namely to leade and liue a life beseeming their Christian profession Now the Anabaptistes a contentious and stubborne kinde of men doe pause nay stand Anabaptist still and sticke vpon this last point and because they see that faith and the obedience of faith haue not as yet any place in Infants therfore they exclude them from baptisme neuer obseruing that the more principall and chiefe points take roote place in them to wit the grace of adoption washing away of sinnes by the blood of Christ Regeneration and other things that make vs heires of eternall saluation For if they did but perceiue this then would they conclude with the Apostle Peter and say Can any man forbid water but that these who are capable of the holy Act. 10. 47 Ghost should be baptized as well as they that are well growen The like is the error about the mysticall Supper of Christ The chiefest point The Lords Supper therin is the remēbrance of his death For Christ himself when he instituted it sheweth and the Apostle afterward commendeth this to be the proper ende and vse of it Now vnto this is ioyned the communion of the bodie and blood of Christ with his Church the sealing of our Redemption admonishing vs continually of our duetie that wee should not onely abstaine from strange sacrifices but also imbrace mutuall peace and loue together All which that we might truely and willingly performe Christ in a sacramentall manner of speech hath called the breade his bodie and the wine the blood of the newe Testament Now our aduersaries the Papists cleauing to the last wordes doe contende and dispute about the presence of the body of Christ and corporall eating of the same and thus haue they made an Instrument of diuision distraction of that which should be the bond of Christian concord These things then doe admonish vs that in euerie matter we should haue a respect vnto that which is the chiefest referring all the rest vnto such a scope that will not suffer vs to decline from the truth But let vs returne to the exposition of our text in the which are three things to be considered First why the lawe was added to the promise Secondly how long the lawe was to continue Thirdly and lastly by whome and how the lawe was giuen and deliuered As touching the first the Apostle saith it was added for trangressions This may bee taken two manner of waies Saint Ierome referres it to the Fathers that abode not in the couenant but being corrupted with the superstitions of Egypt and drowned in all manner of sinnes made themselues like vnto the heathen whome GOD had cast out before their eyes and therfore must be bridled and reduced into the way by a lawe From which this sentence seemes to take his beginning Ex malis moribus bonae leges natae sunt Now S. Augustine he takes this to be spoken more generally and saieth that the lawe was added to reproue transgressions and to humble the proud confident minds of the Iewes For because they bragged boasted themselues in their natiuitie as if from thence they had naturall righteousnesse it was necessarie saith he to humble them by a lawe applying vnto them the saying of the Apostle Quaecunque lex dicit Rom 3 19 ijs qui sub lege sunt dicit Whatsoeuer the lawe speakes it speakes to them that are vnder the law Which opinion of Saint Augustine comes neere vnto the minde of the Apostle who teacheth vs that by the lawe we are conuicted that we might haue our recourse vnto Christ who hath deliuered vs from the curse of the law And therfore saith Saint Ambrose in his first booke Ambros lib. 5. in Auxentium against Auxentius Iustū fides non lex facit quia non est per legem Iustitia sed per fidem Faith and not the law maketh a righteous man for righteousnes is not by the law but by faith That the lawe doth thus manifest our corruptiō the Apostle demonstrateth Rom 7. 7. 9. 10. saying I knew not sin but by the law a litte further I was once aliue without the law but when the commandement came sin reuiued and I was dead And again the Rom. 5. 20 lawe entred that the offence should abound Therefore the vse of the lawe is to manifest and reproue our sinnes that men might be brought to the knowledge of their owne guilt For because we flatter our selues in our sinne therefore wee will not willingly acknowledge sinne to bee in our selues but delite in our sinne vntill we feel our selues conuicted thereof in our consciences Therefore as the law doth not abolish the promise which is the Gospell it selfe so the Gospell doth not condemne the lawe or the doctrine thereof but rather deliuers the true vse of it For the lawe of it self is good holy finally the teacher of true righteousnes because it bringeth vs wholy vnto God and to our neighbor But by our owne corruption it comes to passe that wee doe not onely disobey the lawe but our desires are accustomed to be prouoked and set on fire by the commandements of the lawe Which wickednesse of our nature the Poet acknowledging hath said Nitimur in vetitum semper cupimusque negata Wherefore we are not to make this vse of the lawe as that by the same we should be iustified and saued for August de vera innocentia saith Saint Augustine Lex data est vt gratia quaeretur Gratia data est vt lex impleretur vitium prudentiae carnis per legem demonstrandum per gratiam sanandum fuit The lawe was giuen that grace might be sought for grace was giuen that the lawe might bee fulfilled the law demonstrated our corruption but grace tooke it away But in the law we must behold our selues as in a glasse that being conuicted of sinne we should flee vnto Christ whom the father hath made righteousnes for vs and our Mediator vnto himselfe Secondly 1. Cor 1. 3 the Apostle teacheth vs how long the lawe was to continue namely vntill the seede came vnto which the promise was made By the seede properly is vnderstood Christ in whome all Nations are blessed The continuance of the lawe But in this place the Apostle cōprehends with Christ the whole body of Christ that is to say the Church gathered both of Iewes and Gentiles vnto which properly this promise doth belong which is twofold the first part appertaines vnto Christ himself to whose kingdom all Nations of the world were to be subiect according to the saying of Dauid Aske of me and I shal giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance Psal 2. 8. and the ends of the earth for thy possession The secōd part belongs vnto the Church because that in Christ all were blessed that out of euery Nation did come vnto it That therefore which the Apostle doth in this place obscurely and briefly touch hee afterward in the
