lusts or of present pleasures or of naturall apprehensions The man of the spirit is Iaacob a spirituall discerner a heauenly Citizen of a sanctified reason of a diuine or godly will of affections set on high But the wretched Antiquity of this contrariety and contention reacheth beyond Rebecca euen to the beginning of dayes when Time it selfe was not a weeke olde For euen in Paradise it was enacted as a punishment on the sinne of Man euen the trouble and vexation of a perpetuall Enmity Therefore as it was early in Antiquity beginning in the beginnings of Time so it is like to be laâ—e in continuance and to indure to the end of Time And no doubt these last Remnants of Time are likely to haue most of it for in them loue doth waxe cold and as loue waxeth cold contention groweth hote Therefore let euery Christian take to himselfe a twofold care One is that the more euill the dayes are the more hee striues to redeeme both his time and himselfe from the euill of the dayes As the Infection increaseth so is it fit hee should increase his Preseruatiues A second is That since in contention of two parts there is but one part that hath the Right hee must striue to bee on that part which hath the Right The Flesh hath no right to hate the Spirit much lesse to persecute it for therein Darknesse persecuteth Light Corruption Cleannesse an earthly and sensuall grossenesse a Diuine and Spirituall Puritie But good right hath the Spirit to hate the Flesh for no man can forbid Light to chase away Darknesse Purity Grosnesse Cleannesse a spotted Corruption Yet so giddie is man growne by his Fall that the Flesh iustifies it selfe in the Opposition of the Spirit and the Spirit is condemned for opposing the Flesh. And as this is done by those that are without against those that are within so is it done by those that are within one against another and in that degree of heate which is proportionable to the degree of the Flesh that possesseth eyther their Iudgements or Affections For euen within the visible church the flesh possesseth the Iudgements of many and fasteneth Errors vpon them and the flesh the whiles takes it selfe for the Spirit and therefore will erre by Authority Yea this counterfeit spirit fighteth with the true Spirit and by Religion would condemne Religion and vnder the shew of Truth striueth against Truth it selfe And if you will ghesse only by heate and vehemence you will hardly find out which is the Truth yea sometimes you shall haue the more heate with the lesse Truth For Error hath many times the oddes of contentious Egernesse which shall the lesse deceiue vs if wee carry about vs Saint Pauls little note That the true Churches of God haue no such custome as contention Yet my businesse at this time is to find out such within the pale of the visible Church not medling with those that are without and to search for them in that Dragge-Net which taketh vp both good and euill And I wish that by my finding them they may learne to find themselues that so finding themselues carnall they may striue to bee spirituall and so by beeing once found in the flesh they may euer hereafter bee found in the Spirit A first way by which the flesh becomes extremely Religious and by the Extremity of Religion extremely quarrelsome is custome For too true it is that many are Christians and this or that sort of Christians by custome and anticipation Christians I call them because they are such in the opinion of themselues and others yet must I needes tell them that true Christianitie is not fastened to the heart by custome and preiudice but it is knit vnto it by the Spirituall bands of illuminating and sanctifying Grace True it is that man hath in him by Nature an Instinct of Religion euen an Inclination to feare serue some Higher Power and this generall Inclination is coÌ„monly specificated by Birth and Education which by Custome knit a Religion to this Instinct which knot of Nature is many times mistaken for the knot of Grace Now this Religion so taken in by Nature is commonly violent peremptory and dangerous strongly opiniated of it selfe and as strongly hating all Religions different or opposite The Reasons of the violence of this Bastard Religion is diuers First because the Religion it selfe being naturall the affections and passions which are mooued by it are also natural now it is truly obserued that the motions of nature are commonly more vehement I am sure more tempestuous turbulent then those of grace Quicquid agit Natura valde agit Nature marcheth furiously in the execution of her purposes and the satisfaction of her desire But grace is little like a graine of Mustard-seed or shee is by her difference from Nature forsaken of it in her actions and affections so that the body often either tarries behind or comes slowly toward her for the seconding of her purposes or she is more orderly peaceable and temperate which is indeed the Character of her in S. Iames 3.17 A second reason of this violence may be because custome is a thing strongly rooted in the heart and the sinewes by which it is fastened are extremely sensible Therefore if you would cut away a custome you cut the heart it selfe and if you will pull it vp you pull out the heart and all with it Thence it was that Alexander could not perswade the Indians to bury their Parents hauing still vsed to incorporate them Neither could hee perswade the