Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A09599
|
The way to heauen shevving, 1. That saluation is onely in the Church. 2. What that Church is. 3. By what meanes men are added to the Church. 4. The author, or efficient of this addition. 5. The time & continuance of that worke. 6. The happinesse of those that are added to the Church. By Iohn Phillips, Bachelor of Diuinity, and pastor of Feuersham in Kent.
|
Phillips, John, d. 1640.
|
1625
(1625)
|
STC 19878; ESTC S114718
|
63,953
|
76
|
couenant being propounded in the Word and accepted and imbraced of the beleeuer by faith is ratified and confirmed by the Seale of Baptisme and so saluation as by a deede vnder hand and seale is effectually conuaied vnto vs. Therefore Baptisme is called by S. Peter The like figure which now saueth vs because it is not a naked or bare signe of our regeneration and saluation but an effectuall seale organe and instrument to conuay and as it were to set the very stampe and Character of Sauing grace vpon the soule of euery faithfull Christian. Hence is that of S. Ambrose Origo verae vitae veraeque iustitiae in Regenerationis posita est Sacramento c. The originall of true life and of true righteousnesse is grounded in the Sacrament of Regeneration Sutable to this Antiquity is the moderne doctrine of our Christian Church Baptisme saith our Church of England is not onely a signe of profession and marke of difference c. but is also a signe of regeneration or new birth whereby as by an instrument they that receiue Baptisme rightly are grafted into the Church c. Yea Caluin himselfe is so plaine for the efficacy of the Sacrament and to shew that it is not a bare signe that he proueth out of the Epistle to the Romanes Quòd per Baptismum Christus nos mortis suae fecerit participes vt in eam inseramur That by Baptisme Christ hath made vs partakers of his death that we may be ingrafted into it And immediately after in the very next words he saith Qui Baptismum eâ quâ debent side accipunt verè efficaciam mortis Christisentiunt They that receiue Baptism with such faith as they ought doe truely feele the efficacie of Christs death euen as the young graffe receiueth sap from the stock into which it is set And afterwards he calleth Baptisme with S. Paul Lauacrum regenerationis renouationis the Lauer or washing of regeneration and renouation Noting thereby the force of Baptisme Againe Caluin in another place defending the Baptisme of infants against Anabaptists and speaking of the state of infants in Baptisme saith Eos vt viuificet sui participes facit That Christ to the end he may make infants capable of life hee maketh them partakers of himselfe And a little after he taketh away this Anabaptisticall obiection Quomodo regenerantur infantes nec boni nec mali cognitions praediti How can infants be regenerate say the Anabaptists seeing they know neither good nor euill Whereunto Caluin answereth Opus Dei etiamsi captui nostro non subiaceat non tamen esse nullum The worke of God though it be not subiect to our capacity yet it doth not therefore cease to be Thus we see that Baptisme is an effectuall meanes of our entrance into the Church of God They are therefore worthy of seuere reproofe who either out of error vnderualuing the excellency of this Sacrament or through negligence conceiting there is no such necessity of it doe sinfully omit and deferre the seasonable vse of Baptisme Such must suffer themselues to be informed in the truth and know that there is as expresse a mandate for Baptisme as there is for teaching hearing praying or any other pious or morall duty He that said Go and teach said also Baptize them The Apostle did not simply say to those whom he directed in the way to saluation Repent ye but withall he addeth and be baptized euery one of you for the remission of sinnes And it was according to the Lords charge giuen in the Apostles commission which is that they teach mē to obserue whatsoeuer he had commanded them So then though it be not of that absolute necessitie that infants dying without it when it cannot conueniently be had should bee damned according to the Romish bloody position yet seeing there is the necessity of precept men must take heed of neglecting so waighty a dutie If the Iew for the neglect of Circumcision was to be cut off how shall the Christian be excusable How shall hee escape for the omitting of so great a Sacrament Thus we haue seene the meanes whereby men are added to the Church The Word Faith and Baptisme the next point is The Author of this addition and that is The Lord The Lord added to the Church such as should be saued The Rhemists adde the Pronoune Our Lord as their vsuall manner is contrary to their vulgar Latine Edition which yet they pretend in their Translation exactly to follow It is in truth a grosse abuse of the sacred Text to adde so many hundred Pronounes more then euer God made and yet cauill at our Translation for turning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the word Congregation whereas it is the most proper signification of the word But it is worth the noting to obserue how they are constrained sometime to translate The Lord and not Our Lord seeing in themselues the absurdity of it as in Matthew where it is said The Lord said vnto my Lord there they leaue out the Pronoune perceiuing how odde and harsh the tone would be to translate it Our Lord said to my Lord. These Pronounists doe so glory in the phrase that it is become a distinguishing note of a Romish Catholike insomuch that if any will symbolize with them he must speake in their language as some to please them doe To come to the point It is the Lord that doth adde to the Church such as shall be saued God must perswade Iaphet it is he that must inlarge him that he may dwell in the tents of Shem. He giueth vnto Christ such as are ordained to life otherwise there is a plaine impossibility of our vnion with Christ and his Church For our Sauiour doth peremptorily affirme that no man can come vnto him except the Father draw him and except it were giuen vnto him of his Father The meanes without this efficient cannot be effectuall Paul planted Apollo watered but God gaue the increase without whom neither he that planteth is any thing neither he that watereth God opened the heart of Lydia before she could profitably attend to S. Pauls preaching If his Spirit doe not inwardly coworke with the outward voice it shall but beate the ayre in vaine The reason is euident for mans deadnesse is such that he can no more mooue toward heauen so much as one step then a dead man can rise of himselfe Nay there is in the corrupt nature of man an opposite disposition willingnesse to remaine in the state of sin like Lot to linger in Sodom so that there is naturally a reluctation and striuing against the worke of Grace which remaining in the regenerate in part causeth them that they cannot alwayes doe the good that they would Againe the worke of conuersation and regeneration is a miraculous worke greater then the worke of creation and therefore requireth a diuine power to effect it In
