proue them be separated from the Church yea in time of persecution they may deny that blessed name by which they are redeemed as Peter did but they shall not die in their separation for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus the vnregenerate may be deceiued and deceiued finally and by Gods iust iudgement perish in their sinnes because they were seduced and opened their hearts to those that caused deuisions and offences and both these sorts of simple ones as well the regenerate as vnregenerate are those that are here noted to be deceiued by the good words and faire speeches of seducers For the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which words are well translated by Theodorus Beza hominum minime malorum that is to say men not drowned and plunged in the vsuall sinnes and vices of the world And this may teach vs two things First that we ioyne not our selues to any of those Sects that are deuided from our Church which is a member of the true Catholike Church of God whether Papists Anabaptists Brownists Familists or what else you may call them for that wee obserue many excellent Ministers endowed with many rare and admirable gifts and qualities to teach their heresies for such a one was Arius the Hereticke And wee can neither depriue our Aduersaries of the Church of Rome nor diuers others that in other kindes trouble our Church with strange opinions of that honour if yet wee may call it honour and not rather Gloriam Herostrate such honour as Herostrotus atchieued by firing the Ephesians Temple For what if they haue learning wit and eloquence what if in outward gifts they shine as the Starres is not that great red Dragon in the Reuelation said to drawe with his tayle the third part of the Starres of Heauen and to cast them to the earth or hath not the diuell at all times gotten such to make deuisions and to cause offences The lesse ought we to admire if they win to bee their disciples and proselites ciuell honest men whom the world for the moralitie of their liues holdeth in some esteeme for such were they whom Absolom by faire speeches and large promises had drawne to his part against the King his father euen to commit treason and rebellion with him Such because they meane least hurt are soonest deceiued like vnwary fishes taken in a Net and being deceiued doe much aduantage the deuills cause for that their liues are had in admiration and they haue gained the good opinion of their neighbours for that syncerity of which they make profession no lesse than the Scribes and Pharisees Ne aetas vos corum nec authoritas fallas Let not their age let not their authority deceiue you faith Cyprian Againe we must not vncharitaby iudge them to bee vtterly cast away all who decline from or leaue our societie for that the heart of a regenerate man may for a time God turning his face from him that hee may be troubled bee deceived but rather let vs pray that their fall be not finall and if it please God of his mercy to send them backe againe vnto vs let vs not refuse them as Nouatus did for that they haue sinned so scandalously against our good profession to the dishonour of God and of our Church I will end here with the words of Cyprian Sufficiat lapsis vna ruina c. Let one fall bee sufficient to those that are fallen let no man deceitefully throw downe those that are willing to rise vp againe let no man presse downe more grieuously those that already lye flat on the earth for whom we pray that God with his hand and arme would helpe them vp let no man denie the hope of life to those that are halfe dead desiring to returne to their former health Nemo nutantibus lapsus sui Caligine omne itineris salutaris lumen extinguat Let no man put out all the light of a secure voyage to those that stagger in the darkenesse of their fall And seeing that those whose hearts are deceiued are fallen downe lie groueling on the earth gasping for breath and grappleing for life and being ready to die doe lie in darkenesse and in the shadow of death it followeth that those who deceiue their hearts throw them downe stabbe them and wound them euen vnto death therefore that I may draw to a conclusion I will binde vp all that hitherto hath beene spoken in the words of the text Now I beseech you brethren marke them which cause deuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee haue learned and auoide them For they that are such serue not our Lord Iesus Chrest but their owne belly and by good words and faire speeches deceiue the hearts of the simple And now to recapitulate what hath beene spoken you must remember that the enemies of the Church and people of God are of two sorts forraine and domesticke the first are those that make no profession at all of Christianitie neither will be so reputed as Iewes Turkes Infidells and Pagans the other are those who make profession of Christian religion and will bee accounted Catholicks and Christians these are of two sorts Heretickes or Schismatickes the one doth cut in sunder the band of faith the other