whom wee now speake their god is their belly as if he should haue said that they onely regard the things of this world for them they study and doe their vttermost deuoire Magister artis ingenique Largitor venter their belly teacheth them their skill and bestowes their wit vpon them See here the meaning of that place they cause not Deuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine of the Gospell for any care or conscience to serue God but to serue their belly in acquiring the things of this life And this is an especiall marke of infamie with which they are alwayes branded in the Scriptures Paul to Titus saith that they teach things which they ought not for filthy lucres sake The Apostle Peter saith through couetousnesse shall they with feigned words make merchandize of you And the Apostle Iude saith that they runne greedily after the errour of Balaam for reward This being their aime we need not seeke the cause why those of the Romish Church so obstinately maintaine their masses Indulgencies Pardons and such like Satanicall sigments for because they are separated from the Congregation of the Lord it cannot bee but their studie is to serue their belly Againe this being their aime wee need not wonder if in this flourishing Church of England and as it were in the noone-tyde of the Gospell as well the doctrine as the discipline of the Church being agreed vpon in publique conuocation by the learned and religious of the Land and authorised by law you haue yet many among you who willingly would and doe as farre as they dare alter the forme of our publike Church-Seruice and Ceremonies and feigne would innouate something either in respect of substance or of circumstance and if you haue Sects of Anabaptists Brownists Papists Familists Catharists and those who mislike all things but their owne inuentions For what wonder shall I bring if that I tell you that it is possible there may be couetous men among vs For the loue of money is the roote of all euill which while some coueted after they haue erred from the faith and pierced themselues through with many sorrowes Now because these Leopards doe hide their clawes and sometimes vnder the profession of voluntary pouertie doe practice couetousnesse the Apostle will therefore shew you wherein they hide them lest because you see them not you may thinke them to haue none and so like children play too familiarly with them not finding out their priuate end their belly By good words and faire speeches The Doctours of the Romish Church among other blasphemies are wont to teach that the holy Scripture is a nose of Waxe and a leaden rule meaning thereby that it may be bowed wrested and turned to contrary expositions and interpretations for the maintenance of priuate opinions and absurdities It is most blasphemous to say that the Scripture is so and yet St. Peter takes it for granted that it may be wrested yet with this Prouiso to the destruction of them that wrest it Now because it is true that false Prophets shall come in sheepes cloathing to deceiue therefore it doth follow that they shall bring nothing more than the Scripture in their mouthes which they haue wrested to their owne damnation A thing which the diuell himselfe hath taught them who when hee tempted our Sauiour Christ in the Wildernesse could yet cite the Scripture to his purpose If thou be the Sonne of God cast thy selfe downe for it is written hee shall giue his Angells charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall beare thee vp least at any time thou dash thy foote against a stone These are those good words the Apostle speaketh of with which the mouthes of all those that cause deuisions are stufft Adaptare cupientes ea quae bené dicta sunt ijs quae malè adinventa sunt ab ipsis Striuing to fit those things which in the Scriptures are well spoken according as there they are spoken to what they themselues haue mis-inuented With these good words so ill implyed will the Valentinians goe about to establish their 30. couple of Gods and Goddesses The Manichees their duo Principia or brace of gods the Arians to denie the true diuinitie of Christ the Papists their Purgatorie their Transubstantiation and all the parts of their Masse and euery new deuiser his owne brain-sicke Fopperies therefore as good coyners are not wont hastily to receiue and to approue of euery peece of gold but will first trie it and proue it by the touchstone especially if it be an vnknowne coyne So if any man bring vnto vs any newes in matters of religion and will thrust it vpon vs for gold in the name of the Scripture as good coyners wee must bring it to the Scripture and compare Scripture with Scripture that so wee may iudiciously discerne and see Quis nummus probus sit quis adulter which is good coyne which is Copper And the reason is because it is the practice of those that serue their belly to come with good words euen with the most blessed words of the Scripture in their mouthes like as the Hiaena is wont to counterfeit a mans voyce to obtaine his