neither was his death then of full and sufficient price True it is that although we are by his one oblation fully and perfectly discharged for euer before God from the guiltines of our sinnes yet we are not in the full possession of this benefite nor shall not be vntill the last day for then shall his enimies be made his footestoole The diuell sinne â—â—â—th are these enimies which he hath ouercome that they cannot raigne ouer vs but yet wee must in the meane time wresile with them not therefore esteeming the power of Christs death to be the lesse because they be not alreadie vtterly abolished as the wicked vnbeléeuing Papistes do and therefore set vp trashe of their own to destroy sinne but waiting for that appointed time when the full power of his death shall appearâ— in the meane time staying by faith resting our selues on that one sacrifice once offred To conclude then hath not the mightie spirite of God power to apply vnto vs the vertue of that bloud but such sillie vermin as the Popish priests must help The holy ghost calling vpon vs and teaching vs to applie these benefites willeth vs to draw neere with a true heart with full assurance of faith Hebr. 10. ver 22. we come vnto him with the heart after a spirituall manner because all thinges in him are spiritual we are did to approch to lay hold of him by faith for wee can not either with the hande or with the mouth And seeing there is not so much as one sentence in all the booke of God which speaketh of any application of his death any other way it must néedes be concluded againe that they may bée as good priestes as the priestes of Baal and no better and that when they hold vp their idol Christ is not betweene their fingers Let vs go forward It shal yet be more manifest by the words of the holie Ghost that this sacrifice of the Masse is so farre from being the sacrifice of the Newe Testament that it doth flatly go against it For he saith as concerning Christ that he did not offer himselfe often as the high Priest went yerely into the holie place with other bloud Hebr. 9. ver 25. and then in the next verse he giueth a reason namely that then he should haue suffred often since the beginning of the world This sentence is verie mightie against the Papistes because it driueth them from all their shiftes and leaueth them naked and destitute but the force of it wil not appeare vnlesse we looke vpoÌ„ what principles it is grounded to proue that if Christ should haue offered himselfe often then must he also haue suffered death often since the beginning of the world Among the which this offreth it selfe as the first to be considered that all the holie fathers the Patriarches and Prophets from the beginning coulde haue no entrance vnto God but by remission of sinnes and that whereas otherwise they had the dore shut against them by this they were restored into fauour and receiued For it cannot be denyed but that by nature they were sinners as we be and that God cannot receiue sinners Being therefore out of controuersie that they obteined life it must néedes followe that they had pardon for if either there had béene no sin or no pardon to be graunted what necessitie could there be of a sacrifice The seconde principle without which the reason of the Apostle cannot stande is this that there can be no remission but onely by the sacrifice of Christ for if any other sacrifice or any other way or meane might obtaine it then were ther not a necessitie why he shoulde often suffer For although ther were a necessitie of remission of sinnes vnlesse all should be damned yet he might be set free from the same necessitie of offring himselfe séeing there were other wayes to obtaine it but the holie Ghost standeth vppon this as a marter not to bee doubted of that neither there is nor neuer hath béene any thing able to destroy sinne or to take away the â—uiltines of it by making satisfaction but onely the sacrifice of the sonne of God For howsoeuer the idolatrous Innvels do ascribe vnto many things they power of purging and satisfying for sinâ—â— yet the holie word of God and those which beléeue it do giue that glorie only vnto Christ and euen as his great glorie wherein he hathne fellow The third thing without which an exeâ—ption might be iustly taken against theâ—â—resaid reason is this that there coâ—â—â— be no oblation of Christ but he must suffer death for when he sayeth he should not offer him selfe often he addeth this cause that then he should haue sâ—â—â—â—ed often It were an easie matter â—â— the offring of Christ were any thing aâ—â—â—lable without suffring death to say there were no necessitie wherefore â—ee should suffer often seeing he might bee offred and not be slaine But this is strengthened by that which goeth before in the same Chapter where hee hath shewed that the testament is confirmed when men are dead because it is of no force while the testator liueth and so he is the mediator of the Newe Testament but yet through death Wherefore also the former testament in which there were but