the regulating of our Faith and manners and ought to be the onely square and rule of all our thoughts words actions and of our faith and doctrines unto the end of the world and that there is no need of any humane traditions for the compleating of them and making of them perfect and intire and that all doctrines that are not either grounded upon the expresse words of the Scriptures or evidently and by good consequence deduced from thence ought to be rejected and to be abandoned I pray Master Montague what thinke you of the state and condition of such a man living and dying in this faith Can this his so believing any way prejudice his eternall salvation though he never heareth of any of your traditions or unwritten verities which you notwithstanding affirm are to be entertained with equall beliefe that the holy Scriptures are by us received and imbraced I say if he never heare so much as of the name of your Traditions and of your Councels Canons or Inâ—unctions will not his faith in the holy Scriptures alone imbracing the doctrine revealed in them and believing that they containe all things in them necessary to salvation save him eternally If you shall affirme the contrary you will not fight against mee but against God himselfe and give the Spirit of God the lie who hath so often declared that believing those things that are writ in the holy Scriptures it will save our soules Againe Master Montague I demand of you what you thinke of the condition of that Christian that shall peremptorily believe that all those Traditions of Purgatory and humane satisfactions of Will-worship and Image-worship of Self-merits and workes of Supererogation of Indulgences and Pilgrimages of praying to Saints and Angels and all the other bundles of your Traditions thrust upon the poore people as the service of God and the meanes by which they may please God are detestable abominations as being things full of blasphemy placing our redemption in other meanes than in the bloodshed and meritorious death and passion of Jesus Christ and denying the perfection of the holy Scriptures and equalizing or rather preferring the Traditions and Inventions of the Pope the enemy of the Lord Jesus before the authority of the written Word which was dictated by the Spirit of Christ himselfe the onely and sole Prophet of his Church whom wee are commanded onely to heare and obey in all things that he hath declared in his blessed Word which is for ever to be the rule of our faith Doe you conceive Master Montague that any Christian so believing and persevering in this his beliefe unto the last houre of his death it can any way prejudice his salvation If you say it may give me I beseech you your reason for sinne onely excludeth men out of Heaven shew me therefore what Law of God any Christian transgresseth in believing Christ to be the onely Prophet of his Church and that he hath fully revealed the Will of God his Father concerning the redemption of man-kind and that this his Will and good pleasure is as much as is necessary to the salvation of the Church is fully set downe and contained in the holy Scriptures and that the written Word of God is compleat in it selfe without any humane Traditions and that we are bound to make that onely the rule of our faith and manners and to reject all doctrines whatsoever are not grounded upon the written Word and much more all such doctrines as lead us from Christ and teach us another way to Heaven than he hath taught us who is our onely Prophet and another way of serving God than he hath appointed I pray Master Montague is the obedience of any man to Christ our Prophets command a sinne or transgression of his holy Law If you say so then you make that a sinne which God accounteth of as a vertue and obedience to his blessed Will and Word and so by your traditions breake the Commandements of God and our glorious Prophet Christ Jesus and by that as by all your other damnable doctrines proclaime your selves open transgressours of his holy Lawes which without speedy and hearty repentance will bring you to eternall perdition Againe Master Montague I intreat you candidly to tell me what you thinke of the condition of such a man as shall believe that Christ Jesus is the onely and sole Priest of the new Testament and that hee by his obedience death and passion and by the Sacrifice of himselfe once offered upon the Crosse when he was made sinne for us who knew no sinne hath reconciled God the Father unto us and made for ever our atonement with him and laid downe a sufficient ransome for our redemption by the which we are freed from both the guilt and punishment due to our sinnes and transgressions and that the vertue of this his sacrifice as it is ineffable and everlastingly able to save all such as believe in him so it is never to be reiterated but to be applyed unto the soule and hearts of men by such meanes onely as God himselfe hath appointed viz. by the vertue and powerfull working and operation of the holy Ghost by the preaching of the Gospell by the administration of the holy Sacraments by faith and prayer and that hee is our onely high Priest and Mediator both of satisfaction and intercession by whom alone wee have continually accesse to the Throne of grace and that in his Name onely and through his mediation wee are to put up all our prayers supplications and thanksgivings unto God the Father and that there are now no reall Priests on earth for the offering up of any propitiatory Sacrifice for the reconciling of God unto us or any other Mediators in Heaven between God and us that can make God propitious unto us but the man Christ Jesus Tell me Master Montague sincerely what you thinke of the state and condition of such a man living and dying in this faith Can this his beliefe any way prejudice his salvation though he never heare of your Romish Priests whom you affirme to be reall Priests after the order of Melchisedeck and assert that they offer up the body and blood of Jesus Christ daily a propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead Can this his faith I say prejudice the salvation of any man though he never heareth such doctrines as these be or can this his faith prejudice his eternall happinesse though hee never heareth of any other Mediator of the new Testament but Jesus Christ alone or never prayeth to Saint or Angell to entreat their mediation for him with God the Father but onely putteth up all his prayers and praises in the Name of Christ alone I beseech you Master Montague tell me if hee never heard so much as the name of any reall Priests besides Christ or of any other Mediator but of Jesus Christ or of any other propitiatory Sacrifice but of that onely which Christ offered to God the Father upon
to whom he is not their Lord he will be obeyed and have his pleasure submitted to or else we cannot be his disciples nor obtaine life eternall So that inevitably and most necessarily it followeth that we must renounce our owne merits and justification by our owne workes if we will believe in Christ as we ought to believe All which when the Church of England teacheth it is built upon the foundation of Peter and therefore is a true Church But that I may conclude this point and clearely evidence the truth of it to you Mr. Montague and all men and by other testimonies confirme it and in so doing prove the Church of England a true Church which you stifly deny I will briefly declare wherein our justification before God consisteth and what it is that makes us acceptable with him and to believe aright which is not to rely upon our own righteousnes but upon the righteousnes of Jesus Christ apprehended by faith And this doctrin we learn out of the holy Scriptures which teach us a twofold righteousnesse Rom. 10. v. 3. a righteousnesse of God and a righteousnesse of our owne which the Jewes relying upon as all Justiciaries do did not submit themselves to the righteousnesse of God therefore did not deny themselves and come unto Christ rely upon him Who was the end of the Law for righteousnesse to every one that believeth vers 4. For Moses saith the Apostle describeth the righteousnesse which is of the Law that the man that doth those things shall live by them But the righteousnesse which is of faith speaketh on this wise that if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved For with the heart man believeth unto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made to salvation Here faith alone is the hand that reacheth forth the righteousnes of Christ unto us and by which apprehending Christ we stand justified before God So that out of the words of the Apostle this twofold righteousnesse appeares the righteousnesse of the Gospell and the righteousnesse of the Law which the Apostle so describeth as no mortall man ever living besides Christ onely since the fall of Adam was righteous or just or indeed