Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	according_a	holy_a	sense_n	2,853	5	6.3504	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16944	A sermon preached at Pauls-Crosse, May 30. 1626 vvherein may be seene whom we are to repute hereticks, and schismaticks, what sleights they vse to deceiue, Gods iust iudgements on them, and how we may escape those nets which they lay for vs : also good councell to the magistrate, minister, and subiects, necessary for these times / by Mattheuu Brookes.	Brookes, Matthew, fl. 1626-1657.	1626 (1626)	STC 3837; ESTC S4166	26,742	50

agreed vpon in certaine Articles in the Conuocation confirmed by the royall authority which Articles are a declaration of what our Church approueth in the most principall points concerning saith and the publike seruice of God Let mee beseech them to marke those that cause deuisions and offences contrary to that receiued doctrine Yet with a iust distinction as well of the persons of those that cause deuisions and offences for some are obstinate and some are tractable as also of the deuisions and offences by them caused and maintained for of those also some are damnable some onely dangerous and to the honour of the Church of God scandalous For the better effecting of this let me remember them further that the old Aegiptians who were not altogether sottish in worldly matters were wont to paint their Iudges blindfolded and their President or chiefe Iustice without hands as intimating that Iustice should neither see the person of any man or feele his reward which if it be to bee practised in matters temporall how much more in this great matter which so neerely and meerely concerneth the soules of men Secondly let mee beseech the Ministers of the Word whom Christ calleth for the worke of their profession the labourers of his haruest who are the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God To looke backe vpon those forenamed Articles and to remember whereunto they haue all subscribed with their owne hands not with equiuocation I hope as Arius but with synceritie and with a good conscience as good Christians ought to doe and more especially as men of God should doe and therefore ioyntly with their hearts and mouthes to stand in defence of that truth vnto which they haue giuen their hands On the other side if any man preach another Gospell or defend or maintaine any contrary opinion by which the peace of our Church is disrupted with such a one according to the Apostol call counsell to haue conference and to admonish him to returne to the soundnesse of faith and into the bosome of our Church like Noahs Done into the Arke againe A m●n that is an Hereticke after the first and second admonition reiect Where I desire them to obserue that admonition in that place is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word pointeth out the end and purpose of our trauells rather than the paine and labour of them namely to put a right minde into him or to bring him into his wittes againe For hee is madde as Nazianzen spake of Apollinaris and as Eusebius saith that Manes was madde according to his name therefore must wee labour to reduce him to his right wits againe Indeed to cure a mad-man seemeth to bee a most miraculous thing seeing how few will bee reclaymed But let vs not despaire seeing that God hath sometimes blessed the labours of his seruants in this kinde Berillus Bishop of Bostra in Arabia who denyed that Christ was existent before hee tooke flesh of the Virgin by the painefull trauell of Origen was brought into his wits againe In like manner Coracion who had beene infected with the error of Nepos an Aegiptian Byshop father of the Chiliastes was conuerted to the faith by Dionysius B. of Alexandria But if none of our admonitions will preuaile with them but because they are filthy they will still be filthy let vs then reiect them for their prophane and vaine babblings will increase vnto more vngodlinesse and their word will eate as doth a Canker Let vs haue no more acquaintance with them than the Iewes had with the Heathen men or Publicans or St. Iohn with Cerinthus Let those that haue authority in the Church after the example of the Apostles and the godly Fathers of the prime age of the Church deliuer them to Sathan that they may learne not to blaspheme And let vs after the like examples vtterly auoide their companie and societie as knowing them to bee the diuells sonnes which doe gigantum more bellare cum dijs warre against God as the Poet feigned certaine monstrous Gyants to wage warre against the gods Let vs leaue to conuerse with them which say they are Iewes and are not but are the Sinagogue of Sathan In a word if wee cannot conuert them let vs be sure to auoide them and vtterly to reiect them lest God say vnto vs as he said to the Angell or Bishop of the Church of Pergamos thou hast them that maintaine the Doctrine of Balaam c. For if we proceed not against them by that lawfull power which God and the King hath giuen vs or if we will not doe so much as to auoide them it cannot be denyed but that we haue them Lastly let me speake a few words in the eares of the people and because they are of two sorts either those