and the worship done by it is idolatrous First they condemne it in generall and then in particular In generall they mislike for fiue things First because the prayers are read The reading of prayers they say can not bee with sighes and grones nor come of faith nor proceede from the motion of the spirite nor haue any feeling ioyned with it and hath no warrant by commaundement or practise from Christ and his Apostles Prayers read they say are onely for meditation and not for inuocation This is their accusation against the prayers that are read out of a booke When our Sauiour sayeth The true worshippers must worshippe the father in spirite and trueth and Paul the spirite helpeth our infirmtties then they suppose that prayers read are excluded as though they proceeded not of the spirite Prayers are not so much vsed of the people nor of any of vs as they ought to be It is the chiefe meanes to obtaine Gods fauour to keepe our selues in his feare and to worke all goodnes in vs. If prayers by the booke were no praiers we should be much more barren in this exercise then we are This were a good meanes for the deuill to bannish prayer from a great number altogether I would know in respect of the hearer what great difference it is if the prayer be read to him or pronounced out of thy heart Neyther way doth it come out of his heart as the fountaine It commeth thus to passe also with many that vtter conceiued prayers that for the most part they vse the same fourme of words the same matter in most points of their praiers Againe what would this liberty of euery mans praying publike at his owne motion hauing that office bring vpon the Churches Infinite intollerable babling in some dānable most heretical petitions in a great number But they say praiers read are not of the spirite nor with sighes nor feeling The very reading is not praying but the motion and desire to God in reading is praying This motion is not hindered but furthered by reading because it bringeth to the vnderstanding that which the heart longeth after As one candle receiueth light of another so euen in prayer the heart receiueth light and heate by meanes of the words read and heard Christ set down a fourme of words and sayd when you pray pray thus Nowe he that vseth the wordes and matter and affection prayeth thus rather then he that vseth the matter and affection onely And the words of some petitions we vse of necessitie as forgiue vs our sinnes or trespasses and therefore may well vse all Christ himselfe in the garden prayed thrise saying the same words Dauid made diuers Psalmes to be sung in Gods seruice and intitleth them to the parties that should be leaders in them The hundred thirtie and sixt psalme was cōmonly sung in time of thanksgiuing for great and extraordinarie victories first Dauid himselfe vsed it then Iehosaphat and after that Iudas Maccabeus Ioel in the publike fast telleth what the priestes should say and biddeth them pronounce these words Spare thy people Ioel 2.17 O Lorde and giue not thine heritage into reproche that the heathen shoulde rule ouer them wherefore should they say among the people where is their God Hose 14.2 Hoseah biddeth the people take vnto them words and say to the Lord Take away all iniquitie and receiue vs graciously so will we render the calues of our lippes Asshur shall not saue vs neyther will wee ride vpon horses neyther will wee say any more to the worke of our hands yee are our Gods for in thee the fatherlesse findeth mercie God prescribed a fourme of blessing to Aaron and his sonne Num. 56.23 wherewith they shoulde blesse the people commaunding them to say The Lorde blesse thee and keepe thee and so soorth Moses vsed a fourme of wordes as a prayer at the going forwarde and resting of the Arke Numb 10.35 36. and Dauid in his prayer hath the same Seeing these things are so Psal 68.2 prayers read may be vsed a man by them may perfourme vnto God spirituall and acceptable seruice The second thing for which they mislike the booke is because it is prescribed and imposed and vsed continually This cutteth off the libertie of the Church they say and bringeth it into bondage this is tedious to men and Penrie is not ashamed to say it is lothsome to God to be serued so oft as it were with one dish The libertie that these men chalenge is such as that they will be bound to nothing especially in religion in things indifferent neither by prince nor by any law of man be it neuer so good godly the thing is misliked because it is prescribed and imposed vpon vs. Doth the very imposing and bond by law make it vnholy Then acknowledge not the Trinitie nor receiue the canonicall Scripture nor seeke to knowe Gods commandements nor Christian faith For these things by law are imposed vpō vs. But this diminisheth not our liberty nor taketh away our willing seruing of God in these things imposed but rather maketh vs more willing And as for tediousnesse to the Lord