A Short View of the Prelatical Church of England 2, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
I. Of the Pattern.
FOR the firſt, as the Apoſtle willeth, to ſhew our ſelves to others Patterns of all good works and words; we ſhould make others good Examples matter of our Imitation:Tit. 2.7. brevius iter per exempla, quam per praecepta, Pattern is a more compendious way than Precept: Good Examples from Gods People, have the force of a general Rule to apply: All the Reformed Churches, when God turned them from darkneſs to light, they expelled the Prelates, as the Officers of the Kingdom of darkneſs: and the Popiſh Liturgy, as a falſe Worſhip, and work of darkneſs. To paſs France, the Low-Countries, Geneva, the Palatinate, and others, be pleaſed to caſt your eye upon our Neighbour Nation of Scotland who have neither left root nor branch of Prelate or Popiſh Liturgie; and have not we the ſame Reaſons to reject both? It is an infallible Rule, both in Divinity and Polity, both in Church and Common-Wealth,Pareus in c. 11. ad Rom. p. 1114. Ʋbi ſunt ſimiles cauſa & circumſtantiae, ibi locum habet exemplum; where there are the like Cauſes and Circumſtances, there Example takes place: the Cauſes why they caſt both out, were their offenſiveneſs to Chriſt, his Church, King and State; and hath ever Nation been ſo prejudiced, in all theſe particulars, as we have been? And have we not been, and are, partly yet environed with a mantle wall of evil Circumſtances: as the Prelates aggravation of their Cruelty in preſſing of that Book, and other like ſtuffe, their inſolent domineering over Nobility and others; yea, their daring attempts, to ſet a-foot their interdicted power, and their ſupercilious inſultations, their proud words, and affronting attempts, vented by themſelves and their Prieſts, even now, when the hand of the Lord is lift up againſt them, which they will not ſee; but they ſhall ſee it: in this they are worſe than the Egyptians or Philiſtims, 1 Sam. 6.6.who were content (the Lord his hand being upon them) not only to let the Ark of the Lord go, but alſo ſent it up in the handſomeſt way that they could, taking Egypt for an example, in this their inſolent ſtriving againſt God and his Truth, they may be compared to the Peaſants of Lycia, Metam. Ovid l. 6. lib. 1. de falſ. Religione.whom the Poet ſeigneth to be transformed into Frogs, for their cruel and barbarous uſuage of Latona, of whom Lanctantius alſo makes mention; but the Poet tells us, that for all the Metamorphoſis, they left not their old manners:
Litibus exercent linguas —
Et quanquam ſub aqua, ſub aquis maledicere tentant:
Engliſhed thus:
Their brawling Tongues, but ſetting ſhame aſide,
Though hid in water, under water chide.
Or: with Du-Bartus, in this poſture, they may be compared to Lizards or Snakes, cut in pieces:
Threat with more malice, though with leſſer might,
And even in dying, ſhew their living ſpight.
