathians, Let us not be weary f Gal. 6.9. saith he, of well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. While we have therefore time, let us do good unto all men, but specially unto them which are of the household of faith. Now as there are many ways of doing good, and therefore Chremes in the g Terent. Heaut Act 1. Sc. 1. Poet to his neighbour Menedemus, Aut consolando, aut consilio, aut re iuvero: he would help him or with comfort, or with counsel, or if need were with his Purse: so is there no one way throughout the Scriptures so often beaten into our memories, as is the relieving by Alms. Hence so many gentle invitations to it, as Esay 58.10. If thou pour out thy soul to the hungry, and refresh the troubled soul: then shall thy light spring out in the darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noon day. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters shall not fail. And Prov. 19.17. He that hath mercy on the poor h Deo igitur faeneratus es, ipsum reposce: sed non tibi in praesenti cuncta restituet Verum hoc quoque tuo commodo facit. And a little after, Hic quidem read dit ex part, maximum autem tibi in futuro thesaurum reservat. Chrys. in Mat. Hom. 15 dareth unto the Lord, and the Lord will recompense him that which he hath given. And Psa. 41.1. Blessed saith David, is he that considereth the poor and needy, the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble. Whereupon S. Ambrose, Who is it i Quis est qui intelligit? qui compatitur ei, qui advertit consortem esse naturae, qui cognoscit quod & divitem & pau perem fecit Dominus, qui scit quod sanctificet fructus suos, si de his delibet aliquam pauperibus portionem Ambros. Tom. 4 De Naboth. Israelita. c. 8. p. 280. saith he, that considereth the poor? He that hath compassion on him, he that observeth him to be of the self same nature with himself, he that remembreth, how the Lord made both the rich man and the poor, he that knows that God sanctifies the rest of his fruits, if he part with any of it to the poor. A many more are the places of Scripture that are to this purpose. Howbeit for all men are not of one mould, but as some are led by fair means, others must be compelled by threats and menaces; hence are there in the self same Scriptures as many menaces on the other side. As Esay 32.5, A niggard shall no more be called liberal, nor the churl rich. And Prov. 21.13, He that stoppeth his ear at the crying of the poor, he shall also cry and not be heard. And Psal. 140.12, Sure I am that the Lord will avenge the poor, & maintain the cause of the helpless. And concerning that menacing in the Proverbes how he that stoppeth his ears at the poor man's cry, shall cry himself and not be heard: we may remember the experience of it in Dives and Lazarus. S. Austen speaking of that Rich man, Desideravit guttam, l Aug. Hom. 7. p. 291. saith he, qui non dedit micam: he that would not part with a crumb of bread to poor Lazarus, craved of Abraham but a drop of water, & by no means could obtain it. But among all the threatenings in the Scripture, none in my opinion more powerful to persuade us, then when our Saviour declaring to us an Hypotypôsis of the last judgement, plainly showeth that the not giving of Alms unto the poor makes us, howsoever otherwise faultless perhaps, & without crime, uncapable of God's kingdom. Besides that he flatly shows us how we play the Niggard's with himself to. m Mat. 25.41. Departed from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, n V 42. for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat. I thirsted, and ye gave me no drink. o V 43. I was a stranger, and ye lodged me not. I was naked, and ye clothed me not, sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. And when they shall answer again, p V 44. Lord when saw we thee an hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? The reply unto them shall be such as they shall be never able to answer unto, though from this very time to that, they did but study this one case, q V 45. Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye did it not to one of the lest of these, ye did it not to me. This, Beloved, would be well marked, and I know not whether in all the Scriptures there is such a key again as this for the opening of our Coffers. Me thinks upon the hearing hereof we should every of us say, as Saul did when as he was unhorsed by our Saviour in his way to Damascus, Lord, what wilt thou that I do? Act. 9.6. Nay, we know already what he would have us do: me thinks upon the hearing hereof we should say with Zacheus rather, Behold Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor, Luk. 19.8. neither let it seem strange unto you, that I said unto you even now, that the not giving Alms to the Poor makes us uncapable of God's kingdom, howsoever otherwise we may be faultless, and perhaps without crime: it was S. Austin's observation, who upon that of our Saviour's, There was a certain rich man, Luk. 16.19. Our Saviour said ʳ saith S, Austen, t Aug. Hom. 7. p. 291. he was a rich man, he said not he was a slanderer, he said not how he was an oppressor of the poor, a deceiver, an imbeasler of other men's goods, an undoer of the fatherless, a wronger of the widow: quod ergo eius crimen, nisi iacens ante ianuam ulcerosus, & non adiutus: and what was then his fault, but for that the poor man lay at his doors, voided of help, full of sores. His observation is the like upon another relation of our Saviour's, concerning another Rich man, whose ground brought forth so plentifully, that store was a sore unto him, and therefore be thought himself of building & pulling down, and altering, and changing, s Horat. Epist. l. 1. ad Maecen. Diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis, What, saith S. Austen, did he in all this seek to have that which was another man's? Not, t Aug Hom. 7. p. 290. Vid. Hom. 48. p. 375 saith he, we read not there of any wrong offered to any man, he removed not the mere stones, he spoiled not the poor, he circumvented not the simple, only he bethought himself how & where to lay up his store, and, Audite, saith he, quid audierit