fear least the earth should open under him and heaven should be shut above him and against him for that he is a sinner against his own soul Numb 16. 38. and doth provoke God to make him as Corah and his company In this one case we have a memorable example of Gods justice and as exemplary a memorial thereof and we have scarce any other such as this but we find very many exemplary memorials of his mercy Scarce any singular blessing bestowed upon the Iews but there was a special feast appointed in the Church to propagate and to perpetuate its remembrance Thus was the feast of tabernacles instituted that your generations may know that I made Israel to dwell in bothes when I brought them out of the Land of Egypt Levit 23. 43. Thus without Gods immediate command was ordained the feast of Purim Esther 9. which yet was faithfully observed and the observation thereof looked on as a religious not as a superstitious practise by God and man Nay yet more we find another feast after this not mentioned in the Canonical Scripture but only in the Apocrypha the feast of the Dedication of the Altar 1 Macchab. 4. 59. and yet this feast was not only carefully observed by the Iews but the observation of it was also approved by our Saviour himself John 10. 22 23. which is warrant more then enough both for the Church to constitute still such festivals to the honour of God and for us to observe the Festivals that are so constituted And it is also check more then enough to their insolency and perversness if they would take notice of it who in matters of the Christian Religion will pretend to be wiser not only then Christs Church but also then Christ himself For if the argument be undenyable concerning marriage from John 2. 1 2. which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence and first miracle that he wrought in Cana of Galilee Then it is as undenyable concerning Festivals from Iohn 10. 22 23. which holy institution Christ himself adorned and beautified with his presence in that he went to the Temple at the feast of the Dedication as well as at other feasts which were immediately commanded in the text In a word Thus the feast of the Passover was instituted to commemorate to the Jews how God had passed over them when he slew the Egyptians Exod. 12. 12. And the Christian Church hath appointed this Gospel Anniversary feast of Easter to succeed that legal Anniverâ—…y feast of the Passeover not so much to shew her Authority which however cannot be denyed without Heresie nor resisted without Schism as to discharge her trust For the Apostle 1 Cor. 9 10. saying that those words Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the corn were written no doubt for our sakes hath laid it for an immoveable grouud of our Christian faith that the general equity even of the Levitical Law as far as it was not typical is still in force among Christians concerning the solemnities of Religion and must be so till the worlds end And if we will stick fast to this ground All our late contests about the times places and persons belonging to Gods publick worship will soon be determined if we will not stick to it we shall in effect put aside the Apostles Divinity that we may bring in our own By this ground Aerius his Heresie will soon be ejected out of the Church who taught That Imparity of the Ministry was condemned and Parity commended in the word of God as saith Saint August lib. de haeres haeres 53. Dicebat Presbyterum ab Episcopo nullâ differentiâ debere discerni For it is evident out of the Levitical Law alone That God himself ordained and instituted an Imparity in the Priesthood and as evident That he hath since not reversed but plainly approved if not established an imparity in the Ministers of the Gospel as appears by the power of Jurisdiction given by Saint Paul to Timothy over Presbyters 1 Tim. 5. 19. unless we will say That he might receive accusations against Presbyters pass sentence upon them without having jurisdiction over them Again By this ground tithes and all other provisions made for the Ministry will rather be encreased then diminished for the Gospel being so much above the Law doth rather call for a greater then for a lesser maintenance so that if the Ox that trod out the corn might not be muzzled then much less now Churches will no longer be nick-named much less unfrequented or profaned and the Sabbath will no more afford us matter of Disputation but of Devotion if we will stick to this ground for that God himself hath said Keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary Levit. 19. 30. and the same God that hath forbad us to profane the time hath also forbad us to profane the place of his worship Levit. 21. 23. that ye profane not my sanctuaries for I the Lord 〈…〉 sanctifie them I say by this ground all our late contests about the times places and persons belonging to Gods publick worship may easily be determined â—nless we will needs say for wilful men will say any thing That Gods commands about Oxen contain in them matter of precept for our Christian conversation and obedience though the Apostle plainly telleth us That God careth not for Oxen But not so his commands about the time and place and persons of his own worship concerning which God himself hath professed that he is solicitous and careful even to a jealousie And by this same ground it is evident That as the Jew under the Law â—as so the Christian under the Gospel is obliged to commemorate Gods extraordinary benefits to his Church with extraordinary thanksgivings And as God prescribed the Jews a set form of Catechism to instruct their children in the reasons of this solemn festival Exod. 12. 24 25 26. which Solomon Jarchi calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon Exod. 13. 8. that is to say The Annuntiation of the Passeover so did the Christian Church think fit to require catechizing specially against Easter and more particularly because of those who addressed themselves to the Holy Communion which never failed heretofore to be administred at that time and is our true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a most full and exact Annuntiation of our spiritual deliverance nor is it improbable that Saint Paul alluded to this very Text of Exod. 13. 8. Annuntiabis filio tuo and to this very custom of the Jews grounded thereon of making their Catechetical annuntiations when he used the very same word concerning the blessed Sacrament saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Annuntiatis mortem Domini 1 Cor. 11. 26. thereby himself calling or at least licencing us to call the holy Eucharist the annuntiation of the death of Christ And it is remarkable that the Jews used this manner of Catechizing only at this feast and their Catechism consisted of these three heads 〈◊〉
consequently if the Scriptures have in any wise lost their authority they have lost it by the Church and it were a wonder if the Church should cause the Scriptures to lose their authority and yet keep her own We will then take it for granted that the Catholick Church cannot be fully and infallibly proved to be Christian but only by the Holy Scriptures and that she her self seeks for no other and cannot find a better proof And from hence it must neede follow that every particular Church as far as it is truly Christian is willing to submit it self to be tryed by the written Word of God and that if nothing but true Cbristianity had gotten into the Church men would never have withdrawn their necks and much less their hearts from that known and certain tryal for that all the world is not able to prove any thing that is unwritten whether it be Tradition or Revelation to be the undoubted Word of God but only as far as it is agreeable with what is written according to that admirable Rule delivered by Saint Athanasius who having been vexed by the Arrian hereticks above forty years together hath taught us how best to confute that and all other heresie saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanasius in Epist de decretis Nic. Synodi ad finem There are much more exact and perfect proofs of the divine truth to be taken from the Scripture alone then all the whole world beside is able to afford us wherefore it must needs follow again that the best way for a particular Church to keep communion with the Catholick Church is to keep close to the Scriptures wherein alone are revealed those Truths the bare profession whereof makes a Church and the entire profession whereof makes it truly Catholick That Curch which hath the written Word of God for the foundation of her faith and practice is sure to have communion with all good Christians in what she truly believeth and practiseth according to that word And in case she deviate through humane error or infirmity in some particular deductions yet that deviation or mistake shall not overthrow her faith because it is sure and certain in the foundation and consequently shall not break off her communion with Christ the head nor with the Catholick Church his body because that same holy Spirit on whose dictates she relies is the sole author and maintainer of that communion whereas if a Church should believe all the Articles of the Christian faith upon any other ground then that of Divine revelation which we cannot now be assured of but only from the written Word of God as she could not have a true Divine saith not being grounded upon a Divine foundation so she could not in that faith have communion with those Christian Churches who allowed no other ground of their belief And such were all the Christian Churches of the Primitive times for though Saint Athanasius in the place fore-alledged doth on the Arrians behalf bring in an objection against the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as not being used in the Text and therefore not to be used concerning Christ for that we may not speak otherwise of him then he in his word hath spoken of himself yet he alloweth this very objection to be according to his own heart and sure he was a very good Chatholike and enforceth it with the reason afore cited That the most exact proofs of Divine truths were to be taken from the Scriptures and withal avoweth that those about Eusebius who was a chief upholder of the Arrians were such egregious turn-cotes and cavillers that the Bishops assembled in the Council of Nice were in a manner compelled more clearly to expound those words of the text which did immediately strike at the root of their heresie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereby it appears that the Nicene Fathers did assume to themselves only the power of Exposition in matters of faith not of Addition or of Invention They did expound that more clearly which they found in the Scriptures and in the Apostles Creed they did not ad or invent that which they found not As they were expounders they might and did hold communion with the Catholike Church whereof they were then the Representative which did wholly rely up-the word of God for all the Doctrines of faith whereas if they had taken upon them to be Inventers they must have forsaken the main ground of Christian communion the undoubted word of Christ and have been the authors of a faction and of a division And for this cause we see that in that famous Council of Chalcedon wherein were assembled six hundred Christian Bishops The Holy Gospel was placed in the midst of them as that on which they relyed and to which they appealed in all their determinations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the words found in the first action of that Council The most holy and most pure Gospel being set before them