56. 7. My house shall be called an house of prayer and our Lord in the Gospel confirmeth it Wherefore if God will heare the prayers of his people in all places then he will heare them sooner and with greater respect in his own house which is specially dedicated to prayer and his service Neither doth this any way derogate from his ubiquity but from his being ubique uniformiter for as his mercy although it is over all his works yet is it not equally in hell and in heaven or the measure of his justice equally poured forth upon saints and angels as upon the children of disobedience so likewise although this be Gods attribute to be every where yet he is not every where alike both in regard of the promise of his especiall presence made in Scripture in such houses consecrated to his name by which they become more especially holy as also because in this house God will heare for the presence of his Sonne For as S. Chrysostome saith Where Christ is in the Eucharist there is no want of angels where such a King is and such princes are there is a heavenly palace nay heaven it self It followeth now to shew what God is and that he is the great owner of this house Great is Gods house but greater is the owner because no house can hold him therefore my Text useth an exclamation which intimateth a great entity Holinesse becometh thy house O Lord God is far greater then his house for he not onely dwelleth in his house but in the hearts of men in the intelligences of angels and in all other creatures And because nothing can contain him he dwelleth in himself most perfectly Of all places the prophet David speaketh Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up to heaven thou art there if I make my bed in the grave thou art there also If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there shall thy hand leade me and thy right hand shall hold me And in Isa. 66. 1. God challengeth the whole world for his house Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool what house will you build for me saith the Lord hath not my hand made all these things Wherefore when we come to worship God in his house we must bring this thought with us to surrender up all our own thoughts of serving him and desire him to ayd us with his holy Spirit And when after this we have done our lowliest service and served him with our best devotions yet we must say Lord we can never serve thee enough because thou art infinite and we uncapable of thy greatnesse and worthinesse Thus farre have I spoken of God and his house but before we enter it it is fit to know our selves and how we are to be qualified for it From the highest to the lowest alas we are all poore creatures At the first originally we were born abroad in the fields our mothers name was the earth and our fathers name was nothing for from nothing God made all his creatures according to that in Heb. 11. 3. So that things which are seen were not made of things which appeare Seeing then we are so poorely descended what shall we do we must go to service we must seek some good house for our preferment The best house in the world is Gods house for he is owner of heaven and earth and able to advance all But what are the orders of this house what will here give content Holinesse becometh thy house O Lord. Would we know what this holinesse is It is no common but a superlative honour it is Gods honour which we call godlinesse and holinesse common honour belongs to all that have Gods image in them but holinesse reflecteth onely upon the high and mighty God For this cause our Saviour hath taught us to say Hallowed which is more then Honoured be thy name according to the Psalme Holy and reverend is his name And this holinesse respective to Gods house consisteth of certain holy offices The first is To adorn and beautifie it fit for his greatnesse as himself gave pattern in beautifying his tabernacle there was gold and silver precious stones silks with all precious colours the most choice woods and all things framed with the best cunning that God inspired Bezaleel and Aholiab and all the wise-hearted of that time Now to prosecute S. Pauls argument if that which was to be done away was glorious much more is that to be glorious which is to remain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Dei domus sort well together comelinesse and holinesse joyn hand with each other Thus saith my Text Holinesse becometh thy house O Lord. This office equity exacteth of us for seeing God hath made the worlds great ornament and our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our little world for our honour and use should not we proportion a due ornament for his house and service A mans house is his state and the greatest men are esteemed by it And according to this Ezra saith Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers which hath put into the kings heart to beautifie the house of our God that is in Jerusalem And the Psalmist saith Worship the Lord in the beauty of holinesse that is to say in the beautified sanctuary or as the Geneva translation expoundeth in the glorious Sanctuary But how are our Sanctuaries about us for the most part beautified If basenesse were not more then want of beauty I would hold my peace One beauty hath beat out another the beauty of preaching which is a beauty too hath preacht away the beauty of holinesse for if men may have a sermon prayer and church-service with the ornaments of Gods house may fit abroad in the cold Alas that the daughters should drive away the mothers Is it not a shame for us to see the houses of knights and gentlemen