of mans bodie to direct them in all their actions Furthermore is it possible that in the day without the light of the Sunne or in the night without a lanterne to make good choise of the pathes wherin we must walke or walke in them any longe tyme without stumbling Euē so our vnderstādings which be not onely blinde by nature but are euen darkenes it selfe can they any more thinke that which is good right if they be not guided by a light from aboue Psal 119.105 but now there is no other but the word of god as Dauid sayth Thy worde is a lanterne vnto my feete and a light vnto my path I haue sworne and I will performe it that I will kepe thy righteous iudgemēts And in an other place in the same Psalme vers 24. Thy testimonies are my delight and my consellers And in another place Open myne eyes vers 18. that I may see the wonders of thy Law It may be gathered by all these places going before many other like vnto thē that without the worde of God men are altogether miserable and that the life honour riches pleasures and all true felicity doe depend thereon and where it doth want there wanteth also with it all goodnes and all good hope and that is the reason why the Prophet doth so cōmend the reading meditatiō therof vnto the whole world Psal 1.2 Deut. 6.9 And that Moses exhorteth euery one to write and ingraue it in all the corners of their houses to the end it might continually be set before their eyes that they might euer haue a present memory therof feed their spirites therewith day night for the water the fire so necessary for the life of the bodye to maintaine and keepe it as is the worde of God for the spirituall life of our soules to preserue it Whosoeuer doth loue and follow it he is sure that God wil blesse him that within with out his house al things wil succeed happily vnto him Psal 119.165 as Dauid saith They that loue thy law shal haue great prosperity And in another place They shall walke in the light of thy countenance Psal 89.15 and in thy righteousnes shall they exalt themselues Cōsidering these things we should pray vnto God without ceasing for his grace that he would continue vnto vs so great a benefite say vnto him that which is written in Moses songe Psal 90.12 Teache vs to number our dayes that we may apply our hartes vnto wisedome returne O Lord how long be pacified toward thy seruants and bewaile the condition of the Apostates who hauing forsaken the Gospell the Churches Rom. 1.16 where it is preached that is to say the power of God which he hath ordained to saluation to euery one that beleeueth be without al doubt in the way of damnation in dāger of eternal death Psal 119.155 as Dauid saith Saluation is far from the wicked because they seeke not thy statutes For they decaue themselues if they thinke that they can obtaine it any where els but only in the church of god where it is purely preached Esa 2.2 Wherfore the Prophet Esay doth allure euery one to heare vnderstand Esa 2.2 It shall be in the last daies that the mountain of the house of the Lord shal be prepared in the tops of the moūtaines shal be exalted aboue the hils al nations shal flow vnto it many people shall go and say come let vs go vp to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs his waies and we will walke in his paths for the law shal go out of Sion the word of the Lorde from Ierusalem To be informed aright in the wil of God must be done in his church where he is worshiped in spirit truth called vpō purely And it must be by the mouth of his Prophets ministers which are ordained established in the same by him Mal. 2.7 to preach expound it As Malachy writeth That the Priests lips should keepe know ledge they should seeke the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts Moreouer Eph. 4. Rom. 12. 1. Cor. 12. 1. Tim. 3. to whom are the true Prophets preachers sent Is it not to the Church of Iesus Christ the spirit of prophesie and interpretation Is it not vnto it which is the piller stay of the truth The Church is our mother the mouths of the good shepheards which are ordained therein to gouerne it be the pappes wherby she giueth sucke vnto her children who by faith take the brest draw and sucke the milke wherewith they do nourish and fat themselues so much especially if it be good milke and in great abundance that they become faire goodly maruelous beautifull But when the breastes come to be staied and dried vp as it chanceth in time of papistry where al their Pastors are at this present blind watchmen Esa 56.10 that haue no knowledge and dum dogs despitefull in mind which can not bark who desire and haue no other care but to liue and become fat and sleepe