comparison seemeth to haue craued at his handes at the least some one example out of the Scriptures shewing vs when or where the spirite of God disauoweth any Church for the cause of some notorious wicked ones among them If I therefore in exemplifying against him shall bring a cloud of witnesses all of them testifiyng as with one mouth the flat contrary I hope I shall enclose the trueth of this cause more strongly then that any wylie or vndermining foxes shall bee able to enter in hereafter to violate the same And to beginne with the Churches of which wee haue the life and liuely voyce of our Sauiour Christ to testifie and after that to enquire of the Apostles it may not bee denied me but that in the Church of Ierusalem the Lorde did dwell and that there were offered the Sacrifices and performed the rites of his holy worshippe which he accepted at the handes of his seruantes in the dayes of our Sauiour his comming in the flesh Nowe in the outward body of this Church were corrupt Scribes superstitious Pharises and epicurish Sadduces this last sort denied the resurrection and the two former also corrupted many thinges in the doctrine and sur-charged the Iewish Church with importable burdens of traditions being indeed the ordinary teachers of the people but so yet the pestilent and notorious corrupters of true religion these are in your leaders comparison to be resembled by the poyson on the other side there were though of smaller nūber that in the middest of the same congregations paid their vowes vnto the Lord in the simplicitie of their heart being in the meane time openly mingled in one outward Church with such vnrighteous ones Of this sort we may reckon diuers by name as Symeon Zacharias Marie Anna Elizabeth c. Here therefore we should conclude by your leaders rule that those being the sweete water and not reseruing their worshipping of God religious seruices to separate meetings but performing them in the congregations of notorious wicked teachers very falsely instructed people were now also impoysoned become one wicked crewe together with the rest But I trust you will confesse that the scriptures are contrary so consequently therfore that your leader doth seduce you Again to be as briefe likewise as I may in the rest Our sauiour in his own words deliuered vnto Iohn that the Church at Thyatira had so that wicked Iezabel amongest them as that they were guilty of permitting her to teach seduce the seruantes of God making thē to cōmit fornication to eate meats sacrificed vnto idoles The Church at Pergamus was charged to haue amongst thē those that mainteined the doctrine of Baalam of the Nicolaitans Nowe by your leaders rule these had also so impoysoned the rest that not one amongst thē could be said to hold fast the faith nor keep the name of Christ nor serue him purely so as to be exempted frō the punishmēt that should light vpō the rest in the day that the Lord should visite but the word of the Lord saith directly to the contrary therefore your leader is found a blasphemous seducer in his cōparisō And that wee may touch likewise the Apostles testimonies When Iude acknowledgeth spots in the Church feastes are not those spots the wicked ones which he there inueigheth against If then he had approued your leaders doctrine hee would not haue written them preseruatiue instructions to keepe out their contagion for such mingling had nowe by his rule impoysoned all but it laye vpon his fidelitie to haue told them that whensoeuer it should come to passe that they so mingled they shoulde count themselues no longer Churches of God but infected and wicked companies euen all the sort of them The same doe I say of the Church wherein Diotrephes was But those Apostles writings are farre contrary hereunto Therefore your leaders comparison is abhominable I omit to speake of the Churches which Saint Iames not condemneth but expostulateth with concerning proud dispisers of the poore vnbrideled pratlers lippe Christians enuious men contentious prouokers vncleane liuers c. which were among them As also the Thessalonians who had their inordinate walkers busy bodies and such as laboured not duely in their callings Yea herein their blame being much the greater that they permitted such amongst them hauing bene admonished of that matter once before And nowe I come to the Colossian Galathian and Corinthian Churches these had in the middest of them such as seduced mightily and preuailed dangerously yea some in the fundamental points of religion and articles of our faith The Corinthians touching practise had such as stirred vp strifes emulations anger contentions commotions and tumults such as maried with infidels such as with open speaches depraued Pauls writings the sounder sort being guilty of harkening vnto and tollerating such as thus in their vanity and iniquity wrought his disgrace and in his the truths yea shall I say further not as delighting to blaze the sinnes and corruptions of these Churches but iustly indeuouring to extinguish this Church-firebrand which Satan in the throng of all our heapes of woes hath hurled amongst vs. Besides that I haue deliuered in the 11. Section it is certaine the Corinthian Church was outwardly mixt with such as by carnal eloquēce prophaned the temple of God vsed indifferent thinges with manifest offence to the weake esteemed fornication amongst indifferent thinges and committed no obscure kinde of idolatry in eating at the tables of Idoles meates sacrificed to the deuill Nowe then if these Churches by al this mixing were not become impoisoned and wicked crewes but remayned still of reuerend account among the Churches of God for the righteous sake which were not heerein impeached by the wicked then is your leaders comparison framed to the great fall of truth and himselfe prooued to be a pernitious schismatike by it But the Apostle