because these prayers are old and vsuall it is not to be feared For in his seruice he requireth not newe words but a newe heart The worshippe and prayer is newe to God so oft as our heart is renewed with zeale and true repentance and good affection to it For the prayer to God is not the outward word but the inward desire and affection The third thing in generall for which they condemne the booke is for that it is mans inuention Whatsoeuer man deuiseth that they count vncleane and not to be vsed in prayer When mens traditions and inuentions are reprooued in Gods seruice by scripture hitherto by all godly writers those things haue bene vnderstood which are contrary to Gods word Things agreeable are not so accounted mens inuentions that they should be condemned For if simply to come from the wit and braine of man be naught thē were preaching to be banished and then euen conceiued prayers must be excluded and so much more because they be new inuentions euery day and this if it be any it is but one It is not a deuise of man therefore to be reiected which is agreeable to the word of God as those things in this booke are whereby we worship God The fourth generall cause of reiecting the booke is for that it is in many points taken out of the Popes portesse Therefore Barrowe calleth it a great colloppe or a pigge of that mezeled hogge In this behalfe another of them sayeth wee beare the image of the beast for that we vse some part of his forme of liturgie It is certaine that a great part of the publike prayer in that booke which the Romanes vse was practised in the Church before the beast came in that chaire And often times Gods people haue eyther taken or resumed
but according to his owne fancie to establish his owne earthly kingdome Last of all hee denieth to Christ also his priesthood for neyther doth he admitte the sacrifice of Christ by himselfe in his owne person vpon the Crosse as sufficient for saluation but he ordaineth another sacrifice of the Masse and satisfactorie works of penance mens merites to redeeme their owne sinnes Neither doeth he permit Christ to be the only intercessor maker of request to the father for his people but hee ioyneth with him or substituteth vnder him the Virgine Marie and a great number of saintes of his owne creation Thus he denieth Iesus to be Christ sheweth himself to be an enemie vnto him the very Antichrist Wherfore al the notes markes of the beast fal vpon him This is the beast that Iohn speaketh of which doeth associate to himselfe the kings of the earth their armies maketh warre against Christ his army This is now our enemie he his kings fight against vs. It is good for vs to thinke of him as he is and as he is called in Scripture Let vs not thinke of him as of an holie Father Christes Vicar a sacred person the pillar of Christes religion the highest Byshop a god in earth as the Papistes and his owne seruants and flatterers so manie as haue not receiued the loue of the trueth such whose names are not written in the booke of life doe esteeme him But let vs thinke of him as of the great whore the mother of all fornication in the earth for his idolatrie as of Babylon for his persecuting Empire as of an Apostata for his falling from the true faith as of Antichrist and the enemie of Christ for denying the sufficiencie of Christs Sacrifice and intercession for expelling Christ out of his throne of gouernement and stepping into it himselfe for displacing Christs word and corrupting it and putting his owne word in the roome thereof Let vs account him as the beast that hath not one shape but the properties of manie beastes and therefore a monstrous beast Proude lyke the Lyon cruell lyke the Beare filthie like the Swine full of poyson through his blasphemies like the Dragon and yet in shewe of hornes like the Lambe This is the leader and captaine of all our enemies if we yeelde to them wee yeelde to the beast and the beast will make vs beastes like himselfe Wee must beare the beastes marke God defend vs from him and represse his furie and confounde his enterprises and ouerthrowe his kingdome Thus much of the beast The beast fighteth not alone against Christ and his people for thē he were not much to be feared but he hath first kings and then his owne their armies to assist him First wil I speake of the kings thē of their armies Kings were prophesied to be subiect to him The Angel saith to Iohn The ten horns which thou sawest are tenkings which yet haue not receaued a kingdome but shall receaue power as kings at one houre with the beast These haue one minde and shal giue their power and authoritie to the beast These shal fight with the Lambe and the Lambe shal ouercome thē For he is Lord of Lords king of kings they that are on his side called chosen faithful Againe he saith The ten hornes which thou sawest vpon the beast are they that shal hate the whore shal make her desolate naked shall eate her flesh and