live in the Fellowship of the Apostles which is the Second Character in my Text. The third is the Participation of the same Sacraments One only is mentioned in my Text that is the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper For being already baptized they had no more occasion for Baptism But that being spoken of before ver 41. I therefore mention both these Sacraments The use of both these in the Apostles times was a Character and Token of the Christian Church Thus St. Paul 1 Cor. xii 13. mentions both these Sacraments as the Instruments and Means by which we are united to Christ. By one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body and we have all been made to drink into one Spirit Both these Sacraments they received of Christs own Institution who required them to be used in all Ages of the Church to be administred to all it's Members by every Church And that in the same manner as they were instituted by Christ I mean as to all the Essential parts of the Sacraments However Ceremonies or Rites may be varied yet in their Essential parts they are of perpetual Obligation For Baptism when it was instituted by our Saviour for the Admission of Members into his Church he said thus to his Apostles Go make Disciples that is Christians of all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And thus doing Lo I am with you till the end of the World And for the Lords Supper he â—dministred it himself to his Disciples who were then not in Orders for it was before his Death and he did not ordain them till after his Resurrection And administring the Sacrament to them who were not in Orders He took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to them saying Take eat this is my Body and what follows He gave them the Cup in like manner saying Drink ye all of it This is my Blood or this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood Accordingly it was done in the Church in the Apostles times The Apostle calls it the Bread and the Cup which they received in the Sacrament never otherwise though Spiritually and Sacramentally the Body and Blood of Christ yet Bread and Wine in its Natural and Bodily substance He says The Cup which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ And the Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ No doubt we have the Mind of Christ in these words It is properly the Communion of His Body and Blood which we receive in this Sacrament And according to his Law they are conveyed to us under the Elements of Bread and Wine For so the Apostle tells us that even after Consecration It is Bread which we break it is Bread which we partake It is Bread that we eat in this Sacrament Which last thing he says three times together in three Verses In like manner it was properly Wine which remained in the Cup even after Consecration So it was called by our Saviour the fruit of the Vine and this Fruit even the same of which he had said This is my Blood And as he said to his Apostles being Laymen Drink ye all of it and as St. Mark observes They all drank of it so did all other in those times as well Laity as Clergy 1 Cor. xii 13. We are all made to drink into one Spirit 'T is observable the whole Sacrament there is called drinking as here the whole Sacrament is called Breaking of Bread And the Sacrament being thus instituted by Christ being thus administred by his Apostles and being thus received in his Church was to continue till Christs coming again So the Apostle saith expresly 1 Cor. xi 26. So that here 's a third Character of an Apostolic Church to continue the use of those Sacraments which they used and that in all the Essentials of them according to Christ's own Institution A fourth Character in this Text is Prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Plural Number that is not one or two but many and oft And it appears they were publick Prayers by what follows ver 46. They continued daily with one accord in the Temple There the Apostles used to meet after Christ's Ascension into Heaven They were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God They were constantly there in the times of Devotion as may appear from Acts iii. 1. and other places They continued this Practice as long as the Iews would suffer them till they drove them away from their Temple and Synagogues After which these first Christians had Assemblies elsewhere as we read Acts xviii 17. In which Assemblies what they prayed and what they did besides praying we have no particular account in Holy Scripture But we have in those Writers that lived within the Age of the Apostles That is in an Epistle of the Younger Pliny to Trajan and in St. Iustin Martyr's second Apology There we find in Pliny that they did Carmen Christo quasi Deo dicere secum in vicem They spoke Verses answering one another by turns as we speak the Reading Psalms I know not how he could better express it And saith Iustin Martyr they read Lessons out of the Apostles and out of the Prophets And when the Reader had done the Bishop Preached 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either the Bishop