prey Faire speeches I referre to their moralitie by which they striue to be compleate euery way For it is the condition of an hypocrite to counterfeit vertue for Hypocrisie it selfe as Chrysologus in one of his Sermons obserueth is virtutum fucus the false painting or shadowing of vertue therefore must they come with faire language and vertuous speeches that they may with more ease bee receiued It is true that their end is their belly yet doe their outward actions beare such a shew of holinesse and charitie that to our shame it may bee spoken to the sight of the world they exceed vs farre And hence it is that so many Churches Temples Oratories Colledges Schooles of learning Hospitalls Almes-houses and other monuments of all sorts which our eyes daily doe behold haue beene erected euen in the dayes of blindenesse to say the truth we scarce repaire and vphold those most necessary buildings of all sorts which our Progenitors in the time that they dranke of the waters of Babylon haue erected to our hands Wee must not bely the deuill you shall see more almes-deeds of all sorts done by the hands of Papists more strictnesse and reformation of life and manners among Brownists and Anabaptists more religious obseruation of oathes and promises among the Turkes themselues than among the Formalists of our profession It is true we cannot say these men to be vertuous notwithstanding these great workes for because their good deeds are directed to a wrong end they are but Vmbrae simulachra virtutum the shadowes pictures and counterfeites of vertues and as one of the Fathers saith vt magnae vires cursus celerrimus praeter viam like to great strength and exceeding swift running when a man is
fire of hell and to send the blessed Angels to fetch bring deliuer and carry soules out of Purgatory into heauen with as good discretion as sometimes King Xerxes commanded the great Mount Athos in Macedonia to stand still and not to stirre one foote out of his place and to cause no trouble vnto him or his Army vpon paine of his high displeasure Let him learne humilitie well suiting with Apostolicall sanctity let him stoope to the meanest Christian as to his brother let him note but the Apostles spirit who though as an Apostle hee might command them yet doth he beseech them as his brethren rather choosing to preuaile by loue than rigour And there are two reasons why the Apostle doth rather intreate then command First he is ardently zealous the greatnesse of the cause moued him to be so For what is the danger the publike scandall of that blessed name by which we are redeemed the propagation of the Gospell hindred those that giue care to the inchantments of these Syrens seduced and their soules destroyed the more the danger is to be feared the more ardent is his obsecration I beseech you brethren Secondly it is more suitable to the nature of a brother to bee requested then commanded by a brother the faithfull hee will set free from their Schoole-master those that are led by the spirit he subiecteth not to the law And therefore in all his Epistles you shall finde him seldome or neuer commanding alwayes intreating and beseeching vt precibus flecti possint to bow them and bend them to their duties with his earnest suite I beseech you brethren I beseech you brethren by the mercy of God that yee present your bodies a liuing sacrifice I beseech you brethren for the Lord Iesus Christ his sake and for the loue of the Spirit that yee striue together with mee in your Prayers to God for me I beseech you brethren marke them which cause diuisions and offences And from his humble Introduction hee proceeds to his learned description which is the second thing that I obserued in the first part Which caùse deuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee haue learned He inditeth them of two capitall crimes Diuisions and offences by them caused which how o 〈…〉 ous and insufferable they are lay but against them saith he the doctrine which yee haue learned and yee shall easily perceiue for Contraria iuxta se posita magis illucescunt Contraries layed one against another doe appeare more plainely and are more easie to be discerned now these are contraries therefore you must compare them and see how bad the one is by the goodnesse of the other Deuisions the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth discord or disagreeing and it is here properly referred to opinions so that it must necessarily implie sects and devisions in Religion divers doctrines contrary to the truth of Christ for so the text expounds it selfe The diuell was the first deuider for when God had ioyned all things together in the best order his studie was to separate that which God had vnited Hee first caused a faction among the Angells in heauen and with those whom he found to adhere to his part he left his habitation Hee stirred vp Schisme He deuided himselfe from God and from the societie of the blessed Angells Hee deuided man from God that if it were possible hee might also deuide God from man Hee was