family and canst not serue anie master but him And as when men enter into a Bathe they put off all their apparell before they enter so all else Law and nature workes of either and al must be put off that christ may be put on Reuel 12.1 Vestis virum indicat It thou bee a Christian thou art onely cladde with Christ The whole Church in the reuelation walketh and treadeth all mutable thinges vnder her feete and she is attired onely with the Sonne of righteousnesse with the cloth of his spinning and which was made of that wol that he the innocent and immaculate Lambe of God did beare The motiue of being of the religion they were baptised in Many among you say they wil be of the religion they were baptized in And so wee desire them to bee and not in part but euen altogether of the same religion they were baptized into For wil ye liue as yee beleeue But wil you beleeue as you were baptized We require no more The substance of Baptisme preserued in the mids of Popery By the speciall prouidence of God aminds the contentions not onely of old in the Church of Corinth the very forme of Baptizme was retained but also in later times of greatest corruption the substance of Baptizme was preserued I speake not of spetle in the childs mouth of salt in the water or oyle in his brest of the Priests breathings and such like impertinent superstitions But for the forme and substance of Baptisme it was preserued and therein yee were baptised into Christ and haue put on Christ if yee bee Christes And now deare brethren and Christians be of this religion on Gods name and in Gods behalfe I hartily pray you which if you wil be seriously and entirely and as you should the Dagon of al Popery wil fal and break to fitters before this Arke and then you shal be indeede as you are or would be in name true Christians right Catholiques the very seede of Abraham and heires of the promise made in that one seede by whom and in whom all happines doth come and consist And it woulde bee noted distinctly heere in the last verse of this chapter which was touched before that all who beleeue are called the seede and right posteritie of Abraham but yet that there was and is but one seed which is Christ by whom his whole seede and race els are blessed according to the faith How man is made blessed in the seede of man And albeit it seeme in the eie of a reasoning head a very harde and impossible thing that blessing should come at all by the seede of any man yet this is a case beyond the reach of reason and rules of nature By nature who can say my hart is cleane much lesse the seede and that in such an effect as to clense others And yet by that one seede is ment the person of Christ and by Abrahams seede is generally ment the whole race of beleeuers yet with al the very matter of propagation is thereby inferred and therefore named Luck 1. And our Sauiour was the very seede of the woman the seed of Abrahā the frute of the virgins womb perfect man yet far from sin How may this be How What if I cā not tel how in reason a stone shoulde bee cut of the mountaine without handes howe the drie and deade stocke of Iessy should spring and fructifie how a virgine should conceaue and beare a child and yet remaine a virgine These are articles of faith and not of sense nor of reason Mans corruption is and was in his qualities and not in his substance This is sure the seede of man and man in his substance was not corrupted with Adams fall for then Christ taking the substance of our nature shoulde haue beene sinfull in nature but hee was like and of the same substance yet was there this difference onely of his being farre from sinne in the qualities of man in sinning and all this well was and might bee because hee was not simply man of the seede of man but God manifested in the flesh and Marie his Mother conceauing him she beeing ouer-shadowed by the holy Ghost The powerful vertue whereof doth sanctifie yea many a man in good part euen in this woorld And as after our dissolution from this world immediatly our soules and our bodies at the resurrection generally in the twinckling of an eye and moment of time shal bee purified before they enter that place whereinto Reuel 21.27 No impure thing can enter So great reason that the cause of our entrance into Heauen should bee as no doubt hee was deuoid of sinne a most blessed seede though a seede yet a seede blessing and imparting of his blessednesse whereby wee are heires and coheires with him and by him of euerlasting blisse And this is the mysterie of piety The incarnation of Christ a matter to bee beleeued and not to bee argued or talked of but with dewe aw and that out of the expresse Scriptures for our greater comfort and constancy in beleeuing * ⎠* CHAP. IIII. 1 THEN I say that the heire as long as he is a child differeth nothing from a seruant though hee be Lord of all 2 But is vnder tutors and gouernours vntill the time appointed of the Father 3 Euen so we when wee were children were in bondage vnder the rudimentes of the woorlde The Law resembleth the office of a tutor THE third Simile is of a tutorshippe which remaineth to be explicacated in the entry of this Chapter yet therefore the lesse to be debated because of our former examples tending to one the same end already handled If the father discease in the nonage of his child where wisedome is not and discretion wanteth to dispose and order his patrimony the Father by will appointeth tutors In common experience this is an ordinary course God for purposes best knowen to his eternall wisedome and finding defects in his people the Iews to bridle them from farther inconueniences he bounded them in with ordinances as it were tutored them by such orders as was best for them and for that time And as children are foolish to choose their owne tutors so the Iewes were to serue and to be ruled though being children yet as it were seruants vnder the rudimentes of his Law til the time of perfecter age Wherein appeareth 1. The defect in men vnder the Lawe who were as pupils and though they were heires yet in vsage were they dealt with as with Seruants and 2. The dignity ful age and perfection vnder the Gospel 4 But when the fulnes of time was come God sent forth his sonne made of a woman and made vnder the Law 5 That hee might redeeme them which were vnder the Law that we might receaue the adoption of Sonnes Curiosity in Gods actions is not good When the fulnes c. A foolish fly can no sooner see a light
Pauls conuersion what it was 2. The end why 3. And his obedience thereto The cause of mans conuersion is not found at al in man 1 In the search of the cause of mans conuersion a proud Papist would seeke after some puritie in nature some preparation in man and for some fauorable willingnes thereunto in himselfe but looke wee vpon Paul being left to himselfe and see this one man and know al men what we are Nature worketh alike in al whereuer it worketh For if there be any oddes the difference is not in men naturally wherein we agree but aboue and beside our nature where lieth the ods Paul rideth a maine his commission is in his bozom and care at his hart for the ouerthrow of Christians and Christian profession when it pleased God here is the cause when it pleased God euen then to alter him wholely and cal him effectually here is the cause and in nothing else Nay from the wombe was Paul segregated by the prouidence and wil of God and here is the sole and onely cause both in the wombe where there neither was nor could bee cause at al and afterward in the world when there was great cause to the contrarie but that so great was Gods goodnes so good his pleasure The fruite of this example and of the lesson therein is double both for an assured confirmation of our faith and also to imprint a necessary remembrance of our duetie to so prouident and louing a God that not onely careth for * Gen. 39.20 Ioseph in the pit and prison or * Exod. 2.6 Moses in the flags c. but hath a special purpose in his chosen before he framed and when he fashioned them in the womb 2 The ende why God called Paul is apparent to reueale his sonne in Paul which was his special and priuate and endlesse comfort But the vse God would put him to was the commoditie and instruction of the Gentiles Neither could the Apostle haue reuealed that vnto others if it had beene hid from himselfe And therefore as it were to tinde the candle that should light a house was Christ reuealed to Paul that Paul might in preaching reueale Christ to them that should beleeue God vseth ordinarilie external and ordinarie meanes And thus it pleaseth God as without meanes to cal Paul at the first so afterward by meanes of Paul to win others Pharao himselfe could haue deliuered out of his Kingly prouision corne to his subiects but he sent them to Ioseph and said to his people * Gen. 41.55 Go to Ioseph Our Sauiour when by miracle he multiplied the fiue Loaues and the two Fishes Hee gaue to his Disciples and his Disciples I say his * Iohn 6.11 Disciples gaue to them that were set down Likewise in spiritual foode and releefe externally and in publique order by the ministerie of men and by the meane of preaching both then it pleased God to recal the Iews and cal the Gentiles and now * Eph. 4.13 stil hee vouchsaueth vs that his accustomed goodnes by men to deale with men and to anner this outward mean of preaching to the inward woorking of his holie spirit Ready and resolute obedience where God warranteth without al respects 3 For my third note Paul being thus freely called and fully illuminated not to shine onely to himselfe or