cause to bee confident vpon them then your selues but only to vindicate the honour and dignity of the Scriptures which of your side are too basely sleighted and neglected And as touching this particular place of Saint Augustine notwithstanding all the flourish you make therewith yet shall you never be able to proue what you intend thereby as I come now to demonstrate This booke de vtilitate credendi I haue now twice for your sake throughly read ouer and with the best attention I could In it I find the authority of the Catholik Church made the first motiue or meanes vnto Faith by which we doe beleeue but not the first principle and reason of faith for which wee doe beleeue The occasion of writing it was this Saint Augustine hauing lately through Gods grace escaped out of the toiles of the Manichean Heretiks in which for the space of nine yeares hee had beene entangled is very desirous to recouer from them his friend Honoratus also as yet continuing in his error and held fast by them This he doubteth not through the same grace of God soone to effect may hee but find him duly prepared and disposed For vntill hee be wrought from his hereticall pertinacy and stifnesse vnto a more Christian moderation and equability he shall with all his arguments but wash a bricke as they say and spend his oile and labour to little purpose That which made him so vntoward and hard to be wrought vpon was the faire and plausible insinuation of the Manichees that they pressed no man to beleeue vntill they had first cleared and manifested the truth whereas others terrified men with superstition and commanded Faith before they tendred any reason vnto them Wherefore to remoue this preiudice and to frame him vnto a more indifferent temper he employeth in this booke all his strength and skill labouring to demonstrate the Vtility of beleeuing and how requisite it is to yeeld to authority before with pure minds we can discerne the truth And this is the only drift and scope he aimeth at in this booke neither medleth hee therein with any of the Manichean heresies but reserueth the confutation conviction of them vntill some other time as appeareth by the very closing vp thereof where he willeth Honoratus to remember that he hath not yet begunne to refute the Manichees nor to seâ— himselfe against those toies nor hath opened any great matter touching Catholike Doctrine Whence thus I argue If S. Augustin in this booke dispute against Honoratus from the Churches authority as the last resolution of Faith then hath he opened therein the greatest point of Christian religion and confuted thereby the Manichean heresie inasmuch as the Catholike Church vtterly condemned it But S. Augustin in expresse words affirmeth that he hath not so much as begun to refute the Manichees nor opened any great matter touching Catholike doctrine Therefore he disputeth not from the Churches authority as the last resolution of Faith True it is he is much in commending authority setting forth the benefit of beleeving it But what authority What beleeuing that authority which is grounded vpon the Generall opinion fame and consent of people nations that Beleeuing which is Morall and only prepares the minde to divine illumination If so then certainly cannot St Augustins authoritie be the last Principle of Faith For this is infallibile and absolutelie necessarie as well to the wise as vnwise that but an vncertaine step or staire to raise vs vp vnto God not necessarie to them that are wise What then is it in S. Augustins iudgment Surely the first inducement or Introduction to the search of divine Mysteries For saith he it is authoritie only which moueth fooles to hasten vnto wisdome And againe to a man that is not able to discerne the truth that he may be made fit for it and suffer himselfe to be purged authority is at hand Had hee thought it to be more then so he would never haue considered it without certainty of truth Yet so doth hee even in the passage by you alledged They saith hee that know the Church affirme her to be more sincere in truth then other sects but touching her truth is another question In a word as in other arts and sciences He that will learne must beleeue his teachers so in these heavenly mysteries also would Saint Augustine haue all those that are not initiated such as his friend Honoratus was to beginne with Authority Not that it is a sufficient warranty for whatsoever we learne but for that it is the readiest and likeliest way to bring vs vnto learning N. N. Thus Saint Augustine teaching his friend how he might both know and beleeue the Catholike Church and all that she taught simply and without asking reason or proofe And as for knowing or discerning her from all other Churches that may pretend to be Catholike wee heare his marks that shee is more eminent vniversall greater in number and in possession of the name Catholike The second that shee may be beleeued securely and cannot deceiue nor bee deceiued in matters of Faith he proueth elsewhere concluding