the least three times in the yeare before the Lord in Hierusalem to testifie by their sacrifices their vnion in faith and religion Now after the wall of separation was brokē down which was between the Iewes the Gentiles they both the Iewes I say the Gentiles are brought into one body not only by the preaching of the one gospel of Iesus to them both but also by administring to them the Sacramēts which the lord Iesus hath ordeyned that is Baptisme the sacrament of his body bloud Iesus sayde to his Apostles Matth. 28 Goe teache all nations baptising them in the name of the father the sonne and of the holy Ghoste Here is enioyned both the teaching of the gospel of Iesus also the ministring of the sacrament of Baptisme And with the ministerie of baptisme is the administration of that other sacrament to be ioined which S. Paul did also ioyne in his ministerie 1. Cor. 11 when he did so deliuer the holy supper as he had receiued the same of the Lord. Thus is the church grounded vpō the foundation of the Prophets Apostles that is euen vpon Iesus Christ him selfe who is the verie substance of the doctrine Propheticall and Apostolicall And this is it that S. Paul teacheth when he sayeth that the Church is the piller of the trueth For the worde of God 1. Tim. 3 which is the trueth as Christ sayeth Ioan. 17 doth sustaine vphold the Church as Chrysostom expoundeth that place And to this purpose serueth that which olde father Irene writeth Iren. lib 3 cap. 11. Columna firmamentū Ecclesiae est Euangelium spiritus vitae The piller and the buttresse of the church is the gospell and the spirite of life The gospell is the ground on which the true church is planted and set Likewise the church doeth staye it selfe onely vpon the worde of God is stayed by it without which worde the church could neither be a true churche of Christ nor be stayed in him By the ministerie of the church the trueth is spread abroad vppon the earth among men The true church of Christ doeth truely teach publish the gospell of Christ which is the trueth The trueth worde of God is placed in the church as in a sure well knowen place For God doeth by it shew his power to saue al them which do beleeue Rom. 1. These are therefore the true and infallible markes of the church which is for this cause called the mother of the beleeuers which are engendred and nourished in it by this true and vncorrupted pasture and foode Nowe if there be the saide preaching of the worde of God and syncere administration of the holy sacraments it must needs followe that there are also pastors and teachers to whome this charge of teaching administration is cōmitted And this is the cause why some haue added to these marks this as a third marke of the church that is the ordinarie succession of these pastors and ministers from the time of the Apostles till nowe In deede such a succession is greatly to be liked regarded and embraced but so that this succession be rightly considered examined explicated and applyed to the purpose And so did many of the auncient fathers ayde them selues much against the heretikes which did start vp in their dayes as Irene Tertullian and Augustine did against the Marcionites Manichees and Donatistes But because some men do vse this matter of succession as a weapon against vs as though we were newe heretikes deuisers of newe doctrines therefore you shall knowe what wee doe thinke touching this matter of succession Succession We saye that there are two kindes of succession The one is of doctrine The other is of persons Touching the succession of doctrin we holde that it is an vnfallible rule and marke of the true church But as touching the succession personall wee do allowe it vppon this condition that it be ioyned with the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles in the substanciall pointes thereof Wee speake of doctrine and not of manners For though there be required in a true pastor sound doctrin and godly life yet it may be through some ignorance that a pastor may fayle in some such point of doctrine as is not a substantiall point of the doctrine perteining to our saluation whome we will that notwithstanding accompt as a true pastor so that he holde the foundation sure and soundly Likewise though he doe faile in some point of manners and doe become faultie yet wee will esteeme him as a pastor and teacher if he doe teach soundly Wee are taught thus to doe by the saying of our sauiour Iesus Christe who teacheth vs to heare the Scribes and Pharisees Matth. 