whether it be done by one or many this needeth much heed and care and conscience that this sword bee drawne against none but those that doe deserue it Last of all that of the 2. Corinths doth not helpe the presbyterie Thus he sayeth The weapons of our warfare are not carnall but mightie through God to cast downe holdes casting downe imaginations and euery hie thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuitie euery thought to the obedience of Christ hauing readie vengeance against all disobedience A great part of this is vnderstoode of the word preached which worketh these effects The vengeance against disobedience was a thing in Paules owne hand as minister of it not in the power of the multitude or any presbyterie there mentioned So that if it pertaine to the censure of the Church it might be executed by one man But it is thought rather to be meant of bodilie punishment which by the mightie power of Christ the Apostles in the beginning did inflict vpon the disobedient So Peter killed Ananias and Saphyra and Paul stroke Elymas blind These are their authorities whereby they chalenge to their Eldership power and might to binde and loose and would inferre that in the Church of England there is no casting out of the diuell but by the power of the diuel because their presbyterie is not called to coniure him out Some reformed Churches vse no excommunication at all and yet are the Churches of Christ They haue other punishments for the offenders The trueth is that excommunication cutteth no man from the Church whome his owne sinne and vnbeliefe hath not cut off before Neither can it loose anie whome faith and gods spirite doth not loose Thus much of the tenth and last note of their Churche Thus I haue briefelie set before you a short viewe of the difference betwixt the Sectaries and vs. They that fauour these opinions these innouations are in diuers degrees some saye they are imperfections and wantes and maimes in our Church the most of those thinges which they mislike but yet to be tolerated It must be confessed there is no Church but hath imperfections We may not maintaine all thinges as blameles in our Church No man is founde faultles euery Church is wanting in their duetie both in respect of mens lawes and of the persons We can not iustifie our selues in all thinges but that euerie thing is such a deformitie and maime or anie so grosse as they seeme to make them if the particulars be examined it will not be founde These mislikers and tolerators haue begotten the last and extremest degree of reuolters of forsakers of refusers and plaine contemners whose case is much to bee pitied especiallie of those misslikers because thorowe them they are come into this downefal The controuersies wherein wee differ haue small weight in the matters and lesse in the proofes yet beholde the conclusion Thus they speake Therefore the parishes of England are not and for all these reasons seuerall and ioyned cannot bee helde in anie Christians iudgement the true Churches of Christ This is their sentence vpon all the parishes and people in this land that come to the Churches that heare the worde at our mouthes that receaue the Sacraments at our handes they shut vp all in one state of not being the people of God nor the Churche of Christ As for our selues notwithstanding their rash iudgement wee knowe vpon what grounde wee stand There can no other foundation bee layde then that which is layde euen Iesus Christ is the head corner stone he is the rocke Euerie parish in this land is taught either plentifullie or sparinglie yet all are taught this that Christ onely is our head our sacrifice our righteousnes that hee is to bee laide holde on onelie by faith ioyned with repentaunce and a good conscience Where this is taught and receaued there is the Churche of God All the parishes in this land bee taught it and by publike confession doe witnesse that outwardlie at least they doe receaue it The Lorde graunt that it maye bee made more cleare and that it maye bee whetted more sharpelie vpon all and that all maye receaue it fruitefullie to comfort and saluation 2. Cor. 13. Paul sayeth Proue your selues whether you are in the faith examine your selues knowe yee not your selues how that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates We neede not be cast in doubt of our selues for a supposed appendant trueth of an outward forme of gouernement as though if we haue not that and yet haue the truth of faith the spirite of Christ the worde of God the sacraments of the Gospell repentaunce and newenes of life hauing these I say that are most necessarie and substantiall branches of Christian religion it were madnes to thinke wee haue nothing because they imagine wee haue some as bad or worse then infidels and heathen men among vs and because we haue not such an outwarde gouernement as pleaseth them because we worship God by the booke of Common prayer and because our Ministers some are not preachers and all are made by the