take no care for the matter because he would defend his owne Church as he did by throwing part of an hill upon the Host by a strange earth quake terrifying the rest that remained with tempests of haile thunder and lightnings wherein Brennus was also so sorely wounded that like one impatient of his sufferings hee slew himselfe with his owne hand I will not therefore stand to tell you of Cambises Xerxes or the gold of Tholouse Nor will I speake of Pyrrhus who with his whole Fleet perished in the waters even whil'st the prize of his sacriledge was heavie in his ships But I will rather proceed to that which I first intended namely to shew the divine right of Tythes and to declare that where they are impropriated there God and his Church are robbed For can it be thought that man is wiser to order these things better than God hath done Or is it reasonable that the rewards of our labours should bee imbezeled into the hands of Lay-possessours for doing nothing What is become of Conscience or true pietie if in maintaining that they may men tremble not at it It is not enough to vouch prescription for the infeofment of Lay-patrons for if nullum tempus occurit Regi that is if no custome can prescribe against an earthly King much lesse against the King of Heaven and earth For first by right originall Tythes are the Lords And secondly by way of assignation they appertaine to the Church in the officers thereof and this for the service that they doe To put us therefore off with stipends courtesie and benevolence is to alter Gods order and to tye us to such meane modicums as are commonly both scant and uncertaine which is a thing miserable and not honourable And yet sayth the Apostle 1 Tim. 5.17 He that ruleth well is not onely worthie of honour but of double honour Wherefore let mee tell you in a storie what I have read in print to the same purpose There was once a certaine Seigniour who came to one of the Images of our Ladie and threw into the bason an angel of gold at which the Image made a low humble courtesie Now his manstanding by and seeing this did much admire the matter and because hee also would have a curtesie hee purposed to throw in something whereupon hee put in sixe pence and tooke out his Masters angell So also they that robbe the Church of what was once her ancient revenews if they leave her but any thing be the moitie never so small they looke for curtesie and observance and would that the Clergie should thinke themselves well that they have any thing left But be not deceived For as Malachie saith Malach. ◠Galat. 6. God in so doing is robbed So Paul affirmeth that he is mocked Shels will not serve where the kernell is due nor a small something acquit you my Bretheren from doing of wrong For as you are bound to communicate to your teachers so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all good things Gala. 6.6 And if in all good things or in every thing of the best and highest esteeme then much more in things of a lower and meaner reckoning For Omne magis continetin se minus the lesser is comprehended in the greater This first And secondly as there is nothing too good to bee dedicated to God and his service so nothing so meane which wee can possibly have without his blessing All comes from the bounty and goodnesse of Almightie God To be thankfull therefore for every thing is to pay a tribute out of all as Iacob did Gen. 28. Cunctorum quae dederis mihi Decimas offer am tibi saith that blessed Patriarch Sed omnia quae homo habet sunt ei data divinitus ergo de omnibus debet Decimas dare Aquin. Sum. 22. q. 87. art 2. sayth Aquinas Yea and sayth the Scripture also in another place Remember the Lord thy God it is he that giveth thee power to get riches Deut. 8.18 And so some following the true sence of the place translate it Communicate to thy teachers in all thy goods although it be litterally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all good things Neither thirdly doth that of our Saviour formerly mentioned but speake as much For it is most certaine that he did well approve of those smaller Tythes of Mint Annise and Rue thereby * Mr. Rob. Revenue of the Gospell c. 12. intimating that whereas the Providence of God doth order and bring forth as well the least branch of little hearbes as the whole vallyes of Corne and whole heards of Cattell so it is good reason that the Lord be payd his Tribute or tenth out of those smaller and tender cropps as well as out of those more plentifull encreasings Yea so exactly doth the Lord require his Tenth as he cannot in any case endure the diminishing thereof Encreased it may be by the more zealous and thankefull but not diminished Whereupon the people of Israel were strictly charged that no man should exchange or make composition for his Tythes except he would give for them a sist part more then the price thereof Levit. 27.31 The Apostle therefore meaneth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he who is taught in the Word should make him that taught him partaker in all his goods It is proved then that we may claime a part in all and if a part in all why not that part or portion which in all ages hath beene paid untill the Church was robbed For though in those words of the Apostle formerly mentioned there be no expresse mention of a tenth part yet if Scripture may be expounded by Scripture wee shall find no other part assigned than a tenth No not now For First were the law of Tythes abrogated then he would have shewed some other way how the people might make their Teachers to communicate in all their goods but seeing hee sheweth no other way it must needs be as it was before for no positive sanction can reverse Gods appointment If he hath once spoken thus or thus