aside The vvages of sinne saith S. Paul is death But the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Note that hee calleth Eternall lâ—fe not the wages or merit of Men but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The free gift of God bestowed gratis without anie purchase merit or desert of ours albeit Iesus Christ our Lord purchased it for us and paid a great price for it in our behalfe through vvhom and whose merits it is that we obtaine it Hearing saith S. Augustine that death is the vvages of sin vvhy goest thou about O Thou not Iustice of man but plaine pride under the name of Iustice vvhy goest thou about to lift up thy selfe and to demand Eternall life vvhich is contrarie to death as a vvages due Chrysostome also upon this place speaketh thus Hee saith not eternall life is the revvard of your good vvorkes but eternall life is the gift of God That he might shevv that they are delivered not by â—heir ovvne strength or vertues and that it is not a debt or vvages or a retribution of labours but that they have received all those things freely of the gift of God Theodoret likewise upon this place observeth that the Apostle saith not here revvard but gift or grace for eternall life is the gift of God for although a man could performe the highest and absolute Iustice yet eternall ioyes being vveighed vvith temporall labours there is no proportion And so saith S. Paul himselfe that The afflictions of this life non sunt Condignae are not vvorthy the glorie that shall be shevved unto us It is true that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 merces a revvard is promised to those that doe good workes but it is as before is shewed merces ex gratià non ex debito a revvard of grace or favour and not of debt or desert as even S. Paul himselfe distinguisheth So that God giveth the Crowne of righteousnesse not to the merit or worthines of our workes but to the Merit or Worthines of Christ and as due to us by his promise onely freely made unto us in Christ. The Crowne therefore of eternall life is of mercie and favour in respect of us but of Iustice and desert in respect of Christ who hath purchased it for us by his merits and worthines Wherefore S. Augustine saith well that fidelis dominus qui se nobis debitorem fecit non aliquid a nobis accipiendo sed omnia nobis promittendo The Lord is faithfull who hath made himselfe a debtor unto us not by receiving anie thing of us but by promising all things unto us Againe he saith Non dicimus Deo Domine redde quod accepisti sed redde quod promisisti VVee say not to God Render that O Lord vvhich thou hast received of us but render or give that vvhich thou hast promised Againe he saith That God crovvneth his ovvne gifts not our merits vvhen he crovvneth us What vvorthinesse soever then is in us it is by Gods acceptation and his accounting of us to bee such in through Christ not by reason or in respect of any of our owne personall merits or worthinesse For vvhat hast thou saith S. Paul that thou hast not received and if thou hast received it vvhy dost thou glorie as though thou hadst not received it The gifts and graces of God in a man should make him humble and thankefull and not make him proud as though he deserved them and a great deale more by reason of them If a man give another 100. l. which hee useth well doth hee thereby deserve or can hee therefore claime as of merit or dutie to have at that mans hand 100000. l. Men for good works and benefits done may deserve praise and thankes amongst men but what man by doing of his dutie deserveth praise or thankes at Gods hand or What Servant for doing his Masters service and commandement can thereupon claime to be his Masters heire VVhosoever glorieth should glorie in the Lord as S. Paul teacheth But if men doe merit then have they somewhat of their owne wherein to glorie But God alloweth no matter of glorie in men with him or in his sight neither have they indeed anie matter of glory in them because whatsoever graces or goodnes men have they have received it of God to whom they ought to bee thankefull and for which they stand bound to performe all manner of dutie unto him So that how much merit men take to themselves so much doe they detract from the merits of Christ and so much praise glorie and thankes doe they pull from God to whom all praise glorie honour and thankes rightly and properly belong and are to be rendred Yea the Kingdome of heaven is a reward infinitely above the value of all mens workes and therefore must needes bee given of grace and cannot be merited by men But against mens merits and their workes of satisfaction whereby they intend to satisfie Gods wrath and Iustice for sinnes which is onely satisfiable by the death and sufferings of that Immaculate Lambe Christ Iesus enough hath beene before spoken and therefore I here forbeare to speake anie further of them 4 But in this matter of vvorkes this is not to be passed over or omitted that they also hold workes of Supererogation as they call them whereby they say Men doe more then they are bound unto by Gods Commandements and so doe merit not onely their owne salvation but the salvation also of others or something toward it Can these be accounted good vvorkes or that be held for a good and right religion wherin such monstrous things be taught and maintained It is more then anie meere man is able to doe perfectly and exactly to keepe and performe the vvhole lavv and Commaundements of God for so S. Paul himselfe expreslie affirmeth it to be a thing impossible because of the vveakenesse that is in all sinnefull flesh and so have the ancient Fathers likewise before testified and taught Why then doe these men talke of doing all and more then all the Commaundements of God Indeed if anie thinke to come to heaven by Doeing as he in the Gospell did the Ansvvere which Christ gave in that case is right and fit for him that Hee must keepe the Commandements for Moses describing the righteousnesse vvhich is of the Lavv saith That the man vvhich Doth those things shall live by them But the righteousnesse vvhich is of faith speaketh as S. Paul sheweth on another fashion and consisteth in a firme beleeving in Christ For Christ who performed the law for us it being a thing impossible for us to doe is the End or accomplishment of the Lavv for righteousnesse to everie one that beleeveth as hee there againe affirmeth And yet must none therefore hereupon conclude God to bee Cruell Tyrannicall or uniust in giveing such a Law as is impossible for men to keepe for at the first
as good right and reason say that hee by the vertue and merit of his death and passion hath enabled men to be The Saviour and Redeemer of the VVorld in their owne persons or to be the Mediator betwixt God and them or challenge anie other right or prerogative whatsoever that properly belongeth to Christ Iesus For what may not men frame fancie or devise out of this if they be so disposed and care not to imagine things at their owne pleasure without anie warrant from God or his word Is it not then a most intolerable boldnesse for anie meere mortal and sinfull men to be so presumptuous as to dare to stand in Christ his place or to challenge to themselves anie part of that high incomparable and peculiar honour that properly belongeth to him who is both God and man and our whole onely and perfect Redeemer I pray tell me what imperfection doe you finde in his satisfaction that it should not content you Are your selves better able to make satisfaction to Gods Iustice for sinnes then hee or is his most precious bloud passion and obedience able to satisfie for eternall paines and punishments and not for temporall Shall he be able to satisfie the greater and not be able to satisfie the lesse or if ye grant him to be able to die doe yee doubt of his willingnesse in that behalfe And if hee were both willing and able neither of which yee can denie what question then should be made in this matter It is true that as touching the ungodly reprobates that be without Christ all calamities afflictions miseries and punishments of this life and even the bodily death it selfe remaine to them in their owne nature and be to them tokens of Gods wrath and of his curse and unappeased displeasure and forerunners of their future certaine and undoubted damnation But to the godly Elect that be in Christ Iesus and that have peace with God and with whom hee is reconciled through Christ no afflictions of this life have in them anie token at all of his irefull and revengefull displeasure or of his unsatisfied Iustice but they are contrariwise tokens of his great love and fatherly affection toward them as is before shewed and are to them forerunners of their future certaine and undoubted salvation For toward Gods children the nature of these things is changed through Christ having no Curse at all but blessednesse in them Insomuch that even death it selfe also which to flesh and bloud seemeth most bitter to them neverthelesse is a most welcome and blessed thing as having the sting of it which is sinne taken away in Christ their Saviour and as being the doore that openeth an immediate passage and entrance to an everlasting life in eternall happinesse For vvee know saith S. Paul in the person of all Gods children that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be destroyed vvee have a building given of God that is an house not made vvith hands but eternall in the heavens for therefore vvee sigh desiring to be clothed vvith our house which is from heaven And Christ Iesus himselfe speaketh likewise thus Verily verily I say unto you Hee that heareth my vvord and beleeveth him that sent mee hath everlasting life and commeth not into Iudgement but is passed from death into life If then which is a thing here evident assoone as this earthly Tabernacle of their bodies is dissolved all Gods children goe to an eternall heavenly habitation and againe if the godly and