yet fulfilled In the 12 of Daniel where the end of the world is prophesied it is said that then there shall be such a time of trouble as was not since there began to be a nation untill that time And in the sixth and seventh verses where question is moved of the time and durance of this trouble the angell sware by him that liveth for ever that it should be for a time times and an half that is to say for three yeares and an half and after this it is said in the text And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people that is to say when Antiochus hath made an end of oppressing the Jews and Antichrist of treading down the holy citie among the Christians then all these things shall be finished that is to say then shall be an end of the Jews persecutions and then shall be an end of the Christians oppressions when the world shall end and the day of resurrection come With this consenteth the threefold cable of prophesies in S. Johns Revelation The first of the blowing of the sixth trumpet in the ninth chapter where the foure angels bound at Euphrates were loosed to slay the third part of men And the horsemen of warre were twenty thousand times ten thousand which multitude as M. Fox saith agreeth best with the Turks armies The second of pouring out of the sixth viall in the sixteenth chapter where Euphrates is seen to be dried up that the way for the kings of the east might be prepared that is that the Scythians or Tartars might joyn with the Beast and the false Prophet in the battell of that great day of God Almightie And the third of the loosing of Satan in the twentieth chapter to gather Gog and Magog together that is the Turks and Tartars with the people of the foure quarters of the earth whose number shall be like the sand of the sea to compasse the camp of the saints about and the beloved citie which is the Church and the Christians And that this great warre is to be understood of Antichrists warre in the end of the world it is apparent both from the testimonie of interpreters and specially from the evidence of scriptures and the effects following For the interpreters I will use one for all which is S. Augustine in the 20 book of the citie of God and 11 chapter This shall be the last persecution when the last judgement shall hang over our heads which the holy Church through the world shall suffer that is the whole citie of Christ from the whole citie of the devil For the scriptures in the 24 of Matthew we reade that immediately after the tribulation of those dayes the sunne shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the starres shall fall and after this the Sonne of man shall come in the clouds with power and great glorie In the 10 of the Apocalyps after the blowing of the sixth trumpet and the warre ended the mightie Angel that is Christ lift up his hand to heaven and swore that time should be no more and that in the dayes of the voice of the seventh trumpet which S. Paul calleth the last trumpet and the trumpet of God the mysterie of God should be finished In the 16. chapter after the pouring out of the sixth vial and the warre ended the seventh angel poured out his into the aire and there came a loud voice out of the temple of heaven and from the thrane saying It is done And the isles fled away and the mountains were not found Lastly in the 20 chapter after the gathering together of Gog and Magog after they had compassed the camp of the saints and the beloved citie after they had had their full pleasure over them then fire fell down from heaven upon them the devil the beast and the false prophet were cast into a lake of fire and brimstone the white throne was set up the books were opened and the dead were judged All these testimonies being testimonies of the last warres shew them to be Antichrists warres because they jump together with the abomination of desolation in Matth. 24. 15. and with S. Johns saying Little children it is the last time and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time Hitherto we have seen the intestine and civill warres of Christians as yet we have not seen the troups of the Ottomans we have not seen Gog and Magog the Scythian nations we have not seen the kings of the whole world gathered together by the three spirits of the dragon the beast and the false prophet we have not seen the armie whose number imitateth the sand of the sea as yet they have not spread the breadth of the earth as yet they have not compassed the camp of the saints as yet the Beast hath not imprinted his character upon us but we use our libertie we buy and sell great thanks be to our God Therefore as yet that great Antichrist is not come but we look for him to resist him in the faith and to overcome him with suffering What if he handle us as Antiochus handled the mother and the seven brethren if he kill us in the morning shall not our souls be crowned with joy in the evening shall not he for whom we suffer take away the edge of our pains is not the death of the sword shorter and easier then the death of the bed and is not the weight of the recompense above all rewards would not a man runne through a river of bloud to go to a kingdome oh this shall be the joyfullest suffering that ever was seen because our Lord Jesus shall come from heaven in person to make an end of it and to crown it When ye see these things begin to come to passe saith our Redeemer lift up your heads for your redemption draweth neare And again Know that the kingdome of God is neare even at the doores Wherefore we will not faint at Antichrists great looks nor at the multitude of his armies nor at the crueltie of his souldiers For though at first he get the field of us yet in the end the victorie and triumph shall be ours when that man of sinne shall be consumed with the spirit of Christs mouth and destroyed with the brightnesse of his coming when all his armies shall be gathered into Armageddon where were slain the kings of Canaan and into the valley of Hamon-Gog where they shall be buried to free the holy nation from their stink for ever Wherefore rejoyce ye Christians of a true heart for the overthrow is determined and the place of buriall is appointed before the enemie come Antichrists furniture Vers. 9. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders Hitherto we have