to some fewe but purposely for the instruction of many and namely of the Gentiles for so general was his commission obedientlie immediatly and strait way as it were an arrowe out of a bowe or a boole downe a hil or a lightening out of the Heauens he hasteth about his busines and incontinently without farther debate or delaie iournieth but whither To Ierusalem To the holie Citie To his ancesters To them that were Apostles before him Nothing lesse He neither regarded the place nor respected their persons but the mightie and merciful God that called him and sent him sufficiently warranted and he went accordingly about his calling 1 Sam. 3.8 Young and yet ignorant Samuel when God called him could not tel what the calling went and went to Ely when he should haue harkened vnto God But Paul knoweth what hee doth he consulteth not with any at al neither with the Apostles that might seeme to aduise him better or authorize him farther neither with flesh and bloode kif or kin one man or other that could affection him best or affect him most but as it is storied of the * 1 Sam. 6.12 newe milch-kine that caried home the Ark whē their calues were shut vp that they went straight turned neither to the right hand nor to the left so Paul shutting resigning vp al his thoughts directly and foorth right respecting no one consideration at all what euer vnder heauen resolueth himselfe most readily vpon the obsequent and due performance of his Apostolicke office And great reason for he had warrant alsufficient and ability most conuenient The expresse warrant of God needeth not the allowance of men few or many And why should men then depend vpon farther councels and consultations of men either prouincial or els general when they are expressely commaunded enabled from God himselfe either immediatly speaking or in his Scriptures directing 18 Then after three yeares I came againe to Ierusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteene daies 19 And none other of the Apostles sawe I saue Iames the Lords brother 20 Nowe the thinges which I write vnto you behold before God I lie not 21 After that I went into the coasts of Syria and Cilicia for I was vnknowen by face vnto the Churches of Iudea which were in Christ 22 But they had heard only he which persecuted vs in time past now preacheth the faith which before he destroyed 23 And they glorified God for me Paul went to Ierusalem when you see three yeares passing betweene his calling and his going thither and why to see Peter and al the midle while he wanted neither abilitie nor authority in the trade of his function In the remnant of this Chapter would be obserued two matters 1. First a doubt which must be resolued 2. And then a duetie that ought to be learned 1 The doubt is why Paul shoulde goe to see Peter * Stapleton de do prin l. 6. c. 13. For our aduersaries reason herehence in effect thus Paul went to see Peter ergo Peter was better than Paul and if Peter were better than Paul then Peters successors are also better than Pauls and the * The Popes supremacie deriued from Peter Pope succeedeth Peter therfore the Pope is better than any els head of al. I will not dispute the question whether the Pope if but locally and in place onely and why more at Rome he than others at Antioch succeedeth Peter whether so or no I dispute not nowe Suppose he there succeedeth what then Personal priuileges are nothing to him who hath nothing but a local
faile but shal endure vnto the end 3 The last point was the Apostles petition to Paul to remember the poore which hee not superficially or sleightly but with earnest endeuour performed Wherein I note 1. both the case of Christians 2. and the care of the Apostles to supply their neede 1. So * The state of the best in this world is manie times worst was it euer Pharao was at his ease and Israel at his taske Lazarus lieth without doores the Rich man goeth gayly and fareth deliciously euery day So our Sauiour was borne in a stable and layd in a cratch exiled in his infancy and in the whole race of his life had not where to rest his head Thus it was of old thus it wil bee for the most part euer 2. But yet so much the rather because Pharao oppresseth the world neglecteth and Herod persecuteth because pouertie most aboundeth commonly where men are best because others care not at al for vs therefore the Apostles did and we must care the more one for another Care for the needy very requisit but seldom vndertaken Remember the poore Gen. 37. In Iosephs dreame the leane cow did eat vp the fat but it is now no dreame the fatte cow deuoureth the lean the ful eare eateth vp the poorer corne the rich man waxeth richer and richer without end and remorse and who remembreth or once thinketh of the poore Phil. 4.18 as if the sacrifice of almes were an out-worne ceremonie and out of date For doctrinal pointes they adde nothing to Paul but onely put him in mind of this merciful remembrance And blessed is he * Psa 41.1 qui intelligit super egenum Who considereth the needy Chrysostom Tom. 5. worthily mistiketh too much curiosity in bestowing thy almes but yet there is a diligence and an intelligence therein For some make a trade of begging as friarly mendicantes and voluntarie rogues Wherefore blessed is he who wisely considereth the distressed Ioseph in the prison Lazar in the hospital the fatherles the widowe the stranger the needy housekeeper that hath a poore honest wife and many smal children lying and liuing vpon his handes and his onelie handy labour But you wil question with me what had Paul to doe with the prouiding for the poore In assuming certaine officers to see to the poore they left not off to be as careful for the poore as conueniently they might He was no Deacon he was an Apostle And the Apostles had giuen ouer that function as appeareth in the Acts Cap. 6. vers 2. What they gaue ouer they had before For no mā can giue ouer that he neuer had And therfore I am of opinion that the care for the poore is no disparagement as I may so call it to the nature of the Apostleship Whereas the Apostles once were lawfully carefull both for preaching and also for the poore and now againe the Apostles expresly request Paul to bee mindful of the poore which I interpret to be not onelie by exhortation in the poores behalfe but by conuenient procuration of reasonable meanes I mislike that hande that thinketh to hold and gripe ouer-much and to deale in moe matters than it can wel span or comprehend yet I like not that opinion which is that because a man cannot perfectly vse any one talent well therefore hauing moe talents giuen him he shall imploy but one Wherefore I say as saied the Apostles O Paul thou Apostle whereuer thou goest so it be no hinderaunce to thy proper function as sometime it maie bee none remember the poore Much more thou Preacher whereuer thou art fixed remember the poore Cast thy bread vpon these waters hide thy gift in the fertile ground of the poore mans bozem thou canst not effer thy sacrifice vppon a better altar O remember the poore by al good meanes in these dear and hard harted times 11 And when Peter was come to Antiochia I withstoode him to his face for hee was to be blamed 12 For before that certaine came from Iames he did eat with the Gentiles but when they were come he with-drew and separated himselfe fearing them of the circumcision 13 And the other Iewes plaied the hypocrites likewise with him in so much that Barnabas was led away with them by that their hypocrisie 14 But when I sawe that they went not the right way to the trueth of the Gospell I said vnto Peter before al If thou being a Iewe liuest as the Gentiles and not like the Iewes why constrainest thou the Gentiles to doe like the Iewes Hitherto we haue looked into the causes and consequences of Pauls iourney the second time to Ierusalem and of his conference with Peter and with others there Here we are to beholde Pauls conflict at Antioch with Peter alone but yet openly in the sight of al wherein we see 1. the boldnes of Paul reprehending and 2. the fault and frailtie of Peter offending I purpose in the whole to note 1. the cause and desert of this reprehension and 2. the manner of Pauls vsage therein 1 Touching the fault and cause deseruing it fell out thus as the tert sheweth plainely enough Peter being at Antioch companied with the Gentils frequented their tables did eate as they did Great men sinning cause many to sinne with them But when certaine came from Ierusasalem from Iames Peter belike no supreme terror of all the world was in a feare of Iames his messengers and began an other course sequestred himselfe drew backe and tooke his diet a part And as a great tree doth not fall but manie litle boughes fall with it so with Peter sundrie flocked aside yea and Barnabas was caried away with the streame And this was the cause verily no small cause of Pauls reprehending of Peter For hereby the Iewes were ensnared the Gentils amazed Barnabas seduced the trueth peruerted Christian liberty enthrauled the veile which once was rent was patched togither and hung vp againe and the partition wall that was taken downe was built vp anew and all now brought to this passe as if the kingdome of Christ should consist in the difference of meates and the vse of ceremonies And those whome * Acts. 10.15 God had clensed began to bee suspected of pollution and vncleanesse and al this by Peters tredding awry and not going with an vpright foote in the waies of the Gospell And was not this cause sufficient soundly roundly to take vp Peter 2 The manner of Pauls reprehending was downe-right and plaine For what els should be doone in such a case How might he best reclaime the Iewes reforme Barnabas and comfort the Gentils A * Publicke reproofe in cases very necessarie priuate dealing and a secret reproofe of Peters dissembling the Iewes backe-sliding perchance had beene to litle effect and when the fact was open if the reproofe were but secret what might the Gentils think They sawe the fault they heare it not reprooued
