although he haue not as yet any supernaturall grace bestowed on him To this we answere confessing that the true illumination of the minde can not be seuered from freedome of will but yet that neither the one nor the other can be attained vnto by the naturall inclination of the will who although he may by naturall meanes get a superficiall and as it is vsually called an historicall knowledge of all the pointes of religion yet is it impossible for him to gette any such true knowledge as will be effectuall to moue his will in the choyse of good For howsoeuer many carnall men seeme to haue a great measure of diuine knowledge yet they are farre from being firmly grounded in the trueth but doe make a faire shew of religion faith and holinesse whenas their heartes are full of Atheisme vnbeleife and all sinfulnesse in the which for the most part they are more wilfull stubborne and desperate then they who are altogether voide of knowledge Neither indeede is it any maruaile that a naturall man should be vnable to resist and offer violence to his nature to denie himselfe and all worldly pleasures to forsake his sinnes which are more pleasant to him then life it selfe and all for hope of eternall saluation whereof he neither seeth any probability for the time present nor can haue any certainty and assuraunce for the time to come If it be here asked what shoulde be the hinderaunce why man being now sinfull cannot as well enclinâ— himselfe to good as he being innocent did choose euill and so returne to his first state by the same way whereby he fell from it We answere that as a man hauing his sight and life hath in his owne power either to keepe them or to spoile himselfe of them by putting out his eyes and by killing himselfe yet after that he is blinde and deade he is not able to take againe vnto himselfe his sight and life so man being in his innocency endued with spirituall life and a ready inclination to all good had power to continue in that estate if he had so thought good but after that he had once by freedome of will lost the goodnesse of his will and wholly depriued himselfe of the spirituall life of holinesse he coulde not being nowe deade in sinne restore himselfe to the state of life And therefore he hath no more power of choosing good then a dead man wanting the fountaine of motion is able to mooue himselfe about any businesse If it be further asked why the word of God biddeth men beleeue forsake their sinnes turne themselues to God repent be holy refuse euill and choose the good if so be they are by nature altogether vnable to do any of these things or how that men can be iustly blamed or condemned for not doing that which is not incident into their nature neither possible to be performed by any naturall man and lastly why men shoulde trouble themselues in vsing the meanes of attaining to regeneration saluation seeing that all their labour is in vaine without the supernaturall worke of God and not rather sit still and expect the time wherein the Lord wil change their natures make them capable of holinesse We answere in one word to all these doubtes that the scripture bidding men to choose good and become holy doth commaund nothing but that which is in their power to do and therefore doth not meane that men should goe about to change their owne corrupt natures and indue themselues with spirituall graces but onely that they should be carefull in vsing the meanes of holinesse as namely the abstaining from those sinnes whereunto they are giuen the auoyding of the occasions of them the hearing of the word of God the doing of whatsoeuer is effectuall for this purpose and may be done by an vnregenerate man but whenas men are altogether carelesse of their owne saluation contemning the word of God and all other meanes of it yea adding one measure of sinfulnesse to an other who can deny but that they make themselues subiect to the iust sentence of eternall damnation And therefore this naturall impotency of will which is in man ought not to make any man cease from vsing the meanes of saluation for howsoeuer it be impossible for him or any other creature to change his owne heart and nature yet he shall finde God to be ready and neare at hand to all those that call vpon him and neuer to be wanting for his part It remaineth that we doe briefly shewe what liberty and ability of will is remaining in man in this corrupt state wherein if he haue no will he hath not in him the whole fountaine of life motion and so he is no man yea in truth worse then any brute beast if he haue a will it is eyther a free will or else no will yet this freedome of will is not indefinite neyther doth it make him omnipotent therefore we are to see how farre it reacheth For the knowledge whereof we are to distinguish betwixt the natures of thinges indifferent and of those which are simplie good or euill In the first kinde we are to recken all common actions as to eat to drinke to mary to sleepe to build to plough to learne to teach to study to speake to thinke and all other thinges of the same kind which are neither commanded nor forbidden in the word of God In all these man hath freewill being able of himselfe to incline himselfe to the doing or not doing of any of them as daily experience doth plainely prooue But it is not so with him in the other kinde of thinges eyther in choosing good or in reiecting euill yet he hath some freedome in these thinges also first of good then of euill In the good thinges we are