finally in this place If thou doest seeme to thy selfe now saith Augustine to haue beene sufficiently tossed vp downe among Sectaries and wouldst put an end to these labours and turmoiles follow the way of Catholike discipline which hath flowne downe vnto vs from Christ by his Apostles and is to flow from vs to our posterity I. D. Out of that passage of St Augustine you obserue two things first what be the Marks by which the Catholike Church may be discerned secondly that shee may be beleeued securely as one that can neither deceiue nor he deceiued As touching the former you say Saint Augustines Markes are these foure Eminence Vniversality Multitude and Possession of the name Catholike Wherevnto I answere first that Saint Augustine maketh none of these things Notes of the Church For three of them namely Eminencie Vniversality and Possession of the name Catholike he doth not at all mention Eminencie I confesse is foisted into your translation but no where appeares in the Originall Of the fourth to wit Multitude all that he affirmeth is this that in his time there were more Christians then of any other religion and that among all Sects of Christians there was one Church consisting of a greater number then all the rest which is not enough to establish it for a marke of the Church Where by the way giue me leaue to demand why whereas Saint Augustine saith Christians are more then Iewes and worshippers of Images put together you render it the Iewes and Gentiles put together For what the reason should bee I cannot conceiue vnlesse it be the same for which you raze out of your Catechismes the second Commandement But I answere secondly that as St Augustine maketh none of them Marks so neither are they Markes for Proper they are not nor Perpetuall and
of his faith not onely to the satisfaction and instruction but admiration of his hearers Among the rest two things there were which he much and often insisted vpon the one that he hoped onely to be saued by the merits of Iesus Christ the other that he constantly perseuered in the faith and religion professed and maintained in the Church of England in which he was borne baptized and bred and this he many times and earnestly protested in a very serious and solemne manner pawning his soule vpon the truth thereof His glasse being now almost runne and the houre of his dissolution drawing on though his memorie and senses no way failed him he desired to be absolued after the manner prescribed by our Church and according to his desire hauing first made a briefe confession therevpon expressing a hearty contrition together with an assurance of remission by the pretious bloud of his deare Sauiour he receiued absolution froÌ„ the mouth of a lawfull minister having receiued it professed that he found great ease coÌ„fort therein withall that he was desirous likewise to haue receiued the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist if the state of his body would haue permitted him not long after imagining with himselfe that he heard some sweete Musike calling vpoÌ„ Christ Sweet Iesus kill me that I may liue with thee he sweetly fell asleepe in the Lord as did the Protomartyr who ready to yeeld vp the Ghost prayed and said Lord Iesus receiue my spirit Thus he liued and thus he dyed neere approaching the great climactericall of his age And by this time I am sure you find and feele with me that we haue all a great losse in the losse of this one man His flocke hath lost a faithfull pastor his wife a louing husband his children a tender father his seruants a good master his neighbours a freindly neighbour his freinds a trusty freind his kindred a deare kinsman this whole countrey a great ornament The king hath lost a loyall subject the kingdome a true-hearted Englishman the Cleargy a principall light the Church a dutifull sonne the Arts a zealous Patron and religion a stout Champion we haue all lost onely he hath gotten by our losse he hath made a happy exchange instead of his congregation singing of Psalmes with them here he is now ioyned to the congregation of the first borne whose names are written in heauen with whom he beares a part in the euerlasting Halleluiahs instead of the Church militant he is inrooled in the Church trivmphant hauing his palme in his hand in token of victory instead of his freinds and kinsfolke here he is become the companion of the blessed Saints and glorious Angels instead of his wife and Children and lands and goods and attendants here he now enioyes the blisfull vision of the face of God and the full fruition of Iesus Christ by meanes whereof no doubt he shines as the brightnesse of the firmament nay as the brightest starre in the firmament and â—o shall shine for euer and euer Sic mihi contingat viuere sicque mori God graunt we may so liue as with him we may dye comfortably and so dye as with him we may liue againe shine in glory euerlastingly Who so is wise will ponder these things and they shall vnderstand the loving kindnesse of the