effectual faith for he beleued not God nor kepte that faith whiche S. Cyprian calleth fidem mandati De simplicitate pralator the faith of his commandement It was said vnto him by God him selfe of the tree of knowlege of good and ill Thou shalt not eate what day soeuer thou eate of it thou shalt assuredly dye He disobeied that commandement and did the contrary He waied so lightely the souereigne loue which he owed vnto God aboue all things Aug. de Ciuit. Dei lib. 14. cap. 13. that either for his owne pleasure or for the contentation of his wife he was soone induced to folow his owne wil and to leaue Gods wil vndone He cast aside the hope that he should haue reposed in God Gen. 3. and beganne to put affiance in him selfe harkening to the serpentes woordes Eritis sicut Dij ye shal be like Goddes He lost the vertue of temperance desiring the meate that was forbidden and therby vnlawful for him to eate And hereby was he berefte of wisedome and vnderstanding falling into such ignorance that of him selfe he was not able to knowe the highest and trewe good Prosper vbi suprà Aug. de Corrept grat cap. 11. He was lefte without counsell and strength and fel into such weakenes that where by his creation he was of so free and strong will that it was in his power to continewe in grace if he had and would and not to sinne excepte he would thorough his faull he was made weake and vnhable of him selfe to doo any good Thus dranke he the poyson of all vices infecting and poisoning his owne nature and thereby all that descended of him Rom. 5. Per vnum hominem peccatum for by one man sinne came into the world and by sinne death and so wente it through all men in whom all sinned Ephe. 2. Rom. 6. Thus were al men by birth made naturally the children of angre And by sinne the enimies of God. Seing therefore that this is mannes estate and condition of his owne nature and sithens also we knowe that the Sonne of man came to seeke and saue that was loste Luc. 19. to repaire that was in man decaied to renewe and restore him againe to the estate of iustice if we wil dispute what thinges are requisite in him that is to be iustified we must of consequence say Rom. 4. that he is made iust and rightuouse vnto whom firste God pardoneth sinne And further vnto whom of his bountifull mercie he restoreth the good and heauenly qualities that were planted in Adam vnto whom he inspireth faith continencie charitie wisedome and vnderstanding counsel and strength with other vertues which Adam lost in whom God restoreth his image and likenes which by sinne was defaced and decaied To make the matter more plaine let vs lay before our eies the example of a man deadly sicke in al the principal partes of his body as the harte the head A Similitude the liuer and the lunges whom if a physition cure of the payne in his head and of the passion of the harte yet can he not be called a whole man vnlesse the other partes be cured also For he maie els die neuerthelesse by obstruction of the liuer or putrifaction of the lunges Euen so the sowle being generally infected and mortally wounded in all her principall partes and powers requireth likewise a perfect cure of eche parte without the which it can not be said vnto man touching his sowle Ioan. 5. Ecce sanus factus es Lo thou arte made a whole man. There be emong others two principall and souereigne powers of the sowle Tvvo povvers of the soule the one called reason and vnderstanding the other will by the which the image of God is specially represented in man for that he hath them singularly and alone aboue all beastes and other creatures so long as the same be rightly ordered that is to say so long as he vnderstandeth without error and willeth nothing but good all his doinges be godly and him selfe a heauenly creature and a liuely Image of God. Bothe these were infected and corrupted in Adam his reason and vnderstanding yelded to thinke it good for him to take his pleasure of a vaine and corruptible meate forbidden by God though he shoulde die for it his will assenting therevnto strake the stroke and put it in execution Bothe the same therefore muste be healed in man before he can be recouered of that plage For neither can he doo good vnlesse he be rightely informed and taught to knowe what is good neither is it ynough for him to knowe what is good vnlesse he haue a righte and good will to doo it See the 2. Chapter Hovv the Image of God is restored in man. Aug. de Ciuitat Dei li. 14. cap. 9. Ethic. 1. cap. 1. Aug. de Ciuita Dei. li. 11. cap. 28. The medicine to heale mannes corrupte reason and vnderstanding is right faith For if reason be subiecte to faith and the vnderstanding ruled by it there can be no error in his iudgement But the salue to cure mannes wil and affection is specially right loue which is called Charitie Quia rectus est amor eorum omnes affectiones rectas habent sayth S. Augustine Bicause their loue is right they haue all affections righte For sithe mannes will and affection naturally desireth good if it can be induced to loue that whiche is trewely good it is made perfecte and straight if it loue amisse it is crooked and ill For as S. Augustine saith Ita corpus pondere sicut animus amore fertur quocunque fertur So the body is caried with weight as the minde is caried with loue whether so euer it is caried For what he loueth he willeth and what he willeth being not inforced or lette that he doth Neither can it be trewely saide that reason and vnderstanding being healed by faith Luca. 12. maketh the will whole For we know by the wordes of Christ that a seruant may know the wil of his Master and yet doo it not And the cause why he doth it not Aug. de Ciuitate Dei. li. 11. cap. 28. knowing it is but the lacke of will to doo it Neque enim vir bonus meritò dicitur qui scit quod bonum est sed qui diligit Neither is he worthely called a good man whiche knoweth that is good but whiche loseth it And thereby doe we see that will and affection may be diseased and disordered when reason and vnderâ—tanding is healed And so the man not whole when reason by faith is healed If I should saie no more then is alreadie said yet might the Reader wel perceiue what is required to the Iustification of a sinner I haue declared that Adam being created in perfect iustice by his sinne loste the same and â—l other men in him Rom 5. 1. Cor. 15. Luc. 19. and that Christ as a newe Adam to satisfie for the offence of
For if these be in vs Ser. 16. de ver apost then doo we belonge to the predestinate to the called and to the iustified Whiche is also expressed by the woordes of S. Paule where he saith Finis praecepti est charitas 1. Tim. 1. c. The perfyting and ending of the commaundement is charitie that commeth from a cleane harte De doctr Christian lib. 1. c. 40 from a good conscience and an vnfayned faith In which place S. Augustine saith The Apostle putteth in good conscience in steade of hope Wherefore if the commandement be geuen to make man perfect in such perfection as he may haue in this life and the ende and perfecting of the cōmandement lyeth in these three vertues the greatest perfection that man may reache vnto in this life is gotten by faith hope and charitie And our greatest perfection in this life is our Iustification for our glorifying apperteyneth to the life to come That faith excludeth not the working of Sacramentes in our Iustification THE VI. CHAPTER Of the Sacramentes AS faith doth not barre hope and charitie from working our Iustification so doth it not exclude the SaSramentes of the Church instituted by Christ in the newe Testamente Whiche Sacramentes be not only requisite to the iustifying of a sinner but doo worke also in him remissiō of sinne bring and restore him to rightuousnes and geue life euerlasting Baptisme saieth S. Peter 1. Pet. 3. saueth vs. Concerning the Sacramentes of the Altar Christe saieth He that eateth my fleshe Ioan. 6. and drinketh my bloode shall lyue for euer He saieth also of the Sacramente of Penaunce whose sinnes you forgeue Ioan. 20. they be forgeuen them The like may be said of the rest of which S. Augustine maketh this general rule putting a differēce betwene the Sacramentes of the olde and newe Testament Sacrament a noui Testamenti dant salutem August in Psal 73. Sacramēta veteris Testamenti promiserunt Saluatorem The Sacramentes of the newe Testamente geue saluation the Sacramentes of the old Testamente promised a Sauiour S. Bede whom I allege for honours sake both bicause he was a singular lighte of our Country and also bicause he was in all his writinges an exquisite and moste diligent folower of S. Augustine saieth Bed. Hom. in feri 3. Pascha The Apostles were sente Qui cunctis per orbem nationibus c. Who shoulde both preache the woorde of life to all nationes through the worlde and minister the Sacramente of faith by whiche men mighte be saued and atteyne to the ioyes of the heauenly country The reason why so high and excellente a vertue should be in the Sacramentes August in Psal 56. et idem in Psal 103. is bicause they take their force of Christ his Death and Passion Percussum est latus pendētis de lancea profluxerunt Ecclesiae Sacramenta The side of Christ hanging on the Crosse was stryken with a speare and the Sacramentes of the Church came flowing out And as they issued and flowed out of his side so doo they applye and geue vnto vs the benefyte of his bloode and passion Augu. exposit epist ad Roma inchoat Such as vvere christened Were signed vvith the Crosse Illud Sacrificium c. That Sacrifice to witte the whole Sacrifice of our Lorde whiche after a manner is then offred for euerie one at what tyme he is christened and signed if he sinne againe can not be offered S. Augustine saith that the Sacrifice which Christe made for all vppon the Crosse is offred after a sorte for euery one particularly when he is baptized For as he died for al and paide the price and ransome of his bloode sufficiente for all so is his passion auayleable and applyed vnto such as receyue the healthful Sacramentes of his passion Augu. ad arti falsò sibi imposit artic 1 Cuius mors non sic impensa est humano generi His death was not so bestowed vpon man kinde that euen they that neuer shoulde be regenerate or christened should also be partakers of his redemption but in such sorte was it geuen that it whiche was by one onely example and paterne done for al in general should by a special Sacramente be celebrated and done in euery one by him selfe Let no man therefore assure him selfe of his Iustification by faith or other meanes The Sacramēt of penance without the helpe and benefite of the Sacramentes whiche God hath prouided first to applie his death and passiō vnto vs as we haue seene proued and nexte he hath also prouided them to be bandes to bynde and rowle vp our woundes in this life to staye and ease the ruptures and breaches of our soule August in Psal 146. Alligamenta medicinalia c. The Sacramentes vsed here for the tyme by which we haue confort be medicinal bandes of our contrition and rupture Perfecta sanitate detrahentur When our healthe shal be perfect which shal be in heauen they shal be pulled of but we should not atteyne and comme to that were we not rouled and bound vp S. Augustine saith that the Sacramentes for the tyme of this life be our medicines and salues to keepe vs in health and for the life to comme so necessarie that no man should atteine thereunto without them Here some man will say Obiection how should the Sacramentes be so necessarie for our saluation Is it not writen that by faith God purifieth and maketh cleane the hartes of men Act. 15. Ephe. 2. Ioan. 6. Is it not in S. Paule by grace are ye saued through faith Did not Christ him selfe say he that beleueth in me hath life euerlasting With many like sayinges wherein faith is commended without any mention made either of hope charitie or Sacramentes Yeas verely Answere they be all the wordes of God and al trewe but these are not onely the wordes of God nor onely trewe The holy Ghost hath vttered the trewth of God in the Scriptures where and by what wordes it liked that diuine wisedome Al are inspired from God and all to be beleeued alike but not all together nor all in one place And therefore as we beleeue it is vndoubtedly trewe he that beleueth in me Ioan. 6. hath euerlasting life so doo wee likewise beleue it to be trewe If I haue all faith and haue no charitie I am nothing 1. Cor. 13. Rom. 8. Ioan. 3. as trewe doo we thinke that also by hope are we saued and no lesse true Vnlesse a man be borne againe by water and the holy Ghost he shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen As true doo we take that to be Luc. 13. vnlesse ye doo penance ye shall all perish after a like sorte After this manner doth the Scripture somtime speake of faith and attribute Iustification vnto it Note wel making no mention of hope charitie or penance Sometime it seemeth to geue the like preeminence to charitie mentioning
