a Figure of his Body Which last words were in the Canon of the Mass till it was altered in favour to this new Opinion v. Gratian Decr. de Consecr Dist. 2. c. 55. b Rabanus in his Canonical Epistle published by Baluz with his Regino p. 517. hath these words Some of late not holding aright of the Sacrament have said that the Body of Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary c. is the same which is received at the Altar Against which Error we have written to Egilus Abbas But that Book is lost and in this as Baluz shews those last words were rased out of the Manuscript c Bertramus or Ratrannus Corbeiensis in his Book written against it by order of Carolus Calvus and transcribed in great part into our Saxon Homily Which Book is mentioned as his by the nameless writer in defence of Paschasius and by Sigebert de Script Eccl. c. 96. Iohannes Scotus Professor at Oxford in King Alfrid's time in his Book against it that was burnt 200 years after when this Innovation had prevailed But none of these Books were censured in that Age when they were written d Anno 1059. The Pope and his Roman Council put these words into the mouth of Berengar that not the Sacrament but the very body of Christ is broken and ground by the Teeth of the Faithful Which the Glosse there saith was a greater Heresie then Berengar's unless their words be taken in a sound sense that is otherwise than they signifie Decr. de Consecr dist 2. c. 42. Ego Berengarius a About the year 1150 the Master of the Sentences l. 4. dist 11. saith Whether the change be Formal or Substantial or of some other kind I am not able to define Only I know it is not Formal But Anno 1215. Pope Innocet defined it to be of no other kind but Substantial Conc. Lateran IV. c. 1. b Of secret sins no Confession is necessary but to God only Chrysost. Edit Savil. Tom. I. p. 708. 11. IV. p. 589. 40. V. p. 258. 6. p. 262. 44. c Gratian. Decret de Poenit. Dist. 1. c. 89. Quibus Autoritatibus having brought Arguments for and against it thus Concludes Which side is in the right I leave the Reader to judge for on both sides there are wise and Religious men The Master of the Sentences lib. 4. dist 17. Though himself was for Confession yet saith Learned men differ about it for so the Doctors seem to vary and deliver things near contrary to one another about it So that yet it was disputable in those times d Conc. Lateran IV. Can. 21. e Gloss. in Decr. de poenit Dist 1. c. 37. Allii è contr saith Here follow Allegations to prove that one of Age is not forgiven sin without Confession Which is false a Conc. Trident. Sess. 14. Can. 6 7 8. After which in the Roman Edition of the Canon Law there were notes put upon those places above-mentioned Where Gratian doubted whether Confession were necessary they say It is most certain and to be held for most certain that Confession is necessary And where Semeca had said It is false they say Nay it is most true b The Second Commandment which forbids bowing down defore any Image or Likeness though it does not appear in the Roman Decalogue was held by the Fathers to be a Law of Perpetual Obligation So Irenaeus adv Heres l. II. c. 6. l. IV. c. 31. Clemens Alex. Admon ad Gentes Edit Leyd 1616. p. 31. 12. Strom. V. Ib. p. 408. 22. Tertull. de Idololatria c. 4. p. 105. D. Idem adv Marcion l. II. c. 22. p. 470. A. B. Idem in Scorpiac c. 2. p. 617. C. D. Cyprian de Exhort Mart. p. 283. Idem in Testim ad Quirinum l. III. c. 59. p. 345. Augustin Epist. 119. c. 11. Tom. II. col 569. A. c The English and French and Germans of that Age called it Pseudosynodum the Mock-Synod of Nice or rather of Constantinople because it began and ended in that City Concil Edit Labb Tom. VII p. 37. D. 592. B. Hincmar Opusc. 33. c. 20. Edit Sirmondi Tom. II. p. 457. Ado Vienn aet VI. Edit Paris 1512. fol. 181. Annal. Fuld V. opera Alcuini in fine d Of which there is nothing left but what is repeated out of it in the second Nicen Council Act. 6. Edit Labb Tom. VII col 392. E. e Ib. col 1057. E. a Baron Anno 843. num 16. saith Till that year the Nicen Council had not prevailed in the Eastern Church b Witness the Book of Charles the Great and that of the Synod of Paris under Ludovicus Pius and that of Agobard Bishop of Lions against the Worship of Images as it was then in the Roman Church c For their Carved Images of Saints Goar in Eucholog p. 28. saith The Greeks abhor Carved Images as Idols of which they do not stick to sing in Davids words They have mouths and speak not And for picturing God the second Nicen Council condemns it by approving the Epistle of St. German which calleth the Image of God an Idol Concil Edit Labb Tom. VII col 301. E. and 304. A. d Lud. Vives in his notes on Aug. de Civitate Dei l. VIII c. 27. Tom. V. col 494. B. saith In many Catholics I do not see what difference there is between their opinion of the Saints and the Heathens opinion of