Or, as God ſaid to Moſes of Pharoah, that he would not let his people go, no, not with a ſtrong hand; that is, he will ſtand out with God;Exod 3.19. ſo do they, they will not let the Ordinances go, the Liberty of the Miniſtry go, they will not let the kingdom of Chriſt go, though Gods ſtrong hand be out againſt them; but as he fell at laſt, ſo ſhall they, & all their houſhould-ſtuff, and never riſe again: the Scots have put them in the Pond;Judg. 7.17. let the love of the truth lead you, and their practice be to you as a ſpeaking emblem in the words of Gedeon Look on me, & do likewiſe. We will ſhut up the Point with a Parallel of loyal entertainment of Kings, in their Inthronization: the men of Judah, & the men of Iſrael contended zealouſly, who ſhould be moſt Officious in Crowning King David, though he was crowned before Judah annointed him King over them, and Iſrael did the like over them;2 Sam, 24.5. and to bring the parallel nearer home, what pious emulation was between us & our brethren, the Scots, to ſet King James of bleſſed memory upon the Throne of England? 2 Sam. 5 …. Deut. 17.15.they might both deſervedly ſay (for they ſhewed it in effect) that they were his fleſh and bone, as Iſrael ſaid to David, he was no ſtranger, as the Scripture hath it, but a King from among his brethren; never King was received with greater concourſe, higher magnificence, and more applauſe; this made the Kingdoms, as Jeruſalem, Pſ. 112.1.as a City compacted in it ſelf, which the Septuagint tranſlateth, foreign, a partici ation, or communication together, often indeed attempted, but never effected till then, but now bleſſed be the Name of God, in a more loving league, and ſtricter bond than ever, contending who ſhall do God and his Majeſty that now is, moſt ſervice: ſhall we not then joyn with them heart and hand, in bringing the Lord Jeſus, the King of glory, into his Kingdom? he hath ſhewed himſelf no ſtranger amongſt us, but done great things for us; but to the woe of our hearts, we have uſed him too long like a ſtranger, in keeping him at doors, and the door upon the hinges. Now, let us ſet open the gates, Rev. 3.20.and bring him in with triumph; which will never be done ſo long as the Prelacy and the Liturgy, or either of them keep the houſe; Non patitur regni ſocios, Chriſt will have no conſort in his Kingdome, much leſſe an Antichriſt; Chriſt bare many calumnies and injuries from the Jews at his arraignment under Pilate, and paſt by many things, not anſwering again; but when Pilate came to meddle with his Kingdome, he would not let that paſs, but freely avouched it; Art thou a King (ſaith Pi…ate) thou fayeſt I am, anſwered Chriſt, and to this end was I born, Joh. 18.37. 1 Tim 6.13.and for this cauſe came I into the world, that I ſhould bear witneſſe …nto the Truth: of which words Paul giveth this teſtimony, that Chriſt, before Pontius Pilate, witneſſed a good confeſſion▪ which words of the Apoſtle have two remarkable things in them. Firſt, that Chriſt hath a Kingdom, which he will vindicate, in deſpight of all oppoſing power; wherein he will have his own Officers, Government and Service, to take place. Secondly, that this courſe muſt continue till the coming of he Lord Jeſus, and every one that is of the truth, eſpecially Miniſte…s and Magiſtrates, muſt maintain it, as they will anſwer it at that day; for this work, God hath brought you together; and if you ſhould divert this work, ſo exemplified, & expreſſed by Command, which God forbid) then might Chriſt ſay unto you,2 Sam 19.12. as David to his Kindred, ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my fleſh; wherefore are ye the laſt to bring back the King? Wherein, if you will not be faulty, but intend, as we verily hope you do to bring back the King; then let it be your ſpecial honour, to make the paths of the Lord ſtreight, by removing of that rubbiſh, Sect. that the King of glory may enter in.
