is that when in old time they were to set out an armie or to doe some exploite by souldiers they had in the Campe certaine speciall tentes to say masse in which tentes were couered ouer with goates skines Nowe a Goate in latine is called Capra or Capella that is to say according to the portuise of the Priestes which are at this day Chappel Wherefore because these tentes were couered with goates skinnes they were named Chappelles and the Priestes which had the keeping of them and who did therein singe their masses were called Chaplaines Behold verilie two reasons to shewe from whence this name Chaplaine is taken which reasons are verie high and full of great speculation or insight conteining verie great mysteries and such as are maruellously deepe but we leaue them to be meditate or looked into diligently to the priestes which are the Popes Chaplaines to the ende that they shoulde aduise take counsell to see whether they can bee willing that their reuerende name should be fet and drawen from the base beginnings Curates Curates haue an other fountaine In olde time according to the order established by Iesus Christ the pastors were ordeined and placed distinctly and without confusion in seuerall Churches For to the ende that euerie pastor might knowe his owne charge and be able to yeelde a better account of his flocke and that one should not any whit at all incroch vpon or intermeddle with others also to the ende that the flocke sheepe might know where they might seeke for and finde their owne pastors they deuided the people into certaine circuites and countries or rather parishes indeede whereof some were committed to the charge of certaine pastors othersome to the charge of certaine other pastors From thence came the name Curate although some would haue it deriued from Cura that is to say from the care that the pastors ought to haue ouer their flocks which were giuen committed vnto thē in charge And the abuse comming on growing vp more and more they called the benefice or renewe that was assigned thē to maintaine themselues vpon for the doing of their office by the name of cure And from thence it commeth that when any one goeth about to get such a benefice they diligently enquire of the value thereof and that whereof they seeme to haue the greatest regarde is to know how much the cure is worth As concerning Bishoppes and Elders Bishops and Elders or according to Papistes Priestes or as they call them priestes we haue before shewed and seene that these two names signifie one and the selfe same office or charge Hierom. ad Euagrium And Saint Ierome in his Epistle to Euagrius witnesseth that in the time of the Apostles there was no distinction or difference betwene these two degrees but afterwardes whiles schismes were in the Churche one was chosen from among the Elders and placed in the highest roome and called Bishoppe because hee differed from the Elders onely for the executing of order Now by these words wee may easily know and gather that this difference beganne in the Church about that time and in that the office of a Bishoppe is helde and accounted for a more high or more excellent office thā the office of Elder or as they terme them priestes it was not don by the institution ordināce of God but rather by mans authoritie and that for the maintenāce as they suppose of order and discipline Archbishop or Metrapolitanes The names of Archbishoppes and Metropolitanes which were taken for one and the same estate were vnknowne to the Apostles and to the olde auncient Churches but marke howe they were brought in Princes hauing put certaine degrees betweene their Cities and townes and making a difference betwene some of thē in respecte of dignities priuiledges they called those which they woulde establish aboue the reste Metropolites as if you woulde say Concil Calcedon Canc. 12. Mother cities as wee may gather out of manie histories and namely expressely out of the Councel of Calcedonia where it is saide that they ought not to account any townes or Cities for Metropolites but onely vnto those to whom Kinges and Princes haue shewed giuen this honour by their Edictes and statutes Nowe as princes lifted vp their Metropolitane cities to beare rule ouer others vnder their obedience so the Bishops placed in those cities vsurped iurisdiction and authoritie ouer others they being fauoured by their princes and magistrates who easily accorded and consented to this that their Bishops should be placed in authoritie aboue others For this cause the Bishops of those places Conc. Nice can 6. Conc. Calc can 8. were named in the Councel of Nice Metropolitanes and their seats were called in the Councel of Calcedon the first seats You see then what was the fountaine beginning of Archbishops or Metropolitanes who at the beginning were lifted vp to such a degree for a good end purpose in outward shew for they were so placed and established as it were Ecclesiastical presidents and rulers in their prouinces to the end they might guide gouerne the affaires of the Churches and direct and cal Synods in good order and without cōfusion when there was neede therof yet none among them had any authoritie one ouer an other Conc. Nice can 6. Conc. Anti. can 13. For that effect and purpose the Councels ordained that al Metropolitans should haue like power and equall authoritie Conc. Sardi can 19. Conc. Constantinopolita can 2. euerie one in his owne prouince that the Bishop of Rome who was also Metropolitane had at Rome in the Churches which were vnder his charge Whereby it appeareth that the Bishop of Rome was not then Pope and vniuersall Bishop ouer all Churches but that he had his charge limited and bounded hauing no more authoritie and iurisdiction ouer other Metropolitanes than the other had ouer him Cardinals Touching Cardinals I knowe not what we may speake of certaintie bicause there is not so much as one onely authour who liued or writ while the church was in some puritie that maketh any mention therof at all Yet we cannot be deceiued in speaking of that which we find touching it We read in Nauclerus Nauclerus that in the time of Pontianus Bishop of Rome who was about the yeare of Christ 235. there was at Rome 36. Priestes Cardinals that is to say principall and chiefe among the rest Volateran lib. 22. Antropolo For as Volateranus saith in his Antropologie the name Cardinal was in olde time taken to signifie as much as principall and was saith he giuen to the Priestes as they call them and Deacons of the Church of Rome bicause that as the Bishop of Rome was helde and taken for the principall chiefe of Bishops bicause he was in the principal citie of the Empire so the Priestes as they call them and Deacons of that citie were helde and
