way and it is visible what were a man the better for these directions would he not thinke such a guide out of his wits Especially when he shall see both wayes alike old alike beaten both vvayes to haue passengers successiuely alike frequent both wayes to be intire and singular both wayes to be called old and both wayes to be visible Thus both wayes doubtlesse he would be wilde except he had better directions And yet this is the case of the Church which some would thus marke out to the beleefe and obedience of all men But to conclude all these are no true markes but the Scripture is the true and vnfallible Euidence to bound the Church out to him that vvill be heedfull to obserue and faithfull to beleeue and humble to obay as we hope to manifest Heere then it were meete I should giue you some infallible and inseperable note of the true way hauing showne or rather pointed at the defect of these which the Church of Rome produceth But then I should offer violence both to your patience and to the Text the time not permitting so large a discourse and my Text leading me to discouer the false way with seemes right but giuing no warrant to proceede farther Only to conclude all since it is within my Commission to manifest the false way I will giue you one note a sure one whereby you may know when you are out of the right way that so you may shun error and seeke truth and ensue it till death that in the end you may finde euerlasting life Briefly Christ himselfe saith I am the way the truth and the life Ioh. 4. no man commeth to the Father but by me He is the way to walke in the truth to guide you the life wherewithall you walke And if you would finde this way hee himselfe learnes you a rule Ioh. 5. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them you thinke to haue eternall life and those are they that beare witnesse of me And he there vpbraydes the Iewes because they gaue no credit or heede to the Scriptures but preferd the traditions and doctrines of their forefathers before it Iohn 5. 46. 47. saying Had yee beleeued Moses yee would haue beleeued me for he wrote of me But if you beleeue not his writings how shall yee beleeue my words Therefore the Apostle cals all Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 3. 16 as a doctrine inspired by God to make men wise to saluation and so beleeuing himselfe and teaching others to beleeue he praiseth Timothy for being from a childe brought vp in them 2. Tim. 3. 15 and he exhorts all men to follow him as he keepes in this way and vvalkes after Christ Iesus and no otherwise For so long he is sure he goeth right and they may follow him with security Now then I do not say vvheresoeuer thou seest the Scripture set forth for a signe there Christ is vvithin there is the true way the true Church But I say wheresoeuer thou canst not see the Scripture be assured thou art out of the way for the Scripture must be euer in thy eye being that setled Land-marke by vvhich thou must try and know and to vvhich thou must reduce and bring all thy other coast-marks and sea-marks So it is that Antiquity vvhich agrees vvith the verity of the Scripture that multitude vvhich vvorship God according to the rules of the Scripture that Sucession vvhich suceeed in the truth of doctrine deliuered in the Scripture that vnity vvhich beleeues the Trinity taught in the Scripture that Catholique Church vvhich is founded vpon and vniuersally agreeth vvith the truth of the Scripture that visible congregation vvhich are seene to God and vvhich see God as he reueales himselfe in the Scripture that become notes by vvhich thou maist safely trauaile in this doubtfull vvay of mortality So that the Scripture must euer be present to make these infallible though perhaps it be not of absolute necessity that all these be euer present vvith the Scripture to make the Church true The Heathens of old burnt the books of Numa because he bewrayd therein the prophane misteries of their Idolatries The Turks at this day keepe their people in ignorance no man must see into no man must dispute or argue of their Sect. And thus our Adversaries of Rome deale vvith the Scriptures resembling heerin the Heathens Turkes vvould yet make the vvorld beleeue that they are the only Christians And lest they should seeme insanire sine ratione they haue a seeming reason why they permit not the Scriptures to be in the mother-tongue of euery Nation publiquely to be read by them lest forsooth as the Rhemists say in their preface they should hurt themselues as vvith fire or water or kniues or swords or the like And vvhy do they not put out the Sunne because it hurts the gazers eyes or why put they not out their eyes to preuent hurting especially since they mis-leade many a man to lust and vanity To argue from the abuse of things indifferent to remoue the lawfull vse of them is an abuseof sence and reason But in things of this kinde of absolute necessitie it is an intolerable and presumptuous foolery Nature cannot bee so blinde as to suffer any but naturals to beleeue this their doctrine and to vvalke in this their way Pro. 4. 