in this lyfe CHAP. V. Sect. 1. Of the hope of mans first state THe second head of mans holinesse and subiection which he is to performe to God as to his king is called hope the which floweth from fayth after a speciall manner yea in truth it is nothing else but a particular fayth or an affiaunce on God for some particular good For when as the happines whereof faith taketh hold is not present but to come either in part or in whole there commeth out hope which is an expectatiō of the accomplishmēt of Gods promises already apprehended by fayth So that hope can haue no place there where ful perfect happines is present Rom. 8. 24. Hope that is seene is no hope For howe can a man hope for that which he seeth That is if the thing hoped or which we desire be present then the nature of hope is cleane taken away and ouerthrowen for it is impossible that a man shoulde hope for that as being to come hereafter which he presently enioyeth Whereby it appeareth that man in his first estate of happinesse had either none or little vse of this grace because his happinesse was present For howsoeuer the happinesse of Adam in his innocency were not so great and excellent as that whereof the faithfull shalbe made partakers in the world to come yet he then enioyed both perfect and present happinesse Neither doth it appeare in the scripture that God did promise any other happinesse vnto him then that which he presently enioyed and therefore it had not bene holynesse but presumption and sinne for him to haue hoped or looked for any other Howe then can we make hope a part of that holynesse wherein man was created We answere that although Adam in his innocency looked for no other happinesse then that which he did presentlie enioy yet he did hope that God would both continue that happinesse and also reueale himselfe and his glory to him after some other manner then he did at the first and so encrease his present happinesse Sect. 2. Of desperation or the want of Hope MAn falling from faith to infidelitie fell from hope to desperation for so we call that want of the hope of saluation which is in all carnall men neither could he otherwise doe For as he who taketh away the roote and the foundation taketh away the tree and the house yea all that groweth on the one and is built on the other So when fayth falleth the whole holynesse of man falleth to the ground but especially hope the which hath a nearer coniunction with faith then other graces haue and is more naturallie grounded vpon it as it is saide Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the groundeworke or foundation and subsistence of things hoped for For happinesse must first be beleeued in the minde and apprehended by the will before it can be hoped for So that seeing man since the fall doth not by faith depend on God he can not hope to receiue any good thing at his handes neither doth he once thinke of any other happines then is the enioying of the carnall sensuall pleasures of this present worlde The which being ended by death all the ioy pleasure and happynesse of one vnregenerate seemeth to him to be at an end as it is indeed For either he thinketh as most carnall men do that he shall die like a beast and that neither he himselfe nor any other shalbe raised vp againe to life to receaue either good or euill or if he haue some knowledge and beliefe of the word of God wherby he thinketh that there shalbe another worlde wherein some shall haue happines others miserie and sorrow yet he being destitute of fayth whereby his sinnes shoulde be remitted and his person indued with perfect holynesse and righteousnesse can looke for nothing but the eternall anger of God Thus the Apostle describeth an infidell that he is one without hope Ephe. 2. 12. 1. Thess. 4. 13. The signes whereby this desperation may be knowen are these First the generall signe of the want of any one grace to wit the want of other graces which are in a man truly regenerate For such is the nature of this renewed holynesse that where one parte is present there is no parte wholly wanting therfore we may know ourselues to be without hope if that we feele that we are destitute of the true knowledge of God of a liuely faith which is the mother of hope Secondly a proper signe of this desperation is when as a man is not affected with an vnspeakable ioy in regard of the life to come but heareth it mentioned as an ordinarie common and light matter whereas if he had any true hope of eternall glorie he would be replenished and euen rauished with ioy and that in the middest of all troubles and miseries by the consideration of it But because a man may more surely iudge by that which he feeleth to be in himselfe then by that which is wanting therefore men are to gather this desperation by these notes to wit By an immoderate care for the preseruing and prolonging of this present life together with an excessiue feare of death in our selues or sorrow for the death of others 1 Thess. 4. 13. I would not haue you sorrow for the dead as other doe which haue no hope And such other notes plentifully mentioned in the scripture Sect. 3. Of renued hope THe vse of this hope is not so little in the state of innocency but it is as great in the state of regeneration in the which although man be restored to his former happinesse yea to more excellent happinesse then he had before yet it is not present in this world as Adams was but for the greater part to come in the world to come and therefore it can not be here enioyed but onely hoped for If it be asked why God doth not grant to his elect children the present fruition of that happinesse especially seing that the deferring of so great a good cannot but be very grieuous vnto them for as the desire when it commeth is a tree of life so the deferring of the thing hoped for is the drying of the bones Prou. 13. 12. To this we answere confessing that this deferring of the happinesse appointed for the faithfull is and ought to be very grieuous vnto them For as he who is poore sicke weake in prison exile and in all kindes of miserie hath good cause to desire riches honour health strength liberty to see his own natiue coūtrie his parentes kinred and friends and in breife to be happie no lesse cause haue the faithfull to desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ. But God hauing regard rather to their good then to their desire hath in wisdome appointed that it should be otherwise that their happinesse shoulde be hoped for for some space of time before it be enioyned Yea this delay is needful for the good of
did Sathan know verie well that man was like to God in nothing so much as in his vnderstanding therefore he perswaded Eua to eate of the forbidden fruite by promising that by that meanes shee should attaine to a greater measure of knowledge and so consequentlie greater likenesse to God then she had For so he saith Gen. 3. 5. God knoweth that when ye shall eate of this fruite your eyes shalbe opened and ye shalbe as gods knowing good and euil But to leaue the dignitie of the minde to them who take in hand the naturall description of man we are here to consider the spirituall state of it in respect of God to wit the holinesse of it That the minde was created holy no man can denie but he who sticketh not to reproch his maker as hauing erred in the most excellent part of his worke and therefore it is more needfull that we declare the particulars of this holinesse First what it is or wherein it consisteth secondly the seuerall partes of it for the first The holinesse of the minde consisteth in the perfect knowledge of God and so it may be briefely defined Where we saye perfect we meane that perfection measure of knowledge whereof the nature of man is capable for there is a more perfect and excellent knowledge in the Angels then can be in any man Againe there is more perfect knowledge of God in God then in any Angell For God is knowen perfectly and essentially to himselfe only These transcendent kindes of knowledge which are without the compasse of humaine nature are not required at the handes of man and therefore he wanteth them without sinne Againe we doe not meane by perfection the highest degree or the greatest measure of knowledge which may be attained vnto by man for in this innocent estate one man may want that great measure of knowledge which an other man hath and yet want no part or iot of the holinesse of his minde onely by perfection we meane that knowledge wherein there is no parte wanting which is any way needfull for the holy and happie estate of man that is whenas a man knoweth all those duties which he oweth to God and whatsoeuer thing belongeth necessarilie to his owne good estate The second worde of the definition is knowledge whereby we meane both actuall and potentiall knowledge Actuall knowledge is that which is already really in the minde Potentiall knowledge is that vertue or facultie which conceaueth thinges offered to the minde by any meanes The first is to haue knowledge or the habite of knowledge the second is to be able to gette that knowledge which as yet is wanting of these two heereafter in particular Lastly by the knowledge of God we meane all manner of knowledge whereof although there be diuerse kindes as there are many thinges in the worlde besides God to be knowen yet the holines of the minde consisteth in this that it knoweth all thinges in God and nothing any otherwise then as it commeth from God and hath relation to him For God is all things in all and all thinges do exist in God and therefore euerie thing may be knowen in God and God knowen yea seene and felte in euerie thing euen in the least and basest creature The wicked Angels are in this their corrupt estate endued with a great measure of knowledge but this their knowledge is voide of all holynesse because it hath no relation to God and his glory for this onely is to be accounted the holinesse of the minde not barely to knowe the natures properties and differences of thinges but to see and acknowledge the wisdome power goodnesse and glorie of God in them For holinesse hath relation to God onely it seeth God through the meanest thinges and doth not rest in any thing till it come to God Yet we are not to thinke that the minde of man is in this his innocencie a confused chaos or heape of knowledge for God the maker of man is not the author of confusion And therefore we are to distinguish this knowledge into the seuerall kindes and partes of it whereof the first and cheife is the knowledge of God that is of the proper nature attributes and actions of God the second is the knowledge of the creatures The first kind may be called diuine be cause it tendeth directly and immediatelie to God himselfe Where we doe not meane that man could possiblie comprehend within the narrow compasse of his shallow braine the infinite and vnsearchable essence of God the which thing the Angels cannot doe Yet we are not to doubt but that he did thinke aright without any errour of the nature of God And no maruaill seing he did see God face to face as the scripture speaketh that is was daily conuersant in the presence and company of God as the Angels in heauen are although not in the same measure from this knowledge as from a fountaine springeth the knowledge of the creatures commonlie called humaine knowledge because all the creatures belonging to man and seruing for his vse are knowen for his good onely For as a man may easely see all thinges being there where the sunne shineth clearely so man liuing in Gods presence coulde not haue the nature of any creature hid from his sight From both these kindes of knowledge came the knowledge of euill for Rectum est index sui et obliqui a streight rule or line sheweth the crokednesse of any thing and so all trueth good and right shining in God and in his creatures did shewe to man what was false wrong hurtfull vnlawfull or any way euill for although Sathan did promise to man a greater measure of the knowledge of good and euill then he had Gen. 3. 5. as if his knowledge had bene imperfect in that behalfe yet he knewe what was euill better before his fall then afterwarde although by his fall he gottâ— the sense and experience of euill which he wanted before Thus much in general of mans knowledge the which is nowe to be considered more particularlie in the two kindes of it Potentiall and Actuall Potentiall knowledge is the aptnesse and abilitie of the minde to conceaue and comprehende whatsoeuer it shoulde please God to reueale Here iâ— may be asked by what meanes man in his innocent estate did attaine to knowledge We answere that Adam the first man was created in perfection as of body and soule so also of actuall knowledge not gotten by sense experience obseruation and by his owne industrie and yet it was afterwarde to be encreased by these meanes but engrauen in his minde by the finger of God and inspired by God together with his mind But his children were not to come so lightly to knowledge to whom he could not propagate his actuall knowledge but onely his potentiall for they were to be borne as in weakenesse of bodie so with mindes voide of all actuall knowledge not hauing the formes similitudes and vniuersall notions of thinges called
