way and it is visible what were a man the better for these directions would he not thinke such a guide out of his wits Especially when he shall see both wayes alike old alike beaten both vvayes to haue passengers successiuely alike frequent both wayes to be intire and singular both wayes to be called old and both wayes to be visible Thus both wayes doubtlesse he would be wilde except he had better directions And yet this is the case of the Church which some would thus marke out to the beleefe and obedience of all men But to conclude all these are no true markes but the Scripture is the true and vnfallible Euidence to bound the Church out to him that vvill be heedfull to obserue and faithfull to beleeue and humble to obay as we hope to manifest Heere then it were meete I should giue you some infallible and inseperable note of the true way hauing showne or rather pointed at the defect of these which the Church of Rome produceth But then I should offer violence both to your patience and to the Text the time not permitting so large a discourse and my Text leading me to discouer the false way with seemes right but giuing no warrant to proceede farther Only to conclude all since it is within my Commission to manifest the false way I will giue you one note a sure one whereby you may know when you are out of the right way that so you may shun error and seeke truth and ensue it till death that in the end you may finde euerlasting life Briefly Christ himselfe saith I am the way the truth and the life Ioh. 4. no man commeth to the Father but by me He is the way to walke in the truth to guide you the life wherewithall you walke And if you would finde this way hee himselfe learnes you a rule Ioh. 5. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them you thinke to haue eternall life and those are they that beare witnesse of me And he there vpbraydes the Iewes because they gaue no credit or heede to the Scriptures but preferd the traditions and doctrines of their forefathers before it Iohn 5. 46. 47. saying Had yee beleeued Moses yee would haue beleeued me for he wrote of me But if you beleeue not his writings how shall yee beleeue my words Therefore the Apostle cals all Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 3. 16 as a doctrine inspired by God to make men wise to saluation and so beleeuing himselfe and teaching others to beleeue he praiseth Timothy for being from a childe brought vp in them 2. Tim. 3. 15 and he exhorts all men to follow him as he keepes in this way and vvalkes after Christ Iesus and no otherwise For so long he is sure he goeth right and they may follow him with security Now then I do not say vvheresoeuer thou seest the Scripture set forth for a signe there Christ is vvithin there is the true way the true Church But I say wheresoeuer thou canst not see the Scripture be assured thou art out of the way for the Scripture must be euer in thy eye being that setled Land-marke by vvhich thou must try and know and to vvhich thou must reduce and bring all thy other coast-marks and sea-marks So it is that Antiquity vvhich agrees vvith the verity of the Scripture that multitude vvhich vvorship God according to the rules of the Scripture that Sucession vvhich suceeed in the truth of doctrine deliuered in the Scripture that vnity vvhich beleeues the Trinity taught in the Scripture that Catholique Church vvhich is founded vpon and vniuersally agreeth vvith the truth of the Scripture that visible congregation vvhich are seene to God and vvhich see God as he reueales himselfe in the Scripture that become notes by vvhich thou maist safely trauaile in this doubtfull vvay of mortality So that the Scripture must euer be present to make these infallible though perhaps it be not of absolute necessity that all these be euer present vvith the Scripture to make the Church true The Heathens of old burnt the books of Numa because he bewrayd therein the prophane misteries of their Idolatries The Turks at this day keepe their people in ignorance no man must see into no man must dispute or argue of their Sect. And thus our Adversaries of Rome deale vvith the Scriptures resembling heerin the Heathens Turkes vvould yet make the vvorld beleeue that they are the only Christians And lest they should seeme insanire sine ratione they haue a seeming reason why they permit not the Scriptures to be in the mother-tongue of euery Nation publiquely to be read by them lest forsooth as the Rhemists say in their preface they should hurt themselues as vvith fire or water or kniues or swords or the like And vvhy do they not put out the Sunne because it hurts the gazers eyes or why put they not out their eyes to preuent hurting especially since they mis-leade many a man to lust and vanity To argue from the abuse of things indifferent to remoue the lawfull vse of them is an abuseof sence and reason But in things of this kinde of absolute necessitie it is an intolerable and presumptuous foolery Nature cannot bee so blinde as to suffer any but naturals to beleeue this their doctrine and to vvalke in this their way Pro. 4. 