so binde the conscience that the not obseruing of them be a sinne whereto it may bee answered that to speake properly God onely raigneth in the consciences of men and sinne is the transgression of the law that is of law Diuine Notwithstanding when Gods law is so intwined with mans law that mans law cannot be broken without the violation of Gods law then the breach of mans law is not without sinne Therefore if an Ecclesiasticall Canon be made of a matter lawfull in a lawfull maner to a lawfull end by lawfull authoritie according to the generall rules of Scripture containing in it nothing repugnant to Scripture nothing contrarie to faith or good maners then that law is approoued in the sight of the Almightie and seemeth to Caluin and other learned Diuines not meerely humane but in some sort Diuine And in the iudgement of Beza doth so farre binde the conscience that no man can wilfully transgresse it without sinne And although the things we speake of be indifferent yet being lawfully commanded the obseruation of them is not a thing indifferent but necessarie because the Lord hath saide Let euery soule be subiect to the higher power And though the omission of a ceremonie bee in it selfe a small matter yet to doe it with resistance of authoritie is no small matter for Whosoeuer resisteth power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receiue to themselues condemnation and therefore we must be subiect for conscience sake But heere peraduenture it will be demanded how this doth stand with Christian libertie for answer whereof may it please them to know that Christian libertie consisteth not in breaking of wholsome lawes God forbid that were fantasticall and Anabaptisticall But to touch it so farre as concernes our present purpose in these branches following First we are not tied to this or that paterne but being within our selues a Church not depending vpon any other our Church gouernors haue libertie to establish whatsoeuer being in it selfe indifferent shall to their wisedome seeme most expedient alwaies prouided that all things bee done honestly and in order Secondly this is our libertie that things indifferent being established we retaine them not as a part of diuine worship not as meritorious or satisfactorie not as necessarie to iustification or saluation but onely for discipline and orders sake Thirdly if there shal happen any contempt or irreuerence they may be altred and changed by lawfull authoritie which may likewise ordaine and publish such further ceremonies or rites as may bee most for the aduancement of Gods glory and therefore they are not established as perpetuall but so long as in the eie of publike iudgement they shal seeme conuenient profitable for the Church of Christ. But some peraduenture will replie and saie If things indifferent be such as God hath not commanded why then should the Church presume to impose them vpon vs and so abridge our libertie which God hath not abridged I answer that it is no presumption at all but the lawfull vse of lawfull authority For things are either commanded of the Lord or forbidden or left indifferent That which God hath certainely commanded man may not forbid that which God hath certainely forbidden man may not command or impose by any law For that in the iudgement of S. Austin deserueth not the name of a law which inioines things vnlawfull Againe if authoritie command the same thing which God commandeth or forbid that which he hath forbidden this is not the enacting of a new law but a dutifull declaration and due execution of Gods law But those things which God hath neither commanded nor forbidden he hath left to be disposed by the law of man In which case the Soueraigne may command his subiect and the Church her children and it is the dutie of the inferiour therein to be obedient He that denieth this taketh away the Sunne out of the world dissolueth vniuersally the fabricke of gouernment ouerthroweth families corporations Churches and kingdoms and wrappeth all things in the dismall darknesse of Anarchie and confusion And though this be in some sort the abridging of thy libertie yet it is for the common good and according to the rules of equitie and the Prince or Church in so commanding thee doth no further abridge thy libertie then God doth allow them to abridge it 10 Lastly when it is said vnto the Churches Let all things be done it is plaine that this dutie is laid vpon the Church to prouide that these things bee effectually done and consequently that God which gaue her this charge hath armed her with authoritie She may censure disobedient children God hath giuen to his Church in all ages not onely a rule for direction but a rodde of correction this is the iudgement of all learned men as appeeres by the practise of the whole Christian world And thus much of the explication and so I come to the application 11 Hitherto you haue seene the ballance of the Sanctuary Now it remaineth that the Canons and Constitutions of our own Church be weighed examined in this ballance Wherein although I acknowledge that lawes solemnly established doe rather require obedience then disputation yet because