or the chief Minister Then they rose up all together and prayed They had saith Iustin Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Common Prayers Those are his Words In which they prayed for themselves and for their Princes and for all others that were living with them They prayed only to God saith Iustin Martyr twice This together with the Administration of the Sacraments and their gatherings for the poor is all the Account they give us of their Meetings Which account being given much within fifty years of the Apostles times we may reasonably conclude it was the manner of their Prayers the use whereof was the fourth Character in our Description of the Apostolick Church Besides these you see my Text hath given us no other and therefore whosoever would make sure of such a Church he may do well to judg of it by these Characters being all that the Apostles have given us But if these were the Notes of a true Church in the Apostles times what mean they of the Now Roman Church to require any other Or what would they have that cannot content themselves with these Sure their hearts misgive them that these are not for their turn Either they have them not or others have them as well as they And therefore they choose rather to insist upon those which they can hope to appropriate to their own Faction It is not worth the while in this Place to reckon up the fifteen Notes of a true Church which Bellarmin gives us All which are
Thess. Hom. 3. Ib. Tom. IV. p. 234 19. c Aug. de Doctr. Christianâ l. 2. c. 9. Edit Basil. 1541. Tom. III. Col. 25. D. In iis enim c. d Basil. M. Hom. 29. Edit Paris 1618. Tom. I. p. 623. C. e Hieron adv Helvid Edit Basil. 1524. Tom. II. p. 13. B. a Iren. adv Haer. l. 1. c. 2. 3. alii passim b Cyprian Testim ad Quirinum lib. 1. 2. proving all things of Faith and Life from the Scripture Constantin M. apud Theodorit Hist. Eccl. l. 1. c. 7. Edit Vales. p. 25. D. Offers the Scriptures for deciding all Controversies touching the Faith So Athanasius and others prove every disputed Article And when the Heretics produced Tradition on their side the Fathers always held them to the Scriptures a Mat. xxviii 2c b Mat. x. 40. c Act. i. 20. d Mat. xix 28. Luke xxii 30. a Matth. xviii â— xx 24. b Mat. Luk. xxii 24 c Mat. xx 26. xxiii 8 9 10. Luke xxii 26. d Joh. xx 21 22 23. a Usually but not always for at Jerusalem St. James being Bishop there had the Precedence Act. xv â—al ii 9. b Cyprian de Unit. Eccl. c. 3. Edit Paris 1649. p. 208. The other Apostles were also that which Peter was they had an equall share both of Honor and of Power Epist. 51. p. 80. Every Bishop orders his own affairs and is to give account to God Epist. 54. p. 95. Every one has his own Flock to govern of which he is to give account to God Conc. Carth. de Bapt. Haeret. p. 353. No Bishop can be judged by another or can judg another But we all wait for the Iudgment of Christ who is the only One that has Power both to put us into the Office and to judg of our Discharge of it Tertullian de Praescript c. 36. Edit Paris 1641. p. 245. Run over the Apostolic Churches in which are yet the very Chairs of the Apostles Ye have Corinth Ye have Ephesus Ye have Philippi Ye have Rome Cyprian Epist. 26. p. 42. Christ said to Peter Thou art Peter and I will give thee the Keys c. From thence by course of times and successions is derived the Ordination of Bishops in the Church Epist. 74. p. 163. The Bishops have succeeded the Apostles being ordained in their stead a Iren. contra Haereses l. III. c. 3. We can reckon up them who by the Apostles were made Bishops in the several Churches b Epist. 68. p. 136. The Church is a People united to their own Bishop and a Flock adhering to their own Pastor Ibid. Polycarpus by the Apostles made Bishop of the Church of Smyrna c Epist. 66. p. 128. To Steven Bishop of Rome Therefore my dear Brother there is a numerous body of Bishops united together by the bond of Concord and Vnity that if any one of our College should attempt to make a Sect and to tear and spoil the Flock of Christ the rest may come in to help and as good and compassionate Shepherds may gather the Lord's sheep into the flock a Matt. xxviii 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make Disciples so Acts xiv 21. But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Disciples is as much to say as Christians Acts. xi 26. b Matt. xxviii 20. c Matt. xxvi 26. Mar. xiv 22. Lu. xxii 19. 1 Cor. xi 24. d Matt. xxvi 28. Mar. xiv 24. Luke xxii 20. 1 Cor. xi 25. a 1 Cor. x. 16. b 1 Cor. x. 16 17. xi 26 27 28. c Matt. xxvi 29. Mar. xiv 25. d Matt. xxvi 27. e Mark xiv 23. a Luke xxiv 53. a Plin. lib. â— Epist. 97. b Justin M. Apol. II. Edit Paris 1636. p. 97 c. c Plin. ib. d Justin ibid. p. 98. D. e P. 97. C. f P. 64. D. g P. 97. C. and for all others every where that we may learn the truth c. h p. 63. D. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 64. D. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i P. 97. D. 98. D a Bellarmin de Conciliis Ecclesiâ lib. 4. a In the form of Profession Prescribed by Pius IV. according Decree of the Council of Trent Sess. XXIV Decret de Reform cap. 1. 