Then to reuiue vs in al goodnes that we may be newe creatures in him The redemption is perfect and was paid by Christ in his owne person on the crosse and resteth vppon his proper discharge in whome wee haue redemption through his blood that is the remission of our sins Phil. 1.14 The life wee liue in Christ through the vertu of his passion and operation of his spirit whereby we are mortified to the world hath not these degrees of perfection because of the imperfection of the flesh wherein wee yet are detained the Law of our mindes beeing hindered by the frowardnesse of our members and fettering vs somewhat in the waies of our full deliuery but yet of our ful deliuery we neede not doubt For as the prisoner being acquit at the bar feeleth the comfort of his release and yet he must go backe to the prison and then in expedient order of time his bolts shall bee knockt off and hee perfectly released so wee albeit wee are pronounced quit by Christ and the enditement bee cancelled and the world and al be crucified and we in hart find the ioy thereof yet in processe of time the perfection of our ioy is finished and not by and by perfected And as they which are ransomed from the Turke though the price be all paide and they are sure it is so and in part their bandes are taken from them yet while they are in their iourney homeward in remembraunce of this old captiuity for a submission al along as they go through the territories of the Turk they are not without some kind of bonds or fetters euen so while wee yet remaine in the vale of sinne in the tabernacle of the body and till wee can quite get out of the Turkes dominions till this corruption shall put on incorruption in another woorlde this present woorld is an hinderance and an hampering and a fettering vnto vs but the nearer wee come to our owne countrey the more wee take our leaue of the world and in the end we relinquish all and enter the perfect perfection of all perfections in Iesu Christ Verse 16. As manie without distinction as walke and are directed according to this rule which is the Canon of the Gospell and the scepter of Christ Paul wisheth them mercy and peace or signifieth vnto them that they haue the promises of peace mercy because they they are the Israel of God for God is not the God of Israel according to the flesh as the false Apostles bear them in hand but according to the faith For circumcision auaileth nothing neither yet is vncircumcision any thing there is no difference in eyther But the new creature in Christ is the Israel that preuaileth with God Circumcision Circumcision was a couenant of righteousnes and a seale of faith and a bond to doe al that God should command his people to do so he that was circumcis◅ was expresly afterwarde bound to the Law which God commanded But as it was a couenant of righteousnesse and of faith so was their faith of a righteousnes in christ to come and therefore because Christ is come that fashion of the seale is dashed out and the forme of righteousnesse commeth by Christ that is to come and to that ende is come that hee might deliuer vs from the Law and be the accomplishment of al in himselfe euen to all that beleeue in him thorough out al the woorld But of this matter hath beene debated very often To draw to an end 17 From henceforth let no man put mee to busines for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Iesus There is no ende of wrangling if a man will follow them who make no conscience what they say or doe For the whole matter as of the pretences of Moses Law of Abrahams name of the people of Israel c. enough hath beene debated if any thing can bee enough and namely diuerse times of circumcision a marke which they laboured vnfruitfully now vnder the Gospell to set in the flesh wherein Paul opposeth the marks which were imprinted in himselfe which hee calleth significantly the marks of the Lord Iesus Whereof a word or two Neither prosperity nor aduersitie are the proper and necessarie markes to discerne the trueth by Since the first beginning when I consider generally the Church of God floting in the waters turmoiled in Aegypt wandering in the wildernes wasted with wars destroied with corporal plagues and led into sundry captiuities I began as Ruth after the haruest of Booz so I after the labors of many others wiser than my selfe to make these euentes as certaine markes to know the Church by In special when I looked vpon the murdering of Abel the sale of Ioseph the lake of Ieremy the den of Daniel the desert of Elias and the like Vnder the new testament when I beholde the pouerty of Bethlehem where our Sauiour was borne and therein the stable and manger wherein hee was laide and so his exile ensuing and likewise the race he ran hauing not any where to rest his head And since til our time for the first 300 yeares when I see the Church most afflicted with tyranny the next 300. most infested with heresies for 800. yeares following beseeged with apostacie and the last 100 and od yeares abounding with swarmes of inconueniences I began as afore so againe to make no reckoning of a florishing successe in the cause of truth and I reade it the better marke of the two to measure doctrine by the hard lotte of the true professor than by the faire prosperity of the world affourded Notwithstanding I would be loth to repute that as a speciall marke of the sheepe of Christ which may bee common to a company of Gotes and may be not incident to the Church of Christ at some better seasons Agar troubled Sara but yet Sara tombled Agar out of doores Ismael persecuted Isaack but the bond brat had no part in the inheritance And albeit there bee a farther learning in these ensamples of spiritual cōfort yet they were also literally true and for the time trouble was vpon the vngodly and the godly for a season was not to be discerned by the marke of aduersity The aduersitie may be the same but the cause being diuerse doth distinguish the aduersity and maketh it sometimes a tast of farder pumshment sometimes a monument of desert and a recalling from sinne sometime a triall of faith an exercise of patience an experience of hope a duety of all men to endure al in expectation of better thinges purchased by Christs suffering and laid vp in heauen whereinto a man must enter by many tribulations On the crosse there were three who suffered a damned theefe a saued soule and the Sauiour of vs al. The penalty of the crosse was one to them al. But yet there was an incomparable difference in their persons The vnquiet man maie purchase a great deale of trouble to no purpose but
cause Pauls doing is a better president But such wisedome courage constancy are not euery where found and not alwaies there perfourmed where they are much expected and greatly required Of all things a busie waspe and a quarelling or stubborne curst nature is woorst But if the cause be Gods if thy calling and giftes be according there is no * Eccl. 4.28 relenting at al no starting backe no shutting neck out of the coller in such cases in cases whereunto a man is expresly duly enabled warranted commanded Zeale without discretion is naught discretiō without zeal is nothing worth Wherefore 1. zeal without wisedome is neuer good 2. And yet what is wisedome without zeal 3. But zeal and discretion seemely vnited in one as it was in our Apostle is as the throne of wise Solomon and as the strong * 1 King 10.20 Lions at the staies and ascending vp vnto his throne 6 By them which seemed to be somwhat I was not taught whatsoeuer they were in time past it maketh no matter to mee God accepteth no mans person the chiefe added nothing to me 7 But contrariwise when they sawe that the Gospel ouer the vncircumcision was committed vnto me as the Gospell ouer the Circumcision was vnto Peter 8 For he that was mightie by Peter in the Apostleship ouer the circumcision was also mightie by me toward the Gentiles 9 And when Iames and Cephas Iohn knewe of the grace that was giuen vnto mee which are counted to bee pillars they gaue to mee and to Barnabas the right handes of fellowship that we should preach vnto the Gentiles and they vnto circumcision 10 Warning only that we should remember the poore which also I was diligent to do Paul in his conference gaue no place to the chiefe and the chiefe brethren gaue nothing to Paul by waie of authorizing his person or adding to his doctrine 1. and hee sheweth why it should be so 2. and withall declareth the chiefe Apostles due consenting vnto him 3. and onely requesting him to haue a careful eye to the poore which Paul respected and did ful diligently The motiue of Antiquity Among the argumentes the false Apostles vsed against Paul a maine matter was made and drawen from Antiquity that the other Apostles were ancienter than Paul and therefore questionles to be preferred Truly personal preferment was not the mark Paul shot at For he could be euer and was often wel content in all things to giue and yeeld so far foorth as might stand with the glory of Christ But in this ceremonious quarel opposed against the trueth of Christ and Christian libertie as before hee defied an Angell