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A09599
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The way to heauen shevving, 1. That saluation is onely in the Church. 2. What that Church is. 3. By what meanes men are added to the Church. 4. The author, or efficient of this addition. 5. The time & continuance of that worke. 6. The happinesse of those that are added to the Church. By Iohn Phillips, Bachelor of Diuinity, and pastor of Feuersham in Kent.
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Phillips, John, d. 1640.
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1625
(1625)
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STC 19878; ESTC S114718
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63,953
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76
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new Ierusalem That great Citie The holy Ierusalem So againe it is called The Citie of the liuing God The heauenly Ierusalem It is compared to a Citie in two respects that is to say Defence and Priuiledge We know that Cities are places of refuge to defend the inhabitants from the force of enemies So is the Church to the true members of it the onely place of eternall safetie Therefore it is that the faithfull in their triumphant Song doe to the praise of God sing in this manner Wee haue a strong Citie saluation will God appoint for walls and bulwarkes And the Prophet Ioel foretelling the state of the Christian Church saith In mount Sion and in Ierusalem shall be deliuerance So that in this heauenly Citie entred into heere vpon earth is our onely securitie of saluation without it there can be no safetie at all Heereupon Saint Augustine alluding to those words of the Psalme Praise the Lord O Ierusalem praise thy God O Sion for he hath made fast the barres of thy gates When saith he the barres of the gates are fast as none can come in so none can goe out intimating thereby that they that belong not to this Citie of God the Church but remaine without cannot haue the benefit of Defence but lye open to eternall ruine whereas on the contrary they that are so in it that they are also of it can neuer be surprized by any enemy but may sing comfortably with Dauid Blessed be the Lord for he hath shewed me his marueilous kindnesse in a strong or fenced Citie Againe Cities or Common-wealths haue their priuiledges immunities and freedomes wherein the Citizens and Freemen onely are interessed To this purpose that Father citeth the definition of Scipio in Tullie de Rep. Respublica est res populi That is The weale-publike is the peoples wealth Or thus The common-wealth is the wealth or wellfare of the Commons It is so with the Church Therefore of this immunitie and freedome the Apostle speaking of the Catholicke Church saith Ierusalem which is aboue is free and telling the Ephesians that before their conuersion they were without Christ and were aliens from the common-wealth of Israel and were strangers from the couenant of Promise and had no hope and were without God in the world he saith But now in Christ Iesus yee which were farre off are made neere by the Blood of Christ and afterwards addeth these words Now therefore ye are no more strangers and Forreiners but Citizens with the Saints meaning heereby that they had now being entered into the Church attained vnto the immunity and freedome of the Citie of God But wherein consisteth this freedome Among other priuiledges it doth mainely and principally consist in freedome from sinne and condemnation for sinne Hence it is that S. Paul assureth the faithfull That sinâ—â— shall haue no dominion ouer them and that being freed from sinne they haue their frâ—â—ie in holinesse and the end euerlasting life Againe that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus By this it is euident that the priuiledge of eternall life and happinesse is the peculiar right of the Citie of God the Church It is also likened vnto a Mother So saith the Apostle That Ierusalem which is aboue is the mother of vs all This semblance standeth in two things First the Church as a Mother doth conceiue and bring foorth children to God by the immortall seede of the Word of God in the Ministery of the Church whereunto S. Paul alluding saith to the Galatians My little children of whom I trauell in birth againe vntill Christ bee formed in you Secondly the Church as a Mother doth after her children are borne and brought foorth feed and nourish them with the sincere milke of the Word of God out of her two brests the sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and as they grow in strength giueth them not onely milke but also strong meate As therefore no man can liue the life of nature but hee must haue a mother by whom hee must bee conceiued and brought foorth into the world and must withall haue conuenient nourishment for preseruation of life So no man can liue the life of grace heere and the life of glory for euer vnlesse he be borne of his Mother the Church and nourished in it to euerlasting life To this purpose is that noted saying of an ancient Father Hee shall neuer haue God for his Father that hath not the Church for his Mother The Church is againe compared to a Vine as wee may see by the complaint of the faithful vnto God in the Psalme Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypâ— c. why hast thou then broke downe her hedges And by Gods complaint concerning his Church O Inhabitants of Ierusalem and men of Iudah iudge I pray you betweene me and my Vineyard When I looked that it should bring foorth grapes it brought foorth wilde grapes Our Sauiour Christ vnder the Parable of the Vine describeth the Church likening himselfe to the body or stocke and the members of his Church to the branches I am saith he the Vine ye are the branches It is inferred vpon the words going before noting the due proportion betweene the Vine and the Church As the branch saith Christ cannot beare fruit of it selfe except it abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in me This he further amplifieth in these words He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth foorth much fruit for without mee ye can doe nothing If a man abide not in me he is cast foorth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned All this importeth thus much That vnlesse we be ingrafted into Christ the true Vine and so become liuely branches in the body of the Church wee can haue no hope of life and saluation For saith S. Augustine out of this body the holy Ghost quickneth no man This Doctrine of saluation in the Church onely is not onely thus illustrious by the bright-shining light of so many Diuine Similitudes and Parables but is also warranted by euident and inuincible reason grounded vpon the Word of God 1. It is a Principle vndenyable That there is onely one sauing truth And therefore the Apostle saith that all men whom God will haue saued he will haue to come to the knowledge of the Truth Now this truth is no where to be found but in the Church of God Hence it is that the godly are termed The righteous nation that keepâ—th the truth And S. Paul stileth the Church The pillar and ground of truth And for this cause the Spirit whereby the Church is guided is called The Spirit of truth and it was promised by our Lord Christ
