vnto vs silly creatures on the earth and how powerfully dost thou schoole vs and teach vs by thy example to goe vp to Ierusalem to worship God to reade not Esay the Prophet onely but euen the whole booke of God! that so vsing those and all such other gratious means which God offereth vnto vs for the illumination of our darke hearts by faith as thou here diddest we might also with thee in time be enriched with that precious and inestimable treasure of a true faith That so as the Spirit of God witnesseth of thee that thou diddest beleeue that Iesus Christ was the Son of God so the same Spirit might beare witnesse to our spirits that wee also beleeue But herein especially doth he school vs and in schooling vs reproue vs and in reproouing vs shame vs. For first if hee that had so fewe meanes to leade him to the knowledge and worshippe of God doe yet notwithstanding out-goe vs in his seruice and worship who doe abound with all gratious and needfull helpes that may leade vs thereunto how can it but be a shame vnto vs Secondly if he that dwelt so farre off as Aethiopia was from Ierusalem refused not to vndertake so long so tedious a iourney to trauell thither there to worship God How can it choose but be a shame to vs who will many of vs scarce goe out of doores or wet our foote in trauelling to the house of the Lord to heare his word and to worship him in his holy Temple Thirdly if he at one only Sermon of Philip were brought to knowe and to beleeue in Christ what a shame is it for vs that after so many yeares enioying the word of God pulickely taught and expounded vnto vs and after so many and almost infinite Sermons that haue bin preached amongst vs there should yet be so many of vs that are not wonne to the seruice of God and faith in Christ The Lord our God as much desireth our good as hee did the good of this Eunuch The word of God is as mighty in operation now as in former times the Spirit of God worketh with the word preached effectually now as in former times The industrie and desire of Gods Ministers though they be not equall to the Apostles and first Fathers of the Faith who because the Church was then newly to bee planted had Primitias spiritus sancti the first fruits and the more eminent and powerfull graces of Gods Spirit yet are they such as might in some degree of proportion serue to beget faith now as in former times and yet for all this they are but few in comparison of the multitude that profite in faith godlinesse by our labours The cause why we cannot write vpon the water is not the want of skill nor the fault of the pen but the vnfitnesse and indisposition of the water So the reason why Gods Spirit preuaileth not in vs is neither any default in God or defect in his Spirit or weakenesse in his word or disability in his Ministers but onely in men and women themselues who are not disposed fitted to receiue such stamps and impressions as they all would otherwise imprint and leaue in them For surely were men so willing so prepared as this noble Eunuch was to entertaine the Lord Iesus in their hearts and to receiue him into their soules by faith when we preach him vnto them then would our preaching bring forth in them the like precious effect and many more of them than now doe would by our preaching of Iesus vnto them be brought with this Eunuch to beleeue in him and to bee his seruants But alas the more is the pitie many of vs may truly say with Peter We haue launched out into the deep and haue let fal our nets to make a draught we haue trauelled all the night and laboured hard and yet haue taken nothing Many of vs like candles doe waste and consume our selues by studying and preaching to giue you light and yet many of you for all that doe still continue and remaine in darknes Many of vs like busie silke wormes weaue out our owne bowels as they doe in making of silke that you may be cloathed in silke and apparelled with the precious roabes of Christs righteousnesse and yet for all that many of you choose rather to be cloathed with your owne rags with the garments which are spotted with sin and stayned and defiled with iniquitie What can the husband-man doe more than till his land and sowe his seed what can the gardiner do more to his figge-tree than ditch round about it and dung it what can the dresser or planter of a vineyard doe more for it than place it in a fruitfull hill and hedge it and gather out the stones and plant it with the best plants what can we doe more than preach Iesus vnto you Nullus doctor est dator boni quod docuerit saith Bar. Wee can teach you good things we cannot giue you good things we may be doctores gratiae but not datores we may be teachers but we are not giuers of grace The Angel in the 5. of Iohn did but stirre the waters of the poole Bethesda and troubled the waters thereof hee thrust no man into the poole that was a worke to be performed by thēselues that would be healed Wee that are the Ministers of God wee open and expound the Scriptures vnto you by our diuiding the word of God and expounding the same vnto you wee moue and we stirre the water of life that floweth in them you must be carefull to step into them your selues c. And surely the very true reason why after so much stirring and troubling of these waters after so much preaching and teaching there are yet so many both men and women that lie diseased full of soares sinnes by this poole and by these waters not onely for the space of 38 yeeres but some for more yeeres and all their whole life long neuer once offering to step in much lesse to thrust themselues thereinto when the waters therof are stirred I say the very true reason hereof is either their infidelitie that they cannot or their lazinesse idlenesse that they will not or their pride vvhich suffereth them not to humble their hearts and to subiect their wills to the will and word of God They consult their owne sense and vnderstanding and suffer themselues to be caried away with the streame of their own naturall reason and corrupt affections whereas if they would submit themselues captiuate their vnderstanding and their willes to the will and word of God and be wholly led and directed thereby they might as here this noble Eunuch did attaine to some good proportion and comfortable measure of true faith But that which the Comicall Poet spake of hands in his time I may say of our hearts in these dayes Corda nostra sunt oculata non credunt nisi quod vident Our hearts are full of