the first that preacht Hereticall doctrine in Diuinitie for when God had said vnto Adam Of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Euill thou shalt not eate of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Or as it is in the Hebrew dying thou shalt die Contrary to this the diuell preached Yee shall not surely die for God doth know that in the day yee eate thereof then your eyes shall bee opened and yee shall be as Gods knowing good and Euâ—ll In the persons of Cain and Abell he deuided the brother from the brother He was the first that brought in that ancient destinction the sonnes of God and the sonnes of men By his studie he is a deuider and therefore properly called in our English tongue the diuell from the word Diuello which signifieth to vnioyne or pull in sunder for hee is alwayes labouring to dissolue that which God hath ioyned And hence it is that when a Schisme was made in old time in the Church they had wont to call the author of it the diuells sonne Paul called Elymas the Sorcerer the childe of the diuell St. Iohn being at Ephesus bathing his body in a Bath in which Cerinthus the Hereticke was also bathing fled away as if the diuell had beene there because Cerinthus the diuells sonne was there And when Marcion the Hereticke meeting Polycarpus said vnto him Cognoscenos pray know vs take notice and acquaintance of vs Polycarpe made him this answer Cognosco te primogenitum Satanae Yes I take notice of thee and I know thee well enough thou art the diuells eldest sonne Vpon this Irenaeus maketh this graue conclusion Tantum apostoli horum discipuli habuerunt timorem vt neque verbo tenus communicarent alicui corum qui adulterauerant veritatem So greatly stood the Apostles and their disciples in feare lest Heresies and Schismes shouâ—d preuaile that they would not communicate no not so much as in exchange of a word with any of those who had depraued the truth of Christ Vpon this ground divisions are noted they deuide vs from God and God from vs they deuide vs from the Communion of the faithfull and the faithfull from vs nay they subdeuide for by Heresies and Schismes euen the wicked are deuided among themselues they are the workes of the diuell and they that cause them doe as the diuell did they are all ingenerall the diuells sonnes but those that deuide by heresie are primogeniti Satanae the diuells eldest sonnes and heires apparant to his kingdome Offences The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say any manner of things whereat a man stumbleth and taketh harme as stones or blocks cast in our brothers way occasions of sinne and such like These are caused either Dictis or factis by their wicked doctrine or by their lewd liues and indeed those that cause deuisions cannot choose but cause offences vpon the same reason because they cause deuisions and therefore the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diuisions and offences because the one is bred by the other as the fruite is nourished by the tree or rather false doctrine and schisme is the vegetatiue power of offences It is true that there is sometimes Scandalum acceptum where there is not Scandalum datum an offence taken where there is no offence giuen as it is like that a blinde man may stumble and fall in a plaine foote-path where there is nothing layed in his way But we are now disputing De dato
offenders whatsoeuer and let them marke them to restraine their madnesse Excellently St. Augustine in his Epistle to Donatus Deputie of Affrick Sic igitur eorum peccata compesce vt sint quos paeniteat peccasse Doe thou so bridle their sinnes that they may repent at heart that euer they haue sinned A second dutie subordinate to this our watching is the auoiding of them for if we marke them wee may auoide them but if wee marke them not wee cannot auoide them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee gone from them and shunne them as men are wont to runne away from noxious beastes For as Irenaeus saith they are like vnto Hunters and their intent is to make a prey of you Epiphanius doth well compare them to the Serpent called Dypsas which poysoneth those pooles of water at which he drinketh whence it commeth to passe that the beasts which drinke there fall downe dead suddenly and burst in sunder being poysoned with the venim of the Dypsas I cannot now stand to dispute of cases of Conscience how farre it may bee lawfull for a man to conferre with those that cause Devisions and offences I will onely presse you with the words of the blessed Apostle and Euangelist St. Iohn If there come any vnto you and bring not this doctrine receiue him not into your house neither bid him God speed And now I come to shew the cause or reason hereof which is the second part of my text They that are such serue not our Lord Iesus Christ but their owne belly Those that serue Christ especially in the worke of the ministry wee are commanded to receiue it is our Sauiours doctrine Hee that receiueth you receiueth me Hee that heareth you heareth me and hee