their Gods Polydor. Virg. de Invent. l. VI. c. 13. saith Men are come to that pitch of madness that this part of Piety differeth little from Impiety For very many trust more in their Images then in Christ or the Saints to whom they are dedicated The like complaints have many other of their Writers Bellarmin de cultu Imag. II. 22. Edit Venet. Tom. 1599 II. col 836. E. saith That they who hold that some Images are to be worshipped with Latria are forced to use most subtle distinctions which they themselves scarce understand much less the ignorant People And yet this which he so censures is the constant judgment of Divines and seems to be the meaning of the Council of Trent saith Azorius Institut Moral l. 9. c. 6. a Some held that all go immediately after Death to Heaven or Hell Others that none go to either but that all are kept in secret Receptacles till the general Resurrection Some that the Martyrs go to Heaven and the Damned Souls to Hell but all the rest are kept there in expectation and suspense till the Day of Iudgment Some held that there shall be a first Resurrection of the Righteous of whom some shall rise sooner some later in the thousand years of Christs Reign upon Earth And that the delay of that Resurrection shall be the Punishment of their Sins Others held that their sins shall be purged away by that fire that shall burn the World at the last Day And that they shall burn a longer or less while and with more or less
A SERMON Preached before the KING AT WHITE-HALL The 24 th of Novemb. 1678. BY WILLIAM LLOYD D. D. Dean of Bangor And Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty Published by His Majesties Command LONDON Printed by M. C. for Henry Brome at the Gun at the West-End of St. Pauls 1678. A SERMON ON ACTS ii 42. And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrin and Fellowship and in Breaking of Bread and in Prayer THey of whom this is said were that Multitude of People whom the Apostles first converted to the Christian Faith All together in one word they are called the Church in the last verse of this Chapter Which being observed it will soon appear what we are to learn from these words They teach us First What the Church of Christ was in the Apostles days Secondly What Church is now a true Member or Branch of it Thirdly That having such a Church it is our duty to continue in it Accordingly in my discourse on these words I shall endeavour to shew you First a description of that Original Church by all it's Tokens and Characters which are described in my Text to have been First the Apostles Doctrin Secondly their Fellowship Thirdly their Sacraments Breaking of Bread Fourthly their Worship of God and Prayers Secondâ—y I shall consider what Church in our days hath those Characters of the Original Church I shall shew they are very confused in that Church which will own them in no other They are through Gods blessing in great Purity and Perfection in our Church Lastly I shall shew that it is the Duty of every Christian to continue stedfastly first in the Church that hath these Characters and secondly in these things that are the Characters of the Church and thirdly to live sutably to them in his whole Conversation First beâ—â—re I speak of the Characters of a true Church I ought to shew in few words what it is that is to be known by them The Church Ecclesia among Christians in the largest use of the word is the whole Multitude of Believers joyned together in one Body or Society under one Head Iesus Christ. In the Nicene Creed it is called the Catholic Apostolic Church Apostolic because it was planted at first by the Apostles and still retains the Characters of their Original Church Catholic that is Universal for that is the plainer English word because it is made up of all those Particular Churches of which every one hath these Characters in my Text and is therefore a true part of the Catholic or Universal For the word Catholic as fond of it as they are now in the Roman Church If any Christian of Rome for some ages after Christ had heard any one say I am a Catholic he would not have been able to have guest what Religion he had meant But when the Greeks had used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their language First to distinguish the Christian Church as extending to all Nations from the Jewish which was confined to one Nation in particular Afterwards to distinguish the Common Christianity which was in all parts of the World from that of a Sect which sprang up in some particular Country After this the word Catholic was taken up by them of the Roman Church And in process of time they came to distinguish themselves by it from the Greeks and from those of the other Eastern Churches that first used it It could not but seem very strange to the Greeks to see them of the Roman Church whose Communion extended no farther at that time than only to the West