man in general neither as lame nor as blind nor as perverse nor as ignorant nor as false but an excellent creature made to know and enjoy his maker So though I see many defects and imperfections in particular Churches for in many things we offend all men and Churches too yet I consider the Catholick Church or the Church in general neither as defective nor as imperfect but as the body and Spouse of Christ holy and undefiled without spot called to the knowledge of God here in this world and to the enjoyment of him hereafter in the world to come And if all men would look more upon the perfections then upon the defects of the Churches wherein they live if they would rather look upon what Christ hath made them then what they have made themselves the world would be more given to devotion then now it is to disputes and would be more filled with Religion then it is now with faction For Christ is so well preached in every true Christian Church notwithstanding the great corruptions and divisions of Christendom that if he were but half so well practised we should most of us soon become very good Christians And truly we can scarce give a better reason why State policy and self-interest hath not generally corrupted the principles as it hath the Practise of Christians but only that those who sit in Moses his chair think themselves concerned in Moses his Trust which was this Thou shalt speak all that I command thee Exod. 7. 2. Hence it is they commonly speak as they ought though they seldom do as they speak their tongues are sanctified though not their lives they remain holy and innocent in their Functions though not in their Actions circumcised in their lips though uncircumcised in their hearts Their Persons unregenerated but their calling such as worketh regeneration Therefore said Truth himself concerning them Mat. 23. 3. All whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do for they speak with Moses but do not ye after their works for they say and do not they act with Jannes and Jambres They speak they teach according to their Trust but they act they do according to their lusts it being much easier to talk by Rule then to walk by it God often giving to his Ministers the grace of â—â—iâ—ication for his names sake that they may preserve his Truth when yet he denyeth them the grace of Regeneration for their own sakes because they will not obey his truth Gratia gratis data may be given to the calling when Gratia gratum faciens is denyed to the Person we find that God threatneth the wicked Priests saying I will curse your Blessings Mal. 2. 2. What is their Blessing but their calling and how is that cursed but when it is blessed to all men save only to themselves When the Ministers shall be like so many statues in a doubtful Road directing the travellers in the right way but themselves not moving therein at all The comparison is not much amiss For as it is not from the substance of the statue but from its office or employment that men are directed by it so is it also in the Ministers t is not from their persons but from their calling that they are so highly qualified as to be our guides to heaven And as men can make a stock so much more God can make a man discharge the office of a faithful guide And as the rottenness of the statue hinders not the soundness of its directions so a Minister that hath a false and a rotten heart may have a true and a sound mouth And as the traveller thanks not the statue for his good directions but those that set it there so we are not to thank such a Minister for his good directions but God that set him over us For if the efficacity and operation of a good Instrument be ascribed to the efficient cause then much more of a bad instrument And if such holy Apostles as Saint Peter and Saint John rebuked the amazed Jews after this manner Why look ye so earnestly on us as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk Act. 3. 12. then we may be sure that when words of power or of truth proceed from the mouth of a wicked Caiaphas That he spake not this of himself but being High Priest that year he prophesied John 11. 51. And as Caiaphas though he was not a true man yet he was a true Prophet because in that respect he was Gods Trustee for the propagation of that truth which he then prophesied So is it still with many Christian Ministers and Churches as they are Gods Trustees for preserving and propagating the saving truths of the Gospel so they are enabled by his Spirit to discharge that Trust in so much that we may take it for granted that God hath entrusted them because we cannot deny but God hath enabled them For if he had not given them a Trust why should he either give them Authority to undertake it or ability to perform it Therefore since we cannot deny the Authority nor the Ability we may not deny the Trust And indeed the Trust is too palpable to be denyed by any that will not shut his eyes against the truth lest he should see it or that will not open his mouth against the truth that he may oppose it for so saith Saint Paul 1 Cor. 9. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dispensatio mihi credita est I am entrusted with a dispensation sc of the Holy Gospel And t is evident he spake not this in regard of his person that the Trust should die with himself but in regard of his Calling to shew the same trust was to remain with his Successors for ever And if we will look upon all his Epistles we may there see accordingly that he hath derived this Trust to particular Churches after him that is to those Bishops and Presbyters that were set over the people For as the Epistles that were sent to the seven Churches of Asia were directed and sent to the Angels that is to the Bishops and Ministers of those Churches and not to the common people Apoc. 2. 3. So was it in all Saint Pauls Epistles they were sent not to the people but to the Ministers that were set over them God entrusting them with his saving Truth whom he had entrusted to bring others to salvation nor are we beholding to the Citizens of Rome or to the Burgers of Corinth but to the Ministry of both those Churches and of other Churches since them that we now enjoy the true Copies of Saint Pauls Epistles the like is to be said concerning all the other parts of the New Testament For as the Books of the Old Testament were known to have come from God because they were deposited in the Ark and committed to the custody of the Priests whence Damascene saith concerning the Wisdom of Solomon and of the son of Sirach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 4. de orth fide cap. 18. They are holy and religious books but yet are not reckoned among the Canonical Scriptures because they were not deposited in the Ark So the Books of the New Testament were
ascended And to this purpose we may not unfitly reduce all the words which he spake from his Resurrection till his Ascension to these three heads verba instructionis verba consolationis verba benedictionis words of instruction words of consolation and words of benediction or words of grace mercy and peace For like as Saint Paul said to Saint Timothy whom he called his own son in the Faith Grace Mercy and Peace so did God from the beginning speak to his Apostles and so doth he still speak to all those whom he accepteth as his sons though unworthy to be his servants the words of grace by instruction the words of mercy by consolation and the words of peace by benediction Saint Luke saith our Saviour was full forty dayes with his Apostles after his Resurrection speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Act. 1. 