necessary dispositions without which God admitteth none into fauour do not merit any supernaturall reward For God doeth not therefore receiue thee into fauour because thou hast kept his Commandements as though he were bound to receiue thee into his fauour for such thy obseruance it is not so In these performances thou hast but done thy duety remouing for thy owne behoofe the obstakle impediment of sinne but God by his meere grace doeth accept thee as his owne neither were it a receiuing thee into grace if thy workes did deserue grace for reward is giuen vnto desert nor by way of grace but by way of Iustice And yet Iustification it selfe remission of sinnes and adoption to become a sonne of an enemy these come from God as a meere grace meere bounty and meere mercy Thou art not therefore to boast of any such workes nor to flatter thy selfe for them nor to acknowledge any merit at all in them When ye haue done all those things which are commanded you saith Christ then say Luk. 17.10 We are vnprofitable seruants we haue done that which was our duety to doe Moreouer such performances haue in thē for the most part so much imperfection that perhaps they haue in them more sinne and demerit then Merite in regard of either vaine glory or other humane ends and such like faulty circumstances Onely Christ's Merits are they which being duely applied vnto a man make God to holde himselfe fully satisfied for the dishonour and offence taken at man and by vertue of such and no other satisfaction God receiueth a man in fauour because he seeth him by a liuely and working faith inuested in Christ as with the wedding-garment and for this garments sake he accepteth him at the mariage of glory but whosoeuer entreth into that heauenly banquet arayed onely with his owne garments his owne works and proper merits if he come not in couered with this nuptiall garment of Christs righteousnes and Merits he shall be sure to be cassiered and cast out into vtter darkenes where shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth And therefore not onely iustification remission of sinnes adoption into God's Sonneship are to be accounted the free grace of God which hath no other foundation then Christ's onely Merits applied vnto man by God's meere grace and bountie but also essentiall glory it selfe and eternall life is to be attributed to the same For God when hee adopteth for his sonne a man iustified by him and that through his meere grace for the Merits of Christ onely at the same time also for full measure of the same grace and for the same Merits alone God doth destinate vnto him the euerlasting inheritance of the essentiall glory of Paradise And therefore to affirme that Christians by their good workes doe purchase eternall life is to auouch a grosse and sinister falshood as also to affirme that good workes done euen in grace are meritorious of eternall life For eternall life is a meere fauour done vnto men being purchased for them by the onely Merits of Christ. Yet for all this good works are not to small purpose or vnprofitable to men First because the keeping of the Commandements is alwaies necessary in such sort as I haue declared and without them shall no man euer be saued though no man be saued by them Moreouer other good works which of themselues come not vnder commandement are many times very profitable and sometimes necessary also for the keeping of the Commandements as mortification of the flesh to the end that concupiscence draw not to disloyaltie for which cause euen S. Paul kept his body vnder 1. Cor. 9.27 and brought it into subiection lest by any meanes he preaching to others might himselfe be a cast-away And for the same cause he exhorted the Colossians also to mortifie their members Hither looke all fastings Col. 3.5 watchings continuall prayers and other such holy exercises not to any making God a debtor nor to any obliging him to recompence them with eternall life nor to any hoarding vp a treasure of mens owne merits but to resist euill desires and therefore a man is bound euen vnder paine of sinne to vndergoe them for his owne behoofe and for the great need which he hath to stand aloofe from sinne To this only purpose long since in my yong yeres Monasteries deserts solitary places caues and dennes were replenished not to procure merite by such exercises nor that they might thus purchase Paradise but that the loosing of it might be thus preuented and that the walke of the Tempter might be stopped and the neere occasions of sinne taken away Whereas now many Monasteries are the schooles of vice and of many heynous impieties and in a man̄er the proper lodges of sinne and Satan or at the best the Seminaries of ambition the receptacles of auarice and the sties to fat vp idle fellowes and generally all of them are the garisons of the Popes souldiers and of his catchpoles for the maintenance of the Papacy with all the enormities thereof by the helpe of these irregular Regulars who are bolstred vp with many priuiledges granted by the