Apostles 2. That the Doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles is not a Speculative but a Practical Doctrine 3. And which will follow from both The raising of Opinions beside the Doctrine of our Lord and his Apostles and which have no good influence upon the lives of men is the effect of Pride Ignorance Corruption and destitution of Truth and the cause of Envy Strife Reproachings Suspicions and perverse Disputings Of these succinctly The only Rule of a Christian's faith and life is the Doctrine of Tertul. de Praescript C. 6. Nobis verò nihil ex nostro arbitrio inducere licet sed nec eligere quod aliquis de arbitrio suo induxerit Apostolos Domini habemus Auctores qui nec ipsi quicquam ex suo arbitrio quod inducerent elegerunt sed acceptam à Christo discipliuam fideliter Nationibus assignaverunt 1 Pet. 4. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles St. Peter would have him that speaks as the Oracles of God i. e. without Addition Subtraction or Alteration For the Apostles were Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Now 't is required of Stewards that they be found faithfull 1 Cor. 4. 1. St. Paul was not wont to withhold any thing profitable from them but Acts 20. 20 27. to declare the whole Counsel of God And Moses speaking of our Saviour truly said unto the Fathers A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your Brethren like unto me him shall Acts 3. 22. ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say to you and the voice from the cloud telling us he was the beloved Son of God commands us to hear him Luke 9. 35. Why else are we bid to search the Scriptures are said to have Moses and the Prophets Why did St. Paul think it a just and full defence of himself to say After the way which they call heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written Acts 24. 14. in the Law and the Prophets But here I expect the objections of the old Gnosticks decliners of the Scripture Lucifugae Scripturarum Tertul de c. 47. In accusationem ipsarum Scripturarum convertuntur as Tertullian calls them when they are reproved out of the Scriptures they accuse the Scriptures themselves either they want sufficient Authority or are hard to be understood or imperfect without Tradition not written but oral because St. Paul said We speak wisdom among them that are perfect So Clemens Iren. 3. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 757. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Alexandria tells us of some who did patch together false and feigned doctrines that with very good reason they might refuse the Scriptures But when God's Church had exploded those conceits the Romanist rises up against the Word Scriptures saith he be not necessary nor written by divine command are imperfect obscure that we have no original Books and such as we have be corrupted and some others quos dicere nolo imagin that they can speak better than the Wisdom and Spirit of God and notwithstanding St. Paul hath told us the Scripture is useful for reproof yet these men are pleased 1. Tim. 3. 16. to take up what Timothy was to avoid the introduction of Profanas vocum novitates So Ambr and the vulgar Latin Chrysostom as Theophylact intimates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though there is as little difference in the sence as the sound All new terms i. e. postnate to the sealing of the Canon in matters of faith being vain and empty as to the establishing any one Article in it New and Extra-scriptural words for the more effectual reproving of Hereticks forsooth as if he could be an Heretick who did receive the whole Scripture as his only Rule of Christian faith and life But if that be the Rule which is the language of the whole Reformation it must be so complete that it needs no addition as Chilling worth 54. well as so evident that it needs no interpretation for both these we are assured are properties requisite to a perfect Rule 'T is a strange piece of arrogance to think we can speak of God or the things of God better than he himself hath spoken Cannot he that fram'd Num Deus mentis vocis linguae Artifex disertè loqui non potest the mind the voice the tongue speak apposity Yes sure divine Providence took care that those things which were divine should be clear that all might understand Carere fuco voluit ea Lactan. de vero cultu p. 623. what things he spake to them all And Chrysostom having very much urged the reading of the holy Scriptures at length meets that objection What if we do not understand the things we read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homil 3. de Laz. there He answers 'T is not possible you should be equally ignorant of all things therein For the grace of the Spirit hath so disposed matters therein that Publicans and Fishers and Tent-makers and Shepherds and Rusticks and Ideots and Illiterate did compose the books So that the most Idiotick soul cannot excuse himself on this account things being plain enough to be seen that mechanick Servants and Women and the worst educated may receive great benefit by them These things were not composed for vain glory Tom. 5. p. 244. