THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESSE A GENERALL DISCOVRSE OF THE REASON THAT IS IN CHRISTIAN RELIGION By WILLIAM SPARKE Divinity Reader at Magd Coll in Oxford and Parson of Blechly in Bâ—â—kingham-shire 1. Cor. 14.19 I had rather speake fiue words with my vnderstanding that I might teach others also then ten thousand words in an vnknowne tongue 1. Pet. 3.15 Sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts and be ready alwayes to giue an answere to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekenesse and feare OXFORD Printed for WILLIAM WEBB 1628. TO THE MOST ILLVSTRIOVS GEORGE DVKE OF BVCKINGHAM LORD HIGH ADMIRALL OF ENGLAND c. KNIGHT OF THE HONOVRABLE Order of the Garter THE singular grace and Munificent bounty which your Grace pleased to vouchsafe my humble petition for repaire of the Parish Church where I liue vnder your Honourable Patronage most Noble Lord bindeth and at once imboldneth mee to make this publike acknowledgement hauing laboured in the spirituall building whilst the materiall was in hand to set vp through lights in the house of God Such pious deedes of Gratious Lords and Noble Benefactours are worthy to be reported after many reasons now principally for this that the world may discerne against the slanderous adversaries of true religion that shee hath not beene barren nor vnfruitfull of good vvorkes whilst in a fewe late yeares more Churches Colledges and Hospitals haue beene repaired and built then in many ages of their devoutest ignorance and superstition In the meane time what havocke haue they made of the Churches not breaking down the carued worke with axes and hammers but devouring the liuing teÌ„ples of the holy Ghost with fier and sword setting vp their abomination of desolation where they can prevaile Your Grace will goe on to do good as you are great and to Patronise the truth which here comes into your presence in her naked simplicity crauing to goe forth honoured with your name and authority Knowing that God will honour them that honour him 1 Sam. 2.30 but they that dispise him shall be lightly esteemed To him therefore having learned of the good courtier Nehemiah Nehem 2.4 to direct our prayers even whilst wee make petition vnto Princes I bowe the knees of my soule that hee will bee pleased to adde of his Grace to your Grace still more and more who is able to make all graces abound towards you 2. Cor. 9.8.11 that you alwaies hauing all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good worke which shall cause by vs many thanke giuings vnto God Your Grace his faithfull Chaplaine and humble servant in Christ Iesus WILLIAM SPARKE The Preface to the Reader TRVTH proues it selfe and disproues error Which if it might bee fully and fairely cleared in the great mystery of revealed grace would soone put to silence the endlesse controuersies of religion with all honest hearts Wherein many haue at all times languished away which being now growne from words to blowes haue wasted the Churches and shaken the faith of the most insomuch that if Christ should now come a Luke 18.8 should hee finde faith on the earth when b Mat. 24.12 the loue of so many is waxen cold Religion hath beene so long disputed that now it may be questioned whether there be any or no most men seeming to bee resolued according to that of Nigidius in A Gellius Religentem esse oportet c Noct. Attic. l. 4. c. 9. religiosum nefas Whose practise is either vanished into an empty speculation or meerely pretended vnder an idle profession Was ever chaste Virgin or matron so shamefully handled by the most debaushed ruffians as sacred trueth hath been by her loue making paramours whilst every faction haling her to themselues they haue torne her peece-meale amongst them That we neede not serue her now as once the Levite did his concubine d Iudg. 19.29 to cut her in peeces and to send her into all the coasts of Israel Every tribe hath a part and that they make much of more then of the whole which best serues their owne turnes How infinitely is the pretending head swolne bigger then the whole body being long since fallen from it Never was any Saints relique so improved and vbiquitated How vast are the secular armes growne being cemented to that monstrous head without neck or shoulders A Catholique head with Catholique armes How farre are the legges divaricated beyond the stride of any Colossus as if they would never come together againe to walke one and the same way How is the body pined the while and vtterly wasted away whilst every part stands apart as in the f Menen