us his hands to be stretched out to embrace us and his side to be pierced to send forth water and blood his two blessed Sacraments to cleanse and strengthen us by that same flesh was he made liable to suffering and in that same flesh did he actually suffer all those things which at first bought the purchase and which do still bring to us the joy of our salvation SECT III. True knowledge of and Faith in Christ is not without true knowledge of and Faith in the blessed Trinity That the Protestants Faith The great loveliness of Christ in the flesh as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as God and man and the great mysteries of his two natures in one person KNowledge in the natural man exalts him above other men but knowledge in the good Christian who alwaies loves what he knows of Christ exalts him above himself By knowing natural truths I do improve my reason but by knowing supernatural truths I do also improve my Religion The improvement of my reason exalts me above other men but the improvement of my Religion exalts me above my self And what knowledge can improve my Religion but only the knowledge of Christ who is both the Author and the Finisher of my Faith Therefore let me ever say with Saint Paul I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord Phil. 3. 8. for indeed truly to know Christ in his person is truly to know the whole Christian Faith in the ground and substance of it For what is the ground or substance of our Christian Faith but that which Saint Paul hath set down 2 Cor. 5. 19. That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them which is in effect a short sum of the Apostles Creed for that treats of nothing but of God and of Christ reconciling us to God and of the benefits of that reconciliation the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting Accordingly Aquinas makes it equally necessary to salvation to believe explicitly the mysterie of the blessed Trinity and to believe explicitly the mysterie of the incarnation of Christ 22 ae qu. 2. art 7. 8. There is an absolute necessity saith he of believing the Incarnation of Christ for that is the only way for a man to come to eternal blessedness because it is said Act. 4. 12. Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved And there is saith he as absolute a necessity of believing the blessed Trinity for the Incarnation of Christ cannot be explicitly believed without faith in the Trinity for we cannot believe that the Son of God did take our flesh upon him but we must acknowledge God the Father and God the Son and we cannot believe that he took this flesh of a Virgn by the operation of the Holy Spirit but we must acknowledge God the Holy Ghost so that truly to believe and confess the incarnation of Christ is truly to believe and confess God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Wherefore it was not an objection but a calumny in him that said of the Protestants For these good Gospellers have a faith and a justifying faith whereby they apprehend eternal life without Father Son and Holy Ghost without Christ and his Passion or any of those other matters which are rather subtile points of the Papists historical faith then of the lively justifying faith wherewith these Evangelical Brethren in all security are warranted of the certain favour of God in this life and assured glory in the next Reynolds against Whitaker p. 282. for no true Protestant doth believe and indeed no true Christian can believe that to be a true Faith in Christ which believes not the Holy and Undivided Trinity and all other Articles of the Apostles Creed For such a faith cannot justifie it self much less can it justifie the man that hath it wherefore Protestants do not dare not say That justifying Faith doth not believe the Trinity and Judgement to come as well as the Merits of Christ and the forgiveness of sins They only say the former truths are believed with the greater astonishment and admiration the latter truths with the greater affiance or affection but neither with a greater certainty or confidence then the other Fides ex ae quo assentit omnibus articulis fidei quoad certitudinem sed non quoad modum Faith doth equally assent to all the Articles of the Creed as to the certainty of assent though not as to the manner of assenting The sublim truth of the Trinity she believes with admiration the comfortable truths of Christs dying for sinners and the forgiveness of sins she believs with joy and consolation the dreadful truths of hell and judgement to come she believes with sorrow and contristation but all the truths contain'd in the Creed whether sublime or comfortable or dreadful she believeth with one and the same certainty or undoubted confidence And those who teach us that to believe in Jesus Christ our Lord is the proper act of justifying faith for to believe the forgiveness of sins is rather an effect then a cause of justification do not confine our justifying faith meerly to the belief of this one Article but do only profess that though true faith hath as many acts as objects and hath as many objects as supernatural truths revealed from God yet it justifies the sinner only by this one act of believing in Christ and relying wholly upon his merits and mediation Thus do we desire with Saint Paul to be found in Christ not having our own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith Phil. 3. 9. But we dream not of a righteousness either by a vain or by a false faith either by a vain Faith that believes not entirely with affection or by a false faith that believes not truly without mistake or deception Wherefore Antitrinitarian and Antichristian may go for all one in the Protestants as well as in the Papists account for indeed they have alwaies gone for one in the account of the Catholike Church We have heard Aquinas speaking the sense of the Western let us now hear Damascene speaking the sense of the Eastern Churches for so he tels us in his third Book de Orthodox◠fide and fifth chapter That the two cheif heads of the Christian Faith are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity which he cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it treats only of God and the Doctrine of the incarnation of Christ which he cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it sets forth the wonderful dispensations of God about the salvation of men And these two heads he not only joins but also compares together in one chapter shewing wherein they agree and wherein they
the end come For the Apostles themselves did not could not preach the Gospel in all the world and unto all Nations therefore they were to ordain others to preach it after them nor may we suppose the Ministers of the Gospel to have been a Temporary calling or oppose them in their Ministry unless we will resist the fulfilling of Cbrists promise and do what we can to make Truth himself a lyar Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost The Apostles were commanded to baptize in this form for three reasons 1. To distinguish Christians from Jews for they worshipped God only in the unity of essence as their Creator but the Christians are to worship him in the Trinity of persons as their Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier 2. To shew that here was nothing of humane invention or power to be given or received in baptism which was in the name of God only 3. To shew that there was great vertue and efficacy in Baptism even such as did concern our re-union with God by remission of our sins and sanctification of our souls or why else should we be baptized in the name of God And also that all that vertue and efficacy did wholly depend upon God alone in whose name only we are to be baptized And this efficacy of Baptism is more fully expressed by Saint Mark saying He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved Mark 16. 16. where it is plain that the Apostles are required to invite men to the Christian Faith and Baptism by the promise of salvation and consequently are forbidden to preach salvation upon any other terms then those of believing and of being baptized And those men who make so slight account of Baptism will one day find the Heathens and Infidels of Syria to rise up against them in judgement who said to their Master Naaman My Father If the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldst thou not have done it how much rather then when he saith to thee Wash and be clean 2 King 5. 13. For they dare not deny but they are as unclean as Naaman was in his leprosie unless they will deny themselves to be of the same mould and make with other men for David hath spoken in the person of every man that is born of a woman Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me Psalm 51. 5. And they cannot deny but that God since Naamans time hath most eminently sanctified the flood Jordan and in that all other waters by the Baptism of his well beloved Son Jesus Christ to the mystical washing away of sin And yet moreover That not only the man of God but also the Son of God hath said unto them Wash and be clean unless they will divide the precept wash from the promise and be clean since the words have been in our Saviours mouth which the Infidels durst not do when they were only in Elisha's mouth For it is most certain that Baptism is necessary to salvation as commanded wash and it is most probable that it is also efficacious thereunto and be clean because it is commanded For he that hath commanded it was able to make it so nay rather hath made it so to shew that he delighteth not in unnecessary or unprofitable commands What need we then to say That Baptism is necessary only as a profession of our faith or as an outward sign or testimony of Gods grace whereas we may with much confidence and without any inconveniency acknowledge it to be moreover an instrumental cause whereby our blessed Saviour is pleased to work Grace and Salvation For who can hinder the first cause to work by what instrument he pleaseth and sure we are the word of God doth plainly ascribe unto Baptism the operation of an instrumental cause in working the effect of grace when Saint Paul calleth it The washing of Regeneration Tit. 3. 5. which was the language he had been taught by God himself at his first conversion saying to him by Ananias Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins Acts 22. 16. Wherefore we will conclude that both Faith and Baptism may be rightly called instrumental causes of our salvation but in different respects Faith as instrumental on our parts whereby we prepare our selves for Christ Baptism as instrumental on Christs part whereby he prepareth us for himself This being granted which can scarce reasonably be denyed we shall not delay our childrens Baptism because t is instrumental to salvation on Christs part though not on their own and yet not tie God to outward means because we acknowledge Baptism to be instrumental to salvation only upon his own choice and appointment and therefore he can save without it if himself so pleaseth Nor shall we need fear a falling away from the state of salvation any more in the baptized Infants then in the believing men since our blessed Saviour in saying he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved doth suppose or rather include the same condition as alike necessary to both to wit of leading their lives according to their good beginnings For the promise of salvation upon a mans believing and being baptized is not absolute but conditional that is to say If he lead his life answerable to hâ—s faith and to the grace given him in his Baptism as if it had been said his faith and his Baptism shall save him as far forth as is possible for instrumental causes or as far forth as belongs to them that is they shall really and effectually conduce to his salvation unless he himself be in the fault and hinder their working either by forsaking his Faith or by polluting and prophaning his Baptism and not returning back again to God by his repentance This interpretation must be given of our Saviours words as appears from the foregoing part of his speech Go and preach the Gospel for t is most certain that he would not have his Apostles preach any other Gospel then what himself had preached and that was Repent ye and believe Mar. 1. 15. Wherefore Repentance must also come in as a necessary condition to salvation no less then faith and Baptism because all men do fall away from the purity which they had through their Faith and through their Baptism by their daily sins and there is no promise of salvation to any man that continueth and abideth in his sins so that they must rise again by repentance or they cannot be saved Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you After you have made them my Disciples by Baptism then keep them so by right doctrine for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is no more then Discipulate omnes gentes baptizantes eos make all nations my Disciples baptizing them so the command is to make Disciples unto Christ and the manner is explained how they are to be made even by baptizing not by preaching according to that of John 4. 1.