man another there harken to God It is a most Christian and worthy answere fitting this present purpose worthy of all your attention and obseruation which was giuen by Valentinian the Emperour to Symmachus which is recorded in the fift booke of Saint Ambrose his Epist Symmachus a heathen man and in all likelihood an excellent Oratour such a one as was Tertullus of whom there is mention Acts 24. hauing penned an eloquent speech the scope and purpose whereof was to perswade the Emperour that embraced the Christian religion himselfe and was resolued to haue the same receiued and professed in his Empire that he would bee pleased to permit the ancient Citie of Rome to hold her olde forme and to keepe and vse the olde manner of seruing her heathenish Gods thus he tuned his pipes and thus he bespake the Emperour Regard saith Rome mine age which haue now stood a thousand yeares and shall I now at the last be checked and controuled in my olde dayes This religion which wee now seeke for sue for at thy hands O Emperor was that which won to Rome the soueraignty of the earth which repelled and beat back that cruell Hannibal from scaling of our walls which preserued our goodly Capitoll out of the French mens hands And now it were a reproach after so long time so many Ages to haue it quite reuersed Much more was spoken all very suiteable and like if you marke it to the discourses and speeches of our Papists but for an vp-shoot and for a concluding argument that was at last brought in that his owne Father before him had suffered them to enioy that forme and manner of seruing their Gods and neuer disallowed it and therefore it was his part to permit it so likewise But the worthie Emperour as Ambrose saith in his funerall Sermon vpon him beeing resolutely addicted to the defence and maintenance of Christs glory made this answere Let Rome my Mother intreate any thing else at my hands and aske what else she will of me I owe vnto her I confesse a very great dutie and affection because she is my Mother but I doe owe a greater to God my Father who is the author of my saluation This was a worthie answere of a worthie Prince from whence wee may learne this instruction In matters which concerne the glory and seruice of God not to stand vpon the will or words of men but onely on this only point Sic dicit Dominus thus saith the Lord and with thankfulnesse to receiue his trueth whensoeuer it is brought vnto vs. And surely if our ancient Fathers the olde and first Christened Gentiles of this our Iland of Great Britanne other faithlesse at the first and Heathenish Kingdomes had not held this rule and kept this course when it pleased God in great mercy that the Gospell of his Sonne Christ and his sauing truth was first brought vnto them then might they and we still haue remained in our ignorance and infidelitie then should they and wee haue continued aliens from the common-wealth of Israel strangers to the couenants of grace bondslaues to sin and Satan not onely depriued of that glorious name by which we are called Christians of Christ but also debarred from hauing any part or portion in that great worke of mercy and redemption which was wrought by Christ For they might haue replied to them that were the first messengers and preachers which first brought vnto them the glad tidings of the Gospell and haue saide vnto them as the Athenians did to Saint Paul Act. 17.18 What will this babbler say hee seemeth to bee a setter forth of strange gods in that he preacheth vnto vs Iesus and the resurrection They might haue said vnto them Our Fathers worshipt the Queene of heauen they beleeued on Iupiter and Apollo they sacrificed to Mars and Venus they worshipped the Moone and the Starres and so did their Fathers and great Grandfathers and Ancestors some thousands of yeares before them and shall we now begin to listen to a new and vp-start Religion and renouncing those ancient Gods that they so long serued controll their iudgement and so admit of a new-found doctrine worship new-found Gods But it pleased God to mooue their hearts to receiue with meeknesse that truth and so by succession to deriue vnto vs that truth which was and is able to saue both theirs and our soules You see Right honourable Right worshipfull and beloued in the louer of your soules Christ Iesus to vvhat issue this point is brought and what it is that I ayme at namely that as this noble Eunuch renounced the Idolatry of his Country and the superstitions of his Ancestors and Forefathers not suffering them to be a rule or making them a president to himselfe either for his faith or for his manner of seruing God but went vp to Ierusalem there to worship him in his holy Temple so it is the duty of all men to renounce all false superstitious worship of God and to entertaine his holy truth whensoeuer and by whomsoeuer it is reuealed and brought vnto them how many soeuer or how mighty soeuer or how neere or deere soeuer they be vnto them that do discountenance and withstand the same Now although this be a most vndoubted truth and that our Aduersaries doe knowe it in