mutable so Augustine in his booke de vera religione cap. 53. affirmeth The doctrine of our Puritanes it is mutable therefore it is not of God Miseri homines miserabiles quibus cognita vilescunt nouitatibus gaudent they are saith Augustine the miserablest men in the world that cannot digest the knowen truth but continually addict themselues to nouelties for proofe of this T. C. I. P. I. D. I. P. T. C. G. W. no singing in the Church is lawfull afterward the singing of the Psalmes was lawfull The Psalmes of Dauid saieth a fugitiue of Scotland selected are and may bee vsed The Psalmes of Dauid saieth Penrie concerne not vs therefore not to be vsed in diuine seruice Allegations of fathers and councels are impious assertions of fathers and decrees of councels saieth one that shal be namelesse may be vsed Sermons preached with premeditation derogate from the maiesty of God dabitur vobis in illa hora Sermons preached without premeditation they are but fardels of verball diuinity Innouations in doctrine in religion are dangerous Endoxius and Acacius peruerted the greeke Church and as Nicephorus in his 9. booke of his ecclesiastical historie c. 46. Men saieth he were so rash that they did contemne the custome of the Church nouas leges sibi pro se quisque conderet euery man had a religion peculiar vnto himselfe and is not this verified among vs at this day and what is the reason thereof men are caried awaie with a shew of doctrine so head-strong that they will not stande to the iudgement of the Church corruption in maners in religion are very rife all haue erred and the trueth is reuealed but vnto a fewe and that is vnto them Saint Paul would haue all things done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in decent and good order and according to ordinance but our conformers are so repugnant vnto that as the Poet speaketh qui rectum nil esse putat quod non facit ipse decorum that they labour to controule the custome of the Church to call in question controuersies already decided and to auoide an inconuenience Epiphan in Anchorato they doe as Epiphanius speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 flying away from the smoke they fall into the fire False Prophets there are among the people so likewise there shall be false teachers among you The Church of Christ hath not bene free from this malady Master didst thou not sow good corne in thy fielde from whence came these tares The Church is saied to be Columba vnica his onely Doue via directa a direct way The Church is saied to be vnica quia in vnitate consistit because she consisteth in vnity sancta holy because shee is sanctified by the holy Ghost and because shee is the piller the foundation of trueth and saied to be corpus Christi he himselfe the head Ephes 1. 5. Coloss 1. 1. Timot. 3. shee is saied to bee vniuersalis because shee is not onely resident in one place but is extended to the confines of the whole earth The same affirmeth Isidorus in his first booke de officijs ecclesiasticis cap. 1. Aluarus Pelagius lib. 1. de planctu ecclesiae art 65. Torquemada lib. 1. de ecclesia c. 13. The church was instituted in paradise after the fal of our first parents being barrē she became fertle watered with the precious bloode of Iesus Christ the benefit whereof we all haue receiued and shal continue to the ende of the world and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her Are wee all agreed of a Church and of the vnity thereof from whence arise these dissētions the Seruetian he hath a Church by himselfe and is his the true Church the Anabaptist he is a member of the true Church therefore he cannot miscary The Familie of loue he is of the true Church Frauncis Ket opposeth himselfe against them all for his reasons and allegations are of themselues so euident that they cannot be answered Our Puritanes of England are now a purging of the Church in taking away humane traditions and vnnecessary ceremonies and will offer vp a Church pure vndefiled without spot If ancient Hilarie were aliue at this day Hilar. ad Constantium Augustum and should see vs contend at noone day in the heate of sommer de Asini vmbra I am very well assured he would vse the same words that he did long ago whenas the like occasion was offered in his time periculosū admodū atque etiā miserabile est tot nunc fides existere quot voluntates It is lamentable that there should be as many seueral faithes as there are diuersities in wils Et tot nobis doctrinas esse quot mores And as many chāges of maners so many diuersities in doctrin Et tot causas blasphemtarū pullulare quot vitia sunt as many vices so many causes of blasphemy sith that we are cōe to this point that we wil haue one faith writē according to our will or els the exposition thereof shall bee according to our direction Thus spake this Anciēt father of his time I appeale to you whither these wordes of his are not veried among vs in these daies But is the Church of England throughly purged What obstacles haue you remoued Assuredly the Reuenues Ecclesiasticall Bishoprickes and Deaneries Cathedrall