sweeter kept and better adorned then the houses of the King of heaven To the one one mans means is sufficient to the other the means of a whole town is liable and yet this latter nothing so beautified as the other is is not this a second shame Our Saviour telleth us that in his Fathers house there are many mansions Shall we look for glorious mansions in the kingdome of heaven and will we not prepare comely mansions in the kingdomes of the earth Doth not God challenge us where he challengeth his chosen people Is it time for you to dwell in your cieled houses and this house to lie waste Gods judgement follows Ye looked for much and lo it came to little and when ye brought it home I did blow upon it and why saith the Lord of hosts because of my house that is waste and ye come every man to his own house Therefore the heaven over you stayed it self from dew and the earth stayed
dedicating Temples to God in their names we have the blessed saints still living and dwelling among us Oh blessed we And this doctrine is confirmed by the Article of the Communion of saints therefore they which neglect this holy fellowship in joyning with them to serve and worship God in this lower house as they serve and honour him in his higher house do as much as in them lies cut themselves from this holy Communion and have a great losse which none can see but they that have spirituall eyes But what will worldlings say If we come to Gods house every saints day we shall come short of our houshold businessâ— and our poore should be hindered from providing their necessaries I answer Because you come short with God in his service therefore he comes short with you in his blessing where Gods service is wanting there means want foison Saith not Hagge so Ye have sown much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye clothe you but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wagâ—s to put it into a bag with holes What is now either gotten or saved this way by sparing from God We pull from him and he pulls from us who is the stronger The eighth office is To use all the responsals or answers prescribed in the holy Liturgie The people must not onely joyn with the minister in heart but in voice too because of all outward means this is most significant and effectuall as being the hearts eruption and interpreter And for such as are unlearned it is fit for them to learn them and to have them printed in their hearts to make them their own and to use them at other times because no pattern of prayer can equall this And this dutie of praying and praising God together with Gods ministers is by S. Peter prescribed to all the faithfull where he tells them that they are an holy priesthood to offer up spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. These spirituall sacrifices are three Prayer Fasting and Almes by Prayer we sacrifice our souls to God by Fasting we sacrifice our bodies and by Almes our goods These three we have to give to God and no more and these three are bettered to us by our giving to him Our souls are bettered by his accepting and sanctifying of them our bodies are bettered by being freed from surfetting and diseases and our goods are bettered by Gods blessing of them The charitable mans cow casteth not her calf his corn is not blasted his fruit not eaten with caterpillers and the borrower runnes not away with his money Therefore Ecclesiasticus saith A mans almes is his purse as if it were said It keeps his â—â—â—te Further he saith Bestow thy treasure aâ—â—â—â— the commandment of the most high and it shall bring thee more profit then gold And again Lay up thy almes in the secret chambers and it shall keep thee from all afflictions What are the secret chambers they be the hungry bellies of the poore little see we what they want But to proceed Shall we think our souls to be sacrificed by all manner of prayers No for Isaiah prophesieth This people draw neare unto me with their mouth and honour me with their lips but their heart is farre from me The sacrifice of prayer is no lip-labour but a breaking of the heart before God for sinne 't is sobs and sighs and an ardent desire of obtaining Gods favour in Christ before all the goods of the world This is the fire of Gods Sanctuarie to kindle and enflame our sacrifice of prayer For Fasting this is not as many use it to abstain onely from flesh and care not to swallow up sinne but it is to beat down the body by abstinence and to bring it into subjection to the spirit it is to abstain from flesh and other delightfull food that thereby we might be taught and brought to abstain from fleshly pleasures from hunting after strange women from excesse of eating and drinking carding dicing and other vanities which feed the greedy appetite of flesh and bloud and the soul unreformed to abstain on fasting daies from meats forâ—â—dden and before thou comest to Gods house to be of an empty stomack that God may fill thy soul with his graces and after the sinnes of thy flesh to punish and keep down thy body with the coursest nourishments Lastly for the sacrifice of our goods this is not to give them when we cannot well keep them any longer When thy coat is moth-eaten then the moth gives it when thy bread is mouldie and thy meat smells then the mould and ill savour bestows it This is no true sacrifice of our goods because it smells not sweet in Gods nostrills But neighbours I cannot fault you in this kinde for that I know you to be more charitable and readier to give then others are worthy to receive Therefore I exhort you that when you give bodily food to