Mysteries and our knowledge of them A Text in my indgement as befitting this auditory as my selfe for this my first assay Wee sit all here by the well-spring of Wisdome and science most of vs may hereafter serue at the altar in Gods owne house It is not amisse that we know our limits as also consider our strengths Vnder the old law the Levite might goe farther into the Temple then the Lay and a Priest then the Levite so in these points concerning the mysticall temple Apoc. 21. 22. One may wade farther then another but as there none could enter into the chiefest sanctuary saue onely the high Priest so neither here hath any full accesse into the secrets of these mysteries but only our high Priest and Saviour Christ In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge Colos 2. 3. As for vs as long as we abide in this life we must be satisfied with a meaner knowledge of such things with certaine glympses at most like benighted travailers who if the moone hap to be ouerclouded are content with star-light Now to the only wise God who is able to doe aboue that which we can either speake or imagine be ascribed all glory power praise and dominion this day and foreuer Amen FINIS TOVCHING CHVRCH-SCHISMES ROM 16. VER 17. Brethren marke them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee haue learned and avoid them SCarcely had our Apostle here laid the grounds of Christian religion but it presently meetes on each side with strong opposers The Diuell was straight wayes ready to excite erroneous and factious spirits against the truth What Poets faigne of hate and contentions beside their Iupiter's palace is really true of the house of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eager debates closely still as 't were environ the Church Alwaies there bee who like the Dragon Apoc. 12. 4. are ready to devoure it euen in its birth Neither yet doth this so inbred enmity betwixt the patrons of truth and errour happen without God's especiall allowance For first hereby hee sifts and winnowes all alike As many as settle firmely together he takes for solid graine but those who are carried away with each blast of new doctrine for fruitlesse chaffe They neuer were sincerely orthodox but either temporizing formalists or at most coldly devoted Againe by this he keepes his elect from rust and an over secure ease out of loue hee permits them not to slumber in such a tranquility as might at length produce some hurtfull effect Calamitas saith he in Minutius virtutum disciplina est Crosses and all kinds of opposition doe not so much afflict Gods Saints as truely exercise them Thus doth the Lord effect the good of his chosen by the hands of malignant Schismaticks But notwithstanding though he deale so in prouidence yet their offence and guilt is nothing thereby abated For in the third to the Philipp the Apostle plainely affirmeth such to be evill workers very dogges v. 3. In the 18th v. he termes them enimies of the crosse of Christ whose end is destruction v. 19. and here in my Text he iudgeth them vnworthy euen of the solace and benefit of humane commerce Brethren marke them which c. My Text like to those shafts of the holy candlesticke vpon euery word beares knops of flowers please you then to take notice of First the thing here spoken against namely divisions and offences in the Church Secondly their more especiall property which is to be contrary to some doctrine afore learned thirdly the persons or those who cause them Fourthly the manner how such disturbers must be delt with First marke then avoid them Lastly on the other side the entire and mutuall agreement among true professors or as it is here their brotherhood Of these orderly in that method I haue proposed and first concerning divisions and offences themselues There is nothing which doth more preserue the world in being then vnity and agreement It is the stay and bond of every thing by how much the neerer they participate of this by so much the more they enioy a certaine existence Zoroaster as implying God that first and chiefest vnity termes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the matrix or fountaine within which all things be originally concluded Except in nature the heauens did embrace this globe below vnlesse here the elements did combine thus louingly as they doe so stately a fabricke could not long subsist it must needs loose its being because it should loose its harmony In matter of policy consent of minds legally disposed makes a state without this it remaines no longer a state but a rude and vngoverned desart To speake in the phrase of moderne Philosophy mutuall concord is forma totalis that which wholy giues a body politicke both life and beauty But aboue all in the house or Church of God seemes this vnitie of greatest value One Lord one Faith one Baptisme wee finde commended Ephes 4. 