whose hearts are deceiued by good words and faire speeches or those pillars of the sonnes of Seth against whom the flouds of Beliall which haue euen ouer-flowen the world like the great and generall Deluge haue not preuailed Let me first direct my speech vnto those that are fallen whom I will not terrifie with the greatnesse of their fall by pointing vpward from whence they fell and downeward to let them see whither they are fallen I beseech them to looke on our Christian charitie who doe not esteeme them to be Heretickes or Schismatickes but doe denie them so to be vnlesse with obstinate mindes they will defend and maintaine their dangerous conceipts My counsell vnto such therefore is that they will resort to our Sermons and Lectures where they may heare the reasons giuen in publique for the faith which we professe and if ioyntly with this they will follow Christ his counsell searching the Scriptures adding instant prayer vnto God that hee would be pleased to reueale vnto them the mysteries thereof they shall doe well and I doubt not but they will returne againe into the bosome of our Church to bee ingrafted as naturall branches into the true Oliue from which for a time they haue been cut off and wee shall reioyce exceedingly that they are come againe yea the Angells of God in heauen shall ioy for their conuersion Secondly to those whose hearts are not yet inuenomed let me speake a word in due season Obedience must be giuen to the faith Therefore let them cleaue close vnto it and not suffer themselues in any sort to be seduced It is a rule to interpret the Scriptures Let them expound the Scriptures according to the proportion of faith For if they meete not in all places with the naturall sense and the direct meaning of the holy Ghost for that in the Epistles of St. Paul and diuers other bookes of the Scripture Some things are hard to be vnderstood yet so long as they interpret nothing contrary to the Articles of their faith Augustine will tell them that they are like vnto a certaine traueller who hauing lost the direct way wandreth in those

the whole matter of the whole Epistle and as distinguished by two verses so distinguished by two parts for in the former verse he doth Orare hee doth intreate them to marke and to avoide those that cause divisions and offences in the latter he doth Narrare he doth shew the cause or reason why they should so doe His request or intreaty hath three parts the first is humilis introductio a humble Introduction to the matter wherein wee are to obserue the forme and manner of his speech hauing two branches first the style of the Saints brethren secondly his request made to them as brethren I beseech you The second part of his intreatie is docta descriptio a learned description of all such persons from their vnquiet mindes they are not content to goe to hell alone but they tro 〈…〉 the Church first with vnsauorie doctrine cau●●●g diusions Secondly with lewd manners causing offences the impiety whereof is demonstrated a Contrario by the contrary layed against it Such diuisions and offences are contrary to the doctrine which yee haue learned The last is Pia admonitio godly counsell how wee should deale with them And this conteyneth two precepts first to marke them secondly to avoide them thus farre goeth his request or intreatie ver 17. The Narration containes an Aetiologie that is an exposition of the cause or reason why such men are to be auoided which is three-fold the first is drawn from the scope of their profession set downe 1. Negatiuely they serue not the Lord Iesus Christ 2. Affirmatiuely but they serue their owne belly The second is from the plausiblenesse of their behauiour they vse first good words wherein wee note their diuine like conference Secondly faire speeches wherein wee obserue their morall eloquence The third is from the effect of their practice which is to deceiue and seduce what the Heart and of whom of the simple Of these particulars I intend an orderly discourse first crauing your patience to heare those persons named against whose poyson so skilfull a Phisition as St. Paul was thought good to confect so strong a potion they are in the common language of the Church Heretickes and Schismatickes with which names and the reasons of them and the difference betwixt them I shall briefly make you acquainted First then Heretickes haue their name from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies choosing for that they make choyce of a peculiar religion fitting their owne fancie as in old time the Philosophers made choyce of such a sect as they liked best It cannot be denied but that in the Scriptures this word is sometimes taken in the best sense importing no more but doctrine as where it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. for as concerning this sect or heresie wee know that euery where it is spoken against Sometimes it is taken in the worst sense purporting the doctrine of deuills maintained against the principles of religion A man that is an Hereticke after the first and second admonition reiect but the vse of the Church since Heretickes after the Resurrection and more especially within the first fiue hundred yeares sprang