we despise not the vniuersall cōsent or traditiō of the Church in this case which though it do not perswade the consciēce yet is it a notable inducement to mooue vs to reuerence regard the writings of the Prophets and Apostles It will be said where is it written that scripture is scripture I answer not in any one particular place or booke of scripture but in euery line and page of the whole Bible to him that can read with the spirit of discerning and can discerne the voice of the true pastour as the sheep of Christ can doe Obiect III. Some books of the canon of the Scripture are lost as the booke of the warres of God Num. 21.14 the booke of the iust Iosua 10.13 the bookes of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Iuda 1. King 14.19 the bookes of certaine prophets Nathan God Iddo Ahiah and Semiah and therefore the matter of these bookes must come to vs by tradition Answ. Though it bee granted that some bookes of Canonicall scripture be lost yet the scripture stil remaines sufficient because the matter of those bookes so farreforth as it was necessarie to saluation is contained in these bookes of Scripture that are now extant Againe I take it to be a truth though some thinke otherwise that no part of the Canon is lost for Paul saith Whatsoeuer things were written aforetime were written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures c. Rom. 15.4 Where he takes it for graunted that the whole Canon of holy scripture was then extant For if he had thought that some books of scripture had beene lost he would haue said whatsoeuer was written and is now extant was written for our learning and comfort For bookes that are lost serue neither for learning nor comfort Againe to hold that any bookes of scripture should be lost calls into question Gods prouidence and the fidelitie of the Church who hath the bookes of God in keeping and is therefore called the pillar and ground of trueth And touching the bookes before mentioned I answer thus The booke of the warres of God Num. 21. 14. might be some short bill or narration of things done among the Israelites which in the daies of Moses went from hand to hand For sometime a booke in Scripture signifieth a roule or catalogue as the first chapter of Mathew which containeth the genealogie of our Sauiour Christ is called the booke of the generation of Iesus Christ. Againe the booke of the iust and the bookes of Chronicles which are said to be lost were but as the Chronicles of England are with vs euen politicke records of the acts and euents of things in the kingdome of Iuda and Israel out of which the Prophets gathered things necessarie to bee knowne and placed them in holy scripture As for the bookes of Iddo Ahiah Semiah Gad and Nathan they were contained in the books of the Kings and Chronicles and in the bookes of Samuel which were not written by him alone but by sundry prophets 1. Chr. 29.29 as also was the booke of Iudges As for the bookes of Salomon which are lost they did not concerne religion and matters of saluation but were concerning matters of philosophy and such like things Obiect IV. Moses in Mount Sina beside the written lawe receiued from God a more secret doctrine which he neuer writ but deliuered by tradition or word of mouth to the Prophets after him and this the Iewes haue now set downe in their Cabala Ans. This indeede is the opinion of some of the Iewes whome in effect and substance sundrie Papists follow but wee take it for no better then a Iewish dotage For if Moses had known any secret doctrine beside the written law he would neuer haue giuen this commandement of the said lawe thou shalt not adde any thing thereto Obiect V. Heb. 5. 12. Gods word is of two sorts milke and strong meate By milke we must vnderstand the worde of God written wherein God speakes plainely to the capacitie of the rudest but strong meate is vnwritten traditiōs a doctrine not to be deliuered vnto all but to those that growe to perfection Ans. We must know that one and the same word of God is milke and strong meat in regard of the manner of handling and propounding of it For beeing deliuered generally and plainely to capacitie of the simplest it is milke but being handled particularly and largely and so fitted for men of more vnderstāding it is strong meate As for example the doctrine of the creation of mans fal and redemption by Christ when it is taught ouerly and plainly it is milke but when the depth of the same is throughly opened it is strong meate And therefore it is a conceit of mans braine to imagine that some vnwritten word is meant by strong meat Obiect VI. Sundrie places of scripture be doubtfull and euery religion hath his seuerall exposition of them as the Papists haue theirs and the Protestants theirs Now then seeing there can bee but one trueth when question is of the interpretation of Scripture recourse must bee had to the tradition of the Church that the true sense may be determined and the question ended Ans. It is not so but in doubtfull places scripture it selfe is sufficient to declare his owne meaning first by the analogie of faith which is the summe of religion gathered out of the clearest places of scripture secondly by the circumstances of the place and the nature and signification of the words thirdly by conference of place with place By these and like helps contained in scripture we may iudge which is the truest meaning of any place Scripture it selfe is the text and the best glosse And the scripture is falsely tearmed the matter of strife it being not so of it selfe but by the abuse of man And thus much for our dissent concerning traditions wherein we must not bee wauering but steadfast because notwithstanding our renouncing of poperie yet popish inclinations and dispositions be rife among vs. Our cōmon people marueilously affect humane traditions yea mans nature is inclined more to be pleased with them then with the word of God The feast of the natiuitie of our Sauiour Christ is onely a custome and tradition of the Church and yet men are commonly more carefull to keepe it then the Lords daie the keeping whereof standes by the morall lawe Positiue lawes are not sufficient to restraine vs from buying and selling on the Sabboth yet within the twelue daies no man keepes market Againe see the trueth of this in our affection to the ministerie of the worde let the preacher alleadge Peter and Paul the people count it but common sluffe such as any man can bring but let men come and alleadge Ambrose Austine and the rest of the fathers oh he is the man he is alone for them Againe let any man be in danger any way and straight he sendeth to the wise man or wizzard Gods word is not
commaundement we are taught what opinion to carrie of the present church of Rome It is often demaunded whether it be a church or no and the answer may hence be formed on this manner If by this church be vnderstood a state or regiment of the people whereof the Pope is head and the members are all such as doe acknowledge him to be their head and doe beleeue the doctrine established in the Councell of Trent we take it to be no church of God Because Babylon which I haue prooued to be the church of Rome is here opposed to the church or people of God and because we are commanded to come out of it whereas we may not wholly forsake any people till they forsake Christ. Some will happily say the church of Rome hath the Scriptures and the Sacrament of baptisme I answer first of all they haue indeede the bookes of holy Scripture among them but by the rest of their doctrine they ouerthrow the true sense thereof in the foundation as I haue prooued before And though they haue the outward forme of baptisme yet they ouerturne the inward baptisme which is the substance of all standing in the iustification and sanctification of a sinner Againe I answer that they haue the word and baptisme not for themselues but for the true church of God among them like as the lanterne holdeth the candle not for it selfe but for others Secondly it may be and is alleadged that if the Pope be Antichrist he then sittes in the temple that is the church of God and by this meanes the Romane church shall be the true church Ans. He sittes in the temple of God but marke further how as God that is not as a member but as a manifest vsurper like as the theefe sittes in the true mans house For the popish church and Gods church are mingled like chaffe and corne in one heape and the church of Rome may be saide to be in the church of God and the church of God in the church of Rome as we say the wheat is among the chaffe and the chaffe in the wheat Againe he is said to sit in the temple of God because the Romane church though falsly takes vnto it selfe the title of the true catholike church Some goe about to delay and qualifie the matter by comparing this church to a man lying sicke full of â—oares hauing also his throat cut yet so as bodie and soule are ioyned together and life is remaining still But all things well considered it is rather like a dead carkasse and is void of all spirituall life as the popish errours in the foundation doe manifest Indeede a knowne harlot may afterward remaine a wife and be so tearmed yet after the bill of diuorcement is giuen shee ceaseth to be a wife though shee can shew her marriage ring now the church hath receiued the bill of her diuorcement in the written word namely 2. Thess. 2. and Reu. 13.11,12 c. Furthermore in this commandement we may see a liuely portraiture of the state of all mankind Here we see two sorts of men some are pertaining to Babylon a people running on to their destruction some againe are a people of God seuered from Babylon and reserued to life euerlasting If any aske the cause of this distinction I answer it is the very will of God vouchsafing mercy to some forsaking others by withdrawing his mercy from them for the better declaration of his iustice Thus saith the Lord Rom. 11.4 I haue reserued seuen thousand that neuer bowed the knee to Baal the prophet Esai saith Vnles the Lord had reserued a remnant we had bin as Sodome and Gomorrha By this distinction we are taught aboue al things to seeke to be of the number of Gods people and to labour for assurance of this in our owne consciences For if all should be saued lesse care would snffice but this mercie is not common to all and therefore the more to be thought vpon Lastly here I notâ— the speciall care that God hath ouer his own children He first giueth theÌ„ warning to depart before he begin to execute his iudgement vpon his enemies with whome they liue that they might not be partakers of their sinnes or punishments Thus before God would punish Hierusalem an angel is sent to marke them in the forehead that mourned for the abominatious of the people And in the destructioÌ„ of the first borne of Egypt the angel passed ouer the houses of the Iewes that had their posts sprinkled with the blood of the paschal lamb this passing ouer betokeneth safety preseruation in the coÌ„mon destruction to those that haue their hearts sprinkled with the blood of Christ. This blessing of protectioÌ„ should mooue vs all to become true hearty seruants of God Men vsually become members of those societies corporations where they may inioy many freedoÌ„es priuiledgesâ— Wel behold in the societie of the Saints of god which is the true Church there is the freedom from danger in all coÌ„mon destructions from eternall vengeance at the last day When Hester had procured safetie for the Iewes and libertie to reuenge themselues vpon their enemies it is said that many of the people of the land became Iewes EueÌ„ so considering Christ hath procured freedom froÌ„ hell death and damnation for all that beleeue in him we should labour aboue all things to becom new creatures ioyning our selues alwaies to the true church of God Hitherto I haue spoken of the commandement now followeth the reason thereof drawne from the end that they be not partakers of her sins and that they receiue not of her plagues Here I might stand long to shew what be the sins of the church of Rome but I wil only name the principal The first sin is Atheisme and that I prooue on this manner Atheisme is twofold open coloured Open Atheisme is when men both in word and deed denie God and his word Coloured Atheisme is not so manifest and it hath two degrees The first is when men acknowledge God the creator and gouernour of heauen and earth and yet deny the father sonne and holy Ghost Thus the EphesiaÌ„s before they receiued the gospell are said to bee without God whome in their naturall iudgement they acknowledged because they denied Christ and coÌ„sequently worshipped an idol of their owne braine in that they worshipped God out of Christ. And in this respect though the Samaritans worshipped the God of Abraham yet our Sauiour Christ saith they worshipped they knewe not what And the Psalmist saith of all the Gentiles that their Gods are Idols In this degree of Atheisme are placed Turkes and Iewes at this day the Anti-Trinitaries and Arians and all that conceiue and worship God out of the Trinitie The 2. degree is wheÌ„ men do rightly acknowledge the vnitie of the godhead in the Trinitie of persons yet so as by other necessarie consequents partly of their doctrine and partly of the seruice of
before was not at all but rather by moouing transporting and applying natural things diuersly by causing a thinne body as the ayre to be thick and foggie also by bewitching the senses of men The foundation of Magique is a couenant with Satan A couenant with Satan is such a contract by which Magitians haue mutually to doe with the diuell In this obserue The originall of this mutuall contract I. Satan maketh choice of such men to be his seruants as are by nature either notorious badde persons or very sillie soules II. He offereth vnto them diuers meanes either by other Magitians or by some bookes written by such Satanicall meanes I call those which are vsed in the producing of such an effect to the which they neither by any expresse rule out of Gods word nor of their owne nature were euer ordained Such are concealed speeches wordes of the Scripture wrested and abused to the great contumelie and disgrace of the Lord God holy or rather vnholy water sieues seales glasses images bowings of the knee and such like diuers gestures III. When the wicked see these meanes offered vnto them they presently are not a little glad and assuredly beleeue that in those things there is vertue to worke wonders by IV. They declare this their satanicall confidence by their earnest desire practising and abusing the meanes V. Then the diuell is at their elbowes being thus affected that he may both assist them in them shew diuers trickes of his legerdemaine because he alone doth by meanes voide of all such vertue effect that which his wicked instrument intended Againe obserue Satans counterfeiting of God He is Gods Ape taketh vpon him as though he were God I. As God hath his word his Sacraments and faith due vnto hâ—mâ— so hath the diuell his Word and to seale it vnto the wicked he annexeth certaine signes namely characters gestures sacrifices c. as it were sacraments that both he may signfie his diuellish pleasure to his Magitians and they againe may testifie their satanicall both obedience and confidence to him IIâ— As God heareth such as call vpon trust in and obey him so the diuell is greatly delighted with magicall ceremonies and invocations because by them God is dishonoured and he magnified therefore if God cut him not short he is readie prest to assist such as shall vse such ceremonies or inuocations The couenant is either Secret or Expresse Secret or implicite when one doth not expresly compact with Satan yet in his heart aloweth of his meanes assuredly and vpon knowledge beleeuing that if such means were vsed there might indeed that great woÌ„der be wrought which he desired Expresse when one doth not onely put his confidence in Satan but couenanteth with him vpon conditions that he giuing himselfe wholly ouer to the diuell may againe by obseruing certaine ceremonies accomplish his desire Magique is either coniecturall or operatiue Coniecturall whereby things are by Satans direction prophesied of before Of prophesies some are done with meanes others without Prophesies done with meanes are these I. Soothsaying diuination by the flying of birds Deut. 18.11 II. The kind of diuination which is by looking into beasts entrals Ezech. 21.21 The king of Babel c consulted with idols and looked in the liuer III. Necromancie or coniuring by which the diuel in the forme of some dead man is sought vnto for counsell 1. Sam. 28. 11. Then said the woman Whome wilt thou I call vp vnto thee And â—e said Call vp Samuel vnto me vers 13. Then said he vnto her Feare not but what sawest thou And the woman saide vnto Saul I saw gods ascending out of the earth v. 14. Then said he vnto her What fashion is he of and she answered An old man commeth vp lapped in a mantle And Saul knewe that it was Samuel and he enclined his face to the ground and bowed himselfe And Samuel said to Saul why hast thou disquieted me to bring me vp TheÌ„ Saul answered I am in great distresse for the Philistiâ—â—s make warre against me c. This Samuel was not that true Prophet of God who annointed Saul King ouer Israel for 1. the soules of the Saints departed are farre from the diuels clawes and dominion 2. That good Samuel if it had beene he indeed would neuer haue permitted Saul to worship him 3. He faith to wicked Saul To morrow shalt thou be with me v. 14. Neither could this be a bare illusion and as I may say legerdemeine of the witch for he plainely foretolde Sauls destruction which an ignorant woman could not knowe much lesse durst she constantly auouch any such matter to the king It remaineth then that this Samuel was a meere illusion of Satan Diuining without meanes is when such as are possessed with an vncleane spirit vse immediatly the helpe of the same spirit to reueale secrets Act. 16. 