communicating of himself Praesens autem est in quantum praesentat seu praesentem facit beatitudinem quae est in ipso in habitu tantum ut in parvulis in affectu tantum ut in adultis in habitu effectu et intellectu ut in beatis saith that excellent Schoolman Alensis par 3. qu. 61. God is then present with the soul when he represents unto it his own blessedness either in habit or disposition as in children that know him not and yet love him or in desire or affection as to men that know him and love him or in a habit desire and comprehension as to the blessed souls that not only know and love but also enjoy him So that according to the degrees of Gods presence are also the degrees of his communion where his presence is incompleat and imperfect as in grace there his communion is so too where his presence is compleat and perfect as in glory there so also is his communion But it is best for us to examine the effects of our communion with God in the presence of his grace that so we the more may undoubtedly attain to a communion with him in the presence of his glory And these effects are excellently set down in few words by the Casuists saying Spirituale bonum Divinum consistit in amicitia inter Deum hominem ac per hoc in consentire conversari convivere colloqui cum Deo The blessing of the soul consists in this that a man hath friendship or communion with God and consequently that he lives for him by consent lives to him by conversation lives with him by cohabitation lives in him by contentation I will briefly explain them all that the good Christian may know his own happiness in that he is called to live in this communion by vertue whereof First he lives for God by consent Fiat volunt as tuaâ— Thy will be done is a petition twice sanctified unto us by our Saviours own lips in two several prayers One of them taught us by his Doctrine in the Mount Mat. 6. So that we cannot contemn his prayer but we must also contemn his Sermon The other taught us by his practice or example Mat. 26. 42. where he made but one speech yet three prayers he prayed the third time saying the same words ver 44 It was one and the same expression of his voice it was not one and the same elevation of his soul therefore he prayed the third time though he spake but his first words We place the gift of prayer in the volubility of our tongues our Saviour placed it in the groans of his heart He prayed thrice in the same words we use many words scarce pray at all It is the heart that pants it not the tongue that chants it out when we truly say Thy will be done Conformitas in volito formali must be in all our desires where in volito materiali cannot be Here was a conformity of our Saviours will with Gods will in what he desired formally in his intention though a seeming non-formity in what he desired materially in his expression And so it must ever be with us For we are most sure that in this case the Non Conformist cannot be a good Christian but the want of conformity is the want of Christianity The second effect of this communion is that the good Christian lives to God by conversation T is a pleasant contemplation of Aquinas that local distance is no impediment in the Angels conversing one with another or speaking one to the other because that is a meer intellectual operation In loquutione Angelorum nullum impedimentum praestat localis distantia quia est mere intellectualis operatio Aqu. 1. par qu. 107. art 4. But t is a much more comfortable assertion of the Apostle that the distance of heaven from earth cannot hinder the conversation of man with God for so much he plainly asserteth when he saith For our conversation is in heaven for whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Phil. 3. 20. In which words the Apostle affordeth us three observations concerning the heavenly conversation of good Christians 1. that it is nothing else but a serious study and exercise of Christian piety in imitation of Christ to whom they are always lifting up their eyes and their hearts 2. that they only are true Christians who firmly and constantly exercise this piety for they only have true faith in Christ they only have a firm hope of immortality 3. that we have all two great Motives for this exercise the one is that Christ our Saviour on whom all our hopes rely and in whom all our joys are fixed is in heaven thefore what have we to do on earth The other is that the same Christ will at the last day come from heaven to judge us according to the works that we have done therefore if we will have a favourable judgement we must have an innocent conversation Conversation is but a frequent conversion and requires our often turning to God by our repentance as we often turn away from him by our sins The third effect of this communion is that he lives with God by cohabitation I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2. 20. Saint Paul by this losing his life did indeed save it had he kept his life in himself he might have lost it by a temporal a spiritual an eternal death for he would have been subject to the separation of his body from his soul of his soul from grace and of his soul and body from God But having lost his life in himself that he might keep it in his Saviour he keeps it for ever He keeps his natural life which else he could not but lose for his dissolution is not to him a death but only a change making good his We shall all be changed even before the last day for he had a change only when others had a death Our departure hence if looked upon as a change is our greatest consolation for it must needs be much for the better because our corruptible shall thereby put on incorruption our mortal shall put on immortality But if looked upon as a death must needs be our greatest horror and confusion for that can only tell us of the destroying not of the amending or bettering our present state and condition He keeps also his spiritual life so continuing as moreover improving it His soul being more knit and united with grace then before which is the spiritual life the union of the soul with grace for though we suppose it the same grace yet the soul must needs be united to it the more neerly and the more firmly the longer it abides in the communion of Christ the fountain of grace But we may well suppose the good Christian to grow