if to that end he should come from heauen so now he declareth that the name of Antiquitie in the Apostles might not cary him away nor driue him aside They were his auncients What mattereth that to me saith he And indeede it skilleth litle There is no prescription against the Prince and why should there be any against the trueth be it later or sooner in whomesoeuer This or that time past or present or future and to come is not in the nature of trueth neither are matters of faith measured by yeares nor is any point of religion liable to be decided by continuance pretended Iob. 32. Elihu said well There is a spirit in man but the inspiration of the Almightie giueth vnderstanding As if he had said man is made not onlie of a body but of a bodie and a soule and that soule is a reasonable spirit and that spirite in processe of yeares and tract of time gathereth politique experience as it were a stone that hath been long pitcht in one place gathereth much mosse But all that experience is but mossy terrene and earthly true wisdome is from aboue from the Father of lights and God of knowledge reueiled in his Son which illuminateth euery man not onely comming into the worlde but either entering into or els continuing priuatly or publiquely in the house of his church And therfore Elihu reformeth his thoughts voucheth that he was mis-conceited when he thought that it was the length of daies should speake and that the multitude of yeares should teach wisedome But yet of old and stil many men embrace rather Elihu his first opinion concerning age and antiquity than his later iudgement afterwarde wel rectified and truly reformed So an old prophet soone deceaued the young Prophet whom neither the threats nor entreaty of * 1. King 12. a king could moue at al. So * Iosh 9. old shewes olde battles findes bread torne sackes tottered rags like rotten relickes with profered seruice seruus seruorum and pretence of comming from far deceaued Iosue because hee rather respected such trinkets and consulted not with the Lord. Our aduersaries knowe how humane affections leane this way and therefore they beare the poore people in hand that theirs is the old religion and ours is an yesterdaies bird but with the like trueth and with the same spirite the Iewes said our sauiours doctrine was new the Apostles preaching new wine and the false Apostles here obiect that Saint Paul was an vpstart and deuoid of Apostolick warrant Sooner or later called it skilleth not old or new if true it forceth little If the name of new were alwaies naught why would Christ cal his louely commandement * Iohan. 13.34 a new commanded If the name of old were alwaies good why did S. Paul cōmand aduise the Corinthians that the * 1 Cor. 5.7 old leuen the incestuous person be purged out If you wil recourse to the first heade of all in this question it were another matter For God is for euer and before Sathan and Sathans fal the Lawe was first giuen and then ensued the transgression first the husbandman sowed his ground and afterward the enimie came sowed tares And which is to be obserued there was no long time betweene For Sathan took the next oportunitie of ignorance and securitie euen the next night as it were when the ground was yet new turned and trimmed for seede the enemie sparst some of his tares in the fielde and Church of God And then while truth and error were yet but greene in the blade the difference was not so easily discerned * Mat. 13.25 til the growth was greater And as it is this in the cause of truth compared with error so is it in the professors and Doctors of trueth compared among themselues the first teacher is not alwaies best for then the vsher must needes bee better than the schoolemaister and the country schoolemaister than the vniuersitie Reader Peter and Andrewe Iames and Iohn and others were called before Paul Hee asketh what was that to him There was no difference or prestancy therin He had antiquity enough that had Christ for his author So that in all materiall respects if they were Apostles so was Paul Nay * 1 Cor. 15.10 2 Cor. 11.23 hee laboured more
iolly-fellowes and constant Popes The one was rotten at the hart and had a true hand The other had an erring hand but a true hart And must the hand in the one excuse the hart and the hart in the other excuse his hand Alas poore soules in what case were they that depended vpon either hart or hand of such Popes Where was Peters faith that neuer faileth in his successors In the hart of an heretique Or in the hand of an hireling His successors hart feared his successors hand erred his successors tongue consenteth to error and the terror of the Emperor and two yeares exile or as * In catalog Ec. scriptorum Ierome writeth the Solicitation of Fortunatianus a Bishop brought Liberius quite to an other bent Fregit it altered him quite and cleane Master Harding answereth Detect pag. 250. b. Alas this forced subscription argueth the lacke of fortitude but certanly it proueth not heresie For an hereticke subbornly defendeth his opinion He defined it Whether he and how he defended it whether so or no I care not I cannot tell He did define it he did promulgate it by his subscription so far forth as his Popely approbation could stretch vnto This much I alleadge it for and somuch it clearly proueth And how could this sorrie fraile and fearful reede confirme his brethren who was so infirme and weake in himselfe And if his brethren the Bishoppes Priestes and Deacons neere Rome in Italy and the Senate of his Councell should haue holpen him yet they did not and if they did what they could he was the more incurable and then belike Christ prayed rather for them than for the Pope But I feare me the footemen fled where the horsemen fel and the Lambs quaked when the bel-wether ran away and that the Bishops more than yeelded where the Pope subscribed Notwithstanding what charter priuiledge or promise hath the assembled consistorie and synod of Rome for not erring more than hath any other * Mat. 18.20 When two or three bee gathered togither not at Rome nor designed from Rome the promise doth hold And therefore the Romish assemblies are not freed specially but with the same conditions indifferent to others though fewer in number lesse in shewe and lighter in credit in the optnion of the woorld For fewer than two or three and withal to make a number cannot be and yet vnto two or three gathered togither in the name of Christ Christ made the promise of his presence and the assistance of his spirit to comfort them in troubles and to instruct them in doubts but this must bee alwaies vnderstood to bee in a rateable measure according to the capacities of humane vessels For men are men euer euen the best whether single or assembled and so where they haue to deale in Gods thinges they may admixe somewhat of their owne and so also misse in the matters of their consultation and therefore councels great or lesse are not euen measures to leuil or limit al his causes by Euery man knoweth saith Austine Lib. 2. contrae Donatist c. 3. that of Councels the prouinciall giue place to the general that the generall councels and plenary are often not seldom mended the former by the later The place it selfe would be repaired vnto it is verie very worth the reading where there is set forth a plaine prerogatiue of the scriptures to be deuoid of error by waie of opposition to other writings of Bishops or Councels prouincial or plenarie howsoeuer My note out of Austine is that if general Councels might be mended they might and did erre For faultes and errors are they that are to be amended For wee amend not that which is right but that which is amisse The same * Aug. contra Maximinum lib. 3. cap. 14. father writing against an Arrian doth hee bring Scripture or else the famous Councell of Nice most famous in condemning Arrianisme Nay erratis nescientes scripturas The cause of error is the ignorance of the scriptures And therefore the reformation of that disease was to take awaie the cause Austine therefore alleadgeth Scripture and whereas the Arrian might after a sort and perchance did pretend the Councell of Ariminum for his opinion Austine doth not call the councel Dete pa. 112. b. a schismatical and an heretical conuenticle as Maister Harding doth but goeth this waie to work whereas the Nicene councell maketh for mee and the Ariminum councell for thee agnizing councel to be against councel neither ought we to produce either I the councel of Nice or you the councel of Ariminum as preiudicial either waie neither am I bound to the authority of this the latter nor you to that the former Maister Harding to helpe for ward that which hee would saie saith that Saint Austen was content onely to laie aside his aduantage vpon condition and as it were vpon * Ibidem composition and that this his present dooing was but for the present time and occasion and this hee prooueth because Austine saith Detect pa. 113. I will not laie against thee the Nicene Councel as who would say he could if he would But he would not for the presēt time I WIL NOT. Lord God it is a world to see the wilfulnes of them that will not see Austines woorde is not as Maister Harding forceth him to speake I WIL NOT of choise but I OVGHT not of duetie True he would doe what hee did but it was not in his onely pleasure so to doe for the time For hee tooke the easiest the wisest the surest and the most necessarie waie And why doth not Maister Harding english nec tu debes thou wil not as wel as nec ego debeo I will not Sed nec ego Nicenum nec tu DEBES c. Neither of both OVGHT to alleage neither is either of vs BOVND to councels I to this or thou to that as it were with preiudice either to other But let the combate be betweene matter and matter cause and cause reason and reason by the authority of the scriptures not by witnesses of whom soeuer proper to either but common to both If Saint Austine deuolue all to an equal debating of thinges and to the authoritie of the Scriptures I see no reason we flie the Scriptures If Austine neither would as Maister Harding maketh him to speak nor ought as his own woorde is to stand and to rely vpon councels as * Nec Ego nec tu detineris Neither part was bound to be ouerruled by generall Councels bound to them why shuld we If Austine grant the Ariminum councell to be a generall councell what is Master Hardings denial therof Pigghius voucheth it was Vniuersale Concilium hand dubio there was no controuersie but it was a general councel * Aduersus Luciferanos Ierom calleth it the whole woorld saying of this councell that the whole woorlde when it perceaued how deceatfully it was seduced it mourned to see it selfe become