saieth grace were not then grace Agaiast the vaine affiance of Heretikes THE IX CHAPTER AND although it be necessarie to beleeue that sinnes neither are neither haue ben at anie time forgeuen otherwise then freely by the mercie of God for Christes sake yet muste we say that sinnes neither are nor haue ben forgeuen to anie man that boasteth of an affiāce and certaintie of the forgeuenes of his sinnes and resteth vpon it only For so much as this affiance which is vaine and farre wide from all godlines maie be and is in our time emōgest heretikes and schismatikes set foorth and mainteined against the Catholike Church yea and that with earnest contention Neither is that opinion to be holden that such as are truely iustified must without all doubte in the worlde make them selues assured that they are iustified and that no man is absolued from his sinnes and iustified but he which beleeueth certainly that he is absolued and iustified and that absolution and Iustification is made perfecte by this belefe onely as though he that beleeued this doubted of the promises of God and of the efficacie of the death and resurrection of Christ For as no godlie man ought to doubt of the mercie of God of the merite of Christ and of the vertue and efficacie of the Sacramentes so euerie man when he looketh vpon him selfe and considereth his owne weakenes and indisposition maie stand in doubt and feare of his owne grace for so much as no man is able to know by certaintie of faith such as is infallible that he hath atteined the grace of God. Of the increase of Iustification after it is receiued THE X. CHAPTER Ephes 2. Psal 13. 2. Cor. 4. THEY therefore that are thus iustified and made the frendes and of the houshold of God going from vertue to vertue are renewed as the Apostle saieth from daie to daie that is to say by mortifying the members of their flesh and by yelding them as the armour of iustice to sanctification by keeping the cōmaundementes of God and of the Churche they growe in this iustice which they receiued by the grace of Christ faith woorking together with good woorkes and so they are iustified more and more as it is writen He that is iust let him be further iustified Apoc. 22. Eccles 18. Iacob 2. and againe Be not ashamed to be iustified euen vnto death and againe You see that man is iustified by woorkes and not by faith only This increase of iustice doth the holy Church aske of God when she praieth thus Geaue vs O Lord increase of faith hope and charitie Of the obseruation of the commaundementes Of the necessitie and possibilitie thereof THE XI CHAPTER NO man be he neuer so much iustified ought to thinke him selfe to be discharged from the keeping of the cōmandementes no man ought to vse that talke which is both rash and forbiddē of the holy Fathers vnder paine of excōmunication Note that the cōmandements of God are impossible to be kept of a man being iustified For God cōmaundeth not thinges impossible but by cōmaunding he warneth thee both to do what thou canst and to aske of him what thou canst not do and so doth he helpe that thou maist be able to do 1. Ioan. 5. Matth. 11. whose cōmandementes are not heauie whose yoke is sweete and burden light For they that are the sonnes of God do loue Christ Ioan. 14. and such as do loue him do as he him selfe witnesseth keepe his wordes the which thing vndoubtedly they are able to performe with Gods helpe For although men in this mortal life be they neuer so holy and iust do some time fal at the lest into certaine light and dailie trespasses which are also called veniall sinnes yet do they not for that cease to be iust For this is the voice of iust men both humble and true forgeaue vs our trespasses Matt. 6. Wherfore the iust ought to thinke them selues so much the more bownd to walke in the waie of iustice to the end that being now deliuered from sinne and made seruantes vnto God Tit. 2. they maie liue soberly iustly and godly and so go foreward by Christ Iesus by whome they haue had accesse into this grace For God forsaketh not such as are once iustified by his grace vnlesse he be first forsaken of them No man ought therfore to flatter him selfe in onlie faith thinking that he is made an heire and that he shall obteine the inheritance for faith onlie although he suffer not with Christ that he maie be glorified with Christ Hebr. 5. For euen Christ him selfe as the Apostle saieth for all that he was the sonne of God yet did he learne by such thinges as he suffered obedience and when he was perfited he was made to all suche as were obedient vnto him the cause of euerlasting saluation Wherefore the Apostle warneth such as are iustified saying 1. Cor. 9. Know you not that suche as runne in the race they runne all together but one receiueth the price So runne ye that you maie laie hand on the game I therefore do so runne not as for an vncertaintie I do so fight not as one that beateth the aier but I do chastice my bodie and bring it into bondage lest peraduenture when I haue preached vnto other men I maie become a cast away my selfe In like manner speaketh the chiefe of the Apostles S. Peter 2. Pet. 1. Do your endeuour to the vttermost that ye maie by good workes make your calling and election certaine for in so doing you shall not sinne at anie time By the which places it is euident that those men do impugne the Doctrine of the true and Catholike religion which saie that the iust man sinneth in euery good worke at the lest venially or that he doth which is more intolerable deserue euerlasting damnation It is also manifest that they do impugne the true and Catholike doctrine which do determine that the iust do sinne in all their woorkes if in the same good woorkes in stirring vp their owne sluggishnesse and in cheering them selues to runne in the race they do principally respect this that God may be glorified and withal do looke vpon the euerlasting reward for so much as it is writen Psal 118. I haue inclined my hart to do thy iustifications for the rewardes sake Hebr. 11. and the Apostle saieth of Moises that he looked vpon the rewarde That the rash and presumptuous opinion of predestination is to be eschewed THE XII CHAP. NO man so long as he is in this mortall life ought to presume so far of the secret mysterie of Gods predestination as to saie assuredly that he is in the number of the predestinate as though this were true that a man being once iustified either coulde not sinne any more or els if he do sinne that he should assure him selfe of amendement for vnlesse it be by special reuelation it can not be knowen whom God
holy Scripture to take a moderate and middle waye As thus That both to keepe peace in the Churche we suffer dogges within the Churche Math. 7. and yet when the peace of the Churche may otherwise be kept not to geue that which is holy vnto dogges When therefore we find euill persons in the Churche either through negligence of the Prelates or by some excusable necessitie or by close and couert surreption crept in whome we can not correct or brydle by Ecclesiastical Discipline then lest that wicked and daungerouse presumption might arise in our mindes whereby we should thinke it needeful to separate our selues from such sinneful persons thinking that otherwise we should be defiled with their sinnes and so goe about to drawe after vs a company as it were of cleane and vnspotted Disciples broken of from the knot of vnitie vnder colour of auoyding euil company let vs cal to remembrance those parables those diuine oracles and most euident examples out of the Scriptures by which it is shewed and forespoken that euil persons shal be mingled in the Churche with the good euen to the ende of the world and day of last Iudgement and yet shal not therefore in the vnitie and participation of the Sacramentes hurt the good which do not consent vnto their doinges But when the Pastours and Prelates of the Churche are able without the breache of common peace to exercise and execute dewe discipline against lewde and wicked persons then agayne lest through dulnes and slowth we fall a sleepe we are to be waked and stirred vppe with other spurres of preceptes whiche perteyne to seueritie of correction That so by bothe manner of testimonies and sayinges of holy Scripture directing our steppes in the waye of our Lorde he being our guyde and helper wee neyther waxe dull vnder the name of patience nor yet cruell vnder the pretence of diligence VVhen and to what personnes Baptisme is to be geuen THE VI. CHAPTER THIS moderation then according to sound doctrine being kept let vs looke to that whereof wee nowe intreate That is Whether men are so to be receaued to Baptisme as that no care or regarde be had therein least that whiche is holy be geeuen vnto dogges so farre forthe that not so muche as open committers of adulterie yea and professing a continuance therein should seeme meete to be kept from a Sacrament of so great holinesse Whereunto without doubt they should not be admitted abstinēce fasting and exorcismes preparatories to receiue baptisme if during those very dayes in the whiche after theyr names geeuen and preparing them selues to receyue that grace they are with abstinence fastinge and Exorcismes purified and purged they should professe to lye with theyr true and lawefull wyues and woulde of this one thinge being at anye other tyme lawefull for those fewe solemne dayes denie the forbearing Whiche being so howe should an aduouterer refusing amendement be admitted to those holy thinges whereunto euen a lawefull married man refusing but a litle abstinence is not admitted But saye they let hym be firste baptised Obiectiō and afterwarde taught what apperteyneth to good lyfe and manners So is it donne Ansvver when it happeneth any man to be nere his end and at the point of death when at the pronouncing of those few wordes wherein yet al other thinges are conteyned he beleeueth and so receaueth that Sacrament to the ende that if he happe to goe out of this life he maye departe free from gilte of all his sinnes past But whereas such a man recouering agayne desireth space and tyme to learne those thinges whiche are to be learned what other tyme may be founde more conuenient wherein a man maye learne howe to becomme faithfull and howe he ought to lyue then that tyme wherein with a minde very attentiue Catechising and holden in suspense of very religion he requireth to haue the Sacrament of saluation Are we so farre alienated from our senses that eyther wee remembre not our selues howe diligent and howe attent we were to that whiche was commaunded vnto vs by them whiche first entred and instructed vs in the faith at what time we required the Sacramentes of that font and were also therefore called * Competentes are they that stand to be baptised together and cause their names to be taken for that purpose Competentes or elles that wee marke not others which euery yeare runne to this font of regeneration how they behaue them selues for the time of those dayes wherin they be instructed exorcised and examined howe carefully and diligently they come together with what a desire they burne and in what greate expectation they depend If that be not a tyme to learne what lyfe most agreeth with so worthy a Sacrament as they then desire to take what tyme will there be for it What when they haue receaued it remayning yet in so many and great crimes and being euen after baptisme not new men but old offendours so as with strange preposterousnes it should be first saied vnto them put on the newe man and when thei haue put him on it should then after be said vnto them Colos 3. put of the olde Not so the Apostel Who keeping right order of speache saith first put of the olde and then put on the newe Math. 9. Yea our Lorde him selfe crieth No man soweth new clothe to an olde garment ne doth any man put newe wine into olde bottelles And what elles I praye you doo they all that tyme when they stande in rewe and beare the names of Cathecumenes but harken what should be the faith and life of a Christian man That when they haue prooued them selues 1. Cor. 11. The blessed Sacrament ministred together vvith Baptisme then they may eate of our Lordes table and drinke of his cuppe Bicause he that eateth vnworthely eateth and drinketh iudgement vnto him selfe But that thing whiche is done in all that meane tyme in the whiche by right good order of the Church they which come to professe Christes name do first take the degrees of Cathecumenes the same is much more diligentely and more instantly donne in those dayes wherein they are called Competentes when I saye they haue already geuen in their names to receaue Baptisme That suche as are to receiue Baptisme must be taught as well the woorkes of Faith as Faith. THE VII CHAPTER WHAT saie they if a maide vnwitting An obiection marrie her selfe vnto the husband of an other woman Forsooth if shee neuer knowe it Ansvvere shee shall neuer be thereof an adulteresse But if shee knowe it shee shal from thence forth beginne to be an adulteresse after that shee shall wittingly lye with an other womans husband Euen as in the right of landes so long is a man rightly termed a lawful possessour without any fraude as he is ignorante that he possesseth an other mannes lande but when he shall knowe it to be an other mannes possession and dothe not then departe from