part of Europe that they should call the Roman Church the Catholic or Universal in Opposition to the Greeks and to all other Christians that then possest not only all the rest of this Europe but all that was Christian in Afric and Asia besides But this is not strange to any one that considers how natural it is for men of any Sect to make a great Business about Words As they are apt to bestow the worst words they can find upon their Adversaries so with the same Partiality they are ready to appropriate the good ones to themselves Thus the Jews will have none but themselves to be the children of Abraham The Turks will have none but themselves to be called Musulmans Believers The Arrian Heretics in their Day would allow none but themselves to be Catholics If they of the Roman Communion will be the only Catholics now who can help it But we shall not allow it them till they can prove all other Christians to be Schismatics and us in particular Which will be tried in the issue of this Discourse The mean while to give the word its Original use the Catholic Church as I have shewn signifies the Universal And by the Universal Church we mean that which from this Head in my Text came to disperse it self into all parts of the inhabited World The Original of this Church Universal was that Church which the Apostles planted first at Ierusalem Therein following the Command of our Saviour who bade them Go preach to all Nations beginning at Ierusalem The Body of this Universal Church consists of all those whether National or Less that are called Particular Churches Which were either derived from that Original Church in that age such as were those seven Churches of Asia and the rest which are mentioned in Scripture or that have been deriâ—ed from thâ—m by any after Conversion in whatsoever Country or Age. These Particular Churches are many as the parts of the Body are many And as all those parts together are one Body so all these Particular Churches make up one Universal One I say in both respects both as being derived from one source that Original Church at Ierusalem And also One as being united together in those Common Characters by which that Original Church is described in this Text. Those Characters are four which I come now to consider particularly The Apostles Doctrin and Fellowship and Sacraments and Prayers The first is the Apostles Doctrin the Doctrin of Faith and not the Inward Belief but the Outward Profession of it The Inward Belief is required to make us true Christians but the Outward Profession makes us Members of a true Church And as it can be no true Church that has not a Public Profession of the Apostles Doctrin so it can be no sound Church that embraces any other for the Doctrin of Faith then what was received from the Apostles Now their Doctrin at this time referred to in my Text was no other than what they preached as the Faith of Iesus Christ. But considering how long ago it was that they preached how many ages have past since and especially what ages they have been many ages together of Darkness and gross Ignorance as they cannot but know that are any thing acquainted with History I say after so many extreme ignorant Ages it is impossible we should have known what was preached by the
Apostles unless it had been also delivered in writing and unless those writings had been brought down to our Hands And blessed be God! there was such a Delivery in the Books of the New Testament In which Books the Apostles bearing witness as they do to the Scriptures of the Old Testament that they were Written by Divine Inspiration and that they are able to make us wise to Salvation through Faith in Iesus Christ and delivering the Faith in Iesus Christ as they do in their own writings to the end that all men may believe on him to Eternal life Therefore in these Books of the Old and New Testament together we have a Standard of the Apostles Doctrine and we have not the like for any other than what is written in these Books Here is all that we can surely call the Doctrine of the Apostles unless we know more than the Fathers of the Primitive Church They through whose hands this Doctrine must pass before it could come into ours knew nothing but what they had in the Scriptures This was constantly their Standard and Rule of all things in the words of St. Chrysostom Who says again All things that are necessary are plain and manifest in the Scriptures So St. Austin says All things that belong to Faith or Life are to be found in plain places of Scripture St. Basil saith Believe those things that are written inquire not into things that are not written St. Ierom Non credimus quia non legimus we believe no more than we â—ead In like manner say many other of the Fathers And though they did sometimes quote the Apostles Traditions for Ritual things yet in matters of Faith if they prove any thing from Tradition it is either