could be as is sufficiently by the places above mentioned proved But the righteousnes of the Gospell is that whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish but have everlasting life John 3. For the just shall live by his faith Rom. 1. Gal. 3. Now then when the righteousnesse of the Law consisteth in the absolute and perfect observation obedience and fulfilling of the whole Law and no man can perfectly keepe observe and obey it it of necessity followes that we cannot attaine unto righteousnesse by the Law but we must seeke another righteousnesse which is onely to be found in the Gospell and that righteousnesse is the remission of all our sinnes and our reconciliation with God and the imputation of Christs righteousnesse freely bestowed upon us of God for Christs sake who is our onely Saviour and redeemer And this is to be built upon the foundation of Peter And this is the righteousnesse by which we must be saved and justified before God For we are justified freely by grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ As Paul saith to the Rom. chap. 3. ver 24. and in vers 28. farther expresseth himselfe saying We conclude therefore that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law The sense and meaning of the which words if we do duely consider them will so cleare unto all men this Evangelicall and everlasting truth that there will be no doubting of it to any rationall creature For the finding out therefore of the true sense of these words three things offer themselves to be deliberated on First what is meant here by being justified Secondly what is meant to be justified by faith Thirdly what are those works and deeds which are excluded from justification As concerning the first we are to observe three distinct actions of God in it First the freedome absolution of a sinner from the guilt of his sins and iniquities for the merits of Jesus Christ Acts 13. v. 38 39. Be it knowne unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you forgivenesse of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses That is by Jesus Christ they are freed and absolved from the guilt of those sinnes which the Law could not free them from And in this sense doth the Apostle oppose justification to condemnation in Rom. 8. v. 33. which is nothing else but a binding over a man to undergoe the due and deserved punishment The second action of God is imputation or the esteeming or the accounting of a sinner as just for the merits of Jesus Christ Woe be to him that justifieth the wicked Esay 5. ver 22. that is that doth not make him just but accompts esteems and declares him as just So in the Gospell wisdom is said to be justified of her children that is approved of and acknowledged The third action of God is the acceptation or receiving of a sinner to life eternall in Christ For after God hath freed and absolved a sinner and imputed righteousnesse unto him this receiving of him after that to life eternall doth necessarily follow which is therefore cald justification of life Rom. 5. ver 18. where the reason of it is likewise rendered for as Adams sinne and offence was imputed to all or came upon all and by it death entered into the world and reigned so the obedience of Christ being imputed to all believers they are made righteous and obtaine justification of life From the consideration of all which this definition of justification is easily gathered That it is an action of God the Father absolving and freeing a sinner from all his offences and transgressions for the merits of Jesus Christ and imputing righteousnesse unto him and receiving of him to life eternall And now I come to the second thing viz. What is meant to be justified by faith The sense and meaning of the which as it is a matter of great moment and consequence and concernes no lesse than our eternall happinesse so it cals for and requires at our hands all care and diligence for the right understanding of it which the great Rabbins of the Church of Rome are ignorant of and that it may the more easily be delucidated and understood I will declare first what that thing is for which a sinner is justified and accounted just And that is the obedience of Jesus Christ our mediator and redeemer and that both his active and passive for those are not to be separated that God hath joyned together the last of which doth consist in Christs suffering of the first death in respect of his
inventions and doctrines and that with all simplicity and godly integrity and administers the holy Sacraments without any addition diminution or detraction according as Christ appointed and cals upon the name of God according as he hath taught it is cleare to all men that the Church of England is a true Church and built upon the foundation of Peter All which will more perspicuously be evidenced if we examine the severall commissions of the Apostles and consider what they preached unto the people whose example for preaching and doctrine the Church of England in all things follows and swarves not from Saint Peter in Acts 2. ver 37. When the people were pricked in their hearts at his Sermon and said unto the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we doe in Verse 38. according to his commission Repent saith he and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sinnes and ye shall receive the gift of the holy Ghost for the promise is to you and your children and to all that are afarre off even as many as the Lord our God shall call To preach faith and repentance unto the people was their commission And in chap. 3. ver 23. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sinnes may be blotted out c. and Saint Paul sets downe his commission in the places following in Chap. 13. ver 23. Be it knowne unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you forgivenesse of sinnes And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses And in Acts 26. the Apostle Paul shewes his commission to King Agrippa and what by that he was to doe in Gods service and imployments His words are these I have saith the Lord Jesus appeared unto thee for this purpose to make thee a Minister and a witnesse both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things I will appeare unto thee in delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee To open their eyes and to turne them from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgivenesse of sinnes and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me Here is the Apostles Commission Now let us take notice how he executes it Whereupon O King Agrippa saith he I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision but shewed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and through all the coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turne to God and doe workes meet for repentance So that in the execution of his commission in opening their eyes and turning men from darknesse unto light and from the power of Satan unto God for the receiving of remission of sinnes and inheritance among them that are sanctified he preacheth unto them onely that they should repent and turne to God and doe workes meet for repentance and believe in Jesus Christ And in this consisted all the preaching of all the Apostles and Prophets and this is all the worke that the true Ministers of Jesus Christ have to doe unto the end of the world Which Commission when the Church of England fully and punctually observeth teaching them to repent and turne from sinne and idols unto the living God and to change their minds and purposes and to come out of themselves and flie unto God for mercy and pardon puting off their old mind and putting on a new in a word when the Church of England teacheth all men that true repentance consists in the universall change of the mind and of the whole life and turning unto God by unfeigned sorrow which proceedeth from an earnest serious and reall feare of God which continueth unto the last houre of mans life in the mortifying of the old man and crucifying of the flesh and in the quickuing of the new man and vivifying of the Spirit and labours by all meanes to humble men for their sinnes by which they have offended God that so they may obtaine mercy and become new creatures and manifest this change wrought in them by the amendment of their whole lives and returning into the waies of Gods Commandements and exhorteth them to the practising of all those vertues and graces God hath adorned them with and bestowed upon them and as they are a chosen generation a Royall Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people that they should shew forth the praises of him who hath called them out of darknesse into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. vers 9. Againe when the Church of England instructeth the people fully in the doctrine of saving faith teaching that it is a certaine