born and disgested with great constancy and patience And that Paul did neither warp in the Sunne nor shrinke in the water but as gold that melteth but melteth not away so he felt his afflictions yet he fell not vnder them but endured his trials whatsoeuer Thus was Paul amongst them first Now what is hee now Is hee changen They were changed was Paul Doth the Elme forsake the vine which would otherwise fall except it bee vpheld The child is slipt out of the cradle wherein it was laid doth not the Mother and the Nurse run and stoupe to take it vp This is perfect charity and the principal duety Perfect charity omitteth no means to reform mens errors especially of the preacher to Loue and that continually without interruption to loue beyond the desert and aboue the demerits good or bad of any man and to giue our life for the brethren either because they are brethreÌ„ that they may continue so or that they may be brethren if they be not and to loose euen our life or libertie which is as be are as life to win the weake and so to for-goe and become all to saue some Paul omitteth none and continueth all means neither bands or beuty foule or faile neither oyle nor vineger O yee foolish Galathians c. This was a rough speech this was vineger Brethren I beseech you This is a faire entreaty and a supplying oyle He both weepeth and singeth with them and all to imprint a through affection in them toward the trueth And in this affection he requesteth them to be as he was for he was as they were The request is most reasonable that they shoulde bee as Paul was For Paul was right and they were seduced And yet Pauls reason for that he was as they were may seeme no true cause For indeede Paul was not as they were Yet so he saith and argueth For I am as you are The answere is easie and ready Paul was in kindnesse to them as they were to them-selues but in the syncerity of trueth Paul requireth they should be as hee was which now they were not For then what need he desire them to be that they were already Wherefore in kindnes he was as they in acknowledging the truth they were once as he but were not now as once they were and as now Paul was But least Paul might hee thought to reproue them or thus to request them vpon some priuate quarrel and offence giuen or taken and thereby desirous to intimat that they were out of the way with a greedy and hasty humor finding fault euen where no fault was vnder a colorable kindnesse hee protesteth that they neuer hurt him Naie to shew their kindnes to him ward mutually he also speaketh directly of their persons how sometimes they were affected toward him as he was yet vnto them And speaking of them he agniseth 1. How they reuerenced his ministery 2. How they loued his person and 3. Hee expostulateth and reproueth them that they were estranged without iust occasion First Paul beginneth with their vertues howe they loued and reuerenced him and imbraced the truth and thereby sheweth plainly that hee goeth to woork and dealeth with them vpon no malice For they loued him and hee loued them and for loue hee was bolde to reproue them The affected affecteth most And this mutuall conceat giueth a good edge to his perswasions For as in an awger or a perser the point doeth pierse yet the handle and the hast helpeth not a litle so in persuading or dissuading when the matter is as it were hatred with loue and handled with a good liking on both parts it pierseth the better and therby taketh an easier forth force and effect And as in war wheÌ„ it is mollified and softned first the print is receaued with the fayrer impression so when mens mindes are least auerse and most wel-minded to the speaker the speech is the deeper imprinted and soonest preuaileth Paul vseth this wise way and first hee maketh a Catolog of their reuerence kindnes and loue They reuerenced him as the angel of God and reason Mal. 2. For the good minister is the Angell and messenger of the Lorde as appeareth in Malachie the second Chapter and in the Reuelation indiuerse places yea they receaued him as Christ Iesus whose messenger Paul was Neither were they alienated from him beholding his troubles but rather they tooke al that befell him as experiences and arguments and demonstratiue proofes of his inflexible constancy The good vsage or abusinge of Gods ministers God reâ—…ecteth as â—…one to himseâ—fe And heerein they did their duety For hee that contemneth the Embasseter despiseth the sender of the embacie as * 2. Sam. 10. Hanan who abused Dauids messengers abused Dauid himselfe And the ministery is an embacy from Christ Iesus and therfore the Galathians did worthily esteeme Paul as Christ Iesus and therein they reuerenced not so much Paul as Christ euen as he who receiueth the seruant receaueth the maister also Not because he so receaueth the person of the seruant but rather the function of the seruice authorised and warranted by the master In this sense as they reuerenced and receaued Paul and that with an intensiue and pasting loue in so much as they woulde haue pulled out their eies and haue giuen them vnto Paul to haue done him good Exod. 32.3 When the children of Israel gaue their eare-rings I say not their eares but their eare-rings it was much the eare is an instrument of an excellent sense and their eare-rings amongst them were reputed an ornament of the eare but the eie in respects is better and to be preferred before the eare the eie is the guide of the whole body and the comfort of the life Compare the eie with the rest partes thy right foote or hande are necessarie members the one is the supporter and state of thy person the other the executioner of thy actions but the eie is the counseler and direction of al thy doinges yet they woulde giue him euen their very eyes thereby siguifieng that nothing was so neere so deare vnto them as was Paul as was their preacher by whom they counted themselues happy and blessed and verily therein most blessed were they But see the change their loue was as the loue of mother or sister and their mindes as the soft war behold this soft war is now as hard as born And whom they counted their reuerend friende such is the portion of Preachers they recken their greatest enemy The cause is a causelesse cause and that which should be a farther cause of a continual loue Am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth The sunne is offensiue to bleare-eied men But the Galathians were egle-eyed and cannot brook the light of that trueth they once most delited in The mad man hateth no man more than his keeper The foolishmaÌ„ despiseth most his careful teacher The child abideth no man worse
they were espoused But there was 1. some secret leauen to season them in a contrary doctrine 2. likely there was one a more notable troubler of them than the rest though they were 3. many who much disquieted these Churches The least part of the leauen of quarrelers is ouer dangeroâ—… 1 Of the leauen Paul willeth to beware euen of the least part thereof Men make smal reckoning of smal sinnes yet the least forfite forfiteth the whole lease The litle leaking may drown the ship one litle pinte of vineger marreth a pipe of wine a litle leauen sowreth the whole lumpe and causeth it to swell and neuer leaueth till it haue brought the whole lumpe to be of his own nature viz. to be of a soure poutting and proud condition 2 An example hereof may be euen hee whom Paul scriketh at he who perswaded them contrary to their callings who was that notable turmoiler of them Of whom Paul saith who euer he be there is a higher than he there is a iudgement seate hee cannot decline but shall and must abide the verdict that God will giue vpon all such 3 Of this man generally of the rest which purposely made a concision and a rent in the Church of God like vnruly fish breaking the net and disordering all Paul wisheth in respect of gods glory the Churches commodity that they were euen cut off A heauy wish But a necessary when priuy lurckers and whispering corrupters are otherwise like to contaminate all Wo to them by whom offences come And yet there must come offences there must be heresies and there shal be enimies heresies to try our faith and enimies to proue our patience * Inwarde contention worse than outward persecution And while the wind bloeth but into the house there may be meanes to keepe it forth but when it is bred in the house and while the contention is within the womb of Rebecca the contention and strugling is