the first place had an excellent gift and singular grace to interprete the scripture 1. Cor. 11.4 also they were such as were indued 1. Cor. 14.1 c. with great wisdome and readinesse well to prouide for the necessitie of the Church and to speake properly they were as interpreters of the will of God In this ranke or order were comprehended the Prophetes that had the gift to vnderstand foresee reueale things to come Act. 11.28 such a one was Agabus who by the holie Ghost foretolde that a great famine should fall throughout all the world which also came to passe in the Emperour Claudius Caesars dayes also that Saint Paul should be bound at Ierusalem Act. 21.10 c. Act. 13.1 There is mention made also in the thirteenth of the Actes of certaine Prophetes of the Church of Antioch to wit Barnabas and Simion who was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Manahen which had bene brought vp with Herode the Tetrarch and Saul And in the one and twentie Act. 21.9 mention is made of Phillips foure daughters which did prophecie These degrees or this office of Prophetes was ordained by GOD to indure but for a time onely as the Apostles Euangelists Euangelistes generally are those which performe the office of an Euangelist that is to say which preach the Gospell Sometimes also this name Euangelist is referred to those foure who haue written the storie of the Gospell that is to say S. Matthewe S. Marke S. Luke and S. Iohn But in this order of the Church the question is of an other charge or office These men of whome we speake were as it were fellowe helpers to the Apostles whome they did followe and were almost continually in cōpanie with And their office came somewhat nigh to the office of an Apostle the difference was onely in the degree of dignitie Of this sort were Silas Timothie and such like In the one and twentie of the Actes Philip is called an Euangelist Act. 21.8 And Saint Paule admonisheth Timothie in one of the Epistles which he wrote vnto him 2. Tim. 4.5 to continue to doe the worke of an Euangelist These likewise had their time and are no more in vse at this present Pastors are they Pastors that haue the charge of some certaine flockes and of some certaine Churches to rule and gouerne the same preaching the Gospell administring the sacramentes and exercising discipline in those Churches This degree and office must haue his course and continue in the Church euen vntill the end of the world Doctors Doctors are they which the Church in olde time called Catechisers that is to say instructors or teachers whose charge and office was plainely and simplie to expound the scriptures that men might haue the right sense and vnderstanding thereof and namely to teach the Catechumini that is to say those that were yet to be instructed in the pointes and principles of Christian religion Of this sort are the Doctors and teachers of our age which teach youth in schooles expounding vnto them the scripture And their office consisteth herein carefully to prouide that sound doctrine may be kept published to the end that pure religion may continue and remaine in the Church Some suppose that the office of Pastor Doctor is all one as Chrysostome and S. Augustine yet there is no dout but that they are two distinct offices which men may not confound and mingle together For albeit that this be the charge and office of al Pastors to teach yet they go somewhat further than the Doctors do For first and formost they preach and exhort applying the doctrine to the necessities of the Church next they administer the sacraments and in the third place they haue the charge gouernement and execution of the discipline to which matters the Doctors charge reacheth not they being only ordained to expound the scriptures to the end that pure and sound doctrine may alwaies be preserued maintained in the Church And indeed such a one may be verie apt to execute the office of the Doctor as hath not the gift to preach such a one on the other side may very well haue the gift to preach as shall not at any hand be meete or fit to exercise the charge and office of the Doctor although that sometimes he that shall be the Pastor may also well be the Doctor but yet this is to be marked that they are diuers and seuerall charges or offices And these be the fiue degrees or orders of ministers to whome the Lord hath cōmitted the gouernement of his Church to feede the same of which fiue the last two onely remaine to be alwayes vsed in his Church Saint Paule indeede maketh mention in other places of some other names Bishops and Elders or Auncients as of Bishops that is to say watchmen or ouerwatchers and of Elders that is to say Senators or Ancients but these two names signifie one and the selfe same thing as the Apostle him selfe declareth Titus 1.5 writing to Titus For marke what he saith For this cause left I thee in Creete that thou shouldest continue to redresse the things that remaine that thou shouldest ordaine Elders that is to say Auncients in euerie citie as I appointed thee And afterwardes he addeth an excellent description of true Elders and Auncients For a Bishop saith he must be vnblameable as the guider or steward of Gods owne house and so foorth We see that those whome he named Elders or Auncients in one verse he nameth the same Bishops in an other verse Nowe these two names of Bishop and Elder and the name also of Pastor are taken in the scripture to signifie one and the selfe same estate For the charge and office of the Pastor is to feede the sheepe as appeareth by that which the Lorde saith in the foure and thirtie chapter of Ezechiel Ezech. 34.2 Woe be to the sheepheards of Israel which feed themselues Should not the sheepheards feede the flockes But the Bishops and Elders are called to the same thing Act. 20.28 as both Saint Paule and Saint Peter doe declare Saint Paule speaking thus Take heede to your selues and to the whole flocke ouer which the holie Ghost hath made you Bishoppes or ouerseers to feede the Churche of GOD which he hath redeemed with his owne bloud And Saint Peter thus 1. Pet. 5.1.2 The Elders which are amongest you I beseech which am also an Elder with you Feede the flocke of Christ which is committed vnto you caring for it not by constraint c. If one would knowe the reason why the Pastours are called Elders or Auncients it is for honours sake not as though when in olde time they chose Pastours they were all auncient in age and yeares but bicause that they specially chose them from amongest the Auncients and also bicause they ought to be men both ripe wise and also verie well experienced Olde age
