him in his intercession The first shews us what he was in his humiliation the second what he is in his exaltation and yet the eye of faith will still look further after him not only as a Saviour and as a Mediator but also as a Judge for that 's the third observation concerning Christ what he will be in his retribution Not a severe but a merciful Judge to judge us according to the Gospel which will condemn only the unrepenting and unbelieving sinners not according to the Law which will condemn even the most righteous A merciful Judge to acquit us by the Merits and righteousness of that blood which he himself hath shed for us according to that most comfortable Prayer in the heavenly Hymn of Saint Ambrose which alone was of merit enough to entitle the Ambrosian office so long to keep its station against the Gregorian We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge we therefore pray thee help thy servants when thou hast Redeemed with thy precious blood We are sure thou wilt not lose thine own blood and that makes us hope thou wilt not lose us for whom thou hast been pleased to shed it Thus to draw neer to Christ is to draw neer to him with a true heart as we are commanded Heb. 10. 23. Let us draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of Faith The heart with which we must draw neer to Christ ought to be true to itself by examination contrition conversion for t is a false heart to it self that wants this repentance and it ought to be a heart true to its Saviour by a lively faith in his death and passion by a constant faith in his mediation and intercession by a conquering faith in his aquitment and absolution for the heart is false to its Saviour that wants this faith and being false to its Master cannot enter into his joy O my God make my heart true to it self by repentance that it may be true to its Saviour by faith then though I have sorrow in my self yet I shall have joy in him whose joy alone is an eternal joy SECT X. That the end of this and of all other Christian Festivals is our spiritual communion with Christ and therefore they ought to be celebrated more with spiritual then with carnal joys That though our carnal joyes are greater in their proportion yet our spiritual joyes are greater in their foundation A Carnal heart receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. and much less the joys of that Spirit wherefore we must look for a spiritual Feast that we may have a spiritual joy And accordingly the Church of Christ as it hath not a carnal but a spiritual communion with Christ so it hath not a carnal but a spiritual Feast wherein it doth communicate feeding on him in the heart by faith with thanksgiving for without that we may call the holy Eucharist a Communion but shall not find it so because we do not Communicate with our blessed Saviour and so our souls may starve whilst we are at this Feast if we do not Spiritually eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Suidas diem festum agebant 1. Sacrificium offerebant They kept a Feast that is they offered sacrifice nor can we rightly celebrate this holy Feast unless we offer unto God our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving And what sacrifice is left for Christians but the living sacrifice of their souls and bodies spoken of Rom. 12. 1. For the soul though not named must also be in the sacrifice or else it cannot be a reasonable service 'T is not offering our Saviour but offering our selves to God that makes the accehtable sacrifice not observing the holy institution yet I could heartily wish that were better observed by them who best observe it but observing it with a holy intention that makes a spiritual Feast and therefore our Church at the celebration of the holy Eucharist doth in Gods name invite us not so much to a corporal as to a spiritual feeding on the body and blood of Christ And though some do scruple the offering up of Christs real body in that sacrifice for they had rather say it is commemoratio sacrificii then commemorativum sacrificium yet none scruples the offering up of his mystical body in it never any Christian did think he might leave himself out of the offering though many have thought they might leave their Saviour out of it as to his carnal presence for every man believes he is bound to offer the sacrifice of praise to God and therewith also his own soul so that even this our Feast must likewise be a spiritual Feast or though the outward Elements may nourish our bodies to this natural life yet the inward grace will not nourish our souls to the life eternal We conclude then that no Feast can truly honour God the God of Spirits but a spiritual Feast And that whosoever hath once kept this will endeavoor to turn all others into it or at least to extract this out of them he will feast his soul more then his body as one that cannot well relish the carnal because he hath tasted the spiritual delicacies for most undoubtedly our spiritual joyes though they come short of carnal joys in their measure and proportion yet they far exceeed them in their cause and foundation we are more zealous for our carnal joys because they are connatural to us whiles we are cloathed with our flesh but our spiritual joys which are supernatural do more deserve our zeal I will say to my soul Soul take thine ease eat drink and be merry said the rich glutton Luke 12. 