of salvation in general, such as are drunk with the vain trust of their own merits will neither taste of this bread, nor drink of this water. The covetous man thirsteth after money, even with the sale of his own soul to get it; the lewd after fleshly delights and pleasures, to the wasting of his patrimony upon them; the proud after glory, that his itching ears may be tickled with his own praise: but what thirst the prophet doth mean Christ sheweth in Matt. v. [6.] the gospel, where he also blesseth it: "Blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness." Such as see their own nakedness, as feel their own infirmities, as groan under the heavy burden of their sin, as confess with David, Psal. li. [3.] "I know mine own iniquities;" as make request with the Luke xviii. publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner;" as cry with Luke v. [12.] the leper, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean:" such are invited, unto such our prophet speaketh. He calleth not the just, but unto sinners he saith, Come; go not away, but come. [13.] 6. Whither, and to whom? "Come to the waters." Whither and to whom they are Not to such waters, as either the well or the river yield called. To milk. the waters, eth; but to those that issue from the Son of God, to wine and those that shall be in him which tasteth them a well of John vi.[68.] water springing unto everlasting life. "Unto whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of everlasting life." Come to these waters, buy this wine and this milk. Other bread is no bread; eat that which is good. Under these names of water, wine, and milk, all things necessary to a spiritual life are comprehended. For as with these corporal meats and drinks the body is nourished, so in Christ, through the believing of the gospel, our soul is refreshed, and perfectly fed unto everlasting life. Christ is the fresh fountain, whereof whoso drinketh shall never thirst. Christ is that bread which descended from heaven. He that eateth that bread, which is his flesh, shall live for ever. Christ is that wine which maketh merry the heart of man, and quieteth the troubled conscience. Christ is that milk which nourisheth and feedeth us, that we may grow to a perfect man. Milk is fit for infants, water is convenient for young men, wine agreeth with old age. So in the scriptures there is food, both for such as are simple and weak, and also for such as are learned and strong. milk, freely Christ. 7. This grace of God which saveth, hath appeared Water, wine, to all men this heavenly food, Christ Jesus, by preach- offered by ing the gospel is offered to all, as manna the heavenly bread, by faith to feed upon; and as a lively fountain to drink of to everlasting life. All are of mercy, grace, and favour freely called; all may come and freely feed, without penny or penny-worth. The grace of God is free, remission of sins is free-freely granted, freely given without money. "The price of our redemption is neither Contra Pelag.de gold nor silver: Through grace ye are freely saved." "it cannot be grace any way, which is not every free'," saith St Augustine. For origin. pec cat. cap. 24. way trary sold christ for 8. "Wherefore do ye lay out your silver for that The conwhich is no bread, and your labour on that which is not by antito satisfy?" As before he exhorted us to come and buy money. freely without money, because God is no money-man, neither can any man deserve favour at his hands, but whatsoever we have of him, we have it of mercy; so now he sharply reproveth all such as by money or merchandize, by desert or merit, seek after salvation. He dehorteth us from false teachers, crafty seducers, which offer to sell the grace and mercy of God for money. Christ proposeth his heavenly treasures, remission of sins, justification, sanctification, mercy, grace, and salvation, freely. He that sitteth in the temple of God, and termeth himself Christ's vicar, doth in like sort offer unto the people bread, water, wine, milk, pardon of sins, grace, mercy, and eternal life; but not freely he is a merchant, he giveth nothing, and that is nothing which he selleth. For although he make large promises to the buyer, he selleth that which he hath not to deliver. "Eternal life is the gift of God." The pope therefore selleth but wind and smoke for fire, shadows for truths: he deceiveth the buyers with false sleights, false measures, false weights. Beware of this merchant, lose not your labour, cast not away your money: it is not meat but poison which he offereth you. His physic cannot heal your diseases; his holy water cannot wash away the spots of a sullied and defiled soul, as he untruly [Non enim Dei gratia erit ullo modo, nisi gratuita fuerit omni modo.-August. Op. Par. 1696. Cont. Pelag. et Cœlest. Lib. 11. De Peccato Originali. 28. Tom. x. col. 265.—ED.] would bear you in hand; his blasphemous masses do not appease, but provoke God's wrath; they cannot benefit the quick, much less the dead, which either need no help, or are past all help: his rotten relics cannot comfort you; his blind, dumb, and worm-eaten idols can do you no good. It is cast away which is spent upon his shameless pardons; they will not prevail-God will not admit them: by his Latin service ye cannot be edified, or made wiser. Yet this trumpery they sell for money, and upon this trash they cause silly men to waste their substance, and to these to commit their souls. Thus you see a manifest difference between Christ and antichrist, the doctrine of God, and the learning of man, true teachers and false, sound and counterfeited religion. The one offereth true bread freely: the other, that which is no bread, for bread, and that not freely neither, but for money. The diversity of religion professed in these our times is here most plainly and lively depainted. For the better clearing whereof, I will in three notes lay before your eyes the whole difference which is between them. Three differences be tween the doctrine 9. First, we disagree in the very foundation. They lay one ground, and we another. We lay no one stone professed but only upon that foundation of the prophets and apostles, christians, whereupon