5. As in the structure of the old tabernacle by loopes taches were the curtaines aptly conioyned so in the antitype namely the Church doth this spirit of Vnity diffusing it selfe throughout the parts knit them vp into an entire frame This being so sithence each where a concord is so requisite but most in the Church how fowly doe they trespasse that breake this bond with what sharpnesse deserue they to be handled who breed diuisions The Fathers amidst their writings doe presse no one point more frequently or eagerly then this Every where they take occasion after St Pauls manner as well to condemne all rents and Schismes as extoll a Christian like accord Optatus in a word makes such diuisions Summum malorum a crime so heinous as that none can match it And indeed if you rightly weigh the examples of Gods wrath and punishments you will not much mislike his iudgment In the 4th of Gen. when Cain had slaine his brother God onely markes him and lets him goe nay hee is iealous least any might kill Cain v. 15. To that great and sacrilegious city of Ninive what doth he Only Ionas is sent to teach and warne them Insteed of ruine comes a gentle embassage But for Corath and his complices those mutiners in the tribe of Levi behold a suddaine destruction the earth openeth and entombes them aliue whence it followes not without some shew of probability that Church-Schismes more displease the Lord then either murther or sacrilege Austin yet goes farther for in his 50th Ep. discoursing about the obstinacy of the factious Donatists he chargeth them with no lesse a sinne then with that of the holy ghost But the heinousnesse of divisions will better appeare if we examine them First in their obiect It is no slight or vulgar argument perchance in the disquiry of such points dissent may afford greater profit namely by exercising the wit then a present accord But it is religion that prop of mans conscience and path to blisse Vpon
intricate not to heape vp many Arnobius in the controuersie why God permits sinne sith he hates it yeeldeth himselfe in a manner blanckt If any shall aske why divine truthes are so obscur'd it may bee they are reserued to augment our future blisse which shall consist as well in the enlargement of our knowledge as the refining of our wills when the vaile of ignorance is to be taken away and wee shall knowe even as we are knowne 1. Cor. 13. or perhaps it is to encrease the state and respect of them for men doe vsually esteeme that with greater reverence with which they bee not so throughly acquainted Vpon this ground the heathen also did as Macrobius obserues couch their religion vnder darke types thence so many fables and seeming toyes with reverence to this policy some heretiques likewise had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to that of the Apocal. 2. 24 Howsoever as long as wee remaine clothed with this corruptible flesh we be in such mysterious points but weakly grounded we haue onely assensum fidei an easie beleife not assensum scientiae a peircing knowledge Religion is not as other sciences it supposeth and takes vpon trust very much which gaue occasion long since to the blasphemous Pagans to deride it as a groundlesse fabricke of the braine it beleeues much and knoweth little yea knowledge it selfe here is but a kinde of practicke beleife If any man will doe Gods will hee shall knowe of his doctrine Iohn 17. v. 17. Take but Saint Paul for an instance a man of rare excellency one who had beene wrapt vp aboue the heauens and himselfe yet as himselfe doth imply he heard those things in his rapture which afterwards he did not well conceaue nay in the argument of the Iewes reiection and calling of the Gentiles when he hath driuen it to a head as neere as hee can he meets with a sea vnfordable hee is faine to sit downe as it were vpon the banke and cry out O the depth of the wisdome and knowledge of God I will conclude this point with the words of the historian that which he speaks of state misteries may of these be more fitly pronounced Non aliter ratio constat quà m si vni reddatur it is the priuiledge of divine mysteries that they be vnderstood of God alone As for others a bold enquiry here is not more irreverent then full of danger and hazard Which is my second point When men walke vpon prerupt and steepe places they are subiect to fall and so here by medling with these high points an errour or heresie is quickly incurred yet such is the intemperate desire of knowledge that men cannot bee bounded in the search thereof Even our first parents in Paradise were not free from this itch where when all the trees besides were granted them for vse they must needs tast the excepted fruit which as Nicetas Chomates imagineth was nothing but an allegory or figure of knowledge Hence in their posterity such lusting after nouelties such an vnsatiate curiosity In truth to asswage this humour in part the Lord hath wholly exposed all the creatures to mans disquiry as it is said of the Leviathan Psalm 104. that God hath made the wide Sea for him to play in that is to expatiate and take his swinge so hath he as it were made this lower world for mans delight and contemplation he may roue as he list and not only rest in the outside of things but also lawfully diue into the inmost essence But for Divine mysteries if we presse too farre we become obnoxious to errors slips for from whence sprang heresies of