setled and assured knowledge of the free grace mercy and love of God towards mankinde in Jesus Christ and grounded upon the truth of the gracious and free promise of God in Christ and is both revealed unto their minds and soules and sealed in their hearts by the holy Ghost so that as the Spirit of God doth illuminate their understanding worketh faith in their hearts withall he doth witnesse unto them their adoption and assureth them of their salvation in Jesus Christ and of life eternall according unto the Commission delivered unto the Apostles and which likewise they in their own particulars preached unto their auditors as the whole Scriptures witnesse now when the Church of England I say not onely instructeth the people rightly to believe and repent but also calleth upon them that they should joyne practise with theory and shew forth their faith by all good workes and a godly life and holy conversation and that they should daily increase and abound in all knowledge and labour for particular faith and certaine assurance of Gods love and that they may the better attaine unto this speciall assurance by which they may be supported in all temptations and tryals they exhort them diligently and carefully to read the Word of God which was written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Rom. 15. ver 4. and call upon them likewise to be diligent in the hearing of the holy Word and frequenting of the holy assemblies and encourage them to the reall practice of all those instructions and wholsome doctrines that they learne by the ministery of the Gospell that they may not only be Saints in the Church and in publique but at home in their houses yea and in their private closets and be holy in all manner of conversation both publique and private ever instructing their family ever shewing them good example and going before them in a godly and unblameable life walking before God in uprightnesse inall sincerity and before men unreproveable Again when the Church of England administers the Sacraments of Baptisme and the Lords Supper according to Christ institution without addition and diminution but as they have
they were certainly assured So we read Luke 1. vers 1. Whereof we are fully perswaded c. and Heb. 10. vers 34. And yee tooke the spoyling of your goods with joy knowing in your selves you had in Heaven a better and induring substance So in the first Epistle of St. John chap. 3. vers 2. Behold now are we the sonnes of God and it doth not yet appeare what we shall be but we know that when he shall appeare we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is In all the Saints we finde an infallible assurance and an undaunted and unremoveable confidence in Jesus Christ who they believed was delivered for their offences and raised againe for their justification knowing there was no other name under Heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved Acts 4 ver 11. And this faith in Jesus Christ is that that will support us in all tribulations and finally save us according to that in St. John chap. 3. ver 14 15 16. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wildernesse even so must the Sonne of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life For God so loved the world that be gave his onely begotten Sonne that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And vers 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned butâ—â— that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the onely begotten Sonne of God And in Chap. 5. ver 24. Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life Numberlesse testimonies might be accumulated out of the holy Scripture to prove that only to be the true faith and knowledge of Christ when we do conceive him in such sort as he is offered of the Father that is to say clothed with the Gospell for faith hath a mutuall relation to the word and the word to faith because the word is the fountaine of faith and the ground of faith and the mirrour in which faith beholdeth God as Christ saith here He that believeth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life This that I have now said Mr. Montague will I hope give satisfaction to any rationall man if not to your selfe that the Church of England believeth as it ought to believe because it regulates the faith of all Christians according to the word of God and Christ their onely Prophet and therefore it is an unanswerable argument that the Church of England is a true Church and built upon the foundation of Peter when it joyneth the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ and faith in him alone together Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus Rom. 3. v. 25 26. When therefore I say the Church of England joyneth the knowledge of God and Christ and faith in them both inseparably together and makes daily publication of this same doctrine it is evident that it is a true Church and built upon the foundation of Peter the ground and pillar of truth and where salvation may be attained unto for that Church which shall confesse with the mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in their heart that God hath raised him from the dead shall be saved for with the heart men believe unto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation Rom. 10. But the Church of England doth all this Ergo it believeth as it should believe and is a Church where salvation may be found And had the Church of England Mr. Montague but this marke alone it were enough for ever to stop the mouthes of all gainsayers and prove that it is a true Church and built upon the foundation of Peter and believes as it ought to believe And now I come to the qualification viz. That the Church of England doth renounce all self-merit in matter of salvation and all will-worship and humane inventions in Gods service which are requisites in any Church to make it a true Church and without which it cannot be a true Church You may remember Mr. Montague when you heard the name of merit and will-worship you began to bestir your selfe as if it had something troubled you and it doth indeed highly concerne you to looke about you lest falling upon the rocke of your owne merits you dash your selfe in pieces and destroy your owne soule And you affirmed that if you should speake of the doctrine of merits it would last you a weeke Truely Mr. Montague if you should speake a moneth or a yeere together of Christs merits and what he hath done and suffered for the redemption of mankind I should willingly be your anditor and think that nothing sufficient enough could be uttered or expressed to magnifie Gods and Christs love and to stirre up thankfulnesse obedience and love to God and Christ againe for their infinite mercy towards us such miserable creatures as we poore men are But Mr. Montague if you shall speake but one minute of an houre to extoll mans merit or to preach that men by their good workes can or may merit Heaven or if you goe about to establish that blasphemous doctrin for it is no better you shall have just cause to repent all the daies of your life for your so doing for this doctrine tends to overthrow the glorious Gospell and the whole worke of our redemption and Christs sufferings and opens an other way to Heaven than any of the Saints of old knew of who ever taught that Christ onely was the way the truth and the life and not mens merits and workes of supererogation Therefore Mr. Montague that Church that teacheth the free grace and eternall love of God in Jesus Christ unto the people when we were dead in our sinnes and trespasses and that inculcates self-deniall upon all men and urges them in matter of salvation to rely onely upon Christ and his obedience and passion with all his merits and to follow the guidance of his word for the manner of his service and teaches them to reject all will-worship and humane inventions in honouring God that Church believes as it ought to believe and teacheth the true way to Heaven and is built upon the foundation of Peter for all these things are the necessary requisites for the making of a true Church as I shall God willing speedily shew But if I shall be more large upon this point I desire your pardon for in my opinion it is a doctrine of as great concernment as any in Religion and where it is taught it is a sure evidence of a true Church In the handling of the which I will