3. He had so fervent a desire of teaching them and in them us the right way of salvation that he differred to enter into his own glory which he had so dearly earned by his sufferings till he had fully instructed and confirmed them in that way He was willing to leave the impression of heaven in their hearts before he was willing to take possession of it in his own body Oh that we did imitate our Master in this his unspeakable charity for though it be above our expression yet may it in some sort come under our imitation by truly desiring and zealously promoting one anothers Salvation This would be indeed to shew not to speak our selves Christians This would be indeed not Verbally but Really to put on the Lord Jesus Christ He was unwilling to leave his Apostles before he had given them all manner of Instructions both how to teach and how to govern his Church the one that he might keep all after-ages from heresie the other that he might keep them from schism Oh that all Christians would accordingly consider what a grievous sin it is not to hearken to Christs own Teaching not to obey Christs own Government And what a Severe account he will call them to when he shall come again as Judge of quick and dead for being hereticks against his doctrine put afterwards in writing in his word or for being Schismaticks against his discipline put immediately in practice in his Church For if he kept himself forty dayes from heaven to settle his Church how shall any that is called a Christian think the best way thither is to unsettle it Our blessed Saviour gave instructions and not only so least we should think any thing of Religion to be arbitrary but he also gave commands That we should know and acknowledge all matters of Religion to be necessary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After he had given commandments unto the Apostles Acts 1. 2. But where are these commands Are they or any of them devolved down unto us only by unwritten Tradition we dare not say so for that were to make the holy Apostles so regardless of Christs instructions as to care to teach them only to those men who had the happiness to live in their dayes since verbal Tradition is as changable as the breath that derives it whereas what is spoken of Abel is much more to be verified of Saint Peter or Saint John God testifying of his gifts and by it that is by his faith he being dead yet speaketh Heb. 11. 4. Nay more yet Preacheth for the reading of the law of Moses is called Preaching Acts 15. 21. For Moses of old time hath in every City them that preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day and if reading in the Law of Moses was Preaching who dares deny it to be so in the Law of Christ Therefore the books of the New Testament do certainly contain the Instructions and commands which Christ gave to his Apostles by word of mouth during those forty dayes he abode with them And we need go no farther then the written word to know our Saviours mind for it is therein taught us either by Precept or by Promise or by Precedent And consequently what we find not there written for our instruction in one of these three wayes that we must not ascribe either to his dictating or to their Preaching unless we will impute gross forgetfullness to the Registers of Christ as not remembring all things necessary when as our Saviour himself promised them such a Comforter as should bring all things to their remembrance Joh. 14. 26. or supine negligence to the Pen-men of the Holy-Ghost as not writing what was necessary to be remembred For if the words which Job spake concerning Christ were to be engraven with an yron pen lead in a rock for ever Joh. 19. 24. then much more were those words to be so engraven which Christ himself spake to his Apostles words ingraven in a rock with an yron pen are lasting but they are not so legible unless they be also drawn over or coloured with lead to make them conspicuous So Salomon Iarchi glosseth this Text he would have the Characters of his Letters engraven with yron to make a deep impression but after that he would have those same Characters coloured or died with lead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dare litteris aspectum nigrum ut cognoscantur That their black tincture might make them the more legible And without doubt our blessed Saviour took such a course that the main effect of his words should be so engraven as to be both lasting and legible to the worlds end when himself hath said that heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away Mat. 24. 35. and amongst the rest sure not his last words Saint Luke records this for one of them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the father Acts 1. 4. And this word doth our Saviour Christ still speak to every good Christian saying unto him depart not from Jerusalem though it were in truth what some have made it reputed by their false clamours prophane unclean impure Ierusalem For you may not hope to fare better then Christ and his Apostles whereever you stay and you are sure not to fare worse then they did though you stay in Jerusalem Jerusalem the City of God had been turned into Sodom a cage of unclean birds for its impurity into an Aceldama a field of blood for its cruelty yet here is such a promise annexed to it as makes Christs Disciples willing to bear with the impurities and to bear the cruelties For it is an Elisha promise which signifieth My God saveth And no wonder then if it hath the power of reviving the Soul as Elisha's bones did revive a dead body And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood upon his feet 2 Kings 13. 21. So if the soul be let down never so low into the pit of destruction yet if it touch this Elisha this promise of My God saveth with
nor be Judged by him Where we may safely enough admit of Baronius his own gloss An. 258. nu 42. out of Saint Augustine and yet not enervate the Validity of the Text Opinor inquit utique in his questionibus quae nondum eliquantissima perspectione discussa sunt id sc concessum esse I suppose they had such power and liberty only in those questions as were not yet fully discussed or determined And again Liberum faciebat quaerendi arbitrium ut examinata veritas penderetur Saint Cyprian therefore allowed them this liberty and power in common That the Truth might be the better discovered amongst them Take either or both Glosses t is evident that neither Saint Cyprian nor Saint Augustine did think That God had shut up all Truth in one Bishops breast or put all power into one Bishops hand But that the several Bishops of several Churches had by the blessing of God both ability to discern the Truth and Authority to publish and to establish it And this was the deliberate determination of the whole Council of Carthage in the year four hundred eighty five to which not only two hundered and thirty Affrican Bishops subscribed but also three Legates from the Bishop of Rome Faustinus Philippus and Asellus in these numerical words Prudentissime justissimeque Niceni Patres providerunt quaecunque negotia in suis locis ubi â—rta essent finienda nec unicuique Provinciae gratiam spiritus sancti defuturam quâ aequitas à Christi Sacerdotibus prudenter videatur constantissime teneatur The Nicene fathers did most judiciously and most justly provide that all controversies should be ended where they were begun For that the Grace of the Holy Ghost would be wanting to no Christian province whereby the Ministers of Christ belonging to that same Province should be enabled beth wisely to see what was just and equall and constantly to hold and to maintain it This Canon saith Goldastus was subscribed by three of the Popes own Legates but sure we are it was subscribed by all the Africane Bishops then present and sent in a letter to Pope Celestine which letter is inserted by Binius as the 105. Chapter of the Africane Council under Boniface and Celestine Tom. 1. Concil par 1. p. 757. edit Colon. Accordingly the same Council in 92. Canon constituteth and ordaineth That a Presbyter or Deacon being aggrieved by his own Bshop should appeal to the neighbouring Bishops or to the Primate or to an Africane Council but by no means to any Bishop out of their own Territories Ad transmarina autem qui putaverit appellandum à nullo intra Africam in communionem suscipiatur But if any shall appeal to countries abroad or beyond the Seas for his redress let no Bishop in Africa admit him to his communion The most reasonable Canon that could be made if particular Churches had their authority immediately from God to appoint those who were aggrieved their remedy at home But if not the most unreasonable to deny them to seek for remedy abroad Surely if we examine the Text we shall find very much spoken in the behalf of particular Churches For even our Saviour Christ himself appointed each particular Church to be judge of every person that lived within its Jurisdiction If thy brother shall trespass against thee tell it unto the Church Mat. 18. 