magnifie the Lord and our spirit must reioyce in God our Sauiour It is not enough that we come neere to God with our lips in chanting hymnes and psalmes except we make melodie to the Lord with the best member that wee haue Plus valet consonantia voluntatum quà m vocum How wee neglect this precept in singing when our hearts are on our haruest and our mindes on our meate I neede not say your domesticall Chaplane doth daily tell you To the Lord That as of him and through him and for him are all things so vnto him may be glorie for euermore Whatsoeuer yee doe in word or deede A generall rule extended to all men and all actions in all places at al times vno cumulo cuncta complectitur as Luther vpon the place Doe all Not say yee but doe Celsus and Antiphon writing against the truth intituled their treatise the book of truth and the Papists vnder the name of the Church ouerthrow the Church Ecclesiae nomiâ—ee armamini contra ecclesiam dimicatis Anabaptists are most carnall and yet they boast of the spirit Vnconscionable men in our time seeme to be all for conscience Iustice and Conscience are the greatest martyrs in the world For a great man in doing mischiefe pretends iustice and a meane man alway conscience so that as it is in the Prouerb In nomine domini incipit omne malum So soone as the malicious man had sowen his tares he went his way See the Gospell for this day In the name of the Lord Iesu Not in our owne name for there is no good in vs of our selues we cannot think so much as a good thought much lesse speake a good word or doe a good deede nor in Angels name nor in any Saints name for that is to mingle the blood of Thomas with Christs blood as Pilate did the blood of the Galileans with their owne sacrifice Christ is our only Sauiour and redeemer our only mediatour and aduocate This saith the Wiseman is the summe of all that he is all yea all in all and therefore good reason all should bee said all should bee done in his name that is as our Church in the Collect begun continued and ended in him he is Alpha therefore we must begin euery worke by calling vpon his name and squaring it according to his word he is Omega therefore all must be referred vnto him and end in him 1. Cor. 10.31 To God the Father Because God and because a father God for his greatnesse Father for his goodnesse By him Otherwise our spirituall sacrifices are not acceptable to God 1. Pet. 2.5 The Gospel MATTH 13.24 The kingdome of heauen is like vnto a man which sowed good seed in his field c. THis parable being explained by Christ vers 37. needs not any further exposition but our good disposition only to practice that hee taught it requires application rather then explication For application then vnderstand that it makes against 4. principal enemies of y e Church Carnall Gospellers Brownists Papists Atheists Against carnall Gospellers in that they neither watch ouer the Church nor pray for the Church as they should Satan is here called our enemie both ab affectu and effectu for his malice going about daily like a roring lion seeking whom he may deuoure For his successe ouercomming many for this cause called a man in 28. verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Scipio was called Africane for that hee conquered Africa or as other obserue there is such affinitie betweene Satan and the wicked as that mutually they be called one by anothers name The wicked man is called a diuell Haue not I chosen you twelue and one of you is a diuell and the diuell is here termed a wicked man This enuious aduersarie soweth alway tares among the wheate where God hath his Church he hath his chapell The diuell hath not any ground of his owne but he soweth in Gods field vpon Gods seede and so the corruption of the good is the generation of the bad heresie being nothing els but an ouersowing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an after teaching or another teaching Almightie God hath foure principall fields Heauen Paradise The Church Mans heart In heauen Lucifer ouersowed pride by which himself and his angels fell in Paradise Satan ouersowed disobedience by which he deceiued Adam and Eue God said in the day that thou eatest of the tree of knowledge thou shalt die the death Eua being corrupted by the Serpent said lest ye die Satan himselfe ye shall not die so Gods good seede moriemini was turned first to ne moriamini then vnto non moriemini Deus affirmat mulier dubitat diabolus negat In the Church as it is here shewed he doth ouersow schismes and heresies in such sort that tares ouertop the wheate at least they be so mingled together as that the one cannot bee rooted vp without hurt to the other