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A11789
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The high-waies of God and the King Wherein all men ought to vvalke in holinesse here, to happinesse hereafter. Deliuered in tvvo sermons preached at Thetford in Norfolke, anno 1620. By Thomas Scot Batchelor in Diuinity.
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Scott, Thomas, 1580?-1626.
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1623
(1623)
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STC 22079; ESTC S116969
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53,883
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90
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way and it is visible what were a man the better for these directions would he not thinke such a guide out of his wits Especially when he shall see both wayes alike old alike beaten both vvayes to haue passengers successiuely alike frequent both wayes to be intire and singular both wayes to be called old and both wayes to be visible Thus both wayes doubtlesse he would be wilde except he had better directions And yet this is the case of the Church which some would thus marke out to the beleefe and obedience of all men But to conclude all these are no true markes but the Scripture is the true and vnfallible Euidence to bound the Church out to him that vvill be heedfull to obserue and faithfull to beleeue and humble to obay as we hope to manifest Heere then it were meete I should giue you some infallible and inseperable note of the true way hauing showne or rather pointed at the defect of these which the Church of Rome produceth But then I should offer violence both to your patience and to the Text the time not permitting so large a discourse and my Text leading me to discouer the false way with seemes right but giuing no warrant to proceede farther Only to conclude all since it is within my Commission to manifest the false way I will giue you one note a sure one whereby you may know when you are out of the right way that so you may shun error and seeke truth and ensue it till death that in the end you may finde euerlasting life Briefly Christ himselfe saith I am the way the truth and the life Ioh. 4. no man commeth to the Father but by me He is the way to walke in the truth to guide you the life wherewithall you walke And if you would finde this way hee himselfe learnes you a rule Ioh. 5. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them you thinke to haue eternall life and those are they that beare witnesse of me And he there vpbraydes the Iewes because they gaue no credit or heede to the Scriptures but preferd the traditions and doctrines of their forefathers before it Iohn 5. 46. 47. saying Had yee beleeued Moses yee would haue beleeued me for he wrote of me But if you beleeue not his writings how shall yee beleeue my words Therefore the Apostle cals all Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 3. 16 as a doctrine inspired by God to make men wise to saluation and so beleeuing himselfe and teaching others to beleeue he praiseth Timothy for being from a childe brought vp in them 2. Tim. 3. 15 and he exhorts all men to follow him as he keepes in this way and vvalkes after Christ Iesus and no otherwise For so long he is sure he goeth right and they may follow him with security Now then I do not say vvheresoeuer thou seest the Scripture set forth for a signe there Christ is vvithin there is the true way the true Church But I say wheresoeuer thou canst not see the Scripture be assured thou art out of the way for the Scripture must be euer in thy eye being that setled Land-marke by vvhich thou must try and know and to vvhich thou must reduce and bring all thy other coast-marks and sea-marks So it is that Antiquity vvhich agrees vvith the verity of the Scripture that multitude vvhich vvorship God according to the rules of the Scripture that Sucession vvhich suceeed in the truth of doctrine deliuered in the Scripture that vnity vvhich beleeues the Trinity taught in the Scripture that Catholique Church vvhich is founded vpon and vniuersally agreeth vvith the truth of the Scripture that visible congregation vvhich are seene to God and vvhich see God as he reueales himselfe in the Scripture that become notes by vvhich thou maist safely trauaile in this doubtfull vvay of mortality So that the Scripture must euer be present to make these infallible though perhaps it be not of absolute necessity that all these be euer present vvith the Scripture to make the Church true The Heathens of old burnt the books of Numa because he bewrayd therein the prophane misteries of their Idolatries The Turks at this day keepe their people in ignorance no man must see into no man must dispute or argue of their Sect. And thus our Adversaries of Rome deale vvith the Scriptures resembling heerin the Heathens Turkes vvould yet make the vvorld beleeue that they are the only Christians And lest they should seeme insanire sine ratione they haue a seeming reason why they permit not the Scriptures to be in the mother-tongue of euery Nation publiquely to be read by them lest forsooth as the Rhemists say in their preface they should hurt themselues as vvith fire or water or kniues or swords or the like And vvhy do they not put out the Sunne because it hurts the gazers eyes or why put they not out their eyes to preuent hurting especially since they mis-leade many a man to lust and vanity To argue from the abuse of things indifferent to remoue the lawfull vse of them is an abuseof sence and reason But in things of this kinde of absolute necessitie it is an intolerable and presumptuous foolery Nature cannot bee so blinde as to suffer any but naturals to beleeue this their doctrine and to vvalke in this their way Pro. 4. 18. 19. for Salomon saith The way of the wicked is as darknes they know not at what they stumble But the path of theiust is as the shining light that shineth more and more vnto the perfect day True but vvill some say All Heretickes hang out this flagge and all boast of the Scriptures how shall wee then know the true vvay from the false by that which is common to all vvayes or vvhich all vvayes at least chalenge and make shew of Obserue euen from this obiection the force and authority of the Scriptures vnder which falsehood aswell as truth seeks to shelter herselfe because falsehood by this glasse learnes to trimme herselfe vp like truth And looke as the Heathens by their Idolatries proued aswell that there vvas a God Act. 17. 23. Rom. 1. as the Iewes by their true vvorship because nature taught the most barbarous Nation to adore some Deity and rather to make a God of a Calfe a beast a bird a stone then to be a godlesse Atheist so all Heresies and falsehoods beare witnesse for the truth and authority of the Scriptures vvhilst they striue to iustifie themselues thereby knowing without the Scripture all other their arguments notes and pretences how plentifull or plausible soeuer they bee are nothing to the purpose and therefore they labour to wrest the Scripture to their fancie And could the Church of Rome by this euidence approue her present practise and doctrine I assure my selfe she would looke no farther but vvould permit euery man to reade the same at pleasure nay she would command the reading thereof vnder the paine of