to consider the outward action and the inward grace in the outward action a carnall man hath free-will being able to encline himselfe to the doing or not doing of it For example a carnall man may heare the word of God or not heare worship God or not worshippe him relieue the necessities of the Church or not doe it suffer martyrdome for the profession of the gospell or performe the outward action of any christian duety but as touching the inward grace it is not in his power to get it but only to leaue it As he cannot indue his owne mind with the true knowledge of God with the feare of God with the loue of the godly and therefore his outward action is but a painted sheath or sepulcher not effectuall to his owne saluation yea in trueth not to be esteemed good Againe an vnregenerate man may of himselfe seeke and get inward graces as some knowledge of God iustice temperance chastity patience and such other Yet this doth not make him to haue freewil to good for first in the question of freewill this word Good signifieth not any one or a fewe particular graces or actions but a generall holinesse
entisements in all things Lastly as touching supplication which we make the third filial duty man is so wholly alienated from God that what necessitie soeuer do pinche him he hath not either the minde or the will and as we vse to speake neither the heart nor the face once to go to God by humble prayer for helpe He flyeth to worldly meanes as to his own wisdome strength riches and friendes and if all faile yet he will rather seeke for helpe by sorcery and witchcraft at the hands of his newe father the diuell then he will by prayer call vpon the name of God Thus are all vnregenerate men affected howsoeuer in a shew of religion or as a common prouerbe they will somtimes say God helpe me or God be mercifull to me whereas in trueth they being destitute of faith haue no confidence in God neither any hope of obtaining any thing at his hand Neither is there any cause why they shoulde thinke otherwise for God doth not heare and helpe but detest and plague vnbeleeuers Sect. 3. Of filiall subiection renewed THus we see how man is altogether spoiled by the malice of Sathan of this excellent dignitie of being the sonne of God but by the mercie of God he recouereth it in the state of regeneration in as ample manner as he had it in his first creation For as all naturall men are in Adam vngratious bastardes so they become the sonnes of God in Christ not by partaking his eternall and essentiall filiation whereof no creature is capable but by being renewed and made conformable to the holinesse of his humaine nature For as man lost this dignitie by loosing the image of God to wit his perfect holinesse by vertue whereof he onely of all earthly creatures was the sonne of God so being nowe by the spirite of God restored to the saide image of God he is together restored to the dignitie of being the sonne of God Ioh. 1. 12. As many as beleeued in him to those he gaue power to be the sonnes of God For as we read 2. Pet. 1. 4. We are made partakers of his diuine nature that is of the image or resemblaunce of the diuine nature in that we fly the corruption of lust which is in the world From this prerogatiue of being the sonnes of God the scripture speaking to men according to the manner of men whose sonnes do in time enioy their fathers possessions stirreth vp the faithfull to an vndoubted expectation of eternall glory Gal. 4. 7. We are no more seruantes but sonnes and the heires of God through Christ Rom. 8. 17. If we be sonnes then are we heires the heires truly of God and the fellow heires of Christ and 1. Iohn 3. 2. We are nowe the sonnes of God although our inheritaunce doth not appeare till Christ appeare Nowe to proceed As the faithfull are restored to this dignitie so they are indued by the spirite of God with the disposition belonging to it being so affected to God as children ought to be to their naturall fathers They reuerence him aboue al thinges in the worlde in worde and deed in minde harte and in all their behauiour The great securitie and certainty which they haue of their owne good estate doth not make them any way presumptuous neither doth the familiarity which God vouchsafeth to haue with them as with freindes Ioh. 15 15. Breed in them any contempt of God but they stand continually in awe of him and of his glorious presence yeelding to him his due honour both in word deed and affection whensoeuer they haue any occasion to deale with him This we may obserue as in the other seruants of God so especially in Abraham who although he was the friend of God as he is called Iam. 2. 23. And had familiar conuersation and talke with God as one friende vseth to haue with another yet he durst not speake the second time to God in the behalfe of the Sodomites without vsing some preface of reuerence saying Gen. 18. 27. Behold I haue taken vpon me to speake to God who am but dust and ashes And againe Vers. 30 let not my lord be angrie if I speake for them This affection of the faithfull is described Psal. 123 As the eyes of the seruant are vpon his lord and as the handmaid doth modestly waite in presence of her mistris so are we affected to God Likewise for the second duty which is Imitation the faithfull man endeuoureth by all meanes to conforme himselfe to the absolute puritie and holinesse of God Whereof the Apostle hauing wise consideration vseth the examples of Christes death and resurrection as most forcible argumentes to enforce the mortification of sinne and the viuification of all holynesse in vs Rom. 6. and Eph. 5. 