whosoever is builded, groweth into an holy temwhich is ple in the Lord-a temple, which no wind, no waves, no storm, no tempest is able to overthrow. The foundation of our religion is the written word, the scriptures of God, the undoubted records of the Holy Ghost. We require and that maintained no credit to be given to any part or parcel of our doc ground and trine, further than the same may be clearly and mani foundation of doctrine. festly proved by the plain words of the law of God, which Reasons should be why religion remaineth in writing, to be seen, read, and examined of grounded all men. This we do, first, because we know that God scripture. hath caused his whole law to be written: secondly, because we see that it hath been the practice of all the defenders of the truth since the beginning to rely their faith only upon the scripture and written word: thirdly, because it is evident and plain that we cannot receive any other foundation of heavenly truth without the overthrow of christian faith. The whole law of God, 10. There was never any law-maker so simple, as to which is the make statutes for perpetuity, and not to register them in gion, com writing. [19.] books, or engrave them in tables. When Memucan was rule of relidesirous to have a law made for the bringing of women mitted to in subjection under their husbands, his persuasion was this, "If it may please the king, let a royal decree proceed Esther i from him, and let it be written." The laws of the Medes and Persians, that might never be altered, were for ever recorded. When God delivered his first law unto his people, the law which commonly we call moral, he gave it them written in tables of stone. Again, when he delivered them civil ordinances for the administration of justice between man and man, Moses first proclaimed all those laws and ordinances amongst the people; afterward he took and wrote in a book all the words of the Lord. As for the laws of rites and ceremonies, they are likewise written in this book. To these we must add that law, which the blessed apostle doth call the "law of faith." This law Rom. iii. God preached unto Adam by himself, "The seed of the Gen. iii.[15.] woman shall break the serpent's head:" unto Abraham by [27.] his angel,In thee shall all the nations of the earth be Gen. xii. [3.] blessed" to the children of Abraham by his prophets, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son:" finally, Isai.vii.[14.] unto us by his Son, and by them whom his Son hath sent into the world to make it known, "That through this Acts xiii. [38, 39.] man is preached remission of sins; and from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses, by him every one that believeth is justified." And the statutes of this law are also written. God, being moreover desirous to have his servants not only taught by doctrine, but provoked also by examples, gave them a fifth sort of laws and testimonies, called historical, not leaving these neither to men, to deliver unto their children by word of mouth, but all by writing. If God have committed his laws moral, civil, ceremonial, evangelical, and historical also, unto writing, where should we seek for the statutes of the Almighty but in his written word? professors have rested 11. The ancients of the house of God knew no foun- The true tain of his truth but this. They never inquired what had of all ages been whispered in men's ears; that which they believed and their faith taught, they read it out of the book. In the history of ture only. Josua it is recorded, how he did assemble the tribes, elders, heads, judges, and officers of Israel together, shewing them upon scrip. Josh. xxiv. 2 Kings xxiii. [3.] what God had spoken unto them by Moses, but uttering to them no speech which was not written. Josias, with all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great, made a covenant before the Lord, to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all their heart and with all their soul: but what statutes? what testimonies? "The words of the covenant written in this book." Christ speaketh many things, his apostles many things, concerning the doctrine of the prophets, but no one point of doctrine which is not found in their books and writings. The prophet Esay crieth, Ad legem et testimonium, “To the law and to the testimony." If they teach not "according to this law, it is because there is no light in them." Consider [Luke iv. 8.] the practice of Christ Jesus. His proofs are, Scriptum est, [Luke x. 26.]"It is written:" his demands are, Quomodo legis? "How [John v. 39.] dost thou read?" His apologies are, Scrutamini scripturas, "Search the scriptures, they bear me record." His apostles tread in the same path; they go not the breadth of an hair, not a whit from that which is written. Thus St Paul protesteth, "I delivered unto you that which I received, how Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose the third day according to the scriptures." It is not lightly to be marked, which is twice repeated. He delivered nothing but "according to the scriptures." "I would hear the voice of my pastor" (saith St Augustine); "read this out of some prophet, read it out of some psalm, recite it out of the law, recite it out of the gospel, recite it out of some apostle: read it, and we will believe it'." These be good precedents for us to follow, till sufficient reason be alleged why we should lay another foundation than that which hath been laid by so many, so wise, so reverend builders. Isai. viii. [20.] 1 Cor. xv. [3.] It is danger ous to admit unwritten verities. 12. Especially sith this foundation is so peculiar to the [Non invidemus alicui: legite nobis hoc de lege, de prophetis, de psalmis, de ipso evangelio, de apostolicis literis: legite, et credimus.August. Op. Par. 1694. Contra Donatistas Epist., vulg. De Unit. Eccles. Liber Unus. Tom. Ix. col. 345. The archbishop appears to have had also in his mind the following passage: Ego vocem pastoris inquiro. Lege hoc mihi de propheta, lege mihi de psalmo, recita mihi de lege, recita de evangelio, recita de apostolo.-Sermo xlvi. De Pastoribus in Ezek. xxxiv. Tom. v. col. 242.-ED.] |