veniunt qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lectores habeat judicio graves Non praejudicii quos malesana mens Raptos turbine latura per invias Ignotas aliis sibi sit vias Non hîc quae metuat saxa Capharea Erroris scopuli per mare turbidum Incertis animi fluctibus appetens Coelestem trepidus navita patriam Hîc sincera Patrum dogmata veritas Non fucata suis nuda coloribus Hîc Templi decor hîc unica numine Summo relligio digna per improbam Gentis sacrilegae saepius ô scelus Subnervata fidem Non neglecta Fides spreta Scientia Spes calcata trias nobilis inclyta Quin hîc ut decuit regia Charitas Primas obtinuit Caetera non loquar Quae fundata sacris omnia literis Sustentata Patrum munific â manu Felici liber hic praebeat alite Rich. Watson Caio-Gon Ad eos qui Authorem pro novatore sunt habituri NOn nova fert veterum satur at provectior annis Scit veterum facies queis fuit esse nova Idem De conjunctione amoris fidei in Tractatu de charitate piè vindicata QUae bis quina fuêre priùs praecepta feruntur Ad duo lex jubet haec haec facit unus amor Quin ergò quid summa fides cluet una triumphat Servit amor fidei nec comes esse queat Justificat beat una fides facit omnia quid non Credam ego factura haec si siet una fides At fidei nisi juncta foret dilectio fallor Aut haec vana foret si foret ulla fides Quae dum dissociant alii Shelforde beato En tuus in patriam foedere junxit amor In patriam dixi felix Ecclesia nexu Hoc quae per duo sic juncta fit una simul Idem ¶ To the Authour concerning his learned and pious Treatise of Gods house RIch soul and blest for so I dare go on To voice that man whose life 's religion Who fears not to be good gives God his due In this our age and in the Temple too Who scorns these lothsome times and dares learn us To be lesse bold lesse superstitious Not to make God a man joyn heav'n with earth Use him familiarly who gave us birth Nor man a God by following praising such Who neither pray nor preach yet teach they much Lord when I view our Temples which now be Ruin'd by time beauties worst enemie Or rather by neglect crumbling to dust Can I perswade my self or may I trust Those ancient Fathers those pure Saints should then Fables or fruitlesse stories write ev'n when They praise yea blesse their founders and condemne Their puft up Catharists those chair-preaching men Can I conceive S. Pauls expression weak Not like himself when thus I heare him speak Ye are Gods Temples Did th' Apostle mean Our clay-like houses should be kept unclean All cobwebd o're with vices that a lust Should there inhabit and that it should rust The Berill Jasper Amethyst those three Celestiall graces Faith Hope Charitie Or when the Priest the soul must sacrifice A comely Altar should he then despise A pure well furnisht heart must not the place Be hung with well knit vertues where blest grace Resides Yes sure and he whoe're hath done The contrary dilapidation Of that Temple shall to his charge be laid Because his body Gods house thus decayd Now as these walking churches must be drest And purg'd from filth by all as well as Priest So must the other that 's Gods Temple too Though made with hands which carelesly if thou Profane demolish or perhaps abridge That of its honour 't is proud sacriledge Reader no more That God may have his due Turn o're this book and it will teach thee how E. Gower Coll. Jesu Soc. Raptim De hoc opere verè Orthodoxo in Novatores DOgmata qui fingunt novitatis rara supremae Quà m facili applausu nullóque examine cudunt Quin si fortè Patrum sancita ad prela propinquant Dente Theonino lacerant probrisque lacessunt Rodere sic solitus maledictis Zoile castum Relligionis opus calcans mysteria coeli Antiquanda doces veterum monumenta cremanda Tu Shelforde tuum noli curare libellum Novimus hoc omnes te posse problemata sacra Edere non virus malesanae effundere linguae Hinc mea si tantum possint mandata valere I liber invidiâ major victórque triumpha Intimi amoris ergô exoptat R. LONDON A SERMON Shevving How we ought to behave our selves in Gods house PSALME 93. 6. Holinesse becometh thy house O LORD for ever OUt of this Text I must undertake three great tasks The first to shew what Gods house is because this is the subject of my Text. The second to shew what God is because he is the owner of it The third to shew what is that holinesse and behaviour which becometh this house and the owner For the first I must follow holy Scripture in describing of it Gods house began with an Altar as all creatures arise from small seeds built in the place where God appeared to Abraham the father of the faithfull Gen. 12. 7. And the Lord appeared to Abraham and said Unto thy seed will I give this land and there builded he an Altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him In the eighth verse following it is said that he built another and called upon the name of the Lord. With this consent were our churches built where God appeareth to us by his word read and preached Secondly by the Sacrament of the Altar as it is called by the fathers and styled so in our own statute laws in which the sacrifice of our Lord Christ is remembred and represented unto his Father Thirdly by promise of salvation and the kingdome of heaven And lastly by prayer in which God is called on according to that of Isaiah 56. 7. My house shall be called the house of prayer From hence appeareth that the Altar is the principall part of Gods house as being the cause and originall of all the rest Secondly Gods house is described in Gen. 28. by a stone of which in the plurall number an house is made and by a ladder whose top reached up to heaven as Jacob upon the stone dreamed the angels went up and down by it and from thence the Lord spake to Jacob and when Jacob awoke he said This is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven From whence we are taught that seeing Gods house is both Scala coeli and Janua coeli The ladder of heaven and the gate of heaven and that the angels use it therefore we also should use and respect it as the ordinarie and beaten way to that blessed place Thirdly as Gods house is here described by a dream so in Exod. 3. it is described by a vision the second mean of Gods appearing to the holy nation according to that of Joel Your old
