1 OVR Lord Iesus de­maunded of his di­sciples, whom do men say that J the sonne of man am? The man,verse. 13. in whom for outwarde apparancy, they saw nothing but man: and they answered him, Some say that thou art John Baptist, verse. 14. Some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the Prophets, for without doubt through that humanity, and that infirmity they saw some vertues, and puissance shine in him aboue the perfections of man. But whom say ye (saith he) that Jam? verse. 15. To which Simm Peter somewhat forwarder then the rest, (were it in regard of his zeale, or in respect of his knowledge) frames this reply. Thou art Christ the sonne of the li­ving God. Not one of the Prophets;verse. 16. they were his Heraulds; but the end of all the Prophets: not John Baptist; hee was his forerunner: but that eternall word, of which he was but the voice which cryed [Page 2]in the wildernes, the sonne of the living God, begotten from all eternity, promi­sed in the beginning of time, exhibited in the fulnes of times, for the ransome, the life, and the everlasting salvation of the world, even of those whom it plea­sed God to redeeme from the corrupti­on and perdition of the world; And to that, what saith our Saviour? What saith that sonne of the living God, whose di­vine word in so high a subiect, promiseth nothing humane, nothing terrestriall, nothing which tends not to everlasting salvation, and the kingdome of heaven? Blessed art thou Simon Bar- [...]ona, so [...] flesh and bloud hath not revealed it vnto thee, verse. 17. hence therefore all carnall, all temporall ima­ginations, But my father which is in heaven, my father which by me in this revelati­on, and this faith dispenseth his heaven­ly graces, But J say also vnto thee (saith he) that thou art Peter, verse. 18. such a one would I haue thee to be called, and such a one would I haue thee to be indeede; the names which I impose are vocations, with the names I can change the nature and quality of things, Vpon this rocke J will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevaile against it. These last words are those which wee are to expound, which [Page 3]admit divers interpretations, and there­fore we will search out that which shall bee most agreeable to our purpose in hand, and shall holde best analogy, pro­portion and correspondencie with this holy catechisme.

2 Thou art Peter (saith hee) and vpon this rocke I will build my Church ▪ Here a questi­on offereth it selfe to be decided, to wit, whether our Saviour in these words, in­tended to build his Church vpon Simon, by him surnamed Peter, or vpon him­self Christ the Sonne of the living God, acknowledged and confessed by Peter. Concerning which wee must obserue that our Saviour then when he changed his name, said vnto him,Ioh. 1.42. Thou shalt be cal­led Cephas which is by interpretation a stone, and that in the Syriaque tongue, which our Saviour vsed, some ambiguity may bee found, in as much as that the word Cephas without any alteration of the let­ters signifieth both Peter the surname of Simon, and likewise a stone. But our E­vangelist, or (to say rather) the spirit of God which both spake & wrote in him, being willing to ease vs somewhat in re­solving the difficulty, vvould giue vs no cause to mistake one Cephas for an o­ther, either to stumble at this Peter or [Page 4]that stone, but tels vs in the authentique Greeke, [...] vvhich in our vulgar translation canoni­zed by the councell of Trent is, Tu es Pe­trus & super hanc petram, not [...] or suprate Petrum, vpon this stone, & not vpon this Peter: otherwise vvhat had it beene to him if he had said [...] for [...], and how many difficulties, what tu­mults also and bloudy discords hath hee prevented by it? And if the maine scope of these wordes (as some would haue them) were meerely to giue authoritie vnto S. Peter, vvherefore did our Evan­gelist here leaue vs to our selues & raise a scruple in this changing of Peter, and in the difference which he puts between the one, and the other to stirre vs vp to a contention, but that it was to resolue vs absolutely of this, that seeing this changing proceeding from the spirit of God was not in vaine, Christ by a con­sequence did build his Church vpon himselfe the sonne of the eternall God, vvhich was the living rocke, and not vp­on a man subiect to passion and morta­lity, hovv excellent so ever he were, and therefore not vpon Peter. And indeed he which shall looke narrowly into it, vvill finde that according to the fashion of [Page 5]the Hebrewes this [...] in these words [...] is rather a particle ad­versatiue then comunctiue, as if our Sa­viour should haue said vnto him; Behold Simon the sonne of Jona, thou that of Si­mon vvhich thou wert, I haue made Ce­phas; of dust, ashes, and slime which thou wert naturally vnprofitable for the buil­ding which I prepared, through a singu­lar grace I haue made Peter, a living stone, a stone which hereafter may haue a place, and that a notable one in the building. But see likewise an other mat­ter; it is vpon thy confession that Christ is the sonne of God, which thou hast confessed, vpon that stone vvhich thou seest, vpon that which I shevv thee, will I build my Church. In the same sense that he said destroy this temple, Joh. 2.19. speaking of his body, and shewed it vnto the Iewes, he said likewise vpon this rocke, vpon mee the eternal rocke wil I build my church, and shewed himselfe both to Peter and his other disciples.

