my people 11 And they shall not teache euery man his neyghbour and euery man hys brother saying Knowe the Lord for they shall al know mee from the least to the greatest of them 12 For I wyll bee mercyfull to their vnryghteousnesse and I wyll no more remember their sinnes and their iniquities Beholde this is the newe Testament this is the seconde Couenant of mercy not written in Tables of stone as the first Couenant of iustice was but in the fleshely Tables of our hartes by the spirite of god Of this Couenant Sara was a lyuely fygure when shee brought forth Isaac not by course of nature or Carnall deuyse as Ismael was begotten but by the power of GOD accordyng to hys promyse For by the doctrine of this couenant the children of God are borne vnto libertie through faith For to those that receiue Iesus Christ he giueth this dignitie that they should be the sonnes of God euē to those that beleeue in his name which are not borne of blood nor of the will of the fleshe nor of the will of man but of god And this is that lawe that commeth out of Sion that word that proceedeth out of Hierusalem which proclaimeth libertie freedome from Sion to all them that embrace Christ by faith The same godly matrone Sara being the mother of the faithfull is also a figure of the true Church of god which is no earthly Citie flourishyng in worldly dignity but is altogether heauenly and spirituall Hierusalem that is aboue is the mother of vs all For although a great number of children be dispersed ouer al the worlde yet is shee heauenly because shee hath her beginnyng of the heauenly grace and dwelleth aboue by Fayth and those her Children which are in the worlde are but Pilgrymes and straungers on the earth for their conuersation and dwelling theyr Franchise and libertie is in heauen from whence they looke for a Sauiour The word of promise and couenant of mercie is that incorruptible seede by which she conceiueth children heires vnto God In the same she hath milke for hir infantes and stronger meate for them of ryper age shee cherisheth and bryngeth them vp vntyll they come of yeeres apt to enioye their Fathers inheritance perfourming all offices and duetyes of a most kynd and naturall mother And therefore it is truely said hee shall not haue GOD to his Father that refuseth the Churche to bee his mother And here wee must note that there is but one true Churche namelye Heauenly Hierusalem the mother of vs all that are Gods Children and therefore all Heretikes and Scismatykes that bee not Chyldren of thys one mother are excluded from beyng Chyldren of god Here also wee see that the Churche is Catholike or Uniuersall and howe shee is Catholike or Uniuersall not in respecte of euerie great multitude that challengeth her to bee theyr mother but shee is the mother of all the faythfull of all the free borne Children of God that are borne accordyng to the promyse accordyng to the Couenant of Gods mercie and not of the wyll or workes merites or worchynesse of man but of the spirit of God. The thyrde condition she is heauenly shee is from aboue shee is not bounde to any place vpon the earth No she hath forsaken earthly Hierusalem to dwell in heauen And thinke you she wil forsake heauen to come downe and dwel in Rome No no all the inchanters and Sorcerers of Aegipt and Babilon cannot drawe her down from Heauen too place her seate at Rome If wee wil be Children of the freewoman wee muste looke vp intoo Heauen by Fayth where our Mother dwelleth and not too any place on earth neyther too Hierusalem in Iuda nor to Rome in Italy nor to Constantinople in Thracia nor to Alexandria in Aegypt nor to Antiochia in Syria but to Ierusalem in Heauen for she is the Mother of vs al that are the Children of god We learne here that if we be true children of Hierusalem that is aboue what manner lyfe and conuersation becōmeth vs namely such as our Mother is yea and our Father also heauenly Godly Spirituall Besides thys in that Hierusalem is aboue wee see howe madde the furie and rage of Tyraants is that thinke by persecutyng her Children which are straungers on earthe they can destroye and vanquishe her that is in Heauen whereas when they haue done the vttermost that their rage leadeth thē vnto that is to kyll their bodies they do but send home the Children to theyr Mother who as long as shee is great with Childe by the seede of the Gospell shee still traueleth in birth in bryngeth foorth men Chyldren which vnder their Prince and eldest Brother the Sonne of GOD shall treade downe that Dragons head that persecuteth the mother and the Children vntill hee bee caught by the heeles and throwne into the bottomlesse lake that burneth with fyer and brymston The fourthe condition of the Church is that she is free and therfore bringeth forth Children vntoo freedome Shee is free in that she is redeemed and bought out of bondage by the blood of the Sonne of God that she might be holy and vnspotted before hym not hauyng her owne ryghteousnesse wherewith she is adorned but the garment washed in the blood of Christ which is the righteousnesse of