Paul's Character of a lawful Minister 1 Tim. 3.2 Both able and apt to teach Secondly But besides this there is an outward calling 2. And ourward Calling which is from God for it is his Ordinance but by man The imposition of hands The Ordination of the Church as the ordinary means and instruments And though the outward calling may not compare with the inward either in peint of excellency or necessity yet in a constituted and a setled Church and in an ordinary way this outward calling is of simple and absolute necessity No men taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aarou Heb. 5.4 and that is by mans Ministery And not to wave the comparison of my Text As in Metal there is both the Bullion as it lies in the mass and bulk And there is the Coin after it hath once passed the mould and Mint and received the stamp and impress and supersoription of the Prince Even so the inward calling is as the Bullion of Gold and Silver which shews the intrinsick worth and value and is the very nature and substance of it But the outward calling is as the coining and minting of this Bullion in ordination which sets upon it the stamp of Church autharits and makes it currant and passable among men Secondly Secondly in respect of the End These spirits are said to be of God in respect of the End For as in nature the efficient and final cause is one and the same so is it every way as true in Divinity God is alpha and Omega the beginning and the end of all For of him and through him and to him are all things Rom. 11.36 And those Spirits are of God that are for God that intend God that tend to God as to their ultimate and lastend When us Luther first began to appear in Germany and his Doctrine passed sundry censures and constructions according to the variety of mens apprehensions and their particular interests and engagements Dr. Stanpitius professed for his part that he was the better satisfied with it and the more throughly confirmed in the belief of it (g) Hoc mihi placet quod haec doctrina quam praedicat gloriam omnia soli Den tribuit hominibus nihil Lut her loc Com. Quar. Glas cap. 30. Quod omnia in solidum Deo ascribebat That it did intirely ascribe all to the praise of Gods grace glory And certainly those Spirits are of God that do most abase and depress the aspiring pride and haughtiness of mans heart That do vilifie yea nullifie the spiritual impotency and disability of mans decaied wounded and dead nature that do extol and magnifie the free grace of God in Christ that inhance and advance his glory These these are the Spirits who as they are for God so they likewise are of God 2. The Touchstone and that double The false or counterfeit which is five fold The second thing considerable in the trial next after the metal is the Touchstone and that is either 1. I alse and counter suit 2. On I se right and true The false and counterfeit Touchstones are these five in member 1. Preten ed Revelation 2. Lying Ntiâ—â—aeles 3. Rucollancy of Burts and Abrtitues 4. Flâ—â—â—â—ess of Life 5. Succes or truth of Eveuts The first false and counterfeit Touchstone is Pretended Revelations The first pretended Bevelations These our (h) Dicunt paracsetum plura in Montano dixisse quam Christum in Evan lium protulisse Nec tantum plura sed etiam meliora atque majora Tertul. Prescr adv Haeret. c. 152. Fanatici spiritus hodie quicquid somniant volunt esse spiritum sanctum Luther Tom. 4. fol. 5 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basilius Inth â—srast and Anahaptists the Dreanters if our lanentimes as Saint Jade fitly styles them boast and brag of and prattle much to little purpose of their secret inllincts and inspirations So did Suenck feildius a whelp of that litter who as if he had been a Prophet dropt from Heaven or fullen out of the Clouds did amaze and inoltant mens minds with those high flown terms Illumination Revelation Deification of the interior and spiritual men words misapplied and perverted by him and grosly understood by the common multitude And that I may extricate and wind my self out of ambiguities all at once True it is that God doth enlighten the minds of his children in the knowledge of spiritual and saving mysteries and inwardly reveal unto them the sense and feeling of Gods love in Christ so that they taste and see how gractous the Loed is as the Psalnist has it Psal 34.8 abounding more and more in Knowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in all judgement as Saint Paul prayes for the the Philippians Phil. 1.19 yet this affords no ground or sooting for any new Bevelation by way of Supplement or Addition to the written word either against or besides the Seripturea Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that we have preached unto you let him be accursed Gal. 1.8 Though we Saint Paul himself who was rapt into the third Heaven or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non solum contrarium sed diversum Not onely that which is directly contrary but any way different Let him be accounted execrable and abominable that is Saint Pauls doom upon himself and others For the Doctrine of Salvation touching faith and manners whatsoever is necessary to be believed or observed is revealed from Heaven already and they that expect and look for any new revelations may go out and seek for them as the children of the Prophets did for Elias body after it was taken up into Heaven 2 King 2.17 but shall be sure to return without it 1. Optat. lib. 5. Si fuerit inter fratres contentio orta non itur ad tumulum sed quaeritur Testamentumâ— sit qui 〈◊〉 lo quiescit tacitis de tabulis loquitur ibidem Nobis curiositate opus non est post christum nec inquisitione post Evangelium Cum credimus nihil desideramus ultra credere Hoc enim prius credimus non esse quod ultra credere debeamus Tert. Presc cap. 8. Quid pulsamus ad coelum cum habeamus in Evangelio Testamentum saith Optatus excellently To what end should we knock at Heaven gates for Revelations when as we have Christs last Will and Testament in the Gospel There may be indeed a Codicill or Schedule annexed to the Will of a dying man as long as he is alive And the same may be as authentick and forcible as the original Will if it hath his hand and seal to speak for it and be ratified by the testimony of others But Christ is deceased long ago his Will is consigned and sealed up and proved in the High Court of Heaven and in that regard there can be no Codicil or Schedule of new Revelation affixed or added