Churches haue beene obstacles vnto them for had they beene able to remoue these they had brought in Idaeam Platonicam the like vnto this at anie time should neuer haue bene knowen But God hath taken the raigne into his own hād hath put a snaffle into their mouthes and hath asswaged the corages of them that to run forward they cannot and the vigilant eie of our soueraigne hath caused them like Seriphian frogges to liue in silence and whereas heretofore the hole Realme hath swarmed with there bookes the date of thē is now expired God graunt them grace that in time they may see there owne infirmities and al occasions of dissention taken a way we may liue togither in Christian vnity that in this world we we may so glorifie God that into the world to cōe we al likewise may be glorified of him It were not altogither repugnant vnto this matter if a question were demaunded wherefore God permitteth his Church to be persecuted by false Apostles false teachers Vt qui in vobis sunt manifesti fiant to this end that their good and best men among you may be made manifest A greater punishment cannot be laied vpon vs then this when as God as Aug. speaketh in his 19 sermon de verbis Apostoli permitteth vs to be seduced by them they which make a glorious shew of piety religion in the end they bring both soule body to cōfusiō Arrius deluded Irene the Empres with hipocrisie Menno the Anabaptist corrupted multitudes with the same Castellio infected with pharisaical leuen was the ouerthrow of himselfe his audiditory and as Hierom obserueth writing
maitaine them this is scandalous to the eie of the multitude and their disordered liues are laied as heauy burdens vpon the backes of their aged parents Bona ecclesiae bona pauperum But it is nowe inuerted God hee prouided for there parentes aboue their expectation is not God able to prouide aswell for them in the meane seasō manie an hungry belly is not filled manie naked are not clothed the halt the diseased the blinde lie in the streetes and are not called to bee refreshed and the reason is in that our sonnes and daughters must bee made spectacles for euery one to gase vpon and adorned like Lords and ladies they forget their owne state and the honorable calling of their parents Erasmus of Roterodame writing to a frend of his in Germanie certifieth him of the death of two famous and learned men in England the greatest patrons that he had the one Farrag Epist lib. 15. was William Warham Lord Chancelor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury in the latter end of the raigne of Henry the 7. and the greatest part of the raigne of Henry the 8. he liued vsque ad decrepitā etatem This man had many children the which he kept for charity some at the Vniuersities others that were not ingenious he disbursed a sum of money and placed them in an occupation for his daughters that were fatherles and motherles fearing least they should encline to leudnes he gaue not many hūdreds as we doe in these daies but a competent dowry of twenty nobles and bestowed them to their great likings This man was summoned by sickenes to depart out of this world three houres before his departure he called his treasorer vnto him charging him to bring vnto him his accompts that hee might make euen with the world before he departed the which when he had done it was foūd that the olde Bishop was not in debt and that he had in redy money a great masse of currant coyne 10. pounds 10. pounds O saith he satis viatici there is enough for me to spēd by the way I haue but a short iourney to take forthwith departed The other was Iohn Colet a cuntry mā of mine born in London vnto whō al his fathers lands substance came by reason of the death of all his childrē 22. Eras ad Jodocum Jonam he had it pleased god to take thē al away this mā excepted I neede not to tel you what he did his schoole at my back can tel you he hath sent forth frō thēce heretofore many a famous scholler that haue proued necessary profitable mē in the church of god This learned father hath left yet somwhat to be finished by some of you whom it hath pleased God not to blesse with children the which hauing borne all offices belonging to this Citty and liuing in great wealth and abundance craueth of you that you would ioyne with him in begetting children spirituall children to Christ that where some of you haue not a child and others likewise but one that you would follow the example of that famous and honourable gentleman Sir Thomas Wight to bestow some part of your liuings vpon some one poore Colledge or other in Oxforde or Cambridge that once a yeare there might be a free election that those children whose parents are poore might according to their desert be preferred in the Colledge to a scholler-ship or fellow-ship I doubt not but the smoke of this incense would ascend like a sweete perfume in the nostrels of or God As there were false Prophets among the people so likewise there shall bee false teachers among you Among manye plagues vvherewith God did afflict and punish his people this was the greatest that for their contempt