the shadowes and paterne of heauenly thinges was ratified by death as it is prooued by this that it was not dedicated without bloud For when Moses had read the lawe vnto the people he tooke the bloud of calues and Goates with water and purple Woll and Hyssop he sprinkled both the booke and the people saying this is the blould of the Testament which god hath commaunded vnto you Likewise also he sprinkled the Tabernacle and all the ministring vessels with bloud and almost all things sayeth he by the law are purged with bloud and without shedding of bloud there is no remission Here is then a manifest reason wherfore Christ could not be offred often but he must then also dye often euen because the testament is of no force without the death of the testator Here is further shewed wherefore it cannot be auailable without death that is to say there is no remission of sinnes without shedding of bloud Christ therefore could not be offred ofteÌ„ vnlesse it should be to no purpose which is most absurde but his bloud must be often shed Then if the Papistes will vpholde and maintaine that their sacrifice is auailable to purge away sinne and that it is a sacrifice propitiatorie for the quicke the dead as they doe impudently affirme Let them also confesse that they murther againe the sonne of God and so shead his bloud For if they will stande to this that theirs is an vnbloudie sacrifice and though they offer him yet they do not slay him and yet withall do challenge the power therby to purge sinne let them knowe that they goe directly against the spirite of God which sayeth there is no remission without shedding of bloud In this therefore they are after
challeÌ„ge to themselues greater honour than any Angel hath euen the honour that is due alone vnto the onely begotten sonne of God And yet where the scripture sheweth that this honour was giuen vnto Christ with an oth they will haue part with him being not able to bring one sentence of the worde to prooue that there shoulde be any Priest besides Christ He neuer ordained any Priest no one of his Apostles was called a Priest and in euerie point their order is so contrarie vnto the order of Melchisedech this I say might satisfie but yet to lay open their trecherie further we will proue that they haue abused the world and made them worship that for God which was but a cake of flower I will not goe farre for proofe hereof for it is manifestly and fully to be prooued by that which the holie Ghost hath set downe as concerning the sacrifice of the Newe Testament in the Epistle to the Hebrewes Those reasons which are there brought to proue that the sacrifices of the lawe could doe nothing and therefore were to be abolished will also serue to throw downe the abominable idol of the Papists For if the weaknes of those former sacrifices were gathered by their nature and order which was vsed in them then shall the sacrifice of the Masse if it bee founde to differ as farre and further from that of Christes than those be found not to be the sacrifice of the New Testament In the Epistle to the Hebreweâ— Chap. 9. ver 1. it is saide that the former couenant had also ordinances of religion and a worldly sanctuarie and there he doth repeat particularly sundrie things as the candlestick the fable the shew bread the golden censure the Arke of the Testament the golden pot with Manna Aarons rod that had budded and the tables of the Testament In this worldly Sanctuarie with these foresaide ordinances of the same nature did the priestes of the law exercise their office and this is one argument to prooue that their Priesthood was weake and coulde not bring men vnto God For the habitation of God is in the heauens there is his throne of glorie and most high maiestie thither must those be brought which shal come vnto him whereupon it followeth that the Priest that shall bring men vnto God must be a minister of the Tabernacle of Heauen For the entring into the holie place made with handes the ministring in the same with ordinances of the like nature that is to saye earthly a transitorie can by no meanes bring men eternally vnto God For how shall earthly things compasse heauenly or things which vanish and decay bring that to passe which shall last for euer Those Priestes therefore whose priesthood was transitorie for their priesthood must needes be of the same nature and condition that their temple and ordinances were and can stand no longer than they were for to cease when the time was come vnto which they were prefixed Vnto thâ—se is Christ opposed in the same Chapter ver 24. where he sayeth that Christ is not entred into the holie places made with handes which are similitudes of the true sanctuarie but is entred into heauen it selfe to appeare in the sight of God for vs. For as the sacrifice which he offred was heauenly and of eternall power so also is his Tabernacle and likewise his Priesthood For those three must euer be ioyned together Then if the Priesthood of Aaron and his sacrifices could do nothing but were to cease