we see how Gods word bindes conscience now conscience beeing thus bound againe bindes the man in whome it is The bond of conscience is called guiltines Guiltines is nothing else but a worke of the conscience binding euery sinner to the punishment of euerlasting death before God for this or that sinne Thus much of the proper binder of the conscience now followes the improper The improper binder is that which hath no power at all or vertue in it selfe to binde conscience but doth it onely by the authoritie and vertue of Gods word or some part thereof It is threefold Humane lawes an Oath a Promise Touching humane lawes the speciall point to be considered is In what manner they binde That this may in part be cleared I will stand a while to examine and confute the opinion that the very pillars of the Popish Church at this day maintaine namely that Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction haue a coactiue power in the conscience and that the lawes made thereby doe as truly and properly binde as they speake to mortall and veniall sinne as Gods law it selfe The arguments which they commonly vse are these Argum. 1. Deut. 17. That man that will doe presumptuously and not obey the authoritie of the Priest or Iudge shall die and thou shalt take away euill from Israel Here say they the precepts of the high Priest are Imperia not admonitions or exhortations they bind in conscience otherwise the transgressours therof should not haue bin punished so seuerely Ans. The intent of this law as a very child may perceiue is to establish the authoritie and right of the highest appeales for all matters of controuersie in the Synedrium or great court at Ierusalem Therefore the words alleadged doe not giue vnto the Priest a soueraigne power of making laws but a power of giuing iudgemēt of controuersies that according to laws alreadie made by God himself frō which iudgemēt there might be no appeale Now this power of determining doth not cōstraine conscience but the outward man to maintain order peace For what reason is there that that sentence which might be either a gainsaying of Gods law or a mistaking of it should bind the conscience to a sinne Again not euery one that refused to subiect themselues to the sentence of this court were straightway guiltie of sinne for this did Ieremie the Prophet and Christ our Sauiour when the Iewes condēned them for wicked persons but he that presumptuously despised the sentence and by consequent the authoritie it selfe which was the ordinance of God was guiltie Lastly the seueritie of the punishment which is temporall death doth not argue any power in the iudge of binding conscience this they might haue learned of their owne Doctor Gerson who holdeth that they that bind any man to mortall sinne must be able to punish him with answerable punishment which is eternall death Arg. 2. Matth. 16. Whatsoeuer ye shall bind in earth shall be bound in heaven Here say they to binde is to make lawes constraining conscience according to Matth. 23.4 They binde heauie burdens and lay them on mens shoulders Ans. The soueraigne power of binding and loosing is not belonging to any creature but is proper to Christ who hath the keyes of heauen and hell he openeth and no man shutteth he shutteth and no man openeth Reuel 3.5 As for the power of the Church it is nothing but a ministerie or seruice whereby men publish and pronounce that Christ bindeth or looseth Againe this binding stands not in the power of making lawes but in remitting and retaining of mens sinnes as the words going before declare v. 18. If thy brother sinne against thee c. and Christ sheweth his owne meaning when he saith Whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted and whose sinnes ye retaine they are retained Ioh. 20. 23. hauing before in the person of Peter promised them this honour in this forme of words Math. 16. I will giue vnto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen whatsoeuer thou shalt binde vpon earth shall be bound in heauen This which I say is approoued by consent of auncient Diuines August Psal. 101. serm 2. Remission of sinne saith he is loosing therefore by the law of contraries binding is to hold sinne vnpardoned Hilar. vpon Matth. cap. 18. Whome they binde on earth that is saith he leaue vntied of the knottes of their sinnes Lumberd the popish master of sentences The Lord saith he hath giuen to Priests power of binding and loosing that is of making manifest that men are bound or loosed Againe both Origen Augustine and Theophylact attribute the power of binding to all Christians and therefore they for their parts neuer dreamed that the power of binding should be an authoritie to make lawes Lastly the place Matth. 23.4 ouerturnes the argument for there the Scribes and Pharises are condemned because they laid vpon mens shoulders the burdens of their traditions as meanes of Gods worship and things binding conscience Argum. 3. Act. 15. It seemes good vnto vs and the holy Ghost to lay no more burden on you then these necessarie things that ye abstaine from things offered to idols and blood and that which is strangled and fornication Here say they the Apostles by the instinct of the holy Ghost make a new law not for this or that respect but simply to bind consciences of the Gentiles that they might be exercised in obedience And this is prooued because the Apostles call this law a burden and call the things prescribed necessarie and S. Luke tearmes them the commandements of the Apostles and Chrysostome calls the Epistle sent to the Church Imperium that is a lordly charge To this they adde the testimonies of Tertullian Origen Augustine Ans. Though all be graunted that the law is a burden imposed a precept of the Apostles a charge againe that things required therein are necessarie yet will it not follow by good consequent that the law simply bindes conscience because it was giuen with a reseruation of Christian libertie so as out of the case of scandall that is if no offence were giuen to the weake Iewes it might freely be omitted And that will appeare by these reasons First of all Peter saith that it is a tempting of God to impose vpon the Gentiles the yoke of Iewish ceremonies he therefore must needs be contrarie to himselfe if he intend to binde mens consciences to abstinence from strangled blood and things offered to idols A replie is made that this abstinence is prescribed not by the auncient law of Moses but by a new Ecclesiasticall or Apostolicall authoritie I answer againe that a Mosaicall ceremonie is still the same thing though it be stablished by a new authoritie And whereas Christ by his death put an ende to the ceremoniall lawe it is absurd to thinke that the Apostles by their authoritie reuiued some part of it againe bound mens consciences thereto Secondly the Church of God in
all places suffered this commandement to cease which the faithfull seruants of God would neuer haue done if they had beene perswaded that this law had bound conscience simply It is aunswered that this lawe ceased not because the giuing of offence vnto the Iewes ceased but because it ceased vniuersally yea but it could not haue ceased vniuersally if it had bound conscience specially considering it was propounded to the Church without any mention or limitation of time Thirdly Paul was present in this counsell and knew the intent of the law very well and therefore no doubt hee did not in any of his Epistles gaine-say the fame This beeing graunted it cannot bee that this lawe should bind conscience out of the case of offence For hee teacheth Corinthians that things offered to idols may be eaten so be it the weake brother be not offended Here it is answered that when Paul writ his first Epistle to the Corinthians this commandement of the Apostles touching things strangled blood was not come vnto them Wel to grant all this which can not be prooued let it be answered why Paul did not nowe deliuer it and why he deliuereth a doctrine coÌ„trarie to that which he had decreed at Ierusalem which was that the Gentiles should absolutely abstaine from things offered to idolls As for the testimonie of the fathers they are abused Indeed Tertullian saith plainly that Christians in his daies abstained from eating of blood and he perswades men to continue in so doing because he is of opinion beeing indeede farre deceiâ—ued that this very lawe of the Apostles must last to the ende of the world which coÌ„ceit if the Papists hold not what mean they to build vpoÌ„ him OrigeÌ„ saith that this law was very necessarie in his daiesâ— and no maruell For by Idolithytes he vnderstandes not things that haue beene offered to idols and are afterward brought to priuat houses or to the market as other common meats but hee vnderstandes things that remaine consecrated to idols and are no where else vsed but in their temples which we graunt with him must for euer be auoided as meanes and instruments of Idolatrie Whereas the lawe of the Apostles speakes onely of the first kind As for things strangled and blood he takes them to be the deuils foode and for this cause hee approoues abstinence from them And whereas Augustine saith that it is a good thing to abstaine from things offered to idols though it be in necessitie hee must bee vnderstood of the first kind of Idolithytes which are yet remaining in the idol-temples still consecrated vnto them and not of the second of which the Apostles law as I haue said must be vnderstood Argum. 4. Ioh. 21. Christ saith to Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 feed my sheep that is as the word importeth feed and rule my sheepe Ans. This feeding and ruling stands not in making newe lawes but in teaching and gouerning the Church of god according to the doctrine which they had receiued from Christ. And this action of feeding is ascribed to all Christians Reuel 3.27 Who cannot therevpon chalenge a power of making lawes to the conscience Argum. 5. Ioh. 20. As my father sent me so I send you but Christ was sent of his father not onely with power of preaching and ministring the Sacraments but also with authoritie of commanding and giuing iudgement Answ. If this kind of reasoning may stand all the Apostles shall be made redeemers for they were all sent as Christ was and hee was sent not onely to preach the redemption of mankind but also to effect and work the same If this be absurd then it is a flat abusing of Scripture to gather from this saying of Christ that the Apostles had power of binding conscience because he had so It is true indeede that there is a similitude or analogie betweene the calling of Christ and his Apostles but it wholly standes in these points Christ was ordained to his office before all worldes and so were the Apostles Christ was called of his father immediatly and so were they of Christ Christ was sent to the whole world and so were they Christ receiued all power in heauen and earth as beeing necessarie for a Mediatour and they receiued an extraordinarie authority from him with such a plentifull measure of the spirit as was necessarie for the Apostilicall function Lastly Christ was sent euen as he was man to bee a teacher of the Iewes and therefore hee is called the minister of circumcision Rom. 15.8 and so the Apostles are sent by him to teach the Gentiles Thus farre is the comparison to bee enlarged and no further And that no man might imagine that some part of this resemblance standes in a power of binding conscience Christ hath put a speciall exception when he saith Go teach all nations teaching them to obserue all things that I haue commanded you and not commandements of your owne Argum. 