it shal be shew me then I pray you who can alter it but himselfe Si princeps causam inter partes audierit et sententiam dixerit lex est in omnibus similibus which rule doth much more hold as it is appliable to the King of Heaven And therefore what hath beene once commanded in the Old Testament doth remaine a Law for ever except as Mr. Robarts truly speaketh it hath beene since repealed which is no where to be shewed concerning tythes either directly or indirectly Never was this right disclaimed nor removed to a new rate And therefore whereas the Lord having formerly both challenged and received under the Law and before the Law not only a part but specially and by name a tenth part as I shall afterwards shew you it is our duty still to acknowledge and performe for Gods due not a part wee know not which but even this knowne particularly described Tenth
See Mat. 10. and Luk. ch 2.8 10. ver 3. Then after them the seventie Disciples Christ likened the first to sheepe the second to lambes thereby declaring that there was a greater dignity in the one then in the other and that the first-sent had not onely the priority of time but of place and authoritie It was Christs owne act and therefore let no man presume not so much as to thinke of joyning together those whom Christ hath put asunder And so saith the ordinary glosse Sicut in Apostolis forma est Episcoporum sic in septuaginta Discipulis forma est Presbyterorum secundi ordinis as it is alledged by Stella and Aquinas It is also so understood by Theophilact and sundry others upon the tenth of Luke viz. that the seventy were inferiour to the twelve Some expresse it thus that the seventy in stead of Aarons sonnes should be amongst us as inferiour Priests others thus that the twelve were as the chiefe Captaines and Commanders in the Church And although in these ordinances it is as if Christ tooke patterne from the Law wherein all Priests were not equall yet is it nothing against the abrogation of the Law For the Ceremonies both might be and were abolished although the forme of the old governement bee still retained seeing that was a thing which pertained not so much to types and figures as to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or rule of doing things decently and in order for paritie is the next way to bring all things to an Anarchy and so no order unlesse there bee an order in confusion And without doubt when our Saviour said Dic Ecclesiae Tell it to the Church he had an eye to those whom hee had made cheife in authority above the rest And all this whilst Christ lived Next if we have respect to the times of the Apostles we shall find that Saint Paul though last called 2 Cor. 11.5 yet not a whit inferiour to the â—hiâ—fest Aposles by warrant from the holy Ghost appointed Timothie to bee a Bishop over all the Churches of Ephesus saying I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedâ—nia 1 Tim. 1 3. to charge some that they teach no other doctrine At the end therefore of the second Epistle to Timothy it is said that it was written from Rome to Timotheus the first elected Bishop of Ephesus Tit. 1.5 And to Titus he also writeth thus For this cause I left thee still in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordaine Elders in every City The end likewise of that Epistle witnesseth that it was directed to Titus the first elected Bishop of the Cretians And in the stories of the Church declaring the Acts and Monuments of ancient times thus we read Eusebius reporteth in his third book and fourth Chapter of Ecclesiasticall historie that Timothy was the first Bishop of the whole precinct of Ephesus in as ample manner as Titus was cheife Bishop of all the Churches of Crete 〈◊〉 2. c. 16. Hee also writeth that Saint Marke did institute the Churches of Alexandria lib. 2. c. 24. And in another place that Anianus did immediately succeed Marke the Apostle in the said Churches of Alexandria And againe Iulian the tenth had the Bishopricke of the same Churches 〈◊〉 5. c 9. and in his third booke and 20. chapter speaking of Saint Iohn When he returned saith he out of Pathmos to Ephesus at the request of others he visited the places bordering thereupon that he might ordaine Bishops constitute Churches and elect Clergie men by lots whom the Holy Ghost had assigned and comming to a City not farre of he cast his eyes upon that Bishop which was set over all the rest and unto him hee committed the tuition of a young Gentleman saying I doe earnestly commend this young man unto thee witnesse Christ and his Church Nay before this alledged of these Apostles we read in scripture of Philip one of the seven Deacons who being sent forth an Evangelist preached and baptized but neither might nor did ordaine others to doe the like For when the Apostles heard that Samaria had received the word of God they send thither Peter and Iohn because they had power of imposition of hands which Philip had not as is recorded in the eight chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Act. 8.14.17 Nor did Saint Paul but set downe rules how Bishops should behave themselves which were in vaine if the Church ought of right to bee without them But among all passages this may not slip namely that the seven Churches of Asiae had their Bishops even at the very time when the Spirit of God endeavoured to lay open the particulars of their faults And yet amongst all the things worthy of blame wherewith they were charged there is not a word against them for being governed by Bishops and surely that order had not escaped reprehension if it had not beene knowne to have beene of divine Institution And next the testimonies being thus cleare can any but a mad-man thinke that they are meant only of ordinary