since it was reformed we know no other differēce from that which it was before then such as wee see in the Vineyard and Church of Iudah which in the dayes of Manasses was full of superstition in the dayes of Iosiah had her abominations cast out and the purity of Gods seruice restored according to his owne law There were crept into our Church grauen Images the likenesses of things in heauen and things in earth and men did bow downe and worshippe them contrary to the law and contrary to antiquity for as yet appeareth euen by the buildings and walles of our most ancient Churches there was no place within the Church prouided for them To these Images of dead men they did light candles and burned Incense and offered gifts after the custome of the heathen the light of the Church was remoued out of the candlesticks and the word of God which is the true light of the world and lanterne to our feet was hidden vnder an vnknowne tongue as vnder a bushell that which the Apostle calleth both our milke and our meate was taken away and nothing was read to the peoples vnderstanding but the lies of their Legend the author therof had a leaden head a brazen forehead as Viues a lerned Papist cēsureth them The holy Sacraments of the church were prophaned to the sanctified water in baptisme cream was added salt spittle by the people receiued as parts of the sacramēt the Lords Supper was mangled the cup of blessing which is the Cōmunion of the bloud of Christ was sacrile giously remoued the communion of the bread was turned into a priuate masse of dead ceremonies These and infinite other abominations were growne vp so high that they did both draw all the fatnes from the roote and ouerdrop and ouershadow the true vine and euen called for the fickle to cut them downe for there was not any learned deuout man amongst themselues in those ages who did not both bewayle the corruptions of the Church as appeareth by them that wrote and in particular acknowledge some one error of theirs or other though now authority stoppeth their mouthes and clippeth such tongues and the Indices expungatorij do rase those confessions out of their writings Now the indisposition therefore eyther of the Church of Rome or any other neighbor Church to reform themselus can be no iust excuse for our Church and her ouerseers not to reforme her selfe then it had beene for Israel to sinne because Iudah sinned or for Iudah because of the sinne of Israel In these cases of Gods seruice and honor the expectation of neighbours and desire of vnity is no allowed answere but that of Iosuah belongeth to all gouernors which he spake to all Israel Iosu 15. If it seeme euill in your eyes to serue the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serue but I and my house will serue the Lord and that rule of Hosea If Ephraim be ioyned vnto Idols let him alone and if Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah sinne Only our hearty prayer vnto God is that as we do communicate in the general grounds and foundations of Christianity and ioyntly professe the same Creede so the Lord would giue them hearts to remoue these abominations which blocke vp the way of peace and communion between Church and Church or if eyther for pride or couetousnes they will acknowledge no error yet hee would giue them contented minds to keep to themselues their owne corruptions which now being cast off by vs would be so much the more loathsome to put on againe The third doubt which the vineyard of the house of Israel answereth is the vnity of the Church seeing the deuided houses of Ephraim and Iudah not so much seuered in state as in religion are yet by our Prophet accepted as one vineyard for though one read of many seuerall Churches in the new Testament also Psal 64. yet that of Saint Augustine is most true there be many Churches yet but one Church and in such sort many yet they are all but one Nay in the vnity of the Church wee must yet goe further and acknowledge with the same father the Church is the body of Christ not that which is here or there but that which is euery where throughout the world Psalme 90. neither that which is at this time but euen from Abel vnto those which shall hereafter bee borne and belieue in Christ vnto the end the whole company of saints belonging to one City which is the body of Christ and whereof he is head for this is that which the Apostle affirmeth of all beleeuers Bee they Iew or Gentile bond or free they are al incorporate into one Company they all make one body But this vnity is properly meant of Christs mysticall body and Church which is inuisible of which church these men are no part who are onely in Sacrament is Ecclesiae as Saint Augustine expoundeth himselfe that is of the whole body of the faithfull from Adam to the end of the world yet notwithstanding these outward visible societies of professed christians in which the militant members of Christ mingled with the bad are yet in framing for eternity these also haue a bond of vnity also and though they bee many yet