Popes being withdrawne from the iurisdiction of Bishops to the end that they may become spies champions and very Pandars to the Papacie not for venery but to serue his turne for worse vsurpations and oppressions Another benefit of good works is that they serue to discharge the obligation and debt wherein euery Christian is bound to bee answerable in his duety to God and to serue him faithfully and to promote the glory of so great and bountifull a Master A bond-slaue if he be good will of himselfe without looking for stripes seeke out occasions faithfully to serue his good Master and doing his deuoire doth not thereupon reckon his diligent seruice vpon the title of his owne loanes and of his Master's debts Mat 7.17 A good tree of it selfe bringeth forth good fruit yet doth not the planter and owner take vp that fruit on credit or accompt himselfe a debtor to the tree but enioyes the fruit as his owne and due to him gramercé his good planting and husbanding To this purpose said Christ Let your light so shine before men Mat. 5.16 that they may see your good workes and glorifie your father which is in heauen Likewise Saint Peter maketh the same vse of them 1. Pet. 2.12 That the Gentiles beholding your good works may glorifie God And to this glorifying of God euery of you is bound in duty nor can challenge any reward vpon so doing Moreouer good workes done in grace doe help on the encrease of your loue toward God and towards your neighbour and set forward a iust man to become still more iust In relation whereunto some kind of merit but very improperly so called may bee attributed vnto good workes in that God in his bounty is content to reward man's imperfect operations with such encreases of his heauenly gifts and graces So Saint
Paul exhorteth the faithfull to serue righteousnesse vnto sanctification Rom. 6.16 that is that they might become still more holy Semblable thereto is that in the Reuelation He that is iust Reuel 22.11 let him be made iust still Yet is not this any true merit because the workes of themselues though done in grace yet haue no proportion to such a reward and if it were not for God's gracious promise they should neuer receiue such a reward as by iustice is not due vnto them For euen these workes are to bee attributed rather to the grace of God by whose helpe they are performed then vnto man Therefore God in bestowing these gifts doth rather reward his owne gifts and graces then any worke of man And yet for all this no man can bee saide to merit eternall life by his workes as you see Lastly good workes performed in the state of grace by the faithfull especially those which in the aforesaid respects doe neither directly nor indirectly come vnder necessary obligation haue from God out of his meere bounty and liberality a promise of reward which shall bee afforded them in the world to come And this reward is not the essentials of eternall life it selfe but certaine degrees and ouer-measures of glory The Psalmist saith to God Psal 62.12 Thou renderest to euery man according to his worke And St. Paul 2. Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction worketh for vs an eternall weight of glory And Christ himselfe promiseth Marc. 9.41 that whosoeuer shall giue his Disciples a cup of cold water in his name shall not lose his reward Of which kind of promises the Scripture hath plenty Yet doth it not thereupon follow that such works are truely merits or meritorious For that onely is true merit to which the reward is due by iustice without the entercourse of any fauour at all And where grace is afforded Rom. 11.6 there all merit is excluded But in these good workes grace beares a great part First in that a man doth them by the power of grace and therefore S. Aug de gra lib. arb c. 6. Augustine said that God crowneth not man's merits but his own gifts Also because it is out of meere grace that God promiseth a reward such promises being made not out of iustice but from meere bountie As when a Prince not being obliged to any proclaimeth a prize for him that shall runne best in a race it is certaine that this running is not properly a merit being it hath no proportion with the prize which is of great valew and if it were not for the bountie of the promise that running were not of any worth at all But yet all these graces being supposed when as the Scripture willingly calleth by the name of rewards all those gifts and heauenly remunerations which are promised vnto workes some kinde of merit cannot be denied For surely reward doeth imply a relation and correspondence to some merit But yee must take with you that this merit hath no relation to the essentials of eternall life as also that it supposeth all these graces Whereupon you are not to rely vpon your merits nor to build the frame of your saluation vpon them being that Christ is your entire foundation Therefore put all your hopes both in life and death in him onely and build no foundation at all for your hope of eternall life and of your euerlasting saluation