faith he barreth vp the way to the people so that they cannot come to descry his inuentions as long as they make it a scruple of conscience to examine or consider what trueth may bee in such determinations which are made by him for his owne aduantage onely and not for their soules health In this meane while the poore vulgar think that they haue as much faith as will serue for their saluation and yet in fine they will bee found to haue none at all I beleeue that which the Church beleeues If I come not to particular articles I yet beleeue nothing but onely am in a disposition to beleeue that which the Church of Rome shall prescribe mee whether true or false Verely for any man to say I beleeue that which another man beleeueth is as much as if he said I see that which another man seeth though my owne eyes be shut And as no man can be said to see but only when the faculty of his owne sight exerciseth its operation vpon a particular obiect so there is no actuall beleeuing but when the vnderstanding and will doe actually apprehend and embrace the obiect of faith There are vnder the Papacy there are among the people many men endued by God with sufficient iudgement and capacity to receiue good instruction in many mysteries of our faith if they had conuenient meanes and opportunity to learne them but by reason of this implied faith they are not only kept from learning those things which they ought to know but also a great number of them and they not of the dullards when they vnder a confused notion apprehend such articles frame to themselues false and erroneous conceipts of them How many being enwrapped in this implicite faith and being otherwise able distinctly to vnderstand that there are in Christ two distinct natures and but one onely person and that diuine yet thinke that Christ is man by an humane person and so are Nestorians How many are there that beleeue Christ to be a meere man and so are Arians How many beleeue that in Christ the diuine and humane natures are confounded into one nature Innumerable such monsters of all heresies may bee found vnder this Chimaera of inuolued faith Besides this the more to cherish these monstrous errors the Popes barre Christian people from all means of learning the verities of the Christian faith forbidding them the vse of the holy Scriptures in such language as they may vnderstand For they are well assured that the very vulgar would by reading the Scriptures discouer the manifold deuises and trickes wherwith the Popes the Bishops the Preachers the Priests and Friars delude the simple people to draw money out of their purses and to make themselues be thought so many Gods If the people might bee suffered to read the Scriptures in the mother tongue they would finde that all the twelue Apostles had the same charge in all respects equall with S. Peter of planting gouerning the Church They would see that in all the Bible there is nothing to bee found for S. Peters being at Rome nor that hee hath left any speciall charge with the Bishop of Rome They would be aduertised that all Bishops succeed the Apostles in equall power among themselues without subiection of one to another And that the vnion of holy Church consisteth in the vnity of faith and in charity whereby all Churches are combined and embrace one the other and not in being vnder any one visible head but vnder Christ the true and only head of the Church They would well know that the Masse hath no other vse nor bringeth any other spirituall benefite then to consecrate the holy Sacrament for Communion and that only when there are some more or lesse to communicate that the pronouncing of some part aloud and whispering the rest so that the people heares it not is but a mockery Likewise that those mimicall gestures with the hands leggs and eyes serue for nothing but to set the people on gazing in a wonderment They would learne that in the bread of the Eucharist there is the true body of Christ Sacramentally and after a wonderful maner which to vs is inexplicable but not in flesh and bones with eyes hands and feet Neither should they euer finde that that consecrated bread is to bee adored for God euen as wee adore not the water which represents the blood of Christ in baptisme although by the power of Gods grace this water and that bread in him that receiueth it worthily worke maruelous spirituall effects in the soule They would vnderstand that Purgatory being not once named nor implied in the Scriptures is an inuention of the Priests and Friars to make men call for Masses and to draw on paiments and oblations for the rescuing of soules out of Purgatory Which deuice rayseth an income whereby such a swarme of idlesbies not only vnprofitable to the Church but also scandalous are maintained liuing in iollity and wallowing in all vncleannesse These and many other like trueths would the people descrie if they might read the holy Scriptures nor would they suffer themselues to be any longer deceiued and fuddled vp in that darke cloud and night of infolded faith Much the easier also would