is nothing else but that doctrine and practise which is made up of these two integral parts the knowledge and the worship of God in Christ the one uniting our understanding to the first truth the other uniting our will to the chiefest good both together perfecting the communion of the soul with God so that of these two parts consists het substance of Religion But because Religion in the general doctrine of it may onely fill the head with empty speculations all tending to fancy and to curiosity not the heart with holy affections and heavenly desires which may tend to the sanctification of our sinfull souls here and the salvation of our sanctified souls hereafter It is most necessary that all Christians make sure of a profession of Religion agreeable to their doctrine and of a practise agreeable to their profession and these two will compleat the exercise of Religion which is no other but the application or accommodation of the substance thereof to Time Place and Person that is to say the profession of the knowledge and the practise of the worship of God And this difference we may observe between the substance and the exercise of Religion First the substance of Religion is all immediately from God but the exercise of Religion in many things depends upon the authority of man Sacrificare est de lege naturae determinatio sacrificiorum ex institutione saith Aquinas that men should offer sacrifice to God is of the law of nature but that they should offer these kinds of sacrifices or in these places or in these set times or after this set form and manner depends wholly upon institution either Divine as among the Jews or Humane as among the Gentiles But we may not shoot at Rovers in so narrow a compass the law of nature is not sufficient to teach us the substance of Religion but we must learn that from the law of God For though it be the dictate of natural reason that men should exhibit worship to God as their first beginning and last end yet the true determinate worship that God accepts depends wholly upon Gods own institution and revelation So Aquinas 22 ae q. 81. art 2 Cultum aliquem Deo exhibere est de dictamine rationis at determinatum verum exhibere pendet ab institutione divini juris That man should worship God is the dictate of natural Reason but that he should worship him rightly and truely depends wholly upon supernatural revelation the one is matter of Instinct the other is wholly matter of divine Institution And surely though many men now adays make very bold with God yet there is scarce any petty master of a private family amongst us who would not take it in high disdain that any but himself should teach his family how to serve him Let us then not think but the great Lord of Heaven and earth alone teacheth his servants to do unto him true and acceptable service for fear we fall under the sentence of that condemnation S. Mat. 15. 9. But in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men If the Saviour of the world reject thy Religion how canst thou hope to be saved by it and surely he rejects that Religion as altogether vain and unprofitable which takes mans institutions and inventions for any part of Gods worship or he would never have added that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in vain to the words of the Prophet for whereas Isaiah saith Their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men Isa. 29. 13. our Saviour thus explains his saying by way of addition In vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men And truly although in the exercise of Religion the outward order and decency depends much upon the constitutions of men yet is that outward order and decency no substantial part of the Religion nor may it so be taken unless we will profess and say that we have a Religion of our own making and then what remains but that if we have made our Religion we should also make our God It is to be confessed that great is the liberty of Christian Churches in matter of ceremony but those who will make ceremonies matter of Religion do in effect take away that liberty by turning it into a necessity and do change the nature of indifferency by supposing it indispensable if not making it so But herein Aquinas his observation is very judicious In lege novâ quae est lex amoris vel libertatis dari tantum praecepta de operibus quae cum gratiâ necessariam habent convenientiam vel repugnantiam caetera verò quae non habent relicta esse determinationi humanae arbitrio superiorum si ad communem utilitatem pertinent c. That in the Gospel which is the law of love liberty God hath given precepts only concerning those works which have a necessary conveniency or repugnancy with grace that is works which immediately concern either sin or righteousness but other things that do not immediately concern either sin or righteousness are left to the determination and disposition of man for if they be of publique interest they are left to the judgement of our superiours either Ecclesiastical or Civil if they be of private interest they are left to the judgement of every mans own private reason Itaquè non ut de Sacramentis it a de Sacramentalibus hoc est de dispositionibus ad Sacramenta vel conficienda vel suscipienda lex nova habet praecepta divina sed determinatio ipsorum est Ecclesiae relicta à Christo. Therefore though we have in the Gospel explicit and direct commands about the Sacraments themselves yet have we not so about the Sacramentals that is about those Rites and dispositions which are necessary either to the giving or receiving of them but the determination of such Rites and Ceremonies is left by Christ unto his Church The Iew indeed was confined by the text in the manner of exercising his duty towards God by the Ceremonial Law and towards his neighbour by the Iudicial Law but the Christian is not so he hath documents only concerning the substance or matter not concerning the form or manner of his duty either to God or man for such determinations hath Christ left wholly to his Church as not belonging in themselves to Vertue and Religion but onely to Decency and Order Non enim ad orationem prout est actus virtutis Religionis de se pertinet ut fiat tali certo loco vel tempore aut cum illâ certâ corporis dispositione neque ad restitutionem quae est actus virtutis justitiae pertinet ut fiat in duplum vel in quadruplum sic de similibus As for example It belongs not to prayer as it is an act of Vertue and Religion that it be performed in such a certain place or time or with such or such a posture of the body and it belongs not
to restitution which is an act of justice that it be either twofold or fourfold Therefore the duties themselves are onely commanded in the Gospel but the manner of their performance is not under command And this is the first distinction or difference betwixt the substance and the exercise of Religion that the substance of Religion is all immediately from God but the exercise of Religion in many things depends upon the authority of man Secondly The substance of Religion requires an infallible or a Theological certainty grounded onely upon the word of God but the exercise of Religion is contented with a moral certainty depending upon the testimony of man Which being a proposition of great extent yet of greater consequence shall accordingly be first divided and then explained I say therefore The substance of Religion that is any thing of Faith Hope or Charity requires an infallible or Theological certainty grounded onely upon the word of God Here Dubius in fide infidelis est is a sure rule he that doubts in the faith is an infidel and again Certitudo unius partis tollit probabilitatem alterius is another excellent rule The certainty of one part takes away the probability of the other As the certainty of Christs institution of both kinds in the holy Eucharist takes away the probability of receiving in one kinde after his institution the certainty of praying in faith to God the Father Son and holy Ghost takes away the probability of praying in faith to any but the blessed Trinity But the exercise of Religion is often content onely with a moral certainty nor indeed can we have any other certainty either of times places or persons but meerly moral