ad Eugen l. 2. I ergo tu tibi usurpare aude aut dominans apostolatum aut apostolicus dominatum c. Bernard was in the wrong for hee inferres the cleane contrary from it and which is most considerable in a booke of consideration dedicated to the Pope himselfe Peter could not give thee that which he had not what he had that he gave thee care over the Churches but did hee not also give thee dominion heare what himselfe saith not as being Lords over Gods heritage but being made examples to the flocke lest any man should thinke that this was spoken onely in humility and not in truth it is the voice of the Lord in the Gospell Kings of the nations beare rule over them but it shall not bee so with you it is plaine that Lord-like dominion is forbidden to the Apostles goe too therefore now and assume to thy selfe if thou dare either the office of an Apostle if thou be a Lord or Lord-like Dominion if thou be an Apostle Howbeit I deny not that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used sometimes signifieth to rule with Princely authority and Lord-like command both in Scriptures and prophane Writers as a Hom. Il. 1. Homer stileth King Agamemnon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Shepheard of the people so God himselfe calleth Cyrus his b Esay 44.28 That saith of Cyrus he is my shepheard Shepheard and which is very observable Cyrus as if hee had taken notice of this name imposed by God upon him before his birth was wont usually to say c Xen. Cyr. poed l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That a good Prince was like a good Shepheard who can by no other meanes grow rich than by making his flocke to thrive under him the prosperity of the subject is not only the honour but the wealth also of the Prince All this maketh nothing for the Popes triple Crowne to which hee layeth claime by vertue of Christs threefold pasce or feede Joh. 21.15.16.17 for neither doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 originally nor properly nor usually signifie to reigne as a King especially when oves meae or grex domini my sheepe or the flocke of God is construed with it nor can it be so taken here or Joh. 21. as the light of both texts set together reflecting one upon the other will cleer the point For that which Christ enjoyneth Peter Joh. 21. that Peter here enjoyneth all Elders the words of the charge are the same Feede my sheepe there Feede the flocke of God here But Saint Peter enjoyneth not all Elders in these words to rule with soveraigne authority as Kings over the whole flocke or as Lords over their owne peculiar for this hee expressely forbiddeth ver 3. therefore to usurpe authority over the whole Church or to domineere over any part thereof is not to feede according to Christs charge to Saint Peter or Saint Peters to all Elders What is it then if you have reference to the Etymology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to feede as the word imports in the originall is to reside upon our cure or abide with our flocke where the spouse is commanded to seeke Christ d Cant. 1.8 goe thy way forth to the footsteps of the flocke And indeed where should the Sentinell be but upon his watch-tower where the Pilot but at the sterne where the intelligence but at his orbe where the sunne but within his ecliptick line where the candle but in the candle-stick where the diamond but in the ring where the shepheard but among his flocke whom hee is to feede for whom he is to provide of whom hee is to take the over-sight to whom hee ought to bee an example which hee cannot be if hee never be in their sight But because this observation is grounded only upon the Etymology I will lay no more stresse upon it The proper and full signification of the word is pastorem agere to play the good shepheard or exercise the function of a Pastor which consisteth in three things especially 1 Docendo quid facere debeant 2 Orando ut facere possint 3 Increpando si non faciant 1 In teaching those of his flock what they ought to doe 2 In praying that they may doe it 3 In reproving if they doe it not All which may bee reduced to a threefold feeding 1 With the Word Jer. 3. Jer. 3.15 I will give you pastors according to mine owne heart that shall feede you with knowledge and understanding 2 With the Sacraments Apoc. 2. Joh. 6. 