infinitie from the capacitie of the receiver Thus that is infinite which cannot be comprehended or received of any Therefore of Athanasius in his Creed God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incomprehensibilis Further God is infinite because he is not compounded of matter and form for that which is in any matter is contracted and determined by its matter but God because he made all matter and forms is beyond all matter and forms he comprehends them but they cannot comprehend him he onely therefore is infinite All greater orbs receive within and under them the lesse but God being the first and largest essence comprehending all things under him cannot be received totally of any inferiour therefore he must be infinite and incomprehensible That which hath no bounds nor borders must be infinite but Almightie God hath no bounds because nothing bordereth upon him and there is nothing above him to confine him He hath no adjacent no equall no corrivall for this cause the Logicians will not entertain him into any Predicament but put him alone by himself in the Transcendent mounting above all things for though he may be apprehended of his inferiour yet he cannot be comprehended of his compeer And this his incomprehensivenesse and transcendencie we shew first in regard of his understanding and will secondly in regard of motion thirdly in regard of place fourthly in regard of time In regard of understanding will because at one act and instant he understandeth all things at the same act and instant he willeth all things His understanding never preventeth his will and his will is never subsequent to his understanding because they have both but one present esse incomprehensible His act is never abrupt but alwaies one and permanent therefore he onely is the true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose act end and perfection is alwaies in himself In regard of motion Dionysius saith Nec stat nec movetur He standeth not because he is alwaies moving his creatures and he is not moved because there is nothing to stirre him He is primus motor and if he move not all things lie asleep In regard of place he is incomprehensible for that he is every where and no where He is every where where there is a place and he is no where where there is no place and he must be in no place because no place can contain him Every where speaks finite because all places are created but no where speaks infinite because it is not created And though he be no where yet he is not out of himself therefore he himself is infinite Lastly in respect of time he is infinite for that he had no beginning and because he had no beginning therefore he can have no ending à relatis He hath neither terminum à quo nor terminum ad quem therefore in time also he is infinite And this infinitenesse in God is that which will suffer no man to see him as in himself he is No man shall see me and live saith God Therefore when the Saints stood before God they fell down upon their faces or else God held his hand before their faces as he did unto Moses The rest of Gods attributes his truth his goodnesse his mercie justice power and providence we may in some measure endure but his infinitie no creature can sustain because it hath no measure If we look to the antecedent of Gods eternitie after the first or second prospect the raies of our mindes eyes are broken if we look to the sequent after our sight is reflected from the heavens we can see no further further then the walls we cannot go If we look but upon the image of his infinitie which is his works and his waies our eyes begin to dazle Peter cried out at the draught of fishes Lord go from me for I am a sinfull man and Paul cried out O the depth both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Lastly Job saith He doth great things and unsearchable yea marvellous things without number When he goeth by me I see him not when he passeth by I perceive him not Lastly here the plausible description of Trismegistus affirming God to be a sphere whose centre is every where and whose circumference is no where holdeth better with a metaphor of the creatures residence in God then with any formall veritie or reason of infinitie because every where hath relation to place which is finite for that it is created but in God there is nothing finite If therefore we will assigne a centre to the infinite we must extend it beyond every where because the centre must be proportionate to the circumference but in God there is no proportion because he is all infinite therefore as his circumference is no where so his centre in proper speech must be no where too To which we may applie the doctrine of Dionysius in his book of mysticall Theologie cap. 4. Veriùs subtiliùs omnia de Deo negari quà m affirmari Consectarie The consectarie use is that seeing God is above all our reach therefore we should never speak rashly or ex-tempore of him like bold Puritanes which many times rather babble then speak but with all reverence and maturity like sober Christians like to that of Solomon Be not rash with thy mouth nor let thy heart be hastie to utter a thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few Gods Eternitie The seventh and last attribute is Gods Eternitie and hath reference to time which is alwayes flowing and running and the further it goeth the more it getteth and the more it getteth the more it argueth its want and indigencie in that it needeth but eternitie as it can get nothing so it needeth nothing because it alwayes is and hath neither antecedent nor subsequent but is one individuall having no parts no more then Gods essence for to be is Gods eternitie Time hath parts the first the middle the last as it had a beginning so it shall have an ending Therefore time standeth within eternitie as an inferiour orb and eternitie is the supporter of it so long as it shall stand Time is the shadow of eternitie and eternitie the substance therefore time shall vanish with the shadow because it is following eternitie as the shadow follows the sunne but eternitie cannot vanish because it is a durable substance yea being it self Eternitie is one permanent instant not admitting division it alwayes was and cannot cease to be But here the question may be made that if God was ever before either time or place where then should God be The answer of Divines is that before the creation he was in himself Tertullian saith Ante omnia Deus erat solus ipse sibi mundus locus omnia solus autem quia nihil extrinsecus praeter illum Caeterùm nè tunc quidem