old in the Christian world but from this fountaine Whilst men in the search of truth were directed rather by too much ambition then an aduised modesty whilst they would needs be tampering beyond their skill in points of the chiefest moment Hence is it that wee finde more heresies to haue arisen concerning those two greatest mysteries of the Trinitie and incarnation then about all the rest Arians Nestorians yea most sects did stumble at these blocks The stomacke when it meeteth with meats hard and not well to bee digested it sends vp noxious vapours into the braine euen so these men lighting vpon points which were too knotty for them and not being guided by discretion insteed of doctrines broached their wild conceipts For this cause wee finde the Fathers euermore cautelous and very retir'd Read but St Hilary in his 2. l. See before the entrance of his dispute concerning the Trinity how he puts on and then falls backe venters againe and recoyleth as fast mihi saith he in sensu labes in intelligentiâ stupor est both my sense and reason are astonisht The good Father may seeme rather to haue feared a surreptitious curiosity then if he should bluntly haue betrai'd the cause At the Synod of Nice where the same point was debated the Bishops there expresly reiected the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vndertake they would to proue the mysterie but for the manner they durst not Such was their religious diffidence in these matters and such others also to whom I could wish that the Schoolemen were not vnlike But contrariwise what arrogancy doth wholy possesse them How respectlessely doe they thrust into the most hidden secrets It was a time when the Lord gaue command Exod. 19. v. 12. that none neither man nor beast should touch the mount where himselfe was And surely there is great reason why the same edict should bee proclaim'd againe this boldnes of some wits calling too nicely into dispute those mysteries which are more iustly to be adored Euer and anon they discusse the absolutenesse of their makers power what may be effected by it and what not sometimes they argue his freedome and will and happily limit it with some vaine distinction Nay so audacious are many that except they sport themselues in these mysteries they be not contented witnesse for instance sake those queries whither God be materia prima and whither Christs divinitie might not suppositate a fly which such like doe not informe the minde but truly wrong the maiestie of God so that here I could almost applaud that sharp censure of iudicious Calvin though in another case Scholae in deterius semper aberrant the Schoolmen do alwaies incline to the worse hand Neither in this are the Arminians lesse to bee condemned Who hath been his counsellour saith the Prophet concerning God Isa 40. 13. Whom among the sonnes of men did he choose for his assistant But they as confidently state those his Acts of election and reprobation as if they had themselues decreed them they soare vp on high euen into the bosome of the Almighty men oftimes of greater reach in controversies then of wisdome or discreetnesse Our Saviour once tooke vp Peter Ioh. 21. 21. but for that frivolous question What shall this man doe Hee is offended with the Disciples for
they raise debates that they may bee said to haue raised them like hote furious spirits abroad who delight soly in fights and vproares 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meere louers of strife Vpon these motiues fore cited doe Schismaticks chiefly vndermine the Churches vnity men otherwise oftimes of no meane esteeme and worth But as it was said of Curio the tribune that he was facundus sed malo publico euen so they in truth seeme able and sufficiently learned but it is to the Churches annoyance whilst they imploy those gifts perversly with which they might haue aduanced the common good Yet also giue me leaue if a little I misdoubt such if I iudge them not throughly sound at heart In 13. Nehem. v. 33. where the Israelitish parents mix with the women of Ashdod the children speake an vncertaine idiome halfe the Ammonitish language and halfe the Iewish examine their tracts and discourses aright they may seeme the issue of a mixt faith Religion if once ambiguous cannot choose but betray it selfe some sparkles will here breake forth though neuer so carefully supprest wherefore as Iosuah asked the angell Ios 5. v. 13. art thou for vs or for our aduersaries Let me likewise demand whose part take they for now by walking so doubtfully and in a mist they merit applause from neither side more reason there is that they bee refused of both Saint Hierome somewhere speaking touching such neutrals the Hebionites Dum volunt saith he Iudaei Christiani esse nec sunt Iudaei nec Christiani whilst they hang betweene two sects they deserue to bee ranked no where meere batts in religion are they as nature hath placed these as t were in no certaine degree either of beastes or foules thus they for there ambiguous profession may hardly be numbred among Christians in any ranck You haue seene the subiect of divisions briefly displai'd persons very contagious in the Church and as Miriam long since a Schismaticke too leprous throughout It is not vnseasonable if therefore in my fourth point I prescribe the Apostles caution which is first marke then avoid them What our Saviour forespake touching false teachers Math. 7. 