selues It is God that promiseth al his promises ar yea amen Then if he promise why should we doubt againe the spirit doth testifie to our spirit that we are his children Shall we extinguish the spirit abaÌ„don these motioÌ„s again if we be faithful faith is no waue no watrish slippery matter as Nazianz. word is why theÌ„ should we not be assured In Orat. de Pasc if we be Christs house we hold fast Heb. 3.6 the glory confidence of hope but if confideÌ„ce then no doubting if glory gladnes then no paine so no feare much lesse dispair The Papist doubteth not to say he can merite and why shoulde we more doubt in faith to beleeue and with mouth to confesse to the glorie of God that we haue founde mercie Forsooth they say because debt is certaine and mercie is vncertaine and when a thing is deserued it may be chaleÌ„ged They say well for debt is certaine if it be due debt and if it be lawfully demaunded it must be payed without question To the confutation of which proude folly I haue spoken sufficientlie before in the question of meriting Concerning mercie and the vncertaintie thereof if we speake of man that can change his minde and whose will is variable it is true But God is alwayes the same his giftes are without repentance whom he loueth he loueth vnto the ende and yet if his mercie were kept in secret in his owne bosom and not made known to the sonnes of men they might be vncertaine But being solemnly made by promise fayrely drawen furth in autentick scripture openly published by proclamation and preaching confirmed by the oth of him that can not lie ratified by the best rites that can be deuised sealed with holy sacramentes and with the holy ghost and after all this fully finished by will and testament why shoulde we yet doubt as if the matter were not certaine enough You reply Lib. 9. c. 10.1 that all this assurance is generall and condicionall generall therefore not sure in particuler 2 condicionall therefore vncertaine depending vpon a doubtful expectation I wil aunswer both these cauils 1. First as for generall supposels without their truth in particulars it is a meere toye in Philosophie and in Diuinitie it hath no sence For God doth not promise generally at auentures katch who catch can but directly in speciall to all that receaue As soundes colours are open abroad in the aire and yet in the sences of hearing and seeing are made particular and in speciall both harde and seene so Gods promises are vttered generally to all but of the receauers and beleeuers are they particularly apprehended or else not appreheÌ„ded at all For generall apprehensions are dreames no apprehending If I beleeue remission of sins in a coÌ„mon generality no more without special applicatioÌ„ to my self what availeth that Wherefore Christ saith My sonne haue a confidence thy sins are forgiuen thee Hold fast that Matth. 9.2 for there is the comfort and there ariseth the certainty of faith and hope And generall promises why are they made to all but to the end they may be beleeued of euery one in speciall If a mortal Prince vnder seale writing proclaime a generall pardon there is no subiect that hath offended but wold craue a particularitie in the generall litle doubting therof for the safty of himselfe pardoÌ„ of his offence or were he wise or in his wits that when the prince had pardoned all that woulde receaue the pardon notwithstanding woulde stande amazed distrusting still whether he be one of the number of that all which should be pardoned in special If thou be a scholler I say to thee in thine own tearmes when thou hearest a generall Maior out of the worde of God examine whether thou canst finde the minor in thine own conscience and then doubt not but the conclusion will follow necessarily vpon thine owne selfe As for example for the simplers capacitie all beleeuers shall be saued art thou a beleeuer then conclude thou shalt be saued 2. The other cauill was that these promises were made vnder coÌ„dition in some meaning your saying is not amisse For the promises are made with condicion If we beleeue and if we beleeue not be the promises neuer so generall yet theâ—e can neuer profitte vnbeleeuers Euen as when the Sunne is in his greatest strength as bright as bright maie be yet the blinde man receaueeth neither light nor comforte for all that so be the promises neuer so fayre cleare and large yet if the eye of faith be wanting the faithlesse infidel hath no benefit by all this Esay 7.9 Wherefore the Prophet Esay foretold Ahaz specially of this fault and defect of faith If you beleeue not you shall not be established Wee mislike not this condition But you meane that Gods promises are coÌ„dicional in an other sence and that not onely in respect of them to whom the promises are intended God is not changed nether in essence nor else in his purposes doings but on Gods part that maketh the promise as if he reserued an alteratioÌ„ to be made if need were Which assertion and speech is perfit blasphemie flat against Sainct Paule that sayth Gods gifts are without repentance and therfore absolute and so not condicionall and full contrarie to S. Iames that saith that there is no variablenesse Iam. 1.7 nor shadow of turning with the father of lights that is of turning now vp now downe nowe rising now falling now one way now an other of promising and vnpromising c. our God omniscient that made the eye seeth forseeth all at the first view what is best so that he need not appoint with coÌ„dition to change his minde and repeale his purposes vppon better deuise or aduise afterward taken What he determineth shal stand and what he promiseth he will perfourme I am God and am not changed Whence followeth a good argument if he could be changed he were not God I saye if he could be changed either in the essence of his being either in the decrees and purposes of his own deuising Common Philosophie taught the Heathen that principle Eternall thinges suffer not contrarie passions And shall Christians imagine the Eternall God to bee subiecte to varieties that stand vppon the ficklenesse of vncertaine conditions Heauen and earth shall passe but neither God nor his worde which is as firme as is him selfe shall passe And how then sayeth Maister Stapleton Gods promises are so condicionall as that they maie bee vncertayne in respecte of God that promiseth And doeth he not know but thus much that the greatest difference betweene the faithfull and faithlesse man consisteth herein that the godly hauing receaued of God any promise are thereby resolued that comming he will come shew his sauing health in time coÌ„uenient For he is righteouse neuer disapointeth any that trust in him but the wicked are not so
of sinne with vaine reasoning and fond but gay distinctions as they think of conueniency congruity c. What is to be done touch these faire apples of Gomorrha with the finger of the holy Ghost Aug. de Ciuit Dei lib. 21. c. 5 they wil fal straight all to dust Or be it that the wine that the harlot offreth be strong the spice of distinctiōs sweet the harlot subtil her alluremēts many fine forcible yet the truth is stronger and wholsomer 1. Esd 4.4 will and must preuaile In flesh dwelleth no good so saith the spirit of God Rom. 7.18 Wherupon without contradictiō it followeth if no good no degree of good at al ether spark of knowledg or inclinatiō of will or ability to reach out hand towards the receiuing of any good For euē the good willingnesse which is graunted by grace is hindred by nature as much as in her lieth Therefore the old man must be quite put of the old leuen cleane purged out our lusts not proined but digged vp by the rootes throwne away our flesh crucified of our selues altogeather denied O Israel howe long wilt thou tarie in a strange lande woo woorth the man that delighteth in his naturall corruption O sinfull flesh happie is he that taketh thy yong children I meane the very beginnings euen the concupiscences and first motions to sinne and dasheth them against the stones or smothereth them in their cradle or killeth them in their mothers wombe For of flesh can come no good happie is he that maketh away a rebellious euill Concupiscens is verie sinne in whom soeuer ANd euen these by name are full of euill naught and wicked and very sinnes although they come not to age and thou cōsent not vnto them euen in the regenerate mā it is so much more so in the naturall So speaketh S. Augustine in plaine tearmes in handling one of the Psalmes Non illis consentis c. Aug. in Psalm 75. whom I the rather here mention because he is much alleaged to the contrary very vnskilfully and chiefly for that our late Cēsurer sticketh not to vaunt and bragge of S. Augustine and that Maister Charke hath neither shew nor syllable in this case out of him If thou be a scholler I referre thee to the place coted in the margent Defen of the cens pag. 133. if thou art but onely exercised in the worde of God the scripture alone may content thine