qui tenaciter servabat sua: hearken to that which himself heard, for being such an holdfast of his own: u Luk 12.20. O fool this night will they fetch away thy soul from thee: them whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? It is true, it is very true, it was Davids saying long before, x Ps. 39.7. Man walketh in a vaine-shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain: he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. We see the daily experience of it, and yet Fools as we are, we cannot beware by other men's harms. This man left so much, this man so much, to his Widow, or to his Heir. Comes me one calamity, or another, some one or other Cross & sweeps it clean away. There is more than one Swallow, to this Summer. S. Austen goeth on. What? & did God befool him then? Non sic dicit Deus, Stulte, quomodo dicit homo: tale in quenquam Dei verbum iuditium est. God, saith S. Austen, doth not so befool us, as one man befools another, such a word from the mouth of God is no less than condemnation, for will he give, saith he, to Fools the kingdom of heaven? no the five foolish Virgins can tell you so much, who when they rapped at the doors and would full feign have entered in, the answer they had was this, y Mat. 25.12. Verily I say unto you I know you not. These things, thus Beloved, let us now consider with ourselves the causes we are so much called upon to perform good works in this kind, & distributing of Alms. The causes are many and manifold, but we may reduce them to three heads, The glory of God, The profit of our Neighbour, The good of our own selves. First, concerning God's glory, we are to tender that Glory of his, as the apple of our eyes, nay we are to tender it much more. You may read in the second of Samuel, what befell king David for neglecting that Glory of his, The Lord, z 2. Sam. 12.13 saith Nathan, hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Howbeit because by this deed thou hast caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is borne unto thee shall surely die. David full feign would have had the Child's life, he besought the Lord for him, he fasted, he went in, & lay all night upon the earth, but the Lord by no means would be entreated. Not, Them that honour me, a 1. Sam. 2.30. saith the Lord, I will honour, and they that despise me shall be despised. Now that Alms is an honour and Glory to God, witness many places in holy Scripture. First king Solomon. b Prov. 14.31 He that oppresseth the poor, reproveth him that made him: but he honoureth him, that hath mercy on the poor. Secondly, our Saviour who was c Mat. 12.42. greater than Solomon, Let your light, saith he, so shine before men that they may see your good works, d Mat. 5.16. and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So the Apostle S. Peter, who learned it no doubt of his Master, Have your conversation, e 1. Pet. 2.12. saith he, honest among the Gentiles, that they may by your good works which they shall see glorify God in the day of the visitation. True it is, we live not now among Gentiles, and the Heathen, no but among them that are as bad Neighbours, who howsoever they will be never brought to afford us a good word, except we be as they are, yet are we to take especial heed, that we give them no just cause of complaint against us. The second motive to Good Works, is the Profit of our Neighbour, we being born not for ourselves, but each one for each other. The very Heathen perceived thus much, and therefore Tully from the mouth of the Stoics, Quae in terris, f Tull. Offic. l. 1 saith he, gignuntur, ad usum hominum omnia creari, homines autem hominum causa esse generatos, ut ipsi inter se alij alijs prodesse possint. All things whatsoever grow, saith he, grow up for the use of men, but men are born for one another's use, to the end & purpose to help each other. Who it is that is our Neighbour I have told you g Lect. 10. pag. 243. heretofore. Neighbours we are by our Saviour's h Luk. 10.37. relation, though we never saw one another before. It is enough if we see them once, & if we love them not whom we have so seen, you know whose i joh. 4.20. conclusion it is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen? Ah but some will say to bestow a little Alms, what profit is that unto our Neighbour, especially unto such as go from door to door, if you will needs have them to be our Neighbours too. You know what Plautus l Plaut. Trinummus Act. 2. Sc. Quo illic. saith De Mendico malè meretur qui ei dat quod edat, aut quod bibat. Name & illud quod dat perdit, & illi producit vitam ad miseriam. He that gives to a Beggar any thing at all to eat or drink, the Beggar is but little beholding to him. For it is but lost what he so bestows, and prolongeth besides the Beggar's misery. I know it very well, and remember withal the saying of m Lactant. Instit. l. 6. c. 11. Lactantius thereupon, that it is detestanda sententia, a speech to be detested, as in very deed it is: At enim Poet a fortasse pro persona, saith he, locutus. It may be the Poet there spoke according to the Person that spoke it, and indeed so he did, and kept therein a right Decorum. It was the saying of one Philto there, an old Penny-father, who spoke as he thought himself, or as he was sure what others thought But we have too too many testimonies of Scripture to out-countenance those words: I will allege only one. Whosoever, n 1. joh. 3.17. saith S. john, hath this world's good, and seethe his Brother have need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? I come to the third motive, The good of ourselves. And now me thinks Avarice herself (were she here in her own person) would arrigere aures, give diligent heed to what in this case should be spoken. Though I fear not God o Luk. 18.4. saith the unrighteous judge nor reverence man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will do her right, lest at the last she come and make me weary. So Avarice herself me thinks should now say, though I tender not much the Glory of God, much less the Profit of my Neighbour, yet seeing my own Good is interessed herein, I will now be beneficial, I will now be liberal of my Alms. What? & is the giving of Alms them, so good & gainful to ourselves? Yes: & better then common gain. S. Austen speaking of common gain, Vbi lucrum p Aug. de Tem● Ser, 215. p. 763 saith he, ibi & damnum, lucrum in arca, damnum in conscientia: where there is gain, there is damage too, gain in the Chest, and damage in the Breast; but it is not so with this gain. Well then, how gainful is it? q Vid. Vrsin. Catech. Ang. p. 873. Edit. land 1611. First by Alms as it were by the effects we make our Calling & Election sure. It is the Apostle S. Peter's observation. 