Exposition of Galatians, Exposition · Chapter 4

Exposition of Galatians · Exposition · Chapter 4

p. 137CHAP. IIII.

1 THEN I ſay, that the heire as long as he is a child differeth nothing from a ſeruant, though hee be Lord of all,

2 But is vnderunder tutors and gouernours vntill the time appointed of the Father.

3 Euen ſo, we, when wee were children, were in bondage vnderunder the rudimentes of the woorlde.

The Law reſembleth the office of a tutor.THE third Simile is of a tutorſhippe which remaineth to be explicacated in the entry of this Chapter, yet therefore the leſſe to be debated becauſe of our former examples tending to one & the ſame end already handled.

If the father diſceaſe in the nonage of his child where wiſedome is not, and diſcretion wanteth to diſpoſe and order his patrimony, the Father by will appointeth tutors. In common experience this is an ordinary courſe.

God for purpoſes beſt knowen to his eternall wiſedome, and finding defects in his people, the Iews, to bridle them from farther inconueniences, he bounded them in with ordinances, & as it were tutored them by ſuch orders as was beſt for them p. 138and for that time. And as children are fooliſh to chooſe their owne tutors, ſo the Iewes were to ſerue, and to be ruled, though being children, yet as it were ſeruants vnderunder the rudimentes of his Law, til the time of perfecter age. Wherein appeareth. 1. The defect in men vnderunder the Lawe, who were as pupils, and though they were heires, yet in vſage were they dealt with as with Seruants, and 2. The dignity, ful age and perfection vnderunder the Goſpel.

4 But when the fulnes of time was come, God ſent forth his ſonne made of a woman and made vnderunder the Law,

5 That hee might redeeme them, which were vnderunder the Law, that we might receaue the adoption of Sonnes.

Curioſity in Gods actions is not good.When the fulnes &c. A fooliſh fly can no ſooner ſee a light, but it flieth into it. Man naturally is giuen rather to know what hee cannot learne, than to doe what he knoweth, and ſhould learne, to the ende to doe thereafter.

If the Kings of Perſia might weare a Lawne before their faces becauſe they would not be commonly ſeene, why may not the King of Kings, the inuiſible God keepe the reaſon of his doinges vnderunder the veile of his owne determinations & counfels, or why was it forbidden men to run before or to prie into, or to preſſe too neer the Arke, but to repreſſe mans vain humor in quareling with or enquiring after the cauſes & reaſons of Gods dealings? p. 139To this very ſame end Paul here entering into the declaration of the comming of our Sauiour, to muſſel the mouth that is open euer to queſtion, why he came but now, and why not before, he ſheweth the fulnes of time was not til then.

God doth al things in number, in meaſure and weight, in order, and time. There is no confuſion in his actions, though he keepe the cauſes ſecret to himſelfe. And what mā is worthy to be of the priuy counſell of the Almighty God? There was a time prefixed by God, & that ſhould content man. When the fulneſſe of that time was brim full, then, and not before then, he performed his purpoſed wil.

He could, he that is Almighty could hauehave with a word, ipſe dixit, he ſpake the word, and al things were created, hee could if he would hauehave made all the whole Fabrick and furniture of the world in a moment. But he would not. Why? It is a vile, an Atheiſts and an impious (WHY.) He did not, and therefore he wold not. For whatſoeuer he would, he hath done both in heauen and in earth.

The cauſes of the courſe of things in ordinarie euents are not knowen to man.Thou curious man, aunſwere mee but to the leaſt, why, that I ſhall aske. Why was thou not borne, as ſoone as thou wert begotten? Nay why was thou begotten at al, and not rather framed as God made Adam? And when thou art borne, why art thou not an olde man ſtrait? Why is not eueryevery blacke heare gray & hory in an inſtant? Why is it not hygh noone at the riſing of the ſunne? If tyme p. 140be required in theſe thinges and in the like, and if in the requiring of time, recourſe alſo muſt neceſſarily bee made to God ſo ordering the proceſſe of thinges to hauehave a foorth by paſe and paſe, and by degrees, by little and litle, til there be a ripenes in continuance, I pray thee why, may not God appoint a fulnes of time for the ſending of his ſonne into the world, but thou muſt put in thy quare, and thy why?

For ſhame lay hand vponupon thy mouth, ſubſcribe to his will, reſigne thy ſelfe vp to his wiſedome, adore his counſels, and be not curious in anie of his doings. For he that is curious in any, will bee ouercurious in many. There is no ſtay in folly. It is an **2 King. 20.10.2 Kgs 20:10eaſier thing for the ſunne as Ezechias ſaid, to go on extraordinarily many degrees, becauſe it is naturally prone to go on, than to returne backe againſt his courſe but a fewe: ſo curioſity is ſoone emboldned, but hardly repreſſed, and ſeldome reformed.

In the fulnes of time God ſent his Son made of woman, and made vnderunder the Lawe, that hee might redeeme them which &c. Wherein is ſet foorth, 1. The perſon of Chriſt, and 2. His office.

The perſon of Chriſt fullie laide forth.1 His perſon is being God ſent his ſon, and being man made of a woman. The wiſe Grecian, and the wilful Heretique at the very hearing hereof are at their wittes ends, and quite beſides themſelues. Eutyches denieth the Godhead, Neſtorius p. 141the manhoode, Marcian the bodie, Apollinaris the ſoule of our Sauiour.

The naturall man conſidereth onelie naturall things, he knoweth that euerie child hath a father that begetteth, & a Mother that beareth, but theſe things in Chriſt hee cannot find, he knoweth leſſe herein than is ſtoried of Melchiſedeck, whoſe parentes are vnknowen. And indeede therein was **Melchiſedeck a type of ChriſtMelchiſedeck a type of Chriſt.

So was hee. For according to his humanitie Chriſt was without a naturall father, and according to his diuinity without mother. And yet notwithſtanding was he begotten of his father before al worldes, and borne of his mother in the woorld at the fulnes of time, being the Sonne of God and the ſonne of a woman. The ſonne of God, and ſuch as is the father, ſuch is the ſonne. The father God, ergo the ſonne God alſo. And the Son of Marie. Such as is the Mother, ſuch is the fruite of her womb: and therefore becauſe the Mother was a woman, her ſonne is a man, euen the man Ieſus perfect God & perfect man, hauing both natures abſolutely vnited in one perſon, our Immanuel, god with vsus, equal to the father touching his godhead, inferiour to the father touching his manhood. Equal to the father as being in the **Phil. 2.6.Phil 2:6forme of God, inferiour to the father, as beeing in the form of a ſeruant, mā. Wherfore in eſſence, being, ſubſtance, & nature he was both. Forma dat eſſe, & he was formally & therefore verily both. Equall to p. 142his father as being the perſonal word of his father **Iob. 1.1.Job 1:1in the beginning eternally, with God coequally, and verie God eſſentially, and yet inferiour to the father, as the woorde became fleſhe, dwelt amongeſt men, was made man, and manifeſted in the fleſh by infallible arguments: he hungred, thirſted, waked, ſlept, and ſlept in a ſhippe like a poore naturall man ouer-wearied with labour, and hee ſlept ſo ſoundly, that neither the rufneſſe of the ſea, nor the rage of the tempeſts, nor his Diſciples redoubling **Luk. 8.24.Luke 8:24their calling (Maſter, Maſter) could skant awake him. He was tempted in the wildernes, reproched in the cities, and skourged in the hal, and crucified, and made a curſe, and a ſubiect to the Lawe in eueryevery point, yet theſe thinges alſo concerne rather his office, but ſuch was his perſon.

2 **The office of Chriſt.His office, which hee erecuted to the full, was in one word: to redeeme them which were vnderunder the Lawe, that wee might receaue the adoption of Sonnes. Wherefore the ſeruitude vnderunder the Lawe, and the adoption to be Sonnes are two diuerſe and contrary things, and cannot ſtand together. For Chriſtes office was to redeeme vsus, firſt from the Law before wee might bee receaued into the adoption to be Sonnes. And thus was the natural Sonne of God made after a ſupernatural maner very man, that of ſeruantes, we might bee made Sonnes.

And if wee will needes require reaſon in the p. 143greateſt work of God, Why Chriſt ſhould be both God and man to the effectual performance of his office.great reaſon was it the hy-Prieſt of the newe Teſtament, and mediatour betweene God and man ſhould bee both God & man in the execution of this pearleſſe function: God whereby he might preuail by his equal ominnipotent power, with the father, and likewiſe was it requiſite he ſhould bee man, that beeing like to his brethren in al reſpectes, ſinne excepted, hee might hauehave a full experience of all the infirmities, wherewith man is beſet.

Neyther did Chriſt what hee did and endured onelyonly in that proportion, as hee is the head and the Church his body, the head with the body myſtically, but truely ſo called: but alſo in the dayes of his fleſh, he and only he ſatisfied the Law, and that by his perſonal and proper ſatisfaction and ſacrifice wee are redeemed from the Law, & ranſomed from the curſe.

Into this his office vnderunder heauen nothing muſt intrude. The Pelagian, the Iewe, the Papiſt, will finde it a matter of greater charge and coſt, than our impure nature, or the imposſible Law, or our imperfect works can defray and perfourme. All abilities, congruities, dignities, cōdignities, welwilling, or our beſt woorking can neuer make vsus Sonnes: and when we are Sonnes, we are thereby heires not of a firſt ſuppoſed iuſtification alone, but heires of al that foloweth after, euen of ſaluation in heauen: The fraction of two iuſtifications is a fond diuiſiō & a falſe.that frappet or fraction of two iuſtifications, and of double inheritaunces is but a p. 144puppet of Papiſtes deuiſing, as if Chriſtes office ſhould hauehave bin to deliuer vsus firſt that wee might be redeemers of our ſelues afterward. No no. For we men bring neuer a farding to the paiment, neither of our firſt as they call it, nor as we ſpeak to our full and finall redemption, and namely to our ſaluation, to life euerlaſting, which is Rom. 6.23.Rom 6:23the gift of God.

S. Paul could hauehave made the diuiſion if it had bin a right diuiſion, partly to God, & partly to mā, if Chriſt could hauehave parted ſtakes in a matter of ſuch importance that brought him being very God from the top of heauen and the bozom of his father, that he might be the only giuer, and we but the receauers of our redemption from the Lawe, and adoption to be Sonnes.

6 And becauſe yee are Sonnes, God hath ſent the ſpirit of his ſonne into your harts which crieth Abba, Father.

7 Wherefore thou art no more a ſeruaunt, but a ſonne: nowe if a ſonne, then alſo the heire of God through Ieſus Chriſt.

The working of the trinitie in the ſaluation of man and in the aſſurance thereof.In the woork of our happy redemption ſee the gracious goodnes of the holy Trinity, by al means woorking a cleare vnderſtanding in vsus, that we may know and acknowledge both what wee are, and by whom.

The father ſendeth the ſpirit, euen the ſpirit? of his ſonne into our hartes. Wherein we ſee and obſerue the euident * diſtinction of the perſons, and p. 145therein the Scriptures are plaine, that the perſons are three diſtinctly. 1. The Father, 2. The Sonne, 3. The Holy Ghoſt. 1. The Father who gaue his Sonne & ſent his ſpirit. 2. The Sonne who gaue himſelfe: And 3. whoſe the ſpirit is, euen the ſpirite proceeding from the Father and the Sonne, and theſe three are one.

In ſenſe I can diſtinguiſh many things that in nature differ not, for example: The yee, the ſnow, and the water, and yet all theſe three are of one ſubſtance, and of a watrie nature. But neither ſenſe nor reaſon can deal in theſe caſes, it is our Creede. There is a bleſſed Trinity in a ſacred Vnity, Quod lego, credo. I reade it in Scripture, and therefore beleeue it in heart, and leaue off to reaſon whereof I cannot, and I may not reaſon.

Well. God ſent the ſpirite of his Sonne into the hartes of vsus his ſonnes. **Sonnes by nature, and ſonnes by adoption.So that hee is the Sonne, and we the ſonnes of God; hee by nature, and we by adoption through Chriſt, whereupon the Apoſtle maketh theſe collections: If we bee ſonnes, and ſonnes of a ripe iudgement, out of our nonage and wardſhip of the Law, farewell al ſeruile feare, nay, becauſe wee are ſonnes God hath ſent his ſpirite, which crieth in our hartes that which a carnall heart could neuer bring foorth, Abba Father. And becauſe wee are Sonnes, by conſequent wee are heires: but how? Through Chriſt, Sonnes through Chriſt, Heires through Chriſt, ſealed and ſettled with that prerogatiue, p. 146and moſt ſingular priuilege of the holye ſpirite of Chriſt.

The Papiſt like an Atheiſt ieſteth at the ſpirit of God, in the ſonnes of God: but what marueil if men laugh at that, they knowe not what it meaneth? But if they were the children of God, and inheritours of heauen, they might know, that they are not Chriſtes, who want his ſpirite, euen this crying ſpirit.

The certainty of ſaluation moſt aſſured by the ſpirit of God and other infallible grounds. Heb. 4.Heb 4A wauering minde hath a ſtammering tongue in the caſe of his ſaluation. But the ſpirit of chriſt crieth, and hath an audible voice in the cōſciences of Chriſtians. The Ankerite ſpeaketh ſimperingly & hollowly, as it were with the mouth of death out of his grate, but the ſpirit openeth and culargeth our harts, and forceth foorth a bold and a free confesſion, and therein wee hauehave acceſſe euen as Gods deere Children vntounto the throne of grace, and not vntounto a terrible conſiſtory, or tribunall of feare, but a moſt gracious Father, and mercifull God.

Alas, alas Popery flyeth after butterflies, and beateth the aire, and aimeth at vncertainties: alas it knoweth neither the right meanes, nor the perfect certainty of mans ſaluation. But (brethren) faith is a ſure ground: Hope is an infallible anker: with God there is no variablenes: his promiſes are all yea and Amen: his ſpirit doth not ſpeake, but **Rom. 8.Rom 8cry thus much in our harts. Neither is it an vncertaine ſound, or a falſe alarum, it is p. 147the cry of his ſpirite. I could dilate and I hauehave debated theſe things in a treatiſe of Nature and Grace, which you hauehave in you. handes, and therefore I referre you thereunto, where purpoſely I hauehave refuted their chiefeſt argumentes which either Maſter Stapleton or Pigghius (both being chiefe Papiſts) hauehave brought in this matter, greeuing the ſpirit of God as much as in them lieth, The ſpirit reſē bled to a ſeale,whereby we are ſealed vntounto the day of our redemption, I ſay whereby we are ſealed. For therby are we ſealed, and this ſeale is ſet and imprinted on the harts of Chriſtians.

To an erneſt penny,The ſpirite is alſo called an earneſt penny, a perfect aſſurance of a greater ſum, and a ful payment, which ſhalbe diſcharged in heauen. To an inunctiō.Likewiſe it is termed an inunction, the annointing of God, whereby we are inaugurated and deſtrinated to an infallible inheritance certainly reſerued in the hands of a ſtrong keeper againſt that famous day of our redemption. And therefore they who are Sonns, are Heires, and they who are Heires ſhal inherit. So ſaith, nay ſo crieth the ſpirit.

Papiſtes ſeeke to infirme this faith, to weaken our hope, to call Gods promiſes into queſtion, and with out-cries to confound the cry of the ſpirit. But thou who art the Sonne of God, in thy bozome, in thy breſt, in thy heart thou haſt, thou beareſt a ſpirit that defieth, and crieth out vponupon all doubtfulnes and Popiſh diſpaire.

In the ſeuenth chapter of Toby, Toby. 5when young p. 148Tobyas came to Ecbatane, and after queſtioning, Raguel had learned that he was old Tobyas his ſonne, Raguel leaped and kiſſed him, and bleſſed him, and ſaide vntounto him: Thou art the ſonne of a good and honeſt man. If Raguel did this in reſpect of Tobyas parentage, why doe not our aduerſaries as Raguel did, and what ſhoulde Toby the Sonne doe in reſpect of himſelfe, that he was the Son of ſuch a Toby? Yea what, what ſhould he doe that feeleth in his faith, and findeth in his ſoule, that he is the Sonne, not of a good and honeſt man, but of the good and louing god? Should he not ioie in hart, or ſhould he feare and tremble, and doubt of his eſtate? But in the former ſtory Raguel was right ſory, and wept when hee was informed that olde Toby had loſt his ſight, and was blind. Euen ſo verily, whoſe hart doth not bleed to ſee the blindneſſe of our aduerſaries, that are not only depriued of the light of this comfort, but deſire alſo that no man els may ſee any more than they doe themſelues?

Fleſh is fraile, Sathan is a tempter, ſinnes do terrifie vsus, the law accuſeth & accurſeth, & popery telleth vsus there is no certaine helpe nor hope in Chriſt, except you merit by woorks: and by what woorks? Or els you fry in purgatory, or purchaſe a pardon, or kill a Queene, or betray our country, and this is the only compendious method to be aſſured of heauen: beleeue them who liſt, for faithfull ſubiects, and the Sonnes of God cannot. p. 149Yet is it more than ſtrange that men can truſt in villaines, more than in God who neuer deceiued any that truſted in him. Truſt in God (brethren) **Iohan. 16.33.Confidite, **Mat. 9.2.Matt 9:2cōfide fili, truſt confidētly. Build thine houſe vponupon the rocke, and dwell in ſafety, and reſt in peace. He will not deceaue his ſeruants, muchleſſe his ſonnes. Thou art his ſonne, thou haſt his ſpirit, the erneſt penny, the pawne, the pledge, the inunction, the cry of his ſpirit.

A man maie talke of honie, that cannot taſt the ſweeteneſſe thereof.I do not deny many, as the Enthuſiaſt, the Family of louelove, and their like, may iangle of the ſpirit, who are not ſpirituall, may talke of the booke of life, whoſe names were neuer written in the check and regiſter of Iſrael. But theſe proud Cedars and great Oakes, that ſeeme to ſtand, but ſtand not indeede, when they fal, their fall wilbee great, and the fiar durable that ſuch fuell maketh: But he that ſtandeth in Chriſt, ſhal ſtand for euer. He that is engraffed into Chriſt, ſhall growe, floriſh, and fructifie, his leafe, his life ſhal neuer fade. He that is once Chriſts can neuer be but Chriſts. A wind out of the wilderneſſe may ouer-throwe the houſe where Iobs children were banketing, but Iobs hart was fixed ſure, **Iob. 18.15.Job 18:15Etiamſi occidat, tamen ſperabo, If God ſhould kill Iob, yet would Iob liue in hope and truſt in God: no, the gates of hell, and power of ſathan cannot preuaile againſt the children of God. Of them whom the Father gaue to Chriſt, he Ioh. 18.9.John 18:9loſt not any one. Iudas the loſt childe, was among the reſt, but not of them, and p. 150when he fell away, he went into his owne place. Wherefore all the time he ſeemed to be a diſciple, and a beleeuer, it was but a ſeeming and putatiue ſuppoſal either in himſelfe, or vntounto others. It was but a ſhooting ſtarre, no firm light, a falſe noyſe, no true cry of the holy ghoſt.