the diffusion of his glory he hath prepared a mansion for us with him by the diffusion of his grace he hath prepared a mansion in us for himself O the immortal comfort of a good Christian and the more immortal glory of the Christian Religion shew me a comfort like to the comfort of a good Christian who is already in his head ascended into heaven shew me a glory like to the glory of the Christian Religion which hath him alone for its author for its head who sitteth on the right hand of God Ask the Jew he will tell you he left his Prophet upon Mount Nebo Ask the Turk he will tell you his Pcophet was left at Meca Ask other Religions they will tell you they know not what is become of their Prophets It is only the Christian Religion that can say it had such a Prophet as now sitteth at the right hand of God A Prophet who taught not a religion without righteousness as is the Religion of Turks and Heathens nor a Religion with Righteousness but which could not make men righteous as was the Religion of the Jews But a Religion with Righteousness to shew it self righteous and a righteousness with Religion to make us so For the law which was the rule of righteousness came by Moses but grace which maketh righteous came only by Jesus Christ John 1. 17. By this He still dwelleth in us even now that he is farthest from us which is so invaluable a blessing that it cannot be valued till it be enjoyed and when it is enjoyed it is found invaluable For the soul of man cannot but have a wretched dwelling in the body and a more wretched dwelling out of it unless Christ have a dwelling in the soul It is the glory of men above Angels that Christ dweleth in their flesh It is the glory of good Christians above other men that Christ dwelleth in their spirits By his grace he dweleth with us and in us by our faith and love we dwell with him in him nor shall this dwelling ever be destroyed it shall only be enlarged when what is now of grace shall hereafter be of glory There is so inseparable an union betwixt Christ and the good Christian that as the Christian cannot be in the state of Grace without Christ so Christ not fully in the state of glory without him The head thinks himself not in honour whiles the members are in dishonour and therefore our head being ascended into heaven makes it his work to draw us the members of his mystical body thither after him For we are united unto Christ by a threefold cord that is not easily broken First by the tie of Election God having chosen us in him before the foundation of the world having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will Eph. 1. 4 5. Secondly by the tie of incarnation wherein he took our flesh unto himself Thirdly by the tie of Inspiration wherein he hath given his Spirit unto us All which have begot so inseparable an union betwixt the Son of God and the sons of men by a golden chain reaching from heaven to earth that Saint Paul speaks of the good Christians as of those who are already in glory with Christ And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephes 2. 6. He looks on them not only as having jus ad rem but also as having jus in re not only as claiming but also as possessing their heavenly inheritance O that we would be so careful or could be so happy as not to abuse those mercies which we cannot deserve O that we would lift up our souls truly and entirely unto the Lord then would our hearts be where our treasure is at the right hand of God For we may not be in heaven by our perswasions whiles we are either in earth by our affections or in hell by our dispositions How can we see our Saviour at Gods right hand whiles Satan stands at ours making us to butcher his servants to deface his Sanctuary to discountenance his Religion to defile or despise his Ordinances to deceive his people to destroy his inheritance How can we believe him to be making intercession for us whiles we care not to make intercession for our selves or at least wise use such extravagant prayers wherein we cannot justly expect much less judiciously hope he should make intercession with us Be it the priviledge of faith to have an eye to be able to see Christ but of devotion to keep that eye alwaies open actually to behold and look upon him for which cause some have thought that prayer was the proper act of justifying faith men then most especially believing in Christ when they are praying to him So that to oppose or disturb the exercise of well-grounded and well-settled devotions under pretence of reforming them is to put out the eye of faith whiles we pretend to take off the film that it may see the clearer For the precious talent of faith must neither be wrapped up in a Napkin nor indiscreetly managed if we expect it should enrich our souls with heavenly and immortal comforts but must be diligently and discreetly imployed in judicious as well as in fervent pravers and praises to Almighty God that so we may fight the good fight of faith by defending and maintaining not only the truth of the Gospel but also our profession and practise of that truth Saint Paul requires both alike of his Scholar and in him of us 1. Tim. 6. 12. Fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses Saint Timothy had not only embraced the Christian faith in general but had also in particular professed a good profession thereof before many witnesses and Saint Paul binds him as well as he had bound himself to make it good Else as many as had been witnesses of his profession must have been Judges and Condemners of his revolt And doubtless God having exalted our Saviour Christ at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principalitie and power and might and dominion Eph. 1. 20 21. hath sufficiently declared That we should so exalt and advance the Christian Religion whereby we seek to glorifie his Son in earth as the Father hath glorified him in heaven that neither principality nor power nor might nor dominion here on earth for those in heaven will not endeavour it should be able to remove us from the truth of Christ either in its belief or in its practise no more then they can remove Christ himself from sitting at the right hand of God And we most humbly beseech thee O blessed Saviour who hast conquered all things to conquer also our inconstancies that we may perfectly and without all doubt believe in thee and shew the sincerity of our faith by
mente super Altare offero quam in primo publico consistorio solenniter repetam Concil Basil sess 40. I made this digression only to shew That unless the Holy Scriptures be taken for the foundation of our faith we are like to have none For a general Council is not this foundation saith Bellarmine The Pope is not say these two Councils and the Pope himself swears on their side So Bellarmine defines against the Councils the Councils define against the Pope and the Pope not only defines but also swears against himself And we conceive that Saint Paul defined against them all when he said He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord 1 Cor. 1. 31. and again That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God 1 Cor. 2. 5. T is only Gods truth which can be the foundation of our faith whether propounded by the Scriptures or by the Church as saith Aquinas Formale objectum Fidei est veritas prima secundum quod manifestatur in Scripturis sacris Doctrina Ecclesiae quae procedit ex veritate prima The formal object of faith is the first truth according as it is manifested in the holy Scriptures and in the doctrine of the Church which proceedeth from the first truth He is willing to take in the Church but he is not willing to leave out the Scriptures nay indeed he preferreth the Scriptures above the Church in the manifestation of Gods truth when he saith Doctrina Ecclesiae quae procedit ex veritate prima in Scripturis sacris manifestata 22ae qu. 5. art 3. c. The Doctrine of the Church which proceedeth from the first truth manifested in the holy Scriptures So that according to Aquinas Gods truth first cometh to the Scriptures from them to the Church That truth the Scriptures propound to the Church by way of definition That same truth the Church propoundeth to us by way of declaration Shall we think the declaration may overthrow the definition of truth or the Church may overthrow the Scripture This were in effect to allow that we as Christians do glory in men more then in God and that our faith in Christ doth more stand in the wisdom of man then in the power of God Such a foundation of faith as this which relyes upon man is laid upon the sand or upon grass For all flesh is grass But the foundation of faith which relyes upon the Scriptures is laid upon a Rock The word of the Lord endureth for ever and this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you 1 Pet. 1. 24 25. This foundation which is laid upon Gods word is as firm and as infallible as God himself for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God 2. Tim. 3. 