6. Rom. 13. Whosoeuer resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receiue to themselues iudgement and ye must be subiect not onely for wrath but also for conscience sake Ans. Magistracie indeede is an ordinance of God to which we owe subiection but how farre subiection is due there is the question For bodie and goods and outward conuersation I grant all but a subiection of conscience to mens laws I denie And between these two there is a great difference to be subiect to authoritie in conscience to be subiect to it for conscience as will be manifest if wee doe but consider the phrase of the Apostle the meaning whereof isâ— that wee must performe obedience not onely for anger that is for the auoiding of punishment but also for the auoiding of sinne and so by consequent for auoiding a breach in conscience Now this breach is not properly made because mans law is neglected but because Gods lawe is broken which ordaineth magistracie and withall bindes mens consciences to obey their lawefull commandements And the damnation that is due vnto men for resisting the ordinance of god comes not by the single breach of magistrats commandement but by a transgression of the lawe of God which appointeth magistrates and their authoritie To this answer Papists replie nothing that is of moment Therefore I proceed Argum. 7.1 Cor. 4. What will you that I come vnto you with a rod or in the spirit of meekenes Nowe this rod is a iudiciall power of punishing sinners Answ. For the regiment and protection of Gods Church there bee two rods mentioned in Scripture the rod of Christ and the Apostolicall rodde The rod of Christ is tearmed a rod of yron or the rod of his mouth and it signifies that absolute and soueraigne power which Christ hath ouer his creatures whereby he is able to conuert and saue them or to forsake and destroy them And it is a peculiar priuiledge of this rod to smite and wound the conscience The Apostolicall rod was a
the sacrament So the 29. canon of the Councill of Gangres must be vnderstood As for the Canons of the Apostles so falsly called and the 8. Councill of Toledo I much respect not what they say in this case Arg. 14. Gods authoritie binds conscience magistrates authoritie is Gods authoritie therefore magistrates authoritie binds conscience properly Ans. Gods authority may be taken two waies first for that soueraigne and absolute power which he vseth ouer all his creatures secondly for that finit and limited power which he hath ordained that men should exercise ouer men If the minor namely that magistrates authoritie is Gods authoritie be taken in the first sense it is false for the soueraigne power of God is incommunicable If it be taken in the second sense the proposition is false For there be sundrie authorities ordained of God as the authoritie of the father ouer a child of the master ouer the seruant the authority of the master ouer his scholler which doe bind in conscience as the authoritie of Gods lawes doth By these arguments which I haue now answered and by many other beeing but lightly skanned it will appeare that necessarie obedience is to be performed both to ciuill and Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction but that they haue a constraining power to bind conscience and that properly as Gods laws doe it is not yet prooued neither can be as I will make manifest by other arguments Arg. 1. He that makes a law binding conscience to mortall sinne hath power if not to saue yet to destroy because by sinne which followes vpon the transgression of his law comes death and damnation But God is the onely Lawgiuer that hath this priuiledge which is after he hath giuen his law vpon the breaking or keeping thereof to saue or destroy Iam. 4. 12. There is one Lawgiuer that can saue or destroy Therefore God alone makes lawes binding conscience properly and no creature can doe the like Answer is made that S. Iames speakes of the principall Lawgiuer that by his owne proper authoritie makes laws and doth in such manner saue and destroy that he neede not feare to be destroied of any and that he speakes not of secondarie lawgiuers that are deputies of God make laws in his name I say againe that this answer stands not with the text◠For S. Iames speakes simply without distinction limitation or exception and the effect of his reason is this No man at all must slaunder his brother because no man must be iudge of the law and no man can be iudge of the law because no man can be a lawgiuer to saue or destroy Now then where be those persons that shall make lawes to the soules of men and bind them vnto punishment of mortall sinne considering that God alone is the sauing and destroying Lawgiuer Argum. 2. He that can make lawes as truly binding conscience as Gods lawes can also prescribe rules of Gods worship because to binde the conscience is nothing else but to cause it to excuse for things that are well done and therefore truly please God and to accuse for sinne whereby God is dishonoured but no man can prescribe rules of Gods worship and humane lawes as they are humane lawes appoint not the seruice of God Esa. 29. 13. Their feare towards me was taught by the precept of men Mat. 15.6 They worship me in vaine teaching doctrines which are the commandements of men Papists here make answer that by lawes of men we must vnderstand such lawes as be vnlawfull or vnprofitable beeing made without the authoritie of God or instinct of his spirit It is true indeed that these commandements of men were vnlaweful but the cause must be considered they were vnlawfull not because they commanded that which was vnlawefull and against the wil of God but because things in themselues lawefull were commanded as parts of Gods worship To wash the outward part of the cup or platter and to wash handes before meate are things in respect of ciuil vse very lawfull and yet are these blamed by Christ and no other reason can be rendred but this that they were prescribed not as things indifferent or ciuil but as matters pertaining to Gods worship It is not against Gods word in some politicke regards to make distinction of meates and drinkes and times yet Paul calls these things doctrines of deuills because they were commaunded as thinges wherein God should be worshipped Arg. 3. God hath now in the new Testament giuen a libertie to the conscience whereby it is freed from all lawes of his owne whatsoeuer excepting such lawes and doctrines as are necessarie to saluation Col. 2. 10. If ye be dead with Christ ye are free from the elements of the world Gal. 5.1 Stand yee in the libertie wherewith Christ hath freed you and be not againe intangled with the yoke of bondage Now if humane lawes made after the graunt of this libertie binde conscience of themselues thē must they either take away the foresaid liberty or diminish the same but that they cannot doe for that which is graunted by an higher authoritie namely God himselfe cannot be reuoked or repealed by the inferiour authoritie of any man It is answered that this freedome is onely from the bondage of sinne from the curse of the morall lawe from the ceremoniall and iudiciall lawes of Moses and not from the lawes of our superiours And I answer againe that it is absurb to thinke that God giues vs liberty in conscience from any of his owne lawes and yet will haue our consciences still to remaine in subiection to the lawes of sinnefull men Argum. 4. Whosoeuer bindes conscience commandes conscience For◠the bond is made by a commandement vrging conscience to doe his dutie which is to accuse or excuse for euill or well doing Now Gods lawes command cōscience in as much as they are spirituall commanding bodie and spirit with al the thoughts will affections desires and faculties and requiring obedience of them all according to their kind As for the lawes of men they want power to command conscience Indeed if it were possible for our gouernours by lawe to command mens thoughts and affections then also might they command conscience but the first is not possible for their lawes can reach no further then the outward man that is to body and goods with the speeches and deedes thereof and the end of them all is not to maintaine spirituall peace of conscience which is betweene man and God but onely that externall and ciuill peace which is betweene man and man And it were not meete that men should command conscience which cannot see conscience and iudge of all her actions which appeare not outwardly and whereof there be no witnesses but God and the conscience of the doer Lastly men are not fitte commaunders of conscience because they are no Lordes of it but God himselfe alone Argum. 5. Men in making lawes are subiect to ignorance and errour and therefore when they haue made a lawe as neere
any of Gods creatures or ordinances wee must sanctifie them by the direction of his word and by praier the reason is this because he is Lord ouer all and therefore from his word we must fetch direction to teach vs whether we may vse them or not and when and how they are to be vsed and secondly we must pray to him that he would giue vs libertie and grace to vse them aright in holy maner Also we are so to vse the creatures and ordinances of God as being alwaies readie to giue an account of our doings at the day of iudgement for we vse that which is the Lords not our owne we are but stewards ouer them and we must come to a reckoning for the stewardship Hast thou learning then imploy it to the glory of God and the good of the Church boast not of it as though it were thine owne Hast thou any other gift or blessing of God be it wisdome strength riches honour fauour or whatsoeuer then looke thou vse it so as thou maist be alwaies readie to make a good account thereof vnto Christ. Lastly euery one must in such manner lead his life in this world that at the day of death hee may with cheerefulnes surrender and giue vp his soule into the handes of his Lord and say with Steuen Lord Iesus receiue my soule For consider this with thy selfe that thy soule is none of thine owne but his who hath bought it with a price and therefore thou must so order and keepe it as that thou maiest in good manner restore it into the hands of god at the ende of thy life If a man should borrowe a thing of his neighbour and afterward hurt it and make a spoile of it he would be ashamed to bring it againe to the owner in that manner and if he doe the owner himselfe will not receiue it Vngodly men in this life doe so staine their soules with sinne that they can neuer be able willingly to giue them vp into the handes of God at the day of death and if they would yet God accepts them not but casts them quite away We must therefore labour so to liue in the world that with a ioyfull heart at the day of death we may commend our soules into the handes of our Lord Christ Iesus who gaue them vnto vs. This is a harde thing to bee done and he that will doe it truely must first be assured of the pardon of his owne sinnes which a man can neuer haue without true vnfained faith and repentance wherefore while we haue time let vs purge and clense our soules and bâ—dies that they may come home againe to God in good plight And here all gouernours must be put in mind that they haue an higher Lord that they may not oppresse or deale hardly with their inferiours This is Paul reason Ye masters saith he doe the same things vnto your seruants putting away threatning and knowe that euen your master is also in heauen neither is there respect of persons with him Inferiours againe must remember to submit themselues to the authoritie of their gouernours especially of magistrates For they are set ouer vs by our soueraigne Lord and king Christ Iesus as