that despiseth you despiseth me By the rule of contraries he that receiueth those that serue not Christ in the worke of the ministry hee receiueth not Christ but them and him whose workes they doe that is the diuell here then is the matter or first cause whereupon we are not to receiue them nay we must marke them nay we must auoide them they serue the diuell He that receiueth them receiueth the diuell he that markes them not markes not the diuell he that auoideth them not auoides not the diuell A roaring Lyon who would meete him but how mad is hee that will receiue him into his society to be familiar with him In three things those that cause deuisions and by deuisions offences in the Church of God haue relinquished the seruice of our Lord Iesus Christ First because all such are most notorious hypocrites for as the Serpent called Drynas is like the colour of an Oken leafe whence he hath his name and yet indeed is a venimous beast so though they seeme to be like Christians they are not so indeed but to speake the truth no better than Iewes The Arian heretickes gaue forth of themselues that they onely were the catholicke Church of God those that were members of the Church indeed they called sometimes Ambrosians sometimes Athanasians sometimes Ioannites in derision of the truth of God which those holy and learned Fathers Ambrose Athanasius and Iohn Chrysostome had preached as now the Papists call vs sometimes Lutherans sometimes Caluinists sometimes Zuinglians and Huguenots in derision of the truth of God by them and vs maintained Nestorius being a pestilent Hereticke yet as Theodoret saith hee couered himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 With a cloake or vaile of the Catholike faith And Ebion who maintained the opinion of the Samaritans would yet as Epiphanius saith bee reputed a Christian This they haue learned of the diuell who to deceiue is transformed into an Angell of light By this meanes they get proselites and followers whom they make twofold the children of hell more than they themselues are Secondly they are most cruell and bloody Cum hoc sit negotium illis non ethnicos conuertendi sed nostros cuertendi saith Tertullian for their studie is not to conuert Infidells and Pagans to the faith but to throw downe vs that are Christians from the faith and indeed the persecutions caused by Hereticks and Schismatickes haue beene more bloody than those which haue beene raised by Infidells and Pagans I say not here that no age hath heard of the like barbarous crueltie to the late intended Gunpouder treason but so many thousand glorious Martyrs butcherd so many millions of Confessors tortured so many myriads of Godly men and women persecuted whose soules lye vnder the altar and cry with a loude voice and saying How long Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth All these shall witnesse with me that the tyrannous persecutions which haue beene raised within the Church haue beene greater then those which haue beene raised without the Church and whosoeuer maketh deuisions it is to be presumed that he hath the like will though not the like power Lastly their end is that they may walke according to the flesh and therefore though they pretend much strictnesse and reformation of life and manners by chastening the body as it were to subdue it to the spirit it is but subordinate to some fleshly end for they turne the grace of our God into laciuiousnesse I will not staine your chaste eares with the fleshly deeds and godlesse practices of such kinde of people in all ages by authoritie of Ecclesiasticall histories and diuers Orthodox Fathers which in some small measure I am able to present vnto your view let it be sufficient to note with our Apostle this one thing that they haue renounced the seruice of our Lord Iesus Christ and serue their owne belly Quid foedius quid turpius What more filthy odious abhominable damnable or detestable Where we note that the Belly in the Scriptures is taken in a double sense properly or figuratiuely in its proper sense it signifieth the belly of man or woman as where we reade that Phinchas the sonne of Eleazar the sonne of Aaron the Priest thoust Zimry the man of Israel and Cozby the Midianitish woman with his Iauelin through her belly in its figuratiue sense it is taken sometimes for the heart by the figure called Synecdoche When I heard my belly trembled that is to say Commetum est cor meum quod est in ventre my heart in my belly was moued sometimes it signifieth the body of man Of the fruite of thy belly will I set vpon thy throne Sometimes it signifieth particularly the wombe Thou art my God from my mothers belly Somtimes it signifieth a drunkard a gluttonous person and one that is profuse and lauish vpon his owne Lusts So Paul calleth the Cretians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 slowe bellies Sometimes it is taken for all worldly things especially those that conduce to the present maintenance of life and in this sense the Apostle saith of such kinde of people as those concerning