23. which doe sit in Moses chaire Wee must doe that which they teache but we must not doe that which they do Which sentence Tract 46 Augustine writing vpon the gospell of Saint Iohn openeth thus That it is to bee vnderstanded of hyrelings which do teach sounde doctrine and that it is not to be vnderstanded of false teachers For of them Christ sayde Beware of the leauen of the Pharises They which do sit in Moses chaire sayth Augustine do teach the lawe of God and God doeth teach the people by them But if they will teach their owne doctrines heare them not do not as they teache The same thing doeth Augustine in an other place handle that is De verbïs Domini Serm. 49. Because false teachers may succeed the true in the teaching place and so the wolues may succede good sheapheardes we do not therfore receiue and allowe all personall succession For this kinde of succession may giue a cloke to falshod if the succession of doctrin be not ioyned to it as the foundation thereof Moreouer those men which will holde the succession personall simply and of it selfe alone to be a true infallible mark of the true church these men must shewe vs some promise of God by which hee hath promised to binde his grace to those certaine seates places and countries that in them shoulde be such a sure and continuall succession of holy men Bishoppes succeeding one an other This promise we finde not in the newe Testament Wee learne there that Christe will alwayes haue his christian catholike and vniuersall church the particular members and partes whereof are dispersed scatered abroade throughout the whole vniuersall worlde as it pleaseth God to exercise his iudgementes vppon them whome either he cutteth off for euer or on them whome he doth chastice and afflict for a time and to enlarge his mercies vpon them whō hee leadeth from good to better or that hee doeth call some of them anewe to the true knowledge of himselfe For sometimes the Lord God shewing foorth his iust vengeaunce doeth so cast downe and cutt of all that hee will not leaue so much as a trace of his true church in a place as sometimes he
the holy Church But a man is not saide properly to beleeue that which hee seeth For beleefe is of thinges not seene but of such thinges as God hath promised though they bee not seene with the bodilie eye Nowe of visibilitie I say that as Christ Iesus our Lorde beeing in the worlde to worke the worke of our saluation was visible in the glorie and maiestie of the true Messiah so is his true Church visible in the worlde Iohn 17. For as hee was in the world so are they which are his that is his true Church in the worlde so seene and visible that the children of God the verie elect of God are both illuminate to see it to ioyn themselues to it as Simeon Anna Zacharie and other did see and ioyne themselues to the person of Messiah So did that blinde man which was cured as we doe reade in the gospell Iohn 9. Iohn 4. Likewise did the simple woman whō Christ Iesus did vouchsafe to teach in the same Gospell see more of the glorie and maiestie of the true Messiah in the person of Iesus than did al the bishops priests Scribes and Pharisees which caryed the countenance and credit of the Church among mē And as Obadiah did see 1. Reg. 18. and ioyne himselfe to the true Church of God in the darke dayes of Achab It is also so visible that satan is suffred to espie it and by his members to persecute it euen as hee did the person of our Lorde Iesus who is the heade of his true Church If men wil not content themselues with this sight but will haue their sight satisfied after their fansie with a visible worldly glorie of a church in this worlde more visible than Christ himselfe was whose Church in this worlde shall haue and bee in the same condition that himselfe had in it let these men take heede that they doe not fall into the lappe of the whoore of Babylon and take her for the church of Christ For the whore of Babylon hath her glorious visibilitie in the worlde shee is visible that in great worldly pompe glorie Now thē some will say to what companie or church thē shal I ioyn my self how shal I know finde that church in which I may heare receiue the doctrine of saluation yea if the church be inuisible so that we cannot see it we cānot heare the doctrin therof we shal not come to the true knowledge of GOD to worship him nor yet of our dutie to our king nor our rulers nor yet how we are bownde to obeye them I answere that though the church be invisible in that respect that I haue spoken off yet when it commeth in question to what company or church we shuld ioyn our selues we haue certein sure markes to directe vs rightly in this doubt These markes are The open Markes and true preaching of the worde of God and The sounde administration of the holy Sacramentes which markes are playne and apparant Wheresoeuer these marks are without doubt we are bounde to beleeue that there the true Church is and that companie wee ought to esteeme to bee the faithfull Church which doth professe the religion of the Lord our God as it is taught in his holy word Thus the Apostle doth call the companie dwelling in Corinth and the Galathians faithfull and Sainctes and giueth vnto them the name of the Church in generall although there were amonge them great faultes