judgement vpon the Conscience and to be the executioner of his lawes or finally hee bindes the Conscience in vaine and to no purpose To say that man is in such sort Lord of the Conscience is vnreasonable because his knowledge and power reach no farther then the outward man To say that man may command God is sacrilegious aduancing man aboue God Lastly to say that he bindeth in vaine and to no purpose is withall to say that their opinion is vaine and that man hath no such power at all To shut vp all in a word vnlesse a man may with as much security obey man as God man who is subject to error and injustice as God who is free from both vnlesse we be all as deeply bound to study the laws of men and to knowe them as we are Gods and to subject our selues as absolutely vnto them it is altogether vnconceauable how humane lawes can bind the Conscience equally with diuine This point being thus cleared it is euident that by conscience in this place wee are with St Peter to vnderstand Conscientiam Dei conscience towards God and to interpret this of St Paul yee must bee subiect for conscience by that of the same St Peter Submit your selues vnto every ordinance of man for the Lords sake as if he should say because God hath bound you to be subiect For God hath laid this obligation vpon man appeares by the very institution of Magistracie For although St Peter call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a humane creature yet his meaning is not that it is not from man but for man and his benefit otherwise S. Paul expresly affirmeth that it is the ordinance of God and Solomon that by him kings raigne The reason mouing God to institute the same was partly his soueraigne Lordship ouer man by right of creation by which he may order and dispose of him at pleasure partly the great loue he beareth vnto humane society which his infinite wisdome saw could not so well be maintained if euery man should be left to himselfe and orderly gouernment were not setled among them Herevpon hee ordained some to be in authority some to liue in subiection commanding the one to rule according to justice and equitie the other to submit themselues with all lowlinesse and humility as I meane touching subiection hath in the first part which is the Dutie beene sufficiently declared Now man being thus by the commandement and ordinance of God bound Conscience cannot bee free but as man shall either subject or not subject himselfe so is Conscience bound to testifie for or against him and to excuse or to accuse him If then yee breake the commandement of God and refuse to be subject there is one who will surely accuse you and will not spare a witnesse whose testimony is omni exceptio ne majus better then a thousand witnesses that will testifie against you even your Conscience But to whom will it accuse Vnto that great and dreadfull Iudge of the whole world whose wisdome can not be deceaued whose justice cannot be corrupted and the execution of whose sentence cannot be avoided And what will the sentence be Perpetuall imprisonment in the bottomelesse dungeon of hell therein eternall torments both of body and soule which although it be not presently executed vpon you yet the worme of conscience instantly will begin to gnaw vpon your soules fill you so full of vnspeakable horror and anguish that your life shall be but a death and this world a hell vnto you But if on the contrary side yee shall for the Lords sake and in obedience to his ordinance yeeld subjectiō vnto the higher powers and vnder them liue dutifully in all godlinesse and honestie then shall your consciences testifie nothing but good of you and excuse you vnto God he shall justifie and acquit you your soule shall bee replenished with vnspeakable peace and comfort so as yee shal haue a heaven vpon earth and in heauen it selfe in due time such ioyes as nor eye hath seene nor eare heard nor ever entred into the thought of man To conclude and summe vp all if either we will keepe a good conscience that we may both here and ever be blessed or will avoid the sting of an euill conscience and the miseries that attend vpon it wee must of necessity be subject Yee must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience And thus haue I finished the second part also which is the Necesstie of the dutie It only remaineth now to adde a word or two by way of vse and application There is a generation of whom both St Peter and St Iude speake that despiseth all gouernment and speaketh evill of Dignities cleane contrary vnto the doctrine of my Text which commandeth all to be subject and to honour and obey the Magistrate But these are not all of the same kinde for some despise it out of an erronious judgment others out of an euill habit and custome They that despise it vpon errour are either Anabaptists or Papists The Anabaptists a fanatical fantastical sect vtterly mislike all gouernment and subjection among Christians It is not without cause that S. Iude calleth such kind of people Dreamers for so indeed they are and their dreame is this that Sin is the cause of Subjection and although it were ordained and allowed to the Iewes because they were but infants yet fits it not vs Christians that are in the state of perfection Shall I dispute against this dotage and shew that even among those blessed spirits that are free frō sinne still persist in the truth there are Thrones Dominations Powers Principalities Angels and Arch-angels That if man had continued in his integritie yet government should haue beene inasmuch as man naturally is sociable and disciplinable the morall law commands to honour father and mother the end of gouernment is Peace with Pietie and Honestie and one man euen then should haue stood in need of another That finally there is now as great a necessity