they vnderstand these things if together with the Scriptures diuers godly and holy Bookes might bee suffered to come to their view which discouer the impostures of the Papacie and sincerely lay down the true way to saluatiō yet these Bookes are most falsly by the Pope for his owne behoofe declared to be hereticall and prohibited as pestilēt in that kind without euer shewing particularly wherin these pretended heresies consist Which are notwithstanding taught by the holy Fathers of the Church But this is his refuge for security lest his errours should bee discouered And as for so many soules running this way headlong into hell that troubleth him not may he the while hold vp his wordly pomp And so much of the first generall error Another generall error wherewith the captiuated Churches in Italy and many other elsewhere are seduced is the perswading of the simple people that they obtaine infallible remission of all their sinnes committed after baptisme by vertue of certaine externall sensible and materiall actions which are called Sacraments and Sacramentals Indeed the common people being by nature prone and hasty to superstition and more willing and ready to vndergoe externall easie performances then inward duties difficult and distastful to flesh and blood put too much confidence in these outward superstitions being in the meane time destitute of the true inward effect of desired remission of their sinnes and so the blinde being led by the blinde both fall into the pit The true Sacraments instituted by our Sauiour for remission of sinnes are holy Baptisme and the sacred Communion And the only true and reall remedy whereby remission of sinnes done after Baptisme is obteined is Repentance which consisteth in true sorrowing for sinne together with resolution to
c. Man goeth forth to his worke and to his labour till the Euening It is the propertie of beasts and those the most harmefull to make the day their time of sleepe and the night their time of labour so of men those that employ themselues about euill Iohn 3.19 shun the light Men loued darkenesse more then the light For their workes were euill Euerie man that doeth euill hateth the light and commeth not to the light least his deeds should be reproued But those men that take not after such wild beasts employ themselues in good works as much as they can whilest they haue the oportunitie of the light and spend not the day in sleepe but make their aduantage of the time Iohn 3.21 He that doeth the trueth commeth to the light that his deeds might be made manifest that they are wrought in God Christ our instructor and ensample said of himselfe I must worke the workes of him that sent mee whilest it is day The night commeth when no man can worke How much more ought wee euerie of vs to say the same of our selues to whom S. Paule sayeth Hora est iam nos de somno surgere Now it is time for vs to arise from sleepe Whilest the day of this life lasteth we are to busie our selues in good workes and to shew that we haue a liuely faith Venit nox The night commeth wherein no man can worke It is a meere folly to expect as the Romanists doe that others should worke for vs and apply their works to vs when wee are dead and gone that others should fast for vs purchase S. Gregories Masses and seeke out priuiledged altars and procure Indulgences for vs Per modum intercession they seeke out priuiledged altars But the night ouertakes them wherein no man can worke surely neyther himselfe in person nor others to his vse Our journey is ended we by death arriue at our long home either of eternall Saluation or of endlesse damnation there is no meane estate betweene these two Eccles 11.3 If the tree fall toward the South or toward the North in the place where the treefalleth there it shall be Therefore whilest the day holdes doe that which thou hast to doe Psal 115.17 18. The dead prayse not the Lord neither any that goe downe into the place of silence that is into the graue But we that liue let vs prayse the Lord. Isa 38.18 19. The graue cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate thee they that goe downe into the pit cannot hope for thy trueth The liuing the liuing he shall praise thee The fourth kind of day is the day of pure meere trueth The night is passed of so many errors which with the Papacy haue crept into the Papall Churches and to vs by the grace of the Almighty the day is arriued He that liued vnder the Papacy might and ought then to say in his prayers to God Emitte lucem tuam veritatem tuam Send foorth thy light and thy trueth Psal 43.3 But he that is freed thence must insist vpon that which followeth Ipsa me deduxerunt adduxerunt in montem sanctū tuum in tabernaculatua They haue led me and brought me vnto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles Here beloued brethren heere in this Kingdome wee haue the hill of God which is raysed vp towards heauen and standeth discoasted farre enough from the sinke and myre of the Papall corruptions Here are the tabernacles and tents of the armies of the Lord