2. Pet. 1.10. Secondly, our faith as it makes itself known thereby, and discovereth itself to the world, so is it exercised and made more powerful, that it may the better be able to resist, whenas the Enemy shall approach us. Thirdly, for they are the way, wherein we are every of us to walk as is evident by my Text. I, they are our Lords High way. If once we learn this way (I wisse it is not so much beaten, as we should purposely avoid it) and betake ourselves to bypaths, its odds but we miscarry horse and man. Fourthly they give a testimony of our resemblance with our Saviour. r Virg. Aen. l. 3. Sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat. He was when he lived here on earth Eyes to the blind, Feet to the lame, & a Father to the Poor, even as job also was, job. 2●. 15. Fiftly, they are to be done, that thereby we may escape both temporal and eternal punishments. They were s Mat. 3.10. S. john the Baptists words & seconded by our t Mat. 7.19. Saviour, Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire. Sixtly, and lastly they are to be done that we may obtain at God's hands Rewards of both sorts to, temporal and eternal. For we deny not, as our Adversaries would bear the world in hand we do, that works are necessary to Salvation, we deny indeed the Merit of them, but the Necessity of them in no wise. But of this see more, in Mr D. Raynolds third u D. Reyn. Praelect 3. p 42. 43. 44 45 etc. Lecture where he brings a world of Witnesses of our side, Calvin, Beza, Bucer, Hyperius, Zanchius, Vrsinus, Luther, and the Confessions of Helvetia, Bohemia, French, English, Belgia, Suevia, Saxony, etc.: all to prove that Protestants hold the Necessity of Works unto Salvation. And thus have you heard of Good Works. You have hard of the multiplicity of them, you have heard of Alms: you have heard how the Scripture inviteth us towards the doing of the same, how it menaceth us if we do them not, what special motives there are for performance of the same. There are now to be handled certain Questions concerning this matter of Alms, which when I have unfolded to you, in as brief a manner as I may, I will then commit you to him whose Workmanship you are. The first is about the Merit of them. The second about the Doers of them. The third to whom to be done. The fourth when & how. The fift and last whether Protestants have been so backward in them as our Adversaries give out. Of every of these in their several order, and first concerning Merit. It cannot be denied but the name of Merit is plentiful with the Fathers. Not one word more usual with than then Merere, and Meritum, which a many of our Adversaries when they light on, score up presently for their Merit. Howbeit Merit in the x Some of our Adversaries confess as much, as Vega, Non me fugit usurpari apud Patres nomen Meriti, ubi nulla est ratio Meriti neque de Congruo neque de Condign. Vega de Iustif. l. 8. c. 8 p. 189. Fathers, & Merit which our Adversaries mean have as much affinity with one an other, as Philip the Apostle had, with Philip king of Macedon, or Philip king of Spain. They have indeed one name, and so had the Apostle, and both those Phillips; but come to the nature of Merit, and we shall see the difference between them both, in one & the self same period. Witness Saint Austen, who in a certain Sermon of his: Nos verò charissimi y Aug. de Temp Ser 138. p. 646 saith he, qui nullis praecedentibus meritis de Inferni carcere, & de tenebris aeternae noctis meruimus liberari. And again in an z Aug de Temp Ser. 252. p. 821 other place, Nullis praecedentibus meritis per gratiam Dei meru●mus fieri templum Dei. Now if Meruimus in both these places be to be understood popishly, how comes it that he saith in both places, and that in one & the self-same period, Nullis praecedentibus meritis: Nullis praecedentibus meritis. Meruimus, & yet, Nullis meritis: and again, Meruimus, and Nullis meritis, how may that be? How? But by taking Meruimus in both places, as Saint Austen meant in both, namely for obtaining, or finding the favour to obtain, and so the Sentence runs most clearly: As for us dear brethren who without any Merits going before, have found the favour to be delivered from the Prison of Hell and eternal darkness, let us endeavour to live, etc.: as followeth in that place. I, some of our own friends have used the word Merit in this very sense. We teach s Docemus bona opera divinitus praecepta necessariò facienda esse, & mereri gratuita Dei clementia sua quaedam sive corporalia, sive spiritualia praemia. Harmonia Conf. p. 147. Edit. Genevae 1612. Vid M Hookers learned Discourse of justif. Works, etc. p. 27 say they of Wittenberg, that good Works commanded of God are necessarily to be done, & that through the free mercy of God they merit their own either corporal or spiritual rewards. So likewise they of ᵗ Auspurge, Obedience towards the law pleaseth God, and is accounted a kind of justice, and meriteth rewards. Again, u Harm Confess. Ib. p. 41. Paenitentia meruit ut Deus sententiam de delenda Ninive mutaret. Repentance deserved that God should altar his purpose, touching the destruction of Niniveh. And again in a third place as it is in the English Harmony of Confessions, These exercises x The Harmony of Confess. in English, Sect. 16, p. 495. Printed by Thomas Thomas 1586. say they, when as they are referred unto that end, that we may have our bodies fit for spiritual things, and to do our duties, according to a man's calling, etc.: they are good and godly, and y In the latin Edition before mentioned it