Sainctes Thus is shee a glorious mother and bringeth foorth Children that are made free from sinne and wickednesse to serue the Lorde GOD their father in holynesse and rlghteousnesse all the dayes of their lyfe By this that hath beene sayde it is manifest that the Church of Rome is not the Church of Christ for she is earthely glysteryng in Earthly glorye maynceyned by carnall strength and wysdome mainteyning the Doctrine of bondage and persecutyng the Gospell of lybertye Here also is decyded a great controuersye betweene the Papystes and vs whether the Catholyke Churche of Christe bee vysible yea or no. The Papystes stoutely mainteyne that the Catholike Churche is vysible that is apparant and open to bee seene to the eyes of all men and they thynke it the strongest reason they haue eyther too defende their Churche or to impugne ours that their Church hath alwayes beene and yet is vysible and in the open veywe of the world when our Church wythin these hundreth yeares was dryuen intoo Corners and not too bee spyede excepte it were in a fewe persecuted members The grounde they stande vppon is a wrong Interpretation of the saying of our Sauiour Chryste in the. 5. of Saincte Math. A City that is builded vpon an hill cannot be hidde But thys perteyneth nothing to the Cytie of Rome although it be builded not on one but vpon seuen hils For our Sauiour Christ as the whole contexte of his speach doth euydently declare speaketh not there of the Catholike Church but of hys Apostles that were appoynted to be the light of the world therfore must needs be seene were as a Cytie which is buylded on a hyll and therefore
much as no man was euer able to obserue it except our sauiour Christ no man euer was or shall be iustifyed by it but by Christ onely And as the couenant of Iustice doeth require perfect righteousnesse and geueth no pardon so the couenant of mercy giueth righteousnes freely admitteth no satisfactiō These are those two Couenants that GOD hath made with mankynde concerninge their iustifycation saluation more then these two he hath not made so that he which wil be iustifyed by the law must looke for no mercy and hee that wyll be iustifyed by grace in Christe must not thinke of any merit worthynesse or satisfaction of his owne but only in Iesus Christ. What place then haue these mongrels that make a confusion of grace and merites of Fayth and Workes of the Law and the Gospell They haue no place in neyther of the two Testamentes the olde nor the new If they wyll haue a thyrde way of Iustifycation they must shew a thyrde Couenaunt yf they cannot shew a thyrde Couenant they cannot haue a middle way of Iustifycation Wee haue shewed good euydence for the two Couenants the one of Iustice the other of mercye and how the one Couenaunte neyther beareth wyth anye transgressyon nor alloweth anye pardon the other admitteth no dignity of the person nor alloweth any satisfaction of his for his vnworthinesse Let the Papistes which wil bee iustified partly by the grace of God and partly by their owne merites let them I say nowe stande foorth and shewe vs the Tables of suche a couenante if euer God made any such with men that he would forgyue them halfe their sinnes and allowe them to make amends for thother halfe let them shewe their euidence if they haue any if they haue none as there is none mentioned in the Scripture but the two Testamentes the two Couenantes the lawe and the Gospell what tytle or clayme can they make to the heauenly inherytance whereof they haue no promyse no Testament no couenāt but only a carnal perswasion of their owne fleshely reason an earthly Imagination of humayne wysedome yea an hellishe presumption of their prowde worldly affection whereby they shewe themselues to bee nothing els but Agarens and Ismaelytes Children of the bondewoman and borne after the fleshe as Ismaell their Father was whose tytle and clayme vntoo the spirituall inheritance was altogether earthly and carnall vtterly voyde of the promise and woorde of God. But let vs heare the Apostle descrybing the two Couenantes The one sayeth hee is from mount Sinay gendrying into bondage which is Agar The Lawe therfore which is the fyrst couenāt is cōpared to Agar bycause it begetteth into bondage as shee dyd yea mount Sinay from whence the Lawe was published is compared too Agar And then the Lawe is as it were the seede by which of Sinay that is the Church of Hypocrites are begotten no Children but vntoo perpetuall bondage But here nowe aryseth a doube howe of the lawe of GOD which is holy and good suche wycked and vngodly Chyldren shoulde bee conceyued For answer vntoo thys doubte wee muste vnderstande that not of the lawe rightely vsed suche vnhappie Children are begotten for wee knowe that the lawe is good if a man vse it lawfullye But when righteousnesse is soughte by obseruation of the lawe which is not attayned by any man but through grace only then is the lawe abused and of the Lawe so abused are begotten no Children but hypocrites vnto euerlasting bondage The Lawe is vsed rightly when it is made our