and disobedience of his people he would giue thē their hearts desire he would permit them to be seduced by euery spirit Doth God afflict his people by famine vpon their repentaunce hee sendeth abundance doth hee afflict them vvith pestilence vpon their conuersion the plague ceaseth Doeth hee afflict them with war God at their amendment hee breaketh the bowe and speare insunder and ouerthroweth all the chariots and horsemen of the AEgyptians and causeth the violent vvaues of Iordan to returne backewarde and deliuereth his people in great security from imminent dangers by the handes of Moses and Aaron But are his people light headed Will they haue Gods to goe before them as the heathen haue this light meate in the wildernesse cloyeth vs it is not comparable in any degree to the flesh pots of Aegypt the tabernacle of Moloch and the starre of Rempham their Altars vvhereon they vsed to sacrifice the body of their Sonnes and Daughters to deuils all these ascended vp into the presence of God and then they neglected the due seruice of God and laied open their eares to the inchantments of false Prophets and brought a speedy destruction vpon them haec loquutus est Dominus thus saieth the Lord vvhen I haue not saied it Among many inconueniences that the Church susteyneth this is the greatest that the simplest and the vnlearnedst among vs are easily perswaded to take vpon them the exposition of Gods booke and a phantasie beeing once conceiued can hardly bee remooued This caused Saint Augustine in an Epistle that he writeth to Honoratus to lament the folly of certaine in his age Nulla imbutus poetica disciplina Terentium sine magistro attingere non auderet he that is ignorant in poetry hee will not presume to take Terence in his hande and expounde him Asper Cornutus Donatus his interpreters are had in great reuerence and admiration vt quilibet poeta possit intelligi for this cause that euery Poet bee hee neuer so harde and obscure may the easier bee vnderstoode Tu in sanctos libros sine duce irruis de his sine preceptore audes ferre sententiam Wilt thou then saieth Augustine beeing vnlearned vvithout a guide take vpon thee to expounde Scripture The like hath Saint Ambrose in his thirde booke de fide ad Gratianum and Hierom vvriting to Paulinus is copious in this argument and Leo his Epist 33. ad Theodosium I speak this the more confidently in that the Scriptures are thought to be so easie that the simplest may read and vnderstand them and what hath followed diuerse haue preferred their owne fantasie before the right and perfect exposition Laymen haue in their nocturnall conuenticles presumed to interprete the same and the weaker sort likewise whom Saint Paul in any wise would not permit to teach haue peruerted the ordinarie meanes of saluation to their owne destruction Demosthenes a seruant and Cooke to Valens the Emperour intruding himselfe into that secret conference that the Emperour had with Basil as you may reade in the tripartite history lib. 7. cap. 36. had texts of Scripture so rife and copious in his mouth that the old father beganne to muse vnto what ende all his textuall cotations tended Sir Cooke saieth he tuum
A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLS CROSSE THE THIRTEENTH OF IVNE THE SEcond sunday in Trinitie tearme 1591. by THOMAS BARNE student in Diuinity Brethren I exhort you to watch those that make diuisions and offences among you and decline from them Rom. 15. Cap. Frustra autem vt ait quidam niti neque nihil aliud litigando nisi â—dium quaerere extremae dementiae est Hieronymus ad Domnionem Rogatianum Nullum vitium est quod non à mendacio sumit originem neque virtus cuius non sit origo veritas Ioannes Maxentius aduersus episcopum Ormisdae 〈…〉 ACADEMIA OXONIENSIâ— Veritas in 〈◊〉 JOSEPH 〈…〉 Printed at Oxford by IOSEPH BARNES Printer to thâ— Vniuersitie 1591. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL GEORGE ROTHERHAM ESQVIER HIGH SHEriffe of Bedforde-shiere THOMAS BARNE wisheth peace and prosperity in Christ Iesus I PRESENT vnto your worship a copy of that Sermon the which I preached publiquely at Pauls Crosse in that I am already persuaded that the doctrine therein conteined is requisite and expedient for these daies The which when I had considered I found sundry and diuerse men that had cloathed themselues in Pharisaicall garments wherein was embrodered the summe of Christianity they themselues in the meane season altogether depriued of the grace of God Faith saieth the Apostle it is the gift of God and in vaine tendeth all our preaching if the heart and soule of man bee not prepared before by the speciall assistance of Gods spirit Paul may plant and Apollo may water but if God doeth not giue the encrease all tendeth to small effect The Virgins that slept and had not their lamps burning were forthwith excluded the presence of the Bridegroome The figtree that had broade and greene leaues and no fruite once cursed withered So it falleth out with vs which in externall shew attend and expect the comming of the sonne of man are found at the last vnfit