And Baronius tells us that the same had been done before in the Council of Nice and gives the reason why it was done out of Saint Cyril who saith thus concerning the Council of Ephesus Christum assessorem capitis loco adjunxit venerandum enim Evangelium in throno collocavit tantum non in aures sacerdotum clamans Justum judicium judicate Liber igitur ille in sede regia collocatus divinam prae se ferebat personam secundum illud Psalmi Deus stetit in synagoga Deorum in medio autem Deos dijudicat They looked upon Christ as head or president of their assembly for they placed his holy Gospel on a throne amongst them that it might represent the person of God the Judge of all men and they placed it in the midst that all might cast their eyes upon it and be afraid in the presence of their Judge to pass an unrighteous judgement Thus saith the Psalmist God stood in the midst of the congregation of Gods and he that was in the midst judged the other Gods Baron An. 325. num 66. And the same saith Binius in his notes upon the Council of Ephesus In medio Patrum consessu sedem enm Evangelio collocarunt cujus intuitu omnes admonerentur Christum omnium inspectorem ac judicem adesse Synodique praesidem agere In the midst of the fathers of the Ephesine Council was the Holy Gospel placed on a throne that all the Fathers seeing it might be admonished of Christs own presence to overlook them as their Judge and to overawe them as president of their Council and he saith no more then is truth for that form of adjuration mentioned by Fidus the Bishop of Joppe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whom we beseech and adjure by the Holy Gospel here set before us Council Eph. par 2. act 1. doth plainly witness as much although at the first session of the Bishops there is no mention of the Holy Gospels being placed among them as was afterwards at the first session of the Council of Chalcedon But
sorrow and incessant supplications I may get him to return again as it were by a glorious resurrection after death and in his power as the mighty God to restore his Church in his mercy as the everlasting Father to bless it and in his dominion as the Prince of peace to govern and establish it for ever Thus had I rather suffer with him in his shame then reign with his enemies in their glory and I shall rejoyce more in my sorrows then they shall in their joyes For in their joyes they may if they will see their sins but in my sorrows I shall see my Saviour The fifth and last apparition which our blessed Saviour made on the day of his resurrection was that which Saint Mark hath recorded in these words Cap. 16. ver 14. Afterward he appeared to the eleven as they sate at meat and upbraided them with their unbelief and heardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen Our blessed Saviour upbraided them yet were they more truly believers in their unbelief then many of us are in our faith for Saint Luke faith They yet believed not for joy and wondred Luk. 24. 41. They believed not for joy and admiration but many of us so believe as neither to rejoyce nor admire at the grounds of our belief in so much that their infidelity was much better then our faith for we have too hasty a faith to have a sure and a sound faith and that makes us fall away in these times of temptation and rather then want temptation become our own tempters Whereas if we did with the Bereans examine whether these things were so before we believed or with the Apostles did rejoyce and admire to see them so when we believe it would not be possible for those that can so easily turn the times more easily to turn our faith but being sure that we are indeed in a true conjunction and communion with Christ we would never suffer any thing of this world to separate us from that holy conjunction nor to divert us from that blessed communion Thus it is for want of joy and admiration that we dayly turn unbelievers whereas the Apostles did not yet believe for joy and wonder therefore were they the more true believers for what kept them from believing did in truth strengthen their belief And accordingly we may suppose our blessed Saviour checked their incredulity not so much that he might blame and reprove their faith as that they might the more labour to increase and to improve it for that they could never have that faith too much setled and fixed in themselves which they were now bound to preach to others And withall that they should not be soon discouraged in their preaching if they found not the event presently answerable to their pains since it was long before they themselves did believe though they had met with infinitely a far better Preacher For this Rule When thou art converted strenghthen thy brethren Luk. 22. 32. holds not only in the substance but also in the degree of that charitable duty those being bound to take the greatest pains in converting others who most know how much the spirit of God hath laboured about their conversion For he that considers how long his Saviour hath tarryed for him will never think that he can tarry too long for his brother And yet there is one more particular very observable in this apparition that it was when the Apostles were gathered together to hear what Saint Peter and the rest could say concerning their Masters resurrection And as they thus spake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them Luke 24. 36. That is then and not till then he appeared to them when they were thus prepared to receive him O my God make me zealously to follow all those means which thou hast given me of knowing thy eternal Son my blessed Lord and Saviour that pursuing after those means with an active industry I may overtake them with a happy speed and lay hold on them with immortal joy and make use of them with unwearied care and constancy Let me never absent my self from the assemblies and meetings of thy Apostles the guides and governours of thy Church for fear I should lose the opportunity of seeing thee whilst I am absent from them For thou hast promised to be with them alway even to the end of the world if therefore I will not be with them how can I hope thou wilt be with me For surely of all men that are gathered together in thy name upon the face of the earth they are most so gathered whom thou hast commanded to gather others and therefore thou hast promised to be most in the midst of them for as much as they are thy Trustees whom thou hast entrusted with thy name and with thy truth and with thy blood with thy name lest Atheists should blaspheme it with thy truth lest Hereticks should corrupt it with thy blood lest Apostates should prophane it O then let thy unworthy servant be alwayes gathered together with them that I be never guilty either of Atheism or of Heresie or of Apostasie And when I am gathered together with them make me to open mine eyes to look and mine ears to hearken diligently after thee and not only after them that thou mayest open my heart to receive thee And make all guides and governours of thy Church still to follow the footsteps of thy Apostles and to enquire what is written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning thee ver 44. For how shall they know thee to whom thou dost not reveal thy self or where dost thou reveal thy self but in thy word Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures Luke 24. 45 that is when they had used all the means they could to understand them then and not till then he opened their understanding And who can tell but t is a judgement immediately from God and a judgement worthy of God inflicted upon many great Scholars not to understand the Scriptures so much to their salvation as some private unlearned men do understand them because they had rather cast their reproaches then their affections upon Gods most holy word inventing arguments to keep others from reading it whilst they should be making prayers that God would bless their own reading of it for unless he that hath the key of David open the understanding in vain do we labour to open the Text Wherefore the Church of England did upon unquestionable grounds recede from the Latine Liturgy in the second Sunday of Advent to bring in this most excellent prayer Blessed Lord which hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning grant that we may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by patience and comfort of thy holy word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting
that spirit in the bond of peace Whence we may gather this Negative definition of a true Catholick that he is such a one who is neither Heretick nor Schismatick nor Hypocrite and this positive definition of a the Catholick Church that it is such a number Christians as profess the faith of Christ in Verity Unity and Sincerity in verity and so are distinguished from Hereticks in unity and so are distinguished from Schismaticks in sincerity and so are distinguished from Hypocrites And this is the Catholick Church perfectly and properly so called And of this Catholick Church are those words of Epiphanius to be understood at the end of Colorbasii or his thirty-fifth heresie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My dove my undefiledis but one saith Christ Cant. 6. 9. that is his holy spouse the Catholick Church called a dove for her mildness innocency and purity and called undefiled for the perfect grace and knowledge she hath received from God through our Saviour Christ by the holy Ghost But yet we must acknowledge that the Catholick Church commonly so called is of a larger signification then to express and of a larger extension then to comprize only these choice and selected Christians For all that outwardly embrace the truth and worship of Christ do make but one Catholick Church for as much as they all concur in the outward profession of faith in the same common Saviour and in the outward use of those means of Salvation which he hath appointed though they neither profess the faith so incorruptly as it was taught nor use the means so inoffensively as they were appointed And this Divinity That all Christians are incorporated into one body of Christ or one Catholick Church hath been taught us by Saint Paul who saith That he might reconcile both Jew and Gentiles unto God in one body Eph. 2 16. and again That the Gentiles should be of the same body Eph. 3. 6. that is to say of the same body externally by the same word and Sacraments and of the same body internally by the same spirit of Christ Wherefore the unity of this body of Christians as t is a visible body is from one thing and as t is a mystical body is from another For the unity of the Mystical body of Christ is only from the Holy-Ghost joining all the members together and each particular member to the Head But the unity of the visible body of Christ is from one Lord one Faith one Baptism all the members of the Church as t is visible being to be discerned and known by this character even by the outward profession of that truth and by the outward use of those means which Christ their common Lord and Saviour hath instituted and ordained for their Salvation Wherefore all men that have the profession of Christs saving truth and do practice the means of salvation must be acknowledged to belong to one Christian or to one Catholick Church as being sanctified by the profession of that truth and the use of those means though their ptofession be not so entire nor their practice so exact as it ought to be Whence the Apostle writing to the Corinthians though much over run with Heresie and Schism yet writeth on this manner Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus 1 Cor. 1. 