Becauſe the fool thinketh himſelfe wiſe, and is not: therefore doth not wiſedome know that ſhee is wiſe?But what then? What concludeth the Papiſt out of this? Some may ſeeme to ſtand, to bee in Chriſt, to be Gods Sonnes, to hauehave his ſpirit, and all in vaine. True. What then? Ergo the cry of the ſpirit is vncertaine: Ergo the being and continuing in Chriſt is not certaine. Yea? There is a difference betweene ſeeming to bee, and being indeede. There is great ods betwixt a flaſh of a fancie, and a faithfull perſwaſion. But how ſhall I know whether my conceit bee right, whether my vnderunder ſtanding bee a glimmering light, or a true vnderſtanding, wheras a fancifull man may perſwade himſelfe as thoroughly as the faithfull? As throughly? Say not ſo. Or if ſo, what then? If the mad man ſtanding on the ſhore, thinke all the veſſels that come in, and their lading to bee his, & be deceiued, ſhall not, cannot therefore the true owners diſcern their own, and claime their right, bicauſe the mad man is deceiued? Bicauſe the ſick perſons mouth in his diſtemperature is out of taſt, cannot therfore a man in good helth reliſh his drink & meat? Ioh. 3.John 3Qui credit, habet vitam. He that beleeueth hath life, he hath it, he doth not doubt whether he hath it or no. He hath life, life euerlaſting.

p. 151I graunt ſometimes euen the beſt children of God, are brought to narrow ſtraites, ſomewhat ſtoppeth their cares, they cannot heare, ſomwhat dulleth their harts, they cannot vnderſtand what the ſpirit crieth and ſealeth vntounto their harts at all times alike, and yet they are their Lordes, and they cannot periſh, and they muſt not diſpaire.

Dauid Abeit a man according to Gods owne hart, and therefore no doubt a man in whoſe hart the ſport of God was in great meaſure: yet ſuch is the frailty of our nature, euen holy Dauid, and that after hee had endured many ſtormes, vp-held with the promiſe that God woulde place him in the roome of his maſter, yet at the laſt hee fainted, and faied in his infirmity: 1. Sam. 20.1 Sam 20that there was but a ſtep betweene him and death, ſurely one day I ſhal fal into the hands of Saul. And therefore he fled to Achis, and flattered the very enimy of God. Notwithſtanding after all this, reforming his frailty, and comming to himſelfe againe, he found that God was faithful, and that his promiſes were certaine, and as conſtant as the ſunne, and vuremoueable as mount Sion, and that euer God knoweth beſt, how long it is beſt to detaine his owne vponupon the tenters.

No doubt when, like Dalila, a deceatfull ſuggeſtion, the ſubtill finde, a melancholy humor, infirme fleſhe, naturall imperfections, or forceable conſiderations what euer hauehave done their woorſt, ioyntly all, or ſeuerally any of them, when they p. 152hauehave learned where lieth our ſtrength, when they hauehave battered our ſtrongeſt holdes, when they hauehave cut off Sampſons haire, yet this haire will grow againe, and his ſtrength returne, and that man or woman whom the Lorde ſo trieth is the pure and perfect gold, and ſo in the end wil proue. 1 Cor. 10. foreign.1 Cor 10OnelyOnly expect we in patience the Lordes leaſure, knowing aſſuredly that God wil make vsus a forth, and a way amids al temptations. Neither wil hee ſuffer his children to be tempted aboue their meaſure. Dauid had his Goliath, Sampſon his Lion to encounter with. God knew the meaſure of Dauids courage, and Sampſons ſtrength. Phyſitions giuegive the ſtrongeſt potions to the ſtrongeſt bodies. And health is moſt acceptable after the greateſt ſicknes. And the ioy of the ſick ſoule is then enlarged, when it returneth after ſorrowe, and then is the cry of the ſpirite heard with a quicker ſenſe, when for a while it had not beene heard at al. And thus much for the conſequent, that becauſe we are ſonnes, wee are therefore endued with his ſpirite, aſſuring vsus though not euer alike, Rom. 9.Rom 9that we are his ſonnes, and heires, becauſe it crieth, and certifieth our harts, that God through Chriſt is become our father.

8 But euen then, when ye knew not God, yee did ſeruice vntounto them, which by nature are not Gods.

9 But now ſeeing yee know God, yea rather are knowen of God, how turne yee againe p. 153vntounto impotent and beggerly rudiments, wherunto as from the beginning yee wil be in bondage againe?

10 Yee obſerue daies, and moneths, and times, and yeares.

11 I feare of you leaſt, I hauehave beſtowed on you labour in vaine.

The beſt way of diſcerning, is euer to compare matters, times, perſons, cauſes, condicions, and circumſtances together. Paul taketh this courſe, and ſheweth them, 1. What they were, they knew not God &c. 2. What they are, they know God, or rather are knowen of God &c. 3. And therefore their relapſe is ſtrange to the beggerly Elementes, and thereupon hee feareth their greater danger to enſue.

The effectes of Ignorance.The condicion and ſtate wherein the Galathians liued was in ignoraunce, and liuing in ignorance of the liuing God, they ſerued them, which by nature were no Gods. For certes if they had knowen the true God, they woulde hauehave ſerued him.

Ioh. 4.John 4The woman of Samaria if ſhe had known with whom ſhe talked, as Chriſt requeſted water of hir, ſo would ſhee hauehave craued of him the waters of eternal life.

Mat. 25.Matt 25The wiſe Virgins had their entrance with the bride, and hauehave their due commendation, for they were wiſe. But the foliſh virgins though virgins, yet becauſe they were fooles and ignorant, reaped p. 154the ſour fruit of their ſecurity, & are reputed thereafter, & were excluded when the bride was entred.

Epheſ. 2.Eph 2The Epheſians to whom our Apoſtle writeth the next Epiſtle, what were they? How liued they? Read the ſecond chapter. They folowed the ſway of this ſinful woorld, Sathan ledde the dance, hee went before, and they thronged after, their whole conuerſation was altogether, in the luſts and wil of the fleſh. Aske yee the reaſon? They were Aliants from the common wealth of Iſrael, they were ſtrangers from the couenant of the promiſe, they were in the ſame caſe were theſe Galathians and al the Gentils elſe, they had no hope, and were very Atheiſts, that is, men without God. Aske yee why they were Atheiſts, why they hoped not, why they truſted not in God? The anſwere is eaſie, and was laide downe in the woordes before: becauſe they were ſtrangers and vnacquainted with gods promiſes, Teſtimonies and Lawes, becauſe they were Aliantes from the ſtatutes and ordinances of his church and common wealth, becauſe (in one woord) they knew not God, therefore they ſerued falſe Gods, and by name Diana, and cried out like man men, Acts. 19.Acts 19Magna eſt Diana Epheſiorum: Great is Diana the Goddes of the Epheſians.

Read the thirteenth and the fourteenth Chapters of Wiſedom, and you ſhould ſee it vouched that many inconueniences, ſpecially Idolatry and the ſeruice of ſtrange gods and very Idols came in by Ignorance.

p. 155And were mens eies in their heads, and their ſight cleared and enabled, ſo as to diſcerne but indifferently, it were imposſible that the wicked inuention, the doctrine of lying, the diſcipline of vanity, the multitude of Idolatrous ſeruices ſhoulde ſo preuaile, and that men ſhoulde ſerue as God, that which is incomparably woorſe than man, that man made by his creation after the Image of God, ſhoulde creepe to a materiall croſſe, gad to a ſhrine, ſay, my father, to a peece of wood, yea that a man purpoſing to ſaile the Seas ſhould call vponupon a ſtocke and a rotten Roode, more rotten than the veſſel that carieth him. But ignorance is the miſtres, the mother, and the nurſe of this deuotion, or rather ſuperſtition.

Rom. 4.21.Rom 4:21The Romanes becauſe they knewe not God, they glorified him not, but became vnthankful, vaniſhing away in their Imaginations. And why? Their fooliſh harts were ful of darekneſſe. And being fooles they turned the glory of God into the ſimilitude of innumerable, increadible and corruptible vanities. In this ſtate at the firſt were the Romans, the Epheſians, the Galathians &c. And al through ignorance.

I could dilate and be long, and enter diſputation with our known and neereſt aduerſaries, becauſe of their introducing and bringing in, becauſe of their maintenance and ſupportation of intolerable Ignorance and Idolatry. I know they hauehave ſhiftes, and diſtinctions curiouſly wrought: p. 156but ſpiders webs cannot holde out winde or weather. The worſhipping of Images.The ignorant is ignorant, hee knoweth not the difference they vainely make of Douly and Latry, and Hyperdouly, and it is a toy, and greeke as we ſay to the people. And it is greeke indeede and that to the Engliſh man, that knoweth nothing but his owne language. And in his ignorance, hee creepeth and croucheth, lifteth vp handes and falleth downe, and adoreth all the Images in their Temples, and knoweth litle (God knoweth) what theſe ſorry proportions and terms meane. I aſke you, do you know them? Douly, Latry, Hyperdouly? I know you know them not.

O learne to know God, and thou will worſhip God alone, and in ſuch ſort as himſelfe hath preſcribed. But liue in Ignoraunce, and ſtraite thou rangeſt inordinately, and ſerueſt ſtraunge gods euen as the children of Iſrael, when the onelyonly God had wrought their ſtrong delyuerance, yet ſacrificed, and gaue the praiſe thereof euen to a Calfe that eateth hey.

And ſay not, ſay not brethren that you, you ſerue not ſtrange gods for all this. The Iſraelites ſayde they worſhipped God when they adored a Calfe, you ſay you worſhip God, when you fal downe before the Image of the father, before the picture of his ſonne or of his Saintes: but they worſhipped ſtrange gods notwithſtanding, and ſo doe you, in that you worſhippe God after a ſtraunge manner, which is not Gods-worſhippe, but a wil-worſhip, p. 157and an idol of your owne deuiſing, and that expreſly againſt the ſcriptures, and all for want of true knowledge and by reaſon of ignorance.

The making of Images.Moſes conuenting the people of Iſrael togither commandeth on gods behalfe on this wiſe. In the day the Lord ſpake vntounto you out of the mids of the fier in mount Horeb, Deut. 4.Deut 4you hard a voice, you ſaw no ſimilitude. Take heede therefore as you louelove your ſoules, that yee make no grauen Image, no repreſentation of any figure, neither of male, nor femal, nor of any creature. Theſe woords are cleare and plaine, and neede no commentary.

Eſaie. 40.Isa 40The Prophet Eſay likewiſe is as vehement herein as was Moſes: all people are but a drop of a bucket full in compariſon of the Lord. The woddes of Libanus can neither finde him fuel for friar, nor beaſtes for ſacrifice. To whom ſhal men liken ſo woorthie a God? What ſimilitude can ſet him forth? Shall the Carpenter make him an Image, and the goold-ſmith couer it with gilt, or caſt it in a frame of ſiluer plates?

Or becauſe this is ouer-coſtly for the poorer ſort, what ſhal the poore man doe? Gette him into the Foreſt, and chooſe out a tree, and cauſe it to be carued out?

O know yee nothing? Saith the Prophet. As who would ſay, they are vtterly deuoid of vnderſtanding, and that it is an extremely ignorant extrauagant imagination to deeme that any protraiture or imagery of better or baſer, either matter p. 158or faſhion can fit and frame out a conuement worſhip of the liuing and eternal God.

For hath not the Almighty imparted his pleaſure herein, hath hee not made a veile betwixt the ſeate of his glory, and the earth his footſtoole, betwixt himſelfe, and our ſightes, that posſibly we cannot ſee & diſcern him as he is, & therefore muſt not go about to expres him in a dumb & earthly figure as hee is not? And to whom wilt thou make him like, whom thou haſt not ſeene? Wilt thou make him like to whom hee is not like, and to whom he neither can, neither wil be likened?

A graie headed man is a monument of our mortality, not an expreſſion of the Godhead of the father.The forme of an aged gray headed father with intent to declare his ancientnes, becauſe he is the ancient of daies, is but a good intent falſly called good. For there is no good intention without the direction of true faith, and a right faith reſteth on the foundation and ground of the word of god wel known and wiſely pondered, and the word of god is full and flat to the contrary, and dareſt thou vponupon thine owne head make him like an oulde man, whoſe yeares bring age, and whoſe age bringeth death? Good Intentes, Schoole diſtinctions, ſecret traditions are the only foundation of images and imageworſhip.Any ſecret tradition added to this intent to bolſter it vp, is but a baſterd ſlip, and the watering of it with ſome few fonde diſtinctions may make it ſhewe greene a wh…le, but the thunder of gods ſpirit proceeding from the breath of his mouth, wil blaſt and wither it, and finally root it out and confound all ſuch deuiſes ſo expreſly and oppoſitely ſet againſt his manifeſt precept: Thou ſhalt p. 159not expreſſe God in forme of male or female, or of anie creature.

God the Sonne, is no more to be depictured, thā God the father.And farther, as god the father will not bee pictured of thee, nor cannot be carued by thee, ſo will not, neither can god the ſonne bee portraited out more than the father, or otherwiſe than is preſcribed. For the ſonne is very god of the ſame ſubſtance with his father.

It is replied, that as he was man, ſo may he be pictured. The hiſtoricall picturing of any thing that may lawefully bee pictured, is not the chiefe point of the quarrell betwixt our aduerſaries and vsus, & yet herein we require their wiſdomes greatly. But in their ignorance they not onelyonly made Images, but in the groſſe darckneſſe of later times Images hauehave receiued an Idolatrous worſhip, and this principally, this is that pernicious Popiſh error which we moſt abhor.

**Ioh. 5.39.John 5:39Search the Scriptures, for they bear witnes of Chriſt, this is a true teaching. But gaze vponupon his Image, were a doctrinne for Demetrius the ſiluer-ſmith, for Alexander the copper-ſmith, for Licippus tooles, or Apelles penſill.

Epheſ. 4.10. No warrant for Images in the word of God.Eph 4:10Saint Paul intending to ſhew that our Sauiour aſcending on high, notwithſtanding left behinde him ſufficient woorcke-men and ſpirituall artiſans for the accompliſhment of the frame and furniture of his Church, to wit, Prophets, Apoſtles, Teachers and Paſtours, and yet he maketh no mention at all of Painters and Carpenters, of p. 160Caruers in wood, and Engrauers in ſtone.

Alſo God hath ſpoken of old ſundry both waies and times by Vrim and Thummim, by viſions and dreames, by his holy Prophets: and laſtly in perſon by his ſonne, and ſtil and euer inwardly by his ſpirite, and outwardely by the ordinarie preaching of his word, yea in and to the conſciences of natural and wicked men, he hath not left himſelfe without a witnes at any time. Among all theſe meanes, or any other that I can tel, theſe ſacredimages are not mencioned. If they were ſo ſacred and holy, ſo requiſite as they beare vsus in hande, it were more than a wonder there ſhould bee ſuch ſilence of them.

If Chriſts perſonall preſence were not requiſit, why require they ſo much the picture of his perſon?Concerning the image of Chriſtes humanity, how can it concerne vsus ſo much? When himſelfe was perſonally preſent, was it not expedient he ſhould depart? And yet is it ſo neceſſary that his corporal image muſt be retained? While hee was on the earth, were not his Apoſtles dull of vnderſtanding, ſlow of beleef? Did not Peter deny, Thomas doubt, and all fly and forſake him? And while himſelfe was in place, his image was needeles, and when hee entred the heauens, he promiſed the aſſurance of his ſpirit, and the aſſiſtance of the holy ghoſt. Of his corporal ſhape and feature what pattern, I ſhould ſay, what picture left he, whence nothing is learned though the painter ſhould perfourme his duety neuer ſo wel, but onelyonly the outward lineaments of his humanity?

p. 161Ioh. 20.17.John 20:17Marie Magdalen was not permitted to touch him after his reſurrection. For a fleſhly vſage ſince that time much and ſince his aſcention eſpecially is and was much more inconuenient. For we walke by faith, and not by the outward appearance, we ſerue God in truth and ſpirit, and bleſſed is hee that beleeueth, though hee ſee not his fleſhe, much leſſe the image thereof. The fleſh profiteth nothing, neither eaten with teeth, nor ſeene with eie. Chriſt careth little for the gazing of the ſenſes, but for the ſtedfaſtnes of the hart, and ſo farre onelyonly for ſignes externall, as they bee ordained by himſelfe, expreſly to ſuch purpoſes, as his eternal wiſdome hath giuen out direction.

D. Clement.Doctor Clement in Oxford when the Church was ſuppoſed to hauehave beene on fier, ranne to the pix, indeede in the pix were many pictures made on the wafer cakes, yea and theſe cakes he and all Papiſts like him thinke to be very God, the Son of God, and the ſecond perſon in the bleſſed Trinity. O groſſe ignorance, and greeuous Idolatry, many cakes, many images, many Chriſts, and yet theſe cakes, theſe images, Baruch 6.…Bar 6theſe falſe Chriſts cannot ſaue themſelues (Doctor Clement) much leſſe thee out of the fier, as likewiſe elſe no image.

Sathan the prince of darkeneſſe hath a great drift herein to take the booke of Scripture out of mens handes, and to force them to hold vp handes and hang downe head, before a puppet of cloutes, before a titularie image of Chriſt, and not only of p. 162Chriſt, but of all his creatures, yea the vileſt creatures, as Saint Anthonies pig, Saint Georges horſe, Saint Frances ragges hauehave their roome and place in the chiefeſt places of our ſacred aſſemblies.