thereof as was among the Iews and that the new Testament would neuer haue commanded Subjection or to pray for Magistrates if it were a sin for a Christian to be a Magistrate But I will not vouchsafe them the honour to dispute with them let it suffice in this honourable auditory barely to affirme first that a Christian safely may be a Magistrate secondly that none is fitter then he because no man better knowes the dutie of a Magistrate then he Lastly that no man can so compleatly and perfectly performe the office of a Magistrate but hee because no man vnderstands the true religion which he is to maintaine and by which he is to gouerne but he As for Papists although they doe not thus reject all government yet doe they many waies both in doctrine and practise avile and abase it For first they giue vnto the Pope a supremacie ouer Princes euen vnto Deposition and depresse
our charge and withall in a provident and honest care for those who belong vnto vs and depend vpon vs The fourth and last and chiefest in the knowledge of the true God and in the serving of him in a true manner with a perfect heart and a willing minde which is the summe of Davids Catechisme composed for the vse of his sonne Solomon For intellectuall wisedome S. Paul himselfe was brought vp at the feet of Gamaliel a famous Lawyer that he had well studied the Greeke Poets appeares by his quotations of them vpon severall occasions and had he beene altogether ignorant of Philosophy he could not at Athens at that time the most renowned Vniversity of the world haue incountred the Philosophers both of the Epicureans and the Stoicks being sects of contrary opinions but bending and banding there forces both together against him The first fruits of the Gentiles who by the conduct of a starre came from Persia to adore our Sauiour excelled no doubt in this kinde of wisedome Moses was learned in all the wisedome of the Aegyptians and so we may presume was Daniel in that of the Caldaeans once we are sure that Solomon even in this kinde of wisedome out-stripped all the Children of the East hee was perfectly skil'd in all the properties of vegetables of foules of fishes of beasts and creeping things whereas then the Apostle giues the Colossians a caveat and vs in them that no man spoile vs through Philosophy his meaning is not to checke true Philosophy whereof singular vse may no doubt be made in Divinitie but the errors of Philosophers or their erroneous application of acknowledged truths true Philosophie it selfe being indeed nothing else but a beame of the divine wisedome the dictate of right reason subordinate to supernaturall revelation which I am confident he neuer intended to gaine say or disswade Of Morall wisedome the same Apostle speakes Ephes. 5.15 Walke circumspectly not as fooles but as wise and againe walke in wisedome toward them which are without Col. 4.5 Of Ciuill our Saviour Be wise as Serpents but innocent as Doues wise as Serpents for the iust defence of your selues but innocent as Doues that you doe not iustly offend others Of spirituall the Prophet Dauid the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome as good vnderstāding haue all they that doe thereafter And as wisdome excelleth among all other vertues so doth this kinde of wisedome among all the other kinds Velut inter ignes Luna minores As doth the Moone to vs when in a cleare night shee fills her circle among the lesser starres the rest if they serue as dutifull hand-maids to her may be very vsefull but in case they should rebell against her they may proue dangerous hurts rather then helps as a knife in the hand of a child or a sword of a mad-man As then those other kinds of wisedome if rightly applyed are not to be excluded out of my text so this kinde is it which without all doubt is chiefly vnderstood and which we are chiefly to labour for and that we may so labour for it as we come to the end of our desires the meanes to attaine are these Frequent and fervent prayer to which S. Iames directeth vs If any lacke wisedome let him aske it of God without wavering and it shall be given him A diligent and serious study of the holy scriptures whereby David professeth himselfe to haue beene made wiser then his enemies his teachers his ancients A conversation comfortable to our knowledge To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the saluation of the Lord A good vse of afflictions schola crucis schola lucis the schoole of affliction is the schoole of wisedome And lastly a daily meditation of our mortality of the shortnesse of our liues and the certaine vncertainty of our deaths Teach vs O Lord to number our dayes that so we may apply our hearts vnto wisedome And as these are the meanes to attaine it so the fruits of it are good workes which our Saviour calleth oile in our lampes and therevpon those Virgins who provided oile in their vessells for the supply of their lampes are by him termed wise and S. Iames more particularly specifies those fruits The wisedome saith he which is from aboue is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated full of mercy good fruits without partiality without hypocrisie It is so pure as it is likewise peaceable without partiality and without hypocrisie And as these be the pretious fruits so the end of this wisedome is saluation from a Child thou hast knowne the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise to saluation In reference both to the fruits aud the end thereof the wise Solomon hath given vs in the third of the Proverbs a singular description of this kinde of wisedome yet not single but accompanied and attended on with the other kinds Happie is the man that findeth wisedome and the man that getteth vnderstanding For the merchandise of it is better then the merchandise of