rise again to newness of life This is the happy estate we acknowledge God conveyed unto us in our Baptism for other visible conveyance there is none when he made us Christians for then he gave us the right of calling him Father and we by saying unto him Our Father do beseech him to confirm this sâ—me happy estate unto us in making us good Christians But how shall those that are bad Christians and cannot be assured of the adoption of sons as having defiled themselves since their Baptism say unto God Our Father I answer if they heartily repent and desire to be adopted and to become children of God they may say so by virtue of their desire though they have not yet actually received the inward seal and have actually defaced the outward seal of their adoption wherefore those only have no right to their Pater noster but do hypocritically and falsly say the Lords Prayer who neither are the children of God by adoption nor desire to be so But those that heartily desire to be adopted supposing they have been baptized may rightly and truly say to God Our Father because they are accepted as sons in Christ though not in themselves I will rise and go to my Father and say unto him Father I have sinned saith the Prodigal Son Luk. 14. 18. He was not yet risen he was not yet gone he did only desire and resolve to rise and go to him and this desire and resolution gives him a right of calling God Our Father as if he had still continued a dutiful son our blessed Saviour teaching us in that chapter both by his Doctrine and by his example that God is ready to receive sinners when they truly desire to draw neer to him The Pharisees and the Scribes murmured at the example but they were ashamed to murmur at the Doctrine The lost sheep and the lost groat had opened their eyes but the lost son was enough to open their hearts the lost sheep and the lost groat had made way in their apprehensions for the receiving of the lost son when he returned to his Father but the lost son was enough to make way in their hearts for their own returning that they also might be received they were convinced that there was joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth ver 10. And they were ashamed least what was the Angels joy should be thought their sorrow Therefore though they were still enemies to their own souls in not embracing this Doctrine yet they were ashamed to shew themselves enemies to other mens souls in gainsaying it nay indeed to shew themselves enemies to God himself who must be excluded out of heaven or he cannot be excluded out of thy joy for it is said ver 6. Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth And our Saviour having taught us to say to God Our Father which art in heaven will not have us exclude him out of this joy which is proper to those in heaven nay indeed the parable directly includes him in it ver 32. T was meet that we should make merry and be glad and without doubt God is so well pleased in the righteousness of his Son that he joyes to see penitent sinners made righteous in him and willingly bestowes upon them his righteousness when with unfeigned lips and penitent hearts they call upon him for it For as through Christs satisfaction they have a right to the adoption of Sons so also through his intercession which is always ready to accompany his own prayer they are sure to obtain that right if they continue heartily praying for themselves that so they may have the benefit of his intercession For as far as we are made partakers of Christ so far can we truly in his merit and with his Spirit say unto God Our Father For the right of filiation belongs Originally to Christ and but dirivatively to us He is the Son of God in himself we are the Sons of God in and through him and t is happy for us that we are so for else we could not but fear the loss of our adoption as often as we did find the loss of our obedience For there can be no assurance of such an adoption as shall last till we be instated in our inheritance from our selves but only from our Saviour Christ God indeed is pleased to call good men his sons but none was ever called the Son of God with this promise and Prerogative that God alwaies was and alwaies would be his Father but only Christ or else Saint Pauls Argument would lose much of its strength when he proves our Saviour Christ to be above all the Angels because God had not said to any of them but had said only to him Thou art my Son And again I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son For Angels and men are so the Sons of God as to be his Sons in Christ not in themselves and therefore no sooner nor no longer his sons then they were and are in Christ For which cause we can be no farther sure of our adoption in Christ then we are sure of our conjunction and communion with him and that not of a corporal conjunction in the same flesh but of a spiritual conjunction in the same Spirit For our corporal conjunction with Christ doth not only make us capable of being adopted in him but it is our spiritual conjunction with him that gives unto us the seal and benefit of our adoption whereby we are joyned with Christ in the same mystical body here and shall be joyned with him in the same glorious body hereafter Thus may every good Christian saith with Saint Paul Phil. 1. 21. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain to me to live is Christ because I am now with him in the communion of the same Mystical body to me to die is gain because I shall hereafter be with him in the communion of the same glorious body There needs no dissolution for my union with Christ in the same mystical body but only of my sinful being the dissolution of sin from my soul but for my union with Christ in the same glorious body there needs also a dissolution of my natural being a dissolution of my soul from my body I will then labour for that union with my blessed Saviour in my life which will keep me from the fear of my own dissolution at my death For I shall not make a right use of his corporal union with me unless I lay it for the ground and rise of my spiritual union with him whereby to be united with my Saviour not only in the same natural but also in the same mystical body inchoately in his Church militant consummately in his Church Triumphant And this is the way for me so to welcom the Son of God in his Nativity as much more to see and enjoy him in his immortality Amen Christ
but to have an Anticatholick Spirit in a Catholick Church will make me a Schismatick even in the communion of Saints Therefore Christianus Catholicus Christian Catholick is the Title I desire to assume and will labour to justifie the one may be as my proper the other as my common name the one shewing what I am in my person the other shewing what I am in my communion For I cannot but think Lactantius his pen borrowed inke from heaven when it dropped down this admirable observation Christiani esse desierunt qui Christi nomine amisso humana externa vocabula induerunt Lact. de vera sap cap. 30. They have left off to be Christians who have left off the name of Christ that they may call themselves by other mens external names For indeed all other names are Notes and causes of division t is only the name of Christ is the note and cause of communion amongst Christians This is truely the voice of a dove that hath no gall and me thinks I see the Holy Ghost still appearing in this Dove Sure I am there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but only the name of Christ Acts 4. 12. and why should I then either desire a name that cannot shew my Religion or desire a Religion that cannot bring me salvation SECT II. The excellency of Christian communion as holding of Christ and fom him having Immortality piety verity and charity and of the proper place company and author of this communion THE Communion of men is frequently broken off by faction in their life or necessarily broken off by dissolution in their death But the communion of Christians is altogether indissolvable for it endures no faction to separate the members from the body it incurs no dissolution to separate the body from the Head Other communions are cut off and destroyed by by death but this is confirmed and enlarged by it and the reason is because he is the Head of this communion who is the first born from the dead So saith Saint Paul He is the head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first born from the dead Col. 1. 