15. seemes not more true in regard of their demeanour then of their preaching doctrine They come indeed clothed with sheepes clothing cover'd ouer with a pretended shew both of truth and zeale Hard it is in so neere a likelyhood to discerne where they conforme to the truth and where they breake off St Ignatius for this termes them sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 creatures hauing though no more yet a Christian outside elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exact and able counterfeits Came they drest in their proper shape we might the more easily keepe safe it were no difficult taske to eschew their infectious tenents A wound if open and apparant may be quickly cured that especially is dangerous where the soare lies hid or the passage proues inuolu'd Well doe Schismaticks conceaue the weaknesse of their cause should they attempt to obtrude their falshoods vpoÌ„ the Church in their naked deformity it were a vaine designe Errours be naturally displeasing to the vnderstanding whereas truth is no lesse outwardly pleasing then admirable in it selfe Therefore they colour varnish ouer their absurdities with ounning deceipt First they refute one bad opinion that they may set vp a worse Eutiches you knowe would needs maintaine a confusion of natures in Christ now this he vndertooke saith Flavianus vnder pretence of confuting Nestorius who held oppositely as much amisse Are there none now which cry downe Puritanisme whereby to establish Papisme Is there no such new stratagem Yea farther are there not those who deale with religion in a sense inverted as David did with king Achish 1. Sam. 27. vnder shew of fighting against the Philistins our adversaries they fall vpon their countries faith Another way they haue of intermingling truth with errour Amidst their discourses they craftily mix some drams of verity to commend the rest nay so they doe more hurt and dâ—â—plier infect Poyson if given in wine or hony pierceth the veines with greater violence even thus falshood sweetned with a relish of truth eats most dangerously into the bowels of the Church A third devise is by faigning of some good intent whilst they labour a breach in christianity to make shew of a desired vnity and peace Arminius euen then when hee was forging those opinions vpon which such endlesse troubles haue ensuech compos'de a treatise touching a generall reconcilement like Ioab to Amasa 2. Sam. 20. at once hee offers embraces to the Church and stabs it More shifts besides they skill of to obscure their malitious drifts There want not infinite tractlesse mazes wherein they can lurke vndiscerned so as what a petty historian speakes of the Ligurians inhabiting bogs and bushy places Maior aliquanto labor erat invenire quà m vincere may be here applied It is easier to convince their errours then perfectly trace it out Not in vaine then are we bid to marke obserue we ought their subtle passages mudding still the streame wheresoer'e they goe neither yet is this enough after we haue thus descried their falshoods we must also avoid and shun them what communion hath light with darknesse saith the Apostle 2. Cor. 6. In the 1. of Gen. v. 4. no sooner had God created light but in the same v. he diuides them straight wee are though not light yet the children of light and therefore must be carefull least by mixing with the sonnes of errour our light be dim'd and weakned How seriously diligent were the primitiue Fathers in declining such How watchfull to represse them Should I here recount their various edicts and provisoes framed therevpon I might happily make more vse of reading then of moderation and iudgement Only for a tast you may from the course of Ecclesiasticall stories gather a treble censure thus disposed First they inflicted vpon them abstension or as I may say incommunication with the Church Next a positiue eiection else deposition from their clericall degree at length if both these reclaim'd them not the vtter Anathema Adde here to those seuerer cautions of the Apostolicke Synode that men rightly orthodox might not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not ioyne in prayer with such Can. 44. of the Laodicean not to deale with them or vse commerce Can. 57. So carefull were those ancient sages least a contagious Schismaticke if let alone might perchance infect the whole Christian flocke It may be in former times there appeared greater danger About the first plantation of the Gospell we finde in truth heresies more rife and frequent Satan was then most busie that he might choak vp the word before it tooke sure root Thus Mat. 13. 25. the envious one presently sowes his cockle as soone as the owner had ended Notwithstanding although such Church diseases be now lesse pregnant yet are they poysonous still alike A mixing of things vnwholsome with pure corrupts as much as