18. 19. for Salomon saith The way of the wicked is as darknes they know not at what they stumble But the path of theiust is as the shining light that shineth more and more vnto the perfect day True but vvill some say All Heretickes hang out this flagge and all boast of the Scriptures how shall wee then know the true vvay from the false by that which is common to all vvayes or vvhich all vvayes at least chalenge and make shew of Obserue euen from this obiection the force and authority of the Scriptures vnder which falsehood aswell as truth seeks to shelter herselfe because falsehood by this glasse learnes to trimme herselfe vp like truth And looke as the Heathens by their Idolatries proued aswell that there vvas a God Act. 17. 23. Rom. 1. as the Iewes by their true vvorship because nature taught the most barbarous Nation to adore some Deity and rather to make a God of a Calfe a beast a bird a stone then to be a godlesse Atheist so all Heresies and falsehoods beare witnesse for the truth and authority of the Scriptures vvhilst they striue to iustifie themselues thereby knowing without the Scripture all other their arguments notes and pretences how plentifull or plausible soeuer they bee are nothing to the purpose and therefore they labour to wrest the Scripture to their fancie And could the Church of Rome by this euidence approue her present practise and doctrine I assure my selfe she would looke no farther but vvould permit euery man to reade the same at pleasure nay she would command the reading thereof vnder the paine of
in God as in a good Father and might wholly seeke to him and cleaue to him as to the chiefe and souereigne good able to supply and satisfie all his desires aboundantly This being thus layd downe for a rule let vs by this comparatiuely proceed to try some points of Religion controuerted which are fundamentall or lye next to the foundation and iudge them right or wrong from the nature and quality of their doctrine that is whether they ayme at the right end The glory of God or at an oblique end the gaine of this world and the glory of Man that propounds them according to that direction which our Sauiour giues Iohn 7. 18. He that speakes of himselfe seeketh his owne glory but he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same is true and no vnrighteousnes is in him 1. First for Faith the foundation Our Aduersaries teach a faith which only beleeues the power of God to saue man wee teach a faith which beleeues both his power and will Theirs teacheth feare ours both feare and loue Theirs cloudes his mercy ours giues true glory both to his power and mercy 2. Secondly for hope Spes boni incerti our Aduersaries teach a hope which vncertainely expects a good to come whether they shal be saued or no they know not but they hope well whether there be a heauen prepared for them yea or no they know not but they hope well Wee teach a hope which the Scripture teacheth that is an earnest out-looking expectation and longing for the accomplishment of those gratious promises which God hath made to vs in his Word So our faith beleeues that there is a heauen and a heauen prepared for vs our hope longs for the time when this shal be perfected and taught by patience and experience stayes the Lords leysure and yet cries out Apoc. 6. 10. How long Lord how long They call this hope Presumption but wee know they are presumptuous for calling it so 3. Thirdly Solent Haeretici semper prospera polliceri caelorum regna peccatoribus pandere vt dicunt parata sunt tibi regna caelorum potes imiâ—ari maiestatem Dei vt absâ— peccato sis Accep stâ— enim liberi arbitâ—iâ— potestatem Hieron Com in Hier cap. 23. for Charity They teach what Charity is truly but in this they erre that they make it that is the charity of man to be the cause which moues God to saue vs nay which deserues and merits saluation of God And this Charity they teach so to depend vpon Free-will as thereby they exalt the nature of man conceale his fall and make the decree of God to be grounded vpon the mutable and vnconstant will of man We on the other side teach that our saluation wholly proceedes from the charity and loue of God and that all meanes conducing to that end rise from the same fountaine of loue and so our charity as an effect of that charity of God to vs serues not as a cause moouing God to saue but followes as a cause declaring whom God will saue And that our Charity as it is a fruite and effect of Gods Charity is true charity and the works proceeding from that charity of ours good but imperfect good as done by a person accepted imperfect as done by a sinner as done by a babe which growes and labors towards perfection which perfection is not wholly to bee attayned till this imperfection be wholly put away and