doth make a breach in the knot of loue Against these St. Paul addressing himselfe beseecheth all faithfull men as his brethren to marke them and to auoide them vpon this reason that they are most dangerous enemies to the soule causing deuisions and offences in the Church contrary to the doctrine of the Gospell Now least this his fatherly counsell might be slighted he proceedeth to shew the cause or reason vpon which wee are to marke them and auoide them viz. their aime is not to serue God by so doing but they haue worldly respects tending to their owne aduantage they talke like Diuines and demeane themselues like morall honest men by which meanes those that are plaine and meane well are soonest deceiued like harmelesse Doues caught in the Fowlers Net Vpon which great causes that I may end with application I am bold to direct my speech first to those that are in authoritie whom though I cannot accuse for former negligence and euen in my owne conscience am confident that they will carefully discharge their duties in their seuerall places with wisdome and iudgement yet doe I desire that they will be pleased to let me minde them of it as sometimes Philips seruant minded him of his mortality God and the King hath committed the Sword vnto them which Sword they beare not in vaine Therefore by the power of the sword committed to their trust may they marke those that cause deuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine that wee haue receiued This doctrine is the truth of God taught and deliuered in the blessed Scriptures which that wee might hold with vnanimous consent and not diuert from it it was
A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLS-CROSSE May 30. 1626. VVHEREIN MAY BE seene whom we are to repute Hereticks and Schismaticks what sleights they vse to deceiue Gods iust iudgements on them and how we may escape those nets which they lay for vs. ALSO Good Councell to the Magistrate Minister and Subiects necessary for these times By MATTHEVV BROOKES IAM 1.16 Doe not erre my beloued brethren LONDON Printed by William Iones dwelling in Red-crosse streete 1626. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE ALAN COTTON Knight Lord Maior of the Citie of London And to the Right Worshipfull the Sheriffs and all the Aldermen of the same All blessiings of this life and of the life to come Right Honourable and Right Worshipfull THis poore Discourse desired of many of my friends to be seene in Print petitioneth for your fauourable acceptance and comming naked hopeth to bee welcomed for Gods sake Your godly hatred of superstition and sinister practices in Religion as also the loue which you beare to the truth of Christ and to those who endeuour to the vttermost of the graces which God hath giuen them to set forth the same in his Church for the manifestation of his glory may sufficiently perswade you to giue it entertainment It is a discouery of the wyles of Hereticks and Schismaticks by which they deceiue the hearts of the simple and reape to themselues no small aduantage Therefore though neither sumptuously Apparrelled in the robes of Learning and Eloquence to adde grace vnto it Nor credited by the authority of the Author which two things are wont to finde many friends and doe buy the good liking of men it may recompence you the losse of time in reading it But I hope you will not deeme so small a hindrance at any thing especially where an aduenture is made for a necessary gaine The Author for his part hath to say for himselfe that his respect of you all augmented by that Reuerend regard which euery one of you hath euer had to Workes of this nature or rather generally to all the labours of Christ his Haruest men hath emboldened him to present you with these his first fruits a little handfull of Goates haire and yet vsefull for that Tabernacle which the Lord willeth to be made And he doth begge that you will be pleased to accept of this according to the syncerity of his affection protesting that if herein hee hath done you the least seruice hee shall blesse God for it and remaine Your Honours and worships in all Christian duties MATTHEVV BROOKES To the Reader IF among the iniquities of these dayes dangerous and detestable opinions in matters of Religion bee the chiefest for the more holy the band is the more impious the breaking of it Behold the cause of almost all Errors and peruerse conceites of that nature the admiration of mens persons or writings For jurare in verba Magistri is both old and vsuall But my request vnto all those who desire to make profession of the name of Christ in sincerity and truth is that they would constantly set vp St. Augustines resolution Ad Hieron Epist 19. Alios ita lego vt quantalibet Sanctitate doctrinaque praepolleant non ideo verum putem quia ipsi ita senserunt Sed quia mihi vel per illos authores canonicos vel probabili ratione quod à vero non abhorreat persuadere potuerunt I doe so reade other mens Workes that notwithstanding their sanctitie and Learning I am not of their