Agrip. Liv. l. 2. Apologue refusing to labour or take care for the whole Is not this the trueth Thus hath shee beene vsed whose life is Christ whose body is the Church in the house of hir friendes They haue peirced my hands and my feete yea my head and my side they may tell all my bones there is no whole part in mee And they who should haue taken downe her tortured body imbalmed and wrapped it vp in fine linnen vntill it rose againe haue playd the curious Anatomists and dissected every member with so many subtile quaeries and disputes that it is almost as hard to finde the trueth in their bookes as in the others liues Which could we see as faire as she is in her iust proportion and comely feature such is her grace that shee would even ravish our soules with vnsatiable loue and delight and would make vs all of one minde minding that one thing vvhich is necessary There haue not wanted skilfull handes I confesse to gather vp and put together her dismembred limbs to adorne and set her out in her liuely beauty and I thinke many of them had the Spirit of God to reviue her againe and to quicken her Since shee hath brought forth many children vnto God And now what more No more but the same againe in an other manner if by any meanes this vvayvvard age not pleased with varieties may bee perswaded g 2 Thes 2.10 to receiue the loue of the truth that vvee may be saued Likenesse begets liking and lookes beget loue I haue therefore indeavoured to present vnto rationall men a view of the reason that is in Christian Religion The reason I say not of it for it is of faith which hath no vvorth if the truth bee obvious but the reason that is in it how it is thus in the Analogie and Symmetrie of the whole and euery part not why euery particular is so or so which being revealed from God may bee apprehended by faith can not be comprehended by any vvit of man Suffice it vs who proceed in our knowledge vpon certaine principles by comparing their issues that we finde all things ansvverable to what we haue receiued and our faith in nothing deceiued or deluded My principall aime in this ensuing discourse is to giue
abrogated by Christ Nor by his Apostles The Iewes typicall vse thereof abolished The Christian sabbath day within the compasse of the commandement The Lords day designed by himselfe for our sabbath It hath euer beene obserued as the sabbath by the Church It respects the kingdome of God The Perfect will of God to bee done on earth The heauenly conuersation How doth faith worke by loue According to the law teaching vs to doe what God hath commanded The law established by faith Although faith rest not in our workes which the law requireth yet are a Eph. 2.10 wee Gods workemanship created in Christ Iesus vnto good workes which God had before ordained not only in his counsell but by his law that we should walk in them And b Gal. 3.12 although the law bee not of faith that is of things to bee only beleiued but to be done for the man that doeth them shall liue in them yet doth the law require faith c Heb. 11.6 without which it is impossible to please God Therefore the law prescribeth faith in the first place and throughout namely that wee acknowlege god the lawgiuer to be the lord our God the only true God and performe that faith vnto him by an vniuerfall vniforme obedience to the whole law and euery title thereof in regard of him that commandeth Which iustifieth our faith to be in God when it answereth his d Servus qui ex domini iussu ea facit tantummodò quae vult facere non dominicam implet voluntatem sed suam Salv. l. 4. de guber Die whole will as well of command as of promise as well in one duety as in another When God gaue the law to the Israelites hee made himselfe knowne vnto them by his wonderfull deliuery of them out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage thereby to binde their obedience in faith to him the only true God Which was but a type and figure of the great saluation from the power of satan by Christ Iesus By faith in whose name thorough his spirit wee truely know and rightly acknowledge the only true God And the faith of God his loue to vs in Christ knits our hearts againe in loue to God and for his sake towards all men as he hath commanded improues the formall worship of God vnto all sincerity in spirit and in trueth and the common ciuility of the world vnto Christian charity zealous of good workes for his glory that hath called vs to the knowledge of his grace For if God so loued vs as wee beleiue then ought we also to loue one another much more him who is the God of all grace and loue