are they but as one Now the outward bonds of these visible Churches are diuers for 1. they all spring by propagation from one originall mother Church Ierusalem which is beneath is the mother of vs all and from Sion came the Gospell by propagation vnto all Nations But this bond is not so strong as to tie them in one that are sprung from one beginning There is a stronger which this Parable of a Vine doth lay before vs for the Vine or tree which is diuided into so many seuerall branches some dying some springing vp and one bough perhaps bearing seuerall fruits from another what is it that maketh them all one but their owne stocke and roote on which they all vifibly grow this is the visible bond of the seuerall armes and parts of the visible Church they all outwardly ioyne in that one roote Christ in whom they are all visiblie ingrafted on whom they all make outward shew that they doe stand and grow The Apostle Ephes 4.5 exhorting Christians to vnity setteth downe this bond and to it addeth two other kinds the vniformity of our faith and articles of beliefe There is one kinde of ingrafting one badge of their incorporation Baptisme One Lord one Faith one Baptism i. One King vnder which they liue one Law by which they are guided one common badge of their incorporation which they all publikely receiue so that seeing the Iewes howsoeuer dispersed amongst al the Nations of the earth and liuing without dependance vpon any one common gouernour and yet accounted but as one Nation because of the bond of their vnity in the publike profession of the Law of Moses and seeing they that hang on Mahomet as their
imposed lawes to his owne mother drawing all power into his hands and making himselfe as the Sunne from which all others both Moone and Stars do receiue their light Thus hath Lucifer inuaded Christs poore Family and hath made choyce of a person of humility by whom vnder the colour of piety and religion hee might bring into the Church of Christ the highest degree of pride that euer the world saw in any worldly state or the weakenesse of man is capable of whom hee setting vp on the foundation not of a rocke but of imagination and opinion only and crowning with a triple crowne hath perswaded both him to take and perswaded men to giue more then humane honours as high as to the titles of Optimus maximus our Lord God the Pope and as our Countryman Stapleton writeth to him Supremum in terris Numen forcing the Emperors sometimes acknowledged for his gracious Lords and Soueraignes to yeeld their neckes for him to trample on and the Kings and Princes of the earth to licke the dust of his feet and all the people for their saluation to fall downe before him as hauing all keyes and powers of heauen and earth and hell and purgatory as blasting with the breath of his mouth like lightning whatsoeuer hee curseth as hauing the oracles of God in his breast and that neuer ordinary priuiledge that he cannot erre This was the punishment of the Church after that thorow abundance and wealth and ease she became wanton and loued not the truth that as it was prophesied 2. Thess 2. God should send strong delusions and men should belieue lies to the astonishment of all other churches both Easterne and Southerne who wonder that wee can belieue such fancies As for the necessity of one visible Monarch to make the visible church one seeing the Apostles writings in their so often mention of the church and the pastors of the same neuer intimate this doctrine of this Monarchie seeing Eph. 4. the Apostle of purpose laieth the grounds of vnity alledgeth those other bonds One Lord one Faith one Baptisme and omitteth this seeing after reckoning vpon the seuerall degrees of Ministers both ordinary and inordinary giuen to his church after his affection for the building of it in truth and loue hee setteth downe Apostles Euangelists Prophets Pastors Teachers this one Monarch is not once named to the church seeing before Christs comming God had a visible Church in Iob his house not depending vpon the Church of Iudah and is also granted by Bellarmine and yet the Church of God was alwayes one seeing since Christ the Primitiue Church had no such head but as Aeneas Siluius acknowledgeth Ante Nicenum Concilium sibi quisque viuebat ad Romanam Ecclesiam paruus ad modum respectus habebat and yet in the long time of that little regard of Rome the Church of Christ was one seeing to this day all Churches in the three partes of the world haue so anciently renounced this one head who notwithstanding may not be accounted castawayes and no partes of Christs Church seeing whatsoeuer reason is vrged of necessity one Bishoppe doth as necessarily proue the necessity of one King ouer all the Christian world truely we are so farre from thinking the necessity of one visible head to be an article of our faith that contrariwise wee agree in iudgement with Gregory the Great concerning the danger of the same who disputing against the very name and title of an vniuersal Bishoppe bringeth this reason against