18. And indeed this is the greatest excellency of our Christian communion that it not only begins but also continues with Christ and that in his twofold exaâ—tation in his exaltation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he had by nature as the beginning coaeternal and coaequal with his Father and in his exaltation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he had by dispensation as the first born from the dead Col. 1. 18. An excellent communion indeed that is grounded upon eternity both à parte ante for he is the beginning and à parte post for he is the first born from the dead Col. 1. 18. And such is the communion of all good Christians with Christ and surely no other can have communion with him for they were joined with Christ in one election before the beginning of the world as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world Eph. 1. 4. and shall be joined with him in one Salvation after the end of it Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me John 17. 24. The first communion we have with our Saviour as he is the beginning the second as he is the first born from the dead Hence it is that the Apostle Saint Paul so exceedingly labours in all his Epistles first to make us sensible of then to make us thankfull for this great mercy For this Method he observes in all his Epistles making it his business first to shew us the blessings we have in Christ then to exhort us to the practice of true Christianity But more particularly in those Epistles which he writ in his captivity at Rome immediately before his death which he purposely divideth as it were into these two parts one of doctrine another of application As for example In his Epistle to the Ephesians he spends the three first chapters wholly in doctrine declaring the benefits we have by Christ and the three last chapters wholly in application exhorting us to shew our selves dutifull and thankfull Christians So again in his Epistle to the Colossians all his labour in the two first chapters is to shew us what blessings we have in Christ what prepared in our election what exhibited in our redemption what consummated in our salvation and in the two last chapters what thankfulness we are obliged to for so great blessings exhorting us accordingly by all holiness of life that we may approve our selves to be truly thankfull In both which arguments he is so zealous that he takes many whole sentences out of his Epistle to the Ephesians and repeats them again though a little shorter in his Epistle to the Colossians as neither afraid to pen his Sermons though he preached by the spirit nor yet to preach the same Sermon twice for in truth his Epistle to the Colossians is little other then an Epitome or compendium of that to the Ephesians He had heard by Epaphras that the Colossians were setled and established in the communion of Christ cap. 1. vers 8. and that made him write this Epistle to keep them still in that communion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Sain Chrysost Saint Paul writ three Epistles to those Churches which he had not then seen that to the Romans that to the Hebrews and this to the Colossians which Church it is probable he never saw at all and accordingly professeth he had a great conflict for them because they had not seen his face in the flesh Col. 2. 1. His intent was to shew he would be with them in his affection though he could not be with them in his person accordingly he gives this reason for his writing to the Colossians which may likewise serve for his writing to those other Churches that though he was not one of their company yet he was one of their Communion saying For though I be absent in the flesh yet am I with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ Col. 2. 5. He openly professeth himself one of their communion yet I am with you in the spirit and sheweth the cause why he was so willing to communicate with them because of their order and the stedfastness of their faith in Christ Good God what a strange course have we taken of late to make all good Christians which are and must be of Saint Pauls mind to abhor our communion who neither care for order nor for stedfastness but instead of order do embrace confusion instead of stedfastness do eagerly pursue inconstancy who neither have order in the practice nor stedfastness in the profession of our religion who pretend to faith in Christ but shew no stedfastness in our faith So that t is much to
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 4. de orth fide cap. 18. They are holy and religious books but yet are not reckoned among the Canonical Scriptures because they were not deposited in the Ark So the Books of the New Testament were known to come from God in that they were deposited in the Ark that is to say in his Church And hence it was that the Epistle of Saint James and some others though they were not at first generally received in all Churches yet were they no longer questioned after once it was made appear by the Testimony of those Churches where the Authentick Copies of them had been deposited that they had been indicted by some Apostle or approved by some Apostolical man till then they were questioned in regard of their Authors if not in regard of their Authority but after that they were questioned in regard of neither so great a confidence did God repose in particular Churches that it is evident he entrusted them with his own Word to keep it to witness it and to explain it as the Church of the Jews with the Old Testament which Church though it were Catholick or universal in its Doctrine yet was it meerly particular or national in its extent for he shewed his word to Jacob his statutes and ordinances unto Israel he had not dealt so with any Nation neither had the Heathen knowledge of his Laws Psalm 147. ver 19 20. And several Churches of the Christians with several parts of the New Testament as the Church of Rome with that Epistle sent to the Romans and the Church of Corinth with those two Epistles sent to the Corinthians and so of the rest And as for the seven Catholick or general Epistles commonly so called they had the title of Catholick or general Epistles not because they were sent to no particular Churches but because they were sent to many as Saint Peters to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappodocia Asia and Bythinia which being not directed particularly to one of these was therefore called a general Epistle as belonging to them all not because it was sent at large to all of them for so perchance it might have been received by none but because it was to be communicated to all unless that we had rather say that these Epistles were called Catholick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they were sent of purpose to confute some new risen Hereticks or Schismaticks particularly the Solifidean Heresie and the itch of separation either from ambition or covetousness or perversness as may appear by the arguments of the said Epistles however those also were at first deposited with some particular Churches and hence it was that some of them were sooner generally received then others even those which had been at first deposited with the more eminent Churches Thus we see the trust of particular Churches and in them the trust of the Catholick Church concerning the Scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eis credita sunt eloquia Dei They were entrusted with the Oracles of God Rom. 3. 