and humane Here the rule is good Non est opus infallibili certitudine sed sufficit moralis humana quae secum patitur haesitationem suspicionem de contrario In such cases there is no need of a Theological or infallible certainty but it sufficeth that we be guided by a moral or humane certainty which allows of many doubts and suspicions to the contrary as for example that God is to be praised for the nativity of his Son is grounded upon Theological certainty for the angels sang praises to him for it S. Luke 2. But that he is to be praised for it on the twenty fifth day of December is grounded onely upon moral certainty because antiquity hath accounted that for the very day of his nativity And it is no wonder that we can have no better assurance of Christmas day since we can have no better of the Lords day which we are sure is of apostolical imitation if not of apostolical institution for we cannot be otherwise assured that we keep not the second or third or fourth day in stead of the first day of the week but onely from humane testimony and yet he that should have no better assurance of the resurrection of Christ whereon is grounded the duty of the day would scarce deserve to be thought or called a Christian. Time place and person may admit of doubts but faith hope and charity admit of none the reason is these latter are of the pure substance the former belong onely to the exercise of religion Thirdly the substance of religion is unchangeable but the exercise of Religion hath passed under a great and notorious change it was the same faith hope and charity that saved the Jew which now saveth the Christian but the way of exercising all three of them was much different in the Jewish and in the Christian churches Aquinas in his 22 ae q. 2. ar 7. determines this question affirmatively Utrum explicitè credere mysterium incarnationis Christi sit de necessitate salutis apud omnes whether explicitely to beleeve the mystery of the incarnation of Christ be necessary to salvation in regard of all men and he thus demonstratively proves his determination Illud propriè per se pertinet ad objectum fidei per quod homo beatitudinem consequitur via autem hominibus veniendi ad beatitudinem est mysterium incarnationis passionis Christi Dicitur enim Act. 4. Non est aliud nomen datum hominibus in quo oporteat nos salvos fieri ideo mysterium incarnationis Christi aliqualiter oportuit omni tempore esse creditum apud omnes That properly and of it self belongs to the object of faith by which a man obtains eternal blessedness but the way for a man to come to bliss is the mystery of the incarnation and passion of Christ for so it is said Act. 4. 12. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved therefore the mystery of Christs incarnation was to be beleeved in some sort at all times and of all men that were to be saved And he tells us that the Romane histories make mention of a man taken out of his grave in the time of Constantine the great with a plate of gold upon his breast wherein these words were engraven Christus nascetur ex virgine ego credo in cum O Sol sub Irene Constantini temporibus iterum me videbis Christ shall be born of a virgin and I do beleeve in him O Sun in the time of Irene and Constantine thou shalt see me again This he brings as a proof that such of the Gentiles as were saved did beleeve in Christ. The proof perchance may be questionable but the doctrine cannot be so for even Adam in his innocency had an explicite faith in the incarnation of Christ as the onely means to bring him to the consummation ofglory though happily not till after his fall he had an explicite faith in the passion and resurrection of Christ to deliver him from the guilt and punishment of his sins And if the explicite belief of the mystery of Christs incarnation be so necessary to salvation we are little beholding to those men who forbid the commemoration of that mystery and the testification of that belief but however thus we see Omnes sideles usque ab Adamo re quidem ipsâ Christianos fuisse saith Eusebius lib. 1. cap. 1. That the Christian Religion was always the same in substance though not in exercise and the same Religion both of Jew and Christian Ratione objecti formalis non ratione objecti materialis in regard of the formal though not in regard of the material object of faith the same God worshipped by them both if they were true worshippers and with the same acts of faith hope and love to beleeve in him to trust in him and to obey and serve him but yet a far different form and manner of profession of faith and exercise of worship And thus Justin Martyr cleareth the truth of the Christian Religion to Tripho the Jew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We do not think you had one God and we have another nor do we trust in any other God but yours for there is no other even the God of Abraham of
which he doth continually defile with with his intemperances and uncleanness And this truth being granted which is not to be denied and scarce to be disputed it must needs follow that 't is impossible there should be an absolute infallibility of Faith in any man till there be in him an absolute impeccabilitie of life for from the corruption in manners will proceed the corruption in doctrine and from corruption in doctrine corruption in manners so that the doctrine cannot be the form and the duty the matter of Religion since the false doctrine corrupts the duty and the defective duty corrupts or depraves the doctrine and we must allow the substance of Religion to be altogether incorruptible and because there can be in it no corruption 't is evident there is in it no Physical composition Secondly There is in Religion no Logical composition ex subjecto accidente for no part of it but is substantial and essential Faith can no more save without good works then good works can be without faith It seems the man had faith who came running to kneel to our blessed Saviour and to ask him What he should do to inherit eternal life sure a better faith then any of our Solifidians have who neither run nor kneel nor ask yet our Saviours answer is Thou knowest the commandments S. Mark 10. He saith not Thou knowest the faith in Christ and yet without doubt he included it but so it is Christ himself teaching us to go to heaven by obedience doth plainly shew there can be no true faith without it and Bona opera sunt perniciosa ad salutem is a most pernicious blasphemous doctrine though Amsdortius broach'd it out of zeal to the doctrine of Justification by faith in Christ and out of opposition to the merit of condignity in good works for 't is not the right way to build up faith by pulling down obedience since the Apostle himself telleth us that the truth of the Gospel was made known to all nations for the obedience of faith Rom. 16. 26. and 't is evident that faith it self is an act of obedience and a duty enjoyned in the first commandment so that we cannot take away faith from obedience but we must take away obedience from the first and great commandment that most requires it which will not be so much as good Judaisme and therefore sure cannot be good Christianity for the Jews did of purpose in their doctrine as it were entangle the commandments one with another to shew that one could not be violated alone and that our obedience was alike due to all therefore did they teach that the preface I am the Lord thy God was directly on the other side answered by the sixth commandment Thou shalt do no murder for he that kills a man destroys the image of God The first commandment it self Thou shalt have no other gods but me was directly answered by the seventh Thou shalt not commit adultery for idolatrie is a spiritual fornication The third for it seems they looked on the second as included in the first Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain was answered by the eighth Thou shalt not steal for he that will be a thief will not stick to forswear himself The fourth Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day was answered by the ninth Thou shalt not bear false witness for he that will not keep the sabbath doth bear false witness of God that he did not rest on the seventh day The fifth Honour thy father and thy