2. For in that they were of the Christian Church by the outward profession of Christs truth and the practice of his commands they were sanctified in Christ Jesus though some of them were Hereticks and denied the resurrection others were Schismaticks and denied the Apostles authority For even Hereticks and Schismaticks though they do not hold in verity and in unity the entire profession of Christs Truth yet are they of the Christian Church generally so called for that truth which they do hold and as far as they remain parts of the true Christian Church so far they may be a means of saving others either by preaching the word or administring the Sacraments though by reason of their Heresie and Schism they themselves without repentance are not in the state of Salvation And surely we cannot reasonably think that there were neither Hereticks nor Schismaticks in the Churches of Ephesus Philippi and Colosse and yet the same Apostle saith To the Saints which are at Ephesus Ephes 1. 1 To all the Saints which are at Philippi Phil. 1. 1. and to the Saints and faithfull brethren in Christ which are at Colosse Col. 1. 2. In all which Epistles doubtless Saint Paul writ to the visible body of the several Churches and sent his letters to the visible head of that body as Saint John did his epistles to the Angels of the several Churches Rev. 2. 13 and yet he called them Saints and faithfull brethren not that they were all really such but that they were indeed called of God to be such and if they were not so in their own inward affection t was their own fault He was sure they were so in their outward profession and therefore might justly be so called It was their parts to make good that glorious title not his part to forbear it for they were indeed sanctified through the outward profession of Christs saving Name and Truth and therefore he could not in charity but think and say they were also sanctified by the inward affection of the same Nor may any man suppose that the Apostle did send his directions and instructions to the mystical but to the Visible body of Christ unless he will say that the Apostle intended to bring confusion into the Church which for its singular order is called acies ordinata a well ordered army wherein not one man is suffered to be out of rank or that he intended to gratifie some proud contentious spirits by laying such grounds of schism and faction as might breed strifes and quarrels about the right of Church Government unto the worlds end For who can tell by looking in a mans forehead that he is one of the mystical body of Christ having communion with him through the Holy-Ghost whence it will follow that those who are best conceited of themselves will violently invade at least readily usurp the government of others and consequently pride and presumption will challenge universal jurisdiction for they who have so much pride as to say they are more neerly linked in communion with Christ then their brethren have seldome so much piety as to make good that saying Wherefore it is safest for men to believe that though the promises of grace chiefly concern the mystical yet the precepts chiefly concern the visible Church for as much as Christ hath intrusted that both with the doctrine and with the means of salvation with the ministry both of his Word and Sacraments For these are without question deposited with the visible Church though none are benefited by them so far as to attain Salvation but only those that are of the invisible Church or the mystical body of Christ But
be feared we have no true faith in him and consequently no true communion with him Did we indeed look upon our Saviour as the beginning we would begin in his fear and in his faith not in our own phansies and much less in our own factions that we might live to him did we look upon him as the first born from the dead we would go on in his favour that so we might at last die to him and through him be made partakers of a joyful resurrection from death to everlasting life This would we all do if indeed we had communion with our Saviour Christ and we would before and above all things seek to have communion with him if we did rightly understand or could sufficiently value not only the future but also the present excellencies of his communion For what excellency is there not to be found here and not to be expected hence He is the beginning that 's ground for Christian piety 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to begin with God or else we must begin without our beginning He is from the dead that 's ground for Christian verity no religion in the world teaching this truth of the resurrection but only the Christian and that teaching it as the consummation of all other truths And lastly he is the first born from the dead that 's ground for our Christian unity or charity in that we are all under the same Captain of our Salvation and therefore should upon no pretences fall into mutinies and much less into outrages one against another For that Disciple who leaned in his Masters bosome and therefore probably knew most of his heart plainly tells us we cannot have a share in the resurrection of this first born from the dead or at least not know we have it unless it be from our love to those that are to follow after him We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren He that loveth not his brother abideth in death 1 John 3. 14. Were it possible for any man to pass from death to life who loveth not his brother yet it were not possible for him to know so much We know that we have passed because we love therefore they who will not have this love cannot have this knowledge and indeed they cannot have this passage for he that abideth in death hath not yet passed from death unto life And he that hath not passed from death hath not yet communion with the first born from the dead and consequently is no less destitute of piety and of verity then he is of charity I was willing to find out all these three heavenly virtues together in the Apostles expression but sure I am I shall find them altogether in my Saviours communion for without doubt therein is piety to keep us from being hypocrites verity to keep us from being hereticks and unity to keep us from being schismaticks or sectaries agreeably to those three honourable compellations given to the Colossians by Saint Paul and in them to all good Christians the Saints and faithful brethren in Christ Col. 1. 2. Saints faithful and brethren Saints from the piety faithful from the verity and brethren from the unity that is in the true Christian Religion wherein he is adored who is the beginning author of the piety who is from the dead author of the verity and the first born from the dead to raise us all after him author of the unity I must now confess with Saint Chrysostome That those of Saint Pauls Epistles have something more of Divinity in them which were written in his bonds as this was to the Colossians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 since I find both the grounds and the excellencies of all Christian Religion twice fully expressed in three words once speculatively in those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beginning first born from the dead another time practically in those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saints Faithful brethren I cannot hear those compellations of Christ the Beginning the first born from the dead but I think my self called to the blessed speculation of piety verity and charity I cannot hear those compellations of Christians Saints faithful brethren but I must confess my self called to the more blessed practice of them since he is not a Saint who is without piety he is not faithful who is without verity and he is not a brother who is without charity Wherefore the best and readiest way to be a good Christian is to have communion immediately with Christ for by this means we shall be sure never to be destitute either of piety or of verity or of charity to make us perfect Christians or of immortality to make us happy Christians but in the midst of hypocrites we shall have piety in the midst of hereticks we shall have verity in the midst of schismaticks we shall have Charity there is our purchase in the midst of death and destruction we shall have immortality there is our happiness In the midst of life we be in death as men but in the midst of death we be in life as Christians And for this cause I conceive the Church did more peculiarly enjoyn Communions at Easter because then she did more especially commemorate the resurrection of Christ thereby putting us in mind that if we did indeed communicate with him we should not only be partakers of his piety verity and charity but also of his immortality and be not only strengthened against the errours of our life but also against the terrours of our death For through his blessed resurrection even the grave it self hath teemed to eternity and is become a second Eve to be called the mother of all living at least in respect of the true life that is to say the life everlasting For by vertue of this first-born from the dead corruption it self is become a father and the worm is become a mother to bring forth children to incorruption and to immortality So that what was holy Jobs complaint I have said to corruption thou art my father and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister Job 17. 14. must be our joy and triumph ever since that text hath been verified Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption For ever since that day hath our corruptible put on incorruption in our blessed Saviour and our mortal hath put on immortality so that although we still carry about us mortality in our condition yet we have already put on immortality in our Communion Hence was the time between the Resurrection and Ascention of Christ antiently called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Cedrenus calls that week 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Zonaras calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Meursius partly for the historie that our Saviour abode in Galilee altogether after his resurrection till his ascension but much rather for the mysterie the reason why he chose Galilee for the place of his abode and that