16. And this is the foundation of our faith not as Protestants but as Christians we vindicate it as Protestants but we hold it as Christians For no Christian Church or Council did lay any other foundation of faith before that unhappy Council of Trent which began not till the year of our Lord 1545. and ended not till the year 1563. All the cavils that have been raised against the holy Scriptures have been raised since that time to the great dishonour of Christ the great disturbance of Christendom the great discontent of good Christians the great disadvantage of the Christian Faith For the foundation cannot possibly give that firmness to the building which is not in it self therefore there cannot be a greater disadvantage to the Christian Faith then to ground it upon an infirm and an unsure foundation And such a foundation is the word of man instead of the word of God For he that believeth the most Divine truths only upon humane authority can have but an humane an infirm an uncertain Faith Therefore Divine truths must be believed upon Divine authority that we may have a Divine faith concerning them For t is absurd in Reason impious in Religion to have but a humane faith of Divine Truths because the habit and act are infinitely unproportionable to the Object For there may be a twofold errour in our faith the one materially when we believe what God hath not revealed And so they only are erroneous in the faith who believe falsities or uncertainties The other formally when we believe what God hath revealed but not upon the authority of his revelation and so they also may be erroneous in the faith who believe the most sure and certain Truths The ready way to avoid both these errors is to take the written word of God for the foundation of our faith wherein we are sure to meet with Gods truth or verity for the matter of our belief and with Gods Authority or Testimony for the cause of our believing And since our Church teacheth this and no other faith no man can say she is guilty of Heresie that will not make himself guilty of Blasphemy For the Communion of our Church is free from Heresie not only Materially in that she believes no untruths or uncertainties but also Formally in that she believeth Gods truths upon Gods own authority So that to call such a faith Heresie which is wholly of God and through God must needs be blasphemy For my part I confess that I do not see how I can be sufficiently thankful to God for making me a member of such a Communion and therefore am sure I cannot be too zealous for it nor too constant in it A Communion which neither hath Heresie in the Doctrine of faith nor the cause of Heresie in the foundation of faith And truly to be rid of Heresie in its self and in its cause are both very great blessing but yet the latter is the greater of the two For a true reason of believing which rids us from Heresie in its cause may partly excuse even a falsity in the belief when a man believes what is not true because he thinks God hath revealed it But a false reason of believing can scarce justifie a truth in the belief when a man believes what is true but not upon the authority of Gods revelation The one desires to be a true believer in a false article the other resolves to be a false believer in a true article of faith The one in the cause of his faith believes the truth whilst in the doctrine of it he believes an errour the other in the cause of his faith believes an errour for every man is a lyar and may suggest a lye whilst in the Doctrine of it he believes a truth the one in the uprightness of his heart cleaves to God when in his mouth he departs from him the other in the perversness of his heart departs from God when in his lips he draws neer unto him The uprightness of heart makes the one a true man in his errour as S. Cyprian in his false Tenent of rebaptiz ation the perversness of heart makes the other a false man in his truth as
Christ and his Church OR Christianity Explained Vnder seven Evangelical and Ecclesiastical Heads VIZ. CHRIST I. Welcomed in his Nativity II. Admired in his Passion III. Adored in his Resurrection IV. Glorified in his Ascension V. Communicated in the coming of the Holy Ghost VI. Received in the state of true Christianity VII Reteined in the true Christian Communion WITH A Justification of the Church of England according to the true Principles of Christian Religion and of Christian Communion Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 13. 14. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain Phil. 1. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Cyril in Ep. ad Coelest Papam in act Concil Ephes par 1. If Christ be evil spoken of how shall we that are his Ministers hold our Peace And if we hold our Peace now what shall we say in the day of Judgement By Ed. Hyde Dr. of Divinity sometimes fellow of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge and late Rector Resident at Brightwell in Berks. Printed by R. W. for Rich. Davis in Oxford 1658. To the Christian Reader WHen conscientious Ministers cannot officiate in the Church and conscientious Christians cannot go to Church and customary Christians go thither either to little purpose because to no true worship or to great shame because to no true Ministers t is fit the Church should come to private houses that 's reason enough for this Treatise of Christianity to see the Press But t is in vain for the Church to come to any man till he come to himself and desire to come to his Saviour that 's caution enough for them who shall see this Treatise of Christianity For unless they have Christ in their hearts they cannot have him in their eyes They will scarce find him in the writings of his own infallible Apostles and much less of his unworthy Ministers Do not then complain of these Vnchristian times though there was never greater reason for that complaint but take heed your own heart be not Vnchristian Then will God in worse times then these if worse can be never let you be destitute of those means which will be able to root and build you up in your Saviour If as you have received Christ Iesus the Lord so you do also walk in him Col. 2. 6 7. For this is the only way to have true faith in Christ even to have stedfastness in that faith since that Faith cannot be true which cares not to be stedfast Without doubt there is nothing more sure in it self then the Truth of Christian Religion and therefore there should be nothing more sure to us Domine si error est a Te decepti sumus Scot. Prol. in sent If our Christian Religion be a device or a deceit as too many men now make it or use it t is Thou O Lord hast deceived us said that acute Divine most boldly and yet more truly And we must be as ready to say Because Thou Lord canst not deceive us we are sure in what we have from Thee we are not we cannot be deceived As the certainty of the object is so the certainty of the subject should be the greatest in matters of Religion Since it is undenyable on all hands That man is much more bound by the obligations both of Nature and of Grace to look to the certainty and to compass the assurance of his internal then of his external tenure of his eternal then of his temporal of his spiritual then o◠his corporal good estate and condition For if Christ be indeed our author for what we do and suffer then will he also be our Advocate in all our doings and all our sufferings And so will our cause be certainly justifiable both in this world and in the next as having a twofold goodness one from it self the other from its Advocate The first goodness of our cause will justifie us before men but the latter will also justifie us before God The first will keep men that though they may oppress us yet they shall not be able to condemn us The latter will keep us from the sentence of Gods eternal condemnation So happy is it with that man who knows he serves Christ and will not for any fear or love whatsoever start aside from his service Yet now a daies we take a quite contrary course which cannot be observed without bitterness of soul and ought to be reproved with bitterness of words for when there is dead flesh on the heart the stile ought to be very sharp at least to pierce it if not to cut it off most men making sure of their salvation before they have made sure of their Religion and not at all desiring to make sure of their Repentance that they may have either Religion or Salvation They will needs be walking upon the Battlements of Heaven before they have found out the true Iacobs ladder to climb up thither I speak to and of those men especially who are so ready not only to forsake but also to contemn their poor Mother This distressed Church of England once flourishing to the envy of her friends now seemingly withered for extirpated she cannot be to the joy and scorn of her enemies And I ask them seriously Were they sure of their Religion heretofore or no For not the perswasion and knowledge but the profession and practise of Religion is Religion according to that of Saint Iames Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving your own souls Iam. 1. 22. If they were not sure of their Religion why did they then serve God without their consciences as Hypocrites If they were why are they since fallen from that service against their consciences as Apostates Here seems yet to be a very bad certainty of their Religion and how can there be a better certainty of their salvation unless that we may gratifie their singularity more then our own Veracity we will say There may be a company of good Christians out of the Communion of Saints or a Communion of Saints out of Christs Catholick Church Whereas in truth a man that goes alone in a perswasion by himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like Ajax in the Tragedian is in the Poets sense One out of his wits in the Casuists sense One out of his Conscience and must be in the good Christians sense One out of his Religion Pude◠haec opprobria nobis dici potuisse non potuisse refelli The intent of this Treatise of Christianity which labours for such a Zeal as may enflame devotion and for such a simplicity as may satisfie it is To bring these men back again to their Saviour Christ and to the ordinary way of their salvation His Church To Christ their Saviour whiles it sets out the Christians knowledge of and joy in Christ To Christs Church the ordinary way of their salvation whiles it keeps in memory the antient festivals of the Church not only professing that knowledge but also embracing and expressing