humble minde M. Traue in his aunswer to the epist suppl p. 252. Rom. 5. and instructe thy conscience most aboundantly It is forbidden in the Law we being new borne in Christ are bidden to pray against it S. Paul doth sigh in respect of it calleth it sinne I trow properlie enough when he saith it is the body of sinne and bonde of death although men that followe their lust Conc. Trid. Sess 5. dec 1. write neuer so hotly in defence of luste saying that S. Paul spake not properly and cursing all them that say the contrarie S. Paul saw many things in heauen 2. Cor. 12.4 that he might not vtter on earth but the sinne he spake against was an inhabitour in the tabernacle of his body and within his bosome he felt the sting thereof sharpe and could not but complaine how truely how properly and with how conuenient words they that haue S. Paules spirit sence and feeling can say with teares and vtter with griefe S. Iames when he would cleare God of sinne he saith God tempteth no man Iam. 1.13 as who would say if he did then were the case altered C oncupiscence a mother sinne But euery man it is generally in particuler true euerie man is tempted of his owne lusts This is the spring the roote the cause of sinne which issueth out into diuerse streames is deduced into sundrie branches by consent then it is called cōmonly and named sinne amongst men who otherwise iudge not but by the externall acte And then also which in deede is S. Augustines meaning God is more prouoked to wrath Tom. 7. c. without repentance foreprised counteth man quoad reatum crimen regnum peccati more guiltie and blameable and thrauld to sinne then when by cōsenting to the sway of his sinnefull lusts he is caried away wilfully with the streame of them But S. Paul considering the waight of sin as before Gods exact iudgemēt in the merit thereof sheweth that whereas we ought to serue and loue him with all our powers the least defect in the least part whether habitually or actually in the nature of sin is perfit sinne Rhem. notes Rom. 7. vers 7. expressely against the commaundement of the Lawe But we will goe on a litle and reason with them Concupiscence tempteth haleth backe from good and helpeth forward to euill This is without question Nowe whether thou consent or dissent that is somwhat to the will it is nothing to the luste except to make it more manifest if thou consent and if thou dissent Rhem. not in Iam. cap. 1. vers 15. yet in the nature of sinne it is neuerthelesse sinnefull though it be stayed in the first degree But if I be not deceiued concupiscence of nature corrupted whereof I principally speake or in whom soeuer ioyntly and indiuisibly importeth always a cōsent withall immediatly ensuing To lust to desire to will for doctrine and exhortions sake well they may be distinguished I can not see how they may be seperated or staied if we had rather hew at some bowe of them then strike at the roote The children of darkenesse are wise in their generation Matt. 16.2 in naturall causes or signes to foresee a tempest in pollicie to forecast the woorst to stop the beginnings to giue no place no not a litle to the raging sea Why do we not the like why are not spirituall harmes discerned and preuented M. Harding in some sort vseth a vaine defence of an vnchast toleratiō of the steewes at Rome Confut. of the Apol. pag. 16 2. Deiect lib. 5. cap. 4. Censur of M. Ch. artic 3. and Defence p. 113. Dist 34. Fraternitatis by reason of the hotnes of the coūtrie as if Italie were hotter then Iurie which is not so or if it were what then and for concupiscence he and his breathern haue since written much But doth the Lawe of God melt away with the heat of either nations or nature of places or men Me thinketh after so great light spread into the worlde after so long debating though of sundrie other sorie quaestions for the Church against the scriptures for works merits against faith and mercie for ignorance against knowledge Stapel lib. 3. Epist to the LL. of the Conc. yet men shoulde not come to this point to be so badly affected and to excuse them when they are oppugned Verily if they had either conscience or remorse their learning should not be thus abused
maner to keepe man frō entring to so frō eating of the tree of life Where is now reach furth thine hand to death vnto life c. wheras he is barred frō the better which is life In cōsidering this place of Iesus the son of Syrach Cap. 15.14 also beholding the canonical scriptures wherein the auncient blisfulnes of man is described as his agilitie of body his habilitie of minde perfection in both I know not howe I cannot but recorde a prophane storie or two Milo Crotoniata when in his weake old age he beheld such as himselfe had bene Cic. in Cat. Maio. yong men mightily contending at some exercise of strength he cast his eye and looked vpon himselfe wept saide These armes were armes once but now they are drie and dead are not Likewise Alexander the great at one time whē he had cut but his finger Plutar. de discrimen amici aedulator at other times perceiuing his affectiōs subiect to choler lust the like faults though his flatterets bore him still in hand that he was a gods son a god in deede he tolde them no the gods were not wont to bleede with paine liue at pleasure fancifully as himselfe did These stories neede litle application if we consider our weakenesse and conceiue aright of our infirmities these flattering colours that want the oyle of Gods truth wherewith they labour to paint out our deformednes to Godwarde woulde soone be washed away and come to nothing The best and fayrest shewe at the first sight for free will is that of water and fire life death good bad set before mankinde in Adam But looke vpon the place directlie albeit it be not Canonicall scripture and therefore not sufficient to informe thy faith Hiero. praefat in libr. Solom Idem ad Le tam. Ruff. in expositione in Symb. or to be alleadged in a doubtfull matter looke vpon it with a single eye and by way of comparison consider thereby thine owne power In the place thou shalt finde the first worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the beginning to referre thee to an other time as hath bene declared and as Augustine doth shewe Hyp. lib. 3. cap. 11. Stapl. lib. 2. cap. 15. Iosu 7.19 and the wiser Papists see well enough and of thyselfe O fraile and mortall man speake the truth shame the Diuel and so consequently glorifie God And if thou hast but a sparke of humblenes thou wilt franckely confesse that thou art farre from the libertie which these wordes importe And as for vs what can it auaile vs to debase mans corruption if it were as good or better then they make it haue we not equally our partes therein as well as they If our fieldes had no blasted corne our gardens no weedes our garmēts no spots our trees no shriueled apples if our flesh were spirite and not flesh our wisedome right and our will free what harme can the protestant take for yeelding to these things if they were true Onely we know that the friends of nature are enemies to grace 2. Cor. 3.5 and that all our sufficiencie or aptnes is of God and therefore nothing but insufficiencie in man And this being known shall it not be acknowledged or may we ioyne with them that are at variance with God in his word which teacheth a quite contrary lesson shewing that the very frame of mās hart is only euill alwayes only euill Gen. 6.5 therfore perfitly naught in no part good alwayes euill ergo neuer good therfore extreamly bad whether we respect the nature of sinne or continuance in sinning Moses hath the like place in sounde of words to that out of Ecclesiast Deut. 30. much alleadged in euerie particular circumstance vrged driuen further then the Prophete meaneth or in truthe can be maintained where of the commaundement which in Deut. is cōmaunded it is protested before heauen earth that it is not hid from the people or far of in heauen or beyonde the sea but neare vnto thē in their mouth in their hart life death blessing cursing are set before the people they cōmaunded exhorted to chuse life Here say free will men here is an electiō or choice a free wil. Choose life neither is the matter hard to do life death cursednes blisse are set before vs it is in vs to receaue either reason so say they for if we might not dissent or consent but were at a point to what ende serueth the exhortation or if we coulde not consent to good which is the harder thing why are we commaūded to choose life to embrace it and to consent thereunto and to doe accordingly In all this I note three thinges that the aduersary would inferre first a knowledge of the Lawe then a will to receiue it and thirdly an abilitie to put it in practise A knowledge he proueth by these wordes it is neere thee not aboue thee nor beyonde thy reach not distant in place thy mouth can talk thereof thy harte meditate thereupon A will he sheweth because of the worde choose An abylity for that these meanes are to the ende the Law be done Discou of haer transl cap. 10. obeyed executed and put in vre vt facias illud M. Gregorie Martins great skill in grammer can vrge this matter no farther All this being graunted the presumptuous Papist is neuer the neare his purpose to proue a free will or any other abilitie in the naturall man For first God speaketh to a people whome he had chosen and called and whom he had culled out of all the rest of the partes of the worlde A long time who knoweth not this God was chieflie worshipped amongst a few in the familie of Abraham his race 4. Esd 5.23 that vinearde only was his allother trees were the trees of a forsake forest He toke and selected frō out of al the multituds of men that only peculiar people whō he loued gaue a law his statutes ordināces he made known vnto them Psal 147.20 Matth. 