his respect to this makes him vndervalue the rest because hee thinkes none can speake so truly or so powerfully or so profoundly or so eloquently as the other For faction disorders a man as loue doth where affection is not ruled by iudgement but iudgement by affection nor is the person lou'd because worthy but seemes worthy because beloued the eye is iealous of one only and therefore the man esteemes none faire besides There had then beene danger enough had the Schisme beene led by Paul Apollo and Cephas but if Christ himselfe be made a party if the sonne of God seeme a patrone to either What frozen heart will not thaw at this Sun What patient cowardise can moderate the tongue or the hand no marvaile Corinth is divided 't were apostasy to be otherwise for how should I forsake Christ and not renounce my Saviour Nor hath this proiect beene confined to S. Pauls time or to Corinth but hath gained abetters in all ages some divisions in the Church laying claime to Cephas others to Paul a third sort dispersing their errors vnder Apolloes name all vnder Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Naz. Orat. 14. p. 221. Paris 1609. speakes of the Novatians ensnaring their auditors by the fame of their patrons and venting their ridiculous fansies as Presses doe their pamphlets vnder the counterfeit name of some reverenced author or by a leafe of title to scarce a line of sense Thus did Novatus cover his ambition by the repute of his followers and obtain'd credit to his owne dreames from their piety and learning He knew his poysonous errours could not purchase admission while they appeared in their naturall attire and therefore it was his subtlety to present them to the world Hist eccles l. 6. c. 43. graec ed. Paris 1544. not as his owne inventions but clothed with the names and patronage of his associates for if it be thought to come from thence an English blade may sell as deare as another of spaine he had in his retinue as Eusebius relates Maximus a learned and religious Presbyter hee had vrbanus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that twice grew into the esteeme of the Church by a free confession of his faith and bad faire for martyrdome hee had Sidonius and Celerinus both of especiall note but the last of the greatest a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that fulfilled in his body the passions of his Saviour and to obtaine the mercy of God shewed no mercy on himselfe that wore in his flesh the markes of the Lord Iesus and might count his yeeres by his martyrdomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the same author goes on that strengthned the weaknesse of his flesh by the valour of his faith and endured torments with such scornefull patience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if hee had no body at all or none of his owne Naz. orat cont Iul. p. 36. ed. Eton. of the primitiue martyrs Novatus therefore may disguise the most divelish proiect vnder such seraphicall doctors as those For 't is vnlikely God would reforme the will and leaue the intellect irregular that hee would loose their fetters and not open their eyes that those which sufferd so much for the truth should perish in an error or could walke so well without the benefit of light The rebells Num. 16.2 the Arrians sozom l. 3. c. 18. graec Par. 1544. it would be easy to deduce this truth through every age of the Church were it not so visible in our owne For Novatus is yet aliue and although hee hath no confessors in his retinue professors hee hath many men of meane parts and yet of mighty guifts such as are not watered by the foote as Egypt was but as Canaan with a dew from Heaven no Schismaticall fancy shall want a S. Peter or a S. Iohn to owne it nor can you dissent from this but you erre from the holy Ghost which spake by S. Paul or Esaiah They hate those Micaiahs of elder times because they speake no good of them but evill nor can you heare a discourse but you may know who ownes it by the rebaptization of Cyp. or the Montanisme of Tertullian Scripture shall bee the rule and only they interpreters for 't is not canonicall though it hath the stampe of the Church vnlesse it hath theirs besides and so become themselues that infallible Antichrist they declaime so much against are vpon the point both the old Testament the new thus doe they expose their fondnesse vnder a counterfeit vaile of the spirit as courser beauties draw the beholders from their deformities by the sumptuous art of their dressing that the face might be lost by gazing on the cloths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. orat 14. p. 216. They paint out their ignorance with a tedious catalogue of abused authorities and cover