16. A certaine maide hauing a spirit of diuination met vs which gate her master much vantage with diuining Esay 94.4 Thy voice shall be out of the grounde like him that hath a spirit of diuination and thy talking shall whisper out of the dust Magique operatiue hath two parts Iuggling and Inchantments Iuggling whereby through the diuels conueiance many great and very hard matters are in shew effected Exod. 7.10.11,12 Aaron cast forth his rod before Pharaoh and before his seruants and it was turned into a serpent then Pharaoh called also for the wise men and sorcerers and those charmers also of Egypt did in like manner with their enchantments for they cast downe euery man his rod and they were turned into serpents but Aarons rodde deuoured their rod. Enchantment or charming is that wherby beasts but especially yong children men of riper yeares are by Gods permission infected poisoned hurt bounden killed and otherwise molested or contrarily sometimes cured of Satan by mumbling vp some fewe wordes making certaine characters figures framing circles hanging amulets about the necke or other parts by hearbes medicines and such like trumperie that thereby the punishment of the faithles may be augmented in reposing their strength vpon such rotten staues and the faithfull may be tried whether they will commit the like abomination Psal. 18.4 Their poison is euen like the poison of a serpent like the deafe adder that stoppeth his eare which heare not the voice of the enchanter though he be most expert in charming Eccles. 10. 11. If the serpent bite when he is not charmed c. Thus haue we heard Magique described out of gods word the which how as yet common it is in those especially which are without God in the worlde whome Satan by all meanes strongly deludeth the lamentable experience which many men and most places haue thereof can sufficiently proue vnto vs. And surely if a man will but take a view of all poperie he shall easily see that the most part is meere Magique They which spread abroad by their writing or othewise that witches are nothing els but melancholike
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
vncalled Persons called are all such to whome God in mercie hath offered the meanes of saluation and hath reuealed the doctrine of the Gospell in some measure more or lesse by meanes either ordinarie or extraordinarie All such I thinke are straightly bound in conscience to beleeue and obey the gospel For that word of God whereby men shall be iudged in the day of iudgement must first of all binde their consciences in this life considering absolution and condemnation is according to that which is done in this life but by the gospell all men that haue beene called shall be iudged as Paul saith Rom. 2.16 God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to my Gospell And our Sauiour Christ saith He that beleeueth hath life euerlasting hee which beleeueth not is alreadie condemned It remaines therefore that the gospell bindes the consciences of such men in this life By this very point we are all put in minde not to content our selues with this that we haue a liking to the gospell and doe beleeue it to bee true though many protestants in these our daies thinke it sufficient both in life and death if they hold that they are to be saued by faith alone in Christ without the merit of mans workes but wee must goe yet further and enter into a practise of the doctrine of the Gospel as wel as of the precepts of the morall lawe knowing that the gospel doeth as well bind conscience as the law and if it be not obeied will as well condemne Men vncalled are such as neuer heard of Christ by reason the gospell was neuer reuealed vnto them nor meanes of reuelation offered That there haue bin such in former ages I make manifest thus The worlde since the creation may be distinguished into foure ages The first frō the creation to the flood the second from the flood to the giuing of the Law the third from the giuing of the Lawe to the death of Christ the fourth from the death of Christ to the last iudgement Nowe in the three former ages there was a distinction of the world into two sorts of men wherof one was a people of God the other no-people In the first age in the families of Seth Noe c. were the sonnes of God in all other families the sonnes of men Gen. 6.2 In the second age were the sonnes of the flesh and the sonnes of the promise Rom. 9.7 In the third Iewes and Gentiles the Iewes beeing the Church of God all nations beside no-church But in the last age this distinction was taken away when the Apostles had a commission giuen them that was neuer giuen before to any namely to goe teach not onely the Iewes but all nations Now this distinction arose of this that the Gospel was not reuealed to the world before the comming of Christ as the Scriptures witnes The prophet Esai saith 52.14 that kings shall shut their mouthes at Christ because that which had not bin told them they shal see and that which they had not heard shall they vnderstand And 55. 5. that a nation that knew him not shall runne vnto him Paul saith to the Ephesians that in former times they were without God and without Christ strangers from the couenāt Eph. 2.12 And to the Athenians he saith that the times before the comming of Christ were times of ignorance Act. 17.30 And that it may not be thought that this ignorance was affected Paul saith further that God in times past suffered the Gentiles to walke in their owne waies Act. 14. 16. and that the mysterie of the Gospell was kept secret from the beginning of the world and is now in the last age reuealed to the whole world Rom. 16.25 Some alleadge that the Iewes beeing the church of God had traffique with all nations and by this means spred some little knowledge of the Messias through the whole world I answer again that the conference and speach of Iewish marchants with forrainers was no sufficient means to publish the promise of saluation by Christ to the whol world first because the Iewes for the most part haue alwaies bin more readie to receiue any new and false religion then to teach their owne secondly because the very Iewes themselues though they were well acquainted with the ceremonies of their religion yet the substance thereof which was Christ figured by externall ceremonies they knew not and hereupon the Pharises when they made a Proselyte they made him tenne times more the child of the deuill then themselues Thirdly because men are seldome or neuer suffered to professe or make any speach of their religion in forraine countries Againe if it be alleadged that the doctrine is set downe in the bookes of the old Testament which men through the whole world might haue read searched and knowne if they would I answer that the keeping of the bookes of the old Testament was committed to the Iewes alone Rom. 3.2 and therefore they were not giuen to the whole world as also the Psalmist testifieth He sheweth his word vnto Iacob his statutes and his iudgements vnto Israel he hath not dealt so with euery nation neither haue they knowne his iudgements Now touching such persons as haue not so much as heard of Christ though they are apt and fitte to be bound in conscience by the Gospell in as much as they are the creatures of God yet are they not indeed actually bound till such time as the Gospel be reuealed or at the least meanes of reuelation offered Reasons hereof may be these I. Whatsoeuer doctrine or law doth bind conscience must in some part be knowne by nature or by grace or by both the vnderstanding must first of all conceiue or at the least haue meanes of conceiuing before conscience can constraine because it bindeth by vertue of known cōclusions in the mind Therfore things that are altogether vnknown and vnconceiued of the vnderstanding doe not bind in conscience now the Gospel is altogether vnknowne and vnconceiued of many as I haue alreadie prooued and therefore it binds not them in conscience II. Paul saith Rom. 2.12 They which sinne without the law written shal be condemned without the law therefore they which sinne without the Gospel shal be condemned without the Gospel and such as shal be condemned without the Gospel after this life were not bound by it in this life Augustine the most iudiciall Diuine of all the auncient fathers vpon these wordes of Christ but now they haue no excuse for their sinne saith on this manner A doubt may be mooued whether they to whome Christ hath not come neither hath spoken vnto them haue an excuse for their sinne For if they haue it not why is it said that these namely the Iewes haue no excuse because he came and spake to them and if they haue it whether it be that their punishment may be taken away quite or in part lessened To these demands to my capacitie as the Lord shall inable me
is eaten his owne flesh which he was to giue for the life of the worlde and what can be said more of the Lords supper Augustine saith that beleeuers are partakers of the bodie and blood of Christ in baptisme and Hierome to Edibia that in baptisme we eate and drinke the body and blood of Christ. If thus much may be said of baptisme why may it not also be said of the word preached Again Hierom vpon Ecclesiastes saith It is profitable to be filled with the bodie of Christ and drinke his blood not onely in mysterie but in knowledge of holy Scripture Nowe vpon this it followes that seeing the worke done in the word preached conferres not grace neither doth the worke done in the sacrament conferre any grace Reason II. Math. 3.11 I baptize you with water to repentance but he that cōmeth after me is stronger then I hee shall baptize you with the holy Ghost and with fire Hence it is manifest that grace in the sacrament proceedes not from any action in the sacrament for Iohn though he doe not disioyne himselfe his action from Christ and the action of his spirit yet doth he distinguish thē plainely in number persons and effect To this purpose Paul who had said of the Galathians that he trauelled of them and beget them by the Gospell saith of himselfe that he is not any thing not onely as hee was a man but as hee was a faithfull Apostle thereby excluding the whole Euangelicall ministerie wherof the Sacrament is a part from the least part of diuine operation or efficacy in conferring of grace Reason III. The blessed Angels nay the very flesh of the sonne of God hath not any quickning vertue from it selfe but all this efficacie or vertue is in and from the godhead of the sonne who by meanes of the flesh apprehended by faith deriueth heauenly and spirituall life from himselfe to the members Now if there be no efficacie in the flesh of Christ but by reason of the hypostatical vnion how shall bodily actions about bodily elements conferre grace immediatly Reason IV. Paul Rom. 4. stands much vpon this to prooue that iustification by faith is not conferred by the sacraments And from the circumstance of time he gathereth that Abraham was first iustified and then afterward receiued circumcision the signe and seale of his righteousnes Nowe we knowe that the generall condition of all sacraments is one and the same and that baptisme succeeded circumcision And what can be more plaine then the example of Cornelius Act. 10. who before Peter came vnto him had the commendation of the feare of God and was indued with the spirit of praier and afterward when Peter by preaching opened more fully the way of the Lord hee and the rest receiued the holy Ghost And after all this they were baptised Now if they receiued the holy Ghost before baptisme then they receiued remission of sinnes and were iustified before baptisme V. Reason The iudgement of the Church Basil. If there bee any grace in the water it is not from the nature of the water but from the presence of the spirit Hierome saith Man giues water but God giues the holy Ghost Augustine saide Water toucheth the bodie and washeth the heart but he shewes his meaning else where There is one water saith he of the sacrament another of the spirit the water of the Sacrament is visible the water of the spirit inuisible That washeth the bodie and signifieth what is done in the soule By this the soule is purged and healed Obiect Remission of sinnes regeneration and saluation is ascribed to the sacrament of baptisme Act. 22.21 Eph. 5. Gal. 3.27 Tit. 2. Ans. Saluation and remission of sinnes is ascribed to baptisme and the Lords supper as to the word which is the power of God to saluation to all that beleeue and that as they are instruments of the holy ghost to signifie zeale and exhibite to the beleeuing minde the foresaid benefits but indeede the proper instrument whereby saluation is apprehended is faith and sacraments are but proppes of faith furthering saluation two waies first because by their signification they helpe to nourish and preserue faith secondly because they seale grace and saluation to vs yea God giues grace and saluation when we vse them well so be it we beleeue the word of promise made to the sacrament whereof also they are seales And thus we keepe the middle way neither giuing too much nor too little to the sacraments The XX. point Of sauing faith or the way to life Our Consent Conclus I. They teach it to bee the propertie of faith to beleeue the whole whole word of God and especially the redemption of mankind by Christ. Conclus II. They auouch that they beleeue looke to be saued by Christ and by Christ alone and by the meere mercy of God in Christ. Conclus III. Thirdly the most learned among them hold confesse that the obedience of Christ is imputed vnto them for the satisfaction of the lawe and for their reconciliation with God Conclus IV. They auouch that they put their whole trust and confidence in Christ and in the meere mercy of God for their saluation Concl. V. Lastly they hold that euery man must apply the promise of life euerlasting by Christ vnto himselfe and this they grant we are bound to doe And in these fiue points doe they and we agree at least in shewe of wordes By the auouching of the fiue conclusions papists may easily escape the handes of many magistrates And vnlesse the mysterie of popish doctrine bee well known any common man may easily be deceiued take such for good protestants that are but popish priests To this end therefore that we may the better discerne their guile I will shew wherein they faile in each of their conclusions and wherein they differ from vs. The difference Touching the first conclusion they beleeue indeed all the written word of God and more then all for they also beleeue the bookes Apocryphal which antiquitie for many hundred yeares hath excluded from the canon yea they beleeue vnwritten traditions receiued as they say from Councills the writings of the Fathers and the determinations of the Church making them also of equall credit with the written worde of God giuen by inspiration of the spirit Now we for our parts despise not the Apocrypha as namely the books of the Machabees Ecclesiasticus and the rest but wee reuerence them in all conuenient manner preferring them before any other bookes of men in that they haue beene approoued by an vniuersall consent of the Church yet wee thinke them not meete to bee receiued into the Canon of holy scripture and therfore not to be beleeued but as they are cōsenting with the written word And for this our doing we haue directiō from Athanasius Origen Hierom and the Councel of Laodicea As for the vnwriten Traditions they come not within the compasse of our faith neither can