burne her with fire For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his wil to doe with one consent for to giue their kingdom vnto the beast vntill the words of God be fufilled Thus kings shal subiect thēselues to the beast shal giue their authoritie to him shal fight for him so long as God hath appointed The loue of these kings to Rome their obedience is expressed which they shewed to it in time of the prosperitie thereof in this maner With her haue cōmitted fornication the kings of the earth And in the time of the decay of it in this sort The kings of the earth shall bewaile her and lament for her which haue cōmitted fornication liued in pleasure with her when they shall see the smoke of her burning What other state hath there bin or is in the world vnto which kings haue willingly subiected themselues and yet remaine kings but this If any be vnder the great Turke the name of kings and authoritie ceaseth by and by He onely will be king But in Poperie the kings submit thēselues become seruants tributarie yet remaine kings take pleasure in this subiection and striue against al others that will not be slaues bondmen as wel as thēselues These kings had the same occasion time of beginning their kingdomes that the beast had For the dissipation of the West Empire gaue the first occasion at one time to both For after the great fight betweene the Hunni vnder Attila on the one side being 500000 men al the power that the other natiōs Romans Goths Frenchmen Britons Germans could make on the other side after this battel fought in campis Catalaunicis in France the countries were gouerned not by one Emperor ouer all but by their owne seueral gouernors Then the French began in France the Hunni in Hungarie the Saxons in England the Goths in Spaine and so in euery countrie either strangers or the olde inhabitantes tooke the gouernement to themselues To finde that they were iust ten and neither more nor lesse it is hard but ten may be set for a perfect and full number rising of all the Vnities The occasion of the rising of the Popedome of these kingdomes was one and the same and at once began albeit the Popedome shewed not it selfe in his great pride and high name of Oecumenicall Byshop till Phocas the Emperor of Constantinople in the yeare sixe hundreth and sixe Then Rome was great with childe of this beast yea and brought him forth and gaue him the name But hee did growe vp afterward in great haste till he became the mightiest in the West partes of the worlde But his growing was by the suppressing of the Empire and by sucking of strength from the Emperor and from these kings The first milke that hee did sucke was that title gotten of Phocas that hee might be called and taken to bee the Oecumenicall and generall high Byshop of all the world Before that time the other Patriarkes were equall with him but by this title hee was set ouer them and all other Byshops Then hee obtained more milke of the Emperour although hee had much a doe to get it namely that the Emperour should not confirme him but his election should bee ratified by the Romanes and not by the Emperor When hee had this then hee was able to goe alone After this he obtaineth yet more plentifull nourishment and beginneth to swallowe downe stronge meate Hee obtaineth by much
euil deedes If he be a blasphemer of the name of Christ an open despiser of his Gospel one that refuseth him and acknowledgeth him not as Redeemer and God hee is to be accounted an infidel and by all meanes to be reiected None such are admitted of vs or mingled with vs being once knowen Moreouer Isa 65.11 they thinke that Esay condemneth vs for admitting a whole parish to the holy Communion when he saith Yee are they that haue forsaken the Lorde and forgotten my holy mountaine and haue prepared a table for the multitude and furnish the drincke offering for the number Esay speaketh not of receauing a number into societie to offer to the Lorde but rather of sacrificing to a multitude of Idols in steade of the true God For hee opposeth the onely true God to a multitude whome they serued yea some thinke that the names that are translated a number and multitude doe signifie Mars and Mercurie Wherefore this pertaineth not to the admitting of manie to the Communion It was a commendation for the people and seruice of God when they did all eate the passeouer and offer sacrifices together as at their comming out of Egypt and in the wildernes and vnder Iosias and otherwise It is much more to be misliked with vs that some refraine from the communion then that so many come vnto it They obiect many other things against the retayning of wicked men in the societie of the Church but these are the chiefe To answere all woulde require a seuerall treatise Their thirde note of a visible Church is that it must be gathered in the name of Christ Esai 11.14 Esay did so prophecie In that day the roote of Ishai shall stand vp for a signe vnto