the Written Tradition of Scripture of if Unwritten 't is no other than the Creed as it were easie to shew in many Instances And withal they believed there was nothing in the Creed but what they could prove from the Scriptures and they did prove it from the Scriptures upon occasion in every Particular So that in their Judgment it is not only a sufficient but the only Measure of the Doctrin of the Apostles And by this we may judg as to matter of Doctrin who are and who are not Members of the Apostolical Church The next Character is this that they continued in the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Fellowship a word that has diverse senses in Scripture In this place it seems to be the same as Society They were in the Apostles Society or Communion Now to continue in their Society considering what they were men deputed by Christ for the Government of his Church it could be no other than to continue as Members of that Body which Christ put under their Government But how can any be so now they being dead so many Ages since and their Government so long since expired with them No their Government is not expired though they are For it was to continue till the end of the World So that according to the common saying among the Jews Whosoever one sends being as himself So our Saviour having sent the Apostles saith Whosoever receives you receives me In like manner whosoever were sent by the Apostles were as themselves And whosoever continued in their Fellowship were in the Fellowship of the Apostles Now their Government is declared to have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Bishopric And in this Office they were equal among themselves as our Saviour describes them sitting on twelve Thrones and judging the twelve Tribes of Israel It is observable that this was after his Promise to St. Peter Mat. xvi 16 c. Which Promise I consider by the way because 't is so much pressed by the Romanists to prove a Power which Christ had given St. Peter over the rest of the Apostles If Christ had truly given it we must then have considered whether St. Peter left any Successors in that Power And if so why not St. Iohn the Apostle by Survivance why not the Bishop of the undoubted Mother-Church at Ierusalem Why not the Bishop of some other City where the Scripture has assured us that St. Peter Preacht rather than of Rome where if he did preach we have not a word of it in Scripture These and sundry more such Questions would have risen upon that Hypothesis of such a Power given to S. Peter But it is out of Question that the Apostles never so understood those words of Christ. They knew of no Power that was promised to St. Peter more than to themselves in that Text. For after this they were at strife among themselves who should be chief After this they disputed it again and again and Christ chid them every time but never told them I have promised it to Peter Nay it appears that Christ did not intend it by his open Declarations to the contrary That it should not be among them as in Secular Kingdoms and Monarchies It appears more plainly in the fulfilling of his Promise For he both ordained the rest with S. Peter without any Difference And when they all together had received the Holy Ghost in this Chapter St. Peter stood up with the eleven ver 14. And upon him and them Christ built his Church even all these who continued not only in his but in the Fellowship of all the Apostles Now if all the Apostles were equal in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Government then it is certain that their Successors must be so in like manner Though one must have Precedence before other for Order's sake as St. Peter had usually among the Apostles when they were together And though one may be above others in the same National Church as all Primats are by Human Laws Yet none by the Law of God hath Authority over others I say none among their Successors any more than among the Apostles themselves So St. Cyprian declares oftentimes in his Writings Not to mention the like as I might from many other of the Fathers Now the Bishops in after times in their several Churches were undoubtedly held to be the Successors of the Apostles We have as great a consent among the Antients for this as we have for the Observation of the Lord's Day And it is evident from the Primitive Writers that they lookt upon Communion with their Bishops as Communion with the very Apostles They held it the Duty of every Christian to obey them in Spiritual things They held it the Duty of every Bishop to govern and feed his own Flock To attend to that only and not to usurp upon his Brethren But all as occasion served to do all good Offices one for another and to join their endeavours for the common Concernments of the Church And for them so to govern the Church and for the People to live under their Government in Spiritual things This was to