3 But against so many preiudicated contrarieties, thou wouldest not haue mee for an interpreter, whome then wouldest thou vvillingly accept? our Lord Christ, shall hee bee authentique vvith thee vvhich heere speaketh, or els [Page 6] Peter to vvhom hee speaketh? Heare therefore Christ speaking to the princi­pal sacrificers and ancients of the Tem­ple, Did yee neuer reade in the Scriptures, Mat. 21.42. That stone which the builders refused, the same is become the head of the corner. In consci­ence speakes he this of Peter, or of him­selfe? Hath he not a reference vnto that place of the Prophet Esay, Thus saith the Lord God, Esay 28.16. behold I lay in Sion for a foundati­on, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sare foundation, he that beleeueth shall not make hast, that is, hee shall not stumble like those that fall.Verse 17. Iudgement also will I lay to the line, and righteousnesse to the p [...]un­met, &c. Was there euer any ancient or moderne Greeke or Latine vvhich vn­derstood it othervvise then of Gods An­nointed, his Messias? Harken moreo­uer vnto Peter himselfe, because some vvould interest Peter against vs in this passage,1. Pet. 2.4. Approch you neere vnto Christ (saith he) which is a luung stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, this is that stone which vve seeke, but vvould you see vvhat ranke Peter holdeth? yee as liuely stones, Verse 5. liuely indeed through that quickning stone, that stone lifted vp on high, are built vp a spirituall house, an holy Preiesthood to offer vp spirituall sacrifice, ac­ceptable [Page 7]to God by Iesus Christ. In consci­ence againe in the language of this ho­ly Apostle thinkest thou that he presu­med to be the foundation of this spiri­tuall edifice? esteemed he not himselfe to be honored and graced sufficiently in that hee vvas set vpon that stone, nay would he not haue took it as a cōtume­ly offered him, if any should haue alled­ged vnto him in preiudice of that which was spoken of Christ alone, these words Tu es Petrus, Thou art Peter? And indeed Saint Paul in one word tells vs this, That other foundation can no man lay, 1. Cor. 3.11. then that is laid, which is Iesus Christ. Christ then is the foundation, the liuing rock vvhich vvee seeke, and not Peter; but vpon this foun­dation, the master builders do lay there fundamentall stones, vvhereof S. Paul, vvhich vvas one of them, in the same place speaketh in these vvords,Vers. 10. Accor­ding to the grace of God which is giuen vnto me, as a w [...]se master builder I haue laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon; a foundation then vvas laid, and a foun­dation vpon vvhich others lay on: the one, is Christ the liuing and quickening stone: the other, all faithfull Christi­ans, liuing stones by him quickned; amongst which both Peter and Paul may [Page 8]by good right hold place both of liuing stones, as being faithfull, and as being Ministers of the holy Gospell, and of shilfull builders, according to that which he saith in another place, that the faith­full. we built vpon the foundation of the Apo­stles and Prophets, Ephes. 2.20.21. Iesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone, In whom (saith hee) all the building fitly framed together, groweth vnto [...] holy Temple in the Lord: if vpon Christ the chiefe corner stone, then not vpon Peter; if vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, yet againe vpon Christ, if you vnderstand it of that stone vpon vvhich they did lye, and if of those stones, which in the nature of ma­ster builders vvere laid thereupon, yet truely no more vpon Peter, then vpon any other of the Apostles. And to say the truth, all the Fathers, both Greeke, and Latine, haue found no other sense, vvho very often doe tell vs, vpon this rock (that is to say) vpon the confession of Peter, vpon Christ confessed by Peter, Peter [...]im­selfe being founded vpon Christ, Peter (say they) vvas no more authorized in this passage then the other Apostles, for vvhom he spake, and vvho had the same beleefe; and if any of them in any place chanced to say vpon Peter, he interprets [Page 9]and tempers himselfe elsevvhere, euen Saint Augustine retracted and corrected himselfe, for hauing vnderstood Petras for petra, Peter for the stone.