vpon your owne workes done or to bee done in pious Legacies in Masses in Almes or for Altars or Churches For if you doe not take another course to obteine eternall life by a true and liuely faith which worketh by loue Gal. 5.6 remouing also betimes the obstacles of sinne by true and sincere repentance your owne merits shall not much lesse any others any whit benefit you but as for encrease of glory and augmenting of your ioy good workes will be very helpfull to you so that they be throughly purified and employed on lawfull things and free from superstition and euill circumstances THus haue I discouered to you my most deare children twelue principall very dangerous Rocks which I haue but briefly shewed and litle more then pointed at inasmuch as I haue sure confidence in my Spouse by whō I haue bin put in trust to giue you the discouery of them that he will himselfe at length opē all your eies I see that he hath very very long had patience with the many errors of that his and mine vngratefull daughter your not louing mother for that am I but cruel stepdame and that now beholding her at her highest he will no longer beare with her He by his gentle Spirit worketh in the hearts of great Princes yea and of great Prelats too his my sonnes he goes on taking away the manifold false preiudices and delusions hee by little and little mollifieth those obdurations obstinacies whereby enormities so preiudiciall to mee and so pernicious to you are wilfully mainteined They begin to acknowledge that in Rome not Christ but the world swayeth the scepter and that all my affaires there are reduced to temporall ends onely He putteth these Princes in remēbrance that they are my nursing-fathers my protectors my defendors and moreouer that it lieth on thē to bring home all my daughters to me their vniuersall Mother and not to suffer one of them to tyrānize ouer both her Mother and other sisters Whereupon my selfe with very good hope doe expect from Christian Princes and Cōmon-wealths all good issue of a perfect peace vnion concord on my behalfe In the meane time I aduise you to take good notice of these Rocks and to take such heed of them that ye may eschew your owne lamētable wracke So the blessed gale of the holy Spirit cōduct you safe to the hauen of eternall happines Amen THE AVTHOR TO the godly Readers LEt this Manuell Christian Readers serue you onely for an essay or rough-draught of a larger worke wherein the same Heads which are here but briefly pointed at as also other matters bordering thereon are to be more particularly prosecuted and commodiously enlarged And I hope that I shall let in so much light vnto you that you shall by God's grace be enabled to enterteine many trueths belonging to your soules health which for long time haue bene with no good meaning kept out of your sight If you please to accept these my first lineaments you may expect from me the more diligent accomplishment of the entire worke wherein will appeare other Rockes also worthy the discouering to the praise of our Sauiour IESVS CHRIST to the safety of our soules and to the confusion of the Diuell God be with you euermore
from affoording to any of them a pretended title of greatnesse aboue the rest of his fellowes that when as they diuers times cast out words among themselues and disputed concerning Soueraigntie he alwayes checked them Luke 22.26 and would haue them to remaine as brethren and ioyntly to attend his seruice and mine and to keep themselues from affecting dominion either ouer me or among themselues And when he tooke his leaue of them at his departure vp into heauen they still dreaming on this idle fantasie and asking him whether he would then restore the Kingdome to Israel Actes 1.6 namely that hereby they might know which of them should bee exalted aboue the rest they had the repulse of him in this behalfe with intimation that they should attend and that ioyntly with equall charge and office no other thing then to be throughout the world witnesses vnto him of his resurrection Certes if euer there were a time for him to speake plaine and to declare that hee left in his roome his Lieutenant Peter or some other to bee their and mine Head then most of all it behooued when in regard of his bodily presence he gaue them his farewell and yet he then recommended me his Spouse to them all together ioyntly and equally that they might employ their attendance on me Hane sponsam suis amicis sponsus abiens commendauit Aug. cont 2. Gaud. epist lib. 2. cap. 12. Which is well obserued by my holy doctor S Augustine There was no reason for it nor decencie in it that I beeing his Spouse and an vniuersall Mother should bee domineered ouer and lorded by any one of mine owne members mine owne sonnes nay mine owne seruants As for my Peter certainly he neither exercised nor euer chalenged any such soueraignety ouer me or ouer his Collegues and fellowes neither did he pretend to be an vniuersall Pope or only Vicar-generall of Christ One of the first actions of employment