all things were cheape 20 That drinking and bezeling in the alehouse or tauerne is good felowship and shewes a good kind nature and maintaines neighbourhoode 21 That a man may sweare by the Masse because it is nothing now and by r Ladie because shee is gone out of the countrie 22 That euery man must be for himselfe and God for vs all 23 That a man may make of his owne whatsoeuer he can 24 That if a man remember to say his praiers in the morning though hâ— neuer vnderstand them he hath blessed himselfe for all the day following 25 That a man praieth when he saith the ten Commandâ—ments 26 That a man eates his maker in the Sacrament 27 That if a man be no adulterer no thiefe nor murderer and doe no man harme he is a right honest man 28 That a man neede not haue any knowledge of Religion because he is not booke-learned 29 That one may haue a good meaning when he saith and doth that which is euill 30 That a man may goe to wizards called wisemen for counsell because God hath prouided a salue for euery sore 31 That ye are to be excused in all your doings because the best men are sinners 32 That ye haue so strong a faith in Christ that no euill companie can hurt you These and such like sayings what argue they but your grosse ignorance Now where ignorance raigneth there raignes sinne and where sinne raignes there the deuill rules and where he rules man are in a damnable case Ye will replie vnto me thus that ye are not so bad I would make you if neede be you can say the Creede the Lords prayer and the ten Commandements and therefore ye will be of Gods beleefe say all men what they will and you defie the deuill from yours hearts I answer againe that it is not sufficient to say all these without booke vnlesse ye can vnderstand the meaning of the words and be able to make a right vse of the Commandements of the Creede of the Lords prayer by applying them inwardly to your hearts and consciences and outwardly to your liues and conuersations This is the very point in which ye faile And for an helpe in this your ignorance to bring you to true knowledge vnfained faith and sound repentance here I haue set downe the principall point of Christian religion in sixe plaine and easie rules euen such as the simplest may easily learne and hereunto is adioyned an exposition of them word by word If ye doe want other good direction then vse this my labour for your instruction In reading of it first learne the sixe principles and when ye haue them without the booke and the meaning of them withall then learne the exposition also which beeing well conceiued and in some measure felt in the heart ye shall be able to profit by Sermons whereas now ye cannot and the ordinarie parts of the Catechisme namely the ten Commaundements the Creede the Lords prayer and the institution of the two Sacraments shall more easily be vnderstood Thine in Christ Iesus William Perkins The foundation of Christian religion gathered into sixe Principles The first Principle Question VVHat doest thou beleeue concerning God A. There is one God creator and gouernour of all things distinguished into the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost Prooues out of the word of God 1. There is a God For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the world beeing considered in his workes to the intent that they should be without excuse Neuerthelesse he left not himselfe without witnesse in that he did good and gaue vs raine from heauen and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladnes 2. This God one Concerning therefore meat sacrificed to idols we knowe that an idol is nothing in the worlde and that there is none other God but one 3. He is creatour of all things In the beginning God created the heauen and the earth Through faith wee vnderstand that the world was ordained by the word of God so that the things which we see are not made of things which did appeare 4. He is gouernour of all things The eies of the Lord in euery place behold the euill and the good Yea and all the haires of your head are numbred 5. Distinguished into the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost And Iesus when he was baptized came straight out of the water and loe the heauens were opened vnto him and Iohn sawe the spirit of God descending like a Doue and lighting vpon him And loe a voice came from heauen saying This is my beloued sonne in whome I am well pleased For there are three which beare record in heauen the Father the word and the holy Ghost and these three are one The second Principle Q. What dost thou beleeue coÌ„cerning man coÌ„cerning thine own selfe A. All men are wholly corrupted with sinne through Adams fall and so are become slaues of Sathan and guiltie of eternall damnation 1. All men are corrupted with sinne As it is written there is none righteous no not one 2. They are wholly corrupted Nowe the very God of peace sanctifie you throughout and I pray God that your whole spirit and soule and bodie may be kept blamelesse vnto the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ. This I say therefore and testifie in the Lord that ye henceforth walke not as other Gentiles walke in vanitie of their minde Hauing their cogitation darkened and beeing strangers from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the hardnesse of their heart When the Lord sawe that the wickednesse of man was great in the earth and all the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart were onely euill continually 3. Through Adams fall Wherefore as by one man sinne entred into the worlde and death by sinne and so death went went ouer all men for so much as all men haue sinned 4. And so are become slaues of Sathan Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of the worlde and after the prince that ruleth in the aire euen the spirit that nowe worketh in the children of disobedience For as much then as the children were partakers of flesh and blood he also himselfe likewise tooke part with them that hee might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is the deuill In whome the God of this world hath blinded the mindes that is of Infidels that the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ which is the image of God should not shine vnto them 5. And guiltie of eternall damnation For as many as are of the workes of the Lawe are vnder the curse for it is written Cursed is euery man that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the Lawe to doe them Likewise then as by the offence of
Moses a reason may be framed thus If ye saw no image namely of God ye shall make none But ye saw no image onely heard a voyce Therefore ye shall make no image of God The second reason That idolatrie which the Israelites committed the very same is prohibited in this commandement But the Israelites idolatrie was the worship of God in an image Hos. 2. 16. At that day saith the Lord thou shalt call me no more Baali but shalt call me Ishi The golden calfe was an image of God for when it was finished Aaron proclaimed that to morrow should be a feast to Iehouah Exod. 32.5 And the same calfe is tearmed an idol Act. 7.41 Therefore the worshipping of God in an image is here prohibited Any grauen image Here the more speciall is put for the more generall namely a grauen image for all counterfeit meanes of Gods worship The first part of the commandement is here illustrated by a double distribution The first is drawne from the causes Thou shalt not make thee any idol whether it be engrauen in wood or stone or whether it be painted in a table The second is taken from the place Thou shalt not make thee an idol of things in heauen as starres and birds or in the earth as of man woman beasts or vnder the earth as fishes This place is so expounded by Moses Deut. 4. 14. to the 20. verse Thou shalt not bow downe to them This is the second part of the commandement forbidding all men to fal downe before an idol In this word Bow down is againe the speciall put for the generall for in it is inhibited all fained worship of God For I These words are a confirmation of this commandement perswading to obedience by foure reasons The Lord which is strong The first reason God is strong and so able to reuenge idolatâ—ie Heb. 10.31 A iealous God This speech is taken from the estate of wedlocke for God is called the husband of his Church Esay 54.5 Eph. 5.26,27 And our spirituall worship is as it were a certaine marriage of our soules consecrated vnto the Lord. Ier. 2. 2. I remember thee with the kindnes of thy youth and the loue of thy mariage when thou wentest after me in the wildernes in a land that was not sowne Here is another argument drawne from a comparison of things that be like Gods people must alone worship him because they are linked to him as a wife is to her husband vnto whome alone she is bound therefore if his people forsake him and betroth themselues vnto idols he will vndoubtedly giue them a bill of diuorcement and they shall be no more espoused vnto him Visiting To visit is not onely to punish the children for the fathers offences but to make notice and apprehend them in the same faults by reason they are giuen ouer to commit their fathers transgressions that for them they be punished And this is the third reason drawne from the effects of Gods anger Hate me It may be this is a secret answer the obiection whereof is not here in expresse wordes set downe but may be thus framed What if we vse Idols to inflame and excite in vs a loue and remembrance of thee The answer is this by the contrarie You may thinke that your vse of idols kindleth in you a loue of me but it is so farre from that that all such as vse them cannot choose but hate me Shew mercie The fourth reason deriued from the effects of Gods mercie to such as obserue this commandement Here may we first obserue that Gods mercie exceedeth his iustice Psal. 103.8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercie slow to anger and of great kindnes vers 17. The louing kindnes of the Lord endureth for euer vers 9. He will not alway chide neither keepe his anger for euer Secondly we may not surmise that this excellent promise is made to euery one particularly who is borne of faithfull parents For godly Isaak had godlesse Esau to his sonne and godlesse Saul had godly Ionathan The negatiue part Thou shalt neither worship false gods nor the true God with false worship Many things are here forbidden I. The representation of God by an image For it is a lie Habak 2. 18. What profiteth the image for the maker thereof hath made it an image and a teacher of lies Zach. 10.2 The idols haue spoken vanitie Ierem. 10. 8. The stocke is a doctrine of vanitie The Eliber Councel in the 39. canon hath this edict We thought it not meete to haue images in Churches least that which is worshipped and adored should be painted vpon wals Clement booke 5. ad Iacob Dom. That serpent by others is wont to speake these words We in honour of the inuisible God are accustomed to adore visible images the which out of all controuersie is very false August in his treatise vpon the 113. Psalme The image also of the crosse and Christ crucified out to be abolished out of Churches as the brasen serpent was 2. King 18.4 Hezekiah is commended for breaking in pieces the brasen serpent to which the children of Israel did then burne incense This did Hezekiah albeit at the first this serpent was made by the Lords appointment Numb 21.8 and was a type of Christs passion Ioh. 3.14 Origen in his 7. booke against Celsus We permit not any to adore Iesus vpon the altars in images or vpon Church walls because it is written Thou shalt haue none other gods but me Epiphaniusâ— in that epistle which he wrote to Iohn Bishop of Ierusalem saith It is against the custome of the Church to see any image hanging in the church whether it be of Christ or any other saint and therefore euen with his owne hands rent he asunder the vaile wherein such an image was painted Some obiect the figure or signe which appeared to Constantine wherein he should ouercome but it was not the signe of the crosse as the Papists doe triflinly imagine but of Christs name for the thing was made of these two greeke letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conioyned together Euseb. in the life of Constant. booke 1. chap. 22,25 Neither serue the Cherubims which Salomon placed in the temple for the defence of images for they were onely in the holy of holiest where the people could not see them And they were types of the glorie of the Messiah vnto whome the very Angels were subiect the which we haue now verified in Christ. If any man replie that they worship not the image but God in the image let him know that the creature cannot comprehend the image of the Creator and if it could yet God would not be worshipped in it because it is a dead thing yea the worke of mans hands not of God and therefore is more base then the smallest liuing creature of the which we may lawfully say it is the worke of God This euinceth that no kinde of diuine worship belongeth to an image either simply or by relation
other and not in receiuing it Rom. 12. 10. Submitting your selues one to another in the feare of God To salute one an other with holy signes whereby may appeare the loue which we haue one to another in Christ. 1. Pet. 5.14 Greet ye one another with the kisse of loue Rom. 16. 16. Salute one another with an holy kisse Exod. 18.7 And Moses went out to meete his father in law and did obeysance and kissed him Ruth 2.4 And beholde Boaz came from Bethlehem and said vnto the Reapers the Lord be with you And they answered The Lord blesse thee Fiftly the duties of all Superiours towards their inferiours to yeeld to them in good matters as to their brethren Deut. 17. 20. That his heart be not lifted vp aboue his brethren and that he turne not from the commaundement to the right hand or to the left Iob. 31.13 If I did contemne the iudgement of my seruant and of my maide 2. King 5.13 And his seruant came and spake vnto him and said 14. Then he went downe and washed himselfe seuen times in Iordan c. To shine before their inferiours by an ensample of a blamelesse life Titus 2.2 That the elder men bee sober honest discreete sound in the faith in loue and in patience 3. The elder women likewise that they be in such behauiour as becommeth holines not false accusers not giuen to much wine but teachers of honest things 1. Pet. 5.3 Not as though ye were Lords ouer Gods heritage but that ye may be ensamples to the flock Phil. 4.9 To shewe forth grauitie ioyned with dignitie by their countenance gesture deedes and wordes Tit. 2. 3,4,5,6,7 Iob. 29.8 The younge men saw me and hid themselues the aged arose and stood vp Sixtly towards inferiours in obedience that is toward their subiects 1. To rule them in the Lord that they doe not offend 1. Pet. 2.13 Submit your selues vnto all manner of ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be vnto kings as vnto superiours 14. or vnto gouernours as vnto them that are sent of the king for the punishment of euill doers and for the praise of them that doe well Deut. 17.19 And it shall be with him namely the booke of the lawe and he shal read therein all the daies of his life that he may learne to feare the Lord his God and to keepe all the wordes of this lawe and those ordinances to doe them Col. 4. 1. Ye masters doe vnto your seruants that which is iust and equall knowing that ye also haue a master in heauen 2. To prouide such things as shall be to the good of their subiects whether they belong to the bodie or to the soule Rom. 13.4 For he is the minister of god for thy wealth Esa. 49.23 And kings shall be thy nursing Fathers Queenes shall be thy nurses Psal. 132.1 Lord remember Dauid with all his troubles 2. Who sware vnto the Lord and vowed vnto the mightie God of Iaacob saying 3. I will not enter into the tabernacle of mine house nor come vpon my pallet or bed 4. nor suffer mine eies to sleepe nor mine eie lids to slumber 5. vntil I finde out a place for the Lord an habitation for the mightie God of Iacob 3. To punish their faults the lighter by rebuking the greater by correction that is by inflicting reall or bodily punishment There is an holy maner of punishing the guilty whereunto is required I. After diligent and wise examination be had to be assured of the crime committed II. To shewe forth of Gods word the offence of the sin that the conscience of the offender may be touched III. It is conuenient to deferre or omit the punishment if thereby any hope of amendment may appeare Eccl. 7.23 Giue not thy heart also to all the words that men speake least thou doe heare thy seruant cursing thee 24. For oftentimes also thine heart knoweth that thou likewise hast cursed others 1. Sam. 10. vers 27. But the wicked men said Howe shall he saue vs so they despised him and brought him no presents but he held his tongue IV. To inflict deserued punishment not in his owne name but in Gods name adding the same holily and reuerently Iosh. 7. 19. Then Ioshua said vnto Achan My sonne I beseech thee giue glorie to the Lord God of Israel and make confession vnto him and shew me nowe what thou hast done hide it not from me 20. And Achan answered Ioshua and said Indeede I haue sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus haue I done 25. And Ioshua said In as much as thou hast troubled vs the Lord shall trouble thee this day and all Israel threwe stones at him and burned them with fire and stoned them with stones V. and lastly When thou punishest aime at this one onely thing that the euill may be purged and amended and that the offender by sorrowing for his sinne may vnfainedly repent for the same Prou. 20.30 The blewnesse of the wound serueth to purge the euill and the stripes within the bowels of the belly Seuenthly and lastly there is a certaine duty of a man to bee performed toward himselfe which is that a man should preserue and maintaine with modestie the dignitie and worthinesse which is inherent in his own person Phil. 4.8 Furthermore brethren whatsoeuer things are true whatsoeuer things are honest whatsoeuer things are iust whatsoeuer things are pure whatsoeuer thinges pertaine to loue whatsoeuer things are of good report if there be any vertue or if there be any praise thinke on these things The negatiue part Diminish not the excellencie or dignitie which is in the person of thy neighbour Hither are referred these sinnes First against our superiours I. Vnreuerent behauiour and contempt of them The sinnes hereof are deriding our superiours Gen. 9. 22. And when Ham the Father of Canaan sawe the nakednesse of his father he told his two brethren without Prou. 20.17 The eie that mocketh his father and despiseth the instruction of his mother let the rauens of the valley picke it out and the young eagles eate it To speake euill of or reuile our superiours Exod. 21.17 And he that curseth his father or his mother shall die the death II. Disobedience whereby we contemne their iust commādements Rom. 1.30 Disobedient to Parents 2. Tim. 3.3 No striker but gentle no fighter The sinnes hereof are To make contracts of mariage without the counsel consent of the Parents Gen. 6. 2. Then the sonnes of God saw the daughters of men that they were faire and they tooke them wiues of all that they liked Gen. 28.6,9 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan displeased Izhac his father then went Esau to Ishmael and tooke vnto the wiues which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abrahams sonne the sister of Nabaioth to be his wife The eie seruice of seruants Coloss. 3.22 Seruant◠be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh in all things