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
holinesse of mans will which is the inclination of man onely to that which is truely good Or thus The due subiection or obedience of the will to a holy and cleare minde shewing without any errour good and euill or more breifly The conformitie of mans inclination to his knowledge or of mans will to Gods will For then this facultie is perfectly holy whenas it chooseth for action those thinges which the minde iudgeth good right lawfull and agreeable to the will of God and contrarily reiecteth and refuseth whatsoeuer it saieth to be euill vnlawfull and forbidden and lastly when as touching those thinges which are not as yet fully determined by the minde to be either good or bad conuenient or inconuenient to be done or to be left vndone it staieth it selfe in the middest not inclining to the one or to the other Thus we see what was the actuall will of man euen his full inclination to good But there was another will in him which we may call potentiall as hath beene said that man hath both an actuall and a potentiall vnderstanding this potentiall will commonly called Freewill is the power which man had of inclining his will eyther to good or to euill Or more briefly The possibility of willing eyther of good or euill It may be made plaine in this manner Suppose a man to beare good will to his friend and a loyall and duetifull affection to his prince as many do this is his actual wil But againe that man may change his will and become altogether disloyall to his prince and a hater of his friend this is his possible and potentiall will So man inclineth really and indeed onely to good but in possibility eyther to good or euill Yet not equally but more to good then to euill as he that nowe loueth his friend although heereafter he may loue or hate him yet it is liker that he will loue then hate him That this potentiall will was in man we neede not prooue by argumentes being sufficiently prooued alreadie by the euent it selfe and the woefull experience of man-kind the which by the meanes of his potential wil hath lost that holy and happie estate wherein it was created For man being enabled by God to will either good or euil being cōmaunded by God to wil good only did chose rather to satisfie his own peruerse sinfull desire in willing euil then to obey the will of God in willing good If any man doe aske why God did put into man this potential doubtful and vncertaine will seing that if he had bene created without it he had beene sure from falling being actually and immutably disposed to good To this we answere 〈◊〉 we ought to rest contented in the will of God thinking well of all his doings although we cannot see or giue any reason of the same Secondly that man could not haue beene created without his potentiall will for so his nature should haue beene vncapable of sin For if his will had beene inclined to good actually and immutably it coulde neuer haue bene inclined to euil so he could not possibly haue committed sin because of the want of the free and potentiall will But he by whome this doubt was propounded will maruaile to heare that brought against his opinion which he did alledge as the onely reason and strength of it and that any man should thinke freewill to haue beene needfull in the state of innocency because without it man could not haue sinned when as he thinketh that it might very well haue beene spared for that cause seeing that as sinne it selfe whereby Gods glory is obscured and mans happinesse vtterly lost so all the meanes occasions and inducementes of it ought by al meanes to be auoided To this reply we make this answere that Gods glory is impaired much by the cōmitting of sinne but much more by this supposed impossibility of committing sinne for immutability and vncapablenesse of sinne are a great part of his glory and inseparable attributes of his diuine essence and therefore they cannot without the great dishonor of God be cōmunicated to any earthly creature Now as touching man himselfe whose patrone although he yeeld to this yet he thinketh it impossible to be proued that this impossibility of sinning is not good and profitable for man what reason is it that his good shoulde not giue place to Gods glory for the which he was created seeing that the wanting of potentiall wil and the impossibility of sinning arising thereof doe directly obscure the glory of God but not necessarily hinder the happinesse of man who cannot thinke that GOD doth eyther compell or any way cause him to sinne in that he hath made it possible for him to sinne But what will be saide for this impossibility of sinning if so be it be found hurtful to man himselfe as it is indeed as will easely appeare to him who considereth that it depriueth man not onely of all praise and commendation which being receiued at the handes of God is not lightly to be esteemed by man who thinketh it a great matter Laudari a laudato to be praised by a worthy man but also of holinesse it selfe For what is more ridiculous then that man should looke for any commendation for not sinning when as he coulde not so much as be willing to sinne seeing that the brute beastes yea stockes and stones in the which there is no sinne nor shaddow of any may as iustly looke for praise in that respect or for performing positiue dueties of holinesse comming not of a willing and ready minde which God regardeth but of necessity and constraint and as the due praise of holinesse so also holinesse it selfe is taken away by this impossible possibillity of sinning for nothing can properly be said to be the subiect of holinesse which naturally may not become sinfull as nothing is saide to haue life or sight which may not become dead or blind And therefore we doe not say that stones and brute beastes haue in them any holinesse because they cannot haue sinfulnesse which is the priuation of it How then will this curious questionarie say can the holy Angels fall from God and doe ye make the nature of God a fit harbour of sinfulnesse not so neither but we say that God is not properly the subiect of holinesse although it hath pleased him to set foorth his incomprehensible nature to our capacity by taking to himselfe this and other attributes of the creature for God is the rule of holinesse and any thing is then truely holy whenas it obeyeth the will and commaundements of God but we cannot in proper speech say that God eyther commaundeth or obeyeth himselfe as for the holy Angels they retaine as all the rest of their natural faculties wherewith they were indued in their first creation so also this free and potentiall will if it be possible that any of those which doe now keep their standing in holines happines should fall from God yet
this spirituall ioy by reason of the infirmitie of the flesh and although they cannot cleane extinguishe it yet they coole and diminishe it yea and so driue it into a corner as that it doth not any way appeare Yea euen the ordinarie misery and vanitie of this life being compared with the happinesse of the life to come doth worke in the faithfull sorrow sighes and grones as we read Rom. 8. 13. Beside this matter of sorrow which they haue in themselues they are continually sore grieued and euen tormented in themselues when as they beholde the vaine and wretched estate of the creatures being moued to pittie euen by the miseries of the brute beastes the horrible sinnes which abounde euery where and the generall atheisme which raigneth in the worlde to the greate dishonour of the name of God And much more whenas they consider the calamities miseries abuses corruptions and defections of the churches professing the name of Christ. These thinges doe and that iustly worke continuall greife in the heartes of the Godly yet this greife is moderated with patience and contentation in the will of God and so it be commeth a godly sorrow which doth not bringe them to desperation and death as carnall sorrow doth but is at length the cause of greater ioy And thus omitting for breuities sake the rest of the affections which haue not so common and notable vse in the life of man we conclude this second part of mans holinesse to wit his conformity to God The third part of this treatise of the chaunges hapening in the three estates or of the degrees of holinesse and sinfulnesse CHAPTER I. Of the chaunges hapening in the three estates of man in generall THe mutabilitie of the creature whereby the identitie of God is illustrated appeareth not onely in the generall diuersitie of mans state which sometimes is innocent and happie other times sinfull and miserable and againe becommeth holy here on earth and glorious in heauen but also in the particular chaunges hapening in his seuerall states whereof none can make him so immutable as that he may say truely of himselfe I am that I was and will be that I am and no otherwise As touching his created holynesse it coulde not be either so firme and stedfast but that it might be in some sorte diminished or so absolutly perfect but that it ought daily to be encreased But this vncertaintie and mutabilitie appeareth farre more plainelie in his other estates the one of naturall sinfulnes the other of renewed holines of both which there are in a māner as many degrees as there are carnall regenerate men in the world For although the corruptiō of sin haue already so possessed all the partes faculties of body soule be as deeply imprinted into the soule of man as the spottes are in the skin of a leopard and therefore may seeme not to admitte any encrease by reason of the greatnesse or any decrease by reason of the naturalnes of it yet both these chaunges may be seene the one vsually in most vnregenerate men who doe daily plunge themselues deeper and deeper in to the pit of sin adding one sin to another and thirst to drunkennesse as the scripture speaketh the other in diuerse both within and without the church Likewise in regeneration the faithfull man neuer standeth at one stay but doth alwaies grow either vpwarde or downewarde in godlynesse For as vsually he encreaseth his spiritual strength chaunging his christian infancie with a ripe and constant age and adding grace to grace till he become a perfect man in Christ so sometimes he decreaseth in holinesse as we see the bodies of men doe in old age and so as it were returning the same way he came falleth into one sinne after another and so decreaseth in holinesse although not totally and finally yet greiuously and fearefully Thus the spirituall state of man chaunging it selfe from lesse to more and from more to lesse from good to euill and from euil to good yea from good to better and from euil to worse is as variable as is the moone which continually decreasing or increasing in light appeareth euerie night in a newe forme These chaunges differences and degrees are necessarie to be knowen of all christians that so they may be either sought after or auoided as they are either good or euill And therefore we are here to declare the degrees both of the holinesse and also of the sinfulnesse of man not the conuersion of one estate into another the which is the argument of the two former partes of this treatise but the proper chaunges of each state as first howe Adam continuing in the state of innocencie might either haue decreased or increased in holinesse Secondly howe a carnall man abiding in his naturall sinfullnesse may be more or lesse sinfull And Lastly howe a regenerate man may decrease or increase in spirituall graces Of these in order if first we put the reader in minde that these chaunges are made from that measure of created holinesse of sinfulnesse and of renewed holinesse which hath bene declared in the two former partes of this booke wherein although sometimes for illustration a higher degree both of holinesse and of sinne be mentioned yet we haue indeauoured to sette downe that mediocritie as it may be called of holinesse both created and renewed which is to be seene ordinarily and vsually in men in the state of innocencie and of regeneration and likewise that measure of sinne which is naturall to all men and may be seene in many vnregenerate men not in all because in some it is diminished nor in most because vsually it is encreased as afterward will appeare CHAP. II. Of the chaunges of created holinesse IT may be doubted how man liuing and continuing in his innocent and happy estate could decrease in holinesse especially seeing that as hath beene said in the first part Chap. 3. Sect. 2. all the partes of his holinesse were so tyed and linked together that he could not loose any particular grace without loosing all nor commit the least sinne in the state of innocency because by committing sinne and in the very act and moment of committing it he should fall from his innocency into a sinfull state Wee answere that although all this be true yet there must a difference be put betwixt the want of a grace and the small measure of it and so betwixt the committing of sinne and the decreasing in holinesse which may be without sinne and that in this state if so be it be with these conditions first that this decrease be not so great as that any grace or part of holinesse be wholly wanting for thereof sinne would necessarily follow Secondly that it be not continuall or finall but onely for some short space of time In this manner we may well thinke that particular graces as faith loue temperance might be in man in the state of innocency sometimes in great and sometimes in small measure