15.26 to other nations he did not so The childrens bread was made for children whō he had made his children and not for dogges No vncircumcised person no Cananitish foote might treade within his courts But of this his people not only the heads elders and officers Deut. 29.11 but also the drawer of water and wood cleauer were such as vnto whō the Lord reueiled himselfe in familier maner And hence commeth the knowledge that is here spoken of hence also is the willingnes of a good choise when God by the hande of his spirite did circumcise ther hartes paring away the obstinacie of nature enduing them with faith Deut. 30.6 embracing Christ so in him fulfilling all that is required And thus doth S. Paul expoūd this text the word is neere thee c. calling it the word of faith which was
likewise with ioy of heart embrace the Lordes vnspeakeable mercy reuealed giuen in the onely and sole Sauiour of the world Iesus Christ the righteouse Amen Dauid was better 1. Sa. 17.47 2. Sam. 11.2 when he kept his fathers sheepe then when he got the Kingdom If the sinne of Adam were lesse and namely if the powers of mā were more his will of greater abilitie more orderly then I haue proued it to be yet I gesse it were good that an horse should not know his strength What need we flatter a wanton a way ward thing which is thē best when it is most kept short and naturally it is neuer good but alwayes naught When God intended to take iust reuēgment of vnthākful men Rom. 1.24 that became vaine in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were full of darknesse what did he He gaue them ouer to their own lusts that is to say to their own will and wilfulnesse This grieuous punishment had not bin great August 6 Tract in Epish Ioh. if the flexiblenesse towardnesse of their wills had bin so good or but so indifferently il or els inclinable ready or free to receiue either good or euill or able to consent when grace is offred which is the verie hinge in deede Stap. l. 4. c. 1. wheron the question of free will most dependeth Nowe but to consent to good is a good thing hast thou this cōsent what hast thou that thou hast not receaued 1. Cor. 4.7 if thou hast receaued of an other then is it not in thy selfe Againe no goodnesse groweth out of the earth but descendeth from aboue And againe flesh bloud Mat. 16.17 doth neither reueale nor receaue any good but is enimity to all good therfore cannot cōsent which is a point of frindship therunto Nay in the regenerat Cic. de amic the flesh still lusteth against the spirit which we haue receaued and therefore doubtlesse in the vnregenerat it much more doubtlesse in the vnregenerat it much more dissenteth before grace be receaued lesse embraceth it when it is offred When his graces are generallie offred man is recusant by natur shutteth his eyes claspeth his hands is altogether auerse in heart but yet whom God taketh choseth effectually he turneth their hearts as he did the Purple sellers heart in the Acts Act. 16.14 Act. 9.18 haleth and smiteth Paule downe from his horse doth away the scales from his eyes worketh mightely the conuersiō of thē that shal be saued and this he maketh men willing to receaue that which before they wilfully refused herupō to imagin this willingnes to be of man because at length by Gods gift it is in man is a vain imaginatiō to giue that to man which is Gods gift as M. Stapletō doth saying Stap. l. 4. c. 4 that capacity of good things is of natur and actiuity of Grace No. bothe the beginning the end both capablenes agilitie to will to work is of him Fulgentius was troubled with the like fancifull men Fulg. de incar Christ cap. 24 that thought that because we were enabled by God to good therfor we ar also able of our selues The cōsequēt is naught For as the flesh of mā hath no feling and sense of it selfe but the soule doth giue it life sense so it may haue both so man may God so working in him be wel willing but the life soule of this willingnes is the mere sole mercy of God The wisdom of the Lord Prouer. 9.1 in the book of prouerbs whō he possessed from all beginninges hath built here an house hewed out her pillers c. This bilding house is his Church chosen Now euē as an hous can not rere vp it self so is it with man nether the first stone nor any part of it selfe cā it selfe lay or set in the frame And as the carpēter choseth his timber the mason his stone the potter his clay and not contrariwise the clay his potter the stone his mason the timber his workman the house her bilder so God choseth the Church not the Church him That is a true word I haue chosen you not you me Ioh. 15.16 in any kind of choice A wrāgler may stretch a similitude farther then may stand with christian humilitie As the carpenter in deed chooseth out 〈…〉 tree out of the wood worketh it alone yet he chooseth the fayrest the fittest and the straightest because these qualities ar in the timber So God chooseth of men the best qualified by nature because of naturalles that were in them first No not so He knoweth who foreknoweth al things no doubt what persons will best serue his building who ar fittest who vnfit But ther for ar sōe fit because he maketh thē fit For otherwise by natur we are vtterly vnfit all And to demonstrate that all standeth vpon mere choise he chooseth the weak to cōfound the strong the simple to confute the wise 1 Cor. 1.23 Iohos 6.20 as it were the blast of hornes to ouerthrow the mighty walled city Iericho He chooseth the least likely the most vnwilling to shew that neither in mans will or any part of his corrupt natur else is ought to this purpose But of this his exceding mercy fauor free grace more in speciall in the processe following Hetherto in the plenarie view of man both within without in body soule in whole and in part appeareth nothing since his fal but misery bondage pollutiō vncleannes darknes confusiō frowardnes obstinacy rebellion and in a worde perfit sinne corruption God looketh down frō heauen vpon all the children of men in earth findeth not any one cōsidered as he is in his own nature Psalm 14.2 with whome it fareth better then hath bene declared OF THE FREE GRACE OF GOD. LIBER II. OF mans corruption hath bin declared tuching almighty God in the Scripturs amongst other proprieties vttered after the maner of men for the better vnderstanding are chiefly set foorth his righteouse iudgements gracious mercy His iudgements pronounced by the Lawe and executed in his wrath against the children of vnbeliefe disobediēce his mercie prepared for the elect in his son published by the gospel This Gospel message of the ioyfullest tidings that euer were Luc. 2.10 was imparted first to Adam in paradise as a present remedie immediatly after his fall applied to the weaker part affected by name to Eue. Thy seed shall bruse the Serpents head Gen. 3.15 Afterward declared to Abraham In thy seede shall all nations be blessed Gen. 12.3 Then renued againe in Isaak so foreshewed in the sacrifices olde ceremonies likewise inforced by the Law and foretold by the Prophetes in the fulnes of time presented in the person of our Sauiour lastly by his Apostles still by the worke of the ministery the partitiō wal