to come these shew that he is come III. They were appropriate vnto the posteritie of Abraham but these are common to the whole Church culled out of the Iewes and Gentiles CHAP. 33. Of Baptisme THere are two Sacraments 1. Cor. 10. 1. I would not haue you ignorant that all our fathers were vnder the cloude and all passed through the sea 2. And were all baptized vnto Moses in the cloude and in the sea 3. And did all eate the same spirituall meate 4. And dranke all the same spirituall drinke for they dranke of the spirituall rocke that followed them which rocke was Christ. Tertull 4. booke contra Marcion August de Symbol ad Catechum 4. booke 6. chap. The first Sacrament is that whereby Christians are initiated and admitted into the Church of God and this is Baptisme The second Sacrament whereby the Church is preserued and nourished is the Lords Supper Baptisme is a Sacrament by which such as are within the couenant are washed with water in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost that beeing thus engraffed into Christ they may haue perpetuall fellowship with him Matth. 28.19 Goe teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost Matth. 16.16 He that beleeueth and is baptized shall be saued he that beleeueth not shall be condemned 1. Cor. 1.13 Is Christ deuided was Paul crucified for you â—iâ—her were ye baptized into the name of Paul 14. I thanke God I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius 15. Least any should say I had baptized into mine owne name Within the couenant are all the seede of Abraham or the seede of the faithfull These are either of riper yeares or infants Those of riper yeares are all such as adioyning themselues to the visible Church doe both testifie their repentance of their sinnes and hold the foundations of religion taught in the same Church Matth. 3. 6. And they were baptized of him in Iorden confessing their sinnes Act. 8.36 As they went they came to a water then the Eunuch saide See here is water what hindreth me to be baptized 37. Then Philip said If thou beleeue with all thine heart thou maist he said I beleeue that Iesus Christ is the Sonne of God 38. And they went downe into the water both Philip and the Eunuch and he baptized him Exod. 12.48 If a stranger dwell with thee and will observe the Passeouer of the Lord let him circumcise all the males that belong vnto him and then let him come and obserue it and then he shall be as one that is borne in the land for none vncircumcised person shall eate thereof Infants within the Couenant are such as haue one at the least of their parents faithfull 1. Cor. 7.14 The vnbeleeuing husband is sanctified by the wife and the vnbeleeuing wife is sanctified by the husband else were your children vncleane but now they are holy Rom. 11.16 If the first fruits be holy so is the whole lumpe and if the roote be holy so are the branches Gen. 17.7 I will establish my couenant betweene me and thee and thy seede after thee in their generations for an euerlasting couenant to be God vnto thee and thy seede after thee 13. He that is borne in thine house and he that is bought with money must needes be circumcised so my couenant shall be in your flesh for an euerlasting couenant Act. 16.31 They said Beleeue in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saued and thy whole houshold Quest. How are the children of faithfull parents in the couenant Answer Holy parents are two waies to be considered First as they were the sonnes of the first Adam and so are as yet partly carnall In this estate they in like sort doe beget their sonnes the children of wrath For the father begetteth a sonne not as he is a good man but simply as a man and therefore beeing impure he must needes beget that which is impure Secondly we must consider the parents as they are the sonnes of God engraffed into the second Adam In this estate though they cannot deriue faith vnto their posteritie for the sonnes of God are not made such by naturall generation but by the adoption of God the Father yet may they beleeue both for themselues and others according to the tenour of the couenant of grace as Adam did sinne both for himselfe and others and as parents in bargaines doe couenant both for themselues and their heires after them Hence it is that Paul saith that the parents are like vnto the first fruits which doe sanctifie the whole lumpe So then the faith of the parents maketh those their sonnes to be accounted in the couenant which by reason of their age doe not yet actually beleeue To be baptized into the name of the Father c. after the receit of the outward signe of washing is to be made one of Gods familie which is his church and to be partaker of the priuiledges thereof Gen. 48.16 The Angel which hath deliuered me from all euill blesse the children and let my name be named vpon them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Izhak that they may grow as fish into multitude in the middest of the earth Esai 4. 1. In that day shall seuen women take hold of one man saying We will eate our owne bread and we will weare our owne garments onely let vs be called by thy name and take away our reproch By this it is manifest that in this washing of Baptisme there is sealed and propounded a marueilous solemne couenant and contract first of God with the baptized in that God the Father vouchsafed to receiue him into fauour the Sonne to redeeme him the holy Ghost to purifie and regenerate him secondly of the baptized with God who promiseth to acknowledge inuocate and worship none other God but the true Iehouah which is the Father Sonne and holy Ghost The externall and visible matter of baptisme is water for the minister may not baptize with any other liquor but onely with naturall water This was the iudgement of the Primitiue Church For when as a certaine minister for want of water tooke sande and baptized one with that the partie thus besanded was further baptized the former beeing esteemed of none effect Niceph. histor 3. booke 33. chapter The externall forme of baptisme is the ministers washing of the baptized according to the prescript rule of Gods word Rom. 10. 4. The ancient custome of baptizing was to dippe and as it were to diue all the bodie of the baptized in the water as may appeare in Paul Rom. 6. and the Councels of Laodicea and Neocaesarea but now especially in cold countries the Church vseth onely to sprinkle the baptized by reason of childrens weaknesse for very few of ripe yeares are now a daies baptized We need not much to marueile at this alteration seeing charitie and necessitie may dispense with ceremonies and mitigate in equitie the sharpnes of them
mercie in that he pardoned their sinne for the merites of his Sonne Eph. 1. 18. That the eies of your vnderstanding may be lightned that ye may knowe what the hope is of his calling and what the riches of his glorious inheritance is in his Saints 19. And what is the exceeding greatnes of his power towardes vs which beleeue according to the working of his mightie power 20. Which he wrought in Christ. Chap. 3.18 That ye may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height 19. And to knowe the loue of Christ. All these things the Lord himselfe hath thus decreed and in his good time will accomplish them to the glorious praise of his Name Pro. 16.4 The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake yea euen the wicked for the daie of euill CHAP. 50. Concerning the order of the causes of saluation according to the doctrine of the Church of Rome THere are two things requisite to obtained saluation Predestination and the Execution thereof Predestination is a foreordaining of the reasonable creature to grace in this life glory in the life to come Sebast. Cattaneus Enchirid. tract 1. chap. last This in regard of the first effects thereof which are vocation election and ordination to eternall life hath the cause of it in God namely his will but in regard of the last effect which is the execution of such an ordinance and the obtaining of eternall life it hath the cause of it from man because according to the common opinion Gods predestination is by reason of workes foreseene in men that is God doth therefore predestinate or reiect some man because he foreseeth that he will well or badly vse his grace But for the more euident declaration of this these seuen conclusions must be set downe I. The Predestination and Reprobation of God do not constraine or inforce any necessitie vpon the will of man II. God hath predestinated all men that is he hath appointed and disposed all men so as they might obtaine eternall saluation III. Man is neither by necessitie nor chance saued or condemned but voluntarily IV. God hath predestinated some other hath he reiected V. Those whome God hath predestinated by his absolute predestination which can not be lost they shall infallibly die in grace but they which are predestinate by that predestination which beeing according to preâ—ent iustice may be lost by some mortall sinne which followeth are not infallibly saued but oftentimes such are condemned and loose their crowne and glory Hence ariseth that position of theirs that he which is iustified may be a reprobate perish eternally Torrensis Aug. Confess 2. booke 4. chap. 20. Sect. Therfore predestination is not certaine seeing it may be lost VI. God alone doth know the certaine and set number of them which are predestinate VII There is one set number of them which are predestinate or reprooued and that can neither be increased nor diminished The execution of Predestination is either in infants or those of yeres of discretion Concerning infants the merite of Christ is appliyed vnto them by baptisme rightly administred so that whatsoeuer in originall corruption may truely and properly be accounted for sinne it is not onely as I may say not pared away or not imputed but vtterly taken away For there is nothing that God can hate in such as are renued Concil Trid. 5. sect 5. Can. Neuertheles they are vrged to confesse that there remaineth yet in such as are baptized concupiscence or the reliques of sinn The which seeing it is left in men for them to wrestle withall it hath not power to hurt such as yeeld not vnto it The execution of predestination in such as are of riper yeares hath sixe degrees The first is vocation whereby men not for their owne merits but by Gods preuenting grace through Christ are called to turne vnto God The second is a preparation to righteousnesse whereby men through the inherent power of free-will do apply themselues to iustification after that the same power is stirred vp by the holy Ghost For free-will is onely somewhat diminished and not extinguished and therefore so soone as the holy Ghost toucheth and inlighteneth the heart it worketh togither with the same spirit freely assenting vnto the same This preparation hath seuen degreesâ— Biel. 4. booke 14. dist 2. quest The first is faith which is a knowledge and an assent whereby men agree that those things are true which are deliuered concerning God and his will reuealed in the word of God This is the foundation of iustification and prepareth the heart because it stirreth vp free-will that it may affect the heart with those motions by which it is prepared to iustification I. The act of faith is to apprehend the ouglines of sin the wages therof II. After this followeth a feare of Gods anger and of hell fire III. Then begin men to dislike and in some sort to detest sinne From these ariseth a certaine disposition which hath annexed vnto it the merite of congruitie yet not immediate nor sufficient but imperfect IV. At the length faith returneth to the contemplation of Gods mercies beleeueth that God is readie to forgiue sinnes by the infusion of charitie into those which are before sufficiently prepared and disposed V. Out of this contemplation proceedeth the act of hope whereby faith beginneth to desire and to waite on God as the chiefest good VI. Out of this act of hope ariseth loue whereby God is loued aboue all things in the world VII After this loue followeth a new dislike and detestation of sinne not so much in regard of feare of the punishment in hell fire as in regard of the offence of God who is simply loued more then all other things VIII After all these followeth a purpose of amendment of life and here comes in the merit of congruitie that is sufficient or els the immediate sufficient and last disposition before the infusion of grace The third degree of Predestination is the first iustification wherby men of vniust are made iust not only through the remission of their sinnes but also by a sanctificatioÌ„ of the inward maÌ„ by his voluÌ„tary receiuing of grace gifts The efficient cause of this iustification is the mercy of God and the meritorious passion of our Sauiour Christ whereby he purchased iustification for men The instrumentall cause is baptisme The formall cause is not that iustice which was inherent in Christ but which he infuseth into man and that is especially hope and charitie The fourth degree is the second iustification wherby men are of iust made more iust the cause hereof is faith ioyned with good workes It is possible for such as are renued to keepe the commaundements And therefore it is false that a iust man committeth so much as a veniall sinne in his best actions much lesse that he deserueth eternall death for the same The fift degree is the reparation of a sinner by the
the souldiours of the Moabites they cast him for hast into the sepulchre of Elisha Nowe the dead man so soone as hee was downe and had touched the bodie of Elisha hee reuiued and stood vpon his feete so let a man that is dead in sinne bee cast into the graue of Christ that is let him by faith but touch Christ dead and buried it will come to passe by the vertue of Christs death and buriall that he shall be raised from death and bondage of sinne to become a newe man Secondly the buriall of Christ serues to be a sweete perfume of all our graues and burials for the graue in it selfe is the house of perdition but Christ by his buriall hath as it were consecrated and perfumed all our graues and in stead of houses of perdition hath made them chambers of rest and sleepe yea beds of downe and therefore howesoeuer to the eie of man the beholding of a funerall is terrible yet if wee could then remember the buriall of Christ and consider howe he thereby hath changed the nature of the graue euen then it would make vs to reioice Lastly wee must imitate Christs buriall in beeing continually occupied in the spirituall buriall of our sinnes Thus much of the buriall Nowe followeth the third and last degree of Christs humiliation He descended into hell It seemes very likely that these words were not placed in the Creede at the first or as some thinke that they crept in by negligence because aboue threescore Creeds of the most ancient counsels and fathers want this clause and among the rest the Nicene Creede But if the auncient and learned fathers assembled in that Counsell had beene perswaded or at the least had imagined that these words had bin set down at the first by the Apostles no doubt they would not in any wise haue left them out And an auncient writer saith directly that these wordes he descended into hell are not found in the Creede of the Romane Church nor vsed in the churches of the East and if they be that then they signifie the buriall of Christ. And it must not seeme straunge to anyâ— that a worde or twaine in processe of time should creepe into the Creed considering that the originall copies of the bookes of the olde and new testament haue in them sundrie varieties of readings and wordes otherwhiles which from the margine haue crept into the text Neuerthelesse considering that this clause hath long continued in the Creede and that by common consent of the Catholike Church of God and â—t may carrie a fitte sense and exposition it is not as some would haue it to bee put forth Therfore that we may come to speake of the meaning of it we must know that it hath foure vsuall expositions which we will rehearse in order and then make choice of that which shall be thought to be the fittest The first is that Christs soule after his passion vpon the crosse did really and locally descend into the place of the damned But this seemes not to be true The reasons are these I. all the Euangelists and among the rest S. Luke intending