ravening Wolves But again our Saviour saith in Saint Marks Gospel Mark 10. v. 29 30. There is no man that hath left house or lands or Wife and Children for my sake and the Gospels but he shall receive an hundred fold here and in the world to come eternal life Thus in many places is this truth made so clear to us by Christ himself that I hope none will be so much an Infidel as to practice the contrary But further to show you this truth observe this notable place concerning this point where our Saviour speaking concerning the general day of Judgement declares for what causes some are saved and some damned for to the just he saith Mat. 25. v. 34. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you and then in the next verse he tells them for what causes they are made eternally happy Ver. 35. For I was a hungry and you gave me meat I was thirsty and you gave me drink naked and you clothed me c. And the reasons why them on his left hand received the sentence of hell fire was because they did not do these good works which the other had done Ver. 41 42. and so as the just by good deeds had obtained heaven so the wicked by their evil ones had obtained hell Now I verily think that if a Heathen or Jew should read this Book they would say it was rather made for instructing them in the Faith of Christ then for those that profess themselves Christians and to believe the Bible and yet to deny all this thus proved by the Bible Now having proved this by the words of Christ we will see what Saint Paul his Apostle saith who I will warrant you is of the same minde as you shall see by his words to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 3. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour by which words it is plain that every man shall receive his reward according as he hath himself deserved And in the second to Timothy he saith I have fought the good fight I have kept the faith Chap. 4. v. 7.8 henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which God the righteous judge will give me at that day and to all that love his appearing Now here we see that Saint Paul knew his reward for those good works and declares that all that loves Gods appearing shall be rewarded at the last day And more in his Epistle to the Hebrews Heb. 6. v. 10. he speaks to the purpose in this point That God is not unrighteous to forget you work and labour of love which ye have shewed towards his name in that ye have ministred to the Saints Now you may perceive St. Pauls Opinion which was that it would seem unjust in God if he should not reward our good works but as certain it is that God cannot be unjust so is it as certain that he will reward our good deeds done in communion with his Church which if our works did not deserve or merit we should receive no reward at all but on the contrary receive an eternal punishment Again Saint John Evangelist saith in the Revelation Rev. 3. v. 4. To him that shall overcome shall thus be invested in white Garments and I will not put his name out of the Book of Life and I will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels And again Ver. 12. He that shall overcome I will make him a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go out no more And in another place he saith Ver. 21. To him that shall overcome will I grant to sit with me in my Throne I might and could produce many more places out of holy Scripture to this purpose but they that will not believe these will not care for ten thousand proofs made against their perverse principles but I will onely advise those that have any care of their salvation to consider first what Gods word which is truth it self declares to them And secondly what the practise of our Church is in this and other points of Religion and how agreeable to the same word as is clearly shown for in reason onely is this apparent to all Christians that if God as he doth inspire us to do all our good works then must needs those works be meritorious because God inspired them to be done and hath promised to reward the doing of them according to that of Saint John Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life Rev. 22. v. 12. And behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according to his work Chap. 11. Proving that Gods Church cannot Erre in her Doctrine of Religion and so may be trusted in by every Christian contrary to Protestants opinion DID the Adversaries of Gods Church but consider with themselves what authority and courage and order it hath exercised for this sixteen hundred years they would surely conclude that no government but that of Gods holy Spirit could ever perform the like for by its authority it hath alwayes supprest and beaten down Heresies and by her courage overcome all the torments and sufferings her enemies could invent to lay upon her and by her Order hath ever retained in her Members one uniform Faith and Obedience in all places where her Doctrine hath been spread which if it be granted or can be proved that Gods Holy Spirit is at all times with his Church to direct her in her Doctrine I hope none will deny but that then she is infallible and so cannot possibly be capable of Errour and that it is so shall be made manifestly to appear if you will believe Christ himself who cannot deceive us where in Saint Johns Gospel telling his Disciples that he must go to his heavenly Father to prepare them places at length he gives them and his whole Church this Consolation And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever John 14. v. 16. Now we all know that the Apostles were not to remain for ever upon earth for they are dead and gone so that this promise of Christ was to them and his Church after them which is to remain to the end of the world and in the next verse he tells them who this comforter shall be Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive Now I would fain know how Gods Church can Erre in what she declares to us of Faith Ver. 17. when Gods Holy Spirit is with it And again But the Comforter Ver. 26. which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things Now we may be sure that since the Holy Ghost is to teach the Church all things there can be nothing but Truth taught