softly in this world and moreouer where the milke that is giuen to the children is all waterish and corrupt is it not necessarye that being so nourished they should become dry withered that in the ende they die with languishing for want of good toode The Apostates then that are gone out of the Church where they might if they would Psal 81.16 haue bene fed with fine wheate flower God would haue fed them with the fat of wheate and with the hony of the rocke would I haue sufficed thee to return to papistry as to an Egypt to be there fed with stinking garlicke and onions which are giuen there vnto them What can they looke for of such nourishment but in short space to die with languishing for they haue not any whit of the worde of God pure in the synagogues and conuenticles of Antichrist but onely some litle peeces or shreds which are drawen out here and there out of the foure Gospels the Epistles of the Apostles and most commonly il fitted to that purpose whereto they woulde haue them serue whereof neither the Pastors nor the sheepe can receaue any instruction or edification because the one and the other being equally ignorant neither vnderstande the tongue which is spoken nor the sence and mysteries which are conteined therin Considering that the secrets of the Lord are reuealed vnto those who haue them in honor and reuerence who by feare and humilitie are prepared to the vnderstanding of the same and not vnto those proud and arrogant Apostates which are at this present blasphemers of God contemners mockers of his worde and deadlye enemies of his Church which they would wish vtterly banished Psa 25.14 The secret
of their fleshe if they be voide of faith which alone stayeth and vpholdeth vs in the midst of all winds stormes Mat. 16. tempests which â—ay happen vnto vs Furthermore froÌ„ whence â—an they haue hope for the remission of their sinnes and consequently righteousnes and life which do depend theron without faith Rom. 4. Which is the Isope that doeth sprinckle vs with the blood of the lambe to wash and clense vs from all our iniquities and by this meanes to preserue vs from the destroier from the wrath of God whereby otherwise we shoulde be deuoured and vtterly consumed Gal. 3. Finally sithens faith is the instrument and hande whereby we receiue all the graces and blessings of God and as it were salt whereby we and all our workes are seasoned to be pleasaunt in his tast We must conclude that without it we are accursed and abhominable before him Rom. 14. and that all our vertues whatsoeuer shewe or outward appearance they haue be nothing else but filth iniquitie and sinne And as the Princes liueries are the markes whereby their pages and other seruaunts are knowne so faith is the badge of the lambe which his family and houshold seruants doe beare in their foreheads Apoc. 7.4 thereby to be knowne and whosoeuer shall weare this cognisance he is fure that euen the Angels to whome it is permitted nowe in these last times to hurt the earth the sea and the trees can noâ— hurt him in any thing because he is set apartâ— to be safe from all dangers Apoc. 12. but vnto the feare full and vnbeleeuers vnto the Idolaters anâ— lyars as all Apostates are their part shall be in lake of burning fire and brimstone which is the second death Rom. 11.20 This ought well to conteine vs in our duties and to set oftentimes that before our eyes which the Apostle sayth as well of vs as of the Iewes to wit that through vnbeleefe they were broken of though they were braunches of the true oliue tree and that we stande by faith to the ende that we may not lift vp our selues through pride but liue in all feare and humilitie vnder the protection and mighty hand of our God That the Apostates are without the Church Chap. 13. HAuing shewed by al the chapters and discourses going before that the Apostates are without God without Mediator without law without faith without sacraments it doth followe thereof immediatly that they are also without the Church For 1. Tim. 2.5 as there is but one God one creator and redeemer of the worlde so there is but one people which he hath chosen and set a part to separate them from others Psal 74.2 and to adopt and reserue them for himselfe to sanctifie them make aneuerlasting couenant with them to rule gouerne theÌ„ by his word his spirit to defend them froÌ„ al their enemies Hos 2.19 euen from death of whom he will also be particularly knowen and called vpon serued and worshipped in spirit trueth This people gathered vnder one head Iohn 4.23 which is Iesus Christ by whose meanes they are ioyned vnto God Eph. 1.5.6 and entertained into his fauour for euer And ther