Neither doe we beleiue indeed if wee loue not Wee beleiue not Christ his incarnation death passion resurrection and ascension c. Vnlesse e Phil. 2.5 c the like minde bee in vs that was in Christ Iesus Who to redeeme the glory of god in vs laide aside his owne glory equall with the father and humbled himselfe in the forme of a seruant vnto the death of the crosse As the fathers loue to the sonne begat in him the like affection towards vs so doth Christ his f Nullaest maior ad amorem inuitatio quam praeuenire amando Nimisque durus est animus qui delectionem si nolebat impendere nolit rependere August de catèch rud cap. 4. loue if wee embrace it by a true and a liuely faith worke in vs the like loue towards our bretheren for his sake g Iohn 15.9.10 As the father saith hee hath loued mee so haue I loued you continue you in my loue If you keepe my commandements ye shall abide in my loue euen as I haue kept my fathers commandements and abide in his loue It is all one in the law to loue God and to keepe his commandements And h Iohn 14.23.24 if you loue mee saith Christ keepe my commandements Which because we can in no sort doe of our selues Gods law our prayer i 2. Cor 3.5 who are not able as of our selues so much as to thinke any good therefore being preuented with his grace k Phil. 2.13 who worketh in vs both to will and to doe of his good pleasure wee desire of God by prayer as Christ hath taught vs what he doth require of vs by the law l In omnibus enim monitis dei atque mandatis vna cademque ratio est divinae gratiae humanae ebedientiae Nec ob aliud vnquam datur praeceptum nisi vt quaetatur praecipientis auxilium Prosp Who therefore commandeth that wee may know what to craue of him And it is our faith which by prayer obtaineth what the law requireth The graces inspired of God faith hope and loue breathe all againe vnto godby prayer m Rom. 8.26 the spirit helping our infirmities with groanes that cannot be expressed For as the naturall life so the spirituall confists in respiration by hearing and praying without the which there can be no true life and well doing Therefore n Phil. 1.9.10 this we pray that our loue may abounde yet more more in knowledge and in all iudgement that wee being instructed out of the law may approue the things that are more excellent that wee may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ being filled with the fruites of righteousnesse which are by Iesus Christ vnto the glory and praise of God o Rom. 10.14 But how shall they call on him in whom they haue not beleeved By faith in the sonne of God wee know and beleeue in him the only true God and worship him in spirit and in truth p Gal. 4.6 Who hath sent downe the spirit of his sonne into our hearts Faith in the trinity denyes not the vnity of God crying Abba father Doth our faith now in the trinity contradict the vnity transgresse the commandements Thou shalt haue no other Gods but me Nay the trinity of persons establisheth the vnity of the Godhead whilest himselfe is acknowledged the author mediator and doer of all in all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato in Philebo in Timaeo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quo sensu vide Proclum Is autem dicit Triadem exse omnia efficere Who being infinit is not confined by any person and the persons being distinct are not confounded in God ſ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Serapidis responsum Thuli in Aegipto De his vide August lib 10. de civ Dei cap. 23. In deo vnasubstantia sed tres personae in Christo duae substantiae sed vna persona In Trinitate alius atque alius non asiud atque aliud In saluatcre aliud atq aliud non alius atque alius Vincent Ler inens cont Her cap. 19. The father is God in his infinit essence or being the sonne the same God in his infinit presence and glorious appearing the holy ghost the same
Deo per lignum accipiamus nostri debiti remissionem Irenaeuslib 3. cap. 17. For he hath redeemed vs from the curse of the law being made a curse for vs. For it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on tree And wherefore was the death on the tree accursed aboue all kindes of death but as the serpent was accursed aboue all beastes of the field Both for the first transgression whereof the serpent was the instâ—â—â—â—t the tree the occasion The father of all mankind would needes eate the sinfull fruite of the forbidden tree and the sonne of man must needes tast the deadly fruite of the cursed tree to recover our saluation as it were back againe by the same way h 1. Cor. 15.22 Wherefore as in Adam