doe reserue vnto themselues the administration of the sacramentes such as they haue with the rentes and reuenewes of their bishoppricks parsonages other benefices and post ouer the charge office of preaching the worde to the Friers leauing them the bagge wallet and staffe whatsoeuer by begging they can get for their hire or wages But seeing that they leaue vnto the friers the office of preaching why do they not leaue vnto them also the office and charge to administer the sacramentes For these two offices are ioyned together and may not at any hand be separated or sundred one of thē from an other Notwithstanding there is in the Popedom a plaine prohibition and forbidding that friers in as much as they are friers should meddle with or take vpon them to administer any sacrament except they bee such as haue charge or vnlesse they be dispensed with all for the doing of it But why then are they suffered to preach For this is to doe against the ordinaunce and institution of Christ and to diuide and sunder things which he hath ioyned together Or seeing that they are come so farre as to forbid friers to administer the sacraments why doe they suffer them to say masse seing that they all hold and affirme that the masse is the sacrament of the holy supper which for this cause also they cal The sacrament of the alter Indeed to speake according to the truth making also an ende at the length of this matter these men can not after any manner whatsoeuer vaunt or boast thēselues to bee true Bishoppes and pastors seeing they are not called by Christ to such offices and that they doe not any manner of way exercise duties and charges according to the ordinaunce and commandement of the Lord of the haruest The X. CHAP. Whether the ministerie of the worde bee alwayes necessarie in the Church and howe much men ought to attribute or giue vnto it AFter that we haue spoken of the diuerse degrees of ministers in the Church and of their charges and offices it shal be verie meet and requisite that we declare whether the ministerie of the worde be alwayes necessarie and needefull in the Church or no. For there are some which doe dispise it and vtterly disallowe the same as though it were superfluous vnprofitable and vaine whose argumentes and reasons we must first examine and afterwards we will alledge and bring foorth our reasons and warrantes against them Their first argument is this The holie Ghost is our inward doctor who teacheth vs all things and leadeth or bringeth vs to the knowledge of all trueth It followeth then 1. Ioh. 2.20 Ioh. 16.13 that we haue not any neede of the outward ministerie neither that any doe teach vs with the liuely or liuing voyce I aunswere that the consequent is false and that the argument is captious and sophistical by reason of the insufficient numbring or reckoning of causes For there are three verie right causes by which we are guided and ledde to the knowledge of the trueth The first is the holie Ghost the second is the outward ministerie of the word The third is our will but yet regenerated agreeing with these two Nowe of these three causes or meanes we are not to despise any one seeing that GOD by them will accomplish and bring to passe his owne worke in vs. Wherefore although it be the proper and peculiar office of the holie spirit to lighten vs within and to lead vs to the knowledge of the truth yet so it is notwithstanding that the outward ministerie of the word is not vnprofitable bicause that God vseth the same as an inferior or secondarie meane for the aboue named effect and purpose And indeede the preaching of the word and the administration of sacramentes doe then shewe and bring forth their effect and power when the holy Ghost ioyneth his withall by the which only the eares are perced the harts opened the affections touched the wils disposed and prepared thereby to giue an entrance to the outward ministerie insomuch that if this inward master or teacher doe faile vs the outward ministerie can no more profit our soules than the light of the sunne helpeth blind eies or than a voice which soundeth lowd profiteth deaf eares In the meane while the outward ministerie is not vnprofitable or vaine when the operation of the holy Ghost is ioyned therwith working within but is full of vertue efficacie power euen as it pleaseth God to blesse it The second argument is Those which knowe all things and haue not neede that any should teach them haue nothing to do with the outward ministerie but the faithfull knowe al thinges as S. Iohn saith 1. Ioh. 2.20.27 and haue no neede that any should teach them It foloweth then that the faithful haue nothing to do with the outward ministerie I answere that the place of S. Iohn is verie yll and peruersly applied For when he saith that the faithfull to whome he writ knewe all things first that this ought to be referred to that which he had before saide 1. Ioh. 2.14 in the 14. verse to wit that they knewe the father for he that knoweth the father certainely knoweth all bicause the father is knowne in his sonne in whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Col. 2.3 as saith Saint Paule And therefore also the same Apostle declareth to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 2.2 that he esteemed not to knowe any thing among them saue Iesus Christ and him crucified Secondly when he saith that they knowe all things it is as if he had said that they were not yong schollers rude and ignorant but expert well skilled in the matters which he propoūded set forth vnto them that therfore he did not set out these pointes to them as though they were altogether vnknowne to thē but that he did onely bring these things to their mindes that they might remēber them As S. Peter writeth vnto the faithfull 2. Pet. 1.12 I will not be negligent saith he to put you alwayes in remembrance of these thinges though that ye haue knowledge and be established in the present truth Finally when he saith that they had no neede that any should teach them this ought not to be read alone by it selfe but ought to be ioyned with that which followeth to wit 1. Ioh. 2.27 but as the same annoynting teacheth you of all things and it is true and is not lying As if he would say you haue bene taught of the holie Ghost who is alwayes true and no maner of way a lyar You then haue not neede that any should teach you some other matter as they are wont to do which teach for doctrine mans inuentions but if any do teach you that he follow that which the holie Ghost hath taught you in whose doctrine it behoueth you alwayes to abide The third argumēt The Lord saith thus And they shall teach no more euery man