of hosts pitcht in goodly aray and furnished for the confronting all opposite forces Heere the light of the trueth is freely and openly let in Heere the holy Scriptures are most exactly studied Here are great multitudes of learned men and aboue all the most learned the Anoynted of the Lord a King who is the wonder of the Kings of the earth a matchlesse paterne to all the Kings and Princes of Christendome of great zeale in purging aduancing and mainteining Christs holy Religion Heere the sincere word of God is taught plentifully Here the Bishops are very learned religious and vigilant ouer their flocks Here the Priests are euery way sufficient and very skilfull in the cure of soules Heere the people are very zealous and feruently addicted to holy and spirituall dueties Thanks therefore be to God who after the night of so many errors hath sent foorth his light and trueth which haue led me and brought me into his holy hill and to his tabernacles And so reioycing in the Lord I say againe to my selfe and to you my brethren The night is passed and the day is at hand Heere perhaps some man may demaund of mee why S. Paul saith that the day is at hand and not rather that it is already come which doubt seemeth the greater vpon the words which goe before Nunc propior est nostrasalus quà m cum credidimus Now is our saluation neerer then when wee beleeued Heere therefore the approach of the day is the approach of saluation and the day and saluation are to bee taken to signifie one and the same and by consequence besides that day and saluation which is Christ and his Gospel besides that day and saluation which signifieth grace and the remission of sinnes S. Paul vnderstandeth yet another day and another saluation which he declareth to bee come neerer at the time of his writing this Epistle to them then it was when they first receiued the Faith and holy Baptisme with remission of sinnes By this saluation which is said to haue come neerer Lyra vnderstandeth the Saluation brought in by the comming of Christ as being neerer then it was before his comming But neither S. Paul nor these Christians to whom hee wrote it were beleeuers before the comming of Christ And yet S. Paul saith plainely quà m cum credidimus that is then when we began to beleeue in Christ Saint Chysostome by this Saluation vnderstandeth the generall resurrection which shall be at the second comming of Christ at Doomesday wherewith S. Paul awaketh the faithfull to make them watchfull and ready for that generall Iudgement which in the very Apostles times was by many deemed to be very nigh at hand But it is better for vs to interprete this admonition of the Apostle concerning Death and the particular iudgement of euery man and euery of vs to say to our selues and to one another Noster dies appropinquauit propior est Salus nostra Our day is at hand and our Saluation is neerer because the day of our death comes on euery moment neerer neerer Let vs therfore my brethren prouide that at the comming of that last day Christ may finde vs prepared Matth. 24. For yee know not at what houre your Master will come Matth. 25. Be readie as the fiue wise Virgins were ready and entred in with the Spouse to the wedding And let vs take heede that befalles vs not which the fiue foolish virgins found who were
sounding in setting forth the glory of God as formerly they were And in truth that people then as also at this day farre more miserably was more guided by the superstitious traditions of their vaine Rabbines then by the holy Scriptures Wherewith our Sauiour also vpbraided them saying Why doe ye by your traditions transgresse Gods Commandement And the very same now adayes is to bee found vnder the Papacie where much more accompt is made of the Popes commandements then of Gods The committing of adultery being reputed galantery but the eating of flesh vpon a Friday a sacriledge worthy of fagot and fire As for the Gentiles Christ found them to be linum fumigans smothering flaxe not altogether put out but somwhat smoaking by reason of that small and weake knowledge of God which the glimpse of the Law of Nature affoorded them And therefore in conclusion an vniuersall and common night did ouerspread all both Iew and Gentile And if Zachary the father of the great Baptist had not acknowledged the nightly darkenesse wherein both himselfe and the rest of that people remained hee would not hauesung that Christ was the day spring from on High To giue light to them that sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace Surely that Iob 36.32 which we read in the booke of Iob may be truely vnderstood as well of Iudaisme as of Gentilisme And this it is In manibus abscondit lucem praecepit ei vt rursus adueniat He bideth the light in his hands and commandeth it to come againe Whereby is giuen vs to vnderstand that God before that hee sent the Light of his owne Sonne into the world did hold the light of the knowledge of God clasped vp in his hand so that howsoeuersome glimmering beames darted foorth through the clifts from betweene the