THE HARMONIE OF the LAWE and the GOSPEL Wherin is plainly shewed that howsoeuer they differ in time and some other circumstances yet in substance they are one the same And By waie of application the pretended antiquitie of Poperie is discouered and found to be a meere nouelty Deliuered in a Sermon at Pauls-crosse the 9. of Aug. 1607. by GEORGE CRESVVELL Minister of Gods word Imprinted at London by H. L. for WILLIAM LEAKE 1607. TO THE RIGHT Honourable Sir Thomas West Knight Lord Lawarre all peace prosperitie and happinesse RIght Honourable hauing at the request of a religious Knight an Alderman of the Cittie of London gathered this my Sermon into writing and deliuered him the Copie I was soone after desired nay importuned by others my worshipful good friends to giue consent for the printing of it Which when I could not in good manners as I thought farther put off I was at length induced to condescend vnto the rather both in regard of the benefit which by this my weake meanes may growe to the Church of God as also that by seeking shelter vnder your Ho protection I had now a fitte opportunitie long wisht-for to manifest my dutifull respect and humble affection to your Lordship This your Patronage if it please your Honour as an addition to your former fauours gratiously to vouchsafe mee I cannot but also acknowledge my selfe herein the more obliged in al boundē duties Thus humbly crauing your Lordships fauourable acceptance of my faithful endeauours I take my leaue Your Honours euer in all duty GEO. CRESWELL Dated the 8. of October 1607. Galati 3. vers 17. 18. 19. 20. 17. And this I say that the Law which was 400. and 30. yeares after cannot disannull the couenant that was confirmed afore of God in respect of Christ that it should make the promise of none effect 18. For if the inheritance be of the Law it is no more by promise but God gaue it vnto Abraham by promise 19. Wherefore then serueth the Lawe It was added because of the transgressions till the Seede came vnto the which the promise was made and it was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator 20. Now a Mediatour is not a Mediatour of one but God is one THe Apostle right honourable right worshipfull and welbeloued Christians in all this whole Epistle doth grauely and sharply confute them that in his time mingled the Lawe with the Gospell and as if that Christ had beene insufficient for vs did teach that Circumcision and the obseruation of the Lawe was necessarie for the Gentiles that had alreadie beleeued in Christ Further he demonstrateth that the Lawe did subdue al men to the curse and therefore they did very vnwisely that hoped for any blessing frō the Lawe Yea God would haue it to bee so that all men might knowe that they should be blessed and saued in Iesus Christ in whom God had promised the same vnto Abraham Now when hee had confirmed this by the testimonies of the scripture hee vseth a similitude or example of testaments or wills wherein he teacheth vs that they were too rash that thought it lawfull for them to doe that in the couenāt of God which is vnlawful to bee done in the will of a man being once well confirmed sealed a matter worthie of our best consideration because God was willing to comprehend the whole manner of our saluation vnder the word or forme of a Will or couenant such a one as could no otherwise be fulfilled or ratified but by the ensuing death of his onely begotten sonne which was an argument of Gods goodnes and mercie full of most sweet and excellent comfort God was willing that his onely begotten sonne obedient to his decree by whom hee made and gouerneth all things should be made man and deliuered him vp to the bitter and ignominious death of the Crosse that hee might adopt vs into his children and make vs fellow inheriters of his kingdome Euen vs I say who how honorable rich or great soeuer wee bee yet are we of our selues sinners and the sonnes of wrath Therefore it is manifest that our saluatiō doth proceed and come vnto vs from the free mercie of God without any desert of ours And as this scripture doth maintaine the certaintie of it so doth it admonish vs of our dutie which is to be cōtented with Christ only remember that we owe our selues al that we haue vnto God who hath aduanced vs miserable wretches vnto the dignitie of his sons Thus much be spokē as an Introduction into the Text. Now let vs proceed in the words of the Apostle who doth more amply declare that which before he had spoken concerning the couenant of God in these words And this I say that the Lawe which was 403. yeares after c. The summe of this is that the Couenant of God was so firme and sure that it could not bee abolished by the Lawe So that the Apostles words are as much as if he should haue said It may be I may seeme vnto many to speake obscurely yet I wil speake truth as the matter is for as God touching his essence is eternall and is not changed so also his wil is constant in it selfe and his decrees are immutable For as saith the Prophet Esaie When the Lord of Hostes hath determined any Isai 14. 27 thing who shall disannull it Wherfore although God gaue a lawe afterwards to our forefathers yet notwithstanding this law which followed 400 and 30 yeares after was not able to abolish or any way to corrupt that ancient couenant that God before had made with Abraham and confirmed it by authoritie The Apostle heere draweth an argument from time in the which that wee may note this by the way appeareth with what diligence the Apostles read searched the scriptures Many other such like places we haue in the word of God Steuen the protomartyr in his Apologie in the seauenth of Acts. 7 the Acts from the succession of time draweth a reason wherby hee proues that what excellent thing soeuer our fathers had it came vnto them from the free mercie of God Our Apostle doth the like in that famous Act. 13. sermon that hee made vnto the Iewes at Antioch a Citie of Pisidia And in his Epistle to the Romans doth teach vs from Rom. 4. the circumstance of time that Abraham was Iustified by faith onely and not by circumcision it being no other but a seal of that righteousnes hee had already obtained by faith In all which is proposed a notable Instructiō for ministers to imitate this diligēce of the Apostles remembring that the holy scriptures were not written by the priuate will or motion of man but the whole scripture as said the Apostles Peter and Paul by 2. Pet. 1. 20. 21. 2. Tim. 3. 16. the inspiration of the holy Ghost who doth nothing rashly but all things with discretion and iudgement For there is nothing so small