cleereth the first in many places of those his Epistles so as I hope no man will aske me particular proofes thereof therefore the latter must necessarily be graunted of all sides And then by the way let me obserue thys one thing If a few holding the true worship of God in synceritie mixed with many bearing an outward profession with them but otherwise of verie offensiue life yea some notoriously wicked and not separated from amongst them haue beene notwithstanding rightly accounted Churches of God for faithfull men comfortably to ioyne vnto and no man exhorted to withdraw from their assemblyes then is there vtterly no cause for you and the rest to disclaime the Churches of England as you do and to separate your selues from vs for those impurities that are amongst vs therefore the fyrst being true by most of the examples aforesayd it remayneth by the latter that you labour to the Lord for mercy and so returne Lastly in my first answere touching the similitude of leauen I
His maner is to speake loude and doe little That there was no negligence in omitting circuncision and the celebration of the Passeouer but a necessitie and commaundement he would prooue thus and first for the Passeouer because saith he It was not to be kept after their comming out of Egypt saue at some special charge of the Lorde as Numbers 9.2 till they came into the lande of Canaan Howe prooues he this First by some testimonies of Scripture full slenderly vnderstoode and secondly by a reason taken from the ende of the Passeouer which maketh cleare against him His Scriptures testifie that they were more then once remembred to keepe the Passeouer when they came into the lande of Canaan but he sheweth vs not that they were onely then to keepe it and not ordinarily before To keepe the Passeouer in the wildernesse and to keepe it also in the lande of Canaan are in no wise contrary so as to argue from the affirmation of the one to the negation of the other But although that be so beaten vpon to preuent the securitie or forgetfulnesse of them or their posteritie when they shoulde come to the lande of rest as least they should imagine that which figured their so hastie going out of Egypt to cease when they shoulde be at ease yet must the whole institution be better considered and thereby we shall see as our Sauiour answered touching the billes of diuorce that howsoeuer the Israelites practised afterwardes yet in the beginning it was not so For the Lorde saide This day shall be vnto you a remembraunce and ye shall keepe it a holy feast vnto the Lorde throughout your generations ye shall keepe it holy by an ordinance for euer This is repeated agayne and the thirde tyme before he maketh mention of the lande of Canaan and when he commeth to that he doeth not bring it in expositiuely as with I meane To wit That is to say or any such note of further opening that which he had spoken before but hauing said in the 24. verse Therefore shall you obserue this thing as an ordinance for thee and thy sonnes for euer he addeth Be it therefore when you shall come into that lande which Iehouah euen as he hath sayde shall giue vnto you and shall obserue this worshippe Be it I say that your children asking you what this worship meaneth you shall say c. al which appeareth as I sayd to be no restraint of the former generall thryse repeated commandement but partly a further enforcing of the perpetuitie of the ceremonie by so speciall enioyning euen their land of rest to be subiect vnto it and partly to teach the deriuing of the vse thereof to the generations long after Also when he setteth downe that day to all their posterity and generations it is likely that either they must obserue it in the wildernesse or else they that then liued could not keepe the commaundement in teaching their children the practise instruction thereof Againe in the 9. of Numb it is expressely noted that they celebrated it then in the first moneth of the second yere which was the next in order to the passeouer in Aegipt the Lord as it were making him-selfe a gratious remembrancer of them for that time not vpon any speciall cause as Browne would carry it but onely because the appointed time was returned for the word of God in no case is silent to giue the reasons of any speciall exceptions of generall commandements Also if it had bin commaunded in the third or fourth yere there had bene some little colour of that he saith This is yet more euident seeing that in the same place the Lord commaundeth further that it shoulde bee kept in the appointed time namely the 14. day of the first moneth and calleth that the due season thereof Which argueth plainly that the keeping of that feast was seasonable before they came to Canaan And therefore also when they came beyonde Iordan into the lande of Canaan although they were not come to their rest yet they celebrated it euen without any speciall commaundement from the Lorde because it was the proper time of the Passeouer Nowe whereas Browne reasoneth that because it figured the hastie going out of Aegipt and through the wildernes therfore they were not ordinarily to keepe it before they came to the land of rest hee might much more reasonably haue concluded therfore they ought to haue kept c. because the oftener meditating and the mo helpes wee vse in the very action of perfourming our commaunded dueties the more likely and probable is our better performaunce of the same And that circumcision was omitted by negligence it is euident in Iosh 5 where the cause of their vncircumcision is rendered to be neither necessitie nor commaundement as Browne fableth but the very negligence of their parents for so the text saith They were vncircumcised because they circumcised them not by the way And therefore after the Lord calleth this their circumcising the taking away the shame of Egipt from thē plainly