fingers yet he did reserue the wyde opening of his hand till the fulnesse of time and therefore then he commanded this light vtrursus adueniat to come againe at that time when S. Paul should shortly after proclaime Nox praecessit But if by this night wee will vnderstand the true and totall darkenesse of Infidelity then are wee to say that the Apostle doeth not heere meane the ancient by-past times before the comming of Christ but rather the very time wherein our Sauiour liued in his flesh vpon the earth and when the Gospel was first published by the Apostles In a word heere is especially to bee vnderstood that estate wherein the new Christians of Rome aswell Iewes as Gentiles were immediatly before their conuersion to the Gospel which was indeed an vtter darknesse of night What els were the Gētiles of that time in Rome and throughout the whole world but Idolaters And as for the Iewes had not they then crucified our Lord and Sauiour Had not they then reiected their Messias Did not they thē remain with the veile ouer their hearts 2. Cor. 3. And what greater infidelitie then not to receiue Christ Nay to persecute him in his members Euen in this night S. Paul accounted himselfe to haue bin And worthily For he testifieth of himselfe that he was formerly a blasphemer 2. Tim. 1. Galat. 1. and a persecuter and iniunious and that hee persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and wasted it Out of the lumpe of these hardened and blinded Iewes came the remnant of these which embraced the Christian religion And therefore with good reason of these as so of himselfe S. Paul said Nox praecessit To vs and in speciall to me the night is passed The second night whereof S. Paul would here be vnderstood is the night of reigning sinne and this was most common both among the Iewes and Gentiles How heinous and filthy the enormities of the Gentiles were especially in Rome may appeare by the particular and euen loathsome catalogue recorded by S. Paul in this Epistle Wherefore God gaue them vp to their hearts lusts Rom. 1. vnto vncleannes to defile their owne bodies betweene themselues who turned the trueth of God into a lye and worshipped and serued the creature Wherefore God gaue them vp to vile affections of most abominable sinnes And deliuered them vp to a reprobate minde to doe those things which are not conuenient Being filled with all vnrighteousnes formcation wickednes couetousnes maliciousnes full of enuy murther debate deceit malignity whisperers backbiters haters of God despitefull proud boasters inuenters of euil things disobedient to parents without vnderstanding couenant breakers without naturall affection implacable vnmercifull Surely either S. Paul prophetically describeth the enormous sinnes and most corrupt maners of Rome as it stands in our times Or els Rome as now it is and hath bene for some ages past hath vndertaken to be in all points like to heathenish Rome as it was in S. Pauls time The manifold wickednesses of the now Rome could not bee more exactly pencelled and drawen out to life then by that which the Apostle here particularizeth O dreadfull night ô palpable darknesse ô vntollerable blindnesse Verely such impieties and impurities conclude that as yet the first night of the want of the knowledge of God remaineth there Inasmuch as so hidious sinnes are proper to the Heathen as the same Apostle witnesseth Sicut Gentes As the Gentiles 2. Thess 4.5 Ephes 4.17 which know not God Non ambuletis sicut Gentes c. That ye walke not as the Gentiles walke in the vanity of their minds hauing the vnderstanding darkened being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindnesse of their heart Who being past feeling haue giuen themselues ouer vnto lassciuiousnesse to worke all vncleannes with greedines Certainly such life and maners which are very ordinary and common in the Court of Rome yet I except whatsoeuer good men are there doe inferre that according to the Apostles intimation the knowledge of God and hope of euerlasting life is not to be found among them Edamus bibamus cras moriemur Let vs eat and drinke to day for we shall die to morrow And yet they most of all should open their eyes and mend their maners Thus therefore to the Gentiles made Christians Nox praecessit The night of grieuous offences is past Neither yet were the Iewes out of the shade of this night Qui alios doces teipsum non doces Rom. 2. Thou which teachest another teachest thou not thy selfe Thou that preachest a man should not steale doest thou steale Thou that sayst a man should not commit adultery doest thou commit adultery Thou that abhorrest idols doest thou commit sacriledge Thou that makest thy boast of the Law through breaking the Law dishonourest thou God For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you There is no difference Rom. 3. for all haue sinned and come short of the glory of God All therfore were ouer clouded with this night of most