15 17. What Church but that wherein thy brother liveth with thee not another Church wherein he liveth not for then our Saviour would certainly have named that other Church which since he hath not done we must understand this injured man 's own Church or else leave the peace of Christians under very great difficulties and greater uncertainties to this proof taken out of the first let us add another out of the last book of the new Testament Our blessed Saviour sends to the seven Churches which are in Asia Rev. 1. 11 and blames the Angels of them all severally for the several misdemeanors which he had seen in them which plainly shews that those several Angels had their several Trusts and as plainly proves that the doctrine concerning the Trust of particular Churches doth in no wise canton or dismember or disunite the Catholick Church for it is of Christs own teaching who is the head and may not be thought to canton or dismember or disunite his own body Saint Paul likewise sent seven several Epistles to seven several particular Christian Churches as to the Church of Rome Corinth Galatia Ephesus Philippi Colosse and Thessalonica allowing and confirming the particular authority and Trust of those several particular Churches and yet by no means dividing or disjointing the Catholick Church Whence we may justly infer that what Trust God at first gave to the particular Church of Rome Corinth Galatia and the rest the same he still giveth to other particular Churches and yet without the least division or disunion of this Catholick Church They were all several particular Churches in regard of their trust and jurisdiction they were all but one Catholick Church in regard of their Faith communion neither of them was opposed against the other in that they were accounted as so many several Churches neither of them was advanced above the other that they should all be united into one Church As it was said of the Church of Rome That your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world Rom. 1. 8. so it was likewise said of the Church of Thessalonica In every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad 1 Thes 1. 8. So that this argument can give no more Supremacy to the one Church then to the other and since there cannot possibly be two supreams this Text is very ill urged to prove the Church of Romes supremacy For ought then that can be gathered from these Epistles all the seven Churches were equally Gods Trustees and by consequent all others as well as they not one of them entruâ—ed above the rest and much less with the rest Each to give an account both to God and men for it self not one for All Nay Saint Paul hath taught us a reproof which may justly be used against any particular Church that will needs make it self too authentical above other Churches in that he saith to the Corinthians What came the word of God out from you or came it unto you only 1 Cor. 14. 36. Were you the first founders of the Christian Religion or are you the only Partakers of it was all Religion from you or is there no Religion but with you unless you can make good either one or both of these you may not take upon you to be the only Masters in Gods Israel but must allow others also to be taught of God to have their Religion from him and to have their Communion with him and what is that else but to be a true Christian Church to be called out of the world to Christ the Son of God by Religion to abide and dwell with him by
of the fourth Commandment who cryes up the Day but beats down the other adjuncts and also the very Duty of the Sabbath That Duty being to glorifie God in Christ by Publick worship for the Redemption of the world whereas they discountenance Liturgie and Festivals though both instituted in honour of our Redeemer Sect. 4. The sincerity of Christian Communion may be violated either Causally by a false Religion or Formally by an unjust separation Both violations are abominable The care which the primitive Christians used to avoid both by cleaving to the antient Creeds and Gloria Patri and also by their Communicatory Letters The reason of that care was that both Priest and People laboured only to serve Christ not to serve themselves of him The Touchstone to try all Churches is the Advancing Christ both in their Religion and in their Communion The Iustification of the Church of England Consisteth of three Chapters The first Chapter sheweth That the Church of England is Gods Trustee for the Christian Religion as to the people of this Nation The secend Chapter sheweth That the same Church of England hath carefully discharged her Trust concerning Religion as a most Christian or most Catholick Church The third Chapter sheweth That the Communion of the said Church of England is conscionably embraced and reteined by All the people of this Nation and not rejected much less renounced by any of them but against the Rules of Conscience CAP. 1. That the Church of England is Gods Trustee for the Christian Religion as to the People of this Nation Sect. 1. CHrist delivered the Trust of his Word and Sacraments to his Apostles They delivered the same to Bishops and Presbyters their successors But the Apostles had an illimited their successors have a limited Trust The necessity of the succession of these Trustees to the worlds end yet is the succession of Doctrine more necessary then the succession of Persons Sect. 2. The Trust and nature of the Catholick Church best gathered from particular Churches The first part of their Trust is concerning the word of God Sect. 3. The second part of the Trust of particular Churches is concerning the people of God What that Trust is and how it comes to be derived to them is shewed from Saint Pauls speech Acts 20. to the particular Church of Ephesus and from Saint Pauls Epistles to Timothy and Titus and from other several Epistles of his to particular Churches Sect. 4. The third part of the Trust of particular Churches is concerning the worship of God The written Word of God is the Rule whereby they are to manage that Trust the readyest way to beget a Christian Communion among all Churches and a Christian Peace in each particular Church Sect. 5. The Prince as the Supreme Governor of the particular Church in his own dominions is Gods Trustee concerning the outward exercise of Religion not to manage or perform but to propagate and to protect it The antient Divines acknowledged this Trust and the antient Princes discharged it and Princes now are bound so to do because it is their right by the Law of nature and because without the discharge of this Trust there can neither be the face nor the due order of Religion among any People Sect. 6. The limitation both of the Princes and of the Priests Trust in matters of Religion That neither may deviate from the Law of God And that the Authority of the Churches Laws is most enfeebled by them who make least esteem of the Law of God casting the aspersions of obscurity and of uncertainty upon the Holy Scriptures Sect. 7. The Trust of each particular Church is sufficient for the Peoples salvation if she take heed to her self and to the Doctrine God hath given her in his written Word and in the antient Creeds of the Catholick Church Sect. 8. The Trust of particular Churches is immediately from God himself both in regard of the Magistrate and of the Minister That trust much stood upon in the Primitive times and ought to be so still because it is founded in the Holy Scriptures And that this Doctrine concerning the trust of particular Churches doth not Canton or dis-joynt the Catholick Church Sect. 9. What Trust is given to other particular Churches in the Holy Scriptures is also given to our particular Church of England from God the Father Son and Holy Ghost That our Church is accordingly bound to magnifie her Trust and therefore we bound not to vilifie it And that it is both rational and religious to maintain the Trust and Authority of our own particular Church CAP. 2. That the Church of England hath most carefully discharged her Trust concerning Religion as a most Christian or most Catholick Church Sect. 1. GODS intent