minde vnlesse the truth of their opinions may appeare vnto me either by the Canonicall Scriptures or by probable reason By this meanes they shall not rashly embrace strange doctrine like that foolish Satyr who fell to kissing of fire at the first sight For this cause I haue in this short Sermon acquainted thee with the nature and practices of Hereticks and Schismatickes Gods iudgements on them and how thou oughtest to beare thy selfe towards them least suddenly they stabbe thy heart If thou wilt reade it it will doe thee no hurt and if thou wilt make vse of it it may doe thee some good Howsoeuer it is my good will receiue it therefore as willingly Donec quid grandius aetas Postera forsque ferat melior And I will pray God to adde a blessing to all thy labours Vale. M. B. A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLS-CROSSE May 30. 1626. ROM 16. VER 17.18 Now I beseech you brethren marke them which cause deuisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine which yee haue learned and avoid them For they that are such serue not our Lord Iesus Christ but their owne belly and by good words and faire speeches deceiue the hearts of the simple THE Church of God militant vpon earth vpon diuers reasons is diuersly compared in the Scriptures as where it is called A Doue for the innocencie thereof The house of God because by his Word and graces he doth dwell in it the body of Christ because Christ is the head thereof giuing life and governing it as well generally as in euery particular member but where it is called Hierusalem it cannot but minde me how fitly it may be compared to Hierusalem besieged by the Romans For as the forraine enemie did streightly beg 〈…〉 t the Citie without the seditious tearming themselues the zealous did most miserably vexe it within So Gods Church is affronted by a double enemie the one externall shooting against it the arrowes of blasphemous speeches out of the bowe of impiety slinging the huge stones of all manner of slanders and reproches out of the Engine of maliciousnesse battering the Walls of it with the ram of persecutions wherein all glorious Martyrs who by the effusion of their blood defend the Gospell stand like pillars or rather more strongly than those mightie Towers of Herod which the enemies themselues admired But the other enemies are within the Citie and they are ambitious of honour who will be counted zealous for the defence of it notwithstanding they cast fire on it of all sides like as the Spaniards of Aldens company in the Warres of Hungaria fired the Castle of Lippa which they pretended to defend Certainly these zealous enemies are more dangerous to the poore Citizens than the other for as Cyprian saith Facilior cautio est vbi manifestior formido est where the danger is more manifest apparant and exposed to our view there to avoide it is no difficult matter and therefore the Citizens of this besieged Hierusalem had need of circumspect prouidence as well to resist the one as to suppresse the other I say not what directions the Apostle almost throughout this whole Epistle hath giuen to the Romans but to close vp all and least they might lesse regard the seditious within in the very end of his Epistle hee presents them in their colours that so be might leaue his exhortation as it were freshly imprinted in their memories Now I beseech you brethren Which words are the vade vale to
plagues hang ouer our heads in this life and eternall damnation in the life to come The Lord doth hate and therefore take reuenge on the very places of hereticall conuenticles a late experience we had in the ruines of certaine roomes of a house in this Citie nota est historia though I feare it bee almost forgotten such are the first sort of the deceiuers here mentioned those that oppose the grounds and principles of Christian religion The second sort wee call Schismatiques from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth division because they deuide themselues from the body of the Church and Congregation and haue their conuents by themselues the difference betweene Heretickes and Schismatickes St. Augustine wiâ—l haue to bee Quod illi falsis dâ—gmatibus fidei sinceritatem corrumpant hi autem interdum etiam in fidei similitudine societatis vinculum disrumpant that Hereticks with false doctrine doe corrupt the sincerity of the faith but Schismatickes sometimes euen in the similitude of faith doe breake asunder the bond of loue Whereby it is plaine that the properties of a Schismaticke are these two first hee must make profession of the faith secondly he must deuide himselfe from the body of the Church and it skills not whether for some point of doctrine or for Ceremonies or any other thing with which hee is discontented the matter is hee deuideth himselfe from the Church and is therefore a Schismaticke Vpon this reason was Lucifer Bishop of Calaris in Sardinia iustly taken and reputed as a Schismaticke for that hee deuided himselfe from Eusebius B. of Vercellis and from the Church of Antiochia