In mans heart which is Gods especiall enclosure when the good seede is sowen Satan enters and endeuours to catch it away planting in stead thereof vnlawfull lust pride of life couetous desires He doth labour to blast our good workes either in the act or els in the end and all this is done saith the text while men sleepe The which I finde construed of Priests especially called in holy Bible the Watchmen of Israel but not onely for the Prince being a pastor of his people must watch also the flocke yea the shepheards ouerseeing the Seers and watching the watchmen that they doe not sleepe This also concernes the people for euery master hath charge of his house euery man of his soule The master doth sleepe when he doth not gouerne well his familie euery man doth sleepe when hee neglects Gods seede sowen in his heart That therefore which our Sauiour said vnto his Disciples he said vnto all Watch and so the Church expounds it of all idle persons insinuating that it is the best time for the diuell to worke his feate when men are negligent in their calling It is not Gods fault then that tares are mingled among wheate for he sowed none but good seede All that he made was good yea very good Neither can we iustly condemne the diuell for he doth but his part being a murderer from the beginning all the blame belongs vnto our selues in that we sleepe when we should watch Here the Gospell and Epistle parallel If the word of God dwell in vs plenteously with all wisedome then Sataâ— cannot sow tares in our soule If Ministers Magistrates and Mâ—sters as Gods elect put on tender mercie kindnes humblenes of minde loue toward their charge their compassionate bowels assuredly will pitie the dangerouâ— â—state of such as are tares vnder their gouernment endeuouring to make them wheate against the great haruest For the seruants here teach vs
we see these things come to passe we may be sure that the kingdome of God is nigh for as a man that is dying hath many phantasies euen so saith Chrysostome the world declining shall haue manifold errors in so much if it were possible Gods elect should be deceiued Matth. 24.24 Aristotle could not conceiue the world should haue an end because he thought and taught it had no beginning but diuine Plato who liued in Egypt and read as it is supposed the bookes of Moyses acknowledged the worlds creation and so subscribed to the worlds destruction holding this axiome Quod oritur moritur That which hath a beginning hath an end Whatsoeuer hath an end had a beginning the which is to be construed of compounded elementarie substances subiect to generation and corruption as all things in this world are For as we reade in scripture Some things haue a beginning but no end as Angels and the soules of men Some things haue no beginning but yet haue an end as Gods eternall decrees One thing to wit Ens Entium Almighty God hath neither beginning nor end who only hath immortalitie of all other things the first and the last and yet in himselfe there is neither first nor last Some things haue both a beginning and end as the world which had a creation and is subiect to corruption The world passeth away and the glory thereof and then when as the powers of heauen shall be shaken and the element shall melt with heat and the earth with the works that are therein shall be burnt vp then the sonne of man shall come in a cloud with power and great glory Now this certainty of Christs comming to iudgement affordeth abundant matter of comfort to the godly affordeth abundant matter of terror to the wicked affordeth abundant matter of instruction to both Comfort to Gods elect for when these things come to passe then saith Christ in 28. verse Lift vp your heads for your redemption draweth neere Now you are prosecuted and persecuted deliuered vp to the Synagogues and cast into prison but at that great assise there shall be a generall goale deliuery and you that haue done good shall goe into euerlasting ioy and your enemies who haue done euill into euerlasting fire Heere ye mourne but hereafter all teares shall be wiped from your eyes here ye sow in hope but then ye shall reape with ioy when as ye shall see the sonne of man comming in the clouds c. As God is the God of comfort so his booke is the booke of comfort Whatsoeuer things are written aforetime they are written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might haue hope The very soule of all the Bible is the Gospell and the summe of all the Gospell is the Creede and the maine point of all the Creed is that article concerning our resurrection and hope of eternall glorie when Christ shall appeare The Church then hath well aâ—nexed