saluation not allâ—ging the beleeuer to repose himselfe vpon any one place as Rome or Constantinople or the like but placeth him that shall be saued in the Congregation of the faithfull And good reason for he knew well that Arianisme had possessed all places yea Rome it selfe and had infected the head euen Liberius himselfe the Bishop of Rome as is not onely witnessed by the Fathers as Athanasius Hierome Hillarie Augustine but is also acknowledged by their own Romish Doctors Cardinals and Historians though Bellarmine and Baronius would gladly faigne some excuse for him 4. Moreouer it must be considered that Rome is and euer was when it was at the best but a particular Church and member of the vniuersall as other Churches are and therefore can no more challenge the dependance of other Churches vpon it then they can subiect it to any of them See how cleerely and fully S. Paul writing to the Romanes speaketh to this point where telling them that he had receiued grace and Apostleship for obedience to the fâ—ith among all nations among whom saith he ye are also the called of Iesus Christ He saith not aboue whom as giuing Rome primacie ouer all the rest but among whom as conioyning them in fraternitie with other Churches and them with it 5. Lastly we must know that Rome is not onely a particular Church but is also subiect to errour as well as other Churches This the Apostle intimateth by that seuere Caueat which he gâ—ueth to the Church of Rome among other Gentiles Bee not high minded saith hee but feare For if God spared not the naturall branches take heed lest hee also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodnesse and seueritie of God on them which fell seueritie but towards thee goodnesse if thou continue in his goodnesse otherwise thou also shalt bee cut off Heere wee see that Rome hath no more immunity from errour then any other Church no no more then the Church of the Iewes Rome no more then Ierusalem and that God doth tye himselfe to none but with condition If they doe answere his goodnesse to them with perseuerance and continuance in his goodnesse and care of correspondent dutie to him Therefore our Church of England hath well added in the Article of the Church these words viz. As the Church of Ierusalem Alexandria and Antioch haue erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not onely in their liuing and manner of ceremonies but also in matters of faith Heere it will not be amisse out of the manifold errours of the Romish Church to giue instance in a few as a taste of the rest I will inroll them in a short Catalogue and they shall be onely such as no man that will be a Romane Catholicke can auoyde but must vpon paine of damnation in his order place beleeue and practise The very naming of the errors may be a sufficieÌ„t coÌ„uictioÌ„ they are so palpably grose 1. They deny the reading of the holy Scriptures in common to Christian people which is not onely an errour but the cause of all other errours as our Sauiour tolde the Sadduces Ye doe erre not knowing the Scriptures And this they doe contrary to the expresse command of Christ Search the Scriptures contrary to the exhortatioÌ„ of S. Paul Let the word of God dwell in you richly contrary to the vsuall practice of the faithfull in all antiquitie both Iewes and Christians contrary to the very end and vse for which sacred Scriptures were written as the Apostle telleth the old Romanes Whatsoeuer things saith he were written aforetime were written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might haue hope Yea and contrary to the generall iudgement of the Orthodoxe Fathers of the Church The Scripture being as S. Gregory said well nothing else but an Epistle of Almighty God to his creature 2. They attribute such eminency of power to the Pope ouer all soules subiect to him that in a blind-fold obedience they must be at his bâ—cke to beleeue and to doe as he will haue them therefore they stile him The supreme Iudge in causes of faith and manners and sticke not to say Satis est si is legem tulerit It is sufficient if he say the word and are so impatient of controule heerein that no man must dare to say vnto him Curita facis Why doest thou so though his fact were too odious to name An errour not onely impious in Religion but pernicious in any ciuill State for hereby not onely his prohibet forbidding shall keepe men from Gods true worship and seruice but his iubet commanding shall arme them against their Soueraigne as wee know it hath done heere in England Farre were the greatest Apostles from assuming to themselues any such absolute power their voyce was Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ. And againe Though we or an Angel from heauen preach any other Gospel vnto you let him bee accursed Therefore they must needs be strangely bewitched and possessed with errour that can beleeue that a sinfull man should haue a priuiledge aboue Apostles and Angels 3. Their whole fabricke and forme of Religious seruice and publike worship of God being in an vnknowne tongue to the people what is it but a notorious and intolerable errour For take to heart I pray you and thinke seriously what a lamentable condition that people is in that stand bound all the daies of their life to resort to a Church where in their most solemne Liturgies Masses and Seruice they vnderstand not one sentence to their soules comfort The whole Volume of sacred Scripture and examples of both Testaments are against it S. Paul in confutation of it bestoweth a large Chapter proouing that it is not onely vnfruitfull but barbarous and a fearefull note of Gods iudgement vpon a people They haue not an ancient Orthodoxe Father to father this errour among them you shall heare these voyces sounding Let the Greekes in Greeke let the Romanes in the Romane tongue let all in their owne language pray and praise God Againe How canst thou saith S. Cyprian desire to be heard of God who doest not vnderstand thy selfe Nay our Christian reformed Churches haue this happinesse that among the Romanists themselues there are of chiefe note that ingenuously confesse that it is better and more to edification that publike Prayers be in the vulgar and common language knowne of the people then in Latine Let vs blesse God then that hath vouchsafed vs the better part and pray that he would open their eyes that are thus blinded with error that they may take part with vs. 4. That foule error of Idolatrous adoration of Images in common practice among them how expresly contrary is it to the Commandement of God Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image nor the likenesse of any thing c. thou shalt not bow downe