of Canaan on the Priests and Levites being his in his own right Originally by the law of Nature and by him challenged and appropriated as his own domaine All the Tithe of the land whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree is the Lords Here 's the Lords claim and title to them as his own propriety Behold I have given the children of Levi all the Tenth or Tithes in Israel for an inheritance for the service which they serve even the service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation There 's the collation of his right on the Tribe of Levi whom he made choyce of to attend in his holy Tabernacle and to do service at his Altar And they continued the inheritance of the Tribe of Levi until the Priesthood was translated unto Christ our Saviour who being made by God the true owner of Tithes a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedech became invested ipso facto with that right of Tithing which God had formerly conferred on the Priests and Levites and consequently with a power of disposing of them to them that minister in his Name to the Congregation The second argument which the Apostle doth afford us in this case of Tithes is the Prerogative which Melchisedech haâ— iâ— that particular above Aaron and the sons of Levi. Levi also saith he which received Tithes paid Tithes in Abraham for he was yet in the loyns of his Father when Melchisedech met him Heb. 7.9 10. Then which there cannot be a stronger and more pregnant argument to prove that Tithes are no Mosaical institution or the peculiar maintenance of the Levites but that they are derived from an higher Author and are to be continued to the Ministers of a better Testament For the Apostle taking on him to prove this point that the Priesthood after the Ordâ—â— of Melchisedech was better and more perfect then that which was according to the Order of Aaron useth this argument to evince it and it is a weighty one indeed that Levi himself though he received Tithes of his brethren by the Lords appointment yet he and all his Tribe paid their Tithes to Melchisedech being all vertually and potentially in the loyns of Abraham at such time as Melchisedech met him and consequently being as effectually tithed in Abraham as all mankinde have sinned in Adam from whose loyns they sprung Nay we may work this argument to an higher pitch and make the full scope of it to amount to this That if the Tribe of Levi had been in full possession of the Tithes of their Brethren when Melchisedech met with Abraham and blessed him as became the High Priest of God to do or if Melchisedech had lived in Canaan till their setling in it they must and ought to have done as their Father did and paid their Tithes unto Melchisedâ—eh as the Type of Christ in reference to his everlasting and eternal Priesthood But seeing that this common place hath been so much beaten on I shall only alter some few words of that Noble Gentleman and great Antiquarie Sir Henry Spelman to make his argument more suitable to my present purpose and so close this point Insomuch saith he as Abraham did not pay his Tithes to a Priest that offered a Levitical Sacrifice of Bullocks and Goats but unto him that presented him with Bread and Wine which are the Elements of the Sacrament ordained by Christ this may serve well to intimate thus much unto us that we are to pay our Tithes unto that High Priest an High Priest of Melchisedechs Order who did ordain the Sacrament of Bread and Wine and unto them in his behalf who by his Ordinance and appointment in the Word Hoc facite administer the same unto us And so much for the Sacerdotal Office of our Lord and Saviour which he doth execute for our good at the right hand of God we now proceed unto the Regal which though it is most eminent in his coming to Iudgement and so more properly to be handled in the following Article yet for so much thereof as is exercised at the right hand of God we shall reduce it under this in the following chapter CHAP. XIV Of the Regal or Kingly Office of our Lord as far as it is executed before his coming unto Iudgement Of his Vice-gerents on the Earth and of the several Vice-roys put upon him by the Papists and the Presbyterians WE have not yet done with this branch of the Article that of our Saviours sitting at the right hand of God For of the three Offices allotted to him that of the Priest the Prince and the Prophet all which are comprehended in the name of CHRIST that of the Priest is wholly executed as he sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty And so is so much also of the King or the Regal Office as doth concern the preservation of his Church from the hands of her enemies the Regulating of the same by his holy laws and indeed every act and branch thereof except 〈◊〉 of Iudicature which is most visibly discharged in the day of judgement Of all the rest we shall now speak and for our better method and proceeding in it must recall to minde that we told you in our former Chapter how both the Kingdome and the Priesthood of our Saviour Christ did take beginning at the time of his Resurrection He was before a King Elect designed by God to this great Office from before all worlds but not invested with the Crown nor put into the possession of the Throne 〈◊〉 David till he had conquered Death and swallowed up the grave in victory That he was King Elect and in designation is evident by that of the Royal Psalmist where he brings in God Almighty speaking of his only Son and saying I have set my King upon my holy hill of Sion as evident by that of the Prophet Daniel where he telleth us that in those days those days which the Apostle calleth