1. Be ye followers of God as beloued children Lastly As a sonne being pinched with any griefe or want doth straight way run to his father for reliefe so doe the faithfull in the manifolde miseries and crosses of this present life seeke for helpe at the handes of their heauenly father For the which purpose they are indued with a notable gift of God called the spirit of prayer that is the grace ability or faculty of praying wrought in them by the holy spirite This grace of God is diligently to be declared and considered for that of all the partes of mans holinesse none is a more vnfallible signe of true regeneration then is this gift of prayer whereby a man is made able willing and ready to pray aright vnto God as the present occasion doth require For this gifte consisteth of many particular graces of Gods spirit the which are needfull for the right performance of this duety and cannot be founde in any carnall man First there is required the true knowledge of those things which belong vnto the good happy state of man which is not attained but by the worke of the holy spirite Rom. 8. 26. We know not for what to pray as we ought but the spirit helpeth our infirmity For all men generally and naturally feele their temporall wants as pouerty sicknesse shame and whatsoeuer belongeth to the maintenance of this present life but as for spirituall graces as the knowledge and feare of God faith loue patience and the rest which concerne their eternall saluation they neuer trouble themselues in seeking them or are greeued for the want of them nay for the most part they neuer thinke of any such matter or knowe what these thinges meane Besides none can pray aright yea although he be enlightned with some knowledge of the spirituall state of man and haue a glimmering of the thinges belonging vnto it as a carnal man may haue vnlesse he haue true faith wherby he may be assured that god both loueth him and wil graunt his requests Rom. 10. 14. The Apostle maketh it impossible for him who doth not beleeue in God to call vpon him But the
honour and all manner of worldly things such a one may become a vertuous and holy man but vsually he is so in euery respect that a man may see plainly in him a patterne of the encrease of naturall sinfulnesse Lastly spie out one of a gentle nature and ingenuous countenance vertuously brought vp from his first infancie hauing neuer vsed any euill companie but being continually giuen of himselfe to get learning and all manner of knowledge yea carefully inured by his parents tutors and teachers to the dayly practise and exercise of what soeuer thing is honest good right any way cōmendable lastly who hath no tru touch of religion is indued with a competent portion measure of the giftes of nature of fortune as they are ignorantly termed this man although he may by the peruersnesse of his corrupt nature treade all these things vnder his feete and become verie vitious yet vsually he may be an example of the decrease of naturall sinfulnesse These three men are all carnall and sinfull yet there is greate difference among them the which that it may the more plainly appeare we will compare them their diuers degrees of sinfulnesse together The first is the right naturall man The second is on his left hand hauing augmented his sinfulnesse The third on his right hand hauing diminished it The first is altogether ignorant of the true God and of his worship yet he thinketh that there is a God in heauen and doth worshipe his God verie diligently one way or other after his fashion The second is fully resolued in his mind by arguments inuented by him selfe and suggested by the deuill and other Atheists like to himselfe that there is no GOD and therefore that it is but follie to worship any The third man is persuaded by manie reasons that there is a God yea he knoweth the true God and performeth some parte of his true worshipe The first knoweth not what to thinke of God or to what thing to resemble him yet he thinketh him to be powerfull mightie and bountifull ascribing all his mishapes and his good lucke to his false God The second giueth all to blinde fortune wise counsell hardie aduentures yea he defieth God in his hart thinking that to trust in him is the next way to all mishap The third knoweth acknowledgeth that all thinges both good euill come from that only true GOD who is euery way infinite and incomprehensible yet knoweth not God in Christ as he ought to doe Likewise for the sinfulnesse of the will the mere naturall man cannot choose and incline himselfe to anie God religion or worshipe which is not sensible and therefore he cannot choose the true God and true holinesse the which are spirituall and contrarie to sense no not if these were propounded to his will either by his owne mind or by some other but chooseth for his part eating drinking sleeping ease pastime pleasure and voluptuousuesse The second man who is supernaturall in sinfulnesse detesteth and abhorreth the name of God and of any thing that is good but the third may haue an inclination to good Lastly the first man doth not in his life commit horrible sinnes such as are murther incest adulterie robberie or periurie being restrained euen by his owne conscience condemning these hainous sinnes and although he beare no loue to any but to himself to his owne yet he meaneth harme to no man As for the second he