mother was answered and as it were seconded by the tenth Thou shalt not covet for he that gives the reins to his concupiscence shall beget a son that shall dishonour and disobey him Salomom Iarchi in Cantic cap. 4. v. 5. Thus did they make one commandment not onely as a second to vindicate and avenge but also as a principle champion to fortifie and strengthen another that we should pay the readier obedience to them all for they did not this to confound our dutie towards God and our duty towards our neighbour but to shew that though these several duties might be distinguished yet they might not be divided nor separated for that no one commandment of the Moral Law was accidental but all alike substantial in that obedience which God doth now require and will hereafter reward so that there is no composition of Subject and Accident in Religion Thirdly and lastly There is in Religion no Metaphysical composition ex actu potentia of act and power for though this Metaphysical composition is in the Angels yet 't is not in Religion 'T is in the Angels for they have not all their essence and perfection together but as it were successively some after other so that in this respect Religion hath a prerogative above the Angels and therefore may not stoop down so low as to worship them for that hath its whole perfection altogether the Old the New Testament differing onely in modo not in re for the same Faith Hope and Charity saved Abraham that still saveth us and hence it is evident that all is either superstition of faction which cannot consist and be maintained without addition to the text the onely rule of Religion though it pretend not to be addition but onely exposition or declaration As for example When Christ hath said Drink ye all of this that the Laity or Clergy not administring are not bound to drink of it may pretend to be a declaration of the Church Ecclesia declarat nullo divino praecepto Laicos aut Clericos non conficientes ad bibendum obligari Concil Trid. Sess. 21. cap. 1. but it is indeed a depravation of the truth by way of addition Again when God hath said Thou sh'alt not worship any graven image for any man to say Thou shalt not worship the graven image of Venus or Bacchus or Jupiter but thou mayst worship the image of Christ and of the saints seems to be a declaration but is indeed a down right depravation by way of addition and yet this is the fleight whereby Baronius endeavours to elude the second commandment and why may not we as well say Thou shalt not kill that is Thou shalt not kill a Romane Catholick but thou mayst kill an heretick Thou shalt not steal that is Thou shalt not assault or invade the property of a brother one of the godly party but thou mayst of one that is a malignant or a reprobate and yet not be guilty of stealing In a word to instance in the fifth commandment which hath been alike trampled upon by the two grand factions of Christendome Honour thy father and thy mother saith God that is If he be not an heretick saith the one side for then he may be excommunicated deposed and killed If he be not a reprobate saith the other side for then he may be dishonoured and disobeyed and destroyed for having no share in grace he hath no right to
with us so that the best way to serve him cordially is to serve him with eye-service considering that he always looks upon us and therefore we ought always to act as in his presence Excellently the Casuist Reiginaldus Adjumenta operandi bonum in ordine ad nosipsos sunt consider are Christum ut mandantem spectantem adjuvantem The main helps that encourage any man in regard of himself to do that which is good is the consideration of Christs presence as if he were actually standing by him to command to observe and to assist him that he commands me to obey observes me in my obedience and assists me in obeying whosoever truly hath this consideration of Christ cannot but have his heart full of true Christianity and he that hath his heart full cannot have his mouth or his hand empty for out of the aboundance of the heart not onely the mouth speaketh but also the hand acteth and worketh But Gods Infinitie though it most appear to us in his Omnipresence yet is it the immediate property of his essence which being a pure act or form admits of no materiality to limit and to confine it and so also are the duties of Religion in some sort infinite in their very essence for nothing is proportionable to God but what is infinite and like himself and therefore it is said Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect St. Mat. 5. 48. God justly requires a perfection of degrees in all duties of Religion though he graciously accepts a perfection of parts it is well for us that the truth and sincerity not the measure and degree of our faith or repentance puts us in the state of salvation for else we should not onely be always doubtfull of that state but also very often come short of it and yet in truth our faith and repentance and obedience is infinite as it is in Gods acceptance though not as it is in our performance for though it be performed in much unrighteousness yet it is accepted in an infinite righteousness even the righteousness of the eternal Son of God 3. Communicatione essentiae Thirdly and lastly God may be said to be infinite in the communication of his essence which he hath communicated in an infinite variety to infinite sorts of creatures which all have their being onely from him So also Religion is infinite in this respect that it can never be enough communicated he that is truly converted himself will make it his whole work to strengthen his brethren according to that advice of our blessed Saviour St. Luke 22. 32. which having been given to St. Peter in his own person cannot but more peculiarly belong to all his successours then many things else that are more zealously claimed by most of them and how then may the Scriptures be denied to the people in a tongue they know or prayers be obtruded to them in a tongue they know not since the Scripture communicates Religion from God to man and prayer expresseth the desire of that heavenly communion Wherefore that of the Trent Council Sess. 22. cap. 8. Nè tamen oves Christi esuriant pastores frequenter aliquid in missâ exponant c. Least the flock of Christ should be hunger-starved the priâ—st ought often to expound the missal is in effect a tacit Confession that though Religion ought to be effectually communicated to the people to feed their souls unto the full yet they are resolved it must not be so but that they shall still wholly depend upon the priests for a little broken bread whereas all that know good to be naturally diffusive of it self most willingly acknowledge that Religion the greatest good of this world and the onely practise of the next the more it hath of goodness the more it ought to have likewise of the diffusion The third incommunicable property of God is his Immutability for as God changeth not in his essence I AM hath sent me unto you Exo. 3. 14. so he changeth not in his government or dominion of souls I am the Lord I change not Mal. 3. 6. he changeth not as our Lord and we cannot pretend to change as his servants for Religion hath also its share in this Immutability in which sense I perswade my self Iustin Martyr called Abraham a Christian and Socrates too though a heathen yet observing some of that righteousness all which we Christians do or should observe and he proves that the Christian Religion is that whereby God was then and is now truly worshipped and glorified what the heathen had of idols they had of Paganisme what of moral duties or of reasonable service they had of Christianity for there is no reason why the martyrs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may not agree with the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12. 1. So likewise the Iews and the Christians have the same Religion in substance though not in ceremonies or circumstance or the old Testament could not be brought so appositely to prove the doctrines of the New or Moses have been said to bear the reproach of Christ Heb. 11. 