them that whilst they vrged the righteousnesse of the lawe they did as much as in them lay frustrate and make voyde the couenāt and promise of God in which all their dignitie did consist As this was an errour in the Iewes so is it no lesse in the Papists who would be accounted the onely worshippers of the Saints and the maintainers of their glorie For whilest that they enuiously contend against vs for the same they doe euert and confound their doctrine and doe very farre vary from the example of faith and life wherein the Saints went before vs. But if they will maintaine the cause of the Saints why doe they not heare the Apostles who knewe no other thing but Iesus Christ and him crucified 1. Cor. 2. 2 Act. 4. 12 affirming no name to bee giuen vnto men vnder heauen wherein wee must bee saued but onely the name of Iesus Why doe they not obey the Virging Ioh. 2. 5. Marie speaking of CHRIST and saying Whatsoeuer hee sayeth vnto you doe it Hee himselfe commaundes Mat 1. 28 Ioh. 14. 6. all that doe labour and are heauie loaden to come vnto him testifying himselfe onely to be the way whereby we must come vnto the Father All this truely considered then I conclude thus that our iustification and saluation is by the Apostles so ascribed vnto the free mercie of GOD performed to vs-warde in Christ that from thence is excluded the whole lawe with all the merit of our owne workes But our aduersaries will obiect and say If the lawe doe not iustifie and that we must not hope for saluation by the law why hath God giuen a lawe Againe if faith onely iustifie and Why the law was giuen that our auntient fathers were iustified and saued by faith what necessitie was there that there should be a law giuen to posterities afterward For what hinderance was there but that wee as well as they might be saued without a lawe Againe if we be now saued without a law forsaking the lawe vpon necessitie must come vnto Christ then vainely hath God giuen and deliuered a lawe afterwarde For thus the naturall and carnall man if hee doe abuse any thing and therefore be accused is alwayes accustomed to condemne the same and cast it away as a matter hurtfull and vnprofitable Neither doth hee make any other vse of good and necessarie things then drunken men doe of their wine For if thou accuse a drunken man for the immoderate and excessiue abuse of wine hee presently will make answere and say If it be not lawfull for me to drinke why hath God giuen wine vnto vs why doe wee receiue so plentifull a vintage from him as if there were no other vse of wine but for their drunkennesse Note The same doe our aduersaries in thinges belonging to Religion For reprooue them that doe binde Christs corporall presence to the sacrament and they will presently make answere and say If Christ be not corporally presēt to what purpose were sacraments giuen wherefore hath God spoken after such a manner Might hee not haue spoken more simplie and plainely that we should haue taken his words otherwise shall we now reproue God of a lye or affirme him to be a deceiuer such a one as is willing to beguile with magnificall words Againe they doe the like that binde saluation to the merite of their workes For accuse them of error presently they will affirme that wee altogether denie and tread vnder foote good workes because they knowe no other ende nor vse thereof but that which they haue inuēted in their owne brainesicke humour Like vnto all these was the confidence of the Iewes of such as by them were deceiued in the time of the Apostle from whom were often heard these words Hath not GOD giuen vs a lawe Then what is the vse of the lawe if faith onely iustifie and if the lawe bee nothing auaileable to saluation wherefore as sayeth my text then serueth the lawe Is it not altogether vnprofitable and superfluous To this question and so to all the rest that are ioyned to it the Apostle in fewe words making answere saith It was added for transgression till the seede came vnto the which the promise was made Heere the Apostle expoundeth that which before he had spoken Namely that the couenant of God was not able to bee frustrated by the lawe that followed 400. and 30 yeares after for hee sayth that the lawe was added vnto the promise or couenant Now that which is added vnto a thing is added not to abolish it but to confirme it And therefore the Apostle writing to the Romanes affirmeth that the lawe entred for this purpose that Rom. 7. 