18. 19. for Salomon saith The way of the wicked is as darknes they know not at what they stumble But the path of theiust is as the shining light that shineth more and more vnto the perfect day True but vvill some say All Heretickes hang out this flagge and all boast of the Scriptures how shall wee then know the true vvay from the false by that which is common to all vvayes or vvhich all vvayes at least chalenge and make shew of Obserue euen from this obiection the force and authority of the Scriptures vnder which falsehood aswell as truth seeks to shelter herselfe because falsehood by this glasse learnes to trimme herselfe vp like truth And looke as the Heathens by their Idolatries proued aswell that there vvas a God Act. 17. 23. Rom. 1. as the Iewes by their true vvorship because nature taught the most barbarous Nation to adore some Deity and rather to make a God of a Calfe a beast a bird a stone then to be a godlesse Atheist so all Heresies and falsehoods beare witnesse for the truth and authority of the Scriptures vvhilst they striue to iustifie themselues thereby knowing without the Scripture all other their arguments notes and pretences how plentifull or plausible soeuer they bee are nothing to the purpose and therefore they labour to wrest the Scripture to their fancie And could the Church of Rome by this euidence approue her present practise and doctrine I assure my selfe she would looke no farther but vvould permit euery man to reade the same at pleasure nay she would command the reading thereof vnder the paine of
of God and to be exalted aboue all that is called God Like in spirituals to that of the great Earle of Warwickes in the time of H. 6. in temporals vvho chose rather to be called Primus Comes Angliae then Rex Angliae and thought it more honor to make a King then to bee one Lastly they say they humble man more then we and exalt God more then wee 1. They humble man more whilst they tell him his sinnes are such as he must not presume to go to God but by meanes of Saints or Angels 2. They exalt God more whilst they exalt his seruants and giue asmuch reuerence to the Saints as wee to God To this wee answere they arrogate to man whilst they will see me wise aboue that which is written they derogate from God whilst they make his seruice common to the Saints and can only colour it with a distinction nay whilst they make him and Christ only seuere Iudges and the Saints and Angels merciful and so their Mediators They ought not to do euill that good might come of it this is euill to lye of God whilst they faine him to bee what he is not and deny him to bee what he is And of this kinde and to this ende are all their fictions in the Legend to proue the Saints merciful and God seuere yea the blessed Virgin Mary to be more pitifull then Christ her Sonne and Sauiour in whom she was blessed more as a childe then a Mother That they may do this the more safely they contend and say That besides the written word of God there are many other decrees and dogmaticall points and traditions necessarie to be beleeued to saluation which the Church that is themselues alone haue in custody vpon trust and credit Now wee teach the contrary aswell because wee haue cleere testimony of the Scriptures and Fathers generally as of a cloude of witnesses to proue the contrary as also because it makes more for the glory of God in things of absolute necessity toward saluation to gouerne by positiue lawes of his owne rather then by arbitrary and changeable lawes of Man and that he should reueale to vs his will by his owne Sonne Christ Iesus who came to saue vs rather then to leaue vs to the vncertaine relation of Man who for ought wee know may be Antichrist and so intends to deceiue vs though perhaps he comes in sheepes clothing or may seeme an Angell of Light to bleare our eyes with apparance Wee might ioyne in this issue vvith them vpon all the questions controuerted but these shal be sufficient to giue light to see the rest at more leisure In the meane time if wee cast our eyes truly vpon the end of their deâ—ignements vvee shall easily see that gaine and glory vnto themselues are the only arguments which draw them to fight for the Popes Supremacy the Masse Purgagatory Pilgrimages and all the rest of their opinions vvherein they are opposite to vs and to the Scriptures To this end they are called Marchants Reuel 18. 