to attend vpon him although wee make glorious shewes of Christianity and doe not perfourme works of charity These and such like maladies haue infected diuers the which of a zeale haue put forth themselues before they were called and in a vaine presumption of humane learning haue caused the weaker sort to follow them and to relie vpon them that were not able to upholde themselues Such men were Eunomius Vigilantius whom Saint Augustine in his second booke intituled quaestiones in Exodum tearmeth opicos mures the which are spumei in sermrne in fide parum sani of whom Saint Cyprian in his booke de simplicitate praelotorum speaketh in this wise Hi sunt qui se vltro apud temerarios conuenas sine diuina diuina dispositione praeficiunt qui se praepositos sine vlla ordinationis lege constituunt qui nemine episcopatum dante episcopi nomen assumunt The which wordes of thir blessed and aged father duely considered lay open the preposterous course of sundry leaders in these daies the which exclame against Cesar and his right labouring as much as lieth in them to plucke vp by the rootes that which they neuer planted So heady that they wil not stand to the trueth receaued preaching contrarieties of whom Irenaeus li. 3. ca. 15. speaketh Valentinus Ptolomaeus deliri fanatici homines auditores suos coÌ„tradictores fecerunt as these can sufficiently approue This Sermon diligently perused laieth open the sinister meanes and deceitful practises of these men the which beeing vnstable in their doctrine as the sundry change of the Church of Scotland approueth haue at the last followed the steps of the Parmenian to contempe all men in respect of themselues whom Optatus in his 2. booke against Parme counselleth and aduiseth in this wise Non enim spiritum Dei soli vobis uindicare potestis aut includere quod intelligitur non videtur per mitte deum vnde velit ire quo velit accedere habeat libertatem qui audiri potest videri non potest A kingdome deuided in it selfe cannot stand sathan if hee were in armes against himselfe his kingdome forthwith would bee ended discorde crept in among the Romans ouerthrew the Roman Empire The parts in mans body if they were at variance life could not long continue saied Menenius Agrippa long ago And so si paruis componere magna liceret The Church of Christ cannot continue among vs sith one preacher ioyeth to contradict another and delight in nouelties and few to be found that dares oppose theÌ„selues to withstand these men the which pretend conformity order and practise nothing else but irregular disorder Let the Church or Scotland be diligently regarded good God What vptores and tumults hath that poore Ilande susteined by factious and seditious means what hath it procured in the end but flat rebellion such malecontents among vs at home haue as much as lieth in theÌ„ disgraced the established gouernment of our church as diuers books 15 years passed printed at Andwerp can sufficiently testifie these men to obtaine a name to enrich theÌ„selues haue procured a defection from our Church contemning the Right Reuerend fathers of our Church wilfully opposing theÌ„selues against al lawful authority whatsoeuer These meÌ„ may very well bee resembled to one Hermogenes of whom Tertullian in his booke the vvhich hee wrought against him reporteth that hee was homo in saeculo turbulentus qui Loquacitatem facundiam existimat impudentiam constantiam deputat malidicere singulis officium bonae constantia iudicat Such innouations in Religion are and haue beene daungerous and when men are zealous in contention then doeth God permit them to bee guided by their ovvne discretion and then that is approoued a verity the which the Philosopher gaue out long agoe vno absurdo concesso mille sequuntur when a man hath once made a breach into an absurdity it is an easie matter to cause him to graunt al absurdities and contradictions whatsoeuer These and the like inconueniences to auoide with the which this age of ours aboundeth I haue set downe my sermon as I deliuered the same at Pauls Crosse in the which I haue laied vpon the causes of this schisme dissension with the which our Churh of England is pestered and the means to remoue the same But I am assured that I do surdis canere cantilenaÌ„ to theÌ„ especially that vtterly reiect the authority of our Church And frame vnto theÌ„selues a kinde of religioÌ„ that hath altered the course of ours deliuered vnto vs by our fathers the verity whereof to approue where nothing else then if I should lucente sole lychnum accendere For the parties I woulde if I might chuse not meddle with theÌ„ they stand not to any lawful authority if scripture be vrged expounded by the vniforme consent of Christ his Church the interpretation is reiected the reason is at hand the Church was then by heresie corrupted If the Canons of generall councels be cited for the peaceable and godly gouernment of our Church The fathers that