his neighbour Iere. 31.34 and euery man his brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them vnto the greatest of thē This promise must be referred to the state of the Church vnder the new Testament therfore it followeth that the ministerie of the worde ought not any more to haue place now in the Church I answere that the application of the place of Ieremie is altogether contrarie to the meaning intent and purpose of the holie Ghost For first formost the Lord making comparison betwene the old people and the newe meaneth not any other thing but that vnder the Gospel he would send vnto his people so great a light by the means of Iesus Christ his sonne that his knowledge should be common familiar to all whereas vnder the lawe he manifested declared him selfe darkly that vnder certaine shadowes figures As indeed the ancient people that is to say they which were in the time of the olde Testament were not so familiarly plainely and perfectly taught as we be at this day by reason whereof also the Prophet Malachie calleth Iesus Christ the sonne of righteousnesse Malach. 4.2 signifying therby that the fathers vnder the law had indeed som light but yet not such a light as we through his goodnes haue at this day Furthermore we must marke that the Lord doth not say simplie They shall teach no more euery man his neighbor euery man his brother but he addeth saying Know the Lord. By which restriction or strayning it into a narrow roome he plainly declareth that he promiseth to his children such a knowledge that they shal not be any more learners of the A.B.C. neither young scholers in the doctrine of saluation For these words Know the Lord denote point out the first rudiments or instructions of faith and of the heauenly doctrine And indeed if we wel weigh mark how rude grosse and ignorant the old fathers were we shall finde that they were as it were little children Gal. 4.1 c. euen as Saint Paule saith and as yet in their A.B.C. But God hath shewed vnto vs a farre greater grace bicause that we haue a more manifest cleare and shining light to leade vs to the knowledge of God and of the mysteries of our saluation For this cause Iesus Christ saide Matth. 13.16.17 Luk. 20.23.24 Blessed are your eyes for they see and your eares for they heare For verily I say vnto you that many Kinges Prophetes and righteous men haue desired to see those thinges which ye see and haue not seene them and to heare those thinges which you heare haue not heard them In summe the Lorde promiseth here that his people shal not be found grosse and ignorant vnder the newe couenant or testament that they shall haue neede of the principles and beginnings of Christian doctrine But if we would not take this place in this sense how shal we expound an other of Isaiah Isai 2.2.3 which seemeth to be contrarie to this He saith It shall be in the last dayes that the mountaine of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the toppe of the mountaines and shall be exalted aboue the hilles and all nations shall flowe vnto it and many people shall goe and say Come and let vs goe vp to the mountaine of the Lorde to the house of the God of Iaacob he will teach vs his wayes It is certaine that he prophecieth euen as Ieremiah of the grace of God which should be made manifest through Iesus Christe in the time of the Gospell Nowe one of them saith Euerie one shall not teach his neighbour for they shall all knowe the Lord The other saith The people shall runne together and say Come Let vs goe vp to the mountaines of the Lord and he shall teach vs his wayes How shall we make these two places agree seeing that both of them prophecie of one and the selfe same thing Verily Ieremiah meaneth that the people of God shal be in such sort lightened vnder the new Testament by the light of the Gospel that they shal haue no more neede of the rudimēts or first instructions of religiō neither to be so taught as the olde people were by the shadowes ceremonies of the law And as touching Isaiah he meaneth that vnder the same newe Testament the people shal though they be wel aduanced and instructed in the points of christian doctrine notwithstanding diligently indeuour more more to aduance them selues grow forward therin and that for that purpose they shall continually exhort one an other to the end they may better profite in the knowledge of the lawe Ioel. 2.28.49 The fourth argumēt It is written in Ioel At that time that is to say in the time of the new Testament I will poure out my spirit vpon all flesh saith the Lorde and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophecie your olde men shall dreame dreames and your young men shall see visions And also at that time I will poure out my spirit vpon the seruants vpon the maids Nowe by this promise the charge office to teach is without any difference laid vpō al vpon fathers children vpon sonnes vpon daughters vpon olde folke and vpon yong vpon seruants and maides wherefore it followeth that the ministerie of the word is not necessarie in the Church I aunswere that there is nothing in this argument or reason but a meere cauil It is true that this prophecie ought to be referred to the kingdome comming of Iesus Christ that the gift of prophecying should then be common both to men women to old and yong to be short to all estats But in the first place this is to be marked that the prophet speaketh here by comparison vsing a figure commonly called Hyperbole that is to say a maner of speach very excessiue because of our wearisomnes slacknes and negligence for hee doth not presently promise that all vnder the Gospell frō the first to the last shall bee partakers of this gifte but in respecte of the olde people vnder the lawe For if wee compare the estate condition of the old Church with the singular treasures which God hath powred out and giuen vnto his people after the manifestation and reuealing of Iesus Christ we shall finde that in this latter time the Lorde hath spread abroad and powred out the giftes of his spirite vpon all fleshe that is to say almost vpon all men when as vnder the lawe a verie smal number was partakers therof Wherfore when he saith That the Lord will powre out his spirite vpon all fleshe this particle or worde all is not here taken in his proper signification as though it were simply and altogether vniuersall but is indefinite and must be referred to all estates and conditions of people and not to euerie singular person as in this sentence of S. Paul where it is saide