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but for the salvation of such as should hear them Gentile Philosophers indeed and Rhetoricians and Writers not consulting the publick good but their own reputation delivered the most useful notions in their usual obscurity But Prophets and Apostles take the very contrary course their clear and manifest notions they explicated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to all men as became the common teachers of the whole World So that every man of himself may by reading only understand the things that are said in these books And afterwards on occasion of the Eunuch's reading the Prophet he vehemently recommends a diligent reading of the holy Books He tells us how the reading of them defends us against sins the ignorance of them is a dangerous Precipice and deep Abyss A great hazard it is of our Salvation to be ignorant of the Scriptures This is it that introduces Heresies into our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyp. de lapsu Ecclesiae non jungitur qui ab Evangelio separatur Aufer haereticis quae cum ethnicis sapiunt ut de Scripturis solis quaestiones suas sistant stare non poterunt Tertul. Faith Immoralities into our lives and causes great confusion in matters of Religion 'T is the neglect or contempt of Scripture is cause of heresie So that we say as Austin All things De doct Chr. l. 2. c. 9. In its quae apertè in Scriptura posita sunt inveniri illa omnia quae continent fidem moresque vivendi Epist 3. ad Vo. Iren.
eye to give solid meat to him that needs and uses milk And to these excellent men I shall subjoyn a worthy Prelate of our own See relation of a conference p. 25. Church who considering the proceedings of Rome in the Article Filioque concludes 't is hard to add and to anathematise too All which passages cannot For the modus of that Procession See Cyril late Patriarch of Alexandria to the Pious and Learned Vtenbogard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiphan Ego me refero ad illas scripturae voces quae jubent invocare Christum quod est ei honorem divinitatis tribuere plenum consolationis est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Melancthon Ep. 140. p. 708. not be understood without that Royal distinction of necessary Articles and non-necessary And so we see what stress holy and good men laid upon the niceties of the Christian Faith Yet all this notwithstanding the boutefeues and incendiaries of Christendome suppose nor Creed nor Scripture sufficient to make up an Orthodox Christians Confession of Faith To all such superfine wits I shall oppose Tertullian What is Athens to Jerusalem or the Academy Quid ergo Athenis Hierosolumis quid Academiae Ecclesiae quid haereticis Christianis Viderrnt qui Stoicum Platonicum dialecticum Christianssmum protulerunt De Praescript C. 7 8. Nobis curositate non â—st opus post Christum Jesum nec Inquisitione post evangelium Cum credimus nihil desideramus ultra credere Hoc enim prius credimus non esse ultrae quod credere debeamus to the Church or Hereticks to Christians Let them see to it who have introduced a Stoical Platonick or a subtle Christianity What needs any curiosity after and beyond Christ Jesus or farther disquisition after we have receiv'd the Gospel So soon as we believe we desire nothing farther than to believe for this we first of all believe that there is nothing further that we ought to believe In vain I say did he adore the fulness of the Scripture and provoke the shop Adoro Scripturae plenitudinem Advers Herm. c. 22. of Hermogenes to shew where the matter in controverse was written if not to bid him fear that woe which is denounced against all such as add to or detract from the Sacred Scriptures In vain did Apollinaris fear to write against the Heresie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fusebius l. 5. c. 16. of Miltiades lest he should seem to some men to make additions to the Doctrine of the New Testament To or from which he may neither add nor substract who would institute his life according to the precepts of the Gospel They who think they can speak more properly than the Wisdom of God has spoken let them reconcile themselves to Athanasius who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. cont gentes avers the Sacred and Divinely inspir'd Scriptures are abundantly sufficient for the declaration of the truth and to Saint Basil who makes it without all doubt a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a manifest falling from the Faith and a most certain proof of pride 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either to reject any thing De vera fide p. 251. l. 10. that is written nor to introduce any thing that is not written Our Lord having said my sheep will hear my voice and a stranger will they not follow but will flee from him for they know the voyce of strangers And again enquiring of what mind