faithfull man after the death of the bodie doth in his soule immediatly passe to an eternall life which you likewise here see to be verie manifest for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the preterperfect tense what is then become of your supposed Purgatorie Doe you not by these Texts perceive that even that also is to bee utterly banished and abolished as a thing fabulous impious and untrue and not to be beleeved 2 But your Church for all that striveth and strugleth to uphold it as being indeed one of the best fires that ever the Pope and his Clergie have had for the heating of their Kitchins and which in respect of the people who are miserably abused with it is not unfitly called Purgatory-Pickepurse inasmuch as it robbeth them of their wealth and substance But let us see what texts of Scripture they chiefelie alledge and relie upon for this purpose First they alledge Mat. 5.25 26 where Christ saith thus Agree with thine adversarie quicklâ—e whilst thou art in the way vvith him lest at anie time thine adversarie deliver thee to the Iudge the Iudg deliver thee to the officer then thou be cast into prison verily I say unto thee thou shalt not come out from thence until thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Howbeit this text is an exhortation perswasion to peace reconciliation concord agreement betwixt man and man in this life least for not observing of this concord agreement it so fall out as often it doth in the world that the debtor be cast into Prison and depart not from thence untill he have paide the utmost farthing But if by this Prison be meant as they would have it a place of punishment after death yet then is there no necessitie for all that to expound it of their Purgatorie for well may it then bee taken for Hell the place of the damned yea then it must needs be so taken inasmuch as there be but two sorts of people namely Elect and Reprobate and answerably to them there bee but two places after death viz. Heaven and Hell for that the soules of Gods Elect goe immediately after their death not into anie such tormenting place as your supposed Purgatorie but into Heaven is beside the former texts evident even by the president of the good Theefe that was crucified with Christ to whom Christ said thus This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise that is in Heaven the place of blessednesse for all Gods Saints and people That this Theefes soule went that verie day into Paradise is a thing expreslie apparant in the Text and that Paradise is Heaven even the Third and higest Heaven the place of glory is also verie manifest because S. Paul himselfe so declareth and expoundeth it What doubt then can there bee in this matter But it is yet further evident by the example of the Rich man and Lazarus For when the Rich man died hee went to Hell the place of Torments for the Reprobate when poore Lazarus dyed he was carried by Angells into Abrahams Bosome that is into Heaven the place of comfort ioy and happinesse for all God elect For that Abrahams bosome must be taken for Heaven and not for that fained place of Limbus Patrum which Papists make to be a part of hell is manifest by this that beside the solace ioy and comfort that is shewed to be in it it is further mentioned and set
a kind of matter appeared insomuch that S. Augustine himselfe sometime speaketh Doubtfully of it and with a peradventure there is some such thing But at other sometimes againe he is verie confident and resolute that there is no such third place and therefore in one place hee affirmeth it expresselie to be the faith of the Catholikes in that time to beleeve onelie these two places namelie Heaven and Hell But a third place saith hee vvee are utterly ignorant of Neyther doe vvee finde it to be in the holy Scriptures And againe he saith Duae quippè habitationes una in igne â—terno alia in regno aeterno For there be two habitations or dwelling places the one in everlasting fire the other in an everlasting kingdome Agreeablie wherunto the scripture that speaketh of fire for the punishment of people after their death expreslie affirmeth it to be an everlasting fire and unquenchable fire which is sufficient to take away all conceit of your temporarie and quenchable fire in your vainelie supposed Purgatorie Yea S. Augustine saith further In requie sunt animae piorum à corpore separatae c. The soules of the godly separated from their bodies be in rest or quietnesse and the soules of the ungodly suffer punishments untill the bodies of those doe rise againe unto life everlasting and the bodies of these unto eternall death vvhich is called the second death And so speaketh also S. Cyprian saying Quando isthinc excessum fuerit nullus iam poenitentiae locus nulâ—us satisfactionis effectus Hic vita aut amittitur aut tenetur Hic saâ—uti aeternae cultu Dei fructu fidei providetur VVhen men bee once departed out of this life there is no more place for repentance there is no more vvorke or effect of any satisfaction Here in this vvorld saith he life is eyther lost or got Here it is that provision is made for eternall salvation by the worshipping of God and the fruits of faith And again he there saith Then shall be vvithout fruit of repentance all griefe of paine inanis ploratio inefficax deprecatio and in vaine shall vveeping be then and prayers shall then be also uneffectuall and of no force 6 To what end then is also your praier for the dead or the Popes pardons and indulgences or singing or saying of Masses Trentals Requiems or anie other your workes satisfactorie or helpefull as you call them for the soules of the dead for in the place vvhere the Tree falleth there it lyeth whether it be toward the South or toward the North saith Ecclesiastes appointing likewise as here you see but two places in that behalfe Agreeably whereunto hee saith againe that when a man dieth his bodie as Dust returneth to the earth from vvhence it came and his soule or spirit returneth to God that gave it And againe he saith after that men are dead They have no more portion for ever in all that is done under the Sunne What part or portion then can they have in your praiers or in anie other works done by men that be living in this world Wee know and beleeve there is a communion of Saints and that the charitie and love of the Saints one towards another is verie great but yee see that the Saints and godlie Elect goe not after their death to anie place of Torment but into a place of blessednesse and heavenlie happinesse where they stand not in need of anie mortall mens praiers or other their workes whatsoever On the other side the soules of the ungodlie reprobates goe to Hell the place of the damned so that no praiers or other works whatsoever can doe them anie good for their ease or deliverance from thence And as for anie third sort of people that be neither Elect nor Reprobates such are not to be found It is true that in this life wee may beare one anothers burden and one may paie a debt for another and the abundance of one mans wealth may supplie the defect or want of another But as touching the next world it is not so for the Scripture saith that The Iust man shall live not by anie other mans but by his owne faith Againe it saith The soule that sinneth that shall dye And againe The righteousnesse of the righteous shall be upon himselfe and the vvickednesse of the vvicked shall be upon himselfe So that neither the righteousnesse nor the wickednesse of one shall bee imparted to another to save or condemne him Yea though these three men Noah Daniel and Iob were amongst them they should deliver but their owne soules by their righteousnesse saith the Lord God And againe the Psalmist saith A man can by no meanes redeeme his brother nor give to God a ransome for him It cost more to redeeme soules and therefore he must let that alone for ever Neither hath anie that is but a meere man anie such abundance of holinesse or righteousnesse in him as to be therewith able to supplie the defects or wants of others in that behalfe Yea all is little enough for himselfe when hee once commeth to stand in Gods presence and before his tribunall For even the holiest and iustest man that is must then say with King David Enter not O Lord into iudgement vvith thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be iustified Yea even the blessed Virgin Mary her selfe though a most godly and holy woman yet had not such abundance of holinesse in her as to be able thereby to be her owne Saviour much lesse to be able to merit the salvation of others for that she was in respect of her selfe a Sinner and consequently had need of Christ Iesus to bee her Saviour as well as other people her selfe plainely declared when shee said My soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit reioyceth in God my Saviour If she had had no sinne at all in her as some Papists affirme what need had she of a Saviour or how could Christ Iesus have beene her Saviour as shee calleth and affirmeth him For he is in no other respect called Iesus that is a Saviour but because he shall save his people from their sinnes as the Angel testifieth Againe doth not the Scripture say expressely that All have sinned and that vvhosoever be iustified be iustified freely by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus The Papists also talke much of the vertues and sufferings of S. Paul as though they were meritorious and satisfactorie as well for others as for himselfe when as nevertheles himselfe sheweth they were not sufficient for his owne salvation It is true that he saith in his Epistle to the Colossians that He reioyced in his sufferings for them that is for their sakes who thereby were to be encouraged strengthned and confirmed in the faith of Christ and that Hee did fill up or accomplish that which was yet behinde