about me after the ascent of my Spouse into heauen was the ordayning of Deacons which should take care of the widowes and poore And this action was neither performed nor gouerned by Saint Peter but by all the twelue Apostles ioyntly This being my perpetuall ordinance Actes 6.2 as I haue receiued it from my Spouse that my Ministers and Officers all together ioyntly should treat concerning the externall good guidance of my family So likewise when there were some to bee sent into Samaria Actes 8.14 to finish the good worke of their conuersion Saint Peter was so farre from taking vpon him to send whom hee pleased that hee himselfe was by the whole body of the Apostles chosen and sent thither as one of the many When the first controuersie brake out in Antioch concerning the obseruation of the ancient Iudaicall Ceremonies to whom did Paul and Barnabas thinke they ought to haue recourse for certaine resolution in that point Surely if Christ had left Saint Peter his Vicar they ought to haue addressed themselues to him principally yet did they say among themselues and resolue that it behooued them to goe vp to Ierusalem to consult about this question with the Apostles Actes 15.2 and Elders of that City Which accordingly was done and there was gathered a Councel and that summoned and ordered not by Peter alone but the Apostles of themselues ioyntly met together with the Elders also And howsoeuer Saint Peter as the most stept in age and the most ancient Apostle and much respected by the rest of the Apostles was the first that deliuered his opinion yet Saint Iames prosecuting the same did further adde of his owne did strike vp the matter And the publique letters dispatched in that behalfe were not stiled in the name of Saint Peter but of all the Apostles and Elders in common Neither was it a sleight checke or reproofe wherewith St. Paul openly tooke vp Saint Peter Galat. 2.11 for halting in the instruction of the faithfull which hee might doe beeing the Apostles were in their office and care of my affaires all of them equall and euen brothers among themselues And howsoeuer yee read in the Gospell that Christ said to Peter Thou art Peter Matth. 16.18 and vpon this rocke will I build my Church yet are ye not therefore to deeme that Peter had hereby committed vnto him any dominion or command ouer mee or that hee was entrusted with a larger cure then the rest of the Apostles For these words according to the interpretation of them communicated to me by the spirit of my Spouse and declared by my most sincere pure and holy Doctors import that that confession made by Saint Peter saying Thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God must bee that Rocke whereon was to bee grounded that faith which is indeed my foundation and supporter By this Rocke is also vnderstood he whom Peter confessed euen Christ who is my true foundation whereon and not on Peter I was built for if Peter had bene my foundation certes more then once should I haue fallen by his falls Matth. 26.70 But if any man will presse yet further Galat. 2.12 that Christ doth in these words promise that I should bee built vpon Peter let him vnderstand withall that to build my house is nothing else but to get and prouide petras stones and to reare them vp in my walles that is to say to preach the Gospell to conuert the vnbeleeuers and to bring them home to mee And forasmuch as Peter was to bee of all the twelue or rather by the default of Iudas eleuen Apostles the most feruent and most diligent in conuerting a many of soules therefore to him as to a principall Minister and Builder there was a prediction made of the worke which hee was to performe and that I was to be built vpon him namely that Christ had especiall confidence in his care for the building of my house as being more zealous then the other ten Apostles But it followeth not thence that hee was the onely builder or that hee was chosen for the onely Architect or Chiefe-builder for the other Apostles also were Masteres of this Art and laid to their hands for the rearing vp of my Fabrique and in speciall Saint Paul laboured more abundantly 1. Cor. 15.10 then they all and so surpassed euen Saint Peter himselfe in edifying me and hath acquit himselfe for a skifull Master-builder 1. Cor. 3.10 In like maner when ye heare it said to Saint Peter Matth. 16.19 I will giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt bind vpon earth shall bee bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose on earth shall bee loosed in heauen yee are to remember that the same was also spoken to all the rest of the Apostles So likewise though the keyes were promised to Peter Matth. 18.18 yet it was neuer said to him I will giue the keyes to thee onely And when this promise was performed