7 the fault of our sinne might bee apparent vnto vs and that we better knowing the horror thereof might flee vnto the promise of the free mercie of God made vnto vs in Christ Againe when hee saieth that the lawe was added vnto the promise hee manifestly thereby teacheth vs that in the action of our saluation the chiefest part thereof is due to the free promise or couenant of GOD vnto which the lawe was added not to abolish or take it away but to be seruiceable vnto it more to confirme it And thus the Apostle doth reproue the ignoraunce of the Iewes who did not distinguish betweene the lawe and the promise and therefore attributed vnto the lawe that which indeede was due and belonging vnto the promise of God Note Heere then obserue that this confusion is the occasion of all errors in the matter or cause of our eternall saluation For wee are all by nature sinners subiect to condemnation but God pitying vs in his eternall decree appointed Christ Iesus to be our Sauiour in whome hee hath elected vs before the world was made or created promised him vnto our first parents after that to Abraham and other Fathers that thereby hee might shew vs that saluation comes vnto men from the free mercie of God Afterwarde hee gaue a lawe not because the promise and couenant was defectiue or imperfect or that hee would abolish the same but onely to admonish them of their dutie who already were heires of these promises and of free saluation But as the Iewes in times past not obseruing the order of God supposed that this inheritance came from and by the lawe altogether neglecting the promise Note So in like sort doe the Papistes who doe impute saluation vnto the merit of their owne workes which is all one as if a sonne shuld auouch himselfe to bee his fathers heire by the merite and desert of Obedience and should denie himselfe to bee an heire borne The same error is committed by many in the Sacraments The chiefest points of the Sacrament of Baptisme are Baptisme these The grace of Adoption Washing away of our sinnes Regeneration and Renouation of the whole man The duetie of the commer is this faith is required of the baptized and they are admonished of their duetie
23 verse of this Chapter doth more apparently set downe saying that the Iewes before faith came were kept vnder the lawe and shut vp vnto that faith which should afterwarde bee reuealed And in the Ephesians it is said Ephe 2. 13. 13. â—4 that the partition wall of the law is taken away from the Gentiles that hitherto had been strangers from the Common-wealth of Israell and now called vnto the faith that of Iewes and Gentiles there might be one Church of Christ Iesus For which cause afterward it was called a Catholicke Church by reason it was extended to the elect of all ages and places Now as touching the doctrine and vse hereof the Apostle doth teach vs that they doe offend and sinne that extend the law beyond the bound of it now seeing the true seede Christ Iesus is already come are stil willing to thrust the law vpoÌ„ Gods children For as S. Augustine saith Qui dedit 1. Cap. in Episto Galat. seipsum pro peccatis nostris apertè c. That is He that gaue himselfe for our sinnes doth plainely shewe that the law did profit nothing seeing it saith that Christ gaue himself that he might suffer for vs that he might Iustifie vs whom the law made guilty that being deliuered froÌ„ the lawe by the faith of Christ wee should bee no longer sinners but righteous by our second birth the children of God Obiect But some obiect against this and say that Christ whilst hee liued vppon the earth kept the lawe and therfore contrarie to the example of Christ they bring in a damnable libertie of sinne who doe affirme the lawe to bee abrogated But to Christ fulfilled the law this I aunswere that Christ indeede kept the whole lawe because hee became subiect vnto it when he was made man of the Virgin and the lawe had not as yet attained to his full end which followed onely in the death of Christ by whose merite and power the vaile of the Temple rent asunder that all men might knowe that the legall worship was now abolished Secondly Christ kept the law not by constraint but willingly not for himselfe but for vs that he might both free vs from the intolerable yoake burden of the law also might abrogate that sorrowful sentence of condemnation which the lawe denounced against vs because so long as the same endured blessing and saluation whereof he is the meane for vs could take no root in vs. Nether by this is there opened any window for the libertie of sin For although they that are in Christ are to feare no more condemnation from the law yet is there remaining a dutie of obedience wherunto we must alwayes be subiect which they onely truely hartily performe that are endued with a true and liuely faith Now we come vnto the third part of this place wherein is showed by whom how the law was giuen of which the Apostle doth in such sort speake that therby we may vnderstand how far more excellent the Gospell is then the law that therby it may be manifest how much they are deceiued that secke for righteousnesse and saluation in the law Of this point the Apostle auerreth two things first that it was ordained and giuen by Angels or as Steuen speakes by the disposition and ministrie of Angels And being thus giuen vpon necessitie it must bee glorious But much more glorious is the Gospel because it was preached by the onely son of God Christ Iesus by the which argument the Apostle commends the doctrine of Christ vnto vs in the beginning of his Epistle to the Hebrews Therfore as much as Christ Heb. 1. 1. 2. doth excell the Angels so far doth the Gospell excell the law Neither is this any hinderance vnto the comparison That God when hee gaue the lawe did speake For in holy scripture ofteÌ„times doth God speak to men by the ministry of Angels Obiecti But some will obiect say why might not the Gospel be preached by an Angel but vpon necessitie the Son of God must come into the world to be the preacher of it To this I answere In the law are contained precepts with promises threatnings al which might haue been proposed by an Angel But the Gospel hath in it not onely precepts of faith and promises of eternall saluation but it bestowes life and saluation itselfe vpon vs. For it is the power of God Rom. 1. 16 to saluation to euery one that beleeueth It is the word of reconciliation and of eternall 2. Cor. 5. 18. Act. 10. 