the fulness of time the God of Heaven shall set up a Kingdome which shall never be destroyed which can be meant of none but the Kingdome of Christ. And that we may not have the testimony only of Kings and Prophets which were mortall men but also of the blessed Angels those immortal Spirits we have the Angel Gabriel saying of him to his Virgin-Mother that the Lord would give unto him the Throne of his Father David and of his Kingdome there should be no end But yet he was but King Elect and in designation born to the Crown of the Celestial land of Canaan as the Heir apparent and by that name enquired for by the Wise men saying Vbi est ille qui natus est Rex Iudaeorum i. e. where is he that is born King of the Iews as our Englâ—sh reads it And so do all translations else which I have seen except Bezas and the French which doth follow him And he indeed doth
ordained that having made compensation to his neighbour for the injury done he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord a Ram without blemish out of the flock And the Priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord and it shall be forgiven him In which we finde that satisfaction for the wrong in regard of man was to be made by restitution but the forgiveness of the sin in regard of God to be procured by the sacrifice of the bloud of Rams But what need search be made into more particulars when the atonement for their sins and sanctifying them to the Lord their God is generally ascribed to the sacrifices and bloud of beasts as if the burden of mens sins had been laid on them For thus saith God by Moses to the sons of Aaron Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin-offering in the holy place seeing it is most holy and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the Congregation to make atonement for them before the Lord Thus when he doth restrain that people from eating bloud he gives this reason of the same because I have given it to you upon the Altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the bloud that makes an atonement for the soul Thus also saith S. Paul that both the Book and all the people the Tabernacle and all the vessels of the Ministry and almost all things by the Law were purged with bloud and that without shedding of bloud there was no remission If without shedding of the bloud of beasts there was no remission then certainly it followeth by St. Pauls illation that by shedding of their bloud there was Or that the sacrifices both before and under the law may seem to have the same effect in remission of sins which is conferred on Baptism in the time of the Gospel A power not natural to either ex natura sua for naturally it is as impossible for water as for the bloud of Buls and Goats to take away sins but Ex vi divinae institutionis conferred upon them by the Institution of Almighty God who being the Physitian of the soul of man might choose what medicines he thought fittest for the Patients ease And possibly enough it is that besides this Expiatory power affixed to these legal Sacrifices they might occasionally produce repentance in the hearts of the people when they beheld the innocent dumb beasts brought unto the slaughter and brought unto the slaughter for no other reason but to make reconciliation for the sin of man For if a generous young Prince that sees his negligences punished on the back of another according to the usage of former times doth thereby both grow more industrious in his course of studies and more conform and regular in his course of life why may we not conceive so favourably of the people of Israel that seeing the brute beasts punished for mans offences they might repent with shame and sorrow of their former wickednesses and cry out passionately and afflictedly in the words of DAVID It is I that have sinned and done wickedly but what have these sheep done that they should be slaughtered Me me adsum qui feci in me convertile ferrum Let thy hand be against me that have done this wickedness So that for ought appeareth unto the contrary the Sacrifices both before and under the Law had in themselves a power of Propitiation by vertue of the ordinance and justification of Almighty God and not a relative vertue only in reference to the Al-sufficient sacrifice of our Saviour CHRIST But then admitting that those Sacrifices were ordained but as types and figures of that which Christ was in the fulnesse of time to make for the sins of mankind yet is this to be understood of Gods minde and purpose and not of any such respect which the people had of them For that the people when they brought their sacrifices before the Altar had any such relation to the death of CHRIST as to conceive the same to be represented in the slaughter of beasts is no where to be found I dare boldly say it in all the Volume and context of the book of God Or if the people in their sacrifices had respect to CHRIST or looked upon them but as types and figures of that perfect sacrifice which he was afterwards to offer unto God the Father think we that God would have rejected or disliked them professe himself to be full of the burnt offerings of Rams and the fat of fed beasts that he delighted not in the bloud of bullocks or of lambs and goates and more then so that their sacrifices were become such an abomination to him that he who sacrificed a lamb was as if he had cut off a dogs neck and he that sacrificed an Oxe as if he had killed a man Assuredly God could not entertain such a vile esteem of the Iewish sacrifices however they might have some mixture of impure affection had they been offered only in relation to the death of Christ. And though