that Epistle to this Gospell as a consolation against desolation By the booke of comfort wee know that our Redeemer liueth and that he will come againe to iudge and reuenge our cause We beleeue that an eternall kingdome was secretly granted vnto vs in our election openly promised in our vocation sâ—aled in our iustification and that possession shall bee giuen in our glorification when as the Iudge of the world shall say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit ye the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world When the Lord himselfe shâ—ll descend from heauen with a shout and with the voyce of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God we shâ—ll be caught vp in the clouds to meete him and so shall euer be with him And therefore pray wee daily Thy kingdome come Come Lord Iesus come quickly Amen Now as this is comfortable to good men so most terrible to the wicked as Christ vers 26. Their hearts shall 〈◊〉 them for feare They shall seeke death in those daâ—es and shall not finde it And as it is Apocal. 6.16 They shall sâ—y to the mountaines and rocks fall on vs and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe This hath been their day wherein so farre as they could they haue done their will the next is the Lords day wherein they must suffer his will a day of anger a day of trouble and heauinesse a day of destruction and desolation a day of obscuritie and darknesse a day of clouds and blacknesse The reprobate shall see the sonne of man in the clouds aboue to condemne them beneath hell mouth open readie to deuoure them before the diuels haling them behinde the Saints and all their dearest friends forsaking them on the left hand their sinnes accusing them on the right iustice threatning them on all sides the whole world made a bone fire terrifying them to goe forward insupportable to goe backe impossible to turne aside vnauailable no maruell then if at the worlds end men be at their wits end Thirdly this administreth instruction vnto all for as it is in the Epistle Whatsoeuer things are written aforetime are written for our instruction And this is so good a lesson that if we could obserue it well wee should neede no more teaching so saith the Wiseman Remember the last things and thou sâ—alt neuer doe amisse The last things are foure Death Iudgement Heauen Hell But the chiefe is iudgement for all the rest attend it Death is vsher to iudgement going before Heauen and Hell executioners following after Death would not bee so fearfull if iudgement did not follow Hell would not be so painfull if iudgement went not before without it heauen would not be desired nor hell feared Hee then that remembers the last day remembers in it all the last things and he that remembers the last things cannot do amisse Wherefore let vs euer embrace that godly meditation of S. â—â—â—rome Whethâ—r I eate or drinke or whatsoeuer I doe else I thinke I hâ—â—re the last trâ—mpe Arise yeâ— dead and come vnto iâ—dgement The consideration of the worlds destruction is a suffiâ—ient instruction to keepe good men in honest courses to terrifie bad men from euill waies Italians in a great thunder vse to ring their bels and discharge their cannon shot that the roring of the one may lessen the terror of the other In like sort Satan hangs tinckling cymbals on our eares and delights vs with the vanities and musicke of the world that we may forget the sound of the last trumpe and so that day be seene before foreseene of most As it is certaine that Christ shall come so most vncertaine when he shall come for he speakes of the time not definitly but indefinitly vers 25. Then there shall be signes vers 27. Then shall they see the Sonne of man comming in a cloud vers 28. When these things come to
man could number of all nations and kinreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lambe clothed with long white robes and palmes in their hands The number of Angels is infinite Thinkest thou said Christ to Peter in the 26 of S. Matthâ—w that I cannot now pray to my father and he will giue me moe then twelue legions of Angels A legion is 3000. footmen and 300. horsemen or as Caluin vpon the place 5000. foote 500. horsemen as Vegetius 6000. in all and â—uery particular Angell able in one night to kill as is recorded in the storie of Sennâ—cherib one hundred eightie and fiue thousand The number of starres in the skie of fowles in the aire of fish in the sea of beasts in the field of diuels in hell are without number How infinitely infinite then is the number of all his enemies in what a fâ—arefull â—state doth hee stand when as God and man Angels and Diuels saints and sinners