3 With the Rod Micah 7.14 To feed with the Word and Sacraments is the common duty of all Pastors but to feed with the rod is reserved to Bishops they are Seraphims holding the spirituall sword of excommunication in their hands to guard the tree of life whose speciall office and eminent degree in the Church is implyed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the vulgar latine rendereth providentes but Saint e Aug. de civ l. 19 c. 19. Supervidentes appellantur ut intelligant se non esse episcopos qui prae esse dilexerint non prodesse Austine more agreeable to the Etymology supervidentes super-visours or super-intendents Yet this is but a generall notation of the name every Bishop is a super-visour or over-seer but every super-visour is not a Bishop The Lacedaemonian Magistrates were called Ephori which is an equivalent stile to Episcopi and f Euseb vit Constant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constantine the great spake as truely as piously to his Bishops Yee reverend Fathers are Bishops of them that are within the Church but I of them that are out of the Church where your pastorall staffe is too short I will piece it out and lengthen it with my scepter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the most proper and restreyned signification is to exercise Episcopall authority or performe the office of a Bishop which consisteth in two things 1 In ordaining 2 Ordering 1 Giving orders 2 Keeping order Saint Paul giveth g Tit. 1.5 Titus both in charge for this cause left I thee in Crete to ordaine Elders in every Church there is the first to wit ordination and to set in order things that are wanting or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to correct things out of order there is the second viz. ordering or reformation Timothy likewise the first consecrated Bishop of Ephesus is put in minde of these branches of his Episcopall function of the first h 1 Tim. 5.22.19 Lay hands suddenly on no man of the second Against an Elder receive not an accusation but under two or three witnesses i ver 20. Them that sinne rebuke before all that others also may feare Be not k ver 22. partaker of any other mans sinnes to wit by not censuring or punishing them These two offices to bee most necessary in the Church every mans reason and common experience will informe us For
letter on this manner To the Pastour of London unlesse he meant the Bishop or chiefe Pastour Now it is evident out of the twentieth chapter of the Acts ver 17. and all ancient stories that there were divers Ministers or Presbyters in each of these seven Churches He therefore to whom the letter was addressed in particular to the Angel could be no other than the Bishop or Superintendent of the place who is here blamed for suffering Jezebel to teach which sheweth that he had Episcopall power and authoritie to silence and suspend her or any other erroneous Teacher within his Diocesse What should I adde out of k Lib. 3. c. 3. Irenaeus Polycarpus ab Apostolis in ea quae est Smyrnae Ecclesiâ constitutus est Episcopus quem nos vidimus in primâ aetate nostrâ that the Angell of Smyrna was Bishop Polycarpus ordained by the Apostles themselves whom he himselfe saw in his younger years Or out of l In ep ad Tit. l. 1. Toto orbe decretum est ut unus Presbyterelectus superponeretur caeteris ad quem omnis Ecclesiae cura pertineret Jerome that to prevent schismes among Presbyters and Priests Episcopall governement was established through the whole world And let this suffice to be spoken of the office of this Angell we will now consider of his charge or that wherewith the Holy Ghost here burdeneth him the toleration of heresie and idolatrie I have a few things against thee That thou sufferest m Variam miscellaneam Religionem induxerunt sceptro tuendo ne unquam conspirare interse omnes possint Diodorus Siculus reporteth that the ancient Kings of Egypt made a kinde of medley of religion to serve their turne that the people might thereby be distracted and so disabled from attempting any thing against the State And we reade likewise in n Ecclesiast hist l. 4. c. 27. Socrates of Themistius that he laboured to perswade Valens the Emperour that God was well pleased with varietie of sects dum it a pluribus modis colitur because by this toleration of divers religions God is worshipped after divers manners And Father Parsons with whom o Lib. 3. de rep c. 7. Bodine the great Statesman of France and Cardinall p In Apolog. Allen and William q In his answer to the reformed Catholike Bishop Seminarie Priest joyne hearts and pens spending the strength of their wit and flower of their learning in this argument of toleration taking upon them to prove first in Thesi that Religions differing in substantiall points and fundamentall grounds are comportable in the same Kingdome and in Hypothesi that it is not only lawfull and expedient but also honourable for the King of Great Britaine to permit the publicke profession and practice of the Romish Religion within his Kingdomes For the proofe of their Thesis they alledge but one text of Scripture and that miserably wrested r Mat. 13.30 Sinite utraque crescere in messem let both grow untill the harvest The great want of Scriptures they strive in some sort to supply by conjectures of reason and examples of forreine States but the fairest glosse they set upon their foule assertion is from such plausible sentences of the ancient Fathers as these ſ Lactan l. 5. divin institut c. 14. 