the Lord Du Plessis seem to be of opinion that the sacrificing of men and women was first taken up upon some knowledge that the bloud of the son of man would prove a fuller expiation for their sins and wickednesses then of all the sheep upon the hils and the beasts of the forrest and therefore that their sacrifices did relate to Christ howsoever horribly mis-applyed in that particular yet is this only gratis dictum without proof at all there being another cause as bad of such humane sacrifices which we shall touch upon hereafter If it be asked in the mean time how CHRIST is said in Scripture to be the end of the Law Rom. 10.4 or how the Law is said to be our Schoole-master to bring us to Christ Gal. 3.24 except the sacrifices of the Law were as types and figures of the sacrifice which was made by Christ I answer that the Law had other and more proper means to bring men to Christ then to conduct them by the hand of such types and figures in case the sacrifices of the Iewes had been only such For CHRIST is therefore said to be the end of the Law for righteousness unto those that believe for so it followeth in the Text because he doth performe that unto those which believe which the Law propounded for its end but could not attain that is to say the Iustification of a sinner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what did the Law aime at saith St. Chrysostome to make man righteous but it could not because man will not keep the Law To what end served the feasts and ordinances the sacrifices and the rest of the Mosaical institutes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but that they might contribute to mans Iustification Which when they could not bring to passe then was CHRIST fain to undertake it and so became the end of the Law for righteousness Theophylact following him in this as
of death Why then do they denie it unto this of Christ Not because they did not think it possible but because they would not have it believed It stood not with their interesse and private ends to have it passe for currant with the common people Our Saviour Christ had been too diligent as they thought in the discharge of his great office in the discovery and anatomizing of their corruptions and impieties and they were loath to have his doctrine justifyed by so great a miracle Rather then so to save their superstitions they will lose themselves Non tam de suis Religionibus bene meriti quam de se male Now as the Iews believed the Scripture relating the occurrences of the ages past so gave they as full credit to them foretelling things which were to come which is our last sort of proofs delivered from the old Testament in the way of Prophecie And first we meet with that of David in the book of Psalmes viz. Thou shall not leave my soul in hell neither shalt thou suffer thy holy One to see corruption A priviledge which did not appertain at all to David who was dead and buried and had seen corruption his Sepulchre which continued till our Saviours time being nothing but a glorious emptinesse therefore by him or rather by the holy Spirit speaking in him intended to our Lord and Saviour the fruit and glorie of his loynes A matter in it self so clear and evident that when St. Peter pressed it home as a proof and evidence relating to the resurrection of the son of David those very Iews who had so wilfully cryed down this truth had nothing to oppose against it Thus also did Isaiah prophecie concerning him that the Lord would break him and make him subject to infirmities making his soul to be an offering for sin but yet withall that notwithstanding this he would prolong his dayes and the work of the Lord should prosper in his hands as the Iews could not but perceive that indeed it did But most exactly that of Hosea in whom we do not only finde the substance of this resurrection prophecied but the very Circumstances Come saith the Prophet Let us return unto the Lord for he hath spoyled us and he will heal us he hath wounded us and he will binde us up After two days will he revive us and the third day will he raise us up and we shall live in his sight A text so plain and evident to the present purpose though possibly entended by the Prophet of some speedy deliverance which by his mouth the Lord was pleased to promise to the house of Iudah that as it clearly doth foretell of a Resurrection so the accomplishment thereof in the man Christ Iesus might serve abundantly to convince the most stubborn Iew that it was principally meant and foretold of him Impleta in plerisque Prophetarum vaticinia c. The undeniable fulfilling of so many Scriptures might very well perswade men not possessed with prejudice first that our Saviour CRRIST did rise again according to the holy Scriptures and secondly that because he rose again according to the holy Scriptures that therefore he was CHRIST the Saviour We come next in order to this miracle not as foreshadowed in types or foretold in Prophecies or otherwise exemplifyed in the book of God but as accomplished in its time and left upon record in the Evangelists And here we will not beg the Iews to assent unto our Gospell but our proofs Themselves had seen our Saviour raise his dead friend Lazarus from the stench of the grave after he had been dead four days and began to putrifie They also knew as well as any of his own Disciples that he had formerly restored from death to life the widowes son of Naim and the daughter of Iairus How then can they denie him power to work the like miracle on himself At least why might not God be able to restore him unto the benefit of life again by whose ministery if not also power the benefit