19. What a great preparation is here to carnal joy I will say unto my soul what a great proportion of it take thine ease eat drink and â—e merry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rest that thou maist eat and drink eat and drink that thou mayst delight thy self and be merry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Basil If thou hadst the soul of a swine what couldest thou say or do more so great a proportion is there of joy in the carnal man from carnal delights as if even the spiritual part of him were made carnal as if the soul it self were incorporated into flesh and that flesh incorporated into swine made the most brutish and sensual in the whole world even swines flesh yet so little a foundation is there of this joy that t is grounded only on the mans own fansie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ver 17. He made his reckoning but t was a false reckoning meerly of his own making and not agreeable with the truth of the account For the word is fit to express the condition of worldlings saith Beza quia totam vitam in subducendis rationibus consumunt because they spend all their days in making reckoning they spend all their time in casting up accounts either for their pleasure or for
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
shearers so opened he not his mouth Act. 8. 34. Yet the Israelites did all so generally know the meaning of this phrase that Saint John the Baptist used no other title to proclaim the Messias but this Behold the lamb of God John 1. 29. which was so well understood that two of his own Disciples presently left him and followed Jesus ver 36 37. And Saint Philip acknowledgeth the person typified and foretold to agree exactly with the Type and prediction when he saith ver 45. we have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write as if he had said All that the Law and Prophets had promised was now fulfilled Grace in the conjunction mercy in the propitiation and truth in the prediction All met together in Christ our Passeover therefore Jubilemus let us keep our Jubile or in Saints Pauls language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us keep our holyday or yet farther if you please let us keep this Holyday that is the feast of the Passover called by the Council of Antioch c 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy feast of the soul-saving Passeover For Aerius his objection against keeping of Easter from this very text saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we ought not to keep the the Passover for Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us though it overthrow the Jewish Passeover which was a type of Christ yet it rather establisheth a Christian Passeover which is a memorial of him unless we will say that Christ was therefore our Passeover and sacrificed for us of purpose that we should for get him and his sacrifice For as we may not now retain any types of Christ because that were in effect to deny that he is come in the flesh so we may not let go the memorials of Christ because that in effect is to be unthankfull for his coming And our Saviour himself by saying do this in remembrance of me hath shewed that he will look upon those Festivals which should be appointed for memorials of him as upon so many religious and Christian like Institutions since he that hath prescribed to do this hath also prescribed or rather presupposed a set and solemn time of doing it For though the Christians joy in Christ is not to be limited or confined to a day yet that is no reason why a day should not be limited and confined to that joy Let spiritual joyes be eternal in themselves but for that very cause let our time be subservient to their eternity that they may likewise be so to us For God appointing a set time for a spiritual duty hath not thereby debased the duty but exalted the time even as our blessed Saviour appointing a set form of prayer hath not thereby confined the spirit of prayer but rather enlarged it And the Holy-Ghost having given us so many set formes of prayer and praise in the Psalmes and the rest of the ible Bhath not therefore taught the duty of prayer to be the less spiritual but hath taught us to be the less carnal that we should not in pouring out our souls to God rely upon our own phansies or inventions but upon his holy dictates and directions For there is the same reason both of hic and of nunc in matters of Divinity the same reason of these words and of this time God having consecrated words to his service as belonging to the substance of it and having consecrated times places and persons only as accidents and circumstances belonging to the solemnity thereof And therefore it is strange to see those men who are most zealous for the set times and Dayes of serving God every week to be so impetuous against the set forms of serving him as thinking the set time to help devotion but the set form to hinder it whereas it is evident that setting a time to the spirit must needs be a confinement of him as well as setting of words And to say to the Spirit of prayer Pray now is as great an intrusion and encrochement upon him as to say to him Pray this But in truth nither are confinements to Gods spirit and both alike are intended for the enlargements of our spirits Set times and Set words that we pray in the greater assurance of faith knowing we cannot be willworshippers whiles we conform our selves to his will whom we worship SECT III. The memorials instituted by God are chiefly of his justice and of his mercy There is but one terrible memorial of Gods justice against those who invaded the Priesthood but many memorials of his mercy and that it is a vain fear which possesseth some men as if the