their consciences so to be yet doe they neuer giue ouer to obiect and with a full mouth to exclaime against vs filling the ayre and the eares of men with these and the like frequent questions demaunds What were all our Ancestors and Forefathers deceiued liued they all in error did they all of them misse and mistake the meanes which leade vnto saluation and by consequent did they all misse the end Did so many millions of them perish and vvere they all damned In answer of which their demands which they so willingly and frequently make and by which they haue inthralled many soules especially of the simpler sort and such as are vnlearned carying them away captiue and making them bondslaues to the man of sinne the Antichrist of Rome I will lay downe these three propositions 1. Proposition First They were not all Papists that liued in the time of Popery and so by consequent all our Ancestors and Forefathers were not Papists Secondly They did not all die Papists that in their life time were Papists Thirdly Some that both liued and died Papists in many points yet holding the principall and fundamentall parts of Gods blessed and holy truth might be and vvere also saued And first not to speake of the first six or seauen hundred yeeres after Christ which were the purer times of the primitiue Church in which neither the name of Pope nor the doctrine and points of Popery as now they are held had any beeing or footing in the Church if we shall descend to the lower and later ages and times wherein Popery or the religion of Rome grew strong and held her head at the highest wee shall
righteousnes and the iustice of God darest to meet God in the face and to confront his very iustice and art so indifferent that thou doost not much reckon or greatly regard whether God that is the Lord of glory do come vnto thee in maiestie or in mercie in the Law or in the Gospel in equitie and iustice or in pitie and compassion to iudge thy good works in some of you works of Supererogation and to giue sentence of thy righteousnesse which in many of you so aboundeth that as you beleeue and teach others they may reserue enough for themselues and yet spare some for others to make them also righteous And what maruaile is it if beeing but dust and ashes sinfull flesh yea stubble and straw fuell quickly kindled his maiestie amaze thee and the fire of his iustice and iudgement doe fearfully consume thee Beloued in the Lord it is dangerous building on the sand They build on the sand that make flesh their arme that put any confidence in their owne works It is safe building on a Rock they build on a rock which build on Christ The Rock is Christ. And as Extra Arcam without the Arke the Doue found no rest for the soale of her foote so likewise Extra Christum without Christ the soule of a sinner can finde no comfort And bee it spoken to the glory of God and to the honour of that truth and that religion which wee professe This is that powerful motiue and the very true cause why so many that are professed Papists in their life doe notwithstanding at the approaching of death and the very point of their dissolution die Protestants renouncing themselues wholly laying fast hold onely vpon Christ I will trouble you but vvith tvvo instances or examples for the clearing of this point the one ancient the other moderne and of later time When Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester lay sicke Doctor Day Bishop of Chichester comming to visite him began to comfort him repeating to him some such places of Scripture as did expresse and import the free iustification of repentant sinners in the bloud of Christ VVhereunto Winchester replyed What my Lord quoth hee vvill you open that gap now then farewel all together To mee and such other in my case you may speake it but open this window vnto the people and then farewell all together When those two vnholy and trayterous Priests Watson and Clark suffered condigne punishment for the treasonable practices whereof they were conuicted at Winchester some few yeeres since the one of them immediatly before hee was ready to ascend the ladder disposing himselfe to priuate prayer was by two verie reuerend and eminent men of our Church as one of them hath diuerse times related it in my hearing ouer-heard to haue vsed these or the like words O Lord said he I haue not any thing to offer vp vnto thee that is woorthy thy acceptance I haue nothing but a corruptible carcasse and a sinfull soule to present vnto thee At his vttering of vvhich vvords one of those reuerend Diuines calling to the other Harken I pray you harken said hee how hee disableth himselfe and renounceth his owne merits Which words when the Priest heard hee breaking off the course of his prayer made this reply to those graue Diuines Though said hee I haue no merits to offer vp vnto God yet it may be that many other of our religion haue merits which both they may offer vnto God and for vvhich his Maiestie may be graciously pleased to be mercifull vnto them See I pray you how the truth of God preuailed with both these men when their end drew neere and when death approached obserue I pray you farther how they did in some sort disclaiming all confidence in themselues and their owne merites beare witnesse to the truth of God for the free iustification of sinners onely by Christ But whether or not by their farther answeres and replies they laboured to hide that truth and to put out that candle after it vvas lighted in them I take not vpon mee to iudge but doe leaue that to God 3. Proposition My third proposition which I deliuered by occasion of our Aduersaries demands was this All our Ancestors perished not neither were all our Forefathers that liued in the time of Popery damned For first some of them which both