leaue this world to withdraw his voice together with his flesh from vs. hee hath perpetuated it vnto vs in his Gospell He hath giuen vs EuaÌ„gelists Apostles whose pens he hath inspired In them by them if thou wilt hee speaketh vnto thee thou needest not climbe vp into a mountaine for it or enter into a cloud or be ouertaken with feare thou needest only his bountifulnesse and grace alone of him I say speaking in these Euangelists his heauenly father telleth thee as well now as then Heare him â—â—are him in them As well as our Lord at euery table where his Sacrament is celebrated according to his institution telleth thee yet throughout the whole world Hoc facite Doe this And communicateth vnto thee on the one part his Spirit in his word on the other his body his flesh and his blood in his holy table Which also is the reason why every one of these good ancient fathers in al those conflicts of heresies did in times past betake themselues to this testament did therein take couÌ„saile from the mouth of Iesus as in old time froÌ„ God in the Arke and did therehence carie awaie healthfull answers to the peace of their conscience and the pacification of the Church Miserable men that we are if some meÌ„ had said vnto vs heare Plato hearken vnto Aristotle wee would vnderstand it so Opt S. Aug. that he had directed vs to their books and would goe to buy them at the Stationers nor would wee any way trouble our selues to seeke their persons either in Hell or in their feined Elisian fieldes But when it is said vnto vs Heare Christ we begin to wauer make as if we were very idiors but indeed are malicious aske where hee is Herevpon marke what Optatus saith that great African Doctour contesting against the Donatists Opt. Milevit l. 5. contra Parmen You Donatists say yea we Catholiks say Nay In the midst of your yea and our nay mens soules are in doubt None will beleeue you nor vs also because therefore that we are at ods we must seeke iudges The Christians saith he are the parties themselues the heathen cannot conceiue our mysteries And therfore can there be found no iudgement on earth Must wee seeke it in heaven Note here the question marke how hee answeres it But what go wee to seeke for in heaveÌ„ seeing we haue a Testament in the Gospell So long as the father is present hee chargeth every one of his childreÌ„ what they are to do There is as yet no need of any testament And so Christ gaue to these Apostles their charge whilest yet he was on earth But as an earthly Father seeing himselfe to be neere the graue maketh his will for to preuent and end all controversies betwixt his children then men goe not to seeke him in his tombe but in this will wherein he speaketh as if he liued and though dumbe yet is vnderstood so indeed Christ he that hath made the TestameÌ„t is in heaven but let vs seeke his will in his Gospell as in his testament For even these very things which some of you do now hee did euen at that time see you do them And as at that time he did foresee them as being God euerlasting vnto whom all things are knowne from eternity so without doubt hee hath manifestlie prouided against them he hath preuented all chances and anticipated all tricks and cauils heare also S. Augustin Optatus his Country-man which either had learned it of the other or was inspired by the same spirit We are brethren why striue wee one with another Our father died not without a Testament he made a will and then died died rose againe Men do pleade concerning the succession of the dead vntill the will be brought forth It being brought forth every one is silent that it may be opened rehearsed The Iudge harkeneth at tentiuely the Advocates holde their peace the Cryers cause silence the people stands in suspeÌ„se whilest that the wordes of the deceased are a reading who lyeth in his tombâ— without feeling and yet his words haue their force Christ is seated in heaven shall he bee contradicted in his Testament August in Psal 21. Open then and let vs read we are brethreÌ„ why are we at variance Let vs appease our anger our father hath not left vs without a Testament His Gospels A Testament saith S. Basill Basil de Fide vnto which nothing ought to be added It would be false nay sacriledge The Apostle saith he by a worldly example forbiddeth vs exprestie to adde any thing to the holy Scripture wheÌ„ he saith And notwithstanding no maÌ„ reiecteth the Testament of a maÌ„ or addeth any thing therevnto if it hath once beene established Wherefore we haue alwaies knowne that we must flie from every voice and all meanings which are beside the doctrin of our Lord. Beside saith he and not against And now in the mouth of these three witnesses shall not our speech be confirmed vnto you God will haue it hath appointed that his well beloued Son should be heard Heard here beneath so long as he conuersed here in his owne person and heard in his holy Gospell sealed vnto vs by his Apostles by the will of the Father and the commaÌ„dement of the Sonne since that he hath been lifted vp from this world Heard doe you tell vs in his Gospell I you to heare him Then behoveth it vs to reade May we do so without being excommunicated or anathematised A book so