Parish Priests such as are now as if every such Priest should bee a Bishop Or if of other Bishops is there any colour for it that they should be Bishops onely in title without jurisdiction when one as we see is plainly said to have the governement of many Churches which by the Apostles were founded planted constituted or appointed Certainly the word Churches in the plurall number doth not import more Catholike Churches then one for there is but one and therfore by Churches is meant the severall plantation of Churches to be setled and governed by their Bishops some one having the cheife oversight of as many as were within the bounds of one precinct and some other of as many as were within the bounds and limits of another precinct For that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by Eusebius is thus to be taken both the word Churches formerly mentioned as also the grammaticall signification thereof doe fully witnesse Of which Scapula in his Lexicon writeth after this manner namely that it signifieth Accolarum conventus et Accolatus sacraque vicinia And therefore may bee taken for many Churches within any limited Precinct or jurisdiction namely for a Diocesse either large or small which is but as a great and generall Parish Mr. Seld. hist of Tithes c. 6 page 80. the lesser being since called by the same name because they limit the people unto which particular Church they are to go and unto which to pay their tythes Thus were the first beginnings The imitations continuations and inlargements were afterwards and built upon the same grounds when as the number of beleevers increased there was a more generall division of Congregations into a greater number of particular parishes Yet so as they were to have their dependance on the mother Churches first erected and to be governed by every such Bishop
will be carefull to avoid Nor againe doth that of our Saviour in Luke 22.25 denie the titles of civill honours to men of the Church Titles of civill honour are not their denied for it doth not as shall appeare forbid honour and authority or the titles thereunto belonging but ambitious seeking of it or them together with that tyrannicall using of it which the wicked kings of the Nations through the conceit of their owne greatnesse and soothings of their flatterers proudly take upon them And that this is the meaning of that Text appeareth by these reasons First because Christ acknowledged that the title Rabbi which signifieth a Master an honourable person or a man that is eminent by reason of his many dignities and places of honour that he holdeth was a title of right belonging to him Hee disclaimed it not but embraced it Ye call mee Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am Iohn 13.13 Secondly Iohn Baptist was called Master and not refused it Luke 3.12 Thirdly although Saint Paul and Barnabas (*) Act. 14.15 denied to be worshipped with Divine honour yet when Paul and Silas were reverenced with civill honour and called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lords by the Master of the Prison they made no scruple of it but onely sayd Beleeve in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saved Acts 16.30 Fourthly the change of Abram to Abraham and of Sarai to Sarah witnesse no lesse for their names being thus changed were not onely a token of confirming the promise but also an honourable favour which God himselfe vouchsafed to them Dr. Willet ex Mercer in Gen. for their greater grace and respect among those with whom they lived as was seene when Abraham communed with the Children of Heth who answering sayd unto him Heare us my Lord thou art a mighty Prince among us Gen. 23.6 And God also told Abimilech that he was a Prophet Gen. 20.7 Fiftly because when Obadiah met Elias he fell on his face and sayd Art thou my Lord Elias He answered yea Goe and tell thy Lord behold Elias is here 1 Kings 18.7.8 Sixtly because Elisha accepted of the like title as it is in the 2 Kings 4.16 In which regard Beza noted not amisse upon these words in Mat. 23.8 Bee not yee called Rabbi c. Ne vocemini id est Ne ambiatis Bee not ye called that is doe not ambitiously seeke after that title or pride your selves in it for otherwise our Sauiour doth not accept against any either for not denying the titles of their office or for not refusing the honour due unto them And here an end of this Section SECT II. THE next thing that followeth is That the people give eare and come where they may heare the Doctrines rebukes and exhortations of their ghostly Fathers For though they be men whom the Lord hath assigned to this holy office yet men to whom hee hath conveighed a peculiar grace 2 Tim. 1.6 ibid. which the Orthodox and right do so stirre up that when they preach they preach not themselves but Iesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.5 Heb. 5.4 They have power to officiate but they take it not it is given them before they have it It came to those of Christs schoole from Christ himselfe but was not to end with them for there is a * building which cannot be perfected without it And being therefore appointed for it Ephes 4.12 Mat. 28. ult it hath beene conveighed ever since by the imposition of hands to such as are not otherwise any lawfull Priests of God And finally that care may be had in the conveighance hereof It is the counsell of Saint Paul to Timothie 1 Tim. 5.22 That he lay hands upon no man suddenly Thus then we have it and are by this meanes become persons sacred and have authoritie to deale in holy things We blesse in the name of him that blesseth The dispensation of the Word and Sacraments is committed to us We have power to binde Mat. 18.18 2 Cor. 5.20 wee have power to loose wee are Ambassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us The message is from Heaven as delivering to you God's blessed will out of his holy Word And therefore to be received 1 Thess 2.13 not as the word of men but as the Word of God So that as we if we love the Lord Ioh. 21.15.16 will feede his Lambes and Sheepe In like manner ye if ye despise not Christ Luke 21.16 Acts 7.51 nor resist the holy Ghost will be content to hearken to the words of those by whom he speaketh For this he doth hee speaketh by us though not by immediate inspiration as some phantastickes fondly dreame yet by our rightly dividing that Word of truth which is properly and indeed the Word of God Aug. cont Epist Parmenioni l. 2. c. 11. In cujus praedicatione spiritus Sanctus operatur as Saint Austine speaketh So that though our Sermons ought to have no greater credit then they can gaine unto themselves by their agreement with the Scriptures yet not dissenting from them they are truely and indeed the Truth and Doctrine of God and though not his Word by immediate inspiration yet the Word of God in a secundarie sence as being the sober explication and application of some such part or portion of the Word as we then pitch upon In which regard the Preachers of it are Co-workers or jont-labourers with God as even the Apostles were For though we cannot bee compared with them in worthinesse of grace and vertue yet in likenesse of office and Ministerie we may and must And indeed t is a perpetuall Sanction Mal. 2.7 that the Priests lippes are to preserve knowledge and that the people seeke the Law at their mouthes for even in this they are the messengers of the Lord of Hosts So that in what way so ever they convey or give notification of the object of faith which is the Word unto the people whether it be by reading or otherwise it is to be of more esteem then when t is done by any other Which I doe not note to deterre Lay-people from reading of the Scripture but to shew the difference that is betweene their reading and ours as also to signifie that no Scripture is of private interpretation 1 Pet. 1.20 as Saint Peter hath declared And now to the amplifying of all this thus I proceed The Lord's Day or Sunday is God's chiefe Schoole-day wherein God's people must come to the Church for that 's his Schoole-house wherein among other duties to bee done they must heare his Word for that 's their lesson Some be Truants and care not for comming Others be Recusants and may not come to joyn themselves with us A third sort be Schismaticks and will not come except where they affect and when they please And last of all others be indifferent and will sometimes come but in respect of the end their comming and hearing is
Achan by the name of son Iosh 7.19 Now sonne by way of relation implyes a Father as even in the termes of Logick is apparent where both the relative and correlative answer to one another David also in the first booke of Samuel spake thus unto the King and said 1 Sam. 24.11 My father see yea see the skirt of thy robe in my hand So also in the second booke of the Chronicles the cheife rulers are called the chiefe fathers of Israel 2 Chron. 23.2 Neither doe the scriptures but affirme that king Hezekiah was a father over the fathers of his people even over the Priests and therfore much more over the rest of his subjects as it is in 2 Chron. 29.11 And againe Kings and Queenes are stiled by the prophet Esay Esay 49.23 nursing fathers and nursing mothers of the Church and are therefore the nursing fathers and mothers of the Common-weale these two societies having such a mutuall dependance that the welfare of the one is the prosperity of the other For as mine authour speaketh tam arcto inter se nenu colligatae funt Dâ—â—s et Reâ— pag 〈◊〉 ut altera ab alterius salute et incolumitate pendere quodammodo videatur Whereto agreeth that exquisite saying of Gulielmus Occam to the Emperour Lewis the fift Domine Imperator defende me gladio et ego te defendam calamo Protect thou mee with thy sword Lord Emperour and I will defend thee with my Pen. So also when the government was in the hands of awoman The inhabitants of the villages ceased they ceased saith shee in Israel untill that I deborah arose that I arose a Mother in Israel Iudg. 5.7 And of Ioseph it is againe recorded that God made him a father with Pharaoh as Iunius readeth it Gen. 45.8 A father with him although not above him for in this both he and all the other governours must be inferiour A King is the primum mobile and from him it is that the other moove A King is like the sun in the firmament from whom the other starres receiue their light He may have many fathers with him but none at all above him for this is that one of which Sr. Peter speaketh 1 Pet. 2.13 who is supereminent and high aboue the rest to which even all the rest either as they are powers subordinate Rom. 13.1.5 or as they are men and so members of some society must out of dutie and for conscience sake be subject and obedient Here then the fierce frenzie of Anabaptisticall Doctrine knowes not how to abolish Magistiacie as abhominable Nor may the Consistorian tenets of dangerous puritans be granted as authenticall Kings hold their crownes of God and are not to bee limited at the peoples pleasure they erre who thinke they may correct or punish them Nor may the bloody practise of Pope and Puritane-papists be allowed The Miter may not trample on the neckes of Princes and dispose of kingdomes when and where it pleaseth no not in ordine ad spiritualia Not in defence of Christs spouse the Church because there is no firme warrant for such a practise as by degrees shall bee further shewed both out of the Scriptures and the Fathers But before I make myful encounter with these