verie soone and at the third hower some at the sixt houre some at the ninth and some at the eleventh hower and some are called even at the last houre as was the Theefe crucified with Christ. So that God calleth some earely and betimes in their youth and some in their riper and elder yeares and some not till their old age and latter dayes of their life and some not till the verie last houre of their daies and consequentlie so long as life remaineth there is a possibilitie for men to be called and therefore no reason is there why anie should despaire as likewise none ought rashlie or unadvisedly to presume upon this doctrine 2 Now then to shew unto you the truth of that other point as being an appendant hereunto namely that even in this life a man may come to be assured that hee is one of the number of those that be elected and predestinated to eternal life and salvation consider first what S. Peter writeth saying Brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if yee doe these things yee shall never fall Here you see it precisely and directly taught by S. Peter that men not onely may but ought so farre to endeavour namely to make their calling and election sure to themselves And he there further sheweth them how they may attaine unto this assurance namely by having doing and using of those excellent christian vertues and courses he there mentioneth Againe doth not S. Paul speake thus in plaine tearmes Try your selves vvhether yee bee in the faith or no Examine your selves Knovv yee not that Christ Iesus is in you except yee he reprobates Where hee likewise declareth that all that be sound Christians may by good triall and examination of themselves finde perceive and Know that Christ Iesus is in them and that they belong unto him This confidence knowledge and assurance had that holy man Iob for thus he saith I am sure that my redeemer liveth c. though afâ—er my skin vvormes destroy this bodie yet shall I see God in my flesh vvhom I my selfe shall see and mine owne eies shal behould and none other for me Yea this perswasion and assurance had also S. Paul and not only He but all the rest of Gods Children have likewise this confidence and assurance for thus hee speaketh in the name of them all VVho shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednes or perill or sword as it is vvritten For thy sake are vvee killed all the day long vvee are counted as sheepe for the slaughter neverthelesse in all these things vve are more then Conquerors through him that loved us For I am perswaded the words of your Translation declaring the same thing be Certus sim I am sure or I am assured that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. In these words you see that S. Paul speaketh not onely in the singular but in the plurall number and consequently of others aswell as of himselfe even of all the elect people of God that they all aswell as he at some one time or other of their life have this strong confidence and unremoveable assurance that nothing shall be able to separate Them from Gods love toward them in Christ. For he saith againe that as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sonnes of God And againe he saith That spirit beareth vvitnesse with our spirit that we are the children of God Who then having that spirit within him for a Witnesse can make anie doubt of it Likewise speaketh S. Iohn saying Hereby know vvee that vvee dwell in him and hee in us because hee hath given us of his spirit For by that spirit it is that VVee know as S. Paul againe witnesseth the Things that bee given to us of God But S. Iohn saith againe thus Dearely beloved Now are vve the sonnes of God but yet it doth not appeare vvhat we shall be But vvee know that when he shall appeare vve shall be like him for vvee shall see him as he is and every man that hath this hope in him purgeth himselfe even as He is pure Marke here still that hee saith they Know it and therefore it is no uncertaine opinion or doubtfull hope but an assured hope or hope with assurance Which assured hope or knowledge of their owne salvation whosoever have by the testimonie of Gods spirit within them wee see here by this expresse testimonie of S. Iohn that they are not idle negligent carelesse and licentious persons but such as continually labour strive against their owne corruptions and defilements and so to be purged more and more from them Farre therefore from carelesnesse and licentiousnesse doth also this doctrine touching assurance of salvation appeare to be For not everie one that saith he is assured of it is by and by assured but this is a matter as you see that requireth a great triall and examination of a mans selfe and is ioined with a continuall care desire striving and endevouring to walke in the commandements and waies of God it being in verie deed the most comfortable ioyfullest and highest step of Christianitie and the Summum bonum or chiefest felicitie that anie man can reach to in this life For this causeth a Ioy even a True Ioy to the heart and soule of a man and such a Ioy as cannot be expressed But then you aske how he is sure of continuing persevering in the way of godlinesse unto the end for you obiect that the godliest man that is often sinneth and may fall Whereto I answer that most true it is he often sinneth and falleth but God still raisâ—th him up after his falls by a godly sorrow and a true Christian repentance for those sinnes and by amendment of life afterward so that such a one neither doth nor can finally fall or perish for as it is written in the Psalme Though he fall he shall not be cast off for the Lord putteth under his hand to raise him up againe And so saith Solomon also that the lust man falleth seven times but he riseth againe And these things be spoken of him that is a lust and righteous person indeede and not of an Hypocriticall and counterfeit person or of such a one as onely in his owne opinion or in the opinion of others is a righteous person and not so in verie deed nor in the sight of God For he that is a righteous person onely in his owne opinion or in the opinion of other men and not so in verie deed may fall utterly and finally away and then shall not all his former righteousnesse that hee had
Church they have a Communion Table and Christian Ministers and Christian people who are there to celebrate the memorie of Christs bodily sacrifice and to offer up the sacrifice of praier praise and thankesgiving and such other spiritual sacrifices as belong to Christian Ministers and Christian people to offer But none of these things doe prove anie bodilie sacrifice of Christ to be actuallie and reallie performed in the Sacrament yea if that in the Sacrament were his verie bodilie sacrifice what was or needed that which was performed on the Crosse the next day or what name will you give unto it Was not that which was performed on the Crosse the verie true Propitiatorie bodilie sacrifice You cannot denie but it was What other thing then can this Sacrament be but a Sacrament that is a similitude representation and remembrance of that propitiatorie bodilie sacrifice of Christ once done and performed in his owne person upon the Crosse for all the Elect 4 But you alledge that Christ having taken the bread said This is my Body Howbeit you should consider withall that after that he had taken the Cup he said likewise This is my bloud and yet for all that was not the verie Cup his verie bloud If then in these words ye admit as yee doe a figure or figurative speech why should yee not likewise in the other words of This is my body admit a figure or figurative speech Yea if by reason of these words This is my Body you will inferre that the verie substance of the bread is changed into the verie substance of the natural body of Christ which change yee therefore call Transubstantiation then may I by force of these words uttered of the Cup This is my bloud inferre likewise that the verie substance of the Cup is changed into the verie substance of the natural blood of Christ or if you will take the words as they be recited by S. Paul and S. Luke namely thus This Cup is the new Testament in my blood I may aswell conclude that the verie substance of the Cup is turned and changed into the verie new Testament or new Covenant which were verie absurd Wee grant that the bread is Christs bodie and the wine is his blood in a Sacramental phrase and sacramentally but not litterally and substantially or by waie of Transubstantiation as yee most strangely imagine So that the Argument appeareth to bee fond and vaine when men reason thus Christ said of the consecrated Bread that it is his bodie Ergo it is his Bodie naturallie substantiallie and by way of Transubstantiation For this is more then ever CHRIST spake and it may bee as indeed it is his Bodie otherwise namely Sacramentally Figurativelie and Significatively And so also doe the ancient Fathers themselves expresly declare and expound it as namely Tertullian saith thus Hoc est corpus meum id est figura corporis mei This is my bodie that is saith he a figure of my bodie And S. Augustine saith likewise Non dubitabit Dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cum daret signum corporis sui The Lord doubted not to say this is my bodie when he gave a signe of his bodie And yet wee grant that after consecration there is a change as the ancient Fathers also affirme but that is as touching the use and end and not as touching the substance For that which was before common bread and common wine is now after consecration become sacramental bread and sacramental wine signifying and figuring out unto us another thing namely the bread doth then signifie and figure out unto us the bodie of Christ which was broken and crucified for us and the wine signifieth figureth out unto us the blood of Christ which was powred out and shed for us So that the Bread and the Wine which in common and ordinarie use serve onely for sustenance of the bodie now after consecrasion signifie and represent unto us that which is the verie true foode