Bishop in the Patriarch of Constantinople must needs oppugne the same in the Romane also by force of very strong arguments It is to no purpose therefore to seeke here vpon earth one Vicar-generall for my Spouse Christ who hath no need of a successour or Vicar inasmuch as he is head of my body and his Spirit is sufficient for me onely Ministers and labourers are needfull for him and for me and those were first the blessed Apostles and after them their successors So that in respect of labouring and working and setting right also the externall gouernment of my family Cypr. l. 4. ep 3. l. 3. ep 13. de Simpl. Prae. lat Ambr. in 1. Câ— 11. Chrysost hom 17. in Mat. c. those Apostles all ioyntly and in solidum as S. Cyprian expresly affirmeth hold the place of Christ and are equally his Vicars but in labouring and working for my behoofe and all Bishops likewise are with very good reason by my holy doctors styled by this title of Christs Vicars and not S. Peter onely And so in respect of my true Head and Spouse I am vnder a perfect Monarchie but as for the worke of my Ministers they performe their office in a kind of Aristocratie without any Monarchie at all amongst them They are like a company of workemen which haue vndertaken a large Vineyard euery man his parcell or like a troope of many shepheards all seruants of one great Shepheard who percel out among themselues the feeding of a very great flocke whereof there is one intire Lord and Master that onely grand Sheepheard And surely when the owner of a vineyard hireth many laborers to dig it hee doth not giue any dominion or iurisdiction to any of them ouer either the vineyard or their fellow-workemen and if it be his pleasure to appoint any to assist the workemen and to direct them in their labors either hee commeth among them himselfe in person or sendeth one of his sonnes or his factor or deputy whose office then must bee not to delue and toyle with the rest of the labourers but only to ouersee and to prouide that they doe their taske I pray you aske Saint Peter whether he were hyred by Christ to bee a labourer in his vineyard or to bee a surueyor Verely hee will answere you that he was one of the labourers and diggers in my vineyard and not a factor or surueyor or deputy His office therefore was not to command others but to worke himselfe 1. Cor. 9.9 1. Tim. 5.18 For all the Apostles were Oxen for the plough and for treading out the corne nor would Saint Peter haue suffered his necke to bee withdrawne from this yoake Let not therefore the Bishoppe of Rome thus without all ground vaunt himselfe for the onely Vicar of Christ nor vnder this title equally common to all other Bishops with him keepe me downe and oppresse me and together with me all my children Nor may you suffer your selues to bee deluded by a false but very common imagination that it behoueth me to haue one visible Head and one vniuersall Gouernor For in such cases as this yee are not to set downe for good that which mens fancies doe conceaue but ye are to haue an eye to that which Christ himselfe hath ordayned And forasmuch as he as I haue shewed will bee my onely Head and sole Commander and for externall managements hath appointed that his laborers should among themselues in common and in solidum without Monarchy in a kinde of Aristocraticall forme ioyne together for the directing of my affaires by way of Synods and Councels as necessity shall require therefore one supreme visible Head ouer me neither is necessary nor was euer ordayned nor is desired And if so many temporall Estates in this world are sufficiently gouerned without a Monarch in a Democraticall or Aristocratical forme why doe ye suffer your braines to be pestered with a false imaginary necessity of hauing a meere man to bee the Monarchicall gouernour ouer my house and consider not what a woe case I were in if I should hang on the sleeue of one man who hath no priuiledge against any error or misery Perhaps yee will aske mee how then crept the Papacy into Rome where now it carieth so high a sayle whereto I am sure that whilst I was a yong and small tenderling both the Apostles and likewise those Bishoppes which immediatly succeeded them did indifferently without any ielousie of concurring iurisdictions or affectation of soueraignety agree together in the ordeining of other Bishoppes and Ministers and committing to them the preaching of the Gospel and planting throughout the world new particular Churches Which yong daughters of mine beeing thus multiplied and inlarging mee farre and neere the necessity of preuenting confusion did bring into my house an holesome holy and necessary ordinance that there should be diuision of Prouinces and in Prouinces distinct Bishopricks and Diocesses and so the Bishops of one Prouince should attend the directing and guidance of their owne precincts onely and not intermeddle with the Prouinces of others vnlesse they were thereto requested or publique necessity so vrged My selfe seeing this custome brought in by necessity approoued the same and did moreouer ordaine that in euery Prouince the Bishop of the Mother City that is of the place which was the seat of the chiefe Magistrate or otherwise conspicuous for some ciuile respect should bee the chiefe and