him for so great a good as is this pure Sacrament of his Body and Blood I shall now begin to forsake the Shadows and let the Sun-shine of our happiness appear in clearly proving by the Holy Word of God that we now injoy in reality what they did but prefigure to us And first from the words of Christ himself by Saint Matthews Gospel Mat. 26. v. 26.27 28. where he saith in private to his twelve Disciples onely Take eat this is my Body and drink ye all of it for this is my Blood he names here no Figures but in plain tearms This is my Body and had not our Blessed Saviour meant what he here said he would have expounded his words both for the benefit of his Apostles and all us besides who have no better assurance in any thing for our salvation then his word which is truth it self The second Text is from Saint Marks Gospel where he saith Christ took bread and blest it and said Take eat Mark 14. v. 22. 23 24. this is my body which shall be given for you and so of the Cup he said to them This is my Blood of the New Testament which shall be shed for you now I leave it to all reasonable Christians that are not partial to their own Souls to consider whether Christ did onely in Figure give his Body to dye for us and his Blood in Figure to be shed or his real Body and Blood if he gave them really for us to death he saith here that this is that Body and that same Blood in this Sacrament so that to deny this is to give our Blessed Saviour the flat lye and in refusing of Christs words here may as well shake hands and bid adieu to all points oâ— Christian Faith for that Saint James his Apostle saith That he which breakâ— one Commandment is guilty of all meaning in the not believing of one he may as well not believe any Our Saviour to confirm to us what he told us by the two precedent Apostles hath inspired Saint Luke to publish this great mystery Luke 22. v. 19 20. where in the Text you may finde the same words recited as was before by Saint Mark but above all you shall finde the beloved Disciple more ample in declaring the words of his Master John 6. v. 50 51 52 c. where he saith That the bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world now the Jews wanting faith as too many now adayes do said as Hereticks now do How can this man give us his flesh to eat not understanding what manner Christ meant to bestow it on us Our Saviour who came into the world to lead us into all truth would have opened undoubtedly his meaning to them if he had had any other but he was so far from shewing any other meaning of his words that he reiterates them over and over again saying Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood ye have no life in you and so proceeds in the confirmation of what he said before and which is very remarkable his Disciples which followed him and had frequently heard his Doctrine could not comprehend how this great mystery should be brought to pass so distrusting his Godhead Ver. 60 61. wherein his power lay to accomplish it They went away saith the Text and walked no more with him By which every Christian may easily understand that if our Saviour had not meant what he said concerning this Sacrament he would not have suffered his Disciples which he loved so well to have gone away and left him but would have then as he did at other times when he spake parables expounded the meaning but you see he had no other meaning for he sweetly complains to the others and will ye also go away Ver. 67. but St. Peter answers for them that stayed To whom shall we go Ver. 68. thou hast the words of eternal life so that we may understand that they believing in his words stayed behinde with him and would not leave our Saviour as the rest did therefore it concerns every Christian as they tender their salvation to consider what hath been said by our Blessed Saviour concerning this grand Mystery of Christian Religion and not any more to question Christs meaning for since we know he hath often said it is his Body and Blood and we likewise know that it was in his power to make the Bread and Wine so by his Divine Benediction there remains nothing for us to doubt but to humble our Spirits in submitting to our Blessed Saviours Doctrine and to say as Saint Peter did Lord thou hast the words of eternal life And that you may in this great point of Faith receive further satisfaction I shall reduce to your memory the opinion of Saint Paul who you shall see verifies what hath been said before for faith he The Cup of blessing which we bless 1 Cor. 10. v. 16. is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ and the Bread of blessing which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ he names no Figures here nor fancies of we know not what but of Communion of Christs sacred Body and Blood who came into the world to abolish all Figures and out of his immense goodness to leave us his divine self for the consolation of our souls And for our further assurance Saint Paul in his next Chapter treateth more amply and telleth the manner of the institution 1 Cor. 11. v. 24 25 26 27. as you may read in the places cited in his Epistle where likewise he saith That by frequent partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ we shew forth the Lords death Perhaps some will answer it is meant for a remembrance of his Death and of them I would demand what better memorial can there be of any person then to have the said person present for example when our Saviour appeared to Saint Thomas and shewed him his sacred wounds then he remembred him and cryed Thou art my Lord John 20. v. 27 28. and my God and so it is frequently amongst friends that hath been long absent that are forgot one by another till frequent conversation reduces to their memory the knowledge of each other and do commonly say in such cases O! now I remember you So by frequent Communion with Jesus Christ in the Sacrament we have the best memorial his goodness could leave unto us Again he saith That whosoever eateth and drinketh these mysteries unworthily eateth and drinketh his own damnation not discerning the Lords Body so that by these words it is plain there is a Body to be discerned by the eyes of our Faith and as plain that damnation would not follow by eating bare bread and Wine From these so evident places of holy Scripture I hope every good Christian will be induced to the belief of this