FIVE PIOVS AND LEARNED DISCOURSES 1. A Sermon shewing how we ought to behave our selves in Gods house 2. A Sermon preferring holy Charity before Faith Hope and Knowledge 3. A Treatise shewing that Gods Law now qualified by the Gospel of Christ is possible and ought to be fulfilled of us in this life 4. A Treatise of the Divine attributes 5. A Treatise shewing the Antichrist not to be yet come By ROBERT SHELFORD of Ringsfield in Suffolk Priest S. AUGUST in Evang. Joh. tract 18. Non natae sunt haereses perversitatis dogmata animas illaqueantia nisi dum scripturae bonae intelliguntur non bene quod ab eis non bene intelligitur etiam temere audacter asseritur Printed by the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge 1635. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD COVENTRY KNIGHT BARON OF ALSBOROUGH AND LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL OF ENGLAND AND TO HIS MOST VERTUOUS LADIE ROBERT SHELFORD MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF RINGSFIELD IN SUFFOLK DEVOTETH HIS BEST STUDIES AND SERVICE WITHOUT AMBAGES UNFIT FOR SUPERIOURS ¶ AD MATREM ACADEMIAM CANTABRIGIENSEM ALMA MATER Placeat reverentiis vestris hoc tenue meum semidecoctum munus aequilibrio vestro trutinare denuo decoquere Sic rusticantes nostrae Musae inter arbusta cum cicadis laudes vestras omni encomio majores ebuccinabunt Petrenses sancti juvate clavibus biblioclericum vestrum olim famosi Perni amanuensem Moynei Morisoni condiscipulum rei orbum desiderii in optimis opulentum mediocritatis sectatorem Nunc tandem sub ter gravi Magistri praecepto pascendi ejus oves clientelae vestrae me dedo Siquid dignè possim accipite dextré siquid minùs polité me lacernâ vestrâ donate Post imbres exeunt flores praeteritis ventis venit pax in aëre post noctes redeunt soles Quid dies sit pariturus favente Deo Uraniâque veritatis ac pietatis amicâ videamus Magna est veritas Soli similis in tenebris lucet Alexandri gladio succincta Gordii nexus resolvit Sectator vester humillimus in altissima scientia ROB. SHELFORD Upon the ensuing Treatises RIse then immortall maid Religion rise Put on thy self in thine own looks t' our eyes Be what thy beauties not our blots have made thee Such as ere our dark sinnes to dust betrayd thee Heav'n set thee down new drest when thy bright birth Shot thee like lightning to th' astonisht earth From th' dawn of thy fair eyelids wipe away Dull mists and melancholy clouds take day And thine own beams about thee bring the best Of what soe're perfum'd thy Eastern nest Girt all thy glories to thee then sit down Open this book fair Queen and take thy crown These learned leaves shall vindicate to thee Thy holyest humblest handmaid Charitie She 'l dresse thee like thy self set thee on high Where thou shalt reach all hearts command each eye Lo where I see thy Altars wake and rise From the pale dust of that strange sacrifice Which they themselves were each one putting on A majestie that may beseem thy throne The holy youth of heav'n whose golden rings Girt round thy awfull Altars with bright wings Fanning thy fair locks which the world beleeves As much as sees shall with these sacred leaves Trick their tall plumes and in that garb shall go If not more glorious more conspicuous tho Be it enacted then By the fair laws of thy firm-pointed pen Gods services no longer shall put on Pure sluttishnesse for pure religion No longer shall our Churches frighted stones Lie scatter'd like the burnt and martyr'd bones Of dead Devotion nor faint marbles weep In their sad ruines nor Religion keep A melancholy mansion in those cold Urns. Like Gods sanctuaries they lookt of old Now seem they Temples consecrate to none Or to a new God Desolation No more the hypocrite shall th' upright be Because he 's stiffe and will confesse no knee While others bend their knee no more shalt thou Disdainfull dust and ashes bend thy brow Nor on Gods Altar cast two scorching eyes Bak't in hot scorn for a burnt sacrifice But for a Lambe thy tame and tender heart New struck by love still trembling on his dart Or for two Turtle doves it shall suffice To bring a pair of meek and humble eyes This shall from henceforth be the masculine theme Pulpits and pennes shall sweat in to redeem Vertue to action that life-feeding flame That keeps Religion warm not swell a name Of faith a mountain word made up of aire With those deare spoils that wont to dresse the fair And fruitfull Charities full breasts of old Turning her out to tremble in the cold What can the poore hope from us when we be Uncharitable ev'n to Charitie Nor shall our zealous ones still have a fling At that most horrible and horned thing Forsooth the Pope by which black name they call The Turk the Devil Furies Hell and all And something more O he is Antichrist Doubt this and doubt say they that Christ is Christ. Why 't is a point of Faith What e're it be I 'm sure it is no point of Charitie In summe no longer shall our people hope To be a true Protestant 's but to hate the Pope Rich. Crashaw Aul. Penb. A. B. ¶ Ad virum clarissimum gravissimúmque Magistrum ROBERTUM SHELFORD presbyterum de hoc opere quinario praecipitatâ jam aetate suâ edito PRaecoquis ingenii foetus quot prela fatigant Tu prodire tuâ Pallade serus amas Quippe solent tardè molimina docta parari Dum partus properans caecus adesse solet Quin cùm fortè Petri recolis tu aetate vetustas Aedes quîs crevit Musula prima tua Nulla tibi visa est Petrensi digna Minerva Ni matura simul tempore ingenio Tandem ergò prodis Petri grandaevus alumnus Annorum gravis pondere judicii Pondere judicii quo vindice vapulat acri Gens ea quae ficto nomine pura cluet Guil. Norwich Coll. Divi Petri Soc. In eruditos Tractatus piissimi doctissimique senis R. SHELFORD presbyteri QUis novus hic nostro qui tanta negotia prelo Fecerit indoctâ non temeranda manu Nil spirat mortale Dei sacraria Forma Virtutum haec tanto praelia digna viro Plurima nunc doleo referens insulsa pererrat Pagina nunc Veneri plurima sacra facit Sacra Dei loquimur rari Mysteria coeli Abdita qui pandit quà m pretiosus erit Tu nobis praestas tu tanta piissime Grates Is verè solvit qui tua dicta facit Rich. Drake Aul. Penbr Soc. In hunc librum qui quinque exquisitissimos Tractatus continet à R. SHELFORD summa cum cura elaboratos FElici liber hic prodeat alite Veri praesidio tutus inania Vulgi praecipit is murmura rideat Nec curet rigidi fata supercilî Lectores habeat non animo leves Vel frontispicii quos fug at umbra vel Spectatum