Graecians to swallow downe their Parents being euer vsed to interre them And heere by the way an Answer fitly ariseth to a twofold Obiection of ancient or * char moderne Pagans One is That it is a fearfull thing to see the strong diuersity of Religions in the World mayntayned by equall constancie and assurance from which eyther is inferred or deduced by the Master or Scholler that where there are so many and euery one denyed by all the rest they may bee all false because all are seuerally denyed But this followes not for first I haue shewed a reason of the manifold diuersity of Religions and the equall violence in their Professors As many Religions as Custome hath deliuered to Mankind so many are vsually retayned strongly maintayned But yet the diuersity of Errours cannot annihilate the vnity of Truth but Truth which is indeed but one may and shall stand iustified by her selfe and her children though the numberlesse variety of Errours may bee iustly confuted and ouerthrowne Though the Heathen haue as many Gods as Cities and not one of them true yet this hinders not but that there may bee one true God that made Heauen and Earth which euen by diuers Heathens hath beene confessed A second Obiection is this That Religion hath beene the Authour of many cruell outrages Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum Que peperit saepe seelerosa asq impia facta But henceforth
THE DISEASES OF THE TIME Attended by their Remedies By FRANCIS ROVS LONDON Printed by William Stansby for Iohn Parker and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the three Pigeons 1622. TO THE RIGHT Worthy and my truely honorable Friend Sir Beniamin Rudyerd Knight SIR I Doubt not but diuers doe direct the Dedications of their Heauenly Labours according to earthly respects But incongruous and vntunable Dedications haue euer been harsh to my Iudgement and it hath grieued mee much when I haue seen a heauenly pâ—arle offred to the hand but trodden on by the foot of an earthy and sensuall Patron To auoyd this Incongruity I thought it best â—o dedicate a Worke that concernes the prosperity of the Church of Christ Iesus to a louer of the same Iesus of the same Church and the same Prosperity For such a one beares the face and presence of Iehosaphat which being seene incourageth a Prophet to speake and not seene dotâ— make him speechleâ—se And surely I doe but testifie the Truth when I say that by ancient and inward knowledge I haue beene assured of your loue vnâ—o Sion and your wâ—l-wishâ—â—g to the prosperity of Ierusalem And euen from this Root of Heauenly Loue doe I beleeue that our particular Friendship hath suckâ— most part of its nourishment which I thinke the rather because it hath beene hitherto durable whereas worldly Friendships do vsually alter with worldly Changes Wherefore as to a louer of Gods House I present vnto you these parcels of Purple and blue Silk which I haue consecrated toward the reparation of the Tabernacle And I desire that when you receiue these words from mee I may receiue Prayers from you that God will daily adde to the Beauty of his Church and that hee will prosper these and the like Workes that indeuour to increase it Neyther shall your Prayers be altogether vnrequited for I will offer vp my hearty desâ—res for your inward and outward Aduancement and that as you grow outwardly in the World you may grow inwardly in Christ Iesus For growth in Christ is the growth of a holy happinesse that shall flourish for euer But growth out of Christ is the growth of Fuell euen of an euer-burning but a neuer-dying Miserie Yours in the best that is in Christian affection Francis Rous. A Light in the Porch for him that enters I Confesse the World is very tedious in the Multiplicity of his corruptions and it would make a worke of the like tediousnesse if all the particulars of the one should become the contents of the other But I haue by diuers winnowings abated the Heap desiring to set some shape if not on the Matter for Vice cannot bee made handsome yet on the manner of handling it Ordinary Vices which haue ordinary if iust Cures I mostly omit leaue the World to practise on themselues that which they know already Other euils there are which for their insolent growth scorne to bee slaine by a Pen but like the Princes of Midian they call for Gideon himselfe euen the power of the Magistrate to fall on them These being generally referred to their proper cure yet if some bee touched for I haue heard of a Gyant slayne by a Sling and a stone they are incountred with the kindly Weapons of this Warfare euen Spirituall and not Carnall Another sort of Euils like the Plague by comming abroad infect farther become Documents of Vice and not Reproofes And I wish there were not another sort of Diseases like the same Sicknesse which taking the Ayre in a Worke of reproofe may strike backe to the heart of the same Worke and make it to dye like Ieremies Roll if it meete with that kind of humour which vseth to cast away all if any one thing differ from it In such a Case Addition may bring forth Substraction and a little more in the writing may cause a great deale lesse in the reading Lastly there are other Vices which heretofore in some Meditations I haue discouered for which the labour of Repetition may be saued But what sayth the Man of Exception Are not these the Times of Light and Purity and therefore