anniversary memorial of Christs Resurrection was not instituted and cannot be observed without willworship or superstition that the general equity of the Levitical Law as far as it was not Typical is still in force concerning the Solemnities of Religion and that approves Anniversary as well as weekly Festivals AMong all Gods Attributes none are so remarkeable in our lives and deaths as his mercy and his Justice His mercy in our preservation his justice in our destruction And accordingly God himself requires us most especially to take notice of the great effects of his justice and of his mercy Hence is it that we find him instituting few or no memorials of his wisdom or of his Power but very many of his Justice and of his Mercy though not so many of his justice as of his mercy we find but one memorial of his Iustice more particularly recommended to the care of his Church and that is against those men who had said to Moses and to Aaron to their Civil and Ecclesiastical Governours Ye take too much upon you seeing all the congregation are holy every one of them and the Lord is among them Numb 16. 3. These men because they had invaded the Priests office in burning incense had their censers nailed upon the altar of incense and the Text saith to be a memorial unto the children of Israel that no stranger which is not of the seed of Aaron come near to offer incense before the Lord that he be not as Corah and his Company ver 40. Te miror Antoni quorum facta imitare eorum exitus non perhorrescere said the Orator most pathetically I much wonder that since you do follow their sins you do not fear their punishment And how can any Christian Minister say less since it is evident that the Gospel in this case still retains the sentence and consequently revives the severity of the Law For so saith the Apostle No man taketh this honour unto himself that is not called of God as was Aaron Heb. 5. 4. as if he had said no man rightly taketh the office of a Priest upon him but he that is externally and publickly called of God as was Aaron so as all the Congregation may take notice of his calling And if he do take Aarons office that is not called as Aaron was he hath great reason to
ordained is the Remembrance of God And consequently they best keep the Sabbath who best remember God and without doubt they remember him best who serve him best who have an established publick worship most befitting his glorious Majesty Others though they make never so much noise of God yet if they remember his name they forget his nature The Seraphims durst not do so when they came to praise him They agreed before hand what should be the set form of their Praise for one cryed unto another and said Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole earth is full of his glory Isaiah 6. 3. They cryed one unto another to shew they all were agreed upon the same anthymn that they had prepared their song of praise before they came to sing it And Saint Ambrose tells us they still continue the same song To thee Cherubims and Seraphims continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath There is no true singing Holy Holy Holy unto God without preparing the song before hand and a song that is well prepared is as well continued Let us imitate the Seraphims in our care of preparation that we may imitate them in our ardency of affection for we shall little less then lye to God if we say The whole earth is full of his glory whiles our own hearts are empty SECT X. Certainty is more to be regarded in the publick exercise of Religion then Variety Hence the Creed the Lords Prayer and the Decalogue righteously taken into our Liturgie but unrighteously omitted by Innovators who vainly obtrude Variety to mens consciences instead of Certainty THE ready way to make men irreligious is to bring them to an uncertainty in Religion For Constancy is founded upon Certainty and therefore those men who are most uncertain what to do must needs be most unconstant in their doings For this cause the Church which is Gods Trustee for Religion thinks it a great part of her trust to deal therein altogether upon Certainties not upon Varieties and to have such a publick worship of God as should first make the people certain of their Religion then zealous and constant in it Hence was the Creed the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments taken in as parts of our Liturgie because they are not only the compleat summes but also the certain rules of all those duties of Faith Hope and Charity in which consists the very body and substance of Religion For as they are the compleat summes of those Religious duties so they must fully declare the glory of God These short abridgements of Gods own making shewing more of the Truth then all the copious enlargements which we can make And as they are the certain rules of those duties so they most readily advance the edification of men whose souls are more truly edified by adhering to these fundamental certainties then by cleaving to all our additional varieties which are but additions of hay and â—tubble unless they be grounded upon these Wherefore those men who are so furiously bent against the publick use of these in our Liturgies were best seriously to consider whether or no they do not grosly oppose the glory of God in rejecting such unparalleld summes of Piety but surely they do grievously oppose the edification of men in rejecting such undoubted rules of certainty For their work is though I hope their aim be not to bring all the world to an uncertainty in Religion To an