for that they disapproued the ordination of Paulinus whom hee had ordained to be Bishop there A man would thinke it a small matter to bee discontented and therfore to be deuided for such a trifle but it is that which St. Paul blameth among the Corinthians where there is among you enuying strife deuisions are yee not carnall and walke as men if carnall then not spirituall for the flesh and the spirit are opposed To walke after the flesh is one thing and to walke after the spirit is another thing Vpon this reason Schismaticks haue not the Spirit of God and therefore walke as men euen as those that are carnally minded which is death For to bee carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace If I dissemble not with you or goe about to deceiue you I must needs conclude with a learned Diuine that schismes are crimina atrocissima most crying sinnes For behold Gods iust iudgements in one particular vpon the heads of Sschismaticks Corah Dathan and Abiram made a diuision among the people of Israel but the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them vp aliue A iudgement able to warne all succeeding ages to take heed how they goe apart from the congregation of the Lord and more especially those that will separate themselues from our Church for some few Ceremonies and formalities retained therein For the lesse cause they haue to doe so the greater is their crime I pittie the case of those that delight more in priuate conventicles than in publike Congregations and will be deuided because they will seeme to be singular as the Scribes and Pharisees I would to God they were all of them acquainted with thus much of Cyprians Theologie Habere non potest Deum Patrem qui Ecclesiam non habet matrem Hee cannot haue God to be his Father that hath not the Church his Mother But let vs now see the particulars that wee may receiue direction how to deale with them 1. I beseech you brethren Vnto whom he writeth his Epistle them he saluteth by the name of Brethren These were not the Elders or Rulers of the Church onely but euery one who being called to the knowledge of the truth made profession of the blessed name of Iesus To these he dedicated his Epistle To all that be in Rome beloued of God called to be Saints and all these hee here styleth by the name of Brethren This is done vpon a double reason first we haue all one common Father which is God One is your Father Which is in heauen Vpon which respect you shall neuer see the Apostle so vncharitable but he will repute the very Iewes his brethren Secondly the members of the Church are ioyned together in a more neere fraternity for God doth become our Father in Christ his Sonne by faith wee are made the sonnes of God As many as receiued him to them gaue he power to be the sonnes of God and we are adopted to bee the heires of God and ioynt heires with Christ it is therefore no indignitie to the person of the Apostle to salute the meanest Christian by the name of Brother and account him so to be for hee is redeemed by the same price and bought with the same blood he is the adopted sonne to the same Father and hath the same inheritance Why then should not the Apostle receiue him and repute him as a brother O yee that aduance your selues aboue your brethren and because yee haue place either in the Church or Common-wealth or gifts more excellent than your brethren haue presumptuously thanke God with the foolish proud Pharisee in the Gospell that you are not as Other men are come hither and learne humilitie lest because you exalt your selues now God humble you hereafter As good a man as the best of you A chosen vessell vnto God As great a man as the greatest of you all An Apostle of Iesus Christ is ioyous to bee rankt in this fraternitie And when you shine in your gold and siluer like Herode in his royalty and with admiration of these outward things like that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that boasting bird the Peacocke beholding his goodly feathers with great reioycing then remember your poore kindred if yee be Christ his seruants the meanest Christian is brother to the greatest he is redeemed with the same blood hee is bought with the same price and heire vnto that kingdome to which all the kingdomes of the world are not worthy to bee compared behold his noblenesse And let that proud Commander of the world who will be called Vniuersall Bishop the head of the Church the Ruler of both the Swords the high Conveener of Councells who dareth to haue it affirmed that the whole world is his Diocesse that hee hath all power both in heauen and in earth that hee cannot bee iudged by all the Cleargie nor by all the people that all Kings and Emperours haue all their power authority from him that he is seuenty times seuen times greater than the greatest Kings that his power is more ample than all other Patriarkes that hee is the Lord God no pure man but something made and compounded of God and man who is wont to command Purgatorie and the