a full and foul mouth as Solifidians and Nullifidians and to brand our Religion with that odious nickname Calva Calvini sides The bald faith of Calvin This they affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a bare and â—ald head and therein shew that they have not so much as one hair of honest men An impudent and shameless calumny purposely devised by him who is a lyar and the Father of it and most opprobriously and injuriously obtruded upon the Protestant party and reformed Churches The sounder part whereof (*) Sicut substantia sundamentum est omnium accidentium sic fides omnium virtutum donorum Bâ—navent Serm. de Sanclis Ex fide crumpurt â—â—ra opâ— a. Luther reverences Faith as a spiritual Dorcas that is full of good works with which it is evermore attended and accompanied as individual and inseparable companions And in case works be wanting they make no other account and reckoning of such a kind of Faith then a bare name without a thing a sign without a thing signified a shadow without a substance a body without a soul A dead faith as St. James makes out the comparison Jam. 2.26 For as the Body without the Spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also A meer Sceleton and carkass of it Faith indeed is a more inward and radical grace of a spiritual nature without flesh and bones as our Saviour concludes of every spirit But good works are Fides incarnata as Luther stiles them Faith manifested in the flesh which may be seen and felt of others And in this sense though somewhat beside it divers of the Ancients expound those words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.46 That is not first which is spiritual but that which is carnal referring it to faith and works and preferring works before it Not to enter the list of a comparison which of them should be the greater a question that sometimes happened amongst Christ's Disciples and yet a little to illustrate the matter by a similitude Faith is as the inward wheels of a Clock that move it and make it go Works are as the Hand or Fingen of the Dial which though it be no cause of motion yet is it an evident sign how the Clock goes within and outwardly points forth the hour of the day to the Traveller in the streets Thus is Faith discerned and descried by our Works Secondly To improve and encrease grace working is necessary for the improvement of grace received which though free y given yet must it be encreased by our pains and industry in renewing and repeating the several acts of it Even as the sire that came down from Heaven upon the Altar yet being once kindled it was maintained by the addition of new wood and fuel (k) Concil Nicen 1 part 2. cap. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though we receive grace without labour at the first yet can we not preserve it without labour say the blessed Fathers of the first Nicene Councel Thirdly To attain and gain salvation working is necessary for the attaining of salvation as a condition of an obligation as motion unto rest as the way to the end of the journey and the means unto the end For as in nature there can be no passage from one entream to another but by a middle that intervenes and comes between and so unites and joins them together No more can we be translated from a state of corruption to a state of happiness but by working as the means We must not look to commence in Heaven per saltâ—â—m to skip and leap into it neither nature nor grace allow it The greater part of the world would have glory without grace and happiness without holiness like to the Roman Dictator Sylla that had rather be sirnamed Foelix then Pius Fain would men receive the wages and yet not do the work but in vain and to no end For life eternal is resembled by a Crown which they alone wear that run yea so run that they may obtain And as the old Romans gave the obsidional Crown to him that had delivered a City from the siege of the enemy and that made of the grass and flowers of the besieged City Even so doth God reward men according to their works and sets them as a Crown upon their head Let this be granted as an undoubted truth that salvation is a reward yet such a reward as issues out of meer bounty and liberality no wages or due debt Nor is it given Propter factum sed pacium not for the worthiness of the deed done but by a (k) Bona opera non sunt causa rogni sed via regnandi Bernard de Liber Arbit promissory obligation and engagement by way of covenant working is the means whereby not the cause why we come to salvation and though it be stiled our salvation yet is it as Faith and Repentance are termed ours being in us but not of us and actions and passions denominate the subject and not the cause God only is the efficient cause and author and man the proper subject or object of it For though works be never so necessary in themselves both in regard of their presence and instrumental efficiency as a condition means and way ordained by God that we should walk in yet must we not set so high a rate upon them as if they were a suficient price for Heaven any way adaquate and equivalent in proportion to the recompence of reward This alone is fitly compared to the penny in the Gospel and money as the wise man speaks answers all things and is the measure and rule of all but is not to be bought and sold at all It was the sacrilegious errour of Simon Magus to conceive that the gift of God might be purchased with money and it hath a spice of his sin and may so pass for a kind of spiritual Simony to think that salvation which is the gift of God may be procured with our labour The Papists indeed have coined a counterfeit and base money of merit to buy Heaven withall and though it hath none of Gods image and superscription yet would they give that unto God which is none of Gods as if they were to truck and chaffer and barter with him by way of merchandise and to deal with him upon the strictest terms of commutative justice Hear them speak in their own language Opera bona mercatura regni coelestis saith Bellarmine Heaven is as due to good works as Hell to bad So Andradius Coster the Rhemists on the New Testament Let Andrew Vega that proud Jesuite as the foreman of the Jury give in the Verdict for all the rest Gratis non accipiam He will rather lose it then take it as a free gift Nor do the Papists offend more on the right hand then the * Canisius lib. 1. de corrupt verbi Dei cap. 10. Flaccians and the rigid Lutherans on the left who decree them as unnecessary as hurtful as