There is no point in popery but ſerueth for gaine.Images make Pilgrimages, Pilgrimages make the pot ſeeth, and without ignoraunce there would be no Idolatry, and without Idolatry the Popes kitchin would be cold, and the liuing god ſhould bee ſerued as hee ought and would, and the perſons and things which by nature are no gods, ſhould be eſteemed accordingly in their owne nature, Chriſtians woulde neuer relaps to the firſt follies the Gentils were borne and trained vp in, and the Iſraelites and Iewes ſometimes for wantonnes, and euer for want of good knowledge and true inſtruction, were tainted with.

But now ſeeing yee knowe God.) The comfort of true knowledge.Once they knewe not, now they know; they were in darknes, they are in light. And in this light is life, for in their darkneſſe was death and confuſion. And as while Toby lacked his ſight, and when Sampſon had loſt his eies, both were in a comfortles caſe: ſo the want of this knowledge of that inwarde ſight of God was the he auieſt lotte that might befall, and the reſtitution or graimt of this good vnderſtanding was a very heauen of ioy. If labour might compaſſe it, the traficke thereof were much better than of ſiluer, goolde, euen the goolde of Ophir.

p. 163The Galathians knew, but the Apoſtle by way of correcting himſelfe, or elſe rectifieng the ſenſe of that ſaying, addeth that they were knowen of God. For our knowledge is as water infuſed into a veſſel, and not as water in the ſpring where it floweth naturally, and he knoweth not god, whom God knoweth not firſt, and whom God endueth not with his knowledge. The 7000 that ſerued not Bal that by nature was an Idol and no God, thoſe 7000 ſerued God, but therefore they ſerued him, becauſe he firſt had **King. 19 18.reſerued them vntounto himſelfe.

And no man, yea no man (the caſe is no ſpeciall caſe) no man commeth to chriſt, and to this knowlege of the ſonne, but the father driueth, nay **Iohn. 6.44.John 6:44draweth him thereunto.

But now for the Galathians being brought to this paſſe, that they were wel enſtructed, after al this knowlege (which was a bleſſing of bleſſings enſuing vponupon their former ignoraunce) any way to relapſe againe was a pasſing follie, and perfect ſhame.

And to ſpeake directly to the purpoſe the Apoſtle proſecuteth, they who were ſo ignorant, were deliuered not onelyonly from their ignorance, but alſo from the priſon, the ſchoole-houſe, the none-age, and ſeruice the Iewes were detained in, and ſhould they deſire to bee in caſe that the Iewes were before?

They had the body, and they catch after the p. 164ſhadow, they hauehave Chriſt, and in Chriſt, al-ſufficiency, and they wil hauehave Moſes withal. They hauehave the maiſter, and they care for the ſeruaunt. They hauehave the fiſh, and they eſteeme the ſhel. They were as men of perfect growth, and they long for the ſwathes and truckles, and beggerly elementes of the Iewiſh childhoode. Is not this a very childiſhneſſe?

The ceremonies at the firſt were beautiful rites, but being expired are but beggerly Elements, and al their beuty is moſt perfectly found in Chriſt whō they ſignified.By the way bee it noted that Paul calleth the ceremonies once ordained of God, impotent rudiments, and beggerly elements, in deed beutiful at the firſt when they were inſtituted, as it were a new garment. But now in continuance as an out worne veſture, torne and tottered, and things out of date. EueryEvery thing hath his time. The huske is for the good of the Corne to keepe it in the eare, but when it is winoëd, the huske is a beggerlie chaffe.

And what neede a rich man be a begger, and a begger at a beggers doore? Mat. 9.20.Matt 9:20The woman in the goſpell had an iſhue of bloode twelue yeares together, went to the Phyſicions, ſpent her mony, and waſted her body, and al but ſcant to ſome litle purpoſe: at length ſhe came to Chriſt the Phyſicion of our ſoules, and found remedy of her bodilie ſicknes. Whereupon I ask, now, were it not more than a folly being throughly recured to recourſe to her olde vnprofitable Phyſicke? To repaire to any Gilead, if ther be no treacle, no healing gome, no ſouerain balm, no helping medicine in Gilead?

p. 165The Apoſtle for the foreſaid reſpectes feareth leaſt al his former labor with them were but loſt. He looked for an 100 fold, for 60 folde, or at leaſt for 30 fold encreaſe, eſpectally after ſo good a feed time. But their ceremonious ſeruile obſeruation of dayes, of the ſaboth, and of moneths, and years and times, decreaſed his expectation, & encreaſed his Apoſtolique care and feare in their behalfe.

What thinges are aboliſhed in the Saboth, and what remaineth to be obſerued on our Chriſtian Saboth daies.And here you ſee fit occaſion is offered to treat ſomewhat of the vſe of the ſaboth, and holy-daies, 1. There was a ceremonious vſe of them, 2. And there remaineth a ciuil vſage and an eccleſiaſtical order in them among vsus yet.

The bond of the ceremony in the Saboth was of a ſtronger twiſt to keepe in the Iewes, and they were willed preciſely to remember to keepe holy the Saboth both in their minds and in the bodies of al that euer was in their houſen. The ſeruaunt, the ſtranger, and their cattle were not excluded. This reſt ſo determinatly ſette the ſeuenth day, is not ſo preſcribed to vsus Chriſtians, I ſay ſo as to the Iewes, whoſe Saboths had many ſignifications.

The ceremonious vſe was various.1 Firſt, their Saboths were tokens they ſhould reſt with eaſe in the promiſed Land. 2. their Saboths were ſignes they ſhould reſt ſpiritually with all happines in the Meſſias to come. 3. their Saboths were figures of eternall felicity in the Land of the liuing.

1 Firſt for their reſt in the promiſed Land of p. 166Canaan, ſo many of them entred that reſt, as were of a patient ſpirit, and with whom God was pleaſed ſhould enter and poſſeſſe the land.

2 As for the bleſſednes in Chriſt promiſed, all the promiſes hauehave had their accompliſhment in him, and in him are they, yea and Amen.

3 Cōcerning the fruitiō of euer laſting bliſſe, we walke in faith, and liue in hope, and not vp figures: Coloſ. 2.16.Col 2:16the kingdome of Chriſt conſiſteth not in meates, and drinkes, in a newe moone, a ſabboth or a peece of an holy day. EueryEvery day is a feaſt to a Chriſtian man: eueryevery day is Alleluia praiſe the Lorde, and eueryevery time is a reſt, and a ſaboth vntounto God, and therefore the Galathians in reſtraining mē to ſuch ſtrict obſeruations did Iudaize therein, and it was not conuenient.

The ciuil vſe is ſtil expedient.2 The ciuill vſe of the ſaboth was to prefixe a ſet reſt to men, euen to thy ſeruant, yea for the very beaſt, for God is a gracious God, reſpecting the baſeſt of his creatures. And continuall toyle hath no continuance. As the moth breedeth in the garment that is not worne, ſo the garment is ſoone worne-out that is euer worne, and where there is no change at al. Wherefore ceremonieus circumſtances being taken away, the ciuill vſe of the ſaboth ſtandeth in force and effect as before.

The eccleſiaſtical vſe is continuall3 The eccleſiaſtical vſe of the ſaboth remaineth alſo much more with vsus. For wee hauehave but changed the Iewes ſaboth, which was Saturday, into our Chriſtian ſaboth, which is the lorde day, p. 167wherein the Lord roſe from the death, and which wee call Sunday, retaining the name gentility was accuſtomed to at the firſt. But that forceth not: for chriſtianity goeth not by names. In truth our Sunday is our ſaboth, and therein albeit a Chriſtian life bee a continuall ſaboth, and albeit the Iewiſh ceremonies be repealed and cancelled as appeire either by our altering the day: notwithſtanding becauſe God is the author of order, and becauſe he ſhould not bee ſerued vncertainly in our publicke ſeruice, our ſaboth as a ſet time is wiſely ſet downe, and relligiouſly ſhoulde bee obſerued.

We read of the Lacedemonians, that by common exerciſe and continuall endeuour, could dehaue and demeane themſelues very warlickly in the camp, but to vſe the time of peace they had vtterly no skill, as if their hands had bin made only to handle their weapons, and themſelues born to liue and dye in the leager: ſemblably many (if yet many) can tell meetely well (I dare not ſay well) but ſome can tell right-well howe to trade in the working dayes: but how the ſaboth and holy-day ſhoulde bee holily paſſed ouer, al as poore ſoules ſcant the thowſanth man knoweth.

The couetous man hath euer a geob of woork to doe at Church time: the wanton perſon chuſeth that time for his ſinnes, when others are beſt occupied: vaine men and idle fukes, either houſe it in the Ale-houſe, or houle it in the Alley, & paſſe p. 168the time at ſome inordinate and vnlawful diſport or other, while the calues of our lips are in ſacrifieng, while the incence of our praying is a burning, while the miniſter ſtandeth at the Lordes table, Nehem. 8.4.Neh 8:4while Eſdra is in the pulpit reading and expounding the Law of God.

Priuate praiers exclude not the church-ſeruice.I knowe men may pray and read at home, and at what howre they liſt among their priuate families. But doe you, or dare they contemne the Lords ordinance? There is no ceremonious difference of daies: true. Yet principally certaine times are fixed to raiſe vp a mount (as it were) or to build vp a high tower, whither mē may aſcend, and many eies togither may looke round about, and take a full view of the goodnes and benefits of God laid foorth and diſplaid by the interpretation of the Scriptures.

You ſay yow read at home, and pray at home. If you did, yet is not the congregation to be thus ſhunned: ſay ſo who will, whom I ſee not vſually at Church, I dare ſay and do vouch, that his ſo ſaying is an vntru ſaying. If it be night, it may be thou ſleepeſt, if woorking day, it may bee thou art occupied; if it be holy-day, neuer tel me thou praieſt duely at home, that wilt not voutſafe to ſtep out of doores to ioine in prayers with the aſſembly of Gods children, and thy fellow brethren.

Parlor praying, and ſecret preaching at times of publicke ſeruice.And of al things, that is a ſinguler pride & nicenes that is grown in, to turn the Church-ſeuice only into parlar prayeng, and priuate preaching, p. 169euen at thoſe times when the congregation is gathered together in publique place.

If Elias were in flyght from the face of Iezabel, if Ionas be caſt into the Sea, Ieremy into the miry dungeon, or Daniel into the den: in the time of perſecution, whether in caues & mariſhes, or in places whereuer, there is no difference of places. VnderUnder a Iuniper tree, on the mountaine, in the wilderneſſe, out of the whalles belly, in euerie place pure handes may be helde vp to that hand that giueth moſt richly, and caſteth no man in the teeth. But ſtill I ſpeake of the Church-prayers, of publique places in times of peace, and of ſet times in publique places: and that the Church-miniſter put in vſe the practiſe of his Church vocation then and there eſpecially when it is moſt. ſeemely, and where the woord it ſelfe would bee preached and the ſacraments miniſtred.

That the husband man praiſe God in the field, the girle at her needle, the maid at her wheel, the weauer at his loome, & eueryevery artiſan at his trade, or that the father and maſter of his children and whole houſholde reade a chapter diſtinctly, ſing pſalms deuoutly, pray togither hartily at home at entry of their labors and end of their daily worck, is an exerciſe much wanting, & greatly eſteemed of God, and comfortable to the ſoule, and by theſe good meanes the very working-daies after a ſort are turned into a religious continual kind of Saboth vntounto ſuch.

p. 170But ſtill I miſſike that ſancifull demeanour in ſome, in not keeping the publicke Saboth in publick fort. The prayer of one godly man is forceable, but virtus vnita fortior. God who that heareth one, wil heare many, and the praiers of many ioyned in one make a more forcible entraunce to the throne of grace, and there is ſingular comfort in this coniunction.

When we eate, or when wee drinke to ſatisfie hunger and thirſt, it skilleth not: but when ſimiliars meete, their meat and drink to them a great deale more good: In the church meetings if men could taſt ſpirituall ioy, as well as they can corporal meats in ſociable companies, the compariſon is vnequal. I might enlarge and ſpeake directly. But I feare me I hauehave loſt my way, if not my labor and intent herein: therefore to return.

For you my (good breethren) that ſeeme to keep, and I hope, obſerue the ſaboth as you ſhould, you who ioin in praiers with vsus, who frequent our ſermons, partake gods ſacraments, who reſt frō ſinne vntounto God the ſeuenth day, make ye alſo the reſt of the weeke ſuceable to this beginning.

For otherwiſe were it not more than a folly to reſt one day in body from labor, & in ſoul from ſin, that the ſix daies folowing we might run to al exceſſe of riot, & weary our ſelues more thā before, & as it were reſting our ſelues, & our horſe, a litle, to the intent afterward immediatly we might ride him & our ſelues out of the way with fuller courſe?

p. 171One day teacheth another: I knew in what meaning the pſalmiſt ſo ſpeaketh. I vſe the words to this ſenſe: let one day teach an other, the holyday teach the working daye, the ſunday the weekdaies, the lecture-day thoſe days wherein there is no lecture, Luk. 1.75.Luke 1:75that all the daies of our life, with Zacharie and Elizabeth, we may ſerue God in holines and righteouſnes, which is the right vſe of the true ſaboth.

To ſpeake to the obſtinate recuſant, I recken it loſt labor: he is obſtinate and wil not: recuſant and abſent, and cannot heare me: yet I ſee no reaſon in their recuſancy, from our Churches, from our ſaboth aſſemblies. I feare ſome ſecret Padde in the ſtrawe. I ſee no reaſon in the woorlde, nor find any reaſonable anſwere in them, with whom I hauehave reaſoned in this behalfe, and therefore I feare the more, andyet I feare them not, but feare their dangerous recuſancy, moſt dangerous and damnable vntounto themſelues.

There is vtterlie no cauſe in our Church-ſeruice of recuſancy from Church.What, I pray you, what ſhould thus withheld thē & keepe thē off? The whole body of our ſeruice whereof conſiſteth it? What one part offendeth them? The Pſalmes we ſing, are the ſongs of the prophet Dauid, of iuſt Zachary, of the bleſſed virgin, of godly Simeon, and of other holy men. The leſſons are taken out of the olde and newe Teſtament, the collects were framed in ancient time, and many of them vſed afterward euen by themſelues. The reſt of our prayers are requeſtes to p. 172God for lawful and neceſſary vſes. Ioh. 8.John 8So that as our Sauiour ſpake to the Phariſies concerning himſelfe, ſo may we ſay of his diuine ſeruice vntounto thē, Who amongſt you can reproue our ſeruice & Church Liturgie, of ſinne, that you ſhould thus ſhun it? But to let them paſſe who are rather to be compelled with diſcipliue, than induced by perſwaſion, I come backe againe to our ſelues.

I ſpeak euen now, againſt pretences of priuate and home-praying: there are others which are content to come, but they come by leyſure, & they continue at pleaſure.

Comming ſhort … diuine ſeruice. Nehem. 1.7.Neh 1:7Our prayers beginne (as you know) with an humble, true, lowly, and neceſſary confesſion of our ſinnes, the like you read of in the firſt booke of Nehemias: And who that meaneth indeede an amendment of life, & to reuert from his oloe ways, & dailie to go for ward in newnes of life, willingly would ſlacke his preſence from ſuch a woorke? And how can your miniſter requeſt you as many as be preſent to ſay with him, when moſt be abſent? There is a neere coniunction in dutie betweene the ſacrament of the ſupper, and the ſacrifice of prayer: wherefore let Saint Pauls exhortation preuaile in the latter, as in the former. 1 Cor. 11.33.1 Cor 11:33When you come togither, tarry one for another, that that may verifie in trueth, that we ſing at the entrance of ſeruice, Come and let vsus ſing vntounto the Lord: come, come altogither.

Tarying out the whole ſeruice.Now for the continuance to the end, verily god p. 173wil not be ſerued by halfs, a peece of ſeruice is not ſufficient, as it were the Dogge, at the waters of Nilus, touch and goe, lappe and away. No. The continuing is as godly as the beginning, Nomb. 6.24.and the blesſing in the ende is as the bleſſing of Aaron and his ſonnes, which God commanded: and al the people euer ioyntly taried for. And this I noted once vntounto you, many yeares ſince, vponupon occaſion that Saint Luke doth ſet it expreſſy downe, that albeit Zacharie taried ouer-long in the Temple, yet they Luk. 1.21.Luke 1:21taried & expected his comming forth.

In the daies of Popery, ignoraunce and ſuperſtition, when the Prieſt ſtoode a longer time before an heap of ſtones, you taried and ſtoode before the Prieſt attired like the Prieſts of Aegypt, and you vnderſtoode him, no more than you vnderſtand an humble-bee, a ſounding braſſe, or a tinckling cimbal, or any other vncertain noiſe. Our ſeruice is of a conuenient length, our Sermons are not long, we know your capacities. Small viols muſt be filled by litle & litle: we teach you precept after precept, line vponupon line. The Iews came eueryevery day to the Temple, and taried long: you come but ſeldom, and the time of your ſtay is very ſhort.

By brethren, giuegive me leaue to ſpeak the truth, negligence at firſt, groweth into a contempt in the end, but wilfull transgresſions cannot eſcape an heauy doome. You know and reade what became of him that gathered but a few ſtickes on the Saboth in a high hand.

p. 1741 Sam. 21.6. Mat. 12.1.1 Sam 21:6Matt 12:1Ineuitable buſines, or vrgent necesſity hath no Law, as appeareth in the extremity of Dauids taking the ſhewbread, & in our Sauiors diſciples, that gathered & vſed the ears of corne: but wilfull profaneſſe cannot eſcape, we are neither Iews nor papiſts that iangle of the Saboth ſuperſtitiouſly they knowe not what. We are Chriſtians to vſe our ſaboths ciuilly in charity, eccleſiaſtically with al piety and holines vntounto the Lord.

12 Bee yee, as I: for I am euen as you. Brethren I beſeech you: yee hauehave not hurt me at al.

13 And you knowe how through infirmitie of the fleſh I preached the Goſpel at the firſt.

14 And the trial of me which was in the fleſh ye deſpiſed not, neither abhord, but ye receiued me as the angel of God [yea euē as Chriſt Ieſus.

15 What was then your felicity, for I beare you recorde, that if it had beene poſſible, you woulde hauehave plucked out your owne eies and hauehave giuen them vntounto me.