the lawes vnder which wee liue are such God be thanked as need not to shunne the light and forasmuch as many otherwise vertuous and well disposed mindes and some of them very learned and laborious in the Church of Christ while they haue trauelled in waightier matters haue mistaken somethings of lesser moment Therefore giue me leaue in the spirit of meeknesse to instruct them that are contrarie minded which I doe not to call the present lawes in question I haue no such meaning but to quiet and settle the vnresolued conscience that that we may all performe cheerefull obedience to God and the Prince And if any man thinke that this discourse were more seasonable in an assemblie of Ministers let them consider First that this famous auditorie is furnished with a great number of the Ministerie Secondly that this is the place of iurisdiction Thirdly that the handling of these points is very profitable for the people for the true knowledge of the authoritie of the Prince in things indifferent is the very foundation of Christian obedience And though I know that the handling of these points is very subiect to censure yet for my brethrens sake of the Ministrie my hart is turned within me and my bowels of compassion are rowled together and therefore I am resolued to wade through honour and dishonor good report and bad report for the workes sake which I couet to performe Now this application by Gods grace shall bee diuided into three generall parts First a declaration that in the Church of England the principall points for the time will not suffer mee to speake of all are established honestly and in order Secondly a confutation of certaine generall exceptions to the contrarie Thirdly an exhortation
questions of discipline professeth that hee misliketh the frowardnesse of those men which for light scruples depart from the publike consent and hee protested to the English Church at Franckford that in externall rites he did show himselfe easie and flexible Wherefore I wish that you which in other things so magnifie and admire the person of Caluin would in this point follow the sound iudgement graue counsell and tractable disposition of Caluin But if you suppose those things which are imposed vpon you to be impieties then you dissent from M. Caluin who though he censured many things in our Church somewhat sharpely yet hee confessed that there was no manifest impietie and therefore the supposed blemishes of our Church hee accounted and tearmed tolerable but if you esteeme them intolerable remember you are men consider that you may be deceiued and therefore examine your grounds againe and againe without partiality and carry this Christian minde to forsake your selues to follow the trueth If you be ledde by example and pin your iudgement vpon other mens fleeues you must be content to bee tolde what an injurie you doe to the Church of England in suffering the opinions of priuate men to ouer-ballance with you the publike determination of such a nationall Church But if you will needs looke vpon examples then behold the former examples of Caluin and of that glorious martyr master Hooper who though hee did long withstand yet was not so wedded to his owne opinion but that at last after long conference hee reformed himselfe and yeelded to the publike iudgement of the Chuch of England 32 If you relie vpon reasons artificially deduced are they probable or demonstratiue if probabilities onely what trueth is there in the world so sound but a carping wit may finde some probabilities against it The holy Scripture hath beene oppugned though without all trueth yet with some probabilitie And reason it selfe can borrow a reason from nature to reason against faith But how shall the conscience of a subiect bee discharged in disobeying the commandement of his Prince vpon deceiueable probabilities Indeed if you can produce any one necessarie and demonstratiue reason to prooue that the things imposed vpon you are contrarie to Gods word then it must needs bee confessed that you are bound in conscience to refraine for we must rather obey God then man But what if you thinke a reason to be necessarie when it is not may not you be taken for such as haue vnnecessarilie troubled the Church of God your reasons out of Scripture against our orders when they come to the scanning prooue no such matters of necessitie as you pretend As for example those places which you vrge in such peremptory maner for the lay presbiterie wherein consisteth the life and soule of your desired discipline And whosoeuer shall examine the quotations of your admonitions to the Parliament shall finde them in some part violations of Gods holie word What is it to abuse the maiestie of Scripture if this benot 40 But peraduenture you will replie that howsoeuer your arguments be in themselues yet to you they seeme inuinciblie to conclude our orders to be vnlawful according to the saying of S. Paul I know and am perswaded through the Lord Iesus that there is nothing vncleane of it selfe but vnto him that iudgeth any thing to be vncleane to him it is vncleane In regard wherof many of you pretend that the conformitie required is