saluation not allâ—ging the beleeuer to repose himselfe vpon any one place as Rome or Constantinople or the like but placeth him that shall be saued in the Congregation of the faithfull And good reason for he knew well that Arianisme had possessed all places yea Rome it selfe and had infected the head euen Liberius himselfe the Bishop of Rome as is not onely witnessed by the Fathers as Athanasius Hierome Hillarie Augustine but is also acknowledged by their own Romish Doctors Cardinals and Historians though Bellarmine and Baronius would gladly faigne some excuse for him 4. Moreouer it must be considered that Rome is and euer was when it was at the best but a particular Church and member of the vniuersall as other Churches are and therefore can no more challenge the dependance of other Churches vpon it then they can subiect it to any of them See how cleerely and fully S. Paul writing to the Romanes speaketh to this point where telling them that he had receiued grace and Apostleship for obedience to the fâ—ith among all nations among whom saith he ye are also the called of Iesus Christ He saith not aboue whom as giuing Rome primacie ouer all the rest but among whom as conioyning them in fraternitie with other Churches and them with it 5. Lastly we must know that Rome is not onely a particular Church but is also subiect to errour as well as other Churches This the Apostle intimateth by that seuere Caueat which he gâ—ueth to the Church of Rome among other Gentiles Bee not high minded saith hee but feare For if God spared not the naturall branches take heed lest hee also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodnesse and seueritie of God on them which fell seueritie but towards thee goodnesse if thou continue in his goodnesse otherwise thou also shalt bee cut off Heere wee see that Rome hath no more immunity from errour then any other Church no no more then the Church of the Iewes Rome no more then Ierusalem and that God doth tye himselfe to none but with condition If they doe answere his goodnesse to them with perseuerance and continuance in his goodnesse and care of correspondent dutie to him Therefore our Church of England hath well added in the Article of the Church these words viz. As the Church of Ierusalem Alexandria and Antioch haue erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not onely in their liuing and manner of ceremonies but also in matters of faith Heere it will not be amisse out of the manifold errours of the Romish Church to giue instance in a few as a taste of the rest I will inroll them in a short Catalogue and they shall be onely such as no man that will be a Romane Catholicke can auoyde but must vpon paine of damnation in his order place beleeue and practise The very naming of the errors may be a sufficieÌ„t coÌ„uictioÌ„ they are so palpably grose 1. They deny the reading of the holy Scriptures in common to Christian people which is not onely an errour but the cause of all other errours as our Sauiour tolde the Sadduces Ye doe erre not knowing the Scriptures And this they doe contrary to the expresse command of Christ Search the Scriptures contrary to the exhortatioÌ„ of S. Paul Let the word of God dwell in you richly contrary to the vsuall practice of the faithfull in all antiquitie both Iewes and Christians contrary to the very end and vse for which sacred Scriptures were written as the Apostle telleth the old Romanes Whatsoeuer things saith he were written aforetime were written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might haue hope Yea and contrary to the generall iudgement of the Orthodoxe Fathers of the Church The Scripture being as S. Gregory said well nothing else but an Epistle of Almighty God to his creature 2. They attribute such eminency of power to the Pope ouer all soules subiect to him that in a blind-fold obedience they must be at his bâ—cke to beleeue and to doe as he will haue them therefore they stile him The supreme Iudge in causes of faith and manners and sticke not to say Satis est si is legem tulerit It is sufficient if he say the word and are so impatient of controule heerein that no man must dare to say vnto him Curita facis Why doest thou so though his fact were too odious to name An errour not onely impious in Religion but pernicious in any ciuill State for hereby not onely his prohibet forbidding shall keepe men from Gods true worship and seruice but his iubet commanding shall arme them against their Soueraigne as wee know it hath done heere in England Farre were the greatest Apostles from assuming to themselues any such absolute power their voyce was Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ. And againe Though we or an Angel from heauen preach any other Gospel vnto you let him bee accursed Therefore they must needs be strangely bewitched and possessed with errour that can beleeue that a sinfull man should haue a priuiledge aboue Apostles and Angels 3. Their whole fabricke and forme of Religious seruice and publike worship of God being in an vnknowne tongue to the people what is it but a notorious and intolerable errour For take to heart I pray you and thinke seriously what a lamentable condition that people is in that stand bound all the daies of their life to resort to a Church where in their most solemne Liturgies Masses and Seruice they vnderstand not one sentence to their soules comfort The whole Volume of sacred Scripture and examples of both Testaments are against it S. Paul in confutation of it bestoweth a large Chapter proouing that it is not onely vnfruitfull but barbarous and a fearefull note of Gods iudgement vpon a people They haue not an ancient Orthodoxe Father to father this errour among them you shall heare these voyces sounding Let the Greekes in Greeke let the Romanes in the Romane tongue let all in their owne language pray and praise God Againe How canst thou saith S. Cyprian desire to be heard of God who doest not vnderstand thy selfe Nay our Christian reformed Churches haue this happinesse that among the Romanists themselues there are of chiefe note that ingenuously confesse that it is better and more to edification that publike Prayers be in the vulgar and common language knowne of the people then in Latine Let vs blesse God then that hath vouchsafed vs the better part and pray that he would open their eyes that are thus blinded with error that they may take part with vs. 4. That foule error of Idolatrous adoration of Images in common practice among them how expresly contrary is it to the Commandement of God Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image nor the likenesse of any thing c. thou shalt not bow downe