adversaries severally and apart I have to tell them in the generall that they are mischievous miscreants and doe but give their right hands of fellowship to that wicked generation here mentioned who curse their father and doe not blesse their Mother If it were otherwise the scriptures would not teach that we may not curse the King no not in our thoughts Eccles 10.20 Nor that it were unlawfull to revile or curse the ruler of the people Mat. 15.4 Prov. 20.20 30.11 Exod. 22.28 Nor that we should honour our fathers and blesse our mothers Deut. 27.16 Nor that every soule should bee subject to the higher powers Rom. 13.1 Nor that the birds of prey should be our punishers For as hath been said The eye that mocketh at his Father Prov. 30.17 and dispiseth to obey his Mother the Ravens of the vallie shall picke it out and the young Eagles shall eate it Where againe observe that the blessing or duty which is pertinent to the Mother who is the weaker vessell may in this place stand to signifie that not the meanest officer which the King our supreame governour here on earth shall constitute may bee cursed or despised For know that such honour and dutie as is proportionable to the places wherein they are must be conferred nay rather must be rendred as a thing which of right belongeth to them For this in some sort is that exequation formerly mentioned wherein the mother is blessed as well as the Father and wherein the children are taught the full extent of their duties not finding all to bee fully done untill the Mother and the Father bee proportionably honoured The Mother then as herein doth well appeare stands not for a meere cypher and therefore secondly shee also must see that shee bee more then a cypher to fill up roome in the place wherein shee is Scar-crowes and no more are to little purpose They be but as David speaketh of the heathen Images who have eyes and see not mouths and speake not eares and heare not and therefore such as are unfit to beare an office For the life of the law is the execution thereof whilst on the contrary through ignorance floth briberie feare or favour it is either dead or lives a languishing life to all offenders I hold it therefore requisite that an officer be endued chiefly with two things Knowledge and Practice The Knowledge requires Cor sapiens a wise heart Kin. 3.9 such a one as Solomon prayed for shadowes will not serve the turne where substance is required Nor scarre-crowes frey but where the birds are foolish perhaps at the first they may affright but afterwards being knowne to be what they are vices grow impudent and like unto the fearelesse birds boldly take their swindg without any regard at all to those who are set to looke at what is done And next for the execution of this knowledg there must be Cor magnanimum a magnanimous heart Not an heart of waxe which will meltinto feare nor an heart of lead which will bend into favour but a coutagious stout and valiant heart Kin. 10 20. To which purpose let Solomons throne be looked on view well the manner or fashion thereof and it will so one appeare that it was not for nothing that every of those stept unto his throue of judgement were supported by Lyons because it fitly served to teach Kings and all Magistrates that a Lyon-like courage and resolution was to be of no meane importance or regard among them Beside which that the execution may be just as well as fearelesse there must be also Cor honestum An honest upright and religious heart Such an heart as will not suffer envie or malicious
of Creation the memorie of the first is obscured by the last and so the one is to give place unto the other as in a case not much unlike it the Prophet Ieremâ—e hath declared Ier. 16.14 15. Nor againe doth this last impose a like commemoration with the former in regard of Rest because our Saviour did not so much rest upon that day whereon he arose as valiantly overcome the powers of death It may be rather said that he rested before whil'st he lay in the Grave and so they who are dead bee sayd to rest from their labours but to rise againe implyes a breaking off from rest and a beginning of labour which even in this cannot but be granted if the consideration be taken up with relation to that rest which went before it whil'st the bodie lay in the quiet Grave till the time appointed Nor doe I thinke it strange to say that on our Day of the Lord the memorie of the Redemption be come in place of that of Creation For tho we have the proper solemnitie of Christ's Resurrection upon that day which is called Easter yet this weekely day of publique worship being as Saint Austine speaketh consecrated to us by our Lords Resurrection doth not onely deserve to be made choice of for the peculiar day of our solemne Assemblies but to be judged also to relate in some sort to the benefit of Redemption Secondly their strict resting was a memoriall of their deliverance from the hard labours which they had lately suffered in the Land of Aegypt as is expressely mentioned in Deut. 5.15 Now this was a thing peculiarly belonging unto them and not to us Therefore they and we are not both bound to one and the same strictnesse unlesse their condition and ours were both alike Thirdly Ezek. 20 12. this their Sabbath was given them for a signe Psal 147.20 that God had then chosen them from among all the Nations of the earth to be his people For the Heathen had no knowledge of his Lawes but they had the partition wall was then unbroken In token of which favour they had the Sabbath which they were strictly to observe not doing their owne will nor speaking so much as their owne words as in these Scriptures is declared Exod. 31.13 Ezek. 20.12 and Esa 58.13 And albeit all Christians now be likewise the people