of our soules and the sustenance of them to eternal life and doe import unto us that as verily as wee receive the Bread and Wine outwardly with our bodilie mouth so verily and certainely doe wee also receive Christ Iesus and the benefite of his death and passion inwardly by our faith which is the mouth of the soule For as bodily meate must have a bodily mouth to receive it so that which is spiritual meat and sustenance for the soule must have a spiritual mouth to receive it by And this is that eating of Christs flesh drinking of his blood which is spoken of in S. Iohns Gospell when hee is thus received and applied not by a carnal or corporal but by a spiritual mouth namely by faith For whereas some in that sixt Chapter of S. Iohns Gospell hearing Christ speaking of eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood said it was an hard speech grew offended at it Christ to remove all that conceited hardnesse and offence taken at those his words answered and said that It is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the vvords that I speake unto you are spirit and life So that yee must take the words which Christ there spake unto them concerning the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood not litterally grosly and carnally as the Capernaits did but in a spiritual sense and meaning And so doth S. Augustine in divers places tell you that they are to be expounded For he saith expreslie that Credere in eum est manducare To beleeve in Iesus Christ is in that place of S. Iohn to eate his flesh Yea to shew that the words bee not to be taken litterallie or carnallie but figuratively the same S. Augustine giveth this reason saying that otherwise by commanding to Eate the flesh of a man and to drinke his blood he should seeme to command an heinous or wicked thing Figura est ergo praecipiens passioni dominica esse communicandum suaviter atque utiliter recondendum in memoria quod pro nobis caro eius crucifixa vulnerata sit It is therefore saith he a figure or figurative speech commanding that we must communicate with the Lords passion sweetly profitably keep in memory that His flesh vvas crucified and wounded for us When he saith expreslie that it is a figure or figurative speech what doubt should yee make of it But yet further upon the 98. Psalme hee bringeth in Christ speaking thus to his Disciples Spiritualiter intelligite quod locutus sum non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis â—ibituri illum sanguinem quem fusâ—ri suâ—t qui me crucifigent Sacramentum aliquod vobis commendavi Spiritualiter intellectum vivificabit vos Vnderstand yee spiritually that which I have spoken yee are not to eate this very bodie which yee see and to drinke that blood which they shall shed which shall crucifie mee It is a Sacrament that I
and Canons of the Church by this haughty name to make himselfe his forerunner that is the forerunner of the King of Pride namely of Antichrist And he further addeth that hereby Iohn went about to attribute to himselfe those things which properly belong to the head himselfe that is to Christ and by the usurpation of this Pompous Title to bring under his subiection all the members of Christ. And therefore hee saith They must beware that this Tentation of Satan prevaile not over them either to give or to take this title of universall Bishop Gregory the great was likewise verie vehement and earnest against it By this Arrogancy and Pride saith he what else is portended but that the time of Antichrist is now at hand in that he imitateth him who making light of that happinesse which he possessed in common with the whole army of Angels would needs aspire to a singularitie above all the rest Againe hee saith All those that have read the Gospel know well vvhat the Lord said unto Peter c howbeit he is not called the universall Apostle and yet behold my fellow Priest Iohn seeketh to be called the universall Bishop I am now forced to cry out O the times and ô the maners of men Europe is now exposed for a prey to the Barbarians and yet the Priests vvho should lye along in the dust upon the Pavement vveeping and rowling themselves in ashes seeke after names of vanity and boast themselves of their new found prophane Tiâ—les And againe he saith VVhat vvilt thou answer unto Christ vvho is the true head of the universall Church in that day of Iudgement seeing that by this name of universall Bishop thou seekest to bring under all the members of his body unto thy selfe whom dost thou imitate herein save onely him vvho in contempt of those legions of Angels vvhich vvere his fellowes sought to mount aloft to the Top of Singularity vvhere he might be subiect to none and all others subiect unto him Againe he saith The king of Pride is at hand and vvhich I dread to speake an army of Priests standeth ready to receive him For they that vvere appointed to chalke out the vvay of meekenesse and of humblenesse doe now become souldiers unto that neâ—ke of Pride vvhich lifteth it sâ—lfe up And againe he saith Not to speake of the vvrong vvhich he hereby doth unto other Bishops If there be one called universall Bishop then must the universall Church goe to the ground if he vvhich is universall happen to fall but never may such foolery befall us never may this vveakenesse come unto my eares And againe he saiâ—h I speake â—t confidently that vvhosoever calleth himselfe or desâ—reth to be called universall Priest is in that his elation of minde the forerunner of Antichrist And a great deale more doth he write to this effect against it But notwithstanding that both these Bishops of Rome were herein thus earnest and vehement yet neverthelesse after the death of this Gregory the great Sabinianus succeeded who was Bishop but for a verie little space then came in Boniface the third to be Pope of Rome who obteyned of Phocas the Emperor who was a Traytor and murtherer of his predecessor and liege Lord the Emperor Mauritius that new and proud title of universal Bishop or headship over the whole Church For so also testifieth Paulus Diaconus Abbas Vspergensis Platina Otho Frisingensis Marianus Scotus Sabellicus Blondus and other Historians So that this appeareth to be then and in those times a verie new device and a new matter not heard of before in the Church and consequently could not be a declaration of a thing ever before acknowledged as Bellarmine would most strangely perswade Howbeit he alledgeth that before that time Iustinian called the Church of Rome the head of all the Churches And this is true but in that sense in which he called also that other namely the Church of Constantinople by the same name saying likewise that Constantinople is the head of all other Churches both which he so calleth in respect they were Patriarchall Sees and consequently everie of them Head of all the other Churches that were under them in those their severall Patriarchships But saith Bellarmine the Patriarch and Bishop of Rome was called Vniversall or Oecumenicall Bishop before Phocas his time whereunto is answered that so were also the other Patriarchs as well as he for so did Iustinian call Epiphanius the Bishop of Constantinople sometimes oecumenicall and sometimes which is all one universall Patriarch So doth he also call Anthemius and Menna in his Novels And the Councell of Calcedon likewise in sundry places calleth Menna oecumenicall Patriarch And so were other of the Patriarchs also called in respect of the generall charge which iointly together they had over all the Churches and in respect also of all those particular Churches which were severally belonging to each of them in right of those their severall Patriarchships Wherefore the taking of this Title from the rest of the Patriarches within their severall Patriarchships and the peculiarizing and appropriating of it to one Bishop or Patriarch alone as namely to the Bishop of Rome thereby to give him the headship and supremacie over all the Bishops in the world doth still appeare to be not untill this time of that abhominable Traytor and murtherer Phocas who bestowed it upon him about the yeare of our Lord 606. Such a wicked Founder and Author of it hath the Popes Ecclesiasticall Supremacy which as it had his originall from a Traytor so is it still continued upheld and maintained if ye well observe it by Treason and Rebellion But to make this yet more manifest ye may remember that the Christian Churches were in ancient times divided amongst foure or five Patriarches as of Rome Constantinople Alexandria Antioch and Hierusalem who in those ancient times were all of equall authoritie amongst themselves and had everie one their severall bounds limits beyond which they might not goe This is evident even by divers generall Councels and first by the first generall Councell of Nice holden anno 325. wherein were 318. Bishops The words of that Councell Can. 6. be these Let the ancient customes continue in force that are in Egypt Libia and Pentapolis That the Bishop of Alexandria have the governement of all these for as much as the Bishop of Rome also hath the like custome And so likewise throughout Antioch and in other Provinces let the Churches have their Prerogatives upholden by them Where we see that the severall Patriarches and by name the Bishop of Alexandria and the Bishop of Rome had their limits and bounds set them which they might not exceed for the ancient rights and customes touching the bounds limits of Alexandria be there confirmed because the Bishop of Rome who was another of the Patriarches had the like custome as touching bounds and limits set and appointed to him within his