20. Quis tam insolens tam elatus est qui me vetet oculos in coelum tollere quis imponat mihi necessitatem vel colendi quod nolim vel non colendi quod velim Nihil est tam voluntarium quam Religio in quâ si animus sacrificantis est aversus jam sublata est jam nulla est Who is so proud as to forbid me to lift up my eyes to heaven Who will impose a necessity upon me either to worship that which I will not or not to worship what I will Nothing so much dependeth on the will as Religion which is not Religion but Hypocrisie if the minde be averse from it t Tertul. ad Scapulam c. 2. Nec religionis est religionem cogere It is against Religion to enforce Religion and constraine men to dissemble with God Verily the chiefest point of Religion consisteth in the inward sacrifice of the heart and devotion of the will and how is it possible to devote our u Bernard in Cant. Fides suadenda non imponend◠will against our will This reason against forcing Religion seemed so forcible to Theodoricus that he forbad all Inquisitions and Tortures in case of Religion For other things saith he we may Religion we cannot command Neither was he singular in this his opinion for upon the like grounds to his Theodosius and Leo Catholike Emperours permitted Churches to the Arrian Heretikes as likewise Constantius and Valentinian Arrian Heretikes granted Oratories to Catholike Bishops The Emperours of Germanie tolerate Lutherans and Zuinglians the French King Hugonots the Grand-Seignior Christians the Pope Jewes in Rome whereunto Bodin addeth the example of the ancient x Aug. l. 18. de Civit. Dei Roma cum omnibus penè gentibus dominaretur omnium penè gentium survivit erroribus Romans who permitted the free use of their Religion to all the Nations they conquered and of the Emperour Alexander Severus who kept in his closet the pictures of Abraham Orpheus Hercules and Christ and privily worshipped them all These are the fairest pretences and plausiblest arguments for toleration How few in number how light in weight how easie and short in the answer First for their text of Scripture let both grow to the harvest which Doctor Bishop setteth in the fore-front of his discourse Can any man of learning and judgement once dreame that our Lords meaning was thereby to inhibite all proceedings against Heretikes and wicked livers to enjoyne all Magistrates to suffer vertue and vice truth and heresie to grow together in the Church till the harvest that is the end of the world Could Doctor Bishop or any other Papist perswade himselfe that our Saviour commandeth that to be done for which he here blameth the Angell of y Mat. 13.30 Thyatira and before the Angell of z Ver. 14. Pergamus Doe not all Papists defend the Inquisition in Spaine and Italie and the Pope their Master his proceedings against Protestants under the name of Heretikes Certainely if Christ in this parable absolutely commands a toleration of Heretickes and Schismatikes under the name of tares the Popish Inquisition is a transgression of Christs command by their owne inference from it which if any Papist maintaine he will not be long out of the Inquisition if he trust not to his heeles he shall feele the gag soone in his mouth and assay the a See the book of the Spanish Inquisition and in it the forme of this bridle man-bridle As for the meaning of the place of Scripture it is cleere in it selfe and hath been long agoe by the Ancients declared to be this that God suffereth hypocrites and dissemblers
downe like a cord or finew and within a few months reacheth the ground which it no sooner toucheth than it taketh root and maketh it selfe a tree and that likewise another and that likewise a third and so forward till they over-runne the whole grove To draw nearer to you my Lord to bee consecrated and so to an end This scripture is part of the Gospell appointed for the Sunday after Easter knowne to the Latine Church by the name of Dominica in albis Which Lords day though in the slower motion of time in our Calendar is not yet come yet according to exact computation this Sunday is Dominica in albis and if you either respect the reverend presence Candidantium or Candidandi or the sacred order of Investiture now to be performed let your eyes be judges whether it may not truely be termed Dominica in albis a Sunday in whites The text it selfe as before in the retexture thereof I shewed is the prototypon or original of all consecrations properly so called For howsoever these words may bee used and are also in the ordination of Priests because they also receive the holy Ghost that is spirituall power and authority yet they receive it not so amply and fully nor without some limitation sith ordination and excommunication have bin ever appropriated and reserved to Bishops And it is to be noted that the Apostles long before this were sent by Christ to preach and baptize and therefore they were not now ordained Priests but consecrated Bishops as Saint c Greg. in Evan. Horum nunc in ecclesiâ Episcopi locum tenent qui gradum regiminis sortiuntur grandis honor sed