and Iohn who being couetous and greedie of worldly honours and desiring to liue at their case and rest Mark 10.35 c. demaunded of Iesus Christ That hee woulde graunt vnto them to sit in his glorie the one at his right hande and the other at his left But the scripture teacheth vs altogether the cōtrarie that is to say that so long as we haue to walk here below it standeth vs in hand to battell or fight yea to passe thorow the thornes and to be tormented by the malice of the Deuill wicked men his instruments yea so much the more by how much wee shal indeuour and labour sincerely to serue God Which thing also Iesus Christ hath well and sufficiently declared to the abouesaid sonnes of Zebedeus when he answered them Mark 10. 38. Yee knowe not what yee aske Can ye drinke of the Cup that I shal drink of and be baptized with the baptisme wherwith I shal be baptized Meaning therby that the common state cōdition of Christiās is this that they should be exercised in this world by the crosse tribulations before that they can bee crowned And this is the cause wherfore the church is called militant or warfaring so long as it is here below on the earth euē as we haue seene and heard in the first Chapiter And for this verie selfe same cause also Mark 4.36 c. it is compared to a litle shippe altogether tossed vp and downe in the midst of the bellowes or surges and of the tempests of the sea also to grounde continually ploughed ouer Psal 129.3 and thorowe which men make the plough continually to goe to rent or cleaue it to turn it vpside down Therfore also S. Paul saith in the Acts Act. 14.22 That by many tribulations wee must enter into the kingdome of God And in 2. Epistle to Tim. All those that wil liue godly in Christ Iesus 2 Tim. 3.12 shal suffer persecution Iesus Christ saith also vnto his Disciples Iohn 15.20 Remember the worde that I said vnto you that the seruaunt is not greater than his maister If they haue persecuted me Iohn 16.1.2 they wil persecute you also Also These things haue I said vnto you that yee should not be offended They shal excommunicate you yea the time shal come that whosoeuer killeth you wil thinke that hee doeth God seruice And this is the state and conditiō wherein God wil haue his Church to glorifie him here belowe on the earth And in deed the first lesson that Iesus Christ gaue to his Disciples was touching this matter of the Crosse and persecutions If any man saith he wil come after me Matth. 16.24 let him forsake him selfe take vp his Crosse and folow me The experience of all times and ages doth sufficiently shew vnto vs the truth of this matter whether we cōsider somwhat narrowly as well the estate of the auncient Church vnder the old Testament as the state of that which came afterward vnder the new Testament insomuch that it may rightly say Psal 129.1 They haue often afflicted mee frō my youth haue done mee a thousand euils as is saide in the Psalmes For euen from the beginning the Deuil hath alwayes beene like to himself that is to say a lier a murtherer Iohn 8.44 enuious a false and priuie accuser war hath alwayes continued betweene the womās seed the Serpents seed And howe can any man ioyne put together thinges which are of a cōtrarie nature Gene. 3.15 2. Cor. 6.14.15 How can any man make agreement betweene God and the Deuill betweene Christ and Belial betweene the faithfull and the vnbeleeuers Iesus Christ in the third Cap. of S. Iohn sheweth a reasō to declare why it is impossible that the good the wicked shuld suffer one with another agree together Iohn 3.19.20 to wit That all the workes which the worlde doeth are wicked and therefore lest they should bee discouered laide open by the light it hateth the light and loueth darknesse From hence is it that euen frō the beginning of the world enimites between the faithfull and the aduersaries of the trueth haue taken and had their originall and first foundation This is the cause why Cain slue his brother Abell that Lot the faithful seruant of the Lord was hated of the Sodomites that Ishmael mocked Isaac and persecuted him that Esaw went about to oppresse kill Iacob euen from his youth that Ioseph had his owne brethren for his enemies that the Prophetes could not agree with the wicked Kinges nor S. Iohn Baptist with the incestuous Herode nor Iesus Christ with the high Priestes Scribes Pharisees nor the Apostles and Martyrs with the infideles vnbeleeuers of their times And therefore it is meere follie to suppose and thinke that the children of God can euer bee beloued of the worlde Whereupon by good right for good cause S. Iames saith That the amitie of the world Iames. 4.4 is the enimitie of God and hee that will bee a friende of the worlde maketh himselfe the enimie of God Iohn 15.19 And for this cause also Iesus Christ hath saide to his Disciples If yee were of this worlde the worlde woulde loue his owne but because yee are not of this worlde but I haue chosen and separated you out of this worlde therfore the worlde hateth you To bee short if we woulde that the Church of God should bee without persecution then of necessitie must it bee that the worlde shoulde bee without hatred the Deuill without enuie and our nature without vice or sinne But to the ende that wee may specifie and declare certaine thinges A discourse of the ten great persecutions of the Church touching the persecutions of the Church let vs examine as it were one by one the ten persecutions which came vpon it after the death of Iesus Christ vnder the Emperors whereof the Ecclesiasticall historie maketh mention True it is that in the time of Augustus the seconde Emperour the church was muche persecuted vnder the greate Herode who thinking to put to death the King of the Iewes in the verie cradle commaunded men to slaie all the babes and litle children of Bethlehem and of all the borders thereof from two yeares olde and vnder Also vnder Tiberius the third Emperour by Herode Antipas the Tetrarch of Galilee who was the sonne of the first Herode who tooke away his brother Phillips wife and put to death Iohn Baptist because hee reprooued him for that sinne and offence And by Pilate also who condemned and caused to be put to death on the Crosse Iesus Christ the high Priests Scribes Pharises Elders of the people beeing the principall blowers of the fire and chiefe persecutors Moreouer vnder Caius Caligula that horrible monster who was appointed the fourth Emperor in the nine and thirtieth yeare after Christes birth raigned three yeares tenne monethes and