neither warrant for it nor president The like difference is at this day among our professours One sort will not sociate with the rest of their neighbours in the house of God because they have not every day a sermon to teach them more knowledge Both these the Apostle here reproveth in saying Knowledge puffeth up that is to say makes men proud but Charitie edifieth What the Apostle hath here put down in the generall I will proceed to prove in the particulars And to begin with the pride of knowledge In the creation God made his angels exceeding bright and glorious in understanding and then propounded to them his Sonne to be their governour to direct them in his service according to that Heb. 1. 6. Let all the angels of God worship him as if it were said Let them follow his direction But they seeing themselves made in such perfection of knowledge were so lifted up in pride that they refused a directour and would serve him after their own understanding for which their pride they were thrown down from heaven to hell After this the angels perceiving that the pride of their knowledge had thrown them down they set upon Adam and Eve perswading them also to break their order in eating of the tree of knowledge The serpent-angel told them that if they would eat of this tree they should be as Gods knowing good and evil This conceit of knowledge did so puffe them up too that they broke Gods commandment and were ipso facto thrown out of Paradise After this when man was ejected out of Paradise so politick and proud grew they that they would make a tower to clamber up to heaven and to defend themselves against Gods providence God seeing their pride confounded their devices by changing their language and then they were dispersed all the earth over like straying herds The like pride hath now adayes puft up our Puritanes that being but very ignorant people yet they will not be content to be accounted men of any mean knowledge or be satisfied with any setled estate but they will run from church to church from preacher to preacher and from one opinion to another untill they have lost and confounded themselves in the tower and Babel of their own fancies Knowledge puffeth up saith the Apostle and when a man is at the highest then he falls lowest Knowledge threw the angels out of heaven to hell knowledge threw Adam and Eve out of an earthly Paradise into a wildernesse of miseries and wittie policie cast mighty Nimrod with all mankinde out of the citie to seek straw and stubble with the children of Israel all the world over But saith the Puritane We have no sermons we are without a preacher we shall perish for want of knowledge I answer It is not knowledge that shall save because then all they that know the will of God and the mysteries of life must needs be saved But so they shall not because our Saviour saith He that knows his masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes and S. Paul saith The hearers of the law are not righteous before God but the doers of the law shall be justified Then knowledge without charitie saveth not but increaseth punishment and puffeth up Besides if knowledge were able to save then the devils might be saved because they know more then the best minister in the land And whereas thou standest upon much knowledge for we will yeeld thee that which is sufficient I say more unto thee that one may be saved without any knowledge at all Know you what you say yes the childe of three moneths old when by Gods providence it departeth what knowledge hath that of salvation yet the Church in all ages hath taught that such shall go to the kingdome of heaven and what should let it is without originall sinne because that is washt away in Baptisme and actuall sinne it never committed any by reason it wanted the use of free-will Besides the infant after Baptisme is within the covenant and united to God by his grace and God cannot denie either his grace or his covenant Now if the poore infant shall be saved without any knowledge at all why then shouldest thou think that thou canst not be saved with mean knowledge fit for thy estate But thou wilt say The infant is not suffered to live to the means of knowledge and therefore he is excused for the want of it Then what sayest thou to the men and women which want the gifts of understanding whom some call fools some innocents who know not the right hand from the left or whether there be a heaven or a hell what shall these be damned which want the knowledge that thou hast where dwells thy charitie I will not beleeve thy knowledge because that makes thee proud and the proud will condemne all save themselves The School Tenet is Amentes furiosi infantes non peccant that is Fools mad-men and children sinne not Therefore mad-men though they kill a man are not put to death for it Again the Church hath ever taught that all they that are within the covenant are in the state of grace untill they fall away but these Christian innocents cannot fall away because they cannot sinne and they cannot sinne because they want knowledge and free-will And my charitie teacheth me to hope that as the Saviour of the world at his first coming had mercie on the Gentiles who before lived without faith and without God in the world so at his second coming he likewise will shew favour to these want-wits and weak-wits and then open the windows of their understanding to see God face to face because they are within the covenant and are baptized Christians But to return to thy former challenge We have no sermons we want a preacher we shall die in our sinnes we know not what to do The Lord open thy eyes as he opened the eyes of Elisha his servant in the 6 chapter of the 2 book of Kings and then thou shalt see a multitude of preachers First all Gods creatures are thy preachers and daily teach thee And to prove this turn to the 19 Psalm 1 2 3. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handie work One day telleth another and one night certifieth another There is neither speech nor language but their voices are heard among them Again turn to the 12 of Job 7 8. and there he will bid thee ask the beasts and they shall teach thee and the fowls of heaven and they shall tell thee Or speak to the earth and it shall shew thee or the fishes of the sea and they shall declare unto thee When thou travellest abroad and seest a good piece of ground a good cow or a good horse thou wilt say I would my neighbour would sell me these for reasonable money Canst thou see the goodnesse of the creature in these and not see the goodnesse of the Creatour Canst thou