casting so in their teeth their vncircūcision as nothing else but a tricke of Egypt which they sauored of as they did of other their maners of worshipping their calues c. Neither is it any thing that he alleadgeth of their let of iourneying For first this generation at Gilgal might haue pretended the same being not yet come to their place of rest yea better in that they being men growne could not iourney after it should thereby be in euident danger of all their enemies about thē Secondly seeing God had cōmanded circuncision at a certaine day not limitted their iournying any certaine day they were to thinke in all equitie that the Lord would not dispose so of the remouing of the cloud or pillar as that they should be hurt in the obedience of this cōmandement Thirdly if they had circūcised their children as they ought at 8. daies old not deferred it vntil they were of age al men may know that the children caried of their mothers could not haue bene hurt by their mothers trauaile with thē Last of al we may see that euē in the iourney which God required of Moses that a iourney of great importāce he required notwithstanding his childes circumcision Which argueth that God gaue no dispensations in this matter for iournying And therefore it must be concluded as M.C. hath rightly reasoned that if this people omitting these necessary duties ceassed not to be the Church people of God it is plaine that many necessary poynts perteining to a sound comely stable being may bee found wanting yet the Church not presently ouerthrown therby Nowe I suppose Browne him selfe will not say that the politicall guiding of a Church by the censuring discipline is greater then these twaine And in this respect saith M. C. the Dutch assemblies whereof the greatest part in high Germanie which besides the mayme
and is rightly to be called so I speake not of what course we take in making orchards or vineyards but of what course may be taken in this busines in regard of the substance of the things And so if a man not fearing or not foreseeing such outwarde violences as a fence might keepe out doe replenish as is aforesaide his ground adioining to his house or otherwhere for the vses of orchard garden or vineyarde shall they not in deed be such things and so truely called of him And if afterward finding or conceiuing a discommoditie of the want wil he not say I must sense in my orchard-garden or vineyard If Browne scorne to be taught these things of the learned or of common sense yet at least let him lay his hand on his mouth and hearken to the prophet by whom the Lord said Ierusalem shalbe inhabited without a wall He spake so after the maner of men amongst whō that might come passe for the deepe peace and great securitie they should haue Now to become of a citie no citie is no mending but declining case but the Lord speaketh thereby of their bettering and happier state and therefore the want of a wall taketh not away the being of a citie And I pray you in a citie besieged the walles in many breeches through the batterie being entred tell me what it is that the souldiors afterwards are said to sacke must you not say they sacke the citie Also Esay doth manifestly declare that the Lord planted his vineyard yer euer he hedged it or did other cost vnto it And when he magnifieth his mercy thus towardes his church in saying that by this means he had left nothing vndone which he could do to his vineyard he therby declareth that he had done more to it than many that haue vineyards vse to do And therfore more than was necessarie to the very being of it Again by the same reason that they denie it to be a vineyard because it hath no hedge they might denie it to bee a vineyarde because it hath no watchtower winepresse and such other Moreouer when the Lord tooke away the hedge as there he threatneth he would I would knowe what the enemies of the Church did tread vnderneath their feete did they not treade the the Lords vineyard But it may bee thought a shame to stand so long in the proofe of this which Browne is not ashamed with tedious strife of words to denie When as these things by the grace of God are thus established the contrarie mistes dispelled which the aduersarie had cast in to darken the trueth and discipline founde not to be of the essence of a Church which is the verie knife whereby al the sinewes of the Brownists contentious arme against the Church of Englande from which they draw their disciples are cut asūder yet in the knitting vp of this point there be two things which in as fewe wordes as I can I woulde admonish the reader of First that although M. Cartwright in his Epistle to M. H. and I in these my defences doe thus farre speake to the iustifying of the Church of Englande wherein we haue receyued that spirituall life and comfort which doe worthily drawe out of vs these duties yet haue wee through the grace of God nothing lesse in our minds than to iustifie anie corruption that may bee espied in it So vnworthie a burthē is it therfore that Browne laieth vpō vs out of the Prophet charging vs when we auouch the Church of England notwithstanding the defects and corruptions that it hath to be yet a Church of GOD from which no faithfull man is to separate as though we pleaded for and boulstred vp iniquitie and corruption by the glorious titles of The Temple of God The Temple of God The cases are too vnlike for a man that is well in his wittes to compare together The Iewes so pleaded the prerogatiue of the Temple to confute the Prophetes threatning of iudgements for their sinnes and transgressions as though it could not be true that by any means God should forsake them to whom hee had made such plenteous promises that so long as they kept the external worship which God had appointed they thought themselues not so far chargeable with their wicked maners Directly contrary both