a woman as still a Virgin The Praise of the seventy Interpreters Christs love to us that he would be made the son of a woman whereby he hath exalted men above Angels a mercy not to be forgotten till there be no man left to remember it That the Jews corrupted not the Text proved from the prophesies concerning Christ GReat was the love of the Son of God towards man that he would be sent forth from his Father yet much greater if greater can be that he would be sent forth after so mean a manner as to be made the Son of man And yet even in this meaness was no less then a miracle For our blessed Saviour was so made the Son of man as that he was not made the Son of a woman but of a pure Virgin and therefore Saint Paul saying that he was made of a woman Gal. 4. 4. doth call the blessed Virgin-mother a woman only to declare her sex not to dispute much less to disparage her Virginity for she was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 semper Virgo alwayes a Virgin before in and after the birth of Christ in the judgement of the Catholick Church which reputed Helvidius an Heretick for concluding otherwise from some slight Grammatical notions whereby he did rather blaspheme the Text then understand it whiles he let the itch of his Criticism as too too many in these latter times have done overspread and infect his Divinity Accordingly Saint Chrysostom justly finds fault with Aquila and Theodosius for rendring the words of Isaiah 7. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Behold a young woman shall conceive and he confutes them by the Authority of the Septuagint which saith he are to be preferred before all other Interpreters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 5. in Mat. For their antiquity for their number and for their consent and they interpret the words thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son But Justine Martyr hath sufficiently cleared this doubt to Trypho the Jew and I have not to do with Jews that I should need insist on this controversie but with Christians for such we are in our belief and had need labour to approve our selves to be such likewise in our practice for fear our practice should else subvert and ruine our belief For he that hath said I will shew thee my faith by my works Jam. 2. 18. hath thereby assured us that contrary works do at least shew if they do not make a contrary faith For which cause they are certainly much to be pittied who scoff and mock at our most Christianlike commemoration of this great Mysterie and greater mercy of the Incarnation of the Son of God for though the Angels were thought worthy of the Mysterie and desired more and more to look into it 1 Pet. 1. 12. yet it was man only that had the blessing of the mercy so saith the Apostle to the Hebrews Heb. 2. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham Hence it is the priviledge of men equally with Angels to be called the Sons of God but above them if we consider the reason why they may be so called For as the Sons of God is spoken of the Angels Job 1. 6. so the Sons of God is spoken of men Genesis 6. 2. And Saint Ambrose expounding those words thus Viderunt Angeli Dei for he did not read but only expound them so which if our late Criticks had observed concerning the rest of the Fathers they would have found less various lections but more various Expositions of the text I say Saint Ambrose expounding those words of Gen. 6. 2. thus Viderunt Angeli Dei did not meant by his Angeli the spiritual and heavenly substances saith Vellosillo in his Theological Problems but holy and religious men of the Progeny of Seth who because they persisted and persevered in the true Religion and worship of God when all the rest of the world fell away from it by a damnable Apostacy were by the Holy-Ghost honoured with the glorious title of the Sons of God and Saint Ambrose for that same reason calls them Angels O that we would consider how far we have degenerated of late from being Angels in this sense when for want of constancy in Gods undoubted and everlasting truth we may scarce justly be reputed or called men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But holy men were indeed called the sons of God not only because they were holy which gave the Angels that same title but also because they were men did carry about them that nature which the Son of God was determined to take upon himself so that in the title it self the sons of God men are equal with the Angels But in the reason of that title the son of God made man they are above them And for this cause it is that men are often called his brethren as Heb. 2. 17. It behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren because he is of the same flesh and blood with men but never was it said of Angels that they were brethren to the son of God O mercy of mercies the Son of God made lower then the Angels to exalt the sons of men above them This was the good Angels joy for us and sheweth how much more it should be our own joy for our selves They have still joy in heaven for our conversion Luke 15. 10. but they had once joy in earth also for our redemption Earth the place of sorrow because of sin till Christ came on it and then the place of joy because he came to take away the sin and with the sin the sorrow This made earth at that time seem heaven to the Angels and that made them leave of looking on God in God that they might look on God in men leave of praising God in heaven that they might praise him in Earth Luke 2. 13. Lord keep us men from ceasing to praise thee for this mercy of mercies here on earth least we keep our selves from beginning to praise thee for it hereafter in heaven for this mercy God made man is a mercy not be forgotten till there be no man left upon earth to remember it But if it should be forgotten upon earth through our perversness or profaness yet sure we are it will never be forgotten in heaven where this very same son of man now sitteth on the right hand of God and shall at the last day come in the same flesh to judg us in the which we now acknowledge his coming to save us Lord grant that we may so praise thee in this day of salvation that we may not be condemned of thee in that day of Judgement It is an excellent argument that Bellarmine useth amongst others to prove that the Jews never corrupted the Hebrew Text because they still in their Bibles retain all the prophecies concerning Christ insomuch that they are far more powerfully
to man in teaching him how to rejoyce for his Redemption Hymns expressing that joy may be only to the honour of God and directed to him The evil spirit silenced at the coming of Christ but the mouth of the good Spirit was opened THere is no man but naturally desires joy and delight as a remedy against his labours naturaliter appetit delectationes medicinas contra labores sensuum motuum saith Aquinas The reason why the natural man looks so much after his delights is because he looks upon them as medicines to heal his sicknesses or as remedies against the continual labours of his sense and of his motion And for this reason the spiritual man ought much more to look after his spiritual delights because he is much more under the labours of sense and motion then is the natural man for there is no sense so irksom as the sense of Gods wrath and of mans unworthiness and no motion so toilsom as that which seeks to climb up from earth to heaven and this is the sense this is the motion of the spiritual man he is continually feeling the burden of flesh and much more of sin upon his soul there 's his sense He is continually panting and â—ighing after God for rest there 's his motion In so great a labour both of his sense and of his motion how should he be able to subsist if it were not for the comfort of spiritual delight which proceeds only from Gods Holy Spirit For delight cannot be but from some good that is convenient and present and known to be so Ad delectationem duo requiruntur conjunctio boni convenientis cognitio hujus conjunctionis saith the same Aquinas A man cannot have delight without two things first the conjunction or acquisition of some convenient good then the knowledge of that conjunction so is it in this case The Redemption of our souls from death is undoubtedly both a convenient and a present good and yet few men have true joy and delight from it because few apprehend it as actually present Wherefore it is the singular gift and love of God the Holy Ghost to any man to give him the true knowledge of his Saviour that he may give him the true joy of his salvation For this indeed is the joy in the Holy Ghost and comes only from him It is he that teacheth the Church Militant to sing a new song on earth for her joy in Christ it is he that teacheth the Church Triumphant to sing a new song in heaven for the same joy O sing unto the Lord a new song saith the Psalmist Psal 98. and that Psalm is nothing else but a song of Joy and Thanksgiving for the Redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ there 's the new song on earth and again Rev. 5. 9. They sung a new song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood there 's the new song in heaven to express the joy of the same Redemption For the Holy Spirit teacheth them to practise this new song in earth who are to sing their part of it in heaven For those men are not like to come to Abrahams bosom who are not Abrahams sons and those men are not yet Abrahams sons who have not his faith and do not his works Now this was the Faith of Abraham to see the day of Christ and this was his work to joy in that sight John 8. 56. Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exultavit gestivit He rejoyced and he desired to express his joy His desire encreased his joy and his joy inflamed his desire He did see it a far off by faith the eye of his soul and he desired to see it nearer by sense with the eye of his body the joy of the one did not hinder but advance the joy of the other for if the heart of them must rejoice that seeke the Lord Psal 105. 3. then much more must the heart of them rejoce that have found him Accordingly good Christians do indeede shew no other then Abrahams faith by desiring to looke on Christ and no other then Abrahams worke by rejoycing in that vision which we may well suppose was the cause that the Latine Church antiently used and still useth some such peculiar hymns before the nativity of Christ as it is hard to determine whether they have more of desire in them to see his day comming or of joy to see it come our Calander still retains the memory of the first of those hymns which was O sapientia on the 17 of December but the hymns themselves in the Latine Church hold out till Christmas eve I will give you a short scheme of them 1. O Sapientia veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae O Thou who art the eternal wisdom of God come and Teach us the way of true wisedom 2. O Adonai veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento O thou who art the Lord of might come and redeem us by thy mighty hand 3. O radix Jesse veni ad liberandum nos O thou root of Jesse come and deliver us 4. O Clavis David veni educ vinctum de domo carceris O thou Key of David come and open the prison doors and let out the Prisoners 5. O oriens splendor lucis aeternae veni illumina sedentes in tenebris umbrâ mortis O thou Day-spring of eternal light come and enlighten us who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death 6. O Rex gentium salva hominem quem de limo formasti O thou who art the King of the Nations come and save man whom thou hast formed of the dust of the earth 7. O Emanuel veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster O thou who art God with us be also a God to us and save us O Lord our God These greater and more solemn hymns called Antiphone majores were at first made only in the honour of Christ though in process of time after the Invocation of Saints had crept into the Church there were two more added to them O Thoma Didyme and O virgo Virginum as Hugo testifieth in his Commentary upon the 38. Psalm which now the office it self of the blessed Virgin blusheth at and taketh no notice of at all and it were to be wished it had left out other prayers to the Blsseed Virgin which are as grosly superstitious as were those Hymns For they that believe Christ to be God must confess him to be a jealous God and that he hath said I am the Lord that is my name and my glory will I not give to another Isa 42. 8. and what is his glory but that of Prayer and of Praise Accordingly it is observable that at the time of his coming in the flesh the Oracles of Jupiter Apollo Hecate were