condemne me If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse We see nothing of merit in all the Saints Here I might bring in the prayers of all the Patriarchs of all the Prophets of all the Apostles and Saints of old of the which the holy Scripture is full and in all of them they confesse their owne sinnes and the sinnes of the people and ever deprecate Gods judgements never pretending or presuming of their owne worth or merits or challenging favour for them from God but prostrating and humbly denying themselves yea in plaine words and expresse termes they proclaime themselves and all men even the most regenerate wicked and abominable and disavow their owne righteousnesse confessing that it is an uncleane thing and looke for mercy at Gods hand onely through Jesus Christ their righteousnesse But let us heare the testimonies now that both the Prophets and Apostles gave of themselves and of all the family of the faithfull and what Christ himselfe taught us who knew best what was in man after regeneration In the first of Kings and the 8. Solomon saith there There is no man that sinneth not And in Eccles 7. ver 20. he saith There is not a just man upon the earth that doth good and sinneth not And Prov. 20. ver 9. Who can say I have made my heart cleane from my sinne Not the most righteous man and most holy Heare what Job also witnesseth concerning th businesse Job 9. ver 2 3. How shall a man be just with God if he will contend with him he cannot answer him one of a thousand And of all the sinnes that come against us there is not the least that deserves not eternall damnation being committed against an eternall Majesty How farre then in Jobs esteeme are men from compleat and perfect righteousnesse Yea how farre then are they from meriting and in chap. 15. v. 14 15 16. What is man saith Job that he should be cleane and he that is borne of woman that he should be righteous behold he hath no trust in his Saints yea the Heavens are not cleare in his sight how much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water From all these places and many more it may well be concluded that the very regenerate have sinne still remaining in them and through the corruption of their nature that ever abides and continues in them are inclined alwaies to that which is evill and are unapt to all that is good and can never attaine to compleat and perfect righteousnesse but have continuall need with David to pray Enter not into judgement with thy servant for in thy sight no flesh shall be justified Psalm 143. ver 2. There are two sorts of justification or righteousnesse the one before men and that is manifested by our workes and the other is before God and that cannot by any works of ours be attained to as by a cloud of witnesses might be proved See therefore what David saith againe Psal 130. ver 3. If thou O Lord shouldst marke iniquity O Lord who should stand but there is forgivenesse with thee that thou mayst be feared Here is no presumption of merit but confidence of mercy Therefore the Prophet Isaiah chap. 64. ver 6. in the name of all the faithfull and regenerate disavowes all merits and disclaimes all their owne righteousnesse in these words But we saith he are all as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesse as filthy rags and we all doe fade as a leafe and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away The Prophet doth not say here that all our unrighteousnesse but all our righteousnesse teaching all men thereby that the eyes of the Lord behold faults failings and blemishes in the very best most perfect and holiest actions and in the which we most earnestly desire to please God And this is the doctrine the holy Prophet teaches all men to humble them the more and to bring them to a loathing and abominating of themselves and to manifest unto them that there is no perfection or absolute righteousnesse in the Saints themselves and in the most holy men such as may justifie them before God but that there is alwaies matter of humiliation and of self-denyall in them for as long as they are but in the race and as long as they remaine in the flesh they cannot doe the good they would So saith St. Paul Gal. 5. vers 7. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot doe the things that ye would This inward combat continues as long as we live and that in all the Saints and therefore they can never attain unto perfection in this life and therefore can never merit Yea the holy Apostles continually acknowledge it confessing their owne sinfulnesse and failings teaching all the faithfull to doe the same So St. John the beloved Disciple in his first Epistle chap. 1. vers 8. If we say we have no sinne we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us St. James also chap. 3. ver 2. saith In many things we sinne all Here he excepts no mortall man all have their sinnes and have need of self-deniall Paul also that elect vessell grones under the burden of sin and with griefe and sorrow acknowledges his continuall combate with the remainders of his corruption Rom. 7. ver 22 23 24. I delight saith he in the Law of God after the inward man but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sinne which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thanke God through Jesus Christ my Lord c. Paul had learned this lesson of self-denyall acknowledging his sinnes and making his recourse unto Christ for pardon and deliverance from it knowing there was no other name under Heaven to be saved by and so he becomes Christs Disciple as all other sinners if they will be saved must doe and that we are sinners and can never in this world attaine unto an absolute perfection and to a full and intire keeping and fulfilling of the Law the places I have now quoted and the severall witnesses of all the Saints and the very prayer our Saviour himselfe hath taught us doe sufficiently testifie where we are instructed daily to say forgive us our sinnes Luke 11. ver 4. Now where there is no offence there is no need of pardon but all the Saints as long as they live have need of pardon therefore as long as they live they are sinfull and have need of self-denyall and of true humility and a meane esteeme of themselves and a renouncing of all their owne righteousnesse if they will be Christs disciples and if they expect salvation by him for they must have it upon his owne conditions for he will be saviour to none
as they finde it in the written word of the old and new Testament as they make that and that only the Rule of their faith and obedience and no unwritten word or Traditions Councells or Fathers no farther than they are grounded upon the written word contained in the holy Bible And this the Church of England hath good warrant to do from Christs both precept and example and from both the Prophets and Apostles practice John the 5. v. the 39. Search the Scriptures saith Christ for in them yee thinke to have eternall life and they are they which testify of mee And v. 46.47 for had yee believed Moses you would have believed me for he wrote of me but if yee believe not his writings how shall you believe my words Here our Saviour Christ ratifyes Moses his writings to be of Divine authority and equalizes them with if not prefers them before his owne words saying if yee believe not his writings how shall yee believe my words And in the sixteenth of Luke in the person of Abraham Christ sendeth all men that desire salvation to the writings of Moses saying v. 29 30 31. they have Moses and the Prophets let them heare them if they would escape damnation and have eternall life And Dives sayd Nay Father Abraham but if one come unto them from the dead they will amend their lives and repent And he said unto him If they heare not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead Here our Saviour tyes them precisely to the Scriptures and affirmes they are more prevalent to bring men unto Repentance and to save their soules than any miracles whatsoever and therefore that they are only to be cleaved unto by all the sonnes of Abraham And as he commanded all men to have recourse to Moses and the Prophets so all the time of his life and after his resurrection hee taught all his auditors out of the holy Scriptures Luke the 24. vers 27. and after that our Saviour Christ had upbrayded his Disciples for their unbeliefe He began saith the Evangelist at Moses and all the Prophets and expounded to them through all the Scriptures the things concerning himselfe And vers 44. he said unto them These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalmes concerning me Here our Saviour Christ instructs and teaches his Disciples onely out of the written Word and in them all Christians and sends them onely to the Scriptures of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalmist and affirmes that they were the voice of God which the Lord spake and uttered by them All the Prophets likewise sent the people to the written word as Deut. 30. Isaiah 8. ver 20. To the Law and to the Testimonies saith the Prophet if they speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Here the Lord by his Prophet sends all men to the written Word in which he declared his pleasure and will unto them and affirmes that they that speake not according to that Word they have no light in them that is they are in errour and darknesse according to that of our Saviour Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures Matth. 