corruption hath put on incorruption And therefore for merit wee are farre from it as a doctrine opposite both to our charity and to the charity of God To our charity because charity is a free worker not respecting the wages if she thinkes to merit she is not Charity To the Charity of God because if God gaue for the merit of our workes heauen were not properly a gift nor grace were not grace nor charity charity for charity is free Thus euen Adam himselfe in his integrity could not merit because bee had nothing but what he receiued he was indebted for his daily bread and for the grace he had to see and acknowledge this loue of God so whilst we are giuing thankes for benefites receiued wee are not paying our debts but running farther in for euery grace that wee haue is a new obligation To him that hath shal be giuen and wee are receiuing whilst we thinke our selues giuing Againe they teach Though Christ dyed for vs and though Gods grace guide and direct our actions and affections yet there are some sinnes left to be satisfied and discharged by our selues either in this life by workes of merit or pennance heere or heereafter by punishment in Purgatory Now this they doe teach not euer perhaps because they so beleeue but because it is a profitable error and they know they may easily vndertake to pardon all that come into Purgatory Besides it is a great glory for their Hierarchy to be sticklers in so large and spatious a roome as they fancy or faine it to bee not only to haue all earth but all Purgatory also within the verge of their Inquisition Now vvee teach the contrary because we see this doctrine derogatory to Gods infinite mercy and glory and to the infinite merits of our Sauiour As if God had forgot to be gratious or as if our Sauiours merits and actions were imperfect as our workes are or rather indeed as if our workes were perfect to merit supererrogate and his imperfect not able to do inough for all vvhen our Sauiours death did satisfie for all the faithfull and vvas sufficient for many vvorlds more and his merits vvere superaboundant for vs and for all that beleeue and repent Fiftly they say that after the vvords of consecration the bread is changed into the body of Christ as he was borne as he suffered This they doe to exalt the dignity of their Preisthood vvee teach the contrary that it is his body and truly eaten but both by faith after a spirituall manner as the Angels eate Christ in heauen by contemplation And this vvee teach both because vvee haue good testimony of Scripture vvith the whole choherence thereof and the Analagie of faith so to expound it as also because it makes more for the glory of God and the humiliation of man when our Aduersaries doctrine doth the contrary For doth it not call in question the truth of Gods word the truth of Christs body when we are led to imagine such a body as might be borne of the Virgin or not born might be crucified or not crucified being neither to be felt nor seene nor tasted yet to be taken vvith the hand eaten with the teeth receiued into the stomach And doth it not exalt man vvhen it makes him able to make his Maker And with his word to make him so as it should be in his power according to his intention will to haue him present or not present What is this else but to sit in the seate
part I giue the intelligent Hearer this one obseruation by the way that of all the controuersies betwixt vs and our Romane Adversaries we are not chalenged for doing any thing in the seruice of God which wee ought not to doe for wee beleeue with them all the Articles of the Creede wee pray as Christ himselfe hath taught vs wee liue at least wee teach that allmen should liue as God hath commanded vs in the Decalogue Only the exceptions they take at vs are for omissions because they say wee do not something wee ought to doe and our exceptions are against them 1. First for omitting some things which God commandeth 2. Secondly for doing something that God commandeth not after the patterne prescribed but after another manner invented 3. Thirdly for doing many things which God hath directly and expresly prohibited prohibiting in the meane time what God hath commanded Now I desire you so to obserue this passage that you may take it vp rightly and vnderstand what I meane I say therefore againe the questions and controuersies betwixt vs are not for the things wee doe but of the things that they doe As for example they dare not finde fault with vs for praying as Christ taught vs Our father c. But the question is whether or no they doe as they ought whilst they pray to Saints and Angels The question is not whether wee may pray to God without Images or no but whether wee may pray by at in to or before Images with any reference to them as they doe And so for Latin Seruice for the Communion in both kinds the questions are about the things that they do not for the things wee do so the doubt is vpon their side and