liued and died Papists in many points yet holding the principall and fundamentall parts of Gods blessed and holy truth might be and were also as in the iudgement of charity we may well thinke partakers of saluation Secondly it is one thing to hold an error obstinately and wilfully ioyning the holding and professing therof with the hatred and persecution of the truth and another thing to erre ignorantly being seduced by such as are Pastors and Teachers with a minde notwithstanding alway ready to embrace the trueth whensoeuer men shall bee further enlightened And in this later kinde many of our Ancestors and Forefathers erred carrying a minde alwaies ready and willing to be taught though the streame of the Times carried them away Now as of the former sort of these our Ancestours and Forefathers which not onely erred in the capitall fundamentall parts of Gods truth but erred wilfully and obstinately hating presecuting the truth vnto their death we say as Saint Paul saith They perished because they receiued not the loue of the truth that they might be saued 2. Thes 2.10 So in respect of the later sort of them we are farre from pronouncing the Sentence of damnation against them we are not the Authors of any such vncharitable and peremptorie assertions we vtterly disclaime all such black and bloody conclusions Genesis 37.33 Iacob seeing the coat of Ioseph rent torne and bloody cryed out and said that Fera pessima deuorauit eum Some euill beast hath deuoured him yet God prouided for Ioseph and he was safe So although the religion of our Forefathers like the garment of Ioseph seemeth rent torne and bloody vnto vs and we in probability may cry and say that Fera pessima deuorauit eos yet wee must not rashly condemne them because God hath as wel extraordinary means to saue as ordinary True it is that many of our Forefathers relied vpon the opinion of merrit and therefore were like to the brethren of Ioseph who tooke money in their sacks when they went to Egypt for corne But as Ioseph returned them their money againe and gaue them corne for nothing so who can tell but that God giuing them grace at the last to change their opinions refusing their merits yet gaue them corn for nothing accepting them in his beloued and Christ as Ioseph receiuing them as his brethren into eternall life As in charity wee are forbidden to thinke that none of the Israelites entred into heauen who entred not into the holy Land or into the Land of Canaan but died in the Wildernesse so wee are not to thinke that all those our Forefathers perished which
of the like blessing And although it bee not enough onely to reade the booke or worde of God but that there bee more required at our hands euen to beleeue it and to frame our liues according to the prescript forme and rules thereof yet shall wee finde by Gods blessing that the frequent and diligent reading thereof shall be in good time the beginning of better things vnto vs. A small wedge though it cannot cleaue great logges and such as bee hard and knotty yet may it and doth it often serue to make way for greater and stronger wedges by which they may bee clouen So your often reading of the word only may make way in you to some greater more powerful operation of Gods Spirit by which your knotty and hard hearts may bee clouen asunder and so made woode fit for sacrifice fit to be laid and vsed vpon the Lords Altar I knowe right well that Cathedram habet in coelo qui docet corda in terris that he hath his seat in heauen which teacheth mens hearts on earth That it is our Sauiour Christ that opened the vnderstanding of his disciples that they might vnderstand the Scriptures Luke 24.45 That of him and of him onely it is said Reuel 5.9 Thou art worthy to take the booke and to open the seales thereof That he and he onely hath the key of of Dauid which openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth Reuel 3.7 And therefore except hee open the doore of the Scriptures they shall be shut vnto you notwithstanding you doe often reade them Yet if you doe often reade them you do stare in via qua trāsit Dominus you doe stand in the way by which the Lord passeth and if you doe but stand in the way by which the Lord often passeth it may be he will at one time or other turne in vnto you as he did to Abraham Lot as they stood in the way by which he passed And as the Prophet Elisha turned into the the house of the Shunamite when she had prepared a chamber for him and a bed and a table and a stoole 4. King 4.10.11 So I say if the Lord shall see that you stand in the way by which he passeth and that by your often reading his most sacred word you haue prepared a chamber in your hearts with conuenient furniture therein to receiue him and to entertaine him it may be he will turne in vnto you and so open vnto you the hidden mysteries of those Scriptures which you read to your euerlasting comfort And as here to this noble Eunuch after he had worshipped God at Ierusalem and was now in his returne home-warde reading of the Prophet Esay the Lord sent Philip who ioyned himselfe to his Chariot expounded that Scripture and preached Iesus vnto him baptized him and so left him a most faithful and most ioyfull seruant and professor of Christ So if we frequently reade the worde and meditate therein though therein wee meete with many things we vnderstand not the Lord in his good time will send some Philip that shall ioyne himselfe vnto vs some godly and faithfull Pastor and Minister that shall open and expound either priuately or publickly so much thereof vnto vs as shal beget a liuely and true faith in vs and shall bee needfull and helpfull to our saluation But here exception may be taken and it may bee obiected that as hee read the Prophesie of Esay but vnderstood it not