The ſecond Motive is from the Danger of not removing of the Service-book.Craeſi filius. Danger, as all knows, is the ſtrongeſt motive to cauſe a people or Nation to take heed. Hiſtories report, that danger hath made a dumb man ſpeak. The danger from this Service-book may be looked upon in a twofold reſpect, namely, a priori, from that which is paſt, and a poſtoriori, from that which is like to enſue; the former may alſo be looked upon in a way of prophecie, or in a way of performance, the men and ſervants of God, to whom he was pleaſed to reveal himſelf in more than an ordinary way, eſpecially in time of perſecution, or ſome preſſure lying upon them, have foretold, how the houſe of David ſhould wax weak, and the houſe of Saul ſhould wax ſtrong, that is, Popery ſhould make head, and the truth of Chriſt ſhould ſuffer much, and many in tryal ſhould forſake it; according to that of Simeon, a ſword ſhall pierce thorow thine own ſoul alſo, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed, Luk. 2.35. where by the ſwords piercing of the ſoul, according to all the ancient, is meant the wounding ſorrows of the Mother of Chriſt at his ſufferings, and by the revealing of the thoughts, is meant the diſcovery of ſome ſtumbling or taking ſcandal at his death, Chryſoſtome, Auſtin, Origen, Ambroſe, Theophylact: and what is the ground of all this but theſe dregs of Popery now in controverſie, and the hurtful Hierarchy, one of theſe upholding another? a godly and famous Miniſter preaching to the baniſhed beyond Seas in Queen Maries time, that Gods anger was m…ch provoked againſt England, for ſlackneſs to reform, when they had time, place and power; and ſo it was indeed: for he caſt back that partial reformation into the flames of Antichriſtian tyranny, & gave many up unto fearful Apoſtacy: Further the good man ſaid, it ſtood them upon to look to it, and to be circumſpect for fear of after-claps, meaning that a partial reformation would not ſerve. God will never indure (as hath been ſaid) the poſt and threſhold of Baal, and his to ſtand together, the like more fully was delivered by Maſter Rogers, that honourable Proto-Martyr, in his daies, when the Goſpel ſhould be eſtabliſhed in England, if the King …ome of Antichriſt were not utterly caſhi…red, and total reformation made in Gods worſhip, that our perſecution ſhould be greater, and our trial hotter, than in the daies when he and others ſuffered; I… we will not remove that which is an abomination to God, as this Book is proved to be, it is juſt with God to caſt us away. One more of this kind from a Peer of this Land, who on his death-bed cried, Wo to England, becauſe they turned all their Religion into policy: dangerous experience hath taught us the truth of theſe predictions for from that halting reformation after Queen Maries death, wherein we pleaſed our ſelves with Agrippa his almoſt, in the original foreign, but a little, the Babylonian and Edomites, Prelates and Jeſuites, under the favour of their Canons,Act 26.28. got at length ſuch footing, and made ſuch head for Popery, Arminianiſme, and that eſpecially, by cauſing the Nilus of that Service-book to ſwell, and heating the furnace of perſecution, that Religion and Policy, the two twi…s of Gods favour, were grown like to Archimedes his tomb, ſo over-grown with thorns, Tul…y. Cap. 12.14that it could not be found; yea, the woman in the Revelation was brought again unto that ſtraight, as to think on nothing but of flight to the wilderneſs: And further, how nigh were our nighbours and brechren the Scots, to the pits brink of ruine, both of Religion and State, and that by remitting of theſe Syno…ial Prelates, and the Trojan-horſe, the Service-book to enter, out of which, if God had not beaten the brains,1 Sam 20.…. we were like to have h…d a new Babyloniſh captivity; yea we may both truly ſay with David, There was but a ſtep betwixt us and death; had not God ſet in, as a preſent help in our diſtreſs,Pſal. 12.3. and ra…ſ…d you & others, the men of his right hand, in the very neck of need, our enemies (as the Pſalmiſt hath it had ſwallow…d us up alive.
As we are gone thus far with the danger paſt, Sect. and partly preſent; ſo we deſire your honours leave, to preſent the appearance (as we conceive) of future danger and that partly to the Church and State in general, and partly more particular, to yourſelves, if this Service-book be not removed: to make both theſe dangers more viſible, let us compare our preſentment with the ninth Poſition of Sions ples, in theſe words, If the Hierarchy be not removed, and the Scepter of Chriſts Government (namely Diſcipline) advanced to its place, there can be no healing of our ſore, no taking up of our controverſie with God, yea our deſolations, by his rareſt judgements, are like to be the aſtoniſhment of all Nations.