Lord Consider then what I haue said the Lord giue you vnderstanding in all things SACRAE TRINITATI GLORIA This Sermon being presented to the veiw of the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Exeter together with the Authors purpose of publishing these ensuing workes of his deceased friend it pleased his Lordship to returne this following answere which together with the Sermon may serue in part to let the world know his great worth though in a manner buried in obscurity Worthy Mr Dr Hakewill I Doe heartily congratulate to my dead friend and Colleagian this your so iust and noble a commemoration It is much that you haue said but in this subiect no whit more then enough I can second every word of your prayses and can hardly restraine my hand from an additionall repetition How much ingenuity how much learning and worth how much sweetnesse of conversation how much elegance of expression how much integrity and holinesse haue we lost in that man No man euer knew him but must needs say that one of the brightest Starres in our West is now set The excellent parts that were in him were a fit instance for that your learnedly defended position of the vigour of this last age wherevnto he gaue his accurate and witty astipulation I doe much reioyce yet to heare that we shall be beholden to you for some mitigation of the sorrow of his losse by preseruing aliue some of the post-hume issue of that gracious and exquisite brayne which when the world shall see they will marvell that such excellencies could lye so close and shall confesse them as much past value as recovery Besides those skillfull and rare peeces of Divinity tracts and Sermons I hope for my old loue to those studies we shall see abroad some excellent monuments of his Latine Poesie in which faculty I dare boldly say few if any in our age exceeded him In his Polemicall discourses some whereof I haue by me how easie is it for any judicious Reader to obserue the true Genius of his renowned Vncle Bishop Iewell such smoothnesse of style such sharpnesse of witt such interspersions of well-applyed reading such graue and holy vrbanity shortly for I well foresaw how apt my Pen would bee to runne after you in this pleasing track of so well deserued praise these workes shall be as the Cloake which our Prophet left behind him in his rapture into heauen What remaines but that we should looke vp after him in a care and indeauour of readinesse for our day and earnestly pray to our God that as he hath pleased to fetch him away in the Chariot of Death so that he will double his spirit on those he hath thought good to leaue yet below In the meane time I thanke you for the favour of this your graue seasonable and worthy Sermon which I desire may be prefixed as a meet preface to the published Labours of this happy Author Exon Palace Mar. 22. 1631. Fare-well from your loving friend and fellow-labourer Ios. Exon. TWO TREATISES 1 Concerning the force and efficacy of reading 2 Christs prayer for his Church OXFORD Printed by I.L. for E. F. 1633. ACT. 15.21 For Moses of old time hath in every Citty them that Preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day OMitting for the present whatsoeuer else might profitably be observed out of these words I will at this time only inquire these three things The first whether preaching in this place be distinguished from Reading The second whether Reading be a kind of Preaching The third whether reading be an ordinary meanes to beget Faith and convert a soule
evills that befall them vnto the godly as in old time the gentiles did to the Christians and nowadaies Papists doe to Protestants ingratitude in requiting the much good they enioy by them with nothing else but hatred and persecution Well doth Solomon confound Fooles and Wicked for were not wicked men meere fooles they would neuer thus malice their best friends nor seeke to destroy them by whom themselues are preserved from destruction For certainly will they nill they sapiens est stulti redemptio the wise man is the fooles ransome as saith Philo and iust men are the pillers of the house the brazen walls of a country the charets and horsemen of a nation without whom the world is but a stage of vanity a cage of vncleane birds cannot long subsist Wherefore although to our griefe we see wicked men too thicke sowne among vs yet because so many good men are mingled with them let vs reioyce and be glad giue God hearty thankes for them hoping that while they continue with vs Gods blessing shall continue vpon vs also And when it shall please him to translate any of them from hence let vs solicite him with our devoutest prayers vt vno avulso suppullulet alter Aureus simili frondescat virga metallo the one branch being pluckt off another golden one may grow vp in the place thereof for the perpetuation of his favours towards vs. Secondly doth God in executing iudgement distinguish betweene good and bad sparing the one and punishing the other here is a right precedent for you my Lords