16 Am I become your enemy, becauſe I tel you the truth?

Paul leauing a little, and yet not leauing the matter, falleth into an Emphatical and vehement perſonal diſcourſe, 1. Of himſelfe, 2. Of the Galathians, 3. Of the falſe Apoſtles. In theſe verſes of himſelfe altogether and of the Galathians, and afterwardes incontinently of their ſeducers. Of himſelfe he ſheweth 1. What he was, and 2. What he yet is to them-ward.

p. 175At the firſt hee was their preacher, the argument of his preaching was Chriſt naked vponupon his croſſe, not inueſted with the Lawe. For hee preached vntounto them the Goſpel. The maner of his teaching ſeemed infirme. Pauls preching after the plaineſt manner.For Saint Paul as hath heene ſhewed alwaies altogether reſpecteth his matter, and he that laboreth words and plauſible vtterance moſt, moſt commonly leaſt conceaueth and worſt contriueth what hee would deſire to vtter. And the man is very vnwiſe that more eſteemeth the value of a fine mil-ſixpence, than of ſixe pence halfe-penny of common coine. Paul regarded the ſubſtance of his doctrine. Hereof more before. 1. Hee preached Chriſt, 2. In infirmity, and 3. Moſt conſtantly amids many trials. The troubles of Chriſtians are but trials.Where by the way note that the troubles of the Saints are but trials. And therfore they were the better born and diſgeſted with great conſtancy and patience. And that Paul did neither warp in the Sunne, nor ſhrinke in the water, but as gold that melteth, but melteth not away: ſo he felt his afflictions, yet he fell not vnderunder them, but endured his trials whatſoeuer. Thus was Paul amongſt them firſt.

Now, what is hee now? Is hee changen? They were changed, was Paul? Doth the Elme forſake the vine, which would otherwiſe fall, except it bee vpheld? The child is ſlipt out of the cradle wherein it was laid, doth not the Mother and the Nurſe run and ſtoupe to take it vp?

This is perfect charity and the principal duety p. 176Perfect charity omitteth no means to reform mens errors.eſpecially of the preacher to LoueLove and that continually without interruption, to louelove beyond the deſert, and aboue the demerits, good or bad of any man, and to giuegive our life for the brethren, either becauſe they are brethrē, & that they may continue ſo, or that they may be brethren, if they be not, and to looſe euen our life or libertie, which is as be are as life, to win the weake, and ſo to for-goe and become all, to ſaue ſome.

Paul omitteth none, and continueth all means, neither bands or beuty, foule or faile, neither oyle nor vineger. O yee fooliſh Galathians, &c. This was a rough ſpeech, this was vineger. Brethren I beſeech you: This is a faire entreaty and a ſupplying oyle. He both weepeth and ſingeth with them, and all to imprint a through affection in them toward the trueth.

And in this affection he requeſteth them to be as he was, for he was as they were. The requeſt is moſt reaſonable, that they ſhoulde bee as Paul was. For Paul was right, and they were ſeduced. And yet Pauls reaſon for that he was as they were, may ſeeme no true cauſe. For indeede Paul was not as they were. Yet ſo he ſaith and argueth For I am as you are.

The anſwere is eaſie and ready. Paul was in kindneſſe to them, as they were to them-ſelues: but in the ſyncerity of trueth Paul requireth they ſhould be as hee was, which now they were not. For then what need he deſire them to be that they p. 177were already? Wherefore in kindnes he was as they; in acknowledging the truth, they were once as he, but were not now as once they were, and as now Paul was.

But leaſt Paul might hee thought to reproue them or thus to requeſt them vponupon ſome priuate quarrel and offence, giuen or taken, and thereby deſirous to intimat that they were out of the way, with a greedy and haſty humor finding fault euen where no fault was, vnderunder a colorable kindneſſe, hee proteſteth that they neuer hurt him. Naie to ſhew their kindnes to him ward mutually, he alſo ſpeaketh directly of their perſons, how ſometimes they were affected toward him, as he was yet vntounto them.

And ſpeaking of them, he agniſeth 1. How they reuerenced his miniſtery, 2. How they loued his perſon, and 3. Hee expoſtulateth and reproueth them that they were eſtranged without iuſt occaſion.

Firſt Paul beginneth with their vertues howe they loued and reuerenced him and imbraced the truth, and thereby ſheweth plainly that hee goeth to woork, and dealeth with them vponupon no malice. For they loued him, and hee loued them, and for louelove hee was bolde to reproue them. The affected affecteth moſt.And this mutuall conceat giueth a good edge to his perſwaſions.

For as in an awger or a perſer the point doeth pierſe, yet the handle and the haſt helpeth not a litle, p. 178ſo in perſuading or diſſuading, when the matter is (as it were) hatred with louelove, and handled with a good liking on both parts, it pierſeth the better, and therby taketh an eaſier forth, force and effect.

And as in war whē it is mollified and ſoftned, firſt, the print is receaued with the fayrer impreſſion: ſo when mens mindes are leaſt auerſe, and moſt wel-minded to the ſpeaker, the ſpeech is the deeper imprinted, and ſooneſt preuaileth.

Paul vſeth this wiſe way, and firſt hee maketh a Catolog of their reuerence, kindnes and louelove.

They reuerenced him as the angel of God: and reaſon. Mal. 2.Mal 2For the good miniſter is the Angell and meſſenger of the Lorde as appeareth in Malachie the ſecond Chapter, and in the Reuelation indiuerſe places: yea they receaued him as Chriſt Ieſus whoſe meſſenger Paul was. Neither were they alienated from him beholding his troubles, but rather they tooke al that befell him as experiences, and arguments and demonſtratiue proofes of his inflexible conſtancy.

The good vſage, or abuſinge of Gods miniſters God re…ecteth as …one to himſe…fe.And heerein they did their duety. For hee that contemneth the Embaſſeter, deſpiſeth the ſender of the embacie, as **2. Sam. 10.2 Sam 10Hanan who abuſed Dauids meſſengers, abuſed Dauid himſelfe. And the miniſtery is an embacy from Chriſt Ieſus, and therfore the Galathians did worthily eſteeme Paul as Chriſt Ieſus, and therein they reuerenced not ſo much Paul as Chriſt, euen as he who receiueth the p. 179ſeruant, receaueth the maiſter alſo. Not becauſe he ſo receaueth the perſon of the ſeruant, but rather the function of the ſeruice authoriſed and warranted by the maſter.

In this ſenſe as they reuerenced and receaued Paul, and that with an intenſiue and paſting louelove, in ſo much as they woulde hauehave pulled out their eies, and hauehave giuen them vntounto Paul to hauehave done him good.

Exod. 32.3.Exod 32:3When the children of Iſrael gaue their eare-rings I ſay not their eares, but their eare-rings, it was much: the eare is an inſtrument of an excellent ſenſe, and their eare-rings amongſt them were reputed an ornament of the eare, but the eie in reſpects is better, and to be preferred before the eare: the eie is the guide of the whole body, and the comfort of the life. Compare the eie with the reſt partes: thy right foote or hande are neceſſarie members, the one is the ſupporter and ſtate of thy perſon: the other the executioner of thy actions: but the eie is the counſeler and direction of al thy doinges, yet they woulde giuegive him euen their very eyes, thereby ſiguifieng that nothing was ſo neere, ſo deare vntounto them, as was Paul, as was their preacher, by whom they counted themſelues happy, and bleſſed and verily therein moſt bleſſed were they.

But ſee the change: their louelove was as the louelove of mother or ſiſter, and their mindes as the ſoft war, behold this ſoft war is now as hard as born. p. 180And whom they counted their reuerend friende (ſuch is the portion of Preachers) they recken their greateſt enemy.

The cauſe is a cauſeleſſe cauſe, and that which ſhould be a farther cauſe of a continual louelove. Am I become your enemy becauſe I tell you the truth? The ſunne is offenſiue to bleare-eied men. But the Galathians were egle-eyed, and cannot brook the light of that trueth, they once moſt delited in. The mad man hateth no man more than his keeper. The fooliſhmā deſpiſeth moſt his careful teacher. The child abideth no man worſe than his tutor. **Chro. 10.8.Roboam vtterly neglecteth the true and ancient counſellers his father left. Flattering Prophets that ſpeak of quiſhions to the Elbow, of wine to the taſt, and of ſilke and pleaſing things vntounto the eare. Cur opus eſt teneras mordaci radere vero auriculas? Preach in generalities, thou art a Preacher for our turne and towne: or preach of matters impertinent to men of your owne vocation, it liketh you very well alſo: Impertinent vagrant reproof of the abſent, is ſooner harkened vntounto, than are neceſſary truths or needefull applications ſpecial to the preſent auditory.but when we beginne to open your feſters, to powre vineger into your wounds by way of ſpecial diſcreet aduiſed application with the beſt entent to better your harts, O you cannot abide that. Yet if we powre neuer ſo much vineger beſide your woundes into vocations diuers from yours, and perſons which are abſent, you ſay we are bould men, and men of an excellent ſpirite, as if you would hauehave vsus to be bold with others, where we are not, and p. 181not with you, of whom we hauehave charge. For you wiſh that we tell the truth, mary not to you. Or if we doe, we may take vp Saint Pauls complaint and ſay: We are become your enemies, becauſe we tel you the truth.

17 They are iealous ouer you amiſſe: yea they would exclude you that you ſhoulde altogether louelove them.

18 It is a good thing to louelove earneſtly alwaies in a good thing, and not only when I am preſent with you.

In the third place, Pauls perſonal ſpeach is of the falſe-Apoſtles, whom he neuer nameth, either not voutſauing to name them that were vnworthy to liue, and therefore not worthy to be named: or elſe purpoſely pasſing ouer their names in ſilence, that it might appear to be as it was indeed, no perſonal grudge on his part.

Notwithſtanding on their ſide, they ſided it out in their riuality or procality, as I may ſo call it, I mean in their wooing ambitious humor they ſought to bee in with the Galathians, & to be, & as wee ſaie, who but they. Things wel vſed being be… if you il applie them, there is nothing worſe.And to this end were they thus iealous & zealous ouer the Galathians, that the Galathians again might be enamored, and in louelove (as it were) with them and their teaching only.

Paul is farre off from finding fault with Zeale, LoueLove, Care, and earneſt Endeuours. All theſe are good being well vſed and rightly placed. And it p. 182followeth of the contrary that theſe and the like things are too too bad being ill applied. What ſmelleth ſweeter than the well compounded pommander? But taſt of it, it taſteth bitter, and offendeth the taſt. Drinck wine moderatly, it gladdeth thy heart, take it immoderatly, it giddieth thy head. Infinite are the parables may be brought in this ſenſe.

Infinit ſiur in perfect trifles is a trobleſome toy and no good zeale.Zeale is good wiſely vſed in a good matter, and that continually, and not like a fier of bruſh, or of a baſſin of thornes, where is much crackling and litle heat, and that too for a ſmal time. The goodneſſe of the caſe maketh the goodnes of the zeale, and the greatnes of the **Mat. 23.23.Matt 23:23argument intendeth the force of our labour imployed thereupon.

**Ion. 4.9.Jonah 4:9Ionas the Prophet lamented more his greene gourd than hee conſidered the diuaſtation of all Niniue. Pythagoras thought that the ſoul of a mā was in the life of a beane, and he was as earneſt for the one as for the other. It is good to be very earneſt in a very good cauſe, & the falſe Apoſtles were in a wrong opinion, and yet perfectly earneſt, and what ſhould we be, in a right? My principal note is, that the falſe Teachers thought if they could keepe the Galathians from Paul, they could doe wel enough, as the Wolfe offered peace to the ſheepheards vponupon condition the ſheephards would yeeld vp their dogs, thinking if that coulde be compaſſed, they would deale with the ſheepe afterward at ful pleaſure.

p. 18319 My little children of whom I trauell in birth againe, til Chriſt be formed in you.

20 And I would I were with you nowe, that I might change my voice, for I am in doubt of you.

I obſerued the Apoſtles tender kindneſſe, and ſinguler louelove towarde the Galathians, variouſly ſet forth as you ſee, and diuerſly repeated, & in this place vnderunder the name of his children. Litle children who are euer cared for of their parents moſt then, when they they are leaſt, & leaſt able to care for thēſelues. A regular affectio … m…e affection.This affectiō was likelieſt to affect them. For a man cannot giuegive to an other, that he hath not himſelfe, and he affecteth ſooneſt, that is throughly affected, and it muſt be a liue cole that can kindle the dead cole.

They were as deere as his children to him, and he was as carefull as their mother for them. For he was ſpiritually with-child of them. He was in trauell once and againe of them, once was much & again was exceeding louelove. But the woman would not looſe her loſt grote, the ſheepheard his ſcraied ſheepe, Paul his former paine and trauell. And therefore he traueleth againe with them, euen till Chriſt be framed in them.

One matter receiueth but one f…e, … according to the qu… of the …This is a liuely pattern of painfulnes to bee in preachers, to be inſtant and vrgent, & neuer to giuegive ouer. But the end of our pains is, to frame chriſt, to imprint Chriſt in the harts of chriſtians. And as no one matter in the ſame part of the matter receaueth p. 184two formes: ſo where chriſt is imprinted, he is imprinted alone. For the ſuperinducting of a newe forme, defaceth the former. And the addition of the Law, aboliſheth the Goſpell. And as wax and water cannot mixe togither, ſo Chriſt and any thing with Chriſt cannot meete in the ſaluation of man, & the impreſſion of Moſes daſheth out the inſcription of our Sauior, and except the form of Chriſt, chriſtians hauehave no forme at al, and without chriſt, we are but as the vnſhapen Embrio, and the vnformed creature or matter without his perfection.

For helpe herein to repaire that forme, which was imprinted in thē, Paul wiſheth he were preſent with them, and becauſe of his abſence, he doubteth the rather of their good recouery.

In our Church for the Reformation of things amiſſe, and for the better eſtabliſhing the reformation in good and great part is made already, God be bleſſed therefore, & for the meanes thereof, two learned men hauehave written their minds, ſomewhat different, but yet for all that, without al doubt, though the one partwind & twiſt contrary to the other, yet both parts hauehave this mind and purpoſe, to twiſt and make a coard, that ſhould keepe men in beſt order.

But this I can auouch, and doe auer by occaſion of the text, that the due **The reſidence of the miniſter a moſt requiſit matter.preſence & reſidence of the good miniſter is the preſeruation of the pariſh, and the abſence of the paſtor is the bane of the flocke. And if men were indued with Pauls affection p. 185to cary the names of the tribes and care of ſoules on their breſt and in their hart, they would wiſh as Paul did to be preſēt with their charges.

I know there is a difference betwixt the mere and mixt Non-reſident, betwixt a party-care & a plaine ſecurity. The mere Non-reſident is a rechleſſe Creature. The diſtinction of mixt and mere Non-reſidents excuſeth neither.The mixt Non-reſident hath pluralities of liuings, and liueth wel in his common conuerſation, and preacheth, happily vponupon one of them, and keepeth the better houſe there, where hee liueth, by reaſon of his other liuings.

That ſuch a one keepeth the bigger houſe, I graunt, but that hee keepeth the better, if betternes be rightly conceiued, I vetterly deny. For that is ſyncere and good that is not mixt with euil, and he that robbeth one to pay, or to gratifie another with fuller meaſure, is no vpright dealer. The husband-man may proine off ſome bowes, that ſome others may grow the better and the bigger, but the caſe is diuerſe, & euen like vntounto the vnkind father that will ſtarue ſome of his children, to feed one of them the fatter: & like the vnnaturall mother that will kill the reſt of her children hauing many, to make one the greater heire and iollier-fellow.

It were farre better that there were greater regard taken in this behalfe. But remedy this, and remedy all: and remedy not this, and I ſtand in doubt, I fear leaſt the ſemynary and ſeed-men p. 186of all euill may preuaile farther, than God graunt they may. Mat. 13.25.Matt 13:25For the enimy euer ſoweth his tares then moſt, when the husband-man is aſleepe, and what will not Sathan doe in the continuall abſence of him that ſhould bee continually preſent with his people, and preſident of their doings?

I fixe not the paſtor as it were the ſhel-fiſh to his ſhell, or like the Moncke vntounto his ſell. There may be rare priuate necesſities & publicke-weale cauſes of ſome abſence, but the beſt reſolution in ſuch inſident circumſtances is, that the conſcience aſſuredly knowe, that God is not mocked with vaine excuſes whatſoeuer, nor anſwered with purchaſed diſpenſations vponupon friuolous, falſe or curſory pretenſes.

Not onlie the perſonal preſence, but a competency of experienced skil is required in the reſident Miniſter.Paul wiſheth himſelfe preſent with the Galathians, to the end he might conſider of circumſtances, that hee might change his voice amongeſt them, that is, that hee might accommodate himſelfe and apply remedy, as he ſhould ſee fitteſt occaſion.

The Phiſicions counſell is good, but his preſence is better, alwaies for priſed that the Phiſicion be not only a good booke-man, but alſo a skilfull and a cheereful practiſioner.

Iob. 2.13.Job 2:13Iobs frinds when they came to viſite him, they ſate inconſolably mute and dum, and when they ſpake at laſt, they went to work vponupon true principles miſconceaued and miſerably applied.

Better ſuch Phyſicions kept them away from p. 187their pariſhes. A learned careful miniſter is an ineſtimable iewel.But the preſence of that miniſter that hath a preſent dexteritie vponupon all occaſions, is a precious iewell, that can ſpeake (like the good Lawyer) to the cauſe, that can finde out the cauſe of the diſeaſe, that can f…te his playſters, and apply his Phyſick, that can handle his ſpirituall inſtruments, that can diuide the word aright, that can break the bread to the houſhold in due ſeaſon, that knoweth molles aditus & tempora, that knoweth how to tune and temper his doctrine, ſweet or ſharp, where to cut and where to ſupple, when to take a d…t courſe, and where to vſe as it were a ſide-… by way of parable like to the woman of Thecua, and the Prophet Nathan.2 Sam. 24.2 Sam 24

The Popiſh Sir Iohn, the ignorant curat, the ſorry hind, the ſhame of our calling, & the bane of our Church, that ſpeaketh Aſdod or Gibbrich, or any language rather than the Scriptures of God in congruent Engliſh, and in diſtinct harty manner to our Peoples capacities, is an vnprofitable Sir in the former reſpects.

Wherein notwithſtanding truly my meaning is not to vpbraid any ſimple, vertuous godly man, that in a competent ſufficiency is enabled and doth accordingly his beſt endeuour, but rather I lay downe and leaue this note to remember the reader, if hee bee a learned Miniſter, that he of al men moſt cary the bowels of LoueLove towarde his pariſh euen next his heart, and that hee voutſaue them his preſence for whom Chriſt hath dyed p. 188and that in ſuch ſort as he may beſt addreſſe himſelfe (becauſe he beſt can) vponupon all occaſions incident vntounto his flock, which doubtles are many and of great importance, and that we deale with ſome particular men ſometimes, as Paul wiſheth to do here with the Galathians, Act. 20.Acts 20changing his voice, and as he did at Epheſus, where he admoniſhed them not only in general, but ſpecially eueryevery one of them (as occaſion ſerued and required) daie and night continually, and that with teares in moſt effectual maner.

In the old ſacrifices, the heare and the tongue were due to the Prieſt, thereby to intimate vntounto him, that from the heart ſincerely, and with his tongue ſignificantly he was to demeane himſelfe, in caſrs of conſcience, and controuerſies ariſing, & in ſcruples whatſoeuer, and as matters ſhoulde he offered, ſo to miniſter preſent remedy, in due ſort accordingly, without farther delaies. Neither is it ſufficient to leaue ſome phiſick in our pariſh, and go our way. Aug. Epiſt. 5. Marcellino.Vindicianus in Auſtine told his patiēt, that Vindicianus did not .i. that himſelf being the Phyſition did not miniſter the Phyſick, and therefore it would not woork. In the adminiſtration whereof, many circumſtances and various admixtures are required: ſo in the Phyſicke of the ſoule, ſo in the muſicke of the ſoule, ſundry are the receats, and diuerſely confected, diuers are the notes, and much cunning requiſit in changing the voice, in ſpeaking ſoundely to the affected p. 189conſcience. But of this, this is but a note.

21 Tel me, ye that wil be vnderunder the Law, do you not heare the Law?

Paul wiſhed that he might he with them, wherin is ſcene the generality of Pauls ſpeciall care euen for the congregation where perſonally, by reaſon of his Apoſtolique office, he could not be ſtil reſident. And verily the mind of a godly hart is a regiſter & a note-booke to remember him alwaies of moe matters than are expoſite to the ſight, and ſubiect to the ſenſe. We ſay, out of ſight, out of mind, and that the hart rueth not, what the eie ſeeth not. But it was not ſo with our Apoſtle.

He ſtoode in doubt of them. He wiſheth to be with them. And becauſe that could not bee, he ſupplieth that want, as hee might, by writing, by reaſoning, and earneſt expoſtulating matters to the quick with them.

Tell me.) Will ye needes be vnderunder the Lawe? Are ye wilfull? Doe you knowe what ye doe? Doe you conſider, do you ſee the ways you take? A wiſe mans eie is in his head. HaueHave ye not read, nor doe yee not heare what is written in the Law? Lay your hand vponupon your hartes, and your harts vponupon Gods Law, and ſpeake aduiſedly, and ſay ſincerely, Tell me, will yee be vnderunder the Law? Let vsus reaſon a little.

22 For it is written, that Abraham had two ſonnes, one by a ſeruant, and one by a free woman.

p. 19023 But hee was borne of the ſeruant, was borne after the fleſh, and he which was of the free woman [was borne] by promiſe.

24 By the which things an other thing is meant. For theſe [mothers] are the two Teſtaments, the one which is Agar of mount Sina, which gendreth vntounto bondage.

25 For Agar of Sina is a inountaine in Arabia, and it anſwereth to Ieruſalem which nowe is, and ſhe is in bondage with her children.

26 But Hieruſalem which is aboue is free: which is the mother of vsus all.

Why the booke of Geneſis is comprehended in the Law.You will needes be vnderunder the Law: wel. It is written in the law that Abraham had two ſons, &c.) But wher is that written in the law? By the law here is meant the booke of Geneſis. But why goeth that book vnderunder the name of the law? There are many reaſons why. 1. It was written by Moſes, by whom the Law was conueied vntounto men, & who was but a miniſter of the Law and of things annexed thereunto. 2. Then in the book of Geneſis, expreſly the Lawe of circumciſion is enacted. Thirdly by ſundry ceremonious rites, and typicall ſhadowes the people of God are in that booke trained, and legally cuſtructed, as namely and in ſpeciall, by the ſtory of Abraham and his family. Viz. by his two wiues. Sara, and Agar, and by his two ſonnes, Iſaak and Iſmael.

In theſe ſtories eueryevery thing is litterally true, yet withall figuratiuely is exēplified the liberty of p. 191the Ghoſpell, and the bondage of the Lawe: the condicion of the Iewes, and the ſtare of Chriſtians.

The mothers of Abrahams children were diuers, and therefore the one was free, and the other bond. The manner of their birth was different, and therefore accordingly the one was after the fleſh, the other by promiſe; the one by nature, the other by ſpecial grace. Iſmael was naturally borne of yong Agar. And Iſaack aboue the courſe of nature was borne of Sara, euen ſupernaturally and miraculouſly.

By theſe matters are myſtically implyed the two Teſtaments, and the one is Iſaack, the other is Iſmaell. The one is Agar, the other is Sara. (Is) for is ſignified.Where note as we go: that the word (is) is taken for is ſignified. And ſo is it lightly euer in ſacramentall and myſticall matters. By the free and bond Mothers and children are ſignified and ſette forth either freedome or bendage. And you muſt obſerue by the ciuil Law touching liberty or bondage, that it is otherwiſe, than by the common Lawe of our nation. By the ciuill Law it is as it is in theſe exampls: Partus ſequetur ventrem: The Childe followeth the condicion of the Mother. If the Mother be free, ſo is the fruite of her wombe. If the Mother be bord, ſo are hir Children alſo. And bondage and freedom are reſembled in theſe Mothers, and therefore alſo in their children.

Now (as if the Apoſtle ſhould ſay) Tell mee. p. 192Compare theſe caſes, and tell me, wil ye be Agarenes? Of whether Teſtament will ye be? Wil ye be bond? Will yee be natural? Will yee be fleſhly? And wil ye be wilful?

Ciuil libertie is of an ineſtimable price, much more ſpirituall.In ciuil reſpects, what caſe more heauy than thraldom? What thing more precious than liberty? What? Wil ye but the rope about your owne necks? Wil you like County Egmon in the Low countries make your ſelues the bridge to bring in a proud lord, that ſhal cut your throats, or make yee ſlaues? Are ye ſo deuoted to your owne harm? This is euen to loth liberty, and to long to bee in Aegypt, and in the houſe of boundage. Doth any wiſe man but deſire to be a childe in his ſwathes, when he is once come to perfect age? Or would the iourny-man be a prentiſe againe? Wiſheth the Graduat that hee were in his A. B. C. Would the deliuered perſon returne to his priſon? Shall the free-man thirſt after his old bondage? Shal Saraes children be ſo much as nurſed of Agar? Tell me, ſhal theſe ſimilitudes be verified amongſt you?

This ſimilitude of Sara and Agar our Apoſtle proſecuteth with an other alſo of mount Sinay & Ieruſalem. The Law was giuen in Sinay, and receaued in Ieruſalem. Sinay is in Arabia far from Ieruſalem, and Sion which God loued.

Agar is Sinay. (Is) marke againe that phraſe. Agar which kept ſuch a ſtur in Abrahams houſe, is by ſignification Sinay, where the Lawe was p. 193giuen in wind, thunder, lightnings, and in much terror. But Ieruſalem is the Church of God, which could tell how to expound the Law of God in Chriſt, and howe to vſe for a time the ceremonies, & not euerlaſtingly to enhamber themſelues with them, beeing once deliuered from them, by the comming of our Sauior.

But were not theſe falſe Apoſtles euen from Iury, that abuſed theſe Galathians, glorying in the name & title of Moſes and of the Lawe? And did not Ieruſalem hir-ſelfe play Agars & Sinaies part, pretending the Law and refuſing Chriſt? True, and therefore the Apoſtle diſtinguiſheth, and ſheweth that there are two Ieruſalems, the one which then was, and was **foreign.anſwerable vntounto Agar and to Sinay, the other is from aboue & the mother of vsus all.

At the firſt, the former **Hieruſalem. diuerſly taken.Ieruſalem of theſe two was as the ſecond. And many excellent things are ſpoken of her, but how was ſhee changed from hirſelfe? She was not ſhe that once ſhe was, euen the epitome, pattern and glory of Gods Church: but now hir wine is turned into water, hir ſiluer into droſſe, hir Temple into a den of theeues, hir City into a lodge of murtherers, & hirſelfe of a mother is become a ſtep-mother, & Ieruſalem is tranſlated as it were into Arabia, or Sinay out of Arabia is brought into the land of Paleſtine, & made the very metropolitane City of al Iudea. And Agar, there hath gotten the vpper-hand of hir Miſtreſſe. p. 194Wherefore this olde Ieruſalem is not any longer the Ieruſalem of God, or the naturall mother of his people.

The other Ieruſalem is deſcribed, 1. To be from aboue. 2. To be free, 3. And ſo be a mother, indeede the mother of vsus al.

That ſayeng of Cyprian is in eueryevery mans mouth, that he who hath not the Church for his mother, cannot hauehave God to be his father. It is a good ſentence. For he that is not a childe of the church, is not the child of God. The whole church is the ſpouſe of God, and eueryevery beleeuer is a part of the ſpouſe. And eueryevery one, as in ſome reſpects, he hath the reſemblance of a child: ſo in ſome conſiderations he may receaue the name of a mother, according to the proportion of duty, whereunto he is called. For the whole church doth the mothers duty by ſome of hir principall members: as Paul did the mothers part in traueling and being with-child with theſe Galathians, & yet Paul himſelfe was a child of the vniuerſal Church: and he that is not a member of this myſticall body, is none of Chriſts, the head, nor of GOD the Father of all.

And God as hee is the Father of all things generally by his creation: ſo more ſpecially he is the father of vsus his children by regeneration, whereby we are aſcited into his Church, and incorporated into the body of his choſen. But this is performed from aboue, but yet in the lap and wombe p. 195of the Church, and by the meane of preaching, by the helpe of ſacraments, and ſuch like benefits of motherly care and prouiſion in ſpirituall maner.

And as the good mother doth conceaue and beare hir children, and doth **1 Sam. 1.1 Sam 1nurſe them too: ſo doth the Church nurſe hir children alſo: and that with the ſyncere milke of hir two dugges of both the Teſtaments, I ſay, ſyncere, as being neither mingled with water, nor marde with ſoute, nor burnt to the pan, but **1 Pet. 2.2.1 Pet 2:2moſt ſyncere. **foreign.It is hir part to offer it ſo: and it is your duties ſo to receaue it ſo.

Wanton children and vnwiſe luſt after and had rather eate chalke, dirt and baggage, cerimonies, rites, traditions and ſuch like ſtuffe. But theſe are but falſe appetites. The true mother and Church will debarre hir children of ſuch foode.

This our mother is a free woman, no Berta, not bond as Agar was, and ſuch as is the mother, ſuch are al hir childrē. For ſhe is not partialy fond vponupon ſome of hir children more, than vntounto ſome. Such then is the ſtate of Gods Church, euen a houſe-ful of Iſaakes; Sara & hir litle-ones: Ieruſalem, yea a heauenly Ieruſalem & hir free children. Not that Ieruſalem, that thē was, & now is not, but a free city which was from the beginning, & is from aboue, & for euer, the mother of vsus al, the choſen of the father, the elect of God, and the Catholicke Church.

p. 1961 The Romiſh ſtepdame chalengeth theſe priuileges, and layeth claime to this motherhood, 1. King. 3.22.1 Kgs 3:22euen as truly as the harlot before Salomon made title to the other womans child, whē ſhe had ſtifled hir own, and had rather the child ſhould be diuided a-ſunder than ſhe would ſeeme to looſe hir pretended title. And ſo our miſtres of Rome, had rather al chriſtendom ſhould be diuided & rent in peeces, than that ſhee ſhould not ſeeme to bee that which ſhee is not; the oecumenicall and catholike mother of al the world. Yet 1. ſhee is Romiſh, and how can ſhee be Catholicke? 2. Shee is too too ceremonious: ſhe cannot be free. 3. She holdeth by the viſibility of the place, and therefore is not from aboue, as our mother is, which is moſt 1. Catholicke, 2. and 3. Spirituall.

The Church of Rome is not the Catholicke Church.1 Will you that I examine this womans claim a litle? The Romiſh Church is but a particular Church, if yet it be a Church: and if ſhee be a mother, ſhe is a mother in the Churches behalfe at Rome, and not the mother of vsus all. Paul making mention of our generall mother, hath not the leaſt reference in the world to Rome at all.

As Auguſtine ſaith, touching the Donatiſtes, that would compaſſe Chriſts kingdome within the territory of Africk, Ager non eſt Africa, ſed mundus: ſo we tel the Papiſts: the fielde of Gods Church is not included, neither in Africk, nor Italy, nor in places annexed and tied neceſſarily to any one place vnderunder heauen.

p. 197A local conceat in caſes ſpiritual is a mere fancie.It is a ſpecial error of the wicked to put confidence in places more in ſome, than in ſome, & that with great contempt of ſome places, whom they will not like, or doe not louelove, or cannot fancy.

The **1. King. 20.23.1 Kgs 20:23Aramites being conquered in the mountaines thought, that ſome ſpeciall gods were protectors of the mountaines.

**Nomb. 22.41.Balaack cauſed Balaam to change his ſtanding twiſe, as if the effects of blesſing and curſing ſtoode only, or roſe only out of the places.

How diſdainfully ſpeak our aduerſaries, as the Iewes did of Bethleem and Nazareth, ſo they of Witenberg, Tigurine, and Geneua, and of **Briſt. Replie to D. Fulke. Pag 120.Rome ſo proudly, that any indifferent man may ſoone diſcerne the ſpirit of Antichriſt, & the tunes of hir that ſitteth as a Queene and mother of ſpirituall fornications vponupon the ſeauen hils, and being but a particular place, challengeth to be the Catholicke Church of Jeſu Chriſt, and mother of Chriſtians.

The motiue of Names.But doe not men call the Romane Church the catholicke Church? Indeede they call themſelues ſo, as Iezabel called hir ſelfe a Propheteſſe to teach the trueth, beeing in trueth a vile witch to ſeduce the people, and to make them to commit fornication.

The miniſter of Sardi had a name to liue, but he was dead. In the Goſpel Ieruſalem is called the holy city then, when ſhe had polluted hirſelfe, and became profane.

p. 198Bad names fained vponupon men by enimies, proue nothing. And good names ſhew a duty of doing, they proue not the doing of duties. The Romane Church ſhould be catholike & ſound in the truth, ſhe cannot be catholcike for direction of the truth in all the world, neceſſarily ſhe, more than other places. For God that accepteth not perſons, accepteth not places. Act. 24.14.Acts 24:14If things went by names, Paul ſhould hauehave bin an arch-hereticke, & his enimies ſhould hauehave bin the friends of truth.

Our **To the reader. Robert Points in his Teſtimony of the Real preſence.Countriman Robert Pointes thinking this motiue of names able to moue mountaines, and deſirous to hauehave themſelues fairely cleeped and vsus skornfully by a name reproched, and ſpecially for that wee are commonly called Proteſtants, either wilfully or witleſly abuſeth & corrupteth the woordes of Scriptures to his fooliſh purpoſe, and ſaith: **2 Par. 24.2 Chr 24Quos proteſtantes illi audire nolebant. In the 2. of Chronicles the PROTESTANTS, forſooth, would not hear the prophets which God ſent vntounto them. In which few words (ſaith Maſter Pointes) the malice of our chiefe Proteſtants of our daies is manifeſtly propheſied of, and plainly deſcribed. And this he voucheth to be an admoniſhment both in name, and conditions expreſly of their (the Proteſtants) extreme malice and ſtubburnes.

Of ſuch motiues I doubt not, yee hauehave good ſtore, as **The diſplaieng of Proteſtants in prol. P. 2.Miles Huggard Queene Maries hoſier, bodged vp to your hands. But I had thought p. 199that the name of Proteſtants had not beene ſo ancient, and we geſſe the books of Chronicles were not written in Latine ſo expreſly to hit vponupon the name of Proteſtantes, and we take that the matter you alleadge, is a flat ſtory of the preſent fact, & not a fore-propheſieng of a future euent. And we tel you, and by occaſion of your falſifieng (maſter Pointes) we tell the woorld you hauehave told a tale of a tub, of the man in the Moon, and of Proteſtants of your owne making.

How and when the Name of Proteſtantes came firſt vp.May it pleaſe you (brethren) to bear with me, and in a woord I ſhall ſhew you both why we are named Proteſtants, and what the name of Proteſtants meaneth in that place of the ſcripture. For Maſter Points is quite beſide the Text.

In the yeare of our Lorde **Sleid. Com. lib. 6.1529, after ſundry debateings precedent for the reformation of things amiſſe, and ſome agreement accorded vponupon in that reſpect, yet it was put in the head of the Emperour how to deuiſe for a contrary courſe to be taken in a meeting at Spiers. Whereupon the Princes of Germany were conſtrained to frame, & did frame out their lawful Proteſtatiō. A thing vſual and known in eueryevery common court to proteſt againſt the iniquity or nullity of proceeding. So did theſe Pieres, Princes & Nobles of Germany & others aſſociating themſelues in ſo iuſt a cauſe concerning the honor of God and glory of his name. Whereupon the name of Proteſting and Proteſtantes was not vnwillingly accepted p. 200of al who miſliked diſorders. And ſo it became a common appellation vntounto this day. And this is the true original, or ſhort and plaine narration to the demaund and motiue for the name of Proteſtants.

Now for the allegation of Points his Scripture (and ſo may I cal it, for the ſcripture it ſelfe is to another ſenſe) and if his grammer woulde ſerue him but to conſter the woordes, he would ſoone hauehave ſeene his palpable error.

Verily, the meaning is that God ſent his Prophets, and his Prophets went and proteſteth the wrath of God, but there were (not Proteſtants) but there were that would not giuegive eare to the proteſtations of the Prophets, quos Proteſtantes, illi audire nolebant. There were, that woulde not hear the Proteſtants, and theſe Proteſtants were Gods Prophets. Religion goeth not by Names.And hence if we would trifle in names, we might make a faire ſhew by the name whence fooliſhly he ſeeketh our vtter ſhame. But it is too vaine a labor to argue of names good or bad, the one way or the other.