in iudgement and affection are wee vnto them by the grace of God in all this busines We esteeme the state of our Church in some respects grieuous and lamentable ynough full of prouocations of the heauie displeasure and indignation of the Lorde which as wee acknowledge to bee most iust if they had bene powred downe vpon vs now long ago so wee are out of doubt they wil come if we find not grace to turn and seeke the Lorde more dutifully while the day of his long suffering yet endureth And for this cause we earnestly beseech those rhat are the Lordes remembrancers not to keepe silence neither to giue him rest as also the Prophets whome the Lorde hath sent to lift vp their voyces as a trumpet to tell the people their sinnes and Israel their transgressions Onely withall wee admonish that whatsoeuer the Lorde hath ioyned together no man doe separate Which being a vniuersall precept of the eternall GOD bindeth as well euerie particular member to keepe the vnitie of the Church which the Lorde hath gathered by the preaching of Christ crucified as it doth the Church it selfe to the ioint vse of all holie dueties and meanes of her encrease In both of which wee humblie craue an equall regard and consideration Otherwise as the ministerie of him that crieth to the Churches to repent and bee mindfull of those things from whence they are fallen to strengthen the rest that are readie to die that their workes may be full before the Lord. And to buy golde of Christ to enrich them and white garmentes to couer their nakednesse As I say his ministerie breaketh not the heade but is like that wine and oyle of the Samaritane powred into their woundes for a gratious recouerie of health so on the contrarie he that seeing the mournefull estate of anie Church tending to desolation and ruine shall fall a gathering by himselfe or anie way shrinke from bestowing all his strength to the vpholding and rebuilding thereof he playeth that enuious Onans part that abhorred the building of his brothers house respecting more the spread of his own name than making conscience of Gods holy ordinance And as his sinne is so much greater than Onans by how much the ouerthrow of many Churches alreadie gathered is greater than the refusall to reuiue the name of one house or familie by so much the greater iudgement also is to bee feared from the Lorde Yet was Onans sinne reuenged by GOD with death The other thing that I would haue the reader perfect in is this that this Troublechurch Browne not receyuing the loue of the trueth touching the being of a
of stopping that violent streame of seducing wherein daily such numbers of the yonger and weaker sorte of Christians are caryed out of our assemblies principally because the zeale of such being greater then their knowledge becommeth an apt pray and bootie for the instruments of deceit to practise vpon And this agreeth with the exhortation of the Church when she sayeth Take vs the foxes the litle foxes corrupting the vines whilest our vines bring foorth the first grape the other benefite is that hereby those impure mouthes shall be dashed that hertofore in their malitious defence of corruptions haue made no conscience to clothe all those that haue duetifully vrged the proceeding of our church vnto perfection in one liuerie with these schismaticall spirites that so they might purchase vnto them both from magistrate and common people equall hatred and auoydance This booke shal by the grace of God testifie vnto all that make any conscience to discerne truth from lyes that there is as much difference betwixt those whō they in their bitternesse woulde thus match together as is betweene that childe that in tender affection reprooueth and laboureth the refourming of his mother whome hee seeth by her vndiscreete behauiour to become a reproche among women and him that vnder pretence of the hate of her vncomely behauiour shoulde plucke out her bowels and forsake her In this my trauaile I haue cared as much as I could to husbande the time vnto the reader and therfore haue both cut off many idle discourses which the aduersarie woulde haue drawne mee into and also haue so sounded the matters that I haue delt with by al the writings printed or otherwise that are probably vouched theirs as that I hope the godly spirit shall find me no trifler but such a serious and sincere disputer as the weight of the cause hath required I was I graunt in comparison of others as a woman of too weake a constitution to conceiue and bring forth any such child but the Lord hath had his way purpose herein And as I protest before the Lord his holy angels with much feare and trembling I haue from the beginning applied my selfe vnto this worke so yet in the doing thereof through the mercifulnesse of my God I haue bin assisted with much cōfort and great assurance euen in some things that seemed at the first so in wrapped by Satan with so many intricate folds knittings as could hardly or neuer by me for I shame not to acknowledge my weaknesse herein bee brought to any cleare triall and expedite dissolution Of mine aduersaries I rather knowe the nature then the number Although as it hath beene obserued sundrie among them from time to time haue laboured to be leaders and so vpon the spurre of emulation haue gallopped as hard as they could yet without all question there is none among them that can iustly take the garland from Rob. Browne His writings doe foreiudge the cause agaynst all his competitors And albeit newe maisters are risen among them that nowe in a fresh hote moode condemne his coldnesse and colourable dealing and that worthily yet they must euen Barow and Greenwood with the rest acknowledge him the shop of their store and the steele of their strength for arguments obiections and shiftes to colour and if it were possible to vphold their crasie cause withall Let them not disdaine