saie prouide that neither these offendours be admitted and not by these euil doinges to depraue the good and right order by thinking it not meete or necessary so muche as to instructe suche as desier Baptisme of the correction and amendemente of their maners and so consequently to admitte al the professours euen of those publike villanies that is harlottes Baudes swoorde players for lyfe and deathe and suche like yea though they continewe in their euilles For concerning all those vices whiche the Apostle numbreth vppe concludinge that suche as doe those thinges Galat. 5. shall not possesse the kingdome of God they whiche haue dewe and earnest care of their charge dooe as is seemely and meete blame and sharpely rebuke suche thinges when they bee opened vnto them and suche as doe resiste and professe to continew therein they doe not admitte at all to the receiuinge of Baptisme Of the false opinion of them that saie three onely vices are to be punnished by excommunication and all other to be recompenced by almes deedes THE XIX CHAPTER BVT some there be that thinke that all other sinnes are easily recompensed by almes and onely three to be deadly and to be punnished by excommunication vntil by a more seuere penaunce they be healed to wit vnchaste life idolatry and murther It is not nowe needefull to dispute what opinion this is and whether it be to be corrected or allowed least we drawe this worke whiche we haue nowe taken in hande to muche in length by reason of this question whiche to the finishing of our woorke in hande is not nowe necessarie It suffiseth also that if all vices dooe exclude from being admitted to the Sacramente of Baptisme emong those al adulterie is comprised And if there be but three onely to be excepted then is yet of those three adulterie one whereof this our disputation was firste mooued But for so muche as the manners of euill Christians which haue bene before time very euil seeme yet not to haue proceded so farre as to this vice that men woulde marry other mennes wiues or women the husbandes of other women it is like that hereby this negligence hath crept into some Churches that in the Catechesing or instruction of such as required Baptisme these vices were neither required of nor reproued And thereof came to passe that men beganne euen to defende them whiche yet are rare and seldome seene emong them that are christened if by remisse negligence we make them not defensable For suche negligence in some wante of experience in others and in others ignorance we may probably iudge that our Lord signified by the sleape in man where he saieth Mat. 13. But when menne slept the enemies came and ouersowed cockle And it is an argumente to thinke that those vices haue but now of late appeared in the maners of the woorst Christian men S Cyprians sermō De lapsis bycause that S. Cyprian in his Sermon made of suche as were fallen in time of persecution when lamenting and reprouing vice he had remembred many thinges vnto them whereby he sayed the indignation of God was iustly moued to suffer his Churche to be scourged with intolerable persecution he dothe not at all mention there any of these vices forenamed And yet dothe he not passe ouer in silence but earnestly auouche that it was a pointe of euill manners for Christians to ioyne in marriage with Infidelles which saieth he in that place is naught elles but with shame to prostitute the members of Christe to the Gentilles Yet now in these our daies this is scant thought to be a sinne bicause there is nothing in dede cōmaunded therof in the new Testament And therfore haue some other thought it lawefull or elles leaft it as it were in doubt A. And euen so is that doubteful See the Notes folovving after this Chapter whether Herode maryed the wyfe of his broother lyuing or elles after he was deade And therefore is it not very playne what it was that Iohn saied was vnlawefull for him to doo Lykewise there maye be some doubte whether a Concubine professinge that shee will neuer knowe other manne yf shee be put away from him to whome shee is subiecte should not be allowed to the receyuing of baptisme B. And farther it may seeme that he whiche putteth awaye his wyfe taken in adulterie and marrieth another should not be wayed in equall ballaunce with them that put awaye their wiues without cause of adulterie and marry others C. And that poynte seemeth so darke in the diuine Scriptures whether he who may without doubt for adulterie put awaye his wife should be yet accompted an adulterer if he marry an other as that I thinke to be deceaued in the vnderstanding of that poynte were a veniall sinne Wherefore suche as are manifest crimes of shamelesse vnchastitie are vtterly to be reiected from Baptisme onlesse the partyes by chaunging their mindes and by penaunce be amended But for suche as are doubtefull it is to be laboured and foreseene by all meanes that suche coniunctions be not made For what neede is it for a man to put his heade vnder so great daunger of doubt and ambiguitie D. But yf any suche matches or coniunctions fortune to be made I can not certainly say whether suche persons as make them should by like reason be thought vnmeete to be admitted to Baptisme Necessary annotations for the better vnderstanding of this xix th Chapter in some doubtefull places which by misvnderstanding may perhappes minister some cause of Error or scruple to the Reader A. Euen so is that doubtful The doubt which S. Augustine findeth heere in the worde of S. Iohn the Baptiste vnto Herode concerning his mariage is by him selfe resolued after the writing of this Booke in a Sermon that he preached to the people vpon the. 140. Psalme where he hath these wordes In Psalm 140. Occiditur ab Herode qui dicebat ei non licet tibi habere vxorem fratrit tui Neque enim frater eius sine posteritate decesserat He is slaine of Herode which said vnto him It is not lawful for thee to haue thy brothers wife For his brother died not without issew He saith it was not lawful for him to marry his broothers wife and addeth the cause for that his broother had issue of the same wife B. And farther may seme How that case is to be weighed he resolueth plainly and directly determining in the Bookes whiche he wrote long after vnto Pollentius of vnlawfull marriages Tom. 6. li. 1. cap. 9. saying Maius adulterium quis esse negat vxore non fornicante dimissa alteram ducere quà m si fornicantem quis dimiserit tunc al 's ram duxerit non quia hoc adulteriū non est sed quia minus est vbi fornicante dimissa altera ducitur who denieth it to be a greater adultery for a man hauing put away his wife not fall in fornication
reward And in that he is a Iust beholder of our mindes he will not onely recompence the charge of our woorke but also reward the workers affection thorough Christe our Lorde THE FOVRTH SERMON MADE BY THE SAME S. LEO VPPON THE SAID FAST OF THE tenth Moneth and of the Almes to be done in the same Of what valew against sinne fasting is which in bothe Testamentes is obserued WE doe with good cowrage and confidence moste deerely beloued exhorte you to the workes of pietie bicause by experience we perceiue how gladly and willingly you receiue our exhortations For you knowe and by the teaching of God him selfe be assured that the obseruing of the Commaundementes of God dothe auaile you to eternall ioye In the executing and keeping whereof bicause mannes frailtie dothe often wexe weary and by her brittle infirmitie offende in many thinges our good and mercifull Lorde hath geauen vnto vs remedies and helpes by the whiche we may obtaine pardon For who coulde possibly escape so many flattering allurementes of the worlde so many crafty deceites of the Diuell and finally so many perilles growing of his owne mutabilitie and frailtie vnlesse the wonderfull clemency of the eternall Kinge had a wil rather to repaire vs then to lose vs For though wee be already redemed The vvar of Christians is continual 1. Ioan. 5. already regenerated and made the children of light yet so long as wee are detained in this worlde whiche is all sette in wickednesse so long as corruptible and temporall thinges doe flatter the infirmitie of the flessh no man can passe this life without tentation Neither doth there lightly happen to any man so vnblouddy a victorie that emong many enemies and daily conflictes though his fortune be so good to escape death he be altogeather free from woundes To cure therefore the harmes whiche they often fall into that warre with the inuisible enemie these three remedies are for medicine chiefely to be applyed Instance in prayer chastising of our selues by fasting and the bountifull geauing of almes Whiche three thinges when they are togeather putte in vre and exercised God is made mercifull vnto vs the faulte is blotted out and the Tempter is repulsed Of these helpes truely owght a faithful sowle alwayes to be prouided and furnished but chiefely and with greatest care are they nowe to be exercised in these dayes whiche are moste properly and peculiarly appointed to those woorkes of pietie Of whiche kinde and degree is also the solemne fast of this tenth Moneth Whiche is not therefore to be neglected bicause it hath benne taken vnto vs out of the obseruaunce of the olde Lawe as though this were one of those thinges which with the discerning of pure meates from vnpure the differences of wasshinges and the Sacrifices of byrdes and beastes did in the newe Lawe ende and cease For those thinges in deede which bare the figures of thinges to come were ended when those thinges were accomplisshed whiche they signified But the profitte of fasting Fasting though it vvere obserued in the olde testament is also to be kept in the nevv Mat. 4. Matt. 22. the grace of the newe Testamente hath not remooued nor putte awaye But with good and vertuouse obseruation hath still admitted continence and abstinence as thinges alwayes profitable bothe to the bodie and the sowle For euen as there remaine receiued and retained in the heartes of Christians these Commaundementes Thou shalt woorshippe thy Lorde God and serue him alone And Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe and suche other like Preceptes euen so that whiche in those bookes is commaunded of the sanctification and healing by fasting is not made voide or frustrate by any interpretation For in all tymes and in all ages of this worlde fasting maketh vs the stronger against sinne Fasting conquereth concupiscence repelleth tentations abaseth pride allayeth wrath and all the affections of a good minde and disposition it nurrisheth vppe to ripenesse and perfection of all vertue Especially if it be also ioyned with the beneuolence and pietie of charitie and doe prouidently exercise it selfe in woorkes of mercie For fasting without almes is not so much a purging of the sowle as it is an affliction of the fleshe And it is rather to be reputed to be donne for couetousenesse then for continencie when a manne dothe so absteine