to make an exact narration of the life and death of Christ haue set downe at large his passion death buriall resurrection and ascension and withall they make rehearsall of small circumstances therefore no doubt they would not haue omitted Christ locall descent into the place of the damned if there had beene any such thing And the ende why they penned this historie was that wee might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God and beleeuing wee might haue life euerlasting Nowe there could not haue beene a greater matter for the confirmation of our faith then this that Iesus the sonne of Marie who went downe to the place of the damned returned thence to liue in happines for euer II. If Christ did goe into the place of the damned then either in soule or in bodie or in his godhead But his Godhead could not descend because it is euery where and his bodie was in the graue And as for his soule it went not to hell but presently after his death it went to paradise that is the third heauen a place of ioy and happinesse Luk. 23.43 This day shalt thou bee with me in Paradise which wordes of Christ must be vnderstoode of his manhood or soule and not of his Godhead For they are an answere to a demand and therefore vnto it they must be sutable Nowe the thiefe seeing that Christ was first of all crucified and therefore in all likelihood should first of all die makes his request to this effect Lord thou shalt shortly enter into thy kingdome remember me then to which Christs answere as the very wordes import is thus much I shall enter into paradise this day and there shalt thou bee with me Now there is no entrance but in regard of his soule or manhood For the Godhead which is at all times in all places cannot be said properly to enter into a place Againe when Christ saith thou shalt be with me in Paradise he doth intimate a resemblance which is betweene the first and second Adam The first Adam sinned against God and was presently cast forth out of paradise Christ the second Adam hauing made a satisfaction for sinne must immediately enter into paradise Nowe to say that Christ in soule descended locally into hell is to abolish this anolagie between the first second AdaÌ„ III. Auncient councels in their confessions and Creeds omitting this clause shew that they did not acknowledge any reall descent and that the true meaning of these words he desceÌ„ded was sufficieÌ„tly included in some of the former articles and that may appeare because when they set downe it they omit some of the former as Athanasius in his Creede setting downe these words he descended c. omits the buriall putting them both for one as he expoundes himselfe elsewhere Now let vs see the reasons which may be alleadged to the coÌ„trary Obiect I. Matth. 12.40 The sonne of man shall be three daies and three nights in the heart of the earth that is in hell Ans. I. This exposition is directly against the scope of the place for the Pharises desired to see a signe that is some sensible and manifest miracle and hereunto Christ answers that he will giue them the signe of Ionas which cannot be the descent of his soule into the place of the daÌ„ned because it was insensible but rather his buriall and after it his manifest and glorious resurrection II. The heart of the earth may as well signifie the graue as the center of the earth For thus Tyrus bordering vpon the sea is said to be in the heart of the sea III. This exposition takes it for graunted that hell is seated in the middest of the earth whereas the scriptures reueale vnto vs no more but this that hell is in the lower parts but where these
righteous from the wicked and the elect from the reprobate He which knoweth the hearts of all men knoweth also howe to doe this and he will doe it This full and finall separation is reserued to Christ and shall not be accomplished till the last day For so it is in the parable that the tares must grow with the wheate til haruest and the reapers must separate them and gather the wheate into the barne but the tares must be burned with vnquenchable fire By the consideration of this one point we learne diuers things I. that in the Church of God in this world good and badde are mingled togither elect and reprobate and wee are not to imagine any perfection of the church of God vpon earth as many haue dreamed which when they could not finde they haue therefore forsaken al assemblies I confesse indeede that the preaching of the word is the Lords fanne whereby he clenseth his Church in part but yet the finishing of this worke shall not be before the last iudgement For when the ministers of God haue done all that they can yet shall the wicked be mingled with the godly Therefore the Church is compared to a barne flore where is both wheate chaffe and a corne fielde where is both tares and good corne and a draw net wherin is both good fish and badde Secondly whereas this separation must not be before the ende of the world hence wee learne the state of Gods Church in this life It is like a flocke of sheepe mingled with goates and therefore the condition of Gods people in this world is to bee troubled many waies by those with whome they liue For goates vse to strike the sheepe to annoy their pasture and to make their water muddie that they can not drinke of it and therefore we must prepare our selues to beare all annoyances crosses and calamities that shall befall vs in this world by the wicked ones among whome we liue Thirdly we are taught that howesoeuer the goates and the sheepe be very like and feede in one pasture and lie in one folde all their life time yet Christ can and will seuer them asunder at the last day Therefore considering as wee are borne of Adam wee haue the nature of the goate yea of the wilde beast and not of the sheepe it standes vs in hand to lay aside our goatish conditions and to take vnto vs the properties of the sheepe of Christ which hee expresseth in these words My sheepe saith he heare my voice I know them and they follow me And the properties are three to know him to be knowne of him and to follow him namely in obedience and he that findes them all in himselfe weareth the brand and marke of the true sheepe of Christ but contrariwise they that make profession of Christ and yet therewithall ioyne not obedience howsoeuer the world may account of them they are but goates and no sheepe Let vs therefore with the knowledge of Christ ioyne obedience to his word that when the day shall come that the goates must be separated from the sheepe we may be found to be in the number of the true sheep of Christ. We may deceiue men both in life and death and beare them in hand that we are sheepe but when the iudgement shall come we cannot deceiue Christ he it is that formed vs he knowes our hearts and therefore can easily discerne what we are The fifth thing is the triall of euery mans particular cause a point especially to be considered For as at the barre of an earthly iudge the malefactour is brought out of prison and set before the iudge and there examined euen so in that great day shall euery man without exception be brought before the Lord to be tried But how shall this triall be made Ans. By workes as the Apostle saith We must all appeare before the iudgement seat of Christ that euery man may receiue the things which are done in his bodie according to that he hath done whether it be good or euill And the reason is because works are the outward signes of inward grace and godlinesse And though we be iustified by faith alone without workes yet may we be iudged both by faith and workes For the last iudgement doth not serue to make men iust that are vniust but only to manifest them to be iust indeed which were iust before in this life truly iustified The consideration of this very point should mooue vs al to repent vs of our sinnes past and to reforme our selues throughout and to be plentifull in all good works And vndoubtedly if we seriously thinke vpon it it will hold vs more straightly to all good duties then if with the Papists we held iustification by workes Furthermore in this triall two things must be skanned I. how all mens workes shall be made manifest II. by what meanes they shall be examined Of the manifestation of euery mans worke S. Iohn speaketh And I saw saith he the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life and the dead were iudged of these things which were written in the bookes according to their workes God is said to haue bookes not properly but because all things are as certen and manifest to him as if he had his Registers in heauen to keepe rolles and records of thē His bookes are three the booke of Prouidence the booke of Iudgement the booke of Life The booke of his prouidence is the knowledge of all particular things past present to come Of this the Psalmist speaketh Thine eyes did see me when I was without forme for in thy booke were all things written which in continuance were fashioned when there was none of them before The booke of iudgement is that whereby he giues iudgement and it is twofold The first is Gods knowledge or prescience in which all the affaires of mē their thoughts words and deedes are as certenly knowne and set downe as if they were put in bookes of record We may forget our sinnes but God keepes them in a register he knowes them euery one The second booke is euery mans particular conscience which also brings to remembrance and testifies what men haue done and what they haue not done The booke of life is nothing else but the decree of Gods election in which God hath set downe who be ordained to life eternall Now the opening of these bookes is a thing wherein the endles power of God shall most notably shew it self For when we shall stand before the iudgement seat of Christ he then knowing all things in his eternall counsell shall reueale vnto euery man his owne particular sinnes whether they were in thought word or deede and then also by his mightie power he shall so touch mens consciences that they shall afresh remember what they haue done Now indeede the wicked mans conscience is shut vp
haue certen assurance to be heard For he that praieth must steadfastly beleeue that God in Christ will grant his petition This affiance being wanting it maketh praier to be no praier For how can he pray for any thing effectually who doubteth whether hee shall obtaine it or no. Wherefore it is an especiall point of praier to be perswaded that God to whome praier is made not onely can but also will grant his request Mar. 11. 24. Whatsoeuer ye desire when ye praie beleeue that yee shall haue it and it shall bee done vnto you Here wee see two things required in praier the first a desire of the good things which we want the second is faith whereby we beleeue that God will grant the things desired The ground of this faith is reconciliation with God and the assurance thereof For vnlesse a man bee in conscience in some measure perswaded that all his sinnes are pardoned and that he standes reconciled to God in Christ he cannot beleeue any other promises reuealed in the word nor that any of his praiers shall be heard Thus much of the definition of praier nowe let vs see what vse may beâ— made of â—his commandement Pray ye thus Seeing our Sauiour commands his diâ—â—iplesâ— and so euen vs also to pray to God it is our dutie not onely to present our praiers to God but also to doe it cheerefully and earnestly Rom. 15. 30. Also brethren I beseech you that yee would striue with me by prayers to God for me What is the cause why the Lord doth oft deferre his blessings after our prayers No cause but that he might stirre vs vp to be more earnest to crie vnto the Lord. Exod. 32. 10. When Moses praied to God in the behalfe of the Israelites the Lord answers Let me alone as though his praiers did binde the Lord and hinder him from executing his iudgements Wherfore this is good aduise for all Christian men to continue and to bee zealous in praier If thou be an ignorant man for shame learn to praie seeing it is Gods coÌ„mandement make conscieÌ„ce of it We see that there is no man vnles he be desperately wicked but will make some conscience of killing and stealingâ— and why is this Because it is Gods commaundement Thou shalt not kill thou shalt not â—teale Well then this also is Gods commandement to pray Let this consideration breed in thee a conscience of this dutie and although thy corrupt nature shall draw thee away from it yet striue to the contrarie and know it certainly that â—he breach of this commandement makes thee as well guilty of damnation before God as any other Furthermore this must be a motiue to pricke thee forward to this dutie that as God commands vs to praie so also he giues the spirit of praier whereby the commandement is made easie vnto vs. If the Lord had commaunded a thing impossible then there had beene some cause of discouragement but commaunding a thing through the grace of his spirit very easie and profitable how much more are we bound to obedience of the same Againe praier is the key whereby we open the treasures of GOD and pull down his mercies vpon vs. For as the preaching of the word serues to declare and to conuey vnto vs Gods graces so in praier wee come to haue a liuely feeling of the same in our hearts And further this must mooue vs to praier seeing in that we haue familiaritie with Gods maiestie It is an high fauour for a man to be familiar with a prince howe much more then to bee familiar with the king of kings the mightie Iehoua This then can be no burthen or trouble vnto vs being one of the many prerogatiues that god bestows on his church For in the preaching of the word it pleased God to talke to vs and in praier God doth vouchsafe vs this honour to speake and as it were familiarly to talk with him not as to a fearefull Iudge but as to a louing and mercifull God Consider also that praier is a worthy meanes of defence not only to vs but also to the Church theÌ„ that are absent By it Moses stood in the breach which Gods wrath had made into the people of Israel and staied the same Psal. 106. 23. By this Christian men fight as valiant champions against their owne corruptions and all other spirituall enemies Eph. 6. 18. Infinite were it to shewe how many blessings the Lord had bestowed on his seruants by praier In a word Luther whom it pleased God to vse as a worthie instrument for the restoring of the gospel testifieth of himselfe that hauing this grace giuen him to call vpon the name of the Lord he had more reuealed vnto him of gods truth by praier then by reading and studie The second point of the commandement is to praie after the manner propounded in the Lords praier Where it is to be noted that the Lords praier is a direction and as it were a samplar to teach vs how and in what manner wee ought to praie None is to imagine that we are bound to vse these words only none other For the meaning of Christ is not to bind vs to the word but to the matter and to the manner and to the like affections in praying If this were not so the praiers of Gods seruants set downe in the bookes of the olde and new Testament should all be faultie because they are not set downe in the very same words with the Lords praier nay this praier is not set downe in the same words altogither by Matthew and Luke And whereas sundrie men in our Church hold it vnlawfull to vse this very forme of words as they are set downe by our Sauiour Christ for a praier they are farre deceiued as will appeare by their reasons First say they it is scripture and therefore not to bee vsed as a prayer I answer that the same thing may be the scripture of God also the praier of man els the praiers of Moses Dauid and Paul being set downe in the scriptures cease to be prayers Againe say they that in praier we are to expresse our wants in particular the graces which we desire now in these words all things to be praied for are only in generall propounded I answere that the maine wantes that are in any mâ—n and the principall graces of God to be desired are set downe in the petitions of this praier in particular Thirdly they plead that the patterne to make all praiers by should not be vsed as a praier I answer that therefore the rather it may be vsed as a prayer and sure it is that ancient and worthy Diuines haue reuerenced it as a prayer choosing rather to vse these wordes then any other as Cyprianus Sermone de orat Dominic And Tertullian lib. de fuga in persequntione And August Sermone 126. de tempore Wherefore the opinion is full of ignorance and errour Well whereas our Sauiour first giues a