against your conscience but beware lest this conscience proove an erronious conscience If you say that an erronious conscience bindeth so farre that whatsoeuer is done against it is sinne in the doer and therefore though conformitie in it selfe were lawfull yet because you iudge it vnlawfull in you it were sinne If this be your replie then tell mee I praie you whether the errour of the conscience take awaie the sinne of the soule in disobeying the lawfull commandement of lawfull authoritie If it bee cleere that it doe not because transgression is transgression and sinne is sinne though an erroneous conscience crie a thousand times to the contrarie Then see I beseech you into what perplexities you cast your selues If you should conforme you tell vs that you should sinne because it is against your conscience and if you do not conforme wee must tell you that you sinne because it is vniustifiable disobedience Thus if your conscience vpon iust trial shall proue erronious you are euery way insnared and intangled but if you stand vpon the cleering of your conscience as though it were void of all errour then let it so appeare by the holy Scripture and let not such vehement affirmations bee supported by such weake and feeble inducements It behoueth you which withstand the ceremonies established by the sacred authoritie of such a religious Prince and such a nationall Church to stand vpon such pregnant and infallible proofes as may vndoubtedly perswade the conscience that the things commanded are vnlawfull or if you cannot then without all question you are bound in conscience to reforme your conscience or at lest to suspend your iudgement But how shall this be done If heeretofore you haue fixed both eies vpon the one side vouchsafe now to cast one eie vpon the learning wisdome grauitie of the other If heretofore you haue greedily deuoured the bookes of the one vouchsafe now without preiudice to reade and consider what is said by the other If heretofore you haue looked vpon your owne reasons through the vapour of affection and therfore haue conceiued them to be greater and goodlier then in trueth they were dispell now all mists and clouds of partiallitie and pray to God in humilitie that his precious trueth may shine vnto you If you doe thus then peraduenture those reasons which heeretofore seemed giants in your eies may prooue like little dwarfes and those which heeretofore obtruded themselues to a minde sophisticate with partialitie as demonstrations may perhaps appeare to a pure and single eie nothing else but slender and sillie collections And for the better performance let mee intreat you to haue alwaies one eie fixed vpon the nature of things indifferent and the other vpon the dutie of a subiect to his Soueraigne 41 Some men will say that they could bee content to yeeld but onely because they haue so long withstood by preaching and practising the contrarie Those men in so saying approoue the orders of the Church of England for lawfull and condemne their owne former and present resistance for vnlawfull and therefore if they carrie so tender a conscience as they pretend why then doe they not leaue that disobedience which their conscience iudgeth vnlawful and imbrace that obedience which they know to be lawful But they imagine that in so doing their credit should be blemished with a note of inconstancie As though it were any credit to bee constant in euill things or any discredit to change for the better Indeed a good name is a precious
And verilie for priuate men to range without the compasse of their calling and vpon their priuate opinions to controle the publike iudgement of the Church in a matter of decencie is in mine opinion a matter very vndecent Likewise seeing the spirit hath said Let all things be done by order therefore doubtles in the Church of God there must be an order But who shall appoint this order shall euery man doe what he list that were disorder Shall priuate men make publike constitutions that were against good order Therefore it remaineth that they onely haue authoritie to make Church orders whom the Lord hath made Church gouernours Now in an absolute kingdome as this of England the King by the law of God is the onely supreme gouernor of all persons and causes Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill within his owne kingdome Therefore the King and those which vnder the King haue the regiment of the Church lawfully committed vnto them haue lawfull authoritie to make Church-orders 8 Thirdly though Church gouernours may make Church lawes yet they may not establish what they list God hath inrailed their authoritie with certaine bounds and limits which they may not passe All their Canons must be framed according to the generall Canons of the holie Scripture which may aptly bee reduced to these two expressed in my text Let all things be done honestly and by order First honestly that is as was before declared in decent sort with relation to the glorie of God and the edification of the Church without scandall Secondly according to order for God is the God of order and not of eonfusion Now if all things in the Church must be done