it and gathered out the stones of it and haue planted it with the best plantes and built a Tower in the middest thereof and made a Wine presse therein looking that it should bring foorth Grapes but in steede of Grapes it bringeth foorth wilde Grapes And nowe I will tell you what I will doe to my Vineyarde I wil take away the hedge therof and it shal bee eaten vp I will breake the wall thereof and it shal be troden downe and I will laie it wast Isaiah 24.3.4.5 c. And againe The earth shal be cleane emptied and vtterly spoyled the earth shal lament and vade away for the inhabitants thereof haue transgressed the lawes they haue chaunged the ordinaunces and haue broken the euerlasting couenaunt Therefore shal the curse deuour the earth for the inhabitantes thereof haue done wickedly And therefore shall the inhabitantes of the earth burne and fewe men shall bee left therein Ierem. 25.8.9 c. Also in Ieremiah Because yee haue not heard my woordes beholde I will sende and take to mee all the families of the North and Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babell my seruaunt and I wil bring them against this lande and against the inhabitantes thereof and against all these nations rounde about and I will destroie them and make them an astonishment an hissing and a continuall desolation In this place Isaiah 10.5 the Lord calleth Nebuchadnezzar his seruaunt as in an other place he calleth Saneherib or Ashur The rod of his wrath because hee serueth him selfe with Princes tyrantes and wicked Magistrates and vseth them that hee may by them punish the vngodlines and vnthankfulnesse of his people Isaiah 59.2 Wherefore Isaiah speaketh excellently well That our iniquities haue made a diuision or separated betweene God and vs. And therefore when wee are afflicted and persecuted wee ought to cōfesse and acknowledge that God by that mean punish vs as wee in deed haue rightly deserued it Yet all this notwithstanding we haue to consider and weigh an other cause for which the worlde persecuteth vs which ought to bee a great comfort vnto vs in the middest of our Crosse and Martyrdome For in the first place the world in persecuting vs looketh not to our sinnes but to that religion which wee make profession of which religion in deed the world reiecteth and persecuteth because it knoweth not the Authour thereof and because it is altogether contrarie to his maners and peruerse and wicked orders of life and cōuersation euen as Iesus Christ hath foretolde the same and made his Disciples to see it Iohn 3.19.20 when he said vnto them This is the condemnation that light is come into the worlde and men loued darknesse rather than light because their deedes were euil For euerie man that euill doeth hateth the light neither commeth to light lest his deeds should be reproued Iohn 15.20.21 Also if they haue persecuted mee they will persecute you also But all these thinges will they doe vnto you for my names sake because they haue not knowne him that sent mee Iohn 17.14 And againe Father I haue giuen them thy word and the world hath hated them because they are not of the worlde as I am not of the world Hereby we may see that the right and verie cause of the persecutions of the church is the plaine profession of the trueth righteousnesse and word of God as Saint Paule saieth That That all they which will liue in the feare of God or godly in Christ Iesus 2. Timo. 3.12 shall suffer persecution And also what shoulde bee our consolation and comforte in the middest of the Crosse if this point were not Socrates The answere which Socrates made to his wife was verie apt and fit for the purpose shee lamented because they put him to death wrongfully but he being somewhat moued answered That it was better for him to die an innocent without cause than if he had offēded But how much greater matter and iust cause haue we of comfort and ioy seeing wee knowe that God of his vnspeakeable gentlenesse goodnesse mercy burying all our sins giueth vs ouer or leaueth vs but for a time to suffer vniust persecutions to the end that we bearing the Crosse with Iesus Christ should communicate also and bee made partakers of glorie with him The punishment Saint Augustine hath saide maketh not a Martyre but the cause August And the Deuill hath as well his witnesses and Martyrs as Iesus Christ hath his In former times there were Heretikes which bragged much and boasted wonderously vnder the shadowe colour that men persecuted them And at this day the Anabaptists do in that behalfe the verie selfe same thing yea and that so farre that by this meanes they account them selues blessed and happie Math. 5.10 But we must marke what the scripture saith Blessed are they thus saieth Iesus Christ which suffer persecution for righteousnes sake for theirs is the kingdom of heauē Luk. 6.22 Blessed are you when men hate you whē they separate you reuile you put out your names as euil for the sonne of mās sake If yee bee rayled vpon for the name of Christ saith Saint Peter 1. Pet. 4.14.15.16 Blessed are yee For the spirite of glorie and of God resteth vpon you which on their part is euil spoken of but on your part is glorified But let none of you suffer as a murtherer or as a theefe or as an euil dooer or as a couetous person of other mens goods or as a busie bodie in other mens matters But if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God in this behalfe And this is the marke or badge by which the scripture discerneth the Lordes true Martyres from others that suffer For the wicked men and vngodlie persons doe in deede suffer persecution but in the meane season it so falleth out that they cannot bost them selues for all that to bee true Martyres neither by consequent that they are blessed for they suffer not for righteousnes sake neither to maintein Gods truth as doe the Martyres and witnesses of Iesus Christ Moreouer wee ought to marke that our good God sheweth vs great grace and aduaunceth vs to singular honour when hee vouchsafeth vs meete and worthie to suffer any thing for his names sake when as he might verie iustly if he would haue pursued vs with rigour nay if he woulde haue proceeded against vs by iustice haue punished vs with all kindes and sortes of afflictions sending them to vs and laying the same vpon vs. wherin he dealeth with vs as if a king should take from the Gibbet or Gallows some man who had rightly deserued to be bound thereto and hanged thereon and yet woulde set and appoint him among the chiefe Capitaines of his orders that he might goe to warre and imploy him for the maintenance and defence of his Crown and of his kingdō For who or