such a doubt it is that the Pope would gladly haue graunted Queene Elizabeth of happy Memory liberty for her and her people to do these things as wee now doe them as witnesseth the learned B B. of Ely in his Tortura Torti and Master Camden in his Anâ—ales if the Queene would haue taken license from him or would haue subiected her Crowne to his Myter for that was the marke he shot at the gaine of his Peter pence and other spirituall trading and the glory of a Kingdome so obsequious so fruitfull so helpefull as England had beene and might bee But shee was too honorable to kisse his foote for feare or hope and too honest to receiue any courtesie from him which I adde the rather to let them see who perhaps are not altogether vvell affected toward vs nor perswaded of our truths that there is nothing practised in our Church but that which finds allowance and approbation from the modestest and learnedest of their side And therefore they may well be present at our seruice and communicate with vs in our Sacraments The Popes worde only hinders them from Communion with vs but Gods word bars vs from Communion with them without scruple of conscience vnlesse the Popes countermand bee their scar-crow although wee may not safely communicate with them for feare of manifest Idolatry knowing that howsoeuer their way seemes right in theyr eyes yet the Issues thereof are the wayes of death 3. The Publique Iudge Salomon The last point comes now to be handled concerning the true Iudge of this way which is the holy Spirit of God directing the pen of Salomon the Publique Magistrate the King and the Preacher A man and a priuate spirit of a man was the Iudge of the apparance the seeming good the beginning of this way But God is the true Iudge of the end and issue of this way Man was an impotent Iudge God an all-sufficient Iudge Man was a Iudge preiudiciall and partiall Gen. 18. 25 God is an vpright Iudge for shall not the Iudge of all the world doe right But the Pope of Rome steps in heere Luk. 4. 6. chalenging to be Iudge in this case by Charter as Sathan did in the like case and to haue a Patent sealed to that end by Christ himselfe 1. Reg. 2. 27 And for feare Salomon who as King durst dispose of the Preisthood should bring euidence against him either by word or fact he hath stopt his mouth and condemned him aforehand to Hell and brought out Traian the Emperor in his roome who though he were a Pagan yet hath found so much fauour as to be preferd before Salomon In the life of Gregory the great who was a Type of Christ and the wisest Prince that euer reigned And doubtles if any other of the Prophets or Apostles should presse him with arguments he hath power to silence them and to cry vp and downe what Scripture he pleaseth to make Canonicall Apocrypha and Apocrypha Canonicall ad benè placitum For who would beleeue the Scripture but for the Church and who is the holy Catholique Church but his Holines at least who is the head thereof who rules the roast there but hee Now if any of them vrge him too farre and make against him he hath power to take order with them either by binding or loosing which iurisdiction in this case he excrciseth after a foure-fold manner 1. By pronouncing them Apocrypha 2. By eluding their genuine meaning and sence by a foraigne and forced interpretaton or exposition 3. By warranting an erronious Iranslation to be Authenticall and the only true one 4. Lastly by purging all humors that offend his humor In which regard wee see how the Auncient Fathers haue beene shaued clipt scoured washt let blood purged gelt and mutilated yea and many of the Neotericks of their owne Men and faction haue beene dieted and cast into a sweat and hardly recouered with the application of their Catholicon And all these acts of theirs iustified and defended with asmuch eagernesse and shew of zeale and truth as the honestest cause Well may wee therefore feare and flee from his censure as from a Iudge full of preiudice full of partiality because it is in his owne cause where he will not limit his Prerogatiue royall but extend it beyond all degrees of comparison Yet though he be our Aduersary let vs heare him a little and see what notes and Land-markes he giues vs to know and distinguish the true way from the false by that wee may follow them if they both seeme and bee infallible and that wee may beware of them if they only seeme right but leade to the way of death and then seeke out others that wee may cleerely see to be true Neither will the time permit nor is it needfull to bring forth all the marks of the true way which the Church of Rome hangs out The principall only I will briefly touch and point at But before wee do it I must lay downe this ground of their owne which they giue to discerne true notes by True Notes of the Church must be such as are able to constitute the absolute definition of the Church so farre that being found the Church is found and being lost