But backe againe to our purpoſe, what euer we are called by you or otherwiſe, are you called the catholick Church? Who calleth you ſo? Your ſelues. We doe not. But ſuppoſe you were ſo called. Thinges goe not by names. For then, as the country-man ſaith, we ſhould hauehave no Wood-hens, for all the birds of that kind are named and called Wood-cockes. And were he not then a p. 201proper wiſe man, that woulde ground his reaſon vponupon common ſpeach? This were good for your Popes, who hauing ill fauored faces, and wriemouthes, and woorſe maners, and yet when they can gette and clammer vp into the Papacy, they change their names into words of flattering ſignification.

But you ſee names are not forceable proofes, neither againſt others, nor for themſelues, either for the goodneſſe of their verie Popes, or for the Catholickneſſe and Motherdome of their Church.

The Rhomiſh dame is too ceremonious to be the free Mother.2 Secondly as the Romane Church being at the moſt, when ſhe was beſt, but a Church, and therefore not the Catholique whole Church, ſo Rome as ſhe is now, ſhe is too ſeruile a dame to be the Mother, of thoſe who are free, and freed in chriſt. She is too Ceremonious, too Slauiſh, too Peeuiſh in her Ceremonies, and God which hath aboliſhed his owne rites, muſt needes abhor her trinkets which ſeeme to ſome faire, and greatly adorning, and gracifieng all, like the Iuy about the Tree, which in the ende will be the death of the tree it embraceth.

What are hir Duckings, Beckings, Fiskings vp and downe, apiſh Illuſions, infinit, endleſſe, and purpoſeleſſe Obſeruations, with terror of Conſcience, and trouble of mind, onelyonly occupied and ſet on woorke with friuolous wil-worſhips, and fond conceats in eueryevery thing to draw men p. 202from a ſolid and ſound vnderſtanding of the ſubſtantial points of true deuotion? Col. 2.Col 2Touch not, Taſt not, Handle not, Eate not, Marry not now, but when we appoint; not you, but you whom we permit, and al vponupon pain of damnation & peril of ſaluation, in as many as miſſe the heauenly heſtes of holy Rome. Is this the ſpirit of Chriſt, pacifieng our minds, or rather intangling our ſoules with ſo many wind-laces?

The true worſhippers Iohn. 4.23.John 4:23worſhip in ſpirite and truth. And what ſpirit is there in theſe and theſe like toyes? There is no ſubſtaunce, no truth, no graine, but all chaffe in theſe eares, in theſe filly-follies. Reply to D.F. Pag. 119.No maruel if Briſtow require in Chriſtians not the ſpirit of truth, but the ſpirite of obedience: but of what Obedience? To what? And whom? If men were but meanly directed by the truth, it were imposſible they ſhoulde ſo obediently delue and dig, and ſo grouelingly ſerue in the mines and miſteries of ſlauery it ſelfe. Wherfore becauſe Rome is not Catholicke, becauſe Rome is too too be-ſpanged and ſet about with Ceremonies vnfruitfully, therefore ſhe is none of our Mother, nor we her children.

3 The Catholick Church is not locally tied to any territory. The motiue of the viſibility of the Church.Both for the conſideration of Catholiciſme, and alſo for that ſhee deſcendeth FROM ABOVE, and is by grace, and holdeth not of any place, and looketh vpward, and ſeeketh thoſe things which are aboue, and ſetteth hir affections p. 203on heauenly things.

There is much adoe about the VISIBILITY of the Catholicke Church. May I tary you now in ſifting ſomewhat more that queſtion a while? Paul deſcribeth the Church to be from aboue, ſpiritually, by ſpeciall fauour, and reflecting againe vpward in inward hartines and requiſite dueties.

Our aduerſaries ſeeke hir on earth, and require hir to be liable to the ey, and locally viſible, and that in Rome as Hieruſalem was in Iurie, where God for a time was beſt known.

We ſpeak of the catholique Church **The Catholick Church property taken, what it meaneth.which is the ſociety or company of all the Saints of God, of al times and places, the whole body whereof cannot bee ſeene, nay the meanes whereby any part of the Church is made a part and continueth a part thereof, is ſecret, inward, and inuiſible: and the certainty thereof is an article of faith, and not obiect of the ey ſight. Credo Eccleſiam, not Video Eccleſiam. I beleeue that God hath a choſen Church, and that the Lord knoweth who are his, though I diſcerne it not by ſenſe. For the glory of the Kings Daughter is from aboue, and it doth not, but ſhall appeare to eueryevery one who be who.

Viſibility is not of the Nature, but of the duety of the Church.Wherefore viſiblenes to be ſeene is not neceſſarily of the nature of Gods choſen. Notwithſtanding men being choſen of God, and coapted into the number of his Saints, of duety muſt not p. 204conceal what they are, but publikly, openly and in a viſible order eueryevery man according to the proportion of his calling is to keepe and retaine a ſeene and a ſightly exerciſe of his profesſion.

And yet times in places may go ſo hard, that a man might ſeeke and not finde an euident face of true profeſſors in publique maner, The complaint of Elias diſcuſſed and vrged.as in the daies of Elias, when he complained that he was left alone for ought he knewe. Wherein I note that Elias knew not of any moe, if you wil, of no moe Prophets: for what if wee graunt to that our aduerſaries ſorry cauillation, that Elias was left a Prophet alone. What? As he knew no moe prophets beſide himſelfe, ſo he was hid from the ſight of others, and no man knew what was become of this Prophet. Then was the Church left without a Prophet to ſee too, and where was then the forme of a Church viſible, keeping hir outward orders in apparent aſpectable ſhew?

Maſter **Stapl. de doct. Prin. l. 2. c. 13.Stapleton and the reſt ſhift in this caſe, but ſhifts will not ſerue. They except, that if it might be thus in the kingdome of Iſrael, yet the Church was viſible enough in the tribe of Iudah. This is but a poore ſhift. For Iſrael was not ſo bad ſometimes, as Iudah, and Iudah no better than Iſrael. And euen in the dayes of Aza much about theſe times, 2. Chron. 15.22 Chr 15:2when Aza came to the crowne of Iudah, Azariah telleth the King, that if God be ſought after, he will be found; but if he be forſaken, he wil forſake euen Iudah too.

p. 205And when Elias fled out of Iſrael, hee fled not to Iudah, as knowing whither to goe, and where to ioyne himſelfe in the ſociety of a viſible Church, but pasſing by the confines of Iudah, he left his man in **2 King. 19.32 Kgs 19:3Beerſheba, and himſelfe fledde into the wildernes, and there complaineth, that he was left alone.

And leaſt this complaint may ſeeme only to be the affection of a watery eye, and of a troubled mind that could not diſcerne that which might be diſcerned, and ſo not to bee ſtoode vppon by vsus, that ſo much alleadge it in this cauſe, obſerue that God in aunſwere to Elias told him that he had reſerued 7000 to himſelfe, and our aduerſaries to ſhew that Elias complaint was imperfect and vntrue, they vrge this aunſwere of the 7000 reſerued: but can they marke withall, that God ſaith, he had reſerued them to himſelfe, not in the ſight or to the view of Elias? For Elias lied not, but God kept them to the ſecret knowledge of himſelfe.

And can they yet farther mark for an vnāſwerable anſwere to their oft **Sander. viſib. monarch. Pag. 207.replyed and **& P. 295.multiplied triumphing cauillation, that when we (no doubt) vnduely force this enſamble for the inuiſibleneſſe of the Church, yet euer this (they ſay) was but matter that touched Iſrael, and the ten tribes, but Iudah and the whole Church it did not concerne, I ſay, can they mark that the **Rom. 11.4.Rom 11:4holy Apoſtle Saint Paul vſeth this very enſample p. 206to the very ſame purpoſe that we doe?

For the Iewes ſeeking their owne righteouſnes, miſſed of Gods righteouſnes: and though they hard the Goſpell, yet they gaineſaid it, and were a diſobedient people, and therefore God refuſed them, who at firſt refuſed him.

Whereupon the Apoſtle queſtioneth in effect thus as I take it: Did God reiect his people? And were they reiected? And were the people that once were his people, now no more his people?

His people and his Church, in ſenſe and ſignification is al one. If God had no people, he had no Church. But he had reiected and caſt off that his people, where was then his Church.

The Apoſtle aunſwereth himſelfe one way for the future time by receauing in of the Gentiles, and another way for the preſent time, that albeit the Iewes were caſt off, yet God had a Church. What, a viſible Church? No, but he had a remnant, and that remnant, where euer it was, was his Church, and that Church was ſecret, ſeen and diſcerned only of God, and this Church and remnant was exemplified (ſaith Paul) by thoſe ſecret 7000 reſerued by God inuiſibly, as in the daies of Elias, ſo was the ſtate of the Church thus inuiſible, and ſo ſhewed and expounded to be by the Apoſtle and by this very example of Elias time. What ſay ye? Is it not ſo?

Queſtionles our aduerſaries ſee as much as we tel them, but eueryevery mā muſt fetch his light at p. 207their candle, Romes viſibility is but a ſightly mart of Religion.and therefore their light muſt needs be a blazing ſtar, and their Church not only a viſible Church, but a viſible Monarchy withall.

And they ſeeing that God is leſſe bound to them than to Iudah and Hieruſalem, and that if Ieruſalem might be ecclipſed, much more might Rome, and therefore they ſay that the Church in Iſrael was inuiſible, but not in Iudah.

But why is God more linkt to Rome than to Iſrael? Wel, Iſrael by their own confeſſion might, and did looſe her beuty, and Paul alleadgeth that for the ſecreſie of the whole church reſerued to the ſight of God, and not vntounto the eies of Elias.

And al the Scripture is plaine that Iudah did ſometime iuſtifie her Siſter Iſraell in ſinning more exceſſiuely, than did ſhee, and that God was not bound to keepe either the one or the other in his viſible ſeruice whether he would or no.

Of al the places where God hath been chiefely worſhipped, principally in Scripture are named three: Bethel, Silo, Sion. A word of euerie of theſe.

Bethel.Bethel is by interpretation the houſe of God, and Bethel was the gate of heauen, and in Bethel was the ladder whereby the very Angels aſcended and deſcended from God vp and downe, notwithſtanding euen in Bethel Ieroboam ſet vppe the goolden calfe. The matter was goolde, the charge great, the entent faire, but the calfe was an idol, the intent was irregular, beſide and againſt p. 208Gods word, Hoſ. 10.8.Hos 10:8and ſo Beth-el became to bee Beth-auen, and of the houſe of god was made the houſe of iniquity, and the ladder of diſcention into hell it ſelfe.

Silo.Concerning Silo, Ioſue placed the arcke there, where it remained 300. yeares: but ſundry enormities ariſing, and when Hely once ſuffered his youthfull ſonnes to rome at riot to the great reproch and ſhame of Gods ſacrifices, what enſued? His ſonnes were ſlaine, the Arcke was taken, Hely brake his necke, the place was a deſolate place. For the Lorde forſooke his habitation in Silo where he dwelt among men, Pſal. 78.Ps 78hee refuſed the tents of Ioſeph, and his ſeate in Silo.

Sion.Touching mount Sion and Iuda, God indeede more ſingularly choſe him a ſeate there, becauſe he had a fauor thereunto, he loued it, and therefore he choſe it.

Dauid prouided braſſe, iron, ſtone, wood, and timber, Dauid defraid ſiluer, and much gold, toward the fabrick of a place for God, but Dauid a man much according to Gods owne hart, yet Dauid was not the man that ſhold make out and perfect that frame.

But Solomon by name, the Prince of peace, and the man of reſt, expreſly in the worde of God vntounto Dauid was the wiſe man that was appointed to this woorke.

And when the temple was built, the Lord moſt gloriouſly appeareth to Solomon, & with his preſence p. 209ſanctified the holy place, and ſpake vntounto Solomon on this wiſe: I hauehave heard thy Prayers: I hauehave hallowed thy houſe, which thou haſt built to put my name in it for euer, & my hart & mine eies ſhalbe there continually.

Hieruſalem,Yea to ſay generally of the whole citty, many glorious and excellent things are ſpoken of thee ô Ieruſalem. The Prophets taught in thee, the ofspring of Dauid raigned ouer thee, the fore-fathers of bleſſed memory, and linage of beleeuing Abraham were thy cittizens, al the godly ſacrificed there, and the ſacrifices were commanded of God, and continued from Moſes time.

No priuilege of any value, nor promiſe of good thinges was anie way defectiue, or wanting to that place, whereunto no place was comparable vnderunder heauen, it beeing the very pledge of heauen it ſelfe, and the onelyonly place where the God of heauen delighted moſt.

But lo, the ofspring of the firſt man Adam, who when he was in honor was as a beaſt, & fell from his innocency, and became a foole, and was diſobedient, and therefore was turned out of paradiſe, and the earth for his ſake curſed, that was made good a little before, lo I ſay the children of Adam, and Sonnes of a ſinfull Parent, euen the inhabitants of Ieruſalem become like their firſt father, and abuſing the Lords kindner, they ſuppoſe that the Lorde was in-louelove with the walles of their Cittie and Temple, and ſitting p. 210ſecurely vnderunder the ſommer bower of this conceit, though they committed Robberies, Murders, Adulteries, Idolatries, worſe than Aegypt, though their Prophets taught lies, and their dery children gathered ſtickes, and their weomen kneaded dowe to make cakes to ſacrifiſe to the Queene of heauen, yet they thought that they, the ſpouſe, they could not be diuorſed, hee would not plucke off that precious ring from his finger, ſuffer the girdle of his lomes to rotte, tread his own crowne vnderunder his feete, abhor his inheritance, forſake Hieruſalem, plow vp Sion, and refuſe the Temple.

He could not, or hee would not. No? The Prophets forewarne the contrary, Ierem. 26.Jer 26and namely Ieremy, that except they repent, that god would turne their blesſings into curſings, & make that bleſſed citty (otherwiſe beeing the praiſe of the world) the extremeſt curſe, and the very ſhame of nations.

The Iewes could not beleeue it, but the Iews felt it in the end, and feele it to this day, and euerſince the two ſhee bears Titus & Veſpatian ruinated their citty, famiſhed their people, waſted their land, and made hauock of all, they are a vagabond nation in the eies of all the world.

This is an vndeniable verity. And that which fully fell vponupon them at the length, fell vponupon them as well for their former as their latter ſinnes in forſaking their Lord, in polluting his Temple, p. 211in defiling the prieſthood, in killing the prophets, in one word, in diuorſing themſelues from God, and in breaking themſelues from the ſtock of the naturall oliue, whereinto they were engraffed, & ſo of a people became men that were not Gods people, and of a church became no church, muchleſſe the viſible Church of the liuing God, and yet God ſtill had a remnant, but this ſilly ſecret remnant proueth not the viſibility wee diſpute of.

Wherefore when no ſhifting can posſibly put off the euidence whereby we ſhew, that the ſhew of the Church is not euer in ſight, and that the clamorous cries, Ierem. 4.Jer 4ô the Temple, the Temple are lying words, and will not ſerue their turne, and that the true Church may be ecclipſed, as in the daies of Elias, expreſly, 1. By the prophets depoſition, I am left alone, 2. By the anſwere of God, I hauehave reſerued 7000. To my ſelfe. 3. And by the expoſition of Paul: that the church was brought to be a ſecret remainder; when nothing wil help indeed, though Sanders ſet a faire face, and a big looke vponupon the matter, yet he, maſter Stapleton, Eiſingrinius & the reſt that hauehave dealt in this argument, are fain to come to this point, that albeit the caſe might be ſo with Ieruſalem, & was with her in the end, yet ſince the propagation of the Goſpell it cannot be ſo with Rome, and Rome cannot, ſhee cannot be remoued, ſhee cannot, not cannot in congruence of hir own dewry, or likelyhood p. 122in opinion conceaued once of her, but poſſibly ſhe cannot be deuorſed at al.

Let vsus hear one of their own beaſts bray out ſuch bold ſounds in his owne voice. Briſtow in his reply, or rather in his fumbling confuſed hoge poge to D. Fulk hath theſe words: Briſt. replie Cap. 8. Par. 2.The ſynagog with her Hieruſalem might be and ſhould be diuorſed. But the Church of Chriſt with her Hieruſalem (which is Rome if you hauehave any ſight in the Actes of the Apoſtles) ſhoulde neuer, nor neuer might, nor may be diuorſed.

For our inſight in the Actes I hauehave ſaid ſufficiently before. Supra. Pag. 70.And againſt the church of Chriſt we hauehave no quarrel. But the Iewes might be diuorſed, we take your confeſſion and it is true. Yet you oppoſe the church of Chriſt to the condicion of the Iewes. We tel you, though the externe face of the Iews be gone, yet in Chriſt there is neither Iewe nor Gentil, and as moſt notoriouſly the nation of the Iewes fel away, and the Gentils were receaued into their roome, ſo yet when they were receaued, they were accepted, not as it were another Iewry, and that to the end that locally God might be ſerued among the Gentils with a newe erection of an other Hieruſalem which ſhould be Rome. No. Rome is too **Pſal. 2Ps 2narrow a room for the church of God, neither wil God be ſo locally worſhipped as when he was onelyonly known in that one corner of his owne choiſe.

I cannot tell what to ſay to theſe fellowes. p. 213Rome hath no more promiſes than the borrow of Abington.The Iewes were beguiled, but the Romaniſtes are be witched. The Iewes might ſeeme to hauehave more cauſe, but verily ſhee was leſſe preſumptuous, than are theſe Romiſh louers. Ieruſalem had many promiſes: Rome hath not one, no, no one more ſhe thā the leaſt borrow, village, or hāblet amongſt the Gentils. Rome is praiſed in hir youth I graunt, yet no otherwiſe than other **1 Theſ. 1.8.1 Thess 1:8churches, but that Rome that was, is not the Rome that now is. She was a chaſt virgine while ſhee was young, but hir old bones now are rotten and putrified with innumerable fornications, and her praiſes in hir higheſt honour were neuer comparable to Hieruſalems eſtimation. Why? Peter taught in Rome. What then? Chriſt taught in Hieruſalem. But Peter was martyred in Rome. And what of that? Chriſt ſuffered at Hieruſalem. And I take it the death of either is rather is the ſhame, than the praiſe of the places. But where, in what one place not only in the Actes, but in anie place in all the Scripture is Rome termed the Hieruſalem of the Church? Or why is god bound to a viſible Church now made vp of the Gentiles more than hee was to the Iewes? for to ſpeake of Peters rotten chaire at Rome, is a roming vagrant imagination.