vnto the last day Psal 34.20 He wil keep the remembrance of vs for euer that it may not be any maner of way fading away or darkened Hee will keepe our bodies to the very bones thereof Iob. 19.25 against the day of the resurrection of al fleshe and will at the last crowne vs with eternal life which he himselfe hath purchased for vs by his owne blood O death then 1. Cor. 15.55 where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory Certainely wee haue very much wherewith to comforte our selues by the consideration of these thinges and when wee heare that Iesus Christe saith vnto vs Luke 9.23 If any man wil come after mee let him denie him selfe and take vp his crosse daily and followe me We ought to learne howe and after what sorte it behoueth vs to beare afflictions For first by these wordes Let him take vp his crosse Iesus Christe meaneth that wee shoulde willingly bowe downe our shoulders vnder the burthen of the crosse and shoulde subiect our selues with a free hearte and courage to beare the same yea that wee shoulde bee glad and reioyce if in this respect and behalfe we could yeeld and perfourme any seruice to God Acts. 5.41 Rom. 5. 3. according to the example of the Apostles and the doctrine which they taught Secondly when hee addeth dayly hee declareth that wee are neuer at the ende of our striuing vntill wee depart out of this worlde and therefore this is our continuall exercise that when wee shall haue indured and suffered sundrie persecutions wee shoulde prepare and dispose our selues to suffer them againe and other new beside them knowing as we haue ere while alleadged That he which shall continue to the end shal be saued .. Mat. 10.22 Wherefore they abuse and deceiue them selues who thinke that they haue rightly and duely discharged their duetie if they haue stoode fast in the time of one persecution or of two for it is not with the first flight that we flie to the ioyes of Paradise and Iesus Christe commaundeth vs not any thing here which he himselfe hath not first of all shewed vs the way thereto seeing that he was not only vnder the crosse but that al his life was no other thing then a perpetuall combate and striuing against afflictions 2. Corin. 11.14 c. And Saint Paul although hee might haue set out his labours his perils his prisonings his beatings his shipwrackes and an infinite number of other afflictions notwithstanding he saide yet That hee was altogether ready to suffer not onely to bee bounde and put in pryson but also willingly Actes 20.23 24. and without any grief to dye for Christes cause O how great is this honour to giue vp our life for the name of God They that are in the wages or souldiership of som eathly Prince make no great difficultie to forsake their owne parents and their goods that they may go to his seruice yea it troubleth them not muche to hazarde and giue vp their owne liues to mainteine his quarrell and cause which very often is vniust wicked And shall we which haue such a Prince as Iesus Christe the sonne of God is who died for vs poore and miserable sinners shall wee I say doubt to leaue all thinges yea to aduenture and yeelde vp our owne liues to maintain his cause his quarrel which is so iust and vpright specially seeing hee hath power to render and giue the same againe vnto vs afterwards Moreouer the meditation of the glory to come as wee haue already touched the same ought to strengthen and incourage vs in the middest of afflictions as we see Saint Paule fully resolued and settled himselfe thereupon when hee saide to the Corinthians 2. Cor. 4. 17.18 Our light affliction which is but for a moment causeth vnto vs a farre most excellent and an eternall weight of glory While wee looke not on the thinges which are seene but on the thinges which are not seene For the things which are seene are temporall but the thinges which are not seene 2. Tim. 2.11 12. are eternall And to Timothie It is a true saying If we be dead with Christ we shall allso liue with him if we suffer with him we shal also reigne with him Do we think to haue the crowne of glory without hauing first fought as our great Captaine did Do wee thinke to reigne with the Prince of life on high in heauē without hauing first suffered and borne troubles with him in this worlde If men take the earth from vs let vs looke vp to heauen Actes 7.55.56 which is open for vs as it was to Saint Steeuen If they put vs to death let vs looke to Iesus Christe who is our life who also dyed and rose againe Rom. 14.8.9 to the ende that if wee dye wee shoulde dye vnto him that afterwardes wee may bee raysed vp in glory as hee was Phill. 3.21 If our abiect and base body bee despised and dishonoured let vs looke to the glorious body of our Lorde Iesus Christe like vnto which our bodies shal be made in the last day To bee short if wee weepe and waile in this wonderfull heape and sea of miseries 2. Cor. 5.1 being in this worlde strangers pilgrimes passengers let vs remember that when wee shall once come to our celestiall and heauenly Citie which wee nowe waite and hope for then wee shall reioyce with a ioy which cannot bee comprehended and that with God himselfe and the holy angels Prophets Apostles and Martyres Reuela 21.4 For the Lord wil wipe away all teares frō our eies and there shal be no more death neither sorow neither crying neither shall there be any more paine Then shall wee feele the fruite of the crosse and tribulation whiche wee haue indured and suffered in this worlde Then shal we knovv hovv much vve be blessed Reue. 21.4 that haue suffered for Iesus Christe and haue made our robes vvhite in the blood of the Lambe 1. Iohn 3.2 1. Cor. 13.12 Then shal vve behold God euen as hee is and shal knovv him perfectly as he knoweth vs and wee shal liue and reigne with him for euer The Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrewes doeth by this meditatiō incourage the faithfull when he said vnto thē Ye haue bin partakers of the aflictions of my hāds Hebr. 10.34.35 suffered with ioy the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selues how that yee haue in heauen a better and induring substance Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompence and rewarde But shall wee now thinke or suppose that wee loose our life when we shall haue abandoned forsaken and as it were giuen vp the same vnto tyrants for gods cause and matters Mat. 5.12 Shall wee iudge that wee die vpon imagination and as it were foolishe and insensible madde people as in deede the worlde supposeth seeing Iesus Christe hath promised