2. that is they were entrusted to keep them and to witness them but Saint Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am entrusted with a dispensation sc of the same Oracles speaks more that they were also entrusted to explain them and we cannot deny the continuance of this trust unto the Worlds end unless we will affirm that God hath laid aside the care both of us and of his Church neither regarding the salvation of our souls nor the authority and continuance of his own Church and so by consequent exterminate out of our Creed as well as out of the world the Catholick Church and the communion of Saints and by consequent deprive our selves of the forgiveness of sins the Resurrection of the Body and the life everlasting SECT III. The second part of the Trust of Particular Churches is concerning the people of God What that Trust is and how it comes to be derived to them is shewed from Saint Pauls speech Acts 20. to the particular Church of Ephesus and from Saint Pauls Epistles to Timothy and Titus and from other several Epistles of his to particular Churches GOD is very angry with a man when he Trusts his soul in his own hands for then he leaves him exposed to the Temptations of his own concupiscence to the errours of his own ignorance to the slips and stumblings of his own infirmity to the precipices and downfalls of his own presumption and to the bondage and thraldom of his own corruption Therefore we justly extoll the power and goodness of God in our preservation no less then in our Creation and himself thinks it no less honourable to keep a soul then to make it and therefore Saint Paul calleth him God our Saviour thrice in one Epistle By the Commandment of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 1. 1. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2. 3. We trust in the living God who is the Saviour of all men specially of those that believe 1 Tim. 4. 10. Which if it had been observed by the transcribers of some private Manuscripts one would not have read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God the Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ Another would not have read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of God our Father and Jesus Christ for this variety of reading proceeded questionless from that opinion which some held That the name of Saviour belonged only to the person of Christ because it is palpable that in the Authentick Copy of the Greek Church as it is in Saint Chrysostome and of the Latine Church as it is in the Edition of Sixtus Quintus the words are read as Beza records them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God our Saviour and the Lord Jesus Christ where God the Father is plainly called our Saviour because he is the chief and principal cause of our salvation For it is the Fathers mercy that saveth us though the Sons merit and we could not have received should not have embraced the merit of the Son had it not been for the mercy of the Father Therefore the same Apostle as delighted with this expression saith again according to the commandmnnt of God our Saviour Tit. 1. 3. being willing to ascribe to the Father no less then to the Son the Honour and glory of our salvation Behold all souls are mine saith God himself Ezek. 18. 4. and Rabbi David gives us this gloss upon the words All souls belong to me and I have given them bodies of flesh to guide and lead after me and I do delight in their life not in their death for they are mine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 umiccebodi nigzaru and they were taken from mine own Glory q. d. They are mine and I care not to lose them They were parts of mine own glory and I am willing to glorifie them they were at first springs and branches of mine own Tree even the Tree of life and I am desirous to engraft them in that Tree
the difference of opinion concerning this sacrifice such was also the difference in the ordination of those men who were appointed to offer it For the manner of ordination in the Greek Church supposed the man ordained only as a Minister to the administration of the sacrament for the Bishop that ordained him put the consecrated bread into his hand saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Take this holy thing committed to your charge and keep it till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when he will call you to an account how you have disâ—osed of it This man so ordained had delivered to him the Trust and charge only of a Sacrament But the manner of ordination in the Latine Church supposeth the man ordained as a Priest to the offering of a Sacrifice for the Bishop that ordained him put the Communion plate and chalice into his hand saying Accipe potestatem offerre Sacrificium Deo Missamque celebrare tam pro vivis quam pro defunctis in nomine Domini c. Receive the power of offering a Sacrifice to God and of celebrating the Mass both for the quick and the dead in the name of our Lord c. And agreeable to this is the benediction of the Presbyters after this ordination in the same Church Benedictio Dei omnipotentis Patris filii spiritus Sancti descendat su er vos ut sitis benedicti in ordine sacerdotali oâ—feratis placabiles hostias pro peccatis atque offensionibus populi c. The blessing of God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost descend upon you that you may be blessed in the order of Priests and offer acceptable sacrifices for the sins and offences of the People Pontifical Rom. Venetiis editum An. 1561. This man so ordained had delivered to him the trust and charge not of a Sacrament but of a sacrifice But in the ordination of the Church of England and some other Protestant Churches the Bishop saith to him that he ordains Receive the Holy-Ghost whose sins you forgive they are forgiven whose sins you retain they are retained but be thou a faithfull dispencer of the word of God and of his holy sacraments in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy-Ghost This man so ordained hath delivered unto him the trust and charge of no sacrifice but only of the Sacraments and also of the word and it were to be wished that those whom it nothing concerns would neither invade nor disturb this trust especially since it is so exactly agreeable with the Text which in all the new Testament hath not recommended to the Church the trust and charge of a Sacrifice but only of the Word and Sacraments And it can be no shame for us to confess that in the judgement of our Church the holy Eucharist is a Sacrament not a Sacrifice unless it be in a mystical sense a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving or in a figurative sense a commemoration or representation of a sacrifice but by no means a repetition of Christs corporal sacrifice since the Apostle hath expresly said concerning that We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all Heb. 10. 