26. and so likewise all Christians have one and the same Religion though they have many different professions the Christian Religion being altogether unchangeable one and the same in all places and at all times and what is otherwise will be found either to be superstition or faction or matter of order but in no case matter of Religion it being impossible that what is truly Christian in one place or time should be made either Antichristian or Unchristian in another And this property of Immutability Religion partakes in a higher degree then the sublimest spirit in the highest order of Angels for they are all changeable by a power without them though not by a power within them but Religion is not so God himself cannot make another Religion or service of himself then that which he hath already made I mean as to the substantial and internal nature of holiness consisting in the immediate duties of Religion Aliquid dicitur mutabile dupliciter uno modo per potentiam quae in ipso est altero modo per potentiam quae est in altero Aquin. par 1. qu. 9. what is absolutely unchangeable cannot be changed by any power either within or without it self so is God so is the service of God Religion which God cannot change no more then he can change himself that is no more then he can change his truth that taught it his justice that prescribed it his excellent majesty that still requireth it his infinite mercy that still accepteth it for it was Gods own Spirit that spake those words by the mouth of Gamaliel Acts 5. 38 39. If this counsel or this work be of men it will come to nought but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it and upon serious examination we shall finde it most true in our Christian Religion what hath been either in the doctrine or practise thereof meerly the counsel
or work of men hath in every age of the Church come to nought and so will to the worlds end but the counsel and work of God in the Christian Religion never yet was never shall be overthrown for the gates of hell might prevail against the Church of Christ could they prevail against the Christian Religion that upholds the Church But since chopping and changing in the profession and practise of Religion is now the great sin of many that would be thought the best Christians I will endeavour to shew that it should be also their shame no less then it is their sin for in vain is the pretence of Godliness in changing that which God hath ordained should partake of his own unchangeableness indeed in every respect that God himself is unchangeable Religion is so too now God is unchangeable in three respects essentiâ voluntate loco in his essence in his will in his place and Religion would fain also have this immutability First God is immutable in his essence Rev. 1. 4. Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come from him who always was always will be the same that he now is as if he had said From him that is wholly immutable in his essence that is from God for no man is the same either that he was or that he shall be and no Angel is the same that he was for there was a time when he was not and the first Council of Nice thought it a sufficient proof of the judgement of the Catholick Church concerning the Divinity of Christ in that they said she anathematized those who said There was a time when he was not which is all one as if they had said concerning him That he was God who was and is and is to come for God alone may be said to have an unchangeable Being who hath his Being from himself all creatures whatsoever have once changed from a not-Being to a Being and would again change from a Being to a not-Being did not the same hand which at first made them still preserve them for it is proper onely to the Creatour who alone is of himself to be alone unchangeable in himself and so is Religion unchangeable in its essence for being the service of God it must be like its master since by the rule of Relatives Change in the service cannot but proceeed from change in the master at lest from some change in his will if not in his nature and therefore the argument rather pleads against the worship of Angels which is alledged by Bel. l. ◠de beat can San. c. 14. then for it where he thus argues the Angels were worshipped before Christs incarnation by Abraham and Lot Gen. 18 and 19. but the Angel forbad St. John to worship him Rev. 19. 10. and 22. 9. ob reverentiam humanitatis Christi for the reverence he did bear to Christ now in the nature of man I answer That reason is more forcible against invocation which humbles the soul then it is against adoration which humbles the body since Christ took upon him as well the soul of man as his body and consequently if we may not adore the Angels without disparaging the humane nature in Christ much less may we invocate them without fear of that disparagement But because this answer doth not satisfie the argument but rather invert it if not retort it I answer secondly That therefore the worshipping of Angels cannot be made good Religion because it was not as good Religion in S. John as it is supposed to have been in Abraham For if it had been once good Religion it would have been so still and must needs be so for ever since it concerns the very object of worship which must be unchangeable and not the manner of it which may in some respects be capable of change For Religion is Gods service and knows no more how to change it self then how to change its master else serving the time would come to be good Divinity instead of serving the Lord which now is taken for a false reading of the text Rom. 12. 11. occasioned by short writing of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which being enlarged by vowels might easily be turned into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore we must say that the same religious worship is commanded in Genesis and in the Revelation in the first and in the last book of Gods word and if the Angel might not lawfully be worshipped by S. Iohn he might not lawfully be worshipped by Abraham or by Lot that is to say not with a religious worship and therefore we must confess that their worship if religious was directed onely to the Son of God who then frequently appeared with the Angels as it were preluding to his own incarnation If not religious but either a civil or a moral reverence in acknowledgment either of the Angels government or of their excellency 't is improperly alledged as an act of Religion for if worshipping of Angels had been a duty of Religion either to Abraham or to Lot it must also have been so to S. Iohn and then the Angel would not have said See thou do it not but See thou do it And this is proof enough That worshipping of Angels is no part of Religion because it self is confessed to be a changeable worship but Religion cannot be denied to be an unchangeable service in its own nature and essence even as the God is whom it serves Secondly God is immutable or unchangeable in his will Vult mutationem non mutat voluntatem as saith Aquinas par 1. qu. 19. He wills a change but changeth not his will and accordingly God threatning destruction to the Ninivites and yet not destroying them may not be said to have changed his own will but to have willed their change For though in Promises and in Precepts Gods revealed will is a declaration of his secret will yet 't is not so in Threats or comminations of vengeance there God doth not so much declare what himself wills as what we deserve therefore threats may not be fulfilled and yet Gods will still be the same not so Promises or Precepts for God would not promise if he did not intend to perform nor would he command if he did not intend we should obey from his Promise we have an interest in his mercy for all good is clamable from his Precepts his Justice hath an interest in us for all evil is punishable and all transgression is evil so that God cannot promise or command what is not according to his will unless he should dispence either with his mercy or with his justice but in predictions of vengeance the case is otherwise God doth often threaten what he doth not will and therefore may change his threats and yet not change his will fór his threats shew not so much his will or his intent as our deservings that mischief is