heauen and earth fish and fowle beasts and birds other and himselfe in a word all that is within him all that is without him all that is about him combine themselues together to maintaine Gods holy warre against him I know there are degrees of sinners as there are degrees in sinne some be fautores some actores a third sort authores Of the first Seneca wittily Nihil interest faâ—eas ne sceleri an illud facias It is in a manner all one to commit and commend a villanie Non caret scrupulo occultae societatis qui manifesto discrimini non occurrit saith Gregorie He is suspected to be an abetter of euill who doth not endeuour to better the euill A commoner then that flattereth a Commander that fauoureth vngodly wretches in a citie le ts in so many strong foes to cut your throtes and ruine your estate Yet actors on the stage be worse then idle spâ—ctators for howsoeuer sinne be commendable because common as Sâ—luiâ—nus complained in his time In hâ—c scelus res deuoluta vt nisi quis malus fuerit saluus esse non possit In plaine English except a man be first bad he cannot be reputed a good fellow Yet horrible blasphemers incorrigible drunkards shamelesse whoremongers makebate pettifoggers malcontent accusants on the one side recusants on the other are the very men and meanes which bring and keepe the dearth and plague so long among you But authors of euill and plotters of mischiefe are worst of all as it appeares euen by Gods owne censure giuen of the first sinne in Paradise where the serpâ—nt had three punishments inflicted vpon him as the originall contriuer the woman two being the mediate procurer and Adam but one as the partie seduced Applie for I can no further amplifie When Phocas had built a mightie wall about his palace for his securitie in the night he heard a voice O King though thou build as high as the clouds yet the citie might easily be taken the sinne within will marre all as see Ambrose notably Grauiores sunt iniâ—â—ci mores praui quam hostes inâ—esti Wicked manners are stronger then armed men If God be with vs who can bee against vs if we stand against God who can withstand him And as God is ablâ— because God so willing to maintaine this warre because my God that is the God of his people whom the wicked persecute for his Grant is faire in letters patent to Abraham and his seed for euer I will blesse them that bleâ—â—e thee and curse them that curse thee Or my God that is the God by whom I speake who dealeth alway with his seruants according to his word The gods of the Gentiles are lying gods and dying gods but my God is the truth and the life who can neither deceiue nor be deceiued Or my God because wee must not only beleeue the Maior of the Gospell but the Minor also saying with Thomas my Lord with Mary my Sauiour with Esay my God If we can gaine this assumption it will bring vs to the most happie conclusion enioying peace of conscience which is an heauen on earth peace of glory which is heauen in heauen Vnto which hee bring vs that hath made peace for vs euen Christ Iesus the righteous to whom with the Father and the holy Ghost as we are bound so let vs heartily yeeld all honour c. Amen The Epistle COLOS. 3.12 Put vpon you as the elect of God tender mercy c. THis Epistle consists of two parts In the first Saint Paul exhorts the Colossians vnto many speciall vertues as tender mercy kindnesse humblenesse of mind meeknesse long suffering c. In the second because it is infinit to insist in euery particular he drawes them and all other duties vnto two generall admonitions in grosse whereof the 1. concernes our theory Let the word of Christ dâ—ell in you plenteously c. 2. our practise whatsoeuer ye doe in word or deed doe all in the name of the Lord c. Put vpon you Christ had two sorts of garments as we read in the Gospell one without seame not diuided at his death and that was a figure of faith which maugre the rents of all heretikes and schismatikes in the Church is but one Another with seames parted among the souldiers and that was a type of loue which seekes not her owne but communicates it selfe to many So the Christian must haue two coates one of faith indiuisible by which he puts on Christ another of loue parted among many by which one Christian puts on another reioicing with them that reioice weeping with them that weep Vpon the point these two coates are but one faith being inside and loue outside faith in respect of God and loue toward the world This Epistle speakes of the outside put on tender mercy quoad affectum kindnesse quoad effectum meeknesse bene vtendo prosperis long suffering bene se habendo in aduersis c. These vertues are both ornamenta and munimenta clothes and corslets Ephes. 