consecrate the Bishops of that Prouince and in the steade of the Synode of his whole Prouince should dispatch certaine affaires pertaining to mee that so the Bishoppes of that Prouince might not be encombred with meeting together vpon euery small occasion And because in the Romane Empire which at the time of my espousall to Christ and for three or foure ages after was in its greatest flourish there were then three most renowned Cities Hegesip de excid Hieros l. 3. c. 5. most eminent aboue the rest in honour and secular power namely first Rome in Italy the chiefe and principall seat of the Empire secondly Alexandria in Aegypt where the Emperors Deputy remayned thirdly Antioch the mother-City of all the East in regard hereof the Bishops of these three grand Cities were the three first Metropolitanes Afterward also the number of Churches so encreasing that these three sufficed not and the Prouinces which grew too large beeing thereupon for my conueniency deuided into more and lesser Prouinces with appointment that alwayes the Bishoppe of the principall City of such a Prouince should bee the Metropolitane thereof the three aforesaid in regard that they had beene my first Metropolitanes were honoured with the titles of Patriarchs and indued with certaine priuiledges which I was not vnwilling that they should enioy To whom also I did afterward by way of priuiledge adde two other Patriarchs one of Constantinople as soone as that City became a seat of the Empire beeing called another Rome and the other of Hierusalem Thus my vnthankfull
lesse defalked Christ hath instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the forme of a meale a banquet a refection for the increase of amitie and loue among the faithfull whose charitie is much imployed in these mutuall intertainements and feasts as also to signifie that he would hereby refresh and nourish our soules Now he that debarres drinke from his boord and feeds his guests with meate onely surely maketh but a dry feast and hee that feeds onely on meate without any drinke at all is but ill refreshed and very imperfectly nourished When therefore the faithfull come together to the Lord's Supper they ought euen in the outward action not onely to eate but also to drinke together to expresse in this compleat man̄er their mutual loue and vnion and if they onely eate together without drinking they cannot taste the entire signification of this spirituall Feast which consists in an entire and totall charitie And hee that outwardly receiueth meate onely without the Cup cannot thereby represent to his vnderstanding the inward receipt of a compleat spirituall refection They haue therefore done very ill to take away the vse of the Cup to the grieuous mayming of the Sacrament and robbing of you my deere children of a great part of the fruit of the Eucharist whilest they giue it you in this man̄er lame and dismembred And this reuerence which they pretend is a vaine excuse for such care and diligence as by men can bee performed in this behalfe is sufficient to preuent vndecent handling of those sacred misteries and there beeing no danger at all that the very body or the very blood of Christ should be materially trampled or trodden vnder foot but surely their keeping their Sacrament thus in boxes and shrines which is indeede no Sacrament whilest it is not thereto imployed is heereby exposed to danger of beeing gnawen and consumed by mice and wormes and in this their case of danger they are driuen to say that a mouse eating those species doth receiue into it selfe the very body of Christ and the entire Sacrament though it receiue not rem effectum Sacramenti the Sacramentall thing and effect thereof and whilest these species remaine in the belly of this mouse it must needes follow according to their doctrine that in the mouse's belly there is included the true and reall body of Christ. And is not this I pray you a greater absurdity then if some droppe of the sacred wine though it were indeede the very blood of Christ should be spilt vpon the earth whence it may either be gathered vp or wiped away without beeing trodden on at all In the meane while heere also they vse their ambitious tyrannie making themselues absolute Lords ouer holy things and mysteries ordayned by Christ himselfe whereof they ought to be dispenfers onely and not commanders nor masters to giue or deny what they please euen to those who are worthy receiuers of them And besides this fuell of their ambition whereby they mainetaine transubstantiation to make their Priests and Friars to bee more highly esteemed and reuerenced of the people as those who manage and handle Christ and cause him to come downe from heauen heereto is to be added also the part which coueteousnesse hath in this lot by squiesing your purses and drawing from you the larger offerings by this vaine fancie put in your heads selling their Masses at so much the higher rate which they see cannot haue the name of a propitiatory Sacrifice vnlesse the very body of Christ bee offered in them And thus you see these so high mysteries for the priuate ends of those that manage them enwrapped with grosse and palpable errors from which I aduise you to keepe aloofe as from most pernicious Rocks ¶ The second Rocke Auricular Confession ONe of the precious treasures which my Iesus Christ hath layd vp in his house and mine is the remission of sinnes which cannot bee had or found anywhere else then in my precincts This in most full man̄er is granted first in Baptisme vnto those who beeing of ripe vnderstanding doe seriously come to the holy lauer And you my children by reason of your corrupt nature cannot remaine any long while in this mortall life without falling into sinnes whereupon the true and generall remedy for remission of sinnes committed after Baptisme is Repentance But I would haue you be aduised that yee by no deede that you can doe though supported with God's grace can euer purchase or merit this Remission as if doing one or more good actions and presenting them to God ye might pretend that he is bound to pardon you especially concerning the act of Iustification wherein of an impious sinner remayning vnder God's wrath a man becommeth the sonne of God and is reconciled to him and accepted of him This is a grieuous errour and dangerous Rocke inasmuch as neither repentance nor Confession nor any other act done by a sinner can binde God to affoord him remission to whom onely it belongeth to remit sinnes And this remission hath my only Spouse your Lord and mine Iesus Christ purchased and merited with his bitter Passion by shedding of his most precious blood and dying vpon the balefull tree of the Crosse and the remission of your sinnes consisteth in this onely that God through his meere grace and mercy accepteth Christ's satisfaction instead of that satisfaction which a sinner ought to pay him for his sinnes by the euerlasting punishment of eternall damnation And so a sinner becommeth iust whilest God doth deriue vpon a sinner the iustice of his sonne and doth apply it vnto him with this onely condition that the sinner by faith doe vnite himselfe vnto Christ and beleeuing in him doe lay his whole confidence on him onely and not on any worke or merit of his owne For all your workes if they be meerely naturall are filthy of no worth to obtaine any supernaturall good and if they be done with faith and by the helpe of grace besides that they are alwayes full of imperfections and tainted with some spots they are not indeede to bee counted yours but to be attributed to God and his grace and are also a debt due vnto him in many respects for whose the tree is his also is the fruit that it beareth and to him that is master of a slaue belong also the children the worke and the purchase whatsoeuer the slaue getteth Yee can neuer therefore bring vnto God your workes as your owne free gift whereupon you might expect recompence of pardon and so much the more in that there is no proportion betweene your workes which are finite and of finite value if of any at all and the offence of infinite demerit Suffer not therefore your selues to bee deceiued by the couetousnesse of the Priests and Friars when they tell you that you may obtaine iustification and remission of your sinnes how heynous soeuer by your good workes especially by giuing almes Neither put you any confidence toward the remission of
no lesse then formall Idolatry And therefore on all hands all religious worship of Statues and Images euen of the Crosse and of Christ himselfe would be altogether banished out of Christendome much more those of Our Lady and of other Saints beeing that no religious worship at all is due vnto those Images or to those Saints whom they represent Remember how Saint Iohn the Euangelist when hee would haue worshipped the Angell was by the Angell himselfe forbidden with this Caueat See thou do it not for I am thy fellow-seruant Reuel 22.9 And surely Saint Iohn neuer meant to adore that Angell as God with the worship called latria proper to God onely for he well knew that this was an Angell but because hee bowed himselfe to him with a religious act the Angell hindered him knowing that such an act was vnlawfull how much more vnlawfull were it to bee done to an Image But if you would cleere the matter whether this worship be vsed to be giuen to the Image it selfe as an Image or to the prototype in the Image looke into your Churches houses whether the same adoration be yeelded to all Crucifixes to all the Images of the Virgin Mary equally of all which the prototype or principall is the same or whether there bee not rather a difference in the adoring thē Surely you shall find very great difference between one Image and another both being of the same principall Of Our Ladie 's Images you shall haue in the same Citie in diuers Churches and houses some that are not so much as looked after and yet one of them in some other Church shall bee frequented with infinite concourse of people That of Loretto shall haue farre better doings then