the people the nations shall seeke vnto it Whole nations and many nations shoulde come to Christ in steede of one nation Could this be but many wicked and vngodly should be mixed and howe should the nations seeke to him some in shewe some in trueth some by outward profession and some by inward feeling Ioh. 12.32 When our Sauiour sayth If I were lift vp from the earth I woulde drawe all men vnto me hee meaneth that such as come in trueth shall come by his power but hee meaneth not that there should none come in outward fashion onely in word and yet in heart be farre from him in their deedes denie him And as he sayeth againe Mat. 18.20 where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them so are our assemblies in the name of Christ if to come vpon his commaundement to call vpon him to heare his worde and to receaue his Sacramentes bee to be gathered in his name and the wicked comming with vs hindereth not this our purpose nor disappointeth our worke That which Peter saieth To whome yee come as vnto a liuing stone disalowed of men but chosen of God and precious and yee as liuely stones bee made a spiritual house an holie Priesthoode to offer vp spirituall Sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ This I say is spoken of them which are called of God according to his eternall purpose But none are thus ioyned to Christ but onely such yet for their sakes the rest are so accounted and take the name of that which is the chiefe and so farre are they from making vs to bee separated from God when we consent not to their sinnes that they are tolerated and receaued into some outwarde honor of the Church for vs. These places sufficiently proue that the Church of Christ must be ioyned vnto Christ the head But what exception can bee taken against our Churche howe can it be sayde that wee are not gathered together in the name of Christ They saye our Churches are gathered together not in the name of Christ but in the name of Antichrist This is a most vile slaunder against the Church All that is proper to Antichrist we withstand and therefore Antichrist seeing himselfe cast off and vs not gathered in his name striueth by force and policie to gather vs to himselfe again The name of Antichrist included especiallie his supremacie his humane traditions against the written worde of God his idolatrie his adoration of Saintes his pilgrimages and reliques his prayers for the dead and purgatorie his iustification by workes his satisfactions for sinnes his doctrine of free-will his vowes of pouertie of single life his workes of supererogation his pardons and the like To come together in these opinions and in the practise of those thinges is to bee gathered in the name of Antichrist But thus wee doe not Contrariewise wee come to worship God in the name of Christ alone to bee iustified by him to heare his trueth therefore wee are gathered in the name of Christ The fourth note of a visible Church they make this that it must worship Iesus Christ truelie It is out of question that the true Church of God worshippeth Christ aright But what can they alledge against vs and the worship that we performe to Christ First the commandement Thou shalt make no grauen image They account vs idolaters Then that to the Corinths 1. Cor. 10. If anie man say vnto thee that is sacrificed vnto idoles eate it not because of him that shewed it Our seruice they say was once offered to idoles and therefore now must not be vsed To these they ioine that of Esay Esai 66.17 They that sanctifie thēselues purifie themselues in the gardens behind a tree in the middest eating swines flesh and such abomination euen the mouse shal be consumed together saith the Lord. In their account our prayers the forme of our publike seruice is swines flesh or as a mouse which things were vncleane and might not be offered to God by the law And to this end they heape vp many places of like nature as that of Deuteronomy Deut. 17.1 such other Thou shalt offer to the Lorde thy God no bullocke nor sheepe wherein is blemish or any euill fauoured thing for that is an abomination to the Lorde thy God Such a sacrifice they iudge the seruice that we offer to God by the booke of common prayer to be Therefore they giue names of reproche and disdaine vnto the booke calling it the Statute booke and stinted seruice and staruers booke and such like Against this booke they fight as against a most pregnant idole We worshippe not God aright because we worship him by this booke The worshippe of God is large faith hearing of his worde reading of the Scriptures and euerie good worke pertaineth to his worshippe All the seruice and duetie we doe to God are not done by the reading and vsing of that booke Nay all our prayers in the Church are not out of it The preachers vse the libertie of their mind and motion of Gods spirite So that all our worship and all our prayers are not done by that booke But they say that booke