and Legere non intelligere negligere est so to reade as wee doe not vnderstand is but in vaine lost labour The answer may be that although the Prophet Esay hath the same place and bee the same in respect of other Prophets as Saint Iohn is in respect of the other Euangelists like an Eagle that flieth an high pitch and soareth and pearcheth aboue the other birds that is bee full of high and heauenly mysteries which the eye of reason naturall vnderstanding cannot pierce or attaine vnto Yet are there many things both in Esay and so also in the whole bodie and all the seuerall parts of the holy Scripture that are plaine and easie to be vnderstood in which are contained and expressed the power the wisedome the goodnesse of God together with that dutie and obedience that feare and reuerence which all creatures doe owe and ought to performe to his most heauenly Maiesty as also such things as inuite men to faith and exhort to holinesse of life And these things and the like this Eunuch did without doubt both often read and well vnderstood Howsoeuer he doth most freely ingenuously confess that he could not vnderstand that place or passage of the Prophet which he then read vvhich was prophetically and mystically deliuered concerning the person of Christ and the saluation of mankinde by his death and passion which is indeed a mysterie which no eye but the eye of faith can pearce and looke into And from hence we may learne this point of Christian wisedom Not to neglect or carelesly to passe by those parts and passages of holy Scripture which when we read wee doe not vnderstand as if they either appertained not vnto vs or it concerned vs not at all to search out the sense and meaning thereof whereas by often reading searious meditating and frequent and deuout praying wee might many times with comfort vnderstand the same Chrysostome vpon the 16. of Luke hath this saying Etiamsi non intelligas illic recondita c. Although thou vnderstand not the mysteries that are hidden in the Scripture yet of the very reading of them great holinesse groweth And Ierom in his fourth booke vpon Esay and eleuenth chapter saith Frequenter euenit c. It commeth often to passe that lay men beeing ignorant of the mysticall sense are yet fed with the plaine and simple reading of the Scriptures To this exhortation of mine for the frequent reading of holy Scripture and by the example of this noble Eunuch for the reading of thē though perhaps some part of them be not vnderstood by vs to this exhortation I say giue me leaue I pray you before I shut vp this poynt to adde or vse a reprehension also I loue not I confesse to be ful of reprehensions I delight not in publick reproofes neither take I pleasure in searching the wounds or ripping vp the soares and faults of others and yet that vvoe which the Prophet Esay denounceth against them that call good euill and euill good maketh mee afraid to acquire offenders and maketh mee also bold to call error by it owne name and to tell them plainly which misse the right path that they are out of the way and are deceiued Let not my meaning be misconstrued neither let that which is well meant be ill taken The testimonie of mine owne conscience shall sufficiently witnesse to my selfe my good meaning and the iudgement of charitie should hold you frō misconceiuing or misreporting of that vvhich shall be by
mee truely and charitablie deliuered There is vtterly a fault among vs to wit the great neglect of reading the word of GOD both priuatly in houses and publiquely also in the Church and congregation The matter were not so great and the fault were lesse if it were onely to be found in priuat houses and had not also set foote vvithin the Sanctuarie And pitty it is that Lay-men onely are not heerein faultie but some of them also who are Pastors and Ministers of Gods Church It is the custome and practice of many Ministers who are otherwise some of them zealous good men In the time appointed to diuine seruice in the Church and publick Congregation to curtall and shorten and sometime to omit the reading of such parts and portions of holy Scripture as are appointed to be read publiquely in the Church And in stead thereof after a few prayers sometime none at all to sing a Psalme and so presently to goe to their Sermons as if preaching were onely necessary and there were either none or very small vse either of publique reading or publique praying in the publique Congregation Whereas these ought to be ioyned and to goe together first in respect of God himselfe who is in some degree as well glorified in the reading as in the expounding of his holy word Secondly in respect of that decent and comely order established in our Church And thirdly in respect of the profit which commeth therof in that reading and praying going before in Gods house which by an excellencie is called the House of prayer they make preaching which followeth after more fruitfull vnto vs. And surely I thinke the greatest cause why preaching dooth so little good is for that we are now adaies so little acquainted with publique reading and praying in the Church And therefore it were not amisse that many men if they will needs be mincing and shortning and curtalling would mince and curtall and shorten their Sermons that so the Lyturgie and manner of seruing of God in the Church which consisteth as well in reading and praying as it doth in preaching might haue it due time and due respect among vs. And as some Ministers are heerein faulty so are many men and women their Auditors very much to be blamed who thinke they come time enough to the Church if they come but to the beginning of the Sermon making little account of ioyning with the Congregation in praying which both in nature in time and in order should goe