silver and the gaine thereof then the fine gold Shee is more precious then rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared vnto her Length of daies is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Her wayes are wayes of pleasantnesse and all her paths are peace Shee is a tree of life to them that lay hold vpon her and happie is every one that retaineth her Happie is the man that findeth her so he beginns and happie is the man that retaineth her so he ends yea thrice happie shall he be in his life in his death after death in the course of his life shee shall bring him true contentment in the houre of death true comfort and after death true happinesse The first act issueing from wisedome is teaching which though it be not expressed in the English text yet is it necessarily implyed if not primarily intended in the originall word and in some translations we haue it expressed in the very body of the text it selfe as namely in that of Iunius and Tremellius Erudientes teaching or teachers Some there are who desire wisedome for their owne private contentment only this is vaine curiositie some that they may be knowne to be wise this is vaine glory some that they may rise to honour by it this is vaine ambition some that by it they may grow rich this is vaine covetousnesse some that they may profit themselues in the way of godlinesse this is Christian providence and lastly some that they may doe good not only to themselues but to others by teaching and this is Christian Charitie This the Angell foretells in the Chapter here goeing before They that vnderstand among the people shall instruct many and againe in the latter part of the verse immediately following my text many shall runne too and froe and knowledge shall be increased This the Apostle exhorts
given him of his Father he may giue eternall life This I say properly and directly for accidentally he may be vnto some a rocke of offence and the savour of death vnto death namely to all those that shall presume to rise vp against that authority and power which his Father hath giuen him For the further vnfolding of this point foure things are here to bee observed Quid Vnde Quibus Quamdiu Quid what the gift is it is Life Vnde whence it is from the Sonne that hee may giue Quibus to whom it is giuen to as many as thou hast giuen him Quamdiu how long the gift lasteth it is eternall life And of these in order though not according to their worth and desert for who is sufficient for these things yet as it shall please God to enable and assist First Quid what is the gift It is Life Life is double Naturall and Spirituall Naturall is that which things liue by power of nature But this is not heare meant For the Father bestowes this generally on all men whereas the life here intended is to be conferred only on those whom the Father hath given vnto the sonne The Spirituall is likewise double Sinfull or Holy Sinfull is that whereby men liue vnto sinne But because they that so liue are dead vnto righteousnesse the wages thereof is nothing but death neither can this be here meant For this is to be counted rather a Death then a Life whereas the Life here-spoken of is the end wherefore so great power was giuen vnto Christ and so cannot bee but a happy and blessed life The Holy life is therfore here vnderstood a life which none can liue vntill he be dead vnto sinne and elevated by grace aboue nature even that life which in Scripture is called the new life and includeth in it both the life of grace and the life of glory Now because this Spirituall life is denominated Life from the proportion it holds with Naturall life especially that of man vnlesse we first know what this is distinct knowledge of that we cannot well haue any This we cannot know but by the direction of Naturall Philosophy For Naturall life is a terme properly belonging vnto it and the rule of Logicke teacheth that looke to what art the termes doe belong from thence are wee to fetch our demonstrations I must craue pardon therefore if I search a little into it Howbeit I resolue to be very briefe and to trouble you with no more then is necessary for clearing of what is intended Life is of some defined by motion and operation And so seemeth Aristotle to define it where he saith Vivere est intelligere sentire to liue is to vnderstand heare see touch and the like But this definition is more popular then proper For life is one thing the operations of life another and they differ as the cause and the effect Yet because it is best discerned by the operations thereof therefore haue they thought good so to describe it For those things are said to liue which any way moue themselues Moue I say for those things which moue not liue not And moue themselues by an internall principle of their owne For neither doe those things liue which are acted only by an extrinsecall and forreine principle such as was that statue or engine of which the Poet Duceris vt nervis alienis mobile signum and such as are also clocks and watches and the like devices The same Philosopher therefore elsewhere speaking more accurately of this matter defineth life by Being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith hee to liue is to be Which is not yet Simply to be vnderstood as if whatsoeuer had being had also life but respectiuely vnto things that liue for their life is their being And so much doth the Philosopher himselfe insinuate saying more fully 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 life to things that liue is being But such a Being as naturally moueth it selfe Whēce it is not vnfitly defined by one to bee essentia parturiens actiones such a being as is in trauell with action This naturall life is threefold Vegetatiue Sensitiue and Intellectual The Vegetatiue is in Plants that