Schoolmaster vnto Christe that wee may be iustified by Fayth But when Iustification is not sought by Fayth without the deedes of the Lawe but eyther by the deedes of the Lawe onely or by the deedes of the Lawe and Fayth then is the lawe which is holy of it selfe by this abuse made a corrupt seede of which is conceyued these bastardly Hypocrites that falsely chalenge to bee the Sonnes of god whereas they are in deede the sonnes of eternall sclauery and bondage You will say they seeke lyberty by this meanes and not bondage but certayne it is they fynde nothyng but bondage what soeuer they pretende too seeke For such is the nature of the lawe that it bryngeth all men intoo bondage that are not set at lybertye by the onely meane which GOD hathe appoynted for theyr infranchismente whiche is the Redemption of the Sonne of god Now when these men that seeke too bee vnder the Lawe refuse the onely charter of infranchismente which almightye GOD dooth most mercifully offer to gyue them freely they are intangled wyth double bondage and thraldome both that which is by nature whereunto all the sonnes of Adam are subiecte that are not set at libertie by the sonne of GOD and also that which groweth by theyr omne confession while they refuse the freedome offered and voluntaryly put their neckes vnder the yoke of the Lawe which promiseth no lybertie but vpon the keeping of an impossible condition and threatneth certein and perpetual bondage for euery voluntary yet necessary transgression So that it is impossible for al thē that are vnder the Lawe eyther to obteyne the reward which it promiseth or to avoyd the punishment which it threatneth Wherfore mount Sinay which is Agar the law thus abused begetteth no childrē but hipocriticall sclaues vnto euerlasting bondage For Agar is mount Sinay in Arabia and answereth in figure too that Hierusalem which is now is in bondage with her children First let vs here obserue that manner of speeche whyche the Apostle vseth when hee sayeth that Agar is the mount Sinay whereas it is euydent that he meaneth that Agar dooth figure or signifie the mount Sinay The Papistes make great exclamation agaynst those Interpreters which in the woordes of consecration as they cal them This is my body doo expounde est for significat This is my body that is this bread dooth signifye my body And a great matter they make of the verbe substantiue est as though that when soeuer it is vsed is Scripture it declareth a substaunce and no fygure or sygne of a substaunce Howbeyt there bee infynite places of Scripture where thys verbe substantiue est can not bee otherwyse interpreted then for significat and thys our Texte is one very manifeste place Agar sayth hee is the mount Sinay in Arabia What was Agar nowe chaunged into the substaunce of a Mount who is so vayde of reason or sense but he must needes confesse that hys meanyng is that Agar dooth sygnifye Mount Sinay or is a fygure of Mount Sinay in Arabia Yea but I knowe what will bee replyed Sayncte Paule speaketh not here of the Sacramentes That is true but when the holy Ghoste speaketh of Sacramentes which are holy and Heauenly signes it were more probable too vnderstande hys speache fyguratiuely and not litterally Yea it is most vsuall in the Scripture when the spirite of God speaketh of the Sacraments to say they bee those
thinges which they doo but represent and signifie As Circumcision is called the couenant the Lamb is called the Passouer Baptisme is called the newe byrth and S. Paule speaking of the Sacrament of Christes blood sayth The Rocke was Christ And our Sauiour Christ himselfe sayth This cuppe is the newe Testament In al which speaches there can be no transsubstantiation and chaunge of substances be vnderstoode but a signe a figure or representation What then Doo we make the Sacramentes nothing else but bare signes naked figures and imaginatiue representations God forbyd it is not in vaine that the ontwarde elementes in the deuine Sacramentes doo beare the names of those things which they doo represent but that God doth truely and in deede perfourme his promises vnto the faithfull of which these Sacramentes are the seales to confyrme their fayth So God in Baptisme which is the Sacrament of regeneration dooth worke effectually to the mortifying of the olde man and renuing of the newe man whereby the man that is baptised is made the childe of god And Christ in the Sacrament of his bodye and blood dooth truely feede vs wyth hys bodye and blood which is the onely foode of our soules wherby wee are nourished and preserued vnto eternall lyfe But to returne to the matter Agar in this fygure dooth signifye the Mount Sinay in Arabia from whence the Lawe of bondage was giuen as Sara dooth signifie the Mount Sion in Hierusalem from whence the Gospell of freedome proceeded And wee must note here that Sinay is a mountayne in the desart of Arabia where the lawe of bondage was proclaimed Namely we must vnderstand that it was altogether out of the compasse of the land of promise It was in the barren wildernes not in the land that flowed