Byshops and all tolerate or allowe the booke of Common prayer and the outwarde gouernement These are the chiefe heades of the difference betweene them vs. While men seeke to perfect Churches they will bring to passe that there will bee among vs no Church at all Now with vs there is leaue for all men to be good if they will by Gods grace indeuour They would haue it so as they fancie that no man should be euill but this is impossible If we can bring to passe that the Gospell be taught in all places and that sinnes bee most seuerelie punished and all be brought to the learning of the worde of God then shall we see a more perfect and beautifull forme of the Church among vs. Thus many of these controuersies will be appeased then shal we most clearelie appeare to bee the armie of Christ and hee will shewe himselfe to be our captaine and Lorde and God Thus much to them that denie that we are Christs armie and that our Churches as they now stand are not the true Churches of Christ This matter being thus runne ouer it is time to returne to that which wee haue in hand The beast and the kings of the earth and their armies fight against him that sitteth on the horse and against his armie A parte of this armie the Churche of England as it standeth nowe is by the singular goodnes of God All Gods people make but one armie and that an vnited armie How much more then is it necessary that we which be but one band as it were of this mightie armie should agree together in one Let all lay aside enuie pride and aemulation Let vs especially now in the time of so dangerous threatnings and attempts of the enemies put away strife about these matters Many doubtlesse stirre vp and set a fire the parties on both
Gospell openly that was not one person but many persons one after another holding vp the same estate The second beast reuiueth the image of the first in the same citie therefore the second is not one person but a succession of many which renew as it were the olde honour and state of Rome This doth the order of Popes succeeding one another And although as Bellarmine answereth one beast in Daniel is set for one man as the Leopard for Alexander magnus yet there also the Lion representeth the Assyrians and the Beare the Persians empire so heere in the Apocalypse as the first beast is set for the heathen empire so the second beast is set for the Antichristian papacie of Rome Augustine thinketh that this beast must not be vnderstood for one man but for one city Quae sit porro ista bestia c. What this beast is it is not repugnant to right faith that the very wicked citie be vnderstood as the people of vnbeleeuers contrarie to the beleeuing people and citie of God The beast then by Augustines opinion is a citie a multitude not one singular person If we shall marke that which Paul saith concerning the beginning and end of Antichrist the mysterie of iniquitie alreadie worketh and that the Lord shall abolish him with the brightnesse of his comming and that which Iohn saith Ye haue heard that Antichrist should come and now alreadie he is in the world wee shall see that the Antichrist can not be one man the foundation of whose kingdome was laid so long before and the end whereof shall not come till the end of all for is it not absurd that there should be so ancient a preparation for so late and so short a reigne of one man This also is most euident that those things which must be done of Antichrist can not be performed of one man no not in his whole life much lesse in three yeeres and a halfe He must restore the glorie of the Romane empire he must doe all that the other beast did before him he must worke many signes and miracles he must cause the former beast to be worshipped he must send foorth lying spirits to seduce them that dwell on the earth he must kill them that worship not the image of the beast and receiue not his marke nay those things that they grant Antichrist shall do can not be done in that space He must winne Ierusalem and build the Temple and ouercome all the world propound himselfe to be worshipped thorow the world and take away baptisme in all the world and doe many other things Can these things be done in three yeeres and a halfe or while he doth these things shall he not be their Antichrist But they say Paul calleth him the man of sinne and Iohn the Antichrist adding the Greeke article That is done for difference and not for singularitie of person No maruell if a common name of the man of the Antichrist signifie many seeing a proper name shall signifie a multitude Israel first a proper name of Iacob and yet signifieth all Gods people Sion the proper name of a hill and yet signifieth all the church of God The beast is the man of sinne and the Antichrist because of all Antichrists for there are many euen so many as there are heresies against Christ he is the greatest and cruellest and mightiest Antichrist and the man of sinne because of all sinfull men he is cause by his power lawes of greatest most sinne committed