dangerous full of ambushes full of snares HOW the world is changed nay euen the very voice of the Church since the time of these good fathers That the law of our Lord which is to decide all our controuersies should be esteemed of in these daies as a matter of question and this Testament which ought to bring to an agreemeÌ„t the most contentious brethren as a bundle of contradictorie clauses Could this Testament euer haue beene altered Seeing that we agree in this that it could not what remaines then but that this alteration proceeds not from the truth of the thing but from the malice of the persons Thy father hath made a wil doth it not concern thee to see what hee leaueth thee and vnder what title to know also what things he chargeth thee to doe Were hee the greatest stranger in the world wouldst thou not be so curious as to reade it Hee that would conceale it from thee yea and keepe thee from reading it couldst thou beleeue he did this without fraud And being curious in euery other thing wilt thou be negligent in this Thou that seemst to bee a quicke fellow and wouldst bee esteemed of for such a one in all thy businesse wilt thou in this bee an idiot lesse then a babe Canst thou doe this without a contempt to God Canst thou doe this if Gospell and an eternall life Tell mee in thy conscience if thou hadst lived in
Whosoever shall put away his wife except it bee for whoredome and marrie another committeth adulterie How many thinges might the Pharises haue to say hereupon in a matter wherein Moses was touched that great captaine of Gods people which had spokeÌ„ to him face to face had receiued the law from his hand authorised by so many miracles By a prescription of two thousand yeares By so long a forbearaÌ„ce And that vnder so many kings Priests and Prophets And yet they stand here at a stay yeeld without once coÌ„tradicting this sentence From the beginning it was not so In Paradise this was ordered otherwise If then this hold in a law that concernes only ciuill societie howe much more in Ecclesiasticall lawes which concerne religion and Gods service the articles of our faith the saluation of our souls and things spirituall Wherein the naturall man discerneth nothing nor the spirituall man perceiueth anâ—e more then as far as the Spirit of God guideth him and being guided by the spirit of God caÌ„ go no farther then as he keepes himselfe to his word how illuminated soeuer he either bee or seeme to be he caÌ„ adde nothing to Gods work to his commandement whatsoeuer he putteth to it is but imperfect and full of filth And hence it is that the Politicians do so often rehearse vnto vs that to the vpholding of the lawes of any common-wealth it is necessarie that they should be recalled from time to time to their principles to wit against all tricks side-stroaks as it were of such as wrest de praue them And therefore for a greater cause was Gods people enioind so carefully to knowe the law of God and his seruice at their fingers end that so as many men as there were of theÌ„ so many coÌ„trollers there might be in the church for to keep hir in and call her backe againe to her bounds And therefore was it that Esay cryed so lowd To the Law and to the Testimony Esay 8.20 if they speake not according to this word it is because ther is no light in them No saluation for this people TheÌ„ is this a rule which is to be receiued for the direction of Gods church to containe all whatsoeuer concernes the true religion the whole duty of man towards God his owne saluation and for such a one hath it indeede alwaies bin vsed as often as there was in hande any reformation of the Church David had established Gods seruice in the middest of his people according to the ten or of his law And many of his successors either dronken with the seruice of false Gods or neglecting the seruice of the true God had partly corrupted it and partly suffered it to go to decay and now that good king Iosaphat mooued with a true zeal of God is about to restore it againe It is said 2. Chron. 17 v. 3. vn to the 9. That he walked in the first waies of his father David He stood not vpon that which his father Asa though a godly Prince had either done or tolerated and stood as little also on that which so many other in all this while had done for to drawe a president from their example but turned back euen vnto David vnto the first waies of David vnto his best yeares and those very best ones yet did he examine by the lawe of God when it is added that he sought the God of his father not that which his father had done but that which the God of his father had appointed to he done he walked in his commandements and not according to that which Israel had done he ordered himselfe according to the law and not after the vsuall custome of the church he tooke away the high places and the groues out of Iuda which had bin tolerated amongst them by most of their best kings To a young and tender king this toleration might haue scrued for an excuse And that his people might also seeke the same waies he sent Priestes and Leuites as also some of the chiefe men of his Estate to assist them That they should teach those of Iuda But how Having the booke of the law of the Lorde with theÌ„ for to recall their faith to this beleefe their worship to his ordinances their crooked depraued waies to this square to this rule And we find not that in all this circuite which they make any one doth once obiect vnto them either the tradition or the authority of the church or the toleration of the Fathers So well had every one of them learned remembred euen in the middest of that corruption that there where the God of their fathers spake was no place at all to hearken vnto either the Church of Israel or all their fathers togither Likewise Hezekiah when he came to the crowne he had had to his father king Ahaz which had broken the vessels of Gods house and shut vp his temple that is to say had cast down his seruice 2 Chron. 