is only thus: Sunt in piis bona opera ut testatur Danielis exemplum Harm. Conf. p. 47. But the english no doubt followed another Edition that was set forth with Sections a many years before. meritorious works, as the example of Daniel doth testify. What? was it their meaning, that works by their own worthiness did merit at all? Not they utterly disclaim that, but using the word as the Fathers did, and the Father's using it as the ancient Romans had done before them, they meant that Rewards were gotten and obtained by Obedience, and Repentance did obtain, that God did altar his purpose touching Ninivehs destruction, etc. This being laid as a Foundation we shall the more easily now go forward as little prejudiced by the Fathers who use the word Merit in their writings so much. For as it was a silly reason of Campians, that therefore S. Austen was against us in the Question of free-will because forsooth he had written z Sininè placabiles Augustino qui de Libero Arbitrio libros tres. Camp. Rat 5. Libros tres de libero Arbitrio, three books of free-will, whereas S. Austen in all those Books never toucheth our Tenet, and the Freedom of Will, which S. Austen toucheth, we a Vid. Lect. 8. p 169. 170. 171. deny not: so is their reasoning again as silly, who upon the word Merit in the Father's nick up still our own Deserts, when as the Fathers were as far from that conceit, as the East is from the West. Witness their own words. First Origen: for as much as all men b Quia omnes conclusi sunt sub peccato, nunc iam non in meritis, sed in misericordia Dei salus humana consistit. Origen. in ep. ad Rom. l. 9 c. 12 p. 601 Edit Basil. 1571. saith he, are shut up, and closed about with sin, the salvation of Man standeth not in man's merits, but in the mercy of God. So S. Jerome: c Si nostra consideremus merita desperandum est. Hieron. Tom. 5 in Esay c, 64. l. 17 p 241. Col. 2. If we consider our own merits, we must needs despair no remedy. And again in an other d Tunc justi sumus quando nos peccatores fatemur, & justitia nostra non ex proprio merito sed ex Dei consistit misericordia. Hieron. Tom. 2. advers. Pelag. l. 1. p. 265 place, Then are we righteous, when we acknowledge ourselves to be sinners, and our righteousness consisteth not upon any our own merits, but the mercy of God. And e Haec hominis summa est justitia quicquid potuerit habere virtutis, non suum putare esse, sed Domini qui largitus est, Hier. Ib presently after, This is man's chiefest righteousness to esteem whatsoever virtue he hath to be none of his own, but the Lords who gave it to him. So S. Basil, Everlasting rest, f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Basil. in Ps. 114. p. 224 Edit. Bas. 1532. saith he, is reserved for them who have in this life fought a good fight: not for the merits of those their deeds, but because of the most bountiful favour of God, wherein they put their trust. And again in another place, This, g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Basil. de Humil. p 388. Edit Basil. 1532 saith he, is our full and perfect rejoicing in God, when we acknowledge that we are voided of any our own righteousness, and are justified by Faith alone. So h Exaltari merebitur, sed in tua justitia. Auferat de medio justitiam suam & humilietur, veniet Dei justitia & exaltabitur. Aug in Ps 88 Conc. 1. p 674. S. Austen, The People shall merit to be exalted, but it shallbe in thy righteousness. Let them take away their own Righteousness and be humbled, and then shall come the righteousness of God, & they shall be exalted. And again in another i Da veniam Apostole, propria tua non novi nisi mala, da veniam Apostole: dicimus qu●a tu docuisti. Audio consitentem, non invenio ingratum, Prorsus tua à te tibi parata non novimus nisi mala. Cum ergo Deus coronat meritatua, nihil coronat nisi dona sua. Aug. Tom. 1●. Hom. 14 p. 305. place, Pardon me O Apostle, I know nothing of thine own, but that which is bad only. Pardon me O Apostle, bold I am to say as much, for that thou thyself hast taught me to say no less. I hear thee confess it, I find thee not ungrateful, & therefore God when he crowneth thy Merits, he crowneth nought else but only his own Gifts. And as here he speaketh in particular of crowning the Apostles Merits, so speaks he in another l Aug. Tom. 2. Epist. 105. p. 301. place in general, Cum Deus coronat merita nostra, nihil aliud coronat quàm munera sua. When as God doth crown our merits, he crowneth nothing but his own gifts. I, St. Bernard himself, as lately as he wrote, is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he will pay his share to this reckoning. Concerning life everlasting, m jam verò de aterna vita scimus quia non sunt condignae passicues buius temporis ad futuram gleriam, nec si unus omnes sustineat. neque enim talia sunt hominum merita, ut propter eavita aeterna deveatur exiure, aut D●us iniuriam aliquam faceret nisi eam donaret. Nam ut taceam quod Merita omnia dona Dei sunt, & ita homo magis propter ipsa Deo debitor est, quam Deus homini: quid sunt Merita omnia ad tantam gloriam? Bern. in Annun ciat. B. Mar. Sir 1. p. 27. Col. 2. saith he, we know that the afflictions of this present time, are not worthy of the glory which shallbe showed unto us, not, though one man alone should bear them all and every one. For the Merits of men are not such as that everlasting life should be due unto them of right, or that God should wrong us, if so be he bestowed it not on us. For to omit saith he, that all Merits are the gifts of God, and Man in respect thereof is more a debtor unto God, than God is unto man, what are all merits whatsoever, if they be compared with that great glory. To conclude, n Denique quis melior est Propheta cui Dominus ipse tam in sign testimonimonium perhibet, dicens, Virum inveni secundum cor meum? Veruntamen & ipse necesse habuit dicere de deo, Non intres iniudicium cum servo tuo Domine. Nemo itaque se seducat, quia si benè cogitare volverit, inveniet proculdubio quod nec cum decem millibus possit occurre●e ei qui cum viginli millibus venit ad se. Bernard Ib. saith he, who is better than that Prophet of whom the Lord