23. Because for gaine and glory they sophisticate Religion as Marchants their wares and thus make marchandize of heauen and earth and of God himselfe And as the Marchants in London haue foreigne commodities whereby they sucke the sweete sap of the Country to themselues and they in the Country haue meanes againe to recall it as Norwich by stuffes Yorke by Cattell some places by vvooll and cloth others by come and others by Mettals Or as England vvith these commodities furnisheth other Countryes and supplies her owne wants from thence and Fraunce with her vvines buyes her children vvooll and Spaine vvith Figges Raysons Limons and Oranges for sauce buyes herselfe bread and meat so these spirituall Marchants chop change commodities and tosse to and fro by that meanes the wealth the pompe the glory of the world the fat of the Earth the Crownes of Kings To this end Walsingham had a lady to bring suiters and sees Eastward and Canterbury had a Saint Becket to draw it Southward The North had a Winifrid Scotland a Saint Andrew and his arme the Low-Countries a Lady of Hales Fraunce a Saint Denis Spaine a Saint Iames Italy a Lady of Loretto and euery Country vvas full of these Marts where the Saints did seuerall cures and seruices to the Church and had continuall Votaries and those of the frankest sort as superstition is commonly a prodigall And this vvas a golden vvorld and a glorious Religion to the eye so that vvee heare old men and women talke of these things still but vvee know this was not sound at the heart the way might seeme good to a man but the end thereof were the Yssues of death 2. The certaine ill Quality or Determination Is the Yssues of Death hauing spoken of the first end vvhich is the purpose and scope of this vvay vvee come to speake of the Yssue of this end that is The Terminus vltimus or determination of this purpose and ayme and that is Death They are the Yssues of Death Life was promised in their first apparance it seemed the right vvay but vpon tryall wee finde Latet Anguis in herba the end is the Yssues or wayes of death A great distance betwixt the promise and the performance betwixt the pretence and the Yssue the passage and the port the starting place and the end of the race vvhen life is proclaimed in the beginning and death meets vs at the concluding I haue fought a good fight saith the Apostle Paule 2. Tim. 4. 7. 8 I haue finished my course from henceforth is laide vp for me a Crowne of glory which God that righteous Iudge shall giue me and not to me only but to all that loue his appearing Now the Apostle hath fought and if he had deserued ex condigno might chalenge this crowne as a debt due to his worth but he doth not so he expects it indeed out of grace of free gift he doth not deserue it by fighting but he obtaines it fighting it is giuen freely by a righteous Iudge vvho gaue him grace to fight and promised him both to ouercome and to triumph 2. Cor 12 My grace is sufficient for thee makes Paule feare no buffeting of Sathan no sting or pricke in the flesh for that grace gaue him strength to fight and conquer and vvas manifested the more by his infirmity for Gods power is made perfect through our weaknes And after he hath fought hee expects a crowne that grace is his assurance he cannot chalenge it by any other right and in that right he is assured of it both for himselfe and all others who loue the appearing of our Lord Iesus Christ To all that loue not to all that fight the affection not the action is respected the person not the passion is accepted But now if Paule had beene of the Romish faith this speech of his would haue beene iudged presumption not presumption to chalenge by merit but presumption to chalenge of
as this Therefore learne to vnderstand the Doctrines that crosse and contradict one another and whilst thou beleeuest Christ saying This is my body beleeue so as thou maist not crosse the Articles of thy Faith but know it is his body after no carnall and fleshly maner for the flesh profits nothing Ioh 6. but after a spirituall and diuine manner Not food for thy stomacke thy teeth thy belly but food for thy soule thy vnderstanding thy faith And so hee cals the bread his body heere as himselfe a dore and a vine and a rocke and Peter astone in other places of Scripture And therefore consider after Christ ascended he neuer appeared to his Apostles in body againe as he vsed to do often before Act. 7 55. But in heauen he appeared personally to Stephen to confirme his faith And when before his ascension he appeared to the twelue with whome Thomas Didimus was Iohn 20. he did not vrge Thomas to beleeue any thing contrary to his sense of seeing hearing and feeling but rather willed him to confirme his faith by seeing and seeing what before he doubted And then hee addes Happy are those which see not and yet beleeue he doth not say Happy are they who beleeue contrary things to that they see as they must do who beleeue the bread to be changed into his naturall body which they see and feele to be true bread still but Happy are those who beleeue when they see nothing to the contrary hauing the word of God which cannot contradict it selfe for their warrant As wee do beleeue his Resurrection and Ascension which wee saw not and his comming to Iudgement in glory which we hope to see Thus when thou shalt heare Christ command thee to take Bread and Wine in the Sacrament 1. Cor. 11. and a Priest countermand this and will thee to take bread only Saint Paule commanding thee from God to pray with vnderstanding 1. Cor. 14. 