of God and according to the tenour thereof must we frame and square our petitions Things promised absolutely as all graces necessarie to saluation may be asked absolutely and things promised with condition as graces lesse necessarie and temporall blessings are to be asked with condition namely so farforth as they shal be for Gods glorie in vs and for our good except it be so that God promise any temporall blessing absolutely as he promised issue to Abraham in his old age The kingdome to Dauid after Saul A deliuerance from captiuitie in Babylon after 70. yeres to the Israelites Againe the preface serues to stirre vp loue and feare in the hearts of them that are about to pray Loue because they pray to a father feare because he is full of maiestie in heauen Hallowed be thy Name 1. The Coherence THus much of the preface now follow the petitions They be sixe in number the three first concerne God the three last our selues The three former petitions are again deuided into two parts the first concernes Gods glorie it selfe the other two the meanes whereby Gods glorie is manifested and inlarged among men For Gods name is glorified among men when his kingdome doth come and his will is done Quest. Why is this petition Hallowed be thy name set in the first place Ans. Because Gods glorie must be preferred before all things because it is the end of all creatures and of all the counsels of God Prov. 16.4 The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake yea euen the wicked for the day of euill And from the order of the petitions here ariseth a worthie instruction namely that euery one in all things they take in hand are to propound to themselues and to intend the glorie of God The reason is this The ende which God hath appointed to all our doings we are to propound to our selues but God hath appointed that the highest ende of all his doings should be his glorie therefore our hearts must be set to seeke it first of all That God will haue his name glorified by vs appeareth in this that he punisheth those which of obstinacie set themselues to dishonour him or by negligence did not sanctifie him when they should haue done so Herod sitting in his royaltie made such an oration that the people cried The voice of a god and not of a man and immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him because he gaue not glorie to God Act. 12. 12. And Moses because he did not sanctifie the Lord in the presence of the children of Israel therefore he came not into the land of promise yet he did not altogether faile in doing of it Thus we may see by these punishments and also by the order of the petitions that it is our duties to preferre the glorie of God before all thing els Quest. Whether are we to preferre the glorie of God before the saluation of our soules Ans. If the cause stand thus that Gods name must be dishonoâ—red or our soules condemned we must account the glorie of God more pretious then the saluation of our soules This is manifest in the order of the petitions The petitions that concerne Gods glorie is first and the petitions that concerne directly our saluation are the fift and sixt Whereby we are taught that before God should want any part of his glorie we must let bodie and soule and all goe that God may haue all his glorie This affection had Moses Exod. 32.32 when he said Either forgiue them or if thou wilt not blot my name out of thy booke In this petition as also in the rest we must obserue three things the first is the meaning of the wordes the second the wants which men must learne to bewaile the third the graces of God which are to be desired 2. The meaning VEry few among the people can giue the right meaning of the wordes of this prayer They pretend that seeing God knowes their good meaning it is sufficient for them to say the wordes and to meane well But faith beeing one of the grounds of praier and there beeing no faith without knowledge neither can there be praier without knowledge and therefore ignorant men are to learne the right meaning of the words Name Name in this place signifieth 1 God himselfe 1. King 5.5 He shall build an house to my Name 2 His attributes as his iustice mercie c. 3 His workes creatures and iudgements 4 His word 5 His honour and praise arising from all these For God is knowne to vs by all these as men are knowne by their names and as all a mans praise and glorie lies in his name so all the glorie of God is in these Hallowed TO hallow is to seuer or set apart any thing from the common vse to some proper and peculiar end as the Temple was hallowed that is set apart to an holy vse and the Priests were sanctified that is set apart to the seruice of God And all that beleeue in Christ are sanctified that is set apart from sinne to serue God In like manner Gods name is hallowed when it is put apart froÌ„ obliuion contempt prophanation pollution blasphemie and all abuses to an holy reuerent and honorable vse whether we thinke speake of it or vse it any manner of way Leuit. 10.3 Ezech. 38.23 Quest. How can a sinfull man hallow Gods name which is pure and holy in it selfe Ans. We doe not here pray that we might make Gods name holy as though we could adde something vnto it to make it holy but that we might be meanes to declare and make manifest to the world by the right vsage of it that it is holy pure and honourable The like phrase is vsed Luke 7. 9. Wisdome is iustified by her children that is acknowledged and declared to be iust Ezech. 38.23 The scope therefore of the first petition is an earnest desire that we might set forth Gods glory whatsoeuer become of vs and it may be expressed thus O Lord open our eyes that we may aright know thee and acknowledge the greatnes of thy power wisdome iustice and mercy which appeares in thy titles words creatures iudgements and grant that when we vse any of these we may therein honour thee and vse them reuerently to thy glorie 3. The wants which are to be bewailed 1. THE wants which we in this place are taught to bewaile are specially foure The first is an inward and spirituall pride of our hearts a sinne that none or very fewe can see in themselues vnlesse the Lord open their eies When our first parents were tempted in paradise the deuill told them they should be as Gods which lesson not onely they but we haue learned and wee conceiue of our selues as little gods though to the world we shew it not This hidden pride when other sinnes die it begins to get strength and to shewe it selfe and appeares in vaine thoughts continually on euery occasion ascending in the mind As may appeare
no doubt because through the dulnesse of his heart he cannot trie and examine himselfe therfore truly cannnot discerne of his estate whether he be in Christ or not and it may be thought that Sathan is readie with some false perswasion to deceiue him For this is his propertie that vpon whome God threatneth death there Sathan is bold to pronounce life and saluation as on the contrarie to those to whome God pronounceth loue and mercie to those I say he threatneth displeasure and damnation such malice hath he against Gods children XXXI And hereby it commeth to passe that an hypocrite may be in the visible Church and obey it in the word and discipline so be taken for a true member of Christ when as a man indeed regenerate may be excommunicate and end his life before he be receiued againe for this is the end of excommunication that the flesh that is the part vnregenerate may be destroyed and the spirit that is the part regenerate may be kept aliue in the day of the Lord. Now the man in whome is spirit and flesh must needes be the childe of God because this argueth that he hath the sanctifying spirit of Christ. Againe Paul when he biddeth the Corinthians to comfort the incestious man least through the sleight of Sathan he should be ouerwhelmed of ouer much heauines giueth men to vnderstand that he might haue ended his life in great extremitie of sorrowe before he had beene visibly receiued into the Church againe XXXII Though God will neuer adopt any reprobate yet by the adoption of the elect they may receiue profit For they find the blessing of God to be on them by reason that they dwel together haue societie with the children of God For Noahs sake euery one in his family is saued in the flood For lots cause the men of Zoar are preserued froÌ„ the fire And God would haue spared Sodom if there had bin but ten good men in it For Rahabs cause her family and kindred are at libertie in Iericho When Ioseph was in Putiphars house al things prospered well For Samuels cause the Israelites were deliuered from the Philistims And for Pauls cause they which were with him in the ship were preserued And againe a reprobate by meanes of the faith of either of his parents may be within Gods couenant and so may be made partaker of Baptisme one of the seales of the couenant For so God made his couenant with Abraham that he would be not onely his God but also the God of his seede after him which Paul expoundeth not of a few but of all nations Also he saith manifestly that those children either of whose parents are beleeuers are holy which holinesse is not inherent in their persons but onely outward and it is a spirituall prerogatiue graunted them of God in that he vouchsafeth them to be in his couenant whereby they are distinguished from the wicked and prophane men of the world XXXIII Besides this reprobates haue some prerogatiues of God as that lie is patient towards them that before he will destroy them he vseth many meanes to win them that they commonly spend all the daies of their liues in prosperitie insomuch that it is said of them in the Psalme that they goe in continual prosperitie vnto their death and pine not away as the children of God doe But after a certain time God in his iust iudgement hardneth their hearts blindeth the eyes of their minds he maketh their heads giddy with a spiritual drunkennes by the strength of their inward lusts as also by the effectuall opâ—ration of Satan they fall to open infidelitie contempt of Gods word and so run headlong to their own damnation and perish finally And in this they are like to hauks which so long as they liue are caried on the handes of noble men but when they are dead they are cast on the dunghill Iulian the Apostata was first a man learned and eloquent and professed the religion of Christ but afterward he fel and wrote a booke against the religion of Christ answered by Cyril on a time in a battell against the Persians was thrust into the bowells with a dart no man then knew how which dart he pulled out with his owne hand presently blood followed which as it gushed out he tooke it in his hand and flung it into the ayre saying Vicisti Galilâ—e vicisti O thou Galilean meaning Christ thou art the conquerour thou art the conquerour thus he ended his daies in blaspheming Christ whom he had professed The reason of this apostasie is euident Seede that is not deepely rooted in the earth at the beginning of the yeare springeth vp it is greene and bringeth forth leaues flowers and it may be some kind of fruit too when the heat of sommer commeth it parcheth the earth and the corne wanting deepe rooting and therfore wanting moysture withereth away Gods word is like seede which that it may bring forth fruit vnto euerlasting life it must be first receiued of the ground secondly it must be rooted the receiuing of it is when the minde vnderstandeth it and remembreth it he rooting of it is when being beleeued it pierceth to the heart and taketh hold of the affections This rooting is of two sorts the first is when the word rooteth but not deepe ynough as when the word is receiued into the minde and into the heart by the ioy of the heart but not with the residue of the affections The second is a deepe and liuely rooting of the word when the word is receiued into the minde and into the heart by the will and all the affections of the heart The first kind of rooting of the word befalleth to a reprobate who vnderstandeth and reioyceth in the promises of saluation yet he doth not put any confidence in them he can not rest in them he doth not reioyce that his name is written in the book of life he doth not work out his saluation with feare and trembling In a word his heart is in paâ—t softened to reioyce at the preaching of the word of God yet his heart is not opened as Lydias was nor enlarged as Dauid saith to imbrace the truth but the Elect he receiueth the word not onely into his mind least it should be only an imagination but also it is deepely rooted in his heart For 1 In sure confidence he resteth himselfe on Gods promise Rom. 8.38 Heb. 10.22 2 He hopeth and longeth to see the accomplishment of it 1. Thess. 1.10 3 He heartily loueth God for making such a promise to him in Christ. 1. Ioh. 4.10 4 He reioyceth in it and therefore doth meditate on it continually Luk. 10.20 Rom. 5.2 5 He hateth all doctrines which are against it 6 He is grieued when he doth any thing that may hinder the accomplishment of it Math. 26.75 7 He vseth the meanes to come to
the last for a man must bee renewed and come to an vtter disliking of his owne sinnes before hee will turne from them and leaue them XLV By this it may appeare that there is one manner of sinning in the godly another in the vngodly though they fal both into one sin A wicked man when he sinneth in his heart he giueth full consent to the sinne but the godly though they fall into the same sins with the wicked yet they neuer giue full consent for they are in their mindes wills and affections partly regenerate and partly vnregenerate and therefore their wills doe partly will and partly abhorre that which is euil according as Saint Paul saith of himselfe I delight in the lawe of God according to the inner man but I see another law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde and leading me captiue c. And that the godly man neuer giueth full consent to sinne it is euident by three tokens First before he commeth to doe the sinne he hath no purpose nor desire to doe it but his purpose and desire is to doe the will of God contrarie to that sinne Secondly in the act or doing of the sinne his heart riseth against it yet by the strength of temptation and by the mightie violence of the flesh hee is haled and pulled on to doe wickednesse Paul sayeth of himselfe that hee was sold vnder sinne that is he was like a slaue who desireth to escape out of his masters handes and yet is faine in great miserie to serue him Thirdly after hee hath sinned he is sore displeased with himselfe for it and truely repenteth As Peter before the denying of his master had no purpose to doe it but rather to die in his cause In the act he had a striuing with himselfe as appeareth by this that first he answered faintly I knowe not what thou sayest and yet after whē the assault of Satan more preuailed he fell to swearing cursing and banning After his fall he repented himselfe and wept bitterly for it All was contrary in Iudas who went to betray his master with full intent and purpose for the deuil long tempting him vnto it entred into him that is made him yeelde and resolue himselfe to doe it Afterward when Christ was betrayed and condēned Iudas was not sorrowful for his sinne with a godly sorrow but in despaire of mercy hanged himselfe XLVI Fruits worthie of amēdment of life are such fruits as the trees of righteousnesse beare namely good workes for the doing of a good worke there bee three things requisite First it must proceede from iustifying faith For the worke cannot please God except the person please him and the person cannot please him without this faith Secondly it is to be done in obedience vnto Gods reuealed word To obey is better then sacrifice and to harken is better then the fat of Rams Thirdly it is to be referred to Gods glorie Whether ye eate or drinke saith Paul or whatsoeuer ye doe doe all to the glorie of God The speciall all workes of Christians which they and none but they truely performe are these fiue which follow XLVII The first is the good hearing of the word My sheepe saith Christ heare my voice and follow me And againe he which is of God heareth his voice And this was one note of the faithfull in the primitiue Church to assemble to heare the word This good hearing of the word is the sauing hearing that bringeth life eternall In this action Christians are vsually thus disposed Before they come to heare the word of God they make themselues readie to heare it as the men of Berea did who receiued the word with all readines This preparation standeth in two points First they disburden themselues of all impediments that like vnto runners in a race they may be swift to heare these impediments are sinne and troubled affections and they come with humble hearts as fooles that they may become wise Secondly they quicken vp themselues and come vnto the assemblies hungring and thirsting after the word of God as men do after meat and drinke When they are in hearing Gods word first their mindes are fixed and attentiue onely to that which is spoken as Lydias was Secondly they truly beleeue the word of God and carefully apply it to their owne soules Thirdly they feele the liuely power of it in themselues It is as salt in them to draw out their inward corruption it is to them the sword of the spirit and as a sacrificing knife in the hand of Gods minister by which their flesh is killed they are offered vp in a liuing sacrifice to God it is spirit and life to quicken and reuiue their soules that are dead in sin and the reason of this is plaine The word of God preached is as a cup of wine the true Christian is the Lords guest but he hath sauce of his own he bringeth his sugar with him namely his true faith which he tempereth and mingleth with Gods word and so it becommeth vnto him as a cup of sweet wine and as water of life Now the hypocrit because he bringeth no faith with him drinketh of the same but he findes the wine to be sowre and tart and void of rellish and in trueth it is vnto him as a cup of ranke poyson Againe they heare the worde of God as in Gods presence and therefore their hearts are full of feare and trembling And they receiue the Worde not as from man but as from Christ Iesus the onely Doctor of the Church And they regard not so much the Embassadour or his abilitie as the Embassage of reconciliation sent from the king of heauen After they haue heard the word they are bettered in knowledge in affection they remēber it meditate vpon it cōtinually that they may frame all their doings by it Worldly men vse to buy books of statutes to haue thē in their houses to read on that they may knowe how to auoid danger of law And so the faithfull do alwaies set before thē Gods word in al their doings it is their Counseller least they should come into danger of Gods displeasure XLVIII The second worke is the receiuing of the Sacraments of Baptisme once onely when a man is openly and solemnly admitted into the Church and of the Lords supper often The first sealeth vp to the heart of a Christian that he is vnited vnto Christ hath true felloship with him in beeing fully iustified before God inwardly sanctified The second serueth to seale vp in the heart of a Christian the continuall growing and increasing of the same graces This thing euery true beleeuer shall haue often experience of either in or after the receiuing of the Sacrament and yet it shal not be so alwaies for sometimes the Church beeing brought into