divinae gratiae Symbolum This wise and wholsome Creed of the divine Grace was sufficient for the knowledge and confirmation of Godliness They both highly extoll this Creed as a peculiar Testimony of Gods grace to his Church and as an exact Breviary of the Christian Religion containing the whole summe of saving faith saith the one of Godliness saith the other Council and what can be wanting to that Christian Communion which hath in it true faith Godliness or how can we be wanting to such a communion and not be wanting to the Christian Religion But the council at Chalcedon gives this reason why they account the Constantinopolitan Creed a perfect Breviary of the Christian Religion for so they mean when they say it is sufficient both for the knowledge and Proof of Godliness saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Patre enim Filio spiritu sancto perfectionem docet ac domini nostri inhumanationem fideliter accipientibus repraesentat For it teacheth perfectly the knowledge of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and plainly representeth to all that will receive it with faith the mysterie of our Lords incarnation or Inhumanation And indeed under these heads are all the mysteries of our Christian Religion briefly contained though not fully explained and therefore when this Council of Chalcedon had used all exactness of care and diligence in the further explication of such Truths concerning our Saviour Christ which the perverseness of Hereticks had made disputable though it could not make doubtfull Shewing that two compleat Natures in him made but one Person it was high time in their opinion to put an end to the making of any more new Creeds and accordingly they forbid all men either to speak or write or make or think or teach a new faith for these are their own words at the end of their fift Action 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His igitur cum omni undique exacta cura diligentia à nobis dispositis definivit sancta universalis Synodus alteram Fidem nulli licere proferre aut conscribere vel componere aut sentire aut alios docere I will not here argue how they can answer this Prohibition who have since added twelve new Articles to the Creed as it was delivered by the Council of Constantinople and have obliged all that will be Ministers of their Church to swear all that will be members of their Church to profess to live and dye in the belief of those additional no less then of the other Articles as the only true Catholick Faith by which men may be saved it is enough for my present purpose and it may be enough for others future certainty and constancy in their Religion that all the Christians that were saved for one thousand and five hundred years after Christ were saved without the necessary belief of those additional articles And it is clear that the Church of Rome her self denyed not anciently her communion to other Churches if so be they professed and maintained only that faith which was declared in the known and received Creeds of the universal Church for so Optatus Milevitanus testifieth that all the Churches of the world did hold communion among themselves and with the Church of Rome by vertue of their communicatory letters His words are these lib. 2. contra Parm. c. 7. Cum quo nobis totus orbis commercio Formatarum in una communionis societate concordat with whom having named Siricius then Bishop of Rome we and all the Christian world besides do by vertue of our communicatory letters accord in one fellowship or communion But in those communicatory letters was contained nothing save only the confession of the Catholick Faith as it had been declared in the known and received Creeds of the universal Church saith Bishop Davenant in that small but excellent piece of his old age called Sententia de pace inter Evangelicos procuranda And we may gather as much not only from the Epistles of several Bishops in several Synods but also from the unhappy fate of those two Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia which both consisted of Orthodox Bishops and yet for want of communicatory letters were at last brought to subscribe the Arrian heresie For all the Bishops of the East gathered at Seleucia did presently agree to the true faith and sent the Emperour notice of their agreement And among the numerous company of the Western Bishops at Ariminum above four hundered held the Truth scarce 80. opposed it yet the Arrians abusing each Synod with perswasions that the other had yielded saith incomparable Hooker surprized both which we may say they could never have done had each Synod acquainted the other with their assents to the Nicene Faith by communicatory letters This Faith then was and still is ground enough to all Christian Churches for their communion one with another in doctrine And Prayers and Sacraments according to this faith are also ground enough for their communion in worship or devotion so that if all Christian Churches Believed and prayed and administred exactly according to the rule of this Faith it would not be possible for any man to be a Schismatick in denying his communion without first being a Heretick in denying his Religion For if I am required to call only upon him in whom I have believed and to do this only in remembrance of him on whom I am bound to call how can I deny my communion either in Prayers or in Sacraments to any Christian Church and not deny the faith that hath been taught me by the Catholick Church This seems to have been the ground of Christian communion in Saint Basils dayes who in his seventy eighth Epistle which is a confesâ—ion of his faith saith thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We must be baptized as we have received from the Lord We must believe as we are baptized and we must give glory as we have believed Glorifying the Father Son and Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But we must abstain from their communion who are not of this Faith as being open Blasphemers In that he saith we must abstain from the communion of those that are blasphemers it is evident he will not have us abstain from the communion of those who are true believers and right worshippers For where the Baptism and consequently the other Sacrament is according to Christs institution and the faith is according to the Baptism and the glory is according to the Faith there not to joyn in Communion at least in vote and desire is so a peice of desperate schism as it is also a point of damnable heresie for it comes neer their Sect of whom the Apostle hath said Denying the Lord that bought them by reason of whom the way of Truth is evil spoken 2 Pet. 2. 1 2. And upon this account the Gloria Patri was so much looked after by the primitive Christians in their publick worship as being a right Profession of Faith in the Trinity
and consequently the ground of true faith in Christ Nor can we think of the common People so generally withdrawing themselves from the Arrian Bishops in those dayes for not giving glory to God rightly according to the form of this Hymne but we must needs censure the dulness and deadness of this our Age wherein men care not with what Ministers they assemble in publike worship though they see them not only forsake but also revile all the Symbols of true Christian Faith and worship and all the badges of true Christian communion such as are the Lords most holy Prayer the Apostles Creed and this Hymn of glorification for though men may have so much Charity as to pass by that Sacrilegious Tenent which professeth Bishops and Presbyters both one that they may be equally contemned I call it a Sacrilegious Tenent because I find it so called by the Catholick Church twice in the Council of Chalcedon once in the fift Action in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Episcopum in gradum Presbyteri redigere Sacrilegium est to bring back a Bishop to the degree of a Presbyter is Sacriledge and again in the fifteenth Action wherein are the Canons of that Council in the 29th Canon in the very same words only that insteed of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bring back they say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bring down 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Episcopum in Presbyteri gradum reducere est Sacrilegium to bring down a Bishop to the degeee of a Presbyter is Sacriledge I say though men may have so much charity as to pass by that Sacrilegious Tenent which professeth Bishops and Presbyters both one that they may be equally contemned yet they should not have so little faith as to communicate in that Sacrilegious worship which cares not to profess God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost to be but one that they may be equally glorified And surely Saint Basil taking so much pains to clear himself concerning the right use of the Gloria Patri doth sufficiently condemn all our late Divines who in such Antitrinitarian and therefore Antichristian times as these are willfully contemn or carelesly neglect the constant and publike use of that most Christian Hymne For it is most certain he that hath not a right belief of the Trinity cannot have a right belief of Christ and therefore he that will not openly profess his belief of the Trinity cannot justly claim and consequently not reasonably expect the communion of those who desire and deserve â—e accounted Orthodox Christians And it is observable that those formes of the communicatory letters which are mentioned by Gratian in his seventy third Distinct and before him by Jno and Berchardus do still retain the footsteps of this Truth that all Christian Communion was antiently grounded on the Profession of Faith in the Holy Trinity and in this respect we may say that membranas occupare non debet was an unreasonable censure in him that glossed the case of that distinction for the insertion of those Greek elements 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being the initials of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth in effect assure us that the ancient Bishops did neither give nor send their communicatory letters to any that did not openly profess their belief in Father Son and Holy Ghost for as concerning that phansie in the Canonist Petri quoque Apostoli prima litera i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assumatur that P must also be added to signifie Peter it sufficiently confuteth it self in that it supposeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to stand alone for the Holy-Ghost contrary to the nature and use of the Greek tongue and leaveth out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bring in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not robbing Peter to pay Paul but robbing the Holy-Ghost to pay Peter And yet we may add further to its confutation that it is as easie for those who resolve to make Saint Peter their author for every thing they say or do to bring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to turn Patres into Petrus and we find that hath been done in the very Pontifical it self where the Bishops Oath was at first to observe Regulas Sanctorum Patrum the rules of the Holy Fathers But these words come afterwards to be changed into Regalia Sancti Petri The Royalties of Saint Peter but without doubt the Greeks meant nothing else by those initial Elements save only Father Son and Holy-Ghost if at least they had any set Form of communicatory letters among them which sure is not now easie to be met withal although Baronius hath assured that the form of those letters was instituted and Binius hath further assured that it was extant in the 18th canon of the first Council of Nice In concilio Nicaeno forma quaedum eiusmodi literarum c. 18. ne fraus irreperet est instituta non autem recens res ipsa est introducta saith Baronius An. 142. n. 6. Harum literarum formula à Niceno Concilio praescripta extat can 18. istius Concilii saith Binius in notis in Epist 1. Sixti Papae 1. yet he may chance lose his labour that shall look for that form not onlâ— in that Canon but also in any other of the Greek Councils or in the Commentaries of Zonaras Balsamon upon them But what ever was the form of their communicatory letters which by the Latines might be called Formatae for they acknowledge a form of them such a one as it is sure we are this was the ground of their communion that their Baptism their Belief their worship was all in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost They kept themselves entire in their Religion and that made them keep themselves entire in their communion They did earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints Jude 3. they did not labour to deliver a new Faith So that their contending for the faith kept them from other contentions as now our contentions do indeed keep us from the faith They laboured to serve their Saviour not to serve themselves of him we labour to serve our selves whiles we pretend to serve our Saviour they followed the advice of Christs Apostle Endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Eph. 4. 3. We follow the insolency and outrage of Christs enemies saying Let us break their bonds asunder and casts away their cords from us Psal 2. 3. Kimchi saith these were the words of the Philistins against Israel the Church of God But the Apostles say in effect they were the words of Herod and Pontius Pilate against Christ the Son of God Acts 4. 27. Let us take heed of saying such words as these against the Church of God for fear we come in time to say them against the Son of God For what are the bonds of Christ but Religion which hath its name from binding and Communion which hath its work to