30 but this seemes good yet it is not so Then this is spoken of the vvayes of Man and they are likewise twofold Either the vvay of knowledge and vnderstanding Or the vvay of Practise or Action The way of knowledge 1. Vrim is that Faith or Religion which a man beleeues to be the truth so farre as he vnderstands and by vvhich he hopes to attaine lâ—fe and happines hereafter Act. 24. 14. And in this sense it is taken Act. 14. 16. 19. 9. And so it sounds as if Salomon had sayd There is a Religion which a man supposeth to be the truth and the right way to Heauen but it is false and erroneous and the next way to Hell The way of Practise or Action is our conuersation 2. Thummim manners and fashion of liuing and dealing betwixt man and man in vice or in vertue Iustice or injurie equity or iniquity and so it is taken Mat. 21. 32. And then the sense is as if Salomon had sayd There is a course of life which a man thinkes very upright and iust and so iudgeth himselfe a holy Man whilst he liues heere in it but it is a most deceitfull trade of life bringing a man to death dishonor and destruction But for our more cleere vnderstanding and discerning of this point we will speake first of the way of Religion being the Speculatiue part whose obiect is truth and falshood And then of Practise being the actiue part whose object is good and bad And this the rather because knowledge or the Theory better suites and answeres the way then action or the practique and action more properly corresponds to our passage trauaile and walking in that way So for doctrine wee will only speake of the truth or falsehood of Religion and vvill reserue the practique part our life our manners and conversation for the vse and application of those points of doctrine which from hence shall naturally and properly flow And thus much for subiect that we may know what it is that Salomon vailes vnder this shadow The way 2. The Quality Which seemes right This is the Quality of the Way which whilst Salomon thus describes he affoords vs from hence a foure-fold diuision according to that common Proverbe The Italian seemes wise and is wise the Spaniard seemes wise and is a foole the French seemes a foole and is wise and the English seemes a foole and is a foole So here There is a way which seemes right and is wrong and to that is opposed A way which seemes wrong and is right and there is A way which seemes wrong and is wrong and to that is opposed A way which seemes right and is right Now these seeme foure diuerse wayes Terminus a quo Terminus ad quem but indeed are but two as two crosse or ouerthwart wayes seeme to him that stands in the midst to bee foure yet haue but two beginnings and two ends so here the difference is not so manifold in the subiect but in the Iudges to vvhose sight these vvayes appeare after a diuerse manner according to the truth or error of their apprehensions For that the right way seemes vvrong or the vvrong vvay seemes right proceedes à deceptione visus from error of judgement For we see an euill vvay may to one man seeme right and yet be wrong and the same vvay to another may both seeme wrong and be wrong and a good way may to an euill sight seeme wrong 1. Sam. 12. 23. and yet bee right and the same way to a good sight may both seeme right and be right Now vvhilst I speake of a good way and a bad vvay I intend a true Religion and a false Religion for as a vvay may be faire which vvee call a good vvay and yet be indirect so a Religion may be glorious to the eye and furnished with faire pretences yet be false And as a vvay may be foule vvhich wee call a bad vvay and yet carry vs directly to the place whither we tend so a Religion may bee naked poore plaine in shew persecuted afflicted scorned contemned of the greatest part of the vvorld of the mighty noble learned politicke and yet be the true Religion and the true direct vvay to happinesse hereafter the lesse happinesse it hath here Having then Religion for our subiect if we looke vpon it vve shall finde three Religions in the vvorld especially justling for the truth of this way The Turkes the Iewes the Christians nor need any man to vvonder at this that I should mention Turkes and Iewes vvith Christians for the Iewes Religion yea the Turkes superstition seemes in their eyes to them as true and as right as ours doth to vs and vve haue nothing but the Scriptures to distinguish them and vs asunder I meane the consent of Scripture Lawe and Prophets Olde and New Spirit and Letter for some passages and obscure places they pretend though vnjustly to be for them But because vve know vvhatsoeuer they boast that their Religions are wayes vvhich both seeme vvrong to all good or indifferent judgements as they are wrong in Gods judgement and because our hope is to haue no hearers here but Christians vvee vvill leaue them to themselues speake of the diuersitie of wayes amongst vs vvhich appeare principally to bee foure euery one clayming truth and holding their Relâ—gion to bee Orthodoxe and so the onely right vvay to heauen 1. The first of these are the Grecians or the East Church 2. The second the Abissins or South Church vnder Presbiter Iohn 3. The West Church or Church of Rome vnder the Pope 4. The fourth is the Reformed Church vnder diuers Princes vvhich for distinction sake and perhaps situation hauing respect to some of these vvee may call the North Church Now if any man expect I should sub-divide the Reformed Religion because there are some differences amongst vs and such as in some times and with some hot-headed persons breed great combustions in the Church I shal not need neither truly ought I to do it because all of vs except the Heretiques who are generally cut off from the body of Christ by vs all or those Schismatickes who separate and cut themselues off as persons that haue no way that haue no tract of Antiquity or any footestep to follow directly in the Scripture agree in the way it selfe though perhaps some of vs may vary either in the manner of walking in that way or in some ceremony and circumstance of deuotion or discipline which is as the hedge and ditch and fence of this way and no essentiall part of the way it felfe but rather for the order ease and conveniencie of the Traueller And thus those whom our aduersaries miscall Lutherans Protestants Puritans walke as Iacobs sonnes did out of Egypt to fetch their good old father thither to whom their brother Ioseph knowing their stubborne crosse proude and peruerse natures gaue them this admonition aforehand See that you fall not out by