said religion is against the Catholike principles and groundes of the Catechisme PRINTED BY IOHN LEGAT PRINTER to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge 1600. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPfull Sir William Bowes Knight c. Grace and peace RIght Worshipful it is a notable pollicie of the deuil which he hath put into the heades of sundrie men in this age to thinke that our religion and the religion of the present Church of Rome are all one for substance and that they may be reunited as in their opinion they were before Writings to this effect are spread abroad in the French tongue and respected of English protestants more then is meete or ought to be For let men in shew of moderation pretend the peace and good estate of the Catholike Church as long as long as they will this Vnion of the two religions can neuer be made more then the vnion of light darknes And this shall appeare if we doe but a little consider howe they of the Romane Church haue rased the foundation For though in wordes they honour Christ yet in deed they turne him to a Pseudo-Christ and an Idol of their owne braine They call him our Lord but with this condition that the Seruant of Seruants of this Lord may chaunge and adde to his commandements hauing so great a power that he may open and shut heauen to whome he will and bind the verie conscience with his owne lawes and consequently be partaker of the spiritual kingdome of Christ. Againe they call him a Sauiour but yet in Vs in that hee giues this grace vnto vs that by our merits wee may be our owne Sauiours and in the want of our own merits wee may pertake in the merits of the Saints And they acknowledge that he died and suffered for vs but with this caueat that the Fault beeing pardoned wee must satisfie for the temporall punishment either in this world or in Purgatorie In a word they make him our mediatour of Intercession vnto God but withal his Mother must be the Queene of Heauen and by the right of a Mother commaund him there Thus in worde they crie Osunna but in deede they crucifie Christ. Therefore wee haue good cause to blesse the name of God that hath freed vs from the yoke of this Romane bondage and hath brought vs to the true light libertie of the gospel And it should be a great height of vnthankfulnesse in vs not to stand out against the present Church of Rome but to yeeld our selues to plottes of reconciliation To this effect and purpose I haue penned this little Treatise which I present to your Worship desiring it might be some token of a thankfull mind for vndeserued loue And I craue withall not onely your Worshipfull which is more common but also your learned protection beeing well assured that by skill and arte you are able to iustifie whatsoeuer I haue truely taught Thus wishing to you and yours the continuance and the increase of faith and good conscience I take my leaue Cambridge Iun. 28. 1597. Your Worships in the Lord William Perkins THE AVTHOR TO THE Christian Reader BY a Reformed Catholike I vnderstand any one that holdes the same necessarie beads of religion with the Romane Church yet so as he pares off and reiects all errours in doctrine whereby the said religion is corrupted Howe this may be done I haue begun to make some little declaration in this small Treatise the intent whereof is to shewe how neere wee may come to the present Church of Rome in sundrie points of religion and wherein we must for euer dissent My purpose in penning this small discourse is threefolde The first is to confute all such Politikes as hold and maintaine that our religion and that of the Romane Church differ not in substance and consequently that they may be reconciled yet my meaning is not here to condemne any Pacification that tends to perswade the Romane Church to our religion The second is that the Papists which thinke so basely of our religion may be wonne to a better liking of it when they shall see howe neere we come vnto them in sundrie points The third that the common protestant might in some part see and conceiue the point of difference betweene vs and the Church of Rome and know in what manner and how farre forth we condemne the opinions of the said Church I craue pardon for the order which I vse in handling the seuerall points For I haue set them downe one by one as they came to mind not respecting the lawes of method If any Papist shall say that I haue not alleadged their opinions aright I answer that their bookes be at hand and I can iustifie what I haue saide Thus crauing thine acceptation of this my paines and wishing vnto thee the increase of knowledge and loue of pure and sound religion I take my leaue and make an ende The places of doctrine handled are 1 Of Free-will 2 Of Originall sinne 3 Assurance of saluation 4 Iustification of a sinner 5 Of merits 6 Satisfactions for sinne 7 Of Traditions 8 Of Vowes 9 Of Images 10 Of Reall presence 11 The sacrifice of the Masse 12 Of Fasting 13 The state of perfection 14 Worshipping of Saints departed 15 Intercession of Saints 16 Implicite faith 17 Of Purgatorie 18 Of the supremacie 19 Of the efficacie of the Sacraments 20 Of faith 21 Of Repentance 22 The sinnes of the Romane Church REVELAT 18. 4. And I heard another voice from heauen say Goe out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sinnes and receiue not of her plagues IN the former chapter S. Iohn sets downe a description of the whore of Babylon that at large as he saw her in a vision described vnto him In the sixteenth verse of the same chapter he foretels her destruction and in the three first verses of this 18. chapter hee goeth on to propound the said destruction yet more directly and plainely withall alleadging arguments to prooue the same in all the verses following Nowe in this fourth verse is set downe a caueat seruing to forewarne all the people of God that they may escape the iudgement which shal befall the whore and the words containe two parts a commandement and a reason The commandement Come out of her my people that is from Babylon The reason taken from the euent least ye be partakers c. Touching the cōmandement first I will search the right meaning of it and then set downe the vse thereof and doctrine flowing thence In historie therefore are three Babylons mentioned one is Babylon of Assyria standing on the riuer Euphrates where was the confusion of Languages and where the Iewes were in captiuitie which Babylon is in Scripture reproched for Idolatrie and other iniquities The second Babylon is in Egypt standing on the riuer Nylus and it is now called Cayr of that mention is made 1. Pet. 5.13 as some thinke though indeede it is as likely and more commonly thought
satisfie Gods iustice for mans sinne but because they are fruits of that faith and repentance which lies in the heart Obiect VII 2. Cor. 7.10 Paul setteth downe sundrie fruits of repentance whereof the last is reuenge whereby repentant persons punish themselues thereby to satisfie Gods iustice for the temporall punishment of their sinnes Ans. A repentant sinner must take reuenge of himselfe and that is onely to vse all meanes which serue to subdue the corruption of his nature to bridle carnal affections and to mortifie sinne and these kinde of actions are restrainments properly and not punishments and are directed against the sinne and not against the person Lastly they make three workes of satisfaction praier fasting and almes deedes For the first it is meere foolishnes to thinke that man by praier can satisfie for his sinnes It is all one as if they had said that a begger by asking of almes should deserue his almes or that a debter by requesting his creditor to pardon his debt should thereby pay his debt Secondly fasting is a thing indifferent of the same nature with eating drinking and of it selfe conferreth nothing to the obtainment of the kingdome of heauen no more then eating and drinking doth Thirdly and lastly almes deedes cannot bee workes of satisfaction for sinnes For when we giue them as we ought we doe but our dutie whereunto we are bound And wee may as well say that a man by paying one debt may discharge another as to say that by doing his dutie hee may satisfie Gods iustice for the punishment of his sinnes These we confesse bee fruites of faith but yet are they no workes of satisfaction but the onely and alsufficient satisfaction made to Gods iustice for our sinnes is to be found in the person of Christ beeing procured by the merit of his death and his obedience And thus our doctrine touching satisfaction is cleared and it is to bee learned carefully of our common people because the opinion of humane satisfaction is naturall and stickes fast in the heart of naturall men Hereupon when any haue sinned and feele touch of conscience any way their manner is then to performe some outward humiliation and repentance thinking therby to stoppe the mouth of conscience and by doing some ceremoniall duties to appease the wrath of God for their sinnes Yea many thinke to satisfie gods iustice by repeating the Creed the Lords praier and then tenne commandements so foolish are they in this kind The seuenth point Of Traditions Traditions are doctrines deliuered from hand to hand either by word of mouth or by writing beside the written word of God Our Consent Conclus I. We hold that the very word of God hath beene deliuered by tradition For first God reuealed his will to Adam by word of mouth and renued the fame vnto the Patriarkes not by writing but by speech by dreames other inspirations and thus the word of God went from man to man for the space of two thousand and foure hundred yeres vnto the time of Moses who was the first pen-man of hoâ—y Scripture For as touching the prophesie of Enoch we commonly hold it was not penned by Enoch but by some Iewe vnder his name And for the space of this time men worshipped God and held the articles of their faith by tradition not from men but immediately from God himselfe And the historie of the newe testament as some say â—or eightie yeares as some others thinke for the space of twentie yeares and more went from hand to hand by tradition til penned by the Apostles or beeing penned by others was approoued by them Conclus II. We hold that the Prophets our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles spake and did many things good and true which were not written in the scriptures but came either to vs or to our ancetours onely by tradition As 2. Tim. 3.8 it is said Iannes and Iambres were the Magitians that withstood Moses nowe in the bookes of the old testament we shall not find them once named and therefore it is like that the Apostle had their names by tradition or by some writings then extant among the Iewes So Heb. 12.21 the author of the Epistle recordeth of Moses that when hee sawe a terrible sight in Mount Sinai he said I tremble and am afraide which wordes are not to be found in all the bookes of the old testament In the epistle of Iude mention is made that the deuill stroue with Michaell the Archangel about the bodie of Moses which point as also the former considering it is not to be found in holy wine it seemes the Apostle had it by tradition from the Iewes That the prophet â—say was killed with a fullers club is receiued for trueth but yet not recorded in scripture and so likewise that the virgine Marie liued and died a virgine And in Ecclesiasticall writers many worthy sayings of the Apostles and other holy men are recorded and receiued of vs for trueth which neuerthelesse are not set downe in the bookes of the old or newe testament And many things wee holde for trueth not written in the worde if they bee not against the word Conclus III. We hold that the Church of God hath power to prescribe ordinances rules or traditions touching time and place of Gods worship touching order and comelines to be vsed in the same and in this regard Paul 1. Cor. 11.2 commendeth the Church of Corinth for keeping his traditions and Act. 15. the Councel at Ierusalem decreed that the Churches of the Gentiles should abstaine from blood and from things strangled This decree is tearmed a tradition and it was in force among them so long as the offence of the Iewes remained And this kinde of traditions whether made by generall Councels or particular Synods we haue care to maintaine and obserue these caueats being remembred first that they prescribe nothing childish or absurd to be done secondly that they be not imposed as any parts of Gods worship thirdly that they be seuered from superstition or opinion of merit lastly that the Church of God be not burdened with the multitude of them And thus much we hold touching Traditions The difference Papists teach that beside the written word there be certaine vnwritten traditions which must be beleeued as profitable and necessarie to saluation And these they say are twofold Apostolicall namely such as were deliuered by the Apostles and not written and Ecclesiasticall which the Church decreeth as occasion is offered We hold that the Scriptures are most perfect containing in them all doctrines needfull to saluation whether they concerne faith or manners and therefore we acknowledge no such traditions beside the written word which shal be necessarie to saluation so as he which beleeueth them not cannot be saued Our Reasons Testimonie I. Deut. 4.2 Thou shalt not adde to the wordes that I commande thee nor take any thing thing therefrom therefore the written word is sufficient for all doctrines pertaining to saluation If it be
said that this commandement is spoken as well of the vnwritten as of the written word I answer that Moses speaketh of the written word onely for these very words are a certaine preface which he set before a long commentarie made of the written lawe for this end to make the people more attentiue and obedient Testimonie II. Isai 8.20 To the lawe and to the testimonie If they speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Here the Prophet teacheth what must be done in cases of difficultie Men must not rūne to the wizard or southsayer but to the lawe and testimonie and here he commends the written word as sufficient to resolue all doubts and scruples in conscience whatsoeuer Testimonie III. Ioh. 20.31 Those things were written that ye might beleeue that Iesus is the Christ and in beleeuing might haue euerlasting life Here is set downe the full ende of the gospell and of the whole written word which is to bring men to faith cōsequently to saluatiō therfore the whole scripture alone is sufficient to this end without traditiōs If it be said that this place must bee vnderstood of Christs miracles onely I answer that miracles without the doctrine of Christ knowledge of his sufferings can bring no man to life euerlasting and therefore the place must bee vnderstood of the doctrine of Christ and not of his miracles alone as Paul teacheth Gal. 1.8 If wee or an angell from heauen preach vnto you any thing beside that which we haue preached let him be accursed And to this effect he blames them that taught but a diuers doctrine to that which he had taught 1. Tim. 1.3 Testimonie IV. 2. Tim. 3.16,17 The whole Scripture is giuen by inspiration of God and is profitable to teach to improoue to correct and to instruct in righteousnes that the man of God may be absolute being made perfect vnto euery good work In these wordes be contained two arguments to prooue the sufficiencie of Scripture without vnwritten verities The first that which is profitable to these foure vses namely to teach all necessarie trueth to confute all errours to correct faults in manners and to instruct in righteousnes that is to informe al men in all good duties that is sufficient to saluation But Scripture serueth for all these vses and therefore it is sufficient and vnwritten traditions are superfluous The second that which can make the man of God that is Prophets and Apostles and the ministers of the word perfect in all the duties of their callings that same word is sufficient to make all other men perfect in all good workes But Gods word is able to make the man of God perfect Therefore it is sufficient to prescribe the true and perfect way to eternall life without the helpe of vnwritten traditions V. The iudgement of the Church Tertul. saith Take from heretickes the opinions which they maintaine with the heathen that they may defend their questions by Scripture alone and they cannot stand Againe We neede no curiositie after Christ Iesus nor inquisition after the gospel When we beleeue it wee desire to beleeue nothing beside for this we first beleeue that there is nothing more which wee may beleeue Hierome on Math. 23. writing of an opinion that Iohn Baptist was killed because he foretold the comming of Christ saith thus This because it hath not authoritie from Scriptures may as easily be contemned as approoued In which wordes there is a conclusion with a minor and the maior is to bee supplyed by the rules of logicke thus That which hath not authoritie from Scriptures may as easily be contemned as approoued but this opinion is for therefore Behold a notable argument against all vnwritten traditions Augustine booke 2. cap. 9. de doct Christ. In those things which are plainely set downe in Scripture are found all those points which containe faith and manners of liuing well Vincentius Lirinen saith the Canon of the Scripture is perfect and fully sufficient to it selfe for all things Beside these testimonies other reasons there bee that serue to prooue this point I. The practise of Christ and his Apostles who for the confirmamatiō of the doctrine which they taught vsed alwaies the testimony of Scripture neither can it be prooued that they euer confirmed any doctrine by tradition Act. 26.22 I continue vnto this day witnessing both to smal and great saying none other things then those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come And by this we are giuen to vnderstand that we must alwaies haue recourse to the written word as beeing sufficient to instruct vs in matters of saluation II. If the beleeuing of vnwritten traditions were necessarie to saluation then we must as well beleeue the writings of the auncient Fathers as well as the writings of the Apostles because Apostolicall traditions are not els where to be found but in their bookes And we may not beleeue their sayings as the word of God because they often erre beeing subiect to errour and for this cause their authoritie when they speake of traditions may be suspected and we may not alwaies beleeue them vpon their word Obiections for Traditions First they alleadge 2. Thess. 