end to bee glorified So on the other side those that bee the Reprobates doe after their transgression in Adam lye dead in their sinnes without being quickened renewed or regenerated and without having anie Saviour or Redeemer appointed for them and bee blinded in their errors and hardened in their transgressions untill they come at last through their owne default to their due and deserved iust Condemnation For as touching saving graces the Elect onely have obtained them but the rest have beene hardened as S. Paul expresly affirmeth There is then a Remnant as he againe speaketh according to the election of grace And consequently not all in a generalitie be chosen but some onely Yea Manie bee called externally and by the outward preaching and ministerie of the word but for all that few be chosen as Christ himselfe also witnesseth And for further proofe hereof it is expresly said of some kinde of sinners namely of Reprobate sinners that it is a thing impossible that such should bee renewed by repentance for which cause it is also said of Esau that He found no place for repentance though he sought the blessing with teares And againe it is said of some that they did not beleeve yea that non poterant credere they could not beleeve And the reason is there yeelded because God had blinded their eyes by his not giving them light and hardened their hearts by his not mollifying of them so that by reason of their owne naturall blindenesse and corruption attracted to themselves by the fall of Adam remayning unaltered they could neither see with their eies nor understand with their hearts nor be Converted that hee might heale them Wherefore not of Reprobate sinners but of such as be unfained true and sound converts unto God and godlines which none be but the Elect is that sentence in the Prophesie of Ezechiel meant and to be intended which saith that God willeth not the death of a sinner For if he bee not such a true convert but a counterfeit or one that continueth to the end in his wickednes and unrighteousnes shall he live he shall not live sith he hath done all these abhominations but he shall die the death and his blood shall be upon him saith God himselfe by the same Prophet Ezechiel in the verie same Chapters In those two Chapters then of Ezechiel if you well consider them you may readily and easilie finde two sorts of sinners to be comprised and mentioned namely the one sort such as turned from their righteousnes that is from that course of righteousnesse and godlinesse which they seemed at first to hold to a course of unrighteousnesse and ungodlinesse continuing in that wicked course unto the end such sinners saith God in those places shall surely die and the other sort of sinners such as repent and returne by a sound conversion unto God and unto the waies of righteousnesse persevering in those good godly waies unto the end which none doe but such as be the Elect such sinners shall not die the death but such shall surely live as is likewise said in the same Chapters So that even by those two Chapters it appeareth that God doth will the death and destruction of some kinde of sinners But this is yet further evident by those wicked and ungodly sonnes of Eli the Priest who when their father gave them good counsell and godly admonition they neverthelesse obeyed not the voyce of that their Father because saith the Text the Lord vvould Destroy them Observe well those words Agreeably whereunto S. Peter also speaking of certaine which stumbled at the vvord and vvere disobedient saith that they were thereunto even ordayned Againe speaking of certaine godlesse men hee saith they were as bruite beasts led vvith sensuality and made to be taken and to be destroyed Wherewith agreeth that of Solomon also in his Proverbs saying The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake yea even the wicked for the day of evill And so likewise testifieth S. Iude for speaking of certaine ungodly men that turned the grace of God into vvantonnesse he saith that they were before of old ordeyned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to this Iudgement or to this condemnation By all which it is infallibly manifest that God seeing all men to have sinned in the transgression of Adam hath ordained and decreed to permit and suffer some of them to run on in the course of wickednesse and ungodlinesse untill they come in the end to their iustly deserved destruction and perdition 2 In vaine then and most untruly is it obiected against the Protestants that they make God the Author of sinnes and high time it is for all to cease their slandering of them in that behalfe For the Protestants in their doctrine cleane contrariwise doe teach that although God decreed to permit sinne to come into the world yet he never made it nor was the Author or worker of it yea God made man good at the first yea all things that he made were in their creation very good as is expressely written in Genesis The corruption of man and the sinne that came unto him was brought in and procured another way namely after his creation by the perswasion and temptation of the Divell that subtill Serpent and by mans will consenting thereunto as is likewise declared in Genesis so that not God but the Divell and man together consenting to that temptation and perswasion of the Divell were the Author and efficient cause of sinne in man at the first and so continue Authors and workers of sinne in men unto this day And therefore is it said that Sathan entred into Iudas Iscariot to stirre him up to betray Iesus And likewise doth S. Iames write thus Let no man say vvhen he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted vvith evill neither tempteth he any man c. Yea it is the Divell even that wicked Spirit That vvorketh in the children of disobedience as S. Paul witnesseth And againe he saith that Men are ensnared by the Divell and held captive by him to doe his vvill untill such time as God set them free and doe deliver them by his grace and power For God doth not put instill or infuse wickednesse into anie but withholdeth his graces from Reprobates and so they not onely sinne by reason of their owne concupiscence and nature corrupted and depraved thorough the transgression of Adam but doe further by degrees grow obdurate in their sinnes and so in the end come to their iust condemnation Wherefore God appeareth to be in sinnes committed not a cause efficient but deficient or wanting in that he leaveth some men to themselves and giveth not unto them those sanctifying and saving graces which he giveth to his elect For neither indeed is hee bound or compellable to give those graces to anie but to whom he pleaseth nor doe they properly or
c. for God vvill have all men to be saved But the meaning of these words is evident that he will have of all sorts and degrees of men that shall be saved even Kings and Princes aswell as of anie other sort for of them you see hee specially speaketh And so doth S. Augustine and Gregorie also expound those words And indeede what other sence all circumstances of the Text being well considered can be set upon them For to set this sence upon them namely that God will have all to bee saved in a generalitie without any exception were directly contrarie to the rest of the Scriptures which witnesse directly that God will have some to bee damned Yea if God would have all to be saved in a generality what should or can hinder but that all without exception should be saved accordingly For who was ever able to resist his will or to hinder the execution thereof that it should not come to passe Howbeit they say That God would and men will not and that this is the reason why some are damned because themselves will not be saved But what is this else but to make Gods will subiect to mens will and to be as it were a waiting servant and attendant upon their pleasures so that hee shall will their salvation when they will it themselves and shal also nill it when they nill it which beside that it maketh Gods will as variable and mutable as mens wills a thing dishonourable unto him and untrue it maketh also mens salvation and damnation to consist in their owne power and pleasures which is as absurd as if you should say it is in the power and will of the lumpe of Clay to choose of what sort and fashion it shall bee and to what use it shall bee applied and what part thereof shall bee a vessell to honour and what to dishonour For a Potter hath not more full or more absolute power over the Clay and the Pots which hee maketh thereout then God hath over all Men and Angells and over all other his creatures to doe ordaine and dispose of them and everie of them at his owne most free and uncontrollable pleasure as the Scriptures doe clearely testifie often using and as it were delighting themselves with this comparison resemblance It is true that no father hath such an high and absolute power over his Children nor King over his Subiects nor Master over his Servants the reason is apparant because these be not the makers of their Children nor of their Subiects nor of their Servants but God was the maker of them all as of all things else and therefore as touching this point the cases be not like And yet if Children offend it is in the power and pleasure of the father to correct which of them hee will or if Subiects offend the King may punish or pardon whom soever of them he pleaseth and if Servants offend it is also in the power and pleasure of the Master to punish or to spare whom he list Doth it not then consist much more in the will and pleasure of God the Creator and maker of all men especially after that all mankind was fallen in the transgression of Adam to choose or refuse whom hee pleased If then you doe but observe this comparison and similitude of the Potter which the Scripture so often useth or some such like wherein there is a Maker considered with such power and authoritie as he hath over the thing made by him being the worke of his owne hands This matter will then bee so plaine and evident unto you as that even by light and force of reason you will be compelled to confesse that the thing made is ever subiect to the will ordering and disposing of him that is the maker and not the maker to the will of the thing made And