grieuous sinnes Wee haue prooued both Iewes and Gentiles to be all vnder sinne as it is written They are all gone out of the way they are all become vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Now what is the night Nothing else but the absence of the Sunne And what else but sinne Wisd 1. driueth the Sunne of righteousnesse Christ Iesus from our soules In maleuolam animam non intrabit Sapientiae nec habitabit in corpore subdito peccatis Wisedome will not enter into a malicious soule nor dwell in a body subiected to sinne What is the night It is the shadow of the earth interposing it selfe betweene vs and the Sunne And what else is sinne but a darke and grosse obstacle intercepting the beames of the inuisible Sunne so that they cannot pierce downe to vs Isay 59.2 Your trangressions haue made a separation betweene God and you and your sinnes haue hid his face from you What is the night It is a season vnfit for trauailers other then those that are willing to loose their way and to aduenture their neckes in headlong downefals And what else is sinne but a wandring from the way that leadeth to heauen and a downeright gallop into the pit of hell Psalm 81.23 Dimisi eos secundum desideria cordis ipsorum ibunt in adinuentionibus suis I gaue them vp to their owne hearts lusts and they will walke in their owne inuentions Prou. 18.3 Improbus cum in profundum venerit peccatorum contemnit sed sequitur eum ignominia opprobrium When the wicked man commeth into the depth of sinne he groweth to contempt but shame and reproach follow him Of this night also S. Paul heere sayd The night is passed For they were now washed and cleansed from their sinnes and had their members also mortified as I shall touch in considering the day opposite to this night The third night which S. Paul heere had an eye vnto was the night of negligence and dulnesse Nay it may seeme that hee had principall respect heereunto For being that hee spake to the Romanes already conuerted to Christ whose faith also hee sayd to haue beene spoken of thorowout the whole world Rom. 1. they therefore were out of the night of infidelity delity Of whom also he had sayd that they were freely instified by Gods grace Rom. 3.24 through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ by faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of sinnes past And therefore now they being iustified and out of the night of sinne yet the Apostle in this chapter saith to them It is now high time for vs to awake from sleepe They were therefore yet asleepe and so remained in a certaine kinde of night though they had ouerpassed the two former nights whereof I haue spoken And of this third night the Apostles meaning is that it is not entirely passed ouer but he exhorteth them to endeuor and striue to shake off this sleep and to driue away this night also as formerly by Gods grace they had worne out the other two nights of ignorance and of sinne He therefore vrgeth them to rouze vp themselues from spirituall sloth and drowsinesse and to become watchfull in things perteining to their saluation This night will bee more euident by our mention of the day opposite heereunto I passe therefore to the fourth night from which God out of his infinite bounty hath freed vs in these times Concerning which I may say with S. Paul on mine owne behalfe and yours my brethren of Italy whom God hath blessed with the cleare light of the trueth Nox praecessit The night is past And for this I make such congratulation as may serue not to insult vpon others or proudly to glory in our selues but to render due thankes to the Almighty and to stirre vp our affections to compassionate our brethren who yet remaine in no small danger lying in the deepe darksome night of many errors though professing the Christian faith Surely a night so much the more dangerous in that those poore soules deeme themselues onely to enioy the Light and dreame that all others who adhere not to their part remaine in darkenesse Isa 5. Et dicunt bonum malum c. And call good euill and euill good accounting light to be darknesse and darkenesse light The Church of God is sayd to be Castrorum acies ordinata An armie set in array Cant. 6.3 Iob 7. And in truth the whole life of man is a warfare vpon earth But this warfare of the Church and this mighty Armie in my opinion may bee more fitly resembled to an Armada on the Sea then to a march on the land In which regard the Church is called A Merchants ship bringing food from a farre Prou. 31.14 And our Sauiour Christ being in a ship did then most liuely represent his Church Luke 5.3 as is very elegantly declared by the holy Fathers Christ hath his Nauie of many ships of warre that is a collection of many particular Churches wherof he is the Head and Generall Against this Nauy there are in the sea of this world openly set out many other ships of warre vnder the conduct of the Diuell which are the troopes of diabolical sects and superstitious Infidels the enemies of Christ And in this warfare I to my great griefe behold the ships that are vnder the same Captaine and Commander our Sauiour Christ to pursue one another with no lesse nay perhaps with more