how can there be many faults where there is so much Light Surely I willingly and thankfully acknowledge the purity of our Doctrine and am assured that in many it hath brought forth the purity of Heart and Life But I say euen because the Light is so cleere therefore doth sinne the more appeare and appearing is the more to be blamed For the more light the more Direction and the more Direction the more shame and sharper reproofe belongs to the strayer Againe the more light the more manifestation and the more manifestation the more sinnes appeare yea sinnes appeare the more sinfull So in some sense Light may be said to increase sinnes but that is not in their number but in the knowledge of the numberer Therefore must our Light discouer those to be 〈◊〉 which ancient Ignorance accounted to be none and the Manhood of a Christian mâ—â— tâ—e vp to that height of Vertuâ— which his child-hood could not reach vnto yea perchance did think it vnpossible or vncomely Againe where the Deuill hath lost much there hee labours much for the recouery of his losses and the Husbandmen not being stil awake prosperitie often inticing to seâ—urity the Enemy finds times to sow his tares so that the good dayes of Iosiah had matter of reproofe for the Prophet Zephaniah and the flourishing Church of Thyatira was taxed for a mixture of the Seruants of Iezabel Lastly it is an obseruation of secular Policie That all States with time gather rust and therfore by often reuiews they are to bee reduced to the first grounds of Vertue and Iustice which setled their Foundations This is no lesse true in the Church and if any doubt of it let the Church of Ephesus resolue him There was no long time betweene the planting of that Church and the receiuing of the Reuelation Of their first Estate Saint Paul a Master-workman in that Plantation testifieth that their Faith in Christ and Loue to the Saints made him incessantly to giue thankes to God for them And of their second Estate at the time of the Reuelation Christ restifieth that this Church was fallen from her first Loue and her first Workes Therefore the Church and euery member of the Church out of the experience of humane frailty by contiunall turnes should suspect and examine themselues to see what the Flesh hath gotten vpon the Spirit and so with Ephesus remembring from whence they are fallen returne and amend and doe the first Workes Thus it appeares that there is matter of reproofe euen in the purest Churches and if where there is matter there reproofe should bee denyed this were to encourage Diseases and to forbid Physicke Surely there is at this day a libertie yea a necessitie of reproouing and it dyed not wholly when Iohn Baptist dyed but the House of God
neede of humane Inforcements Againe this is an excellent proofe that there is one generall Teacher by a Diuine Light illuminating the Church and it giues great comfort to the members of it that in some matters of Religion one man beeing many hundred myles distant or borne many hundred yeares after another receiueth some bright euident and glorious Truth which he seeth plainly to bee true and heauenly but receiueth it not of man by hearing or reading but of God alone by Meditation and yet he shall meet with another man so farre from him or with some workes of one so farre afore him which will tell the same Truths as being by that one Teacher also reuealed vnto them Againe there were among the Martyrs and Fathers men of as great and sound vnderstanding as any of these Wizards are yea they haue at first as much contemned and reiected Christ by their naturall knowledge yet at length they haue changed their minds and haue sought him as ardently as before they contemned him despitefully Now you cannot imagine that they would haue forsaken the light of their naturall Reason but that they saw a more glorious Light neyther would they haue spared their Candle but vpon the rising of the Sunne And surely these Seers doe as much wonder at the naturall mans not seeing as the not-seers at the seeing But the God of this World hath blinded their eyes that the glorious Light of the Gospell should not shine vnto them and this blindnesse cannot bee taken away by Arguments and being taken away Arguments are needlesse And this must bee thought the true Reason why in the Councell of Nice the Reasons of the learned Fathers could not preuayle with the Heathen Philosopher yet the playne narration of the Faith by a simple Priest preuayled The vayle of the flesh lay on his heart and their Reasons could not take it away but the Spirit of God tooke it away then the euidēce of a plain proposed truth perwaded him And indeed God only hath the Key which vnlockes the heart and that is the spirit Eloquence and Logicall Demonstration are not those Keyes which may open the Soule That which is fastned in our generation must be loosed by Regeneration the remedie must bee equiualent yea preualent to the Disease It may not bee a naked bare and vnactiue word that may cure the deed of excecation done to the heart but it must be an operatiue forcible and effectual word that speaks what it does and does what it speakes If such a Word say let there bee light there shall be light and then the light of our soules shall see the great Obiect of our Soules the perfect Light Christ Iesus But before this light and sight bee created in vs let that Infinite