and other iudges and rulers of the land to imitate Yee are in scripture stiled Gods and in this principally are yee to resemble God Ye are carefully to separate betwixt the pretious and the vile not so as to iustifie the wicked and to condemne the innocent for both are an abomination to the Lord saith Solomon but to punish the evill doers and to praise them that doe well for to this end are ye sent as St Peter saith There is no greater cause either of apostasie in the Church or of sedition in the commonwealth then when they that deserue well of both are vilipended or neglected and lewd vnworthy men are honoured with the reward due vnto vertue Oh therefore let vertuous worthy men find grace in your eyes let them in the name of God be cherished and countenanced by you ever remēbring that they are the meanes of much good vnto the place where they liue As for wicked men bend your browes vpon them and as they deserue it let them feele the edge of your sword Pinguior victima mactari Deo non potest quam homo sceleratus a fatter sacrifice can yee not kill vnto God then a wicked man If yee spare him yee spare not your owne selues judex ipse damnatur cum nocens absolvitur the iudge himselfe is condemned when the guilty person is absolved And seeing so many Amorites yet remaining in the land they now begin to pricke sorer in our sides then heretofore hoping for a linsey wolsey Church at least ere long it is high time for you to looke carefully herevnto Tranquillitas est vbi solus Petrus navigat tempestas vbi Iudas adiungitur saith Ambrose if Peter saile alone all is calme if Iudas saile with him nought but storme and tempest If we cannot vtterly be rid of them let them be hewers of wood drawers of water with the Gibeonits God forbid they should steere at the helme and be proud commanders Thirdly and lastly doth God sometimes enwrap both good and bad in the same punishment This my Lords is a mysterie vnimitable and farre aboue your reach and to follow God in such actions were to make your selues as ridiculous as little children who will needs put vpon them their fathers coats though they be no way proportionable vnto them Theodosius the Emperour for the fault of one man at Thessalonica involved many innocents into the same punishment but hee was faine to doe penance for it before he could be receiued into the Church by Saint Ambrose If Polititians thinke they see reason of state in it yet policy must yeeld to religion the rule whereof is Fiat iustitia ruant coeli evill may not bee done that good may come of it For the least evill of fault is greater then the greatest evill of punishment that being evill in nature this only to sence otherwise an act of iustice it selfe Neverthelesse albeit this act of God be not to be imitated by vs yet seeing the wicked by reason of their mixture with the Godly draw downe common plagues vpon them both it ought to be our wisdome first to labour for their conversion and if it may be to worke them into Gods favour then if this cannot bee effected either to separate them from vs by the hand of iustice or to separate our selues from them at least wise in dislike affection For as Solomon saith He that walketh with the wise shall be wise but a companion of fooles shall be afflicted And thus much of the first part which is Gods action now of the second which is Abrahams affection How Abraham stands affected in this particular case of Sodom is cleare and evident by his words Be it farre saith he from thee to doe this thing to stay the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous should be even as the wicked be it farre from thee He vtterly mislikes that the righteous should perish together with the wicked and desires rather that God would be pleased either to spare the wicked Sodomites for those righteous ones which happily were among them or else to deliver the righteous from the destruction of the wicked In a word he seemes to be solicitous for them all both for the Sodomites whether good or evill in generall and in particular for his brother Lot who dwelt among them But here it will happily be said what doth Abraham prescribe vnto God impose a law vpon him Is God to be ruled by man and divine actions to be directed by humane affections Farre be such temerity farre be such presumption from the Father of the faithfull No he knowes and confesses himselfe to be but dust and ashes and that God is not only Liberrimus agens one that freely doth whatsoever hee will both in heauen and earth but also Sapientissimus needing no counsellor to advise him but knowing best himselfe what is to be done He doth not therefore presume to order the actions of God but only proposeth his humble sute vnto God neither doth he take vpon him to direct him but to deprecate for others It will peradventure yet farther be said that God had already signified his purpose vnto Abraham and what he meant to doe Which being so it had beene his dutie to laid his hand vpon his mouth and to haue rested in his will without farther contradiction or opposition And here caeca