in Trusting the Church with Religion was her Honour and Happiness which should cause our thankfulness to God and our reverent esteem of his Church Sect. 2. The Churches Trust concerning Religion is to see there be right Preaching Praying and Administring the Holy Sacraments Preaching belongs rather to the knowledge then to the worship of God and ought not to thrust out Praying which is the chiefest act of Gods worship and most regarded by him especially when many Pray in one Communion Sect. 3. Preaching is twofold either by Translating or by Expounding the Holy Scriptures The great excellency and necessity of both And that our Church is entrusted with both and cannot justly be charged as defective in either Sect. 4. Praying a greater part of the Churches Trust then Preaching The Church hath God the Fathers Precedent and Precept for making set forms of Prayer and shall answer for all the blemishes that may be in publick Prayers for want of a set form Sect. 5. The Church hath God the Sons Precedent and Precept for making set forms of Prayer and is accordingly obliged both to make and to use them Sect. 6. The Church hath God the Holy Ghosts Precedent and Precept for making and using set forms of Prayer Sect. 7. The Church hath Gods Promise for his blessing upon set forms of Prayer Sect. 8. The Church is obliged to make set forms of Prayer according to the Pattern of the Lords most holy Prayer that there be no Peccancy neither concerning the Object nor the Matter nor the Manner of publick Prayer and that our Church hath exactly followed that Pattern in hers and that other Churches ought to follow the same in their Liturgies A short Historical Narration concerning our Common-Prayer Book and the Anti-prayer book set up against it Sect. 9. Reformation not to be pretended against Religion The abolishing of Liturgie no part of a true Reformation That God hath not given any Church power to abolish Liturgie And that no Church ought to assume that power because Liturgie directly tends to the keeping of the third and of the fourth Commandments Sect. 10. Certainty is more to be regarded in the publick exercise of Religion then Variety Hence the Creed the Lords Prayer
due is to deny the Text and to be a Heretick against the fifth Commandment and t is as hard going to heaven for Hereticks against the Decalogue as against the Creed surely Mordecay and Hester would not have appointed the feast of Purim for two dayes by their own authority if the secular Magistrate had been confined by God only to secular affairs and prohibited to intermeddle in Ecclesiastical Wherefore we dare not but say this trust this power is indeed the Princes birth-right and is as inseparable from his Crown by the dictates of God and nature as his Crown is from his head or his head is from his body And t is happy for us it is so for else such is the wickedness and such would be the outrage of headstrong Schismaticks Hereticks and Atheists that we should soon come to have no appearance or shew of a Church and no form or face of Religion For the spiritual power of Preaching exhorting correcting administring praying excommunicating which is all that Church-men can do by vertue of their Orders can only enable them to preserve the purity and the truth but not the outward publick solemnity and practice of Religion that depends very much if not altogether upon the external or temporal power both for its being and for its continuance For if men once turn mad and outragious as t is very easie for those who are out of their honesty to be also out of their wits the fear of Gods Judgements will no more terrifie them then the love of Gods truth will perswade them to consult with their consciences so that neither fear nor love of God is like to bring them to a right order in his worship and service nor to keep them in it wherefore in such a case as this and a mischief that hath already been so often felt ought to be alwayes feared unless the secular arm defend the Church well there may be some private love and desire but there can scarce be any publick practice and exercise of the true Religion This Augustine proves at large Epist 50. Bonifacio comiti de moderate coercendis Hereticis which himself would have us look upon as a full Tractate because in the second of his Retract cap. 28. he calls it a Book Scripsi librum de correctione Donatistarum In which Book he useth many arguments why Kings by their secular power should both defend and vindicate Religion 1. Because those were blamed in the Old Testament who did it not those extolled above all others who did it 2. Because it was the duty of Kings so to do for that else though they might serve God as private men yet not as Kings unless they made Laws to compel others also to serve him Aliter enim servit quia homo est aliter quia etiam Rex est Quia homo est ei servit vivendo fideliter quia vero etiam rex est servit leges justa praecipientes contraria prohibentes convenienti rigore sanciendo Kings serve God as men by being religious but they serve him as Kings by making severe Laws in the defence of Religion 3. Because the Church might lawfully call upon them to do it for though the Apostles desired not the assistance of the Heathen Princes in their dayes because that prophesie was not yet fulfilled why do the Heathen so furiously rage The Kings of the Earth stand up together against the Lord and against his Christ Yet now the Church may desire the assistance of Christian Princes since that is come to pass which followeth in the same Psalm Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be learned ye that are Judges of the earth For now that Kings are called to the knowledge of Religion t is not rational to say they are not called to the defence of it Quis mente sobrius Regibus dicat Nolite curare in regno vestro à quo teneatur vel oppugnetur Ecclesia Domini vestri non ad vos pertineat in regno vestro quis velit esse sive religiosus sive sacrilegus quibus dici non potest non ad vos pertineat in regno vestro quis velit pudicus esse quis impudicus What sober man will say to Kings It is no part of your care to look after the Church of your Lord who do possess it or who do oppose it as if they were not to look after mens piety who are to look after womens chastity as if it concerned them that there should be no bastards not much more that there should be no sacriledge or idolatry in their kingdoms 4. Because Kings by their temporal power might redress many mischiefs which else were not like to be redressed For though the best Christians were moved by love yet the most Christians were awed by fear Sicut meliores sunt quos dirigit amor ita plures sunt quos corrigit timor And to this purpose he applies several Texts of the Proverbs particularly this of Prov. 29. 19. Verbis non emendabitur servus durus A stubborn servant will not be corrected by words Quum dixit Verbis non emendari non eum jussit deseri sed tacite admâ—nuit unde debeat emendari when be said a stubborn servant will not be corrected by words he would not have him left incorrigible but privately intimated the way he should be corrected sc by stripes or blows For God often useth the scourge to his best servants to bring them to himself therefore it is not cruelty but mercy in Christian Kings to scourge his enemies unto him whereas the Donatists object Cui vim Christus intulit quem coegit Whom did Christ force or compell to be a Christian I answer saith he Let them look on S. Paul Agnoscant in eo prius cogentem Christum postea docentem prius ferientem postea consolantem mirum est autem quomodo ille qui poena corporis ad Evangelium coactus intravit plus illis omnibus qui solo verbo vocati sunt in Evangelio laboravit Let them confess that Christ did first compel then instruct Saint Paul first strike him down then raise him up and it is very observable that he who was forced to the Apostleship by the pain and punishment of his own body was more laborious therein then they who were only called by the word of Christ 5. And lastly Because the Donatists used un just violence to oppose and opppress the Church much more should Christian Princes use their just power to uphold and to maintain it Cur ergo non cogeret Ecclesia perditos filios ut redirent si perditi filii coegerunt alios ut perirent Why should not the Church force her lost children to come to the way of life since they force their brethren to go to the gates of death Et ipse Dominus ad magnam coenam suam prius adduci jubet convivas postea cogi for even our Lord himself first appointed guests to be invited but at last to