6. life So that truly hath the Angell spoken of Peter the teacher of Cornelius He shall speake vnto thee words wherby thou and all thy house shall be saued Finally with the Gospel is ioyned the enheritance of saluation and of the kingdom of God Now these things are of such sort that they cannot be giuen vnto vs by the benefitte of an Angell or any other creature whatsoeuer For how can he make them the heires and sonnes of God who is neither sonne nor heire himselfe but adopted by grace Therefore that the authoritie of the Gospel might be firme and certaine it was necessarie to bee preached by the eternall sonne of God Cirillus makes Cirillus an excellent difference betweene the lawe and the Gospell First saith he the lawe condemned the world and subdued all men rightly iustly to cursing But the Sauiour freed the world for he came not to iudge but to saue the world Secondly although the law graue grace to the know ledge of the true God recalling men from the worship of Idols and teaching to discerne good from euill yet it did not effect this perfectly indeede but onely in part But the grace and truth of the onely begotten sonne doth giue vs good things not in figures and shadowes but openly manifestly by his doctrin brought vs to the perfect knowledge of faith Thirdly the law gaue vs the spirit of bondage to feare But Christ the spirit of adoptioÌ„ vnto liberty Fourthly the law established the circumcision of the flesh which as saith our Apostle is nothing but Christ brought in the circumcision of the heart and the spirit by faith Fiftly the law baptizeth theÌ„ that are washed in water but Christ baptizeth with the holy Ghost and with fire Sixtly the law broght vs into a tabernacle which was a figure of true things to come But Christ hath brought vs into heauen into a tabernacle which not man but God hath created Seuenthly the law brought no perfectioÌ„ of good things but the doctrine of the Gospel bringeth full and absolute blessing And lastly Moses by the law condemnes the whole world but the Son deliuers the world froÌ„ the curse of the law with the multitude of his mercy heals cures the sicknes maladie of the world Like as Moses brought the children of Israell Theodoret out of Egypt but Iosua into the Land of promise so the law brings
first Institution and words of Christ which he vsed when hee deliuered bread and wine to his Disciples Againe the auntient fathers neuer knewe any other consecration but onely that wherein common bread was made mystical and a sacrament or signe of the bodie of Christ as touching the vse of it and not that the substance of it was turned into the substance of a fleshly body Secondly hee sayeth that Saint Iames increased these mysteries but heereby he doth intolerable wronge first to the holy man secondly to all the Apostles For first if Saint Iames had added any thing to the institution of Christ hee had beene too bolde and also had sinned against the Lawe of Christ who had commaunded his Disciples to teach no other thing but that which hee had deliuered vnto them Secondly if the Matt. 28. 20. Apostles had suffered any such matter they had beene vnfaithfull in their office and had neglected the Church which Christ will haue free from burden of humane traditions But the writinges and actions of the Apostles doe teach vs to iudge farre otherwise of them When the Corinthians had chaunged the mysticall Supper of CHRIST into a luxurious or want on banquet Saint Paul testifies that hee deliuered nothing vnto them but that which hee had receiued from Christ recalling them in such sort to the first institution that in the historie thereof hee differs not one word from those things that other Euangelistes had deliuered pronounceth all them to be accursed whether they bee men or Angells Gal. 1. 8 that durst adde anye thinge to the Gospell alreadie preached by the Apostles And shall wee then thinke that hee would tolerate so filthy a profaning of the mysticall Supper who withstoode Gal. 2 11 Peter to the face when hee as touchinge the conuersation of life something varied from the trueth of the Gospell Most vaine therefore and foolish is all that the Popes speake concerning the Apostles that they instituted or celebrated their Masse But let vs returne to Platina that the vanitie hereof may be more apparant For when hee had saide that others encreased it he addeth for Celestinus gaue the Introit Gregorie the Kyrielison Symmacchus the Gloria in excelsis deo Gregorie the third to the secret of the Masse Quorum solennitas hodie in conspectu tuae maiestatis celebratur domine Deus noster in toto orbe terrarum Alleluia was taken out of the Church of Ierusalem the Creed in the Councell of Neece Pelagius the Commemoration of the dead Leo the third Frankincense Innocent the first the kissing of the Pax Sergius the Agnus dei Nicolas the first the Sequences Gelasius Africanus as saith Nauclerus the Hymnes Collects Responsories Graduals and Prefaces Ierome the Epistle and Gospell Leo the first Orate pro me fratres and the Deo gratias the Cannon also sanctum sacrificium immaculatam hostiam c. Now beloued if all these thinges which Platina and others affirme to haue beene instituted at diuers times and by sundry men were taken from the Masse what I beseech you would be therein remaining that should deserue the name of a masse or a sacrifice Why then should that be called an ancient faith or religion whose chiefe foundation being first layde many yeares after Christes Ascension into heauen was afterward confirmed by new rubbish being added vnto it But admit that some of those things of the which wee haue hitherto spoken being added to the institution of Christ are in some sort tolerable yet our auncient fathers were altogether ignorant of the Corporall presence of Christ in his Supper and transsubstantiation of bread into his body whereupon the authoritie of the Masse depends The first disputation here of was in the Bertram yeare of grace 844. as may bee gathered out of the bookes of Bertram which he writ at the commaundement of Carolus Calvus concerning that matter Then Sergius the second who was the first that changed his name sate in the Romish sea Sergius 2. Pope For whereas before hee was Pope he was called Os porci swines-mouth hee then tooke vpon him the name of Sergius by which action God was willing to testifie to the whole world what a boare should come out of the Forrest whom Dauid affirmes Psal 80. 