Thou art God from everlasting that is without beginning and thou art God to everlasting that is without end And so also is Religion Eternal both from everlasting and to everlasting from everlasting in the reason of it because it is a service or reverence due to God by vertue of his excellent Majesty and consequently that due is Eternal with his very Being but onely to everlasting in the practise of it because there was no creature from everlasting to practise it how then should we exceedingly desire to know Religion how to love it how to practise it whereby alone our souls are prepared to believe Eternity and to enjoy it and to employ it an irreligious soul could it possibly get to heaven would not know what to do there for there is nothing but the practise of Religion or praising God Rev. 19. 1 5 7. Again as God in that he is Eternal oweth his Beginning and Continuance to none but onely to himself and as Eternity because it is from it self is therefore without a Beginning and because it is of it self is therefore without an end so true Religiō hath in some sort its Being from it self for it is bonum in se it is good in and by it self and therefore hath its subsistence in and by it self let the whole world turn Atheist as it is turning apace yet the true Religion will still be the true Religion there may be in the practise of Religion many things good because they are commanded but in the substance of Religion the internal goodness is the reason of the external command so that Religion is indeed a beam of that light which proceedeth from the Father of Lights shewing unto Angels men what they are to know love and do and so leading them both to the Light everlasting for as God himself is so is his service and therefore I could not better explain the properties of Religion then from the properties of God Onely God hath his properties immediately flowing from his own essence but Religion partakes of these mediately from God as it is his service God hath these properties not onely Formally in himself but also Originally from himself Religion hath them Formally in it self but Originally from God Thus hath Religion all those properties of God which are incommunicable to the Creature and thereby appears to have in it self more of Divinity then any Creature whatsoever either in Heaven or in Earth for these being the properties of the true Religion in it self shew it to be spiritual far above the nature of all created spirits whereby themselves draw nearer to the God of Spirits in their affections then in their natures If therefore thou O man desire to be truly Religious thou must desire to be spiritually minded and the way to be so is to have a kinde of Simplicity or Incomposition that is a sincerity of the soul in the love of God To have a kinde of Immutability that is a Constancy to have an Immensity that is a servent Zeal and Alacritie which will not endure to be straitned or confined and to have an Eternity that is an unwearied perseverance in the Faith and Fear and Love of God Nay indeed these same properties are already in thy soul if thou be truly Religious for then thou art spiritually minded and thou canst not but have an uncompounded soul by sincerity of its service not dividing thy affection betwixt God and Baal betwixt Christ and Belial Thou canst not but have a constancy in his service which will let thee be no Changeling a thing as monstrous and abominable in the second as in the first birth thou canst not but have an alacrity and fervency of spirit which will not be circumscribed or confined either to or by time or place neither to a Conclave at Rome nor to a Consistory at Geneva nor to a Conventicle in England for as Christianity it self is not confined so neither the soul as 't is Christian but joyns in Communion with all Christians that ever were or that are or that shall be in the honour and love of Christ thy house is too little thou wilt to the Church nay the Church is too little thou wilt to the Catholick Church the whole Church Militant thy spirit shall be with theirs when theirs is with Christ nay the Catholick Church is too little here on Earth thou wilt up to that part of it which is triumphant in Heaven for Christian duties as they are practised here will cease with our lives therefore the Christian soul will look after such duties as she may practise in Heaven and at least in habit if not in act will even here be eternally Religious as we are divinely taught by our own Church saying with a most Catholick spirit It is very meet right and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee O Lord holy Father Almighty everlasting God thereby shewing us the Immensity of Religion That it is not to be circumscribed to or by any place for it is meet that we give thanks in all places and also the eternity of Religion that it is not to be confined to or by any time for it is meet that we give thanks at all times Eternity being the blessedness we look for the means whereby we compass it must needs be eternal not onely in the efficient cause God himself but also in the instrumental cause that is Religion And since Omnipotency All sufficiency and Omnisciency are but three branches of Eternity It is necessary before I come to the Communicable Properties that I speak of them for God in that he is Eternal is Omnipotent since there could be no other fountain of power unless we would make two Eternals and the same God as he is Eternal is All-sufficient for having his being of himself he must needs also have it perfectly in himself and lastly the same God as he is Eternal is also Omniscient for it is the Property of Eternity to have all things present to it as to be always present to it self wherefore it will be worth our while briefly to consider these Properties as they are in God and as they are also in Religion the service of God and first of the Omnipotency Gods Omnipotency or Almighty Power appears especially in two things First that he hath power to do all that he will Secondly that he hath power over all when he will had he not the First he could not be Almighty in himself had he not the second he could not be Almighty in our esteem the first tends to the Execution the second to the Declaration of his Almighty power The text doth ordinarily prove them both together as 1 Tim 6. 15. the Son of God is called the blessed and onely Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords The onely Potentate that hath power to do all that he will and hath also power to do all when he will as King of kings
and in the hand as Truth is opposed to Dissimulation or Hypocrisie Thirdly in its certainty or perseverance And of thy great mercy keep us in the same as Truth is opposed to uncertainty or to levity and inconstancy Religion then hath and must have a two-fold truth the first consists in a right apprehension whereby we believe the thing as it is the second in a right affection profession and action whereby we love and profess and do the thing as we beleeve and there cannot be a more religious prayer invented by the wit of Piety nor a more affectionate prayer practised by the zeal of Charity then that which is so remarkable both for its Piety and for its Charity in our own Church Collect 3. Sunday after Easter Almlghty God which shewest to all men that be in errour the light of thy Truth to the intent that they may return into the way of Righteousness there 's its piety towards God rightly descanting upon Gods intent in shewing the light of his truth to make men righteous not to make them inexcusable These things I say that ye might be saved S. Joh. 5. 