of God yet because they are of more Nations then one and live in times of more maturitie they are not tyed to such a strict yoake as if they were still in the dayes of the Law but differenced from that Heire who whil'st he is a Child must live as a servant as the Apostle speaketh Gala. 4.1 For when the fulnesse of time was come the condition of God's people was altered as at the fift verse of the foresayd Chapter is declared And at the seventh verse thus Thou art no more a servant but a Sonne And therefore though bound to bee obedient yet freed from those hard taskes which of old were strictly required from the Jewish people Last of all their Sabbath was a type whereby was prefigured that Rest Heb. 9.4 which as the Apostle speaketh and of which their Canaaen likewise was a figure remained for the people of God to be purchased for them by Christ who being come and gone into his Fathers house Ioh. 14.2 wherein are many mansion places went to prepare them as was prefigured in the foresaid Rest of the Jewish Sabbath And therefore seeing Christ hath actually purchased that which was then prefigured it were injurious to Christ to lay the same yoake still upon our neckes Yea in a word by what hath beene said it cannot but appeare that although our Lord's Day or Sunday hath of late yeares beene vulgarly knowne and called by the name of the Sabbath yet of right neither the name nor manner of keeping it appertaines thereunto For there is so great a difference betweene the old Sabbath and our Sunday that it is a manifest mistake to urge those Scriptures upon us which peculiarly belonged to them in the observation of their Day But if the Sunday be no Sabbath Quest why then doth the Church in her Liturgie retaine still the fourth Commandement and say Remember that thou keepe holy the Sabbath day c. yea and why are the people bound to pray at the end thereof Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keepe this Law For answer whereunto Sol. this is first that although all the other Commandements are to be kept ut sonant according to the letter as St Austin speaketh yet this of the Sabbath is of another kinde being partly morall partly ceremoniall And if so then in part it is abolished and in part retained And being but in part abolished it must upon necessity have still a place among the other precepts For so farre as 't is morall 't is still of force and is therefore put among the Precepts of the Decalogue for that which is morall in it For as I said formerly it proceedeth from the Law of Nature that some time be set apart for Gods publicke service And therefore this being revived in the Law of the fourth Commandement ought to be remembred and kept upon one day in seven which last though unknowne till Nature was informed is now to be reckoned as that principal portion of time which God requireth And so last of all being bound to the morality of the precept there is good reason that we pray to have the Lord incline our hearts to the keeping of it for being strengthned by his assistance there will be care had that we decline not away from the observation thereof And whereas I formerly gave notice that it is the very chiefe of Dayes or as I then expressed it Gods chiefe Schoole-day I had reason for it because there is no Holy Day which the Church hath appointed to be kept of such eminency and excellency as is this Day of the Lord according to that of St. Austin in his 251 Sermon De tempore at the very beginning therof in these words saying Sciendum est Fratres charissimi quod ideo à sanctis patribus nostris constitutum est christianis mandatum ut in solennitatibus Sanctorum maxime in Dominicis diebus otium haberent à terreno negotio vacarent ut paratiores promptiores essent ad divinum cultum In which words appeareth not only the excellency of this Day above other Festivalls but the necessity also of such a Rest as may be no hindrance but a furtherance to Gods publicke worship For such a Rest as this is as a means requisite for that end for which the Day is set apart The ancient Sabbath had as hath beene shewed other ends which here in this Day can take no place because the Day it selfe is now abolished and gone and the armes of the Church extended further then to one only Nation All that can be added more is this
dare say nearest to those of the Primitive times and shall I hope come every day more neare then other to them insomuch that if then it might be truly said not only that the Kings daughter was all glorious within but that her clothing likewise was of wrought gold so also now For whereas the factious from time to time together with their silly Proselytes have endeavoured to cry downe that uniformity which best becommeth God's publike worship it is more like to be advanced now then ever since the dayes of Reformation And 't is for certaine a good and pious worke God's blessing therefore light upon them who do their best to set it forward for it will cause that beauty of holinesse to be apparent which best beseemes devote sincere and pious worshippers 3. The third sort are Schismaticks a perverse and peevish generation who will not come but where they affect and when they please and yet these be they who are all for hearing For were it not for Sermons it were more then a miracle to see them approach God's holy Temple And so Saint Chrysostome observed of some in his time Chrysost hom 3. in 2 Thess saying thus Why therefore do we enter the Church except we may heare one stand up and preach And yet not every one neither For it is seldome when that their owne Pastor can please them They have an itch in their braines and must be fed by such as they best affect and as for Learning and Conformity they grinne and snarle against it