grave pondus est istius honoris Gregory saith expressely in his illustration of these words Receive the holy Ghost whose sinnes yee remit c. Now Bishops who fit at the sterne of the Church hold the place of those to whom Christ gave here the ghostly power of forgiving sinnes a great honour indeed but a great charge withall and a heavie burden so ponderous in Saint Barnards judgement that it needs the shoulders of an Angell to beare it The Apostles had made good proofe of their faithfulnesse in the ministry of the Word and Sacraments before Christ lifted them up to this higher staire as likewise the venerable Personage now to bee taken up into that ranke hath done For more than thirty yeeres hee hath shined as a starre in the firmament of our Church and now by the primus motor in our heaven is designed to bee an Angell or to speake in the phrase of the Peripatetickes an Intelligence to guide the motion of one of our Spheres Which though it be one of the least his Episcopall dignity is no whit diminished thereby In Saint d Hiero. ad Evag Omnis Episcopus sive Romae sive Eugubii aequalis est meriti Hieromes account every Bishop be his Diocesse great or small is equally a Bishop Episcopatus non suscipit magis minus one Bishop may be richer than another or learneder but hee cannot bee more a Bishop Therefore howsoever e Basil epist 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianzen tooke it unkindly at Saint Basils hands after hee was advanced to the Metropolitical See of Cappadocia and had many good Bishopricks in his gift that he put him upon one of the meanest being ill situated and of small revenue telling him flatly that he gained nothing by his friendship but this lesson not to trust a friend yet it never troubled great Austine that obscure Aurelius worked himselfe into the great and famous Archbishopricke of Carthage whilest this eminent light of the Church stucke all his life at poore Hippo for hee well remembred the words of our Lord and Master f Matth. 25.21 Be thou faithfull in a little and I will set thee over much Suffer I beseech you a word of exhortation and but a word Be faithfull to your Master seeke not your owne but the things that are Jesus Christs It is not sufficient in Nazianzens judgement for a Bishop not to be soyled with the dust of covetousnesse or any other vice g Nazian orat 1 de fuga in pont Privati quidem hominis vitium esse existimet turpia supplicioque digna perpetrare praefecti autem vel antistitis non quam optimum esse he must shine in vertue and if hee bee not much better than other men h Idem orat 20. Antistes improbitatis notam effugere non potest nisi multum antecellat hee is no good Bishop Wherefore as it was said at the creation of the Romane Consul praesta nomen tuum thou art made Consul make good thy name consule reipublicae So give mee leave in this day of your consecration to use a like forme of words to you my Lord Elect Episcopus es praesta nomen tuum you are now to be made a Bishop an Overseer of the Lords flocke make good your name looke over your whole Diocesse observe not onely the sheepe but the Pastors not only those that are lyable to your authority jurisdiction but those also who execute it under you Have an eye to your eyes and hold a strict hand over your hands I meane your officials collectors and receivers and if your eye cause you to offend plucke it out and if your hand cut it off Let it never bee said by any of your Diocesse that they are the better in health for your not visiting them as the i Eras apoth Eò melius habeo quod te medico non utor Lacedemonian Pausanias answered an unskilfull Physician that asked him how hee did the better quoth he because I take none of your Physick Imprint these words alwayes in your heart which give you your indeleble character consider whose spirit you receive by imposition of hands and the Lord give you right understanding in all things it is the spirit of Jesus Christ he breathed and said receive the holy Spirit This spirit of Jesus Christ is 1 The spirit of zeale Joh. 2.17 Bee you not cold in Gods cause whip out buyers and sellers out of the Church 2 The spirit of discretion Joh. 10.14 I am the good shepheard and know my sheepe and am knowne of them Know them well whom you trust with the mysteries of salvation to whom you commit those soules which God hath purchased with his owne blood lay not hands rashly upon any for if the k Matth. 6.23 light be darkenesse how great will the darkenesse be If in giving holy orders and imposition of hands there be a confusion hand over head how great will the confusion be in the Church 3 The spirit of meeknesse Matth. 11.29 Learne of me that I am meek breake not a bruised reede nor quench the smoaking flaxe sis bonus O foelixque tuis be good especially to those of your own calling Take not l Histor Aug. in Aureliano Aurelian for your patterne whose souldiers more feared him than the enemy