of life was restored to others True it is that had this mighty work of wonder been done in a corner or in some darke and solitary descent there might have been suspicion of imposture conceived against it But God well knew with what a wilfull generation he had to do what opposition he was like to finde in the promulgation of this Gospell For this cause as he made choice of a great and mighty City for the stage or Theatre whereon to act this work of wonder so did he also take a time in which that mighty City was most full and populous even the feast of the Passeover A time in which not only those which were Iews by birth resorted thither for the solemnizing of that festival but even such Proselytes of every nation under heaven as were daily added to the Covenant Once I am sure that Cestius a Roman President numbring the people which came thither to observe this Feast found them to be two millions and 700000 souls all clean and purifyed fit for the legall eating of the Paschal Lamb. God certainly had thus disposed it in his heavenly wisdome that so the tidings of the resurrection might with a swifter wing flie over all the parts of the world then known and with more ease prepare the people for salvation Which circumstance considered rightly as it ought to be were of it self sufficient to convince the Iews of a most obstinate incredulity who seeing could not choose but see yet would not perceive Ampla civitas ampla persona rem quaerentes latere non sinit as St. Austin hath it But the malice of that people will not so be satisfyed For when the Lord was risen as he had foretold them the Souldiers must first be corrupted to accuse the Disciples of Felonie and when that failed themselves are ever forwards to condemn them of folly The Lord had often signifyed unto them that the third day he would be raised from the dead that the Temple of his body should be destroyed and in three days built up again and they were resolute if strength and cunning could prevail to defeat him of the glory of his resurrection Upon this ground they had a warrant from the Governour to make sure the Sepulchre to place a watch about it and to seal the stone But when the dawning of the third day and the relation of the Souldiers had proclaimed the miracle they then gave money to the Souldiers to say and if need were to swear that his Disciples came by night and stole him away whilest they slept Dormientes testes adhibent as said St. Augustine of them in the way of scorne This is the most they have to trust to and this report as it seems clearly by the text did hold long amongst them but this if well considered is both false and foolish Never was accusation worse contrived then this For first
or designement unto that high office a calling far more solemne and of better note then that which Aaron had to the Legal Priesthood For of the calling of Aaron it is only said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he was called by God is a common word and therefore like enough 't was done in the common way But the calling of Christ it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a more solemne and significant word and intimates that he was solemnely declared and pronounced by God to be a Priest after the order of Melchisedech Now as the calling was so was the consecration in all points parallel to Aarons and in some beyond Aaron was consecrated to the Priesthood by the hand of Moses but Christ our Saviour by the hand of Almighty God who long before as long before as the time of David had bound himself by oath to invest him in it Aarons head was anointed only with materiall oile Christs with the oil of gladnesse above all his fellowes The consecration of Aaron was performed before all the people gathered together for that purpose at the dore of the Tabernacle That of our Saviour was accomplished in the great feast of the Passeover the most solemne publick and universall meeting that ever any nation of the world did accustomably hold besides the confluence and concourse of all sorts of strangers In the next place the consecration of Aaron was solemnized with the sacrifices of Rams and Bullocks of which that of the Bullock was a sin-offering as well for Aarons own sins as the sins of the people and of the Rams the one of them was for a fire-offering or a sacrifice of rest the other was the Ram of consecration or of filling the hand And herein the preheminence runs mainly on our Saviours side who was so far from needing any sin-offering to fit him and prepare him for that holy office that he himself became an offering for the sins of others even for the sins of all the world And as he was to be advanced to a more excellent Priesthood then that of Aaron so was he sanctifyed or prepared if I may so say after a far more excellent manner then with bloud of Rams For he was consecrated saith the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with his own bloud and with this bloud not only his hands or ears were spinkled as in that of Aaron but his whole body was anointed first being bathed all over in a bloudy sweat next with the bloud issuing from his most sacred head forced from it by the violent piercing of the Crown of thornes which like the anointing oyle on the head of Aaron distilled unto the lowest parts of that blessed body and lastly with the streams of bloud flowing abundantly from the wounds of his hands and feet and that great orifice which was made in his precious side Though our Redeemer were originally sanctifyed from the very wombe and that in a most absolute and perfect manner yet would Almighty God have him thus visibly consecrated in his own bloud