10. According to which our Church doth believe and profess in different words the very same truth saying That Christ made upon the cross by his one oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world and I will ever rejoice in this belief and profession since he that hath made a full satisfaction for the sins of the whole world hath not left his father unsatisfied only for my sins CAP. IV. Christ admired in his Application SECT I. Christ in his Propitiation and Satisfaction doth not benefit us without a particular Application TRuly to know Christ is truly to know the whole Christian Faith as hath been said For truly to know Christ in his person is to know the Christian Faith in the ground or substance of it And truly to know Christ in his Propitiation Satisfaction Application is to know the Christian Faith in the power or vertue of it Accordingly Saint Paul is not content to know Christ only in his Person saying that I may know him but he will also know him in his Propitiation Satisfaction and Application saying and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death Phil. 3. 10. To know Christ in the power of his resurrection is to know him in his propitiation for he was delivered for our offences and raised again for our Justification Rom. 4. 25. To know Christ in the fellowship of his sufferings is to know him in his satisfaction whereby he slaked body for body soul for soul in our stead that he might satisfie for all the sins both of our bodies and of our souls And to know Christ so as to be made conformable to his death is to know him in his Application for we cannot apply the merit of his death till we be conformed to it by dying unto sin and rising again to newness of life for the Application of Faith doth no less require that man apply himself to God by holâ—ness of conversation then that he apply God unto himself by strength of perswasion And truly the one cannot be without the other since it is impossible for that man to lay hold on Gods promise of mercy who looks not after the conditions on which it is promised to wit a hearty repentance of his sins and an amendment of his sinful life for Gods promises of mercy are not made to all sinners but only to penitent sinners so that where is no true repentance there can be no true faith and where is true repentance there cannot be too much for if man perform his part of the Covenant of grace he may assure himself that God will perform his part nay he must assure himself so unless he will remain in the state of infidelity For a true and lively faith is a full perswasion of the heart grounded upon the promises of God that whatsoever Christ hath done or suffered for the salvation of man he hath done and suffered for me as well as for others And I must never be satisfied with my self nor think I am in a good state or condition till I have gotten such a faith as will give me such a perswasion For the satisfaction of Christ in general will afford me but little comfort without the application thereof in particular to mine own soul Wherefore my labour must be to put my self in such a condition that though I cannot but think my self unworthy of the invaluable blessing of this satisfaction yet I may not think much less make my self uncapable of it SECT II. The ground of that application iâ— Christs threefold conjunction with us in his person in his nature and in his office from which proceedeth the marriage of the soul with Christ I
prayers for it was the curse of Judas Let his prayer be turned into sin and I dare not venter to bring that curse upon my self For I that now ask pardon for the sins of my prayers if I make my prayers more sinful then my infirmities do make them for me what shall I have left whereby to ask pardon for the sinfulness of my sins I will therefore ever give God humble and hearty thanks that he hath caused me to be educated in a Church which hath taught me to make my addresses to him only in and by his Son and I wil never cease so to make my addresses to him in behalf of that distressed and oppressed Church For he that hath given us the parable of the importunate widow to this end that we should alwaies pray and not faint will certainly hear our prayers and the prayers of his Church that is now a widow and therefore brought to the state of widow-hood and desolation because we her sons have hitherto been so slothful and sluggish in our prayers suffering them infinitely to out-strip us in the practise who came far short of us in the purity of Devotion and not shewing that zeal towards the eternal Son of God which others have shewed and do still shew towards their petty Deities This our abominable neglect or rather contempt of God hath made him jealous and his jealousie hath made him for a while cast us off but we hope he will not cast us off for ever even for his Truths sake for his mercies sake for his names sake yea though we have slighted his Truth abused his mercy and blasphemed his most Holy name by throwing away our Prayers with as much fury as if Truth had been a lye Invocation had Superstition and Piety had been Idolatry yet we will still hope that he will not cast us away for ever for his Sons sake because in him he is well pleased though with us he be most justly displeased For in him alone in his merits in his righteousness in his intercession have we called and do call for grace and mercy and therefore cannot doubt but in him and for his sake we shall be heard at last and relieved and shall see the salvation of our God For the unrighteous Judge himself could say Though I fear not God nor regard man yet because this widow troubleth me I will avenge her least by her continual coming she weary me Much more shall the righteous Judge say so Yea O Lord we know that thou fearest not thine enemies but yet regardest thy servants and therefore we thy most unworthy servants will never leave troubling thee with our continual addresses nor wearying thee with our daily prayers till thou arise and maintain thine own cause and either avenge our injuries or vindicate our innocency If our Church was once thy Spouse she is now thy widow O let not her nor us for her cry any longer in vain to thee But we beseech thee to avenge her of all her enemies not by confounding but by converting them For this will be a vengeance worthy of thy Justice and of thy Mercy both together when thou shalt indeed destroy the sin but yet save the sinners However we cannot but profess our selves so well assured of the truth of our Religion whiles we adore and worship thee only in thy beloved Son that though all the world discountenance yet we dare not discontinue much less forsake it And though for our many and grievous sins thou still suffer us to be eaten up like sheep and sellest thy people for nought and makest us to be rebuked of our neighbours and to be laughed to scorn and had in derision of them that are round about us yet we will not forget thee nor behave our selves frowardly much less falsly in thy Covenant nor suffer our hearts to be turned nor our steps to decline from thy way Yea though thou still more and more smite us into the place of Dragons creatures that are both mischievous and venemous and cover us not only with the shadow but even with the body of death yet we will ever resolve and we beseech thee to confirm and consummate our resolution not to forget the name of our God nor to stretch out or hold up our hands to any strang God For thou hast told us This is life eternal that we might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17. 