6.11 Put on the whole armour of God that yee may be able to stand against the assaults of the diuell Seeing we must euery day sight and euery day be seene let vs as well for armour as honour put on tenâ—er mercy kindnesse c. that we may walke vprightly and confidently See epist. dom 21. post Trinit How loue is said to be the bond of perfectnesse and chiefe vertue See epist. dom quinquages As the elect of God Saint Paul builds all these good exhortations vpon one argument drawne ab honesâ—o seâ— debito you are the elect of God holy and beloued chosen and beloued of God before the world through baptisme consecrated solemnly to God in the world wherefore being thus electi selecti dilecti Gods owne workmanship created in Christ Iesus vnto good works it is most meete new men should vse new maners in stead of
by their example to bee solicitous for the good of the corne to come to Christ and to pray that faithfull labourers may be sent into Gods haruest Paul was grieued because some cockle grew in Philippi Dauid was grieued because the Heathen had broken into Gods inheritance Christ was grieued because Gods house was made a denne of theeues and so Christians in our time should bee grieued because Satan hath sowed such offences and scandals among the professors of the Gospell Secondly this parable makes against the Brownists in their criticall doctrine hypocriticall coÌ„uersatioÌ„ It condemnes their doctrine for there was is and euer shall be darnell in Gods field tares among wheate bad among good in the visible Church I confesse the Church militant may be called the suburbs of heauen our Sauiour here termes it the kingdome of heauen because the King of heauen doth heauenly gouerne it with his holie word and blessed Spirit but it is not heauen in heauen it is but heauen on earth and therefore in this heauen are many fire-brands of hell the children of the wicked whose end is damnation and vtter confusion in vnquenchable fire Wee may not therefore leaue Gods flower because there is some chaffe neither breake Gods net because there are some baggage fish neither depart out of his house because there be some vessels of wrath neither runne out of his field because there growes some cockle but as Augustine determined against the Donatists accurately Non propter malos boni deserendi sed propter bonos mali tolerandi We must not forsake the good for the bad but rather tolerate the bad for the good Almightie God would haue spared a whole citie for tenne good mens sake let vs not then condemne a whole Church for tenne wicked mens companie Ecclesiam tenco â—lenam tritico palea emâ—ndo quos possum tolero quos emendare non possum fugio paleam ne hoc sim non aream ne nihil sim In Gods house there are not onely vessels of gold and vessels of siluer but also of wood and of earth and some to honour and some to dishonour It is our dutie to striue that we may be golden vessels and as for earthen we must leaue them to God in whose hand is a rod of iron to breake them in peeces like a potters vessell I will say to the Brownist as Augustine to the Donatist Accusa quantis viribus potes si innocentes fuerint nihil eis tanquam frumentis oberit ventositas tua si nocentes non debent propter zizania frumenta deseri accusa quantum potes vinco si non probas vinco si probas si non probas vinco iudice te ipso sin probas teste Cypriano qui docuit horreum non esse deserendum ob paleas Hee might haue said teste Christo commanding here Let both grow together vntill the haruest Wee may not iudge before the time calling out of our immoderate zeale for fire from heauen to consume the tares but expect hell fire to burne them vp and that for two reasons especially that the bad may be conuerted and the good exercised Omnis malus aut ideo vinit vt corrigatur aut ideo vt per illum bonus exerceatur He that is now cockle may proue by Gods especiall grace corne weed not the field therefore presently lest while ye gather the tares ye plucke vp also the wheat Saint Peter was an apostate S. Matthew a Publican Zacheus an oppressor Paul a Saul Iustin Martyr was a Gentile Saint Augustine a Manichee Martin Luther a Monke Tremellius a Iew Leo Africanus a Mahumetan if all cockle had then been rooted vp at the first Gods field would haue wanted much good wheat the Church manie good men yea all men for Adam in Paradise was a tare when he disobeied Here the Gospell and Epistle meet againe For if we may not root vp the tares it is very requisite that we put on tender mercy kindnesse humblenesse of mind meeknesse long sufferance forbearing one another and forgiuing one another c. Againe the cockle