with milke honye It was in Arabia not in Canaan So that god would signifie euen by the place where hee published the law that it perteined not to the promise of his mercy but to the pacte or Couenant of his iustice For the land of Canaan was the land of promise a very fruitfull land abundant in all commodities and pleasures of this lyfe which GOD professeth oftentymes vnto the people that hee gaue it them and that without all desert or worthinesse of theyrs of his onely goodnesse and mercy towards them to fulfyll hys promyse made to their Fathers Forbydding them alwayes to thinke or saye that for theyr owne ryghteousnesse God had chosen them to cast out those nations before them putting them ofte in mynde that they were a frowarde and stiffnecked people and howe many wayes they had deserued that God shoulde vtterly haue reiected them as Moses preacheth to them in Deuteronomie Wherefore the lande of Canaan was to them a Sacrament of the Kingdome of Heauen which beyng an inheritance of most gloryous and eternall felicitie no man shall attayne vnto by his owne merytes or woorthinesse but onely by the mercye of god No more then the Israelites were brought into the lande of promise in respecte of their owne deseruings but only by the promise of god Now farre without the bondes of this holy lande in a deserte and solitarie place in a barraine and vnfruitefull soyle where nothing grewe for the sustentation of mannes life where water wanted for the necessarie vse of man and beast euen there God chose a harde stonie and craggie rocke to be the pulpet from whence he thundred out the Lawe of Iustice with most terrible lightes and noyses to signifie that by the Cavenant of his ryghteousnesse no man shoulde looke for any fauour or grace but that all they that were founde transgressors of this law should vndoubtedly incurre the paines of eternall condempnation This was Mount Sinay in Arabia This was Agar the Egyptian This was the mother of Ifmael This is the nobilitie of the sonnes of bondage But he proceedeth and. sayth that Agar or Sinay answereth in figure or similitude to that Hierusalem which is nowe and is in bondage with her children Some translations reade that Sinay bordereth vppon Hierusalem but that is neither true in the litterall sense nor agreeth with the meaning of the Apostle in this figure nor expresseth the Greeke worde which the Apostle vseth For mount Sinay dooth not border vppon Hierusalem but is farre distant from it by certaine hundreth myles But the worde which the Apostle vseth doth signifie a respect or relation of one thing to an other And so he meaneth that Mount Sinay hath respect to that Hierusalem which is nowe which is to the earthly Hierusalem because the earthly Hierusalem did answer in figure to Agar not to Sara to Sinay not to Sion And why so Because she was now degenerated gone out of kind as the Prophet complayneth How is the faithfull Citie become an Adulteres Because she sought to bee iustified by the Lawe that was giuen in Mount Sinay and refused the grace of Christ that was preached on Mount Sion She should haue been a liuely Image of the heauenly Hierusalem if shee had accepted the Gospell of Christ but nowe by refusing the same shee answereth in figure to Sinay the mountaine of Arabia to Agar the mother of Ismael and is in bondage with her Children Shee was called with her children to libertie and freedome by the sonne of God who onely hath authoritie to set at libertie those that were in bondage but they proudly refused it and stoode vppon their prerogatiue saying We are the seede of Abraham wee haue not serued any man howe sayest thou that wee shall bee made free They woulde not vnderstande that euerye one that committeth sinne is the seruant of sinne and cannot haue eternall abyding in the house They woulde not acknowledge that the Sonne of GOD who alwaye abydeth in the house hath Authoritie to infranchise them and that they could not be delyuered from the bondage of sinne but by him Therefore they ramayne styll in bondage without hope of deliuerance For the Adultresse Hierusalem theyr mother hauing nowe embraced a seruyle doctryne and Religion is become Agar or Sinay whose qualities and condition she doth properly represent Wherefore although they doo with full mouthe neuer so proudlye boast themselues to be the seede of Abraham they are neuerthelesse the sonnes of Agar And no greater priuiledge they haue by beyng the sonnes of Abraham then Ismael had who also was the Sonne of Abraham but after the fleshe onely and not after the spirit Wherefore though Sinay in distance of place be farre of from Hierusalem yet in qualitie and condition they are altogether lyke for they are both seruyle the doctrine of them both ingendreth to bondage Thus you see how Hierusalem which is nowe that is the earthly Hierusalem by reteyning the doctrine and religion of bondage and refusing the doctrine and Religion of freedome is become Sinay of Sion Agar of Hierusalem A good admonition for vs al to take heede that wee doo not imbrace the doctrine of bondage but