also that so he might become the authour of salvation to all those that obey him and that he having washed our robes in the bloud of the Lamb might be also sanctifyed and consecrated to the service of our heavenly father Finally the consecration of Aaron and of all the high Priests of the law which succeeded him was to last seven dayes that so the Sabbath or seventh day might passe over him because no man as they conceived could be a perfect high Priest to the Lord their God until the Sabbath day had gone over his head The consecration of our Saviour lasted seven dayes too in every one of which although he might be justly called an high Priest in fieri or per medium participationis as the Schoolmen phrase it yet was not he fully consecrated to this Priestly office till he had bathed himself all over in his own bloud and conquered the powers of death by his resurrection That so it was will evidently appear by this short accompt which we shall draw up of his actions from his first entrance into Hierusalem in the holy week till he had finished all his works and obtained rest from his labours On the first day of the week which still in memory thereof we do call Palme Sunday he went into the holy City not so much to prepare for the Iewish Passeover as to make ready for his own and at his entrance was received with great acclamations Hosanna be to him that cometh in the name of the Lord And on the same day or the day next following he purged the Temple from brokery and merchandizing and so restored that holy place to the use of prayer which the high Priests of the Law had turned or suffered to be turned which comes all to one to a den of Theeves The intermediate time betwixt that and the day of his passion he spent in preaching of the Gospell instructing the ignorant and in healing of the blind and lame which were brought unto him in the performance whereof and the like workes of mercy he was more diligent and frequent and more punctuall far then Aaron or any of his successors in the legal Priesthood in offering of the seven dayes sacrifice for themselves and the people On the fift day having first bathed his body in a bloudy sweat he was arrained and pronounced to be worthy of death in the high Priests hall And on the sixt according to the Iewish accompt with whom the evening is observed to begin the day he went into his heavenly sanctuary to which he had prepared entrance with his precious bloud as Moses at Aarons consecration did purifie and consecrate the materiall Sanctuary with the bloud of Bullocks and of Rams Not by the bloud of Goats and Calves saith the Apostle but by his own bloud hath he once entred into the holy place and obtained eternal redemption for us Which Sacrifice of the Son of God on the accursed Crosse although it was the perfect and full accomplishment of all the typical and legal sacrifices offered in the law yet was it but an intermediate though an especiall part of his consecration to the eternall Evangelical Priesthood which he was to exercise and not the ultimum esse or perfection of it That was not terminated till the day of his resurrection untill a Sabbath day had gone over his head which was more perfectly fulfilled in his consecration then ever it had been in Aarons and the sons of Aaron For then and not till then when God had powerfully defeated all the plots of his enemies did God advance him to the Crown to the regal Diademe setting him as a King on his holy hill the hill of Sion and saying to him as it were in the sight of his people Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And then and not till then when he had glorifyed him thus in the
rule his Church in things which concern salvation by men in sacred Orders is confessed on both sides and that he doth preserve the same in external Order at peace and decency and in the beauty of holiness by the power of Christian Princes is affirmed in Scriptures Why else are Kings entituled the Nursing Fathers and Queens the nursing mothers of the Church of Christ but for the protection which they give their superintendency over it in their several Kingdoms Kings are Christs Vice-roys on the earth in their own Dominions over all persons in all causes aswell Ecclesiastical as Civil the Supreme Governours And so are Bishops in the first sense in their several Dioceses and under them those Presbyters which have cure of souls Which lest we may be thought to say without good authority we call the Popes themselves to witness against those of Rome and to the others will say more in the following Paragraph For Pope Eusebius in his third Epistle decâ—etory which whatsoever credit it be of amongst learned men must be good ad homines saith plainly that our Saviour is the Churches head and that his Vicars are the Bishops to whom the Government and Ministerie of the Church is trusted Caput Ecclesâ—ae Christus est Vicarii autem Christi sacerdotes sunt And Sacerdotes in those times did signifie the Bishops no inferior Order For further proof whereof if more proof be needful consult St. Ambrose on 1 Cor. cap. 11. St. Austin in his questions on the Old and New Testament qu. 127. The Author of the Imperfect work ascribed to St. Chrysostom Hom. 17. the Fathers of the Councel of Compeigne and divers others all of which call the Bishop in most positive tearms Vicarium Christi the Vicar of Christ. And for the King so said Pope Eleutherius in a letter of his to Lucius a King of Britain no great Prince assuredly but the first Christian Prince that ever was in the world Vicarius Dei vos estis in regno vestro you are Gods Vice-roy or Lieutenant in your own Dominions Which title Edgar as