judgement vpon the Conscience and to be the executioner of his lawes or finally hee bindes the Conscience in vaine and to no purpose To say that man is in such sort Lord of the Conscience is vnreasonable because his knowledge and power reach no farther then the outward man To say that man may command God is sacrilegious aduancing man aboue God Lastly to say that he bindeth in vaine and to no purpose is withall to say that their opinion is vaine and that man hath no such power at all To shut vp all in a word vnlesse a man may with as much security obey man as God man who is subject to error and injustice as God who is free from both vnlesse we be all as deeply bound to study the laws of men and to knowe them as we are Gods and to subject our selues as absolutely vnto them it is altogether vnconceauable how humane lawes can bind the Conscience equally with diuine This point being thus cleared it is euident that by conscience in this place wee are with St Peter to vnderstand Conscientiam Dei conscience towards God and to interpret this of St Paul yee must bee subiect for conscience by that of the same St Peter Submit your selues vnto every ordinance of man for the Lords sake as if he should say because God hath bound you to be subiect For God hath laid this obligation vpon man appeares by the very institution of Magistracie For although St Peter call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a humane creature yet his meaning is not that it is not from man but for man and his benefit otherwise S. Paul expresly affirmeth that it is the ordinance of God and Solomon that by him kings raigne The reason mouing God to institute the same was partly his soueraigne Lordship ouer man by right of creation by which he may order and dispose of him at pleasure partly the great loue he beareth vnto humane society which his infinite wisdome saw could not so well be maintained if euery man should be left to himselfe and orderly gouernment were not setled among them Herevpon hee ordained some to be in authority some to liue in subiection commanding the one to rule according to justice and equitie the other to submit themselues with all lowlinesse and humility as I meane touching subiection hath in the first part which is the Dutie beene sufficiently declared Now man being thus by the commandement and ordinance of God bound Conscience cannot bee free but as man shall either subject or not subject himselfe so is Conscience bound to testifie for or against him and to excuse or to accuse him If then yee breake the commandement of God and refuse to be subject there is one who will surely accuse you and will not spare a witnesse whose testimony is omni exceptio ne majus better then a thousand witnesses that will testifie against you even your Conscience But to whom will it accuse Vnto that great and dreadfull Iudge of the whole world whose wisdome can not be deceaued whose justice cannot be corrupted and the execution of whose sentence cannot be avoided And what will the sentence be Perpetuall imprisonment in the bottomelesse dungeon of hell therein eternall torments both of body and soule which although it be not presently executed vpon you yet the worme of conscience instantly will begin to gnaw vpon your soules fill you so full of vnspeakable horror and anguish that your life shall be but a death and this world a hell vnto you But if on the contrary side yee shall for the Lords sake and in obedience to his ordinance yeeld subjectiō vnto the higher powers and vnder them liue dutifully in all godlinesse and honestie then shall your consciences testifie nothing but good of you and excuse you vnto God he shall justifie and acquit you your soule shall bee replenished with vnspeakable peace and comfort so as yee shal haue a heaven vpon earth and in heauen it selfe in due time such ioyes as nor eye hath seene nor eare heard nor ever entred into the thought of man To conclude and summe vp all if either we will keepe a good conscience that we may both here and ever be blessed or will avoid the sting of an euill conscience and the miseries that attend vpon it wee must of necessity be subject Yee must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience And thus haue I finished the second part also which is the Necesstie of the dutie It only remaineth now to adde a word or two by way of vse and application There is a generation of whom both St Peter and St Iude speake that despiseth all gouernment and speaketh evill of Dignities cleane contrary vnto the doctrine of my Text which commandeth all to be subject and to honour and obey the Magistrate But these are not all of the same kinde for some despise it out of an erronious judgment others out of an euill habit and custome They that despise it vpon errour are either Anabaptists or Papists The Anabaptists a fanatical fantastical sect vtterly mislike all gouernment and subjection among Christians It is not without cause