must grow for the cornes exercise There must be heresies among you that they which are approued among you might be knowne If Arius had not bin borne qui posuit cum Trinitate personarum Trinitatem substantiarum and Sabellius on the contrary qui posuit vnitatem personae cum vnitate essentiae the questions about the blessed Trinitie would neuer haue been determined so sufficiently by those great lights of the Church Athanasins Augustine Hilary c. If superstition had not a long time growne in Gods field among thâ— wheat principles of the true religion especially the point of iustification by faith onely would neuer haue been so well vnderstood If Anabaptists and Brownists had not contended against the Church it would haue gone worse with the Church as Augustine said of Rome Maegis nocuit Romanis Carthago tam cito euersa quà m priùs nocuerat tà m diù aduersa The counsell is good Sic viue tanquam inimici semper te videant for the Church as Christ must suffer and ouercome in medio inimicorum in the midst among all her enemies Psal. 110.2 Secondly this makes against the Brownists in their hypocriticall conuersation It is said here that so soone aâ— the malitious man had sowne tares among the wheat hee went his way Not that he departs from hypocrits and heretikes but he putteth on another face when hee doth a worke of darknesse he transformes himselfe into an Angell of light He is no more blacke nor browne but a white diuell saith Luther And therefore when it is obiected against the conformable Clergy that heretikes and schismatikes are graue men and good men our answer may be that the diuell is now gone rauening wolues are in sheeps clothing Tares are so like good corne that they cannot be discerned vntill the blade spring vp and bring forth fruit Fitches haue many fetches hypocrites are like Goodwin sands in dubio pelagi terraeque neither of both and either of both as occasion shall serue Gentilem agunt vitam sub nomine Christianô They play the Turkes vnder the names of Christians oues visu vulpes astu there is no more diuell appearing but all is now the spirit of God and secret reuelations euen from heauen Thirdly this parable makes against the Papists in the question of their religions antiquity putting to death of heretikes Purgatory We protest and that vnfeinedly that no Church ought further to depart from the Church of Rome then she is departed from her selfe in her florishing estate Shew then say the Papists in what age the tares were sowen among the wheat When and where purgatory praier for the dead indulgences auricular confession and other new tricks of Popery crept into the Church Answere is made for vs here by Christ While
men slept the malitious enemy sowed tares among the wheat And it was not discerned vntill the blade was sprung vp and had brought forth fruit When I see the finger of the diall remooued from one to two shall I be so mad as to thinke it standeth still where it was because I could not perceiue the stirring of it In the forehead of the whore of Babylon is written a mystery so Paul calles the working of Antichrist a mystery of iniquity because the man of sinne doth couertly and cunningly wind his abominations into the Church of Christ. Polititians obserue that corruptions are bred in ciuill bodies as diseases in naturall bodies at the first they be not discerned easily but in their growth insensibly they proceed often till it come to passe which Liâ—e said of the Roman State Nec vitia nostra nec remedia ferre possumus We can neither indure the malady nor the medicin Was it so in the Empire of Rome and might it not be so in the Church of Rome The Rhemists acknowledge many barbarismes and incongruities in the vulgar Latine text Cardinall Caietan Sanctes Pagninus Franciscus Forerius Hieronymus Oleastrius Sixtus Senensis all learned Papists ingenuously confesse that beside solecismes in the vulgar translation of Rome there are many grosse faults additions transpositions omissions Isidorus Clauius a Spanish Monke professed that he found in it 8000. errors It is plaine they were so manifest and so manifold as that the Councell of Trent and after it Pope Sixtus Quâ—ntus aâ—d Clement 8. took order for the correcting of it I would know then of a Papist how this cockle was sowen among Gods seed in what yeere this that absurdity first crept into their text as Luke 15.8 domum eâ—ertit for domum euerrit and Exod. 34 29. Moses in stead of a bright countenance is said to haue cornutam faciem a face of horne whereupon the common painters among the Papists vsually paint Moses with two hornes as a cuckold to the great scandall of Christian religion as Augustinus