would give them life by his ordinary as well as by his extraordinary Ministers For we cannot but say that those are words of eternal truth as well as of eternal comfort Psal 73. 1. Truly God is loving unto Israel even unto such as are of a clean heart for there is no doubt of Gods being loving unto Israel no more then of Israels being of a clean heart If they be of a clean heart they must be of Gods Israel though they may be of several Tribes And if they be of Gods Israel they are sure of Gods love He will here guide them with his counsel and hereafter receive them with glory For he sanctifieth them by his Truth that he may save them by his mercy And accordingly S. Paul saith to Timothy Take heed unto thy self and unto the Doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee 1 Tim 4. 16. Thereby shewing he had left the people of Ephesus sufficient means of being saved in that he had left them an infallible doctrine though he had not left them an infallible Doctor For if Timothy by taking heed unto himself and to the Doctrine he had received was able to save both himself and those who were committed to his charge t is evident the people of Ephesus had no more need in Gods account of an infallible Bishop to teach them then they had of an impeccable Bishop to govern them and indeed infallibility cannot be in the understanding without impeccability in the will since the will doth necessarily follow the last dictate of the understanding and it self being depraved may corrupt and deprave both the first and the last dictate of it Nay yet more lest we should make light account of the authority of particular Churches because we can neither prove nor believe their infallibility any more then we can their impeccability we find plainly that S. Paul calleth the particular Church of Ephesus even that Church with which Timothy was entrusted and in which he was taught by this Epistle how to behave himself The house of God the pillar and ground of the truth 1 Tim 3. 35. Though we may justly and should willingly infer that if a particular Church by cleaving to the word of Truth deserved to be called the pillar and ground of Truth then sure the Universal Church much more For so the argument will proceed à minore ad majus If one Minister shall be able to teach the saving Truth whilst he swerves neither to the right hand nor to the left from the word of Truth then much more a whole National Church and most of all the Catholike and Universal Church that is diffused over all Nations if she carefully attend and stedfastly cleave to that same word of Truth And if any man think this condition unnecessary let him consider that those four general Councils which Saint Gregory received as four Gospels did set the Bible upon a Throne in the midst of their assembly appealing to it for all their Doctrines and proving by it all their determinations which if all other general Councils at least so reputed had done since that time well we might have had fewer Articles but certainly we must have had a surer Creed and a founder faith nor can we deny but some provincial Councils by cleaving to the Text have more truly shewed themselves the pillars of Truth then some reputed general Councils that have forsaken it as the Council of Gangra which had in it but thirteen Bishops yet suppressed no less then twenty Schismatical opinions together whereas the Council of Constance that consisted almost of all Nations making light regard of Christs institution and order concerning the Eucharist though it ended the Schism of the Popes yet it began such a Schism in the Church as is like to continue to the worlds end for surely there will alwaies be some conscionable men who will prefer the Institution of Christ in his own Sacrament above the constitution of a Council and who will think there can be no Schism either less curable or more damnable then that which dares set up the pretended authority of the Church against the undoubted Authority of Christ This is most certain Saint Paul took it for granted that the Church of Ephesus was instructed in the whole Doctrine of the Scriptures for in the first Chapter he mentions both the Law and the Gospel and that she also followed those instructions before he called her the house of God the pillar and ground of Truth For indeed the first part of every Churches Trust is the Word of God which she is entrusted withal in a threefold respect 1. That she should keep it 2. That she should expound it 3. That she should obey it Wherefore those men who of late have cavilled at the written Word thereby thinking to resolve all Religion into the Authority of the Church have in truth taken a direct course to resolve the Authority of the Church into nothing For if the Church hath not been Gods faithful Trustee in keeping the substance or letter of his word who can think her faithful in expounding the sense or in observing the commands of the same And so then farewell to the Churches faithfulness and consequently to her authority which is grounded chiefly upon her faithfulness For it is as just an exception now as it was in the Apostles times Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more then unto God judge ye Act. 4. 19. The intent of your arguments against the Scriptures is to advise us not to hearken unto God that we might only hearken unto you But the reason and force of your arguments will certainly â—eep us from hearkning unto you because they make it evident that you have not hearkned unto God Nay you have set light by his Word that you might not hearken unto him But this argument is good only against the men not against the cause and it is therefore best when it is against the worst men Those who have least hearkned to Gods voice have given the greatest cause to others not to hearken unto their voices And if they will needs be angry with us let them consider that God is first angry with them and therefore they ought to be angry with themselves For they took not only a very impious but also a very indiscreet way by vilifying the authority of Gods word to magnifie the authority of their own And yet to speak the plain truth this is rather to be called a cavil then an argument For let all the Original Bibles be examined both of the Papists and of the Protestant Churches we shall find them all exactly agreeing in one Hebrew and Greek Text and their disagreement to be only in their several glosses and Translations in so much that all these parts of Christendom would soon be of one and the same profession as well as they are of one and the same
Religion if all Churches would agree in the sense as they do agree in the Letter of Gods holy Word To let pass the Old Testament wherein all Protestant Churches are as willing to be tryed by the King of Spains as by Buxtorses Hebrew Bibles I know Bezaes Greek Testament is censured by some as a most bold piece of Scripture but upon comparing his Text with that of Pope Sixtus Quintus I find very little ground for that censure and less Truth in it Because both Texts generally agree in the very same words and that even in those very places wherein both disagree from the Vulgar Latine And I believe the same may be said concerning the Greek Text that is received in all other Churches That they all agree in the same Original Texts evinceth they have been faithful in their Trust of keeping the Holy Scriptures That many of them disagree in their glosses upon and translations of that Text only sheweth that each particular Church is willing to discharge its own particular Trust in expounding the Holy Scriptures That they all labour not to continue and increase their disagreement but to end or to diminish it for so the Churches do though the men do not is also a good sign that no one of them is willing to be faulty in their Trust of observing and obeying the holy Scriptures And therefore though it must be confessed that the Church like Queen Vasthi hath not performed the commandment of her King so readily and so entirely as she ought yet may not any rigid Memucan suppose that there shall ever go forth a royal commandment that she come no more before the King Ahasuerus for though she may unhappily have been peccant in her obedience she hath not been peccant in her faith though she may have failed in her behaviour she hath not failed in her Trust though she hath been undutiful yet she hath not been false she hath not been unfaithful to her King that he should seek a divorce and give her royall estate unto another that is better then she Let no man think that our blessed Saviour the Prince of peace the King of Saints will so easily part with his Spouse concerning whom he hath said I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgement and in loving kindness and in mercies I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness and thou shalt know the Lord Hos 2. 19 20. And since Christ will not so easily be parted from his Church how is it that we do so easily part and depart from her If we did rightly distinguish betwixt the Church and the Men we would soon all bless God for the Truth and Faith of his Church though we should blame one another for our own falseness and unfaithfulness we would find that the Church hath been true to her trust in keeping in expounding in obeying Gods word and that only the Men have been faulty Thus Saint Paul blamed the Men not the Church at Corinth for their factions and schisms It hath been declared to me of you my brethren that there are contentions among you 1 Cor. 1. 11. He said they were contentious he said not the Church was so For as they were a Church so they were sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints and calling upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord ver 2. The men were sinners the Church were Saints the men were contentious the Church was Religious Truth and peace were in the Church whilst errours and schisms were in the men The treasure was heavenly though the vessels which held it were earthly We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God not of us 2 Cor. 4. 7. Will you reject the Treasure because of the Vessel you were as good to say you would have the excellency of the power in converting and saving souls to be of men not of God The Vessel is certainly brittle and may possibly be foul but the treasure is neither brittle nor foul that 's a lasting treasure for Truth is so that 's a pure Treasure for holiness is so As a Treasure it will enrich your soul as a pure Treasure it will purge your soul as a pure and lasting Treasure it will purge and enrich your soul not for a moment but for ever T is confessed that this Treasure was at first in much better Vessels then now it is when neither perversness sought to sophisticate the truth nor prophaneness to corrupt the holiness of the Christian Religion but the Treasure it self is still the same it first was For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to day and for ever Heb. 13. 