therefore that he should beare the name as the father of that familie and brood which of late yeares in a quarell for the Discipline haue made that rende in the assemblies of Englande But some will obiect that these that I name agree not among themselues and therefore cannot be accounted of one familie I am not ignorant that they are at oddes betweene themselues but yet so as that neither partie will ioyne member-like with our Churches in the woorde and Sacraments In doctrine I knowe they differ but diuersitie of practise was cause thereof Barow and Greenewood nakedly discouered their profession and are prisoners Browne cunningly counterfeiteth conformitie dissembleth with his owne soule for libertie They fullie beleeuing the Church of England to be no Church of God but vtterly to be auoyded in al things as his writings haue taught them made conscience to separate themselues at all poynts accordingly He though hee haue contriued that cup whereby he hath thus transformed them as into beasts yet himselfe taking better delite in humane shapes liketh not to enter with them into their lot Hence cōmeth that grudge quarrell and heartburning among them They expostulate with him as a coward and one that shrinketh in the wetting He againe nippeth them for their egernesse in running before their olde maister and thereby obscuring his light as though the truth forsooth had first bin reuealed by them It seemeth they would not heare a sermon to gaine their libertie But it is manifest that he to redeeme trouble hath learned to apply himselfe to all times places and persons Nowe in this their iarre manie strange paradoxes and grosse absurdities haue passed betweene them arguing both sides to haue trusted in their strength and therefore to haue beene destitute of the spirit of truth to guide their pennes Barow and Greenwood denie that our preachers doe preach the woorde and that they doe or can beget fayth They say The wicked haue no woorde of God no graces of GOD no spirituall or sanctifyed graces that they doe no good that they may not teach testifie preach or counsaile anie woorde of GOD anie religion or dutie of religion That they haue no kinde of promise nor blessing and that there is no Communion to bee had with them in spirituall graces They denie fayth to come necessarily by the woorde of GOD and say It may bee begotten without anie promise of the woorde Beeing demaunded what faith doeth beleeue They aunswere God without anie consideration of his woorde and promise Likewise beeing asked howe they came by their fayth it seemeth they aunswered as it pleased God namely by his spirite but not acknowledging the outwarde meanes Some of them graunt our preachers beget fayth or beleefe of the woorde but not the fayth of Christ Hee prooueth it not the fayth of Christ because it hath not good woorkes And that also he prooueth full wisely forsooth because they haue euill woorkes Which hee specifieth to be Idolatrie Rebellion and Bondage They say our ministers bring a newe Gospell That the lawe in their mouthes and the sacrifices or presumptuous ministerie of Korah Dathan and Abiram are alike And they make no better account of our Parish meetings than of the meetings at the groaues and hill altars O wofull men and drunken with the wine of their owne headie conceites Browne againe for feare all these reproches shoulde light vppon him because hee commeth into our Churches minseth the matter euerie where with these ill stampt distinctions Of the better and woorser sort of our preachers wherein hee leaues his meaning doubtfull still
accounte of the Churches before that was added to them Which thinges prooue discipline not to bee of the essence of a Church as clearly as can bee wished Nowe touching reformation of declined Churches let vs see what some examples in that course doe afoord vs. When Asa the first renowmed reformer of the declining Churches of Iudea began to set in hand so glorious an enterprise he that considereth the hystorie shall see that among other things the discipline of the Church lay as a thing cast downe and neglected as appeareth by the reformation thereof which immediately I shall speake of If then discipline had bene of the essence of the Church there had not beene at that time nor in the dayes of Abija his father anie Church of GOD remayning at Ierusalem but the latter is false and is prooued by the protestation of Abija alittle before he ioyned battell with Ieroboam and the testimony of the spirit of God in deliuering that hystorie who sayth That the Israelites were depressed the same time and the children of Iuda strengthened because they stayed vpon the Lorde the God of their fathers Therefore the former also is false namely that discipline is of the essence of a Church Also if discipline shoulde make it a Church or bee necessarie to the beeing thereof it appeareth that notwithstanding all Asaes reformation yet was it as then no Church for the godly to resorte vnto sith the reedification of discipline is ascribed not to Asa but to his sonne Iehosaphat after him Neither may any with probabilitie coniecture that Asa set vp discipline and let it fall againe For to haue an vpright heart all the dayes of his life which thing the holie Ghost testifieth of him and to suffer that which the Lorde had made him see to bee woorthie reformation to goe downe againe are two thinges contrarie and cannot bee verifyed of one and the same subiect But nowe all men that sauoure the woorde of the Lorde must needes acknowledge that the Church of Iudea in Asaes dayes was a glorious habitation of the Lorde and the Temple at Ierusalem a place then for his faithfull seruantes to doe their sacrifices and seruices vnto him insomuch as that many of the Israelites fledde from their owne coastes to dwell in Iudea seeing thus the Lorde to bee amongest them So must they