hatred then if they were indeed the ships of the enemy The Church of Rome and those that follow the conduct of it hate to the death the Reformed Churches And the Reformed hate them I would faine set you right my Auditors in a great and very common mistake if so bee that yee thinke the Reformed Religion to bee another Religion wholly differing from the Romane The Religion of both is in the maine essentials and fundamentals the very same Both haue the same Christ for their Lord and Master both the same baptisme both are founded by the same Apostles both haue and professe the same Gospel But to the end wee may vnderstand the estate of both the Romane and Reformed Churches I meane to hold my selfe to my similitude of ships and Nauigation The voyage of the Militant Church is a continuall sayling in the Ocean of this world amids a thousand shelfes and rockes gulfes and quicksands where no shore nor land at all is to bee seene For our pilgrimage heere is in faith and tendeth to the attaining of things inuisible Wee walke by faith 2. Cor. 5.7 and not by sight Wee see now through a glasse darkly 1. Cor. 13.12 but then wee shall behold face to face 2. Cor. 4.18 Wee looke not on the things that are seene but on the things that are not seene For the things which are seene are temporall but the things which are not seene are eternall And the Nauigation
wherein the Church Militant is employed tendeth to Spirituall things which are not seene And surely in Sea voyages amidst the maine where no land marke can bee seene for the direction of the shippe the onely certaine meanes of guidance for Nauigation consisteth in the vsing of a good Compasse hauing a Needle well touched with the Loadstone as also in hauing a Ship mans Card or Sea mappe iustly quartered and coasted Hee that without these or with a false Compasse or Mappe saileth out of all sight of shoare may bee saide to wander in vtter darkenesse and midnight though it be at noone-tide And contrary wise hee that is furnished with a true Compasse though hee saile in the deepe of Sea and of night yet hee enioyeth the day and cleareeth his passage at all occasions Now for the difference of the Reformed Shippes and the Romane it is not in the bottome nor in the tackeling but onely in the Compasse The Romane shippe is a good Vessell well built not rotten nor fallen in pieces it is well furnished with Masts with Yards with Cordage with Cables with Anchors it hath an excellent Sea-mappe the passengers and common souldiers in it are all vnder the colours of one and the same Generall our Sauiour Christ And in these there is no difference betweene this Ship and the reformed But I finde one maine difference betweene them whence also arise an innumerable other disparities and it is that the Pilot who sits at the sterne of the Romane ship hauing throwne aside the ordinary Compasse and leauing the vse of the approoued Sea-mappe hath out of his owne capricious conceit deuised a new Card and contriued a new-found Compasse of his owne whose needle hath no aspect toward the Pole or touch at all of the Load-stone Suteable also hereto hath he out of his owne head framed certaine Cardinall windes which serue onely for his Card. Nay which is worse then this hee hath intruded into the possession of gouerning the helmes of all the shippes that roade in his company and from euery of them hee hath taken away the vse of the ordinary Compasse and beating the Marriners and ouer awing them by tyranny who otherwise would doe well and performe their office aright will haue no nay but all those shippes must daunce attendance after his And so for that hee vseth no true Compasse nor Carde hee ringleads them all to wracke and they follow him fast enough without light through the thickest darkenesse For the vnfolding of this Metaphore I say in a word that the Bishoppe of Rome at this present and for many ages past leauing the trauailers true Sea-card the holy Scriptures and the vnmooueable North-Pole the aime at Heauen and heauenly things and propounding to himselfe one onely Port his owne greatnesse and temporall pompe hath in his deuised Compasse quartered out his owne counterfeit windes which must blow for that hauen they are dominion ouer all other Churches mastery ouer the Keyes infallibility of his iudgement and authoritie in things Temporall euen ouer Princes And as for the poore passengers and common souldiers who are transported and blindly clapt vp vnder the hatches in these wandring shippes he hath to amuse them added in his false Card many bastard windes painted out in guilded and flourished lines namely our owne and others merits Inuocation of Saints religious worship of Images the treasure of Indulgences efficacie of Masses and of Priestly absolutions Agnus Dei's hallowed Beads holy Water By these and other such windes neuer found in the ancient true Compasses and whereof the ancient Pilots of the holy Church neuer heard any newes by these blasts will hee haue his followers to saile whereby they are caried headlong into many most important