all dyed so in Christ shall all be made aliue Who hauing on the tree satisfied the law k Colos 2.14.15 blotted out the had writing of ordinances that was against vs and tooke it out of the way nayling it vnto his crosse And hauing so spoyled principalities powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it For when the law was satisfied and cancelled Satans commission for l Quomodo mors à capite superata videtur quae tanta adhuc libertate saevit in membra victa planè mors opus diaboli peccati poena victum peccatum causa mortis victus malignus ipse peccati author mortis Nam peccatum licet simul cum Christo cruci ipsius non dubitetur affixum adhuc tamen interim non regnare quidem sed habitare etiam in ipso dum viveret Apostolo permittebatur Sic mors ipsa minimè quidem adhuc abesse cogitur sed cogitur non obesse Bernard serm in transit S. Malachiae death which he had by the law expired m 1. Cor. 15.55.56.57 O Death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory The sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the law But thankes bee to God which giueth vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ Thus the grace of God The spirit of Grace that bringeth saluation hath appeared vnto vs in Christ Iesus by which n Eph. 2.8 grace wee are saued through faith and that not of our selues it is the gift of God who worketh all grace in vs by his spirit As by the word spirit of God every thing was made at first as God would haue it So now he calleth men a Deus quos dignatur vocat quem vult religiosum facit Ambros l. 6. in Lucam c. 46. whom he pleaseth out of the world that lyeth in wickednes they b Hic absque cmendicatisaliunde suffragijs quos coÌ„pungit inungit quos invitat consummat quod praecipit efficit Arnold Bonav lib. de operibus sex dierum cap. 2. moued enlightened by his spirit belieue come c Haec erit vis divinae gratiae potentier vtique natura habens in nobis subjacentem sibi liberam arbitrij potestatem quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicitur Tertul de an cap. 21. Without whose grace wee haue no present faculty or ability by nature to make meanes for grace or of our selues to vse the meanes being offered d Eph. 2.1 c 4.18.19 Being dead in sinnes and trespasses alienated from the life of God past feeling For although wee haue the same e Potentias habemus potestatem amisimus powers of nature as at the first yet haue we not the same natur all power to vse them being in our selues vtterly indisposed and disabled as paralytikes haue little or no vse of their limmes and sences And is it not often so with perfect men f Potentia prima secunda that they haue not the power as wee say to doe on a suddaine an ordinary thing at hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrisost in â—ad Corinth hom 24. or to make vse of that which is their owne g Eccl 5.19 Every man to whom God hath giuen riches and vvealth and hath giuen him power to eate thereof and to take his portion and to reioyce in his labour this is the gift of God And if it bee so with vs in these naturall things and temporall how much more h Neque fideles fiunt nisi libero arbitrio tamen illius gratia fideles fiunt qui eorum a potestate tenebrarum liberavit arbitrium August ep 107. ad VitaleÌ„ mox ab initio in things spirituall and eternall i 1. Cor. 2.10.11 Againe what man knoweth the things of a man which is in him Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God by whom they are revealed vnto vs. For k v. 9. they are such as eye hath not seene nor eare heard neither haue entred into the heart of man And naturally nothing enters into the heart but by some sense whereby wee haue all our intelligence Now l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haec absque meliori afflatu acâ— diviniore virtute non posunt venire in contemplationem hominum Origen l 4. contr Celsum the things of God are not perceiued by sense nor comprehended by science but by manifestation of the trueth to every mans conscience in the sight of God through a priuate intelligence betwixt him vs by his spirit whereby he revealeth himselfe in the word m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neque enim ab vllis perspici aut intelligi possunt nisi quibus Deus Christus eius concesserit intelligentiam Iust Mattyr in Dialog cum Triphone Iudaeo to whom he pleaseth from vnder the letter as Christ did sometimes manifest himselfe to be the word the Sonne of God from vnder the flesh n Prou. 17.16 Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a foole to get wisdome seing he hath no heart to it o 