Iacobo Tutori Mē in these daies are curious Erasmus he misliked the old interpreter Beza misliked him Castellio condemned him Tremelius magnified of a number Vatablus little regarded our ordinary translation of the Bible in English in pulpits not long since reprehended What haue these procured but a defection from Christ and Christianity Laurentius Valla in his sixt booke of Elegances cap. 34 by nomeanes could be perswaded to allowe of the woorde persona in the Trinity Jouius in vitis virorum illustrium Pomponius Laetus had conceiued so pleasing an opinion of himselfe that hee vtterly detested the Greeke tongue in that hee feared it would corrupt his fluent and copious stile in Latine And oftentimes it falleth out that men standing too much in their owne light forgette themselues and are perswaded of a verity the vvhich of them is not conceiued sectes are rife among vs the trueth is blasphemed and diuerse in these daies for lucre sake to obtayne a poore benefice can preach according to the direction of the patrons Demosthenes beeing once corrupted by money by Legates protested that he had little to say in the behalfe of his King and Countrey for his tongue was not his ovvne in that hee had solde it so these Clurina peccora that vvith money cary deaneries and prebendaries vpon their backes they haue but litle to say in the church of God for they paide extremely for it if they may saue himselfe he careth not It vvas an oulde verse Curia Romana non captat ouem sine lana so they maye reape the benefite lette them that list take the laboure And that vvhich is a soule inconuenience vvhen menne that haue spente all their dayes in phisicke or in the studies of the Ciuill Lawe if hee cannot by that aspire to promotion presently he intrudeth himselfe into the ministry and with their flesh hookes like Elies childrē they snatch the flesh out of the pot which in equity belonged to the priest and not vnto them In the meane season many a famous scholler in the vniuersity whose frends are poore lingereth away his daies and is not regarded Our patrones should be vigilant in this point but euery man prouideth for his owne one mā he supporteth 4 steeples on his shoulders like Atlas that supporteth heauen that by reason of his burden he cannot speake Others that haue cōsumed their patrimonies in chambering wātonnesse and excessiue Rioting they forthwith take sanctuary in some one Cathedrall Church or other and are prebendes in the same The Church of God feeleth the inconuenience of it And as yet it is not redressed Heresies creepe into the Church of God sects and diuisions abound the way of trueth is blasphemed and diuers are caried away with faire and pleasant speeches Lucian in a treatise that he writeth de non credendo calumniae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a seducer crept in among you well furnished with learning this man saieth he would with great diligence bee regarded lest in the end hee seduce others Are these teachers in outward shew religious auoid them for as Leo speaketh in his 9. Sermon ac qudragesima plus plerunque pericili est in insidiatore occulto quam in hoste manifesto there is more daunger saieth he in him that is not detected then in a professed enemies Matters that nothing at all concerne vs haue bene scandalous to the Church of God Augustine and Hierom contended about the gourd of Ionas Hierom and Ruffinus whither Origen were saued Aug. in his 17. booke de ciuitate Dei cap. 20 doubteth wither Solomon were saued so doeth Chrysostome in the 68. homily vpon Matthew and Alphonsus Abulensis writing vpon the 2 of Reg. cap. 7. quaestione vltima Those thinges that doe not concerne vs let vs not contend about them wee haue no such custome neither the Church of God Let vs not search into the misteries of God for what man is he that is able to comprehend them Pride is properly incident vnto these teachers and as Aug. speaketh it is mater omnium haereticorum The wisdome of man it is foolishnes with God of our selues wee are not able to thinke a good thought much lesse to perfourme any thing that is good Ambrose compareth the night oule to these kinde of men Ambr. in Hexa Animal ist ud haereticorum figura est qui tenebras amplectuntur diaboli lucē saluatoris horrescunt this creature saieth hee is a right and perfect figure of heretiques which delight in palpable darckenesse peculiar to the deuill and cannot abide the light of Christ granbus disputationum oculis cernunt vana non respiciunt sempiterna and with their great eies of contention they looke after vanity and regard not those things that concerne eternity acuti ad superstitiosa quicksighthd to spy superstition hebetes ad diuina slowe and very dull in Christian Religion qui dum se putant sub limibus euolare sermonibus by which perswade themselues to flee into heauen with great words tanquam noctuae veri luminis splendore turbantur like vnto night oules are throwen downe at the brightnesse of the true light A man infected with some one dangerous malady is auoided for as Aristotle speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an infection is alwaies in motu forthwith it will disperse herselfe But the infection of the soule which is heresie as Bernarde speaketh