felt with a most sorrowfull feeling who can abide it And yet lo herein is patience and herein is great wisedome patience in praying to God and wishing of him that he would take his own cause into his own hand wisedome in prouiding remedies conuenient according to our callings If any man be giuen to contend wee haue no such custome in the Church of God if any man be like the Salamander that liketh and liueth best in the fire I say in the fire of vnnecessary strife which is not certainly which is not taken from the Lords Altar truely for mine own part I cannot but say and pray ô my soul enter not into such Councels Elias seruant sawe a litle clowd 1 King 18.44 as it were a mans hand at first and afterwards the heauens waxt thicke and blacke and clowdy and a great storme ensued I can not prognosticate what stormes may come God be thanked euer who hath graunted so long a calme but if they must needs come and cannot be diuerted which I most wish then I pray God they fal vpon that sea and vppon those troublesome waters from whence they rise Browne the schismatique I wil not so speake in clouds but that you may know whom I meane directly In deed I meane the man whose opprobrious pamphlets I take some of you haue or haue seene I meane Brown that shameles reuiler of our Sacraments a railer at our ministerie that saucy reprocher of the state and Parlament by name and the very diuider as much as in him lieth of the body of Christ which is his Church The nature of schisme where it entereth and what means it vseth Marke what I tel you the nature of schisme is euer to hunt after and to enter the places where religion is most planted and because the affections of weomen are great where they take the old Pharisie the cunning Iesuit the peeuish Schismatique alwaies inuade widowes housen and young wiues companies specially of the richer sort and when deuotion hath fore-possessed their minds either the one way or the other then come they with their intemperate heate inflaming the aire prepared alreaby so that it may be incensed Gaine by schisms And as these men feed these weomens humors so these weomen fill these mens purses and they gaine more by schisme than they coulde by vnity and to that ende in steede of true preaching of sound doctrine onely certaine debates impetrinent are handled among a sort of the infirmer sex and the regiment and ordering of euery thing are demurred and decided priuatly in places where some one woman or other can finde the husband inclineable or else where the woman is venterous wil and doth giue giue for they cal it giuing largely to heare of these matters of these only And within a while the open Church is refused secret conuenticles taken vp charity is brokeÌ„ al is turned to an eger sharpnes of speech sometimes against preaching at Pauls Reading in towns or studieng in Vniuersities generally against the whole order of this Realme This is a secret souring Leauen this is not as Elizeus meale to sweeten the bitter but as gal added to the sweete to make it most bitter and like a rosted Onnion cut and laid open ready to take euery euil sent in the house where it can finde the least suspicion thereof If there be any imperfection amongst vs as I am sure there is none vrged as an additament to Christ and the * Articles agreeed vpon c. anno 1562. Artic. 20. Scriptures which were a case to by in but if there be any in other matters shal the corne say I will not grow but in the fielde where no weedes growe I will not heare them which teach well and which teach all the trueth in faith but not al the truth which I couÌ„t truthes in other respects And therefore brag and vaunt I had rather defie al and liue alone In the body there are wertes and deformities of diuers sorts some may bee cut off with ease or with no great paine othersome seeme to bee deformities and be not but in the eies of some and yee if they were I say not better a mischiefe than an inconuenience but better an inconuenience than an intolerable mischiefe And these schismes these angry biles these insufferable plagues will grow to an intolerable mischiefe if they be not cut off as Paul wisheth or some other way qualified and asswaged But this much by the way and vpon iust occasion 13 For brethren yee haue beene called vnto libertie only vse it not as an occasion vnto the flesh but by loue serue one another 14 For al the Lawe is fulfilled in one word which is this thou shalt loue thy Neighbour as thy selfe 15 If yee bite and deuoure one another take heede least yee bee consumed one of another 16 I say walke in the spirit and ye shal not fulfil the lusts of the flesh 17 For the fleshe lusteth against the spirit
personal pains setting the wounded man on his owne beast and bringing him to the Inne and taking farther order for farther charges requisite knowing that there was a mutuall neighbourhoode not euer by neerenes of place but for necessity and extremity of pure neede And he that loueth cannot lacke the vnderstanding to discerne who is a neighbour Loue is wise and Loue is euer willing to doe any good to any man to the vttermost The inconuenience of diuision 3 If the excellency of louing bee so great the inconuenience of not louing cannot bee little And in not louing is not ment a meere want of charity but which euer ensueth where charitie wanteth a present enducement of the contrarie quality And where the cōtrary affections raign there is snarling and biting and deuouring and a plain consuming one of the other For the diuided house cannot endure And it is an euil land that deuoureth their own inhabitants and the spirit of the lord doth not lightly rest in these whirlewind-spirits such as troubled the Galathians and turmoile impertinently euery place where euer they come without lawefull and necessary cause as if they were made of wild-fier to enflame and burn vp the world O Lord if it be thy wil take away al iust occasion of mislike quench all their furies which seeke occasions there where none are offered The dew and grace of thy holy spirit can doe al this may it please thy goodnes to grant vs this fauour in Christ Iesu So be it Amen 19 Moreouer the works of the flesh are manifest which are adultery fornication vncleannesse wantonnesse Albeit the roote of sinne be deepe and the corruption of fleshly hidde and lurke in the inwarde parts yet the woorks thereof are not obscure but euident to the ey big grosse open and manifest so that a man may soon know that the tree is naught by the vitious fruits it beareth And if a man may iudge of the workman by his workes some of the woorkes of the flesh are adultery fornication vncleannes wantonnes Fornication Adultery Wantonnes breedeth vncleannes vncleannes breaketh forth into sinful fornication where the partes are single and into abominable adultery where either party offending is a married person By the Law of God the adulterer and the adulteresse shal dy moriendo morientur Leuit. 20. there should bee no remedy There were Lawes among the Gentils to the same effect But Iuuenal complaineth Lex Iulia dormis May not wee rather Lex Iehouae dormis Whether Adulterie should be death There is a great deale of questioning about this matter whether the penalty of adultery must necessarily bee death or no for it may be and that it deserueth there is no question Giue me leaue to say thus much that if it were death adulteries woulde bee fewer quarrels of marrying againe after adultery the adultresse liuing would not be so rife and loue to the certaine vndoubtedly known and only children would be much increased betweene the Parents If a man steale xij d hee shall bee hanged if a man abuse twelue mens wiues yet he may liue The peace is broken in my Ox or Horse is the peace kept when my wiue is defiled my daughters deflored Other vices swarme but this is a Noes flud Young men are no niggards Olde men are no wasters countrimen are no ruffins nor townsmē quarrelers But old and yong towne and country had neede to looke better to this vice There is no good giuing place to a flattering sinne Nature is frail and the flesh lusteth against the spirite and there is no sirding at all for a man that standeth vppon a Pinnacle Wherefore all causes yea al occasions of this way sinning must be deuoyded Praeparatiues to vncleannes Shal I be plain or why should I not painting of faces frisling of hair mōsterous starcht supported rufs pride vpon pride in apparel exces of diet minsing dances wanton gestures ribaldry talke amorous ditties vaine discourses Venus court and the Pallace of pleasures and the like wherein there is no Pallas no wit verily no true wisdome all these for the most part are nothing but the ministers many times of much vncleannes and the Apostle who cannot abide any wantonnes would he tolerate these enormities Go to the commandement and study wel the precept Thou shalt not commit adultery and these follies these preparatiues to adultery will soone be forsaken As our Sauiour Iohn 8.4 when talke was about the woman that was taken * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the act hee stooped downe and wrote on the ground so I could desire to speak as if it were vnder a vaut in most secret termes for the amendment of this sinne but the works of darknes are become bould and men are not ashamed of their turpitude and shame and they can looke thorough a white sheete and neuer blush The Israelites made of the house of God the house of iniquity the Iewes of the temple of God a denne of Theeues but these offenders make the Temples of the holy Ghost and the members of Christ that