some you would give some spirituall food with it admonish them of their idlenesse rebuke their sinne chide them for filching and stealing and other misdemeanours which you heare of or know This is as necessarie for them as their meat and drink and more too But here I cannot but suspect that our carnall Gospellers will object that our bodies and goods are no spirituall sacrifices but things materiall and so not fit for the Gospel Let such learn that though body and goods be by nature materiall yet by the principall whereby they are offered which is the soul and spirit they become spirituall Therefore David saith Not my heart alone but â—sh also shall rejoyce in the living God And S. Paul saith I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service And to the Corinthians he urgeth it from the redemption of both Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodie and in your spirit which are Gods And Joannes Sarisburiensis presseth this yet further even from the glorification of both in heaven Sensu coli voluit qui sensum dedit qui animam glorificabit carnem utriusque fidelem expetit famulatum se quoque voluit etiam corporaliter honorari ut quantavis tarditas infidelitatis aut negligentiâ— excusâ—tionem non habeat He would be worshâ—pped sensibly who gave the sense and he which shall glorifie both flesh and spirit looks for the unfeigned service of both and he likewise will be honoured bodily that the dulnesse of unbelief and carelesnesse of his service may have no excuse Wherefore let us endeavour with all fear and reverence to practise that unto which the blessed Apostle exhorteth us viz. to give our bodies as well as our souls a living sacrifice to our God in his service which differeth farre from the dead
is thy preacher And to prove this see 1 John 2. 27. where it is written But that anointing which ye have received of him dwelleth in you and ye need not that any teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things c. This anointing is nothing els but Gods Spirit and grace bestowed upon Christians in their Baptisme And of this Spirit and grace speaketh S. Paul 1. Cor. 2. 10. God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God Then if Gods word be true the Spirit of grace which he hath given to his children is another of thy preachers Sixthly thy conscience is thy preacher For assoon as thou hast done any thing amisse or left any thing undone that ought to be done that will by and by tell thee of it Thus Adam and Eves conscience when they had eaten of the forbidden fruit preached unto them that they had offended God and therefore they hid themselves and made them breeches of fig-leaves Who told thee said God that thou wast naked oh his conscience the first preacher had made a sermon unto him So again when David had cut off but a lap of Sauls garment privily his heart smote him for it and told him that he had wronged the Lords anointed And again when he had numbred the people his heart touched him for it Thus every mans conscience is his tutour to teach and govern him not onely after but before he hath done amisse Wouldest thou be thus dealt withall will it say Thou mayst bribe thy preacher with a gift and thou mayst stop the mouth of the parish-priest with a good tithe but nothing will stop the mouth of thy conscience that is a continuall preacher within thee And of this preacher the prophet Isaiah saith further in his 30 chapter vers 21. And thine eares shall heare a word behinde thee saying This is the way walk ye in it when thou turnest to the right hand and when thou turnest to the left This word behinde thee is the word of thy conscience thou canst turn thy self no way but that will speak unto thee If thou goest on thy left hand when thou shouldest go on thy right it will call to thee and tell thee Thou art out of thy way and when thou art in the way if thou goest too much to the right hand or too much to the left it will say to thee with the Preacher in the book of the Preacher Be not thou just overmuch neither make thy self over-wise play not the hypocrite nor the proud fellow for vertue is ever in the midst But how comes thy conscience to preach thus to thee from the law that is written in thine heart by the finger of Gods own hand as S. Paul teacheth Rom. 2. 15. Which shew the effect of the law written in their hearts their conscience bearing witnesse and their thoughts accusing one another or excusing If thou dost ill thy conscience will preach nothing to thee but the Law judgement but if thou dost well then nothing but the Gospel and mercie then thy conscience will be to thee a continuall feast as Solomon saith Besides thy conscience hath another law to inform thee and this is the new covenant of the Gospel spoken of Jer. 31. 