you into a better course as of the professed enemies of your state These accusations I knowe are grieuous to be laid to the charge of these Counsellors who through Europe haue the name to be furtherers of Gods glory the saluation of mens soules But they are such as if I prooue them not most true let my blood wipe away the slaunder which I haue vndutifully raysed vpon the rulers of my people Here the worde of God is to be approched vnto out of the which we are to learne what true worship and seruice they can yeeld vnto God what hope of saluation they can haue who neuer enjoyed the word preached Concerning the true worship of God we are to knowe that the worde who alone is to instruct vs therein maketh two sorts thereof The true worship or God twofold The one inward and the other outward The inwarde worship is the worship of the spirit when the heart and the soule is by Gods spirit so directed that in trueth and sinceritie it yeeldeth to the Lord the worship whiche he requireth according vnto his word Of this worship our Sauiour Christ speaketh vnto the woman of Samariah Iohn 4.23 24. The houre commeth sayth he and alreadie is when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and trueth for the father requireth euē such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and trueth the inwarde worship Without this inward worship it is vnpossible to be saued and without it no seruice can be acceptable vnto God But although this inwarde worship be the fountaine whence the outward that is in trueth doth flowe and proceed yet is the inward no otherwise ordinarily wrought in men then by meanes of the outward So that euen as the outward is neuer truly acceptable vnto God but when it proceedeth from the inwarde euen so is the inward ordinarily found in none saue onely in those wherein it hath bin begotten by the ministerie of the outward But this inwarde worship in spirit and trueth is not in the power of man to giue or to take away at his pleasure but the Lorde must and doth worke it when where he pleaseth yet neuer ordinarily but by meanes of the outward The true outwarde worship of God then the outwarde worship is that alone whereby as by the ordinarie instrument or meanes the Lord hath appointed to beget nourish increase and continue the inwarde worship of the soule and the spirit by the which the Lord is to be serued in spirit and trueth This outward worship is such by the ordinance of God as men may be truly saide either to hinder or to promote the same and by the hindring or promoting hereof they may be judged to hinder or promote both the saluation of themselues and others and also the inward worship of the spirit either in themselues or in others And by the affection that men beare herevnto the Lord doth trie their loue and also their hatred towardes him his glory This worship although it be outward yet is it of that nature as they who are partakers hereof may according vnto the word expect for the presence of Gods spirite whensoeuer they approch vnto the Lord therby Otherwise if it hath not this promise of the spirite annexed vnto it it is but a rudiment of the world or of the flesh therefore cannot be any thing for the furthering of men in the worship of God This outwarde worship or this outward meanes to serue God truely and sincerely consisteth of two partes or ordinances according vnto the twofolde end for the which the Lord hath appointed the said outward worship of his The first part hereof is that ordinance whereby the Lord hath appointed not only to beget fayth in men or to engraffe them into Christ but being engraffed to builde and aedifie them forwarde as liuely stones of that holy temple whereof Christ Iesus is both the head the foundation This ordinance of God appointed both to beget to aedifie faith is onely the word preached The second ordinance wherein the outwarde worship of God consisteth is contained in those exercises of religion which the Lord ordained onely for aedification and were neuer appointed to begett fayth By aedification I meane whatsoeuer concerneth our furthering in the worke of our saluation begun in vs through faith by the worde preached Vnto this second part we are to refer publike prayers singing of Psalmes reading of the scriptures receiuing of the sacraments and administring of the Church censures Many thinges are ordained to aedifie which were neuer appointed to beget sayth 1. cor 14.17 ephef 4.29 c. All which are effectuall to aedification but not to the begetting of faith For that is onely wrought by the word preached without which also publike prayers singing of psalmes c are so frustrated of the end vz. the aedification for the whiche the Lorde hath ordained them as they cannot possibly aedifie any aright saue onely these who haue learned the right vse of them by the preaching of the word in whose hearts faith which is the ground-worke wherevpon the whole building of gods seruice must be planted hath bin begotten by the same word ordinarily And these holy ordinances