even this doth also S. Paul himselfe acknowledg and teach in this verie particular matter and thereupon he further saith expresly of God that He hath mercie upon whomsoever he will and whomsoever he will he hardeneth And againe hee saith that God spake thus I vvill have mercie on whomsoever my pleasure is to have mercie and I vvill have compassion on whomsoever my pleasure is to have compassion So then saith he againe it is not in him that vvilleth nor in him that runneth but in God that shevveth mercie By all which is most manifest that this great matter concerning the salvation and damnation of men consisteth not in the will and pleasure of men but in the will and pleasure of God and in his ordering and disposing Would you have this matter yet further declared then call to your remembrance what is written of Esau namlie that he would have inherited the blessing and yet was reiected for he found no place to repentance though he sought the blessing with teares Here you see that Esau would faine have inherited and fought it even with teares and yet was reiected and had this speciall grace of a true repentance not yeelded unto him Againe did not wicked Balaam desire to die the death of the righteous and that his last end might be like his Moreover did not the foolish Virgins aswell as the wise desire to enter in unto the Wedding and say Lord Lord open to us and yet were excluded Againe doth not Christ Iesus himselfe say to some Yee shall seâ—ke mee and yet yee shall dye in your sinnes and whether I goe thither can yee not come And againe doth he not say thus Strive to enter in at the straite gate for manie I say unto you shall seeke to enter in and shall not be able You see then that manie and sundrie persons would attaine to the everlasting felicitie of Gods people and to a most blessed happinesse and salvation and yet cannot because God will not as having otherwise ordayned of them And so againe witnesseth S. Paul saying thus Israel hath not obtained that he sought but the Election hath obtained it and the rest have beene hardened Againe Yee beleeve not saith Christ to some because yee are not of my sheepe And againe it is written Crediderunt quotquot erant ordinati ad vitam aeternam Onely so many beleeved as vvere ordained to eternall life And therefore also is this faith called fides Electorum Dei the faith of Gods Elect as being proper peculiar unto them Againe it is written of some people that To them it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdome of heaven but to others it is not given Yea and Christ Iesus himselfe speaketh thus unto God his Father saying I give thee thankes O Father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid thâ—se things from the vvise and men of understanding and hast opened them unto Babes It is so O Father because such vvas thy good pleasure Againe it is written of some that The Gospel and vvord of God preached
purpose intention Christ dyed not for the redemption of all in a generalitie but of the Elect only whom he so especially and entirely loved In like sort testifieth S. Iohn saying In this appeared the love of God toward us marke still that word Vs that God sent his onely begotten Sonne into the vvorld that vve might live through him And againe he saith Herein is love not that vve loved God but that he loved us and sent his Sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes Here you likewise see that the sending of his sonne is an effect and argument of his most deare and speciall love toward his Church and people If then this be as indeed it is an argument of such high speciall and incomparable love in Christ to give himselfe to death and likewise in God his Father to send him into the world to that end and that this special and incomparable love belongeth onely to the Elect it must needes be granted that Christ his death being an argument of such unspeakeable and especial love was only for the Elect in Gods intention and purpose for those onely be the men whom he so entirely and unspeakeably loved and not the other But consider what Saint Paul yet further writeth saying thus Blessed bee God even the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ vvhich hath blessed us vvith all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ as hee hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the vvorld that vvee should be holy and vvithout blame before him in love VVho hath predestinated us to be adopted through Iesus Christ in himselfe according to the good pleasure of his owne vvill to the praise of the glory of his grace vvhereby hee hath made us accepted in his bloud by vvhom vve have redemption through his bloud even the forgivenesse of sinnes according to his rich grace vvhereby he hath beene abounding toward us In which words you may againe perceive that those onely that were Elect before the foundation of the world be the men that be there said to have redemption through Christs bloud even the forgivenesse of sinnes and that for these two incomparable benefits namely of their Election before the foundations of the world and of their Redemption through the bloud of Christ they can never blesse God sufficiently nor yeeld him sufficient thankes Yea the Redemption which Christ by his bloud hath purchased for anie is an Eternall Redemption as the Epistle to the Hebrewes expressely affirmeth it and therefore if all in a generalitie aswel bad as good and Reproprobate aswell as Elect should have redemption by the death of Christ it should be an Eternall redemption as here you see even an everlasting discharge and forgivenesse of all their sinnes and so then should none be damned at all but all aswell one sort as another should be saved which if it be grosse and absurd false and untrue that also must be held grosse absurd and untrue whereupon this followeth But consider yet further that the bloud of Christ Iesus the Sonne of God is not dumbe dead vaine idle or ineffectual bloud but it is ever powerfull and effectuall to all those for whose benefit it was intended to be shed and therefore beside that it is called by S. Peter precious bloud or the bloud of price and value whereby Gods Church and people were bought and purchased it is further said in the Epistle to the Hebrews to be speaking blood and that it speaketh better things then that of Abel For indeed the bloud of Abel spake and cried for revenge against a Malefactor but contrariwise the bloud of Christ speaketh for mercie peace love reconciliation and attonement towards sinners and malefactors Yea the bloud of Christ hath these vertues attributed unto it namely to clense from all sinne to reconcile to iustifie to sanctifie and to save sinners Seeing then the bloud of Christ is of that great force vertue and efficacie and that none are cleansed from their sinnes reconciled iustified sanctified and saved but the elect onely it is apparant that that so precious prevalent powerfull and saving bloud of his was shed for the redemption of the Elect only and not of the Reprobate And therefore doe the Saints and elect people of God in the Revelation sing this Song unto that Immaculate Lamb Christ Iesus saying thus Thou art vvorthy to take the Booke and to open the seales thereof because thou vvast killed and hast redeemed us to God by thy bloud out of every kinred and tongue and people and nation Yea by the efficacie and vertue of Christ his death his buriall and his resurrection it is that Gods elect dye to sinne and burie sinne and be quickned and rise to newnesse of life which thing Reprobates cannot doe Againe it appeareth that Christ in his death suffering and satisfaction which hee made to the law and to Gods wrath and iustice bare the person only of the Elect to cleere and set them free insomuch that of them only it is said that they be In Christ and that they vvere circumcised â—n him or in his circumcision that they dyed together with him in his death that they rose together with him in his resurrection that they ascended with him into heaven and there sit vvith him in heavenly places By all which manner of speeches it is evident that the Elect and Elect onely be accounted his members and knit and conioined unto him Yea such is this neere coniunction and union betweene Christ the head and the Elect his members that considered together they be called verie Christ by S. Paul And therefore it is apparant that the Reprobates which are to bee damned were never In Christ Iesus nor made satisfaction to Gods Iustice in him for their sinnes nor died with him nor rose againe with him nor ascended with him into heaven nor have anie union or communion with him And this is further yet more evident by this that Christ Iesus himselfe doth directly disclaime all Reprobates in the praier which he maketh in the behalfe of all the Elect which his Father gave him saying thus I pray for them I pray not for the vvorld but for them vvhich thou hast given mee for they are thine Observe this well for here you see that Christ praieth and maketh intercession onely for the elect and utterly disclaymeth to pray for the world that is for the Reprobates of the world Sith then the Reprobates have no part nor portion in the praier and intercession of Christ by what right shall they have anie part or portion in his death or sacrificing himselfe upon the Crosse For the Priesthood of Christ consisteth chiefly in these two points namely in his oblation or sacrificing of himselfe upon the Crosse in his prayer or intercession and seeing the Reprobates never had nor have anie interest in the one neither can they have in the other And therefore also is Christ recorded