that S. Iude calleth such kind of people Dreamers for so indeed they are and their dreame is this that Sin is the cause of Subjection and although it were ordained and allowed to the Iewes because they were but infants yet fits it not vs Christians that are in the state of perfection Shall I dispute against this dotage and shew that even among those blessed spirits that are free frō sinne still persist in the truth there are Thrones Dominations Powers Principalities Angels and Arch-angels That if man had continued in his integritie yet government should haue beene inasmuch as man naturally is sociable and disciplinable the morall law commands to honour father and mother the end of gouernment is Peace with Pietie and Honestie and one man euen then should haue stood in need of another That finally there is now as great a necessity thereof as was among the Iews and that the new Testament would neuer haue commanded Subjection or to pray for Magistrates if it were a sin for a Christian to be a Magistrate But I will not vouchsafe them the honour to dispute with them let it suffice in this honourable auditory barely to affirme first that a Christian safely may be a Magistrate secondly that none is fitter then he because no man better knowes the dutie of a Magistrate then he Lastly that no man can so compleatly and perfectly performe the office of a Magistrate but hee because no man vnderstands the true religion which he is to maintaine and by which he is to gouerne but he As for Papists although they doe not thus reject all government yet doe they many waies both in doctrine and practise avile and abase it For first they giue vnto the Pope a supremacie ouer Princes euen vnto Deposition and depresse
the naturall light of humane reason can afford which what a glow-worme it is and how subiect to mistaking who sees not Aristotle whose eyes were as sharpe sighted and peircing into these matters as ever any mans yet confesseth we are but owly-eyed in them and the Pyrrhonian Philosophers saw so much vncertainty in most things that they grew to maintaine an impossibility of knowing any thing So vaine is man in his imaginations and so full of darkenesse is his foolish heart that when they professe themselues to be most wise they become the starkest fooles But the truths of this divine science being supernaturall haue their certainty from a supernaturall light even the revelation of Gods spirit which can neither deceiue nor bee deceiued according to that of our Sauiour Flesh and blood hath not revealed this vnto thee but my Father which is in Heauen This is the light shining in the darke vntill the day dawne the day-starre rising in our hearts the Certitude of Faith which is simply and absolutely so because no falsehood can possibly be vnder it and being as Chrysostome saith more firme then all Demonstration as standing not in the enticeing speech of mans wisdome but in plaine evidence of the spirit and of Power True it is that this our Science sometime receiueth from humane wisdome yet not because shee needs it but because wee neede it nor for any defect or vncertainty in it but for the weaknesse of our vnderstanding which by those things that are knowne to naturall reason is more easily brought to vnderstand those things which are aboue reason For otherwise she is so farre from receiuing her Principles from any other Science that shee either allowes or controls all their rules and maxims as being their soveraigne Queene and Mistresse And thus much of the excellency of the Science of Divinity now of the Efficacy of the Ministry As is the man so is his strength saith the Proverbe in like manner as is our science so is our Ministry that the most noble therefore this the most powerfull That is most powerfull which worketh most effectually to atchieue ' its end and the more difficult the end is to bee attained the greater is the power that attaineth it Now what is the end of the Ministry It is as Saint Paul saith to build vp the body of Christ to open mens eyes and to turne them from darkenesse to light and from the power of Satan vnto God that they may receiue forgiuenesse of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in Christ that is in a word to make men partakers both of the state of grace in this life and of eternall glory in the life to come An employment as of highest consequence so of greatest difficulty that Saint Paul wondreth who might be sufficient for it Chrysostome saith that the Angels themselues would tremble to vndergoe the burthen Yet hath it pleased the wisdome of God in earthly vessels to convey vnto vs these heavenly treasures and to make the Ministry of weake mortall men mighty in operation able to pull downe strong holds and to cast downe imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and to captiue every thought to the obedience of Christ. Hence is it that Esay calleth the word of God the arme of the Lord and Saint Paul the preaching of the Gospell the power of God vnto salvation