33 34. This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those dayes saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest saith the Lord. Is this word of God true then how canst thou complain for want of teaching except thou wilt make Gods word a liar And here you shall further understand that there be two kindes of teaching the one outward the other inward The outward is that which comes from the mouth of man the inward is that which comes from the mouth of the conscience And this inward teaching because it is next to the heart worketh farre more strongly upon it then the outward doth When men had more of this inward teaching and lesse of the outward then was there farre better living for then they lived alwayes in fear of offending and assoon as they had done any thing amisse their conscience by and by gave them a nip and a memento for it Then they confessed their sinnes to God and their Minister for spirituall comfort and counsell then they endeavoured to make the best temporall satisfaction they could by almes prayer and fasting and other good works of humiliation but now outward teaching being not rightly understood hath beaten away this Faith onely justifieth saith the vulgar preacher Then saith the Solifidian and loose liver what need I care how I live no sinne can hurt me so long as I beleeve Thy preacher and thou are both in an errour because Gods word no where teacheth this but the contrary Ye see saith S. James how a man is justified by works and not by faith onely Thou wilt say The Fathers taught this doctrine and our own Church too But how and in what sense to shut out works before faith be come and to acknowledge faith to be the onely beginning in the preparations of our justification but our young preachers and hearers shut up all in faith onely and stay at the beginning and thus verbo tenus they prove but half-Christians Thine own conscience will preach better to thee for that will exclude no vertue and admit no vice And as for thee which art an hearer though thy principles be good yet thy apprehension cannot well digest them because they be somewhat above thy reach Therefore the Church in all ages hath provided that the common people should be content with the common faith as S. Paul calleth it Titus 1. 4. and that deep mysteries should be reserved for the learned who have their wits exercised to discern both good and evil Seventhly good life and conversation of Christians is thy preacher by which very heathens may be wonne and converted to God But you will say How prove you that Turn to 1. Pet. 3. 1. where you shall finde it thus written Let wives be subject to their husbands that even they which obey not the word may without the word be wonne by the conversation of the wives while they behold your pure conversation coupled with fear Here see the force of this preaching when the preaching of the word cannot prevail then men may be wonne by good conversation without the word preached while they behold your pure conversation coupled with fear Good life my brethren is better then a good sermon for that with many goes in at one eare and out at the other but a good life is a sermon in print it
of works As the bodie without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also for where no works are there is no charitie and where no charitie is there faith and works and all is dead Therefore the Apostle saith Though I feed the poore with all my goods and have not charitie it profiteth me nothing Why because without charitie works are dead as well as faith and knowledge and other graces And where there is charitie that is to say a divine love to God and all goodnesse there all things are alive and every grace working to salvation Faith beleeveth to salvation hope hopeth to salvation knowledge knoweth to salvation all work by charities spirit Hence the School calleth charitie the form of vertues But you may say How prove you that divine love and charitie is the spirit that giveth life and motion to all other graces Thus because faith which is the first grace worketh by it Gal. 5. 6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by charitie Then as all the members of the bodie work by the power of the soul so faith and other graces in the spirituall body work by the power of charitie First because charitie is the impulse of the Christian soul. Neither can you with reason say that because faith is the first grace in spiritualitie therefore all animation and motion proceedeth from it because in generation the matter goeth before the form and in the body of man there is vegetation and animalitie common to other creatures before the reasonable soul come which is the sole beginning of actions reasonable Secondly I prove this because where is no charitie there all is dead as S. John sheweth He that loveth not his brother abideth in death Again We know that we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren Where love is there is life and where no love is there is no life Thirdly I prove this because God is our life but God is charitie as Saint John sheweth God is charitie and he that remaineth in charitie remaineth in God and God in him If God be charitie then charitie in the Christian must needs be his life because our charitie floweth from his charitie Fourthly I shew that charitie is the life of all vertues and graces because it is the root of the spirituall tree within us as S. Paul teacheth Ephes. 3. 17 18 19. That ye being rooted and grounded in charity may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye may be filled with all the fulnesse of God Here ye see charitie to be the root therefore so long as the root lasteth no vertue or grace can wither in us but if the root die all die All comes from the root the leaves the blossoms the fruit If there be either ornament of vertue or fruit of grace in us all comes from the root of charitie Yea the life of vertue not onely comes from this root but there it is kept and preserved too for when winter and cold storms come then the sappe for shelter runnes down to the root and there it is preserved till the next spring so again when the winter of Gods wrath and storms of persecution assault the profession of the Gospel then by and by we retire to the root of charitie and there is our profession preserved till the storm be over Thus Peter denied his Master thrice when he was going to his death yet because he