that of Mont-ferrate and so likewise of others Therefore the vsuall worship is proper vnto the Image and not to the prototype or originall which it represents Obserue also the disorders which are to bee found not onely in the common people and simple women but also in those that are reputed discreet and graue when they come into a Church if there be there any famous Statue or Image of Our Lady loaden with vowes glistering with tapers richly clad in gold and siluer shut vp in shrines and such like this must bee the first that is visited after they haue adored the Image of the Virgin Mary then for fashion sake they goe to the Altar of the most blessed Sacrament as they call it where they suppose that Christ himselfe is really and corporally present or if there bee no such Altar there then they first worship Our Lady dight in that man̄er and goe afterwards to the Crucifixe or rather for the most part doe not at all visite it How many huge tapers and whole torches shall you see burning before the Image of St. Francis of St. George of St. Charles or some other Saint but before the Crucifixe either none at all or a petty farthing-candle Is this to reflect from the Image to the prototype Is not this to commit Idolatry and to preferre the seruant before the Master the creature before the Creator Is not this to put more affiance in a Saint then in Christ and to expect more helpe from a Saint then from Christ himselfe There is no one thing whereby poore I am more defamed and shamed among the Iewes Turkes and Pagans then by these Idolatries Fly therefore from them The Reliques of Saincts if they be true and proued so to bee are to bee layed vp in honourable buriall and kept in decent places and are to serue your turne my Children as a memoriall of the holy actions of that Sainct for your imitation Yee are therefore to respect them with ciuill honour as the members of God's principall seruants but as for religious and spirituall worship as it cannot without Idolatry be afforded to their soules now glorified in heauen so is it much lesse due vnto their ashes and dead bones and least of all to their Images those Reliques hauing in themselues no diuine power at all nor any Spirituall qualitie whereby they may doe you any helpe And if God in loue vnto his Saincts that remaine with him in glory vouchsafe to do you any fauour it is he himselfe that doth it and not the Sainct much lesse any Relique or image of a Sainct So also when God did patiently beare with the sinnes of the children of Israel euen to the pardoning them their Idolatries for the loue which he bare to Abraham Isaac and Iacob and when hee deferred the dismembring of Salomon's Kingdome and pardoned many faults to his successors Kings of Iudah for his beloued Dauid's sake the thanks then were not due nor rendered to Abraham Isaac and Iacob nor to Dauid but to God So also may you intreate God to graunt you some fauours for the loue which he beareth vnto his Saincts but yee are not to begge those fauours of the Saints themselues nor of their Reliques nor of their Images and hauing obteined those fauours you are to repay your thanks and shew your gratitude to God onely not vnto the Saincts nor to any their Reliques or Images But besides all this you may be sure that there are innumerable impostures put vpon you concerning Reliques and that perhaps for the most part the bones of knaues are shewed to you for the bones of Saincts ¶ The sixt Rocke Merits THe Popish Masters extoll Meritorious workes especially Almes and will haue them deserue eternall life but their intent is that you being drawne on with the hope of so great gaine may put out your money to vse into their handes to bring in a most plentifull interest of an hundred for one but in the meane time they themselues take the money and make God your debtor both for the principall for the vse in the life to come And this their bearing you in hand with hope of so certaine and infallible gaine makes the Priests and Friars to ruffle it out vpon your purses and you for your parts if you be not the wiser and take not heed of this dangerous Rocke shall loose both your stocke and interest and suffering shipwracke are like to bee drowned in the gulfe of eternall punishment Know ye therefore that the principal works which are necessary next after faith to obtaine remission of sinnes and God's grace in this life with eternall glory in the next doe consist in the due obseruation of Gods Commandements that so by God's helpe hee may keepe sinne aloofe from him These workes therefore which consist in keeping the Commandements are necessary in asmuch as God will not iustifie nor saue any man that obstinately remaineth in sinne and resolutely holdeth on his way in offending his heauenly Maiestie Therefore a true and liuely faith whereby a Christian layeth hold on Christ hath this operation that it mollifieth and sweetneth his affection and loue towards God and so it holdeth him off from sinne and maketh him hate it But these workes being