of god to wit prayers receiuing of the Sacraments are so farre from aedifying these people who haue not bene instructed in the right vse of them by the worde preached that vnto such they are nothing els but a sealed booke and proceeding from such they are nothing els but pollution in the Lordes sight For no seruice can be acceptable vnto god but that which proceedeth frō fayth For without faith it is vnpossible to please God Now then according vnto that which hitherto hath bene spoken let your Hb. weye what seruice your people throughout all hir Majesties dominions for the most part can yeald vnto the Lord and how they stand in the hope of saiuation and consequently how carefull you haue bene of the glory of god and the saluation of his Church Your people you will say euery where haue had these 31. yeares the vse of publike prayers singing of Psalmes reading of the Scriptures in their owne tongue they haue further enjoyed the sacraments of baptim the Lords supper Be it so but what is all this Can these thinges going alone without the word preached be any thing effectuall to that worship in spirit and trueth which is the onely seruice that the Lord regardeth and without which all exercises of true religion are but swines-blood before his Majestie Or can they bee anye thing forcible to worke the saluation of your people Questionlesse you see that they cannot For they are ordained of god not to lay the foandation of the spirituall worshipp but as meanes to aedifie and build vpon the foundation being laid They are ordained you see also not to go alone but to accompany the word without the which
the nations doe he forbiddeth them also to bee called and tearmed by their titles I know what hath beene obiected by the Archb. vnto these thinges and will againe bee said if it be not prevented namely that our Sauior forbiddeth tyrannous lordship and tyrannous bearing of rule in the former place not just vpright and lawfull government Where I beseech your Hh. to lend me your attention you shall see the intollerable boldnes of this man in peruerting the truth who is not ashamed whēsoeuer it may be for his behoofe to teach points of doctrine meere directly against the words mind of the Lord Iesus I demand then of him whether our Sauiour Christ did not in the place afore cited so aunswere his disciples in the pointe whereof they doubted as hee did fullie resolue them He dares not deny it I am sure For in pointes that are needfull to be knowen reuealed our Sauiour being demāded one thing doeth not frame his answere vnto that whereof no question is made and so leaue his church vnsarisfied What was the question then Was it whether any of them should rule lyke a tyrant was it whether any of them should gape after promotion no such thing For they knew well enough that it was very gainlesse for them to demaund of our sauiour which of them should be a tyrant which of them should abuse his lawfull superioritie or whiche of them should be an ambitious prelate they knewe well enough that he would allow no such dominiō and preheminence Besides the apostles we may well think were not so blinde as to demand any such question of their maister Nowe then they demanding no such thing at his handes to what end should he tell them that they should not be tyrannous rulers They made no question of any suche matter therefore a resolution of that which they called not into controuersye was nothing to the purpose but left them as doubtful as they were before Wherefore wee are to conclude that as the question was concerning lawfull preheminence bearing of rule his negatiue answere being frained vnto their question denieth vnto them not only a tyrannous and an ambitious prelacie wherof they made no question but euen that dominion preheminence which of it self is lawfull in thē who by the ordinance of God are capable of it to wit in the civill magistrate And whereas the Apostles dreaming of a worldly kingdom might alledge for themselues that their demand was not altogether without ground because they contended for no other superioritie then was allowed off in the rulers of worldlie kingdomes our maister Christ answereth that obiection and telleth them that although it bee lawfull for ciuill gouernours to beare rule ouer their fellow officers and collegues that is ouer ciuill magistrates and althoughe it bee lawfull for them to beare lordlie rule and authoritie and to haue highe stiles and titles yet among you that are Ministers of the Gospell it shall not bee so saieth he And to perswade them herevnto Luk. 22.27.28 he bringeth in his owne example who came to serue and not to beare rule in the ministery of the new testament Making it also knowne vnto them and to all his true ministers that although they were according vnto his example to serue and not to exercise dominion all the time of their being vpon earth in publishing the gospell Verse 29.30 yet there was a kingdome prepared for them wherein they should haue an especiall preheminence But as for