affections whiles we cry Abba Father But is the spirit therefore gone when the voice is gone or is the Holy Ghost no longer in our hearts then Abba Father is in our mouths For that must be our third Quere Whether the spirit may be in the heart believing while t is not in the mouth crying Abba Father as when Saint Peter who doubtless had the Spirit of God was so far from saying Abba Father that he denied the Son nay forswore him as if a simple denial had not been enough unless it had been seconded with oaths and curses which is our unhappy progress of Saviour-denial instead of self-denial I answer for Saint Peter that either the spirit was not quite gone from him or else soon returned unto him which appears by the speediness and by the entireness of his repentance in that he wept suddenly and he wept bitterly for he had a peculiar prayer and promise of Christ that his faith should not fail I answer for others of Gods adopted children as my late reverend and learned Diocesan taught me out of Saint Ambrose Deus nunquam rescindit donum Adoptionis God never cuts off his entaile if once adopted ever adopted and out of Biel Eos 〈…〉 qui à salute excidunt numquam fuisse filios dei per adoptionem All those who at last fall away from their salvation were never the children of God by adoption Bishop Davenant in his third determination or rather as Saint John taught them all three If they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us 1 John 2. 19. But withal I must distinguish betwixt adoption and the state of adoption betwixt salvation and the state of salvation for there is salus status salutis salvation and the state of salvation as there is peccatum status peccati sin and the state of sin And the state of either is such as it is in relation to us and to our reception of it In actionibus humanis dicitur negotium aliquem statum habere secundum ordinem propriae dispositionis cum quadam immobilitate seu quiete 22ae 183. 1. in humane actions the state of a business shews the immoveableness of its disposition so the state of sin is a kind of immoveableness in sin and the state of Adoption is a kind of immoveableness in adoption But yet we men are not alike immoveable in both states because the state of sin is wholly of our own making and therefore may get some stability from us But the state of grace is wholly of our receiving not of our making and therefore loseth of its stability as also of its perfection from the mutable and sinfull condition of our persons Hence it is that though to be in sin is much less then to be in the state of sin yet to be in Adoption and Salvation is much more then to be in the state of either For though we can add to our own misery yet we can only diminish from Gods mercy For Adoption and Salvation are much greater in Gods giving then in our receiving and consequently the Adoption is greater then the state of Adoption and the salvation then the state of salvation according to the old rule Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis whatsoever is received follows more the nature and condition of the receiver then of the giver And hence it is that even the adopted Sons of God have by fearfull failings and fallings made disputable for a time the state of their salvation though their salvation hath by Gods infinite goodness been made indisputable For there i◠no being at the same time in two contrary states that is to say in the state of sin and in the state of Grace and sure we are that t is no other then madness for any man to be in the hope who is not in the state of Salvation So that though we may truly say the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the habit remains when the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the act is gone or cessant yet we may as truly say That Gods Elect are not saved only by habits and therefore the acts of grace if they have been expelled must necessarily return again either to keep or to put them in the state of salvation either to retain them in it or to restore them to it before they can be actually saved And in this sense may we expound Saint James his question What doth it profit my Brethren though a man say He hath faith and have not works can faith save him James 2. 14. As if he had said It is not the sleepy habit but the vigorous act of faith and of all other graces that brings a man to salvation And by this means we shall reconcile Saint James his works and Saint Pauls faith in the Doctrine of Justification For Saint James affirming that we are justified by works doth include faith in those works and Saint Paul affirming we are justified by faith doth include works in that faith both of them understanding a faith working by love Gal. 5. 6. though Saint James comprehend the faith in the works as the cause in the effect Saint Paul comprehend the works in the faith as the effect in the cause And Saint James as justly urgeth the necessity of works against hypocrites who deceived themselves with a vain pretence of faith in Christ and so did not look after the righteousness of works as Saint Paul urged the necessity of faith against the Pharisees who trusting to the righteousness of the Law did not at all look after the righteousness of Christ Both Saint James and Saint Paul will have us justified by Christs righteousness for no other righteousness can acquit and absolve us before God only they differently express the instrumental cause of our Justification which is faith working by love for whereas that faith hath a twofold act actum confidendi obediendi An act of believing and an act of working Saint Paul rather insists upon the act of believing because he had to deal with Pharisaical Jews who rejected the Gospel and thought they could live according to the rule of the Law But Saint James rather insists upon the act of working because he had to deal with Hypocritical Christians who abused the Gospel of Christ to lawless licentiousness of living And therefore in Saint James his Divinity it is as great an absurdity to suppose true faith without its proper act of working and consequently by the rule of analogie to suppose the habit of righteousness without the exercise of righteousness as to suppose true faith and righteousness without salvation For the act of working being as essential to a justifying faith as the act of believing He that will go about to separate true faith from working may as well go about to separate it from believing and as well make faith no faith as make it no working faith But how this faith sheweth its work in those who are carried away with any
consequently if the Scriptures have in any wise lost their authority they have lost it by the Church and it were a wonder if the Church should cause the Scriptures to lose their authority and yet keep her own We will then take it for granted that the Catholick Church cannot be fully and infallibly proved to be Christian but only by the Holy Scriptures and that she her self seeks for no other and cannot find a better proof And from hence it must neede follow that every particular Church as far as it is truly Christian is willing to submit it self to be tryed by the written Word of God and that if nothing but true Cbristianity had gotten into the Church men would never have withdrawn their necks and much less their hearts from that known and certain tryal for that all the world is not able to prove any thing that is unwritten whether it be Tradition or Revelation to be the undoubted Word of God but only as far as it is agreeable with what is written according to that admirable Rule delivered by Saint Athanasius who having been vexed by the Arrian hereticks above forty years together hath taught us how best to confute that and all other heresie saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanasius in Epist de decretis Nic. Synodi ad finem There are much more exact and perfect proofs of the divine truth to be taken from the Scripture alone then all the whole world beside is able to afford us wherefore it must needs follow again that the best way for a particular Church to keep communion with the Catholick Church is to keep close to the Scriptures wherein alone are revealed those Truths the bare profession whereof makes a Church and the entire profession whereof makes it truly Catholick That Curch which hath the written Word of God for the foundation of her faith and practice is sure to have communion with all good Christians in what she truly believeth and practiseth according to that word And in case she deviate through humane error or infirmity in some particular deductions yet that deviation or mistake shall not overthrow her faith because it is sure and certain in the foundation and consequently shall not break off her communion with Christ the head nor with the Catholick Church his body because that same holy Spirit on whose dictates she relies is the sole author and maintainer of that