4. The nature of this building vvhich is novv in controuersie, vvill cleare the truth of this interpretation, for this Church, the Church so properly called, the mysticall body of Christ, composed of all the elect, vvhich shall be vnto the end of the world (for of that only it may be said, that the gates of hell, that all the assaults and stratagems of Satan cannot preuaile against it) vpon vvhat, hovv, and by whom is it builtisurely vpon the confession of Peter, vpon Christ confes­sed to be the Sonne of God by Peter, by the Apostles, and by all the faithfull; for without Christ, the eternall Sonne of God, there is no Church, there is no place vvhere to fixe the cor­ner stone of the Church, according to that boasting of Saint Paul, God forbid that I should glory saue in the crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ, Gal. 6.14. by whō the world is crucified vnto me & I vnto the world: for in the death and sufferings of Christ consists the being and the well being, the life and the safe­garde of the Church, and how was it built? Certainly this maner of speech, [Page 10]like as are many others in the New Te­stament, is taken out of the Old; vnder the law is mentioned the building of the temple, & vnder the Gospell this tearm yet doth continue to build the Church. And as that was built of dead stones, so this of living stones, living Cephas's which are gathered together, ioyned & inserted into the worke, outwardly by the preaching of the Apostles, & other servants of God, every one of them in their time, inwardly by the efficacie which the holy Ghost gaue to that word and through the blessing which God displaied by his graces vpon thē, which he imployed in his worke, opening both the eare and the heart of those to whō it was preached, that they might heare it with reverence and receaue it with o­bedience. And therefore it is said in the Acts,Act. 9.31. that the Churches throughout Iudea, Galilee, and Samaria were edified, to wit, by the preaching of the word, that was the outward meanes, and in the comfort of the holy Ghost were multiplied, there was the inward. Now as for the inward, what man is he, be he never so arrogant, that daies boast of it, and as concerning the outward, what shall he bee, bee it what measure of grace it will that he hath re­ceaued [Page 11]of God, that it can suffice him, not only for the whole world, but even for the smallest province; Adde that the Church being perpetuall, and Peter mortall, there can be no proportion be­tweene the labour of Peter which con­cludeth with his life, and the building of the Church which is perpetuated through all ages, otherwise it should haue fallen to ruine and tumbled down in the person of Peter; But thou wilt ob­iect what order or what meanes hath Christ left vs for his outward ministery? heare the Apostle, when be ascended vp on high, he led captivitie captiue, and gaue gifts vnto men, what gifts?Ephes. 4.8. he gaue some to bee A­postles, some Prophets, and some Evangelists, & some Pastors and teachers, why? for the perfe­cting of the Saints, for the worke of the mini­sterie, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the vnitie of the faith, & of the knowledge of the sonne of God vnto a perfect man, vnto the measure of the stature of the ful­nesse of Christ. Dost thou not see how hee hath provided to bring his work even to its perfection? and that without mentio­ning at all either of Peter for his princely Apostle, or any other ministeriall head of the Church? and where S. Paule speakes so expresly and so punctually [Page 12]in handling this matter, ought wee to supply his sense, nay rather are wee not bound to hold our peace? committing that which remaines to the managing of our Lord the master of the house, who alwaies in the palme of his hand doth beare its portraiture, and conducts it with his spirit, and having said to his A­postles parting from beneath, Preach you to all nations, baptize you &c. that is to say, performe your dutie every one of you in his place,Mat. 28.20. every one in your vocation; and this holy ministery, hee added for their inward meanes, And loe I am with you alway even vnto the end of the world: Christ you see the sonne of God of the same essence with his father nor lesse je­lous of his glory, and therefore, giue [...] is not to another, or to any creature, which he should haue done, if on ano­ther he should haue caused, or suffered to depend the salvation of his Church.