gave so great a testimony of being a man according to his heart? And yet was he even forced to say, Enter not into judgement with thy servant O Lord. Let no man therefore deceive himself: for if he will cast up his accounts accordingly, doubtless he shall found that he shall not be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand. And again in another o Meum proinde meritum miseratio Domini N●̄ plane sum meriti inops quamdiu ille miserationum non fuerit. Quod simisericordiae Domini multae, multis nihilominus ego in meritis sum. Quid enim si multorum sim mi●i conscius del●ctorum. Nepe ubi abundavit delictum superabundavit & gratia Bern. super Cantic. Ser. 61 Fol. 167 Col 4. place, Wherefore my Merit is the mercy of the Lord. I am not altogether void of Merit, as long as he is not voided of mercy. Now if his mercies are many, then am I rich in Merits. For what though my sins are many too, the Apostle S. Paul tells me, that where sin abounded, that Grace abounded much more. From the Fathers let us come to our Adversaries themselves; and will not themselves avouch as much concerning no affiance in our Merits? True it is, when they set at ease, they vainly tickle their own hearts with a wanton conceit of I know not what proportion between their Merits and Rewards which in the trance (as Reverend Hooker p M Hookers learned Discourse of justificat. Works, etc. p. 28. speaketh) of their high speculations they dream that God hath measured, weighed, and laid up (as it were) in Bundles for them: but when once the hour of death approacheth, and they hear themselves summoned to stand at the bar of that judge, whose brightness causeth the eyes of Angels themselves to dazzle: o how do these their imaginations then vanish? how do they hide the face for shame? To name Merits then, saith he, is to lay their Souls upon the Rack, the memory of their own deeds is loathsome to them. No staff to lean on then, but only on CHRIST JESUS, his Blood, his Death, his Merits, the only note they then can sing. Wherefore, as S. Austen q Aug. de verb. Dom. Ser. 5. p. 15. speaketh in another case, Ego nudos interrogo, non interrogo in vestibus quales sitis, sed quales nati fueritis: I demand the question of you as you were born naked at the first, not as you are appareled now at this time: so likewise say I in this, Ego morituros interrogo, Let us ask them concerning Merit when they are on their Deathbeds, and then if they can so speak, as now they do in their bravery, Vicerint: it shall be theirs. Sure I am it is r Vid. Fox in Oser. l. 2. p. 77. b storied of S. Bernard (as good and virtuous a man as any of that side is like to be) that when he foresaw the end of his life to approach, and that he was then summoned to appear before the judgement Seat of God, how he began to express a wonderful fearfulness, and to be very much dismayed in his mind: whom as his friends standing about him would have recomforted, and encouraged to cheer himself with the confidence of the good life he had lead: Indeed, saith he, I perceive, I may seem to be in such estimation among you: but I fear me lest the judgement of God is far unlike the judgement of men. But what need we take so long a Day as to see what they will say on their Deathbeds, we shall hear some of them confess it somewhat sooner, even while they are alive, and live-like. First, Waldensis that great Champion of theirs, and the Bellarmine of his time: Quid dignum facimus s Waldens. count. wickliff. Citatur à Vega Opusc. de Meritis Q. 4 p. 782. saith he, ut participes coelestibus fieri inveniamur? Apostolo dicente, Existimo quod non sunt condignae passiones huius temporis ad futuram gloriam, quae revelabitur in nobis. Reputo igitur saniorem Theologum, fideliorem Catholicum & Scriptures Sanctis magis concordem, qui tale meritum simpliciter abnegat. What worthy thing do we, that we may be found in the fellowship of the heavenly Spirits, seeing that the Apostle saith, I judge that the afflictions of this time are not worthy of that glory that shall be revealed in us. Wherefore I take him to be the sounder Divine, the faithfuller Catholic, and more agreeable to the Holy Scriptures, that utterly denieth all such kind of Merit. t Bell. de Iustif. l. 5. c. 7. Prop. 3. So Bellarmine himself, Propter incertitudinem propriae justitiae & periculum inanis gloriae tutissimum est fiduciam totam in sola Dei misericordia & benignitate reponere. By reason of the uncertainty of our own righteousness, and the danger of vain glory, it is our safest way to repose our whole trust in the only mercy & goodness of God. So Cardinal Poole to match another Cardinal with Cardinal Bellarmine, who having read over Osorius his Books de justitia dedicated unto him, Non potest, non potest, u Vid. Fox. in Oser. l. 2. p. 67. b & p. 58. b. saith he, nec Gratiae divinae nimium unquam tribus, nec humanis viribus demi: It cannot be, it can by no means be, that we should or ascribe to much to the mercy of God towards us, or abase our own strength too much. Famous is that of Albertus Pighius, a great Champion of theirs, who reading Calvins Institutions with a mind to have confuted it, x Vid. D. D. Raynol. de Rom. Eccles. Idololat. in Admonit. ad Lect. p. 596. became himself of Calvins mind in the point of justification & consequently of Merit. But thus much of the first Question, I come unto the second, Who they are that are to do Good Works, especially Alms. Concerning Alms, a body would think that every Christian were to do them that were of any ability. But Cardinal Bellarmine saith no, and therefore makes exception of Wives, and Children, and Servants, and Monks: All these, saith he, non debent, nec possunt eleemosynas facere, nisi vel in extrema pauperum necessitate, vel ex consensu tacito, vel expresso superiorum, vel in certis alijs caesibus. Neither aught they, neither may they give Alms, except in some extreme necessity of the poor, or except they have the silent, or express consent of their superior; or in some certain other cases. A strange kind of passage me thinks, that you must all of you go to your Cases before you can give an Alms. For by Children