12. b Concil Edit Labb Tom. XIV Col. 946. B. c Of Transubstantiation this is confest by Did in Can. Missae Lect. 40. beginning that Whether the Bread be turned into Christs Body or remains with his Body it is not found exprest in the Scriptures Bellarmin de Eucharist III. 23. Tertiò addit mentions others of their Church that had said the like and he grants it not improbable that it could not he proved out of Scripture till the Scripture was declared by a General Council meaning as he there shews that of Lateran above twelve hundred years after Christ. Of Auricular Confession Gloss. in Decr. de Poenit. dist 5. beginning Semeca saith it was instituted by some Tradition of the Vniversal Church rather than by the Authority of the New or Old Testament Panormitan super Quinto de Poenit. Remis c. Omnis utriusque saith I am much pleased with that opinion of Semeca For there is not any plain Authority which shews that God or Christ instituted plainly that Confession should be made to a Priest Biel in Sent. IV. 17. G. saith It was delivered by word and deed without any Scripture For Image Worship Bellarmin de Eccl. Triumph II. 12. can find only two Texts of the New Testament Mat. 5. 33. Swear neither by Heaven for it is Gods Throne nor by Earth for it is his Footstool and 2 Tim. iii. 15. From a Child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures Of Purgatory Baconthorp in sent 1. 4. dist 49. q. 1. saith Others think it cannot be proved by the Authority of Scripture Petrus à Soto saith It cannot be plainly proved from testimonies of Scripture Chemnit Exam. Conc. Trid. Sess. 25. beginning Perion saith he knows no place of Scripture to prove it Bulenger saith It is hard to bring any express and clear Text for it Chamier Panstr Tom. III. l. 26. c. 2. §. 3. For Indulgences St. Antonin Summ. Moral part 1. Tit. 10. c. 3. beginning Of Indulgences we have nothing expresly from Scripture nor from the sayings of the Antients but of the late Doctors Cajetan opusc Tom. I. tract 15. c. 1. Of the Rise of them no Authority of Scripture or Antient Doctors Greek or Latin have brought this to our knowledg only within these three hundred years it hath been written c. Bishop Fisher Assert Luther Confutatio Art 18. p. 135. grants there is neither Precept nor Counsel for it in Scripture a As that What we receive in the Sacrament is Bread in it's own nature and essence and that it nourisheth our Body c. That wicked men receive no other but Bread though to the Faithful it is truly Christ's Body and therefore it is called his Body That it is a Sacrament a Sign an Image and
known in all Countrys where the Scripture was written And they writ it for every one to read as it appears in plain words in their writings And the Ancient Fathers required all men to read it all the Laity even the meanest of the Laity they Condemned the neglect of it they commended them that read it day and night There is nothing more frequent in the writings of the Ancient Fathers Yet now it is found out that the Laity may hurt themselves with reading it How so It will make them Hereitics One would little expect it that had read what the Fathers say of this matter But now it is Heresie to disbelieve the Roman Church And no doubt to read the Scripture will bring men to this But whose fault is it Surely theirs that instead of reforming their Church have rather chosen to silence the Scriptures Which being done in favour of their Doctrines it appears that they themselves I mean the governours of their Church have been sensible that some at least of their Doctrines are not the Doctrines of the Apostles In the next place for the Apostles Fellowship which I have interpreted to be Union under lawful Pastors and Governors They can by no means allow this Character to our Church or to any that submits not to their Universal Pastor Which title they appropriate to the Bishop of Rome and him they swear in their forementioned profession of Faith to be the Vicar of Christ and the successor of St. Peter the Apostle And to shew how far they dare go against evidence they swear also that his Roman Church is not only Mistress but also the Mother of all Churches Not to say in how many things he that will be Supream Pastor invades the just rights of other Pastors who are all in the judgment of Primitive times the Successors of the Apostles of Christ Or how little he hath to shew for his claim to a succession in that Power from St. Peter either in Scripture Story or in the writings of the Primitive Church I shall only desire you to consider these beginnings of Christianity in my Text. When the whole Church was comprehended in three or four thousand believers and they were all together with the Apostles at this time in Ierusalem It is certain that then there was no Bishop nor no Christian at Rome So that then for the Bishop or Church of Rome to be any thing which they swear they are in those Articles of their Faith was surely no part of the Apostles Doctrine Nor did the Fellowship of the Apostles consist in subjection to St. Peter