still loved his Master therefore his life remained in him in the time of persecution it lay hid in the root of charitie The Apostle goeth forward That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length and breadth and height and depth Charity breaks forth into all the dimensions of spirituall growth The prophet Isaiah rather then he would forsake his God was sawn asunder in the midst others were racked and would not be delivered they would not be delivered but held out to the death The blessed Marie Magdalene washt our Saviours feet with her tears and wiped them drie again with the hairs of her head Oh blessed charitie If thou hast this root in thee thou also shalt comprehend this breadth and length height and depth and thou shalt with these holy Saints say If I had been in their coats or had their occasions I would have done as they did This is that love of Christ which passeth knowledge and this is the fulnesse of God To proceed Charitie is the most excellent grace because it is the divine seed of a Christian by which we are born of God and freed from mortall sinne 1. John 3. 9. Whosoever is born of God sinneth not for his seed remaineth in him This seed S. Hierome in his 2 book against Jovinian and S. Austine in his 5 tract upon 1. John calleth charitie for in it is contained the beginning of our conversion to God which is a holy desire For no man desireth any thing untill he loves it but when he loves it then he desires it when he desires it then he seeks it after he hath sought it then he findes it according to that in the Gospel Seek and ye shall finde knock and it shall be opened and when a man hath found because he loves it entirely he will so cleave to it that he will not be removed from it So is it between the regenerate heart and God When God hath given a man a heart to love him then he beginnes to desire him when he desires him then he seeks him then he knocks at heaven gates by prayer and will not away till God open to him because his seed remaineth in him And after he hath found him then he so cleaves to him by hope and hangs so fast upon him that he will die before he leave him because faith hath perswaded him that God is his maker and redeemer and that he is moreover a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. And how will he reward him not with gold and silver which are corruptible but with life everlasting and the joyes of heaven Oh here is enough we will seek no further Thus you see how love and charitie sets the soul to desire and seek God above all things and so charitie is the beginning of our conversion and after it hath begun it will never cease seeking untill it hath found and obtained Were a man by faith perswaded that God is the authour of all happinesse and that all the goods in heaven and earth lay in him treasured up yet if he should love the goods of the world more then God then he would never set his heart to seek and desire him But when faith hath enlightned the minde to know God then if the love of the heart will forsake the world and things
father and mother and cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh So they that have charitie will leave all things to cleave to God to be one spirit with him Yea so fast doth charitie glue the good soul to God as the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expresseth that it will die before it leave him as is to be seen in all the holy Martyrs Nothing may quench this fire as Solomon singeth Set me as a seal upon thy heart and as a signet upon thy arm for love is strong as death jealousie is cruell as the grave the coals thereof are fiery coals yea a vehement flame Much water cannot quench love neither can the flouds drown it if a man would give all the substance of his house for love they would greatly contemne it For what is that which makes all the marriages in the world is it not love if they did not love one another they would never come together Now this charitie is nothing else but divine love and this makes God and man one spirit as naturall love and marriage makes man and wife one flesh and it is called Charity to distinguish it from naturall love for that it is the most deare and precious love in regard it is between God and mans spirit Again that must be the most excellent vertue which makes man most like to God but there is nothing that makes man more like to God then charitie because S. John saith God is charitie therefore they that have charitie must needs be most like him It is the holy Ghosts child as I may say sanctifying the soul. It is no where said that God is faith or God is knowledge for then the devils should be more like to God then man because they know more and beleeve more then any man but he is called in scripture onely charitie in regard of goodnesse and sanctitie for that all goodnesse of sanctification proceeds from charitie So God loved the world saith our Lord in John 3. 16. that he gave his onely begotten Sonne that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Now as all good of sanctitie comes from Gods love to man so from mans charitie comes all the like goodnesse toward God and our neighbour Light comes from faith and understanding from knowledge but goodnesse and sanctitie come onely from charitie And if God be charitie then what interest have they to God and his kingdome who live continually in malice and quarrels Moreover Charitie is called of Divines the universall grace because S. Paul Colos. 3. 