of works As the bodie without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also for where no works are there is no charitie and where no charitie is there faith and works and all is dead Therefore the Apostle saith Though I feed the poore with all my goods and have not charitie it profiteth me nothing Why because without charitie works are dead as well as faith and knowledge and other graces And where there is charitie that is to say a divine love to God and all goodnesse there all things are alive and every grace working to salvation Faith beleeveth to salvation hope hopeth to salvation knowledge knoweth to salvation all work by charities spirit Hence the School calleth charitie the form of vertues But you may say How prove you that divine love and charitie is the spirit that giveth life and motion to all other graces Thus because faith which is the first grace worketh by it Gal. 5. 6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by charitie Then as all the members of the bodie work by the power of the soul so faith and other graces in the spirituall body work by the power of charitie First because charitie is the impulse of the Christian soul. Neither can you with reason say that because faith is the first grace in spiritualitie therefore all animation and motion proceedeth from it because in generation the matter goeth before the form and in the body of man there is vegetation and animalitie common to other creatures before the reasonable soul come which is the sole beginning of actions reasonable Secondly I prove this because where is no charitie there all is dead as S. John sheweth He that loveth not his brother abideth in death Again We know that we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren Where love is there is life and where no love is there is no life Thirdly I prove this because God is our life but God is charitie as Saint John sheweth God is charitie and he that remaineth in charitie remaineth in God and God in him If God be charitie then charitie in the Christian must needs be his life because our charitie floweth from his charitie Fourthly I shew that charitie is the life of all vertues and graces because it is the root of the spirituall tree within us as S. Paul teacheth Ephes. 3. 17 18 19. That ye being rooted and grounded in charity may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye may be filled with all the fulnesse of God Here ye see charitie to be the root therefore so long as the root lasteth no vertue or grace can wither in us but if the root die all die All comes from the root the leaves the blossoms the fruit If there be either ornament of vertue or fruit of grace in us all comes from the root of charitie Yea the life of vertue not onely comes from this root but there it is kept and preserved too for when winter and cold storms come then the sappe for shelter runnes down to the root and there it is preserved till the next spring so again when the winter of Gods wrath and storms of persecution assault the profession of the Gospel then by and by we retire to the root of charitie and there is our profession preserved till the storm be over Thus Peter denied his Master thrice when he was going to his death yet because he still loved his Master therefore his life remained in him in the time of persecution it lay hid in the root of charitie The Apostle goeth forward That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length and breadth and height and depth Charity breaks forth into all the dimensions of spirituall growth The prophet Isaiah rather then he would forsake his God was sawn asunder in the midst others were racked and would not be delivered they would not be delivered but held out to the death The blessed Marie Magdalene washt our Saviours feet with her tears and wiped them drie again with the hairs of her head Oh blessed charitie If thou hast this root in thee thou also shalt comprehend this breadth and length height and depth and thou shalt with these holy Saints say If I had been in their coats or had their occasions I would have done as they did This is that love of Christ which passeth knowledge and this is the fulnesse of God To proceed Charitie is the most excellent grace because it is the divine seed of a Christian by which we are born of God and freed from mortall sinne 1. John 3. 9. Whosoever is born of God sinneth not for his seed remaineth in him This seed S. Hierome in his 2 book against Jovinian and S. Austine in his 5 tract upon 1. John calleth charitie for in it is contained the beginning of our conversion to God which is a holy desire For no man desireth any thing untill he loves it but when he loves it then he desires it when he desires it then he seeks it after he hath sought it then he findes it according to that in the Gospel Seek and ye shall finde knock and it shall be opened and when a man hath found because he loves it entirely he will so cleave to it that he will not be removed from it So is it between the regenerate heart and God When God hath given a man a heart to love him then he beginnes to desire him when he desires him then he seeks him then he knocks at heaven gates by prayer and will not away till God open to him because his seed remaineth in him And after he hath found him then he so cleaves to him by hope and hangs so fast upon him that he will die before he leave him because faith hath perswaded him that God is his maker and redeemer and that he is moreover a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. And how will he reward him not with gold and silver which are corruptible but with life everlasting and the joyes of heaven Oh here is enough we will seek no further Thus you see how love and charitie sets the soul to desire and seek God above all things and so charitie is the beginning of our conversion and after it hath begun it will never cease seeking untill it hath found and obtained Were a man by faith perswaded that God is the authour of all happinesse and that all the goods in heaven and earth lay in him treasured up yet if he should love the goods of the world more then God then he would never set his heart to seek and desire him But when faith hath enlightned the minde to know God then if the love of the heart will forsake the world and things