abstaineth from no sinne tho neuer so hainous wherevnto he is intised by any meanes Whereas the third man leadeth a life without all spot shew or suspition of any such matter yea he is good to euerie one as occasion is offered being farre from hurting any So that to be short the first man may be called a brute beast which is giuen to al sensualitie yet without either knowledge or practise of good or euill The second a deuil incarnate the third a carnall and sinfull saint Thus we see both by the naturall state of sinne as also by the increase of it what is the decrease of it Whereof we are to thinke and holde first that although it may be generall in any or in all the partes of mans sinfulnesse yet it can not be totall in any one much lesse in all for no part of it can be wholly diminished in an vnregenerate man Secondly this decrease doth take away the corruption of sinne more then it doth put the contrarie grace in the roome of it being in schoole termes rather pruatiue then positiue And therefore the carnall man in this decrease of sinfulnesse doth not so much knowe approue embrace and follow the true God and his worshippe as he knoweth all false gods to be no goddes condemning and detesting all idolatry And so in life although he can refraine himselfe from doing euil yet he is not able to performe the contrary Christian duties For the light of nature being increased by such meanes as a naturall man may vse will teach and may enable him to abstaine from grosse sinnes But the true knowledge and practise of good commeth onlie from the worke of gods spirite whereof it commeth that this decrease of sinfulnesse is not to be counted true holinesse neither any parte of it and so it is not effectuall to saluation Thus much in generall of the decrease of sinfulnesse nowe we come to the seuerall kindes of it the which are two in number naturall and supernaturall The first kinde whereof the third of the aforesaide carnall men may be a shadow we call naturall not that it is a naturall thing for a man to decrease in sinfulnesse in the which he groweth as naturally as the smoke goeth vpwarde and therefore it is a violent motion contrarie to his naturall inclination but because it may be attained by a naturall man in whom there is neither true regeneration nor any shadowe of it and that by naturall meanes without the worke of the holy spirite and therefore it may be seene not onely in carnall men liuing in the Church but also and that more plainly in many heathen and professed infidels who neuer heard tel of the true religion worshippe of God of whom many as it were laying violent handes on themselues and their naturall dispositions enclined to all vice and sinfulnesse haue gotten the habite that is the constant and permanent disposition of morall vertues as namely of iustice temperaunce sobriety and chastitie in somuch that they haue not onely led a life pure from the spottes of grosse sinnes but also haue after a sort chaunged their wils mindes and affections from an euil and vitious to a good and vertuous disposition This the Apostle witnesseth Rom. 2. 19. The gentils hauing not the written lawe of God doe by nature that is without spirituall grace the thinges contained in the lawe and so are a lawe vnto themselues Of this decrease we haue many and manifold examples euen some of all sortes of men
praises of God the godly count the greatest pleasure and happinesse in the worlde Psal. 62. 6. My mouth is filled euen as it were with marrowe and fatnesse that is with the most sweete and pleasant thinges when as I prayse the Lorde saith the prophet and againe Psal. 84. 5. Blessed are they that stande in thy courtes ô God for why they shall euermore be praising thee For although the faithfull might praise God though they liued out of the Church in a wildernesse yet for the greater aduancement of Gods glory they desire and labour that they may praise God not among wilde beastes and trees but in the assembly of Gods people as it were before many witnesses Nowe as touching the second duety of the creature which is to moue onely in the creator and by vertue receiued from him we knowe that as the bodies of the faithfull doe not moue themselues but are moued by the power of the soule within their bodies so neyther their bodies nor soules are moued by any other power but by the holy spirite of God for they doe not thinke their owne thoughtes desire their owne pleasures speake their owne wordes or doe their owne workes but are wholly moued and ordered by the spirite of God Lastly this property of a faithfull man is worthy to be noted that he is not onely patient in regard of the greatest euils which can be laid vpon him in in this worlde as hath beene declared in the chapter of Filiall subiection but also woulde be content if that it shoulde please God to destroy him vtterly and eternally Iob. 13. 15. If God kill me shall I not trust in him so Dauid saith 2. Sam. 15. 