16. and a Romane Priest willing thee to pray in a strange tongue God himselfe blessing Matrimony and permitting all men to marry and the Apostle Paule saying Mariage is honorable with all men and in speciall tearmes a Bishop or Deacon ought to be the husband of one wife â— Tim. 3. 2. c. and hearest a Romane Priest say the contrarie nay inioyne thee to do the contrary and to binde thee by an othe to do it Then thou that hast eares to heare heare what S. Iohn saith to thee 2. Ioh. 10. 11. If any come vnto you and brings not this doctrine that is brings any contrary doctrine to Christs receiue him not to house neither bid him good speed And heare what God gaue his people in charge of old in the like case Deut. 13. 1. 2. 3. If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreames and giueth thee a signe or a wonder And the signe or the wonder come to passe whereof he spake vnto thee saying Let vs goe after other Gods which thou hath not knowne and let vs serue them Thou shalt not hearken vnto the wordes of that Prophet or that dreamer of dreames for the Lord your God proueth you to know whether you loue the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soule So thou art not to beleeue him though he confirmes his Doctrine by miracles nay suspect him the more and the rather for that for miracles are the principall shelters and pretences of Antichrist as thou maist see Math. 24. 24. 2. Thes 2. 9. So then beleeue nothing which contradicts the Scripture for the Scripture cannot be contrary to it selfe because it proceeds from the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of vnity of loue and of truth And to shut vp all this with a familiar example which the weakest apprehension may conceaue the sleightest memory retaine Not long since there vvas a tryall before the Iudges of Assize at Thetford betwixt two townes for a Common Oxborough Gooderstone in which both claymed interest The one towne chalenged by prescription and pretended vse and proued the vse by them their forefathers time out of minde The other parties produced an auncient Composition in writing vnder the hand and seale of the Lords and Tenants on both sides The Iudge then determined that against a writing there could be no prescription though without a writing prescription would be currant Because the writing controuled their present custome and shewed Ab initio non fuit sic there was a time when their old vse was not therefore their claime was false In prouing their vse against this composition they proued themselues intruders incrochers trespassers euill neighbors It was so farre from doing them good as it might haue done them hurt laying them open to euery mans action whom they had offended So heere wheere the word is silent there heare Antiquity heare the Church honor tradition preferre prescription custome vse If thou doest not then thou shewest thy selfe a selfe-wild Schismaticke or an obstinate Hereticke But where the Scripture speakes where thou hast that writing vnder hand and seale that old composition betwixt God and Man appointing Man his limits there let not man presume to intercommune with God but let the tongues of men and Angels be silent And whatsoeuer doctrine crosseth that crosse thou it out of thy Creed or God will crosse thee out of the booke of life Heare Saint Paule aduising the Collossians Let no man beare rule ouer you vnder shew of a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels Col. â— 18. intruding into those things which he hath not seene vainely puft vp by his fleshly minde So whatsoeuer humble shew or pretence he hath he is puft vp who presumes to crosse the doctrine of the Scripture And though he comes in sheepes clothing Mat. 7. 15. with shew of mortification and contempt of the world yet inwardly he is a rauening wolfe and desires to swallow widowes houses vnder the colour of long prayers Mat. 23. auricular confession and almes And though he seemes a worme and no man and creeping humbly vpon his belly lickes the dust of the earth yet beware he may be a subtile serpent and no silly worme for vnder the like faire shew Sathan deceiued our Ancestors in Paradise Therefore attend Saint Paules admonition carefully where he saith Gal. 1. 8. But though wee or an Angell from heauen preach any other Gospel to you then that which wee haue preached vnto you let him be accursed And as if this were not sufficient obserue how he riuets this commandement or admonition againe Gal. 1. 9. and againe saying As we sayd before so say I now againe If any man preach any other Gospel vnto you then that yee haue receiued let him be accursed What you haue receiued you know in the Lords Prayer the Tenne Commandements and the Creede for these are Epitomees and abridgements of all If therefore Saint Paule or an Angell an Angell