from meate that he also absteineth from pietie and good woorkes Let therefore our fast deerely beloued abownde with fruites of liberalitie and lette them be plentifull to the poore of Christe with charitable giftes and louing rewardes And lette not the meane and inferioure sorte be stayed from this woorke bicause it is little that they can take out of their small substance and abilitie Our Lorde knoweth euery man his abilitie and being a iust looker on seeth wel out of what measure and portion eche man geaueth For substances that be in equalitie vnlike can not geue like almes But many times is it made equall in merite whiche is vnequall in charge For the minde may be like where the rente and store is vnlike To the ende therefore that these thinges may by the helpe of God be regarded with pietie and deuotion let vs fast the fourth and the sixth daie of this weeke Wednesdaie Fridaie and Satterday the ymber dayes aboue a xj hundred yeres agoe But on the Satterdaie let vs celebrate Vigil and watching at S. Peter the Apostles Church by whose prayers we being helped may in all thinges merite and deserue the grace of God. THE FIRSTE SERMON MADE BY THE SAME S. LEO VPPON THE FAST OF THE seuenth Moneth Of the praise of Abstinence and almes deedes The fast of the vij moneth is the ymber fast kepte in September WE knowe your carefulnesse most deerely beloued to be of suche deuotion that you doe not onely till and temper the sowles with the ordinary fastinges appointed by the lawe but also with voluntary abstinence Yet haue we thought good to adde to this your good disposition our exhortation and warning To the ende that if there be any of you slacke in this vertuouse exercise they doe obediently ioine them selues with the rest in this publique and generall fast appointed in these daies Wherein we must more attentiuely celebrate this most holy custome and vertuouse vsage that by humilitie of fasting we may merite the helpe of God against all our enemies For it is a principall woorke whiche both by authoritie we charge you and of charitie we aduise you that the libertie of eating being for a time restrained we geue our selues to the chastising of our owne bodies and to the feeding of the poore whome who so euer refresheth he feedeth his owne sowle and tourneth his temporall meates into eternall delicates In place therefore of euill and voluptuouse delightes let there succeede in vs the plentifull increase of holy desires Let iniquitie cease but let not righteousenesse be idle Let some man feele him helping whome no man feeleth oppressing For it
to thy children suche a Father as Tobie was Geeue vnto thy chyldren profitable An example and holesome preceptes suche as he gaue vnto his sonne Geeue in charge vnto thy chyldren as he charged his sonne Tob. 14. saying And nowe my Sonne I geeue thee in charge serue God in truth and doo before him that whiche pleaseth him The preceptes of Toby to his sonne Tob. 4. and charge thy children that they doo iustice and geue almes and be mindeful of God and blesse his name at all tymes And agayne My most deerly belooued sonne haue God in thy mind all the dayes of thy life and transgresse not his Commaundementes Doo iustice all the dayes of thy lyfe and walke not in the waye of iniquitie For if thou deale in truth respecte shall be had vnto thy woorkes Of thy substance doo almes deedes and turne not awaye thy face from any poore man. So shall it come to passe that the face of God shall not be turned from thee Geaue Almes my sonne according to that thou haste If thou haue plentye of substance geeue the more largely thereof if thou haue scarse and but a litle yet geeue parte euen of that litle And feare not when thou geeuest Almes for thou layest vppe to thy selfe a good rewarde againste the daye of necessitie Tob. 12. For Almes deliuereth from deathe and suffereth not to goe vnto hell A good woorke is geeuing of Allmes vnto all them whiche doo it in the sighte of the Highe God. What a pageaunt or game is that deerly belooued bretheren the setting foorth whereof is honoured with the presente behoulding of God him selfe If at suche largesse and liberalitie as the Gentilles bestowed vppon shewes it seemed a greate and a gloriouse matter to haue presente the Proconsules or Generalles of Armies and greate coste and charge was bestowed by suche menne to please greate personnages howe muche more noble and greater is the glorie of our charge where wee haue God and Christe the behoulder thereof Howe muche more plentifull ought the preparation heere to be and howe muche more bowntifull the coste where all the vertues of heauen assemble all the Angelles meete to the sight and beholding thereof Where to the defraver of the charge not a triumphant chariot or Consulship is asked but eternall lyfe is geeuen nor the vayne and temporall fauoure of the common people is sought The frute of Almes deedes but the perpetuall rewarde of the heauenly kingdome is receyued And that these dull barren and pinching peny fathers woorking nothing towardes the frute of their saluation may be the more ashamed of them selues that the shame of their reproche and vilenesse may stryke the deaper into their filthy consciences let eche man set before his eyes the diuell with his garde that is to saye let him imagine the diuel with his traiterous people and children of death to leape foorth in presence and euen there Christe him selfe being presente and iudging to callenge with prowde comparison Christes people A liuely Representation and to prouoke and require that an accompte and rekoning of both sortes may be taken saying in this wise I for these that thou seest heere with me haue neither receyued buffets nor endured scourging nor suffered the Crosse nor shed my bloud nor redeemed this my familie with the price of any Crosse and passion No neither doo I promise them the kingdome of heauen or restoring them to immortalitie call them home agayne to Paradyse and yet see howe sumptuouse games and pageantes howe great Treasures what rare thinges long and moste chargeably sought they prouide for mee Yea laying to pleadge ingaging or selling outright all their goods and possessions to sette foorth to the vttermost these games and pageants Yea and if the pageants frame not handsomly to their honesty they are with wordes of reproch and hissing often tymes driuen out of the stage yea and sometime almost stoned to death with the furie of the people Nowe Christ let me see such fetters foorth of sightes and shewes of thy side Shew me these riche men flowing in aboūdance of welth whether though thy selfe fittest aloft in thy Churche and lookest on them they make vnto thee any suche chargeable presentes by engaging or selling their goodes Naie rather by chaunging for the better the possession of them translating them into heauenly treasures In these vaine and worldly shewes before men That vvhich S. Cyprian speaketh heere of plaies and pageants may be applied to banquetinges excesse in apparall and such other not novv common euerie vvhere nobody is fedde none clothed none susteined with comforte of meate and drinke Al the charge betweene the madnesse of the setter foorth and the foly of the beholder through a prodigall and foolish vanitie of disceiuing pleasures is loste and commeth to naught Yet emong thine thou arte thy selfe clothed and fedde in thy poore and needy and thou promisest eternall lyfe to suche as woorke All this notwithstanding thy people being thus honoured by thee with Diuine rewardes and heauenly giftes are scarse to be compared in number with myne that haue at my hande for all their coste no rewarde but damnation What shall we aunswere herevnto deerely beloued brethren By what meanes may we defende the mindes of the ryche menne ouerwhelmed with suche a sacrilegiouse barrennesse and as it were palpable darkenesse By what excuse may we purge our selues whoe are fewer in number then the Diuelles seruauntes who doe not repaie vnto Christ for the price of his Passion and bloude no not so muche as small trifles Christe hath geauen vnto vs commaundementes a revvard to such as vvorke and punnishment to the idle he hath instructed his seruauntes what they haue to doe he promiseth rewarde to suche as woorke and threatneth punnishment to the vnfruitfull He hath vttered his sentence and tolde vs before what iudgement he wil geue What excuse can there be to the negligent What defense to the barren and nigarde but that to the seruaunt who doth not that which he is cōmaunded our Lord wil do that whiche he threatneth Mat. 25. saying When the Sonne of man shal come in his glory and al his Angels with him then shal he sit in the throne of his glory and all Nations shall be gathered together before him and he shal diuide them one from an other as the shepheard diuideth the shepe from the gotes and shal place the sheep on his right hand but the gotes on the left then shal the king say vnto them which shal be on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father receiue the kingdome which hath ben prepared for you from the beginning of the world for I haue ben hungry and you gaue me to eate I haue ben thirsty and you gaue me drinke I haue ben harborles and you led me in naked and you clothed me sick and you visited me I haue ben in prison and you came vnto me Then shal the iust answere
is not able to worke the effecte of saluacion for which purpose it serueth vnlesse it be accumpanied with charitie the Mother of al vertues of which wordes S. Augustine gathereth a rule that when we find in the Scriptures faith commended for Iustificacion or saluacion we should euer vnderstād it meant of faith which worketh through charitie saying Hanc fidem definiuit Apostolus c. This faith hath the Apostle defined and determined to be it And in that sense both S. Augustine and other aunciente fathers cal that many times the trewe faith the Christian mannes faith and the faith in deede The trewe faith in respecte of the ende whiche is saluacion not bicause the faith whereby we onely beleue the Scriptures is not a trewe Faith. For we saie in the Creede of Athanasius that the Catholique Faith is a full perfecte and inuiolable Faith. A beleeuing faith and a sauing faith But it is perfecte in beleuing not perfecte in sauing And therefore it is not saide in the ende who so beleueth it shal be saued but vnlesse a man beleue and keepe it inuiolable he shal without doubte be damned For though he beleue the Scriptures in profession and keepe them not in deede that is if he beleue them in worde and mouth and trangresse them in acte and deede he shall not be saued Faith alone and of it selfe maie be perfecte for beleuing but the faith that is trewe and perfecte for sauing is euer accompanied neuer alone It is one thing then to haue trewe faith in assente and opinion which is faith in his owne nature and an other thing to haue faith in obedience of harte and affection which is faith accompanied with charitie and other vertues of whiche difference I onely putte the Reader in remembrance bicause I will more largely speake thereof in the. 7. Chapter of the second booke to the whiche I referre him Thus haue I thought good to open vnto the Reader what is properly meante by the name of faith alone August de Trinitate Lib. 15. cap. 18. in Euchirid cap. 8. and what it taketh of other vertues Sine quibus esse potest sed prodesse non potest Without the whiche it may be but it can not auaile nor attaine to the life euerlasting Faith properly is to beleue and to beleue is to assente to trewth This faith the age of S. Augustine S. Chrysostome and Vincentius Lirinensis did knowe and teache willing men for their saluation to ioyne vnto it charitie with other vertues If any man deuise an other faithe beside this he bringeth vs not the consent of Antiquitie but an inuention of noueltie As concerning the faith whereby miracles and wunderous actes are wroughte it is none other but the Catholique faith whereof I haue spoken Ioan. 20 which to aduance and commende God doth miracles in some that professe it through his name Whiche faith as both a good and ill man may haue so may both a good and ill man doo miracles as appeareth plainely by the wordes of Christe in S. Mathew and by S. Paule to the Corinthianes Math. 7. 