22. ever sending them to the Scripture for knowledge And Malac. 4. the Lord there vers 4. Remember saith he the law of Moses my servant which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgements Here all the Church of the Jewes were sent unto the written Word and manded ever to remember that that was left by Gods appointment for the rule of their faith and obedience and to that onely they were stedfastly to cleave And Paul in Acts 24. vers 14. in his owne defence before Felix speakes thus This I confesse unto thee that after the way which they call heresie so worship I the God of my fathers believing all things in the Law and the Prophets The written word was the ground of his faith he continued stedfastly in the doctrine of the Prophets and taught all men so to doe proving and confirming his doctrine out of the holy Sciptures of the Prophets and convincing the Jewes out of them from morning to evening Acts 28. ver 23. And in Acts 26. ver 22. Witnessing saith the Apostle both to small and great saying no other things than those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come Nothing but Scripture and the doctrine contained in them was the foundation of both the true Jewish and Christian Church And Apollos a man eloquent and mighty in the Scripture used the same way of teaching Acts 18. vers 28. who shewed by the Scriptures that Jesus was that Christ And Paul to the Thessalonians in the first Epistle chap. 5. vers 19 20. Quench not the spirit saith he despise not the Prophesies a thing worthy the noting after he had exhorted them to nourish in themselves the sparks of the Spirit of God kindled in them that they might not be deluded by any false spirit or conceive they had the Spirit when they had it not he ties them to the rule by which they should try the Spirits whether they be of God or not and that rule was the Prophesies of the old Testament and the studying of them As much as if he had said to the Thessalonians nourish daily within you all the graces of knowledge and wisdome the Spirit of God hath bestowed upon you and increase more and more in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus saying Quench not the Spirit and that you may the better increase in knowledge and abound in all gifts and graces and the truth and that ye may not be led away with any deceiving spirit and vaine delusion instead of true illumination after the manner of many enthusiasts who dreame of new inspirations new lights regulate your whole illumination and your spirit and knowledge according unto the written prophesies of the old Testament follow them and you cannot erre therefore saith he despise not the prophesies but by them try all things and keepe that which is good and agreeable to them and whatsoever is not agreeable to them is a meere delusion and not the true Spirit who is ever like it selfe and therefore he ties them to the prophesies of the old Testament as well as to the Scriptures of the new So Saint Peter in his second Epistle chap. 1. vers 19. We have also a more sure word of the Prophets saith he to the which ye doe well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a darke place untill the day dawne and the day-starre arise in our hearts Here the holy Apostle Peter ties all Christians as well to the written Word of the old as to the Scriptures of the new This written Word was the foundation of the Church of the Jewes and
particular motions of men or by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost that is we know and are most assured whatsoever they declared either viva voce and by word or whatsoever they spake by writing for God speakes unto his people by his Prophets both by voyce and writing as is apparent through the whole Scripture Isaia 45.19 All that saith he we known was by Divine inspiration and by the counsaile command and dictate of the holy Ghost and therefore must be more sure then all Traditions because they are Gods commands and writ of purpose for the direction of the people and not accidentally which will yet more cleerly appeare if we consider some other places of holy writ Deut. 30 Where Moses exhorting the people if they would avoid all Gods curses and procure his blessings and provide for their own eternall good and happinesse that they should obey the voyce of the Lord and doe all his Commandements which are written in the booke of the Law vers 10. Here first he setteth downe what voyce of God they should heare and what Commandements they should yeeld obedience unto and that was to the written voyce of God and the written Commandements which are written saith he in the Booke of the Law not to the Traditions of men and affirmes that they were written for this purpose that they might not run wandering about from place to place as men uncertaine what was the will pleasure and commands of God for they were written to this end that they might alwayes have them by them and in their sight for the guide and direction of their obedience both towards God and towards their Neighbour for this Commandement saith he which I command thee this day is not hid from thee neither is it farre off it is not in Heaven that thou shouldest say Who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring it us and cause us to heare it that we may do it neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldest say Who shall goe over the Sea for us and bring it us and cause us to heare it that we may doe it But the Word is very neare unto thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart for to do it vers 11 12 13. It is written saith he and it was written to this end that they might not be seduced by erronious opinions and carried about to the worshipping of other Gods and serving of them as this Chapter sheweth and all the other holy Scriptures and therefore was written not accidentally and by occasion but by Gods owne command and inspiration And Paul in Rom. 10. confirmeth the same vers 6.7 and in the fourth Ch. of the same Epistle vers 21.22 shewing the end and reason why the holy Scriptures were written he saith it was not written for Abrahams sake alone that it was imputed but for us also c. for the comfort of all the sonnes and daughters of Abraham signifying unto all believers and the deare servants of God that God had as great a care that they should be taught aright how to please him as Abaham the father of all the faithfull was and withall that he was the same God now he was then not changeable for his service and spirituall worship but if that they would obey him and believe in him without staggering and doubting as Abraham did and follow his commands they should be blessed with Father Abraham and for this very end saith the Apostle was the Scripture written by Gods owne appointment and not accidentally As in the 15 chapter and the fourth verse Where he declareth whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope In these words is set down both the reason and the end why they were penn'd viz. That through patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope that is that wee might by them learne patience in all sufferings and be comforted in our greatest calamities in seeing and reading what God hath done to his suffering servants in all ages and how hee was with them in all their tribulations and was afflicted in all their afflictions and how the Angel of his presence saved them and how in his love and in his piety he redeemed them and bare them and carried them all their dayes Isa 63. vers 9. The Saints by seeing what God had done and by reading how that he carried his people through and over all difficulties and that his Angels have ever beene their guard and knowing that God is still the same in all loving kindnesse to them that feare him they are comforted and attaine to more hope and confidence in God and for this end was the Scripture written by Gods appoyntment and by the inspiration of his holy Spirit and not accidentally and by the will of men but as they were moved by God himselfe and received the Word from his mouth as all the Prophets did Ezek. 3. vers 17. And in the tenth of the first of the Cor. vers 11. speaking of the judgements of God that fell upon evill doers and wicked and ungodly men and such as provoke God by their sinfull courses he saith Now all these things happened unto them for examples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come Here we see God had an end why they should be written which was upon counsell and deliberation in God himselfe for the admonition of his people and for the instructing and teaching of them to take heed of all evill courses and wicked wayes if they would avoid his displeasure and enjoy his favour and protection and therefore the holy Scriptures now pend by Divine inspiration and Heavenly command for this very end and not by the will of man accidentally Innumerable more proofes to this purpose might be produced to prove that the Scriptures were not accidentally but of purpose written for the good of all men and for the preserving of them from error and that they might not be carried about with every wind of Doctrine and the vaine traditions of men and be led by uncertainties But I will content my selfe with one proofe more and so conclude this my first argument to prove that the Scripture was not accidentally written and by the will of man Luk. 1. vers 3.4 It seemed good to me also saith S. Luke having had perfect understanding of all things from the first to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus that thou mayest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast beene instructed Here are three things worthy of observation the first that he had a perfect understanding and true information of the things he wrote as having received them from eye-witnesses and such as were without exception being Christs Ministers and such as would not lie or relate untruths the second thing observable is that he hath