serpit vt cancer whē we think it is going away from vs it commeth vpon vs that is not regarded The body being sicke we forthwith haue recourse to sundry expert physicians and be the disease neuer so dangerous one or other is perswaded that he can cure the same But the soule of man lying in a consumption that the very essence of Religion faith in Christ is almost brought to nothing few resort vnto him that with clay and spittle can open our eies whose hem of his gramēt can immediatly stay the issue of bloud who in saying puella tibi dico surge damsell I say to thee arise who can raise the dead to life who waketh Lazarus out of his sounde sleepe Lazare veni foras Lazarus cōe forth This physician is not sought nor regarded but it is with vs as with desperate patients when the physician perceiueth that there is no way but death leaueth the patient to his owne appetite so ducimus in laetis dies nostros in puncto ad inferos descendimus we keepe holy day al the yeare long and in the twinckling of any eye we are turned into the pit We are al perswaded of a trueth yet we are not resolued of the trueth much like to the goast that in his traūce pasquill discerned houering in the sphear of the Moone with a weighty stone at his heeles that gladly would ascend higher yet the loue that he bare to the world did keep him downe this was Erasmus of Roterodame that knew the trueth and yet for feare of loosing his dignities in the world durst not professe the
writing aduersus Anomaeos Sabillianos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ himselfe hath so taught vs The Apostles of christ haue so preached 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fathers in the primitiue church haue obserued the sāe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it be sufficiēt then for thee to say I haue bene thus taught The Apostle Saint Peter obserueth two especiall properties in them the one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their intemperancy they shall be so licentious in their doctrine that they care not what they speake the second is their couetousnesse they preach vnto you saieth the Apostle not to saue your soules but to saue themselues to enrich themselues and these are two notable tokens to discerne a false teacher A riotous and luxurious person ouerthroweth himselfe in his prodigality so these riotous and luxurious preachers they ouerthrow themselues in their superfluities he that in diputatiō hath once made a breach into any absurdity he wil not spare to swallow many so these hauing erred in the principal points of christian religion care not what they say A foole saieth Salomon he is lauish of his tongue and hee that is vnaduised in his speach shall feele mischiefes Dauid attributeth to a slaunderous tongue a fit reward and that is hoat consuming coales Saint Iames in his third cap. A horse saith he is an vnruly beast if once he haue the bit in his mouth will turne according to the will of the rider a ship a huge and vast vessell is ruled in the sea by a little peece of timber the tongue is a little member and it polluteth the whole body There are few years in the which our physicians doe not giue out that there is a new disease insomuch they are ignorant how and in what order to proceede This sommer past diuerse haue beene infected with a dangerous malady tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their tongues haue had such a shaking ague that seldome they were at rest Hee saieth the Apostle that offendeth not vvith his tongue he is a perfect man Homer obserueth that Irus the begger was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that vsed no measure in speaking but in Menelaus he noteth this in him that he vsed to speake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 few words yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euery word weighed a pounde Augustine in xlv Sermon ad fratres in eremo describeth sundry incōueniences that haue happened vnto diuers by this excessiue riot videte fratres saith he quanta mala habet lingua brethren sundry are the inconueniences that the tongue bringeth In bono magna est in malo mors est laudable in a good man but present death it is in a wicked man Diabolus vnde cecedit Can you tel me how the diuell came by his fall numquid adulterium fecit assure your selues he committed no adultery numquid furtum fecit theft he neuer committed diabolus non propter hoc cecidit the diuill was not expelled out of heauen for these things sed propter linguam cum dixit in caelum ascendam super sydera ponā thronum meum ero altissimo onely his tongue was in fault when he saied hee would ascend vp into heauen and place his seate aboue the starres and be equall to God himselfe In the Church of England there is but one vniforme consent of praier ratified by autority yet that forme and order of praier cannot by no meanes be receaued For we wil pray as we are disposed This mans praier is effectuall it conteineth in it all things that are requisite to corporall sustenance or spirituall comfort The prayer prescribed in the