Jud. 5.23 Curse ye Meros curse yee bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to the helpe of the Lord against the mighty accurseth all those in the name of Meros that refuse to come in their best equipage to aide the Lord against the mighty r Magdeburg Cent. 5. Pomp. Laetus compend hist Rom. Anastasius the Emperour for his luke-warmnesse in the Catholicke cause and endevouring to reconcile the Arrians and Orthodoxe or at least silence those differences was strucken to death with a hot thunder-bolt No Sacrifice is acceptable to God that is not salted with the fire of zeale which guided by wisedome quickneth and enflameth all the inward desires as well as the outward actions that appertaine to religion for the chiefe seat of zeale is the fountaine of heat and that is the heart there it ſ Psal 45.1 bubbled in David there it t Luk. 24.32 Did not our hearts burne when hee opened to us c. burned in the disciples it u Psal 22.15 My heart is dried c. consumed and dryed up the very substance of the heart in Christ If our zeale burne not inwardly as well as outwardly as well upwards towards God as downewards towards the world if it enflame not our charity as well as incense our piety if the heat of it bee cooled by age or slacked by opposition or extinguished even by floods of bloody persecution it is no true Vestall fire nor such as becommeth Gods altar for that might never this did never go out sincerity it selfe is not so opposite to hypocrisie as zeale Sincerity without zeale is a true but a cold and faint-hearted zeale is an eager fierce hot and couragious enemy of all hypocrites whom shee brandeth with an eternall note of infamy But because all fires are in a manner alike to the eye how should wee know holy fire from prophane heavenly from earthly that is zeale from enraged hypocrisie pretending with Jehu that hee is zealous for the Lord of hostes I answer as a precious Diamond is valued by three things 1 Inward lustre 2 Number of caracts 3 Solidity of substance and thereby is distinguished both from counterfeit gemmes and those that are of lesse value so true zeale is distinguished from hypocriticall by 1 Sincerity 2 Integrity 3 Constancy all which notes are discernable in holy * Psal 119.2 Davids zeale 1 Sincerity I have loved thy testimonies with my heart ver 6. yea my whole heart 2 Integrity I have had respect unto all thy commandements ver 34. all false wayes I abhorre 3 Constancy I have kept thy lawes unto the end ver 44. When the face and hands and outward parts burne as in a feaver the heart is so cold that it quaketh and shivereth so it is with the hypocrite his tongue alwayes and his hands too sometimes burne x Persius satyr Sed pone in pectore dextram Nil calet If you could put your hand into his bowels you should finde his heart like Nabals as cold as a stone True zeale if it bee transported it is in private devotion to God si insanimus Deo insanimus in outward carriage towards men it proceeds resolutely indeed and undauntedly but yet deliberately and discreetly it burneth within most ardently it scarce ever flameth or sparkleth outwardly like those bathes in the Pythecusian Ilands whereof y Balnea in Pythecusiis insulis fervent supra modum calore vi igneâ nec tamen flammam emittunt Vide Aristot mirabilium auscult Aristotle writeth that they are hot above measure and of a fiery nature yet send forth no flame Secondly as insincerity discries the hypocrite so also want of integrity Take the hypocrite that maketh the fairest offer to zeale though hee outstrippe some it may bee in some works of piety and duties of the first Table you shall take him tardy in most acts of charity and duties of the second Table Peradventure he will slay smaller sinnes with the sword of the Spirit like the meanest of the Amalekites but hee will spare Agag and the principall his gainefull sinnes of simony sacriledge usury and oppression hee is never Totus teres atque rotundas Goe he as upright as hee can you shall perceive him to limpe and halt with God or man or both If the point of controversie in the Church no way touch his free-hold hee takes it no more to heart than z Act. 18.17 Gallio did the uproare about Saint Pauls preaching then difference about articles of faith are but contentions about words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but if it rubbe upon his profit or credit with his owne faction then hee never leaveth crying out great is a Act. 19.28 Diana of the Ephesians You may finde an hypocrite zealous against Idolatry but you shall finde him very moderate against sacriledge if he have a moneths minde to Rome he will stickle for the authority of the Church but the scripture is very cheape to him hee will deliver prayers by tale to God the blessed Virgin and Saints but for Sermons hee holds it a kinde of merit to heare few of those of his owne sect and none of any other On the contrary if hee hath beene brought up at the feete of Cartwright or Brown then he is