3. Lord we desire so to know thee as to love thee so to love thee as to worship thee so to worship thee as to glorifie thee so to glorifie thee in this world as to be glorified by thee in the world to come Thou hast commanded us to forsake all to follow thee Lord make us readily to obey this command that we may so follow thee as at last to come to thee to be with thee and to abide in thee for ever For those who saw thy Son but in tpyes and figures have taught us this lesson of sincerity and of constancy not to be careful to answer any of our adversaries in this matter but readily and chearfully to say Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us and he will in his good time deliver us But if not be it known unto all the world that we will not worship the images which our Fathers have set up nor the imaginations which our children are now setting up for our God is too spiritual to be worshipped with images and too substantial to be worshipped with imaginations He is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Joh. 4. 24. His worship hath too much of Spirit to consist in images and too much of Truth to consist in imaginations Wherefore we knowing that our worship of God is both in Spirit and in Truth are sorry to see that any should oppose it for it is prodigious as well as odious for any Christian to oppose the glory of Christ but will not give them that occasion of joy to see that their opposition should make us forsake it For he that hath said Seek ye after God and your soul shall live Psal 69. 33. hath taught us to say in our Doctrine What shall we do with a Religion that seeks after any but God since our soul cannot live in any but in him and much more hath he taught us to say in our devotion Lord we make our prayer unto thee in an acceptable time Hear us O God in the multitude of thy mercies even in the truth of thy salvation Psalm 69. which is a prayer in times of persecution for the cause of Religion For as long as we make our prayers only to thee O Lord we are sure that we do pray in the truth of our Religion and therefore may not doubt but thou wilt at length hear our prayers in the truth of thy salvation and that for our blessed Saviours sake to whom with the Father and
so that we should then see the thoughts of one anothers hearts looking through one anothers breasts were there no other obstacle to hinder us but only the grosness of the flesh according to that position of the Angelical Doctor Cogitatio unius hominis non cognoscitur ab â—alio propter duplex impedimentum sc propter grossitiem corporis propter voluntatem claudentem sua secreta primum obstaculum tolletur in resurrectione nec est in angelis sed secundum impedimentum remanebit post resurrectionem est modò in angelis 1. p. qu. 57. art 4. ad 1. There are now two impediments of knowing mans thoughts one from his body another from his will The first shall be quite taken away in the resurrection and then men shall be like Angels have nothing to keep their thoughts secret but only their own wills of not revealing them Thirdly Our bodies after the Resurrection shall be nimble active and powerful without any weakness For as the soul will move wholly with God so the body will move wholly with the soul and as there will be no impotency in the soul to hinder it from following God so there will be no impotency in the body to keep it from following the motions of the soul Fourthly and lastly they shall also be spiritual and subtle without any sluggishness Now I have almost a carnal soul but then I shall have a spiritual body Now I have a gross spirit but then I shall have a subtle and active flesh why should I not long for that minute which will take away my weakness and sluggishness and cloath me with power and activity in immortal glory So we see that this first miracle the conquest over earth in our Saviours natural body shall in due time be accomplished also in his mystical body For we men shall be partakers of it after the last Resurrection from the death of the body nay we are already in some sort partakers of it after the first Resurrection from the death of sin For as many as are truly regenerated have already even in their flesh in some weak degree this incorruption this glory this activity this spirituality They are not subject to so much corruption as formerly in their conversation for that is reformed nor to so much grosness of heart for that is refined and moves towards heaven nor to so much weakness for they are able nor to so much dulness and sluggishness for they are willing through the grace of God to run the way of his commandments A blessed miracle this to be considered but much more to be enjoyed the first miracle in our Saviours Ascention the conquest over earth in his body And yet we have Another miracle The conquest over heaven in his soul in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was carried up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was received up Heaven it self as it were stooping down to carry and to receive him up Christ had conquered heaven in his humiliation by the fervency of his prayer making an Angel Minister unto him Luk. 22. 43. So that t is no wonder if he conquered heaven in his exaltation making a bright cloud to minister unto him For though his glorified body needed no fiery charet as Eliahs did because he ascended by his own power into heaven yet he was received by a cloud out of his Apostles sight to shew that even heaven it self was ready to minister to his Ascention This ministerial assistance of the creature not derogating from the power but proclaiming the goodness of the creator according to that determination of the school Non propter defectum suae virtutis sed propter abundantiam suae bonitatis ut dignitatem causalitatis etiam creaturis communicet God makes use of his creatures in many things not for the defect of his power but for the abundance of his goodness that he may communicate to them the honour of doing good one unto another whiles he himself is the only true Efficient cause of doing good to all But here the honour was so much the greater by how much the need was the less for though the creatures may one need another yet the Creator himself hath need of none and our Saviour in making use of this cloud did only shew unto us that he could have commanded heaven it self if he had so pleased to receive him up as well as to receive him in Thus did the kingdom of heaven first suffer violence from Christ himself and now from every good Christian Mat. 11. 