Steuchus and Sixtus Senensis obserue The whole Rhemish Colledge cannot tell in what age confusus est in stead of confessus est entred in Marke 8.38 Pope Sixtus Quintus hath sundry coniectures in the preface prefixed to his Bible vel â—x â—niuriâ temporum vel ex librariorum inâ—uriá vel ex impressorum imperitiâ vel ex temerè emendantium licentiâ vel ex recentiâ—rum interpretum audaciâ vel ex haereâ—icorum scholijs ad marginem If the Pope cannot tell in whose head and hands is all the Churches treasure both for wit and wealth it is enough for the disciple to be as his Master is and the seruant as his Lord. The late Pope Clement 8. corrected the corrections of his predecessor Sixtus Quintus setting forth another Bible which one called vnhappily The new Transgression In these reformed editions of Rome there is such difference that we may say with the Prophet Egyptians are set against Egyptians and the destroier against the destroier one against another and all against the truth In the Roman Mâ—ssals and Breuiaries there were so many damnable blasphemies and superstitious errors that the late Popes euen for shame reformed them and yet they cannot tell in what yeere these corruptions first grew and therefore what need wee tell them at what time this and that popish nouelty was first sowen Is it not enough that we now discerne the tares among the wheat and prooue to the proudest of their side that there was no such darnell in Gods field for the space of six hundred yeeres after Christ I say no such stinking weeds as the single communion of the Priest halfe communion of the people worshipping of the bread creeping to the Crosse supremacie of the Pope which are the most essentiall points of all the Romish religion Secondly this parable makes against the Papists in the question of putting heretikes to death I confesse the words sinite vtraque simul crescâ—re teach not the Magistrates duty but rather shew Gods bounty towards heretikes It is the Princes office to banish imprison mulct and by all meanes possible to suppresse them and in no sort to suffer them as being so pâ—stilent as the plague For as the plague doth instantly strike the heart and by poisoning one infects many â—ic haeresis cor ipsum animae petit cùm vnum inâ—erficit centum alios inficit Heresie strikes at faith and so takes away the life of the Christian for the iust doth liue by faith and then it fretteth as a canker or gangren corrupting all other members of Christs mysticall body we may cry mors in illà as the children of the Prophets mors in â—llâ such cockle then ought to be cropt and topt but not vtterly rooted vp and burnt vntill the great haruest A murtherer and a traitor indued with faith and repentance may passe from the crosse to the crowne as the blessed theefe in the Gospell was instantly translated from his paine to Paradise but an heretike dying in his heresie cannot be saued He therefore that puts an heretike to death is a double murtherer as Luther thinks in destroying his body with death temporall in slaying his soule with death eternall Excommunication exile losse of goods imprisonment depriuation haue bin reputed euermore fit punishments for heretikes but fire and fagot is not Gods law but canon shot enacted first by Pope Lucius 3. An. 1184. and confirmed afterward by Innocentius 3. and Gregory 9. as it appeares in the Decretals and it was executed against the Waldenses and in latter times against the Protestants especially martyring the dead with the liuing the wife with the husband the new borne yea not borne infant with the mother whom they should haue cherished by all lawes and christened by their owne lawes and that not for the denying of any article of the Creed but onely for not beleeuing Transubstantiation and other new quirkes of the Schoole which the most iudicious among them as yet cannot explicate for as one wittilie Corpore de Christi lis est de sâ—nguine lis est deque modo lis est non habitura modum Scotus Cameracensis and other Papists of great note confesse plainly that transubstantiation cannot be inforced by the Gospell nor by any testimonies of the ancient Church And Bellâ—rmin Romes oracle doth acknowledge that it may well be doubted whether there be any place of scripture cleerly to proue transubstantiation otherwise then that the Church hath declared it so to be because many learned and acute men hold the contrary What hellish crueltie then was it in the Bonners of Queene Mary to make bonâ—fires of sillie women for not vnderstanding this their ineffable mystery wherein are nine miracles at the least as Ioannes de Combis affirmes If these gunpowder Priests and fagot Diuines