Though he was the first in Order yet that he had Authority over the rest there is no ground to assert There is much evidence against it as I have shewn from sundry places of Scripture Nor granting this to St. Peter which they can never prove can they bring down a title from him to the Roman Bishop He hath a better pretence to succeed the Roman Emperors in Monarchy than he hath to succeed any of the Apostles And indeed that was the design as they know that are skild in the writers of antient times Rome seemed a place designd for Empire and when the Emperors faild then the Bishops set up in their stead What the Emperors could not hold by Arms the Bishops would fetch in by Religion And so they obtrude upon all Christians in truth a Secular Monarchy instead of that which my Text calls the Fellowship of the Apostles Thirdly for the two Sacraments of the Apostles they tell us of seven which were instituted by our Lord Iesus Christ. In this Chapter we read of Baptism p. 41. and we read of breaking of Bread in my Text. Here are two but where are the other five They were not thought of at that time for ought that appears to us in Scripture Nay it doth not appear in a thousand years after It was eleven hundred years after when Peter Lombard wrote his Book of the Sentences before which they cannot find the least mention of that number of Sacraments But to speak of no more than that mentioned in my Text. Where is the breaking of bread As they receive it in the Roman Church there is neither breaking nor bread in their Sacrament Where is the Communion of Christs Body and Blood Their daily Worship is the Mass. But their Mass is no Communion The Priest only Consecrates and eats while all the people stand by and adore Was there ever such a thing heard of in the Primitive times In those times none were suffered to be present but only such as received And if any were present they were punishable if they did not receive What could they have thought of such a Sacrament as is now the daily Worship of the Roman Church Sure enough in the Apostles Church as oft as they met to Worship God they All did eat of that one bread 1 Cor. x. 17. And they All were made to drink into one Spirit 1 Cor. xii 13. And whereas of this last our Saviour having said to his Disciples who were then Lay-men Drink ye all of it St. Mark takes particular notice that they all drank of it which practice we see was followed in the Apostolic Church The Roman Church will let her Laity drink none of it None of the Cup of blessing which we bless But the Cup of Unblessed Wine the Ablution as they call it A trick which they brought up in those corrupt ignorant times I know not why if not on purpose to deceive the people that they may not miss the Wine though they have none of the Blessing So far they are removed from the Original Church in her Sacraments Lastly for the Worship of God here called the Apostles Prayers There are many things in the Roman Church whereof some were forbidden by the Apostles and others cannot consist with their Doctrine The chief part of her Worship is the Sacrifice of the Mass and that is declared in the Creed before-mentioned to be a true proper propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead This horrible affront of Christs Sacrifice and abuse of his Sacrament together was brought in upon the back of that Doctrine of the Corporeal Presence When according to that Doctrine the Priest hath made Christ Next he is to kill him or do somthing as bad for they pretend to sacrifice him to God How this is done the Divines of that Church are not yet agreed It were well if at least they could tell Why they do it For they had need for such a Sacrifice to have a clear Institution from God But they cannot pretend to that There is nothing clearly for it in all the Texts that they bring out of Scripture This they were told aloud at the Council of Trent and others since have acknowledged it They
â— Though Daniels fourth Monarchy that is the Civil Empire of the Romans hath now ceased yet the world is not at an end because that Temporal Empire hath been changed into a Spiritual as Pope Leo saith in his Sermon of the Apostles c What the Popes would have had it may appear by their forging a donation from Constantin in which they make him give them his Crown and Scepter together with the City of Rome and all the Western Provinces Places and Cities And that he might leave the Pope in possession they make him remove into the East and there build a new Seat for his Empire reserving only the honor to put on the Popes Crown and hold his stirrup to himself and his Successors Concil Edit Merlini 1530. fol. 58. A. B. This donation was a part of the Acts of S. Sylvester which were forged in the eighth Century and that probably by Pope Adrian I. for he first quoted them And he may justly be suspected to be the Author of that body of Law which under the name of St. Isidors Collection was generally received within a hundred years after and which obtains to this day in the Roman Church though the learned men among them are convinced and own that it is an