12. The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence the violent take it by force 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Clemens Alexandrinus not by contentious wranglings and disputes but by the constancy of an upright life and by uncessant prayers do we get the conquest over heaven many men do now mistake this violence whiles they seek to invade the kingdom of Grace using the sword of the flesh not of the Spirit to set up religion forcing other mens faith and consciences but neglecting their own whereas the violence should indeed be offered to the kingdom of glory every man should now invade that by the strength of his Faith since Christ hath opened it to all believers For nothing is or can be a good Christians treasure but only Christ not to be kept from him by the most watchfull Sentinel not to be taken from him by the most merciless plunderer or the most deceitfull sequestrator and therefoe where his only treasure is there will his heart be also even at the right hand of God This makes him alwayes pressing into the wounds of Christ who sitteth there for in his wounds there is a place to hide his soul from Vengeance and there is blood to wash his soul from sin This is indeed the violence of faith but this violence is more safe in affection then in perswasion for our affection may without doubt carry us up to heaven after our blessed Saviour but our perswasion cannot Therefore a faith which is strong in perswasion and not in affection is but as a dream which soon vanisheth and the image of Christ which is imprinted in us by such a faith cannot but vanish with it So dangerous a thing is it to put asunder those two which God hath joined together in A true and lively faith Perswasion and affection Israel himself could not so prevail with God though he had his name of Israel from prevailing with God T is true he said I will not let thee go except thou bless me there 's the strength of his faith in its perswasion But t is as true that he wept and made Supplications Hosea 12. 4. there 's the strength of his faith in its affection T was both together made him Israel and not the one without the other Thus is the true strength of faith set down by the Prophet David Psal 73. 24. It is good for me to hold me fast by God to put my trust in the Lord God there
be the Spirit of God dwell in you and if any man have not the Spirit of Christ Rom. 8. 9. The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are one and the same Spirit for Christ is God And it were also to deny the greatest and chiefest comfort of Christianity which is this That the Spirit of Christ dwelleth in us to revive our souls now from the death of sin to revive our bodies hereafter from the death of the grave the Apostle plainly attributeth thr Resurrection of the soul from sin and of the body from death only to the dwelling of Christs Spirit in us Rom. 8. 10. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righeeousness there 's the resurrection of the soul from sin and again ver 11. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you There 's the resurrection of the body from death And this is also from the Spirit that dwelleth in us as well as the other the Spirit of Christ raiseth the soul from sin the Spirit of Christ raiseth the body from death so that to deny the Holy Ghost to be the Spirit of Christ is to deny both our Regeneration and our Resurrection Wherefore this being of so dangerous a consequence The Master of the sentences would not impute this Tenent to the Greek Church as if they denyed the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son though they would not say in their Creed I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son but only who proceedeth from the Father who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified But he saith plainly that the Greek Church did agree with the Latine Church concerning that Article of Faith in sense though not in words Sensu nobis conveniunt dum aiunt Spiritum Sanctum esse Patris Filii They agree with us in the sense whilst they say that the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son only we speak a little more plainly saying who proceedeth from the Father and the Son nor are we to be blamed saith he for adding to the Creed much less to be anathematized because our addition is not of a contrary assertion but of a necessary interpretation Nos enim non praedicamus contrarium sed addimus quod deerat ideoque non subjecti anathemati Lomb. 1. Sent. Dist 11. He is more careful to justifie his own Church for adding to the Creed then to condemn the Greek Church for not allowing that addition But his Scholars are not so moderate for Aquinas taxes Damascene of Nestorianism in the case and saith he was carried away with the Schism of the Greeks Damascenus sequitur errorem Nestorii Quod Sp. S. non procedit à Filio quia fuit tempore quo incepit illud Schisma Graecorum Aqu. 3. par qu. 36. art 2. ad 3. And Bonaventure is yet much mor fierce when he saith that the Greek Church denyed this article out of ignorance pride and perverseness Graecos negâsse hunc articulum ex ignorantiâ superbiâ pertinaciâ Bonav in lib. 1. sent dist 11. Three unmerciful words from a Church-mans mouth against a whole Church and surely altogether underserved For the Greek Church always acknowledged the Holy Ghost to be consubstantial with the Son as well as with the Father as appears by the Confession of Faith exhibited by Charisius in the Council of Ephesus in the sixth Action 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Spirit of truth the comforter being of the same essence or substance with the Father and the Son which plainly shews the Greek Church did not deny the article though they were loth to change their Creed wherein they found it was thus expressed Who proceedeth from the Father no mention at all made of the Son For this is their own profession in the Council of Florence in the 25. Session 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We have our Creed from seven general Councils and weneither add thereto nor take therefrom And t is evident that the Latine Church it self did a long time demurr about this addition of Filioque to the Greek Creeds Nay Leo the third did strongly oppose it and that not only Papally in his Chair but also Episcopally in his Chancel for he did absolutely refuse this addition when he was thereto intreated by Charles the great and did set up the Creed over the Altar at Rome without it nor did Filioque get into the Article till the time of Benedict the seventh saith Binius in Syn. Constant which was above nine hundred and fifty years after Christ and about six hundred years after the divulging of that Creed But without doubt the Addition it self is to be justified for it was not Additio corrumpentium Symbolum sed perficientium as saith Bonaventure not an addition to corrupt the Creed but to perfect it or rather an explication not an addition as Bellarmine seems to distinguish Explicatio Doctrine non additio contrarii but the manner of maintaining it seems altogether unjustifiable For those of the Latine Church shewed little temper and as little charity in rejecting the Greek Church for hereticks which was trampled on enough by Turks and needed not Christians to help tread it more under foot for not admitting the same addition meerly because they thought themselves under the curse which the Latines are willing to put off by a distinction if they should recede but one tittle or syllable from the language of their own Creeds But this it seems was the fault of the Greek Church which hath been ever since accounted damnable Schism in all other Churches they could not swallow much less digest that crude position Ad summum Pontificem pertinet fidei Symbolum ordinare It belongs to the Pope to order and dispose of the Creeds A position so unreasonable that Aquinas himself the greatest Master of reason among all the Schoolmen is fain to fly to Gratians decree to fetch a proof for it and that proof depends altogether upon the Authority of some few Popes who were very partial Judges in their own cause This is clear that the objection about Athanasius his Creed doth so puzzle him that he is fain in effect to say his Creed is no Creed because he cannot find the Popes hand was in the making of it Athanasius non composuit manifestationem fidei per modum Symboli sed per modum cuiusdam Doctrin◠Athanasius did not set out this manifestation of the faith as a Creed but as a Doctrinal institution notwithstanding the very title of it in Greek is the same which is prefixed to the Apostles Creed and the Latine Church calleth it Symbolum Athanasii unto this day It is not suitable with my purpose and much less with my desire