Church by authority they are thankesgiuings for victories obteyned by Dauid or else if of late yeares they haue beene set downe they doe not concerne the state of the present time Againe diuerse are so addicted to their own fātasies that if it be not adorned with variety of choise words and beautified with metaphors contayning sundry and diuerse repetitions they doe not regarde the same Our cōming to the Church is to praise God with one vniforme consent of praier one man he hath writen praiers and so he praieth to himselfe Another he deuiseth a praier as he kneeleth if the preacher be not as they require they will not repaire to heare him One man he commēdeth the order of praiers prescribed by the faithfull brethren of the Church of Scotland another alloweth not so well of that as he doeth of certaine praiers that were priuily printed of late yeares in fine so they may deface the vniforme order of praier in the booke of common prayer they could bee content to receaue any order whatsoeuer John Penry his vnlerned confutation of Master D. Bancroftes sermon Iohn Penrie hath of late set forth a paltry pamphlet carying a shew of a confutation of a learned Sermon preached out of this place by a learned and a reuerende man wherein hee inueigheth against notable and learned pointes of doctrine the which the poore seely soule doeth not vnderstand And to aggrauate the matter hee desireth them vnto whose hands his booke shall come to peruse the Collect appointed for Saint Michaell the Archangell wherein he saieth there is plainly set downe a plaine article of popery praier to Saints On the other side I desire you that at this day heare me at your comming home to peruse the collect if you can finde any one such point therein conteyned tending to his wordes I will recant this that I say if not I beseech you for Gods cause suspect these men that seeke nothing but the ouerthrow of Religion and the subuersion of the state yet all is not they would haue it you haue gotten the start of vs. Our bookes are forbidden our printing presses are taken from vs and our prolocutor T. C. is now in durance Libanius the Sophist made a Rhetoricall declamation adorned with tropes beautified with variety of sentences and the phrase of it selfe so fluent and copious that Iulian the Apostate perusing the same cried out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Libanius saieth he thou art aureus partus matris tuae I neuer heard of the like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the excellencie of thy declamation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what an inuincible argument hast thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I haue not seene so elegant a disposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so forth So these men T. C. hath ouerthrown them by the word of God if his tongue and pen were at liberty he is now better furnished then euer he was The presbytery of England should be furnished with sufficient preachers all scādals remoued the gouernement of the Church should peaceably be gouerned and the spirit of prophecy should not be extinguished Well I am assured of one thing I shall haue no thankes for my labour and I looke for none what I haue spoken is for the duty that I owe to the Church of God and to benefit the same The Apostle would haue vs to pray continually
and Sergius that retchlesse helhound of whom Anastasius Bibliothecarius maketh mention And in these latter daies certaine shall reuolt from the faith giuing attendance vnto spirits of errour and doctrine of deuils as Palmerius did with Menno the Anababtist denying the deity of the sonne of God As Frācis Ket did not long since in Norwich sounding forth innouations contrary to the doctrine already receaued with Browne and Barrow making an externall shewe of piety as the Puritanes in England doe at this day diuiding themselues from the Church of Christ as withered branches cōtending de lanae caprina for moon-shine in the water haue among them a spotlesse spouse as they tearme it in the which there is no direct or prescript forme of praier but as the spirit ministreth so euery one to speake prophecy And these recusants are planted in the superlatiue degree they are omnium infime and yet superbissimi not able to defend a bad cause by argument exclaime against the gouernmēt of the Church of England and her ministers and each of these is assured that he hath the spirit of God Brethren wheresoeuer you be and whosoeuer you are be not deceaued for God assure your selues wil not be mocked For a time he forbeareth but in his due time he striketh he is not tied or chained to any one corner of this land his name is glorious in the middest of his people there hath he planted an holy temple for himselfe an habitation for the God of Iacob I pray you looke into the practise of the disturbers of the Church I am a Prophet aswell as you are and my doctrine is deriued from heauen by reuelation So those irregular Friers tearmed pauperes de Lugduno that rose vp in the yeare a thousand fiue hundreth and seuenty vnder