he means not Infants, but such as you yourselves are. Filij is his word, and he means thereby all those that are (as he there speaketh) Sub potestate Parentum, under the wings of their Parents. First then concerning Wives aught not they to do almsdeeds of whom Solomon speaking in the Person of a virtuous woman, She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, y Prov. 31.20 saith he, and putteth forth her hands to the needy? Suppose she be matched with some Nabal, or let us instance in her who was matched with a Nabal indeed, might not Abigail have done what she did, 1. Sam, 25.18. without the silent and express consent of that Churl, her Superior. Belike Bellarmine had he been her Servant would upon her commandment in the 19 verse of that Chapter, have gone to his Master first to have known his Worship's pleasure, & so his Master and he, in the 34. verse of that Chapter, had undergone one fortune. But come we unto children's such as are even of your own age, and may not such give Alms neither, of whom S. john writing to a certain Lady, suppose their Lady Mother, I rejoiced greatly z 2. joh. 1.4. saith he, that I found of thy Children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment of the Father? Or did they walk in that Truth without giving to the Poor? Surely that had been Talking not Walking: and there are too too many such Talkers indeed whose Tongues are flippant when you but speak of the Gospel, but come to the Practice of it, and specially by way of Alms, and then God give you good night. Come we lastly unto Servants. (For as for their Monks we will not speak of them, only let them take special heed they be not on that hand, to whom our Saviour shall say an other day, a Mat 25.42. ye gave me no meat, ye gave me no drink, ye lodged me not, etc.:) but come we unto Servants, and may not they give Alms neither? What? Servants, who are not now as Servants, but b Philem. v. 16 above Servants, even as brethren beloved, and the Lords Freemen, as c 1. Cor. 7.22. speaks the Apostle S. Paul? What not Servants, such as Solomon d Prov. 17.2. speaks of, A discreet Servant shall have rule over a lewd Son, and he shall divide the heritage among the brethren? Not Servants, such as Abraham's Servant was who had the e Gen. 24.2. rule over all that he had? But this is Bellarmine's Supersedeas for them, & for Children, and for Wives: this comes not from the Court of Heaven, but the Scriptures being wrote for such, as well as for any other, and commending unto us so oftentimes this duty of Alms, whether it be right in the sight of God to harken to Bellarmine rather, then to them, even they may judge who cannot discern between their right hand, and their f jonas, 4.11. left. I come to the third Question, To whom we are to give. This may easily be stated with that of S. Austen, brethren g Ergo fratres ad hanc max●mè exhortamur vos charitatem non solum in vos ipsos, sed in eos etiam qui foris sunt, sive adhut Pagani, nondum credentes in Christo, sive divisi à nobis nobiscum caput confitentes, & à corpore separati. Aug. in Ps 32. saith he, we exhort you unto charity, not only towards one an other, but towards those also that are without, whether as yet they are pagan still, not believing in our Saviour, or whether by heresy they are divided from us, acknowledging indeed the Head with us, but separated from the Body. And again in an other h Aug. Hom 39 p. 357. place, Date ergò omnibus Dilectissimi Fratres, date praecipuè ad Domesticos fidei, date omnibus, ne evi non dederitis ipse sit Christus, cuive dederitis ipse est Christus. Wherefore Beloved brethren saith S. Austen, give unto all, though especially unto those of the household of Faith: give unto all, lest he to whom thou hast not given should be Christ, and to whom thou hast given, he perhaps be Christ. What? will you say, and must we give then to them that are of an evil life, of a bad conversation, & c? I, Beloved, even to them to, if so be occasion be offered. For leaving their evil to be punished either by the hand of God, or by the Magistrate who is the Minister of God, we are to cast our eye only upon his misery. Your Aristotle will teach you so much, who being reproved for giving an Alms to one that was unworthy, i Diog. Laert. in Aristot. answered that he gave it, Non Homini, sed Humanitati, meaning that we aught to show ourselves Men, in doing one for an other. I come to the fourth Question: When, and how we are to give. Seeing all things are done in time l M. Hooker Eccl. Pol l. 5. §. 71 p. 197. saith Reverend Hooker, & many offices are not possible at one & the self-same time to be discharged, duties of all sorts must have necessarily their several successions and seasons, in which respect saith he, the Schoolmen have well and sound determined that God's affirmative Laws and Precepts, the Laws that enjoin any actual duty, as Prayer, Alms, and the like do bind us Ad semper velle, but not Ad semper agere, we are tied to iterate & resume them when need is, howbeit not to continued them without any intermission. Much less are we bound to give away all our goods at once, and so to make ourselves poor. O but say our Adversaries they were our Saviour's m Mat. 19.21. own words: If thou wilt be perfect, go cell that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven, and come and follow me. It is true so he said, but to whom did he so say? He said it to a young man that boasted he had observed all the commandments from his youth. He said it unto him that put such confidence in his Actions, that because he kept from his youth the letter of the Law, he thought himself peerless. He said it unto him that thought nothing was wanting now, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, what do I yet lack? But said our Saviour thus to n joh. 3.2. Nicodemus, that came unto him by night? Or did he thus say unto o Luk. 10.38. Martha, that received him into her house? Or said he not unto Zacheus when he gave but p Luk. 19.8. half his goods unto the poor, This day is salvation come unto this house, forasmuch as he is also become the Son of Abraham? It was not then our Saviour's meaning that all should do, as he bade the young man do, namely cell all, and so follow him. Yes say our Adversaries, if they will be perfit. Perfect? why, Perfection is required of every Christian, & commanded us throughout the Scriptures. Our Saviour himself q Mat. 5.48. saith, You shall therefore be perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. And the Apostle to the Corinthians, r 2. Cor. 13.9. This also we wish for, even your perfection. And again a little s V 11. after, Finally brethren, far ye well, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind: & in his Epistle to the t Coloss. 