10. Sund. after Trin. Let thy merciful ears O Lord be open to the prayers of thy humble servants and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please thee No Congregation of Christians can pray in faith of obtaining their petitions unless they pray in faith of asking such things as please God and they cannot well do this unless they know before-hand what they shall ask of him in their prayers and in what words they shall ask it because else for ought they know they shall ask such things as may not please him or ask in such a sort as may displease him SECT VIII The Church is obliged to make set forms of prayer according to the pattern of the Lords most holy prayer that there be no peccancy neither concerning the object nor the matter nor the manner of publick prayer that our Church hath exactly followed that pattern in Hers and that other Churches ought to follow the same in their Liturgies A short historical narration concerning our Common prayer Book and the Anti-prayer Book set up against it REligion is the motion of the reasonable soul to God as to its first beginning and to its last end but Christ alone is the way by and in which the soul doth make this motion so that to have a Religion without Christ is to have a Religion without God that is to have no Religion For the soul of man being finite cannot be joyned to God who is infinite but by the help of a Mediator nor can any be a Mediator betwixt finite and infinite but he that partakes of both which is only our Saviour Christ who partaketh of finite as man of infinite as God He alone is able to joyn finite and infinite in one Communion who hath joyned them in one person and therefore to him alone we must repair as often as we desire to be joyned with God Our Religion without him were nothing for it could not bring us unto God and since our prayers are the chiefest part of our Religion they also would be nothing without him Therefore it neerly concerns the Church to make sure of such prayers wherein Christ may joyn with her for else she will pray in vain because without his intercession nay indeed she will pray in sin because against his command Accordingly hath Christs own most holy Prayer been looked upon in all Ages of the Church as the ground and platform of Liturgy to make other set forms of prayer from it as a warrant by it as a pattern This was the judgement of the Church in Saint Augustines time delivered by himself in his Epistle to Proba Si recte congruenter oramus nihil aliud dicere possuneus quam quod in ista oratione Dominica positum est If we pray rightly and fitly rightly in the object fitly in the matter and manner of our prayers We can say nothing else but what is already briefly said in the Lords Prayer And this was likewise the judgement of the Church in Aquinas his time as it is also delivered by himself In oratione Dominica non solum petuntur omnia quae recte desiderare possumus sed etiam eo ordine quo desideranda sunt ut sic haec oratio non solum instruat postulare sed etiam sit informativa totius nostri affectus 22ae qu. 83. art 9. c. In the Lords most holy prayer are not only desired all things which are truly desirable but also in that Method and order in which we must desire them So that this prayer doth not only regulate our expression teaching us of whom and what to ask but also our affection teaching in what Method to ask it For this prayer teacheth us to pray unto God only Our Father which art in heaven and in our prayers first to desire God for himself and after that all other things for God God for himself as he is in himself Hallowed be thy name God for himself as he may be enjoyed by us Thy Kingdom come God for himself as he ought to rule and reign over us Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven And it teacheth us to desire all other things for God whether they concern our present subsistence Give us this day our daily bread or our present deliverance from the guilt of sin and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us or our future deliverance from the guilt of sin and lead us not into temptation or our present and future deliverance from the punishment of sin But deliver us from evil Even all these deliverances are prayed for in relation to God for as much as the guilt of sin doth immediately separate from his holiness the punishment of sin doth immediately separate from his blesedness much more is our present subsistence prayed for in relation to him that we may not subsist in and for our selves who are worse then nothing but in and for our God who is all in all And all these things are prayed for in a right order first God for himself as he is in himself Then God for himself as he is in his Church Triumphant by his Glory after that as he is in his Church Militant by his Grace Then we pray for all other things in relation to God and amongst them first we desire desire him to give those things which may be as instruments to bring us to him as our corporal and much more our spiritual food after that we desire him to remove those things which are as impediments to keep us from him our sins our temptations our punishments We cannot answer it to God or men if we refuse to pray with those who thus pray with Christ for such men cannot be peccant either in the object or in the matter or in the manner of their prayers wherein the Liturgy of the Church of England hath a singular pre-eminence which maketh her prayers only to God and such prayers as are only for God Prayers exciting holy affections agreeable with a holy God Prayers affording holy expressions agreeable with holy affections Prayers least defective either in religious affections or in religious expressions and therefore prayers most befitting the publick exercise of Religion which will not endure either of these defects Prayers which no man doth say cordially but he is assured of his hearts being with his God Prayers which every man should say cordially because when he is assured of his hearts being with his God he may be ashamed of his tongues not being with his heart As for that objection which some make against our Liturgy that it cometh too neer the Popish Mass book t is in truth its vertue 1. Because thereby our Reformers intended the promotion of true Christian Communion by not making a needless much less a scandalous separation from other Christians in those devotions wherein they had not separated from Christ 2. Because they intended to promote true Christian
Peter Martyr with four other Divines would defend this Book and each particle thereof against all the Papists in England and he did indeed at last undergo his Martyrdom very comfortably in its defence Besides all this the Confessors of that age Those who were banished or had left all and fled for their Religion into Geneva or the Low-Countries did even there use this very form of prayer which they had brought with them out of England as thinking it the best Test of their Religion for which they fled and the surest badge of their communion in which they persisted I say they did use our Common prayer book beyond sea in Holland and Geneva till Master Knox began to pick quarrels both with the book it self and with them that used it Which when Doctor Grindal told Bishop Ridley as he was in prison to be sacrificed in the flames the very next day the holy Martyr broke out into this bitter complaint I cannot but wonder that Mr. Knox should at this time set himself against the poor Protestants of England and find fault with their Service book wherein though his wit may chance find something to cavil at yet shall he never be able to find matter of just exception as if any thing therein contained were contrary to the word of God This was that dying Martyrs Testimony concerning our Common prayer book to which I could alledge many more but that yet after all this to give content and satisfaction to all parties