34. not onely convinced saith our blessed Saviour and yet he spake to those who had not the love of God v. 42. Grant unto all them that be admitted into the fellowship of Christ Religion that they may eschew those things that be contrary to their profession and follow all such things as be agreeable to the same there 's its charity towards men affectionately desiring that as they have a Christian Communion so they may also have a Christian conversation lest their unchristian conversation destroy and disanull their Christian Communion which without doubt it hath done already in many ages of the Church and will do still to the worlds end unless God in his mercy fill our hearts more and more with this true piety towards himself and with this true charity one towards another And for this cause the Commandments are in the judgement of some Divines accounted practical Articles of the Christian Faith because if these be left out in our conversation what is true in it self of our Creed is as it were false to us since either our profession gives the lye to our apprehension and affection or our action to our profession for this is the difference betwixt speculative and practical truths speculativè practicè credibilia those things that we must believe speculatively and those that we must believe practically the first which are summed up in the Creed are truly believed if there be a conformity of the thing with the Understanding but the second which are summed up in the Decalogue are then onely truly believed when there is a conformity of the affection and of the profession and of the action with the belief thus they that worship Images do expunge the second and they that resist Magistrates do expunge the fifth Commandment if not out of their books yet at least out of their Faith in their Books they may be true believers but in their Lives they are in these particulars little less then Infidels Now see in what a miserable condition is the irreligious miscreant who so beleeves as to make void his own faith and so receives the truth as to make the truth it self a lie to him either for want of a sanctified affection in not loving it or for want of a sanctified action in not practising it and hence we may likewise see and must confess that not he who knows most of the doctrine of Faith is the best Beleever but he that most loves what he knows in speculatives and he that most practises what he knows in practicks so that a great Scholar may fully know the truth and yet to him it may be as a lye because he loves it not for to him it is what he desires it should be contrariwise an ignorant peasant may not fully know the truth and yet to him it may be the saving truth because he loves it for what is wanting in his head is made up by his heart O my soul glory not in the knowledge of Christ but in the love of that knowledge glory not in thy learning if thou art Mistress of any but in thy Religion to which thou oughtest to be a servant learning may make a man wise to ostentation but 't is onely Religion can make him wise to salvation Do not then with Pilate ask thy Saviour what is truth and then go away without his answer much less mayest thou turn to those Jews that help to crucifie him for if thou know these things happy art thou not because thou knowest them but if thou do them thy happiness consists not in knowing Christ but in practising him nor is it possible for a man to be long defective in his practise and not to be defective also in his knowledge since what is sinfull in the deliberate action is sinfull in the will and what is sinfull in the will is erroneous in the judgement or understanding and this is the reason that a man may be a heretick not onely in credendis but also in agendis not onely in Articles of Faith but also in Duties of Life nay indeed he cannot easily be a heretick in the Duties of Life and still remain truly Orthodox in the Articles of Faith as for example he that prays to a Saint or Angel in stead of God directly overthrows the first Commandment but indirectly also the first Article of his Creed I believe in one God for Prayer is a Sacrifice that may be offered onely unto God again he that wilfully dishonours his Governours whom God hath set over him directly overthrows the fifth Commandment but indirectly also the ninth Article of his Creed I beleeve the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints for being a Lover of division he is not a true beleever of that Communion and this we may take for a general doctrine fitter to be received then opposed First that any practical errour which is against our duty towards God doth tend to a speculative errour against some part of the Creed which concerneth God as he that doth not honour God as God doth in effect deny him to be maker of heaven and earth therefore saith the Psalmist O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker as if we could not truly beleeve him to be our maker if we will not worship him with all possible reverence and fear Secondly that any practical errour which is against our duty towards our neighbour doth tend against some Article of the Creed that hath relation to men as he that will not be subject to the authority of his lawfull governours Civil or Ecclesiastical doth in effect deny The Catholick Church and the Communion of Saints Thirdly and lastly that any practical errour against the duty which a man oweth unto himself doth tend against some Article of Faith that concerns himself as he that is a common
of God was more to be magnified by reverence and adoration though we spake but little then by all the loud praises and hymns which we could utter whilest we continued guilty of irreverence and S. Paul setting forth the condition of a true convert makes him reverent in his behaviour as well as zealous in his thanksgivings for saith he falling down on his face he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth he falls down and worships there 's his reverence he reports that God is in you of a truth there 's his thanks-giving and if either of these be wanting for ought we can see by the Text he is yet no true convert but is still in the same state of ignorance and of unbelief as when he first came into the Church to hear those that prophesied But the better to set forth the reverence that is not to be parted from the true Religion I will briefly run over those ten Names of God which S Hierome hath collected together in one of his Epistles to Marcellus ep 136. for there is not one of those Names but will strike a terrour into the soul of man when he comes to bow himself before the most High God which is the reason that not one of all these Names is once mentioned in the Book of the Canticles Quia in hoc spirituali Epithalamio merito ea nomina praetermittuntur quae ad incutiendum terrorem accommodata erant because that Song of Songs being made to express the marriage joy of the soul with Christ it was not thought fit to use any of those terrible names of God which might occasion the interruption of that joy The first Name of God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the LXX but by Aquila according to its Etymology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the strong one this Name Exod. 20. 5. is joyned with Jealousie in that very Commandment wherein God requires our Religion to be with reverence as well as without Idolatry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a jealous God he is God and able to punish us he is jealous and will not let us scape unpunished no nor our children after us if we shew that we hate him by loving irreligion whether it be by superstition or by profaneness whether by idolatry or by irreverence for we may certainly bring a vengeance and a curse not onely upon our selves but also upon our posterity by our irreverence which is against the positive precept no less then by our Idolatry which is against the negative precept of the second Commandment The second Name of God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this Name we finde Hab. 1. 12. in these words Art thou not from everlasting O Lord my God mine Holy One 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My God and mine Holy One are put as terms convertible for he is but my Idol not my God unless he be also mine Holy One that is one whom I conceive to be holy and rejoyce that he is so the profane person cannot deny God to be the Holy One though he rejoice not in his Holiness he would fain make a division betwixt these two properties of God Power and Holiness he would either have God a strong one without holiness to allow profaneness or he would have him a holy one without strength that he might not avenge it But we must look upon his strength as the fortress and bullwork of his holiness that if we will not learn to detest profaneness and irreverence because of his holiness yet we may learn to dread it because of his strength The third Name of God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we meet withall in the first words of the Bible Gen. 1. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dii creavit where is a noun of the plural number signifying God with a verb of the singular which strange Syntaxis hath one gloss among the Jews another among the Christians among the Jews it is taken for an argument of the greatness of Gods majesty for so saith Aben Ezra 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the holy tongue that is in the Hebrew it is a course or way of honour to speak of a great person in the plural number to wit thereby to intimate his greatness but among the Christians this same manner of speech is taken for an argument of the Holy Undivided Trinity The noun in the plural number signifying the plurality of Persons the verb in the singular number the Unity of essence we may accordingly make an excellent use of either gloss in our devotions for if we seriously consider the greatness of Gods majestie we will be sure to keep our distance in our prayers and not be guilty of that undecent and ungodly familiarity which begetteth a contempt of God if at lest it be not begotten of it for it will certainly end in a slighting of his majestie if it do not begin in it This ungodly familiarity with God teacheth us to offer that to God which doth cost us nothing contrary to his resolution who was a man after Gods own heart and therefore best acquainted with his liking 2 Sam. 24. 24. Nay but I will buy it of thee at a price neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing for indeed such offerings do but proclaim a contempt of God as appears Mal. 1. 7. They that offer polluted bread do in effect say The table of the Lord is contemptible and they are accordingly sent to Court to learn better manners and better language v. 8. Offer it now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person the Chalde Paraphrase saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to thy King but the Hebrew word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to thy under Governour and indeed the Jews had no other after their captivity offer such stuff as this but to the captain that is set over thee to thy Governour who is no King but himself under command and he will reject thy gift and scorn and disdain thee and how then darest thou offer it unto thy God who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords how darest thou offer the blind the lame the sick to him for a sacrifice which is thy bounden duty when as thou darest not offer it to thy Governour as a free and a voluntary gift we may offer unto God blind prayers for want of premeditation which is the souls fore-sight lame prayers for want of good affections which are the feet of the soul and sick prayers by reason of our undigested devotions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so I conceive it should be read in Hesâ—chius and not in two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is sick whose stomach is oppressed with crudities and inconcoctions so that he cares not for his meat and is besides clean out of temper and such are sick prayers which are crude indigested distempered prayers thus we may offer
by a gracious dependance on Gods truth and faithfulness and expecting in his good time a comfortable issue of his promises Such waiters whose God is the Lord Jehovah in whom they trust on whom they depend and whom they constantly obey not departing from his precepts when he seems to have forsaken them in their greatest distresses such men are the prime the onely Christians who have in their soul the seal of Gods grace to assure them of their future happiness O thou whose Name is the great Jehovah and rulest all things in heaven and earth send down from heaven the habitation of thy glory thine Holy Spirit into our hearts and so possess our souls with an awful fear of thy Majesty and a filial love of thee for thy goodness and mercy that we abhorring all things that may displease thee and obeying thy precepts may in the end of our days obtain the end of our hopes and the fruit of thy promises which is the salvation of our souls and eternal bliss through the merits of our blessed Redeemer our Lord Christ Jesus The tenth and last Name of God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 schaddai by which God often stiled himself when he spake unto the Patriarchs to uphold their spirits and sustain their faith in the midst of their troubles Gen. 17. 1. the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto him I am 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the same words he bespake Jacob Gen. 35.11 hence it was that they also when they were to speak or make mention of God often used that Name or word Thus Isaac when he blessed Jacob Gen. 28.3 said the God whose Name is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bless thee and make thee to encrease and multiply so Jacob said to Joseph the God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appeared to me in Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me As for the notion or meaning of the Name Galatinus l. 2. c. 17. out of R. Moses the Egyptian and Algazel determines it that it is a compounded term and made up of these two parts or particulars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is in composition the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies sufficient and sufficiency so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the whole latitude or acception of it denotes the alsufficiency of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui in se à se sufficientiam abundantiam omnimodam habet it a ut nullius ope indigeat i. e. who in himself and from himself hath a sufficiency and abundance of all good things and needs not the help of any creature There is in God a fallness of power whereby he can do what he will his will being the onely rule and bound of his power therefore the Septuagint do often render this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Job 8.3 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that doth or worketh all things so in our English Translation doth the Almighty pervert justice As there is in many a man an empty fullness when bladder-like his soul is blown up with windy fancies of having what he hath not or of more knowledge then he truly hath so in God there is a fullness without any the least defect or degree of emptiness in God and Christ who is God and man in one person there is as the Schools speak Plenitudo repletiva and diffusiva or plenitudo abundantiae and redundantiae and abounding fullness because no good thing no gift nor grace is wanting in him and a redounding fullness because what gifts or graces soever be in us they are all derived to our souls from him the ever-living and overflowing fountain and spring of them from whom they slow into our souls per Spiritum tanquam per canalem through the spirit as it were a conduit-pipe without any loss of them in him or without any the least diminution and of his fullness have we all received Joh. 1. 16. a fullness without any want argues a great perfection quod plenè habetur perfectè totalitèr habetur Aquin Now if men through the door of faith opened by Gods blessed Spirit did see the fullness the excellency and alsufficiency of God it would so fill them with admiration joy and content that having a communion with God by his sanctifying spirit they would care for nothing else they considering what the Lord is and beholding his glorious face in the glass of his Attributes viz. his Wisedom Power and Justice c. upon this consideration they would say with the Prophet David The Lord is on our side or with us we will not therefore fear what man can do unto us Psa 118. 6. the Lord is ours therefore we can lack nothing that is good for us and if the Lord be thine then his Power is thine to sustain thee under any cross to redeem thee from troubles to help thee in distress to succour thee in the greatest needs and to support thy weakness in the performance of any duties his Wisedom too is thine thou hast an interest in it it is thy portion so that if thou desirest to be instructed in the knowledge of his word to understand those hidden mysteries which are contained in it if thou openest thy mouth to him in prayer he will open thine eyes that thou shalt see mirabilia leg is the wondrous things of his Law Psa. 119. 