Paul saith Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers For there is no power but of God and the powers that be ordained are of God And againe Seruants be obedient to your Masters according to the flesh with feare and trembling in singlenes of your hearts as vnto Christ. The comfort which Gods Church may reape hence is very great for if Christ be the Lord of lords and our Lord especially whome he hath created and redeemed we neede not to feare what the deuil or wicked men can doe vnto vs. If Christ be on our side who can be against vs wee neede not feare them that can destroy the bodie and doe no more but we must cast our feare on him that is Lord of body and soule and can cast both to hell Thus much of the fourth title Nowe followes Christs incarnation in these wordes Conceiued by the holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Marie And they containe in them one of the most principall points of the doctrine of godlines as Paul saith Without controuersie great is the mysterie of godlinesse which is God is made manifest in the flesh iustified in the spirit c. And that we may proceede in order in handling them I will first speake of the incarnation generally and then after come to the parts thereof In generall we are to propound fiue questions the answering whereof will be very needefull to the better vnderstanding of the doctrine following The first question is who was incarnateâ— or made man Answ. The second person in Trinitie the sonne of God alone as it is set downe in this article according to the Scripture S. Iohn saith The Word was made flesh and the angel saith The holy one which shall be borne of thee shall be called the sonne of the most high And Paul saith that Christ Iesus our Lord was made of the seede of Abraham according to the flesh And there be sundrie reasons why the second person should rather be incarnate then any other I. By whom the father created all things and man especially by him man beeing fallen is to be redeemed and as I may say recreated now man was at the first created of the father by the sonne and therefore to be redeemed by him II. It was most conuenient that he which is the essentiall image of the father should take mans nature that he might restore the image of God lost and defaced in man but the second person is the essentiall image of the father and therefore he alone must take mans nature III. It was requisite that that person which was by nature the sonne of God should be made the sonne of man that we which are the sonnes of men yea the sonnes of wrath should againe by grace be made the sonnes of God now the second person alone is the sonne of God by nature not the Father nor the holy Ghost As for the Father he could not be incarnate For to take flesh is to be sent of an other but the Father can not be sent of any person because he is from none Againe if the Father were incarnate he should be father to him which is by nature God and the sonne of a creature namely the virgin Marie which things can not well stand And the holy Ghost could not be incarnateâ— for then there should be more sonnes then one in the Trinitie namely the second person the sonne of the father and the third person the holy Ghost the sonne of the virgin Marie It may be obiected to the contrarie on this manner The whole diuine essence is incarnate euery person in Trinitie is the whole diuine essence therefore euery person is incarnate Ans. The whole Godhead indeede is incarnate yet not
when he is come which is the spirit of truth he will lead you into all truth Ans. The promise is directed to the Apostles who with their Apostolicall authoritie had this priuiledge granted them that in the teaching and penning of the gospel they should not erre and therefore in the councell at Ierusalem they conclude thus It seemes good vnto vs and to the holy Ghost And if the promise be further extended to all the Church it must be vnderstood with a limitation that God will giue his spirit vnto the meâ—bers thereof to lead them into all truth so farre forth as shall be needfull for their saluation The second question is wherein stands the dignitie and excellencie of the Church Ans. It stands in subiection and obedience vnto the will and word of his spouse and head Christ Iesus And hence it followes that the Church is not to chalenge vnto her selfe authoritie ouer the Scriptures but onely a ministerie or ministeriall seruice whereby shee is appointed of God to preserue and keepe to publish and preach them and to giue testimonie of them And for this cause it is called the pillar and ground of truth The church of Rome not content with this saith further that the authoritie of the Church in respect of vs is aboue the authoritie of the Scripture because say they we can not know Scripture to be Scripture but by the testimonie of the Church But indeede they speake an vntruth For the testimonie of men that are subiect to errour can not be greater and of more force with vs then the testimonie of God who can not erre Againe the Church hath her beginning from the word for there can not be a Church without faith there is no faith without the word there is no word out of the Scriptures and therefore the Church in respect of vs depends on the Scripture and not the Scripture on the Church And as the lawyer which hath no further power but to expound the law is vnder the law so the Church which hath authoritie onely to publish and expound the Scriptures can not authorize them vnto vs but must submit her selfe vnto them And whereas it is alleadged that faith comes by hearing and this hearing is in respect of the voice of the Church and that therefore faith comes by the voice of the Church the answer is that the place must be vnderstood not of that generall faith whereby we are resolued that Scripture is Scripture but of iustifying faith whereby we attaine vnto saluation And faith comes by hearing the voice of the Church not as it is the Churches voice but as it is a ministerie or meanes to publish the word of God which is both the cause and obiect of our beleeuing Now on the contrarie we must hold that as the carpenter knowes his rule to be straight not by any other rule applied vnto it but by it selfe for casting his eye vpon it he presently discernes whether it be straight or no so we know and are resolued that Scripture is Scripture euen by the Scripture it selfe though the Church say nothing so be it we haue the spirit of discerning when we read heare and consider the Scripture And yet the testimonie of the Church is not to be despised for though it breede not a a perswasion in vs of the certenty of the Scripture yet is it a very good inducement thereto The militant Church hath many parts For as the Ocean sea which is but one is deuided into parts according to the regions and countries against which it lieth as into the English Spanish Italian sea c. so the Church dispersed ouer the face of the whole earth is deuided into other particular churches according as the countries are seuerall in which it is seated as into the Church of England and Ireland the Church of France the Church of Germanie c. Againâ— particulaâ— Churches are in a twofold estate sometime lie hid in persecution wanting the publike preaching of the word and the administration of the Sacraments and sometimes againe they are visible carrying before the eyes of the world an open profession of the name of Christ as the moone is sometime eclipsed and sometime shineth in the full In the first estate was the Church of Israel in the daies of Eliah when he wished to die because the people had forsaken the couenant of the Lord broken downe his altars slaine his Prophets with the sword and he was left alone and they sought to take his life also Behold a lamentable estate when so worthie a Prophet could not finde an other beside himselfe that feared God yet marke what the Lord saith vnto him I haue left seuen thousand in Israel euen all the knees that haue not bowed vnto Baal and euery mouth that hath not kissed him Againe it is said That Israel had beene a long season without the true God without priest to teach and without the law Neither must this trouble any that God should so farre forth forsake his Church for when ordinarie meanes of saluation faile he then gathereth his Elect by extraordinarie meanes as when the children of Israel wandered in the wildernes wanting both circumcision and the Passeouer he made a supplie by Manna and by the pillar of a cloud Hence we haue direction to answer the Papists who demand of vs where our Church was three-score yeares agoe before the daies of Luther we say that then for the space of many hundred yeares an vniuersall Apostasie ouerspread the whole face of the earth and that our Church then was not visible to the world but lay hid vnder the chaffe of Poperie And the truth of this the Records of all ages manifest The second estate of the Church is when it flourisheth and is visible not that the faith and secret election of men can be seene for no man can discerne these things but by outward signes but because it is apparant in respect of the outward assemblies gathered to the preaching of the word and the administration of the Sacraments for the praise and glorie of God and their mutuall edification And the visible Church may be thus described It is a mixt companie of men professing the faith assembled together by the preaching of the word First of all I call it a mixt companie because in it there be true beleeuers and hypocrites Elect and Reprobate good and badde The Church is the Lords field in which the enemie soweth his tares it is the corne flore in which lieth wheate and chaffe it is a band of men in which beside those that be of valour and courage there be white liuered souldiours And it is called a Church of the better part namely the Elect whereof it consisteth though they be in nuÌ„ber fewe As for the vngodly though they be in the Church yet they are no more parts of it indeede then the superfluous humours in the vaines are parts of the bodie But to proceede