4.12 Colossians, Epaphras saith he, the servant of Christ which is one of you saluteth you and always striveth for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect, & full in all the will of God. And the Apostle to the Hebrews, Therefore leaving the doctrine of the beginning of Christ u Heb. 6.1. saith he, Let us be led forward unto perfection. So the Lord himself to Abraham, as it is in our new Translation, I am the Almighty God x Gen. 17.1. saith he, walk before me, and be thou perfect. Now how should Abraham, how should the Hebrews, how should the Colossians, the Corinthians, all Christians have been perfect, had not Perfection been, without giving all unto the Poor? But be it our Saviour meant not so to the young man only, but to all in general, as indeed in an other place he speaketh in the plural number, Sel that you have y Luk. 12.33. saith he, & give alms: make ye bags which wax not old, a treasure that can never fail in heaven, where no Thief cometh, neither Moth corrupteth: was it his meaning that we should in a trice stripour selves of all we had, & not to have had wherewith at other times to give unto the Poor? No our Saviour had no such meaning, except the times were extraordinary; and then may we do, nay we must do, as those Possessors of Lands did, Act. 4.34. who sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold, and laid it down at the Apostles feet, and Ananias, and Sapphyra for juggling in that case were blasted by S. Peter's breath, Act. 5.5. Charge them that are rich in this world z 1. Tim. 6.17. saith the Apostle unto Timothy. What? to uncase themselves of all they had, & to give it to the Poor? Not, but that they be not high minded, (the positive degree of Hardness for a Rich man, o how hard a thing is it?) & that they trust not in uncertain riches (that's the comparative degree, that's a point somewhat harder) but will you see the superlative, that which indeed is hardest of all? That they do good, & be rich in good works, and ready to distribute and communicate. These three points if the Rich shall keep, then may they be rich indeed, riches shallbe a blessing to them. They shallbe the true Abrahams in this world, and Lazarus shallbe in their bosoms, a sure & certain sign, that both the one, and the other shall an other day a Luk. 13.29. sit at table with Abraham, & Isaac, & jacob, in the kingdom of God. I come to the fift and last Question, Whether Protestants have been so backward in giving of Alms, as our Adversaries give out. A Question wherein I confess our Adversaries have against us great advantage. I say it again: It is a Question, wherein our Adversaries have against us great advantage. And yet mistake me not. The advantage they have is this: that either we must praise ourselves, or lose the cause we have in hand. We may say as S. jerom did in an other b Hieron. advers. jovin. l. 1 case, Periclitamur responsionis verecundiâ, & quasi inter duos Scopulos & quasdam Necessitatis et Pudicitiae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hinc atque inde, vel pudoris, vel causae, naufragium sustinemus. Si ad proposita respondeamus, pudore suffundimur. Si pudor impetrârit silentium, quasi de loco videbimur cedere, & Adversario feriendi occasionem dare. We may say as did c Dan. 13.22. Susanna, I am in trouble on every side: for if I do this thing it is death unto me: and if I do it not, I cannot escape your hands. We may say as job d 2. Sam. 24, 3. said unto king David, The Lord thy God increase thy people an hundred fold more than they be, and that the eyes of my Lord the king may see it: but why doth my Lord the king desire this thing? So the Lord of heaven increase our Works an hundred fold more than they be, & that our eyes & the eyes of our Adversaries may see it, but why should I go about to number them here in this place. Others I confess have done it, who may in this case, say as did the e 2. Cor. 12.11 Apostle, I was a fool to boast myself: ye have compelled me: indeed they are points not to be boasted of, howbeit seeing our Adversaries lay it so hotly to our charge, I will refer you unto f M. D. Willets Synops. Contr. 19 Quaest. 2. p. 960. Edit. 1600 them which have done it already to our hand, especially unto him who being sometimes of this g jacob's WILL, or a Sermon preached before his Majesty at S. Albon's 1612. by M. Westerman now Dr of Divinity. House, discoursed so learnedly, so religiously of jacob's WELL. Only thus much let me say of this Question, that if Wives, and Children, and Servants neither aught in Popish Religion, nor can but in certain cases give and bestow Alms, we have by so much the start of them, by how much every of these with us are both taught another lesson, and practise it a many of them accordingly. I will end with that of h Aug. de Temp Ser. 227. p. 779 S. Austen: Rogo vos Fratres ut ista recipiantur in animis vestris, & ita proficiat peregrinis, ut ante tribunal aeterni judicis, & mihi pro benigna admonitione venia, & vobis pro Eleemosynarum largitate aeterna gloria tribuatur. I beseech you brethren to ponder with yourselves what I have said, in your hearts, and let it profit the poor so far forth, that before the Tribunal Seat of that eternal judge, both I may obtain pardon of my sins, by reason of this my fruitful admonition, and unto yourselves by reason of the bounty of your Alms, eternal glory may be given. And thus, Beloved, have I now at length absolved that task whereunto I betook myself at first. You have heard of those two chief points of