mischiefes with religion the wolfe must be concealed vnder a Lambs fleece and their foule errors perfumed with the Myrrhe and cassia of holy writ noâ—ios succos medicaminum vocabulis praecolorant as Lirinensis speakes they disperse their poysons vnder the name of medicines for who can thinke that a druggist would write conserues over a box of ratsbane or rosewater over Mercury opinions vsually gaining credit according to the esteeme of such as countenance or deliuer them as a man receiues gold without enquiry from his acquaintance but hath weights and a touchstone for a stranger you see how the worst of the Church haue strengthned themselues by pretending to the best doe thus and thou shalt encourage truth yet giue no advantage to errour Let thy industry and care enable thee to giue example and credit thy profession leaue no doubt vnassailed and as Iacob wrestle with God in thy prayers that thou maist vnderstand him in his Scriptures Feare not those sonnes of Anak those Giganticke writers of elder and later times nor bee content with learning which only supplies for sermons like wilde oates the fruit whereof serues only for the next yeeres seeds falling into the earth before the corne is brought into the barne thus saith the Lord stand in the waies and see and aske for the old paths walke therein yee shall finde rest for your soules so that as it was once an omen or signe of victory in the * Chronicles when ye heare a noise in the tops of the trees 1 Paralip 14.15 2 Sam. 5.24 goe on with confidence for God is gone before you in like manner here the voice of God must be our compasse and the voice of God in the tops of the trees too in the heavenlier higher and purer ages of the Church Because to say I say so every heretique ever did but to say the Church ever said so so did every true member of the Church Scripture must be the rule but antiquity the applyer of this rule Scripture the Law but antiquity the expositor hee that goes another way goes out of the way
TWO SERMONS THE FIRST PREACHED AT St MARIES in OXFORD Iuly 13. 1634. being Act-Sunday THE SECOND IN THE CATHEDRALL CHVRCH OF SARVM AT THE Visitation of the most Reverend Father in God WILLIAM Arch-Bishop of Canterbury May 23. 1634. By THOMAS LAVRENCE Dr of Divinity and late Fellow of Allsoules Colledge and Chaplaine to his MAIESTY in ORDINARY OXFORD Printed by IOHN LICHFIELD Anno Dom. 1635. EXOD. 20.21 And the people stood a farre off and Moses drew neere vnto the thicke darknesse where God was GOD made man placed him in Eden spake to him in the second of Genesis and man was not afraide God came in a walking voice Votem itantem Iun. Trem. in the third of Genesis and man was afraid because he had not sinned in the second chapter and had sinned in the third For where no sinne is there is no feare perfect loue saith S. Iohn casteth out feare which therefore is not fit company for heaven because loue is perfect there The happinesse of that place consists in the vision of God in whose presence is the fulnesse of ioy saith David which therefore the soules vnder the Altar as S. Iohn or in their chambers as Esdras speakes long to see saying when cometh the fruit of our reward in the second of that story the fourth chapter at the fiue and thirtieth verse And who desires what hee trembles at or joyes in that hee feares But t is otherwise here In Heaven wee shall bee ravished with God not afraid of him in earth wee are afraid of any messenger from heaven An Angell appeared to b Iud. 6.22 Gedeon and hee was afraid an Angell appeared to c C. 13.22 Manoah and he was afraid an Angell appeared to the d Luc. 2.10 Sheapheards these were afraid an Angell appeared to the e Mat. 28.5 Maries and they were afraid Afraid all of those Angells which brought the message of joy For because ever since an Angell guarded Paradice with a drawn sword we haue deserved no good news from aboue we conceiue no other designe of such Messengers but to strike And what shall Israel feare from God himselfe if these imagined no lesse then death from the sight of an Angell That glorious just Lord cannot bespeake my damnable vilenesse but in thunder and therefore if Moses intend they shall liue to keepe the Law Moses himselfe must deliver the Law God must speake no more least they dye v. 19 He comforted thē indeed and said feare not v. 20. which is all one as if hee should say sinne not for while they were guilty of sinne they must be subiect to feare Bounds were defined vnto which they came not and yet they came too neere Gods command remoues them farre and their owne feare remoues them farther And the people stood a farre The words represent the duty of the Laity in Israel the people and the priviledge of the Clergy in Moses their Priest So the holy Ghost esteemed him Moses and Aron among the Priests Psal 99.6 so those Apostolicall constitutions esteemed him L. 6. c. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L. 2. c. 29. so hee esteemed himselfe sanctifying the assembly Exod. 19.14 dedicating the Tabernacles hallowing the vessells offering sacrifice consecrating Aron with his Sonnes and officiating both for the Scepter and the Mitre too the Prince and the Priest to shew that there is no naturall repugnancie betwixt the Ephod and the Maze the Tribunall and the Altar but that both thriue the better for the vicinity of each other as the Vine helpes the Elme and by this neighbourhood climbes the higher The duty of the Laity requires 1 An obsequious attention to God the people stood 2 An humble distance from God The people stood a farre off The priviledge of the Clergy discovers 1 The approximation or immediatnesse of their accesse Moses drew neere 2 The limitation of this approximation Moses drew neere vnto the thicke darknesse 3 The condition of this limitation Moses drew neere vnto the thicke darknesse where God was 1 Vox vagina sensus Language is the sheath of sense Bel. de not Ecc. l. 4. c. 12. saith the Cardinall and words are the attire of the minde saith the Oratour he therefore whose tongue is too big for his heart that speakes more then he thinkes cases a needle in a scabberd and presents little David in great Goliahs armour or rather araies a child with the clothes of a gyant and so invests him not with a suit but enstates in a house God is no friend to the hypocrisy of complement and therefore in Scripture ever meanes more then he speakes Psal 12.6 the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried seaven times in the fire saith the Psalmist calcined and sublimated from this drosse for he is a God of truths not of varnishes of realities not of shadowes He hates that mouth which belies the minde and likes men on earth best when they resemble the Saints in Heaven where soules commerce per verbum mentis without tongues and thoughts are seene without the mediation of words t is so in my Text where a syllable of Gods signifies more then a volume of mans a word of His then a Library of mine and the peoples standing here comprehends as much as the people should doe and much more indeede then they would First standing is a posture of respect wee kneele and stand to our superiours Kneele to shew our subiection and stand to shew our obedience that we are ready to execute what these are to command Seest thou a man diligent in his businesse hee shall stand before Kings Prov. 22.29 and although the Angells turned their faces to Sodome Abraham stood yet before the Lord Gen. 18.22 Standing and Kneeling then become inferiours sitting doth not the Lord said to my Lord sit thou at my right hand ther 's an equality of nature betwixt the Father and the Sonne and therefore one sits by the other Psal 110.11 and when the sonne of man shall sit on the Throne of his glory then shall yee also sit vpon twelue Thrones Iudging the twelue Tribes of Israel there 's an equality of grace or favour betwixt the Iudge and his Assessors therefore these haue Thrones together Mat. 19.18 so that those Antipodes which tread crosse to the World which fast at the birth of our Saviour and feast at his passion which will not say Christmas and yet will call a Christian Demas which sit at the Altar because we kneele say not with the Syrophaenician Lord I am not worthy to eate the crummes vnder thy table but Lord I am worthy to sit at thy table I am as good as thy selfe Standing then is a posture of respect and respect is a preparatiue to attention for no man listens to what he scornes Lydias affection must be warmed before she can attend regard S. Paul shee must before she can heare him when God shall open her heart then will she open
the streames of Nile without searching after the head For it is vsually seene when a man runnes on the discovery of some newer some neater way then the ordinary rode he meetes with briars ditches and so falls short of his journey Wherefore I rather like that Mercury which directs me the straitest the neerest cut then the other which leades mee about through Gardens Meadowes and had rather meete with durt in the way then out of it with violets and roses I am content to be saved and desire others should be so too and therefore I say to my hearers turne from your evill waies for why will ye dye ô ye house of Isarel To my selfe ô wretched man that I am who shall deliver mee from this body of sinne To Priest and People come let vs walke not let vs discourse in the light of the Lord to God for all turne vs o Lord so shall wee