the administration of Christ the head of the church in which he frameth men by his word and spirit to the subiection of the same word And so it is taken in this petition In a kingdome there are foure things to be noted 1. There must be a king 2. There must be subiects 3. There are lawes 4. Authoritie In this kingdome Christ is the king it is he to whom the father hath giuen all authoritie in heauen and earth In this kingdome all are not subiects but such as are willing to giue free and franke obedience to Gods word or at the least though their hearts be not sound make an outward profession of it The lawes of this kingdome is the word of God in the bookes of the olde and new Testament Therefore it is called the kingdome of heauen Matth. 13. The Gospell of the kingdome Mark 1.13 The rodde of his mouth Esay 11.4 The arme of God Esay 53.1 As a king by his lawes brings his people in order and keepes them in subiection so Christ by his word and the preaching of it as it were by a mightie arme drawes his elect into his kingdome and fashions theÌ„ to all holy obedience The power and authoritie is that whereby Christ conuerts effectually those which are to be conuerted by the inward operation of his spirit and glorifies himselfe in the confusion of the rest Kingdome being taken thus specially is also twofold The first is the kingdome of grace of which mention is made Rom. 14. 17. The kingdome of God standes not in meate and drinke but in righteousnesse that is the assurance of our iustification before God in the righteousnesse of Christ Peace of conscience which proceedes from this assurance and ioy in the holy Ghost which comes from them both In this kingdome all men liue not but onely those that are subiect to Christ obedient to the lawes of his kingdome and ruled by his authoritie and are continually taught in his word by his spirit But those that refuse to liue according to the lawes of this king and choose to liue at their owne libertie are in the kingdome of darkenesse that is sinne and Satan The second is the kingdome of glorie in heauen which is the blessed estate of all Gods people which God himselfe shall be all in all vnto them And the former kingdome of grace is an entrance and preparation to this kingdome of glorie Come Gods kingdome comes when it takes place and is established and confirmed in mens hearts and made manifest to all people the impediments beeing remooued Quest. This comming implies a stopping but how should Gods kingdome be hindred Ans. Kingdome in this place is not taken for that absolute and soueraigne power of God whereby he rules all things for that can not be hindred but for the kingdome of grace which in the vsing of the outward meanes as ministers word and Sacraments may be hindred by the deuill the world and mans corruption 3. The wants which are to be bewailed The wants which we in this petition are to mourne for are of two sorts some concerne our owne selues some others That which concerns our owne persons is a bondage and slauerie vnder sinne and Satan This bondage indeede is weakned in Gods seruants but none is wholly freed from it in this life Paul complaines that he is sold vnder sinne and cries pitifully O miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death Question What difference is then betweene the godly and the wicked Ans. The euill and vngodly man in the very middest of his bondage hath a merrie heart sinne is no trouble to him nay it is meat drinke to him But the godly man is otherwise minded who considering the power of the deuill and hiâ— craft in manifold fearefull temptations and seeing the pronenesse of his rebellious nature euer and anon to start away from God is grieued and confounded in himselfe and his heart bleedes within him that he doth offend so mercifull a father Many men liue in this world and that many yeares and yet neuer feele this bondage vnder Satan sinne Such vndoubtedly cannot tell what this praier meanes but he that would haue the right vse of this petition must be acquainted with his owne estate and be touched in his conscience that the flesh and the deuill beare such sway in him As the poore captiue is alwaies creeping to the prison doore alwaies labouring to get off his bolts and fetters and to escape out of prison so must we alwaies crie to the Lord for his spirit to free vs out of this bondage and prison of sinne and corruption and euery day come nearer the prison doore looking when our blessed Sauiour will vnbinde vs of all the fetters of sinne and Satan and fully erect his kingdome in vs. 2. The wants which concerne others are twofold The former is the want of the good meanes which serue for the furthering of the kingdom of Christ as preaching sacraments and discipline When we shall see a people without knowledge and without good guides and teachers or when we see one stand vp in the congregation not able to teach here is matter for mourning This petition puts vs in minde to bewaile these wants Our Sauiour when he sawe the Iewes as sheepe without a sheepheard he had compassion on them and he wept ouer Ierusalem because they knew not the things which belong to their peace Luk. 9.11 Therfore when preachers want to hold vp the scepter of GOD before the people and to hold out the word which is as it were the arme of God to pull men from the bondage of the deuill to the kingdome of Christ. Then it is time to say Lord let thy kingdome come 3. The third want which we are to bewaile is that there bee so many impediments and hinderances of the kingdome of grace as the deuil and all his angels their instruments the Pope the Turke and all the rest of the professed wicked of the world which by subtile intisements and tyrannie keepe backe and repell the meanes whereby Christ ruleth as a king in his Church When the deuill sees one that was sometime of his kingdome but to cast a looke towards the heauenly Ierusalem he straightway rageth against him and labours quite to ouerthrow him Wherefore in regard of all these impediâ—ents weâ— must pray Thy kingdome come 4. Graces to be desired 1. IN this petition we are taught first that we are to haue a feruent desireâ— and to hunger that god would giue vs his spirit to raigne and rule in our harts and to bow them to all obedience and subiection of his wil and further wheras our hearts haue beene as it were filthie sties and stables of the deuill that he would renue them and make of them fit temples to entertaine his holy spirit Psal. 51.10 Create in me a cleane heart O God and renue a right spirit in me c. Stablish me with thy free
God they ouerturne that which they haue well maintained And thus I say that the very religion of the Church of Rome is a kinde of Atheisme For whereas it makes the merit of the works of men to concurre with the grace of god it ouerthrowes the grace of God Rom. 11. In worde they acknowledge the infinite iustice and mercie of God but by consequent both are denied How can that be infinite iustice which may any way be appeased by humane satisfactions And howe shall Gods mercie bee infinite when wee by our satisfactions must adde a supply to the satisfaction of Christ Againe He that hath not the sonne hath not the father and he that hath neither father nor sonne denies God Nowe the present Romane religion hath not the sonne that is Iesus Christ God and man the Mediatour of mankind but hath traâ—sformed him into a fained Christ. And I shew it thus For one Iesus Christ in al thingâ— like vnto vs in his Humanitie sinne onely excepted they haue framed a Christ to whome they ascribed two kindes of existing one naturall whereby he is visible touchable and circumscribed in heauen the other not onely aboue but also against nature by which he is substantially according to his flesh in the handes of euery priest in euery host and in the mouth of euery communicant inuisible vntouchable vncircumscribed And thus in effect they abolish his manhood Yea they disgrade him of his offices For one Iesus Christ the onely king lawgiuer and head of the Church they ioyne vnto him the Pope not onely as a Vicar but also as a fellowe in that they giue vnto him power to make lawes binding conscience to resolue and determine vnfallibly the sense of holy scripture properly to pardon sin both in respect of fault and temporall punishment to haue authoritie ouer the whole earth and a part of hell to depose kings to whome vnder Christ euery soule is to be subiect to absolue subiects from the oath of allegiance c. For one Iesus Christ the onely reall priest of the new testament they ioyne many secondary priests vnto him which offer Christ daiely in the masse for the sinnes of the quicke and the dead For one Iesus Christ the al-sufficient Mediatour of intercession they haue added many fellowes vnto him to make request for vs namely as many Saints as be in the Popes Kalender Lastly for the onely merits of Christ in whome alone the Father is well pleased they haue deuised a treasurie of the Church containing beside the merits of Christ the ouerplus of the merits of Saints to be dispensed to men at the discretion of the Pope And thus wee see that Christ and coâ—sequently God himselfe to bee worshipped in Christ is transformed into a phantasie or idol of mans conceit Againe there is alwaies a proportion betweene the worship of God our perswasion of him and men in giuing vnto God any worshippe haue respect to his nature that both may be sutable and he well pleased Let vs then see what manner of worship the Romane religion affoardeth It is for the greatest part meere wil-worship without any allowance or commandement from God as Durande in his Rationale in effect acknowledgeth It is a carnall seruice standing of innumerable bodily rites and ceremonies borrowed partly from the Iewes and partly from the heathen it is diuided betweene God and some of his creatures in that they are worshipped both with one kind of worship let them paint it as they can Thus then if by their manner of worshipping God we may iudge howe they conceiue of him as we may they haue plainely turned the true God into a phantasie of their owne For God is no otherwise to be conceiued then hee hath reuealed himselfe in his creatures word and specially in Christ who is the ingrauen image of the person of the Father The second sin is Idolatrie and that as grosse as was euer among the heathen And it is to be seene in two things First that they worshippe the Saints with religious worship which without exception is proper to God Yea they transforme some of them into detestable idols making them in trueth mediatours of redemption specially the Virgin Marie whome they call a Ladie a Goddesse a queene whom Christ her sonne obeyeth in heauen a mediatresse or life hope the medicine of the diseased and they pray vnto her thus Prepare thou glory for vs defende vs from our enemies in the houre of death receiue vs loose the bonds of the guiltie bring light to the blind driue away all deuils Shewe thy selfe to be a mother Let him receiue the prayers Againe their idolatrie is manifest in that they worship God in at before images hauing no commandement so to do but the contrarie They alleadge thâ—t they vse and worship images only in a remembrance of God But this is al one as if an vnchast wife should receiue many louers into her house in the absence of her husbandâ— and beeing reprooued should answer that they were the friendes of her husband and that shee kept them onely in remembrance of him Thirdly their Idolatrie exceedes the Idolatrie of the heathen in that they worship a Breadengod or Christ in and vnder the formes of bread and wine And if Christ according to his humanitie be absent froÌ„ the earth as I haue prooued the Popish hoste is as abominable an idol as euer was The third sinne is the maintenance of Adulterie And that is manifest first of all in the Toleration of the stewes flat against the commandement of God Deut. 23.17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel neither shal there be a whore keeper of the sonnes of Israel And this toleration is an occasion of vncleannes to many young men women that otherwise would abstaine from all such kinde of filthines And what an abomination is this when brother and brother father and sonne nephew and vncle shall come to one and the same harlot one before or after the other Secondly their Lawe beyond the fourth degree allowes the marriage of any persons and by this meanes they sometime allowe incest For in the vnequall collaterall line the person next the common stock is a father or mother to the brothers or sisters posteritie as for example Here Anne and Nicholas are brother and sister and Anne is distant from Iames sixe degrees he being her neecca farre off and the mariage between them is allowed by the Church of Rome they not beeing within the compasse of foure degrees which neuerthelesse is against the law of nature For Anne beeing the sister of Nicholas is in stead of a mother to all that are begotten of Nicholas euen to Iames and Iames posteritie Yet thus much I graunt that the daughter of Anne may lawfully marrie Iames or Anthonie the case beeing altered because they are not one to an other aâ— parents and children The fourth sin is Magicke â—orcerie or witchcraft in the