uncertainty in Believing for all Doctrine to novelty to an uncertainty in Praying for all Devotion to Phancie to an uncertainty in Doing for all practice to Inconstancy Hence that heavenly Creed which was the Rule of the Apostles Preaching is willingly if not purposely omitted in their Assemblies lest it should discover the nakedness and novelty of their Doctrine Hence the Lords most holy Prayer which was not only the Rule but also the chiefest part of antient Liturgies as willingly omitted by them lest it should discover the emptiness the levity the uncharitableness the irregularity and in one word the phantasticalness of their Prayers Lastly Hence the Decalogue which is the short rule of life and morality as willingly omitted as the rest lest it should discover the impiety and check the inconstancy of their doings for this is the readiest if not the best reason we can give why they should quarrel with Gods own hand-writing in our Liturgy denying us to repeat each Commandment with a solemn invocation for mercy testifying our repentance the best part of our innocency and as solemn an invocation for Grace imploring the amendment of our sinful lives the best part of our repentance This is too too palpable That they generally preach such Doctrines vent I cannot say make such prayers and use such practises as are not agreeable with these rules and therefore they may judiciously if not justly be thought to leave out the rules lest they should be checked from their own mouths and thereby awaken the yet sleeping checks of their hearts for such Preachings such Prayings and such Doings And if any of them take this for an uncharitable gloss let him know it is more charitable for us to question their superstructions then for them to condemn our foundations For if one man sin against another the Judge shall judge him but if a man sin against God who shall intreat for him 1 Sam. 2. 25. As if the good old Priest had said No man ought to speak the least word for him that sins against God with an high hand and no man can speak too much against him But I hear a great noise of Variety making more then ample amends for that Certainty in the publick exercise of Religion which we think is diminished if not destroyed but they say is only changed and by its change augmented I could easily answer Quid verba audio dum facta videam To what purpose do men offer good words in excuse for bad deeds As if they could prove that others eyes are shut because they say their own are opened Or as if men came to Church rather for curiosity then for conscience rather like Athenians only to hear and to hear some new things to please their curiosities then like Christians to pray for so it was in Christs time Two men went up into the Temple to pray Luke 18. 10. Or if to hear yet not to hear such solid Truths as might nourish their souls and such fundamental Truths as might establish their consciences But because they will needs say with Saul I have performed the commandment of the Lord I have done nothing but according to his Holy Word I will also answer with Samuel What meaneth then this bleating of sheep in mine cars and the lowing of the Oxen which I hear 1 Sam. 15. What meaneth this Bleating and Lowing instead of Praying and Preaching not bleating of sheep and lowing of Oxen for thence might come an acceptable sacrifice at last though nothing but an hideous noise at first but
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
the good behaviour and God himself hath in effect told us as much in giving us so many set forms of prayers in the holy Bible SECT XIV The third and last part of the Churches trust concerning Religion is touching the holy Sacraments wherein our Church is not faulty either in the number or in the administration of them as exactly following our Saviours institution nor in the manner of administring as following it with reverence REligion being above the light of nature to understand it must needs be above the power of nature to command it Hence the acts of the Theological vertues are prescribed by the positive Law of God because they belong properly to Religion But the acts of moral vertues are prescribed by the Law of nature because they belong to Reason yet are they in truth injurious to Religion who will allow nothing to be moral but what they can prove to be natural For the positive Law of God doth constitute moralities to the Christian as well as the inbred Law of nature doth constitute moralities to the Man This appears plainly in the Sacraments which are not to be accounted as Ceremonies because they come not under the authority of the Church either for their institution or alteration or abolition and must therefore be accounted as moralities though they are not at all commanded by the Law of nature but only by the Law of God That these Sacraments are a part of the Churches trust is unquestionable because the Gospel is For the vocal word and the visible word Verbum Vocale verbum visibile both alike are duties of the Christian Religion for the glory of God and of the Christian Communion for the edification of man but all the duties both of Religion and Communion are committed to the Churches trust God having appointed his own Ministers as his special Trustees both for preaching his word and for administring his Sacraments So that no man can administer a Sacrament but in the person of God and he hath not licensed every one that will to take upon him his person but only such to whom he hath given his special deputation And this is more peculiarly manifest concerning