before preaching And as for hearing the Scriptures read the chapters the first and second lessons the Epistles and Gospels they think that a matter not onely needlesse but some seeing it so omitted by their owne and other Pastors hold it to be a matter of needlesse formality and some of superstition I am no Patron of an vnlearned Ministery neither come I hither to plead the cause of such as are ignorant and onely reading Ministers if the Land could be without them it vvere no matter if there were none of thē but as I blesse God for those places which are already furnished so do I with my soule wish to all places Parishes that want them such Pastors and Ministers as know how to diuide the word of God aright to breake the childrens bread to giue to euery of them his portion in due season I am no enemy to preaching which I acknowledge to be the ordinary and most effectuall meanes of mans saluation I enuy not to the people of God the blessed benefit and fruit of preaching but yet withall and together with preaching I wish also that publique praying and frequent reading of Gods word were more vsed than they are For although preaching be a more excellent way to winne soules to God and although the word preached be incomparably a more effectuall and powerfull meanes for our new birth conuersion to God than it is when it is onely read and not opened and expounded vnto vs yet hath the bare reading and hearing thereof when it is read many excellent vses and doth many times leaue a blessing behind it Wee must so preferre or commend the preaching of the word before the bare reading thereof that we doe not disgrace the one in commending the other Wee prefer preaching before reading not as if wee preferred a good thing before that which is euill but as a thing which is more good to a good thing that is lesse good for both of them are good They are therefore too blame that in praysing the one labour to disparage the other for by both of them the soule may be edified Faith commeth by hearing hearing by the word of God which whether it be read or preached neuer worketh in vaine but like fire taketh hold of all matter which is apt to nourish it to be inflamed by it Christ commaundeth vs to search the Scriptures not because they stand vpon the Preachers authority or warrant but for that themselues in their owne heauenly strength beare witnes and haue a cleere and powerful record of him And that testimony of Dauid in the 119. Psalme Thy vvord O Lord is a lanthorne to my feet and a light to my steppes is not to be limited and restrained onely to the vvord when it is preached and expounded but is verefied also of the word of God in generall and therefore of it also euen then whē it is but read by vs or vnto vs. It is with the Scriptures as vvith sweet Spices they smell most sweetly when they are beaten or grated or pounded in a morter yet are they not voyd of all sweetnes vvhen they are but gently rubbed and bruised or handled with the hand so though they are indeed most sweet fragrant when they are diuided and expounded by preaching yet must we not deny them simply to haue any sweetnes or fragancie in them when they are but read vnto vs. For Gods truth is in the Scriptures not as the kernell is in the nut vvhich by no meanes can be come-by till the shell be broken for some parts thereof haue no shell at all they are plaine the sweet kernell the true sense of thē may be tasted or attained vnto by the serious and diligent reading of them onely although some other parts thereof be inuolued and wrapped about with shells of difficulty and obscuritie which must be broken by learned exposition and interpretation If it be obiected that this our Eunuch could not vnderstand what hee read for saith hee How should I vnderderstand vvithout an Interpreter or vnlesse I had a guide so ignorant men can take little profit in reading or hearing the word read vnlesse it be expounded vnto them My answer thereunto is that though he vnderstood not that part or those words of the Prophet Esay which he then read which did indeed containe in them such a mysterie as no eye but the eye of faith could pearce into as I said before yet might hee vnderstand many other
because They haue or should haue a tongue of the learned and should knowe to minister a word in due time to him that is wearie They haue or should haue the balm of Gilead wherewith the sores and wounds of Gods people should be cured and healed They haue or should haue in store Vinum merentibus the wine of comfort and consolation for them that mourne and are heauie hearted And therefore to end this point my exhortation shall bee this vnto you When you read any thing that is hard which you desire to vnderstand but cannot When any great grieuous crosse calamity befalleth you and you are ignorant of the meanes and knowe not how to be eased When you groane vnder the burthen of your sinnes and finde the hand of God heauy vpon you so that you find not in your selues the groūds of sound comfort When any great and violent temptation which you cannot encounter taketh fast holde vpon you so that you finde it too strong for you To conclude when feare and anguish afflict your soules your consciences be troubled so that you know not how to lay your selues downe in peace Then desire some Philip that hee will come sit with you desire some of Gods learned and faithfull Ministers that they will abide with you and conferre with you that so they may resolue your doubts and ease your griefes But heere I might take vp a iust complaint and lament the state of these times wherein there is so little or almost no vse at all of conference either in secular learning wherein men are loath to conferre with such as are more learned then themselues least they should bewray their