5 Let vs say moreover, that al Scripture (as the Apostle teacheth vs) is giuen vs ☞ for the consolation of the faithfull,2. Tim 3.16. & we cānot deny that the scope of these words of Christ is to fortifie his Disciples a­gainst the temptations and persecuti­ons which they were to expect by rea­son of the infallible continuance of the [Page 13]Church. Tell me therefore thou Disci­ple of Christ, where sindest thou most comfort in thy perplexities, where most refreshings in thy soule, when one tels thee that the Church of Christ is foun­ded vpon the faith of Peter, or vpon the true rocke which hee did here confesse, vpon Cephas a mortall man, yet a sin­ner, subiect to the like infirmities that wee are, the congealed rocke which the wether consumes, or vpon the sonne of God that eternal rock, that rocke which notwithstanding its firmnesse, dissolved into the waters of comfort to quench thy thirst, and distilled in hony to nou­rish thee in a desart & barren countrey? Verily if thou standest yet vnresolved in thy choyce, harken vnto Christ & con­sider S. Peter himselfe: heare what Christ saith of an house built vpon this rocke. The raine descended and the slouds came, Math. 7.25. and the windes blew and beat vpon the house, and it fell not, the reason followeth, for it was founded vpon a rocke. The other quite o­therwise being built vpon the vnstable sands (and what more vnstable then a man) that fell (saith he) and great was the fall of it: V. 27. both sustained the same violence both the same flouds, and the same tem­pest [...] but see where the difference con­sisted, [Page 14]not in the stuffe, not in the faste­ning, not in the masse, but onely in the foundation, only in the situation. On the other side marke S. Peter that great Apostle of Christ, but alwaies a man, who in this Chapter foure verses from this whereof we treate,V. 23. tooke our Savi­our apart, and was so hardy as to rebuke him, because he would needs goe vp vn­to Hierusalem: Insomuch that our Savi­our in his holy anger was constrained to tell him,Mat. 16. Get thee behind me Sathan, thou art an offence vnto me, for thou savorest not the things that bee of God. If hee was an of­fence or a stumbling blocke to Christ, how could hee choose but bee a cause of falling vnto the Church? But see him a­gaine vpon the point of combate, after so many protestations of his constancie; yea execrations, how hee denies Christ with curses, Christ whom before he had so hartely confessed: and that being far from danger, at the voice of a chamber­maid and of one simple dore-keeper; & canst thou yet imagine him to be hardy enough to withstand the gates of Hell, which here yeelds himselfe conquered to a maid of Caiphas? But it is not said that the gates of hell shall not prevaile against him, but against it, against the [Page 15]Church, against him only as he is a mē ­ber of Christ, and a member of that Church.