are made and compounded have a mixture of infirm matter or potentialitie and therefore are mutable Consectaries From hence arise these consectaries that if God be in every one of us upholding our essence this shall be our greater condemnation if we do not seek and finde him who is so neare unto us and turn to him who is within us Secondly this argueth Gods infinite greatnesse in that no creature can escape his presence which is as well in hell and in the hardest adamant as in the glorious heavens Thirdly to see this wonderfull God with the eyes of our minde whom we cannot see with bodily eyes to see him who is in all things supporting all as a root or foundation with him to converse to walk to talk and to do nothing without him is the onely securitie that is in the world And this appeareth by this saying of S. Paul upon Moses For he endured as he which saw him who is invisible and is seconded by David Psalm 16. 8. I have set the Lord alwaies before me therefore I shall not slide Fourthly to be content with God onely and not to mix our selves with worldly things is mans simplicitie Gods attributes 1 Unitie Having spoken of Gods essence it followeth to speak of his attributes Of which the first is Unitie the first of the 3 great passions Metaphysicall Unum Verum Bonum And this is testified by these affirmations of Gods word Heare O Israel The Lord our God is one Lord Deut. 6. 4. See now that I even I am he and there is no god with me Deut. 32. 39. That which is the beginning and cause of all things must be one and no more As one is the beginning of all numbers so one God is the beginning of all creatures therefore Parmenides said Omnia unum sunt Multiplicitie of things visible is but the multiplied shadow of invisible unitie According to this Seneca said of God Est totum quod vides totum quod non vides But this must cautelously be understood not that God in the stone is truely and properly a stone as Servetus wickedly affirmed but that he is the onely cause of the stones being and of all things else 1. If there were more Gods then one then there would be some difference between them because multiplicitie admits difference and varietie and therefore something should be in the one which is not in the other and so that God which wanteth should not be a perfect God 2. That there is but one God shall appeare from all things that are because he hath set his mark and stamp upon them for all things speak but one Though there be millions of men in the world yet every man is but one man Though there be many species of things made yet they all consist of individuals There is nothing but is one thing Multiplicitie and collectives end in one Many members make but one bodie many sheep but one flock many beasts but one herd many men but one kingdome and all creatures make but one world Wherefore one is the mark and image of God who as he is but one so he comprehends all in himself 3. If there were more then one then warre would not cease between them till one had gotten the upper hand to be above the rest For as Tertullian disputeth against Marcion he which is God must be summum magnum the chiefest great above all other and this can be but one Again S. Cyprian thus Unus omnium Dominus Deus Neque enim illa sublimitas potest habere consortem cùm sola omnem teneat potestatem Ad divinum imperium etiam de terris mutuemur exemplum Quando unquam regni societ as aut cum fide coepit aut sine cruore desiit If an earthly kingdome will not suffer a fellow how should that celestial highnesse endure another And Ennius saith Nulla sancta societas nec fides regniest Alexander likewise told king Darius Mundum non posse duobus solibus regi That the world could not be governed by two sunnes 4. If there were more Gods then one then as fast as the one did blesse us the other would curse us according to that of the Poet Mulciber in Trojam pro Troja stabat Apollo Then again the creatures would not so well agree as they do for if one creature were made by one God and another by another then there would be nothing but relucting The earth would swallow up the water the fire would burn up the aire the host of heaven would set upon the hosts of the earth to depopulate it yea heaven it self would be divided Saturns planet would spoil the planet of Mars the light of the sunne would waste the other lights and every creature as his God should be best able to aid would overcome his fellow or inferiour But now because there is but one God that hath made all therefore he hath care of all alike therefore they agree as they do and mutually serve each others benefit 5. The government of commonwealths where divers and strange dispositions combine themselves into one bodie for one common good shews that nature imitateth the Creatour which is one 6. Contrarietie and discord though it be never so great yet it cannot overcome unitie but unitie overcomes it as an armie concatenate prevaileth against an armie scattered This sheweth that there is but one God ruling over all which is the God of unitie and concord 7. The generall desire that all creatures have to come to one common end which is good argues this for the Philosopher hath Omnia bonum appetunt All things desire good Wherefore as all things joyn in one concerning the general end though all use not the right mean this argueth also that there is but one beginning which hath given but one common appetite to all creatures Now having shewed God to be but one from hence it followeth that in him there can be no pluralitie therefore his essence is not one thing and his attributes another neither may we say of his attributes This is not that but his truth is the same that his goodnesse is his goodnesse the same with his power his power the same with his essence and so there is no difference nor distinction numericall or specificall but in God all is one and one is all and to think otherwise is to make God in himself finite and limited because look how much one attribute hath of infinitenesse proper to it self so much the other must want and so be limited Thus therefore are we to affirm of God and his attributes as convertibles God is truth it self or the first truth and the first truth is God God is goodnesse or the first goodnesse and the first goodnesse is God God is power and power it self is God and so of the rest Next as God is one so he is all because all things are contained in this one Therefore if all the goods of men and angels