if it were possible and to take away those passages which Calvin was pleased to call Tolerabiles ineptias Tolerable follies who doubtless did see intolerable follies in other conceived prayers This same Book was again the fourth time corrected and amended in the daies of that renowned Queen Elizabeth and yet for all these corrections and amendments met still with innumerable companies of Malecontents who disliked the use of it though they could not agree in their own dislikes For what some rejected others approved in so much that the whole was approved by them severally whiles it was joyntly opposed which when the Queen discovered to them she shamed their oppositions though she could not silence them For though they pretended only to make some objections against this form yet their intent was indeed to have no set form whereby to put Religion wholly into their own mouthes if not out of the Peoples hearts This made them despise that Book which Cranmer Ridly Bucer Peter Martyr and Reverend Master Ould and others did justifie against the Papists all of them with their Pens and some of them with their Blood For my part I must profess that as a Christian Divine I have bestowed much pains in viewing the Christian forms of publick worship and I cannot yet find any one Liturgy in all Christendom to which I can willingly and with a good conscience say Amen in all particulars save only This of our own Church with which I cannot but most heartily and willingly joyn in every prayer and the rather because I find This Liturgy hath in it all the chiefest pious and pithy devotions of Greek and Latine Liturgies but the superstitions of neither And I am willing to perswade my self that other men especially of my calling would not so easily forsake much less so openly revile this publick form of worship if they did seriously consider how directly it tends to Gods glory and his peoples good and how much it belongs to the Churches Trust that her publick worship should directly tend to both For surely it is a most inestimable priviledge of Piety that we can joyn in Prayer with Saint Augustine Saint Chrysostom and all the other Greek and Latine Fathers nay with Saint Peter and Saint Paul who if they were present at our service would not refuse to communicate in our prayers whatever our own seduced Brethren may refuse because they are all easily and plainly reducible to the Lords most holy Prayer In so much that we do not only in our Belief glorifie God as they did and truly the repeating of the Creed doth more truly glorifie God then any other Profession of his Truth which we can make but also in our prayers we invocate him as they did whereby we do not only speculatively profess or acknowledge but also practically maintain and uphold the Communion of Saints and are sure we shall both profess and practise that communion if we communicate with our own Church which hath such a form of worship as doth profess and practise it For we are sure that we Pray as they once prayed whiles we are sure that we pray according to the Lords own most holy Prayer which certainly they must needs want who do not before-hand know their Form of Prayer but come first to Hear and then to Pray so that if the Preacher chance to abuse their Patience by some new-found upstart Divinity in his Sermon They may be sure he will much more abuse their Piety by some new-found upstart Devotion in his Prayer since his business is to turn his Sermon into his Prayer and that may be either of so bad contents or of so bad consequents as to turn their Prayer into Nothing It is not to be denyed but this may be done easily it is to be feared this is done frequently among those who have no other Prayers but such as the Preacher is pleased to make for them whose Faith may be Faction in his Sermon and whose Religion may be Rebellion in his Prayer so that the Congregation which dependeth meerly upon his lips must have no Prayers if they will not be factious and rebellious or must have Profanations instead of Prayers if they will For it is not to be imagined that such Ministers who pull down their Church to set up themselves will not stand on Tip-toe as well in Praying as in Preaching that they may obtain a full Dictatorship in Religion whiles every one of them takes upon him to Lord it in Gods house as if God had given him Commission to say with Elijah As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand there shall not be dew nor rain these years neither dew of heavenly Doctrine nor rain of heavenly devotion to refresh your gasping souls but according to my word 1 King 17. 1. For they all in the end drive at this that we should in effect have no prayers though at first they would be thought to advise us to better prayers The first Edition of their Anti-prayer Book though it had this proud posie in its fore-head No man can lay any other foundation then that which is laid even Jesus Christ yet within two years after being reviewed by themselves was in a manner quite changed and had not so few as 600. grand and material alterations And yet for all this within another year a third Book was begotten and brought forth differing in many points from both the other as if they had resolved to make good that reproach which
Apostles rule Hold fast that which is good is not to be observed in all good but only in the very best The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of Truth Eccles 12. â—10 If he that preacheth ought to seek for acceptable words that is words sutable both to the matters he speaks of and the persons he speaks to then much more he that prayeth since praying ought to be more carefully provided and more conscionably performed then preaching For in preaching a man speaks to men but in praying a man speaks to God And for this cause the Church thinks it her duty to provide for us acceptable words in praying whilst she leaves us to provide our own acceptable words in preaching The Prophet Hosea exhorteth the Israelites to take with them words and turn to the Lord Hos 14. 2. He asks not Gold nor Silver not burnt offerings saith Rabbi David but good words from you that with them you will confess your sins and return unto the Lord with all your heart and not only with your lips Here t is plain by his Gloss that the Prophet enjoyns a form of confession and bids them take good words that they may have good hearts nay t is plain by the Text it self for those good words or that form of confession is particularly expressed as well as enjoyned in the next words Say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously But it were in vain to pray unto God to receive us graciously if we did pray ungraciously therefore taking with us words according to Gods command in Hosea must needs well agree with the Spirit of grace and of supplications according to his promise in Zechariah Zech. 12. 10. And as the Papists do vainly arrogate and more vainly appropriated the Title of Religion to their monastical vows so the Enthusiasts do as vainly arrogate and more vainly appropriate the Title of the Spirit to their phantastical prayers and good Protestants have no more reason to think they want these prayers to make them spiritual then that they want those vows to make them Religious I do not discourage or discountenance any particular mans gifts for I do heartily wish as Moses did I would to God all the Lords people were Prophets but I must needs profess that he which ascended on high led captivity captive to give gifts unto men hath given the greatest gifts where he hath given the greatest promises and he hath given greater promises to his Church then to any member or Minster of the same If I follow the Church making use of the gift of prayer which God hath given her I do that which God hath required of me For the Church hath commission from God to teach me to pray or that of Luk. 11. 