6 But here some perhaps will shake their heads, as If I haue applied my selfe too much vnto the letter, vnderstan­ding only the plaine song, insinuating that there is another tablature, another mistery in it. Who ought to remember ☜ themselus of that rule which the fathers giue vs, that there where wee finde one literall and naturall sense arising which instructeth our faith and manners, and affords no place to any absurditie, none to any inconvenient or contrary sense, we must there sit downe, without sear­ching farther through figures, or allego­ries, for he which diues lower is in dan­ger to trouble the cleere water and stir the mudde. Nevertheles let vs see what it is that they can say, what that Philo­sophers stone is, which they pretend in these words, Thou art Peter, but withall let vs haue our eies about vs, to discerne the false coine. Tu es Petrus, that is to say in the Roman speech (I am sure neither in Greeke nor Latine) thou art Bishop of Rome, & vpon thee, as thou art such a one, I will build the Roman Church, and not only vpon thee, not alone vpon [Page 16]thee Peter, for there shall bee no more Bishops of Rome of that name, but vp­on thee Gregory, vpon thee Adrian, A­lexander, Iulius &c. vpon every Bishop of Rome, good or bad, holy or profane, Christian or Atheist, be he what he will, I will build the Church, Catholike or v­niversal, visible in the Roman, infallible in all kinds, & thee so much the more as being the head thereof. Here Christian, thou seest how to supply both Rome & the Bishop of Rome, and stand amazed at it, contrary to the intention of him which gaue it, and him which craued it. And indeed, hast thou no pitty to see the word of Christ so racked, being now made a snare to the simple, a laughing-stocke to the prophane, and blasphemy to the meredulous. But let vs proceed on a little further; vnder this I ordaine thee Monarch both of things temporal, and things spirituall, soveraigne king & Bishop together; of spiritual, to controle the old and new Testament, to dispense against the Gospell, and against the A­postle, to make new articles of faith, to be aboue all councels, and when thou traylest men by thousands into hell, I would haue no man question thee why dost thou this? Of temporall to dispose [Page 17]of all the world, to distribute it at thy pleasure, as if it were thine owne heri­tage, to raigne over kings, to arraigne & indite them, to depose them, to absolue their subiects from their oath of allegi­ance, to expose their estates for a pray, their persons to murther, to bestow their kingdomes on whom it shal please thee, and lastly to change their tenures to fealtie, or convert their territories to thine owne demaines. Pitty will here stricke thee into honour, though hard­ly canst thou beleeue it. But the Iesuites boast consists in this, that of this they are not ashamed. The bookes of Maria­na, of Eudaemon Iohannes, of Becanus, of Suarez, and of a thousand others doe swell with these assertions: the Cardinals make them authentique, Bellarmine writing against the King of England, & Baronius against the Venetians. And the Pope menaceth with fire the edicts of our Parliament, which burne them, & the Sorbone with excommunications, if she rest not contented with them. Poore deluded Christian, thou never couldest well imagine a protection, or multipli­cation whereby to reape more profit then an hundred from one, & loe here thou maist gaine aboue a thousand frō [Page 18]one stone: and at this day this [...]an arti­cle of faith, and such a one, that to de­fend it and overshadow it, there is no­thing which the court of Rome leaues vnattempted; so that to retaine it, it pas­seth not greatly to forgoe halfe her con­troversies; yea to renounce the holy Scriptures, and the articles of all the Creeds. Wouldst thou fame see an ex­periment hereof, thou good Catholike) Goe, confesse thy selfe vnto a Iesuite, say vnto him, father I am in some scru­ple, whether I may purchase my salvati­on in the Church of Rome or not? I doubt of Purgatory, of prayer for the dead, because I haue not evidently read them in the Scriptures. After hee hath checkt thee for reading of them, who enforceth thee, saith he, to pray for thē? and indeed you shall never see Iesuits in places of buriall, and in the Abbayes which they possesse, they