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
suspected to be vneffectuall This the Apostle doth plainely testifie 1. Cor. 11. 19. There must be heresies that those who are approoued may be made manifest that is God doth suffer schismes and diuisions to be among you that by this meanes it may appeare whose holinesse is sounde and whose is hypocriticall or at the least light and ineffectuall Secondly men truely regenerate receiue a greater measure of particular graces as of faith loue and patience then the other doe Yea they doe daily increase in grace whereas the other doe commonly stand at a stay neuer attaining to any great measure of godlinesse but abide in a certaine indifferent kinde of mediocrity being neither hotte nor colde Besides true graces are fruitfull but the shadowes are barren eyther wholly or in part as the faith of these men doth not worke and shewe foorth it selfe by loue their loue is without workes of compassion and Christian communion their good works without alacrity Lastly the shadowe of regeneration doth often come to nothing and is turned into meere Atheisme and want of all religion but true regeneration can neuer wholly decay as Math. 3. 20. Some receiue the worde with ioy and afterwarde fall away and Heb. 6. 4. 5 we reade of those who being once made partakers of the holy Ghost doe afterwardes fall away from Christ yea while they doe retaine this resemblance of true sanctification they are not constant but variable in doing good Iam. 1. 8. A double minded man is vnconstant in all his waies that is a man halfe carnall and halfe regenerate doth not keepe throughout the course of his whole life a constant tenour of godlinesse but often changeth his minde opinions affections and practise By these and such other notes which may be obserued in the scripture and by daily experience this shadowe of holinesse may be discerned from the trueth yet we ought not peremptorely to iudge or rashly to condemne any man for there may be found euen in men truely regenerate many wants errours sinnes and alterations as afterwards will appeare Therefore we ought to thinke the best where we see any likelihoode of good and where there is none to hope for better in time to come and so leauing other men to Gods iudgement to censure our owne profession and regeneration by these rules Yet it is both lawfull and needfull that we shoulde knowe howe to distinguish trueth from falshoode right from wrong good from euill the shadowe from the bodie in the professions of our brethren The which it is the parte of euerie Christian to marke and consider to trie and thinke of it according to the trueth of the worde of GOD but in iudging and speaking to vse greate moderation and wisedome CHAP. V. Of the particulars in this supernaturall decrease of sinfulnesse THe first and most vsuall part of this supernaturall decrease of sinne is the illumination of the minde whereby a carnall man who before did not beleeue the doctrine eyther of the law or of the gospell is brought to see and acknowledge the trueth of the one or of both To beleeue the law of God to be true is to haue a sight and a sense of sinne to see sinne is for a man to know himselfe to be so sinfull in nature in soule body in life and actions as indeed he is To feele sinne is to know that for his sinne he is subiect to the wrath of God which is eternall death This first part of illumination is far more easely oftē wrought in a naturall man then is the other because by the light of nature man hath some knowledge of good and euill and that the righteous are to be rewarded as the wicked are tobe punished Hence it is that many make this first step in this shadow of regeneration and goe no further Thus Cain and Iudas with many others did see their sin the punishmēt due vnto it but yet had no beliefe of the doctrine of the gospel for remission of sinne The second part of illumination is to thinke the doctrine of the gospel to be true namely that remission of sinnes and eternall glorie is to be had by faith in Iesus Christ. Heb. 6. 4. This knowledge GOD worketh by his spirit and word in manie reprobates Act. 8. 13. Simon magus beleeued and was baptized of whose reprobation although we can affirme nothing because the Apostle doubteth of it Vers. 22. Yet it is plainely out of the 21. verse that he was not as then truly regenerated Yea many carnall men attaine to so greate a measure of knowledge that there is no point or heade of christian religion which they doe not in some sorte conceiue vnderstand and beleeue although not fully for that is impossible yet so as that they are able to performe the duty of teachers in the Church in laying open plainly and euidently to the capacitie of the hearers the mysteries of the gospel in resoluing al doubtes cōtrouersies questions obiections and arguments which are moued about anypoint of doctrine Thus did the teachers at Corinth of whome the Apostle writeth 1. Cor. 13. 2. Though I had the gift of prophecie and knew all secrets and knowledge and haue not loue I were nothing So Math 7. 22. Prophecie in Christes name whome he doth not acknowledge as his This knowledge is commonly called an historicall faith a gift common to the elect and the reprobate yet not so common as it seemeth to be Yea in truth more rare in respect of the greate multituds of professours and christians then it is common in respect of the small number of true beleeuers For to let passe those who know nothing of religion we are not to thinke that all they who are learned and as we say great clarkes in diuinitie and profound schoole-men do in their mindes and iudgments hold these things to bee true Yea it appeareth plainly in the example of Iudas who although he did preach the gospell with his tongue yet he did not beleeue it himselfe as Christ witnesseth Ioh. 6. 64 that manie doe goe about to perswade others that to bee true which they them-selues thinke to be false And no maruaile for why should it bee thought easie and common for a naturall man to beleeue that which is contrarie to naturall reason we se Ioh. 3. 12 that Christ could not or rather did not make Nicodemus a teacher in Israel beleeue the doctrin of spirituall regeneration And so we may well thinke that many otherwise learned thinke that it is no such supernaturall work but that it may be attained by natural means Likewise how many thinke wee are perswaded in their heartes that this worlde shall neuer haue an ende or that there shal be a new world wherein the bodies of men which were consumed to nothing many thousand years before shalbe raised vp liue for euer But to proceede of the decrease of ignorance commeth the decrease of infidelitie For as
our nature is capable and whereunto we willby all meanes aspire notwithstanding your commaundement to the contrary not doubting but that by our own strength wit endeauours and inuentions we shall become farre more happy then we are by this your creation Vpon this resolution the creature disobeyeth the expresse commaundement of God and so falleth from God into extreame misery Now whether the blame of this fall be to be imputed to God or to the creature it self let any reasonable creature iudge for God did neither commaund nor counsell it but did carefully forewarne them of it yea he did neither put any euill motion into their mindes nor yet withdrawe from them any naturall grace whereby they shoulde haue beene vpholden but left it to their free choise whither they would be cleane and obey him or else rebell against his worde If it be obiected that the necessitie of Gods decree did compell the creature to fall wee answere affirming that to be vtterly vntrue For God did decre that the fal of man should com to passe by his free will and therefore his decree did not take away but establishe mans free will If it bee thought impossible that the same action shoulde bee both necessary and contingent as wee make this action to be we answere that to man it is impossible but not to God For man cannot bring any thing certainly to passe by vncertaine and contingent meanes but God can worke necessarily by those meanes which to mans reason fall out by chaunce and at hap hazard For there is no thing contingent or vncertaine to God whodoth foresee al the euents of thinges and so doth build his immutable decree vppon the euentes themselues which are necessary not vppon the contingencie of the causes As in this instance how easy a thing was it for God foreseing that man being indued with free will whereby he might doe either good or euill woulde choose the euill part to decree the fall of man by his freewill and yet to leaue man in the very action free either to stand or to fall Againe if it be obiected that God might haue vpholden man by some extraordinary grace we confesse that to be true but yet it doth not thereof follow that God was the cause of this fall for the naturall grace wherewith man was endued and which was inherent in himselfe was sufficient if he woulde haue vsed it aright and for supernaturall grace God was neither bounde to giue any neither did he thinke the creature worthy of anie newe supplie of grace which did so vnthankefully abuse his former bountie or that the continuance of this pure estate woulde illustrate his glory so much as woulde the fall of man Lastly it may be thought that God might and ought to haue made these his exellent creatures in a firme and permanent estate and that by takeing from them all possibilitie of falling and all freedome of will in respect of euill as he doth to the elect Angels and men and as his owne nature is vncapable of euill Wherevnto we answer that this which is alleaged is a thing altogether impossible for the fredome of will doth not derogate anie thing from the perfection of the creature the which could not haue bene made excellent without it For where no will is there is no vnderstanding As for the elect both men and Angels they are vpholden by the supernatural grace of God not by any such natural strength disposition of wil as cannot chuse euil the which if they had they were not reasonable creatures but either as brute beasts and senslesse trees or els as God himselfe who onely cannot be tempted with any euil So then the cause why the wicked angels and man kind fell from their first state was their owne free will choosing sinne and refusing life offerd by God but God is no other wayes the cause of this fal then he is the cause of all actions in the worlde both good and euil namely in that he is the cause of the cause For in that he made the freewil of man he did in some sort