bee turned thou wilt turne vs so that we shall neede turning no more or least we should when we are turned draw vs too so shall we runne after thee doe not leade vs doe not follow our humors bring vs not that easy speculatiue way wee like for then we shall never come to thee but draw vs that hard that narrow way the way of obedience and practice Who is sufficient for these things saith S. Paul the Apostle was not how then am I Why should my ignorance presume farther then Aron did or thinke to view the face of God when Moses saw onely his hinder parts to gaze on this sunne when he saw nothing but a cloud And Moses drew neere vnto the thicke darknesse where God was 3 Moses as an extraordinary Priest for the hereditary succession resided in the posterity of Aron discharged the parts of an agent and did both carry and recarry betwixt Earth and Heaven a Master of Requests he was to God the peoples petitions were his lading vp an Embassadour he was from God the Lords commands were his carriage downe as our Saviour prayed on the Mount and preacht in the villages of Iury. 1 The approximation therefore or immediatenesse of the Priests accesse Exod. 4.16 depends in the first place vpon their employment vpwards they haue his eares before the rest because they are the mouthes of the rest and designed from God to commence the suites of the people For although the eyes of the Lord are ouer the righteous whatsoeuer those righteous are and his cares are open to their prayers Psal 34.14 wheresouer those prayers are made euery faithfull soule in the world being a Priest euery angle of the world a Temple an Altar yet are his eares more open 2. Chron. 6.20 his eyes more attent to the prayers here a Collect from the Priests mouth goes further then a Liturgie from the peoples as the blessing of any is good but the blessing of my parents is better Psal 110.4 and when that Priest after the order of Melchizedech had sanctified the diet euery crumme was augmented into a batch euery fish multiplied into a shole nor was the assembly fed but feasted His presence is indeede euery where but his residence especially there and though his essence be diffused through Heauen and Earth in Ieremy his glory in Exodus C. 23.24 is peculiar to the Tabernacle the ladder which Iacob saw C. 40.34 that ascent descent of Angels that thorough-fare betwixt earth and heauen was at Bethel the house of God Gen. 28.12 and in Iury the propitiatory or mercy-seate was onely in the Temple which occasiond that generall concourse thither vnder any pressure or calamity Exod. 9.18 men vsing vs as fruit-trees are vsed by vs which wee cudgell in the sunne and runne to for shelter in a storme pray for me saith Pharaoh to Moses Act. 8.24 Pray for me saith Simon Magus to the Apostles Let thē pray ouer him saith S. Iames though I may C. 5.14.15 and must come by my selfe my comming by these is more effectuall as my suite is lesse gratious to my Prince from ordinary hands then his Secretaries because the way is by such Mediators as best know how to bespeake the King and when 2 And as the approximation or immediatenes of the Priests accesse depends in the first place vpon their employment vpwards so doth it in the second vpon their employment downwards according to their double aspect on God and the people They are his Stewards So S. Paul calls them in one place 1. Cor. 4.1 Stewards to discharge vs of our seruice to locke heauen against vs and Stewards to admitt vs into seruice againe to vnlocke heauen for vs The gates of hell shall not prevaile against such as keepe these keyes of heauen in the 16 of S. Matthew and what neede I a safer conduct a surer warrant then this they are his Embassadours so S. Paul calls them in a second 2. Cor. 5.20 and with Moses in this story must deliuer man in the Tabernacle what on Sina they receiue from God and by whom may we expect the Kings minde if not by the Kings Embassadour Act. 20.27 they are his Counsellours so S. Paul calls them in a third and as they are designed to Thrones hereafter in the Euangelist so are they in the Apostle Math. 19.28 1. Cor. 6.1.2 to Tribunalls here They are his Friends so our Sauiour calles them in a fourth the Lord doth nothing which he reueales not to such saith the Holy Ghost that is nothing which concernes them or others to know Seruants are strangers to their Lords actions friends are not Seruants must not interpret their counsells friends may Iohn 15.15 I wish from my heart as Moses did That all the Lords people were Prophets and that the Lord would powre out his spirit vpon them But I wish they would forbeare prying into the Arke with the Bethshemites till then 1 Cor. 16.19 that all would not preach which can speake and