in Gods church Last of all they say that as Christ is one person so Antichrist his chiefe enemie must be one person as he that sitteth on the horse that is Christ is one person so the beast that is captaine of those against him must be one person The comparison holdeth not first because Christ abideth for euer therefore on that side there is one person captaine but on the other side to fight against him for the short continuance of the persons the long continuance of the fight there must be many persons in succession captaines Secondly because the fight is not against Christ in his person but in his doctrine and in his members both which are continued by succession and so are the captaines and the warre against them I need not fight so long with a shadow to destroy this opinion of theirs that the beast and the Antichrist spoken of in scripture is not one singular person but a line and succession of many that holde and mainteine a gouernement that destroyeth the faith and benefites of Iesus Christ Thus we see how vaine one especiall ground of their fained Antichrist is namely that he must be one singular person Another ground of their error is that this beast and Antichrist must be an open enemie of Christ both in deede and word in trueth and in shewe for they say he must deny Iesus to be Christ in plaine termes and in like maner deny that he is come that he must take away the sacraments of Christ and substitute others himselfe that he must make himselfe Christ and so be receaued of the Iewes and that he must by all meanes be without the Church The Pope they say is not such a one He acknowledgeth Christ to be come and himselfe his substitute and seruant and by our owne confession is after a sort in the Church But we holde and the trueth is that this beast and Antichrist is a secrete enemie cloked with the name of a friend an asse that hath put on a Lions skinne and that in this enemie especially Satan changeth himselfe into an Angell of light If Antichrist should come like an open professed enemie all Christians would easily detest him the elect should neuer be in daunger by him but hee shall come so cunningly that hee shall seduce if it were possible euen the elect And the name of a mysterie Reuel 17. declareth that his working is secrete and the same hath Paul the mysterie of iniquitie already worketh Wherefore if the kingdome and rule of the beast and Antichrist be a mysterie then is hee a secret and not an open professed enemie And whether doe these names of seducing of comming with all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse and of strong delusion to beleeue lies all which are spoken of Antichrist agree rather to a counterfet or an open enemie The enemie that Christ would haue his people take heed of in the last time is especially the counterfet friend They shall say Loe here is Christ or there is Christ there shall arise false Christs and false prophets And to the Iewes he saith If another shall come in my name him will yee receiue Vpon these words they ground that opinion of theirs that the Iewes shall receiue Antichrist when he commeth which shall denie the first and true Christ and set himselfe to be their Christ But that saying of our Sauiour was fulfilled after his ascension in diuers that came vnto thē as deliuerers whom they followed
such as they name if any mā do the Church gouernment doth not allow it againe that this is not a denying of Christs priesthood sacrifice the putting of another thing in stead thereof as the papists did but rather a misse applying of it where it should not be applied Wherefore wee doe not deny his priesthood As concerning the propheticall office of Christ that by vs is not obscured and diminished but magnified and highly aduanced His word onely hath soueraigne authoritie it is published and it is receiued in our Churches Let them shewe wherein we derogate from his prophecie The first accusation is a slander as that we adde to the word that we vse humane traditions we obtrude things contrary to the word and that we oppugne and reiect the manifest trueth These things must be answered in the particulars We adde nothing as necessarie to saluation we teach nothing contrary and we imbrace all the knowne and euident trueth But that is not an addition or a knowen trueth or a thing contrary to the word which they imagine to be so But as I sayd these things are answered in the particulars The next accusation is that we giue not obedience to the word of Christ but vse it as a mantel to couer our sinne rather then as a rule to direct our life We cannot say that all doe obey the Gospell in heart and some in hypocrisie vse it as a cloake for sinne This frustrateth his prophecie with those persons so that they haue no benefite by it But his prophecie hardeneth and not onely softeneth and there be in the Church such as waxe worse and worse as well as those which waxe better and better And Christ is a Prophet vnto both Neither the lawes nor the publike teaching