26. If I haue found fauour in the eies of God hee wil bring me backe againe to see the place of his worship but if he say I haue no pleasure in him what then beholde here I am let him doe to me whatsoeuer seemeth good in his owne eyes CHAP. XI Of mans subiection to God as to an husband THus wee see the diuers kindes of the renewed subiection of man correspondent to the kindes of created subiection to the which there is one other kinde of subiection to be added the which was not in the state of innocency and therefore coulde not be lost by the fall of man This is the subiection of the wife to the husband by the which bond it hath pleased God of his vnspeakable mercy and loue to tie the faithfull to himself so that they should be to him not onely as subiectes sonnes seruantes schollers and creatures but also as his espoused wife This straunge mariage is celebrated and extolled in that song of songes the which is wholly to be vnderstood of this spirituall mariage betwixt God and the faithfull likewise it is set downe Ephe. 5. verse 22. to verse 33. The husband is the wiues head as Christ is the head of the Church therefore as the Church is in subiection to Christ so ought wiues to be to their husbands This kinde of subiection is called Ephe. 5. 32 A great mysterie and therefore it needeth to be explained after this manner The riches of the loue and mercy of God redeeming man from sinne and death is so exceeding great as that he thinking it a small matter to restore him to that perfect and excellent estate from the which he fell doth aduance him to a higher degree both of holinesse of happines Hence it cōmeth that man is more nearely ioyned to God then he was before both in subiectiō in conformity But what bond of subiectiō can ioine man more neerely vnto God then the sonne is to his father after the which manner man was before ioyned to God as hath beene declared We answere that although this coniunction which is betwixt the sonne and the father be verie great yet the worde of God teacheth vs that a greater may be giuen to wit that which is betwixt the wife and the husband for this coniunction maketh two distinct persons to become one person and one flesh Mat. 19. 5 but that other coniunction hath no such strange effect And therefore it hath pleased god in mercy to tie knit man to himselfe not only with those bonds of subiection wherewith he was tied to him in the state of innocency but also with this newe and most straite bonde taking all the faithfull vnto himselfe not onely as his loyall subiectes as faithfull seruantes as toward schollers as orderly creatures and lastly as naturall sonnes but also as a most deare and beloued wife ioyned to himselfe with such an indissoluble bond of loue on his part and such loyall affection on their partes as shall neuer be broken euen as the husband taketh to himselfe his beloued spouse on whom he will bestowe all his loue riches care and whome he will defend against all euils and dangers whatsoeuer This contract made betwixt GOD and his Church is set downe Ezech. 16. the wordes are many yet worthy to be remembred Nowe when I went by thee and looked vpon thee behold◠thy time was come yea euen the time to wooe thee then spred I my clothes ouer thee to couer thy dishonesty yea I made an oth vnto thee contracted my self with thee saith the Lorde God and so thou becamest mine owne Then washed I thee with water and purged thy bloud from thee and I annointed thee with oyle I clothed thee with broidred worke and shodde thee with badgers skinne and I girded thee about with fine linnen and couered thee with silke I decked thee with costly apparrell I put braselets vpon thy handes a chaine about thy necke and I put a frontlet vpon thy face and earings vpon thine eares and a beautifull crowne vpon thine head Thus wast thou decked with gold and siluer and thy raimente was of fine linnen and of silke and of broidred worke thou diddest eate fine flowre home and oyle marueilous wast thou and thou diddest luckilie prosper into a kingdome and thy name was spread among the heathen forthy beautie c. For the further declaration hereof if we do consider the notable resemblance which is betwixt mariage and this new coniunction of man to God we shall haue greate cause to admire the wisdome of the holy ghost who in enditing the scriptures doth paint out such darke mysteries with so liuely colours and doth so fit earthly types to spirituall thinges The grounde of this newe coniunction whereby man is more nearely firmely and surely tied to God then he was before is the incarnation of Christ wherein our nature was inseparably vnited to the godheade in one person euen as the wife which before was of a diuers kinde bloude and name being now espoused to her husband becommeth one flesh bloude and bone with him yea one person called by one and the same name so that as the wife being thus as it were incorporated to her husband is more nearely
1. 26. Brethren you see your calling that not many wise men are chosen the reason heereof is euident for it is needful that he who would beleeue the word of God should renounce his own knowledge so farre as it is contrary to the other But the more wit and learning a man hath the more he attributeth to it to himselfe to his own strength Whereas they who haue a small measure of these giftes doe not trust so much vnto them as the wise man witnesseth saying That there is more hope to win a foole to wisedome then one who thinketh or knoweth himselfe to be wise and so is wise in his owne eyes Thus we see the great ignorance of God which is in all vnregenerate men nowe for the knowledge which man hath of the creatures we may say with the prophet Ier. 2. 