28. v. 24. built vp altars to the false Gods in all the citties of Iuda insteed of the true Altar many thousands of false ones as superstition of its owne nature doth multiply all this might haue beene a great stumbling blocke to this youÌ„g Prince but yet he goeth on farther Euen in the first yeare of his raigne hee openeth the dores and repaires them and which is more doeth send for the Priests and Leuites those which ought rather to haue preuented him and commanded them to cast forth the filthines By filthines he meant all kinds of strange seruices All what was not in the law that counted he to be strange because they might haue said as we at this day haue not our fathers liued as wel as thou what wilt thou theÌ„ do He cutteth theÌ„ short with this our fathers haue trespassed 2. Chron. 29. v. 6.7 and done evill in the eies of the Lord our God haue turned away their faces from him and turned their backs they haue quenched the lampes of the Temple What light theÌ„ can we look for or what darknes ought not we to expect from them And therefore did they arise at this word and gathered their brethren and being convicted and sorrowfull in their hearts sanctified themselues cleansed the house of the Lord caried the filth therof out vnto the brook that it might neuer at any time be remembred And all this was done according to the commaÌ„dement of the king as it is saide there But what is added V. 15. By the word of the Lord as before was said of Iosaphat And that for to abolish all false worshippings He beginneth afterwarde to establish the true worship the maner of their sacrifices by the same authority and in the like method according to the coÌ„mandement saith he of David and Gad and Nathan V 25. This might seeme enough to content them seeing these were such excelleÌ„t prophets But doth he stay there and thinketh he therby
Temple You may imagine to what a straight the church was brought when the high Priest himselfe findeth this booke but by a chance No sooner had he found it but hee sendeth it to Iosiah by Shaphan the Secretarie which read it be fore him therein hee findeth that it was a thing of nothing to build vp againe the Temple of God vnlesse hee also would establish againe his seruice that it rained not only on the hoâ—se top as they say but that the inside also was posaned and the Sanctuarie filled with Idolatry And hereupon beginneth hee nowe to detest the sinne of the Church rent his cloathes taketh counsell with the Prophetesse and humbleth himselfe Here the Priest might haue coÌ„forted himselfe with this that he knew his lesson by hearte might haue contented him with the tradition of the Church which neuer faileth never lieth but what do'es he He gathereth together the Priests and the Levits in the house of God all Iuda all Ierusalem from the verie least to the greatest At that time was it not the fashion to get a dispensation for to read the holy Scriptures In the middest of them all he causeth this booke to bee read which being read hee maketh a couenant to obserue it and bindeth therewith all the people And after al this he purgeth the Temple from all idolatrie and superstition and driueth out al the Priests thereof hee casteth their vessels into the fire and breaketh down the high places euen those that were in the cities of Iuda hauing beene tolerated by so many good kings in the which the Priests of the stock of Leui those that had their lawfull calling did sacrifice vnto the true God And hereupoÌ„ there might haue beene much to gainesay what is there wanting to these sacrifices Are they not offered to him and by those to whome and by whom they ought to be offered Is this therefore any thing else but a desire of noveltie And put the case that there is some defect in them is it not for all that tolerable having already beene tolerated by so many good kings by so many high Priests for so many yeares to gether And is it not in this that that law of policy is to take place that a thing once well setled though it bee euill ought not to bee taken away but to shun all inconueniences it ought to be left still in his place And neuertheles our rule makes him not sticke at all this Deut. 12 v. 11. From the beginning it was not so There shall be a place saith Moses which the Lord shal chuse to cause his name to dwell there thither shall you bring all your burnt offerings and your sacrifices c. Take heed V. 1â— that thou offer them not in every place