because their Tabernacle and ordinances were worldly how much lesse shall the greasie Popish priestes be able to offer any sacrifice to appease Gods wrath séeing the sacrifice which must do that is heauenly and spiritual and cannot be offred in a worldly sanctuarie nor with such ordinances as be of earthie nature For it is most manifest that all the trinkets and trash of Popish Massemongers wherewithal they do iuggle play with their Mammets are earthly and transitorie so is also their Temple and Altars and consequently their priesthood And further also it is certaine that the Priesthood of Aaron might rather be called heauenly than theirs because it was the paterne of the heauenly and he was called vnto that honour of God but they can shewe no calling thereto at all Who then is so blind but may sée that séeing the sacrifice propitiatorie cannot be offred by an earthly Priest nor with earthly ordinances that the white cake which the vncleane shaueling the Baalamite doth holde vp ouer his head is not the sonne of God but a dead Idol If the blinde idolatous Papistes will obiect that the efficacie of their sacrifice and priesthood is heauenly although it be executed on earth they are to be aunswered that if the efficacie of their priesthood be heauenly then is it eternall but they are mortal and do not remaine Priestes worlde without ende Againe the power of the sacrifice dependeth vpoÌ„ the power of the Priest 〈◊〉 so their sacrifice is not eternall This thing shal be yet more manifest by 〈◊〉 further comparison which is made betwéene the sacrifice of Christ and those of the lawe in the same Chapter verâ— 13. 14. where it is shewed that if the bloud of calues and of goates and the ashes of a red Heffer sprinkling those that were defiled did sanctifie as touching the carnall purging then howe much more shall the bloud of Christ which by his eternall spirite offred him selfe to God without spot purge your conscience from dead workes to serue the liuing God This comparison is brought in to prooue that Christ by entring once into the holie places by his owne bloud hath founde eternall redemption for that being the summe of the two verses going next before is proued by this It was graunted without controuersie that by reason of gods ordinance yâ— bloud of those poore beasts and the water made with the ashes of the Heffer being but a dead thing had power in some manner to purge as namely that which he calleth the carnal purging For if a man were polluted with any outwarde pollution and therefore might not come vnto those holie thinges which were the carnall commandements being but shadowes and ceremonies yet if he were sprinkled with those although he were not purged within froÌ„ sinne he was counted cleane then how much more shall the bloud of the sonne of God which hath the power of life in it because it is the bloud of him that was not onely a man so holie that he was without spot but also God For herein lyeth the strength of the argument which the holie ghost vseth to prooue that Christ at once by his bloud hath purged the conscience from same for euer that this sacrifice was offred by his eternall spirit which is his godhead For the godhed hauing eternall power of life the flesh and bloud of the manâ—od ioyned so with the godhead that they made one person had also the same power so that although the bloud
an horrible manner blasphemous that they will ouerthrowe the reason and argument of the holie ghost For if by any means there might be a sacrifice to take away sinne without the shedding of bloud then might Christ haue béen often offred and haue dyed but once If the fathers had the fruite and benefite of that one oblation as namely their sinnes washed away with that bloud once shed that without any offring of such vnbloudie sacrifice to apply the same why should not wee likewise by faith obtaine the same vnlesse some shaueling offer him daily Ye blinde Idolaters did yâ— bloud of Christ purge away sinne before his comming onely through faith and shal it not now Was there a more perfect power in it to abolish sinne in the sathers which were long time before his comming than there is after it hath béene shed in déede For if it be so that the fathers had their sinnes washed away with Christes bloud and yet no offring of him to apply the same but apprchended through faith shall it not destroy the vertue therof or at the least diminish it when they teach that wee cannot be partakers of him vnlesse he be still offred Is that which the holy Ghost speaketh that he hath béene once made manifest in the ende of the world to abolish sinne by the offring himselfe to be referred onely to the fathers before his comming Doth not the reason following extend it vnto vs as wel â—ea euen vnto the whole Church vntill his comming againe at the worldes ende for he compareth it in this maner that as it is appointed vnto meÌ„ to dye once and after commeth iudgement so Christ also being once offred to take away the sinnes of manie vnto those that looke for him