proue them be separated from the Church yea in time of persecution they may deny that blessed name by which they are redeemed as Peter did but they shall not die in their separation for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus the vnregenerate may be deceiued and deceiued finally and by Gods iust iudgement perish in their sinnes because they were seduced and opened their hearts to those that caused deuisions and offences and both these sorts of simple ones as well the regenerate as vnregenerate are those that are here noted to be deceiued by the good words and faire speeches of seducers For the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which words are well translated by Theodorus Beza hominum minime malorum that is to say men not drowned and plunged in the vsuall sinnes and vices of the world And this may teach vs two things First that we ioyne not our selues to any of those Sects that are deuided from our Church which is a member of the true Catholike Church of God whether Papists Anabaptists Brownists Familists or what else you may call them for that wee obserue many excellent Ministers endowed with many rare and admirable gifts and qualities to teach their heresies for such a one was Arius the Hereticke And wee can neither depriue our Aduersaries of the Church of Rome nor diuers others that in other kindes trouble our Church with strange opinions of that honour if yet wee may call it honour and not rather Gloriam Herostrate such honour as Herostrotus atchieued by firing the Ephesians Temple For what if they haue learning wit and eloquence what if in outward gifts they shine as the Starres is not that great red Dragon in the Reuelation said to drawe with his tayle the third part of the Starres of Heauen and to cast them to the earth or hath not the diuell at all times gotten such to make deuisions and to cause offences The lesse ought we to admire if they win to bee their disciples and proselites ciuell honest men whom the world for the moralitie of their liues holdeth in some esteeme for such were they whom Absolom by faire speeches and large promises had drawne to his part against the King his father euen to commit treason and rebellion with him Such because they meane least hurt are soonest deceiued like vnwary fishes taken in a Net and being deceiued doe much aduantage the deuills cause for that their liues are had in admiration and they haue gained the good opinion of their neighbours for that syncerity of which they make profession no lesse than the Scribes and Pharisees Ne aetas vos corum nec authoritas fallas Let not their age let not their authority deceiue you faith Cyprian Againe we must not vncharitaby iudge them to bee vtterly cast away all who decline from or leaue our societie for that the heart of a regenerate man may for a time God turning his face from him that hee may be troubled bee deceived but rather let vs pray that their fall be not finall and if it please God of his mercy to send them backe againe vnto vs let vs not refuse them as Nouatus did for that they haue sinned so scandalously against our good profession to the dishonour of God and of our Church I will end here with the words of Cyprian Sufficiat lapsis vna ruina c. Let one fall bee sufficient to those that are fallen let no man deceitefully throw downe those that are willing to rise vp againe let no man presse downe more grieuously those that already lye flat on the earth for whom we pray that God with his hand and arme would helpe them vp let no man denie the hope of life to those that are halfe dead desiring to returne to their former health Nemo nutantibus lapsus sui Caligine omne itineris salutaris lumen extinguat Let no man put out all the light of a secure voyage to those that stagger in the darkenesse of their fall And seeing that those whose hearts are deceiued are fallen downe lie groueling on the earth gasping for breath and grappleing for life and being ready to die doe lie in darkenesse and in the shadow of death it followeth that those who deceiue their hearts throw them downe stabbe them and wound them euen vnto death therefore that I may draw to a conclusion I will binde vp all that hitherto hath beene spoken in the words of the text Now I beseech you brethren marke them which cause deuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee haue learned and auoide them For they that are such serue not our Lord Iesus Chrest but their owne belly and by good words and faire speeches deceiue the hearts of the simple And now to recapitulate what hath beene spoken you must remember that the enemies of the Church and people of God are of two sorts forraine and domesticke the first are those that make no profession at all of Christianitie neither will be so reputed as Iewes Turkes Infidells and Pagans the other are those who make profession of Christian religion and will bee accounted Catholicks and Christians these are of two sorts Heretickes or Schismatickes the one doth cut in sunder the band of