Being whereby they grow and receaue nourishment The Sensitiue is of Beasts Fowles and Fishes that Being whereby they see heare touch tast smell and moue from place to place The Intellectuall is of Angels and Spirits that Being whereby they vnderstand and will These all of them are iointly and together in man For with plants hee hath growth and nourishment with beasts fowles and fishes sense and lation with Angels and Spirits vnderstanding and will Wherevpon it is that the Philosopher maketh the life of man a rule to all the rest And therefore is to be defined Such a Being as is able to produce all these operations but specially those that are Rationall because they are most properly Humane To come then to an issue by all that hath beene said it appeares that to the constitution of the natural life of man and generally of all natural life three things are required Esse Posse Operari being ability and operation Being that there may bee ability and ability that there may be operation For no life where no operation no operation where no ability no ability where no being And such is the naturall life of man Proportionably wherevnto as to me it seemes Spirituall life may thus be defined Such a new or spirituall being as enableth to produce spirituall or supernaturall actions In which definition all those three things necessarily required vnto life are as you see comprehended And first Being not naturall but spirituall superadded vnto nature Superadded then when we are first ingrafted and incorporated into Christ. For no sooner doe we subsist in him but forthwith old things passe away and all things are made new From thence forth become we new creatures new men renewed in the inner man and in the spirit of the minde hauing new hearts new affections new senses all new In a word then are we made Spirituall men not only conformed vnto but also transformed into the image of Christ himselfe Secondly abilitie For together with our new being we receaue also the Spirit of power whereby as while we were out of Christ wee were able to doe nothing so now being in him we are able to all things For then the holy Ghost is pleased to infuse and imprint on our soules the gratious habits of Faith Hope and Charity and the rest and all to facilitate the performance of spirituall duties Lastly Operation without which abilitie is but vaine For to what end is power if it be never brought forth into act Operate therefore it doth and bringeth forth the fruits of spirit loue ioy peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance and the rest All which S. Paul reduceth vnto three Pietie Sobrietie Righteousnesse
enough to be numbred among the ancient Fathers In regard whereof as also because of those many shamefull errors and fabulous narrations every where appearing in his writings hee is one of little or no authority in the Church of God He was the first that removed the bounds of the ancient Doctors in this matter bringing in sundry new strange terms never heard of in former times the misvnderstanding of which by little and little prepared a way to that deformed monster of Transubstantiation Neverthelesse it is certaine that howsoever many of his speeches may seeme harsh and inconvenient and great advantage hath beene taken of them that way yet himselfe was cleane of another mind Let vs therefore heare what hee saith It is made saith hee by the Holy Ghost even as our Lord made for himselfe a body out of the Virgin mother If so then is it not made by Transubstantiation for Christ assuming a body turned not his Deity into it Yet was the worke of the Holy Ghost necessary for he alone is able to sanctify the Naturall element and to invest them with Supernaturall graces The same saith he of Baptisme He hath ioyned the Grace of the Holy Ghost to oile and water and hath made it the washing of Regeneration And Leo yet more fully vsing the selfe-same comparison Christ gave vnto water that which he gaue vnto his mother for the power of the most high and over shaddowing of the holy Ghost which made that Mary brought forth the Saviour hath made water to regenerate the beleeuer Whereby you see that the same power of Gods Spirit by which the blessed Virgin conceived may be emploied in a Sacrament without that change and conversion that you imagine of And that Damascen though hee aknowledged a change of the Bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ yet was not acquainted with your change may appeare by these words Because it is the manner of men to eat bread and to drinke wine with water he hath conioyned his divinity with them and made them his body and blood that by vsuall things and which are according to nature we might be setled in these things that are aboue nature Here you see hee conioyneth the Divinity with bread and wine Now coniunction is only of those things that are and haue a being Bread and Wine therefore still are If they be then are they not abolished And if they be not abolished then is Transubstantiation gone Adde herevnto that Accidents without Substance are not Vsuall things nor according to Nature and therefore not they but true bread and true Wine are the things which in Damascens judgement raise vs vp to those things that are aboue Nature But of him enough N. N. The perishing meat and pleasures of this world please me not I long for Gods Bread the heauenly Bread the bread of life which thing is the flesh of Christ the Sonne of God I. D. That Ignatius wrote an Epistle to the Romans both Eusebius and Hierom testify and that this which now passeth vnder that title may be the right Epistle I deny not Howbeit it is confessed of all that those Epistles which are granted to be his are not come vnto our hands perfect For some passages are cited out of them by some of the ancients