should bee the members of an harlot and the Temples of the holy Ghost they make to be the cage of vncleane birds a very sty for hogs and a stable for horse that neieth after that which is none of his owne O Lord were it not better or is it not the nature of mariage thine holy ordinance that for the * 1 Cor. 7.2 auoiding of fornication euery man should haue his wife and euery woman her husband and beeing in that honorable state should keepe themselues from strange flesh shrouding themselues from all inconueniences vnder the broad vine leafe of thine owne planting If any man or woman among vs haue offended herein let neither him nor her henceforth ad drunckennes to thirst let him not walowe in this mire any more let him rise vp by repentance let him vomit out by confession this surfeiting and let him deepely consider that he is made after the image of God which he should not deface that he is the member of Christ which he may not prostitute and that our bodies are as an holy place if we know so much euen the Temples of the holy spirite which howe it is greeued with these transgressions it hath beene told you at sundry times 20 Idolatry witch-craft hatred debate emulations wrath contentions seditions heresies 21 Enuy murders drunckennes gluttony and such like whereof I tel you before as I also haue told you before that they which doe such things shal not inherit the kingdome of God Paul entendeth not to make a iust beadrol and ful computation of all sinnes that eyther were in the Galathians or might arise out of the flesh or els to marshal euery vice and disorder in a precise order Certaine manifest enormities are onely touched and in the end he addeth and such like and of them al he denounceth that they wil weigh a man to hell and exclude
powerfull presence of the God of Iacob which turneth the rock into a water-poole and the flint into a fountain of water Semblably it was more than a woonder to see Paul thus altered thus relenting thus altogither changing his former life Men rather praise the means than the author of goodnesse But in such cases cōmonly there is no mean in humane iudgements For 1. either we enuy thereat through malice 2. Or we magnifie too much through folly rather men the receiuers than God the giuer we gaze on * Act. 3.12 Peter we sacrifice to * Act. 14.15 Paul we glorifie not God neither for Peter nor Paul When Paul that sought to roote out the faith and Christian profession now planteth the faith I esteeme him as a planter but hee * 1 Cor. 3.7 that watereth is nothing and he that planteth is nothing and nothing deserueth not any thing and therefore not ame praise in comparison of God that giueth the encrease and made Paul a planter and * Ephes 10.11 who woorketh all in al according to the counsel of his owne wil. In the receit of water I praise the spring for the ishue of the water and not the condit as if it sprang from the condit pipe In the sight of light the glasse is but a meane to lighten the house the cause of light is in the sunne But at this time I speak not of means or of ministerial instruments whereof there is a due * 1. Cor. 4.1 regarde but of the soueraigne cause of our stonie hearts now being mollified of our foorth in sinne sometime as it were a maine water course that way now quite chaunged another way I speake of Paul once a persecuter now made a preacher of the Gospell and when I speake hereof I speake of God and of his only work and therefore in only glorifieng God therein these churches did their duetie Tu vade fac similiter Go thy way whosoeuer thou bee learne this lesson this daie and in like cases doe the like If * Ioh. 8.50 Christ the naturall Sonne of God sought not his owne glorie but his fathers what must wee the adopted doe What is our duetie herein thinke ye And I pray you brethren most earnestly among many duties think wel on this Make not more of the lanthorne than of the light that shineth through the lanthorne CHAP. II. 1 THEN 14 yeares after I went vp againe to Ierusalem with Barnabas I tooke with me Titus also 2 I went vp by reuelation and declared vnto them that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles but particularlie to them that were the chiefe least by any meanes I should run or had run in vaine 3 But neither yet Titus which was with me though he were a Graecian was compelled to be circumcised 4 To witte for the false brethren which were craftilie sent in and crept in priuilie to spie out our libertie which wee haue in Christ Iesus that they might bring vs into bondage 5 To whom wee gaue not place by subiection for an houre that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you IN these lines are sette forth 1. the circumstances of Pauls second viage to Ierusalem 2. his conference there 3. and howe stoutlie and wisely hee demeaned him-selfe vpon occasion offered by certaine false brethren 1 In the circumstances 1. he sheweth vpon what inducement he vndertooke the iourney viz. vpon no priuate fancy but by euident reuelation 2. Then hee went not secretly and by stelth but with Barnabas and hee tooke with him Titus also So went hee with good companie and as it were the curtaines of the * Exod. 26.5 tabernacle twisted and knit togither or * Ezech. 1.16 Ezechiels wheeles one in another I meane arme in arme in perfect amitie great frindship and mutual comfort and that vnder sufficient witnes Peters residēce in Rome 25. years impossible 3. Another circumstance is of the time then 14 years after which being wel loked into doth plainly argue the impossibility of Peters being or as they speake of Peters sitting forsooth so long at Rome quite contrarie to the nature of his apostolike office 25. years togither For without al controuersie contradiction Peter liued not aboue 40. years after our Sauiors passion if at the least he were 18. yeares at Ierusalem when Paul who doubtles was called * Acts. 9.3 after our Sauiours ascension came thither found him there how possibly could hee rest first at Antioch 7. yeares and then at Rome 25 For 18. 7. and 25 make more than 40. It cannot bee These were the circumstances 2 In Pauls conference 1. the matter he conferred of may bee considered 2. the persons with whom hee conferred and the ende of his conference 1. Touching the matter which he declared vnto them more in place conuenient Why I pray you was Paul in doubt of the goodnes of his cause of the certaintie of his doctrine of the assurednes of his doing that at the length hee bethought himselfe of this conference Did hee put his doctrine in * Rhem. Test Pag. 499. trial now and to the approbation of others as the Papists imagine The whole drift and tenor of his speach is to the contrarie He was called negatiuely not of men nor by men affirmatiuely by Christ and by Christ alone by an Heauenlie vision by a celestiall reuelation Three yeares were betweene his first calling and before his first iourneying to Ierusalem and fourteen before this his second iourney Shotte he al this while at random ventured hee without a warrant or knew he not what hee did delt he at aduentures No by no meanes no. This conference was no dubious or disputable communication too and fro pro and con houering vp and downe vncertainly * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he opened his doctrine he declared and shewed it to them how Christ was the accomplishment of the Law and abolishment of former ceremonies and that the partition wal was taken downe and that the Gentiles were to haue a common entrance with others into the knowledge of Christ This was the matter of his conference and communication 2. The persons with whom he conferred were the chiefe 1. If there were mo chiefe than one then was not one namely Peter not chiefe of al. 2. He conferred with the chiefe For why To conferre with the foote when a man may haue conference with the head were no wisdome 3. he conferred particularly or priuatly Wherein neither he disdained them nor they him though they there were the chiefe But for that * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he priuatlie and as it were a part did communicate his cause may be obserued a general caution that would bee seene vnto which is Priuate conference that to make a matter publickely controuersed and in common demurred when priuat notice can doe that is to be done and remedy the whole were great folly and litle