communion whereas if a Church should believe all the Articles of the Christian faith upon any other ground then that of Divine revelation which we cannot now be assured of but only from the written Word of God as she could not have a true Divine saith not being grounded upon a Divine foundation so she could not in that faith have communion with those Christian Churches who allowed no other ground of their belief And such were all the Christian Churches of the Primitive times for though Saint Athanasius in the place fore-alledged doth on the Arrians behalf bring in an objection against the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as not being used in the Text and therefore not to be used concerning Christ for that we may not speak otherwise of him then he in his word hath spoken of himself yet he alloweth this very objection to be according to his own heart and sure he was a very good Chatholike and enforceth it with the reason afore cited That the most exact proofs of Divine truths were to be taken from the Scriptures and withal avoweth that those about Eusebius who was a chief upholder of the Arrians were such egregious turn-cotes and cavillers that the Bishops assembled in the Council of Nice were in a manner compelled more clearly to expound those words of the text which did immediately strike at the root of their heresie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereby it appears that the Nicene Fathers did assume to themselves only the power of Exposition in matters of faith not of Addition or of Invention They did expound that more clearly which they found in the Scriptures and in the Apostles Creed they did not ad or invent that which they found not As they were expounders they might and did hold communion with the Catholike Church whereof they were then the Representative which did wholly rely up-the word of God for all the Doctrines of faith whereas if they had taken upon them to be Inventers they must have forsaken the main ground of Christian communion the undoubted word of Christ and have been the authors of a faction and of a division And for this cause we see that in that famous Council of Chalcedon wherein were assembled six hundred Christian Bishops The Holy Gospel was placed in the midst of them as that on which they relyed and to which they appealed in all their determinations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the words found in the first action of that Council The most holy and most pure Gospel being set before them And Baronius tells us that the same had been done before in the Council of Nice and gives the reason why it was done out of Saint Cyril who saith thus concerning the Council of Ephesus Christum assessorem capitis loco adjunxit venerandum enim Evangelium in throno collocavit tantum non in aures sacerdotum clamans Justum judicium judicate Liber igitur ille in sede regia collocatus divinam prae se ferebat personam secundum illud Psalmi Deus stetit in synagoga Deorum in medio autem Deos dijudicat They looked upon Christ as head or president of their assembly for they placed his holy Gospel on a throne amongst them that it might represent the person of God the Judge of all men and they placed it in the midst that all might cast their eyes upon it and be afraid in the presence of their Judge to pass an unrighteous judgement Thus saith the Psalmist God stood in the midst of the congregation of Gods and he that was in the midst judged the other Gods Baron An. 325. num 66. And the same saith Binius in his notes upon the Council of Ephesus In medio Patrum consessu sedem enm Evangelio collocarunt cujus intuitu omnes admonerentur Christum omnium inspectorem ac judicem adesse Synodique praesidem agere In the midst of the fathers of the Ephesine Council was the Holy Gospel placed on a throne that all the Fathers seeing it might be admonished of Christs own presence to overlook them as their Judge and to overawe them as president of their Council and he saith no more then is truth for that form of adjuration mentioned by Fidus the Bishop of Joppe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whom we beseech and adjure by the Holy Gospel here set before us Council Eph. par 2. act 1. doth plainly witness as much although at the first session of the Bishops there is no mention of the Holy Gospels being placed among them as was afterwards at the first session of the Council of Chalcedon But
in with dissemblers I have hated the congregation of evil doers and will not sit with the wicked and he thus makes good that saying For thy loving kindness is ever before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth Psalm 26. His communion with God kept him from the corruptions of those unrighteous men he could not avoid and kept him in the communion of those righteous men he could not enjoy Though his conversation might be in Gath or Ascalon yet his communion was in Jerusalem when the Ark was there as it is said ver 8. Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth Therefore make sure of thy communion with God by faith and repentance and holiness of life and doubt not of thy communion with his Catholick Church though thou live amongst Infidels or amongst such Christians as are fallen into Infidelity and so having denyed the faith are worse then those who never embraced it For no private man is entrusted with the external communion of his own Church nor shall he be called to an account for the sins of it if he partake not in those sins but he is intrusted with the internal communion of his own soul and for that he must look to give a strict account to the maker and lover and Judge of souls But this admonition which only concerns private men may not be extended to whole national Churches which have power given them of God to rectifie what is amiss among themselves either in Doctrine or worship or Sacraments and are accountable to God for not rectifying it so that if there be any notorious defect in either much more in all of these they that are not bound to obey other men have no pretence of excuse if they obey not God in ordering themselves exactly according to his known and undoubted word And this is evident by Saint Pauls Epistles to particular Churches and Saint Johns orders to the seven several Churches of Asia to all which were sent distinct instructions and reproofs which sheweth that every one of them was bound to follow those instructions they had received from God without expecting new orders from some general Superintendent over them all and was justly reproved for not following them And this is the Judgement of the Catholick Church in the first Council of Nice in the sixth Canon which will have the priviledges and dignities and authorities of all Churches inviolably preserved for so much is comprized in these few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same Judgemen is again repeated and reinforced in the first Council of Constantinople Can. 2. which forbids the confounding of Churches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and leaves every several proviâ—ce by a Synod in it self to administer and order its own â—…s The same is again more fully repeated and reinforced in the first Council of Ephesus Can. 8. which will have particular Churches keep their own rights and priviledges lest they should unawares lose the liberty purchased for them by the blood of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Council of Chalcedon Can. 19 enjoyns provincial Synods twice a year to rectifie and dispose all emergencies whatsoever in the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So we find this is the judgement of the Catholick Church in the four first general Councils and therefore all the world is not able to prove this practice of our Church to be Anticatholick For I willingly pass by other Churches in the case with whom I am not bound to keep external communion and plead only for this Church where of God in mercy hath made me a happy member though an unworthy Minister For if Saint Paul would not judge those men that were without much less may any of us judge those Churches that are within And truly it is enough for our satisfaction and too much for our desert that though other Churches pretend more some to the purity others to the practice of Religion yet generally they have performed less Though some rigid Zelots press nothing so much as a circumcision of all rites and ceremonies other Pharisaical professors can boast of the yoke which they have put upon the neck of their Disciples which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear yet we cannot find any sufficient reason why we should not answer them both in Saint Peters words we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Act. 15. 11. For we have this reason of our belief because the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly and clearly set forth in the Doctrine of this our Church t is our shame and sin not our Churches if it be not also in our practice and Saint Paul hath taught us that this is the doctrine which most constituteth and therefore most edifieth a Christian Church For thus much do those words import to the Colossians And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable aâ—d unreproveable in his sight if ye continue in the faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which ye have heard Col. 1. 21 22 2â— T is the Churches part to preach unto us the hope of the Gospel or the Doctrine of our being reconciled to God in Christ where this Doctrine is rightly published accepted and maintained there is without doubt a true Christian Church there is communion with Christ and if he will present us holy unblameable unreproveable in his sight for continuing in this faith grounded and setled we can have little cause but no excuse for leaving that Church whereinis the profession of this faith for as every particular Christian Church may lawfully preserve its own liberty against the incroachment of other Chuuches so it must necessarily preserve its authority against the insolencies of its own people The case is notorious concerning Vzziah when he went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the Altar of incense that Azariah with the Priests withstood him saying it pertaineth not to thee Uzziah to burn incense unto the Lord but to the Priests the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense Go out of the sanctuary for thou hast trespassed neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God 2 Chron. 27. 17 18. And great is the approbation which the Spirit of God giveth to this Azariah for so doing saying He it is that hath executed the Priests office in the Temple 1 Chron. 6. 10. As if none had been high Priest but he who so couragiously maintained the authority of the Priest-hood and this is R. Davids gloss upon the words He was not the first Priest of Solomons Temple for that was Zadok nor was he the only high Priest for there were many others both before and after him but our Rabbies say because