vp thickly among the people of God as tares among Wheate swarming in the light of the Gospell like Locusts of Egipt and men reiecting the true way of Gods worship made choyce of peculiar manners of worships according to their seuerall fancies hath brought to passe that this word is onely taken in the worst sense so that from the word it selfe it is easie to define an hereticke Hee is one that professeth the name of Christ and who maintaineth obstinately any one or more opinions repugnant to the grounds of our Christian faith whereby he is distinguished first from all licentious Christians who though by their euill liues they deny euen that blessed name by which they are redeemed yet must wee not call them heretickes for that they maintaine no opinion that it is lawfull so to doe Secondly he is distinguished from Iewes and Turks who denie the divinitie of Christ because they professe not themselues to be Christians Lastly hee is distinguished from such erring Christians who for want of a sound Iudgement misconceiue the very grounds of Religion as the Corithians did for these you cannot call Heretickes if they will yeeld vnto wholsome doctrine and doe not with obstinate mindes maintaine their damnable opinions so that in an Hereticke three things concurre First he is a professor of Christian religion Secondly he is an obstinate defender of his opinion Lastly his opinion is repugnant to the fundamentall points of our Christian faith And least any man should thinke this to be a small matter let him note that an Heretick is worse than a murtherer by how much the soule is more noble than the body for hee is a killer and a destroyer of the soules of men hee is worse than an Infidell for as one of the Fathers obserueth he is desertor fidei oppugnator eius a forsaker of the faith and an oppugner of it which an Infidell cannot be for he may bee oppugnator eius a resister of it but he cannot be desertor a forsaker of it because he neuer had it In a word hee is worse than a Schismaticke because whereas the Schismaticke quatenùs a Schismaticke breakes onely the bond of loue whereby wee are tied one to another the Hereticke cuts the very throate of faith wherewith we are vnited to God himselfe Then stand amazed at Gods dreadfull iudgements poured on such persons in this life like plagues on the Aegiptians and fore-running their plagues eternall in the life to come Arius who denyed the consubstantiality of the Sonne of God burst in sunder after the manner of Iudas Iscariot and his bowells gushed out Montanus who gaue forth of himselfe as if he were that Comforter promised by our Sauiour those two lewd women his Prophetesses Priscilla and Maximilla hanged themselues Paulus Samosatenus who denied Christ to be the naturall Sonne of God was stricken in his body with a contagious Leprosie he was excōmunicated in all Churches and in the end depriued of his vsurped Bishopricke Manes who had amassed heaped together diuers absolute heresies out of which hee confected his venim was imprisoned by the King of Persia and by his commandement skinned aliue and his skinne was stuffed full of chaffe and set vp before the entrie of a certaine Citie of Mesapotamia The Arian Bishops intending to meet in the Town of Nicomedia and there to consult together for the propagation of their heresie the Lord by a fearefull Earth-quake ouerthrow the Towne to preuent their meeting Therefore let vs feare to fall into any heresie lest the Lord be as angry with vs as he was with them knowing that if we turne our faces against the fundamentall points of Christian beleefe we are worse than murtherers we are worse than Infidells we are worse than Schismaticks Gods

offenders whatsoeuer and let them marke them to restraine their madnesse Excellently St. Augustine in his Epistle to Donatus Deputie of Affrick Sic igitur eorum peccata compesce vt sint quos paeniteat peccasse Doe thou so bridle their sinnes that they may repent at heart that euer they haue sinned A second dutie subordinate to this our watching is the auoiding of them for if we marke them wee may auoide them but if wee marke them not wee cannot auoide them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee gone from them and shunne them as men are wont to runne away from noxious beastes For as Irenaeus saith they are like vnto Hunters and their intent is to make a prey of you Epiphanius doth well compare them to the Serpent called Dypsas which poysoneth those pooles of water at which he drinketh whence it commeth to passe that the beasts which drinke there fall downe dead suddenly and burst in sunder being poysoned with the venim of the Dypsas I cannot now stand to dispute of cases of Conscience how farre it may bee lawfull for a man to conferre with those that cause Devisions and offences I will onely presse you with the words of the blessed Apostle and Euangelist St. Iohn If there come any vnto you and bring not this doctrine receiue him not into your house neither bid him God speed And now I come to shew the cause or reason hereof which is the second part of my text They that are such serue not our Lord Iesus Christ but their owne belly Those that serue Christ especially in the worke