8. The wickedness of man hath not destroyed cannot destroy the goodness of God He hath still his communion of Saints amongst these great divisions of sinners he hath still one Catholick and Apostolical Church amongst our many divided and distracted Churches And blessed be his name he first provided against our divisions and distractions before he suffered us to make them For it was from his singular providence that the Romans Emperours should keep entire their dominion over all the Christian world till they had called those general Councils wherein was the confutation of the grand heresies and the establishment of the true Christian Faith in the first ages of the Church whilst the greatest part of the Ministry in all Churches rightly understood and zealously maintained the Faith of the Catholick Church For else it is much to be feared that these after-ages of Christians which have been so much wedded to State Policy and so resolved on self-interest would have been much to seek for the truly antient Catholick and Apostolick Faith now briefly summed up in those Creeds which as they are undeniable proofs of the Apostles assertion that the Church is the ground and pillar of truth so they are also the infallible guides of particular Churches to retain and follow that Truth to the worlds end Wherefore God having left us his own undoubted word and such incomparable summs of the saving Truths therein contained as is the Apostles Creed and those other antient Creeds of the Church there is now no particular Church in the world which hath these helps and will carefully and conscionably make use of them but may be sure of believing the Catholick Faith and consequently of professing the true Christian Religion whereby to know Christ and of persisting in the true Christian Communion whereby to enjoy him though perchance the factions of men may be so great and the Judgement of God because of those factions may be so just as never again to let the Church enjoy the happiness of a true general Council And without doubt every particular Church which professeth the Christian Faith according to the Scriptures and those Creeds and hath a practice agreeable to her profession may justly be called the ground and pillar of truth and may
those Presbyters of the Church of Ephesus were as much ordained and appointed by men as any can be of any Church till the worlds ends supposing they be rightly ordained to whom yet the Apostle saith Take heed unto all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers Act. 20. 28. For the ordination of Ministers though it is by man yet is it not of men but of God even as also is the Gospel which they are ordained to preach so that to resist them and their Doctrine is not to resist men but God so said he who first ordained Ministers of the Gospel and still assisteth them in their ministrations He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Luk. 10. 16. How shall any man go on this errand without Gods sending when the eternal word himself would not preach till he was sent How shall any man despise those whom the Word hath sent and not despise the Word that sent them and the Father that sent the Word And how shall any man despise the Father and the Son and not grieve the Holy Spirit who proceedeth from them So impossible is it for any to despise the Church which God hath set over him and not sin against God the Father Son and Holy Ghost For the argument is à minori ad majus if it be dangerous to despise one much more to despise all if to undervalue a Disciple much more an Apostle For as the Apostles had a greater trust then the 70. Disciples so hath every National Church which is as it were the grand Apostle of its Nation a greater trust then any particular Bishop or Presbyter of the same and the Church now hath that trust as the Apostles first had it from God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Saint Paul saith of himself but doubtless he saith it for more then himself that he was an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God that is of God the Father 1 Tim. 1. 1. Saint Luke saith of him that t was God the Son even Jesus our blessed Saviour who called him to be an Apostle who said unto him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me and who said of him He is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and Kings and the Children of Israel Acts 9. 4 15. The same Saint Luke saith in another place that he was called to the Function of the Apostleship by the commandment of God the Holy Ghost Act. 13. 2. The Holy Ghost said Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereto I have called them Which variety of expression doth not only verifie that common axiome of Divinity Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa The works of the blessed Trinity in regard of any external product are indivisible so that what is externally done by one person is done by all But it doth also testifie the great trust which was laid upon every one of the Apostles in that he received his commission from God the Father Son and Holy Ghost And as this trust hath since been and still is derived to the Church so it hath been and is derived by the same glorious and blessed Trinity Whereby we see the large Exposition that is to be given to those words he that heareth you heareth me Luk. 10. 16. for it is all one as if it had been said he heareth God he heareth the Son of God he heareth the Spirit of God Wherefore supposing that this national Church wherein we live is as Gods Apostle to this Nation no sectary can justly pretend to God or Christ no Enthusiast can justly pretend to the Spirit of God and Christ why he should not hearken to the dictates and follow the directions of this Church which God and Christ and the Spirit of God and Christ hath set over him I find in the antient Calenders on the twenty sixth of May this Title Augustini Anglorum Apostoli The feast of Saint Augustine the Apostle of the English He was looked upon as one that had planted the Christian Faith amongst us and was therefore in the judgement of the Latine Church esteemed and called our Apostle I will not dispute the ground but only admit the Title for if one single Priest or Bishop was not unfitly called the Apostle of our Nation Then much more may a whole company of Bishops and Presbyters be so called and ought to be so esteemed who have more generally propagated more firmly established and more carefully preserved amongst us the true Christian Faith It is Saint Pauls own argument to the Corinthians If I be not an Apostle unto others yet doubtless I am to you for the seal of mine Apostleship are ye in the Lord 1 Cor. 9. 2. As if he had said no Embassadour can more justifie his trust and his authority by his Princes seal annexed to his Credential letters then I can justifie my Apostleship towards you in that by my preaching you have been converted to the Lord and are confirmed in him what Saint Paul was to the Corinthians in bringing them to the knowledge and to the communion of Christ to the knowledge of Christ by preaching the word to the communion of Christ by administring the Sacraments that our Church hath been and still is to us And therefore what Saint Paul said to the Crinthians that our Church may justly say to us Since these things were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come 1 Cor. 10. 11. If I be not an Apostle unto others yet doubtless I am to you For the seal of mine Apostleship are ye in the Lord Though others may pretend they have some cause to doubt the trust and the authority of our Church as if she had not a true succession of Ministers which in truth is but a meer pretence or rather a cavil as the learned Mason hath sufficiently demonstrated and should be least objected by them who will have the whole Church depend upon the Pope and cannot deny that they have had many and long lived Anti-popes to disturb their succession yet sure we our selves can neither have cause nor pretence to doubt it since we cannot reasonably deny but our Church hath a true succession of Doctrine so that for us who have not only the speculative but also the practical the experimental knowledge of the Gospel unless we have been grosly wanting to our selves and impiously wanting to our Saviour for us I say to doubt of our Church is little other then to doubt of our Religion as if that either had not come from Christ or could not bring us to Christ and keep us with him For there can be no doubt of the Embassadours authority if there be no doubt of his Princes seal and if we our selves be not the seal of our Churches Apostleship in the Lord the fault is meerly our own t is because we would not
10. Sund. after Trin. Let thy merciful ears O Lord be open to the prayers of thy humble servants and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please thee No Congregation of Christians can pray in faith of obtaining their petitions unless they pray in faith of asking such things as please God and they cannot well do this unless they know before-hand what they shall ask of him in their prayers and in what words they shall ask it because else for ought they know they shall ask such things as may not please him or ask in such a sort as may displease him SECT VIII The Church is obliged to make set forms of prayer according to the pattern of the Lords most holy prayer that there be no peccancy neither concerning the object nor the matter nor the manner of publick prayer that our Church hath exactly followed that pattern in Hers and that other Churches ought to follow the same in their Liturgies A short historical narration concerning our Common prayer Book and the Anti-prayer Book set up against it REligion is the motion of the reasonable soul to God as to its first beginning and to its last end but Christ alone is the way by and in which the soul doth make this motion so that to have a Religion without Christ is to have a Religion without God that is to have no Religion For the soul of man being finite cannot be joyned to God who is infinite but by the help of a Mediator nor can any be a Mediator betwixt finite and infinite but he that partakes of both which is only our Saviour Christ who partaketh of finite as man of infinite as God He alone is able to joyn finite and infinite in one Communion who hath joyned them in one person and therefore to him alone we must repair as often as we desire to be joyned with God Our Religion without him were nothing for it could not bring us unto God and since our prayers are the chiefest part of our Religion they also would be nothing without him Therefore it neerly concerns the Church to make sure of such prayers wherein Christ may joyn with her for else she will pray in vain because without his intercession nay indeed she will pray in sin because against his command Accordingly hath Christs own most holy Prayer been looked upon in all Ages of the Church as the ground and platform of Liturgy to make other set forms of prayer from it as a warrant by it as a pattern This was the judgement of the Church in Saint Augustines time delivered by himself in his Epistle to Proba Si recte congruenter oramus nihil aliud dicere possuneus quam quod in ista oratione Dominica positum est If we pray rightly and fitly rightly in the object fitly in the matter and manner of our prayers We can say nothing else but what is already briefly said in the Lords Prayer And this was likewise the judgement of the Church in Aquinas his time as it is also delivered by himself In oratione Dominica non solum petuntur omnia quae recte desiderare possumus sed etiam eo ordine