I take it a West-Saxon King did challenge as his own of right in a speech made unto his Clergy in their Convocation or some such like Synodical meeting The like occurs of William the Conquerer who in a Parliament of his is called Vicarius summi Regis as is said by Bishop Iewel in the Defence of the Apology part 5. cap 6. sect 3. And this perhaps the sticklers for Presbyterie will not stick to grant who will allow Kings to be Gods Vice gerents so they be not Christs and if not Christs then not to intermeddle in such things as concern the Church but to betake themselves meerly unto secular matters Beza hath so resolved it against Erastus Our Saviour Christ saith he hath told us that his Kingdome is not of this world adeo ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 administrationi nunquam se immiscuerit and therefore would not be a Judge in a Temporal difference and thereupon it is inferred that Secular Princes must not meddle in such things as concern Christs Kingdome But none have spoke more plainly in it then our Scottish Presbyters from Father Henderson down to Cant and Rutherford who build their Presbyterian Platform upon this foundation that Kings receive not their authority from IESVS CHRIST but from God the Father Which being so pernicious a Maxime to the right of Kings and so derogatory to the honour of our Lord and Saviour I shall in brief summe up some passages in holy-Scripture and other good authorities from the antient Fathers as may aboundantly convince them of most gross absurdity in offering such strange fire in the Church of God For first our Saviour who best knew his own Prerogative hath told us that All power is given to him both in Heaven and Earth If all then doubtless that of ordaining Kings which are the greatest powers on earth If all then must it be by him as indeed it is or Solomon mistook the matter By whom Kings reign and Princes decree justice In reference to this power no question but St. Paul calleth him Rex Regum or the King of Kings He is saith the Apostle the only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords By the same title he is called in the Revelation chap. 17. vers 14. And this not only in the way of excellencie because a greater King and a more puissant Lord then any here upon the earth but also in the way of derivation because from him all Kings and Princes whatsoever do derive their power Just so and in the self same sense some of the mighty Monarchs amongst the Gentiles having inferiour Princes under their command and such as do derive all authority from them do call themselves the Kings of Kings Rex Regum Arsaces the old style of the Parthian Emperours This further proved and very significantly inferred from another place of the Revelation where it is said of Christ the Lamb that he hath on his vesture and on his Thigh a name written viz. Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords In which last place there are two things to be observed which concern this point the one that this name of King of Kings and Lord of Lords is fixed and setled in Christs Person as the Son of man the other that all Kings are De femore Christi certainly of his appointment and Ordination as if they were descended from his very loyns Nor want we of the Fathers which affirm the same St. Athanasius paraphrasing on this Text of Scripture And he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever c. saith plainly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Christ having received the Throne of David hath transferred the same and given it to the holy Kings of Christians And so Liberius one of the Popes of Rome writing unto the Emperour Constantius a Prince extremely wedded indeed to the Arian faction admonisheth him not to fight against Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 s who had advanced him to the Empire nor to be so unthankeful to him as to countenance any impious opinion that was held against him Adde to these two though these the great Patriarchs of the Roman and Egyptian Churches the suffrage of the Fathers assembled at the Councel holden in Ariminum who writing to the same Constantius and speaking of our Lord and Saviour addes these following words viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say By whom thou reignest and hast Dominion over all the world And this no question is the reason why all Christian Princes do place the Cross upon the top of their Royal Crowns For though they use it as a badge of their Christianity and to acknowledge that they are not ashamed of the Cross of Christ yet by allotting to it the superior place they publish and confess this also that they do hold their Crowns by and under him Let us
in several ranks appointing unto every rank the course of his ministery composing Psalms and Hymns to the praise of God prescribing how they should be sung with what kind of instrument and ordering with what vestments the Singing-men should be arayed in the act of their service We shall there finde the Feast of Purim ordained by Mordecai who then possessed the place of a Prince among them and that of the Dedication by the Princes of the Maccabean progeny yet both religiously observed in all times succeeding this last by Christ himself as the Gospel telleth us We shall there finde how Moses broke in peeces the Golden Calf and Hezekiah the Brazen Serpent how the high places were destroyed and the groves cut down by the command of Iehosaphat and what a Reformation was made in the Church of Iudah by the good King Iosiah Finally we shall therein finde how Aaron the High Priest was reproved by Moses Abiathar deposed by Solomon the arrogancy