1. was not written for our instruction But if I follow any other mans gifts who hath not that commission I may justly fear that God who will one day say to him Who hath required this at your hands for making such prayers will not say much less to me for hearing them As for that slight objection of deadness formality men are subject to more from set forms then from conceived prayers t is in its consequence a blasphemy against the holy Scriptures for it reacheth the prayers penned there by the Holy Ghost as well as penned here by the Church so that I hope none will blame me for calling the objection slight now I have proved it wicked For how is it possible for any man to say that prayer by book is flat and dead without undervaluing all the prayers in the holy Bible and contemning the very Book of books Let him next say Evangelium Atramentarium away with this Inkie-Gospel but withal let him know that he cannot thus turn Enthusiast unless he will first turn Papist So he shall turn to the worse for his person and he cannot depend upon suggestions instead of books but he must turn prayer from being an act of Reason nay from being an act of Faith to be an act of phansie if not of faction And so he shall turn to the worse also for his prayers yet all this while we cannot but take notice that our adversaries are very hard put to it for an accusation when they are fain to fetch it from our hearts which they cannot know should not judge dealing with us as some of the Rabbies dealt with Job for when the Text had said of him In all this Job sinned not with his lips as we doubt not but it doth also in effect say of our Church concerning her Common Prayers two of them sc Ralbag and Jarchi are pleased to add this gloss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abal belibbo Chata But yet sure he sinned in his heart To conclude a set form of Doctrine we must have or be Heretical A set form of Discipline we must have or be irregular and why not also have a set form of devotion or be irreligious for we cannot well be unanimously Religious without a set form of publick prayer and the want of unanimity will soon beget the want of Religion for God is love and therefore we cannot be without love but we must be without God and consequently men cannot be long without true charity but they will also be without true piety And as for making the Common Prayer Book an Idol if it be not an objection of great impiety by calling true Religion Idolatry yet it is an argument of great absurdity because it may cast the Bible must cast the Sabbath out of the Church For men may Idolize one good Book as well as another so the Bible may go ere long but some have already Idolized the Sabbath so that must stay no longer I do the rather instance upon this latter for that it comes neerest our present case 1. Because publick prayer is the duty of the Sabbath and that ought to be publick in its substance that is in its matter and form as well as in its Accidents that is time place and persons 2. Because the same Method is to be observed in words as in time Gods consecration is to be the rule of ours in them both he hath consecrated we may what he hath consecrated we must he hath said make holy we may he hath said make holy the Sabbath day we must he hath said when ye pray say thus we must he hath said after this manner therefore pray we may Had he not given us that latitude we might not have taken it but must have only used such prayers in his publick worship as his holy Spirit had left us in the holy Scriptures Now he hath given this latitude we must make the best use of it by making and using such prayers as we know are after this manner though not in these Words we have as great need of set forms of prayers to find our tongues as of set forms of Laws to bind our heads to
which hath made her free hath made me a bondman for I am not free to go from the Church whiles she is free by coming to and abiding in the Truth I must be contented to lose my Liberty that I may keep my Piety wherein though I have a seeming loss yet I have a real gain even the gain of godliness which is great gain in this world by sanctifying the soul but greater in the next by saving it And this is according to our blessed Saviours Prayer Sanctifie them through thy Truth thy word is Truth John 17. 17. The same is the Holy Religion to sanctifie us which is the True Religion to save us The sanctification it hath from Gods Truth the Truth it hath from Gods Word and consequently a Religion that is not built upon Gods Word can neither have Sanctification nor Truth This is the only certain and infallible foundation of the Catholick Faith according to that of Saint Paul Ye are of the houshold of God and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone Eph. 2. 19 20. Vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets that is upon the Old and New Testament Supra novum vetus Testamentum as saith Saint Ambrose And Epiphanius doth in effect give the same gloss in saying That our blessed Saviour is called the chief corner-stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because he did bind as it were in one knot both the People and the Truths of the Old and New Testament so that we must have the holy Scriptures for our foundation or we cannot have our Saviour Christ for the chief corner-stone of our building The same Epiphanius tels us that our blessed Saviour was therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magni consilii Angelus for so the Seventy have rendred that Text Isa 9. 6. The Angel of the great Counsel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiph. in Hâ—r Arian because he declared the will of his Father unto men And sure we must go to the Holy Scriptures if we desire to find that declaration Nay indeed Aquinas also wâ—tnesseth the same in saying that t is most proper for Divinity to argue from authority and not from reason because she hath all her principles from Revelation Argumentari ex authoritate est maximè proprium hujus Doctrine eo quod principia hujus Doctrinae per revelationem habentur in 1. par qu. 1. ar 8. ad 2. And least we should doubt where to look for that Revelation and consequently for that authority from which we ought to argue he tels us presently after we must look for it from the Apostles and Prophets in the Canonical Scriptures and from no body else Innititur fides nostra revelationi Apostolis Prophetis factae qui Canonicos libros scripserunt non autem revelationi siqua fuit aliis doctoribus facta Our faith relyeth upon the revelation that was made to the Apostles and Prophets who writ the Canonical Scriptures and not upon any Revelation made before or since to any other Doctor whatsoever And he proves his assertion from Saint Augustine in an Epistle to Saint Hierom wherein he saith thus Solis enim scripturarum libris qui Canonici appellantur didici hunc honorem deferre ut nullum auctorem eorum in scribendo errasse aliquid firmissime credam Alios autem ita lego ut quantalibet sanctitate doctrinaque praepolleant non ideo verum putem quod ipsi ita senserunt vel scripserunt I have learned to give this honour only to the Canonical Books of the Holy Scriptures that I firmly believe the Authors of those books to have erred in nothing But as for other Authours though of never so great learning and piety yet I do not think the Doctrine true because they have writ it I will add but one more Testimony and that shall be from Gratian himself the Father of the Canonists who in the second part of the Decree cause 8. quest 1. cap ult citeth these words out of reverend Bede Quibus in sacris literis una est credendi pariter Vivendi regula praescripta To whom in the Holy Scripture there is prescribed one rule both of believing and of living Quibus to whom he means to Clergy-men and to Lay-men though the gloss is pleased to add Laicis tamen sufficit Pictura pro Doctrina Pictures may suffice for Lay-mens Books T is to no purpose to cite moreover the authority of Councils for sure School-men Fathers and Canonists are enough to out-weigh a few later Jesuites who would sain have us go to man rather then to God for the foundation of our Faith In controversiis Religionis ultimum judicium est summi Pontificis saith Bellarmine lib. 4. de Pontif. cap. 1. § Sed nec In controversies of Religion the last Judgement belongs to the Pope And again Solum Petrum Christus vocavit Petram fundamentum non Petrum cum Concilio ex quo apparet totam firmitatem Conciliorum esse à Pontifice non partim à Pontifice partim à Concilio ib. c 3. § Contra. Our blessed Saviour called Peter alone a Rock