because S. Paul calls euery family a Church would not turne euery tables end into a Pulpit That the feet in this body would not presume to see nor the hands to speake that the clew of predestination might not be reel'd vp at the spindle nor the decrees of God vnraualled at the lome That our Lay-divines would see themselues as well as the Clergy leauing with Iehosaphat and Valentinian and Constantine and Martian and Iustinian the disputes of religion to the decision of the Church that the people would not presume beyond their bounds least the Lord breake forth vpon them as he threatens in the former chapter nor with VZZa sustaine the Arke with vnlawfull hands though to the diffidence of their indiscretion it seeme in danger of falling this is the employment of Moses and Aron nor is the whole congregation so holy as it seemes ye take too much vpon you yee sonnes of Reuben wherefore get yee out of the Sanctuary for ye haue trespassed neither shall
his commands sayes t is so but sayes not why This labour might be spared by such as write the truth of religion it being not the way to Christen infidells out to make infidells of Christians for in things of this nature Piscatoribus credo non dialecticis they are the obiect of my faith because incompetible with my reason I was not won by the sages of Athens but by the refuse of Iury not convinced by a Phylosopher but caught by a Fisher Nor is this for want of light in God but for want of sight in vs and therefore as he is called the Father of lights in one Apostle so is hee say'd to dwell in that light which no man can approache vnto in another The darknesse is vnder his feete belowe Ia. 1.17 Io. 1.5 1. Tim. 6.16 2. Esd 4. Io. 6.46 not about his throne aboue when t is midnight in respect of vs t is no one in respect of him while that gloominesse is about him brightnesse at the same time is before him Psal 18.9.11.12 So that as the Sunne is neuer the lesse visible though my weakenesse dare not looke on it for though I cannot the Eagle can Or as the earth is naturally moueable although it neuer moued yet God laid not the foundations thereof that it should not be moueable but that it should not moue sayth the Psalmist and therfore Archimedes thought he had Art enough to doe it could he finde a place for his Engine that wanted not possibility to suffer but he wanted ability to act it So are these mysteries visible though not seene comprehensible though not vnderstood The default is not in the obiect but in the intellect nor for want of light but of eyes For as it is impossible to sound the sea with my bandstring or measure the world with an Ell because whatsoeuer measures must bee equall to that which is measured or to come neerer as my eye hath a spheare of actiuity sees at once but thus farre and no farther and my eare hath a spheare of actiuity heares some founds at once and no more and my touch hath a spheare of actiuity feeles some obiects now and no other and my tast hath a spheare of actiuity can distinguish this at this time and not that and my smell hath a spheare of actiuity receiues but single odours at this instant cannot with distinction receiue seuerall there being limits defined to euery sense beyond which they cannot worke euery one receiuing obiects and species according to the proportion of their nature and condition In like manner my vnderstanding being of a finite and determinate capacity can receiue no imagination or idea but what is finite and determinate and therefore is of too narrow a size or bore to comprehend the secrets and infinitude of God I am the Sunne of righteousnesse sayth God p Mat. 4.2 and our God is a consuming fire sayth the Apostle q Heb. 12.29 I am permitted to know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hinder parts of God in the heauen and earth the volumes of his creatures which therefore at the last day shall bee gathered together as a scrowle because I shall then see him as he is face to face I may enioy the light while I looke obliquely on the Sunne and securely become warme at a competent distance from the fire but if I pry into the mysteries of the Trinity if I fathome the abysse of his judgements if I thrust away the hand that covers my eyes if I desire to out face the one or enter into the other I am instantly blinde or burnt because it is too vehement an intelligible for my vnderstanding I can see something when I looke on inferiour obiects where is nothing but darknesse but when I looke on this where is nothing but light I see nothing there being a greater luster in God then can without death be comprehended by man r Exod. 33.20.21 as the eye of a needle admits a thread but is splitten with a wyar O the height and the depth the