18. and be also wise unto salvation 2 Tim. 3. 15. his Justice likewise is thine to vindicate thee when thou art injured if thou committest thy cause unto him and to clear thine innocency when thou art falsly traduced by the malevolent and to deliver thee out of the hands of the oppressour so for his Truth and Holiness the former is thine to make good his promises of blessings in this life and of happiness in that to come if by faith and full affiance thou dependest on him so the latter i. e. his Holiness is thine to sanctifie thy corrupt nature and to free thee as from the guilt so from the power of sin This is the portion of all the Sons and servants of God who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a God al-sufficient who can and will do for us more then either we desire or deserve if we wholly rest and rely upon his goodness Happy is the man who is in such a case in so blessed a condition as to have a close union and near communion with the great God of heaven or to speak in the Prophet Davids phrase who hath the Lord for his God Psa. 144. 15. whose alsufficiency they atterly deny who worship any other God as did the Gentiles who multiplied Deities and sacrificed to more then one such are Polutheists who divide the glory of Gods excellencies amongst those petty Numens even as they are no other then practical Athiests and truly worship none who through infidelity question Gods alsufficiency for if he be God he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
not in but upon the Temple or Church of God non in Templo Dei sed in Templum Dei sedet tanquam ipse sit Templum Dei quod est Ecclesia as saith S. August l. 20. de Civ Dei c. 19. where also he expounds this Anti-Christ not of one single person but of a whole body of men or a mixt multitude and I pray why may not Anti-Christ reign rather in an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a Government of the many-headed then in any other kinde of Government since this alone is a Government not of Christs making Surely no one character of Anti-Christ but will more exactly befit this then any other Government and if we will suppose which is very probable that those Parables which do shew what Anti-Christ was in the Jew may also teach what he shall be in the Gentile then persecution of those who are sent unto the people much more of those who are set over them by Christ murder committed upon their persons and rapine upon their inheritance must be his chiefest qualities See S. Luk. 10 11 12 13 14. verses where we haue a perfect embleme of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when servants rule their Masters Subjects their King which is the pestilent spawn of that viperous doctrine Dominion is founded in the people and without all question 't is more immediately Anti-Christian to oppose Kingship then to oppose Kings since this may be onely against the persons who are men but that must be also against the authority which is Gods whence they are called his Kings his Anointed 2 Sam. 22. 51. or rather Christs authority for himself saith Mat. 28. 18. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth and is from him derived unto Kings whence 1 Tim. 6. 15. he is called the onely Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords for Kings are of Christs not of the peoples making the Text shews where Christ hath given his power to Kings but not where he hath given it to the people and consequently for them to assume it without his gift and against his command must needs be Anti-Christian so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are in effect all one to sight against Monarchy is to sight against God who alone originally and against Christ who alone autoritatively is the onely Monarch but to return again to the Church doth not this appeal to the people let in the Rabble over all that 's called God and over all that 's called Christ the Anointedof God and over all that 's called Christian the service of God credenda speranda facienda must we not beleeve and pray and live as the rout will have us or have no outward profession of our faith no publick exercise of our prayers and no communion or Fellowship of our life see what strange calves this rebellious Jeroboam this striver for the people for so doth his Name import hath already set up in this our Bethel the house of God Prayer thrown out of its proper dwelling the publick worship of the Lord forbidden on the Lords own day and in the Lords own house and all because the people will have it so for 't is not the publick circumstances of time and place can make a publick worship when the persons that perform it are not publick because they are no Ministers and the substance of the worship performed is not publick but meerly private both for the matter because the supposed Minister prays onely for his own party and according to his own humour for the form because the people nay most times himself do not know his prayer Is not this truly to prophane the Sabbath in stead of sanctifying it to cry up the day but to beat down the duty of it as if Religion were more in days then in duties more in accidents then in substances more in circumstances which are but shadows then in realities I cannot perswade my self but our late throwing away the publick worship of God exercised in such an excellent Book of prayer as was publick both in its form for known unto and admired of all Christians and in its matter for of such Petitions onely as equally concerned all and introducing a meer priuate worship instead of it if I may call that a worship of God which hath so little reverence towards his Majesty and so few evidences of his authority was the most sacrilegious profanation that ever any Christian people hath yet been guilty of people I say not nation for neither with us is this Apostasie yet become National and God forbid it ever should and yet the reason of all this and much more then this is onely that which formerly was the plea of Comedians not of Divines populo ut placerent quas fecissent fabulas that they might please the people at least with some new invention since they were displeased for some base worldly ends with their old Religion and it makes many a Christian heart tremble to think that we are very near a Babylonian Captivity and the truth of God is breathing its last gasp amongst us because we are come to that desperate condition of the Jews and are as ready as they were to endungeon our Jeremies that tell us of it described by the Prophet Jer. 5. 30 31. a wonderfull and horrible thing is committed in the land the Prophets prophesie falsly and the Priests bear rule by their means and my people love to have it so and what will you do in the end thereof there is a generation of false Prophets in the land and the Priests that bear rule by their means applaud their prophesying for so the 70 render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and my people love to have it so i. e. to have false Prophets in stead of Priests hoping thereby to save their tithes and what will you do in the end thereof as yet this horrible thing is beautifull in your eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Ezra but what will you do in the end when you shall know it will be bitter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 't is now a Naomi that is pleasant but it will then be Marah that is bitter and will say unto your souls Why call ye me Naomi seeing the Lord hath testified against me Ruth 1. 20 21. but I must leave this argument to some better head and more authentick hand I undertake to speak onely the heart of the true English Protestant who bids me tell you that Divinity alone makes him of the true Church which had its being before his Church not with it and much less from it Divinity of the new stamp if it may be called Divinity which hath man not God for its authour must needs on both sides turn faith into faction and Religion into Rebellion that man and the same reason holds in Christian Churches as in Christian men since a Church is but a Congregation of men I say that man