anie dominion here vpon earth if they would be his true disciples they were to look for none but to be as he was and to take the Ministerye vpon them on the same condition that hee did viz. to serue and not to beare rule therein Of all these things then wee doe conclude that this threefold corruption of our Archb. and Bb. First in vsurping vpon the government of the civill magistrate secondlie in claming vnto themselues those highe names and titles which belong vnto worldly honors and promotions lastly in the lordlie preheminence and superioritie which they vsurpe ouer the whole body of the Church within their diocese in generall and ouer their fellow ministers in particular is altogether a matter to be detested of all true christians as abhominable and odious in the presence of the Lorde And seeing our head Christ Iesus granteth vnto his body this libertle that al the members thereof should be servants and not lordes therein as he himself did serue not beare rule in the kingdome of the gospell and hath giuen all true ministers this priuiledge that none of them shoulde rule ouer the other it muste needs be that this lordlyke gouernment which our bishops arrogate vnto themselues ouer the church of God and the Ministers of it cannot in it selfe though it were never abused but bee preiudiciall vnto the liberties of the church and the ministers thereof Therefore my Ll. maintaine the Hierarchy of Bb. as long as you will you vpholde thereby nothing els but the tyranny and bondage of the church together with a chiefe and an especiall portion of the kingdome of Antichrist For as this pestilent Hierarchy hath bene proued not to appertain vnto the kingdome of Christ so your Hh. are to know that the same belongeth vnto no other body then vnto that regiment whereof the sonne of perdition is the head For vnto the kingdome of Christ as you see it doth not belong to the kingdome of the world that is vnto the civill magistracie it cannot appertaine for it would bee accounted an ecclesiasticall constitution and not any civill regiment To Mahometisme or to any other heathnish Idolatry it cannot belong because it is onely retained among those that pretend the name of Christ and are eyther the true churche in deede or at the leaste doe wrongfully retaine the name of the true churche Now vnto the true church it doeth not belong as we haue already proued because it is a government cōsisting of those offices which the head neuer ordained to be in the bodie and consisteth of suche members as would beare rule and not serue in the ministerie of the Gospel We must then place them in deede where of right they ought to be that is in the false sinagogue which vniustly arrogateth vnto it selfe the name of the true churche of God and that is in the kingdome of Antichriste the Pope Whose kingdome must begin in the church of god and not among the heathen as it was expresly fore tolde by the apostle Paule 2. Thes 2.5 Sathan therefore being to lay the foundation of this antichristiā kingdome within the churche and temple of God that hee might with more colour afterwardes pretend the name of the churche began by little and little to poison the ministers of the gospell with worldlye promotion and superiority and so from small beginnings brought the Hierarchye vnto that height of pryde wherein wee see it at this day not only in his own
betweene God man do either vtterly reiect their ministery because they think it to base and gainlesse a calling or els as a farther couÌ„tenance vnto the most glorious vocation vnder the sunne d ee adde the ciuill magistracie there-vnto Whereby they shewe themselues indeede to haue made a shamefull apostacie from the doctrine and practise of our sauiour Christ and his Apostles The weapons of whose warfare were not carnall 2. Cor. 10.4.5 that is not such as wherwith men by an arme of fleshe as by civil authority improsonmeÌ„t c. bring their matters to passe but mighty in God to cast downe holdes casting down the imaginations and euerie high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuitie euery thoght vnto the obedience of Christ Heere are the onely weapons that our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles vsed and the onely weapons that are graunted vnto ministers to ouerthrow the gayn-sayer And as for the civill punishment of the obstinat they must commit that vnto the magistrate who beareth not the sworde in vaine Rom. 13.3.4 For it is he and not the minister of the word whome the Lord hath appointed to take reuenge of him that doth euill Now compare the dealings and practises of our bishops and what weapons they vse to encounter with those that stand against them and you shall perceaue that they haue not onelie abused the force of that sword which violentlie and wrongfullye their predecessors wrested out of the maiestrats hand to keep the church in bondage but also that this confusion of the magistracie ministerie in one person though the furtherance of the truth were intended therby cannot