but to have an Anticatholick Spirit in a Catholick Church will make me a Schismatick even in the communion of Saints Therefore Christianus Catholicus Christian Catholick is the Title I desire to assume and will labour to justifie the one may be as my proper the other as my common name the one shewing what I am in my person the other shewing what I am in my communion For I cannot but think Lactantius his pen borrowed inke from heaven when it dropped down this admirable observation Christiani esse desierunt qui Christi nomine amisso humana externa vocabula induerunt Lact. de vera sap cap. 30. They have left off to be Christians who have left off the name of Christ that they may call themselves by other mens external names For indeed all other names are Notes and causes of division t is only the name of Christ is the note and cause of communion amongst Christians This is truely the voice of a dove that hath no gall and me thinks I see the Holy Ghost still appearing in this Dove Sure I am there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but only the name of Christ Acts 4. 12. and why should I then either desire a name that cannot shew my Religion or desire a Religion that cannot bring me salvation SECT II. The excellency of Christian communion as holding of Christ and fom him having Immortality piety verity and charity and of the proper place company and author of this communion THE Communion of men is frequently broken off by faction in their life or necessarily broken off by dissolution in their death But the communion of Christians is altogether indissolvable for it endures no faction to separate the members from the body it incurs no dissolution to separate the body from the Head Other communions are cut off and destroyed by by death but this is confirmed and enlarged by it and the reason is because he is the Head of this communion who is the first born from the dead So saith Saint Paul He is the head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first born from the dead Col. 1. 18. And indeed this is the greatest excellency of our Christian communion that it not only begins but also continues with Christ and that in his twofold exaâ—tation in his exaltation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he had by nature as the beginning coaeternal and coaequal with his Father and in his exaltation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he had by dispensation as the first born from the dead Col. 1. 18. An excellent communion indeed that is grounded upon eternity both à parte ante for he is the beginning and à parte post for he is the first born from the dead Col. 1. 18. And such is the communion of all good Christians with Christ and surely no other can have communion with him for they were joined with Christ in one election before the beginning of the world as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world Eph. 1. 4. and shall be joined with him in one Salvation after the end of it Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me John 17. 24. The first communion we have with our Saviour as he is the beginning the second as he is the first born from the dead Hence it is that the Apostle Saint Paul so exceedingly labours in all his Epistles first to make us sensible of then to make us thankfull for this great mercy For this Method he observes in all his Epistles making it his business first to shew us the blessings we have in Christ then to exhort us to the practice of true Christianity But more particularly in those Epistles which he writ in his captivity at Rome immediately before his death which he purposely divideth as it were into these two parts one of doctrine another of application As for example In his Epistle to the Ephesians he spends the three first chapters wholly in doctrine declaring the benefits we have by Christ and the three last chapters wholly in application exhorting us to shew our selves dutifull and thankfull Christians So again in his Epistle to the Colossians all his labour in the two first chapters is to shew us what blessings we have in Christ what prepared in our election what exhibited in our redemption what consummated in our salvation and in the two last chapters what thankfulness we are obliged to for so great blessings exhorting us accordingly by all holiness of life that we may approve our selves to be truly thankfull In both which arguments he is so zealous that he takes many whole sentences out of his Epistle to the Ephesians and repeats them again though a little shorter in his Epistle to the Colossians as neither afraid to pen his Sermons though he preached by the spirit nor yet to preach the same Sermon twice for in truth his Epistle to the Colossians is little other then an Epitome or compendium of that to the Ephesians He had heard by Epaphras that the Colossians were setled and established in the communion of Christ cap. 1. vers 8. and that made him write this Epistle to keep them still in that communion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Sain Chrysost Saint Paul writ three Epistles to those Churches which he had not then seen that to the Romans that to the Hebrews and this to the Colossians which Church it is probable he never saw at all and accordingly professeth he had a great conflict for them because they had not seen his face in the flesh Col. 2. 1. His intent was to shew he would be with them in his affection though he could not be with them in his person accordingly he gives this reason for his writing to the Colossians which may likewise serve for his writing to those other Churches that though he was not one of their company yet he was one of their Communion saying For though I be absent in the flesh yet am I with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ Col. 2. 5. He openly professeth himself one of their communion yet I am with you in the spirit and sheweth the cause why he was so willing to communicate with them because of their order and the stedfastness of their faith in Christ Good God what a strange course have we taken of late to make all good Christians which are and must be of Saint Pauls mind to abhor our communion who neither care for order nor for stedfastness but instead of order do embrace confusion instead of stedfastness do eagerly pursue inconstancy who neither have order in the practice nor stedfastness in the profession of our religion who pretend to faith in Christ but shew no stedfastness in our faith So that t is much to
Halleluiah doth not close a part of a Hymn but breaks off a doctrinal exhortation surely not to distract our attentions but to enflame our affections and to possess our souls wholly with the joy and love of Christ without which neither our praying nor our preaching is acceptable unto God or available unto us And the Church seemeth to have borrowed this practice from the Apostles for it is much to be observed that Saint Paul delivers not any one Doctrine of the Christian verity without his Halleluiah that is without a peculiar doxology to God in Christ So in his Epistle to the Romans 1. 8. First I thank my God through Jesus Christ So to the Corinthians 1. 1. 4. I thank my God alwayes on your behalf So to the Galatians 1. 5. To God and our Father be glory for ever and ever Amen So to the Ephesians 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ And so in the rest of his Epistles Nay he doth not only prefix his Halleluiah and lay it as the foundation and bottom of his work but he doth also familiarly interweave it whilst he is working as it were some choice and eminent thred to checquer and adorn the whole piece Thus in the Doctrine of Christian regeneration Rom. 7. 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord speaks little or nothing to the argument but more to the soul of him that earnestly desires truly to understand it then the tongue of men and Angels is able to express Thus also in the Doctrine of the resurrection 1 Cor. 15. 57. Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ are such words as do more then perswade the belief they do also enforce the love of that Christian truth which of it self is able to make not only one Foelix but also all mankinde to quake and tremble For Christ raising us from the death by vertue of his resurrection will also uphold us in the judgement by vertue of his satisfaction Lastly thus also in the Doctrine of Christian patience and preseverance concerning our being strengthned with might by the Spirit of God in the inward man and Christs dwelling in our hearts by faith and our own being rooted and grounded in love Ephes 3. He begins with prayer to God before it ver 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and he ends with praises after it ver 21. Vnto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end Which manner of teaching by prayer and praise must needs make a deeper impression upon the soul then all the arguments of Logick or perswasions of Rhetorick that have been or can be invented by the art of man And indeed the same is also the Method of Saint Peter and of the rest of the Apostles to intermingle prayers and praises to God in all their writings and may not unfitly be called the Method of grace And Alensis gives this reason for it Alius est modus scientiae ad informationem affectus secundum pietatem Alius ad informationem intellectus secundum veritatem Alex. Ale qu. 1. mem 4. There is one method of teaching the will how to embrace piety another method of teaching the understanding how to embrace truth For the understanding is best informed by the evidence of demonstration but the will is best enflamed by the power of devotion And again sunt principia veritatis ut veritatis sunt principia veritatis ut bonitatis There are principles of truth which are to be learned as they are true and there are principles of truth which are to be learned as they are good other sciences proceed from principles of truth which are to be learned as they are true because their truth is most notoriously evident But Divinity proceeds from principles of truth which are to be learned as they are good because their goodness is more notoriously evident then their truth Vnde hec scientia magis est virtutis quam Artis sapientia magis quam scientia magis enim consistit virtute efficacia quam in contemplatione notitia Alen. ibid. in respon 2. Therefore is Divinity rather a science of power then of Art and consequently rather a Sapience then a Science for both in its being and in its knowing it consists more of virtue and power then of contemplation or knowledge Accordingly the Apostle himself saith Alensis professeth that his preaching was not with enticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power 1 Cor. 2. 