all for Scriptures and nothing at all for the Church all for preaching and nothing for prayer unlesse it be an abortive issue of hi◠owne brain an extemporary indigested incomposed inconsequent ejaculation in which he is never out because he is never in As for the premeditated penned advised and sanctified forme of Service appointed by the Church it is to him like the white of an egge that hath no tast in it But the most certain and infallible character of an hypocrite and his zeale is the soon cooling and abating thereof and in the end evaporating into ayre like a blazing starre he glareth for a time but in a short space playes least in sight like fire-works of danke powder hee never leaves shooting off on these and the like watch-towers whilest his matter lasteth but when that is spent goeth out in a fume or stench True beauty beareth off all weathers but paint is washed off with a shower or discovered by the fire Saint Basil's embleme was columna ignea a fiery pillar fiery there 's his zeale a pillar there 's his constancy I doubt whether nature can present such a stone as the name Asbestus in the original signifieth that is a stone of fire that nothing can extinguish but I am sure grace can and that is this jewell of zeale I have beene so long in describing for it burneth alwayes in the heart and can never be quenched I would bee loath to be thought to goe about to quench the smoaking flaxe or discourage any man in whom there is a sparke of this fire covered with ashes yet I should deceive them or suffer them to be mis-led with an ignis fatuus if I should
obedience bee better than sacrifice the sacrifice of obedience must needs be the best sacrifice Yet so hath the Divell blinded many that they place the greatest Religion in disobedience God accepted not Corah his sacrifice because he sacrificed in schisme nor will hee of their outward religious acts who stand in opposition to the Churches authority Government is as necessary in the Church as in the Commonwealth 3. Qualitatem sacrificiorum sacrifices of righteousnesse that is sacrifices rightly offered Chrysostome sheweth the maner the sanctified will saith he is the altar charity the fire the sword of the Spirit the knife the hand faith 4. Effectum the effect of these sacrifices As good works partake in the name so have they the effect and vertue of sacrifices In a good construction they may be said to appease Gods wrath and to procure unto us spirituall and temporall blessings they may be said to appease Gods wrath three wayes 1. By taking away the fuell thereof viz. sins For as light expelleth darkness so the sacrifice of righteousnesse expelleth impiety and iniquity which provoke Gods wrath 2. By brightning the Image of God in us and making it more conspicuous this 〈…〉 enflame Gods love to us in his beloved Christ Jesus Certainly as 〈◊〉 â—â—aments jewels make a Spouse more amiable in the eies of her hus◠〈◊〉 good works when their imperfections are covered with the robes of 〈◊〉 righteousnes make the soule more amiable in the sight of God and men 3. By making us capable of a greater measure of Gods love and favour For though they are no way meritorious causes of Gods blessings spirituall or temporall yet are they as precious dispositions and conditions in the subject and as these appease Gods wrath so they may bee said to impetrate of God spirituall and temporall blessings In this argument this grave and learned Divine expatiated alledging many remarkable passages out of the ancient Fathers namely out of Saint Chrysostome in Heb. hom 33. Talibus sacrificiis placatur Deus S. Ambrose de penit l. 2. c. 4. Qui agit poenitentiam non solum diluere lachrymis debet peccatum suum sed etiam emendatioribus factis operire tegere delicta superiora ut non ei imputetur peccatum Gelas cont Pelag. concil Tom. 2. Tam jugi supplicatione quam eleemosynis caeterisque bonis actionibus expiandum est peccatum August ep 54. Misericordiae operibus expiatur peccatum Fulgent ep 2. Agnoscamus opera bona locum orationis habere apud Deum Hilar. in Matth. can 4. Charitas errorum nostrorum ad Deum ambitiosa est patrona Tertull. de patient c. 13. Mortificatio aures Christi aperit severitatem dispergit clementiam illicit Greg. moral 9. c. 14. Verba nostra ad Deum sunt opera quae exhibemus Et in Psal 7. poenit Quid est manibus Deum exquirere nisi sanctis operibus invocare Salvatorem Cyp. ep 8. Admoneo religiosam solicitudinem vestram ut ad placandum atque exorandum Dominum non voce solâ sed jejuniis lachrymis omni genere deprecationis ingemiscamus Chrysost 2. Cor. hom 20. Spiritum vocas non verbis sed factis opus clamat fit sacrificium And now that I have set before you the gift of the fourth Speaker viz. a border of gold with studs of silver it remaineth that I work in it as in the three former his embleme consisting of an Image and a Motto the Image is Cotta the Motto the words of Cicero de claris Oratoribus Inveniebat acutè Cotta