13. to be the destroyer and waster of the Church and that the time of defection was at hand wherein they that by baptisme had giuen their names vnto Christ by denying him should follow after superstitions For ten yeares after ascended into that place a womanish harlot to be Pope hauing to name Iohn the eight or rather Ioane the first God manifesting thereby that now that harlot beganne to shewe her selfe whereof Apoc. 17. 3. Christ had prophecied in the Reuelation But as yet they were not able to perswade all men to worshippe this their newe Idoll but alwayes GOD sent some to testifie of the truth vntill in the yeare of Christ 1215 vnder Innocentius the thirde in the Councell of Lateran there was a decree made concerning Transubstantiation which in the Decretals is thus reade Vna est fidelium vniuersalis ecclesia extra quam nullus omnino saluatur in qua idem ipse sacerdos est sacrificium Iesus Christus cuius corpus sanguis in sacramento altaris sub speciebus panis vini veraciter continentur transubstantiatis pane in corpus vino in sanguinem potestate diuina vt ad perficiendum mysterium vnitatis accipiamus ipsi de suo quod accepit ille de nostro There is one vniuersall Church of the faithfull without which none canne bee saued wherein the Priest himselfe Christ Iesus is the sacrifice whose bodie and blood in the sacrament of the Altar vnder the formes of bread and wine are truely contained the bread being transubstantiated into his bodie and the wine into his bloud by a diuine power that the vnitie of this mysterie might be effected wee receiue from him that which he tooke from vs. In the same Councell also was constituted Auricular confession whereby men of euery state and degree being fast chayned together as with fetters and linkes of Iron durst neuer speake against the decrees of the Romish Church Tenne yeares after that Honorius the thirde commaunded darke places or Chestes to bee made wherein the bread alreadie consecrated or rather as they speake transubstantiated into the bodie of Christ was reserued to bee worshipped which without all doubt are those secret places whereof Christ speakes Mat. 24. 23. commaunding vs not to beleeue them who shewe vs Christ to be contayned in them And to fulfill and finish all this superstition Vrban the fourth in honour Vrban 4. inuented the Feast of Corpus Christ 1264. of this sacrament at the request of a Recluse with whom in times past hee had beene ouermuch familiar inuented the solemne Feast which they call Corpus Christi Who is it then that can affirme the whole worshippe of the Masse to be
auncient seeing it hath not alwaies beene in the Church neither hath it beene instituted and receiued at one time but being brought in by little and little was augmented with newe additions dayly So to that to the Masse neither lesse nor more hath happened then to a pilgrimes scrippe or to an old cloake of a begger that beggeth from doore to doore vpon such a Cloake the elder that it is the more patches doe they set vpon it so that in time nothing is seene but heere a little peece there another of the cloath whereof it was first made And this clothe is so vsed so wasted so discoloured and so without being that it no way appeareth to be that which it was In this cloake are not seene but patches of cloth corrupt and rotten very ill placed and worse sowed together so that it causeth loathing to those that haue bin delicately brought vp Such another cloake is the Popish Masse The cloath whereof it was made was the Supper of the Lord which men not celebrating according to the institution of Christ waxed olde lost it colour being nothing worth Then commeth one and casteth a peece vnto it afterwarde comes another and casteth vnto it c. So that now it is not the Supper of the Lord but the masse of the Pope now it is not the robe of an honourable man but the cloak of a shamelesse begger In conclusion their Masse is their Helen for whom they trouble the whole world What wee haue spoken of all the aforesaid popish trumperies the like may also bee saide of the Inuocation of Saints Inuocation of Saints which they can prooue by no testimonie nor example of the scripture For by the scripture wee are taught to inuocate one God through the onely Mediator Christ Iesus neither hath any one of the Saints either of the olde or newe Testament being aliue prayed vnto any of the Saints in heauē Now the Leyturgie which Durandus makes to be twofolde to wit the maior the minor is also confessed to be instituted by men the one by Mamertus vnder the raigne of Zeno in the yeare of Christ foure hundred foure-score and ten the other by Gregorie the great in the yeare of Christ fiue hundred fourescore and tenne The hymne of Salue regina was made by Hermannus Contractus and Gregorie the ninth commaunded it to bee sung to the prayse of the Virgin at certaine houres of the day in the yeare of Christ 1241. The verie same may bee spoken of the whole worshippe of the Saints which how great soeuer it is yet it is nothing but onely the inuention of superstitious men But if wee should come vnto other points of their popish religion as of monkish orders choyse of meates single life of their Priests fire of Purgatorie prayer for the dead satisfactions popish pardons and multitudes of such matters it would then appeare that they were all the inuentions of man and had their beginning when the pure doctrine of the trueth was for the most part extinguished by the corruptions traditions of men In conclusion then if the lawe which was 400 and 30 yeares after the promise was not able to disannull the couenant that was confirmed before of God in respect of Christ to make the promise of none effect much lesse the Popes supremacie the worshipping of Images the sacrifice of the Masse the inuocatiō of Saints or any popish superstition whatsoeuer shall be able to corrupt abrogate or disannull it but that the promise should bee performed to the seede of Abraham that is to the faithfull in all ages That then which wee our selues must hold concerning faith onely iustifying the sole sauiour Christ Iesus is all grounded vpon the eternall couenant of God which in the beginning was made with our first parents Secondly renued with Abraham Thirdly set forth by the Prophets Fourthly confirmed and fulfilled in the death