as Hierom Theodoret and others which now are not found in them and some are manifestly corrupted and depraved as appeareth So that if Baronius and Bellarmine might challenge them of corruption in those places which make for Saint Pauls marriage and against halfe Communions I hope I haue as much liberty to challenge the place by you alleaged if it made any thing against vs. But it needs not for Ignatius speaketh not there of the Sacrament and therefore it maketh nothing to the purpose Neither doth it follow The bread is flesh Ergo by Transubstantiation N. N. We ought so to communicate with our Lords table that wee doubt nothing of the verity of his Body and Bloud seeing he said Except yee eat the Flesh of the Son of man c. I. D. Leo disputeth in this place against the Eutychians who denied the truth of Christs body and thus he argueth The Eucharist is a symboll of the body of Christ Ergo Christ hath a true body and whosoever will rightly communicate must nothing doubt thereof So reasoneth also Theodoret. For Orthodoxus demanding whether Bread and Wine were Symbols of the true body blood of Christ or no and being answered yea he thus concludes If the divine mysteries be samplars of the true body then the body of the Lord is now also true and not changed into the nature of the Divinity Hence may you see the weaknesse of your Argument Communicants may not doubt that Christ hath a true body or if you will that the true body of Christ is in the Eucharist Ergo bread is transubstantiated into body Ridiculous N. N. As therefore our Baptisme is made by reall washing with water and reall renewing of the Holy Ghost so now in the Supper of Christ it behooueth wee bee really fed with the fruit of the tree of life which is none other thing besides the flesh of Christ. I. D. If we yeelded Euthymius vnto you the matter were not great For he liued vpward of eleven hundred yeares after Christ and your owne Chronologers place him after Gratian and Peter Lombard Yet what saith hee It behooueth that in the supper wee be really fed with the flesh of Christ. Really fed Who doubteth of it But you are to know that Reall doth not necessarily import your Carnall manner For Spirituall is also Reall vnlesse you will say a spirit is no thing N. N. It is a remembrance of Christs death by the presence of the body which died It is the Body and Bloud of Christ covered from our eyes revealed to our Faith feeding presently our body and soule to everlasting life I. D. This Nicephorus also liued eleauen hundred yeares after Christ and therefore is none of the Fathers nor of any great authority Neither doth that which hee saith conclude your purpose For Christs Body may bee and is present Sacramentally and to our faith and presently feed both soules and bodies to everlasting life and yet Bread and Wine remaine still in the Sacrament Else where hee calleth the outward Elements symbolls and signes of the Passion of Christ. If symbolls and signes then not the Body it selfe N. N. They receiue not the fruit of Saluation in the eating of the healthfull sacrifice They eat the healthfull Sacrifice which surely is nothing else but the naturall body of Christ but the frute they receiue not As many men take an healthfull medicine but because their bodies bee evill affected it proueth not healthfull to them I. D. Thus you reason The healthfull Sacrifice is the naturall body of Christ Ergo Bread by Transubstantiation is made the body of Christ. How
betweene themselues This spirituall punishment is the greatest of all iudgements in this life and is vsually attended with eternall shame and confusion of face in the next And reason it is that they who sleight that which God holdeth so deare should themselues be sleighted of him and seeing they disdaine to glorifie him that he by iust vengeance should glorifie himselfe vpon them So dealt he with Pharaoh Nabuchadnetzar Antiochus Herod and other proud tyrants and so will hee one day deale with all those that set so light of his Glory Is then the glory of the Father so deare and pretious vnto him Is he so iealous and charie of it that he will not haue it in any case touched or blemished Then surely that which maketh for his Glory and without which the Sonne cannot glorifie him may not bee denied him And so much for the Maior The Minor Proposition is But by my glorification I shall glorifie thee and without it I shall not be able to glorifie thee This though it be as true as the former yet the truth thereof is not so evident as of that For it may bee obiected that our Saviour now praying for his Glorification implies therein that he was not as yet glorified For wee vse not to sue for what we are already possessed of but only giue thankes for it Yet by and by he saith Ego glorificauite I haue already glorified thee on earth As he was God he had from all eternity glorified him in heauen As he was Man he had here on earth glorified him by his doctrine life obedience miracles And if wee as yet vnglorified doe glorifie him how should not the Sonne much more be able to doe it Vnto all which I thus answer breifly that glorifying is double either Inchoate or Compleate As touching the Inchoate it is true that as the Father had in part already glorified him as in particular by the raising vp of Lazarus so had the Sonne also in part glorified the Father But as touching that which is Compleate neither had the Father as yet so glorified the Sonne nor the Sonne the Father Wherefore as our Saviour is to be vnderstood here to pray for his perfect Glorification so are we to conceiue it also of the Fathers as if hee had said more fully vnlesse the Father perfectly glorifie the Sonne neither can the Sonne perfectly glorifie the Father For as God declared the glory of his power in