doe mind or propound this that the word of God should be disobeied or that any should make it a couer for sinne The fault of some persons may not be imputed to the whole Church nor to the lawes and gouernment Another thing whereby we weaken or quite frustrate they say the prophecie of Christ amongst vs is because we seeke not a true ministerie but mainteine a false of which sort they say the whole ministerie of the land is which are permitted to teach in the publike places to whom eare is giuen Such are their words This accusation is very large and grieuous No true ministers in the whole land All false ministers Why do they so account vs Is it because we teach false doctrine or haue corrupted the faith or do teach heresies No such thing They obiect none of these against vs. Then I hope we may answere them the easier and be heard the more willingly purging our selues They cannot obiect vnto vs heresie nor false doctrine nor teaching of any thing that destroyeth the grounds of saluation What be the things then which they say make vs a false ministerie I will recite vnto you all which they lay against vs I will dissemble nothing the crimes then are these First they say we haue not the names of Ministers of the gospel but are called Priests Parsons Vicars and Curates It is not in our power what other men will call vs. Some of these names are giuen of the maintenaunce whereby we liue and pertaine not to our callings we delight to be counted the Ministers of the Gospell But this about the names is a vaine cauill Secondly they condemne our preparation to the ministerie which is by studie and bringing vp in the Vniuersities Schooles and Vniuersities they cannot whollie condēne The Church of the Iewes had the schooles of the Prophets and euer among Christians they haue bene esteemed as the best nurses of the ministerie They condemne them for the study of humaine learning and for certaine vices among some persons If for the faults of some of the persons that professe any kind of life the trade it self be to be condemned then no course of life must be taken in the world The studie of Logike Rhetorike Philosophie and the Mathematicals is so necessarie that without them we should be barbarous and but by the helpe of them neuer can any perfection by ordinary meanes be attained in Phisike Lawe or Diuinitie There are none but madde men which can condemne Vniuersities Thirdly they mislike our entrance into the ministerie none of vs is chosen by a whole congregation nor ordayned by laying on of the hands of the Eldershippe nor iust tryall made of giftes and conuersation But we are ordained by one man the Byshoppe and are thrust vpon the places where we take charge whether the people will or no. The ordaining of a minister by one or fewe is not against the word of God Paul and Barnabas appointed Elders by the laying on of hands at Antioch And Titus was left in Creta to ordaine Elders in euery citie Wherefore it wanteth not the word of God that Pastours are ordayned by one that hath skill yet that one with vs doth it not alone Cyprian and other ancient fathers acknowledge themselues to haue aucthoritie to doe the like If they be not examined and tryed as they ought the fault is in the Byshoppe That they are preferred by one to their charge that is not against the word seeing there is nothing in the word that commandeth or cōmendeth the election by the multitude or inioineth it to be perpetuall The fourth accusation is against the vnlearned vnpreaching ministers which is a crime that they make to touch al. for so much as they are no ministers at all that cannot preach therefore they thēselues to be condēned then all the rest eyther by silence or by consent or by preaching in their charges or by defending them to be ministers are also guilty And the whole people are wrapped they say by them in the same sentence of dānation for either keeping vnder thē or suffering thē And hereupō they make that they are no sacraments no praiers no word of promise and saluation that is vttered by them but that all their actions are voyd and frustrate This being so great a matter would be examined by it selfe at large But in a word to touch it The reader bringeth the word of reconciliation and forgiuenesse of sinnes in Christ sheweth the way of repentaunce and amendement of life mininistreth the Sacramentes and prayers in a publike function layde vpon him by the Church therefore he is a minister and a man may safely heare him and receiue the sacrament at his hand Hee nourisheth fayth by reading therefore he may beget it for wherewith it is nourished therewith it is begotten By the same meanes wherewith our best preachers haue bin both at the planting of the Gospell after the darkenes of Poperie in this land and are made now dayly and continued in their sufficiencie by the same meanes may the people come to faith and be continued in it And who seeth not that reading both begetteth and chiefly confirmeth and nourisheth many preachers And