The difficulty of and the encouragements to a reformation a sermon preached before the…

Use 1. Of exhortation, to set up this rule.

Let the Word of God dwell in you, follow that in your reformations, as the Wise men did the star: you are careful (as Magistrates) to keep Parliament privileges; be as tender about Scripture ⟨p. 11⟩privileges, this is your spiritual Magna Charta: Then will God set you up in the consciences of men, when they shall see that you are as seriously bent to keep Gods right as your own. Isaiah 8. 19. Should not a people enquire of their God? Every Nation seeks to their own god; The voluptuous man takes counsel from his belly, the ambitious from his great ones, the Papist from the Popes chair; and shall not we from God? It was a complaint of an Anonymus in his Epistle to Calvin; (we hope through the blessing of God this Parliament will take it away) this man writing out of England to Calvin concerning the disorders in our Discipline and Church way, saith, We go to the Nobles and great men to redress this abuse, they say the Bishops must look to it; when we go to the Bishops, they answer, they cannot do any thing unless there were a public Constitution of the Realm for it: But when that public Senate is called, there are so many civill businesses to be handled, that the cause of Christ is always neglected. Therefore we the Ministers of Gods Word, are like John Baptist, a voice crying out to you, Prepare ye the way for the Lord, and that by his Word. It was said of the people of Israel, That there was an ounce of that calf they made in every punishment that fell upon them. And may not we say, that the general neglect of Discipline hath had a great share in all our sins and punishments? O ye blessed Fathers, who were afraid to use the word Trinity, and the like, because it was not in Scripture, how could you lie still in your graves for these years past, and not rather haunt us as ghosts, who had so much of doctrine and of worship that had no Scripture for them!

Let the Word of God dwell in you, sollow that in your reformations, as the Wisemen did the starre: you are carefull (as Magistrates) to keep Parliament priviledges; be as tender about Scripture ⟨p. 11⟩