Sonne of God By this we may see that Christ is one onely Sonne of God not two yet in two respects is he one As he is the eternall Word hee is by nature the Son of the Father As he is man the same Sonne also yet not by nature or by adoption but only by personal vnion Luk. 1.35 Matth. 3.17 This is my beloued Son c. The phrase in Scripture agreeing to this Vnion is the communion of properties concerning which obserue two rules I. Of those things which are spoken or attributed to Christ some are only vnderstood of his diuine nature As that Ioh. 8.58 Before Abraham was I am And that Coloss. 1.15 Who is the image of the inuisible God the first borne of euery creature Some againe agree only to his humanitie as borne suffered dead buried c. Luk. 2.52 And Iesus increased in wisdome and stature and in fauour with God and man Lastly other things are vnderstood only of both natures vnited togither As Matth. 17.5 This is my beloued Son in whome onely I am well pleased heare him Eph. 1.22 He hath made subiect all things vnder his feete and hath appointed him ouer all things to be the head to the Church II. Some things are spoken of Christ as he is God which must be interpreted according to his humane nature Act. 20.28 To feed the Church of God that is Christ which he according to his manhood hath purchased with his own blood 1. Cor. 2.8 If they had knowne this they would neuer haue crucified the Lord of glory Contrarily some things are mentioned of Christ as he is man which onely are vnderstood of his diuine nature Ioh. 3.13 No man ascended vp to heauen but he that hath descended from heauen the sonne of man which is in heauen This is spoken of his manhood whereas we must vnderstand that onely his Deitie came downe from heauen Ioh. 6.62 What if ye should see the sonne of man vz. Christs humane nature ascend vp where hee vz. his Deitie was before Lastlie by reason of this Vnion Christ as he is man is exalted aboue euery name yea he is adored and hath such a great though not infinite measure of gifts as farre surpasse the gifts of all Saints and Angels Eph. 1.21 And set him at his right hand in heauenly places â—â—â—re aboue all principalitie and power and might and domination and euery name that is named not in this world onely but in that also that is to come Heb. 1.6 When he bringeth his first begotten Sonne into the world he saith And let all the Angels of God worship him Col. 2.3 In whome all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge are hidden Phil. 2.9 10. Therefore god exalted him on hie gaue him a name aboue all names that at the name of Iesus euery knee should bow namely worship and be subiect to him both of things in heauen and things in earth and things vnder the earth CHAP. 17. Of the distinction of both Natures THe distinction of both Natures is that whereby they with their properties and effects remaine without composition mingling or conuersion distinct Ioh. 10.17,18 Therefore doth my Father loue me because I lay downe my life that I may take it againe No man taketh it from me but I lay it downe of my selfe I haue power to lay it downe and haue power to take it againe Ioh. 13.31 32. Now is the Son of man glorified God is glorified in him If God be glorified in him God shall also glorifie him in himselfe Here we may obserue that there is one will in Christ as God another as man Matth. 26.39 Not as I will but as thou wilt This also approoueth that sentence of the Chalcedon Creede Wee confesse that one and the same Christ Iesus both Sonne Lord only begotteÌ„ is known and preached to be in two natures without confusion mutation distinction or separation Lastly hereby it is manifest that Christ when he became that which he was not namely man continued still that which he was very God CHAP. 18. Of Christs Natiuitie and Office THus much concerning Christs incarnation the cleere declaration thereof was by his natiuitie The natiuity of Christ is that wherby Mary a Virgin did after the course of nature and the custome of women bring forth Christ that Word of the father and the Son of Dauid so that those are much deceiued which are of opinion that Christ after a miraculous maner came into the world the wombe of the Virgin beeing shut Luk. 2.23 Euery man child which first openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. The which place of scripture is applyed to Mary our Sauiour Christ. Hence is it that the Virgin Marie is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bring forth god albeit she is not any way mother of the Godhead For Christ as hee is God is without mother and as man without Father It is conuenient to be thought that Mary continued a Virgin vntill her dying day albeit we make not this opinion any article of our beleefe I. Christ beeing now to depart the world committed his mother to the tuition and custodie of his disciple Iohn which it is like he would not haue done if shee had had any children by whom as custome was shee might haue beene prouided for Ioh. 19. 26. II. It is likely that shee who was with childe by the holy Ghost would not after know any man III. It is agreed of by the Church in all ages Christ beeing now borne was circumcised the eight day that he might fulfill all the righteousnes of the law and bâ—â—â—g thirtie yeares of age he was baptized that he beeing publiquely and solemnly inuested into the office of his Mediatorship might take vpon him the guilt of our sinnes He was both circumcised and baptized that we might learne I. That the whole efficacie of the Sacraments depend alone and wholly vpon him II. That he was Mediatour of mankind both before and after the Law as also vnder grace III. That he is the knot and bond of both couenants His Office followeth to the perfect accomplishing whereof he was annointed of his Father that is he was sufficiently furnished both with gifts and authoritie Hebr. 1.9 Therefore God euen thy God annointed thee with the oyle of gladnesse aboue thy fellowes Esa. 61.1 The Spirit of the Lord was vpon me therfore be annointed me Ioh. 3.34 God giueth him not the Spirit by measure If any man inforce this as a reason that Christ could not performe the Office of a Mediatour beeing not the meane or middle betwixt God and man but the partie offended so one of the extreames we must know that Christ is two waies said to be the middle or meane I. Betwixt God and all men for being both God and man he doth participate with both extreames II. Betwixt God and the faithfull onely first according to his humanitie whereby he receiued the Spirit without measure Secondly according to his diuine
and beggers by authoritie I meane all idle Monkes and Abby-lubbers haue Socrates in the Tripartite historie saith plainly that that Monke which laboureth not with his hands is no better then a theefe III. Gaming for money and gaine For thou maist not enrich thy selfe by impouerishing thy brother This gaming is worse farre then vsurie and in a short while will more enrich a man IV. To get money by vnlawfull arts such are Magicke Iudiciall Astrologie Stage-playes and such like Eph. 4. 28. Let him that hath stollen steale no more but rather let him labour working with his owne hands the thing that is good that he may giue vnto him that hath neede Deut. 18.11 Eph. 5.3 1. Thess. 5.22 Abstaine from all appearance of euill V. To filch or pilfer the least pin or point from another Mark 10. 19. Thou shalt not steale thou shalt not hurt any man Rom. 3.8 And as we are blamed and as some affirme that we say why do we not euill that good may come thereof whose damnation is iust VI. To remooue ancient bounds Prou. 22. 28. Thou shalt not remooue the ancient bounds which thy fathers haue made Hos. 5. 8. The Princes of Iudah are like them which remooue the bounds VII To steale other mens seruants or children to commit sacriledge or robberie 1. Tim. 1. 10. To whoremongers buggerers and menstealers Iosh. 7.19 Achans theft 1. Cor. 6.10 Neither theeues nor couetous persons nor robbers c. shall inherit the kingdome of God For robberies these sorts of men especially are famous Theeues by the Queenes high waies Pyrates vpon the seas Souldiers not content with their pay and whosoeuer they be that by maine force take that which is none of their owne Luk. 3.14 The souldiers asked him saying What shall we doe he said Doe violence to no man neither accuse any man falsely and be content with your wages VIII To conspire with a theefe whether by giuing aduice how he may compasse his enterprise or by concealing his fact that hee be not punished Prou. 29.24 He that is partaker with a theefe hateth himselfe and he that heareth cursing and discouereth it not The punishment of theft may at the discretion of the Iudge be sometimes aggrauated as he seeth the qualitie of the offence to be Therefore theeues sometimes are punished with death Now if any man obiect that the Iudiciall law of God doth onely require the restitution thereof fourefold for such an offence I answer that the ciuill Magistrate when he seeth some one or many offences to increase he may by his authoritie encrease the ciuill punishment due to that sinne Now it is manifest that the sinne of theft is farre more grieuous in our Common-weale then it was among the Iewes For first the inhabitants of this common-weale are generally by many degrees poorer then the Iewes were therefore to steale a thing but of some small value from one in this countrey doth more endamage him then a thing of great value would haue done the Iewes Againe the people of this countrey are of a more stirring and fierce disposition the which maketh theeues to be more outragious with their robberies ioyning violence and the disturbance of the publike tranquilitie of the country whereof more râ—gard ought to be had then of one priuate mans life The affirmatiue part Thou shalt preserue and increase thy neighbours goods To this are required these that follow I. A certen calling wherein euery man according to that gift which God hath giuen him must bestow himselfe honestly to his owne and neighbours good 1. Cor. 7. 24. Let euery man wherein he was called therein abide with God Eph. 4.28 1. Pet. 4.10 According as euery man hath receiued a gift so let him administer to another that ye may be good dispensers of the manifold graces of God Galat. 5.13 In loue serue one another II. The true vse of riches and all the goods a man hath to which belong two vertues Contentation and Thriftinesse Contentation is a vertue whereby a man is well pleased with that estate wherein he is placed 1. Tim. 6.6 Godlinesse is great gaine with a contented mind 7. For we brought nothing into the world neither shall we carie any thing out of the world But hauing foode and raiment let vs be content Philip. 4.11 I haue learned in whatsoeuer state I am therewith to be content 12. I can be abased and I can abound euery where in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungrie and to abound and to haue want Math. 6.11 Giue vs this day our daily bread Heb. 13. 5. Let your conuersation be without couetousnes and be coÌ„tent with the things which you haue for he saith I will not forsake thee nor leaue thee Thriftinesse or frugalitie is a vertue whereby a man carefully keepeth his goods which he hath gotten and imploieth them to such vses as are both necessarie and profitable Prou. 5.15 Drinke the water of thy cesterne and of the riuers out of the middes of thine owne well 16. Let thy fountaines flow forth and the riuers of waters in the streetes 17. Let them be thine owne yea thine onely and not the strangers with thee Prou. 21. 5. The thoughts of the diligent doe surely bring abundance 17. He that loueth pastime shall be a poore man and he that loueth wine and oyle shall not be rich Prou. 12.27 The deceitfullman rosteth not that which he hath taken in hunting but the riches of the diligent are pretious Ioh. 6.12 III. To speake the truth from the heart and to vse an harmelesse simplicitie in all affaires Psal. 15.2 He that walketh vprightly and worketh righteousnes he that speaketh the truth in his heart Gen. 23.15 Ephron said to Abraham The land is worth foure hundreth shekels of siluer what is that betweene me and thee burie therefore thy dead 16. So Abraham harkned to Ephron and Abraham weighed to Ephron the siluer which he had named in the audience of the Hittites euen foure hundreth shekels of currant money among marchants c. IV. Iust dealing 1. Thess. 4.6 Of this there are many kindes I. In buying and selling in setting and hiring of Farmes tenements lands in marchandize and all manner of commodities men must racke nothing but keepe a iust price A iust price is then obserued when as the things prized and the price giuen for them are made equall as neere as may be For the obseruation of this equalitie these foure rules are to be considered for by them all bargaines must be ordered I. There must be a proportion and equalitie in all contracts the which will then be when as the seller doth not value the thing onely according to his owne paines and cost bestowed vpon it but also seeth what profit it may be to the buyer and in what need he standeth of it Leuit. 25.14 When thou sellest ought to thy neighbour or buyest ought at his hands ye shall not oppresse one another 15. But according to