matter and adoreth the Lords both certaine and secrete mercies and iustice herein and canst thou distinguish with ease Touching our vocation both inwardly by the finger of his spirite Vocation and externally by the outward deliuerie of his word effectually to certaine and not so to some certaine is no lesse plaine by our Sauiours prayer in S. Matthew Matth. 11.25 I giue thankes O father Lord of heauen and earth because thou hast hid these thinges from the wise and men of vnderstanding hast opened them to children It is so O father because thy good will is such Wherein I obserue three points first thanks to the father then for what things and thirdly why the father him selfe was induced or rather vouchsaued to bestowe his benefits vpon some why not in like sorte vpon all 1. I thanke thee O father or I confesse 1. Thankefulnes Serm. de diuersis 3. all is one For as Augustine sayeth they are very meanely learned that know not that there is a confession of prayse and thankesgiuing aswell as of sinnes Christ thanketh his father of whom Christians may learne to be thankeful for themselues for shall he pray for vs and not we for our selues or shall he be thankefull in our behalfe and shall not we also be thankefull in our owne cause If one grape waxe ripe and red Vuáque coÌ„specta liuorem ducit abvua they say that the grape ouer that doth ripen the faster and take colour the sooner It behoueth vs that are greene and sowre considering the example of Christ and his sweetenes to grow in grace like thankfulnes to our God confessing alwayes froÌ„ what spring are deriued our waters or rather from what sea they issue or rather from what heauen or rather how from the father of heauen and earth they descend vpon vs Gen. 18.27 which are but dust and ashes He giueth vs all that we haue onely he reserueth the prayse of all vnto him selfe Esa 42.8 He is the freest Landlorde that may be father of heauen and earth and Lord of all and we his seruauntes and the workemaÌ„ship of his handes Yet he suffreth vs to haue and enioy freely the frute and vse of all yeelding him and paying nothing but this that we acknowledge and confesse that we holde of him and that we are his tenantes 2. In speciall for what is our Sauiour thus thankefull vnto his father 2. For VVhat Because he had hid the secreats and treasures of the Gospell from the wise and learnedmen and had reuealed them vnto babes Consider your vocation saith S. Paul 1. Cor. 1.26 not many wise men after the flesh not many mightie not many noble are called I adde were chosen For whom he calleth in time those he forechoose before all times and whom he calleth not at al no maner of way those he neuer chose What then is all learning wisedom vtterly condemned hereby or are the baser and weaker sort onely called are women and weauers and beggers and yonge students to be admitted to the search and vnderstanding of holy writ We knowe professe that these haue soules to saue are bought with as deare a price as the best doctors and rich men are There is no kinde of good learning but we commend it in the highest degree of due commendation and yet withall we say Godlines is great learning Act. 18. â—4 Apollos was eloquent but his might was in the scriptures We dispise not the inferiour we preferre the greater gifts Notwithstanding both eloquence and all other whatsoeuer excellent qualities of either natures wisedome or good arts c. except the person qualified with them be also endued with faith from aboue they rather be occasions of euill in him then otherwise greatly encreasing his greater condemnation If Agar can be content to obey Sara 1. Sam. 3.1 Reuel 4.10 if our wisedome can submit it selfe to the Lordes wisedome if our learning will serue as Samuel did in the temple if the potent and mightie man subiect his scepter and crowne if he can stoope and fall before the throne of God these former qualities are sanctified and God accepteth them in the persons whom he accepteth in faith Not many wise welthy or mighty the scripture saith not Not anie are called Because it is commonly seene that Agar will contend with her mistresse the Graecian presumeth of Learning the subtle head of his policies not meanely menaged therefore of the vsuall practise and not howe it goeth better in some specialities the scripture sheweth For God woulde haue all of all sortes saued 1. Tim. 2.4 and yet I say not all in generall without anie restraint For who then coulde resist his will if he will so haue it Or why are any daÌ„ned if he will haue all to be saued without exception The Lords mercie is aboue all his workes and the sinnefull workes of man can not be greater to his owne condemnation then the mercie of God to saluation if God would so haue it in all Notwithstanding the commaundementes are giuen forth in generall Likewise the exhortations are vttered to all grace openly offered and publickly proclaimed Many are called and yet few are choosen i. inwardly touched Matth. 20.16 and well accepted of the Lorde According to this generall offer there is somewhat that may be sayde for the iust and deserued commendation of many because al obey not their calling all receiue not their saluation profered And yet the conditionall will of God to haue all saued if all would is but a fancie For many seeke with endeuour which is more then a wil to enter the straight gate Luc. 13.24 shal not be able Truely none shal be saued but whom God will whom he will indurate his hart is hardned as Pharaoes was But most miserable were the condition of mans saluation if it hung vpon his owne mutable fraile and froward will Origen thinketh August de ciuit Dei lib. 21. cap. 17. perchaunce vpon occasion of this saying God will haue all saued that it will followe that all and euerie one whosoeuer euen the verie diuels finally and one day shall be saued in the ende Concerning Origen it is well sayed that where he wrote well no man wrote better and where euill and therefore not euer well and in this verie badlye no man writeth worse so manifestly against the Scriptures and so fondly beside the vniuersall catholike and Christian faith Epist ad Alexandr touching the euerlasting damnation of the damned either spirites or men in so much that him selfe else where was faine to excuse him selfe therein and likewise vtterly to detest the errour What sence then beareth that sentence God will haue all men saued The Apostles meaning is not hard God will haue all saued that is to say of all sortes some as I sayed before and therefore expressely by name he willeth that prayers be made for magistrates and for men in authoritie
For there is the like impossibility in both If God shold do equallie well to all then were he after a sort so much the lesse to be praised of some for his benefites more in speciall Aug. de dono perseuer cap. 12 Mat. 20.15 and singularly to them then to others Neither yet is there any iniquitie in so doing For may he not do with his owne what he will and that without mans witting why may he not illuminate what eye he list lighten which candle he pleaseth or shoot away what arrow he is disposed without thy certaine knowledge of his secret counsels in his most iust doinges In this curiositie of searching farther thē may stand with the sobriety of creatures in the Creators workes a man may aswel demaunde why all in the fielde is not pure corne no chaffe why trees beare leues at all and not all frute why there ar aswell frogges as fish in the pond as well goates that will not heare as sheep that heare his voice in the fold of Christ Christ the second person in Trinitie adoreth the councell of his Father herin and confesseth that the reason of this is this So it is because it pleaseth thee o father so The Papist dreameth of a better will in some then in som and that maketh much as he thinketh to the matter I aske will darknesse willingly become light will weedes be corne goates sheepe will thornes be vines and beare grapes Aug. de verb. Apost Serm. 2. Violentia fit cordi c Doth the natural man sauor of the things of God would a wound be handled can the flesh yeild to the spirit would sleepe be awakned Doth the dead in sinne that wanteth sense of a better life desire to be reuiued any one more then an other But herof before All are earthly by nature hated by desert condemned by iustice and reprobate in them selues Whie yet some are by grace beloued saued by mercy vouchsafed heauen by adoption chosen in Christ called to the Gospel and receaue it willingly the highest roundle in the ladder that man may ascend vnto is the Lordes owne pleasure and this that contented Christ must content Christians For the condemnation of the wicked Prou. 16.4 there is more then sufficient desert in the reprobate and albeit thou heare that God also is agent therin yet beware thou imagin euill in the Lord who as the Sun shineth into dark places and is not darkned and likewise as the raine moisteth the euil tree and therfore it beareth his vnhappie a bitter frute but mark in that it beareth frut it cōmeth of the moisture in that it beareth euill frute it commeth of his own nature and therefore worthely calleth for the axe to be cut downe and iustly deserueth to be throwen into the fire And know this that in one the same action diuerse may be agents they diuersly to be tearmed their intents and ends purposed and also meanes in proceding being diuerse according as the persons are diuersly better or worse either affected or skild euen as the keeper as Seneca saith in an other case many times hath his prisoner linckt to his girdle or hand wrest Senec. lib. 2. epist 5 and so they two maie be detayned both in one chaine notwithstanding the keeper be an innocent man and a necessarie officer and the prisoner a very Barabbas and an vnprofitable member of the common wealth I end this matter without farther debating God hath to do and sucketh out