make the fal which came of it secondly in that he gaue an effectual occasion of it But that is not the question for we enquire the true and proper cause of this fall The whol matter may not vnfitly be declarred by this similitude A wise father purposing to let his sonne see his owne wilfulnes and intēperancie together with his loue fatherly affection toward him resolueth with himselfe to make him fall into some mortal sicknesse out of the which he knoweth himselfe to be able to recouer him This he wil effect not by giuing him poyson to drinke for thē he should be the cause and beare the blame of that euil but by laying it in his way as it were a baite in some sweete meate which he knoweth that his sonne loueth and will eate as soone as he seeth it And least that he shoulde plead ignorance and so auoide the blame of wilfulnesse he forewarneth him of that kind of meate charging him very instantly to abstaine from it as being vnholsome and hurtfull vnto him yet he doth not tell him what he intendeth This young man coming where this pleasant meat is remēbreth his fathers counsell commandement yet is by the entisement of euil companions and his owne appetite moued to eate of it perswading himselfe that there is no such daunger in it as his father woulde make him beleeue aud therfore no cause he shoulde obey him in that matter So hee eateth of it and poysoneth himselfe now no man can denie but that both the father and the sonne haue a hand and play their in this tragedy yet not the father who giueth the occasion only but the young man himselfe who doth willingly or rather wilfully take that hurtfull meat is to be blamed counted the cause of this euill In like manner God dealeth with man he decreeth his fall yet doth not throwe him downe but only layeth a stumbling blocke in his way He doth not infect man with the poyson of sin but putteth it into a goodly apple which he knoweth that man will deuoure greedely whensoeuer occasion is offred this he did by forbidding man to eat of that fruite by the which meanes he made the eating of it to be sinne that is deadely poyson which otherwise was good and pleasant So then God is the cause of mans fall so as he who layeth a baite for fish is the cause of their death he vsing no violence towards thē but only suffring them to followe their naturall appetite But Sathan who is the second actor playeth a farre diuers part labouring by promises pretences entisements perswasions and by all meanes possible to bring man into the state of sinne and death God sitteth still on the banke holding an angle rod in his hand with baite hooke hanging at it waiting til man come of his owne accord and bite But Sathan pursueth man vp and
obey the voyce of God commanding a holy life but the vnlawfull motions of his sinfull flesh Rom. 6. 16. Know ye not that to whomesoeuer you giue your selues to obey his seruantes you are whether of sinne to death or of holinesse to life Yea a carnall man is a bondslaue solde into the iurisdiction of sinne Rom. 7. 14. that looke as a slaue whome they vsed in old times as they doe still in some countries to buy with money as horse sheepe and oxen was no more his owne man as we say then were the aforesaid brute beastes but was compelled to fulfill his masters will in all thinges whether good or euill so it fareth with man who of the seruant of God is become a most vile slaue of Sathan alwaies attending his will and pleasure and performing the same with all his might and strength yea with all the faculties of his minde and the members of his body The particular functions whereof are by the Apostle cited Rom. 3. 13. Out of the olde Testament His throte is an open sepulchre his tongue speaketh nothing but deceipt his lips whereby he pretēdeth frindship haue vnder thē the poyson of Aspes his mouth full of cursing his feet swift to shed blood so all the rest of the members of a mans body haue their taske allotted vnto them the which they do not grudgingly and vnwillingly as vsually bondslaues do but most readely greedely ioyfully delighting in nothing but in that which they know pleaseth the humour of their master So that all men naturally are in a greater bondage vnder sinne then any of them is vnder their temporall maisters or owners For there is no slaue of so base a minde the which cannot be found among the brute beastes but that tho his body be oppressed and kept vnder chaines yet he desireth freedome and so he being detained against his will keepeth a free minde and will but man being in this most filthy and wretched thraldome thinketh himselfe to be in the most happy state that may be and therefore neither doth nor can desire to be freed from it Lastly as touching the third duety of a seruāt man doth not bring any aduantage of glory to God but doth dishonour him by all meanes leading his life so as if there were no God or as if he neyther could punish sinners for their wickednes nor yet doe any good to the righteous mā yet wil he nil he he shal one day glorify God in being an open spectakle of his wrath and iustice when as he shal heare that sentence pronounced againe by Christ Take this slouthfull and vnprofitable seruant and cast him into vtter darkenesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Sect. 3. Of seruile subiection renewed THus we see the wretched estate of man beeing the vassall and slaue of sinne with whome it fareth as it did with Pharaohs seruantes which had sinned against their Lord Gen. 40. For some as they liue so they die in that slauery and therfore they die eternally others to wit the faithful are pardoned restored to their former dignity insomuch that being by Christ reconciled to God they doe boldly enter againe into his presence in the which they doe alwaies stande attending his pleasure obeying his commaundements performing whatsoeuer seruice is enioyned them and so procuring Gods aduantage as good and faithfull seruants do to their earthly maisters Yet not al after the same manner in like measure For as among earthly seruantes so also in the house of God which is his church there are diuers functions and degrees of ministrations and as some seruing immediately directly about the person of their maister are in higher estimation with him so some of the faithfull do serue God in publicke functions and do in greater measure glorifie him then others do In this order are to be accounted the faithfull patriarches preistes prophets Kings magistrates Apostles and ministers whose seruice commeth neare to God and doth directly and properly enlarge his glory and therefore in lue of their long and faithfull seruice God doth rewarde them with this most honorable title calling them his seruantes Thus God calleth Abraham Gen. 26. 24. I will blesse thee for Abraham my seruants sake And Moses Iosu. 1 7. On whome this epitaphe is written Deut. 34. 5. There died Moses the seruant of the Lord. Thus God calleth Dauid often sparing Ierusalem in the midest of his anger For his seruant Dauids sake and thus are Iosua Daniell and others called And all they whose godlinesse faith and loue was greate and notable as Iob others Iob. 1. 8. Yea of late daies the church imitating God herein hath most thankfully and worthily giuen this glorious title to those who haue bene zealous in beating downe superstition and in aduancing the gospell kingdome and glory of Christ. These are gods cheife seruants and as it were the golden vessels of his house besides the which he hath other vessels of honour wherewith he is serued euen all true beleeuers true harted christians who also are Gods faithfull seruants yea although they spende all the daies of their liues in such callings as may seeme to appertaine nothing to God neither any way to set forth his glory For example in the first ages of the gospell manie Christians were bond seruants to infidels whereby it came to passe that they were continually imployed in their maisters affaires the which had no more to do with the seruice of God then darknesse hath with light yet these Christians were accounted Gods faithfull seruants in that they performed faithfull seruice to those infidels Thus we read Col. 3. 22. Seruants obey your maisters in all things not with eye seruice but in simplicitie of heart as those that feare the Lord Yea he addeth and what soeuer ye do do it not as to men but as to God knowing that ye shall receiue a reward for it of the Lord so that a godly and vpright life in what kinde soeuer it be is the true seruice of God Rom. 6. 17. Thankes be vnto God that although ye were once the seruants of sinne yet now ye are made the seruants of righteousnesse and therefore as you did before present your bodies before vncleannesse and all manner of sin readie to commit sin so now present your bodies before righteousnesse as being readie to all holynesse of life This exhortation is carefully to be followed of all that desire to be accounted the seruants of God that as whilst they were in the seruice of sinne they did no manner of seruice to God so now being the seruants of God they labour to shake cleane from their neckes the yoke of sinne For as Christ saith Math. 6. 24. We cannot serue two maisters both God and Mammon but must of necessitie cleaue to the one and forsake the other The which we cannot but do if that we consider that this new seruice is
generall renouation of their mindes and also sin it selfe by the infirmitie of the flesh And therefore they haue an accusing conscience which is nothing else but the sight or knowledge of sinne in themselues Hereof follow diuers effectes in them as namely feare in respect of those temporall punishments whervnto they by their sins haue layde themselues open Secondly an encrease of humiliation in regard thereof And lastly this accusing conscience is as a bit to restraine the faithful from sinne checking them as it were in the teeth with the iudgments of God which they doe by committing sin pull vppon thēselues Thus we see what is the accusing conscience of the faithfull which then worketh when they fall by force of temptation into some greate sinne otherwise it doth not greatly vex and trouble them Yet as sinne is neuer wanting so it is neuer altogether idle Now let vs consider the contrarie worke of the conscience excusing the faithfull before God the which it doth first in regard both of their owne inherent righteousnesse and also of the imputed righteousnesse of Christ. In the first respect their conscience excuseth them not as being perfectly iust but as those who are Gods faithfull seruants performing vnto him tho imperfect yet true vnfained and heartie obedience Thus doth the Prophet Dauid often in the psalmes offer his innocencie and integritie to the triall of God This excusing conscience dare not shewe his face before the iudgment seate of God where it would be found as a filthie and defiled clout but it commeth into the court of Gods mercie and loue who rewardeth the Godlinesse of his seruants with temporall blessinges and security from temporall iudgments But the true excusing conscience loketh on the perfect righteousnes of Christ by vertue whereof it doth iustifie and absolue the faithfull as being fully and perfectly iust and free from all guilt of sinne This excuser is he who only can abide the triall of Gods iustice who maketh the faithfull reioyce in all miseries yea secure in regard of danger It maketh them triumph ouer sinne Sathan hell death and damnation and replenisheth their heartes with such a perfect peace whereby they feele the ioyes of heauen euen whilst they liue vpon earth wherof whosoeuer hath once tasted may counte himselfe thrise happie This kinde of excusing conscience commeth of a true faith as doth the former kinde of the other partes of sanctification and of holinesse of life the one freeth the faithfull from the feare of temporarie euils as the other doth from the feare of eternall death Of both of them ariseth the assurance of saluation which is the vndoubted perswasiō and certaine knowledge of a faithfull man that he is one of those who shalbe made partakers of eternall glorie But against this doctrine many do obiect say that it is impossible for any man to attaine to any such knowledge seing that the eternall counsels and decrees of God are so secret that no man hath at any time knowen the minde of God or beene of his counsell in that behalf Againe that this knowledge is to be gotten if by any meanes then either by immediate reuelation or by arguments drawen from a mans owne estate as from some fayth or holinesse which he fyndeth in himselfe The first meanes is generallie reiected The other being vncertaine cānot be a sure foundatiō whereon to build this certaine perswasions Lastly that by this meanes there would a dore be set open to all licentiousnesse Godlesse securitie For what neede he who knoweth certainly that he shal be saued take paines and sustaine trouble griefe in working his owne saluatiō by a Godly holy life To this we answer confessing that the number of the reprobate or elect cānot be knowen and also that this knowledge is not gotten by any immediate reuelation yet affirming that euery faithfull man may be and ought to be assured of his owne saluation and that by that wounderfull worke of regeneration wrought in him by the holy spirite the which doth euen leade the faithfull man as it were by the hande into the secrete counsell of GODS eternall election and doth there let him see not the state of other men but his owne name written in heauen For they who are truelie regenerate are truely called they who are truely called are iustified they who are iustified are that is they shalbe as certainly certainely as if they were already glorified Rom. 8. 