faith the other doth make a breach in the knot of loue Against these St. Paul addressing himselfe beseecheth all faithfull men as his brethren to marke them and to auoide them vpon this reason that they are most dangerous enemies to the soule causing deuisions and offences in the Church contrary to the doctrine of the Gospell Now least this his fatherly counsell might be slighted he proceedeth to shew the cause or reason vpon which wee are to marke them and auoide them viz. their aime is not to serue God by so doing but they haue worldly respects tending to their owne aduantage they talke like Diuines and demeane themselues like morall honest men by which meanes those that are plaine and meane well are soonest deceiued like harmelesse Doues caught in the Fowlers Net Vpon which great causes that I may end with application I am bold to direct my speech first to those that are in authoritie whom though I cannot accuse for former negligence and euen in my owne conscience am confident that they will carefully discharge their duties in their seuerall places with wisdome and iudgement yet doe I desire that they will be pleased to let me minde them of it as sometimes Philips seruant minded him of his mortality God and the King hath committed the Sword vnto them which Sword they beare not in vaine Therefore by the power of the sword committed to their trust may they marke those that cause deuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine that wee haue receiued This doctrine is the truth of God taught and deliuered in the blessed Scriptures which that wee might hold with vnanimous consent and not diuert from it it was
A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLS-CROSSE May 30. 1626. VVHEREIN MAY BE seene whom we are to repute Hereticks and Schismaticks what sleights they vse to deceiue Gods iust iudgements on them and how we may escape those nets which they lay for vs. ALSO Good Councell to the Magistrate Minister and Subiects necessary for these times By MATTHEVV BROOKES IAM 1.16 Doe not erre my beloued brethren LONDON Printed by William Iones dwelling in Red-crosse streete 1626. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE ALAN COTTON Knight Lord Maior of the Citie of London And to the Right Worshipfull the Sheriffs and all the Aldermen of the same All blessiings of this life and of the life to come Right Honourable and Right Worshipfull THis poore Discourse desired of many of my friends to be seene in Print petitioneth for your fauourable acceptance and comming naked hopeth to bee welcomed for Gods sake Your godly hatred of superstition and sinister practices in Religion as also the loue which you beare to the truth of Christ and to those who endeuour to the vttermost of the graces which God hath giuen them to set forth the same in his Church for the manifestation of his glory may sufficiently perswade you to giue it entertainment It is a discouery of the wyles of Hereticks and Schismaticks by which they deceiue the hearts of the simple and reape to themselues no small aduantage Therefore though neither sumptuously Apparrelled in the robes of Learning and Eloquence to adde grace vnto it Nor credited by the authority of the Author which two things are wont to finde many friends and doe buy the good liking of men it may recompence you the losse of time in reading it But I hope you will not deeme so small a hindrance at any thing especially where an aduenture is made for a necessary gaine The Author for his part hath to say for himselfe that his respect of you all augmented by that Reuerend regard which euery one of you hath euer had to Workes of this nature or rather generally to all the labours of Christ his Haruest men hath emboldened him to present you with these his first fruits a little handfull of Goates haire and yet vsefull for that Tabernacle which the Lord willeth to be made And he doth begge that you will be pleased to accept of this according to the syncerity of his affection protesting that if herein hee hath done you the least seruice hee shall blesse God for it and remaine Your Honours and worships in all Christian duties MATTHEVV BROOKES To the Reader IF among the iniquities of these dayes dangerous and detestable opinions in matters of Religion bee the chiefest for the more holy the band is the more impious the breaking of it Behold the cause of almost all Errors and peruerse conceites of that nature the admiration of mens persons or writings For jurare in verba Magistri is both old and vsuall But my request vnto all those who desire to make profession of the name of Christ in sincerity and truth is that they would constantly set vp St. Augustines resolution Ad Hieron Epist 19. Alios ita lego vt quantalibet Sanctitate doctrinaque praepolleant non ideo verum putem quia ipsi ita senserunt Sed quia mihi vel per illos authores canonicos vel probabili ratione quod à vero non abhorreat persuadere potuerunt I doe so reade other mens Workes that notwithstanding their sanctitie and Learning I am not of