offenders whatsoeuer and let them marke them to restraine their madnesse Excellently St. Augustine in his Epistle to Donatus Deputie of Affrick Sic igitur eorum peccata compesce vt sint quos paeniteat peccasse Doe thou so bridle their sinnes that they may repent at heart that euer they haue sinned A second dutie subordinate to this our watching is the auoiding of them for if we marke them wee may auoide them but if wee marke them not wee cannot auoide them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee gone from them and shunne them as men are wont to runne away from noxious beastes For as Irenaeus saith they are like vnto Hunters and their intent is to make a prey of you Epiphanius doth well compare them to the Serpent called Dypsas which poysoneth those pooles of water at which he drinketh whence it commeth to passe that the beasts which drinke there fall downe dead suddenly and burst in sunder being poysoned with the venim of the Dypsas I cannot now stand to dispute of cases of Conscience how farre it may bee lawfull for a man to conferre with those that cause Devisions and offences I will onely presse you with the words of the blessed Apostle and Euangelist St. Iohn If there come any vnto you and bring not this doctrine receiue him not into your house neither bid him God speed And now I come to shew the cause or reason hereof which is the second part of my text They that are such serue not our Lord Iesus Christ but their owne belly Those that serue Christ especially in the worke of the ministry wee are commanded to receiue it is our Sauiours doctrine Hee that receiueth you receiueth me Hee that heareth you heareth me and hee that despiseth you despiseth me By the rule of contraries he that receiueth those that serue not Christ in the worke of the ministry hee receiueth not Christ but them and him whose workes they doe that is the diuell here then is the matter or first cause whereupon we are not to receiue them nay we must marke them nay we must auoide them they serue the diuell He that receiueth them receiueth the diuell he that markes them not markes not the diuell he that auoideth them not auoides not the diuell A roaring Lyon who would meete him but how mad is hee that will receiue him into his society to be familiar with him In three things those that cause deuisions and by deuisions offences in the Church of God haue relinquished the seruice of our Lord Iesus Christ First because all such are most notorious hypocrites for as the Serpent called Drynas is like the colour of an Oken leafe whence he hath his name and yet indeed is a venimous beast so though they seeme to be like Christians they are not so indeed but to speake the truth no better than Iewes The Arian heretickes gaue forth of themselues that they onely were the catholicke Church of God those that were members of the Church indeed they called sometimes Ambrosians sometimes Athanasians sometimes Ioannites in derision of the truth of God which those holy and learned Fathers Ambrose Athanasius and Iohn Chrysostome had preached as now the Papists call vs sometimes Lutherans sometimes Caluinists sometimes Zuinglians and Huguenots in derision of the truth of God by them and vs maintained Nestorius being a pestilent Hereticke yet as Theodoret saith hee couered himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 With a cloake or vaile of the Catholike faith And Ebion who maintained the opinion of the Samaritans would yet as Epiphanius saith bee reputed a Christian This they haue learned of the diuell who to deceiue is transformed into an Angell of light By this meanes they get proselites and followers whom they make twofold the children of hell more than they themselues are Secondly they are most cruell and bloody Cum hoc sit negotium illis non ethnicos conuertendi sed nostros cuertendi saith Tertullian for their studie is not to conuert Infidells and Pagans to the faith but to throw downe vs that are Christians from the faith and indeed the persecutions caused by Hereticks and Schismatickes haue beene more bloody than those which haue beene raised by Infidells and Pagans I say not here that no age hath heard of the like barbarous crueltie to the late intended Gunpouder treason but so many thousand glorious Martyrs butcherd so many millions of Confessors tortured so many myriads of Godly men and women persecuted whose soules lye vnder the altar and cry with a loude voice and saying How long Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth All these shall witnesse with me that the tyrannous persecutions which haue beene raised within the Church haue beene greater then those which haue beene raised without the Church and whosoeuer maketh deuisions it is to be presumed that he hath the like will though not the like power Lastly their end is that they may walke according to the flesh and therefore though they pretend much strictnesse and reformation of life and manners by chastening the body as it were to subdue it to the spirit it is but subordinate to some fleshly end for they turne the