1. Cor. 13. th one saying that many hauing done miracles shal be shutte owt of the kingdome of heauen The other affirming that a man maie be able to remoue mountaines and yet lacke charitie without the whiche he is nothing VVherein the controuersie of Iustificacion resteth and what is the rediest way to know how the same is wrought in vs. THE III. CHAP. THERE is emong parties at this time no greate controuersie touching the original cause of our Iustificacion For the Scriptures plainely shew and al men agree that it is God that iustifieth Rom 8. But the controuersy resteth specially in two pointes the first point first what our Iustification is and wherein it standeth whether it be onely a forgeuenes of sinnes paste or whether there be also required in it a change of the man and a newnes of life the secōd point The other pointe is how our Iustification is wrought in vs to witte albeit God iustifie vs yet how he worketh it in vs and by what meanes we comme to it by faith alone or by faith ioined with other vertues and Sacramentes which doubtes I thinke shal be much cleared if we consider our owne corrupte and sinfull estate and the cause thereof whiche is our carnall Birthe and descente from Adam By whom sinne entred into the worlde Rom 5. and by sinne death and so wente through all in whom all haue sinned Seing then that his fall was our fall and the cause of our vniustice if we vnderstande in what case he was created and what was in him loste wounded and weakened by sinne cōtraries being knowen by one rule and teaching we know also what our Iustification is Aristotle For the repairing of that which was in him loste is our restoring and the saluing of that which was in him wounded is our health the changing of the olde estate wherein through him we were borne is our renewing And our restoring healing and renewing is our Iustification Esai 53. Luc. 19. For Christ that came to iustifie sinners came to seeke and saue that which was loste and to make whole that which was wounded VVhat was loste in Adam by sinne and what is restored by Christe in our Iustification the comparing of Christ with Adam And in what thinges our Iustification standeth THE IIII. CHAPTER IT is a matter of vndoubted trewthe and confessed of all right beleuers that God created Adam in most excellent and perfecte estate For the Scripture saith in the person of God Gen. 1. Faciamus hominem ad imaginem similitudinem nostram Lette vs make manne after our image and lykenes Wherefore as God him selfe is wisedome trueth rightuousenes temperance loue strength vertue and in goodnes moste free so made he manne wise trewe rightuous and iuste temperate strong indued with perfecte loue vertuous and to all goodnes willinge and free Psal 48. But man vnderstanding not when he was in honor abusing his libertie to ill and transgressing Goddes commandement did not onely lose that perfect estate and beautie of vertues but broughte him selfe also into a base mortall and miserable condition fell into vices contrarie to the former vertues and became displeasant and hatefull vnto God his bodie condemned to death and his sowle vnlesse mercie had deliuered him to endlesse damnation And albeit it might suffise to say that he loste all the vertues wherewith he was by God indued yet to expresse some parte thereof particularly Prosper Aquitanus sayth Perdidit primitus fidem c. Contra Collatorē cap. 10. He loste first and chifely faith He loste continence he loste charitie he was berefte of wisedome and vnderstanding He was lefte without counsell and strength he dranke the poison of all vices and with the dronkennesse of his intemperance wetted through and soked the whole nature of man he loste profitable and
taken out of the power of darknes and brought to the kingdome of Christ Colo. ca. 1. is not onely not appointed paines euerlasting but shall not so much as suffer any purgatory tormentes and paines after death Purgatorie paines For the only spirituall regeneration suffiseth that so much as the carnall generation intermedled with death be not preiudiciall nor doo it any harme By which sayings we see first that infantes haue sinnes to be forgeuen them Nexte that they enioie remission thereof by their baptisme Thirdely that they enioie that benefite in most free manner Nothing being required for that purpose but onely that other Christian men bring them to the Church to be baptized and answere for them And the cause why For that they are gilty only of originall sinne and none other trespasse committed by them selues This is the graciouse and most free Iustification of infantes which they atteyne vnto not onely without any good doing of their owne but also without any consent Yea though they striue against it through the free mercie of him that came to seeke and saue that was loste Luc. 19. And hereby doo we not only see the happie estate of al such as be borne in Christian regions who by and by after their byrth be baptized and thereby iustified but also we perceiue how nedelesse it is to dispute of the beginning and entree of our Iustification which is wrought in vs freely by grace without our selues before we be able to vnderstand how great the benefite is And therefore concerning the Iustification of al men that liue this daie in Christian contries there is nothing so needeful as to vnderstande how such as fall after Baptisme may be reconciled to God and restored to the estate of iustice againe whereof I shall speake hereafter Of the Iustification of suche as were christened being of perfite age and what was required of them THE VIII CHAPTER BVT of such as borne and brought vp in infidelitie and being of perfect age came to be iustified and of wicked made rightuouse bicause they be not onely giltie of originall sinne but also of many actuall sinnes committed by their owne thought worde and deed more is required and an other order appointed vnto them whereby they prepare the way to receiue the iustice of God. It is required of them first to beleue For he that commeth to God Hebr. 11. Marc. 1. must beleue So Christ beganne to preach vnto such Poenitemini credite Euangelio Repent and beleue the Gospel And forasmuch as beleuing the Gospel there is reueled and opened vnto them the anger of God from heauen vppon all wickednes and iniustice Rom. 1. They are stricken with a good and profitable feare of Gods iudgement Act. 2. as they were that heard S. Peter his preaching and of that feare they conceiue and as it were trauaile and bring forth the spirite of health Esai 26. Yet doo they not rest in that feare but learning that Christ came to saue sinners and died for such as were his ennemies 1. Tim. 1. Hearing him also say Confide fili be of good comforte sonne Rom. 6. Matt. 9. thy sinnes be forgeuen They conceiue hope of mercie and thereby beginne to loue him by whose mercie they truste to enioy so greate a benefite And for the loue of him deteste and abhorre their former sinfull life And bicause it is said vnto them Act. 2. Poenitentiā agite baptizetur vnusquisque vestrûm Doo penance and be baptized eche of you they willingly and hartely repente their former sinnes which is al the penance that the Church of God requireth before Baptisme And so disposing them selues they receiue the Sacrament of Baptisme and therewith according to the promise of God made by S. Peter Matt. 28. Act. 2. remission of their sinnes and the gifte of the holy Ghost to keepe Gods commaundements which is their Iustification And this is the order whereby a sinner being of perfect age is iustified that is to say called to the estate of iustice and of wicked made rightuouse The first and principall cause thereof is the loue and mercie of God thorough the merite of Christes death Iustice is wrought in vs by grace and atteined by faith with the feare of Goddes iudgement hope of his mercie loue of his goodnes and by penance thorough the Sacrament of Baptisme All which are so necessarie to the accomplishing of our iustice that where any of them faileth trewe iustice also doth faile Hebr. 11. For as without faith it is vnpossible to please God and he that beleueth not is already iudged So he that is without feare can not be iustified Eccles 1. He that hopeth not despeireth Neither can any man loue that he hopeth not And who so lacketh hope and loue Aug. Enchi ca. 8. can not be iustified by faith Nam Daemones credunt For euen the Diuelles beleue and tremble and yet doo they neither hope nor loue but rather by beleuing are afraied that that shall come which we hope and loue Such as wil be iustified must not only beleue the Gospel but do penance Mar. 1. Luc. 13. Gal. 3. and such as will not do penance are assured al to perish Finally who is not baptized putteth not on Christe and therefore is neither renewed nor iustified This manner of Iustification is not onely testified by the Scriptures but also expressed in th' ancient vsage of the Church by such order as was exercised vppon them that receiued baptisme when they were of perfect age euen from the Apostles time whiche thinge we maie perceiue by the wordes of S. Paule where he saith Intermittentes inchoationis Christi sermonem Hebr. 6. c. Leauing asyde the wordes of our yong beginning in Christ Lette vs drawe to a perfectenes not layinge againe the foundation of penance from deade workes and of faith towarde God of the teaching of Baptisme and also of laying on hands of the resurrection of the dead and iudgement euerlasting al which thinges saith S. Augustine apperteyne to thadministration of Baptisme Aug. in expo ad Ro. incho de fid oper cap. 11. whereby we vnderstande that of such as were baptized in perfect age there was not only required faith in professing tharticles of the Crede but also they were required to doo penance from deade workes of sinne And to shewe some outwarde token thereof there was appointed vnto them before theire baptisme a time to faste and praie As is testified by such as liued nigh vnto the Apostles time Iustinus Martyr saith Apolo 2. pro Christian After what sorte we haue offred and dedicated our selues vnto God being newe made throughe Christe we will declare As many as be persuaded and beleue that the thinges are trewe whiche be taught and saied by vs and promise that they be able so to liue they be taught to praie and by fasting to aske at Goddes handes forgiuenes of former
God make it easie and light especially bicause we are fure to escape the heauie and punishing hand of God. For so S. Paul saith Si nos ipsos diiudicaremus non vtique iudicaremur 1. Cor. 11. If we would iudge that is to say punish our selues we shoulde not be iudged Thus haue I shewed that suche as fall after Baptisme into greate and deadly sinne are restored againe and iustified by penance whiche hath that vertue by the woorde and promise of Christe Ioani 20. I haue also declared howe a sinner is brought vnto true penance And further I haue shewed the difference betweene penance that is required of suche as being of age come to be christened and of such as fal after Baptisme wherin it hath ben proued that sinners after Baptisme are restored again to the estate of iustice Theodor. sup Paul. 2. Cor. 7. by doing the worthie fruits of penance and not by Faith onely And seing that al Christian men now liuing were baptised in their infancie This is the Iustification that we ought specially to loke vnto by knowledge to learne and to practise by dede As for the Iustification of faith alone how so euer it serue for suche as are to be christened In the viij Chap. of the secōd booke whereof I shall speake hereafter it serueth not for vs that are christened alreadie Of the increase and perfiting of our Iustification wherein it is truely said that we be iustified by good workes and not by faith onely THE XII CHAP. IT is not inough for the obteining of lyfe euerlastinge that sinners be iustified and made of wicked righteouse Psal 83. Tit. 2. vnlesse they continue also and increase in iustice goe from vertue to vertue and liue soberly iustly and godly For as S. Cyprian saith Parum est adipisci aliquid potuisse Cyprian li. 1. ep 5. It is a small matter to be able to get a thing It is more to be able to kepe that is once gotten as in faith it selfe and the healthfull byrth it is not the receiuing but the keping of it that geaueth lyfe neither is it by and by the attaining but the perfiting that preserueth a man to God. This our Lorde taught by his owne instruction Ioan. 5. when he saied Lo thou art made a whole man nowe sinne not least some worse happe fall vnto thee Christe gaue him selfe for vs saieth S. Paule to the intent he might redeeme vs from all iniquity Tit. 2. 