quo desideranda sunt ut sic haec oratio non solum instruat postulare sed etiam sit informativa totius nostri affectus 22ae qu. 83. art 9. c. In the Lords most holy prayer are not only desired all things which are truly desirable but also in that Method and order in which we must desire them So that this prayer doth not only regulate our expression teaching us of whom and what to ask but also our affection teaching in what Method to ask it For this prayer teacheth us to pray unto God only Our Father which art in heaven and in our prayers first to desire God for himself and after that all other things for God God for himself as he is in himself Hallowed be thy name God for himself as he may be enjoyed by us Thy Kingdom come God for himself as he ought to rule and reign over us Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven And it teacheth us to desire all other things for God whether they concern our present subsistence Give us this day our daily bread or our present deliverance from the guilt of sin and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us or our future deliverance from the guilt of sin and lead us not into temptation or our present and future deliverance from the punishment of sin But deliver us from evil Even all these deliverances are prayed for in relation to God for as much as the guilt of sin doth immediately separate from his holiness the punishment of sin doth immediately separate from his blesedness much more is our present subsistence prayed for in relation to him that we may not subsist in and for our selves who are worse then nothing but in and for our God who is all in all And all these things are prayed for in a right order first God for himself as he is in himself Then God for himself as he is in his Church Triumphant by his Glory after that as he is in his Church Militant by his Grace Then we pray for all other things in relation to God and amongst them first we desire desire him to give those things which may be as instruments to bring us to him as our corporal and much more our spiritual food after that we desire him to remove those things which are as impediments to keep us from him our sins our temptations our punishments We cannot answer it to God or men if we refuse to pray with those who thus pray with Christ for such men cannot be peccant either in the object or in the matter or in the manner of their prayers wherein the Liturgy of the Church of England hath a singular pre-eminence which maketh her prayers only to God and such prayers as are only for God Prayers exciting holy affections agreeable with a holy God Prayers affording holy expressions agreeable with holy affections Prayers least defective either in religious affections or in religious expressions and therefore prayers most befitting the publick exercise of Religion which will not endure either of these defects Prayers which no man doth say cordially but he is assured of his hearts being with his God Prayers which every man should say cordially because when he is assured of his hearts being with his God he may be ashamed of his tongues not being with his heart As for that objection which some make against our Liturgy that it cometh too neer the Popish Mass book t is in truth its vertue 1. Because thereby our Reformers intended the promotion of true Christian Communion by not making a needless much less a scandalous separation from other Christians in those devotions wherein they had not separated from Christ 2. Because they intended to promote true Christian
Tertullian in any true doctrine which he maintained after he attributed more to Montanus then to the Holy Ghost A faith which is unsound in its Doctrine but sound in its foundation is so explicitely false in its profession as that t is implicitely true in its affection and the truth which is in its affection may recover must restrain the untruth which is in its profession So that such a man may say with Saint Augustine Errare possum Haereticus esse nolo I may be erroneous I will not be an Heretick but a faith which is unsound in its foundation though it be sound in Doctrine is so explicitely true in its profession as that t is implicitely false in its affection the falseness which is in its affection may destroy must diminish the truth which is in its profession so that we may justly say of such a man he may not be erroneous and yet he must be an Heretick because he believes truth not upon the authority of the first truth but upon that authority which may teach him a lye instead of truth that is upon that authority which is not in fallible and therefore must beget in him a fallible may beget in him a false faith SECT III. That the communion of the Church of England is truly Christian in devotion free from impiety either by corrupt Invocation or Adoration THE choice as well as the Duty of Religion being enjoined in the three first commandments concerning its internal acts in the first concerning its external reverence in the second concerning its external profession in the third and the choice as well as the Duty of communion being enjoyned in the fourth Commandment t is evident that every man is bound first to make choice of his Religion then of his Communion first to make sure that his worship of God be true and right before he communicate in the publick exercise of that worship This is the Method Saint Paul commended in the Macedonians and therefore commandeth in us saying They first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God 2 Cor. 8. 5. They gave themselves first to the Lord in the choice of their Religion then to us his Church in the choice of their Communion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Chrysostome fulfilling the Laws of God and also by charity being linked and joyned to us So that in his gloss the faith is before the charity the Law of Religion before the bond of Communion And so he explaineth these words by the will of God to shew they gave themselves unto him not for his own sake but for Gods sake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They gave themselves to us not through any humane affection but for the Divine command therein following Gods will not their own If this were the Method they observed in giving of their substance then much more in giving of their souls they gave themselves first to God then to his Church so must we And consequently we must be sure the Communion of our Church is truly Christian in devotion as well as in Doctrine that we may give our selves to our Church and conscionably joyn in her Communion And when we are sure of this we must give our selves to our Church and to her Communion by the will of God For it is the will of God that we should keep his Commandments in that order which he hath given them and consequently nothing but the apparent breach of the three first Commandments concerning Religion can enervate the obligation of the fourth concerning Communion or of the fifth concerning Obedience And I am clearly bound to my Church both by the fourth Commandment to embrace her Communion and by the fifth Commandment to obey her authority unless I can prove that she hath disobeyed God in setting up a false Religion against the three first Commandments For truly there can scarce be a false or superstitious publick worship without the united breach of all the three first Commandments for what prayer is against the first Commandment in the Object invocated is against the second Commandment in the gesture accompanying against the third in the words expressing that invocation For as with the heart man believeth according to the first so with the body man worshippeth according to the second and with the tongue man confesseth according to the third Commandment Wherefore if the faith be false the adoration and the confession cannot be true As for example in that prayer to the blessed Virgin Tuspes certa miserorum Verè mater orphanorum Tu levamen oppressorum medicamen infirmorum Omnibus es Omnia Te rogamus voto pari laude digna singulari ut errantes in hoc mari nos in portu salutari Tâ—asistat gratia Amen Sequentia in conceptione B. Mariae There is a false faith in believing that of the blessed Virgin which is true only of God particularly that she is all in all which the Apostle peculiarly saith of God 1 Cor. 15. 28. and reason it self bids us say of him only for what is it to be all in all but to be wisdom righteousness sanctification redemption and salvation which are the immediate effects or effluencies and emanations of omnisciency omnipotency and al-sufficiency And as there is in this superstitious prayer a false faith against the first so there is also a false adoration against the second a false profession against the third Commandment and we can do no less in right to Religion then charge such prayers as these both with idolatry and with blasphemy and till those that use them can justifie their Religion and t is palpable from their very composures such prayers have been of no long use in the Church they cannot in justice claim our Communion Therefore it is a singular blessing which we enjoy that we have no other object of our publick prayers but God alone in whom we may must believe as our Almighty Creator and Al-merciful Saviour for there is no other way to keep us from idolatry and from blasphemy in praying since the Apostles question is so propounded as to be declared unanswerable How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed Rom. 10. 14. Where it is evident that faith is made the only ground of invocation and consequently since we can believe only in God we ought to pray only to God For when the Apostle speaks only of God saying The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed t is rather for Sophisters then for Divines to bring in the Saints as his fellow-sharers either in the faith or in the invocation unless we could also bring them in to be his fellow-sharers in the Lordship for because men have faith in God as Lord over all and as rich unto all that call upon him that is because