their minde vnlesse the truth of their opinions may appeare vnto me either by the Canonicall Scriptures or by probable reason By this meanes they shall not rashly embrace strange doctrine like that foolish Satyr who fell to kissing of fire at the first sight For this cause I haue in this short Sermon acquainted thee with the nature and practices of Hereticks and Schismatickes Gods iudgements on them and how thou oughtest to beare thy selfe towards them least suddenly they stabbe thy heart If thou wilt reade it it will doe thee no hurt and if thou wilt make vse of it it may doe thee some good Howsoeuer it is my good will receiue it therefore as willingly Donec quid grandius aetas Postera forsque ferat melior And I will pray God to adde a blessing to all thy labours Vale. M. B. A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLS-CROSSE May 30. 1626. ROM 16. VER 17.18 Now I beseech you brethren marke them which cause deuisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine which yee haue learned and avoid them For they that are such serue not our Lord Iesus Christ but their owne belly and by good words and faire speeches deceiue the hearts of the simple THE Church of God militant vpon earth vpon diuers reasons is diuersly compared in the Scriptures as where it is called A Doue for the innocencie thereof The house of God because by his Word and graces he doth dwell in it the body of Christ because Christ is the head thereof giuing life and governing it as well generally as in euery particular member but where it is called Hierusalem it cannot but minde me how fitly it may be compared to Hierusalem besieged by the Romans For as the forraine enemie did streightly beg 〈…〉 t the Citie without the seditious tearming themselues the zealous did most miserably vexe it within So Gods Church is affronted by a double enemie the one externall shooting against it the arrowes of blasphemous speeches out of the bowe of impiety slinging the huge stones of all manner of slanders and reproches out of the Engine of maliciousnesse battering the Walls of it with the ram of persecutions wherein all glorious Martyrs who by the effusion of their blood defend the Gospell stand like pillars or rather more strongly than those mightie Towers of Herod which the enemies themselues admired But the other enemies are within the Citie and they are ambitious of honour who will be counted zealous for the defence of it notwithstanding they cast fire on it of all sides like as the Spaniards of Aldens company in the Warres of Hungaria fired the Castle of Lippa which they pretended to defend Certainly these zealous enemies are more dangerous to the poore Citizens than the other for as Cyprian saith Facilior cautio est vbi manifestior formido est where the danger is more manifest apparant and exposed to our view there to avoide it is no difficult matter and therefore the Citizens of this besieged Hierusalem had need of circumspect prouidence as well to resist the one as to suppresse the other I say not what directions the Apostle almost throughout this whole Epistle hath giuen to the Romans but to close vp all and least they might lesse regard the seditious within in the very end of his Epistle hee presents them in their colours that so be might leaue his exhortation as it were freshly imprinted in their memories Now I beseech you brethren Which words are the vade vale to
scandalo of offences giuen and of those that lay blockes and cast stumbling stones in the way to ouerthrow their brethren contrary to Christian charitie and Christs commandement who hath commanded vs to loue one another as hee hath loued vs and contrary to the Apostles rule that wee should consider one another to prouoke vnto loue and to good workes Furthermore vpon what reason the Apostle doth indite those that cause deuisions and not those onely but them also that cause offences it may appeare by the Scriptures which setteth forth the causing of offences to be a most capitall crime for which cause God commanded the people of Israel vtterly to destroy the old Inhabitants of the land of Canaan left they should cause offences and cast stumbling blocks in their way They will turne away thy sonnes from following mee that they may serue other Gods Our Sauiour Christ saith Woe vnto the world because of offences it must needs be that offences come but woe to that man by whom the offence commeth And woe to him to whom our Sauiour Christ saith Woe for what said he a little before It were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his necke and that hee were drowned in the depth of the Sea But for what cause is a woe so grieuous pronounced against him that causeth offences St. Paul giues the reason By this mâ—aneâ— shall the weake brother perish for whom Christ dyed when yee sinne so against the brethren and wound their weake conscience yee sinne against Christ For Gods loue take this to heart yee of vncircumcised hearts and eares who neuer diue into the reckoning of it what it is to wound the weake