errant heap of Corruption and Forgery a 1 Cor. x. 2 3 4. and xii 13. S. Paul mentions only Baptism and the Lords Supper b Bellarm. de Sacram. II. Cap. 24. endeavours to shew that each of the five has been called a Sacrament by one or other of the Fathers and the like he might have shewn of twenty things more But he could not produce one Father that either said there were seven Sacraments of Christs Instituting or that spoke of all these as being such or of so many as would make up that Number Only he says Cap. 25. The Master of the Sentences and all Divines since his time have delivered that there are seven Sacraments And adds if this be false the whole Church for four hundred years must have erred most perniciously He might have said the whole Roman Church and we should not much have differed about it a The invention of the Wafer came in after the Doctrin of Transubstantiation Cassandri Liturgic c. 27. It was then of use For the Senses have less to do about a Wafer than about Bread b 1 Cor. x. 16. c Verse xvii For we being many are one bread and one body For we are all partakers c. If that be a good reason then they which are not partakers have not that Communion So t is inferred by the twelfth Council of Toledo Can. 5. That they who do not eat are not partakers of the Altar Concil Ed. Lab. Tom. VI. 1230. B. d Justin M. Apol. 11. p. 97. E. They give to Every one that is present to receive of that which is Consecrated So. p. 98. E. The giving and receiving of the Consecrated things is to Every one Apost Constit. VIII 13. Concil Ed. Labb Tom. I. 483. E. The Bishop receives and then the Priests c. and then All the people in order Again 485. A. Let the thirty third Psalm be said while all the rest are receiving and when all the men and all the women have received Let the Deacons take what is left c. The same may be observed in all the Antient Liturgies Chrysost. in Ephes. Serm. 3. Tom. III. 778. 26. Ye hear Proclamation made As many as are in Penance be gone As many as do not Receive are in Penance Ib. p. 779. 3. How is it that you tarry and do not partake of the Table You are Vnworthy you say then you are so of Communiâ—n in Prayer Your Eyes are unworthy of these sights and your Ears are unworthy c. Ib. Line 13. It is no more lawful for you to be here than for one that is not Christned d Justin M. Apol. 11. p. 97. E. They give to Every one that is present to receive of that which is Consecrated So. p. 98. E. The giving and receiving of the Consecrated things is to Every one Apost Constit. VIII 13. Concil Ed. Labb Tom. I. 483. E. The Bishop receives and then the Priests c. and then All the people in order Again 485. A. Let the thirty third Psalm be said while all the rest are receiving and when all the men and all the women have received Let the Deacons take what is left c. The same may be observed in all the Antient Liturgies Chrysost. in Ephes. Serm. 3. Tom. III. 778. 26. Ye hear Proclamation made As many as are in Penance be gone As many as do not Receive are in Penance Ib. p. 779. 3. How is it that you tarry and do not partake of the Table You are Vnworthy you say then you are so of Communiâ—n in Prayer Your Eyes are unworthy of these sights and your Ears are unworthy c. Ib. Line 13. It is no more lawful for you to be here than for one that is not Christned e Apostol Can. 9. Repeted and explained by the Council of Antioch Can. 2. Concil Edit Labb Tom. II. p. 561. D. That all that come to Church and hear the Holy Scriptures but do not join in Prayer with the People or decline the Receiving of the Eucharist therein doing disorderly these must be cast out of the Church by Excommunication Greg. I. Dialog II. c. 23. At Mass according to the Custom the Deacon cried If any one do not Receive let him give place Gratian. Decret de Consecr dist 1. c. 59. And more at large Dist. 2. c. 10. Peracta After the Consecration let all Receive that will not be put out of the Church For so it was Ordained by the Apostles and is held by the Holy Roman Church On which words the Gloss tells us Thus it was Antiently but now every one is left to do as he pleases f Bellarm. de Missa II. c. 9. Tertia saith We read no where expresly that the Antients offered the Sacrifice without the Communion of some one or more beside the Priest Yet we may easily gather it by Conjectures His first Conjecture is from a Canon of the Council of Nantes which is not to be found but in Ivo after the year 1100. His second is from that Canon which teaches plainly the contrary and which therefore I quoted in Note c The rest are such weak colors for the justifying of this practice that he might better have only gone about to excuse it as he does Cap. 10. Septima by saying That new oftentimes the Priest alone eats the Sacrifice It is no fault of the Priests or the nature of the Sacrifice but the negligence of the People But he seems to have forgot that at some Masses the Church does not require the presence of the People a Matth. xxvi 27. b Mar. xiv 23. c 1 Cor. x. 21. Ye drink the Cup of the Lord and xi 26 27 28. Ye eat this bread and drink this Cup and