This maketh them runne to and fro to seeke out such as spit against set forms of prayer disrespect Churches delight in the breach of Canons hate Discipline contemne orders and despise Bishops although the Scriptures teach them a lesson which is cleane contrary and in particular telleth not obscurely that He who wil not obey the Church must be accounted as an Heathen and a Publican Math. 18.17 But let the Scripture say what it wil if it makes against them such is their humour that they care not for it and therefore they who be most disordered are best affected These they will follow from parish to parish from town to towne from city to city from one kingdome to another people yea from one England to another And if it be that upon necessity they must sometimes frequent their owne parish Churches they will if it be possible be Tardè venientes Late commers for what care they for Common prayers That kinde of Service may not be touched they contemne they scoffe they inveigh against it But let them take heed that this foule sinne be never laid unto their charge They sinke without recovery who persisting kicke at what they should embrace And therefore let them take heed I say that God wipe not out their names out of the Booke of life for scorning that Booke which as I have else where shewed containes the services of the living God in which I know nothing contrary to his holy Word For although the Prayers be short mixed with many ejaculations and the forme of them be set and not conceived by men ex tempore yet is it no just plea to except against them It is enough for Heathens and bragging Pharisees Math. 6.7.8.9 Math. 23.14 Mark 12.14 Luke â—0 47 Eccles 5.2 to make long and idle babling prayers but as for those who will avoid the censure of our Saviour and vanities which Solomon observed in divine Service it is for them not only to let their words be few but also to regard that they be not rash with their mouthes nor hasty to utter any thing before God It was certainely in another case that Christ would not have his Apostles to be carefull what to speake for this was in cases of persecution Math. 10.19 when they should be enabled to speake before those unto whose judgement Seate they should be brought a singular gift in those dayes to the holy Martyrs But for Prayer he gave his rule of Pray thus and that even then when he blamed such as prayed otherwise Thus or after this manner That 's first Let thy words be few and next Let the forme be Set. And so thou hast a perfect Thus made up of these two as hath been the Churches practise in all Ages ever since For first they did not onely pray in those very words and season all their service with that Prayer of the Lord but even the Prayers that they made were Creberrimae brevissimae frequent and full of fervent brevitie Because in a long and tedious Prayer not well compacted as there may be many vaine and idle repetitions 1 Cor. 14.16 so a weake devotion may be lost but being short often Amens and answers are required and so the attention kept the better waking And by how much the more earnest by so much the shorter and fuller of ejaculations as in the end of our Letanie well appeareth We doe not conjure then nor cut our Service into shreds when with instant cryings the eager spirit doth shew how fervently it Askes it Seekes it Knocks And so also for the second they used formes set and digested least somewhat might be uttered through ignorance or carelessenesse which might be contrary to the Faith as in ancient councells is declared Concil 3. of Carth c. 23. Concil Milv Chrysost hom 18. in 2 Cor. 8 And so also speaketh holy Chrysostome Our Prayers sayth he are common all say the same Prayer Nor was it but an injuction to Aaron and his Sonnes to use a short set forme when they blessed the people Numb 6.23 Nor was it likewise but the practise of holy Meses who was faithfull in the house of God to have one set forme of blessing Heb. 3.2 which he used at the removing and resting of the Arke Numb 10.35.36 And did not Saint Paul blesse often in the same words read his Epistles and 't is apparent and chiefely see what he sayth in the 1 Cor. 14.26 How is it when ye come together that every one of you hath a Psalme hath a Doctrine hath a Tongue c. Let all things bee done unto edifying Nay more even he who taught his Disciples to pray in that manner formerly mentioned did also pray before his Passion more then once or twice not in other but in the same words For looke in what words he prayed to the Father at the first of the three times there recorded in those he prayed at the second and third time also And will none of these things move thee to come betimes to Gods house and to performe all duties as well as some or art thou so singular by thy selfe as that thou scornest to pray with thy neighbours at the appointed time after the appointed manner and in the appointed place If thou art then Scalam in Coelum erigito Make thee a Ladder and ascend up into heaven from us as Constintine once said to Acesius Sozom. lib. 1. c. 21. for