decently then nothing may be established which is base or beggerly The ceremonies of the Church though they cannot alwaies be costly yet they must alwaies be comely Againe if all things bee decent then religious solemnities must be performed with grauitie magnificent they may be and sumptuous according to circumstance of time person and place but alwaies without vanitie without luxurious pompe or meretricious brauery If all things must be done to the glory of God then nothing may be established in superstitious or idolatrous maner for that were repugnant to the glory of his maiestie then nothing must be established contrarie to the Scripture for that were repugnant to the glory of his wisedome then things indifferent must be established as indifferent not as meritorious or satisfactorie not as necessarie to diuine worship to iustification or saluation for this were repugnant to the glorie of his grace If all things must bee done to edification then the ceremonies of the Church must not be darke and dumbe but so cleerely set foorth that euery man may know what they meane and to what vse they serue If all things must be done to edification then Church gouernors must duly intend the soules health of Gods people framing all their Canons for the common good To which purpose the Church of Iesus Christ vseth her ceremonies either to imprint in mens mindes some reuerend mysterie of religion as when she appointed thrice powring on of water in Baptisme signifying the trinitie of the persons or once to signifie the vnitie of the Godhead or els some sanctified affection as when we pray kneeling by the bending of the knee signifyng the bending of the heart or confesse our faith standing to betoken our boldnesse or els she desireth to kindle deuotion as when she praiseth the Lord with the melodie of musicke or to put men in minde of their dutie so the blacke garment may admonish the Minister of grauitie the white of puritie The ornaments of the Vniuersitie may admonish the people to honor him whom the Church hath honored and may put the Minister in minde of his dutie seeing he hath receiued the ensignes of learning and vertue Finally euen things of inferior regard must in their kinde tend to edification The verie belles must giue a certaine sound that it may appeere when they call vs to the Church when they warne vs to praie for the sicke when they signifie that a brother or sister is departed Yea the very Pulpets and seats must beso placed as euery man may conueniently heare so euery thing according to his nature and degree must be referred to edification If all things must be done without scandall then nothing which is sinfull may be established for all sinne is of scandalizing nature yea euen things indifferent wherein is apparant danger of superstition or idolatrie are to be remooued for we must abstaine from all appearance of euill If all things must bee done in order then confusion by all meanes must bee auoided and consequently the Church must not exceed in superfluitie of ceremonies lest religion it self be ouershadowed as it were a grape with much abundance of leaues If all things must bee done in order then the Lay-man must not bee suffered to intrude himselfe into the office of a Minister in ministring the Word and Sacraments nor the inferior Minister to vsurpe that which belongeth to the Bishop but euery man must keepe his owne ranke and therein proceed according to order And that no maruell seeing the whole fabricke of the World both the celestiall orbes and the globe of elements are framed and vpholden by order The fixed starres in their motions and reuolutions keepe a most firme and fixed order The Planets though compared with the fixed they may seeme to wander yet in trueth they obserue a most certaine and neuer wandring order The day in opening and closing the Moone in waxing and waining the sea in ebbing and flowing haue their interchangeable course wherein they continue an vnchangeable order The Storke Swallow Turtle and Crane knowe their appointed time the Cranes doe also flie in order The Grashoppers haue no King yet goe they foorth all by bands The Bees are little creatures yet are they great obseruers of order Amongst men in peace nothing can flourish in warres nothing can prosper without order Order proceedeth from the throne of the Almightie it is the beautie of nature the ornament of Arte the harmonie of the world Now shall all things be in order and the Church of God onely without order God forbid The Church is a Garden inclosed and a garden must be in order The house of God and Gods house should be in order an armie with banners and an armie should bee marshalled in order Therefore in the Church of God Let all things be done honestly and by order 9 Fourthly wee may obserue that as Church gouernours may make Church lawes so all that liue in the bosome of that Church must respectiuely obserue the same For otherwise how can all things be done honestly and according to order Therefore as the enacting of good lawes so the obseruation of them is necessarie But some will demand what degree of necessitie is required whether humane lawes doe