the thing Ecclesiae vniuersa corruit si ille vniuersus cadit if that vniuersall Bishoppe should fall his fall be the ruine of the whole Church This our lamentable experience hath made good not onely in the gouernment of the Western Churches in which he hath been like a wilde Bore in the Lords Vineyard but also in their faith which by reason of their generall subiection to that one head was as generally tainted with the same errors for as when one foot slippeth the other may stand and vphold the body vnlesse it bee carried with the sway of that which slipped so when one Church faileth in any point of truth an other may stand vphold the same vnles they be dependant one vpon an other respect not that only vncorruptible head Christ and his vnchangeable lawes 2 Now that we haue found out the Lords Vineyard and considered the nature and state of the same wee are in the next place to consider the husbandry which the Lord of this Vineyard vseth the labour the cost the skill and care hee bestoweth on it to make it prosper for since that vniuersall curse pronounced by the mouth of God Cursed be the earth for mans sake thornes and thistles shall it bring forth Gen. 3. good things do hardly thriue without skilfull and Industrious planting and cherishing their impediments are many their helpes must be so many that the Vineyard which is neglected and left to it selfe may seem in a manner blamelesse though it proue not fruitfull for these duties therefore of the husbandman the Lord conscious to himselfe of his own goodnesse towards it doubteth not to make the Vineyard and Church it selfe and euery plant thereof euen all the inhabitants of Iudah his Iudges what one thing hee hath omitted which might haue smothered it What could I haue done to my Vineyard saieth God which I haue not done The particulars were set downe before 1. The choice of the seat of Canaan My beloued had a Vineyard on a verie fruitfull hill 2. His fencing it from spoyles He hedged it about with his mighty protection 3. The choyce of the plants Hee planted it with the best plants the roote the true Vine that came downe from heauen the branches the sonnes of Abraham 4. The preparing of the Soile he gathered vp the stones that might hinder the growth the Cananites and Hittites 5. For a further defence hee built a Towre in the middest of it his glorious Temple 6. He set vp a Vinepresse in it an Altar vpon which they might offer the fruits of their free will offerings to those hee added continuall pruning and dressing watring of it from the cloudes of heauen It appeareth after Ver. 6. For the proofe of these particulars reade the old Testament What is the whole history of the Bible but the narration of Gods blessings vpon his owne people as if hee minded no other nation no part of his creation but onely them What is Genesis but the miraculous preseruation of them in their first spring and tender beginnings till they were growne into a great people now a plant able to bee remoued and to stand by it selfe What are Exodus and Numbers but a powerfull translating of this Vine by a mighty hand out of the Garden of Egypt where it was borne downe and the gracious ordering and preseruing of it as it were aboue ground in a wildernesse where it had nothing to liue on for forty yeares till it
therefore conceiued no need of repentance and redemption by an other Sauiour Thus he generally affirmeth of the Iewes whose eares and hearts were by custome growne more then as all men naturally are so obstinately hardned in contempt against the word of truth that Mat. 11.21 had the signes and wonders that were done amongst them beene done in Tyre and Sydon nay in Sodom they would haue repented in Sackcloth and Ashes as the Nineuites did at the preaching of Ionas onely And this is that obstinate opposition of some against the ordinary meanes of mans saluation that caused not onely the Prophets to mourn but our Sauiour Christ to sit down and to weepe ouer Ierusalem when he saw that shee would not bee gathered to her Redeemet as if Christ should haue said as God by our Prophet What could I haue done more for my Vineyard which I haue not done 3 After the consideration of this so exceeding great cost and care bestowed vpon the Lords Vineyard wee are in the third place to looke vnto the end of these his labours and husbandry bestowed on his Church that is the same which euery man which plāteth a vineyard doth expect of his plants fruits I looked for grapes fruites naturall and proper to a Vine proper to a Christian that receiueth the nature the sappe the spirit of the roote Christ Why the good workes and fruites of Christians are compared to grapes and themselues to vines I partly shewed before For as nothing is created for it selfe so the poorest creature that GOD hath made is inabled with some gift to imitate the bounty and goodnesse of the Creator and to yeeld somthing from it selfe to the vse and benefit of others and this is their naturall worke thus the Sun and Moone and Starres as they are indued with