2. Cor 6. and cleanse vnto him selfe a singular and special people a folower of good workes If this effect folowe not in vaine hath Christe geauen him selfe to death for vs in vaine doe we receiue his grace and Iustification And not onely in vaine but to our great daunger and peril 2. Pet. 2. Luc. 11. Augustin epist 106. Better were it for them saith S. Peter neuer to haue knowē the way of iustice then after the knowlege of it to turne backe againe from the holy cōmandement that was deliuered vnto them He that is iustified is ryd of the vncleane spirite and his harte lyke to the swepte house But if the same stande emptie not inhabited by the holy Ghost nor filled with the fruites of iustice the vncleane spirite doth not onely returne agayne but also bringeth with him seuen other worse then him selfe who entre and dwel there and the later doinges of that man becomme worse then the firste were For as to him that hath Math. 25. there shal be geuen and he shall haue aboundance so from him that hath not euen that he seemeth to haue shal be taken awaye To haue the gyftes of God is to vse them as Theophilacte writeth vpon that place Theophil in ca. 25. Math. Math. 28 And he vseth Goddes grace that doth good workes to the which ende grace is geuen Christe sente his Apostles to christen all Nations and to teache them to keepe all that he had commaunded them He woulde not onely haue a people to knowe him Luc. 1. Ioan. 15. but such a people as shoulde serue him in holynes and iustice He saith to his Apostles Ego elegi vos posui vos vt eatis fructum plurimum afferatis fructus vester maneat I haue chosen you and placed you to thintent you should go and bring forth fruite and to thintent your fruit should remaine And in the same chaptre he saith in hoc glorificatus est pater Ioan. 15. vt fructū plurimū afferatis efficiamini mei Discipuli Hereby is my Father glorified that you may bring forth much fruit and be made my scholers geuing vs to vnderstande that they be Christes scholers that shew the fruite of his teaching and that God is glorified not onely in our calling but also in the fruite that commeth of our calling For this cause the Scripture saieth to such as are already called to the state of iustice Apoca. 22 Eccle. 18. Math. 5. Qui iustus est iustificetur adhuc Let him that is iuste be iustified yet And also Let nothing let thee from continuall prayer and let nothing forbid thee to be iustified vnto thy death for Goddes rewarde abydeth for euer Blessed are they that hunger and thyrst after iustice saieth our Sauiour Apertissimè nos instituens c. Most euidently teaching vs Beda in solen om Sancto that we should neuer thinke our selues iuste inough but euer more loue and desire a daylie increase of iustice For true it is that Leo saieth Quantumlibet quisque iustificatus sit Leo ser 8. de Passio Aug. ser 15. de verb. Apo. Why increase of Iustice is called Iustificatiō c. Be a man neuer so much iustified yet while he is in this life he may be better and more tryed but he that increaseth not decayeth and goeth backewarde and he that getteth nothing loseth somewhat And bicause as in al artes vse maketh the artificer more skilful then he was so the continuance and practise of iustice maketh a good man readyer and more able to do well and thereby iuster then he was the Scripture calleth it Iustificatiō that is to say an increase of iustice and declareth in sundry places howe the same is obteyned S. Iames saieth Iacob 2. videtis quòd ex operibus c. You see that a man is iustified by workes and not by faith onely And he that saieth Eccles 18. lette nothing staye thee from continuall prayer nor forbid thee to be iustified to thy death teacheth that prayer is a meane to iustifie whiche Chrysostome expresseth in more playne woordes Chrysost Tom 5. de orand saying vtiampiam ac cultu Dei dignam miris modis oratio conciliat conciliatam auget Prayer doth meruelously winne and gette a good life and increaseth it when it is a gotten Christ him selfe calleth prayer fasting and asmosedeede our iustice and sure we are that he is iuste who doth iustice Math. 6. 1. Ioan.
and luste through a loue settled where it should not be pulled from God and delyte heauenly and settled on him selfe and thinges transitorie And as that peruerse loue which is called luste made him of good and righteouse August in Praefat. Psal 31. August in Titul Psal 64. euill and sinnefull so in all that descende of his race yll loue and luste maketh an yll man and good loue which is called Charitie maketh a good man. Interoget se quisque quid amet inueniet vnde sit Ciuis Lette euery man aske of him selfe what he loueth and he shall finde whereof he is a Citizen That is to saie whether he be of the Citie of God or of the Diuell Charitie yt ys that altereth and chaungeth the hearte and the hearte is it that chaungeth the woorkes Muta cor mutabitur opus August Serm. 12. de verb. Dom. Change the heart saith S. Augustine and the woorke will be changed And howe the hearte is changed it foloweth Extirpa cupiditatem planta charitatem Roote out luste and ill desire plante charitie for as luste is the roote of all yll so is charitie the roote of all good No man is iustified but he that is made a good man and charitie it is that maketh a man good Aug. Enchi c. 117 For when the question is asked whether any one be a good man it is not demaunded what he beleueth or what he hopeth but what he loueth For who so loueth rightly without doubt he beleueth rightly Al men wil confesse that no man can be iustified vnlesse he know God be new borne of God translated from death of the sowle to lyfe fourmed of newe and graffed in Christe and finally made a new creature For who so euer remaineth without knowledge of God and continueth in the olde estate of Adam is the childe of anger in the state of iuste damnation and farre from iustice If then it plainely appeare that all these fiue pointes be wroughte in vs especially by charitie wee must needes confesse that charitie doth not onely worke but singularly worke in the acte of our Iustification To proue the firste and seconde pointe S. Iohn saith Euerie man that loueth 1. Ioan. 4. is borne of God and knoweth God. He that loueth not knoweth not God for God is charitie The thirde pointe he proueth by these wordes 1. Ioan. 3. Nos scimus We knowe that we are translated from death to lyfe bicause we loue our brethren he that loueth not remaineth in death August in expo epist ad Galat. Of the fourth point S. Augustine saith formatur Christus in eo qui formam accepit Christi Christ is formed in him that hath receiued the fourme and shape of Christ but he it is that receiueth the shape of Christ who cleaueth faste to Christe by a gostely and spirituall loue The fifte pointe is proued by S. Paule who taketh it for al one to be made a newe creature and to haue faith that worketh throughe charitie For as he saieth Galat. 5. In Christe Iesu neither circumcision Galat. 6. nor to be without circumcision auaileth ought but faith that worketh through charitie So he saith Neither circumcision nor to be without circumcision auaileth ought but the newe creature This being proued that man knoweth God is borne of God translated from death to life newe fourmed in Christe and finally made a newe creature by Charitie it is also proued consequentely that man is iustified especially through Charitie I go not abowte here to abase the excellente gifte of faith nor to saie charitie onely iustifieth excluding faith which is the foundation of all rightuousenes my intente is onely to shewe howe shamefull a diuorce they make that parte these so wel agreeing vertues in the acte of our Iustification whiche God hath ioined together Matth. 19 Leo serm 7. de quadrag For trewely it is saied Charitas robur est fidei fides fortitudo est charitatis Charitie is the force of faith faith is the strength of Charitie and then is the name trewe and trew fruite of bothe when eche remayneth sure and faste knitte to other Seing then that Iustification is the greatest fruite that can come of faith it foloweth that the same can not be had without thaid of charity Faith may be in a man without charitie but it maketh no man rightuouse and iuste but by charitie S. Augustine saith A man may beleue that Christ is Christ by faith without hope and charitie but he can not beleue in Christe whiche is as muche to saie as to be vnited and made a member of Christe without hope and charitie Aug. Ser. 61. De ver De. Qui credit in Christum c. who so beleueth in Christe by his beleuing Christe commeth vnto him and by some meanes he is made one with Christ and a member of his body which can not be done vnlesse hope and charitie be ioined also In which place three thinges are to be noted first he saith that faith alone is sufficiente for vs to beleue that Christe is Christe Next he saith that faith alone is not inough to make a man the member of Christ Thirdely he saith that faith hope and charity ioined together make a man the member of Christ Wherefore seing that to be iustified is nothing els but to be made a member of Christ it is a plaine matter with S. Augustine that faith only can not iustifie bicause it can not make a man the member of Christe And for as muche as that effecte is wroughte by the three vertues ioined together it foloweth also that hope and charitie worke in the acte of our Iustification as well as Faith. Faith can not onely iustifie no man without charitie but as S. Bernarde saieth dieth if charitie be pulled from it Bernar. Ser. 24. super Canti Mors fidei est separatio charitatis It is the death of Faith to be parted from charitie And he that diuideth them saith he is fideicida a murtherer of Faith. A deade faith can not geue life to the sowle Mortuam Apostolus definit eamesse Iaco. 2. And the Apostle S. Iames determineth that faith to be deade that worketh not by loue Quasi non habens animam ipsam dilectionem Bernar. Epist 42. Bicause she hath not loue whiche is her very sowle If faith when she is without charitie wanteth her sowle and life without the which she can doo no acte howe should she without charitie worke that greate acte of our Iustification To make the matter plaine we shall neede but one argument grounded vppon the wordes of S. Paule Gala. 5. In Christ Iesu neither circumcision nor to be without circumcision auaileth any thing but faith that worketh through charitie If that be the Faithe that auaileth whiche worketh through charitie then faithe alone destitute of charitie auaileth nothing If it auaile nothing muche lesse dothe it worke our Iustification For that is not onely somewhat but