grace of our God into laciuiousnesse I will not staine your chaste eares with the fleshly deeds and godlesse practices of such kinde of people in all ages by authoritie of Ecclesiasticall histories and diuers Orthodox Fathers which in some small measure I am able to present vnto your view let it be sufficient to note with our Apostle this one thing that they haue renounced the seruice of our Lord Iesus Christ and serue their owne belly Quid foedius quid turpius What more filthy odious abhominable damnable or detestable Where we note that the Belly in the Scriptures is taken in a double sense properly or figuratiuely in its proper sense it signifieth the belly of man or woman as where we reade that Phinchas the sonne of Eleazar the sonne of Aaron the Priest thoust Zimry the man of Israel and Cozby the Midianitish woman with his Iauelin through her belly in its figuratiue sense it is taken sometimes for the heart by the figure called Synecdoche When I heard my belly trembled that is to say Commetum est cor meum quod est in ventre my heart in my belly was moued sometimes it signifieth the body of man Of the fruite of thy belly will I set vpon thy throne Sometimes it signifieth particularly the wombe Thou art my God from my mothers belly Somtimes it signifieth a drunkard a gluttonous person and one that is profuse and lauish vpon his owne Lusts So Paul calleth the Cretians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 slowe bellies Sometimes it is taken for all worldly things especially those that conduce to the present maintenance of life and in this sense the Apostle saith of such kinde of people as those concerning
whom wee now speake their god is their belly as if he should haue said that they onely regard the things of this world for them they study and doe their vttermost deuoire Magister artis ingenique Largitor venter their belly teacheth them their skill and bestowes their wit vpon them See here the meaning of that place they cause not Deuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine of the Gospell for any care or conscience to serue God but to serue their belly in acquiring the things of this life And this is an especiall marke of infamie with which they are alwayes branded in the Scriptures Paul to Titus saith that they teach things which they ought not for filthy lucres sake The Apostle Peter saith through couetousnesse shall they with feigned words make merchandize of you And the Apostle Iude saith that they runne greedily after the errour of Balaam for reward This being their aime we need not seeke the cause why those of the Romish Church so obstinately maintaine their masses Indulgencies Pardons and such like Satanicall sigments for because they are separated from the Congregation of the Lord it cannot bee but their studie is to serue their belly Againe this being their aime wee need not wonder if in this flourishing Church of England and as it were in the noone-tyde of the Gospell as well the doctrine as the discipline of the Church being agreed vpon in publique conuocation by the learned and religious of the Land and authorised by law you haue yet many among you who willingly would and doe as farre as they dare alter the forme of our publike Church-Seruice and Ceremonies and feigne would innouate something either in respect of substance or of circumstance and if you haue Sects of Anabaptists Brownists Papists Familists Catharists and those who mislike all things but their owne inuentions For what wonder shall I bring if that I tell you that it is possible there may be couetous men among vs For the loue of money is the roote of all euill which while some coueted after they haue erred from the faith and pierced themselues through with many sorrowes Now because these Leopards doe hide their clawes and sometimes vnder the profession of voluntary pouertie doe practice couetousnesse the Apostle will therefore shew you wherein they hide them lest because you see them not you may thinke them to haue none and so like children play too familiarly with them not finding out their priuate end their belly By good words and faire speeches The Doctours of the Romish Church among other blasphemies are wont to teach that the holy Scripture is a nose of Waxe and a leaden rule meaning thereby that it may be bowed wrested and turned to contrary expositions and interpretations for the maintenance of priuate opinions and absurdities It is most blasphemous to say that the Scripture is so and yet St. Peter takes it for granted that it may be wrested yet with this Prouiso to the destruction of them that wrest it Now because it is true that false Prophets shall come in sheepes cloathing to deceiue therefore it doth follow that they shall bring nothing more than the Scripture in their mouthes which they haue wrested to their owne damnation A thing which the diuell himselfe hath taught them who when hee tempted our Sauiour Christ in the Wildernesse could yet cite the Scripture to his purpose If thou be the Sonne of God cast