of like necessitie confesse that which therehence firmely is concluded to witte discipline not to bee of the essence of a Church Lastly to come to the woorthie Iehosaphat who feared no slaunderous imputation of arrogancie or singularitie to himselfe neither accompted it anye impeachment to the dignitie of his father Asa though in repayring and beautifying the house of GOD hee shoulde exceede him in some poyntes considering I say his course of proceeding if discipline were necessary to the being of a Church then all that he did in the beginning of his raigne was worthy no commendation For what good could hee bee said to haue done to the Church when as all that he had done could not by this mans saying gaine it the worthy name of a visible Church for as touching the reformation of the discipline it appeareth to haue bene about the latter end of his raigne after the Lord had by his Prophet rebuked him for yelding wicked Ahab assistance in his enterprise Wherfore as I hope to heare of no man so impudent as to say that the Church of Iudea was then no apparant Church of God I meane in his time before the reuiuing of the discipline so am I sure that none but such as are growne to that impudency will hereafter affirme discipline to be of the essence of a Church Let all the likers of Brownes writings nowe consider whetherto his reproches reach when hee saith that by denying discipline to bee of the essence of a Church wee seclude Christ and the Church of Christ from the power authoritie and discipline of Christ and as he saith other-where that so wee make Christ a dead Christ yea an Idoll or counterfaite Christ and the Church an Idol or counterfait Church If we haue committed this thing then these Kinges and those Apostles are guilty thereof But because hee seemeth to haue fortified himselfe in this as in a Castle let vs also euen heere make proofe of the strength of his walles And first what meaneth hee to say wee faine a counterfaite Christ and a counterfait Church Is it because wee remooue discipline from the being of a Church Why then thus hee disputeth They that holde the power authoritie and gouernement of Christ not to bee of the essence of a Church doe faine a counterfaite Christ and a counterfaite Church But they that say discipline is not of the essence of a Church hold the power authority and gouernement of Christ not to be of the essence Therefore they that say discipline is not of the essence of a Church feigne a counterfaite Christ and a counterfaite Church This beloued is indeed the maine piller whereuppon all Brownes and Brownists schismaticall building standeth and thus by the grace of God I will ouerthrowe it First to lay the way open and auoyde ambiguitie The woorde gouernement that it may beare the same sence with the worde authoritie where-with it is coupled as a synonymie must be taken for the office of gouernement and not as it is vsed sometime for the action of gouernement For example When one sayth Dauid had the gouernement of the children of Israel there hee meaneth the office of gouernement But if hee say Dauids gouernement replenished the Israelites with the knowledge of God then he meaneth by gouernmēt not the office but the action or administration of gouernment Again the word power may be vsed in a double sence one whē it is vnderstood for might strength or efficacious force which is that the greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expresseth In this sense cannot power in this place bee taken because that kinde of power of Christ is no other then his diuine essence which he hath from the father by an eternall generation in as much as hee is begotten of the substance of the father so is coessentiall with him For this is a farre differing thing from his auth oritie or office of gouernement and therefore may not as one thing stand ranged with those wordes The other is whē the word power meaneth nothing else but authoritie iurisdiction or gouernment As where he saith All power is giuen me in heauen and in earth here the worde is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore signifieth not the force might of Christ whereby he executeth all things in his gouernment but his authoritie or office of gouernement And in this sense we admit and receiue it here as of the same sort with those wordes wherewith it is coupled The entrance thus paued I answere to his syllogisme denying both proposition and
rules and principles of their worldly artes But Beza for one tree hath got himselfe three namely speculations customes and inspirations and the ceremoniall worship In stead of philosophy which Paule calleth vayne deceipt he nameth curious speculations as if one should aske a Hatchet and he should giue him the helue Paule would roote out all their philosophie and Beza but some part c. A man would thinke there needeth no great labour to prooue out of these words that Browne holdeth both lodgick and all philosophy to be forbidden in the Scriptures but heare him further for soone after he taketh vpon him out of Timothy and Iob to reiect euery part of lodgick by name and therevpon follow these words But what say they is there no vse of lodgick what say you then to a thing and the cause thereof for the effect is knowne by the cause and the cause by the effect so they giue vs four sorts of causes but we returne them vpon them as the spillings of their drunkennes Againe They demaund heere whether definitions be vnlawfull we answere that to name the kinds and sorts of things and to name their natures is not vnlawfull but their idle arte of defining is vnlawfull and to thrust their definitions as misteries into our bosomes or to tearme the naming of things or their natures whereby they are called by the words of their vaine arte is wholly vnlawfull It is manifest that when he wrote these things he dissembled not as now