Creede beeing a summary collection of things to bee beleeued was gathered briefly out of the word of God for the helping of memory and vnderstanding of men I adde that this Creede is concerning God and the Church For in these two points consisteth the whole summe thereof Lastly I say that it is gathered forth of the scripture to make a difference between it and and other writings and to shew the authoritie of it which I will further declare on this manner There bee two kinde of writings in which the doctrine of the Church is handled and they are either diuine or Ecclesiasticall Diuine are the bookes of the olde and newe Testament penned either by Prophets or Apostles And these are not onely the pure word of God but also the scripture of God because not onely the matter of them but the whole disposition thereof with the style and the phrase was set downe by the immediate inspiration of the holy ghost And the authoritie of these bookes is diuine that is absolute and soueraigne and they are of sufficient credit in and by themselues needing not the testimonie of any creature not subiect to the censure either of men or Angels binding the consciences of all men at all times and beeing the only foundation of faith and the rule and canon of all trueth Ecclesiasticall writings are all other ordinarie writings of the Church consenting with Scriptures These may be called the word or trueth of God so far forth as their matter or substance is consenting with the written word of god but they cannot be called the scripture of God because the style and phrase of them was set downe according to the pleasure of man and therefore they are in such sort the word of God as that also they are the word of men And their authoritie in defining of trueth and falshood in matters of religion is not soueraigne but subordinate to the former and it doth not stand in the authoritie and pleasures of men councels but in the consent which they haue with the scriptures Ecclesiasticall writings are either generall particular or proper Generall are the Creedes and confessions of the Church dispersed ouer the whole worlde and among the rest the Creede of the Apostles made either by the Apostles themselues or by their hearers and disciples apostolicall men deliuered to the Church and conueied from hand to hand to our times Particular writings are the confessions of particular Churches Proper writings are the bookes and confessions of priuate men Nowe betweene these we must make difference For the Generall Creede of the Apostles other vniuersall Creeds in this case not excepted though it be of lesse authoritie then scripture yet hath it more authoritie then the particular priuate writings of Churches and men For it hath beene receiued and approoued by vniuersall consent of the Catholike Church in all ages and so were neuer these in it the meaning and doctrine can not be changed by the authoritie of the whole Catholike Church and if either the order of the doctrine or the wordes whereby it is expressed should vpon some occasion be changed a particular Church of any country can not do it without Catholike consent of the whole Churche yet particular writings and confessions made by some speciall Churches may be altered in the words in the points of doctrine by the same Churches without offence to the Catholike Church Lastly it is receiued as a rule of faith among all Churches to trie doctrines interpretations of scriptures by not because it is a rule of it selfe for that the scripture is alone but because it borroweth his authoritie froÌ„ scripture with which it agreeth And this honour no other writings of men can haue Here some may demand the number of Creedes Ans. I say but one Creede as there is but one faith and if it be alleadged that wee haue many Creedes as besides this of the Apostles the Nicene Creede and Athanasius Creed c. I answer the seuerall Creedes and confessions of Churches containe not seueral faiths and religions but one and the same and this called the Apostles creede is most ancient and principall all the rest are not newe Creedes in substance but in some points penned more largely for the exposition of it that men might better auoid the heresies of their times Further it may be demanded in what forme this Creede was penned Ans. In the forme of an answere to a question The reason is this In the Primitiue Church when any man was turned from Gentilisme to the faith of Christ and was to be baptised this question was asked him What beleeuest thouâ— then he answered according to the forme of the Creede I beleeue in God c. And this maner of questioning was vsed euen from the time of the Apostles When the Eunuch was conuerted by Philip he said What doth let me to be baptised Philip said If thou doest beleeue with all thine heart thou maist Then he answered I beleede that Iesus Christ is the sonne of God By this it appeares that although all men for the most part amongst vs can say this Creede yet not one of a thousand can tell the ancient and first vse of it for commonly at this day of the simpler sort it is saide for a prayer beeing indeede no prayer and when it is vsed so men make it no better then a charme Before we come to handle the particular points of the Creede it is very requiâ—ite that we should make an entrance thereto by describing the nature properties and kindes of faith the confession and ground whereof is set forth in the Creede Faith therefore is a gift of God whereby we giue assent or credence to Gods word For there is a necessarie relation betweene faith and Gods word The common propertie of faith is noted by the author of the Hebrewes when he saith Faith is the ground of things hoped for and the demonstration of things that are not seene For all this may be vnderstood not onely of iustifying faith but also of temporarie faith and the faith of miracles Where faith is said to be a ground the meaning is that though there are many things promised by God which men doe not presently enioy but onely hope for because as yet they are not yet faith doth after a sort giue subsisting or beeing vnto them Secondly it is an euidence or demonstration c. that is by beleeuing a man doth make a thing as it were visible beeing otherwise inuisible and absent Faith is of two sorts either common faith or the faith of the Elect as Paul saith he is an Apostle according to the faith of Gods elect which also is called faith without hypocrisie The common faith is that which both elect and reprobate haue and it is threefold The first is historicall faith which is when a man doth beleeue the outward letter and historie of the word It hath two parts knowledge of Gods word and an
word of God For Paul saith that they that are the childreÌ„ of god are led by the spirit of Christ. Nowe seeing this is so that if wee would liue eternally wee must begin to liue that blessed and eternall life before we die here we must be carefull to reform two common errors The first is that a man enters into eternall life when hee dies and not before which is a flat vntruth Our Sauiour Christ said to Zacheus This day is saluation come to thy houseâ— giuing vs to vnderstand that a man then begins to be saued when God doeth effectually call him by the ministery of his Gospell Whosoeuer then will bee saued when hee is dying and dead must begin to be saued while he is nowe liuing His saluation must beginne in this life that would come to saluation after this life Verely verely saith Christ he that heareth my word and â—eleeueth in him that sent me hath eternall life namly in this present life The second error is that howsoeuer a man liue if when he is dying he can lift vp his eies and say Lord haue mercie vpon me hee is certainly saued Behold a verie dangerous and foolish conceit that deceiues many a man It is all one as if an arrant theife should thus reason with himselfe and say I will spend my daies in robbing and stealing I feare neither arraignment nor exequution For at the verie time when I am to bee turned off the ladder if I doe but call vpon the iudge I knowe I shall haue my pardon Behold a most dangerous and desperate course the verie same is the practise of carelesse men in the matter of their saluation For a man may diâ— with Lord haue mercie in his mouth and perish eternally except in this world he enter into the first degree of eternall life For not euerie one that sayeth Lord Lord shall enter into heauen but he that doth the will of the father which is in heauen The fourth dutie is to exercise and inure our selues in dying by little little so long as we liue here vpon earth before we come to die indeede And as men that are appointed to runne a race exercise themselues in running that they may get the victorie so should we begin to die now while we are liuing that we might die well in the end But some may say how should this be done Paul giues vs direction in his owne example when he saith by the reioycing which I haue in Christ I die daily And he died daily not onely because hee was often in danger of death by reason of his calling but also because in al his dangers and troubles he inured himselfe to die For when men do make the right vse of their afflictions whether they bee in bodie or minde or both and doe with all their might endeauour to beare them patiently humbling themselues as vnder the correction of God then they begin to die well And to doe this indeede is to take an excellent course He that would mortifie his greatest sins must begin to doe it with small sinnes which when they are once reformed a man shall be able more easily to ouercome his master-sinnes So likewise he that would be able to beare the crosse of all crosses namely death it selfe must first of all learne to beare small crosses as sicknesses in bodie and troubles in minde with losses of goods and of friendes and of good name which I may fitly tearme little deaths and the beginnings of death it selfe and we must first of all acquaint our selues with these little deaths before we can wel be able to beare the great death of al. Againe the afflictions and calamities of this life are as it were