thy selfe downe for it is written hee shall giue his Angells charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall beare thee vp least at any time thou dash thy foote against a stone These are those good words the Apostle speaketh of with which the mouthes of all those that cause deuisions are stufft Adaptare cupientes ea quae bené dicta sunt ijs quae malè adinventa sunt ab ipsis Striuing to fit those things which in the Scriptures are well spoken according as there they are spoken to what they themselues haue mis-inuented With these good words so ill implyed will the Valentinians goe about to establish their 30. couple of Gods and Goddesses The Manichees their duo Principia or brace of gods the Arians to denie the true diuinitie of Christ the Papists their Purgatorie their Transubstantiation and all the parts of their Masse and euery new deuiser his owne brain-sicke Fopperies therefore as good coyners are not wont hastily to receiue and to approue of euery peece of gold but will first trie it and proue it by the touchstone especially if it be an vnknowne coyne So if any man bring vnto vs any newes in matters of religion and will thrust it vpon vs for gold in the name of the Scripture as good coyners wee must bring it to the Scripture and compare Scripture with Scripture that so wee may iudiciously discerne and see Quis nummus probus sit quis adulter which is good coyne which is Copper And the reason is because it is the practice of those that serue their belly to come with good words euen with the most blessed words of the Scripture in their mouthes like as the Hiaena is wont to counterfeit a mans voyce to obtaine his prey Faire speeches I referre to their moralitie by which they striue to be compleate euery way For it is the condition of an hypocrite to counterfeit vertue for Hypocrisie it selfe as Chrysologus in one of his Sermons obserueth is virtutum fucus the false painting or shadowing of vertue therefore must they come with faire language and vertuous speeches that they may with more ease bee receiued It is true that their end is their belly yet doe their outward actions beare such a shew of holinesse and charitie that to our shame it may bee spoken to the sight of the world they exceed vs farre And hence it is that so many Churches Temples Oratories Colledges Schooles of learning Hospitalls Almes-houses and other monuments of all sorts which our eyes daily doe behold haue beene erected euen in the dayes of blindenesse to say the truth we scarce repaire and vphold those most necessary buildings of all sorts which our Progenitors in the time that they dranke of the waters of Babylon haue erected to our hands Wee must not bely the deuill you shall see more almes-deeds of all sorts done by the hands of Papists more strictnesse and reformation of life and manners among Brownists and Anabaptists more religious obseruation of oathes and promises among the Turkes themselues than among the Formalists of our profession It is true we cannot say these men to be vertuous notwithstanding these great workes for because their good deeds are directed to a wrong end they are but Vmbrae simulachra virtutum the shadowes pictures and counterfeites of vertues and as one of the Fathers saith vt magnae vires cursus celerrimus praeter viam like to great strength and exceeding swift running when a man is
agreed vpon in certaine Articles in the Conuocation confirmed by the royall authority which Articles are a declaration of what our Church approueth in the most principall points concerning saith and the publike seruice of God Let mee beseech them to marke those that cause deuisions and offences contrary to that receiued doctrine Yet with a iust distinction as well of the persons of those that cause deuisions and offences for some are obstinate and some are tractable as also of the deuisions and offences by them caused and maintained for of those also some are damnable some onely dangerous and to the honour of the Church of God scandalous For the better effecting of this let me remember them further that the old Aegiptians who were not altogether sottish in worldly matters were wont to paint their Iudges blindfolded and their President or chiefe Iustice without hands as intimating that Iustice should neither see the person of any man or feele his reward which if it be to bee practised in matters temporall how much more in this great matter which so neerely and meerely concerneth the soules of men Secondly let mee beseech the Ministers of the Word whom Christ calleth for the worke of their profession the labourers of his haruest who are the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God To looke backe vpon those forenamed Articles and to remember whereunto they haue all subscribed with their owne hands not with equiuocation I hope as Arius but with synceritie and with a good conscience as good Christians ought to doe and more especially as men of God should doe and therefore ioyntly with their hearts and mouthes to stand in defence