dicebat purè nihil erat in ejus oratione nisi siccum sanum Cotta his invention was acute his elocution was pure and there was nothing in his Sermon which was not solid and sound THE REHEARSERS CONCLUSION OR THE FASTENING THE BORDERS TO THE SPOUSE HER NECKE AND BREAST PLiny a Plin. l. 2. nat hist c. 44. Metellae Crassi uxoris sepulchrum ita constructum est ut quinquies candem verborum sententiam regerat writeth of an Eccho sounding from the Tombe of Metella Conclusion which repeated the same sentence five severall times this five-fold Eccho I am now become in your eares eandem sententiam quinquies regerens rehearsing now my Text five times foure in repetition and application to the foure Preachers and now the fifth time in the conclusion and application to my selfe Vary the translation as you please yet the collation will still hold if you stand to the last and reade the words wee will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver the collation is already made for the foure borders are the foure methodicall discourses beautified with variety of art and learning which I have imperfectly rendered and nothing remaineth but that as it were with a silke string or ribbon I gather the rowes of pearle and all the borders of gold together which before I tooke off that we might more particularly view them and fasten them all to the Spouse her neck breast by drawing towards an end and pressing close my exhortation to the heart of this great assembly If you follow learned Junius his translation Faciemus tibi aureas lineas cum punctis argenteis you may be pleased to interpret the foure lines of gold drawne at length to bee the foure Texts handled and unfolded at large by the Preachers and the puncta argentea or the points of silver speciall notes of observation upon them placed as points or prickes in a line some in the beginning some in the middle and some in the end The points beginning and continuing wee have already passed and are now come to puncta terminantia the closing points or rather period and full poin of all But if you preferre the Seventies translation before either and will have the Text rendred thus Faciemus tibi similitudines auri cum punctis argenteis Wee will make thee similitudes or resemblances of gold with points of silver my application shall bee in the words of Origen Nos tibi aurea ornamenta facere non possumus non tam divites sumus ut Sponsus qui aureum tibi monile largietur nos similitudines auri faciemus And indeed what are the imperfect notes which I have imparted to you but similitudines obscure resemblances of those borders of gold I spake but now of In which respect as when Marcellus in his Pageant brought in golden Statues or Images of the Cities hee had taken and afterwards Fabius brought in the same carved in wood Chrysippus said wittily Has illarum thecas esse so it may bee truly said that the Sermons which I have repeated were but illorum thecae covers or at the best tables and indexes of theirs the blame whereof lyeth not wholly upon the broken vessell of my memory or my noters for though the vessell be sound and set direct under the spouts mouth it is not possible but that some drops should fall besides and others be blowne away with the
Papists in their transcendent charity exclude Protestants out of all possibility of salvation See Wright his motives That Protestants have no faith no God no religion Fisher his Treat Out of the Romish Church no salvation Bellar. apol 8. Jacobus quia Catholicus non est Christianus non est W.B. his discourse entituled the Non entitie of Protestants religion deny them to have any Church any faith any hope of salvation any interest in Christ any part in God yet wee have learned from the Apostle to render to no man evill for evill nor rebuke for rebuke nor slander for slander wee deny them not to have a Church though very corrupt and unsound wee doubt not but through Gods mercy many thousands of our fore-fathers who lived and dyed in the communion of their Church and according to that measure of knowledge which was revealed unto them out of holy Scripture in the mysteries of salvation led a godly and innocent life not holding any errour against their conscience nor allowing themselves in any knowne sinne continually asking pardon for their negligences and ignorances of God through Christs merits might bee saved though not as Papists that is not by their Popish additions and superstitions but as Protestants that is by those common grounds of Christianity which they hold with us All that I intend to shew herein is that in some practices of theirs they may bee rightly compared to the Heathen as when the Apostle saith that he that provideth not for his owne family is worse than an Infidell his meaning is not that every Christian that is a carelesse housholder is simply in worse state than a Heathen but onely by way of aggravation of that sinne hee teacheth all unthrifts that in that particular