Hence that God himselfe affirmeth that his word shall never returne vnto him void but shall accomplish that which he will and prosper in the thing whereto he sends it Is it is not strange that the wolfe should dwell with the lambe and the leopard with the kid and calfe and the lion and the fat beast lye together and a little child lead them That the cow and the beare should feede together and their young ones lye downe together and the Lyon eate straw like the Oxe That the sucking child should play on the hole of the aspe and the weaned child put his hand on the Cockatrices den and all without either hurt or danger Yet all this is done through the knowledge of the Lord and by the power of our Ministry This is it that filleth vp every vally and levelleth every mountaine and hill that maketh the crooked straight and the rough waies smooth that all flesh may see the salvation of God The meaning of which allegoricall speech I cannot better expresse then in the words of Lactantius giue mee the man that is cholericke a railer vnruly and with a few words of God I will make him as meeke as a lambe Giue mee him that is greedy covetous gripple and I will make him liberall and giue bountifully with his owne hands giue me him that is fearefull of paine and death eftsoones shall he contemne his gibbets fires and Phalaris bull Giue me the lecher the adulterer the taverne haunter and by and by shalt thou see him sober chast and continent Giue me the cruell and bloud thirsty man and his fury shall soone be turned into clemency Finally giue me the vniust man the foole the sinner and forthwith hee shall be iust and wise and innocent Such and so great is the power of this divine wisdome that it quickly changeth a man and transformes him into another shape so as ye can hardly know him to be the same Neither let any man thinke that these are but words no they haue ordinarily beene and are daily done Did not Ionas with one sermon humble the pride of the King of Niniveh and all that mighty citty into sackcloth and ashes Did not Peter at his first preaching to the Iewes pricke them to the heart and at once adde about three thousand soules vnto the Church Did not Paul discoursing of iustice and temperance and iudgement to come make Felix the governour although a heathen yet to tremble But what speake I of particulars which are infinite Never did Alexander or Cesar with their huge hosts of armed men win so great victories or erect such troopes of honour to themselues as did the holy Apostles vnto the name of Christ. They were in number but twelue for the most part poore fishermen and vnlettered and despised in the eye of the world and yet within a few yeares armed only with the sword of the mouth and the power of this Ministry they conquered the whole world and subdued it to the obedience of Christ. And whom they subdued they so setled in the Faith that rather then they would renounce it they were content to endure most exquisite torments and to loose a thousand liues In like manner hath the Ministry hitherto prevailed and shall successiuely vnto the worlds end How many families of Philosophers haue heretofore failed without successor How many sects of Hereticks are vanished and melted away as dew before the sunne But the Church
of Christ and his religion shall never faile The heavens shall sooner loose their influence and the starres their light then the Ministry of the Church be without its strength and vertue Neither the open violence of tyrants nor the secret vnderminings of Antichrist nor hell it selfe shall ever be able to let or hinder it And thus much of the Efficacy and Operatiue power of the Ministry The authority and jurisdiction annexed therevnto is exceeding great and ample I stand astonished at the consideration thereof for among the sonnes of men there is none comparable to it Among the sonnes of men say I Nay among the Angells of God saith Chrysostome For neither to them nor to Kings or Princes but only to the Ministers of the Gospell are the keyes of the kingdome of heaven giuen These only haue power to open the kingdome of heauen to all that beleeue and to shut the gates against those that continue in incredulity These haue authority to binde and loose to remit and retaine sinnes to enter men by baptisme into the visible Church to admit them or withold them from the holy communion to cut off notorious sinners from the body of the Church by excommunication to deliuer them over to Satan and if they proue incorrigible by anathema maranatha to separate them from the Church vntill the Lord come Adde herevnto that whatsoever they doe here on earth by vertue of the keyes the same is eftsoones ratified by God in heauen according to that of our Saviour whose sins soeuer yee remit they are remitted and whose sinnes soeuer yee retaine they are retained and againe whatsoeuer yee shall binde on earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer yee shall loose in earth shall be loosed in heauen Now as the Iurisdiction