Lucius the third and Alexander the 3. Popes of Rome as writeth Abbas Vrspergensis in the yeare a thousand two hundreth and twelue affirmed that they had a peculiar calling from God and therefore they regarded not the ordinance of man What was Samosatenes Epiphanius in his second booke contra haereses reporteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 puffed vp with a little learning that he had fell from the trueth What caused Iulian surnamed the Apostata to decline In Julianum oratio prima it was a Gregory Nazianzene speaketh of him a presumptuous opinion that he had of himselfe the which in the ende turned to his owne destruction This selfe same thing Saint Augustine confesseth in his 53. tracte vpon Iohn Quosdam nimia suae voluntatis fiducia extulit in superbiam quosdam nimia suae voluntatis diffidentia deiecit in negligentiam Certaine there are saieth hee that of a reuerent opinion conceiued of themselues wax proude and others distrusting themselues sitte at home and doe nothing And as Bernarde de consideratione to Eugenius ociosus est non tantum quia nihil operatur sed qui continuè laborando nihil tandem lucratur That man saieth Bernarde is not onelie saied to bee idle that doeth nothing but hee likewise that alvvaies turmoyleth and reapeth nothing So these zealous men caried awaie with a popular applause Saxum sudant nitendo nec proficiunt hylum They are alwaies inueighing against the scandalous gouernement of our Church and as Hierom vvriting to Marcellam speaketh Itur in verba sermo teritur lacerantur absentes vita aliena describitur mordentes inuicem consumimur ab inuicem Here the quarrell beginneth a disputation is intended and thereof proceedeth malice and rancour and one enuying the other one in the ende consumeth another Heretofore the controuersie was about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bookes extant at this day pro con by that right honourable right reuerende and most learned father of the Church of Englande his grace of Canterburie sufficiently approued the same The question is now whether our ecclesiasticall order bee allowable by the word of God and hereupon as the Poet speaketh successit vetus comaedia in vitium libertas excidit vim dignam lege regi for the liues of our spirituall fathers are made scandalous their doctrine for fashion sake lightly regarded and cursed cham Iohn Penrie of Wales hath laied open the shame of his father but a curse shall light vpon his heade his daies shall bee prolonged to his ovvne shame and like a fugitiue hee shall begge his breade A lewde liuer doeth not argue a corrupt teacher Scribes and Pharisees were lewde liuers and yet good preachers and their doctrine ratyfied and approued by the sonne of God Christ was preached for enuy hee that preached Christ in that order was a lewde liuer yet a good preacher Saint Paule gloried in him Christ was preached for ostentation hee that preached him in that order was a lewde liuer yet a good preacher Saint Paule gloried in him Bee the preacher in life lasciuious if his doctrine bee good Saint Paule speaketh I haue reioyced in him and I will reioyce Men and brethren I speake not this to defende the irregular liues of anie but onely to stoppe the mouthes of them that for a small infirmitie vvoulde exclude the best preachers in this lande from preaching and beeing vnlearned labour to determine matters the which they doe not vnderstande Although I wish daielie that euery one of vs would conforme his life to his doctrine for the vvorde and the woorke agreeing doeth as Basil speaketh in his Homily vpon the Prouerbes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it causeth the worde preached to bee better accepted False Prophets there were saieth the Apostle among the people I haue not sent them and they are gone false Prophets are dispersed among the people so likewise there shall bee false teachers among you Hieronimus ad Fabiolam Hierom obserued in his time three seuerall sorts of false teachers the worlde the flesh and the deuill The world maketh a great shewe of security and in the ende it offereth vnto vs anguish and sorrow The flesh assureth vnto vs continuall ioy and sudaine destruction is incident vnto her The deuill hee will not breake his promise for honour and dignity are his rewards and in them hee bringeth vs to perpetuall shame sic solet amicos beare suos in this order doeth he magnifie himselfe in his frends In these daies wher hypocrisie can hardly be discerned from piety it standeth vs vpon to know a false teacher Hieron lib. 1. ad Iouinianum For as Hierō speaketh O quantus est numerus falsorū Prophetarum in omni statu omnes vicissim qui ex habitu suo aut dignitate aut officio aut conditione praetendunt bonum faciunt malum omnes igitur habitum religionis deferentes religionis opera non facientes False teachers they swarme in euery corner in euery place and age men are apt enough to deceaue and religion is nowe a harbour to gracelesse and thriftlesse men The doctrine receaued in the Church of God is not mutable and the reason is because God is not