1. Cor. 2.14 For the naturall man receiueth not nor indeede perceiveth the things of God both because all our p Iam. 3.15 naturall wisdome being carnall is earthly and sensuall if not deuillish and because the things of God are supernaturall But q 1. Cor. 2.14 they are spiritually discerned by the same spirit whereby they were revealed r Iob. 32. v. 8. Surely there is a spirit in man but the inspiration of the Almighty giueth them vnderstanding Every grace of God in vs Preventing Grace is the impresse of the like grace of God towards vs expressed in Christ Iesus s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vocat Chrisost eiusque discipulus Isiodor Pelus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrisost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impressed on our hearts by the Holy Ghost the almner dispenser of the manifold gifts and graces of God t 1. Cor. 12.11 dividing to every man sueuerally as hee will u Eph. 4 7. according to the measure of the gift of Christ * Iob. 1.16 Of whose fulnesse we all receiue euen grace
die excitatum atque in saecula manens Greg. Nazianz orat 43. it s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 698. as the temple of his body excelleth the body of the the temple as much as a spirituall house of liuely stones excelleth a materiall house of earthly stones as much as the Church Catholike excelleth the narrow compasse of Iury. At this time by meanes of these and the like predictions which could not but bee generally rumored abroade the desire of all nations was kindled and the expectation of all people was awakned k Pluribus persuasio inerat antiquis Sacerdotum literis contineri eo ipso tempore fore vt valesceret Oriens profectique Iudaea rerū potirentur Tacit Hist lib. 5. Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus constans opinio esse in fatis vt eo tempore Iudaeâ profccti rerum potirentur Sueton. lib. 10. It was common throughout that part of the world that the Lord of the whole world should come forth of Iudea as the Heathen writers together with Iosephus doe witnesse whose testimony in this case cannot be suspected Now the time was come that the desire of all nations should come in whom they should all bee blessed l Malach. 3.1 And the Lord himselfe whom they sought came suddenly into his temple even the Angell of the couenant whom wee delight in m Luke 2.28 c. Wherevpon the just old Simeon hauing Christ in his armes sang his Nunc dimittis Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes haue seene thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people to bee a light to lighten the Gentiles and to bee the glory of thy people Israell For this was their glory and the glory of their Temple that n Rom. 9.4 to them pertained the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giuing of the Law and the service of God and the promises Whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is ouer all God blessed for euer Amen Many other things were foretold of him that should come which were accordingly fulfilled in Christ Iesus o Act 7.24 For all he Prophets from Samuel those that follow after as many as haue spoken haue likewise foretold of these dayes Whos 's other predictions of temporall things also were all generally subordinate to things spirituall and eternall in Christ Iesus So it pleased God to temper them together as the promise of an abundant seede to Abraham and the gathering of the Gentiles in him the promise of the land of Canaan and of an heauenly kingdome the perpetual succession of Davids race in the kingdome of Israel and the eternall kingdome of Christ in his Church the prophesie of the Iewes deliverance from their captiuity and of the generall resurrection Christ his prophesie in the Gospell of the destruction of Ierusalem and of the end of the world p Prophetiae in vicem sibi tempora concinunt vt aliquādò ex futuris praeterita aliquandò ex praeteritis futura probētur Greg. praef in Ezech. that by the event of these temporall things in their seasons they and wee might be the better assured of the eternall to be fulfilled in the end and that by the hope of things eternall we may be comforted howsoeuer it goeth with vs in the meanetime Is it not the word of God who speakes things and they are so Hee foretold things to come in the old Testament but by the new he brings thē to passe For q Rom. 1.16 the Gospell is the power of God vnto saluation to every one that beleeueth The power of the Gospell effecting that in vs which it tels vs. The glutton in the Gospell was perswaded that r Luke 