what dost thou here if thou art too pure to be one among us Verily might these men have their wills there should be no face of religion nor order in the Christian world They professe themselves to be Hearers but if you talke with them they are then become Preachers rather then Hearers bragging that Lay-men know the meaning of the Scriptures as well as Priests and therefore need none of their directions excepting when they direct according to what is already fixed in such a peoples fancy For I know well enough the bent of their bowes either we must preach what and how they will heare or they will not heare what or how we preach All or the most of them hate a written Sermon as abominable But as before they might have remembred not only that the Scriptures are not of private inter pretation and that the Priests lips are to preserve knowledge Mal. 2 7. Jer. 36. Baruck 1.5 and that inquiry is to be made at his mouth so also now that Baruck wrote at the mouth of Ieremie that is as Ieremy did indite so Baruck wrote Yea and Baruck also declareth that he wrote and read his owne Sermons To which purpose I may likewise adde what I have often read in the stories of the Church of one Atticus Bishop of Constantinople who preached many Sermons yet because they were done extempore 〈◊〉 l. 7. c. 2 Non ejus genoris fuere saith mine author ut merito vel ab auditoribus studiose perdiscerentur vel monumentis mandarentur literarum ad posteritatem But what care they for this and therefore to please the fancies of not a few we must roll out our Sermons without premeditation or else their tongues are fierce against us And now because every one will not produce such abortives nor doe the worke of the Lord so negligently for feare of that curse in the Scriptures they cry out and say We have an unpreaching Minister Ier. 48.10 a dumb Dog an idle Drone not at all considering that even they themselves are in the meane time possessed with that Divell which makes them deafe For if it were otherwise they could not but be better husbands and huswives of what they have heard and shew the truth of their zeale by the light of their practice Beside which this also should be remembred that as all have not received a like measure of gifts so neither have all a like measure of strength but are impaired either through age sicknesse want or other calamities Now in such cases if they stand so much upon Sacrifice that they forget Mercy where is their charity But do I speak any jot of this to beget a dearth of Sermons it is farre from me for I know that there is no famine like that of the Word Doe I not rather speake it to correct our Schismatickes in their idle wandrings and to inkindle the fire of a godly zeale in them towards the orders of our Church and forme of our prayers They may remember if they please that Hee who was daily teaching in the Temple said also that his Fathers House was an house of prayer not to one only people but to all nations Math. 21.13 Nay more there is this order to be observed in Gods service that prayer is to have the first place For We will give our selves continually to prayer and to the ministration of the Word say the blessed Apostles Act. 6.4 Or againe Doe I speake it to incourage the idle to goe and hide their talents glut themselves with pleasures or leave the Word to follow the world That be also farre from me for he that hath the meanest gift Math. 25.28.29 1 Tim. 4 14.15.16 as by using it he may increase it so by hiding it he may chance to lose it And therefore let every one of God's Ministers be conscionably carefull to feed that flock over which the Holy Ghost hath placed him to the utmost of his power and withall let his sheepe know that they are bound to hearken and listen to him and not forsake him to follow strangers For if the worst be said of him thus set over thee that can be I hope he will be able so long as he is with thee Act 15.21 to preach unto thee as Moses was preached being read in the Synagogue every Sabbath day or as the Epistles of Saint Paul were preached in the Churches wither he sent them 1 Thess 5.27 Act. 16.4 or as the orders of our Church injoyne us by the reading of Homilies Can 49. All which is called Preaching and may without question be profitable to such as apply themselves to be taught thereby Rom. 10.17 Mark 4 24. 1 Tim. 4.2 Esa 18.1 Heb. 4.12 For as faith cometh is increased and mannersamended by hearing and hearing by the Word of God So also by this kinde of hearing in which or in nothing you heare the Word of God For it came to passe when Shaphan read the booke of the Law before the King that herent his clothes 2 King 2◠11.19 enquired of the Lord humbled himselfe and was moved in his heart as the Scriptures beare us witnesse in 2 King 22.10.11.19 And last of all neither is it but the opinion of Martin Bucer that our Homilies were penned by some eminent Preachers such as that age did then afford of which kinde of Preaching * Sunt sanè quidam qui henè pronunciare possunt quod si ab altis sumant eloquenter sapienter est conscriptum memorie que commendent at que ad populum proserart si eam personam gerunt non improbe faciunt Aug. de doct Christ lib. 4. Saint Austin well approveth as may be seene towards the latter end of his fourth booke De doctrina Christiana For if he holds concerning some in his time who knew better how to pronounce then to make a Sermon that they did not amisse to seeke the benefit of their people by preaching what others had written then it must needs follow as an order fit to be embraced that we neglect not the reading of Homilies at such times as we have no other Sermons for hereby having the more time to provide us our owne Sermons will be the better and fitter to be preached They who have a charge under them and be not able to doe this if aged must be helped if indiscreet and ignorant doing things ridiculously or abusing things they meddle with ought to be removed for they have but crept in to the dishonour of the Ministery like him among the guests and want their wedding garment Wherefore all these things being well weighed they be more nice then wise more rude then learned more envious then charitable who inveigh so much at they know not what 4. The last are next Let them be summed up and thus they stand The wandring hearer the wondring or curious hearer the accidentall hearer the pleasing hearer the scoffing hearer the criticall or cavilling