the two Sacraments properly so called that is Baptism and the Lords holy Supper For our blessed Saviour said only to his Apostles Go ye therefore and baptize in respect of the one and do ye this in remembrance of me in respect of the other As for the five additional Sacraments they were never looked upon as integral parts of Gods ordinary publick worship and therefore though they could be proved Sacraments yet they would not come under our present discourse But in truth they cannot be proved Sacraments according to the proper definition of a Sacrament which is this A Sacrament is an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace given to us and ordained by Christ himself as a means to convey that grace and as a pledge to assure us thereof Let us examine this definition by its causes and we shall easily perceive that it belongs only to Baptism and the Holy Eucharist and therefore they two only are to be called Sacraments First by its efficient cause Given and ordained by Christ himself which is clear of these two for they were instituted by him and have his precept and promise in the very words of their institution which cannot be asserted concerning any of the other Secondly by its material cause outward visible sign inward spiritual Grace which are both manifestly known in Baptism and the Holy Eucharist but neither in any of the rest For Pennance hath no outward visible sign at all and Matrimony Orders Confirmation Extream unction have no outward visible signs of Christs appointing And much less have any of these that inward spiritual Grace which is annexed to Baptism and the Holy Eucharist To wit Christ with all his merits and mercies whereby of God He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1. 30. For we dare not say that any man is by any of these five either born and initiated or nourished and confirmed in Christ Thirdly by its formal cause An outward visible sign of an inward spiritual Grace Whereby it appears that the internal and proper form of a Sacrament is the necessary conjunction or connexion of the sign and the thing signified which conjunction is so undeniable in our two Sacraments that Baptism is called the washing of regeneration Tit. 3. 5. And the holy Eucharist the Communion of the body and blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. For that these two are not only signs and seals but also conveyances of grace unto the soul whereas the other five though they have something of the sign yet they have nothing at all of the seal or of the conveyance of grace Lastly by its final cause As a means to convey Grace and as a pledge to assure us thereof The end of a Sacrament is partly our Communion with Christ and partly our acknowledgement of that Communion This twofold end is very apparent in Baptism and in the holy Eucharist which doth procure our Communion with Christ and also require our acknowledgement of that Communion but in the rest either the one is without the other or there is a want of both For either there is no Communion with Christ or there is no acknowledgement of that Communion whereas a Sacrament is a seal of Gods Covenant and therefore in its own nature is a double pledge to wit of Gods grace and favour to man and of mans duty and thankfulness to God For as it is a sign of Gods grace to us so it should be a sign of Gods grace in us For in the very signification of a Sacrament there is a mutual respect one on Gods part offering grace another on mans part promising obedience If either of these be wanting the holy rite may be a mysterie but it cannot be a Sacrament properly so called since a Sacrament is the seal of a Covenant and a Covenant is a mutual engagement of two parties which in this case are God and Man Therefore a Sacrament is from the very end of its institution perpetual in its continuance and common in its use Perpetual in its continuance because Gods Covenant is not for a day but for ever t is an everlasting Covenant And common in its use because Gods Covenant is not for one but for all t is a general an universal Covenant Non enim propter unius seculi homines venit Christus sed propter omnes qui illius membra futuri sunt saith Irenâ—us lib. 4. adver haereses cap. 39. Christ came not into the world for the men of one age or of one order but for all that should be his true and faithful members in all ages and all orders of men whatsoever And upon this ground we cannot but say that the Sacraments which do exhibit and convey Christ do alike belong to men of all ages
But they consider not that the way to follow Naaman in his wrath is to out goe him in his leprosie and that those Heathens who gave him the contrary advice have in that given judgement against such Christians My Father if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it How much rather then when he saith unto thee Wash and be clean T is little less then madness to spend those precious minutes in cavilling disputations which would be much better spent in soul-saving devotions For after once Cain had expostulated with God saying Am I my brothers keeper Gen. 4. 