29. 30. And therefore the scripure speaketh of the faithfull as of those who haue already attained eternall saluation Ioh. 3. 8. Yea this is done not without good cause For the regeneration of this life and the eternall glorie of the life to come are not two diuerse states or conditions but onely diuerse degrees of the same condition eternall saluation being nothing else but the perfection of holinesse and happinesse whereof the faithfull haue in this life receaued some parte as a pledge and earnest-pennie of the whole So that they hauing alreadie as we say one foote in heauen and gotten possession of it neede not doubt of their saluation but may confidently say as it is 1. Ioh. 3. 14. We knowe not we hope or gresse that we are translated already not that we shalbe hereafter from death to life not by any immediate reuelation but because we loue the brethren that is because we feele our selues endued with renewed holinesse whereof the loue of the Godly is a notable part And with the Apostle Rom. 8. 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life neither Angels nor principalities neither thinges present nor thinges to come can separate me from the loue of God in Christ. But it may be further obiected that although true regeneration be a certaine signe and forerunner of saluation yet it is hard for a man to knowe whether his regeneration be true or onely a shadow and resemblance which is often in the reprobate and although he haue true faith and holinesse at one time yet he may loose and lack them at an other and so dispossesse himselfe of that estate of saluation wherein he was In both which respectes He that thinketh that he standeth ought to feare least he fall rather then to boast of the certaintie of his saluation We answere that true regeneration is not so small a matter neither maketh so light a chaunge in a man but that it may be plainely discerned where it is present Neither is it any vncertaine thing which may be lost but wheresoeuer it is there it doth euidently appeare at one time or at an other and where it once appeareth there it alwaies abideth For regeneration being a totall and a supernaturall change of the minde will affections thoughtes wordes and dedes of a man cannot be hid or doubtfull for any long time but will shewe it selfe both to the eyes of other men and much more to the conscience of the beleeuer himselfe For all though it commeth
are of two sorts to wit the will and the affections First of the will then of the affection As touching this facultie of mans soule called the will although it be proper to reasonable things for a reasonable will cannot be seuered from a reasonable minde yet there is a resemblāce of it in all those creatures which being indued with sense haue by it a naturall appetite choosing one thing and refusing an other the which may fitly be called a brutish will And therefore that we may the more plainlie see what force this facultie hath in mā we will consider define it in generall as it agreeth both to reasonable and to vnreasonable things that in this manner Will is the free inclination of any thing which hath in it selfe the whole fountaine of naturall motion to that which is apparently good agreable to the owne nature Frst we say that will is an inclination for the proper action of it is to bende the thing wherein it is to that thing which it liketh wherein is contained or rather insinuated vnto vs the contrarie action of the will which is to withdraw the thing wherein it is from that thing which it disliketh Secondly this inclination is free that is it commeth of the thing it selfe and is not extorted by any outward force for although the will be stirred vp and set forward by motiues both inward and outward yet it cannot be compelled compulsion and willingnesse being contrarie each to other If any man do here obiect that manie are constrained by force to doe that which is sore against their willes We answere that the outward action may be constraned but not the will for violence may make one do that which he is vnwilling to doe but it cannot make him willing to do that which he is vnwilling to do Thirdly we are to consider what thinges maybe said to haue wil not stocks or stones but onely those which haue in them life and motion neither all such thinges but onely those which hauing in themselues the wholle fountaine of motion doe perfectly liue and moue For trees haue life and motion but not will because their life motion is imperfect not comming wholly of any facultie and vertue inherent in themselues but depending of some other outward force Whereof it commeth that their motion is not free but forced for the motion or action of a tree in bringing forth fruite commeth not wholly from it selfe but chiefely from the Sunne the heat whereof forceth the tree to turne the moisture of the earth into leaues flowers and fruite But it is farre otherwise with beastes birdes and all thinges which haue sense in them For these haue perfect life and motion hauing within themselues the whole fountaine beginning abilitie and facultie of motion not depending on any other outwarde thinge but being entire in themselues do moue and performe all naturall actions of themselues And therefore being free from all outward force may either doe or not doe moue or rest go or stand eate or drinke goe hither or thither when themselues list As when a birde flyeth toward the east rather then towarde the west it is not blowen that way by force of the winde but caried by the proper and free inclination of it selfe But when it being taken is caried vp and downe in a mans hand this motion commeth not from it selfe but from an other not of inherent will but of outward violence and compulsion Againe man hath will because he is of perfect life and motion hauing in himselfe the whole fountaine of action and power of mouing himselfe without the helpe of any other thing and therefore he also can sitte downe or rise vp speake laugh go about this or that businesse or worke thinke of this or that thing as he himselfe listeth and is disposed Thirdly the Angels both good and euill haue will for they are natures of perfect life and motion in that they haue in themselues the wholle fountaine of motion and therefore they are free in all their naturall actions Thus we see what creatures haue free-will where we are to thinke that this freedome of will is as great in the least and weakest of these creatures as in the greatest in a sely flie as in a man or Angel If any man do heare obiect that all creatures moue in God and without him are not able to doe any thing We answere that God hath put into euerie creature a naturall vertue and power of doing all thinges belonging to it selfe by the which being not withdrawen or hindered by God the creature is able to performe all naturall actions without any extraordinarie helpe from God as when any creature doth this or that thing the action commeth of it selfe in that the facultie of performing it is inherent in it selfe and yet the same action commeth from God But ro retourne to the matter Lastly God hath will because he is such a nature as hath in it selfe the whole fountaine of perfect motion yea that which is the fountaine of all fountains and therefore he doth al things of his own free will the which differeth from the will of the creatures as in other respectes so also in that it cannot be hindred by any force but can hinder the will of any creature as we knowe that God brideleth the will euen of the deuill and his Angels the which otherwise are mightie creatures Thus we see the subiect of will now we come to the obiect of it or that wherevnto the will of any thinge inclineth First therefore the will of any thing inclineth it selfe to that which is good and in any respect conuenient pleasant and profitable as we knowe that euerie thinge doth abhor and decline from that which is any way euill hurtfull daungerous grieuous inconuenient and vnprofitable Yet the will doth not incline it selfe to any good but onelie to that which is apparantly good for although the will of God inclineth alwaies to that onely which is good indeed and in trueth because he cannot be deceaued in any thing yet the creature doth often thinke euill to be good and good euill and so abhorreth that which is good and inclineth to that which is in trueth euill yet good in shewe and appearance Lastly not any apparant good is the obiect of the will but that which euery thing thinketh to be good for it selfe for a man doth not incline himselfe to that which he thinketh to be good for a beast vnlesse he thinke it good for himselfe also Yea euery thing followeth the naturall disposition of it selfe desiring those thinges onely which are agreeable to the owne nature Thus much ingenerall of will the which is of two kindes brutishe and reasonable the which hath place in all those natures which are inducd with reason as namely in God in Angels and in man But to let passe the will of God and of Angels as being no part of the matter in hand we are to consider the created
this is to be ascribed not to any natural impossibility of sinning which is not to be admitted or supposed in any creature no not in the humane nature of Christ to the which the sinne of mankind could not haue beene imputed if it had beene naturally vncapable of sin but to the loue and grace of God who doth continue vphold them in their holy state not by mangling their nature and detracting any natural faculty as potentiall will or any other but by cōfirming their actuall will in the natural inclination of it to good onelie Lastlie this natural impossibilitie of sinning would make man either a God as hath beene said or which is liker a senselesse stocke not hauing in himselfe perfect life the full power of mouing himself For how can we suppose that Adam shoulde haue been created a liuing and a reasonable creature not to haue beene able to will to eate the forbidden fruit or to do any other thing incident into his nature If it be saide that God might haue confirmed him with his grace We answere that that is true but he neither was bound to doe it neither did or could thinke man worthy of more grace who did abuse so many and so excellent graces as he had by nature Sect. 2. Of the sinfulnesse of the will AS there is nothing but horrible confusion in that cōmonwealth wherein neither the prince can rule nor the people obey the one wanting wisedome and counsell whereby he should make righteous lawes commaunding good and forbidding euill the other due moderation whereby they might be restrained from euill and so the raynes of licentiousnesse being let loose to the furious multitude all is filled with thefts murthers adulteries and all manner of hainous enormities that we may come nearer home making the sēsible misery of the body a type of the spirituall misery of the soule as when one blinde man leadeth another it cannot be but that both of them should fall into the ditch So the case standeth with the sinfull disorderly soule of man wherein the mind being voyd of knowledge is not able to direct the practicall faculties from euil to good And if happily there be some good motion