aswell in ignorance of doctrine as corruption of life Which thing also he taught 1. Cor. 3. when hee saide that all they which did holde the foundation did not alwayes builde vpon it golde or siluer or precious stones but also stubble and hay Thus wee speake of the Church in sounde and substantiall trueth We doe not make of it a fantasticall thing conceiued onely by imagination neither are we carried away in the fonde conceites of the Donatistes or Catharians nor in the furious frensies of the Anabaptistes Let mee therefore nowe speake somewhat of the marks witnesses of the Church which ought well to bee knowne marked because by them we may be directed rightly to that Church in which saluation is to be had Neither is there any one thing by which Sathan our olde enemie doeth labour more to deceiue men then by the title wrong opinion of the Church There are two marks as I said most certaine and infallible by which the true Church is knowne and discerned from all other conuenticles and assemblies of men The first is the pure preaching of the worde of God The second is the sincere administration of the holy Sacramentes To these some haue ioyned the true discipline and the fruite of obedience to the gospell preached And in truth there ought to be such a christian policie for the gouernement of the church as the lorde of the church Christ Iesus hath ordeined such obedience shewed to the gospell as it commaundeth But because the abounding force of our sinnes are such that often times these two last things do not so fully apeare in their maiestie and excellencie as they ought to doe therefore we doe rest our selues vpon the two first named markes The preaching of the word is a most sure and certeine marke token of the true church of Christ And therefore the preaching of the gospell is compared to the seede sowen Matt. 13. and by the preaching of the gospell it is sayd 1. Cor. 4. that the Corinthians were begotten vnto God For this cause also is the preaching of the gospell called the pasture in which the children of God do feede It is the nurriture with which they are nourished And Christ Iesus sayeth My sheepe do heare my voice Ioan. 10. and that they do not heare the voice of a strāger Yea Christ teacheth vs how by hearing and not hearing the worde of God wee shall know them which are of God For he sayeth Ioan. 8. He that is of God heareth Gods words Ye therefore heare them not because ye are not of God They which are of God doe heare receiue and obey his worde they are his true church They which do not heare nor receiue his worde are not of God are not his true church The second sure tokē of the true church is the sincere administration of the holy sacramēts For it is the good pleasure of God to call feed his flock not onely by the voice of his gospel and worde sounding in their eares but also by mouing their eyes and other senses bodily And therfore he ordeyned that his sacraments should be certein witnesses visible seales of the vnion of his childrē with him selfe of one of them with another And this was one cause why it was sayd to the people of God Gen. 17. that he that was vncircumcised should be rooted out from among the people of god To this end also did all the heads of housholds apere at
chosen So were the Deacons chosen And hereto do those rules serue which S. Paul doth giue in his Epistles writē to Timothie and to Titus touching the admission of church ministers You see nowe what the ordinarie calling is out of which we may easily gather what the extraordinary calling or vocation is which hauing an authoritie from God is lawfull notwithstanding that one or two pointes appertayning to an ordinarie calling bee wanting in it The Lord hath oftentimes vsed the seruice of men called to the ministerie of the word by such an extraordinary calling as appeareth by the holy scriptures Moses had no ordinarie calling by men Iirmiah Ionas had none Daniel Amos and diuerse other of the Prophetes had no ordinarie calling by men and yet the Lord God called these men such like to the ministerie of the word whē they which kept the place of the ordinary calling did abuse the same Thē I say then God vsed to lay to his hand extraordinarily to the worke which they that had their ordinarie calling did not onely neglecte but bring into ruine Thus the Lord god himself did and yet he did not bring any disorder or confusion into his house by this meane But thus did he to correct and reforme that confusiō disorder which was brought into his house by them which vnder the colour of ordinarie succession did ouerthrowe all good order peruerted it This doth the writings of the prophets witnes in which the priests are chiefely reproued If you will say that the men whome the Lorde did thus call extraordinarily had yet some outwarde miraculous testimonie of this their heauenly calling It is so in deed of some but it was not so in all I