of the Sonne And lastly divulged by the ministrie of the Apostles through the whole world This faith was kept by all those that pleased and serued God before the comming of Christ in the flesh the martyrs sealing the same with their bloud Who thē cā deny but that the Papists doe wickedly shamefully slāder vs who tax vs with nouelty because they would vnder a lying title of antiquitie thrust vpon the common sort their popish superstitions which indeed are newe and altogether vnknowen vnto Antiquitie But it is more then time for vs to come to our Apostle who being about to confirme that which before hee had spoken sayth for if the enheritance be of the law it is no more by promise but God gaue the inheritāce to Abrahā by promise In which words the Apostle opposeth the law the promise one against another as things cōtrarie and diuided which cannot stand tother in the cause and action of our Iustification For the lawe requireth workes saying Qui fecerit ista praecepta viuet in eis Lev. 18. 5 hee that shall doe these commaundements shall liue in them but the promise requires that wee should beleeue neither is it apprehended by any other meanes then by faith Therefore as merite and grace cannot stand together no more can the lawe and the promise To sette forth the sense of the words we wil frame this argument If wee deserue the inheritance of life by the workes of the lawe then it is not obtained freely nor by faith onely But God gaue the inheritance vnto Abraham by promise Therefore this inheritance comes vnto vs not by merite but by the free promise of God The Apostle cōfirmes this argument by the word of giuing whereby is vnderstood a free gift and euerie gift excludes all merit of euery worke whatsoeuer on our part Againe the Apostle fitly vseth the example of Abraham because hee did not sustaine a priuate but a publike person in whom God was willing to propose to the whole world an example of all that were to bee saued together with an assured common meanes of saluation to all the elect The Apostle handling this example in the Romanes after the same saith thus Rom. 4. 23. 24 Now it was not writtē for him onely that it was imputed to him for righteousnesse but also for vs to whom it shal be imputed for righteousnes which beleeue in him that raysed vp Iesus our Lord from the dead which was the very cause that those promises that were made vnto Abraham are extended vnto the seede of Abraham that is vnto all the posteritie of Gods children For vnlesse it were so there would bee no profit of that sacred and holy historie But at this instant the Apostle doth thus strongly vrge this example of Abraham that he might presse and beate to the ground the hautinesse of the confidence of the Iewes who whereas they boasted themselues to bee the children of Abraham yet would they not enter into the inheritaunce promised by the faith that Abraham did The Apostle therefore teacheth
men vnto a sight of their sins but the grace of the gospel hath brought vs into the kingdom of heauē And therfore saith S. Chrysost Ego Chrysostome quādo lego Euangeliū video ibi testimonia de lege testimonia de Prophetis solū christum cōsidero For the Gospel saith Theod. sheweth the reconciliation of God the destructiō Theodoret of the diuell the remission of sinnes the departure of death resurrection from the dead life eternall and the kingdome of heauen for the scope and ende of the Gospell is the saluation of men So that as well by the testimonies of Antiquitie as also by the scriptures we may see plainely how far more glorious the Gospell is then the lawe The second thing that the Apostle speakes concerning the lawe is that it was giuen in or by the hand of a Mediator Thus he cals Moyses who in the giuing of the law was vsed as a mediator betweene God and the people For when the people were not able to endure the voyce of God then God was willing to make him an interpreter of the lawe and God tendering the peoples infirmitie called Moses vnto himselfe to whom he did not onely declare his law by word but also writ downe the summe of the same in Tables of stone and gaue them to Moses to bee deliuered to the people That this is the true sense of this place appeares by the words of Moses himselfe which hee spake vnto the Israelites saying When ye hard the voyce out of the midst of the darknes Deut. 5. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. for the Mountaine did burne with fire then yee came to me all the chiefe of your Tribes and Elders and said Beholde the Lord our God hath shewed vs his glorie and his greatnes and wee haue heard his voyce out of the midst of the fire c. And afterward if wee heare the voice of the Lord our God any more we shal die For what flesh was there euer that harde the voice of the liuing God out of the midst of the fire as we haue and liued Goe thou therefore and heare all that the Lord our God saith declare thou vnto vs all that the Lord our God saith vnto thee and we will heare it and doe it Heere then obserue Note the infirmitie and weakenes of man and how far we are from God seeing wee are not able to endure the maiestie and brightnes of Angels Neither did the Israelites onely endure and suffer this but the like examples we finde in the parents of Samson in Daniell that man of desires in the welbeloued Disciples of Christ whom the taste of Gods maiesty shining in Angels did so terrifie that they fell to the ground and wist not what they said This onely argument then is sufficient to conuict the papists who trust vnto the strēgth of their free will and the merite of their workes But to let them passe and come vnto our selues we are hereby taught to embrace the goodnesse of God who for vs miserable and vnworthy wretches so far abased himselfe that he speakes vnto vs by euerie manner of meanes This goodnes Moses doth worthily commend vnto vs teaching vs to make this vse of it namely diligently and attentiuely to heare and performe those things that God speakes vnto vs. But how much greater then this was the readinesse and mercie of God towards vs who in the ende vouchsafed to speake vnto vs by his onely begotten son least any one should pretend the ignorance of his will Being mindefull hereof let vs submit our selues to his will with all our hearts alwayes remembring the saying of the Apostle to the Hebrewes For if the Heb. 2 2. 