his mirrour or glasse the thirteene booke Vincentius in specul lib. 13. cap. 2. Marcel histo 2. and seconde Chapter Notwithstanding that booke which is called the Sea of Histories saith that being taken at the forenamed Marsilles hee there hanged himselfe with a halter being threscore yeeres olde Beholde a summarie and short description of the horrible punishmentes which the Lorde sent vpon the ten Emperours vnder whome and in whose dayes the tenne great persecutions against the Church fell out and were committed Now as the Emperors which succeded those did not all withholde themselues from persecuting the poore Christians so the hande of GOD was not shortened but that punishmente and vengeance was executed vpon the persecutors For that which Saint Cyprian saide in the Apologie or defence hee made against Demetrianus the Gouernour Cyprianus contra Demetrianum is verie true to witte that verie hardlie there was any man at any time who through wickednesse lifted vp him selfe against the Christians but that incontinently therevpon Gods vengeance and iustice followed him and pursued him therefore Galerius Volaterran li. 23 Galerius a cruell Emperour or rather in deed a tyrant hath verie well tryed and proued the same for hauing continued and increased the persecution begunne by Diocletian and hauing with all maner of punishmentes tormented the Christians both cruelly and furiously at the last hauing raigned thirteene yeares not beeing able to abide the tormentes and paynes of a certaine sicknesse wherewith hee was taken and helde thorowe impaciencie hee slue himselfe with his owne hande And some say that in the time of his sicknesse hee put his Phisitions to death because they coulde not heale him of which one declared said That his disease proceeded from the vengeance of God The death of Iulian the Apostata Iulian the Apostata may very well also testifie what end the persecucutors of gods childrē may looke waite for For the histories declare Theoderit lib. 3. cap. 25. Volaterran lib. 23. that he continuing the war against the Persiās which was begunne by the Emperours his predecessours and vpō the way hauing made a vowe againe to shed and spill the Christians blood and namely in Ierusalem and to make them or set them out openly as a shewe in some solemne place if hee came againe victorious and a conquerer as hee was entred into a desart and wildernesse he and his armie wandering vp and down together without guide or leading he was sodenly taken and striken with a stroke either of an arrow or a sworde or of some other weapon for none knoweth as the historiographers say wherewith or howe hee was striken and so dying in dispaire hauing not as then raigned twelue whole yeeres hee cried out with a horrible blasphemie keeping and holding his blood which gushed into his hand and casting it into the aire said O Galilean for so in desspite hee was wont to call Christe at the last thou hast ouercome thou hast ouercome Valens Theod. lib. 4. Cap. 19. Valens also did very well feele know the power of Gods vengeance in his miserable death It is saide of him that hauing receiued the doctrine of the Arrians a certain season after that he harkened vnto the instruction of Basil and receiued it but straight wayes hee returned to his former naturall disposition and assalted and set vpon Basil and when it so fell out that hee coulde not perswade him to ioyne or take part with the Arrians hee commanded that a Lawe and Decree shoulde bee made for his banishment And when hee was minded to subscribe the saide decree the pen was found bruised after a sodeine and maruellous maner so that hee coulde not therewith make a stroke only or signe of a letter They brought vnto him the second penne yea euen the thirde and it fell out in thē as with the first and notwithstāding hee yet indeuoured to vndersigne subscribe ratifie that decree but he felt that his right hande shoke and trembled Socrates lib. 4. cap. 36. Theodoret. lib. 4. cap. 36. Sozomen lib. 7. cap. 40. and then being feared hee tare the paper But shortly after hee died wickedly For in a certaine battaile which he had against the Gothes who rebelled against him being inforced thereto through famine and hunger hee was hurt with an arrowe Wherefore he fled and withdrewe himself into a small graunge or farme house in the fieldes with some of his people and being close or hidden there the Gothes set fire on it not knowing that Valens was therin and there he was burned all aliue And to the end that they which shoulde come after might haue a more euidēt testimony that this was in deede a punishment sent from God and that also in this wicked person there might alwayes be had an example of the wrath of God he remained without any buriall at all But when will it be that we shall make an ende if wee woulde largely pursue and recite the Catalogue or beadrole as you woulde say of tyrants and persecutors of the Churche who for a iust recompence of their cruelties haue beene punished by the hand of God and died miserably Wee should not want examples of former ages neither yet of our time For God hath alwaies had care ouer his Church maintaining it and punishing the riottes and murthers committed against it yea hee will alwayes mainteine it and will exercise and execute his iustice vpon them which would oppresse it because hee accounteth it as deare Zachari 2. 8. as the apple of his eye whiche shoulde bring vnto vs a singular comfort and instruction For it serueth well to comfort vs when we vnderstand that we haue a keeper and defender in heauen who in the middest of our afflictions will not forsake vs no not then when it seemeth vnto vs that the whole worlde conspireth and ariseth against vs. On the other side we ought to receiue and take instruction therby because that wee heare that God taketh vengeance in his good time and as pleaseth himselfe vpon them which persecute his Church to the end that we should spoyle our selues of and cast farre from vs all particuler affections or motions of reuengement and shoulde leaue the iudgemēt of our cause vnto god to whō alone as he saith Vengeāce to repay the same Deut. 32.35 Rom. 12.19 doth belong when he shall see good and meete And notwithstanding the tyrants and persecutors haue to learne by the aboue saide examples to haue in horror and wonderfull feare the great iudgements of God and to knowe that albeit God doe for a time defer and put of the punishment of those which ragingly and furiously fall vpon his welbeloued Saints yet such are not for all that any whit the more blessed The furie and wrath of God as one hath said walketh and goeth verye softly Valerius Maximus in his historie but after it hath beene long time deferred or foreslowed it doeth at the last