13. Man hath forsaken God the fountaine of wisedome and then what wisedome can be in him For as he is ignorant of God so is he of the creatures of God being naturallie so void of all manner of knowledge as that he seemeth not to differ from a bruite beast but onely in the outward proportion of his body and the faculty of speaking Nay he is more ignorant then are the brute beasts whereof there are almost none which knoweth not and that without any teacher euen by the secrete instinct of nature what is good and euill for it selfe yea the secret vertue of some hearbes or of other things which may stande them in stede but man being anie way distressed knoweth not how to goe either to God or anie naturall thing for helpe being so farre from knowing other things that he knoweth not the partes temperamentes frame disposition infirmities and diseases of his owne bodie or anie thing belonging to it or the preseruing or healing of it saue only the outward members and fashion of it Neither is there any cause why man should bragge of that greate knowledge which he is able to attaine vnto whenas he giueth himselfe to search it out We do not denie but that God graunteth thus much to the labour of industrious men that they attaine to knowledge some more others lesse but the learnedest philosopher in the world cannot denie but that he is not only actually ignorant of many things but also naturally vnable to pearce into the depth of the wisdome of God in the creatures that by reason of the dulnesse shallownesse of his wit which cannot finde out the true causes formes reasons and vertues of naturall things as why the load-stone draweth iron to it of the which kinde infinite instances might be brought And if they chance to finde out the vertue and qualitie of anie thing it is done not by considering the causes but by marking the effectes and so not by knowledge or anie good cunning as we say but by chance and by experience the schoole-maister of fooles Sect. 3. Of renewed knowledge IT remaineth that we consider how God of his greate mercie and goodnesse doth renewe in all his faithfull seruants this first and chiefe parte of his glorious image We call it the first and chiefe part because that in the worke of regeneration the illumination of the minde with the true knowledge of God both hath the first place and also is the cause of all the rest of mans holinesse For as Christ doth teach Math. 6. 23. If the eye haue light in it it doth enlighten the wholle bodie but if it be darke there is nothing but darknesse in the bodie That is if the minde of man which is the eye of the soule be trulie sanctified and renewed with knowledge there followeth holinesse in all the faculties of the soule and in the whole man But if there be darknesse and ignorance in the minde there is nothing but sin in all the partes of man Neither can it be otherwise for as it is impossible that a man should either trust or hope in God or loue feare obey him or performe any dutie of holinesse vnto God whome he doth not know in his mercie loue goodnesse promises power iustice and the rest of his attributes so is it no lesse impossible that any man should know and be fully perswaded that God is true in his promises mercifull bountifull and iust and not be affected to him accordingly And therfore the first action of the holy spirit framing the new man in the elect is to take out of their mindes their naturall dulnes vnbeleefe and ignorance and to make them able to conceiue vnderstand beleeue and know God Thus the Apostle teacheth Rom. 12. 2. Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mindes that ye may approoue the good and acceptable will of God so Eph. 4. 13. Be renewed in the spirit of your mindes and so put on the new man Thus he praieth for the Colossians Col. 1. 9. That they might be filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all wisdome and spiritual vnderstanding And thus it is saide Act. 16. 14. That whilst Paul preached the gospel although the reprobate did not conceiue or vnderstand it Yet God opened the hart that is the minde of Lidia to beleeue his word This illumination of the minde is the most sensible and euident thing in regeneration and that whereby they that denie the work of the holy spirit in renewing the faithful may most plainly be conuinced for what is more wonderful then that men who before were dull rude simple and vnlearned yea vncapable of any kinde of knowledge should on a sudden become able to comprehend in their minds most stedfastly to expres in words very sēsibly the hiddē mysteries of christiā religiō Yet this experience teacheth to be true the Apostle witnesseth the same The spirituall man discerneth all things This commeth not by anie naturall strength but by the worke of God yet he doth not inspire this knowledge immediatly but by the meanes of the ministerie of his holy word And therefore it behooueth euerie one who would feele in himselfe this wonderfull worke of God in changing his minde to giue himselfe diligently and continually to the hearing reading and meditating of the word of God Lastly this renewed knowledge is not either so greate or yet so generall as was the knowledge of man in his pure estate wherein he knewe God and all other things perfectlie but the faithful know God his word will actions so farre forth only as is needful for their saluation As for the knowledge of the creatures that is to be hoped for in the life to come wherin we hope for our ful adoptiō euen the redētiō of our bodies the senses faculties wherof are whilst we remaine in this life as dul and weake in the faithfull as in the vnbeleeuers And therefore they remaine as ignorant as touching this secundarie knowledge of the sensible creatures as doe the other Yea the knowledge of God as all other partes of