suggested by the minde wherein there is a little light remaining since the first creation yet it is not followed and obeyed but frowardly reiected by the practicall faculties and so the vnderstanding faculties which are darkened blinded by the fall of man leading the practicall faculties which by their owne nature are blind and by sinfulnes peruerse cannot but lead man into the pit of sinne and of eternall destruction But let vs consider these practicall faculties in particular first the will then the affections As all the other faculties of man so also the will hath lost the created holines and what maruaile is it that the will it selfe is sinfull seeing by it all the other faculties of mans soule and body were made sinfull Yea it is more sinfull then the former faculties and so is iustly punished for being the cause of mans sinfulnesse for it doth more if more can be abhorre and refuse good then the minde is ignorant of it The meanes whereby the will became sinfull was the owne default for it being created by God actually onely good and potentially more good then euill did by refusing good and choosing euill make it selfe for euer vnable eyther to choose good or to refuse euill and that by continuing in that wrong way wherein it had made one step in choosing forbidden fruit and by adding one degree of peruersnesse to another till at length it became habituall and naturall to it The sinfulnesse of mans will in this his corrupt state is the actuall and potentiall inclination of it only to euill This definition needeth some explication and proofe it being greatly controuerted and oppugned by many who as if they were not of the progenie of Adam thinke that his fall doth not belong vnto them neither hath taken from them the created holinesse of will and therefore they affirme and defend that the will of man euen in this corrupt estate is if not actually inclined to good yet so free that it may of it selfe incline it selfe and the whole man either to euill whereof no man doubteth or yet to good wherein the whole controuersie standeth But this opinion is not to be receiued for it is an enimie both to gods glorie in that it taketh a way the supernaturall worke of his spirite in regenerating the faithfull and ascribeth the saluation of man not to the loue mercie and power of God but to the naturall faculties and inherent strength of man and also to the saluation of mē whome it deceaueth with a vaine shew of conuersion faith and holinesse And therefore that the truth of this matter may appeare We will first set downe the state of it by shewing what is good and euill and what it is to haue freewill in regard of both or rather either of good or euill Good therefore is to be defined by God who only is good therfore the only rule of goodnes for whatsoeuer in the creature is agreeable to the goodnesse of God that is straigth good as whatsoeuer is disagreeing frō it is crooked euill Yet this goodnesse of God is not that which is essentiall to his nature and cannot be comprehended by anie creature but a finite created and accidentall goodnesse which God hath put into euerie one of his creaturs as a shadow of his infinite goodnesse Now in man this goodnesse is his holinesse and happinesse not deuised by himselfe but appointed by God and reuealed in his word Contrarilie euill is the sinfullnesse and wretchednesse of man yea although it haue neuer so greate an appearance of goodnes holines happinesse yet if it be not that holinesse and happinesse which is agreeable to the will of God it is euil sin misery This goodnes is the obiect of mās wil or the thing wherevnto he enclineth himselfe who in the state of innocencie had power to will choose true goodnes yea he did actuallie choose it being in all his thoughtes wordes deedes faculties and in his whole nature and state made by his owne free-will conformable to the will of God But as touching the will or proper inclinatiō of man in this his corrupt state we do vtterly denie that he is able by any naturall facultie in himselfe by anie imagining inuenting or discoursing by anie wit wisdome learning reading or knowledge by any good education instruction and exercise or ingenerall by anie meanes that a naturall man can vse or that all the men or Angels in the world can vse in his behalfe without the supernaturall worke of Gods spirit changing his nature to incline himselfe to that which is good that is to that holinesse and happinesse which is agreeable to the will of God Or more plainly he cannot say thus with himselfe and doe accordingly This is the
true and only happinesse appointed by God for man This holinesse is the only way which God hath appointed that man should walke in as in the way leading to that happinesse This is the onlie happinesse which I do of my selfe propound to my selfe that in this way of true holines I will walk all the daies of my life I will by cōtinuall studying and hearing the word by restraining my owne desires and auoiding all occasions of sinne and by such meanes as I can vse get the true and sound knowledge of God true faith and hope of eternall glorie and of the resurrection of the deade true repentance mortification of sin and of all my corrupt affections yea an vnfained loue of God and of all goodnesse and in summe all the spirituall graces which are the partes of mans holinesse and the means of saluation This I haue resolued with my selfe to doe not that I thinke that I am able to attaine the perfection of these things but yet my whole will inclination affection desire care studie indeauour and labour shalbe set on these things This is to haue free will to good not for a man to say I desire to be a holy man and to be in heauen after this life but to incline and bende his wholle bodie soule and all the faculties of them both to holy and heauenly things The which thing is as impossible for a naturall man to doe as it is for him to flie vppe to heauen But how can this be proued First the scripture saieth Gen. 6. 5. All the motions of the thought of man are onlie to euill 2. Cor. 3. 5. Not that we are able to think any thing as of our selues but our sufficiencie is of God Ioh 6. 44. No man can come vnto me vnlesse he that sent me doe draw him For the which doctrine of the impossibility of naturall inclination to good it is said Ver. 4. 66. of the saide Chapter that many left Christ as dispairing to attaine to that which he affirmed to be impossible in respect of the strength of man And Ioh. 8. 43. Ye do not know my doctrine because ye cannot heare it That is because ye cānot of your selues vnderstand beleeue Rom. 8. 7. The cogitations of the flesh neither are subiect to the lawe of God neither can be they that are in the flesh cannot please God And Rom. 9. 16. It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie 1. Cor. 2. 14. The naturall man doth not perceaue spirituall things for they are folishnesse to him neither can he perceaue them because they are spiritually discerned Gall. 2. 8. Ye are saued by grace in faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God Besides this euident voice of the scripture the authoritie whereof ought to be sufficient without any other proofe we see this error of freewill to be plainly confuted by the experience of all times and places For if man were by nature free to choose either good or euill why shoulde not the choyse of good of holinesse and of the way which leadeth to saluation be if not as common as the other yet a very common and ordinary matter But we see that of the naturall men which haue liued and doe liue in the worlde not one of a thousand haue once set foote in the right way of regeneration and saluation And no maruaile for howe shoulde a man choose that as the onely good which he did neuer knowe and whereof he neuer dreamed or hearde in the which state all men are by nature being altogether ignorant of the true God his worde worshippe and religion and so hauing no meanes of knowledge but their owne senses which doe reiect that God worshippe and religion which is not agreeable to the iudgement thereof the which doth plainely shewe the impossibilitie of this freedome of will For nothing hath freewill to that which is against the nature of it as God hath not freewill to euil a man to flie a horse to speake If it be obiected that a man may haue a desire inclination and will to that which is impossible for him to doe and accomplishe We aunswere that this is nothing to the purpose For when we deny that there is in man any freedome of will to good we doe not deny that a carnall man may wish that he were holy and happie but that he cannot accomplishe or begin the worke of his regeneration and saluation The which beginning and working of grace commeth from the will which is the fountaine of action enclining men with all the faculties of soule and body to any thinge Now regeneration is a thing contrary to the corrupt nature of man for that faith and humaine reason do fight together no lesse then doe wisdome and foolishnes 1. Cor. 1. 18. And so in all the other partes of holinesse This is confirmed also by continuall and daily experience For if regeneration were agreeable to mans nature it woulde be common and ordinarie whereas it is and alwaies hath bene a rare miracle not to be founde among many thousandes of men Nay which is more men doe neither of themselues and their owne inclination seeke after it nor can by any meanes which they can vse be brought vnto it In other studies faculties and exercises men doe daily profite and go forwarde none being so dull and blockish but that he may with paines in continuaunce of time be brought to knowledge But no paines no time no excellency of giftes in the minister can make men religious or to be endued with the true knowledge and obedience of God Yea for the most part the more that men are taught religion the more blockish and backwarde they become and so continue all their life time We confesse that God doth sometime bestow on carnall and reprobate men spirituall graces yea a shadowe of regeneration whereby both the mindes of men are inlightned to see the trueth and also their wils and affections lightly enclined to loue and embrace it As we are to declare in the last part of this treatise But this chaunge commeth not of man but from God neither is it an effectuall and totall inclination to good and therefore not that which is ment in this question of freewill But the maintainers of freewill will perhaps yeeld to this that no man can choose the right way before he doe deliberate of it and that nothing is deliberated of which is not first knowen And therefore that freewill is not actually in an ignorant man but being as it were fettered and chained by ignoraunce is stirred vp and set loose by the knowledge of the worde of God with the which whosoeuer is endued hauing the right and the wrong way propounded vnto him by the preaching of the gospell the same man hath freedome of will either to choose or to refuse eternall saluation with the meanes of it yea
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