Divinity GOD & his CHURCH. Concerning GOD, you have heard: First of his Essence, then of his Attributes, then of his Works: Concerning the CHURCH you have also heard: First, what that is, Secondly, what she is to Believe, Thirdly what to Practice. In showing you what she was, you saw her distinguished: First, from Paganism, and judaisme, the two grand Religions of the old world: Secondly, from turcism, and Papism, the two smoking firebrands of this world. In her Belief you have heard: First, of the Articles of our Faith commonly called the Apostles Creed: Secondly, of all those Tenets which our own Church holdeth against the rebellious Church of Rome. In her Practice you have heard: First of the ten commandments: Secondly, of Prayer? Thirdly of Fasting, & now at this time of Alms. All this as at first I proposed, so God you see hath disposed it too, and so, Beloved, have I now taught you the Fear of the Lord, according to my first Text wherewith I began unto you by way of Preamble, i Psal. 34.11. Come ye Children & hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. I will end with that of the Apostle, l Rom. 16.25. S. Paul: To him now that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel, and preaching of jesus Christ, by the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began: but now is opened and published among all Nations by the Scriptures of the Prophets, at the commandment of the everlasting God for the obedience of faith, to God I say only wise, be praise through jesus Christ for ever AMEN. FINIS. TO THE READER. GEntle Reader: so many white Pages falling out, just occasion is offered me of a few more lines than I made account of. I have wrought thou seest Twelve Hours and the Day is spent, I must borrow a little (as it were) of the Night to make these particulars known unto thee. First, whereas in all my Lectures I follow our Former Translation, not our Last, it is not for I mislike the Last, or prefer the other before it. But the truth is owing unto the Former, as much as mine own Salvation, in regard it first taught me to know what I know, I for my part cannot so easily be weaned from it, Sicut defuncta corpora Necessariorum officiis deducenda quodammodo ad sepulturam, non autem deferenda continuò. Aug. ep. 19 And again, P●stea ta●quam cum honore se● pulta sunt. Aug Ib. & therefore accounted it my bounden duty to follow it with honour to the Grave. Secondly, where in the Psalms I leave that Translation too, and follow that usual one in the Service Book, It is, for it is the same which we read continually in the Church: the passages whereof coming better to mind by reason of that reading: they are more familiar to us the Ministers as also to you the People. Thirdly, where I say in one Lect. 11. p. 288 place that The Body hath this advantage of the Soul, that as itself shall be affected, so shall the Souls operations be: I had reference in very deed to a Treatise of Galen to that purpose. But since I have called to mind a Note of M. Bunnies, Quod animi mores corporis temperaturam sequantur. Galen. Oper. Clas. 1. p 317. Edit. Venet. 1565. who observes, that, The Soul doth not follow, but rather doth use such Temperature as the Body hath. See that Note in his Book of Christian Exercise appertaining to Resolution. Fourthly, whereas in the Eight Lecture, Pag. 170, 171, 172. etc. I speak of Sola Fides, I omitted the common objection out of S. james: Ye see then how that of Works a man is justified, The Resolution p. 171. Edit. Lond. 1585. jam. 2.24. and not of Faith only, which therefore I did omit, partly for it was so common: partly for I had said so much of Sola Fides before. Howbeit now since there is so much room, I will acquaint you with three Answers. First of all Calvin saith that S. james speaketh of the Declaration of Righteousness, and not of the imputation. Certain de justitiae declaratione non autem imputatione ipsum (jacobum) loqui apparet Calvin. Instit. l. 3. c. 17. §. 12 M. Hooker thus: Finding that justification is spoken of by S. Paul without implying Sanctification, when he proveth that a man is justified by Faith without Works: finding likewise that justification doth sometimes imply Sanctification also with it: I suppose nothing to be more sound, than so to interpret S. james, as speaking not in that sense, but in this. M. Fox thus: There hath been a long contention, M. Hookers Learned Discourse of justification, Works, etc. p. 25. & much ado in the Church how to join and reconcile S. Paul, and S. james together. When all is said, there is none can join these two together better, than yourselves, to whom we preach. And how is that? join the lively Faith of S. Paul, with the Good Works of S. james, M. Fox his Sermon of Christ crucified. p. 68 Printed by my FATHER. & bring both these into one Life, and then hast thou reconciled them both, and so shalt thou be sure to be justified, both before God by S. Paul's Faith, and before Man by S. james Works. And a little after, In cause of justication, and peace of Conscience Faith standeth alone, and doth all. Fiftly, whereas so oftentimes I quote the very Pages of the Fathers, Greek & Latin, it is for they are for the most part in our own College Library, & most commonly of such Editions as are specified in the Eight Lecture, & I have of purpose forborn to interpret the Greek a many times, to whet our Youth the better towards the finding out of the meaning of it. Sixtly and lastly, some Oversights would be amended, especially these: Pag. 33. in the margin, the Hebrew in some Copies should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Pag. 44. lin. 21. read thus: but contrariwise it was convenient that the Holy Ghost should be showed upon the Disciples in Fire. Pag. 108. lin. 15. read thus: My Friends were you admitted to this sight. Pag. 172. lin. 3. read thus: that which proveth Only Faith. Some more there are besides which we must endure as well as we may having this for our comfort, that nor Service Book, nor Bible itself scape altogether free from faults typographical. — Omnes haec una manet Vox if you pleafe. Nox Queis calcanda semel via Praeli.