of the Ministrie is wondrous great so is the extent thereof exceeding large For it stretcheth it selfe without exception of condition or degree vnto all men If I should say Angels also perhaps I should not say much amisse Else what meaneth that of the Apostle vnto Principalities and Powers in heauenly places is made knowne by the Church the manifold wisdome of God For seeing the Church maketh nothing knowne but by the Ministrie and the Angels come to the knowledge of the manifold wisdome of God by the Church it seemeth that they also are in some things informed by the Ministrie And thus at length to summe vp all that hath beene said you haue clearely demonstrated not only that the Science we professe is of all other the most transcendent and operation of our Ministrie the most effectuall but also that the authority and jurisdiction therevnto annexed is of all other the greatest and largest Out of all which I hope I may be bold to inferre the conclusion principally intended that our calling is therefore of all other the most worthy And is it so indeed that the Ministry is of all callings the most noble and honourable Then belike they that are advanced therevnto are accordingly to be esteemed Without question they are Reason telleth vs it ought to be so God commandeth that it be so The more strange it seemes that whereas all other sorts of men are regarded answerably vnto their places Ministers only are vilipended and least set by For that so it hath ever beene the monuments of former ages sufficiently testifie Noah was mocked of the old world Lot of the Sodomites Aaron of Korah Dathan and Abiron David of Michol Micaiah of Ahab and his false Prophets Elizeus of the children and Iehus captaines and generally all the Messengers and Prophets of the Lord by the Iewes In the new Testament Christ himselfe was set at naught the Apostles when they were filled with the extraordinary gifts of the holy Ghost were flouted at as full of new wine St. Paul when he discoursed most profoundlie before the Athenians of the mysteries of Christian religion was counted of them but a vaine Babler and vniversallie all the Apostles every where were no better reckoned of then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the offals off scourings of the world doe not we Ministers now a dayes drinke of the same cup or are we not baptized with the same baptisme wherewith Christ and his Apostles were yes verily Contempt pursues vs also and perhaps the more the more inferior we are vnto them Giue me leaue to shew it in particular if for no other cause yet to confound the hypocrisie of these times wherein men loue not to be but to seeme to be and to take religion on them rather then into them howbeit briefly for what pleasure can either you take in hearing or I in discoursing of so sad a theme The Honour due vnto the Ministrie is double Internal External Internal in the Minde in the Affection In the Minde honourable estimation in the Affection Loue. External in Word in Gesture in Deed. In Word honourable mention in Gesture reverent behaviour in deed liberal and bountifull maintenance All these Honours doe we iustlie claime as due vnto vs yet are they all most shamefully denied vs. For as touching the first it is as cleare as the sun at noone-day by what hath beene already said that the Calling of the Ministry is in it selfe aboue all other the most honourable Expresse testimonie of Scripture vnanswerable arguments deduced from it haue sufficiently manifested the same Now wee know that reason would that every thing be valued according to the worth thereof and very simple doe wee count him that sets no better price vpon silver then lead vpon gold then copper vpon emerauds and diamonds then pibble stones Which being so it followeth that the Ministry of the Gospell being indeed so pretious a jewell as in the iudgement of all accordingly to be esteemed and very foolish or froward must hee needs be that disesteemeth or vndervalueth so invaluable a treasure And yet how many are there in these daies who despise this sacred function and set it at nought some happily through ignorance not knowing the worth thereof but others out of profanenesse preferring a messe of pottage before a birth-right An evident signe and token whereof this may bee among others that those of the better ranke either for wealth or gentility count themselues too good for the Ministry and hold it a foule disparagement to bestow their children that way No that is an employment fit for poore mens children only Or if at any time they vouchsafe to designe their sonnes therevnto they are but of the yonger sort ard such as they finde altogether vnapt for any other calling for otherwise the law or marchandise or some trade of more advantage swaies them and carries them cleane away Nay even those that are of good parentage and equall vnto others if once they enter into the Ministry they hold them abased thereby and the very name of a Priest shall bee cast into their teeth as a