deliuering Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand with many signes and wonders yet had his mercy and truth yea his power also beene much impeached had hee not proceeded according to promise to settle them safely in the land of Canaan so the Father although he had begun to shew his glory in the incarnation of his Sonne and all other his noble acts yet if he did not goe on to cōsummate and perfect his Sonnes glory by supporting him in his last combate raising him from death taking him vp into heaven and setting him at his right hand with all power and authority the glory of his goodnesse wisdome mercy iustice and omnipotence would bee exceedingly blemished But when once the Sonne shall be so glorified then shall he by vertue of the power giuen him powre forth of his spirit vpon the sonnes of men subdue the world vnto his obedience trample all his enimies vnder his feet and recover the kingdome vnto his Father Whereby it will manifestly appeare that hee is the eternall Father very God the author of life and saluation sweet in his goodnesse true in his promise iust in retribution wise in all his actions and most powerfull also in his executions And so much likewise of the Minor The vse whereof may serue first for confutation For it answeres a vaine quarrell of the Arrians against the coequalitie of the Sonne with the Father The Father say they must needs be greater then the Sonne because the Sonne saith Pater clarifica filium father glorifie thy sonne and he is greater who giues then he who receaues glory Wherevnto I answer in the words of S. Augustin Quòd si ille qui glorificat c. If he that glorifieth be greater then he whom he doth glorifie let them grant that they are equall who glorifie one the other For it is written that the Sonne also glorifieth the Father I saith hee haue glorified thee on earth So also elsewhere saith our Saviour the spirit shall glorifie me And there being in the holy and blessed Trinitie such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Circuminsession as whereby each Person dwelleth in other it cānot be but each of them should knowe and knowing mutually and eternally glorifie one another Secondly it serues for information that as Christ our head referred his owne Glorification vnto the glory of his Father so we that are his members should doe the like and in all things seeke to glorifie our Father Nay if Christ to the praise of the glory of his Fathers grace was content to become sinne and a curse for vs how much more are wee bound in euery thing to intend his glory of whom hee exacteth no such thing It is the rule of the Apostle S. Paul Whether yee eat or drinke or doe any thing else doe all to the praise and glory of God All whatsoeuer either we are or haue we haue receiued of him and it is he who by Christ hath redeemed vs both bodies and soules let vs therefore glorifie him both in bodies and soules for they are his Thirdly and lastly seeing our Saviour vrgeth his desire to glorifie his Father as a speciall argument to perswade him to grant his request it may serue for singular comfort vnto vs that as long as our actions respect Gods glory and are ioined therewith they cannot but be accepted He will surely blesse them and giue them good successe sith his glory cannot be divided from them A holy life glorifying God is a vitall prayer Though wee heare no speech from it yet it cryeth aloud in the eares of God and saith Father thou maist not deny to glorifie me for through the whole course of my life I study nothing more then to glorifie thee And thus much of our Saviours second motiue drawne from the highest and most soueraigne end of all the Glory of his Father Vers. 2. As thou hast giuen him power ouer all flesh that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him His third reason is drawne from the Power bestowed vpon him by his Father thus Thou hast giuen him power over all flesh to the end he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him Ergo thou oughtest to glorifie thy sonne The Antecedent of this Enthymeme is deliuered in the Text in expresse tearmes The Consequence is only insinuated implied For clearing whereof it may please you to obserue with mee first that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated as is not a
Adam the tenour whereof runnes thus Hoc fac vives Doe this and thou shalt liue hee gaue it not vnto the person of Adam alone but vnto all those that were in his loines even to all his posterity who had the law printed in their hearts by nature In like manner when Christ commanded the Gospell of Faith and repentance to be preached he limited it not vnto a few but said vnto his Apostles Goe teach all nations and goe into all the world and preach the Gospell vnto every creature Neither from the law nor from the Gospell was any man excepted God is no accepter of persons the hand that swaies a scepter and that diggeth with the spade are both alike vnto him Idem ius Titio quod Seio one rule vnto all whether they be high or low noble or base rich or poore learned or vnlearned bond or free young or old of what state age sexe or condition soever they be God hath not strowed the way to Heaven with roses for great ones to dance vpon and with thornes for the meaner sort to tread vpon neither hath hee appointed a spacious and broad way for some and a strait narrow way for other some to passe vnto life everlasting by For the waies of the Lord are strait waies and as betweene two points there can be but one strait line drawne so can there bee but one strait way that leadeth vnto life Vno quisque modo bonus est mutisque nefandus a man may be wicked many waies but he can bee good only one way A thousand byâ—pathes are there which lead vnto destruction and but one only right path that leadeth to salvation