his owne glorie out of all things especially he sheweth his goodnesse to his Saints and his iustice vpon sinners To fele the one is a heauē on earth to find out the other altogether by reasoning is vtterly beyond the reach of flesh Quod lego credo non autem discutio What thou readest that beleeue go no nearer ether to the fire for feare of burning or farther in to water for feare of a whirle poole Walk in thy vocatiō folow the threed of thy calling cōtend by orderly meanes to the end God hath prefixed to the faithful in Christ his Sonne and thy Sauiour Of iustification the fullnesse and freenes therof and the comfort that cometh therby THe free pardon for sinne and the sufficient ransom therof concurre alwayes and meete euer in the iustified man For whom the Lord forgiueth to them also he giueth the possession of his Sonne in whō all are made righteous and without whom none shal be iustified And when he doeth the one he doth the other both ioyntly in full mercie M. Stapleton saith no but sheweth no reason nor glimse Lib. 7. ca. 10. or shew of reason to the contrary but this that because our iustification stādeth not in remissiō of sins alone therefore remission of sinnes inferreth not the imputation of righteousnes by Christ as coherent with it don also by God as if the Lord in his doings wold worke fiue dayes him selfe and leaue the finishing perfectiō of that which he had so carfully and gratiously begun to be accomplished the sixt day or at leasure by some others But his eye seeth not that therfore in deed are our sinnes remitted because Christ is imputed and that neither are these forgiuen but to whom Christ is giuen first and in order before though both without distinction of time are giuen together to the faithfull man The Phisitians speak of a body neutrall Corpus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither whole nor sicke because they wāt a name to expresse the sickenesse by Truly by true diuinitie we haue no such either bodies or soules Either wee be whole or sicke quick in Christ or dead in sinne either iustified by him or still remayning in our old corruptiō There is no middle stay Mat. 12.30 either we gather with him or we scatter All are to be sorted either among the righteous or vnrighteous holy or prophane sonnes or bastards As in the day of doome or generall iudgement all shall be either sheepe or goates corne or chaffe when the iudge shall haue but a right or left no third hand to bid these go vnto who haue their sinnes pardoned and yet as is fayned are voide of iustice in their Sauiour Then that blessednesse wherof Dauid speaketh Blessed are they Psal 32.1 whose sinnes are not imputed and whose iniquities are couered shall be either vtterly denied men or in full deliuered so pronounced by the Prophet because of the not imputing of their sinnes which cannot but imply the imputation of righteousnesse by Christ withall The d ctrin of forgiuenesse of sins in Christ most comfortable which is the couering of sinne This blessednesse most happy must bee sought for euer til it be fully foūd out here and perfitly enioyed in heauen So wee preach and so we beleue and this we pray for the glad yeare the acceptable time the release of dets the remission of sinnes the imputation of Christ with his merits Verily the very hinge of
ver Serm. 15. Esai 50.1 for the Lord hath mercies Other merites Bernard hath none that is no merites in deede but as it is said in the Prophet that we must come and buy the waters of life freely that without mony which is in truth no buying no more is the other meriting The stipende of sinne is death properly that is true but is life euerlasting the stipend of merits Rom. 6.23 no the Apostle altereth the course of his speach Yet might he as easely haue so saide and most aunswerable to the tenour of his former saying if it had bene so but he saith euerlasting life is the gift of God Rhem. not 2. Tim. 4.8 a gift ergo not the stipende of deserte as they expresly terme it in these wordes good workes done by grace after the first Iustification be properly and truely meritorious fully worthy of euerlasting life And therupon heauen is the due stipend which God oweth to the persons so working by grace But S. Paul calleth euerlasting life a gift not a stipend as Austine well noteth these meÌ„ call it a iust stipend Now let the indifferent reader compare these contraries together he shall soone discerne the truth of them M. Harding a man that could set a faire shew vpon a foule cause presseth Har. detect lib. 5. cap. 12. Mat. 20.1 disputeth the parable mentioned in S. Matthew where the kingdome of God is likened to a maÌ„ that weÌ„t out early in the morning to hyre seruauntes into his vinearde some he hired at one houre some at an other some at the third others at the sixe some at the tenth and others at the eleuenth When euening came he gaue euerie one alike then they which came first and had borne the heat of the day the burden of the whole labour murmured because of the inequality of their pay One of theÌ„ was answered that he should take his peny wherefore he was hyred if the housholder would be more liberall to them that laboured lesse what was that to him that wrought more and longer time and yet perchaunce lesse then of dutie he should may not a man doe with his owne which way he will out of this M. Harding reasoneth in sence this I will spin his argument as far as it can run The housholder is God the laborer is working in our vocation the penny is life euerlasting the housholder bid the murmuring laborer to be content with his hyre and take that which was his then was it his the price of his hyre is the penny for his labor and the penny is life euerlasting here is sufficient proofe for meriting I trow Rhem. not 1. Tim. 4.8 Mat. 25.27 Luc. 16.8 and so doth the Rhemish notes tell vs. But soft euery part of a parable is not a good proof for a doctrine in beleefe For so can I proue vsurie to be lawfull vnfaithfulnes to be laudable and all most what not In proper wordes without parable this is plaine we ought to serue the Lorde withall our strength and powers both of body and soule all the houres of the day that is all the dayes of our life and when eeuening is come and our life ended after all our labours in the vineyarde of the Churche militant We haue done but the duty that we ought and dew debt is no desart quae debuimus facere Luc. 17.10 fecimus This is plaine and true and shall we force some partes of a parable to proue it false But the householder saieth Take that is thine wherfore it was his what his that murmured his whose eye was naught repiners and enuious persons shall not inherite the kingdome of heauen the peny of saluation is not for such For such I say without repeÌ„tance much lesse for such as call for it of precise desert Nay the equalitie of a peny giuen a like to all doth euidentlie declare Ambros de vocat GeÌ„t lib. 1. cap. 5. that though their are diuersities in time of vocations which is the chief ende of the parable yet the reward standeth only vpon mercie which gaue to the last as to the first If all had gone by desert then the greatest labourer might duely haue required the greatest wages But I pray you are we hirelings naye we are sonnes and heires we looke not for a peny as of hire but yet we expect our penye and that of meere gift euen because our God may do with his owne what him please and he will in time bestow it vppon vs his owne euen for his Christes sake in whome alone we onely trust and not in our selues O this opinion will decay good workes meruelously and greatly encrease either idlenes or swarmes of euill liuers Why It was meruele then that Christ foresawe not the inconueuience when he gaue to the last as he gaue to the first In deede if we be vagabondes or lazy drones or if â—â—ke the greedy Zuytzer that will not fight but for his guilt it is an other matter But if we be sonnes and children we obey our father not to the end to merit but to shew all duty and because we are sonnes The difference then betwixt vs the aduersaries standeth on these points both they and we worke they to merit we to shew our duty they for hyre we for loue they as seruaÌ„ts we as sonnes they to purchase we because Christ hath purchased for vs life euerlasting they worke and seeke glory in their works we worke and glory only in Christ they worke talk of perfectioÌ„ we worke agnize our imperfections in working They if they do but a good deede if it be once done they stande vpon it walke and iet thereon though it be but the ice of one nights freezing we when we haue done all we say we are vnprofitable seruauntes Ios 7.21 We dare not burie our sinnes like Acham in the earth nor wrappe them in a sort of faire greene figleued distinctions we speake with the wordes and in the sence that Christ hath taught vs and in none other We runne we labour we fight we keepe the faith and yet not we but Christ in vs. And when we haue done all yet haue we done but our dutie and not deserued And this is our iudgement in few and plaine words concerning meriting wherein if we haue spoken euill let them conuict vs of error Ioh. 12.48 Act. 17.11 let the world bear witnes and the word be iudge How onely faith doth iustifie and saue IF then iustification come not by works nor saluation by merites what is the meane whereby both the one and the other is appreheÌ„ded First it hath ben clearly proued hetherto that there is no meriting without perfection likewise that perfectioÌ„ there can be none Act. 15.10 the yoke of the law being heuier then that the fathers strong shoulders could beare it vp therefore to great a burdeÌ„ for their children who came after and were weaker