the good behaviour and God himself hath in effect told us as much in giving us so many set forms of prayers in the holy Bible SECT XIV The third and last part of the Churches trust concerning Religion is touching the holy Sacraments wherein our Church is not faulty either in the number or in the administration of them as exactly following our Saviours institution nor in the manner of administring as following it with reverence REligion being above the light of nature to understand it must needs be above the power of nature to command it Hence the acts of the Theological vertues are prescribed by the positive Law of God because they belong properly to Religion But the acts of moral vertues are prescribed by the Law of nature because they belong to Reason yet are they in truth injurious to Religion who will allow nothing to be moral but what they can prove to be natural For the positive Law of God doth constitute moralities to the Christian as well as the inbred Law of nature doth constitute moralities to the Man This appears plainly in the Sacraments which are not to be accounted as Ceremonies because they come not under the authority of the Church either for their institution or alteration or abolition and must therefore be accounted as moralities though they are not at all commanded by the Law of nature but only by the Law of God That these Sacraments are a part of the Churches trust is unquestionable because the Gospel is For the vocal word and the visible word Verbum Vocale verbum visibile both alike are duties of the Christian Religion for the glory of God and of the Christian Communion for the edification of man but all the duties both of Religion and Communion are committed to the Churches trust God having appointed his own Ministers as his special Trustees both for preaching his word and for administring his Sacraments So that no man can administer a Sacrament but in the person of God and he hath not licensed every one that will to take upon him his person but only such to whom he hath given his special deputation And this is more peculiarly manifest concerning the two Sacraments properly so called that is Baptism and the Lords holy Supper For our blessed Saviour said only to his Apostles Go ye therefore and baptize in respect of the one and do ye this in remembrance of me in respect of the other As for the five additional Sacraments they were never looked upon as integral parts of Gods ordinary publick worship and therefore though they could be proved Sacraments yet they would not come under our present discourse But in truth they cannot be proved Sacraments according to the proper definition of a Sacrament which is this A Sacrament is an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace given to us and ordained by Christ himself as a means to convey that grace and as a pledge to assure us thereof Let us examine this definition by its causes and we shall easily perceive that it belongs only to Baptism and the Holy Eucharist and therefore they two only are to be called Sacraments First by its efficient cause Given and ordained by Christ himself which is clear of these two for they were instituted by him and have his precept and promise in the very words of their institution which cannot be asserted concerning any of the other Secondly by its material cause outward visible sign inward spiritual Grace which are both manifestly known in Baptism and the Holy Eucharist but neither in any of the rest For Pennance hath no outward visible sign at all and Matrimony Orders Confirmation Extream unction have no outward visible signs of Christs appointing And much less have any of these that inward spiritual Grace which is annexed to Baptism and the Holy Eucharist To wit Christ with all his merits and mercies whereby of God He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1. 30. For we dare not say that any man is by any of these five either born and initiated or nourished and confirmed in Christ Thirdly by its formal cause An outward visible sign of an inward spiritual Grace Whereby it appears that the internal and proper form of a Sacrament is the necessary conjunction or connexion of the sign and the thing signified which conjunction is so undeniable in our two Sacraments that Baptism is called the washing of regeneration Tit. 3. 5. And the holy Eucharist the Communion of the body and blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. For that these two are not only signs and seals but also conveyances of grace unto the soul whereas the other five though they have something of the sign yet they have nothing at all of the seal or of the conveyance of grace Lastly by its final cause As a means to convey Grace and as a pledge to assure us thereof The end of a Sacrament is partly our Communion with Christ and partly our acknowledgement of that Communion This twofold end is very apparent in Baptism and in the holy Eucharist which doth procure our Communion with Christ and also require our acknowledgement of that Communion but in the rest either the one is without the other or there is a want of both For either there is no Communion with Christ or there is no acknowledgement of that Communion whereas a Sacrament is a seal of Gods Covenant and therefore in its own nature is a double pledge to wit of Gods grace and favour to man and of mans duty and thankfulness to God For as it is a sign of Gods grace to us so it should be a sign of Gods grace in us For in the very signification of a Sacrament there is a mutual respect one on Gods part offering grace another on mans part promising obedience If either of these be wanting the holy rite may be a mysterie but it cannot be a Sacrament properly so called since a Sacrament is the seal of a Covenant and a Covenant is a mutual engagement of two parties which in this case are God and Man Therefore a Sacrament is from the very end of its institution perpetual in its continuance and common in its use Perpetual in its continuance because Gods Covenant is not for a day but for ever t is an everlasting Covenant And common in its use because Gods Covenant is not for one but for all t is a general an universal Covenant Non enim propter unius seculi homines venit Christus sed propter omnes qui illius membra futuri sunt saith Irenâ—us lib. 4. adver haereses cap. 39. Christ came not into the world for the men of one age or of one order but for all that should be his true and faithful members in all ages and all orders of men whatsoever And upon this ground we cannot but say that the Sacraments which do exhibit and convey Christ do alike belong to men of all ages
and of all orders Whereas Pennance Matrimony Order Confirmation and Extrâ—am â—unction do not so for they are either not perpetual in their continuance as not belonging to all times or not common in their use as not belonging to all persons though under the same Covenant and of the same faith So that our Church hath not erred in the number of the Sacraments by excluding these from that number because she looks on a Sacrament as a seal of Gods grace equally belonging to all that are under the same Covenant of grace and as a Testimony of mans faithfulness equally belonging to all that are bound to profess the same Christian faith As it is a seal of Gods Covenant so it is perpetual in its continuance and mnst belong to all times for the Covenant doth so As it is a Testimony of mans faithfulness so it is common in its use and must belong to all persons for the profession of faith doth so and we can avow both these only concerning Baptism and the Lords Supper and accordingly dare not avow any but these to be properly called Sacraments Now as concerning the administration of these Sacraments there is little or no contention about Baptism though now it be commonly administred by aspersion whereas heretofore not only in hotter but also in these our colder climates it was administred altogether by immersion For all do allow that Axiome Magis minus non variat speciem so as the element be water t is not material to Baptism whether it be more or less for the least drop of Christs blood signified by the water in Baptism and applied to the soul is able to wash and cleanse it from all sin But there are many and great contentions about the administration of the Holy Eucharist whereby men may have made that a Division which God made a Communion One main reason hath been that some would not regard Christs Command hence the wine came to be left out and yet would observe his practice Hence water came to be taken in and hence also that sharp dispute betwixt the Greek and Latine Church the one rejecting the use of unleavened the other of leavened bread whereas it ought to be without all question That what was of Christs command in this Holy Sacrament is still indispensable not so what was only of his practise or example So saith Saint Paul to the Corinthians I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered to you 1 Cor. 11. 23. bringing them back to Christs command to have the same elements of bread and wine as he appointed and to use them for the same end even for his remembrance But he brings them not back to Christs example to have either unleavened bread or water mixed with their wine and much less to use the same posture he did that they may receive sitting or leaning or to observe the same time he did that they may receive after Supper He leaves all these and the like as things indifferent to the disposal of the Church for they are indifferent in regard of the Sacrament though they may be necessary in regard of us viz. when they are commanded because we are bound to follow the Churches order in things indifferent to preserve the Vnity of Communion as the Church is bound to follow Christs order in things necessary to preserve the Verity of Religion And if we desire to know what is to be judged necessary what indifferent in regard of this Sacrament since both were joyned together in our Saviours practice I answer that must be accounted necessary which was substantial either as belonging to the essence or to the end of the Sacrament That must be accounted indifferent which was circumstantial as belonging to the Sacrament only at that time sc of the Jewish Pass over when the Jews were bound to eat unleavened bread or in that country as the mingling water with wine which was usual in those hotter climates But the not using wine in the holy Communion cannot be accounted Indifferent because wine is one of the material parts belonging to the essence of the holy Communion and there can be no whole Communion without it as there can be no whole being of any thing without one of its essential Parts Besides as The using wine belongs to the essence so likewise it belongs to the end of this holy Sacrament which is the remembrance of Christ For so saith Saint Paul As often as ye eat this bread And he saith not Or drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come 1 Cor. 11. 26. The conjunction copulative And will not allow the proposition being copulative to be true unless both its parts be true and therefore we cannot shew the Lords death only by eating this bread unless we also drink this cup for if we have but a half Sacrament we can have but a half remembrance of Christ In Baptism though our fore-fathers used immersion we now only use aspersion yet both they and we have the same Sacrament because both use water and so have the same essential matter of Baptism as well as the same essential form But in the holy Eucharist it may be doubted whether the present Lay-Romanists have the same Sacrament with their fore-fathers because they now are not permitted to have the wine which their fore-fathers had till full a thousand years after Christ And truly in this respect our common people are much more happy then those of the Papacy That they have the whole Sacrament of the blessed Eucharist and thereby a full remembrance of Christ and a full Communion with him as well as the Priest For if the blood be with the Body by concomitancy why should the Priest have it twice who eats of the bread as well as the Lay-man and yet besides drinks of the cup If the blood be not with the body it is clear the Lay-man hath it not at all and so he is most uncharitably and unjustly defrauded of that spiritual nourishment which Christ hath given him To let alone the Dispute of Sacriledge in the case for a man to rob God of that service which himself hath commanded or rather the Determination of that Dispute for so hath Pope Gelasius determined it in his decretal Epistle recited by Gratian in these words Aut integra Sacramenta percipiant aut ab integris arceantur Quia divisio unius ejusdemque mysterii sine grandi Sacrilegio non potest provenire de consecr dist 2. cap. 12. Either let them take all the Sacrament or let them take none For what mysterie God hath made One man cannot divide or make Two without great Sacriledge I say to let alone the Sacriledge in the case and yet I cannot see how any man can with a good conscience communicate in a Sacriledge This Uncharitableness and Injustice is enough to make any considerate man out of love with that Church which deals with him so uncharitably and so unjustly So unjustly as to deny