For there is but one body and one spirit and one hope in which all are called one Lord one faith one baptisme one God and father of vs all in a word one Blessednesse which is the end and one Religion which is the way to that end through which way every man of necessity must passe that meaneth to arriue at that end Now I beseech you all that heare mee this day of what place soever you be whether high or low that you will be pleased every one to apply this individually and singularly vnto himselfe and to take notice that none of you can come after Christ but only by the same way Every one must deny himselfe every one must take vp his crosse daily every one must follow Christ or else yee cannot possibly come after him There is none of you so meane whom God overseeth or neglecteth none so great whom he priuiledgeth or exempteth And thus much of the generality of the Counsell The Forme of words in which the Counsell was deliuered is if any will let him which as wee haue said importeth the liberty of them that are counselled For it is as if our Saviour should thus haue said Behold I tell you all plainely no man can come after me vnlesse hee deny himselfe take vp his crosse daily and follow me Now if any will thus come after me I giue him good leaue let him doe so for my part I will neither force him from me nor after me if he come he shall come willingly If any will let him First therefore Christ putteth off and forceth no man from him For God would haue all men to be saved and to come vnto the knowledge of the truth neither is he willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance I haue no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God nay he sweares as he liues hee will not the death of a sinner but that the wicked turne from his way and liue And certainly seeing man is the creature of God and creation is the first emanation issue as it were of his loue it cannot be that hee should delight in his destruction He made not death as the wise man saith and when he inflicts it alienum opus facit he doth a worke not so pleasing him for he had rather shew mercy then execute iudgement Hence is it that he standeth at the doore of our heart and knocketh yea that he continueth knocking vntill his head be filled with dew and his lockes with the drops of the night that he requesteth vs so louingly to giue him entrance Open vnto mee my sister my loue my doue my vndefiled promising so bountifully that if wee shall open vnto him he will come in vnto vs and sup with vs and wee with him and threatning vs that as if we come vnto him wee shall finde refreshment so if wee draw backe his soule shall haue no pleasure in vs. Neither let vs thinke but that God meaneth seriously in all this for otherwise he should but mocke and deceiue vs pretending one thing and intending another and which I tremble to speake playing the hypocrite and dissembler with vs. Besides this he should make vs the ministers of the Gospell no better then false witnesses vnto him testifying things that are vntrue and which he never purposed whereas God being omnipotent needeth not our lye and being truth it selfe will not compasse his end by a lye Finally if Christ with his hands should push from him those whom by his word he inviteth to him then they that come not are the more excusable for every one may plead for himselfe that he suffered violence and Christ himselfe hindred him whose force no creature is able to withstand Christ then forceth no man from him If so whence then is it that many who are invited come not I answere the fault is in themselues they will not come I called saith Wisdome yee refused I stretched out my hand no man regarded yee set at naught all my counsells and would none of my reproofe And againe I called saith God and yee did not answere I spake and yee did not heare but did evill before mine eyes and did chuse that wherein I delighted not Wherefore he protesteth by the prophet Osea Perditio tua ex te Israell thy destruction is of thy selfe oh Israell and complaineth by the prophet Ezechiell why will ye dye ô house of Israell as if he should say if yee dye it is because yee will needs dye They refused to harken saith Zacharie and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their eares that they should not heare yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone least they should heare the law In like manner in the new testament How often would I haue gathered thy children together as the hen gathereth her chickens vnder her wings and yee would not Marke the words I would therefore Christ forceth no man from him yee would not therefore the fault is in our selues The Pharisees and Lawyers saith St Luke reiected the counsell of God against themselues our Saviour testifieth of the Iewes that they would not come vnto him that they might haue life
fearfull ends And indeede to what end hath God put into the heart of man this passion of feare but to decline and avoid all such euills as would destroy him or afflict him Take away feare and men will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 despise all danger and run headlong into all mischiefe but feare is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a preseruing nature as saith the philosopher inclining and perswading man carefully to keepe himselfe from dangers If then to come to an issue yee will not worke mischiefe vnnaturally vnto your owne selues if yee will avoide the Magistrates fury if yee will not incurre the rigour of the law nor fall vpon the edge of the sword of justice yee must needs be subiect But what need will some man say so much to feare the Wrath of the Magistrate May not a man hide his counsells so deepe and carry his actions so cunningly that nor witnesse nor Iudge shall know them If they