16.30 if one might come from the dead his brethren would beleeue him though they did not hearken to Moses and the Prophets Behold Christ risen from the dead how by vertue of his quickning spirit in this word of life he gaineth every where infinite beleeuers and so recovereth them from death to life Behold so many ſ Ipse modus quo mundus credidit si consideretur incredebilior resurrectione viz mortuorum invenitur Incredibile est mundum rem tam incredibilem credidisse Incredibile est homines ignobiles infirmos paucissimos imperitos rem tam incredibilem tam efficaciter mundo in illo etiam doctis persuadere potuisse Aug lib. 22. de Civ Dei c. 5. c. 8. Quisque adhuc prodigia vt credat inquirit magnum est ipse prodigium qui mundo credente non credit Aug. l. 22. de Civ Dei c. 8. witnesses come from the dead all giuing testimony to the word of God The Gentiles t Luke 1.79 who sat in darkenesse and in the shadow of death and sinners of all sorts who had u Eph. 2. c. 3.19 beene dead in sinnes and trespasses alienated from the life of God and past feeling Never did the word of any man or any oracle gaine that generall credit and beget such a new life in men so holy so happy nor all that ever men and angels could speake did make such a blessed change throughout the world as the Gospell hath done and that by most vnlikely meanes and motiues A few simple plaine illiterate men telling plainly what they must loose and what they must suffer in the world whosoever would imbrace their doctrine Neither could the most obstinate vnbeleeuers potent adversaries and desperate enemies of the Gospell though they conspired and practised against it never so maliciously ever bee able to suppresse or withstand the mighty power of God his word but it certainely prevailed to their vtter ruine and confusion Neither is it therefore any preiudice to the power authority of God his word although it obtaineth not the same effect with all men x Is 55.10 For it never returnes void but effecteth that for which it was sente y 2 Cor. 2.16 being the savour of life vnto life in them that are saued and the savour of death vnto death in them that perish z C 4.4 In whom the God of this world hath blinded the mindes of them which beleiue not least the light of the glorious gospell of Christ who is the image of God should shine vnto them a Esdras 4.41 Great is the truth and it prevaileth Now is the effect shewes the vertue of the cause but giues it not so doth the Church The Church the professed company of beleeuers giue testimony but not authority to the truth of God his word b 1. Tim 3.15 For the Church is the pillar of truth not that the truth of God his word relyeth on the Church but because the Church is inlightned by the word of truth whereby it reflecteth light againe vnto the word being in the world as c Exod. 13. the pillar of light that went before the Israelites in the wildernesse d
Phil. 2.16 For the sonnes of God shine as lights in the world holding forth the word of life Especially the faithfull ministers of the word whom Christ therefore calleth e Mat 5.14 the light of the world And if their f Reu. 2.5 candlesticke be set vp in a setled and flourishing Church great and glorious is the light thereof especially in the holy assemblies and most principally in generall counsels A faire way-marke and a forcible inducement to way-fairing men to bend their course that way But yet all this cannot make one true beleeuer g Quis enim imponat mihi necessitatem vel colendi quod nolim vel quod velim non colendi Lact. lib. 5. de vera sap cap. 14. Religionis non est cogere religionē quae sponte suscipi debet non vi Tertul. ad Scapulam No authority of the Church can command faith in a man vnlesse h Hos 2.14 Cathedram habet in coelo qui corda docet Aug. God speake to his heart muchlesse doth it giue truth to the word They both are the proper worke of the same i Sicut Christus legis prophetarum impletio est ita spiritus Evangelij Chrisost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil in ps 95. spirit of truth expressed in the Scripture impressed on the heart of euery true beleeuer k 1. Iohn 5.6 It is the spirit that beareth witnesse because the spirit is trueth l 1. Cor. 14.37.38 Wherefore if any one thinketh himselfe to be spirituall let him acknowledge the things that are written even the scripture to be the word of God But if any will be ignorant let him be ignorant still m 1. Corinth 14.23.24.25 The comming together of the whole Church in some place suppose it be in counsell or for diuine service occasioneth one that beleeueth not or that