9. he staid not long in his presence for so it is written ver 16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord What is it for a man to cavil at Religion instead of practising it but to expostulate with God as if he could quit that score by his objection which he is bound to pay by his obedience or as if it were for his advantage to be quarrelling with his Creditor whilst he should be saying Forgive us our debts Will he indeed not be so holy as to delight in the presence of Gods grace and shall he be so happy as to delight in the presence of his glory Is it our misery that we cannot be sufficiently joyful in the Lord and shall it also be our sin that we will needs be angry with him Tristitia de bono spirituali est peccatum prepinquum odio Deo saith the Casuist To be sorry for the overture of any Spiritual Good is a sin that comes neer the hatred of God and therefore to be maliciously bent against such a good must needs be to hate him This consideration may stop the mouths if not wound the hearts of those who make it their work to revile such heavenly prayers as cannot be received with too much admiration nor repeated with too much devotion for this is little other then to revile God and his Church in one and the same breath to revile God in his Religion and to revile Gods Church in her communion Whether a man think himself so perfect as to need no spiritual Guide to take care of him or think his Church so imperfect as to seek for his spiritual guide from some other place the case is all one as to the contempt though very different as to the cause of it For the Church calling him to the Practice of those duties which are truly Christian in the name and by the Authority of Christ T is not his cavilling against his Mother on earth can dispense with his Undutifulness against Her and much less against his Father in heaven If God be rightly invocated and adored and his name truly glorified according to the Duties of Religion He is no less then a Separatist from God who refuseth to joyn in that Invocation Adoration and Glorification according to the Duty of Communion For neither can an erroneous cnnscieâ—ce excuse him in point of Religion nor an erroneous conceit excuse him in point of Communion First an erroneous conscience cannot excuse him in point of Religion For an erroneous conscience cannot absolve or discharge any man from doing his bounden duty to God and therefore not from Invocating Adoring and Glorifying his holy name since it is unjust that errour should be a priviledge and impossible that a mans conscience should be above Gods command but here are no less then three of Gods Commandments that oblige him to the duties of Religion Secondly an ereoneous conceit cannot excuse him in point of Communion For an erroneous conceit hath much less power then an erroneous conscience to excuse him for disobeying Gods command and here are no less then two of Gods Commandments that oblige him to the duty of Communion to wit The fourth because the Communion concerns Gods publick worship and the fift because the publick worship is commanded by publick authority For the Communion being indeed with the eternal Son of God as it must be since the Religion is truly from him in all its performances of Invocation Adoration and Administration t is not his thinking or any mans saying That he may not Communicate with Hereticks or Schismaticks can excuse him for not communicating with his Brethren and much less with his Saviour whose Communion is ever to be desired with great earnestness and never to be deserted without great shame and greater sin According to that excellent exhortation of our Church But when you depart I beseech you ponder with your selves from whomye depart ye depart from the Lords Table ye depart from your Brethren and from the banquet of most heavenly food What greater sin then to depart from the Lords heavenly table and food What greater shame then to depart from your own Brethren and to be able to give no conscientious reason of your departure To depart from the Lord in his Religion is against the three first Commandments To depart from your Brethren in their Communion with the Lord is against the fourth and with his Church is against the fift Commandment Is it not then unfound and unsafe to alledge the fift Commandment for the apparent breach of it self and also of the other four And yet even that Commandment is unduely alledged for your departure For besides that such an allegation of it denyeth Paternal authority where God hath given it and which certainly doth oblige you and supposeth Paternal authority where God hath not given it and which cannot oblige you there is also a supposal of such an authority as God cannot give For God cannot deny himself and therefore he cannot given an authority to his Church against himself but only for himself and consequently not against Religion but only for Religion This is all the authority Saint Paul claimeth The Lord hath given us authority for edification not for destruction 2 Cor. 10. 8. Nay more This is all the authority the Church can claim and that in the judgement of Aquinas himself Quum Potestas Praelati spiritualis qui non est Dominus sed Dispensator in aedificationem sâ—t data non in destructionem ut patet 2. ad Cor. 10. Sicut Praelatus non potest imperare ea quae secundum se Deo displicent sc Peccata It a non potest prohibere ea quae secundum se Deo placent sc Virtutis opera 22 ae quest 88. art 12. ad secundum When the Power of a spiritual Prelate who is not a Lord but only a Dispencer of the Word and Sacraments is given for edification and not for destruction as it is manifest 2 Cor. 10. Even as a Prelate cannot command those things which in themselves are displeasing to God to wit the committing of any sin So he cannot forbid those things which in themselves are pleasing unto God to wit the working of any vertue How much less can he forbid the works of many vertues together by forbidding the exercise of true Religion Therefore let me alwaies