light vertue so they restlesly moue to impart their light and influence to the inlightning and quickning of the inferiour world Thus doe the cloudes flie vp and downe emptying themselues to inrich the earth of which notwithstanding they reape no haruest Thus doth the earth without respect of her priuate profit liberally yeelde her riches and fatnes to the innumerable armies of creatures which all sucke her brests and hang on her for maintenance as on their common mother and not to depart frō our Parable thus doe all fruit-bearing trees spend themselues and the principall part of their sappe and moisture not on the increase of themselues but in making some pleasant fruit or berry of which neyther they nor their young springs shall taste and this when it is ripe perfect they voluntarily let fall at their masters feet thus neither doth the Vine make her selfe drunke with her owne grapes nor the Oliue annoint her selfe with her own oyle and yet they striue to abound with fruites For the more euery thing furthereth the common good of the world the higher is the excellency of the nature thereof and the greater resemblance it hath to the Creators goodnesse Now when heauen and earth are fruitfull in their kinde when neyther beast nor tree are idle but are alwaies bringing forth something to the good of others when not onely the creatures vnder man but the blessed Angels of heauen are ministring spirites perpetually and willinglie seruing for our good when God the father himselfe with the Lord our King are yet working and diuiding the streames of their goodnesse to the best behoofe of the world how can it bee allowable that when all the Armies of heauen and earth the Creator with the creatures are thus busied in bringing forth fruit onely man should remaine vnfruitfull his faculties and graces idle himselfe a burthen to the earth It cannot be for not onely the Church of God for the gathering of her children the propagation of truth and piety amongst them but the world it selfe for the vpholding of her estate doth necessarily require mans fruits for seeing we grow together as members in a body and branches in a tree the life and sappe strength and helpe of the root and head cannot be deriued to vs vnlesse it be conuaied by ioynts and by sinewes by armes and by boughes by the mutuall ministery of man by the works of iustice and mercy from one to another and therefore vnlesse the Pastor yeelde the fruit of his light and knowledge vnlesse the Magistrate do yeelde the fruit of his iustice and authority vnlesse euery priuate man doe yeeld forth the fruite of those faculties graces which they receiue not for themselues but for the good of the body they are no parts of Christs body neyther haue they the spirit of the head the spirite of loue in them but they are theeues and murtherers enemies to Christ and to his Church they starue his body and purloine from their fellow members those good things which the mercifull head hath so intended by them to vs that the benefite might be ours and the thanks theirs and al might grow by the naturall fruits of loue But here ordinarily ariseth in the mind of man a vaine shift which much hindreth his fruitfulnes and maketh him draw in all to himselfe and recall his sappe from the fruits into the roote againe and that is a false reasoning with himselfe that because doe he the best he can yet his fruits will bee earthly and sowre and neuer perfect and kindely ripened because were they neuer so perfect and abundant yet they cannot merite lifes eternity to him that beareth them and because that which is wanting is fully supplied in the all-sufficient fulnesse and superrogatiue merits of the head and therefore it is but lost labour to spend himselfe in bringing forth such vnperfect fruites so helpeles in the worke of his owne saluation thus doth iniquity lie vnto her selfe and turneth the truth of God into a lie for though those three promises are all true yet the conclusion we inferre vpon them is altogether vncoherent True it is that though wee bee ingrafted into the eternall Vine Christ yet wee retaine something of the nature of the olde stocke whence wee were taken which giueth to our best fruites an earthly taste and some relish of the olde man True it is that though we are planted with the best heauenly plants of piety yet they grow in a forraine soile and in a colde clime farre from the Sun and our fruites are not concocted and perfect euen our most spirituall fruits our prayers haue not a pleasing taste vnlesse they haue some sweetning But this defect is supplyed by the great Angell of the couenant who when he presenteth these our fruits to God the great husbandman addeth to them of his owne precious incense which helpeth their infirmity and harshnes and maketh them acceptable Renel 8.4 Again true it is that these our fruits were they neuer so abundant and as excellent as mans perfectly restored perfection can afforde yet can they not merite those crownes and kingdomes and the eternity of that glory but