perfect infinite vncreated and essentiall but this holinesse of the faithfull man is vnperfect finite and accidentall not inherent in the nature of the holy spirite which is not capable of it but in the naturall faculties of the faithfull man Yea this holinesse is now made naturall vnto him for although it be contrarie to his corrupt nature yet it is agreeable to his created and renewed nature So that the first renewing of holinesse is a supernaturall miraculous vnknowen and diuine worke But the continuall vsing of it is an ordinary euident and a humaine action For as in the first creation of man it was a maruaile to see a sensible lumpe of red earth turned into a liuing and reasonable man hauing free will to doe either good or euill but after that man was once created it was noe maruaile to see him vse those faculties which he had receiued from God So in his second creation it is as greate wonder to see a blockishe ignorant froward corrupt sinfull and earthly man to become pure holy and heauenly in al the faculties of soul body but after that he is renewed sanctified it is no maruaile to see him choose and doe newe and holy actions And therefore we are not to thinke that the holy spirite worketh the continual course of holines in the faithful as in stocks or trees although he beginne it in them in that manner but that first he giueth to them holy faculties by the which they worke the residue of their owne holinesse he created in them a holy will then by meanes and inherent power of that will they themselues choose and doe good Thus much ingenerall of the renewed holinesse of the will the which differeth from the created holinesse which it had in the state of innocencie in two respects First whereas the created will of man did for the present act incline it selfe whollie onely and perfectly to good this renewed will although it also doth actually encline itselfe to that which is truely and onely good yet it doth this imperfectlie and impurely For by reason of the reliques of sinfulnesse which are in it it doth in part encline it selfe to some particular euils as to this or that sinne we say to particular euill because it is impossible that this renewed will shoulde reiect in generall the true good consisting in true holinesse and happinesse the which maketh the second difference betwixt the created and the recreated will of man For the created wil of man might as it did indeede refuse good and choose euill in generall the which thinge cannot happen to the recreated will for it is impossible that one truely renewed shoulde euer make a generall declination from good which is a totall apostasie from God yet he may chuse and accomplishe many particular sinnes So that to conclude the will in this state of regeneration hath freedome and ability of choosing good and reiecting euill yet this libertie is not so perfect that it can wholly incline it selfe from euill to good but may be compared to one who hath bene a captiue or prisoner all his life time and is nowe set at liberty so that he may goe whither he list and doe what he thinketh good Yet hauing his fetters hanging on his heeles is so shakled and hindred with them that he cannot runne vp and downe so readely and freely as otherwise he woulde yea they make him to stumble often and sometimes to fall on the grounde so the faithfull are freed from the bondage of sinne and set at liberty by Christ yet they are so shakled with the naturall corruption of sinne remaining in them that they cannot so perfectly choose good refuse euill but that they do often stumble yea fall into great sinnes Yet as this renewed holinesse of the will is during the time of this short life inferiour to the created holinesse of it in the perfection of actuall freedome to good so it is to be preferred vnto it in respect of perpetuitie and immutabilitie For this imperfect freedome of will is so continually vpheld by the secrete and mightie grace of God that it cānot possibly be wholly lost whereas the perfect freedome of the created wil was soone brought to an end Yet this difference is not to be put in the nature of the renewed will for as the will of all creatures so also the will of regenerate men is mutable and for any inherent and naturall facultie which either is or can be in it may loose the goodnesse and liberty of it but to be ascribed to the immutable and supernaturall grace of God assisting the renewed willes of the faithfull whereas he left the created will of man to destroy it selfe that so by the weakenesse of the creature the glorie of his power might the more plainely appeare CHAPTER VI. Sect. 1. Of the created holinesse of the affections and especially of loue and hatred THe last head of mans holinesse is the holinesse of his affections which are the diuers dispositiōs of man stirred vp in him by the diuersitie of obiects and may be called so many particular wils or motions of the will for so much as they are nothinge but diuerse inclinations to apparant good or declinations from apparant euils To make the nature of them plaine by familiar examples a man going in the streete meeteth with his owne father sonne or some friende whom he loueth dearely straight way he feeleth a change of his disposition which before was quiet and setled his will enclining it selfe towards that obiect whereof commeth the affection of loue annon he meeteth with his deadlie enimie at the sight of whom his stomacke riseth he abhorreth from him as from an euill there is a contrarie disposition called the affection of hatred Afterward he espieth a poore impotent sicke lame and naked man whose extreame miserie he cannot beholde for griefe and therefore he turneth away himselfe and sigheth there is pitty mercy or compassion Not farre off there appeareth a great rich man him he enuieth although he ought not either to hate or enuie Straight way he spieth a pleasant picture or heareth some good newes there he is made glade and reioyceth but going a little further he seeth his friendes house on fire then his ioy is turned into sorrow or greife If he meete a man whom he knoweth to be wise and iust and seeth to be aged him he reuerenceth but he contemneth a base vile and lewd person an offence committed kindleth anger as a lawfull action worketh contentation Lastly if he see any thing that he standeth in neede of and is greatly for his vse that he desireth but if he chaunce to see a rotten carion or any lothsome thing that he abhorreth Thus much of the nature of the affections nowe we come to the holinesse of them For although they be so suddainly stirred vp in a man that they may seeme to come rather of foolishe rashnesse then of reason and due regard and make so
great a chaunge in him as if the obiect did lay violent handes vpon his minde in the which respect they are called passions of the mind and therefore were disclamed by those philosophers which professed constancie and exact vertue yet they containe in them a part of mans holinesse and of the image of God who cannot suffer and in whom there is no shadow of chaunge But thus it hath pleased him to shadowe out his owne incomprehensible nature by the likenesse of our nature resembling it as to the other faculties of the soule of man so also to these affections yea so that a greate parte of his glorie reuealed to his church consisteth in them For although he hath manifested himselfe to the heathen in his wisdome and power shining in the creatures yet in his church he is most glorious and renowned in respect of his mercy compassion and loue in Christ. The which affections as also anger hatred and all the rest are euery where in the scripture attributed to God In man they are then holy whenas they are agreeable to the nature of the obiect as when a man loueth that onely which ought to be loued and hateth that which by the will and word of God ought to be hated and that with due measure and moderation Thus they being ordered by reason and the word of God are not contrary to holinesse but a part of it Yea they are as bellowes blowing vp and encreasing spirituall graces and doe cary man forward to a high degree of holinesse Nowe we are to declare these affections in particular but because the former part of this treatise wherin those affections which imply subiection as faith hope feare and reuerence are already handled is growen in length farre aboue our purpose as also that there may be some place left for the third part of this treatise which in no case may wholly be omitted we will omit the seuerall explication and onely choose out some fewe of them which are the chiefe and of most notable vse In the which ranke the first place is to be giuen to loue being taken not generally for that pleasure which is taken in the fruition of some good thing in the which sense a man is said to loue this or that thing this or that kinde of meate as it is said of Isaac Gen. 27. 9. But as the obiect of it is some reasonable thing to wit God Angels or man in the which sense it is vsually called charity and may be described A hearty and vehement desire of the good of an other arising of an inward pleasure taken in some good which we see in him This affection is first and chiefly to be set on God who onely is good in the fruition of whome there are infinite pleasures And therefore man ought to desire his good in the aduancement of his glory aboue all the thinges in the world For he that loueth father or mother sonne or brother or any creature whatsoeuer more then God is not worthy to enioy those fountaines of pleasures which the fruition of God doth yeelde to the hearty and vehement louer Math. 10. 7. From this loue of God proceedeth the loue of the reasonable creatures which being endued with the image of God are for his sake to be loued Euen as we knowe that he that beareth hearty and vehement loue to his friend cannot but loue his friends sonne being a resemblance of his father Hence it followeth that all the reasonable creatures are not to be loued alike but more or lesse as they are more or lesse endued with the image of God And therefore greater loue was due to Angels then to men and among men to those who did excell others in measure of holinesse and of spirituall graces This is the first streame of loue flowing from the loue of God as from a fountaine beside the which there is an other fountaine of loue namely the naturall affection which euery liuing thing in the world beareth to it selfe whereby it taketh more pleasure in it selfe and doth more desire the good estate of it selfe then of any other thing This naturall loue hath place in man who euen in this his innocent estate doth beare a greater measure of loue to himselfe then to any other creature The which selfeloue is not to be reprehended it being not onely in all liuing creatures but also in God himselfe who as good reason is doth delight more in himselfe then in any other thing and doth more desire his owne glory then the good of any creature From this fountaine of selfeloue flow many streames of speciall loue whereby a man is more affected to those who doe anie waie come nearer vnto himselfe then to the common sort of men In this respect he beareth a greater and as it were a partiall loue to his naturall parentes children and kinsfolkes being of the same substance flesh bloud and bone with himself to his wife who by the institution of God is vnited into one person with him Gen. 2. 24 to his speciall friend who is ioyned with him in a perpetuall couenant of loue Iohn 20. â— The disciple whome Christ loued and is to him as his owne soule Deut. 11. 6. To his acquaintance alliance companions neighbours to all those to whome he is bound by any speciall meanes this loue is to be exercised and declared in the performance of all Christian dueties to our brethren in communicating vnto them al those blessings both temporal and spirituall which we haue receaued from God so farre foorth as their necessity shall any way require If these duties be wanting our loue is eyther verie weake or rather hypocriticall and pretended Thus the Apostle saith that he exhorting the Corinthians to contribute to the Church of Ierusalem did thereby trie the naturalnesse and syncerity of their loue 2. Cor. 8. 8. likewise 1. Iohn 3. 17. 18. He that hath thinges pertaining to the maintenance of this naturall life and seeth his brother want how is the loue of God in him therefore let vs not loue in word and tongue but indeede and trueth Thus much of loue whereunto hatred is contrary the which also hath place and some vse in this state of innocency although not so great as loue hath because there were more good obiectes then euill This affection being contrary to loue is in generall an abhorring from any euill but as it is referred to those thinges which are endued with reason it is a desire of euill to happen to that person which is hated arising of some inward griefe conceiued by meanes of him But what vse could there be of this affection in the state of innocency or who was the obiect of it not God for he is pleasure and good it selfe and therefore doth neither deserue to be abhorred being in no respect euill nor yet giueth any occasion of hatred to man by grieuing him not the Angels nor man himselfe who also are