should be a rule of our faith and manners and that it is the very Word of God and his lively Oracles as having the testimony of Christ himselfe Luke 24 Luke 16. John 5. and many other places and Saint Paul Rom. 3. and Saint Peter in his second Epistle chap. 3. v. 15 16. confirmes the authenticality of St. Pauls Epistles and of all the holy Scriptures and affirmes that they were written for the comfort and benefit of all the faithfull and commands them to make them the rule and guide of their faith and manners which if they doe he promiseth them that they shall not be led away by the errour of the wicked and from their owne stedfaâ—â—nesse but that they shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus which is his prayer that they might do and it is and shall be my earnest prayer for you also Mr. Montague that the Lord would open your eyes and that you may see your errours and renounce them and at last believe that the holy Scriptures are Gods very Word and were writ by his speciall command and are to be the rule of our fath and manners and by the which we shall be judged at the last day And this shall suffice to have spoke concerning this point Now I come to prove that the holy Scriptures are not obscure and darke but cleare and perspicuous in all things that concerne salvation David in the 19. Psal ver 7 8. The Law of the Lord saith he is perfect converting the soule The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The Statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart the Commandement of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes Here are two things Master Montague confirmed by David who wrote by the Spirit of God which cannot erre the first is that the Law of the Lord is perfect and converting the soule and making wise the simple the second that it is cleare illuminating the eyes What Blasphemy then is it in the Church of Rome to accuse the whole Scripture not onely of imperfection but of darknesse and obscurity Yea what else is it but to give the Holy Ghost the lie who saith that the holy Scripture is not onely perfect but illuminating and enlightning the eyes And in Psalm 119. v. 103. Thy Word saith he is a Lampe unto my feet and a light to my waies And in the 130 verse The entrance of thy Word saith he giveth light it giveth understanding to the simple So that there are none Master Montague that will not turne their backe upon this Lampe but may see the light of it And in Proverb 1. ver 2 3 4 5. among the praises of the holy Word he saith That it giveth subtilty to the simple and to the young man knowledge and discretion And in the 6. chap. ver 23. he saith That the Commandement is a Lampe and the Law is light And in chap. 8. ver 8 9. All the words of my mouth saith he are in righteousnesse c. they are all plaine to him that understandeth and right to them that find knowledge Infinite places to this purpose might be cited but I will content my selfe onely with two more out of the New Testament 2 Cor. 4. v. 3 4. If our Gospell saith the Apostle be hid it is hid to them that are lost to whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ who is the image of God should shine into them Take notice Mr. Montague that as the Sunne though it shineth forth never so gloriously and in all its greatest brightnesse yet the blind see never the more in like manner though the holy Scripture be never so cleare and perspicuous in all things necessary to salvation yet the unbelievers and incredulous whose eyes the God of this world hath blinded they can neither see nor comprehend the light of them St. Peter in his second Epistle chap. 1. v. 19. We have also saith he a more sure word of Prophesie whereunto you doe well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a darke place untill the day dawne and the Day-starre arise in your hearts If the holy Apostle Peter compares the writings of the Old Testament to a light and the Scripture of the New Testament unto the Day-starre what wickednesse then is it Mr. Montague in the Church of Rome to accuse all the holy Scriptures of obscurity and darknesse and to make them the cause of all errours and heresies and of all confusions I will now Mr. Montague briefly prove that the people ought to read the holy Scriptures and that it is their duty to study them diligently and that it is a great and insufferable injury and wrong done to them by the Church of Rome to take the Scriptures out of their hands and to prohibite the reading of them for in that they like the Scribes Pharisees and Lawyers take away from them the Key of knowledge and the meanes of their salvation Luke 11. v. 52. contrary to the command of God and Christs precept who was the onely Prophet of his Church whom we are bound to heare and obey in all things Matth. 3. Matth. 17. This Master Montague I will first doe and then come to the point The Lord after that he had proclaimed his Law unto the people and writ it with his owne hand commanded all the people carefully to observe to doe according to that he had taught them and that they might the better remember it he enjoynes them to keepe it in their hearts and to write it upon the Posts of their houses and on their gates the words are these Deut. 6. ver 6 7 8 9 All these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talke of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up And thou shalt bind them for a signe upon thy hand and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house and on the gates And in the 11. chapter of the same booke he reiterates the same command vers 18 19 20. Therefore saith the Lord shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soule and bind them for a signe upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes And ye shall teach them your children speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way when thou liest downe and when thou risest up and thou shalt write them upon the doore posts of thine house and upon thy gates Here is precept upon precept as if the Lord could never have spoke enough unto the people to stir them up to the diligent learning and studying of his holy Lawes and all for
Chap. 3. vers 16.17 saith Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all Wisdome teaching and admonishing one another in Psalmes and hymnes and spirituall songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever yee do in word or deede do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him words Mr. Montague worthy of serious consideration The Apostle sayes not let the Word of God be received into your Families and be sure you have it among your Bookes that you may now and then reade it but saith he let it dwell in you let it be in your hearts and reside there and let it dwell richly in your hearts not in a poore and beggerly manner content not your selves only with the knowledge of some parts of it and storyes of it but be furnished with the full knowledge of all the holy Scriptures that like the good Scribe you may be ever able and ready to bring out of the old and new Treasury that is out of all the old and new Testament the sweete and comfortable promises and gracious instructions by which you may alwayes be able in all conditions to support and comfort your selves and teach and instruct others and let it be your rule and direction for the ordering of your thoughts words and actions that whatsoever you do in word or deede you may doe all in the name of the Lord Jesus all according to his will that you may with rejoycing call upon his name for his speciall assistance and blessing upon what you either do or goe about which you with boldnesse and assurance of being heard may doe if you do that which is good