doe not finde that many of the Prophets did come of the race of Aaron nor that the ordinarie imposition of handes was layde vppon them Nor that they testified their vocation and calling by working straung signes and miracles If you will say that these prophetes teachers which had this extraordinarie calling did content themselues with that part of the church office which is to teach and to reprooue but they did not meddle with the sacrifices This is not altogether true For Samuel who was not of the stock of Aaron 1. Sam. 7. did sacrifice in Mizpah as it is written And Eliah beeing a Galaadite did sacrifice in Carmel 1. Reg. 18. Again it is no maruel if the prophets of that time did not extende their commission of their extraordinary calling to circumcise and sacrifice for that was the charge and priuiledge then expressely committed to the stock of Leui for that time Thus you heare what is the church and what bee the markes thereof and what is to bee thought of the vocation or calling of the Pastors and teachers of the church And thus doe wee at this present approue our christian church the ministers thereof by the rule of Gods word Tom. 4. fol. 160. And in this behalfe doth that make for vs which Augustine writeth in his booke of 65. questions and in the last question where he teacheth that wee shall knowe that he is sent of God who is not chosen by the flatterie of a fewe men but he whō life good manners and the doing of the Apostolike Priests do commend who seeketh not to be aloft but to be profitable to others Of the authoritie of the church Nowe let vs come to the authoritie of the church and speake a little thereof It doth appeare by that which is said before that wee do not take away any thing of those high and glorious titles whiche the holy ghost doeth giue vnto it We say that it is the body of Christ but so that part thereof is yet in pilgrimage looking for the full inioying of the heade Iesus Christ This is the house of God which hee doth dayly builde so that it groweth stil more and more It is gouerned by the spirit of God stil fighting against the fleshe It is purified but so that it is by little and little brought towards that perfection of beauty in which is neither blemish nor I pot It knoweth God truely but yet in part In which kinde of speaches I doe vse the very wordes of the holy scripture Out of this Church is no saluation For life and saluation is no where else but in Christ Iesus alone and onely neither doeth the Lorde Iesus powre foorth his quickning power grace but onely vpon his owne members The vnion and assembling of them together in their head Iesus is called and is the true church of Christ If you aske me whether this church being in this worlde can erre and whether it be in authority aboue the holy scripture or else it be subiecte to the holy word of God Howe the Church may erre To the first I answere that it is out of doubt that the members of the church counting each one by himselfe in particular may erre And that there are of them which do erre in doctrine maners of life For they knowe but in part 1. Cor. 13. as S. Paul saith And Iohn saith 1. Iohn 1. If we do say that we haue no sinne we do deceiue our selues And in this number we may and do recken the olde doctors For many faultes are to be founde in them and therefore they are not to be receiued in al things without exception Thus doe we thinke of the members of the church in particular whose imperfections doe not so prevaile but that of them knitte together in trueth is made a true church For they do by little and little growe and goe forwarde in the knowledge of God and of his trueth and holinesse of life But if wee will consider the partes of the Church more generally as it is diuided into diuerse Diocesses and Prouinces we say playnely that it may erre Card. Lotha It is also confessed by one of the chiefe capitaines standing for the Pope his Lorde that particular churches and prouinciall Synodes may erre and haue oftentimes erred Which thing long experience hath prooued true Let vs then consider the church in the vniuersalitie thereof which is as some say considered in that it is in a generall councell represented There is no cause why we shoulde thinke that all the power and giftes which the holy ghost doeth bestowe vpon the vniuersall church shoulde be restrayned to a certaine number of prelates gathered together in a generall councell which are not alwayes the best learned nor the best men which are in the whole chuch although they doe there represent the whole multitude of them which did sende them thither For it falleth out often times that a simple man shal be founde to haue better vnderstanding than the greatest man in the whole assembly Panormitan Which caused one famous Canonist to write vppon the chapter Significasti tit de Electionibus that sometime more credite is to be giuen to one priuate man beeing a