4. which is such a demonstration as is more fitted to the will then to the understanding because it hath more of piety then of evidence mans wisdom teaching the understanding but Gods wisdom rather teaching the will and affections The one working more upon the head but the other working more upon the heart And therefore the Method which Gods wisdom useth in teaching man is not unfitly called the Method of grace For it is a Method that neither nature nor Art can teach us but only the Spirit of Grace and is accordingly used in no other science but only in Divinity In teaching other sciences he that should break out into a prayer or ejulation would either forget his principle or mistake his conclusion But in teaching Divinity this is the only way to strengthen both our memories against forgetfulness and our judgements against mistakes Here it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod demonstrandum erat nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod faciendum erat but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod orandum erat Not what we can shew nor what we can do but what we can pray makes us the best proficients in the School of Christ For doubtless we may best learn soul-saving Divinity in the way the Apostles taught it that is by intermingling prayers and praises with our endeavours since this is the only way to learn Christ for Christ cannot be learned till he be received and cannot be received in a soul not prepared by piety and devotion to entertain him This occasioned that expression of Saint Paul As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him Col. 2. 6. In other sciences we need learn but the Doctrine that is taught no matter for the author that teacheth it But in Christian Divinity we must learn and receive Christ the author or we cannot rightly learn and receive the Doctrine Haec cloquentia quaedam est Doctrinae salutaris movendo affectus discentium accommodata saith Saint Augustine Epist 119. ad Januarium Whence we may gather the true definition of Christian eloquence It is that which most moveth our affections and raiseth them up to Christ this is the reason why the Apostles used this new kind of method in their writings not for the want of knowledge but for the abundance of love and charity which was wholly enamored on Christ
certainly hold much more in Gods Church Militant then in Gods State Militant Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defie the armies of the living God 1 Sam. 17. 26. They say we discountenance the Gift of Prayer we know we do not only we prefer the Gift of Prayer in the Church above the Gift of Prayer in particular Ministers or the Gift of Prayer as it is exercised to edification above the same gift as it is or may be exercised to ostentation wherein we follow Saint Pauls Doctrine who dehorteth the Ministers of his time from arrogancy in the use of their spiritual gifts first from the efficient cause of those gifts that they have them not from themselves but from God As God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith Secondly from the final cause of those Gifts that they have them not for themselves but for their neighbours not for ostentation but for edification So we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another Rom. 12. 3 5. And we say moreover it is more Christian to discountenance the Gift then the Spirit of Prayer For the Gift may be and often is meerly from natural or from customary abilities But the Spirit of Prayer is only from the Grace of God And it is unjust and ungodly That either nature or custom should dare stand in competition with Grace and much more in defiance against it 1. Whereas now a daies if some grave and sober Minister say Prayers either of Gods or of the Churches making though he say them with a most firm attention and a most devout affection yet his person is disregarded his function disparaged his prayers despised 2. But if some meer novice perchance a meer lay-man tumble out his own extemporary thoughts scarce fit to be esteemed or called prayers though with more readiness of expression then holiness of affection yet he is presently admired as one strangely assisted by the Spirit and the People are in effect taught to say with them of Lycaonia concerning such Enthusiasts The Gods are come down to us in the likeness of men Acts 14. 11. Thus is the Spirit of Prayer and with it the grace of God vilified in the one whiles nothing but the Gift of Prayer and with it custom or perchance only nature is magnified in the other For natural parts in attaining that gift do go beyond all acquired abilities so that nature is exalted but studie as well as Grace is debased by it for it is clear that where natural abilities of Phansie and confidence and volubility are wanting all the pains that men can take in searching the Scriptures and all the documents they can get by searching them will not enable them to attain this gift So little Religion is there in our late advancing the Gift of prayer by depressing the Spirit of prayer and yet only upon this mistake I might have said upon this mischief hath it come to pass That the Personal abilities of men have been accepted and approved in Gods own service not only without but also against Gods own Commission SECT XIII That forms of publick Prayer are not to be disliked because they cannot or at least do not particularly provide either Deprecations against private mens occasional miseries or Thanksgivings for their occasional mercies yet our Church not defective in Occasionals though chiefly furnished with Eternals The danger of contemning religious forms of Prayer and gadding after conceived Prayers NO man ought to pretend the Spirit of God either for rejecting Gods authority in his Church or forbear disobeying Gods command in his holy word And if these two may bear the sway set forms of Prayer will justly claim the preheminence in Gods publick worship above all conceived Prayers whatsoever yet there is one main Plea why Ministers should labour to attain the gift of Prayer and that is That they may be able to speak where commonly their Church is silent and as need shall require either make deprecations against private mens occasional miseries or thanksgivings for their occasional mercies And yet even in this respect The gift of Prayer may be more safely used upon premeditation then without it For supposing a Minister furnished with abilities of expressing himself readily and fitly upon all emergencies yet there being at least a possibility of miscarriage in his suddain effusions and those miscarriages which intervene in prayer being doubtless unsufferable if not unpardonable it would scarce be prudent if it were pious in such a man to adventure himself wholly upon his extemporary faculty But even in such a case either to form his Prayer in his mind if he have time or to use some form already in his memory if he have not So that his Prayer though it may seem conceived in regard of the Occasion yet will be little other then formed in regard of the premeditation But this by way of Caution in the use of the Gift As for the Gift it self be it said not only by way of Concession but also of Congratulation that in this respect and for this end it is to be most chiefly desired and may be most profitably exercised by any Minister so that in regard meerly of this ministration we may not unfitly apply unto such Ministers as have this Gift that eulogie of Saint Paul Qui benè ministraverint gradum bonum sibi acquirent multam fiduciam in fide quae est in Christo Jesu 1 Tim. 3. 13. They that have ministred well shall purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the Faith which is in Christ Jesus No doubt but they have ministred and do minister very well who minister to the people of God in their corporal and much more in their spiritual necessities and such Ministers do purchase to themselves a good Degree in the Ministry and a great boldness in the Faith only they were best take heed That they turn not this great boldness in their faith to a greater boldness in their Ministry For boldness in their faith may be commended when boldness in their Ministry may be justly condemned And they will turn the boldness of their faith into the boldness of their Ministry if they minister though in this excellent kind not as Demetrius who had a good report of all men and of the truth it self but as Diotrephes who loved to have the preheminence prating against others with malicious words and not only casting the Brethren out of the Church but also casting the Church out of the Nation under pretence of the want of this Gift For which intolerable pride and presumption not only an Apostle of Christ but also a meer heathen Poet will one day rise up Judgement against them who maketh Agamemnon say thus of Achilles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ilid α. If so be the Gods have made him a most famous warriour Have they therefore licenced him to reproach other men If God Almighty hath