staÌ„d together with the sinceritie of the gospell the purity whereof also they haue corrupted in the tyrannous superioritie whiche they vsurpe both ouer their fellow Ministers and also ouer the reste of the churche with no lesse breache of the ordinaunce of God than the impeaching of the libertie of the church For the first point to wit of the superiority which they as ministers claime ouer the church messeÌ„gers of Christ it is intollerable tyrannous directly againsta plain moral act set down in the canon of the new testameÌ„t by our Sauiour Christ himself The place is commonlie knowen and hath beene cited for this purpose I thinke by all those that ever dealte in this cause Luk. 2â— 24 â— And there arose also a strife among them that is among the disciples saieth the text which of them might seeme to bee the greatest but hee said vnto them the kinges of the nations raigne ouer them and they that beare rule ouer them are called gracious lords but ye shal not be so In which place wee see the spirite of God by the mouth of the aeternal himself to haue plainly forbiddeÌ„ al his ministers either to haue any superiority dominion ouer the church their brethreÌ„ to rule any wise as Lords princes do or yet to be so called Where also three especiall monstrous corruptions raingning in our Ll. Archb. and Bb. are expresly inhibited forbidden First they wil be ministers of the gospell and yet be greater then their brethren rule ouer the church Secondly they will be ministers of the gospell and yet beare rule lyke lords Thridlie they wil bee ministers of the gospell and yet called lordes Howe standeth this with the ommandement of our Sauiourchrist You shal not be so That is you my disciples shal be so farre from having any superiority one ouer an other after my departure and so far from bearing rule as civill Magistrates Princes and Lordes doe that you shall not bee so called by any names or tytles that do carry with them the honor and the preheminence due vnto princes and lordes They that beare rule ouer the nations saieth our Sauiour are called Fuergetai a title wherewith the kings of Egâ—pt were honor'd gracious lords but ye shall not be so Heere we see plainely that hee forbiddeth his disciples to beare the name whereunto preheminence is joined which may further appeare if wee consider that in forbidding them to kurieuein that is to rule lyke lords he forbiddeth them also to be kurious viz. lordes as farre as that name kurios is a title of worldly honor preheminence and gouernment no farther And no farther I say because the word kurios in the greeke tongue as also the word Compare the 1. Saâ— 1 15. â— Kiâ— â— 25 wâ—â—h 2. king 6 1â— adhon in the hebrew and dominus in latine signifieth a maister or Sir as well as a Lord which is proued John 12.21 20.5 where Philip the apostle our Sauiour Christ supposed by Marie to be the gardiner are called kurici sirs or maisters In which sence it is not forbidden vnto ministers to be called kurioi Which I adde to stoppe the vnlearned and foolish cavils of our aduersaries who go about to proue it as lawful for our bishops to be called lords in the English tongue which alwayes are names of worldly honor and promotioÌ„ in our common speach as it were for them to haue the former greek hebrue latine names attributed vnto them Whiche by the places before quoted to any man of vnderstanding in the tongues appeareth to bee a cavill vnworthie the aunswere And that our Sauiour Christe forbidding his ministers to kurieuein viz to rule lyke lordes forbiddeth them also to be called Lords it is most cleare in that otherwayes he should open a wide dore vnto the ambition and pryde of proude and ambitious men For it is a farre greater token of pride and ambition for a man who cannot by any right haue the dignitye of a lorde to desire the name and title thereof than for him to be so called that is a Lord indeed So that in forbidding his disciples to kurieuein beare rule as the lords of the nations doe he forbiddeth them also to bee called and tearmed by their titles I know what hath beene obiected by the Archb. vnto these thinges and will againe bee said if it be not prevented namely that our Sauior forbiddeth tyrannous lordship and tyrannous bearing of rule in the former place not just vpright and lawfull government Where I beseech your Hh to lend me your attention you shall see the intollerable boldnes of this man in peruerting the truth who is not ashamed wheÌ„soeuer it may be for his behoofe to teach points of doctrine meere directly against the words mind of the Lord Iesus I demand then of him whether our Sauiour Christ did not in the place afore cited so aunswere his disciples in the pointe whereof they doubted as hee did fullie resolue them He dares not deny it I am sure For in pointes that are needfull to be knowen reuealed our Sauiour being demaÌ„ded one thing doeth not frame his answere vnto that whereof no question is made and so leaue his church vnsatisfied What was the question then Was it