consciences of your brethren and I speake not to those onely that maketh deuisions in our Church either in matter of Doctrine or of Ceremonie if there be any such that heare me this day But to you that offend your brethren by your euill liues either in the abuse of Christian liberty to your lusts as drinking to drunkennesse dressing to pride sparing to couetousnesse eating to gluttony or such like whereby that which is lawfull is vsed vnlawfully or else by doing that which is absolutely vnlawfull as Whore-mongers Theeues Vsurers Lyers sweaters and such like You wound the weake consciences of your brethren ye cause your weake brethren to perish for whom Christ died repent and amend your liues or let me tell you that yee your selues will say hereafter that it were better if that a milstone had beene hanged about your neckes and that you had beene cast into the depth of the Sea For though it be necessarie that offences should come yet woe be vnto you by whom they come I must now demonstrate this impiety a Contrario as it were by laying white against blacke to discerne the colours Contrary to the doctrine which ye haue learned This is the touch-stone at which all deuisions offences must be tryed by this we must try the spirits whether they be of God He had taught them the high and profound mysterie of Christian religion by authority of the Scriptures now he condemnes not simply all deuisions all offences 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with respect and relation those onely that are contrary to Gods word and the proportion of faith and manners which was that doctrine which they had learned at his mouth We must deuide our selues from all Iewes Turkes Papists Infidells and Hereticks as the Israelites were deuided from the abominations of Aegipt and if wee cause offences to them as Lot to the Sodomites and the faithfull of the primitiue Church to the Idolatrous Gentiles by the synceritie of our Religion and our good conuersation wee sinne not for this is bonum Schisma and bonum Scandalum a good Schisme and a good scandall which Christ himselfe made or rather which hee professed to make I am come to set a man against his Father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter in law against her mother in law And a mans foes shall bee they of his owne houshold But the vnlawfull deuisions and offences are those that are made contrary to the Apostolicall doctrine the blessed word of God Ex illo saith one of the learned Fathers fidem alimus ex illo spemerigimus ex illo fiduciam firmamus thereby wee feed our faith thereby wee aduance our hope thereby wee confirme our trust for this is the power of God vnto saluation to all those that beleeue this is able to make vs wise vnto saluation through faith which is in Christ Iesus and therefore though we or an Angell from heauen preach any ether Gospell vnto you then that which wee haue preached vnto you let him be accursed saith Paul but those that doe so let vs now see how we must deale with them Wee must marke them and avoide them Marke them the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth that wee must bee like vnto those that sit vpon watch Towers to obserue the comming of the enemie For they that cause deuisions and offences are the common enemies of the Church of God and they come to destroy our soules and therefore we ought to be most carefull to marke them Secondly they come with all policie and subtilty and bring in their damnable heresies priuily and therefore we ought neuer to bee absent from our watch-tower but to haue an eye vnto them continually left they come vpon vs vnawares and suddenly destroy vs and as this is generally the dutie of all men vpon this reason that euery man hath a soule which is his best part and the choysest thing that hee possesseth and more deare vnto him than all the world for what is a man profited if hee shall gaine the whole world and lose his owne soule or what shall a man giue in exchange for his soule So more especially it is the dutie of those that are in authoritie either in the Church or Common-wealth vpon this reason that in the Scriptures they are called Watch-men for how doe they watch if they defend not Gods flocke diligently against these rauening Wolues And against whom doe they watch if not against these enemies of mens soules Therefore let euery man in generall marke them as they desire the saluation of their owne soules but more especially the Magistrates according to their places as they will answer for the soules of those that shall be seduced Whom in the name of Christ I doe beseech to be carefull of it Let them marke them by making them knowne vnto Gods people in their colours as Paul marked Hymenaeus and Philetus and Alexander the Copper-smith as St. Iohn marked Diotrephes and our Sauiour Christ the Scribes Pharisees and Saduces Take heed and beware of the leauen of the Pharisees and of the Saduces Let them admonish the people to take heed of the leauen of Iesuites Anabaptists Brownists and all deuiders and