Nay, are not the promiſes of God made with the ſame couenantes of duety, and with the ſame condicions and prouiſoes of forſiting our eſtate, like as did the Iewes, if we ſhal do, as they did?

p. 214The enſamples of the old Teſtament are warnings vnderunder the new.If God forſake Bethel, is that nothing to Silo? Or if God forſooke Bethel and Silo, is that to be neglected of Hieruſalem? Or if Hieruſalem, Sion, Silo, and Bethel be all forſaken, is this not to be regarded of the Gentils? Cannot, ſhal not, may not, the church made vp of Gentils with her Hieruſalem, which is (pardy) Rome, be diuorſed? May ſhe not, can ſhee not, ſhal ſhe not be diuorſed?

If Sem ſhoulde bee thruſt out, and Iaphet admitted, were this no enſtruction to Iaphet? Or why are the **1 Cor. 10.1 Cor 10enſamples of former times written? Or is God the God of the Iewe and the God of Iſrael to take vengeance where they ſinned, and not on the Gentils? Or brake hee off the naturall Oliue, and will he ſpare the wild? And to whom by name were theſe laſt words written? Were they not written to the Church at Rome, Rom. 11.Rom 11where ſhe ſtoode in caſe then to be broken off, which is a word equiualent and of like meaning to the word of diuorſed?

I graunt ſhee may crie out the Church, the Church, the viſible Church, the Mother-Church, and yet the Romiſh papacy is but a lying ſtrumpet, and a harde ſtepdame to the true members of the Church of Chriſt, and this is the myſtery of iniquity ſitting in the Church, or as Saint Auſtine ſaith: Aug. de ciuit. Dei lib. 20. c. 19.In templum Dei, for and in ſteed of the church, and is not the Church, but an Antichriſtian company, ſo that the viſible brag p. 215and ſhewe of the Church is not the Church, and that 1. Is one point in this queſtion, and 2. The other point was that God is not bound to a viſibility at all, and for both points wee hauehave ſhewed ſufficiently. For for that of the inuiſible caſe of the Church, the complaint of Elias is pregnant, and then that numbers bearing the name of the Church, and bragging of the Temple, are but lyars, is prooued by the Prophets and Scriptures to hauehave beene exemplified euen in the beſt places, and whereof in ſpecial Rome hath a fair warning by the Apoſtle to the Romanes.

We doe not deny, but profeſſe and thank God therefore, that hitherto ſince the aſcention of our Sauiour, Mat. 15.Matt 15the little muſterd ſeede hath growen to that height, that the litle birds hauehave made their neſts therein, but the puttock, the kite, and birds of cruel kind hauehave come to their neſtes, and dealt hardly with the ſmall foule, yea they hauehave taken their places, and their owne poſſesſion, and that vnderunder faire pretences no doubt. And the Church and kingdome of God, being of condition as the waters of Siloe at the foote of Sion, running ſoftly, ſhee maketh ſmall noyce, when ſhee receaueth great iniury, yea euen when the Scote & Otter hauehave taken vp their lodging in her tree.

For if we reuolue ſuch ſtories of ancient time as but ſcriueners and writers could afford vsus when printers were not, and while no enemies wanted, yet ſhall we find that the ſpawne of hereſies p. 216was infinit, and to this day we ſee the number of infidels are without number, & alas what diſcerning coulde there bee of ſome one graine, or two in compariſon amongſt ſo much chaffe?

At ſuch ſeaſons, when the whole church, as the Church of Sardy, had defiled her clothes, Reuel. 3.Rev 3that is to ſay, that outſide, and outward ſight and ſhew of her ſelfe, might not Bertram in Germany, Hus in Bohemia, Sauonarola in Italie, Wicleue in England, Armochane in Ireland take vp almoſt euen Elias complaint, that they were left alone? And this was an old courſe of moſt ancient time, to ſee the church brought to a narrow ſtrait and a low eb.

In the dayes of Noe but eight perſons were left when the find came. In the time of Lot he alone and a few of his were ſaued when whole fiue cities were deſtroyed, and as Elias complayned that he was alone, ſo Micheas ſtoode poſt alone againſt foure hundred, who were called Prophets, as well as hee: and if then, as many tymes elſe, a man ſhould hauehave be-taken himſelfe to the more viſible number, ſhould he hauehave done well?

But you ſay in the new Teſtament, euer ioine to the moſt that profeſſe the name of Chriſtianity, and you cannot miſſe.

In deed, I know that the **The motiue of multitudes.Motiue of multitudes and generalities is linckt in with the demaund of the viſiblenes of the Church. For euer the mo, the more viſible. And you thinke you hauehave p. 217the greater number, and the mator part, yet how long you ſhal keep them, God knoweth, but therfore you argue, that the truth ſhould be ouerborne with the number of your voyces, and the viſiblenes of your glory, becauſe your pomp is great, and your number many, and the waters innumetable where the whore ſitteth.

GiueGive me leaue a litle, and pardon mine vnaccuſtomed length in theſe quarrels of great importance: for as I wiſh to open the very truth, ſo would I not willingly pretermit their pretenſes of truth for maintenance of error.

While they run alone, they are euer foremoſt, and when they buz into your eares, and you heare no man but them, what maruell if they ſeduce them that are ready to be miſſed?

Actius the Poet.When Actius an old Poet plaied on the ſtage, he pleaſed eueryevery man very wel, when hee pleaded at the bar, he neuer got cauſe, and being demaunded the cauſe thereof, his aunſwere was, that on the ſtage, hee made eueryevery mans part, and no man ſpake, but what he deliuered them firſt, and gaue to eueryevery one his kue, as himſelfe thought beſt: but ſaith he, in the pleading place, I cannot carry it ſo away. Mine aduerſary replieth, oppoſeth, aunſwereth, and ſifteth matters ſo, that I cannot bolſter vp a had cauſe as I would, but it will be controlled.

I neede not apply: our aduerſaries when they plead alone, they pleaſe fond recuſants: when they p. 218plead in writing, it wil not proſper, as in the preſēt queſtiō. For though the name of the church be honorable, yet when the ſpiritual nature therof is enquired after, when it is knowen what is ment by hir Motherhoode, to what condicions ſhee is hound, and to what ſtraites ſhe hath bin brought and may be againe, then our aduerſaries cannot tel whither to turne them, to proue a viſible ioylity neceſſary euer in determinate places.

At length with much adoe, being forced to forſake the practiſe of the old Teſtament, they flie as you hauehave hard to the promiſes of the new Teſtament, and finding none for Rome directlie (notwithſtanding Briſtows brag) they claim the promiſes generally made to the Gentils ful fondly for Rome, being but a particular member, and infer that vnderunder the new Teſtament the number of the profeſſors ſhal be mo, and therefore more viſible, and that moſt and euer in Rome. That they ſhall bee moe, they proue by the next verſe wee meane to proceede in, which we will take along with vsus and ſo go on.

27 For it is written, Reioyce thou barren that beareſt no children, breake forth and crie thou that traueleſt not. For the deſolate hath many moe children, than ſhee which hath an husband.

Firſt before wee treate any farther the queſtion, conſider the text a while to our own comforts. In the firſt of Samuel, Anna the mother of Samuel, p. 219had a louing husband, 1 Sam. 1.1 Sam 1but a long time ſhee endured the reproch of barrennes, and her ſorrow was thereby greatly encreaſed, and hir ſoule grieued.

But in the ende God reſpected hir, and made graunt to her petition, and gaue hir a ſonne according to her earneſt deſire, and thereupon ſhe brake foorth, and ſaid that her hart reioiced, her horne was exalted, and her mouth enlarged.

The calling of the Gentils a moſt comfortable doctrine.This caſe was a priuate caſe, but the caſe and ſtate of vsus Gentils was a generall matter, and Iewry was ſometime the fruitful mother, and as Anna, ſo were the Gentils the barren woman, and that without an husband, but at length Gentiliſme now altered from Gentiliſme, and aſcited into fauour, and accepted of God through his grace, the Lord opening her womb, this barren woman hath beene a fruitfuller mother than ſhee that bare manie, in ſo much that ſundry places eueryevery waie moſt vnlikelieſt for any fruite at all, much leſſe for plenty in great aboundance, hath borne a greater harueſt than groundes in ſight more batſome, and of greateſt likelihoode.

And here (dearlibeloued) let vsus neuer forgette the daies of our calling, and the times of our happines, and the infinite goodnes of our God, who hath paſſed from his olde owne people, and hath gone ouer many and mightier nations than the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Denmarcke, Sueueland and other like cold countries, & hath p. 220cauſed their corck to ſinck, and our yron to ſwim, and hath powred his dew euen as well beſide the fleeſe, as vponupon the fat fell, and hath made our bitter waters as ſweete as the ſweeteſt, and hath effected that the very barbarous outplaces of the woorld are become as fertill and as fruitfull for truth and godlines as many nations elſe far richer and likelier in the eies of mā. And this is the cōmon ioy of the Gentils in general, but nothing ſpecial or proper to Rome and Italie. But doth not this general blesſing proue a generality of multitudes, & do not multitudes proue a viſibility & an ocular, & an ey demonſtration of a Church? The motiues of multitudes and of the Churches viſibility iointly handled with due aunſwere to their chiefeſt cauils.Now for the nature of multitudes muſt be ſpokē, as likewiſe of the viſibility of the Church, as being a queſtion winding in it ſelfe continually in the ſame debate. EueryEvery church and congregation (for there is not an hears-bredth difference in the two words) whether it be made vp of the godly, or cōpacted of the malignant, it cōſiſteth neceſſarily of a number, & eueryevery number, though ſome nūber be a greater multitude than ſom, yet eueryevery nūber is a multitude, ſo that without a multitude, no church, no congregation good or bad can posſibly be. And therefore it is a forreſt of folly when controuerſie is of the church, to deuolue al to one ſole man, holding in pretence but from Peter as from one man. Notwithſtanding albeit a church is a multitude congregated, and ſo may be viſible, yet ſimply a multitude being gathered in moſt viſible p. 221maner doth not euidently argue the goodnes of the multitude, or that it therefore is the viſible Church of God. Mark.

The church of God is a choſen people called out of the world, called by God, conſtituted in the couenant, and profeſſing the faith. Theſe whether they be 1. Moe, 2. Or few, 3. Or of equal number, ſo they be a number, it skilleth not.

1 A little before the deluge and drowning of the old woorld there were moe had than good, for al fleſh had corrupted his waies.Gen. 6.Gen 6

2 But in the Arke after-ward there were more good than bad: only Cham was perfectlie naught, and in the reſt, though a ſmal companie, conſiſted the Church of God.

3 VnderUnder the parable of the 10. virgins in the Goſpell the number is euen, ſo many and ſo many, fiue wiſe, and fiue fooliſh virgins.

Wherefore either the plurality or paucity or parity of numbers, the morenes (as I may ſo ſpeak) the fewnes, or the euennes in numbring is no true note, no ſure argument, demaund, or motiue, any way to weigh downe the matter. Nay rather if we ſhal goe to numbring the profeſſors by tale, & not to pondring the truth of profesſions, we ſhal make a faire hand in Gods matters.

In the cauſe of married prieſts **Soz. lib. 1. c. 23Paphnutius being but one, was againſt a whole councel, and preuailed with them.

Againſt the hereſie of Arianiſme, while Liberius p. 222ſtood, he ſtoode in a manner alone, and he **Theod. L. 2. c. 16alone defended Athanaſius, and where Conſtantius obiected to Liberius that he an od man, and only alone, the leaſt part of the world foreign (as it were) vponupon a ſingularity he by that meanes diſturbed the quiet peace of the whole woorlde foreign, Liberius anſwered him wel, and if he could hauehave kept himſelfe anſwerable to his anſwere, it had beene better, but he anſwered wel, videlicet, foreign.that the woorde of faith was not of right to bee diminiſhed or leſned in credite becauſe of his alonens in the cauſe. For (ſaith he) euen of old, there were but three alone, that withſtood the kings edict, meaning Nabuchodonoſors commaundement, which the three children would not yeelde vntounto.

In which ſtory, I plainly not the **Vniuerſalitie of error. Vide Pigg. Hier. lib. 1. cap. 6.vniuerſality of the error, without al controuerſie al-moſt al the Biſhops not only of the Eaſt, but alſo of the Weſt whether by force or by fraud relented and conſented thereunto, yea euen Liberius himſelfe; was brought to that bent as I hauehave ſhewed before. And I ask, firſt the faith was in Liberius alone, and when he yeelded, where and in whom was it then to ſee to? and now can you think that it is good going euer with the moſt? And that the moſt muſt needs be beſt? And that it cannot chuſe but bee ſo, at the leaſt vnderunder the newe teſtament?

You ſee it far otherwiſe in this very enſample p. 223The Pope refuſeth the motiue of multitudes.& that Liberius for anſwere to Conſtantius motiue of multitudes replieth that his loneneſſe marred not the cauſe, & for comfort thereof he reſpecteth the ſtory of old of the three children who were left alone, not denying, but comparing time with time ſaid that if it might be with the church nowe, as it hath beene with her of oulde time, foreign.

But you call vsus to our text: the barren woman hath mo childrē than ſhe that bare many. This text toucheth: doth it not? If ſhe hauehave mo than many, belike, ſhe hath very many.

Compare the number of beleeuers that were in Iewry, and the numbers in Chriſtendome, and queſtionles the calling of the Gentils ſurpaſſeth innumerably. Yet this maketh nothing for ſette numbers in a viſible forme here in this, or that place euer.

The greater part is not neceſarily the better for goodnes is not made of quantities.And compare the whole world and the church together, and as the Church is better than the world, ſo worldly men are mo than are not onelyonly the true members, but then the externe profeſſion of chriſtian faith. Shal I argu thus? Theſe are many, and beeing many, make a viſible countenance, ergo they are therefore the heſt, and beſt to bee truſted? No. But rather of the twaine the maior part, ergo many times and moſt likely they are the worſe part.

The Church of Chriſt is a little flock, a flocke and therefore many, but a litle flock, and therfore p. 224a ſmall many, and ſmally reſpected, and though many are called vntounto, yet fewe are choſen, and the Church is a choſen company effectuallie called, and euen the outward calling and profeſſion is not imbraced of the more part. For the way is narrow, and fewe take this way, but the broade way is trodden of eueryevery foote, and it is a beaten path, and ſoone diſcerned and ſeene of all, and followed of moſt.

See (ſaith the Apoſtle)1 Cor. 1.26.1 Cor 1:26 conſider your **foreign.calling, not many wiſe, not many mighty, not many welthy. If not many of theſe, ergo ſurely not many at al. For the wiſe, the mighty, the noble, and the wealthy cary long traines after them.

And as it fared thus in the firſt entraunce of Chriſtianity, and for ſometime after, yet it was ſomewhat better in proceſſe, and yet returning againe to the condition of the firſt beginning, the wayning will bee like the wexing, and when the ſonne of man ſhal come, ſhal he find faith, but euen ſcant and ſcant, as it were an Oliue or two in the outmoſt bowes after the gathering, or as a grape here and there after vintage, or as a ſlender gleaning after harueſt?

True. But there are ſimilitudes and parables much ſounding to the contrary, as that the Church ſhould bee woonderfully populous, and that not only in compariſon to the Iewiſh eſtate, but in it ſelfe it ſhould be as 11. A Tabernacle in the ſun. 22. As the city on the high hill, & 33. As the p. 225candle on the table al in ſight, and 44. If any man would ſeeke the Church in the wildernes out of ſight, nolite exire, it were ſinne to go after him.

Sirs, ſo you ſay, and huddle vppe places togither at your pleaſures, but with litle truth, and euer to leaſt purpoſe in ſpecial for your Romane mart, and viſible monopoly, whither you inuite al the merchants of the world to come and buy of you.

Whether the Church be a tabernacle in the ſunne, and how.1 In order to anſwere theſe your faireſt obiections: you ſay god placed his tabernacle in the ſunne. His tabernacle is the Church, the ſun doth ſignifie a viſible clearnes, and therefore euer you require a clear aſpect for the Church. And that it may not he ſaid, that you ſuckt all this out of your owne fingers ends, or as it was ſaid of him: Solus enim hoc Ithacus nullo ſub teſte canebat, you alleage Auguſtine, and that not in one place alone, but in ſ…ry, as in Pſal. 18. & Epiſt. 166. & contra liter…. Petill. Lib. 2. Cap. 32.

We hauehave heard you oppoſe, will you heare vsus anſwere? 1. Firſt, a falſe tranſlation may corrupt a text, and doth not make a text to fit a purpoſe in commenting without a ground. Vndeniably the Pſalm treateth of the wonderous works of god, and namely that God made a tabernacle for the Sunne in the heauens, and not that he put his tabernacle in the Sun. 2. Secondly Auſtens ſo vſing that tranſlation which hee had doth but allegorize. And allegories without other euidences p. 226are but conuenient alluſions, and no probatiue allegations, & that by Auſtines owne iudgement, Epiſtola 48.3. 3Thirdly Auſten diſputing againſt the Donatiſts, argueth a viſibility when it was, and which might be, againſt the Donatiſts, who neceſſarily woulde driue the Church to corners, and hide her vnderunder a cloke, and bury her in one hole of the worlde. 44. Fourthly, I might obſerue that which Auſten himſelfe obſerueth, that at the moſt, the Church is called but a tabernacle, a moueable tent, & no fixt permanent houſe, but a tent, a tabernacle, now placed in Silo, as it were in the Sunne, and ſometimes in Miſpa an obſeurer place: which thing Auſten himſelfe obſerued, and knew wel-enough.Auguſt in Pſal. 10.Ps 10 55. Fiftly, metaphors & borrowed ſpeeches, ſuch as theſe are, when the Church is likened to the Sunne, to the City on the hill &c. They are true according to the diſtinction of ſome happy times, and not at all times alike, come what come ſhall, for an euerlaſting continuance. Yea occaſions may happen, when the Sunne may change into darckeneſſe, & the Moone into blood, the one may bluſh, and the other be aſhamed.