little regard the intention of the first founders, but convert the profit to other vses. Ano­ther saith vnto him, Father I haue no de­votion to pray vnto Saints, because I see no example thereof neither in the olde nor new Testament; After hee hath de­maunded of thee, who in Gods name hath taught thee so much: it is not free [Page 19]for thee (will he say) either to pray, or not to pray vnto them if thou wilt? who wil so nee [...]ly presse & cōtrole thee? pray to God & abide in the Church. Likewise of the Images, dost thou not obserue that in our Churches wee haue few or none, and those we haue are plaine, and little garni hed? But let an Huguenote come and say thus vnto them, I would willingly accommodate my selfe vnto you; many reasons, and much more inte­rests doe carry mee on; but I cannot be­leeue this reall presence; lesse can I bee perswaded to adore the host, least there­by I fall into Idolatry; to how many of such kind of men haue they said, stand not vpon that, that beleefe will come to you at leasure. In Spaine it selfe they ob­serue not men so narrowly, for some a­dore the host standing; Turne a new lease, and albeit that thou beest a good Catholike, yet if thou saist vnto them, Father, I doubt somewhat of the prehe­minence of the Pope, and of that Mo­narchy, whether it hath so large an ex­tent as some make it to haue; these tearmes of his being Gods vicegerent, of his omnipotency, doe wound my conscience; they are straight in an vp­roare, an inexpiable blasphemie, and an [Page 20]Anatheme. If thou thinkest but to dull the edge of this blade, or bend this tem­porall sword; if thou receavest not the thrust of it with thy naked breast, thou art a dead man; hadst thou saith enough to remooue mountaines from one place to another, hadst thou as much charitie as to suffer thy selfe to be burnt for thy brethren, yet the Ocean were it turned all into holy water, could not expiate thee, there is no peace for thee in this life, nor remission in the world to come.

7 This article notwithstanding can­not be drawne from this place: and be­sides, ☞ to it, all that which followeth i [...] the Scripture is contrary; for betweene these words Tu es Petrus, &c. and Paulus Quintus is Monarch of things both temporall and spiritua. what depthes haue they to fill, how many Theses to prooue, and syllogismes to compose? as first, that Pe­ter was at Rome, that there hee consti­tuted his Apostolicall Sea, that as being Bishop of Rome Christ conferred vpon him that Monarchy: that hee [...]aue him authorititie to bequeath it to his succes­sors, and that this Pope which now li­veth succeeds him in his Chaire, his vo­cation, and his doctrine; of which they shall never bee able sufficiently to con­firme [Page 21]the least: And as for the Scripture it is altogether contrary vnto it. For cō ­cerning the spirituall power, Christ in­tending that which we here handle, cuts of the question which arose from the ambition of the sonnes of Zebedie, Mat. 20.26. whosoever will be great amongst you, let him be your Mi­nister, &c. And the Disciples which often mooued this doubt,Mat. 9.34. who should bee the greatest amongst them, one while vpon the way, another while vpon the point of his passion, presupposed not that it was Peter, because they had not yet appre­hended the mystery which some pre­tend to find in this passage, but cōsh ai­ned [...]ur Saviour to propose vnto them,Mark. 9.33. Luk [...] [...] [...]6. sometimes the conditions of a little child for their example, sometim [...] to menace thē with ruine, if here on earth they ent [...]rtained aspiring cogitations, sometimes to suggest vnto them that [...]anc [...]e which they should hold on high in his kingdome, and all but to diver▪ them from these imaginary Monar­chies. S. Paule likewise speakes freely. That he built vpon no other mans▪ [...]n. 1 [...] foun­dation, that hee was nothing inferiou [...] vnto Peter,Gal. 2. [...]