Gods Church that they have not yet left their Cradles that is they are rocked up and down by their new opinions and so far from being settled that it is to be feared they never will for what wise man can be so much an enemy to truth as to think Gods Church was not spread in the world before Henry the Eighths time or Martin Luthers or John Calvins The rise of all Sectaries who were the first bringers in of all Religions but the Roman as every one knows which hath read any thing and for such men who were known to be leud and evil livers to pretend new lights and discoveries from God for the alteration of Christian Religion who seeth not but that it was preposterous as it hath proved for I would demand why did our Blessed Saviour preach Christian Religion and send his Apostles and Disciples to preach the same to all Nations in the world that they might plant true points of Faith and they did do it and watered it with their Blood was this done for nothing that when these pretended Reformers came they must make the world believe that God would undo all again what had been practised so long in all Christendome to have new Religions of their making set up sure these men thought that either God knew not what he did when he planted the first or that all people but themselves were very simple to receive a second Faith from them of their own inventing as plainly appeared soon after and doth still for no sooner were they severally grown to any authority with silly people but they began to rail and revile one against the other just as we see their succeeding followers do to this day which indeed is proper to all Sectaries and Hereticks to do which shewed then and now of what far distance their doctrine was from pleasing God who is the God of peace and hareth contention as also far from being of his Church since there is no such custome as Saint Paul saith and yet we see by wofull experience in this Kingdome how these Sects which are the spawn of Heresie still grow more and more amongst us and in their increasing are still more monstrous then at first in their opinions against God and Christian Religion and yet they say as the first of them did that God hath sent them to convert and purge the world and bring in new Relgions and so all Hereticks that come after this Age will say the like and so it seems by them that God will never settle any but have every Age a new Religion And thus we may see what a tempestuous sea Heresie is which tumbles them up and down that follow it and never are at rest here till they imbarque themselves in the secure Ship of the Catholick Church where God himself is the Pilot from whence those unhappy souls that went out and were the cause of these prodigious storms have suffered shipwrack on the quick-sands of their own giddy fancies Again let us observe further how monstrous these Heresies and Factions are and how destructive both to mens souls and to Monarchy in the Civill Government of our Bodies First we may easily perceive what ruine it hath brought to many souls Their bad practices and proceedings when they are taught to deny all these Principles of Faith proved in this Book by the word of God and other high points by some of them as the Godhead of Christ and the Holy Ghost is denyed by Antebaptists and Quakers and too many others and Baptisme of Infants and amongst them altogether is practised such a furious contempt of Gods word and all the Sacraments and Divine Mysteries of Christian Religion as never was yet known or heard of in the Christian world before so that some people are even distracted and know not where to go for to finde rest for their souls because so many Sects pretend for the truth and are all false because as Saint Paul saith there is but one Faith one God and one Baptisme and the Catholick Church is the onely Haven for all those troubled spirits that seek for truth to finde repose in And how destructive they are to Civill Government I need not quote any Authour to prove it since our King and Kingdome at home as well as others abroad have felt the hellish hands of Heresie and faction in such sort that Rebelling against our deceased lawful Sovereign they did not onely spill his Royal Blood but thousands of his Subjects and this under the appearance of Religion too as well as any but they that see not these to be snares and pits of the Devil deserve to fall into them since none but those that are wilfully blinde can be caught in such visible ginns And now as I have briefly shown you the rough and stormy Seas of Heresie and Factions so I will open the gate to let you see the smooth and pleasantest Waters of Gods Church which runs through every vein of the world peaceably without noise or disturbance agreeable to his Word wo said My peace I leave with you and that you love one another as I have loved you which words of our Saviour is no where observed as I have shown by the malice and contentions that is amongst Hereticks but in the Catholick Church The Churches Antiquity and rise which hath had this peace which Christ left ever since he left it and as it began then in his time and the Apostles to be a famous Church throughout the world so hath it continued in the same splendor and purity to this day as is plainly seen first by her being so conformable in her Doctrine she now teacheth to the true and infallible word of God as I have proved Secondly in her continuance of her lawful Line of Pastours Thirdly in her Apostolical care for the Conversion of Nations that know not God which otherwise might perish Fourthly The Churches practice by her Miracles famed throughout the world as our Saviour said who ever did believe truly in him should have power to cast out Devils Mark 16. v. 17 18. and take up Serpents and drink poison and not hurt them so his Church which hath onely truly believed in him hath onely had many Members that hath truly done those Miracles as many Protestants themselves confess Again if we consider the different order that is in both Churches it may justly amaze all reasonable men the Priests of the Catholick Church never marry nor enjoy any great Estates that so they may be freely divested from the worlds interests as the Apostles were to attend wholly to perform their charge in Gods Church and the conversion of souls on the contrary the Ministers of all other Churches do generally marry and enjoy very great Possessions and Riches by which they are so incumbred with the world as very few are more as we daily see by their continual Suits of Law and griping cares to advance themselves from one