est By the which onely he is trewly iuste who so euer is iust But to declare that his minde was not to make any such separation Ib. cap. 70. he saith it is the charitie that commeth from a pure harte a good conscience and vnsained faith He might allege for him th' authoritie of S. Ihon th'Euangelist who being required by his scholers a litle before his death to teach them some perfecte lesson Hier. li. 3. com in epist ad Galat. cap. 6. whereby they might liue well and haue cause to remembre him said my children loue one an other And when they looked for more he repeted the same againe and said It is our Lords commaundement and if there be no more done but that it is inough He should haue Prosper to say for him De vit contēpla li. 3. ca. 13 Charitie is a summarie and abbridgement of all good doings of the which euery good worke taketh his life without the which neuer man pleased God. S. Bede would say Homi. aestiua in lita maio Ser. 7. de Epipha Chrysost tom 1. fol. 176. Charitie is the principall vertue in so muche that without that vertue other principall vertues can not be Leo would call her the mother of all vertues and Chrysostome the mother of all goodnes And thus haue I proued not only that faith without charitie iustifieth no man but also that charitie hath a souereine working in the acte of our Iustification without the which faith auaileth nothing and so doth not faith alone iustifie nor exclude charitie An answere to obiections that be made to proue that faith alone iustifieth without charitie THE IIII. CHAPTER BVT leste the mainteiners of Iustification by onely faith should seeme to be without all ground and to exclude charitie without colour of reason they frame one especiall argument which for the readers better satisfaction I will put forth and answere here The argument is this We be iustified by faith without all workes of the Lawe Charitie is a worke of the Lawe Ergo we be iustified by faith without charitie To the which I answere with S. Augustine that their second proposition deceiueth them for that charitie is not onely a worke of the lawe but also the gifte of the holy Ghost in the newe testament Rom 5. S. Paule saith the charitie of God is powred abrode in our hartes through the holy Ghost that is geuen vs. 1. Ioha 4. And S. Iohn saith Moste dearely beloued let vs loue one an other for loue commeth of God. Vppon which wordes S. Augustines answere is De grat li. arb cap. 18. Cùm dicitur diligamus inuicem lex est Cùm dicitur quia dilectio ex Deo est gratia est When it is said Lette vs loue one an other it is the lawe when it is said for loue commeth of God it is grace He maketh this the greatest differēce betwene th' old and new testament that where as in the old God lead his people by terror and feare in the newe he geueth them plenty of his charitie and loue Contr. Adiman cap. 17. De spirit lit cap. 17. Item cap. 21. ca. 16. Haec est breuissima c. This is the shortest and plainest difference of both testaments feare and loue Ibi in tabulis lapideis There the holy Ghost wrought in tables of stone here in mens hartes And what be the lawes of God writen by God him self in mennes hartes but the presence of the holy Ghost who is the singer of God by whose presence charitie is powred abrode in our hartes which is the fulfilling of the law Thus doo we see that charitie is not onely a worke of the law but also the fruite of the holy Ghost the speciall token of the new testament wrought in our hartes by the holy Ghost And so hath S. Augustine answered this argument xi hundred yeares before they were borne that lately haue made it And whereas it is saied that faith onely iustifieth What it is truely to apprehēd Christe bicause faith onely apprehendeth Christe I aske what is meant by the terme of Apprehension If it be to beleue onely that Christ died for sinners that alone iustifieth no man for the Diuelles beleue it and tremble Iacob 2. bicause they hope not to be partakers of that benefite nor loue him that purchased it If to apprehend Christe be vnderstanded to dwell in Christe and to haue him dwell in vs it is not true that Christe is apprehended in that sorte by onely faith without charitie For it is saied 1 Ioan 4. God is charitie and he that dwelleth in charitie dwelleth in God and God in him And Christ him selfe saith Si quis diligit me Ioan. 14. sermonem meum seruabit Pater meus diliget eum ad eum veniemus mansionem apud eum faciemus If a man loue me he will kepe my saying and my Father wil loue him and to him will we come and make our abode with him By these woordes let the Reader learne what it is truely and profitably to apprehend Christe He apprehendeth Christ truly Aug. ser 61. de ver Dom. tract in Ioan. 29. that is vnited and made a member of Christe whiche as I haue proued in the last Chapter can not be done without hope and charitie He apprehendeth Christ truely that cleaueth vnto Christ and the glue whereby the sowle is fastned vnto Christe saith S. Augustine is charitie Ipsum gluten est charitas In Psal 62 If it be said that faith apprehendeth the promise Christ hath promised lyfe euerlasting to suche as become his friendes Ioan. 15. Heb. 5. And they be his friendes that keepe his commaundements He is made a cause of life euerlasting but to such as obey him The promise is made to the children of Abraham that is to suche as haue the faith and obedience of Abraham whereof I shall speake at large hereafter Chapt. 23. And so is it true that faith alone neither apprehendeth Christe nor his promise profitablie vnlesse hope and Charitie be ioyned vnto it That Faith excludeth not Hope in the acte of our Iustification THE V. CHAPTER Of Hope AS God requireth of such as come to his seruice that they stedfastly beleeue in him and with all their heartes loue him So doth he also require of them to repose al hope and affiance in him onely saying by his Prophete Iere. 17. Maledictus homo qui confidit in homine Cursed is the man that putteth his trust in man. And by the same Prophete Iere. 9. 1. Cor. 1. Psal 107. Psal 33. Let not the wise bragge in his wisedome neither lette the strong boast in his strength Nor lette the riche glorie in his riches But lette him that boasteth boast in our Lorde Wherefore as mans power to saue is vaine and he vnhappie that trusteth in it so happie is the man that trusteth in God. Of so great force is a
Gods mercy and to doe no good workes Fol. 33. b. Chap. 2 VVhence the opinion came that onely Faith iustifieth And of diuers kindes of mainteining the same Fol. 34. b. Chap. 3 That Faith excludeth not Charity in our Iustification 36. a Chap. 4 An Aunswere to Obiections that be made to proue that Faith alone iustifieth without Charitie Fol. 40. a. Chap. 5 That Faith excludeth not Hope in the acte of our Iustification Fol. 41. b. Chap. 6 That Faith excludeth not the working of Sacramentes in our Iustification Fol. 43. b. Chap. 7 VVhat is the true meaning of these woordes in the Scripture VVe are iustified by Faith or saued by Faith. Fol. 47. a. Chap. 8 That S. Paule teacheth not Iustification by onely Faith excluding Charitie And in what sense the Fathers sometime saie Faith alone iustifieth Fol. 51. a. Chap. 9 How Abraham was iustified VVhat his Faith was and who be the true children of Abraham Fol. 56. a. Cha. 10 That there is no contrarietie betwene S. Paul and S. Iames concerning the Doctrine of Iustification Fol. 60. a. Cha. 11 That Faith alone without good workes saueth not And what it is to be iustified freely by Grace Fol. 62. b. Cha. 12 VVhat they were who in sundrie ages haue taught that men should be saued without good vvorkes Fol. 65. b. Cha. 13 The cause why good works are don and that they are rewarded in this life with increase of grace and in the world to come with life euerlasting and why thei be so rewarded 67. a Cha. 14 An Answere to certaine Obiections made against the reward of good workes Fol. 72. a. Cha. 15 VVhat assurance of his Iustification and saluation a Christian man may haue in this life Fol. 75. b. Cha. 16 Of the fruites and ende of our Iustification and what strength in wel doing God geueth thereby where it is truely receiued and effectually put in vre and the waie to come to it Fol. 80. a. FINIS CERTAINE TREATIES OF THE AVNCIENT HOLY FATHERS TOVCHING THE DOCTRINE OF good woorkes Namely A Treatie of S. Augustine whiche he Intituled Of Faith and VVorkes Item a Sermon of S. Chrysostome of Praying vnto God. Item a Sermon of S. Basil of Fasting Item certaine Sermons of S. Leo the Great of the same matter Last of al a notable Sermon of S. Cyprian of Almes dedes Al newly translated into English by Thomas Coppley esquier Tobia 12. Bona est Oratio cum Ieiunio Eleemosyna magis quà m Thesauros auri recondere Quoniam Eleemosyna à morte liberat ipsa est quae purgat peccata facit inuenire vitam aeternam Prayer is good with Fasting and Almes better then to hide vppe treasures of golde For Almes deliuereth from death and shee it is which purgeth sinnes and maketh to finde life euerlasting LOVANII Apud Ioannem Foulerum Anno. 1569. CVM PRIVILEGIO The Translatour to the Reader THE loue that naturally men beare to peace and quiet is so great that there can fall no controuersie emong such as be of the better sorte but they seeke meanes euer to compounde and pacifie it Either they referre the decision of it to the Iudge ordinarie of the lawe or if they mistruste th' execution thereof either bicause the iudge doth not fullie vnderstande the matter or els for that they thinke him partiall of either side they seeke the arbitrement and sentence of some good man whome they thinke bothe to vnderstande perfitely right and iustice and take him to be affectionate of neither parte In which doing they flee not from the lawe but seeke the true and right vnderstanding thereof without affection at his handes I considering this order Christian Reader and moued with the Charitie that should binde vs all 2. Cor. 5. waying with my selfe the great controuersie that hath benne in this age about sundrie pointes of Religion namely in the article of our Iustification seing also that the matter tendeth not to the losse of patrimonie or landes but to the plaine disherison of life euerlasting and that emong vs who all professe to be the children of peace I haue bene desirouse to propounde some meane of Pacification And bicause I see the trauaile that sundrie men haue taken as it were pleading in this cause hath not ended the controuersie either bicause the doers were thoughte to be parties of the one side and thereby affectionat either bicause being borne in this age and liuing in the time of the controuersie they had not the autoritie and credite of Iudges I haue thought good to moue all such as finde in them selues either controuersie or doubt concerning that matter to putte their owne opinion in arbitrement and compromisse Not calling them hereby from the holy Scriptures which as a Soueraine lawe the diuine wisedome hath lefte vnto vs but leading them to the true vnderstanding of the holy Scriptures vttered by such as God hath placed in his Churche Ephe. 4. Danie 12. to be Pastor us and teachers to instructe manie to rightuousnes I offer for Arbitrators not men of this age such as may be thought any waie partiall or suspected but such as in all mens iudgementes and for all respectes be or should be without exception For the principall pointe of Iustification I offer S. Augustine a reuerend and most lerned Bishop in the Catholike Churche not onely in high estimation in all Christian Regions emong all estates and degrees during his life but also for his excellent vertue worthely after his death taken for a Saincte and for his singuler learning and knowledge in holy Scriptures taken for one of the foure Doctours and that the principallest of the Latin Churche as one meete whome all learned menne should followe as a lanterne and light in decision of matters of greatest weight Who also in expounding of the holy Scriptures may be the more safely trusted for that he had in all his writinges a speciall care not to seeke his priuate and singular opinion in the vnderstanding of them Lib. Confess 12. cap. 25. as appereth by his owne woordes saying that God hath terribly geuen vs warning that wee should not drawe his truthe to our owne priuate construction leste wee were depriued of it Luther in Sermone Germa ad mulieres partus Infelicita afflictas Phi. Melanc in decla de S. Augustino Caluinus Institut cap. 18. And therefore hauing his opinion thou arte sure to haue the opinion of that moste learned age that he liued in Againe bicause that time framed vnto it selfe no newe doctrine thou knowest also by him what was the opinion of the Church before his time euen from the Apostles vnto his age And bicause he hath not ben contraried in that matter of any godly and learned before this oure age yea and in this our age is highly commended of suche as haue bene of greatest credite euen of the contrary side thou knowest by him what hath bene the opinion of the Churche in all times