2.15 where the Apostle biddes that Church keepe the ordinances which he taught them either by word or letter Hence they gather that beside the written word there be vnwritten traditions that are indeede necessarie to be kept and obeyed Ans. It is very likely that this Epistle to the Thessalonians was the first that euer Paul writ to any Church though in order it haue not the first place and therfore at that time when this Epistle was penned it might well fall out that some things needfull to saluation were deliuered by word of mouth not being as yet written by any Apostle Yet the same things were afterward set downe in writing either in the second epistle or in the epistles of Paul Obiect II. That Scripture is Scripture is a point to be beleeued but that is a tradition vnwritten and therefore one tradition there is not written that we are to beleeue Ans. That the bookes of the old and new Testament are Scripture it is to be gathered and beleeued not vpon bare tradition but from the very bookes themselues on this manner Let a man that is indued with the spirit of discerning read the seuerall bookes withall let him consider the professed author thereof which is God himselfe and the matter therein contained which is a most diuine and absolute truth full of pietie the manner and forme of speach which is full of maiestie in the simplicitie of words the ende whereat they wholly aime which is the honour and glorie of God alone c. he shall be resolued that Scripture is Scripture euen by the Scripture it selfe Yea and by this meanes he may discerne any part of Scripture from the writings of mē whatsoeuer Thus thē scripture prooues it selfe to be scripture yet
thinke it not and that their consciences can tell what they think Neither must this seeme strāge For there be two actions of the vnderstanding the one is simple which barely conceiueth or thinketh this or that the other is a reflecting or doubling of the former whereby a man conceiues or thinks with himselfe what he thinks And this action properly pertaines to the conscience The minde thinkes a thought now conscience goes beyond the minde and knowes what the mind thinkes so as if a man would goe about to hide his sinfull thoughts frō God his conscience as it were another person within him shall discouer all By meanes of this second action conscience may beare witnes euen of thoughts and from hence also it seemes to borrow his name because conscience is a science or knowledge ioyned with an other knowledge for by it I conceiue and knowe what I knowe Againe conscience beares witnesse what the wills an affections of men bee in euery matter Rom. 9.1 I say the trueth in Christ I lie not my conscience bearing me witnes by the holy Ghost that I haue great heauinesse and continuall sorrow in my heart for I could wish my selfe to be seperate from Christ for my brethren Lastly it witnesseth what be mens actions Eccl. 7.24 Oftentimes also thine heart knoweth that is conscience witnesseth that thou likewise hast cursed others The maner that conscience vseth in giuing testimony stands in two things First it obserues and takes notice of all things that wee doe secondly it doeth inwardly and secretly within the heart tell vs of them al. In this respect it may fitly be compared to a Notarie or a Register that hath alwaies the penne in his hand to note and record whatsoeuer is said or done who also because hee keepes the rolles and recordes of the court can tell what hath beene said or done many hundred yeares past Touching the third point Howelong conscience beares witnes it doeth it continually not for a minut or a day or a moneth or a yeare but for euer when a man dies conscience dieth not when the bodie is rotting in the graue conscience liueth and is safe and sound and when we shall rise againe conscience shall come with vs to the barre of Gods iudgement either to accuse or excuse vs before God Rom. 2.15,16 Their conscience bearing witnes at the day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ. By this first dutie of conscience we are to learne three things The first that there is a god and we may be led to the sight of this euen by common reason For conscience beares witnes Of what Of thy particular doings But against whome or with whome doth it giue testimonie thou maiest feele in thy heart that it doth it either with thee or against thee And to whome is it a witnesse to men or angels that cannot be for they cānot heare the voice of conscience they cannot receiue consciences testimonie nay they cannot see what is in the heart of man It remaines therefore that there is a spirituall substance most wise most holy most mightie that sees all things to whome conscience beares record and that is God himselfe Let Atheists barke against this as long as they will they haue that in them that will conuince them of the trueth of the godhead will they nill they either in life or death Secondly we learne that God doth watch ouer all men by a speciall prouidence The master of a prison is knowne by this to haue care ouer his prisoners if he send keepers with them to watch them and to bring them home againe in time conuenient and so Gods care to man is manifest in this that whē he created man and placed him in the worlde he gaue him conscience to bee his keeper to follow him alwaies at his heeles and to dogge him as we say to prie into his actions and to beare witnesse of them all Thirdly hence we may obserue Gods goodnesse and loue to man If hee doe any thing amisse he sets his conscience first of all to tell him of it secretly if then he amend God forgiues it if not then afterward conscience must openly accuse him for it at the barre of Gods iudgement before all the Saints and angels in heauen The second worke of conscience is to giue iudgement of things done To giue iudgement is to determine that a thing is well done or ill done Herein conscience is like to a Iudge that holdeth an assise and takes notice of inditements and causeth the most notorious malefactour that is to hold vp his hand at the barre of his iudgement Nay it is as it were a little God sitting in the middle of mens hearts arraigning them in this life as they shall be arraigned for their offences at the tribunal seat of the euerliuing God in the day of iudgement Wherefore the temporarie iudgement that is giuen by the conscience is nothing els but a beginning or a fore-runner of the last iudgement Hence we are admonished to take speciall heede that nothing past lie heauie vpon vs and that we charge not our conscience in time to come with any matter For if our conscience accuse vs God will much more condemne vs saith S. Iohn 1. Ioh. 3. 18. because he seeth all our actions more clearely and iudgeth them more seuerely then conscience can It shall bee good therefore for all men to labour that they may say with Paul 2. Cor. 4. I knowe nothing by my selfe that they may stand before God without blame for euer Here we must consider two things first the cause that makes conscience giue iudgement secondly the manner howe The cause is the Binder of the conscience The binder is that thing whatsoeuer which hath power and authoritie ouer conscience to order it To bind is to vrge cause and constraine it in euery action either to accuse for sinne or to excuse for well doing or to say this may be done or it may not be done That we may knowe what this phrase meaneth to be bound in conscience we must in minde consider conscience a part by it selfe from the binding power power of Gods commandement For then it hath libertie and is not bound either to accuse or excuse but is apt to doe either of them indifferently but whē the binding power is set once ouer the conscience then in euery action it must needes either accuse or excuse euen as a man in a citie or towne hauing his libertie may goe vp and downe or not goe where and when he will but if his bodie be attached by the magistrate and imprisoned then his former libertie is restrained he is bound and can goe vp and downe but within the prison or some other allowed place The binder of conscience is either proper or improper Proper is that thing which hath absolute and soueraigne power in it selfe to binde the conscience And that is the word of God written in the book
of the old and new Testament Reason I. He which is the Lord of conscience by his word and lawes binds conscience but God is the onely Lord of conscience because he once created it and he alone gouernes it and none but he knowes it therefore his word and lawes onely binde conscience properly II. He which hath power to saue or destroy the soule for the keeping or breaking of his lawes hath absolute power to bind the soule and conscience by the same lawes but the first is true of God alone Iam. 3. 12. There is one Lawgiuer which is able to saue and destroy Esa. 33.22 The Lord is our iudge the Lord is our lawgiuer the Lord is our King and he will saue vs. Therefore the word of God alone by an absolute and soueraigne power binds conscience Because this point is cleare of it selfe further proofe is needlesse Hence we are taught sundrie points of instruction I. Such as are ignorant among vs must labour to get knowledge of Gods word because it binds conscience Neither will the plea of ignorance serue for excuse because whether we know Gods lawes or know them not they stil bind vs And we are bound not onely to doe them but when we know them not we are further bound not to be ignorant of them but to seeke to know them If we had no more sinnes our ignorance were sufficient to condemne vs. II. Gods word is to be obeyed though we should offend all men yea loose all mens fauour and suffer the greatest domage that may be euen the losse of our liues And the reason is at hand because Gods word hath this prerogatiue to bridle binde and restraine the conscience III. Whatsoeuer we enterprise or take in hand we must first search whether God giue vs libertie in conscience and warrant to doe it For if we doe otherwise conscience is bound presently to charge vs of sinne before God Lastly we doe here see how daungerous the case is of all Time-seruers that will liue as they list and be of no certen religion till differences and dissentions therein be ended and they haue the determination of a generall Councill for whether these things compasse or no certen it is that they are bound in conscience to receiue and beleeue the auncient Propheticall and Apostolicall doctrine touching the true worship of God and the way to life euerlasting which is the true religion The same is to be said of all drowsie Protestants and luke-warme gospellers that vse religion not with that care and conscience they ought but onely then and so farre forth as it serues for their turnes commonly neglecting or despising the assemblies where the word is preached and seldome frequenting the Lords table vnlesse it be at Easter Like silly wretches they neither see nor feele the constraining power that Gods word hath in their consciences Gods word is either Law or Gospell The Law is a part of Gods word of things to be done or to be left vndone And it is threefolde Morall Iudiciall Ceremoniall Morall lawe concernes duties of loue partly to God and partly towards our neighbour it is contained in the Decalogue or ten commandements and it is the very law of nature written in all mens hearts for substance though not for the manner of propounding in the creation of man and therefore it bindes the consciences of all men at all times euen of blind and ignorant persons that neither knowe the most of it nor care to knowe it Yet here must be remembred three exceptions or cautions I. When two commandements of the morall law are opposite in respect of vs so as we cannot doe them both at the same time then the lesser commandement giues place to the greater and doth not binde or constraine for that instant Example I. God commaunds one thing and the magistrate commands the flat contrarie in this case which of these two commandements is to be obeyed Honour God or Honour the Magistrate the answer is that the latter must giue place to the former and the former alone in this case must be obeyed Act. 4.19 Whether it be right in the sight of God to obey you rather then God iudge ye II. The fourth commandement prescribes rest on the Sabbath day now it falls out that at the same time a whole towne is set on fire and the sixt commandement requires our help in sauing our neighbours life and goods Nowe of these two commandements which must be obeied for both cannot The answer is that the fourth commandement at this time is to giue place and the sixt commandement alone bindes the conscience so as then if neede should require a man might labour all the day without offence to God Math. 9.13 I will haue mercie and not sacrifice And the rule must not be omitted That charitie towards our neighbour is subordinate to the Loue of God and therefore must giue place to it For this cause the commandement concerning charitie must giue place to the cōmandement concerning loue to God and when the case so falls out that wee must either offend our neighbour or God we must rather offend our neighbour then God II. Caution When God giues some particular commandement to his people therein dispensing with some other commandement of the moral law for that time it bindes not For euen the morall commandements must be cōceiued with this condition Except God command otherwise Example I. The sixt commandement is Thou shalt not kill but God giues a particular commandement to Abraham Abraham offer thy sonne Isaac in sacrifice to me And this latter commandement at that instant did binde Abraham and he is therefore commended for his obedience to it II. And when God commanded the children of Israel to compasse Ierico seuen daies and therefore on the Sabbath the fourth commaundement prescribing the sanctifying of rest on the Sabbath for that instant and in that action did not bind conscience III. Caution One and the same commandement in some things binds the conscience more straitly and in doing some other things lesse Gal. 6.10 Doe good to all men but specially to them which are of the houshold of faith Hence it ariseth that though all sinnes be mortall and deserue eternal death yet all are not equall but some more grieuous then others Iudiciall lawes of Moses are all such as prescribe order for the executiō of iustice and iudgement in the common wealth They were specially giuen by God and directed to the Iewes who for this very cause were bound in conscience to keepe them all and if the common wealth of the Iewes were nowe standing in the old estate no doubt they should cōtinue stil to bind as before But touching other nations and specially Christian common wealths in these daies the case is otherwise Some are of opinion that the whole iudiciall lawe is wholly abolished and some againe runne to the other extreame holding that iudiciall lawes bind Christians as straightly as Iewes but no