and according to his will and word and therefore be sure you do nothing neither secretly nor openly that you have not a warrant for out of Gods Word and in the doing of the which you may never be ashamed though all the World did see you which you shall never be if you follow the direction of the Word of God and continually set the rule of his Law before your eyes and have it written in your heart which will ever teach you that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of our lives Lu. 1. vers 74.75 These are the imployments of Christians holinesse and righteousnesse before him in Gods presence not for a time but all the dayes of our lives universall and constant obedience to be holy in all manner of conversation is required of Christians by the Law of God 1 Pet. 1. and that yee may be alwayes thus imployed and taken up and teach and admonish others concerning their duty and speake the Oracles of God 1 Pet. 4. vers 11. Let the Word of God saith he dwell in you richly let it alwayes cohabit with you and reside in your soule that you may live by faith and die with comfort and therefore doe nothing contrary unto this blessed Word and grieve not the holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed unto the day of Redemption Ephes 4. vers 30. Mr. Montague I shall now intreate you a little to consider with your selfe and examine how the Church of Rome obeyes these-precepts and commands of God and of the great Prophet and of the blessed Apostle and whether or no by her disobedience and Rebellion shee deservedly hath not lost the Title of a true Church which by S. Paul first of Tim. 3. is called the ground and Pillar of truth in that every true Church putteth not the Candle and light of the Word under a Bushell but setteth it up and holdeth it forth maintaines and defendeth it and offereth it to the view and hearing of every one But doth the Church of Rome this Mr. Montague Nay doth shee not take the Word of God the everlasting Gospell out of the hands of the people and deprive them of that Key of knowledge and punish the reading of it with severest cruelty and the but having of it in their houses in the vulgar Tongue with the Inquisition and death Christ our Prophet sayth Search the Scriptures S. Paul the Teacher of the Gentiles sayth Let the Word of God dwell in you richly c. And the Church of Rome prohibiteth the reading of the Scripture and is so farre from letting the Word of God dwell in the hearts of the people that shee will not permit them to have it in their houses How then is she I pray you the ground and pillar of Truth when shee is the mother of error and confusion for our Saviour in the 22 of Matthew sayth Yee erre not knowing the Scriptures That Church then that taketh away the Scriptures from the People is no true Church but an erroneous and false Church Consider I pray what I say and suffer not your selfe to be deluded But I will go on a little farther to shew the wickednesse and sacrilegious dealing of the Church of Rome in this point and how farre shee is gone from both the precepts of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all the holy Apostles and from the example and practice of all the Primitive Christians whose examples in all well-doing wee are bound to follow Christ in Luke 11. vers 28. sayth Blessed are they which heare the Word of God and keepe it If they be blessed that heare the Word of God and keepe it then they also are no lesse blessed that reade the Word of God and keepe it So saith S. John Revel 1. chap. 3. Blessed is he that readeth and they that heare the words of this Prophecy and keepe those things that are written therein for the time is at hand If our Saviour Christ and his blessed Apostles were upon the earth men and women would desire to heare their Sermons What a wickednesse and sacriledge thâ—n is it in the Church of Rome to hinder the people of blessednesse and to keepe them from happinesse and life eternall when they will not let them read the Sermons Christ and his Apostles preached unto the people What will they be able to answer to the righteous Judge of the whole World at the last day for their unrighteous and unâ—ust dealing in robbing the poore people of the Word of Life S. Peter saith 2 Epiâ—t chap. 1. vers 19. Wee have a more sure Word of prophesy to which you dâ—e well to take heed as to a light in a darke place Here S. Peter prayses and commends those that reade the holy prophets and his pretended successor the Pope hee blames those that reade the Gospell and punisheth with fire and faggot those that have either Law or Gospell in their houses What thinke you Mr. Montague of this businesse Tell mee ingenuously the next time I see you what you thinke of your father the Pope whether hee be not as honest a Genleman as ever went over a house Now I pray looke upon the practice
a very Angel from Heaven and all this Master Montague I shall prove by the following testimonies of holy Scripture and then I will conclude expecting the performance of your promise and your returne to your mother the Church of England whom you have without any due reason formerly deserted I shall therefore gather up all the proofes that have here and there been occasionally set downe in the foregoing Treatise and adde some other to them and that in good order that so you may have them all presented to your view at once for the confirming of this truth that the holy Scriptures are the onely rule of our faith obedience and manners and that we ought onely to cleave unto them And I will begin with the old Testament first out of the which heare what Moses saith Deut. 4. v. 2. Ye shall not adde saith the Lord unto the Word which I command you neither shall you diminish ought from it that you may keepe the Commandement of the Lord your God which I command you And in chap. 5. ver 32. Yee shall observe to doe therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you you shall not turne aside to the right hand or to the left And Chap. 12. ver 32. What thing soever I command you observe to doe it Thou shalt not adde thereto nor diminish from it And Proverb 30. ver 6. Adde not thou to his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a lyer Out of all which words these two conclusions necessarily follow the first that the holy Scriptures were the onely rule that the people of God in Moses his time were tied unto and from the which they ought not to decline or swarve either to the right hand or to the left The second thing that the Scriptures then had no need of the Traditions of men for the making of them a compleat rule for all men were forbidden either to adde unto them or diminish from them And if the holy Scriptures in Moses his time were the rule of direction unto all Israel and unto the which they were precisely tied in regard of its perfection then after the writings of the Prophets and the writings of the Apostles have beene joyned and annexed to the bookes of Moses we may truely conclude that the Scriptures now containing all those things in them the knowledge and faith of which is necessary to salvation are not only a perfect rule but that likewise we are still under the same command bound and tied to make the written Word of the old and new Testament the rule of our faith and manners and that onely For the hypotheticall connexion it is manifest and cleare not only from the identity of the Word of God but from the multitude of the bookes that were afterward penned and written both as well by the holy Prophets as the blessed Apostles as hath abundantly been proved in the precedent discourse for the Assumption it is sufficiently proved by the places above quoted Now Master Montague if the Papists shall affirme that these places cited by Moses are not to be restrained to the Word of God written by him they shall not onely oppose the truth it selfe but fight against the very light of reason and deny innumerable other expresse Texts of Scripture all which doe manifestly preclude and hinder them from all waies of evasion For in Exod. 24. ver 4. it is said that Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And Deut. 31. ver 9. Moses wrote this Law And Deut. 28. ver 58. If thou wilt not observe to doe all the words of this Law that are written in this booke that thou mayst feare this glorious and fearefull Name the Lord thy God And Paul in Acts 24. I believe saith he all things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets And in Deut. 29. v. 19. And it come to passe when he heareth the words of this curse that he blesse himselfe in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walke in the imagination of mine heart to adde drunkennesse to thirst the Lord shall not spare him but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this booke shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven And in the 30 chap. ver 10. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keepe his Commandements and his Statutes which are written in this booke of the Law From all which places and many more that might be produced it is manifest that the Word of God of which Moses speakâ—th is to be understood of the writings of Moses and that it is not to be expounded or drawne to any unwritten Traditions delivered by Moses viva voce and therefore that the written word by Moses was onely to be the rule which all Israel were tied to for the ordering of their faith lives and manners and that all Christians at this day are much more tied and bound to cleave onely to the written Word of God in the old and new Testament Which will yet be far more evident from Deut. 4. ver 18 19 20. and from Joshua 1. ver 7 8. In both which places we see that the Kings and Rulers themselves are tied to the written Word and are enjoyned to make that the rule of their lives and actions and are commanded to meditate in it night and day and to rule and governe according to the same without declining from it either to the right hand or to the left And Joshua also in Chap. 23. ver 6. sendeth the people to the written Word saying Be ye therefore very couragious to keepe and doe all that is written in the booke of the Law of Moses that ye turne not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left This written Word was to be the rule of direction unto all the people no humane Traditions Master Montague David likewise sent all the people and his sonne Solomon to the Law of the Lord and commanded that they should both seeke and keepe all the Commandements of the Lord their God the 1 of Chron. 28. v. 8 9. and in Psal 19. v. 9. Wherewith saith he shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy Word We see here David directeth all men to the Word of God to the written Law affirming if they will observe that that they shall preserve themselves from errour and all manner of pollutions And in vers 19. I am a stranger in the earth saith he hide not thy Commandements from me If those therefore that are strangers and pilgrims on the earth desire to finde the right way to Heaven and to be kept from by-waies then let them follow Davids example and pray unto God that he would not hide his Commandements from them for the Commandements are able to direct them thither for they are the waies that God hath appointed men
to walke in for the attaining unto eternall happinesse they are the rule that all men are to be guided by and therefore he proclaimeth him blessed that delighteth in the Law of the Lord and doth meditate in it night and day Psal 1. Solomon likewise in Prov. 3. v. 1 2 3. and in Prov. 6. v. 20 21 22 23. and in many other places sendeth his sonne and all the people to the Law of the Lord for the rule of their lives and manners saying My sonne keepe thy fathers commandement and forsake not the law of thy mother Bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy necke when thou goest it shall lead thee and when thou sleepest it shall keepe thee and when thou awakest it shall talke with thee For the Commandement is a Lampe and the Law is light and reproofes of instruction are the way of life And in Eccles 12. v. 13. Let us heare saith he the conclusion of the whole matter Feare God and keepe his Commandements for this is the whole duty of man By all which places it appeareth that the holy Prophets made the written Word of God and that onely the rule of their lives and manners and commanded all people to have ever recourse unto that and that onely for the square to order their lives by And the Prophet Isaiah in the 8. v. 20. To the Law and to the Testimony saith he if they spake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them There was no other rule Mr. Montague knowen to the Prophets for the directing of the people how to serve God and to which they were tied but the Law and Testimonies the written Word and if under the Law they were ever to have recourse unto the Scripture and nothing in matter of faith was to be received which was not contained in the Scripture it was then a perfect rule and the onely rule by which they were to be guided and much more now Mr. Montague ought we to content our selves with the Word of God and to make that the onely rule of our faith and manners and of all our doctrines when the doctrine of the Gospell also written by the Apostles and Evangelists is joyned unto the Law the which hath also fully explained the meaning of all those hidden mysteries and shadowes and brought us into the cleare sunshine of all truths and hath indeed taught us the way the truth and the life The Prophet Jeremiah also in the 6 chap. vers 16. Thus saith the Lord Stand yee in the wayes and see and aske for the old pathes where is the good way and walke therein and yee shall finde rest unto your soules Here the Prophet sends them to the Law and the Testimony that old way and tells them the benefit that will accrue unto them by following his counsell viz. That by it they shall finde rest unto their soules And the Prophet Malachi 4. vers 4. Remember yee saith he the Law of Moses my servant which I commanded him in Horeb for all Jsrael with the statutes and judgments The Law of Moses and the Prophets was the rule Mr. Montague that all Israel was tied unto as that which was an absolute and perfect rule of direction from which they were bound not to swarve and which had no neede of any Traditions for the compleating of it much more now is it a perfect rule when the Gospell is annexed to it and therefore all Christians ought to make the old and new Testament the sole rule of their faith and manners and by all these precepts they are commanded and many more to cleave onely unto it But now Master Montague let us see what precepts and directions wee finde layd downe unto us in the New Testament that by the mouth of both these Witnesses the Truth of God may yet more fully be confirmed In Matthew 17. vers 51. And behold a voyce out of the clouds which said This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased heare you him And Acts 3. vers 22 23. For Moses truly said unto the Fathers A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise unto you of your brethren like unto mee him shall ye heare in all things whatsoever hee shall say unto you and it shall come to passe that every soule that will not heare that Prophet shall be destroyed from the people Here are two things Mr. Montague observable first a command viz. that we should heare Christ that Prophet the Lord our God should raise up Secondly the danger that would insue if we heard him not viz. destruction for that is pronounced against those that do not heare him Now let us take notice how he teacheth us John 5. vers 39. Search the Scriptures saith he Here our great Prophet Mr. Montague sendeth us onely to the Scriptures he makes them the onely rule which wee are to follow And in Luke 16. in the person of Abraham hee sendeth all men to Moses and the Prophets vers 29. they have Moses and the Prophets saith he let them heare them This Mr. Montague was the old way to salvation where men might finde rest for their soules Moses and the Prophets and thither doth Christ the onely Prophet of his Church send all men to the holy Scriptures and to the Doctrines contained in them as the absolute and compleat rule that all the Christians are for ever tied to and out of the Scriptures and them onely did Christ confirme all his preaching as is evident out of Luke 24. and many other places averring that the people erred not knowing the Scriptures Mat. 22. The Apostles likewise in all their Sermons and Writings did the same and inoyned all Christians to cleave unto the holy Scriptures and to make them onely the rule of their faith and manners as by the places following do most cleerly appeare Paul in the 16 of the Rom. v. 17.18 Now I beseech you brethren saith he marke them which cause division and offences contrary unto the doctrine yee have received and avoyd them for they that are such serve not our Lord Iesus Christ but their owne belly and by good words and faire speeches deceive the hearts of the simple Here the holy Apostle ties the Romans unto the doctrine they had received and which he writ unto them and forbids them to have any communication with any members of that Church that should teach contrary unto that Doctrine they had received for they that are such saith he serve not our Lord Jesus Christ All therefore Mr. Montague that teach any Doctrine contrary unto the written word swarve from the truth and are not by the Apostles command to be communicated with and therefore the written Word must be the onely rule of our direction And in the 4 of the 1 of Cor. vers 6. Hee commands them not to be wise above that that is written tying them ever to the doctrine that is set down in the written Word and in that