Moses and the Law of nature But they conclude all together include the workes of the one and the other within faith Call ye me this excluding then to go on with the rest you say when some of the Fathers by onely faith exclude pride infidelitie heresie and curiositie you may as well say verum est without faith yet notwithstanding conioyne them altogether faith and infidelitie faith and pride faith and heresie faith and curiositie making vp as it were a Daniels image of cōtrarie mettals Dan. 2.33 that can not possibly cleaue or hang together But if excluding be including you may say and conclude what you will and distinguish at pleasure and defend with ease and all is well speciallie if you get but fauourable readers that can and will thinke what soeuer cometh from beyond seas must needes go for good Not withstanding that the simple may see the childish fondnesse and the extreame falsitie of this so absurd dealing I will shew it then in the like reason I would haue a garment made onely of cloath meaning by onely cloath to exclude stitching lacing facing with silk shall the Taylor come stitch lace and face my garment face me out that when I willed it to be made of cloth alone that without cloth forsooth I wold not haue it stitcht laced faced but with cloth I would Verily it had need be a very brode cloth that cā couer ouer al this follie it is so brode and a verie cunning not a Taylor but a Rhetorician or rather a Magician that must perswade me so and so bewitch a man against all sense reason in the world As for the theef that was saued by faith alone without externall workes alleadged by the Fathers that doth verie well proue that faith alone in sauing doeth the deede Ambros in Rom. 3 and not workes For the way to heauen is but single and one the same to all The thiefe was saued and entered Paradise by faith onely therefore also must all so do if they will enter For God will not saue some by him selfe in mercie and saue others by them selues partlie in mercie and partlie by their owne workes If the thiefe had liued longer time he should would haue liued well but his beleeuing was the wing that caried him vp and the key that opened the doore of heauen When time wanteth not onely faith excludeth not either workes or the goodnesse of woorkes in earth but the meritoriouse deseruing by workes with God in heauen and hereby both in heauen and in earth the free mercie and grace of God is beleeued embraced and gloriouslie set foorth by this most excellent confession of onely faith whereby we agnize the gift the free gift of God according to his purpose promis fauour grace and mere mercie In the storie of the Gospell in particular by examples thus much is prooued and where onely faith is named exacted and cōmended euen in bodily cares much more in ghostly causes of the soule where our Sauiour doth not so much respect the teares of some or in others their feare and trembling nor their crying calling after him but their faith and the greatnesse of their faith Mat. 9.22 Luc. 7.50 Mat. 15.28 Luc. 8.50 Thy faith hath made the whole Thy faith hath saued thee O woman great is thy faith I haue not found so great faith in Israell And in the eight of Luke and fifte of Mark. Beleeue onlie Onely marke that And withall marke if you will the Papists doubling answer herunto Rhem. not Mar. 5.36 Onelie beleeue that is either especially or only in cases of bodily diseases What I pray you why say you or and or If onely be not only but especially and principally then say so Or if onely be onely then say so and houer not vp and down like the birde that was sent out of the ark Gen. 8.9 and could not find where to set her foote But in deed neither is onely especially neither is onely onely in bodily sicknesse alone as shall plainelie appear And therfore herein ye haue made vs not onely one lye alone but two lowde lyes and those together without taking breath one vpon an anothers head For as for the first was Christ like your Phisitian that biddeth his pacient be of good cheere and onely haue a good heart yet withall a good diet must be kept and potions receiued as thinges more requisite O M. Allen and M. Martin and who euer else had finger in that your late gewgawe translation was there I say not were there other things but was there any one thing not onely more requisite but in equall degree as necessarie as faith Luc. 8.44 For woulde Christ require the lesse and omit the more necessarie or if many things were to be required woulde he say onely beleeue No. when all other helpes fayled then they came to our Sauiour And therefore other helpes being preternecessarie he wel required thē wholy to put their trust in him not that he could not cure yea reuiue without their beleeuing that he could but that dutie would he haue at their hands and only that in such respects Wherefore when this former shift serued not the turne you added though onely fayth be requisite and nothing else yet that concerned the healing of the body not the sauing of the soule Of healing the bodie I graunt but withall of sauing the soule that these words are not spoken is not so easilie proued For Christ Iesus the Sauiour both of bodie soule most principally saueth the most principall part therefore to shew what how alone he worketh specially in recuring their soules diseased with sinne view those miraculous cures done so euidently vpon their bodies Wherfore by conuenient reason it followeth if faith alone be required in thē much rather in the other wherein consisteth the greater cure in vs and whence ariseth the greater glorie to him selfe that cureth Contrarie to this in the example of Mary Magdalen somewhat is brought foorth as who therfore had her sinnes forgiuen Rhem. not Luc. 7.50 because she loued much So that loue also was required not faith alone Consider we the story a litle for our better vnderstāding wherin it is said to her Thy faith hath saued thee go in peace a litle before both of to her Many sinnes are forgiuē because she loued much Our of which I obserue 4. notes remission of sinns peace of cōscience faith embracing saluation due loue ensuing therupō Peace of mind cometh after ward in place to be spoken of The sole mean of receiuing remissiō is faith the only cause of remitting is mercy For otherwise remission were no remissiō And were not faith the only meane but her loue also as the Rhemish note is Christ whē he said Thy faith hath saued the he shold haue said nay thy loue thy faith or thy faith thy loue haue saued thee especially
their faces their eyes serued thē also for directing their feet otherwise so the onely eye of faith or onely faith as the eye of the soul beholdeth Christ of whom the serpent was but a figure therby only in him are we saued yet although in this regard alone it doth the deede yet is it not alone but continually accompanied with godlinesse all good woorks in so much that where we finde not good works it is bootlesse to seeke for faith for faith wil no where lodge or liue without works the mother cannot be without her daughers If you kill the children you kill the parent to So that chase away works faith will not tary after If a man wil say he retaineth her retaineth not her retinew well may he say so but in sooth veritie in steede of a iustifying faith he laieth hold on an vnprofitable deuelish faith a dead faith a verbal faith a shadow of faith a faith which he so calleth yet is not faith at all neither hath it any affinity with the iustifying faith which iustifieth alone yet is not alone as hath bene declared in manie wordes and happilie in mo then was needefull but onely for the simpler sort As there is a double taking of this word faith either true or verball so also is there a diuerse acception of this worde iustifying either for a beleeuing an apprehending the iustice of Christ imputed or for a declaration that we are such persons to the opinion of others by iust liuing which is a iustification before men Of the former meaning Sainct Paul doth argue the later sence S. Iames forceth and standeth most vpon For saith he I am a man and not God that seeth the heart I am but man shew me thy faith c. So that these Apostles Paule and Iames albeit they vse the same