because ye go to law one with another why do ye not suffer wrong why do ye not rather suffer your selves to be defrauded this was the 〈◊〉 the spiritual impotency and infirmity of their dispositions that they did not voluntarily relinquish and in some measure recede from their own right thereby to piece and flitch up differences out of a zealous desire and endeavour after brotherly love and concord This was very remarkable and signal in Gregory Nazianzen who when the Council of Constantinople was split in two about the choice of a Bishop he took his leave both of the Council and of his Bishoprick with this farewel speech (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gregor Naz. vita If I be the cause of this dissension I am not better then the Prophet Jonas cast me forth into the sea so shall the sea be calm unto you onely remember that of Zacharie love the truth and peace 3. The third work of charity is a liberal communicating and distributing with a free heart and an open hand to the necessities of our brethren who soe hath this worlds good and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him â—how dwelleth the love of God in him The third Work of Charity A free distributing to the necessity of our Brethren 1 Ioh. 3.17 and then do men shut their bowels of compassion when they shut their hands and are close fisted and in so doing how dwelleth the love of God in them and the Apostles interrogation hath in it the force of a vehement negation that there is no love at all It is a grosse yet common error of the Papists to confound good works in the general with works of charity and liberality as if the part and the whole were all one and there were no other works besides and yet almes-deeds are good works good in their kind and nature Good and profitable unto men Titus 3.8 And much more profitable unto our selves for howsoever works of charity are not either efficient or meritorius causes entitling or interessing us in the Kingdome of Heaven which descends upon us as an inheritance provided by our Father from all Eternity and purchased in the fulness of time by the blood of Christ Yet are they a necessary condition and an effectual means of our entrance and actual possession of that Kingdome the rule and measure of Christs award in pronouncing and passing that definitive sentence at the great and general judgment of the latter day Mat. 25.34 35 36. Come ye blessed children of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came unto me Thus will Christ entertain and welcome men into his Kingdom at the day of his appearance And that is the reason of Saint Paul's charge to Timothy Why those that are rich in this world should be rich in good works Ready to distribute willing to communicate Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life 1 Tim. 6.17 18 19. 4. The Fourth work of charity is the exercise of benevolence and beneficence The fourth Work of Charity The doing good to our Enemies to such as are most alienated and estranged from us the person of professed Enemies And that whether enemies in Opinion Affection Action we must according to our Saviours counsel Love Bless Pray Do good to them and by all means possible intend and further their temporal and much more their eternal welfare This is the Genius of the Gospel the discriminating character of Christianity from all other professions and all Religions (a) Amicos diligere est omnium inimicos autem solorum Christianorum Tertul. ad Scapulam cap. 1. For men to love their Friends is common to all but to love their Enemies is proper and peculiar to Christians And herein must we express evidence our charity to enemies by an unfained earnest desire of their conversion to the unity of faith and love If that a member be dissected and out off from the society of (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we forthwith carefully closs and bind it up and use the best means of art and skill to incorporate it with the c fellows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is St. Chrysostom's comparison Even so should all our attempts endeavours aim and level at this main project and design The Application in a threefold Consectary Inference to reunite and combine our most enraged and implacable Enemies in the bond of Christian communion and Brotherly fellowship from which they are severed and divided for want of Charity 1. And is St. Paul's Aphorism sound Divinity Let all your things be done with charity The First affording matter of Grief and Sorrow That which we may from hence observe in the first place is matter of grief and sorrow Private grief and publick sorrow A copious Theme and subject large enough to make up a full volume of the same Argument with the Roll of Ezechiel ' s prophecy that was written within and without with lamentation and mourning and woe And just cause there is now if ever for every man in his own person to renew and take up that melting desire of the pathetical Prophet Jer. 2.1 O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I may weep day and night for the want of this grace and charity Oh Charity the map and mirrour of Excellency the glory of graces the bond of peace the bond of perfectness the desire and delight of Angels the lively image and portraicture of God himself which is everywhere stiled The peace of God and the God of peace (c) Nazianz. Orat. 14. pag. 214. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Nazianzen Which is of God and is God For God is love 1 John 4.8 Not only causally in us but formally in himself though not as an Affection but as his Nature Oh thou highly beloved and lovely Love the fairest among vertues Beautiful as Tirzah comely as Hierusalem What is become of thee where dost thou abide and dwell Hast thou quite left this habitable world and art ascended and gone up to Heaven there to enjoy the sight of Gods blessed Face and to repose and rest thy self in his Bosom from whence thou first came (d) Nazianz Orat. 14. pag. 214. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is the passionate complaint of Gregory Nazianzen O dear and precious peace a Grace that is generally commended and cried up by all but observed and practised by a very few Where hast thou forsaken us for so long time And when oh when wilt thou