he doth to professe the condemning of lodgick else let euen his next words following the last rehearsed wherein he pretendeth to answere an obiection against him be called to witnesse If they aske sayth he why me then vse the names and haue laboured also so much in defining we tell them that we returne their owne weapons vpon them not that we care for such weapons but because they feare them so much we haue tryed if they may dismay them in their folly and turne them to the truth Heere by the manner of his answere you see is nothing lesse then a denyall of condemning the arte which is now all the refuge the snared Foxe can finde If he could haue enioyed his supposed rest within the harbour of that answere there should his Ship haue remayned still but when he perceiued by the admonition that there was a rocke for his estimation to perish vpon because this cannot be denyed that whatsoeuer things are vnlawfull Christians ought not vse he rather chose this shamelesse denying of that which cannot be denied then that he would giue glory vnto God in acknowledging his fault and forsaking his errour wherein let all true Israelites iudge whether it appeare that the loue of himselfe and prayse of men be more pretious in his eyes then the loue of God and prayse of his glorious name To the 104.105.106 12 The second point wherin the admonition proueth his vnconstancy is this that he once held it a tempting of God for any that followed his course to tarry in England and since againe both himselfe is returned dwelleth heere heareth our Sermons and hath by priuate writings counsailed others so to doe These contrarie courses I say considered with this that notwithstanding hys later practise the man remayneth of the same iudgement against the English assemblyes which he helde before when he passed the Seas and called hys chickens after hym let the godly iudge whether his footesteppes may sauoure of the guiding of Gods spirite and so argue that same assurance in the conscience which the Apostle Paule calleth for in all our actions yea or no. Hys aunswere for thys is lyke the former euen with a cauterized conscience denying that which he knoweth to be true The bare quotations in the admonition made him bold but he ought to haue remembred that there might come a day wherein they should be enlarged and set downe to his shame Now that he prouoked to flee out of England let these his words be first considered Therefore thus saith the Lord I feed not my flocke at Paules Crosse in London or S. Maryes in Cambridge or in your English parishes O yee my sheepe goe yee not thither as though there were my folde and there I rested and fed my flocke for there be Shepheards and flocks also that follow them whith are not of Christ for they hold of Antichrist Also he sayth If in all England or in some more famous places of England whether great Cities or Vniuersities or the Court it selfe we see not the Kingdome of God maintained but persecuted and the true worship of God refused a false worship and idoll seruice wilfully suffered and many Popish abhominations vpheld and established from thence the Lord doth take away his kingdome as it is written The kingdome of God shall be taken from you and giuen to a nation which shall bring foorth the fruites thereof Yea none may continue to preach the truth vnto those when once they haue boldly testified it and they put it from them c. Afterward he sheweth his meaning more cleerely thus In Aegipt the whole Church was in bondage and it wholly departed yet did Pharao giue leaue there to worship God rightly but answere was made it is not meete so to doe in this place for loe can we sacrifice the abhomination of the Aegyptians before their eyes and they not stone vs so also in England though the Magistrates should giue vs leaue to worship God rightly yet the true worship and reformation of the Church is abhomination to the Bishops and other wicked Preachers and people and what stirrings and hurly burlyes would they make but they say we must abide such troubles In deede we must heare them when we cannot auoyde them and in auoyding them we must take heed to hold still a good conscience but we tempt God as did many of the Iewes if when we may go out of Aegipt and auoide such troubles we will not or murmure against it Yet if this be not playne ynough that he vnderstandeth England for Aegipt let him remember where he confesseth He was accused of false doctrine by his owne company because he sayd that England was as Aegipt both for the outward bondage and oppression of the Church by Popish forcing lawes and penalties and for all kinde of wickednesse and because he sayd they did sinne which had a full purpose to dwell still in England when the Lord did call them away and they had libertie to depart Now when he accompteth them called away his owne penne also hath instructed vs namely in these his words following Yea though the Magistrate giue them leaue there to dwell as they liked yet the lawes and disorders abiding still the same they could not there tarrie Also in another place but if it be sayd what if some desire the truth must they also be forsaken I aunswere that if they desire the Kingdome and sell not all they haue to buy it and