come to light and bee discouered doth not greatnesse breake through lawes as wasps doe through cobwebs May not judges jury witnesses by friends fauour bribes be corrupted Are pardons impossible to bee obtained from Princes Nay suppose the worst that the penalty of the law can by no meanes be escaped what care they for fines and amercements who are content to beggar themselues to enioy their pleasures What for shame and ignominy who are growne impudent in all wickednesse What for death who count it worse then death not to liue as they list and to bee barred from their desires For there haue beene who haue said moriar modo regnet let mee dye so he may be King and aut Caesar aut nihil an Emperour or nothing To all this I answere briefly first trust not vnto secrecy but remember what wise Solomon saith Curse not the King no not in thy thought neither the great one in thy bedchamber for the foule of the Heaven will carry the voyce and that which hath wings shall declare the matter Secondly hope not for impunity many as great as gratious as wealthy as thou haue failed thereof and how knowest thou but one time or other thou maist meete with one who will accept nor thy person nor thy fee but will say vnto thee with Saint Peter thy mony perish with thee Lastly if any haue so farre put off naturall affection as not to feare Wrath chusing rather to fall into the hands of justice then to be restrained from his wickednesse let such a one know that what Wrath cannot yet Conscience should worke in him For here it must freely bee confessed that Wrath of it selfe is not sufficient it striketh at the branches not the roote and endeavoureth to reforme outward actions but reacheth not vnto the cause which is inward corruption Which remaining in vs Wrath happily may make vs more wary in offending but cannot worke in vs a loue of goodnesse and a desire not to offend at all Wherefore God in his deepe wisdome hath thought it good to binde vs vnto subiection not by a single but double tie and vnto Wrath to adde Conscience Yee must needs be subiect not only for wrath but also for conscience Conscience is that facultie or power of the Practicall vnderstanding in man whereby he is priuy to all his actions whether they be immanent and conceaued within as thoughts or emanant and issuing forth as his words and workes This Conscience is then said to be bound when by him who hath power and authority ouer it it is charged to performe its dutie that is to beare witnesse of all our actions vnto God and according to the qualitie of them to excuse or accuse vs for that these are the duties of conscience plainely appeareth by that of S. Paul their conscience bearing witnesse and their thoughts accusing or excusing This charge is then laid vpon the Conscience after that by the same authority man himselfe is bound for man being free Conscience also is free but man being bound by a law Conscience stands bound also But who is the binder of the conscience God without question He is the Law-giuer saith S. Iames that can both saue and destroy and he as S. Iohn saith is greater then the conscience But can the Magistrate also by his lawes binde the conscience Papists attribute vnto vs the Negatiue that they cannot themselues hold the Affirmatiue that they can and warrant it by this my Text Yee must bee subiect for conscience Vpon this plaine song sundry of them descant very pleasantly but none plaies the wanton more then Doctor Kellison who inferres that we despoile Princes of authority and superiority and giue subjects good leaue to rebell and revolt that we bring Iudges and Tribunall seats and all lawes into contempt that no Prince can rely on his subjects no subjects on their Prince or fellow subjects in a word that wee take away all society and ciuill conversation To all which I answere breefly First suppose the maine ground were true yet neither can they proue it out of my Text nor doe such absurdities follow therevpon Out of my Text they cannot proue it for that only affirmes that the Conscience is bound but determines not that mans lawes bindeth it Neither doe such absurdities follow for albâ—it wee should deny man to be the binder yet doe wee freely professe that the Conscience is bound which is enough But we answer farther that they much abuse vs for we deny not rem that they binde onely wee differ from them in modo maintaining that they binde not in such manner as they teach They hold that mens lawes binde non minùs guà m lex divina equally with Gods lawes so that were there not any law of God binding to Subiection yet mans law of it selfe and of its owne power would binde This we deny teaching contrarily that humane lawes binde the Conscience not immediatly but mediatly not primarily but secundarily not in themselues of their owne power but in the force and vertue of Divine law Divine law I say whether that which is imprinted in the heart by nature or that which is revealed vnto vs by Scripture both which command Subiection This truth in fâ—w words thus I demonstrate First if mans law immediatly binde the Conscience then is euery transgression thereof without farther respect vnto Gods law a mortall sinne But so it is not for according to St Iohns definition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sin is a transgression of the law meaning not mans but Gods law only in regard whereof St Augustine saith more expresly Sin is dictum factum concupitum any saying doing or coueting against Gods law Besides if man of himselfe without respect vnto Gods law can binde the conscience then either is he Lord of the conscience and may himselfe conuent it examine it take its testimonie and accordingly proceed to sentence either of life or death both vpon body and soule or he hath power to command God to sit in