owne ignorance or in points of faith and cases of conscience with Gods Ministers least they should thereby discouer to them their errors and imperfections But this complaint may sooner bee made than it can bee remedied The second thing I noted in these later words is Philips readinesse and his godly discretion his readinesse in that hee presently followed the direction and appointment of the Spirit in respect whereof it is here said that he came to his chariot His godly discretion in that hee tooke the present occasion and began at that very Scripture which the Eunuch then read and preached Christ vnto him From hence we that are Ministers may learne this lesson To take all occasions that are offered vnto vs speedily to doe good to cut-off long and vnnecessarie prefaces and discourses and to go roundly and directly to the matter not to holde our Auditors in the Church porch when wee should bring them into the Church it selfe not to stay them in atrio templi in the outwarde court of the Temple but speedily to leade them in sanctum sanctorum into the holiest of holies where the Mercy seate standeth not to lead them along by tedious wearisome paths but to bring them the straightest nearest way to Christ to take all opportunities of doing them good And you also that are Auditours may from hence learne with the like alacritie and speed to heare and to receiue those good tidings and doctrines which are preached vnto you and to striue euen at the first hearing of them to embrace and lay hold of them with the hand of faith as here this Eunuch did The third thing I noted in these later words is what it was that he vttered and spake when hee opened his mouth He preached vnto him Iesus In these wordes I obserue two things first here is not set downe at large the Sermon which Philip made to this Eunuch neither are the words of that discourse which Philip had with him at that time here mentioned Indeede it is true that all the Sermons and exhortations of the Apostles and disciples of Christ are not verbatim word for word set downe in the Scripture but onely per summa capita the chiefe points only and such generall and chiefe heads as the Spirit of God thought meete they are remembred and set downe vnto vs. Paul and Silas preached to the keeper of the prison and to all his househould the word of the Lord Act. 16.32 but his Sermon is not set down at large but the summe and substance of it is set downe in the verse going before namely the 30. verse Beleeue in the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saued and thine houshould In the 2. of the Acts when they mocked and saide that the Apostles were full of new wine what time they being full of the holy Ghost beganne to speake with diuers tongues Peter when he had reprooued them and instructed them what they should think of that miracle and exhorted them to haue a care of themselues and their owne soules so that they began to be pricked in their hearts and said Men and brethren what shall we doe then he said vnto them Amend your liues and be baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sins And then it followeth verse 40. And with many other words he besought and exhorted them Which many other words are not set downe in that place or there mentioned yet the summe and substance the principall scope of them and the maine drift of Saint Peter is set downe and contained in these few words which go immediately before Amend your liues and bee baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sinnes And so in this place it is saide that Philip preached to this Eunuch the words of which Sermon with all the parts and passages thereof are not set down as may be euidently discerned in that no mention being made in this chapter of baptisme or of water yet this noble Eunuch when hee saw water saide to Philip See here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized And yet this proueth not the Scriptures to be maimed or vnperfect as our Aduersaries would willingly haue the world beleeue forasmuch as there is so much set downe in Scripture as is any way needfull and necessarie for our saluation So that although we haue not all the Sermons which the Prophets Apostles of Christ preached word by word and at large set downe and deliuered vnto vs in Gods booke yet it may and ought to suffice vs to know that God in his wisedome hath so disposed that so much of their heauenly discourses and Sermons is set downe vnto vs as might serue to direct vs in the knowledge and worship of God and might further Gods glorie in vs and our saluation And therefore there is no cause at all why wee should listen to the enchantments of Rome or giue any care of credite and beleefe to our Aduersaries the Papists when they tell vs that in som things the Scriptures come short in some things they are silent and say nothing in many things they are doubtfull and vncertaine and in most things hard and full of obscurity With all which and many more the like imputations