In the Canticles Cant. 6.6.Song 6:6the Church is compared to the Sunne, to the Moone, and to the Starres, but ſaith Auſten, when the Sunne ſhal be darckened, and the Moon ſhal not giuegive hir light, & the Stars ſhal fal from Heauen, Eccleſia non apparebit impijs perſecutoribus vltra modum ſaeuientibus, the church p. 227ſhall NOT **Aug. Epiſt. 80APPEARE by reaſon of the exceeding cruelty of her perſecutors. And then according to Auſtens iudgement, where wilbe that viſibility of a Tabernacle in the Sunne, when the very Sun in his tabernacle ſhal be darckened?

2 The **The Church a city vponupon a hill.ſecond obiection of the Citty vponupon the Hill, that cannot be hidden. **Can-not, in what ſenſe.CAN-NOT is here taken for Cannot in dewty (Id poſſumus quod Iure poſſumus) not for an abſolute imposſibilitie. For the higheſt hils may bee ſometimes hid with miſtes. And our Sauiour ſpake thoſe wordes to his Apoſtles, whom they moſt concerned, and they proue a proportionable duty in others, but not a very performance of ſuch duties, when they who ſhould dwell in the hils, either come down & build in the valleys, or els are driuen from the hils, and cōſtrained to fly into vauts & dens & ſecret places. Our ſauior that ſaid they were the city on the hil, ſaid alſo they were the ſalt of the earth, but he putteth the caſe, that if the ſalt loſt his ſaltneſſe, then wherefore is it good? So if things alter, & keepe not their courſe, their duety is ſhewed by theſe termes, and not their doings. If Libanus turne into Carmel, or Carmel into Libanus, they have altered their firſt nature. For Libanus was a wood, and Carmel a fertill paſture. But in proceſſe of time, woods become paſtures, and by the iuſt iudgement of God, the beſt paſtures are turned into barren heathes. So hils are made vallyes, and vallyes may bee exalted, and the verie p. 228houſe of God bu: It on mounr Sion, may bee and was made a den of theeues.

The Church a candle on the table.3 The third obiection of the candell in the candle-ſticke ſet on the table, ſuffereth the like anſwere. For if the clear burning candle become a ſnuf, as if the white Nazareth ſhould become a black Aethiop, the caſe is the ſame, that was of the high City, that had caſt hirſelfe beadlong from the mountaine.

And againe, it is to bee remembred, that the candle and light of the truth, and true Church is not alike lightſome to cuery ey, and no man ſeeeth the light of the houſe, but hee that is in the houſe. Solem non niſi ſanus videt. Auguſtine in Pſal. 47. The bleare ey cannot abyde the light, the blind ſeeth not, no not in the ſun.

Againe the Apoſtles were as this candle thus placed, therefore are they alſo who are nothing apoſtolick, are they the light of the woorld, the candle on the table? I deny it.

If bees become drones, becauſe they were bees, ſhal they brag of their firſt being? And very waſpes make combs as wel as bees, but waſpes make no hūny, & therfore there is no ſweetnes, no ſauor, no taſt in this bragging & ſhew of auncient progenitors and titles without anſwerable dueties, and goodnes according.

Go not out into the wildernes. ſpoken in what meaning.4 The fourth cauil is, that there is no going out into the wildernes to enquire for the church. In the 17. of Luke our Sauior being demanded p. 229concerning his kingdome which is his church, he anſwereth firſt generally that it cōmeth not with obſeruation, which may bee explicated not to be with ſumptuous preparation, and coſtly manner after the vſage of earthly princes. Al which ſtrōgly reprooueth the pompe and ſtarely brauery of Rome. Then meu ſhal not ſay of a certainty and of alocal neceſſity, Lo here, or lo there, as if gods Church were neceſſarily either in the wildernes or any where eſſe. For the kingdome is not hung as a painting vnpon walles, or builte vppon the ſand of multitudes, or elſe conueied into the wildernes whence it cannot com? fuorth when God would, no we neuer ſaid that Elias was alwaies ſo in his caue, and could not come foorth, Nay the kingdome of God then when our Sauiour aunſwered, was offered them, and was amongeſt them, and ſhould hauehave beene inwardely receaued of them. For the throne of Dauid belonging ſpiritually to our Sauiour, was no earthly conceat, no local matter, no corporall reſpect with a neceſſary reſpect, heere or there, either in the deſert, or in any place els, but may bee here, and maie bee there, but neither heere or there of pure neceſſite. but as God will without obſeruation of cirtumſtances, and therefore without a pluralitie of numbers, or localities of places, or viſibilities of ſet perſons. The kingdome of God commeth now with obſeruation.

And farther, as it came not ſo, when it firſt p. 230came, Shal Rebecca ride, and Iſaack go a foote? Gen. 24.64.Gen 24:64ſo ſhall it not ende in ſuch beuty as popery requireth, and why ſhould it? The ſpouſe is not better than the brideman, the members than the head.

When the child went into Aegypt, Mary and Ioſeph went with it. And the woman in the Reuelation which is the Church (whereof there is a plaine propheſie) ſhee was driuen by name into the wildernes, and we ought as occaſions ſhal be offered by the prouidence of the Almighty with patience to ſuffer our ſelues to be framed conformable to our Sauiour in the daies of his fleſhe. Who beeing looked on with a fleſhly eye ſeemed contemptible, and to be depiſed, verily without **Eſai. 53.3.Isa 53:3forme or beutie to ſee to: that is, without al viſtble eſtimation.

And as for our ſelues in the laſt times, we are plainly foretold that there ſhal bee a defection, and that religion ſhall bee myſtically defaced vnderunder faire pretences, and that when Chriſt ſhall come, he ſhall ſcant finde faith on the face of the earth, and what careth hee for a painted viſibility of faithleſſe hypocrites?

God might vſe the papacy to the benefit of his Church, though the papacy be not the Church.Where not with ſtanding euen in the mids of ſuch, God may hauehave and hath had, and hath no doubt many ſecret ones, yea God can vſe ſuch hypocrites to the benefite of his Church, as a man may vſe a buſſard to hatch him haukes, though when the hawkes bee hatcht, the buſſard miſlike and beate them moſt, that are beſt of wing, and p. 231ſoare higheſt both for integrity of life, and ſoundnes of doctrine, but the very hawk in experience tan tell in time that the buſſard as their naturall dame neuer laid the egs from whence they cante. So in popery albeit wee and others ſome-when externally receaue the ſacrament of baptiſine amongeſt them, or ought that good is elſe; yet inwardly beeing regenerated by the ſpirite in the blood of Chriſt through the mercy of the Father, and comming to riper yeares by true knowledge out of his holy word, we know, that we were baptized though miniſterially by them, yet by the prouidence of God, not into the partiality of the Romiſh faction, but into the communion of the vnſuerſal church, & ſo made, no members of Rome, but of Chriſtes body, to ſerue him, not in a ſeruility of Ie wiſh or apiſh rites, or in the viſibility of a Church pompt, or in the particularity of my place, but in the true liberty of a fre people, and it the generall lap of his choſen, which in this world is hated and ſpited moſt, euen of them that much pretend to louelove her moſt. But this louelove is periert hatred. And this hate paſſeth al hate that is begun in hypocriſie, and continued in the greateſt villame that euer was hearde of ſince the beginning.

In cōſideration whereof, tuen as Naomi in the booke of Ruth, Ruth. 1.19.Ruth 1:19when it was bruted that ſhee was returned out of Moab, the citizens of Bethleem ſaid, is not this Naomi? Who anſwered: tall me p. 232not Naomi, which by interpretation is beuty, but cal me mara, which is bitternes, cal me bitternes, cal me not beuty.

When ſhe went into Moab conſtrained by the famine in Canaan, ſhee went out ful, with conuenient wealth, but in her exile, her ſubſtance was ſpent, hit husband deſeaſed, her two ſonnes died, and ſhee was left a poore widdowe, rather Mara, than Naomi.

Semblably while the church, or rather a part of the catholick church is in the peregrination of this miſerable world, as Naomi in Moab, what wroonges are ſuſtained on eueryevery ſide? And ſometimes thoſe that ſhould play the husbandes part, deale woorſe with hir, than ethers who yet deale not wel.

She bringeth forth, as it is figured in the **Reuel. 12.Rev 12Reuelation, with paine, and the fruite of her womb, yea the moſt part of her children become an vncomfortable generation. Scant Ruth, euen a few & thoſe many times moſt vnlikely, as the daughter in Law, followeth & accompanieth Naomi to the euerlaſting home and heauenly Canaan.

Doth not this ſtory ſuffer this application, and may not the Church, euen in places claiming by the name of the Church, the Church, cry foorth and ſay, ô cal me not Naomi, but cal mec Mara: cal me not beutie, but cal me bitter: call mee not a viſible Monarchie, a glorious multitude, a beutiful hierarchie, a braue prelacie, and a Romane p. 233papacie, a galant tabernacle placed in the cleareſt Sun, The true beuty of the Church what.no cal me as the tents of Cedar fair indeed within by ſpiritual comforts and graces of the holy Ghoſt, accompanied and made vn of the ſoules of the iuſt and righteous men, euen of the ſonnes of Sara, and the children of Ieruſalem which is from aboue, but this beuty is altogether inwarde, but outwardly theſe tentes are black, both which the imperfection of humane frailnes, and moſt by the blacke reportes, and bad dealings we are daylie defaced with in the world, and in opinion defamed. O call not this condition generally Naomi, ſpecially to the outward view, but cal it bitrernes, for it is bitter in deed, if there were not, as it were, ſome Elizeus meale to ſweeten the pot withall. But hereof as occaſion ſhall ſerue, euen as by occaſion of the two mothers, thus much hath been ſpoken. Now look we vponupon their children.

28 Therefore, brethren, wee are after the manner of Iſaack children of the promiſe.

29 But as then, he that was borne after the fleſhe, perſecuted him, that [was borne] after the ſpirit, euen ſo [it is] now.

30 But what ſaith the Scripture? Put out the ſeruant and her ſonne: for the ſonne of the ſeruant ſhal not bee heire with the ſonne of the free woman.

31 Then, brethren, wee are not children of the ſeruant, but of the free woman.

p. 234The compariſon betwixt Iſmael and Iſaack diſtinctlie conſidered.The Church as it is likened by the Apoſtle to Abrahams wiues, ſo alſo is it to Abrahams children, and ſo in Gods Church appeareth alſo as plain a difference as before viz. 1. In their birth. 2. In their affections. 3. In the right of their inheritance.

1 Albeit Iſmael, and Iſaak both came from the loines of Abraham, yet as out of one ſeede, the ſolid corn and ſtender chaffe ariſe, ſo was in them two great oddes, much according to the ground wherein the ſeede was ſowen, according to the diuerſities of the wombs, & according to the teperature of the regiō, indeed, according to the bleſſing of God, and the grace of his promiſe. A dry ſlip to take roote, a deade wombe to conceaue was more than ſtrange, and the only work of the almightie. Whereof before.

2 Their contrary affection, is deſcried by the open perſecution not obſcurely offered. And as it was in the letter of the ſtory ſo once, ſo is it ſtil. For this enmity was not ended in their perſons, neither was this a priuate caſe, but a type of a farther matter. And in them was repreſented, in the one the malignant Church, and in the other the Church of God.

Whether Iſmaels mocking may be properly termed perſecution.Here it may bee queſtioned whether Iſmael indeed did perſecute Iſaake or no. In the booke of Geneſis God viſited Sara, as you hauehave hard. Sara in her, and hir husbands old age conceaueth and beareth a ſonne. When the child was borne, he is p. 235in conuenient time circumciſed, named and weaned, and the father maketh a great feaſt, which when Iſmael ſaw, hee much ſcorneth at his brother Iſaak.

But was this ſuch a matter? Or doth euerie frump come within the compaſſe and nature of perſecution? In caſes, the virulency of an adders congue, the poyſon of lips, and the contradiction of railers, and table-talkers, and bitter ſpeakers greeueth more than the wounds of a ſword. But yet there was more in this ſtory than ſo.

He ſeeth his father liberal, the mother ioyfull, the childe made of, and the promiſe perfourmed, and yet he imagineth hee can defeat al: and therefore hee ſcorneth, & ſetteth the promiſe at naught, and maketh a May-game of the Lords purpoſe: and this being rightly conſidered, and laid to hart there can be no greater perſecution whatſoeuer. This cutteth deepe, and poiſoneth as it cutteth. A man were better be flead with Bartlemew, or ſawed aſunder as Iſay, or broyled on a gridiarn as Lawrence, than tolerate the reproches of impiety. Pharoes bricke, or Phalaris bul, that is, the extremeſt perſecution, is nothing comparable.

In the booke of Iudges Iudg. 16.23.Judg 16:23Sampſon ſuffered the entiſementes of Dalila euen to the boring out of his owne eies, but when the Philiſtines were not content therewith, but would needes ſend for Sampſon to make them merry, and in him ſportingly p. 236to ſcorne the Lordes ſtrength, you knowe what followed.

In the 2 of Kinges 2 King. 2.2 Kgs 2it may ſeeme at firſt ſight, but an vnmannerly prancke of young vntaught thinges, to vpbraide the Prophet: Goe vp thou bald bate, goe vp thou balde bate: but the greeuouſnes of their puniſhment may eaſily enforme vsus of the waight of that tranſgresſion.

Wherefore the mocking of a Prophet, the illuding the promiſe, the vpbraiding of the ſtrength of the Lord, the ſcorneful out-brauing the ſaintes of God, as when they ſay, Come ſing vsus one of your Sion ſongs, or, There is no helpe for Dauid in Dauids God, or as to our ſauiour, If God wil ſaue him, or, let himſelfe come downe from the croſſe & ſaue himſelf. Theſe are the ſoreſt perſecutions, and the moſt inſufferable ſufferings that can bee ſuffered. Wherefore Iſmaels open throte and vnſauery breath, his ſcorning head, and ſcoffing ſpirite was a very perſecution, there is no queſtion therein.

The motiue of Succeſſion.Now for the extent of perſecution, did it liue & die in their perſons? Our aduerſaries would fain holde and maintaine by ſucceſſion the goodnes of their relligion. I knowe they knowe, that they cannot ſhew neither orderly beginning, nor vnbroken continuance for the matters we charge them with. But coulde they prooue a prolonged race, what then? **Hard. detect. Pag. 217. a.Muſt we then ſeeke our faith in the Romiſh comperts?

p. 237A ſcrole of names is a ſory proofe to proue a truth in doctrine.Cain killed Abell: ſo did hee; ſo doth he ſtill. Iſmael mocked Iſaack: ſo doth he euer ſince till this day. Perſecutors draw after them a long taile, and deſcent of a continued line in euill. Wherefore ſucceſſion is no firme argument to inferre their errors, or to infirme our truth. The wicked hauehave it moſt, the good may miſſe it manie times. What did it profit Cham that he was the ſonne of Noe, or Abſolon that holy Dauid was his father? Learning, Wit, Eloquence, muchleſſe godlineſſe, goe not by deſcent in a right line.

Ariſtippus was a fine cunning Courting Philoſopher, which may better beſeeme Philoſophy, than Diuinity, but his ſonne was a very loute. Demoſthenes was moſt eloquent in the graueſt kinde, but his Sonne was too too rude. Cicero was both wiſe and eloquent, and yet his ſon was a very ſot. Ely of himſelfe, except in cockering vp of his children, was no euill man, but his Sonnes degenerated, and were as the Sonnes of Belial.

Naturally man is naught, and therefore a natural ſuccesſion in perſons cannot be good by nature: and which is to be noted, ſuccesſion in the place, and in the room of predeceſſors addeth no ſanctity and holines. Numb. 32.Num 32Numb. 32. Behold you are riſen vp an increaſe of ſinnefull men inſteede of your Fathers. Behold likewiſe the pleaſant valley of Sodome was changed into Surphur, Salt, Pits of Brimſtone, and the like ſtincking matter. Oye generation of vipers, ſaith our Sauiour p. 238to the Phariſies who ſate in the place which God had choſē, reprouing them both becauſe they were vipers, and becauſe they were a generation, euen SVCCESSIVELY a venemous race.

The motiue of Antiquity. Pa. Supra. 42.Againe our Aduerſaries claime by antiquitie, but doe you not ſee the elder brother perſecuting the younger, the elder brother killing Abel, the elder brother ſelling young Ioſeph into the hands of ſtrangers? And euen ſo is it nowe, as it was of old. But of this Motiue more before.

And note alſo, that it is the lot of the beſt, both to bee interrupted 1. in their continuance, while the badde produce out whole generations, and then 2. to be the yongeſt in their beginnings, and laſtly 3. to be euil intreated euen of their brethren.

3 The thirde difference betwixt the children, which I obſerued, was the right & the obtaining of their inheritance: wherein is ſet forth, that the bond woman by name with her brat for their intolerable brables at the faſt were ſhut out of dores, and caſt, as it were, out of the the Arke of Abrahams family.

Cain complaineth & findeth fault that he was as a rough ſtone caſt out of the hande of God to bee a vagabond vponupon the face of the earth.

Agar alſo and Iſmael (of whom we ſpeake) betoke them to their portions, but ſuch portions are **Gen. 21.Gen 21ſoone ſpent, and in the anguiſh of ſoule they were a cōfortleſſe couple, and cried out for want, which was a pattern of farder diſtres. For though p. 239the chaffe for a time growe in the field, and reſt in the mow, and lie in the flower in greater quantity than the good graine; yet after fanning time the chaffe ſhalbe caſt out into the fire, and the corne ſhalbe receaued into the Lordes euerlaſting garners.

While they were in proſperity, who but Agar againſt Sara, Iſmael againſt his brother, the Iews againſt the Gentils? The chaffe exceedeth the corne, and the corne ſeemeth to be but chaffe. But that day is neuer intirely faire that endeth in a wette raine. Iſmaels ſcoffing iollity commeth to nothing. Iſaac obtaineth the promiſe, and tarieth with his father, and inioyeth the inheritance, and Iſmaels pleaſureable waters of many frumpes, and ſundry delights runne all into the ſalt Sea & receiue a bitter end, and onelyonly Iſaac inioyeth that inheritance.

Now looke ye to it (ſaith the Apoſtles exhortation) of whether Teſtament, of whether Hieruſalem, of whether Mother, of whether Mountain, of Agar or Sara, of Sinay or Sion, will ye be? Will yee bee Iſmaelites, or Iſaackes? With Moſes or Chriſt alone will you Chriſtians hold? Will you tarry in the houſe, and inioy the inheritance, or be caſt out of doores?