they are more culpable than Heathen In like manner my meaning is not to put Papists and Heathen in the same state and ranke as if there were not more hope of a Papist than a Painims salvation but to breed a greater loathing and detestation of Popish idolatry and superstition by paralleling Baalites and other Heathens together I will make it evidently appeare that some particular practices of the Romane Church are no better than Heathenish See Hom. against the perill of Idolatry p. 3. Of this mind were they who laid the first stones of the happy reformation in England Our Image maintainers and worshippers have used and use the same outward rites and manner of honouring and worshipping their Images as the Gentiles did use before their Idols and that therefore they commit idolatry as well inwardly as outwardly as did the wicked Gentile Idolaters If any reply that these Homilies were but Sermons of private men transported with zeale and carry not with them the authority of the whole Church of England I answer that as those Verses of Poets alledged by the Apostle were made part of the Canonicall Scripture by being inserted into his inspired Epistles so the Homilies which are mentioned by name in the 35. Article and commended as containing godly and g His Majesties declaration We doe therefore ratifie and confrme the said Articles which doe containe the doctrine of the Church of Eâ—gland requiring all our loving subjects to continue in the uniforme profession thereof and prohibiting the least difference from the said Articles wholesome doctrine and necessary for the times are made part of the Articles of Religion which are established by authority of the whole Convocation and ratified and confirmed by the royall assent Were not this the expresse judgement of the Church of England whose authority ought to stop the mouth of all that professe themselves to be her children from any way blaunching the idolatrous practices of the Romane Church yet were not the fore-heads of our Image-worshippers made of as hard metall as their Images they would blush to say as they doe that the testimonies which wee alledge out of Scriptures and Fathers make against Idols and not against Image-worship For the words are h Levit. 26.1 Yee shall make no Idoll or graven Images nor reare up any standing Image nor set up any Image of stone to bow downe to it The words are i Exod. 20 4. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any Pesel that is any thing carved or graven And if there may seem any mist in this generall word to any the words following cleerly dispell it Nor the likenesse of any thing that is in heaven above nor in the earth beneath nor in the waters under the earth The third Text is thus rendered in their own vulgar Latine k Deut. 4.15 16 17. Take therefore good heed to your soules for yee saw no manner of similitude in the day which the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire lest peradventure being deceived Custodite sollicitâ— animas vestras non vidistis aliquam similitudinem in die quâ Dominus vobis locutus est in Horeb in medio igne ne fortè faciatis vobis sculptam imaginem vel similitudinem masculi vel foeminae ye make you a graven Image the similitude of any figure the likenesse of male or female the likenesse of any beast that is on the earth the likenesse of any winged fowle that flyeth in the aire the likenesse of any thing that creepeth on the ground the likenesse of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth Neither is our allegation out of the Prophet Esay lesse poignant than the former To whom will m Esay 40.18 19 20. ye liken God or what likenesse will yee compare unto him The workman melteth a graven Image and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and casteth silver chaines Hee that is so impoverished that hee hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot hee seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven Image c. As tor the words Imago and Idolum if wee respect the originall they are all one for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the shape or species of any thing and therefore not onely Aristotle calleth the shapes of things which are received into our senses the idols of the senses but Cardinall n Com. in c. 20. Exod. Cajetan also the images of the Angels in the Arke Idola Cherubinorum If wee regard the most common use of the words they differ as mulier and scortum that is a woman and a strumpet For as a woman abused or defiled by corporall fornication is called a strumpet so all such Images as are abused to spirituall fornication are called Idols Thus Saint o Lib. 8. de orig c. 11. Idolum est simulachrum quod humanâ effigie est consecraâ—um Isidore defineth an Idoll An Idoll is an Image consecrated in an humane shape And at the first all Idols were such but after men fell into grosser idolatry and turned the glory of God not only into the similitude of a p Rom. 1.23