in that place as a similitude to represent the neere coniunction betweene Christ and his Church but contrariwise hee bringeth and mentioneth the great love of Christ and the neere mistical coniunction between him and his Church as a similitude and argument to declare and enforce the love that shold be of the husband toward his wife For that is the maine matter scope and point of exhortation the Apostle there aymeth at as is expresse and apparant by the 25. Verse and so from thence to the end of that Chapter 5 Now concerning Orders By Orders wee understand the ordination of Ecclesiastical Ministers to their ministery by Imposition or laying on of hands Here then I would be glad to know why or for what reason they should hold this to be a Sacrament Is it because it is a good worke and an holy action But it is answered before that everie good worke and godly and holy action is not to bee reckoned for a Sacrament Or doe they make it a Sacrament because it hath in it an outward signe of an holy thing accounting the ordination or consecration to the ministerie to bee the holy thing and the imposition or laying on of hands in that action and for that purpose to bee the outward signe But hereunto is answered that everie outward signe of an holy thing or of an holy action is not sufficient to make a Sacrament for then Prayer with lifting up of hands should bee likewise a Sacrament end sundrie such like But it must be an outward signe of this particular holy thing namely of the remission of our sins and of our coniunction and communion with Christ or otherwise it is no Sacrament in that sense of a Sacrament which wee speake of Yea it must bee not onely a signe but a seale also of that our uniting and coniunction with Christ as is before declared which thing because the act of Ordination of Ministers by imposition of hands is not therefore it can be no Sacrament Againe the Sacraments be such as bee common belong to all sorts and degrees of Christians aswell to the lay sort as to Ecclesiasticall Ministers as appeareth by the example of these two confessed and undoubted Sacraments viz of Baptisme and the Lords Supper but these orders be proper and peculiar unto those onely that bee of the Ecclesiasticall Ministerie and extend no further and therefore they can bee no Sacraments in that sense of Sacraments that wee speake of 6 The last supposed Sacrament in the Popish Church is Extreme unction or last anointing or annealing as they cal it But how do they prove this to be a sacrament We reade indeed in Mark 6.13 that the Apostles of Christ being sent abroad did cast out Divels and annointed manie that were sicke with oyle and healed them But wee see this reckoned amongst the rest of the miracles which those Apostles had power given them to doe in those times of the first preaching and planting of the Gospell to win the greater credit unto it Agreeably whereunto it is said that They went forth and preached everie where the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signes following But beside that it is thus reckoned among the rest of the miracles the effect or event did also declare it to bee miraculous because as manie as were in those daies annointed by them were healed as the Text it selfe affirmeth Now can or doe Popist Priests in like sort in these daies by their annointing with oyle cure and heale the sicke and diseased as they in the Primitive and Apostolicke Church miraculously did All men know they neither doe nor can S. Iames likewise saith to the Christians of those Primitive and Apostolicke times in this sort Is anie sicke among you let him call for the Presbyters or Elders of the Church and let them pray for him and annoint him with oyle in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sicke and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sinnes they shall be forgiven him For Sinnes commonly bee the cause of mens sicknesses and diseases And because God pardoneth such as repentantly acknowledge and confesse their sinnes and faults and not such as hide them and will iustifie themselves therein hee addeth further saying thus Acknowledge your faults one to another and pray one for another that yee may bee healed for the prayer of a righteous man availeth much if it bee fervent teaching them hereby that they ought freely to conferre one with another touching their diseases and sicknesses to confesse the sins which bee the cause of them one to another that so they might helpe one another with their praiers unto God for their recoverie for S. Iames doth not say that it was the bare anointing with oyle that did heale or save a man from death or raise him up from that his sicknesse wherewith hee was visited but it was Annointing with oyle in the name of the Lord that is such as had prayer invocation and calling upon the name of the Lord ioyned with it And therfore in the next words he sheweth that praier was added and that it was the prayer of faith that did preserve or save the sicke and that recovered and raised him up againe What then is there in all this to prove this Vnction or the annointing with oyle to bee a Sacrament Is it because in this healing there was used an external ceremonie or an outward visible signe but it is before shewed that that is not sufficient to make a Sacrament yea then might the curing of the diseased by the water of the Poole of Bethesda Ioh 5.2 3 4. c. be called a sacrament the annointing of the blind mans eies with clay made with spittle together with his washing in the Poole of Siloam Ioh. 9.6.7 might also by as good reason bee termed a Sacrament and sundrie other such actions wherin outward visible signes were used should become Sacraments which it were absurd to affirme in that sense of the Sacraments we here speake of But this Vnction or annoynting with oyle in the Apostles times can be no Sacrament in that sense of a Sacrament that wee speake of for sundry reasons First because it served onely for the healing and curing of the bodie For as for the forgivenesse of sinnes there mentioned and prayer used for that purpose they tended all in this case to this end to worke the effect of healing for the cause of the sicknesse which was sinnes being remooved by the prayers of the faithfull the effect which was the sicknesse or disease caused by those sinnes was also remooved Secondly it was a gift of healing that was in those daies miraculous to cure and heale the sicke in that manner which miraculous and extraordinarie power of healing is now long since ceased and because it was a thing miraculous and extraordinarie and is not ordinarie and perpetual it
see that hee here teacheth 1290 daies to be the time allotted to Antichrist a part of this time namely 1260 daies he sheweth that the two VVitnesses lived together with Antichrist and the residue of that time which is 30 daies more that is one moneth after the death of those VVitnesses he saith that Antichrist lived If then those two Witnesses did accompanie Antichrist that is came when he came and did prophesie 1260 daies that is iust three yeares and an halfe before they died and that after their death Antichrist still lived and that by the space of a moneth how can it be shifted but that Antichrists raigne must be granted to continue longer then that time aforesaid of iust three yeares and an halfe If you answere as one Master Christopherson in defence of Bellarmine doth that this last moneth is not to be accounted of because Antichrist during that his last moneth raigned not so strongly and firmely as hee did before and that his kingdome was then weake and declining This hindreth not but that his raigne and kingdome did for all that still continue even during that moneth aswell as during anie of those former moneths daies or later times wherein he was in his declination For a man ceaseth not to be a King because he at some time ruleth and raigneth more feebly and weakely then at other-some times And therefore even this last moneth aswell as anie of the rest of the later moneths or daies is to be reckoned accounted part of Antichrist his raign for else you may as well exclude the sixt moneth or at least some part of it or the last day of the sixt moneth as the seventh moneth or the first day of the same seventh moneth because in those daies also Antichrist was declining But what Shall not the raigne of Antichrist or of anie King whosoever be said and supposed to continue so long as he liveth whilest hee is neither deposed nor surrendreth nor yeeldeth up his kingdome to anie other nor hath done nor suffered to be done anie act to the contrarie yea Bellarmine himselfe doth expressely account this last moneth aswell as anie of the former as a part of Antichrist his raigne using the verie word and saying that he is Regnaturus mille ducentis nonaginta diebus to Raigne 1290 dayes Here then you see by this incurable contradiction and repugnant doctrine of Bellarmine and other Papists that the long reteined opinion of Antichrist his raigning iust three yeares and an halfe is either utterly uncertaine or utterly untrue And that you may yet better perceive the uncertaintie or rather untruth of that opinion consider that the Prophet Daniel also mentioneth 2300 daies which text time diverse also of the ancient Fathers as S. Hierome witnesseth did applie unto Antichrist Which opinion of those ancient Writers if a man should hold then must Antichrists raigne be yet of much longer continuance then either 1260 daies or then 1290 daies that is much longer then either three yeares and sixe moneths or three yeares and seven moneths Such uncertaintie there is even in ancient Fathers as well as in other writers when they goe by coniectures or suppositions without sufficient warrant of the divine Scriptures But Bellarmine yet further proceedeth and saith thus that The Prophet Daniel after he had said cap. 12.11 that Antichrists kingdome should endure 1290 dayes addeth vers 12. Blessed is hee vvhich expecteth and commeth to 1335 dayes that is to 45 dayes after Antichrists death for then vvill our Lord come to iudgement and render the crownes of righteousnesse to the Conquerors Observe this well also for if this opinion of his concerning Antichrist were true namely that