shall appeare the second time without sinne vnto saluation It is the ordinance of God that wheÌ„ a man hath runne his race and finished his course he shall not be permitted to turne backe againe to do that which he left vndone or â—o make straight that which is crooked but must holde him vnto iudgemeÌ„t for things past because that onely remameth In like sort he setteth the perfection of the one oblation of Christ who being once offered to take away the sinnes of manie it is so perfectly doone that when he shall appeare againe the seconde time to giue the eternall saluation there shal be no sinne to be purged or for which he is to make further satisfaction For when it is saide that he shall appeare without sinne the second time it is not meant of his owne person but of those whome he hath redéemed from their sinnes which is most cléere and manifest in this that the minde of the holie Ghost is to shewe a difference betwéene his first and seconde appearance euen in that point Which if it should be vnderstoode of his owne person should make no difference because he was without sinne at his first appearing although he tooke vpon him and bare in his bodie the sinnes of his people But at his seconde appearance because he hath vtterly destroyed sinne for euer there shal be none to be borne of him and therefore none for which he shall againe offer sacrifice The Papists but that they be impudeÌ„t might be ashamed to patch in their trumperie to giue power vnto the death of Christ when they sée here the perfection of it so set foorth that it hath so at once for euer destroyed sinne that there néedeth no more sacrifice to be offred For will they make the power of it lesse since his coÌ„ming than it was before We may then conclude séeing the sacrifice of the Newe Testament that should haue a spirituall heauenly and endlesse power could not be offred in a worldly sanctuarie with worldly ordinances the sanctuarie and all the ordinances of the Popish seruice and Priesthood are such as are earthly and séeing the same sacrifice coulde not be offred to be auailable vnlesse it were offred by the eternall godhead the Popish Priestes are men and not God being the bloud of a man which is also God that purgeth away sinne it hath an eternall power to purge and so vnlesse the Papistes will haue a newe â—â—demption there is no place for their propitiatorie sacrifice And séeing the sacrifice that is perfect is but once offred that which is often offred doeth not take away sinne And because the sacrifice of Christ once offred hath for euer perfectly abolished sinne the promise of the Newe Testament is that God will no more remember it and therefore no more sacrifice to be required The Papistes contrarie to that promise make satisfactions still and sacrifices for sinne Their sacrifice is offred often Christ coulde be offred but once because he could by but once The sacrifice is not auailable without death because there is no remission of sinnes without shedding of bloud The Papistes do not saye they slay Christ they say theirs is an vnblodie sacrifice there is no remission of sinnes without shedding of bloud The sacrifice of Poperie is not the sacrifice of the Newe Testament neither can it be propitiatorie as they bragge for the quick the dead Nay it is as abominable before God as if a man should offer a dogge in sacrifice Then considering what iniury these Priests after the order of Rome haue done vnto the sonne of God first in challenging that office and dignitie which belongeth onely vnto him and secondly in ouer throwing the perfection of the vertue and efficacie of his sacrifice Let as many of vs as minde to cleaue vnto Christ to take part with him and to fight vnder his banner so attaine the reward of eternal glory remoue our selues vtterly from the campe and societie of such aduersaries and armed with the spirituall armour of God let vs sounde the trumpet and bid defiance against them and against the diuel and Antichrist their chiefe capitaines for this is most certaine that wee shall neuer be reputed as friendes vnto Christ vnlesse wee be at enmâ—ty with his enimies fight against them Manie do suppose that they may hold friendship and familiaritie with them and estéeme of them as Christians and match their sonnes with their daughters although they beare yâ— same print and be of the same stamp with their parents onely because they doe professe the name of Christ and carrie a zeale vnto him But this dooth bewray a most horrible blindnes grosse darkenesse in them which cannot sée that to confesse the name of Christ is not anie thing at all auailable séeing they doe vnder that pretence rob and spoyle him of his glorie tread downe his trueth and destroy his lawes The Apostle sayeth Rom. 10. that the Iewes had the zeale of God but yet he sayeth it was not according to knowledge and therefore that being not a spirituall but a carnall zeale could nothing at al cléere them but that they were still those which as vtter enimies of god did fight against him In like