As the parts of the Poſition are ſoundly proved, ſo the ſame may be ſaid of the Service-book, and the very ſame Arguments concerning our danger will ſerve the one as well as the other; wherefore we intreat your Honours to review the Poſition, and its proofs; the Hierarchy and the Service-book are reſembled already, to Mother and Child, ſo may they be two twins, begotten and born of Pride and Superſtition, nurſed and brought up in the lap of Covetouſneſſe; theſe twins are born together, live together, and muſt dye together: a great Judge returning from the Circuit of the Emperours ſervice, and hearing his wife to be alive, replyed, ſi vivat i…l…i, morior ego, if ſhe live, I am dead: ſo if they live (we mean their callings) then our life may prove worſe than death. God will bear with many ſins, in a people profeſſing Chriſt, but with keeping Chriſt out of his Throne, by intruding Officers and a ſuperſtitious worſhip, he will not bear, eſpecially of a long continuance; but will be avenged of ſuch a people, if they be as the Apple of his eye, witneſſe Samuels ſpeech to the Iſraelites, who beſides their deſiring a King before the Lords time, were faulty in many other things, as appeareth, verſe the 20. yet he telleth them, If they, and their King, will follow the Lord, they ſhould both continue (for that is the beſt reading) where by following the Lord,1 Sam. 12.14, 15 20, 25. is meant, eſpecially the ſerving of him according to his will: but if they ſhould turn aſide from following the Lord in a corrupt way of his worſhip, then the hand of the Lord ſhould be againſt them, Verſe 17 as it had been againſt their Fathers, yea they ſhould be conſumed, both they and their King; and as Samuel to terrifie them, called for thunder and rain; ſo we have felt both thunder and rain, Judgement yet mixt with Mercy, both from the mediate, and immediate hand of God, and do feel it at this preſent, and to the end we ſhould clear his Houſe of corrupt worſhip. The yoak of the Philiſtims was never removed from the neck of the Iſraelites, till they put away their ſtrange Gods, and Aſhtaroth their ſpecial Idol:1 Sam 7.3, 4 &c. But when their humiliation was joyned with Reformation, then the Lord gave, not onelyonly deliverance, but alſo Victory over, and freedom from their enemies.
II. From the danger of not doing.
A word now of the particular Danger, Sect, whereof we make bold to give you notice; as God hath honoured you, in calling you to be the Reformers of Church and State,Cap. 4.19. ſo the work is great, as Nehemiah ſaid, and the danger proportionable, if it be neglected. When God putteth his ſelect Servants upon high employments, whether they be Magiſtrates or Miniſters, knowing beſt their weakneſs, and the many impediments: he puts them on ever anon, to be couragious,Joſh. 1.9. Jer. 1.17. not to fear or be afraid, and the ground of all is, Have not I commanded you? So the Lord giveth the Prophet Jeremy a charge to ſ…eak all that the Lord ſhould command, and backeth it with a threatning, Be not diſmayed at their faces, leſt I confound thee, both the Hebrew and the Septuagint hath it, Leſt I make thee afraid. Saul his diſobedience in ſparing Agag, and the fat of the cattel (notwithſtanding all his fair pretexts) with the fearful puniſhment inflicted by God upon him, may be a terrour to all men in place, that they do not the work of the Lord by halves, and quarters,Num. 14.24. but that with Caleb they follow the Lord to the full. The Lord hath ſaid his Command upon you, to put away the Excommunicate thing, and to cleanſe his houſe of Idols, and Idolothites, and bleſſed be that God whom you ſerve, ye have begun, by your Edict, though men of diſobedience hinder the work: but follow home the work, we intreat you, and remember thoſe Achans, but above all, put away that Aſhtaroth, the Service-book, for that we may well call Fundi noſtri calamitas, the very Caterpiller of Gods Husbandry. To ſhut up this Motive from the point of danger, be pleaſed to take notice, how God bears in upon Moſes, that great Commiſſion to Pharaoh, to let his people go,Exod. 4. and that both by words and ſignes, namely, by turning his Rod into a Serpent, his hand made leprous, and the waters turned into bloud; which were not onelyonly to confirm him in his meſſage, againſt the fear of his adverſaries, but more particularly to teach him, that if he withdrew himſelf, in part, or in whole, from the work, the Plague of Leprofie, of Blood, and Biting with Serpents, ſhould be upon him, yea, God put Moſes upon a preſent trial of Obedience and Faith, by cauſing him to take the Serpent by the tayl, notwithſtanding of the danger to be bitten by it: we ſpeak to the wiſe, who can apply it better than we.