maze and riddle of this ineffable God! What Vatican what Library of the world hath a key for this lock This incomprehensible infinitude is aboue the pitch of my flesh because this incomprehensible infinitude is my incomprehensible God for whatsoever is his is he and what respect then is great enough for him that is greater then I can thinke Or why should I repine to seeke God here whom I can never sufficiently finde or vilify that glory with my tongue which is too large for my vnderstanding their zeale was too impudent that said shew vs the Father and it sufficeth vs and therefore I onely say shew me but a glimpse but a twilight of the Father and it sufficeth mee the least dawning of that vision is as much as I am capable of and infinitely enough to blesse and ravish mee a minute of thee is worth a million of ages in all the Courtship and bravery of the World Againe thou wast ô Lord in nubibus vnder the Law ſ Exod. 14.24 c. 19.16 c. 33.10 c. 4.33 c. 16.2.13 Num. 4.19.20 c. 9.16 c. 11.25 c. 16.43 Deut. 31.15 and appearedst oftner in dreames then visions and why should I then dreame of visions vnder the Gospell Where thou intendest night why should I looke for noone Why should I long to see what the Cherubins saw not which covered their faces and opened their mouthes at once were hoodwinkt while they honoured thee Esa 6.1.2.3 Thou hast told me by Arnobius vt intelligaris tacendum est L. 1. p. 28. that the greatest knowledge of thee is a confession I cannot know thee as he commends a beauty more that saith he cannot then hee that labours to expresse it because this thinkes hee can and thou hast told me by S. Hilarie non tam veniam habet quà m praemium ignorare quod credas De Trin. l. 8. quia maximum stipendium fidei est sperare quae nescias my bodily eyes shall hereafter see those ioyes that eye hath not seene because my spirituall eyes perceiue those mysteries here they cannot see and thou hast told me by S. Aug. non negandum est quod apertū est quia cōprehendi non potest quod occultū est De bon perseu c. 14. know this corruptible shall put on incorruption though ô Lord God thou know'st I know not how thou hast told mee by S. Greg. ibi praecipuè fides habet meritum vbi humana ratio non praebet experimentum that the Laver of Regeneration makes me not a Rationall man but a faithfull for thou art a God as well of the valleyes as of the hills Confidera quod voceris fidelis non rationalis denique accepto baptismo hoc dicimus fidelis factus sum credo quod nescio Aug. Ser. 189. de temp Esa 7.9 and entertainedst the Sheapheards as kindly as the Magi of the East thou hast told me this by Esaiah nisi credideritis
earth be so high and Heauen so low Let me rather be like my God that commanded out of darknesse on mount Sina here and my Saviour that concealed his glory vnder darknesse on mount Olivet there Mat. 16.6 the higher I am the lesse may my shadow be Let me never confute my humble penitentiall Sermon by my prowd vaineglorious Cassocke nor attend my Lord by being dislike my God let my oraisons be without noise in the darke and my dominion without imperiousnesse in the darke and my goodnesse without proclamation in the darke and my charity without vaineglory in the darke and my honour without bravery in the darke and my retinue without prodigality in the darke let this darknesse disguise my light here as it did his that this darknesse may raise me to light hereafter as it did him for a cloud saith the Evangelist Act. 1.9 received him out of their sight let me creepe on earth that I may clime to Heaven Whether the Father of Mercies bring vs all for the merits of his Sonne to whom with the blessed spirit be ascribed all honour and prayse dominion and power for ever and ever Amen FINIS 1. COR. 1.12 Now that I say that every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Cephas and I of Christ. HOW little haue the best to glory in which are bad enough to abuse the chiefest blessings or what confidence is it to purchase heauen by our selues which are hardly drawne thither by the labours of others which make the readiest meanes of our salvation the greatest hinderance from it pretend such as exhort vs to peace for the authors of a schisme 'T is the disease of our times and it was Corinths too an inveterate malady and therefore the more incurable Shee fell asunder into as many divisions as her Church had teachers happy lights in coniunction but in opposition most dangerous wherein euery faction sailes by a severall card and is carried by a peculiar bias Praefat. de gubern This side admires Pauls plaines and mistrusts Apollos structures for the gaudy varnish non lenocinia volumus sed remedia as Salvian speakes they desire the cure nothing