. and that hee withstood him to the face: but Peter himselfe, af­ter the resurrection of our Lord, then [Page 22]when it behoved his Vicar most o [...] al, to manifest himselt vnto the world, provi­ded not pleno [...]ure for the Apostleship of Iudas, Act. 1.15. was not president in the Councell of the Apostles h [...]ld at Hierusalem, but on the contrary side submitted himselfe to be sent, tooke commission from his brethren the Apostles, and rendred him selfe as companion of the elders to feed the flocke.1 Pet. 5.1. The elders saith [...]e which are a­mongst you, I exhort, who am also an elder &c: feed the flocke of God which is among you ta­king the oversight thereof, &c: not as being L [...]rds over Gods heritage, [...], but being examples to the sh [...]ke, and when the chiefe shephend shall appeare, yee shall recei [...]e a crowd [...] of glo [...] which fa­d [...]th not away. Where we note that he re­membred himselfe often [...] the lesson of that soveraigne Past [...] our Lord Iesus, who had said vnto them,Mat. [...]0.25. the princes of the Gentiles exerc [...]se d [...]minion in or them, [...], but it shall not be so with you, for he vsed the same verbe. And as for the temporall power he told them & de­clared vnto them throughout, that his kingdome was not of the world, and the ser­vant (saith he) is not greater then his master, not therefore the kingdome of his pre­tended Vicar, be he the Bishop of Rome, or S. Peter himselfe. And S. Paul excludes [Page 23]no person,Ro [...]. 13.1. let every soule (saith he) be sub­iect vnto the higher powers, that is to say, (say the fathers) whosoever thou beest, Prophet, Evangelist, or Apostle. And S. Peter himselfe at the greatest strength of his pretended empire, bids vs, feare God, and honour the king. 1. Pet. 2.17. And what king-Nero a persecutor of the Church, a Ty­rant of the common wealth, and plague of mankinde; now if he had a materia [...]l sword, till when reserved he it, till when kept he his thunderbolts?

8 Also we doe see, from that naturall and ancient interpretation which wee proposed aboue, what consol [...]ti [...]ns haue redounded vnto the Christian Church, and to all his members: on the other side from this later, since the time that Gregory the 7. called Hildebrand, vented it, there proceeded nothing but extreame desolations, the subiect revol­ted against the prince, the brother a­gainst the brother, the sonne against the father, the cleargie against the lay­men, the priesthood against the empire, supplantations, treasons, butcheries, through the fields and the citties, pre­tended zeales, maskes of religion, blou­dy tragedies. And since that in our daies men haue pressed it vnto the last issue, they haue extracted its quintessence [Page 24]through the limbicke of the Iesuites & we know to whome we are bound for it, who haue seene this kingdome mantled with ashes and blood; and in 20. yeares two Kings assasinated (God preserue the third) a thing not seen in ten ages before.

9 Here one perhaps will demaund how so prodigious a doctrine as this is, hath found a place, and that vpon one word only of Christs? marke the cun­ning. A great workman to shew a tricke of his arte, builds a whole peace, setting out and testing vpon one stone onely (this they call Promp llo [...] he interlaceth and indent, the incisions and ioyntures within, presents it vnto thee, and tra­ceth thee with false ioynts without, to st [...]ke thee to an astonishment, and to conceale his structure. Sathan here doth iust the same, endeavouring as an ape to imitate the son of God. To couzen the world, he enterpriseth to build his sina­gogue (the principle worke of his art) vpon this one poore word, Peter, that he may raise it aboue, and fasten his stones one within another to wit the Princes with the Bishops, the people against the Princes, he beautifies his building with the ambition of prelates, with the super­stition of princes, with the ignorance of the common people, and puts all these [Page 25]pieces into his worke. And those false ioynts consist in monopolies, in sleights of flattery, in the profanations of the name of Christ, in derision of his Go­spell, euen of the Sonne of God, [...]l [...]d vpon the Crosse for our sakes: these they disguise, these they couer from our view with passages of the holy Scrip­tures, with them they bring their worke vnto the roofe, euen to the weather­cocke. And such kind of words are these, Tu es Petrus, such are Pasce oues meas, such, occide, & mandica, with many others. Aske any good Doctor of the Sorbon what the meaning of these words is, Pa­sce oues meas, feede my sheepe; hee vvill reade his Saint Augustine, and his Ordi­nary Glosse, and then he will tell thee, feede