of that truth vnto which they haue giuen their hands On the other side if any man preach another Gospell or defend or maintaine any contrary opinion by which the peace of our Church is disrupted with such a one according to the Apostol call counsell to haue conference and to admonish him to returne to the soundnesse of faith and into the bosome of our Church like Noahs Done into the Arke againe A mâ—n that is an Hereticke after the first and second admonition reiect Where I desire them to obserue that admonition in that place is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word pointeth out the end and purpose of our trauells rather than the paine and labour of them namely to put a right minde into him or to bring him into his wittes againe For hee is madde as Nazianzen spake of Apollinaris and as Eusebius saith that Manes was madde according to his name therefore must wee labour to reduce him to his right wits againe Indeed to cure a mad-man seemeth to bee a most miraculous thing seeing how few will bee reclaymed But let vs not despaire seeing that God hath sometimes blessed the labours of his seruants in this kinde Berillus Bishop of Bostra in Arabia who denyed that Christ was existent before hee tooke flesh of the Virgin by the painefull trauell of Origen was brought into his wits againe In like manner Coracion who had beene infected with the error of Nepos an Aegiptian Byshop father of the Chiliastes was conuerted to the faith by Dionysius B. of Alexandria But if none of our admonitions will preuaile with them but because they are filthy they will still be filthy let vs then reiect them for their prophane and vaine babblings will increase vnto more vngodlinesse and their word will eate as doth a Canker Let vs haue no more acquaintance with them than the Iewes had with the Heathen men or Publicans or St. Iohn with Cerinthus Let those that haue authority in the Church after the example of the Apostles and the godly Fathers of the prime age of the Church deliuer them to Sathan that they may learne not to blaspheme And let vs after the like examples vtterly auoide their companie and societie as knowing them to bee the diuells sonnes which doe gigantum more bellare cum dijs warre against God as the Poet feigned certaine monstrous Gyants to wage warre against the gods Let vs leaue to conuerse with them which say they are Iewes and are not but are the Sinagogue of Sathan In a word if wee cannot conuert them let vs be sure to auoide them and vtterly to reiect them lest God say vnto vs as he said to the Angell or Bishop of the Church of Pergamos thou hast them that maintaine the Doctrine of Balaam c. For if we proceed not against them by that lawfull power which God and the King hath giuen vs or if we will not doe so much as to auoide them it cannot be denyed but that we haue them Lastly let me speake a few words in the eares of the people and because they are of two sorts either those whose hearts are deceiued by good words and faire speeches or those pillars of the sonnes of Seth against whom the flouds of Beliall which haue euen ouer-flowen the world like the great and generall Deluge haue not preuailed Let me first direct my speech vnto those that are fallen whom I will not terrifie with the greatnesse of their fall by pointing vpward from whence they fell and downeward to let them see whither they are fallen I beseech them to looke on our Christian charitie who doe not esteeme them to be Heretickes or Schismatickes but doe denie them so to be vnlesse with obstinate mindes they will defend and maintaine their dangerous conceipts My counsell vnto such therefore is that they will resort to our Sermons and Lectures where they may heare the reasons giuen in publique for the faith which we professe and if ioyntly with this they will follow Christ his counsell searching the Scriptures adding instant prayer vnto God that hee would be pleased to reueale vnto them the mysteries thereof they shall doe well and I doubt not but they will returne againe into the bosome of our Church to bee ingrafted as naturall branches into the true Oliue from which for a time they haue been cut off and wee shall reioyce exceedingly that they are come againe yea the Angells of God in heauen shall ioy for their conuersion Secondly to those whose hearts are not yet inuenomed let me speake a word in due season Obedience must be giuen to the faith Therefore let them cleaue close vnto it and not suffer themselues in any sort to be seduced It is a rule to interpret the Scriptures Let them expound the Scriptures according to the proportion of faith For if they meete not in all places with the naturall sense and the direct meaning of the holy Ghost for that in the Epistles of St. Paul and diuers other bookes of the Scripture Some things are hard to be vnderstood yet so long as they interpret nothing contrary to the Articles of their faith Augustine will tell them that they are like vnto a certaine traueller who hauing lost the direct way wandreth in those