14. calleth it the bond of perfection Above all these things put on charitie which is the bond of perfectnesse He saith above all because this is the best of all and he calleth it the bond of perfectnesse first because it tieth man to God in the heart who is perfectnesse it self and next because it tieth all vertues together as we are taught in the Collect of Quinquagesima Hast thou charitie then canst thou want no vertue because all are bound up in it There is justice there is mercy there is liberalitie there is fidelitie there is the highest there is the lowest there is magnanimitie there is humilitie charitie bindes all together in one man Then get charitie and thou needest not run from parish to parish to get understanding because it dwells in charitie According to this S. Austine saith Scriptura nihil praecipit nisi charitatem nihil culpat nisi cupiditatem The scripture commandeth nothing but charitie and blameth nothing but concupiscence Now what charitie is the Father in that place thus defineth Charitatem voco motum animi ad fruendum Deo propter ipsum se atque proximo propter Deum I call charitie saith he a motion of the minde to the fruition of God for himself and of himself and his neighbour for God Lastly there is yet another title of eâ—cellencie belonging to charitie and this is Queen of vertues because it commandeth and governeth them all to right ends For say I had all knowledge and could confute all men and say I had all eloquence that I could with Orpheus move the stonie heart say I had all patience and could give my body to be burned and say I had all faith that I could remove mountains yet if I did not know to Godward speak to Godward suffer to Godward and beleeve to Godward and so of all other vertues all this would do me no good Why because the Queen of vertues Charitie which should bend and order all these to Godward is wanting For every action as the learned know proceeds from election election is in the will and the principall power of the will is love and charitie therefore look which way that goeth that way go all thy actions of heart and minde If thy love be naturall then it orders and carries all thy actions to a naturall end and that leadeth to hell but if thy love be divine and spirituall which my Text calleth Charitie then that like a Queen regulates all thy actions to a supernaturall end which is to serve God and to gain his kingdome And the more good actions thou dost in this kinde the more thou edifiest as my Text saith Knowledge puffeth up but Charitie edifieth that is to say Charitie buildeth As the carpenter and mason build with wood and stone so charitie buildeth with good and godly actions Faith is often idle knowledge sleepie and hope is drousie but charitie is alwayes working because it is the hearts pulse to God-ward As the pulse never leaves beating so charitie never leaves working and the more it worketh the greater is the edifying Little charitie makes a little Christian and great charitie makes a great Christian and perfect charitie makes a perfect Christian. The main Tenet of the scripture is that God will reward every man according to his works Therefore the more good works a Christian doth in the kingdome of grace the greater shall be his crown in the kingdome of glorie For as S. Paul saith 1. Cor. 15. 41 42. As one starre differeth from another in glory so is the resurrection of the dead the body with the more good works it riseth the more it shall shine in heavens glory In my Fathers house are many mansions saith our Saviour John 14. 2. Every man here strives to have the fairest house if he be a man of worth Then if thou desirest one of the better mansions in the kingdome of glorie thou must build for it here in the kingdome of grace The more good works thou preparest here the larger shall be thy house there the holier works the higher habitation in heavens majestie Wherefore brethren be never weary of well doing but as S. Paul exhorteth 1. Cor. 15. 58. be abundant alwayes in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. There is nothing lost but all gotten by good life and good
end of Christs suffering for us which I hope no good Christian will extenuate If Christ hath merited that the righteousnesse of the law should be fulfilled in us who are his members then the law is not impossible to be fulfilled of us but Christ hath merited that the righteousnesse of the law should be fulfilled in us therefore the law is not impossible to be fulfilled of us The major is true because it is blasphemie to discredit the efficacie and end of Christs merits The minor is as true by this scripture Rom. 8. 3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Sonne in the likenesse of sinfull flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh that is to say In sinnes room he condemned sinne If sinne be condemned then it cannot hurt us the fuit is at an end But to what end did God send his Sonne and condemne sinne in the flesh It followeth in the text that the righteousnesse of the law might be fulfilled in us It is not said That the righteousnesse of the law might be fulfilled in himself or for himself onely because he died not for himself nor had need of such a righteousnesse for that he was the lawgiver and had alwayes the laws fulnesse in himself before he wrought any thing but That the righteousnesse of the law might be fulfilled in us And how is that to be done not by faith onely or by bare imputation alone as the ignorant understand it but by our actuall walking in divine precepts and therefore it is said vers 4. Who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit But in our walking though it be after the Spirit the law is oft broken of us