the Bi. authority shall still be holden in no better case then his books haue left it Againe he hath these cleere full words both for himselfe and his followers None of you all can shew any fault false doctrine or wickednes in vs. By this time therefore I beleeue the reader seeth that I haue left this wauering weathercock as naked of all defence to couer his shame euen as is my naile according to the prouerb But now let vs looke further also into his subscrip He confesseth that secondly he subscribed that where the word of God is duly preached and the sacraments accordingly ministred there is the Church of God But he dissembleth keepeth from the reader another fourme of words for that article which was offered him thus 3. Do you acknowledge the Church of England to be the church of Christ or the church of God and wil you promise to cōmunicate with the same in praiers sacramēts hearing of the word and wil you frequent our Churches according to law or no to this he subscribed affirmatiuely Heere againe let the craftie foxe turne him which way he wil and he is taken For howsoeuer he would maintaine quarelling vpō the first forme of words of Preaching the word duly ministring the sacramēts accordingly yet whē as he bound himself to frequent our Churches according to lawe he hath at one gripe choaked all his former writings Let the congregation of Toolyes Church in Southwarke testify whether for almost this two yeares space that he hath bin Schoolemaister there dwelt amongst thē he haue at any time cōmunicated with them in the Sacra and whether vpon their late vrging of him thereunto he hath not to defeate them remoued his dwelling into another parish left a troublesome stinke behind him in their Church Yet some perhaps will obiect that he doth sometimes cōmunicate with our assemblies in the word Heare the word sometimes I confesse but communicate with vs therein I deny that he doth How doth he heare as a censor to iudge not as a brother to learne as the Spider goeth likewise to the flower but not to gather hony as the Bee and thus the Deuill also may be said to cōmunicate in the word with vs. I confesse I speake vehemētly but I protest the loue of God constraineth me for before his subscrip Brown being about Stamford was earnestly intreated of M. Far. M. Har. Londoners that forasmuch as he had graunted thē it was not vnlawful to heare the Word in our assemblies that he would by some writing perswade his followers at London thereunto seeing they did at that time vtterly cōdemne hearing with vs. They obteined his letters which as they testify perswaded indeed to hearing in our assemblies not as children addressing thēselues to the sincere milke of the word to grow therby nor as mē plowing vp the furrowes of their harts to receiue the seed of the holy word to a perfect rooting in thē but in stead of these other cōditiōs of their hearing were put down as trying looking into iudging of the doctrine behauiour of the preachers and that so they might come as by occasion in the way of protestation for such respects Also he gaue them a special exceptiō of preachers which ouerthrew the whole matter for when they were to auoid all that opposed themselues to their course what a doubtfulnes must he needs bring vpō thē to heare any sith as they haue wickedly condemned our assemblies for no Churches of God so we cannot choose but hate and pursue them as enemies of all true peace sacred vnity saying with the Prophet Dauid Do not I hate them O Lord that hate thee and do not I earnestly contend with those that rise vp against thee c. Now also since his subscription in his Libell against me he putteth downe his distinction of hearing in these words VVhile they raile resist the truth for so he taketh his way doctrine only to be we may heare them as enemies but ioyne with thē as brethren we dare not And now I suppose you see how he heareth our Sermons and will graunt vnto me that this is not to communicate in the word with vs although he had giuen his hād promise therunto But alas who would iudge otherwise of this matter if he haue but a little looked into Browns bookes which he stoutly iustifieth to be without false doctrine or fault Euery where in thē hath he disclaimed both our praiers preaching Sacraments as none of the Lords and therfore how shall he be taken what shew so euer he maketh to cōmunicate with vs in any of them two or three places of his infinite number wil I shortly set down and so leaue this point also to the readers further consideration But indeed saith he is the Lords message a blind reading of seruice and though they preach yet is that the Lords gold which they bring when they take and leaue the flocke as the wicked bishops appoint them and neither can nor wil plant or refourme the church haue I sent them saith the Lord or cōmanded them whē they cause my people to erre by their lyes their slatteries saying ye are his people church though ye be polluted abhominable haue these dumme dogs tollerating preachers my letters seales I neuer gaue them saith the Lord they are stollen counterfaite yea they haue the seales and licenses of their wicked bishops and if they haue my message why hold they their peace at the wicked B. discharging as if they had his message only be it therfore O ye Prelates that ye put Moses seate for Moses doctrine can you preach the Lords word doctrine or minister his sacramēts to preach some truth as wicked mē may do to preach the Lords word of message is not al one for his message cānot be without his gouernmēt Then a little after Ye haue not yet saith he cast off the yoke of Antichrist and receyued all things concerning my kingdome and gouernment Therfore because ye haue not planted builded my church saith the Lord that it may be visible nor purged clensed it frō open abhominations both ye all the works of your hāds with your praiers sacra are vncleane accursed Within fewe lines after this yet forsooth it is made great wickednes not to heare these preachers for they sit in Moses seat and are not blinde guydes Nay they sit in the seate of Antichrist and if they were blinde they shoulde not haue had this sinne c. Againe within fewe lines But yet these wicked preachers rise vp against this and cry out that they haue the chiefe they haue the worde and the Sacraments and as for the gouernement and discipline it is but an accessary and hangby needefull in deede but yet they may be without it and be the Church of God notwithstanding But for this