who is notoriously vnnaturall vnthankfull and vnholy For if a man loue the houses and places wherein he hath beene and liued sometime shall he not much more loue his parentes from whose bodies he came Secondly the loue of children with the loue of whom he that is not touched and enflamed may be accounted lesse affectionated then God himselfe and more senslesse then are the brute beastes An example of this fatherly affection we haue in Iacob of whom it is saide that he did loue his son Beniamin so dearly that his soule was so tied to the soule of Beniamin that he could not liue but would incoÌ„tinently dy for sorrow if so be he were taken from him Ge. 44. 36. This fatherly affection is so strong by nature that if it be not wel looked vnto it wil as a great riuer or streame rise aboue the bankes and due limites of it and cary a godly man beyond all due regard eyther of reason or of religion as appeareth plainely in that notable man of God king Dauid of whom it is said 1. King 1. 6. That he did cockour his sonne Adonia and could not finde in his heart to grieue him no not with a sharpe word And we know how he loued his vngratious sonne Absalon being more sorrowfull for his death who for his monstrous vnnaturalnes was not worthy to liue on the earth then he was glad for the victory which he himselfe had gotten and for his owne safety And therefore he did so bitterly lament his death saying O Absalon Absalon O my son Absalon would to God I had died for the. Thirdly from this fountaine commeth the speciall loue of those who are tied with the faithfull man in any outward bonde as in mariage or speciall friendship for the first â—o the mutuall loue which ought to be beâ—wixt the husband and the wife the scripture doth often exhort by arguments drawen from the institution of God who hath made them one person and one flesh Thus Ephe. 5. 29. No man euer hated his owne flesh but doth nourish and cherish it And therefore a man ought to loue his wife euen as his owne bodie and as Christ hath loued his Church Yea there is great reason and necessity of a great measure of mutuall loue betwixt man and wife For seeing they doe forsake their fathers mothers and kindred not dwelling any longer with them but betaking themselues to their owne house and to each other as to a perpetuall companion and partner in good and euill in ioy and misery how should not their loue be exceeding great The seconde outward bond of loue is friendship whereby we doe not meane any common good will and acquaintance but a speciall contract of perpetuall loueâ— such an one as was betwixt Ionathan anâ— Dauid whereof it is saide 1. Sam. 18. 1â— That the soule of Ionathan was tied to thâ— soule of Dauid And Dauid himselfe whâ—â— had best experience of it witnesseth thâ—â— greatnesse of Ionathaens loue 2. Sam. 1â— 26. Saying how am I grieued for thee 〈◊〉 brother Ionathan thou was sweete pleasaâ— vnto me thy loue was wonderfull to me passing the loue of women Lastly from this fountain of selfeloue commeth the loue of kinsfolks alliance acquaintance companions neighbours and of all whome God hath ioyned more nearely to vs then he hath done others CHAP. VII Sect. 1. Of ioy sorrow and pittie in the state of innocency BEside the foresaid affections of loue and hatred there were many other created in man as namely to let the rest passe ioy and sorrow which is contrary to it The first is a delight or pleasure conceiued by the present enioiing of some good thing whereby a man is mooued to seeke and embrace the said good as sorrow is the abhorring of some present euill as being bitter and vnpleasant Both these affections had place and vse in this first estate yet not equally for a great part of happinesse consisteth in ioy yea happinesse may be said to be nothing else but the ioyfull fruition of good and pleasant thinges whereas sorrowe is contrary to happinesse howe great cause and continuall vse of ioy man had in his innocency we may easely gather by those infinite blessings wherewith he was euen compassed about liuing not onely free from all troubles crosses afflictions daungers wants incumbrances and whatsoeuer thing might any way grieue or hurt him but also in abundance and superfluity of al pleasures belonging both to his body and soule in perfect strength and health in wealth peace and liberty in honour and glory and which is all in all and in trueth the fountaine of all true ioy in the fauour and loue of God The holinesse of this affection consisteth in this that it be correspondent and proportionable to the goodnesse and excellency of the obiect and that the ioy which man conceiueth by the fruition of any thing be greater or lesse as the thing it selfe is more or lesse excellent a greater or a lesse good and therefore man was chiefly to delight himselfe and to reioyce in God who is the chiefe and first yea the onely infinite goodâ— in the fruition of the presence and fauour of God in seruing praising God in meditating on the creatures workes wisedom power mercy and goodnesse of God Secondly as God hath put into euery one of his creatures a finite and proper goodnes so it was lawfull for man to be affected accordingly with the pleasure flowing from the said thing For example God created for the vse of man great variety of trees bearing sweete and pleasant fruite all which man might lawfully vse with ioy and pleasure Yea this ioyfull vse of the creatures was not onely permitted to man but also comaunded by God for so we read Deut. 26. 11. Thou shalt bowe thy selfe before the Lord thy God and thou shalt reioyce before him in all the good thinges which he hath giuen vnto thee thou and thy whole family For why he that reioiceth aright in the fruition of the creatures reioyceth in God the maker and giuer of them and by them is stirred vp to greater alacrity in seruing and praising God Now as touching sorrow it had also place in the pure nature of man which was subiect to this passion howsoeuer he being in perfect felicitie had not any great vse of it yet we may suppose some causes of sorrow euen in this happie estate both in man himselfe who might be moderately grieued for the want of some particular good and in some other respects as also in other creatures for the miserable estate of the wicked Angels hauing beene so glorious and happie especially the dishonour which they did many waies procure to the name of God could not but worke sorrow in the heart of man So that the sorrow of man in this first state being rather in regarde of others then of himselfe ought to be called pitty rather then sorrow The holinesse of this
that seeketh for it in this world doth no otherwise then if he shoulde labour to finde out in some parte of the earth a mine of so pure golde as is not mixed with earth base mettall or any manner of drosse And therefore we are with the Apostle 2 Cor. 12. to thinke that the grace of God is sufficient for our saluation although it be not altogether free from sinne And as for this angelicall purity it is to be hoped for not in this worlde but in heauen where all the faithfull shall both in happinesse and in holinesse be made like to the angels yet it being reuealed in the worde of God may be knowen of vs in this life yea it being the marke whereat we must ayme in this life although we are not to hope to hit it it is needefull to be knowen And lastly it is to be handled in this place because it is nothing else but the absolute perfection and highest degree of renewed holinesse For as the bodies and the soules of the faithful shallbe the same in the world to come that they are in this world so also shall their holinesse Neither can it be otherwise For God is the same both in earth and in heauen to day and to morrow now and for euer The subiection of the creature to God and the image of God in the creature is the same at all times in substance although some particulars haue not so greate vse in the state of perfecte happinesse as they had before to wit all those the obiectes whereof are either future or euill as namely hope sorrow pittie and such other affections yet these also shall haue both place and vse in the world to com although not so greate as the other In the which respect we may declare this celestiall encrease of renewed holinesse by comparing it with the created holinesse of mans innocent estate the which commeth verie neare vnto it and is as a mean betwixt the greatest abundance of holines which can be had in this life and this celestiall holinesse for as it is greater then the one so it is lesse then the other So that if we would know what is the holinesse wherewith the faithfull shallbe endued in the world to come and shall shine as the glorious Angels in heauen let vs haue recourse to all the first Sections of the two former parts of this treatise For al the parts of the holinesse of mans first estate as well of his subiection as of his conformitie to God belong to his last estate in heauen wherein man is not exempted from subiection to God but still remaineth first his subiect and therefore ought to trust and hope in him yea to feare him secondly his sonne and therefore he ought to reuerence imitate and seeke vnto him and so in the other kindes of subiection there declared Where this is to be noted that of the two kindes of faith legall and euangelicall handled in the first part of this treatise not the latter but the former is part of this celestiall holinesse For in the life to come the elect shall be restored to that perfect inherent holinesse wherein Adam was created by vertue whereof without any inputed righteousnesse borrowed from anie other they shall looke for happinesse euen as the holie Angels doe Likewise for the other part of holinesse which we call the conformitie of man to God we are not to doubt but that the faithfull shall in the world to come haue the faculties of minde memorie will and affections so disposed as hath beene declared For all these are common to all thinges which are indued with reason Now as touching the difference it is this celestiall holinesse is more excellent and exceedeth the other for as the bodies of the faithfull shalbe more glorious pure and after a sort spirituall then was the bodie of Adam in his innocenceie as we reade 1. Cor. 15. 48. So also shall the faculties of the soule and bodie be more able readie quicke in performing their seuerall duties and functions We shal haue more full and certaine affiance in him as in our King be more like to him as to a father more quick in obeying his commaundementes as seruants ought to be to their maisters our mindes shalbe more capable of knowledge and more enriched with actuall knowledge 1 Cor. 13. We shall see God face to face that is we shall haue familiar coÌ„uersation in the presence of God as full perfect a knowledge of God of his will word actions and creatures yea greater then that which man had by his first creation Likewise the will although of it selfe it shalbe as it was before free either to good or euill yet it shalbe by the grace of God continually enclined only to good and preserued from vsing the naturall freedome in choosing euill Whereof it commeth that this celestiall holinesse is not mutable and vncertaine as was the created holinesse of man but immutable and the same for euer and therefore much more excellent FINIS REade if thy copie haue it otherwise Pag. 9. lin 28. would beleeue and pag. 30. 2. set the comma before Often and lin 3. read former safetie pag. 31. lin 14. miseries happening in this pag. 43. 6. in the euent p. 65. 11. they existe pag. 82. 29. that so he might pag. 108. 24. when faith faileth pag. 190. 24. things â—s of beastes pag. 226. 12. 13. 14. so also in the minds of men yet their actuall knowledge was lesse or greter as men did giue themselues pa. 303. 9. will for although a carnall man pag. 314 2. a senselesse lumpe pag. 315. 11. he createth 22. to that only pag. 364. 6. effectuall to saluation and 27. of whome Of the state of innocency and life Of the state of sinne and death Rom. 3. 4. Mat. 25. 41. Of the state of regeneration saluatioÌ„ Mat. 19. 17. Psal. 16. 11. Of the happinesse wherein man was created 1. Chro. 12 8 Acts. 7. 10. 1 Cor. 15. 56 Rom. 5. 12. Gen. 5. 27. Of the miserable state of man since the fall of Adam Gen. 31. 24. Of the renewed happinesse of mn Math. 5. 8 1. Cor. 13. 12. Rom. 1. 20. Heb. 1. 2. 2. Cor. 3. 18. Act. 7. 56. Reuel 21. 3. 23. 1. Cor. 15. 28. Ioh. 3. 2. Phil. 3. 21. 1. Cor. 2. 9. Reuel 21. Of the holinesse wherein man was created 1. Cor. 6. 17. Mich. 6. 8. Ia. 2. 10 Of the sinfulnesse of man â—â—salm 51. 7. Of the renewed holynesse of man Ioh. 3. 6. 1 Pet. 1. 23. Mah. 19. 26. â—â—hn 3. 4 Gal. 2. 8. Iohn 3. 8 1. Sam. 10. â— 2. Cor. 13. 5. 1. Ioh. 3. 10 Of faith in generall and of legall faith Heb. 11. 11 Iam. 1. 19. Coll. 2. 2. Rom. 4. 22. Mat. 9. Of legall faith â— Iohn 3. â—xod â—â— Rom. â— â— Of infidelâ—â—â— Ephes. 4. 18. â— Tim. 3. 8. Heb. 3. 12. Of iustifying faith Heb. 10. 4 Mich. 6. 7. 2. Sam. 21.