by sinnes of commission and sinnes of omission and therefore the laws righteousnesse is not fulfilled of us I answer As it is oft broken of us so it is as often repaired and satisfied and so all is made whole again and so he is in statu quo priús Tremelius upon the text hath Restituitur redintegratur à malo He is restored and made whole from the evil Which in Saint Augustines words is a spotlesse and blamelesse walking in Gods laws For in his book de perfectione justitiae speaking of many places of scripture urged for the perfection of the Saints he saith thus Horum testimoniorum aliqua currentes exhortantur ut perfectè currant aliqua ipsum finem commemorant quò currendo pertendant Ingredi autem sine macula non absurdè etiam ille dicitur non qui jam perfectus est sed qui ad ipsam perfectionem irreprehensibiliter currit carens omnibus criminibus damnabilibus atque ipsa peccata venialia non negligens mundare eleemosynis Some places exhort the runners that they may runne perfectly some mention the end to which they should tend Therefore he may be said without absurditie to enter spotlesse not who is already perfect but he which runnes inculpably to that perfection wanting all deadly sinnes and not forgetting to expiate his veniall sinnes by alms If he riseth not again so oft as he falleth either in number or vertue then he seemeth to be no more a just man Wherefore let every one as soon as he is down presently rise again Our sinnes of commission are repaired and reversed by repentance Ezech. 18. 21 22. But if the wicked will return from all his sinnes that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawfull and right he shall surely live he shall not die all his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him If it be thus to the wicked shall it not be as much to the godly when they sinne lesse and not with a full consent Our sinnes of omission are salved and supplied by prayer as S. Augustine insinuateth upon this point of giving the law unto us Admonet nos Deus facere quod possumus petere quod non possumus God by giving his law to us admonisheth us to do what we can and to ask that which we cannot do Whereupon it follows that obedience as farre as we can and prayer where we cannot in regard of the frailtie of the flesh maketh Gods law to us possible because in his Gospel he hath promised to give us that which we pray for as we ought to pray in which are included all our sinnes as well of commission as of omission These are the helps which the Gospel affordeth How are we to respect and frequent these two upon which our salvation so much dependeth were it not fit that these two should alwayes lie by us to be ready at every need The old law onely commandeth but giveth no power to perform but the new law not onely giveth precepts but also power and helps by the sacraments to perform because it is written in Christs bloud and so hath Christs spirit and life going together with it Therefore it is called of S. Paul The law of the Spirit of life and of S. James The law of libertie not because it gives men libertie to sinne but because it freeth from the lets and enlargeth mans heart through the spirit to perform it with alacritie and cheerfulnesse according to that of David I will runne the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart And to this belong the counsels of the gospel which go beyond the precepts of the law of which S. Chrysostome speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ commanded nothing impossible insomuch that many go beyond the very commandments And if it be demanded who ever did this he forthwith answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Paul S. Peter even all the quire of saints Lastly as Christs spirit and grace gives such power to go beyond the precepts so it is not incongruent that it should so modifie sinnes in his members to make them veniall and not killing in regard they are not done with a full consent but with a desire of doing the contrary of which the Apostle saith thus Rom. 7. 20. But if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in me A third argument I have from the kindes of fulfilling Gods law which are two the inward and the outward The inward is the fulfilling of the law in desire The outward is the fulfilling of it in the bodies members prompted and put on by the mindes direction and affection The inward is more noble because it is more neare to the minde its originall and fountain and without whose act the bodies members could act nothing yet the outward is the more ample because it breaketh out further The inward fulfilling of necessity must be acknowledged or else we destroy the inward man and frustrate that great work of mans redemption Of this inward fulfilling thus speaketh the Apostle Rom. 7. 22. For I delight in the law of God after the