to sweeten their physicke and could wish Apollo were confined to the deske Paul to the temple Another magnifies the powerfull eloquence of Apollo sleighting St Paul as too flat and heauy Caiet Musculus thinke these intitled Ct. to their faction nor can any thing charme this evill spirit but the spells of Apolloes rhetorique a third is taken with S. Peters keyes and because hee is called a rocke supposeth all the rest laid their foundation on the Sand a fourth likes none their sublimated iudgement thinkes meanely of Paul because he persecuted Christ and of Peter because he denied him their faith shall not shipwracke on that rocke nor their soules bee committed to Cephas keyes The cunning disputes of Gamaliels scholler shall not sway them nor the commanding straines of the Alexandrian oratour Christ only redeemed and therefore no reason any else should dispose them May others miscall themselues as they list these will bee nothing but christians Well resolved were yee as charitable as wise did yee loue your brother with your Saviour did yee not intitle Christ to your faction and hazard your interest in the head by disioynting your selues from the members T is well ye thinke Christ your owne but ill yee thinke he belongs to none besides you for hee that saies I am of Christ divides himselfe as well as he that saith I am of Paul and I of Apollo in the next verse of this chapter This was Corinths distemper and vntill it bee cured the Apostle can proceede no farther greater misteries were to bee imparted had not these divisions disabled them to heare For then the contentious man none saies more or vnderstands lesse and contentious they were their businesse and employment now being little else 'T is no private jealousie of his owne Chloes family saies so nay themselues say so and therefore he saies so too Now this I say that every one of you saith c. My Apostle chargeth Corinth with a schisme wherein he discovers 1 The pretended leaders Paul Apollo Cephas and Christ 2 The parties some Pauls disciples others Apolloes a third multitude appropriated to Cephas and a fourth to Christ. 3 The cause this was the issue of contention v. 11. and contention the spawne of the flesh Gal. 5.20 for while they are so they are nothing but carnall in the third of this epistle at the fourth verse ambition or gaine or pride or envy overruled their wills and misguided them into factions sensuall they are and such are their actions 1 I beginne with the pretended leaders of this Schisme Paul Apollo Cephas and Christ It hath ever bin the policy of Satan to gild schismes and heresies with the names of specious leaders intressing the learnedest and best of the Church in the worst opinions and desperatest factions as men doe great persons in broken titles that being vnable to beare a triall in themselues they might receiue esteeme from the credit of their Patrons this was the cheat which gull'd Corinth a Church enriched with the grace and knowledge of Christ setled and confirmed in the same v. 4.5.6 vnlikely to miscarry vnlesse by that fondnesse and dotage on her Pastors Men they were of extraordinary worth greatest eminency in the Church Paul for his learning his zeale the multitude of his sufferings his miraculous conversion his heavenly rapture where hee saw that hee could not speake Hee out of an humble modesty acknowledgeth himselfe the least of the Apostles and yet beleeue but his owne relation and you must confesse him the greatest Apollo for his sanctified rhetorique eloquent mighty in the Scriptures for his fiery devotion fervent in spirit for his vnwearied industry he taught the way of the Lord diligently for his powerfull disputations he mightily convinced the Iewes Act. 18.24.25.28 Cephat deservedly stiled princeps Apostolorum as c Catalog Script Saint Ierome or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Chrysost calls him the primate and chiefe of the Apostles either for the priviledge of his age or the liberty of his speech or the honours conferred vpon him by our Saviour his individuall companion in raising the dead his transfiguration on the mount his last vigils in the garden his speeches ever directed to him as a person representing the rest his favorite and darling So that if the Divell intitle these to a division hee cannot want proselites the grossest errour will passe if their seale be on it for it is impossible hypocrisy should lodge with so much zeale or deceipt with such knowledge illumination Each man thinkes his owne opinions canonicall because his supposed leader is so nor can he endanger his faith while he steeres by such a starre he is first perswaded of the truth of his leader then of his owne vnderstanding and lastly