that thou seest and which thou thinkest to be fit for thy purpose As if he said for I will not take any of thy pretended supererogations for sacrifices or worshipping I will be worshiped according to that which I haue commanded thee and not after thine owne fansie Because indeed that God the very reason and cause of all things hath his end in all whatsoeuer he ordeineth for to direct all nations to the sacrifice of his onlie sonne alone hee would haue but one temple one sanctuarie and one altar whereas thou dost darken and confound his meaning by thine owne inventions by thy pretended good purposes and by such a multitude of thine high places and thine altars every sacrifice of thine is a wroÌ„g worship Therefore also is it said in that which followes that he commanded the people to keep the Passeover But how As it is written in the booke of the covenant 2 Kin. c. 23 according to the word of the Lord delivered by the hand of Moses He sendeth them to the originall to the old form thereof and indeed it is added There was no Passeover holden like that from the daies of the Iudges that iudged Israell V. 22. nor in all the daies of the kings of Israell and of the kings of Iuda not in Samuels time no nor in the time of Hezekiah himselfe So necessarie a thing did hee esteeme it to keepe himselfe exactly to the law of the Lord and to his holy Scriptures In the time of the captiuitie of Babylon the Church of God Gods Israell in the midst of the Chaldeans those great masters of ceremonies and patrons of al idolatrie and superstition could not possibly haue stood out so long without being corrupted What does then Esdras in this case when he bringeth back the people into Ierusalem Howe doth he proceed to set them in order againe Truely it is said that as soon as they were come into Ierusalem Ieshua the son of Iozadak with his brethren the Priests and Zerubbabel the sonne of Salathiel the captaine of the transmigration Builded the altar of the God of Israell to offer thereon Esd 3 v. 2 not according to their owne fansy nor according to that which they might haue learned in that medlie of the heathen but saith hee as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God As if it were said that they calling to minde the punishment of the sonnes of Aaron which were consumed by the fire of the wrath of God for hauing offered vnto him a strange fire they reestablish after the same manner the service of God in Ierusalem as it is written in the booke of Moses they are not ashamed to go and learne their lesson therein And yet are wee not to thinke that they wanted amongst theÌ„ such men as were of courage and had in theÌ„ presumptioÌ„ enough to adde somewhat of their own therevnto Lastly to apply somwhat neerer our text to this purpose Esdras the restorer of the Church at that time was fully informed how that many of the cheefest of the people yea soÌ„e Priests also against the expresse law of the Lord had taken vnto themselues strange wiues Chap. 9. of those nations which were forbidden them whereupon hee rent his clothes pluckt of the haire of his heade and of his beard fell on his knees and coÌ„fessed both his owne and the peoples sinnes in the preseÌ„ce of God V. 7. from the daies of our fathers saith he haue wee beene in a great trespasse vnto this day The longer that the sinne had lasted the greater doth hee acknowledge to bee the fault so farre was he from taking thereby any right occasion to continue it But did he stay here only No he returned to his principle Thou hadst forbidden vs to do so Levit 18. â— 25 27. saith he by thy servants the Prophets Deut. 7.3 c. And now shall wee returne to breake these commandements Shall wee goe on stil ô Lord in these abominations So that being strengthned by the assistance of honest men amongst others by Shechaniah the sonne of Iehiel hee caused the people to sweare bound them with a newe oath to the keeping of Gods
law that lawe especially which forbad all these incestes whence ensued forth with the putting away of all their strange wiues and that by the common consent of the people and of the Priests themselues which at the reading of the law were convicted of their faults This was a hard sentence you will say as also an harder execution to part asunder so many housholds and to rent in two the wife from the husband the children from the mother And what became then all this while of Esdras his wisdome Was there no Pope amongst them in those daies that might haue dispensed with them for this But rather if thou beleevest the Lord when he hath spoken wouldst thou haue had him cast Gods people againe into that furnace from whence they were but newly come and that the wrath of the Lord for disobedience they are the very wordes of the law should waxhot against them Deut â— 4. and destroy them suddenly So certaine is that maxime in al good divinitie that wee ought to obey God without looking back and in a matter of reformation we ought to do nothing by roate but haue alwaies recourse vnto this booke Our Lord therefore which was come in our flesh to reform the Church doth giue vs also the same rule a rule indeed pronouÌ„ced by him in this one case but yet it extendeth it selfe over all whatsoever concernes Gods service and therefore is it herein so much the more to bee put in practise as this is a matter of greater mysterie and weight As also we learne the same in Gods law concerning his service So saith he in another place where hee instructeth his Disciples Thinke not that I am come to destroy the law or the Prophets Matth. 