3 10. 28. 29. word spoken by Angels was steadfast and euerie transgression and disobedience receiued a iust recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great saluation which at the first began to bee preached by the Lord and afterwarde was cōfirmed vnto vs by them that heard him And againe if hee that despised Moses lawe dyed without mercy vnder two or three witnesses of how much sorer punishment suppose yee shall hee bee worthy which treadeth vnder foote the sonne of God and counteth the blood of the new Testament as an vnholy thing wherewith hee was sanctified and doth despight the spirite of grace But to the last part of this Text wherein because the Apostle had made mention of Moses the mediator hee now drawes an argument from the person or condition of a mediator wherewith hee confutes them who would be iustified by the lawe A mediator is not a mediator of one that is to say hee is not a mediator betweene such as are at vnitie and peace one with another but rather hee is one with them betwixt whom he doth mediate But our Fathers when the law was giuen stood in need of a mediator lest they should be compelled to endure those greeuous and terrible voices of God himselfe proclaiming the law of which their neede whereas before they were ignorant then they onely vnderstoode it when the lawe was to be giuen By this argument the Apostle euidently gathers that the lawe is not that meanes by which we are reconciled with God but rather by the lawe our miserable estate as before hath beene declared is made knowen vnto vs Namely that being separated from God we haue nothing in our selues that can defend vs before Gods tribunal seate For God indeed professed himselfe to be their God and deliuered vnto them a law but vnto the same he added such conditions which whereas they were impossible to bee performed they did terrifie rather then comfort miserable men Therefore Moses himself did send them to that great Prophet Christ Iesus of whom as touching his office of mediatorship hee did beare a type and figure But now some will obiect say Had God then broken his couenant Deut. 18. 15. that there must be a new reconciliation and therefore a mediator But the Apostle maketh answer hereunto saying But God is one as if hee should haue said God neuer hath broken his couenant for as he is one in essence so is hee constant in himselfe and is neuer changed But because men doe not alwayes stand to those conditions which GOD prescribes vnto them he deales after another manner with them And therefore then also for matters before spoken of there was a Lawe giuen which continued for a time so long as there was vse of it But now is the time of the new Testament when the Lawe the Prophets doe yeeld vnto the Gospell that there might be a place as wel for the Gentiles as the remnant of the Iews who forceably entred into the kingdome of God I knowe that others doe expound this place otherwise and speake much of Christ the Mediatour of the vnity of God and equality of the Sonne with the Father but the whole Text of the words doth sufficiently teach vs that it is not agreeable to the purpose of the Apostle Therfore let vs ayme at the true scope of the Apostle which is to shew that righteousnesse and peace of conscience cannot be looked for from the Lawe seeing the ancient Fathers to whom the Lawe was giuen were not able to endure the giuing of the same much lesse then shall we be able to abide it if God should be willing to iudge vs according to the rigour of it Therefore as the Iewes stoode in neede of Moses to be their Mediator so we stand in need of Christ whō God hath made the Mediator of the new Testament for vs. Let vs therefore acknowledge this so great a benefit and least wee should make the goodnes of God vnprofitable for vs let vs with a true and constant faith embrace Christ Iesus that he being truely vnited vnto vs may liue in vs and that wee may lead in him a life beseeming the profession of Christ applying alwayes vnto our selues that which Christ said vnto his Apostles vpon the Mount Oliue that Luk. 22. 39. 40. they should watch and pray Let vs therefore apply our selues vnto that vocation whereunto God hath called vs let vs watch against the deceites of the world and the diuell Let vs continually meditate in the word of God that is able to comfort vs and teach vs. Let vs giue place to the spirit which God hath made an aduocate for vs. Let vs pray continually that he will not suffer vs to faint vnder temptations Finally let all our hope bee fixed and fastned in Christ Iesus who is the good shepheard and wil suffer no man to take his sheepe which he hath redeemed with his blood out of his hands To him therfore with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour and glory for euer Amen FINIS Vnderstand Christian Reader that part of the matter contained in the ninetenth and twentith pages aforegoing was by him that copied out this Sermon for the Presse set downe in the Margent without certaine direction for vs where to bring it into the body of the Book And consequently for want of a guide we haue somwhat failed as we vnderstand since of the due order obserued by the Authour in his originall Copy which was as followeth Symmacchus the Gloria in excelsis Deo Ierome the Epistle and Gospell Alleluia was taken out of the Church of Ierusalem the Creed in the Councell of Nice Pelagius the Commemoration of the dead Leo the third Frankincense Innocent the first the kissing of the Pax Sergius the Agnus Dei Nicolas the first the Sequences Gelasius Africanus as saith Nauclerus the Hymnes Collects Responsories Graduals and Prefaces Gregory the third to the secret of the Masse Quorum solemnitas hodie in conspectu tuae Maiestatis celebratur Domine Deus noster in toto orbe terrarū Leo the first so forward in order as it standeth in the booke Furthermore In the 3 page line 27 reade 430 page 14. line 10 reade Anablatha