abode Sedulius saith Templum Hierosolymae reficere tentabit He shall go about to repair the temple at Hierusalem Hierome He shall sit in the temple of God either at Hierusalem as some think or in the Church as we more truely suppose S. Chrysostome to whom I attribute most saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He shall command himself to be worshipped for God and to be placed in the temple not onely at Hierusalem but also in the Churches He shall seat himself in the temple to give satisfaction to the Jews his principall followers and he shall place himself in the Church to oppose the Christians to the one he shall counterfeit the Messias to the other he shall disclose himself to be the Antichrist And this sense doth Theodoret and Theophylact follow Lactantius saith In Antichrists time the chief kingdome shall be in Asia the east shall rule and the west shall obey And Irenaeus hath Antichrist on a sudden shall rush into divers kingdomes of the Romane empire to challenge a kingdome to himself Sibyl saith that the greatest terrour and furie of his kingdome shall be by the banks of Tybur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A king shall rise with whitish head and neighb'ring seas name bear Viewing the world with poyson'd foot obtaining gifts by fear All mysteries of magick arts he shall exactly know An infant god himself he 'l shew what 's worshipt here below He will deface and then begin his errours to unfold Then all shall mourn like turtle sole which do this beast behold Then fathers grave with children small shall direfull fates blaspheme Alas alas thus howl and curse on banks of Tyburs stream Thus farre of Antichrists seat and next follows his ostentation shewing himself that he is God Because he cannot be God in deed he will seek to be God in shew He shall be but an earthen God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. John describeth him Revel 11. 4. These are the two olive-trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth Beza translateth passively put before the God of the earth signifying that they are so placed by the true God against the false God thus agreeing with the adverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 è regione vel ex adverso posita placed overthwart to him Wherefore for all his ruffe in his fourtie two moneths time yet he shall not have his full will and pleasure because Gods two witnesses shall interrupt him by prophesying against him and by vexing his earthen worshippers with plagues 1260 dayes which is the just time of his fourtie two moneths But here a great question ariseth Who shall be these two witnesses Our late Divines say The ordinarie Ministers of the Church for that time But the Fathers understand them to be Enoch and Elias Though there be no expresse warrant for either of these yet untill I understand better I follow the Fathers because their sense fitteth best with the circumstances of the text and the description of the persons And first because the persons are but two but the ordinarie Ministers are many And if it be said that the number of two is put for all the rest I reply that this is not agreeing with the scripture which in such cases useth numbers of perfection or numbers of allusion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The number of seven being a number of perfection is thus commonly used through this book of the Apocalyps as the seven starres are put for all the Ministers of Asia and the seven lamps for all the vertues of Gods Spirit and the number of twelve thousand for all them that were sealed of every of the twelve tribes But the number of two is no such number and therefore not fit to comprehend a whole Secondly for the word witnesses this is fit for Enoch in that he rebuked the first world and testified of Gods coming to judgement against them And this squareth as just with Elias in rebuking of sinne and testifying for God insomuch as John the Baptist the great reformer is prophesied to come in the spirit and power of Elias Thirdly it is said that if any man will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies And so again assoon as Elias opened his mouth to command fire to come down from heaven the fire fell and devoured two captains with their two fifties Fourthly it is said that these have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the dayes of their prophesying and this power had Elias and executed it as we reade in 1. Kin. 17. 1. Fifthly it is said that these two vexed them that dwelt on the earth and thus did Elias vex king Ahab when he said unto him Art thou he that troublest Israel and again when he provoked Baals prophets to cut themselves with knives and lancers Sixthly it is said that their enemie shall kill them and this is fit for Enoch and Elias because hitherto they have not tasted of death but one day they must die because the scripture saith It is appointed to men that they shall once die Their death therefore seemeth to be deferred to a more famous end to a congresse with the great Antichrist Seventhly and lastly it is said They shall ascend up to heaven and their enemies shall see them and so have Enoch and Elias alreadie done and therefore they know the way to do so again These two therefore be they who they may be may well be called Enoch and Elias because in their deeds they so resemble them as if they were themselves And these reasons I have for the reverend Fathers whose understanding and judgement I much regard And I see no reason why these two may not as well in the end of the world come to this service as Elias and Moses in Christs time came to him upon the mount upon the like service that is to testifie to his disciples that he was the true Messias and that he was to suffer death according to Moses law to make satisfaction for the sinnes of the people and therefore it is said in Luke 9. 31. that they spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem Elias before his translation testified for the true God against the false God after his translation he came again upon earth to testifie for Christ the true Messias then being thus his approved witnesse why may he not come once again in the end of the world to contest with Antichrist and his false prophets for the true Christ against that false Christ And if it be objected that Elias did not in substance come to Christ upon the mount but as a spectrum to such Calvin upon the place will give this honest