of the Priests restrained by Ioas Such power as this the godly Princes of the Iews did exercise by the Lords appointment to the glory of Almighty God and their own great honor If they took more than this upon them and medled as Vzziah did in offering incense which did of right belong to the Priests office A Leprosie shall stick upon him till the hour of his death nor shall he have a sepulchre amongst the rest of the Kings And such and none but such is that supream power which we ascribe unto the King in the Church of England The Papists if they please may put a scorn on Queen Elizabeth of most famous memory in saying Foeminam in Anglia esse caput ecclesiae that a woman was the head of the Church of England as once Bellarmine did and Calvin if he list may pick a quarrel with the Clergy of the times of King Henry the eighth as rash and inconsiderate men and not so onely but as guilty of the sin of blasphemy Erant enim blasphemi cum vocarunt eum summum caput ecclesiae sub Christo for giving to that King the title of Supream Head of the Church under Christ himself But Queen Elizabeth disclaimed all authority and power of ministring divine service in the Church of God as she declared in her Injunctions unto all Her Subjects And the Clergy in their Convocation Anno 1562. ascribe not to the Prince the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments nor any further power in matters which concern Religion than that onely Prerogative which was given by God himself to all godly Princes in the Holy Scriptures More than this as we do not give the Kings of England so less than this the Christian Emperors did not exercise in the Primitive times as might be made apparent by the Acts of Constantine and other godly Emperors in the times succeeding if it might stand with my design to pursue that Argument Take one for all this memorable passage in Socrates an old Ecclesiastical Historian who gives this Reason why he did intermix so much of the acts of Emperors with the affairs of holy Church viz. That from that time in which they first received the Faith Ecclesiae negotia ex illorum nutu perpendere visa sunt c The business of the Church did seem especially to depend on their will and pleasure insomuch as General Councils were summoned by them for the dispatch of such affairs as concerned Religion even in the main and fundamentals and other emergent occasions of the highest moment CHAP. III. Of the Invisibility and Infallibility of the Church of Christ And of the Churches power in Expounding Scripture Determining Controversies of the Faith and Ordaining Ceremonies BUt laying by those Matters of External Regiment we will look next on those which are more intrinsecal both to the nature of the Church and the present Article For when we say That we believe the Holy Catholick Church we do not mean That we do onely believe that there is a Church upon the Earth which for the latitude thereof may be called Catholick and for the piety of the Professors may be counted Holy but also that we do believe that this Church is led by the Spirit of God into all necessary Truths and being so taught becomes our Schoolâ—mistress unto Christ by making us acquainted with his will and pleasure and therefore that we are to yeeld obedience unto her Decisions determining according to the Word of God This is the sum of that which we believe in the present Artiâ—le more than the quod sit of the same which we have looked upon in the former Chapter and to the disquisition of these points we shall now proceed A matter very necessary as the world now goes in which so many Schisms and Factions do distract mens mindes that Truth is in danger to be lost by too much curiosity in enquiring after it For as the most Reverend Father the late Lord Bishop of Canterbury very well observes Whiles one Faction cries up the Church above the Scripture and the other side the Scripture to the contempt and neglect of the Church which the Scripture it self teacheth men both to honor and obey They have so far endangered the belief of the one and the authority of the other That neither hath its due from a great part of men The Church commends the Scripture to us as the Word of God which she hath carefully preserved from the time of Moses to this day and so far we are willing to give credence to her as to believe that therein she hath done the duty of a faithful witness not giving testimony to any supposititious or corrupted Text but to that onely which doth carry the impressions in it of the Image and Divine Character of the Spirit of God But if a difference do arise about the sense and meaning of this very Scripture or any controversie do break forth on the mis-understanding of it or the applying and perverting it to mens private purposes which is the general source and fountain of all Sects and Heresies we will not therein hearken to the voice of the Church but every man will be a Church to himself and follow the Dictamen or the illumination as they please to call it of their private Spirit It therefore was good counsel of a learned man of our own Not to indulge too much to our own affections or trust too much unto the strength of a single judgment in the controverted points of Faith but rather to relie on the authority and judgment of the Church therein For seeing saith he that the Controversies of Religion in our time are grown in number so many and in nature so intricate that few have time and leasure and fewer strength of understanding to examine them what remaineth for men desirous of satisfaction in things of such consequence but diligently to search out which of all the Societies of men in