is vnlearned to come in but it is the word there preached that entereth into him and convinceth him and iudgeth him that openeth the secrets of his heart and then falling downe on his face he worshippeth reporteh that God is in them of a truth n Euangelio non crederem nisi me Catholicae Ecclesiae commoueret authoritas August The Church being more sensible may happily first moue a man but o Ego solis canonicis Scripturis sine vlla recusatione debeo consensum Idem August contr Pelag. de natura grat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ego in sola Scriptura acquiesco Theodoret Dial. 1. c. 6. the Scripture being most certaine doth at last resolue every beleeuer They who liue in some low bottome may take notice that the Sunne is risen by the shining thereof vpon some high and eminent Church but who so getteth vp thither sees the Sunne it selfe risen and perceiues with his owne eyes that hee is in the hemisphere of light and sayth as the men to the woman of Samaria p Iohn 4.42 Now I beleeue not because of thy saying I haue heard it my selfe and know it indeed that it is the word of life q 1. Ioh. 5.9 If we receiu the testimony of men the testimony of God is greater r v. 10. He that beleeueth hath the Testimony in himselfe he that leeueth not hath the testimony against himselfe because ſ Iohn 12.48 the word that hath beene spoken that shall iudge him at the last day In the meane time Christ the Testator hath appointed some with power and authority in his Church to publish and require his word The Administrators and overseers as administrators and ouerseers to his Will and Testament The ministers of the Gospell are to administer the the same with the Sacraments as the t 2 Cor. 5.20 Ambassadours of Christ and u 1 Cor. 4.1 stewards of the mysteries of God hauing charge * 1 Tim. 4.16 Act. 20.28 to looke to themselues and their doctrine and to all the flock ouer which the holy Ghost maketh them ouerseers For the commission once giuen by Christ to the Apostles was not to cease with them but to continue euen x Mat. 28.19.20 so long as the precept bindeth and as his promise supporteth which is vnto the worlds end Wherefore they ordeined others by laying on of hands to succede them in that office and ministery with power also to doe the like so to deriue the same by a perpetuall succession to all posterity y Per ministros dispares Dei munus aequale est quia non illorum sed ejus est August contra Crescon lib. 3. c. 6. loquitur de Bapt. Now though the ministers of the Gospell be all of the same order with equall power to administer yet are they not all of the same degree as ouer-seers But some are in higher place z 2 Tim. 5.22 Tit. 1.5 to ordeine Elders a 1 Tim. 1.3 to charge the Pastours to teach no various doctrine b ch 5.19.20 to heare and to censure them c Tit. 1.11 to stop their mouthes and to silence them d ch 3.30 And after the first and second admonition vtterly to reiect a man that is an hereticke Who hauing this speciall power of Iurisdiction reserued to them for e 1 Cor. 14.40 decency and order sake are therefore called Bishops by an excellency that is f Speculatores Inspectores Vid. Duaren de sacr Eccl. minist ac benef lib. 1. cap. 7. ouerseers Besides these whose speciall office is in the Gospell God hath also ordayned the civill Magistrate from the beginning g 1 Pet. 2.13.14 whether the King as supreame or the governours that are sent by him h Custos vtriusque tabulae Vid. Duarenum de sacr Eccl. Minist ac benef l. 1. c. 5. 6. to administer his Law and to ouersee the due performance and execution thereof with power of life and death according to the Lavv of Nature euer in force i 1 Pet. 2.14 for the punishment of euill doers for the praise of them that doe well Whereunto all Nations euen by the light of Nature haue submitted k V. 13. but wee must submit our selues to euery ordinance of man for the Lords sake l Rom. 13.4 The Magistrate is the m Hoc jubent Imperatores quod jubet Christus quia cùm bonum jubent per illos non jubet nisi Christus Aug. ep 166. Minister of God to thee for thy good if thou doe that which is good but if thou doe that which is euill bee afraide for hee beareth not the sword in vaine These two ministrations the one ciuill the other Ecclesiasticall doe by mutual offices as the Law and the Gospell jointly and mutually support one another for the building vp of the body of Christ his Church and kingdome The * Vos Episcopi estis corum quae in Ecclesia sunt agenda ego verò episcopus extra Ecclesiam a Deosum constitutus Constantinus Imperator vt refert Eusebius in ejus