tearmes both of faith and iustifying yet because they treating in deede thinges diuerse they can not be sayde to varie when as they speake of sundrie matters and not both speciallie of one and the same thing though seeming so in tearmes For Sainct Paule treateth of one faith S. Iames of an other S. Paul of one iustification Sainct Iames of an other Sainct Paul vpon a certaine doctrine and Sainct Iames vppon a supposition If wee looke to heauen faith onely ascendeth thether or rather grace descendeth vnto faith in true maner of speaking Workes are left below who onely iustifie before men in earth For otherwise men can not tell who is iustified and who not but by workes But as onelie works do iustifie here so no doubt doth onely fayth there in respect of heauen The example of Abraham cleereth all Gen. 15.6 Rom. 4.5 Gal. 3.6 and giueth great light hereunto Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse that is he was iustified before God by faith And then in offring his sonne was he called the friend of God and so iustified called and pronounced so And so was his iustice thoroughly completed and his faith in proofe perfited and allowed of In the former of imputation of righteousnesse Paule and Iames in expresse wordes both agree In the latter they disagree not For Paule speaketh not thereof but onelie Iames who vppon great occasions presseth the necessarie sequeles of a true faith and iustification to ensue before men straight vppon a iustification praecedent beefore God Wherupon as it were word for word and in sence he reasoneth thus If thine offences were pardoned in Christ thie sinnes remitted and Christes righteousnesse imputed that is wearest thou iustified by fayth before God it would follow necessarilie that thy fayth would shewe it selfe and thy deedes without would declare what thou art within and therebie shouldest thou be reputed a iust man and so be iustified before men also But hee that wanteth the necessarie consequences of such a cause maie it not be concluded that hee wanteth the cause it selfe In the Gospell there were that boasted of the line and race of Abraham But the children of Abraham that are in deede his children are a posteritie according to faith and not after the flesh Mat. 3.9 Wherefore saith our Sauiour vnto them If ye were the children of Abraham by fayth ye would do the workes of Abrahā as Abraham did No workers ergo no faithful childrē of his for all their vaunting For though workes made them not his children but faith yet where such works lacked Christ therupon reasoneth the wanting of faith it selfe And it is true both in the nature of the thinges and in the iudgement of the world Yet all this doeth not disproue that faith alone doth iustifie before God nether doth it inferre that workes do otherwise iustifie thē onely before mē by the necessity of due consequēt to insue Works haue their vses though not that vse one key wil not serue for euerie lock They shew our faith to mē they ar no parts of faith to make it vp they are good duties that follow of faith and so they iustifie no otherwise in the eyes of men the behoulders I am ouer long herin Touching the other example of Rahab the harlot what were her works she receiued preserued Iosues messengers therby was she iustified that is so reputed in the cāp This one fact could not make her iust But being iustified no doubt before by beleeuing in God opportunitie seruinge well shee declared what she was in giuinge such entertainement to the Lords seruāts Which storie well sheweth that God hath his where a mā would litle thinke euen in that cursed city Let no man despaire Rahab an inhabitante of wicked Iericho and she sometime an harlot is accepted but see withall she changeth her former life and of an harlot became the hostesse of Gods seruants Wherin I note an harlot was far frō meriting therefore as afterwardes her good workes are recorded so yet is not her former fault omitted both to shew what she obtained first by fauour and pardon of her fault and then in dutie what shee did is spoken of wherby she became knowen to the Lords people and this was her iustification ensuing vpon a beleefe that went in fauour before Wherby it appeared how S. Iames in these examples forced the vse of good workes not to iustifie before God but in seruice dutie and opinion of and to men Greater amplificatiōs may be brought by the skilfull in these cases to this purpose In effect this is all that either the Apostle meaneth or I can say vpon his meaning so much is plainly meant that though in some functions they may be diuersly occupied yet true faith and good workes euer meete togeather and ioyntly rest in the iustified man But maruelous are the aduersaries in their conceits Rhem. not 1. Cor. 13.13 For they imagine a faithfull man to be without all faithfull and good dealing as if they coulde finde vs out great springs without the issue of many waters or much
they selfe but giue it me Prouer. 23. bestowe it not vpon pleasures which fester nor vpon meates wherin is excesse nor vpon riches which will take the wings of the eagle soone fly away nor in honours which man enioying becam a beast nor in any corruptible vain thing vnder heauen Giue me thy harte sayth the wisedome of God and he will teach thee to vnderstand and follow righteousnes and iudgement and equitie euerie good path And as for riches honor pleasures c. know this godlines is great riches and as the highest honor as the true and perfit pleasure what not that good is Direction in the way of sanctification out of the word of God and by his spirite And now for directiō herein in the way of godlynes whō should we rather follow then God him selfe c. not the vaine wordes of others but as the Apostle aduiseth walking as the children of the light bringing furth the fruites of the spirite Wherin we may note that to vaine words we must oppose the worde of God and that the fruites of the spirite are specified to be good works to teach vs from whēce good workes come The one sometimes is distinguished frō somtimes conteined vnder the other The word serueth to direct in the right way and whereby we discern who are out of the right way The spirit is Christes vicar on earth and as Christ him selfe the sonne of righteousnes and the day star in our hartes a consuming fire of all distrust and burning vp the very rootes of disobedience and of all the stumbling blockes in the world The one of these lightly is neuer receaued without the other For the worde is vnprofitable without the Spirit The Spirit of God leadeth into all truth The things of God no man knoweth but the Spirit of God But yet the Spirit of Christ to them that haue age and opportunitie neuer commeth but with the word The Anabaptist The Atheist The Papist There are three especial enemies of this word of God and therfore enemies to the rule of goodnesse and to the leuell of all sanctimonie The first is the fantasticall Anabaptist that dreameth of Reuelations the second is the wilfull Atheist that thinketh the worde of God to be to troublesome it hindreth his fancies it forbiddeth his delightes and stoppeth all the bathes of his vaine pleasure it talketh to much of sanctification The third enemie is the wilie Papist subtiller then all the beasts of the earth beside he knoweth his coine is adulterate and therefore he feareth the touchstone his chaffe wolde not be winnowed And no maruaile For wold false prophets be sifted or vaine spirites be brought to their triall Wherefore the man of sinne goeth about to disswade mē from hearing and reading this worke of God and in steede of the waters of the Scriptures they haue digged vp puddles of wilworshiping and such like mud fitter for the horse and camel then for Christian souls in roome of the light of Gods word they haue substituted false mocklights of their owne in place of virgin wax they haue giuen vs tallow in roome of a candle they haue reached vs a snuffe the candle of the Lords word they haue detained vnder a bed or a bushell that the faithfull men might neuer knowe what they did nor discerne what they beleeued As if to beleue well were to beleue a mā knew not what or to liue wel were to liue in ignorance and to do the works of darknesse And yet they pretend great reason for all this and so did he that said of one that could be mad with reason I can not debate the controuersie I shall but touch a reason or two The worde is vncertaine the worde is obscure ergo not to be read and heard absolutely of all c. Vncertaine I know not what is blasphemie if this be not Where in what place dare they thus speake in the Church of God before whome before the Congregation of Saintes The word is as a candle which giueth light both to the house and sheweth withall what it selfe is is it then vncertaine but it is obscure So you saie We aske to whom we aunswere to them that perish It is harder somwhere then in some to stir vp thine attention therfore it is commaunded