and a foundation not Peter with a Council From whence it is evident that the whole validity of Councils and by conâ—equent of the Catholick Church is wholly from the Pope not partly from the Pope and partly from a Council If the Council of Constance and of Basil had been of this belief the contrary would never have been defined for a Catholick verity Veritas de potestate Concilii generalis universalem Ecclesiam repraesentantis supra Papam quemlibet alterum declarata per Constantiense hoc Basiliense generalia Concilia est veritas fidei Catholicae Consil Basil sess 33. This truth declared by the general Councils of Constance and Basil of the power of a general Council representing the universal Church above the Pope or any other is a truth belonging to the Catholick Faith To which they add this for a second That the Pope cannot dissolve or remove a General Council without their own consents and after that bring in this for a third verity of the Catholick faith Veritatibus duabus praedictis pertinaciter repuâ—nans est censendus Haereticus He that pertinaciously opposeth the two former verities is to be accounted an Heretick Which their three Catholick verities are again repeated in the thirty eighth Session and in the fortieth Session Pope Foelix upon his knees takes a solemn Oath to maintain the decrees of these two as well as of the other general Councils and after he hath so done subscribes the same Oath with his own hand offereth it upon the Holy Altar and promiseth to take it again in the first publick Consistory that he should hold sc at Rome with the Cardinals Hanc autem professionem mea manu subscripsi tibi omnipotenâ—i Deo cui in die tremendi judicii redditurus sum de hoc aliis meis operibus rationem pura
in relation to the people to those who have a great number to countenance any insolency and as great a power to continue it and to say it in the name of God is to say that which if it doth not make the people tractable will certainly make them inexcusable And this Saint Paul saith so frequently that we are bound to look upon it as his common dialect and therefore as our own special duty I will instance only in that Text which as it allows the necessity of Ecclesiastical Discipline so it allayes the severity of it for these times though they most shew the want or necessity of Church government yet will they least endure the severity of the same And that Text is in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians the third Chapter 14. and 15. Verses And if any men obey not our word by this Epistle note that man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed yet count him not as an enemy but admonish him as a brother T is without all doubt and therefore should be without all dispute that these words were not written occasionally but âoctrinally and consequently contain in them such a precept as now at this time concerns us no less then it did at that time concern the Thessalonians And our Church is no less intrusted with this precept then theirs was and as much bound to execute this command of observing admonishing avoiding such as obey not the Apostles Word or Doctrine whether by his own Epistles or by the Churches Sermons Whether by his writing or by her speaking whether by his Hand or by her mouth What remains then if I obey not but wilfully persist in disobeying the Apostles Doctrine taught me by this Church which God hath set over me but that I look upon my self as one excommunicated by this Canon of the Holy Ghost and consequently as one whose sins are bound and retained in heaven though possibly not so much as taken notice of here on Earth And therefore I have great reason to fear that sentence which a Bishop of this Church hath recorded upon this very Text though now I see no visible Judge to pronounce it In nomine Dei c. In the name of the living God and of Jesus Christ before whom I stand and before whom all flesh shall appear by the authority of his word and by the power of the Holy Ghost I divide thee from the fellowship of the Gospel and declare that thou art no more a member of the body of Christ Thy name is put out of the book of life Thou hast no part in the life to come thou art not in Christ and Christ is departed from thee I deliver thee to Satan the Prince of darkness thy reward shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Thou shalt starve and wither and not abide The Grace of God is taken out of thy Heart The face of the Lord is against all them that do evil they shall not taste of his mercy Bishop Jewel in his Commentary on 2 Thes 3. This is a sentence that I have reason to fear if I be disobedient to the Doctrine and bid defiance to the worship of Almighty God which I have learned in this Church For rather then the Synagogue of Satan shall be confounded with the Church of God Christ himself will re-assume that Power which he hath given to his Ministers he will become the judge rather then obstinate sinners shall want the sentence of condemnation Nay it is to be feared that he is become the Judge already and hath moreover ratified his own sentence for surely men are divided from the fellowship of the Gospel Christ is departed from them and the grace of God is taken out of their hearts when they altogether delight in divisions and are as children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine nay carried away with all deceivableness of unrighteousnesness because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved And indeed men are first generally carried away by the deceivableness of unrighteousness and after that by the deceivableness of untruth The deceivableness of unrighteousness will not let them receive the love of the truth and then the deceivableness of untruth will not let them retein the Doctrine of it as it follows For this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lye that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thes 2. 11 12. They first have pleasure in unrighteousness and will not believe the truth and from thence proceed to have pleasure in untruth that they may defend and maintain their unrighteousness First they will not give themselves to believe the truth then God gives them to belielieve a lye First they contemn those whom God hath sent then God sends them strong delusions First they believe not the truth because they have pleasure in their sins then they believe a lye that they may perish in their sins O the unspeakable mercy of God who hath given us this warning to day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts O the impartial Justice of God who hath given us this doom that if we hear not his voice to day we shall harden our hearts to morrow Let us consider how the Primitive Christians obeyed their spiritual guides and we shall never want the Method and much less lose the zeal of our obedience We will never let it be said that we have lived so many years to understand our Religion now mean to live the rest of our dayes to abandon it alwayes remembring that heavenly contemplation of the Angelical Doctor Ratio Aeternitatis consequitur Immutabilitatem sicut ratio temporis consequitur motum 1 par qu. 10. art 2. Eternity is founded upon unchangeableness as time is founded upon change Therefore we cannot lay a greater reproach upon Religion then to think or to shew it changeable as if it rather belonged to time then to eternity Secondly this obligation which binds us to our spiritual Pastors and Guides hath not lost its force of binding us because of the duty to which we are bound which is the publick practice of Religion A duty which we cannot perform without the direction of the Church for without that when we come together every one will have a Psalm a Doctrine a tongue a revelation an interpretation 1 Cor. 14 26. yet a duty which we cannot wilfully neglect without the danger if not the damnation of our souls For this comes neer that damnable sin of spiritual slothfulness which regards not Communion with God and he that regards not communion with God here how can he hope for the fruition of God hereafter T is the common course of men now to say are not Abana and Pharphar Rivers of Damascus better then all the Waters of Israel may I not wash in them aud be clean