of the ministry wee are commanded to receiue it is our Sauiours doctrine Hee that receiueth you receiueth me Hee that heareth you heareth me and hee that despiseth you despiseth me By the rule of contraries he that receiueth those that serue not Christ in the worke of the ministry hee receiueth not Christ but them and him whose workes they doe that is the diuell here then is the matter or first cause whereupon we are not to receiue them nay we must marke them nay we must auoide them they serue the diuell He that receiueth them receiueth the diuell he that markes them not markes not the diuell he that auoideth them not auoides not the diuell A roaring Lyon who would meete him but how mad is hee that will receiue him into his society to be familiar with him In three things those that cause deuisions and by deuisions offences in the Church of God haue relinquished the seruice of our Lord Iesus Christ First because all such are most notorious hypocrites for as the Serpent called Drynas is like the colour of an Oken leafe whence he hath his name and yet indeed is a venimous beast so though they seeme to be like Christians they are not so indeed but to speake the truth no better than Iewes The Arian heretickes gaue forth of themselues that they onely were the catholicke Church of God those that were members of the Church indeed they called sometimes Ambrosians sometimes Athanasians sometimes Ioannites in derision of the truth of God which those holy and learned Fathers Ambrose Athanasius and Iohn Chrysostome had preached as now the Papists call vs sometimes Lutherans sometimes Caluinists sometimes Zuinglians and Huguenots in derision of the truth of God by them and vs maintained Nestorius being a pestilent Hereticke yet as Theodoret saith hee couered himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 With a cloake or vaile of the Catholike faith And Ebion who maintained the opinion of the Samaritans would yet as Epiphanius saith bee reputed a Christian This they haue learned of the diuell who to deceiue is transformed into an Angell of light By this meanes they get proselites and followers whom they make twofold the children of hell more than they themselues are Secondly they are most cruell and bloody Cum hoc sit negotium illis non ethnicos conuertendi sed nostros cuertendi saith Tertullian for their studie is not to conuert Infidells and Pagans to the faith but to throw downe vs that are Christians from the faith and indeed the persecutions caused by Hereticks and Schismatickes haue beene more bloody than those which haue beene raised by Infidells and Pagans I say not here that no age hath heard of the like barbarous crueltie to the late intended Gunpouder treason but so many thousand glorious Martyrs butcherd so many millions of Confessors tortured so many myriads of Godly men and women persecuted whose soules lye vnder the altar and cry with a loude voice and saying How long Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth All these shall witnesse with me that the tyrannous persecutions which haue beene raised within the Church haue beene greater then those which haue beene raised without the Church and whosoeuer maketh deuisions it is to be presumed that he hath the like will though not the like power Lastly their end is that they may walke according to the flesh and therefore though they pretend much strictnesse and reformation of life and manners by chastening the body as it were to subdue it to the spirit it is but subordinate to some fleshly end for they turne the grace of our God into laciuiousnesse I will not staine your chaste eares with the fleshly deeds and godlesse practices of such kinde of people in all ages by authoritie of Ecclesiasticall histories and diuers Orthodox Fathers which in some small measure I am able to present vnto your view let it be sufficient to note with our Apostle this one thing that they haue renounced the seruice of our Lord Iesus Christ and serue their owne belly Quid foedius quid turpius What more filthy odious abhominable damnable or detestable Where we note that the Belly in the Scriptures is taken in a double sense properly or figuratiuely in its proper sense it signifieth the belly of man or woman as where we reade that Phinchas the sonne of Eleazar the sonne of Aaron the Priest thoust Zimry the man of Israel and Cozby the Midianitish woman with his Iauelin through her belly in its figuratiue sense it is taken sometimes for the heart by the figure called Synecdoche When I heard my belly trembled that is to say Commetum est cor meum quod est in ventre my heart in my belly was moued sometimes it signifieth the body of man Of the fruite of thy belly will I set vpon thy throne Sometimes it signifieth particularly the wombe Thou art my God from my mothers belly Somtimes it signifieth a drunkard a gluttonous person and one that is profuse and lauish vpon his owne Lusts So Paul calleth the Cretians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 slowe bellies Sometimes it is taken for all worldly things especially those that conduce to the present maintenance of life and in this sense the Apostle saith of such kinde of people as those concerning