Search the Scriptur dig for wisedome seek for knowledge as after siluer and gold Be it that it be obscure Yet as that saying in great part is most false so is the reason most faultie The candle burneth dimme therfore toppe it It is a good argument There is a knotte in the weeke therfore open it that the light may haue easier entrance It is a fit reason But the candle burneth obscurely therefore put it out or throw it away or anie such like cōclusion is starke naught Yea the more obscure the Scripture is the more it must be laboured the more incessantlie studied because it is that wherein we knowe is life euerlasting and the way of life which is sanctification To let go them that will not heare vs seeke after this waye there are of those that seeke sundrie sortes Some seeke onlie to the end they maie be knowen to be verie skilfull men in good thinges this is an ambitiouse vanitie some only to know this is fond curiositie some to enstruct them selues this is true wisedome and some to edifie others and this is perfit charitie The two former sorts are naught the two later holy and good For true religion and perfit holinesse is made neither of bragging wordes or peeuish fancies but this is true deuotion to visit the sicke the widow the fatherlesse to keepe a mans selfe blameles from the soile of the world He that neuer saw hony may talke think how sweete a thing it is but he that tasteth therof can better tell what a gratious tast it hath in deede Again there ar others that though they cared litle for seeking them selues yet are they content to let others alone with such matters But all their care is as they are caried awaye with some conceit or other They rise vp early in the morning and go to bed late and eate their bread in great care to compasse purposes But alas what meane they Suppose thou be a Monarch a noble a marchant man or what thou wilt if thou gaine all and lose a good conscience and thereby thy soule thy losse is greater then thy gaine Thou art a iollie fellow in thy countrie a king of a welthie land a peere in a Realme thou canst preuent foes ioyne in with mighty friends al the sheaues of the field must bow to thé the Sunne and the Moone must stoupe at thie presence or if thou be a meaner man as of a towne and corporation thou canst cudgell and compasse matters conuey things at pleasure or if thou be a priuate occupier or a man of trade thou canst buy cheape and sell deare all these
die in Christ Mar. 12.24 Mat. 22.29 and in the Lord They shall rise in glorie Let no man be deceaued as were the Sadduceis and Libertines and as nowe is the whole familie of loue The dewe of Gods power is as the dewe of herbes Herbes appeare not in winter time The dewe from heauen softeneth the ground doth awaie the frost openeth the earth the herbs spring againe and flourish a fresh Likewise the moisture of Gods omnipotencie and power diuine will cause commaūd the earth to giue an account of her dead to yeild foorth the bodies of his Saincts that they may liue Euen as my bodie saith the Prophet and putteth the matter out of doubt pointeth to his owne bodie proueth the restitution of Gods people from banishment by this infallible argument teaching that because they doubted not of this the greater they should beleeue the lesse which was their restitution So in Ezechiell the people seemed to be in a dead and desperate case Ezech. 37 as if their verie bones were dryed vp their hope gone and them selues cleane out of God sheweth in a vision to the Prophet a plaine fielde full of dead bones hee will giue them senewes flesh shall growe ouer them and he will call the dead out of their sepulchers And by this god meaneth that he will restore his people and conuey them home euen as if they were taught well knew he would reuiue the dead The Articles of our Crede touching the resurrection and life eternall is most largely proued by Sainct Paule to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 15 But Christ confuteth the Saduceis sufficientlie with this Mat. 22.32 Mar. 12.26 that God is the God of Abraham Isaak and Iacob And that God is the God of the liuing and not of the dead Of them that liue and therefore are and not of them that liue not and therefore are not and of them that shall liue in whole and not onelie in part And it is spoken in the present tence of the liuing as well for the certaintie of the bodies rising as for the assured being of the soule in the meane season in the handes of God And herein concerning the soule for of the bodie I haue said sufficiently what becommeth of it when man is dissolued I can not but maruel what M. Bristow meaneth to mencion Reply to D. Fulk cap. 8 part 2 that there be many texts to make it probable that not any one entreth into heauē no not since Christs time till the generall resurrection Bez. li. Theol Epist 2 Epist Al these probabilities are aunswered by a learned man of our own age in perfit maner particulerly vpon occasion heare I reade it needlesse to trouble the simple with impertinent disputes Immediatly vpō the departure out of this mortalitie the soule is receaued into the ioyes of heauen Luc. 23.43 2. Cor. 12.2 It may suffise them to know that while we are in this bodie we are pilgrimes from the Lorde ergo not so when the tabernacle therof shall be layed aside But then we shall be as it was saide to the theefe euen in the day therof with Christ in Paradise And what is Paradise but heauen for so Sainct Paule when he talketh that he was taken vp into Paradise he tearmeth it the thirde heauen Euerie man sayth Austine sleepeth with his cause and shall rise with his cause But in the middle time as in our common sleeping some sleepe quietly some haue heauy and sorrowfull dreames so when we go into the common bed of the earth with our bodies yet our soul hath her rest with a sense of ioye or hath a feeling of sorrowefull paines Habent omnes animae Tract in Iohn 49 quum de seculo hoc exierint c. All soules when they depart out of this worlde straight they haue their diuerse places of receipt if they be good they haue ioy if they bee naught they haue torment and when the generall resurrection shall be the ioye of the good shall be more ample and the torments of the wicked more grieuouse when with their bodies also they shall be tormented and this is onelie the differēce Wherfore in the hour of death let no faith full man doubt but that he hath a present entrance into heauen and that he shall be with Christ there and that he may praie looking vpward into heauen both with Christ and with Steeuen Into thy handes O God I commend my spirit O Lorde Iesus receaue my spirit And this is a kinde of glorification which shall be consummated after the consumption of all thinges In the meane time while wee yet remaine in this world there are dueties to be done and euerie man hath his talentes fewe or manie or at least one Mat. 25.14 and that one he may not hide in a napkin like the idle man nor digge it in the earth where it may rust much lesse throwe it to the dunghill that is bestow it vpon bad and vile vses The noble man is gone into a farre countrey the maister to a wedding but they will certainelie returne againe but when that is vncertaine whether at the first seconde thirde or fourth watche VVhy the comming of Christ is not specially in the circumstances of time certainely known whether in the euening or at the dawning of the day and therefore is so vncertaine the rather to excite thy care and stirre vp thy diligence to prouoke thy watchfulnesse to set thee alwayes in a continuall expectation both of his comming particulerlie to thee and in generall to iudge the world But if thou like the euill seruaunt saye tushe the Lorde differreth to come and being absent can not see what is done amisse and cruelly shalt misuse thy fellow seruauntes or riotouslie mispend thy maisters substance wasting all in wantonnesse and excesse liuing in pleasure and fatting thy selfe as in the day of great slaughter and much feasting shall common with thy soule after this maner O my soul take thy rest this iolitie will not faile this case on earth is euerlasting behold suddenlie when thou thinkest least Luc. 12.46 this night before euer the morning can come death is at thy doore thie dayes are numbred thy deeds are waighed thy doom is come and thy soule shall departe not onely this life and so an end but shal be sundred from the nomber of the liuing with God and shall liue in torments euerlastinglie with Satan and his angels without end Nay rather let vs imitate the faithfulnesse of Sainct Paule who in respect of others namely of his brethrē the Iewes what a continuall sorrowe conceaued he howe hartie was his desire howe feruent his prayers in their behalfe Yea he had care of all congregations Who is weake and I am not affected Who is offended and I not grieued And in respect of him selfe he ranne his race he kept the faith he fought a good fight knew that there was a