is a double means to gather them into the same bodie with their heade Eph. 4. The one is externall to wit the publicke preaching of the gospell and the other internall namely the spirite of God who doth prepare the heartes of euery one to beleeue and keepe stedfastlye that which he hath heard perfeuere coÌ„staÌ„tly ther in vnto the ende To the which the Sacraments are adioyned as helpes to the ende They may staye and beare vp the weakenes of our faith when the temptations whereby it is assauâ—ted be stronge and vehement Rom. 9.8 Nowe since there is no people but this which is allyed with God and hath the promises of saluation and life Mat. 4.4 to whome Iesus Christ came to saue them from their sinnes Luk. 1. whose ransome he hath payed for whom he hath sacrificed and spilte his bloude that they might be of his flocke whom he hath acquited as touching the iustice of God for whome he hath prayed vnto his Father Ioh. 17. at whose iudgement he wil acknowledge them his owne flesh his bloud his bones his brethren inheritance which he hath purchased to himselfe there is none but they that hope for life What will then become of those poore Apostates who are laid opeÌ„ to the wrath of god no more nor lesse theÌ„ were those to the waters of the floode that were out of the arke company of Noah And in Sodome Gen 7.3 the kins men of Lot who would not accoÌ„pany him nor goe out with him Ge. 19.14 in Egypt those who were without the houses whose doores were not sprinkled with the bloud of the lambe Exo. 12.22 And in lerusalem those who had not bene marked in the forehead Ezech. 9.6 and who in the siedge of the Romanes would not retire to the other side of Iordan with those that saued theÌ„selues in Pella Histor tripartita For euery man deceiueth himselfe that hopeth to shune the wrath of God in any other place then in his house and in his holy mouÌ„taine Esay 26. By reason whereof Esay exhorteth the people of god to enter into his closet that is to say into the Church wherin he saieth is his home ordinary dwelling place ther to kepe theÌ„selues quiet and hidden for a short space vntill his indignation were passed ouer to which agreeth that which Dauid sayeth Psal 27.5 For in the tyme of trouble he shall hyde me in his tabernacle In the secret place of his pauilion shall he hide me set me vp vpon a rocke For the one and the other knew well inough that there is no place surer no fortresse better fortifyed and strengthned against all dangers then is his house though in outward appearance it seme to be destitute of walls and ditches rampartes platformes bulwarkes and other craftes and engines which fleshe could inuent to gard and defend her selfe from her enemies neuerthelesse the grace and fauour of God wherewith it is shrowded and enuironed on all sides is a greate deale more sure and stronger then all that as saieth Dauid Psal 125.2 The mountaines are about Ierusalem so is the lord about his people from henceforth for euer Psal 71.3 And in another place Thou art my rocke fortresse And in trueth when it doth waÌ„t it all other meanes be very weake vnsure As the prophet NahuÌ„ saith Nah. 3 12. Al thy stroÌ„g cities shal be like the figge trees with the first ripe figges for if they he shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater which we haue sene by experience in these laste dayes wherein we haue seene holdes that seemed to be inuincible brought vnder the power of the enemye in shorte time
name done many great workes And then will I professe to them I neuer knew you depart from me ye that worke iniquity Let vs then conclude that the praiers which are made at home priuatly done by some particular man can not be acceptable vnto God if he be not a member of the Church and he can not be a member of the Church except he be vnited with the body the head For those that thus withdrawe them selues from the assemblies whatsoeuer exercise of religion they performe in their houses they make a sect by themselues and by consequent are excōmunicated The seconde is that a faithfull mā ought not to withdraw himselfe from frequenting of the assemblies which be made in the name of God by his people in certaine daies that are appointed wherin they are called together to sanctifie publikely his name for the reasons which followe First of all it is forbidden them Heb. 10.24 Let vs consider one an other sayeth the Apostle to prouoke vnto loue and to good workes not for saking the fellowship we haue among our selues as the maner of some is but let vs exhort one an other that so much the more because ye see that the day draweth neere For if we sinne willingly after we haue receiued knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes but a fearefull looking for of iudgement and violent fire which shall deuour the aduersaries And afterward when God commandeth euerye one so expresly to sanctifie the day of rest is it not to the end that the people may inore conueniently assemble themselues to heare the worde of God preached and by their confessions praises and publike praiers whiche they make together ioyne and vnite themselues still more and more in the one and selfe same faith and religion and waite for the performance of the promises which God hath made to be in the midst of such assemblies and to powre vpon them aboundantly his spirite his graces fauors and holy blessings as Dauid saith As the devv of Hermon vvhich falleth vpon the mountaine of Sion Psal 133.3 there the Lorde appointed the blessing life for euer And this is the reason why this good wise king esteemed so much these holy assemblies that there was nothing in the world more deare and pretious in his eyes then to be in the middest of them at the dayes wherein they were called together as it appeareth by an innumerable multitude of places in the Psalmes Psal 26.8 O Lord I haue loued the habitation of thy house the place vvhere thine honor dwelleth Psal 43.3 And in an other place Send thy light thy truth let thē lead me let them bring me to thy holy mountaine and thy tabernacles Againe other where Psal 138.1 I vvill praise thee vvith my vvhole heurt enen before the Gods vvill I praise thee I vvill vvorship tovvards thine holy temple praise thy name because of thy louing kindnes for thy truth And in many other places he sheweth the delight which he had to resort to the publike cōgregatiōs of the church the singular pleasure contentation of minde he receiued in them doth teach euery one by his example to seke after frequent thē because there is no better means to preserue nourish increase faith thē that to be edified in the knowledge feare of God in all true kind of godlines religion 1. Cor. 14. Ephes 4. as the Apostle teacheth the Corinthians the Ephesiās Moreouer those that abstaine frō thē do they not detest the church of God Iesus Christ who is euer in the middest of those that are gathered together in his name Doe they not make themselues vnworthy of the great blessings that God imparteth to them so aboundantly 1. Cor. 11. Matth. 18. as though they were heathen and publicās Do they not forsake the company of Iesus Christ of the Patriarchs prophets Apostles of al the elect children of God which are all members of the church Deut. 23. To go to the bastards the Ammonits the Moabits who by the ordināce of God were in old time banished from the tabernacle and from the couenant of God O wretched soules which do not knowe the dayes of their visitation who turne their backes to the sheepehearde when he seeketh them and shut the dore on him when he commeth to knocke But to come to the ende of this speech and treatise I say in a word that the delayers whatsoeuer faith they suppose or feigne themselues to haue They are indued with none at all for the true faith is alwayes ioyned with confession as the Apostle saith which ought to be publike and in the sight of men Rom. 10. Matth. 10. Matth. 5. for our light ought not to lye vnder the bushell but to be Set on high vpon a candlesticke to lighten all those that come into the house We ought to beare the badge of our Sauiour Iesus Christ in our foreheades Apoc. 7. which is the place most eminent and apparant in all our bodie we ought not to hide our scarfes nor to turne our coates nor feare to be knowne by our liuery to the souldiers of Iesus Christ He hath died for vs not secretly in an vnknowne corner or closed frō the knowledge of the world but in the open place of the sculles where they had wont to execute the guiltie and euil doers Iohn 19. and was lifted vp on high on the crosse betweene two theeues and hath dronke swallowed vp this shame ignominy in the middest of the world that we might be honoured before God What vilanous and detestable ingratitude then is in them which woulde dissemble that and conceale such an act to as all the trumpets in the world can not sufficiently sound and spread abroad He is not ashamed euen nowe that he is in his glory to acknowledge and auouch vs for his brethren and shall we be ashamed to confesse him to be our Sauiour God by his grace and perfect goodnes grant to the delayers to know and vnderstand betime the great fault which they commit by dissembling so long that they may by a true repentance speedily preuent the fearefull iudgement of God which hangeth ouer their heads if they hasten not So be it