the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be he saith he would have them always to fear lest he should affirm or determine any thing besides the Will of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Regulâ— brevior 98. without controversie laid down in the Sacred Scriptures lest he he found a false witness of God And again he tells us 't is the property of a faithful minister to preserve intire and without the adulterate mixtures of any other Doctrines that which was concredited to him by his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de Ver. fid p. 249. merciful Lord to be communicated to his fellow servants and he assigns irrefragable reason because neither our Lord nor the Spirit of God spake from themselves Nay a little after he tells us he would spare to use such terms and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de ver fid p. 25. words which in so many syllables are not found in the divine Scriptures though they did retain the same sence and assigns this reason for it such kind of terms and words besides their novelty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are apt to innovate the sence of things and were never found used by holy men heretofore These I have by all means declined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as strange and forreign to the holy Faith Nothing can be more concluding unless I should end this observation with that voice out of the Cloud which said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well Mat. 17. 5. pleased Hear ye him Nor Obscure Though some men think nothing makes a Solemnity but Shades Cette parole contient nettement clairement tout ce qui est necessaire pour former la Foy pour regler le Culte les Moeurs saith the learned Claude in his Answer to Arnaud lib. 1. c. 4. speaking of God's Word Nay he further adds these excellent words Il est aise mesine aux plus simples de juger si le Ministere sous le quel nous vivons pout conduire an salut per consequent si nostre Societe est la veritable Eglise and therefore introduce their divine notions like Homer's Deities always cloathed with Cloud They represent our Lord as another Sphynx that they might be reputed the only Oedipus's in the World but can we think that he who was disclosed from the bosom of that God who dwells in inaccessible light he whose name is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the East or the Morning he who is the Sun of Righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the true and genuine Light who was cloath'd with Light upon Mount Tabor and in that Garment appeared unto the persecuting Saul he who brought Life and Immortality to light and whose Disciples are the light of the World that he discourses Aenigmata Mysteries and Darkness We find him in his famous Sermon upon a Mountain indeed but below the Clouds Can we think it that that God who appeared in a pillar of Fire under the Oeconomy of Moses appears only in a pillar of Cloud under the dispensation of Christ Is there no light in the Sun that fountain of Light because the blind man doth not see it No no to the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according Esay 8. 20. to this word it is because there is no light in them Tell me not there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Pet. 3. 16. Homil. 3. in 2. Thess some things hard to be understood St. Chrysostom solves that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
a few words You are concerned in the Text as well as We. Purity and Peaceableness becomes you if you will comport with the precept of our Lord have you any pride that extimulates and provokes you sometimes to use the Prophet's expression to strive with the Priest and which is worse to run from the Communion of that Church which bore you on her knees and nourished you with her breasts have you any Avarice which when you fled from Idols praecipitated you into Sacrilege these would be salted out Well Peaceableness you see is your duty and Purgation in order thereunto Schism is the direct contradiction to my Text and you perceive how little reason any one hath so to requite the Prudence and the Charity of that Church wherein we have had the happiness to be educated Are the conditions of her Communion sinful Or are you obliged to profess that which you believe is false or practise that which you know is sinful Let me request in her behalf that you would not make the Sentiments of every angry Son of hers the measures of her Charity or if you spy the tokens of Avarice or Ambition on other of her Sons you would not make them the measures of her Piety What is it that frights you from her Communion It must certainly be reduced to her Doctrine or her Manners Doth she teach any suspected Doctrines what then she disclaims infallibility though it may be she is nearer it than those that talk loudest of it She gives you leave to suspect nay designs by her subscriptions which yet are not required from you but an Instrument of peace if the best and most learned of her Sons