hee shall raigne iust three yeares and an halfe and yet that hee shall continue one moneth longer consisting of 30 daies to make up the full number of 1290 daies and that 45 daies after shall be the time of Christs comming to iudgement and of eternal Blessednesse as he there teacheth who seeth not that anie man living in that time of the raigne of Antichrist may before hand by this reckoning certainely know the verie Day of the end of the world and of Christ his comming to iudgement But of That day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only saith Christ and therefore that opinion cannot possibly be true But moreover sundrie learned men doe say that the Prophesie of Daniel touching the little horne there mentioned and the times ascribed to him concerneth not Antichrist at all directly properly but onely Antiochus Epiphanes that cruell tyrant and great persecutor and afflicter of those Saints and ancient people of God the Iewes in vvhom and vvhose history they affirme that all those several times mentioned in Daniel received their full and due accomplishment But you alledge that even some Protestant Writers doe also expound the Time and Times and halfe a Time mentioned in Daniel as also the 1260 dayes mentioned in the Revelation there otherwise called 42 moneths and a Time and Times and halfe a Time to belong to Antichrist Howbeit you should remember withall that even those Protestants that so expound it doe teach that those daies and times for all that are not to be taken literally as you take them but mystically and Prophetically and namely not for so manie common and natural daies but for so manie yeares that is to say for 1260 yeares accounting everie day for a yeare for so they say that in the Scripture it is sometimes used as in Ezechiel where God saith thus unto him Thou shalt beare the iniquitie of the house of Iudah forty dayes I have appointed thee a day for a yeare So in the Booke of Numbers God speaketh thus After the number of the dayes in vvhich yee searched out the Land even forty dayes every day for a yeare shall yee beare your Iniquity for forty yeares and yee shall feele my breach of promise So againe doth the Scripture mention a weeke of daies and a vveeke of yeares According whereunto the seventie weekes mentioned in Daniel be also expounded not of seventie weekes of daies but of seventie weekes of yeares that is to say seventie times seven yeares which make 490 yeares everie day being reckoned for a yeare for according to this computation and reckoning of a day for a yere is it that that Prophecie had his accomplishment Whereupon they conclude that Antichrists persecution and raigne being limited to a time and times and halfe a time expounded by 1260 daies everie day being to bee reckoned for a yeare as they take it is to have continuance for much longer time then you suppose namely for 1260 yeares which is farre from your exposition and opinion who hold that Antichrist should raigne but iust three yeares and an halfe But if this exposition of reckoning a day for a yere seemeth as to some it doth to search too neere into Gods secrets and to
as an answer unto the Bishops of Ireland that did submit themselves unto him whereas the least argument of anie submission of theirs doth not appeare in anie part of that epistle but the whole course of it doth clearely manifest the flat contrary In the next place steppeth forth Osullevan Beare a wilde Beare indeed rather then a Christian man who in his Catholick Historie of Ireland for so he stileth his trayterous and barbarous Collections lately published would have us take knowledge of this that when the Irish Doctors did not agree together upon great questions of faith or did heare of any new doctrine brought from abroad they were wont to consult with the Bishop of Rome the Oracle of truth That they consulted with the Bishop of Rome when difficult questions did arise wee easily grant but that they thought they were bound in conscience to stand to his judgment whatsoever it should be and to intertaine all his resolutions as certaine Oracles of truth is the point that we would faine see proved For this he telleth us that when questions and disputations did arise here concerning the time of Eâ—ster and the Pelagian heresie the Doctors of Ireland referred the matter unto the See Apostolick Whereupon the error of Pelagius is reported to have found no patron or maintayner in Ireland and the common course of celebrating Easter was embraced both by the Northren Irish and by the Pictes and Britons as soone as they understood the rite of the Romane Church Which saith hee doth not obscurely appeare by the two heads of the Apostolick letters related by Bede lib. 2. cap. 19. But that those Apostolick letters as he calleth them had that successe which he talketh of appeareth neither plainly nor obscurely by Bede or anie other authoritie whatsoever The error of Pelagius saith he is reported to have found no patron or maintayner in Ireland But who is he that reporteth so beside Philip Osullevan a worthy author to ground a report of antiquity upon who in relating the matters that fell out in his owne time discovereth himselfe to be as egregious a lyar as anie I verily thinke that this day breatheth in Christendome The Apostolick letters he speaketh of were written as before hath beene touched in the yeare of our Lord DCXXXIX during the vacancie of the Romane See upon the death of Severinus Our countreyman Kilianus repayred to Rome 47. yeares after that and was ordayned Bishop there by Pope Conon in the yeare DCLXXXVI The reason of his comming thither is thus laid downe by Egilwardus or who ever else was the author of his life For Ireland had beene of old defiled with the Pelagian heresie and condemned by the Apostolicall censure which could not be loosed but by the Romane judgement If this be true then that is false which Osullevan reporteth of the effect of his Apostolicall Epistle that it did so presently quassh the Pelagian heresie as it durst not once peepe up within this Iland The difference betwixt the Romanes and the Irish in the celebration oâ— Easter consisted in this The Romanes kept the memorial of our Lords resurrection upon that Sonday which fell betwixt the XV. and the XXI day of the Moone both termes included next after the XXI day of March which they accounted to be the seat of the Vernall aequinoctium that is to say that time of the Spring wherein the day and the night were of equall length and in reckoning the age of the Moone they followed the Alexandrian cycle of XIX yeares whence our golden number had his originall as it was explained unto them by Dionysius Exiguus which is the account that is still observed not only in the Church of England but also among all the Christians of Greece Russia Asia AEgypt and AEthiopia and was since the time that I my selfe was borne generally received in all Christendome untill the late change of the Kalendar was made by Pope Gregory the XIIIth The Northren Irish and Scottish together with the Pictes observed the custome of the Britons keeping their Easter upon the Sonday that fell betwixt the XIIII and the XX. day of the Moone and following in their account thereof not so much the XIX yeares computation of Anatolius as Sulpicius Severus his circle of LXXXIIII yeares for howsoever they extolled Anatolius for appointing the bounds of Easter betwixt the XIIII and the XX. day of the Moone yet Wilfride in the Synod of Strenshalch chargeth them utterly to have rejected his cycle of XIX yeares from which therefore Cummianus draweth an argument against them that they can never come to the true account of Easter who observe the cycle of LXXXIIII yeares To reduce the Irish unto conformitie with the Church of Rome in this point Pope Honorius the first of that name directed his letters unto them Exhorting them that they would not esteeme their owne paucitie seated in the utmost borders of the earth more wife then the ancient or moderne Churches of Christ through the whole world and that they would not celebrate another Easter contrary to the Paschall computations and the Synodall decrees of the Bishops of the whole world and shortly after the clergie of Rome as we have said upon the death of Severinus wrote other letters unto them to the same effect Now where Osullevan pardon me if I honour the rake-hell too much in naming him so often avoucheth that the common customeâ— sed by the Church in celebrating the feast of the Lords resurrection was alwayes observed by the Southerne Irish and now embraced also by the Northren together with the Pictes and Britons who received the faith from Irish Doctors when they had knowledge given them of the rite of the Church of Rome in all this according to his common wont hee speaketh never a true word For neyther did the Southerne Irish alwayes observe the celebration of Easter commonly received abroad neyther did the Northren Irish nor the Pictes nor the Britons manie yeares after this admonition given by the Church of Rome admit that observation among them to speake nothing of his folly in saying that the Britons received the faith from the Irish when the contrarie is so well knowne that the Irish received the same from the Britons That the common custome of celebrating the time of Easter was not alwayes observed by the Southerne Irish may appeare by those words of Bede in the third booke of his historie and the third chapter Porrò gentes Scottorum quae in australibus Hiberniae insulae partibus morabantur jamdudum ad admonitionem Apostolicae sedis antistitis Pascha canonico ritu observare didicerunt For if as this place clearely proveth the nations of the Scotts that dwelt in the Southerne parts of Ireland did learne to observe Easter after the canonicall maner upon the admonition of the Bishop of Rome it is evident that before that admonition they did observe it after another maner The word jamdudum which Bede