errors The onely cause of all this mischiefe is that Archpilot For if hee were remooued or could bee perswaded to leaue his owne monstrous Chimericall Compasse and to betake himselfe to the vsuall and auncient guide presently defacing all those false windes verily the goodly fleete of the Catholique Church would easily bee set right and holding the safe and sure way as the Reformed Companies haue done would approach to the true hauen of eternall blisse True it is that these Reformed Churches beeing misledde by this wandring guide did sometime follow that vaine and deceitfull Compasse But at length they haue better bethought themselues and casting out that strange intruding Pilot they haue yeelded vp their shippe to bee gouerned by their owne true Steersemen such as God himselfe hath ordayned And so vsing the infallible Card of the holy Scriptures and the true Compasse quartered out into the foure auncient Cardinall windes of the foure first generull Councels and seconded with the vnder-windes of the holy Fathers they make an happy voyage and without wandring arriue at the appointed hauen of saluation And this is the miserable night of manifold errours wherein so many poore soules suffer themselues to bee hoodwinked and lulled asleepe from which yet we are rescued by the Almighty hand of God And therefore let vs yeelde him all possible thankes that This night is passed If I should here enlarge my selfe and insist vpon the consideration of these forged misguiding blasts to display all the particular errors which make this cloudie night I might encomber my selfe in a confused Chaos out of which I could not get in many dayes much lesse in the little portion of time allotted to this Exercise Yet I can doe no lesse now then touch some of the most principall and vniuersall of them out of which as from a roote all the particular errors doe spring It is very much behoouefull to the Pope for the mainteining himselfe in the forged greatnesse of his vniuersall Vicarship of Christ to holde the people in the deepest darknesse of ignorance and blindnesse that possibly may be To this purpose one maine article which he causeth to be taught in all the Churches subiect to him stands him in great stead namely that for the sauing of mens soules an implicite faith sufficeth whereby a man beleeueth all to be trueth whatsoeuer the holy Catholique Romane Church beleeueth and mainteineth And by this meane the Pope layeth open a way for himselfe to perswade the silly people already blinded with this credence to beleeue and receiue whatsoeuer hee imposeth on them for his owne aduantage and to make them admit for an article of faith that hee is the onely vicar of Christ that he cannot erre in cathedra iudging out of his chaire that he is the Lord paramount of the whole Church that the keyes and treasure of holy Church are in his hands onely that he hath power to depose Kings from their Thrones and to discharge their subiects of their oath of fealtie and infinite other such fopperies for the maintenance whereof many wretches cast away their soules And by degrees it will come to that passe one day that he will make himselfe to be adored for a God vpon earth By this engine of implicite
leaue sinne by the assistance of Gods grace But see how extrauagant the Papall doctrine is in this point Namely that it is necessary to confesse to a Priest all and euery of our sinnes one by one together with the circumstances of them and that thereupon presently comes absolution which ex opere operato by vertue of the deed done that is infalliblie by a Sacramentall operation releaseth the sinne quantum ad culpam as much as concernes the guiltinesse of it and as for an after-reckoning quantum ad poenam concerning the punishment that is remitted by satisfaction enioined or by Indulgences This so mighty efficacy they attribute to Priestly absolution by vertue whereof they will that a sinner presently becommeth ex attrito contritus that is to say though he doe not truly and soundly repent him of his sinnes but conceiue a certaine sleight and light sorrow out of feare onely of Gods punishments and not out of hatred of sinne yet vpon the act of absolution hee enioyeth the benefit of remission as fully as if he had true and entire repentance together with hatred of sinne In this maner they breed vp a sinner and make him in his affection to cleaue fast to his sinnes whilest he flattereth himselfe that Confession turneth his attrition into contrition And thus poore soules being beguiled with this blinding and benighting Doctrine trust so farre vpon this their externall Confession and externall Absolution that they neglect inward repentance and so sticke fast in their sinnes thinking that they haue done their part when they haue gone ouer the beadroule of their sinnes and so receiued Absolution But those good soules that put not this superstitious cōfidence in any such power of Absolution which in trueth cannot deriue from the Gospel any Sacramentall operation and certainely perswade themselues that they haue no