do know her mind Does Bps. Laud Bramhall Sanderson any of her Doctrines destroy salvation Indeed they of Rome say Protestancy unrepented destroys salvation but I think neither you nor we have cause to believe them Well then if Salvation may be had with us Take heed you don't run the hazard of it by an unnecessary Separation from them here whom if ever you come to heaven you must accompany hereafter But are her manners defective what do you mean She teaches you to believe by the Apostles Creed to pray by the Example of her Lord and to live by the Precepts of her Saviour But you see some indications of carnality upon her Children like enough and so you might in the Children of Apostolick Churches and may in the most confident pretenders to the most primitive Reformation I have done Methinks you should grant me that even in our Communion you may be as holy and as humble as meek and as merciful as pure and as peaceable as perfect imitatours of the Divine Nature as ardent lovers of God and your Neighbour as will comport with the Commandement and entitle you to the Promise which is ETERNAL LIFE Now to the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and for ever Amen A SERMON TO A Great Presence IN LONDON Articles of the Church of England Holy Scripture containeth all things Necessary to Salvation Respon Is Casaub ad Card. Perr nomine Regis Jacobi Dogmata fidei quicquid ad Salutem Necessarium meretur credi è sola Scriptura sacra peti debere neque à quorum vis mortalium auctoritate pendere Sed è Verbo Dei dutaxat quo suam ipse nobis Voluntatem per Spiritum Sanctum declaravit LONDON Printed by E. Tyler and R. Holt for Rich. Royston Book-Serller to the King 's most Excellent Majesty 1672. 1 Tim. 6. 3 4 5. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesom words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness he is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words whereof cometh envy and strife railings evil surmisings perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness FRom that day St. Paul wrote thus till this no age of the Church hath been more concerned in this discourse than that we now live in Such novelty of Opinions so disserviceable or at least unserviceable to the ends and design of our Lord in the World and so influenced by our Secular interests having obtained that not only the Superstructions of Religion but the very Foundations have been and are in very great danger whilst one Faction cries up the Church and her Infallibility and another listens to the whispers of they nor we know what kind of Spirit no less infallible Whilst man's Altar is set by the Altars of God whilst Extrascriptural Tradition is received with an equal if not with superlative affection of piety and reverence Pari pietatis affectu reverentia Concil Trident. whilst that meek and humble pure peaceable and charitable design of our Lord to compleat the happiness of our humane Natures and Societies is become a Seminary of many vexatious indeterminable and fruitless Controversies from whence come envy strife heart-burnings jealousie and exasperation of parties the introduction of Factions and National quarrels and consequently all the calamities of war and devastation The Remedying of which mischiefs would be worthy the Wisdom and Vertue of the best and wisest men in the World Our Apostle you see concerns himself in the case and forbears not to reproach to the unhappy Contrivers of them Pride Ignorance Corruption and destitution of the Truth and not only so but by pointing out the rocks whereon they split directs us to steer a safer course You see they taught otherwise another Gospel and so intitled themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to an Apostolical Curse Galat. 1. 8 9. The Galatians did antiquum obtinere always like themselves 'T is part of the Character Caesar gives the Galli whence are these Galatae They were In capiendis corsilâ—is fuisse mobiles novis plerâ—nque rebus studuisse saith he very variable in their counsels and studious of novelties which might have some influence on their so sudden departure from him that called them to another Gospel which yet is not another for they introduced only an Institution or two Circumcision and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in loc observation of days But as he that shall clip away a little of the Royal stamp adulterates the whole money even so he that subverts but a little of the sound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faith corrupts the whole And that is never done with more ease and greater danger than when we mistake our Principles A little distance and almost undiscernable near the Center may be a vast one at the circumference which is the reason the Apostle so soon recalls us to wholsom words even words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to Godliness And from thence we are taught 1. That the only Rule of a Christian's faith and life is the Doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ and his