and slanders they doe loade the sacred Scriptures onely to this ende to make way for their owne deuises and to establish their vnwritten traditions which they are not ashamed to match and equall with the word of God But let vs learne as it becommeth vs to put as great difference between the sacred and written word of God and the vnwritten doctrines and traditions of men as there is betweene golde and brasse betweene siluer and the dust of the earth And howsoeuer there was a time wherein our Forefathers and Ancetors were gulled and deceiued with the fopperies and delusions of vnwritten verities and traditions yet let not vs be so deluded For want of bread made of wheat men are content to eat bread made of rie for want of bread made of rie to eate oaten-cakes but yet it doth not follow that the one is as wholesome as the other and when you may haue of the best that you should choose the worst So it is betweene the word of God and traditions of men when bread of wheate that is the worde of God was kept away from our fathers in an vnknowne tongue then was bread of rie and oates sauorie to their hungry soules for the soule is like the stomacke it must be fed and it euermore desireth somewhat that belongeth to religion and saluation but now seeing bread of pure wheat that is the word of God is by Gods mercy set before vs let vs not inuentis frugibus glandibus vesci eate acornes when we may eate wheate and forsaking the holy and wholesome written word of God basely feede vpon the vnsauorie vnwholsome vnwritten traditions of inconstant and corruptible men But rather as it is said Act. 19. Paul I know and Iesus I know but who are yee So let vs say to Traditions the olde Testament wee knowe and the new Testament wee knowe but who are yee We know the olde Testament and the new the Law and the Gospell to be those two dugges or breasts which yeeld milke sufficient for the nourishment of any that are babes and children in Christ We know the olde Testament the new the Law and the Gospell to be those two pence spoken of Luke 10.35 which are able to pay for and to discharge any surgerie and physicke which our sicke soules may need and to heale all the wounds all the sinnes and transgressions thereof We know the olde Testament and the new the Law and the Gospell to be those two swordes spoken of Luk. 22.38 of which our Sauiour there said They are enough for indeed they are enough both for the assaulting of whatsoeuer enemies and for the defence of our selues And therfore let them speake as gloriously as they can of their vnwritten traditions and magnifie them as they list we will onely build our faith vpon the holy and written worde of God this shall bee our onely guide in matters of faith Sic dicit Dominus thus saith the Lord. And yet wee doe not contemne the voyce of Antiquitie wee scorne not either the writings or opinions of the Fathers but gladly vse them and reuerently esteeme of them and giue vnto them as much credit as themselues desire should bee giuen vnto them that is as farre forth as they agree with Gods word wee reuerence them and subscribe vnto them no further because we dare not vnder their banner fight against God or vnder their countenance out-face his truth This is a good rule In the writings of the Fathers that which is prooued out of the Scriptures is Vox Dei the voyce of God that which is probably spoken and deliuered is Vox hominis the voyce of man that which is affirmed falsly is Vox serpētis the voyce of the Serpent And as wee are to stop our ears to deny all consent to that which is falsely deliuered so are wee not to open our eares or to giue any farther consent to those things which are probably deliuered in the case of Religion and matters of Faith than as they may bee either directly prooued or necessarily and strongly collected and deduced out of the written word of God In the 3. of King 1. when contention was between Adoniah and Salomon who should bee King after Dauid with Adoniah stoode Abiathar the Priest and Ioab the Captaine with Salomon stood Zadock the Priest and the mighty men which were with Dauid Here were Priests against Priests mighty men against mighty men Bathsheba the mother of Salomon seeing this contention knew not what to doe Nathan the Prophet therefore said vnto her Come I wil giue thee counsell to saue thy life and the life of thy sonne Salomon so hee willed her to goe to Dauid the King and of himselfe to learne his pleasure in that businesse Thus the case standeth with Relion at this day Adoniah standeth against Salomon Antichrist against Christ Ioab the Captaine and Abiathar the Priest are on the one side and Zadock the Priest and the mighty men of Dauid on the other side mighty men against mighty men Priests against Priests great men on both sides You therefore like Bathsheba are diuided in your opinions and distracted in your iudgement harken therefore to Nathan the Prophet who doth giue you counsell to saue your liues and the liues of your sons and daughters In these matters of controuersie in these matters of faith goe to Dauid himselfe goe to God himselfe looke and obserue what he hath set downe in his holy word and what hee hath decreed touching matters of faith and hold that fast and as for vnwritten traditions and vnwritten verities let them passe for they are not of necessitie to be beleeued they binde not your consciences He preached vnto him Iesus Secondly by occasion of these words I obserue that the summe and substance of Philips Sermon to this Eunuch is cōtained in this one word Iesus It is most true indeed that the sum and substance the marrow and pith the power and life of all our Sermons and preaching vnto you is grounded and contained in this one word Iesus the second person in Trinitie the Son of God For as all the lines which either are or may be drawn in a round or circular figure though they be infinit yet all of them haue terminum suum in centro they all meet and are terminated in the middle point or center of the circle so all the lines and rules of faith and of religion and all the parts of Gods holy diuine truth though they be otherwise and in themselues infinite yet all of them haue terminum suum in centro they all meet and are terminated in Christ Iesus who is the very center and foundation of all truth And as all the Axioms precepts of euery Art and Science if they be rightly and duly deliuered haue relationem ad subiectum a true dependence or necessary reference to the Subiect of euery the said Arts Sciences so all the axioms of pietie and godlinesse all the