5. v. 17. The reformation of the church hath alwaies bin subiect to this slander I am come to fulfil them to recal the law vnto his right observation to restore vnto it his due and natural interpretation and to keepe it from all traditions inventions and Pharisaical glosses the which vnder a colour of giuing light vnto it doe indeed darken it insteede of establishing it doe destroy it insteed of honouring it doe make a mocke of it You haue hearde that it was saide by them of the old time your Doctors your Fathers Thou shalt not kill for whosoever killeth shall bee culpable of iudgement V. 21. For to avoide this iudgment they haue taught you that it was enough not to kill at all likewise it was saide Thou shalt not commit adulterie V. 27. And they haue made you beleeue that you were free from this law if only you kept your selues from acting this sin Like wise V. 43. Thou shalt loue thy neighbour and hate thine enemie And in like manner all the other coÌ„mandements But I say vnto you I that am the true law giuer that knowe the meaning of the Father of that eternall Father the creatour of bodies and spirites which giveth his lawe alike to the one and to the other That whosoever hateth his brother hath already killed him whosoever looketh on a womaÌ„ to lust after hir hath already committed adultery with her And if so be you do not helpe your greatest enemies euen those which persecute you then are you not his children but the children of hell Calling them backe in this manner from their Fathers as we haue observed throughout in the state of the church of Israell to the God of their Fathers froÌ„ the glosse to the text from the letter to the spirit to the right purpose of the Law giver to the reasonâ— of the law And this did the Pharisies saie we to blaspheme the Temple and to call Moses in question in these daies amongst vs men would say it were to condemne the Fathers and to overthrowe the Church Behold therefore this rule which our Sauiour giveth vs from the beginning it was not so This was not the will of him that made the Testament let this rule but bee stretched out over the building of the church and then whatsoever shall be found to bee out of this line or out of the squire let it be censured to be also out of the worke let it bee condemned to be battered by the hammer and to be cut of from the faith doctrine of the church Let S. Paul bee an example vnto vs even in those first times For men in matters of religion can never go on very farre without straying vnlesse they alwaies take this guide along with them EveÌ„ in his time was the holy supper of the Lord prophaned amongst the Corinthians in this church of God by theÌ„ that were sanctified in Christ Iesus Cor. 1.2 and Saints by calling for so hee tearmeth them But what saith he to them Everie man when they should eate 〈◊〉 11. v. 21 taketh his owne supper afore c. And one is hungry and another is drunken This is not to eat the Lords Supper This is not to celebrate that holy Sacrament it is rather to despise his church Here then is a remedie for it I haue received saith he of the Lord V. 23 that which I also haue delivered or taught vnto you Theodor iâ— 1. de 〈…〉 â— 7 And herevpon doth hee rehearse vnto them at large the whole institution of the Lords Supper in the same manner as we finde it in the Gospell As I haue receiued it euen so haue I delivered it vnto you It is now your dutie if you will be Christians to obserue it accordingly S. Peter also perceiving that hee was nowe shortly to leaue this worlde Gelas Cilic in Act. Conc. â—ic doth not tell the churches to the which he wrot after my decease doe not much trouble your selues about that which you are to do I will instruct you sufficiently by revelations and visions there shall scarce bee one weeke in the which I will not giue you some new Article of faith or deliuer vnto you some new ceremonie or other But on the contrarie he saith Seeing I know that the time is at hand that I must laie downe this my tabernacle 2. Pet 1. v. 14 15. I will indevour therefore alwaies that after my departing ye also may be able to haue remeÌ„brance of these things that is of the doctrine of saluation which openeth vnto theÌ„ an entrance into the everlasting kingdome of Christ Iesus To wit I my selfe beating this doctrine into you so deepe whilest I am yet amongst you in this Tabernacle that after I shall haue left you you caÌ„not forget it Which also was the reason why that great Emperor Constantine in the middest of all the hard contentions of his time went no where for helpe but thither There is nothing more vnworthy said he to the Bishoppes of his time then to wrangle one with another about the controversies of divine matters seeing that vvee haue the doctrin of the holy Ghost in writing And the bookes of the Evangelists and Apostles togither