other meanes of remedy then true hearty repentante they relie vpon that onely and make request to God for it by humble and feruent prayers vsing also other helpes whereto the Scriptures direct vs fastings giuing of almes and other workes of charitie Not that these doe satisfie for the punishment as the Romanists vainly teach For God when hee pardoneth the sinne remitteth also the punishmēt as is most cleare in Scripture but because these are fruits of inward Repentance and parts of outward and so make way for remission of sinnes But the Romish preposterous course mistaking and mis-doing in the darke night of this error worketh cleane contrary and setteth the cart before the horse first granting remission and afterward imposing workes of repentance which indeede should goe before repentance and much more before remission And by this reckoning the vnhappy soules when they thinke themselues most free then remaine most bound and vnpardoned before the throne of God This deuise therfore of Sacramentall Confession and Sacramentall Absolution as they terme it as it is pernicious so it hath the brand of nouelty being first imposed by Pope Innocent the third After the entrance whereof the forme of true repentance is very hardly to bee found in the Churches subiect to the Papacy O how much better were it for a sinner not to goe to Confession but onely when he findeth himselfe in his owne conscience rightly disposed to be in the state of true repentance For the often frequenting of Confession as it is vsed and receiuing of Absolution such as it is makes a sinfull wretch feede himselfe with shadowes and seeme to himselfe to giue his conscience sufficient satisfaction Whereupon he not seeing the miserable estate wherin he remains neuer thinketh seriously of true repentance Whereas if hee had not that vaine imployment which serueth him but to cloake his sinnes he would finde himselfe to bee yet in the estate of sinne and would earnestly bethinke himselfe of the true remedy namely inward sincere repentance which without any other confession or absolution cancelleth our sinnes as fully appeareth out of the holy Scriptures and Fathers It is therefore an errour very grieuous and hurtful to the soule to beleeue that these externall performances conferre remission of sinnes and that they are necessary therunto What shall we say of so many other meere externall trifles whereto the people is most superstitiously inclined as holy water beades crosses consecrated Images Papall and Episcopall benedictions Stations Pardons the new found hoode of the Carmelites called the Habitell the whipcoards of Saint Francis the girdles of the Cordeliers the visiting of such a Church in such dayes or of these and these altars and reliques nay the very hearing of Masses and anealing him that lies a dying These and such like other outward shewes doe fill and puffe vp the soule with a very surfet of an imaginary and false deuotion Wherupon men thinke not of purging their consciences of consummating their faith of inflaming their charity towards God and toward their neighbor they busie not themselues about repenting of their sinnes and performing those internall actions wherein the essentiall part of our reconciliation with God and eternall saluation doth consist And when a man hath once in a day signed himselfe with the signe of the Crosse and sayd ouer his Pater Noster which he vnderstands neuer a whit together with his Aue Maria and hath heard Masse why then forsooth he is a Saint and hath learned enough in religion and so fastning vpon these outsides he sets vp his rest on them for his saluation And if at any time they can ensnare an vngrounded Protestant and winne him ouer to their partie they thinke him very well furnished if he can beleeue in the Pope and will heare Masse vpon this presently without any more adoe they declare him to bea most perfect Catholique Let them not heere tell me that the inwards of the soule are stirred vp and whetted by these outward actions For experience sheweth the contrary that the people when they haue tired themselues with visiting so many altars with hearing so many Masses with chewing ouer so many halfe-scores of Aue Maries in running ouer al the Rosary when they haue so and so many times kissed the Crosse and haue bin in Processions they looke no further but deeme themselues to bee all holy and that they need nothing else and yet they goe on in their sinnes nay such as these for the most part become in their inward worse euery day then other and for all this mend not their liues nor settle themselues to true repentance Lament 4.4 Of these poore starued soules we may say Paruuli petierunt panem non est qui frangat eis The children called for bread and there is none to breake it to them And if they affoord them any scraps of bread it must not be the true bread of life but in stead of wholesome and nourishing bread made of wheat they giue them bread made of bran or acornes and to keepe them from sence of hunger they stuffe them vp with swines meat the huskes and