his law and in the end with much ado we overcome Thus stands the difference between men and angels travell toward the end the one had a short cut without difficulties the other hath a long race in many infirmities and miseries Therefore of these it is said Apoc. 7. 14. These are they which came out of many tribulations To return again to the laws possibilitie a fourth argument ariseth from the nature of a law For if God should give such a law which could not be kept of us then it could not binde us because by the rule of justice no man ought to be bound to that which is impossible for that were a wrong both to nature and grace Therefore the School verse saith Ultra posse viri non vult Deus ulla requiri A fifth argument is from the end of a law which is to be kept for if God should command things impossible then he should make a law not to be kept but to be broken which is contrarie to the right end of a law and of a lawgiver But God for his infinite wisdome will never give a law to a wrong end therefore he will never command things impossible But the adversaries to this truth will perchance object that when God first gave his law to man it was possible to be kept the impossibilitie now proceeds onely from our selves because through our own default it is that we are disinabled and therefore God may justly still oblige us to it though impossible But to this it is answered that Christ hath made a full satisfaction for that default of ours and by this means discharged us of that obligation insomuch that God can no more in equitie now require impossibilities at our hands then he could at first at Adams Neither does he if we may beleeve S. Paul who saith I can do all things by Christ that strengtheneth me But it may be further urged that the law is still the same it was and therefore of it self doth oblige us now to as exact a performance as ever it did Adam though God for Christ his sake is pleased to remit from the rigour of it requiring sub poena no more of us then we being assisted by his grace are able to perform To this I answer that the law obliges us no further then the intent of the lawgiver was to extend it and therefore if God intends not now as questionlesse he doth not to exact of us the performance of the law as it stood in its rigour quoad omnes gradus neither does it in reason oblige us now to any such perfection And so by consequence the law as given to Adam is not the rule whereby we are to be judged but as it was given to us in Christ which every Christian ought and therefore may perform And here we may observe that it is most convenient to reason and justice that the law should be exacted so farre as the possibilitie of the obliged could reach and no further Adam in his integritie might have perfectly kept it if he would and therefore the fulfilling of it in rigour was expected sub poena of him and that justly we now fallen would perfectly fulfill it but cannot by reason of the punishment inflicted on us by our just judge and therefore durante poenâ he cannot in equitie now expect that perfection in keeping it which Adam had For to mutilate a runner or oppresse him with weights and then to command him to runne with that agilitie and speed he formerly could unlesse he were endued with his first integritie strength and libertie of limbes is absurd so to think our good God now in this our languour and reluctancy of nature will under pain of death tie us to absolute obedience and not restore us to the state of innocencie wherein 't was possible is altogether as senslesse and unreasonable A sixth argument is from the goodnesse of the lawgiver which is God If God should command things impossible then he should be more cruel then a tyrant who will not offer to ask of his subjects such a tribute which he knows cannot be paid nor make such a law which cannot be kept because this is against the common good of every state but God is good to all and no tyrant because his mercie is over all his works therefore he will not command any thing impossible And to this accordeth S. Augustine Deus nec impossibile aliquid potuit imperare quia justus est nec hominem damnaturus est pro eo quod non potuit vitare quia pius est God could not command any thing impossible because he is just neither will he damne a man for that he could not avoid because he is mercifull Now it is manifest that God gave his law in Moses time many hundred yeares after Adams fall and therefore he gave it to be kept according to the condition of mans present estate And in this estate it pleased the Almightie to make a league of friendship betwixt himself and mankinde whereupon Abraham who lived before the law was called the friend of God and holy David a man after his own heart Now let any man tell me how a father that hath received his prodigall sonne into his grace and favour and forgiven all can yet exact of his sonne without tyrannie or ridiculousnesse to perform as many acts of hospitalitie or otherwise now in the estate of his decocted patrimonie as in his full riches unlesse the father had restored him again unto as great an inheritance To confirm this answer take this argument A man can either do as much as Gods grace inables him or not If not how doth grace inable him If he can do all which Gods grace inableth him to do how is it possible for a most just and good God either to desire or at least require more then his own with all usury possible Secondly to impose on man his friend precepts impossible to be observed neither suiteth with the true rules of friendship neither is compatible with the majestie of so most just a Creator especially seeing he hath now supplied mans fall with his Sonnes grace which is farre greater and better then that in paradise for Adam demerited but one sinne to his posteritie viz. original which cannot be augmented but Christ hath poured out the abundance of his graces for our salvation as S. Paul speaketh Not as the offence so also is the free gift for if through the offence of one many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many Valor meritorum satisfactionis Christi longè excedit demerita Adae idque non ex acceptatione divina sed ex rigida justitia valore ipsorum operum quem habebant ex dignitate personae operantis patientis so the School And S. Leo thus Ubi abundavit peccatum superabundavit gratia qui