discretion Paul as he was paineful in vndertaking this iourney so was he warie and careful in collating the matter with the chiefe and that in priuate maner Learne my brethren learn this wise and worthy lesson If any thing fall out in the variance of causes and varieties of iudgementes first to confer and then conueniently and in due sort to go * Matt. 18.15 to thy brother secretly to deale with thy equals reuerently much more with thy betters and with men in place and placed in authoritie dutifully and as thou shouldest yea if thy cause bee * Iudae Epist vers 9. good as was Pauls and therefore much rather in causes vncertaine There is most ease in so doing and lesse shame in the eies of those who are enemies and gladly behold the troublesome conferences of vs whom yet otherwise they knowe to be the verie children of God but that men are men and haue their imperfections and that the soundest body sometimes sendeth foorth an angry whelck which is made much more the worse for scratching I say much more the worse both for the inwarde paine and also to the outwarde shew of the beholders In the 2. book and of Samuel the first chapter Dauid being certified of Sauls death amongst other lamentations in most lamentable manner breaketh forth into these words * 2 Sam. 1.20 Tel it not in Gath publish it not in the streetes of Askelon least the daughters of the Philistines reioice least the children of the vncircumcised triumph Gath and Askelon were of the chiefe cities of the vncircumcised who were Gods enimies Dauid wisheth that Sauls death might bee concealed from them if it were any way possible and it greeued Dauid the more that most gladded and reioiced them that were Gods enemies With like affection brethren it were to bee wished that imperfections either were not at all or at the leastwise because offences must bee that they were not growen to that groth and bignes that they may be discerned among the enemies of vs and of our God For a priuate conference and a quiet composition were far better 3 My third note was why Paul went again to Ierusalem prouoked by reuelatiō but to what end To the end that hee neither might hereafter run neither that his running for he calleth the execution of his office no idle * Matt. 20.6 standing but a laboursome running that his running in former time also might not be in vaine Paul had an eye to the fruit of his labour and to the end of his function In vaine diversly taken But was it possible that Paul whom God set a work should worke in vaine In vaine is here that which did not answere to the Apostles wish when his purposed entent took not effect Which the rather came to passe because of slaunders raised vp that Paul forsooth varied from the chiefe Apostles that hee impeached the dignitie expresly of circumcision and that he generally sought the abolishment of ancient receaued rites and ceremonies ordained by God himselfe which when weake mindes heard they were soone enueigled with entising woords and Pauls preaching became in vaine to them and vnto them vnprofitable Wherefore to declare that the rest of the Apostles with him and hee with them were of one vniforme iudgement he taketh sufficient witnes vndertaketh the iourney conferreth his doings to the end to stop the mouthes of cauillers and to the farther confirmation of the infirmer sort that his running might not be in vaine to them ward For doubtles otherwise diuine operations seruices according to Gods secret purpose they neuer are nor can be in vain Which way soeuer his two edged sword striketh it striketh to the glory of God whose sword it is Humane labors many times loose their ende and misse the marke with * Esay 55.10 God it is not so If thou sowe thy field ouer-much moysture rotteth cold killeth and heart parcheth and marreth all But the spirituall seede of the worde whether it take roote or no or how-soeuer it spring vp whether it rest or not rest in the hartes of the hearers in respect of Gods glory whose husband-men wee are or in regarde of the certaine * 2 Tim. 4.8 Crowne reposed and of the rewarde prefixed which God will assuredly render to all his faithfull seruantes it is neuer it cannot bee in vaine In vaine they heare who heare with an euill or a itching eare but the preacher after his dutifull paines at the * Matt. 20.8 euening of the day and end of haruest though the sheaues though the people will not bee gathered hee shall receiue his penny neuerthelesse The laborers paine is neuer the lesse though the euent be not aunswerable The blacke Aethiop goeth into hath and commeth out as blacke as he went in notwithstanding the keeper of the bath hath his fees as well for the Aethiop as for the fayrest But here Paul respecteth onely the profit of his auditorie and speaketh not of the purpose of God either in rewarding himselfe or reuenging them 3 My last obseruation out of the former verses was to marke how wisely Paul dealeth how stoutly and vpon what occasion Certaine false brethren were craftilie sent and priuily crept in as fine intelligencers and vnder-mining pioners of Christian liberty But Paul wiselie discerneth and couragiously resisteth them and suffereth not Titus to be circumcised for al that neither would hee yeelde so much as a foote of ground vnto them neither in an inch of trueth nor for a moment of time For a litle yeelding in so great matters is not a litle There is difference between a necessary contention and a desire of contending But the controuersie was but a quarell of ceremonies and what neede so much a-doo then Had it not beene better to haue beene quiet To haue slept in a hole skinne And to haue redeemed peace though it were with losse nay verily the losse of liberty of trueth and verity is more than may be easily borne or quietly digested and the root of true peace is the bond of peace And he Who is the trueth he is our peace also * Eph. 2.14 which hath made both one viz. by taking away quite the partition of ceremonies And therefore the reteining of these ceremonies either in whole or in part is a very breach of perfect peace and a bringing in of an heauy yoak a Iewish seruility Wherefore no marueil if Paul were earnest For what reason that because some wily and wilfull men brethren in name but false indeede and therefore no brethren nay what if very brethren should hap to linke and knit and band themselues and runne all in one as it were a shole of fish being caried and driuen in heapes vpon an opinion what reason that the trueth of God should yeeld that the Lord himself should stoupe rather than men should be at variance some holding with and many times many siding and sorting them-selues against a good
is he therefore the wiser man The flagellant Friar may whip himselfe the whipping Iesuit may scourge himselfe Baals Priestes may cut themselues and others may be whipt cut scourged of others all these bee no marks that can make the cause good but the good cause sanctifieth those markes that men inflict vpon vs for righteousnes sake Wherefore argue not of prosperity for it is seldome found neither yet argue of the markes of aduersity without discretion except your cause be as Pauls was for though they be more common to most of the godly yet they are not euer necessary nor alwaies proper 18 Brethren the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with your spirit Amen The entrance into this Epistle was not hard the end is easie the middle hath beene as you haue heard and al to set foorth the Grace of God which is almost the first and last woorde of the whole wishing them and euen to their spirites a liuely feeling of his Grace which quickneth the soule And heere why shoulde I dilate or driue and sleek out that which is without pleats and plaine in it selfe and which hath beene laide open more than once already I know the Lombar Thomas Aqui. c. Sarcerius in dict scholasta Pelbartus in Rosareo aureo Schoole-men in steede of diuiding the various significations of this word Grace they break it into shiuers and beat it into pouder and neuer make an end In few and generally Grace is no way Grace that is not euery way gratiously graunted and freely giuen and it may bee offered where it may be refused But where God wil bestow it it shal be receaued Grace In special first the Grace of God is the fauor of the father 2. The Grace of the spirit is the operation of the holy Ghost 3. The grace of Christ is the merit of the sonne and the mystery of his passion And these three go al together and are neuer asunder And these three brethren beeing thoroughlie known and beleeued and laid to hart in a full and certain assuraunce of the spirit not swimming in the quick conceat of an imagining head and gliding vp and down in a slippery tongue but felt in the soule and setled by faith in the inward fruition of the secret parts what comfort work they not They quiet the conscience they pacifie the mind they order the whole tenour of a Christian conuersation in euery good way The feare of the Law hath not these effectes And therefore Paul especially wisheth the Galathians the Grace of Christ Ciuil salutatiō It was an ancient custom among the Gentils to subscribe their letters with an ordinary wish as of SAFETY and HEALTH c. And wee * Dion Nicaeus in vita Tiberi◠reade that when Tiberius the emperour had receaued letters from the Magistrates of Rhodes and by some negligence the customary subscription was omitted hee sent for them and caused them to set vnto their letters their vsuall wishes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to subscribe their letters as the vsage was Christian wishes I note as meaning not to note any farther matter of dict culty in this Epistle that our Apostle and so the rest of the Apostles wisely admitting the ciuil vsage of salutations yet with some amendment reducing all to the center and ground-work of all our doings and deriuing all from the fiest head he and they also wish Grace Mercy Peace Health and Saluation Health of Body Saluation of Soule and Safety of both and that not at a-ventures they knowe not from whom but certainly from the right spirite of all Grace euen from God thorough Christ our Iesus and onely Sauiour And thus the Apostle endeth And now I hope with your good leaue with this ende I may end and betake my selfe to a doubled charge nearer home and at home My deare friends and good Brethren of Abington Fare you wel I can but wish vnto you as to my selfe O Lord and Gracious Father let thine Apostle Pauls wish and praier take place among this people The Grace of Christ Iesu be with you al and with your spirit for euer more Amen NVMB. 6.24 The Lord blesse you and keepe you the Lorde make his face to shine vpon you and bee mercifull vnto you The lord lift vp his countenance vpon you giue you his PEACE FINIS