in with dissemblers I have hated the congregation of evil doers and will not sit with the wicked and he thus makes good that saying For thy loving kindness is ever before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth Psalm 26. His communion with God kept him from the corruptions of those unrighteous men he could not avoid and kept him in the communion of those righteous men he could not enjoy Though his conversation might be in Gath or Ascalon yet his communion was in Jerusalem when the Ark was there as it is said ver 8. Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth Therefore make sure of thy communion with God by faith and repentance and holiness of life and doubt not of thy communion with his Catholick Church though thou live amongst Infidels or amongst such Christians as are fallen into Infidelity and so having denyed the faith are worse then those who never embraced it For no private man is entrusted with the external communion of his own Church nor shall he be called to an account for the sins of it if he partake not in those sins but he is intrusted with the internal communion of his own soul and for that he must look to give a strict account to the maker and lover and Judge of souls But this admonition which only concerns private men may not be extended to whole national Churches which have power given them of God to rectifie what is amiss among themselves either in Doctrine or worship or Sacraments and are accountable to God for not rectifying it so that if there be any notorious defect in either much more in all of these they that are not bound to obey other men have no pretence of excuse if they obey not God in ordering themselves exactly according to his known and undoubted word And this is evident by Saint Pauls Epistles to particular Churches and Saint Johns orders to the seven several Churches of Asia to all which were sent distinct instructions and reproofs which sheweth that every one of them was bound to follow those instructions they had received from God without expecting new orders from some general Superintendent over them all and was justly reproved for not following them And this is the Judgement of the Catholick Church in the first Council of Nice in the sixth Canon which will have the priviledges and dignities and authorities of all Churches inviolably preserved for so much is comprized in these few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same Judgemen is again repeated and reinforced in the first Council of Constantinople Can. 2. which forbids the confounding of Churches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and leaves every several proviâ—ce by a Synod in it self to administer and order its own â—…s The same is again more fully repeated and reinforced in the first Council of Ephesus Can. 8. which will have particular Churches keep their own rights and priviledges lest they should unawares lose the liberty purchased for them by the blood of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Council of Chalcedon Can. 19 enjoyns provincial Synods twice a year to rectifie and dispose all emergencies whatsoever in the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So we find this is the judgement of the Catholick Church in the four first general Councils and therefore all the world is not able to prove this practice of our Church to be Anticatholick For I willingly pass by other Churches in the case with whom I am not bound to keep external communion and plead only for this Church where of God in mercy hath made me a happy member though an unworthy Minister For if Saint Paul would not judge those men that were without much less may any of us judge those Churches that are within And truly it is enough for our satisfaction and too much for our desert that though other Churches pretend more some to the purity others to the practice of Religion yet generally they have performed less Though some rigid Zelots press nothing so much as a circumcision of all rites and ceremonies other Pharisaical professors can boast of the yoke which they have put upon the neck of their Disciples which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear yet we cannot find any sufficient reason why we should not answer them both in Saint Peters words we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Act. 15. 11. For we have this reason of our belief because the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly and clearly set forth in the Doctrine of this our Church t is our shame and sin not our Churches if it be not also in our practice and Saint Paul hath taught us that this is the doctrine which most constituteth and therefore most edifieth a Christian Church For thus much do those words import to the Colossians And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable aâ—d unreproveable in his sight if ye continue in the faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which ye have heard Col. 1. 21 22 2â— T is the Churches part to preach unto us the hope of the Gospel or the Doctrine of our being reconciled to God in Christ where this Doctrine is rightly published accepted and maintained there is without doubt a true Christian Church there is communion with Christ and if he will present us holy unblameable unreproveable in his sight for continuing in this faith grounded and setled we can have little cause but no excuse for leaving that Church whereinis the profession of this faith for as every particular Christian Church may lawfully preserve its own liberty against the incroachment of other Chuuches so it must necessarily preserve its authority against the insolencies of its own people The case is notorious concerning Vzziah when he went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the Altar of incense that Azariah with the Priests withstood him saying it pertaineth not to thee Uzziah to burn incense unto the Lord but to the Priests the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense Go out of the sanctuary for thou hast trespassed neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God 2 Chron. 27. 17 18. And great is the approbation which the Spirit of God giveth to this Azariah for so doing saying He it is that hath executed the Priests office in the Temple 1 Chron. 6. 10. As if none had been high Priest but he who so couragiously maintained the authority of the Priest-hood and this is R. Davids gloss upon the words He was not the first Priest of Solomons Temple for that was Zadok nor was he the only high Priest for there were many others both before and after him but our Rabbies say because