them, verbo & exemplo, both with word and example. The good man knowes not that in the Romane lan­guage it is as much to say now adayes se­candum s [...]s [...]n currentem, Act. 10.13. as the m [...]i [...]et goes, manage the Kings and Princes with the switch. Aske another what sig­nifies that voice spoken of Peter, in the Acts, O [...]h & ma [...]d [...], kill and eate, he wil remember himselfe of that vessel de­scending from heauen, which was presented vnto him in a vision, in the which were all sorts of liuing creatures, both o [...] [Page 26]the land and water; and of the interpre­tation which Saint Peter, being taught by the Spirit of God, gaue vnto it: that the time of calling the Gentiles vvas come, that he should not say any were that [...], Ve s. 28. or make a di [...]ference betweene lew and Greeke, Greek & I [...]banan; he knowes not the secret which Cardinal Baronius hath fo [...]d heere, Kill and deuour those creatures, the Kings and Princes, which performe not that vvhich thou hast enjoyned them, for thus doe they prophane these words, and in the mean time behold the bookes which at this day are most fa­mous, and in greatest authoritie, see how vnder the skinne of the Lambe of God, are hid Wolues and Lions, vvhich counterfeit a sweete voice, in horrible howlings, vnder the pretēce of that spi­rituall sword of Christs word, they forge this temporall sword, and maintaine it with their denoted & execrable kniues.

10 So th [...]n we see how through the [...] of Satan we haue been carried vp­on a sleepe, from our sauing rock tran­sported vpon the dismall rocke of Ta [...] ­p [...]s, and that vnder the colour of a wrested interpretation, mischieuously inuented, by st [...]lth insinuated, lightly [...]e [...]d, which hath passed amongst the [Page 27]simple, as being the cry of the citie in a popular errour, (for what is it but a prime imagination giuen to our chil­dren, to conceiue the bells to [...]ing, and Heluetian tabours to play whatsoeuer they imagine: and it is a like illusion to vs, to make vs see in such places of the Scripture as these, all that which shall make for them: & neuerthelesse we con­tend about it, as vpon an article of faith, and combate more thereon, then vpon all the Creed besides. Wherefore let vs hold vs to the ancient exposition, as be­ing more simple, I am sure, more safe, and let vs not feare at al, that Saint Peter can sustaine any damage thereby. Our Sauiour Christ demanded of S. Peter, and [...]e answered him, Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God. Thou art Christ the annoynted of the Lord, pro­mised from the beginning of ages vnto our fathers, declared from time to time by his prophets, expected in our time▪ for the salvation of the world, not a tem­porall Monarch, such a one as these Pharises prefigure, but the eternall Son of God, only able to satisfie his iustice, to moue his compassion, to secure vs from his wrath, to purchase vs & to merit vs his grace; and what answere doth out Lord make him, I say vnto thee that thou [Page 28]art Peter, that I haue chosen thee to make thee a liuing stone in the building which I haue prepared me in my church. But where shall I build in my father hath revealed vnto thee one secret, and I will teach thee another, grace vpon grace. Verily vpon that Christ, vpō that sonne of God which thou hast confessed, that Iesus which thou seest, a quickning stone an immoueable and eternall rocke, to stand against the th [...]derbolts of the an e the raging [...] of the [...]ea, the shakings of the earth, the powers of hell, be it [...]eated where it will, it shall be aboue it, fixed, & founded in the midst of heaven: and [...]r sixteen hundred yeares after, the history of the church addeth credit vnto this: feare not, Christian, whatsoever thou seest, be not dismaid. The Church some­times scantled to 8 persons in the arke, peopled afterwardes the whole earth; sometimes inclosed in the sepulchre, as was her head, through her head was ten­dred vp and fully restored. Christ hath said it, that eternall word; Christ hath done it, that sonne by whome the father made the world;Heb. 13.8. Christ will doe it yea­sterday and to day (saith the Apostle) and the same for ever; to whom with the father and the holy ghost, be honor and glory world without end; [...] Amen.