vnto coles but being taken out of the fier it appereth more pure as doth water being clarified Such were the bodies of those three children in Babylon hauing thorough fasting the vnconsumptible nature of the Amianthon For in the great flame of the fornaice they being as of the nature of golde did ouercome all the force of the fier Yea they appeared to be of muche more excellencie then golde For the fire dyd not mealt them but preserued them whole Yea and that Naphtha apud Dioscor lib. 1. cap. 99. when nothing in the worlde did stay or keepe backe the flame But contrary Naphtha a kinde of naturall and vnquencheable lime pitche and small twygges dyd so nourrishe it that it was spread the length of xlix cubites and so feeding rounde about consumed many of the Chaldeans The children then being entred with bodies purified by fasting did treade vnder their feete and ouercomme that deadly fier breathing a moiste aire as it were a sweet dewe vpon that vehement fier whiche yet durst not touche so muche as their heare bicause the same had ben bred and nourished by fasting Dani. 9. Daniell also the man of God specially beloued whoo in three weekes neither eate bread nor drancke water being put downe into the denne taught also euen the lions to fast Dani. 6. For as though he had ben made euen of stone or brasse or some other harder substaunce the lions could not once enter their teeth into him So had fasting hardened the body of the man as steeled yron and made it inuincible to the lions Nay they coulde not so muche as once open theire mouthe against that holy man. Fasting quenched the force of the fier Fasting stopped the mouthes of the lions Fasting sendeth praier vp to heauen being as it were a winge thereunto to carry it vpward Fasting is the wealth of the howse the mother of health and the schoolemaster of youth Fasting is an ornamente to olde menne a good companion to wayfaring persons a safe and trusty conuictour to such as dwell together The husband suspecteth not to be deceiued by his wife when he seeth her delight in fasting The wife fretteth not with ielousie when she seeth her husband geeuen to fasting Who euer sawe a house decaie by fasting Vewe what thinges are at this daie within thy house and surueie them agayne hereafter and thou shalt find nothing thereof wanting through fasting No beast or other liue thinge lamenteth his death No bloud is seene in thy house No heauie sentence of death geeuen by the vnsatiable belly against the poore beastes The cookes knife is at rest The table of the faster is content with such thinges as voluntarily do rise and growe of the earth The Sabaoth was geeuen to the Iewes Exo. 20. That thy beast saith God and thy seruaunt may be at rest Let thy fasting be a rest of continuall labours vnto thy seruauntes that serue thee all the yeere Suffer thy cooke to be quiet Geue rest vnto thy Sewer Forbeare the hand of thy cupbearer and butler Let him haue some repose who prepareth thy manyfold Iouncats and bancketting disshes Let thy house sometime be quiete from those innumerable tumultes from smoke fulsom sauour of rost and from the running vp and doune of them that do nought but minister vnto the bellie as to a dame that can neuer be pleased Euen exacters of tributes do sometime affoord some libertie to the subiectes Let the belly likewise geue some truce to the mouthe Let that which is euer crauing and neuer ceasseth which receiueth to day and forgetteth to morrowe geue vs truce for fiue daies When it is full then it disputeth of abstinence When the meate is a litle passed then it forgetteth quite all such doctrine Fasting knoweth not the nature of death The table of the faster dooth not sauer of vserie The fathers vseries doo not strangle the litle child of the faster in his nonage winding about him like serpentes And truly besides all this sometime to faste is a meane to the increase of pleasure and delight For as thirst maketh drinke to seeme pleasaunt and as hunger gone before dooth make the furnished table the more delight some right so dooth fasting encrease the gladsome lyking of meates For that putting it selfe betwene and thereby interrupting in part the continual glut of delicacies shall make the receiuing thereof againe the more pleasaunt euen as of a friend retourned from far countries Wherfore if thou wilt make vnto thy selfe thy table pleasaunt take vnto thee somtime a chaunge by fasting But thou that art excessiuely possessed with the looue of deliciousnes doost not perceiue that thou diminishest much of thy delight by continuall vsage thereof and for looue of pleasure lesest in dede the chiefest pleasure For nothing is so pleasaunt but that by continuall fruition it waxeth fulsome But of those thinges which are rarely had the fruition is delightsome A Similitude Euen in this sort he which hath made vs hath deuised that by chaunge and orderly retourne of thinges in this life the pleasure of those thinges which he hath graunted vs might still remaine with delight vnto vs. Doest thou not see how after night the sonne is more bewtiful And waking more pleasaunt after sleepe And health the more desired and esteemed after feeling of sicknes and aduersitie Euen so after fasting is the table also the better welcome both vnto riche menne and suche as haue it well furnished and also to poore folke which haue but from hand to mouth that which the earth yeldeth Luc. 16. Feare the example of the riche man. Deliciousnes of life brought him to the fier For he was not broiled in the flame of the furnaice bicause he was accused of any iniustice but for his soft and delicate life We haue therefore nede of water to quenche that fire And fasting is not only profitable for the time to coome but also presently very healthsome vnto the bodie For the best health and state of mannes bodie being growen vp to the highest falleth backe and decaieth of it selfe very nature failing and not being hable to beare the burthen of so great strength Beware least thou which now spittest water doo not hereafter with the riche man desire and longe after a drop of water No man euer surfeted of water No mans head did euer ake and was heauy with water No man passing his life with drincking of water had euer any neede of an other mans feete No mans legges haue bene bound no mans handes made vnprofitable by drinking of water For the default about disgestion which necessarily happeneth to suche as liue delicately doth bring vnto their bodies vehement diseases The coulour of the man that fasteth is reuerent not flowring vp to an vnshamefast readnes but adorned with a temperate palenes His eye is gentle his gate humble his face modest not disgraced by fonde lawghter his speeche moderate his hart sincere and pure Calle to thy remembrance the
curing and healing againe of those woundes Finally deerely belooued brethern the worde of God hath neuer ceased hath neuer bene silent but in the holy Scriptures bothe olde and newe alwaies and in al places hath stirred Gods people to woorkes of mercy the holie Ghost still crying out and exhorting vs that who so euer is instructed to the hope of the Kingdome of heauen should doo almose deedes God willeth and commaunded Esaie saying Crie out strongly and spare not Esaie 58. Lifte vp thy voice as a trumpet and shewe foorthe vnto my people their sinnes and to the house of Iacob their iniquitees And when he had commaunded theyr sinnes to be vpbrayded vnto them and when he had vttered their wickednes with full force of indignation and had saied that they could not with praiers or fastinges satisfy for their sinnes no nor appease the wrathe of God though they should be wrapped in asshes and shertes of heare yet in the last part shewing that God might be appeased only by almose dedes he added this saying Ibidem Breake thy bread vnto the hungry and the nedy wanting harborough leade into they house I thou see one naked cloth him and the houshold of thy kinne doo not despise Then shall thy light breake foorthe in timely season thy health shall soone appere and iustice shal goe before thee and the brightnesse of God shal cōpasse the round about Then shalt thou cry out and God shal heare thee and while thou art yet speaking shall saie vnto the Beholde I am at hande Thus we see that remedies to winne Gods fauour were geeuen by Gods owne woordes And what sinners ought to doo Gods instructions haue shewed and taught Againe that by iust woorkes satisfaction is made to God that sinnes are purged by merites of mercy wee reade in Salomon also Eccles 29. Close vppe thine almose saith he in the bosome of the poore and he shall praie and entreate for thee against al ill And againe Prouer. 21 He that stoppeth his eares not to heare the weake and needy him selfe shall call vppon the Lorde and shall not be heard For he can not deserue the mercy of our Lorde whiche is not him selfe mercifull or obtaine of Gods fauour any thing in his praier who is not gentill to the praier of the oorep This also doth the holy Ghoste declare and proue in the Psalmes Psal 40. saying Blessed is hee that hath regarde to the needy and poore Our Lorde shall deliuer him in the euill daie Whiche preceptes Daniell hauing in minde Daniel 4. when the Kinge Nabuchodonosor being feared with a terrible dreame boiled in great anguishe of minde he gaue him remedie for the turning awaie and mitigating of those euils by obtaining God his helpe saying Therefore ô King let my counsel please thee redeeme thy sinnes with almose deedes and thy vnrightuousnes with mercy on the poore and God shall be mercifull ouer thy sinnes To whome the Kinge not obeying suffered the terrours and aduersities whiche he sawe in his dreame whiche yet he might haue escaped and auoided if hee woulde haue redeemed his sinnes by almes deedes Also Raphael the Angell dooth witnesse the lyke and exhorteth that almes be willingly and bountefully geeuen Raphael Angelus saying Praier is good with fasting and almes for almes deliuereth from death and it purgeth sinnes Hee sheweth that our praiers and fasting be of the lesse force if they be not helped with almes deedes and that praiers alone are of littell efficacie to intreate vnlesse they be filled vppe and helped with the adioyning of deedes and woorkes Praiers vvithout vvorkes are of small force The Angell dooth reuele open and testifie vnto vs that our praiers are made effectual by almes deedes that by almes life is redeemed from perill by almes soules are deliuered from death Neither doo we derely beloued Brethern so auouch these thinges but that wee shall with the very testimony of Truth it selfe confirme that which the Angel Raphael hath saied In the actes of the Apostles we haue good proofe hereof and by a fact done we plainly finde that soules are by almose deliuered not onely from the second death of hell but also from the first death of this present life Tabitha being a wooman much geuen and addicted to good woorkes and dooing of almose when by sickenes she had departed this life Peter was sent forth vnto the dead carcas whoo when readely and gently as it becomed the mekenesse of an Apostle he was come thither there stood about him a sorte of widowes weeping and intreating him and shewing vnto him the clokes coates and all other the clothing which they had before receaued of her making sute for her being dead not so much by their woordes as by showe of her owne woorkes The good intention helpeth muche praier Peter perceiued that the thing in suche sorte sued for might be obtained and that the helpe of Christe would not want at the sute of the widowes since him selfe was also clothed in the widowes Therefore when kneeling downe vpon his knees he had praied and as a fitte aduocate had vttered and sent vp vnto God the praiers made vnto him by the widdowes and the poore turning then to the bodie which being wasshed lay alreadie vpon a borde he said Tabitha arise in the name of Ihesu Christ Neither did he faile Peter but straight way gaue helpe who in the Ghospell had saied that what soeuer were asked in his name should be graunted Death therefore was suspended life retourned and the reuiued body restored quicke to light all the company muche maruailing and being not a little astonnied thereat Of suche force were the merites of mercy of suche value and power were good workes Merites of vvorkes Shee that to the needy widowes had geuen reliefe and succour of life deserued at the praiers of the widowes to be restored to life The teacher therefore of oure life and the maister of our eternall saluation geeuing life to the people beleeuing and prouiding for euer for them on s brought to life doth emong his diuine commaundementes and heauenly preceptes in the Ghospell will and charge nothing more often then that wee should continue and persist in geuing almose that wee should not lie and grouell vpon our earthly possessions but rather hearde vppe to our selues some heauenly treasures Sell your goodes saith hee and geue almose And againe Lay not vppe to your selues treasures vppon earth Luc. 12. where mothe and rust spoileth and decaieth and where theeues digge vp and steale but heape vppe vnto your selues treasures in heauen where neither mothe nor rust doth consume and where theeues do not breake vp and steale for where thy treasure is there will also thy hart bee And when he woulde teache one that had obserued the lawe howe he should be perfite he saied If thou wilt be perfite goe and sell all that thou hast and geue it to the poore and thou shalt haue treasure