Light shine right into the eyes of blindnesse and darknesse the darknesse will neuer comprehend it And euen to them that see they will deny their sight and sweare that they are blind also But whither it be fit for vs to beleeue their blindnesse or our owne sight let euery man iudge In their owne wisdome they will hold That Sensus non fallitur circa obiectum And by that will prooue the Sunne shines or the Swan is white because the vnhindered fence hath apprehended it to be so And why should not wee enioy the same priuiledge and say much more That a soule clarified and illuminated by the purest spirit is not deceiued in spirituall Obiects but as Salomon saith it seeth more and more truely then seuen men on a Watch-towre and as Paul saith The spirituall man discerneth spiritual things Surely the spiritual eye as properly and as naturally seeth spirituall things as the bodily eye doth bodily things yea it should doe it better and more assuredly because this spirituall sight came more newly immediately from the Maker but our fight comes from him to vs through many men and many infirmities of those men much soyled and dimmed And here comes in fitly to be answered a second Obiection which is an Imputation of captiuitie vndergone by our vnderstandings in the matter of Faith To this I answere That in true Religion it is not a brutish captiuitie by which the vnderstanding yeelds vp her eyes to be put out herselfe to bee blindfold but the vnderstanding receiuing a better sight yeelds vp the worse and so doth not loose her light but change it for a better yea it changeth captiuitie for freedome for euen that blindnesse that captiuated is is led into captiuity but the vnderstanding is more free then before as an eye that is freed from blindnesse For the Sonne by his Spirit hath freed vs from that naturall darknesse wherein we were borne 2. Cor. 3 16 17. But they will re-inforce this Obiection from the vsuall forme of teaching young or new Christians Their first instruction they say is to beleeue and they take Credo for their beginning But do Christians herein otherwise then other Teachers of Sciences It is knowne for a Maxime without the bonds of Religion Oportet discentem credere Hee that learnes an Arte must at first beleeue the Teacher of the Arte and then after being skilfull in his Arte hee may looke himselfe into the truth of his Art So in Christianity at first Religion must be receiued vpon trust but this is by Learners only not true and formed Christians The Church must at first teach her Children vntill they be taught by Christ and then indeed they are only true and formed Christians when Christ himselfe hath taught them Some of the Samaritans beleeued the woman at first concerning Christ but being taught by Christ they went beyond that beliefe and beleeued himselfe and they adde their Reason Wee now know that he is the Christ. So is Knowledge still the kindly foundation of our Religion which heerein out-strips other Arts. For the yong beginners must at first beleeue the Artists themselues and proceeding farther must generally vpon trust beleeue principles which they hold most from Aristotle who as the Doctor saith in his Preface is often contrary to himselfe and exceeds in grosse absurdities all them that went before him And if some transcendent spirits shake off trust and authority and search the Fountaines of things they find that the Principles themselues are indemonstrable and what cannot be demonstrated I hope must bee taken vpon blind beliefe But this fauour they will not allow vnto Christians neyther doe wee much desire it for we see and know our selues what we beleeue whereof wee affirme and wee see by the highest purest and most vndeceiueable light and we want not the Glow-worm of demonstration to tell vs that wee see the chiefest Light Christ Iesus by our Faith and the light which wee see is the same Light by which wee see Herein only is the trouble that we cannot communicate our sight vnto blindesse and they will not allow vs to beleeue by seeing what for want of seeing they cannot beleeue Therfore when with Stephen
any thing come neer to the worshipper which hath beene knowne to haue drawn the worship aside from God to it selfe And accordingly God in his Iealousie was very carefull that no Image should bee seene in Horeb lest what had beene seene should haue been represented what had been represented should haue beene worshipped But these Men presuming beyond their Maker haue apprehended and condemned this his needlesse Iealousie abandoning all feare in their Horebs euen in the places where the Law is or should be published haue set vp many Images before their ignorant and vntaught people euen â—tumbling blockes before the blind And all the remedie or satisfaction we can haue from them is this that they teach the people a distinction whereby they need not bee Idolaters But to what purpose is this when this distinction is not so vniuersally taught as the Images are seen neyther as before so vniuersally vnderstood neyther if vnderstood so generally followed by reason of Mans corruption which not being limited heretofore by a Diuine Commandement will lesse be limited by a humane Distinction Therefore should these offences bee wholly taken away from the places of worship yea if they were as vsefull as the brazen Serpent it selfe which was the Image of Christ yea for