the harbingers and puruiers of death and we are first to learne how to entertaine these messengers that when death the lord himselfe shall come we may in better manner entertaine him This point Bilney the martyr well considered who oftentimes before hee was burned put his finger into the flame of the candle not onely to make triall of his abilitie in suffering but also to arme and strengthen himselfe against greater torments in death Thus ye see the fourth dutie which ye must in any wise learne and remember because wee cannot be able to beare the pangs of death well vnles we bee first well schooled and nurtered by sundrie trials in this life The fifth and last dutie is set down by Salomon All that thine hand shall find to doe doe it with all thy power And marke the reason For there is neither worke nor inuention nor knowledge nor wisdome in the graue whither thou goest To the same purpose Paul saith Doe good to all men while ye haue time Therefore if any man be able to doe any good seruice either to Gods church or to the common wealth or to any priuate man let him doe it with all speede and with all might least death it selfe preuent him He that hath care thus to spende his daies shall with much comfort and peace of conscience ende his life Thus much of generall preparation Now followeth the particular which is in the time of sicknes And here first of all I will shew what is the doctrine of the Papists and then afterward the truth By the popish order and practise when a man is about to die he is inioyned three things First to make sacramentall confession specially if it be in any mortall sinne secondly to receiue the Eucharist thirdly to require his annoyling that is the sacrament as they call it of extreame vnction Sacramentall confession they tearme a rehearsall or enumeration of all mans sinnes to a priest that he may receiue absolution But against this kinde of confession sundrie reasons may be alleadged First of all it hath no warrant either by commandement or example in the whole word of God They say yes and they indeauour to prooue it thus He which lies in any mortall sinne is by Gods law bound to doe penance and to seeke reconciliation with God now the necessarie meanes after baptisme to obtaine reconciliation is the confession of all our sinnes to a priest Because Christ hath appointed priests to be iudges vpon earth with such measure of authoritie that no man falling after baptisme can without their sentence and determination be reconciled and they can not rightly iudge vnlesse they know all a mans sinnes therefore all that fall after baptisme are bound by Gods word to open all their sinnes to a priest Ans. It is false which they say that priests are iudges hauing power to examine and take knowledge of mens sinnes and iurisdiction whereby they can properly absolue pardon or retaine them For Gods word hath giuen no more to man but a ministerie of reconciliation whereby in the name of God and according to his word he doth preach declare and pronounce that God doth pardon or not pardon his sinnes Againe pardon may truly be pronounced
as possibly they can agreeable to the equitie of Gods lawe yet can they not assure themselues and others that they haue failed in no point or circumstance Therefore it is against reason that humane lawes beeing subiect to defects faults errours and manifold imperfections should truely bind conscience as Gods lawes doe which are the rule of righteousnes All gouernours in the world by reason that to their old lawes they are constrained to put restrictions ampliations and modifications of all kinds with new readings and interpretations vpon their daily experience see and acknowledge this to bee true which I say sauing the Bishop of Rome so falsly tearmed which perswades himselfe to haue when he is in his consistorie such an infallible assistance of the spirit that he cannot possibly erre in iudgement Argum. 6. If mens lawes by inward vertue bindes conscience properly as Gods lawes then our dutie is to learne studie and remember them as well as Gods laws yea ministers must be diligent to preach them as they are diligent in preaching the doctrine of the gospell because euery one of them bindes to mortall sinne as the Papists teach But that they should be taught and learned as Gods lawes it is most absurd in the iudgement of all men Papists theÌ„selues not excepted Argum. 7. Inferiour authoritie cannot bind the superiour nowe the courts of men and their authority are vnder conscience For God in the heart of euery man hath erected a tribunall seate and in his stead hee hath placed neither Saint nor Angell nor any other creature whatsoeuer but conscience it selfe who therefore is the highest Iudge that is or can be vnder God by whose direction also courts are kept and lawes are made Thus much of the Popish opinion by which it appeares that one of the principall notes of Antichrist agrees fittely to the Pope of Rome Paul 2. Thess. 2. makes it a speciall propertie of Antichrist to exalt himselfe against or aboue all that is called God or worshipped Now what doth the Pope els when he takes vpon him authoritie to make such lawes as shall bind the coÌ„science as properly and truely as Gods lawes and what doth he els when hee ascribes to himselfe power to free mens consciences froÌ„ the bond of such laws of God as are vnchangeable as may appeare in a Canon of the Councill of Trent the words are these If any shal say that those degrees of consanguinitie that be expressed in Lâ—uiticus doe onely hinder matrimonie to be made and breake it being made and that the Church cannot dispense with some of them or appoint that more degrees may hinder or breake marriage let him be accursed O sacrilegious impietie considering the lawes of affinitie and consanguinitie Leuiticus 18. are not ceremoniall or iudiciall lawes peculiar to the Iewes but the very laws of nature What is this Canon else but a publike proclamation to the world that the pope church of Rome do sit as lords or rather idols in the hearts conscieÌ„ces of men This wil yet more fully appeare to any man if we read popish bookes of practicall or Case-diuinitie in which the common manner is to binde conscience where God looseth it and to loose where he binds but a declaration of this requires long time Now I come as neere as possibly I can to set down the true manner how mens lawes by the common iudgement of Diuines may be said to binde conscience That this point may be cleared two things must be handled By what meanes they binde and How farre forth Touching the meanes I set downe this rule Wholesome lawes of men made of things indifferent so farre forth bind conscience by vertne of the generall commaÌ„dement of God which ordaineth the Magistrates authoritie that whosoâ—uer shall wittingly and willingly with a disloyall minde either breake or omit such lawes is guiltie of sinne before By wholesome lawes I vnderstand such positiue constitutions as are not against the lawe of God and withall tend to maintaine the peaceable estate and common good of men Furthermore I adde this clause made of things indifferent to note the peculiar matter whereof humane lawes properly intreat namely such things as are neither expressely commanded or forbidden by God Now such kind of laws haue no vertue or power in theÌ„selues to constraine conscience but they binde onely by vertue of an higher commandement Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers Rom. 13.1 or Honour father and mother Exod. 20. which commandements binds vs in conscience to performe obedience to the goodlawes of men As S. Peter saith Submit your selues to euery humane ordinance for the Lord. 1. Pet. 2.13 that is for conscience of God as he sayeth afterward v. 19. whereby he signifieth two things first that God hath ordained the authoritie of gouernours secondly that he hath appointed in his word and thereby bound men in conscience to obey their gouernours lawful commandements If the case fall out otherwise as commonly it doeth that humane lawes bee not inacted of things indiffereÌ„t but of things that be good in themselues that is commanded by God then are they not humane properly but diuine lawes Mens lawes intreating of things that are morally good and the parts of Gods worship are the same with Gods lawes and therefore bind conscience not because they were inacted by men but because they were first made by God meÌ„ beeing no more but instruments and ministers in his name to reuiue renewe and to put in exequution such precepts and lawes as prescribe the worship of God standing in the practise of true religion and vertue Of this kinde are all positiue lawes touching articles of faith and the duties of the morall law And the man that breakes such lawes sinnes two waies first because he breaks that which is in conscience a lawe of God secondly because in disobeying his lawfull Magistrate he disobeyes the generall commandement of God touching magistracie But if it shall fall out that mens lawes bee made of things that are euill and forbidden by God then is there no bond of conscience at al but contrariwise men are bound in conscience not to obey Act. 4.19 And hereupon the three children are commended for not obeying Nabuchadnezzar when he gaue a particular commandement vnto them to fall downe and worship the golden image Dan. 3. Moreouer in that mans law bindes not but by the authoritie of Gods law hence it followes that Gods law alone hath this priuiledge that the breach of it should be a sinne S. Iohn saith 1. epist. 3. Sinne is the anomie or transgression of the law vnderstanding Gods law When Dauid by adulterie and murder had offended many men and that many waies he saith Psal. 51. Against thee against thee haue I sinned And Augustine defined sinne to be some thing said done or desired against the lawe of God Some man may say if this bee so belike then we may breake mens laws without sinne I answer that men in breaking
humane lawes both may and doe sinne but yet not simply because they break them but because in breaking them they doe also breake the lawe of God The breach of a law must bee considered two waies Frst as it is a trespasse hinderance iniurie damage and in this respect it is committed against mens lawes secondly the breach of a lawe must be considered as it is finne and so it is onely against Gods lawe which appoints obedience to the Magistrate The second point namely Howe farre forth mens lawes bind conscience I explane on this maner It is all that the lawes of God do or can doe to binde conscience simply and absolutely Therefore humane lawes binde not simply of themselues but so farreforth as they are agreeable to Gods word serue for the common good stand with good order and hinder not the libertie of coÌ„science The necessitie of the law ariseth of the necessitie of the good end therof And as the ende is good and profitable more or lesse so is the lawe it selfe necessarie more or lesse Mens lawes are like their testimonies which neither prooue nor disprooue of themselues but borrow all the strength which they haue to constraine from the trueth wisdome and fidelitie of them that beare witnesse Hence it followeth that a man may doe any thing beside humane lawes and constitutions without breach of conscience For if we shall omit the doing of any law I. without hinderence of the ende and particular considerations for which the lawe was made II. without offence giuing as much as in vs lieth III. without contempt of him that made the lawe wee are not to be accused of sinne Example In time of warre the magistrate of a cittie commands that no man shall open the gates the ende is that the cittie euery member thereof may be in safetie Now it falls out that certaine cittizens beeing vpon occasion without the cittie are pursued by the enemie and in danger of their liues Hereupon some man without any more adoe openeth the gate to reskue theÌ„ The question is whether he haue sinned or no. And the truth is he hath not because he did not hinder the ende of the lawe but rather further it and that without scandal to men or contempt to the magistrate And this stands euen by the equitie of Gods word God made a lawe that the priests onely should eate of the shewbread now Dauid beeing no priest did vpon vrgent occasion eate of it without sinne If this be true in Gods law then it may also be true in the lawes of men that they may in some cases be omitted without sinne against God Neither must this seeme straunge For as there is a keeping of a law and a breaking of the same so there is a middle or meane action betweene them both which is to doe a thing beside the law and that without sinne To proceede further mens lawes be either Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall Ciuill laws are for their substance determinations of necessarie and profitable circumstances tending to vphold and maintaine the commandements of the second table More specially they prescribe what is to be done and what is to be left vndone touching actions both ciuill and criminall touching offices and bargaines of all sorts c. yea they conclude inioyne and command not onely such affaires as be of small importance but also things and actions of great waight tending to maintaine common peace ciuill societie and the very state of the common wealth Now such lawes bind so farre forth that albeit they be omitted without any apparant scandall or contempt yet the breach of them is a sinne before God Take this example A subiect in this land vpon pouertie or vpon a couetous minde against the good law of the land coynes money which afterward by a sleight of his witte is cunningly conueied abroad into the hands of men and is not espied Here is no euident offence giuen to any man nor open contempt shewed to the lawgiuer and yet in this action he hath sinned in that closely otherwise then he ought to haue done he hath hindred the good of the commonwealth and robbed the soueraigne Prince of her right Ecclesiasticall lawes are certaine necessarie and profitable determinations of circumstances of the commandements of the first table I say here circumstances because all doctrines pertaining to the foundation and good estate of the Church as also the whole worship of God are set downe and commaunded in the written word of God and can not be prescribed and concluded otherwise by all the Churches in the world As for the Creedes and Confâ—ssions of particular Churches they are in substance Gods word and they bind not in conscience by any power the Church hath but because they are the word of God The lawes then which the Church in proper speach is said to make are decrees concerning outward order and comelines in the administration of the word and Sacraments in the meetings of the congregation c. and such laws made according to the generall rules of Gods word which requires that all things be done to edification in comelines for the auoiding of offence are necessarie to be obserued and the word of God binds all men to them so farre forth as the keeping of them maintaines decent order and preuents open offence Yet if a law concerning some externall riâ—e or thing indifferent be at sometime or vpon some occasion omitted no offence giuen nor contempt shewed to Ecclesiastical authoritie there is no breach made in the conscience and that appeares by the example before handled The Apostles guided by the holy Ghost made a decree for the auoiding of offence necessarie to be obserued namely that the Gentiles should abstaine from strangled blood Idolithytes and yet Paul out of the case of scandall and contempt permits the Corinthians to doe otherwise 1. Cor. 8. and 9. which he would not haue done if to doe otherwise out of the case of scandall and contempt had bin sin Againe laws are either mixt or meerely penall Mixt are such lawes as are of waightie matters and are propounded in commaunding or forbidding tearmes and they according to the good intention of the Lawgiuer bind men first of all to obedience for the necessarie good of humane societies and secondly to a punishment if they obey not that a supplie may be made of the hindrance of the common good In the breach of this kind of lawes though a man be neuer so willing to suffer the punishment yet that will not discharge his conscience before God when he offends If a man coyne money with this mind to be willing to die when he is conuicted yet that wil not free him from a sinne in the action because Gods law bindes vs not onely to subjection in bearing of punishments but also to obedience of his bare commandement it beeing lawfull though he should set downe no punishment A law meerely penall is that which beeing made of matters of
lesse importance and not vttered precisely in commanding tearmes doth onely declare and shew what is to be done or conditionally require this or that with respect to the punishment on this manner If any person doe this or that then he shall forfeit thus or thus This kind of law bindes especially to the punishment and that in the very intent of the lawgiuer and he that is readie in omitting the law to pay the fine or punishment is not to be charged with sinne before God the penaltie beeing answerable to the losse that comes by the neglect of the law Here a question may be demanded whether a man that hath taken his oath to keepe all the laws or orders of any towne or corporation and yet afterward omits the doing of some of them be periured or no. The answer may be this that the lawes of euery societie and corporation must be distinguished Some are very weightie as I haue said beeing of the very foundation and state of a bodie so as it can not well stand without them and whosoeuer wittingly and willingly breakes any of these they beeing good and lawfull can not be freed from periurie Againe there be lawes of lesser importance that tend onely to maintaine decent order and comelines in the societies of men and they are of that nature that the estate of the corporation or towne may stand without them and whosoeuer vpon occasion omits the doing of any of these is not therefore periured so be it he carrie a loyall mind and be content to pay the fine or penaltie For such kind of orders and constitutions require first of all obedience and if that be omitted they require a mulct or fine which if it be willingly paied the law is satisfied Thus we see how farre forth mens lawes bind conscience The vse of this point is this I. Hence we learne that the immunitie of the Popish cleargie whereby they take themselues exempted from ciuill courts and from ciuill authoritie in criminall causes hath no warrant because Gods cōmandements binds euery man whatsoeuer to be subiect to the magistrate Rom. 13.1 Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers II. Hence we see also what notorious rebells those are that beeing borne subiects of this land yet choose rather to die then to acknowledge as they are bound in conscience the Queenes Maiestie to be supreame gouernour vnder God in all causes ouer all persons III. Lastly we are taught hereby to be willing to giue subiection obedience reuerence and all other duties to Magistrates whether they be superiour or inferiour yea with chearefulnes to pay taxes and subsidies and all such lawfull charges as are appointed by them Giue to Cesar that which is Cesars to God that which is Gods Giue to all men their duties tribute to whom tribute custome to whome custome Rom. 13.7 Now follows the Oath which is either assertorie or promissorie Assertorie by which a man auoucheth that a thing was done or not done Promissorie by which a man promiseth to doe a thing or not to doe it Of both these I meane to speake but specially of the second And here two points must be considered the first by whāt meanes an oath bindeth the second when it bindeth An oath bindeth by vertue of such particular commandements as require the keeping of othes lawfully taken Num. 30.3 Whosoeuer sweareth an oath to binde his soule by a bond he shall not breake his word but shall doe according to all that proceede out of his mouth This beeing so a question may be made whether the oathes of Infidels bind conscience and by what vertue cōsidering they neither know the Scriptures nor the true God Ans. They doe bind in conscience For example Iacob and Laban make a couenant confirmed by oath Iacob sweares by the true God Laban by the gods of Nachor that is by his idols Now Iacob though he approoue not the forme of this oath yet he accepts it for a ciuill bond of the couenant and no doubt though Laban beleeued not Gods word reuealed to the Patriarkes yet he was bound in conscience to keepe this oath euen by the law of nature and though he knew not the true God yet he reputed the false god of Nachor to be the true God Gen. 31.53 Againe if a lawfull oath by vertue of Gods commandements bind conscience then it must needes be that the Romane Church hath long erred in that shee teacheth and maintaineth that gouernours as namely the Pope and other inferiour Bishops haue power to giue relaxations and dispensations not onely for oathes vnlawfull from which the word of God doth sufficiently free vs though they should neuer giue absolution but from a true and lawfull oath made wittingly and willingly without error or deceit of a thing honest and possible as when the Pope frees the subiects of this land as occasion is offered from their sworne allegiance and loyaltie to which they are bound not onely by the law of nature but also by a solemne and particular oath to the Supremacie which none euer deemed vnlawfull but such as carrie traytours hearts Now this erronious diuinitie would easily be reuoked if men did but consider the nature of an oath one part whereof is Inuocation in which we pray vnto God first that he would become a witnes vnto vs that we speake the truth and purpose not to deceiue secondly if we faile and breake our promise that he would take reuenge vpon vs and in both these petitions we bind our selues immediatly to God himselfe and God againe who is the ordainer of the oath accepts this bond and knits it by his commandement till it be accomplished Hence it follows that no creature can haue power to vntie the bond of an oath that is truly and lawfully an oath vnlesse we will exalt the creatures aboue God himselfe And the Iewish teachers gaue better counsell when they commanded the people to performe their oathes to the Lord for the preuenting of periurie and our Sauiour Christ in that gainesaies them not Math. 5.33 Next let vs consider the time when an oath bindeth or bindeth not An oath bindeth then when it is made of things certen and possible in truth iustice iudgement for the glorie of God the good of our neighbour Quest. I. Whether doth an oath bind conscience if by the keeping of it there follow losses and hindrances Ans. If it be of a thing that is lawfull and the damages be priuate to him that sweareth then doth it bind conscience For example A man makes a purchase of land at the sea side his bargaine is confirmed onely by oath and it falls out that before he doe enter possession the sea breakes in and drownes a part of that purchase Now he is in conscience to stand to his bargaine because the thing is lawfull and the damage is priuate and great reuerence must be had of the name of God which hath bin vsed in the bargaine making Dauid