their sakes must let them be taken down for whom they are most set vp euen for the Lay and ignorant people for to these are they intended to giue most instruction and to these being least capable of the distinction they bring most destruction And here as we passe let vs take notice of a great danger in that Mystery of Iniquitie For the Teachers and Masters of that Art pretend at first to make good Christians but they endeuour at last to make ill subiects so that except there be some stop in the Disciples which can hardly bee when the eare is open to all that which the Church teacheth and the Priests are the mouth of the Church it is very hard to stay themselues within the iust bonds of Religion and subiection For if the Popes temporall power ouer Princes be both taught beleeued as it commonly is the more zealous he is that beleeues it the more dangerous hee is to the State where hee liues And lamentable patternes hereof may bee seene since ingenuous and good disposition haue bin Instruments in most barbarous Treasons and particularly in the greatest of all Treasons Thus I haue somewhat delineated the portrature of the Romish Church whereby it may be knowne both what a small Church of God is among them and what a large Synagogue of Satan what Temple of God and what false god sits therein So may wee distinguish betweene the good and the euill not condemning the good for euill neyther louing the euill for the good For such is the crafâ— of the Romish Circumcellions and Proselite makers that they goe about to make men euill by that which is good by the best of their Religion bring men to the worst Accordingly they do very much fish for men to the first sort of Religion by the second and sometimes by the best degree of the second though among the vulgar where the third wil serue they saue the labour of the second Yea many good soules seeing such Holinesse in some of the Workes of that Church as before in the second and third of the second they haue of themselues conueyed themselues into the first and so while they desired to bee made fellow-members of the Saints by vnion they haue with the same become subiects of the Popes Monarchy and so warfared at once to Christ and Antichrist which cannot be but by great losse danger We therfore to whom God hath shewed the deceitfulnesse of these strong Delusions though louing the vertues truthes and persons of those which among them receiue a iustifying and sanctifying Religion yet let vs not for loue of them cast our selues into a yoke of Tyranny Errour and Ignorance neyther for Sions sake thrust our selues into Babylon but rather flye from it It hath pleased Christ the true Head of the Church to set vs free from the counterfeit head and the cruell burdens thereof both spirituall and temporall Let vs therefore stand fast in the libertie wherewith Christ hath freed vs and not returne willingly into the yoke of bondage Whatsoeuer vertue and whatsoeuer Holinesse is among them the same is heere open to vs and with a great aduantage of freedome from abundance of Errours Superstitions and Deceits Now who would be so foolish rather to seeke Corne among a heape of Chaffe then to take it winnowed and clensed And who would seeke Relgion among a heape of Errours when hee may haue one purged and winnowed by the Fanne of Christ euen the breath and Word of God And let this be taken for a certayne truth That if we goe but by a generall experience and without an inquiring of this particular case we may find that in one thousand and fiue hundred yeares any Church will gather rust and mosse and tares For certayne it is that in all that time the Husbandman doth sometimes sleepe and as certainly as the Husbandman sleepes so certainly doth the Enemie sow his Tares The Church of the Iewes before Christ if we giue Rome her owne asking was as very a Church and as infallible a Church as only a Church as the Church of Rome In Iury was God only knowne to them were only committed the Oracles and to them were the promises made yet we see what drosse and Tares grew vpon that Church euen in short returnes and if you will see it do but marke what scouring and clensing fell to the lot of the two good Kings Hezekiah and Iosiah and at last to our Sauiour Christ himselfe who was fayne to sweepe the Temple with a Whip and to smite the Doctors of the Temple euen the Scribes and Pharisies with the rod of his mouth Mat. 5. yet this while the Church of Rome is pure and spotlesse neyther in all these yeares since Christ is there any Errour in their Doctrine But the truth is that she is no other then the Church of Iudea yea of Laodicea She is blind miserable and naked but only shee saith and will haue it said That shee is rich and hath need of nothing She is not without faults but shee will bee without correction Hauing faults she will haue them to bee no faults that where there be no faults there may be no amendment Surely this is the top of the misery of that Church as it is to vs a chiefe Iustification of our departure from them that they haue left themselues no leaue or power of amendment For they haue sealed their errors first vnto them by a Councel the seale of the Popes infallibility being set thereto So are they bound eternally to the loue and defence of their Errours and must still erre that they may not seeme to haue erred But this carnall policie is likely to bee their